Wordless Wednesday - New Love

Oh, Zofizzle

My little Lubbees. Chickybooms. Wee little booby monster, Zofia. She has captured my heart in ways I didn't know possible. "How could I love another person like I love Athena?" I thought. Well, here's the thing. I don't love her like I love Athena. I love her like Zofia.

I had no idea two people from the same parents could be so drastically different. Athena is patient and gentle. Zofia stomps through the house smacking dogs with Swiffers. Athena doesn't have a jealous bone in her body. If Zofia catches you anywhere near my lap she will end you. Athena is my sweet dainty flower, and well, I seriously think Zofia is twice the size Athena was at this age and built like a California Redwood. Having them both has made my entire life better.

And plus, what's not to love about this bodacious bod?

Baby butts and baby toes FTW!!!!!

Time to be honest about the green-eyed monster dwelling in my belly.

Going into NaBloPoMo this year I was quite apprehensive. I've been having a rough go with the old blog for a while. I took many a hiatus and just never felt like I found my way. I felt like my blog had no "purpose" and I just couldn't write anything of substance or quality. Also? I was having some deep blogger-envy. All of my favorite blogs that I have been reading for years began torturing me. They were so good! So many people kept coming back! Why can't I be like them?

Because I'm not them.

I don't have to fit into one box. If I write about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and mental illness one day, then post a cute picture of my girls the next, that's OK! That's me, that's my life, and the people that mean the most to me keep coming back to read and offer support. I don't need to look at stats or count comments. I need to be grateful for the people I have crossed paths with because of this blog and for the voice that BlogHer has given me. Thanks to those that convinced to participate in NaBloPoMo. I don't think I would have come to these realizations without it.

2 more days to go! Thank you all for hanging out at Athena Bee's with me for so long.

Oh, if only every November was like this...

Perhaps I wouldn't dread each Fall. It's almost 60 degrees here in the great state of Ohio. It is making for a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Athena had much gastrointestinal distress on Thanksgiving, so we're going to live it up today for Thanksgiving Part Deux.

Let's enjoy this lovely day.

(Athena made placemats for everyone.)

Time for MOAR TURKEY!!!!!!

Crock Pot Acorn Squash

For Thanksgiving with my mom and my little family, I am in charge of making sides. I thought this was the perfect time to try making some squash in the crock pot.

Ingredients
Acorn Squash
Butter or Margarine
Salt

I cut the squash into quarters and scooped out all the seeds pulp. (I'm going to try toasting the seeds. Perhaps they'll be like pumpkin seeds!) I smeared butter all over the quarters and sprinkled them with salt. Popped 'em into the crock pot on low for about 3 hours. SO easy.

My family doesn't particularly care for sweet squash, so that's why I just butter and salt them. A lot of people like their squash sweet so I found this awesome brown sugar and cinnamon recipe.

Oh yes

A Happy Thanksgiving indeed, when Wixey Bakery is involved.

I'm truly thankful for all of you.

Have a beautiful day.

Go Lions!

Ladies of Web-Cams - Featuring US!!

Homeschooling Pre-K - Success and Favorites

I started using curriculum at home from the time Athena was 2 years old. Seeing her learn from ME, learning her colors, numbers, etc. is incredibly satisfying. Now as we move into Pre-K curriculum and seeing her grow is completely amazing. Not to toot my own horn (TOOT) but I'm teaching her how to WRITE!!!! And READ! And SPELL! ME! I'm doing it!! Amazing!!

Without prompts!

We've also really started getting into math. Athena loves these kits and is really excelling.

Team Umizoomi Math Kits

She's got her numbers and counting down, she's learning patterns and has even started doing some simple addition. These kits really hold her attention and she feels like she's doing "real school."

We've also moved on from the basic preschool games of Nick Jr. to their premium service, Boost.

They have educator created games that teach over 250 skills in math, literacy, and art. She wins awards and certificates that we can hang on the refrigerator. She can watch clips from shows, play virtual dress-up, and decorate her own virtual play room. It keeps progress reports for me and it's totally AD FREE!!! She's learning an incredible amount from this service.

I'm so proud of her and I feel so confident with her starting school next year. She's totally ready :)

Flashback Continued - Senior Picture Time

I was talking to some Twitter Besties recently about high school pictures, looks, and whatnot. I said I would look for mine and share HOPING that some others would do the same. (HINT HINT!!!!)

Well here it is in all it's 1998 glory:

I seem to be posing for a jeans ad in a JCPenney catalog, no?

can i blog from my phone?

Does anyone read blogs on Sundays? Maybe them fancy famous bloggers or somethin'. I on the other hand will be testing my ability to blog on the go.

It shall be wonderous if it works.

Life-changing.

Whatever. I'm drinking wine and reading Elle. See you tomorrow.

Flashback Weekend

I'm feeling a titch reflective today and began perusing my old pictures. For some reason I can't picture Zofia as anything but an infant, so it's odd to look at these pictures of her so tiny.

Also, I can't believe how much Athena has grown. Oh, my heart. She bursts with love.

Crock Pot Lamb Shoulder Chops

Clearly we eat a lot of lamb up in this house. We're keepin' it real with a Mediterranean meal. Also? It's Athena's favorite food. I've had people ask me about cooking bone-in lamb so I thought I'd give a super easy recipe a whirl.

Ingredients:
1.5lb lamb shoulder chops
Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 cup chicken stock
cooked rice

 

Rub both sides of the chops with the Old Bay Seasoning. Put chops in the crock pot and pour in 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Cook on low for 4-6hours. I served it on top of rice and spooned some of the juice from the pot on top of the lamb and rice. It was a simple success with everyone.

Mission 1: Accomplished

That right there, friends, is an empty inbox.

O.C.D. and P.T.S.D. - Who's down with O.P.P?

Therapy yesterday has left my head swimming, but I'm going to try to put a couple thoughts together and keep this journey documented for myself.

We already knew that I have OCD, but the new psychiatrist confirmed it and also threw in a side of PTSD. This would be the reason why I NEVER calm down; why I'm on high alert 24 hours a day. I'm not going to dwell. I'm finished with dwelling. This psychiatrist that I met yesterday really clicked with me and it is just time to begin moving forward. We will put together an action plan in a couple weeks, but she has already given me a few assignments.

1. Delete emails. I have been hoarding child development emails since Athena was born. I've not been able to delete them as I'm afraid that if I do something awful will befall the ladies. There's a tiny rational area of my brain that know that this is typical OCD "Magical Thinking," but I just couldn't make myself do it. She wanted me to go home and get them all deleted. I WILL do it today.

2. Attend family Thanksgiving celebrations. I'm not allowed to duck out of anything with my immediate family for the coming holidays. I must allow my children to see and play with their cousin, GERMS BE DAMNED! Who's got a Xanax?

So here I am. The cliche first day of the rest of my life, right? Let's go delete some emails.

Deep Breaths, now. Deep Breaths.

Today starts the journey of treating my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I'm so nervous I can barely put two sentences together, my hands are shaking, and my teeth are even chattering.

I don't do well for multiple hours away from my kids.

I know I'm about to start on some major behavior modification and putting myself in panic-inducing situations.

Most of all, I'm scared this isn't going to work.

Here we go...

Mom Life - Video Edition (Added bonus to hear my voice!)

Kids and dogs. Is there anything funnier? Well, people getting startled or fallying down might be funnier, but kids and dogs are up there. Housekeeping isn't my strong point, but I was actually trying to sweep up the floor a little bit. Athena immediately commandeered the Dirt Devil and tortured the dogs:

(That's SpongeBob Fun Dip she's pouring down her throat.)

It carried on and Athena started feeding the dog "treats" she was finding under furniture. Zofia just hung out, Detroit leanin', and Zoe ate Toodee.

Zofia had a turn too. Needless to say, my house is still messy and I think it will remain that way for about 15 years.

Can you, like, drink when you're nursing or not?

I guess it depends on who you ask.

When I started drinking my daily red wine (that I was talking about the other day) I wanted to be sure things were safe. I exhaustively began studying reports of the effects of drinking while nursing, the opinions of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Le Leche League, and scouring the pages of KellyMom.

Here are some summaries of my research:

The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Drugs classifies alcohol as a “Maternal Medication Usually Compatible With Breastfeeding.”

Dr. Jack Newman, member of the LLLI Health Advisory Council, says this in his handout "More Breastfeeding Myths":

Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all. As is the case with most drugs, very little alcohol comes out in the milk. The mother can take some alcohol and continue breastfeeding as she normally does. Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers.

 I've talked to a considerable number of new moms that were under the impression that they could never have a drink while nursing. In fact, many new moms I've talked to are under the impression that they are restricted by activities they can do, foods they can eat, medications they can take, and drinks they can have. It breaks my heart that so many women give up on nursing before they ever get started just because they are ill-informed. I want to shout it from the rooftops! "Mommies! You can nurse AND have a life!" For now I'll just be happy with shouting it from my blog.

These diapers changed my life!

No, really. When you have a completely unreasonable individual in your care who poops their pants, you need all the help you can get. The screaming, flailing, twisting, and alligator death rolls make it an aerobic work-out to fasten those stupid flaps on the side of the diaper. Then along came these:

$19.79 Online Price

Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers Big Pack -(66 Count) You can get 'em at Target.

Seriously. Awesome. I can slip one on Zofia as she runs away. Thank you, Huggies. You're a treasure.

*Nobody paid me or gave me anything to say this. I just seriously dig these diapers. I'd welcome Huggies sending me some friggin' coupons though.

Saturdays are better without headaches.

I've had a headache for 3 days, so I'm just letting the kids empty the TV stand while I sit here on the computer.

Athena has decided to put on "Sex in the City..."

They immediately said the F word. Perhaps I should get up and put on Harry Potter instead.

Athena said she'd take care of her sister for me today.

How come when Athena's in charge Zofia will use a pacifier??

I hope someone brings me a taco. That could possibly salvage the day.

Hey! I was told potty-training girls was easy!

If you've had an easy way to go with potty-training your kid, count your blessings. Count them nice and slow and maybe do it a couple times. I was told by multiple mommies that potty-training girls was a breeze. That is was SO much easier than training boys. So when my sister in law trained her son at 1 1/2 in record time I thought, "Dang! Potty-training Athena is going to be a walk in the park!" Well, it's been a really long walk in the park, in snow, uphill both ways.

Getting her to pee on the potty wasn't too bad. Granted, she preferred running outside and peeing in the grass like the dogs, but I took what I could get. At least she wasn't doing it on the floor. Number 2, on the other hand, was a nightmare. She has constipation issues that made her afraid of the toilet, and it was all sorts of ugly getting her to just TRY the potty. It took 2 full years. Things went smooth for a while. She was in underwear all the time, always using the potty, and her pull-ups stayed dry all night. Next we let her try sleeping in underwear. No go. She peed the bed. Put a pull-up on her the next night: Dry. Tried underwear again: Peed the bed. WTF?

Now, at 4 1/2 years old we're regressing even further. She has peed on the floor a couple times and is routinely peeing in a pull-up at night. When I question her she says she's sorry, it was an accident, and that I don't get mad when Sissy does it.

Is this a sibling/jealousy thing? Should I be concerned that she's going to be a chronic bed wetter? Any thoughts on handling this? It's weighing quite heavily on me as I want to do what's best to help her and not make it worse.

Super Simple Lamb and Rice Stew

1 lb grass fed lamb stew meat
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp salt*
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup sliced carrots
6 baby red potatoes quartered
6 oz package of rice

Combine all the ingredients in your slow cooker and cook on low for approximately 6 hours.

I thought about trying a package of seasoned rice next time.

*Use more or less salt to taste. Louis thought it needed more salt, Athena liked it the way it was.

Daggone Climbin' Kids

I voted today!

It's 66 degrees here in Toledo, Ohio and it couldn't have been a better day to load the ladies up into the dual stroller and walk to our polling location. Athena has been joining me for voting for 4 years and this is Zofia's second time at this rodeo, so they're old pros. Either that or they knew they were going to get showered with stickers and suckers by the poll workers and a Happy Meal out of me.

Treated myself to a coffee boyfriend. Weeeeee!

Zofia tasted juice for the first time.

 She shotgunned it right in front of me and is now eating the box.

I'm sure a lot of people know that Issue 2 here in Ohio is kind of a big deal. Yes, I listened to the news and read the handouts, but what carried the most weight with me was what the firemen, teachers, and nurses that I know had to say. So for you, friends, I voted NO on 2!

Have a Trader Joe's by you? Run there right now!

Lately I've been exploring the benefits of drinking a, ahem, glass of organic red wine every day, and in doing so made a miraculous discovery. Trader Joe's sells an amazingly tasty organic, sulfite-free wine for $5.99 a bottle. It's called WELL REaD, and it's my new best friend. Being sulfite-free, there's no migraine in the morning for me, and having this nightly glass of wine has been quite helpful with my anxiety.

The taste according to them:
"A blend of Grenache, Sangiovese and a kiss of Syrah, this wine was left on oak a little longer to strengthen its overall structure. You'll find a dark rich blend with full mouth feel, subtle earth notes, traditional Sangiovese tannins and a soft oak and vanilla finish."

I couldn't possibly recommend it more. Cheers!

In the Toledo area and interested in grass fed, local meat?

Well boy do I have some good news for you! Omega Meats from Graham Farms are going to be featured and sampled out at Health Foods by Claudia at her annual open house November 12-13. This is such an awesome opportunity for people to learn the benefits of eating grass fed, free range, hormone free, local meat and eggs and to really taste the difference! There is a ton of information on the farmer's site that I linked above and I really hope that a lot of people in the area give this a try.
Open House
When: November 12-13
Hours: Saturday 9am-7pm and Sunday 11am-5pm
Location: 3904 Secor Road Toledo, Ohio 419-474-2400 Get Directions

Like Omega Meats and Health Foods by Claudia on Facebook:

Why must my love for Bruno Mars be constantly called into question??

If you know me you know this is totally my thang. Aren't enough performances like this if you ask me.

A mama's gotta keep it together

One of the "O's" in my OCD is vomit. I absolutely obsess over whether or not the ladies are going to vomit every single day. No joke. Wouldn't you just know it, I was blessed with a kid who's prone to stomach bugs. I know it makes no sense and I'm too sleep deprived to try to explain it, but taking care of the puker (Athena) and potential future puker (Zofia) all while trying to portray a normal human being to them BBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLAAAARRRGGGHHH!!! Pass the Xanax! Anywho, I'm gonna be phoning it in for a few days, NaBloPoMo. Don't judge me.... or this third glass of wine I'm drinking.

Here's a picture of Athena doing her beloved school work with a fever patch on her head:

Homeschooled kids don't get sick days, sucka!

And here is a picture she made me for taking such good care of her:

It's a little heart guy. Isn't she the best?