A Weekend In Numbers...

We loaded up the Tahoe and headed out of town for a long weekend in Seattle.

4 people.

2 adults.

2 children.

1 Tahoe.

3 nights.

4 days.

27 bags.

2 graduations.

2 missed afternoon naps.

3 minor toddler meltdowns.

1 case of intestinal "objections".

1 migraine.

2 Extra-Strength Tylenol.

1 dinner celebration party.

1 Dungeness Crab Fettuccine Dinner.

2 slices of ice cream cake.

0 DVD players in hotel room.

1 Oreo McFlurry.

2 swimming pool playtimes.

1 shaking wet toddler.

8 muffins smuggled from the continental breakfast.

8 muffins eaten for lunch.

4 loads of laundry to be done.

2 exhausted children who are STILL asleep.

We had a wonderful time but are happy to be home once again...

A

Pureed Peas Make Me Happy...

I'm a home baby food making Mama and proud of it.

I chose to make my own baby food for Bubbalu when I discovered that not only could I control what when into his food, but that is was CHEAPER and EASY.

And we all like saving some serious money.

My theory this this:

If I can purchase the product (say sweet potatoes) for less per pound in the grocery store produce section (or food co-op, farmers market or whathaveyou) than the prepackaged food then it is worth the hassle.

I have multiple gallon sized zip top bags full of baby food in my freezer. I just grab a bowl and open the door. SUPER easy. If I'm heading out for the day, I put two or three cubes in a small plastic container. When eatin' time rolls around they are usually completely thawed and ready to go. If not? A bit of boiling water and some rice cereal do the trick.

Here are a few of my favorite baby foods to make at home:

Sweet potato - BIG DOUBLE YES. I make huge batches of sweet potato and use it daily as a starter base for meals. Peel, boil until soft, puree, spoon into ice-cube trays and freeze.

Apple - Home-grown apples made into home-made applesauce lovingly donated by my parents are pureed to perfect consistency and frozen in ice-cube trays. SUPER easy. Lil Chick loves it. I usually mix in a bunch of oatmeal baby cereal. Applesauce oatmeal? Yes please!

Squash - Oh my lands, it's got to be the easiest thing around. Directions:
1. Go to grocery store
2. Purchase frozen cooked brick of squash (in frozen veggie section)
3. Defrost and spoon into ice-cube trays.

Voila. See? Not too difficult.

Pumpkin - I was wrong. Pumpkin is easier than squash. You can buy canned pumpkin and freeze it in ice cube trays. SUPER easy. Just make sure you don't buy Pumpkin PIE mix instead of plain pumpkin. Baby might be hopped up on the sugar for a good 18+ hours if you mix those two up.

Banana - Squish it around a bit before you even peel it. Then open, mash with a fork and spoon it in. Beware: Banana is slightly constipating. Might need some pureed prunes as a side dish with this one.

Avocado - Purchase, peel, mash and serve. Tons of healthy fats to help grow a baby's brain. Best to freeze in slices to prevent browning.

Peas - I buy frozen peas, microwave and puree them. Once again, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Watch the skins, they can be tricky. Add enough liquid to make sure it is truly a pureed consistency.

There are many many many more foods to make at home for the babes. Just think, with all the money you've saved making your baby food at home you can finally purchase that ferrari! Or a new washer and dryer. With the pedestals. And forgo the normal white and pick a COLOR.

I would love a happy and bright washer and dryer set. You KNOW that the green, blue, brown and red ones have more fun and are more satisfied (read : happy) with their appliance existance. And a happy washer and dryer means happy clothes.

And you NEED happy clothes, what with all the pureed sweet potato, apples, squash, pumpkin, avocado, banana and peas that your perfect baby will fling on you.

And where do I get all my home baby food making information? Right HERE at WholesomeBabyFood.com. Go check em out...

A

Wordless Wednesday...

A

Potty Training, Defined.

I am proposing changing terminology for the newly toilet using littles.

Stage 1 - Potty scheduled:

My Mommy takes me to the bathroom every hour on the hour, before and after meals and before and after naps or bedtime. It's quite an ordeal as I can't pull off my shorts or itty-bitty undies, get on the toilet, or reach the sink to wash my hands. I CAN reach a bunch of other things, though. I usually go, because I am there and all, but I really don't tell her when I have to go. Does she really think this is a superior and time saving method as opposed to wearing diapers? Makes one wonder.

Stage 2 - Potty Intermediance:

My Mommy occasionally reminds me and forces me to at least TRY to use the potty, but I'm starting to figure out that I have to tell her when I need to go. Sometimes I just go in my undies and forget to say anything. Mommy doesn't like that so much.

Stage 3 - Potty Independence:

My Mommy doesn't have to take me to the bathroom or ask if I have to go. I instinctively run to the bathroom and go potty and poo in the toilet. I can even put my undies and shorts back on again. I usually forget to wash my hands...but I'm potty independent, I can't be PERFECT.

We are at stage 1.275 at the moment and I can only hope that we will someday reach potty independence. I haven't had to clean up a dirty diaper in over a week...and can I just say? I am LOVING the lack of gagging on a daily basis. It's quite refreshing.

A

Greased Lightnin!

Bubbalu was given this cute Cars race track for his birthday or Christmas. I can't remember which:



I like the toy because you can race ALLLL sorts of cars on it and have competitions. Can you feel the excitement?

However, the matchbox cars have been rather slow while going down the track and many of them just get stuck. He's lost interest and it's starting to collect dust.

Enter Mommy Moment Of Brilliance. M.M.O.B. for short.

I hauled out the Pledge furniture polish, gave a paper towel a good soaking, and greased that race track till it was all sparkly and shiny.

Now those cars are FLYING down that racetrack (and some even go flying off the rim, much to his delight) and my toddler boy is engaged in super fun playtime for at LEAST 30 minutes. Hello, that's a Mommy Moment Of Brilliance if I ever saw one.

With a nice clean lemony scent to boot...

A

Rethinking Coffee...

I'm sorta on a diet.

Not a certain number of calories, points or grapefruits per day sorta diet, just a general overall rethinking of what I eat.

First up: rethinking coffee.

No, I am NOT suggesting the total exclusion of my favorite morning beverage, just rethinking what I put INTO it. As I have always said, I don't love coffee. What I love is cream, sugar, chocolate, whipped cream, caramel, syrups, sprinkles, whathaveyou. So, we are rethinking this.

Yesterday I added up the approximate number of calories I ingest by guestimating my average slosh of creamer added to my 4 cups of coffee per day.

Sidenote: Let me quickly define the "4 cups of coffee per day" statement. I have a mini 4 cup coffeemaker, but have always wondered what is defined as a coffeemaker "cup" compared to an 8 oz fluid cup. Guess what? I measured it out today and I drink 16 oz of coffee per day. SO...2 measuring cups worth. Definitely not as much as I thought.

Anyways, back to the creamer.

So my average creamer-slosh-a-day helping added up. A LOT.

I figured it is between 500-1,000 calories per DAY of creamer. YIKES. And let's not even talk about the sugar.

I promptly went out and purchased non-fat half & half which has 1/4 of the calories per serving, zero fat, and 2 grams of protein to boot. Yes, it has corn syrup added to it but at a much lower amount than the creamer. In flavored creamer the first two ingredients are listed as: Water, Sugar. In the non-fat half & half it is: Non-fat milk, milk. MUCH better for me.

Now. Let's get real.

It doesn't taste as good.

Of course it doesn't. So, to my AM cup o joe I add half & half and a smidgen of creamer. It's all about moderation, folks.

So do you think this might explain a 5 lb weight loss over the last two weeks?

Methinks so.

So what foods/meals/daily consumption might YOU need to rethink?

A

Baby Clothing System...

I went over to help my baby sister set up for her two babies who will be arriving this summer.

I forgot how much fun it is to go through tons of baby shower gift bags and set up a brand new nursery. It also reminded me how badly I need to reorganize Lil Chick's room.

Being that I have six different sizes smashed into her changing table/dresser, it's no wonder Lance gets confused when trying to dress her:

No, not those light pink 3-6 month pants, she's WAY too small for those. And not those light pink 6 month pants, they are way too short for her. No, not those light pink 0-3 month pants, they fit her funny on her legs. Here, put these newborn light pink pants on her, they are a perfect fit, can't you tell?

Honey, what's the problem? What, you don't understand my Baby Clothing System?

Let's start with the basic onesie.

Onesies:

The onesies on the front left side of the top drawer are reserved for occasional, they-don't-match-or-fit-great-but-are-there-for-emergencies onesies.

The onesies in the front middle of the top drawer are my favorite in not only style, but fit and color as well, but usually aren't there because they are either:

• in the laundry
• washed and folded and waiting to be put away on the floor of the living room, or
• in the diaper bag.

The onesies on the front right side of the top drawer are long sleeved or unisex onesies, best used for layering purposes.

The onesies and random tops in the back top drawer are matched sets that should NOT be desecrated by pairing them with non-matchy-matchy pants. If you do, then the pants are left lonely and sad, while the shirt marches on without them, getting stained and wash worn in an uneven ratio that completely upsets the system.

Unless you use that one pair of super cute minimally decaled jeans that are oh-so-cute and bootcut, THEN you may use the onesies and random tops in the back top drawer. But make sure you put on those Mary Jane shoe looking socks on to complete the look, or else it doesn't go.

See? Clear as mud.

I could go on, being that I have five dresser drawers, two shelves within the dresser, a five tiered shelf in the closet, two hanging rods, the shelf above the closet hanging rods and the entire floor of the closet worth of Baby Clothing System to share with you, but I won't.

Why?

I'm starting to get a wee bit confused...

A

Top Ten Things To Do Other Than Pee On The Potty...

Top Ten Things To Do Other Than Pee On The Potty:

1. Tear 18 million tiny pieces of toilet paper up and throw half into the toilet and half onto the floor...for decoration.

2. Adjust toilet paper bar up and down, up and down, up and down....to ensure you are responsible for the first incidence of re-drywalling in our new home.

3. Fake Mama out by grunting and groaning loudly...when she comes she will discover that instead of using the potty to poo, you were just pulling off your socks.

4. Sing your ABC'S as loudly as possible...surely this must be the appropriate time and place to practice them.

5. Pull open and empty the convenient little drawer right next to the potty that Mama has stocked with necessary bathroom essentials.

6. Pick at your toenails. After all, you went through so much grunting and groaning (see #3) to get your socks off you may as well make good use of the freed toes opportunity.

7. Pick your nose. Might as well.

8. Notice that Mama forgot to move the soap dispenser out of reach and attempt a hand soap pumps-per-minute record.

9. Gleefully discover that if you can scoot your Cars potty seat back far enough you can play in the toilet water WITH YOUR HANDS! Score!

10. With your new found toilet water access, splash a bunch of the toilet water on the floor. Being that there's a bunch of soap on it already (see #8) you might as well help Mama out a bit and do some mopping. I am certain she would appreciate using toilet water for floor cleaning purposes.

(MAYBE) 11. If you have to, I guess you could pee...but just a little bit, you need to save a whole bunch to wash your Lightening McQueen underwear with. He's been looking like he needs a bath...

A

Dinner Parties Are Not Meant For Children...

So we took the littles to a dinner party on Friday night.

It was a beautifully remodeled, Pottery Barn invoking, magazine photoshoot ready, stylish waterfront abode. I wanted to explore every inch of the place but didn't think our lovely hosts would appreciate me nosing around their laundry room or master bedroom closet.

I alternately spent my time panicking that my sunless tanner was emitting a scent only described by a metallic crossbred with my need-to-be-replaced running shoes and worrying that my toddler might walk up to the host, hold onto her chic capri pants and stare at her intently while filling his diaper with another, even more horrible, scent.

Less than five minutes after arrival Bubbalu threw both of his entertainment (matchbox cars) into the lake, once again solidifying my reasoning for purchasing his toys used. While that was quite entertaining for the rest of the guests I was less than thrilled. What am I going to occupy my inquisitive, stubborn, high energy toddler boy with now? Easy peasy: the neighbors' purple balloon which also ended up in the lake, rocks...which also ended up in the lake, and his sippy cup which ALMOST ended up in the lake. I just didn't want HIM to end up in the lake.

Bubbalu refused to eat his hot dog or anything resembling a normal diet and filled up on tortilla chips and watermelon. Ingenious combo, no? At least he drank milk. Sheesh.

Luckily there was a perfectly adorable chocolate brown lab for him to play with and a whole house full of understanding 'we have SO been there' folks.

Lil Chick blew out her pants while walking in the door which happily gained us private access to the master bathroom for changing duty. Stunning. Both the bathroom AND her diaper. She behaved very well but screamed halfway home to let her Mama know that she did, in fact, leave a bit too late. And by late I do mean 7:30.

Oy...

A

Paper Globes...

I found an awesome tutorial for paper globes over at the talented Heather Bailey. I decided that since I have a ton of scrapbook paper and zero hangydobbers for Lil Chick to stare at instead of sleeping, I deemed the project necessary.



I was extremely pleased with my results and enjoyed the project. I make three varying sized coordinating paper globes for Lil Chick's room and hung them at staggered heights with clear thread to act as a mobile:



Oh wait, who's that cutie in there!?

Hi sweetie...



(sigh)

OK, back to the paper globes. I got bit by the paper globe bug and proceeded to make another two sets of three for my sister who is expecting two babies soon. I coordinated the paper with the baby crib bedding colors she had already picked out and got to work. At 20 circles per globe, that is 120 circles folks! I liked how they turned out even better than Lil Chick's.

I hung them from lights in my house as decor during her baby shower:



So why don't you try your hand at paper globes?

My hints and tips for success:

• When coordinating papers and patterns, go outside the box a bit. Sticking with one hue leads to a boring paper globe . I prefer the globes that have an extra pop of intense color or a striking pattern. And no, they don’t look too wild or crazy. It just works. Trust me.
  
  
• Get thyself a paper shape cutter. If I had to cut out twenty circles by hand for each globe, this post wouldn’t exist and my baby girl would be staring at nothing but the ceiling. However, it would be a perfect ‘the kiddos are in bed and I need some therapy’ mindless task. Maybe something to do while watching Friends reruns over and over again….not that I do that (every night at 10:00).
  
  
• Use a glue stick to affix the circles to one-another....and make sure you have PLENTY of glue sticks proportionate to the project at hand before you begin. Make sure said glue sticks are NOT the seven year old glue sticks you purchased on a thrifty stock-em up clearance sale that have since turned to stone. These don't work so good. You may even have to make an emergency late night trip to Rite-Aid to remedy the situation...not that I did that (night before the party, 10:30 PM).
  
  
• Use the never-used-forgot-I-had-it paper scorer attachment on your paper cutter to make the folding super easy and crisp.

And WHERE is the tutorial? Download the pdf file off of Heather Bailey's site. Scroll down, bottom right under FREE Patterns. Not only is the pattern free, but scrapbook paper? C'mon, it's SO cheap...especially if you have one or three tote bins full of it just sitting around, right?!

Enjoy!

A

Ugly McUglyson...

I have a few pets. Nineteen actually....nope, twenty. OK, maybe eighteen. They just keep moving so fast I can't count em.

We are fish people, y'all. We did not choose to be fish people, they chose us.

We purchased our home complete with a HUGE built in fish tank. So now we are fish people.

Our fishtank is rather sparse looking being that it is so big, and we haven't been able or willing to upgrade it's decor or inhabitants much.

We did, however, purchase a helpful sucker fish so that we could be lazy and watch him eat the gook off the inside of the tank.

Meet Ugly McUglyson:



I named him. Cause he isn't exactly attractive. He's actually kinda creepy looking.

But I didn't care because owning him allowed us to be lazy. And I like myself a good dose of lazy.

Alas, I am speaking in the past tense because a few weeks ago, Ugly passed away and went to the great big fishbowl in the sky.

I'm not able to get my dose of lazy anymore...and the fish tank has seen better days. It's not exactly the pièce de résistance of the house that it once was. More like a grody goo box.

I want a beautiful, lush, tropical snorkel vacation invoking fish tank. Not a grody goo box. Maybe something like this:



And while I'm in the fishtank makeover process, I may just redo the downstairs bathroom and add this:



and this:



Because who doesn't want a dozen or so eyes on you while you go about your bathroom business?

I'm sure a certain toddler of mine would be THRILLED to use the fish potty and sink. He might even put his potty and poo-poo into the fish potty chair on a regular basis.

That's it, I'm SOLD!

A

Our Routine...

"Read Big Red Barn? OK!"

"...only the mice were left to play, rustling and squeaking in the hay. While the moon sailed high in the dark night sky."


"Read Gnight Thumper? OK!"

"...Papa and Mama kissed him, and before long, Thumper was fast asleep. Goodnight Thumper."


"Read Goodnight Moon? OK!"

"...Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush. And good night to the old lady whispering, "Hush". Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight noises everywhere."


"OK bud, into bed and we'll pray and sing our songs."

"Now I lay me down to sleep..."

"Sing world hands? OK!"

"...Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."


"Goodnight Bubbalu, Mama loves you."

"I wuv u Mommy"

Right there. That feeling of utter joy when your child first starts telling you he loves you. I want to bottle that up and keep it stored high on a shelf to open whenever I feel sad, down or in need of a little encouragement. Just a little taste of that feeling could turn a horrible day right side up.

Lord, thank you for my children. Help me to be a patient, kind, loving mother to them today. Shine through me to be Your light in their lives.

A

Beautification In A Bottle...

My fashionable beautifying tip of the day...no, month....no, year...OK, FOR LIFE:

GET A TAN!

And no, I am not proposing a lifetime membership at the tanning salon.

Tan in a bottle, spray tan or professionally applied tanner product, whatever. Just get some color to cover the winter white.

I have been using a knockoff product for the past couple of weeks with a pretty good result...just don't look too closely at my ankles or forearms. I tell ya, you need your Masters in Lotion Application to not have some sort of streak or extra "tan" in certain areas. I only attended the high school equivalent of Lotionization...which is why I have streaks, smudges and over tan ankles and forearms.

Although I have made a miraculous discovery to remedy that issue.

You know that lovely post I did a while back about the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser?

Yeah, you guessed it, it TOTALLY erased those extra pigmented over tanned streaks and marks!

And yes, I do realize that it is not an approved use of the product.

So folks, cover up the winter white with a lovely bottled tan. There's no need to freak about the application as long as you have a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser around, you're GOLDEN (pun completely intended).

A

Shirt Smoothers Unite!

I'm proud to be a shirt smoother.

That is, if I eventually remember the sad little load left in the dryer for the past three or seven hours (days). Why does that sad little load get forgotten every single time? It really shouldn't be THIS difficult, should it? Having an archaic dryer that takes more than a few hours to dry one measly load doesn't help matters any.

However, once I actually retrieve the forgotten load from the dryer I immediately smooth the shirts.

I usually employ the back of whichever sofa or love seat is closest to me (or the TV *ahem*) and one by one lay the shirts across the back of it and use my hands to smooth all the shirts out nice and neat.

That way, when I get around to actually hanging up the smoothed shirts (which may or may not be in the next two to seven days) they are relatively wrinkle-free.

Hand ironed if you will.

Which may explain why my one and only iron has officially been designated for craft use and is currently suffering from a bad case of adhesive stick-ums residue.

I must confess that I tend to steal clean shirts from the smoothed-out shirt pile before hanging them up in the closet. I also tend to have multiple stolen from smoothed-out shirt piles scattered about the house.

Today I managed to hang up my THREE stolen from smoothed-out shirt piles. I felt a great sense of accomplishment and pride of self.

But guess what I just found in my dryer?

A sad forgotten little load...

A

Elephant Fun...

I've been feeling convicted of favoritism lately.

Here I am, having had SO much fun decorating Lil Chick's room with doodads and cutesy crafts, while Bubbalu lives in a cave with bare walls devoid of color or inspiration.

Bad Mommy! Bad!

Really now, toddlers need color and shapes to stimulate their brains. There's even scientific proof:



See? I told you.

So in the best interest of Bubbalu's brain growth, I finally came up with a fun project to do for him.

Remember the Scrappy Silhouette Artwork I did in a bird theme for Lil Chick's room? I took that idea and gave it some good ole toddler boy influence:



Very fun, doncha think?

Meet Elmer:



Meet Phanty:



Elmer and Phanty are going to meet their new owner tomorrow. Hopefully they will acclimate to their surroundings quickly and provide entertainment, color, charm and whimsy to the cave of destitution.

Two 11x14 frames from Walmart - $10. Scrapbook paper - almost free. The most expensive part of this project is time - can I get a busy mom shout out about that!?

Find the elephant template here, courtesy of Ms. Martha. I'm including the link because it took me an embarrassing amount of time to find a simple elephant template.

Directions: Print the template directly onto your scrapbook paper, cut out, affix somehow and embellish or decorate as needed. Put in frame...aaaannnnd DONE. Whew.

Any other crafty toddler boy room decorative awesomeness ideas for me?

A