Saturday, February 23, 2013

Getting Motivated

I must admit that about a month ago I was in a funk.

I felt kind of lost as a part-time professor and a full-time mom. After working for 5 hours each morning I would pick Lydia up from the sitter's house and we would come back home. I would fix us some lunch and spend a few precious moments with my girl, but then she would be ready for her afternoon nap. The dreaded afternoon nap...

I know that most people look forward to this, but once I laid Lydia down and left the nursery I didn't know what to do. I wanted to rest from working, but I also wanted to get out. Each day I felt stuck; on the days when I did chores I was exhausted by the time Lydia woke up, and on the days when I rested (aka watched Gossip Girl or caught up on blogs) I felt grouchy and restless by the time David got home.

The solution to my problem came with Best Body Bootcamp. I wrote a little bit about it when I first started, and I plan to give a progress report once it is over, but today I just want to write about how this small thing made such a big change in my day. Once I paid (a very small amount of) money to sign up for these workout routines, I became motivated to do them. Because I am very, very frugal. So slowly but surely as January wore on I formed a habit. During Lydia's afternoon nap I took some time for myself - I got up off the couch, focused on strengthening my body, and got my endorphins pumping. At first I felt guilty because taking this time for me meant doing laundry and dishes while Lydia was awake. However, I soon came to realize that a 14 month old loves to do dishes and laundry too! Once I started to involve Lydia in my daily chores and took some time to do something that was good for me each day we hit a wonderful stride.

Every day is not perfect. Sometimes I still eat M&M's and watch house hunters as Lydia snoozes. Somedays Lydia is grumpy so I don't have the chance to vacuum. But in general taking this small step towards getting motivated while I am at home has done wonders. I know I am an achiever; that I like to feel like I have accomplished something in a day. And I also know that I should never feel like a failure when I don't accomplish my goals for the day. My value runs deeper than these small things, but small things can make a difference too.

Since learning to workout at home and how to involve my toddler in things around the house our days are so much more enjoyable together! Just thought I would share a bit about our rhythms lately. What kind of rhythm do you have at home? Has anything motivated you lately?

14 months

As usual lately, this post is late. I have fallen out of the habit of writing somehow and I think it is a combination of things. First of all we are busy! It is tax season so David is gone Mon-Fri 7:45-6:45 and on Saturdays from 7:30-5, my job is ramping up because it is midterm, and we are spending some of our free time looking for houses. It is all good stuff, but our days are just packed full. Secondly, Lydia is just too much fun for me to sacrifice time with her for blogging. We go on walks, read books, dance around and do chores together, and when she naps I have been in the habit of doing my Best Body Bootcamp workouts. But, I do want to keep it somewhat updated - both for you and for me :)

14 months has just been awesome. Lydia has mastered moving and is now onto other things, like talking, feeding herself and learning. She is so, so smart and I feel like everyday she learns something new.
On this days she learned the word "hat".
Feeding herself some yogurt.

She is constantly fluctuating between wanting to be held and being little miss independent. She melts my heart when she walks up, raises her arms and says "up", and breaks it a little when she runs away from me without glancing back once.



 
These days Lydia LOVES to be outside - and she may throw a tantrum everyday it is below freezing since I refuse to let her out.
She has continued to imitate everything we do. She brushes her teeth each morning with us, likes to hold the dog leash when we walk, and usually practices her down dog each afternoon when she wakes up from her nap.
And her expressions... oh my goodness. This girl has looks that can kill, and looks that can make you crack up laughing.

Lydia is still taking 2 naps a day and is sleeping pretty well at night. She gets up SO early (around 5:30), but our whole family has to get up early this semester so it isn't a huge deal. Lydia still nurses 3-4 times a day, and eats solid food like crazy!

All in all Lydia is quite simply a joy! She is so sweet, smart and funny and I am more and more proud each day to be her mommy.









Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Toddler Friendly Recipe: Chicken Marsala

I have a new idea: I want to be writing more, and I want to cook more. So, I have decided to challenge myself to cook (like fancy cook) at least once a week. I know, it is a sad challenge. But the truth is that right now we eat with our families at least 4 days a week. It is convenient, cheap, fun - and we actually get to eat while someone else chases Lydia around! However, I miss cooking, and I miss sitting down together just the 2 or 3 of us and enjoying a good meal.

The other thing that I want to do is share the recipe with you, and modify the preparations for you mommies out there. I have learned more than once that when Barefoot Contessa or Simply Recipes tells me it will take 20 minutes to prep my meal, Lydia decides it will take closer to 45. So I have found ways to do some chopping here, use some leftovers there so that I don't have to be intimidated by making a meal for my family - even with a part time job and a toddler.

I should add the disclaimer that I don't come up with recipes on my own. I will link you to the 2 or 3 that (most of the time heavily) inspired me. But at the same time I rarely follow a recipe to the tee, unless I am baking. Sometimes it is because I don't have an ingredient, other times it is because I think something extra would be better. So the recipes that I put here are not originals, they are someone else's with a few tweeks.

The other night I made a really delicious recipe. It was a Monday and was feeling particularly motivated, and hungry. I saw that we had a bunch of mushrooms, so decided to browse Pinterest for some ideas. Chicken is our go to meat and I saw a few Chicken Marsala recipes (here and here) that piqued my interest I combined them together to make something delicious and totally do-able.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup pancetta (if you have it, we surprisingly did!)
1 Tbs butter
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
3 green onions
1-2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of white wine (aka marsala. I used whatever we had... and if you don't have wine use chicken broth instead)
1 cup of chicken broth or stock
1 lemon
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs chopped parsley (I used dry)

Now for the mommy friendly preparation directions:

When I got home from work around 1 I put my frozen chicken (which was in a sealed plastic bag) into some warm water and let it thaw. By 5:00 it was soft, so I started to prep - 1 hour and 45 minutes before I wanted to have dinner on the table. It's okay - don't get scared.

I trimmed the chicken and cut it in half width wise so that I had 6 thin pieces. I got out all of my ingredients and measuring utensils, and chopped the green onion and garlic. My mushrooms were pre-sliced but if your aren't, slice them now; same with the pancetta. With a 14 month old the trimming and chopping process took about 45 minutes... I fed Lydia, we sang and danced together and I showed her how to use a bowl and spoon to stir. I also went ahead and got out 2 skillets and browsed the fridge for easy sides. We had left over mashed potatoes and some Green Giant frozen green beans. I went ahead and pulled those out to the counter.

at 6:00 - 45 minutes before I wanted dinner to be ready - I fired up one of the skillets and added the olive oil. Let the oil heat up for a bit on medium heat, then put your chicken in. Add salt and pepper, and let each side get slightly brown (about 3-4 minutes per side). Make sure to season the second side of the chicken as well. Then set the chicken on a back burner and keep the heat on low.

In the second pan turn the heat on medium and add the pancetta. Cook it until it starts to get brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the first Tbs of butter and the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms brown up too, another 7-8 minutes.

As this point you need to find something for your baby to do for 5 minutes. I recommend Sesame Street or a delicious snack in the high chair. Add your pre-chopped garlic and onion and stir everything around for a couple minutes, being sure to not burn the garlic. Stir in the wine, then add the chicken broth and cut the lemon in half and squeeze its juice into the pan. Give it a stir and bring up the heat until it is boiling. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes until the sauce is reduced by about half. Once the heat is reduced you can pick baby up and go read her a story.

Once the sauce has reduced sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir in the remaining butter and add the chicken. Let the chicken simmer with it for another 3-5 minutes while you warm up the sides in the microwave and set the table (or while you change a diaper). Right before you plate it up stir in the parsley... and voila! We had the wine with our dinner and it was absolutely delicious.




Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Just some cute

This is the cutest picture I have taken in a while... Her cloth diaper leaked through her normal outfit, thus the jammies. And since we were going on a walk she needed a sweatshirt and hat. And those leg warmers... Well, they were five bucks at Target. I can't get over the cuteness!!!



Friday, February 8, 2013

Home

Tomorrow we are meeting with a realtor! I am so unbelievably excited to start the process of buying a home, although we aren't planning on moving until May or June. I have been perusing houses online, researching school systems, dreaming of a kitchen (with a stove and a full sized fridge!!), and maybe looking through pinterest for some decorating ideas...

I am nervous to make the right decision. Buying a house seems like such a huge commitment!! I know - I am married and have a child, but somehow this decision just feels more intimidating, which is so silly. I guess I am nervous to regret this decision; that we will buy a house I think I love and then after a while I will find problems with it. There are so many things to consider and right now David and I are just so giddy about the possibility of a place of our own we don't care if there are granite counter tops, Jack and Jill sinks, or a finished basement.

I know we will find a great house - and that no matter where we end up we will make it our home. For sooooo many years now I have felt unsettled. During college there is always the awkward, "I am going home for the weekend", but then when you get there your room is gone and your friends are all busy. Even after David and I were married we were still in school, so our modest income could only afford the smallest of apartments. We had wonderful moments and have beautiful memories of these places, but we knew they were temporary.

This place will be forever... or at least for a while. And that is so exciting! We feel incredibly blessed to be taking this next step together and we would appreciate your prayers and positive vibes as we try to tackle all of the decisions.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

My Little Imitator

The other day something happened that has been on my mind ever since.

I was getting ready for work in the morning, and as usual Lydia was following me around saying "up, up" with a look of desperation in her eyes. I picked her up, put a towel in the sink and let her sit and play with my make up as I finished my mascara. I looked down and she had my make-up brush in her hand, stroking it across her face. I smiled and responded, "Silly baby, you don't need make-up. You are too pretty for that." Then I stopped...

After that moment I started noticing like crazy all the ways that Lydia has begun to imitate. She tries to repeat whatever you say, she holds the phone up to her ear and says "hi", she brings me her toy cupcakes smacking her lips and offering me a bite, and she makes a kissing sound each time David walks in the door and we kiss. This girl is already watching and learning, which is so incredible and also kind of crazy.

For me, parenting has been one of the major ways that God has implemented change in my life. All of the sudden I have someone depending on me, and now modeling me, who I love with all of my heart. Just like any other mother, I want what is best for my daughter. I want her to be confident, kind, patient, humble, generous, loving, and so many more things. And I am really starting to realize that the best way for her to learn these qualities is to see them in me.

There was also comfort in this realization though. Sometimes I freak out about all of the things I have to teach my daughter. Don't lie! Be yourself! Be kind to other people! But, as all of us know, children (and people in general) don't learn by being told - they learn by example. So to teach Lydia I simply have to model the qualities that I hope and pray she will have.

And I need to watch what I say - I don't put on make-up because I think I am not pretty! I put it on because it is fun, and I think it enhances my natural beauty :) Why do we automatically say silly things like that?