2010 in Review

Stolen from all over the internet. I copied this particular version from Jess.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Parented two children.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I did make new year's resolutions, and for the first time, ever, I think I kept them. I spent a lot of time trying out new recipes, and while I didn't exactly stick to the one new recipe per month plan, I definitely tried at least twelve new things. As for being a more present parent, this is something that I think I have to work at all the time. Bub is at a ridiculously fun age where we can actually do things together, so time spent together is more interactive and less one sided than it was even a year ago. I just have to make an effort every day to turn away from the laundry list of things I could and probably should be doing and just sit down on the floor with the kids.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, several friends. My baby girl is in good company.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
People close to my husband's family died, but not me.

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Willpower.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 3, the day my baby girl was born.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Having a baby! I never wrote my birth story, but Bubette's birth was easy and relaxing. Note, I did not say drug-free. I have very positive memories of her birth.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Yelling. Too much yelling.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Well, you don't deliver a nine pound baby without a little bit of injury, you know?

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Sophie the Giraffe.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Bub's. He is a great big brother. He adores his baby sister and rushes to comfort her and wants to be the first person in her room in the morning. The first person to tell me to just wait until they're screaming that he looked at her funny and she knocked over his Lego tower gets punched in the nose.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I plead the fifth.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Our house, and as we speak our garage is leaking in three places. Home ownership is not for the faint-hearted. Or, for people who like to spend their money on fun things.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Uh, a baby. And my new iPad, if we're being honest.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
I could sit here and think about this all day and never come up with anything.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
b) thinner or fatter?
c) richer or poorer?

a) Happier
b) Thinner, but I was four months pregnant this time last year.
c) About the same? My husband makes more money this year, but if we make $5, we'll spend $6, so...

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleeping.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Yelling. Being angry.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve with my parents. Christmas Day with my in-laws. It was stressful and magical and Bub opened gifts for the first time in four Christmases!

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
With my baby girl, of course. And, sap alert, with my husband again. There's nothing quite like watching your husband love your children.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Teen Mom. No, really Glee and Parenthood.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate? No. Realize that someone is not at all who I thought she was? Yes.

24. What was the best book you read?
Cutting for Stone, although I liked the Hunger Games series a lot, too.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Dalton Academy Warblers.

26. What did you want and get?
A healthy baby girl.

27. What did you want and not get?
Verizon to get with the program and start selling the iPhone.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I can't remember the last movie I saw in the theater, but Santa brought me Toy Story 3 and that was too cute. OH! I saw Eclipse. And I liked it. Shamelessly.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 31 this year and we spent the day at my parents house. I had a big fat 30th birthday party last year, so this year was low key.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Discovering that Hot Tamales have fat-burning, muscle building properties.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Yoga pants.

32. What kept you sane?
Yoga pants.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Eric Stonestreet

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm stealing from Jess's answer here. Gay marriage and DADT.

35. Who did you miss?
My friends. Life with a nursing baby keeps me on a pretty short leash. I wouldn't trade this time, but I've said no to many things this year.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Kristin, from Meringue Bake Shop, and I discovered that she's my neighbor. Knowing that push cakes are withing walking distance is very, very dangerous.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Relax.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
The only sing lyrics that come to mind are from Bub's Disney CD. That is a sad, sad state of affairs.

Christmas cookies for breakfast? Yes, please.

First of all, let me say that I'm very impressed by those of you who have managed to upload your holiday pictures already. It's 3:00pm the day after Christmas and I'm still in my pajamas, draped in a Snuggie.

Secondly, my children are very, very spoiled. Husband suggested we tell the grandparents that they can only buy three gifts for Christmas, but I think nothing kills a grandparent's buzz like putting limits on what they can buy for their grandchildren. So, it's up to us to make sure that we set most of the gifts aside to be doled out over time. Also, I think one day a year where the gifts flow freely isn't such a bad thing.

Third, I am now the proud owner of an iPad. My husband may see my face again sometime in 2011. What apps do you love? Is anyone still playing Words with Friends anymore? If so, I'm themamabub. Let's play!

Finally, my parents still treat Christmas like a big freaking deal and I love them for that. Yes, I understand that true meaning of Christmas, but like I said, free-flowing gifts one day a year isn't such a bad thing.

I hope your holiday was fab if you celebrate, and if not, I hope you're having a great weekend.

A Reprieve

Southern Californians sure are pansies when it comes to the weather, aren't we? To be fair, we're not really equipped for this much rain. Half of the people I know don't even own umbrellas and I discovered both of ours our broken, so I'm not exactly ahead of the game either. Plus, we live in tiny, overpriced homes that get a bit claustrophobic when we're stuck inside for so long. It should come as no surprise then, that this morning, when the clouds parted and the sun came out, I threw a sweatshirt on over Bub's pajamas and sent him outside before we missed our chance.

He was not pleased. In fact, he sobbed. Apparently a steady supply of holiday movies and pbskids.org makes for a some serious withdrawals when faced with creating one's own fun. He quickly came around though and we chased each other around the muddy backyard. Even I, usually content to watch with my hot chocolate by the fire, didn't mind the mud or the cold, or any of it, really. Then the boys went for a walk and when the rain came back a while later, I didn't sigh or groan. I just enjoyed my steamed up windows and the overpowering scent of cinnamon rolls being baked for friends and neighbors. (I originally typed sinnamon rolls. Appropriate, no?)

Now I'm looking forward to the promise of clear skies tomorrow and three activity packed days including Disney on Ice for my boy and me tomorrow. Then it's my mother-in-law's birthday, Christmas Eve with my fam and then Santa will be here.

Other things filling me with holiday cheer:
*Finishing all of the gift wrapping
*Falalala Lifetime
*Reindeer Food
*Reading Elf on the Shelf every day to Bub. He asks for it and loves looking for the elf each morning. He named our elf Thonk. He's making my holiday dreams come true.
*Free next day shipping and the cheeriest FedEx driver ever saved me when one of my Etsy purchases didn't come through and the seller was not appropriately bothered by the fact that something ordered weeks ago never arrived.
*Holiday cards. I'm totally cheered by the fact that they're still arriving, meaning that other people took just as long to send theirs as I did.

Reindeer Food

This is my absolute favorite holiday "baking" recipe. It is yummy, quick and involves absolutely no baking. It's also slightly more addictive than crack, so if you have anything to do that doesn't allow for frequent trips to the kitchen for just one more handful, then I would not suggest making this.

Except that I would. Make it. Make it now.

Note: There are about a million different variations of this recipe. This one comes from my mother-in-law, but I'm sure you've seen some variation of this somewhere.

9 C. any combo of Corn, Rice or Wheat Chex
2 C. salted dry-roasted peanuts
2 C. small pretzel twists (I use sticks)
2 C. miniature marshmallows
1 C. chocolate chips
1 pkg (20 oz.) vanilla flavored candy coating (I use Wilton's Candy Melts but vanilla Candi-Quik would work too.)

Put chocolate chips in freezer to chill.

Combine all dry ingredients. Melt candy coating in microwave per package directions (I melt in one minute increments on 50% power) until candy can be stirred smooth.

Pour candy coating over dry ingredients and fold together quickly and gently. Add chocolate chips and continue to combine. Spread on wax paper on cookie sheet. Cool completely. Break into chunks and store in an airtight container.

I usually just transfer this to a giant Ziploc and snack from it until I'm hoovering the crumbs out of the bottom of the bag. This also makes a fun gift and is easily packed into small cellophane bags tied with a ribbon.

Notes: I used the Christmas tree marshmallows this year to make it more festive. Also, I prefer mini-chocolate chips, or you can substitute M&Ms. AND, I almost always leave out the peanuts for no particular reason other than I always forget to buy them.

Enjoy!

Give Back

I'm the first to admit that it's very easy to get caught up in all of the trappings of Christmas. With wish lists galore, it's easy to lose sight of the meaning of the season. Listen, I like a gift guide as much as the next girl and it's fun to make lists of things I would like to see Santa bring me. But, truly, the thing I enjoy most is the giving. And, if you're anything like me, you could probably use a reminder that giving extends beyond what lies wrapped under the Christmas tree.

Enter GiveBack. Their tagline It's Your Foundation pretty much says it all. When you create your GiveBack account, you'll automatically have $5 deposited into your account. From there, you can earn additional money simply by shopping online. Up to 15% of your purchase will be deposited into your GiveBack account. There are over 400 participating stores, and I quickly found many retailers that I use regularly including: Snapfish, Old Navy, and Diapers.com.

As we're counting down to Christmas and frantically fulfilling the wishes of those nearest and dearest to us, we could also be doing more with our dollar.

The thing I like best? 100% of your money goes directly to the charities of your choice. And, AND you can choose to give to any charity registered with the IRS.

Of course, you can also make a donation using a credit card and receive a tax deduction.

Watch the cute little video below, then head on over to GiveBack and create your very own foundation. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

By participating in this campaign from One 2 One Network, I am eligible to win a Blissdon conference pass, however the words above reflect my true feelings about GiveBack.

6 and 42

I think we should just accept that these posts are going to be late from here on out, okay?

Daddy always refers to you as his two babies, but it's become increasingly clear that you, Bub, are anything but a baby. In fact, when I was explaining why I thought you were too young for something, I whined to your dad that you're just a baby. You announced from the back seat, "I'm not a baby! I'm a boy!"



So true, little man.

You are so many things. You're funny and full of energy and you're just so sweet. You want to be friends with everyone and you rush to comfort your sister when she's upset. It's okay baby girl, we're almost home, or Mama's coming baby, she'll be right here.

Today when someone held the door open for us at preschool you looked up at him and said, "Thank you, sir!" and when you were recently asked if you had a girlfriend you said, "Yes! Baby sister!"

At three and a half you love Disneyland, school, puzzles, trains, coloring if, and only if, someone sits down and colors with you, The Cat in the Hat and Mickey's Christmas Carol. Although you're largely disinterested in Christmas, you have recently begun to open presents willingly and without tears, so we're all looking forward to Christmas morning. Let's put on a good show, shall we?

Baby girl, it's beyond belief that six months have already flown by. I can remember this time last year so clearly, when I was just pregnant enough to look fat and emerging from the morning sickness haze. Now, you're a real, live baby girl.



You are still so mellow. You would happily ride around on my hip all day watching the world go by, but you're equally content to lay on the floor shoving your feet in your mouth or sit in your highchair watching me make dinner. You love your Sophie the giraffe and anything else you can drool all over. You can sit briefly, before slowly folding in half, or toppling over.



Sleep with you is two steps forward, one step back. I'll go ahead and take the blame for this one because I find it very hard to be consistent at 3:00am. Something tells me you'll learn the value of a full night's sleep one of these days and never look back.

Hahahahahaha.

Now, if the both of you wouldn't mind working on a simultaneous naptime situation, life around here would be grand.

Not our couch.

Extremes

Alternate Title: The dog is fine, really.

This weekend was watching The Polar Express in bed on Sunday morning. It was a Christmas party with family with more desserts than side dishes. It was Disneyland in the morning for the boys, and sleeping in for the girls. It was my husband bringing home pizza for dinner on Friday night.

It was also the dog getting hit by a car. He's fine, amazingly, really fine. He is a bit bruised and taking doggie ibuprofen, but this was the best possible outcome when a two ton car and a 16 pound dog collide. I still can't believe it.

It was the stomach flu arriving at midnight, waking poor Bub for hours of misery.

It was many, many, many loads of laundry.

Even in the middle of all of that, there were bright spots. The person who was driving the car that hit poor Charlie stopped immediately and apologized profusely. He couldn't have been more genuinely shaken up and in my recollection of the event I feel bad that I didn't do more to comfort him. (It was totally our fault that Charlie got out.)

My husband offered to stay home today, and I only hesitated for a minute before saying yes, please. Despite the fact that Bub obviously doesn't feel well, he's not feeling well in a tired, feverish, no appetite sort of way now, so that's manageable.

There was also this lesson: If you think you have too many beach towels, you're wrong. Someday you will need each and every last one of them to cover every surface in your child's room.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

I mentioned on Twitter that I had just made a chocolate eclair cake. I tweeted about it rather than go downstairs and stare at it in the refrigerator, and wonder how exactly I can speed up time to make tomorrow night get here faster. Tomorrow night, after dinner, to be precise.

There was a request for the recipe, so here you go. The easiest chocolate eclair fake-out EVER. This was given to me by my mother-in-law with no source, otherwise I would love to credit the genius responsible for this.

1 box honey graham crackers
1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 tub Cool Whip
1 jar hot fudge topping (I use Mrs. Richardson's)

Remove Cool Whip from freezer to defrost. Prepare vanilla pudding per package directions by whisking milk into pudding mix. Place into refrigerator to set.

Prepare 9 x 13 pan. My mother-in-law says to butter the pan, but I have never done this. You make the call. Line the pan with graham crackers. It doesn't need to be perfect, but most of the bottom of the pan needs to be covered.

Once pudding is set, fold in Cool Whip until complete incorporated. Pour half of Cool Whip/pudding mix on top of graham crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers and top with rest of pudding mix. Add a third layer of graham crackers and top with hot fudge topping. (I have always warmed my hot fudge to make it easier to spread, but some people say this isn't necessary. You don't want it completely melty, so don't take it as far as you would if you were actually topping ice cream with it.

Cover and chill in refrigerator. Must be chilled for several hours and is best if made a day in advance. You want the graham crackers to lose their crunch completely so that they give the illusion of pastry dough. This recipe is all about illusion.

To be fair, I never said this was gourmet and in appearance this resembles chocolate eclairs in no way at all. But it's good. Very, very good. It's also usually more of a summer dessert, but it's what my husband requested so it's what I made.

Sweet

My mother-in-law had a cookie exchange last week and I made Chocolate Crinkles and Chocolate Chip Thumbprints. Both of these recipes get a huge thumbs up from me, with one caveat. The thumbprints use Nutella on top, which never dries or hardens making these a bit messy and impossible to stack. Still, yummy.

Yesterday I came downstairs after putting the baby down for a nap to find Bub sitting on the couch with books in his lap. Do you want to read this book with me, Mama? Lately, our days are filled with these moments, where he's just so awesome that I want to memorize the moment. I took him for a haircut last week and he looked at the stylist in the mirror and said, Would you please be very gentle? Oof. My heart.

We put one giant check in the make holiday memories column.



Horrendously awful cell phone picture aside, he loved it.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

*I really wanted to start the tradition of doing an Advent calendar this year, but it's December 3, and I've missed the boat. Part of the problem is that I don't have the calendar itself. I really wanted this one, but I didn't want to pay $70. Friends have gotten them at Target and Costco, but my stores are out of them. I don't want the kind pre-filled with chocolate, because I wanted to be able to fill in some of the spaces with activities. Target did have a 12 day countdown set with fabric envelopes. It seemed like an arbitrary number, but at this rate I may as well just get that one. (I KNOW I could have made one. I just didn't)

However, if you need some advent calendar idea inspiration, check here, here and here.

*I did get on the ball enough to actually start using our Elf on the Shelf. It's not so much a hit. I had hidden the Elf before Bub came home from school and he had a fun time finding him, and then that was it. He wanted nothing to do with hearing that the Elf was visiting from the North Pole and refused to sit down and read the book with me. I tried to sneak the book upstairs to read at bedtime, but he saw it and said, "I TOLD YOU, I don't want to read that book."

*Bub doesn't really seem to totally understand Santa. He only recently started to enjoy opening presents, but doesn't get that he can ask for things and Santa might bring them. I should probably be grateful for that.

*We have a pile of Christmas books that only come out this time of year. I have visions of sitting with Bub and reading them by the Christmas tree. So far, he refuses. Like runs away and kicks and screams if I try to lead him to them. I can't figure it out. It's not that he won't sit and do anything, or that he won't sit and read books with me, it's just these books. It's as if he knows that he's crushing my dreams.

*I bought a gingerbread house kit for the first time this year. I'm afraid of what Bub's reaction will be, given the reception he's given to all of my other totally awesome Christmas tradition ideas.

*I (mostly) solved the problem of what to get my mom. She's getting a Snapfish calendar and Photo Stamps. The photo stamps have become something of a tradition, and since they're consumable, it's perfectly acceptable to repeat the gift every year. I've never made her a calendar, but have always meant to, and she has the perfect space in her office for it. I've also picked up a few things on Etsy, so barring any last minute inspiration she's set.

Wanted: Fine Motor Skills

I promised myself I wouldn't do that thing where I look forward to the next big milestone. Bubette being my last baby, I want to enjoy her babyhood. And I do! But, there is one milestone I'm looking forward to, and that would the the ability to replace the paci herself.

When I put her in the crib, regardless of whether she's asleep or awake, her hand flies to her pacifier and pops it out of her mouth. She can pick it up, but then just bashes it into her face repeatedly, because she can't figure out how to turn it in the right direction.

It's funny, and infuriating.

I kid myself that this accomplishment will be the turning point of our sleeping problems. Let me hold on to that illusion?