PYHO - With Friends Like These

First things first - Did you notice I'm hosting an awesome Veggie Tales giveaway? You should totally go enter. All the cool kids are doing it!

Also - I have a new meme that I would love for you to join up with too! Its on Thursday's so I'm giving you time to prepare for it. It's called Things I Love Thursdays. If you link up - me love you long long time! :)

Finally - it's World Breastfeeding Day and I'm proud to say I'm going 7 months strong!

On to the business at hand.

I had a different post planned for today but then I got bombarded by messages from someone last night that kind of ticked me off.

Have you ever had "friends" that only contact you when they need something?

That you don't hear from unless they have news to share about them or it could benefit them?

Last night, I had that person contact me again. Luckily, I went to bed at 8:30 with the Jellybean so it didn't piss me off until this morning.

It's funny because the messages always start off as "Hi, How are you? The family, etc." Then I get a rundown of everything their child is doing and always at the end comes the kicker. Hey I need you to do this for me.

We have hung out with these people once since Jellybean was born.

I invited them to do things with us on a few other occasions and it never happened so I stopped trying. Not once has an invite been extended to us. Not a "Hey, Let's get our kids together to play!" or anything of that sort.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of their parenting techniques anyhow but I was willing to overlook that so our kiddos could get to know each other. But friendship, it’s a two way road. I don't want to be your friend just because you need something from me.

I want friends that call just to talk. That will meet up with us on a Saturday morning for breakfast. That are just as willing to help us when we need something. If the only time I hear from you is when you need something. I'm sorry but we just aren't friends.

Right now, I still haven't responded because I'm still upset. I don't know whether to say - Hey you only contact me when you need something and its getting old or to just not respond at all anymore.

Sigh, at least I have my bloggy friends, right?

This post is linked up with Shell as part of Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays.

 

Conversations with Jellybean - Puffs

First things first - Did you notice I'm hosting an awesome Veggie Tales giveaway? You should totally go enter. All the cool kids are doing it!

Also - I have a new meme that I would love for you to join up with too! Its on Thursday's so I'm giving you time to prepare for it. It's called Things I Love Thursdays. If you link up - me love you long long time! :)

Now for why you are really here - for Conversations with Jellybean, of course!

(side bar - I refer to my child as Jellybean way to often IRL now. OOPS!)

Holy smokes, Mom! Check this out! There's something in my Exersaucer!

 I know Jellybean, I put those in there. They are puffs - for you to eat. (And they are quite addictive...not that I've tried them myself!)

Oh man, this is so cool. I've got to try this. You say I can actually eat them?

Jellybean, why are you asking me if you can eat them? You eat everything any way.

Oh yeah, I do, don't I? Huh...

 Well, let's give this a try though. Did you see that how I picked it up all by myself? Aren't I rock star?

Yep, Jellybean - you're a regular bad ass. Next thing you know, you'll be using the potty on your own!

Eww, Mom, you're gross! I'm eating here!

 Jellybean - you poop while you eat. EVERY TIME. 

*giggles* I know! Oh hey, Mom?

Yes, Jellybean?

I dropped one, Can you get it for me?

Veggie Tales - Princess and the Pop Star Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed - winner was # 50

Eco Baby Mama Drama said...

I follow Veggie Tales on facebokk! sabrina dahl radke sradke1024 at gmail dot com

I was lucky enough to be contacted recently to review the latest Veggie Tales movie from  Big Idea Inc. I love Veggie Tales and the strong Christian message behind its movies so I jumped at the chance. In fact I see a whole lot of Veggie Tales in Jellybean's future!

Princess And The Popstar  is a spin on the idea of trading places.  The characters are Princess, a farm girl who dreams of life in the spotlight along with a few moments to herself and Vanna Banana, a superstar who wishes for friendship and a taste of normalcy.  The girls have a lucky crossing on the playground and after realizing they look exactly alike they concoct a secret plan to switch places.  The girls quickly realize that their dreams were much better than the reality of the life they thought they wanted and they learn that the life God gave them is the one for which they were uniquely and lovingly designed.

Jellybean of course isn't old enough to understand all the concepts of this movie but I think it will be a family favorite once he is!  They touch on so many subjects that children need help in understanding and coping with from sibling rivalry to accepting that God makes you uniquely you. The film is also full of great music - featuring Francesca Battistelli - who happens to be one of my favorite Christian artists out there. You can watch the trailer yourself here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xO5IQZflx4.

Big Idea is generously offering a copy of Princess And The Popstar to one lucky reader!  In order to enter, leave a comment here!  For extra entries, you may follow Veggie Tales on Twitter, and like them on Facebook…but make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!

***Additional entry opportunities!
1) Link up on Thursday to Things I Love Thursday
2) Tweet about the giveaway and leave the link in a comment

This giveaway will be open until August 15th.  Good luck!

Life Lessons - Donkey balls and such

OMG - Was this not the longest week EVER? I mean seriously, Friday? You need to get your ass in gear! 

So, finally I can bring you my life lessons for this week. Oh and there have been quite a few...

1) This week sucked donkey balls.

2) Yes, I really did just say that. You should know me by now and that shouldn't shock you.

3) If it did - we really don't know each other as well as I thought we did.

4) This made my Friday at work.

5) Yes, I'm immature.

6) Jellybean is this close to crawling.

7) He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks every chance he gets.

8) I'm going to start shouting "Ready. Set. Go!" and wait for him to take off.

9) Then when he finally does I'm going to cry.

10) Because I'll have to baby proof then.

11) And figure out how to keep him out of the litter box, dog food bowl, under the couch, etc.

12) And because its losing another part of his babyness.

13) Jellybean also has his first ear infection.

14) His only symptom was gook coming out of his eyes.

15) I know - you're thinking WTF? I said the same thing when the doc said ear infection.

16) He's awesome through it as usual.

17) Because you know - my baby is bad ass like that.

18) Tomorrow is also 7 months of breastfeeding for us.

19) Can I get a hell yeah?

20) After writing my post about getting it together on Tuesday. I didn't do any chores the rest of the week.

21) FAIL.

22) Guess what I'm doing this weekend now that I slacked off? While probably chasing down a crawling Jellybean...

23) Oh quit laughing and pass the toilet bowl brush...

24) Oh and next Thursday - make sure you link up with the new meme I started - Things I Love Thursday. It'll be fun!

Things I Love Thursday

One of the things I've realized now that I am a mom is that kids require lots of stuff. There is the stuff you obviously need like diapers, wipes, a second mortgage, and then there are the gems you stumble upon along the way that make wrangling babies and kids so much more enjoyable. Either for the little one or for Mom. There are also quite obviously duds along the way. You are given things you will never use like wipe warmers or toddler leashes. It seems like there are so many toys, gadgets and gizmos out there that it is hard to decide what you truly need for your child.

So I bring you -

<a href="http://littlebitlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src=" http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad221/littlebitlife/thursdaycopy.jpg"></a>

This is going to be an opportunity to link up every week and share an item you or your kiddos just can't live without. Sort of an online mom's group where we sit and chat about what we and our kids are loving. I'm not limiting it to baby products since Jellybean will all too soon be a toddler, then school age and so on. If you can try to leave the age group your linky is for in the title - as in - A Little Bit of Life - 3 year old.


I realize that some of you may have things scheduled for today already so if you want to wait until next week to link up I'll be glad to see you then.

Now onto the first Thing I Love..

Jellybean was a preemie.

He looked tiny in his car seat. Oh and he hated it for months.

I would crane my neck to check on him at every stop light if I couldn't hear him.

Then I would drive stressed out until I got to home or wherever because I hated not knowing if he was ok back there or not.

So finally I bought one of these -

It's Fisher Price Max-View Baby In-Sight - $10 at Wal-Mart. They have fancier models but this one gets the job done for me. I can sit up front and glance in my rear view mirror - there's Jellybean -perfectly content. He might be chewing on his foot or his frog. He's staring out the window or babling away. No matter what - I CAN SEE HIM!

Glory Hallelujah - I'm no longer freaked out driving like a maniac because I can't see my baby in the back seat mom. So if you are neurotic - like me - I highly suggest getting one of these. What's neat is you can also use it later so baby can see himself - because everyone knows mirror baby is the best friend a kid can have. I know Jellybean like to talk to his mirror baby all the time.

So - what are you Loving?

PYHO - Mrs. Crabbypants

I had a million ideas running through my head about what I should write about this week. That pretty much sums up my life lately though. There seems to be a million things going on around me at work, home and everywhere in between. Its been a little hard to catch my breath lately but I’m keeping my head above water – somehow.

I tried to write this post yesterday. I had meetings at work from 8:30 until 12:30. Then I fed Jellybean, came back to the office and had two more meetings. Finally it was time to head towards the home. I ran by the house, grabbed a check I'd been waiting on out of the mail box and hightailed it to the bank so I could avoid bouncing our account. I finally walked in the door at home around 5:45pm. Jellybean was starving so the first order of business was to feed him. Then he wanted to play. Between playing with him, feeding him, bathing and all that I was exhausted. It was definitely a Pizza night.

I mentioned that to hubby and I guess I was short when I said it. He asked what my problem was and I said - I'm tired and I'm in a bad mood because of it. Well if I talked to you that way you'd say I was being an ass. I am being a bitch. I admit it. I'm exhausted. I had a rough day. Then he kept picking at me even though he knew I wasn't in the mood for it.

I walked away and gave Jellybean his bath.

Then his nebulizer treatment.

Then I ate my pizza and went to bed.

At 9pm.

Without actually getting in a fight with the hubby.

Sometimes the key to success in marriage is just knowing when to shut the F up. Last night was one of those nights.

I feel better today.

And I'm not even mad at him. Because I know I was the one who was a crabby pants last night. So there's no reason for me to be mad.

Damn, when did I learn to be mature?

This post is linked up with Shell as part of Pour Your Heart Out Wednesdays.

 

Getting it together

I think all of you out there can agree when I say that nothing disrupts your household more than having a baby.

You suddenly go from a neat freak who use to mop her floors with bleach to deciding once a month is often enough for clean sheets on your bed.

Time is a luxury you don't have, then you blink and months have passed, clutter has taken over your household and you feel like you are suffocating.

People try to help and only make it worse. Now your house looks clean on the surface but everything is in the wrong place and you end up having to tear the house apart looking for things. Or someone decides to do your laundry for you but uses the wrong detergent and fabric softener on it to boot and you are stuck rewashing it all lest your precious bambino be allergic to it.

Sigh. It can get overwhelming.

I know - up until a few weeks ago thats exactly where we were. Our house felt like a mess constantly. It seemed we could never get caught up and I finally had enough one day.

So I created this -

 

Yup, a good old fashioned chore chart. For two adults. It works for us though.

The chart doesn't get followed to a T and not everything gets done. There are also things that don't make it on that need to get done. Like last weekend when I cleaned everything out from under our bed, vacuumed under it and reorganized our closets.

Its a starting point for us though. There are so many times where I feel like there is SO much I need to do that I don't know where to get started. That chart gives me a jumping off point. Its broken down into daily, weekly and monthly chores. I love to be able to cross things off my list so with the chart I can glance up at the fridge, pick some chores and tick them off one by one. I love that sense of accomplishment. When I don't get through something I just write myself a note and stick it up next to the list so I can make sure I do it the next day. I made it as a simple word document so if anyone would like a version for themselves I can email it.

The other thing that has been a challenge for us is meal time. Evenings are a mad dash at our home. We both work full time and now Jellybean eats dinner too. EEEK. Dinners use to be elaborate but now I've changed to lots of crockpot or one dish meals. For example, a dinner last week was super simple. I threw chicken breasts in the crock pot with stewed tomatoes, garlic, italian seasoning, a bag of stir fry peppers, a cup of pearled barley and a half cup of water. When I came home I put some rolls in the oven and viola - we had dinner. We try to take turns feeding Jellybean while we eat. That way he is a part of our meal and we too get to eat. He occasionally yells at us for being to slow though. Then after dinner Jellybean gets a bath while someone else cleans up the kitchen.

We also have picked up some tricks along the way that make life easier on us. I use to have a shelf in my closet for shoes. Our shoes ended up everywhere but on that shelf so I moved it. This now sits right by the front door -

and our shoes make it on there every time. We take turns with chores on weekends too. There is no way to get everything done and watch Jellybean too so the hubby may take Jellybean to the store with him while I sweep and mop. That way everyone wins. Plus Jellybean gets new people telling him how cute he is!

Our method is anything but foolproof and I'm sure many of you have so many more tricks for making life easier. Like how do you keep the laundry from reproducing faster than rabbits? Or is there a way to get the hubby to actually put dirty clothes in the hamper? Feel free to tell me what works for you.

And all you new moms out there - It does get easier. I know how overwhelming it is. Trust me you can go back and read a million blogs I wrote about it. Slowly though, you start to adjust. You discover the new freedom putting baby in the exersaucer gives you. You even come to a point where you aren't ashamed to invite company over. 

I swear - it will come one day!