SLEEP.

Oh how I miss it. So why am I here at 10:30 pm when I could be asleep? Because this is the only free time I get, so I insist on taking full advantage of it. Sometimes, it means I just put pj's on, wash my face and go to bed. Sometimes it means I hang out on the computer for a bit.
Anyway...what I really want to talk about is my lack of sleep. The fact that Elise kept me up from at least 2:50 a.m. to about 6:15 a.m. last night. And how pissy I am about the whole thing. I mean, c'mon!!!! I nursed for about 2 hours straight, before I finally couldn't handle another minute and stuck her in the Ergo, kicking and screaming. I blasted some music and she fell asleep quickly, only to wake up again 10 minutes later, wanting to nurse....AGAIN!!!!
I really feel like some change has to happen. This weekend has been dedicated to getting the girls' bedroom painted and somehow decorated so that it's exciting to them. Ideally, I'd love to put them down in that room instead of with us. I love cosleeping, I really do...but....I've been doing it since October 2003 and I'm kinda getting over it. In a nice and loving way. Of course.

Skillet Millet

Ok so I made up the name, but it totally fits.

I toasted 1 cup of millet in a dry skillet, then added 3 cups of water and a pinch of salt. I let it simmer for about 20 minutes, then stirred in some raisins, slivered almonds and agave nectar. I let it simmer for another 10 minutes. It was yummy, especially with some cinnamon sprinkled on top. Even Lola liked it and she is not a fan of hot cereals.

Blast from the past!

Elise likes to do this silly grin face whenever you try to take her picture. It's hilarious and really cracks us up! We kinda wondered where she was getting this goofy grin from....

That's when I found this old picture of me at the same age, 16 months!

um...guess we figured out where she gets the goofiness from.

Our first attempt at gardening...

Lola and I planted some seeds in our little garden. I'm a total novice at this and the task has always seemed too overwhelming to me. I've always lived in apartments or condos before this house and even when we moved here, I didn't really think our backyard had gardening potential. There is a little garden area off in the side yard. You can see evidence of a garden there from a previous owner. There were little plastic markers still there...apparently, there were tomatoes, peppers and lettuce there at one time.
We planted mostly herbs, some carrots, a few tomatoes and some pumpkins. We'll see what happens!

Lola helped me and she is really so excited to see what grows. We check on it everyday. She was REALLY hoping that she'd be eating our carrots by now! How cute!

Baby Cecil is on his way!

Dan's brother and his wife are within a day or two of having a baby! The doctor pressed them to induce so they packed up their hospital bag and headed over to the hospital tonight. Little did anyone know, Kristina was already having contractions and didn't know. The doctor has held off the induction and is having them just stay there the night. Hopefully, she kicks off into labor on her own. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This is their first baby and I know Kristina is really scared. Hopefully, I will see them tomorrow. Please send good birthing vibes her way.

I've got balls!

Coconut covered fruit balls. I made them today by processing some dates, raisins, figs walnuts, mixing with some OJ, then rolling them in coconut.

Duh...what did you think I meant???

You've got your minds in the gutter, people!

However....quite accidentally, it seems I have a little theme going on here. Maybe I need to re-title my post about vegetarian sausages....hmmm....

Vegetarian Sausages!

I finally made these! After seeing the photos and posts from Day to Day Vegan and Urban Housewife, I just had to try these for myself. They are pretty good! We stuffed them into whole wheat subs and poured marinara on top. The only minor problem I had with this is that the sausages are basically seitan (vital wheat gluten & water), which has lots of protein and a decent amount of iron, but little to nothing else. I'm used to eating a lot of veggies at dinner so I threw in a side of roasted brussel sprouts and we were good to go. Everybody liked it, even Lola. I'm planning to slice up the leftovers and scatter them onto a veggie pizza. Mmmmm!