Mother's Day

With Mother's Day coming up, what is everyone asking for? With the risk of sounding cheesy and getting groans, I only want to spend the day with my family and eat a nice brunch. I feel like I have received a wonderful present everyday I get to spend with my boys. Ok I know I'm asking for eye rolls.

Here are some tangible presents to ask for in case anyone needs ideas! ;)

Monogrammed or nameplate necklace from etsy.com with your children's initials or names or birth dates.

New diaper bag. I'm not a fan and tried to avoid them for as long as possible, using a large nylon Marc by Marc Jacobs tote for 2 years. Well after the 2nd baby, meaning twice the stuff, I was tired of not being able to find anything and decided it was time for an actual diaper bag with multiple pockets to organize everything and plenty of room for stuff for a toddler and a newborn. The Marc by Marc Jacobs nylon diaper bag (nordstroms.com) fits my every need and most importantly ;) doesn't look like a typical diaper bag. I'm in love with it.

And lastly GIFT CARDS are always a great gift for a mom who knows exactly what she likes and wants so she can go (preferably alone, sans kids) to a store or spa. My picks would be a massage/facial gift card to a nice spa or a gift card to Nordies or Amazon. The hardest part of being a mom is accepting something for you and not using that Nordies gift card on the shoes you've been eyeing for your toddler or using the Amazon gift card to purchase diapers for your baby. Whatever you do and whatever gifts you receive I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day, do something for YOU and most importantly know you are a great mom that's doing the best job for your little ones!

Blissful Time

My happy time is when I can get my two kids napping. Before you go judging me know that 1. I am a stay at home mom which means I rarely ever, EVER, get breaks. Not even to pee 2. This magical time where the heavens part and angels sing does not happen very frequently. Yesterday they both were sleeping at the same time but it doesn't count since they were both sleeping on me.

So obviously I would take advantage of this time and clean our place spotless, start dinner, solve a rubicks cube, cure cancer? Um, no, I'm currently drinking my chi tea latte that I walked a mile (round trip) to get in the drizzle with the above said kids, watching a marathon of Girls on HBO on demand, and clearly blogging on my neglected blog. Life. Is. Good.

What's your happy time and what do you spend doing in your happy time?

Trying to get better at the blogging. Would love to start with kid friendly topics like where to eat with kids, free activities in the city, healthy snacks, etc, etc. More to come soon. Hopefully.

Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

After eating pizza for three days straight, I felt the need to feed my toddler something homemade, good for him and of course delish. This recipe I came up with is something the whole fam loves and a way to get a veggie and meat in my loved ones.

Very easy to make...

Cook your chicken just covered with water in a pot with a couple bay leaves for about 20 mins. Add carrots, minced onions and garlic and simmer another 20 mins. Take the chicken out and discard skin and bones (for any new cooks this is what gives it the most flavor). Chop chicken and return to pot. Add noodles, if you don't make homemade I prefer Rames frozen noodles, they taste close to homemade. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil until liquid is reduced to a thick gravy and noodles are done. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Suggestions: You could add basil or rosemary of you like. I like to keep the favors simple so I don't. If you insist on using boneless, skinless chicken breasts you can add "Better Than Bouillon" or whatever chicken base you want to add flavor. I prefer to make my own broth so it has more of a homemade taste and less artificial. If the gravy is too thick add water or if it isn't thick enough mix a little flour with milk and slowly stir in, bring to boil, simmer for a little.

Lemon Soufflé Pancakes With Raspberry Syrup

I try to avoid being a short order cook and like to make something we all enjoy eating. Grown up pancakes for breakfast this morning pleased everyone. I'm posting the recipe but make sure your hubby is on hand to take care of the kids because you will not be while making these.

Recipe is from my Better Homes and Garden app for the iPad. 

ABC as easy as 123

The first topic I'd like to tackle is the ever so serious education of a toddler. While all children learn at different speeds and interests vary, the debate on what, as a parent, you should be doing rages on. I will be the first to raise my hand to admit I am a tv watcher. This means my children, 2 and 4 months are tv watchers as well. I'll pause for the gasps of horror. Yes, I've read articles and know better and when your kid is entering Harvard and mine are entering McDonald's, you can rub it in my face. Well that's only funny if it doesn't come true.

This brings up the question: how much tv (if any) does your child watch? What kind of programs? Our tv is usually tuned to adult shows and not kid based shows. Before you judge me and feel sorry for my poor child, let it be known my son can watch any kid show he wants on his iPad or Kindle Fire. His favorite is watching Barney, Mickey Mouse Club or random educational videos on YouTube and he loves watching the PBS shows on their app. What effect do you think tv has on children? Immediate and future repercussions?

That leads me to my main point. How my child learns. He loves (obsessed) with the alphabet and numbers right now.  That sounds a little dorky, but I'm so proud of my little dork. ;) Anything dealing with these two topics he is interested in. Which is why he can recite the alphabet and count to 20. Here are some of his favorite ways he's learned the ABC's.

This Melissa and Doug puzzle is one of his favorites. He got it around Christmas time and still plays with it everyday. At first the 26 pieces seemed a bit daunting but after a week he had mastered it and was putting it together like a pro. Usually has to sing the alphabet song whole doing so. You can buy it at Target or on Amazon for around $7.

This YouTube video goes through the alphabet. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BELlZKpi1Zs Jacoby is a YouTube pro and found this video himself. He almost has it memorized and we often sing it on our walks. You can subscribe to this channel, KidsTv123 and others such as Super Simple Songs and vidz4kids which has the alphabet train song. Great tools for teaching kids through repetition. Best of all they are all free!

My optimist first post

I've been wanting to start a blog for awhile now. Ever since I started talking to other moms and finding moms usually have the same problems and questions but not always the same solutions or tips. Or answers at all! No matter how many books, websites, or doctor's advice you can absorb, there's nothing quite like hearing first hand from someone that has a child around your age. And is going through the exact same thing while you are, to give you just the right amount of credibility you need.

I'm also a product, clothes, shoes whore. Basically I alone could keep the economy going strong if I had Bill Gates' money. It's fun to see what other moms use, where they shop, what new product they discovered and where they found it for the cheapest price! Finding designer kids shoes and clothes for half price!? Please let me in on your secret portal of mommy joy!

This being my first blog post I feel like I should put in some disclaimers. First of all if you expect my blog to be well written, witty and have loads of expert opinions than please do not read and be disappointed. As my not so clever or creative blog name implies I am not perfect and neither is my blog. Second, I may not be the most organized in posts and the timing of posts. By "may not" I mean no, I most definitely won't be. Setting the bar low from the start seems to be the way to go.

With all that being said, (I tend to ramble a bit, not such a good quality in a blogger) I really want a blog out in the world for the simple forum to open dialogue among moms or childcare providers or aunts, dads, (you get the picture) to share information. So even though I would start a topic I would prefer the comments be plentiful and open to discussion. Also I would love to hear suggestions for topics.

Well since this is my first post, I better stop here or no one will read my second post!