Keeping momma busy

To continue with the getting back to being "me" theme, here is what I've been up to! Getting crafty (some things I can't show you, because they might wind up in your Christmas stocking), taking pictures, a trip to Charlotte to see some girlfriends - and who doesn't love a good baby shower?! Still working on the nursery slowly but surely. Will try to actually take some pictures of it before the baby arrives!

While we're talking about staying busy, I have to tell you about the three quickest hours of my day: 9am-12pm, also known as pre-school. Sophie goes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for three hours, which may seem like lots of time, but I promise you, it isn't.

At least I have a routine: Tuesdays I run all of my errands, Wednesday I do laundry and clean the house, and Thursdays I try to do something relaxing (sewing, baby projects, etc.). By the time I subtract driving time to/from preschool, I'm left with 2 hours and 20 minutes. Then subtract five potty breaks (34 weeks pregnant, remember?), giving some attention to my furbabies, prepping lunch and dinner, catching up on the phone with a friend or family member, stopping to eat a snack or two (34 weeks pregnant, remember?), my other tasks are left with very little time to be completed. And just forget it if my swollen little fingers find their way to the keyboard and type in "Pinterest" before I can stop them.

Friends, I am NOT complaining, I love my mommy time and yet I miss Sophie when she's gone. It is just amazing how quickly three hours can be exhausted!!

Anyhoo, what post is complete without some photos. Have a great day, y'all!

Took pics of this adorable birthday boy!

I've been getting a little crafty... watch out!

The momma-to-be, me and Whitney.

Whitney is due three days after me!

The most unbelievable cupcakes come from the kitchen

of the grandma-to-be, Helen. (Wishing I had the leftovers right now.)

New rule: family dinner

We are three weeks into successful family dinners several nights a week! I think this makes up for the time daddy has to spend on the road away from us. Our most recent successful family dinner was easy-peasy and Sophie almost cleaned her plate.

Pork chops with Kale was the basis for the meal. My changes to the recipe were marinating the pork chops in soy sauce to help tenderize (what is worse than a tough pork chop?), and I used more like half the can of tomato paste instead of just a tablespoon.

I served this with Parmesan couscous and Sophie's version was a cut-up pork chop, couscous, a handful of cherry tomatoes and kale chips (instead of the wet, tomato-y kale). I'm not sure where my kale chip recipe came from, but I've found a method that works for me:

Wash, dry, and tear kale into bite size pieces

Drizzle with EVOO

Spread out on baking sheet (I line it with aluminum foil for simple clean up)

Sprinkle with salt

Bake 250 for 25 minutes

Have you had successful, healthy family dinners that even picky eaters enjoyed? I'd love to know to add to our repertoire!

The unthinkable

I've done the unthinkable in the Sophie en Sophie household. I deployed sprinkles on an everyday lunch.

The kid needed to eat some prunes, if you know what I mean. Today has turned out to be one of those days where I'm not in the mood for talking about eating prunes, or begging her to eat prunes, or chasing her around the house with multicolored toothpicks stacked with prunes... Sophie likes to play in the spice cabinet and found some sprinkles that are who-knows-how-old. She said "peeeeees mommy?" And we've been working on manners. So, I had to.

I generously applied sprinkles to her plate of prunes and some also made it on to the peanut butter sandwich. She gobbled them up. Was it worth it? We'll know in about 2.5 hours (hopefully she sleeps that long, mommy needs a nap, too)!

That's what she said

Adios summer, it's been real. Lake Michigan

There is no shortage of articles and studies in the world on parenting and how one should talk to their children. I've read that if you talk in baby-talk, the child will have a harder time getting the real word right themselves. While a higher-pitched "motherese" is more interesting and garners more attention from the babes, using proper grammar is still important.

Friends, I've sort of fallen off the wagon. Now, I'm not saying I chase Sophie around asking if she wants some "wa-wa," but there are some words that she says in baby-speak that I can't pass up repeating. Allow me to divulge some of our favorite Sophie-speak:

Hummy = hungry

Muk = milk

Manno = Maddy

Sacks = snacks

I yuh you = I love you

Fooney = smoothie

Bucklebuck = buckle up

Mo = more

Mickey hou-hou-house = Mickey Mouse

Shawt, Kissit, Maset, E-it, KK = Shawn, Kristin, Mason, Ian, Kaelin

Wha Daddy doit? = What is Daddy doing?

Poopies awwww got = Mommy, thank you for changing my dirty diaper (Poopies all gone).

And folks, that's what she said.

Helluva start

Hi friends! Our little family has just had a helluva start to the week and I really wanted to share.

MBD got back into his early morning workout and I made egg white omelets with orange peppers, spinach and provolone, coffee and smoothies ("fooney" as Sophie calls them).

1 cup tofu

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

1 cup fresh cantaloupe

1 cup frozen organic berries

1/2 cup rice milk

Sophie got to push the buttons on the blender which I think blew her little mind. We then had a playdate with Sophie's cousin Hannah as half the town was flooded from a ridiculous amount of rain last night - and who wants to get out and about in that?

Hannah introduced little miss to My Little Pony cartoons, they colored together like best friends, and played a little hide and seek while Kristin and I sat in the baby's room brainstorming. Sophie ate her whole lunch of apples and corn tortilla quesadilla (with organic chicken and cheddar cheese), and then hit the hay for a lovely little nap. So did mommy.

A quick run to the grocery, a long walk with the dogs and some playtime at the park rounded out the afternoon. Daddy came home early and we had our most successful family dinner attempt yet! I made pork chops with apples and Sophie ate nearly every bite on her little divided plate! (I added carrots and doubled the onion and apple in the recipe.) The couscous on the side was probably her favorite thing.

Dinner was cooked and eaten, dishes done, cookies and milk shared, playtime done, books read, teeth brushed, pj's on, and tomorrow's lunch packed all before 7pm. Phew! Hope you are off to a great week!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Fall is here, or at least more palatable temperatures, the scent of bonfires and the turning of some leaves (in our backyard the leaves are simply falling. And falling. And 13 bags have been raked and discarded already). This momma has been feeling a bit renewed with the changes in the weather! The last two weeks have been very productive - after I gave myself a little kick in the pants and a pep talk. I tackled (with the help of hubs) painting a dresser for the baby room, a few little crafty projects (oh, Pinterest, why so addicting?), and get this - we had two, count 'em, two, family dinners: this and this.

I've been wanting to write more, but haven't made the time. I've been wanting to revamp the look of the blog and rename it, but am having a hard time narrowing it down... Here are a few thoughts:

Addicted to Pinterest

And Baby Makes Four

My Poor Dogs Never Get Love

Sophie is Hilarious

Crafty Crafty Me

I Have The Best Family

I Love To Cook

All The Reasons MBD Rocks (My Baby Daddy)

I Love Preschool

At least that sums up life in the Barber household as of late.

And the following photos should sum up our fun-filled weekend. Sophie's school hosted their annual Fall Festival and fun was had by all.

The two loves of my life.

OK, cut me and the slow-moving pony handler out of the picture,

one would think Sophie was trotting at break-neck speed.

She kills me. And she LOVED riding Twix, the pony.

Bryan literally had to go in and pull Sophie out

of the bounce house. Doesn't she look graceful?

To minimize the trauma of being pulled from the bounce house,

she got to ride her second horse.

Could she be any happier about her condolence prize?

Sophie LOVES to practice her animal sounds.

Here she is on a bail of hay giving the Lion "Roar!"

complete with hand gestures.

Other animals she's mastered: elephant, kitty cat, doggy, froggy, monkey,

horsey and cow.

Warning: If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

Preschool art has eaten my refrigerator.

Did I mention I was getting crafty?

Here is a sneak peak at the nursery color scheme,

and my latest project that is almost done.

Hope you and your family had a awesome Fall weekend. xo

Enough excuses...

It's only Tuesday? Is it too soon to be looking forward to the weekend?

Other questions plaguing me this week:

Why won't a grapefruit peel the same way an orange does?

Why, when Mickey Mouse turns his head, do his ears stay in the same place?

Who invented Pinterest and where can I send a thank you card?

Can someone just go ahead and create a pregnancy-safe Red Bull?

I have SO much to do and not near enough energy to do it. I keep thinking that once I get into a routine that balances raising a child, feeding a family, taking care of our Boxers, making a house a home, decorating a nursery, growing a human etc. that I'll be able to resurface as "Amy." But... then I remember that 10 weeks from today I'll have a newborn and then my world will be a little upside down again for a while. So, my real question is: Did "Amy" go into hiding when we started the moving process and she'll reappear once baby number two is sleeping through the night? Hardly seems fair to me or the people around me...

This is the point in my writing where one might expect a pledge to blog more, or put less pressure on myself as a wife/mom, but I won't make promises I can't keep. We have some projects to work on for the nursery, so you can definitely look forward to an update on those soon! I've been cooking more and (finally) have a working dishwasher, so a few new recipes have been realized. And I just might have the sweetest and smartest toddler on the planet; I really should write more about.

Anyhoo, just wanted to tell you that we're still alive, just busy getting to know our new surroundings!