its getting hot in here

we are all staying a couple days with my parents.

after the great flood of 2013,

we discovered foundation problems

and we have been waiting FOUR months

to get someone out to our house and fix it.

cheese-us.

the process involves removing our AC unit from the house.

i don't roll like that.

i need me some AC.

so we're in warrensburg until my house is a cool 72 degrees again.

also, we're going to have to buy some grass seed.

holy mess.

and yes, ronnie left sweet love notes around the house for me.

just in case i forgot about the four men in my yard.

why don't i get paid for this?

i am looking for jobs.

say whaaa?

 

 

i do not want to put brette into child care.

i am totally being one of those crazy moms

that sees herself being with brette until she enters pre-school.

but that's just a fantasy, considering ronnie and i

agreed on only 6 months to a year off.

he wants 6 months.

i want four years.

 

so i am trying to find something i can do from home.

i could be making some extra $$$

so ronnie is happy,

but i would get to stay home with my baby.

i'm waiting to mention this to ronnie

until i find something.

he would be totally psyched to have me

make some money and also not have to pay for child care,

but i know its a long shot,

so i don't want to get his hopes up.

(like mine are)

 

unfortunately, remote positions are hard to find

unless you have a medical or teaching background.

wah wah.

i totally should have gotten my teaching certificate.

[insert hand to forehead]

 

so then i started looking into part time stuff.

maybe i could just work a couple days a week.

i could probably live with that.

 

honestly, i don't know how this is going to turn out.

my "maternity leave" is half way over,

so its definitely time to start looking,

but i just want this dream at-home position to fall into my lap.

 

anyone have ideas?

know of anyone that works from home?

(my background is in public relations, communications, fundraising, and marketing.

feel free to send suggestions my way)

 

i guess i better start updating my resume.

blah.

 

how can i leave this face?

this is her first time in her bumbo,

she is going to be a sitting champion aaaany minute.

and no, does not store food in her cheeks,

but she totally could.

 

 

zzzzz's

this is another one of those posts

where i need your help.

everyone was so great with my flat head concern

and brette's issues with the carseat.

(which ps- she is back to LOVING)

but now,

i have a new problem.

the nap.

i battle brette everyday to get her down.

i've wrapped her.

i've walked her.

i've rocked her.

i've driven her.

i've nursed her.

but getting her to sleep isn't the problem.

all of these methods got her to sleep.

the problem,

is laying her down.

once she's asleep, i cannot lay her in her crib.

she wakes up within 20 minutes.

sometimes she wakes up instantly.

i've read some articles on this and they say that i'm not waiting long enough.

i guess most babies take around 20 minutes to get into a deep sleep

and if you try to put her down before then, she will wake up.

so i tried a bunch of different lengths of times

i've held her anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.

and it didn't make any difference.

if i hold her the whole time she will sleep for two hours.

but i'm not even being greedy.

if i could just get her to sleep for ONE hour,

after laying her down,

i would be happy.

 

any suggestions?

i was thinking i could lay something in the crib

next to her so she would think she was still on me,

but i didn't know if she was still too little to have anything in the crib with her?

 

the weird thing is,

we have NO issues at night.

she goes right off to sleep in her crib.

so maybe it's too light in her room?

 

i really don't know.

and she's going on three months.

waaaay to young to not have an afternoon nap.

please help.

 

ps- our little missy turned 12 weeks today.

i did a little photo comparison shot this morning.

(two weeks)

(twelve weeks)

 

same outfit, same lounger.

adorbs.

don't mess with me... please

ronnie was working out of town last week.

he left on monday morning and got home wednesday night.

i normally do pretty well when he's gone.

no major issues.

and on monday night, it was same ol' same ol'.

but tuesday night,

i got scared.

i kept thinking i was hearing things.

it didn't help when my freaking dog

sat up in bed and starts growling at our dark hallway.

mother fucker.

really?

and he's a chihuahua,

what the hell is he going to do to an intruder?

the most i've ever seen him do is growl and hide under the bed.

which is what i wanted to do to.

except i can't leave brette.

then my mind got away with me. 

how would i get us out of the house?

i know ronnie keeps a gun on his side of the bed,

but honestly i don't know if its loaded.

assuming it is, i don't even know if i could

turn the safety off and be able to use it.

maybe i could just point it at him and scare him away?

maybe i could make it to her room and go out the window?

maybe i could run down the hallway with my gun and my baby with my yappy dogs following?

i decided i need to check things out.

(which getting out of bed and turning on the light is the hardest.

you just hope nothing is actually there when the lights flick on.)

so i got up and rechecked that i've locked all the doors,

i even checked the garage.

but i think i freaked myself out so much that

i spent the rest of the night in and out of sleep.

i texted ronnie at 6:00 in the morning telling him to come home.

i'm sure he thought i was being a sweet wife,

but really i would just rather him shoot someone than me.

 

 

 

brooke's bakery

i baked my first pie.

that's right people,

i'm awesome.

 

 

everything was from scratch.

the crust.

the filling.

and i used peaches off the tree.

 

i know,

you're impressed.

you might be feeling the need

to refer to me as betty crocker,

but i'm trying for something even better.

i'm going for my mamma.

the next linda turner.

 

 

 

 

ps- the crust is the hardest part.

i screwed one up and threw it away.

good thing it only takes three ingredients.

 

(you can tell it was all crumbly and wouldn't stay together.)

 

want the recipe for the crust?

then you can do whatever filling you want.

 

vegetable oil pie crust:

1 1/3 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C vegetable oil

3-4 Tbsp cold milk

 

sift flour and salt together.

mix oil and milk together. beat with fork until combined.

make a well in the center of your flour and add milk mixture.

mix with a fork until moistened.

roll in a ball.

refrigerate 30 minutes.

(if you want crust on top, you have to do this twice)

roll out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

carefully place in pie plate.

peel back wrap and gently fit into pie plate.

add your pie filling.

place your second crust piece on top.

cut off extra and flute edges.

cut slits for it to breathe.

bake at 450 for 15 minutes,

then turn down your oven to 375 and bake for an

additional 40 minutes.

 

and that's it.

not nearly as hard as i thought it would be.

 

 

 

 

grab a tissue

someone else wrote this.

but i had to share.

you can see her original post here.

it's titled: a promise to my daughter.

 

I’m tired and she’s tired. And she’s been weeping with frustration, her face a smudge of red cheeks and snotty trails. I go down on my knees beside her little, chubby legs. They’re curving over the edge of her green froggy potty stool and she is glaring hot blue eyes into my face. I reach for her and she swats at me and doesn’t accept the comfort I know she wants. I gently take her hands and pull her up. Her tender self all frustration and sweat and nakedness melting into me. I cup her with my arms and my words and slowly stroke those damp curls back from her cheeks.
I’ve got deadlines and to-do lists and no clue what to make for dinner. There is one quiet window before the boys come home and we’re hoping to snatch a ten minute nap. But she’s inconsolable for reasons she can’t put into two-year-old words yet and I’m on my knees reaching for her.
I will always come, baby.

She’s in my arms and slowly beginning the ritual of stroking my right arm. Her curls are warm and sweaty and that pudgy baby cheek fits just under my chin.
I will always come.

I dance with her slowly – the rock and roll of motherhood – and I know this is a promise I can stake my life on.
I will always come.

When you forget your lunch. When you are sheep number 5 in the Christmas play. When you take up the recorder and bleat all the way through the Easter service. When you get that bad hair cut. When you think you want to be a beauty queen. When you swear off fashion altogether.
I will come.

When the mean girls make you want to shrivel inside your skin. When a teacher intimidates you. When you intimidate the teachers. When you think you can sing and try out for a musical, when you get laughed at and people point fingers at your hair and your shoes and your too bony hips.
My darling, I will come.

When that boy breaks your heart and you’re stranded at a college miles away, I will come. When the internship you thought was part of your calling falls through. When a friend gets sick. When the car crashes. When you have more long distance charges than you thought possible. When you run out of gas, chocolate chip cookies and faith.
I will be there.

When you say your “I dos,” when you you start your happily ever afters, when none of it quite feels like you thought it would. When you don’t know how to pick a mattress, when the sofa is in the wrong place, when you regret what feels like signing your life away to someone else. When you keep on keeping on. When you remember how to say sorry. When you need a safe place to say how cliche you feel all “barefoot and pregnant.”
I will so be there.

When the baby won’t sleep and the world’s on fire with sleep exhaustion.
Sweetheart, I will come.

When your husband’s out of work. When you’re down to one car and have moved in with his in-laws. When your job threatens to break your heart. When toddlers make you question your sanity. When you realize that you’ve made the worst mistake a woman can make. When you’ve run out of tears and still the tears keeping coming.
I will come.

When you move and move and relocate again. When you pack boxes and dreams and hope. When your life is a world of duct tape and questions.
I will still come.

And when your home is warm and your heart is full. When you’re at peace. When you need someone to share the joy, to watch the kids, to admire the dimples. When you want to remember that old recipe, when you still can’t pick a sofa, when you wish you’d never said yes to the dog. When you don’t know where you’re going. When you’re the most sure of yourself you’ve ever been. When you’re holding onto faith with just your fingernails. When you’re singing, “Jesus loves me this I know” and you mean it with every tiny, beautiful, miraculous part of your DNA, always I will come.

One hundred different ways I will come when you call. I will rock and roll you with my love and the promise that I will help you get back on your feet. I will hold your hand. I will rejoice. I will babysit. I will pass the tissues. I will wash the dishes. I will come.
Tonight. Tomorrow. And the day after. And after. And then some.

i cried because i know when these things have happened to me,

my mom came.

and i cried because i know when these things happen to brette,

i will go to her too.

 

 



gymnastics

crib gymnastics.

is it a sport?

because i'm pretty sure

brette is getting the gold medal.

 

 

these are three different mornings.

how is she moving around so much while being swaddled?

 

what a wiggle worm.