Is it really already Thursday? Geeze Louise.
Between the closet project (finally done, btw - yay!), downloading some new books on my Kindle app...
Oh, and the fact that every time I think my baby has gone to sleep because all is quiet in her room, so I turn the camera on to check on her, and she is in fact doing some sort of death defying acrobatic act in her crib...
Not to mention all the fearless climbing and exploring she has been doing when not in her crib.
Who knew a baby that still refuses to do a legitimate crawl could move so fast? Or climb so well?
Well, I looked up and it was Thursday.
Le sigh.
Back soon.
Evelyn Rae is nine months old
...and I think it's time to invest in a baby octagon. And some gates. And some wine.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Hubris
Yesterday, the morning was a little dreary and rainy, and a cozy day inside sounded *just right* to me.
I (admittedly a little) smugly posted this status on my Facebook:
I (admittedly a little) smugly posted this status on my Facebook:
A nice little day of relaxation and yummy baking. I had been meaning to make those personalized oatmeal cups anyway, so why not make the best of the rain? If only I had stuck to my guns.
Enter hubris.
"Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own competence or capabilities..."
My life, right?
***
A few weeks ago husband and I decided that since we are, you know, in charge of another being's vital records now, it was probably about time to get our filing in order that we had been putting off and invest in a fireproof/waterproof safe. So we did. And we bough a new filing cabinet. Look at us getting organized!
And since then it has been sitting in Evelyn's room.
Empty.
In the box.
Right.
***
So, yesterday right after I posted that status, I was walking by her room and thought, you know what? I should probably just figure out this situation first. Then I will bake. I am sick of looking at that thing.
As I started emptying out Evelyn's closet, aka, the catch all, used to be storage closet before we had a baby, I realized that this might take slightly longer than an hour. "Hmm," I thought.
As the piles started creeping up closer and closer, confining the play area of my happily playing baby to about two square feet, I thought, "This might take all day."
As I was forced to move the baby into her crib for her own safety, and began toting things out into the hallway and our bedroom because I was out of room, I thought, "Damn."
***
And there it was, the rabbit hole. Soon enough Pinterest and Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple organization ideas were swirling around in my head and I was mentally calculating how much paint there was in the garage.
Soon thereafter I found myself setting up the Pack and Play in the guest room and calling my (laughing) husband to ask what he would need from "upstairs" because we would most certainly be sleeping in the guest room ourselves.
Le sigh.
The project continues today, and I am actually happy to report that I like what I am doing with the space, and ultimately it will be much more functional, and was something that desperately needed to be done, but I have definitely had a few of those standing-in-the-middle-of-the-piles-of-everything-everywhere moments where I think,
"Couldn't I have just stuck to some baked oatmeal?"
Evelyn Rae is nine months old
...and we did still play music yesterday while doing this project. Thankfully, Evelyn thinks Momma's dancing is hilarious. Just like everyone else.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Pinterest Projects: Food
I avoided it for a really, really long time...but a few months ago I was finally sucked into the time-suck known as Pinterest.
Don't get me wrong. I lurve it. It's a great idea. Mywork computer used to be just filled with images I had downloaded and now, well, it's all online.
But, you can go a leetle crazy in there. Luckily, I haven't really felt all that bad about it, because I have actually done and made some of the things that I have pinned.
Plus, I don't spend a lot of time woe-is-me-ing about how some moms are awesome and make their kids full on watermarks in the backyard using only a hose and 99 cent foam pool noodles. If you *are* that mom, good for you.
But, I figured I would share what I have vetted for you, out of the goodness of my own heart. Cue applause.
Here is the food round up.
Don't get me wrong. I lurve it. It's a great idea. My
But, you can go a leetle crazy in there. Luckily, I haven't really felt all that bad about it, because I have actually done and made some of the things that I have pinned.
Plus, I don't spend a lot of time woe-is-me-ing about how some moms are awesome and make their kids full on watermarks in the backyard using only a hose and 99 cent foam pool noodles. If you *are* that mom, good for you.
But, I figured I would share what I have vetted for you, out of the goodness of my own heart. Cue applause.
Here is the food round up.
So, this recipe seemed like it had a LOT of cheese in it, even for me. I cut it waaaay back. I used this recipe as an inspiration because I had some roasted and pulled chicken left over from a dish earlier in the week.
But, I made the béchamel sauce from this lasagna instead of the sauce called for in the recipe and then layered the chicken and uncooked noodles with it and some shredded swiss and a little bit of mozzarella.
Also, I didn't have ham on hand so I fried up some pancetta and crumbled it in instead. I only used like 4 oz. of it and my husband thought it was more than enough of the "ham" taste, but he isn't really a big ham lover, so you may want to up the amount from mine if you are! Oh, also, I skipped the parsley. Because I didn't have any on hand. No big loss.
Yeah, I didn't change a THING on this one. Yum.
Made these for Mardi Gras. Didn't love them. Sad faces.
TO DIE FOR. Not even kidding. Do it. Now. You will only thank me.
Evelyn is nine months old
...and I have officially come to the point of parenting where I hear crashing in her room upstairs to tell me that she is awake from her nap. Lord help me.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
What you want when...
...your baby needs help sleeping because there is so much snot in her little nose that she doesn't know how to blow out and you and she are both miserable.
Not that I would know from first hand experience.
I think I posted about this nifty contraption when I was registering and such, but I can't find it. So, here it is, the no holds barred, best snot sucking apparatus out there...
Not that I would know from first hand experience.
I think I posted about this nifty contraption when I was registering and such, but I can't find it. So, here it is, the no holds barred, best snot sucking apparatus out there...
You can find this baby almost anywhere these days, and please, do not be grossed out by this thing. There is no way that snot will get in your mouth and please trust that this thing is SO MUCH better than those bulgy things.
If you follow that link up there you can even see an instructional video on how it works, though admittedly it is pretty darn simple.
If Victoria Beckham can do it, you can too.
Evelyn is nine months old
...and thankfully we are not dealing with this issue right now, but I should probably get on some replacement filter orders just in case.
...also, if you live in Hampton Roads, they keep these suckers (ha! Get it? I got a pun in) in stock and on the shelves at the Silver Rattle in Ghent.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Baby Gage v. 2.0
No, they are not on the way...yet.
But here's the thing, he or she could be.
I mean, what?!
A few weeks ago, I posted a little tiny tidbit about a little joke played by Mother Nature, and most people in my real life have made a definite comment to me about it, so I guess my little sideways glance, drop it in here casually, tactic, was, well, not so subtle.
Yes, we had a pregnancy scare. ("Scare" isn't really the word I want to use here, because we would, of course, be happy about another one on the way...but there was a definite mix of emotions...and I can't think of a better word in this moment.) I will write more about that on another day.
But, how, you may be thinking, did that happen? Don't women get a grace period after giving birth and don't have ovulation, etc. for a while following a baby?
Well, some women do.
So, here is a post that I wrote months and months ago (in OCTOBER), but never hit the publish button on, I dunno why, but here it is, along with a few editing updates along the way.
*Warning: this post is going to be about female things, like menstruation. Feel free to stop reading if that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable...though if it does, I don't know how you've made it through a majority of posts on this blog.*
One of the agreed upon side benefits of pregnancy is undoubtedly, no periods. Amiright? No tampons to tote around in your purse, not having to worry about when you will wear certain clothes, all good stuff. One of the additional benefits of exclusively breastfeeding (for most people) is that you get to lengthen the time before Aunt Flo returns for a visit.
Unless you are me.
I got off pretty easily on the post-partum bleeding. After two weeks and a few days, I was back to normal. But then, about four weeks after giving birth, I started seeing secondary signs of fertility (read: changes in cervical fluid. gah. I know, I know, but this is the truth, yo).
I thought I must be losing it, there was no way, and then figured that it may just be due to normal hormonal shifts, etc. post baby. After all, I was exclusively breastfeeding, and my baby is gaining weight as she should be, etc. etc.
But then, two weeks later, exactly six weeks after giving birth, Aunt Flo came a knockin'.
I, of course, accepted this inevitable return with ALL the grace and decorum that I usually possess. In other words, I freaked out, ran to tell my husband, called my mom and then my midwife in a panic.
My husband looked at me and shrugged. "Didn't our childbirth classes say that your body would know that it can't support more than one baby at a a time?" THANK YOU HUSBAND.
My mom said, "Oh honey, I think that happened to me too." THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP MOM.
And my midwife said, "Well you have your six week appointment this Friday, so let's just check you out then." ::sigh::
What followed was the no holds barred worst period of my WHOLE LIFE. I mean, something that happens once a month since you were 12, you sort of get a handle on what your "normal" is like. This was not my normal. (In the six months since I wrote this, things have indeed returned to my normal, but those first few were ROUGH indeed.)
When I got to my appointment, my midwife checked me out and cheerily said, "Yup you are good, everything is healed and fine, and you are indeed having a period. You are just what we call 'fertile Myrtle' so be careful!"
"Be careful? I wasn't even cleared to get back in the saddle until this appointment!"
(I don't really say "back in the saddle" in real life, btw. But I said something equivalent..ish.)
She also assured me that it was "totally normal" to have a heavy first period back in the swing of things.
"..."
I guess this is how Irish twins happen?
Evelyn Rae isthree months old nine months old
...and we do want more babies...you know...eventually.
But here's the thing, he or she could be.
I mean, what?!
A few weeks ago, I posted a little tiny tidbit about a little joke played by Mother Nature, and most people in my real life have made a definite comment to me about it, so I guess my little sideways glance, drop it in here casually, tactic, was, well, not so subtle.
Yes, we had a pregnancy scare. ("Scare" isn't really the word I want to use here, because we would, of course, be happy about another one on the way...but there was a definite mix of emotions...and I can't think of a better word in this moment.) I will write more about that on another day.
But, how, you may be thinking, did that happen? Don't women get a grace period after giving birth and don't have ovulation, etc. for a while following a baby?
Well, some women do.
So, here is a post that I wrote months and months ago (in OCTOBER), but never hit the publish button on, I dunno why, but here it is, along with a few editing updates along the way.
*Warning: this post is going to be about female things, like menstruation. Feel free to stop reading if that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable...though if it does, I don't know how you've made it through a majority of posts on this blog.*
One of the agreed upon side benefits of pregnancy is undoubtedly, no periods. Amiright? No tampons to tote around in your purse, not having to worry about when you will wear certain clothes, all good stuff. One of the additional benefits of exclusively breastfeeding (for most people) is that you get to lengthen the time before Aunt Flo returns for a visit.
Unless you are me.
I got off pretty easily on the post-partum bleeding. After two weeks and a few days, I was back to normal. But then, about four weeks after giving birth, I started seeing secondary signs of fertility (read: changes in cervical fluid. gah. I know, I know, but this is the truth, yo).
I thought I must be losing it, there was no way, and then figured that it may just be due to normal hormonal shifts, etc. post baby. After all, I was exclusively breastfeeding, and my baby is gaining weight as she should be, etc. etc.
But then, two weeks later, exactly six weeks after giving birth, Aunt Flo came a knockin'.
I, of course, accepted this inevitable return with ALL the grace and decorum that I usually possess. In other words, I freaked out, ran to tell my husband, called my mom and then my midwife in a panic.
My husband looked at me and shrugged. "Didn't our childbirth classes say that your body would know that it can't support more than one baby at a a time?" THANK YOU HUSBAND.
My mom said, "Oh honey, I think that happened to me too." THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP MOM.
And my midwife said, "Well you have your six week appointment this Friday, so let's just check you out then." ::sigh::
What followed was the no holds barred worst period of my WHOLE LIFE. I mean, something that happens once a month since you were 12, you sort of get a handle on what your "normal" is like. This was not my normal. (In the six months since I wrote this, things have indeed returned to my normal, but those first few were ROUGH indeed.)
When I got to my appointment, my midwife checked me out and cheerily said, "Yup you are good, everything is healed and fine, and you are indeed having a period. You are just what we call 'fertile Myrtle' so be careful!"
"Be careful? I wasn't even cleared to get back in the saddle until this appointment!"
(I don't really say "back in the saddle" in real life, btw. But I said something equivalent..ish.)
She also assured me that it was "totally normal" to have a heavy first period back in the swing of things.
"..."
I guess this is how Irish twins happen?
Evelyn Rae is
...and we do want more babies...you know...eventually.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Happy Friday/Photo Bomb
Happy Friday everyone! We are super, super excited to be celebrating some friends on their big wedding day this weekend, and to have some non-baby grown up time with some old college friends at the festivities!
Since we have people coming to stay with us, I am running around like the crazy person I become when visitors are on their way...even though I love playing hostess...so, here are some photos of what has been happening recently.
Since we have people coming to stay with us, I am running around like the crazy person I become when visitors are on their way...even though I love playing hostess...so, here are some photos of what has been happening recently.
4-17-12: Ev attended her first baseball game at Harbor Park - Norfolk State University v. Old Dominion University. Even though we are Monarchs at heart, we were there to support Uncle Drew and NSU.
4-14-12: Ev rocked her new sunglasses while Mom and Dad did some yard work.
Easter Saturday we got to get together with A's Dad and soon-to-be wife to take some family photos! Jeremy Grieff was our photographer, and will be photographing the wedding. He was such a nice guy and here are some of the previews of my favorite images, even though they were all amazing.
Do you see little Ev holding her own? So cute!
Such a beautiful shot of the happy, soon to be wedded couple!
This one may be coming soon to a Father's Day gift near you...
Love.
A and I both LOVE this one of Evelyn and Uncle Justin.
Evelyn is nine months old
...and we will probably miss being away from her for all afternoon, night and bedtime on Saturday. But, man do I plan on having some fun.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tempted.
Welp, I had to go and do it. I had to go and proclaim my child a "champion sleeper" in her nine month post and tempt fate.
She is! For the most part, or was. I swear.
Yesterday however, she woke up at 5:30. Then thedamn dog woke her up from her nap because he busted into her room to get into her trashcan. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Our house is OLD and that means her door sometimes all the time makes a sound similar to a shotgun if opened the wrong way.
She had been sleeping for 15 minutes.
She took a great afternoon nap and went down for bed so easily last night and was so, so sleepy. So sleepy in fat that I thought we were going to get one of those pictures where a kiddo falls asleep into their dinner.
Then today she was up at 5:30 am. Again. And took a 20 minute morning nap. Again.
Le sigh.
I do feel better about the fact that she is still being a super happy baby when she is awake, but, argh.
We need to stop the cycle, so Mommy can get some rings done around here. The nap time race to get things done is intense when you only have 20 minutes.
I had great plans to update you guys on cloth diapers, the free times, solid poop, etc. and let you know about The Great Cloth Diaper Change that is going on this weekend...maybe tomorrow! Stupid grocery shopping and house cleaning and straightening. Getting in the way of all my fun blog plans.
Until then, if ever, you can read more about cloth diapering on the Eco Chic Blog Hop!
Evelyn Rae is nine months old
...and if you are a cloth diapering Momma in Hampton Roads, you should totally be at Diaper Junction on Saturday for the event! Sadly, I won't be there because we are booked.
P.S. their new store set up is amazing. Super amazing.
She is! For the most part, or was. I swear.
Yesterday however, she woke up at 5:30. Then the
She had been sleeping for 15 minutes.
She took a great afternoon nap and went down for bed so easily last night and was so, so sleepy. So sleepy in fat that I thought we were going to get one of those pictures where a kiddo falls asleep into their dinner.
Then today she was up at 5:30 am. Again. And took a 20 minute morning nap. Again.
Le sigh.
I do feel better about the fact that she is still being a super happy baby when she is awake, but, argh.
We need to stop the cycle, so Mommy can get some rings done around here. The nap time race to get things done is intense when you only have 20 minutes.
I had great plans to update you guys on cloth diapers, the free times, solid poop, etc. and let you know about The Great Cloth Diaper Change that is going on this weekend...maybe tomorrow! Stupid grocery shopping and house cleaning and straightening. Getting in the way of all my fun blog plans.
Until then, if ever, you can read more about cloth diapering on the Eco Chic Blog Hop!
Evelyn Rae is nine months old
...and if you are a cloth diapering Momma in Hampton Roads, you should totally be at Diaper Junction on Saturday for the event! Sadly, I won't be there because we are booked.
P.S. their new store set up is amazing. Super amazing.
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