The Pierogie Peepers vol 1.

Thanks to this month's Pierogie Mama sponsor,
here's a fun way to sneak high protein navy beans 

into your active toddler's diet!
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Almost 2 months ago, my husband and I moved our family about an hour north to beautiful Skagit County (Washington) where we get to live in the home of our dreams. It was the house we had prayed for and now we get to realize our dream!

As many of you know, I am also a chicken mama and have had a small flock of backyard hens for almost 3 years. Once we moved to our new house and were no longer constrained by city regulations, I went a little chicken crazy. Just a little. We went from 7 hens to double that in a very short amount of time. That term is called "chicken math."

Say hello to the 11 + 3 Pierogie Peepers! We call them 11 + 3 because I've got 11 chicks and 3 turkey poults (the word for baby turkeys).

These guys are quickly growing and the super cute chick phase was short lived. But I had some fun while they were cute and fuzzy!

Big Sister Babcia, my 2 week old white crested Polish says "I'm too big for this baby stuff, mom." #pierogiepeepers #polishchicken #chicksinteacups #chickinateacup #chicksofig #chicksofinstagram

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on May 28, 2016 at 4:13pm PDT

May your Friday be fluffy. #pierogiepeepers #fluffybuttfriday #blackcoppermarans #backyardchickens

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on May 27, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

But adolescence is rarely cute on any creature and that's kind of where we are at right now.  Almost immediately baby chicks start to lose their fuzzy baby down and grow in their feathers. We are in a middle stage where just a little bit of down remains.

Out of all of the Peepers, Babcia the Polish chicken is kind of my favorite. She's been the most fun to watch as she feathers out. Polish chickens are bred to have a huge 'fro, and are one of the most fabulous in the chicken world. You might wonder where this name came from. "Babcia" in Polish means "Grandmother," which is what my daughters call my mom. My mom, bless her heart, I love her so, but the 'fro on Polish chickens reminds me of my mom on a bad hair day.

Most of the time when you buy chicks from your local Co Op or farm store they come "sexed," meaning you have about a 90% chance of knowing that the chicks you've selected are girls. Some breeds (specialty, mostly) come "straight run," meaning they were not sexed and you have a 50/50 chance of pullet vs roo. Babcia came as a straight run and I go between wondering if she is a girl or a boy. I am really hoping she's a girl. I also got my four black copper marans from a friend who breeds them as straight run and so far I think I've found that two out of the four are roos. It's still too early to tell at 4 weeks, but there are sometimes indicators (comb size, usually) that may indicate boys. My guess is that #1 and #4 are boys.

And that's pretty much where we are at! To answer the elephant in the room - yes, the turkeys are for us to eat. My husband will be butchering them sometime between September and November, depending on their size. It's not an aspect that I look forward to with excitement, but having the personal satisfaction of growing our own meat, giving the turkey a good life and an honorable death will be a part of our life here on our new "farm."

Win a Lenny Lamb Babywearing Carrier!

If you are like me and love baby wearing, it's hard not to want to try all the carriers! For my first child I was introduced into the world of baby wearing through a knit jersey wrap and a basic soft structured carrier (SSC). 4 years and mounds of experience later I have branched out and tried several carriers, including Lenny Lamb! And I am IN LOVE!

In comparison the the canvas style soft structured carriers that many of us are familiar with, Lenny Lamb is known for making some of the softest and most comfortable soft structured carriers! The soft jacquard fabric makes this carrier so buttery soft and mold-able from the very beginning, along with key features aimed at making the experience even more wonderful for both the wear-er and the wear-ee. Maman Loup takes her Lenny where ever she goes, you can read her review here to get the full details on what to expect! If you are looking for another parent's perspective, you can find a few posts on The Parenting Patch experience with baby wearing. If you are interested in learning about the wrap side of Lenny Lamb, check out The Pierogie Mama's Lenny Lamb Little Love Breeze woven wrap review!

A few key points about Lenny Lamb Soft Structured Carriers:

-weight range: 14 lbs to 35 lbs for infant sized carrier

-full buckle carrier with 3 adjustment points

-ability to carry on your front or back, as well as crisscross shoulder straps based in your comfort

-ergonomic seat to encourage proper weight distribution on baby's hips (from "knee to knee")

-form fitting hood

-proudly made in Poland 

-two sizes available - infant and toddler 

Enter to win a Lenny Lamb infant sized Colors of Fantasy soft structured carrier by entering in the giveaway widget below!

Sorry.. this giveaway has ended.

DID YOU MISS YOUR CHANCE ON THE LENNY LAMB? CHECK OUT THE OTHER
BABYWEARING GIVEAWAYS ON THE PIEROGIE MAMA!

Disclosure: This giveaway is hosted by The Pierogie Mama, Maman Loup's Den and The Parenting Patch. It is not affiliated with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or any other social media platform. Participating bloggers are not responsible for prize fulfillment. Please email thepierogiemama@gmail.com with any questions regarding this giveaway or if you'd like to sponsor a future giveaway or blog post. Please see giveaway widget for full giveaway details and eligibility. 

Lenny Lamb Little Love Breeze Woven Wrap Review

I call this the "Pinterest of Chicken Recipes"
Thanks for checking out this month's sponsor!
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Over the last 6 months I've been diving deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole...the rabbit hole of woven wraps. I've grown a modest stash, picking up wraps that I love for many different reasons. But one of my biggest dreams has been to try a Lenny Lamb woven wrap.

Why? In addition to the positive reviews that you'll hear from anyone who had felt or wrapped with a Lenny, well - in case you haven't seen the clues by the blog name, I'm a Polish girl. Both of my parents immigrated from Poland and the heritage is a big part of who I am. While I have very few opportunities to speak Polish any longer, I still want to pass on whatever I can to my daughters. Textiles are one of Poland's main industries, and for great reason. Every piece of Polish cloth that I have owned is intricate, delicate yet robust and will last for generations. So naturally, a Polish woven wrap has been on my wish list for a long time.

The Little Love line, a new addition to the Lenny Lamb line up, was my first Lenny to touch. There are almost a dozen different color ways of Little Love, and one of my favorites is Breeze. It's a soft gradient of blue and black weft and white warp. The Little Love line is distinguished by the heart shaped pattern of the weave.

These little hearts though. 💙❤💙❤ #lennylamb #lennylamblittlelove #lennylamblittlelovebreeze #noszębokocham #babywearing

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Apr 11, 2016 at 6:04pm PDT

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Apr 13, 2016 at 9:45am PDT

In comparison to the other loom state wraps that I've felt, the Little Love Breeze was unbelievably soft right out of the package. It kind of changed my whole perspective of what a soft wrap is! At the moment I only own cotton wraps and was expecting to have a break in period, as my others have. Not at all! In fact - I've worn it for both a toddler and two newborns and haven't even washed it yet.  Each pass is glides smoothly without a ton of triceps work to get it tight. It supports my almost 30 lb 2 year old like a dream, and my newborn nephew like a cloud.

This sleepy dust moment is brought to you by: The Polish Auntie using The Polish Wrap! #sleepydust #babywearingauntie #lennylamblittlelove #lennylamblittlelovebreeze #babywearing #noszębokocham

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Apr 15, 2016 at 3:40pm PDT

Truly our new favorite wrap! Soft, toddler supportive and easy to put on. It was broken in almost immediately! My Frozen obsessed preschooler calls this my 'Frozen Heart' wrap - aka @lennylamb Little Love Breeze. #lennylamb #lennylamblittlelove #lennylamblittlelovebreeze #toddlerwearing #babywearing #noszębokocham

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on Apr 23, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

Because when you have a Little Love like him - how can you not wrap him up tight, smell his newborn smell and dream about what is to become?

Disclosure: Thank you, Lenny Lamb, for giving me the opportunity to try this amazing wrap! 

Catch the Moment: Week 13

A picture a day, for one year.

 Our local craft store brings in bunnies for the kids to take pictures with for Easter. All proceeds to to the Behind the Badge Foundation too! How awesome. They had about a dozen bunnies to choose from, and all were so sweet and docile. Penny wanted the "small baby bunny with pink eyes."

 The big girl got her face painted for the first time. A year ago, there was no way she was letting a stranger touch her face. I am so proud of her bravery. And she is so stinkin cute!

 Penny and daddy made Frozen Easter Eggs. Frozen as in the movie, not literally frozen.

 I snagged an awesome deal of 40 pounds for $18 of Golden Delicious apples, straight from the grower. Wow! Well, this meant a week of apple inspired meals.. but I am not complaining! Here's two: Crockpot Applesauce and Polish Apple Pancakes.

 I sneak my snacks in the kitchen when I think the kids aren't paying attention. This time I was discovered. I ended up being nice and sharing my goat cheese, fig-orange jam and poppyseed crackers with this pitiful face.

 My parents separated and divorced over the course of my teens. I don't have many stories that tell about their love, but on the morning of my 16th birthday I visited my dad and he told me one of the sweetest stories I've ever heard. After my birth my dad picked a gorgeous bunch of lilacs for my mom to fill her room with their beautiful fragrance. On that day, he decided that he would do the same for me when I turned 16. Last year my husband planted a lilac bush in our front yard for my Mother's Day gift too.

Another counter top treat discovered. This was our third apple treat of the week, Polish Apple Cake (jablecznik). My mom makes it the best, but she was nice enough to freeze some dough for another time and left it in my freezer. This week I've been missing her and it was a perfect pick me up. My version doesn't really stand up to hers, but it was a good shot.

Catch the moment archives

Follow along on Instagram daily!

Polish Apple Pancakes

Taste has such a connection with memory, don't you think? These pancakes bring back so many memories, but my favorite is of visiting my paternal babcia in Poland and her cooking these delights for my dad and I on the night that we arrived. I was about ten years old; tired, grumpy and overwhelmed. We were ushered in, sat at a plain and simple table in her small apartment's kitchen, and she continued to fry these babies up.

They are called "racuchy" (rah-tsoo-hiy) or "placki z jablkami" (pancakes with apples / "plah-ts-key z yab-kahm-eh").

These days I pull it out on those evenings where "breakfast for dinner" is on the menu again or if I have extra apples that should get used. They're like a mix between a pancake, fritters, dutch baby, beignet and a donut. There's just no one way to describe them! But they are super easy to make, use readily available ingredients and are so tasty. Even though they are essentially deep fried, they don't come out greasy.

You'll need:
2-3 apples (peeled, cored and sliced thinly)
2 cups of flour
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1 tsp sugar
vegetable oil
powdered sugar

You'll do:
1. Mix together the 2 cups of flour, egg, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of sugar to make the batter. It'll be similar to the consistency of pancake batter. Fold in the apple slices.
2. In a frying pan, pour enough vegetable oil to fill the pan about 1/4 of the way up. Heat it to hot.
3. Ladle drops of batter with 2-3 apple slices into the oil. You don't need a lot of batter, just enough to stick the apple pieces together.
4. Cook until the bottom is lightly golden, then flip. It should take less than 2 minutes total.
5. Place onto a paper towel lined platter. Blot up any excess oil with another paper towel.
6. To serve, give it a good dusting of powdered sugar.

Catch The Moment Week 4

This week was harsh. Upon our return from our family Whistler weekend, the girls came down with the crud that's being passed around to everyone. Finally on the day that they seemed to turn a corner I came down with a 24 hour stomach virus. THANKFULLY just 24 hours, because as you all know.. mama ain't got time to lay on the couch. To end the week in a grand finale, the husband has started to feel crummy too so let's just say that not only was there not much photography happening, you guys wouldn't really want to see what's going on at my house anyways. But here's the parts that were caught.

I love the journey of babyled weaning. My 10 month old will eat almost anything that you put in front of her, and sometimes only in a certain combination. Somehow vanilla greek yogurt was exactly what my butternut squash risotto was missing...

My husband turned 30! He tried to put on a brave face but I know that it's crawled under his skin a little bit ;) But hey, many people say that their 30's were the best decade of their life!

The following day was where I pulled out the big guns to help kick the cold that was percolating in our house. We had already gone through essential oil protocols, resorted to a few cough medicines, steam baths, you name it. I woke up early on Saturday morning and started making my family's traditional Polish chicken noodle soup - Rosół.  Rosół is ingrained in my heritage and the cure for all that ails you. Truth be told, everyone sipped it right up and we all started to get on the mend. 

 The following day was the birthday celebration with my in-laws, and we asked for a date day before the festivities. We hadn't seen a movie together since a few days before Penny was born and I have been really wanting to see American Sniper. This was the first movie I had seen about the war in Iraq, and with several military service members (include one who had served in Iraq) in my family I felt it was one I needed to see. Learning about Chris Kyle's story put a face on what our soldiers experience across the world. I have heard first hand stories and read news articles but perhaps this was more eye opening than any other way it had been presented to me before. The patriotism of this hero is inspiring and I wish I had been aware of his story before his passing.

Now, the tag for the name, 'Merica,' is because I seriously didn't realize just how big Coke cups are these days! I took the picture and posted it to instagram before heading into the movie. I guess I've been outside of the "real world" for such a long time that I didn't know that there are touch screen vending machines and cups the size of my head.

 I unearthed a final Kinder egg that was sent in our Christmas package from my parents in Germany.. it's like an ostrich Kinder egg!

I babywear all day every day, primarily in a soft structured carrier. I keep the Boba 4g in the car and the original Ergo at home. It's a work horse. It's comfortable but I wouldn't call it super snuggly. During these sick days, I decided to test out our Boba Wrap because the soft stretch sweatshirt material was comfy for both of us. It encouraged me to move slowly or to lay down and rest more often. Review will be up next week :)

Finally! The colds are over for the girls and my happy squishy baby has returned!

Catch up on previous weeks: 

Catch the moment archives

Follow along on Instagram daily!

Handmade for the Heart - Ada Rosman

This post was originally part of the Handmade from the Heart Giveaway Hop.

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Anything handmade speaks a certain voice to me. In a world where everything is automated and scientifically processed, we've lost the connection of why we're all here. To get to know one another, right? Handmade gifts are always held so close to my heart, they remind me of the love a person put into their work and how they may have thought of me (or the idea of me) as they were crafting their passion.

Ada Rosman is one of those people - she has a serious love for her craft.

Growing up in a Polish household in Washington State wasn't always easy; my parents tried to make connections with local Polish families to help keep our traditions and language alive but we didn't live close to a cultural hub (like Vancouver BC or Chicago). Nonetheless, this is how Ada and I met - her family and mine were quite connected back in the day. Her father is my brother's godfather and we used to play all the time as little kids. Over time things grew apart and in the last few years the families have reconnected and it's been fun getting to know Ada as adults and see each other now and again when "The Polish Mafia" gets together - as some people call it. We've got a lot in common when we can jokingly laugh at some of the very typical Polish things our mothers do when they are around each other.

Today I want to share with you Ada's handmade jewelry and a few questions about her shoppe and inspiration.

What made you want to study metals when you decided to go to college?
I found my own creative space in the arts right as I was getting ready to graduate from the University of Washington. It wasn't until what was "supposed" to be my last year at the University that I first started to work with metal. When by what seems to have been chance, I had decided to take a metals class that literally changed everything. I was truly drawn to the medium and actually changed both of my majors so I could get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals. I am truly inspired by the medium and the ability that it has to not only be a piece of jewelry, but a wearable piece of artwork that is able to tell a story as well as remember the past.

What inspires you the most - nature, architecture, food, people, culture? Tell me about how your travels inspire your jewelry.
My work continues to be influenced by my culture and historical moments in the past, but also by my travels. Thanks to travel I have become to realize that each place, every new person, and diverse culture continually influences and inspires my work. I absorb everything around me and reshape it into wearable artworks. This spring I’ll be introducing new jewelry designs inspired by my recent travels this past year to Poland and Mexico.

Tell me the story behind a really special piece that you've created recently.
I really enjoy making custom pieces since I get to learn more about the person that will be wearing it as as well as giving it - it gives me the chance to create a special piece of wearable art that carries the wearers’ own personal story. My thesis show for graduation was definitely a series of work that challenged me and influenced my current work. The BFA thesis work was about my families journey from Poland. We escaped from what was then Communist Poland by driving our Volkswagen Beetle to a refugee camp in Rome, Italy before we were able to come to America.

If you could travel anywhere and live there for 3 months - where would you go? What draws you there?
I would definitely love to travel throughout Argentina. A country that fuses Latin American culture with European influences. I am drawn to the diverse landscape and stunning scenery as well as the astounding art scene.

Get 20% off your Ada Rosman Jewelry order by using code PIEROGIEMAMA20

Enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Ada Rosman's shoppe here:

This giveaway has ended. Thanks to all who entered!

Pierogies go all Beastmode for the Superbowl!

This post is special to me in two ways -

1) pierogies. Duh!
2) Seahawks! Anyone living in Washington State (and pretty much the entire Pacific Northwest region) is living on a Seahawk / 12th Man high. This is the second time in the Seahawk's 38 year history, we're going to the Superbowl! We're known for our record setting loudness, thanks to our excitement for the team and the architecture of our stadium. 

This season has been the year of Beast Mode, aka Marshawn Lynch. He has been credited with the success of the team this year and has been the poster boy for Seahawk pride. His love for Skittles (aka: power pellets from his mama) is the inspiration behind many Seattle area restaurant munchies in preparation for the big game. Did you know that he's also the first athelete to be paid by the Skittles brand and they've released Seahawk colored Skittles?? 

And just like any other good Seahawk fan, I've prepared my own rendition of a Pierogie Mama family favorite - BEAST MODE PIEROGIES!

Making pierogies by hand is tedious work, friends. My mom and I keep up the family tradition of making them for holidays and special events, but for the every day I turn to Mrs. T's Pierogies. So I'm honored to share my collaboration with Mrs. T's and show you how any 12th man will appreciate these Polish delights by showing you how to make beast mode pierogies!

Note: Mrs. T's Pierogies can be served as a main or side dish. If you are serving them as a main dish, I recommend 6-7 pierogies per adult (a box comes with 12 pierogies).


You will need:
1 box of your favorite flavor Mrs. T's pierogies (we love potato and cheddar flavor)
Blue and green neon food coloring
a bag of skittles
1 cup of sour cream
1 tablespoon of sugar

You will do:
1. Bring 2 separate pots of water to boil, one colored with blue food coloring and the other with green. The exact amount of food coloring will depend on how much water you use, but I wanted to be sure that my pierogies were extremely colored so I started with 30 drops of food coloring. 
2. Carefully pour half of a box of pierogies into one pot and the other half into the other pot.
3. Bring them to a slow boil. They will float when they are done, but you may want to turn off the heat and allow them to soak in the colored water for an additional 10-15 minutes to allow them to get saturated with as much color as possible
4. Remove the pierogies from the pot using a slotted spoon when you're happy with their coloring.
5. Mix together the sour cream and sugar (this will make a sweet dipping sauce) and serve as a side - and don't forget those skittles!

These are pierogies that even Marshawn Lynch will mow down on - so get your Seahawk and pierogie pride on and serve these at your Superbowl party.. I bet you'll get a few questions about them!

Inspiring Bilingualism: French for Kid Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out) DVD review

Disclosure: I received this product as part of an advertorial.

I grew up in a bi-lingual household - we spoke primarily Polish at home and English was reserved for outside of the home. At the time I thought it was embarrassing and silly to do that, not only for the language aspect but also culturally. My first memory of white bread or mac n' cheese is in high school - when I bought lunch at the cafeteria. My last name was 11 letters long - and had more consonants than vowels. Knowing Polish didn't really gain me very much besides it being a pretty cool party trick in college. That girl was ready to ditch that Polski last name and get herself a good, easy 'Merican one.

As I got "older" I realized just how truly special that experience was. Learning a second language is becoming more of a standard in high school and college but research shows that learning language begins long before that - in the womb and expats with young children can attest to just how quickly their littles can pick up on another language even before their adults do. Already knowing how to switch my brain over to another language helped me learn french quickly in high school, which has also been useful in our travels across Europe on our first babymoon when we visited Spain and Italy.

Although my Polish has become quite rusty over the years, my daughters will definitely be learning all that I can teach them, with supplements from their babcia (grandma).

Truth be told, Polish will probably be a "party trick" for them too. So we've decided that we'd like to put our efforts into also teaching them a language that might be useful to them in the future.

We recently checked out the educational dvd French for Kids: Dedans et Dehors (Inside and Out) from Whistlefritz. We followed along as a silly mouse named Fritzi shows us simple French phrases around the house. The narrator clearly repeats over and over the phrases as well as shows visual cues. I really appreciated that there was no English spoken - it was all immersive. There are appropriate breaks for dancing and songs to help keep kids interested. 

Although Penny is too young to truly grasp the concepts, it's a great foundation for getting her started in her bilingual journey. I definitely recommend the Whistlefritz for an easy, fun way to get your kids learning another language. Whistlefritz has educational dvds in Spanish and French.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Chalk Treatment Customized Christmas Ornaments #SantasLilHelper

27 years ago my mom started a tradition for our family where she buys a special ornament for each child, and when I got married she sent a huge hat box full of my ornaments that she had saved.  Now each year we've received an ornament jointly - first married Christmas, first home, new baby, etc.

One type of ornament that I've had my eye on was something that is specific for our family. When I discovered Chalk Treatment, I loved her chalk board style ornaments that you can customize to {almost} whatever your heart desires. So I talked to Maggie, ba-da bing // ba-da boom, a box of ornaments were on their way to my home. And I am so excited to share these with you! :)

The first ornament is for our tree and features our family name. The second two ornaments are grandparent gifts. My parents are affectionately called "Babcia" (Polish for grandma) and "Vovo" (Portuguese for grandpa), and Adam's side is "Grandpa" and "Grandma."

The precision on the lettering is really impressive. I also love that it has that chalk look, but it won't smudge throughout the years. That's been on my mind when I've been picking out Christmas decorations this season since we have sticky toddler fingers and will have another set this time next year too!

And my favorite part, besides the honestly very beautiful ornaments? The boxes they come in. Maggie, who not only has the very keen eye for design and presentation, told me that this is the best way to ship glass ornaments. Me? I just love that they came pre-wrapped and I know their recipients will feel so special when they get to open these!

Here's an idea of how big each ornament is

Check out Chalk Treatment on Etsy and Facebook.
Also enter to win a customized ornament in my
Santa's Little Helper Prize Pack starting December 2nd. 
Included is a Beanilla homemade vanilla extract infusion kit and a matching mama - child apron set from Cupcake Provacateur. 

In the meantime, use promocode CHALK4YOU to get a 10% discount on your order. In addition to ornaments, she does chalkboards that can be used for weddings, baby announcements, events, or whatever else your heart desires!

Visit Chalk Treatment on Etsy and tell me what you would do for a customized ornament!

Disclosure: I received product in order to facilitate this review...

but you know me - I wouldn't share anything with you that I don't love too!

Are you a business that would like to have your product featured on The Pierogie Mama?
Send me a line!

Gender Reveal Party

Today was our gender reveal party. We had our ultrasound on Wednesday last week and it was tough keeping it a secret from the family until today. I pretty much had to be on a 'text only' basis, otherwise something was going to slip.

Our menu:
Balsamic spinach pasta salad (my mother in law's delicious recipe)
Deviled eggs
Crackers with a topping of cream cheese, smoked salmon and my mom's homemade pear sauce
ruske / potato and cheese pierogies (but of course!)
prosciutto and melon appetizers
fruit, veggie, meat/cheese/cracker platters
Baked brie with walnuts and cranberry sauce

And the grand finale:
the gender was revealed by way of cakepops. I used's The Kitchn's cakepop recipe using devil's food cake, sweet cream cheese and chocolate almond bark to coat.

The family members were told that the flavor of the cakepops is chocolate and only one of the 20 pops will have the gender of the baby revealed by the color of the batter. Kind of a Charlie Bucket and the golden ticket kind of thing.

We are so excited for Penny to have a younger sister. I don't have a sister and I think their closeness in age will be wonderful.

Moms Who Inspire Me: Bernadet

Welcome to the grand finale of my 3 part series on Moms Who Inspire Me.  If you missed out, here's Gretchen and Ashley.

Bernadet is definitely an inspirational mama to me... because she is my very own! She immigrated from Poland to Canada barely knowing the language in her early 20's. One of the easiest way to describe my mom is by her hospitality. Meals were always created with love and are plentiful. Her home is always open to those who enter and she goes out of her way to make sure everyone is comfortable before she rests. She's been the mama I can snuggle to, even though I've become a mama myself, and makes it a point to keep up with her kids' lives even though we've all grown up and left the nest. Leaving her family behind, she took on the matriarchal role early on and has instilled the great importance of family throughout my life. Even though we're a loud, boisterous and often very blunt family, we can always put our differences aside and have a meal together. That's what family means to me. I love you, Mom!

At what age did you become a mama? 

How was that in relation to when you thought you'd become a mama?

I always wanted to be a mom before age 25 and it happened a little bit before 25

Growing up, what was the part about becoming a parent the most exciting for you? 

Has it changed? 

I think the most exciting thing for me becoming a parent is to have somebody who is part of me and to be able to teach them what I  know about life.

What has surprised you the most about being a mother?

The most surprising thing for me about being a mom was and still is how much I love them, how I can divide my love between one and the other,  and that you can raise children the same way but they have their own minds and they going to react totally differently.

Who was your biggest help? How did they help you?

The biggest help I had was my mom whom I called almost everyday for advice the first year and my grandmother when she came and stay with us for almost a year when you were little.

What has been the biggest challenge of motherhood (easy question, right?) 

and how have you tried to overcome it?

I think the biggest challenge for me is to understand that I can only help and teach them to a point and then they have to experience life. Even though I still want to be the helicopter mom!  I try to overcome that by really listening advising, observing, showing and understanding that they will do what they want to do.

Name your top soothing tip

The best soothing thinkgfor you was to walk with you and rub your back and for your brother Paul was to hold him and rub his forehead over his nose.

What is your kids' favorite meal that you cook?

When you guys were little your favorite thing to eat was noodles with strawberry or blueberry with whipped cream, or Polish kopytka with goulash.

Did you become your mother, take a completely new road or find a clever mix in between?

I don't think so. There are things that I did the same way, but for most of it I did it my way.

Did you have a parenting style that was different from the rest of your family (such as sleep solutions, babywearing, potty training timing) and how did you respond to family who approached you about it?

I don't know much about my parents parenting style when we were little.  One thing I definitely learned that I didn't like when I was a child was to correct  your children in front of other people. And to tell you the truth my parents didn't really have much input in my parenting style because I was way too far from them.

And there you have it.. The original Pierogie Mama (now known as The Pierogie Babcia) 

with my chubby self at about a year old. 

Polish Apple Pancakes #Wordlesswednesday

Growing up, these were called simply "placki" (platz-ki), which means pancake - but the real name is placki z jablkami (apple pancakes - platz-ki z yab-calm-y).  Forgive the horrible mix of phone and actual camera photos.

Happy 4th Birthday, Squirty McWigglebottom :)

Today marks 2 years since we adopted our second dog, a mini-Australian shepherd, whom we dubbed "Squirt."

We decided on the name after wanting to call him something along the lines of "little brother" to our older dog, Romeo. I had suggested the name Braciszek ("bra-chi-shek," which means "little brother" in Polish)... but as you can guess, that was shot down. Eventually we settled on Squirt, which is really fitting for him anyways.

And the McWigglebottom part? Well, Squirt doesn't have a tail. Australian Shepherds are known for their naturally bobbed tails, but Squirt was born without one at all..however, when he gets really excited, his entire butt shakes.

2 years ago we had decided that Romeo was in need of a buddy. My office was dog friendly, but I didn't always want to bring him with me but we thought he might be lonely during the day. He was getting older and we hoped that a younger dog would pep him up a little bit and in turn he would help mature a younger dog too. We were about half way through our renovation and I was most likely subconsciously dealing with baby fever (3 of my sister in laws were due between May and September). So we decided to get a second dog. The funny part is that I was pregnant about 2 months later anyways....

I am pretty familiar with dog breeds (for some reason) and we decided that a Mini-Aussie would be a good fit for our family. Energetic, smart, loyal and trainable. After months of searching the good old list of Craig's and various pet adoption websites, I came across a listing for a 2 year old male on CL and texted in about him. Throughout the rest of the day I exchanged sporatic texts with a 19 year old girl who was juggling community college courses, a busy lifestyle and a energetic (to say the least) dog that was cooped up in her small apartment :( I felt bad because I remember being in that stage of life.. I'm sure she loved that dog very much, but it just wasn't a good mix. I'm thankful that she decided to give him to a good home and move on.

We picked him up that night and were greeted with this ball of furry silvery energy that immediately loved on us (and wiggled his bottom to no end). His main goal in life is to please those around him, just like any good dog does.

What a blessing it has been to have Squirt in our family and watch Penelope grow to love him.