Business as Usual

I finally got rid of the baby sex poll I had on the right. I put it up 13 months ago. Which means the Peanut being 13 months old. We still call him the Peanut or the baby a lot. The husband also likes to call him the Fuss, especially if he makes a fussy peep. El Jefe never caught on. I was thinking of calling him El Campeon on this blog (the Champion), which is what one of my relatives calls him every time she sees him.

We've been making and experimenting with pizzas a lot. Before El Campeon was born, we had one pizza recipe and never dared change it. Our pizzas used to be piled high with onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. But now we are going simpler. We are perfecting a basil pizza that simply has a tiny amount of Prego sauce, a can of crushed tomatoes (drained), and lots of basil. We keep forgetting to put garlic on the pizza, so that's our next experiment. And I recently discovered roasted, crushed canned tomatoes which added nice flavor to a pasta sauce recipe. The crust is usually Boboli or whatever premade (fresh or frozen) crust I can find. In the past we used to buy the Trader Joe's pizza dough you would roll out yourself, but nowadays, the extra 5 minutes and flour mess might not be worth it. But then again, most premade crusts are too thick for me so maybe over the weekend we can try a Trader Joe's pizza dough ball. Oh, and we always use the mozzarella balls, sliced, instead of the shredded mozzarella. There's a huge difference in flavor and texture.

As a teaser...we are thinking about a puppy... Stay tuned for more.

The Last Post of 2009

We had a great Christmas. El Jefe got loads of presents and while he didn't care much for opening them, but has really enjoyed playing with them.

I made prime rib for Christmas dinner and although it took a lot longer to cook than I anticipated and I wasn't happy with the rub nor the au jus, everyone else seemed quite pleased with the way it turned out. Oh, and El Jefe slept through the night on Christmas night. We were planning on repeating the gift opening the next day so he would sleep well again, but then I realized that I had actually had a couple of glasses of wine with Christmas dinner, and that was probably the reason he slept so well.

This year the husband and I gave each other an "experience" gift and we went out on a date! It was fun. We had a sushi lunch and saw Avatar in Imax 3D. The movie was good. I would definitely recommend it. It had some great themes and messages in it and it definitely made me think about the environment and our impact on it. I hope we manage to keep the earth habitable for at least my son's lifetime.

I had a great 2009 with it's ups and downs. But in the big picture, my ups were definitely a lot more plentiful than the downs, so I am blessed in that regard. I hope 2010 turns out just as great, or better!!

Pictures coming in 2010!

Musings

I haven't posted in forever. That seems to be the general theme of my blog. Whatever. Been busy. Life is pretty good. El Jefe still doesn't sleep through the night. We don't want to do a "cry it out" sleep training method, but everything else requires more time and patience, and it's hard to stick to a plan in the middle of the night, when you are up for the 4th time. It's much easier to stick him on the breast and fall asleep next to him. When we wean El Jefe from breastmilk to cow's milk, it will probably be easier, because he'll be waking up to a sippy cup instead of the breast.

At the same time, I kind of enjoy cuddling next to El Jefe. It's like our quiet, peaceful bonding time.

Someone asked me what was surprising about becoming a parent. My first response was the time it takes. Wow. I'm mourning the loss of most of my hobbies (have kind of been playing soccer), but I'll always have time for scrapbooking and cardmaking. My time with an infant at home is limited. And most of the mom's I meet who are scrapbooking are already grandma's or have children who sleep through the night or have family nearby to care for the little ones while they indulge in crafts.

The second most shocking thing about becoming a parent was the love you feel for your child. Amazing. And for us it wasn't an instant love, it took time. In the beginning, we were more in provider mode, meeting the baby's needs. Now, it's just amazing. I've had glimpses of these profound love...towards my husband, towards my parents in their unconditional love. But the love you have for your child is really beyond description.

Being sane when you have a baby can be hard. I'll blame mommy-brain on the fact that all week I thought the freezing temperature was 42 degrees F, not 32. The husband and I sometimes have trouble seeing the big picture and we get caught up in the little things over which we disagree. But over the weekend, the husband said something profound to keep things in perspective: we have our health and a beautiful son, let's not get caught up in the little things and be grateful for what we have; hings could be a lot worse and this will probably be the easiest we'll have it.

Maybe from now on I'll stop commenting on how I never post and just blog when I can. And hopefully you guys will just keep coming back when you can.

Had A Great Weekend

Husband's birthday. Ice cream cake. Dinner with friends. Football watching (does it snow in TN??). Soccer playing. Couch shopping. Made chili. Slept in. Picnic in the park. Only 4 more days till the next weekend!

Dear Loyal Followers,

I am alive. Just busy. But know that I think of you guys every day. Well, not each one of you individually, but all of you, as a collection.

Anyway, just busy with work and being a mom. So you want to know what my typical day is like?

5:30 am - Husband goes to work and I typically am half awake (I'm a sensitive sleeper).

7 am - typical wake up time for El Jefe; if we're lucky, like we have been the last week, he'll either sleep through the night or only wake up 1 or 2 times.

7 - 8 am - keep him in bed with me as long as possible (usually 5-15 minutes), but this usually happens if he wakes up around 6 am, breastfeeds, and then goes back to sleep in bed with me; diaper change; clothing change (?); play with kitties; chase the El Jefe around the living room; MAYBE try to get a load of laundry going; or make the bed (a significant achievement, trust me).

8:30 am - feed the kitties, El Jefe, and me.

8:50 am - do a second attempt at feeding El Jefe, if he didn't finish his food the first time around.

9 am - shower; put El Jefe in the bassinet or in his exersaucer; get ready for work.

9:30 am - breastfeed El Jefe; sometimes he'll fall asleep.

10 am - nanny arrives, tell her what's going on; last few minutes of cuddle time if El Jefe is awake.

10:30 am - 6:30 pm - relax, eat, pump, relax, pump; OR work; actually, work has been quite hectic lately so it hasn't been relaxing.

7 - 10 pm - arrive home; breastfeed El Jefe; (make?) eat dinner; wash pump dishes; play with El Jefe; breastfeed El Jefe, bathe him, feed him, he sacks, maybe watch a little bit of a movie or try to do some stuff on the computer; go to sleep.

On days I'm lucky or work is slow, then I go home around 6 pm and get a little bit more time to do other stuff, like meet up with a friend, go for a walk, go to the store with El Jefe. But generally, that's it. That's life right now. And we are loving it.

Kitties, Here I Come

Thank God

For the past 6 month, my brother has been in jail on DUI charges. At 1:11 am this morning, I got the call from him that he was out. The Peanut and I are about to fly south to see him. I can't wait.