Interview with Milo, 4 & 3/4

Posted on May 18, 2012 by lauren

How old are you today? Four and three quarters.

Did you have a nice day at school today? Yes. I scooped some sand up in my Croc! And, um, played on the climber a lot. THERE’S A NEW TRICK I CAN DO!

Really? What is it? Well, it’s pretty scary. I balance my way on a circulated (?) pole, and my arms are really long and that’s good because otherwise I couldn’t do this trick. I kneel on the bar, swing down, and it’s pretty scary. See? I got a bruise and it’s not too big. (points to a small bruise on his shin)

What is your favorite food? Carrots, apples. Vegetables and quinoa and rice and fruit. All those are my favorite things.

Who is your best friend? Max Teddy Eileen Lucinda Rachel and Ben and Matthew and Wilson. Those are all the people who are my friends. And Milo, myself.

What’s your favorite thing to do? Drawing and activities and going to the Magic House, the Science Center, and the City Museum. All the cool places to go.

What’s your favorite thing about Oliver? Playing guns with Oliver.

What’s your favorite book? Where’s Waldo.

What’s your favorite thing about Papa? He’s on my team. He lets me go to fun places too.

What’s your favorite thing about Emil? When he laughs. I’m so good at making him laugh.

What’s your favorite thing about Mama? Going on the train with you.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A sea diver and a space man. Also a scientist. I want to be all the things in the world.

How old will you be when you decide to move out? Sixteen.

How old do you need to be to get married? Sixteen.

What’s the meaning of life? Booty. No, seriously, Milo. What’s the meaning of life? Booty (giggles).

And that about sums it up.

Oh! And today is Milo’s last day of school before summer. I have so many fun things planned for these boys it will make their heads spin. Yay!

What are your plans for the weekend? I have a to-do list about a mile long, but am most excited about getting a long-overdue haircut (and color?) tomorrow and friends coming over for a cookout on Sunday. Also, hoping for a little rest after an entire week of crappy sleep. Oh, sleep. I miss you. Please come back to me.

Yummy Stuff: Homemade Granola

Posted on May 17, 2012 by lauren

One of my favorite breakfast or snack foods is granola. Go figure. I had never made my own, but it seemed so easy, plus I wanted to make a homemade gift for a friend of mine who recently had her second baby (congrats, Bethany!) that was not casserole-y.

Behold: Honey Almond Coconut Granola. Or Flaxseed Raisin Date Granola. Okay. Just granola. It has a lot of ingredients, this one.

It turned out nicely, but I think next time I will add more honey because I like clumpier chunkier granola and this was not exactly that. But it was very tasty and crunchy. So, adapt, or follow, but whatever you do, don’t forget the yogurt and sliced fresh strawberries!

Homemade Granola

4 cups extra thick rolled oats
3/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup almonds (or 3/4 cup sliced almonds- your choice)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp water
1 1/2 cups raisins and dates
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

This recipe makes a LOT of granola. Be prepared to use two bowls!

Preheat oven to 350. In large mixing bowl (or two) combine all the dry ingredients (not sugar or dried fruit). In a small saucepan, combine honey, brown sugar, water, vanilla, and butter. Heat while stirring until sugar is dissolved. Then pour evenly over dry ingredients and stir to mix well.

Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and spread oat mixture on top (if you don’t have parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and reduce cooking time by 10 minutes or it will burn). Bake for 10 minutes, stir to even out cooking, then return to oven and cook for 15 more minutes.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle raisins and dates, then stir once more. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container.

Don’t forget to share!

Dress That Prof: Casual & Thrifty

Posted on May 16, 2012 by lauren

Well, with teaching for the summer in the bag and graduation around the corner, Andrew can finally loosen up on the dress code a bit when he goes in for work (which he informed me last night often consists of writing at a coffee shop or outside on campus somewhere, sprinkled with a few meetings here and there- I am just the slightest bit jealous!).

Short-sleeved oxford shirt: Goodwill ($3)- find a similar one here

Canvas messenger bag: Moop

Charcoal gray trousers: JCrew Clearance ($15), find similar ones here

Tretorns: JCrew

Happy Wednesday! And hopefully you are enjoying the same kind of glorious weather we have been soaking up lately!

Only Mamas Do That

Posted on May 15, 2012 by lauren

The other day, Oliver geared up to help me shovel mulch by changing into his Captain America costume. Then he grabbed a cheese stick.

But a funny thing happened. While we were in the middle of shoveling the mulch into large plastic containers before transporting it back home, Oliver sighed and stopped shoveling. I stopped to ask him what was wrong. He looked up at me with concern on his face and said, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m just a little boy. Only mamas shovel mulch.” I delved a little further, and it turns out, Oliver believes that mulching is women’s work (!). I almost didn’t correct him, but secretly smiled inside as I explained that he is strong like Mama and boys can shovel just as well as girls!!!

I mean, those are some serious muscles, no?

More things mamas and superheroes do:

Go to the grocery store, of course!

But only mamas eat vegetables. We’re working on that one.

Random Ramblings from the Weekend

Posted on May 14, 2012 by lauren

This weekend was a weekend of walks. We covered about 6 miles, double stroller and ErgoBaby carrier in tow, walking to a birthday party on Saturday at a local park, then to breakfast on Sunday, then to the playground after that before heading back home exhausted and happy.

And one of the most heartwarming things about watching your children grow up is discovering the friendships they form on their own- not the ones you culture for them because you really like the other kid’s mom… though I am quite fond of Max’s mom, thank goodness. Milo and Max. These two have to be separated every day during Circle Time at preschool, which I think says it all and will therefore leave it at that. They are quite the team. But I know from observation that they are both smarty-pantsies AND really really sweet boys who include certain little brothers in all endeavors.

The weather was gorgeous again, so yeah. Lucky us. Except that I wasn’t so lucky yesterday when I developed a massive migraine on the walk back from the playground. For those of you who have never had a migraine before, ~~screw you~~ just kidding… it really is mind-numbing pain and you should consider yourself lucky. I have had three natural childbirths, people, and I can say that migraines seriously suck.

Here’s what happens to me: First, blank spots or blind spots that take the form of what looks like the bright reflections off of waves swim in front of my eyes. I cannot make out faces or words, and become disoriented and confused. IF I am lucky, I will immediately lie down in a dark room as soon as these visual disturbances occur, and a lot of the time I can head off the full-blown migraine. BUT. If I am somewhere where that is not possible (i.e. a mile away from home pushing a stroller), the visual disturbances will get worse and then I will start to become extremely nauseous. Sometimes I throw up, but most often I don’t. Then comes the pain, usually localized to one area of my head. Yesterday it was right behind the right eye, a feeling of shards of glass in my eye and a dull throbbing behind the eye. Brutal. Luckily Andrew was home, so he took the kids so I could lie down (don’t be fooled, sleep is almost impossible during a migraine, especially when I cannot take anything because I am breastfeeding) for a couple of hours. And then, after the torture, there is what I call the “migraine hangover.” Take a really bad hangover, without all the fun you had the night before, and that’s exactly how you feel when the migraine is gone. The migraine hangover usually lasts a full day after the migraine.

So there it is. If you were wondering. I’m still working on identifying my triggers (people who get regular migraines often have very specific triggers that will lead to a nasty one) and so far the three biggest triggers are lack of sleep for several days in a row (check), stress, and a change in barometric pressure (aka glorious cool, sunny weather- which is why I get a lot more migraines in spring and fall- how unfair is that?).

Feeling better and feeling lucky to have such an incredible bunch of men to take care of me. Hope all you mamas had a little more luck with Mother’s Day than I did!

Free Stuff

Posted on May 11, 2012 by lauren

Once (or twice?) a year, our community has a bulk trash pick-up service. People leave their used-up, well-loved junk out on the curb and a big truck comes to take it away to Neverland or somewhere. And that’s when I go all creepy and drive slowly around in my minivan like a kidnapper searching out my next victim.

This year, I made out like a bandit. Free stuff. Two chairs (the one on the left needs a new coat of paint and some wood glue and a couple of clamps to steady its slight wobble but the one on the right? Perfect!):

Free thoughts courtesy of Milo: “Proudie is a good dog, but she has real problems. You know, like those fart problems and she runs away a lot.”

Free wooden ladder, which I plan to use as a climbing trellis for our cucumbers and squash this year. We’ll see how that goes!

And free water play table, which only required a good scrubbing before we put it into use on our back deck. I foresee much use out of this thing over the next couple of summers!

So you see, one man’s trash really is another’s treasure. And the best part? There’s no pressure to hold on to this stuff. If we get sick of it, we can throw it to the curb in 6 months for the next stalker!

Have you dug through any trash lately?

P.s.- I apologize for yesterday’s ranting and raving. As it turns out, I am a serious whiney-pants when I don’t get a good night’s sleep. Over it. Have a lovely weekend, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful mamas out there! You all make my life so much more enjoyable! And Mom, I love you!

First Garden Harvest

Posted on May 10, 2012 by lauren

… was a big colander of swiss chard!

In other news, Emil has been waking up every hour and a half to two hours at night, then kneeling upright in his crib screaming until I come lay him down or nurse him. Disaster. As in, I am a disaster. The good news is, after 25,443,902 trips down and then back up a set of stairs, I can probably count on being in shape for summer shorts and bathing suits. The bad news is, I am too grumpy for words. Peace out.

Dress That Prof: Blue & Khaki

Posted on May 9, 2012 by lauren

Today is the last of the teaching outfits! Andrew has actually been finished teaching for over a week, but we had an extra outfit post or two. So… we will continue doing outfit posts, as Andrew still needs to make office and meeting appearances, but they will definitely be more casual than the teaching outfits.

Plaid work shirt, JCrew (sold out, but find similar one here)

Khaki blazer, JCrew

Slim fit jeans: JCrew, find similar ones here

Boots: Timberland Boot Company

Hope you enjoy next week’s post!

We’re In For It Now!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by lauren

Dude.

Are you watching?

Emil is moving forward at an incredible rate. What took his big bros months to figure out at his age takes him oh, about a week. Now that he can pull to standing, that is his go-to move when he wakes up in his crib 8 times a night. So I enter his room to a very unhappy little guy screaming while holding himself upright in his crib, unable to lie back down because apparently that skill comes later. Sheesh.

He makes a mad dash for the door whenever he sees it open and crawls like a maniac in an effort to escape. The funniest thing is, he still falls over when we try to place him in an upright sitting position! But no worries. He’ll be too busy running around and climbing stairs to sit anywhere anyway. Oh, boy.

Tower Grove Farmer’s Market 2012

Posted on May 7, 2012 by lauren

Can you believe it? May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, first day of the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market, and there they were. Delicious, fragrant, juicy strawberries. Ah. I’m ready for summer.

It was the perfect kick-off to a hot 90-degree weekend, and despite certain someones being slightly melty and unpleasant in the heat…

I meant me, not Emil!

… we all managed to have a fantastic time!

Thanks, Lilly, for the recommendation of boys tank tops at babyGap- just what we were looking for!

We had plenty of delicious local goods from which to choose, though it was hard to decide what we would snack on with our friends once they arrived. At least now we know that everything is delicious!

We arrived at 9am and the market had already been open for an hour. It took the boys about 10 minutes to find the water to cool off (it’s going to be a HOT summer!):

When we met up with our friends Ingrid and Brent and their girls, Ingrid and I ran off to collect food while Brent and Andrew stayed with the kids at the water fountains. We came back with strawberries, rustic bread, salami, cheddar cheese, lemon creme goat cheese, and lemonade.

I must say, despite the heat and the fact that we didn’t stick around for as long as expected (Emil and Oliver were practically begging for a nap), we had such a wonderful time with our friends. Seriously, I just can’t get enough of these two and their awesome girls! We are so so so lucky.

Plus, check out this girl’s hair. Quite possibly the cutest little sweaty curls I ever did see.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out on the back deck while the three boys (yes, even Emil got in on the action!) played in the water. And I may or may not have drank some beer. Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

CrumbBums

Young Bums, Crumb Bums