Ambitious

This is my to do list for today. I made it up during breakfast. If you can read it, it says "birthday wish list" at the top. To clarify, it's My Beloved's birthday, but my wish list. These are the things I want to have done by the time my husband gets home from work this afternoon... to bless him. There is always some reason I don't get to house cleaning and such and our home has been sorely neglected of late (you know... the last few years). So as part of his birthday surprise, I want to make it sparkle as much as possible today.

You'll notice not much is crossed off my list in the picture. Here's my list in case you can't read it. I'll try to update it throughout the day. (it's in no apparent order as I just emptied my head onto the card and then went back to fill in skipped lines when I ran out of room.)

• iron pants (My Beloved's... he will be very excited)
• Laundry ~in the dryer now
  
• Empty diaper pail (MB usually does this)
• Empty trash (again, MB does this)
• Vacuum living room and kitchen
• Sweep/vacuum bathroom
• mop bathroom
• mop kitchen
• dishes
  
• de-clutter shelves in LR ~started
  
• upload kid (business thing) ~started
  
• clean toilet and sink
• clear corner (in the kitchen)
• make dinner ~rice is soaking
  
• scrub kitchen
• wipe toaster oven
• dust main rooms ~1/2 done
  
• order cards (business thing)
• email update (picture update for family)
• clear kitchen table
  

As you can see, this is a long list... and rather ambitious. We'll see what gets done. I'm not working on anything now because Sweet Pea is up and I'm expecting a client to pick something up shortly. Then I'll get back to the list.

Labels: As it happens..., Keeping My Home, Prince Charming

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 1:30 PM 0 Comments

Pink Overalls

I've just got to share some cuteness with you. I confess, I took these pictures back at the end of January, but I took them for you... so better late than never I suppose.

This is one of my favorite outfits on Sweet Pea. The socks can come or go... they just happened to be on her at the time. I wish you could have seen this outfit in all it's "from the front and including her face and headband" glory, but you can use your imagination. It was pretty cute.

Then (and the reason for this post in the first place) this happened. Yep... this is the dead of winter, and no, these are not supposed to be capris or cut-offs. It's just that (sniffle) they are too short. It's true... my baby grew when I wasn't looking and my favorite outfit is too small.

They're just too short to keep those ankles warm any longer. And it's too bad too, those overalls are lined with soft fabric inside and so cozy!

And yes, my baby girl likes to play with trucks. It's just part of having a big brother.

And have you ever noticed that when you are looking through your camera lens, you don't see anything else. And before you know it your 2 year old can decide he wants his sister to play with him and push him on his car, so he picks her up off the ground and carries her over to the car.

Yeah, I saw this through the view finder first. You can tell her foot isn't on the ground. We try to avoid this activity because sometimes he drops her and there is crying... I try to avoid the crying. We have enough of that in this house.

But because of their playing, I got this picture. The first (and maybe only) picture of Sweet Pea walking. Did I tell you she walks??? She'll be a year old next week and she's been walking for a while. It's crazy.

And no, I didn't crop this in photoshop so you can't see her head. I was taking the picture so you could see her pants were too short... I never expected her to take a step in front of my camera. The grandparents are going to be thrilled I've cut her head off in such an important (and adorable) shot.

Labels: As it happens..., Have to Laugh

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 4:03 PM 0 Comments

Heading toward healthy

I mentioned a while back that we've made some changes in our lifestyle for the healthier. I suppose you could say this is an understatement. With every new change and piece of research, something new turns up that needs to be researched and, usually, implemented into our lifestyle. More and more organic foods have entered our diets and more and more plastic toys have left our home. We've learned so much and implemented so much in such a short period of time that it's hard to look back and share it with you in bite sized pieces... but that is exactly what I want to do.

While I am in no way the type to judge you for the decisions you make, we are becoming extremely passionate about the things we have been learning and want to make some if the information available to you... hopefully without scaring you off.

Know that while we are going the healthy route... we are not die hard. If we were, the occasional sour cream donuts wouldn't wander home with My Beloved for our movie snack or every bite of the Dunkin Hines cake friends made wouldn't be savored. I guess you could say we figure that if the majority of what we eat is healthy, the once and a while "poison" won't hurt as bad. Or maybe we'll get really disciplined one of these days. I'll let you know.

I say all these things today as more of an accountability tool for myself. I want to start pulling this info together for you... and now that I've said that, maybe I'll actually do it. In the mean time... is there anything in particular you do to make your family a little bit healthier??? Or are you making plans to "miss" my posts on this topic? I'd love to know where my readers stand. :)

Labels: Healthy Living, Home Making, In the Kitchen

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:45 PM 3 Comments

The Mom I want to be

I was visiting Tammy's blog this morning when I read something I wanted to share:

It makes for a very full day for me, but I find that our days go smoothest when I am giving the children 100% of my attention and am constantly instructing and directing them towards more important, "real life" activities that help us function as a family!

Click here for the rest of the article.

This is something I've known for a while... so why do I fight it? Oh, because it takes more energy... sure. Ultimately, it's because I'm selfish. I want to spend my time the way I want to spend it... and that isn't always sitting on the floor playing train or doing chores the slow way (or chores at all if we're being honest here.)

I really struggle to be this kind of mom... the kind of mom I really do want to be. I struggle, though, with how to do it in real time.

Thanks Tammy for your encouragement... and for so often sharing the hows and whats from your life!

Labels: Passing it On, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:21 AM 0 Comments

Science with Daddy

Today is My Beloved's day off... I love that he is working 4 day weeks! It is so fun.

This morning, our list of errands was cut short by the reminder that it's President's Day and nothing we needed to do would be open... so home we stayed. After Sweet Pea went down for her nap, Daddy brought out the gyroscope we got recently.

For 30 or more minutes Daddy and son sat on the kitchen floor and played with the gyroscope. Tornado held it, felt it on his finger, picked it up from the floor, and tried to set it on the little balancing point... all while it was spinning. Meanwhile, Daddy was talking to him using words like "centrifical force", "gravity", and "kinetic"... words Tornado (age 2) won't understand for some time, but it's never too early to introduce these concepts to our little ones.



I'll tell you, it blessed my heart to hear them playing and having fun for so long. The first time Tornado had success setting it down, Daddy said "give me five". A while later I heard it come from Tornado himself... and every time after. I just kept hearing, "Gimmie five" from Tornado's mouth... and I'd know he'd been successful again.

Not only science introduction, but great fine motor practice!

Labels: As it happens..., Homeschooling my 2 Year Old, Prince Charming

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:53 AM 2 Comments

Giveaway fun!

Ok people... I'm still sick. And oh have I been sick. Last night my fever graduated from low grade (all week) to actual fever at 101.2 ish. Yeah, I didn't feel good. I'm *starting* to hear out of my right ear, and I'm starting to wonder if I feel better in the congestion department. Thankfully, the "I can't survive this" feeling doesn't start until late evening. It makes it possible to get a few things done during the day. Don't get me wrong... I still feel whiny and in pain (teeth from the pressure), but I'm not curled up on a couch hugging a blanket around me until some time in the evening.

Happily, we've had friends (somewhat displaced from an actual home) over several times this week (you know they are good friends, I've had jammie clothes and messy hair all week and they keep coming back) to fellowship and generally hang out on a couch. While I've had enough energy to make dinner, it's been nice to disappear to nurse Sweet Pea after dinner and return to a clean kitchen. [Thank you Friend!]

In other news (like my sickness isn't news or something), Kristin is giving away a baby sling this week over on her blog! Check it out... she has reviews for them so you can pick which one you like best!! I LOVE my ring sling and entered to win another like it! Check it out!

Labels: As it happens..., Passing it On

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:46 PM 2 Comments

10 things I should be doing right now

1. Fold the rest of the laundry
2. Start a new load of laundry
3. Dishes in my sink (and on my counter and piled on my stove)
4. Wipe down grimy toys we are going to try to sell on Craig's List.
5. Straighten/de-clutter house.
6. Make myself something healthy for lunch (I'm hungry, but don't feel like making anything)
7. Take a hot shower (that might make me warmer)
8. Work on any number of business things
9. Fix up My Beloved's winter coat so he can actually wear it in these single digit temps
10. Mop (let's not get crazy here)

But instead I decided to spend this minute typing up this list for you. Yuck... looking at it again it makes a good "to do" list. Why'd you make me do this?

Labels: Keeping My Home

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 3:16 PM 2 Comments

Running on 2 Senses

Yes... can you believe I only have 2 fully functioning senses? Only 2... out of 5... that is not a good percentage. Ok... so 40% doesn't sound all that bad... but it is. It really is!

My hearing is limited at best. One ear is fully clogged. Last night we were listening to Tim Horton on You Tube and I missed my favorite part... twice. I thought it was saying something else. I find myself saying "you know, I don't hear so well" all the time too. If only it would drown out the constant fussing of my 2 year old!

My sense of smell is non-existent! My Beloved keeps asking me to "smell this" when he's making dinner or "do you smell that?" when one of the kids needs a new diaper. I just look at him and say, "no, I can't smell anything!" The last thing I remember smelling was a smoky smell from the night we put liquid smoke in our soup Saturday. I didn't smell it Saturday, but Sunday morning at church I kept smelling it.

And taste... I really miss this sense. "I can't recall the taste of food" (can you name that movie?) Ok, so it's not as bad as that character's circumstances. It has been a LONG time though... Friday? Thursday? And we've eaten some yummy things this week... flavorful, all in the hopes the extra flavor would push through. Nope... not so much.

I can feel and I can see... 2 out of 5 isn't bad... I guess. :)

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 5:23 PM 1 Comments

Just when I thought I was getting better...

I know I mentioned that I was starting to feel better, but apparently that wasn't meant to be. Saturday and Sunday I felt much the same as Friday, good moments and bad moments, only so so.

Over the weekend, though, I started to notice that my ears were a little foggy. Still, I felt mostly OK.

Monday morning, my ears were a bit more clouded over. My Beloved and a friend of ours (TogoPal's husband) were heading to a gun shop around 10 and I had to decide if we were going too. I decided to take the kids and go with them, despite not feeling great. It somehow sounded easier than having the kids alone at home with me. From the moment we got in the car, my ear situation began to worsen. By the time we got to the gun shop (a half an hour-ish away), I would say it actually hurt. For an hour or more, we walked around in circles (the kids and I) while Daddy shopped and talked to the store guys. Thankfully, this shop also does taxidermy, so there were plenty of "animals" for us to look at over and over and over again. It really was the perfect activity for the morning and Tornado had a lot of fun!

By the time we were ready to go, I was tired and my ear was really starting to hurt. We had one more stop to make. We need an adapter for my computer and were hoping to pick up one other little hard to find detail (I'll tell you all about it later). We planned to stop at Best Buy or Walmart, but then we remembered there was a Target not far.

Sweet Pea was finally asleep when we arrived at the Target, so My Beloved and friend went in and I drove around the parking lot for what seemed like ever! Before they left though I begged him to find some sort of tea tree oil ear drop type thing to make my ear better.

Noon now, huge pain in my ear, freshly applied homeopathic ear drops, we met Togopal for lunch. By the time we got home and got the kids to bed, it was all I could do to lay on the couch and deal with the pain. My Beloved put more ear drops in my ear and I took some ibuprofen. I did have some relief Monday evening so we could have some fun... but it started up again around bed time.

Tuesday morning I woke up with vertigo (or at least I'm assuming that's what that was). I was unbalanced/dizzy all morning. I saw a doctor (there is one on staff at My Beloved's office), who said it's just pink in there and doesn't need antibiotics yet. I'm so glad I didn't pay someone to tell me that... that would have been annoying. I appreciate her for not just giving meds anyway.

Anyway, here I am today, clouded over, no longer unbalanced thankfully, and trying to get through. Last night was rough as I had very little energy and could do little more than sit on the couch limp. Now that both kids are finally asleep I should probably take a nap of my own.

Sorry for the long drawn out detail. Just thought I'd let you know where I've been all week.

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:58 PM 1 Comments