Mid Week Rambles

Whoa! I fell off my blogging wagon. I would be lying if I said we have been doing something cool, but we've just been hanging out and trying to get back into the "school" routine.

Haven is really liking his "school." Chris said that all the little kids greet him in the morning. He has also become a more adventurous eater. Eating things like crasins and chicken. But the biggest change I've noticed in the last two weeks or so is that he cares about what he wears. He has favorite shirts to wear during the day and favorite shirts to sleep in.

However... he is still coming in our room in the middle of the night, but I'm secretly loving it. I don't know what we are going to do in 3 1/2 months... Get Chris his own room?

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I'm co-hosting a baby shower next month! It will be a pumpkin themed shower. I've been all over Pinterest looking for inspiration. If you see anything fun, throw a link in the comments. I am in charge of invites (ordered these) and table decor.

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Chris' birthday is Saturday. I plan on making him a big carrot cake and letting him have a day off without chores. :) Last weekend, we deep cleaned the kitchen- all of the appliances inside and out, scrubbed down the chairs, re-painted them, washed the cabinets with soap and water, and took a load to Goodwill.

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Speaking of my love... he has been writing this comic book for ... forever. And he just started a blog about the process of writing this comic book. Anyway, some big comic book guy emailed him back and he was ELATED... He told me it would be like Pioneer Woman emailing me. Made me laugh. And speaking of PW... I loved her new show!

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That's all I have for now. I'm 25 weeks pregnant today... and checked out mentally. Find me in LaLa Land until December.

Back to School

The deafening silence of my absence from this blog will now come to an end!

School has started, which means I started subbing again. The basic day of a sub:

1. Show up to a school and scramble to find the classroom I should be in while kids and adults alike look at me like I am stranger danger.

2. Look around the classroom for plans the teacher should have left, then run from class to class asking if another teacher knows what I should do.

3. Find the plans right before the kids come in. When they enter the room they always looked confused. “Are you the sub?” “No, I’m your teacher wearing a Mr. Stanfield mask.”….the joke is usually lost in their confusion. Also, "No, I'm not an underwater boat." works too.

4. When I tell them I am the sub, they cheer. I guess sub still translates into automatic party day.

5. Take attendance and mispronounce every kid’s name. “Oh, your name is Lilkdflsjddflj7? My apologies. I should have gotten that on the first try.”

6. Watch the students do work. When they ask a question they call me Mr. Seinfeld, Mr. Springfield, or Mr. Sub Dude…even though my name is written on the board.

7. The day is over, I run past the kids to my car.

Olive Stanfield- 24 Weeks

We've reached the 6 month mark... and man, oh man, I feel it.





{Sorry... this was a 5:30am picture before work!}

At my appointment last week, I was able to have another ultrasound. They had to get a picture of the four heart chambers. Everything looked great and she is measuring in the 50th percentile. :)

However, he noticed that I am retaining a lot of water, which since I don't drink any soda or juice, must be from what I'm eating. For the past week, I've been eating "cleaner" and feeling less bloated. Or as less bloated as you could possibly feel for being 6 months pregnant.

How Far Along: 6 months!!

Total Weight Gain: *clearing throat* 11 lbs {all in my face!!}... But remember, this is because I was retaining water... It has nothing to do with the banana splits and brownie earthquakes that I was having every night. I'm back on the healthy wagon now- kind of.

Maternity Clothes: I have about 5 outfits on heavy rotation, but I'm ready for Fall. I'll grab some cute sweaters when it cools down.

Best Moment of the Week: Chris got her crib together! I re-arranged the room, ordered some fun stuff on Etsy, and did some organizing.

Gender: Olive-Noel... I'm trying to decide if I like it better hypenated or just on it's own... I have nothing else to worry about, right?

Food Cravings: Well, since I'm on the healthy wagon, I want everything I can't have, but I haven't given into temptation yet (except for a little pizza for lunch on Monday).

What I'm Looking Forward to: December. Christmas. A little baby girl. MATERNITY LEAVE!! :)

First Day of "School"

Yesterday was Haven's first day of "school" {aka daycare!}. Up until this point, he has primarily been at home with my sister {who decided to move to be with her husband and live her own life without being under my reign-- who does she think she is??).


{after his chocolate donuts}

Last semester, if Chris got a sub job, he would take Haven to a Lutheran church. At this church, the different classes would take turns going outside to play. Well, Haven loves playing outside... loves it so much that the different teachers would come by his room and take him out with their class. :) So basically, the only daycare experience he has is playing outside all day.

Now, let me mention how much I loathe daycares. There isn't one good enough in my opinion... So much so, that I will pay the overpriced, non-refundable, "application fee" or "waiting list" charge and then will decide that we can find something better.

Is it just me or do most daycare kids often look drowsy? They are always sick, with a crusty face, and heavy eyes. I'm just being honest. I also feel like daycare is a lot different now than it was when we were kids. Thankfully, I can't tell you from personal experience, because my mom always stayed at home with me. :) Actually with three kids... all three years apart... No wonder she is crazy.

So back to my story. I love his little school... and now that he is 2 1/2, I just couldn't take him to the church anymore to play outside. But since I have student loan debt up to my eyeballs, I can't take stay home with him either. Wah-wah.

The daycare is clean, it's structured, they give me pictures everyday of what he learned, they sing songs, do yoga, learn Spanish, ect. I wish I was going there instead of going to work.

So this is good for him, right? No mommy-guilt. We all have to do what we gotta do.

Apple Streusel Bars

I made these last night... and they were delicious! It's my friend Ruth's birthday today, so I put some on a plate for her to gobble down. {Happy Birthday, Ruthie!}

This recipe is adapted from Our Best Bites-- one of my favorites!

Pastry:
2c of flour
1/2c of sugar
1/2tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbs)-- {Kate used two sticks, though}
1 egg, beaten

Apple Filling:
1/2c of sugar
1/4c of flour
1tsp of cinnamon-- {I used one tablespoon of cinnamon/sugar mix}
4 apples, peeled and sliced-- {I used Gala because that's what I had on hand}

Glaze:
2c of powdered sugar
3tbs of milk
1tsp of vanilla extract-- {She used almond, but I just used what I had}

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

For the pastry... Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. With a pastry knife, cut in the butter until it's crumbled. Add in the beaten egg and stir lightly into mixture.




Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam and pat in 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan until it looks like this:



In another bowl, to make the apple filling, mix the flour, cinnamon, and sugar. Toss the dry mixture into the apples.



Spread out the apples onto the pastry crust and then sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture over them. Bake for 40 minutes.



When the bars are done baking, slip the pan into the fridge to let it completely cool. In the meantime, you can make the glaze.

I just added the milk and vanilla to the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. You can throw the glaze into a ziplock baggy or pastry bag for an even drizzle. If you don't want to mess with all of that, just start spooning it on top of the cooled pastry.

Kate's glaze is white, while mine is a brownish color because I used vanilla.



I was able to get 12 bars out of one batch. So yummy! :)

Thursday Ramblings

I got to see little Olive on Tuesday. During my last ultrasound, they couldn't get a good picture of the heart chambers, so I was able to sneak another peak at her. It's hard to tell from this picture, but she has the same round face and chubby cheeks as Haven. When I showed the picture to Chris, he said she looked like me. This was after I made a comment about her face and cheeks. No bueno, Chris, no bueno.


Glave starts "school" on Monday... Chris took him yesterday to see his classroom. Haven is only 2 1/2, but he isn't dumb. He knew this was daycare... and he was not happy. Thank goodness Chris is dropping him off. The one day I did try to drop him off, we both ended up going home together. Mama is the push over.

We finger painted last week. When I was cleaning up, he finger painted our fridge.

Last weekend, we went to see Taylor Swift. I was standing through the first few songs, but we were 3 rows from the top, and big girl was just way too hot. We all loved the show!

{See Olive at her first concert!}

{Chris, me, and my sister Noel}

Tomorrow night, we are going to the Blink 182 show. We haven't been to good concerts in forever, so this past week has been a treat. It's supposed to be humid and rainy... but bring it on!

Happy weekend!!

Co-ed Nursery Inspiration

After my uh-oh last week, I got Olive's crib ordered yesterday. Since her and Haven will be sharing a room for a few months (he has a playroom downstairs, so no mommy-guilt), I wanted to get her the same style/brand/color crib to match his bedroom set. I try not to be all matchy-matchy, but always fail.

We are sticking with bright colors and an ABC theme. Here are a few pieces of inspiration, courtesy of Pinterest {which I still am trying to get into}.

ABC wall via Pinterest

Their bedroom is bigger than this room, but I like it because it has the same purpose that I am going for-- trying to give each of them a little space.


Co-ed room inspiration via Pinterest

I want to get these framed for the larger wall. They are just so happy and bright.

TypePosters via Etsy

And I love these tissue poms... I want to do some bright colors over her bed.

Via Etsy

And of course...flag bunting {and large initials}! Their room has two large windows next to each other, so this would be perfect symmetrically. I will probably spend a lot of time/money buying bright fabric... only to accept that I am no craft-queen and find someone on Etsy to do it for me.


Via Pinterest

We are down to fours months until Olive-Noel is here.... :) Time to get busy!!

Make Your Husband Happy Pie

After my accidental purchase of three cribs last week... and misconception that someone had jeopardized our bank account... and then making my husband handle the issue AND go to the DMV, I owe him this pie.

This was the first pie I ever learned to make. I usually make it with Pioneer Woman's pie crust, but I was out of shortening... And you know what? Your guy won't notice the difference.



What you'll need:

A pre-made pie crust- thawed
A tub of Cool Whip
1 cup of powdered sugar
3 cups of cold milk
1 large box of chocolate pudding
3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter

First, put your crust in a pie pan and bake at 375 until golden. Afterwards, set pie pan in the freezer to chill.

Next, dump the peanut butter and powdered sugar in a small bowl. With a pastry cutter, work the mixture until crumbly.

In the meantime, in another bowl, mix the instant pudding with the cold milk. Set in fridge to chill and thicken.

After the pie crust has chilled, add most of the peanut butter/powdered sugar mixture to the bottom of the crust. Save a little bit for the top of the pie.

Over the peanut butter/powdered sugar mixture, add your cold pudding.


Finally, spread the tub of cool whip over the pudding pie and garnish with the rest of your peanut butter/powdered sugar reserve.

Expect to be taken off of your husbands poop list pronto.

Chauncey’s Chompers

Recently I took Chauncy to Petsmart for a rabies shot and check up. It was a normal visit. Every single person had to come up to me and ask me what the dog’s name was, then tell me a 10 minute story about how they had a wiener dog when they were a kid.

I’m the kind of person who hates to be approached by strangers so I just nod until they go away. “Oh, you had a wiener dog that got hit by a car because you didn’t watch him? Well you seem like an awful human.”

I'm going to get Chauncey a shirt that says, "Don't even think about talking to my owner."

Also, while I was waiting in line, a huge German Sheppard laid a huge turd in front of me and no one picked it up. It was roughly the size of Chauncey, so I picked him up with the disgust of a Frenchman and tried to give people stink eye. (pun intended) When I was close to the counter I noted that the turd had actually butted in line and it was really my turn.



Chauncey was all good except for his teeth. Apparently dachshunds (along with poodles and cocker spaniels) commonly get tooth decay, which can lead to their teeth rotting out and cancer of the jaw. I know I was shocked too.

So on Wednesday Chauncey has an appointment to have his teeth cleaned. But it’s serious. He has to be sedated like surgery and can’t have anything to eat the morning before.



I’m hoping that all goes well and that Petsmart will have that turd picked up by the time we go back in.

Monday Randoms

1. Chris is making a pot roast today. We might be the youngest people who eat dinner daily at 4:30pm and enjoy warm dinners in the month of August.

2. His reward for making me the cooked carrots that I've been craving is a trip to the DMV tonight to transfer my old plates to my new car. He has the patience of a saint... and well, I do not.

3. Haven has been sleeping in our bed since we've moved. It usually involves him falling asleep in our bed and then Chris moving him. But now, every night, when he wakes up to go to the bathroom, he crawls back into bed with us.

4. In four months, I am going to be the mother of two children. I'm still not mentally prepared.

5. I have four months to get my two year old sleeping in his own bed.

6. We just got him potty trained, so I am picking my battles.

7. We deep cleaned the house this weekend; this involved wiping down all of the base boards. Chris had never heard of wiping down base boards before... Which got me thinking... Growing up, he probably didn't have to wash the walls with ammonia and rubbing alcohol either. Why did my mom making me so cleaning crazy? Why do I enjoy cleaning so much?

8. I found a crib online last week that matches Haven's toddler bed and furniture. I go to purchase it through the Babies R Us website and click submit. Then it told me that my address didn't exist. It gave me a drop down menu of cities for me to choose from, so I found mine and clicked "submit" again. Then it flagged the screen and said that the address entered did not match the address on the card. So I close everything out and just process the order through PayPal and click submit. AGAIN, the addresses are not matching up... So, I go into our online banking to see what address information they have (PO box or our physical address), only to notice that we are missing money out of our account.

9. I didn't have the patience for this either, so I call Chris. I tell him that we are missing this much money and will he call the bank and figure it out.

10. He calls me back and says that our card had been jeopardized. Supposedly, someone bought three cribs this morning from the Toys R Us website.

11. Oh yeah, that was me. And no, I didn't think about telling you about furniture purchases. And no, I didn't think clicking the submit button three times was really doing anything. Myyyy baddd.

Hotel Job

As I am currently looking for a permanent teaching job, I have been thinking about the old jobs I had in the past.

In my younger and more vulnerable years (Gatsby) I worked at the front desk at a little crummy hotel, and I loved it. No one ever came, it was only me working, and there was a TV in the lobby.

My main responsibilities included; making/eating the continental breakfast (that powder gravy can be tricky), telling drunk people that were having parties to quite down (they always offered me bribes to go away…some good bribes), and telling drunk people that they cannot run across the tarp on the empty pool (I once had a man throw his bowling ball in because he thought it would bounce). I found that a hotel was like a bar that people sleep at and I was the bar tender/bouncer.

However, most of the people that stayed their liked me because there was a free popcorn machine in the lobby. A drunk guy finding free popcorn is like a dog finding balled up womens’ underwear…they love it! So, when they would stumble into the lobby at 3am I would direct them to the popcorn but, they couldn’t believe the good fortune. They would try to sneak some or give me the not like, “I’m stealing this popcorn but, we’re cool, right?” I’d give a wink saying, “I’ve got your back.”

I only worked there for a few weeks but I found out a few things:

1. Canadians are the rudest of all foreigners…ha, I was surprised too.

2. Even the most professional people act like children when they drink at the company Christmas party.

3. I could do any job, as long as there is a TV in the room.

Gluten-Free Challenge: Epic Fail

The original plan was to do this for a month, but being pregnant and a real foodie, I decided two weeks was long enough to suffer. Besides, it was just going to come down to how Chris was feeling after meals.

Thursday night wasn't bad.

Friday morning, I made Chris some eggs with a gluten-free bagel. I also make a bagel for myself. It tasted like hamster food- being polite. Ok, no big deal, I didn't expect the bagels to taste like Bread Co. anyway.



Friday for lunch, I made gluten-free Mac n cheese. Haven and I love Mac n cheese, so I thought this would be an easy option. That was until I was picking up the counter and noticed Haven got off of his chair and hand his little bowl to our dog. I said, "Haven, you don't want Mac n cheese?" My two year responds in what sounds like a little British voice and says, "No, no." So I try the Mac n cheese. It wasn't bad- just brown rice pasta- a little chewy, but edible. Chris came home and had a bite... and then opted for celery with natural peanut butter.

For dinner on Friday night, I made gluten-free fajitas. Sounds exotic, huh? These were actually really, really good. I sautéed some bell peppers with some gluten-free brown rice, black beans, and roasted corn. Chris grilled himself some chicken and we layered the fajitas on a gluten-free tortilla.



Saturday, it all started again. This time, I decided not to make Haven suffer, too, so I gave him his chocolate Lucky Charms. He saw Chris put a slice of cheese on his eggs and immediately started chanting "Cheese!" while pointing to his mouth. Haven would eat cheese slices all day... but I didn't have any more Kraft slices; I only had the organic ones. Chris unwrapped a slice for him and Haven looked at it like this isn't what I think it is... And then started saying, "Yuck, yuck..." And gave it to our dog.

This is how my child was acting.

We busted out the fajita leftovers for lunch. Not bad. But at this point, I want everything I can't have. And the day felt really slow, in a bad way, as if all I had to look forward to was another bland meal.

We head to the mall and do a lap. When we're on our way out, Chris is complaining that he still has a stomach ache. Even though, he hadn't had any gluten in three days, he was still feeling sick after meals.

I was upset and relived. Upset that I have been eating like a cave man for three days for no reason, but relieved that we figured gluten was not the problem.

When we got home, we ordered Papa John's.

Chris came walking in with a pizza box and you would have thought that the clouds in the sky parted... and the angels came down with trumpets playing. We all sat down and inhaled our pizza. Haven did happy dances in between every bite.

I feel normal again.