Book Club Pick

In the imaginary world where I have enough time to join a book club this book would probably be on my list of must reads.  It pretty much sums up how I feel each night (even if I'm embarrassed to admit it) and it looks ridiculously hilarious.

Go the F--k to Sleep, expresses bedtime frustration

Sticks and Stones...

May break my bones, but chains and whips excite me...

Just the newest little diddy that my son decided to pick up from the radio.  This is Rhianna's new song appropriately titled S&M.  He sings the entire chorus, but his favorite part seems to be "I like it, like it, c'mon, c'mon" which he now sings everywhere - all the time.

I guess I need to start listening to nursery rhymes or the classical station.

Slacker

Let's face it, I'm a slacker.  A slacker at blogging, at cleaning, hell even lately I'm slacking at watching T.V., my DVR hasn't been this full in months.  I'm sure that some of you notice that it has been a long time since I have complained about dealing with school work, well that's because I'm a graduate.  Yes it's true, 3 1/2 years and $70,000 later I got a small piece of paper in the mail saying I now have a Bachelor's Degree.  I dreamed of this time.  I thought about all of the things I could get accomplished when I didn't have to spend hours doing or complaining about homework.  Well the time has come and I have turned into a first class slacker.

I still clean the same amount I did before (just enough), I don't blog as much as I would like, and I sometimes feel that I don't even give as much attention to Mason as I should.  All of this so called "free time" I thought I would have is now consumed by going to bed at a decent hour (I didn't realize how much of my homework got done around 2 am) and reading.  Oh man have I been reading.  I discovered our wonderful local library and I have been going through about a book a day.  I know... nerd alert!  Well I think it is time to put down the books and get motivated.

It is time to face the facts that I need a J.O.B. bad.  I have a lot (a looottt) of student loans to pay off.  I don't want, or expect, my husband to pay these off since I am the one that made the (misguided) choice to go to the school I attended.  Leaving Mason is not going to happen.  I can't.  Literally I cannot imagine leaving my son to go to a job that would barely cover what I would have to pay the babysitter.  It just isn't worth it to me.  Since my options are basically limited to starring in internet porn or babysitting for another family I have decided to (obviously) become a babysitter.  Unless any of you have a better idea for how to make money from home without leaving my child that doesn't involve a scam or getting naked :)

This new venture isn't ideal, but it will hopefully allow me to earn enough to pay off my loans and stay home with Mason.  I'm sure it will take some adjusting to but it's better than the alternative. Let's just hope I find someone willing to let me watch their child while I have Mason and pay me lots too!

Hardest. Job. Ever.

I've done a lot of things that I have considered to be difficult, even at times thinking it was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do.  Oh if I only knew...

Waitressing at 16 while shy and completely clumsy. Hard.

Waitressing at 18 while shy and completely clumsy to stuck up Orange County people. Hard

Spending most of the first year of our marriage in different countries. Hard

Selling underwear and bras to stuck up people. Hard

Managing the people selling underwear to stuck up people. Hard

Selling underwear to men that think it is okay to try on a thong and show you (true story, sadly). Hard.

Selling underwear and working 45-50 hours a week while really fat and really pregnant. Hard.

Labor. Hard.

Breastfeeding. Hard.

Sleep Training a very strong willed toddler. Hardest. Job. Ever.

Lord help me if it gets worse than this.

Bye-bye Binky ???

Let me just start this tale by saying that I know that I should have taken away his binky (paci, pacifier, sucky, whatever you call it) a long time ago.  In fact we probably should have never even given it to him since he didn't really take to it until he was about 3 or 4 months old; but my God did the child learn to love that damn thing.  He would take it all day every day if I would let him, he even learned a way of holding it to the side of his mouth to talk around it and I've seen him hold it in his mouth during a sneeze.  They were the best of friends, which I think is why the last 3 weeks have been (mostly) pure hell.

I decided to take away the binky about 3 weeks ago now and for the first week we were golden.  The first night he asked for it and cried, but after that it wasn't mentioned again and he was going to bed like normal - awake and calming himself down into sleep.  Then the flip switched.  I don't know what happened but the child must have figured out that the binky was gone for good.  He would scream, cry, bang his head, and thrash around.  This was at nap time and bed time too.  I have actually been able to lift more weight at the gym and my arms are looking more toned and I didn't know why; then it dawned on me, having a WWE wrestling match with a 30 pound toddler for 30 minutes twice a day can build up some serious muscle.

I thought the worst of it was over, we were going to get through it and get him back to a normal bedtime and nap time routine.  Then came the after nap screaming fits.  I don't think I can effectively put into words how freakin insane these have been.  They have brought me to tears, made me yell (which in turn brought me to even more tears because I felt like a mean mommy), and lasted for two weeks now.  Mason will wake up after about 40 - 60 minutes of sleep, which isn't enough, and scream, yell, and thrash for an average of 30 minutes.  He doesn't want to rock, lay down, sit on the couch, or even eat.  It is draining.  I have managed to get the fits down to about 5-10 minutes but they still go on every day.  He is waking up in a fit of rage with no binky to calm him and has an attack.

Hopefully the worst of it is over and we can return to normal.  If I had known it would be like this I might have waited, but then he would end up one of those 5 year old kids walking into Kindergarten with a binky hanging out of his mouth.  Lesson of the day, listen to ALL of the books and Dr.'s that say take away the binky by a year or before, they may just know what they are talking about.

It's days like this...

It's days like this that make me realize what a great family I have.  Well technically it was yesterday, today's been a little more difficult :)

If you ever think you have a disobedient child and think there is no hope, take them to an amusement park.  We went to Sea World yesterday and Mason was one of the most polite and well behaved people there, young and old.  He said excuse me to a little boy who was holding up the line in the play area, said thank you to the man that gave us our lunch, and walked around like a big boy with no stroller! 

Every time I go to Sea World I am shocked by the number of odd, obese, or rude people.  I guess it brings out all types and I probably shouldn't judge since I can be odd, I used to be obese, and I can be rude without realizing it, oops!

Well since the dinner challenge is technically over (even though I was pretty much a failure toward the end) I won't be posting as much food but I did want to leave you with a few of the gems that I cooked in the past week.

Homemade Granola Bars

These are delicious and supposed to be for kids, but I ate most of the first batch so I had to make more for Mason!

2 cups oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar (calls for 3/4 cup, but I cut it down)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup honey (calls for 1/2 cup, but I cut it down again)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 apple, diced small

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 pan well with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Make a well in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients, including the apple.  Mix with hands until very well combined.  Press into pan.  Bake at 350 for30-35 minutes or until golden brown around edges.

Let cool for about 5 minutes then slice, if you wait too long they will become too hard.

Mushroom "Veggie" Burgers

I cannot believe after 4 1/2 years of marriage I finally convinced my husband to eat these (and he actually liked them)!

4 large portabello mushroom caps, cleaned
1 cup light balsamic vinagrette
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 whole wheat buns (we used the sandwich thins)
Garnishes (grilled red onions, cheese, etc.)

Combine the vinagrette, herbs, and garlic.  Pour over mushroom caps and let marinate for up to 2 hours.  Grill on med-high heat for about 5-7 minutes per side.  Put on toasted buns, enjoy!

Nights 28 and 29

Bought a new pair of shorts today at Victoria's Secret... talk about motivation to do more squats and get a spray tan.  These shorts are probably the reason why last night I had polenta pancakes with bacon and tonight I had a protein shake.  It's amazing what seeing your legs in a fitting room mirror can do to a person.

Night 28

Polenta Pancakes with Turkey Bacon

There's bacon... IN the pancakes.  Genius I know. 

I made the recipe for the batter myself and I thought it was a little thin.  I would probably change the flour from 1/4 cup to 1/2 a cup and decrease the polenta to 1/4 a cup next time.

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup polenta "corn grits"

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

2 egg whites

2 tbsp applesauce

Turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sift first four ingredients together in bowl.  Blend milk, eggs, and applesauce together and add to flour mixture.  Combine until well blended.  Add in bacon crumbles.  Cook like regular pancakes!

Night 28

Protein Shake

I have been buying this particular brand of protein shake for a while, but it wasn't until recently we started adding fruit in and blending it up, it makes it soo much better!

Blend the banana, two strawberries, and the shake up for a healthy meal.  I've thought about adding peanut butter instead of strawberries, extra protein and yummy goodness.