JoJo's Pizza Dough

If you know my mom at all, you know she loves to cook, bake, prepare foods, and in general create in the kitchen.  While I didn't quite inherit her zeal for being in the kitchen...I do enjoy baking (when cranky babies allow) and having homemade food for my family. 

One of the things my Italian mama always made from scratch growing up was pizza dough. And besides being delicious it's also, of course, less expensive to make it yourself than to buy it.  A bag of flour is about $1.50 and so is one ball of pre-made dough. So...if you feel like making your own pizza dough, here is her recipe....

JoJo's Pizza Dough (makes 2 pizzas)

4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups warm water

1 tablespoon (fast rising) yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water for a few minutes.  

Add remaining ingredients and mix together/knead briefly.  

Let rise for 30 minutes. 

Divide dough in half and spread onto two greased pans (adding a pinch of extra flour as needed to help with stickiness).

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-20 minutes (check often)

 Today my 3 year old told me he really wanted to make pizza.  He got out his tiny rolling pin and everything.  So.... I switched a few things around on our menu plan for the month and made it happen.  He loves baking projects (which are harder with a baby around) and I'm quite confident that he will bake wonderful treats for his future wife someday. 

 

Here is Mateo spreading out our dough.  Though a rolling pin is not necessary, he sure got 

excited to use his!

 

And the only thing more fun than spreading out the dough is adding (and sampling) the ingredients.  Mateo is learning all about shapes right now so after taking a bite out of his "circle" pepperoni he then declared it was a "crescent moon".  He cracks me up.  But anytime this skinny picky eater gets excited about food and food preparation I try to capitalize on that as best I can. 

Design on a Dime...puzzles

So it's no secret that I'm not a decorator. With limited free time and money it is just not on the top of my to-do list. Aaron and I like a clean and organized home that's functional and welcoming but having everything look like a Martha Stuart magazine just isn't on our priority list or in my talents. Maybe someday. That said, if Mark Brunetz from Clean House offered to come decorate our house for free I would NOT turn him down!

Anyways- we moved Mateo to his new room last June around his birthday and I really hadn't put much on the walls. Since my 2 1/2 year old is obsessed with putting together jigsaw puzzles at the moment, I decided to glue together some of his 24 piece puzzles and hang them up like posters.

Mateo's little work table that has become his "puzzle table".

I found some modge podge in the basement and glued the puzzles together over some wax paper on a cookie sheet. I did need to crack the window!


The modge podge glue gives it a nice glossy finish and I used used a small paintbrush that I had in my teaching supplies....though a bigger one would have been easier. My bottle of modge podge had a price tag of $5 and I barely made a dent in it. Once the front dried I also did the back. Not for looks but just for stability. "Puzzle glue" is the same thing.

My mom gave me the idea of gluing thin wood on the back so one Saturday morning Aaron and Mateo took a "man field trip" to the hard wood store and found some perforated board that would be suitable. It cost $6 for a large sheet and he only used about a third of the board for four puzzles.
This is what the back looked like. The board will keep it from warping. I have glued large puzzles together before and it's always hard to find a frame the right size- so this was a good alternative. Aaron used gorilla glue to attach the board to the puzzle and some tiny nails to attach the "self leveling picture hanger" (that metal thing with the ridges ;)

Clifford!

Mickey Mouse!

Cars!

Winnie the Pooh

So now Mateo has 4 "Puzzle Posters" on his wall that he put together himself and have some of his favorite characters. And it cost just a few dollars plus the puzzles themselves.

A new shelf in my stockpile and my sweet Mateo

Here is the newest shelf in my stockpile from couponing:



Today I am 15 weeks pregnant and, though I've been WAY too tired to do as much deal and coupon shopping as I would have liked to, I have quite a few packs of diapers in my stockpile. We do plan on using cloth diapers again- and I have a good supply for once the baby is about 10+ pounds - but I really don't have the desire to use cloth when we have a brand new baby. AND, since diapers can be ridiculously expensive, I'm hoping that between my own stock and from my baby shower that we will have enough for three or four months. That would be awesome. I have close to 500 diapers right now. Sounds like a lot, but tiny babies go through a LOT of diapers lol.

With anticipation of the new addition, I am also trying to REALLY treasure each day I have with Mateo...fully knowing that very soon he will have to share me with another baby, a smaller one, and I will no longer be able to give him as much attention. We are doing a parent/tot swim class right now which is fun and yesterday we went to play group, got to play out in the yard for a long time, went for a walk, and just did our normal daily stuff like fold laundry. I'm trying to love every second.

If only we could all be as sweet as a toddler. Last night at bedtime he requested that I read his bible, wanted to pray for his daddy, his grandpa and grandma, his friend Natalie, and the baby- which he says is going "night night" in my tummy. He waves to strangers- even the ones who are particularly strange- and blows kisses to the lifeguards at the pool. Hearing "I love Dada" and "I love u Mama" is like music to my ears, la la la! He kisses boo boos, hugs his little friends who are sad, and becomes attached to dad at the hip (or ankle haha) whenever he is home.

I do love my sweet boy. It's hard to imagine loving another baby as much as we love Mateo but I know it's possible. It's also hard to fathom that God loves my babies even more than I do. Seems like too much love to understand. And it is.

Mateo, being a ham and giving me his fake smile.

Our small miracle

You often hear people say, "God is good" or "Praise God" when something goes well or when life is good. Sure....
But the reality is that God is ALWAYS good and we should always praise him. No matter what. Period. There is no condition to his goodness and it's one of those things that gets on my nerves. God is good in all situations, even the tough ones. Even more so in the bad ones, I think, because we have to rely on his goodness and grace to see us through those situations. This is Mateo in his isolette @ the NICU (4 lbs 4 oz. born at 32 weeks and 1 day gestation)

Tomorrow is when Mateo should've turned 18 months...the big 1 1/2. Instead, he is almost 20 months old and a happy, thriving toddler.

From 4 to 24 pounds, we are daily thankful for the little boy that he has become. In the pictures below, he is holding a teddy bear that is wearing one of his preemie outfits....
You don't always know why things happen as they do, or for what purpose, but this much is true: that God uses all things...

^"2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. " James 1:2-3

It is really hard for me to look at NICU pictures of Mateo. But I do it anyways b/c even though it is sad for me to see my baby like that, it also makes me overflow with thankfulness for how far he has come. He was not the "angel" baby that some brag about, nor is he the most independent of toddlers, but we love him. Just like he is. Just how God created him.

He is growing up more every day and I can now honestly say that I enjoy being with him all day (even though 5:30pm often doesn't come soon enough ;) He loves to help me with everything from putting things in the trash or recycling, folding diapers, sweeping the kitchen, organizing toys, etc. He no longer cries for 12 hours a day, he falls asleep on his own, sleeps through the night, has 16 teeth and a new haircut, laughs a lot, loves to watch animals in the back yard, could eat his weight in bread and raisins, does all my couponing with me, is in love with his daddy, and loves to give kisses on the cheek.

Mateo = gift from God.
This we know to be true.

Grocery Store and Mateo

Saving Money #3

So a few months ago I become frustrated that we kept going over on what we'd allotted for our grocery budget. We have a little bit of squiggle room in the budget, so it wasn't like an emergency- but it was still something I felt I needed to tweak. So that's when I started doing the couponing, and I started also just brainstorming.

How do YOU save money at the grocery store? I wanna know!

I would love more ideas. Everything I came up with requires more time which may be difficult for the full time worker, but I'm trying to swing it. Here is what I have tried so far....

1. I no longer buy baby carrots. I buy a cheap 2 lb bag of carrots for like 78 cents and peel them and slice them up myself. Easy, right? It's also cheaper and I think they taste better.

2. We started shredding our own cheese (Oh, that's what the cheese grater is for....) and buying block cheese unless there is a good sale on shredded. I am also thinking of not buying string cheese any more since the price per ounce is a lot higher. Though yesterday I got a pack for half off with a coupon ( I love coupons! ) but without a coupon it's more expensive than a block cheese. I just use the cheese slicer and slice a bunch of slices for sandwiches or Mateo's snacks.

3. I love the bulk section at WinCo. I buy a lot of things in there like rice, beans, nuts, spices, etc. I have found it to be cheaper than buying a bag of the item. Especially spices!! I buy the tiny plastic spice containers and some of the spice and voila!

I'm not going to make everything from scratch, but a few extra prep tasks can make a difference.


On a side note.... despite the tantrums, short naps, and picky eating, and just pure ankle biting tendencies, ..... Mateo is a lot of fun. I'm so lucky to get to be with him every day. I say that today, b/c it has been a pretty decent day. Tomorrow I may say, "Get me out of here!!!!!!" He's starting to "pretend" play more and it's been pretty cute to just see how he's interacting differently with kids at play group and at the gym kid watch. He was feeding the stuffed bear "milk" from this little tiny bottle, giving it kisses, and moving his hand and saying "hi".
We built a cardboard fort out of a gigantic box downstairs. Actually, Grandpa made it for him :) It even has a skylight and a window. It's pretty fun.

That said, it is often challenging to occupy a one year old with Mateo's temperament. He's not a naturally independent child. We try to train him to be a little more independent and play by himself a little more, but he just seems to want a lot of snuggles and interaction. That's why I love love love that I have a gym membership this year. The ladies there LOVE him and he really seems to love them back. Especially if they have a ball. Mateo loves balls. SO I get an hour sans baby to exercise, and Mateo gets attention by somebody new and gets to play with new toys. Lifesaver. And did I mention that the gym has cable? :-)

Happy Birthday Mateo

It's Mateo's birthday and Grandma and Grandpa are coming up and we're meeting Dad for lunch. If I'm feeling ambitious later then I might take him to the carousel. We'll see!!

Tomorrow Mateo goes in for his 12 month well baby check but a few days ago he was 20 pounds 5 ounces and I'm feeling every pound. I feel eager for him to start walking so that I don't have to carry him as much- but I know that I'm supposed to enjoy every stage. He did start crawling a few weeks ago finally- so that's good.

I guess I didn't crawl 'til I was almost a year old, too, so maybe we are just late crawlers in my family. My niece (full term) didn't walk 'til she was 14 months. It will all come soon enough! I need to baby proof the kitchen. His record number of steps by himself is 8- although it was more like running, lol. The living room, hallway, and his and our bedroom are fine for him (unless he crawls under something and gets stuck) The office is off limits unless we are right by him b/c that is like our junk room and there are lots of things to get into. I vaccum and sweep quite a bit- but I'm starting to be OK with him eating a piece of dirt, crumb, or even a bug here and there (he tried to do that this morning- but fortunately I snatched it quickly.)

I suppose my next blog post will be reflections on the first year of motherhood. But the biggest thing I think I've learned is that we are not in control of everything like we sometimes want to be or think we are. God is sovereign and mighty and he is not just passively letting things happen. He is working in the hearts of his followers. It's not always fun- but he never promised things would be fun. He did promise that He'd never leave us and that I've found to be true.
Things aren't always fair on earth. For example:

You can be a smoking mom who doesn't get prenatal care and have a healthy baby or you can be a healthy mom who takes all the precautions and have a preemie (sounds familiar ;)

You can eat healthier and exercise more than any of your buddies and still struggle with your weight b/c that's just your build (thinking of the hubs- but he's lost almost 50 lbs. since we got married and I'm really proud of him!)

You can floss and brush and not drink soda and still have a mouthful of cavities....or you can never take care of your teeth or go to the dentist and be fine.

You can have a great sleep schedule, awesome routines, and a peaceful environment and still get a cranky baby.....or you can live in complete chaos and have the happiest kid on the block.

What I'm striving to do is to stop asking "WHY?" all the time and just count my blessings. It's often not in our realm of powers. It's not always our fault. Luke 13:1-5 or so was illustrating this to me last week.

Luke 13 Repent or Perish

¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Of course many things that happen to us are consequences of our actions. Say your house goes into foreclosure. Could be that you made poor financial decisions and used your money unwisely. Could also be that you lost your job with no fault of your own.

I will always wonder why Mateo was born so early. I try not to wonder too much or too often, but there will always be a part of me that wants to know. I get asked that question a LOT and I really don't know what to say b/c I really have NO explanation for the event. We are praying for (potential) kiddo two even before I'm pregnant. Praying hard. I'm also studying up on VBACS (vaginal birth after c-section) to possibly avoid another C-section if it's not necessary. Lots to learn.

But now it's time to go love on my little baby who's really not that little anymore and who will be a toddler before I know it. Being a stay at home mom has been harder for me than I ever thought it would be...but I'm really thankful, too.

Today is all about being thankful to God. He's brought Mateo so far. I hate looking at the NICU pictures. It breaks my heart all over again. But I know that Aaron and I will probably look at them later anyways...and praise God.

Happy Birthday, Mateo! There were times when I didn't think I'd live long enough to see this day, lol. :p