What I'd Like for my Birthday...

Ok, it's my birthday in, like, 14 days. And I'm not saying that anyone who reads this blog should feel obligated to get me any type of birthday gift but if you were so inclined...really, who am I to stop you? So I've compiled a little list to help you out:)

1) Magic Bullet- we make way too many shakes and smoothies around here and I'm tired of using my massive blender.
2) Pyrex- oh my gosh, be quiet. I need it, ok.

3) Dinner where I don't have to wipe a nose, or butt, or hear complaints that there isn't enough cheese, etc...

4) Wine. (you can figure out why!)
5) An iPhone. I think I need to ditch the Blackberry because, as much as I love it, I love the apps on an iPhone so. much. more.

6) A Micheal Kors watch. Pipe dream.
Anything else I should add??

Bisquick: The Staple

In our house, Z and I love to make food together! He pulls up a chair to the counter, usually while W is having one of his three daily naps (that last only 45 mins each, but that's another story...), and we create something. Most days, Bisquick is involved.

As much as I would love to make things completely from scratch, it just isn't a reality most days. I need a little shortcut to help things get done deliciously and quickly. Enter Bisquick. The base of muffins, shortcakes or biscuits becomes extra easy when using Bisquick, but it still allows for Z & I to play around with flavour combos.

This afternoon, Z was feeling a little yucky. He'd had an awesome morning playing with his friend Ryan but he was zonked after a lackluster nap and didn't want to eat anything. But he wanted to bake and far be it from me to deny my darling the desires of his heart. We decided to make two different creations:

1) Blueberry-Lemon Oatmeal Muffins

2 cups Bisquick mix
2/3 cup of milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp oil
1 egg
a few handfuls of fresh, washed blueberries (slightly frozen...pop them in the freezer for at least 15 minutes)
half a lemon
two handfuls of quick oats (I use President's Choice Organic Rolled Oats)

Add all ingredients together, except lemon. Stir until all ingredients are moistened. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon. Stir 5 times. Divide batter amongst muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 17 minutes.

2)Biscuits with Cheddar and Rosemary

2 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
two sprigs of rosemary
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Stir Bisquick and milk together until a ragged dough forms. Finely chop the leaves of two sprigs of rosemary (do not chop the stems) and add to the dough. Add the cheddar and stir dough gently until fully mixed. Plop (yes, PLOP) heaping tablespoons of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes at 450 degrees.

Both delicious, fun, and a great addition to lunchboxes and dinners alike!! ENJOY:)

Sunday's Sanity Saving Tip

It seems like a no-brainer, but entertainment is the biggest money-sucker for most young families. It is also one of the most important things for a mom (especially a mom of two!). For my family, with a 2 year old who is constantly on the move and needing to be entertained, we could easily spend $100 a month in books, games, toys, crafts, etc... All in an attempt to keep Z happy.

Enter the sanity saving tip of the week: the library. Dust off your old library card, folks, because our weekly visit to the library has saved me well over $100 per month and opened my son up to a whole new world!

Each week, Z, W & I go visit our local library branch. We are lucky because our branch is brand new and absolutely beautiful. Z is allowed to pick out 5 books per visit (I give him a little help because, let's be honest, he rummages for a few minutes and then grabs any book that is near his grubby little fingers). He is also allowed to pick out 2 DVDs. This is where the money saving has really started to pay off. He has been really into Bob the Builder recently and if I was to purchase all the DVDs, I would end up spending at least $15 a pop. Multiply that by the 15 Bob the Builder DVDs we've seen at the library and I would have been out a whole whack of cash! He also has been desperate to see Cars. I'm not sure that he'll love it and don't really want to spend the money on the DVD until I know...so I've requested it at the library to make sure it's a movie we really want to purchase.

Our local library also offers toddler story time. For approximately 1/2 hour, toddlers are entertained by one of the best story-tellers I've seen in a long time. Z loves to just sit and watch and listen but he's starting to become a bit more brave and participate. With some songs, stories, and crafts, you can't beat this free entertainment and learning.

Young families need a weekly outing that is both fun and affordable! The library fits the bill for both- fun for mom and kids alike.

Sunday Sanity Saving Tip: the library

Sleeping Is For Losers 2.0

Please say it isn't so, but it looks like my precious, awesome, amazing sleeping Will is turning into his older brother. His older brother who BARELY SLEEPS! STILL! Even though he's TWO! So, here we go, Sleeping is for Losers 2.0.
W has been sleeping in a bassinet in my room for the past 10 weeks of his life. (can you believe he's 10 weeks old?). The first 7 weeks- he was the greatest sleeper EVER! The past three weeks...oy. Up every two hours. Not really hungry or interested in playing...just up and needing my attention. And he's started creeping. Z did this too. I lay him on his back and he starts kicking his legs, creeping up as far as he can. So he barely fits in his bassinet anymore. But he won't sleep in his crib. In fact, I get barely 45 minutes out of W if he's in his crib.

Swaddled. Not swaddled. Blanket. No blanket. Paci. No paci. Noise. No noise. Get the picture- nothing has helped. So we'll be a tired, Diet Coke/Coffee loving household for the next little while, me thinks. Why oh why can't my children SLEEP????

PS- have you signed up for my Seventh Generation giveaway yet? DO IT NOW!! (LINK)

Seventh Generation GIVEAWAY!

Before I had kids, I could have cared less what I cleaned with. Heck, I could care less if I even cleaned...I figured it was my dirt anyway;)

But there's something about having kids that changes your outlook on things that never would have crossed your mind pre-baby. For me, one of those things was cleanliness. Not just cleaning (which I do WAYYYYYYY too much of...but that's another complaint for another day) but WHAT I clean with. What chemicals I was bringing into my household. What harm I may, however inadvertently, be bringing to my children when I scrubbed their bathtub with cleaners whose smell alone knocked my socks off.

Enter natural cleaning products. After scouring the internet for alternatives to harsh chemicals in my cleaners, and coming up with nothing good, I stumbled upon a line of natural cleaning products that really work. Seventh Generation. I've been a user since Zachary entered the world two years ago and I can't imagine turning back. Now, they not only offer amazing cleaning products but a line of baby products that is sure to impress.

I feel good about my choice to make my home as chemical free as possible, especially for my boys, and I want you to be able to as well.

Join the 7^th Gen Nation

Head over to http://ca.seventhgeneration.com/community_ca and join the community. You'll have access to amazing product coupons, special offers, and great tips for green and healthy living.

Enter my GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am giving away an amazing prize pack from Seventh Generation! It includes:

• a 100% organic cotton Seventh Gen Eco lunch bag
• coupons for a FREE package of Seventh Generation Free & Clear Diapers, Free & Clear Baby Wipes and Dish Washing products

Want to enter?

Leave a comment on my blog giving me one way you try to be more environmentally friendly in your home or life. Yup, it's that easy!! Don't forget to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!!
Want an extra entry? Follow @SeventhGen and @sarahnewk on Twitter and tweet the following: “Enter to win eco-friendly products from Seventh Generation via @sarahnewk and @SeventhGen http://sleepingisforlosers.blogspot.com/2011/08/seventh-generation-giveaway.html #giveaway #SeventhGenCanada“

Contest Rules

1. Contest is open to Canadian Residents only
2. The contest will run from Aug. 23 – Sept.16 at 11:59 ET.
3. One winner will be chosen using Random.org and will be notified at the email address used upon entry. The winner will have 48 hrs to respond and failure to do so will result in a new winner selection.

Disclosure – I am participating in the Seventh Generation program by Mom Central Canada. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

GOOD LUCK:)

Two is awesome.

The age two that is. Dripping in sarcasm. Covered in doubt.

Z is 27 months and, this week it seems, has discovered:
*the word NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (yes, yelled exactly like that)
*flailing on the ground, pounding his fists and thumping his legs
*running away from his mother
*throwing things at FACES (good aim too, not that I'm bragging)
*moving off the (really expensive) time-out bench (which is not meant to be for time outs but has somehow become "the spot")...he used to believe he was glued to it, I think
*attacking his baby brother to get my attention

This is just a short list of the ways my darling redhead has become a devious monster. Yes, he's two. Yes, this is expected. Yes, (in the wise words of my aunt Scarlett) it's not called the terrible twos for nothing.

But, no, I'm not ok with this behaviour. In fact, far from it. Ever see a kid at the store and think "he needs a good spanking"??? THAT'S MY KID! He actually had me in tears yesterday after I spent the morning putting him in and out of time out, taking away anything fun, and finally clearing his room of every exciting thing (including his beloved books) so that he could do nothing when he was in there. I have never felt like such a mean person in my entire life.

And you know what, IT DID NOTHING!!!!! All of that and he still spent the rest of the day acting out and being a regular...well, you can fill in the blanks.

There were moments of fun and goodness- moments when we did crafts together and sang songs and he worked on shaking his butt (he sooooooo cannot do it and it's hilarious to watch him try!!), but in all honesty the whole day just felt like a complete write-off in terms of good parenting.

The main issue seems to be when W, his 8 week old brother, is awake or needs my attention. It appears that it took this long for Z to understand that W is staying here...and Z is none too happy about having to suddenly share all the exciting attention he was used to.

Oh two, how awesome of an age you are. How I long for the days when this was as much attitude as I got...



Best part of the day?

When W woke up in the morning and had a long "chat" with me, full of smiles. He must have had really important things to tell me at 7am:)

I Wish I Was a Tiger

We went to Jungle Cat World in Orno, Ontario this morning. It was mostly fun.

The Good

We got to see some beautiful animals extremely up close and extremely personal.


And they were gorgeous.
I could have stared at the lions, tigers, jaguars, lynx and bobcats all day long.
I think the lion was hungry for a snack because he took quite a liking to our little Z. Ha.

Good thing Z didn't seem to care that much.

The Bad

Not to be a complete princess, but please wear full shoes if you ever plan to go. Chris was in sandals and I wore flimsy ballet flats and, well, goose poop got all over our toes. Nasty.
Also, I thought it would be amazing to feed the goats some corn that you can buy at Jungle Cat World. What I didn't count on was being mauled by 8 million goats and Canadian Geese. Like surrounded. I freaked. FREAKED. I grabbed Z's hand and hightailed it outta there. Yelling at Chris to throw the corn in the opposite direction so that I could escape with my babies. Silly.

Luckily, I didn't scare my children. Z ended up feeding goats out of his hand a little later on.

Bottom Line
All in all, it was a good time. There's not THAT much to see- we were only there for an hour and that included Z playing in the park for a while. However, the ability to see these majestic animals closer then I could ever imagine, was well worth the ONE trip.

Best part of the day?
This is from Saturday- Z was chasing Chris around at his Aunty Thea's birthday party. He was meowing and starting yelling "I'm a dirty cat. I'm going to poop on the lawn."
Yup. That's my kid.

The Green Smoothie VIDEO!

We LOVE Green Smoothies at our house. Otherwise known as a green monster, the green smoothie resembles snot...or baby poop...but is delicious and a great way to get an essential veggie (SPINACH) into anyone's diet- kids included. Little boys especially seem to love the colour of this smoothie so much that they could care less that it's chocked full of vitamins.

Z and I make a Green Smoothie almost everyday and we decided to use our Flip video camera to tape the process this afternoon. Yes, I'm awful at video taping but remember that I was trying to assist the 2 year old:) He sure loved being taped!!



Ingredients:
Strawberries- about 5
A generous handful of Spinach
Milk- pour as needed to help blend
Banana
Ice

Blend. Enjoy!

Do you TV?

The new baby (W) has brought about a new era in our lives...the era of TV. And the begging for TV. And the quoting of TV. And the adoration of certain females (ahem, DORA) on TV.

Z has become obsessed with watching TV. It started right after I had W. With W needing to be fed all the time (seriously, bottomless pit over here!!!) and Z needing to be corralled and entertained while said feeding goes on, TV has become my friend. At first I balked at the idea of Z watching so much TV. I had done everything in my power to make sure he wasn't a TV-a-holic kid. But after he took to dumping entire boxes of cereal on the (only) carpeted floor in our house or running upstairs and emptying all his drawers and "hiding" clothes in the closets, all while I was feeding W, I knew that TV was going to become our best friend.

Believe me, if I can get him doing anything else during feeding times, I do. I set him up with toys or colouring or books- anything I can think of. And it does work sometimes. But often a need for a feed (see how I did that rhyme? poet, yes?) comes before I can fully engage Z in an activity. He's still quite young, just turned 27 months yesterday, and his attention span for entertaining himself just isn't quite there yet.

The one rule I have for TV watching is that it has to have some educational value. I won't let him watch mindless silliness just so he's entertained. I would rather have him dump a full box of cereal then watch Waybaloo or some other dribble. So "Dinosaur Train", "Dora", "Diego" and "Special Agent Oso" have become family favourites in the past 7 weeks. And yes, I know every single character name, can sing every single theme song (ahhhhhh, Rescue Pack, coming to the rescue) and guess every single answer (could Dora BE more demanding??) along with Z. And secretly thank Disney Jr. and Treehouse for saving my sanity during these first few trying months of W's life!!

Best part of the day?
Z running around nude after his bath, stopping in his tracks and asking, very seriously, "Mommy, I a nudey. You love nudies, right?" Um...yes??

I Cut my Hair!!

Ya, I cut my hair. This is a big freaking deal because I've had quite long hair for well over 10 years.
When I was in highschool, I always had shorter hair. Loved it. But then I decided to grow my hair long and got so many compliments that I never changed it.

But I have 2 kids now and no time to actually do my hair and, honestly, I don't look THAT great in a pony tail. So I decided to cut my hair to save time and sanity.

I went into my (gorgeous, young, bro-in-laws girlfriend) hairdresser with a picture of what I wanted to look like (this isn't me!):
source

Brooklin Decker. Ya, so, I dream big right?? Here hairdresser- make me look like I'm in my early 20s and a gorgeous model;)

She worked magic though and I adore my new haircut!! ADORE! I only wish I could have turned out looking like Brooklin;)

I took self portraits and I must say that I look constipated in every single self-portrait that I take. I took a million to show you and I just always look like I have to go to the bathroom. Oh well.
Here is my best Brooklin Decker imitation...

Love it:)