The loneliness of being a new mom …

Ok – maybe that title is a bit overdramatic.

However, being a new mom can be a bit lonely. I can’t just bust out of the house and go hang with friends or catch a movie anymore.

Let’s face it, most of the time I’m not even wearing a bra.

So you’d think that dropping Bubba off at daycare and going to work would be the social event of the year!

Well, it is nice to not be responsible (for her anyways) for 7 hours. But there is still one pang of “sorry new moms – you don’t get to catch a break”.

The lunch hour.  Instead of hanging with my work friends (or attempting to make new friends), I’m stuck in the breast pumping room draining my boobs so they don’t explode.

Plus, the free food for little Bubba really helps out with the budget.

So boooooo to sitting by myself in the breast pumping room and having to wolf down my turkey sandwich at my desk.

Side note – yes, my job is awesome and we have a dedicated breast pumping room!  🙂

DIY activity mat

When Bubba was about a month and a half, I thought, “man, she must be totally bored!” All I would do is hold her and walk around the house.

I started googling and pintrest-ing some DIY inspiration. Then my mom whipped up this beauty!

She just used 5 pieces of PVC pipe, so it easily comes apart for transporation purposes.

We used fishing line and a huge needle to ‘thread’ some toys and made these clear loops.  My crafty mom sewed the velcro loops too using some (ugly!) fabric scraps.

Bubba loves it!  Especially Ernie.  They are officially BFFs.

We also bought a bunch of rings so we can dangle more toys down (whenever she figures out how to use her hands) so she can bat them around and eventually start chewing on stuff.

DIY baby seat

Of course we all want the best for our kids. I think we can all agree on that.

However, look how happy Bubba is!

She’s wearing a hand-me-down onesie and un-matching hand-me-down socks. And she’s sitting in a laundry basket with a bunch of pillows.

So basically everything in this photo is free. Including how much I love her.

Anybody else food OCD?

Does anybody else have this ‘problem’?

If I’m eating something with colors (Skittles, M&Ms, the 800 bags of jellybeans we bought after Easter), I can’t just grab a random handful.

I HAVE to take 1 of each color. Or, two of each color if I’m feeling extra piggy.

Although, I admit, if I’m in a hurry or starving for sugar, I am able to grab a handful, but that’s rare.

Anybody else do ‘lame’ stuff with their food?

What are your feelings on breast milk?

Does this make you uncomfortable?

That wasn’t a trick question. I’m actually curious.

For some reason breast milk is kind-of awkward for most people.

It’s not like I’m pulling out my boob and pumping in front of everybody (although, I used to pump in an empty conference room that had a frosted window), but I do walk from our office breast pumping room to the breakroom fridge with little bottles of milk every day.

Nobody’s said anything to me, but I do get looks like, “hey Amber … what’s that … oooooo … never mind …”

Tacky Tourist Tuesday

I’m no fashion expert. Heck, I certainly have my share of “homeless” days, however …

Ok, ok … this isn’t really “tacky”, but it’s pretty awesome!

Pintrest success – crock pot bread

It worked!! I can’t believe it, and it sounds a little unbelievable, but you CAN make bread in a mini crock pot (I guess it would work in a big crock pot too if you doubled the recipe??? Don’t quote me on that.)

I found this recipe on pintrest and it was a total success.
Thank you pintrest!

Next time I’m going to attempt to add some spices or maybe even cinnamon and raisins.

But let’s get back to the basics.

You’ll only need these ingredients:
Package of yeast
1 tsp. salt
3 C. Flour
2 TBSP Sugar (or honey – I used sugar because that’s less expensive)
1 c. warm water (but not “hot” – that’s what the recipe said. I was scared I was using water that was too hot, because yeast is so darn sensitive.)
2 TSBP oil

Step 1: Mix dry ingredients

Step 2: Add oil and water

Step 3: Stir with spoon a short time until it’s ball like.

Step 4: Mix with your hands to really get it into a ball. I added another TBSP of floor to my hands so it wasn’t too sticky.

Step 5: Put dough ball on countertop and kneed for about 3 minutes. Once again, I added about a TBSP of flour to the countertop and to my hands.

Click HERE for a YouTube video on kneeding dough. It’s super easy, but hard to explain.

Step 6: The pintrest recipe said to use parchment paper because you’ll need to lift the bread out of the crockpot. Parchment paper is way too fancy for me, so I just poured some oil in my crockpot and used a paper towel to spread it around the bottom and all the sides. Don’t skimp on “oiling” up the crockpot, because getting food stuck in things is super annoying.

Step 7: Put your dough ball in the crock pot and cook on HIGH for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Here’s the weird thing. Your bread will rise like crazy, but it won’t change color. So it’s really hard to tell if it’s done or not. In fact, you CAN’T tell if it’s done, you just have to trust the 1 hour and 15 minute cook time. Now, that was my crock pot, so maybe yours will be a tad different.

Since I wasn’t using parchment paper, I just picked up my crock pot base (with pot holders) and dumped it out. The bottom was brown! That’s how you know it’s done.

To get the top brown and crusty, put it in the oven on BROIL for about 5 minutes (just watch it and take it out when it gets to a pretty color).

That’s it! It only took about an hour and a half with prep & cook time.

I can’t wait to experiment with different flavors.

Horrible photo, but yummy results!

I’m never buying gas again!

4/18/15 – mark that on your calendars. I bought my last tank of gas.

Ok, ok … that it’s entirely true. But I started working from home!!! No more driving thru crazy touristy traffic past Disney and Sea World.

(side note – I feel bad ‘complaining’ about tourists. I wouldn’t have a job if they weren’t around, nor would most of my friends)

I filled up this morning dropping off Bubba at day care. I’m super excited to see how many weeks (2, maybe even 3!) I can go with out buying any gas

Wish me luck!

Help me decorate my living room!

The ‘decorator’ in me is fighting internally with my thrifty side.  I need some help!

My house has a front room that I want to turn into a play room/living room.  So I don’t want it to be super childish, but I do want it to be fun!

Plus, I already have a red couch and a orange rug, so I want to match those things.

Here is a horrible photo of the giant window:

My plan is to make some awesome curtains! Since the window is huge, there will be 4 panels. The outside will be this cool fabric I bought from Ikea, and the inside 2 panels will be a solid color.

Here’s the awesome fabric! I think it’s childish but still cool. Plus is has orange to match the rug and kind-of red.

Here’s the dilemma (finally I got to the point!)

Should the middle 2 curtain panels be white or grey?

I think white would make the curtains really pop, so that might look better.

However, I already have grey curtains in another room that I’m willing to take down and use. Then I could return the white curtains and get some money back.

White or grey?

4/12 – Only Child Day?

Apparently 4/10/15 was ‘siblings day’. Not sure if this a legit holiday or it was made up by Facebook and Instagram.

And, also according to Facebook, 4/12/15 seems to be ‘only child day’.

My friend pretty much summed up my feeling on Bubba being an only child.  (This makes me cry every time I read it)

I grew up with a sibling. My BFF (who lived across the street) had 2 siblings. Siblings seem cool! They are a built in playmate. They are a secret keeper. They are a teacher.

Bubba’s going to miss all that, and I’m sad for her.

I’m just too old (39) to have more kids. I’d want to have them right now (before I hit 41) and I just don’t think my body (or my ‘downstairs’) can handle being pregnant again.

Also, taking care of 1 year old while pregnant would be nearly impossible, assuming I’ll be dizzy and very sick like the last time. I couldn’t even get out of bed for the first trimester, so running around after a baby (she’d be walking or crawling by then) sounds rough!

Plus – kids are expensive! I mean, just the hospital bills and daycare might kill me. (Bubba is eating for free and wearing hand me down clothes)

So, Bubba is an only child. Obviously many people are only children, and they grow up just fine. I just hope she’s ok.