Ten Things Tuesday Vol. 8

Well, here we are... Tuesday again.  Emily didn't want to get out of bed this morning.  She said she just wanted to "rest for a couple while".  Yeah, well, too bad kid.  If Mommy has to get up and go to work, your ass has to get up and go to daycare.  Sorry...life's tough.

Anyway, here's ten things on my mind right now.

1. Stinkbugs suck.  I feel like I'm in one of those horrible "gross creatures take over the world" movies, like Eight Crazy Legs or whatever.  These things are everywhere.  Looking up from my desk I can see at least 10 on the wall/in the blinds/on my phone cord.  Gross.  The other day there was one in my car, and I hadn't had the windows down or anything -- sneaky motherlover.

2. Netflix, oh Netflix.  I was all excited that they put up the second series (fancy British people call them "series" instead of "seasons") of Call the Midwife.  But then, I watched them all back to back and now I have nothing else to watch.  I was browsing the "popular on Netflix" category and saw Raising Hope.  I feel like someone told me I should watch it because it's really good.  So I'll give it a shot.

3. Dammit, Outlander!  All this talk about the new Starz series based on the books has made me want to re-read them all again.  Plus, the newest book is coming out in the spring.  I don't really have a whole lot of time in my day to read, so I'm just skipping through to the steamy parts.

4. The Potty Saga.  I think (but don't want to jinx it) that we are getting really close to having a potty trained toddler.  FINALLY.  For the last couple weeks, Emily has been in panties only, except for naps & overnight.  At naptime (she only naps at daycare, won't do it on the weekends) she wears a Pull-up, and for bed I put a Goodnight on her.  But for the last few days at least, she has been dry in the morning.  I decided we'd use up the Goodnights and diapers we have at bedtime and as long as she's still dry in the mornings, we'll go ahead and let her wear panties to sleep.  The biggest two hurdles were that she wouldn't tell us when she had to go and that she really didn't want to poop (whether on the potty or in a diaper).  But I think those two problems are winding down too.  Yesterday, she went to the bathroom all by herself and pooped on the potty.  !!!!

5. Sour Cream & Onion Chips.  My mouth loves them, my stomach does not.  I don't know why I keep doing this to myself, especially when I'm supposed to be eating better.  But in my distorted brain, I go to Subway and get a turkey sub, then get a bag of SCO chips.  I ate like five and my stomach started to gurgle.  God, but they taste soooo good!!

6.  The Government.  I didn't vote in the last presidential election.  I don't really care who's running the country as long as I have a job and I get a little bit of tax money back each year.  This shutdown business is ridiculous.  I don't care who's fault it is or even what each side's argument is.  Just fix that shit and let's get on with our lives.  Come on.

7.  The Urge to Purge.  No I'm not going to throw up (although it might make my tummy feel better after eating those devil chips).  I'm talking about going through my emails and deleting a bunch of crap, re-organizing my desk and taking a bunch of stupid unused programs off my computer.  Next up?  I'm going to go through our file box and get rid of stuff we don't need anymore; and finally make a file folder for Caroline.

8.  Once Upon a Ripoff.  So I went to Once Upon a Child yesterday to take a bin full of baby clothes to sell.  I knew they wouldn't give me a lot, but I was unprepared for the offer they did call with.  They said they would take 19 items and give me $16.40.  Um, what?  The last time I was in there they told some other lady that they usually pay 40-50% of what they plan to sell the pieces for..  I didn't get a print out of what they did take (because you're supposed to ask for one when you drop off, but no one told me that, and they knew it was my first time selling -- apparently OUAC expects you to be a mind reader...); so I don't know exactly what items they did buy.  I looked at what was left (most of the bin) and I don't understand why they didn't take some of the things I had in there.  A lot of it was in better shape than half the crap they sell in the store; no stains, barely worn... but whatever.  I'll just take the same bin of crap back there in a month or so (or wait til spring because a lot of it was for warmer weather -- even though their website says they buy for all seasons) and hope I get someone else looking through my stuff.  PS they left the bin a wreck -- everything was unfolded and sets were not together anymore.  These people...

9.  No Elf on Our Shelf.  I was thinking about doing Elf on the Shelf this year, thinking that Emily might be old enough to enjoy it.  But after talking to Jerry, we might wait til next year.  The thinks it might freak her out.  I don't know if she'd really be scared of it or not, but I think maybe next year she might get a kick out of it.

10.  Go Pack, Go!  Sunday we went to see the Packers play the Ravens and it was F-U-N!!  Jerry's step mom watched the girls (who, she said, were perfect angels) and we got to have a little adult time.  The weather was kind to us; it rained before the game, but not during.  And the Packers won!  So there, rude Ravens fans talking shit to us on our way up the ten thousand stairs to our nose-bleed section seats!!  SO THERE.

Happy Tuesday!

Ten Things Tuesday Vol. 7

GOOOOOD morning!  It's not Monday anymore, so there's that.

1. Birth Stories.  Yesterday I finally wrote out all the details of my birth stories for each of my girls.  It felt so good to put it all in words and now I feel relieved that I don't have to try and remember all the details anymore.  I felt like I had to keep thinking about it to make sure I didn't forget anything.  I think it will be fun for the girls to read them when they're older--to see how I felt and what I was thinking when they were born.  

2. Mini Golf & Indian Summer.  So I had my choice of what we were going to do this past Sunday.  We would either go mini golfing or to the pumpkin patch/hayride/corn maze.  Well, it was supposed to be warm, so I didn't want to do the fall stuff since it wouldn't really feel like fall.  So I decided we should go mini golfing.  I wore Caroline in the baby carrier.  Oh. My. God. It was so hot and humid that before we even got to the first hole I was drenched in sweat.  Emily's poor face was blotchy.  Caroline was sweating and I had to keep covering her face because the sun was in and out of the clouds.  Never. Again.  But Emily had fun (she was always about two holes in front of us because she didn't start from the little rubber mat, she just put her ball next to the hole and curled/scraped it in.  Cheater.)

3.  Walk/Running.  I took Emily for a walk yesterday.  I was going to go by myself and try to do some jogging, but she wanted to go so I put her in the stroller and mostly walked the mile loop around our house.  I jogged a little bit, which Emily thought was fun.  And we looked for houses that had pumpkins or other Halloween decorations...then toward the end of the walk, we counted yellow recycling bins.  Whatever works!

4. Mad Men Season 6.  AMC's website sucks and they don't have full episodes of Mad Men, any season.  I finished the first 5 seasons on Netflix, but Season 6 isn't on there yet.  I remembered a friend/co-worker telling me about a site called projectfree.tv and looked for it on there.  So I started watching the first episode.  The website is an awesome idea, but sometimes the videos don't work.  I lucked out this time and hopefully all of the episodes play.  Then I'll just have to wait until next spring to watch the first half of Season 7.  

Google Image

5. Die, chestnut tree!  We have a chestnut tree in our front yard.  It drops those huge, spiky chestnut ball things (what seems like) all year round.   The weather has been so warm lately that I'm still wearing flip flops and when I walk out the front door to my car, I have to dodge the mine field of chestnut hulls.  They hurt so bad when they poke you!  And they're so big I'm always afraid I'm going to roll my ankle on one.  I really wish we could just cut it down, but it's a big job and we just don't have the time (or money) to get it done right now.

6. Costume Party!  Next weekend is our friend's daughter's 2nd birthday party.  It's going to be a Halloween costume party.  I haven't told Emily yet, because I know she's going to want to wear her Belle costume, but since it's at a park with lots of jungle gyms & whatnot I don't want her to rip it or get it dirty before actual Halloween.  So I think I might hit up my favorite place, Once Upon a Child, and grab her a cheap costume that doesn't include a skirt.  Not sure what it's going to be yet, but maybe a super hero??  Maybe they'll have something like this:

Google Image

7.  To grab & to hold.  Caroline is starting to reach for things and is practicing grabbing.  Jerry is working with her on holding her bottle (I'm sure he just wants to help develop her motor skills, it's not because he's lazy...) and she will hold little chewy toys up to her mouth and tray to gnaw on them.  It is really adorable.  Last night she held one of my hands with both of hers for like 30 minutes.  SO sweet.

Holding "Sophie La Girafe"

8.  Speaking of Progress.  Emily's Goodnight has been dry the past three mornings!!  It's still a struggle to get her to go to the bathroom, and she sometimes will just tinkle a little bit (just enough to get her treat for sitting on the potty) and I'm a little worried that she might develop a UTI if she doesn't get all her pee out.  And she's still not very thrilled about pooping on the potty.  Probably going to get some Miralax or something to help her go.  Because she's used to holding it so she doesn't mess up her panties, it gets too much and then it hurts her.  So now she's always afraid if she poops it will hurt.  I think once we get past that hurdle, we will be home free for potty training.  That and when she finally decides to just go when she has to and not wait for me to make her go sit on the potty!  I really want to get out of the pull ups and Goodnights because they are expensive and although it's wonderful when she keeps them dry, I still feel like they're dirty because they were on her hiney and have to throw them away.  WASTE!

9.  Christmas Lists?!  Call me crazy, but I'm going to start our Christmas lists for the girls (and I guess for ourselves, even though the only thing I want are gift cards).  I started a Pinterest board for gift ideas for the girls.  Every year I feel like it creeps up on me and I don't get done all the things I want to.  I'm also going to make a list of all the traditions we want to do.  We did a few last year (pomander balls, gingerbread house, applesauce/cinnamon ornaments), but I want to do more this year, and I especially want to have Emily make some arts & crafts gifts for her grandparents this year.  The holidays are so much more fun when you have kids!!

Pottery Barn--Grand Dollhouse

10.  My second NFL game.  This coming Sunday, Jerry and I are going to the Ravens/Packers game in Baltimore.  I'm SOOOO excited!  Even though we are going to get yelled at by B'more fans since we'll be wearing our GB gear.  I hope it's real Fall weather...  Emily is excited that "gramma gart-ner" (Jerry's step-mom Marsha) is coming to stay with her and Caroline all day.  They'll have fun.  And I'm looking forward to a little bit of adult, me & Jerry time.

Clay Matthews=Beast (Google Image)

Happy Tuesday!!!!!!

Ten Things Tuesday Vol. 6

It's Tuesday!!!

1. HolyCrapIt'sOctober.  Uhh where the hell did this year go?!  Looking forward to Halloween this year though, Emily's going to be Belle (and she asks me every day if she can wear her Belle costume) and Caroline is going to be either Snow White or Minnie Mouse (she might be Snow at daycare and then Minnie Mouse for trick or treating because the Minnie costume will fit better in the baby carrier). I'm just looking forward to the candy...


2. Fall Crafts.  I finally finished fixing up my fall wreath and the sunflower bouquet for my kitchen table.  The sunflowers were a pain in my ass and I might still have to chop the stems a little to make them fit better in the jug/vase.  But I'm not touching them again this year.  Maybe next year I'll feel like messing with them again.  The wreath wasn't that bad.  It's pieces and parts of last year's wreath with some new sprigs mixed in.  And I got to use my new glue gun to put the leaves on the front.

Yeah it's crooked.  Wanna fight about it?

3.  Boob Tube.  We watched the Once Upon a Time season premiere Sunday night.  We probably won't be able to keep up with that show in real time because of football.  Hopefully they will put episodes on their website so we can catch up during the week.  I'm still working my way through the available seasons of Mad Men on Netflix.  I need to find out what season is next and when it starts.  I think I heard they are going to split the final season a la Breaking Bad... Speaking of which, I guess we gotta watch that now too.  I watched the season premiere of Parenthood on nbc.com because I missed it last Thursday (10pm is LATE, man).  I'm so glad they put the episodes up on their website too!

4. Pretzel M&Ms.  I love those things.  I make myself sick on them.  They are especially good with diet Dr. Pepper.


5. iOS Version 7.  Thank goodness one of my friends pinned this article on some of the cool features with iOS 7.  So glad that there is a way to turn off that "movement" of the screen when you tilt your phone.  That was really annoying and I don't see what purpose it serves... Also! with iOS 7, you can change Siri's voice from female to male.  Which makes me wonder, when will they have an update that allows you to change Siri's voice to Sam Heughan's voice?  Because I would always be asking SiriSam questions; and telling him "from now on, call me Claire...or Sassenach"  OMG I'm such a loser.


6. Panties.  No, not mine.  Emily's.  Yesterday was Emily's first whole day of wearing panties (and keeping them dry).  She peed on the potty every time yesterday and although she didn't poop, I was just thrilled she didn't have any accidents.  Sunday, she peed in her panties twice.  I'm going to the store today to pick up some GoodNights, but I refuse to buy any more diapers.  We are doing this potty training thing whether anyone likes it or not.  It's definitely more work on my end than I thought it would be.  I'm the first to admit that it's so much easier to just change her diaper than to try to get her on the potty at the right time (since she won't tell me when she has to go...)  But I'm determined.  It's happening.


7. Shut Down.  I could really care less about most political things.  I try not to pay attention.  I did sign up for TheSkimm, so I know the bare minimum facts.  The Democrats & Republicans, the Senate & the House couldn't come up with an agreement on funding, so they shut the government down...indefinitely.  Luckily, I'm not a federal employee so I still get to go to work and get paid.  Now if I could only figure out how to NOT go to work and still get paid.  That would be amazing.  As for the shut down, I don't know.  Just makes us look even more stupid to other countries.  What else is new?


8. Neighborfriends.  We have lived in our house for almost 4 years and barely know our neighbors.  In fact, at the community yard sale two weekends ago, was the first time that two of our neighbors came over and introduced themselves.  That was cool, but I still wish that we had any neighbors under the age of 55.  I actually had a dream a few nights ago that a young couple moved in to the house next to ours and we became friends. That's what I dream about...how sad.  I'm just kind of jealous of people who are friends with their neighbors and their kids are friends and they come over for dinner and it's the 50s, basically.

9. Home Improvements.  I'm working on updating my master home to-do list.  We might finally be at a place where we can start doing a couple upgrades/remodels (on a VERY small scale).  The upstairs bathroom is in desperate need of attention, as well as the downstairs bathroom which currently has no ceiling.  As much as I hate painting, I'm so bored with the wall colors in our house.  And then maybe--MAYBE--we can put some art or some kind of hangings up.  Parts of our house look like we just moved in because the walls are so bare.


10. 5K? I think I might have found a race I want to enter. It's in November (almost exactly a month away) so I might be able to run 5kms by then...or at least finish.  It's $40, which isn't a lot, but also isn't an amount I want to waste, so maybe it will be enough of an incentive to get my butt in gear.

Happy Tuesday & Happy first day of October!!

Ten Things Tuesdays Vol. 5

Yep, I'm fully aware that it's Wednesday.  But I've been sick as a sick dog since Saturday night and just started feeling better today.  So here's a brain dump of randomness for this beautiful Tuesday in Wednesday's clothing:

1. Being Sick Sucks.  Oh, you knew that?  Yeah.  Well it does.  Especially when you have kids.  Luckily, my body decided to wait until AFTER Jerry got home from his business trip so that he could at least take care of the girls all day Sunday and most of the day Monday.  The worst part was not being able to hold them or even come near them.  I swear Caroline looked bigger Monday after not seeing her at all the day before (I literally got out of bed only to pee and get more water from the kitchen).  And Tom Hanks didn't bring me any flowers... :*(

2. That Yard Sale.  Yard sales always sound like such a great idea.  But then you have to gather all your crap, price the crap, then drag all that crap outside and make it look somewhat appealing to anyone that might be in the market for crap.  We had a community yard sale Saturday, so I paid $10 (benefiting the "Kids Club" I'm still waiting for an email with more info about - Hello! I have kids, I want to be part of your cluuuuuuuub!) and they did all the advertising & promoting for me.  So after we got done pricing everything around midnight, we thought it was time to go to sleep - but wait!  Right when we were about to lay down, Emily decides it's time to start puking and having coughing fits for the next four hours.  So we all finally got to sleep around 4:30, and then my alarm went off at 6:45 to start setting up.  I thought Jerry was going to kill me dead when I asked him to set up the table outside.  But we managed to get everything outside and then I was panicked because it didn't look like anyone was going to show up.  People started driving by and slowing down to look at what we had (I kind of felt like I was working a street corner and I should shout something lewd about my wares...) and then finally people started to stop and come buy stuff.  We did ok.  We made a little bit of cash and got rid of a bunch of crap.  I really like the idea of a yard sale, I just don't know if I'll ever have the energy to do one again.  If you're gearing up for a Fall yard sale, or starting to gather some crap for a spring one, check out this blog post by Samantha from Simply Organized.  She is an amazingly put-together person and I loved all of her tips & tricks for having a great, organized (& profitable) garage sale!


3.  Henry/Bobby.  Guys. The kid who plays Henry on Once Upon a Time is also one of the kids who plays Bobby Draper on Mad Men.  My mind was blown a little when I saw him on the MM episode I just watched.  He's cute but kind of annoying.  Speaking of Once, we need to get on the stick and finish watching the rest of Season 2.  Season 3 premieres on SUNDAY!

4. I just remembered I hate coffee. And also, Wawa's version of Pumpkin Spice is disgusting.  I thought a bit of hot coffee would make my throat feel good.  Nope.  Throat still hurts and my tastebuds are offended.

The little cup makes my hand look huge.

5. This Weather!  I wish it would be like this year round.  It is beautiful outside and I don't start sweating the minute I step out the door - so that's good.  I just want to go pick pumpkins or something.


6. I need new clothes.  And shoes.  And a new purse.  I feel like everything in my closet has been there since I was in college.  I know I'm not where I want to be weight-wise, but I really think I would feel better about myself if I found a more flattering pair of jeans or just a damn pair of boots or something.  I'm in need of a girl date to the mall, super cereal you guys.


7.  iPhone Dump.  Yesterday, Jerry took my phone and finally dumped all the pictures onto our "cloud" computer.  But I still haven't deleted them all yet.  I don't have enough room to upgrade to iOS 7 because I have 1100 photos & videos on that thing.  Yeah, that's basically every photo I've taken since I got the thing in February 2012.  It MIGHT be time to delete some...

This is the first picture I took with my iPhone (and it's still in there), right around Valentine's Day, 2012.
Emily was 19 months old. 

8. My Hair is Long.  And I can't decide if I want to get it cut again or just let it grow.  It really doesn't matter either way since all I ever do is blow it dry.  It takes maybe 2 minutes less time when it's shorter.  Eh.  Maybe I'll see how this long hair looks with some of the new clothes I'm going to buy...someday.


9. Halloween!  I don't especially love Halloween, but when you have kids it can be kinda fun.  Emily loved trick-or-treating last year, and I know she's going to love it even more this year.  I picked up a Belle costume for $6 from Once Upon a Child, and she's really excited about it.  I'm really just looking forward to pulling out all the chocolate from her bag and then letting her have two or three pieces of the reject candy (you know, once I've checked it for poison) like lollipops and tootsie rolls.  The costume looks kinda like this:

10.  Why do today what you can put off til next week?  Well I said I was going to start this Monday morning getting up at 5am to walk/jog around the neighborhood.  But then Saturday night/Sunday morning I was on my face with this nasty virus and didn't feel better Monday.  So, since you can't start any diet or exercise regimen on a day other than Monday, it will be waiting for me next week.  Hopefully there won't be another reason not to do it.

So there you have it!  Happy TuesdayWednesday! 

Ten Things Tuesday Vol. 4

What a lovely Tuesday morning it is!!  Here's this week's 10 things:

1. Flying solo.  This morning I dropped Jerry off at the airport for his four day long work trip.  BOO.  I'm going to miss him and the girls are probably going to be two big handfuls but it will go by quickly.  I think the worst part is I'll have to wait til Friday night to watch Once Upon a Time on Netflix (we are watching the second season together and he would be mad if I went ahead without him).


2. Wilson Phillips Radio.  Currently rocking out to "You're In Love".  Some of my other stations: 90's Pop, Rush Radio, Counting Crows, Big Band, Christina Perri, *NSYNC Holiday Radio... I know, I know - I'm so eccentric and interesting.

3. Mad Men.  I know I'm really behind the times on this one, but I'm waiting for the fourth season of Parenthood to come on TV, and I needed a new Netflix show to pepper in when I'm not watching Once with Jerry.  Don Draper is pretty cute..

4. Craft Frustration.  Early this year I scored a great deal (90% off!) on some long stem fake sunflowers and fall wreath sprays with the intention of putting the sunflowers in this awesome green pitcher/vase I got a few years ago from AtHome America.  Well those damn flowers were a pain in the ass.  The stems were sticky - coated with some kind of fuzzy glue crap and the sunflowers at the top kept popping off.  Guess you get what you pay for.  And I guess I need to get a glue gun now...darn. ;)

5. Outlander Daily Lines.  I follow Diana Gabaldon on FB and I'm loving the little tidbits she shares from the new book!  Her assistant (?) Ashley is also posting excerpts from all of the previous books for monthly read-alongs until the new book comes out in the spring.  They are even more exciting to read since the people behind the new Starz show have announced the main characters.  Now I can visualize Claire & Jamie like never before.  God I'm a nerd.  But at least I've got good company.  Stumbled upon this post (while Googling the crap out of Sam Heughan) and now I have to start following her blog.

(Google Image)

          

6. Disappointed by OUAC.  In a previous Ten Things post (my first?) I raved about Once Upon a Child.  I discovered there was another store in a neighboring town which is known for being a bit more affluent.  So, naturally, I thought that store would have better/nicer clothing, probably be bigger (hence more selection), and just overall be glittery and fancy.  Well it was a major let down.  I drove 20 miles away just to arrive at some sketchy strip mall.  This store was a little bigger, but the selection was about the same and the quality of the clothes was, in my opinion, actually worse.  A lot of Wal-mart and no-name crap (just to clarify - I buy my kids clothes at Target, Old Navy, and sometimes, yes, Wal-mart, but the idea of going to an "upscale" consignment shop was to get nicer, gently worn clothes that are more budget-friendly than actually shopping at Janie & Jack, Lands' End, J.Crew, etc...).  So I was disappointed because it was basically a wasted trip.  I did buy a shirt for Emily and a onesie & pants for Caroline, but it was just a letdown and I was bummed when I left.  Guess that just proves the grass isn't always greener...

7.  Autumn Day.  Loving this Fall scent!  I have it in a hand sanitizer that I keep in my squirrel hand sanitizer holder.  Didn't see a candle in this scent, but I'm definitely going to pick up a "Leaves" candle and maybe go sniff "Sweater Weather" because that just sounds like it smells marvelous.

8. Yard Sale! Getting geared up for our yard sale on Saturday.  I have pulled out (almost) everything I want to sell and stacked it in the basement.  And then Emily goes downstairs and pulls out the toys I have set aside to sell and decides they're her FAVORITE toy even though she's looked at it for 2 years and never picked it up.  She'll get over it.  I still want to go through the bins in her room and see if there's anything in there she won't miss.  Christmas is coming, folks, and I have a small house!  Really hoping we can get rid of everything so I don't have to make the trip to Goodwill because I'm definitely not bringing any of that crap back inside.

9.  Tea & Skeletons.  There's something about a gruesome true-crime story that intrigues me.  I must have gotten it from my mom - ever since I can remember she has always read mystery/whodunit books (Tom Clancy stuff, Sue Grafton's ABC murder series) and watched CSI/NCIS.  So I love this tumblr because it's a mash up of all kinds of freaky/scary/weird stuff.  It's not just true crime/serial killers; there's human abnormalities & sink holes too.  It's awesome.  But I can only check it out during the day (because at night it's just too easy to imagine my house is haunted or a serial killer is standing outside my window..)

10. I'm an aunt! (sort of) Ok, not at all really.  But my best friend had her little boy on Saturday and I'm so excited for her.  She is an amazing person and I am so glad that we can now share this adventure of mommyhood together!

That's what's exciting in my life this week!  Not looking forward to the next three days of doing evening routines by myself.  Not so worried about Caroline - as long as she eats she's happy - but Emily is a busy and spirited little girl, who needs more attention now than she ever did.  #negativeattentionisstillattention 

Happy Tuesday all!

Ten Things Tuesday Vol. 3

Happy Tuesday!  Really excited because today I get to have lunch with an old friend and we're going to Olive Garden.  Mmm.  Breadsticks.  Anyway, here are this week's Ten Things:

1. Little Milestone. Yesterday was Caroline's first day of daycare and I thought I would be really sad, but I wasn't.  I almost feel like a bad mother because it was so easy to leave my baby.  But she did great and Emily was a super cute big sister - she is very possessive of HER baby.

2. Little Genius.  At daycare, when the school-age kids go back to school, the "little kids" start their school year "curriculum" which I find adorable.  Emily came home with this:

I can't stand it.  I'm sorry but look at those As & Ts!! Mensa can just go ahead and send her an invitation...

3. My Hair.  Yep, being shallow this Tuesday (it gets worse, just wait for #4).  But guys, I was really bummed because after I had Caroline the texture of my hair seemed weird.  It was really frizzy and felt coarse.  I have pretty thin, fine hair.  I'm not balding or anything but basically when we were kids, the volume of my pony tail was the less than that of ONE of my sister's pig tails.  So I was really surprised when my hair started to change (my mom said it was normal and it happened to her after having the two of us).  But then I switched shampoos (from Garnier Pure & Clean to Herbal Essence Mandarin) and yesterday my hair was seriously so silky I couldn't stop touching it.  I don't know if it's really the Herbal Essence - I haven't used that brand since this commercial came out - or what but I'm loving it.  

4. My Toes.  No picture because I hate my feet, but I just got my toes did on Sunday and it was glorious!  Forgot to shave my legs, so sorry Vietnamese dude who had to massage my prickly legs...but my toes are officially ready for fall.  I don't remember the color, but it's similar to this (Essie's Devil's Advocate). 

                                           

5. Booze.  It was a tough decision, but one of the many perks of putting the baby on formula is that I don't have to worry about what I eat or drink affecting my milk anymore.  She wasn't getting fed often enough, I was going crazy and getting no sleep, and she had horrible reflux.  Thankfully, after a couple weeks of weaning her off the boob, I am proud to say that she is sleeping 9-10 hours (almost) every night and not projectile vomiting anymore... so that's good.  But ANNNNYway - the point is, I have started enjoying an adult beverage every once in a while.  On my birthday (last week) we went to Applebee's and I ordered a sangria.  I thought I was getting the Apple Sangria I used to get, but they brought me the Berry Sangria.  But oh my it was delicious - so delicious in fact that we went there again last night and I got another one.  Equally as delicious.  There is currently a 5-pack of Coors Light in our fridge (5 because I had one Sunday night while watching the Pack lose...). 

6. My New iPhone Case.  It's on its way!  I finally got my VB gift coupon for my birthday - I was thinking it wasn't going to come since I hadn't shopped there in a while, but it came a couple days after my actual birthday.  Sunday I went into the VB store at the mall but they only had a couple spring-y looking prints in the style of case I like, so I decided to order one online even though I abhor paying shipping.  But since I got 40% off, it was sorta worth it.  My old case is cracked and worn at the corners and I rarely buy things for myself, dammit!  

                       

7. Exercising.  This is frustrating.  I really WANT to exercise.  But I don't have time.  I guess I'm going to have to make myself get up at 5:00am and go run around the neighborhood or something because I literally do not have time to do anything else.  I get off work at 4pm, have to pick up the kids by 5pm, and then there's the mad rush from dinner to bedtime and then what?  SLEEP.  I need sleep.  But I should take advantage of the fact that Caroline is sleeping so well lately and just get myself of up early.  You know what?  Tomorrow morning, I'm going to do it.  I may have to sleep in my workout clothes, but I'm going to do it.  I need new sneakers.  I want these:

                       

8. Solo Parenting. No, there's no trouble in paradise, but Jerry is going to be out of town this Thursday-Saturday and then next Tuesday-Friday.  Like flying many miles out of town.  Which means I'm going to be on my own with two kids.  One of which is an extremely needy...toddler.  I swear the three year old is more demanding of my time than the newborn.  So I'm not looking forward to it - in fact I'm pretty damn scared - but it will be OK.  It will be OK...it will be OK...

9. Fall. I know this was on my first Ten Things list, but I just love Fall.  Also, it's my blog and I'll repeat myself if I want to.  I'm really hoping that today or tomorrow I can talk Jerry into getting my (very few) Fall decorations down from the attic.  Along with the "jump-jump" (exersaucer) for Caroline.  Sure she's only 10 weeks old, but she can hold her head up and put some weight on her chubby little legs already so I say, hey, what's one more large, cumbersome baby gear item in our living room?  It's not like anyone has to walk around in there...

10. Up & Up.  Don't know if I've already shared my obsession with Target here, but I just want to say that I love Target.  We buy Up&Up everything - almost.  We even buy the Up&Up baby formula.  It's like half the price with all the same ingredients as name brand.  Also another reason I love Target is the little surprises you can find if you shop there three times a week like I do.  Example - went to Target to buy diapers (you guessed it: Up&Up!) and wipes.  I actually DON'T buy the Target brand wipes because they are thin and really wet, but they are a great deal so I might consider switching if things get tight.  BUT I happened upon the clearance end cap in the baby section and there was a box of 320 HUGGIES One & Done scent free wipes for $2.26.  TWO DOLLARS.  That box normally retails for $8.99 but because it was an online return, it was super cheap.  They had to change the price at the register, but I was eagle-eyed and was like "ahem - those wipes are two bucks, lady".  I obviously said it more nicer like than that.  But, hello SCORE! I love me some Target folks.

                      

Annnnd that's about it for me.  Had lunch with this awesome lady today.  My friend Karen is an inspiration to me.  She has done a bunch of triathlons and all sorts of other races and will be doing a half Ironman in November.  She blogs about her experiences in all things running...and swimming and biking :)  Love her!

Tomorrow is Hump Day. Mike Mike Mike Mike...what day is it?!

Ten Things Tuesday: Vol. 2

1. Hooray for mini breakthroughs.  For probably the last year, we have been short-order cooking dinner for Emily.  She kept refusing to eat (or even try) whatever we were eating, so we got to the point where be didn't want to push it and just made her chicken nuggets or PBJ for dinner.  But last night, we were having meatloaf and mashed potatoes (a meal she used to DEVOUR when she was just starting out on table food) and she wouldn't touch it.  She downed her strawberries and picked at her corn, but absolutely refused to even lick a piece of meatloaf.  BUT after about 45 minutes of begging, pleading, promising, bribing, reverse psychology and even a little food fight between Jerry and me, something clicked and she opened her mouth to try it (at this point she was sitting on my lap and I was reduced to trying to feed her like a baby).  And guess what? she liked it!  Ate every bite.  So we are going to try again tonight!

2. I ate carrots.  That sentence should actually say, "I HATE carrots."  But I'm trying to add more healthy foods into my diet and I put carrots on Emily's plate so I had to put some on mine too.  Yesterday, my lunch consisted of lowfat bologna and cheese on a whole-wheat bagel thin, strawberries and three baby carrots with fat free (disgusting) ranch dressing.  Three.  Yes I know.  But that's three more carrot sticks then I have ever eaten in my life.  I'm proud of myself.

3. My birthday is next week.  Next Tuesday is my birthday.  Cringing at the thought of being 28, but looking forward to having dinner out somewhere (with or without the girls, not sure yet) and getting a massage & pedicure.  Good god definitely a pedicure.

4. Potty Training SUCKS.  I never thought it would be this hard.  Really.

5. Parenthood.  Just discovered this show on Netflix (didn't feel like watching LOST or The Tudors for a third time) and decided to give it a try.  I really am not a fan of Lauren Graham (I'd rather eat off the McDonald's bathroom than watch 5 minutes of Gilmore Girls) but there are a bunch of awesome actors in the show that make it worth it.  I just like how real it seems.  I'm in Season 2 already because I've been pretty much ignoring my family in order to watch it.  Irony anyone?

6. Our cat died.  Friday night I was packing up to go to my sister's house for the weekend and noticed that I hadn't seen or heard the cat all day.  That wouldn't have necessarily alarmed me because she was pretty aloof and skittish, but usually she would be standing at the bottom of the stairs meowing at least once during the day.  So I went downstairs to put something in the washer and just happened to look into the downstairs bathroom where her food and litter box were.  There she was, poor thing, laying in the litter box.  We are assuming that she had a stroke or heart attack or something because I wouldn't think she'd actually choose to die surrounded by poop and pee.  So I went to get Jerry and he took care of it all for me, bless him.  I just couldn't deal with it.  He realized his shovel was on the job site so we had to put her in the shed until yesterday when he could bury her.  We marked her with a piece of our flagstone patio.  She was 16 years old.  We are waiting until Emily notices she's gone to broach the dead pet subject.  I'm sure there will be talk of a magical farm for old pets...

7. Dream Pinterest Wardrobe.  I, like almost every other woman with a Pinterest account, love to spend way too much time looking at cute outfits.  I'm using it as sort of motivation for this weight loss/getting healthy thing since I hate all my clothes and really need new ones but I refuse to spend money on clothes that I really don't want to be able to fit into.  So I'm going to keep looking frumpy but keep eating better and exercising until I am forced to buy something in a smaller size.  I'm very tempted to buy something really cute in a size 12 or something so that I HAVE to lose weight in order to justify the purchase.  Just hasn't come to that yet.  So I'm going to keep pinning really cute clothes to help me focus. Sounds totally legit to me.

8. Still waiting for my VB birthday card.  I used to be really obsessed with Vera Bradley.  I have a few purses (of course with matching wallets, sunglass case and checkbook covers) and some office supplies, key chains and the newest addition was my iPhone case.  But that was LAST fall and I really would like a new one (especially since this one is cracked).  But Vera's not cheap and I've dramatically cut back on any kind of shopping for the sake of shopping since my disposable income disappeared three years ago.  So I'm patiently waiting for my birthday gift card to the VB store to come in the mail so that I can at least take some of the sting out of my next purchase there.

9.  Two month well visit.  Seriously? Already?!  Cannot believe how fast time is flying.  I think it goes twice as fast when you have two. :*(

10. Birds think my Jeep is a toilet.  And it's annoying.

Not a very exciting Ten Things today.  Hopefully the next edition will be more exciting......

Ten Things Tuesdays

So, this is totally a stolen idea.  I've seen tons of blogs out there that do a five things or ten things list of random things they love.  So guess what? Me too.

Every Tuesday I'll share a list of the most random things I can come up with that I either love (or hate) right now.  I think of it as my personal "current events" bulletin board.  I know, it makes no sense.

Here they are, in no particular order:


1. Fall.  Yes I know it's August.  But it's almost the end of August and that means that Fall is right around the corner.  Luckily, I still have small children so I don't have to join in all the crazy back to school mayhem just yet, but I do like seeing all the Fall decorations and starting to plan for the holidays.

(Google Images - Fall)

I also love looking at all the pretty Fall outfits I'll never buy on Pinterest:

2. Agreeable Toddler.  This morning was a rarity in our house.  Emily actually went on the potty after only being asked twice.  Sure I had to move the potty in her room (and sure, she peed on her PBkids chair last night when the potty was literally two feet away)...but this morning she peed on the potty.  And then proceeded to do what I asked her to do, including putting her shoes on by herself (she usually throws a fit with actual tears until I do it for her) and letting me brush her teeth.  We got out the door only running about 15 minutes late (and that was my bad for snoozing the alarm for 45 minutes...)  If only every day were so marvelous.

Super Cool Princess!

3. Once Upon a Child.  Seriously, why have I not been buying and selling all my kids' outgrown clothes here?! I went in on a whim yesterday after dropping Emily off at daycare.  I wanted to see if they had a decently priced tandem stroller.  They had a Joovy Caboose for $80 which I thought would've been a great price had it not been filthy.  I'm too lazy  busy to give it the deep cleaning it would need. BUT I went inside and started looking at the clothes.  I usually don't like buying clothes secondhand; I just think it's kinda icky.  I may or may not have smelled each piece of clothing before deciding to buy it. After checking for stains (one onesie had a minor one but it would be covered up by the dress), I ended up buying two dress-onesie sets and two sleepers for Caroline, and three shirts and a pair of jeans for Emily.  All for $30.  THIRTY BUCKS.  I'll be going back...with a box of outgrown clothes to sell too.

4. Football.  This goes along with Fall, but... I'm actually really looking forward to football.  I never used to watch it, but 7 years or so, Jerry started getting into it and we started following the Green Bay Packers.  We might actually get to go to a game this year...and in other news, Jerry said he would NOT be commishing his own fantasy league this year.  Yay.

5. Ear infections and frenulectomies.  These two things are definitely in the "hate" column.  Emily has had multiple ear infections since she was about 18 months.  In March of this year she had tympanostomy tubes placed in her ears to help with drainage and therefore (hopefully) keep her from getting more infections.  They were doing great until this last month, when she somehow ended up with staph in her left ear.  Then, after that was cleared up, her right ear showed the same symptoms and sure enough...staph.  When the pediatrician looked in her ears, she could see the tubes about to fall out.  We haven't even finished paying for the surgery yet and the damn things are falling out.  Awesome.  Speaking of amazing doctor bills, we just got an invoice for Caroline's frenulectomy.  That's where they snip about a millimeter of the little piece of skin holding the tongue to the bottom of the mouth - a procedure that takes about 15 seconds.  And apparently costs about $600.  Nice.  It's a good thing these girls are cute.   

6. Home Goods. I love this store.  Maybe more than I love Target.  I've been there twice in a 7-day period.  I especially love their prices on baskets and plastic storage containers (two of which are now holding this week's potty bribes: mini marshmallows and and M&Ms/Sixlets mix). I also think I may have found our next bedspread: 

But I'm extremely indecisive...I decided if it's there when I can go back on Thursday that it's meant to be and I will get it.

7. Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.  I have rediscovered this childhood favorite.  They are the only kind of Cheerios I like.  Emily loves them too.  A little bit better for her than the Reese's PB Puffs I accidentally got her hooked on...

8. Apple Flips/Pumpkin Delights.  On the subject of food with questionable nutritional value, I look forward all year to the one week stores sell Apple Flips. I could & would eat an entire box of them. Then, the rest of the fall/winter the only thing you can find is the Pumpkin Delights.  Of which I could and would eat at least half the box...

9. Disney Junior.  We watch a LOT of preschool television in our house.  Don't judge me - you do what you have to in order to keep your kids entertained so you can get something--anything!--done.  Anyway, some of Emily's favorite shows right now include: Doc McStuffins, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Octonauts, Sophia the First, and the old standby - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Almost all of their shows I can tolerate (and actually find myself watching even after Emily's gone to bed); with the exception of Little Einsteins.  I cannot stand that show.  They all have the most annoying voices and they are LOUD.  I'm talking Dora loud. SO we were at Target (surprise!) the other day and I decided to let Emily pick out some new big girl undies (#whatajoke).  She decided on Doc McStuffins, but I noticed that they had Jake & the Neverland Pirates underwear for boys.  I'm not a feminist or anything, but I just thought it would be cool if they sold J&NP undies for girls.  I mean, Izzy's a girl, after all.  I hope she's still into all these shows at Christmas because I have my eye on the Doc McStuffins lab coat and the big Bucky play set - all too expensive for "just because" toys.  

                           

10. Casting the Outlander series.  So excited they are finally getting started with this project.  I follow Diana Gabaldon (the books' author) on Facebook and I get really excited when I see her posts with sneak peek excerpts from the eighth book.  But she has also posted about the selection of two of the main characters for the Starz TV adaptation. So far they have cast Sam Heughan as Jamie (the male lead) and Tobias Menzies as Frank Randall/Black Jack Randall (the main antagonist).  Come to find out they were both in the BBC miniseries Any Human Heart; which I watched on Netflix a few months ago.  I go back to Netflix to watch it again because I don't remember these two (they aren't main characters in the miniseries) but it's not on there anymore. So that sucks.  And so does the fact that I'm going to have to buy the Starz package just to watch this show next year.  But this makes it better: Google "Sam Heughan Visit Scotland" and listen to that sexy voice.  Ever since I discovered James McAvoy I have been in love with a Scots accent.  Marvelous.

So there you have it - the first edition of Ten Things Tuesdays.  If you made it through all 10... Congratulations, you just wasted a whole bunch of time (but at least not as much time as I wasted creating this).

Happy Tuesday!