Sniffles and Sneezes

Shortly after the top tooth began it's eventual descent, Freyja's little innocent cold became one monster of a beast. Major conjestion, sniffling, sneezing, running nose, headache, coughing, and sleep troubles have been going on for the past three days. Two nights ago, she literally woke up crying every 30 minutes all night long. I'm guessing she was so congested that when she laid back...she just couldn't breathe and everything was draining down her throat. I eventually just had to prop her up slightly and spend the rest of the night with one eye open. So, I've been doing a lot of vapor baths, using the vaporizer, and using vapor rub on the back, chest, and neck to see if I can get her cleared out. The key word: vapor. Poor little thing! Also newly listed under "Things Freyja Hates" is the nasal aspirator. The hysterical crying and screaming which comes from this child when I even attempt to use it is beyond description. She is scared to death of that thing! So, it's pretty much not going to happen. Hopefully she gets better soon so she can go back to her usual giggling self.

Number Three

No, this is not Freyja. But it is a baby with a fever...which is what I've got. Her top right tooth has decided to come in, and although she only seemed mildly disgruntled by the first two lower teeth, this one so far has involved a lot more drama, and it hasn't even broken through the gumline yet. She's been hot, feverish, and weepy...and has needed lots of mommy hugs, snuggles, and loving.

I really do recommend Hyland's Homeopathic Teething Tablets. They seem to take away some of the pain, and set her at ease so she can play or sleep comfortably. FYI: Although most of my homeopathic knowledge comes from Grandma Szilvi (I KNOW you love being called that! Hee Hee!), the Internet, or my awesome homeopathy book, this was actually suggested by my friend Heather while I was still pregnant. Thanks, girl! And another thing...isn't it fabulous that you can buy some homeopathic remedies at Wal-mart? Who knew?

Things I Love: Swinging

I took Freyja down to the park (which is only a block away) this week to take a ride in the toddler swing. She loved it! As you can see, it's still quite cold here and more like winter than spring. But, Freyja has always been an outside sort of baby no matter what the weather, and she had a great time anyway. I can see that when the weather is nice, we'll be doing a lot of swinging...

So, this is Freyja, swinging and giggling, and being tickled by me...

And here is Freyja waving...a new skill that she's all too happy to demonstrate with people and all kinds of random objects. We're still working on the high five.

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Things I Love: Riding in the Car

Guest Blogger: Freyja Autumn

This is a photo of me in my new car seat. I don't have to ride in that little one that faces the back of the car anymore. Now I get a really soft fancy seat for a big girl that faces forward like everyone else and I can see so many exciting things that I couldn't see before. I'm wearing my Fidel Castro hat in this picture. I don't know who that is, but every time my mommy puts this hat on me she says I look like him and laughs, so it must be good!

Note from Mommy:

I DO know how to use the carseat properly. I took this photo before I adjusted the shoulder harness, so stay calm!

Things I Love: Helping with the Laundry

Guest Blogger: Freyja Autumn

Oh yeah...and something I don't love: wearing socks!
Why do they keep putting those things on me?

Things I Love: Paper!

Guest Blogger: Freyja Autumn

This was a catalog. But, I decided that it was more fun to take all the pages out and throw them all over the room!

Paper is great stuff!

Stone Soup

I love this comic strip, Stone Soup. My friend Richard sends the clippings to me in the mail every once in a while because we don't get the newspaper very often, and he knows how funny I think it is...probably because I can relate to so many of the things the author jokes about...

I'm pretty sure that it's not quite legal for me to be posting scanned copies of a comic strip, but please don't report me to the authorities and I think I'll be just fine...

I hope you enjoy them as much a I do, and get a laugh or two in for the day!

Baking for Serenity

In the midst of the craft mania, I've been baking. Well, faux baking. So far, I've made a bread every four days. A banana bread, a nut medley bread, and a cranberry nut bread, to be exact. I love to bake. It makes me calm and relaxed, and it makes the house smell so good.

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After reading a post on Soule Mama (one of my favorite blogs) and specifically reading her post on WHO bread, I decided that I'd really like to have a bread machine. This is often how things happen in my life. I randomly decide that I want to do something or learn something or go somewhere and it suddenly becomes my new obsession, where I run around, hair on fire, trying to make it happen. It's pretty amusing really, because I can see myself doing it, and it's like the other side of my personality just kicks back and enjoys the show.

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If I've ever e-mailed you at 2am with some sort of weird question or idea, this is probably what's happening.

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So, because I have absolutely no money with which I could purchase a bread machine and since I'm an avid user of Freecycle, I decide to jaunt on over to my local Freecycle Yahoo! group and mention, ever so sweetly, that if anyone has a bread machine that they don't use, I would be happy to take it off their hands, because I would definitely use it.

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On a side note, I love Freecycle. There are all sorts of really nice people on there who give away things they no longer need or want to people who do need and/or want them. It's the whole, "One man's trash is the other man's treasure" bit. And, since people are giving things to others, rather than throwing them in the trash, it's even a good way to make yourself a small part of the green movement. So, there you go...

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Anyway, not even an hour after I posted the message on Freecycle I received an e-mail from a lady who had a bread machine that had been gifted to her, and which she'd never used. Fabulous! It's like it was fate! I picked it up from her a couple of days later, and I've been a bread making mad-woman since. Well, not really. I've made three breads, but still...that bread machine is getting a work-out!

Now, for all of you who are looking down your nose at me in sheer disguist that I would use a bread machine rather than an oven...fine, go ahead. Smirk away. But, let me say, for the record, that I would never stop making bread in the oven and strictly make bread by machine, because it's really just not the same. Bread from the oven is much higher in quality. There is, though, something to be said for the convenience of a bread machine and it's assistance in the kneeding and rising process, which makes things go so much faster, especially if you are super busy. Sometimes people even use the bread machine to kneed and rise, and then transfer the dough into a pan and pop it straight into the oven. So, even if you'd never stoop to making a whole loaf by machine, it's still a nice little gadget to own, if only for that little feature.

My favorite recipe so far, which I thought I'd share, is for a Cranberry Nut Bread. It can most certainly be made in a conventional oven if you're not keen on the bread machine idea! Just use your best judgement with the temperature. I think what makes this bread so delicious is the unexpected flavor of the grated orange peel. It's excellent...

Cranberry Nut Bread

4 oz. orange juice
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 large egg

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp grated orange peel

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup whole cranberries OR 1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

And...check out this little munchkin, who can't keep her mits out of the crumbs! She's such a cutie!