Oh My, Oh My Dinner!

We are huge into Sandra Boynton board books right now and Oh my, Oh my Dinosaurs! is a fave. Anyhoo, I'm baaacckkk! It's been a while, but I've been busy figuring out how to do this momma/housewife gig. I must be really stupid or totally lame that I couldn't quite get my s*@$ together for almost 8 months, but all I can say is that Baby K didn't sleep through the night until 7 months so I was just dang tired. Now that I'm getting a good 7 hours sometimes more of sleep a night, I am finally back to functioning.

Either way, one of the toughest tasks I have is getting dinner on the table each night. Baby K is an early bedtime kind of girl. I'm talking bedtime starts at 6 and she's down by 6:30 or so then sleeps until 6:30am. We've tried to push it back gradually, but then she ends up getting less sleep and it seems like she's crabby all day. Girl needs her sleep just like her momma. It's nice to have consistency, but her bedtime just happens to be around the time when I would normally cook dinner. We don't like to eat at 8pm so it's been a challenge for me to get dinner on the table for my hubs and I. I love to cook and hate the stress of trying to cook something while keeping and eye on a baby that's all over the place. So, I decided to get my act together and start planning a menu for each week, then making a list for the grocery store. While wandering aimlessly through the aisles of the grocery store, trying to decide what to make for the week is sure fun, momma needed to find a new way of doing things. Since I never had a plan, I ended up buying whatever looked good and so we were always throwing away produce that didn't get used. I hate wasting money like that and it makes me feel guilty when I think about all the families that go without that would not waste like that. No matter what you have or how successful you are being wasteful is lame.

Because of the struggle with timing dinner and the waste, I've decided to try using my crockpot for more things than just roast. I've been scouring the Internet for great recipes and tweaking them to fit my family. So, I'm going to share them with you. Along with a few other tried and true recipes that I keep the ingredients for so that I have something to cook when I can't quite get my act together.

Stay tuned for my first crockpot recipe that's been mommjomma-ized. Oh and anyone else have this problem? Any tips or tricks you'd like to pass along?

Thoughts From the Mother of a 6 Month Old

Wow! I don't know whether I should laugh or cry, maybe both, but my sweet baby K is 6 months old today! I can't believe how quickly it's gone. Maybe it's the sleepless nights or the feedings or the diaper changes, but the time just flew by. I'm a bundle of emotions today, proud of how she's grown and all the new milestones she's reached/reaching and sad about losing these moments. Sad that being a parent is really one big exercise in letting go. Sad that one day she won't think that I'm the funniest person ever, that I won't be the center of her world and sad that (I can't believe I'm writing this) that we are getting closer to being done with breastfeeding. And because I am this pile of emotions today, this post will likely be a little jumbled. So here are some of the things that I'm thinking as we mark this milestone in the life of my first child:

We had Baby K's 6 month well child visit today. She's long and lean and the doctor said she's just perfect. He is so supportive of breastfeeding and has never once questioned her weight, which is such a relief since I think a lot of breastfeeding mommas worry about that. He said that he believes that the percentile scales are skewed a bit because so many babies are formula fed and that he's not one bit worried that Baby K is in the 21 percentile for weight, but 78 for height. He said to expect the weight percentile to drop even further as she gets older since only 10% of babies are still breastfed after 6 months.

When I set out with the whole breastfeeding thing, I wasn't sure how it would all work out. So many mommas try and can't for one reason or another. When things started going well, I made it a goal to keep it up for 6 months - basically until we introduced solid foods. Well, I'm here 6 months later and I'm not ready to wean yet. I have so many feelings about breastfeeding, but mostly I'm just proud because it was tough at times and a huge sacrifice and quite possibly the most unselfish thing that I've ever done. Please don't think that I'm saying that formula feeding is selfish. I know that each mom has their own reasons for choosing breast or bottle or both or whatever and that as long as baby and mom are healthy and happy, it doesn't matter. I chose to breastfeed, but I don't think that makes me a better mother.

I despise the nasty things that are said between the two camps and wish that we could all just do what we feel is right without being judged. I read a comment on That Wife where a woman attacked her for not feeding her baby the way God intended and I wanted to throw up. Jenna's struggle to breastfeed broke my heart and she so eloquently expressed her sorrow over it not working out and someone went for her jugular. Ish. I've also read a comment from a formula feeding mom on another blog that said that she found breastfeeding creepy and sexual. It's nasty out there, really really nasty.

Where was I - yeah, so I'm not ready to wean yet. I'm not sure how much longer I'll feel like that. Maybe ask me after Baby K gets teeth. Either way, my goal is achieved and I stand with the 10% of mommies out there still worrying about supply and wearing ugly nursing bras and clothes that allow for access. Which leads me to wonder  - Why the hell can't they make cute nursing clothes? I tried to buy a couple of dresses and a bunch of them look matronly and dowdy. I've found a couple cute dressed that are non-nursing, but do the trick. Jcrew and Old Navy had a few options and they work, but I'm still sad that my options are so limited.

This first six months as a mother has been amazing and I know that the next 6 months will be even more wonderful. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this motherhood thing. Just in time for everything to change I'm sure!

Happy half-birthday to my beautiful girl. I love you more than I can express and you truly light up our lives.

Clearing My Mind

• Lately, I'm feeling like a bit of a mommy failure. Not sure why this job seems so hard at times. Is it because of how much we love our little ones? Either way, I am having a hard time keeping up with all the things I need/want to get done and it makes me feel like I'm failing. Other mommies make it all seem so easy.
• Baby K started eating some solid foods this week and it's so much fun watching her have her first taste of peas, banana, and apple. She seems to really like the rice cereal.
• I bought my Beaba Babycook this past weekend and I've been making all kinds of purees and freezing them in the nifty freeze trays Beaba makes. I also bought this cookbook and I'm so excited to make her some of the fun recipes. Both are an A++++.
• I'm still breastfeeding and fast approaching my 6 month goal. I'm not ready to stop though. Maybe at 9 months I'll start a slow weaning process. I've got a pretty good supply socked away in the freezer, but probably not enough to get through three months. We'll see what happens after she has teeth. I may change my mind.
• I need to get rid of this last 15lbs of baby weight. I miss my favorite jeans.
• I've been working out at 9pm each night, then at 10 I pump my milk for Baby K's 11pm dreamfeed. The dreamfeed is working really well. She's sleeping much better at night and I think using the bottle for the feeding is the key. Then I know that she's gotten a full feeding and I don't have that OMG I'm starving her mommy guilt at 4am when she wakes up and I just give her her nuk back.
• My new goal of showering, and putting on makeup during her first nap of the day is working really well. I feel so much better when I get dressed and put a little makeup on.
• It's a beautiful day in Minneapolis today. I'm waiting for my girl to get up and then we're going to go for a walk around one of the many lakes in our fair city. Speaking of walks, I love my BOB stroller more every day.