Brain Time Answers

Thanks for indulging me in my silly fun yesterday! Many of you got them! They were hard for me!! Here are the answers:

1. quadrupedal surface of transformation

changing table

2. linearly vacillating position on board of directors

rocking chair

3. nonhuman life forms fed beyond satiety

stuffed animals

Ahh Wednesday...one day closer to the weekend. Remember last week how I mentioned what a good baby little Bubba is? And I happened to mention in that post what a good napper he is? HA! He is out to prove me wrong.

As he has been with us just 4 short months, he has grown accustomed to Momma rocking him to sleep for his naps. I just loved cuddling with him and enjoyed every minute of it. It just to take less than 5 mins to rock him to sleep. I pushed away that nagging feeling that I was creating a bad habit and rocked my angel away.

Now, (deep breath), he fights sleep unless he is "rocked" by the car, by the moving stroller, or by me. Except our sweet moments of rocking have turned into 20 mins of fighting sleep. I'm talking the arching back, kicking legs, fussing & hitting with the fists. This ids doesn't want to sleep! And it drives me batty. He needs to rest during the day.

Yesterday, I decided to lay him in the crib at his nap time and let him fuss it out. Well, his fusses soon turned into a cry. And that cry soon turned into a wail, which soon turned into a shriek! All within 10 minutes. I gave in.

Today, I was determined not to give in. He did his whole fuss-cry-wail-shriek thing and I went into to calm him down. He started the fuss routine again and then it stopped. I though, yay!! it worked. Uh no. My kid's in there talking to himself- not napping. talking.

At least he is quiet. right?

Ladies, any advice on how you got your kids to take naps at this age?

Brain Time- Nursery Items

Just a little brain time here this morning. I came across this in our Cranium Daily calendar and though it was appropriate. Can you name the following items that belong in a baby nursery?

1. quadrupedal surface of transformation

2. linearly vacillating position on board of directors

3. nonhuman life forms fed beyond satiety

Once you get these...you realize how easy they really are. Here is a hint for #3- think toys. Answers to come. Who can get them all??

Friend Makin' Monday: You Wanna Know?

It's Friend Makin' Monday again and our topic this week is all about:

"The Top Things You Can Not Live Without!"

As there are few things in life we truly can not live without..... God, family, shelter, food...I did some serious soul searching today to think of what I truly can not "live" without.

The Message. I recently joined an online Bible study, Bloom, where we are reading through the book Crazy Love. (BTW, is anyone else doing this??) A few years back, hubby had given me The Message, which is the Bible written in contemporary language. I have been using it again with this study and was reminded of how great a tool this Bible is. Yes, it is an interpretation of the Bible, but it really puts it in a frame of mind that I understand & relate to so much better than the NIV version.

Anything Apple. I fell in love with Apple when I bought my first Mac in 2004. I have never looked back. I love my iPod. I love my iPhone. I love my Mac. And I feel shaky when I leave home with out my iPhone. Yes, I am that addicted.

Bumbo! I need to buy stock in this puppy- I have been blogging about the Bumbo all last week. Can't eat dinner without the Bumbo so Bubba Boy can join us. Seriously, we went to brunch yesterday with family and sat him in the middle of the table to watch us eat. It worked great.

Burt's Bees. You'll notice this one makes every list we blog about- favorite item, can't live without, one item to take on a desert island. It's all about the tingly feeling you get while using.

Books. I think college ruined my ability to sleep. I fell asleep every time I opened a textbook- somehow still graduated with honors though! And now I can not fall asleep without reading a book. I even have trouble falling back asleep at 3 in the morning. I have to go read in the guest bedroom to put myself back to sleep. Is that a problem?

Some of the books on my nightstand right now:

Another fun topic for Friend Makin' Monday! Hope you all have a great week!

QUICK REQUEST: We are almost winning the toy store contest (contest ends on Wednesday!)!! The winner is the most views of the YouTube video. Please take a second to watch ours at the below address and help us win!!

Help The Texas Darlings Win the Video Contest by clicking here!!

Who Thought of This Stuff? part II

I have more crazy baby inventions that I find either revolutionary or a waste of hard earned $$$ for you today. If you don't know what I am talking about, catch up with the conversation here.

The first is something my friends had for their first baby a few years ago. I thought it was the most ridiculous looking thing I had ever seen! I mean, who wants to sit their baby in a chair when they are only 4 months old? This my friends, is the Bumbo:

The Bumbo, according to it's website, is "the revolutionary infant chair that is uniquely designed according to the baby's posture. The Bumbo enables babies to sit upright all by themselves!!" I received this as a gift and was pretty skeptical. Until I tried it. Man, it is a lifesaver at dinnertime!! Bubba Boy doesn't want to be in his swing while we sit around the table together. At 4 months he is already feeling left out. So we include him like this:

We Love our Bumbo- it's a MUST HAVE!!

A few weeks ago, while at the lake, Bubba Boy had a stuffy nose. Momma likes to keep his nose clean, right Aunt Ginger??? So, not wanting a hard night of him not being able to breathe, I sent Daddy to the store to find me a bulb, I mean a "nasal aspirator", which I prefer to call a nose-sucker. Do you think our local Walgreens had one of these?
No, and so Daddy (being the great hubby he is) decided NOT to come home empty handed and brought home a $20 battery-operated nasal aspirator that looked like this:
Go ahead. Laugh. I did when I first saw it. But you know what? It works wonderfully. Not only that, Bubba Boy doesn't scream bloody murder when I am sucking his snot out with it. For some reason, my little guy HATED the bulb but smiles at this thing, as if it tickles him. And it even plays sweet nursery rhymes while sucking. As if a sweet song will take away your baby's fear of this strangle looking machine heading straight for their nose!! Regardless of how silly it is, we will be using this instead of the bulb around here.

Go out and get one? If you want to. It is nice to be able to get the job done with out Ian squirming everywhere, but not absolutely necessary. And it beats this one:

Lastly, I had to include this little gem I found online. Brace yourself:

Ahhhhh! It scared me too the first time I saw it. It is a specially made cap for baby's naptime. What kid is going to let you stick a cap all the way over their eyes to sleep? Not to mention, it is a little creepy looking......

And have you heard of Babysteals.com? Everyday they sell baby/toddler items for half the price. I got a pair of RoBeez for $12 a few months ago. Right now, their Hooter Hiders are just $15!! It's a great website for new mommies to subscribe to and a great place to get shower gifts.

Well, my prince is calling for me. Gotta run! Have a super Thursday!!

All 112 Days of him...

Bubba Boy turned 4 months this week. I can't even fathom where the time has gone. Seems like yesterday I was counting down the days until he arrived. And now I feel like the luckiest mom on the earth- not one, not two, but 3 amazing children! And this little bundle of joy is just that- JOY! He smiles at everyone. He laughs at everything- especially Daddy. He sleeps well. He naps well. He plays well. He is just a great baby. He has enriched our lives so much!!

The well check at the doctor put him at 25% for his weight (a whopping 13 lbs!) and 99% for his height! A tall and skinny baby! How funny that he is only in a size 2 diaper for his tiny hiney and 6 month clothes for his long torso!

Here are some fun pics from this past week of my boy......

Look how much he has changed!!

Love his smiles!

Matt thought he was "really getting into football".....

Loves his Bumbo (more on that later)

His new seat at the head of the table.

His favorite guy.....

Happy 4 month birthday Bubba Boy! You are such a blessing in our lives!

Tickle Spot

We found Bubba's tickle spot!

Who Thought of This Stuff?

Many of you know that I recently had my 3rd child. And there is a break in between my older two and the baby...a BIG break..like 7 years break. And I have discovered that there have been lots of changes in the baby market since my 8 year old. Lots of fun & new gadgets. All of course, that I HAD to have.

For instance, the Pee-Pee Tee Pee. You heard me right. Pee-Pee Tee Pee I thought it was the greatest invention since sliced bread and once I found out I was having a boy, I knew I had to have some of these things. I actually found them on a whim one day while shopping in DFW with my BFF, Christie. I showed them to her and she laughed at me. I remember her looking at me with a face that said, "You're gonna waste your $$$ on that?" But, remember, I HAD to have them. I ever went so far as to get another batch of them, as I thought I would be using the heck out of them!

As soon as I brought Bubba Boy home from the hospital, I tried it out. Take the diaper off, plop the PPTP on, reach for a new diaper.....wait a minute, you're not supposed to kick it off Bubba, KEEP it on!! Put PPTP back on, reach for the...BUBBA, that is supposed to protect me from your pee-pee, KEEP IT ON!! I went through this several times before I realized hello? babies kick when they are neked.....don't hinder the kicking. I soon gave up. The PPTP just doesn't work- so much easier to grab a burp cloth or towel when they want to spray you. Not to mention that I was using the small ones in the picture above, and they barely ahem, fit.

And so, I got peed on.

Don't invest in the Pee-Pee Tee Pee.

Another fun invention that I received as a gift I never thought I would use. Are ya ready for this one? The Hooter Hider!! What a hoot- hide those hooters!!! I thought it was a great idea, but when will I ever be nursing in public? Probably never. WRONG. Life just didn't stop this summer for Bubba's feeding time with 2 older kids in various camps and activities. So, I pulled out the Hooter Hider and was set. I used it at soccer camp one day, and then at art camp a few weeks later. We had some company and rather than "excuse myself" to go feed Bubba, out came the HH. Friends at the lakehouse? No problem- use the HH. Free tickets to the Ringling Barnum and Bailey Circus? Got it covered (literally) with the Hider!!

I use this one ALL THE TIME and am so grateful I got it as a gift.

Hooter Hider? Every Nursing Mom has to have one!

There are lots more crazy inventions for babies I am dying to tell you about, but guess who is calling for me.....

Have a super Wednesday!

Friend Makin' Monday- Fall TV!!

Friend Makin' Monday is back- actually, it has been back for a few weeks thanks to Miss Amber at aefilkins for hosting! This week, the question is:

What Fall TV shows are you most looking forward to seeing?

I've been known to like my tv time...ok...I love my tv time, but shhh don't tell anyone! Just a few of the "dramadis" I can't wait to have start back up:

Will McDreamy & Meredith EVER tie the knot??

What's gonna happen to Violet?

Will Kitty & Robert make it?

And of course, I love the reality shows. Our favorites in this house include:

My kids love to watch the challenges! Eww Gross! Their eating bugs!!

As a family, this is our favorite show- the kids love watching the different countries and Matt & I only wish we could be contestants!!!

Thanks Amber for a fun FMM!!!

One last thing, if you have a second, would you mind visiting my kid's video at the below link? They are in a contest for a toy store gift certificate and the most views wins! We are a little behind and we could really use your help!

Morganne & Jack's Frog Story

Thanks!!

Help Please!

Well, I'm at it again! The kids and I need your help! We have entered into a contest at a fabulous local toy store, Kaleidoscope Toys. We made a video of our silly frogs that we got from there this summer. And the video with the most views on YouTube wins $100 gift certificate. I know it's not a million dollars, but my kids think it is a fortune!!

Please help us out by going to YouTube and viewing our video (click the link below)! And if you really like our video, would you pass it on to your friends and family to view it too??

Kaleidoscope Toys Frog Story

Hurry!! Contest ends on September 30 and we are about 250 views behind!!!

Thank you!

We Did It!!

This summer, my children and I issued a challenge to everyone we knew- including so many of you!!

Please help us receive a postcard from all 50 states

Well, thanks to the wonders of Face Book and Bloggyland, a postcard from every single state arrived in our mailbox. That's right- Every. Single. State. We received many more than just one from each state too.

Many came from each of you- thank you so much!! And, so many of you reached out to friends & family that you knew in distant states and had them send us postcards as well. We had many show up from people we haven't ever met- I do hope you will thank them from us!! Send them this way, so they can see the results of their efforts please!

Oh yes...results...wanna know how many postcards we received this summer???

Ready for this??

It's HUGE!

168 postcards!!!!

Isn't that amazing?? We even received quite a few from Canada too!! So here's the rundown:

What state did we receive the most postcards from?

ALASKA!!

21 postcards - we had several friends send us lots! (Surprised us too!!)

Our second closest state.....California (Thanks Viv for so many!!)

What state did we receive 2 of the SAME postcard?

Kansas

From 2 completely different people!

What was the biggest postcard we received?

Missouri

The Show Me State has a card as big as my son's head!

What was Sissy's Favorite Postcards?

What was Brody's Favorite Postcard?

Costa Rica?

Yep!! Good friends of ours sent us one from their super-fantastic vacation!!!

What did we do with all the postcards?

Mapped them out!

As each one rolled in, we sat down and I made the kids find them on the map- I think they now know where the majority of states are! Many of you included great info on your state, included a letter about your state or even made your own postcards (Thanks!), so we learned a lot about all the states too!

Last postcards to receive??

Can you see?

I was sweating this out too!! I know tons of people who live in Louisiana and Mississippi....but I am happy to say we received them both last week! Woo-Hoo! Goal accomplished!

My favorite postcards?

The postcards from all of you, my bloggy friends!! I have not met any of you in person, yet you cared enough for my family to help us with our summer project- I appreciate you all so very much!!

Now, how can I top this project next year???

It's A Jungle In There

As we head into the long weekend (and we conveniently head to the lake for 3 days), I leave you with yet another adorable video of my littlest one. Bubba Boy loves his kick time under his gym. Can you tell?

A Serious Swap!

It was my first attempt at a Bloggy swap and it was such great fun!! Shawn from Seriously! hosted it in honor of her birthday last month and this week we all received our fun packages in the mail! It was fun to receive a box of goodies...but even more fun to send one away! I had more fun shopping for the Birthday Girl. Lucky me, I had Shawn to buy for!!

My box arrived from Della at Della Grace's Life. Della filled my box with all sorts of relaxing things for a busy mom of 3 to do!!

A delicate pink mug with 2 gourmet hot chocolate mixes. YUM!

Birdie notecards to keep in touch with those I love. FUN!

A pretty pillow to rest my weary head on. COMFY!

Hot Pink nail polish to perk myself up with a fun pedicure. LOVE IT!

A gorgeous shell bracelet from Hawaii for Date night. WHAT's THAT?

And lastly, a Virginia postcard for the kid's summer postcard challenge. THANKS!

Della, I loved it all! Thank you so much for the great gifts. And Shawn, what a fun idea! Thanks for hosting!!

Inspired

I am not a cook. Let me reiterate. I am NOT a cook.... BUT, every once & awhile I get inspired. Not by a fantastic meal at a restaurant. Not by a mouth-watering recipe in the 22 cookbooks I own. And certainly not by my family. Nope, this girl is inspired by the Food Network. My new favorite channel.

I discovered it by accident actually. Because of sweet baby Ian, while at the lake, I hang back at the house while the family & friends go out on the boat. Shhhhh...don't tell anyone that I LOVE it. I get peace & quiet and 2 hours of incredible cooking shows. In food tv land, they make everything look sooooooo easy and I become inspired.

Pork tacos, chicken parmesan, strawberry & basil salad, cheesecake...if only my family would eat any of these amazing recipes that I watched all these wonderful chefs whip together. Oh, did I mention that I have a pretty picky family? Yeah, I do. Maybe that's why I hate to cook for them.

Well, a few weeks ago I watched a great show called Down Home with the Neeley's. They are an adorable husband & wife team that cook the most amazing "down-home" food. This particular show was for Banana-Stuffed French Toast. They made it look so easy and so tasty that I knew I had to try it. Thus, came the idea to host all the ladies in my neighborhood for the "Back to School Brunch". I knew they would like it...I hoped.

Banana Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• Pinch ground cinnamon
• 3 ripe bananas, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 large unsliced loaf French bread, bread cut into 8 slices
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon rum extract
• Nonstick cooking spray
• Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
• Maple syrup, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted add the brown sugar and pinch of cinnamon. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts into the butter and becomes a sauce. Add bananas and toss together. Let cook until the bananas are soft and incorporated into the sauce. Remove to a bowl and let cool completely. Once cool, add cream cheese and mash with a wooden spoon.

Using a paring knife, cut a 2-inch-long slits in 1 side of each bread slice, cutting 3/4 of way through bread and creating pocket that leaves 3 sides of bread intact. Divide banana mixture equally among the bread pockets.

In a large bowl, add eggs, heavy cream, milk, cinnamon and rum and whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Put the bread into the egg mixture and let soak for 3 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove the bread from egg mixture, using a spatula, letting the excess drain off.

Spray a wire rack with nonstick spray and put the rack on a baking sheet. Put the bread on the rack and transfer to the oven.

Bake the French toast until it is golden brown and filling is hot, about 25 minutes. Transfer the toast on a serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar and maple syrup.

While the recipe called for 30 mins of prep and 25 minutes of cooking...it actually took around 2 hours to get it all done because you have to cool the banana stuffing. It was incredibly easy to assemble the French toast and then cooking it in the oven on the wire racks was a piece of cake! Everyone loved them...so I guess it was a hit. Even if they were just being polite, I thought that it was delish and will definitely make it again.

We head to the lake again this weekend. I can't wait to see what inspires me this week!

Momma & Her Girl

This past weekend, I finally got to share one of my obessions with Sissy. My love of Broadway musicals. 3 years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Wicked on Broadway. I had no idea what it was about, but knew that the reviews had been fantastic for it. Both Matt & I LOVED It!! I was hooked- bought the CD and listened to it in the car everywhere we went.

My little girl in the car surprised me one day, singing " Pop-U-Lar. You're gonna be POP- U-EW-LAR!!" Which is an adorable song form the show. We were both hooke don the music of this fantastic musical.

2 years ago, I took my mom to see it in NYC. Sissy was not happy that I didn't take her too. So FINALLY, I had the chance this weekend. We went with a few friends from the neighborhood and had a ball. Sissy was hopping up & down on her set when her favorite song came on!! She was singing right along with all the words!! She was so excited to be there.

I'm so happy I got to share something I really love with her. My only hope is that when she is 16, she still will want to do fun things like this with her mom!!