When merry and Christmas come together

A good time was had by all in our Christmas celebrations!

and in other news, Des totally went POTTY today in his potty! Woo-woo! We're not really potty training right now but I figure we could get well acquainted with mr. potty while the newness is still a good thing. We have community potty time...'nuf said.  And today it worked.

It was our birthday the other day

Thanks to everyone who sent happy birthday messages. I successfully did not respond to a single one of them (unless you called me on the phone). Sorry. But I did appreciate them all.

First thing I did was bake our cake (its Kolt's bday on the very same day if you didn't know! It made for some good conversation the first date we figured it out. I thought he was lying...)

And by bake I mean slave over a somewhat ridiculous Martha Stewart recipe, have the cakes totally not work out at all (think boil-over all in the oven then sink like horrible volcanoes of despair), have the frosting turn out reaaaaaally goopy, and then some how find the courage to carry on (thanks, mom!) and cut off large portions of uneven cake, slather on way too much goopy frosting, and some how pull out a pretty nice looking cake. There were times when I wanted to cry. But didn't. *whew.*

A pink candle for me, a blue one for kolt.

Des and me. Because we're never in the same pic. Ever.

Des blew out our candles for us.

I bought me a birthday dress! And I loooooove it!

 

Des liked the cake a bunch. He buzzed around the house for a good 15 minutes after, though. It may have contained a bit too much sugar for a pre-bedtime snack!

And then today we played in the snow for the first time! Of course he found his bike and tried to drive around.  It didn't go so well....

And as for my tie totals from the other day, it went something like this:

• 1,188 hits on my webpage (which is usually around 20)
• Sold something like 15 bowties (which is pretty much awesome for a day and a half!)

Thanks to Nie Nie I have a little more spending money for crafts. or ties. but probably crafts! Woo-woo!!

I MADE IT!!

What a surprise! I got up this morning and checked my BabyWindsor email and I had not one, not two, but FIVE new orders! At 8:30 in the morning. So then I checked Nie Nie and I MADE IT!! She posted about my bowties just this morning (although she used the wrong picture because the neckstrap is most definately not a babywindsor...I sort of feel bad about that) BUT we made it. Oh man. Now I hope I can keep up with the orders as her thousands of readers (803,429 average profile views to be exact) read today's post. I'll let you know what the numbers end up being by the end of today. Might just be the five I got (and I'm totally happy with that!) but I think it may be a bit more!

Just some thoughts

As I wait for my laundry to finish so I can go to bed, I figured I could write a quick something down. Maybe post some random pics...

Something I learned this week: When they say, "never punish your child by making their bed a time-out," they're right. I knew this. I've known this. Why did I do it anyway? Because I'm dumb. So it caught up to me this past week when Des decided that he would have NOTHING to do with mom putting him down for bedtime. He would scream. He would cry. He would try to climb out, run away, ask for milp (that would be how he says milk), ask for bread, and cry some more. For an hour. So then Dad shows up on the scene and in two minutes flat Des is out cold. Snoring peacefully.

Then one night Des started saying, "Niiiice. Niicce, "  which is what he says after he's ready to come out of time-out and be nice. And I said, "Des, you're not in trouble, we're just trying to..." Aw crap. Dumb mom. The light-bulb came on. So we've changed the time-out venue to a couch downstairs (which doesn't get used very often because he really is a nice little dude) and in THREE days he's already back to going right to bed for me. Gotta love that.

In other randomness, here's a picture of Des last year in January!

his hair is now a tiny bit lighter (plus it was wet in the pic) and he's looking less baby but still pretty much the same! Chubby, chubby, chubby. And he still sucks on everything...but that mostly has to do with the remaining four teeth he's trying to cut. Then he's DONE! for a while...

and a final little tid-bit: I sent some ties to Nie Nie in hopes she posts about them on her blog. She did another ladies bow-ties today so I'm feeling like maybe I won't make it. But you should keep watching just in case!! Besides, mine were all Christmas-y and the ones today totally were not.

If only I spoke German

I came across a lovely blog today called Domestic Candy and I'm in love! Their house/sense of style is pretty much where I want to be these days. Too bad it's all in German. But the pictures! This is my favorite post about their little boy's room (I think, at least!) And when he grew up a bit, they gave him a bunk bed with, ready for this, A SLIDE. Here's the post with the evidence. Someday Des will too have a bed with a slide. But the overall natural light, and sort of mismatch-y feel of it all and sort of simplicity just makes me so happy. Ultimately I'd probably add some sort of color to the walls--like a light blue-gray or other nice neutral--but take a look around. Its worth it. (and its suuuper light reading!!)  haha  :D

Oh and I guess she has a store.But I bet she doesn't deliver to us here in the good ol' US of A. And its also in German. But she has some pretty cute designs!

The tree is up

Even if I had very little to do with it (I was baking candy cane cookies at the time) our tree is up! There are some perks in living with the folks. Dishes--I don't have to do 'em very often, and the Christmas tree gets set up and decorated while you watch. Its very, very sweet!

Uh, he did this all by himself. It's his "thinking pose". Contemplating all the gifts he's going to get, I'm sure.

This is what he does now: "Cheeeese!"

In case you couldn't tell, its my mom's Snowman Tree. She has three different themed trees. This one had fewer breakable ornaments so we went with it.

Uh, 20 months. Really?!

 Des is officially 20 months today. Helllo???! Where is the time going? This was him last year at this time:

Des with Santa

opening presents on Christmas Day

Its crazy that this chuck of a kid started out so tiny...and full of tubes...but mostly tiny. 

I miss the sweet little moments you can have with a baby that you don't really get anymore when they're all too cool for mommy. But he's still mostly sweet and his tantrums are pretty mild compared to some kid's I've witnessed. I guess that just comes with practice (the quality of the tantrums, that is). I did get a little cuddle time when we came home from our date night and he was crying in his bed for mommy. I just got to hold him and rock him and baby him a little more than I usually do. So that was nice.  I just can't believe that we're entering into potty training and big-boy beds so soon.

Sometimes I hold him like a baby and tell him to say, "Goo-goo, Ga-Ga". And he does. and it makes me laugh. And then I remember how fun it is to have a talking/playing/creative almost-two year old.

As promised...

 So we have a real lack of anything going on in the picture world these days. We didn't even take some of Thanksgiving (which went swimmingly, BTW). My first time actually being in charge and it was, and I quote, "One of the best turkeys [we] ever ate." Just tootin' my own horn a bit. Now on to the pics.

Six words for ya: I. have. been. a. sewing. freak. Chances are, if I have your name for Christmas, you're getting something I've sewn. But I've actually really enjoyed it. Usually by the end of the second project I'm cursing and swearing under my breath and RUING the day I decided it would be fun to make Christmas. But because I decided early what I was going to make and actually started early too, this year has been a much better year for keeping the swears away.

Here's a sneak peak of some of my projects:

Now, you may recall this little cutie:

He's been much better these days (ever since the pukes went away). Although he has this strange habit of losing his pants in the evenings. My dad can attest to this phenomenon. Quite mind boggling. Might have something to do with his mother being tired of trying to squeeeeeze his fat little legs back through the waist of his pants. True story.  He's got a fat butt.

Aaaand that's about it. Kinda sad how I had to sit my child down (without pants) and take a photo just to stick it on my blog. We really need to start living life. doing something with ourselves... meh. we'll go back out when the snow's gone.

Good news

We managed to pull together Thanksgiving only the day after I was puking my little brains out. Whew! I only lost my "prep day" so all went smoothly. I just had to bake pies, turkey and rolls simultaneously. Thank goodness my parents have a lovely double oven!

And this year we were all thankful for good health. And that dad/grandpa/nanna did NOT catch what poor little des and myself had. and for Lysol.

We didn't take pictures. Sorry. My blog has been pretty bland lately but hopefully we can take some/find some/barter for some for your viewing pleasure...

Des learned some new words today

Puke and bucket. He didn't like either one of them. poor guy. But seems like it's past and now he's sleeping so hopefully I won't get what he had during Thanksgiving. Because I'm in charge this year....

you know it's going to happen. *sigh*

Finally Glee comes back for an episode

My dad would beg to differ but Glee was awesome its first season. Then it came back and I dunno what hit; it was full of crazy liberal agendas and weird preachy teen messages. I ended up not being able to watch it while Des was around because they started sneaking in questionable material. So today I watched yesterday's episode while Des was out with his grandpa and nanna and whaddayaknow! Glee was back. Perhaps it had to do with the guest appearance of Gwyneth Paltrow. She's always so good. But this was my favorite number by far:

I've considered myself lucky these past 19 months...

but then it happened. Des bit me. hard. Right on my shoulder (of all places?!) and I cried a little but not too much since I was out with my visiting teaching ladies.

makes me think about a funny youtube video called "Charlie Bit My Finger".

Anyway, now I have some sweet teeth marks. Kolt bit his dad on the bum when he was des' age. Maybe it's just genetics. or teething. or both.

Growing up

Its funny to witness all the "growing up" des has been doing lately. Most of which has been a bit rough on mom since he turned in his one-year-old sweetness and got a slightly ornery, really opinionated 18-month-old thing going. But it's getting better. Sleep is good, field trips are better, and he really likes to help make dinner. So we're making progress.

The other day Des' buddy from across the street (well, gravel road) wandered over to play for a bit. Des' first play date!! :D  They had tons of fun. Des liked showing him around the yard and showing him his goats and trucks and how to push the big truck and no-I-won't-share-my-bike's and how to sit on the wall out back. It was really cute to see him interact more than just the free-for-all nursery is on Sunday. After the struggle with the bike his buddy went and got his own so they could both ride. And then they promptly switched bikes. Whatever keeps em happy.

Des also had his 18-month check up (a month late) and they only confirmed what my back has been telling me: my baby is a fatty.

Height: 32" (puts him in the 29%--aww, he's gonna be short)
Weight: 27.15 (that would be 71%. oh man.)
Noggin: 49.5 cm (uh, 87%. his head is still huuuge. Gotta have enough room for them brains, right? Right?!)

But ultimately the dr said he won't be telling me to switch his milk to a lower fat %. Which he had to for another kid because he was getting way outta control. so that's good.  Besides, I like his chunky legs and fat belly. He's just solid. But he still can pull off a pair of heels...

New discoveries: in the life of a 19-month old

There's always something new to discover. Like one's gag reflex. Pretty stinkin' neat because it makes mom come running across the house pretty much every time (until she figured out what was going on and now doesn't sprint...mostly just peaks around the corner). You can use your fingers, your play phone, or the original culprit grapes. They all work great.

The up side: mom makes you stop before you hurl your recently devoured dinner everywhere. Because no one wants to see that.

I don't usually post recipes

but this was seriously so good! mmmmm I think I'll go have me a piece right now while I'm typing. That way I can really get into it.

Mushroom and Chicken Lasagna (I actually called it "White Lasagna" to keep those wary of mushrooms from freaking out)
adapted from Portobello Mushroom Lasagna, Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients
Kosher Salt
Good Olive Oil
3/4 pound lasagna noodles (she used the kind you boil, I used the oven-ready kind)
4 cups whole milk
12 TBS (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided (not sure I used all this...)
2 Cloves Garlic, minced (orig. recipe didn't have any garlic but it really is suuuuuper tasty so add it)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg (she said to use 1 tsp but that seems waaaay over kill)
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (I only bought one package of cremini mushrooms but I'd prob use more if I had them. Also, she said to use Portobello but in the actual episode she used a mixed assortment of local wild mushrooms)
1 cup ground Parmesan (I just used the canned stuff. I bet it would knock your socks off if you spent money on the real stuff and ground it yourself.)
2(ish) Chicken breasts

Directions
Preheat oven to 375*.

Boil the lasagna noodles if you need to. Oven ready skips this step (also, I ended up making this a day in advanced so by the time we got around to cooking it the noodles were soft from the sauce. Ended up working in our favor, I think, because we didn't ever get any undercooked pieces.)

For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan and set aside. Melt 8 TBS butter (um, yeah. not low-cal). Add the garlic and stir until fragrant (about 30 seconds).Add the flour and cook 1 min over low heat, stirring constantly. Pour in the hot milk all at once, then add 1 tsp salt, the pepper, and the nutmeg, and cook over med heat for 3-5 minutes (switch to a whisk about 3 min in), until thick. Set aside off the heat.

Wash your mushrooms (some people say you shouldn't rinse mushrooms but thats just gross and a pain so rinse away. They're going in wet stuff anyway...) De-stem them and slice 1/4 inch thick.  Stick in a bowl and set aside for  the moment.

Prep your chicken and fillet into cutlets (slice them in half so they're thin--cutting parallel to your cutting board). Sprinkle with some garlic and salt and pepper (or just use the Johnny's Garlic Bread Sprinkles) and cook in a med. pan with a little olive oil. Place on a plate and let rest.

Melt a few more TBS of butter with a few TBS of olive oil in the pan with the chicken drippings/goodness and then add your mushrooms. Sprinkle with a little salt and saute until tender and they start to release their juices. Set aside.

Cut up your chicken into small chucks (so they will work in the layers of lasagna). Now its time to assemble!!

Spread a quarter of the white-sauce in the bottom of an 8"x12"x2" baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles, then another quarter of the sauce, then 1/2 of the mushrooms and 1/2 the chicken, then 1/4 cup Parmesan (I just sprinkled until it looked good). Repeat again. Then Top with final layer of noodles and sauce and sprinkle the top with more Parmesan.

(**REMEMBER, more sauce=way good lasagna that isn't dry or crumbly or yucky**) Use all the sauce the recipe makes. Promise. Its good.

Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned slightly and the sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit at room temp for 15 min (important if you don't want goopy lasagna that runs everywhere) and serve.

Happy Halloween!

Des went out Trick-or-Treating this year for the first time. We decided he'd make a pretty cute lumberjack so I made him a shirt and a hat and bought him a little toy ax. (the hat looks waaay cuter with the ear flaps down but he wasn't having it so we had to stick them up. I'll try and see if I can have a happier/sunnier photo shoot this week.)

This is how the night started:

grumpy, grumpy, grumpy...

But once we hit a few houses and he figured out that they were ALL GIVING HIM CANDY, well, this was going to be aaaaalll-riiight.

Des and daddy (it was raining so Kolt had his hoodie on.)

"Heee's a lumberjack and he's OK! He sleeps aaaall night 'cus he works aaall day!" (name that sketch)

Des yelling at some kids who were in front of us, "NO!"  Not sure why he was having issues with them...maybe  he thought they'd steal all the candy?

for some reason he always grabbed the snickers bars--but that's just more for us! Wahoo!

oh man, POPCORN!! (not like he's ever had popcorn before, but he wouldn't give it up for anything.

 By the end of the night he was saying, "Trick-Treat" at the doors and telling them thank you, running to the next house and knocking before his cousins could catch up, and thoroughly enjoying all the dogs in the neighborhood. I'd say Halloween was a smashing success. And yes, he even had a sugar-high when we got home and seriously was running and falling and laughing and screaming until past his bedtime. Too much sugar for this little guy.

I swear I didn't teach him this

Des figured out a fun game a few weeks ago. He put a pillow by the end of our couch and happened to fall on it once. Then he thought it was pretty cool so he did it on purpose again. Then mom suggested that he put a few more pillows down to keep his cute head from splitting and before we knew it, he was a jumper.

money shot!

ready to jump!

My favorite part was he wouldn't jump off until I started chanting, "Jump! Jump! Jump!" then he'd square up and go. Crazy kid.

We're ready for Halloween!

Any guess what Des is gonna be?

A hunting we did go...

des was stricken with a case of blue mouth/blue hand syndrome. The cure? Stop feeding him blue M&M's.

not the best picture but it sums up how most of the hiking went.

Notice the severe lack of pictures of deer. yeaahh. But it was still fun and Des did really well driving around in Baba's truck for hours and hours.

Next time, Bambi. Next time...

Deodorant and Comet

Ok, so I'm just tired of reading the first few lines of my last post every time I log on to my computer...

Here's an update:

We're doing much better than I would've thought four days ago. Mostly Des and I have been playing and cleaning since my energy has returned. Which was nuts because it was almost overnight. Somehow we all talk ourselves into thinking we're not reaaaally that tired and its just a pregnancy and we must be smoking crack or something. And then you return to normal and wow. I really was that tired. Even my dad commented on the fact that I was up and doing, like, stuff. and cooking, like, food. and not toast. Woh.

Destry has officially grown 4 molars--two in complete secret and two in complete and utter horribleness. Not sure why the top ones didn't hurt him. He's also taken up screaming. randomly. It's not for the feint of heart. But we're working on establishing our "quiet voice" and recently instituted a new rule: screaming = bedtime. So it only happens a few times a day now.  And I've noticed an upswing in the amount of stuff that goes in his mouth. I'm pretty sure it's from those stinking molars and the need to "teethe" on stuff. But yesterday that meant licking dad's deodorant while mom was showering. And then saying, "mmmmmmmm" and going back for more. Ugh. So we called Poison Control and had a pretty good laugh. Even the lady there giggled a bit. And we're in their system so, you know, we're like totally cool. Although she did mention the fact they don't look up past incidents so they won't think terrible thoughts when they realize your kid has a habit of licking inedible objects...someday destry will ask us why he's the way he is. We'll say, "Deodorant and Comet, Des. Deodorant and Comet."

what to say

I laid there in bed, with the covers up to my chin, not moving. I was afraid to move because I knew once I did the numbness would go away. The numbness was a relief for me. But it couldn't last forever. The baby needed to be changed. Dad needed to be rescued. Apparently I was the only one with the qualifications to address an "up his back" sorta diaper. But I still just laid there. Slowly I started to direct: do this, try that. But I could already feel reality coming back. It started at my heart and  swelled through my arms, up my neck--choking me mid-sentence.

I took a deep breath and swung my legs out from their warm cocoon. Life couldn't wait for my heart to make sense of it all. Tears stung my eyes and I quickly blinked them away. I scooped up the baby (although he really isn't a baby anymore) and proceeded with the diaper situation.

After a quick bath, a new diaper, and a few treats to get him to dinner the baby scampered off and I was left to my thoughts again. Dad went out to cope in his own way by "fixing that sprinkler" and I puzzled over how to break the news. I find its always easier to write than to talk so I took my aching heart and started to scribble a few things, hoping to ease the pain and clear my own confusion.

I've always known that God has a plan for me and my family. I've always known that God's plan isn't necessarily what I've planned and almost never on the same time schedule.  I've always known that losing a baby just means that God's plan and time schedule called for that little life to go home early. What I didn't know was how hard it was to accept what I previously "known". I guess I could chalk it up to ignorance or lack of understanding. But then again I've discovered that because I've "known" those things before I can sort of lean on my ignorant self until the healing begins.

The purpose of this post is really two things: help my family and friends understand what has happened and help myself understand what has happened. Life sort of came to a crawl today as we found out our 9-week old baby really only made it to 5-weeks. We're in the process of accepting right now so if I'm MIA for a while, that's why. (not like I've been super-bloggy lately anyway) I've tried to think of a good way to break the news and this is the easiest way for me. So don't take offense if you had to find out "on my blog" its not you, its me.

I do know one more thing: that my Heavenly Father loves me more than I can understand and I know that he'll be there to comfort me. I'll be needing it the next few days. I know my Savior suffered all this as well and He'll be able to take the pain away. As I contemplate what it means to be a mother I realize that it doesn't always mean I get to be the one to raise my children. I am grateful that I have my healthy boy now and I'll have more healthy children later, and now I have one sweet tiny muffin that I'll get to meet some day.

Do lots of good, sweet one, because if I get up there and you've been slacking off and messing around you're totally grounded.

The day we went to Cornbelly's

We started out with Whistle Wok

Des' first fortune cookie

Then we were off to Cornbelly's. Des got to ride around in this sweet bin-thingy

They had a Grain Train. It wasn't too exciting but Des sat still for a while so that was nice...

Coloring with dad

Pretty sure this was his favorite part, the Corn Box. 12 inches of corn to play in. It was pretty nuts.

We tried the kiddie corn maze and Des led the way

Getting a drink of dad's Powerade.

Off again!

nothing but corn as far as the eye could see...

Farmer Des had some serious fun, we'll definitely go back next year!!