Goodbye July, Goodbye Summer

I feel like I just wrote this post and I was in the middle of summer break.  But in one week from today, I will be officially back to work.  This summer blew by so fast and I can honestly say, that it was the best summer I've ever had.  Spending time with my son has been absolutely incredible and I going back to work is going to be extremely hard.  Last year, I was ready to go back to work and get back to my "normal" life.  But now, I'm not so sure that working is going to feel "normal" for me anymore.  I've already cried a couple of times about thinking about Ethan at the babysitter's.  Here's to hoping the anticipation of going back to work is worse than the real thing.
We have totally been digging the splash pads this summer.  Ethan wasn't so sure about them the first couple of times but now he loves running through the fountains.  (St. Louis readers, we like the ones at Tillis Park and Millenium Park.)  Ethan was so funny yesterday running around the house with his bath towel on his head.  SUPER-ETHAN!  When I took out the Bumbo to lend to a friend, Ethan wanted to try it out.  Hilarious watching him squeeze himself in and out :)

This morning, when I pulled in from work, a POD was in our driveway.  In order to list our house, we have a lot of cleaning to do.  Our basement is FULL of "stuff".  Boxes of toys and clothes, the Christmas tree, wrapping paper, craft items, bedding and pillows, wedding presents, well...anything you can imagine.  It's insane.  Our agent says that everything needs to disappear so into the POD it will go.  DID I MENTION THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE?!?

We aren't moving yet.  We are just starting to look and are hoping to list our house after Labor Day.  One more month to do a lot of little fix-up projects around the house and pack up this POD.  We are definitely staying in St. Louis and we will be moving closer to our parents and my work.  The driving back and forth is crazy for me and Ethan and I spend so much time in the car.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE living in the area we are currently in but unfortunately, won't be able to afford a house the size that we want. 

Finally (to end this totally random post), today was the first day of half marathon training.  It is my 3rd attempt at training and 3rd time's the charm, right?!  I've been running on and off for about 3 years now and I know there is nothing that can get in my way of running this thing in October.  My sister and I are going to train and race together and I'm excited to do this with her.  So here we go!

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Traveling and Cruising with a Toddler

We just got home from a week-long Alaskan cruise with Ethan.  I'll admit, it wasn't the most relaxing trip of our lives, but we came prepared and were able to enjoy the trip and the beautiful scenery.  That being said, I'll never do that again.

When my mother-in-law mentioned that she wanted us to go on a cruise with them and WITH ETHAN, I was a bit skeptical.  I knew that traveling with a 14 month old would be a bit tricky and I knew that cruise wasn't exactly the place for a toddler.  But the more I started talking to people, the more excited I became with the idea and since we love to travel, we figured we could survive.  There would be 4 adults and only one Ethan so we had pretty good odds in our favor.

Before the trip, I scoured the internet for the best traveling tips and toys that I could find.  Hopefully this post can help others too!  Here is what worked for us while traveling and cruising with a toddler:

 1.  Fisher Price Apptivity Case-  Ethan loves to push the off button on our phones and iPad when we try to  use apps so we bought this case hoping it would prevent that and it did.  I downloaded all of the Fisher Price free apps and he really liked them.  He also liked these: "I Here Ewe", "SoundTchLite", "Bubbles", "Shapes", "Match it Up" and "Doodle Buddy". 

2.  Sock Money Nesting Dolls- These were great for dinners on the boat.  We would put little snacks or pieces of bread in each one that he could find as he opened each doll.  He really loves opening and closing them so that gave us a nice 20 minutes of "relaxation" one night.  (We left the smallest 2 dolls at home because they are a chocking hazard.)

3. Travel Magna Doodle- We ended up throwing away the magnets because the kept falling off and were a chocking hazard.  Ethan isn't really old enough to draw yet but he liked erasing whatever was on the screen so that kept him busy for a bit.

4. Earth's Best Food Pouches- Luckily, Babies R Us has a 20 of $20 sale on these right before we left.  Ethan hasn't had "baby food" in a very long time but I knew these would be great for snacks on the boat or while we were docked.  I am SO glad I had these.  Ethan decided to be a picky eater some days on the trip and it was nice to know he was getting SOME kind of nutrition for the day.  There are tons of great flavors and they are organic too! 

5. B. Hellophone- Ethan LOVES cell phones and this was a birthday gift from my brother.  We saved it for the trip and it was his favorite!  You can record your voice and there are cute little songs.  We didn't use it on the plane because it's pretty loud but it was great for time in the room on the boat.

6. Annie's Organic Bunnies- I heard about these from another mommy and she was right...baby crack.  Ethan adores these...he smiles and laughs when he sees the box.  I brought a box of cheddar and a variety box of cookies.  These things saved our lives too many times.  I hate that I was shoving these things down his throat but they were really the only thing that would keep him occupied during dinners, flights, and any other meltdowns.  (These were the reason I needed to bring the baby food pouches.)  For some reason I started calling these things "bun buns" and when Ethan eats them he says "mama" in the sweetest voice you have ever heard.

7. First Years Jet Stroller- We needed an umbrella stroller and I heard about this from another mommy.  It was AWESOME.  I love this thing!  Great quality, easy to use, light, and perfect for travel.  AND...I got it on sale randomly on Amazon (I think it was $25 for some reason).  It comes in a bunch of cute colors too...of course, we just got black!

8.  Snackgrabber- This was another necessity for the "bun buns".  Ethan was able to feed himself and it occupied him to have to go in for his snack.  We also got creative and put other things in there during dinners (spoons, makeup mirrors, bread, pacifiers...anything that would fit).

9. Pack and Play Sheet- Man, I had no clue that a cruise wouldn't provide a pack and play sheet!  Seriously...they give you the nasty 1980's PnP WITHOUT a sheet.  Thankfully I read a bunch of blogs that told me to bring mine along.

Luckily, the flights went really well.  We had layovers on the way there and the way back.  We also had a 5 hour redeye flight back which was really stressful.  Ethan ended up sleeping that entire flight but we didn't.  Every time he fussed and tried to change positions, we scurried to get him comfortable. 

My sweet, little baby turned into a toddler on this trip.  We got our first taste of Ethan's "naughty" side and now it's time to learn how to actually parent.  Unfortunately, we reinforced Ethan's behavior the entire trip because we couldn't just let him scream all day.  He quickly learned that if he screams, then he gets what he wants REALLY fast.  Poor kid is in for a rude awakening that that isn't going to work at home.  Let the fun begin!

I'll definitely do a separate blog post about the trip after pictures are downloaded.  Here's one of my instagram pictures and one from Mike.  :)

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2010...101 in 1001

I found this as an unpublished and unfinished post that I started in January of 2010. It is amazing to see that 30 months into the 32 month "project", many of my goals have been met. Let's see....

Education/Work
. Graduate with my Masters Degree DONE
. Start classes toward my 2nd Masters Degree or PhD
. Change grade levels
. Have a student teacher DONE
. Become a mentor
. Become the school representative on a district committee DONE
. Teach a district course

Physical
. Run a 5K DONE
. Run a 10K DONE
. Run a 1/2 marathon (Going to start training)
. Start swimming (buy a Speedo, cap, and goggles) DONE
. Fit back into my wedding dress
. Weight 140 lbs. for more than 1 day
. Start biking
. Go rock climbing

Family
. Have a child DONE
. Get another dog
. Talk to my brother and father on the phone more often (Do text messages count? In progress)
. Visit my deceased relative's graves at least once a year
. Foster pets up for adoption

Financial

. Pay off my car DONE

. Buy a new house (Starting the process)

Home
. Paint the basement DONE
. Landscape our front yard
. Buy new bedroom furniture DONE
. Grow grass and end the swamp in our backyard DONE
. Change our guest bedroom into a nursery DONE
. Hang pictures in our living room DONE
. Vacuum more often DONE
. Paint/Redecorate upstairs bathroom DONE 
.Garden/plants for the side yard DONE


Organization
. Develop pictures DONE
. Start new photo albums DONE
. Organize my clothing
. Organize guest bedroom closet DONE
. Start a filing system DONE

Travel
. Visit Italy DONE
. Visit California DONE
. Visit New York DONE
. Go hiking somewhere outside of Missouri DONE
. Visit Greece
. Visit Spain
. Go skiing somewhere other than Hidden Valley
. Visit Mexico DONE
. Visit a winery in California
. Ride a mo-ped
. Ride on a train DONE

Arts
. See at least 1 new musical each year DONE
. Take a photography class
. Photograph a wedding DONE
. Photograph a friend's baby
. Photograph a friend's engagement
. Take a dance class
. Take voice lessons

Self
. Read 3 adult books each year DONE
. Start volunteering
. Donate my hair to Locks of Love

Crazy
. Go skinny dipping
. Jump off a cliff into an ocean
. Get another tattoo
. Go to a shooting range

St. Louis
. Go to Crown Candy
. Go to Black Thorn Pizza
. Take a segway tour downtown
. Visit the Planetarium

Soooo, I never finished making this list and there were only 65 items on it.  But man, I've done A LOT of those things.  Kind of fun to see what my "to do list" was at the age of 26 after only being married for a year and a half.  Definitely want to continue checking things off of this list but lots of new things should be added.  Maybe a new list will be created some day.  You know this girl loves her lists :)

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I'm a cooking fool!

Thanks to Pinterest and being home this summer, I've been able to try out some new, awesome recipes.  I found a few online and made up some on my own.

I'm on a roll lately and I'm sure if you follow me on Instagram, you are probably sick of seeing my food. 

1.  Knock-off egg McMuffins- (found these on Pinterest)  Super easy and better for you than fast food.  These are REALLY good...Mike says they are better than the real thing.  I definitely plan to make another batch when I'm back to work in August.

2.  Time for Dinner's Buffalo Turkey Burgers, Edamame Quinoa, and grilled corn on the cob-  We are huge Time for Dinner fans and these have been in our freezer for quite a while.  They were so delicious on a sandwich thin, lettuce, tomato, and ranch greek yogurt spread (just add some dry ranch to a container of yogurt...yum).  The quinoa was totally easy and really good!  I boiled the quinoa in chicken broth and added the shelled edamame after it simmered for 20 minutes.  Just follow the directions on the bag for quinoa.  Mike made a spicy butter for the corn and it was great...just cayenne pepper mixed into the butter.

3.  Tilapia fish tacos-  For the fish, I used frozen Tilapia that I had in the freezer from Sam's.  I rubbed taco seasoning on top of 6 filets (Mia ended up eating one...grr) and followed the cooking directions on the back of the bag.  I made guacamole slaw by blending 2 avocados with a small tub of greek yogurt.  When it was smooth, I stirred in cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and minced onions and 1/2 of a bag of organic broccoli slaw from Trader Joe's. 

                                                      

I chopped some tomatoes and a lime, shredded the fish, and rolled it up in a Trader Joe's corn tortilla.  (Make sure to follow the directions and heat the corn tortilla before eating.  They aren't good if you don't follow those directions.)  I was so proud of myself for just making this up myself :)

4.  Homemade Hawaiian Pizza-  For about a dollar or so, you can buy Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza crust.  I just followed the directions on the back of the bag and added my favorite toppings to make a Hawaiian pizza (sauce, pineapple, Canadian bacon, and cheese).  Honestly, it wasn't the BEST pizza I've ever had...it was pretty bland.  I think next time, I'll try to make the crust thinner and add some garlic and more seasoning to get more flavor.

                                                  

So that's what I've been up to lately!  Just cooking away as little Suzi Homemaker :)  Have a fantastic weekend and STAY COOL! (I heard it's supposed to be a high around 110 degrees tomorrow in St. Louis!  YIKES!)

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Thoughts as a SSAHM

The major perk of being a teacher is summer vacation.  You work your butt off for 9.5 months and then get to enjoy summer break.  Now, not all teachers take a summer break.  Before Ethan, I would teach summer school and load my schedule with summer workshops and trainings.  But not this summer, my friends.  I decided to spend the entire summer home with my son and let me tell you, it has been incredible.

I can't believe that I am halfway finished with my break.  {tear}  5 weeks down and 5 weeks to go.  I wasn't so sure how I would do as a SSAHM (summer stay at home mom) but I love everything about it.  Ethan is so good and so much fun and we are having a blast together.

Don't get me wrong, I know that staying at home with kids is hard.  But from MY experience with MY son, it is a piece of cake.  Being a stay at home mom is a million times easier than being a working mom (TO ME).  Ethan is on a great schedule which allows me to plan out our day in the morning (depending on when he wakes up).  I get to workout during his morning nap!  I get to prep dinner and shower during his afternoon nap!  It's amazing! 

So many things are possible by being home!  Errands and grocery shopping during the day.  Fun outings at the pool or splash pads.  Play dates.  Cleaning and picking up around the house.  Laundry and sunning Ethan's diapers.  I could go on an on.  ILOVETHISSOMUCH!  Being a working mom is REALLY hard.  Balancing yourself and your job and your home and your child and your schedule and your marriage and your friends.  It's hard.  Ugh...and the driving and the jam packed weekends.  It seems almost hard to breathe at times.

I've been thinking a lot about if being a SAHM is right for me.  I know I'm probably a minority when I say that I didn't really like the newborn stage.  Maternity leave was hard for me...especially the first 4-6 weeks.  No PPD or anything...I was just dying for Mike to get home in the evenings so I could get a break (or a shower).  Not going to lie, I was ready to get back to work when the school year started.  But once Ethan hit 6 months, I wanted to be home with him.  And now, he is at such a great age and I feel like we are able to do so many fun things together.  I am teaching him a lot and I know that he wouldn't learn these things at our in-home babysitter (who is wonderful, BTW). 

BUT...I am not ready to give up my career.  I love where I work.  I love my adult relationships at work.  I love being able to financially contribute to my family and be able to live the life that we live without having to budget for anything/everything.  I love knowing that I'm putting my education (bachelor's and master's degrees) to work.  I love knowing that I'm doing a job that helps our society and makes a difference in others lives. But I love being with my child all day. 

I think the perfect balance would be to stay home for a couple/few years after we have 2 or 3 kids.  (I know that the ease of staying home with just Ethan won't be so when there are more children involved.)  Then I could go back to work when all of the kids are in school.  (Working part-time isn't an option as a teacher in my district or something I would be interested in doing.)  I can't really imagine being at home in an empty house all day when I can be working with kids and earning money for our family.  Only time will tell what will be right for us and our family.

But until then, I'm loving this summer and my time with my Ethan. 

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