What to do, what to do!

The little human's first Christmas was a success. And by success I mean he got through the busy day without any major meltdowns or freak outs. The teething has been kind of ridiculous lately so he was a little fussy and tired. Naturally for a 1st Christmas he had no clue what was going on, didn't care about gifts, played with the tree and cat more than the wrapping paper and was overwhelmed by all the people and family togetherness. Mamma's little introvert....wonder where he gets that from!

The Conner household is still operating on uno vehicle. Kind of inconvenient but totally doable. At least it's not the middle of the week when we both are working. It's not like the pirate and I have any extra important play dates to attend to!

So what the heck do we do now? Whelp, I got Noah what every baby needs for Christmas. A bunch of new socks of course. Only one issue, slippery. You know what that means! ARTS AND FREAKING CRAFTS TIME BABY! Its a shame this didn't take me longer to do ha ha.

Step a one: Flatten sock
Step a two: Use your super awesome art skills to do designs with puffy paint
Step a three: Let dry over night (away from the silly cat who may or may not want to play/eat the puffy painted socks)
Step a four: Put them on your small human
Step a five: Boom your welcome

Well that took about 9 minutes and 26 seconds so I decided to make some healthy mini banana muffins for the nugget. I'm horrible at following a recipe I always change things up and then never write down what I ended up doing or changing. Which kind of makes things difficult when you want to make more! I should probably invest in a recipe book. The old fashion kind where you can write in it!

Warning this is what happens when I cook/bake and don't follow a specific recipe. Things are pretty much just thrown together! Sorry!

• Mash 2 ripe bananas together in a bowl
• Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of regular sugar
• Add a cup of applesauce?? (I didn't measure it out of course)
• In a separate bowl add about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and use your creativity! (I definitely didn't measure any of this out ha ha) I added cinnamon, handful of oats, sprinkle of flax seed, pinch of salt, a dash of coconut flakes and a partridge in a pear tree
• Mix both dry and wet ingredients together and add more flour if it seems too runny/ add more applesauce if too thick!
• Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes
• Baked goodness, husband and baby approved

These are really good because they are so moist! Very easy for a small human to gobble up.

And that's all I've got for today.

-Over and Out

Stranded

So the car broke down. Matt was driving home when all of the sudden the car slowly came to a halt. Turns on and off but just doesn't go any where. Pretty much the clutch is out and it's going to be around a grand to fix. Oh joy. You know I was thinking that it was probably about time for something else to break down. Last week the dryer reached the end of her existence. Good old gal she couldn't bare to do another load. She did well, she lived, she dried and then she died. Why is it that appliances don't last like they used to? It's a conspiracy I tell you!

At least the car broke down Wednesday night. I don't work Thursday or Fridays and this weekend I also had off. So I remained stuck, trapped, stranded at the house with the pirate.

I had nothing pressing I needed to do. No errands to run or places to go but not having the freedom to do so is awful! You think to yourself... What if? What if I needed to go to the grocery store to get delicious ingredients to make some sort of 5 tier cake master piece? Or what if I had an intense craving for a peppermint mocha and I needed to go to the coffee shop? Or what if I sliced open my finger yet again using my awesome chef skills and needed a stitch or two!? Good thing my in laws live 6 miles away! Dramatization over.

We went to the very last holidazzle parade Saturday! So sad it has ended, I've been going since I was little! What the heck is holidazzle you ask? Only the greatest winter parade there is! It's in downtown Minneapolis at night on the weekends. The floats and all the people in the parade are covered in lights.What a fun slightly dorky thing to do in the cold of winter. We need to get out and inhale some fresh air anyway, might as well watch a lighted winter parade! It wasn't too terribly cold and my little human did fabulous! He was going off only 1 nap and did great at a late dinner after the parade. He was such a delirious little ham! Goofy and giggly, better than a total hot mess I suppose!

What else is there to do when everyone starts to get stir crazy!? Get outside and lick some snow flakes! I guess we spent a decent amount of time outside in the last week. Shoveling, playing in the snow, sledding, crying in the snow, cursing the snow, day dreaming of warmth and tropical climates. You know, the typical winter thing.

My little shovel helper!

Sledding with dad! Note his horizontal position ha ha.

Happy December! T-minus 2 days till Christmas! Can you even believe it? Noah's 1st Christmas yay!

-Over and Out

Christmas Time Is Here!

"Its the most wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeaar!!!" Fa la la laaaaa! I mean, minus the freezing acrtic blast. Driving on a sheet of ice and my hands being so dry I do believe they will crack completely in half. Oh! and needing to start your vehicle 15 minutes before you leave, planning your day so you make the least amount of stops humanly possible and wearing so many layers you look like a gigantic marshmellow puff.

This winter has been cruel to us so far! It got so cold so fast this is like January/February weather not December! Oh well, what do you do? I'm currently working on my extra fat layer to keep warm. Hot chocolate made with whole milk and pasta at 3 pm? Perfection. 

So us Minnesotan's do what we do best. Keep talking about the weather, bake monsterous amounts of things, and dream of wonderful warmth and sunshine! The winter season is exactly why I do not complain about summer like the other 88% of us do. So many midwesterners hate hot humid weather but I say BRING IT ON! It's so short lived I say "shut your yap and soak it up or stay in your air conditioning" So there! Just saying I would not mind 90 degrees and sticky right now.

Last week we had a Christmas cookie exchange aaaand it was pretty much the best day of the month. All kinds of cookies. Cookies left and cookies right. I made molasses cookies dipped in white chocolate and peppermint. It was a joyful spectacle, and yes my husband and I have nearly eaten them all. Oops. Side note the pirate is also a fan of cookies, each and every single one he enjoyed. How could he not? He is my child afterall.

1. Make molasses cookies
2. Crush candy canes into itty bitty pieces
3. Melt white chocolate chips 
4. Dip cooled off cookie in white chocolate the sprinkle with peppermint
5. Boom 

And what do you do when your cooped up inside all day? Baby projects duh!!! My mother in law made the hand print Christmas tree and today Noah and I did the raindeer footprint. 12 more days until Christmas I better think of more projects!

-Over and Out!

Snowfall

Oh joy! First big snow fall of the season! Don't get me wrong I really do love snow. Its gorgeous, sparkly and festive, wouldn't feel like December without it. But I can't say that I enjoy driving in it. Or should I say commuting in it.  Took me 45 minutes to get to work this morning and an hour and 15 minutes to get home in the evening. AND IT SUCKED.

It isn't the snow that's the issue but the block of ice your driving on beneath the snow. That's when things start to get interesting. You slightly break and you slide all over. Go over 30 MPH on a turn aaaaaaand slide all over. Oh the wonders of midwestern driving.

Side note to all of this winter wonder land goodness...........I need to get the pirate snow pants!!! I can't wait to toss him into a snow bank and watch his face as he eats his first fist full of fluffy snow! I will literally snowshoe to the nearest target tomorrow to get them. Yes I'm being ridiculous. No I don't care. And the likely hood of me actually going to target in the negative death degree of weather is 99% probable. I mean its target, it sucks you in. You enter for deodorant and exit $80 poorer. I blame subliminal messaging. And one's ability to be severely side tracked. Target. Why must you be so cruel!? moving on.........

This is the tale of my drive home from work. I leave early per the Doctor's wife's request........I never leave early. EVER. But it was dead's ville, with so many patients canceling due to the weather I didn't mind not hesitating after she suggested it. I go out to my jeep which is pretty much buried in snow after sitting there for the last 9.5 hours and attempt to clear it off. A taxi cab gets stuck in the cul de sac I'm parked in and is waving people to go around. This is my hint the conditions are AWESOME! Then my windshield wiper snaps off. Like the whole damn thing just disintegrated in my hand. Marvelous! I fiddle around for 7 minutes trying to see if I can fix it when i finally proclaim "SCREW THIS! I NEED TO GET HOME BEFORE ITS COMPLETELY DARK OUT!" There may have been other choice words used.

It's almost comical, the fact that its still snowing, I can barely see, I'm minus my drivers side windshield wiper, It's getting dark and I have an hour or more drive home. People are in the ditch, and I'm 4 minutes into my endeavor when I see a car facing on coming traffic (clearly not a Minnesota native).....

Really people? Just take your time! I was half blind and I made it safely home. End of story. Its not the snow but the ice. Take your time. Don't be dumb. Stop slamming on your breaks. And do not over correct with your steering! BOOM. Gotta love winter driving! It's like an entire category of its own. And it's currently 10:38 and my husband just walked in the door from work. Rough day of driving out there people! YEESH.

-Over and Out

Big ugly headache monster

Up early this morning because I can't lay down a minute longer. Story of my life. Out of the numerous wonderful qualities i inherited from my Pa my least favorite is his headaches. And I mean HEADACHES. Not the annoying irritating kind that slightly inconveniences life, but the big ugly kind. The cant sleep, feel dizzy, laying down hurts, sitting up hurts, lights hurt, life hurts kind of headaches.

And then if things really start to get fun you get a migraine thrown in the mix! If you don't know if you have ever had a migraine than trust me you have NOT had a migraine. Those bad boys literally stop your life. It drives me insane when people think a bad headache is a migraine! I'm sorry but until you have a real one you can't possibly get it. The migraine monster makes you feel like your going to die.

I get the floating lights, my vision goes completely white and I can't see for a good 30 seconds. That's my big obnoxious obvious clue.... run to get Excedrin migraine stat! That is the one and only thing that helps me at all. But there is such a small time frame for it to actually work. If I don't catch it literally within a few minutes then I'm pretty much doomed. Done for. Toast. Your brain feels like its going to explode. The light sensitivity goes through the roof and I can barely even open my eyes. You can't seem to function or even really formulate sentences. Aaaaaand the nausea, that constant feeling like your going to toss your cookies at any given moment. The only cure at that point is a dark room and some attempt at sleep. It's just awesome! I love it so stinkin much! (insert snarky attitude and sarcastic voice)

Growing up I always had headaches, not awful ones, just the irritating kind. It wasn't until I was in high school and got into a car accident that things took a whole new turn. When a vehicle ( idiot woman who to this day if I found I would beat her down and make her feel pain! - ok no i wouldn't but still!) ran a red light going at least 55 miles per hour and crashed into my best friend and I.  I had no air bag so you can imagine what that whiplash was like. Boom never been the same. I would rather have broken multiple bones then deal with the aftermath I did.

The rest of highschool sucked I couldn't do any of my sports without getting horrible headaches. I didn't sleep well. Was miserable 24/7 and I mean every second of everyday I never got any relief from the pain. Went to physical therapists, neurologists, chiropractors and all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Erin back together again. I reached a point were I slowly started giving up on everything.

Then God happened. I remember sitting with my Pa having a heart to heart, him giving me the don't give up, things will get better talk. That night I was laying down trying to sleep feeling hopeless and depressed. I was slowly and steadly loosing myself and I knew it was happening and it was not good. I cried my heart out and prayed to God that I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't possibly live life like this any longer and if he didn't help me I would have nothing to turn to, nothing to give me any hope at all. I cried my eyes out until I fell asleep.

The next day I woke up i realized for the first time in 10 months I did not have a horrible constant pain. And that my friends is not by coincidence. That's when my relationship with God started. How could it not? And ever since then I haven't been plagued by the constant nagging all day everyday pain. But it definitely still comes and goes whenever it feels like it! This journey has not been easy but I have so much to be thankful and hopeful for. I know my God will never put me through that constant pain again, He has made a promise to me and has been good for it.

So right now I am going to sip some more coffee. Deal with this annoying headache/neck pain by hanging out with my beautiful little family. And praise God that things are not as bad as they once were.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Romans 5: 3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

-Over and out

Thanksgiving week what!?

I just worked 30 hours in 3 days and now I get to have thanksgiving at my house. Yay I'm exhausted and I want to curl In a ball and sleep forever! Although, it really isn't as bad as I initially thought. With my mother in law making the turkey and other people bringing this and that I am definitely sleeping a little better tonight! 

Bathrooms cleaned. Check. Kitchen cleaned. Check. Groceries bought check.  Signature cocktail ready. Check. I will say this..... If the food isn't up to par (which it will be) at least there is alcohol to numb the taste buds!!!!!! And this year I can enjoy it since I'm not with child! Caramel apple hot toddy here I come! Pictures to be inserted later :)

Side note this is our thanksgiving project we made a few weeks ago.....yes it is another project made out of the pirates butt print. And no it won't be the last! 

Yet another side note, Noah had his 9 month appointment last week. Healthy long and strong boy! Fun fact he was getting 4 teeth at one time! Such a trooper after these teeth come through our total will be 8 chompers!

Alright, my bed is calling my name and I am willingly getting sucked into its warm inviting comfyness. If the teething monster doesn't sleep tonight i have a feeling it will be Matt's turn to deal with him!!! Goodnight world!

-Over and out

Gorgeous movember day!

One of those mornings where you drink some coffee. It sits and gets cold. Run around chasing a small human. Reheat coffee. Feed small human. Coffee gets cold again. Put small human down for a nap. Reheat coffee. Clean up tornado disaster left by small human. Cold coffee. Reheat it.  And repeat, over and over and over again. At that point one would assume said person should just be done with coffee and switch to water. Nope, that would be much too clever of an idea.

Can i just say this..... I AM LOVING THIS WEATHER!!!!!!! I love that we can go outside and go on long walks without bundling up like a stinkin Eskimo. I know its a fluke and its just temporary but hey I will happily take it with a gigantic smile. Yesterday the pirate and I went on a 4.5 mile walk with Matt's cousin and her little nugget. For a Minnesotan in mid November this is like miracle weather. And I wouldn't be a mid westerner if I didn't talk about the weather!

En light of Movember I give you this. Baby stache. Enough said.

In other unrelated news I cut 6 inches of hair off of my head! What? Kind of a big deal since my hair is always long. Sometimes you just need a change. You just need to do something different with your life especially after having a baby. When your pregnant you feel like a Greek goddess with bouncy full hair that fits perfectly into place, pretty much like a cheesy shampoo commercial.

 Then baby comes and all your hair starts falling out. You panic. Cry. Go to the store to get Biotin. Vitamin up your diet. Then it slowly gets better but still is not quit the same. Hence the mom cut. Until your a mom you don't really understand why everyone has a baby and then cuts their hair shorter. Then it happens to you,  you look in the mirror at your terrible, nasty, stringy, dingy locks and go "Oh shit! I need a mom cut!" Boom mystery solved. Aaaaaaaaand my coffee is cold again! LAME SAUCE.

-Over and out