Messy Motherhood: Encouragement

I'm happy to take a break from writing about food or parties and essentially the things I've been doing to REALLY talk about the thing I live to do: Motherhood.

Did you read Kara's 31 days of Messy Motherhood (she actually stuck it out all 31 days in October unlike me!)?  If not, you should.  It won't take long, but you'll be encouraged.  I know I sure was (go here to read) and sometimes her words and encouragement hit the nail on the head for me.  I think the most encouraging thing in the world is finding out you are not alone in ____.  One day, that was reading that I was not alone in going days without a shower.  Another day, that was reading that what I was doing was important because it's so easy for it to feel unimportant.  Another day, it was a reminder everyone's house looks as terrible as mine.  See?  Encouragement.

So, at the end of her 31 days, I was excited to hear Kara was doing a link up each month to continue the encouragement.  I wanted to be a part of the series because like her, I feel so deeply for Moms in this season of life (or any season, really, this is just the season I know) at home each day with babies and toddlers and diaper changes and counting practice and beautiful monotony that is the shaping of little minds and hearts.

That being said, here's my answers to the questions Kara posted this month on encouragement.

1. What is the best way you've been encouraged as a Mom?

Having friends who are real with me and also in the trenches.  This season is hard and it was made harder when I spent most of last year having two under two.  I have plenty of friends I can chat with, but there are a few who I can really dive deep with in real life or on social media and those friendships are invaluable.  CS Lewis (who our first born is named for!) said that friendship is defined as, "What? You too?" and I totally agree.  The women who have blessed me so much are the ones who are open and honest about their dirty houses, their frustrations, their struggles with feeling lonely or isolated or anxious or angry or whatever!  Those friends who are real with me allow me to open up and express my slew of emotions and then when those emotions are uncovered, I'm a better Mom and wife.  If there were no conversations with loved ones who also KNOW what I'm going through on a certain day, it's likely I'd end that day feeling like an even worse Mom and wife for losing my temper and being disconnected.  I'm thankful for you, my friends, who do life in a real way side by side with these boys of mine and me and help keep me sane.  Thank you!

2. How can you encourage a Mom who's been through the ringer? (bed rest, sick kids, tough home life, etc)

Honestly?  I don't know.  I wish I did because I have people I wish I could be better at encouraging who are in these situations.  I never know what to do, if I'm doing enough or if I'm trying to do too much and am being overly involved and an unwelcome presence.  That being said, my go to way to help a Mom friend in need are...

- Make a meal or two (one to eat tonight, one to freeze for later).
- Send snail mail.  Who doesn't love pretty mail and it's amazing how a little card can lift someone's spirits!
- Offer to babysit their kids even if it's just for an hour so they can take a nap, meet their husband for lunch, or go to the grocery store alone.
- Get a small gift card for the Mom to treat herself.  Maybe you'd love to go for coffee but she's occupied with whatever.  Why not send her a $5 Starbucks gift card so she can pick up a cup when she's out and about and think of you.
- Prayers.  It seems the least effective outreach on paper, but it matters and I have had plenty of days where a text from a good friend saying she's praying for me has been such a blessing and I've known if not for her prayers, I wouldn't have made it through the day.  Recently I weaned my baby and I got a text from my Aunt saying she was praying for me and I responded to tell her how hard E was having it even in that moment.  She immediately responded that she was now praying for him and as soon as I read her text, he fell asleep for the first time all day.  Prayer is powerful and moments like that where you see it work you feel so very blessed that someone would take the time to pray for you.

3. Encouragement starts at home. How do you and your husband encourage one another?

My husband is great about reminding me that I'm a good Mom, wife, cook, etc.  Those words of affirmation are important to me and help keep me going.  He's also good about not complaining too much if the house is in disarray for several days when he knows we've had a tough week.  I personally like to have it clean because I feel better when it's clean and I feel like he deserves that after a hard day, but when I let myself down it's always good to know I haven't let him down.  Likewise, I try to thank my husband for working so hard so I can stay home and live my dream job.  It's all about perspective even on those rough days!  I talk to him about how good of a Dad he is and thank him for being such a wonderful husband.  We make time to spend together each night which is refreshing and fun and causing us to reconnect (we also frequently exchange shoulder rubs or back scratching - yay!).  And more recently, we've taken up not only praying for each other, but letting each other know we're praying for each other especially if we know the other has a particularly rough day ahead.  It means the world to get a text about how proud he is of me and how he's praying for me especially because I know he's SO busy at work and I appreciate him taking time out just to think of me and tell me these things on his mind and heart.

.......

And one more thing... Something I try to do (and don't always succeed at) is to not judge other Moms.  We all make different decisions about how we raise our kids and these decisions are usually always wrestled through and prayed over and they're what we believe are right for our families.  Some Moms cosleep.  Some Moms have their babies cry it out.  Some Moms let their kids do this or that or eat this or that and a slew of other things.  I get so sad and frustrated when I see the "Mommy Wars" because there is no way to tear another Mother down faster than offer your unsolicited opinion of something she has obviously thought out.  We're all different and it's because we were all raised differently.  Likewise, we are all raising our kids differently to see them become individual themselves as adults.  The best encouragement advice I can give is try, try, try not to judge and instead to love.  Feel free to talk about what you do but don't feel like talking about your differences means you need to comment on what your Mom friend is doing differently.  ;)

Oatmeal Cookies

I'm in the thick of it today with a wisdom tooth gone wild, TMJ developing, and sudden cold-turkey weaning of my 13 month old so I can have surgery to get that sucker out.  Additionally, that same 13 month old broke my favorite mug and glass bowl today.  I cried a lot of tears because both held deep sentiment and let's be honest, I was just waiting for something to cause me to break down.

Today, I'm glad I spent my Sunday afternoon baking cookies.  These are Josh's favorite and I literally hadn't made them in 2 years.  I had to consult my old, now private blog for the recipe and guess what?  I didn't even put how much oatmeal to put in.  I've come a long way in blogging even though I've had to start over.  HA.  Anyway, these are saving my life today.  E loves them so between letting him munch away at a tasty cookie and letting him watch all the Yo Gabba Gabba he wants as a distraction, I'm able to not hold him for the five seconds I need to go to the bathroom.  Motherhood is the best, but not every day is sunshine and rainbows.  ...But y'all know that, right?

Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (melted)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 T vanilla
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 t salt
- 2 T cinnamon
- 1 T honey
- 5 cups oatmeal

First, preheat your oven to 375. (I put that in bold because I can never find it on blogs even though it's right in front of my face - lol.)  Melt your one cup butter (2 sticks) while you mix together your two sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla to the mix and then the melted butter and mix that all up.

Next, in a separate dish, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and whisk together.  Slowly pour these into your mixer (or add while you're hand mixing) to the wet already mixed ingredients.  I let my mixer go 5 minutes, but it probably doesn't matter.

Add in your honey - the secret ingredient - and give it a quick stir and then dump in 5 cups of oatmeal and let your mixer (or your hand) give it a few more whisks.

Using a spoon, put about a 1" ball of dough onto your greased cookie sheet and let bake 11-14 minutes.  I also flatten my balls a bit because I like a bit thinner cookie and they cook easier that way.

This recipe should yield about 32 cookies and each cookie is 4 Weight Watcher points.  Not too shabby since a chocolate chip cookie is 5 points, right?  And you can feel KIND OF healthy eating it (or giving it to your 13 month old) since there's oatmeal.  ;)

NOW, below I've added a picture with all the ingredients and instructions.  I'm doing this because one of the easiest ways for me to try new recipes is to be able to save an image of them to my phone!  This is especially handy when grocery shopping if I don't have time to make a list but really wanted to try something.  If you're reading this on your phone, you could just do a screen capture of this image and have all you need!  OR if you're on a computer and want to print but DON'T want to print my rambling at the top, just print this image and you have all you need!  If you do this and it's helpful, please tell me and I'll do this for all my recipes!  I'm all about simplifying your life.

Enjoy!

Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

So today, nearly one month later, I'm sharing photos from little E's first birthday party! Our plan was to do a Winnie the Pooh "Hundred Acre Wood" theme outside because both of my boys LOVE the newest Winnie the Pooh movie right now and it was E's favorite ride at Disney World.  Sadly, we knew a week before the party that Oklahoma was going to have terrible weather that weekend and we couldn't be outside like we had hoped.  SO we made a quick adjustment and went with what we knew and what the kiddos also love - Mickey Mouse!

The decorations for this party were under $25 and were a mix of store-bought and DIY.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  One thing that really shocked me when I looked through blogs of Mickey parties I had pinned was how much money went into their DIY party.  For me, part of the value in DIY-ing is saving money.  So, hopefully, if you found this blog and this post, this will help you throw a cute Mickey party without breaking the bank or breaking your back for that matter!  So without further ado...

We started by pulling what we had.  Fortunately, we have 9,032 Mickey Mouses.  Joking.  We actually have 11.  Ha!  So we found all those guys and his pals and utilized them in the decor.  Big impact, no money spent. (Also, that blur is me! If you're throwing your first first birthday party or any child's birthday party, you too will probably be a blur.)

The cupcake toppers were free too!  I had craft sticks, construction paper, and a  stack of stickers we'd received free in the mail from Disney Movie Club offers.  I simply cut two circles, glued them together on the stick, and put a Mickey sticker on front.  Easy!

The second cupcake stand was made using wrapping paper I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It was half off so only $2.  (You could also do SO much more with this paper if you were having a Minnie party.  I had a lot left and saved it for presents at Christmas.) My Mom wrapped the box for me and it became great storage for the party decor in post.  The Mickey on the box was a left over from the "E's Clubhouse banner which I explain below."

Love what you have! (And these little toys are WELL loved! I highly recommend them for your little ones or as gifts for little ones 1+!)

So up there is what our ledge looked like.  My sweet husband took all the pics and forgot to get pics of the Mickey ears he and I stayed up 'til 1am making for the kiddos that came!  Bummer!  The kids were 1-3 and didn't LOVE their ears, but we also sent them home with balloons and the ears made great weights.  HA!  The ears may be loved later though... J found his set lately and wore them a few hours.  I used this tutorial found here but did not use the template she suggested... instead, I just free handed and I think they turned out ok!  ONE TIP - DON'T use hot glue if you don't have fabric glue on hand unless you're starting at 10pm and refuse to go to Wal Mart.  HA.  But seriously, I spent forever picking it off and they still weren't "clean." All in all, the headbands were a great treat though!  We made 6 and each were about $.40.

My sweet Mom made these oreos we saw on Pinterest.  We followed this tutorial and they came out pretty good!  We used $1 oreos from Wal Mart (off brand) and they broke easily.  Regular oreos may hold up better, but I don't know!

Ok, a couple things from this pic...

First you have the banner over that window into my kitchen.  It's hard to see and I hate that there's no good pics of it (below are 2 I managed to take with Instsgram)!  It ended up really cute.  Basically I took a Mickey shaped cookie cutter and traced it on black construction paper.  Then, I cut the shape and painted the bottom with red poster paint.  Next, I added white 3D stickers to spell out "E's (full name) Clubhouse) and taped ribbon behind them to hang.  The project cost me about $2 between the ribbon and stickers (I bought on sale) but I loved it so much and now it's hanging in his room!

the making process

The banner & oh look, the ears are up there too!

Also, on the window I made that banner with construction paper too!  It was SO simple!  I cut a triangle template, cut several triangles and then a few small circles to glue to the black triangles.  I used construction paper I had and what was left of that ribbon.  I hung these on the windows in the dining and living room and they got so many compliments!  E doesn't have curtains in his room, so now those are adding a little pizzaz in there too!

Both these projects were cheap, simple, and neat!  I literally did them while watching TV with my husband that week (I think the VP debates, actually!).

I LOVE that store bought banner up there!  I think it was $7 and you can put in any age you want.  It's definitely one to save in case we have more Mickey parties in days to come!  I also love those squiggly thing changing from the ceiling.  I think they were $3.  We have HUGE  ceilings that are 24' so adding lots of banners and such is a good way to fill up space and make the area look more festive.

There's a little better pic of that banner on the window...

The Mickey on the wrapped shoe box was left over from the "E's Clubhouse" banner and just taped on.  :)

And here's a pic of the little birthday boy himself while we sang "Happy birthday."  He was a little scared of all those voices coming at him and cried.  Poor fella!  OTHERWISE, he had a pretty good time and the rest of his family sure did too!  :)

Oh, and in case you wondered we served fruit, pulled pork sandwiches (which I made in the crock pot to save money), chips, the oreo Mickeys, cupcakes, tea, and juice boxes for the kids!

I loved this party.  It was heartfelt, handmade, fun, and CHEAP.  :)

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

Lately, my little one, E, has made it impossible to cook dinner.  At 12 months, he's hit that age where he straddles toddlerhood and babyhood and wants to be independent until he really needs you to pick him up especially if you're doing something because he's a toddler and is curious! Whew!  It was the worst when it was time to make dinner so I resolved to browse through Pinterest and find a lot of crock pot dishes to try because ladies and gents, when you have a toddler (or even if you don't) and especially if you have more than one busy toddler, the crock pot is your bestest best friend.  Anyway, in my hunting, I've had a lot of hit and miss recipes we've tried, but two have risen to the top and been added to our "go to" dinners.  I've tweaked both recipes but because I found them through Pinterest I've given the original blogger credit because without them, I would not have had created such delicious, CONVENIENT dinners.

So today, chicken stroganoff originally from Chef-in-Training found here.

Below, is my version... (which is 9 Weight Watcher points for 3/4 cup)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 packet dry onion soup (2oz)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 8 oz light sour cream
- coriander seasoning (optional)

This is SO simple, friends.  Just take your raw chicken breast and toss it into your crock pot.  Then, mix the two soups together in a bowl and cover the chicken with them.  Next, sprinkle on a pinch of coriander, set your crock pot to low and walk away for 3.5-4.5 hours.

Thirty minutes before you plan to enjoy your dinner (or whenever you're down to 1 hour before dinner and your children are momentarily distracted), add the 8 oz of sour cream to the crock pot (I also went ahead and shredded my chicken. Shredding it removed the process of cutting it all up at dinner for me!).  It's best not to add creams or milks to your crock pot in the beginning of cooking because the food will break down too much and you'll lose a lot of that rich, creamy flavor and you could also scald the dairy product.

And that's it! 30 minutes or so later switch your crock pot to warm or serve up your chicken stroganoff over some yolk free egg noodles with a side of green beans (my recipe here is good!) if your kids will continue to be distracted long enough for you to cook a side.  But just so you know, this is so good you don't HAVE to have egg noodles.  I opted out when I wanted seconds to save myself the extra Weight Watcher points.  ;)

Enjoy!

25 Days of Advent with your Toddler

This morning on Twitter I was chatting with my lovely friends Caroline & Kristina (my public Twitter is here) about Christmas things!  Yay, Christmas!  I'm so excited because as J is aging things are just getting more and more fun... Easter egg hunts, Disney World, his birthday, Halloween... so naturally with Christmas being the biggest and grandest of all the holidays, I'm so excited to bring it to life in our house and I want it to be special.  Do you read Kelle's blog "Enjoying the Small Things?"  I love it and I love her and I love that she's so incredibly passionate about creating such a fun, happy childhood for her kids and how the holidays are a showcase for just how much magic she can create.  That's what I want to do here.  And each year will just get better and better as my kids get a little older and can appreciate the magic all the more.

That being said, I've already been thinking up ideas for this year and one night when E was taking FOREVER to fall asleep, I thought up an Advent plan.  I'd seen things around Pinterest and here and there with ideas, but none of what I saw would work for our family with a 1 & 2 year old.  I needed simplicity and I needed to still do things that mattered and things that were more than candy once a day (because Lord knows they'd dig into tomorrow's candy and I would eat the next day's...).  SO I made a list.  The dates aren't set and I haven't decided what kind of craft to do to hold these little ideas for each day, BUT all that will come.  I have a few weeks, right?  So without further ado, here's our list!  I hope this can help you with your little ones.  And also please note that I've taken into account we can't get out every day and some days things need to be very simple for everyone's sake.  And also, please note I think this list is best for 2+ or even 18-20 months+.  I know my then 13 month old will get into some things, but my 2 year old should be great at involving himself in all the things.

1.   Buy things together for a little boy we'll send a box to through "Operation Christmas Child."

2.   Decorate our box for our little boy with coloring and stickers.

3.   Drop off our box for our little boy.

4.   Make something for Grandmas for Christmas.

5.   Make something for Grandpas for Christmas.

6.   Make something for Aunts for Christmas.

7.   Make something for Uncles for Christmas.

8.   Make something for Daddy for Christmas.

9.   Take Daddy lunch at work.

10. Make cookies & take them to our local fire station.

11. Put money in the Salvation Army bucket.

12. Find old toys to donate & drop them off at Goodwill.

13. Draw pictures and make a card for a deployed solider (through this program).

14. Make/mail art to Great-Grandparents in California.

15. Make Christmas ornaments for our tree.

16. Go see Christmas lights with Daddy.

17. Drink hot cocoa (first time!) and watch a Christmas movie (I recommend "Mickey's Christmas Carol").

18. Decorate sugar cookies at Grandma's house.

19. Make rice krispie treats.

20. Visit Great Grandparents who live further away.

21. Go to lunch with local Great Grandparents.

22. Feed the ducks at the park.

23. Have a dance party to Christmas music.

24. Take a letter (drawing) for Santa to Macy's (they donate $1 for each letter!).

25. Read the Christmas story together as a family.

So there you have it! Twenty-five toddler activities!  Some are simple, some are more complex.  Some will take 30 seconds.  My goal is to schedule these activities so mail, our soldier's card, and our box for a child are all done right away and after that we'll alternate days at home crafting with days going out to visit Grandparents (we don't see our Great Grandparents on Christmas, so visiting them around Christmas will be a fun thing to do and we can take them an ornament as their gift!) and doing other things.  It's a pretty balanced list because if you have kids like mine, days out are fun, but usually you need a day in following to recover!  And also, my kids are 1 and 2.  This list was made with my 2 year old (2 and 4 months come December) mostly in mind, but I know my 1 year old will take part in some things a little bit.  That being said, I think it's best to say this list should work great for 2+!

Yay, Christmas!!! :)