Hellobee

Meal time can often be a bit disastrous for our family.  What can I say — it’s a work in progress.  I have tried many different tricks to get them to behave at the table.  One of our most successful tricks has been to get them excited about the meal.  Sometimes I give them the choice of two meals that I make or ask them what sides they want. But one of their favorite things is to make their own pizza.  They love helping me in the kitchen and they get so excited when they get to help make a meal. Plus at the end they get to eat pizza, which they love.

The most important thing for a great pizza is a good crust recipe.  I tried a few out from Pinterest, but I have stuck with this one from The Happy Housewife blog the last few times.

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups hot water
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tsp salt
- 4.5 cups flour (I used all whole wheat)
- 1 tbs yeast
- 2 tbs Italian seasoning (when I didn’t have this I used oregano and it still tasted great)
- 1 tbs garlic powder

I put everything in my bread maker and hit the dough button, which is fabulous because an hour and a half later I come back and its ready to go.  This recipe can also be used without a machine — you just have to mix and knead everything together.  Let it rise for about 30-60 minutes.  Knead it again. Then let it rise and it should be ready to go.  This recipe is enough dough for me to make four little pizzas and one large rectangle pizza the size of a cookie sheet for the grown ups.

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Little Jacks just turned 3 and we wanted to make it special.  During the whole months of March and April, I agonized about how to accomplish that.  Everything felt either overdone or was expensive (and I had no interest in spending a lot of money to make it happen).

We asked LJ what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said, “I want to do it at Montessori School.”  That would be fun and easy, but obviously not allowed by school policy.  When we asked a second time, she decided that she wanted to “go to the fire station.”  I didn’t even know if doing something like that would be possible, but we decided to explore it.  What do you know?  Fire station tours are a “thing,” and we were allowed to set one up for her party!

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Everything about my pregnancy with Chocolate Baby seems different from when I was expecting Drake.  That seems funny to say in some ways, as both of these pregnancies from an outside point of view are very similar — no morning sickness (yes I know I’m lucky), I have gained around the same amount of weight, fairly easy symptoms as a whole, etc.  The differences I perceive have more to do with me and where my life is now.

Before Drake it was just Mr. Chocolate and me.  I was able to devote so much of my undivided attention to the care and nurture of Drake as he grew inside my womb.  From the moment I saw that double line appear, I was in baby mode.  I read all the foods to eat and avoid.  Every twinge, pain, funny feeling would send me to the Internet scrambling for answers. Is this normal? Is baby ok?  I joined numerous forums to connect with other expectant mothers, and tried to soak in as much information I could about not only the pregnancy, but the newborn stage and also how to raise a baby into a competent effective member of society.  I read countless articles about the pros and cons of vaccinations, circumcision (should it come up as Drake was a surprise baby), breastfeeding, etc.  I dragged Mr. Chocolate to all the hospital provided classes on infant care, Lamaze, breastfeeding, etc. I felt in so many ways that I ate, slept, and lived baby, but in the end of course we learned that no amount of reading, buying gear, and talking to other parents could prepare us for the way our lives changed after Drake joined the family.

This time around is different in that I’ve already lived through the experience of having an newborn and know a little about what to expect as well as what is essential, what isn’t essential and everything in between.  I am already wondering about the labor, dreading the sleepless nights (though pregnancy insomnia is doing a nice job in getting me mentally ready), and dreading breastfeeding even more.  We haven’t even started Chocolate Baby’s nursery, as we know they won’t even sleep in it for another 5 or 6 months after birth, so there is no need to rush. We already know what it’s like to bring a new baby into our family, but Drake doesn’t.

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We got a request from a member last week, asking for a way to hide specific boards from the overall boards front page. This would be especially helpful for hiding month twin boards that you’re not a member of… or if you’d prefer to focus on just one category on the boards, like TTC, pregnancy or parenting.

So we went ahead and built it!

You can uncheck any boards you want to hide from the boards front page, and then threads from that board won’t appear for you. (Due to technical reasons though, those threads will still show up on category pages.) Here’s the link:

* http://boards.hellobee.com/?customize-front-page

A few notes: 

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During pregnancy, we spend so much time preparing for our baby that we can forget about ourselves. The month following birth requires a lot of healing and patience and can be really hard to adjust if you don’t know what to expect. I was thankful that my sister had given birth approximately six months before me; I saw the entire experience first-hand. I was really shocked at what a woman’s body goes through to give birth, and the healing that must take place afterwards. I am lucky that I was educated going into birth, but many women don’t have that opportunity.

The postpartum period was really hard for me. I cried more because I was in so much pain and uncomfortable than I did because of new mom nerves. It was a very emotional time for me, and I hope that with the proper education and preparation, it won’t be for other first time moms. Here is my list of postpartum essentials that got me through that rough first month. I will warn you that this is me being completely open and honest about my postpartum experience!

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My big kid graduated from Kindergarten today. I was a sobbing mess while the kids walked down the aisle to some Taylor Swift song chosen specially for its ability to get me from standard-issue-proud to snot-nosed teary mess in ten seconds flat. Enough so that Mr. T had to operate the camera. She is just simply not allowed to be that big.

I am also freshly downstairs from putting said big kid to bed. This past week has found me dancing around the house to my own personal rendition of, “I like big planters and I cannot lie,” while Ellie sings back-up. Planting is going so fast, you guys. I love it. Bring on the debt. I will sell my soul to Case IH. Big planters mean Mr. T will be home again soon. But, in the meantime, I have a little question: it’s not being taken advantage of if you’re totally in on it, right? Because the secret I’ve been keeping from Mr. T is that while he has been gone, Ellie’s bedtime has lasted longer than it should. Like, by an hour? We’re cool… right?

She’ll ask me to read her just one more story. And I will. And it gives me all the guilty pleasure that I might get from watching one of my famously bad indie or foreign films that I love to indulge in when I know Mr. T is too far away to make fun of me. Then she’ll ask me for a song. Tonight she said, “Mama? I want a baby song. Please? Like you sing to Lorelei?” I am pretty sure my heart stopped for just a moment while it was swelling up with love and adoration for that girl snuggled next to me in the bed. So I sang her one song. And another. And another. Until looking over at the clock had me issuing an audible, “ouch,” under my breath. I regretfully thought of all the things I needed to get done before I could go to sleep for the night. I kept right on singing. She was playing me like a record, but you know what? I couldn’t find it in my heart to care.

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I really, really, really love keeping fresh flowers in our house. It makes me feel like a grown-up. It makes me feel girly. And it makes me smile. A lot. But truthfully, I can be a little lazy about arranging, so I am always on the lookout for quick and easy florals that look spectacular. (And being cost efficient doesn’t hurt either, now does it?)

I have an affinity for colors and rainbows, so I created this:

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