Can I go back to being a kid??

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade....

Yeah - but lemonade needs sugar, water, a pitcher and to be stirred - it takes practice to make the perfect lemonade or its all tart or over watered!!! ugh...

Things have been round in the Haddad household. I know that God is watching over us and giving me nothing more then I can handle but sometimes I just want to scream. I'm sorry I havent been blogging... Its be a mess of things lately.

My youngest - Bear ;) He has started this twitching thing. He just twitches out of no where and sometimes throws up afterwards (during) and SCREAMS like he was electrocuted. I noticed it last week and we spent ALLLLL night Friday in the hospital. Just to get told "We dont know what it is... see your doctor Monday..." Okay. REALLY? First off I drove 45min away from my house which took almost 2 hours due to horrible traffic *saw 5 wrecks on the way*, and spent 4 hours waiting in a waiting room and having my son get stuck by a needle 4 times to draw 4ccs of blood just to get tested for dehydration, which resulted to a huge bruise on his arm b/c the phlebotomist on hand couldn't do his job the first time. I had to hold my poor Bear down while he SCREAMED and tears streamed down his cheeks - ALLLLLL for you to tell me to see my doctor on Monday?!?! Did I read your name tag right, or is that NOT a Dr. infront of your name!? Not to mention - I just spent LOADS of money to be in an over priced CHILDRENS Emergency Room for you to tell me that apparently I'm in the wrong place. Do you know how hard it is to entertain an 11mo old in a room the size of our CLOSET for 4 hours with NO toys, NO food, and the TV's all programmed to the Rangers Game because somehow we made it to the World Series!?? OHHH... And my 6yr old who spent the night in the Cafeteria with my in-laws! I was so irritated, upset, and EXHAUSTED by the time that we left I almost vowed to never go there again.

So... NOW after our appt on Monday, we have a MRI scheduled this Friday (which he has to FAST for) and an EEG on Nov. 8th to be checked for seizures. Then we go from there... And that was the soonest we could get into anywhere. :(

I'm still upset, although Bear has been better. He's fine, I know he is. I'm praying every minute. But I wanted SOMETHING done... SOME test! Not just an "I'm Sorry, wait till its worse" face. ughh...

Onto Better NEWS! Bear's FIRST Birthday is Nov. 10th! I'm sooooo overly excited. I just can't wait! :) I'm going to do the theme in Moose and Zee. :) I LOVEEE IT!

My oldest, Bray, is in Boy Scouts and he's doing well. I think he likes it! It's something other then the Wii, Thank God.

ANYHOW... Just keep praying for us. <3 I'm looking for a Job as well... SO I'm praying God leads me to where he WANTS me :)

Calling all Chef Moms

Gosh, I'm tired. :P I was having trouble dragging myself up and out of bed. But duty calls... *and his name is Jacob* He was hungry and not in the mood to wait on Mama. He's the pickiest little thing. He doesn't like baby food (except Sweet Potatoes and Earth's Best Pumpkin Apple), he never would take the oatmeals or rice cereals (although we thought they were a big part of his reflux so we never really persued it). He still drinks his formula and wants it in a bottle. I've been trying with the sippy cup but he usually just throws it down. The only thing "easy" that I've found that he likes is hot dog weenies and refried beans! lol (Not TOGETHER!) He'll munch on our food sometimes, but not enough to fill him up. And his FAVORITE restaurant is Jason's Deli. I think because we give him all SORTS of things and he gets the ice cream cone minus the ice cream @ the end! I've been looking for some easy baby friendly recipes but nothing sounds healthy yet good! HELP A MAMA OUT! <3 I'd love to hear what you guys feed your finicky little eaters! He only has his 4 front teeth so he can't chew on a steak either ;) Many thanks in advance! <3

Lucky You... :)

My husband is home! *Yayyy* -you may not hear it but there is sarcasm in my voice! I love my husband… He is the greatest. BUT, there are these days that he wants “man time”… I understand I used to have “girl time” but I don’t even know what that’s like anymore. Anyhow – Joshua gets together (@ our house) with a couple of his male-buddies and they play poker. I guess to feel like they are doing manly stuff. Usually the TV is on SOME football game and they take up my dining room table. I ON THE OTHERHAND get to spend the remainder of the night trying to entertain 2 boys whom want to see their daddy who is in the other room playing poker. As fun as my evening sounds, it sucks. Mostly because you can’t explain to an 11mo old that Daddy needs man time. I would LOVE some me time, but my “Me-Time” almost ALWAYS involves a small slobbery child.

SO YOU GET TWO WHOLE BLOGS TODAY from yours truly. *Note the Title J* I think there should be some sort of LAW that states any Stay @ Home Mom *or hell… any mom period!* should get at least 2 days a month OFF to do whatever she wants and however long she wants it ALONE *or with a selected friend*! (AND it should be FREE) haha… Yeah, in a perfect world where your grass only grows the perfect length and dinner cooks itself.

Speaking of dinner, I made a quick dinner tonight that came out really good! J I was proud of myself… I took the Campbell’s Chicken Enchilada recipe and changed it up a bit. For the “sauce” on top I used a milky rotel/velveeta mix, and I left out a couple other ingredients. I was super proud considering EVEN THE 6YR OLD said it was good! Mission Accomplished! Here’s the recipe… Hope it works for you too!

½ can Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup  (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

2 tbs cup sour cream

½ Block of Velveeta®

1 can Rotel®  (Mild Diced)

2 teaspoons chili powder

3 shredded cooked chicken *I boiled mine before hand*

1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

8 Corn Tortillas *or flour* warmed

1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup) optional

1 green onion, sliced (about 2 tablespoons) optional

1. ·         Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the soup, sour cream,  ¼ can of Rotel® and chili powder in a Sauté Pan. Heat.
2. ·         Mix in Chicken when soup mixture is heated and sauté.
3. ·         Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.
4. ·         Melt rest of Rotel® and ½ of Velveeta® block *cubed* in microwave and pour over pan of enchiladas. Sprinkle cheese sparingly over enchiladas and place in oven.
5. ·         Bake for 10 minutes or until all cheese is melted. Top with the tomato and onion.

On Their Schedule...

The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable.  ~Lane Olinghouse

I don’t know if it’s just my child, but he’s NEVER hungry if I’m cooking or up wondering around the kitchen. It’s the Minute after I’ve sat down and indulged myself into a new project or decided to take a nap with the baby that he decides he may die from hunger. I’ve spent all of the last 6 years on someone else’s schedule. If he’s sick – plans are cancelled, if he’s hungry – nap is cancelled, if he has school – I’m @ home waiting for him to get off. It’s crazy to think that I argued with my parents SO much about being me. Being independent! I wanted to have things done on MY time – when realistically they were probably on my own time my entire life. NOW I’m “grown-up” and STILL feeling the pull of being on someone else’s time.

My 11mo old is FINALLY sleeping thru the night. He still gets up one time about 3 hours after he goes to sleep. He sometimes will wake up again in the middle of the night and my husband is usually the first to hear him. I don’t know WHY I don’t hear him right away like I used to (maybe the last 11mo has worn me out enough that I sleep right thru it!). The hubby is such a good sport and wakes up! J Blessed I am! He falls back to sleep easier than I do anyways!

I have this THING - I like good advice. I love to know that what I am doing with my children is RIGHT! And I try to research things a lot. But there are things that I do (or have done) that I know sometimes may not be the BEST thing to do, but my child is happy. For instance... My son was born 9lbs 1oz. BIG boy. Especially for me! Well being BIG never went away. I breastfed for a month before it wasn't working for us anymore. I put him on Similac formula, which caused horrible reflux problems so we shifted to Similac Isomil Soy Based formula. *Dr.'s Orders* And my son has been FINE since. He's always been in the 90%+ and has a rather large head. When he was about 5-6mo and starting to sort of hold his bottle himself, We started letting him fall asleep with his bottle. It was the only way he'd sleep. Well here we are 11mos old and my son to this day WILL NOT go to sleep without a bottle. I know you mothers look @ me all crazy eyed. Tell me to let him "Cry It Out" ... but it doesnt work. Without a bottle he LITERALLY screams forever. We tried the "weening" him off ... didn't work. 

Is it REALLY all that WRONG to let him sleep with his bottle.  He's happy. He sleeps. His bottle is his BLANKEY. He can't sleep without it. I get that the sugar from the milk can cause teeth problems in the future. But right not my son wakes up with a smile and goes to sleep with one too! And although I will take the bottle away asap... I don't think I'm breaking any laws. I see kids sucking their thumbs @ 4-5yrs old. And pacifiers till they are 3. Diapers untill they are 3-4. Blankies they've had their entire lifes, still in tow reguardless of how torn or stained they are. I'm not saying two rights make a wrong, but how I raise my child is soley my husband and I's choice, right? 

So far - I've got two amazing kids that, even with my un-perfectness, have blown me away with how wonderfully behaved they are. I'm not perfect ... NO mother is perfect... but I'm a damn good mom! I'd give my last breath for my children and reguardless of what parenting books or websites say - that's the only REAL concern you should have.

Overworked & Underpaid

I figured it was time to make a blog... partially because I need somewhere to VENT and partially because being a stay at home mom isn’t always the most exciting job in the world. :) Don’t get me wrong – being with my children and having the ability to see them grow is a huge blessing. But every now and then, I need an adult that doesn’t speak in a baby voice to talk to.

Whoever said being a stay at home mom was easy, was a male who’s never done it. GOSH it’s a lot of work. Between wiping noses, folding clothes, cleaning house, feeding each child (who just happen to be on DIFFERENT schedules), doing my crafts, bathing kids, PTA, Cub Scouts, cooking, and etc… I feel like I barely get a break and I get ZERO “Me Time”. Which, might I add, is crucial to life. I spend the majority of my time chasing kids – a 6yr old and an 11mo old. And when I’m not chasing them, they are chasing me with their whining, clingy, over usage of “Mama”. MY children are my LIFE…but a Mama needs a break every now and then.

Today my oldest went to his first "go see it" and Tiger Cub meeting! My husband had to escape work for a couple hours to make it - and Thank GOD he did... once we all got to the Den Leaders house, and my youngest realized there were kids everywhere ... he was NOT okay being confined. Matter of fact - the MINUTE I'd pick him up he'd start squirming and crying. I couldn't let him be... considering the first thing he'd do is climb up the leg of some poor Tiger Cub. haha I get jealous of my husband when I can't be at these things - but I quickly realized this would be a disaster if my little one and I didn't make a b-line for the door. I don’t know WHY I'd be excited about a cub scouts meeting. Maybe because it's Bray's first real activity to be involved in ...or because it's a time to get out of the house and do something other than cook and clean. I packed up everything I had just unpacked and went home to tuck little man in for his nap. People think nap time is just relax time – but with an 11mo old who LOVES his Mama-time… nap time merely means “get everything done really fast while he naps cause it probably won’t last long” time. Did I mention that I’m SUPERBLY unorganized? My husband has pointed this out recently, mostly because BEFORE baby I was super organized. I feel like all my organization skills went right out the door when I got pregnant and my oldest started school. I’ve really gotta get a handle on things.

I should really be used to this stay @ home mama stuff. Especially because little man is almost a year old and I’ve been home since I was pregnant. But do you ever really get used to it?? Considering every day is another adventure… from kids catching colds to PTA meetings with a baby in tow. I enjoy being in this crazy-mama life… but I’ve learned that you never stop getting “taught”. I went thru 13 years of public school and 2 years of college… and NOTHING could’ve have taught me what my kids have in just a year and ½. It's a learning process no other could teach. And Pop-Quizzes happen more often then not.