Job Description-Mom

I was thinking about a fact I heard on some morning show a long time ago about how much a mom would get paid if she were an employee working as mom. I want to say it was definitely in the 300K-350K range. I was focusing on this little factoid this morning mostly to keep my children from seeing pure rage. It really wasn't there fault but here are the quick details.

Tuesday

3:30pm- Hayden gets 3 shots at his 15 month check up.

Wednesday

6ish am- Hayden begins screaming in his crib

6:15 - I roll over and turn off the monitor because I'm exhausted and Hayden
still wakes up and screams in his crib almost every morning

7:00 - I have my morning coffee, Hayden is back to sleep, I guess

7:15 - Hayden is awake again so I go in to find him covered in liquid poop, it is
the worst thing I've seen as a mother to date

8:30 - Another bad diaper, nothing ruined, not as bad as the first

9:00 - Berklee and Hayden and I go outside and of course they want to get in
the plastic pool, so we are swimming at 9am

10ish - I take off wet clothes and diapers and we go inside. Berklee and I need a
potty break. This is where it gets good. I'm in the hall bathroom and
Berklee is using the half bathroom by the kitchen when I hear her start
repeating "Oh my dosh, oh my dosh, oh my dosh" over and over. It was
so very horrifying but cute at the same time.

Still 10ish- I reluctantly walk into the half bathroom to find a puddle of yellow
liquid poop. Hayden is playing in it so I automatically swipe him up
and carry the 30 pound kid in front of me all the way to bathtub.
Berklee is right behind me asking me "what he did mommy?" So I look
at her to tell her to stand back when I notice she has yellow poop all
over her face and in the hair all around her face. I'm thinking
what a wonderful day this is going to be!

10:15 - We are now happily in the bubble bath with all traces of poop gone
when Berklee says, "Mommy, look what he did again." Yes!
We have a bathtub full of yellow floaties. I will end by saying that this is when I
was telling myself that I'm worth closer to 400k and scolding myself
for ever letting Hayden be without a diaper!

One Day Vacation

Vacations have taken on a new look these days with a two year old and a one year old in tow. Anything over two hours in a car or plane is almost unthinkable. My husband is always trying to get me to go on some wild adventure. I can usually give him enough reasons why his ideas are really bad that he succumbs to playing in the plastic pool in the backyard on the weekends. I am not an adventurer- I play it very safe. (I took names as a child for the teacher when she had to leave the room to go to the restroom, although I just now thought about the fact that I never guessed that that is where she was going? hmmm, weird).

So I got a couple of wild hairs a few weekends ago and decided to go on a last minute trip to the Wichita Mountains in Lawton, Oklahoma. I didn't actually commit myself until I found out that the Torres family would be joining us. These are the dear friends who we stay up with until 3am every time we get together. They make us have so much fun that we always lose track of time. It really is a very cruel trick because our munchkins still get up at the crack of dawn without any respect to their sleep-deprived parents. Richard and Tina have a 13 year old daughter who probably brings them breakfast AND lunch the next day in bed!

Okay, so our trip to the Wichita Mountains. It only took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the refuge and then you can drive as far in as you want. There was so much to do and it was gorgeous! We hiked beautiful trails (until Tina and I saw a gigantic rattlesnake and I had a panic attack), fished gorgeous ponds and lakes, went to the top of Mt. Scott, visited the Holy City, saw real live buffalo (bison-whatever) and longhorns and prairie dogs, and ate at some famous burger place that I can't remember the name of right now. But we met Paul Smith's grandfather-in-law. Very nice man who sat next to us and joked around with my husband. (I am the only one at the table who knew who Paul Smith was by the way, so don't feel bad, I just happen to like college football).

Here are some pictures to prove to you that there is something beautiful and fun to do in Oklahoma!On top of Mt. Scott. Can you tell by Hayden's face that we are keeping him from dinner and a nap? He was a trooper though.

Lets just say that these two LOVED every minute of it!

Richard, Tina and Malana on top of Mt. Scott.

The holy city where I saw a raccoon the size of a large dog stealing food out of a trash can. You just can't see that in Bricktown.

Yes, that is a buffalo in the background. They are everywhere.

So it's late and the point of this blog is to tell you to satisfy the adventurer in your husband and take a trip to the mountains. Every one of us LOVED it!

My Favorite Cook Book

My favorite cook book, though not a health-conscience one per say, is the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Everything I have made from this book has been great! They aren't all simple and quick but I have found that it is always worth the extra time. When I got married 7 wonderful years ago I think Shawn was a little more than shocked at the fact that I wasn't lying when I said a grilled cheese was my specialty. I'm just now becoming semi-confident in the kitchen.

Anyhow, due to a lack of time in my life I decided it would be faster to scan the recipe instead of typing it out so I spent the last hour scanning my very very favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is Shawn's favorite as well. I think one of the tricks to this recipe is that I used a smaller oat. It is the Always Save (generic) Quick Oats brand from Crest I think. The smaller oats gave a little different texture that I liked but whatever oats you have will work the same. I like mine more chewy so I pulled them out at the minimum of 8 minutes and let them harden a bit as they cooled. Berklee loves sitting on the counter and pouring the ingredients into the mixer. She is getting very sneaky at putting some of those ingredients into her mouth. Did anyone else like raw flour as a child?

So after you bake these babies let me know if they aren't the best! And let me know if you can't print the recipe or don't have 20/20 Super Human vision and I will email it to you.