Bread Pictures!

This is my french bread loaf on it's final rise before baking!

My completely baked loaf of bread. It was delicious and nutritious!

Imagine the Impossibilities - Me Making Bread

After reviewing a few blogs, I found a blog about imagining the impossibilities and giving yourself a challenge to overcome. Well I wanted to learn to make bread, so I went for it!

It was quite fun actually. I decided to make french bread first, since I love it the most and rarely have any at home. I used active yeast and placed it in warm water. My supportive husband even bought me flour specifically for bread since I sent him to the store on a grocery run. I didn't even know there was flour like that! How sweet of him huh! Any way - I digress. After I mixed the active yeast in the water, I added the bread flour, some sugar, salt, and canola oil. I mixed all these ingredients together until I had a nice dough. Then I took it out and placed it on a floured pastry mat and kneaded it. This was the really fun part. I got to release all my tension into the dough hehe! Next, it was time to let it rise. I placed it into an oil coated bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. Then left it in the oven (I didn't turn the oven on - it just needed to sit in a warm dark place) for about an hour to rise. Then, I punched it down. Literally punched it, another fun task. I reshaped it placed it back in the bowl and let it rise again for another 30 minutes. This time my daughter punched it down lol, and we took it out. We placed it on a floured surface again and shaped it into a french loaf. I then lined my cooking sheet with parchment paper, since I didn't have cornmeal, which the recipe recommended and I placed my loaf on top of the parchment paper. I let it rise again, then brushed it with an egg white and water mixture. Finally, I cut slits into it, like the ones you normally see on french bread in stores and placed it in the oven to bake. I baked my french bread for about 20 - 25 minutes. It was fabulous, even without the cornmeal! My family loved it and ate it all up quickly. As a result, I ended up making another loaf later on in the week. I don't think I'll ever buy french bread again because my homemade batch was so delicious. I'll post pictures soon. I'm so glad I took this challenge! Are there any challenges that you've been putting off, that maybe now you realize you should try?

Who needs a gym to work out?

That is my mantra for 2012 - who really needs to pay some expensive gym membership to get a good work out. I recall when I had a gym member all I did was let them draft my checking account every month, but I never attended. Then I'd see my bank statement and think, I need to go work out and get my monies worth. So I'd go for a few classes, then maybe hit the treadmill. I'd do good for a couple of weeks, but then back to nothing. Membership cancelled because I knew I was wasting money, but I still needed to work out - well after baby.

I am now 7 months post pregnancy - yes I know I should have been working out before now but any who, I've decided I needed to tone up. What is a stay at home mom to do without a gym membership? Well another luxury of being home is TV shows, and I'm really learning a lot from them. One day I was watching live with Kelly Ripa and they were actually working out to a work out video on the show. It was the new Brooke Burke video. The exercises looked doable, so I thought I'd go get it and give them a try. I went to go ole Best Buy and bought Transform Your Body with Brooke Burke Tone and Tighten since that is what I really needed to do as I've lost most of my baby weight. I have a few pounds that have taken up residence and have been refusing to vacate so I figured toning up would be best for me. Best part - the video only cost me $7.99, so who needs that old stinking gym membership, right!

I must say this workout video is a true workout! I've only been able to make it through the warm up and lower body exercises,but I could still feel the burn days after. I plan to work out to the video three times a week and of course make it through the whole video. One major plus for the video is if you are short on time you can choose which work outs you'd like to focus on from the menu. Brooke also must have known there would be other new moms out there like me completing this video, because she gives modified exercises for those of us that are "vacationers" to working out. I don't thinking I've ever been to a class at a gym where they give instruction on how to modify the exercises. This definitely makes exercising to this video three times a week doable. So once again who needs a gym! Check out the videos and tell me what you think. Brooke Burke has other videos, there's also Jillian Michaels, and my personal favorite Zumba (but Zumba is for the Wii or xBox Kinect). Happy getting in shape! 

Small Victories

As a mother to a seven month old, I've found that you have to celebrate these. Actually as a mother period you have to celebrate small victories, or you just may lose hope in your parenting abilities. My small victory is regarding my son's sleeping habits. Many times I want to kick myself, (especially) when I hear people say, "Oh my child sleeps straight through the night." Although, I'm usually thinking to myself, "Uh, so do you want a cookie?" I mean, must you rub it in while the other 90% of babies aren't sleeping through the night.

Consequently, my baby obviously doesn't sleep through the night, but I'm remind that we still have lots of small victories in this area to be thankful for. For example, at least he doesn't require a late night bottle anymore. Whoa hoo! No more standing at the bottle warmer at 2, 3, or 4am for us. He is happy with a last daily bottle around 11pm and doesn't desire another until he wakes in the morning around 7 or 8am. I've also finally broke him of being rocked to sleep. So yes, he still wakes up but for the most part if I put him on my shoulder or lay him next to me, he goes right back to sleep; and to top it off, he may only wake up once or twice a night. Yes, I'm aware that this is NOT sleeping through the night. Trust me, the bags under my eyes and lack of memory remind me of this mere fact daily. But I'm also very aware it could ALWAYS be worse and more than anything we ARE making progress! So to all the other moms out there, don't kick yourself when that other mom is bragging about her child sleeping through the night, potty training in days, eating cereal with a spoon on the first try, or whatever it may be. Focus on where you and your child were and where you are now, and I'm sure you'll find there is something to celebrate! What are your small parenting victories? 

Trying to save $$ with my love of baking

Hello,

How has everyone been? Hope the new year has been treating you great. I've been sitting here thinking about my weekly grocery list, because you know there are those few things that you have to buy often like milk, oj, bread, etc. So I'm thinking, why buy bread every week at almost $3.00 a loaf when I could make it. I love baking, and I've always wanted to make bread so why not go for it now. I'm home all day.....ah the joys of the new SAHM.
Any who, I'm thinking of actually giving it a try. I found recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=6773&origin=detail&&Servings=36 and if this works I hope to continue doing this. My only thought though, is would it be easier just to make it from scratch or get a bread maker. Would anyone like to share their thoughts on a bread maker? I'd love a kitchen aid mixer with a bread kneading attachment, but not an option right now. So what are your experiences with a bread maker, or is it better to just make it from scratch?

New Year New Post

Long time no see. Isn't it funny that when I make a post about posting more, I drop the ball and vanish into thin air. Well I'm back and really this year I'm going to make a go of this blog and post often, so be on the look out for savings posts, mommy posts, everyday life posts, and so on. Oh yes and happy New Year!!

The topic for today's post relates to New Years resolutions. It's interesting because what I have been thinking about  recently was discussed at today's worship service - boy am I so glad that I made it to church today! I figured the best way to start off the new year would be at church, since January the 1st is on a Sunday. Ok, let me stop ranting and get to the topic, which is putting yourself first! What? Be selfish..... well not really.

Basically, I believe as mothers we put EVERYONE before ourselves, especially if we have little babies at home because we want to cater to their needs first. I know personally as a stay at home mom there are many times when I don't eat breakfast or lunch because I've been running behind my six month old son all day(unfortunately he can be a cat napper on many occasions - so don't think I haven't tried to take care of my needs during his naps), then I've got a fifth grader to cater to when she gets home from school (basketball practice, choir, birthday parties, and so on, the list goes on. Not to mention the constant care of a home, pets (although those that know me know I don't put much care into my pet lol - I've kids that can do that), and other wifely duties. All that every day is exhausting, and as mothers we need to take time out to say it's time for me. Now to all the so so moms out there - that does not mean dump your kids off every chance you get j/k actually I'm not, but for us hard working moms it means setting time out once a week or 10 minutes a day to focus on something you enjoy - a good book, a good album on your iPod, blogging, or just quiet time in the Word. Anything that helps you to recharge and be a better you, better mom, and better wife.

Consequently that is one of my new years resolutions, to be sure each month I've done something for myself where someone is catering to me for a change, like getting my nails or my hair done - for most new moms this doesn't happen often. Then weekly, I hope to exercise consistently, and daily I hope to work on either my blog, scrap book, and/or read for at least 10 - 15 minutes! What will you do to recharge as a mom?  

Is there daylight savings time with baby?

I don't know about you and yours, but it doesn't seem like we got the memo that there was an extra hour to sleep. Nope my little one still woke up; earlier now, so no extra sleep in my home. I wonder when I will ever get to enjoy the daylight saving fall back extra sleep experience again. I am completely thankful for my beautiful son, but extra sleep would really be nice. Was this the same experience for everyone else with a baby, or did your little one actually slept an extra hour?

All about MOMMY!!!

These past few days I have been focusing on me! Yup that's right. I think in order to be a good mommy there have to be times when you focus on yourself. So this week I've focused on getting a new wardrobe. I have been wearing the same few clothes for the last few months (because that's all the pre - pregnancy clothes that fit me after pregnancy) and I'm sick of it. At first I didn't want to get something new to wear because I was hoping to lose these last 4 - 5 pregnancy pounds (lucky me it fluctuates). However, as my son approaches 5 months I realized who cares about these last few pounds (since they are still here lol) it's time to get some new clothes and stop looking crazy. It also helped that my birthday is coming up - so I've got birthday cash coming my way! I went to the mall and shopped for me. It felt so good but was so hard not to venture over to the baby gap section or the girls section of Old Navy to look for things for my son and my daughter. I had to mentally remind myself don't look - today is about me. Have any of you other mothers had to do that?

Blog Mommy

Ya know, everyday I am able to think of tons of things to blog about, but somehow just can't seem to get myself to sit down in front of the computer or on my iPhone to actually blog. I think I miraculously hope the topics will jump from my mind to the computer automatically. Any one else seem to have this problem? Honestly, I know I'd feel better to get many of the things off my chest about motherhood, being a wife, and searching for a job, but the time to blog about all these these things just somehow escapes me. I mean after you've cooked dinner, bathe the baby, taken the older sister to her basketball game, made an attempt to clean the house - where is the time to blog. I'm going to try to get better even though I don't even have an audience yet, but I realize how will I get there if I don't have anything posted up for anyone to read on a regular basis. So here's to improvement - cheers! And a great big kudos to those of you that are able to blog consistently in addition to life's daily challenges.

Check your nipples!

Yep I said it! Check your nipples.... not the ones you may be thinking about, but for moms of bottle fed babies we should check our babies nipples often and upgrade them when necessary. My son is 4 months old and I just thought to do this. He uses Avent bottles so I switched to the #3 bottle, which is for babies 3 months and up. Boy, had I wished I had done this sooner. He gets to drink so much more formula now before he gets too gassy - he's one of those babies that doesn't like to take a break and get burped during a feeding. So it's great to know he's getting what he needs without having to work too hard for it. The manufacturer actually recommends replacing nipples every three months and I agree with them. It really isn't a scam to get you to buy more of their products. It is something that will really benefit your baby, so be sure to check your nipples. The next size up for us is at 6 months, so I'll be replacing them again then. When was the last time you checked your bottle nipples?

I'm Here!

I just can't tell you how much I have enjoyed being at home with my children these last few months. It is almost as if being laid off was the best thing that's happened to me. Yea, we have to budget now, but these moments with my son and daughter are priceless.

Today, I was coaching my daughter's basketball team, mind you I really do not know what I'm doing. However, watching my daughter come alive during the game - stealing the ball, shooting lay ups, blocking shots, and playing awesome defense (while I'm her coach ;-)). Priceless. Then to even see her face as she came off the court, and I gave her a high five as well as her team mates. Priceless! I even think the other girls are enjoying me being their coach, as I hear them say Mrs. Angela did you see that we're winning. Yup, we won our first game today. I know I am making an impact in those girls lives as well, as I try my best to be encouraging even when they're not playing their best. I know if I was working full - time I would have never been able to commit to such a task.

Then there is the time with my son. He will be 4 and 1/2 months this week and for all you moms out there with babies/infants you know how fast they grow. It seems like yesterday we were feeding him every two hours and had just brought him home from the hospital. Now, he is alert has his own personality, and he's trying his hardest to sit up on his own and crawl - well really scoot. For some strange reason, I think my son thinks he's 10 months old because he refuses to believe he can't get around on his own or hold his own back up to sit up. It is just too cute, but the cutest of all is that I get to catch all these moments. Once again priceless. I get to see and make him laugh and smile everyday. I'm the face he sees in the morning, afternoon, and at night, just priceless

As I continue to search for work, work life balance is very important to me, and I'm hoping God will bless me with a job where I have the flexibility to continue to be present with my children since I know I must return to work. However, I want to always be able to say, I'M HERE whenever and wherever my children need me. I think my new dream (which I'm a long way from) will be to stay home with my children (unless I find a job where I can work from home - but I think in some way I'll always work. I just want work that won't interfere with raising my family as a long term goal). I just really want to be there for them as this experience has opened new doors for me.

I've even started thinking about what we are really working for???Now, I know I must return to work to continue our lifestyle, where being in a home with both parents working affords you more. But what are we REALLY working for. I mean for some yes, you both work to keep the lights on and a roof over your family's head, but for others that this situation may not apply to what are you working for? Yes, we've become accustomed to a lifestyle, but can't we adjust if we really want to. It always bothers me to hear people say, I wish I could be a stay at home mom - when I'm thinking if you downsize from that Lincoln you probably could be. Does the American dream really mean less time with your family so you can have a bigger house, nicer car, and stylish clothes. I mean aren't those things just material, but a family - that's your permanent stamp in this world that you can't go back and have a do-over for. As a result, isn't that more important? What do you think? Feel free to share your comments below.

My two new favorite stores!!

Walgreens and CVS. Yes, drug stores. The ones that I used to always think they were super expensive. Why would I ever want to shop there on a consistent basis unless I needed medicine.

Well thanks to the Krazy Koupon Lady and Southern Savers. I have deciphered the system and I'm pretty proud of myself. See there are some perks to being home all day. Walgreen and CVS love to give you their money. It's almost like Monopoly money because you get to use it right back at their store. So each week I'm excited to get the Sunday paper to see their circulars and compare them to the coupons that I have. In many cases I end up spending only $1 - $4.00 on items that offer Walgreens registry rewards and CVS extra care bucks. I then take my savings and usually purchase baby items or other things we need. It is a fabulous system. I just hate that I hadn't discovered it sooner. I was spending a fortune in that store when I just bought things without seeking items that paid me back. Now I only purchase things that I need that are on sale and/or give me money back. I usually save anywhere for 40% - 60% on purchases. I'm hoping as I learn more about the system that percentage will grow.

To learn more about maximizing the system at Walgreens and CVS watch these videos:
Shopping at Walgreens with the Krazy Coupon Lady
Shopping at CVS with the Krazy Coupon Lady

Also, check out the Krazy Coupon Lady.com and Southern Savers.com for more information on what's on sale. Today I saved $50.00 with their help! How much have you or will you save?

Career What?

What is a mother to do?? I feel as though I have to choose between a career and being a mother. How many of you moms feel that way? 

I am in the process of looking for another job (as I was laid off from my previous one before baby) and torn with the thought of leaving my baby in daycare and having less time with my whole family. I'd love to have some adult contact, but fearful as to how our lives will change when I do return to work especially a full - time job with a full time workload (on top of the full time work load I have at home). My poor baby isn't sleep through the night so....... really that is whole other story.

At any rate, I wonder if I'll be able to handle a full time workload as I feel like a walking zombie Monday - Sunday. I don't even remember the last time I had a full night's sleep, and I don't even think I could sleep completely through the night as I am always listening for baby to wake up. On top of that, I just feel different. I almost wonder if I'm even capable of completing work that I've got many degrees and certifications in that say I can - if that makes any sense.  

Not to mention the separation anxiety I'll experience and the baby will experience as I leave him at daycare. My son won't even drink his milk when I leave him at the church day care for a few hours, so really fearful how his schedule will change as well if and when I go back to work full time.

At this point, all I can do is leave my career in God's hands. I'm continuing my search, but I'm praying and believing I'll find the job that will be best for me and my family. I also know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me so we'll see. How has it been for you other moms when you returned to work? Feel free to share your experiences as a comment below.

Exercise Ball and Baby

         Today the baby was very sleepy, over tired to be exact and any mom knows that's a bad mix. I was walking my little one to put him to sleep, which he normally likes but that wasn't working. Then I saw the exercise ball. The ball that I purchased for labor and delivery to "rock" my baby out. Well tonight I decided I'd "rock" my baby to sleep with the same ball. Guess what..... it worked! I bounced and rocked and within minutes my little one was off to dream land. I was so happy as I really needed to be able to put him to sleep without fuss because I'm tired myself. Who knew caring for a baby all day and night was so much work. So if you are ever at your wits end trying to get your baby to sleep (the lay him down when he's drowsy routine doesn't work for us at all lol), try your exercise ball. Not only will you get a mini workout, but your baby will get a soothing aid to help them fall asleep.

Two Months in the Trenches

October is quickly approaching, so I've been a SAHM while searching for a job for a few months now. I must say it is like a roller coaster ride. How might you ask? Well being a parent is a roller coaster ride period, but in this state you go through your highs and lows.
The high of seeing your baby grow and being available for all your family members, but then there is the low of the job search. Application after application and nothing. No phone calls, no inquiries, nada! So I begin to wonder if going back to work full - time is even in the cards for me despite my years of experience and multiple degrees and certifications.
I completely enjoy being my son's primary care giver, especially with him only being four months (he turned four months today:-)). I'm loving signing up to help at my daughter's school and with her extra curricular activities, but I miss the sense of self a job would bring. How crazy is that? Who even knew a job could do that.
Any who I press forward and choose to stay focused on the highs. Tonight, I'm coaching my daughter's basketball for the first time, while daddy has daddy son time. Wish me luck! Until the next post.

Who is the "new" stay at home?

Hello,

I am the new stay at home mom. I believe there are many of us out there. Moms who've had jobs but have been laid off. Most of us are in the process of looking for jobs, or some have even found it to be so hard to find a job that they've given up and taken on the stay at home mom role. I'm sure there are some dads out there that are doing the same thing. So to stay sane in my new role while still trying to find a job I've decided to blog about it. I'll blog about the job search, ways to save money and/or cut back, now being an much more available parent to my children, and maybe even a better wife :-).