Mommy time

I read a story a few weeks ago about a mom that took a sabbatical from her family for ten days.  She traveled out of the country be herself to recharge her batteries.  She and her husband claimed that absence truly does make the heart grow fonder and that their relationship is even better now.  I don't think this is crazy, I think it's kind of genius.

I kind of understand how she feels.  Not that I don't love my family.  I love them so much, I don't know who I would be without them.  My husband is truly my best friend, and I'm not saying that to be cheesy, he really is.  I would always choose to hang out with him and AJ than with anyone else, but I know we also have friends and family that love us and need our attention.  And AJ is such an awesome, amazing child, I pinch my self regularly because I cannot believe how blessed I am to be his mommy.  He is so smart and loving and silly and crazy and sometimes challenging.  So sometimes, yes, I'm glad to have a few hours away.

We need breaks from each other.  I've always known I wanted to be a mother, and hopefully a stay-at-home mom.  Truthfully though, I am grateful that I can work part time at a job that I love, and spend most of my time with him.  But there is such a thing as too much time together.  When I go to work, he gets to go to the sitters and play with other little boys his age, and I get a few hours without someone pulling on my pant legs.  When I get home from work, we are so happy to see each other, he runs from the other side of the house to jump into my arms and say hi.  That is the best feeling ever.

But is it terrible that sometimes I take him to the sitters early so I can go get a pedicure and eat lunch by myself?  I relish eating meals alone, not having to hover over my plate like a prison inmate.  I am all about sharing, but when he's already eaten, and he comes and takes one bite out of each strawberry on my plate, it bothers me.  I guess that sounds kind of selfish.  But sometimes it would be nice to eat my own meal in peace.

I also find myself dreaming of a king size bed all to myself.  This is not just because of AJ.  He actually rarely sleeps with us, but sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and asks to sleep in our room, and who can say no to that cute, snugly, sleepy little angel?  Not I.  So yes, sometimes he sleeps  the rest of the night in our bed, which is great for cuddling, but not for mommy getting any sleep.  A- I just don't sleep very well with him because I am just too aware of him and his movements, and B- I always get the feet/butt end of him.  Of course Dave likes sleeping with him, because they share a pillow all cuteness overload, but I get kicked in the face all night.  By him and one, if not two, dogs.  I am left with one foot on the edge of the bed, scrambling to hang on.  I have seriously contemplated sleeping in the guest room, but I know that at least the dogs would follow, so I just stay and hope for a nap the next day.

I feel bad leaving him with my parents on the weekends sometimes to have a date night also.  Even though I know they love having him, and that he enjoys being there, I feel guilty if he's there two weekends in a row.  We say no to plans with friends sometimes to hang out at home with him, but we also know that it's important to our marriage and relationship that we have time together alone.  I love having date night and getting my husbands full attention, which is hard to get sometimes.  I fully believe in the quote by I-don't-know-who that says, "The best thing a father can do for his son is love his mother" To teach him how to love and treat a woman, and also that our world doesn't really revolve around him, as much as some people think it should.

What I'm trying to say in this rambling blog, is that I think time to ourselves is healthy and necessary and normal to want.  I would love to be able to travel WITHOUT my children, someday, not now, but someday.  To be able to leave them in capable, loving hands and go away, and miss them like crazy, and come back to them refreshed and recharged and renewed in my motherly purpose in life.  And is my favorite time of day nap time?  Yep, pretty much, and any mother of a toddler who says different is probably lying.  My day is so full of fun and busy, that those two hours of peace are bliss.  Now, do I feel guilty saying all of this?  Yes, of course I do.  This brings on the baby guilt, which is a topic for another blog, but I feel horrible wishing for a minute to myself, so I don't really say anything, and just grin and bear it.  But someday, I'll be on a beach, just me and a pina colada...and maybe Dave ;)

The book is always better...

Recently we went to see Enders Game with a group of friends, which was fantastic and exciting and thoroughly captivating.  Asa Butterfield, who portrays Ender, is just so watchable.  His face is just magic, which is good since there are a lot of close ups of it in the movie.  Neither Dave or I had ever read Enders Game, while the other 3 people had.  It was unanimously loved by all.  However, my brother, who loves this book series beyond all others, is very skeptical as to whether the movie can live up to the book.  My argument to that is always, "It never will.  The movie will never be better than the book."

(Seriously, look at that face!)



There are many times when I love the movies or show made from a book, and sometimes when they  just doesn't do it justice.  But most of the time, you just can't compare the two.  You have to take them as two separate entities, and enjoy them individually.  Not many of us actually understand the film making process and everything that goes into it, but you have to know that there is no way to fit everything from a 500-800 page book into a 2 hour or less movie.  Sometimes things have to be cut, things that may seem to be important details to us, but are insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  Now, I do find that a TV show adaptation can ring a little more true to the book, depending on creative producers, because they have more time to let the story unfold.  This is especially true for series. Dave let's this get to him sometimes, but I have learned to appreciate the movie for what it is, not a comparison to the book.  It'll never live up.  Here are some of my favorite adaptations, and a few of the details that we noticed.

Harry Potter:  Obviously, my number one, my favorite book series.  I could do a whole blog post comparing all these movies, and their different styles and directors, but I won't.  I loved the series as a whole, although some were better than others.  The one detail that I wish had been included was Hermione's S.P.E.W. campaign.  She has this passion for the welfare of the house elves from Chamber of Secrets on.  And while it's not the house elves that I really missed, SPEW is what leads to Ron and Hermione's first kiss, a moment in the book that always makes me cry, and just wasn't quite as special in the movie.

The Hunger Games:  I am so excited to go see Catching Fire in a few weeks with the same group of friends.  We actually saw The Hunger Games when AJ was 9 days old.  It was the middle of the day, and he just nursed and slept through it.  Dave and I were so excited about it that we couldn't wait any longer to see it, and I didn't want to leave AJ yet.  I thought it was fantastically done, and the casting was magnificent.  Literally, the only problem Dave had with it was that the wrong person gave Katniss her Mockingjay pin.  I can over look that, knowing that they had to cut out some parts.  It doesn't lend to the overall story arc, so I'm OK with it.  Even as I'm rereading Catching Fire in preparation, I can see that Madge, the Mayors daughter, isn't a very large part of the book, but there is some history to the mockingjay pin that is lost.  Those kinds of details are hard to catch in a movie anyway.

The Game of Thrones: While not a movie, this show being produced on HBO is so perfectly adapted from the books.  That's what happens when the author maintains creative authority over the show.  George R.R. Martin has written such a detailed and meticulously intricate world in Westeros, and the show is truly worthy of the book.  I'm sure that there are details that have been left out, but none that matter.  What actually matters, is that the show is true to the books, even when that is an unpopular choice amongst viewers.  The most popular character is killed off in the first season, and it was a shock to all that hadn't yet read it.  I did read the book after that season, and saw that Starks death in a necessity for the rest of the story to unravel as it's supposed to.  Martin isn't afraid to kill off characters, and I'm glad he's on board.

True Blood (aka The Sookie Stackhouse Novels): Unlike Martin, Charlaine Harris, the author of these southern vampire novels that are so delicious to devour, did not choose to be involved in the series on HBO that was adapted from the books.  In the first book, a character who came to be very popular on the show was supposed to die, and did not, because truthfully, they probably would have lost viewers.  While True Blood is still one of my favorite shows, it has veered so far from the book series, that it is hardly recognizable as the same.

And finally, the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon:  I cannot wait for my favorite series (besides Harry Potter) to FINALLY be brought to life on Starz next year! It is currently in production, I've seen casting, and thus far, it looks like it will make fans happy.

What are some of your favorite or least favorite book adaptations?

Throwback Thursday- My 30th Birthday!

I started this post a year ago (!) and I don't know why I never finished it, but I thought I would do so now.  It was great reliving this memory!



I am going to start writing a new post topic for Thursdays.  I'm going to revisit some memories and occasions that I have pics of from before I had a blog.  We have had a lot happen in the last few years alone to take up quite a bit of blog space, so I want to share some with my readers, and maybe give more details about things than my Facebook status would.  Some future events to be covered will include our wedding and honeymoon of course, but also our move to Hawai'i and back, and many other events.  Look for these post about once a month.

First up, a recent fun time was my 30th birthday in October.  The big 3 0h.  I had been looking forward to my birthday for awhile.  I like my birthday... make that LOVE my birthday.  Ask my family, and they'll tell you I'm kind of a diva about it.  It usually is a week long celebration of me, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.  My birthday is in October, all by itself, while everyone else in my immediate family has birthdays in either March or July, just a few days apart.  So, obviously, I milk it for all it's worth.  And it's usually worth a few dinners out, a homemade one from Mom, and a day with my Hubby.  We both took the day off this year, it was a Monday, so it was nice to hang out together.

Since it was my 30th, I wanted to do something fun and different.  I love my husband, but he has a problem.  He is the, "Well, I was gonna..." guy.  Every year, I get a list of I was gonna's.  He was gonna book this trip, he was gonna buy these tickets, he was gonna get me such and such, but for whatever reason didn't.  It drives me absolutely bonkers!  I don't want to hear about everything he was gonna do and didn't, because then I want those things, and we usually just end up going to the mall and out to eat.  So this year I told him that I didn't care what we did or where we went, I just wanted him to make a plan.  That's all I asked for, him to make a plan.  So he did, but he has a thing about secret plans.  It's obnoxious.  But then my friend spilled the beans accidentally, but it was ok.  It was a great plan.

We were going to Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret!  I have been wanting to go see a show there for a long time.  It was a great plan, he had some friends on board already, I just needed to decide where I wanted to eat. Since the cabaret is on the 16th street mall, we decided on The Cheesecake Factory.  I like it because they have something for everyone, but that's also a reason that I kind of hate it.  The menu is insanely long, and I always have a hard time choosing what to eat anyway.  I prefer fewer choices, it cuts down on my browsing time.  I think I had some buffalo chicken wrap thingys, good but not amazing.  Colleen had the Cashew Chicken, and it was fantastic.  I'm toying with looking up a copycat recipe to make it soon.  But really, who goes there for dinner anyway?  It's all about dessert, hence the name!  I got the Chris's Outrageous Cheesecake, which was like, chocolate cake, brownie, and coconut chocolate chip cheesecake.  Amazing.  The server said it was their most underrated kind.  We had about 15 people for dinner, some of them thoroughly offending neighboring tables, so after dinner we moved on to The Tilted Kilt where we could be a little rowdy.  I had never been there, and I thought it would be a little more of a bar, but it was more like a restaurant, so we just sat around and talked which was nice too.  They serve a birthday shot called a Blow Job, no joke, that I had to take without my hands.  It was topped with whipped cream and scrumptious!  The other drink specials were underwhelming for sure.

After drinks we headed over to the clock tower.  The clock tower is this beautiful building downtown that has a cabaret in the basement.  They host all kinds of shows, mostly with adult themes, but some comedy and other things too.  We had purchased tickets earlier in the week, they recommend that you do.   My brother Justin didn't, because he was going to pay cash, and he couldn't get in because it sold out that afternoon.  Definitely a bummer for him, he would have enjoyed the show.  The burlesque show is all about the art of the striptease, and less about the nudity.  There was a variety of acts, like an aerialist, a belly dancer, a fan dancer, and some group dances.  We had VIP tickets, so that meant front row, and I had to get on stage and shake my stuff!  It was a very fun silly time.

Update: Dave and I went back this year for my 31st birthday, for the Lights! Camera! Hollywood show, which was a burlesque tribute to all things hollywood.  We enjoyed it so much more than the first time we went.  We're pretty big movie fans, so it was right up our alley.  There was a Star Wars dance, Gilligans Island, Cleopatra, and our favorite was a very sad and haunting Marilyn Monroe piece. It was set to Gotye's song "Hearts a mess" from The Great Gatsby, and the dancer was fantastic, portraying such a sad longing, and she was a spot on Marilyn. I definitely would recommend Lannie's as a wonderful place to spend the evening with adult friends!

Keepin cool this summer

Since I stay home with AJ during the day most of the week, we definitely have to find things to do to keep us occupied.  We get a little stir crazy staying at home, and since our big room doesn't have a/c, just ceiling fans, we also try to keep cool other ways.  We've had a pool in our backyard for the past few summers, but the pump broke last year, and we decided that a new pool just wasn't in the budget this summer.  We put AJ in the pool last year at about 3 months old, and he loved it from the beginning.  My whole family loves the water, (although Dave and I seriously disagree over which is best, fresh or saltwater) so AJ is already a little water bug.  We have found a few fun spots that are toddler friendly that we have put in rotation for our summer outings.  Here are our favorites!

Northglenn Kiwanis outdoor pool:  We enjoy this pool for several reasons. I grew up at the Kiwanis pool, we took our end-of-year field trips there, and both of my brothers' graduation parties were held there.  But what I love about it now is the baby pool.  They have a small pool, about 12' x 12', a foot and a half deep, that has a shade canopy over it, which is really important, especially with my little blondie baby.  They have swim lessons Monday thru Friday in the mornings, so the big pool is closed, but the baby pool is only a dollar!  Such a great deal, and it's nice to just sit on the side and let them roam, because it's fenced.  Now it is probably a little deep for infants.  Even AJ can't get back up if he falls face forward, which he does often.  That's why you just keep a close eye out, and they have a lifeguard just for this pool.  We went at about 10 on Wednesday and we had it to ourselves for a good half hour, before just a few more kids showed up.  It was nice to not be over crowded since my little guy gets knocked over pretty easily.

(The Baby pool and slide at The Bay)

 The Bay in Broomfield: Another hidden gem, The Bay has also been around since I was a kid, apparently I went as a child but don't remember.  Last week was my first time back and I was really impressed.  The Bay is really a mini water park literally hidden in the middle of Broomfield.   Since I had AJ by myself I didn't get to try out the three tube slides, but they looked like tons of fun!  They had a few areas where we played, giving AJ some variety.  They have a baby pool, ranging from 6" deep to 18"deep.  This pool also had a water slide that we really enjoyed.  It was very mild, and most kids could go it alone.  There's also a waterfall on the side.  The other great part was the zero entry pool, meaning it was like a beach, gradually getting deeper.  There is a play structure in the shallow area with water spouts and such that AJ really enjoyed.  The water was a great temperature, and it wasn't extremely crowded, but we went from about 3:30-5:30, which was perfect. You can take in food and pool toys too.  Here is a link to the website for prices, location, and hours.

Pop Jet Fountains:  These interactive fountains have become very popular around here in the last several years, not something I remember having as a child.  There are so many now, you can find them at almost any playground, we even have them at the mall where I work.  I think one of the great things about the fountains is that the kids can choose how wet to get, they don't have to get completely submerged like in  a pool.  I love taking my shoes off and walking through them with AJ, or sitting back and watching him look down into the hole, and end up with a face full of water.  Dave was a little wary of these fountains at first, thinking that the water was dirty I guess, but it's always chlorinated.  These tend to be a bit more crowded now, obviously free water play is pretty popular.  I try to go at 9-9:30ish, before it gets really hot.  Here are the links to our favorite ones.

E.B. Rains park at Webster Lake

Carpenter Park at the Thornton Rec Center

Westminster Center Park

The Orchard Mall

And of course, we have a wading pool in our backyard for the rest of the time.  Hope you can try out some of these "cool" spots!

My Netflix Summer

My friends are all blogging about Hawaii, and I'm like, yay for my backyard...

That's not my backyard :(

Since we're trying to get a new car this summer, we'll pretty much be sticking around this beautiful state  and finding fun things to do.  But before we get that started I have to find some new things to watch.  Since all of our shows are off for the summer, we usually find a few new shows to watch on Netflix.  I love watching shows this way, because you can watch anytime, and you can watch a few in a row of you like, or a whole season if you get really addicted.  Which I have never, ever done ; )  So here are the shows we're trying this year.

Parks and Recreation:  This show was suggested, or rather pushed at me, by Colleen for awhile.  She and Ryan love The Office and Parks and Rec, and thought we would too.  Well, we are not big fans of The Office, so I didn't think I would like P&R either.  Boy, was I wrong!  I am completely obsessed.  I fell head over heels for Leslie Knope and her band of misfits.  This show is about a cute and quirky group of government workers, who are hilarious.  Leslies drive and passion for her job is perfectly countered by her boss Ron's contempt for big government and it's spending.  They are my two favorites but they are perfectly accompanied by Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Rob Lowe, Adam Scott, and Chris Pratt.  Chris Pratt was so great as the doofy guest star on the first season that they had to make him a regular.  I watched  the first 4 seasons on Netflix in just a couple weeks and I am not so patiently waiting for the new season to come.

Arrested Development:  I feel like everyone I know is in love with this show, and I'm not sure I know yet why.  I am currently on the third episode of Season 1, and it's weird.  I love everyone in this show, but I don't know how much of my time I'm going to give it.  Maybe I just don't get this kind of humor, but I think I'll give it a season at least.  And what is up with Portia's wardrobe?!  Crazy!

Breaking Bad:  I'm not sure how we haven't been watching this show since it started.  It's like, all about my husband.  Not really, but kind of.  It's about a chemistry teacher who finds out that he is dying of cancer and starts making meth to leave money for his family.  Because he's a chemist, it's much better than the usual stuff, but it also comes with all the other bad drug dealer type stuff.  We are also only 3 episodes into BB, but loving it so far.

Parenthood:  While home with baby last summer I watched the first 3 seasons of this family drama, wishing I was part of this huge crazy family who just love each other.  Dax Shepard and Lauren Graham are my two favorite characters.  They are kinda both the family screw-ups so you just want to cheer them on.  I didn't finish season 3 in time to catch up with season 4 in the fall so I am very excited for it to come back as well.

Our other shows to possibly try are Mad Men and Copper.  Any  other suggestions?

Take me out...to the movies.

It's springtime in Colorado, and that's the start of one of our favorite seasons: Baseball Season. Our home team Colorado Rockies celebrated the 20th anniversary of opening day last Friday and So did the movie The Sandlot!  I have to say this fact made me feel pretty old!  I remember as a child, my dad wasn't really into sports until we finally got a baseball team.  I won tickets at school and Dad and I went to the first game together.  That year I also started playing Little League Baseball.  I sucked but I loved it, and when The Sandlot came out, it was a big hit in my house.  Well, we are continuing the baseball love in our little family; AJ attended his first game at just 3 weeks old, and his first birthday party was baseball themed, complete with hot dogs and peanuts.  Well, with all of the baseball talk lately, and the movie 42 coming out today, Dave and I got to talking about our favorite baseball movies.  There sure are a lot of them, but a few stuck out in my mind, nostalgia from my childhood, and 2 newer ones that are definitely contenders on my list.  Here we go!

 

#1- My all time favorite, The Sandlot!- Duh.  But seriously, this movie is a contender for favorite movie of all time for me, so it definitely deserves the top spot.  I can pretty much quote the entire movie, "You play ball like a GIRL!" Why yes, I do, thank you!  From Smalls' long billed hat, so Vinny's rolled jeans and new shoes, Wendy Peffercorn to Hercules, that's my childhood.  I think any kid who played baseball wished for a group of buddies like this, and a place to play that was just yours.  Where your biggest worry was scrounging up 50 cents to buy another baseball.  Dave and I have already started telling AJ, "You're killing me Smalls!" Whats not to love about this movie?


And in no specific order, here are the rest of my fave's.

Rookie Of the Year- Thomas Ian Nicholas was a teen heartthrob when I was a tween, plus it was such a cute baseball movie, once again every kids dream!  What little leauguer doesn't dream of going pro, but at 12?!  That's crazy, and I'm glad that the movie really sends that message, to be a kid and enjoy it as long as you can, because eventually you will grow up and there's plenty of time to be a ball player later.

  A League Of Their Own- The Rockford Peaches are Sassy, Classy and a little Smart Assy for sure!  This one has another of my favorite baseball movie quotes, "There's no crying in baseball!"  Tome hanks is great in this movie, coaching a team of misfit women while the men are at war.  Superb cast and acting by all.  I love that this movie is based off a true story.

The Rookie- Dennis Quaid, need I say more?

Moneyball- A really interesting look at how teams are formed and payed for and players are traded literally, like baseball cards.  I'm not a Brad Pitt fan, but I did like his portrayal as the losing manager who has to do something to change the game. Definitely will become a classic someday.

Trouble with the Curve- Seriously great cast in this father daughter dramedy.  Amy Adams and Justin Timberlake really light up the screen and you forget that Clint Eastwood is even in the movie.

Fever Pitch- Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore are wicked cute in this comedy about love and the Red Sox.  You can't change a mans love for his team, and you shouldn't try.  I love that this movie was shot live during the season and they won the world series surprisingly.

I know I am missing some classics, like Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, and Bad News Bears, but these are MY favorite movies, that came out during my childhood through now and they've really impacted me more than the others.  I feel like almost any movie about baseball is going to be good, it is after all Americas pastime.  Anyone else have favorites, or what do you love about these movies?

And of course, we have to have a pic of my favorite rookie of this year, our MVP!

Movie reviews for March

Dave and I are big movie people.  We could snuggle up and watch them all day long, and have a few times.  Before AJ we used to go to the movies just about every weekend, and we frequently went to midnight premeires for all of our favorite franchises.  Of course, that's just not possible anymore, because my parents love him, but don't want to watch him 24/7.  We try to keep movie outings reserved for the really good ones, and Redbox them otherwise.  We also have a Netflix subscription, so generally every weekend includes at least one movie.  We usually go for more comedy and family flicks, with the occasional action thrown in.  A few weekends ago we had a little blizzard and stayed in for the weekend, so we raided the Redbox and camped out on the couch.  Here are a few reviews of those, plus some newly released Blue-rays that we bought. 1-5 star ratings.

Fun Size-  A couple of teens go out on Halloween night and lose the little brother.  Cute story, kind of a Hangover with kids.  I liked it but didn't love it.  Victoria Justice from the Disney channel starred as the geeky, unpopular girl, which was just not believable.  Chelsea Handler as a single mom dating a college kid, definitely more believable.  Great message about bullying and accepting people for who they are.  3 stars.

End of Watch- I will watch anything with Jake Gyllenhaal, I mean anything!  He is sexy and adorable at the same time. This was a different kind of cop movie, shot in a documentary style, which a generally don't like but it was tolerable.  Good action, good tension with the bad guys, a mexican drug cartel.  Don't expect any happy endings here, Disney movie it is not.  But the ending was satisfying and sobering.  I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy a good drama, which we occasionally do.  Bonus, Anna Kendrick was in this for a bit, and we just love her right now! 3 Stars

Ice Age: Continental Drift - Sometimes movie franchises go a little far with the sequels; anyone remember Land Before Time 10?!  Ice Age has done the multiple thing well.  Dave and I went to see the second movie on one of our first dates, so they are kind of special to us.  Anyway, Continental Drift starts with the the breaking up of "Pangea" and the forming of the continents, but the gang gets lost at sea and taken in by some pirates.  Very cute movie, they always seem to impress us.  Also, a big bonus for me is that I love good voice casting, and some of my favorite actors made appearances, like Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones, Rebel Wilson and Aziz Ansari.  Great Movie! 4 Stars

Rock of Ages- Here's the thing.  I wasn't expecting much because I hadn't heard good things, but I was very pleasantly surprised by this rock musical.  Was in award winning?  No, but it was perfect for what it was, a musical of 80's rock.  I loved all of the music, and the cast was fantastic.  Julianne Hough is always great, and as much as I dislike Tom Cruise,  he was perfect as a strung out rock star.  A few times I laughed out loud, like when the are trying to decide if it's worst to end up a stripper or in a boy band, and unanimously decide that a boy band is worse :)  I could see how this movie isn't for every one, but we really liked it, probably me more than Dave. 4 stars.

Skyfall- My husband is a huge Bond fan, and this is one that we made a date to see opening weekend, and it did not disappoint!  I bought it for Dave for Valentines Day, ( I know, super romantic) and it was just as good the second time.  Adele's Skyfall is the most perfect Bond anthem, you hear and are automatically transported into a Bond story.  After a surprising beginning, the movie jumped into the usual 007 action and ridiculous bad guys plot.  I did like the play between Bond getting older, and technology getting younger and smarter.  I really feel Skyfall is the beginning of a whole new Bond generation, with the introduction of some replacement characters, and some iconic ones.  Also, they go to Scotland, which is beautiful and breathtaking, and just so Scottish.  Overall, great cars, great scenery, GREAT villain in Javier Bardem, great song.  5 stars.

Wreck It Ralph-  This was one that we really wanted to see in theaters, it just never happened, so Dave got it for his birthday.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  It is the story of a video game "bad guy" who feels under appreciated in his own game and goes looking to be the hero in another game. If you are a 90's video game nerd like we are, then you'll love all of the references in this movie.  There are also a lot of Disney references and characters hidden throughout, a fact that we found out when we had to pause.  Pausing takes you to a special behind the scenes nerd fact-a-palooza hosted by Chris Hardwick.  Again, great voices in this one too, including Mindy Kaling, and Jane Lynch, who can do no wrong in my eyes.  AJ loved the video game music in the beginning, he was dancing like crazy.   My husband loved everything about it, and I would definitely recommend it!   5stars.

 So, there's a glimpse of what we've seen lately, next time I'll review some of my favorite under rated movies.

A quiet morning moment...

I heard a scream this morning coming from the nursery, a scared little boy crying, "Mama!"  My first thought when he wakes up in the middle of the night is, "Please go back to sleep while mommy is still sleepy enough to also go back to sleep!"  As I picked him up and wiped away the alligator tears, I took a deep whiff of that oh-so-good sleepy baby smell.  I'm not sure what woke him up or why he was so upset, but mommy was here to make it better.  That is one of the best things about motherhood, is that no matter the problem or boo boo, mommy always makes it better.  That's why waking up while it is still dark, which AJ and I do not do, is OK once in awhile.  At first I thought it was 7ish, and I resigned myself to being awake for the day.  We snuggled into the rocking chair to cuddle for a bit, with the hope that he would fall back asleep, and therefor mommy could go back to bed also.  He sighed and nuzzled into my shoulder, with that entire-body relaxing limpness that babies do.  I knew it would take a while for him to be asleep enough for me to put him down.  I settled in and listened to Kanye West Rock-a-Bye baby, my mind starting to work for the day.

I was actually kind of grateful that he needed his mommy this morning for  a few reasons.  1.  He has been super active and independent lately, so the only wants snuggles if he's sick or sleeping. 2. He stopped nursing 2 weeks ago, and it has been kinda hard for me.  We don't have that special bond thats just between us.  I feel like I can't do anything different than anyone else can now, and I actually cried when I realized that I had nursed him for the last time. So it was nice to just sit in the dark quiet and reflect on my little baby, who is growing up so fast.  Well, I kinda thought that it was still pretty dark out for being 7ish, then I realized that it was actually 6, because we still haven't changed his clock back from daylight savings.  I was pretty happy about a potential hour more of sleep.

 He was out by then, so we just went and climbed back into my bed.  He doesn't sleep with us very often, I don't really believe in co-sleeping, but once in awhile we make an exception.  I do not actually sleep very well with him in bed with us, I just worry about him falling off, or something, so it's not very restful for me.  He was asleep on my arm, so I just laid there in wonder of his sweetness.  We dozed for a bit until he suddenly sat up, smacked Dave on the face and said, "Dada!"  I guess it was time to be up.  :)  I am currently a little jealous of AJ, who went to bed at 7:30, and I wish I could have as well, but I'll head there soon, as I'm sure he'll be up early again tomorrow.  Hopefully it'll be his normal happy chatter and smile that I wake up to.  I prefer that to crying babies.

Baby banana pancakes

 I love pancakes and eat them quite often for breakfast, (or when having a sweets craving), and I thought they would be great for AJ to eat because of their soft consistency.  I was a little concerned though, because there is really nothing nutritious about regular pancakes, so with some searching, and creativity on my part, I put together this recipe, and it has gone over like gangbusters!  This is a doubled recipe, because I make it in a big batch and freeze them.

2 Cups Wheat flour
2 Tbsp Stevia
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten OR

1 egg, slightly beaten and
1 Tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water*

2 cup milk
2 mashed bananas
1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup applesauce

You could also add cinnamon, nutmeg, or whatever spices you think your baby would like, or also berries would be very yummy.  Nuts would make a great addition for older children, but I wouldn't recommend them for children under 1.

Mix all ingredients together, if it still seems a bit thick, add a little more milk.
Cook on a griddle set at 300 for about 2 minutes on each side.  I sprayed mine with Pam, and poured the pancakes with an 1/8 cup, so they turned out to be just a few inches around.  I could make about 14 at a time on my electric griddle. Once cooked and cooled, they freeze fantastically, and now I just grab a couple out and microwave for 30 seconds and breakfast is served.  AJ loves them plain, no butter or syrup of any kind.

*I use Bob's Red Mill Flax Seed Meal.  I get it at King Soopers. When mixed like this you can substitute it for an egg in almost any recipe.  I put it in my banana bread and cookies, and you can't even tell.  Flax seed is a great source of fiber, omega-3's, and vitamin E, among other things so it's nice to sneak it in where I can.