Working babe's

Last week I got called to temp nanny for a family I sat for on Valentines Day. I had told them at the first meeting that I had a son their daughters age. They liked the idea of me bringing him to any future "jobs" with them. So when I was called last week I packed G up and off we went. Their nanny was sick.

This is G, fighting (and losing) his nap. He had been fighting it for almost an hour. He propped himself up on me to see what I was doing on my phone, and literally fell right to sleep.

This is me, holding his head up because he keeps flopping over!

G playing with Claire later that day.

They play pretty well together. I hope they call again soon!

Baby shower gifts!

I always prefer to give handmade gifts rather than store bought ones, when I can, especially for baby showers. It seems babies are in the water lately because I have had 3 baby showers in the last few weeks.

This is the outfit I made for Elle's baby girl, coming next Thursday.
I embroidered the onsie on my machine and made the skirt by hand out of minky and some fabric I happened to have that matched the embroidery. I also made her an organic bamboo velour blanket, it didn't photograph well because its just cream.

This blanket I made for my friend Erin, who is due next month (photos of her cute baby belly and shower to follow eventually). It is lime green minky and this amazing vintage fabric I got from my Grandma's stash. I love it! And its SO Erin.

These are 2 burp clothes I made for my friend Elizabeth, who is due in a month as well with a little boy named Frank. What goes better with "Frank" in my opinion than cowboys?! I love how they turned out.

Coughs and Colds

This is how we spent most of the weekend.
Grayson had a cold. And a fever.

He woke up feeling much better this morning. But then he coughed. It was not as often but it seemed worse, wetter, deeper. I have worked with children long enough to know when a cough and cold is headed into the lungs and into pneumonia.

Off to the doctor we went, even though our doctor was on vacation (this is the first time G has seen anyone but Dr. Blair) The doctor we saw, Dr. Hamill, was great as well. He listened to G's chest and lungs and recommended we go down to Xray to see for sure what was going on.

This is the handy contraption they put small children in who can not hold still, feet in first and they sit on that little bicycle seat then I got to hold his arms over his head while they folded the clear holders arounds his rib cage. It took only a few minutes but he was very grumpy about it.

Its a good thing I promised he would get yummy treats when we were finished if he cooperated. The instant I said we were done and he was about to get out, he stopped crying, looked at me very seriously and said "Treats?"

When we went back up to Dr. Hamill's office, he looked at the films and said "Well, I am actually very surprised to see this much (showing me), it is pneumonia. And its more than I thought it would be." SCORE... Mommy medicine wins again! He gave us an Rx for antibiotics and off we went. Now we just hope they work since there is no way to know if its bacterial or viral.

Oh by the way: Grayson got chocolate chips in the car. :)

Cheesy Quinoa Pilaf with Spinach

Cheesy Quinoa Pilaf with Spinach
serves 4 but if you go to the link above you can modify it to whatever you need

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 3/4 cup olive oil (this was a little much, left it kinda oily, maybe 1/4-1/3 less)
  
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1-1/3 cups grated goat gouda cheese (I used parmesan)
  

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, and cook until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a mesh strainer, and rinse until cold; set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stir in the sunflower seeds, and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cooled quinoa and spinach; cook and stir until the quinoa is hot, and the spinach has wilted. Stir in the lemon juice, and all but a pinch of the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese.

THIS WAS SOOO GOOD! A lovely, nutty taste.
Thank you Jessica on PGL!

Mama? Mama?

Who can resist that face? Not I!

Naked Lady Party!

I know that sounds too good to be true (if you are a man or a lesbian) right?!

Well, don't get too excited. Well, scratch that... GET EXCITED!
Friday night I went to a Naked Lady Party. That is a woman and children's clothing swap.
It was SO much fun. I took an overflowing tub plus a few other things, mostly clothes but a few pair of shoes and a handbag and belt. I came home with that same tub full of clothes, everything you see below!

I also got two bras, a pregnancy belt/ for holding up the belly! and a pair of shoes!

Sadly, everyone that was at the NLP that I was at only had girls or boys younger than mine so I only got a pair of pants and Snow bibs for Grayson.

BUT... I did luck into getting some little girl clothes for the fictitious little girl I may someday have! Keep your fingers crossed for a girl next!


~~~SO THE BEST PART~~~
I am hosting a NLP! On April 4. Details TBD but it will be at my house and propably at 7 pm. The way it works is once everyone is here and the cloths are sorted into size appropriate piles, the host says GO and everyone rushes off to try things on and find their loot! (With no Cat-fighting!)

Anything left goes to a local woman's shelter (which I still need to find but I think I know the place)

I will send out evites soon and remember~ The more people and stuff here, the better your odds of getting great stuff! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! (if you are out of town and want to come I will happily host you! :)

Valentines Day!

I made these yummy cupcakes after seeing a similar one in the Martha Stewart Magazine. It is a chocolate cuppy cake, butter cream icing, and a brownie for good measure! Yum!

Monkey Boy

Grayson and I went to a baby resale shop the other to look for some shoes for him since he is almost out of his current size.

We didn't find any shoes but he found these fun monkey slippers and when we went to pay we found out that they came with the big oooh oooh in his arms. Both the slippers and the oooh oooh have hearts on them. Its really very sweet how much he loves his oooh ooohs. And everytime he sees a monkey I think a little part of him thinks of his brother.

He asks about his oooh oooh and Jon Jon almost every day.

Yes, that is my son, in a pink diaper. Its Grayson's favorite! :)

the track to nowhere

Until yesterday Grayson has been asking us to build his tracks for him. We have a permanent one on the train table too.

This is the first track he has ever built on his own.

Mommy of the Year!

I am sure I have had a few of these awards this year but this one might take the cake.

Two days ago Grayson was playing on his high chair, something I tell him daily to *please* not do, and this happened.

He started crying for me to "elp, Mama."
So I asked him if I should help him, or take his picture.
He replied by starting to cry, he must know me or something...
Finally letting out a few more "elp Mama's" and even a few please's just for good measure.

I took his picture anyway.

don't get in the way of a boy and his felt board

I bought Grayson the felt board at a garage sale a few years ago (did I even have a kid yet?)
and it had only a few Thomas the Train pieces. Then we were given the castle on. He has largely ignored them until this last week. All of a sudden its all he wants to play with. So Sunday I went to Joann's and bought some felt ($5.50) and then went to another craft store (Craft warehouse) because they have a die cutter in their scrapbook department. I spent and hour ($3 for 15 minutes) cutting out shapes for G to play with.

He loves it even more now! He will sit for 30 minutes talking to his little pieces and setting up bunny stories.

They did not have a die for people so we have none, I guess I will have to buy those and the clothes. Instead I made a bunny family. :)

Even better, once I was done cutting (and cutting and cutting!) the department manager, who I know from when I used to spend way too much time (and money) there pre-children, said she wasn't going to charge me for using the die cutter.

She just thought it was SO cool that I was making him a new toy!

At the Park with Daddy

Lately, I have been busy more on the weekends with things that I can't take Grayson to. Sometimes its temp nanny work. Sometimes its working a booth for G diapers. Others its just a mommy fun day. Last weekend was the G diapers booth at the Green Expo. While I was gone, Zack rode his bike with the trailer attached to our old neighborhood and visited our old park that just got remodeled. Looks like he had a great time.

"Look, Grampa! I got myself a HOG!"

At the top of a very very tall slide!

I thought that merry go rounds were extinct but I guess Hillsboro found one of the old Dino's!

Betty Lou's got a new Attitude!

Ya, I know the song is really shoes but that would make no sense at all now would it.

I FINALLY got my hair cut this weekend. We have been so tight on money I have not wanted to spend what we did have on that. So I let it grow and grow and finally it was affecting my personality. Yes, I am one of those who is dictated by her hair. I rarely notice it at the time but once it is cut and cute again I am a new person with a renewed sense of self and attitude (Just what I need right DAD!?)

I am not sure I LOVE it yet, its a little helmet-y to me, but its growing on me. Maybe once I figure out how to do it myself. Right now its still Michelle done...well in these pics anyway. I have washed since Saturday! I did it myself today and its a little Big but I am sure it will calm down soon.

Oh and I tamed the caterpillers that live above my eyes as well. Ya Michelle, she is my hair goddess! :)

Grayson went to Daycare!

This is Grayson, at Daycare! I went to work today, a job through the temp nanny agency and I am not able to bring Grayson with me to those jobs. So he went to daycare.

This is Tricia, my friend and his daycare provider for the day and who knows how many in the future. She is great and is great with the kiddos.
And she lives two doors away.

I did okay, I left him with Zack and Zack took him to Tricia's house a little while later. He did fine, going right to Tricia with open arms. That makes me happy. I *know*, having been a nanny for so long that its normal to have the child cry when the parents leave. Ollie still does, but only for a minute. With ME! So it made me very happy to hear that G went right to her and waved bye bye to Zack.

Grayson eating snack with Harley and Abby, I still can't tell these two apart, though I know the differences, I can't remember which one belongs to which difference!

Tricia took the kiddos to the park and Grayson decided he didn't want to let go of the balls to slide so he took them with him!

So at the end of the day, we both lived through his first day of daycare. Though I must admit, its like a cheating game of daycare since I know Tricia and she is a friend. I prefer to have him with me though, my little shadow, my little buddy.

Side Note: Zack's first day of work went very well. He really likes the people and the environment and the pace. They are very family oriented people and value his time and abilities. I think this was the perfect fit and a job worth waiting for. We are very thankful that things seem to be getting back on track!