Embarrassing Mommy Moments: The Crap I Carry with Me

While on maternity leave, I've been religious about taking Domino for about a mile-a mile and a half walk or jog every morning before I get on with the rest of the day.

Like any good dog owner, I bring along a bag to pick up Dom's poo, and since I don't enjoy holding the stink bomb for the rest of the trip, I usually hang it from the mommy hook on the stroller.  Still stinks, but at least I don't have to hold it. Then when we get home, I promptly take the bag and throw it in the trash.

Well, yesterday, I didn't use the jogging stroller.  I just had the snap n go.  And I didn't transfer the mommy hook either, so when I scooped up Dom's poo, I stashed it in the mesh basket under the stroller and continued on.

I got home, took Dom and Cid inside the house, got Cid out of the stroller, fed him, fed Domino, folded up the snap n go, got all my stuff together, strapped Cid in the car seat, put on some deodorant real quick while Cid screamed, grabbed my sunglasses, my keys, and the directions to Red Rock Cafe, put Cid in the car, folded up the snap n go and threw it in the back and took off in the car to meet my friend Evelyn. 

The car stunk from some dirty diapers that had cooked a little too long in the back of the car before being discovered {does anyone else with kids find a nice surprise like this every once in a while?} So I vowed when I got back home, I'd remember to keep my windows open to air out the car.

Since it was lunch time, I was a bit worried about finding parking in Downtown Mountain View, but after just one circle, I found a tight spot, and shimmied my way in.  It's hard to get the car seat out when you're squeezed between two other cars, but I was slow and deliberate and got the job done.  I whipped out the snap in go, snapped the car seat {with Cid} in and treked off to find the cafe.  Since it was a beautiful day, I didn't mind walking a bit, but I didn't walk long before I was there.  I walked in and ordered a chai latte and a big oat bake.  {BTW, the chai latte was a little too spicey for my taste...would pick something else next time}.  Then Evelyn showed up and we started catching up on all the life that had happened in the ages that we hadn't seen each other.  Our visit was over quick and then it was back in the car to go home.

After I got home, I took Cid inside and lounged around for a while.  Then a thought went off like a lightbulb in my head. Did I forget to toss Dom's poop bag when I got home from the walk? OMG, I didn't!  OMG, I carried that poop with me into a coffee shop!! I sat at a table and ate with it's stench keeping me {and all the other patrons}company! 

I wondered why I hadn't noticed.  I wondered if anyone else had.  Dom's poos are pretty damn stinky!  Have I just gotten used to bad smells to the point where I am oblivious? Now, sitting alone in my home, I could feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment for what people must have thought as I walked by them with my perfume a la dog doo.

Ugh, sometimes {okay, quite often}I'm such a mess.

Thank goodness I don't go to that coffee shop often! 

Sorry if I ruined anyone's lunch!  :-X

A Growth Chart for the Boys

Rowan grows like crazy.  Every day it seems like he's this much closer to grabbing the doorknobs and bonking his head on the counter top...ok, he's already grabbing the doorknobs!

It's time to start tracking this kids height!

Originally, I was going to paint a growth chart, but we can't take that with us when/if we move.  No fun :(  So I kind of put that off...

Then this came up on the Silhouette blog

I hate to be a total copycat, but basically, we copied this project to a "T"....except for a few things:

-We used wood slats from an old Ikea bed instead of pallets.

-We made ours by putting two slats together side-by-side and then another pair on top so that it could be taller....our boys could be tall!

-We started the measurements at 2 feet.  This allowed us to make more room above 6 feet and besides, by the time you measure your kid's height, they'll probably be taller than 2 feet already.  BUT, you have to make sure you mount the chart exactly 2 ft from the floor!

-No need for a fancy-schmancy Silhouette  (: x).  For 3 Bucks, I bought number stencils at The Home Depot.

-For the white portion, we Kilz used primer, which we had on hand.  Worked great.  It's runnier than paint so you can still see the wood grain and it give a very flat, rugged finish.


I like.

Also, not sure how the original one was mounted, but we used two flushmount brackets on each of the two pairs of slats.

Mounting the chart was kind of a challenge.  We measured two feet from the floor and marked where the bottom of the chart had to be.  Then we attached one piece of the flushmount brackets to the back of the boards.  We put tape on the back of the other piece and clipped those into the attached piece.  Placed the boards against the wall and applied pressure until the other piece of the flushmount was taped to the wall.  Then carefully lift and remove the boards, leaving the other piece of the bracket on the wall.  Then drive in the screws!  It's a little tricky and might be easier to just measure it all out.  But that's how we did it.

You'll want a level too, to make sure your chart is straight.

Cloth Diapering for Two: Harder Than I Bargained For

My economical, earth friendly plight has reached a turning point.  I would say our cloth diaper status is currently at about 20% and less if I'm really lazy.

We did a good job keeping Rowan in CDs until we switched to his new day care, {which we LOVE, by the way}.  I have to admit, I never asked if they would do cloth diapers.  I just felt like since it is a home-based day care at such a reasonable price, I shouldn’t give them the extra hassle of cloth.  They do require more frequent changes and a little extra time at the changing station.

Since we also use disposable diapers at night, there really isn’t much room at all during the day for Rowan to use CDs.  We were doing cloth on the weekends for a while, but we’ve been noticing that our GroVia hybrids haven’t been fitting Rowan so well.  They’ve gotten harder and harder to get on and I finally threw in the towel.  I was a little disappointed since I thought the diapers would fit until Rowan was potty trained.  Maybe they would fit most babies.  At 17 months, Rowan is pretty big for his age.  We just got a little toilet for the Cub and I think he’s going to catch on fast {fingers crossed}.  At this point, I don’t want to invest any more money trying to find a new cloth diaper that fits. For Rowan, disposos it is, until he can wear real undies.

For Cid, I’ve been using the Thirsties covers with pre-fold inserts.  The thing is, we burn through the inserts in a single day and I’m just not as on top of the laundry as I was with just Rowan. I swear those inserts have been slowly disappearing just like socks!  And sue me if I want to get in a few loads of my own clothes and take a break every once in a while.  

I may or may not buy a few more prefolds.  But mostly, I'll just continue to use what we have the best we can.  I keep telling myself that at least using a few less disposos is doing something good.

Anyone else CDing for two? I love to hear thoughts or tips.

Image Source: earthycrunchymama.com

My Favorite Thing About Being a Mommy...Right Now

Really, what's not to like about being a mommy right now?!  Between all the mind-boggling things Rowan is doing everyday and Cid reminding us how cute a little baby is, we are seriously drowning in happy times.

But if I had to choose one...or maybe two {per kid, of course ;p} things, here's what's making me feel the most warm and fuzzy inside:

Cid's big smile.

I think what I love most about this smile, besides that its super cute, is how hard he has to work to make it happen and even so, he hands 'em out freely. Once, I even got a real laugh out of him. His whole face lights up and he gives us the ol' Tyra smize.  It's to die for!

Rowan's wink.

The other day, Rowan looked at his dad, paused, and made a long blink with both eyes.  Then a HUGE grin took over his face.  This came totally unprompted and took us by complete surprise.  We blinked back a few times, and he did it again.  Now we're giving him winks and he'll do his darndest, but it's still just a long two eyed blink, which I have to say, I think is even cuter than a wink.

Baby farts.

Is that weird?  They're just give me a giggle, especially after the 6th week struggle, where gas caused Cid so much discomfort.  I love to know that he's passing gas and I LOVE it when he can pass gas without pain.

Leg holds and head hugs.

I guess because Rowan's realized that I can't pick him up all the time anymore, he'll run to me and instead of reaching up, he'll wrap his arms around my leg and squeeze.  And instead of climbing in my lap for a hug, he'll come over and lay his head on me.  Soooo cute!

Brotherly love.

Ok, I know it was supposed to be one...or two...per kid, but this one is a bonus...and they're my rules to break anyway.  With two baby boys, there's always a tinge of guilt on my mind that I'm not giving enough to one or the other.  Always a feeling that Rowan might think I don't care about him anymore or that Cid will feel lonely because he's not in my arms as often.  No matter how much I try, I can't do everything for both of them all the time.  It seems like a "duh", but it's really enough to drive my feelings of inadequacy through the roof!  So the absolute BEST, is to see them love each other.  That's when I know that I'm doing okay at this mom thing.  Alright, Cid can't show it so much, but seeing Rowan gently rub Cid's back or hold his hand will bring me to {happy} tears.