Eat!

I can do it myself!

Fail

Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning surprise for Greg = fail. I don't think I cooked them long enough & while partially flakey, a wee bit too dough-y!! Oops!

~ Jen
Sent from my iPhone

Wren Smiling

Snapped a couple days ago just grinning... nothing new for her, I know, but thought I'd share!

Intense.

Our little lady has focus. She is much more intense than Atticus was at this age -- well, from what I remember! She will fix her attention on something or someone, and she doesn't waver for what seems like a looooong time for a 7 month old! Last night, Wren was watching Atticus eat dinner like with was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. Then - Greg was walking around the kitchen and she followed him with her eyes, turning her body when needed, as he went back and forth through the kitchen to the fridge, the table, to the island....

I wonder what will catch her attention next...

I Won.

I enter a lot of contests. I figure it'll pay off eventually. I've won a few random things along the way -- a set of embossed note cards, tickets to meet Uncle Cracker at a radio station event, a gigantic Gund teddy bear when I was a kid...

I've entered several contests since becoming a mom. There are lots of things that I like, and really want -- but I can't justify spending the extra cash on... like say a $1000 stroller or the uber fancy vacuum cleaner. :) So, I enter contests along the way waiting to get lucky.

Well, I got a notice yesterday that I had in fact been chosen as the random winner of a contest on Babble.com. Now, it wasn't the fancy new stroller, or the ridiculously overpriced boutique clothes that I won -- BUT -- it is something that I find rather cool. I haven't yet decided if I'll keep it for my kiddos, or pass it on... I won a set of Mama K's Play Clay!

So yay for good news! Now, I'd really like to win one of the big contests, but I'm happy as can be with my little victories!

Birthday Wishlist

I know. I'm going to be another year older next week. Oy vey! I've got pretty simple requests this year...

I'd like to see a movie or two (with or without my husband)! Ha. On the to see list:

Harry Potter

Burlesque

The Tourist

I'd like to take nap in a perfectly quiet house.

Something yummy from the Williams Sonoma holiday collection. S'mores sans the fire anyone?

Hmmm... that really may be about it. :) The rest of the stuff may be a bit of a stretch. New sunglasses to replace my freaking Oakleys that were lost when we went apple picking. A new diaper bag - well, just because it's pretty much what I carry out and about everyday and my Bahama Mama Louis Vuitton knockoff is starting to come apart at the seams. And I suppose, I'd best add a nice pair of gloves to my list - it's going to be bloody freezing (literally) here for the next long while... A new vacuum cleaner (now doesn't that just sound like an exciting birthday gift!!)...

Two Sides

So, the good news - the majority of my pants are too big.

The bad news - the majority of my pants are too big.

I wonder how many people will notice if I only wear fleece pajama bottoms to work?

Good will.

Perhaps this is my flaw. I tend to think good of people. I think most people will do the right thing. They won't steal from others. They won't intentionally cause harm. They won't lie to one another to further their own agenda. I think people are inherently good.

Perhaps I'm wrong.

I know Greg is becoming slightly jaded after only a few months working within the federal court system, but I was holding out hope that I wouldn't get disheartened too.

Which brings me to my long winded point. Etsy. I love Etsy. I have bought several things from some incredible folks - and nary once had a problem. My last purchase was a set of 10 hair bows for Wren. 10 bows for $10 including shipping. I thought - what a deal. Yes, I could make them, but by the time I went to the store and bought 10 different colors of ribbon and the clips, found my hot glue gun etc -- I might as well just order the darn things. So I did. The nice seller lady in South Carolina sent me a tracking notice to track my shipment. A couple weeks went by and nothing was showing up -- it was as if my package got "stuck" in the system. I notified the seller and she apologized profusely and promised to look into it. A couple more weeks later still nothing and I contacted her again. She again apologized and offered to reship. I did get the second package (after I told her I would return the package if indeed two arrived at my doorstep) BUT instead of 10 bows, I only received 9. Oy. So... I emailed again and she apologized profusely again and said she'd resend the red bow along with something extra since she appreciated my patience. The original order was placed in mid-October. I logged on again just now at lunch to say -- hey, sorry to be a pain, but the red bow never made it. Well, it seems she's closed her Etsy shop and is no longer "in business". Sigh. So, while I'm happy I did get 9 out of 10 bows - I'm a wee bit peeved that she never sent the 10th. Why can't people just do the right thing? Is it really that hard to stick a 2 inch bow in an envelope and send it to me?

So, this holiday season - instead of moping about and seeing how evil people can be to one another, I'm going to make an extra effort to do good. I'm going to scrounge up some change and buy a gift to donate to the angel tree, I'm going to smile at people on the street and in the stores, I'm going to give extra hugs to my kids, I'm going to attempt to send Hanukkah/Christmas/New Years cards to my friends and family and let them know they're appreciated.

We could all use a little bit of good will.

Toledo Bucket List

It's snowed here every day since the start of December. Just a little. Little white fluffy flakes swirling around in the air... I admit it's kind of pretty - but COLD. Which... is putting a damper on my bucket list of things to do in Toledo. :)

I'd really like to get out to see Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo. I'm trying to borrow one of those car seat snuggly things that covers the entire car seat so that Wren won't freeze. I know we'd probably only be there for an hour or two at most -- so is it really worth $30 for the family? I hear it is....

Ok, I thought there were a few other holiday/light things going on around town -- but a quick Google search isn't bringing up the results I was looking for. Guess I need to speak to the locals!

A Couple of Things

Thing 1 - Atticus has been in rare form all weekend. Out of the blue he's now fighting sleep again - both nap and especially bedtime. I'm talking about screaming so loud and hard I thought he was going to make himself throw up. We can't figure out why. If you ask him what's wrong - he'll ask me or Greg for "one more hug" or "one more story". The only catch is that this goes on and on and when you leave the room the screaming starts all over again. It was almost 10:30 pm before he fell asleep last night. Needless to say Greg and I were exhausted and starving because we didn't get to eat dinner while trying to keep Atti from screaming and waking Wren!!!

Thing 2 - Wren has also been fighting sleep. She's going down without any issue for her morning and afternoon nap, but only staying asleep for 45 minutes to an hour before waking. Then... just when we get Atticus to fall asleep for the night, Wren's waking up! For a while, she was sleeping from about 7:30pm until 3 or 4 am... Sigh. Now, she's going down at 7 -- waking up around 11 and then again at usually 3, 5, and 7. I think for Wren, it's a combination of growth spurt, learning to crawl, getting new teeth, starting to babble -- she's just got too much going on in that little brain to sleep! (Of course as I say that -- her morning nap today is going on 2 hours long. Oy!!)

I'm bloody exhausted. Mentally. Physically. How is it that all I want is 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I just can't seem to make it happen.

Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

So... what's going on in your world?

Thanksgiving went surprisingly well here at the Baden house. Aunt Rhonda came in for a visit - which thrilled all the kiddos! Thanksgiving Day was spent out with the Gruenhagen family. That's always a treat - tons of cousins and tons of food. Alas, the weather wasn't exactly cooperating with us this year and it was tooooo cold for the little ones to play outside. While that's not exactly surprising -- it is winter in northwest Ohio -- it's always a bit tricky to chase an adventurous two year old in someone else's home. Especially when that home belongs to a family that's lived there for decades and collected lots of stuff. Lots of stuff that interests a very spirited and inquisitive two year old... but I digress. The food was delish and I wish we could have gotten Atticus to try a bite or two. We did discover that he has a love of cashews?!?

Friday, we took Atticus to school for a few hours so that Greg and I could get a little bit of work done around the house. As it turns out - Friday was quite busy. I did manage to get some work training done, but that's nothing in comparison to the rest of the day. Wren started cutting her first tooth, Atticus split his lip on the wooden pelican at school (lovely pictures of that to be posted soon) and Greg came down with the stomach bug that got me a couple weeks ago.

In the midst of all that, I (along with my brave SIL, Rhonda) began prepping for our Thanksgiving that was held on Saturday. Starting from a Food Network recipe - we created our own brine for the turkey and set the bird out on the patio to soak. We chopped, grated, prepped and otherwise tried to get ready for Saturday. I made two new recipes - both from the November issue of Real Simple. I really enjoyed both of these recipes and hope to add them to our regular menu! Bourbon Cranberries (I did a combo of brown/white sugar and added in a heavy dash of cinnamon) and Butternut Squash Bread Pudding. I'd recommend both recipes to both my meat eating and vegetarian friends and family! Yummy! I can't believe how easy it was to make fresh cranberries. Seriously. Easy. The squash was a bit of a pain in the tush to peel and cut -- but the end result was worth it.

Saturday was a success. Everyone acted like adults. No one was injured or required medical attention. Atticus and Wren both napped even with a house full of people! Yipee.

The remainder of the weekend (Sunday) was relatively calm and quiet. A great weekend.

Wren's First Snowfall

We woke up this morning to snow flurries! Eeeek - I have a feeling the cold is here to stay. I may have to invest in one of those goofy snow bunting things for the carseat! :)