Friday, January 22, 2010

Gingerbread and more...


This post is brought to you by the letter Z (for the dead to the world nap I just got) and my bouncing baby boy (he's literally flinging himself wildly around the doorway next to me in his bouncer, babbling, and drooling on his linkadoos).
I have bits and pieces of time to read during the day. I picked up Great With Child again. It's not like I haven't read that book about a hundred times already, but I'm reading it when I'm in a exhausted baby haze each time, so I don't retain anything. Anyway, the book is a chronicle of her pregnancy and first year with her third child. Most of it could be considered decidedly less than peppy. At the end, she mentions that there is very little written by women when they're in the throes of new babydom becaused they're just too tired to write. A light bulb went off for me. That can explain at least part of my dropping off of blogging lately, and I'll use it as an excuse for my less than peppyness as well...
But Evan is almost 8 months now, and he's becoming a happier, better adjusted baby. I'm really enjoying his 8-month-old babbling and smiling and bouncing and grabbing and feeling, and I'm grateful for some of the tired resentfulness to be fading into the background. He's napping longer at least one nap a day now, so I have a few minutes hands free even after the naps I usually take to make it through. =) We're settling into a routine that feels like a well worn sneaker (and mine are very well worn).
And Seth came back from Nana and Papa's an easier toddler. We had a great morning reading books and playing pretend. Winnie the Pooh had to read all the books with us. (This is Seth's first foray into playing with stuffed animals.) Pooh also had to eat lunch in Seth's booster, and he ran back and forth from the table to me to get pretend food. Apparently Pooh likes apples and Goldfish.
We also made gingerbread together today. I used to make it from a box mix, but I found a wonderful recipe on Allrecipes that blows the box out of the water. I LOVE smelling it baking. Seth helped me with all the dumping of the ingredients into the bowl. "Mama, I need to dump it!" (Side note: I have decided that I'm practically incapable of putting an entire stick of butter into almost anything. I substitute applesauce for half if that's what it calls for.) After it was done, we both had a sampling. Mmmmm. I think he enjoys eating something that he's made. I know about that feeling; I like it, too.
I'm analyzing this a bit, and I think I've become a bit more of a foodie lately because its a frugal pleasure. =) Food tastes so much better when its made mostly from scratch, and its cheaper to do it that way if you're not buying exotic ingredients. We can eat healthy and deliciously, I get to try a new hobby that doesn't cost more than my regular grocery budget, etc., etc.
But Seth is waking up, so I'd better be moving on. Mom and Dad are back again this evening. David and Dad are getting the rest of the leaves up this weekend and cutting some tree limbs.
And I'm working the Spirtual Encouragement/MOPS promotional booth for a couple of hours at Kids Exchange tomorrow. I'm thinking of making a posterboard sign and walking through the line to give out cards for MOPs. What should I put on there? Maybe "Hey Moms! Want a couple of hours to yourself to eat breakfast and hang out with other local moms while your children play in another room far, far away? I thought so! Go to www.sjklsjfldj.com" What do you think? =)
Happy weekend, y'all!

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