I had a hard time singing this the first time they joined in – totally unprompted and out of the blue – singing “You Are My Sunshine” several months ago.
I listen to a lot of music and know a lot of children’s songs, but I had a difficult time remembering lyrics to most songs during those countless hours we spent together in NICU. “You Are My Sunshine” was one of the few songs whose lyrics – short and simple – never failed me, so I sang it over and over for them, first through their isolette ports them over their tiny heads during kangaroo time. Soon, I was singing it while rocking and shushing through seemingly endless months of infancy, then it became my go-to song to distract and soothe them after bumps, collisions or just general sadness. I sang it during the day, I sang it in the wee hours of the night. I’ve always sung it.
Now, they sing it with me. I’ve even caught them singing it on their own, to and with each other.
According to my Goodreads reading challenge tracker, I’m two books off pace to make my goal of reading 75 books in 2013. I hit the ground running in January and was four books ahead of schedule at one point. Then illness hit our house, then vacation (not the book-toting variety of my pre-parenting days, either!), then a reading rut.
I recovered a bit with two good books (“Code Name Verity” and “A Shot of Sultry“), but I’m stuck again with “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr. I’m only 50 or so pages in, and neither the characters nor the story are really hooking me and making me make time for reading.
That’s how I have to function as a reader with such a busy lifestyle. I choose books that suck me in and make me rush through household chores, stay up late and ignore my screwing-around-on-the-Internet tendencies in favor of being thrown into a world far from my own.
“The Alienist” isn’t cutting it so far, but while I’m mildly intrigued and not at all interested in quitting, I might table it for later in the year when I don’t need pulled from a reading rut.
On my shelf from the library awaits, “Out of the Easy,” by Ruta Sepetys and “The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer,” by Michelle Hodkin. Off my personal shelves, I have “The Great Gatsby” (I haven’t read it since high school and don’t remember much beyond “I liked it a lot.”), “The Glass Castle,” and “Gone With The Wind,” which I’ve never read or seen the movie. Please don’t banish me north of the Mason-Dixon Line for admitting this!
***
Now that Toby, Eleanor and Callista are in toddler beds, I’ve started reading to them before bed each night. I feel like a boob admitting that we haven’t done bedtime stories until now, but the semantics were just a total pain in the bum. Please trust me without me going through all the ways we tried and failed.
Instead, we’ve always read through the whole day. We read as a group, we read one-on-one, they “read” by themselves – rest assured my children are read to often – just not at bedtime until recently.
ANYHOW.
Designated reading time has made it much easier to regularly introduce new stories, so we’ve been tearing through our library piles.
My trio’s two newest favorite books are “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site,” “Little Blue Truck,” and the standards we can’t go to bed without are “The Going to Bed Book,” “I Love You Through and Through,” “Goodnight Moon,” and “You Are My Sunshine,” – all of which Toby, Eleanor and Callista have memorized from cover to cover and read aloud with me. It’s nothing short of adorable.
***
What we’re waiting for from the library:
With 22 days left until Charlotte, NC, hosts its March for Babies, I finally got the lead out and fired up our team page.
Our team, Peanut Butter Jelly Time (named for PB&J, the nickname Rob gave Toby, Eleanor and Callista the day we first met them on ultrasound), will be participating in our third annual March for Babies (AP Style nerds, it’s officially an annual event now for us!) this month. We walk to support March of Dimes – without them and the technologies they’ve developed or the discoveries and advances they’ve made, my life would be completely different. Without March of Dimes, Toby, Eleanor and Callista may not even be here today.
I have a lot of work to do between now and then, but the first step was reforming our team. The second step is informing our supporters – that includes YOU!
Our goal this year is $3,000 – that’s $1,000 for each of my March of Dimes miracles. Watch out for updates as the 22 days (and beyond, honestly – there’s still time to raise money after we walk!) count down. I’ll keep a donation box in my sidebar, and I’ll drop friendly reminders here and there, too.
It’s for the babies – mine and maybe yours. Every baby deserves a chance at life, and the ones born too soon, too small or too sick deserve as much help as March of Dimes has to offer.
I’ve had several people ask for my smoothie recipes. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I pretty much fail at passing along recipes. If you haven’t and are hoping for step-by-step guides and ingredients, SURPRISE!
I fly by the seat of my pants and create as I go. It works well for me, but it frustrates my friends like crazy. Sorry! (Not sorry.)
The good news is, my smoothie approach works great for Every Kitchen. Basically, you add whatever’s available and just make sure it tastes good and will pass through a straw (if you’re into straws).
My tools: Cutting board, paring knife (for rough chopping bulky foods), and Kitchen Aid blender
Fruits I’ve used: Any combination will do. I’ve used: bananas, mandarin oranges, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi (with the seeds removed because they taste peppery when blended), grapes, mangos, peaches, avocados, pineapple, plums
Vegetables I’ve used: Carrots, spinach, kale, celery
Protein and fats I’ve used: Sunflower seed butter, milk and plain Greek yogurt
Other: Coconut oil, ground flax seed
The amounts are up to you and what’s available. My three 2-year-olds usually drink 16 oz. each, so I make enough for them plus a bit extra just in case someone wants more. If you REALLY need a rough idea of how much I use, for my 6-cup preparation, I add up to two generous handfuls of greens, one or two stalks of celery and/or a large carrot. As for fruit, I’ve added up to two bananas, 10 or so strawberries, a whole kiwi (I usually don’t have many on hand), two mandarin oranges, a whole peach/plum/kiwi/mango, 2 cups of raspberries … you get the picture.
The bulk of my smoothies come from whole fruits and vegetables. The amount of yogurt and milk I add depend on consistency. I usually start with a full cup of yogurt and a generous splash of milk – probably 1/4 cup.
I also combine frozen and fresh fruits, depending on seasonal prices and availability. I buy my frozen fruits without additives from Trader Joe’s for a great price. I try to always keep strawberries, mangos, pineapple and raspberries in the freezer to stand in for what I can’t find or keep fresh. I’ve tried frozen spinach and kale, but the blended consistency isn’t nearly as good as fresh.
(Read more for my past, pre-children blog entries with single-serving smoothie recipes I’ve enjoyed.)
Yeast is my nemesis, and Easter bread is its hostage.
One of my biggest life regrets is not developing an interest in cooking until I was in my 20s. By then, both my grandmothers had passed away and room with them my best chance at learning family recipes.
I’ve gathered what I can from other family members, but the experience that comes from learning directly from the masters is something I’m slowly teaching myself. It isn’t nearly as easy or fun without my grandmas by my side, but I’m getting there.
Except for my family’s Easter bread.
I’m lucky to have the recipe intact, read to me over the phone by my great aunt. Not all is lost, but I’m struggling with teaching myself the art of bread making. I had no idea it required such talent, and I had no idea I’d be reduced to tears when, after beginner’s luck success the first year, I failed three subsequent years before declaring a strike based entirely in fear.
But this may be the year to pull up my bootstraps and try again. I should, right?
No, my sticky notes didn’t catch fire. That’s my boring attempt at preserving family history, not that anyone could decode my poor scribe skills.
