Flipping the calendar

Free Starbucks samples.

8.26.15 - Rocketism

Rocket (not a morning person) asked Jill,  "Can I just sleep until I wake up and then go to school?  Can you ask them about that?"

Recent sensory joys

Baby Einstein

Shout out to Baby Einstein for being a cute, non-disruptive series to play for Clara while she's strapped into her high chair and I'm taking a break.

Green

Green slithers in to make me cool

I'm floating in a still, wet pool

with butterflies that dart and pass

surrounded by the glistening grass.

8.19.15 - milk

I see a lot of posts in the FB Mommy2Mommy group from women struggling with milks supply. Some have twins and are having a hard time producing enough to feed both. Many are struggling to save up any breast milk to freeze for their babies when they go back to work.

All of those posts make me very grateful supply isn't something I've had to worry about. I produce enough to feed Clara and freeze extra every day. It's good to remember how many ways parenting is going smoothly for us.

Green and Gold Bake

I eat this dish a lot when I'm calorie counting. It's savory and easy to throw together. I also eat it when I'm not calorie-counting, but usually I add more cheese and maybe some ground beef or breakfast sausage in that case.

1 24-oz package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 24-oz container of fat-free cottage cheese
9-12 Tbsp of egg whites
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 tomato, diced

Mix all ingredients together. Use cooking spray on a baking dish and add mix, spread evenly. Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. (Sometimes I mix all ingredients but the tomato, add half to the baking dish, add all the tomato, add the other half on top.)

I like to then toast some bread and add a bunch of the G&G Bake to make a sandwich, but it's pretty good on its own too.

8.9.15 - Foot peek-a-boo

The other night I had Clara in her pjs and a swaddle but she wasn't tired yet. I had her resting in my lap, leaning against my propped up legs, facing me, bottle feeding. I was absent-mindedly looking at my phone and her foot was near my mouth so I pretend to bite it, and she thought that was funny. She started sticking her foot near my mouth on purpose and every time I'd pretend to kind of growl and bite it and she kept smiling. Soon she wasn't eating anymore and pulled away from the bottle to watch me.

Then I held her feet against my forehead so that her swaddled legs covered my face, and I'd pull her legs down quickly and shout "boo!" She was laughing so hard! Sometimes I wouldn't shout anything; I'd just pull her feet down *just* enough to see my eyes, not my whole face, and she'd grin and grin like this was some insanely clever inside joke she and I had that no one else had ever thought of. I kept alternating between "boo!" and peeking out at her for a long time while she laughed harder and harder. Melted my heart, she's so cute.

8.8.15 - Janice's last card-making session

Janice is moving out-of-state now that she has graduated and gotten a job elsewhere. Today she came over for one last card-making session. For various reasons no one else could make it, so it was just her and me crafting and chatting for a few hours (plus Clara and Beegee, neither of whom had much to say). It was enjoyable and very nostalgic. I've had a lot of fun the last few years having crafting parties with different friends from my program. It was a nice past time and tradition while it lasted. I mean I guess it may still happen but as more people move away it gets harder. I'm glad for the times we already had.

8.7.15 - Sushi buffet

Tonight my dear friend Shannon and her boyfriend Mike watched Clara so Jack and I could go out. I'd been looking forward to our date for several days because the way our schedules are right now, Jack and I don't get to spend a lot of time together, especially not a lot of baby-free time.

So we dropped Clara off at Shannon's and went to downtown Davis for an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. I haven't had sushi in a long time and it was wonderful. We sat at a counter that had little wooden boats filled with sushi rolls, edamame, pot stickers, and sesame chicken floating by, and we grabbed whatever looked good. Plus some refreshing Diet Cokes of course.

Jack had purposefully not eaten much during the day so that he would have a huge appetite. We both ate our fill plus a little more.

When we were done, Jack said he needed to "walk it off," so we walked around downtown Davis for awhile. It was a beautiful night, probably in the 70s, and since it's Friday there were a lot of people around, from all the college kids to families getting some air. There were a couple street musicians too. We walked around for maybe 20 or 30 minutes and just held hands and talked about movies our families loved growing up and where we might live after California and whether parents can tell which other adults are parents even if the kids aren't around. We talked about how much we love Clara too. It was such a nice date.

When we went to pick Clara up, she was just hanging out calmly with Shannon. Apparently they had all gone for a walk to take the dog out of the apartment and keep Clara entertained. It means so much to me to have friends willing to babysit for free to give Jack and me a break sometimes. It was a great night.

8.2.15 - Surprise gift card

Today in the mail I got a check for some editing work I did for a former professor of mine. But along with the check she sent me a Starbucks gift card "to say thank you." It was so sweet. Made my night.