Thursday, January 31, 2008

Dictionary 101


I'm starting to realize that the dictionary left out some very handy mom terms...

1. Booty Call: When you are paged over the loudspeaker when you are at an event (and your kid is in the nursery) to come change your kid's diaper.

ie. Yesterday at the gym, I got a booty call while I was taking a shower. Joey had done his, ahem, business and his business was large enough that his diaper didn't contain it. He was covered. His socks. His armpits.

2. Nudey Tunes: An incident that involves significant amounts of pee, poop or spit-up, enough to drench an outfit, leaving your child naked. Naturally, Nudey Tunes incidents only happen when mom is unprepared and failed to pack extra clothing and/or an extra diaper.

ie. Immediately after the aforementioned (see "Booty Call") indicent at the gym, I realized that we had a Nudey Tunes incident on our hands. I ended up carrying Joey out of the gym (in 40 degree weather) wearing nothing but a stolen gym towel. Don't worry... I fully intend to return the towel on my next visit. Really, I do.

3. Unhappy Hour: The hour between 4:30 and 5:30 pm when some people are happily carefree as they are about to get off work and head to a bar where they can indulge in dollar cocktails while us mommies sit at home with exhausted and starving kids and count the minutes until Daddy gets home.

ie. Yesterday, during unhappy hour, I literally called my husband twelve times to see when he was going to get home. While I was otherwise occupied staring at the clock counting the seconds going by, Joey found the energy to pull all of the books off of the shelf, dump two boxes of legos down the stairs and call a random long-distance number on the house phone. My friend Susan's son Joshua decided to go swimming in the toilet during unhappy hour one day. I'm sure Joey would do the same if he thought of it.

4. Boobifier: Using one's breasts as a pacifier.

ie. I admit it: I use a boobifier instead of a pacifier. The boob is just so handy. No tiny pouch to keep track of. Nothing to clean. No fancy dishwasher racks or chemical-free soaps. I never drop the boobifier on the ground or lose it. So, Kate falls asleep nightly with a boobifier in her mouth and a grin on her face.

5. Ma Ha! Moments: Those times where you realize "Ah Ha!", if I do this, my life will be way easier.

ie. Yesterday, I had a Ma Ha moment when I realized that if I always take the time to pack a change of clothes for my kids, I would avoid complicated incidents such as the aforementioned "Nudey Tunes" incident at the gym and the infamous "airplane incident" of '06.

6. Foy: A fake toy. A regular household item that suddenly becomes your childs object of affection du jour.

ie. The page that I tore out of my Parenting Magazine yesterday is Joey's new foy. He carries it around wherever he goes and cried when we wouldn't let him sleep with it last night.

7. Wuce: The watered-down juice left in the sippy cup when you've "refilled" (a.k.a. dilluted with water) you toddler's juice glass fifteen times in the last hour.

ie. For the first few glasses, Joey is fooled by his wuce, but eventually he catches on and realizes that he's just drinking water, which results in him screaming "Aaaaaapppppplllleeeee jjjjuuuuiiiicccceee Mommy!" over and over and over until I succumb and try to ply him with "Maple Juice" a.k.a. milk mixed with apple juice.

8. Lactivism: The strange, unexplainable passion that even the calmest, least-hippie mommies have about breastfeeding.

ie. How did I, the girl who wouldn't be caught dead marching downtown in a rally, end up being a la leche league card carrying, breastfeeding-in-public-without-regard-to-a-cover-up lactivist?

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Two New Babies-- One Happy Day!



This is my beautiful new nephew Jude. He was born on Monday, Jan 21st weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz. He lives all the way up in Kentucky which doesn't make me very happy. I just can't wait to meet the little guy. I'm going up there in a week and a half but it just doesn't seem like it's soon enough. Auntie is coming, baby boy, Auntie is coming.

The exciting news is that Cameron's cousin Ari also had a gorgeous baby girl on Monday the 21st. Evangeline (Eva) Virginia weighed over 9 lbs. and is just gorgeous.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Eggplant Polenta Bake

Cam's cousin Ari's friend (wow---four degrees of separation there!) is hosting a recipe contest on her blog-- and as we all know, I lo-ove recipe contests. SO, I'm entering it.

I thought about coming up with a new recipe, but I decided that my tried-and-true favorite is just the thing. So, here's a repost of my Eggplant Polenta Bake-- full of nutrition, hearty and simple, and so good that your family (or husbands) won't even notice the veggies!

Eggplant Polenta Bake

-Brown 2 lbs. ground turkey or Italian sausage in a large skillet. Drain.
-Add 1 chopped eggplant (sounds daunting but it's not... just rinse and chop!) and 1 chopped zucchini. Cook for 7-8 minutes with the meat until tender.
-Wilt in an entire 10 oz. bag of baby spinach
-Wilt in a lg. handful of fresh basil.
-Pour 1 jar of crushed tomatoes (or crush 4-5 of your own tomatoes) over the veggies.
-Boil 3 cups of water on the stove. Slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups ground polenta (or coarse cornmeal). Whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens. Add 1 tsp. italian seasoning and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.
- Spread the polenta mixture on the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan.
-Cover with vegetable mixture.
-Cover with grated mozzarella and parmesan (as much as you'd like!)
-Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.