Favorite Things: Coffee Mugs

I love coffee mugs.  We own more than will fit in our cabinet.  I don’t have the desire to get rid of any of them though!  I don’t know what it is but I do love me a good mug.  I have a few favorites at the moment.  Toping the list is this baby:

My mom bought it for me for Christmas.  It’s made in Washington and is perfect for keeping your hands warm in the winter.  I reach for it whenever I’m going to have tea or hot cocoa.

For coffee, I reach for this one.  I love the little giraffe inside!  It’s like a little surprise each time he appears.  I like that the coffee makes it so I can’t see him.  Drinking tea in the mug just isn’t the same!

When I want a lot I reach for my elephant mug.  I love elephants and I did a little happy dance when I saw this one at Pier1.  Pier1 always has great mugs.  In fact, all of them except the first one came from there!  The Man has one like this, except his is a gorilla. 

When I’m in the mood for something pretty, I reach for these:

They’re just dainty and pretty.  They make me happy whenever I look at them.  I know a coffee mug is a little thing but it’s amazing how big a little thing can be.  I promise that my coffee/tea/hot cocoa tastes better when I drink them out of my favorite mugs!

Do you have a favorite mug? 

What does it look like?

Dream Job

At a recent woman’s event at my church we did an ice breaker involving M&Ms.  You could take up to 5, any color.  Then you had to look at the paper and see what topic the color correlated to.  Then you had to share about that topic with the people at your table.  One of the topics I had to share about what my Dream Job.

I must admit my first thought was that I don’t have a dream job!  When it was my turn I talked about how we hadn’t been sure if were going to be able to have kids so being a stay at home mom is my dream job.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE staying home with Munchkin.  There is nothing I’d rather be doing right now.  But that’s not really what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I wasn’t one of those kids that always wanted to be a stay at home mom.  As a kid, I wanted a job…not, more than a job.  I wanted a career.  For the longest time I wanted to be a doctor.  A pediatric oncologist to be exact.  At some point I changed my mind and was going to be a nurse. I don’t remember my exact reasoning but it might have been because I didn’t want to go to school forever or have that much debt.  Then at some point becoming a nurse faded away. I don’t remember when or why.  Then somehow I became a teacher, which was NEVER on my list of dream jobs.  I’m ok at it but it’s not my love.  I’m ok with never being in the classroom again.

So not long after my turn was over I realized what my dream job really is.  It’s to be a nurse.  I think I’d like to be a hospice nurse.  Not the most sunny of jobs I know.  I can’t tell you how much we appreciated the hospice nurses with my dad.  What comfort and encouragement they gave us.  I’d like to be able to offer that to others.  The death of a loved one is such a hard time and I’d like to be able to help others.

So when the kiddo(s, if we have more) are in school, I’ll hopefully be headed back to school myself.  I know I could start sooner.  Maybe I will, once The Man is done with school.  I think I can only take one of us in class at a time!  I’ll probably go to the local community college…I’ve already been accepted (not that it was hard!)  I was going to start but then found we were pregnant. I don’t mind putting this dream on hold. It will keep. My baby won’t.

Wordless Wednesday

Oh, the cuteness!

Favorite Baby Items

I know these lists abound on the net but I want to my two cents.  My list is kinda short because I’ve come to see that babies don’t really need a whole lot.  They needs dipes, food, clothes and a whole lot of love and snuggles from Mom & Dad.  I found the following items to also be helpful:

Co-Sleeper

We used an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper and I LOVE it!  It’s been wonderful to have Munchkin close by.  We have a mini and I would buy it again with no hesitation.  It’s been so nice that while breastfeeding to be able to just grab her out of it, feed her and then put her back.  This is a sleep saver!

Green Sprouts Sili Teethers

Munchkin started gnawing on these around three months.  They are awesome! She can easily grasp it and no matter what part she gets in her mouth, there’s some kind of texture on it.  We would have been lost without these.  So much so that she got two more in her stocking so now we have 4.

Sophie the Giraffe

Since I’m on the topic of teethers, Sophie the Giraffe is great too. Munchkin LOVES her. I went back and forth on her. I think she’s kinda scary looking plus she’s something like $22.  For a baby toy?  That’s a lot to me! However, she is worth her $22 price tag. 

Teething Necklace

They make necklaces that are supposed to be used as teethers by your baby.  I have two and Munchkin LOVES them.  It’s perfect for when I’m carrying her because it’s right there.  I don’t have to worry about her losing it if she drops it because it’s around my neck.  It’s a little thing but is so helpful, especially when we’re out and about.

Bouncy Chair

This has been a lifesaver!  We started using it when she was about 5 weeks old and are only going to stop because she’s getting too big.  It’s been a perfect play to put her while showering or eating.  The one we have it really bouncy and we are able to bounce her using our foot.  As she’s gotten older she’s figured out how to bounce herself.  The best part is that this was given to us by a friend. We love it and are definitely holding on to it for her siblings!

Ergo/Ring Sling

We love to hold and carry Munchkin.  The only time we use our travel system is when she has fallen asleep in the car. If she’s awake then she gets carried wherever we are.  In the beginning when she was light it wasn’t too hard to just hold her.  She’s about 18 pounds now and our arms get tired pretty quickly.  The Ergo is an arm saver.  I used it when flying alone and it was great to have than as well.  I’d kinda like another one so one can live in our car and one can live in our house! I also have a ring sling that gets used a lot at home.  One perk of babywearing while you’re out in public is that you don’t have to worry about someone stealing your baby.  Call me a paranoid mama but it does happen!  It won’t happen to you if your baby is attached to you.

Playmat Gym thingie

We started using this when Munchkin was about 2 months old. It was nice to have a toy that we could use with her that young.  She wasn’t totally interested in it.  We would lay her on it and talk to her about what was hanging on it. She would wave her arms around and we would get excited when she hit one of the toys. As she got older she interacted with it more and more. We also use it for tummy time.

Activity Jumper

We got this when Munchkin was 5 months old.  She LOVES it. Her feet don’t touch the floor so we have our Wii balance board under it. She jumps and jumps and jumps.  It was so fun to watch her figure out that she could jump it in and that the seat turns. She loves the toys all around it. We’ve attached an owl and a zebra and she loves to chew on them.  She would easily stay in it for hours if we let her. 

Gas Drops

It seems like we had (have?) the gassiest baby ever.  From what Nancy Holtzman says, every baby is the gassiest baby ever.  We started giving Munchkin gas drops early on and they help so much! She likes them too and knows they help.  She’ll be fussy from gas but when we go to give her the drops, she’ll stop and open her mouth so we can give it to her.

Teething Bibs

Munchkin has been super drooly since 4 weeks old and we’ve been using teething bibs since then.  They are water resistant so they keep her clothes dry. I know they work and are helpful because when we forget to put one on her, her clothes are soaked and we have to change her. If we didn’t use them we’d be changing her outfit 3 or 4 times a day if not more.  All of ours came from Target but I’m sure you can buy them other places.

Mamas, what are/were your must have baby items?

6 Months

 

Munchkin is 6 months. It’s incredible to look back at pictures from when she was firstborn and see how much she’s grown!  Not only has she gained weight and gotten taller but she’s learned all sorts of new skills, like she should be.  I’m loving almost-every-minute (the getting thrown up on while The Man was out doesn’t make the cut) of being her mommy. 

We have a talker on our hands. Right now she just loves to babble. About what, who knows! I have a feeling that when she does start to use words she’ll be talking my ear off.  We shouldn’t be surprised, because if you ask my mom she’ll tell you I did (and maybe still do!) the very same thing. 

She still hasn’t rolled over but we are now sitting unassisted very steadily.  When she is on her belly she has a very nice snake yoga pose too.  She’s also mastered the art of pushing herself backwards on the hardwood floor.  She LOVES it when we let her stand on our legs.  She just holds onto our fingers for balance.  She’s super cute because she’ll often look around for her furbabies.  She’ll peer around my shoulder to my right, actually leaning that way.  Then she’ll lean left and look around my shoulder that way, complete with an intense look of concentration on her face. If she hasn’t spotted any of them she’ll try to turn her body around and look behind her.  When she spots one of them, any one of the four, she gets this big grin on her face and will giggle. She loves her furbabies!  Molly, Joey & Allen all let her pet them. Edgar still isn’t sure about the baby.  She loves Joey’s soft ears and Allen’s tail. She likes to blow raspberries at Molly.

She loves to play with her toys.  Sophie is still a favorite, as is her activity jumper.  She’s really jumping in it now.  We’ve attached an owl to it and she loves to gnaw on the things hanging from the bottom.  She likes to chew on books.  She’ll chew on anything really, including her toy phone, plush blocks, Violet the puppy…you name it and it’s in her mouth.  She has lots of favorite little toys that I often give her while she’s in her bouncy chair.  She’s almost too big the bouncy chair and I’m probably pushing it at this point. I haven’t figured out how else to occupy her while I shower though so for now it stays.  We have play stations that we rotate through during the day…her room, her crib (I’m trying to get her used to it. She’s usually only in there when I have to go to the bathroom), the living room floor, the jumper, the bouncy chair, my lap. 

We’re still going strong on the Mama milk.  We’ve introduced carrots (she didn’t liken ‘em) and pumpkin (which was ok.)  I gave her a small piece of chicken the other day and that was a hit.  I have an avocado and a mango just waiting to be but up and tried.  Soon.  This cloth diapering mama isn’t totally ready have to deal with real poo.  I already miss EBF poo.  But what goes in must come out and I will deal with it.  Soon.  I promise!

I’m in the process of adding in 9 month clothes and removing 6 month pieces that are too small.  I realized the other day that the sleeve of her onesie was more like a 3/4 length sleeve than a long sleeve! Oops!  Some of her pants have been a little short too. I’d like to blame it on her fluffy butt but…probably not.  Maybe she’s actually grown a bit!  We’ll find out at her next appointment.

I think that’s it for now.  I’m sure the next month will bring new and exciting things.  After all, she is a growing girl!

Family Photos

Back at the beginning of the month, while my mom was still here, we drove down to Portland and met my in-laws so we could get some family photos taken.  We went to Sears and are very pleased with how they turned out! Here are some of my favorites:

Holiday VoxBox ‘12

Back in November I joined Influenster.  It’s a community where you share your thoughts and opinions on products you use everyday.  As a result of joining, I was chosen to receive a Holiday Voxbox* full of fun goodies to try!  It took awhile to get to me after I was notified that I would be receiving.  Well, maybe it just felt like a long time because I was so excited to be getting one!  It was worth the wait and I’ve been loving the products so far.

Inside I found a Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal, a NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine, Kiss Nail Dress Shields, a packet of EBoost Natural Energy, a Goody QuikStyle Half Round Styler Brush, a Chocolate Montagne Juenesse Face Mask, and a $25 off your first purchase coupon for Sole Society. 

I started off with the Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal.  I received a peach flavored one and while it was tasty I prefer apples and cinnamon.  I’m kinda a stick in the mud that way.  It was nice that it came in it’s own container but for everyday use I don’t need that.  While I won’t go out of my way to buy it (unless we’re going camping) I would happily eat one again if I was given one again.

Next up was the Goody QuikStyle brush.  I’ve fallen in love with this product!  I love that helps remove excess water so it doesn’t take as long to dry my hair.  I know it’s also healthier for my hair since it isn’t exposed to the hot hair as long but really, as a new mom I’m more interested in how long it takes. This really does help cut down on the time it takes to dry my hair!  I didn’t think it was going to work but it does.

Once my hair was dry I opened up the NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine.  I love, love, love lip color.  Lipstick, gloss, you name it, I love it.  This one is great. It smells and tastes good and lasts for a long time.  I like wearing it alone or over another color.  I get chapped lips every winter and so far since wearing this gloss they haven't been as bad. In the picture I’m wearing the lipgloss by itself.

It took awhile, but finally I was able to try the Kiss Nail Dress Shields.  While the directions are easy it there was a little learning curve for me. I found it a little annoying to file the excess off instead of cutting it off.  I did end up cutting the shields down and then filed them. It worked for me!  I like the design but they are a little fancy for me for everyday.  I think they would be perfect for a special occasion, like an anniversary dinner.  For my my milspouse friends, a military ball.  They shields are a great way to get cute nails without paying a lot for a manicure.  They also don’t take as long!

I haven’t gotten a change to try the Chocolate Montagne Juenesse Face Mask yet.  I’m looking forward to it.  Chocolate on my face? Yes please!  I’ll let you know how I like once I try it!  I also have not tried the a packet of EBoost Natural Energy.  It says to check with your doctor if you are nursing or pregnant and since I’m nursing I’m going to let The Man try it.  He just hasn’t yet.  I’ll keep you updated on that one too!

I’d love to take advantage of the 2$5 off your first purchase for Sole Society but I’m not going to be able to.  New shoes are not in the budget, especially since I just got three new pairs for Christmas. However, if you’d like to take advantage of this deal you can!  Just use the code INFLUENSTER25 and  you’ll get the deal.  If you do use it I’d love to see the shoes you get!

My favorites so far are the  QuikStyle brush and the Liquid Lipshine, mostly because they fit into my everyday lifestyle with ease.  I’m hopeful about the facemask though. I’m looking forward to trying it!

 

*I received these products for free from Influenster in exchange for my honest review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Easiest Crockpot Chicken Ever

I promise this is the easiest crockpot chicken recipe EVER.  It’s also super delicious!  All you need is a chicken and a powdered soup mix.  I usually use a Lipton Onion Soup mix but you can use whatever you want.  You could even use one that you make from scratch that I’ve seen floating around Pinterest.  Here’s what you do:

1.  Place a clean chicken in the crockpot.



2.  Sprinkle soup mix over chicken.  Resist the urge to add liquid. DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE URGE! DO NOT ADD ANY LIQUID!



3.  Cover chicken and set crockpot on low.  Forget about it for 6-7 hours (if you can. Your house will smell yummy!)


4.  Carefully remove chicken.  Please be very careful as the chicken will literally fall apart.

 

Or you can pick the meat out and leave the bones to make broth.  This is what I usually do.  I add water, a few carrots, two or three celery stalks and an onion.  I also throw in some parsley (fresh when I have it, otherwise dried works just fine.)  I leave it on low overnight.  In the morning I put a colander in a bowl and pour the contents of the crockpot in it.  I throw away what’s in the colander and divide the broth into 2 cup portions.  Once it cools you can remove the fat from the top or leave it for extra flavor.  It’s super easy and you don’t have to worry about all the extra sodium!

Do you have any super easy crockpot recipes?

January Fill In

Head on over to Wife of a Sailor to link up with the January Fill in!

 

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?

I can’t think of anything!  It was a great month!

2. What was your favorite thing that happened in December?

Hands down it was Christmas!  We had a great time and I couldn’t have asked for a better 1st Christmas for Munchkin.  It was laid back and relaxing.

3. What are you looking forward to in January?

I’m looking forward to getting into a routine.  Now that The Man is working, Munchkin and I can get into a routine and I’m so ready for that.  I’ve been wanting/needing one for awhile but with the holidays it just wasn’t possible. 

4. What did you do for New Year's Eve?

The Man, Munchkin and I spent it with Wife of a Sailor and Huzzy.  We had a delicious dinner and played games.  We had a great time and are looking forward to another game night with them!

5. What are your hopes and wishes for 2013?

I just wrote about this a little bit yesterday.  I’d like to get heathly, grow personally and as a family.  I want to enjoy Munchkin as she grows and enjoy our time as a family of three.  At some point we’d like to add another little one so it won’t always be just the three of us.  I’m also looking forward to the second half of the year as I have some travel planned.

2013

A New Year often brings resolutions.  I almost never make resolutions because I know I will not keep them.  I’m hoping this year is a little different though.  There are some changes that I need to make for me and for my family.  So instead of calling them resolutions, I’m going to call them goals.  None of them are going to happen overnight and I will probably fail.  I’m hoping I’ll keep trying!

1. Get healthy

I’m overweight. I do not like getting my picture taken and I am no comfortable in my clothes or even in my own skin.  While I do want to lose weight, I’d rather get healthy.  I’d like to be around for a long time to raise my daughter. I’d also like to avoid getting diabetes.  So this one is two fold…I need to lose weight and exercise.  For the weight, I’m seriously considering Weight Watchers online.  I’d like to be the weight I was when we got married.  It’s at the upper end of what’s considered healthy for my height but I maintained that for about 5 years so I know I can do it.  That means I have to lose about 35 pounds. I remember thinking I was fat back then.  What was I thinking?!? The picture is from September 2008.  I loved those jeans.  I still have them and would LOVE to fit into them again!

For the exercise, I’m going to try for 30 minutes three times a week to start.  I need to start small or I won’t do it at all.  I’m also going to look for some kind of mommy exercise group/class for the accountability.  It will also be nice to meet other moms! 

2. Read for pleasure

Since Munchkin has been born, I think I’ve read about 4 books.  That’s a huge change from the beginning of the year when I managed to read about 70 books.  I had a goal to read 115 books this year.  Needless to say I didn’t meet it.  So my goal for this year is to read 52 books…one a week.  I’m thinking that this should be doable!

3. Blog

2012 saw the fewest blog posts since Many Waters began.  It’s not that I don’t have anything to blog about, I do!  It’s just getting them written. So I’m aiming for two a week. I’m sure some weeks will be more and some will be less.  I’m looking for regularity and I think that two a week will be doable for me!

4.Housewifery Skills

I need to step up my game and polish of my housewifery skills.  Or as The Man said, I just need to execute them. I need to be better about staying on top of vacuuming and doing laundry.  Keeping clutter at bay would also be nice.  I feel so much better when my house is clean, don’t you? So I’ll be working on this as well.

5. Faith

I haven’t been in the Word or praying like I should be. I know the difference it makes in my life on a daily basis, I’m just not doing it.  I’m going to be working on reading Scripture on a regular basis.  Same for praying. 

My Word

So I’ve seen on several blogs that many bloggers aren’t going resolutions this year.  Instead they are picking a word for the year.  My word for 2013 is growth.  I’m thinking there should be a lot of that this year in our family!

Did you make resolutions or pick a word?

What are they?