And, This is Why I Win Mother of the Year!

Apparently, she can get into the bath all by herself!


Don't you like how I took a picture of her before I rescued her from the bathtub?? I made sure she was safe, first.

(Maybe I should keep a better eye on big sister's bath time!!!!)

Wood Chip Storm

So, since my carpool and trading babysitting friend moved, we are making adjustments so that we can still help each other out. She only moved 15 minutes away, so she is keeping her kids in school here. When we trade off so that we can each help in our sons' classes, I take hers at my house and she takes mine to the park.

I have this problem. I don't like to wear sunscreen on my forehead since it always stings my eyes, even when we use tear-free kid sunscreen! So, I usually either go without and get burned or wear a hat/bandanna and use sunscreen on the rest of my face. My husband pointed out that it is crazy to avoid stinging eyes by getting skin cancer. I rather agree. Anyway, yesterday, I didn't wear sunscreen and now I am burned!

But, the whole point of my story that I have now gotten away from was this crazy mini tornado!

We were sitting together at the park and I looked over and saw the breeze pick up and start moving the wood chips in a spiral! Then, they came our way!! I started by covering Doodle's eyes and ended up cradling her whole head while the chips whacked my arms! It was the weirdest thing!

I've seen little dust storms or whatever you call them, but this was just nuts!

Do you know what those things are called or why they happen?

Baby Wearing at its Oddest!

I made this mei tai for her:




But it was requested that I put it on him:



He doesn't strike me as the motherly type, but hey, Princess likes it that her toys can wear other toys!

Relay for Life...YES!

We watched Yes Man last night and it influenced me.

If you haven't seen it, it is a comedy about Carl (Jim Carey), a man who has a miserable life. He decides to say "yes" to anything that is asked of him....anything. It is pretty funny. (Just a warning...there is language, nudity and icky-weird situations...)

Well, anyway, though saying "yes" to every opportunity that comes your way would be interesting, it is hardly sane. But, I thought it might be nice to say "yes" more often.

I'm always wanting to do something big, some kind of volunteer work or something, but I just don't do it. You know, no time, kids, whatever the excuse. Well, today, we ran into the Relay for Life committee and I agreed to be a team captain! I'm really excited! I've never even done the relay!

So, if you want to join my team, or would like to donate, just let me know! I'd love to have you!

I'll be adding links to donate and all of that as it gets closer and I have all of the information!

Haircut

So, I did it! I cut off about 10 inches of my hair. I'm finally going to get to donate it to Locks of Love! I took off more than I really wanted to, but it will grow back!

Kids' Rock by Tim Hawkins

We saw this yesterday! It. Is. Hilarious! I think some of the songs actually sound pretty good, this way! Some may scare, kids, though!

Enjoy:

I think she needs a Ken doll!!!

The milk box is the daddy in her little family!

Great Site

I just thought I'd share this amazing site with you!

A friend of mine homeschools and uses this link to show her kids all kinds of things! They have TONS of virtual tours listed and it looks great! I can't wait to show my kids!

A lot of them are pictures and some have video tours! It is a neat collection of websites with lots of info for kids.

"Look, Ma, No Hands!!!"

Wow!


And this one was just too adorable not to share, since it was taken at the same time!

Crazi Beautiful Women

I wanted to let you all know about a great new website! It's called CraziBeautiful Women! They are gathering experts in lots of areas to write, inspire, encourage...you get the idea! It is a really fun place and it is just starting up!

The best part for me is that I have been asked to blog about gardening for them!! If you go to their site and hover over Girlfriend to Girlfriend and then click onBack to the Basics and there I am! I am really excited to blog like this! My first post will be on Friday! Come check it out!

I'll still blog about gardening at Turn Your Thumb Green, too!

Doodle's Eight Months Old

Wow! I can hardly believe that my tiny little (8 lb 7 oz) baby is 8 months old! She is huge and adorable. She is such a happy baby!!

Doodle loves baths, food, her family, Freckles, eating grass (wire, paper, leaves) and being big. We all just love her! She is so easy to love!

She LOVES to eat. She hasn't turned anything away. She'll eat baby food and she loves and can handle small bites of many "adult" foods, too! She loves nursing as well as anything I'm willing to give her.

She can crawl, sit up on her own and pull up to standing. She is on her way to walking by 10 months like her siblings! She is so proud of herself, too! You can see it on her face when she does her newest tricks!

She has more hair than either of her siblings (definitely more than Princess had even at a year old)! She has two teeth already, which is also early for our family.

I just love this grin!! She loves to share it with us all the time!


She is already a "ham" at picture time. She makes it difficult to get a decent picture because she wants to come up and stop what she was doing to see the camera.

Lookin' Yummy!

I love it when food looks pretty! This recipe has just the right color combination to make me happy! This isn't the original recipe, but it is really close! I use picante sauce and puree it in the blender. I also top it with more sauce and green onions along with the cheese!

It is so yummy! We just had it and I want it again!

Tower of Streghth

I have not yet read this book, but I have loved all of Annette Lyons other books! I can't wait to get ahold of a copy and check it out!

In the mean time, Annette is having a Tower of Strength week of giveaways! She is a great lady and a great author, too! Go check it out!

It's a Beatiful Day in the Neighborhood!

We have been playing outside and went for a walk. I can't believe that it's 63 degrees outside! That's totally shorts and t-shirt weather!! Yay!! I'm so excited to get in the garden! I can't wait!

Why?

Why does my baby think that this is the most comfortable way to take a nap???


It freaks me out!

I guess I like to have the covers around my face, too! CM hates it because I pull the covers off of his feet to be on my face! But I HATE to have them covering my mouth and nose like that!

Princessism of the Day

Conversation I overheard:

Dad: Don't wipe your nose on your shirt.

Princess: But if I leave it on my finger it would be gross!

Don't you just love kids? They are awesome!!

Tax Return Surprise

We filed our federal taxes online this year at the government site. It worked out easily and we got the check quickly.

BUT, when a tax return comes back $1500 more than you filed for, you get a little worried. You want to be excited, but you think that there HAS to be a problem. We were going to call when they were open again, but before that CM checked the status page online and there was a message that said there were errors and the money was ours!

So, we got a new TV. We got one that isn't too big. We don't like to have the TV be the center of our lives and house. We haven't had a new TV in about 6 years, so we thought it was a good idea.

We're going to put the same amount or more on our debt that we were planning, but now we can watch TV without trying to figure out what's going on in the dark! (It was really going dark and a lot of shows/movies like to do things at night!)

Long Time No Post

Sorry about the lapse in posts. I had something interesting to write about and I only just remembered what it was as I was typing this sentence!

For the past few weeks, as I have been driving Indy to his karate class, there are several vehicles on the side of the road. All of the people are staring at the mountain. Some have binoculars, one had a camera. I tried to see what they were all looking at. I was driving 55 MPH, so I couldn't really see it. All I can guess is that it is some kind of animal. But, why would that draw so many people for so long? Maybe it's some "religious" group waiting for the Giant Spaghetti Monster to fly out of the mountain!

Any guesses?

My Mom Toolbox/Bookshelf

Now that I am on my (most likely) last child, I have found all of the books that help me be a better parent. You know how they say that kids don't come with an instruction manual? Well, I think this list of books is really close to being the perfect pregnancy and parenting instruction manual for me!

Planning Your Pregnancy and Birth

This is the best pregnancy book I have ever read. It was produced by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. I love to have books written by people who have researched and know the most about a topic. I wish I had had this book when I was pregnant with all of my children, instead of just Doodle. It is a really informative and helpful guide to know what is normal, and what is not. I also have the "What to Expect..." books, and I don't like them. They always gave me things to be paranoid about. This book is very straightforward and organized well.

Nursing Mother's Companion

Breastfeeding is difficult at first and remains that way for many people. I'd recommend this book and you should start reading it before you have your baby and keep it close by for the first couple of months. It is amazing! I think I would have been able to nurse my first baby for a lot longer if I'd had this book!

Babywearing

Okay, so this isn't so much a book as a way to help take care of kids. I found this when Princess was about 18 months old, so I got to carry her around a bit. She is actually still small enough, so this summer, we may still use them for her. I don't carry Doodle around in a carrier all the time, but when I know we're going to be walking around a lot, I do. I love my Mei Tai ("May Tie")! It is so nice to have her so close. Shopping is wonderful and I don't have to carry a heavy car seat everywhere we go!

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child

No matter how old your kids are, go read this book! It is the best book I have read about sleep. The author teaches why sleep is so important and tells you what to do to make sure your child gets enough quality sleep. I read a little of this book when I was pregnant with Princess and she was a lot better sleeper than Indy, still is! Now, Doodle is a great sleeper. We are still working on night time, but she puts herself to sleep so well! It makes life so much better!

From Baby to Toddler

Again, I like this one better than the "What to expect..." books that I also got. It goes through each month and helps you to know what your child may be doing and how to play with him or her to get them to their full potential.

Diaper Free Before 3

This book is what gave me the confidence to get Princess out of diapers. It is written by a pediatrician and mother of three. She talks a lot about why we potty train the way we do and how it is completely wrong. She says that waiting until the child is "ready" is a bad idea. Instead, she says to start putting your child on a potty when they are six months old. You don't expect them to do anything at that age but get used to it as a normal part of life. Then, at one year old, you get them out of disposable diapers and into cotton underwear. It may sound crazy, but I am going to try it with Doodle. With Princess, it is a little different, but I just get her to "go" every couple of hours. After three weeks, she sometimes tells me when she needs to go. There are still accidents, but it is working! Go read this book!

Supernanny: How to get the Best from your Children

So, this one isn't written by a doctor or anything, but I really like the way that Jo does things. She has a no-nonsense attitude about child rearing. She goes through several "issues" and teaches you how to have control of yourself and teach your children.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone out there. I just wish I could have had these tools all along. I have learned so much and I'm always learning new things. If you have any questions about them, just ask!

What are your favorite parenting "manuals"?

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

And it has been for three days, now! I don't think I've seen this much rain since moving from Florida. Even then, it usually only rained this constantly if there was a hurricane nearby or something! It kind of reminds me of Florida. I usually don't miss the weather there, but I guess once in a while, it's nice to be reminded.

It's crazy!

I'm glad it isn't snow, because we'd really be digging out at this point.

I love feeling like the earth is clean when it rains so much!

It does make it hard to go places, though!

Do you like rain?