small + friendly

Motherhood: A Time Odyssey

When I became a mother, I'm pretty sure I entered some sort of time warp.  I now have an understanding that time is not actually linear, everything that is always was.  For example, have I ever really not been a mom?  I almost can't remember a time when I wasn't tied to this little person in the most fundamental, natural way.  Yet somehow, I simultaneously feel as though time is exceedingly fleeting.  Wasn't it just yesterday that I looked like this?
Wasn't it just yesterday that I was dreaming of the day I would meet my son?  It seems impossible that he is already eight months old.  At this rate, I'll be helping him pack for college next week.  But then again, that clock is a sneaky thing because as the months are flying by, there are times when the minutes drag on for hours.  I'm certain every parent has experienced this scenario:  

It's about an hour until nap time, you're playing with your baby: read a story, build block towers to be knocked down, act out a play with stuffed animals, dance around the house ...  

Wow, we are having so much fun, it must be about time for a nap ...  

Wait, no, that can't be right, it has only been 5 minutes!  5 minutes!?!?  

What are we going to do for another 55?      

So here I sit, smack dab in the middle of some sort of crazy, swirling time warp.  All within one moment, I'm wishing my baby would be a baby forever and feeling as though I can't wait for what he'll do next.  I knew my life would change when I became a mom, but I never thought that time would no longer tick in an orderly straight line.  Here's to savoring life's moments ... no matter how long they last.    

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday marked another year I've had the great fortune of being alive.  I feel so lucky, especially knowing firsthand what my mom went through to get me here.  I had a great day and received some pretty awesome loot: 

Please excuse the brief post but I've got a purse to transfer, woolly pockets to plant, recipes to pour over, and sewing projects to start.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!  

P.S.- Jude's present to me, other than his awesomeness, was to stand up on his own (no holding on) for the first time!  

Jude's First Photo Shoot

My best friend in the whole world, Meg Messina, happens to be the best photographer in the whole world.  Lucky me!  Lucky Jude!  And lucky you, she's currently booking new clients!  This may sound like a shameless plug, but seriously look at how great these photos are:  

The photo shoot took very little time and we all had a blast.  What a special way to preserve his six month perfection.  How can we be coming up on eight months already?!?    

Thank you so much Auntie Meg!

Meg can be found at megmessina.com

A Sonoma County Tradition

 

For those of us who grew up in Sonoma County, the Fair is (or at least was, when we were little) kind of a big deal.  What kid doesn't love cotton candy, free Clover ice-cream, farm animals, flowers, and rides all in one spot.  I remember my sugar-fueled fair days with great fondness.  As an adult the Sonoma County Fair doesn't have quite the same appeal (rides assembled in a day, carnies, crowds) but I didn't want Jude to miss it.  After all, when I was his age I came in second at the Diaper Derby.  So I dressed him in his cowboy boots ...

and we braved the crowds for a brief, but fun, trip to the county fair.  

Jude loved the flower show; it was especially good this year.  

And we spent a really long time with the animals.  Jude was in love with a rescued Belgian draft horse named King Richard (Mommy's hoping he'll want to ride someday).  And last but not least, we visited the photo booth, which was definitely the highlight of the trip.  Check out our awesome fridge decor:

I loved how visiting the fair with Jude made it fun again.  Here's to the Sonoma County Fair, carnies and all!    

  

One less thing to do

Or:  How hiring a cleaning service changed my life.

source 

I have a new guilty pleasure: coming home from work every other week to a spotless house.  I never used to mind cleaning the house, but with a little one it felt like cleaning was eating up every moment of my free time.  Still, it didn't even occur to me that I could have a cleaning service, that is something fancy people with fancy houses have, not people who bring their one baby to work part-time and can vacuum the whole house without unplugging the machine.  But then I read this poem:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,


Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,


Hang out the washing, make up the bed,


Sew on a button and butter the bread.



Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?


She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.



Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,


Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.


Dishes are waiting and bills are past due


Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo



The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew


And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo


But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo


Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?


Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.



The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow


But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.


So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!


I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.



- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

It was posted by Andrea in a comment feed on Smile and Wave about being spread too thin, and something clicked.  I enjoy doing the shopping and cooking the stew, but the cleaning and scrubbing was in the way of what I want to do most of all:  shower my baby with undivided attention.  So with a little reworking of the family budget (let's face it: we weren't using that gym membership anyway) I am now that fancy person with a professionally cleaned house.  Best of all, I learned that I don't have to do it all, and that getting help actually makes motherhood sweeter.

Pasta ... It's what's for dinner

I thought I would share one of my go-to answers for that age old question:  "What's for dinner?"   It's cheap, easy, and only requires two dirty pans.  Plus, it tastes pretty good too!  I hope it ends up in your weeknight meal repertoire.  

Sausage and Spinach Pasta

1 lb mild Italian sausage (pork or chicken)

3 cups or 28 oz can of your favorite marinara sauce

6 oz bag of baby spinach

Pasta (I use penne rigate)

Parmigiano-Reggiano or Percorino cheese 

1.  Get big pot of water on to boil.

2.  Remove sausage from casing.  Heat a large pan on high heat, add a little olive oil, brown sausage, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon.  

3.  Drain any excess fat from the pan. (I just tilt to pan and spoon the grease into an old coffee can.)

4.  On low heat add your sauce, stir to scrape up all the love on the bottom of the pan.  (Rinse your can or jar with a little water and pour that in, our my Italian great-grandmother will haunt you for wasting sauce.)

* Happen to have  a bottle of red wine open?  A generous splash would be much appreciated.

5.  Add the spinach, it will seem like too much, but don't worry it wilts to nothing.  (You could, of course, skip the spinach - but then what would your mother say? Plus, now you don't have to make a salad.)

* Taste test, it shouldn't need any salt, but maybe a little pepper or fresh basil?

6.  Cook your pasta, with a good pinch of salt, until al dente.  Drain.  Toss with a scoop or two of the sauce.  Serve with more sauce on top and lots of freshly grated cheese.

Buon Appetito!

P.S. - Got left-overs?  Layer the pasta and sauce with ricotta and mozzarella, bake at 350 until hot and bubbly, and you've got yourself a baked zitti!   

  

When Babies Attack

Jude has grown quite the little personality.  He is supremely funny and sweet, but he is also quite the go-getter.  When he sees something he wants - he attacks.  I captured this hilarious picture as he was trying to devour the camera.  He looks like a very hungry hippo.  

Here's hoping your weekend is full of laughs and devoid of rage!