You know its going to be a great day when...

My little Lily flower woke up happy and sweet, no surprise here - she often wakes up cooing and giggling. Ella woke up asking when she was going to see her friends. She knew it was Friday, play date day, the best day of the week. I'll get to that in a minute though.

Ella likes to help me change Lily's diaper. She climbs up on the chair next to my changing table and talks baby talk to Lily while Im changing her. As often happens, Lily twists and contorts her body to try to make eye contact with Ella. She wants so badly to be with her all the time. I was getting frustrated because it was getting very hard to change Lily with all this squirming. I snapped at Ella - "Ella please give Lily a little space." Ella looked up at me with the saddest pound puppy eyes and said "But Mommy I just love her." Insert me melting to floor in a puddle of sweet gooey happiness. This is why you have kids, moments like this. Honest pure moments that you want to lock away in a vault and let out anytime you lose sight of that happiness. I knew it was going to be a great day.

Friday is always play date day. I have this group of amazing women/moms and we get together every single Friday. We have done this since the kids were 4 and 5 months old, they are now all over 3 years old. We met at Gymboree Music and Play class. It started small, going over to the coffee shop after class and feeding the babies their bottles or nursing. It was a group of 10 women with 10 babies, we are now a group of 13 women with over 25 kids and counting. Every week we rotate houses or play date venues. These women have become like family - watching their children grow has been amazing. Ella has been given the strongest social base possible because of this group. She LOVES her friends.

If I can suggest one thing to new Moms - when your first child is born really put yourself out there and try to meet other Moms who have children your baby's age. It will make your long days seem much shorter and give you a built in sounding board who can relate entirely.

The play date started at 11am. The girls played, ate, danced, sang and enjoyed being with their friends. I enjoyed the company of my friends, ones who can relate first hand to every single thing I go through every day. We returned home at 3pm, I tucked them in for a cozy nap and they slept peacefully for over two hours. Play date day always equals a long nap, which gives me the much needed time I need to clean, relax and recharge.

Mommy Mantra - "Make your kids an incredible Part of your life, not your WHOLE life."
-Don cooked a yummy meal tonight. Steak with onions, homemade cheddar mashed potatoes, parisian carrots and romaine salad. This is a direct quote from Don to Ella - "Ella no more lettuce until you have some steak." Lily seemed to be a fan of the lettuce too.

Lily Bunny

Right now, Im enjoying a good Malbec with some dark chocolate and watching Old School with my cozy hubby- great end to a great day.
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Heaven = Decaf Coffee and House Decor Magazines

Today was another long one. Lily is getting her bottom two teeth and overall is not her happy go-lucky self. Ella was in "super ask question mode" today. I felt like I was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and I was using all my life lines. Forget the show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, today I did not feel smarter than my 3 year old. I'm chalking it up to that time of the month (sorry if TMI) and Mommy brain, but my brain felt like mush today.

My hubby came home from work in a great mood, grabbed a beer and dove right into Daddy mode. I should have been excited for family time. All I wanted to do was drop on the couch and never move again. Instead, I made a yummy dinner in the dutch oven - a combo Emeril / Tyler Florence meal. Chicken thighs, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions in a yummy broth with roasted potatoes. I think I'm actually getting good as this cooking thing. Im starting to enjoy it. While I cooked, the girls and my hubby, Don played so cutely. At one point Don had beer in hand wearing a princess hat and making funny sounds to make the girls laugh - still I was not snapping out of my funk. Maybe its the rain, the "stuck in the house most of the day" feeling - winter doldrums. Not sure, but it wasn't going away.

We finished dinner, we had to press Ella to eat tonight, she wasn't feeling dinner. Once she had made enough yuck faces, and had "tried" everything on her plate she asked to be excused and we happily let her get down, if just for a moment of peace.

While I did the dishes Don gave Lily her bottle and put her to bed - a routine I hate to give up. Even though I get to feed her almost every bottle and up until 4 weeks ago I was nursing and he had no participation whatsoever, I still hate missing even one feeding. I gave this one to him tonight, he had earned it. He was the "happy full of fun" parent tonight and I felt like I had a cloud hanging over me.

As soon as Lily was down, Ella was on us like white on rice. At least it felt like that to me. I told Don I needed to go buy envelopes; yes envelopes in the pouring - disgusting rain. He said he would put her to bed. I gave her a big squeeze and kiss and headed out the door. As I left I popped back in and said, I might stop at Barnes and Noble - he nodded, seeing I needed a break.

I got the envelopes and beelined for B&N. I got a Grande decaf latte and picked up the best house decor and cooking magazines I could find. I curled up on a comfy chair and completely relaxed. I felt the day dripping off me. I think this is going to become a weekly routine.

How do you take time for yourself? How often?

@WineCheeseBaby

Its official Im on twitter. Never been, all new to me. Im ready to take the world by storm..now if only I had any followers.

Eyelashes are overrated

Im so wiped today for some reason. Dragging all day long. To add insult to injury, I was trying to lay Lily down for her nap and she has this new obsession with eyes, touching them at every chance she gets. She is so gentle and sweet, softly touching my eye as I give her bottle. She starts touching my eyelashes and giggling. All of a sudden, the pain ooooo the pain! She grabbed my eyelashes with her little tiny pinchers and pulled with all her might! My little Lily Angel made my eye water and made me jump in pain. All the while she is giggling and giggling.

False eyelashes anyone?

Anyone ever suffer an injury in the line of duty? Parenthood duty...

Adding to my day - Ella and Lily had a frozen Whole Foods Pepperoni Pizza with Salad and Raspberry vinaigrette. No gourmet meals tonight - pizza, salad, milk - bed. I do have to say the Raspberry Vinaigrette by Annies got Ella to start eating salad - she calls it her raspberry sauce. She thinks she's getting away with something. If your little one wont touch the stuff, pour on the dressing!

Laurie Berkner vs. Natalie Merchant - or maybe both?

Car rides with toddlers can be ear splitting, nauseating and exhausting. Before Ella was born my husband and I went on a road trip with my husband's family. The kids are sweet, and so much fun to be around always - but were not lovers of the car. I sat in the way back of their mini van in the hot Florida heat sandwiched between two other people. Their 4 year old (hes 11 now) was not a fan of this car ride. He was crying, wailing, unhappy to his core. My brother-in-law, the master builder that he is jerry rigged a small TV between the two front seats. For 5 hours we heard and watched some version of Barney. It quieted that unhappy 4 year-old into a peaceful state, with dancing dinosaurs and strangely dressed pre-teens singing feel good songs. I locked this memory away and thought, my kids are going to listen to MY music. My car, no wait my house will definitely be a NO BARNEY zone. Oh, how I wish I was right.

Flash forward 7 years later to my 3 year old, Ella hopping in the car happily and then she lowers the boom -"I want Laurie Berkner Mommy". Today's version of Barney...no dinosaur, much easier on the ears but still painful nonetheless.

How did I get here?
I was a lover of Pink Floyd, Dave Matthews Band, Guster, Dispatch, Jack Johnson, my list goes on. I was a music buff. Here is where my Mommy Mantra has to come into play. We take turns with the radio, I'll painfully sit through hearing the same songs a few times in a row and then I'll say Mommy's turn! Today I popped in my Mumford and Son's CD - amazing. I get half way through the song and I hear in the back - "Excuse me, my turn Mom!"
Ella's latest thing is to say excuse me 500 times, until you stop, make eye contact and really listen. Needless to say you can't do this while driving, so usually I cave and switch it back to one her her CDs. Not today, I really was in a groove. Then I heard it, "How about Natalie Merchant?"

Hubbawhat?

I hear it again, "Excuse me Mom, how about Natalie Merchant?"
The clouds parted, the angels sang, I had done my job as a music buff. I had created a child with great taste in music! She then suggests "Slip sliding away"? (Paul Simon) I could not believe my ears. I switched on Natalie Merchant and looked in my rearview mirror as Ella sat back peacefully in her car seat. Na na na na na na na

Mommy Mantra Moment - Make your kids an incredible Part of your life, not your WHOLE life.

Im posting what my kids eat for dinner every night. I want to try to inspire people to think outside the box in feeding your kiddos. From when Ella was a tiny baby we fed her everything, basically we'd cook what we like to eat and chop it up. Tonight I tried my hand again at a Tyler Florence recipe - Chicken Francaise with roasted brussel sprouts and spaghetti. Ella ate more brussel sprouts than both my husband and I and I looked over to see Lily inhaling the yummy sprouts. Ella got ice cream again tonight - she was happy.

What works, works.

Im posting twice tonight. This one is short and sweet. I firmly believe that what works, works. This stlye of parenting is what works for me and my family to be happy - it wont work for everyone. At the end of the day if you have a happy family, thats all that matters.

Namaste.

Peace / Love and dont hate my blog.

P-P-P-Panchetta!

My little Lily flower was sick today, so any plans we made went out the window. Instead while Lily napped periodically throughout the day Ella and I did crafts and played in the backyard. We were working on our alphabet and talking about what letters belong to what word. I had the Food Network on in the background, I was attempting to make Tyler Florence's Ultimate cooked whole fish recipe. My husband had DVRd it and was really looking forward to it for dinner. Let me preface this by saying, I am a novice cook - I only recently started cooking after I was laid off and officially became a SAHM. This meal was a stretch for me, but my hubby is an incredible cook, so the pressure was on.

Ella was looking down at the alphabet and was reciting P-P-P for Patrick. P-P-P for Penguin. P-P-P for Panchetta...exsqueeze me? I looked at her a bit confused and then I looked up at the TV and saw Tyler Florence placing Panchetta into the hot pan. I started laughing and said yes, exactly P for Panchetta.

Ella had Tyler Florence's stripped bass with escarole, zucchini and P-P-P Panchetta for dinner. She ate so much she got Reeses Pieces ice cream for dessert.

Mommy Mantra Moment - How to make your kids an incredible Part of your life, not your WHOLE life.

How I found a moment for Me today? A good 'mommy' girlfriend called while both girls had a brief overlap in their naps. The double nap is something I consider myself a bit of an expert at. I usually get both of them to sleep at the same time in the afternoon for at least 1-2 hours...its a fluke I have no advice it just happened one day. I have tried to repeat it everyday since. Usually this time I spend cleaning, laundry, make appointments etc. Today I stopped cleaning, put down the laundry and sat on the couch and caught up with her. It felt so good to give my whole attention to to another Mom who took a minute out of her hectic day to call me to catch up. We got more accomplished in that 20 minute conversation than I do with most friends in a week. Im going to try to do that more, take a minute to really listen to a friend who calls rather than always rush, rush, rush, rush.

Im curious if any of you out there reading have your own Mommy Mantra, something that guides you in your parenting style, describes what kind of parent you are or hope to be. I would LOVE to hear them.  Thanks for all the amazing feedback and whoever you are out in Alaska reading, so cool!