Frankie's Quick and Easy Breakfast

As you all know either from your own experience or from having kids, mornings are very hectic! 

If you're getting ready for work and you're like I am, those extra 10 minutes of sleep are way too precious. The last thing you want is to wake up earlier to make breakfast !

Now add kids to that quation! Ahh ..

Luckily you have me! 

Frankie isn't always a fan of breakfast in the mornings. However, he loves waffles. Now, I wish that I could tell you that I whip out my waffle maker and make delicious waffles every morning! Ha-ha Fat chance!!!!   

But I do have time for frozen waffles.. You could use whole wheat if you like, I used the wal-mart brand. (Not pictured)

I add strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Sometimes I add bananas. You could add any type of fruit your child likes. 

I use peanut butter as a base and then just add then fruit of choice on top. 

I cut the waffle into smaller pieces becasue it's easier for him to eat. He loves this.

It doesn't take more than 10 minutes to prepare.

While he's eating, I could nurse Jacob,

Or have a bite to eat myself and then we're out the door. 

Try it next time you're crunched for time :) 

Once upon a time

Once upon a time........

Hello, my name is Mayra B and I'm currently on maternity leave. My son Jacob was born on November 28, 2014 and he's incredibly sweet. My first baby Frankie is 3 years old. He loves super heroes and Toy Story.

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I am 32 years old. My life has taken so many twist and turns in the past 5 years or so.  Have you ever been on one Path and everything is planned out in your head? Kind of like mash.  I had the dream wedding and fairy tale ending. Or so I thought.  Every detail of my life seemed to be planned out. Down to the two dogs . All I needed was the white picked fence.   I didn't have the perfect house, but it was where I planned to build a home.  I lived there, with my  then husband.  But then, my entire life entered a series of events that made me fall from my cloud.

It is such a long story that I don't even know where to begin. Lets just say that good things happened and bad things happened. I prayed and prayed to God to help us change my situation and to just help us get through all that. But, my prayers weren't answered. (or so I thought)  Why not? Was I not worthy? Did I not deserve to be happy? Why did he lead me to all that and then drop me hard. So hard  that I hurt my face on the concrete.

I was hurt, broken and with no clue on  what I was going to do. 

In English literature one learns about the rise and fall of a character.  I often think about this when I think about my life.  I did fall, and I fell hard.  I'm 32 and I'm divorced. I'm not proud, but perhaps those things had to happen in order to shape me into a certain person. Who? I'm not sure yet. Am in there yet? No!

My story is just beginning. I'm still climbing that hill.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching these last couple of weeks and I'm thinking about the direction my life Is going. Now, its not just me. I have my little family to think about. Every decision I make affects them; positively or negatively. I've been thinking a lot about what I am going to do about this and how will I provide for that. There aren't enough hours in the day to plan and strategically place my pawns in the correct spot. How will this move affect us ? Yes ! Us! Because being a parent means you sacrifice for your babies!  You're no longer #1 !

Being a parent ,means you lose sleep if need be. It means that you love those babies more than yourself. You look into their eyes and you want to be a better person for them. You want to give them everything! How will you?  You'll find a way.

And so! This is where I am today, in a period of reflection. I've been writing a lot because this helps me clear my mind and put things into perspective. So as I listen to Jacobs sound machine play ocean waves, as Frankie sleeps soundly in his bed dreaming with the angels. I'm here strategically planning.

Thank you form reading this. My boys and I thank you.  

Truthfully...

I have been meaning to blog about this for a couple of weeks. But as I previously stated, I've been busy with the boys. 

Frankie finally went back to "school" last week. The actual task of getting us out of the house is .. Well a task. I have to get Frankie up and ready to go and then get Jacob ready too. He has to nurse and then I change him and off we go. It takes forever. Getting out of the house was hard enough with just Frankie. Now let's add Jacob to that equation and it sounds impossible. But totally do-able . I ask myself , how does everyone else do it? How did my mom do it? She was alone most of the time, and she had to get 4 kids ready, plus herself. I don't recall my mom being frumpy. 

After I nursed Jacob. We're both exhausted. 

I, on the other hand, haven't gotten a pedicure in weeks, cut my hair, but don't have time to style it and am lucky if I have time to shower in the morning.  

Morning are crazy around here. I come back from dropping Frankie off and the house is a mess. The kitchen is crazy and the living room looks like a tornado hit. Toys on the floor, jakes bassinet, jakes swing, the Boppy over there, blankets and the diaper bag (which is doubling as my purse for the time being), the sollybaby wrap on the couch. Just a total mess.

Making faces already 

There's laundry to be done. And really, it's never ending. Jacob goes through 3 outfit changes a day. 

Life with two kids is hectic and caotic. I didn't think it would be a walk in the park; just never quit imagined it would be like this. 

So I may be a little hard on myself. Any minute now I feel like I'm going to have a visit from the parent police and they'll say that in doing this all wrong.  No, yogurt and granola is not a suitable breakfast for a toddler. No! Don't let him wear rain boots to school if it's not raining. No! Don't let him "watch" his little brother whole you run out and turn the heater on in the car. 

Sue me Parent Police! I'm trying my best!

Frankie has been a huge help, and I tell him that regularly. He helps with the diapers. Relax, relax, he's not changing them (yet!) he just throws them away for me.

The other day he told me something that broke my heart. He says that he's sad that he wasn't the baby anymore. I told him that he would always be my first baby! And that Jacob was my second baby. He is really showing signs of jealousy.  

So we talked for a while and I hugged him. He seemed better after that. But I have to remember that Frankie is very sensitive and emotional. I like that we're able to talk things out. That makes me feel good as a mom because I'm establishing that trust and communication at an early stage. I'm intuned with his emotions and he is to. That's huge for a toddler! 

Frankie being a silly guy during Sundays lunch. 

I guess that I haven't found my footing yet. I'll get there soon! I know I will! I must! There isn't any other way around it.  I'll figure it out. I always do.

As for me, haven't you heard?: the new style is to wear a fancy burp cloth on your shoulder. As well as the wrap, ready to go. It kinda looks like a vest with an x in the front and one in the back. 

If you have spit up on your shirt, then you're extra fancy. 

(Yes , those are Christmas gifts in the background) 

I've had a lot of time to think. Late nights usually do that to me. I think it's they muses who come down to help me with my creativity/inspiration.   Oh yeah, back to my thinking: I've been thinking. During my time off, I really want to take the time and get into the groove of being a mom again. It's certainly different from the first time . Last time I was not working at all. I was basically just a student. I would stay up late studying and when Frankie would wake up is feed and return to my studies. I spent a lot of time with him.

Sadly, I'll have to return to work eventually. When? Don't ask cause I don't know. Truthfully, I don't ever went to go back. I want this mommy life forever. I want to be the soccor

Mom ( minus the van) I want to go to mommy clubs and learn to bake without burning the cookies and making a mess! I want to be the mom that makes costumes and has time to make pillow forts with the kids. I want that life. Even if it means that I have to not shower, or do my hair or even look sexy for my man. 

Does he still find me attractive? I don't know. I have spit up on my shirt, and wearing an unflattering nursing bra, and my hair is greasy. And well, my postpartum body is ... As my sister said I have a heffalump and it's very confusal. Why would he want to hang out with me? Am I still fun? 

But anyway. Thats the life I want.  

 

Truthfully, my return date is fast approaching and I don't have a sitter for Jacob. And really, I'm not ready to go back yet. There's still so much to be done here. It's causing me much anxiety to think that I'll have to leave my baby in the hands of a stranger. And I don't want to. Leaving Frankie in day care was tough. And it was a very hard transition for him. And he was 2. Now imagine Jacob who's only 7 weeks old! Not gonna happen. 

Truthfully, those are the things that run through my mind. If this was a long post then I'm sorry.  But this is how I cope. 

So you see, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. It's hard work. But totally, totally 100% worth it. When your toddler asks which Hooters girl you are as he watches a commercial, that made me feel a lot better. Because your kids don't see your messy hair and unpolished nails.  All they see is YOU!  Their mommy. And THAT is what it's all about.