hello there!

So its been a while i guess, whats new.... well my daughter will be 7 at the end of this month! i can not believe i will have a 7 year old!!, these 7 years have flown by like crazy, it just amazes me.

My 18 month old is keeping me busy busy busy! he is always on the go and wants to climb and jump off of everything and can now open doors! as his doctor would say.. i'm in trouble with him.  his vocabulary is amazing, not only is he just picking up on every word said daily but he is saying so many complete sentences, one thing he says that i am very proud of because it did not even take any working on with him is Thank you, you hand him something he say's thank you or if you do something for him, it is to cute!

i have been getting back in to photography, i have missed it.  The last day we had decent weather i strapped Jackson to my back and went to the park and just got pictures of everything i could, it was nice and relaxing. Every few minutes i would here Jackson say "whats that?" i just really enjoyed that day.

lets see.. i am now canning home made foods, so far i have made cranberry sauce and juice and strawberry jam, i love it! its fun and i like having fresh home made items on hand. i hope to get in to soups and what not soon.

i am also making Adeline a quilt for Christmas or her birthday, i have not decided which one yet since they are 2 days apart, i hope it turns out ok, i also have to finish crocheting Lenny's and Jackson's afghans.  i also made a sock monkey's for Jackson and Adeline.  Jackson loves monkey's and Adeline use too so i just decided to make her one too.

i have been making a lot more things at home to not only safe money but i like knowing whats in my food.  iv been making home made bread, granola bars and some other snack foods for the kids. i really enjoy baking, i just do not have the time i use too so i end up running my self in to the ground half the time trying to do all of this.

Last night i made a dinner Lenny wants daily, Portobello "French Dips" and i must say they were amazing! and super easy and they will be made often, since going vegan i have not found a good filling sandwich and i think that one was it! well i must go for now. i leave you with some pictures i have taken over the past few weeks!

Homemade Graham Crackers

So these are by far Jackson's favorite snack and since he is teething they are helping with that since they are a little tough but once he gets a bite  they are easy to chew.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, chilled & cubed (non dairy for me)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. 2. In a food processor or mixer combine the first 6 ingredients.
3. 3. Add cubed and chilled butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
4. 4. Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines.
5. 5. Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of parchment paper.
6. 6. Roll dough out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes.
7. 7. Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
8. 8. Cool and serve.
9. To Freeze: After step 6, place the cut out cookie shapes on a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove, place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 4 months. When ready to bake, follow steps 7-8, adding an additional 1-2 minutes baking time.

Also if you want chocolate flavor ones ( which Adeline and my husband likes) just add 1/2 cup unsweetened coco powder, i did add a little more honey and water and butter because it seemed a little dry.

Enjoy!

Sweet corn coup with peaches and Coconut oil biscuts

i made this for dinner tonight and Lenny said it was the best meal i have ever made.

Soup Ingredients:

• 6 ears of sweet corn, husked ( i actually used frozen corn kernels) 
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups of water
• 1 tbsp white miso paste
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• pinch cayenne
• 3 ripe peaches
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 12 basil leaves, sliced

Directions: 

(If using ears of corn)With a sharp, heavy knife, cut kernels from corn cobs and place cobs and kernels in a soup pot.  Add broth, water, miso, onion, garlic, and cayenne.  Peel, pit and finely chop 2 of the peaches and add to the pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until corn and peaches are very tender, about 30 minutes.

(is using cobs) Use tongs to remove and discard corn cobs; cool soup to room temp.  Puree half of the soup in a blender and return to pot.  Stir in almond mil. To serve soup hot, reheat gently over med. heat,  stirring frequently; do not allow to boil.  To serve cold, refrigerate until chilled.

Halve, pit and dice remaining peach; ladle soup into bowls and garnish with peach and basil.

Coconut oil biscuits ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 cup solid refined coconut oil

3/4 cup canned light coconut milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Cut in coconut oil with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in coconut milk just until a dough forms. Pat together and flatten on a lightly floured work surface to a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick.  Cut into 12 squares and arrange on the prepared baking sheet, about 1/2 inches apart.  Bake until golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes.  cool slightly before serving.

Enjoy!!

Vegan Blueberry Muffins!

My son LOVES blueberries  so i have been trying to think of other ways to give them to him and i found this recipe which is perfect because he can not have dairy, not because of our beliefs but for medical/health reasons and he loves them as do my Daughter and I!

• 1/4 cup vegan margarine (soy or regular) 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup soy milk ( i just used almond because we really don't buy soy milk)
• 2 cups frozen blueberries

• Preheat your oven to 350
• Line your muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray
• Mix all ingredients together until moistened
• Divide all batter evenly among the muffin cups, each should be 3/4 full
• Bake foe 35 min or until the tops are firm
• cool on wire rack

Enjoy! i might make this with peaches or raspberries next time!

Way over due to post something!

not that any one reads this because i have not shared this with people yet and i do it for my own sanity but a lot has happened since my last post!

Lets see......at the end of July i got to take the kids to Pasadena, Ca! my wonderful grandmother was kind enough to fly me and the kids out to see her for 9 days! which i really needed, i miss my family that i'm close too and my grandmother means the world to me and what was even more exciting is that my aunt just had her baby the day before i got there so i got to see her and she is such a doll! now my flight there and home was interesting to say the lest and to travel a lone with a 6 yr old and a 1 yr old makes me crazy enough but our unplanned adventure was the cherry on top of that crazy sundae.

Adeline started 1st grade!!!! she was so excited and is doing well, i can not believe how much she has grown.

I am still trying to do the organize thing, i FINALLY made a month's worth of dinners and a complete shopping list for everything i will need, it only took 3 days but ya know that is not what matters! i am horrible at sticking to our budget and seeing as how its my job to do the food shopping i needed to do something so i hope i can keep it up.

tonights dinner will be:

Pasta with lemon, olives and basil

1 lb of pasta
1 lemon, grated zest of
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 cup chopped basil
salt and ground black pepper

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to packaging instructions.  While pasta cooks, whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, olives, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When pasta is done, drain but to not rinse.  Add hot pasta to lemon juice mix and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.


Enjoy!

Lentil soup w/ ribbons of kale

so of course i suck at taking pictures of my dinners, but here is the recipe for what i made last night! my husband said this was the best soup i have made so far!

Ingredients 

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 lg yellow onion, chopped
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils, rinsed
• 6 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp tamari or other soy sauce
• salt & black pepper
• 4 or 5 large kale leaves, stems removed

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large sauce pan over med. heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic, cover and cook until softened, 8 to 10 mins.

2. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, add the lentils, stock and tamari; cover and cook on low for 8 hours season with salt and pepper

3. Meanwhile, or beforehand tightly toll kale leaves up like a cigar and cut them crosswise in to thin ribbons.  Cook the kale in the pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 5 mins. and add to the soup when ready to serve.

serves 6

Enjoy!

Sign Language

So with the help of my mom i tried teaching Adeline sign language when she was a baby  but all my mom ever water to teach her was candy, cookie, yes  & no so we did not get very far on that.  Since iv had jackson i have water to teach it to him but it has been put off and recently i learned that the local library has a baby story time with sing language session and i started taking him to those and i love it.  He gets to play with other babies and i get to learn new things to to try and sing to Jackson to communicate with him.  Adeline has also shown a big interest in it so that makes me happy too!  She told me at lunch today after we came home from our story time at the library that we all need to sign more around the house.  Right now we are working on milk, pacifier, "where is", ball, blanket, juice, mommy, daddy, & eat.  I have always thrown in yes and no because since i can remember my grandma and mom have used it with me.  i am really excited and i hope he starts picking up on some of it.  well i should go! bye!

Recipe Time!!!

So i suck and do not have a picture at the moment but i wanted to share my husbands and i favorite recipe, its quick and yummy and i came up with it ( well i think did, i have not seen it in a book or online yet so its mine!)

Ingredients 

• Any kind of good bread, we like pumpernickel 
•  Avocado, sliced
• Tomatos, sliced
• Kale
• Cucumber
• Vegenaise or Hummus

Now when making your sandwich you can either toast the bread or leave it as it, we like it toasted, then spread your dressing of chose, add some kale, avocado, tomato, and the cucumber and enjoy! i never get tired of these, we typically always have all of the above as it is so that helps and it is so easy to make.  i will try to add a picture soon!

Portabella Chimichanga's

So i have been wanting some good mexican food, which has been hard to come by being vegan in my opinion, iv never been a fan of just beans and rice and most of the other tasty foods have meat and cheese in them so i texted my hubby yesterday telling him i could go for some amazing mexican food and he bring up portabella chimichanga's and said if i went and picked it all up he would cook.  

So i go get it all come home and he starts to cook.  Let me be the first to say it was AMAZING! he sautéed portabella's, kale, onion, and red peppers.  stuffed it all in a large tortilla and fried it.  for toppings we had home made guacamole, salsa, non dairy sour cream and non dairy cheese and of course as sides we had beans and rice. i wish i would have taken a picture of this and knew all the steps to how he made it so i could post them but i do not. well my son is trying to toss DVD's at me so i must go! until next time! bye!

everyone loves free stuff!!

So if you are anything like me you always have a use for a good size bag/tote.  head on over to https://www.facebook.com/pages/DiYA-USA-Corporation/419014264817323?sk=app_190322544333196  like their page and add your info to get one of DiYA's super cute free totes! i can not wait to get mine!

Getting organized!

i will be the first to admit i suck at organization and keeping a good schedule of menus and cleaning to make my life easier (and that does not mean do not clean i just end up doing it all in one day and feel very overwhelmed), I try so hard to simplify my life but it never works. the one thing i have really been working hard on is dedicating certain days to cleaning so I'm not spending my whole day trying to deep clean the house, spend time with my family and relax some.  When i start to clean it typically has to be done in between naps, 1. because as much as i try to avoid chemicals in my house there are just some things that need bleach and  i don't like my kids around the few chemicals i do use, and 2. my son is very attached which means i really do not get much done when he is up so my window to clean is very little which leaves me over whelmed  and exhausted by the time I'm done.  I will admit i stole the idea from here http://tipsandpix.com/?p=76 and changed it up a bit to help do the things i do around my house and may i say it has helped so much! and so far i have stayed pretty much on track with it all.  The next thing i have been doing is making designated places for things, sounds silly i know but there are some things that no matter how hard we try not losing it we lose it, like my daughters elbow pads, they would get miss placed so much and it would drive me nuts so i made a special bag  ( used just one of those reusable bags from the grocery store) put all of the "out door" activity type things like her bike helmet, elbow and knee pads, bubbles, chalk, jump ropes and so on in there and stuck it in the closet in the laundry room and now she can just grab what she wants and go have fun instead of having to search all over the house and having to wait for me to have time to find it if she could not. I also have a "craft" box, its nothing special or big, just random stickers, buttons, glue and stuff for my daughter to grab if she wants to make something.  i also have a dedicated place for our winter items, half of the time we come in take off our gloves and hats and some times they would get tossed were ever ( I'm just as guilty) and then on those super cold days some one can not find their glove or hat. so now the minute we get home they go in their place.  Simple  and common sense things i know but they are just things that iv always thought about but in the rush of doing things and I'm sure my ADD does not help, it has made things so much nicer.  My next goal will be making my grocery shopping easier,  some how some way i always over shop and end up getting home and staring in to my fridge for who knows how long having no clue what to make, i have been doing better at getting recipes together before i go but some how i am still failing at this! one thing i have learned is if i want to attempt shopping 1 child has to stay home.  there is just to much that goes on and my mind turns to mush.  I'm also still getting use to vegan dish's, i was vegetarian years ago and had no issues finding good recipes but this vegan thing has been a challenge! I'm use to whipping up a meal in minutes and some of these take time and I'm not always as prepared as i would like to be.  I hope to start sharing some of my recipes i have been cooking on here. Last night i made tofu lasagna and it is so good and a family favorite, you would never know its vegan! well i need  to go , i have diapers to wash and dish's that need to be put away. Happy Monday everyone!

Action Jackson

  This is my wild child Jackson, he just turned one at the end of May

He has many names - Action Jackson, because he is always on the move, The Little Tornado, because while on the move he destroys everything in his path, and Apple Jacks, well just because its cute. 

Many days you will find him doing this:

He is a mama's boy,  not many people can hold him, my husband included and if he is having a good day and you do get to hold him i have to pretty much be right there just incase he quickly changes his mind and if i attempt to oh go in to another room of the house or to the store you will see something along the lines of this 

but the minute i pick him up he goes back to 

(yes i know not the exact same days but i don't always have my camera going!)

He is the sweetest baby, and a stink butt at the same time. He always keeps me on my toes and i love watching him grow and learn. i love the look he gets when he figures something new out.  He is an explorer and you can tell he is always finding new things to get in to.  He is also a dare devil, we bought him a walker for christmas and instead and walking in it he decided to do this

the pillows and what not were originally there to block the tv because he would play with all the buttons on everything but that did not stop him and when the walker was placed other places he would still try and balance on it so the walker is now put away...he would also try and balance on may other things.  It is always an adventure with Jackson! 

Time has flown by and i can not believe how much he has grown in a year!

He loves to talk from baby babble to saying dada, mama, dog, duck, banana, adeline (not full on but close!) and many more, he loves to yell at the dog when she barks.  I love being a mom, i love watching my kids grow and figure out the world around them. 

Well i have things to do other then sit here on the computer.

bye for now!

They never said parenting was easy

So before i start let me be the first to say i was never one of those "oh let me by a book to tell me how to parent" parent's.  Parenting is not something you can learn out of a book, if they made it that easy we would all be perfect people with no issues.  Any ways.... I love my daughter to death, i would not trade her for anything but sometimes she has me wanting to pull my hair out while screaming! So when  i get asked how old Adeline is i typically say 6 going on 16. She can be so sweet and loving and a touch of wild child and then we get her 16 yr old side of attitude, disrespect and just down right does not listen to us no matter what.  We have always been big on if we say you are in time out or grounded then thats it, no giving in and we have a set of house rules that Everyone follows (because adults should be held accountable for their actions too and it helps show that no one can act up) and we stick to it, also if we take away something she loves to try and teach her that how she acted was highly inappropriate , she just does not get it back because she acted good later that day she has to earn it back. We do not let our kids walk all over us and i am not afraid to use grounding and time out and if she acts up in a store i do not hand her toys to make her be quiet, that drives me crazy when i see parents giving in to a screaming brat of a child who is not getting their way.  i will take her out of the store or were ever we are at if she will not stop.  My child will treat people with respect and not act like spoiled brats.  Lately no matter what we say or do with Adeline it just does not seem to matter.  So my husband heard about this book

and i love it so far, i am not that far in to it but it describes everything we currently do (which is not working)  and helps us find a new way to handle the problem and the ways they talk about are just like "wow why have i not been doing that" and "that makes so much sense!" now this does not make you a bad parent (i kind of felt like crap at first) but if you are aware that your disciple is not working and you are trying to find a new way that will work then that just makes you a great parent and it means you care about how your child acts.  Even if you have that "perfect" never misbehaves (which I'm sorry every child has their moment, some just do not show up right away, my daughter did not have the "terrible 2s" until like she was 4 almost 5) i would still recommend this book. It is our jobs as parents to raise our children in to adults who one day will be able to provide and take care of them selfs and may some day have children of their own.  We need to teach them how to act, this is not something they know how to do the minute they come in to the world.  When children misbehave it is a refection on us as parents, some misbehave more then others, not every child is the same but there is a method for every child, you as the parent just have to find what works for you and when that stops working you have to find a new way.  I also think you need to start some sort of age appropriate disciple early.  I was reading of this one mothers  discussion web site on how they don't think 1 year olds understand what "NO" means so you don't need to have a serious tone in your voice when you say it because they won't understand.  Well guess what people children, even 1 year olds are smart as hell and are little sponges and understand more then you think they do.  Jackson learned what no meant very early on, once he was on the move we made sure he knew "NO" meant do not do or touch.  You are not horrible for telling your 1 year old no, it means you care and do not want them to get hurt, and it will not traumatize them and put them on intervention when they get older because you started making sure they knew right from wrong at an early age.  One day when they have kids they will thank you.   I could go on and on about this, yes they are children and this is the time for them to have fun and explore and learn but you also have to be a parent  before a friend and a child knows when they can walk all over you and personally if you allow them to do that they will not have a great future ahead of them when they grown up. Well I need to get some stuff done while Jackson naps so i am off for now!

What a busy couple months it has been! i think i am still adjusting to having two kids, i feel like I'm always on the go! (and losing my mind) lest see what has been going on....my oldest graduated kindergarden! she did so well in her first year of school, it has been so exciting to watch her grow and learn and since i stay home i got to be very involved in her school which i loved. My son turned one last month!!!(more on that later) for a kid who refused to roll over and have tummy time and crawled for like a second started walking/running about 2 months ago! he is so fast its crazy. and he gets in to EVERYTHING! and is a dare devil. we got him a walker for Christmas and he would not walking it but he would stand on the edge of it and balance on one foot.. the words he has learned over the months are: dada, mama, dog, duck, nana (banana) he tries so hard to say his sisters name, no, and what. he just started clapping! and he loves to clap, he will walk all around the house and just clap at random times. He also waves and gives hugs. It is awesome to watch him grow.  I got to experiance something called hand, foot and mouth disease and i will say this, i never want to see that again! i know there is worse out there but for me that is the worse we have had with 2 kids and luckily only one got it and we just happen to be going on vacation to Disney World a week before Jackson got it and luckily it cleared up like a day before we left but now he is peeling so bad! i think i am holding off on his one year pictures until he heals more..while we were at Disney Action Jackson turned 1! man this year went by fast.  We spent 6 days in the beautiful state of Florida. i just love Florida, yes it gets hot but its not humid and seeing as how I' an from the west coast who was first to move to the mid west i hate humidity! and snow.... and in Florida you can go in the shade and cool off, its nice.  We stayed at Bay Lake Towers, our home resort and i just loved it there.  It is right next door to the Magic Kingdom and if you wanted to you could watch the fire works from their location.  i was pregnant last year when we went so i made sure i rode a lot of rides this time, even if it was alone!

When we cam home Adeline and I got this 24 hour stomach bug which for a minute there i thought i was going to die and it stayed with me longer then 24 hours. i could not hold anything down for the first day but after that i just felt like i was hit by a truck for like a week.   my daughter has her dance recital coming up Saturday, I'm so excited to see how she does. we are in a new dance studio and i love them.  i am not sure if she will stick with ballet but i told her we will talk more after this recital is over. iv always told her we do not quick something just because it is hard or we just don't like it anymore we finish it and if she chooses to not want to do it again when the season picks back up then thats fine but she will take part in something, whether it be sports..dance, girl scouts or something but we don't just quit just because.

Adeline FINALLY lost her first tooth! we had a dentist appt. today and even her dentist said it was the most stubborn tooth they have ever seen.  The thing was like barley hanging on and it would not come out for anything, they even tried to get it out and it would not budge and a couple hours later she ran out of the bath room and yelled " my tooth fell out!!!!" now...luckily her school had a dentist in and he made a comment that "sometimes" the tooth fairy can not make it the same night because she has so many teeth to pick up that it "sometimes" takes 2 days to get your $ and I'm glad he did because my husband did not have time ti run by a bank after work, he wants to get silver dollars to have the tooth fairy give her.  It is a big deal to finally have a tooth come out in this house, she was pretty much the last kid in her class to get a lose tooth right before school ended.

Speaking of teeth, Jackson FINALLY has to more teeth coming in! his top ones broke though. so now we have four!!!

My insurance sucks,  they will not approve my meds that i really need for my sleep  issues and now we are looking in to other options because what i am on sucks.  I do not understand how an insurance company wants to help you with your health needs and is looking out for you and whats to do whats right but won't give someone they truly depend on to live a some what "normal" life.

I'm trying to get more crafty, i love making things but just do not have the time even though i stay home, most of my time home is cleaning and spending time with my kids and cleaning.. We cloth diaper and some day i would looooove to make some of my own. i have many ideas for things i want to do.  I would also love to get back in to cake decorating but i just do not have enough time in the day to work on one, a lot of work goes in to cake decorating and it can not be rushed. I'm also trying to find new ways to organize, as OCD as i am i suck at organizing and its driving me crazy!  i am also trying to dedicate different days to cleaning the house so i do not get over whelmed and have to much on my plate at once.  We will see how it goes.

I also have been trying to put more time in to my cooking, i love to cook but going vegan has been a challenge for new recipes because they seem to take a lot of time and thinking ahead (which i try to do but suck at) and when i worked i was use to quick but tasty meals so tonight i made Vegan cinnamon banana pancakes with home fries and fresh cut up fruit and two night ago i made stuffed  fake"chicken"  with roused carrots ad zucchini and kale chips.  I have been trying to attest plan my meals a week in advance but i do great for like the first week and then go down hill so we will see how i do.  well i need to get to bed, 6 am comes to early! until next time!

Yesterday was a hard day

so yesterday my Hypersomnia hit me hard, i dreaded driving anywhere and just could not get myself motivated to do anything i was so tired and i almost broke down and i cried a couple times. In the 6 years i have been diagnosed with this i never looked in to a support group, why i have no clue. so i did some research last night and realized there is not one here in missouri but there are ones in other states so i might just join their message boards just so i can be somewhere were someone understands what I'm going though.  I hate my insurance, there was one medicine that worked great, i had little side effects and it lasted almost all day but other the years iv had to switch meds for either cost reasons or not having insurance at the time and when i got the insurance i have now i tried to get back on it and they were like well we don't offer that but take this instead and it so happen to be some meds that gave me horrible head aches and made me sick so my doctor wrote them a letter stating i have fred everything under the sun and that i really need this medicine to function and they still turned me down, they said they care about the health and well being of their clients but they just can not approve this medicine and that just really upsets me, how can they deny someone something they need to function everyday and feel like they have some what of a normal life? so i went back on a medicine that i knew did not make me sick but it really does not do much for me and i hate it.  i really just want to feel normal for one day and on this medicine i do not, as i sit here and type this i am fighting to not close my eyes and fall asleep.  coffee does not work and i can drink a whole case of monster energy drinks and it will not do a damn thing and i hate it. i hate feeling tired 24 hours a day, i hate not feeling like i can't do anything because I'm tired, i just hate everything about this and i keep hoping i will wake up one day and everything will be different but i know it won't be. i feel bad for my kids because as hard as i try i do not have the energy it takes to keep up with them and play.  It is really hard to read my daughter books before bed and i feel horrible because she does not understand.  well i will stop complaining for now.. i hope very one has a great day!

Where has the time gone!

I know when you have kids time goes by fast but man it goes by even faster when you have more then one!  My son is officially on the move! he went from doing his own this like sliding backwards on his tummy and sitting up to stretch out to reach for stuff to a full blown crawler and he now also holds on to the sofa and will pretty much cruise around from one pice of furniture to the next! i know every baby works at their own pace and to be honest i never thought this day would come because he did find he own unique way to move around and it made him happy so it made me happy! i figured he was just going to skip crawling and go right to walking and i still think walking is around the corner with how he moves when he holds on to things.  my oldest did not crawl much either, she rolled everywhere, it was amazing to see how quickly she would roll to get places.  To top off the "milestone" marks he has two, yes i said TWO teeth coming in! i feel like we have been teething for ever and his doctor even joked that she promised he would have teeth by kindergarden.  but with these two teeth he has also been more clingy i guess from the pain, which don't get me wrong i love that he is a mama's boy but it has been hard this week.  He typically has no issues with his dad (if i am home and in his sight and is ok sometimes when i leave..., remember when i said if you look up mama's boy his picture would be there?) One night when my husband came home i was making dinner so i asked him if he could feed Jackson and when he went to go do so Jackson just started screaming, i figured he wanted something other then pureed food so i told DH to go get him a cracker see if that helps until i get some veggis steamed for him, well he threw that on the ground so i thought maybe he needs his diaper changed so when DH went to go do that Jackson was screaming bloody murder the whole time so i go back there to help calm him down, my husband hands him to me and he stops like nothing happened, i try to hand him back to finish dinner and he holds on to me for dear life and will not go to my husband ( and i feel so bad for DH at this point) so at that point my husband finish dinner but Jackson is so afraid i will leave he wont even sit in his high chair to eat and i have to feed him on my lap...so we move to the next day... i go to lay him down for a nap and i actually had to keep my hand on him to fall asleep ( i use to have to do this when he was a new born) because the minute i would leave the room he would stand and start crying and do things to end up hurting him self and before i go any further i will say i am for CIO, it will not hurt a baby to cry and learn to self sooth but he was so worked up and he is new to this standing thing that he would start jumping as he was crying then fall back and hit his head or something else hard on his crib and i just could not let him keep that up, i'm for CIO but not when he is going to actually hurt him self because he is so upset.  well it is nap time for him and i have so much to clean up in the kitchen so good bye for now!

What is this sleep people speak of?

Now before i start i will tell you i do have some medical issues involving sleeping but i will go in to that some other time.  So my 9 month old has always had a hard time sleeping, i have not had a full night sleep  since my last couple months of my pregnancy.  He started out as a normal up every 3 hours to eat, then we were up a couple times a night, and then about  EVERY hour to two hours.  Around 6 months he was officially diagnosed with reflux and was put on meds (we waited that long to see if he would grow out of it and did not) then we had to work on getting him in to a "normal" routine and it has been hard because i think by that point he was use to being up all night.  So now here we are 9 months old and yes he has had some great nights but when he is sleeping good my 6 year old gets up for some reason or another, so if it is not him it is her and i officially think i'm a sleep deprived zombie. It does not help that i am already always tired due to a medical issue and i can not explain it but losing as much sleep as i do it makes me feel even worse and deep down i know getting a full nights sleep will not make one bit of difference in how i feel which kind of sucks but it feels like my meds do not help when i don't get sleep at night.  My sofa has become my best friend most nights, it was the only way i could sleep when i was at the end of my pregnancy (my mattress is hard as a rock and hurt to much) and now since i am up so much i do not want to wake my husband who does have to go to work in the morning even though his insist it does not bother him when i get up as much as i do with the kids, but if he cant work because he did not get any sleep then i feel bad so i just sleep out there any ways when i know its going to be a long night.  Then you get people who say " well why don't you sleep when he sleeps during the day?" well as hard as it is for me to not sleep if i do NOTHING will get done, it is the only time i can actually get thing sone around the house when he takes a nap, believe it or not us stay at home moms don't just sit and watch tv all day and do nothing.  Well that is all for now. I made some bakes kale chips that i am going to snack on before i go lay down.  Have a great night!

Hello!

I always told my self i would never blog but some people think it would be good for me so here we go. Today so far has been a great day and its only 11:54! did not have to many issues getting my daughter ready for school, we either have a great morning getting ready or a crazy me running around like a mad woman, my son crying because i'm not giving all my attention to him and its 5 minutes before the bus is here and my daughter is not even dressed and i start to yell "i will take you to school in what ever it is you have on if you don't get going!" So with a little help from me getting her dressed (because she started off a little slow) we made it out the door at a good time and everyone was happy. Then i went to the store to get stuff for dinner so my family would not starve because we had nothing to eat and my son flirted with all the women that walked by and smiled at him, he loves the attention. Now we fast forward to lunch time were he is next to me eating steamed chunks of squash, steamed peas and bite size pieces of grapes. I make my baby food and try as much as i can to not buy it but it has had to be done when we are going out for the whole day, its just easier that way. The boy loves his food and will eat anything you put in front of him, he does not let him having no teeth get in the way of that.  After lunch i plan on actually doing some major baby proofing, not that i have not, i put up a lot a long time ago and we have had a gate up for a while and the electrical outlets covered and stuff like that but he was not much of a mover until recently, he has pretty much just been happy doing his thing and not to concerned about whats going on around him but recently he has found his own way to get around the living room with out crawling and rolling, he HATES rolling( i have been lucky so far that he does not care about the rest of the house) he kind of slides on his belly backwards and sits up and stretches to grab stuff, but last night he actually crawled forward! so today i am just double checking everything, making sure my daughters smaller things are up and in her room and that kind of thing.. she has always been good about keeping her small things away from his reach but it wont be long until he knows there is more to the house then the living room and if its one thing i have learned after having my daughter is if a baby wants something he will find a way to get it no matter what! well i guess i will go for now...i do not want to turn this first post in to a book. until next time!