Dear Trick-or-treaters…

Happy Halloween…..

pumpkin

 

I apologize in advance for eating all the good candy and leaving behind only Junior Mints….

Truely…I ate most of those too.

How to keep your baby busy while you cook…

Really Mom?

Okay....I'm going to grab one...

Oh....they are fun to bang together....can I get more out?

Oh ~ this is sooo fun!!

Peek

a ~ boo!

What cha’ reading?

My current reading material that I plan to finish in the month of November…..

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (I dislike this title, but the book is good).

The Red Tent

The Bible (I am in the book of Judges)

My favorite place to find coupon match ups……for Michiganders!

Hands down my favorite go to spot for coupon match ups is…….drumroll………..

Bargins to Bounty

This site makes matching coupons to the current sales easy, peasy! Not only does it match everything up, it shows you which inserts the coupons can be found in and also where you can print off coupons you don’t have.

Doesn’t get any easier then that!

 

Silly face is in his crib….and my arms feel empty.

Oh my dear sweet silly face has moved from our bed to his crib.

Dear Sweet Silly Face!

I’d love to say he did so without a peep, instead I will say he did so with just a small amount of peeping.

I miss my little co-sleeper.  Yes, we co-slept with our baby (que the disapproving looks and gasps).  I was convinced that moving him to his crib would render me useless due to lack of sleep as he cried through the night.  On the contrary I am more rested now then I have been in months!  Laaaaaaaaaaaa!

It took only two nights for him to sleep in his crib without complaint.  The first night I nursed him to sleep and then moved him to his crib.  He woke up and began crying.  I decided to give him a little cry time and if he didn’t quiet I would go in and love on him and try again.  However, his cry was one of complete terror and I went in and got him within minutes.  He had a wet diaper.  After I changed him it took him several minutes to calm down.  I felt terrible for the little guy and started to second guess my decision to move him into his own bed.  So instead of him sleeping in his crib and me in my bed we spent the night sleeping on the couch.

Night two.  I had trepidations about trying to put him down in his crib again, but since my hubby was convinced we were going to squash him I knew I had to try.  I started the putting down process with a fun bath.  Then I dressed him in comfy jammies, a fresh diaper and let him burn off some energy with fun playtime!  He let me know when he was ready to nurse and relax for the evening.  I fed him and then I rocked him for a few minutes.  I finished the process of with a prayer and placed Milan in his crib.

Fun Play Time! Yes, cold air returns are fun!

He Cried.  My heart sank.  Still I crept out of the room….then I realized although he was crying it wasn’t the terror filled cry that he had the night before.  Next thing I knew he was not crying….he was sleeping.

And then….I was sleeping.  The first real sleep I have had in months.

It is now Day 3.  He is in his crib fast asleep and my arms are empty….

Times….they are a changing. I hope I can change with them.

I have deactivated my Facebook account for the span of 7 days.  If this brings about the desired change that I am seeking I may explore the idea of extending this deactivation.

 

In the midst of change……3

This is so true….Parents ~ your little ones are watching you…

“When you thought I wasn’t looking” –   by a Child

A message every parent should read, because your children are watching and doing as you do, not as you say:

“When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first
painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that little things can be the special things in life.

When you though I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don’t.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I felt you kiss me good night and I felt loved and safe.

When you though I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grew up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I needed to know to be good and productive person when I grew up.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.'”

Each of us – parent, grandparent or friend – influence the life of a child.

This is nice and full of positive examples, but we must be aware that our children are also watching every negative thing we say and do.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you come home from the bar and pass out on the couch.  So I learned that excessive drinking was what grown ups did.

When you thought I wasn’t listening, I heard you bad mouth my dad and call him a looser. So I learned that it was okay to talk bad about daddy.

When you thought I wasn’t listening, I heard you tell someone a secret I told you. So I learned not to tell you any more secrets.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you smoking behind the shed. So I learned it was okay to hide things from you.

When mommy wasn’t looking, you let me eat a candy bar before dinner and told me not to say anything.  Thank you for giving me permission to hide things from mommy.

When you hid the new clothes you bought in the closet and told me not to tell daddy or you would take my new toy away, I learned it was okay to hide things from daddy.  I also learned it was okay to hide things from my spouse when I grow up and have my own kids.  Two lessons in one.

You get the picture 🙂 Be wary ~ kids hear and see more than you think.

Potty Update

When I look back at Milan’s 10 week old photo of him sitting on his potty I CRACK up!  What a little cutie pants!

Pooping Rockstar

Mylan is now just under 9 months old and he is still using his potty.  It’s been a long time since he has pooped in it, but he does his pee pee in there several times per day.  He goes on his potty first thing in the morning and then every time he whines at me but isn’t wet.  He is in the habit of peeing and then trying to leap off his potty into my arms.  He then quickly squirms out of my arms to inspect the results.  This behavior is a good indication that he understands what his potty is for….Yay!  However, he still goes potty in his diaper about 75 percent of the time.  This is mainly my fault for not taking him to his potty more….sooooooo….

Milan on the potty at 8 months and counting

I have a new goal starting Monday to get him on the potty more often than not!  Update to follow….

In the midst of change….goal number 2.

In the midst of change….

Last night I found myself puzzled as I asked my husband, “What is going on with me?”  He answered me with his own version of the puzzled look and a “I have no idea, you have never EATEN this way.”

I am now a self-proclaimed sugar-a-holic!  If Jamie Oliver or Jillian Micheals saw my daily food menu they would punch me in the face and I would deserve it.  Right now  your probably thinking, “Oh, Misty you can’t be that bad….Oh, geez what’s the big deal, everyone needs to have a cookie now and then….a hershey kiss won’t kill you!  Your right, you are so very right!

If I had a cookie a day…..”a” cookie.

To give you an example of what is going on, here is what I scarfed down yesterday. Get ready to gasp while I burp.

I started my morning at 5 am with a cup of joe spiked with non-dairy creamer and 4 snickerdoodle cookies.

Then around 10ish, I had second breakfast.  I ate a slice of left over deep dish pizza.  After I gobbled down my pizza, I ate a cookie.  What’s one more cookie?

Then at lunch  I was only a little hungry, so I had a small bowl of left over beefy noodles, a slice of whole wheat bread with butter (we never even used to have butter in our home) and a chunk of cheese.

Then I had an apple  ~ belch! Yay, for fiber!

Next, I ate some dough that was left over from the apple muffins I was making.  I have a soft spot for dough, its called my muffin top.

Of course, I plucked one of those fresh from the oven apple muffins off the tray and then I tossed it down the hatch.  Don’t judge ~  I had to try one before I took them to the potluck.

At around 6:30 pm I found myself at a potluck for family night.  I had a belly ache….gee, I wonder why.

Here I had some baked beans, a slice of bread with butter and a chicken leg.

I was feeling better before bed, so I had  a slice of Nantucket Cranberry Pie….Oh Ree Drumond thank you for that recipe.

Wow, just typing this makes me sick!  Not only the amount of food, but also the amount of BAD FOOD!  I have never, ever in my entire life ate so much junk food.  I prefer non-junk (at least I used to).

I eat like this every single day and most days I wake up lighter than the day before.  I must burn a lot of calories making milk 🙂 Or I have a tape worm.  I suppose this is how I justify my new eating habits.   If I look healthy, then I must be healthy. Don’t we come from a society that basis ones health on size?  I am in the right weight range for my height, but I am not healthy.  The truth is I am the unhealthiest I have ever been in my entire life…with the exception of the few years I spent barfing, binging and starving. (another blog, another day)

Monday my sugar addiction ends.  I will not allow one grain of processed sugar to pass by my lips till Thanksgiving.

This will be my first change.

Old Blogs…..

I’ve had two other blogs besides this one.

If your just dying to read every blog post that I have ever written.

You can go here….http://brownbagbagels.blogspot.com/

and then go here….http://doing-things-differently.blogspot.com/

I’ve recently moved content here because I like the format of this blog host better.

Cheerio!