...and her trials of dealing with a working mom







Friday, November 11, 2011

So.... Tired....

Ainsley slept really well at the beginning of the week... which is when I should have written, but by the end of the week... she's been up every 2-3 hours.  She didn't completely go down til about 11 pm tonight.  Her usual bedtime is 8:30.  So this might be a little brief tonight.

I've spent the last two nights up late looking through etsy for a hat for Ainsley.  We are going snowboarding (well, only Chad actually.  Me have no insurance =( ......) and she needs a suitable hat, since we live in Texas and have had no need for one yet.  So I've narrowed it down.  There are seriously thousands to choose from on etsy...

1.  Cute... and very functional too.  Looks super warm
Girls PRINCESS BUNNY Hat  3-6 Months     

2.  Kinda same thing... just much brighter.


3.  I honestly question how warm this might be, but it is cute


4.  This is cute in the picture, but I'm a little worried it might be a little too pointy in real life



5.  And finally...



The spousal unit votes for 3 and 5.  I'm kinda leaning towards 1 or 2.  Either way, we need to get her head measured and sent in to one of the makers ASAP, because our trip is going to be here before you know it.

We are having the usual suspects over for football watching tomorrow.  Thinking about making Oreo cheesecake cookies while they are here, so I don't make them and eat them all.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Quiet weekend

So my spousal unit went out "hunting" this weekend, so Ainsley and I were left to our own vices.  I say "hunting", because I've never seen him bring anything home, and he goes "hunting" several times a year.  I get pictures of deer....  I think it's just an excuse to get out of town and drink.  Whateva....  I like the house to myself occasionally, honestly.

His family does a big dinner while they are out hunting.  So, because I wasn't going, I decided to send along muffins instead.  I figured they could eat them for breakfast or a snack... or when they're drunk.  ha ha.  So I made Nutella cheesecake pumpkin muffins.  He did come back with a couple, which I'm secretly happy about, so I can eat them.  The were pretty damn delicious...

Nutella Cheesecake Pumpkin Muffins via Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

  • FOR THE PUMPKIN MUFFINS:
  • 4 whole Large Eggs
  • 1-½ cup Sugar
  • 1 can (15 Oz. Size) Pumpkin Puree
  • 1-½ cup Vegetable Oil
  • 3 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • FOR THE NUTELLA CHEECAKE FILLING:
  • 8 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
  • ½ cups Nutella
  • 1 whole Large Egg

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add in sugar, pumpkin and oil and beat thoroughly. Add in remaining dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, Nutella and egg until smooth.
Place paper liners in a muffin tin. Place about 2 tablespoons of pumpkin batter into each liner, then 1 tablespoon of Nutella batter, then top with 2 more tablespoons of pumpkin batter. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
These are best served completely cooled. Makes 20 muffins.


So yeah... we basically stayed in our pj's all weekend.  I did clean and watch football.  On Thursday, we bought Ainsley an exersaucer off of craigslist.  So while she napped Saturday morning, I got it all disinfected and cleaned up.  She's still a little too young for it yet.  She'll sit in it a couple of minutes before getting overwhelmed, but while she's enjoying it... it's so cute.


We were so lazy that we didn't even go out for dogfood on Friday like we were suppose to.  So the dogs had a terrific weekend.  They got green beans, bread, and cream of chicken soup.  Sounds like a pretty balanced meal to me...  They have a super hard life, as you can see.
So, that pretty much sums up how busy we were.   I have symphony rehearsal tomorrow night, so I'll be busy pretty much all day.  Just going to throw some stuff in the crockpot and call it good.  I do love this time of year.  It's starting to cool off enough in Texas to actually be able to cook on a regular basis.


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

ok, not so awesome

I wrote last night's post half asleep.  I forgot to put the oven temp at 250 and letting the seeds roast for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.  A mistake I made was also putting the seeds in a ziploc bag last night.  I tried some this morning and they were incredibly chewy...  not even edible.  So I threw them into the oven again tonight, and they are much better.  I'm hoping that leaving them out will keep them non-chewy.

Ainsley is incredibly out tonight.  She was up kinda early for her... 8:30 am, and only took a two short naps (30-45 minute) today.  I'm convinced I'm never going to get sleep ever again.  I'm either up with her, or freaked that she's sleeping so soundly.  I stop and stare at her to make sure her chest is moving.  It's really hard to tell sometimes!  I don't want to wish her infancy away, but I'm kinda anxious about her turning 4 months.  90 % of SIDS occurs during 2-4 months.  I can't wait to get out of this timeframe.  And we haven't gotten her to sleep on her back yet.  It's totally my fault.  She's sleeping so well right now, I just want to enjoy it for a little while before the next battle.  She's still in the room with me.  Here she is tonight...
Yup, that's a bouncy chair in a pack n play.

I'm not overly excited about moving her to her crib either, but we agreed we'd start trying to get her to sleep there at 4 months.  

She's been such a good baby lately.  Maybe the transition to her crib won't be that difficult.  Her she is while I was putting on make-up today.



Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Damn I'm good...

This morning started off pretty shitty.  The only job I have interviewed for so far got re posted with a temp agency last night for $22,000 less than I was making at my old job, and I wasn't making THAT much at my last job...  So I was bummed.  As soon as I opened my mouth to complain about it to the spousal unit, I got an email wanting me to call about another job I REALLY wanted.  I had put my salary requirements in the range of my last job, up to a little more.  I was ecstatic. So I called while the baby was asleep.  As soon as she asked what my PCR experience was, I knew it was game over.  When I said I didn't have much, she got off the phone fairly quickly.  My last job did me a great disservice by not providing any professional growth.  As soon as we got lab work and PCR work in, they didn't train their existing staff.  We got laid off and they hired new.  Thanks Signature Science!  I'm afraid this is a sign of things to come.

So on to better news...  I finally gutted my pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds. I may be a day late and dollar short, but I got it done.  They were awesome.  Here's how I do it....

Roasted pumpkin seeds
Seeds from 1 pumpkin
olive oil
Whatever season you'd like

Clean your seeds really well.  I got all the fibers off the seeds, then rinsed them in a colander.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, add seeds.  Slow boil for 10 minutes.  Strain seeds and pat dry on paper towels.  Place in bowl with approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Mix to cover seeds.  Spread on baking sheet and season.  I used Chris' steak seasoning on one half and 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, garlic salt, and coriander on the other half.

I ate some of them right out of the oven.  And I thought to myself.... that is some damn good stuff!