Episode 5: The Self Esteem Train

So, I have all these friends that are photographers. And, I have all these other friends that are "theater people." We have a local community theater in which my husband and his family are very active, and we've met several of our friends through it. Well, with the advent of facebook, I get to see all of their pictures of each other. While I mostly love to see pictures of all of my friends on their wild escapades (that ladies with babies don't get to have anymore), sometimes they make me feel sad.

You see, I'm fat. Chunky, fluffy, Big-and-Lovely, p-h-a-t, whatever you want to call it, I am bigger than I feel like I should be. I felt really great for a while after my pregnancy, as I had actually LOST weight overall, but the belly has been rearing it's ugly head (or belly button, or whatever). Also, having breastfed for nearly 18 months, I have been feeling fairly unsexy recently.

Anyway, back to the topic. My friends all love to take pictures of themselves and each other, and they do silly faces and cute stuff all the time. And they always, always look just adorable. I, on the other hand, try to do silly and cute stuff in pictures, and I just feel like I look stupid and dopey. I wish I could take these lovely, adorable, cutesy pictures, but I just feel like I look silly.

Maybe everyone feels this way. Or, maybe I just look like an idiot all the time. I just really wish that I could look objectively at a picture and say, "Oh, that one's cute" or "Oh, that one's not bad." Maybe I need to follow Tyra's advice and practice in the mirror. Or, maybe this is all just academic. My friends that are photographers probably take a hundred pictures that never make FB for each one that does.

Anyway, for now, I'll just try to keep concentrating on the pictures that I do have of myself that I love, like these:

LM was so sick this day!

Taken by Marizabeth (of course!)

Episode 4: The Mother of All Mothers

So, I'm continuing in my quest to determine what kind of mother I will be. Of course, the simple answer for me is: the kind of mother I am. I've always striven to be the kind of mom who just lets her kids explore and do things on their own. I always think of a video I saw on AFV (don't judge me, it's a funny show) where a young child (maybe 2?) is pouring juice or milk into a cup on the floor, and most of the carton ended up on the floor. Mom just praised them for the few mouthfuls that made it into the glass, and didn't react at all to the giant puddle of juice!

However, the side of me that is very particular and conscientious just cringes at the messes made. I mean, I'm the girl that still has a pristine box of 96 crayons that I've had since junior high. Not one of those 96 crayons is broken or missing. I've always been one of those kids who plays with her toys the way with which they are supposed to be played. I don't want to raise a child who is nervous or anxious about making a mess.

 Take, for example, yesterday's digging time outside: 

 Isn't he cute? Anyway, the little man (I still need to straighten out my blogosphere nicknames for the fam, what do you think of Mr. H and Baby H? I'm not terribly excited about either, especially since I couldn't be bothered to think up my own nickname - blogname?) was outside digging in our new flowerbeds, one of his new favorite games. This was what the patio looked like about halfway through the big dig:

 

Now, I know this is not a big mess! But, there was a little part of me just itching to wipe the patio off! How do I stop myself? 

For now, I just keep reminding myself that as long as I try my best, it doesn't matter what kind of mom I am, I am just Mom. The best mom I can be. And a chill mom, to boot!

In other news, I cooked some seriously bangin' food this week:

Steamed Salmon with Broccoli, Snow Peas, and Water Chestnuts!

And it isn't all blackened from Extra Dark Soy Sauce!

Veg!

Tonight was Sweet & Sour Pork.

Yum!

I thought the Sweet & Sour Pork was so interesting, because you can actually taste the sour flavor, instead of the Sweet & Sour food you usually get, which is a purely sweet sauce. I wonder if this is any closer to what Chinese-Chinese food tastes like, instead of American-Chinese food.

I was super proud of my recipe planning this week. Out of our three cook-at-home dinners this week, I did two salmon dishes, two rice dishes, two dishes that each use half of a chile, two recipes that use cilantro, and two dishes with snow peas, so I won't end up tossing much out.

In other news, the little guy is actually eating real meals!!! I am so excited! He has been eating a real, actual toddler meal for both breakfast and lunch since last Sunday. I am still giving him puree for lunch, to make sure that he gets the protein he needs, since I can sneak it in! I can't tell you how excited I am about actual eating of real food! We are almost caught up to the "average" kid!

Episode 3: HAWT Cuisine!

I always thought I couldn't cook. I could follow a recipe, but I couldn't decide what to put together without one. Or, if I didn't have the exact ingredients listed in the recipe, I couldn't figure out what to substitute. And I was always panicky when trying a new recipe, "Is this right? Is that how it's supposed to look? How long until the chicken is cooked? Is that onion "sweated?" How translucent should the onions be?"

Now, a cookbook has changed my life.

Episode 2: All the News That's Fit to Ignore!

I really wanted to make this post about my recent adventures in the kitchen, but I forgot to take a picture of last night's new recipe (Asian-style Steamed Salmon with Broccolini). It was really tasty, but I need to decide what to do about our soy sauce. We've been getting the real kind of soy sauce (with actual soybeans in the ingredients instead of hydrolyzed vegetable proteins), but the brand we have turns the entire recipe alien-blood-black. It's not terribly fresh and appetizing looking. Maybe we'll just try another brand of real soy sauce before going back to the processed stuff.

So, on to the revised theme of today's post: the news. I've been staying home for about 21 months now. I find that I am so far behind on real news that it sometimes seems like I'm lost! I didn't know about Charlie Sheen's meltdown until two weeks after it happened, I didn't know we were bombing another country for two days! Of course, I'm all kinds of informed about preschool television news, though. For example, Captain Feathersword is predicting a flurry of fluttering butterflies today, and that Chloe Anderson went to play at her friend's house last Sunday (thanks, What's Your News!).

I'm not really sure what the best way will be for me to keep up with real news. I usually watch the Today show while I get ready in the morning, but since I don't get up until 7, I'm stuck with a lot more fluff pieces than real news. Today was a report on the 75th anniversary of school pictures and an interview with Robert Redford. Not so much the news I care about. I think I'll have to try to get to the computer during the day, to get my news the way I used to, from the Verizon main page!

Also, as a resident of a Southern Maryland town, I have no hope of getting any local news except through the local newspaper, which I would never read anyway. The only TV news here is DC news. I know more about DC politics than I do about the politics of the town in which I live! Luckily, I married into the family that knows EVERYONE in town, so we get a lot of local news the old-fashioned, small town way.

In other news, two posts in three days?! Go me!

Episode 1: Starting a Blog

So, I'm going to try blogging again, for the umpteenth time. I keep thinking I'm going to do this, and then I keep running out of time, or stuff to say (shocking, I know, Laura without something to say?!). I'd like to keep a record of my new adventures in housewifery.

As a young woman today,  I feel like the word "Housewife" is a dirty word. I feel pressured to be ashamed of my desire to be a housewife, because I have so many opportunities, or because being a housewife is considered demeaning for a woman, or because being a housewife "keeps me down" somehow. Even though I've wanted to stay home and take care of my children ever since I was a little girl, it seems like being a housewife is considered something I should not want to do with my life, even though the same people who think I shouldn't be a housewife tell me that I can do anything I want. Except that, of course!

Anyway, I'm proud of my job! I love taking care of my baby boy, and I am trying very hard to get all of my other household duties under control! Which leads me to another reason for this blog. I want to share my discoveries, and also ask others for help and tips on how they have gotten their households in order.

I hope you enjoy reading, and I hope we "H-words" can all help each other!