First Super Mom! Ashley!

I'm so excited for our first Super Mom, my pal Ashley. My hope with this weekly feature is that we can all join together and support one another. I think we are comparing ourselves to other moms and in our minds they have it all together. Now once a week you can come here and see that most moms don't have it all together. We can also give each other tips on how to get it all done. So cheers to the Super Mom!  
Super Mom Questions  

Introduce yourself. How many kids do you have? What are their ages? Are you a stay at home mom or working mom? Anything else we should know?

 HI Meg's readers!  I am Ashley. I have been married to my Kiwi husband for 5.5 years. (that means he is from New Zealand).  We have one spunky daughter, Anika, and she is 19 months old.  She has been an easy child from the start...symptomless pregnancy, pretty easy natural birth and a happy baby. Before you hate me, I gained a RIDICULOUS amount of weight and it took me a ton of hard work and a year to get it off and Im still over weight.   I only wanted one child, but after her, I'm willing to do it all again (My husband really wants another!)  I work outside of the home in an office 40 hours a week. I don't look it, but I exercise 5 times a week- its my mental medicine.  We live in New Hampshire- pretty rural.

1. Do you follow a cleaning schedule? We want to know how often you mop the floors, clean appliances, windows, etc. 
I do not. The only thing I do daily is dishes and laundry. I will not go to bed if there is laundry to be folded and put away.  We cloth diaper so I wash diapers every other day and then I line  dry them (inside when its cold or rainy).  I have never bought a disposable diaper. We are pretty frugal.  The rest of the house, I just clean as I see things that need to be done or when I have time. Every night after my daughter goes to bed, I do SOME kind of cleaning- vacuuming, bathrooms, etc. I get distracted easily so Its usually just a little bit of this or that. My husband and I share most responsibilities. I do a lot more house chores though, because I NEED a clean house.  He works away during the week so he helps out a lot on weekends when he is around.  The cleanest room in the house is always Anika's. I have her pick up her room every night before she goes to bed. I LOVED that room after we made it a nursery,  while I waited for her arrival -it was so clean and peaceful, so I try to keep it that way, even when other rooms are messy.  I have Anika help me with chores. She helps put her clean laundry away and she puts her dirty clothes in the hamper. She helps hang her wet diapers on the drying rack if she is awake when I do it.

2. When do you do the following chores and where are your kids and what are they doing?:

a. Dishes- whenever we have dishes... Anika is usually in the kitchen with me/us.

b. Vacuum- usually after she goes to bed or on weekends when she is out playing with dad.

c. Dust and clean appliances (what products do you use?)  Eh, I hate dusting. I use a Swiffer duster when I actually do it. I use a water and vinegar mixture I made  for windows and mirrors. We have hard water so we get blue spots on the sinks- vinegar cleans that right up too.  I make an all purpose spray I use on counters. I have a little stainless steel wipe I use on the fridge.

d. Grocery store- I go grocery shopping every weekend. The store is 25 minutes away from where we live.  I ALWAYS bring Anika with me, even when Dad wants her to stay home. Due to the fact I am away from her all week, I like to do everything with her when I am not working. I still really enjoy taking her shopping with me. She is still my little buddy. As the tantrums start, I fear this will end, but I'm staying optimistic!

e. Other errands- Same as above- I love to do errands with her. I usually plop her in my sling when I'm in and out of the car and running into a lot of stores. We cant walk to stores around here.

f. Exercise- Monday and Friday mornings I do spin. Wednesday Mornings I walk/run on treadmill. Tuesday night I do Tabata and Thursday night I do a Tabata/Bootcamp class. (The truth is- I often skip Thursday nights :))  We are generally active on weekends just being outside.

g. Blog- Ugh, Not much anymore. I blog at night after Anika goes to bed, after my cleaning.  I started answering these questions Wednesday night this week and its now Sunday and Anika is out playing with dad as I finish these!

h. Relax- After Anika goes to bed...on week days I work on projects or watch TV on line. ON weekends, hang out with my hubby after she goes to bed.  We do go out to eat at least once a weekend (with Anika). ON weekends, my husband takes Anika to do things outside. This morning they took an hour long walk while I was sleeping. One day of the weekend, he sleeps in and I get up with Anika. The other day of the weekend, he gets up. He slept in yesterday and I took her out grocery shopping and errands. This morning, I slept in and he took her outside and for a walk.

3. Is your house always visitor ready? If someone rang the doorbell right now and wanted to take a tour of your house would there be any rooms you were embarrassed about? Take a picture and show us! Good or bad we want to see!
Right now- yes. Except my bed isnt made! I wish I made my bed daily. I am  trying to get in the habit. I want to set a good example for my daughter. I always had to make my bed growing up. My husband used to make his bed as soon as he got out of it...until he married me. ha.

4. Are you always visitor ready? If someone rang the doorbell right now is your hair perfectly styled, make up and pin worthy outfit on? Take a picture and show us! Good or bad we want to see!

UM, NO.  I barely get myself together for work. 

5. What time do you wake up? What time do your kids wake up? What time do you go to bed? I don’t want to know what time your kids go to bed because it takes me forever to get mine to go to sleep by 8:30!

My daughter wakes up around 5 AM every morning. She comes to bed with me (or us when My husband is home) and she nurses and I can get her back to sleep until 6:00 ish.  Even if I don't nurse her at 5 when she wakes up, she is still up (Ive tried), so I figure if I can at least keep her in bed with me while I half sleep, that's nice.  We get up at 6/6:30 on work days. ON weekends, my husband and I take turns as I said above.  I go to bed around 11. Should be 10.  I wont say what time she goes to bed, but I get a couple hours between her going to bed and me :)

6. When do you blog? When I can! I wish more!

7. When do you shower? I shower at the gym on mornings I go to gym, but only body showers. I wash my hair twice a week at home.  I shower most nights because that is how I bathe Anika. I shower myself, then turn down the heat of the water and bring her in. She likes practically COLD water! So lame. ha.  Our bathroom is RIGHT next to her bedroom so she plays in her room and then I call her in when I'M ready for her. Our upstairs is safe for her to be left alone while I shower. 
Sometimes we take baths. The last time I put her in the tub and I got in with her, the water went from her waist to her chest and she yelled "WHOA Mummy" and the look on her face basically said "Lay off the wine fat ass" 
Oh and a few weekends ago, I was putting on jeans and she kept saying "Mummy, TIGHT. Mummy, Pants, tight"   I kind of snapped at her and said "Yes, I know they are tight, the dryer shrunk them!" lol.

Nothing like a toddler to tell me I'm fat.

8. How often do you do laundry? Do you always fold and put away right away? - I don't always fold as soon as the dryer stops- but once I actually take it out of the dryer I really try to put it right away. Before I had Anika, I used her room as a walk in closet, haha. I let clothes pile up for A MONTH! It would take me forever to put them all away. I don't want those kind of piles in our room. Also,  Our washer and dryer are upstairs in the hall closet outside our bedrooms. That is why its easy to put clothes away right away. The house came with them there and I hated it! I wanted them in the basement. Now that we have Anika, I cant imagine not having them on our bedroom level.

9. How often do you make dinner? Do you eat together as a family?- When my husband is home, we ALWAYS eat dinner as a family. We have since she was 9 ish weeks old.  She used to sit on bumbo on our table with us (WE WERE RIGHT THERE- she wasn't going to fall- always an arm reach away).   On week nights, I make VERY simple dinners for Anika and I. Sometimes we eat at the table but shhh (Dont tell my husband) I often let her eat on the couch with me when its just her and me :)  When my husband is home, we usually make dinner together and of course we all eat together.  I grew up eating dinner as a family and I think it was really important. I do not make elaborate meals- I keep things simple. My most common dinner is Wild Salmon- Just baked with a few herbs. Fresh steamed veggies and rice or quinoa.  My husband will  make a cheese sauce often for the veggies because he is skinny and he can :)  I get organic veggies from a farm every week, so we eat A TON of veggies. I also juice a lot of veggies.  I make salads to bring to work almost daily.  I also pack Anika's lunches everyday. I also make a LOT of crock pot soups from my garden veggies. I have no issues eating the same thing several days in a row.

10. How often do you have fun with your kids? Park, out of the home activity, in the home activity?
How often do we have fun? Daily, I guess.  I only get a little time with her on week days, so I TRY To make the best of it. She helps me make dinner. I cut and I have her put the chopped stuff fin the crock pot or bowl.  I let her mix ingredients.  She makes a mess, but I TRY very hard to let that go in the moment. I've come a long way with my patience :)  We always do something on weekends- I get cabin fever and must get out of the house daily.  Apple picking, library, social gatherings, park, local town activities, etc.

I think I am finally done!!  I have known Meg since before we were pregnant. Her and Chase hold a very special place in my heart.  He is such a cutie and I love his smile. 
I also want to add that we live 25 minutes from my parents. My mom helps out A LOT! IF I cant get out of work to get Anika to an apt. she will take her. If I have to get into work early, my mom will take her early.   My mom really is the reason I can get all this done while my husband is away for work so much.  

Thanks so much for doing this Ashley! I think you have inspired me to get off my butt and clean and exercise more! You really are a Super Mom! When they gorgeous girl is a hormonal teenager you can always ask me to remind you of that!

If you would like to participate in Super Mom Thursdays email me or leave a comment!

Blank Canvas

I have blank canvas that I'm itching to paint. I think I'm going to paint something for the nursery. I can't decide if I should make it as a permanent nursery painting or as a painting for Chase.

I love this quote and was thinking of doing this for the permanent nursery painting. I'm struggling with what colors to do. The nursery is blue, brown and beige right now. If we have another boy it will be green, brown, and beige. If we have a girl it will be pink, brown and beige. I don't want to put pink on a painting in case we never have a girl. Brown and beige might be boring. Thoughts?

This is a line from the song that reminds me of my pregnancy with Chase. The title is Stuck Like Glue which I have also seen painted on wood in a store and wanted.

Pin-tastic Monday! tortilla soup

Linking up with AP again today for Hey, That's Pin-tastic!

This week I made a pinterest recipe for tortilla soup.

It was pretty good! Hubby LOVED it! He even said it could be added to the meal rotation! That's huge! So yeah! Win for pinterest!

It is a slow cooker recipe which I love! I cooked it on high for 4 hours and it turned out great. Just make sure you plan enough time for chopping. Like 30 mins or so.

  I used two thawed chicken breasts. I don't think I used 5 cups of chicken stock. We bought a mild green pepper not a bell pepper.

We used Santa Fe seasonsed tortilla strips. So yummy!! Let me know if you try it!

Super Mom!

Awhile ago I talked about doing a super mom link up and I’ve decided to do a weekly super mom blogger feature instead. All I would need from you is to answer 10 questions that I have come up with about being a super mom. Once you email me the answers back I will get back to you about when your post will be up. Leave me a comment or email me and let me know if you would like to join in the fun!

Sorry kiddo, can't pick your parents

There are a few things I want to talk about and I think this picture is a good place to start.

#1 the be a better housekeeper thing? Yeah, not going so well!

#2 This is a picture Hubby took of me trying to write my name and move my leg in a circle. We were cracking up trying to do this on Saturday night and I wanted to instagram a picture and Hubby was all don't take a picture of me, so I said fine take a picture of me then. He clearly doesn't know the rules of don't show the million toys on the floor in the background!

You know those nights when you and your husband can be silly together and laugh until your face hurts? It has been a few days and I'm still smiling on the inside from it. I can't help but think, "gosh, how long has it been since we've laughed like that?!"

Where I'm going with all of this is that I think maybe possibly after 18 months since our world got flipped upside down (Chase's birth) we are back to a good place. If you are a mom then you know how truthful the statement "our world got flipped upside down" is. It is so crazy to me how you meet a guy in college and think he's cute and would be a great husband and father but there is ABSOLUTELY NO way to really know how he will be as a father. You don't even know what you will be like as a mother. As a planner, I don't like all the unknowns. You can't plan what the kid will be like either!

Luckily, I did pick an amazing man. He's been so patient while I've figured out this whole mom thing. Like many of you I wanted my relationship with my husband to be the most important thing. We did date nights about once a month but the crying and needy human being you just created wins 99.9 times out of 100 over your technically should be self sufficient husband.

I read in one of the million parenting books that when your husband gets home from work you two should spend some time on the couch cuddling together and tell the kids that it is mommy and daddy time. Well, let's be realistic now people. When my husband gets home from work I don't even get the first kiss! Because our adorable happy little boy runs squealing over to him. I on the other hand am still in my pajamas slaving away over dinner and exhausted from my day. Probably crabby and ready for bed. Every man's dream!

We have had to learn how to communicate like never before. Because when the kid is hungry and tired and you are hungry and tired and you are at a pumpkin patch with 1,000 other hungry and tired parents and kids and all they are serving is hot dogs and nachos which your toddler can't eat you have to try not to lose your cool, next year. We have been in a lot of situations like that and I always seem to be the one to lose it. Have I told you that we went to a wedding 90 minutes away without Chase and my mother-in-law watched him for the first time? That was huge people!

So if you are reading this and you are planning on giving your husband the silent treatment when he gets home for whatever happened this weekend, don't. Maybe you should try the writing your name and moving your leg thing. Seriously, so funny. This kind of relates to my last post. We've worked on our marriage with our kid around and hey, that is good for him too!

I love that he was there to see us laughing like that. I'm sure he thought we were absolutely nuts but he knows this already. Sorry kiddo, can't pick your parents.

Breast is best

It is 1:20pm on November 1st and I just read this article. I'll wait to post this since I just posted about planning Hubby's 30th.

The article's title is "Breast is Best? One Dad Says No to Breastfeeding". When I saw that title I just knew it was going to piss me off. No one should be saying no to breastfeeding! But I gave it a chance and read it. It starts out, "In an article published on Wednesday in The Atlantic, one dad makes his case against breastfeeding, saying that the "breast is best" mindset added insult to injury after his wife struggled to nurse their son." Ok, I get that. I know breastfeeding can be difficult. I know that it isn't for everyone. In fact, you don't even want to try it? I'm totally fine with that!

About here is where the article takes a bad turn, "They turned to formula, and almost immediately their lives changed for the better. That meant that I could get up on my own and feed Thomas while his mom went for six hours of sleep. The advantages extended beyond quality REM sleep. I got to bond with my son. I got to sing him songs and tell him stories. Those hours of father-child bonding were a good thing. I got to take him to my parents' house for the day—without worrying about having enough milk or keeping it cold—and give Betsy an afternoon to rest. Betsy and I got to go away for a long weekend—to be together, to work on our marriage, something that was not just good for us, but good for the baby, too."

I think it is so wrong to discourage breastfeeding! Plenty of husbands can feed their children while the mom sleeps. It is called a pump people. You didn't want to have to worry about keeping the milk cold? Oh I'm sorry! That's just lazy. You can keep breast milk at room temperature for 6-8 hours. There are plenty of storage options.

You got to go away for a long weekend. That's nice. So because I breastfed my baby and we didn't go on a long weekend our marriage is at a disadvantage to yours? Why don't we take the whole formula/breastfeeding discussion out of working on our marriage!

This yahoo article also talks about a different moron that says, "watching his wife breastfeed ruins his sexual appetite. Infidelity is a side-effect of extended breastfeeding, and the positive effects of extended breast-feeding should be considered in light of the negative effects on the marriage." Are you freaking kidding me?! Infidelity is a side-effect of extended breastfeeding?! A man that cheats has no one to blame but himself. No one said you had to watch your wife breastfeed.

The yahoo article writer suggests, "Some women may feel that, when it comes to breastfeeding, dads shouldn't have a say at all". I disagree. My husband encouraged me to breastfeed. Without his support I might have given up. When he wanted another child a year ago and we were told that might mean ending the breastfeeding before Chase's 1st birthday we decided together to continue with breastfeeding and he has continued to be supportive of the choices WE have made.

People get so upset about the whole breast is best campaign. I think most mothers are educated enough to know the positives and negatives of their options. One of the most important lessons you learn as a mom is to stand by your choices you make for your family. It sounds like this man's wife is a great mom. Sucks for her she has a lazy husband that needs to have weekends away from their child to have a good marriage.

Hubby's 30th birthday party planning!

I decided last night for Hubby because he can't make decisions like thist that we would have his 30th birthday party at our house instead of going some where.

And now the planning begins!

I love to plan a party! I'm trying to figure out the theme right now. The two I have seen on blogs that I like are a grumpy old men party or a Jimmy Buffet themed party. For the grumpy old men party everyone gets old people clothes at thrift stores and we could pick out something just ridiculous for Hubby to wear. Maybe some Depends? Then his friends would come over and make him put the outfit on and take him golfing and maybe brunch. Then bring him back to the old ladies and have a bbq or something.

A theme I came up with on my own is having a party theme based on the tv show The League. It is his favorite tv show besides the real housewives of New Jersey ;). But I'm not really sure what that would look like. I know some of you watch it. Any ideas?