Time to Stretch

I'm like most folks and easily feel good about the justice of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

But I'm going to try to stretch myself spiritually and remember that I should grieve he rejected the redemption that our Father in Heaven has offered to all the lives He created. The life of Bin Laden, despite his evil, was still one God longed to redeem and be reconciled to.

So, while I am thrilled that for the surviving families of the 9/11 victims that a measure of satisfaction hopefully can be felt, I must try to remember I am an Easter Christian every day and need to pray for ALL to accept that Christ my Savior died and was resurrected for them.

Laundry Issues

I have found that no one else in my household takes the 5 seconds it requires to turn their clothes right side out before putting them in a hamper (or on the floor, behind the toilet, under the bed, etc.). Despite requesting this on a DAILY basis, I still spend about 10 minutes a load turning every piece of clothing that is not my own right side out. Clothes need to be inspected for stains, rips, missing buttons, etc. By my count, at 10 minutes a load of JUST turning clothes the right way, I spend TWO HOURS every week on this task before I ever even get to the inspection/cleaning portion of laundry. Ridiculous.

Walgreens for Diapers this week!

Diaper deal at Walgreens this week. Here's how:
-Buy 2 Pampers Jumbo Pack $10.00 each - diapers or Easy ups
-Use 1 $2/1 Pampers Diapers Walgreens coupon from in-store Infant Care Booklet (It will actually deduct $4 at ring up.)
-Also use 2 $2.50/1 from the 2/27 P&G
-You'll may need to buy an inexpensive "filler" item so that you have as many items as you do coupons (3). Sometimes my Walgreens waives this, but I like to be prepared.
-Pay $11.00 for the diapers, get a $3 Register Reward to use in the future.

In my opinion, Walmart is anti-mother and therefore, unAmerican.

I know there are all kinds of global economic reasons not to shop at Walmart, but I'm not going to discuss that in this blog. I have a simple premise to discuss. Because Walmart treats the average mother with disrespect when she is attempting to make ends meet or make the most of her money, Walmart is unAmerican and should be boycotted.

Walmart brags about it's price matching policy, but it's not a convenience or a benefit to me if EVERY TIME I try to price match an item, the cashier argues with me and forces a manager to come over. And even then, the majority of the time my price match is rejected.

It seems to be Walmart policy to reject every coupon presented and then make a hard working mother have to fight to have each one approved. It seems like you get called a coupon defrauder the second you hand over coupons.

The hidden cost of shopping at Walmart is the stress you endure fighting and arguing for their "great prices." And that's just too big a cost for me to pay.

Walmart, I will never shop you again. You are anti-mother and unAmerican.

Hi, my name is Hannah.

After Vacation Bible Camp today, Punkinhead told me she didn't want to go home, she wants to sleep at church. So, I asked her if she wanted to be Samuel from the Bible and I'd be his mom Hannah. She decided she wanted to come home after all.

Then I remembered a rough night when she was a preemie in the NICU and I prayed that, like Hannah, I was giving her back to God. I prayed that if he'd protect her and grow her tiny body, she'd be His child. I didn't vow to never let a razor touch her hair though. But I think God wants us to take care of her at our place and not roam the halls of our church at night.

Unlocking the secret pancake

I've got lots of posts coming about our trip to Georgia for my grandmother's 100th birthday, but thought I start with the pancake experiments I've done that begun with Chip putting the "why can't all pancakes be as good as Cracker Barrel" wish into our world.

My first reaction was to answer - because we're not on vacation everyday and I can't spend $8 a person every time we eat breakfast. But then I began to ponder, really, why not? It's pancakes and syrup. I make a good version, but if Chip particularly likes the Cracker Barrel version, I'll give it a shot. As always......to the Internet!

I'd bought a bottle of their maple syrup/cane sugar combo so that Chip would have the same syrup the restaurant serves to comparison taste my attempts at home. Then I googled Cracker Barrel pancake recipe and came up with a couple to start with.

And it boils down to this: Add a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar to ANY buttermilk pancake preparation (store bought or homemade) and cook on a 375 degree hot griddle SWIMMING in unsalted butter and you will get a pancake comparable to the Cracker Barrel version. Even if you don't use their $9 bottle of specialty syrup.

Time to get my bake on.

So I watch my carb intake obviously since I'm a diabetic. I do indulge from time to time, but for the most part, I like to spend "treat" carbs on a glass of wine or a beer with a yummy dinner and forgo the dessert.

But I do LOVE to bake, so it's nice when there are events that come up where I can get creative for others. The church's annual Cookie Caper is coming up and I'm making some straight up yummy chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal-coconut cookies. I know that the oatmeal-coconut combo is not for everyone's palate, but if you enjoy coconut, these are divine.

The endeavor I'm most excited about is for the Punkinhead's Teacher Appreciation Salad Luncheon. I'm making the pasta salad we always ate at the lake house in spring/summer. So delicious with marinated artichoke hearts. But that's the cooking, not the baking. I'm making a Peeps Chica-dee cake. I have some left from Easter and was inspired by this:

Milk envy

Watching 19 Kids and Counting the other day (Josie Duggar Sisterhood episode) amazed me with it segment about how much milk the mom pumps. Thinking back to the Punkinhead's preemie days - my pumping days - and how little I produced, I was amazed by how blessed baby Josie is to have so much breast milk ready for her. 18 bottles a day pumping!!!!! They had a full deep freeze ready to go for her.

When Beanie had a blocked tear duct, I was told that an eye wash with breast milk often helps to clear it. My milk was long gone by this time, but a friend of mine generously gave me 2 oz of her own pumped milk. After I left her house, I pulled over to the side of the road and cried with gratitude. For her it was a small amount, but 2 oz in one session was the most I was ever able to pump for the Punkinhead so for me it was more of a loving sacrifice than she'll ever know.

Yeah, I'm ticked.

The other night Buzzkill was using my laptop and mentioned off hand for me not to touch it for a while - he was upgrading it. Now the upgrading part seems quite thoughtful and I'm glad I have a husband that stays aware of those things, but here's the part that ticked me off: I'd been waiting all day to have time to update all the Vacation Bible Camp database info I'd been needing to input and he hadn't even taken a second to pause and ask me if it was a convenient time for me to not have access to my laptop. He definitely wouldn't do that to a co-worker and I consider this laptop my business computer. I do VBC, kids stuff consigning, couponing, research on how to temporarily fix a broken dishwasher, etc. This laptop is required for the modern day stay-at-home-mom. And if it's going to be unavailable to me, that needs to be scheduled for a time that I plan for.

Plus, here's the kicker. The upgrade totally wiped out all my regular settings to sites I completely trust and have for ages. I also had to reinstall software for dozens of sites I use to coupon and consign with. It's added hours today to do things I regularly complete in under an hour. And I don't have extra hours, so this is going to cause stress for days.

I need to let out my anger here. Unfortunately, I now feel like I just wasted time I could have used to repair the mess.

Bleech.

When you find a deal, buy it!

So, of course, I'm already party planning for Beanie's first birthday party. I love that custom printed cards are so readily available (and affordable) online. But with this spring being a rather, um, expensive one...I was nervous I wouldn't be able to get her something as special as the Punkinhead sent out for her first birthday party. Okay, parties!!!!!

As always, I've got a budget and sticking to it is critical. I've imputed all the Pampers Gifts that Grow points from diapers and wipes on their website - I'd saved over 900 points! Enough points to "buy" a promo code for 12 custom cards from Shutterfly.

Here's where the really good deal part comes in. The card I liked was temporarily 20% off and I had an email from Shutterfly for $10 an order because of their 10th anniversary. And a friend sent me another promo code for free shipping.

Cut to the chase: I paid $20.20 for 25 cards. Without the discounts and promo codes, these invites would have cost me just under $60! Money saved is going straight into the custom cake portion of her party budget.

Yummers.

Being a stay at home parent is not a luxury or "the easy life."

I work hard every day to do this. It's my career choice. And I do get a paycheck. It's the same one my husband works hard out of the home to get. I know folks that work out of the home work super hard and make tremendous sacrifices to provide a good life for their families. I give out of the home careers props all day long and extras on the weekend. How could the economy run without those jobs? It's a necessary component in this world that I'm grateful people go do.

But the deal is, I deserve respect too for equally hard work I do and the (different) sacrifices I make. THIS IS A CAREER TOO.

Why do folks that pay tons of money to have people take care of their children talk to me like what I do is easy? Do they think the folks that care for their children have easy jobs? If that was true, why is childcare so expensive? Or is it that they believe my kids just have sub-par childcare from me and would be better off with professional caregivers?

I'm also tired of folks saying, "Well, what a luxury it is that you can afford to stay home." Luxury? My clothes come from Walmart and Target. And they have to last a LONG time. My children get consignment store clothes, and hand-me-downs from friends and family make me dance like I've hit the lottery.

We drive 7-10 year old cars. That new kitchen the neighbor put in that looks so fantastic? I'll get one, but it's going to take us 5 years to save for it.

Anything we buy new, we've planned and saved for weeks or months and it also means that something else probably got postponed on the priority list. Sharing one income means no impulse buying in our household. Zero tolerance policy on it here.

So that's the honest truth......we live on a lot less than many people to have me stay home to work. That's the sacrifice Buzzkill and I make to have careers we both want to do.

I LOVE my life and have all my needs met. I'm also really grateful to be aware of the difference between my wants and needs.

PLEASE, stop acting like I've got a free pass on hard work. If I don't do my job, the consequences are exactly the same as everyone else - we go broke, we can't pay bills or eat food.

And also, sorry for the ranting, but I figured over here I could vent without starting huge drama on Facebook.

Moo. Maybe she'll get me a free Chick-fila sandwich.

Pouty Punkinhead

Punkinhead Verbage

The more her ability to string a sentence together grows, the funnier the Punkinhead gets!

She's learning when to use contractions like can't, won't, don't - she's a toddler and different ways to say no are important to her. She has not learned when to use them in quite the correct context; mixing up don't and can't most often. The following quote is a good example.

(Watching the new Nick Jr. show The Fresh Beat Band) "I can't like this show." Although Buzzkill and HotMommy also feel mentally incapable of watching this show, we believe she meant to say "I don't like this show."

Punkinhead is officially enamoured with her daddy. "Mommy, look at Daddy. He's so beautiful!"

She's gotten very good at listening to the things adults say and adapting the language for her toddler world. Apparently I often sigh and say how I really need something (nap, sleep, margarita) because upon biting into a Halloween cookie the other day, we got this gem: "(Sigh) I needed this good cookie so much!"

I'm also having to deal with those moments where she says something that is just wrong but all I'm trying to do is not bust out laughing before I give her an attitude adjustment. Today when I asked her to give me a flashlight she was carrying around, she replied, "No, I don't share." And I'm really sure she got the "don't" applied to the sentence correctly this time.

A little late, but "getting real" just the same.

I hope that most have you have read Amy's blog The Lawsons Did Dallas linked under the blogs I read. If you haven't yet, pop over to one of her latest hilarious posts. It's a challenge to us mom-types (dads not excluded I'm sure) to "get real" about how our houses look on a day to day basis. Not to embarrass ourselves, but to let go of that self-condemnation that we're the only ones that have dirty dishes, laundry that needs folding, toys on the floor, unmade beds, and general clutter.

So here's my "confession." Our Achilles heel is toys. I pick them up during nap and before bed, but they're everywhere. I WANT A PLAYROOM for the toys!

The first photo shows what happened after I went to Target for an hour. The toys were under control before I left Buzzkill and Punkinhead to play.



The next photo is just funny; it actually looks a little neater than the night before, but I think is a better illustration of the general chaos that can and does occur an a daily basis.

Sweetums is a month old already?

Some of the mommies of Punkinhead's friends did this creative idea on their blogs, but I was too far along to track Punkinhead's growth this way. The idea is to pose your kiddo with the same stuffed animal every month so that their growth is obvious next to said stuffed animal. Of course, Buzzkill pick from his collection of penguins.

I've decided to use the idea for Sweetums - a special thing for her on the blog and in her scrapbook. Officially, she is 8 lbs, 13 1/2 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long.

I can hardly believe she's a month and I also feel like I don't remember our family without her.

Introducing Sweetums

Joining the Punkinhead, HotMommy, Buzzkill, and Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert....

Sweetums!!!!

She was born last Friday in the early morning. A precious 6 lbs, 9 oz. and 18 inches long.

Super easy c-section delivery (thanks Dr. K) and we went home Sunday night.

Once HotMommy is off the pain meds and has regained her full brain capacity, she'll fill you in on all the details with lots of pictures.

But am I TV ready?

For those of y'all interested in seeing HotMommy on tv making a grocery list and grocery shopping - and I know my fans having been dying for it - I'll be on CBS 11 tomorrow night during the 10 pm news in a Survive In 09 segment. The segment will also be online about an hour later on their website.

I'm not sure how I'm going to look - I was VERY aware of the camera the entire time, but it's not like Buzzkill and I were planning on providing for our fam through reality shows, so I think it'll be okay even if I look like a deer in headlights.

Ready and waiting.

During the last few months of pregnancy I've had all these milestones I felt I needed to get past before I felt ready for the new baby to arrive. Punkinhead's birthday party, Vacation Bible School week, a local news station's video shoot, the beginning of July so my push present is a ruby, my haircut today.....(I missed an appointment when the Punkinhead came early and I've never like how I looked in all the photos the month following her birth.)

And I realized this afternoon, she can come whenever she wants now. I feel ready. And my back hurts and it's too hot to be preggo in Texas anymore. Sure my folks have plane tickets for the Wednesday before her due date and my MIL is scheduled to be in Houston next week. And I know I should say, well, Friday is 36 weeks and it's really not safe for her to come before that, but in all honesty, I'm really ready. And she weighs over 6 lbs. I even packed my hospital bag this afternoon and made sure the fridge is full, and the dishes and laundry are done.

Pwetty Sunday

The Punkinhead loved wearing her new outfit from her great aunt and uncle to church this weekend. She kept saying, "I pwetty Mommy!" Love her self-confidence and am praying she never loses a bit of it.