Will It Ever Be Finished?

The bathroom project we started three months ago is still in the works, but we are coming closer to having our bathroom back every week. I am so excited because all the new drywall is up and the floor is completely finished (thanks to a lot of help from brother and sister in-law and nephew and friends). We are hopefully going to finish the shower by next week and the drywall the weekend after. Hopefully by the end of February we will be able to paint and install fixtures. Yay! Wish us luck!

Hide and Seek

Peanut and Daddy were playing Hide-and-Seek this weekend; here are some of Peanut's best hiding places.

Questions

My little Peanut has learned to catch a ball tonight! I am so excited. Yes, I know it is only catching a ball, but he could not do that yesterday. He is, as I always say, growing every day. Crazy. He loves to dance, and his favorite new phrases are "What's going on?" and "I'm busy." Both of those are a little annoying, but cute nonetheless. He understands so much and loves to show it; I think it is so funny.

I have an issue, though. I think he may not be getting enough social interaction. When we used to have the baby group Peanut was able to play with other little guys at least once a week. Then it got a little overwhelming with work, life and managing a playgroup, so we stopped. Peanut still goes to the park a few times a week and plays with the kids there, but is that enough? I am glad that he stays with his grandparents while we are at work, but is he missing out on some vital interaction by not being in daycare?

Bottom line, I am thinking about restarting the playgroup. Maybe I can enlist other members to help out more than last time, or maybe I can just do a few things a week instead of several things. I just want to be able to keep up with everything. It is hard with all the projects we are working on, but I do not want Peanut missing out on anything. He seems well-adjusted, so far.

Parenting is rough. How do you know if you are doing it right? If you have a happy healthy baby? But what if you are leaving something out that will not show itself to be a mistake until later? I cannot help but think about some of the kids I work with; would they be in a different situation if one of their parents stayed home, or took them to playgroups, or... I don't know.

I just get worried sometimes that we should be doing something different with Peanut during the day. What do you think? Daycare or grandparents? Playgroups or a non-stressed mommy?

Checking In

Just checking in. Everything is great, just trying to make it through January. Not bad so far; I have been at training for the last week and then practicing all my cool new moves on Daddy and James. Peanut has been a little put out this week because I have been gone all week, but he is happy and healthy, so I am happy.
I managed to sell enough of my old toys on eBay to get an iPhone, so I am playing with my new toy tonight. Too cool; I love new toys and have been wanting one of these forever. Besides, I figure that once I am working graveyards next shift rotation I will need something to keep me busy.
Anyway, nothing interesting here. I'll keep you posted.

Casserols to the Rescue

Oh my goodness!!! This is my new favorite cookbook in the universe! I love making casseroles, but I sometimes run out of ideas or want to change the ingredients a little bit. I found this book while doing some after Christmas shopping (you gotta love a good sale).

I mean really, try this:

Chili Relleno Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef

1 bell pepper

1 onion, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon dried cilantro leaves

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 (4 ounce) cans whole green chilies

1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup half-and-half cream

1. In skillet, brown meat with bell pepper and onion. Add chopped green chilies, oregano, cilantro, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

2. Seed whole chilies and spread on bottom of greased 9x13 inch baking dish

3. Cover with meat mixture and sprinkle with cheese

4. Combine eggs and flour and beat with fork until fluffy.

5. Add half-and-half, mix and pour slowly over meat in casserole.

6. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Lots of the recipes are even less complicated than this and I cannot wait to try them out. I have a feeling we will be eating a lot of casseroles this year.

Student Driver

Uncle James is going to take his driving test tomorrow morning, so we have been out today getting some extra practice. He is not a bad driver yet (I think bad driving comes with experience), and he will probably do just fine tomorrow, but he could use some practice stopping and starting. One should not get whiplash stopping at stop signs. We are going to practice some more this evening and tomorrow morning, but I think he is good to go. He uses his turn signal and merges when there is room, maintains the speed limit, leaves room between himself and other cars, and realizes that a yellow light does not mean speed up.
I let him drive today with my Peanut in the car, so I must have some kind of trust in his ability. I hope I remember this experience fondly when it is Peanut's turn to learn to drive (in 18 years), because it really has not been as bad as lots of parents make it out to be. James is 19, and I think that makes a difference. I did not get to drive until I was 18, and I could not imagine driving at 16, anyway. I do not think many kids (if any) have the required maturity to control thousands of pounds of metal on the road with thousands of pounds of other people's metal. It is bad enough to have middle aged people on their phones, eating, applying makeup, reading, etc because they think they know how to control a car; to have a sixteen year old doing the same things and learning to control a vehicle on the road... The thought scares me to death. Driving is such a huge responsibility, but I think James is up for the challenge of keeping himself and others safe on the road. I guess we'll see; wish him luck :)

Rainy Day

Since my promotion and new schedule went into effect three weeks ago I have gotten to spend five out of seven mornings home with my Peanut. I love spending the morning at home; we do not get to sleep in because Peanut is a very early riser, but we do get to get up and have breakfast together and get dressed for the day and play toys leisurely and clean the house... it is wonderful. Then the afternoon comes along and Peanut goes to play with grams and gramps and I can get ready for work in peace. Lovely.

This morning we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, kicked a soccer ball around the house and tried unsuccessfully to make a fire in the wood stove with the tree that fell down in our backyard on Christmas Eve. (The tree is totally dead, but the wood is not all dried out yet, so our fire is lame and we are cold.) I will have to turn the heater on if this fire isn't blazing soon.

Anyway, it is all the more peaceful and lovely this morning because it is raining. I love the rain and my yard needs it, plus it makes the day more cozy and Peanut likes to snuggle. Cute.

What's not cute is that my Peanut has a cold and an icky, runny nose; not so bad, except he hates to have his nose wiped and therefore ickies are leaking out of his face at any given moment. Any suggestions?

Happy Birthday, Peanut!

Today my Peanut is two years old! Two years ago this happened. I am happy, of course. Yep, happy. Definitely not at all sad that my tiny baby is getting bigger and bigger and older and older. Really.
He had a great day, despite his mommy's mixed feelings. He woke up at 3am this morning to start the day. I think he instinctively knew something awesome was going to happen today; he was so full of energy we had to get up immediately and play. Not awesome for mommy and daddy, but fine. Then we cleaned the house, baked a cake (strawberry and chocolate) and everybody came over for the party. Peanut has a bit of a cold, so we did not invite little friends, just family who was not afraid of germs. The party was short and sweet, and now my child is running off his sugar high playing with his toys and wreaking havoc in general. I am going to try to give this kid a bath and coax him into his bed. Wish me luck.

Oh, Boy.

Starting the New Year

Peanut woke up at 4am ready to play; that means everyone gets up ready to play. Then Peanut took a nap at 11:00 and everyone else did chores. Nice. Happy New Year!