I'm still around

I've been wanting to blog about different things.  Even started 2 posts that I have yet to finish.  I just haven't had the time.  Working 22 1/2 hours a week isn't a lot but it has definitely made my life busier.  So at some point I'll try to catch up.

But for now I'm getting ready for our vacation to NC to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  It'll be Shaylin's first plane ride & her first time to meet a lot of relatives.  I used to think it was stressful packing for a long trip when it was just me & Jeremy.  Adding a baby is a whole 'nother ball game!

Java Roast

Tonight I tried another roast recipe in the crockpot.  Yes, I know I said I probably wouldn't make a meal like this while working but I've been dying to try this one.  So instead of cooking on low like I usually do I cooked it on high.

1 rump roast (3-4 lbs.)
1 onion (I used half; it's all I had), sliced in big chunks
1 red bell pepper, sliced in big chunks
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (I didn't have any so I didn't use them)
3/4 cup brewed coffee
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T red wine vinegar
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
4 oz. cream cheese (to add later)

Put veggies in first, then top with roast. 
Add coffee, followed by Worcestershire sauce & red wine vinegar.  Sprinkle seasonings on top.
Cover & cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Carefully remove roast.  Slice cream cheese & stir.  Turn heat up to high to help melt & break it up.  Serve over meat.

Oh my goodness!  This was so yummy & moist.  And if you didn't put in the coffee yourself you'd never know it was in there.  I will definitely make this again, except next time I want to cook it on low.  I've cooked things both on high & low & low always seems to prevent over-cooking.

Sweet Mustard Roast

I haven't posted any recipes in a while.  So here's what I'm making today.

1 roast (3-4 lbs.)
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup dijon mustard
2 T white vinegar
1 t garlic powder


Place roast in crock pot.  Top w/ remaining ingredients.  Flip roast a few times till well coated.  Cover & cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I've made this before & loved it.  I gave a hint of a sweet taste to the meat.  Best of all it's so easy to put together.  Gotta love that!

I'm making it with mashed potatoes & green bean casserole.  Since I may not want to cook too many meals that are time consuming while I'm working I thought I should do it today.

Working Momma

I adore being a stay at home mom.  It's all I ever wanted to do.  A career meant nothing to me.  And I had a great job before Shaylin was born.  For over 7 years I worked in an insurance office & pretty much ran the office without the title of agent.  Or the paycheck.  But when I left the week before Shaylin was born I wasn't sad & had no intention of ever going back to the workplace ever again. 

Well, never say never.

A couple weeks ago my former boss emailed me asking if I'd be willing to come in part-time to fill in while his main support staff is out of the country.  It would be for 7 weeks.  So I talked to my mother-in-law to see if she'd be willing to watch Shaylin in the mornings & she agreed.  I would have started today but my mother-in-law is on her way back from visiting some of her other grandkids so I will start tomorrow.

What also helps is we will be going to NC for Thanksgiving so it takes out a whole week right in the middle of this commitment so I really will only work a total of 6 weeks.  My hours will be 8:30 to 1:00 so with that & driving time it'll have me away from Shaylin for about 5 hours a day.

So far I'm ok.  I haven't cried . . . yet.  I haven't had guilt . . . yet.  But I know it's going to come.  What helps me is knowing that it's not for very long & we could definitely use the extra money with our NC trip coming up & Christmas right after.

Another positive I thought of is that it will help give me more empathy for other moms that work all the time.  Not that I don't feel for them.  But I don't really know how they feel on a day to day basis when they have to leave their babies behind knowing they would rather spend as much time with them as they can.  This will give me a small taste of what they go through.

I've already asked Shaylin to not do anything new while she's away from me.  She has to save it for when we come home.  I feel a greater desire to spend quality time with her today. 

So on that note . . .

9 Month Checkup

Weight - 15 lbs. 8 oz (3rd-10th percentile)
Height - 28" (50th percentile)
Head Circumference - 17 1/2" (50th percentile)

The doctor was a little concerned about her weight since this had her gaining only about 1 1/2 pounds since her 6 month checkup.  I was surprised too.  She's been gaining about a pound a month so I assumed she would have been around 17 pounds.  We discussed her eating routine & I told him how she's gone from 5 nursing sessions a day to 4 since she's eating solids 3x/day.  So he suggested we go back to 5 a day & use solids as just "extra".  So I'm going to try that.  But part of me wonders how much of it is just because she's mobile now.  Babies typically burn off baby fat when they crawl or walk & she may have burned off the little bit of fat she had on her.  I can't imagine that she's been hungry.  I'm sure she would have told me.

Other than her weight, she's perfect.  Developmentally she's on track.  She had to get one shot, Polio.  She didn't cry at all.  We also had to have her tested for lead poisoning.  Not that she's been eating paint chips.  But in the questionnaire it asked if we live in a house built before 1978 & this house was built in 1955.  So they pricked her toe & squeezed blood out.  It took a long time but Shaylin just sat in my lap & watched.  Never cried at all.  I was so proud of her.

We won't be doing any weight checks till her 1 year checkup.  If she isn't back on track with her weigh gain then we'll look into it more.  I'm not too concerned about it now though.  I'm petite so it's not surprising that my daughter would be petite, too.

9 Months Old

Shaylin is 9 months old today.  Each month that goes by I'm in disbelief about how old she is.  She's growing up so fast.  And she has recently done so many new things to show her independence & maturity.

- Shaylin's biggest milestone is crawling.  I'm amazed at how quickly she's taken off.  One day she did a little hands & knees crawling but mostly army crawl (this after barely anything more than rolling) & then in just 4 days she was 100% crawling.  She's absolutely loving the ability to move around & exploring everything.

- This past month Shaylin also started pulling herself up.  She still doesn't do it very often & hasn't done it in her crib yet but we need to lower her crib now just in case she decides to do it early in the morning.

- This seems strange but she has finally started splashing in the bathtub.  She's liked bath time for a while now but she's always been very subdued & just seems to enjoy sitting in the water, maybe chew on a couple toys.  But now she's started splashing & seems to like it.

- She's eating solids 3x a day now.  She has oatmeal for breakfast, a fruit for lunch, & a vegetable for dinner.  This now has our nursing sessions down to 4 a day, maybe 5 depending on how the day is going.  I've also started offering her table foods.  She doesn't have any teeth but she's learning to gum things.  So far she's had chicken, ground beef, ham, pasta, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, & bread.  I also give her these yogurt melts by Gerber as "dessert" at dinner time.  These seem to be the most helpful tool for teaching her to feed herself.  Sometimes they make it in.  Other times I find them in her lap.

- Shaylin babbles a lot but isn't saying actual words yet.  Mostly it's sounds like "ma", "ba", & "ga".  I can hear "mama" when she cries a lot.  No "dada" yet but I'm trying to get her to say it.

- Recently I took her to my in-laws & Shaylin reached out to my mother-in-law.  Totally made her Nana's day.  She also did this to Jeremy the other day when he came home.  It sure made him feel great after a long day of work.

Needing Motivation

It's been 2 weeks since I ran a marathon.  Since then I've run a total of 3 1/2 miles.  That's really lame after doing 20+ miles in one week.  Or 20 miles in one day!

Granted, the first week I was recovering & was best to not run.  I also caught a stomach bug that week & lacked the energy.

But this past week I ran 3 miles on Monday & then a measly half mile on Thursday.  I delayed that run all because of a mesquito bite on my heel.  I had the same thing happen during my training but I sucked it up & ran because I was training for a marathon.  But now that there's no marathon, I find it easier to make excuses.  This is not good.

So other than my goal of running a 5k under 30 minutes I'm going to try to find a 5k or 10k in the next month or so that I can work towards.  I may even write out a training plan just so I feel like it's something I have to do.

I just know I have to find some kind of motivation.  Burning calories so I can eat my Ben & Jerry's Cinanmon Bun ice cream with less guilt just isn't enough.