Really?

 

Morning!

Let's talk about why I only got 4 hours of sleep last night. I am still tired. I am also confused.

This beautiful lady is Scarlet. She is my first child. She is a Springer Spaniel. She also happens to share her birthday with my son. This year she will be 6 in human years. The vet recently told me she is now what they call middle aged. Sad face. You mean she is really not going to live forever like I told her to do so many years ago?

First let me just say, she is great. I love how when people meet her for the first time they often think she is a puppy. I just laugh, and tell them to wait 20 minutes, she calms right down. She is a lover. Her goal in life is to find a warm lap, with an arm that will touch her (petting is not even required), and stay there as long as possible.
Squirrels make her crazy. I think they used to torture her in my last apartment in NC. We had a huge living room window which would look out into woods. Squirrels would come right up to the window, even with this dog barking and going crazy inside. Scarlet was in the squirrel zoo. I used to imagine squirrels looking at her the way we look at monkeys in the zoo. Maybe not, but ...

Child #1, Scarlet is child #2's (DD) best friend. I can't tell you how many pictures there are like this in my phone. DD is/was always laying with Scarlet. Just after Scarlet got over her fear of fur being pulled by this little thing that just learned to crawl, they became friends.

Now that you know how close they are, you can begin to understand why I am sleepily hoping for coffee to magically appear in a cup mixed to the perfect blend of light and sweet, just for me.

Yesterday I went to a friends house to get away for a few hours. It was a really nice time. Lots and lots of talking about more than just kids, and blocks, and Signing Time. Great time for a mama of two.

That being said, I did not feed my DS for about five hours. That meant that I came home to feed him, then I needed to pump. (Ugh) While I was sitting on the living room floor pumping, my wondrous doggy decided that she wanted some love. I went along with her wants. I was petting her chest with my arm wrapped around her when my fingers found something in her fur.

This is not uncommon for any pet owner. Especially when you have a long haired dog. Dirt gets caught in her fur, I mean everything. The first thing I pulled off of her chest was white. Pasta maybe? DD and S did have spaghetti for dinner. The second thing I pulled off of her had a leg.

Yup, it was a tick. I flipped.

I haven't pulled a tick off of her since before I left NC.(4 years ago) It was also larger than the deer ticks that I am used to. It was in an odd spot, on her chest/neck area. Deer ticks usually like places like her arm pits.

By "flipped", I mean, I threw it. Yup. Flicked it with my fingers as soon as I saw what it was.

My next immediate reaction was to tell S that I was an idiot. That I pulled a tick off of our dog and threw it somewhere on the carpeted floor in the living room, and that I can already not see it.

He didn't get it.

He did not think that I really pulled a tick off of the dog. Therefore he did not understand my distress.

We have two small children. One who is learning to crawl. A tick burrowed into the carpet waiting for something to hitch a ride on is not exactly a great environment for a crawling baby.

I spent the next hour scouring every tuft of anything on our BROWN carpet. Nothing. Checked all over my CHARCOAL couch. Nothing. After what was at least an hour, S checked the dog and saw the spot where the tick was attached. Blood and all. At least now he believed that I found a tick

Now he moved on to, "We're never going to find it". He thinks that they are fast.

Really?  Have you never encountered a tick before? "No" ...... sigh.

At this point I moved on to the idea that Scarlet recollected the tick. She's so sweet. After a couple deep breaths I convinced myself that I will not flip out when I find the tick. Because I will find it, in her fur, and have to pull it out. Scouring the first half of her body went by uneventful. The back paw was not quite as fun free.

I saw it. That brown ugly thing. I was squeamish. I didn't grab it. S didn't see it. Remember he was skeptic? He now doesn't believe that I saw the tick. Really? Are you kidding me? You didn't believe there even was one, and there was. Why would I dream this up? Not sure, but that is what he thought. He kept asking me, "Are you sure you saw it?". He even went back to looking in the carpet a few times.

I finally gave up hope. Vacuumed the floor and decided to give the dog a bath. S got in bed.

How could I just give up? They lay eggs, and stuff. DS and DD are on the floor A LOT.

I asked him to watch the water as I bathe the dog. It is shedding season and clumps of fur were going to come out. When I got started he saw why I asked him to watch the draining water. He even suggested checking the fur clumps as some of them were large. Washing her only resulted in a clean dog. No tick sightings, or feelings. So we dried her off and climbed into bed at 3:30AM. I laid there for at least an hour awake. Searching online, tossing and turning, listening to Scarlet chew and scratch ..... angry, frustrated, and concerned that I didn't find the tick.

So tell me how I woke up to this, in the open toilet in the bathroom? How did I not see it before going to bed? S said that it must have landed there when Scarlet shook after the shower. 

Really? REALLY?! Really, really?

How was this the first thing that I saw when I walked into the bathroom, yet I didn't see it when I was going to bed? How did it fly off of her when my fingers couldn't find it? How did it land in the toilet? Did it fall there from somewhere else?

I actually asked S if he found it and put it there ..... silly girl. He didn't think it exhisted.

What did he say to me when I showed it to him? "Well at least I know you weren't crazy"?

Really?

So now I wonder, are there more? .... ugh.

Have you ever had a similar situation? What happened, or what did you do?

I just wanted to say that while proof reading this post S came in with Starbucks for two. Love that man.

Gwen

Insta Friday

Happy Friday!!

I really wanted cookies. Like really, really. We had no ingredients, like none. So I found a recipe in the book that I could make with what we had. Ingredients, flour, sugar, butter ... perfect I had that. I started making shortbread cookies. I should have read further than the ingredients, because those cookies require rolling ... ugh. However I am really glad that I made them. They are a perfect cookie to make with kids. Why? Because kids like to shove handfuls of whatever in their mouth. These cookies have no egg in them, so they are kid cooking safe.

This was me on mothers day. Reading a container gardening book that S got me, while getting a pedicure ..... relaxing.

Corny? Maybe. I thought that it was funny. No that is not a mirror. Yes it is a hand dryer. Yes my hair is blowing around all crazy. Oh and yes Avengers was great, also on Mother's Day.

Finally one lace side is complete. At this point the second on is done with the lace and just completing the trim. Then I'll have a million more stitches to pick up and complete the neckline, yeay!

This is a photo I sent to S while he was at work on Monday. I love the speeding legs in the background. Disc golf discs make great building blocks. Kind of a Jetsons like building. Apparently he thought that was a terrible idea for them. So this is what followed;

What are you looking at? Hole 14, stroller with two babies, and two disc golf bags. Family disc golf day.

If you look over his head, to the right of the tree, that white thing is the disc he threw.

Seriously. I can't tell you the last time that we went grocery shopping, or cleaned the fridge. I'm running out of things I can just throw together.

However we had this for lunch yesterday. It became Shepard's pie with out meat. I used red kidney beans instead. It actually came out pretty good. I even used the toaster oven because it was hot again yesterday, and I didn't want to use the oven.

Gwen

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hope that all the mothers out there have a wonderful day!

Insta Friday

Wow, it's Friday already?
That means another week has gone by already!

Saturday we did some planting. DD and I. She put rocks in buckets and I did the rest. I planted a tomato plant, and strawberries. I also planted a few things from seeds and transplanted the Aloe Vera. Hopefully all goes well. My lettuce has been nothing but a disaster, and cilantro has a short lifespan, so mine is done.

I got an early Mother's Day surprise. Remember way back when I was Sending Cheer? I sent a package to Afghanistan? Well this is what I got in return! Completely unexpected and super super sweet. Totally brought a smile to my face.

DD was kinda having a bad day. She has been a little sick since Monday, progressively getting worse each day. I though that I would do something fun that might cheer her up a bit. So I painted her toe nails. She kept pointing at mine, so why not? It's not going to kill her and I don't do it all the time.

So when/if you decide to paint a little lady's nails, this could be the result. I was talking on the phone while finishing up. I saw her grab the nail polish bottle, but for some reason I didn't think she could open it. WRONG MOM! I didn't realize what was going on until I saw a blue paintbrush going towards her leg .... eeek. I also hardly use nail polish and therefore I do not have remover. Here I was running next door to borrow some to remove it from her leg. Oh well lesson learned.

Tea party anyone?

So here are the strawberries. Relocated. Into the shade. They are allegedly full sun plants. Translation 6+ hours of sun. Liars. See the curled leaves? Tuesday they were drooping. I moved them out of the sun and gave them a tiny amount of water. Most of what drooped perked back up, but still dried out a bit and curled. Wednesday morning I drilled more drill holes in the bottom and saturated the soil. At first I was going to move them back into the sun, but changed my mind and left them where they are. They get some early morning direct light and late afternoon. For now they are happy again. *Fingers Crossed*

Check out what some other Insta Friday bloggers are up to.

Gwen

Tula Baby Carrier Review

Alright mama's, or just readers, I finally got the carrier that I wanted. Little did I know that it would lead me right into another carrier purchase, but that is for another time.

I finally got myself a Tula. Let's just start with saying, I love it. It is great. So worth the money.

After wearing a Moby for the last three months it is considerably easier to use. Two buckles, two straps to pull, and it is on. For me this is quick and easy to get on and off, at least compared to anything else in our arsenal of carriers.

Why I wanted this carrier over other SSC's (soft structured carriers)?

I like that the fabric panel is larger than most, therefore coming up higher. Keep in mind that I wanted to use this with a toddler, however chose the standard size so that it could be used with either child. That being said the panel comes up to my DD's shoulders. This is great for those moments when she decides she wants out and arches her back. Picture her leaning away from you. The further away from my body she arches the more pressure/pain I feel in my lower back. This is how the higher panel is helpful, less to no arching ability. When my DS is in the Tula on the front of me, the panel reaches eye level.

This carrier is definitely designed with the developing spine in mind. What that means is that it keeps baby's knees higher than their butt. Which to me, is an important feature.

Buckles at arm to adjust size/height for daddy arm's or nursing

Being that it was designed by a baby wearing pair, it is made to fit the daddy's of the world too. There are convenient little extenders for larger arms. Nursing mama's can try to use these too, to nurse while carrying.


I like that the hip clip is not in the center. It is off to the side, even though can be awkward to clip on if you are multi tasking. With the clip located on the side there is no plastic digging into either a belly or back. It also means you can get if off while holding a baby, because you can use just one hand. This is super nice.

There are convenient little elastics sewn into the ends of every strap. This eliminates the octopus look you have when you let everything dangle down and around.

Arm buckle opened all the way

It comes with a detachable hood that you can use to cover baby, or toddlers, head if they fall asleep. I think that is nice. DS doesn't love the light in his face. He will turn to try and hide from it. If he is sleeping this means burying his nose into me, so having the hood lets me block the light and keep his mouth and nose visible. (which is how they should be)

There is a little pocket in the middle of the waist strap too. By little, you can not fit a granola bar, but you can fit cash, cards, and keys ... as long as they don't have 8 million key chains.

This carrier is good for babies about 15- 44lbs, or 8 lbs with an infant insert. I did not try the infant insert so I can not say anything more than that it exists. I will say that when I first got my carrier,  it looked like DS fit, however he was not particularly happy. So I waited and tried it once a week until he didn't seem upset. I bought this when he was about 14 weeks, so he might have been under the weight and that was why. Now he does not mind at all. He actually tries to suck on it!


I should also mention that there are Free to Grow extensions, which attach to the panel of the carrier and allow you to comfortably wear your older children. It does this by extending the fabric out closer to their knees so their legs are not dangling down. So if you are like me, and get the Standard Tula you can add this for your toddler to sit a bit more comfortably.

I noticed that the website doesn't say how long the buckle waist straps are. They are long! Like I should go measure them and tell you how long. The adjustable portion is 30" and the structured waist section is about 27 1/2" ... lot's of room.

With all of the times I have had the little guy on the front I do not have a single photo to show for it. Sorry. However there are plenty of forward facing babies on their website.  I am also missing a photo of carrying a 6 year old .... gosh I suck huh?

Definitely if you have the chance, put one on and try it. I can not stress that enough. Looking is no where near close, to feeling and trying.


This is not a sponsored post. I purchased this product and wanted to share my experience with it, as I loved it.
All photos taken by me, and may not be used with out prior documented consent.

Gwen

Insta NOT Friday

Yeay for cell phone photo's!

Sadly this was ready Thursday night, but life has been crazy lately.

Isn't he cute? I tried to put these three photo's in a row for you to see my action scene. There was the technical problem, of me, not getting three in a row. There were two with one in a bottom row. Then there was the part where you couldn't see him. So here is the first in the row of photos.

Popping out of his hole to push the dirt away ..... and hiding back in it. He was cute. We stood there for about 10 minutes to watch. I wanted to be sure DD saw him, and if we got closer he pop back into his hole and hide.

Burgers after the babies are asleep? Yes please. We actually did eat dinner that night, we just fed the beast ..... no not the dog, the crazy K1.

When the babies actually nap at the same time, this is what my simple life looks like. Lunch, mindless TV, and knitting. What more can you ask for?

The lace is finally starting to show itself! Yeay! Too bad it wasn't done in time to wear to the wedding we went to on Friday. I was smart though and knew it wouldn't be done. Therefore I did not get a dress to match it.

I got this flower super last minute to go in my hair. It matches the dress that I did get.

This little guy was hanging out on the mailbox. I'm pretty sure that he is a termite. This could be bad news for the apartment complex.

A dark, barefooted, glimpse into the messy getting ready for a wedding bedroom ..... but this is mostly what I wore for the wedding. It was super fun.

Gwen

YMCA

Once upon a time I was a member of The Greater Holyoke YMCA. I took swim lessons there. Seriously though who didn't? At least in my age group. That was the place to go. I also competed on their gymnastics team for nine wonderful years. Seriously. I was my own worst enemy at the time. Nothing was good enough. I felt I executed nothing perfectly. Little did I know that I would still look back at how much I truly loved gymnastics.

This being said, you would have thought that when it came time to take my DD for gymnastics this is where I would have gone first. Nope. Not so much. Wrong. I went to some other random gym nearby. They did not have a real mommy and me program. We saved our money and did not go.

For some reason when I decided it was time for swim lessons for her, the Y was the first place I looked. Weird, right? Somehow my almost 30 year old mind knew the place that I went to, for only 2-3 sessions of swim lessons was the first place to go to for my own daughter. Why not the gymnastics too? Who knows.

Anyway the whole reason that I decided to write this post is that we went and got a family membership today. It was only because of the Open Doors program that the East County YMCA offers. It is like financial aid for families who make less than $50,000 a year. I wish we knew about this two years ago, when we went into another one of the East County YMCA's. We would have signed up then. No matter we did now. I really am so excited, if you can't tell by the fact that I am blogging about it.

I can go to the gym again?

I can go to the gym again!

My babies go too. DD get's to play. They hold DS. It is like they are at a play date, without me. Where do you think I will be when I need a break? Yup. What? I'll see you there? Perfect. Lol ...

Anyway they have a Healthy Family something event going on at what seems like all their locations. I have seen that some still have the event going on tomorrow. Check it out!

I just wanna say that the sign that made me decide to write this post was reading this Insta Friday blog post. So maybe someone else out there needs to know about this possibility near them.


Gwen

FYI it goes without saying, but, this is not a sponsored post. They made the use of their facilities a reality to me and decided to share.