tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6820987311874424402024-03-12T20:03:02.541-05:00a little bit Lowder now...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-24398948653879122342013-03-22T19:45:00.001-05:002013-03-22T22:25:05.260-05:00Weaning EveEvie doesn't know it yet. But tonight is gonna be the last time she gets to nurse. It's breaking my heart. I know it seems silly. She's over 2 years old and some feelings have strong feelings for and against nursing past one year much less over two. But we've had such a wonderful nursing relationship. And I'm going to hate to see it end. <br />
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I tried nursing with Claire but had many obstacles we couldn't overcome. She was born 7 weeks early and I was seriously ill with HELLP the days following her birth. They say the earlier you attempt to nurse the better the results but they also say that 33-34 week preemies physically don't know hot to breath/suck/swallow at the same time, which is what is required for drinking out if a bottle or Breastfeeding. She never really got the hang of it in the hospital and didn't successfully latch until she was about 7 weeks old (near her due date in fact). I did a LOT of pumping and Claire got half and half milk to formula. We did that for about 6 months and once I went back to work my milk dried up. I knew I wouldn't be able to be pregnant for a long time due to my hyperemesis and preeclampsia which was a nightmare. See posts from 2010 fore more details on that nightmare. But the one thing I was really looking forward to was trying to nurse again. <br />
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And Evies been amazing at it! She was also born 7 weeks early but had the doctors and nurses are convinced that my due date was wrong because she was doing so amazingly well! I wasn't as sick during this delivery and I think that helped. I was able to try to get her to nurse the day after she was born. She would tire out pretty easily but would go at it like a full term newborn. <br />
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The weeks after we took her home from the NICU after her super short 10-day stay we dealt with really bad GI problems which are common for preemies. She would scream and wail every time she had to poop. Which was fairly often. I had to massage her tummy and help her do all these stretches to get it to come out more easily. <br />
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Eventually the stools became bloody. We took her to numerous doctors and everyone recommend that I stop nursing because it was probably a dairy allergy. I cut all dairy out of my diet -which is HARD due to my love affair with cheese and ice cream. But I did it! Unfortunately it didn't help her at all. Some doctors still frowned on our nursing. That it wasn't impossible to filter all potentially allergic stuff out of my milk. But I thought, it's got to be better for her than formula and there are so many antibodies and healthy bacteria etc. my milk is probably making her tummy feel better! <br />
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We finally saw a pediatric GI specialist who confirmed my instincts. She said "good job for sticking with the nursing. It was the best thing you could have done." <br />
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Turns out it was just a premature international tract and the problem eventually went away. But it could have been the end of nursing. <br />
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Right before I went back to work I started having intense sharp nipple pain making it unbearable to nurse. Tears in my eyes, teeth gritting stuff. I visited Kangaroo Kids and Sierra helped me with my latch but also noticed that Eve had a tongue tie. She recommended a family physician who specialized in newborn tongue tied and how it can negatively affect nursing. I took her to our pediatrician and she suggested to do nothing. Basically put up with the pain or quit nursing because it wasnt worth doing major surgery. Several days passed with no relief so i took her to Dr Grawey and she fixes it right then and there! I was able to nurse pain free immediately!<br />
<br />
Another boob -block dodged. <br />
<br />
I pumped for several months after returning to work. HATED it. With a passion. But I did it. I'd come home from work and Eve would literally want to nurse on the couch from the time I walked in the door around 6 to the time it was time to out her down around 10-11pm. <br />
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Anyone that has been through cluster feeding and pumping a work can relate. Nursing hoop - jumped through it baby!<br />
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I really just wanted to get to the 6 month mark. To nurse her for as long as I nursed her sister. But there was no way Eve was ready to wean. She would have figured out how to walk and runaway from home at 4 months adjusted age if I took the mommy milk away. So we just kept on going. <br />
<br />
Reached the year milestone. Then 18-months. Still doing it at 2 years. <br />
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She's a good nurser. I've been able to wean her in stages. She's done great with eating solids and drinking out of a sippy cup. I nursed her on demand as long as I was with her for at least the first 18 months while working full time. Then I only offered during morning and bedtime. After 2 I only offered at bedtime, in her room, in the rocking chair after story time. And by that time Mike and I took turns putting each I the girls to bed so for the last 4 months or so she's only been nursing at night every other evening. <br />
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Since I know the end is coming I've been letting her nurse whenever she wants. She's always asked even after we started weaning. But I would always just say " no, we can't have mommy milk right now, were at the grocery store. Do you want your cup of juice?" And she would just laugh and happily accept her juice cup. Last week I was changing clothes and she waddled into the room. She saw my naked breasts (which I've also been hiding since we started bedtime only feedings). The loon on her face when she saw my boobs was like she had just seen a pink sparkle unicorn with Dora the Explorer on it carrying a basket full of fruit snacks!! She was elated! "I have mommy milk?@. Well crap OK. <br />
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So to ugh I'm all packed for my weeklong trip into Ireland. I nursed her for as long a she wanted and smelled the top of her head and stroked her fluffy cheeks. <br />
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I'm really going to miss it. But I'm so proud we were able to do it for so long. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwY4cVPBqG8XXtCqCPxN5Up0LIEvgg6vjypiIxqmVtIT4qjd2AWDCHJZLsf0AYiT0MGfEmZBXBEP8AzB8rOwv578Uwi8fVnbV1wR7kvQjLIGpKO4XFRQ0bBIzv6sbuyKuYdLHf987tl7k/s640/blogger-image-599704060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwY4cVPBqG8XXtCqCPxN5Up0LIEvgg6vjypiIxqmVtIT4qjd2AWDCHJZLsf0AYiT0MGfEmZBXBEP8AzB8rOwv578Uwi8fVnbV1wR7kvQjLIGpKO4XFRQ0bBIzv6sbuyKuYdLHf987tl7k/s640/blogger-image-599704060.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyWVr6e6dm1CHmWC2V0tbSDQwFxiGs7_6HnFqDKVhycWrfgQquFF3m8UyE805wp3Z_JVbEY0LoPTfq6OqcmvNv_OVVbqHmyFeQPXT-cFAdAPKPcYzbMGzXj_ZEulCfWCiX1zPYitDM28/s640/blogger-image-302810476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyWVr6e6dm1CHmWC2V0tbSDQwFxiGs7_6HnFqDKVhycWrfgQquFF3m8UyE805wp3Z_JVbEY0LoPTfq6OqcmvNv_OVVbqHmyFeQPXT-cFAdAPKPcYzbMGzXj_ZEulCfWCiX1zPYitDM28/s640/blogger-image-302810476.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-88980088109543514212013-03-20T09:14:00.001-05:002013-03-20T09:14:28.306-05:009 years!Nine years ago today I got hitched. Been kissing the same boy ever since (my husband)!<br />
<br />
So far I've gotten two sweet presents. Mike left me a vase of tulips cuz he knows they're my favorite flower. But even better - the kids slept in until 8:30!!! Gotta love spring break! <br />
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I took the day off and want to do something fun with the girls but not sure what. Plans are so weather dependent. It's snowed and been 80 degrees on past anniversaries. Ill probably need to rely on the good ok standby - the mall playplace. But maybe ill mix it up and take them to Monkey Joes or something. <br />
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Tonight for our romantic anniversary dinner were going to a Dining to Donate event at Llewelyns's. it's benefiting my former employer. I really like their food (Mike hates it bc he always gets something weird like stew). Plus it will pump me up for my upcoming trip to Dublin Ireland this weekend!<br />
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I don't think I've posted about this a all but me, my sister, mom and two cousins are spending a week exploring the Emerald Isle! I don't know what I was thinking leaving Mike and the kids for 8 days. I'm gonna miss them like crazy and they probably won't want to speak with me when I return. And Eve doesnt know it yet but shes weaning from breastfeeding while im gone bc theres NO way im pumping on a chilly vacation when i could be downing pints. (Yes i still nurse my 2 year old.) <br />
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But I think it'll be good for me! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5K-zeNeP89hVIkaUtP4SMD52Qf1GtLT5Bp68Iozhq1buG7TwVoIRI9As3Y5PXtzVBLAW-DcXjlBbeJsvYOG5mWvWykYWH0JXpKJoV8DUojmp2jOmHFZocpbb4lBze3YTPLH8w7qLIbY/s640/blogger-image-737795051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5K-zeNeP89hVIkaUtP4SMD52Qf1GtLT5Bp68Iozhq1buG7TwVoIRI9As3Y5PXtzVBLAW-DcXjlBbeJsvYOG5mWvWykYWH0JXpKJoV8DUojmp2jOmHFZocpbb4lBze3YTPLH8w7qLIbY/s640/blogger-image-737795051.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGITBeEetwSoumOK69jFJF-qHGMkie-5Ax1lp3298IvpaiXWilB-w04Rw3S0HVO8BIeriWlrkRCrxkeQKXUVGkbMlUHXmJyQbLJqH2LxqToUOFKNrNoDMQK_rAU1lQV5aBcqIU8NmXbL0/s640/blogger-image-1929534308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGITBeEetwSoumOK69jFJF-qHGMkie-5Ax1lp3298IvpaiXWilB-w04Rw3S0HVO8BIeriWlrkRCrxkeQKXUVGkbMlUHXmJyQbLJqH2LxqToUOFKNrNoDMQK_rAU1lQV5aBcqIU8NmXbL0/s640/blogger-image-1929534308.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdtIo2AzGV9GrhCQVclkHXyYwJfn0W3Y1AkOKtBx4YpoTZCO7nhcVwtrR1R4Q-0DnHwl3AEkKK72nW0eDqPjXB2Z2qDyjblmIIiHkCId8fkwAUTZPAgQua2QpSWmqcpjh-kz1TmKYoF4/s640/blogger-image-209396751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdtIo2AzGV9GrhCQVclkHXyYwJfn0W3Y1AkOKtBx4YpoTZCO7nhcVwtrR1R4Q-0DnHwl3AEkKK72nW0eDqPjXB2Z2qDyjblmIIiHkCId8fkwAUTZPAgQua2QpSWmqcpjh-kz1TmKYoF4/s640/blogger-image-209396751.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-64938191636443849012013-03-11T22:43:00.001-05:002013-03-11T23:01:55.326-05:00The longest day ever. Like ever.The day started out as normal. Mike up at the buttcrack of dawn to do his hours long primping/man-scaping routine while I roll over under the covers. Wait for him to kiss me goodbye - my own little personal smooching alarm clock if you will. Got the kids dressed, fed, diapered, Dora'd, (not necessarily in that order) and as we were getting our coats on Mike blazes in the door! We were so surprised to see him. And I literally don't know how to type this next part without laughing. <br />
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Do you know why he came home? After he was already physically AT work? The job that is a good 25 miles away?<br />
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Because he spilled coffee on his shirt. <br />
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I didn't know whether to feel sorry for his clumsiness, anal retentiveness or what! He came home for that? One of the many subtle differences between us. <br />
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I've gone to work with breast milk leaking through my shirt. With two different colored ballet flats on. With only one earring in. With no makeup because I literally forgot to look in the mirror before leaving the house and didn't see the mousy paleface I am before I put my face on. I've stayed at work with a leaky friggin tampon. That's what cardigans wrapped around your waist are for!<br />
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I just think its hilarious and adorable that he drove home. He could have literally (3rd time I've used the word literally just in tonight's post!) walked two blocks to Macy's and purchased another shirt, bought me something for our upcoming anniversary, walked back to the office, brewed and drank another cup of coffee in the time it took him to go home and change. He's a riot!<br />
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But thank beejeebus he did come home because you know what he discovered? I had a friggin flat tire! His manly self replaced it with the spare, changed into an argyle sweater and went on back to work like it ain't no thang!<br />
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So then I dropped off the girls and headed straight to Autotire. Where it smelled of stale coffee and dirty hands. The waiting room was full but I managed to get some business done anyway, scheduling appointments and responding to emails and whatnot. I was in that dirty little room with nary a FRIENDs re run on an anxient TV or water cooler for about three hours while my car got four new tires and a safety inspection that was due last month. Oopsie!<br />
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On the way to work I stopped at Mia Sorella and got a Caesar salad and some handmade toasted ravioli. To die!! So yummy! (But they charge $3 for an iced tea! Ridick!!!!)<br />
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Then I saw a client. Was going to stay at my Chesterfield office but the heat was turned up to 'Hot Flash' so I left to run errands in the cold with my car windows rolled down. Went to the bank, returned a sweater, bought the girls rain jackets at H&M, got a snack (cashews), bought some shirts for my upcoming trip to Ireland, ordered business cards, borrowed an audiobook ("Mothers and Daughters") From the county library. Very productive little afternoon. <br />
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Then I saw two more clients at 5 and 6, caught up on some paperwork and got home at 8. Just in time to eat a sandwich and some salt n vinegar Pringles with Clairey and put her to bed. <br />
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Tempted to sneak into Eves room and pinch her til she woke up but I resisted. <br />
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Claire and I read one of my favorite books of hers, Marie & Moi. It's a darling illustrated story about Marie Antoinette. (Ya know, before the guillotine.) We compared the pictures in the story of Versailles to the photographs I took when I studied in France ten, what?!? TEN?!? years ago. Claire thought that was pretty cool. <br />
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Then I took an hour long super hot Epsom salt bath. It always feels so good to purge out all that sweat and toxins and soak away. <br />
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Catching up on Facebook and my blogs and ready to hit the hay. Super long productive day. Literally. <br />
<br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMWHdJHE4MRoPsjWufoY3_hgWK9psiaxeOpj5o0nN4fGyDW3Tpbx6x4E3w7JodY6t4YqL00iBS4lYE3yUiBLXEpYwxpQDO3-II7pajUHT2HBLtvkOknnDe9vxMeChRiuDkMxGvDwP5so/s640/blogger-image--1829639559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMWHdJHE4MRoPsjWufoY3_hgWK9psiaxeOpj5o0nN4fGyDW3Tpbx6x4E3w7JodY6t4YqL00iBS4lYE3yUiBLXEpYwxpQDO3-II7pajUHT2HBLtvkOknnDe9vxMeChRiuDkMxGvDwP5so/s640/blogger-image--1829639559.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq49CHWyKlRUJqyT0YXDdNP3hySGG1aT3HoFY9hx-I4_DMB4pzzIcsakAFlmAXyMGxoyCQt-41CUl2FzIOdLOqxUGvS_cmitSUEAjuNsObbboq6p2Kr2qBVVDnOAqKLGRr6cF9xdYAaAo/s640/blogger-image-404612387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq49CHWyKlRUJqyT0YXDdNP3hySGG1aT3HoFY9hx-I4_DMB4pzzIcsakAFlmAXyMGxoyCQt-41CUl2FzIOdLOqxUGvS_cmitSUEAjuNsObbboq6p2Kr2qBVVDnOAqKLGRr6cF9xdYAaAo/s640/blogger-image-404612387.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-23442190267065669472013-03-10T21:33:00.000-05:002013-03-10T21:33:03.365-05:00Rock Bottom?I'm sure this is not a new or unique 'problem' for those who blog, but I've been having a hard time figuring out what and when to blog. I think of great posts throughout my day, but struggle with how to capture the bright idea once I have time to sit down and type.<br />
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I'm a therapist and sometimes my clients struggle with what to talk about. They don't know where to start. I usually respond with "Well, what's been on your mind lately? Usually starting there will lead us somewhere we need to go."<br />
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The first thing on my mind is me. My health. And how crappy I feel. I've NEVER weighed this much in. my. life. I could stand to lose 100 pounds and that seems so overwhelming I could cry. So instead I eat. I'm definately an emotional eater and have had issues with food ever since I was a little girl. Except back then I could eat and eat and eat and never gain any weight. Then I figured out that I could restrict my eating and that took me down another path. I had to hit rock bottom at 95 lbs (at the same height I am now, 5'9") before I got better.<br />
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I still have similar eating issues. They're just on the other side of the spectrum. Plus, I just don't take good care of myself. I don't know that I've ever had a long period of time where I took good care of my body. Maybe when I was single and had a lot of free time and needed to keep the goods in showroom condition. But if I think of a theme over my childhood, adolescence and adulthood in relation to my self-care it would be 1. Do what feels good. Because too many other things don't feel good. 2. Take care of your brain. Be smart. That's the only thing that matters, not looks (or apparantly just good health)<br />
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I know I need to fix it. <br />
I know what I technically need to do to fix it. <br />
A big part of me (no pun intended) wants to fix it.<br />
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Why aren't I doing it?<br />
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I felt like shit all day on Friday. I saw one client and went home early. Ate some IMO's pizza and took a nap to try to get rid of a weird headache I'd been working on all day. Woke up and felt worse. By the time Mike came home at 5:30 I had an ice pack on my skull trying to numb the migraine that was brewing. By 6:30 I was in tremendous paiin and puking for the next hour or two.<br />
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I went to bed at 7. Didn't get to hang out with my kids. Didn't get to eat dinner and chill on the couch with them. Heard them laughing and couldn't join b/c the TV was too loud and the lights were too bright. It sucked. No fun.<br />
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I always feel like shit. I'm always tired. No energy. Sore feet from plantar fascitits. Achey knees from patella fascitis. Misaligned hips make it hurt to even walk long distances. For these reasons plus the consistant weight gain I'm collected over the years have made life miserable. I eat like shit because I feel like shit. I'm running out of clothes that fit me. I'm beyond uncomfortable in my skin.<br />
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What am I waiting for? This has got to be rock bottom, right?<br />
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I don't want to do anything differently. But of course I do, or else nothing will change. I miss the old me. But even the old me was sick of myself from 5 years prior. And so on and so on.<br />
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But I'm also sick of all of the self-deprecation on the blog world lately. Everyone feels fat. It's the cool thing to do. I'm sick of hearing so much of "Big Sally had a salad with crispy chicken instead of grilled" and shame-bragging about your mutliple chins. Calling yourself a 'beast'. I can't handle it.<br />
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Instead of focusing on all of the negative things about me and my life, and I can count pretty high. I don't think it's going to help. I think focusing on the positive in going to help more. <br />
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I can think of one particular blogger that never seems to go off on herself. She's always smiling. Seems very proud of herself and her accomplishments phsyically and with her family. She doesn't have a perfect body (who does, except for Mama Laughlin?) but she's made killer progress and knows it. She doesn't seem to do crazy drink fads and only eat green foods that end in a vowel, etc. She just works her ass off.<br />
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I'm going to be thinking of her as I try to gain the courage to start DOING what I need to be doing.<br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-51686306526981871442013-03-01T17:56:00.001-06:002013-03-05T22:34:36.627-06:00Best QuestionTen years ago on February 28, Mike asked me to marry him in front of hundreds of strangers. Let me explain. <br />
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We visited The Big Bang on our first anniversary in mid January of 2003 to celebrate since that's where we met for the first time. During the night we entered a drawing to win a free Happy Hour for a bunch of friends and Mike and I scheduled it for the end of February. We let all of our friends know because I mean who doesn't like free beer and chicken wings?! I thought it would nothing more than a fun, free night out with friends. <br />
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I did a double take when I saw the turn out. Tons of my friends came out. Lots of mikes buddies were there. No one flaked on us. Both sets of my parents were there...that should have given me a major clue. But I was just happy and relieved we had a good turn out and we would all have fun. <br />
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Another major hint of what was to come was when the piano man called Mike and I onstage. That wasn't necessarily so weird, sometimes they do that to embarrass hosts of Happy Hours in front of a crowd by singing a dirty rendition of of Sweet Home Alabama or something. What set me off that something was afoot at the Circle K (name that movie reference for ten points!) was that Mike immediately shot up from his seat and started clapping and getting all "Woop Woop" frat guy about it. He does not do this. He does NOT like public attention of any kind. And he most certainly does not "Woop woop. "<br />
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Well, long story long we got called onstage. Mike grabbed the microphone and like a pro thanked everyone for coming out and then started a speech about meeting his "beautiful Elizabeth" there at that piano bar about one year ago. Then my ears started ringing and my eyes started seeing double and I probably peed a bit because I knew it was coming. He asked me to spend the rest of my life with him and took a bright shiny ring out of his pocket. And the rest is history blah blah blah. <br />
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Other random memories from that night: <br />
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bummed one of my best friends couldn't be there because she was in Hawaii on her honeymoon. <br />
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Someone in the crowd saw me kissing my dad who was congratulating me. She must not have seen Mike propose on stage and thought my dad was my fiancé (ewww!!) and she comes up to me half lit saying "it'll never last! Trust me!" I was like "bitch be trippin' this IS MY DAD!"<br />
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And later that night as we were back in our shitty Maplewood apartment having a "special hug" all I could do was look at my left hand raised in the air behind Mikes back at awe of the pretty diamond on my ring finger. <br />
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Thanks for asking me Mikey. Thank God I made the right choice. <br />
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The first pic is of our first vacation, like two months after we started dating. Ah. Young and in love. The second photo is one week before he popped the question. I miss that hair color. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUJZ_Gh2raV4mpCTCe2S-2yUht6NKGvaVykG6s7_nuy89G7qDVLxLbBPNwg9dz5t1JOtMSXktMVkR_U-EHHQVKOx_0lkNoBmM0CruKrsqKpYVjlTJrkR8bra5TygsnK42FdqaFtqJHyI/s640/blogger-image--718276165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUJZ_Gh2raV4mpCTCe2S-2yUht6NKGvaVykG6s7_nuy89G7qDVLxLbBPNwg9dz5t1JOtMSXktMVkR_U-EHHQVKOx_0lkNoBmM0CruKrsqKpYVjlTJrkR8bra5TygsnK42FdqaFtqJHyI/s640/blogger-image--718276165.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrg6jilqf95WSx2LKceS7XsAWLQEq82cNhnTaoUaU_864MEtNMarYAlfBaIHz7gMxs61ICeIZ8VGCI2p-pjrZn2vzoK_PPprS16e8n2KnkzQr-GWe39vo3yihpq_-Io9SLLPNGmHf_AY/s640/blogger-image-1664456648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrg6jilqf95WSx2LKceS7XsAWLQEq82cNhnTaoUaU_864MEtNMarYAlfBaIHz7gMxs61ICeIZ8VGCI2p-pjrZn2vzoK_PPprS16e8n2KnkzQr-GWe39vo3yihpq_-Io9SLLPNGmHf_AY/s640/blogger-image-1664456648.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-27371738082190188112013-02-28T15:28:00.001-06:002013-02-28T15:28:32.686-06:00Choose WiselyPop Quiz! Can you identify the correct bottle for washing your laundry?? I'll wait...........................…................................................................................. <br />
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Confession time! I've been using the blue bottle for like months now! According to Mike (aka smart pants) it's color safe bleach but NOWHERE on the package does it say so! I know the big red jug on the right is detergent but I thought the small blue bottle was ALSO detergent and I've been pouring it on every load I run. (I run like 1 load for Mikes every 10. I have way more underpants than he does obviously). Mike insisted that the clothes didn't get clean when I washed them and I just figured that was his way of volunteerism to do ALL of our laundry. But then we realized I was using the wrong stuff. I'm posting this picture because I encourage, no - implore- you to tell me which bottle you'd use on a load of colors. I'm not dummy enough to use the bleach - that's labeled by the way BLEACH. I thought I was using generic store range detergent. Am I crazy? <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFi1vldLqS0AzdnoF2FgooSEPYCUkQcxOg_HeryvHwR_EsIhpXcH8dOCMFaAV0rLPHdOwSSocUeQ6RhXoN9H6ITN2GZlbMglX2psug3_aeJa1Mg1gMfxVSmBQAlWvLbGUrUouVW3ZtHxA/s640/blogger-image-1225775368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFi1vldLqS0AzdnoF2FgooSEPYCUkQcxOg_HeryvHwR_EsIhpXcH8dOCMFaAV0rLPHdOwSSocUeQ6RhXoN9H6ITN2GZlbMglX2psug3_aeJa1Mg1gMfxVSmBQAlWvLbGUrUouVW3ZtHxA/s640/blogger-image-1225775368.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-90474335571740845042013-02-24T23:34:00.001-06:002013-02-25T07:42:00.641-06:00You know whenYou know your 2-year old is sick when she gets down from her chair at dinnertime. She doesn't want to eat her favorite Mac and cheese. So she walks over and puts her head in her mommys lap. You know she's sick when she doesn't want to watch Scooby Doo. She asks to take a bath. But when you pour the lukewarm bath she just sits there and looks pitiful. You know she's sick when you take off her clothes and the body heat from her fever just emanates off her tiny body and soft, smooth skin. Then she won't have enough energy to choose her book. So she'll just nod her head 'no' until you find some that sounds good ("Where Do Kisses Come From" and "Mommy Mine". ) She lays on your chest and turns her little head to the side so she can see the pictures. You know she's sick when she asks for 'mommy milk' and falls asleep within seconds of latching on. You pop her off and she just lays on your breast like a pillow. You put her in her crib and she doesn't even notice or complain that her baby Ariel isn't in her bed. You find it downstairs and place it in her bed. She's still hot but passed out. You accidentally wake her up a bit touching every part of her from her toes to her forehead. She looks up confused. Sees its you, her mama and smiles. Lays her head down and goes back to sleep. <br />
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God bless you little Evie. Feel better in the morning. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA6hCxKpYUqthn1_EhhLfT2tKC3w1RObBK_l79vCXk6_R1EOgmHbRMe8D_-fSQxyQhbsi3LNPmnNcgz83DfijuZbk97M3EYAK16cCeTc7NkVwhdi-b-wQDLoqTT-k5xoaOXjeV9JxKGo/s640/blogger-image-1740387707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA6hCxKpYUqthn1_EhhLfT2tKC3w1RObBK_l79vCXk6_R1EOgmHbRMe8D_-fSQxyQhbsi3LNPmnNcgz83DfijuZbk97M3EYAK16cCeTc7NkVwhdi-b-wQDLoqTT-k5xoaOXjeV9JxKGo/s640/blogger-image-1740387707.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-14846557552499314182013-02-09T22:31:00.000-06:002013-02-09T22:31:09.937-06:00Don Draper is a TigerMike and I have been obsessed with this new show, Mad Men, have you heard of it? Just kidding, we realize we're like 6 years late to this party. We have Netflix streaming on our TV and instead of the shitty movies they feature we thought we'd dig in to a new show. In the last week we've watched the full first seasion and are halfway through the second. I love watching it, I could look at it without the sound on. The set design and costuming is perfect. Obviously, Jon Hamm is great. He used to not-work at <a href="http://www.thebluenote.com/">The Blue Note</a>, a live music venue in Columbia, where I worked through undergrad. Here's a <a href="http://www.insidecolumbia.net/April-2012/From-Blue-Note-Bottle-Boy-To-Hollywoods-Golden-Boy/">good article</a> about CoMo "back in the day". He was long gone by the time I started as the Box Office girl, but man that would have been cool!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYuimfLvHIuBKyIqiwQSKRdQcuMgNdXq2iGaZfzUfq3p91OD-kBfOGsrKA0iN2p9BTKJ4f6YSjQKbc8_9Mz1r4bErnAXVPV7pGnvEtpij4DG1hqpr4M_ryc8SwmLZKhxA2ROEgWvoMdQ/s1600/Mad-Men-Rolling-Stone-Photos-mad-men-15261320-1336-1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLYuimfLvHIuBKyIqiwQSKRdQcuMgNdXq2iGaZfzUfq3p91OD-kBfOGsrKA0iN2p9BTKJ4f6YSjQKbc8_9Mz1r4bErnAXVPV7pGnvEtpij4DG1hqpr4M_ryc8SwmLZKhxA2ROEgWvoMdQ/s320/Mad-Men-Rolling-Stone-Photos-mad-men-15261320-1336-1800.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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I finished my last day at Safe Connections this week. The end of an era. A ton of folks from work took me out to lunch and I got a bunch of sweet cards that made me tear up. After seeing my last three clients (2 of whom I'm fortunate enough to see in private practice!) I stood at my doorway and looked at my empty office. Lamp in hand, drawers emptied, papers filed. I had a moment. And that moment consisted of me bawling my eyes out.<br />
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But now I'm solely self-employed and 100% in charge of my schedule and I lurve it! This week has felt just as busy, almost busier, than a full-time work week. Still have shopping to do to get my office organized. Fitting in clients and supervisees here and there. Scheduling lunches and coffees to get the networking going. Feels good.<br />
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OH! And BIG NEWS. Evie went poo poo on the potty TWICE today! We've been putting her on the potty seat as soon as she wakes up in the morning and after naptime and before bed for a full week now. She gets an M&M for just sitting there. It's a good gig. Well today she kept getting off and looking in the pot and sitting back on it. Over and over. She wasn't fussy about it. Perfectly happy sitting and standing on the potty while sucking on her blue M&M. I went over to pull her pants up and she had laid a huge poop! The whole house danced and sang "Poo Poo in the POTTY!" over and over again. Fun times.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-57159396333969019432013-02-04T15:26:00.001-06:002013-02-04T15:26:09.788-06:00The final countdownTomorrow is my last day of regular, full-time, salaried employment. All those things I regularly put off doing like HAVE to be done tomorrow. My office is all packed, which makes me kinda sad. My paperwork is (mostly) done. Ts are crossed and I's are dotted. Quitting time is near. <br />
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My last staff meeting was last week. I intended on making an impersonal, generic farewell to the staff as a whole, knowing I had full intentions of saying goodbye to anyone that mattered to me in person later. What I didn't expect we to have a full on Oprah 'ugly cry' in front of the ED, my staff and interns alike. Awkward... Ah well, we're mostly all therapists so it was a safe space to sob like a lil baby. <br />
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Tomorrow some folks are talking me out to lunch at Joey Bs. Then I'll have three back to back clients and probably be the last one out of the building tomorrow night. Man. It still doesn't feel real. <br />
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Anyone wanna do lunch? My schedule just opened wide up. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-90412743804105001422013-01-29T15:33:00.001-06:002013-01-29T15:33:44.498-06:00My #2 is 2!My baby turned 2. I've been reminding myself lately how teeny tiny she used to be. She was born a little over six weeks early but was such a strong preemie. The nurses and docs in the NICU couldn't believe we had my due date right. They were certain she was at least two weeks older if not more because she was doing SO well. But I had been charting when I got pregnant and knew exactly when I'd gotten pregnant. <br />
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Link to Sarasota trip here. <br />
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Babies at 33-34 weeks gestation aren't supposed to know how to suck from a nipple or bottle. But Evie was ready to nurse before I was! She never needed a breathing tube and only spent ten (long) days in the hospital. <br />
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Now she's my big girl. Not my biggest big girl but she's not a baby anymore. She does still poop her pants, that's a given. But she can sin her ABCs and Happy Birthday. She can run and climb and dance. She loves taking care of her babies, pretending to cook in her play kitchen, look through books on her own for hours, and adores her big sister. She'll yell at me if a Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber song comes on and I don turn it up immediately (we'll work on her musical tastes I promise) <br />
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It's bittersweet when your last baby turns 2. But I'm really excited to see what tricks she and Claire will learn this year. <br />
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Love you girls! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtgg0nG6JUXAEZYc6aY9bfwDEfsD6RW4AtlNoy4aVhdQ-j6vvaUopANviI5BJjJpwDqvR-dQlTOQ_W8Oc9SETm47jtpQrajrr2MxA2UVczuBMoskWbhNU2YrNq-J_YKgTaUCsB_BB7Eg/s640/blogger-image--193992195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtgg0nG6JUXAEZYc6aY9bfwDEfsD6RW4AtlNoy4aVhdQ-j6vvaUopANviI5BJjJpwDqvR-dQlTOQ_W8Oc9SETm47jtpQrajrr2MxA2UVczuBMoskWbhNU2YrNq-J_YKgTaUCsB_BB7Eg/s640/blogger-image--193992195.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6B4_LvZzwn0zzb4gVWUgOYO5HAcUmWLwXZdZDAlSJOs4YClrky156XFtbyUvDMqdOq0hISA-ulroAqIL-YFaFkojeIVQhdlVtH7l2iS9AfrvUJ6T77VUWhqNtSNth3tlOK8r_mqHrsY/s640/blogger-image--143081486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6B4_LvZzwn0zzb4gVWUgOYO5HAcUmWLwXZdZDAlSJOs4YClrky156XFtbyUvDMqdOq0hISA-ulroAqIL-YFaFkojeIVQhdlVtH7l2iS9AfrvUJ6T77VUWhqNtSNth3tlOK8r_mqHrsY/s640/blogger-image--143081486.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cfVx-L8zyAwg0mGQ6dswZF9_bIbuPDUfdkS5T4mWhVttdy_JhN22bAr4iV2_5VAupWfPSb4W8c4XU-CmM-cjG-Ri7t1Ai8Xy1K1dE9WjnzfaFeZy-otKEoWXJUtRPtyhWIrxzZ44x_k/s640/blogger-image-2021903456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cfVx-L8zyAwg0mGQ6dswZF9_bIbuPDUfdkS5T4mWhVttdy_JhN22bAr4iV2_5VAupWfPSb4W8c4XU-CmM-cjG-Ri7t1Ai8Xy1K1dE9WjnzfaFeZy-otKEoWXJUtRPtyhWIrxzZ44x_k/s640/blogger-image-2021903456.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi663k5Q5eruzX6RqSTPbB-c-XD5jI4GRH7OzfBfrmIoykc7Xfw93kN4J5RGrFPWAcw4A5qHmdjYiFpGpxpjiKcEhyyLMMfRJbZHv259FKIG36AR-SFcSPsYcP7TuvWqAAiBQryw4UzPnk/s640/blogger-image-405960525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi663k5Q5eruzX6RqSTPbB-c-XD5jI4GRH7OzfBfrmIoykc7Xfw93kN4J5RGrFPWAcw4A5qHmdjYiFpGpxpjiKcEhyyLMMfRJbZHv259FKIG36AR-SFcSPsYcP7TuvWqAAiBQryw4UzPnk/s640/blogger-image-405960525.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxzFjqLedlEVncTwPhgIbdkWD9rNxnIY97giRTUBBrKbyYqU75LVJjG0X0M1ljbcNf5G42dPgPCOQVt6_22F0Cqtfqu_CrM6ZA3w7AVGHqdYLf3KqcgTVEh7uBaEFA0GD-NI8t4t-cTA/s640/blogger-image--1994090823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxzFjqLedlEVncTwPhgIbdkWD9rNxnIY97giRTUBBrKbyYqU75LVJjG0X0M1ljbcNf5G42dPgPCOQVt6_22F0Cqtfqu_CrM6ZA3w7AVGHqdYLf3KqcgTVEh7uBaEFA0GD-NI8t4t-cTA/s640/blogger-image--1994090823.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-90242497271041706442013-01-26T07:33:00.001-06:002013-01-26T07:33:02.939-06:00Too excited to sleep!I could have slept in this morning...but I'm too excited to sleep!!! (I always think if that Disney commercial with the little boy in bed whenever I say that). It's my baby's birthday party!<br />
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Eves having a Finding Nemo themed party for her second birthday. Pinterest made me do lots of things but I didn't make myself crazy like I did last year. <br />
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See, I just Love planning and hosting my kids birthday parties. Especially when they're this little. The planning and crafting and shopping are really good distractions for the crying that I'm trying to avoid. They're happy tears but also bittersweet because my baby's not gonna be a baby anymore. <br />
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So family is coming out to our neck of the woods for lunch at a Caribbean themed cantina called Flip Flops. It looks like Jimmy Buffet just had an orgy in there so I don't need to so much decorating. They're setting up a small buffet and we will get to visit with everyone. <br />
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Ill take and post more pictures later, but I HAVE to tell you about the cake. THE CAKE! My amazingly talented friend, Charlie, from The Happy Bakery made is the most extraordinary cake sculpture. <br />
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Check this out! <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxvv7wq8PH5O8_5BP5UPEV9Asvg2U3QyzS8b6zuEwVLFj0manj9WjtKfLbvjBKwDztgDUQUwQIzM8AvSjzOQxpmtxoHtY9SGAgf4kC8w-MR_auOA2rvK2shk51s9jHJCfVImboAn7mVA/s640/blogger-image--65404713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxvv7wq8PH5O8_5BP5UPEV9Asvg2U3QyzS8b6zuEwVLFj0manj9WjtKfLbvjBKwDztgDUQUwQIzM8AvSjzOQxpmtxoHtY9SGAgf4kC8w-MR_auOA2rvK2shk51s9jHJCfVImboAn7mVA/s640/blogger-image--65404713.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY2icvMctHWwj4WC57xAUPWOtltK6UEThcu3PxCVxpV3vzzu4GpzbvvgJJ-9uMIT193drBCbs2ZrkGNyj4HrNRkj3YnXhwxhYZySyJaCahogK4Nk1Ko9QyZbbYbFAuAdGZBQBRFWklZk/s640/blogger-image-1511991525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY2icvMctHWwj4WC57xAUPWOtltK6UEThcu3PxCVxpV3vzzu4GpzbvvgJJ-9uMIT193drBCbs2ZrkGNyj4HrNRkj3YnXhwxhYZySyJaCahogK4Nk1Ko9QyZbbYbFAuAdGZBQBRFWklZk/s640/blogger-image-1511991525.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFb9xy0HxN-OAlxCAda2bd3OYQJ4GfJei4rn5VWYQlUJ6xHbV9OqrYByunwS01ncJ2ty4K71oPz6h0589j6C5t53gI_RC-9NUssszQ0-xiDba_73W_b1t6NVxC4w3AfVVdBPFtAvAf9ZM/s640/blogger-image--1604334251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFb9xy0HxN-OAlxCAda2bd3OYQJ4GfJei4rn5VWYQlUJ6xHbV9OqrYByunwS01ncJ2ty4K71oPz6h0589j6C5t53gI_RC-9NUssszQ0-xiDba_73W_b1t6NVxC4w3AfVVdBPFtAvAf9ZM/s640/blogger-image--1604334251.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDYB0ooejLWVUtaRp2NZ5ZJeTfq-bKa4BBU_cHkNH6XSJP5SwRRJ1bkbWi0864sSEGeisZSdfLwCAlyFf-0V-2ivk7WiN8Ax6eY7jU8Ak_LjCeJUkopdYK2Q6Z2_UaWnMhZE5XvpUdmw/s640/blogger-image--1641259181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDYB0ooejLWVUtaRp2NZ5ZJeTfq-bKa4BBU_cHkNH6XSJP5SwRRJ1bkbWi0864sSEGeisZSdfLwCAlyFf-0V-2ivk7WiN8Ax6eY7jU8Ak_LjCeJUkopdYK2Q6Z2_UaWnMhZE5XvpUdmw/s640/blogger-image--1641259181.jpg" /></a></div> <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0zK0kpBnYCNehNL8MKGFaLy0bOzAomnfGYvYAfpC-ZiBgUhbwvEY24F07QV4WgPuPnEE1n5ME7U5IU1XTdRWHCDgNScLsBQXdoyIriXnO6LyRFGIZ3GD4XKZpgnYz9dRQejJqJtyK5w/s640/blogger-image-1707915401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0zK0kpBnYCNehNL8MKGFaLy0bOzAomnfGYvYAfpC-ZiBgUhbwvEY24F07QV4WgPuPnEE1n5ME7U5IU1XTdRWHCDgNScLsBQXdoyIriXnO6LyRFGIZ3GD4XKZpgnYz9dRQejJqJtyK5w/s640/blogger-image-1707915401.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-23903424375952685232013-01-10T22:40:00.002-06:002013-01-10T22:52:26.824-06:00$h*t just got REAL!The delay since my last post has been due to the fact that MAJOR life decisions have been happenin' up in herr. The decision I was freaking out about? (and honestly, have been for over one year now) has finally been resolved.<br />
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I did it.<br />
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I quit my full-time non-profit job at an agency I just love and have decided to make the switch to working for myself!<br />
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I'm a business owner! A Mom-treprenour. (There's no way I spelled that correctly)<br />
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That's right! After countless years of working as a social servant, I mean, social worker at many<a href="http://www.ppslr.org/"> highly rewarding</a> and <a href="http://www.saintvincenthome.org/">proufoundly impactful </a>but very low paying <a href="http://www.stlefa.org/">jobs</a> that require long, demanding hours I've demoted myself to part-time private therapist / part-time stay at home mom! I couldn't be happier. Since I gave my 4 weeks notice at work, I've been in the BEST mood and have been so productive. It's like a weight has been lifted.<br />
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I wouldn't have been able to consider making this move now if Mike hadn't worked his @$$ off to get a great job with a significant raise. Plus he's been SO supportive. He's helped me crunch the numbers, talked me off the ledge, encouraged me, asked good questions, helped me find some answers and been an awesome partner, friend and spouse. Thank you Mikey.<br />
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I went into work after having a nice, long holiday break determined to finally have a talk with my boss about reducing my hours. I didn't want to have this convo though. I may or may not have given myself the runs multiple times just thinking about it.<br />
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Since I was at a management level, I knew that would include a demotion and restructuring of my position. I was prepared to work part-time and mostly that was because I didn't want to let the agency down or any of the clients I'd been seeing. Turns out, work wasn't able to modify the Grant my position is funded by (this can be common) and ultimately decided I'd only be able to reduce my hours down to 4 full days a week. That wouldn't work for my future plan so this week I gave my notice. Didn't necessarily see it coming, but now I know it was the right decision.<br />
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I wouldn't have been staying for logical, financial or schedule-related reasons. I would have been staying because my heart, guts, sweat and mostly tears live there. <a href="http://www.safeconnections.org/">Safe Connections</a> helped me become the skilled social worker and therapist that I am. They gave me a promotion before my first anniversary and I became a Manager right before I got pregnant with Eve. They've taught me a TON about leadership and management and coached me through hiring and firings, sent me to awesome trainings, fostered the confidence in me to present at state-wide conferences on subjects like trauma, art therapy and healthy sexuality. Financially and emotionally supported me during a complicated pregnancy when I was on bedrest for 5 months. I've grown immensely with this agency. And now this bird is ready to fly the nest.<br />
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I'll be focusing on private practice. <a href="http://www.elizabethlowder.com/">www.elizabethlowder.com</a> can tell you all about it. I'm really pretty proud of myself. And I haven't said or thought that in a while.<br />
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Counting down to Feb 5th y'all!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-28014624893255283332013-01-02T21:36:00.001-06:002013-01-02T21:46:37.273-06:00I say FOBFOClaire is super anxious about going back to school tomorrow. Mike tucked her in under protest while I walked a whopping 2 miles on the treadmill (better than zero miles right?) when I came upstairs to take my Epsom salt bath (no I'm not a geriatric I just feel like one) she was sobbing her eyes out. Had grabbed Kleenex out of the hall bathroom and was wiping her eyes. She'd also grabbed her little pink plastic trash can and placed it on the side of her bed by the wall like we do when she's throwing up sick. <br />
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I tried talking to her about it "Why are you scared? Grammy gets to pick you up from aftercare. What do you want in your lunch?" But that didn't seem to help. Which really bothers me by the way - that I still can't rationalize with her. Can you tell I'm a therapist?<br />
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I finally just told her she could read for a while until she gets sleepy. That was 45 minutes ago as she's still up. Reading out loud with her finger pointing out the words. I can vividly remember doing this a a kid. I was a voracious reader and would read until late late at night because I couldn't sleep or the book was just to damn interesting. (I mean have you read Little House in the Big Woods lately? It's riveting!!)<br />
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I just feel bad for her. I must say she comes by the anxiety issues honestly. I need to have a hard conversation tomorrow at work that I've been dreading since my last day before holiday break. <br />
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I've been giving myself diarrhea over it. I just need to bite the bullet and do it. Because once I say it I can't unsay it. And then it's out there and I have to live with it. <br />
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You would think I was getting ready to tell someone I had a fatal disease or liked R Kelly's music (negatory on both btw). <br />
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It's not even necessarily a 'bad' thing. It's a GREAT thing for me and my family. But I'm so fuggin worried about disappointing other people. And this is a convo I've been putting off way longer than mid December. <br />
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I'm freaking out before I even know if I have anything to freak out about. And in college I was notorious for coining the term FOBFO = Freaking Out Before Finding Out. As in "Mary don't FOBFO because your period is twenty minutes late. Why don't we go to Walgreens and buy a test?" Or "Emily, you probably aced that exam. Stop FOBFOing and keep passing the joint." (Puff, puff, give!)<br />
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Will someone please tell me to stop FOBFOing. Because its totally a thing. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdrgo-p2CGqhpuMffopaDYegxcDW_fXdCSSVL5DdnaDkslD5Mo7qPOivZ3zmhTzSG1zB0nZ9VPUd1PTGSXEncE3k1yAzU6ovwhUedUCuqffJ_Ftn87btZeKupOZjEWJc3PAceeOsvlLY/s640/blogger-image-112065959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdrgo-p2CGqhpuMffopaDYegxcDW_fXdCSSVL5DdnaDkslD5Mo7qPOivZ3zmhTzSG1zB0nZ9VPUd1PTGSXEncE3k1yAzU6ovwhUedUCuqffJ_Ftn87btZeKupOZjEWJc3PAceeOsvlLY/s640/blogger-image-112065959.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-6975696668682373862013-01-01T21:28:00.000-06:002013-01-10T22:54:38.458-06:00The PrizeI've taken a blogger's holiday but I'd like to get back into the swing of things again. Holiday recap? Well don't mind if I do...<br />
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Sister, Leah took the train in from Chicago for the holiday. Me and the kiddos were super happy to see her and spend a lot of time with her. We started it off with a wrap-a-thon for a full 2 1/2 hours in the basement. I went a little anal and had a system going. Everything from Santa with one type of paper, everything from us to C in one color paper, everything from us to E in another type of paper, different families in different paper. It made things a LOT easier when we were packing presents when leaving everyday. Nothing was forgotten this year.<br />
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Xmas #1: cooking red sauce and meatballs for the Stallone family celebration. Eve had a lot of fun opening presents and really got into it. My niece and nephews were presh and I think everyone had a great time.<br />
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Xmas #2: We started out the day catching Rise of the Gaurdians. Well, most of us did. Eve spent most of the movie walking around the theater with Mike and I taking turns escorting her little chubby self around while she hugged the cardboard display of The Croods. Then we had Christmas Eve at the Lowder's. My bro-in-law Joe made a traditional cuban dinner with pork shoulder, fried plaintains, yuca and black beans and rice. I'd never had any of it (instead of pork obviously) before but I really, really liked it! And I appreciated something different versus turkey or ham with potatoes. Eve got a baby doll she just loves from her Uncle Gary and Aunt Jen and Claire got a bunk bed for her AG doll and Butterfly doll (Cracker Barrell knockoff).<br />
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Xmas #3: The Real Deal. Mike was actually anxious that we didn't have enough to give the girls this year. I thought that was crazy! Between ALL four of our families the girls get spoiled. But we didn't have one BIG "WOW" present and I could tell that was really bothering him. I reminded him that C's "big" present was that we were redecorating her whole room to a 'big girl' room. New comforter, pillows, curtains, posters, clock, memo board, Justin Bieber calendar, etc. But I don't think he was convinced. C loved it all though. She was psyched to get rid of her 'baby' stuff. By Christmas morning Eve was over the unwrapping of the presents. She couldn't be bothered. She would literally start crying and fussing if we showed her another gift to unwrap. So honestly, some presents were left unwrapped this year for her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUHhSFPOHCFhTSzoB-kIMnsseDDNHdGeSTm2MHjgjoG_b1xP-IeFfuDQu6Mz6f4EcATzcDj-jjkDdaR5Ik6UwTam83Amr4x038rdgfCpKvBy3rrV19J8-hUmAdJ9X2u0UatAHWn5bK7Q/s1600/41-mfwFPRIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUHhSFPOHCFhTSzoB-kIMnsseDDNHdGeSTm2MHjgjoG_b1xP-IeFfuDQu6Mz6f4EcATzcDj-jjkDdaR5Ik6UwTam83Amr4x038rdgfCpKvBy3rrV19J8-hUmAdJ9X2u0UatAHWn5bK7Q/s200/41-mfwFPRIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this doll actually has more hair than Eve</td></tr>
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Xmas #4: Mike's mom's family celebration at their house that afternoon. It was much quieter with just the two brothers of their 4 girls, but nice after all the chaos from the previous two days. E got an Ariel babydoll with short red hair and blue eyes...just like her! She loves her! It's so friggin precious to see her love and take care of her dolls. I could watch it all day. We got a 20 movie gift card from redbox that I'm looking forward to using up because we love to watch some movies while pigging out and sitting by the fire. We picked up the new Total Recall on the way home. Ah Colin Farrell...<br />
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Dec 26 and 27 we had a couple of chill days. C had a sleepover with Grammy. Mike and I went clothes shopping at Kohl's and had some delicious mexican food at Senor Pique. I got to take a nap. The girls got to play with most of their toys. good times!<br />
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After work on Dec 28 we drove out to CoMo for Xmas #5: the girls got adorable matching velour Hello Kitty track suits. I got an infinity scarf knitted by my cousin Mary. We had Imo's and played Headbandz and visited until Eve started getting punchy and hyperspastic, literally bouncing off the walls. My mom and sister took care of the girls in the morning and let Mike and I sleep in which is AWESOME of them! We took the girls bowling with their cousins and had a lot of fun. C bowled her first STRIKE (in real bowling, not Wii). My stepdad made homemade authentic italian speidini, not the fake poser kind of most of the italian restaurants in St. Louis. The read deal holyfield Grandpa Stallone variety. So delicious.<br />
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Leah came back to the Lou with us and we entertained her with a trip to Costco, yummy dinners like quiche lorraine and chocolate gingerbread cake, big fat snowflakes, more fires in the fireplace and a low-key NYE. The best part? She majorly helped me clean out my basement. I'm talking numerous trash bags and multiple bags full of items to donate and TONS of cardboard boxes...anyone moving? Seriously, come over to my house. I'd like to make the downstairs a more livable playroom so we'll hopefully be able to work on that this month. I won't dwell on the fact that Mike has at least 4 boxes FULL of cds. FULL. of cds. I also found a present that he forgot he bought for me! It's this amazing screenprint of two koi fish. I just had a birthday, and obviously we just celebrated christmas - we didn't buy gifts for each other, just stockings. So he had two prime opportunities to give it to me. He just forgot. Either way I LOVE it and think I will hang it up in our bedroom or redecorate our bathroom around it.<br />
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Ok if you're still reading you get a prize. Email me for details. Sorry for the lengthy post y'all!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-51643220394640484342012-12-22T19:41:00.001-06:002012-12-22T19:47:12.059-06:00HumbugI don't know what it is. Extra busy lately, not cold enough, my Prozac hasn't been working...but I'm not feeling the Christmas spirit this year. <br />
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I usually take the last two weeks of December off every year and really look forward to it. This week I was supposed to make time to finish Christmas shopping, maybe bake some cookies, run errands, meet friends for coffee, take some awesome naps, etc. but I ended up needing to go into work for the better part of two days, Claire was home sick with a fever for three days. And every night I can barely get the girls in bed without falling asleep myself. <br />
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I'm just in a negative frame of mind and I need to shake it off. <br />
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I did get to meet a college friend for a quiet dinner one night and catch up. I got my passport pictures taken for Ireland, met up with an old (boy)friend from high school and got to meet his adorable 2 year old. My sister took the train to St. Louis from Chicago last night. I've sold more than a handful of ornaments this year. I even got a bonus at work! So there's plenty of stuff to be thankful for. <br />
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I just don't feel myself. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBqfLBObyF-NKpXdP_aW_IxU18q6E33lcaGLCV6YbHVj7Vu5JUzChZU2xbAqxKpel0p6zXDPrOnox4OzKmxHyQCjq5S9qjVrzEKMi3h24Qui4bOrlB39p_jWBOHMFYY1lb9L_KEqHRaM/s640/blogger-image--1170663193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBqfLBObyF-NKpXdP_aW_IxU18q6E33lcaGLCV6YbHVj7Vu5JUzChZU2xbAqxKpel0p6zXDPrOnox4OzKmxHyQCjq5S9qjVrzEKMi3h24Qui4bOrlB39p_jWBOHMFYY1lb9L_KEqHRaM/s640/blogger-image--1170663193.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-73430274307596868822012-12-16T21:31:00.000-06:002012-12-16T21:32:13.773-06:0012.16.12Today is my 35th birthday. Best one ever.<br />
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Sleeping in.<br />
French toast and thick bacon.<br />
Beautiful flowers and beautiful cards from my hubby and girls.<br />
Costco membership! Woohoo!<br />
dark chocolates (does Mikey know me or what?!)<br />
Phone calls from all the important people (mom, dad, leah, mother-in-law)<br />
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We all headed down the street to Costco and had a crazy time. Literally saw no less than 6 families we knew in the first 20 minutes. The kids ate a second breakfast with all of the samples (popcorn, cherry jam quesadilla, egg rolls, cheese, pretzels, etc.) We got some great filets for dinner, cute christmas gifts for my niece and nephews and saved a bunch of money.<br />
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Then we had lunch at Pasta House.<br />
Caesar salad and my favorite cheesecake on the planet. Mike snapped this hilarious picture of the plate a second after the server set it down in front of us. Evie literally couldn't wait to fork the first bite! This picture just cracks me up!<br />
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Nice nap.<br />
Fire in the fireplace.<br />
watched the new Footloose (where has Kenny Womald been?!)<br />
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Mike made...wait for it - grilled filets with gorgonazola cream sauce, roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. It was TO DIE. melt in your mouth. better than any steakhouse.<br />
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(have you noticed how most of the highlights of my birthday involve food!?!?)<br />
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read a christmas story "The Little Christmas Elf" to the girls and tucked my babies in. Making lists of everything I need to do this week at work and personally. I technically have the week off but I still need to tie up loose ends and get stuff ready for the new year.<br />
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Thanks for a great birthday Mikey! Thanks for letting the docs rip me out of your womb with only half the anethesia for the C-section Mom!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-8836776788651815682012-12-11T09:21:00.001-06:002012-12-11T11:39:38.795-06:00Too cold to think of a titleTook the girls to Breakfast with Santa over the weekend at C's school. Breakfast consisted of bagel thins and cupcakes (?). I was the cool mom and let my kids shove their faces with cupcakes. Here's E showing you how it's done. Good girl. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">get it in there girl!</td></tr>
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C's showing off her first Christmas book from the Pinterest pin I talked about <a href="http://www.thelowderhouse.blogspot.com/2012/12/pinterest-made-me-do-it-3.html">HERE</a>. She's really enjoyed doing this most every night. And I keep finding inexpensive books to add to the collection. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbie celebrates Christmas wth the Pop Star or similar lame title</td></tr>
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We usually make a big Sunday dinner for the four of us. Spend time grocery shopping, making a roast or lasagna or something special. This weekend we were all exhausted and just phoned it in with a rotisserie chicken, which I love btw. I found a recipe for <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/49750770855350285/">roasted potatoes on Pinterest</a>. They were amah-zing. <br />
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My house was SO freezing cold last night that I couldn't fall asleep. I kept trying to snuggle up to the husband but he wasn't even as warm and fuzzy as he usually is! I finally got out of bed at like midnight to find a pair of sweatpants, socks and a friggin hoodie that I zipped up and covered my head with. Can you say "time to turn up the thermostat!?" <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-74131224820864767462012-12-05T21:33:00.001-06:002012-12-05T21:33:17.605-06:00Trying to figure it out.I went crazy for several minutes this morning and signed up for a diet bet via Courtney from Journey of a Dreamer. $20, 4 weeks, 4% body weight loss. Over $6,000 is in the pot and EVERYone that reaches their goals split it. Cool idea. The thing is. I had to get on a scale and weigh myself for the first time since over the summer. Another 7 lbs have crept on and I'm now officially heavier than I've ever been in my whole entire life. It's really, really depressing. I need to get a handle on it. I know what I need to do, I just haven't wanted to do it. My friend Casey says "You don't have to want to do it. Just do it. " that's hard for me to grasp bc I'm in a field where I'm encouraging people to do what feels good all the time. It feels, weird, to do something that doesn't feel right. I'm a therapist and I could go on and on analyzing myself so ill spare you the details. But I need to figure this shit out. <br />
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I walked in the treadmill for an hour tonight while watching tv. That's a start. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-12048146532212850082012-12-03T10:31:00.002-06:002012-12-03T10:31:17.441-06:00MUSIC MONDAY I've been wanting to do a blog solely on my music preferences and more specifically the sense memories that go with them for a long time now. Music is SUPER important and influential in my life. I absolutely DO NOT understand people who are like<em> "I don't really care about music."</em> or even the ones that are like <em>"I like everything</em>...(and then go on to list everyone currently on the top 40)" That doesn't count! I'm a music snob. I said it.<br />
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99% of the songs I write about will probably be ones that I heard on the radio the very same day. My memories need to get triggered that way. My first installment was the first song that came on the radio this morning on my way to drop off the girls at school and daycare. I listen to <a href="http://kdhx.org/">88.1</a> and this morning <a href="http://kdhx.org/play/radio-shows/emotional-rescue">Cat with Emotional Rescue</a> did not dissapoint. <br />
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"Black Metallic" by Catherine Wheel, 1994. Take a listen....</h3>
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Hearing this song immediately makes me look for a pack of marlboro menthols and I haven't smoked (regularly) since before Claire was born. I didn't discover this song for a good 4 years after it was released. A group of friends from Branson got me into them and I will forever be grateful. I want to marry the lead singer and have a million of his babies. This song reminds me of long nights spent under the stars, talking, smoking cigs, laughing, making out, and feeling teenage angst more authentic than "Smells Like Teenage Spirit" could ever embody for me. This song was back when I was in my perfect body, was discovering the power I never knew I had in the world and was learning how to use it. The break from 5:00 that crescendos at 6:05 makes me wanna die. <br />
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I posted two versions because I wanted you to see the video, but the second version is the full-length song and that's where you can hear all of the awesomeness that is "Black Metallic". <br />
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You're welcome.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-79734822187517701072012-12-01T17:03:00.001-06:002012-12-02T22:23:05.549-06:00Pinterest Made Me Do It #3Welcome to my third installment of Pinterest Made Me Do It. I saw <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/49750770855312309/" target="_blank">this idea</a> to individually wrap a bunch of Christmas stories and keep them under the tree. One is chosen to read each night and then the kids run off to bed with visions of sugar plums and stuff. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlw9RnJVc_oYpOAnHfIMVND-rUEb3rAJYPBE9SKM2JJlg9StfaZ2CBEmCaE6BssHN1wdRwrR1eQ9rK8k9Mg_7N_t58LNA_u0jZWhixvMhWX76mbycgKT1NioN_2opMxfwlZ_RqL6kMq0/s640/blogger-image-421059940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlw9RnJVc_oYpOAnHfIMVND-rUEb3rAJYPBE9SKM2JJlg9StfaZ2CBEmCaE6BssHN1wdRwrR1eQ9rK8k9Mg_7N_t58LNA_u0jZWhixvMhWX76mbycgKT1NioN_2opMxfwlZ_RqL6kMq0/s320/blogger-image-421059940.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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You're 'supposed' to do it with 24 books...<strong><em>but that's just for show offs!</em></strong> I went searching around the house for holiday book and found about eight. To supplement a found a few on <a href="http://www.bomc2.com/">www.bomc2.com</a>. That made a total of 12. That's a nice, round number and we'll just have to do it every other night. <br />
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On an unrelated and gross note, we woke up to sounds of Eve screaming her face off this morning. Mike went in (I was actually ever so slightly hungover from the whole 4oz margarita I'd had the night before at the STL Blogger dinner). Eve had puked all holy hell up into one full corner of her room. I mean it looked like a crime scene! Poor girl. We popped her in the tub and got her changed in fresh Jammie's and started snuggling downstairs while daddy vacuumed, and sopped and lysoled the mess. She wanted to nurse a lot, which is usually good for an upset tummy but god I hope my milk wasn't still margarita flavored! We colored (with markers) and drank juice and she started feeling better. <br />
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After the vomit-thon we headed to Sams to buy a new flat screen Mikes been eyeing. It was really cheap and was Hd and 'smart' and all these things I don't understand. I just know I don't have to give it a love tap every time the volume turns off for no reason. No we 'have to' get HD uVerse and a blu ray player. Mm hmm. Just like I 'have to' redecorate our bathroom. Likely story. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">marker comes off really easily with eye makeup remover. just in case you need to know.</td></tr>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-5229163404453453602012-11-27T09:45:00.001-06:002012-11-27T22:33:35.916-06:00ShoppingIn going shopping for Christmas today since I don't have to go into work until noon. I have lots of ideas for Claire, she's into Hello Kitty and Monster High and of course, The Biebs. But I have NO idea what to get for Eve. She has all of Claire's old clothes and old toys and books. She doesn't really 'need' anything. But I have to get her something to open up. I would prefer it not to be small, plastic and in a million parts. Not necessarily for the choking hazard, but because of all the clutter! Too many parts!! Why must they make toys so small?! Have you seen a Polly Pockets shoe??!! It's smaller than a booger! Ridick!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I shoppin' Mama! I shoppin'!"</td></tr>
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Last night I literally got out of bed because I almost forgot to take advantage of a Cyber Monday sale from one of my friends and fellow etsy shop owners, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/HappyBaker?fref=ts" target="_blank">Charlie</a> from <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyBakery?ref=pr_faveshops" target="_blank">The Happy Bakery</a>. I ordered over $100 worth of handmade gourmet cake truffles and saved a boatload of dough (see what I did there?). I'm giving them as gifts this year to Claire's daycare and some of the parental figures in my life. Oh and Mikes getting salted caramel BACON truffles. I said it. <br />
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If you haven't been to my <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/fleurdelizdesigns" target="_blank">etsy shop</a> you probably should. I sell hand painted Christmas ornaments and I can do almost any design under the sun (or the moon if you're nocturnal). Check it out and hit me up <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/fleurdelizdesigns" target="_blank">Fleur de Liz Designs</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Personalized handpainted HOME ornament with family surname, house number, etc $7 each or 4 for $25</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45ZEuJluIEx5_t1HEi5JlvED-nfmDzybH4_8NWIe1sUiMdv15WQMwt7_6dlE417ZmnqmDusiYJc903Qwcm6m4QlRkHnQtHY-pbDL2rQidrqZ2MPW-W8V1zJ29A1OqD0ubjEyXkWWZ_F0/s640/blogger-image-62308768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45ZEuJluIEx5_t1HEi5JlvED-nfmDzybH4_8NWIe1sUiMdv15WQMwt7_6dlE417ZmnqmDusiYJc903Qwcm6m4QlRkHnQtHY-pbDL2rQidrqZ2MPW-W8V1zJ29A1OqD0ubjEyXkWWZ_F0/s400/blogger-image-62308768.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Round ornament with almost any custom design you can come up with! $9 each or 3 for $25</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-42257991624362369492012-11-26T15:25:00.001-06:002012-11-26T21:18:22.720-06:00Go the f@&$ to sleep!We had a lovely Tgiving. Full of family, poopy diapers, cornbread stuffing and turkey cookie decorating contests. We decided to come home early on Friday because Eve gave us a hard time sleeping. She woke up screaming bloody murder so we tried putting her in the bed with us to console her. That wasn't the grandest of ideas. She kept banging her big, hard head on the wall and then whispering "Ow". She wanted to nurse all night (yes I nurse my almost 2 year old) I'm not one of those moms that can fall asleep while a human is sucking on my nips, it's a wee bit distracting. I can't even fall asleep if a lights on in another room so you can understand why I was discouraging the overnight Breastfeeding bonanza. I fell asleep on my tummy thus denying my babe her precious 'mommy milk' (that's what she calls it) only to be tickled awake by Eve grazing my back with her chin trying to find my boob in the dark after lifting up the back of my shirt! It would have been hilare if I weren't so flipping tired! At one point she politely tapped me on the shoulder to say "Mama, are you seepin'? Are you seepin'?!" Thanks God she's cute or we would have taken her back by now. I kid!<br />
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We did get our Christmas tree up a good two weeks earlier than normal. Look at its prettiness won't you? <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUXgAhI88KQYfUBh7G7Q2AhPFbKypmE-RpGoiv5JYlMvf6DXAHTg7hjxU9QR1daT9j3Sktm7f2Kq74ebsNJh-_sE8L-c2lY5I5pnZkuHne9mtZ1azxxS6Yk5nVtaGxzbhxBD8_2qa-r8/s640/blogger-image--904053827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUXgAhI88KQYfUBh7G7Q2AhPFbKypmE-RpGoiv5JYlMvf6DXAHTg7hjxU9QR1daT9j3Sktm7f2Kq74ebsNJh-_sE8L-c2lY5I5pnZkuHne9mtZ1azxxS6Yk5nVtaGxzbhxBD8_2qa-r8/s640/blogger-image--904053827.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Valley Park Valley Park38.552342 -90.499655tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-77116427414339434512012-11-20T18:35:00.001-06:002012-11-20T18:49:17.683-06:00I die of the cuteSucker drunk <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-8775499438850942192012-11-19T21:55:00.000-06:002012-11-19T21:55:49.474-06:00Pinterest made me do it. The Results show.<br />
So my bathtub is clean, but not "mind-blowing" clean. And my towels are still towels. 9 year old towels. The wash in vinegar and then baking soda did a whole buncha nothin'. So now I'm not going to feel bad about redecorating our bathroom and getting new towels. Christmas gift anyone? These are my two favorite curtains so far...which one is your fave?<br />
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I'm sick with a bad cold and laid in bed all day yesterday. I looked up a ton of pins on epsom salt baths and decided to take one. 2 cups of epsom salt, 1 cup of baking soda and a dollop of olive oil to moisturize my skin and counteract the drying that the salts could do. It was relaxing, but I couldn't get the water hot enough. It was supposed to induce sweating for detox purposes. We must need a new water heater or something. That's exactly what I want for Christmas!?!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-682098731187442440.post-49735392376318675072012-11-17T15:40:00.001-06:002012-11-18T00:12:35.335-06:00Pinterest attempts #1 and #2<br />
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I'm attempting something anyone who knows me, or more specifically has lived with me, knows I don't do often. Cleaning. I don't like cleaning. I'm not good at it, it takes too long, doesn't last long enough, I never use the right tools or cleaning products, plus I'm just lazy (most)sometimes.<br />
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But I've been hearing a LOT about this recipe on Pinterest (maybe you've heard of it?!) for cleaning the grime off your shower. My mom's tried it, numerous friends have been pinning it, it keeps coming up in coversation (conversations about cleaning are boring by the way). So I thought I'd try it.<br />
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Right now, I have a layer of white vinegar and blue Dawn dish soap on the bottom of my disgusting bathtub. It's textured and made of weird plasticky material and I HATE this tub. I wish I would have taken a BEFORE picture so you could have properly judged me. But I promise I'll post an AFTER picture. You can see the recipe for cleaning my tub <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/156500155772447303/" target="_blank">HERE</a><br />
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MEANWHILE...I'm also washing a load of bathroom towels for increased fluffiness and absorbancy. First you run a load with one cup of white vinegar, then you run it with 1/2 cup of baking soda. I'm doing the first load right now. Link for washing my towels is <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/49750770855219295/" target="_blank">HERE</a> . Aren't you dying with excitement to see how they will turn out?!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2