PLEASE remind me

If I ever tell you that I am planning to whoop it up for a luncheon, brunch or any other daytime function including and especially any one having to do with Mardi Gras, please remind me that I have two kids that I have to take care of when I get home. Remind me also that I will probably still feel like crap a whole 24 hours later. Remind me that Mardi Gras will still be around when my kids are older and can take care of themselves. Remind me that standing on the street in front of the Touche Bar drinking red wine out of a plastic cup does not sound as good as it does when you've had a few glasses of wine before that.

But don't forget to tell me that I did have a FABULOUS time. and it has been a long while since I have had one of those.

Fastest, Easiest , most delicious 'toffee'

I'm going to share this recipe with you. It's fast. It's easy. It's disgustingly decadent. I'm warning you now. Break it into small pieces and don't eat more than 2 at once or you will end up feeling the way I do now. Like I am going to vomit. It's delicious.

Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray it with pan. Place saltine crackers side by side until the pan if full.

Melt 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of light brown sugar together. Be sure to heat it until they blend together. It takes about 15 minutes. Pour the mixture over the crackers.

Melt a bag of Nestle semisweet morsels. You can do it in the microwave but be careful not to burn it. I just poured the bag into the pot I used to melt the butter and sugar and placed it over another pot of water until it was melted. Pour and spread over the crackers.

Sprinkle pecan pieces over it. My mom says they are better when roasted. Make sure you press the nuts into the crackers. Otherwise they will fall off later.

Let cool for about 15 minutes and then put in the refrigerator until the chocolate is totally cooled.

Peel off the back of the tin foil and break into pieces.

Bring to every person you know before you eat it all yourself. I'm not trying to be cute. You will want to eat it for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Luckily when it was cookie time for W he opted for the World Market Ginger Snaps.

BY GAWD IT'S CAWNIVAL TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!

I can't do it. I tried and tried to get skinny before Mardi Gras but it just didn't happen and trying to stay good now..there is NO POINT! I've been working out a lot so at least I have that going for me. and like I said, I still haven't bought a king cake (except for W's class and in the back of my mind I am waiting to by the biggest fattest, cream cheese filled one for the double doozy-Bacchus and Super Bowl Sunday) but that hasn't stopped me from eating mini cheesecake bites my mom made for her party or making saltine cracker toffee for our house either. It's disgusting. I just shoveled down another big ole piece prior to starting this post. and tomorrow starts 2 weeks of total debauchery. Drinking, eating and generally just whooping it up. I mean, the only way to describe it is by saying....

BY GAWD IT'S CAWNIVAL TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never let your guard down.

I want to shoot myself. Tuesday night, the boys were in bed and I felt good. I couldn't help but think to myself, "Finally, this is easy. Both boys are on a schedule and Master P is sleeping through the night." Not 2 seconds later I wanted to take it all back. Because just when you let your guard down, it all goes down hill. I knew it, I had a sinking feeling that this night was not going to be easy just because I said to myself everything was. And I was right. Master P woke up every hour from 3:30 on. He didn't want much, just his pacifier in his mouth. So just another lesson...never let your guard down.

Burp Burp Dance

Master P is the worst to burp. He screams and arches his back (I learned today at the dr.'s office that's is acid reflux but anyway) so I devised the Burp Burp Dance. I stand up and bounce him up and down. and it works very well, I must say. The song is an accessory but W seems to enjoy it and I am SURE Master P likes to hear my singing voice. So W and I sing and dance...Burp Burp Burp....Burp Burp Burp...Do the Burp Burp Dance....and so on-you get the picture. It's quite a catchy tune I have to say. Wish I had audio on here so I could share it with you.

After I got the LB out of his raincoat and his winter coat I uncovered a necklace around his neck. It was on a red yarn....and then I saw it. The dreaded king cake baby. Ughhhhh!! For non locals-We eat king cakes during carnival and they are stuffed with plastic babies. If you get the baby, you have to bring the next king cake. So the only thing I can assume is that W got the baby.

So I asked him.
"W, did you eat kingcake today?"
"Deeedum doo la la blah"
"W, did you get the baby in the kingcake today?"
"Blah, dum uh?"

I'm not sure yet if he got the kingcake baby or they made these necklaces in honor of Mardi Gras. Maybe I'm just being dense. I don't know but I know that I'm not looking forward to buying the kingcake because it will only be another temptation to buy one for the house. Since 12th night hit I have been rushing past the cakes in the grocery saying to myself, "They will be there next year." Because in my journey to hot mom status, I definitely cannot eat kingcake. But boy do I want to.

I'm out of books and now every night I shuffle through all the books on the bookcase to see what I want to read. Last night I found my SuperNanny book and a cookbook from my mom, Better Homes and Gardens-that must be 100 years old. The pictures are of these June Cleaverish housewives passing hors d'oeuvres and cooking with their little aprons, all made up and looking perfect for their husbands. It's a 3 ring binder so that you can add your own clippings to it. Not a bad idea. When I started to flip through it I found super sized notecards that my mom had obviously made. You won't believe it and she will be mortified, considering the health nut she is now.

Her cards have across the top
Meat......Starchy Food......Veg...........Salad...........Dessert
I'm not making this up. I wish I could scan it for you to see.

and then underneath she filled in her meals. I am guessing she did this so she would know what to cook for my dad after his long day at work.

Here are some examples of their dinners-complete with the young newlywed's perfectly spelled words, right. I'm so glad it was them and not me. I will say that they've come a long way. Thank goodness.

Meat:Chicken a la king in patti shells (I remember this, she used to make this for us)
Starchy food: Baked potatoe with cheese (Don't the patti shells count as a starchy food?)
Veg: Butterbeans
Salad: Jelled grapefruit (what is this?)
Dessert: peaches with cream


Here's another:
Meat: CHopped sirloin
Starchy food: mash potatoes
veg: asparagus with cheese sauch
salad: (Are you ready for this?) ORANGE JELLO (How is that a salad?)
Dessert: Yellow cake with icing

The dessert kills me. I cook dinner for J every night but he's lucky if he gets a Nilla Wafer for dessert. It's such a 70's housewife thing to do. The list goes on and on, complete with Broccili-isn't that too cute? She couldn't spell broccoli (fyi she was a teacher in the N.O. public schools if that says anything) but she sure was going to try.

The cookbook is great though. almost everything calls for processed cheese and shortening and I really think I am going to make the Bologna and rice skillet.

I do have to say that there are some really good old fashioned recipes that I know would be a hit at dinner parties. Just cheesy and delicious. I know this because most of the recipes are named just that. Like the Hot Dogs Delicious.

Update: She didn't start her super sized menu cards when she got married. She got her ideas from the cafeteria at LSU. So every night after they ate she would write down what they had because she thought that it was such a good menu.

Golly, is this weather atrocious or what? Yuck! and it doesn't help that we are all sick. Yup, every last one of us. Me, J, W and Master P. There are reports of flash flooding so of course I was super anxious up until I got Master P and I into the car in the wet and cold to go pick up W. I had to go around the block twice to find a spot and finally got to pull right in front. His teacher was walking down the sidewalk in rain boots to see which moms were there and I looked up to the porch and that's when I saw him and I started to cry. W was standing there alone (I guess she knew that I am always the first mom there so she brought him out first.) He had on his froggy raincoat and I could barely see his face peeping out from under the hood. I don't know why I started crying. I'm not pregnant but he just looked so old, like a lost little man-my baby. So she got him and they came toddling out to the car and then his baby face came back. His sweet smile with all the excitement he could muster in the wind and the rain. God, I love him.

I never liked scary movies or books. I classify a scary movie not as just a horror flick but as a tear jerker, or a drama where there is too much gore and death or really anything that is not a feel good movie. But now that I'm a mom I have a lot less tolerance for them. I can think of 3 books that I've read in the past few months that I classify as scary. They all have to do with children and their misfortunes and I am still having nightmares.

My Sister's Keeper
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The last book is the same author who wrote the Kite Runner, and I had such nightmares. It was awful. J would turn off his light and I couldn't put it down and wouldkeep reading about the horrors of these children and then when I could finally tear myself away from the pages I would turn off my light, check on my babies and scooch so close to J hoping to block the images from my mind.

I just finished watching Grey's Anatomy that I tivoed last night and I almost broke down sobbing watching Dr. Bailey watch her baby come into the ER. Oh my gosh, what a nightmare. I have to stick to feel gooders from now on-Books, tv shows, movies, whatever. It's all too much for me.

Master P

I found Master P's hospital bracelet today. Even at 3 months I still can't believe he was ever that small. Crazy. He's gotten so big and his carrier is getting heavier by the day. Here he is last week. I'm not sure I've ever introduced him to you.

W came home with blue hair today. and blue fingers and a blue nose and blue clothes. Okay, it was blue day today at school but his clothes were more blue than when he left the house this morning.

I took Master P to the doctor today. He's doing well. 75th percentile in height and 50th in weight. He's going to be a lean, tall boy I think, like his daddy.

I asked the doc about W's milk boycott and he says it's fine. Substitute it with cheese and yogurt which he has been doing himself. He's gotten rather sneaky, that boy of mine. When I ask him to take another swig of milk before he can do something he does, or so I thought. He just puts his mouth around the spout but doesn't drink it. I'm on to him.

Journey to Hot Mom Status

I think tomorrow will be the day that I begin my new blog. Hopefully. I'll keep you posted. I've officially started Body for Life and my journey to reaching hot mom status. I will be buff and sassy and hot. I will be a hot mom. Tomorrow morning I am going to measure my fat thighs and waist, stomach and ass. and I will post them on my new blog to show my commitment to this journey. Yes, I will be embarrassed but I will do it. Join me if you wish. It should be quite an eye opening adventure.

Alleluia!

J's expecting this post. He gave me a big ole I told you so this evening when the LB drank his milk out of a cup. He's been on a milk boycott since last Thursday. He finally broke tonight. J said he would. It was really sad-because he really did just break down. This afternoon he ate 3 bananas, a pbj sandwhich, a piece of string cheese and when we came home from Mimi and Papa's he asked for his milk. So I gave it to him in his cup. He lost it. Poking his lip out, the works. I have to admit that I was one step away from breaking down myself and giving him his bottle back. All I wanted to do was make him feel better. But I didn't and as we were eating dinner, and he was eating some veggie nuggets he reached over and took a big swig of milk. I guess he was thirsty and he needed something to wash down the nuggets and from there he kept swigging away. I heard angels singing.

He's no milk drinking fool.

I almost gave in tonight. It's been 5 milk times and W still refuses to drink his milk from the sippy cup. J doesn't get it. He doesn't understand what the difference is between the bottle and the sippy cup. He doesn't understand why we take away the bottle only to replace it with something similar, the sippy cup and I was beginning to think he had a point until I realized that...obviously....the LB realizes there is a difference. A big difference. If there wasn't he would be drinking his milk from the sippy cup, no questions asked. This morning for the first time he got upset with me. he didn't want the freakin' sippy cup. He wanted his bottle. But J says (even though he doesn't believe there is a difference) we will break him. I don't agree. I think his milk drinking days are done.

I am reading a new book and I haven't read such a good one in so long. It's by the same author as The The Kite Runner. It's called A Thousand Splendid Suns I can't put it down and I don't want it to be over. The Kite Runner is actually a movie now. I know I will never see it. I'm not a movie goer but I'm a book reader. If you are both-read the book first before you see the movie. It will blow you away.

Kelly Mom: breastfeeding guidance

When I was a first time nursing mom I was a basket case. I had just had my first baby, evacuated 10 days later to North Carolina, then to Baton Rouge where I didn't know a soul much less anyone to advise me on nursing or "matter's of the mom". We had sporadic use of the internet and when we did I frantically searched for info on nursing. W wasn't the best at it, neither was I. I don't blame him at all. I had no idea what I was doing. I finally came across Kelly Mom. and it was a huge help. Do I sound like an ad or what? I promise I have no affiliation with them whatsoever. Anyway. I posted their link on this blog and promptly forgot about them the minute I quit nursing. Until today. I am having an issue. Nothing big but an issue nonetheless and I noticed their link on this blog. Go figure. and I am once again a Kelly Mom fan. The site hasn't told me what to do it just confirmed that what me and Master P are going through right now is normal. Now I can relax. So if you are a nursing mom and are feeling frantic. Check it out. It may just have the answer.

Bye Bye Bottle

The pediatrician told me to take W's bottle away. I know, it's ridiculous, he's over 2 and shouldn't be drinking from a bottle. But he was only drinking his milk in the morning and at night from a bottle. He's not a huge eater so it kind of gave me piece of mind knowing that at least he was getting his milk. The dr. said that his body would insist on drinking milk and would not give it up all together. And then, Master P came along. I am so tired of washing breast pump parts and baby bottles and W's bottles. Not to mention that they were getting kind of gross and I don't want to buy more when he shouldn't even be drinking from them in the first place. So last night I did it. I bit the bullet. I was getting his milk and he was laughing and joyfully screaming as he always does when it's that time. I showed him the bottle-said "Bye Bye, Bottle!" and he screamed, "Bye!Bye!" over and over again. I poured it into a sippy cup and he took off running to wait for J to come in from taking out the trash, with a smile on his face and his sippy cup of milk in his hand.

He took 2 sips of milk and then was done.

This morning he took a few sips of his milk and then was done.

I'm afraid that not only is it "Bye Bye, Bottle" but "Bye Bye, milk" too.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008! We've already have many firsts around here for the new year. Some good, some not so good. We rang in the year at our new dining room table with Aunt Liz and Uncle Bob. I made my first batch of delicious black eyed peas (I'll have to post my recipe later, you can't beat it). We had our first new year's day dinner at Uncle RaRa's and Aunt JoJo's new house. The not so good news is that Master P got his first cold of his life and of 2008. He hopefully is on the mend though. He had me really worried for awhile-especially after the doctor mentioned the R word-RSV. But I finally talked to my old faithful doctor and he made me feel much better.

So now that the New Year is here, I have many resolutions.
1. To get back on Body for Life. But that will start on Monday. One of my best friends stopped in unexpectedly (I haven't seen her in 2 years) and brought Domilese's on her way through town.
2. To get my finances organized. They are a mess. You should see my wallet-full of receipts fro mway back in 2007.
3. To Blog everyday! and to get my new blog up and running (Fatty Fatty Two by Four). I'll certainly let you know when it is in working order. It will be a chronicle of my journey to lose all of my baby weight and to look hot for our trip to Cancun this summer.
4. To organize our home office. It's a total disaster.
5. To spend more time with John doing family things. We spend a lot of time just lazing around. Or really, I spend a lot of time just laying around and we need to get up and moving in on the weekends.
6. To spend more time playing with the LB.

I'd love to hear everyone else's resolutions. Maybe it will make me feel not so overwhelmed by all the things I need to accomplish this year.