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This is me.

Thank goodness tomorrow is the last day of February. I'm convinced that February translates to "Germs" in some lost language. Cori was sick again this past week, and things peeked on Friday night. This time it was a bad cold - fever, watery eyes, nose running like a faucet, and a horrible horrible cough. And while I know Cori doesn't feel well, I have to be honest (and selfish) and say it's been really hard to me. Cori already has a strong preference for Mommy, but when she is sick, no one else will do. The regular visit from Grandma on Friday night even didn't appease her.

What's been hard is that I'm also a little sick (have been for a few weeks) and I can't really take anything since I'm pregnant. But more so, I've just not been sleeping well. Cori already needs me to sleep with her even when she isn't sick, but at least then I can sneak away during the night to get back to my own bed. This happens on average 3 times a night, but we were working towards sleep training this weekend to break that. With the cold, the sleep training is on hold.

But now that Cori is sick, I'm pretty much sleeping in her bed full time. I've been in & out about 6 or 7 times a night. It isn't comfortable trying to fit us both in her full bed since she pretty much is laying on top of me. Her coughs wake us both up, and her kicking my growing tummy isn't comfortable either. But last night I just surrendered and stayed in there all night in hopes that I could get a few consecutive hours of sleep.

I hate that it makes me resentful in a way of someone I love so much. I can't seem to get a break day or night. And then of course this invokes the mommy guilt. I know she is sick but I'm not 100% either. I just feel drained and want someone to take care of ME, pamper me for a change. As someone who is really independent, you know it's bad when I say I'm ready for someone to take care of me.

I'm looking forward to a new month, no germs, and a good spa day in the near future!

Thinking warm thoughts

Last week's warm weather seems like a tease now that I'm watching a few inches of snow fall outside. While I realize it is still February, I can't wait until spring rolls around!

Yesterday we had a great opportunity to experience some warmer weather for a few hours. Visiting with my great Aunt & Uncle afforded us the opportunity to go swimming in their complex's indoor pool. The water was super warm and just the smell of the chlorinated air made it feel like summer for a few hours.

Cori was a little hesitant to get off the ladder and into the water at first, but after about 10 minutes she was a fish. It took some prompting to get her out of the pool at the end.

As for the rest of the weekend, Dave and I got to have a date day - a full 24 hrs - on Saturday. We lounged, we saw a movie (The King's Speech - highly recommended!) and had dinner out at Siba. We won't discuss the hours we spent afterwards at Barnes & Noble looking at baby name books only to not come up with anything .

We've been struggling with our first born too lately, but in a different way. Listening & following directions have been horrible lately, and we are struggling with discipline. Luckily some great advise from friends has helped calm my mind and remind me that it's just a phase. And that consistency with toddlers won't be 100% but more like 80%. In those moments, it's very difficult to remember. For any other toddler moms out there, a friend passed along this article too, and I found it insightful. Make sure you click on the hyperlinks within the article to see 5 Tantrum Stoppers that work and 8 discipline mistakes parents make.

Small update

Just checking in since it's been almost 2 weeks. Just some small updates:

• Health wise, things have been a little nuts. I got sick on Superbowl weekend - caught the stomach bug that Cori & my mother in law had. Luckily it was just 24 hrs, and then I traveled to North Carolina for 3 days of work. That was fairly uneventful, and luckily Dave didn't get sick while I was gone (which was a fear of mine).
  
  Then Cori got sick again this past weekend with the stomach bug again. We can't seem to shake it fully but I'm holding out hope that we've finally kicked it to the curb.
  
• Pregnancy wise, I'm at 17 weeks now. Things are fine but I can't get over how different this pregnancy is from the pregnancy with Cori. First off, I'm down 11 pounds. Even my OB commented on it today. She confirmed that the baby is growing fine and will continue to take the nutrients it needs, so that is what is important. But losing weight?? And I've not yet definitively felt the baby move, which is kind of disappointing. I've had some questionable moments wondering if that was something, but I guess it's been long enough that I forget. Also baby's heart rate is a lot slower than Cori's ever was. Today it was 145 (totally fine, but Cori's was always high, like 170s.) Based on the old wives tales, this would indicate a calm little boy in there. Less than 2 weeks until we find out for sure!
  
• Sleep training is going to begin again soon. Cori has been sleeping surprisingly well lately with the exception of a night here or there. But it still needs to be done, and I'm still not looking forward to it! Overall Cori has been doing really well with school and such (we even have a parent teacher conference tonight - hee hee) so I'm holding out hope that this goes just as smoothly.

Mama mojo running high

I'm really starting to get into the whole Mom thing of doing some crafts and baking with Cori. Last night we made Steeler cupcakes for her to take into school today.
Steeler cupcakes are devils food batter for the black, yellow icing for the gold and of course chocolate sprinkles. Cori had a blast making the cupcakes; she loves to add the ingredients and to mix everything. She also likes to lick the spatula and bowl (some things are genetic and cannot be avoided I guess).


She also had to be the official taste tester and really got into that job:

Next week is her school Valentine's Day party. I really enjoyed putting together treat bags for her friends and valentines to hand out. But they asked that each child bring in a box or bag to collect their valentines. This is what I crafted. What do you think? I'm hoping she can use it for a few years, but even if she just uses it the once, I felt all mommy proud to be able to make it for her!

Mexican Skinny Lasagna

I thought I'd share a recipe for a meal that is both tasty and inexpensive. Bonus points that it is fast to make, you get 12 servings, and it is healthy! (And I bet you have half the ingredients in your kitchen anyways)

1 small onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1.25 lbs ground turkey or ground chicken
2 T cooking oil

Add above ingredients to a skillet with high sides (or even a stock pot). Cook until meat is no longer pink; break up any large chunks of meat into pieces.

To the skillet, add a can of corn (drained), a can of black bean (drained and rinsed) and a can of diced tomatoes (drained of most of the liquid). Add about 1T cumin and 1T of chili powder. Stir and cook about 4 minutes more.

Now add 2C of pasta sauce and 1C of salsa and bring to a low boil. Cook about 5 minutes.

Spray some cooking spray on the bottom of a lasagna pan (13 x 9 x 2). Now add 1/3 of the lasagna mixture to the bottom. Take 2-3 large whole wheat tortillas and place them on top of the mixture. You will need to tear the tortillas to cover any bare spots, or cut them to fit. Then add another 1/3 of the mixture on top of the tortillas. Add another 2-3 tortillas on top of this - cut to cover and fit again. Finally, add the last 1/3 of the mixture on top of the tortillas.

Now add some shredded Mexican cheese on top of this. You'll use about 1.5 cups of cheese. If you'd like, add some parsley flakes or dried cilantro to the top for a pretty green effect. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 for 35 mins. Remove foil and bake another 10 mins. Let the pan rest for 10 minutes before you cut and serve. Depending how you cut, you will get about 12 servings from the pan.

Top your servings with some sour cream and fresh cilantro. Some corn cake would be a great side. And a margaretta would probably be really good to wash it all down. Enjoy!

Mis-mash

Welcome February, and happy early Chinese new year! We're a month closer to spring, and thank goodness, cause this weather is driving me stir-crazy! The anticipation of spring combined with some early nesting has been coming out in small ways around the house. I finally took down the snowman themed bathroom decor and put up more permanent decor.

What's kind of funny is that I like the the reverse side of these towels a little bit better than the "normal" side! Which side do you think looks better - the normal white with green & blue dots, or green & blue reversed with the white dots?
New front decor, thanks to Smith & Hawken (love that store - they really need one in Pittsburgh!)
A touch of spring flowers in the guest room to bring in spring.

As if the weather doesn't keep us cooped up enough, last week Cori got really sick and had to miss school on Friday. Early Friday morning she called to me over the monitor which is nothing new, but I went into the room and saw there was something on the sheets. I thought she had spilled her water sippy, but unfortunately she was vomiting violently. This went on for about 90 minutes. We'd get the poor kid cleaned up with fresh sheets, and she would just fall back asleep when it would hit again. Thankfully that was it, and after those 90 minutes, it was out of her system. But she still seems to have no appetite even now, and she must have been pretty traumatized as she still talks about her vomiting and says her tummy hurts and she is sick.

So far none of us have caught this tummy bug, and hopefully no one will! I'm already down about 10 pounds from the time I got pregnant and a stomach bug doesn't sound like a nice way to lose more! Speaking of the pregnancy, we're also exactly a month away from finding out 2.0's gender. I'm still getting a very strong "boy" vibe, though I'd love for Cori to have a little sister.

I think sooner than later we are going to have to start sleep training again. Cori is really, really in a "mommy" phase right now, and she requires that I lay with her to fall asleep. I hate to say "require", but if I am home, she will not accept anything other than me laying with her to fall asleep. But at daycare and at her grandparents, she naps fine without me obviously and by herself. And if I'm not at home, like traveling for work, she will let Dave put her down to sleep.

But if I am home, it is screaming and crying for 30+ minutes. I've pinned myself into a corner because after 30 minutes of screaming, I go in and tell Dave to leave and I'll just lay with her. I know it only reinforces the bad habit, but at that point, I can't sleep anyways and I'm frustrated and upset too. And it compounds it further in that when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she needs me to lay with her to go back to sleep. I've tried to sneak away and apparently no matter how ninja-like I am, she can tell I'm not there. So she cries out and here we go again. Last night it was 6 times.
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I have a really comfortable bed, and I'd really like to sleep in it. This is going to be hard on everyone I think, as much as I know it needs to be done and in the end will be better for her. I won't subject Dave's uncle to the sleep training when he stays over shortly, so I guess we'll start after Valentine's day. I'm out of excuses (new house, new daycare adjustment, etc) and I'm pretty much out of patience. I just hope that I have to strength to make it through!