Parenting Truths: Baby Blocking

"He's not giving you a hard time, he's having a hard time."

Pretty profound words for a parent with an infant. 

Bishop has his needy days. Sometimes it's difficult to remember that these times are so short... It won't be long until he is running with the rest of the pack. He won't always want to curl up on my chest to take his nap. He is growing so fast. 

Some days though, it can be incredibly frustrating. I'm not the most patient person in the world, but I am more patient with my children now than I used to be. But some days, when my love gets home from a long day of work, we just want some "us" time and we want to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie. We also hope that the snuggle time leads to a little more... Fun. Usually though, Bishop has other plans. That was never an issue with my other kids... They clung to me and that was perfectly fine! My ex and I were never all that close and we could easily go weeks without being intimate. That's not the case with me and Mike.

On those days when I am needed just a little bit more by my littlest guy it can be hard. Maddening, in fact. But we have come to understand that we have forever together... These needy times for Bishop are passing way faster than we would like so we choose to take advantage of that. 

We find ways to take care of the rest :)

What This Is

One thing we should get out in the open now is that this is not, nor will it ever be, a "traditional" blog. There is no theme, no schedule, no prompt. Today I might make a post about a delicious recipe I tried out, and tomorrow I might post about my family or living in Maine. I'll never be prim and proper and I will never fit neatly into a box with a label. That goes for real life and my blog. 

What you will find here will pretty much always be raw and off the cuff. I most often blog from my phone, so you will also find grammar and spelling errors (I try my best to go back and fix those though when I see them because it bothers me). I am a mother which is synonymous with being a scatterbrain. The vast majority of my day is spent caring for my family. Sometimes I'll start a blog in the morning and not finish it for a few days. 

I'm not the type to sensor how I feel about things, and since this is my blog, I don't feel like I need to. I have always put immense value in the words I put out there, so I will always be cautious. Since I take such care with my words, I do not apologize for things I have said because when I said it, I meant it. I have been known to apologize for hurting someone's feelings, but I never take back things I've said. Deal with it.

I am not everyone's cup of tea. Most of the time, I am perfectly okay with that. There are a select few people who I wish I had a better relationship with, and at times I am hurt by their dislike for me. However, all I can do is be who I am and hope that someday they will come around. I still don't need anyone's approval to live my life the way I want, and that will never change.

Most of the people who read my blog already know me. They understand my ramblings and for some reason keep coming back for more! Im not trying to be some bloggers who's posts regularly got viral. My posts are more for me than they are for anyone else anyway.

So if you are still here, reading my nonsense, then thank you for allowing me to express myself in my most favorite way. 

Happy Friday!

Cookie Heaven

Most days, dinner seems like a mad dash. I feel like we are finally settling in to the house here in Maine and I am starting to get into a semi groove. Laundry is still my Achilles heel... But as long as the kids are fed, laundry can wait til the weekend.

One thing I have recently learned is that if I want to make a decent dinner, it takes me all day. I have to take advantage of 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there. Having a 7 month old and 4 year old to entertain while the older two are in school takes up a good portion of the day. Some nights, we end up having cold cereal for dinner because before I know it, it's 7:00. But not tonight!

I began prepping dinner at around 10. Today I made Hamburger Hobo Packets and Roasted Broccoli. Not only that, but I managed to make homemade sugar cookies! Say whaaaaaat?? I have never made homemade sugar cookies before, and the recipe I found on Pinterest did not disappoint. No rolling, no cutting. Just made them like any other cookie. Chilled then baked. They were so good in fact, I have to share. 

Ingredients:

1 C butter, softened

1 1/2 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 3/4 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your cookie sheet.

First combine flour, baking soda and baking powder. In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Slowly blend in flour mixture (about 1/2 C at a time).

When you have everything all mixed, scrape the sides and you will have a ball that looks like this. 

In the past, I have made cookies immediately after making the dough and I have noticed that they can come out pretty thin. I highly recommend putting the dough into the refidgerator for at least an hour before baking. It also helps to press out that ball against the sides of the mixing bowl like this so that the dough cools all the way through.

When your dough is ready, you want to form balls about 1-1.5" in side and places them on a baking sheet (sprayed with cooking spray) about 2" apart. Press down slightly on each cookie as you place them on the cookie sheet.

Then you will bake at 350* for about 10-12 minutes.

You will see that the bottoms begin to get a bit golden. They came out so incredibly perfect!! They are perfectly chewy. So good! 

When they are cool enough, you can store them in a Tupperware so that they stay moist. 

Then there is a frosting... Yes. I said it. Frosting.

The recipe is as follows: 

1/2 stick butter

2 1/2 C Powdered Sugar

2 Tbs Milk

First you cream the butter in your mixer. Slowly add in the sugar. Finally add the milk. For thinner frosting, add milk 1tsp at a time. If you add too much milk and it's too thin, just add a bit more sugar. No sweat!

I think next time I make the frosting, I will make it with cream cheese instead of butter. But it's still delicious! Just keep is in a container until you are ready to frost your cookies. 

You can let your kiddos make their own and decorate them. Mine certainly had fun!