So I SERIOUSLY need to curtail my spending. I have been spending money on things here and there that have really been adding up. And the truth be told, I have been in a bit of funk lately and I guess I figured throwing money at the problem might help? Really? I am financial analyst for heaven's sake. I know better. Don't get me wrong, it isn't as I have been out there burning up my credit cards and ringing up thousands in debt but I have been pushing the limits for me. So I proposed to another mama friend that we go spend free just until Black Friday. Easy enough, right? I failed miserably this week. I was training this week and felt the need to buy lunches, etc although the facility provided beverages and morning snacks. We also had access to a fridge and microwave. ( I did bring lunch twice) To my friend, I apologize. I had no will power and I failed to follow through on our challenge. I promise to do better.
So what now? Well the first step is the put the past in the past and start over. I am going to start small with just the weekend and go from there. I do have a few household items and of course groceries I need to buy but I am keep it to the bare essentials. I think this will actually help me to enjoy my weekend more too which is an added bonus. I really despise the traffic and craziness that goes on in my area on the weekends. It is like people can't wait to spend their paycheck are racing out the door to give away their money. Not me, not this weekend. Instead I plan to organize my closet and put together some outfits for the week, read some of my library book, have meaningful interactions with my beloved, and most importantly spend time playing with my baby boy. This week has been exceptionally hard on me and I am hoping to recharge a little before heading back to work on Monday.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
DK
Friday, November 5, 2010
Cloth Wipes
I admit it. I am part "crunchy." I say only part because I am certainly not completely "green" by any stretch but I do flirt with the idea every now and then. My latest crunchy expedition has been using cloth wipes. A friend of mine (at the time a mama to be) who is a web surfing expert sent me a few blogs that discussed cloth wipes. Now, you might remember from a previous entry that I was attempting to cloth diaper but cloth wipes? No way! Or so I thought. One thing I continue to learn now that I am a mama is to never say never. It is kind of a long story that lead me to go down the cloth wipe path but let's keep it short. E had experienced some severe tummy issues which caused his tiny bum to be red, raw, and extremely painful after repeated changing. After a visit with our pediatrician, she recommended using warm water and cloths when changing E since even the sensitive wipes have alcohol in them. So Papa and I immediately make the switch. I filled a spray bottle with warm water and mild soap to use with our cloths. Well after a couple of weeks something hit me...we were using cloth wipes!! So I figured why not make it official? So I went back to those resources my( now mama) friend had sent to me and went about the process. It is super easy! I already had most of what I needed on hand which was a wipe warmer, clothes, water, baby wash and baby oil. I do also recommend tea tree oil as it helps with the smelly in your diaper pail. I started off using washcloths and cut up scraps of old burp cloths. Eventually I did order some cutie pie ones from a vendor on Etsy. Her shop is called TurtlesRUs and she does great work. I received 24 flannel wipes for 10.99 plus shipping. So there it is, my crunchy confession. If you are interested, there is a ton on info on the web that will guide you on how to make your own cloth wipes. Enjoy!!
Here is the link to the Etsy site:
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
My husband the "Woodsman"
As I may have mentioned, Fall is my favorite season. I love it, I mean really love it. To me, nothing marks Autumn better than the smell of the smoke coming from a chimney. We haevd a woodstove in our home now which he love. My hubby need only hear me mention having a fire and he is on it. As the cold months begin, he gets into full woodman mood even growing a full beard!
I absolutely love having a fire and we used it as our primary source of heating during last year's cold months which I have no doubt saved us a fortune. Of course there is a lot of time and effort that goes into getting wood to burn. NK is awesome, he has been getting wood ready for us since this summer. E's grandpa calls him everytime there is free wood available which is awesome. Just last weekend, NK and my soon to be brother-in- law cut down a tree in our back yard. Afterward, hubby went about cutting, moving, and splitting it all to get it ready to use. Just last night, we got the call that there is more free wood available. So this afternoon the woodman will be at work again!
13 Months
The weeks since Emory has turned one have literally flown by like a speeding bullet. September is the busiest month for me in my new position and it was compounded by the fact that we were hosting a major event at the same time. It was a struggle to get through but I survived and new fiscal year has begun.
On top of that, we were working on transitioning Emory to whole milk. We discovered he suffers from milk intolerance, although he eats all other dairy. After going from soy milk, to formula, to toddler formula, to a rice milk/coconut blend, we have settled on toddler formula while gradually adding an once of 2% milk(for now) until his tummy is able to handle whole milk. From what I have read one the web, this is common occurance and many tiem children outgrow it by 15 or 16 months.
So now that the dust has settled a bit, I should be able to get back on track with blogging!
The pictures above are from the Fall Jubilee in Old Town Manassas. Emory loved every minute of it and as you see was so excited even in the car. This was a tradition for me as a child and I was thrilled to be able to take my child. It was a beautiful morning with perfect weather.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Shyness and Separation Anxiety
Shy? No way. Well at least that is what I thought to be true until this weekend. While there are a few rare exceptions, E seems more than willing to strike up conversation with anyone at the grocery store, Target, etc. And sure when he is meeting new people, he is a little more attached for the first few minutes but after that he is off and running (literally). So this weekend when we went down to visit my family, I was a little surprised that he was hiding behind his daddy and motioning to be held. However, like usual after a few minutes of getting settled (and being enticed by new toys) the shyness wore off and he was the life of the party.
So what about separation anxiety? I have read at length about separation anxiety rearing it's ugly head in late infancy and possibly extendingthrough early toddler hood. I honestly thought it just didn't apply to E. Sure there was the one time, we dropped him off with my aunt and he was upset but that was a fluke, right? Oh and that period of 4 to 6 weeks when he screamed when we left the room but that was just him not wanting to be alone, right? DUH! That is/was separation anxiety! Normally, Emory seems to be more than willing to take off and play with other kids which is serving a motivation for me to get my butt out of bed on Sunday morning to take him to "Sunday School" aka the nursery. The first time we went was back in May and he loved it! It made my heart smile to see him playing with other babies his age. The same was true when I took him last week. He moved up to a new class with more mobile babies and again he was happy to play the other kids. It was a no brainer...until yesterday. I went to check him into class. He was the first one to arrive. Not thinking anything of it, I handed him over to the nice lady and BAM! The crocodile tears starting flowing. He looked back at me with his face red, tears streaming, and reached his tiny hand back to me. It was HORRIBLE! The logical part of me knew he would settle down once other kids arrived and he no longer saw me lingering. All I wanted to do was swoop him up and run out the door. What did I do? I did what I should which was grabbed my parent pager, took a deep breath, and walked away. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do but honestly could he have been in better hands? I mean these ladies willingly volunteer that time to be in a room full of babies who may cry, drool, puke, poop, or any number of wonderful things little one are known to produce. Of course, I was a bit distracted during the beginning of the service and was sure my pager went off. Guess what? It didn't. In fact, it never did. I did finally relax and before you know it the service was over. (I did sneak out a few minutes early, but hey I am HUMAN!) When I went to pick him up, he was playing with the other kids just like he had the times before. He did however burst into tears again once he saw me...oh the guilt. I know many moms go through this much earlier when they drop their children off at daycare. I am fortunate that E stay with his papa so when I leave for work, he is sound asleep. So what I have I learned from this?
1) Expect the unexpected. Just when you think you know what to expect, these little ones change it all up.
2) Make your exits quick! More often then not, your baby will settle down as soon as your out of site or shortly thereafter. Lingering makes it worse for you both.
3) Make sure E is not the first one in the nursery :o) He seems much more willing to run in and play when other kids are around.
4) Maybe dragging the bambino to church the morning after being in a car all day, off schedule napping, and going to bed late isn't the best idea.
So what about separation anxiety? I have read at length about separation anxiety rearing it's ugly head in late infancy and possibly extendingthrough early toddler hood. I honestly thought it just didn't apply to E. Sure there was the one time, we dropped him off with my aunt and he was upset but that was a fluke, right? Oh and that period of 4 to 6 weeks when he screamed when we left the room but that was just him not wanting to be alone, right? DUH! That is/was separation anxiety! Normally, Emory seems to be more than willing to take off and play with other kids which is serving a motivation for me to get my butt out of bed on Sunday morning to take him to "Sunday School" aka the nursery. The first time we went was back in May and he loved it! It made my heart smile to see him playing with other babies his age. The same was true when I took him last week. He moved up to a new class with more mobile babies and again he was happy to play the other kids. It was a no brainer...until yesterday. I went to check him into class. He was the first one to arrive. Not thinking anything of it, I handed him over to the nice lady and BAM! The crocodile tears starting flowing. He looked back at me with his face red, tears streaming, and reached his tiny hand back to me. It was HORRIBLE! The logical part of me knew he would settle down once other kids arrived and he no longer saw me lingering. All I wanted to do was swoop him up and run out the door. What did I do? I did what I should which was grabbed my parent pager, took a deep breath, and walked away. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do but honestly could he have been in better hands? I mean these ladies willingly volunteer that time to be in a room full of babies who may cry, drool, puke, poop, or any number of wonderful things little one are known to produce. Of course, I was a bit distracted during the beginning of the service and was sure my pager went off. Guess what? It didn't. In fact, it never did. I did finally relax and before you know it the service was over. (I did sneak out a few minutes early, but hey I am HUMAN!) When I went to pick him up, he was playing with the other kids just like he had the times before. He did however burst into tears again once he saw me...oh the guilt. I know many moms go through this much earlier when they drop their children off at daycare. I am fortunate that E stay with his papa so when I leave for work, he is sound asleep. So what I have I learned from this?
1) Expect the unexpected. Just when you think you know what to expect, these little ones change it all up.
2) Make your exits quick! More often then not, your baby will settle down as soon as your out of site or shortly thereafter. Lingering makes it worse for you both.
3) Make sure E is not the first one in the nursery :o) He seems much more willing to run in and play when other kids are around.
4) Maybe dragging the bambino to church the morning after being in a car all day, off schedule napping, and going to bed late isn't the best idea.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
12 Month Check Up
This is going back a few weeks!
September 14, 2010
We had E's 12 month check up this week. I say it all the time but I just can't believe it has been a year already! This visit we saw a new peditrician since our previous one moved to another center. She is just as awesome as the first! According to her, he is growing and developing just as be should be. In some instances even ahead of schedule.
My oh my, how he has grown!
Emory at Birth:
7lbs, 2oz
20.5 inches long
Emory at 1 year:
22lbs, 2 oz
29.75 inches long
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