Kids: A Change in the Ordinary

When we jumped feet first into parenting, we knew things were about to change. We looked forward to a "little bundle of joy" that would have basic needs that had to be met. We knew about the diaper changes, the frequent feedings, and a mother-load of unnecessary but necessary baby items. We were secretly excited about raising kids that looked like us, the return of fruity pebbles cereal, and Saturday morning cartoons. But along with kids came a few changes we never saw coming.

-ONE-You know the garbage man's schedule. 
Yes, we know his schedule (Monday's at 2:40.) We secretly stalk him every week. We know which side of the road he drives up first (the left) and how soon it is until he comes back down the other side (12 mins. and 45 seconds.) We greet him on the front porch and stare at him through the windows. He's like a family member, really. Unfortunately, he doesn't even know he's part of the family.

-TWO-You learn what kid-friendly really means.
Pre-kids we enjoyed dinner out on occasion. We were open to anything. Now, we dread dinner out. Oh, you want to go out to eat? How about just come to our house? How about just shoot me and leave me for dead? Really, dinner anywhere with kids becomes a nightmare. I don't care where it is. Kid-friendly doesn't mean it has a menu catered to kids and a play-gym-thingy. Kid-friendly really means that the place is loud and busy enough that you won't notice my kid melting down and having a temper tantrum because the french fries touched his ketchup. It means that dinner is served in under 10 minutes of placing an order. It means that we blend into the crowd and go unnoticed. And if that means that we give the Bird our phone, a marker to color with, a book of matches, or a fork to play with... don't judge... then we do it. And, we're not above bribery.

-THREE-You hate checking out at the grocery market.
Who doesn't love checking out and grabbing a Pepsi and a Snickers? Me and all the other moms, that's who!! I dread the check-out aisle. Its horrible. It means my life is about to get real complicated. You want that? That's fine. Just stop talking and stand here. No you can't have both. No, I don't want any. Just stop. You already picked out something. Just put it back. Put it back. 

-FOUR-You know how to work a store.
I avoid candy, toys, and stickers at all costs. I avoid these because they will evoke a melt down. I enter the store from the opposite end and purposefully choose my route. I steer away from toys and refer to all of them as "too expensive," but allow the Bird to choose any item from the dollar section because "I'm the best." Yes, it may sound manipulative, but I'm a mom and that's how I roll.

-FIVE- 12pm-3pm: You're busy.
I knew that when we had kids nap-time would be an opportunity for me and Mr.B+B to get some much needed alone time away from the kids. It would be our opportunity to get whatever else we needed done for the day kid-free. Maybe fold laundry, do dishes, wash the car. Between 12pm and 3pm is nap time. And who takes a nap? We do. The parents. Every. single. weekend. It's really our staple for our sanity. Just ask our friends... we don't answer the phone or do anything for those three glorious hours. When we get birthday party invites or offers for lunch dates, we check the schedule... It's at 1pm?... oh we're busy. Sleeping.

The Mom Mullet

It's not a desirable hair style. It just happens.

You have a baby then. BAM. Two months later...

You start loosing hair.

I remember reading about this in one of my 4,762 3 baby and parenting books. I'm sure it will be over soon...

But you know what?! It won't. It will last for months.

You will think that "any day now" this whole shebang will stop.

But it won't.

I realized it was a problem when I noticed it wrapped and tangled around the Boo's hands.

Then I noticed it stuck under her chin. (Around her neck, but really 5 month olds don't have necks. It's just head, chin, and shoulders. No neck. That comes later.)

Stuck on the Bird's clothes.

Clogging the bathroom drain.

But, I denied it. I pretended it wasn't a problem until my other half pointed out that in the morning when he put on his clothes that he had to pull out my hair from sticking to his shirts.

It's bad.

Like really bad.

I've contemplated cutting my hair. Short. Like Mylie Cyrus short.

But I don't look good in bright red lip stick so I nixed that.

I even thought about using the dog brush. You know, the firminator, to help "eliminated unwanted hair."

Probably not a good idea though.

Really, I don't have a solution.

What's worse than hair that's falling out? Hair that grows back all at once. Enter the mom mullet.

Fingers crossed that maybe it will grow back thicker, fuller, and with 10x the volume. Then maybe I'll land the job as a Pantene model.

Five for Friday

TGIF! It's been so nice to see the snow melt away and us finally have warm enough weather that we can get out of the house and enjoy the sunshine. I'm linking up with Darci, April, Christina, & Natasha for Five on Friday! Here's our weekly recap. 

-ONE-

I'm getting ready for a BIG sale. A consignment sale that only happens twice a year which means it's time to purge. So I've been spending countless hours sorting, taping, hanging, and tagging toys and clothes for Charlotte's largest consignment sale, Tar Heel Kids Consignment. It starts next week, so get ready!

-TWO-

I was browsing through Lowes the other day when I happened to come across these two tiles. First, we have an amazing marble herringbone. How great would that look on a floor or shower? Then, my eye caught that wonderful beveled black subway tile. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to incorporate both of these into our new home. 

-THREE-

The Boo has been sampling all sorts of foods lately. I have a cookathon a few days ago and we whipped up some apples, pears and green beans. She's a huge fan of the pears. You can't beat the color of homemade baby food either. It's always so bright compared to the store bought food. If you haven't ever tried making your own baby food, it's a breeze really. Read more about it here. 

-FOUR-

I've been seeing all sorts of pins on pinterest on how to remove stains from pillows and sheets. It's not even the stains that gross me out, it's the coloring. Over time they've yellowed and lost their brightness. I didn't want to use bleach and knew that I could scour the house to pull together the perfect magical stain releaser. I ended up using Borax, Oxygen Bleach, Laundry Detergent. 

The key to really removing the stains those is the temperature setting. I used the "sanitary" setting which turns my washing machine to "super hot." It soaked everything for 2 hours and in the end everything came out super white. So white you would have honestly thought that I just bought them. AND to fluff everything up, I threw 6 tennis balls in the dryer for extra fluff. 

-FIVE-

How cool are these kids? This is how we roll when we go for walks. Luckily, we've had weather lately that's cooperated quite a bit. 

What have you been up to this week? 

He's Got a Mouth Like a Sailor

After returning from an afternoon walk we arrive at the front door where I ask the Bird to remove his shoes.
After some hesitation he sits down on the door mat and proceeds to take off his right shoe. It slips off and then he struggles at removing his left. Then I hear him mumble under his breath.

I wait a moment. Did I just hear him say what I thought I did?

In the calmest voice I respond, "What did you say?"

"Ah, Ship."

He did. He said what I thought I heard. Well, sort of.

Once again I wait and then respond calmly, "Where did you hear that?"

He looks up at me as he finally gets the shoe off his foot and matter-of-factly states, "Daddy. Daddy*, says 'Ah, Ship.'"

"Oh, I see." I say as we walk in the door as a scan the room for my phone so I can send 'Daddy' a text...

I speak with Mr. B+B over the phone about the Bird's choice of words and more importantly their origin. We decided that he would speak with the Bird that evening.

"Bird," says Daddy "Mommy told me that you said 'Ah, Ship' today. We shouldn't use words like those so let's don't use those words any more."

The Bird pauses and looks at him with a puzzled look on his face. I pretend that I'm really focused on dinner, but instead I'm watching this play out like a soap opera.

"But, Daddy," he says "you talk about ships EVERY DAY."


*He actually referred to him by his first and last name.

Potato Name Stamping

We've been working working really hard with the Bird on writing and spelling his name. He's interested in writing the letters (or numbers as he calls them) on paper and on his artwork. He addressed all of his Valentine's with a little help from me. Today we decided that we'd use potatoes as stamps to practice spelling his name. Yes, I like to sneak in educational activities where I can. 

First, I gathered the children supplies. 

Supplies: Small red potatoes, Pairing Knife, Paint, Paintbrush, and paper. 

 

I cut out the letters J A X O N using the knife while the Bird entertained his sister. We had a few potatoes left over so we made some fun shapes. 

I made a few mistakes in the process so I just resliced the potato and we were ready for go. Don't forget that when you're making the letters that you are actually making them backwards. I forgot at first with the J and the N and had to start over. This took all of 12 seconds.  

We squeezed out some acrylic paint. Colors chosen by none other, the Bird. 

We played around at first with stamping directly in the paint and then on to finger paint paper. They were both fails. The paint worked much better when in was painted on to the potatoes. The finger paint paper was was too slippery. 

We switched to cardstock and had much more success. 

A few of our favorite ones! The Bird had a great time stamping his name. The project was super inexpensive (and you know I love that) and took all of 15 minutes from start to finish which is perfect for the attention span of a three-year-old. 

Proudly on display. 

And I leave you with a short video of the Boo doing what she does best: making totally silly noises with her mouth. 

How have you helped your child learn to spell their name? 

Bathroom Progress and a Wall

This weekend we made major progress on the kids' bathroom. We primed and painted the walls and the ceiling. Then, the walls and ceiling both received their first coat of paint. Then, when I thought it really couldn't get any better we successfully installed the toilet. And it works.

We chose to paint the bathroom the same color as our master bathroom for three reasons. One, I read in a magazine somewhere that it was a trending color. Two, our Realtor seemed to really like it. And most importantly, we already had 3/4 of a can left. So what color did we choose?

Benjamin Moore's Harbour Fog

 

Ohhh. Ahhh. 

Getting ready for the porcelain thrown's install. 

The Bird made a home out of the toilet box. He even took markers inside the space to decorate it. We eventually got rid of demolished the house due to a large 'crack in the ceiling.' I guess all good things must come to an end. 

The first flush. Yes, we all gathered in the bathroom, held our breath, and made a big deal out of this flush, but that's pretty much how we do everything. It was a celebratory flush for sure. 

Now, the title of this post is 'Bathroom Progress and a Wall.' It's not the type of wall you were thinking. No, we didn't install a wall or anything of that nature. We actually hit a wall. As in our progress came to a screeching hault. We were cruising along getting ready to put in the vanity and install the new light fixtures when we had to stop. Why? One, it was nap time, and everything around her stops at nap time and two, well, because we don't have a door. And without a door, we don't have door trim. Without the trim we do not have base molding. And without the base molding cannot install the vanity. Bummer. 

We have the door, but it isn't just any door. It's a 70-year-old-ish door. And it needs work and a lot of  love. Love that comes in the form of a sander, wood glue, primer and paint. 

When we bought our 1938 bungalow it had a cheap door that someone had installed backwards. The door opened into our hallway and guests often mistook the door for a closet, because closets open out and rooms ALWAYS open in. Let that be a lesson learned for you. Why it opened out, I really haven't a clue. The previous owner had also managed to rip out all the original trim around the door so we'll be replacing that as well. 

So that's where we are. I've got to finish my end of the deal before we can hang the door and move forward with any sort of progress. Until then, the Bird certainly doesn't mind using the toilet without a door. 

What Lilli wore today

 

 By Saturday cabin fever had set in and we had to get out of the house. While Mr. B+B was at work I loaded the kids up and took them to the mall along with everyone else in town. We visited Xtreme Play and Chic-fil-a for ice cream and then shopped around at a few of the children's stores. 

I love buying clothes for my kids. It's really ten times more fun than buying clothes for yourself. They look great in everything. Kids clothes are super affordable because I buy everything thrifted/consigned or discounted. And they are just plain adorable. I went to Crazy 8 for the first time and found the Bird an awesome vest for $5 and the Boo this super sweet cowl neck dress with a key hole detail in the back. How cute! And it was only $6. I really should have bought two or more. 

 How cute is her head? I'm pretty sure it's the roundest thing ever. And just look at that peach fuzz hair.

I had to add on my favorite eggplant hair band by Little Hip Squeaks. The Boo is also sporting a pair of hand-me-down gray leggings from Faded Glory. 

Why I choose homemade baby food

The Boo just turned 5 months today and we've been slowly (like, really slowly) feeding her 'solids.' She had her first sample of food outside of breast milk just a few short weeks ago. I wanted to share with you why we chose to make all homemade baby food for our kids. 

The Boo's first sweet potato

The Bird as a sack of potatoes 

On our weekly trips to the grocery store I always glanced at the 'variety' of baby food choices. A baby could have peas, mangos, sweet potatoes, grains, or a 'Real Turkey Dinner.' They had what seemed to be a decent collection of fruits, veggies and meats all pureed to the 10th degree and sitting stagnant on a shelf. They were room temperature... always. And who really knew how long they had been on the shelf? I mean, sure, they had an expiration date on them, but was it weeks out? months? I was sure that not everyone let their kids eat jarred pork chops.*

I knew when our newlywedded selves bought produce it didn't last much longer than a week and a half. So why was this baby food okay to sit on the shelf? I wouldn't eat it. I wouldn't dare crack open a jar of mashed carrots and eat it for a snack... or a meal. 

So then the real question came up... How was I going to feed our kids? It was easy. I was going to make their baby food...all organic... from scratch. 

When the Bird came squawking along in May of 2010 I began my real research of the art of making baby food. Luckily, for me that came as easily as watching the Today Show and seeing Geoff Tracy and Norah O'donnell introduce their new book, Baby Love. They made it look so easy. All I needed was a few materials and produce and I could have the Bird eating homemade baby food in no time! 

The Bird's first solids!

I immediately went to Amazon and ordered the book. It walked me through the entire process and simplified everything for a girl who can't cook. AND... it gets even better. Baby Love even had food for older babies, toddlers and a few family recipes as well. 

You don't need some fancy baby food magician you just a blender. That's all. (Side story: Mr. B+B once had a fancy bullet blinder thing which I burned up and the thing literally caught fire mid-puree. He came home to find the thing covered in char marks and doused in water on our sidewalk. I since switched to the blinder and found it much more cooperative.) 

Here's what you need to successfully store all that wonderful goodness you just made. 

Supplies:
Ice Cube Trays
Quart Size Freezer Bags
Permanent Marker
Plastic Wrap
Plastic Freezer Jars (I love these)

See?! It's not so intimidating after all. 

The process is the fun part. So now that I'm doing this whole homemade baby food thing again the book has really helped me with determining how long to steam and/or cook each food item. I've also made sure that I always chose organic food too. I figured the money we save with making the baby food offsets the costs of organic produce. 

The Process for Freezing and Storing Homemade Baby Food:

1. Follow Baby Love's directions for cooking and/or preparing baby food recipes.   
2. Pour pureed baby food into ice cube trays.
3. Cover with plastic wrap.
4. Use permanent marker to date and label plastic wrap. 
5. After the trays have set overnight, I transfer them the the freezer bags which are pre-labeled with the date and food item. 

Now, your freezer should be completely full of frozen baby food. But how do you thaw them? Easy! I just take out the cubes and either let them defrost in a plastic freezer jar in your refrigerator OR transfer to plastic freezer jar and heat in a bottle warmer. NEVER microwave, but you knew that. 

The book will really help you out with the recipes. AND they are simple. Super simple. Like one or two ingredient simple. You CAN do this. I find it easiest if I head to the super market and pick out a few pieces of produce and then have a marathon cookathon in the kitchen for an hour or two. The food will last in the freezer for up to three months so you can make as much or as little as you need. 

I never ran into problems with transporting baby food. The plastic jars I recommended above worked great for traveling and it's really no different than having a bottle in your diaper bag. Yes, it has a time limit and no you don't want it to spill, but if your baby consumes it and the lid is on so all is fine. 

There you have it. My kids have both really seemed to enjoy homemade baby food. I loved knowing exactly what they were eating and where it came from. I found the process super easy and natural.

It's addictive. I'm warning you. 

*I'm sure you can hear the satire tone in my voice.

5 on friday

My lovely blogger (and real life!) friend, Chesson, over at A Southern Twenty-Five invited me to join in 5 on Friday so here goes nothing. How about a little weekly recap?

-ONE-

Last Saturday Mr. B+B had the honor of throwing a fabulous cocktail party. We shipped off the Bird to his granddad's house for the night and put the Boo to bed. My good friend, Kara, helped me whip up these jello shots. I got the recipe from That's so Michelle. They were super easy and quite a hit! I'll be sharing more about our party this evening, but if you'd like to read more about it in the mean time head over to A Southern Twenty-Five.

-TWO-

The Bird and The Boo both experienced their first 'real' snow. And ours as well since living here in Concord. I'd say we got somewhere between 7-8" of snow and ice. The roads were crazy awful so we stayed put and luckily cabin fever hasn't set in. Yet. 

-THREE-

The Bird received this awesome table and chair set for his first birthday and we just now got around to putting it together. He also received some play dough for Christmas. Of course he loves the barbershop kit and the concrete masonry unit maker. I'm amazed at how long it can keep me him occupied. Cleaning up is not so fun though. 

-FOUR-

Being snowed in meant that it was time to bake cookies. We found a great sugar cookie recipe through High Heels to Hot Wheels. Luckily, we had everything we needed and got to work creating our cookies. The Bird did a great job rolling and testing the dough to make sure it wasn't poison. Good news was that he deemed the dough "safe."

-FIVE-

In highschool I used to create blind contour drawings. I've been thinking about them lately and how fun they'd be to do with the kids. I've often enjoyed sharing them with my 4th graders who think they are pretty funny. This morning The Bird and I decided to do a collaborative art project. I did the blind contour drawing and he used his fancy IKEA water paints to paint it in. I think it turned out pretty swell. 

Have you heard about Tinkersketch? I've been contemplating joining the challenge and having the Boo join as well. I'd like to do it as a collaborative journal for the two of us. We'd share one notebook and I'd draw and create on one side and he on the other. I bet he'd love it.

Happy Valentine's Day, My Loves!