Belated Birthday Surprises...

...always a GOOD THING!

Alright, we'll just tear this off here...

...and Nanna, you gonna take that? Ok great...


...now a little over here,


this piece right here...

Here's another piece Nanna...
Bear, you could do more than just watch ya know!

Sure, hide your head in shame, I see how it is...


No, no, no... no peeking!


Sure, now when all the hard work is done, NOW you show your face!


Well don't think for one second that whatever's in this box is for you mister...


Here, I'll just put this box cover right here & VOILA!

Where's Bear?

*snicker* hee hee

Hmmm, let's see, a card? If only I knew how to read...


Says something here about 'Auntie Pat' & 'Uncle Dan'...


Excellent, thanks for tellin' me who it's from Nanna!


Nice! TISSUE PAPER!!!!!!!


Oh yeah, and a sweat shirt too...


What's that Nanna? There's more...?
Hmmm... let's see,


Ok, yup, you're right... FUN PANTS!
*dig it*


Hmm, now how does Momma get these little hanging thingies off the clothes again?


Find that plastic guy, yup- got it...

and let's see, she just sticks it in her mouth like this...

(amazing the things kids pick up when you think they're not looking isn't it?!)
LMFAO!

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO AUNTIE PAT & UNCLE DAN
FOR MY ADORABLE FUN PINK SWEAT SUIT! I LOVE IT!!!!!

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

If you don't live near the ocean, perhaps you're only introduction to these fellas


is from THIS movie...

Trust me when I tell you that they're the Rats of the AIR! These guys will fight over & EAT ANYTHING THROWN OUT!
Thus, the term 'air rats'.

Every morning I throw leftover breakfast (i.e.: toast, cereal, apple peels, banana pieces etc...)
to the squirrel's & birds etc. and EVERY MORNING WITHOUT FAIL,

these guys show up ready for action...


You can hear them coming from a mile away & man do they mean BUSINESS!



But I love all God's creatures, so there's no discrimination here at:

'BOSTON BREAKFAST BUFFET'

Squirrels much prefer CINNAMON COOKIES over anything else anyways.
;)
hehehehehe

Just in case you were wondering what 'beautiful' looks like...

...goodnight.

P.S.

Next time I go rantin' & ravin' atop my proverbial SOAP BOX about something, I should perhaps, JUST IN CASE, have a pair of THESE shoes handy in the event of an "open mouth, insert SHOE' moment... because honestly? My red fuzzy slippers (in classic RED) from Land's End just didn't do it for me! HAPPY FEET sure, but not so easy on my digestive system!

Diary of a sick toddler...

...captains log: day one, bronchitis:

6:30am woke up in Momma's bed happy but still very sick & with a high fever
7:00am Cereal & milk + vitamins for breakfast
7:15am penicillin & Tylenol
7:30am Maisy TiVo time on couch with Bear
8:30am warm bath complete with hair washing & deep conditioning
9:00am dressed back into toasty pj's & back on couch with Bear
10:20am fell asleep on floor in front of pink toasty chair, gently laid into Pack-N-Play to finish out remainder of nap
11:30am woke up hungry & thirsty, signing 'food' & 'drink', gave her peanut butter pretzel sandwiches & water sippy with ice & more penicillin & Tylenol.
(both winners in this house even when very sick & refusing all other foods...)
12:00pm more Maisy time, Bear sensing a routine forming...
1:00pm fast asleep again on floor, this time Momma leaves well enough alone & covers both Ruby & Bear over with a toasty blanket.
3:00pm awake again, asking for more food & drink, downstairs to Nannas house to see what we might find
3:105pm eating cool ranch doritos at Nannas since refusing everything else she had to offer.
(no pbpretzels at Nannas...)
4:00pm back upstairs to do a puzzle or two but then signing for more water & maisy
4:10pm couch this time with fresh water sippy & Bear, who is not shocked to be watching the same episode of Maisy that he saw just moments ago it seems...
5:30pm fast asleep on couch to the point where eventually I hear serious snoring
6:00pm laid them both gently into the crib, sound asleep for what appears to be the night...
11:00pm (momma just finished up watching The Shawshank Redemption) went into Ruby's room one last time to check on her before going to bed herself.
Enters room only to find Ruby sitting straight up with Bear in her arms & smiling saying AND signing: "Hi Momma, eat? Food? Drink? Waffles?" etc...

THE GIRL WANTS WAFFLES, THE GIRL GETS WAFFLES!
Could've cared less if it was 3:45am, my girl who basically refused food nearly all day, wants waffles then damnit SHE GETS WAFFLES!

12:00am 4 mini waffles, 1/2 banana, 4 oz milk, a handfull of cheerios & one final dose of penicillin & Tylenol later and Ruby & Bear are both out cold in the toasty comfort of Momma's bed.
So much for no 'co-sleeping' huh?
I guess when I was doing all my 'nanny preaching' bullshit I forgot to take into consideration the possibility of a sick child. Against my rules or not, I'll be damned if I'm not going to keep my daughter's labored breathing so close that I can feel it tickle the back of my own throat!
When babies are sick, co-sleeping is A'OK in my book!
Now, you'll excuse me as I go enjoy my midnight snack of fillet of 'sole'.
*wink*

Same, but different...

... recently my good friend Sherrie asked me
when I was going to post a picture of my new hair cut.
Well, aside from cutting shorter layers into it...
(those shorter pieces near my cheek, they weren't there before...)
...it's really not all that different.
Still pretty long so honestly, unless you see me in person, or NOT wearing a black sweater' you can't see the difference, really?
So, it's the same, but different.
Just easier on me since the weight of it is not as much as it once was... my hair tends to be very thick & heavy so the more of it I have, the worse my headaches would be.

So, Sherrie, this pic's for you babe, hope it curbs your curiosity a little.

Bronchitis...

...high fever, runny nose, watery eyes, aches & pains etc.
Just look at my poor girl, you can tell she's miserable.
=*(
Last night she slept with me in my bed because I didn't want her away from me for even so much as a second! All night she curled up next to me with Bear clutched in her hands as I lay next to her listening to her labored breathing & tried not to cry.
I love her so much & when she's sick, it's hard when you know you've done everything you can, and still she's unhappy.
Why can't they invent a 'Momma Magic Wand' to make shit like this disappear?
And while they're at it, make one that covers MS & Cancer, could ya?

Two opinionated...

... perhaps, sometimes, most always during 'GETTING DRESSED' time!

I am a jeans & T-shirt/sweater type Momma. Comfort first, cuteness later.
My daughter, originally was starting out on this same path by default but something happened once 'TWO' hit, the girl found her voice & a bunch of fabulous words including but not limited to,
"NO!"

When dressing my little doodle bug now, don't even THINK about suggesting JEANS for 'pants' because you'll get the ever popular 'NO!" followed by the 'Italian evil eye' (which she nails every time frighteningly enough) and then if after suggesting the jeans, you don't have a 'fun pants' backup option, you'll get the 'swiper' move which is to throw her arm out at you & say in a very deep, growly type 'monster' voice "GO'WAY"!
Fun huh?

So, we are now at the FUN PANTS phase of parenting a toddler.
A short cute Asian who has one very big mind of her own & on that mind?
FUN PANTS!
What are fun pants you ask?


Anything cotton & stretchy & soft with a BRIGHT COLOR OR PATTERN TO THEM!
Those, my friends, are currently the bain of my existence...
...in adult world we call those 'period' pants or 'fat' pants... or perhaps for this upcoming week only, 'thanksgiving' pants.
But 'FUN PANTS'?
I dunno about that...

In my 20's when I was going bar hoppin' every weekend with the girls to toss back half a dozen red deaths or more, I'd wear snug fitting jeans & would only deem them 'fun' if I ended up with a date by the end of the night.
(use your imagination... my mother reads the blog.)

Thus, now, jeans are just jeans (mid 30's & no more drinking has resorted to my 'fun night's being the ones I spend giggling with Ruby to the point where my sides hurt. =)
So honestly, any outfit I'm wearing becomes fun.

But my child?
WILL! HAVE! NO! PART! IN! JEANS! PERIOD!

So sad too, since I bought the most adorable pairs in China in several different sizes to last me the first few years home.
*what did you expect, china shit was CHEAP!*

So, perhaps a jean online' yard sale'? LOL
I dunno, all I know is that if my kid is this opinionated now at TWO, I'm so in trouble come teenage years.

As long as she doesn't start asking for THESE pants, I'll manage...



Man, if I had a tub... I'D HAVE CALGON TAKE MY ASS AWAY!
(if only for an hour...)
*sigh*

Even an old nanny can learn new tricks...

...seriously, in over 16 years you'd have thought I've seen everything & anything 'kid', but not so much!
During a recent visit from our dear friends Karen & Gwen, we were introduced to these WONDERFUL CRAYONS!



I have many Melissa & Doug items in my home for Ruby Cate but had never EVER seen these fantastic OUT OF THIS WORLD' must be made of plastic cuz they NEVER BREAK, PHENOMENAL CRAYONS! Trust me when I tell you that they are a MUST HAVE! Not only are they solid (kid proof) but they're TRIANGULAR in shape, thus NEVER ROLLING ANYWHERE OR FALLING PERIOD!
And let's face it, some of us have kids that enjoy purposefully CHUCKING THINGS just to see how hard & how far they can make them go, BRING IT ON TODDLERS cuz these little colorful chunks of JOY ARE HERE TO STAY! I'm telling you, I even think I stepped on them a few times & STILL NOT ONE BROKEN ONE!
(no fat jokes)
BUT SERIOUSLY, if you haven't already,
invest in these wonderful crayons for your little one, you'll be glad you did!

Storytime...

A black & white version of the truth...

The kindness of a stranger...

(The following is a true story relayed to me from a very dear friend...)



I was standing in line at the K-Mart to purchase some play-doh for my child,
a mere 7 dollars, nothing big.
Two people in front of me, a mother & a daughter, also in line, waiting to purchase a Dora shirt, clearly for the little girl. The mother thinking that the shirt was on sale.
It was not.
They reach the cashier, the shirt gets rung up & the mother realizes she does not have enough cash with her. She says to the cashier "This is so embarrassing, I'm sorry but I don't have enough... "
She then says to her daughter, "I'm sorry sweetie, but mommy doesn't have enough for your shirt, we're going to have to leave it here & go home."

I noticed the tears start to well up in the little girls eyes as she reluctantly took her mother's hand & with her head hanging slightly lower than before, quietly left the store for home.

I threw my plastic at the cashier & said in a hurry "RING THAT SHIRT UP PLEASE! Keep my card, I'll BE RIGHT BACK!"
Leaving the play-doh on the counter & my credit card in the hands of a perfect stranger, I hurried outside with the shirt in hand to catch up to that mother & daughter.
I looked feverishly for them afraid that I was too late...

...and there they were, getting into their car.

I ran up to them, smiled at the mother & handed her the shirt & said, simply:

"Merry Christmas."

The mother's eyes filled with tears & the daughters face lit up brighter than any Christmas tree I've ever seen.

The mother proceeded to say to her daughter, "Sweetie give the nice lady a hug & say thank
you..."
To which I replied, "oh it's ok, I'm not feeling all that well & I wouldn't want to get her sick, just the smile on her face is thanks enough for me."

And, feeling better than I have in a very long time, I went back into K-Mart to pay for my play-doh.

I can only hope that if I were that mother, that a stranger would do the same for my child.
Wouldn't the world be a much better place if they did?

Merry Christmas everyone!

One year ago, right now...

...my "forever" began.

I simply can't believe...

... that one year ago tonight, was my last night home
before leaving for that long 30+ hour trip to China.

Pretty surreal if you ask me.

Amazing how fast a year can fly by when you're not crossing days off a calander.

Next anniversary is monday, our one year 'gotcha' moment...


...I could NOT be HAPPIER!

XoXoXoXo

I love you Ruby!

<3
Momma

Today's 'SMILE' brought to you by...

...children's motrin cold

You'd never in a million years guess that my child woke up this morning with a fever of 102
due to currently cutting her 2yr molars, would ya?
;)

Like teething never even happened...

BOOOOOOYA!

Bear Love...

Christmas Cards...

...ordered & DONE!

*grin*

Thanks to Auntie Karen for providing us with the CUTEST DRESS to have on in the photos!
(Ruby LOVES wearing it & I suspect won't be taking it off even at bedtime. LOL)

(And don't ask which one I picked for the cards, I'm not tellin!
Cuz then it won't be a surprise!)

Sometimes...

...you've just gotta break the rules.

(Ruby & I spent the entire night last night curled up in each others arms as she was having a rough 'night terror' night & I was having a rather rough MS night. We both just kinda needed each other & this morning at 7am, this was the beautiful sight I woke up to... isn't she precious? I love you Ruby, thank you baby for helping Momma have a wonderful night's sleep!)

Tuesday's w/Uncle Steve... * FINAL UPDATE *

... ok so recently I was asked by a good friend of mine if I would start posting my Tuesday night recipes back to the blog again for all to enjoy... and the answer is YES!

Ok so here's what's on tap for tomorrow night's dinner with my cousin, Ruby's Uncle Steve...

Italian Meatball & Portabello Mushroom Soup:

Ingredients: 2T butter
2T extra virgin olive oil
1 Large red bell pepper chopped
1 clove freshly minced garlic
1 large spanish onion chopped
3 pkg's large sliced portabello mushrooms, cut into chunks
( I like ALOT of mushrooms!)
16 frozen cooked italian style meatballs (usually in the frozen food section)
4 cups beef stock
2t italian seasoning
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup (or more like 3-4 ITALIAN HANDFULLS) dried egg noodles
Gravy Master (few shakes around pot) for added flavor & darker color (optional)

Directions: In large soup pot, go twice around with extra virgin olive oil & add butter.
Cook until slight sizzle.
Add garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms & saute' for several minutes.
Add meatballs, beef stock & italian seasoning & cook till comes to a boil.
(10 - 12 minutes)
add noodles & reduce heat & cook for 5 minutes till pasta is tender. Serve with freshly grated parm cheese (IMPORTED STUFF NOT THE CRAPPY SHAKER SHIT!) on top & some hot from the oven garlic bread & ENJOY!

Yes, that's what we're having tomorrow night for dinner & yes I'll take pictures of it once it's done. =)

Oh, and if you do the prep work for the chopping & dicing of the veggies the night before, it makes this meal A LOT EASIER to throw together last minute.

Ciao!

UPDATED PHOTOS:

Veggies sauteing in pot...

Beef stock added...


Time to add the meatballs...

Meatballs in pot...


Add italian seasoning, salt & freshly ground pepper...

Cover & simmer on medium to low heat until reaches a boil...

(still simmering here so no more pics as of yet but once boil has been achieved, I'll add my noodles & cook for an additional 10 minutes & then add the final pics then...)

so far, SO GOOD!
*grin*

*UPDATED AGAIN*


Ok, once boil has been achieved, it's time to add the egg noodles...


I honestly don't measure, this was about 4 handfulls of extra wide noodles...

Stir them in well, cover & let cook for an additional 10 minutes...

(mmm my house smells SO GOOD it's almost time to MANGIA!)

Oh yeah, you know you're JEALOUS...
*evilgrin*

Little miss Ruby Tuesday LOVES her dinner!
(Bear's gonna sit this one out apparently...)

It's official... dinner ROCKS!
(Ruby ate that WHOLE BOWL, but only under the stipulation that every individual bite HAD A NEW SPRINKLE OF CHEESE ON IT! Man, is my kid Italian or WHAT?!@$)

MANGIA TUTTI!

(And Uncle Steve, don't you worry, that entire POT IS STILL FULL so there's plenty for us for tomorrow night my friend, you WILL EAT!)
*wink*

Christmas PJ's...

...because the hat makes me giggle!