February Resolutions

1) Exercise 5 times a week. This was harder than I expected. I figured I set the bar so low (walking, dancing, home video) that it wouldn't be a problem at all. Then I quickly realized that a) it's winter and it's not all that pleasant to walk places, and b) babies get heavier and therefore harder to carry while dancing, walking, etc. Even so, I managed at least 4 days each week in February. (March, so far, is a different story.) And it's even harder to keep track of. Turns out chasing a toddler while trying not to drop your baby doesn't leave a lot of time for writing in my planner or even keeping track here. 

2) Keep up with the housework. This is still going ok. There's a little more clutter than I would like, and the dishes from dinner don't usually get done until the morning, but in general things are fairly tidy. 

3) Cook dinner once a week. Honestly, I don't remember how easy or hard this was. I kept track of a couple recipes along the way, so I obviously managed to do it a bit.  

One thing we've discovered that we absolutely love are slow cooker sauces and simmer sauces from Rick Bayless. You can get them at the grocery store and just follow the recipe on the pouch. They are really good, really easy, and really cheap. One of our favorites is the green chili enchilada sauce. I just pan seared a couple of pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and rolled up some shredded chihuahua cheese in tortillas, covered with the sauce, and baked it.

We've really liked using the slow cooker with scratch recipes as well. Cooks Illustrated has a really great chicken tikka masala recipe, but it's pretty complicated, takes forever, and uses a broiler (ours doesn't work great and is tiny). Recently I came across this slow cooker version, and it is incredible. 

I also made the Perfect Potato Soup from The Pioneer Woman. It really is perfect. We made a big batch and froze half of it to enjoy a couple of weeks later. I would highly recommend this soup. 

Adventures in Potty Training

At the risk of jinxing myself, I'm going to go ahead and say it: Lily is potty trained. I did a lot of internet reading about it before hand, and while a lot of people wrote something about it. they never really talked about how much it can suck.

Here are some of the details: we got Lily a potty chair almost a year ago, and for about two weeks she went every morning and before bed. Then she refused it completely. We never pushed it, and she would randomly ask to sit on it, but had very little success producing anything. My plan was to do the bare-bottom thing when she turned 2 in July, but then we had two big trips planned for August and September, so we decided to wait until those were done. 

Then on Friday, September 28th I just took her diaper off and said, ok, we're going to use the potty today. That day was absolute hell, for a number of reasons. First, I barely slept the night before. Next, I cut my foot on a piece of glass from a hot sauce bottle I broke. And I wasn't prepared for how intense it was going to be. We removed all the carpet from our bedroom, because it has tile floor and is easy to clean. We put a bunch of toys in there, and turned on the TV with the plan of staying in there most of the day to contain the carnage. I get cabin fever pretty quickly, so staying inside, in one room all day was torturous. If I were to do it again, I would pick a day that both me and Joe were home so we could have taken shifts. You literally just have to watch them all day, and as soon as they start to do anything move them to the potty. All morning I was cleaning up messes. Then we took a much needed break for a nap, so a diaper went on. When we woke up, I took it off, and Lily just wanted to sit in my lap and cry. She kept saying "No big girl, baby!" I just about gave up then. But I told myself I had to stick with it for 3 days and then we would re-evaluate. As the afternoon went on, she would pee a little and say "Oh! Pee!" and then when I said stop she would and I could get her to the potty. So, a tiny bit of progress. But still, it was a LOOOONNNNGGGGG day. 

Then through the magic of sleeping brain development she woke up the next morning, I took off her diaper, she peed in the potty, and things were pretty much good to go. After we finished breakfast, she said "Oh pee!" and ran to the potty, made it all the way there and went. From then on she just wore a skirt around the house and pull-ups for going out and sleeping. The pull-up worked pretty well in that it didn't leak, but it felt just like a diaper so about half of the time she would just go in it. But, I was eight months pregnant and not willing to deal with accidents in public so we decided to wait until after Thomas came to progress any further. At the beginning of February she started wearing pants around the house and a week later we got her some little girl underwear. She gets really excited to pick out a new pair each morning. 

I was originally against incentivizing it at all, but we ended up doing it anyway. She got 2 M&M's every time she actually went in the potty and then washed her hands. We've since switched to animal crackers and at this point it's mostly a bribe to get her to wash her hands. But it works. And it comes in handy when I know she has to go when we're out somewhere. Usually as soon as I say 'do you want an animal cracker' she's more than willing to try, and half the time goes. We're not even going to attempt bedtime until we move in the summer because even though she stays dry all night, we're still sharing a bed and I'm just not ready to deal with that in the middle of the night. 

Now that we're on the other side of it, I totally wish we had just done it in the summer. It was beastly hot here and we were trapped inside anyway, not looking out at the pretty fall weather for three days. That's not a problem now, but I struggled with it that weekend.

So that's the nitty-gritty of it. Now that's done, it's totally amazing. Except now I have to carry a pink princess potty seat with me everywhere because regular sized toilets are way too big for her to sit on without falling through.   

Easy as Pie

We made pie! I know I haven't written lately, that's because there's a lot on my mind and I'm still working out how to write about it all. So there will be a glut of interesting posts coming in the near future, but today is pi day. So we have pie!

I actually don't like pie all that much. I mean sure, I like a slice of fruit pie with ice cream now and then, but I don't dream about it. And I HATE HATE HATE making pie crust, so this was a pretty unlikely activity for us. But it's pi day, and as a math major I feel obligated to acknowledge this. So we made pudding pie! It doesn't get any easier (or tastier) than pudding pie. I got the recipe (if you can call it that) from here.  

Lily loves to measure, pour, and mix things so this was really the perfect activity this morning. She's being surly in this picture and refusing to look at the camera. And in other news, Thomas is big enough for the high chair! He is so desperate to try food it's hilarious. I am thankful for having two hands while eating again. 

I made the pie exactly like the recipe said to, but I added a thin layer of Heath bits between the pudding and the pudding/cool-whip layers. It is REALLY delicious. I know it's made with absolutely nothing real, but for an easy, fun, half-hour activity that tastes good and requires no baking and can be done with a baby, this was perfect. (My favorite part of the recipe is the 'Healthy Living' tips. I didn't think this pie could get any more artificial, but it apparently can.) 

We had some after lunch, and then put it in the freezer for a bit before having some after dinner as well. Freezing it makes it a bit firmer and gives it a better texture, in my opinion. But it is so tasty. I could eat the whole thing right now. 

Cheers!

4 Hours

I have determined that is the maximum amount of time I can spend alone with my kids in our apartment.This makes me sound like a terrible mom, but it's true. Maybe it's the size of the apartment, or the weather, or some crazy post-natal hormones. Since Lily is awake from 7AM to 7PM, and Joe is at school for at least nine of those hours, this is a problem.

Thankfully, she still takes a one or two hour nap after lunch. The two late afternoon hours before Joe comes home are easily filled with books, arts and crafts, household chores, cooking, or a movie. (I can't wait for warmer weather and longer days so we can head out to the park for some pre-dinner romping.) That leaves the morning. The long, long morning from 7AM until 1PM. Fortunately, these are also the easiest hours to get out of the apartment. Lily's in a good mood, Thomas is happy to sleep in a carrier or stroller, buses are frequent, and places aren't too crowded yet. Here are some of our recent adventures. 

Outside. A while back there was snow, and there will be snow coming again tonight! Lily likes to take her beach toys to the park and build towers of snow. She really wants to throw a snowball and make a snowman, but the last couple of times it's been too powdery to make a good ball. Maybe this time.     

   

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. Thank God for this place. There's an indoor gym filled with bikes, balls, scooters, big blocks, tents, and kids under three. They also offer different classes throughout the week. We usually attend a music class, a dance class, and sometimes an art class. It's amazing. And Lily loves it. And we can walk to it. And it's cheap. And have I said it's amazing???

The second floor. In our building there's a large common area adjacent to the laundry room that has accumulated some fun toys. You can often find a couple of kids and their parents hanging out. It's a nice, big, open, carpeted area where the kids can run around and blow off steam and play together. When it's too yucky to go outside we just camp out there for an hour or so just for a change of scenery. Thomas likes to watch Lily run and jump and dance all around. 

Shopping malls. We haven't been to too many of these, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when we do go. Yorktown Mall is particularly fun with the Morton Arboretum Treehouse and fun little train ride. I already related this story on facebook, but I'll go ahead and tell it again. This was Lily's first time on a big kid ride all by herself. I half expected her to freak out once the operator closed the door and it started to move away from us, but she didn't. She was in the last car with a little boy. When he got in with her she turned to him and said (in her own way) "I'm Cinderella. You're the Prince. This is my pumpkin." Then as the train rolled around and around we could hear her singing songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella. It was adorable. 

Random free events across the city. I've taken to checking the Chicago Parent calendar pretty regularly to find free things to go to. This has become another huge lifesaver. These pictures are from Juicebox, a kids concert series at the Chicago Cultural Center. The first one we went to wasn't excellent but I'm excited to go again next week to see a dance group. 

Grandma's house. We usually go to my mom's house once a week to do laundry because it's easier to have Joe carry one really big bag down to the car than for me to carry five basket loads down nine floors with two kids in tow. And it's cheaper, too. Last week Lily decided she wanted to go dressed as Tigger and Piglet.  

The Garfield Park Conservatory. This is such a beautiful place. And it feels like being outside in the sunshine in summer. I could come here every day. I made Lily a little sketch book out of printer paper, construction paper and staples. We did some of the scavenger hunt they have there and I helped Lily draw some of the plants we saw. She really liked stopping to talk about what we were looking at and draw things so I'm going to add this to our things we take when we go on an adventure so she can draw things we see and remember them later. 

These next pictures represent my attempt at taking our traditional cheesy self family portrait. It's hard to hang onto two squirmy kids and a camera all at the same time. 

As long as we get out of the apartment, even if it's just for a half hour stroll around the neighborhood, it helps break up the day. And it keeps us all happier. Enjoy the snow tomorrow and get out and play!

2 Months

Two months. I have that silly conflicted feeling of it being both much shorter and much longer than that. Shorter because things are still so new. Every day you change so much. Longer because while I remember what it was like before you came, I can't imagine life being any different than it is now because our little family feels so complete. And you're so strong! Holding your head up so high, scooting all over your play mat, smiling and flirting with me, rolling over. It's ridiculous. You must think you're six months old or something. 

You are such a little chunk, dear Thomas. This morning I weighed you on our scale at home and it said an impossible 11.5 lbs. That's humongous! No wonder I get tired carrying you around everywhere and my arm falls asleep when you nurse. Your cheeks are so big and so kissably soft. They actually hang down from your face. 

And your feet. Ohmigosh your feet. They are so chubby. And so small. And I could just die. Lily had long, skinny feet that always (and still do) seem a little too big for the rest of her. But yours are almost comically short and pudgy. I love them.

You're so very tolerant of most things. Your crazy sister who wants to play with you and hold you and scare you and dance with you and read to you and paint on you and fix things for you and, and, and. All at the same time. Your crazy mama who sometimes has to let your cry a little longer than she would like while keeping Lily alive. And your crazy dada who sings you silly songs and does all he can to make you happy while mama takes a break. 

Keep on growing, little Thomas. There are great things to come.

January Resolutions

1) Go outside every day. Nailed it. I made it outside  at least once a day, even if it was only to the car to drive somewhere, every day except one. And on that day we went down to the second floor to run around for a while, so we got out of the apartment for a bit. I think that counts.

Last week I had my 6 week post-partum check-up with the midwife and I've been given a clean bill of health and the official go ahead to start exercising again. Therefore, this resolution is now to exercise at least 5 times a week. This sounds ambitious, but my definition of exercise is very loose. It can be anything from walking to and from the grocery store (one mile total) to Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred to dancing with the kids for half an hour. The goal for this month is mostly just get used to moving again everyday and keeping track of it.  

2) Keep up with the housework. This has gone okay. We revamped the play area and toy storage boxes so that there is more open floor space and things are easier for Lily to get to on her own. There have been a few days where Joe has come home to total chaos and has taken over childcare so I can clean up and have some relative alone time. (For the record, he would  have been willing to do the cleaning himself, but I wanted to do it.)

3) Cook dinner once a week. Once I started doing this, it was hard to stop. And it seemed to get easier each time I did it. Lily is now old/well-coordinated enough to help out a bit, as well. She is a great mushroom brusher and onion peeler. Every couple of weeks we roast a whole chicken (inspired by the 'A Feast of Ice and Fire' cookbook we got last year, I have half a post written about how glorious it is), and we can't eat the whole thing in one sitting so we've been looking for interesting and/or easy ways to use up the leftovers. A couple of our favorites so far are a chicken and broccoli braid and chicken pot pie. 

Chicken and Broccoli Braid (from AllRecipes.com)
This was actually really delicious. Joe's not really a big mayo fan, but he liked this. We ended up making two braids and saving one for a couple of days later. If I do it again I'll probably halve the recipe because while it reheated fine, it wasn't spectacular. I'm excited to try this idea with different kinds of fillings.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped (we used frozen)
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons slivered almonds (we skipped this)
1/4 cup diced onion
2 - 8 oz packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*F.

In a large bowl, toss together chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper, garlic, Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt, almonds and onion.

Unroll crescent roll dough, and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough. Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the chicken mixture along the center strip. Fold the side strips over chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side. Pinch or twist to seal.

Brush braided dough with the egg white. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 28 minutes, or until golden brown. 



Golden Chicken Potpie (from Family Meals, another of my new favorite cookbooks for simple, GOOD food)
This is a really good, pretty simple recipe. It's really pretty light, not super heavy like I expect potpie to be. I would throw in some peas next time, maybe just use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. This is a nice recipe because I can do all the prep work in the morning while Thomas naps in a carrier and Lily is in a helpful mood, then Joe can assemble it and throw it in the oven during the witching hour.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 stalk celery, finely sliced
2 small carrots, sliced
1 cup mushroom caps, quartered
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (we used a pinch of dried)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions:
Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat and warm the butter. Add the onion and celery and saute until golden, 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and mushrooms and saute 3 minutes. Pour in the wine, bring it to a simmer, and reduce for 3 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and simmer until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup cold water until smooth. Whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot stock from the pan into the flour mixture, and then pour through a fine-mesh sieve back into the pan, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the diced chicken, return to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken through. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl, let cool, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours. The filling can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Butter a 9-inch pie dish. Pour the filling into the dish. On a floured work surface, roll the pastry into a 12-inch circle. Brush the top and bottom of the edge of the dish with the egg. Lay the dough over the filling and trim so it hangs 1 1/2 inches over the edge. Wrap the dough around the edge and press firmly. Crimp the dough against the lip of the dish with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to relax the dough. Brush the top of the pie with the egg. Cut a few vents in the center. Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is hot and bubbling, about 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

(We baked it in a 9x9 square dish and did not need to trim the dough at all, we just dropped it right on top. So then we didn't need to let the dough relax either, so everything went faster.)

Mama de dos

Six weeks into it and I'm feeling pretty good about things. This is what I was waiting for, getting ready for while being pregnant. I was so tired and miserable at the end that just not being pregnant anymore is a huge relief. I can move, I can eat, I can sleep, and I finally have my energy back. 

I'm actually kind of surprised at how easy the transition has gone. Joe was home for almost four weeks and that was a huge help with getting everyone settled. He went back to school full time (and then some) two and a half weeks ago. It took us a few days to get into our new rhythm, but I think we've got a good thing going. Don't get me wrong, it's hard and sometimes the days are interminably long. But it's hard in ways that I expected, and that in itself makes it seem not as hard. 

The two things that I was most worried about, nursing and sleeping, have turned out to be the easiest parts. First, nursing. Thomas is such a good nurser. And he has been from the very beginning. I don't know if it's because he was bigger and more mature than Lily or because I know what I'm doing better this time, but the difference is like night and day. Probably a combination of both. It's not even just that he's better at it sooner, it's completely different. Lily had a terrible latch and wanted to nurse 24/7 for the first three months of her life. Thomas was ready to go from the first moment and he nurses and then he's done. Like a normal baby. It's amazing. He finishes, I burp him, and then he either passes out in the sling/swing/carseat or stays awake for a while and lets me and Lily play with him. He's also happy to nurse and then sleep while comfort nursing if I let him, but it's not a requirement like it was with Lily. And he's gaining weight! At 6 weeks he's already 10 lbs. Lily didn't weigh that much until she was 6 months! True story. While I eventually grew to love nursing Lily, I am thankfully and pleasantly surprised that it's so much easier this time. 

Second, sleeping. We started co-sleeping with Lily because we were going to be moving and didn't want to deal with moving a crib. And then it became necessary if I was ever going to be able to sleep. Then we just fell in love with it. We have a crib with one side removed attached to the side of our queen size bed and that's where she spends most of her nights. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen with the new baby joined us. Turns out this also was no big deal, at least at night. Joe lays down with her sometime between 7 and 7:30, then she's usually asleep by 8 or 8:30. Joe gets up and we get to spend some time together usually watching something while Thomas nurses or naps and then we all go to bed together around 10. Lily sometimes wakes up as we're getting back into bed, but she just snuggles up against my back while Thomas is between me and Joe. Thomas will sleep for about 4 hours at a time, and 80% of the time his waking up doesn't bother her at all. Again, I am pleasantly surprised by how well this has gone. 

The real challenge has been naptime. For the first four weeks either Joe took her for a drive or walk and I would nap with Thomas, or we would all nap together. Now that he's back at school, things have gotten interesting. It's getting to be too expensive to aimlessly drive for two hours a day, and it's been too cold out to walk for that long either. Not to mention I would have to wear Thomas while pushing Lily in the stroller and my abdominal muscles just aren't ready for that yet. So I decided to just bite the bullet and do it. The first day Joe went back when 1PM rolled around the three of us got into bed and we were going to stay there as long as it took until she fell asleep. It took about an hour of talking/wiggling/laughing/singing/squirming/etc. before she finally passed out. She kept wanting to look at and touch and play with Thomas. He was happily nursing and napping away, so it didn't phase him at all. Now two weeks later we're down to 15 to 30 minutes, which is about what it was before. I end up stuck in the bed between them, but really that's not a bad problem to have. Since not being pregnant my need to nap has dropped significantly, but an hour of quiet and lying down is a nice break in the day, asleep or awake. 

Truthfully, I think Lily is ready for her own bed. I'm fairly certain she would sleep through the whole night on her own after falling asleep. Even if she wakes up and we're not in bed, we just walk her back and she'll climb right back in, snuggle down under her comforter and fall asleep without me having to get in the bed with her. Unfortunately we don't have anywhere to put another bed in our apartment. Technically we have another bedroom, but it's being used as an office/storage room and it seems so cold and far away. She'd be on completely the other side of our apartment, and I'm not ready for that yet. There's also not enough room in our bedroom for another bed, even a toddler one. She hasn't said she wants her own space yet, so we're just gonna keep going along. We'll be moving over the summer, and we're hoping to get a place where she can have her own big girl room just in time for her third birthday. 

Now for pictures. As blurry as this photo is, it's a fairly accurate representation of our life these days. Lily is a flurry of activity and sparkles around Thomas, who is just chillin' and mildly amused by her antics. 

And here's our little frog price waiting for his turn at bath time. He does not love it. But Lily sure does. She's a great helper and likes to rinse the bubbles out of his hair. 

Through all of the changes and requests for her to wait, Lily is still enthralled with Thomas. He is her new favorite person and wants him to always be awake so she can show him her toys and tell him about all the things he can do when he gets "big, Big, BIG!" She tells everyone we meet about her new baby and whenever we leave the house she checks to make sure we brought him with us. Getting to spend time with him, hold him, or take a bath with him are such favored activities that they are now part of the bribe/threat rotation. Example: Me - After you eat your dinner, you get to take a bath with Thomas. Lily - No! Me - Then you have to take a bath alone. Lily - O-tay! And she hops up on her chair and happily finishes her food. It's like magic. 

So this mama of two thing isn't so bad. I know it will keep evolving and there will be many challenges along the way, but for now it just feels right.