Guess who is EIGHT MONTHS old?!

Guess who is EIGHT MONTHS old?!

This happy boy, that's who! I just love this boy to pieces! He really is just the best little thing that could have ever happened to us.

He is wearing a size 3 diaper. He has had to be in night time diapers now overnight. He wears 6y-9 month clothing. Some of the pants are too big still, but that is ok. He wears some 9-12 and 12m clothes too. Especially if there is feet involved. He is so long. we bought him 3t-5t socks the other day and my husband about fainted. He has ginormous feet.

He loves to eat table food. Grilled cheese, hamburger quessadillas, yogurt, you name it.

He is just a joy.

I love you little one.

Mom

Unorganized Brain Dump.

This will be an unorganized brain dump.

*Last week I was on a watching Sex and the City kick. I love SATC. It is such a girl classic. I popped season 1 in. I though that I had all the seasons, but I seem to be missing 4-6. Maybe they didn't survive all the moves, maybe I am mistaken and don't own them, never did. Who knows. But I think I need to invest in 4, 5, and 6.

*All of last week I had no meal plan. I hate not having a meal plan outlined for the week. We winged it  and that was fine but I much prefer the organization. I sit and plan it out on Mondays usually. It takes a long time to figure out what we have, what we need and then go to the store to get said things, but it seems to make it easier on me. I always have an answer to the dreaded "What's for dinner?" question.

*My son had a full screaming tantrum at Target. I was "that mom". He just screamed and cried. I rushed to get what I came for and left. I think he was overly tired and maybe is teething again because he has been a bit edgy lately.

*We went to Babies and Books at the library per the usual. He loves the "Going to Kentucky" song. If I start singing it at home (since the friggin tune gets stuck in my head ALL DAY) he just starts laughing and smiling.



*I downloaded Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin on the kindle. I had seen the movie when it came out but A. I am forgetful and B. Books are always better. I read it pretty fast and then got a library book. GASP. I must say, I am spoiled with kindle. I prefer it. BUT for such fast reads, it makes sense to check them out and return them. I checked out Something Blue and am nearly done with that since Monday. Fast reads, even with a little guy on the go. I will see if the next in the series is at the library next week when we go.

*This weekend was a low key one. We swam and just hung out. It was nice to not have to do anything.

*My husband is out of town on a business trip. He has two per year and I hate being alone. I used to not mind, I did buy my own house and live there no problem. I feel like I used to be much more independent. Now, married and mommy me does not feel that way. I feel awkward going places as just TISH. Not the wife, not Maddox's mom. Terrible.

*ADT called me to say that my alarm was activated by the motion sensor last night on my way home from the grocery store. Awesome. Second time it has happened and both times sans husband in the state. I had left 2 of our 4 dogs out and I assumed that was what happened. The sensor goes to 100 pounds. Well Zoey is 85-90 pounds and Sam is 55pounds, so they must have stood in the beam at the same time.

*I met the mommy group at Arrowhead yesterday. I had planned to go already, but that was a bonus since I wont get to many meetings the rest of the month. Maddox wanted to play so badly. He would start crawling and pulling up on the toys and then big kids would race by him chasing each other and my little love would sob. It happened about 8 times. No parents around to discipline their children. I wanted to yell at them and tell them to have manners and inside voices and feet but I didn't. I cant believe how ill-behaved children are. It is their parents fault I believe. TEACH your kid how to act. WATCH your kid when they are playing. It is pretty simple. We left and went shopping after that. I doubt i go back unless it is pretty empty. They need to have a designated baby area.

Tish

Chick-Fil-A

Have you guys been hearing all of the comments and backlash toward Chick-Fil-A?

What are your thoughts on that?

I saw this letter today and couldn't help but smile.

I just can not wrap my head around the fact that Christians are spreading hate and close mindedness. Shouldn't their message be "treat others the way you want to be treated" and "God loves all the little children"?

If you don't like same sex marriage, don't dwell on it. Continue on with your life just as you did yesterday. What does someone else's spouse have to do with you? Marriage is hard. Straight or gay. I do not see how denying an entire group of people is a "good thing". How would you feel if it was your cousin, your sister, your uncle, your mom.

Christianity should equal forgiveness, grace, and love... not promote segregation and hate.

What's going on 'round here

We had a lazy weekend for the most part. Saturday was a pool day. I need some sun on these legs. Sunday we cleaned and napped and then I had to watch like 87 hours of TV Sunday night. Whew. Bachelorette was on, then After the Final Rose, then Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives. My husband was in TV hell.
Did you guys like Jef with one F as THE ONE? I think I do. Arie was such a smooth talker. I wonder if they would have had more than kisses...

I planned out all my meals last week. I should have planned them around coupons, but I didn't. I haven't got that far yet.

Monday: we had "my" spaghetti. I don't have a recipe for it, but it is pretty delish.

Tuesday: Pork Chops with pineapple fried rice. It was very easy. Good.

Wednesday: we ended up going out.. whoops. Thank you Macayo's.

Thursday: we had yummy zucchini boats. I saved the sauce I used for my spaghetti, see how that plan worked out?

Friday: I had chicken: this I have made twice now. It is yummy. So rich though.

Saturday: I was using something from Pioneer Woman again. I need to quit that because so many of her recipes are Fattening with that capital F. Crispy Steak Fingers.
I paired it with a cool salad. Recipe:
Cut up one avocado into small chunks and drizzle with lemon juice. Dice up a few green onions. Dice up a whole nice sized cucumber, and slice some cherry tomatoes in two. Sprinkle with sea salt and course black pepper, and then mix with some balsamic vinegar. YUM. Easy. Fresh. Delish.

Sunday: I made pork tenderloin with zucchini grilled on the stove with a little evoo, s&p and a bit of oregano.

Today we had the electrician back over to finish up a few projects. My husbands office didn't have a ceiling fan, so we put one in. The front room didn't have any lighting, and that wont do. Based on some old pictures before we bought this house, the previous owner had our sitting room as their dining room, and our formal dining as nothing.
He also only put two lights on the three garages. We were the only house in the neighborhood with 2 lights. Plus it was really dark. So now we have 2 lights on each garage like a normal house.
This is our dining room:

We are contemplating a rug beneath the table. I am not sure now though if I want it or not. We need a vase to put these lighted branches in to finish this room. I have one more small picture that needs framed and that can go in here. When Maddox and the other future babies are bigger, our china or something fun may go in the shelves of the buffet. We shall see. On the opposite wall there is this horizontal red piece.

Up close view of the art you can see:

We have kind of a country, modern, earthy thing going on I guess.

Today was a meetup for the mom group. I had a good time meeting some new moms and seeing some moms I have hung out with before. Maddox had such a good time too. He loves playing.

Am contemplating watching my first ever Bachelor Pad. Hmmmm.

Tish

Aurora and the President

Things are normal here. They are the every day things. Maddox was awake and playing in bed with us this morning. My husband and I were just laying in bed listening to little man. We were in our own little world of happiness.

We turned the news on and saw the massacre in Aurora. My heart dropped. I couldn't even imagine what would possess someone to go into a theater and just kill people. I just really can't imagine. I can't imagine being in there, just minding my own business with my family, ready to watch the hot summer release and BOOM. So scary. So sad.

I am glad that the President decided to just let the day rest and not keep on the election trail. That was a well planned thing in my mind. Speaking of election, have you guys taken the isidewith quiz? It shows you who you really side with for the election. My results shocked me. See if yours do...or maybe you are really in touch with who you want.

Tish

Long summer day

Wednesday was a busy day. A fun day, but a busy day.
We went over to Julie's house for a play date. Maddox had so much fun! He loved playing in their awesome play room. Reid is still a bit shy around us, but I hope that will go away with some time. I think he was also in shock that he was supposed to share his toys.

I was shocked at how much Maddox liked the big boy toys. I felt so bad for sheltering him with baby toys. You know, soft blocks, rubber ducks, books, stuffed animals.
Me and the husband went and got him a few toys. He LOVES them.

After we left Julie's, we went home to get fresh and then headed out to the Avondale Fire Department for a tour with the mommy group.

Afterward, we all got firemen hats. I mean, what trip to the firehouse would be complete without a hat?

When we got home, I had to jump in the shower again because the tour was mainly outside seeing the trucks. Whew, HOT summers. As I got my loungewear on, my husband decided that we needed to go out to dinner because he didnt want to clean up lol. We headed for Mexican and got the boys toys.

Was a good good day.

And the surgeon says:

Yesterday I had to have an appointment with a surgeon. I have to go under the knife and I am obviously not thrilled.

I found a huge lump in my stomach a couple weeks ago. I showed my husband, who seemed panicked, and disgusted LOL. He told me to call my Dr. asap. They got me in that day. (good customer service!) I showed my Dr. and he said that it was a very large hernia.

Who knew girls got hernias. Not me. Apparently I got it from having my son via c-section. How many more things go wrong with c-sections. This emphasizes my jealousy and envy for those that can have vaginal births-- but I digress.
Since we moved the day I got my staples out, I wasn't able to recover AT ALL from the c-section. It was unbelievable. But we did what we had to do.

Anyway, I go into the surgeons office and they ask me if it is ok if the med student that this surgeon has working for her comes in first. Sigh. Fine. I will be your lab rat.
He was nice and somewhat shy. I hope he overcomes that.
The Dr. comes in and she says "wow, I have never seen a hernia that big from a c-section before". Awesome. That is just what I needed to hear.

So, yes, you will continue to see me in loose pants. :) Gives me an excuse right?

I have to stay the night "to monitor pain". Is this biatch serious? I was so freaking out.
She wont do laproscopic since I will have more kids and they have to be via c-section-- again DAMN you c-section and narrow pelvic bone! I mean come on! Looking at me, I have serious child bearing hips. It is an evil joke.

She then said that my recovery will be much like my c-section, just minus the hormones.

Sigh.

Step Up

I am pretty excited to announce two huge steps for me.
They aren't big steps in most people's worlds, but to me, in Arizona, they were.

As you know, I have not met any friends here so far. It is hard. I did join a mommy group, but don't have that girl friend to call and just go to lunch with or something.

I had one of the moms and her two babies over to our house for a play date Thursday. It was a mini success. This mama has a 1 year old and a 1 month old, so she is very busy and we were busy with all the babies. Her son and Maddox had fun. Maddox is so outgoing and Reid is shy, but they still played near each other well. Maddox kept trying to get the baby and see just what she was all about. They didn't get to stay super long due to nap times, but it was a good time and a step for me.

The next night, I had signed up for a "taco fiesta" at one of the mom's houses. I was so nervous. I literally almost cancelled. I was nervous to be "just me" and not have Maddox there or Steve there. I used to never be that way. That just tells you how out of touch I am with the world as a sahm. I made shredded chicken. That was super easy btw: a cup of water, a chicken bouillon cube, half of a Ranch packet, one whole taco seasoning packet, several jalapenos, and cayenne pepper. I got dressed and waited till the very last minute to leave to go.

I drove over and it ended up being not as scary as I thought. There were only 6 of us there-- apparently others cancelled. We talked and laughed and it was 10pm before I knew it. I had fun. Do I know if I will be real friends with any of these chicks, no, but it was a start. I had only met one of the five before Friday.

Baby steps, baby steps.

Loss

It sure seems that I am MIA a lot these days. I am. With my husbands family needing him, and it just being me and little boy for much of the month of June, I got out of the habit of blogging and even really reading blogs.
I do not envy the single mama life one bit. Chasing after 4 dogs, and this little boy wore me out. Maddox has decided that sleeping isn't on his agenda, so my sweet little sleeper wakes me up anywhere 1-3 times per night. Sigh. Makes for a tired mom. As you can imagine.

My husband is home now and is coping the best he can. It is never easy to lose a parent. July 14th marked the 17 year anniversary of my own father's death. It "gets easier" but you don't forget. I still remember falling to the cold tile beneath my legs as I looked into my mother's dark pooling eyes. I still remember having to tell my little brothers who were only 12 and 7 that they didn't have a father with them anymore. I remember how hard it was planning my wedding and knowing that my dad wouldn't be the one to walk me down the isle. That killed a piece of me. And if I think about it too long, I still cry.

Tish

A week in recipes

Recipes:

Lemon Cookies from Pinterest-- very good. Light. Fluffy.

Quesadilla Casserole also from Pinterest. It was just ok. I could tweak it to make it better I think. It froze well and thawed and cooked well. It was sort of like a Mexican Lasagna.

Chicken Divan. I didn't use a recipe off line. My mom has made this for years and I used her recipe. I found one similar to what I do here. I use 2 cream of chicken soups vs one of mushroom. I use a bit more lemon juice. I make a cup of white rice. I mix the rice and broccoli and chicken together, put the mixture on top and bake 350* for about 30 minutes. I then uncover, and broil lightly for a few minutes. It is a favorite comfort food of mine.

One night it was just me at home, and since I had decided that I needed Panda Express for lunch, I thought I should have a light dinner. I found this avocado recipe and I was in heaven. Why in the world was this the first time I had tried this?! YUM.

Last night I thought that I had Italian Sausage in the freezer, so I wanted to use that up. Turns out it was not Italian Sausage, but after I saw this recipe, I decided that I wanted it, so me and little boy headed to the store. Just for the record, I was going to the store anyway-- but this provided another thing on the ol' grocery check list.
It was really easy and so good. Thank you Johnsonville.com!

Today I have to go to the dentist to finish up my mouth. At least I think that this is the last appointment for this section. Whew. I hope.

Do you guys have plans for the 4th? We are going to have a little bbq at the house and be in the pool most of the day. Then head to one of the parks for some fireworks action. I hope it rains a bit. It is so needed. Me and the husband have had to pour pitchers of extra water on all of our plants. They all look crispy, even on a water timer.

Ok: time for  more coffee and to mop my floors.


Tish