things i have learned as a mom

phone post...?

i have so many videos on my phone and it just now occured to me to post them from here!

Green day

With Roman asleep for his new trend of taking a morning 2 hour nap I find myself in the kitchen making flatbread. It is pretty good and pretty easy too.
Preheat the oven to 450 F and place the pan in the oven
Its just:
1 3/4 unbleached all pourpose flour
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup olive oil
(I added some onion powder and some sesame seeds too)

Mix the dry stuff make a well then mix the oil and water in with a wooden spoon. Hand knead 3-4 times. I divided to make 6 small balls. I rolled them out with both a rolling pin then I switched to my hand to flatten it out. I put some sea salt on top with some sprinkles, rosemary, and sesame seeds and even onion powder on some THEN top with olive oil and I pressed it all in with my fingers. Pop in the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Keep an eye on it till it starts to get golden on the edges.

I used waxed paper to flatten my bread, but didnt put it in the oven as I didn't have parchment paper just wax which smokes. Not that I have done that before.
SOURCE

Why a greenday? I was saving some green using the inexpensive things I had on hand. We ate all the rosemarry crackers I got at the store so now we get to try these. I think they are pretty good. I liked the ones that are not too thin, they are a cross between a cracker and bread. Not as crunchy as cracker but still good.


ALSO I realized I had not posted anything about going green in a while. SO here is my tip today. Pay all your bills online. I read this post today that reminded me how this idea is good in so many ways. Saves on the postage and might save you from possible mail thieves who want your credit identity!

video of roman in his new hiding spot

Firsts

Last week Roman learned to blow on a whistle! He also blew a kiss to me for the first time. I captured the second on video. I will do my best to get it up here soon.

Homemade "clif" bars

I made some clif like peanut butter bars today. I have a ton of peanut butter and oats to use up. I altered this one up a little too because I cant follow it to the T. I will be making them again because I found some rice cereal to use.


I found the recipe here. I like that its no bake, but you do have to use the stove a little tiny bit.

1 cup Uncooked quick oats {I used old fashioned and did almost 2 cups to make up for lack of rice cereal}
1 1/4 cups Rice Krispies {I did not use them - I used 1/2 cup of corn flakes and crushed them in my hand to mkae them smaller}
1/4 cup Finely chopped roasted peanuts
3 Tbl Flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed) {I ground my own flaxseed - I dont think it was as fine}
1/4 cup Finely chopped dried dates {I used prunes}
1/4 cup Honey
Dark brown sugar {Used normal plus half splenda brown sugar}
1 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup Peanut butter {I used crunchy}
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

grease an 8-inch square pan

1.) Combine oats, Rice Krispies, peanuts, flaxseed meal and dried dates in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.

2.) Heat ¼ cup of honey with 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar over medium-high heat in a small saucepan, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla, 1/3 cup of peanut butter and ½ tsp. of ground cinnamon. Blend well.

3.) Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring well to coat everything thoroughly. {I used my hands at the end made sure to butter the pan ahead so you can just press it in} Firmly press the Cliff bar batter into the pan and cool it to room temperature on a wire rack

4.) Cut into 12 bars, and tightly wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Store the bars in the refrigerator. {I made 8 bars. I didn't wait till it cooled all the way and I pressed them together with my hand more in a mini zip lock.}

They are so good! I LOVE THEM> I am going to make more and double the recipe so I can use up all this peanut butter and cereal. I wonder if they will freeze?!

Upset baby new recipe.

This morning I made an overnight french toast with some left over cranberry walnut bread using the following recipe. Roman was just throwing a fit because he ate his breakfast first while it was in the oven, then I shared some with him but when it was gone he was VERY upset. Stomping his feet and pouting and yelling about it. It was pretty funny. I guess he likes this one too.

adapted from this website. I have made another pumpkin one before and it is SOOO GOOD! We topped both with whip cream and agave/maple syrup. I have yet to make the crust on either. I dont think it needs it, but I am sure it would only be that much better. I do like the cubes of bread in this one.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• squirt of Agave nectar
  
• 1 tbl ground cinnamon
• 5 cups cubed crusty bread (I didn't measure.. it was just the rest of the loaf I think it was over 5 though)
  

Directions

Night before

• In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, yolk, salt, agave, and cinnamon.
• Add the bread cubes to the dish you will be using.
  
• Pour milk mixture on top
• Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate
  

Next morning

• Take out of fridge and let come to room temp while oven heats up
• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• Bake until custard is set 25 to 35 minutes, depending on bread
• I topped mine with some cinnamon and sugar before I put it in the oven. I had to mix around my bread crumbs in the mixture before I went to bed. I had so many they didn't all get soaked. When I put it in the top layer became pretty crusty, but it was still good.
  

Things Roman has put in my boot...

Since its winter out I have my boots close to the door. Roman likes to put things in them. I decided I should start to post more of the little things he does so I never forget. Just now as I decided to write this he walked over to me happily carrying my boot and about to stick the toe in his little mouth. Lucky me, I grabbed it just in time, then he came back with the second one in his mouth. EWW.. gross. He got me. Good job Roman.

The first time this happened it was magnetic letters from the fridge. I went to put on my boot and had to dump out about 7 letters to get my foot in. Today he had put his shoe inside my boot and was carrying it around. He has also put his shoes inside the cereal box. He is our little squirrel. He likes to stash things around the house. He also has a few places in the kitchen that has things of his. One drawer and one cabinet. The drawer has sippy cups and bowls and a few little food pouches that we take on the go. It also has all the pacifiers he would not take. He likes to pull all those out and test them another time, then then end up all over the place.

Those happen to be the boots that Roman loves to play with. I will say that he does like to play with any shoes that happen to be around. This is the same face he made in all 3 photos with Santa. I would have bought all three if it wasnt so darn expensive! I think its wrong how much it costs to take ONE photo with Santa. This is his first since we didn't so it last year but that's okay because he was santa last year.

Walking because of the Cast

Roman took his first steps on October 3rd. He didn't seem that interested in doing it alone until the end of October when he fell while taking two steps to the couch and hurt his poor little arm. He didnt even fuss when it happened. He wouldn't put weight on it to crawl that night and would cry when he did. I was worried and kept an eye on it for the weekend. Sunday my mom found that his forearm was slightly swollen. So Monday I took him to Grandma Corona's work where they took an Xray and found he had a small fracture. The Dr. said we could put a cast on to protect his arm and to keep it from hurting him. So we did it.

I took some video of him getting the cast, and I am glad I did because I was behind him and could not see his face. Oh so cute. He was so good! He pulled on it at the start and at the end he was getting bored sitting there. He did so much better then I would have ever thought having it on too! He pretty much stopped crawling that day because it was not as easy to crawl with the cast. SO I can say with most certainty that he officially started to walk on Nov 1. AKA the day of the cast. It was off by Saturday.

The fractured bones.

I can't even see them in this photo.. thats how minor

We went to a park the same day and he seemed just fine!

Roman turned one!

I really am horrible at this blog thing. We moved to Va. Roman turned 1 year old. Tony got a new job. We drove to Va from Tx. Roman started to walk. Roman got his third tooth. Did I mention we moved from Texas? SOO I have some blogging to do about this. I will leave you with a few pictures from his 1st birthday party.

Playing with his new toy car. Seeing Tony the first time in over a month too!

Yes it does look like that candle would be fun to touch..

But its not.

Yes that happened. He was scared but had no injuries from touching the flame.

(I took the picture because I knew his hand was okay but it still makes me frown seeing it)

He recovered just fine

He was still very unsure about the cake. I think I ate more off my fingers then he did.

He would not touch it himself.

Not the first birthday cake experience we had hoped for, but it sure is memorable.

MORE posts to come!

September Update in Photos

since I have not filled in the blog world I thought I would make this post to inform my future self of the past few weeks. I think I made a few small updates, but I will post pictures from the past month now!

Roman took his first steps yesterday! I took video on my phone too and Tony got to see it minutes after it happened. I took a few pics also. We were at a tennis thing for Hunter and we later headed to the fair. He walked to my mom who was holding a chip that he wanted. He didn't get the chip, but he seemed excited about it! We had just been around another walking baby the night before.

Roman and I hung out in a park and took some 11 month pics last week

Took some pics with Grandpa Corona

Said bye to Tony as he left for his new job in Virginia

We also said bye to the Corona family too (and my parents)

He will talk on the phone.. or anything you give him

Romans reaction to the animals!

We went to Oktoberfest in Addison

Tony is so silly

We went to Grape Fest in Grapevine

We went to a bike race downtown Dallas

We saw Dr. Oz there too

We celebrated Tony's Birthday

We practiced walking, but it looks much more intense then it was.

Gotta love those food pouches! He just sucks them down!

We went to Grapevine for a town bike festival

We went to the TCU game at the Cowboys stadium

first phone update.

This is an update from my cool new phone that does way more then i thought it could. More soon!

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Update!

Since my eco blog so much has happened. Tony got a job offer in Virginia. He took it and he starts on Wed. He will be driving there tomorrow to get there on Tuesday. He will be working M-F in a training thing till Nov 1. So he wont be able to come back to help us move till after then.

We spent the afternoon at Uncle Joe and Aunt Karen's house saying bye to the rest of the Coronas and my Family. Unfortunately Missy and Chris are on a cruise so they will have to wait till Tony comes back to say bye. I hope they had lots of fun and cant wait to hear stories!

Roman will be 11 months old on the 3rd of October. Everyone else is so good at telling their milestones so I am going to try to remember the things he does.

• Has only two bottom front teeth. No signs of more.
  
• Loves t o feed himself mum mums in banana and veggie and plum organics food pouches which he will suck down in 5 seconds flat.
  
• He is so good at crawling I think he has no interest in walking, but he is so good at it! He walks almost unassisted but if we let go he sits. He stands often alone now and seems to not notice then he sits down.
• He claps, high 5s, waves, gives kisses, points at us when you ask him (where's mama/dada or Elly/Mia) and throws the ball for Elly and giggles at the dogs. He also talks on the phone and loves the remote. He has a fake phone that looks real and he jabbers on it often. He will talk to anything though.. lego, block, ball. He will also hand you things if you hold out your hand.
  
• He can drink out of a cup, a water bottle, a sippy cup, and a straw he can even do the camel back ones too. He doesn't drink much besides water. He will drink out of a juice box. He will also spit it out just as good as he drinks it for fun too.
  
• He loves to play with Elly even when she is not interested in him, he thinks they are playing.
• He loves other babies and points and talks to them in stores
• He is a cuddle bug and loves to hug on me and tony
• He enjoys flap books and looking under the flaps.
  
• He loves to go on walks in the stroller. I think he could stay in it all day long if I could move all day!
• He can say mama, dada, and we think he says ball and dog... but they sound like Bah and Dah. He uses them correctly so we are almost positive that's what he is saying as of tonight.
• He is wearing anything from 6 to 18 months. I would say the 12 -18 months is much roomier but not too big.
  
• Size 3 and 4 shoes but we don't wear them often he only has 2 pairs that he wears and his dress shoes.
• Size 3 diapers
• Still nursing a few times a day mostly mornings and afternoons and not at night.
  
• Sleeps all night from 8 pm to almost 7 am most nights. The past few nights it's been a little later to bed, but still early to rise!
• We are still wrapping him up (swaddling) to get him to sleep. He will go to sleep on his own sometimes. I sometimes worry this is bad and he needs to sleep on his own then we let him cry for a minute (or more) and he is out but its nice to hold him since he is getting big so fast. When he sleeps on his own its so cute because he will stick his butt in the air and tuck his legs under.

Thats about all I can think of for tonight. Tony put Roman to sleep and it will be more then a month before he can do it again. :( Night all!

Shoesssssss

The shoe cabinet...

Can I tell you how much I LOVE this idea?! Its the cutest thing ever now I just wish I had a closet for it to go in. Or a room maybe? I can not wait to have a home to decorate using old repurposed furniture in it. I cant wait to strip it and paint it or stain it. I have so many ideas of what I want to do I have no idea where to start. I keep seeing cute dressers in thrift stores and I want to buy them so bad. They are so cheap too! This was on the blog for the store called Uptown Country located in Schneider Plaza in Dallas and they are so cute. I had never been in there till a few weeks ago. Its very cute. The whole store is also all about recycling! They use old things and give them new lives in the decor and the things they sell. Its a mother daughter team who does it too.

Check out their website www.uptowncountryhome.com

Anyday can be a green day.

Remember the three Rs? Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? I will refresh your memory...

REDUCE
Anytime it is possible reduce the amount of waist you will make. Try to buy things that have less packaging. Less waste means less space in the landfill. Buy things that are free of hazardous chemicals. You can even make your own cleaners with a few simple ingredients (like your great great grandma did).

REUSE
Bring your own bags to the store and not just the grocery store anywhere you buy things and they give you a bag. Repeat again and again.

RECYCLE
The main things that most people know are paper, plastic, and glass and depending on your area you can drop them at your curb or find a local center to take them to. There are a number of plastics that can be recycled, you can tell mostly if they have a #1-7 on them you just have to find the right place.

Other things that should be recycled properly and not throw in the trash are cleaning items, batteries, old appliances, garage and garden supplies.


Earth911.com HERE
The EPA has a fun map game to play and find out more info on recycling HERE
HERE is a link to read more about what is recyclable


So I have more ideas to come.
What appliances use the most energy?
How can you save money and the earth?
Simple ways to go green.
What do you want to know about? Anything that you have been wondering about?

Going green is important to me so I thought I should share the things I feel can make a difference in the world. I read something like this the other day.. If you don't think one thing can make a difference you have never had to sleep in a room with a mosquito.

If you don't do it who will?!

My thoughts on the world

The world is such a small place, but its also so huge. I know that's not a new idea but it is so big. I have been thinking often about how important recycling is to me and why. I know it sounds silly but I think it has to do with exactly that. How big and small our world is. There is only so much space out there and if its filled with trash how can the future beings enjoy it and thrive in it. We are all here to live and die. What you do with that life is up to you, but your actions impact others. Sometimes I think it I don't see something it doesn't happen; I often joke with Tony on trips that if I don't take a picture of it it didn't happen. Of course I know its not true. I find it frustrating when others refuse to participate when its so easy! Okay so I know that those things (The movie about a day on earth and recycling) are not exactly connected but in some way they are. In my head they are. Sooo since knowledge is power I have decided to try to do blogs about being green. I like to learn more about saving the planet and I might as well document it right?!

ONE Day on Earth

Have you all heard about this upcoming film/media movement called One Day on Earth??? OH MY Gosh. I just read about it and watched this super cool video on it too. It is an amazing concept. I have no idea how they are going to edit the video and make it only 120 minutes.

This person has a video up that you can watch and a link to an entry about it here.  *(He also has cool pics of his wife's pregnancy up till she started to have contractions on the 39 week shoot!)

Tony just came in and asked what I was blogging about and I got distracted and have a block in my head. I am going to sleep on this then come back tomorrow with my deep thoughts on the concept. The following is from the site explaining the project.

"Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period. By participating in this historic event, you will help capture the diversity of life and culture on this planet. Together we will create a document that is a gift to the world.

One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth. More than a film, One Day on Earth is a multi-platform participatory media project. The flagship of this project is a 120-minute documentary to be released theatrically. Through the One Day on Earth platform we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates."

Tooth #2/update 10 months

Romans second bottom tooth came in. His left one I believe. It is hardly visible but you can feel the sucker! He seems to notice they are in there now. He is eating more and more table foods. He likes toast and real chicken. He does not like the baby food meats. He also does not like things that are too textured in his mouth. He will stick his tongue out till he gets the gross out. He looks like a lizard, or a kitty. :) We are still trying to do baby signs, but I dont think I do them often enough for him to connect them. I guess I need to work on that. We do signs for poopy, please, more, bite, kitty/cat, and dog/puppy (same signs for each). We were doing mom, dad, and baby too but its been a while. He sure doesn't like his naps. He goes down pretty good at night though. He sleeps all night still. Thankfully the teeth haven't disrupted that. He waves, and claps too. I am trying to also teach him that he is "soooooo big" by stretching his arms out. He is the most amazing baby on the go for the most part that is. He loves to eat. He sometimes will get mad at me when his first jar of food is out and I dont have another. Some days he is fine with one jar, but other days he will eat till his tummy is hard and gets very upset if I try to stop the meal. Most of the time two jars of baby food does it though. We are still nursing but we are down from 500 times a day to more like 2 to 4. Sometimes he goes to bed without a snack. I am not sure how ending nursing is going to go. There are times when he just fights and fights to get in the position. Any moms out there have problems with that? When did you stop nursing? I have been thinking I would stop at 1. But I am thinking maybe I wont.. I know what you are thinking! Its so easy to do! If we did go past 1 I think it would just be one time a day as he eases into milk. How much whole milk a day should he be drinking at 1?

Happy Birthday TONY!!

Today is my wonderful husbands Birthday. He is away in California at an interview today. He will be back soon. :) We wish him lots of luck and hope he has a wonderful day!

Thank you for being so great Tony. I have spent just about everyday with you the past 6 months and I honestly can say that I never get sick of you. There are times when I am annoyed with you of course, but I never want to be away from you for long. You make me laugh even when I want to be mad at you. I love that I laugh at all your jokes, and not just to make you feel better, its because I really think you are funny. You are so seriously silly. I love watching you with Roman. You are the best father that I can imagine. You love to play with our baby and I love to watch you. You are better at putting him to sleep then I am and you do certain things different then I do and I love that. I love that I have you to help me when I cant do it anymore. I am happy you want to be so involved with our baby. I am so excited for the things to come this next year. We will have a one year old and move to a new home in a new location. I look forward to all the trips we will take together. Hope this year is better then last year for you! LOVE YOU!

Now and Forever babe
Your Loving Wife Crystal

Girls Trip!!!

Is this real life?
Have you all seen that clip of the little boy who just had work done on his mouth and he is still on the drugs asking his dad if this is real life and if this feeling was going to last forever?! You should so watch it. Its hilarious.

Last weekend I went on a girls trip and it was so much fun. I went with my college friends. They all also happened to be in my sorority and I lived with 2 of them for two years (Liz and Katrina) and one lived across the street (Andrea) for one and I had fashion classes with Jessica. We sent to Surfside on the coast about an hour outside of Houston. It was a very small town - A mining town as we started to call it. There were tons of jokes and laughs and staying up late watching lifetime movies and random sales TV for personal items. We went on a giant blow up water slide that is larger then you are picturing, I promise. We rode around in a golf cart on the beach and to the store. We sat in the water and let tiny little clams try to dig a hole in the sand in our hands. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.

The best part was at the bar when a guy was looking at Andrea and I think Liz said "He is looking at your butt Andrea" and Andrea said something like "I have been sh*ting out of it all night" Then she walked off. We all laughed so hard and I know its gross, but it was soo funny. Even the guy laughed and brought her toilet paper later to be funny. The people were all pretty nice in that tiny little town. We saw Step Up 3D also. It was of course amazing.

I had to pump since I am still nursing and I made time in the morning or at lunch or before we went out for the night. I missed my boys when I was gone, but I know its good to get away. So glad it happened. Thanks to Andrea and David's family for letting us borrow their cute house on the beach.