Is Kate Gosselin Crazy?

So far, good day. Okay. Great day. Yesterday not so much. Ardyn was a terror and threw tantrums all day long. She refused to nap and was really onery. She went to bed early.

Yesterday I got the used Moby wrap in the mail from my friend, and I really think I am going to like it. I don't like that it makes me look about 25 pounds heavier but I was able to even carry Ardyn in it for a bit with only discomfort to the pregnant belly.

Last night my sister came over to shower after Ardyn went to bed, because her hot water heater stopped working. I made twelve of Ardyn's mouse valentine's for daycare and grabbed her a cute used outfit and shoes on eBay to wear to school the day of the Valentine Party. My luck it will snow and they will cancel school. LOL. Liz and I watched the newest episode of Girls Next Door, and then I watched the newest John and Kate Plus 8 and also the Newest Grey's Anatomy. Okay, I am obviously not the smartest person on earth, because that last episode of Grey's left me more confused as to what in the HELL Denny was doing there. I don't get it. Do they mean that Izzy is mentally ill? Terminally ill? I don't get it. At all. And I feel stupid. It just made my head hurt.

Now I could write an entire blog post about the John and Kate episode when they take the kids to see the new mansion house. I am actually very happy for them, and that they will have more room, etc etc. But I was a little unnerved by Kate's comment "It's mine as far as the eye can see" and alot disturbed by her moaning and groaning about cleaning out a fridge that I can only IMAGINE looked much worse in person, because I couldn't see any of what she was complaining about from my TV. Maybe I need a bigger one.

I thought maybe the fridge just looked much worse in person than you could portray on TV, but the fact that she took FOUR HOURS to clean just the fridge side of an already empty refrigerator... when it takes me about an hour to empty out a completely full one and dispose of very questionable and unidentifiable items, clean all the shelves and bins, wipe down all the walls and door, and put EVERYTHING back inside.... I felt like she was really being a bit of a drama queen. And then, I saw her CLEANING THE DRAWER TRACKS WITH A TOOTHPICK and I about died. My sister was as shocked as I was, so either we are both filthy creatures, or Kate is incredibly crazy. Seriously? I mean when you put food in the fridge it's in a freaking CONTAINER and is any of your food going to touch the insides of the drawer slides to the point that you need to clean it with a toothpick? OMG. I generally like kate, but I am starting to worry about her.

I have never liked the fact that her children are rarely allowed to just be kids. She has the luxury of taking her kids outside of her home to do crafty and kid things, like to the crayola factory, the bakery to make cakes and cookies, and the pottery class was done entirely in a store. Yet she is still practically having panic attacks at every turn. I feel badly for the kids because they aren't being allowed to "BE KIDS" and they certainly can't get messy. And she is missing out on so much fun with them, because she is so worried that they will get dirty. I mean, I feel for her, because I assume that 8 kids is 8 times as bad as having one little toddler monster, but how do you suppose pre-school does it with a whole classroom of 3, 4, and 5 year olds? Seriously? I was a teacher's aide in preschool and we managed just fine.

Another mom recently pointed out to me that her kids are 4 years old and she still wipes them. I seriously hadn't considered that myself, but when I was 4 years old I was in Kindergarten and I damn well wiped myself. I also brushed my own teeth and got myself dressed. I have alot of like for Kate, but I am starting to wish the series would end and those kids could move on with their lives and just be themselves instead of puppets in a reality TV show. Not to mention poor Jon.

Okay, onward. So today my Monster Steam Mop arrived. I am so thrilled. You can read the review below for full details, but I vacuumed and mopped the kitchen, bathroom, and both Ardyn and Marek's bedrooms. I also started diaper laundry, and unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it to wash dishes from yesterday. I had another instance of the dishwasher running but not cleaning anything, but I believe it was because the soap packet got hung up on the crock pot stoneware and didn't dissolve. So I had to re-run it last night to get everything clean. Ardyn just fell asleep and so I am highly debating taking a nap myself. I don't FEEL tired, but I think it's probably not a bad idea to lie down and try to nap anyway. Couldn't hurt. More later maybe.

Review: Monster Steam Mop

Today the Monster Steam Mop Came! YAYYY! I took it out of the box and did the assembly, which wasn't bad. Just a few steps, like attaching the handle. I did have a bit of trouble getting it to lock into place initially, because I was worried that I might break the plastic tabs off the handle. I had read reviews about people who had returned theirs because the front steam didn't work, and the instruction manual clearly stated that this was because they didn't have the handle attached correctly. That makes sense because you have to use the trigger on the handle to start the front steam spray.

So after assembling, I attached one of the microfiber pads. There are two washable hard floor pads included, and one for carpet (called a carpet sledge.) They recommend washing them in delicate with cold water and letting them air dry if you want them to last longer. I think I will do that, especially because I see how microfiber and velcro can get when washed with other items. So I used the included measuring cup with funnel-like spout to fill the machine. I was surprised how little water it requires. The water is supposed to last about 30 minutes before needing refilled. You need to unplug the unit and allow it to cool before trying to refill.

After filling, I plugged the unit in and waited for the red light to turn green, signaling that it was heated enough to mop. The red light stayed on, and eventually (5 minutes or less) the green light came on also. I wasn't sure if this meant "ready" so I decided to try. Nothing came out, and the green light went off and the red light stayed on. I have left it alone a while, and the red light is still on. I am a little concerned that the green light hasn't come on yet. I can feel it getting warmer, so it is trying to warm up the water. The directions say that with cold water, it can take 3-5 minutes, and with warmer water the time will be significantly shortened. Well, I put in hot water (maybe I wasn't supposed to?) and it still isn't green. The directions say that the green light may seem dull and hard to see, but this is actually because the red light is overpowering and very bright. So I moved the mop into a darker area. Still no green light. I actually got down on my hands and knees and cupped my hands around the green light. Nope. Not on. So I wait. It feels warmer each time I check. So it must be getting there.

Green light! Okay, well apparently after the light turns green, once you pull back the handle, it will go off. I mopped for a bit and didn't see anything, so I tried the steam in the front, and it came right out with full force. So now it was definately heated up. After a bit of mopping, the microfiber pad became wet and I felt that the mop was now actually cleaning. I was surprised at how easy it was. Like the directions said, I didn't have to push down on the mop at all, the steam did the work.

Linoleum (Congoleum) with the Evil pits in it:
I started at the lowest steam setting, and although the floor was getting clean, the pits in the linoleum (congoleum) were not, and that is THE main reason that I bought it. So I kicked the steam level up two notches (still having more to go if I needed to) and it started cleaning the pits in the floor marvelously. Ahhh. Happiness. It does take a little muscle to move the microfiber mop head forward on the floor, but I didn't have to bend and press AT ALL like with a regular mop, or even like with the swiffer wet jet. The floor was drier than it is when I swiffer or wet mop, but I could easily see where the mop had been, and the floor was nice and warm and barely wet at all. Wonderful. The only thing I DO wish is that it were low profile enough to mop under the baseboards of the cupboards. The swiffer is the only mop that I have found that will do that, but it doesn't seem to do much good anyway. I did use the steam jets on the front under the cupboards, so that made me feel better.

Overall, the linoleum is the hardest floor in our house to clean. We also have the sealed hardwood, and ceramic tile, as well as painted wood. I will test on those surfaces next and update this review when I have finished! YAY for the Monster Steam Mop!

Ceramic Tile:
Wow. Ceramic Tile is a wonderful type of flooring that cleans so easily, and the Monster Steam Mop was no exception. I vacuumed the tile (I vacuum everything, no broom and dustpan if I can help it!) and then went in with the steam mop. I could have easily turned the steam down on the lowest setting, and next time I probably will, but I felt that the more steam, the more disinfecting I might be getting, and since I hadn't done that floor REALLY THOROUGHLY in a while, I thought that it would be a good idea. The floor came very very clean. I was able to fit the steam mop on either side of the toilet, but it didn't quite get back behind, which nothing, even the regular mop, does. I was able to use the steam jets back there though.

Sealed Hardwood Floors:
We have all original hardwood floors that we restored in 2005 after tearing up carpet, sanding, staining, and sealing. I had most recently been using a spray bottle with water and Murphy's Oil Soap, and a hardwood microfiber floor mop. It was working well. But the steam mop beats that hands down. I just can't believe that mopping literally takes no more time than vacuuming. In fact, it may take less time than vacuuming. I don't have to deal with preparing the mop and bucket and water, or lugging them around, and I don't have to apply any pressure to the floor. I mopped both Ardyn's Big Girl Room and the Nursery in short order. I really felt like everything was SO CLEAN! I used the lowest steam setting because that's all I needed, and I also liked that it left the floor the driest, which is safer for the Hardwood. I also decided to try the steam mop on the foam play mat.

Foam Play Mat:
I turned the steam down to the lowest setting and ran the mop over the foam play mat. I figured I had nothing to lose. The mats ar einexpensive, but the little pits in them and the constant playing on them are a great place to harbor germs. I have recently been cleaning it with Vinegar and water in a pray bottle, and on my hands and knees with a rag. That works, but this.... was slick. I just ran it over the mat and the steam cleaned everything without hurting the mat one bit. That was just awesome. One more step in my cleaning process eliminated. I am SO GLAD that I bought this mop.

The last time I mopped floors was just about a week ago, when Ardyn was at school. It took me most of the day to mop everything, and I didn't even GET to the kitchen floor. The fact that I just vacuumed and mopped four rooms in less than 2 hours.... and this also included picking up toys and things from the floor first.... Just blows my mind. No drying time either. I was able to do all this with Ardyn HERE and underfoot. Didn't have to worry about her in the mop water, and had the floor mopped so quickly that she didn't even have time to make her usual mess that inhibits the cleaning process.

One thing I have really noticed is how clean the linoleum is. And by that I mean there isn't any glossy chemical buildup on any of the floors from the cleaning products. Just plain old water. Extra safe for kids to crawl on and nothing to make the floor (especially the hardwood) slick. I was having issues before with hardwood floor cleaners that you don't rinse (like Pledge) making the floors dangerously slick for all of us. Even I had almost fell down a few times recently. I just love that I don't have to buy or use any products, and that the microfiber cleaning cloths can just be washed.

Another week.

You know, I am really enjoying being part of the Diaperswappers Community. For those of you who don't know, it's an online forum/group for moms that Cloth Diaper. It's a really cool community. There are lots of moms there that are breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping advocates, and many that go farther than that, being against vaccination and circumcision also. I love the open mindedness that many of them have, and the willingness to openly share information on parenting and cloth diapering. The coolest thing is that in addition to the most often FSOT (For Sale or Trade) area for new and used cloth, they have so many WAHMs (Work At Home Mom's) who make diapers and other cool kid things like slings, wipes, felt food, dryer balls, nursing covers, etc. The FSOT can really be helpful when you are a SAHM and don't have the money to spend on the things you want. You can create a ISO/IHA list (In Search Of/I have Available) and then if you have something FSOT, other mammas can look at your list and see if they have something of equal value that they might be able to trade you. This is such a good feeling, to trade and fulfill your ISO list, while fulfilling another mamma's heart's desire. Just the other night I decided to go through my fitteds that Ardyn either doesn't use or has outgrown, and sell them or trade them. Before the weekend even started, I had two AWESOME trades lined up. One mamma is making me a custom pair of woolybottoms (footed wool longies) for Marek. She's even taking my own fabric for the toes, so that they will match a pack of 5 onesies that I have for him, and will be converting into shirts very soon. Another mamma wanted a diaper and cover set that I had, and I needed some wool dryer balls. This weekend she custom made five of them for me. I can't wait to see me as she is going to surprise me with colors. So today I need to get to the post office so that I can mail off my end of the trades. But I am still in pajamas so it might be a bit. The PO is closed from 12:30 till 2pm here (Stupid small town PO's) and so I know I don't have to go anywhere till after 2pm. I also have a package there, and I am HOPING it's my used Moby Wrap that I got from a friend in my September moms group. If you CD and have never been to Diaperswappers, let me know as I would love to give you a referral link!

Last night Evan came home with new goodies for us. He had credit on his game stop account from trading in used games that we had, so he got each of us a DS Game. I had seen a review for "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" for DS, and thought it looked really cool. It's like a combo of a role playing type of game and a puzzle game. It's a brain building game where you have to solve puzzles periodically in order to advance in the game. I didn't tell Evan about it, but I dog eared the page in the Game Informer so that I could find the name again, and he saw that it was dog eared and brought it home for me! I was so excited! He got a new Kirby game. I haven't played his yet, but I did play mine last night, and it is AWESOME. I can't wait to tell my friend Lisa about it! I also put both of our DS's on the wireless network last night. So now they can play online and we can download content and upload scores if we choose. Sweet!

He had also been to the clearance toy aisle and they had the accessory sets for the Rose Petal Cottage in the clearance. They have been in the clearance aisle, but this time they got down to $7 each, which is insane because they were like $16-$20 a piece at Christmas, and I saw so many parents buying all of them along with the cottage and the pieces. Evan bought two sets, one with a stockpit, timer, spoon, and felt veggies, and another with a cutting board and knife and chese, crackers, and fruit.... that also had a half-apron that velcros on. This morning we opened the cheese and fruit one, and Ardyn has been walking around all morning with the knife and crackers, wearing the apron. She finally just went to play in her kitchen instead of wandering the house aimlessly cutting things with the knife. That kid now has enough play food to feed the hungry of the world. She LOVES "cooking" and is constantly coming to me with some crazy concoction that she's stirring saying "Taste Mommy. Taste. Mmmm!"

We did some painting on Saturday, with the Elmer's Squeeze and Brush Tempera Paints. Ardyn loved them. I did too. Pretty cool. At 16 months, she isn't really coordinated enough to squeeze and paint yet, but if I squeeze and get them going, she can paint away. Of course she wants to stick her fingers up in the brush to see where all that fabulous paint is coming from, and then run her fingers through her hair.... but still cool. Completely washable I've discovered. She painted three valentine's before she got hysterical and only wanted to paint the tablecloth, so it then became naptime. I figure a few Valentine's a day and we will be done in no time! The COOLEST thing about the brushes is that they are refillable! How awesome is that, both cost wise and Environmentally? Go Elmer's! They are available in classics, glitters, and neons, and we saw the classics at the store so that's what we have. Crayola makes a similar set, but they are not as chunky and easy to hold onto for small hands, which also means less paint inside, and I am not sure that they are refillable, based on their size. I plan on trying several other Elmer's Products over time, as we have seen some really neat ones they have come out with. I'm working on cutting out hearts for her school Valentine's, and that's what I do while she is painting. Sit next to her and cut hearts.

Over the weekend we met my parents and sister for Supper, which was great. My dad just got back from a snowmobile trip up north, and literally met us for supper like 20 minutes after he arrived home. We enjoyed seeing him, and the food was great. It was really cold that night though, so we were glad to get home. It was about -3 when we went to eat.

I did some ebay shopping looking for an inexpensive used Easter Dress for Ardyn. I have an outfit for Marek (since he should be here by easter) and I wanted to have something that coordinated for pictures, and since his is navy and pink (yep) I found her a cute Gymboree Sailor Dress that's Navy with White. The price was good, not FABULOUS, but good, especially for Gymboree. I also grabbed another dress with a matching coat, that was insanely cheap, in case the sailor dress didn't fit, or it was too cool (probably will be) and she would need something warmer for an egg hunt outfit. Plus there is an excellent chance that there will be more than a few occasions we will attend around easter, and this spring and summer in general, that might require a dress. Now I just need to find her some shoes, but I will wait and make sure the dress fits, and then see what size her feet are by April. Sometimes they grow awfully quick.

Sunday we were pretty lazy. Ardyn and I both slept late, Evan went to work while we slept, and then I washed diapers and Ardyn and I took a bath. We went to my mom's for supper and watched the new Batman movie, and Evan met us there for Lasagna and Garlic Bread. Garlic Bread might be one of my favorite foods on the planet, but when I was pregnant with Ardyn the heartburn was so bad I didn't eat if EVER, nor spaghetti or pizza sauce of any sort. This time I have quadrupled my heartburn meds, and so it's doable. Still burning, but tolerable. Not watng Garlic Bread is one of the hardest things I have had to do. It was really even harder than giving up all carbs when I did South Beach for those 7 months or so before getting pregnant with Ardyn.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I need to get these diapers packaged, get myself dressed, consider lunch for us, and prepare to go to the Post Office in an hour or so. Have a great Monday!

End of the Day. And Week!

My prenatal massage was AWESOME today. No more headaches. She said I had a ton of tension and knots in my neck and shoulders. I AM going back. The last time I had a massage of any kind was July of 2007! That's too long!



Marek's Coming home outfit arrived today. It barely looks used at all! Also got a cheap pair of newborn longies with fleece elephants in the mail yesterday. I washed all of them today with Ardyn's laundry.



Our suction cup bird feeder just isn't attracting any birds. But neither is the half loaf of bread that I have been scattering outside for weeks. Tonight I put up a bigger, actual bird feeder a few feet from the suction feeder, hoping to draw them in. I also put a suet bell just a few feet from that in a little Hydrangea tree. Come ON Birds!

Today I stripped a bunch of wool, and then washed it, and now I am lanolizing. I had to go to the hardware store because I didn't want to mess with batches in my stockpot or a dishpan, I wanted to fill the one side of the utility sink and do it all at once. Unfortunately the only stopper that I had for the utility sink was a flat "universal" one that was barely sealing. It was okay, but I have wanted a regular stopper for a while. Of course none came with the sink (argh) and on the way to the hardware store I remembered that I forgot to measure the drain hole. So I eyeballed it, and grabbed two different sizes that were SO Similar you wouldn't be able to tell unless the package was marked. Then when I got home I had to eyeball and decide which one was probably going to work. I was hoping I would get it right the first try so that I could exchange the unopened one for an identical one of the right size. Luckily I DID get the right one on the first try. So now the whole right side of the sink is Wool, Lanolizing in "Monkey Farts" Lanolin. Mmmmmm.

I have four or five scents, and I always have a hard time deciding which one, and then I end up using either Monkey Farts or Pink Sugar. I have Sandalwood and Pumpkin Pie too, but I can't get past the two I love. I suppose when I run out... I will use the others, because they are fabulous scents too. Sometimes I split the wool and lanolize one half with each fragrance.

I took back shirts of Evan's that wouldn't fit and got cardstock and suckers for our "school Valentine's." There are 18 classmates and 2 teachers, plus helpers... so not sure how many I will make. I guess enough for classmates and teachers.... Hoping Ardyn will enjoy helping, especially since she will have Valentine's to make for her grandma's and grandpa's.... and she will do painting on those.

Here's a picture of Ardyn at 7:20 this morning, refusing to wake up. She was sooooo peaceful.

Something to look forward to!

Today has been productive. And it's just now 11am. I was up super early, because being pregnant is annoyingly hard on the sleep patterns sometimes. Lately I have been annoyed by the way the blankets distribute themselves, by the way I am sweating when I am cold, and by the way the sheets TOUCH me while I sleep. And today is day two of the same damn headache that Tylenol won't conquer. At 6am, After waking up four times overnight with the same damn headache, I started to get especially cranky. So I got up and took some Excedrin Tension Headache. It's the exact same acetominiphin as Tylenol Extra Strength, but it has some caffeine. And wouldn't you know it, I could NOT get back to sleep, so at 7:15 I just got out of bed, switched laundry, and started filling the bathtub.

Ardyn was none to pleased with me when I woke her up at 7:30. She had a bit of a fever (just low grade) as part of this weeklong cold that she picked up from daycare last week. The pediatrician told me that I can now switch to Children's Motrin and Children's Tylenol, which I bought yesterday, so while snuggling Ardyn who was mostly still sleeping and onery, I had Evan open it up and dose it into a big girl medicine spoon. At first she was frantic to get the spoon, but once she realized what I wanted her to do with it, she was having no part of it. She loves to take medicine, and so after I held her down and she got a taste of what was inside, she was gulping it down like kool-aid. She had to hold the spoon until she got into the bathtub, she was so excited about it.

She and I took an early morning bath (ack) and then I got her dressed and she had her first ever pop tart. We just discovered that ALL Kellogs pop tarts are milk free. She ate about half a pop tart and had some milk. She's not a big eater that early in the morning. Usually she eats breakfast at 10:30 or 11:30, and eats a big one, but the daycare schedule has got her all wacked out once a week. She got dressed just fine, but was hysterical when I tried to put pigtails in. But of course mom conquered.

I took her to school and we were RIGHT on time, even after the pigtail fiasco. On the way there, I made a couple of phone calls, and planned what kind of Valentine's we were going to make for the kids in her room. last year she was just five months old, and I NEVER ONCE thought that parents were going to bring Valentine's for her whole class. Imagine how cranky I was when I saw that everyone else brought Valentine's, except Ardyn's Mom! What a terrible mother, thinking that a 5 month old doesn't need Valentines! The horror! So this year, I am prepared. I have googley eyes all ready and have glitter and paint, and will stop and get suckers after lunch today.

My stomach is NOT HAPPY today. But I have managed to pick up both of Ardyn's room, put away her clean diapers, clean the bathroom and the toilet (ACK!), vacuum and mop the kitchen floor (Double Ack!) and do two more loads of laundry. And I matched socks and put the load of whites away. Thank GOD my headache is gone. But I still think it stems from something in my neck. Especially because if I rub just the right spot at the base of my skull, I could almost FEEL where the headache started. So this morning at 7am I left a message for the prenatal massage therapist and our local Doula, and asked if she had an opening today. This will be the very first massage of ANY kind I have had since somewhere towards the end of my pregnancy with Ardyn. I am telling you, I freaking deserve this. And I am getting a full HOUR. Today. Oh happy day. Last time I wanted to have a massage before I left the hospital with Ardyn, but those two days went by so fast, and every spare minute I had I tried to sleep (having a baby in the middle of the night sucks. Well, I guess 15.5 hours of labor just plain sucks, and after that you are tired but so excited to have a new baby, and you can't sleep, not to mention that I couldn't sleep the night before because I knew I was going to be induced in the morning, whew!) So this time I am thinking "Should I get that massage before I come home? I totally deserve it." I am considering buying it BEFORE I go into labor, so that I don't forget or flake about it. That way all I have to do is have someone call the massage therapist and it will be done.

I have also mixed up a few green cleaning potions today. The one I am most excited to try is a homemade disinfectant, which is 50/50 Vinegar and Water with added Lemon Juice and Tea Tree Oil. I had to buy more spray bottles because I already filled my first two with a Dilutable Clorox Green Works and the second with Murphy's Oil Soap and Water (to use on the hardwood floors.) We ordered a Monster Steam Mop to use on the floors, especially the bathroom and kitchen, and it should be here the 28th. I wanted to hold off on mopping the kitchen until it got here, but I didn't even like to ENTER the kitchen because the floor was so bad, and therefore today I just swiffered it. I haven't been using swiffer products for a while now, but I have some leftover, and I figure it's just as wasteful to own them and not use them or toss them, as it is to use them all the time.... so I will finish up with what I have, or perhaps find someone who wants a Swiffer Duster and a Swiffer Wet Jet. I have a whole bottle of wood floor cleaner for the wet jet, and some replacement pads, and swiffer duster replacements too. But it's like WHO do I know who doesn't have a swiffer wet jet but WANTS one? Could I even sell it for a little bit of cash? Who knows. I just want it gone. Kinda like I bought a BRAND NEW O'Cedar rollar mop and two sided (clean/dirty) mop bucket at the request of my last cleaning girl, and I HATE mops. HATE. And I have a brand new replacement head in the wrapper, and now I won't ever use them. Do I get to sell those? I mean they have literally been used like THREE TIMES and it frustrates the hell out of me.

On a side note, today we had our first big "pull the car over" episode. On the way to school, Ardyn sneezed, and it was a GIANT sneeze, and I knew right away it wouldn't be good. She had so much snot that she was trying to wipe it with her hands. Luckily I had a washcloth right on the passenger seat, and was trying to reach around BEHIND me and get her nose (without crashing) and while driving over railroad tracks. Of course she was leaning AWAY from me, which didn't help the logistics of the situation, and I was like CRAP and had to pull over into a parking lot and jump out, but by the time I got back there like 2/3 of the snot had disappeared. oh boy. I wiped hands and nose and mouth and cheeks and she was looking at me like "what is the deal mom, I totally took care of it." It's amazing that your first mom instinct is to crash the car over a little snot. Poor kid. This snot faucet will never stop.

Well, enough for now. have a great afternoon and I hope that I just get to receive a massage and do not much else!

Thursday?

I broke another glass today. When I say another, I haven't really broken once since.... this summer. But I have broken more glasses or glass things while pregnant than I have in the remaining "un-pregnant" years of my 30 year life. Damn. Klutz.

Today Ardyn and I went swimming. It was fun. But I need about 8 more arms and about 2 less bags to carry. Would it seriously be strange if I had like a pull behind cart with me everywhere. Hitch me up like a horse. I mean, I had both our swimsuits and her swim diaper, then two clean diapers for her, and wipes, and then towels for when we got out of the pool, and two more towels for when we got out of the shower. A small ziploc with baby wash and shampoo. Deoderant. A hair brush, and the hairdryer (you just don't take a toddler and pregnant mom into 30 degree weather with wet hair) and then I had some pool toys for the toddler pool and my camera. And my purse, because I had to pay to get in. Ugh. Seriously I didn't have enough arms to carry everything and my daughter, or even to properly hold her hand. Everything swim wise went really well. Of course now that she is WALKING (which she wasn't doing when she was 6 months and taking swim lessons) she was sure that she needed to investigate every inch of the locker room. The hard thing is trying to get your own swimsuit on in record time while your child is trying to run out into the hall or into the showers or towards the pool. Seriously. Why hasn't someone installed seats with restraints in the locker room that I can strap her down in. The last thing I want to do is have to run naked after my child out of the locker room.

Well, anyway, we finally got ourselves unloaded, paid, down the two flights of steps (WHY do I not take the elevator? Well next time I WILL) with our two bags, purse, self and stair challenged toddler. Then undressed, re-dressed, everything in lockers, lockers locked, and to the pool. We swam in the big pool first, and then I decided we would try out the baby pool. Unfortunately it was just a TAD too deep for her. It's a nice little pool, but it was just a little deeper than the bathtub. She kept thinking that she would just sit in the water and play with the toys, but when she would sit, her mouth and nose would just be covered with water, bringing on the gasping, stuttering, shock that was "mom rescue me!" and this happened over. And Over. Because the pool is shallower on the edges by a couple of inches, she thought she was all good and then would get to the center and fall over. I let her play there for a while, but she wasn't really doing much besides walking in circles. Then we went back to the big pool and swam around some more. She did really well with floating on her back, and I got her kicking a few times. She hasn't lost it, but I just want to be sure that she doesn't forget how much she likes the water and gain some fear before next summer. We had the whole pool to ourselves, and I have discovered that the time to go on the weekdays is after lunch and before school gets out. Perfect!

After swimming we took a shower, and she was PO'd about that because the water pressure in that place is about to tear off adult skin. If the shower even threatened to make direct contact with any extremity of her body, she screamed like a banshee. And she even got upsed when I put MY head under the shower stream, and would scream "no!" and grab my cheeks with her hands and try to pull my head out. She was afraid for my safety. LOL. Tooooo cute. And then of course she had to do her "teeth chattering" after the shower that made everyone feel bad for her (me too) and so I had to try to sit on the floor and dress her without showing anyone any naked parts through my towel, and finally got her dressed. She didn't do too bad through the hair drying, just sat on the floor in front of the mirror on my lap while I dried my hair and hers. The hardest part was keeping her in one place in the locker room, especially when school let out and all the teenage girls showed up with their sparkly iphones and earbuds. They would leave them on the bench and it was *temptation* to little hands. Nothing like trying to get your bra on while telling your toddler not to touch someone else's unattended ipod 1 foot from her.

I think we will go again. But next time we won't take any pool toys (they had some there! YAY!) and we won't take a camera. And we will see about taking a shower. I think it would be SUPER COOL if they had like a towel service there. As in, don't bring a towel, we have a zillion of them and we wash them like a hotel or health club. Ahhh. How cool would it be to not have to tote home wet towels and carry in 500 of them to use while you are there? I think as long as we go at the quiet time and as long as we pare down what we take, it's not a big deal. And I think that we will certainly make sure that we have NOWHERE to go. Because it took forever. To do everything. But still. Ardyn is free to get in, so it was nice.

Yesterday I had a midwife appointment, and Evan and Ardyn and I all went. It went well, but I do have an ultrasound tomorrow to check the baby's size and the amniotic fluid, as well as my cervix length, since I have had two weeks of Braxton Hicks and we want to see if they are doing anything. With Ardyn they spent my entire pregnancy assuring me that she was HUGE and that it would be at least a 10 pound baby, and even the ultrasound confirmed that. But when my water was broke, the midwife instantly changed her mind to a 6-7 pound baby because I had so much water. And Ardyn was 6lbs 10oz. So this time around the baby has just started measuring big, and so the ultrasound will check weight and amount of fluid, but I will take it with a grain of salt because the same thing happened last time. I hope to get in and out of there quickly, as I had wanted to have it done yesterday while I was there but they were too busy, so I already sat there once this week, and had labs once this week, and went to the dr. once this week. I'd like to get it all over with and come home to a night of Grey's Anatomy with my mom and sister.

What else is new. Not much that I can think of. Ardyn and I are about to start working on Valentine's. I have some supplies but haven't decided what kind we will be making yet. She's playing in her room and being very busy while I pick up the living room and dining room and let the Roomba vacuum away. I desperately need to clean the kitchen floor, but I am waiting for the Monster Steam Cleaner to arrive, so that I can clean the floor without the evil mop and bucket, and without using chemicals and toss out pads like Swiffer Wet Jet. I hope I adore it as much as other people do who have one. It can be used on the hardwood as well as the tile and congoleum, and even on carpet, although I have none. It has reusable and washable microfiber cleaning pads, and it also uses only water, no chemicals, and the steam sterilizes the floors and gets into the pits of evil floors like the one in my kitchen. I HATE Mops and buckets, I feel like I am just pushing filth around on the floor.

Ardyn's poor little nose. It's endless. A faucet of snot. We wipe. We are out of kleenex. We had been alternating kleenex with boogie wipes (saline wet wipes for noses) and now I am alternating boogie wipes with wet cloth wipes. Her poor nose is so red and dry. I try to put lotion on it several times a day. She hates that. She can barely breathe through her nose, but the booger sucker seems to help now and then, and as long as she is sitting up while I do it, it makes her laugh. I think it's about time that I suck her out again. When she wakes up she is crusted with snot dried all over her face, and her hair plastered in it. Great for her. So cute. Hopefully she kicks it sooner than later.

I am tempted to go somewhere tonight. We need milk. Badly. And we need Kleenex. And I would love to get some refills for the plug in vaproizer, because they would probably do a world of good for Ardyn's overnight breathing. Although, they are SO expensive, and I grease her up with Vicks each night anyway, so It's probably not a big deal. My sister was supposed to come over tonight and hang out with us, but she called and has too much laundry to do, so I will see her tomorrow night instead. In some ways I wish I had someone to just run over and stay with her while I run to town and grab what I need, but I suppose taking her with isn't a big issue. She goes everywhere with me anyway. I also have two totes that I bought at Wal-Mart that for some reason the lids don't fit. Of course I didn't KNOW the lids didn't fit until I packed the totes completely full and tried to put the lids on. I don't know what the deal is, because the they are SO CLOSE to fitting that I almost get that "bad day at the factory" feeling. I called the store to see if I have to bring back the whole tote or just the lid, and they said I can bring the lids but I have to have my receipt. Which of course I have no idea where it is, because receipts always seem to elude me. This isn't the receipt that I chased across the parking lot. But still. I don't know where it is. I know what day I bought them. And I know how much the damn debit was for, but I don't know where the receipt is. Of course. So TWO $15 totes that are worth nothing without their lids. And I can't find the receipt. And they aren't even 7 days old.

Oh wait! HERE is the receipt! Thank GOD! The smart part of my brain tells me that I should stay home where it is warm tonight and go run around at Wal-Mart tomorrow when I have a babysitter and it will take me half the time. By then I will probably have lost the receipt again. I had better tape it to the lids. Now to find the tape.....

I also have to call the library to renew a book, because we planned on going yesterday after the Dr... but then Ardyn was having a FIT and her motrin was worn off and she was tired, so we just dropped the books in the book drop outside and I FORGOT to call them to renew it yesterday when it was due. Ack. I can't wait for February to get here so I can change my wipe-off calendar board. I have nothing on January worth looking forward to and February is all written in the margins because there is enough stuff that I am sure to forget if I don't write it down. I would probably be better off to just write in February and put the remaining couple of January things in the margins.

Tonight Ardyn was so cute. She is always getting into stuff in the nursery, and she opens the drawer with marek's shoes and slippers in it ALL. THE. TIME. and drags them around. I always say "No, those are brother's shoes!" and tonight she closed the drawer, turned around, and said "Brothers Shoos!" and walked away. i am forever trying to get her to say "brother" or "baby brother" and this is the first time. She will say Marek, but it's kinda silly.... like Aaarek or sometimes Nick or Ick. He he.

I'm a list person. But nowadays I can make lists all I want, and it doesn't matter because I can't ever find them. So now I have a designated "list notebook." I have to tell you, I am addicted to my Mead notebook that has the soft cover and is like a flexible 3-ring binder. Ohhhh. I have had it for probably two years now, and they still sell them, and I keep wanting another one (for no reason besides to have one) but they are like $8-10 each! I think now they call them a "flex hybrid notebinder." I have sectioned mine off with different types of "to-do lists" including some for before the baby, some for around the house, some for Scrapbooking, etc. It was originally what I used to take to school when I went to New Horizons and took classes through work. I never took notes until I started to take Programming classes through anytime learning, and so there was no teacher, and I had to teach myself based on video and computer lessons. But since I don't need that anymore, it was a cinch to repurpose it and still have that "new notebook" good vibe that you get when you are a freak for fresh paper and pens, much like myself (and my husband... there's a reason we got married you know! Any guy who thinks a hot date is browsing through the art supplies at Hobby Lobby is RIGHT up my alley.)

So every time I think "I should make a list" i just put it in the notebinder. But this doesn't work for grocery lists. I used to do those in outlook and then sync them to my phone, but ever since I upgraded to outlook 2007, it screws up all the times in my phone calendar and nearly gives me a heart attach when I sync. So. It seems that a sticky note is more my speed. But I lose it at least 5 times before I actually get INTO a store to get things. It's a bad bad deal.

I got Ardyn her own Microfiber duster. She was addicted to mine and not only wanted to DUST with it, but CUDDLE with it (yuck). I just found hers and took it into her room, and she gave it a biiiiig hug and said "Awwww. So Cute!" She's warped.

Her new thing is "Mommy. Mommy? Mommy?!" over and over and over all day. Even if she really has nothing to say but Mommy. She just loves to say it. Over and Over. And I have to admit, I love to hear it! She says "Mommy" and I say "Ardyn" and it can go on like that FOREVER if I don't stop.

Our local scrapbook store closed. It kinda disappointed me. And it kinda didn't. Lots of us saw it coming. There are lots of sketchy details as to exactly what happened, but I saw the eviction notice myself posted on the door by the sherrif's department, so it's kinda hard to deny that they owed some people some money, for whatever reason. I have a few layouts all ready to make and a few more that I need to buy paper for. I was planning on stopping in to grab paper when I heard the rumors and checked out the store myself. I guess I will have to make a trip to Hobby Lobby, although deep down I crave a reason to go to Archivers.... although that's a drive! I guess I could buy paper online, but that does sorta defeat the purpose of matching the paper to the pictures as part of the grand master plan! Guess it will have to be a road trip sometime! If I can convince some friends and pick a date in February, that will give me some time to get MORE pages planned and more pictures sorted so I can get MORE coordinating papers. LOL.

Well, this is probably long enough. Have a great night!

There's always tomorrow

Stuff to write, but should just go to sleep.
I promise I'll blog tomorrow :)

FURIOUS with Provocraft and the "Cricut Rebate"

Today I received an email from Cricut telling me that my Cricut rebate was denied because I didn't include a copy of my original receipt with my rebate.

I am SO FURIOUS because I DID include a copy of the receipt, AND I have the original in front of me. I know for a fact that I included a copy, because Evan made the copy and handed me the paperwork, and I checked the envelope TWICE before I mailed it to be sure everything was included.

I am really hoping that this is a huge mistake on their part and that they will honor my rebate. I tried calling the number the email provided, and was told that because of extremely high call volumes, I was unable to hold at this time. I was told to send them an email (which I have done) and then the system HUNG UP ON ME without giving me the option to leave a message or hold if I chose to. I hate that. I HATE HATE HATE HATE that.

I am trying not to be furious but that's TWO free Cricut cartridges that they are denying me when I followed every single step of the rebate requirements to a T. My blood. Is boiling right now.

UPDATE: I went to google and found this at scrapbook.com. Apparently lots of people have now been denied because they sent in a copy and not the original receipt. But like someone else pointed out, what if you purchased other items on that receipt, or just plain think that you should be allowed to be in possession of a receipt for a product that retails for $300? Jeez. This is about as stupid as it gets. they need to accept the copies and be done with it. Now they are telling people that they need to mail in their original and IF they want it back, mail a SASE also. What a joke. They are overloading themselves (and us) with extra work and PAPER. ARGH.

Longish

This evening I am holed up in our bed with Evan's big ol laptop and a big glass of water. Lately I have been feeling a little icky. Evan says this is about the time in Ardyn's pregnancy when I started to report all sorts of random aches, pains, etc. The past three days I have had stomach upset and some nausea after I eat. And LOTS of heartburn. I really have to stay on top of my medicine. I think I need to start eating BRAT diet for a bit and see if that helps. Not sure if this is just general pregnancy discomfort, or if I am fighting off a stomach bug. I have discovered that if I stay pretty inactive, and either lie down on my side or lean back and relax with my feet up, I feel much better. I've had my share of Braxton Hicks here and there and the baby gets really active and kicks me or gives me repeated head-butts to the cervix.... I can get pretty uncomfortable, so I have been a big fan of the couch and the bed. I still do laundry and pick up, but I am finding myself relaxing alot more than I was. I figure it will always be there tomorrow, and I know that once a week Ardyn will be at daycare and I can always catch up that day.

I did really well last week when she was gone. I got so much done it was unbelievable. I picked up the living room, dining room, Ardyn's bedroom and the nursery, vacuumed and mopped ALL of those rooms, and did several loads of laundry and diapers. I ran the dishwasher. I ran errands, took recycleables, went to the store TWICE, helped someone with computer problems, went out to lunch with a friend, AND I was resting by 2:30 because I was having belly cramps. When I picked up Ardyn, she was SOOOO tired. She had a fun day, but she skipped naptime in her excitement, so by the time we got her to sleep that night (an hour and a half earlier than normal) She had been up for a good 13 hours without a nap, except when we had to run to Wal-mart to pick up some totes and she fell asleep sitting up in the shopping cart.

The house smelled so clean and was so neat when I got done with that day, and three days later it's trashed again. Ugh. But the bed feels so nice under my butt, I don't care right now.

I've been going through my list of "pre-baby" things. You know, the things that I need to get out of the attic, and the items that I need to buy before he gets here. Of course I have almost everything from Ardyn that I could need, but there are a few things that are different. Double stroller. I have it picked out and it's on my "to get" list. I am also going to get a video monitor. I know it seems extravagent, and we didn't need one for Ardyn. But it is more for Ardyn than for the new baby. Now that we are moving her to her big girl room, she can easily get in and out of her toddler bed. Since the baby will be sleeping in the cosleeper with us for the first couple of months, Ardyn will be learning to sleep at night in the toddler bed. I would LOVE to be able to see if she is in her bed or up to no good, without having to creak open a door and try to check on her without waking her up. I feel that it's a good investment for peace of mind, safety, and eventually we will have to walk THROUGH Ardyn's room to get to the baby, so it will be nice to see what the two of them are doing and not have to disturb either one unless necessary. Our regular baby monitor is now malfunctioning, so we have to get a baby monitor anyway, and I have just been researching the video ones and think I have finally decided which one I want to get.

I have to sew my boppy cover still, and finish up making the postpartum pads. I need to buy leg extensions for the cosleeper, since our Restonic mattress is 6 inches higher than the Sealy we had when Ardyn was born. I need to cut fleece liners for the diapers (circumcision!) and stock up on some squeeze vaseline for the same purpose. I've got his coming home outfit on it's way (used from Diaperswappers), and a Moby Wrap that I bought used from a mom friend of mine. I am excited about that. A few weeks ago I got a new pair of nursing pajamas. They are BEAUTIFUL. The two I have are seriously worn out. I guess that two years of use between two pair of PJ's is pretty good, but they are also too big for me now, so they don't offer much support and aren't too presentable for visitors to see me in! It's hard to believe that he will be here in like 2.5 months.

Goodmama (our diaper of choice) has been having an AMAZING sale, buy two fitted diapers and get one free. This is a HUGE deal, and I have been wanting to get three for a while now, just to get one free. It's a really nice savings, and as soon as Marek grows out of NB size diapers (right around 10 pounds)he will move into OS diapers and will wear the same ones as Ardyn. Right now I have enough goodmamas to last Ardyn two days, but that means I don't have enough to last Ardyn AND Marek more than 1 day. And considering that breastfed babies use more diapers than a toddler, they might not even last a whole day. So I am trying to increase my stock of goodmamas steadily so that I have enough to last both kids for two days. I sold my old digital camera (YAY!) so I got three new prints- Yellow Iron, Paint with Water, and Groovy... (one was free) and two medium wetbags. I have been waiting for MONTHS for her to stock wetbags in prints that I like, and just today I saw a bunch of new ones. I got a "Merryville" Medium Wetbag and a "Songbird" Medium wetbag. Another baby means another wetbag. And I already wish I had one more wetbag because then I wouldn't have to dry them in the dryer (which reduces their life due to the PUL) and I could have one hang drying and one always clean. Same reason I have a second pail liner on my diaper layaway. Then I will have one to wash and another for the pail, so I don't have to dry them in the dryer.

Of course once we get Ardyn into the toddler bed, we will have to raise the crib mattress, put the bumper back in, put the mobile back on the crib, that sort of stuff. I have all the boy clothes and newborn diapers washed and ready. We have to bring down the sterilizer and some bottles. And pacifiers. I am SO glad that Ardyn hasn't touched a pacifier for eight months. I can't imagine trying to wean her from one while she had a new brother show up who has one of his own. Ack.

Today we had a family reunion for my side of the family. I hadn't felt good last night, and ate a sleeve of Saltines and drank a big glass of water. Once my stomach settled down, I started to get a headache, so I just took two tylenol PM and went to bed right after Ardyn. We slept late today and I was glad. Evan and I were actually awake like an hour before Ardyn. Bizarre. I could have gotten up, made food for the reunion, woke Ardyn up, and gotten on the road, but we were like "ahhhh...." and just lay in bed and waited for her to get moving before we started getting ready to go. We skipped the meal part of the reunion and just visited for a bit. Then we went to Evan's parents and visited, and had a late lunch. Of course, right after we ate, Ardyn was really tired and my stomach was in knots again. We came home and I have been laying low ever since. Ardyn took her nap and right now she's waking up and watching Dora while lounging on the bed with me. Her nose has been running something fierce today, and so she must have a bit of a cold. Evan and I are both suddenly stuffy again too. Ardyn ran a really low fever last week after she got home from daycare. I hope that a full week between exposures will allow her to build up some resistance from whatever she is exposed to and hopefully limit her actually catching anything. AND to limit ME from catching anything.

My maternity suit came from ebay and it FITS PERFECTLY (thank GOD!) and Ardyn's swim diaper is here too. I am hoping that we can go swimming this week. It's supposed to be almost 25 tomorrow, so that's plenty warm to get out and swim. Especially since just a couple of days ago it was -25. I also have a Midwife appointment this week. Otherwise it will be a good time to lay low. And do laundry. I swear laundry never ends. I always give Evan a hard time because he wears more clothes than Ardyn or I do, and it seems like I am forever washing loads of black and navy blue t-shirts, not to mention his jeans and socks. But Ardyn and I each generate about one load a week. A load of good clothes for me and a load of her clothes/blankets, etc. And she also generates diapers.

I got some great suggestions from the diaperswappers website on improving my attempts at green cleaning. Now that I am doing all my own, (ack) I have been trying to eliminate non-green cleaners. I've gotten down to baking soda, vinegar, murphy's oil soap, and some clorox green works products. Those Clorox products are highly controversial in the green community, several studies say they are green, others say they are not, some sa they rate higher than Seventh Generation Cleaners, and some say that no matter how clean the Clorox Green Works cleaners are, the actual company Clorox still produces and makes millions from bleach and other toxic chemicals and cleaners, so they aren't really green at all. It all depends on how far you want to take it.

I have been given several links from the mammas over there for recipes to make your own cleaners.... out of the things that I already use at home, including Oxyboost, Dr. Bronners, and BacOut.... and the usual products like baking soda and vinegar. Cleaning with things like Baking Soda and Vinegar is SO cheap and easy, it's amazing to me that more people don't do it. I have been most proud of myself for completely eliminating swiffer products and clorox wipes from my cleaning routine. I was a Cloroz wipe addict. I have forced myself to use a cleaner that I made myself in a spray bottle, and rags... so I have virtually no cleaning waste and everything is non-toxic. It was really simple. If I thought that Clorox wipes were not an option, it made it alot easier. As far as mopping goes, I was sure it was going to be impossible to get rid of the swiffer. But then I found a really nice O'Cedar Hardwood floor mop with washable microfiber pads, and I use Murphy's Oil Soap mixed with water in a spray bottle. After vacuuming, I just spray and then mop, until I have covered the whole floor. It's also so much better for the hardwood than wet mopping (which I have never done but I think my previous cleaning people DID.) Evan and I have discussed a steam floor cleaner for the hardwood and the tile/laminate floors. I am happy with the way I do the hardwood, but I still hate any kind of foam/sponge mop and a bucket. I don't feel like I am cleaning so much as pushing crap around the floor with a dirty sponge that keeps falling apart. I may be doing research in the future on the steam cleaner. All it uses is water, and it's really inexpensive.

Right now I am just wishing I felt better so that I could DO more cleaning. Hopefully this is just a bit of a bug and will be moving on shortly, especially if I lie low and wait it out. It had better not be permenant or I will have to ask Evan to mop the kitchen floor and clean the front porch. They are already driving me nuts, but it's hard to keep floors clean in the two entrances to the house, with so much cold and snow and salt. And it's been so cold that the dogs have been holed up on the front porch for a LONG time.

Back on Ardyn's birthday, we got her "My Mommy's Tote" and I have mostly kept it up where she can't get to it, because she was still in the "destroy that book" mode. Now she is much more deliberate and careful, so every once in a while I think I will get it out. She is playing with it now while sitting next to me, and has discovered that there is an Ardyn sized laptop, that opens up, and is complete with little keys drawn on. She pretends to type (with both hands, just like mom) and says "Click click" and "Mommy!" She loves that thing. Great buy. And a quiet toy that would be great for a Dr Office or Church.

There's really a certain irony in a toddler that wants you to give her a kleenex all the time so she can pretend to blow her nose, but as soon as she actually NEEDS her nose wiped, she runs for the hills at the sight or mention of a kleenex. How DO they get so damn smart? Yet the other part of the irony is that the booger sucker from the hospital is HYSTERICAL this year. Last year it was pure trauma. Now it's a giggle inducing object. I just gave her some saline spray and a good sucking out and she giggled the whole time. Silly, eh?

I have been working on Marek's blanket and it's coming along nicely. Last night I lay on the couch with my saltines and worked on it while watching Grey's Anatomy on Tivo. I ended up putting it down when Ardyn started getting tired, so that she could cuddle on the couch with me. I could be working on it now, but I have got lots of online research done, and finally blogged this weekend, so it's a good thing. I was surprised that I hadn't written since last Tuesday. Not sure how that happened. I could swear.... but nothing good really happened on Wednesday and Thursday that I can remember.

I also got Ardyn's "horse" towels from eBay. A mom had two land's end toddler towels for $8 a piece (they retail for $20-24 each) and I grabbed those for Ardyn. She LOVES them and was so excited to see herself in the mirror and wear one after her bath last night.

Both of us have been having eczema flare ups. When I picked her up from school last week, her whole face was beet red like she had windburn. It was too cold to go outside that day (10 degrees for a high) and when I took her to school I had her in her coat with hood and mittens, AND had a big fleece blanket over her head, because it was only 0 at that time of morning. But throughout the day her skin just got worse. She was feverish and restless that night, and I ended up being awake with her from 12:30 till 2:30, while she alternately slept in my arms and fussed. While she would sleep I would put lotion on her cheeks and around her nose every 20 minutes or so, and put chapstick on her lips. She would purse her lips in her sleep like she subconsciously knew I was greasing up her lips with chapstick. LOL.

At one point last week her lips cracked open in her sleep and her sheet was covered with blood. They are usually cracked open each morning, but at least she had never had bloody sheets before. We have a whole house humidifier, but her little humidifier in her bedroom had quit working. Hunter replaced it under warranty and it arrived late last week. Now we have had it running pretty much non stop. I have saved the tank from the broken one, and just keep a full tank on hand at all time so all I have to do is switch tanks if it runs empty. That has been helping her skin and lips overnight, but I really have to be diligent about getting the Mimyx cream (prescription) on her several times a day. Not only her face, but her back and the spots where her diaper touches under her belly button and on her thighs.... all get raw and break out. I can tell when she will have an issue because my own skin starts to be raw and feel like it is chapped and on fire, especially when rubbed by my clothes. I need to go to the dermatologist and get more of that super wonderful bath oil for us to use.

Right now she's standing in my closet, in the dark, putting a tube of chapstick in and out of a play peanut butter jar from her kitchen. She just dropped the chapstick underneath the stepstool in there and it might take her the rest of the night to get it out. I asked her if she's getting hungry and she said "Soup!" LOL. Okay. Soup it is!

Gotta go make soup and wash diapers. Have a great night and hope your weekend was good.

Bear Country.

Today was a busy and long day. Ardyn and I left around lunchtime to start our run of errands. We ate lunch at McDonald's together, and then we went to daycare to visit the toddler classroom. She marched right in and started playing, like it was nothing. I gave the girls a demo of the cloth diapers (they are different diapers now than they were before) and we stayed for snacktime. That was the hardest part, because when Ardyn saw that the other kids all had cheese crackers and she had just apples, she was IRATE and threw a huge tantrum. Her whole head turned red and she tried to steal crackers from other kids. They found her some saltines and she was pleased as punch. She just got so upset when she saw the other kids have something that she didn't have. That will be a big challenge. Plus the fact that most of their food comes pre-prepared and they don't KNOW if there is milk in this or that. Lots of their snacks have milk in them, so it's going to be interesting... that's for sure. She had a great time for the hour or hour and a half that we were there.

After daycare we stopped at evil Wal-Mart because I had to get rice milk. I bought just enough to get us through Friday, as this Friday we should have two cases arriving special order from Sullivan's. Thank GOD. No more Wal-Mart trips for rice milk. This means that all of our groceries will officially be purchased at Sullivan's and I am so pleased to give them my business.

Then we dropped off a van full of cardboard and magazines for recycle and went to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for both Ardyn and myself. Then we came home, got more diapers, and went right on to my in-laws for supper, since it was MIL's birthday.

I am exhausted. I switched laundry and as soon as these loads are done I will switch one more time, and fold diapers and then off to bed. The plumber is coming early tomorrow morning, we are having serious water pressure issues. Fir example, the washing machine was filling, and I turned on the kitchen sink to wet a dishcloth, and nothing came out. Ack. Can't wait to figure out what's causing that!?

Have a great night.
Remind me to tell you about the bear that's been roaming around our county in the last several months, which was most recently spotted in the country 7 miles north of my house. We're on the edge of town with trees and a field in our backyard. So I am being cautious when coming in and out of the house, in case the bear is hungry and comes into town to grab a bite to eat. It's the first documented bear in Illinois in 42 years.... Read more here.

Twice in one day!?

Aren't you impressed? This might be short because I am not all sure about what I will write. I did get alot accomplished today. In the first three hours of my day, I scrambled eggs and sliced bananas for Ardyn; made Cinnamon Rolls for Evan and I; Vacuumed the dining room and living room; Dusted both rooms; Vacuumed Ardyn's big girl room; Sanitized her playmat, kitchen, bounce'n spin zebra, rolling horse, and plastic push car; Ran the dishwasher, unloaded it, loaded it, and ran it again, crocheted several rows on Marek's blanket, and picked up everything of Ardyn's strewn about the house. Then we played in Ardyn's room for a while, and when she went down for her afternoon nap, I took a bath.

Evan made spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread for supper. The two of us ate, and I watched Desperate Housewives on TIVO and Crocheted. Then I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher again, and Ardyn woke up and I fed her her supper. After her supper, she went about her business playing and entertaining herself. She didn't even know I was here. I took that time to order three more diaper covers, because when Ardyn goes to daycare she will be wearing fitteds and cover(pul) instead of fitteds and prefolds with fleece or wool covers like she does at home. We only have two medium PUL covers. I had bought a bunch of larges when it looked like she would soon be outgrowing the mediums, but then she went and stretched out on me, and now she is taller and thinner and the mediums fit fine.

I was also contacted by a mamma online today, who had a used wool set for newborns that I coveted dearly. Her baby was growing out of it and she offered to sell it to me, which is AWESOME and so now Marek has a new outfit to come home from the hospital in. Check it out here.

I also decided that I do want to try a moby wrap with the new baby. With Ardyn I used a hotsling (I have two) and a ring sling, and also the babyhawk. It seems like they were each good for a specific age/time frame. But the ring sling put too much pressure on one shoulder, as did the hotsling. I actually ended up going to physical therapy because my back was out from wearing a sling so much. That's why I got the babyhawk. And a reversible, custom made babyhawk costs well over $100. I DO like the babyhawk, and I have found it wonderful, but can't wear it for long periods of time because the straps do start to feel like they are digging in, and as soon as Ardyn got close to 1 year old and 20 pounds, It felt like it was too much weight. Plus I can't bend over in it and be handsfree. So I have done some online research and conferred with mom friends and I believe the Moby Wrap might have what I am looking for. I found directions to make my own, but by the time I buy fabric, it won't really cost much less than buying a used Moby, and they are all over and available for about half the retail. I used to wear Ardyn ALL the time in the first three months especially, and now that I have two I anticipate wearing this one as much or more than I did with Ardyn. And being bendable and handsfree is very important when you have a toddler. I love how the Moby allows you to tuck the baby's head just so if they are asleep, or if they are too young to have head control.

Well, it's past Ardyn's bedtime, but she is still going strong and since she slept for 3 hours this evening, I am not worried.

We are supposed to be getting more snow overnight tonight. With Wind. Today we got about 2 inches. It was very pretty to watch it snow today, lots and lots of tiny flakes, and then big fat flakes. Ardyn loves to watch it snow. Well, I have to wash diapers yet so I will sign off!

Sledding, Snowmobiling, Soup, and Snuggling

My house is such a wreck. I hate being here. Today I have to take some action. At this point it is apparent that I am the only one living here who can and will do something. Right now I am running the dishwasher and waiting for the Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls to cool enough for me to eat. Ardyn just wolfed down three scrambled eggs and a banana like it was nothing. She is playing in her room. I thought I would blog quickly since I am a bit behind and I can't really do a whole lot while the dishwasher is running. We have serious water pressure issues lately, and if someone runs water while the dishwasher is going, it will just skip the wash cycle and tell us the dishes are clean, usually after sanitizing and/or drying the food onto them. It isn't pleasant.

I have diapers to wash today, and laundry (oh the laundry) and things to pick up everywhere. Oh well, I have avoided it long enough.

Saturday I already can't remember. Oh- wait. I was supposed to be scrapbooking but it had snowed and it was still snowing, and it was kinda blowing, and I just didn't feel like packing up everything and going to mom's, and so Ardyn and I just decided to stay home and be lazy. I did wash a load of diapers and a load of her clothes, and put them away. She took a nice long nap and I ate cookies and watched some things on TIVO that I needed to catch up on. I also finished the baby blanket for Ardyn (finally!) and started a blanket for Marek. This blanket should be SO much simpler, the yarn and hook are MUCH larger. Plus I am being a little more realistic and making it baby sized, versus Ardyn's which is toddler size and actually will cover me from my nose to my toes even if I am stretched all the way out. Marek's is brown and turquoise.


Evan had band practice that afternoon/evening, and I made Chili and Cornbread for supper, which was delicious. Then we all hung out at home and went to bed.

Sunday (yesterday) was a busier day. Ardyn and I made the trip to my mom's house and I did some scrapbook planning. i took my new page planners and went through some pictures that were pre-sorted. I pulled out some events, planned the page layouts, marked the layout cards accordingly, and made my list of what papers and things I would need for each one. I got seven page layouts planned, photos chosen and cropped, and the papers chosen for three or four of them. This means I can go SHOPPING for the other few that I need paper for. I brought home the next batch of photos that I want to sort through, they are from Ardyn's forst three months (TONS of pictures) and I need to go online and figure out which ones come from which month, so that I can sort them accordingly and then pick which ones I want to scrapbook. That is going to take some time, but I figure by the time I get them sorted through, I should have the 7 layouts that I planned all completed and be ready for the next batch.

While at mom's, we had her homemade Vegetable Beef Soup, and then we went outside and did some sledding (Ardyn sledding, us pulling her around) and then a little bit of snowmobiling. Ardyn's first ride on the snowmobile with my dad was hilarious. She screamed from the minute she got on until the minute she got off. Her hands were up in the air by her ears and she looked PISSED. After that short ride around the building, we pulled her in the sled for a little bit, and then Grandma Deb decided to ride to show Ardyn how fun it is. After Grandma Deb rode, Ardyn seemed interested again, so she went on a longer ride, between grandma and grandpa, with the dog chasing them around the yard, and she didn't scream at all. The pictures are so funny.... they are all on Flickr.... Here are a few to share...

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After the whole ordeal, she was exhausted, and fell asleep on Grandma Deb...


We are still hoping for birds at the feeder. Today after breakfast I said to Ardyn "Do you think we will see any birds today" and she looked at the feeder and said "No." LOL. She's so optimistic. Sometimes she goes to the window and goes "bi-rds" like she is calling them. Then she throws up her hands and walks away.

Well, the dishwasher says the dishes are clean (lying bastard) and I have enjoyed my two cinnamon rolls. Guess it's time to get productive. Enjoy your week. I'll be back later.

Another Crafty Day....

Creating with Ardyn can be trying on one's patience, extremely interesting, unbelievably funny, and sometimes you get some really hilarious pics like this one. She was loving the adhesive. She couldn't get it to work (and if I tried to help, I got tantrum behavior) but she loved pretending to use it to stick hearts together. She loved bits of paper and if I cut her different sized hearts she would crumple them, stack them, and turn them every which way. Towards the end she got pretty angry at everything and just started throwing stuff on the floor. I just let her go hog wild and took pictures. LOL.


While she was doing all the destruction she could, I made some neat snowflakes and a heart for her windows in the play room.


Here's a cute pic of her bird feeder, which I hope attracts birds soon. It's RIGHT at her eye level. This evening I scattered a piece of bread (torn into crumbs) out into the yard hoping to lead them to the area.


We are also working on taking care of a plant. I thought she might like one of her own that we can water together. Right now she could care less, but maybe someday she will get it. In the meantime we can have some fresh oxygen in there. LOL. I plan to make a neat tag on a stick to put into the plant, once I get to mom's to play with the cricut.


Today we did some coloring too, she was thrilled when I drew her some "blues clues" pawprints. I didn't even get the main circle for the paw done and I had her attention, and as soon as I got one blue toe drawn, she said "A Clue! A Clue!" and then I finished and cut them into round circles for her and she drug them around her playroom.

While she was occupied with crayons and clues, I colored several of the characters from Sprout's Preschool Musical On A Stick, and then cut them out and laminated them. She started her nap and I plugged in the low temp glue gun and adhered craft sticks to each one to make them puppets like in the musical. I still have a few to done, but here is a WIP photo or two.


Last night I got my scrapbook inspiration pages all filed, and categorized, and labeled. I adore this expanding folder. It's perfect. Compact, travel worthy, and has the EXACT number of categories I had already chosen. I got super mega lucky.




My page planners also arrived today.... Let the Organizing begin!


Last night I started to read "The Creative Family" By Amanda Blake Soule. I so far really do like it. I have to admit that already, most of the projects that she has listed, I have not only heard of, but also already done. But I do like that she has recipes for "natural glue" and homemade dyes. Interesting already. I have already made MANY pairs of recylced t-shirt pants, and that is one of the first crafts in the book, in addition to a crayon roll (Which I think most every crafty person has heard of or even owned in their lifetime.) What I find the most interesting, is that she seems to very easily convey things that my mind is already thinking, and especially those that I cannot put into words. I get alot of crap from some people about how I am "so lucky" to have so much time to do crafty things. I agree that I am lucky to stay home and spend time with my daughter. But even BEFORE I was staying home, even back when I was working and volunteering all over the place, I STILL found time to be crafty, because it was an important part of who I am and an important part of making me feel whole and relaxed. I was raised and taught that creating and being crafty was a part of life. We didn't BUY Valentine's, we made them. We didn't buy cookies, we made them. Alot of this was because my mom was a stay at home mom (for the early part of my upbringing) and we needed to be resourceful and save money. Another piece of this was that my mom was not only brought up creatively, but WAS creative, and she felt that was an important part of her life, as well as mine.

I love that Amanda talks about how it is your duty and responsibility as a parent to convey a creative atmosphere and assist your children in excercising their creativity. She says that it is your JOB as a parent to make the time to be creative with your children. This struck such a cord with me. I think that even if I HAVE done the majority of the crafts in this book, there will still be plenty of things to learn and plenty of crafts to do and share.... AND that this book will inpire and encourage me, and reinforce the fact that being creative is an important part of my FAMILY's Life, not just mine, and that doing creative things is NOT selfish. Reading this book has so far made me feel like I have a friend in creativity. I hope that it continues to impress me and interest me.

Well, that's all I know. Having tacos tonight and have laundry to fold and wash.... And will be browning 3 pounds of beast to make chili, tacos, and vegetable beef stew in the next few days!
Everyone have a Great weekend!

UPDATE" After Ardyn went to bed I made my first 3-D paper snowflake. It was so much simpler than the damn thing looks! Check it out. I was lucky enough to have some blue cardstock on hand (since everything is at mom's!) and had just enough to make this. Isn't it cool?

Paper snowflake

Paper snowflake, originally uploaded by SudsMuffinCanada.

I think I can, I think I can.... Isn't this just AWESOME? I must figure this out!

Maraschino Jar of Glitter

Just a bit of fun

Maraschino Jar of Glitter, originally uploaded by Dazed81.

This old school glass cherry jar used to be in my parent's basement as a kid, next to jars of pom poms and googley eyes. My mom wouldn't let me touch it, and when I moved out she gave it to me. It is the prettiest glitter and I am almost afraid to use it.

Growing up my mom completely banned glitter in our house, this included school projects that we brought home and also clothing. I have vowed to allow glitter (supervised, in the craft room) because I ADORE glitter, which I believe is a direct result of being told I couldn't have it.

Little Helper....

It's been a fairly mundane day and a fairly exciting evening.

The Tylenol PM worked like a charm. I decided against the Chamomile Lemon Tea, because it always makes me wake in the night practically peeing the bed, and that is not a good combo if you are all knocked out on medicine. I could easily see my pregnant-self peeing the bed and rolling over to the other side to sleep because I am too exhausted to function and deal with it. LOL. How horrible would that be?

Night snuck up on me. I took one at 10:30 and then got Ardyn ready for bed. After she was in bed (although not planning on sleeping apparently) I ate the last bowl of Rice Crispies Treats Cereal, took all my many medicines, and another Tylenol PM (total 2, completely legal) and then took my crochet to bed. As soon as I lay down, I was too tired to do anything. I repositioned and looked longingly at the crochet alongside the bed, but couldn't lift my arms to make myself pick it up. So I flipped off the himalayan rock light and was asleep in no time. I woke up about 3 times that night to pee, but was right back in bed and asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was FABULOUS. I slept for almost 11 hours. Thank GOD. Then we all got up, and Ardyn said "EAT!" as soon as she got her diaper changed. We ate breakfast and got dressed.

I had every intention to get groceries, but started to get kicked pretty good and then was feeling some Braxton Hicks. Eventually I decided to just lay on the couch and rest for a bit, and Ardyn watched some Backyardigans and Blues Clues. In no time, I was so exhausted I couldn't lift my limbs or keep my eyes open. Since Evan was home, he suggested that I go lay in bed, but I didn't want to do that. I snoozed while he showered, and then I felt a little better after a glass of water and that short cat nap. Ardyn kept coming over to kiss me, and eventually started bringing me books. She climbed up on the couch and snuggled with me and I sat up some and read her a few books. I was feeling better. We watched a TIVO'd episode of John and Kate (they are moving AGAIN!) and then I asked Evan if he would go with us out to lunch and to get groceries. I could already tell that I was bordering on exhausted and his help to carry and haul would be wonderful. It wasn't quite 1pm yet, so we got loaded up and went to Culvers for a nice sit down lunch. Ardyn ate a plain burger (just the patty, no bun or toppings) and applesauce, and apple juice. I had a burger with fries and chili. Evan had the tenderloin with fries and chili. Then we got groceries, and I mean a full cart. We REALLY needed groceries. I was so relieved to have Evan to unload on the conveyor and put the bags in the van, unload at home, and he put all the cold stuff away too.

As soon as we got home, Ardyn and I both went down for naps. We slept for THREE HOURS. I can't believe I am this tired. I am not sure if I am just recovering from all the nights of no sleep, or if my thyroid is off again. This is the month when it got all wonky during my pregnancy with Ardyn, and I don't doubt that it could be again. Especially since it spent the first five months of my pregnancy being off the opposite direction, and then suddenly "went back to normal"... I think there is a good chance that it was heading the other direction. I guess I need to go back to the Endocrinologist and get tested. I thought maybe I could sneak by without seeing him until postpartum.

Ardyn woke up and wanted to eat again (I LOVE that she just tells me when she's hungry. Because she has started to consistently do this, I don't make her a meal until she tells me, because we then have less of that toddler "picky eating" and more of a really good meal where she cleans her plate. It's awesome!) She had vegetable Beef Stew. She cleared her plate. But as she was finishing, I was loading the dishwasher, and I hear dher plate go flying. I peeked around the corner and she had the gravy from her stew all over her legs and down the side of the high chair and on the floor. I took her right to the bathtub.

I decided that while she was playing in the tub, I would put color on my hair. I usually sit in there and sort paperwork, or read a magazine, while alternately shampooing, conditioning, and washing her. As I was getting ready to color and she was playing intently, I thought to myself, this will be the time (because I try to color my hair 1 foot from the bathtub) that she will fall and crack her head open, or poop in the bathtub. I told myself I was paranoid. 5 minutes later, 3/4 of the way through applying color... gloves on and everything... Evan calls. I put the phone daintily on speaker phone with gloved sticky hands.... and explain what's going on, and he let's me go promptly. I then see Ardyn dump a whole cup of water out on the floor, over the rug. As I pick up the cup, I see that she is now POOPING IN THE WATER. I say "Did you poop in the tub?!" and she squats to pick up the poop. So I scream "Don't touch! DIRTY!!!" and she starts crying hysterically. So I rip off the gloves, pick her up, transfer her to the potty chair in case she isn't done, and start draining the tub and scooping out toys into a big dish tub so I can sanitize them. Ugh.

As I am doing this, she stands up off the potty, starts giggling, and I see her peeing all over the rug. And shaking the pee off her feet by picking up one foot at a time and giggling. So I wrap her in a bathtowel, wipe her down, drain the tub, strain the poo, rinse the tub, finish gathering up tub toys, and fill the tub again. I put her back in the tub and get rid of the pee towel and the pee rug. Put down a clean rug. Flush the toilet with offending floaty poo, and check the clock to see that FIVE MINUTES have passed. Jeez. How can that much crap go down in 5 minutes. So I sat down on the clean rug, let my hair cook, and sort my scrapbook inspiration pages into the expanding file. Then I wash Ardyn, shampoo and condition her hair, drain the tub again, get her out and wrap her in a clean towel. Then we put a clean diaper on, a pajama top, socks, and comb her hair. Then I go back to the bathroom and shower myself to get the color out of my hair. Talk about crazy.

Now she's reading books with Daddy on the couch.



On a lighter note, I was today accidentally introduced to another cool crafty blogger mom, Heather Bailey. She has some cool stuff for sale in her store. I just like to check out her blog and see all the happy colors. She has some adorable scrapbook and papercrafting supplies. I see myself using some in the future for Ardyn. I love her album, and think these clear journaling stamps are pretty adorable. Seeing her husband shingling a dollhouse for her daughter makes me smile. And think about the dollhouse kit, complete with shingles and paint and stain that I have in the sewing room. And how I haven't even started it. And how afraid I am of the shingles and how freaking LONG it will take to shingle and stain the whole roof.... after of course I have had to paint the house yellow, trim white, and assembled the whole thing. I can do it. I can do it. Someday.



I mailed my Cricut rebate today. Any bets on how long it takes to receive the cartridges in the mail? Tomorrow I am scheduled to get my CTMH cardstock order (YEAH UPS!) to finish my owl project. Mwaaaahahaha! I see a day with the cricut ahead of me. I want to cut shapes to laminate for Ardyn. Since yesterday she can identify "heart" and she has been able to do "star" for a while now. I am working on circle and would like to do more shapes now that I know she can identify them. We have shape sorting cupcakes, but I don't want her to confuse the shape names with the cupcake pieces, so I think we need to just do simple shapes first.


Ardyn is helping dad put away pantry items right now. She takes the cans and boxes out of the reusable grocery bags, and hands them to dad so he can put them away. It's TOOOO Cute. When they finished the pantry, he told her to help put away the toilet paper, and she promptly picked up the big pack of TP and started carrying it from the kitchen to the bathroom and put it away. She LOVES to help. And it's totally cute.


When I get a free moment that I am not SLEEPING, I am having a hard time deciding which task to complete. I have two new things I am reading, the scrapbook inspiration stuff I am filing, the crochet project to finish, a new one to start, and a list of things that I need to do in addition to regular housework stuff. I did manage to make an appointment for our taxes. I also had Sullivan's order two cases of rice milk for us. It should be in next week... and I am so excited about that! And speaking of milk, mine has arrived! With Ardyn I got colostrum around month 8 or 9. This time I was barely without milk for 3 months after weaning Ardyn, and it's back by 7 months! I don't leak, which is awesome, but I can feel it and if I investigate, I can see it. It's exciting, I can't wait to breastfeed again. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's already almost here!

Well, that's good for tonight. It's bordering on Ardyn's bedtime and I want to eat supper with Evan (yes, 11pm supper, we are still kind full from culver's) and clean the kitchen while he cooks, and then start diapers before bed. So everyone have a GREAT Friday. I have to be awake at midnight so I can see if my watch changes correctly. I have had problems with it changing the day an date and noon, which totally screws with me. So I think I may have set it correctly now, but I want to watch what it does at midnight, and if it doesn't change date and day, then I know I have to set it again. It's frustrating that there is no way to designate (or know) if you have it set for AM or PM.

Purple Castles, Painting with ketchup, Privacy Please (I'm pooping!)

The people from Hunter called back this evening about the Humidifier. They will replace it under warranty, but of course when they called they wanted the serial number, and not only was I in the bathtub, but Ardyn was napping in her room, where the humidifier is. I asked if they could call me back tomorrow, but NO, I have to call them (this will be time number 4) and when I explained that last time I was on hold for 24 minutes and still got no one, and that I had to wait 12 minutes to even leave a message, they said that's the only way they can be contacted. So I am SO looking forward to calling them, waiting on hold, leaving a message, and then hoping that when and if they call back, I am here to take their call and give them the serial number. Can't any of this be done via email? Ugh. I think they need a lesson in customer service.

I uploaded a picture to Flickr of the maternity swimsuit that I scored on eBay for $29 (it's $78 retail right now, so great deal) and within three days it had 79 views. That kinda freaks me out. Must be lotsa people out there looking for pictures of models in maternity suits? LOL.

Today Ardyn saw Evan playing DS and grabbed his stylus and started "playing" herself. She was very serious about it and knew exactly how it worked. So her word for the day was "Stylus." She has said several new words lately (at least one a day) including "oops", "Owie", "Happy" and "Stylus."

Demonstrating her Stylus skills:


It was a good mail day. My amazon order, which I have been waiting for since after Christmas, finally arrived (or at least three of four packages of it arrived.) I used Christmas money to get a walk-through baby gate and two Kiddopotomus Swaddleme's, another changing pad cover, and also a carrying case for my DS Lite. We had tried to get one when Evan got the DS for me (my Christmas Gift) but couldn't really find one that we liked. Of course there was one on Amazon that I liked. It's a super cute little purse and it fits the games, the DS, and the charger, which is perfect. The gate came UPS and as soon as I saw the box I was worried, because it looked like it had already been opened and taped shut. Great. A return that someone else had already screwed with. Just what I wanted. Sure enough, I was so excited and had been waiting forEVER, and it arrived without the mounting screws and without the wrench. So It's completely worthless. I just have the gate and the footpedal. So I called the company and they are sending me the parts, no big deal except I have to wait 7-10 more business days, and if I know the post office, it will be longer, because stuff has been taking FOREVER to get to us. The amazon packages left Forest Park, IL on Dec 28th and Dec 30th, and arrived on January 8th? I can drive there round trip in less than 3 hours, but it took the post office 10 days to get it here? I know that the new year was a holiday, but still, a letter crosses this state in 1-2 business days. So anyway, now in addition to spending all day trying to keep Ardyn out of the nursery, I get to keep her away from the "pieces" of the unusable gate that we did receive. It just makes me cranky to look at it. Must be pregnancy hormones or something.

Tonight Ardyn and I did run to the evil store and exchange the bird feeder for another, which is now suctioned on the window of her bedroom. It is exactly at her eyeball level, so she walked up to it and said "Bird" about a thousand time tonight, but I don't expect we will se birds in the dark. HOPEFULLY tomorrow they will find the feeder. Of course after calling for birds and not seeing any, she said "Mouse?" and I had to look at her and explain that not everything is a MOUSE. (again)

I need to list my Halo sleep sacks on ebay. I have 5 or 6 of them. They worked well but the Swaddleme's were much better for us, and so now that I have 4 swaddle me's, I am comfortable getting rid of the halo sleep sacks. I think. The only thing is, that Ardyn was a fall/winter baby, so the halo sleep sacks were all fleece. Since this one will be a spring summer baby, the sleep sacks that I have now are primarily flannel, cotton, and bamboo. So I am thinking, as soon as I sell the fleece halo sacks, then I will have another winter baby and wish I had them. And then I just tell myself that I can always buy more fleece swaddleme's if that happens, since the swaddleme's are my preference anyway. Don't you hate dilemas like this? And then I think about how much more expansive these Halo sleep sack swaddles are than the swaddle me's, and I worry that I won't get my momey's worth out of them anyway. Ugh.

Last night I added another skein of yarn to the baby's afghan. This of course, was after spending 20 minutes untangling the yarn because Ardyn got ahold of it. And I listened to Dane Cook on the iPod while I crocheted. Then I would two skeins of yarn into balls for my Next project. When I opened my hook case, I saw that all my hooks were there but an I-9, and then I started to wonder not only where it went, but if I actually had one (I thought I had all sizes, so that was baffling.) Tonight on my way to the evil store, I had an epiphany that I may have let C Borrow it, but then I thought I perhaps had dreamt that, or that I had lent it to her but she gave it back and I stupidly just never put it back where it went and now it's floating somewhere in this house. Ugh. So I called C and confirmed that indeed she had one crochet hook that was mine and it WAS an I. Lucky me. I have about 2.5 skeins of yarn here to add to the baby blanket before I should start on the new project, so in a way, it's a good thing that C has my I hook, otherwise I would be tempted to use the new chocolatey-aqua yarn and not finish the project that I have going, and that's my bad habit. And did you KNOW that JoAnn's has all their yarn on big time sale this week? Good thing i am far away from them and have already spent my money this week. So C, keep ahold of I until you see that I (as in me, not the hook) have completed the baby afghan. It would be for the best.

I have two Jodi Piccoult books to read, but tonight I think is a good night for a Tylenol PM. Last night, even AFTER winding down with crochet in bed, I was laying there from 11:30pm until 3:30am, wide awake and really really pissed off about it. Damn pregnancy! Then I woke up every hour from 3:30 till 6:30, to pee of course, and then I was awake from 6:30 until about 8am. Ugh. Then I got another 3 hours of sleep luckily, so the night ROYALLY sucked for me. I don't know WHAT is going on that makes me so uncomfortable and waking up all night. For some reason I don't like taking Tylenol PM while pregnant this time around, because it makes me have really messed up freaky dreams. I have strange enough pregnancy dreams already, like the one a couple of weeks ago in which Brandon Sierens built a gant purple castle across the road from Angie Kerber's parents house. And Angie's parents were selling dog beds that were GIANT and all plaid like Scottish kilts.... they even had awful gold tassels on the corners. Bizarre shit I tell you. Tylenol PM sometimes freaks me out these days. I would rather have unisom anyday, but the midwife insists that Tylenol PM is the only safe thing. So I guess I will drink some chamomile lemon tea and have a couple tylenol PM in the hopes that I sleep well for once.

My poor child will hate me someday, but I have some adorable pics on Flickr of her covering her eyes. Why? Because she is pooping. And she wants privacy. It's her new thing. Check them out flickr friends!

I am also going to read the book "The Creative Family" By Amanda Blake Soule. Here's a link to her blog, with some info about the book. I will let you know what I think. Right now I am excited, but there are alot less photos than I expected. I am that strange person that won't make a new recipe without a photo. So I am hoping that I am still inspired to do the crafts and family ideas if I can't see a picture. Mostly what I got from Amazon reviews, the book is very much about the Waldorf lifestyle. I am looking forward to reading it. Many people said that the book was just several crafts from other sources (like Martha Stewart) all revisited into her book... I don't mind that, unless I have actually seen them all. Only time will tell.

You know that I am trying to particpate in my own, self-made Wal-Mart ban. Well, I was there yesterday and today (bird feeder) and today they had put out more cheap garanimals seperates for summer, and so I bought some more, because she kid desperately needs cheap clothes in the next size up. And then when I got into the parking lot, I was irritated while waiting for some older lady and her OLD mother, while it's blowing and blowing, and they are in their car with the doors all hanging open and I have Ardyn and am trying to get her in the van but can't GET to the van. The same people were backing OUT of a parking spot backwards when I arrived, only to pull back into it and go in the store, and then were in my way THREE TIMES when I was in the store. Ugh. So then as I am trying to maneuver and get Ardyn in the van, my freaking receipt blew away. And I couldn't catch it. So I got in the van and chased it. Across the lot, around the side of the store to the BACK of the store (yes seriously) and then it miraculously stopped and I parked and hurried and got OUT of the van, and (pregnant mind you) ran after it, just as I got close the wind took it again, way back to the back entrance, and then across the road and into the cornfield by Culver's, in the dark. Fucking wind. Fucking Receipt. DAMN YOU Wal-Mart!

I was going to go get groceries at Sullivan's, but after the whole experience of getting in and out of the van and store and it being so windy, and then chasing the receipt, I decided to just go HOME and be warm and we can eat cereal the rest of the week instead of food. Ugh. I will go another time, when it's light out, and perhaps warmer, and perhaps without Ardyn. Or with her, if it isn't so cold and windy.

Sorry if this post feels like a giant bitchfest. LOL. This is the place where I get to vent.

The internet is suddenly being SUPER Flaky tonight. I am having a hard time connecting to things. Flickr uploader isn't moving along, I can't load webpages, and blogger isn't autosaving. It worries me that I might be *gasp* without internet suddenly and without warning.

Ardyn is eating chicken tenders for supper. Delicious and nutritious! LOL. When I make her food, I often turn on Blues Clues or Backyardigans, while I cook. Sometimes I put her in her chair and start to feed her without remembering to turn the TV off. So tonight she was doing her usual "LEAN to the right" to see the TV, and between bites she would say "A Clue! A Clue!" I had to turn it off. I hate the TV on while she eats. And of course she hasn't even finished the last bite when she decides it's time to fingerpaint the tablecloth with her ketchup. Bless her little heart.


I thought Evan might scowl at me this week when I suggested that we would need to get rid of our magazine rack in the bathroom. We needed a good place for her potty chair, that is consistent and convenient. He wasn't upset in the least, and we both agreed it would work well on the other side of the bathroom to store baby and toddler bath supplies. It clears up the clutter on the side of the tub (shampoo and such) and we can just roll it over when it's bathtime. I am loving it. The tub kneeler and armrest fit on the bottom shelf with a little wiggling, and it's nice to have a place for them when we want to just take a shower or bath of our own without them in the way. It's also nice to have a place to put washcloths and towels within reach. I would like to get a hooded bath towel that's bulkier and bigger, for Ardyn. I love the Pottery Barn Toddler ones, but they are expensive.... I will need to look for an ebay deal on one.