Pintastic! Pancake Possibilities

It's Sunday morning and I can practically smell the pancakes we aren't cooking. Maybe it's because our pancake creations from last weekend were more memorable than usual.

We tried two different variations:

Bacon Strip Pancakes

These ones were good, but nothing great. They reminded Joe of bacon donuts. I prefer my bacon crispy, and after pouring pancake batter over the bacon and griddling, the bacon got soft and chewy. Max, however, enjoyed them.

Apple Ring Pancakes

Core an apple and then cut into thin slices. Dip them in pancake batter and griddle. These are a delicious new pancake find. In fact, they really taste like apple fritters - and are so easy to make. Stack them up, toss some syrup on them and it's like you're eating something much fancier and more time consuming than they actually are.

Happy Sunday Everyone!! Make some pancakes!

Cute Things They Say: Avocado

While we're on the topic of fun times with Otto, I had a "cute things they say" moment with him yesterday.

Otto was eating his lunch and I was cutting an avocado for mine. As we're talking and eating he probably pointed at my avocado and called it an apple or something (many fruits are apples to him and most animals say "moo"...poor 2nd child. We're working on this.).

Of course I did what everyone does when a kid says the wrong word or botches the pronunciation - I super enunciated "Ahh-vo-cah-do" for him.

To that he shouted "Ahh-vo-OTTO!!!"

My #2, Take Two

Since the 1st of the year I have one day a week when it's just Otto and Wren home with me. It's such fun to experience Otto as the only big brother on these days. It takes me back to what it was like when Max became a big brother to Otto.

On these special days Otto gets the chance to be Wren's hero without also having to navigate being a little brother at the same time. And Otto's taken to his role of big brother quite nicely. He loves tickling Wren's toes, doing tummy time with her and reading with us. The things Max loved to do with Otto when he was a baby and the things that are just more chaotic when all three kids are home. For me it's a little stroll down memory lane to be reminded of what it was like when there were only two, and have a "second take" with my #2.

I hear Otto a lot more when it's just the two kids. He talks more than I thought he did. When he was a baby I noticed how adorable his soft, lyrical and bubbly voice was. It's still there! His speech and words are so CUTE. Very different from Max, where I understood everything he said as though I were talking with another adult. I have to work harder to decipher Otto's words, but once I understand them Otto and I look at each other, like "Duh?!" Some of my favorite jumbly words of his right now are: doily, umbrella, spatula, strawberry and blueberry.

My friend Marie pointed out to me that when it's "just" Otto at home, I don't have to "age up" or "age down" when we're playing. What a difference this makes. Otto can pick what he wants to do and I can PLAY with him instead of getting pulled into a non-stop conversation with Max about what we're playing.

And this makes us both very happy. Look at this big brother's smiles...

Pintastic! Authenticity vs. Originality

"It's not where you take things from, it's where you take them to." - Jean-Luc Godard

That there is something I saw on Pinterest. And so is this...

Authenticity is invaluable, originality is non-existent.

I now present to you where I've taken the Pinterest version of Apple Smiles:

You'll have to look close as the photos are grainy, but you might notice there is a slight difference between Max and Otto's apple smiles. Max's has one black tooth, just like him!

When I was buying the mini marshmallows for this snack, I also noticed some chocolate mini marshmallows. Immediately a little light bulb went off in my head and I had to make sure Max's apple smile had a black tooth just like him.

What's In A Name: Wren Evelyn

Wren Evelyn Schuster

Like the names Max & Otto, we chose Wren because "we liked it." And while that explanation is entirely true, it doesn't capture our thoughts in their entirety with regards to the meaning behind Wren's name. I mean, yes, Joe and I are pretty simple and straightforward, but a basic "We liked it" doesn't give full credit to the added depth behind our name choice.

Wren.

I'm a sucker for traditions, making & preserving memories, etc., so while I love the idea of selecting a "family" name for our kids, Joe and I haven't fallen in love with any of the so-called family names we have to choose from. The good news is that there's much more to a name than just the 4 (or 3 or 5 or 6...) letters that it takes to spell it.

On the surface there isn't a strong connection between my mom's name (Sandy) and Wren. But let me share a little more about my mom and you'll start to see some commonalities. My mom is a cross-stitcher. It's one of the things, or hobbies, anyway, that has most defined her for me since I was young. She was always working on a piece, usually multiple. My childhood home had pictures she had stitched hung in every room. If you asked me what she spent her time cross-stitching, it'd be very easy for me to answer. Birds. Birds of all kinds. Birds, as well as a beautiful Weeping Willow tree. Whenever I see birds they make me think of my mom.

Even though the four letters that spell our daughter's name aren't the same as the letters spelling my mom's name, their is an invisible tie that binds. Now, I guess we could have called her Wren Willow and really embraced sentimentality, but that would have been even more Ridgie than Summer Sunshine (which was my "proposed" first and middle name until my mom's mom spoke out and I became a "Summer Ann"). And while Joe and I have a bit of Ridge in us, that would have tipped us over the edge. And come on, take a look at that photo on the Ridgie home page. Our kids don't pull any of those shenanigans!

And, how fitting! This past Christmas my mom brought me a picture she recently found that she had cross-stitched years ago, well before I was pregnant with Wren.

Evelyn.

The name Evelyn came onto my radar about 10 years ago. It's my best friend Christy's middle name. When I learned this was her middle name I told her I loved it. Years later, once Joe and I had started our family, I again told Christy that I loved her middle name and that if I have a girl, I really think I'd like her middle name to be Evelyn as well. Christy lamented this. And since we'd been drinking, she admitted she dislikes her middle name. Wouldn't I be much happier using Christina as my daughter's middle name instead, she asked.

Nope, no I wouldn't I told her. Christy thinks her middle name is ugly. I think that even the ugliest piece of Christy still shines bright with beauty. Christina Evelyn is this amazing girl who dances with abandon. Drinks with abandon. Embraces life with abandon. She sparkles in all that she does and helps all of her friends and family shine as well. Someday Wren and Christy will dance, drink, embrace life and sparkle together til the sun rises.

Max is Four

Four years ago you were the 1st. The first of our three kids who've helped us see that we've just begun to realize the breadth of our strength and the depth of our love. On your Birthday it's our hope that we too can give you these gifts to help you though your lifetime. That, and another toy vehicle to add to your existing fleet.

Sometimes it's hard to think back to how your dad and I were before kids. Not because we don't remember it - oh, no. The contrast will forever be etched in our minds between a life with no "real" responsibilities and a life with three very real responsibilities. It's hard to think back because it makes me realize how "green" we were. Young and naive to the vast amount of work that was about to come our way, as well as the staggering love our eyes would be opened to.

But enough about that.

Happy 4th Birthday my Max! You are this amazing little boy. So incredibly affectionate and always over the top emotive. A non-stop talker and creative problem solver. Every day I am amazed at your ingenuity while playing. Although you're incredibly playful and silly, there are other times when you're so focused, taking everything in and developing your point of view about it. You have an opinion on everything and make it known (and this is a good thing...we're just working on the delivery of it sometimes).

You love being the biggest brother of the family and are always checking on Otto and Wren to make sure they're OK. Except when you're not. Which means you might be exercising your "Alpha Dog" tendencies instead.

To the one who started it...

Happy 4th Birthday Max!

Continuing our tradition from last year, I filled your bedroom floor with balloons. It was a bit trickier and riskier this year given that Otto and you share a room, coupled with the horrible sleeping both you boys have been doing recently. It's nearly certain that one or both of you will wake up in the night. Not sure if you'd realize there are balloons on the floor, I went to bed expecting the whole house to have a heart attack at 2am. But I was ok with this...given we're already down on sleep, we might as well reap the benefit of some shrieks of excitement in the morning (or middle of the night). And while the 2am heart attacks didn't happen, you did wake at 4:36am to pee and were so excited you crawled into our bed asking when your birthday party could begin. I gave a firm "When the clock says 6-0-0." But the next hour sounded like a cross country road trip with a lot of "Are we there yets?" Apparently you realized that I was not getting out of bed for a party until 6am because when Otto woke us at 6:30, you were back in your bed sleeping.

You're favorite color is green and you had asked if I'd blow up green balloons for your birthday. I obliged and hung them from crepe paper in the doorways to the kitchen and playroom.

Then we headed to the kitchen for a few presents and some breakfast. We got you the book "If You Give a Dog a Donut" and what other than...donuts with sprinkles for breakfast.

Otto, Wren and I visited you at school for snack, singing "Happy Birthday" and eating some S'mores Goldfish with your class.

Perhaps the birthday surprise I was most excited about was something I thought of myself vs. finding on Pinterest! Given it was a school day, I wanted to surprise you with something at lunch. I blew up a tiny balloon and stuffed it, along with some streamers, a note and a chocolate treat into your Thermos. Your teachers said you and your friends loved this little surprise (so much better than finding scrambled eggs in it for the 3rd day in the row)! Mom - 1, Pinterest - 274 (but who's keeping track;)

After school we all went to pizza at Punch and then home for some (more) cake.

Recognize it? Yep, its one of the cakes from your and Otto's family party a couple weeks ago. Just tossed some chocolate chips on it in the shape of a '4' and lit some candles.

Happy Birthday Max!

Written in the Stars

Last night I talked with Omesh tomorrow. Huh?

I have a friend - my most international friend, most giving friend, funnest, free-est, most adventurous friend - Christy. And fitting of all aforementioned descriptors, she visited recently and gave me a "life gift" (her terminology...clearly making shit up in order to give me a gift even though I warned her not to, that I had not had a moment to get her a Christmas gift or "life gift."). But, since I'm getting older and wiser, I am learning to accept gifts when someone gives them to me. Love them and bask in them and take them for all they're worth.

When she gifts me an astrology session with Omesh over in Koh Samui, Thailand, I am not the least bit surprised. I am ready to learn about the stars and the moons and the suns and the planets that are swirling about creating my very own astrological "life map" (as if it isn't messy enough already with myself and my kids and my husband and my hobbies and my career!).

So here I am last night feeling very international, Skyping Omesh, where in Thailand it's actually tomorrow. (Max was utterly confused when he came out of his bedroom and saw the odd looking man talking to me from the iPad - suddenly I felt a bit less international and a bit more "Wizard of Oz"). My excitement outweighs my nervousness. Really, what can Omesh possibly tell me that I don't already know?

As Christy says, he's paid to tell us good news, so that's what I got. Remarkable, however, is how accurate Omesh was to how I would describe myself, as well as what I consider my "personal truths" to be. All of his insights are hinged on what's going on astrologically, based on just a few pieces of information about me:

Birth Date: June 13, 1978

Birth Time: 12:33pm

Birth Location: Marinette, Wisconsin

It's kind of fun to think that his insights are only about me. Unless there was another baby born at exactly the same time as me in Marinette (which might be a fun challenge for my "detective mind" to tackle), his reading is unique.

General Personality Info

Communication.

This was a big theme Omesh shared throughout our session. Communication is my strength, particularly gaining information and then sharing it with others. I wanted to abruptly stop him and negate basis a 4-year history of diminishing communication skills with toddlers, but I decided to roll with it - probably best not to shut him down in our opening minutes together. Omesh explained that as I obtain information, it's like I'm being nurtured. I feed myself through information gathering and enjoy passing it on to others. I have a detective mind and am an accurate communicator. He sees me talking in front of large groups of people. I see myself throwing up just thinking about talking in front of large groups of people. But in all seriousness, this trait has always stood out as a strength. And when I question whether or not I truly am a good communicator (again, most days with my kids and recently most of my days at the office - pre Wren - have made me think otherwise), it's nice to be assured by a total stranger reading the stars from the other side of the earth.

Continuous Improvement.

God, I hate to title this section "Continuous Improvement" (I fear I might be jinxing what position the General places me in upon my return to work), but it truly encapsulates all he shared next about me. He spent some time talking about the difference between being a perfectionist and being in search of a perfect form. Apparently I am the latter, and while it may sound like splitting hairs, there is a keen distinction and one that I absolutely agree with. I enjoy the process of making things better, or more perfect, without the need to have them perfect. I will find something or do something and I have a desire to make it a little bit better, and a little bit better, and a little bit better. This is because I thrive while in constant transformation. He believes my whole life is a transformation...a kinder, gentler way of saying what some might call "flighty." But hold on just a minute! He also stated several times that "when I want something; when it's one of my "truths," I am unstoppable. I am very disciplined and will get to my end." Not so flighty when it actually matters to me!

Authenticity, Possibility & Wonder.

According to the astrologer, I easily go to a place of wonder. From each picture I'm presented, I see all the possibilities that exist. I have a good sense of beauty and art. I long for an experience of one-ness. One of my "truths" is my desire to be authentically who I am - and doing it for me, not for others (selfish, huh?!). He also confirmed that I am a very sensitive person...I sense other's feelings and therefore feel what others are feeling.

What My Future Holds

The above are merely Omesh's take on what my personality is and tendencies are. Of course I was excited (& here's where the nervousness comes in) to hear about what my future holds. What could he tell me about my fate by looking out into the universe and connecting the dots that make up my constellation?

For starters, he said that things in general are a bit more challenging now through September. He said that while finances are tighter, there seems to be something that's helping me along. Yes, Omesh, taking a 6-month maternity leave while keeping two kids in part-time daycare is making our finances tighter right now. And that thing that's helping me along...that's this family's very loving and very supportive husband and dad. I'm trying to earn my keep. And though he said that long term I needn't be terribly worried about finances - that I'll always be fine - this didn't sell Joe on my request to become just a full-time Housewife of Lot 10 Linden Grove.

The great news, though, is that after mid-September, I will see the world in a different color. Come 2013 & 2014, everything will be good, lucky, easy. To borrow the words from Omesh & Christy, 2013 is the "Year of Summer!"

Speaking of lucky, he said that 90% of my life I just happen to be luckier than other people. I immediately had two questions, but bit my tongue again for fear of what his response might have been. First, have I already lived that "unlucky" 10% of my life? And second, isn't whether or not I'm lucky or unlucky just a state of mind? ...I run, therefore I'm a runner. I write, therefore I'm a writer. I think I'm lucky, therefore I have luck.

He suggested I might want to wait until late 2012 if I'm considering a career shift as it would be met with fewer hurdles than doing so before then. He sees me doing something different than my current jig in Integrated Communications. He believes I am meant to be a healer of some kind. Perhaps in the health or nutrition sector. And he sees me being very powerful and influential talking, to large groups. Possibly on a stage, more likely on TV. This worries me because video killed the radio star and the internet's going to kill the video star, so I'm not sure I should put all my eggs in that basket. If I do, however, I like the idea of being the next Jillian Michaels of Biggest Loser fame. Only nicer (I hear, first hand, that she's a real bitch).

There you have it. My life in a nutshell, all based on my birth date. And to think I started, in my mom's words, as "a little indigestion" following her lunch. There was so much more than just a little indigestion delivered at 12:33pm on June 13th!

For those of you who've made it this far, I realize it's been a self-indulgent post. However, I just love the introspection that comes with hearing from others about one's personality. I'm still amazed at so much of what Omesh shared with me. Some of the specific words he used have been words that I too have choosen...you know, in corporate settings when I've needed to describe myself in one word. A decade ago I choose "Authentic" as my word for some team building off-site. A different time I was nick-named "Lucky" during one of my Sales stints. There were just enough coincidences that I may consider Skyping again with Omesh to see what else is written in the stars for me.