Ah, nuts!

Ah, nuts...Nutella that is.

Nutella sure has gotten a lot of attention lately, huh?

Exploding on Pinterest.

Blowing up in the news.

Um, just FYI, HOT coffee from McDonalds is HOT and a CHOCOLATE spread where the first ingredient listed is SUGAR is NOT HEALTHY. I know. Mind.Blowing.
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, search any news site for Nutella.)

Anyhoo, Nutella also got some attention in our house today.

Keith's not home tonight. And our supposed-to-be-sunny and warm day was not sunny. Or warm. Which was actually a blessing.
Before you fellow Portlanders start throwing things at me, let me clarify. I am not one of those un-Godly fascinating people who prefer rain and clouds to beautiful, blissful sunshine. I LOVE sunny days. Particularly warm, sunny days. But I was operating on very little sleep today. Not because of angel baby. She slept (unlike) a baby all night from 10pm until 7:30 this morning. Have I mentioned how adorable she is?

Yup, I know. Cuteness with baby cheeks.

No, unfortunately, my sleep deprivation state was completely the fault of numero uno. To steal a quote from a friend, when it comes to bedtime, I have the self-control of a puppy. Lately it has been worse than usual because my "late" nights have been fewer and farther between. Which also equals to I stay up later to make up for lost "me" time. As in, around 2:45am, I look at the clock, wince, and head to bed. Where I consequently get into bed and realize that I am absolutely FREEZING and feel really guilty about cuddling up to Keith to use him as a human-heater, but do it anyways. I digress.

Today I just wasn't on my game and I knew it. I woke up with a terrible headache. I decided I would WILL it to be a good day despite my exhaustion and the dull throb in my head. I was not about to ruin a perfectly good, sunny day or take out my poor choice on these little faces.

But after dressing us all in shorts and t-shirts and a onesie, the weather turned cloudy and cold. So around 10:30 I up and changed my expectations for our day. Translation: I decided that it was an EXCELLENT day to be a slacker more-flexible-and-laid-back mom.

So we played on the floor. A lot.
I sat and rocked Madi, scrolled through news feeds, and pretended to throw things for my retriever "kitten." Yes, by the way, kittens are excellent retrievers.
I fed them.
I folded a load of laundry while Natalie piled stuffed animals in a semi-circle around Madilyn's head. And then magically 3 hours had gone by and it was naptime. Oh glorious naptime!
After putting Natalie to bed, I took angel baby into my bed where I let her nurse for as long as she wanted while I read. She dozed off and I read. My babies slept for 3 blissful hours while I, yes you guessed it, read.
It.was.marvelous.
Baby asleep laying on my chest and three hours of uninterrupted reading time pretty much sums up a perfect lazy afternoon to me. Despite the persisting headache, I felt SO refreshed after this.

So I decided to make an incredibly nutritious and nourishing dinner.

Or I chatted on the phone with the hubby (who's at a work event tonight) and decided that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sounded pretty perfect.

Any guesses at which one of those is true?

But then, I took my parenting to the next level and decided why stop with peanut butter and jelly? Why not eat peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for dinner?!
I'm pretty sure this is what Keith heard as I rustled together our gourmet meal..."Hmmm...I wonder which has less sugar- jelly or Nutella? Let's take a look. One tablespoon.....12 grams......Two tablespoons 21 grams.....Ha! I knew it would be less than jelly. AND it has protein. Double score! Chocolate sandwiches for dinner here we come!"

Can I just stop and say that I love my husband for not judging me after witnessing this via telephone? Not only did he not judge me, I think he was actually a little jealous that I got to tell our two-year-old that I made her a CHOCOLATE sandwich for DINNER!

You should have seen her face. Seriously. Many "dank you Mommy, dank you!" comments were involved. It was pretty awesome.

See the wet wipe? What's wrong with my kid? She had to wipe her face and hands after every bite because she's that much of a clean freak. It eventually got so distressing that I just fed her bites.

And this is how I so graciously ate mine.

Yes, right off the cutting board. Look away Judith Martin.

Okay, so before you start linking up a gazillion studies on the effects of poor nutrition and long-term health problems and inspirational quotes on staying organized amidst the daily chaos of homemaking, please know that this isn't exactly a common occurrence.
Laying around all day is not a typical day for me.
I have a to-do list app on my phone that has a systematically scheduled list of everything I do from the daily laundry to the once-every-six-month-smoke-alarm-check. If I could color code it, I would.
I also didn't let anything that wasn't organic or healthy pass by that cute two-year-olds lips until she was nearly 14 months old. We are far, far from where we should be when it comes to healthy eating, but I do KNOW that eating good foods is, well, good. Kinda like I know that hot coffee is, well, hot.

But doesn't everyone need a Nutella sandwich for dinner kind of day once in a while?

P.S.- Crescent rolls + dollop of Nutella: Roll up and bake=a little piece of Parisian HEAVEN. Okay, maybe not truly Parisian. Just put your children in berets and squint your eyes really tight and imagine that tower of laundry is the Eiffel Tower and you'll totally be with me on this one.