The Sleep-Deprived Mommy Brain at Work

....like a stupid idiot, I broke a toe on my right foot, the middle phalange I believe it's called. Getting out of the car, wearing my new Ugg sandals, my left foot stepped into a stinky, muddy hole in the ground and in my shock, my right foot slipped off the curb. In my attempt to right myself, the bone snapped. Didn't feel a thing at the time, I mean it ached but I thought it was just the way my foot twisted. It wasn't until I was in our car nursing Moo that I looked down and saw that my toe was leaning in a weird angle to the left. I stared and tried to convince myself that I'd always had that franken-toe...but I couldn't dismiss the huge swelling lump that was growing. So off K and I went to the local Urgent Care facility where they confirmed the break and my toe was bandaged and fitted in a surgical shoe. SOOOOO annoyed with myself. Only a week left before I'm back to work and I had to go and do this, damn it, I was looking forward to going for long walks with Moo.

.....like a stupid idiot, I had thought Pig's daycare was open yesterday. Her provider had gone on vacay the week before and it seemed logical to me that she would be open on Monday. Well off K and Pig went. I was thoroughly exhausted from a long night of hanging out with Mr. Moo or as he is also known, He-Who-Hates-to-Fart-Alone and was sitting on the couch nursing him when I see K and Pig approaching the front door.  Doh.  It was a long day. Pig is now a racing pig and I of course with my bum toe, am no match for her.  While Moo napped, Pig and I sat and played blocks, barked at Kirby, popped styrofoam toast out of a play toaster, sang, danced (well, Pig danced, I swayed), and assembled a wooden puzzle.  Finally, I got both kids down at the same for a nap and as I settling onto the couch for a short snooze as well...the phone rang...Moo woke up and cried out, which in turn roused his sister.  Argh.  

All By Myself....

Pig's substitute daycare lady Miss D is on vacation this week so I'm on my own today and half of tomorrow when their Nana arrives to help. I...am...tired. Moo was fussy this morning and after a feed and some struggling, he finally fell back asleep on my chest, I in turn passed out sitting up on our bed. K got Pig dressed and breakfasted by the time I came downstairs with Moo.

Our cleaning lady was scheduled to come in 10 am this morning so I planned to pack both kids into the car and head over to the indoor playroom. I had packed up Pig's lunch the night before so all I had to do was throw in a couple icepacks into the cooler bag. K put Pig in her pack and play while I fed Moo again and after some unhappiness he finally fell back asleep. I ran upstairs to brush my teeth, wash my face, moisturize, get into jeans and a t-shirt and pull my hair into a ponytail.

Then I ran back downstairs to scarf some yogurt and take my vitamins. On went Pig's coat (it's rainy this week), socks and shoes. I loaded her into the car with diaper and lunch bags and Baby Bjorn. Ran back into the house, put a sleeping Moo into his car seat, clipped his pacifier and grabbed an extra blanket and popped him into the car as well.

The playroom wasn't crowded, yay! Just enough kids to keep it interesting. Pig ran around and played with the plastic cars, roamed in the great playhouses and brought all sorts of toys over to me to inspect. I put Moo in his Baby Bjorn so that I could follow Pig around easily. At noon, I put Pig back into her stroller, packed up her stuff and we piled back into the car. I called K and he asked if I could pick up some lunch for him. All was fine until we got to K's office then Moo started yelling at the top of his lungs. I dropped off K's lunch and then hurried home.

It was lunchtime for Pig so after a quick feeding for Moo, I put her into her highchair and handed her a sippy cup of her Peach and Purple Carrot Juice and a bowl of veggies and pasta. While she ate, I sat on the couch and finished feeding Moo who grumbled and slopped milk all over his face. I put Moo into his bouncy chair and cleaned up Pig's face and hands. While Pig ate her applesauce, I warmed up her afternoon milk. After dragging Moo's bouncy chair and Moo upstairs into Pig's room, I changed her diaper, put her into her pjs and popped her into the glider to drink her milk. Moo was screaming by this time and of course Pig decided to mess around instead of finishing her milk. So with Pig on my lap, I rocked Moo's bouncy chair with one foot. After what felt like a century, Pig finally finished her milk and went into her crib with her blankie and bear.

Moo and I went downstairs and did another feeding and he's finally out on my lap and hopefully both kids will nap blissfully for the next 2 hours at least. I have mucho respect for daycare providers and stay at home moms. I have to say at this rate, I should lose the rest of my baby weight soon.

Week's Eats

I'm trying to be better about planning the weeks meals. Safeway is offering free delivery so I've been using this service. It's great, I can sit on my laptop, hunt up promising recipes and create my grocery list as I go. Then I wait. The delivery truck came by right on time and all I had to do it lug it the 15 feet or so from the front door to the kitchen.

So here's what I have planned for this week:

Linguine with Smoked Salmon (Peas, smoked salmon, dill, tomatoes, onions)
Portuguese Fish Stew (this was a hit last week and a cinch to prepare, I'm going to add shrimp this time)
Ground Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Mushroom and Chicken Risotto

Pig - Haircut #1

Pig received her first professional haircut today...it was at Cartoon Cuts in the mall so by professional I mean someone other than myself or her dad. Being Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend, the place was packed and broiling hot so thankfully, we were there just to have her bangs trimmed.

I wasn't sure how Pig would react to the trim as she was pretty tired and hungry (we were just about to sit down to lunch when they called to let us know that we were up). It was just too cute. They sat her up on this big foam block and wrapped her up. She sat there looking at us...completely weirded out.

Stepping Out

How do people with 3 plus kids leave the house? With our two, a short trip to get groceries necessitates multiple bags and all sorts of gear...climbing Mt. Everest wouldn't require as much sh**.

Just to give you an idea of how we roll these days:

The kids get a preemptive diaper change right before we head out. I pack a cooler bag with a bottle and expressed breastmilk for Moo. For Pig, we bring a sippy cup of water, her snack trap cup filled with crackers or cookies, her plastic utensil case with spoon and spork, a meal just in case, and a bib. K chases Pig around. I go up to her room to get a fresh pair of socks and a jacket or sweater just in case. Pig runs around turning the tv on and off while K tries to get her shoes and hat on her. K puts Moo into his infant car seat. Moo gets pissed, mutters unhappily for awhile and then busts out yelling. I clip a pacifier to his harness, put an extra blanket around him. Pig tries to jam the pacifier into Moo's yelling mouth. We thanks Pig for her efforts but insist that Moo would prefer us to do it. K takes both kids and loads them into the car. Moo is still yelling. I grab the diaper bag, cooler bag, baby bjorn, and highchair cover on my way out. We make sure we have the right travel gear in the trunk, stroller for Pig and snap and go frame for Moo's car seat. We pull out of the driveway...yup, Moo is still pissed.

The other day, we went out to a Japanese place for dinner. We try to do early dinners (5-ish) to avoid a long wait and to get home in time for Pig's "sleepy time." K gave Moo a bottle while I shoveled miso soup, rice and broiled eel (Unaju) into a cranky, hungry Pig. After 1 hour of trying to feed Pig with chopsticks and keep her from throwing her water cup onto the floor, standing in her high chair and grabbing things off the table, we were spent. I had spit up on my shoulder, rice, soup, and water all over my pants. We should've had the theme song from the Benny Hill Show playing. I joked with K that we ought to swaddle Pig with a tablecloth, that's how I keep Moo from getting overly fresh during his feedings. I'm a big proponent of swaddling. I say we swaddle adults as well. I have a patent pending for the Husband Swaddler, the garment that keeps your significant other from kneeing or elbowing you in his sleep and allows you to easily roll him onto his side when the snoring gets too loud.

Moo - Cooing

Post-bath, Moo had a happy moment (read: 5 minutes) during his tummy time which I had to capture.

Kids - Food

Feeding my kids...I feel like most of my days are spent pondering this subject...lately even more so. On one hand, since I'm nursing Moo, I keep myself hydrated and watch what I eat e.g. avoid caffeine and unnecessary medication. On the other, I watch Pig's intake to ensure that she gets a balanced meal every day.

However, determining what this entails is a major point of contention between K and I these days. Our arguments in a nutshell, K doesn't think there's any harm if Pig has junk food from time to time, (e.g. candy, cake, overly sugary cookies like oreos, french fries and the like). Having seen little children her age with rotting teeth, I have a bit time problem with this. In addition, I believe this point in Pig's life is to introduce her to a variety of good food that will shape her palate in the years to come. Until we make them known to her, Pig has no idea that such things exist and will not ask for them. There are so many other wonderful things for her eat, it irks me when people try to give my kid junk...especially since I've been taking such pains to plan and cook her meals. Even more annoying is when someone waves junk food in front of Pig and asks if she can have some...and wonder why Pig starts crying. Pig is not even 2 years old for pete's sake, since when was it ok to give junk to someone that young?

K thinks that I'm being anal and that I should relax about this. He doesn't understand why I insist on the costlier organic milk for Pig. I am fine with being anal about this, I see this as my job as her mom, it's a labor of love. Sure it would be a helluva lot easier just to give her whatever. There are some times when I'm so exhausted that the last thing I want to do is cook. But...at this point, we have to make these decisions for our children, decide what is best for them...our responsibility as their parents.

Finally, I am a firm believer that you really are what you eat. I love what Jamie Oliver is doing in British schools and I applauded during Supersize Me when Morgan Spurlock makes the connection between junk food and bad behavior in schools.

Sure, as they get older, they'll end up having sweets and junk. But by being careful right now, hopefully, when given a choice between fruit and a candy bar, they'll pick the former.

So no, I won't back down on this.


Having said my piece, I've been working on adding some new meals to our family recipebook:

Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps (inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe, lately I'm all about the quick and easy)

Chicken enchiladas or Mexican Lasagna

Cuban style pulled pork or flank steak (my sister got me into this one)

Chicken Puttanesca

Falafel pitas

Edamame and Corn Salad

Portuguese Fish Stew (going to try this one tomorrow, yum!)

Moo - 1 month

9 lbs, 8 ozs, 23 inches. Two pounds in two weeks! Even his pediatrician was shocked.

Rollin'

K put together Pig's new trike and decided to take it out for a spin...

Moo - One Month

Moo is growing...he's nearly out of his newborn clothes. His face is rounding out and his little rear end is actually a handful, albeit, a small hand. His sock now fit his calves snugly and are so cute a sight that I could spend a whole day slipping socks on and off his little feet...especially the mini crew socks. *Dies from cuteness overload* He nurses just fine so at most I have to pump once a day, usually in the morning if he neglects to drain one side completely during his night feed.

Thankfully, my milk supply has stabilized and I'm producing just enough for his needs. I had some major engorgement issues when my milk first came in and I was blasting the poor kid with a fierce let-down. A foremilk/hindmilk imbalance was the result and poor Moo was producing some gnarly bright green poops, think ectoplasm, instead of the healthy mustard colored seedy concoctions that his sister produced in ample quantities. I started block feeding to ensure that Moo gets the hindmilk, that is, I'd feed him one side for a certain block of time before switching and luckily 90% of the Moo's poopy diapers are a healthy yellowish.

Mr. Moo in a nutshell:

Likes: Eating, sleeping, speed bumps, hanging in his Baby Bjorn, bouncy chair, sleeping on his left side, stretching exercises, foot rubs

Dislikes: Gas, Pooping, Baths, Diaper changes, Clothing changes, Carseats, Tummy Time

Eye Color: Slate-y Blue

Hair Color: Bronze-y brown

Occasionally, after a good feeding, Moo will look up at me with his huge eyes and his mouth will form into a small "o" shape. I love his little baby noises. He chuckles in his sleep. When he gets frustrated he'll yell out "Ay!"

The Kids

As Mother's Day approaches, it still hasn't quite hit me that I'm a mother of two. Maybe it's because Moo is still at that small glow worm stage, he may be out of the womb but like a marsupial, he's not quite ready yet...being pink, squirmy and expressionless. Actually, I look at Pig and still can't believe that I'm her mom. It's amazing to me that we managed to grow a big toddler. I can't keep a potted plant alive, in college my tamagotchi pet developed into a weird deformed creature, and Kirb...well, 'nuff said.