RAH-RAH-RAMPAGE & THE BIG BOY POTTY

Call me whiney, but this week has NOT been my favorite! Every other week of my life consists of staying home with my little man, cleaning the house, running errands, shopping, looking cute and cooking a gourmet meal for my FH every night (okay..whatev, scratch the GOURMET part, but I do consider myself a pretty good cook! ;)) On Wednesdays, Cash goes to his Nana's house while I teach my cheerleading girls at the studio from 4-7. THIS week however, I've spent EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. away from home.. Let's recap.. Monday: Cheerleading practice with the high school girls (I was asked to help choreograph their competition routine. Tuesday: Christmas Parade with my little cheer girls. Wednesday: Work, 4-7. Thursday: Cheerleading practice with the high school girls again. As much as I love love LOVE each and every one of my girls, I've missed spending quality time with my little man. . I know not everyone can/wants to be a stay at home mom, but until you've spent every minute of every day with your little one, it's hard to understand how much being away longer than usual can hurt. I planned to do a little holiday shopping tomorrow, but I think I'll just sit around the house in my PJ's with my little man. WALKING UPDATE: Within a couple days of learning to take steps, Cash has mastered a full blown Zombie walk, and does it all around the house.. Crawling is officially a thing of the past! (Unless he's throwing a fit.. 1. Crawl Stance 2. Plop to Belly 3. Arch Back 4. Scream with head back 5. Bottom Lip) It's amazing watching his little legs go.. hard to believe that's the same little 6 lb 15 oz baby that came out of me 13 months ago! Last night Cash took his diaper off by himself, and thinking it was funny I posted it on facebook. The various responses from "those who know better than me" said that this means he may be getting ready to potty train. Although that sounded nuts to me, we set his potty up in the guest bathroom for kicks. Here's the potty:

It's called the "Cheer for Me Potty" and I'd recommend it to anyone who has yet to potty train. It's super cute, and says "YOU'RE SO BIG!" when you "flush it.." love it! It also has a removable bowl, and can be used on the big potty when he gets a little older.. On to the exciting part.. Tonight I was giving Cash his nightly bath, and I decided to relieve myself of the Route 44 Vanilla Coke I inhaled earlier. Since Cash was already in the bathroom (you mama's know the deal!) I proceeded to "teetee" (That's what we always called it.. Pee sounds so gross, but I guess since I live with two boys???) and as soon as I sat down, Cash walked to his potty adjacent from me, sat down on it, and together we "teetee'd" in sync as I shrieked/cried in excitement! YES, you read correctly.. My 13 month old just used the potty on his own! Let's not get our hopes up now.. I'm conviced this was just a sporadic coincidence, and I don't plan on putting the kid in boxer shorts or anything.. I didn't plan to potty train him until he was around 18 months, but I don't know what it would hurt to let him go potty every time Mama potty's. But let. me. just. tell. you.. I was sooo proud of my baby when he pulled this one off! I'm totally not the type to try to rush my kid into anything.. I think that's totally wrong, and want Cash to remain my baby FOR-EV-ER, but this one was totally CASH'S idea! Love that little man ;)

Anyway, I'm sure I've scarred you with a mental picture of mine & Cash's coordinated potty experience, so on to some CHRISTMAS STUFF! On a previous blog, I mentioned that I can't get enough of watching Holiday Movies during the Christmas season. One of my favorite ever channels during this time is ABC Family. Ya'll will be thanking me for this one later... Here's the 2010 Holiday Movie Schedule on ABC Fam!



FRIDAY, 12/3 – 7:30 PM: The Polar Express
MONDAY, 12/6 – 6 PM: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
TUESDAY, 12/7 – 6:30 Cranberry Christmas
WEDNESDAY, 12/8 – 7:30 PM: Miracle on 34th Street
THURSDAY, 12/9 – 5 PM: Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
FRIDAY, 12/10 – 7 PM: The Santa Clause
SATURDAY, 12/11 – ALL DAY: ABC Family Original Marathon
SUNDAY, 12/12 – 7 PM: Christmas Cupid
MONDAY, 12/13 – 8 PM: Holiday in Handcuffs
SATURDAY, 12/18 – ALL DAY: Holiday Classics Marathon
MONDAY, 12/20 – 7 PM: Santa Buddies
TUESDAY, 12/21 – 5 PM: Miracle on 34th St
7:30 PM: The Polar Express
THURSDAY, 12/23 – 7 30 PM: Home Alone 2
FRIDAY, 12/24 – ALL DAY: Holiday Classic’s Marathon
SATURDAY, 12/25 – 6PM: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

On a foodie note, saw these Gingerbread Cookies by Sandra Lee, and just HAD to try them for myself! Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. You'll never want to use store bought again, and you'll NEVER need another recipe. Plain old gingerbread cookies never have enough flavor for me, so I love the touch of royal icing..


GINGERBREAD COOKIES

NEED:
Gingerbread cookies:
1 package sugar cookie mix
1 egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

NEED:
Royal Icing:
2 large egg whites or 5 tablespoons meringue powder
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Food coloring, if desired

STEPS:
Gingerbread Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, blend all ingredients together and chill for up to 1 hour. Roll dough out on floured board about 1/8-inch thick. Cut desired shapes with cookie cutters and place onto sheet pan. Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven.

STEPS:
For icing:
With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes till stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pasty bag to pipe onto cookies.

And you'll need something to wash that down with.. how 'bout one of my FAVORITE parts of the holidays: EGG NOG! I'm totally obsessed! Here's my twist on Paula Deen's recipe.. which is close to perfect. I like to add a little cinnamon, and cinnamon sticks to garnish when making mine!

NEARLY PERFECT EGG NOG

Need:
- 6 egg, separated*
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 4 pints milk
- 1/2 pint Bourbon
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
- Cinnamon sticks to garnish

Steps:
In a bowl beat the egg yolks with the 1/2 cup of sugar until thick. In another bowl beat the egg whites with 1/4 cup of sugar until thick. In a third bowl beat the cream until thick. Add the cream to the yolks, fold in the egg whites, and add the milk, Bourbon, vanilla, and a pinch of nutmeg, if desired. Chill in freezer before serving. Serve eggnog in a large punch bowl with a "salt shaker" of cinnamon, and cinnamon sticks for garnish. Enjoy!