Bag Love

For the first time in over two years I bought myself a new bag!  

Now before you get all sad and feel sorry for poor me,

I have to admit I have A LOT of handbags...A LOT.

But sometimes you just "need" a new one.

Helps to chase away those February blues.

Since B was born, all I have carried around has been 

my diaper bag (which I love).  In fact I feel lost

with out the the darn thing when B isn't with me.

But now that I have a new business and 

am out and about more without her

a new bag made sense.. and I found one.

In fact I think I am in love!!!

And how cute is this?  I opened it up and

found this tiny love note from the designer saying

"Thanks for showing love...Enjoy! www.ecko.com

So cute.

Another great thing about this bag is 

I can use it when B is with me as well

because it's big enough to toss in

a few things for her when we don't

need the whole diaper bag.

 

Oh and did I mention I found it at Marshall's,

oh how I love a good bargain.

Mama Brain

 

Usually I can get through a day with only one

"mama brain" moment but today I 

was blessed with two...

We decided to take B swimming at the health club 

this evening and then hit a local diner for dinner.

I learned the hard way a few months ago not

to get B ready for swimming at home because

swim diapers do NOT hold what a diaper will 

and you end up with a leaky mess when you get to 

the club.  Today we were in the locker room and 

I was getting B ready to swim.  I stripped off each 

layer of clothes (you need a lot of layers here in WI)

Then I grabbed her swim diaper and suit from the bag.

Anyone else have those moments where you only 

have split second to make a decision and even though 

you know better you make the wrong choice?  Yeah, 

well that is what I did.  As I was pulling off her diaper 

my mind flashed a thought that she might pee on me

while I am pulling up her swim diaper but I quickly

dismissed it "nah, what are the chances of that?"

Pretty darn good.  In the two seconds her diaper was 

off she peed all over the one and only pair of jeans

I had with me!  I really should have known better.

So I scrubbed them in the sink and hoped they 

wouldn't smell like pee by the time we went 

to the diner.  It seemed to work but 

they stayed damp till we got home.

Second moment... I tossed in a load of bibs & kitchen towels

before we left.  When we got home I went to put them

in the dryer and realized I must have forgotten to rinse a bib

because I had a ton of soggy noodles mashed into the 

bottom of my washing machine-ugh.  Still not as bad

as the time I accidentally washed a disposable diaper,

it took forever to get that diaper goo out.

What were your recent "mama brain" moments?

Sharing

 

Yesterday we went to the Library.  For a girl like B, who ADORES books, it was a happiness overload.  She was looking at books, doing puzzles,playing at the train table and running 

around the library yelling "Boos" (which means books).  And me, well I was chasing after hertrying to keep things calm as the snobby librarians looked at me with that "control your child" sort of stare.

There was small boy, probably around the age of 3,playing with his grandmother at the train table.  B would not leave the poor boy alone, she kept trying to take his trains.  I tried to explain that "He is playing with those trains right now, we have these trains" but B stared at my blankly.  After awhile redirection worked and we were hard at work on a puzzle and the little boy was safe from my daughter's grabby hands.  It makes perfect sense that B would not understand the concept of sharing because at homeeverything is hers.  She doesn't go to daycare and so she doesn't really observe this in daily life, if she wants a toy...she gets it.  

So my dilemma is how to teach her about sharing and not taking

things from others.  Maybe it is just the age she is at and she would 

do the same even if she was in daycare or had siblings, but I worry.

The fact is she may never have a sibling (a fact I don't want to accept)

and so I struggle with how to teach her these things, how to teach her about sharing

Tips anyone?

The Faces of B

 

  

  

  

Aren't I so lucky??  I get to look at this face everyday!
Faces, What a wonderful theme for this week's You Capture over at
I Should Be Folding Laundry.  
Ps. Beth's pictures this week are WONDERFUL-check them out

Check out more amazing pictures at You Capture:

Two Things

I stumbled upon a (new to me) blog today that is just busting with stylish loveliness, Bacwoods Fern, If you haven't checked it out...you should.

She has a wonderful blog hop titled "Two Things i Love..Around my Home", simply post two things you are luv'n around your home lately and link up.  I love looking at everyone's treasures.

So here we go my two things today are...

 

I love our key rack.  I found this some years back at a discount 

store for a couple dollars.  It had a picture of a bath tub on it which

I painted over with our monogram. 

I am pretty sure it's bargin price was due to 

it's "distressed" nature and weird tub picture, but it worked

out great for me.

 

This cute little bench is that famous designer, you may have heard of them ...IKEA. 

But seriously I have had this for at least 5 years and it was in desperate need

of a make-over.  I recently recovered the cushion in one of my favorite 

fabrics and I love it again...now if I can just get B to stop pulling all the 

hats, mittens and baby slings out of it every day.

Muffins - Guest Recipe of the Week

It's been a few weeks since I have posted a guest recipe
so sharing this one is long overdue. 

I found this lovely looking recipe on Simply Recipes

I am excited to try these and report back! 
I am on a huge ginger kick lately so I cannot wait!

Pumpkin Ginger Nut Muffins Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin purée
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
2 Tbsp well chopped candied ginger

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.
2 Mix the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Fold in the candied ginger and chopped nuts.
3 Spoon mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.
Makes 12 muffins.

Photo and Recipe Credit simplyrecipes.com

Cute Giant

 

While she was the cutest giant they had ever seen

the passengers were getting a bit worried that the 

2:13 from Albuquerque was going to be a bit late.

Warm & Fuzzy

I am in love with this picture.  The warm and fuzzy feeling surrounding B, the bright colors jumping out...perfect.

Although I will say I am rethinking buying her that shirt...it's a little "Nightmare on Elm Street"??

Check out more amazing pictures at You Capture:

Bottle Attachment

Ok, bottles get a bad rap baby.  Alright I understand where this is coming from (fighting the anti-nurturing, anti-attachment, children should be seen and not heard babble of former generations) but for me, well I am just going to come right out and say it...I've got bottle attachment!

I truly loved every single minute I spent breastfeeding my daughter, it took my breath away and was worth all of the challenges I had in doing so.  To be able to feed your child and bond with them in such a primal, instinctive way...well there is just nothing like it.  I had supply issues from the start but I refused to give up and thanks to mother's milk tea and fenugreek I was able to breastfeed my daughter for 6 months, and then I lost my supply completely.  It was a blow to my ego as a mommy but I was so thankful for the time I had and the breast milk I was able to give her.  So here is where my attachment started I think.  The bottle was the new way I fed her, the new way to hold her before bed and share those special moments.  The new way to have that time where there is nothing but the two of us, and the universe fades away.

Fast forward to today...She is 16 months and can shovel about eight noodles in her mouth at once, drinks from a cup, talk, walk, run, throw, dance, sing and so much more and yet she is still my baby.  At her last check-up we were advised to cut out that last bottle and replace it with a sippy cup.  Well that was weeks ago and guess what?  A few hours ago I fed her a warm bottle in the rocker and then sang her to sleep.  I know that she would drink from a cup instead and all will be fine but the truth is I am attached to the bottle and it is I that am finding it difficult to give up this last one.  I can't tell you when we will take this last bottle out of our routine, but I can tell you I wont still be giving her a bottle when she heads off to college.

Nanny Tales- Session One

Ever since I can remember I have adored making people laugh.  There is so much joy in watching someone break into a full belly giggle at something you said and not the "I'm laughing at you" but the "you crack me up" kind of thing.  So in another attempt to hopefully spread some laughter I am starting "Nanny Tales"!  I will (periodically) post stories from my former life as a nanny.

I'll start with my own stories (I have oh so many) but would love to share others stories as well.  Please feel free to email me with your funny, sad, sweet or any "nanny tales", they can be from either the nanny or parent's perspective, just don't use real names please.

I'll start with one of my favorite stories because whenever I think about it I bust out laughing, although I am sure it is funnier to me then anyone else since I was there.

Taxi Drama

  The year was 2002 and I was working in NYC as a nanny for two (wonderful) school-age children.  Every weekday morning I would take them to their upper east side schools in a taxi.  Growing up in the Midwestern part of the country this had seemed so foreign to me when I first started the job but quickly it became routine.  Taxi to school, bus or subway back, clean, cook, etc, bus or subway back uptown.  Taxi back.  On one particular spring morning the kids and I were riding in the familiar yellow torpedo up to school.  The driver's thick accent and slightly strange demeanor where completely the norm for a taxi ride, so I thought absolutely nothing of it.  About 10-12 city blocks from the schools the taxi made a left turn while very narrowly missing a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Well...the pedestrian was quite upset, in fact I would go straight to fuming, and he smacked the hood of the taxi with a loud, car shaking thud.  "Ert" the taxi screeched the a halt and the driver jumped from the cab yelling, what I presume were, profanities in an eastern European language and a bit of English.  The now enraged pedestrian began to yell back in what I knew were English profanities.  The children's mouths popped open in shock and I am pretty sure I looked like I had been given a surprise enema.  I covered the little girl's ears and began to process the options.  Do I hurry the children out of the cab in the middle of a busy intersection and then there is the matter of the fare, do I pay it or does getting out of your cab to yell at people release us of our duty to pay?  Then we still had 12 blocks to go and my butt would be handed to me if I didn't get those kids to school on time.  Now here is the best part, the cabby gets back in the cab, begins driving and acts like nothing happened, we rode the 12 blocks in stunned silence.  When the cab stopped to let us out I quickly ushered the children on to the sidewalk ahead of me, paid the fare WITHOUT tip and said (as I had one foot on the pavement) "You should be ashamed of yourself" and hurriedly put as much distance between us and the cab as possible.  I thought a lot, after the fact, if I had made the right choice, if I should have said more or at least asked the guy "what his major malfunction was"?  Surprisingly the children really didn't think much of it afterward so at least I know they weren't scarred for life, the city has a way of toughening you up.

Stayed tuned for more "Nanny Tales" in the future.

(the photo is of me in 2001, during the time I was a nanny)