I started writing this when Ethan and I first moved to Beeville to be with Kris (in May). Ethan wasn't quite yet two. Rereading some of these, they still pretty much apply almost a year later. Only a few have changed.
This is my top 20 reasons that confirm I am the parent of a young toddler. I can't wait until I can write this concerning my top 20 reasons that confirm I am the parent of a under 10 child, a pre-adolescence, a teenager, and an adult.
1. When your toddler does something new, that is an unwanted behavior, you have to turn your head for a second to keep them from seeing you smiling or fighting a laugh before you can discipline them.
2. You give the "I'm serious" face and point at your toddler only to get, in response, an "I'm serious" face and pointed back at by your toddler (refer back to #1).
3. The words you wish your toddler wouldn't learn to say, they learn right away the first time they hear it (for Ethan: pea-COCK, boggie, toot, NO) and the ones you want them to say, they refuse to pronounce correctly (please, I love you, thank you). (refer back to #1 when dealing with this)
4. Your toddler has the BEST honing skills on finding the most dangerous objects in any room you are in, whether at a friends house, your house, your parents house, public, etc (such as lighters, plugs, scissors, knifes, etc). You CANNOT hide them well enough.
5. You have learned that it isn't worth your breath to keep your toddler from climbing on everything. Honestly, I remember as a kid how awesome it was to conquer the counter, table, trees, fences, etc. HOWEVER, tall, old fashioned metal slides are still a no-no without mommy hoovering (really bad experience on that one).
6. You decide to clean out your purse. In it you find: crayons, paper, snacks, wet wipes, candy, a back up and completely smushed diaper, a toy truck and car, rocks, ribbons, a mismatched sock, loose candy; if you're lucky, you'll find your missing favorite lipstick (not ruined hopefully), your wallet, some gum (if your toddler hasn't found it first and eaten it all when you weren't looking), receipts, a phone charger, band aids, oh the list keep on going. No wander we women have back and shoulder issues.
7. You can recite every word, song, and dance in your toddlers favorite movie.
8. Once they've learned the concept of "hot" and "dangerous", everything you don't want them to do is "hot & dangerous".
9. You try your hardest not to freak out, gasp, or immediately run when they fall down so hopefully they'll just brush it off.
10. On the other hand, when you see them fall, and they immediately stop breathing for a second, you know it was a doozie and you brace yourself to swoop in, pick them up, cuddle, check for serious injury, and try not to cry yourself (this happened with Ethan and the tall, old fashioned metal slide, talk about feeling like dirt! I didn't even consider if my baby had broken his neck, I just needed him in my arms immediately, thankfully he was okay and was ready to conquer the slide in less than 2 minutes)
11. So what if they eat an entire sleeve of chips, or a package of cookies, or unwashed strawberries. My toddler was quite, still, and charming. As a fellow shopper, you can thank me by paying some of my grocery bill.
12. You avoid doing something super fun, such as swinging your child around by their arms or legs or letting them tackle you, or bouncing them on your knees, because you know you'll be doing that same thing until you have reached muscle failure and then you're in for a disappointed kiddo.
13. You wish there was a poopy fairy who would magically appear and change all the poopy diapers (currently, this is the butt wiping fairy)
14. You wander who the babysitter is talking about when they told you your toddler was really well behaved.
15. You often have to fight the urge to tell strangers how much of a handful your toddler is when they tell you he/she is cute/well behaved/sweet/etc.
16. You dread the time out (or any other punishment honestly) just as much as they do because it means you have to stop EVERYTHING you are doing to stand over them and make sure they actually sit in time out.
17. You think that if all that loud music in your youth didn't make you go deaf, than 20 minutes in the car with a screeching banshee will.
18. You swear you JUST bought your toddler new shoes a month ago, two sizes too big for growing room. And now they need new shoes. The same can be applied to clothing.
19. You look at mom's with more than one toddler, and hail her as a saint.
20. You have asked the Walmart greeter if they accept returns on toddlers. You don't really mean it, but sometimes the reactions you get are totally worth it!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Couponing
So today I made my bimonthly grocery trip. And lately I had become a little lax in the department of coupons. So I decided to step it up. I had clipped all my coupons Monday morning, but hadn't put them in my coupon binder. I looked through my two all you magazines (they usually have some pretty good coupons) and one of them had pretty much expired coupons. Then I was going to attempt to put them all away, but I haven't been feeling tip top shape lately. Blame it on over exercising, lack of sleep, lifting things that are too heavy, whatever. But my neck and back hurt so bad I couldn't hardly sit up, at one point in time I was laying on the floor attempting to sort my unfiled coupons (mind you, Ethan was napping because there is no way I would have precious coupons laying out with his rambonksious self). I ended up giving up trying to file them, and just went through them for stuff I knew we needed. I always do menu planning for dinners for two weeks at a time, and only buy off what is needed to make those, with few exceptions of stuff I know Ethan likes for lunch, snacks, and the basics (bread, butter, milk, eggs, etc), so I matched up coupons with what I was getting, plus some coupons reminded me of a few things I needed to get. I have been trying a new app on my phone called grocery list. I am not decided yet if I like it or not. It force closes a lot, and won't allow me to update if I am on the phone and happened to mention something I remembered I needed, and is kind of touchy. Plus, I don't like that there isn't a coupon section to it or even a bar code scanner section to help me decide which place is cheaper to buy it. Lucky for me, I did enough price comparisons in the beginning to know what is significantly cheaper at walmart and what is cheaper at HEB. Just so everyone knows, I am not a huge walmart fan, not because of walmart, but because of my lack of self control to get out of there without buying something that is not on my list. And I don't think I have ever in the last two years gotten out of there for under $50. And honestly, walmart supports a bit too much outsourcing etc, so I would rather give my extra penny an item to HEB. Seriously, if it is under 5 cents more expensive at HEB, I will buy it there. But that's my limit usually. Sometimes I kick myself because when I make that second trip to Walmart, I realize it was cheaper there, but honestly I am so done with shopping I just want to go home and unload my loot. And I always feel jipped. Usually it is like 10 bags for $200-$300 worth of stuff, talk about feeling cheated out of your money.
So back to couponing. At HEB I saved $14.96 in coupons, but HEB has a recap of what you saved buying their brand and items that are on sale, so total I saved $23.34 at HEB. At walmart, I saved $11.65. I wish walmart did like HEB and gave you a recap of what you saved by buying generic. I am sure I would have saved a whole lot more. Also, a lesson I learned today: if you accidentally cut off your expiration date, go ahead and throw the coupon away. They won't accept the coupon if they don't know if it is expired yet. And another thing, if you KNOW you got something that your coupon should work for, because honestly you have to be SUPER careful when picking out the stuff (size limits, quantity requirements, etc), then FIGHT it, go to your cart, pull out the item and show it to them. What can they do? Call over a manager? Seriously, most of them don't really want to deal with having to wait for a manager when you can prove you got the right item. (This happened today with a Johnson & Johnson baby wash, I got a 9 oz, the coupon was for $1 off, it said EXCLUDES 1 to 4 oz sizes, well the machine didn't want to take it, she tried to tell me it was only good FOR the 1-4 oz size, I reread the coupon, and argued my point, as nicely as possible, she ended up manually putting it in. Then she wouldn't take the $1 off some yogurts because of the expiration date, understandable, but sucky because I LITERALLY just clipped that stinking coupon today and its expiration date was mid Feb).
So yes, today I save a total of $38.30, and then some for buying walmarts generic while I was there. To me, if I can replicate that again next pay period, I will have save up enough to pay for our Internet plus some. My goal is to save enough to cover Internet, and gas for the month. That means I need to save roughly $150. whew, I got a long way to go.
So back to couponing. At HEB I saved $14.96 in coupons, but HEB has a recap of what you saved buying their brand and items that are on sale, so total I saved $23.34 at HEB. At walmart, I saved $11.65. I wish walmart did like HEB and gave you a recap of what you saved by buying generic. I am sure I would have saved a whole lot more. Also, a lesson I learned today: if you accidentally cut off your expiration date, go ahead and throw the coupon away. They won't accept the coupon if they don't know if it is expired yet. And another thing, if you KNOW you got something that your coupon should work for, because honestly you have to be SUPER careful when picking out the stuff (size limits, quantity requirements, etc), then FIGHT it, go to your cart, pull out the item and show it to them. What can they do? Call over a manager? Seriously, most of them don't really want to deal with having to wait for a manager when you can prove you got the right item. (This happened today with a Johnson & Johnson baby wash, I got a 9 oz, the coupon was for $1 off, it said EXCLUDES 1 to 4 oz sizes, well the machine didn't want to take it, she tried to tell me it was only good FOR the 1-4 oz size, I reread the coupon, and argued my point, as nicely as possible, she ended up manually putting it in. Then she wouldn't take the $1 off some yogurts because of the expiration date, understandable, but sucky because I LITERALLY just clipped that stinking coupon today and its expiration date was mid Feb).
So yes, today I save a total of $38.30, and then some for buying walmarts generic while I was there. To me, if I can replicate that again next pay period, I will have save up enough to pay for our Internet plus some. My goal is to save enough to cover Internet, and gas for the month. That means I need to save roughly $150. whew, I got a long way to go.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Dragon Obsession
Lately, Ethan has been obsessed with the movie How to Train Your Dragon. Like so much, I think we watch it at least once daily, yesterday it was twice, and we didn't even get home until 4! So yesterday while he was napping, I started looking at Pinterest (of course Pinterest, why would I be doing my chores?? Haha!) and I saw some crocheting ideas. And it all started with making a heart. Yes, a heart. I have been tired to making the same ole flowers for hats and what not, and I saw how to crochet a heart. It was SUPER simple. Here's my heart!
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| Link #1 for reference |
Then I was looking at that persons board on pinterest, and there were A LOT of crocheting ideas, including this one:
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| Link#2 for reference |
I mean, how could I pass up trying to make this?? Ethan LOVES Dragons!!!
So here she/he is folks. Ethan hasn't woken up from nap yet, so I am not 100% sure how excited he'll be, oh and in my pictures, I had forgotten to attach the ears, so mine does have ears. Oh and one more thing, this was my VERY first time making it, so I can see several flaws (the right front legs is quite a bit longer than the left haha, the head kind of cocks to the side, the right wing has a wider base than the left wing, and some mess ups during stitching the actual thing, but I bet you that Ethan won't notice one tiny little bit)
I love him, if Ethan doesn't, that's cook, because I love him and I will totally love him!!
References:
Link to making the heart:
Link to the dragon page (look through her page and you'll find the link for the pattern)
Monday, January 23, 2012
Laundry day
Can I just say how much I strongly dislike doing laundry? I have always disliked it, just because it is such a time consuming chore, but I especially dislike it since we moved to Beeville and we don't have washer and dryer connections in our apartment. I mean really? This stinks majorly! Because otherwise it would just be something much easier to deal with. And honestly, I will say this, not having a w/d in the apartment has taught me a thing or two:
My mother was right all those years ago when she said laundry would be easier if I just did a batch a day (and once we live in a place where we DO have connections, that is something that is going to happen consistently, much easier washing, drying, and putting away one batch versus 5 like today)
When you leave a pair of undies in the washer, you won't find it in the next wash at a laundry mat, you just loose them, pray they aren't your favorite.
Laundry mats and children are usually a very deadly combination in terms of driving everyone nuts. Ethan LOVES the giant washer and dryers and laundry carts and pushing the buttons and collecting the coins from the change maker and getting a treat (usually an overpriced honey bun from the vending machine) and running around like a banshee. It takes everything I have to hurry up and get out of there before I get permanently banned. Luckily, the main girl who is usually works there during the day LOVES Ethan!
It is so nice when someone offers to let you use their washer and dryer. SO nice. As in saves us $20 in one pop nice. And nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with that understands your crazy 2.5 yr old. And feeds you. What awesome friends I have! This reminds me of another thing, I will be OPEN to anyone coming over to MY house to do laundry ANY TIME (granted, once we get some where that has washer and dryer connections, however, I seem to be one of the only ones out of everyone I know needing the kindness of others every once in a while to keep my laundry sanity).
But that's okay. As much as doing laundry stinks (well actually, end product is smells nice), it is kind of therapeutic knowing how I am contributing to our family by taking care of this necessary aspect of our lives. A lot of stuff goes unnoticed staying home, like how often I pick up, how often I need to stop everything I am doing to address a whiny kid, food prep, dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, spot cleaning, maintaining the animals, grocery shopping, menu planning, laundry, baking, etc, all while attempting to have friendships. Um yes, this job is hard, but it was much harder when I worked outside the home too. Because I had to try to break all those jobs up into my last 3 hours a day, and then wander who is picking up the slack.
But y'all, just pray for me to be able to make it however long God wills it here in this teeny tiny apartment with no dishwasher and no washer and dryer connections. I know I can do it, it is just a mind over matter, and I can say thing: I will THOROUGHLY enjoy those luxuries when given back!!
My mother was right all those years ago when she said laundry would be easier if I just did a batch a day (and once we live in a place where we DO have connections, that is something that is going to happen consistently, much easier washing, drying, and putting away one batch versus 5 like today)
When you leave a pair of undies in the washer, you won't find it in the next wash at a laundry mat, you just loose them, pray they aren't your favorite.
Laundry mats and children are usually a very deadly combination in terms of driving everyone nuts. Ethan LOVES the giant washer and dryers and laundry carts and pushing the buttons and collecting the coins from the change maker and getting a treat (usually an overpriced honey bun from the vending machine) and running around like a banshee. It takes everything I have to hurry up and get out of there before I get permanently banned. Luckily, the main girl who is usually works there during the day LOVES Ethan!
It is so nice when someone offers to let you use their washer and dryer. SO nice. As in saves us $20 in one pop nice. And nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with that understands your crazy 2.5 yr old. And feeds you. What awesome friends I have! This reminds me of another thing, I will be OPEN to anyone coming over to MY house to do laundry ANY TIME (granted, once we get some where that has washer and dryer connections, however, I seem to be one of the only ones out of everyone I know needing the kindness of others every once in a while to keep my laundry sanity).
But that's okay. As much as doing laundry stinks (well actually, end product is smells nice), it is kind of therapeutic knowing how I am contributing to our family by taking care of this necessary aspect of our lives. A lot of stuff goes unnoticed staying home, like how often I pick up, how often I need to stop everything I am doing to address a whiny kid, food prep, dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, spot cleaning, maintaining the animals, grocery shopping, menu planning, laundry, baking, etc, all while attempting to have friendships. Um yes, this job is hard, but it was much harder when I worked outside the home too. Because I had to try to break all those jobs up into my last 3 hours a day, and then wander who is picking up the slack.
But y'all, just pray for me to be able to make it however long God wills it here in this teeny tiny apartment with no dishwasher and no washer and dryer connections. I know I can do it, it is just a mind over matter, and I can say thing: I will THOROUGHLY enjoy those luxuries when given back!!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Start of something new
Today marks a day that seems strange to me. For once, like in a very long time, I think since high school, I decided to go work out. By myself. Out of the house. It is strange because I am queen of excuses and procrastination. I will think of ANYTHING else to do besides going to work out. I strongly dislike it that much. And today was no exception. Couldn't get a hold of my work out buddy this morning so I was strongly considering crawling back into bed for another 2 hours of sleep. Then I got on pinterest. And ate some butter toast. And I don't know, maybe I am just paranoid or overly cautious, but I refuse to go running by myself in the dark. I just don't trust peoples intentions. And I am not a very strong person. Loud, yes, but what good would that do me at 4 am when almost everyone else in this town is slumbering? So I went to the gym. Albeit, I probably shouldn't have gone, it is my hubby's membership, and I am not included, but they did tell him he can bring a guest from time to time, he just stayed at home while his guest came in. One of us has to stay at home, what kind of parents would we be to leave our slumbering child in the house by him self for that amount of time, even if he probably would sleep the entire time? So I went. Honestly, I feel really proud of myself. I didn't do a lot, but I actually broke a sweat (which is a huge reason I don't like exercising) and I almost quit (another reason, I lack self motivation when it comes to pushing past the wall), and I for just a split second, felt like vomiting (yet another reason to never want to work out, who enjoys that feeling??). Then I made it! I did a whole whopping 35 minutes on the treadmill under fat burn going 3.8. Sure sounds easy, and it was for the first 10 minutes, then the stupid treadmill decided it wanted to incline. To 8. I thought I was going to die. Granted I was at a VERY fast walk, and could have slowed down, but my goal eventually is to only walk during warm up and cool down, I want to get back to running. So I burned 255 calories (which I think my body will continue to burn calories for at least another hour), which is awesome, because that means I can eat a skinny cow ice cream sandwich! (140 calories).
Okay, so this is very important for me to say. I am NOT trying to loose weight. Because honestly, I am already in my weight class for my height. The top of the weight class, but none the less in it. What I am TRYING to do is firm up this cratered, gelatinous behind/legs that I have allowed to get this way. I have never had perfect legs or a behind, but never has it looked this bad at my skinny weight. And I am not trying to do it for anyone but myself. Not even my husband, because that would be the wrong motivation, but he definitely will benefit from it. So I can possibly consider buying shorts that are shorter than my knees and feel confident about wearing them. I DO NOT CARE IF MY BOOTY AND LEGS STAY BIGGER, AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN SHAPE! And the second reason is, when I have my next surgery, it is going to be an all out, dragging by the hair, terrible surgery to be recovering from, and I really really REALLY need my lungs and body to be in shape for it. Especially since they will be taking a chunk of lung. I don't want to struggle. I want to go home after 3 days or less in the hospital. Like my last surgery when the shift change occurred with the nurses and I got a brand new set of nurses, my nurse didn't even know I was a patient. Hello! That is AWESOME. I was walking around, because frankly laying in bed all day actually made me feel antsy, and I was feeling good enough, and I really wanted to go chat with someone (I think it was like 4 am or something), and the new nurse went into my room to introduce herself (I was just approaching the curve and could see my room) and she stopped for a second, looked around, went into the bathroom, looked around again, and I can tell she was confused. I finally reached the door and asked her if she was looking for me, she just about jumped out of her skin. What a great feeling! That is EXACTLY how I want the next one to be. Not the gentleman four rooms down who was having a hard hard time with recovering that he required the nurses more than me. My day will come when I need more assistance than the youngin down the hall. Until then, I need to be that youngin!
So yea, I say today is that start. Maybe. Actually, the big start was last Tuesday when my exercise buddy and I decided to meet at 4am to work out, and we did it Tuesday and Wednesday, then rested on Thursday and Friday, and picked back up on Saturday, so today was all me. I feel okay. Ethan will be up in about 20 minutes, possibly. And I will probably really REALLY need a nap, but if I can just hold out from not napping, then I will make it to 8pm (probably by the skin on my chinny chin chin!) and crash out, which is so important because the last few nights I have been sleeping really bad, which makes 3:30 suck even more. And then I can start again. Ugh. How long does it take to not hate exercising? I have heard never, but you hit a point where you can see results and start feeling better, and it makes it easier to want to go, but it still sucks. Then I hear some people get addicted to exercising. I highly doubt I will ever be an exercise addict. Ever.
Okay, so this is very important for me to say. I am NOT trying to loose weight. Because honestly, I am already in my weight class for my height. The top of the weight class, but none the less in it. What I am TRYING to do is firm up this cratered, gelatinous behind/legs that I have allowed to get this way. I have never had perfect legs or a behind, but never has it looked this bad at my skinny weight. And I am not trying to do it for anyone but myself. Not even my husband, because that would be the wrong motivation, but he definitely will benefit from it. So I can possibly consider buying shorts that are shorter than my knees and feel confident about wearing them. I DO NOT CARE IF MY BOOTY AND LEGS STAY BIGGER, AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN SHAPE! And the second reason is, when I have my next surgery, it is going to be an all out, dragging by the hair, terrible surgery to be recovering from, and I really really REALLY need my lungs and body to be in shape for it. Especially since they will be taking a chunk of lung. I don't want to struggle. I want to go home after 3 days or less in the hospital. Like my last surgery when the shift change occurred with the nurses and I got a brand new set of nurses, my nurse didn't even know I was a patient. Hello! That is AWESOME. I was walking around, because frankly laying in bed all day actually made me feel antsy, and I was feeling good enough, and I really wanted to go chat with someone (I think it was like 4 am or something), and the new nurse went into my room to introduce herself (I was just approaching the curve and could see my room) and she stopped for a second, looked around, went into the bathroom, looked around again, and I can tell she was confused. I finally reached the door and asked her if she was looking for me, she just about jumped out of her skin. What a great feeling! That is EXACTLY how I want the next one to be. Not the gentleman four rooms down who was having a hard hard time with recovering that he required the nurses more than me. My day will come when I need more assistance than the youngin down the hall. Until then, I need to be that youngin!
So yea, I say today is that start. Maybe. Actually, the big start was last Tuesday when my exercise buddy and I decided to meet at 4am to work out, and we did it Tuesday and Wednesday, then rested on Thursday and Friday, and picked back up on Saturday, so today was all me. I feel okay. Ethan will be up in about 20 minutes, possibly. And I will probably really REALLY need a nap, but if I can just hold out from not napping, then I will make it to 8pm (probably by the skin on my chinny chin chin!) and crash out, which is so important because the last few nights I have been sleeping really bad, which makes 3:30 suck even more. And then I can start again. Ugh. How long does it take to not hate exercising? I have heard never, but you hit a point where you can see results and start feeling better, and it makes it easier to want to go, but it still sucks. Then I hear some people get addicted to exercising. I highly doubt I will ever be an exercise addict. Ever.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Saturday
Hey fellow Saturday enjoyers!
I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! It has been uneventful, but still nice to spend time with a rambunctious 2.5 year old who is tearing up the house, and my hubby who just wants to sit on the couch and relax after working all week. No biggie. Please don't read this as I wish Kris didn't want to sit on the couch, because I can second that feeling in a heart beat. And a man deserves a little down time once in a while when he is the primary financial care giver. So Ethan and I went for a walk this morning, and it wouldn't be so bad if the temperature hadn't dropped 15 degrees since I first went out at 4 am (oh don't get me started, I love my friend I am exercising with in the morning, the ability to walk and talk without having to stop to holler at your kid or try to resolve an issue over a toy, or whatever it is is an absolute blessing, but 4 am just plain sucks, and so do the lunges Sarah...) and the wind was kind of bitter too, and I didn't really expect the temperature to DROP after 5 hours, so I didn't quite dress us warmly enough to be out there, and I hate to admit that, because I know if I am cold, Ethan is probably either fine, or chilly (he runs so stinking hot, he can sweat up a storm in 65 degree weather, it is going to be a fun adolescence with him, ha!). But he was okay, pushing his big ole John Deere dump truck all over the place, putting dirt in the back, sitting on it while I pushed him, pushing it down a hill and watching how far it went. He's a hoot. The funniest thing was when he realized that running his dump truck through the dirt gets it dirty (imagine that!) and he was upset for about 2 seconds about the tires being dirty. He got over that fast.
Another thing we are working on, and I am trying so hard to be patient, with is potty training. He was doing SO good in the beginning, he loved going to the potty and usually didn't make it in time, and he had a lot of poopy undies (I still shudder, I would rather diapers for poop, instead of washing out underwear, ick!). And then he got pooping on the potty down (which is absolutely spectacular!) and to this day he will NOT poop in a diaper, which is totally rocken for mommy! BUT... all good things come to an end. Or maybe just a set back. Because now he doesn't let ANYONE know he has to go potty (he used to announce it: I Otty, not using the P but definitely going), now he is just too busy to stop to go use the bathroom. I guess the novelty of using the potty like mommy and daddy has worn off. Because one minute he's cool, and next minute I look at him and hes got a giant wet crotch. I ask him: Ethan, do you need to go potty, he says: No. Well DUH! He's already went!! Or better yet, I'll say okay lets to potty, trying to nip it before he has an accident, and I guess those are magic bladder relaxing words, because before we can get into the bathroom, he's already gone! And get this, it isn't all of it! He'll still sit on the potty and pee a bunch! It's like, I don't know, what I am guessing is that he has to go so bad but can't fathom stopping (because it, in a toddlers mind, won't be there when he gets back) that he just goes as much as he needs to in order to continue playing with no issues. AHHH!!! Help! I reckon he'll pick it up eventually, just keep working on it, but another year of this in my future makes me want to just go back to diapers for another 6 months to avoid washing 5 pairs of pants and undies and a set of sheets and blankets every day! Anyone have some suggestions? I have tried bribes (candy and stickers) and verbal rewards (yea, yipee) and affirmations (give mommy a high five you big boy!!) I am just near the end of always having to take him to the bathroom and change his clothes. I am not embarrassed, do not get me wrong, because anyone who tsks or thinks of me as a bad parent obvious 1) has never gone through the potty training process with their child personally (in other words, the day care trained them) or 2) doesn't have kids. Simple as that. I just want to stop having to touch his pee pee clothes and having to dry them out before putting them in the dirty clothes so they don't get nasty smelling, or having to remember to make sure there is enough undies and pants in the diaper bag for even the simplest trips, and worse, his poor bottom, it constantly is going in and out of a rash from the pee (I always change him immediately, so I think part of it is the mixture of sweat, pee, and fabric softener, which I have completely cut out for him), UGH! Okay enough of that rant
I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! It has been uneventful, but still nice to spend time with a rambunctious 2.5 year old who is tearing up the house, and my hubby who just wants to sit on the couch and relax after working all week. No biggie. Please don't read this as I wish Kris didn't want to sit on the couch, because I can second that feeling in a heart beat. And a man deserves a little down time once in a while when he is the primary financial care giver. So Ethan and I went for a walk this morning, and it wouldn't be so bad if the temperature hadn't dropped 15 degrees since I first went out at 4 am (oh don't get me started, I love my friend I am exercising with in the morning, the ability to walk and talk without having to stop to holler at your kid or try to resolve an issue over a toy, or whatever it is is an absolute blessing, but 4 am just plain sucks, and so do the lunges Sarah...) and the wind was kind of bitter too, and I didn't really expect the temperature to DROP after 5 hours, so I didn't quite dress us warmly enough to be out there, and I hate to admit that, because I know if I am cold, Ethan is probably either fine, or chilly (he runs so stinking hot, he can sweat up a storm in 65 degree weather, it is going to be a fun adolescence with him, ha!). But he was okay, pushing his big ole John Deere dump truck all over the place, putting dirt in the back, sitting on it while I pushed him, pushing it down a hill and watching how far it went. He's a hoot. The funniest thing was when he realized that running his dump truck through the dirt gets it dirty (imagine that!) and he was upset for about 2 seconds about the tires being dirty. He got over that fast.
Another thing we are working on, and I am trying so hard to be patient, with is potty training. He was doing SO good in the beginning, he loved going to the potty and usually didn't make it in time, and he had a lot of poopy undies (I still shudder, I would rather diapers for poop, instead of washing out underwear, ick!). And then he got pooping on the potty down (which is absolutely spectacular!) and to this day he will NOT poop in a diaper, which is totally rocken for mommy! BUT... all good things come to an end. Or maybe just a set back. Because now he doesn't let ANYONE know he has to go potty (he used to announce it: I Otty, not using the P but definitely going), now he is just too busy to stop to go use the bathroom. I guess the novelty of using the potty like mommy and daddy has worn off. Because one minute he's cool, and next minute I look at him and hes got a giant wet crotch. I ask him: Ethan, do you need to go potty, he says: No. Well DUH! He's already went!! Or better yet, I'll say okay lets to potty, trying to nip it before he has an accident, and I guess those are magic bladder relaxing words, because before we can get into the bathroom, he's already gone! And get this, it isn't all of it! He'll still sit on the potty and pee a bunch! It's like, I don't know, what I am guessing is that he has to go so bad but can't fathom stopping (because it, in a toddlers mind, won't be there when he gets back) that he just goes as much as he needs to in order to continue playing with no issues. AHHH!!! Help! I reckon he'll pick it up eventually, just keep working on it, but another year of this in my future makes me want to just go back to diapers for another 6 months to avoid washing 5 pairs of pants and undies and a set of sheets and blankets every day! Anyone have some suggestions? I have tried bribes (candy and stickers) and verbal rewards (yea, yipee) and affirmations (give mommy a high five you big boy!!) I am just near the end of always having to take him to the bathroom and change his clothes. I am not embarrassed, do not get me wrong, because anyone who tsks or thinks of me as a bad parent obvious 1) has never gone through the potty training process with their child personally (in other words, the day care trained them) or 2) doesn't have kids. Simple as that. I just want to stop having to touch his pee pee clothes and having to dry them out before putting them in the dirty clothes so they don't get nasty smelling, or having to remember to make sure there is enough undies and pants in the diaper bag for even the simplest trips, and worse, his poor bottom, it constantly is going in and out of a rash from the pee (I always change him immediately, so I think part of it is the mixture of sweat, pee, and fabric softener, which I have completely cut out for him), UGH! Okay enough of that rant
I guess I should get off here and pinterest and go do some dishes, while I still have a few moments to myself (Kris is napping because I got to sleep in an hour and a half, and Ethan is still napping). I bet we'll be back outside after Ethan wakes up, I hear a lot of kids out there right now playing and Ethan thinks he can play with the 10-15 year olds, makes a mama nervous.
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| My sweet boy yesterday at the track, checking out his favorite thing: Rocks |
Friday, January 20, 2012
DIY Magnetic Alphabet board (courtesy of Pinterest)
So a friend of mine suggested I put some of my craft ideas/attempts up here, and that honestly, might hold me more accountable to actually FINISH them, hahaha!
So, for the first time in a long time, I finished a craft that required me to do a lot of little things (and had I had two days uninterrupted, I probably would have gotten it done way faster, but the only time I had to work with was nap time and bed time).
So to start, here are all the supplies I bought (and a rough estimate how much they cost, I already forgot haha, everything I found at walmart)
Large Oil Pan ($10)
Paint ($3 it is only a 32 oz small can)
Paint brushes ($6, assorted sizes)
Alphabet block puzzle ($4)
Glue sampler kit ($3)
Large Magnetic tape roll ($4 and I have a lot left)
Foam stars ($5)
Large pack permanent Sharpees (don't buy if you already have most colors, needs to be permanent) ($4)
What I didn't pay for:
26 large paint swatches, assorted colors
5 large paint swatches in a light gray color
What I didn't pay for, but didn't know you had to pay for (and I feel really guilty about it)
Paint sample colors, I did all my letters in light blue and brown (blue for the dark swatches, and brown for the light swatches) and the basic roy g biv plus gray, black, brown, and white.
Extra items around my house were a lead pencil, tape, a computer with printer access.
Okay first thing, something I will do different if I EVER remake this: MAKE SURE YOU SAND YOUR METAL OIL PAN BEFORE PAINTING. I have a tendency to jump right into things without thoroughly thinking them through (and sometimes reading the directions, this was a case of the directions). The paint does some silly stuff where is pulls away from the metal in funky areas, and when you put your second layer on, it looks really divoty (if that's even a word haha). And I don't think you have to sand it a lot, just enough for it to not be smooth any more.
So painting the pan is what took the longest. I literally put a new coat on for 4 days straight. The first two days, ding bat Randi didn't sand the metal pan and left it outside to dry and it was very windy those days, so there was all kinds of dirt particles and pieces of leaves, etc, dried into the paint. Gah. Third coat, one of the cats stepped on it and left a paw print, as well as a few blue paw prints on my table and I touched the almost dry paint, smudging it. Finally, the fourth layer made it look decent enough to show others.
Cut out each image, as you can see, my printer was low on ink, but that doesn't really matter much, these are just the objects you are tracing onto their permanent place cards.
I labeled front size (the side my printer prints on) and back side (for clarification purposes).
Color in as desired.
I tried to use words Ethan already knows, such as cat, dog, zebra, some words were really hard, like xylophone, yoyo, octopus, question mark. We are going to be working on those I guess.
Okay, so lastly, instead of buying those cheap plastic magnetic letters that always get lost, I thought the larger, block letters would be awesome. So I glued on the magnetic tape on the back of the block letter puzzle pieces (glued, because even though the magnetic tape is tape, it kept trying to curl back up and off the letters). I also glued on pieces of magnetic to the foam stars. What I had to do seemed like an extra step, and next time I will look for foam pieces that don't have removable backing to make them sticky. I thought to myself (after I gave Ethan a couple stars to play with and found the peeled off backing on the floor and the stars on my table): if it is that easy for him to remove the backing, then putting the magnetic strip on the back of that paper would be foolish. But then I thought: if I remove the entire backing, then its going to be sticky where the magnetic strip is not and end up ruined anyway. So I had the brilliant (and kind of annoying in the end) idea of putting the foam stickers on a pieces of paper, cutting them out, and THEN putting the magnetics on them. Well, it worked, it was just a pain in my behind doing roughly 30 stars. Yes, I said 30. I should have stopped at 5. But I had already stuck all 30 stars on the paper. (Another example of not thinking things thoroughly).
Ethan had a great time helping me put the matching letters on the matching cards. Hopefully some time soon Kris will mount it to Ethan's bedroom wall. Once it is actually there, I will put it on a separate post. I am just so proud of myself for actually finishing such an intensive project!!!
So, for the first time in a long time, I finished a craft that required me to do a lot of little things (and had I had two days uninterrupted, I probably would have gotten it done way faster, but the only time I had to work with was nap time and bed time).
So to start, here are all the supplies I bought (and a rough estimate how much they cost, I already forgot haha, everything I found at walmart)
Large Oil Pan ($10)
Paint ($3 it is only a 32 oz small can)
Paint brushes ($6, assorted sizes)
Alphabet block puzzle ($4)
Glue sampler kit ($3)
Large Magnetic tape roll ($4 and I have a lot left)
Foam stars ($5)
Large pack permanent Sharpees (don't buy if you already have most colors, needs to be permanent) ($4)
What I didn't pay for:
26 large paint swatches, assorted colors
5 large paint swatches in a light gray color
What I didn't pay for, but didn't know you had to pay for (and I feel really guilty about it)
Paint sample colors, I did all my letters in light blue and brown (blue for the dark swatches, and brown for the light swatches) and the basic roy g biv plus gray, black, brown, and white.
Extra items around my house were a lead pencil, tape, a computer with printer access.
Okay first thing, something I will do different if I EVER remake this: MAKE SURE YOU SAND YOUR METAL OIL PAN BEFORE PAINTING. I have a tendency to jump right into things without thoroughly thinking them through (and sometimes reading the directions, this was a case of the directions). The paint does some silly stuff where is pulls away from the metal in funky areas, and when you put your second layer on, it looks really divoty (if that's even a word haha). And I don't think you have to sand it a lot, just enough for it to not be smooth any more.
So painting the pan is what took the longest. I literally put a new coat on for 4 days straight. The first two days, ding bat Randi didn't sand the metal pan and left it outside to dry and it was very windy those days, so there was all kinds of dirt particles and pieces of leaves, etc, dried into the paint. Gah. Third coat, one of the cats stepped on it and left a paw print, as well as a few blue paw prints on my table and I touched the almost dry paint, smudging it. Finally, the fourth layer made it look decent enough to show others.
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| Painted Oil Pan |
Alrighty then. Next, I printed off the alphabet, A-Z with small letters included in a font that I thought was easy to read and easy to copy. I also printed off characters the represent each letter (apple, banana, cat, etc). On the multi-colored paint swatches, I transferred each set of letters on the bottom. I actually traced around the letter instead of just the general idea of the letter so I would have a reference of where I needed to paint in the lines. I then used my brown and blue to paint each letter (yes, pain staking, but first of all I could not find ABC flash cards, and by doing this, I probably saved 5 bucks, oh yea, big saver haha!). Once all those dried, I then transferred the images to the corresponding letter. Here's how I transfer something from printer paper to something else:
Your general supplies, printed images, the item you want to transfer it to, markers, scissors, tape, and a pencil.
On the back side, using your pencil, darken where your image is printed on the other side. The darker you make this the better. It isn't about how hard you press, but how thick the lead is on the paper, so you don't need to gouge into the paper, just keep shading until dark enough.
Tape the image to its card (so it doesn't move around on you) with the shaded side down. Trace your image (whether it is the general idea, or it is the actual outline so you can paint it in)
I am so far from perfect, haha, my apple looks crazy. But you have the general idea.
These are my first 6. I would suggest, for my next time or your first, don't use super dark paint swatches, like dark brown or black. The drawings you put on your swatches don't show up with permanent marker, so I had to take the image on my printer paper, color it, and attach it to the card. I honestly don't know how sturdy it is (my son will destroy it in 2.5 seconds I am estimating).
So, don't pick on me, but Y & Z are on the same swatch, because, apparently, I can't count and only picked up 25 swatches at the store, and honestly I just wanted to be done with it, so I didn't make a second trip back to walmart for one stinking swatch haha!
Along the left side are color samples, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown, Black, Gray and White (on the top, I wrote the spanish word for the colors too). All I did to make those was cut the 5 paint swatches (or however many you want) in half, put paint in the center, and rounded it with my finger (because the brush was not working for me haha).
Then I glued all of these cards on the pan. I am considering putting a clear lacquer paint over the top of all the cards to help seal it in. Anyone think I should??
When Ethan woke up from nap, he found this on the floor (I had just finished gluing it together about 1/2 an hr before and was letting the glue set). He was SO excited to see objects he knew. He proceeded to tell me, mommy: apple, banana, cat, elephant (but of course, his translation is app, nana, tat, fant, feesh). He was super excited!
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Okay, so lastly, instead of buying those cheap plastic magnetic letters that always get lost, I thought the larger, block letters would be awesome. So I glued on the magnetic tape on the back of the block letter puzzle pieces (glued, because even though the magnetic tape is tape, it kept trying to curl back up and off the letters). I also glued on pieces of magnetic to the foam stars. What I had to do seemed like an extra step, and next time I will look for foam pieces that don't have removable backing to make them sticky. I thought to myself (after I gave Ethan a couple stars to play with and found the peeled off backing on the floor and the stars on my table): if it is that easy for him to remove the backing, then putting the magnetic strip on the back of that paper would be foolish. But then I thought: if I remove the entire backing, then its going to be sticky where the magnetic strip is not and end up ruined anyway. So I had the brilliant (and kind of annoying in the end) idea of putting the foam stickers on a pieces of paper, cutting them out, and THEN putting the magnetics on them. Well, it worked, it was just a pain in my behind doing roughly 30 stars. Yes, I said 30. I should have stopped at 5. But I had already stuck all 30 stars on the paper. (Another example of not thinking things thoroughly).
My first post
Hey!
This is my first time blogging. Ever. So if I sound like I am rambling, or getting off track, or totally incoherent, please bear with me. I bet the more I blog, the better I will get at expressing myself quickly and efficiently. Like so many other blogs I have read and enjoyed and often thought to myself: "I wish I could write like that", I imagine those talents are not something that were perfected over night. Talent, yes, but everything awesome takes practice. And I have always enjoyed writing. Typing is like, totally faster (in my valley girl voice). *Side note, that may be a problem...*
Well, it is Friday. I often think of the the It's Finally Friday song on Fridays, but I find it hard to rejoice Fridays like I use to. It use to signify the end of a work week (some times) and the next day was a day I could do whatever I wanted, which usually revolved around things I needed to do more so (groceries, clothes shopping for me/Ethan, cleaning, etc) and Sundays always revolved around church (I am was/still am perfectly okay with my life revolving around church). But now, Fridays are just, blah. Another day. The good thing is that there is a strong possibility that Kris gets to have a couple days off and we get to go to Corpus or San Antonio, or just drive around, or whatever we WANT to do. So Friday's consist of finishing up things that need to be done (dishes, laundry, house work, taking Ethan out to run out some energy, lunch, nap, dinner, etc). And funny enough, Monday's still feel like Monday's. I think it is because when Kris gets to be off for two days, schedules get all messed up, naps are not taken (or way too short in the car), bed times are delayed, etc. All in attempts to get to spend more time with daddy. And mommy pays for it on Monday and Tuesday when that schedule is being reimplemented.
So anyway, how is that for my first blog? Nothing spectular, just thoughts I reckon. I am sure this won't hit not million people reading sort of deal (I might be lucky if 5 people read it haha).
What I do want to leave off on, is my favorite prayer, the one I have been repeating to myself a lot lately:
Dear God,
Please grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The Courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
This is my first time blogging. Ever. So if I sound like I am rambling, or getting off track, or totally incoherent, please bear with me. I bet the more I blog, the better I will get at expressing myself quickly and efficiently. Like so many other blogs I have read and enjoyed and often thought to myself: "I wish I could write like that", I imagine those talents are not something that were perfected over night. Talent, yes, but everything awesome takes practice. And I have always enjoyed writing. Typing is like, totally faster (in my valley girl voice). *Side note, that may be a problem...*
Well, it is Friday. I often think of the the It's Finally Friday song on Fridays, but I find it hard to rejoice Fridays like I use to. It use to signify the end of a work week (some times) and the next day was a day I could do whatever I wanted, which usually revolved around things I needed to do more so (groceries, clothes shopping for me/Ethan, cleaning, etc) and Sundays always revolved around church (I am was/still am perfectly okay with my life revolving around church). But now, Fridays are just, blah. Another day. The good thing is that there is a strong possibility that Kris gets to have a couple days off and we get to go to Corpus or San Antonio, or just drive around, or whatever we WANT to do. So Friday's consist of finishing up things that need to be done (dishes, laundry, house work, taking Ethan out to run out some energy, lunch, nap, dinner, etc). And funny enough, Monday's still feel like Monday's. I think it is because when Kris gets to be off for two days, schedules get all messed up, naps are not taken (or way too short in the car), bed times are delayed, etc. All in attempts to get to spend more time with daddy. And mommy pays for it on Monday and Tuesday when that schedule is being reimplemented.
So anyway, how is that for my first blog? Nothing spectular, just thoughts I reckon. I am sure this won't hit not million people reading sort of deal (I might be lucky if 5 people read it haha).
What I do want to leave off on, is my favorite prayer, the one I have been repeating to myself a lot lately:
Dear God,
Please grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change
The Courage to change the things I can
And the Wisdom to know the difference.
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