piper will be the death of me

As I'm preparing to head upstairs to go to bed for my second super late night in a row (yay for sociology discussions and essay exams!) I truly hope Piper is going to behave better tonight.

Yah, she still isn't sleeping through the night, and the past three nights have been hell. 'Co-sleeping half the night because she cries when you try lowering her into her crib' hell. Co-sleeping is one of those things that I have never been a fan of. She's almost 18 months and while she's sleeping peacefully and 99.9% likely to not get tangled up in our blankets it absolutely stresses me out. I think I sleep in five minute intervals jolting awake each time with that horrible "I'm late!!!!!" feeling. Heart racing, just the whole nine yards.

LAST NIGHT

So, Piper wakes up just before 1a. It's an easy fix this time around. I was awake writing an ethics paper for my weird online intro to nursing class so I just went into her room, popped her paci back in, and continued on my way. Thirty minutes later, she starts crying again. Since I am wide awake I decide to let her cry it out. I noted that I would go in once Brendon started fidgeting (HAHAHAHAA) or when 10 minutes had lapsed.

Holy hell. The kid was still going strong at minute 8, so I went in. She was laying down flat on her mattress not even attempting to look or feel around for her paci. So infuriating. Just.. why! WHY! When she realized I was fumbling around looking around for the paci - doing her job - she started to get up at which point I picked her up because regardless of how upset I was she had a completely wet tear face and I thought I would cuddle her. Hahahaha, what an amateur move. Of course she wouldn't want me to but her back in her crib after that.

I swear I was rocking her for 4 hours. In all actuality I don't know how much time had passed since I didn't check the time for fear of "you have approximately 4 good hours of sleep left". After the 7 hours of rocking she was still wide awake and threatened wailing screams each time I walked near her crib so I threw in the towel and brought her back to bed with me. I guess I'd rather keep waking up thanks to mini-heart attacks than getting up out of bed to walk across the hall to her room.

But then they do things like this just before you send them off to bed:

So, I don't know how to make the video work. Help?

They're lucky they're cute.

Leia

spring-y makeover

A huge thanks to Lauryn over at Adoration Studios for helping this novice blogger by creating and installing a new look for my little corner of the internet. The words and only some minor changes are mine. The rest of the praise goes to her. She was probably laughing hysterically at my questions. Whatevs.

And I think I finally fell asleep around 4:30a "last night", but one can never be too sure. Looking at the time during those fretful hours really stresses me out. Luckily Brendon let me gain some extra hours this morning.

Now time for that "oh you thought you were going on break?" homework.

Leia

things I know at 3:36a

I can't sleep. 

I scrolled through photos and found this one. Piper is a rough snuggler. 

Piper woke up I don't know, maybe an hour and a half ago. 

Once I got back into bed an Amber alert went off for a little girl in Detroit. 

I hate that getting Amber alerts at 3a makes me wish I didn't get them at all. 

This makes me feel evil and heartless. 

I hope she is returned/found with no harm done. 

I took the TEAS exam today and passed each of the four sections. 

We had pizza for dinner. 

I started a new book: 11/22/63 by Stephen King. 

This book wasn't on my radar until the mini series debuted on Hulu starring the one and only James Franco. 

Regardless of my undying love for James, the reader in me wouldn't stand for watching the series first. 

Yesterday was day 1 of 9 days off. 

Wahoo Spring Break! I think it's Spring Break at least?

No school, no work. 

Initially I wanted to take a vacation to get away from the buzz of things (sorry Ken and Pipes, this includes you). 

It didn't work out that way but we might do some 'spur of the moment' projects around the house. 

All 5 of my classes have at least one assignment due over break. 

This pisses me off. 

I'm sort of hungry. 

Too lazy to go downstairs to get something. 

It's probably for the better. 

Tomorrow morning is gonna come early. 

Leia

mid-week meal share: sausage & sauerkraut with Piper

Michigan has been doing this wacky thing with weather where one day it wants to snow and the next day it wants to tease us with a 52°F day. Oh, and then rain.

Needless to say at one point or another one of us has been completely congested or been left feeling defeated by a drippy, disgusting nose that just won't quit (Piper is going on week two of booger face). So cute. 

What does feeling crummy call for? A meal that mom would make. I don't care how old you get there is nothing that compares to a bit of good ol' momma lovin' when you're sick.

A few weeks ago my eighteen year old sister woke our mom up in the middle of the night to inform her that she threw up. Awww, you really shouldn't haaaaveeeee.

So this week I bring to you one of the usual dinner rotations from my childhood. Sausage and sauerkraut noodles.

Cost effective: yes, $6 for a large skillet full.

Easy to concoct: yes. 

Here's what you'll need (and even though you're 26 and have been eating this all your life, you might still need to text your mom to confirm which kind of sausage to buy)

 1 tube of Bob Evan's ground pork sausage (thanks, mom!)

1 jar of sauerkraut

1 package of egg noodles (I always use wide)

salt and pepper to taste

*call/text for Piper

1. First things first: boil up them noodles.

2. Simultaneously start browning up the sausage. Why on Earth is this the hardest thing to break apart?

3. Solemnly shake your head when you turn around to see this:

4. Once your sausage is browned up, add in your sauerkraut. I have a medium/large sized skillet but proportionally I do almost equal parts sauerkraut and sausage.

 5. Oh, look. She's trying to make it up by being cute!

 6. Once you've drained your noodles, add them to the skillet.

7. Now she's a cute speed bump.

8. Mix everything together and cook until heated through.

9. Enjoy!

 Obviously this meal would not have been possible without the help of the littlest hands in the house!

Down on the farm!

Leia

this is totally going on my blog!

 When one of your best friends tries comparing How I Met Your Mother to Two and a Half Men and says that the style is lazy and corny since it was filmed after the sitcom era.

SHACUSE!
 
This show is nothing but a deep, well thought out and intricate comical satire of other sitcoms. Bob Saget as the narrator? The pre-recorded laugh track? They only add another layer of funny, unwavering comfort. It's meant to be hokey. It's meant to be meaningful. And the characters are meant to come alive.

Is it a show that is best watched random and sporadically? Not really, but sure! You can watch but you will most likely miss out on most of the long running jokes/stabs/heart felt moments that I've come to love about these people. Basically you won't be able to grasp the utter wholesome goodness that is Ted Mosby, Robin Scherbatsky, Barney Stinson, Lily Aldrin and Marshall Eriksen (and don't even get me started on the ancillary characters that don't appear once, but multiple times through the entire series).

Just. Be cool.. alright?
Leia

what alice forgot

While school is in session my level of reading hits rock bottom. Reading is one of my most favorite things so understandably, this makes me very sad. One of my reading spots happens to maayyyybe at work, maayyyybe at my desk, and maayyyybe it's where I do 95% of all my homework and studying. I would obviously only partake in this sort of extracurricular activity if there was nothing else to do. 

Well, the last two days I felt it necessary to put school work to the side and just dive into my new book and let me say, it's a good one. I've read both the other books mentioned on the cover and they are fabulous; if you're looking for a light mystery/thriller page turner I highly recommend either one. Big Little Lies is being turned into a mini series starring Shailene Woodley and I am trying to be patient waiting for it's premiere.

And thank you husband for my wonderful early Valentine's Day bracelets. I adore them.

Chapter 25.

Leia

mid-week meal share: "slow cooker" mongolian beef

As promised, here is the second recipe to put us back on track! And very funnily and matter of factly (as is my life) my cheesecake post last night wasn't posted until after midnight. So, it wasn't even 'early', but a full week late. I'm sure SOMEONE is upset about this, maybe it's my reader from Brazil! Which, thank you Anonymous Brazilian (maybe there are multiple) for taking the time to read the ramblings of some lady from Michigan, USA!

What I've got lined up for you is slow cooker Mongolian beef! For mine, I used the stove since I was only cooking about a third of the recipe to use up my leftover sirloin 'stir fry' strips (but the recipe called for flank stank!) but listed are the full proportions.

Cost effective: much more than usual since 2-2½ pounds of steak is around $15.. we're looking at a total of $30 or so. Still less than eating out but more than meals I've shared thus far.

Easy to concoct: yes, ESPECIALLY if you're doing the Crock-Pot.

Grab a pen and paper ladies and gents!

2-2½ pounds flank steak (I used pre-cut sirloin stir fry strips)

¼ cup cornstarch (which I couldn't find at our 'lovely' Kroger)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp grated ginger

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

¾ cup soy sauce

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup water

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup rice (or more based on your personal preference)

1. The first thing I did was cook up my rice; if you're using a Crock-Pot you'll want to do that near the end of the allotted cook time. *Note that the Crock-Pot is going to take 4 hours vs 15-20 minutes on the stove.

2. Place your cornstarch (or flour) in a bag and coat your steak to the best of your ability. When I was looking up the difference between coating in cornstarch vs coating in flour, the only thing I seemed to find was that cornstarch will not change the color of the sauce you're adding it to. Also, I did not coat my steak but added it as an after thought.. coat your steak, it makes all the difference!

3. In a pan or Crock-Pot combine your olive oil, garlic, ginger, crushed red pepper, soy sauce, brown sugar and water.

4. Add your steak and coat evenly.

5. I had second thoughts on my steak to sauce ratio and half assedly added more of every ingredient. Including my flour since I was displeased at how thin the mixture was. And even then, I took some of the mixture into a bowl to add even more flour.

6. Crock-Potter's you will have to wait 4 hours but in that time you will have ample time for activities (maybe). Like, you should read Wildflower by Drew Barrymore, I just finished and it was a wonderful treat of a book. If you're cooking on the stove it should take between 15 and 20 minutes, or less depending on how you like your steak cooked.

7. Crock-Potter's in the last 30 minutes add in your carrots. Stover's, I added the carrots maybe 10 minutes after I started cooking. They could probably be added right away without any harm being done.

8. Enjoy!

This was a delicious one. When it comes to chef expertise, I honestly can't tell you the true difference between flank steak and the sirloin strips I used. Regardless I would have gotten the pre-cut strips because cutting into raw meat is not something I would like to do when prepping a meal. The main difference I can see is that when cooking in the Crock-Pot the meat is going to be much more tender, but the sirloin strips cook up really nice on the stove so that really isn't a make or break for me either. I have confidence in saying that no matter which method you choose to take, your meal will come out quite delicious.

"Since 1992, bd's Mongolian Grill has been delivering unique, interactive dining experience that set us apart from the competition and has made us the world's number one Create Your Own Stir-Fry restaurant concept."

Leia