Friday, November 22, 2013

Quick bit of advice.....

Never kiss a sick baby in the dark!  This might sound silly or absurd but I assure you this is good advice.  My baby was in her crib this morning and woke up fussing just a little.  I very quickly brushed my teeth and then went into her room to get her.

I knew she had a cold, she's been battling it for a few days now but I just love that little kiddo so much I always kiss her good morning!  One thing I should say first is that I am totally paranoid and anal about noise and light waking up sleeping kids so I did not turn her light on out of fear that the light pouring into the hallway would creep under the door of my sleeping toddler.

So I grabbed my beautiful baby, wrapped her up, and planted a big smooch right on her lips!  Unfortunately what I got was a mouthful of runny, slippery, wet, nose snot.  It was like kissing a puddle of slime, I thought I was going to drown!  Blah!!  I couldn't wipe my lips fast enough.  So just to save anyone else from having a similar experience:  Never kiss a sick baby in the dark!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A midnight run, of a different kind....

I know I posted yesterday how much I hate to see my babies suffering from these terrible cold germs that have wreaked havoc on their tiny immune systems, so because of that I found myself in my pajamas, putting on my shoes and coat to try to get to the store before midnight.  I can remember back in the day, when my friends and I would worry so much about getting to the store before it closed because we needed refreshments to keep the party going.  Funny how priorities change....

Both of the babies woke up just before 11 and while I gave the baby some acetaminophen to reduce her fever and rocked her until she fell asleep, my husband soothed out two year old by giving him some Zarbee's for his cough and tucking him back in bed.  From the babies room I could still hear him coughing.  I had a feeling that we would be in for a long night so when I finally got back into the bedroom I asked my husband if he thought a humidifier would help our toddler.  He said, "Sure, but it's late, your not going to go and get one right now."  I said, well why not?  What good does a humidifier do tomorrow if he needs it tonight?  I want to get a good night sleep and so does my toddler.

So I put on my shoes and coat and ran out the door.  Walmart was like a ghost town but I found what I needed right away.  A warm mist humidifier.  I was home within 35 minutes and set up the humidifier in my room to make sure it worked and that I knew how it worked.  My husband used a flashlight to help me find an outlet in the room and we were able to plug it in, turn it on, and sneak the f* out before our little guy made so much as a peep! 

Now I don't know if it was because of the humidifier or not, but my little man slept without coughing all night long!  He was surprised to see the humidifier in his room in the morning and until he realized it was something he liked, he was adamant about getting it out of his room!  So cute!

Funny how light night runs have different meanings as you get older, have children, and obtain different priorities.  I wonder when it will swing back around again.....

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Monday, November 18, 2013

Sick babies:(

My two littlest babies are sick today:(  It is heart wrenching to see your kiddos with even so much as a cold!  I could tell my youngest was sick the second I got her out of her crib.  She was so hot and her eyes looked droopy and red.  She was miserable all morning.  When she gets sick, all she wants is for me to sit on the floor and to lay on my chest. 

My two year old woke up with a horrible cough and his chest sounds congested and sore.  He was worn out and crabby all morning.  We stopped at the store after dropping the big kids off at school and picked up Zarbee's.  If you have never heard of it, buy it!  I love it.  It is all natural and safe.  There is an infant's version and toddler/big kid version.  It really does help the cough.  We are also big fans of VaporRub in this house and I am so glad they have an infant one too!

I thought about buying a humidifier for my two year old but am not really sure it would help.  What do you do with sick kids?  Any other great homemade remedies or natural soothers?

Hopefully my little ones will be better soon, my heart aches for my sick babies!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Go Pack, Go!


Well, another Packer Sunday is here.  What was supposed to be a primetime game is now a local afternoon game due to the fact that the Packers barely have any first string guys on the field and the Giants, well, their record speaks for itself.  Aaannnyyywwaayyyy......if the game sucks, at least the food will be good.  Today I made my husband's favorite-coconut shrimp with pina colada dipping sauce (non alcoholic of course!).  I also made one of the kids' favorites-caramel corn.  And to round it out, some hot crab dip with crackers.  We have all eaten our yummy food, washed it down with some hot cocoa (one of my favorite things about winter), and now are thoroughly full and in need of a nap!

The coconut shrimp is a recipe from my mother and the dipping sauce is the actual recipe that Red Lobster uses!  Sooooooo gooooooood!


I use the biggest shrimp I can find, tiger prawns work too, the bigger the better.  The shrimp can be raw or cooked.  I just happened to use raw this time, it depends on what is on sale at the time.




 

I dip the shrimp in a flour mixture, egg mixture, and then coat in coconut.  Get plenty of coconut!  Today I ran out!







 

Arrange the shrimp on a pizza stone, they can be plenty close together, and pour melted butter over the top.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, I also like to broil mine on low for about 3-5 minutes just to get the coconut nice and crispy.





 
The best part-the dipping sauce!  I always double the recipe and it's never enough!
 
Easy crab dip, great with crackers, perfect pairing with the shrimp.  It doesn't make a ton but is easy to double.
 
This is a fall favorite for the kids, it takes a long time but is worth it.  I like to use microwavable kettle corn, it compliments the caramel really well.
 
Go Pack, Go!
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Busy Mommy Blogger
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
























Monday, November 11, 2013

First snow of the year!

We had snow all morning today!  My two year old was so excited he went to every room in the house and looked out to see if it was snowing everywhere.  He was so anxious to go outside and play he practically wanted to sleep in his boots and snow pants!

My husband took the kids outside after school and they had a blast!  They had beautiful red cheeks when they came in!  Yeah, winter is here!  Ugh....winter is here:(


Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Poor, poor Packers:(


Another lousy Packer game!  I can't believe we lost again!  And how many players can possibly get hurt in one year!  Oh well, at least the Packer food was good!  Here's what we had today:

I made a super easy meatball and weenies recipe.  A jar of chili sauce, a jar of grape jelly, frozen meatballs and a package of weenies in the slow cooker for about 3 hours on low-so good and so easy!



Then I made some apple dip since it gets some fruit into the mix and the kids love apple dip.
 
Since I am now exploring new cookie recipes I decided to try a caramel fudge cookie recipe.  I
substituted the pecans for cashews though since no one in our house likes pecans.  They turned out great!
 




 
So here's what my plate looked like while I watched the poor, poor Packers lose once again this year!
 
Hope everyone else had a great Sunday!
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Busy Mommy Blogger
 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Poop and washing machines

There's never a dull moment in our house.  I was sitting in the TV room with my 6, 2 and 10 month old helping my six year old study her spelling words on the computer.  It was about 6 p.m. and the baby just dirtied her diaper so I promptly changed her and then decided to let her air dry for a little while because she has had a stubborn rash on her bottom and baths would be in a little bit.  BAD IDEA.  I should know by now that letting any child that is not potty trained hang out without a diaper on is really just inviting trouble in.

My husband and four year old were busy in the laundry room taking the washer apart because we had an error message about socks in the drainpipe.  He is on the floor, tools out, taking everything out from under the washing machine (we store all our winter clothes in the drawers underneath) while my four year old keeps track of the bolts and screws.  Since the drain was clogged, he also had to have a bucket to drain all the water from the machine into.  Luckily, or maybe unluckily, he has had to do this repair before so he knows what to expect and is prepared for the water that comes gushing out of the machine.

As soon as I hear the water begin to flow I look over at my baby and think, "That's weird, she has some avocado on her chest..."  While I wipe it off WITH MY FINGERS (!), I realize that it's not avocado, it's poop.  Yup, poop.  But that's not all folks!  My two year old is sitting and playing in the exact spot she pooped in and wiping it on his shirt trying to get it off of his fingers.  I immediately call for my husband and he says, "I'm in the middle of something really important right now."  So I respond with, "I have something that is even MORE important, trust me!"  So he comes in and I immediately tell him to help my two year old take off his clothes and throw them in the washing machine.  While he does that I wipe every inch of the baby with a baby wipe and then hand her to him.  Then for the next 10 minutes I am on my hands and knees, scouring every inch of the TV room floor (with it's brown carpet!!) for any poop.  Thank God for our Spot bot!!

I finally found all the little poop spots scattered around the room, mark them off and begin placing the cleaner and let it do all the work.  BTW, anyone who doesn't have a Spot bot but has dogs and/or kids, has to get one.  It is the best investment we have made to keep the house clean.  As I bent down to pick up the baby's blanket, a nice little turd fell out and I discovered the original place the baby first began going potty.

All my husband and I could do was laugh and thankfully he was able to fix the washing machine just fine because after that, we had a lot more laundry to do!  After all that excitement, I couldn't even stay up for the Packer game!  Oh well, Rodgers got hurt, Packers lost, but I was busy dreaming away......

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Monday, November 4, 2013

Why we use carseats...

I love to have a blog filled with the fun and joy of having and raising children but Saturday we had a very serious experience and I have to hop on a soapbox in my post for today.

I have had so many conversations with other moms who complain about their kids' car seats.  "They are so big!"  "They are so expensive!"  "My kids don't like them so I barely tighten the straps."  There are a lot of reasons that car seats can be obnoxious but I have always been a worry wart so I am way overprotective about what car seats our kids use.  Even though my four year old is big enough and old enough to use a booster seat, I still have him in a five point harness because he still fits in it (the shoulder straps can move two notches higher!) and it is way safer for him!  I wait to turn my babies forward facing and when my kids complain that the buckles are too tight I tell them if they are tight then they are safe.

On Saturday we were all driving to the grocery store and when we stopped at a red light, we were rear ended with everybody in the car.  There was no sound of tires screeching so the person who hit us was not slowing down, they were accelerating.  I screamed at the moment of impact because I felt the back of the headrest hit my head and was immediately confused as to what was happening.  I also screamed because your brain wants you to turn around and look at your children but your body is unable to move by your own doing because it is busy being moved by the force of the collision.  My four year old began to cry and continued for about 20 minutes.  He was hysterical and inconsolable.  Everyone else was fine.

The other person's speed was not "that" fast, but even a collision like that is scary, especially with all your little ones in the car.  My body was shaking and I was so scared but being the Mommy, I had to just hold it all inside because I didn't want to scare any of the children.  As soon as we pulled over, I got out and examined each kid.  My beautiful baby never even made a peep!  The damage to the vehicle is still unknown and we are taking it in today.  It's unclear how badly damaged the bumper and tailgate are.  I immediately filed an insurance claim and all four car seats have to be replaced due to being involved in an accident.  I couldn't believe that!  But I am so thankful all of my kids were in five point harnesses.

It's easy to want to move your kids up to the next car seat because it's easier or they are older or they are bigger but you know what?  I don't care!  I want my children safe, as safe as they can possibly be so I will continue to put my children into car seats with a five point harness until they truly outgrow them, not when the law says they are big enough to not use them.  I am convinced that if my four and six year olds were in booster seats (that most don't have anchors on), that they would have had injuries from the force of the impact.  A seat belt has to feel an impact before it can brace against it, a five point harness doesn't.  We have always talked to our kids about being safe in the car and I know most people around us think we are way too strict and anal, but Saturday was more than enough for me to feel justified in keeping my kiddos in the safest car seat possible.

Someone once told me when my oldest was a baby, "Remember that each upgrade in a car seat, backward to forward facing, five point to booster, booster to just a seatbelt, is a DOWNGRADE in safety."  I always remembered that and now I pass that on to you.  Please buckle your kiddos up nice and tight because you love them enough to do so!

That's all for my soap box rant today and thanks be to God for keeping my family safe!!

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger