A Day in the life of... plus a recipe.

I recently read a post on askmoxie.org about not using the word, "OK?" at the end of your commands that you give to your children. Something about how saying, "OK?" at the end of the sentence might confuse them into thinking they have a say in the matter. Moxie, as well as many other parents, found this hilarious. As did I! She then went on to ask parents what other rules they break with their kids. Mine was EASY! 

Welcome to the Sesame Street trance! 

On some mornings, after my not born yet, trouble maker, of a son wakes me up at 4am to practice his break dancing and karate moves, I find it difficult to function at full capacity. Enter Big Bird! Adam adores Sesame Street. And I have to admit - I'm quite entertained also. He usually will only let me watch 20 minutes at most before he's over it and off into the cupboards or pantry. I really need to put the child proof door knob thing on the pantry door... 

There's this big TV controversy with moms. Very few moms admit to letting their kids stare at the boob tube. I find the idiot box useful for things like unstacking and stacking the dishwasher, prepping dinner, or sleeping with my eyes open.

My genius brother put this together. I giggled when I saw the "S"word coming out of his mouth. 

Yes, I'm that mom.

Don't worry, we do other things too. 

Like baby signs! Adam loves baby signs. He's soooooo good at it. He knows well over 20 signs now. He loves learning new ones and is a quick student. Andy recently taught him how to sign baby. He grabs his belly and wiggles. He knows several signs for bed time, meal time, bath time, pets, and other daily routine things we do. 

We had a baby signs class last Saturday and learned about Bath Time. Adam sat in the pool with the balls for most of the class. I had been warned that the kids would get wet. But in typical pregnant fashion, I forgot. Luckily, he was more interested in splashing than swimming. 

Adam has two very special favorite things. The weirdest of the two is to brush his teeth. He could brush his teeth for an hour. And sometimes does. Recently, Adam has been throwing full fledged tantrums every single time I put him in his car seat. He's quite strong, I'm quite pregnant, and my car is quite high, that it makes it difficult to truly "force" him to sit in the car seat without him helping me just a bit. I've tried time out, I've tried time in, I've tried yelling, I've tried discussing the pros and cons of car seats, I've gotten out my check book and asked him how much... I get no where! I've been racking my brain trying to think of how to get this child into his car seat. So, yesterday, in the Lowes parking lot, as I was counting to 100 so as not to lose my patience with my toddler who was totally in protest of the car seat - which I might add is the coolest car seat ever as it rotates!!!! - I came up with the perfect bribe... MR. TOOTHBRUSH! 

And let me tell you. Mr. Toothbrush is coming with us for every car trip now. As Adam and I headed to the car this morning to meet up with his buddy, Landry, and his mom, Tina, at the children's museum, I carried Mr. Toothbrush in my pocket. I had even smeared the tiniest dab of our baby tooth paste on it to "sweeten" the deal. Sure enough, as we neared the car door, Adam's knees started to wobble, his face began to turn scary shades of red, his arms started flapping like a chicken who was going no where... I calmly said, "Adam, if you sit in your car seat, you can brush your teeth." 

And just like that, Adam's knees straightened, his face returned to normal, his eyes twinkled, his arms stretched out for me to pick him up and buckle him in. 

It worked again on P Street in downtown Lincoln as we were walking back to the car.

Moments like these make me feel like super mom. 

We had fun - as we always do - at the Children's museum! 

When Adam's not brushing his teeth, he wants to be outside. He generally wakes up from his nap and starts patting his head - which is the sign for hat. 

But just like the story goes... If you give a toddler a hat, he will ask for his mittens. And if you give him his mittens, he will ask for his boots. And if you give him his boots he will ask for his coat. And if you give him his coat he will look at you with such sadness in his eyes, crocodile tears will fall, after you tell him its way too cold to go outside. You inevitably will bundle up as well and walk around the house two times in the bitter, freezing, below zero wind chill so that A) He will believe you next time you tell him its too cold and B) Not make you feel like the worst mother alive who won't take her child outside. 

We came inside to thaw and thought we'd make this for dinner!

 Chicken and Bow Tie Pasta

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2-3 T store bought or homemade pesto

A few shakes of crushed red peper (to taste - its spicy stuff!)

1/4 cup or more of chopped sun dried tomatoes 

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup white wine

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

handful of grated parmesan cheese - or more. Like way more. 

1 lb cooked bow tie pasta. 

Cook pasta while you do the following:

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and pesto and crushed red pepper. Cook until chicken is just starting to brown, stirring frequently. 

Reduce heat to medium low. Add sun dried tomatoes, broth and wine and scrap up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Mmmm. Flavor!

Let it simmer for about 10 minutes or so until chicken is cooked through. 

Add heavy whipping cream and parmesan. 

Let it simmer for a bit to reduce and slightly thicken. 5 min or so.

Stir in pasta and let the pasta soak up the sauce for a bit before serving. 

This is Andy's favorite dish. I make it way too often for him. Its amazingly good. How can it not be! Wine? Cream? Cheese? Yes please! 

Make sure to comment, OK? :-) What rules do you break with your kids?