Claim Jumper restaurants offer this fantastic dessert on their menu--it's the real reason we go, but usually by the end of the meal, we're stuffed beyond capacity, or the kids are melting down and we know they won't last the 15 minutes it takes to deliver the warm gooey goodness to our table, so we pout and pay the check and vow to figure out how to make it at home.Well, I finally did it! Found thi...

Whoa--time flies when you're having fun! Trying to refresh and unplug as much as I can this summer...Day 85-91 (last Tues thru today): a few ugly tshirts, Baby ChubChub's sweet little fall dress--unravelled at the neckline, PAPER CLUTTER! 1 creepy cat/toy/thing from a Happy Meal, ratty pillowcases, 2 hooded towels, 2 pairs of 0-3 month stretch pants I've been shoving my 21 month old into and callin...

As the weeks of training wore on I expected to find my stride, but I was stumbling through my days--my life. I'd get up at 5am, work until the baby woke, work during the kids' naps, then from their bedtime until 2-3-4am. I pushed through; the 15-20 hours per week I would be expected to work after my training was done was the light at the end of the tunnel.But it didn't work out that way. I couldn't...

If my 2 year old pitifully begging me to stay home wasn't enough, I was receiving pressure to quit my waitressing job from another source. I was 8 months pregnant, and around month 6 I had developed a bizarre lump on one side of my pubic bone that had slowly morphed from a dull, bruised feeling to excruciating pain when I picked up anything heavier than a water bottle.My OB's best guess was that it...

Part IPart IIPart IIIWe were blessed with a remarkably easy baby. He slept through the night--6 hours even in the hospital, and 12 hours within a couple months. Only cried when he was gassy. No naps; he'd doze off for a few minutes while nursing, but with the long nighttime sleep stretch, I didn't push it. I had plenty of time to find my way in my new life as a Stay at Home Mom.We were broke, but t...