• Beach Bits,  Bug,  crazy stuff,  domesticity,  Moody Blues,  the laundry

    stormy!

    seaguls aren't afraid of storms

    It’s such bad luck to write about how manically happy you are. Singing songs about boxes…such foolishness! Well, you know what happened. A switch flipped in my head and suddenly I was struck with PMS (or something) from hell. That’ll teach me to brag about my office box. Whatever goes up must come down.

    Don’t worry, the office box is still rocking. The sun went behind some clouds and a storm moved into my head, that’s all. Thankfully, I have some very good friends who’s feet are firmly grounded in reality and they called me on my crap. I moped a little bit and decided they were right. I know not everyone can kill the blues with a good talk with a good friend but it worked for me…this time. And I am soooooo thankful. I hate falling down that pit of sadness.

    tractor tracks

    I plodded through the day, faking smiles at all of Baby Bug’s cute and not-so-cute antics.

    Let me just take a sidebar on the not-so-cute antics. I’m not complaining here, I just thought I’d share…because I can.

    Suddenly out of the complete blue nowhere, Baby Bug has a huge aversion to scratchy seams. She never cared before. She’s not an overly sensitive child. I can yank on her hair pretty hard when I put her ponytail in. She never complains the way I used to when I was a kid. She never complains that the bath water is too hot or too cold. She’s really mild-mannered for a two year old.

    little miss trouble

    Until lately. Oh my goodness! She will not wear anything that has “scratchy” seams anymore. Of course all the really cute clothes have super scratchy seams. It’s part of some great conspiracy involving Target and Old Navy and children from China sewing with thread made of steel wool for three cents an hour. Or maybe not.

    Maybe Baby Bug is just rebelling because I have not jumped on the organic-free-range-vegan-threadless-hairy-armpit bandwagon all my other friends have jumped on. (I’m just teasing you guys!!!) I guess I’ll have to start budgeting for more expensive clothing from now on. Hopefully, it’s just a phase.

    The other day she was walking around shirtless again and Toby told her to go put on a shirt. I already knew the battle ahead so I told her to go pick her own shirt out. I figured maybe if she was in charge, we might get somewhere.

    She goes in her room and comes out five minutes later wearing her super-soft crocheted blanket her aunt made her wrapped around her middle three times. Apparently, a wrap-around blanket sufficed for a shirt in her book. Whatever. Toby got a kick out of it but I just rolled my eyes. This is the sort of stuff she pulls all day long.

    Later in the day she decided her shirt and her pants were too scratchy so she took them off. Five minutes later she decided her diaper was too scratchy and off it came too. Then she ran around the living room screaming, “Naked Baby! Naked Baby!” I allowed it since this is sort of a fun game we play right before bathtime and frankly, I was worn out with her antics. I just wanted to sit on the couch and stare off into space for a minute or two.

    She crawled up on the couch next to me. It was nice. Just a few minutes of quietness between the two of us. I sighed. Maybe motherhood isn’t so hard after all, I thought. It’s moments like this that make it all worth it…

    AND THEN SHE PEED ON THE COUCH!!!

    Oh well. Life goes on. My new couch cover is very easy to remove for washing (because I’m a thinking mom like that and I planned ahead. I know you all thought I was an idiot to sew a couch cover in white but believe me, I had my reasons). I rinsed the cover off and set both the cushion and the cover out on the porch to dry.

    Wow. I got so sidetracked on my sidebar, I forgot what I was talking about.

    laundry day

    I guess I’ll just finish up by saying it was a pretty blah day with laundry and absolutely no box time, which could be part of the problem. But by the end of it things got much better and Baby Bug and I baked some watermelon cookies!!!! Which I will write about in my next post.

    In the meantime, I’ll just leave you with this photo:

    yelling into the wind

    When the weather gets you down, just yell at it!

  • artsy fartsy,  B reviews,  Buddies,  Bug,  crazy stuff,  domesticity,  Newsbreaking Hair News,  party party,  raving lunatic rant,  the laundry

    Long-winded Listy Post …and a story!

    I have so many things to write about and they don’t tie together at all so I’m just going to have to do a big long rambling list of sorts. I should have just written six little posts but… I didn’t.

    don't do this at home

  • Booster Seats!

    You guys give the best advice. Someone suggested a booster seat to curb my little dinnertime-escapee and you were right! This booster seat is just the thing. She loves it. (It’s green.) I love it! It’s rubber and broad so it sticks to the chair and doesn’t tip. It’s just high enough that she stays put and doesn’t jump up to run around at every whim but just low enough that she can climb up and down herself.

    I think that might be the only draw back, actually. She likes it so much, she climbs up into it all day long of her own accord. I’ll often walk into the room and find her sitting quietly at the table just doing her thing. Who knew! I’d rather she didn’t scale large dining room chairs while I’m not around but some things a mother can’t control. I can only hover so much.

    I did try pushing the chair all the way up to the table to stop these impromptu sitting sessions but that did not go over well at all. I guess a “big girl” needs to be able to sit when she wants to. Pity the mother who comes between a big girl and her big girl chair.

  • putting princess crowns on the birdies

  • Gel Gems!

    I swear I do not get a kick back from writing a review about all these things. It is purely a coincidence that this post is filled with several raving reviews. A reader (Hi Caroline!) sent us a package full of fun little things and I have to say these Gel Gems window cling thingies were quite a hit.

    the blue googlie bird is for Daddy

    They are definitely not meant for two-year-olds because they are practically begging to be eaten because they look like delicious little bits of Jello but they are loads of fun. I’m only letting Baby Bug play with them when I am right there with her because I know she will try to eat them like she eats every thing else she isn’t supposed to …plant leaves and cat food. When will she ever grow out of that!!

    So anyway, these are super fun. You can even play with them online and save yourself a trip to the store and from choking!

  • UPDATE: Don’t leave these on your windows in the sun! Yikes! A reader emailed me the following,

    “We had a disaster with those “gel gems” on my daughters window a couple of years ago and I thought about you and those brand new windows!! Anyway… on a really super, hot afternoon they melted!! They actually dripped down the window and caused this gloopy mess that windex would not even touch! It was awful!! I had to scrape it off with a razor blade which of course left little scratches in the glass and to this day it still has this icky film all over the window that I cannot for the life of me get off the glass.”

    Good to know!

  • A painting!

    twins

    Which one is the real one?

    Check it out!!! Is my friend Anna from borderline bonkers the most amazing artist or WHAT?!!! She blows me away. Look at that detail in the hair. Ever since I saw this painting on her art blog I knew she was going to make it big someday. So if you want to collect art from a budding artist, I suggest you head on over to her etsy shop and request a custom painting before it blows up. She’s amazing, not to mention she has two kids! How does she do it? I do not know.

    Baby Bug and her very special painting

    I am so honored to have this painting. Thank you, Anna.

  • my new bang-up hack-job hair-do*

  • Bang! Bang!

    Here’s something that is not a review: Check out my new bang-up hack-job hair-do! (those hyphens are for Bethany Actually, my personal editor, who LOVES hyphens.) I like them! (My bangs, not the hyphens though hyphens are fun too.) This picture is not the best but I’ve been sporting these new bangs for two days now and they make me very very happy.

    You know how rare it is for me to catch myself in a random reflection of a mirror or window and actually like what I see looking back at me? Rare. Lately, it’s been NEVER. But with these bangs? Not rare at all! I’ve been surprising myself all day long. Who is that pretty girl with the bangs? Oh! It’s me!

    I’m so happy! They’ve been putting a spring in my step all day long. I may not even have to go get them professionally corrected which was my evil plan all along.

  • mermaid invite

  • The Mermaid cards are for sale!

    Which leads me to that party-planning post idea. It is still perking. Groan! I STILL have not found the perfect name or figured out the best way to make it happen but it’s going to happen. I didn’t realize there would be so much interest. I’m really going to have to call on reader’s suggestions too because frankly, the demand for great party ideas kind of intimidates me! So put your party hats on folks! We’re gonna have some fun!

  • And now a story…

    balloons are the BEST!

    I ran out of pre-wash stain spray today and had to buy it on my way to the laundromat. No big deal except my laundry days are planned out to the minute. I can’t sort and spray my dirty clothes when I’m at the laundromat because keeping a toddler occupied in a dirty room full of strangers and open exits that she can just run out into traffic from is just a nightmare. It’s bad enough that she refuses to sit in the stroller any more and likes to run around licking things.

    I was a little bit worried that today was going to be a disaster since I didn’t get to do my sorting and spraying in the comfort of my home. How could I occupy Baby Bug while I tended to the tedious?

    We had an old balloon in the car that I had forgotten about. We got it for free at the bank. Well, Baby Bug brought that balloon into the laundromat and that was the best toy ever. It kept her occupied the entire time and the peels of laughter rang all over the laundromat. I think I did the world of service because you should have seen how she cheered up that dingy crowd. Even the most curmudgeon old man washing his scary looking yellow briefs had to crack a smile. It was great.

    catch Mommy!

    Then a man came in with no shirt. I guess Baby Bug hasn’t seen very many men without shirts on because his shirtless-ness immediately absorbed all of her attention.

    “Look Mommy,” she says. “There is a naked man in the laundromat!” Thankfully she says this just loud enough that I can hear but nobody else can.

    “Yes,” I answer trying to make an awkward situation seem like the most natural thing in the world. “It’s okay for boys not to wear their shirts. That’s what they do.”

    Apparently, my explanation was not satisfactory because she repeats her statement again but this time louder. A woman next to us starts cracking up. Now I’m starting to worry because the man probably has heard her and I have no idea what he is going to say.

    It kind of reminds me of the time my cousin called an African American man “Blackie” to his face in the grocery store. It was a perfectly innocent thing to say since that was the name of her cat at the time and this man was quite dark like her cat but… you know how these situations are. They can go bad really quickly depending on how the adults react to them.

    So I explain to Baby Bug again that sometimes boys don’t wear shirts. By this time she’s running around saying “Naked Man! Naked Man!” and I want to crawl under the nearest bolted-down industrial front loader. Thankfully, the man turns out to be a funny guy and he explains carefully to her that he usually does wear a shirt but it’s laundry day and all his shirts are dirty. Now why didn’t I think of that explanation?

    Phew! I think I’m done.

  • p.s. As of 11:12 p.m. this post has not been edited by my hyphen-loving professional editor. So blame all errors on me.