Sanity, Infants, and What THE F*cK is WRONG WITH ME!?

I am sitting here presently questioning my sanity. I have volunteered my body for yet ANOTHER human life to be created and come flying out on whatever day they chose. I am a vessel. And Yes, Childbirth IS beautiful and Yes, I AM lucky to get to experience such a beautiful thing.. especially twice. But, that also makes me wonder if I am a little crazy! I mean I have done this once already! The Diapers, the wipes, the crying, the breastfeeding gone wrong, the years spent worrying about development, the sickness... I could go on all day. No, I am not questioning whether I want to be pregnant again because I DO! I am just questioning if that makes me CRAZY! And Yes, the funny thing is Little Man WAS indeed an amazing baby! And not just in the "Oh, he's my baby so he is fantastic!" kinda way. I Mean in the Slept through the night fully by 4 months, went 12 hours one night randomly by himself and has been doing that ever since kinda way. (Excluding the few times he's been sick). He actually barely ever cried.. especially as an infant, and he's always been a very happy go lucky Little Man.  I have to admit.. this Ninja has had it VERY easy with him!

So as I sit here reflecting it makes me wonder. What if this one is colicky? What if this ones never sleeps? What if this one makes things VERY difficult and I am not prepared for it? What if I say What if too many times and Drive myself CRAZY!! When I got pregnant with Little Man I had all these feelings and more, because I didn't know what to expect and since I just thought it was customary to never get to sleep again after having a child, and have to listen to crying for hours, I had tried to prepare myself for that. But since Little Man was so easy I am wondering if this will make it HARDER this time around. I am wondering if this will change my expectations, even if I try to let it not to. I am hoping that I will be prepared for whatever happens because I KNOW every baby is different! But to what extreme do I know this? I mean Little Man was so laid back that if this one comes into the world kicking and screaming and giving me what for, I am afraid I will be shocked without meaning to be! I am unsure of how to realistically prepare myself for this all over again without having unrealistic expectations that this is going to be as easy as it was the first time. I know, I know.. I complain all the time that Motherhood can be difficult.. and believe me IT CAN! I am NOT by any means saying that Little Man is always easy to parent NOW, because THAT would be a lie. He IS still a great Little Man with fantastic manners and a good heart though and that's really all that matters! Any difficulties I have been having with him as of late are all circumstantial and age related. He has found his voice and I am glad he has.. most days.

Here I go, babbling on again in a pregnant onslaught of terror ridden thoughts. I am obviously just going to figure it out anyways, as I want another. I Don't want it to sound like I don't want another baby, because I do. that's why we tried again, thats' why I am pregnant.. because I always have wanted another one, and if that means colic and exhaustion then so be it.. if that is all I have to worry about and baby is otherwise healthy then bring it on. (Please don't misconstrue that as me asking for any of those things because I am not, I would of course prefer it to be sunshine and lollipops AND have a healthy baby if possible. Thank you) <-- Really have no idea who I was talking to right there but it made me feel better. See? I am going crazy.

Last time I gained 60 + Lbs and ended up looking like a road map. Not that it wasn't worth it but knowing what I know now I will do things a little differently this time around. Meaning, I will not eat 4 cheeseburgers with fries on them dipped in ranch sauce in one sitting, although I certainly want to now... There are so many things that I forgot about being pregnant and having a newborn. Lets just hope I make it through with a little of my sanity in tact by the day baby decides to come flying out of there to see the world.

Aside from that worrying, yes, I will probably have posts like this more frequently until my hormones return to normal and I can stop panicking. Sorry.

Little Man is still not feeling well, although he slept pretty well last night which was a comforting thing because I swear if I didn't get some sleep I was going to lose it. The up and down peeing, mixed with the up and down of checking on a Little man was too much for me the other night!

Anyways, I should go and get lunch on now. Let's hope I can AT LEAST do that without over thinking it.... I wouldn't put money on that.

Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!

This Week's Quote was as always a difficult one to come up with. He always says so many funny things and I just don't know which ones to pick to post. Well the other day we were driving in the car and the moon was out. Funny thing is it wasn't night time or anything. When Little Man noticed this he started commenting on it. I said: "But Little Man, it's not night time what is the moon doing in the sky?" He replied with:

"I talked to the Moon and Telled it to wake up!"

My Little Man speaks to the moon. I laughed pretty hard at this one.

Stuffy noses, Alarm Clocks and Cough Medicine

Oh well, here we are again. I was up all night last night because someone is sick now. You guessed it, it's Little Man. He is usually a great sleeper, but you always know when he is not feeling well because he's up every hour on the hour! He hates having a stuffy nose, so he gets frustrated with it and wakes himself up. Let me tell you its not pretty either, because he wants to be awake about as much as I want him to be awake, so not only is he grumpy about his stuffy nose... but he's also quite unimpressed that he's awake in the first place. We have a cool mist humidifier in his room that helps a little bit and I propped up his pillow so he wasn't laying flat, but alas he was STILL up every hour on the hour until 6am when he FINALLY fell back to sleep. That allowed me to fall asleep until about 7am when Husband/Daddy's annoying alarm goes off. It ALWAYS wakes me up! He uses the cell phone alarm and it's the MOST annoying sound I have ever heard. For some reason the alarm doesn't wake him up right away. So, I always find myself punching him and telling him to turn the damn thing off and get the hell out of my bed! Which in turn wakes me up fully and I then have to attempt to fall back asleep. And no, I don't get up with him and make him breakfast before he goes to work everyday. I am a Mom, a Ninja and a Wife not a Maid.

I finally fall back asleep around 7:45am to be awakened at 8:30am by Little Man. Granted, he slept in a little but considering how often he was awake last night, He didn't sleep in enough in my eyes. I was still exhausted so being a bad Mommy I let him come into bed with me where I turned on a few episodes of his favorite television shows and he snuggled up to me and we laid there quietly. We were both drifting back off to dreamland when the phone rang. I answer it and it's my Brother In Law, he's outside of my front door here to pick up his cough medicine he left here from the weekend when he came over for Easter Dinner. He was apologetic for waking me and I know it wasn't planned to make my day suck or anything so I hold no blame towards him, that's just the way the day seems to be going. So I traipsed downstairs, grabbed his cough medicine from the cupboard and handed it to him wearily, closed the door behind me and headed back up to bed. I climb back into the nice warm bed where Little man is still cuddled in the blankets, clearly awake but comfortable and I start drifting again. The phone rings. Its Husband/Daddy. Ok, I am seconds away from throwing the entire phone out the window. I chat with him for a second and decide that it's time to just get up, make the bed and continue my day downstairs. So, I get out of bed and the phone rings again. This time it's my Grandma. Being the wonderfully thoughtful person she is, she makes the conversation quick, as she can hear Little Man getting frustrated with how long I am now taking to get organized.

I have to say, being sick has never bothered me until I had a child. If I am up all night with him, then him and I are both exhausted the next day, which complicates EVERYTHING. I can't just sleep or relax all day like people without children because even if I wanted to it's not possible. In fact, a nap isn't even possible anymore. And if I get sick right now.. (which I inevitably will because Little Man is sick and I am with him all day and when pregnant your immune system is lowered)... I can't take anything to feel better, no cough medicine, no anything. In fact I was advised against even sucking on a damn throat lozenge. So unlike those of you that can at least medicate yourselves, I on the other hand have to suffer through it. Not to mention a fever is bad for pregnant women as a prolonged high raise in body temperature can harm the baby. I won't even get into what happens if it turns into bronchitis because the only safe antibiotic for pregnant women is Penicillin and I am deathly allergic...

I am not looking forward to the next few days.. Lets just hope this Ninja can evade the evil virus that has penetrated my home.

Hey FATTY, Don't stress out!

The main thing I keep hearing when I announce to people that I am expecting my second little hellion... erm... angel is: "Don't stress, it's bad for the baby." Oh really? Well, Thanks for that, does that mean that you are volunteering to raise my almost three year old Little Man for the next 6 Months? Does that mean that you will also take in my Husband and feed him, make sure he showers and clean up after him too? Does that also mean that you will put up with his video games and snide remarks? Because if that's what that means then I will be sure not to stress. Stress is inevitable people. It happens all the time. It happens when you least expect it. It rings your doorbell at 1pm on an otherwise sunny, bright day to tell you that you that you have an unexpected visitor who has invited themselves in to critique your appearance and the cleanliness of your home, and guess what? You had opted out of washing the floors that day to cuddle with your Little Man on the couch after a long visit at the park and a very messy lunch making excursion that lead to you changing into your pajamas and your hair is all over the place caked in peanut butter. Yet, there you are at the door staring stress in the face and you can't just shut the door on it. So, yes ladies and gentlemen while I know that being in a stressful situation is not optimal when pregnant...(Heck is it optimal when you aren't?) The possibility of stress is everywhere and you have to face it head on most of the time, pregnant or not.

The Next Peice of advice I Can't stand: "Don't gain too much weight this time." Oh thank you, Ya know, I really enjoyed the fact that I justified to myself that eating 4 cheeseburgers in one sitting while I was pregnant the first time with Little Man was a good idea, only to lead to an over 60 pound weight gain with me only losing 30 of it prior to getting pregnant the second time. I think I will do it again! Trust me, I am NOT going to do it again, but I also REFUSE to obsess about my weight. There is NOTHING wrong with indulging once in a while, so if you are out with me and I decide that I want to eat a plate of fries smothered in gravy (yep there are those fries and gravy again I just can't get them out of my head) then perhaps keep your mouth shut and instead of assuming I am eating like that ALL the time, consider the possibility that I have been craving that same thing for WEEKS and have finally given in. I AM pregnant after all and pregnancy cravings are like nothing I have ever experienced before and I refuse to completely refuse myself of everything all the time.

Sometimes People just have to trust that I know what I am doing. I am not a complete turd brain.

Like Father Like Son, Fries and Gravy

"Can you take the garbage out?"

- I will do it later

"I am going out this evening, when you put Little Man to bed can you give him a bath?"

-Does He really need a bath tonight?

Why is it that when I request that something get done its always an argument? Why can't he just do it? Worst part is that Little Man has now adopted this approach.

"Little Man clean up your toys please."

-5 More minuets Mommy

"Little Man pick that block up off the floor"

-Later Mommy, I busy.

Of course Little Man never gets away with that as when Mommy says to do something you are expected to do it now not later and certainly not whenever you feel like it. Unfortunately for some reason Husband/Daddy doesn't seem to get the message. He continues to do these things over and over and then forgets to complete the task I asked him to because he said he would do it later but he never remembers to, How convenient. Of course, I end up doing it anyways and while it's not worth the argument anymore I really am starting to feel taken advantage of.

Little Man has decided that he's a show off. My friend Em came over yesterday and hung out for a little while and Little Man decided he was going to do everything I asked him NOT to do and totally refuse to listen to a word I said.. the entire time. Of course he got a Time-out but what I think he really needed solitary confinement. I hate it when he acts like that, he's usually so sweet when it's just him and I, and although he still tests boundaries, and patients he seems to do it a lot more and put a lot more effort into making me nusto when someone else is around.

I have decided this pregnancy is the same but different. I have not gained much weight.. yet. And am hoping that I do not. However, I have been craving things so much that it's actually making me INSANE! I mean seriously all I want all day and night is fries and gravy. I am not sure why.. But that is what I want. Pickles aren't bad either. I am currently 15 weeks in and am showing like crazy already. I am huge! And No, Its not twins...

Awww man I gotta go, I just heard something crash and the dog is running around the house like a Mad Man, I need to go figure out who did what.

What's For Dinner Wednesday!

Welcome Back to "What's For Dinner Wednesday!" Tonight I have decided to do something I haven't done in a long time. I have been thinking about it, and Husband/Daddy mentioned it a little while ago because he wanted me to make it.. so I Will surprise him tonight and make it.

 Homemade Cheese and Potato Perogies

First you need to make the Perogy Dough....

Stuff Ya Need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

3cups(750 mL) 1 tsp salt 1tsp(5 mL) 1 egg 1eggs3/4 cup water , (approx)3/4cup(175 mL) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2tbsp(25 mL)

Do This:

1. In bowl, whisk flour and salt together.
2. Whisk together egg, water and oil; stir into flour mixture, add up to 2 tbsp more water if needed to make soft but not sticky dough.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 10 times. Halve the dough; cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rest for about 20 minutes.

Then Move Onto the filling... and actual cooking of said recipe:

More Stuff Ya Need:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 onion, sliced
• The Perogy dough you just made

Filling:

• 1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp butter 2tbsp(25 mL) 1 onion , sliced1onions 1 lb russet potatoes , peeled and cubed1lb(454 g) russet potato2 tbsp butter 2tbsp(25 mL) 1/3 cup finely chopped onion 1/3cup(75 mL) 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2cup(125 mL) 1/4 tsp salt 1/4tsp(1 mL) 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4tsp(1 mL)

Now, Do this:

1. Filling: In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the potatoes until they are tender, which usually takes about 15 minutes. Then drain and transfer them to a large bowl. Make sure to Mash them well.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; cook the onion until its golden and tender, which takes about 5 minutes. Add mixture to the potatoes. Stir in the cheese, salt and pepper. Then Set aside.
3. Working with 1 portion of dough at a time and keeping the remainder covered, roll it out on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness.
4. Using a 3-inch  round cutter, cut into rounds. Place 1 tsp filling on each round. Lightly moisten the edge of half of the round with water; fold over filling and pinch the edges together to seal it.
5. Place perogies on flour-dusted cloth; and cover with tea towel. Repeat this process with remaining dough and filling, rerolling scraps, to make about 36 perogies.
6. In large pot of boiling salted water, cook the perogies, in batches and stirring gently, until floating and tender, takes about 5 minutes.
7. With a slotted spoon, remove them  to colander to drain.
8. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat; cook onion until golden, about 8 minutes. Then, Add perogies; cook them until golden.

Now, you are done! I usually do up some bacon and cut it into little pieces. Portion some sour cream and grate a small amount of cheddar cheese for the top. I will be serving this with a garden salad with Balsamic dressing. Enjoy!

Cereal Commercials, Independence and Dog Poop

OK. So this week has lead me to believe that time goes by REALLY fast when you don't want it to. Seriously. I spent my entire youth waiting to grow up, have a husband that I love and loves me and have beautiful children that I get to watch grow. And now that I am there, well, it just seems to be going by too fast! SLOW DOWN TIME AND LET ME ENJOY MYSELF! Little Man is already so independent and yes, I am blessed to be having another baby but that wasn't meant to replace or make up for the fact that my first born has been growing at such a rapid rate that I can't seem to keep track of it.. and it won't make up for or replace that because it will be a separate experience with a different child. 2 1/2 years from now I will be thinking the same thing about both my children. Little Man will be 5 and Baby will be 2 and I am sure I will be wondering where the time has gone and what I am supposed to do with myself when they go off to College. Yeah, I know, I am nuts. One child is only 2 1/2 right now and the other has still only been in my belly cooking for 14 weeks yet I have already been wondering... What will I do after my children don't need me as much anymore? When they have their own endeavors, their own lives, and eventually their own families? Sheesh, I am sentimental today. Pregnancy has taken over all the funny bones in my body and replaced them with mushy ones that aren't very funny at all and cause to me cry at Cereal Commercials. Yes, I have done that.

On a more realistic note, as I don't think worrying about something that won't happen for years to come is very realistic, Today has been rather interesting. Husband/Daddy is off at work and Little Man and I have been just hanging out playing and watching movies. This weather is something else. It can't seem to decide what it is that it wants to do! It's crazy talk, its been snowing all morning and started clearing up and getting sunny. So Little Man and I went outside and started drawing with some chalk. Until he stepped in some dog poop that the lovely neighbors left on our lawn. I mean come on. They have a little chihuahua thing and it poops in my garden and on the lawn. I dislike it when people just let their dog poop somewhere and then refuse to pick it up. So we had to cut that short to clean up his shoes and stuff! I almost wanted to take his shoes over to their front door and wipe them all over their glass door.. but I refrained, next time they might not be so lucky. And I might be in a worse mood. And I might ring the doorbell and in turn wipe the shoes on their faces and say.. "PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG!" or better yet, let my dog out on their lawn who has the most massive poops I have ever seen, and just let her go to town and then leave it there... OR I could even put our dogs poops in a paper bag at their front door, set it on fire, ring the doorbell.. and well, you get the picture. Clearly I am upset by this.

Yesterday was Easter. So the Easter Bunny came for Little Man, whom might I add was so excited by the idea of the Easter Bunny that this morning he woke me up again with a "Mommy The Easter Bunny Came!" I had to tell him that was yesterday. I spent the entire day in the kitchen yesterday cooking an Easter dinner that consisted of a Ham, a Turkey, and a ton of sides. It was a great dinner but I must be honest when I say.. UGH... tiring to cook such a meal for sure. But I enjoy cooking. I also made a carrot cake, which might I say, I was flipping good! Made from scratch with Cream Cheese Icing made from scratch! NOM NOM NOM!

Anyways, I am gonna go hit the road and hang out with Little Man some more.

Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!

Welcome back to "Little Man's Funny Quote Friday!"

This week has proven to be rather insane. The Internet on my phone is all I have had all day and waiting it out has proven to be a waste of time. So today's funny quote will have to be fixed as soon as I can get on a computer. But until then:

The other day Husband/Daddy turned to Little Man and said: "aww you're my muffin" lovingly. Little Man turned around, gave daddy the look of pure anger and said:

"I'm not a muffin, I'm Little Man!"

And he was very serious and obviously offended. It was amusing.

What's For Dinner Wednesday!

What's for dinner Wednesday was done last minuet from my phone tonight! I had the kind of day that will make for a long blog post tomorrow! But I will leave that for tomorrow because today is almost over and I am sleepy and sitting in bed writing this.  So, this is what we had for dinner tonight.... You can make it tomorrow if you want to! If you don't, then fine.

Asiago and Broccoli Pasta

Stuff you require to make said pasta:

• 1 cup cooked Penne Pasta
• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp Asiago cheese
• 1/4 cup  steamed broccoli
• Salt
• Pepper 

What to do to cook your food:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water with some salt.

2. Drain it, add olive oil, toss it.

3. Add the cooked broccoli and cheese, toss again. Season and stuff your face!! Serious! Yummy!

Pair with garlic toast and a salad. YAY!

Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!

 

Welcome back to my weekly "Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!" This week was certainly hard to figure out. But I finally have one. It's rather simple, but I found it to be rather comical. Little Man and I were walking around the house this evening cleaning up his toys before bed. He looked up at me and said:
 "Mommy No bed" and when Daddy piped up from the kitchen and said "Little Man it IS bedtime." Little Man Looked back at Husband/Daddy scrunched up his face in an angry little scowl and said:

"No Daddy, I talkin to Mommy please."

It kinda cracked me up because 1) He thought my response was going to be any different than Husband/Daddy's... (and it wasn't) and 2) Because I have NO idea where he got that from!

2011 Gas Boycott!? Will You Help Make A Difference?

I have read Something very interesting that one of my favorite blogging teams Annette and Christine posted on their site and decided to write about it myself to raise awareness as much as possible as I think this is an issue that NEEDS to be addressed.

Have you recently driven past a gas station to look at the price posted on the sign and nearly pass out?

"Back in my day gas was .46¢/liter"

In most locations the price of gas has now risen to over $1.33/liter which is fine if you are rich and can afford to put liquid gold in your gas tank, but come on people, we are NOT all rich and can't all afford to drive to work, school or daycare using every last penny in our wallets to accommodate the climbing gas prices!

Now there IS something WE can ALL do. We can all team together and put an end to these ridiculous gas prices. On April 15th 2011 everyone throughout the world is teaming together to put an end to this insanity by refusing to purchase gas on this day.. Yep, it's tomorrow! Millions of people have decided to give the finger, (Including myself, in fact I have 1 finger on each hand they can have) to the Middle Eastern Oil Industry with high hopes to take back control of the terribly high gas prices they are forcing us to pay in order to drive anywhere. They seem to have a hold on us! THAT needs to change. If you have been affected by these high gas prices please take a stand with my friends at MommyMatter and with Me, your friendly neighborhood Ninja Mommers.

There are already several groups on Facebook teaming up in the fight against high gas prices. You can find a few of them here and here.

If we all team together and refuse to visit the gas pumps on April 15th 2011 then it would take almost 3 billion dollars... YEP, 3 BILLION Dollars... out of the oil companies pockets for just one day! So, join us all in the gas boycott and refrain from visiting the pumps tomorrow. Maybe this can make a difference!

The Duties of A Ninja Mommer, Broken Glass and Spilled Milk

Well, today has gone back to being interesting. Husband/Daddy is out working today and all of a sudden the weirdness I call life has picked up again to unfold into something more eventful than when he is home. "No Hunny that is NOT a hint that I want you not to come back or anything like that, you know I love you! But would it KILL you to PLEASE clean up after yourself, even a little?!"

Yes, as a Stay at home Mom it IS my job and my duty to take care of the house. It is my job and my duty to take care of the children. And it is my job and my duty to make sure dinner is on the table every night. BUT, it is NOT my duty to wipe my 24 year old husband arse after he goes to the bathroom and although it hasn't gone THAT far yet, I am afraid that's where this is headed. When it gets to the point that he can't do anything for himself or anyone else it has gone too far. I thought that writing him a complete list of what I do all day would possibly help him to understand that when he doesn't do the things that are required of him he complicates my day. That worked for a minuet or two, but then he got WORSE! I am far too young to have a 24 year old child and absolutely refuse to baby this man child. I will have to plot out an idea of what I can do to make him realize what he's doing is making things complicated for me to do my job. Any Suggestions? Anyone?

This morning started with Husband/Daddy leaving for work. Little man was still asleep and since Husband/Daddy makes so much noise getting himself organized for work (I am a light sleeper) I woke up and crept around the house getting things organized. What launched me into my previous rant about Husband/Daddy's annoying habits is that I managed to blindly bump into the dresser, which would be fine if Husband/Daddy didn't have a cup on top of it that decided to go flying off the top, making a lot of noise and shedding a lot of broken glass all over my bedroom. Now, of course I wasn't wearing slippers, and also couldn't see so I had to hold on to hope that I didn't step on the broken glass while fumbling for the light switch so I could go get the broom to clean up the mess, thankfully the ruckus didn't wake Little Man. Once that mess was cleaned and all serious injury as a result was avoided I moved on to the bathroom, where Husband/Daddy had yet ANOTHER cup. Really? How many cups does this man need? Worst part is, he could take them downstairs on his way but doesn't. So, I get everything organized and cleaned up and move to the spare room to strip the bed and wash the sheets and comforter. I start lugging those down the stairs and you guessed it, the comforter tripped me up I grabbed onto the railing in time to save myself from tumbling down the stairs but the other cup from in the bathroom I was also carrying didn't fair so well, and yet again I had another glass mess to clean. Little Man finally woke up, opened his door and the first words out of his mouth were "Ok Mommy?!" I love how there was no good morning, or the sun waked up this time. This time it was pure concern for my safety. Who can blame him? I am sure by now he knows how accident prone I am. After reassuring Little Man that I would survive and cleaning up the glass mess, I proceeded to go get him and come back down the stairs to feed him breakfast. He went and sat down at the table and I somehow managed to spill the entire jug of Milk all over the floor and go for a slippery skate in my Kitchen which resulted in me landing on my bottom covered in Milk, taking the bowl of cheerios with me, which consequently landed all over me as well.

Today's Lessons:

"Husbands suck sometimes, Placenta Brain combined with being accident prone is a BAD combo and Milk and Cheerios belong in a bowl NOT on the floor"

Whats For Dinner Wednesday!

Well, Wednesday is back with a vengeance and I feel like I could eat everything on the planet today... But I won't.. I Will save some for everyone else.

So, Here I am. I am actually going to admit what's for Dinner tonight and I am NOT embarrassed one little bit.

Tonight's menu will include but not be limited to the following:

NINJA'S INCREDIBLY CHEESY SPINACH CASSEROLE

 Stuff to put in this Casserole:

• 1 package medium seashell pasta
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 jars tomato basil pasta sauce
• 4 Cups shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 4 Cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Do this to cook the stuff:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain. Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan, and cook the spinach 4 to 6 minutes, until tender.
3. Place the cooked pasta in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil. Toss the pasta with the cooked spinach, egg mixture, and bread crumbs.
4. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with 1/3 of the pasta sauce. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the baking dish, and cover with another 1/3 of the pasta sauce. Sprinkle with half of the Cheddar cheese and half of the mozzarella. Layer with remaining pasta mixture, and top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the rest of the Cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
5. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned. 

I will be serving this with a VERY LARGE salad to make myself feel better about all the carbohydrates and cheese that I will be consuming.. Pfft, Who am I kidding? I don't care! 

Ultrasounds, Assault and Spanish

So today was my first ultrasound. I opted to participate in the IPS (integrated prenatal screening) to check for trisomy 18, down syndrome and spina bifida. I went in Thinking I might be able to get pictures of baby but apparently as per the technician the radiology department for my area did not invest in a printer to allow people to take pictures home... How nice! I am sure they don't make enough money to afford printers.... I mean those printers are so expensive! If they were to charge for pictures it's not like the printers would have paid for themselves in one day or anything... Sheesh. Cheapskates. 

I love ultrasounds in fact I was very excited to see baby for the first time. But, honestly that liter of water they make you drink is so not necessary! They include a little note on the back of the ultrasound requisition that explains how to prepare but it's too short, what it should really say is the following;

"Dear mom to be,
Please be prepared to fill your bladder With one liter of liquid hell one hour prior to your appointment. You may NOT piddle for 2 hours prior to your appointment and once your appointment begins with a full bladder please be prepared to have a technician push as hard as possible on your bladder while baby in your belly pushes on the opposite side therefor forcing your bladder to threaten you with leakage all over the table. Halfway through your ultrasound you will be told to empty your bladder because baby isn't cooperating with the full bladder anyways. In Which case you will go to the bathroom and relieve your bladder that currently hates you and return to the room to continue your ultrasound. This will be where the baby decides to cooperate and the technician will laugh and say the full bladder was unnecessary. This note is to warn you of what's to come so that at that point you do NOT reach over to the technician and beat her relentlessly with the ultrasound screen. We know you will want to. 
Sincerely,
The ultrasound department"

I really think they need to warn people of this. Someone could get hurt pretty badly. Thankfully I restrained myself. 

Little man stayed with Gramma T this morning while we went to the appointment. He had a blast. And his language Development Is really coming along and a lot of what he says is too funny. In fact he has got quite the sense of humor and thanks to a television show we all know and love (or love to hate sometimes, those sometimes would be when you find yourself singing the songs in the shower) Little man knows a ton of Spanish. In fact he can count from 1-10 in English and Spanish and knows the difference between the two languages. Lets hope he doesn't learn to swear at me in Spanish because I will end up congratulating him without realizing he just called me a bad word. 

Rude People Terrible Two's and Vultures!

I love being pregnant don't get me wrong. I actually thoroughly enjoy carrying a baby around in my stomach for 9 months, having my baby steal my looks, my body, my energy and sometimes my food.... Seriously! I do!

What I do NOT enjoy is RANDOM people at the grocery store asking me "Are you expecting?", "How far along are you?" and "Was it planned?" ARE YOU SERIOUS!? What if I was not expecting and just carrying around some extra weight? What if it wasn't planned? And What if I am only 2 weeks pregnant but look 22? "Does that mean that you, the nosy lady at the grocery store are offering to pay for a personal trainer as well as a psychiatrist to help treat the low self esteem that you just contributed to? Or if the baby wasn't planned... were you offering to fund the pregnancy and raising of said child or planning to burn me at the stake?" No? Didn't think so. SO MIND YOUR OWN BLOODY BUSINESS.

On another note, for those of you out in internet land that are wondering the same things.. YES I am expecting... I am 13 Weeks Pregnant as of yesterday and YES this was planned.

Little Man has been especially pushy lately. His new favorite thing to do is ANYTHING that pushes my buttons. No, it's not the hormones talking.. I am serious. For example today I asked him to do something in respect to cleaning up his toys and he decided that he was going to reply with a very stern "I'm Busy!!" Wow, my 2 year old is busy? Interesting, I would like to know what it is that ties up a 2 year olds agenda? He must have so much required of him that when asked to do one little thing he can't possibly comply... maybe he's doing what Husband/Daddy does and Imagining cleaning or even helping out just a little but not actually moving. Because, I am sorry  Little Man but sitting on your derriere on the couch driving a car on your knee doesn't constitute as a full schedule to me... so MOVE IT! I think he's had more Time Out's today than my internet connection.. which is rare because I usually get that stinky message frequently that my "blah blah blah has had a connection error... blah." Not to mention that the pregnancy has me dragging my butt come Noon. I could use a nap, whether I slept all night or got up 10,000 times to pee, by Noon I feel like I need toothpicks in my eye lids and coffee to keep me awake. Instead I have natures Alarm clock.. A 2 year old. Because there is nothing more reassuring than starting to drift off only to be poked by a little finger and told that it's not bedtime yet.

Yep, Pregnancy is different this time around. Because last time I don't recall being nearly this tired. But that could be because I slept and ate all day... which would also be a great contributor to the 60 + Lbs I gained with Little Man. Hey, at least this time I can't sleep nearly as much as I have Little Tooth picks to keep my eyes open that I like to refer to as Little Man, and A vulture that flies by every time I have a meal or a snack and scoops up half of it... also referred to as Little Man.

Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!!

Welcome back to "Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!"



Little Man has once again made me giggle numerous times this week but my favorite one this week has to be...

"You never find it... Never never never!"

Seriously he takes stuff and hides it somewhere and makes sure that he says that the entire time!

Whats For Dinner Wednesday!

Well, now that I have gotten my confession off my chest I am ready to tell you what we are having for dinner... And you'd think that it was something more interesting like pickles and olive topped pancakes.. but NOPE.. we are having just a regular old Slow Cooker Roast.

Ninja's Slow Cooker Roast

Stuff You Will  Require:

• Roast (Beef Rib Roast Tonight)
• 3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Large Onions Sliced
• Water
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 Large Potatoes Cubed
• 3 Cups Baby Carrots
• 2 Cloves Garlic grated or pressed
• BBQ Sauce

Things To Do:

• Stick Roast in Slow Cooker
• Add Worcestershire Sauce
• Add sliced Onions
• Add 2 Cubed Potatoes
• Add Baby Carrots
• Add Garlic
• Add Salt and Pepper to your discretion
• Cover Roast in BBQ Sauce
• Fill Slow Cooker with Water until Roast and Vegetables are covered. 
• Cook on Low for 8 Hours
• EAT THE ROAST AND VEGGIES

SO simple.

GUESS WHO IS PREGNANT... Yep, its ME!

WELL, you guessed it by the picture... I am Pregnant.. Again!! YAHOO! This picture was taken on February 4th 2011 and that puts me at approximately 12 weeks as of today.

Of course all I have wanted to do since that day was blog about pregnancy whilst already having a toddler and how much different the second pregnancy feels when you can't just eat and sleep all day. But alas, we were waiting to tell everyone until we felt confident the pregnancy was going to stick and until we had already told most of our family as I have some family members that read this and would have HATED for them to find out this way along with the general public. We wanted to tell them personally. So, now that we have I can Finally let everyone else in on the pregnancy and write about whatever I want. Hallelujah! I dislike restrictions if you can tell. In fact, I am way surprised I didn't let it slip before this. But, I didn't!

So, being 12 weeks pregnant I can honestly say is quite different this time around. For example last time I ate all day and slept in until Noon, this time I have a 2 year old waking me up at 7am every morning and stealing half of the food off my plate. Hasn't anyone taught him that you DO NOT steal food from a pregnant lady!? Its dangerous as your hand may be bitten. I don't think I have ever felt so exhausted in my life as I have in the past 3 months. I literally NEED a nap every day by Noon or I am dragging myself around the house, and since Little Man had stopped napping its been even worse, but I have managed to get myself passed the last draining 3 months. I just can't believe that I am showing ALREADY! I had my second Doctor's appointment last week and when I went in and stepped on the scale for the second time in three months I was TERRIFIED! This Ninja can evade a lot of things, but I have NEVER been good at avoiding the dreaded numbers on the scale. When I was pregnant with Little Man I gained 10 pounds in the first 3 months so I was expecting the same this time around. I took my shoes and coat off and stepped on the scale and clinched my eyes closed. I almost didn't want to know, Since I haven't lost the pregnancy weight from Little Man I was just really scared what I would weigh by the end of this pregnancy. Before I got pregnant with Little Man I was 135lbs. The Day I gave birth to Little Man I Was 200lbs... you do the math... not good. The first appointment after I got pregnant for the second time I was STILL 170lbs. Well, at 3 months pregnant this time I am actually down a pound to 169lbs. Weird. I kinda panicked then too because I didn`t understand why I was losing weight, I wasn`t trying to! And I certainly was eating more than enough! The Doctor assured me that it was normal that not only was I showing so early but also normal that I lost weight as I am busier this time around and have to do a lot more than just eat and sleep... THANKS DR. YOU'RE TELLING ME! But I reveled in the idea that the gut that had appeared had NOTHING to do with weight gain and everything to do with the little life I am baking away in my belly! Thank Goodness...

Well, this would explain now to everyone why I have not had a date with the stairs in a while. I have been being extra careful so that I don't hurt my little Belly Bundle. In fact, I have been being so careful I might as well dress myself in caution tape and walk as slowly as possible. Even Little man has come up behind me and started pushing my fanny whilst saying "CUSE ME MOMMY.. HURRY HURRY HURRY!" Lol, pretty sad when your two year old gets irritated with your pace, shouldn't it be the other way around? Oh well.

I am sure I will have other stuff to write soon. Since I am no longer restricted by what I can and can't say online anymore.. YAY!

Blood, Nausea, And Insanity

Ok, so it's been a while since I last wrote. I know! And I LOVE to write. I think I am just having a case of writer's block because I never have any idea what to write about.

Today Little Man, Daddy and I Went to the park to go out and enjoy this beautiful weather! It's so gorgeous today! In fact, we got home not too long ago and I am now making lunch as I type this.

Today Little Man managed to give me some more "white hair". I was in the kitchen getting the stuff ready to cook lunch when he walked up to me and said "Mommy Owie" I was thinking he was referring to the scab on his big toe that he has been telling me about for the past few days.. so I said, "I know Hunny, it will heal soon!" and looked down... and there was blood everywhere! I think my heart stopped for a second because it literally looked like a murder scene in my kitchen and I was beginning to think that he somehow cut his toe off.. I couldn't see anything passed all the blood.. so I very calmly went to the bathroom and got a face cloth and cleaned up what I hoped was still his toe... Now, there really is nothing he could have gotten into that could have cut his toe off, but in that moment and in my mind that's what was happening. I cleaned the blood of his toe and sure enough he had just ripped the scab off when he was playing with his blocks or something. He was brave.. I was calm on the outside and screaming on the inside. We got a nice bandage on there and he said thank you and off he went.

I am STILL screaming on the inside.

Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!

Welcome back to "Little Man's Funny Quote Fridays!" Today's is rather simple, but it made me smile.

Little Man looked at me and said:

"Mommy I have a pecker"

Yes Little Man, Yes you do. Thanks for reminding me... now eat your lunch.