Worst. Mom. Ever.

I lost bear friend. He must have fallen out of the stroller or the car and I didn't see him fall. I called every store we went to and no one had him. And now he's gone forever. Thankfully we have a backup, but we had to ride home without him. Emma gets this scream that gets so frantic she's been known to throw up. And of course her two top molars have broken through so I deprived her of bear friend when she was in pain. I don't know what happened to him. I have traced and retraced my steps that evening and I have no idea where he went. I am the worst mom ever. Emma is apparently over it though. She gave me my first kiss yesterday, right on the lips. It was melt your heart sweet. So at least she's already forgiven me. I hope.

Again

Our router died two days ago after the big storm that came through. We suspect there was a tiny surge and that was the only thing to die. Therefore, to type this I am standing by my piano with the laptop hooked up to the modem. What does this mean for you? Well, no pictures for one. Until we have the router, I cannot get any of my uploaded pics online. It also means I really won't be posting until it's fixed. I don't particularly like standing to do this! Nothing really exciting has been happening anyway, although Emma did get attacked by fire ants in her crib Sunday night, giving her a grand total of 14 bites. They all died. And all their friends died. Oh, and I get to do a market research thing where they give me 2 weeks worth of diapers and pay me $20 to do an in home study. THAT is not too shabby. Oh and yesterday I walked to the front of my subdivision and back pushing Emma in the stroller. It's about 3 miles so I was rather pleased with myself! So there you go. That's life, you're caught up, and I promise a massive picture post when this is all fixed!

Something to Ponder

If you ever wanted to see the list of ingredients in vaccines...here you go. I wouldn't put that junk in myself. I most certainly wouldn't put that junk in my growing baby.

The Sneaky Chef

Most of you know that Emma has some pretty severe food allergies. She is also EXTREMELY picky about what she will eat, so meal times have become a battle. Where she once used to adore all veggies, now she will only eat peas. Her list of foods can basically be tallied on my two hands. Needless to say I have been extremely concerned about what to do. We are quickly approaching cold season, and I would really prefer her immune system be up to par so we don't catch every single cold. This would require her to eat a little better than mac and cheese and goldfish.

Enter The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine. I was desperate to find some help, so I checked this out from the library. Now I intend to buy it and go find the author and hug her. Her concept is basically to create several different kinds of purees once a week ranging from carrot sweet potato puree to blueberry spinach. Then she has several different recipes that you disguise these things into. The point is basically that you are giving your kids veggies in their usual favorite meals, only they are redone so they are healthy but taste very similar. She claims that you can gradually increase the veggies and things until your kids are used to the taste and will even eat them outright. I admit I was skeptical at first. I made the Grilled Cheese Muffins for Emma this morning at breakfast and I waited for her to throw it off her high chair. Imagine my surprise when she ate not one but TWO!!! And then she ate another one for lunch!!!! I called my mom maniacally laughing screaming "I win!!!!!" The recipe called for 3/4 cup of carrot sweet potato puree and she didn't taste it!! My only caveat would be that I don't personally think it tasted all that great, though I could not taste the veggies. In other words, it wouldn't be the kind of thing you and your hubby would necessarily eat. But who cares?! You are getting your kid to eat veggies! I am currently making the breakfast cookies for tomorrow morning, and I feel the same way about them. They are a little bland to me. But I don't care at all if it means Emma will eat something that's actually good for her for a change. I would HIGHLY recommend this book. While I don't agree with the concept of being deceitful, I do think we as moms need to be creative and make these things palatable for our kids. If that means disguising it, then by all means I am ok with that. But I would not flat out lie as the author hints at doing in places. Anyway, it's a great book.

The other thing I want to recommend is callendula cream. Back when I was nursing Emma I was given a container of straight callendula cream for cracking and soreness while nursing. Well Emma has recently started sucking her thumb really hard and making it crack and almost bleed. I was looking around for my container of Aquafore (sp?) when I found the callendula. I thought, you know it's for cracking skin, and if it was okay to nurse with then surely I could put it on her thumb. I tried it and a few hours later you couldn't tell the skin had been cracking. I was so thankful! So if you have any issues like this, check out callendula. It's a nice safe natural way to deal with the problem!

Outside Adventures

Since I really really really dislike hot weather, poor Emma never got to go outside unless there was a pool involved. Now that it's so nice and cool in the morning and evening, we go outside everyday and explore. Emma has loved every minute. It's so fun to watch her learn about her surroundings! So here are some pictures of our adventures outside. Oh and yes, it was raining, but who cares. She needed a bath anyway!

Such Sweetness

Emma and I had been playing quietly in her room because Brian is sick. When she started to act really sleepy, I told her she was going to get in her crib now and proceeded to pick her up. She immediately looked at me and said "night night." It was so precious!!

Another product shout out

I just wanted to recommend this workout video I have been using called Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds. I got the 1,2, and 3 mile workout videos from the library, and I absolutely LOVE them! I jumped right into the 2 mile walk since I was already walking, and I don't always use weights (which are a very manageable 3 pounds when you do chose to.) I have been doing it consistently the past couple of weeks, and coupled with watching what I eat I have actually managed to lose a pound or two! It isn't a quick workout, per se, but you really do feel better after doing it. It's not cheesy, and the instructor is actually a christian. It's really not hard to do, and it offers a no excuse way to work out since you're doing it in your own home. I have been really happy with it, and it's the first video I've done in a long time that I really like doing. So if you were looking for something new, give it a try.

Peanut Butter

Trisha introduced me to this great peanut butter she got from Publix called Naturally More Peanut Butter.. It's only $3.29 for the container, which is a better price than you would pay to get the freshly ground stuff from Whole Foods. Basically it's peanut butter mixed with ground flax, egg whites, wheat germ, and flax seed oil. It is really good, really good for you, and comparatively cheap! It's really not much more than you'd pay for the regular stuff! I found mine in the organic section, but Trisha found hers with the regular peanut butter, so it could be in either place. Oh, and when you first open it you have to stir it quite a bit, but since you store it in the fridge it thickens and that's less of a problem. So there you go...Emma is up from her nap and is singing her "come get me!!!" song..tata

A round-up

I have found several sites in my meanderings that are either really enjoyable to read or have great advice or tell you about great deals. I figured I should share them with all of you, and hopefully you can find helpful stuff from them too!

(p.s. keep scrolling! I posted another post too! I know I know..when it rains it pours!)

http://thefashionablehousewife.com/ - This one gives cute fashion advice and deals
http://momfinds.com/blog/# - This one gives good deals and they have contests
http://mikeadamick.com/blog7/ - This one I already mentioned before; Great for a laugh!
http://www.starfall.com/ - Emma loves to look at the letters on this one! Speech therapist approved too =). Rebecca first brought it to my attention.
http://home.comcast.net/%7Esbreaden/datelist.htm - Great for finding consignment sales.
http://www.mom4life.com/ - Lots of "Why didn't I think of that?" products.
http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/ - The same quads blog Kelley talked about.


Hope you enjoy these!

Almost Fall!

Fall is my all time favorite season. It's such a pleasant change of pace from the horrid hot weather and I plan on spending every single day with Emma at the park. I cannot wait for 70 degree temps and sweater weather! I am so excited!!!!

Well, not too much has happened these past few weeks. Brian started back with little fanfare, and is loving all his classes. He is gone a lot, but he is home Tuesdays so it gives us a nice break in the middle of the craziness. Emma waves goodbye every morning and cries when he leaves. It's heartbreaking because three days a week that's the only time he sees her. But it is nice that she loves her daddy so much.
Emma is doing great and has hit a huge growth spurt. Suddenly (to me) her infant carrier was way too small so we had to go get a big girl one. She loves facing forward and seems to like sitting in it in general. I bought her a pair of 12-18 month pants from old navy that she wore for the first time today and they were too tight!! When I took them off for bedtime there was a red ring around her waist! And MUCH to my shock they were almost the right length, just a little too long. She is not a baby anymore, and we were just in awe today of how long she is and just how old she looks! A few days ago I showed her bubbles and she immediately said bubble back to me. She now says it when she sees the bottle or even if she doesn't and she wants to play with them. It was her fastest word so far. It usually has taken a few weeks to get one down, so doing it in a matter of minutes was definitely new! She points to every radio and dances, and when I ask her if she wants music she goes crazy. She is starting to pretend a little bit, and loves to play with me or without me depending on how much sleep has been had and how bored she is =). All in all she is doing great! Did I mention I cannot believe she isn't a baby anymore?
I am doing great. Emma and I both got awful colds this week, and mine had moved into my chest yesterday. I was really concerned that I was going to get bronchitis, but it seems to be clearing up today for which I am extremely thankful. I guess taking it easy really does help =). Other than that, I have just been kicking around with Emma and enjoying watching her grow!

Last night, Brian's boss gave us his tickets to the last pre-season Falcon's game, which were on the 45 yard line in the executive level. We went with the secretary and her husband and we had a great time! Just before we left, Brian's boss told us he had called ahead and made reservations for us at the nicest restaurant there and he was paying for it. It was so unexpected and so sweet. It was fantastic and we really had a great time. Then when we went to our seats, four rather large women were sitting there. When it became apparent they were in no mood to move, we opted to take their intended seats, which were on the 50 yard line. Darn. Nicer seats? Do we have to? It was really really nice. It is THE way to go to a football game and I would TOTALLY do it again. I was very skeptical, but Andy insisted I go just to get the experience and I am SOOO glad he made me!
So without further ado, here are some pictures of our fun last night, as well as some cute ones of Emma playing the piano (which she LOVES to do, by the way. She will sit there and play then look at me with a big grin on her face, clap, and play some more. Precious!!)

White Water

Let me give you some free advice. If you go to a water park, wear your shoes. Everywhere. While the water rides themselves were really fun and the park wasn't too crowded, the ground was on FIRE! And the cement was so rough that Brian and I both lost two or three layers of skin by the end of the day. I say we petition to have them repave with that cement that is A:Smooth and B:Doesn't heat up to 150 degrees. You cannot run fast enough to get to a shady spot. Ouch.
My other bit of free advice is this: If you don't want to be scarred for life, don't look at anyone else in the park. 90% of the women there were wearing string bikinis and only 10% of that 90% were actually making it work. I saw a LOT of skin that I did NOT want to see. *shudders* And there were WAYYYYY too many pre teen girls romping around in skanky suits. What are their parents thinking!? Anyway. All of that said, it was not a bad way to spend one of these wonderful 105 degree days. You are in the shade a good deal and you are wet most of the time, thus making the humidity a non-issue. Just be prepared for it to take you 3 hours to get home. Leaving Marietta at 4 in the afternoon just doesn't work. We ended up stopping in Dunwoody for a yummy dinner at The California Pizza Kitchen and kicking around at Borders for a while making a nice leisurely end to a fun day =). So anyway. There it is. Oh, and Happy birthday to Dad, Granny and Sarah. I for one am glad I am the only one in the family on my date...more presents! But keep trying to break that world record...

A Comparison

Emma and Her Shoes

Emma and the shoes. A Photo essay =) (She's also sporting one of her super cute new outfits!) Oh and keep scrolling, because there are two more new posts below!

Baby got to have shoes!

Well my cutie pie is finally walking around EVERYWHERE, so I knew it was time to break down and get her some shoes. So off to stride rite we went, and these lovely shoes are what we came out with:



We let Emma walk from Stride Rite to Old Navy and she spent the whole walk with her mouth wide open laughing hysterically. She was sooooo proud of herself! She was smiling at everyone and talking to everyone and was just LOVING the freedom. My little baby isn't a baby anymore! She is officially a toddler! When did I let her grow so much?! And speaking of growing, she is finally growing out of her baby sizes. I suddenly realized two days ago that she has nothing to wear that fits her fat belly, so we made an old navy run today as well. We got some super cute stuff, though I had to show some restraint! It's consignment season again, so we will get most of her stuff at sales, but sometimes you just can't resist the call of a good old navy sale. Ems has also finally cut another tooth, making the count 7. Number 8 shouldn't be far behind, and she has been cutting some molars as well. Let me just tell you that that's been a blast. Poor little goose! She is eating very well, and has been very sweet. She tends more often than not to listen when I say no, and she LOVES for me to teach her new things. She also said "Hi Dada" the other week. She will be speaking in paragraphs in no time at all!





Brian and I are doing fine, and planning on going to White Water this Thursday. Thank you all so much for your input =). We are trying to enjoy this last week and a half of summer before he goes back to working three jobs and going to law school. I don't want to talk about it right now. So hopefully White Water will be fun! On that note, I leave you. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Two sad goodbyes

Since I last posted, Mom and Dad moved out of the house they spent the last 9 years in, and I was FORCED to turn in my car (they actually WANTED the car back at the end of the lease!!!) Mom and Dad's move was chaotic, but it got done in the end. Next time, we will use more boxes!! So that's why it's been a while. Here is a tribute to both of my fair friends in pictures. I will post more of an update next.

An Important Decision

Ok people. White Water or Lake Lanier Islands Beach and Water Park. I LOVE crazy fun slides, so which is better from that perspective. This will be an Emma free outing.

The black and white dog and the orange cat...

Side by side on the carpet sat:


More like faced, but who's keeping track?
That 95 pound mammoth of a dog belongs to one of the families I used to nanny for pre Emma. Her name is Toby and she hates the kennel, so her family asked me if we would mind watching her since she loves me so (she would come running up and attack me every morning when I got to work, positive that I was there only for her.) Of course we said absolutely, but it's been interesting watching a dog that's the size of my house. At least she isn't uppity. Then this would be a VERY interesting two weeks.

My cute baby dancing and clapping at what is soon to no longer be* Nonny and Grumpa's house. So sad!!




Emma took her first foray into our front yard, and as expected she immediately began eating the grass. I keep trying to tell her it's not organic but she just won't listen!





* My husband called me out...I split that infinitive in the worst kind of way. So sorry to all of you out there who winced. Soon no longer to be.

Thought you might enjoy

I have been reading this blog lately, and it's really been amusing to me. There's a bit more language than I'd like, but it's extremely well written!

A long long day

Today started with a trip to Starbucks that yielded not my usual mocha, but a hot chocolate that definitely had no caffeine. I realized this when I was far far away though I needed it so desperately.
So Emma and I went on to her well baby visit which went considerably better than the last. This was probably because the doctor actually listened to me, and yeah even believed me when I said Emma is allergic to rice, bananas, and dairy in too high a quantity. She suggested a trip to an allergist, and also, MUCH to my dismay an Epi Pen.
So I went to the pharmacy to pick one up and was informed that one dose is $70. Mind you, if it were going to save my child's life then there is no price for that and I would never forgive myself if something happened to her and I hadn't bought the thing. The problem was, the only one they had expired in three months! So I bought it, walked into the entry area, and decided to check it by Brian. He told me we need to buy one, but not to buy that one and just get one that expires a year from now instead. So I went back and asked to return it. 5 minutes tops had elapsed, and I was sitting in front of a guard that whole time, by the by. The women I asked about returning it to chewed me out and made me want to burst into tears! I WAS BUYING AN EPI PEN FOR A 1 YEAR OLD. That was upsetting to me!!! When she FINALLY brought me a receipt, I asked for a copy of the RX and she snidely told me I could call to get it. So I somewhat strongly looked her right in the eye and said "OK OK." in a tone that made her startle and hopefully realize what a jerk she was being to me though I was never mean to her at all.
So I am on the phone with Brian and he tells me "Don't get worried but..." and I can feel my shoulder start to get more tense. Apparently there are some troubles with my car situation that I thought was completely taken care of. We are just having to figure out a way to make some things work, it was just a bad moment to tell me.
And intermittently in all of this, I have been trying to deal with the Mother's Bible Study tomorrow. And I KEPT sending the wrong stinking date out on the email!!!! I did it twice!! And then tonight I sent another email and I messed it up AGAIN, only this time I SAID I had checked it and I knew it was right this time! The HUMANITY!!!
But there were some bright spots. I went back to the Starbucks and they made me a new drink and gave me a card for a free one. And I also got to do a market research study and get paid $75 to talk about panty liners for 45 minutes. So that wasn't too bad. But I think after all of that, I am ready to go to bed and sleep. I think this day has been long enough. Pray that Emma has no attacks of any kind!! I don't want to ever have to use that epi pen. It's one $70 I don't mind wasting!!!!

Girl's Spa Night

Keep Scrolling, There are more posts below!!

On Saturday night, Megan suggested we have a girl's night out. It turned into a DIY spa night, and we had a great time. Many laughs were had, and much relaxing without kiddos was done. We ought to do these more often!

And for those of you who wanted them, here are the recipes for our scrubs:

Raspberry Lip Moisturizer
Grab:
1 raspberry
2 tablespoons aloe vera gel (available at health-food
stores)
2 tablespoons honey

Go:
In a small bowl, mash the raspberry with a fork;
combine with the aloe vera gel and honey. Apply
mixture to lips, then try to avoid licking the
delicious balm off for at least 10 minutes before
wiping away raspberry seeds with a tissue. Store any
leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, and apply
as often as needed.

Mint Sole Softener
15 fresh mint leaves (or substitute 6–8 drops
peppermint oil, available at health-food and select
grocery stores)
1/2 cup brown sugar
–1/2 cup sweet almond oil

Go:
Crush mint leaves (don’t chop; crushing brings out
oils in the leaves) with the back of a spoon. In a
bowl, combine mint (or peppermint oil), sugar, and
almond oil. Scrub feet with mixture, paying special
attention to rough spots. Rinse.

Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant
Strawberries contain a natural fruit acid which aids in exfoliation.



8-10 Strawberries
2 tablespoons Apricot Oil (you may substitute olive oil)
1 teaspoon of coarse salt, such as Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt


Mix together all ingredients into a paste, massage into hands and feet, rinse, and pat dry.