Thank You for Baby Steps

I've never been one to easily appreciate "baby steps". Leaps and bounds are more my thing. Now, that's all changing. As a parent, I have found that worry comes with the territory (by leaps and bounds no less). As such, I tried to remain aware of my level of paranoia over every little milestone in baby's first year. I tried hard not to fret and sweat if each objective couldn't be checked off the list as each 3-month phase came to a close. I really didn't want to have my "perfectionist" reputation (up to which, by the way, no one can live) come to light through my parenting ALREADY!

However, this challenge was growing exponentially throughout year one until I'd taken enough brush-offs and all-but-shut-ups from my doctor and others wishing to reassure me that "everything would be fine". After all, it's normal though there really is no normal! After missing the mark at 6 months, 9 months, and getting close to 12 months in age though not in reached milestones, I couldn't shake the feeling anymore. My dismissal of my motherly instinct would hold me back no longer from finding out if something was up.

When I was pregnant, I was baffled by the amount and topics of people's questions as though by body had become fair game. In parenting, the questions continued. . . well-meaning bless-your-heart style friends family and acquaintances would continually ask, "Is he rolling all over the place now? Crawling away from you every diaper change by now, eh? Is that kid up on two feet yet?" While these would normally be seen by Mommy as invitations to boast and bask in the joys of the baby phase, they were anxiety-provoking reminders that my answers were too often "no". Add to that any old man who feels his opinion matters blurting out that perhaps your kid is too fat, lazy, or spoiled to want to do anything for himself, and I was beyond exhausted from playing Pollyanna in sugar-coated responses while choking back tears wondering why I couldn't answer "yes" to all of the above at times that should normally be appropriate.

Luckily, I have a sister in social work that sensed my frustration and downplayed level of concern. She told me that the local AEA would do an assessment without any need for a professional referral. So, I made the call, made the appointment and hoped they'd simply reassure me that my level of worry was normal, that his delays were normal,  and we could continue on with life as normal. However, I still knew there was a possibility that my worries were founded and there could be a bigger issue to tackle. An evaluation, hearing test, physical therapy and educator home visit all took place within the next month. He can hear. He's delayed. There's no physical or neurologiocal ailment to explain why or give us any worry that his progress toward catching up won't be quick. WHEW!

Was I sad to hear things about my kid like "5th percentile" or "siginificant delay"? Of course. Was I happy I'd finally gotten my questions to the right people with answers that might actually help Garrett and help us know how to work with him as parents? A thousand times yes! Can I now tell people that he's making strides by leaps and bounds? . . eh maybe. Will he? Likely. Am I ashamed of him? Heck no. Knowlegde is power and I had exhausted the realms of my knowledge in knowing how to approach G's delays and realized I needed someone else. It takes a village, right? Besides, my own pursuits of further knowledge were pretty scary WebMD search results outlining some worst case scenarios and labels I didn't want to assume upon him without a real evaluation. My kid doesn't have a label. Although if he did have one as in the name of a disability, I'd still be happy to have found out and learn how to work with it too.

Every milestone is important to parents as they watch their baby grow. I'll admit that I imagined Garrett flying through his and documenting on camera and video each new movement and sound. Life moves far too fast and is far too short to dwell on what isn't rather than enjoying what is. So, every little inchworming movement he makes toward a new toy is a joy. Each time he reaches across his body to grasp something is a milestone. Each time he turns in response to his name, holds an item in each hand at the same time, pulls his own weight with help up to the couch or lunges forward to get a fistful of Tucker hair is sheer bliss; not a reminder that these are things other kids would have done 3-6 months ago.

After all, 3-6 months from now, this could all be a blur. With bi-weekly visits that are basically play therapy from a PT and an Early Education Specialist, a change to a new daycare center for some increased interaction with kids his own age, and some intentional homework where we know how to work with him, we're doing all we can and taking it in stride. So, the nest will still be blessed though much more of a mess because spending our time with this little guy is soooooo much more important! How could you not love this face whether he's  laying, rolling, sitting, walking, talking, or running?

Little Man's Birthday Continued: Decor & Games

1) Birthday Tree

What kid wouldn't love to have their own birthday tree? I love my skinny prim Christmas tree and it doesn't tak eup much room and has lights pre-strung so it's not a huge hassle. It's only a month early to put the tree up in October so. . . why not?!?! I deocrated the tree for around $10. I got the wooden number 1 at Hobby Lobby 1/2 off for $3.50 and another 1/2-off purchase was the big aqua bow it's hanging on. The rest was a $1 clearance purchase for the aqua stringy paper and another $3 for 3 6-packs of aqua bottle caps with white polka dots that I just taped white ribbon on and hung. This left room for birthday cards to be displayed and he had fun looking at the twinkling lights in teh evenings leading up to the big shabang!

2) Pin the Mustache on Garrett

I really got magnets; set of 6 for $7 and printed an 11 x 17 and laminated it. No one actually played this. I put it down at kid-level but they were all more interested in eating or opening G's presents for him!

3) The Photo Booth

I already had this blanket to use as a backdrop. It's Mommy's blankey. Have you ever felt a THRO brand blanket? I got Garrett one and then sought one out for myself. Ahhhmazing! Then, I painted an open frame with some leftover paint I had from a mis-tint I bought at Lowe's a few months ago. So, the whole cost was maybe $5 I guess. And we didn't get as many pictures as I'd hope but they were all good ones:

4) Name that Stache

This was fun and easy and I only spent $2 on the poster board which I had previously used for another project so it was almost free in that regard. As you can see, I printed out the mustaches of some well-known men, added some clues, and then numbered them and left out cards for guessing. A few people took the time to fill them out but it was mostly a conversation piece. I was happy with that because it got people talking that otherwise may have sat in silence or conversed about nothing more than the weather. . .

5) The favor station

Everyone got a mustache tattoo for their finger. However, many kids put them right on their lip! It was kind of a messy favor since their was water involved in the application but still fun. I handed out a few of the leftovers for Halloween trick-or-treaters and they thought they were pretty sweet. I still have over a hundred left. . . any ideas?

Below shows you the cakes. I already did a tutorial on the bow tie cake and the mustache cake was even easier (though neither were perfect)! Here, you can see the menu, food labels, 12-month photo display and the streaming video playing of his 1-year photo shots! So much time and energy. . . he's going to kave to skip his second birthday at this rate! :)

Recipes to Share: Pork Chop Parmesan

Yum and then some! We eat lots of white meat. I make pork chops in just a couple simple ways over and over and was looking to try something different. Breading chops can take a lot of time and that's not a resource I have in excess. So, I did this a totally easy and lazy way. Don't judge until you try it and see it didn't make a huge difference in the end.

You'll need:
A glass or ceramic baking dish
6-8 chops (or 3-4 butterfly chops)
bread crumbs
olive oil
oregano
garlic powder
Mrs. Dash garlic herb seasoning
(You wouldn't need the extra seasoning if you have Italian bread crumbs)
spaghetti sauce
shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat baking dish with olive oil. Sprinkle with bread crumbs to lightly cover. Lay pork chops on top and repeat drizzling a light amount on olive oil over the chops and then sprinkling with bread crumbs. Then season each chop with a couple dashes of each of your preferred Italian seasonings.

Place dish in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. You can flip after 10 if you'd prefer and check for progress toward doneness. At 20 minutes, top each chop with sauce and sprinkle with the shredded parmesan. Place back in the over to heat through and melt cheese before serving.

Beccause these weren't breaded the traditional way, I scooped up some of the bread crumbs that were cooked in the oil in the pan and crumbled them on top of each chop when serving for some extra goodness. For 1/2 an hour or so of work, these were delish!

I also paired it with this pinterest find.


As you can imagine, I didn't follow her directions to a T. I put all the biscuit pieces in a sprayed round cake pan and poured the melted butter and seasonings over the top of all of it. Then, I sprinkled some of the remaining shredded parmesan cheese from the pork chops and served it with some excess spaghetti sauce. This baked up in about 10-12 minutes.

Bow Tie Birthday Cake

For Little Man's Mustache Bash, we used mustaches as well as bow ties to represent, well, big men in a smaller version. One way I tied in the theme was with a bow tie cake. I made a large one to share and a mini one for Garrett's smash cake! See below:

One 8-inch square cake was cut diagonally and then a mini cake was put in the middle. Mine is square from my Pampered Chef brownie pan but a round cupcake would work too. Once frosted, the side frosting of the center piece will hold it all together. Of course, frosting the cakey sides is a pain so coat it on thick in those two areas!

The reason I used the brownie pan was to make G's mini cake. I cut the rectangle mini cake diagonally and then cut the center out of another mini cake to be the middle piece.  The frosted result looked like this:

Mac & Cheese for the Masses!

I served this for a party where we hosted 40 people. I can't say they all ate some but it got rave reviews from many so I'm going to safely say you could feed 25-30 average appetites with this as the side dish! I looked for a couple recipes and most large mac & cheese recipes called for a crock. Well, I had already planned to use my crock for the maid rites served so I wanted to use my electric skillet. Couldn't I have used the skillet for maid rites? You bet! But, it was already set in my mind that that wasn't happening.

So, I dove into some experimental cooking. Great idea when you're about to feed a large amount of people, right? Well, planning ahead has gone a bit by the wayside in the last year so I dared to do it anyway! This could be done on the stove top for a family-size portion instead by doing just about 1/3 of the recipe.

You'll need:
Large electric skillet 
3 lbs noodles
2 pkg velveeta shreds
2 12-oz cans evaporated milk
1 can cheddar cheese soup (low sodium recommended)
10 cups water
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tbsp salt (I used part seasoning salt)

Bring water, evaporated milk, noodles and salt to a constant simmer over medium-high heat.

Stir periodically until noodles are tender.

Add cheese soup, shredded cheese and pats of butter and stir until mixed thoroughly.

Reduce skillet temperature to warm and serve.

The result was thick creamy cheesy goodness that will probably taste even better reheated the next day! If you wanted to do thsi as a main dish, you could easily add in some meat. I'd suggest adding just a bit more of a moist ingredient however so it doesn't dry out. Try adding 2 pounds of browned ground beef to the tender noodles and 1 more can of cheddar cheese soup. Go ahead and experiment: occasionally, it works out! :)

Garrett's First Birthday Letter

Dear Garrett-

This is the first of many letters I hope to write to you throughout your childhood. Every year on your birthday, I plan to take time to reflect on the year past and make assumptions about the year ahead and share them with you in this format. You will quickly come to learn that this format is no longer common: a written letter, one on real paper with an envelope and the word “Dear” in the greeting.  By the time you learn the art of letter writing, it will be on some hand-held tablet that I’m too old to figure out. That’s technology!

This year has flown by. Everyone told me it would but it truly did. There were some extremely long days and short nights in the beginning. You came into our lives in time for lunch last October 25th in an extremely fast delivery and changed our world forever. You made me a mother and the next few months made me a mommy. Learning to understand your wants and needs is still a work in progress but finding ways to enjoy every little piece of you has come quite easily.

You love to laugh. I mean, we all love to make you laugh, but it is clear you enjoy laughter tremendously yourself. It’s as though you look at me sometimes just begging me to do it again; whatever “it” is on any given day that will rise up that gleeful giggle. Your laugh is contagious! You will laugh until you let out a deep-bellied sigh because you even wear yourself out with joy. You can cry just as loud but you rarely do. You’ve been an amazing baby. It did take you seven months to sleep through the night, but I’ve already forgiven you.

You’ve grown so much but are still a little squirt. You’re a skinny little thing yet often referred to as a “ham” over your amazing smile and flirty demeanor. We get “he’s so adorable” all the time (in public and on Facebook which I’ll show you when you’re older, you poor electronically-exploited child)  but they don’t stop there; people feel the need to reiterate that they’re not just telling us you’re cute because you’re a baby but that you’re REALLY CUTE. We get it (and we love it). Someday, you’ll get compliments about how amazing and smart and funny and special you are beyond being cute; don’t worry. And, yes, someday, an important special someone will use a word like hot or handsome instead but the most important woman in your life will use other phrases for a long time coming! That woman is me. Don’t forget it!

You do things on your own time. I’m guessing that is a trait that will stick with you and be a point of contention between the two of us for years to come. You’re not crawling, walking, talking, waving, climbing or standing alone at a year. I have about eight different sources telling me that this is, in fact, a problem. However, you are smiling, laughing, loving, growing and thriving in so many other areas. You will do the rest only when you are ready and I will continue to struggle to balance both my fear and faith in the meantime.

You love your parents and you show us every day. How lucky are we? I hope you continue to do this for years to come. You love your dogs and they’re pretty tolerable of your tiny hands and feet. . .  and lips on them so far. You really enjoy bouncing, swinging, and being thrown in the air and you smile slyly every time I sing to you whether it’s our morning song, clean-up jingle, kitchen dances, or bedtime. You laugh when we open our eyes from a dinner prayer. I think you’re confusing it with a very formal game of peek-a-boo and you must outgrow this habit! You are prayed for every night. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. I feel like I couldn’t possibly love you more but my prediction for the years to come is that you will show me otherwise.

I am coming to this birthday with so many emotions. I rarely cried (or hugged or expressed much excitable emotion at all) before you were here and now, I’m overwhelmed with tears over every happy and sad thought that comes to mind.  I am mourning the baby phase already but elated about what is to come; the things I can imagine and hope for and the things that will blow my mind and cannot be planned.  I will not be sad. We will celebrate. Probably overboard for a first birthday. Welcome to a likely scenario to be played out for the remainder of your birthdays under my roof. You are, to date and in conjunction with your father, my life’s greatest work and I look forward to your training!

Your biggest fan,

Mom

A Happy Hiatus

There's been quite some time between this post and my last! There's a really REALLY good reason:

Mommyhood is tough and rough and tiring. It has plenty of glory and fun to share on a blog but plenty of reasons to find to spend time doing other things. Nonetheless, I'm back. I'm making no promises that I'll be as active as before but I do swear I'll have good stuff to share. And it won't just be about Garrett (but bear with me because a lot of G Man is likely). I've got projects and before-and-afters to show you. I've accomplished more projects than I would have thought possible a few months ago. So, while I had a happy hiatus, I'm glad to be back on the eve of my Mommyversary!

Sending you love already! ~Breezy