My new year's resolution

Ok, so normally I am not big on the whole "new year's resolution" thing, because I never really saw the point of saying I was going to do something only to keep it up for a day or two. But, this year my resolution is something I want to do not just because its a new year, but because I feel it is my duty as a mother. This may sound silly, but I want to cook better meals. When making the menu for the week I usually go for freezer standards like pizza, or the basics like shake and bake chicken and mashed potatoes. I know I can and should do better for my family.
I also want to bake more. When I lived off campus for a semester of college I would bake bread every Saturday. I had so much fun trying new recipes and love all the labor that goes into homemade bread. My husband says he would rather I start that after we have a dishwasher, but I think once he tastes some homemade honey whole wheat bread, he may change his mind.
So, my goal is to start this week with better meals. What's on the menu this week? Homemade deep dish pizza, pork chops with risotto and sauteed zucchini, and spaghetti with homemade meatballs. Not gourmet dishes, but its a start.

Merry Chrismas!

At Mass this morning Father gave a beautiful homily (one that even provoked Ben to clap in the middle of it). The part that touched me the most is when Father said "the world wants us to take our faith and put it to the side because they only see God as out to get us. They do not see the baby. If they saw the baby they would fall in love with God." How true and beautiful is this! Christ came to us as an infant and we are called to fall in love with Him, to scoop the infant Jesus up in our arms and kiss Him. How can we resist such a call?

Days like this...

Ben woke up last night at about 12:30, throwing up. This continued until about 8:30 this morning, and I am crossing my fingers that we have seen the last of it. Despite the fact that nobody got much sleep last night, I had to miss the Christmas luncheon today, and I am confined to the couch watching PBS with Ben all day; I am very thankful for days like this. It is times like this and I see how important being a mother is. Ben needs me to comfort him and take care of him. Where would sick babies be without mothers? I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with him and do the greatest job in the world... being a mother. As I cuddle my sick baby I think about how someday when he is sick, he is not going to need me to cuddle him, so I treasure these times. Of course if he is older and needs a cuddle, I will be there for him.

They are done!

I finally finished Christmas cards yesterday and got them out in the mail. I feel like this is a huge weight off my shoulders. Does this mean I am ready for Christmas? Not at all. We have two Christmas parties to go to today, one tomorrow, and I haven't wrapped anything. And I still need to knit a half dozen washcloths. And, anyone have any good ideas for a white elephant gift?

A day in the city

Yesterday we took a trip into Chicago to see the Christmas decorations. This is something I remember doing growing up and it is an experience that I wanted Ben to have. Despite the threat of snow we got on the train and headed to the city. The closer we got to the city, the heavier it was snowing. Once we got to the train station we bundled up and started our trek through the snow. Our first stop was confession and we soon discovered that as soon as we would get inside a building Ben would start to undress. This would include hat, mittens, boots, and even socks at times. I think we ended up re dressing Ben about twenty times during the day.
We then made our way to Marshall Field's (although I guess we're supposed to call it Macy's now). We wanted to start by going inside to see the giant tree and the F.A.O Schwartz toy store. That was a mistake. Maybe we were overreacting, but if a store has both escalators and elevators, shouldn't the elevators be for people who need to use them like people with strollers. Well, we stood by the elevators for about ten minutes while rude people (without strollers, wheelchairs, or anything else that would necessitate an elevator) pushed in front of us and got on the elevators. In frustration we quickly scratched that idea. Instead we headed outside to look at the windows. We ended our day with an early dinner at the Berghoff, and another long trek through the snow.
All in all it was a wonderful day. Ben was well behaved and it was nice to share a part of my childhood with my husband and son. I hope we can do this every year... maybe without rude elevator snatchers.

So messy, so fast

Isn't it amazing how fast kids can get messy? Ben got dress at 7:45 this morning, and then we left for Mass. On the way to Mass Ben threw up on his coat (don't worry, he's not sick, just a nice combo of hiccups, coughing, and drinking last night's milk this morning... oops). On the way our of Mass, Ben thought it would be fun to splash in the mud puddles in the parking lot. We then went to Panera Bread and while eating a bagel with butter on it Ben gave himself a "butter mustache." When I pointed this out to him he took care of it by wiping his face on his shirt. He then took the straw out of his juice box and shook juice all over himself. On the way out of Panera Ben fell flat on his stomach with his hands down in the muddy parking lot. He found this to be quite funny and tried to do it several more times before we reached the car.
All of this happened before 9:30 am. Needless to say he needed a complete outfit change when we got home, and I am doing a load of laundry now. I can only imagine how much laundry I am going to be doing when the new baby comes.

No Hot Chocolate

So, I decided to start a blog. There are days where "interesting" things happen and I start to think, "if I had a blog, I would write about this." Yesterday was one such day. I decided to take Ben outside to play in the snow for the first time. He seemed to enjoy himself and I must admit that I did too. When it was time to come inside I thought nothing goes better with the first time in the snow than the first taste of hot chocolate. Well, I soon discovered our little munchkin doesn't like hot chocolate. Really, what kid doesn't like hot chocolate? Apparently mine.

I will just have to add this to the ever growing list of kid friendly foods Ben won't eat. This includes mashed potatoes, bananas, cheese, and bologna. Add this to the fact that since we started table food Ben hasn't eaten a single vegetable, and I think we will have to resign to the idea that we have a picky eater on our hands.