A new look at life with 2...

     Well since I had Abigail back in August I have not thought that life with two small children has been as "scary" as people have said it will be.  I mean I have heard some horror stories.  Kids taking off and throwing poopie diapers, shaving the dog, trying to sell their younger sibling, etc.  No our house is not perfect and does not look like one of those in a magazine, and no we do not have the "Martha Stewart" table setting at dinner every night, but we did not have these things before having kids.  We do have happy children, clean clothes, warm food in our bellies, and a roof over our head.
    But back to the reason for writing this post.  On a recent weekend I decided to take a solo trip with the girls up to Ikea just north of Cincinnati.  Thinking this was a great idea I figured it was our first "test" before the inaugural trip to take Abigail to Chicago.  Again the mind set is life with 2 children is not bad.  So I pack up the girls in Daddy's SUV (it is bigger and you never know what we may be getting up there to make our trip worth while) and head out.  The ride there was great; Abigail took a nap and Anna was chattering away about the horses we saw and watch her "Max and Ruby" on the DVD player.  I was thinking to myself "I can do this".

     And then we got to Ikea...

   So mind you it has been a decade (wow, now I feel old) since I had been to Ikea.  And I really did not think that going on a weekend around opening time would be a bad idea.  I WAS WRONG.  This place was packed.  And a bit of doubt began to set in.
    I found a spot near the front door; thank heavens for "family parking" but boy was it a sight for many I am sure watching me try to park Joe's Escalade.  It is huge compared to my SUV, and I am not used to driving it.  But we over came that hurdle and prepare to battle the store.  Now they offer a kids area to watch your potty trained children but Anna wanted to go with mommy.  We got a map from the greeter and then a skeptic look from her too.  The nice old lady asked me if I really was going to go shopping here with 2 small children by myself.  Um, yes.  I did not drive an hour and a half for nothing!
     I got a cart, got Abigail set, took Anna to the potty before we ventured upstairs to start our journey thru the showroom floor.  I gave Anna the "listen to mommy and stay right next to me" speech and up the elevator we went.  So far so good, right.
     Well first of many errors of the shopping trip began by us going in the wrong direction on the show room floor.  You have to follow the arrows and do not venture off the path.  Anna lasted in the kids section and then about a 1/4 of the way thru the showroom before she asked me if she could ride in the cart.  And for those of you who do not know Anna well, she HATES to ride in the cart.  There were so many people there that she did not want to walk.  We finished up on the second floor and got finished with the main floor and headed to the warehouse section - error and the downward slope of our demise.  We had picked up so many things that Anna had run out of room to sit in the cart and was already upset that I evicted her from the cart.  We had to get a flatbed cart so I could get the bookcase and desk I had come for.  Now you are probably wondering how did I push both carts.  Well it was a sight!  Pushing one while pulling the other, and a 3 year old in tow.  We found the desk and got it loaded, found the bookcase and somehow I got it too loaded on the cart (it was 72 pounds!).  And then meltdown began...
    Abigail wanted her bottle, so I fixed it and was feeding her while in her seat.  Anna wanted a snack and then proceeded to spill half of them on the floor and start stepping on them bc she liked the crunching sound.  Anna also decided she did not want to walk anymore and laid down across the boxes on the flatbed cart.  I can not tell you how many dirty looks i then started to get.  we get all the way to the check out and forgot something, had to back track and by the time we got back to the check out there were 10 lines that were about 15 people deep each.  Anna hits her head on a display and begins her meltdown, Abigail who was happy with her full belly decides to join her big sister and wails while in line.  More evil looks.  We finally get checked out, both girls calm down and Anna and I look at each other and say "oh no, Sissy pooped."  And note to shoppers Ikea does not have a bathroom at the end by the check out only the end where you come in.  SOOO back to the entrance we go to wait yet again for the family bathroom, all the while dragging our purchases and 2 children one of which has the stinkiest poopie diaper.  Meltdown number, well I can't even remember what meltdown we are up to now, this poopie diaper is the worst.  Abigail gave us a blowout.  A number 5 (two 2s and a 1).  It was all over her undershirt, all over her, and the more you cleaned her the more it got all over.  Anna just stood there holding her nose telling me how stinking it was in the bathroom.  And some idiot kept knocking on the door even though we told them we were "in there".  I about lost it.  I was to the point that I did not care if someone walked away with our cart full of furniture, I did not care if I made these people wait 30 minutes and I did not care how many dirty looks I got the rest of the day.  I was sick of being run into and cut off.
    I cleaned up my little lady and felt awful for the next person in there.  For a 5 month old, 11 pound little girl her poops smell worse than that of a grown man.  I gathered up what little energy and courage I had left and walked out to load up our treasures and head back to the Bluegrass State.  As I mentioned before I was finished with the rude people cutting off the mom with 2 kids and two carts; so it was on like Donkey Kong.  There was about 200 feet to get out and I was not letting any one get in our way.  Anna sat on her make-shift perch of the boxes and I told her hang on!  Two people tried, yes tried to cut us off getting out and I let the cart hit then and did not apologize for what happened - this was not my usually behavior but i had it.  I pushed the carts as fast as I could, got the girls loaded up, had the somewhat useless guys in the loading area get my desk in (the guy ran his head into the back of the door) and back to the interstate we went.  Anna from her seat in the back says to me, "Mommy, you were funny when you made those people got out of the way.  It was crazy!"
     It was on the drive home once we crossed over the Ohio river that I think my nerves were settling down.  It was on this drive that made me realize life with 2 isn't that hard, it is all the outside factors that make it hard.  We were out of our element and tried as best as we could to roll with the punches.  But it was the lack of manners and courtesy by others that made our first pilgrimage to Ikea a not so pleasant experience.  It was also this trip and others actions and attitudes that made me realize I am a good mommy of 2 and that life with 2 isn't that bad.  Things happen and no life is perfect but I know that my life with 2 is nothing like the horror stories I have heard.  I will take my life with my 2 wonderful daughters and run with it.  In the great times and the crazies, the good listening and the bad.  It makes my world complete in this thing we call life.


“Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.” ~ Chuck Swindoll

Wordless Wednesday

FF- Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

So this week I decided to try a soup recipe, and my mom found this in the Food Network Magazine.  We love soup in our house but I am always scared to make soup.  Fear that it will not turn out, which in my opinion you really can't mess up soup.  Back to the task at hand.  As the weather took a turn for the cold I pulled out the recipe and started cooking.  It was easy, fast and very yummy!  And the smells that came from the kitchen...well let's just say the electricians that were working on our basement asked if they could stay for dinner!  This took about 35 minutes from start to finish; I chop slow.  And there were some things I modified, I will add those modifications at the end of the post.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups chopped broccoli florets
• 1/3 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 1/3 cups)
• Croutons, for topping (optional)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, half-and-half, both potatoes, bay leaf, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl; add 3 tablespoons water and season with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes; drain.

When the potatoes are tender, remove the bay leaf from the soup and transfer the soup to a blender. Puree until smooth, leaving the filler cap slightly open to let steam escape (or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender). Return the soup to the pot and thin with water, if necessary. Return to a simmer over medium-low heat; stir in the broccoli and season with salt and pepper.

Add the cheese and stir until melted. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with croutons, if desired.

Per serving: Calories 589; Fat 34 g (Saturated 18 g); Cholesterol 97 mg; Sodium 931 mg; Carbohydrate 50 g; Fiber 8 g; Protein 22 g

***My modifications***

Used 1cup of 1/2 and 1/2 and 1 cup of 1% milk (tried to cut a few calories)

Also we did not add cheese to the pot of soup, added it to our individual bowls

Lastly I did not have croutons so we left out and it was still delish!

Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot

Well since having Abigail, I have really been utilizing my crock pot.  It is easy, and does just about all of the cooking in one pot for you with little work.  And as a mommy of two, it has become my favorite appliance in the kitchen!  This week I decided to try my version of pulled pork in the crock pot.  I usually bake it in the oven but really wasn't keen on having the oven going all day when we would be gone here and there.  The recipe that I use is easy and

 consists of 5 ingredients; Pork tenderloin, 

1/2 onion, pepper, bbq sauce, Lawry's season salt.

I cut the onion into large slices.  I only used a 1/2 of a vidalia onion but feel free to use more if you love onions.  After cutting the onion into pieces

 I laid the onion pieces into the bottom of the crock pot.

Then I placed the pork on top of the onions and seasoned the pork with pepper and season salt.  Season salt is a great invention in my opinion - it has your basic seasonings all together 

I then add about 1 cup of bbq sauce over the top of the pork.  Cover with the lid and cook on low for 6 hours.  Once the pork is finished it will be fork tender.  As it cooks it will create its on liquid; which is good because this will keep the pork moist while it cooks.

Once ready to eat I remove from crock pot and the meat is so tender I shred with 2 forks.   I add bbq sauce on the pork after it is shredded but not to the entire amount of shredded beef; you can I just prefer storing the leftovers without sauce on it. 

Usually serve with a salad and fries; and the girls and I found mini slider buns at 

Kroger recently so we used those.

Great meal, great leftovers, and easy on the wallet.

Enjoy!