God thinks I'm hilarious

I am alive. I promise. But man, life is eating me alive!

You'd think with all the snow we've been having, I'd be blogging up a storm because there's nothing else to do. In reality, I'm still recovering from the holidays in terms of getting the house back in some semblance of order. Seriously. It's pathetic, I know, especially since we have less than 1000 sq ft in our little home, but it just feels like there's something that's been happening all the time, or at least not in the way we planned.

Take my best friend's baby shower last week. We'd decided back in December to shoot for President's Day Weekend Sunday (that totally made more sense in my head) because the long weekend would allow for recovery for everyone, plus Nonna-to-be would be able to come up and not take vacation days. One of the SIL/aunts found a carpool to hitch a ride back from college in Ohio, the two other planners/executors/friends D and K had their tasks lined up, and BFF's limited mobility grandmother was going to let us use her house to host so she could actually attend.

You know what they say about best-laid plans, right?

I like big bundts and I cannot lie

I couldn't resist.

Anyway, I found a few cake recipes that I want to remember to try at some point, and if I put them on people's walls on facebook (or even post them directly to mine) I'm never going to find them again.

So.

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting and Apple Cider Caramel

I actually have NO idea why I want to try this one so badly - I don't have a huge affinity for pumpkin or maple flavors. But something about it screams fall and I just want my house to smell like that. I asked my BIL if he'd be my guinea pig since Nate isn't a pumpkin fan, either. Perhaps I should make it to take down to my in-laws on Saturday when we go watch the 50th anniversary Doctor Who special since we don't have cable.

Five Favorites: Shopping Edition

My dad says that he read that self-made millionaires got that way because they never spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine, and though my mom will sometimes sulkily say, "Sometimes I wish you would," I'm convinced that the price usually has fairly little to do with the quality. I actually don't really like spending money, plus getting out and about with very small kids isn't exactly an easy feat; when I have to do it, it's more of a chore than anything. Sometimes, the stores I go to make it very, very worth it. The following places generally help me keep within our budget (me being a SAHM with two kids while we live on a single teacher's salary in an area with one of the highest COLAs in the country) and maybe even make it feel like we're living large. So, here are my 5 favorite brick and mortar places to spend money!

My First Five Favorites

I've never done a link-up before! How exciting!

In the spirit of Wednesdays in this house (I make pizza and we invite our siblings so the kids get aunt/uncle time), my list theme is Favorite Foods/Drinks to Make. Om nom nom.

Basement Progress and Other Thoughts

Husband of mine has been a busy little bee with our basement. Over the past month, he has ripped out the hideous paneling (side note: it wasn't attached to any drywall. It was just hanging there by itself. Who thought hanging barely 1/4 inch paneling as a wall was a good idea??), ripped out the baseboards and door frames, hung drywall, mudded and sanded about 50 bazillion times, painted, and is currently putting in and painting the trim. His dad has been guiding him a lot through this process and has come over many times to help with various parts. He's even lent a bunch of his tools - we currently have his miter saw, nail gun, and air compressor hanging out downstairs (we also have an old vacuum of theirs since Nate's insistence on not borrowing the shop vac has led to our vacuum becoming so clogged with drywall dust that it doesn't suck anymore. At least, that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it).

It (Sometimes Literally) Takes a Village

I have a low supply.

I learned the hard way to trust my instinct on this one. Every single stinking lactation consultant, doctor, and blog written by either an IBCLC or doctor or will say, "Even if xyz are happening, you probably don't have a low supply." Even if you're checking off every thing on their list, it's probably not low supply, because it's very rare that a woman cannot produce enough milk because it's a supply and demand thing.

Well, I'm that anomaly. It happened to an extreme with Rosie last year. She ended up losing almost half a pound between her 4 and 6 month check-ups. I look back at the pictures and wonder how I didn't see that she was losing weight. The truth is, I did see it. I just was told that I didn't and wanted to believe that I didn't.

Average-ish Day in the Life

I know, these average days are generally boring, and that's probably a good thing, but there's gotta be a constant to compare the anomalies to, right?

We needed groceries, so after breakfast and Freddy's mid-morning nap, we headed off to the grocery stores (I regularly shop at 3 different grocery stores - that's an entirely different post - but we only hit 2 today) and got back as quickly as possible so I could make a phone call discussing responsibilities for this new part time gig I have. I brought in the perishable groceries, tossed Rosie in her crib well past her normal naptime, and crossed my fingers that she and Freddy would stay quiet for my call.

Oddity: Rosie refused to nap. She spent 2+ hours in the dark in her crib playing and chatting and occasionally yelling about how unfair life is. Normally, she'll quiet down after at most 30 minutes and go to sleep, but not today. After the call, I waited, hoping she would sleep, but I had to admit defeat around 5 or 5:30 (also well past when she normally wakes up, but I had to try). However, she was in a super snuggly mood after I got her, so Nate took Freddy on Freya's walk and I got to enjoy some rare cuddle time before I got dinner ready (SUPER simple today - bread I made yesterday, brie, and apples).

Rosie spent most of dinner laughing because....well, I'm going to go with because she was high from sleep deprivation. Everything was funny, and she was leaning over one side of the high chair cracking herself up over nothing. Children are clearly the best entertainment and this is the reason people had so many before electricity and the invention of television.

Before we put her to bed, she decided that she wanted to go to town hugging and kissing Freddy. Rosie's idea of hugging is more like strangling, so we have to keep an eye on her ("What did you do??" "I don't know! I was just hugging him and all of a sudden his head popped off!"), but it is so heartwarming to see that she really does care about her little brother. When I was pregnant, I was terrified that there would be regressive behavior and battles over attention and coup attempts, but I've been very pleasantly surprised.

I have been blessed with pretty easygoing children. They have their moments, and while Rosie was not pleased that we were walking away from the different sample ladies at Costco and Freddy was tired and telling everyone about it at Wegmans before finally passing out in the carrier, such moments are the exception. I'm sure now that I've written that they will prove me horribly wrong. Here's hoping they only prove me wrong at home.

This photo is about 2 months old, but it gives you the general idea of their personalities.

Finally, a story about Nate that I already posted on FB. If you don't know, Nate is a bit of a sleepwalker and talker. Sometimes he'll just kind of mumble or look around, but sometimes I get absolute gems like this from last night:

Nate: [moves arm so that it's almost in my face] [intense stare]

me: ...

Nate: [swoops arm around in a loop to the other side]

me: What are you doing?

Nate: Reading.

He glared at me when I laughed at him, but luckily he has no memory of any of it.

Plus, look at that face. How could you possibly not laugh?
Full disclosure: this picture is from right before Rosie was born. Imagine a lot more exhaustion and joy.

So there you go. A general idea of how a day might go, and thankfully without any pictures of the house, because it's an absolute mess. I could probably do something about it now, but I have the rest of a glass of wine calling me instead. And if it calls, I must answer, and answer it completely uninterrupted, unlike my showers, sleep, and meals.