What were those chicks eating?

Today has been a day I have spent wishing I had returned to work. I started out pretty low on patience since I've been sick all week and am still trying to get over it. Emily quickly drained my low reserves this morning when she climbed to the third shelf of the linen closet and pushed all the folded sheets out of her way so she could "sleep" there. After I got her down, she followed up her opening act by climbing to the top of her bookcase and then climbing into Jane's crib so she could investigate her mobile.

And then things started to go downhill. We visited the local ranch supply store so Emily could gawk at the baby chicks. As we were leaving, I noticed a mystery greenish paste on the knees of her pants. I can only assume it was chick poop. We got home just in time for both girls to be hungry for lunch. After changing Emily's pants and considering the best method to remove bird feces from clothing, I fed Emily, fed Jane and figured I could do fine with a cookie for lunch. Then I started in on the hand-me downs. Jane is quickly outgrowing her 3 month sizes, so I retrieved the carefully packed box labeled "6 months" from the basement only to discover that although the clothes looked clean 2 years ago, the residual spit-up has caused an amazing yellowing effect over time. I'm still not sure if it will ever come out.

But as I was reading to Emily before her nap, something happened that made me glad I was at home today instead of at work. Emily and I were sitting on the bed and Jane was laying next to us investigating a toy lamb. She is at that stage where the first thing she wants to do with any toy is to stick it in her mouth. She is getting very good at grabbing things with her hand and getting them in her mouth. That's why I was surprised and elated when she pushed the toy lamb to her mouth with her little arm. Although we have been encouraging her to use her little arm, this is the first time I have seen her use it without any prompting to play with something. I'm glad I'm the one who got to see that. It wouldn't have meant much to a daycare provider, but to me it was another sign that Jane will be okay. And for now, that's exactly what I need.

How the serpent got Eve to take a bite

Although I try very hard to avoid falling for corporate America's ploys to get me to spend more money than is necessary, I admit I occasionally fall prey to the impulse buy. Lately, my Achilles heel has been Cadbury Cream Eggs. Because, you know, that bunny only cranks them out from February to April and if I don't take advantage of them now, I will most certainly regret it.

Last week, as I was doing my weekly grocery shopping, a new item was strategically placed in order to force me into another impulse buy. There I was, minding my own business in the produce section, when suddenly I noticed the clamshell case holding four small fuji apples. Not just any apples - Grapples. Apples that taste like grapes?! I had to buy this product. Because I had to know if the claim on the package was true. Did I care that the net weight was only 20 oz. and the price was $4? Of course not! Can you really put a price on fruit that tastes like other fruit?

When I reached home, I rushed to put the groceries away so I could tear open that clamshell case. As you can see, the Grapple is like any other apple. And, disappointingly, it is not purple on the inside. Does it really taste like a grape? Yes. But very subtly. To be honest, it tasted more like an apple than a grape. By a long shot. And a fuji apple doesn't have a very strong flavor to begin with. Needless to say, this week's shopping trip will not include any more Grapples. Now if they could just make a lemon flavored banana... that is something I would buy in a heartbeat.

Lamest Blog Ever

Someday, I will live a fascinating life. Someday my kids will be grown and I will travel and take up interesting hobbies and my friends will be regaled by stories of my life. Today is not that day. Today I am going to blog about my new washer and dryer and try to communicate the excitement I feel about these major appliances. Because I am very excited.

When Chris and I had only been married a couple years, we moved into our first rental house with washer and dryer hookups. Since the move was unexpected, we didn't have anything saved for said appliances. Accordingly, we purchased the least expensive set that Whirlpool made. And I was happy that I didn't have to feed quarters into the machine to do my laundry. I did four loads of laundry a week and had no complaints about my washer and dryer.

Fast forward six years... Now that we have two kids, one of which thinks it's fun to foul my shirts with spitup, I found myself doing two or three loads of laundry a day. The washer smelled like mold and the dryer took three cycles to get our clothes to damp. So when I realized we would be getting a nice tax refund this year, I immediately set about convincing Chris about how I thought it should be spent. He didn't need any convincing.




A few days ago, our new washer and dryer arrived. My life will never be the same again. They are incredibly quiet, they smell like a new car, the washer does a great job cleaning and the dryer only takes about an hour to work its magic. Best of all, they are HUGE. (We selected the Maytag Bravos, which is the largest top load we could find.) Half an hour ago, my laundry room was overflowing. Now all that laundry is spinning quietly in my beautiful new washer.

So there it is, the lamest blog post ever. I hope you enjoyed it. And if not, stay tuned. I promise my life will be more interesting once my kids are out of diapers.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Yesterday I was complaining about the size of my laundry room (which really is very small - like a small walk-in closet) when I realized that four years ago I was thrilled just to have a laundry room. Or a house for that matter. That got me to thinking about all the things that just a few short years ago were not even part of my life, but are now things I couldn't live without if I tried. Here are a few of my favorite recently discovered "necessities":

DVR: I love my DVR. I can't believe that I used to watch TV shows when they were actually being aired, commercials and all. Nowadays, I don't even know what night most of my favorite shows are on, let alone the time. They just magically appear on my DVR and when I am done watching them (in their original quality nonetheless), I make them go away with the click of a button. Brilliant! No more masking tape labeled VHS tapes!

Sinus Rinse: Seriously, this has changed my life. I was sitting in the doctor's office last winter with my annual sinus infection when he told me about this. Is it gross? Heck yeah. But it's the best thing to happen to my nose since Abby the dog died and she stopped stinking up the garage.



 High Speed Internet: I can't believe I used to be happy with dial-up. Now I can watch videos of skateboarding dogs to my heart's content. 






The Baby Bjorn Front Carrier: I'm actually wearing this as I type. Thank you, folks at Baby Bjorn for giving me my hands back.







Netflix: When I first heard about Netflix, I thought it was a dumb idea. Now that I have kids every outing is a huge production and it takes us a week to watch a movie. It's like getting a present in the mail every time I see the red envelope.



All Wheel Drive and Anti-lock Brakes: I never had anything but a two wheel drive car with extra locking brakes until I bought my Subaru eight years ago. Winter hasn't been the same since then. Now I would never buy another car without AWD and ABS.

There's just a short list of reasons why I can't live on $300 a month like I did in college. What are some of your favorite "must haves"?

A little modesty please

For the last few weeks I have been shopping... and shopping... and shopping for a flower girl dress for Emily. I keep running into the same problem: the dresses I have found are all immodest. Just like the phenomenon of the two-piece swimsuit for babies, the flower girl dresses seem to look indecent on the toddlers for which they are intended.

Now tell me this doesn't look a little bizarre:

(By the way, this is not the dress I selected.)

I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to spring modest dress on my girls the day we go to pick out the first bra. I figured that if I communicate to them that this is the way we dress from the time they are able to understand, it will be less of an issue. This means no short skirts, low necklines or sleeveless tops (with, of course reasonable exceptions for sports). Now that Emily is aware of clothing, it's important that I start being firm with the modesty rules.

As a result, I am currently looking for a shirt to go under Jane's Easter dress and a cardigan to go over Emily's flower girl dress. Wouldn't it be easier if manufacturers just made dresses with sleeves in the first place? Or maybe they're just trying to squeeze 20 extra bucks for a cardigan out of all the prudes like me.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just let it go for now and start imposing rules when my girls are able to actually able to understand the reasons behind them. But then, that leads to a whole new problem - I have to tell them why they need to dress modestly. It's hard enough for a girl to... develop without having to explain to her that boys are all perverts and that she needs to start wearing clothes that discourage "that kind of attention". Because then you have to explain what "that kind" is and I'm not sure I want to have that talk with a ten year old girl. So that brings me back to square one... looking for a cardigan.

Just watch it... It's cool. I promise

I'm usually  not one to post long videos on my blog, but I had to share this one because it makes me happy. I have been watching tons of videos on the i-LIMB since I first read about it. It is an incredibly advanced artificial hand that just became commercially available in 2008.



At first, I couldn't figure out why I loved this particular video so much. Then it hit me: this guy sees his i-LIMB as a cool new gadget to show off. I also love it because he's doing every day tasks with it. I look forward to seeing Jane with something similar in the future.

Guilty Pleasures

I have two rules about entertainment:

1) I can watch anything on TV just as long as I am running on the treadmill and,

2) I can read anything just as long as I am nursing a baby.

This has led to me watching more episodes of Oprah and reruns of Gilmore Girls than are probably good for me, but at least I come away with a workout, right?

For the last eighteen months, I have read only good books - appropriate for my age range (except for the final Harry Potter - I read the first six while nursing Emily and wasn't about to stop short of the end). I have made sure that anything I read could be toted into airport terminals and doctor's waiting rooms without embarrassment. For eighteen months, I saved a guilty pleasure, knowing that I would be able to read it when I started nursing again.

On black Friday, I finally purchased my guilty pleasure - a boxed set of the Twilight novels. Due to shipping delays, I just received it last week. I was in the middle of The Age of Innocence when they finally arrived and I eyed them anxiously as I finished reading the great literary masterpiece. I felt uplifted at the end of the novel as Newland Archer walked away from the Countess Olenska's apartment without going in and then, without pausing to let this amazing book sink in, I dove into the Twilight series.


I am really enjoying reading something fun and fluffy again. Maybe a little too much. But not so much that I wish Chris would become infected by a vampire. The books are also making me feel old. Very old. At times, I want to tell Bella how stupid it is that she is dating a vampire and that no one really "loves" someone after knowing them for two weeks. I have reached the conclusion that there is a reason these books are in the teen section at Barnes and Noble. But, still, they make for great reading in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep and I am dreading being finished with them. Still, next time I have to go to the doctor or get my hair cut, I will be grabbing the waiting copy of David Copperfield to accompany me. I wouldn't want anybody getting the wrong idea...