All You Need Is Love

Last night when I was bathing Dane, he decided to "swim" in the tub.  It was pretty darn cute, but I'm certainly biased.  Here was our conversation:

Dane:  "I'm swimming, Mommy!"
Me:  "Wow!  Where did you learn to swim like that?!"
Dane:  "Because I just am.  Because you love me, Mommy."

Woah.  Talk about a feel good moment.  Now, this isn't supposed to be a look-what-an-awesome-mom-I-am story.  I do the best I can, but there are moments when I feel like packing him up and sending him to Gramma's house.  Like tonight, when we were eating broccoli cheese soup (recipe here) and he tells me "I don't like broccoli.  I love broccoli.  Mommy, you made yummy soup.  Mommy, I don't like soup.  I only want bread."  It's just that I had this realization that if our kids know that we love them because we tell them a million times a day in words and gestures, then they can do anything.  And that makes you remember that yes, there are ten times minimum in day when you're frustrated to the point of tears, but your job is so worthwhile.  Your job is so important, the most important. And if your kids know you love them, you're doing it right regardless of the hundreds of things you've done wrong since the day of their birth.

The Short Version....

This was my day.  In light of recent circumstances that put everything into perspective, I was able to laugh at the day (and myself) and realize that it was just a bad day.  And not even a bad day, just an unorganized, poorly executed, nutty mess of a day.  I'll try to give you the short version story.

It started just after 5:30 this morning.  My car wouldn't crank.  This is completely my fault, like everything else today.  I knew that my key was wearing out about a year ago, but it hasn't been giving me any issues, and I didn't want to drive to the dealership in the next town to have a new key cut.  Well, we can call that poor choice #1 of the day.  This meant I had to wake up my family, get them dressed, take Dane to daycare and Jonathan to work, and get myself to work.... two hours late.

Once I get to work, I call the pediatrician's office to make an appointment.  Dane had been acting strangely on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, but by the time I picked him up on Friday afternoon, he seemed back to his sweet self, so I figured I had nothing to worry about.  He's 2.  Two-year olds are moody.  Everyone knows this.  Plus, he never ran a fever and he's been eating and sleeping normally.  (You see what I'm doing here?  I'm already trying to explain away bad decision #2 -- not taking him to the pediatrician last week.)  Anyway, on Saturday afternoon I noticed some drainage in his ear.  He's had a ruptured eardrum before (on Christmas Day 2011) and it looked exactly like that.  I figured it was that again, and having been there before, I know there's not really much to be done but check to make sure the hole doesn't need to be patched.  Always preferring to take Dane to our pediatrician rather than sit in a waiting room with staph and flu and goodness knows what else, and the fact that he was back to his old self helped me make the decision to just make him an appointment today.

The pediatrician's appointment is scheduled for 3pm.  Perfect.  That leaves me enough time deposit my paycheck, drive to get my new key cut, go to the Sprint store to have them fix my phone (another thing I've put off for far too long), pick-up Dane from daycare and take him to the doctor.  Except I drive ten miles past the bank before I remember I need to go to the bank (dumb ass move #3). Turn around.  Make deposit.  Drive to dealership.  Get key cut.  Drive to Sprint.  The computer at Sprint was down so they couldn't process the insurance claim on my phone.  I tell them I need to leave to pick up my son for an appointment and they tell me to stop back by after his appointment.

At Dane's appointment, I'm asked which ear I spotted the drainage in.  I cannot for the life of me remember. I suddenly feel like one of those celebrity moms who leaves their child with a nanny all day.  Except I'm not skinny, stylish, or rich.  Erg.  I'm told he has a raging ear infection, complete with puss, and will need antibiotics.  I feel like a complete terd.  I've taken my child to the pediatrician for stupid nothings in the past and I miss when he actually needs to go.  Phooey on me.

I stop back my Sprint to process the claim on the phone, hit the pharmacy, and head home.  I get home at 4:30pm and decide to see if the new key fixes the car issue.  But the new key isn't anywhere.  I call the dealership.  They've been trying to reach me to tell me I left the key on the cashier counter (again, it's the next town over).  There's #4.

I think, "no problem". I'll run to the dealership with Dane and call to ask Jonathan to pick up something for dinner on his way home.  Dammit.  I have his car.  So at 4:30pm, I call Jonathan to tell him that I have to run to the dealership before they close to get my key (in the opposite direction of his work) and then I'll be there to pick him up.  The entire trip, Dane is hysterical, crying that he wants to go to Owen's house.  No changing the subject or lying about Owen not being home (again, phooey on me) will console him.

An hour later, family piled into the car, we head to Moe's to have an enjoyable meal.  When we get home, I fully expect to end this day on a high note by cranking up my car with the new key.  Except it doesn't crank.  Well, poop.

Love = Friendship + Fire

Today, I wore a 12 year old (what?!) Pan Dance (sorority formal) t-shirt for my walk.  As I was thinking about how long ago that was, I happened to remember that's the night I met Jonathan.  The shirt has the formal date on it (Oct 20, 2000) so I now know the exact date I met my husband.  Crazy.  I've known him over a third of my life.

By the way, in case you were wondering, he was playing video games in the ATO house.  We were introduced, he said "hey" and that was it.  No butterflies, no love at first sight.  I honestly only remembered his name because everyone called him by his last name, which is now our last name, and that's not an easy name to forget.

"Love is a friendship set on fire."  Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)
We used this quote on our wedding favors.  It's hard to imagine life without him, and beyond strange to think that we almost never were.  Thank God for broken hearts.  :)

What's Up My Sleeve? (2)

Back in April, I wrote a post entitled "What's Up My Sleeve".  I had intentions to do another post of that nature much sooner-- not a full six months later.  Let's just say I'm not the most creative gal in the world and these brilliant ideas don't come to me too often.  But I do have a few I've been excited to share with you all!

Dog beds  I love my dogs.  However, they rarely (if ever) sleep in the bed with us.  So of course they have to have their own beds.  We've had a series of ugly, annoying, and/or bulky dog beds in our seven years of dog ownership.  My mom made us some really fantastic "dog sofas" a few years ago.  They were attractive and easy to vacuum but couldn't be deep cleaned easily and were quite large.  We couldn't take them with us anywhere and once Dane was born we just didn't have the room to keep them.  Not to mention the smell that just wouldn't go away after a while.  We replaced them with some fluffy, tufted little numbers that our dogs loved.  Unfortunately, they proved not to be very durable, could be washed but not dried, and impossible to vacuum all the little aggravating crevices.  I started researching all the options to replace our dogs' beds.  Being 7 and 9 years old, they needed something other than a pile of blankets, especially on our tile floors.  The best option for us looked to be a cot-style bed for dogs that ran about $70.  Jonathan and I talked about it and decided we would purchase some when the old ones gave out.  While in the baby/toddler section of Wal-Mart, I noticed that toddler cots are $25.  I looked at the weight limit -- 75 pounds.  It was perfect!  The dogs LOVE them.  They were cheap, come with a fitted sheet that can be machine washed and dried, and they fold up for travel!  Perfection.  (Cleveland agrees!)



Equate brand Proactiv  When I was pregnant my skin was perfect.  I am not even kidding.  I didn't have to wear foundation.  After pregnancy?  Holy hormones!  My skin was looking rough.  I have used Proactiv in the past and had good results, but it's expensive and you can't just buy it in any ol' store.  While looking for something to combat my "welcome to motherhood" gift from mother nature herself, I stumbled across Wal-Mart's version of Proactiv.  (What is UP with me and Wal-Mart lately?  I swear I only go once every other month, but I guess there are just some things you can only find there!)  Anyway, it's insanely cheap and my skin is looking much healthier.  My wallet is happy and so are my pores.




Moroccan oil knockoff  My hairdresser (back before I became too cheap and began cutting my own hair) uses Moroccan Oil treatments on my hair.  It smells like heaven and it does wonders for my hair.  It ought to at around $40 a bottle.  Although I love the results, I was unable to convince myself to spend that kind of money on hair oil.  Thankfully, I like the results of Garnier's Moroccan Sleek just as much.  You can find it at Target for $5.  It smells great and has made growing out my very dry hair more pleasant.  I use it before drying my hair and after styling.  My only complaint is that the packaging is poorly designed and it's easy to get way more than you wanted.  "Hello.  My name is Melissa and I did brush my hair with a pork chop this morning.  Thanks for noticing!"  Anyhow, just keep this in mind and you'll love it as much as I do.



Dry erase marker  Ok, you're right.  I didn't discover the dry erase marker.  But my husband did come up with a brilliant new way to use it, especially if you're a parent.  Our son has asthma.  When it flares up, we have trouble remembering what time we gave him allergy medicine and breathing treatments.  So we write it on the mirror in his bathroom where we already keep all his medications.  Everyone who has ever had a sick child knows how difficult it can be to remember when you last gave him ibuprofen.  Sleep deprivation from aforementioned sick child being up all.night.long doesn't help matters.  Thanks, brilliant hubby!  Parents everywhere (especially me) will thank you!

I hope you can find at least one thing that would be useful to you in this post.  If not, maybe What's Up My Sleeve 3.0 won't take six more months! :)

White Bean Kale Soup

There are a lot of recipes on Pinterest lately that are some variation of white bean and kale soup.  I've tried a couple and they weren't inedible, they just weren't something I'd make again.  So I went with my gut (which never works out for me in the kitchen) and made up my own.  It turned out surprisingly well.  This recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup from Saveur was my starting point.

1/4 cup canola oil
3-4 ribs celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped (I'd go with 4 next time)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
8 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I mixed mine b/c it's what I had)
1-2 tsp granulated garlic
2 medium red potatoes, cubed
seasoning salt to taste
3-4 handfuls chopped Kale leaves (I used about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bag I bought)

Heat oil in large stock pot over medium-high.  Saute celery, onions, and carrots until onions are translucent.  Add garlic and saute for another 1-2 minutes.  (Be careful not to scorch the garlic.)  Add beans, broth, granulated garlic, and potatoes.  Boil gently until potatoes are done (about 20 minutes).  Turn soup down to a simmer.  Add a few handfuls of Kale and cook for five more minutes.  I took an immersion blender and partially blended the soup to thicken it up and it gave it a perfect consistency.  (You all know how I love my immersion blender!)

The original recipe calls for squash, but I worried that it would add too much sweetness to the perfect savory flavor that it already had.  It also calls for fennel seeds, which I don't love.  And dry beans, which not only could I not find the right variety in the store, but they're a pain in the butt.  It also calls for water instead of broth.  I think my improvement in this particular ingredient is a no-brainer.  I can't compare the two recipes because I never actually Tuscan Bean Soup, but I can say this:  Thanks for the inspiration, Saveur!

I think next time I'll get some crusty bread to serve with it.  Mmmm, bread.

Hope you enjoy.

The Things We Say

We've all heard the line "kids say the darndest things."  It's true.  My sweet nephew once told his Gramma he couldn't possibly go to sleep because his eyes were too big.  Smart, huh?  My friend Mary's children really say hilarious things.  She blogs here to document all the fun.  (**side note: You must check this out.  Even if you don't have kids, it's funny.  And if you know Mary, well, it just makes it that much more fun!)

As funny as little people can be, I am most amazed at the change in myself.  It's true, parenting makes you sound like, well, your parents.  *Shudder*  Once in a while, I catch myself saying something absolutely and truly ridiculous and I feel the need to share.  Here are a couple of my awesome mom moments:

"Dane, give the booger to Daddy."  This one is self-explanatory.  I mean, what the heck do I want with Dane's booger?

"Dane, eat your marshmallow."  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  Honestly, I was just trying to have an adult conversation with my BFF after dinner one night.  She had served s'mores for dessert so we gave the boys marshmallows.  Dane said "want down, go play" about 80 times before I could get him out of his high chair, and "eat your marshmallow" was my response.  Mom of the Year.  Right here.

"Oh, wow.  I put his poop-stain undies on him for his 2-year well check."  I said this right in front of our pediatrician.  I guess I wanted her to know that I noticed and he doesn't always wear poop-stain undies, but the minute it came out, I felt even more embarrassed.  

"Please get your hand out of your butt crack."  Ever since we potty trained Dane, he has an obsession with his crack.  I have no idea why.  There is no rash.  As far as I can tell, it doesn't itch.  He just has better access to it now I guess.  I don't expect I'll stop saying this one anytime soon.

What are some goofy things you've noticed yourself saying to your kid(s)?

What I Learned at CPST Training

Last week, I spent three days taking a course to become a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST).  I know, I know.  How could it possibly take three days to learn how to install and check a car seat?  I thought that too.

I had all my dress clothes packed and ready to go.  (My company paid for this training because one of my "hats" at work is Health and Safety Officer.)  I'm expected to represent the company in a professional manner, and had packed clothing appropriate for a business function.  A day or so before I left for the training, I got an email from the instructor advising attendees to dress in "workout type clothing."  Um, what? Well, thank goodness I listened!  For three days, we went back and forth from the classroom to the field, taking three written tests and three skills tests.  Other than lunch, we really didn't have a break, and sometimes class ran late.

I couldn't believe how much information there was!  I guess when you look at the fact that every vehicle is different, every child restraint is different, every child is different, and then throw family dynamics into the mix, there are endless possibilities.  My brain is still buzzing with all the things I *thought* I already knew.  I even found two things that we were doing wrong in our own car seat installations.

Since I cannot possibly check each and every one of my friends and family members' car seats, and I'm sure many of you don't want me to, I thought I'd just hit a couple of high points.

1.  After-market products:  I never ever realized how dangerous these could be.  I mean, I know not to put my child in a snow suit and then strap him into the car seat, but items like this are essentially doing the same thing!

Anyway, if it did not come with your car seat, or didn't say specifically that it could be used with your model of car seat, do NOT use it.  There are other, safer ways to support a newborn.  (And they're free!)

One big culprit that Jonathan and I are actually guilty of is this little contraption.

I won't lie.  It's amazing.  It lets you get the seat belt super duper tight in seconds.  But you can actually get your seat belt too tight.  Sounds crazy, right?  But it's true.  These belt tighteners have been known to put too much pre-crash tension on the retractors of the seat belt and cause the retractor to fail in a crash.

2.  Switchable retractors that aren't locked:  Most newer cars have seat belts that are on a switchable retractor.  This means you have to pull it all the way out to lock it before strapping the car seat in.  We came across several car seats at our inspection station that weren't actually locked in the car.

3.  Not rear-facing long enough:  I knew that rear-facing as long as possible was the safest option, but I wasn't sure exactly why.  Well, the "why" in this equation happens to be a horrible thing called "internal decapitation."  It's where the skin and muscle is still connected, but the spinal cord is not.  Keep your children rear facing as long as they still fit the height and weight requirements of the seat.  This video does a great job of showing why it's important to keep children rear facing as long as possible without being graphic.  If you'd like more information on why it's important, there is a ton of information that can by found by searching Google and/or YouTube.

Lastly, I encourage you to find a CPST or seat check event near you.  You can search by county, zip code, or city on this link.