A Hit... A Wow Moment... and A Just Because...

The Hit
Several months ago I read a post by K1 about Banana Bites that she made for her babies.  I was quite intrigued and have been wanting to make them for Nugget.

On Sunday I finally made the banana bites.  Nugget LOVED them.  He ate five of them for breakfast on Sunday.  On Monday I sent five for lunch at school, and he ate them all!

The idea is so clever, and so simple!  You take your favorite pancake recipe ~ I used the Vegan Pumpkin Pancake from the Weelicious website. Slice a banana and dip each slice in the pancake batter.  Cook.  Enjoy.

Cooking the Bites

Pumpkin Banana Bites

We gave Nugget the some maple syrup to dip the bites in, but he ate them plain.  Both of these recipes are a keeper!

The Wow Moment
Twice last week while cleaning out Nugget's backpack I found a surprise:

Nugget's first artwork!!  It may not be a Picaso, but it's priceless to me!!!

The Just Because
I couldn't do a post without a cute picture.  This was Nugget one day after school.  Two of his favorite things to do are to stand on this toy and to try and hold as many items as possible.

I was quite impressed with how many gears he had here.

It's all in the balance!

I know this is a hodge-podge post, but I couldn't decide whether to do one post or several.  You got one!

Is It Passive Agressive...

...if you wake up in the morning, still irritated from the night before with your husband, and dress the boy in a state rival's t-shirt*?

It may be a little passive-aggressive, but the look on Daddy's face this morning was worth it!!

*No offense meant to any Tennessee fans!!!

I'm One of Them, Too

I have yet again, done something that I didn’t think I would never do. I have become one of THOSE moms.
You know the mom who …

     · constantly wants to talk about her child.

     · is constantly thinking, worrying, and/or dreaming about her child.

     · has pictures ready at any hint of the question, “do you have a picture?"

     · may state on occasion that her child is a pain in the batooty, yet gets the mama bear claws out if anyone
       else DARES to speak negatively about said child.

    · stays up too late and gets up early so all the chores are done so every free moment can be spent with the
      most wonderful child.

    · no longer looks at shopping websites unless it’s: B@bies R U$, B@by G@p, Weeliciou$, or any other
      baby/toddler sites.

    · has not seen a movie at the theater with her husband, gone out to Starbucks with a friend, or been to a
      restaurant that doesn’t have a kids menu, because she would rather stay home with her child.

    · spends too much money on her child because it’s so much fun to buy for a that little person.

    · thinks that her child is the most brilliant, beautiful child on the planet – HECK! – in the entire universe!!


Yes, my friends, I have become one of those moms and I am dang proud to admit it! I love every moment of my new role. EVERY happy, giggle filled, smelly, drooly, snotty nose moment!!

Transitions Stink!

Going back to school this year was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Nugget and I had gotten into an enjoyable routine. We woke up, played, napped, had meals together, played some more, and waited for Daddy to come home from work to join in the fun. We both were comfortable with the routine and with each other. Nugget slept 11-12 hours a night and life rolled along smoothly.

Much too quickly our 13 weeks together were coming to an end. It was the middle of July when I started dreading the day Nugget would start day care. Nugget and I were together 99% of the time, and I was not ready for our time to be over. Don’t get me wrong, there were difficult days; days that I’d call Big Bear and asked him to come home early. I don’t mean to make it sound like every day was all sunshine and daisies. There were rough days. The easy days and the difficult days were important to me. I know that I was very fortunate to have the time I had at home with Nugget. I am selfish, I want more.

We decided to start Nugget in day care slowly. He started on a Wednesday and only stayed for two hours. He looked like he was in shock when I walked out of the door. I think I cried for the first 30 minutes of the two hours. Nugget did ok, but boy was he happy to see me when I walked in.

On Thursday Nugget stayed for three hours. Drop off was a little harder for him because he knew what was coming. When I walked back in three hours later I could tell that he had a rough time. He had been crying – HARD. You know how babies, suck in air after a hard cry. That is what my poor baby was doing. It broke my heart.

Friday Nugget was supposed to stay for four hours. The day care wanted me to leave him until after lunch. After the difficult time he had on Thursday I picked him up after three and a half hours. As soon as lunch was over I was there. Thankfully he had a much better morning. They said he hardly cried at all. Whew!

The following Monday was the first time Big Bear dropped off Nugget. Every day the week before Big Bear kept telling me that it wasn’t that bad, not to worry so much, yadda – yadda – yadda. I get a phone call after drop off on Monday and all Big Bear said was, “Okay, that sucks!” Yes! It does.

Nugget’s first full week was ROUGH! On top of being away from home all day poor baby cut his first molar and caught a terrible cold. He stayed home from school one day and stayed with my parents. We thought he was better so he went back to school on Friday. The day care called me Friday afternoon to say Nugget had a temperature of 101. Thankfully they called and I was able to get him into the doctor before the weekend. Our poor guy had an ear infection along with his cold.

This transition has brought back many of the issues we had when we first came home from China. Nugget has become very clingy. He doesn’t sleep well at night. He had sleep issues for a few weeks, but after we were home about a month he began to sleep through the night. Now Nugget wakes up every couple of hours crying. Big Bear or I go in and all he wants is to be held for a minute or two. He snuggles in close for a few moments and then points to go back to his bed. I think he is usually asleep before I get back to our room. This happens any where from one to four times a night.

Nugget has also started the angry hitting he did when we first came home. This seems to happen most often when we are eating. One moment he is fine and then all of a sudden he looks at me and his look changes. I can tell he is angry then he will strike out.

Nine times out of ten giving him a moment to be angry and then lots of big hugs is enough to help him past these moments. Sometimes when the tears are so strong and he is very angry we have to get up and walk away from whatever we are doing. We usually walk outside to look at the flowers. After lots of hugs and kisses Nugget is able to go back to eating or whatever he was doing before the angry moment.

I know that this is his defense. His way to express his fear, frustration, anxiety over all that has and is happening to him. I’m sitting here with tears streaming because it makes me so sad that this sweet little boy has to go through these emotions. I wish I could explain to him that we are his FOREVER. We will never leave him, but for now only time and lots of love, hugs and kisses will help his little heart mend.

Nugget has been in school for three weeks. He seems to be getting used to it a little more each day. Drop offs are easier for Big Bear. I pick up Nugget after school and it is the BEST part of my day. He is always so happy to see me. WhenI lift him into my arms I get the biggest hug and pats on the back. I can’t put him down for just a second to pack his bag. Once I pick him up he holds on with all he’s got. I hope one day Nugget will understand that I will always be here to pick him up and hold him tight.

First UK Game

Last night we took Nugget to his first UK football game.  I must admit, I was a little leery about taking him to the game due to the fact that our last outing to a football event was not a good experience.

Boy!  Did Nugget prove us wrong!  Instead of the clingy, over-stimulated little guy, Nugget had a GREAT time! He enjoyed the crowd, learned to stomp his feet, clapped when the crowd clapped, flirted with all the cute girls (mostly the blondes), and even grabbed one girls batooty as she was walking up the stairs!  To say he made Daddy proud is an understatement!

Boys watching the game!

Playing with A!

Nugget LOVES the fireworks!!

This is pretty cool Dad!

We were worried how the night would go because Nugget was so off schedule.  Once we got home Nugget again surprised us and went right to bed.  He has never done that before!  Usually he has to play for a little bit and get lots of hugs and kisses.  Last night he went right to bed and only woke up once for his night time snuggle.  He slept until 9:00 and then woke up in such a happy mood.

Here is his standing on his toy singing ~ his version of singing!  :o)

Have a great week!

The First Post

Welcome to the new blog!!

Things have been crazy, busy for us ~ as it always is this time of year. That's why it has taken me so long to get the blog up and running. I am not sure if I am really happy with the new look, so it may change when I have time.

Going back to work has been HARD!! I miss being home with Nugget. Sadly this new transition has also been really hard for him. He has had a hard time adjusting to day care. I have so much to say about that I will give it a post of it's own. The first post on this blog should be happy - in my opinion.

The first week of August we took Nugget to the aquarium and the Cincinnati Zoo. Nugget loves fish. He LOVED the aquarium! It was so amazing to watch him gaze up at all of the fish. He'd grunt, smile, clap, and enjoyed every minute. Especially when we would walk through the tubes and fish were all around. It was such a fun day!

The zoo was not as successful. Partly because he was so tired. It was the first time we stayed in a hotel room since China. Nugget didn't sleep very well; neither did we. It was also difficult for him to see some of the animals. The only time Nugget showed any excitement was when we went into the Manatee House. There were large aquarium tanks in there. I'm telling you, my boy likes fish! :o)

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Oh! How I love this face!

The Zoo:

Of course we had to see the polar bears!

I make no promises that I will post consistantly, but I hope to post. I would really like to keep a journal of our life as Nugget grows up. He changes so much each and every day.

I have decided that I not going to use names on this blog. This is not a private blog and in time I am sure looky-loos will find us. For that reason I am going to remain nameless.

I don't know how, but I started calling our boy Nugget several months ago. It's a good all around nickname. Usually at some point of the day he is called Turkey Nugget or Stinker Nugget, but most of the time it's just Nugget. So for the time being he'll be Nugget here too.