Big Boy Bed Days 4 and 5....
Day 4:
Very similar to Day 3, except that Rowan woke up about 8...yes, EIGHT! times in the middle of the night. A couple of the times he was just crying in his bed. All times, he easily went back to sleep. We were in somewhat of a delirious stupor after a long day and waking up so much, so we muddled through it without remembering much.
{on a side note, Cid slept for 9 hrs straight again!...now if they could just both do that at the same time...}
Day 5:
Okay....here's where it turned into more of what we thought we'd be in for.
Around 7:30pm we did the nighttime routine as usual with a bedtime story
5 minutes later, guess who was up. Roger took him back to bed.
1 minute later, again
and again...
and again...
and again...
and again...
Then the game started. The one where he peeks out, runs squealing back towards his bed as Mom or Dad come down the hall, waits for us at the edge of the bed, and turns towards us grinning ear to ear.
This happened over...
and over...
and over...
and over..
For about an hour and a half, and until his funny tricks were wearing us out. Each time we calmly and firmly put him back, but let's face it, the calmly part was diminishing with each subsequent round.
Meanwhile, Cid was demanding his share of attention, AND we were trying to get some things in order so that the next morning wasn't as crazy as this one was getting everyone out the door in time.
With an end to the game nowhere in sight we resorted to putting a childproof doorknob cover on Rowan's bedroom door to put a stop to it. I was severely against having one of these on the door from the beginning, but with patience wearing thin, I couldn't come up with anything better.
When Rowan realized that he couldn't open his door, all Hell broke loose. The screams and banging started. We gave him 5 minutes and waited for a pause in the tantrum to go back in and remind him that it's bed time and he has to go to sleep in his bed, tucking him in, and closing the door behind us.
Not more than two minutes later, he was at it again. We gave him another 5 mins. before walked him back to his bed again, tucked him in, said goodnight and closed the door.
Not another peep.
I did demand that we remove the childproof doorknob before we went to bed. I feel like he should be able o get out if he has to.
At 2:15 am he started this again, but it only took a couple times before he went back to sleep.
Then at 6am he woke up.
I must've jinxed us when I said this was working out great...but we're gonna stick it out for a while. I'm having a little guilt over pushing him too early. I have a feeling, though, that we'd face this getting up problem no matter what age he takes to the toddler bed.
HAPPY FRIDAY!!
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Two Baby Boys in One Room; The Epic Journey Begins
Right now, we're struggling a little with the dilemma of needing to have two babies in one room.
We were kinda hoping that Rowan, {now 18 mos} would be ready to move out of his crib in time for Cid {now 3 mos} to take it over. But at this point, we've barely even thought about how to handle the sleeping situation and Cid is such a big guy that he's already pretty much breached the limits of the bassinet in our room. Whether or not any of us are ready, we need to find a solution, pronto!
Just a couple nights ago, Roger and I both agreed that Rowan wasn't quite ready to make the switch to a "Big Boy Bed". We conceded that we would have to suck it up and buy another crib for Cid. Then Rowan did something that made me think maybe, just maybe, he was ready to upgrade.
He's been having a few rough days/nights of molar pain {poor guy, this is the worst!} and I got up with him in the wee hours one morning to snuggle on the couch. He laid on the couch with me for a while, then grabbed his blankie, got down, and started off towards his room, motioning me to come with him. He wanted to go back in his bed.
He's led us to his bed before when he was tired, but I just felt like this was different. I kind of figured that going to his bed was just the routine that he knew he was supposed to follow. This time he had been given the opportunity to stay up and do whatever he wanted and what he chose was to go back to bed. I thought, if he would rather be in bed than be up and about, maybe he can handle a bed that doesn't contain him.
It occurred to me that Rowan's crib converts into a toddler bed and I thought it should be a pretty quick job to take the front panel off and put the two side rails up, so Sunday morning I impulsively began to disassemble.
Rowan is kind of young to be explaining to him the whole "Big Boy Bed" concept, but he was actually very excited about the taking apart of his crib. He was eager to "help", climb on the crib frame, and jump on the mattress. He handed me the pieces {that I didn't need quite yet} and "tightened" some of the screws for me. I thought the assembly would be a lot easier than it was. I think the mistake I made was reading the directions, which would probably have been better English if they had used Google Translate to create. Plus, the pictures were all wrong! But after a little sweat and common sense, we had our toddler bed. The very last step was to put the storage drawer back underneath. Roger and I were struggling a little with this, but before we knew it, Rowan came to our rescue and held up the center while we found the rails on both sides. And yes, this was actually a big help! Did I mention that sometimes he blows our minds?! Even though it wasn't intentional, I'm glad Rowan got to see and be a part of the conversion because that way, he saw that this was still his bed, just a better version of it!
Once the conversion was finally complete, I said a little prayer that I wasn't going to have to change the whole thing back right away ;)
Here's the breakdown of Big Boy Bed Day 1:
- Converted the crib to toddler bed with Rowan's help
- 1:00pm Rowan seems a bit sleepy so we start his nap routine and put him in bed. 30 seconds later, we hear his door open and see him peaking out at us. We didn't force him back in bed because it was still early for his nap and Opa was visiting....not really fair.
- 2:00pm Rowan is pretty tired so we try again. A couple minutes later, we hear him turning the doorknob so Roger coaxed him back to bed. He slept there until 3:30pm, when he fell out of the bed onto the {carpeted} floor :(
- Nighttime - Normal routine. He goes right to bed around 7:30pm. We wake up at 6:30am to someone trying to open his bedroom door ;)
So Day 1 went pretty dang well! I'd rather wake up to Rowan turning the doorknob than to him crying, which is the usual sitch.
Plus I LOVE that I can give him a kiss when I check on him at night {I couldn't reach with the crib}.
Not sure if this will last, or if he'll suddenly feel like he misses the comfort of the crib confines.
I still think we may have to buy Cid a crib so that Rowan can adjust to his converted crib for a while before he gets a real bed, but I'm thrilled that Rowan took to the conversion so well.
I'll keep you all posted on the steps we take to get the two boys in the same room.
We were kinda hoping that Rowan, {now 18 mos} would be ready to move out of his crib in time for Cid {now 3 mos} to take it over. But at this point, we've barely even thought about how to handle the sleeping situation and Cid is such a big guy that he's already pretty much breached the limits of the bassinet in our room. Whether or not any of us are ready, we need to find a solution, pronto!
Just a couple nights ago, Roger and I both agreed that Rowan wasn't quite ready to make the switch to a "Big Boy Bed". We conceded that we would have to suck it up and buy another crib for Cid. Then Rowan did something that made me think maybe, just maybe, he was ready to upgrade.
He's been having a few rough days/nights of molar pain {poor guy, this is the worst!} and I got up with him in the wee hours one morning to snuggle on the couch. He laid on the couch with me for a while, then grabbed his blankie, got down, and started off towards his room, motioning me to come with him. He wanted to go back in his bed.
He's led us to his bed before when he was tired, but I just felt like this was different. I kind of figured that going to his bed was just the routine that he knew he was supposed to follow. This time he had been given the opportunity to stay up and do whatever he wanted and what he chose was to go back to bed. I thought, if he would rather be in bed than be up and about, maybe he can handle a bed that doesn't contain him.
It occurred to me that Rowan's crib converts into a toddler bed and I thought it should be a pretty quick job to take the front panel off and put the two side rails up, so Sunday morning I impulsively began to disassemble.
Rowan is kind of young to be explaining to him the whole "Big Boy Bed" concept, but he was actually very excited about the taking apart of his crib. He was eager to "help", climb on the crib frame, and jump on the mattress. He handed me the pieces {that I didn't need quite yet} and "tightened" some of the screws for me. I thought the assembly would be a lot easier than it was. I think the mistake I made was reading the directions, which would probably have been better English if they had used Google Translate to create. Plus, the pictures were all wrong! But after a little sweat and common sense, we had our toddler bed. The very last step was to put the storage drawer back underneath. Roger and I were struggling a little with this, but before we knew it, Rowan came to our rescue and held up the center while we found the rails on both sides. And yes, this was actually a big help! Did I mention that sometimes he blows our minds?! Even though it wasn't intentional, I'm glad Rowan got to see and be a part of the conversion because that way, he saw that this was still his bed, just a better version of it!
Once the conversion was finally complete, I said a little prayer that I wasn't going to have to change the whole thing back right away ;)
Here's the breakdown of Big Boy Bed Day 1:
- Converted the crib to toddler bed with Rowan's help
- 1:00pm Rowan seems a bit sleepy so we start his nap routine and put him in bed. 30 seconds later, we hear his door open and see him peaking out at us. We didn't force him back in bed because it was still early for his nap and Opa was visiting....not really fair.
- 2:00pm Rowan is pretty tired so we try again. A couple minutes later, we hear him turning the doorknob so Roger coaxed him back to bed. He slept there until 3:30pm, when he fell out of the bed onto the {carpeted} floor :(
- Nighttime - Normal routine. He goes right to bed around 7:30pm. We wake up at 6:30am to someone trying to open his bedroom door ;)
So Day 1 went pretty dang well! I'd rather wake up to Rowan turning the doorknob than to him crying, which is the usual sitch.
Plus I LOVE that I can give him a kiss when I check on him at night {I couldn't reach with the crib}.
Not sure if this will last, or if he'll suddenly feel like he misses the comfort of the crib confines.
I still think we may have to buy Cid a crib so that Rowan can adjust to his converted crib for a while before he gets a real bed, but I'm thrilled that Rowan took to the conversion so well.
I'll keep you all posted on the steps we take to get the two boys in the same room.
Friday, June 29, 2012
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
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
Friday, May 4, 2012
Dear {16 moth} Rowan
Dear 16 Month Old Rowan,You melt our hearts.
You don't talk much yet, even though your working on it. But what you lack in words, you make up for in personality and awareness.
We love when you plop down in our laps to read a book or put on your shoes, {by the way, you can say "shoes" and you do often}.
You want to help with everything. But sometimes you get frustrated when your body can't do what your brain wants it to.
You let us know when you're hungry by leading us to the kitchen and making the "more" sign. You eat like crazy and it's pretty incredible that your stomach can hold your meals.
You let us know you're ready for bed by leading us to your room and trying to climb into your crib. But still, you cry a bit when we pick you up to say your "goodnight's".
And speaking of "goodnight's", you always give your mom and dad a goodnight hug {and if we're lucky we get a kiss too}, you give Domino a hug, Buddy a wave, and your little brother, Cid always gets a kiss on the head.
We look at you now, and you're not a baby anymore. You're a little boy. Always changing.
At the end of the day, I reflect on the things you've done and I feel so proud to be your mom. And I'm also a little sad that I can't keep you at this age forever, but I know that as you grow, there will be so many times to look forward to, so I try my best to hold on to the memories we're making right now and continue to enjoy every day with you. Love,
Mom
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Dear {3 wk old} Cid
Dear 3 Week Old Cid,
We haven't been great about posting your pictures or sharing all the little things that make up your first three weeks of life, but that's because we're busy making the most of our time with you and your brother. You guys keep us on our toes!
The two of you are the most amazing and precious things in our lives.
You've only been out of my belly for a short time, and you are already amazing us with your ability to adapt to this new world and to show us that our love is infinite.
Your legs are strong and you already hold your head up high. You furrow your brow like your Momma and you smile {gas smiles} to one side like your Poppa. And you have a bunch of hair on the back of your head that sticks out and curls up like a duck tail, so we call you "duck".
We want to thank you for being a mellow guy. You eat and sleep. And cry? Yes, some. But not much. Mostly when we change your diaper, or we've left you in a dirty one for too long, sorry.
And did I mention how much your brother loves you? Rowan gives you kisses whenever he sees you. He gently rubs your head and touches your hands. He's the best big brother we could ask for.
The next few weeks might get rough. You're growing. We might get frustrated. Just because this is our second time, we're no experts. We have to learn what you're telling us. We have to remember how this works.
We promise we'll always try our best and always, always love you more than anything.
You're our little duck.
And we're your family.
We love you,
Mom, Dad, & Rowan
Oh yeah, and Domino and Buddy too!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Induction Pending
Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.
Unless Trouble decides to make his grand appearance between now and 7am tomorrow morning, we'll be calling Kaiser to find out what time we start inducing.
I have mixed feelings about this induction. I wish he had just come on his own terms and I suppose I could choose to let him go a little longer just to see. But there are reasons why we've chosen to induce tomorrow and without going into all the details, I'll just say I'm happy with our decision. I won't say that I'm really ready for it though. Still nervous.
Plus, it seems kind of weird to me to have our baby's birthday predetermined, although, I guess that's how scheduled c-sections are.
When I told my doctor that Sunday was a good day, it had totally slipped my mind that this particular Sunday is Easter Sunday {there's a lot of things that slip my mind lately, including the horse's vet clinic today, which really sucks that we missed :(} So it looks like we'll have an Easter baby!
And since I'll {hopefully} be in the hospital tomorrow morning meeting our new little man, we celebrated Easter with Rowan today by sending him on an Easter egg hunt! So much fun!! We gave him his little basket and a Peeps chick to chew on, {he only took a couple bites of the Peeps and then got upset cuz it was sticking to his hand. Then we sent him out the door in search of colorful eggs, hidden in pretty plain sight, all over the back yard. Even as obvious as the eggs were, it took a little pointing in the right direction to keep Cubbie on track. But he was excited with each one he found and carefully placed them in his basket one by one. He's so organized!
At the end of the hunt, we gave Rowan his grand prize, an orange soccer ball, which we've been dying to give him ever since I picked it up from Target a week ago, but managed to keep out of his grubby little hands until today. OMG! He LOVES that ball!
Happy {early}Easter, Rowan!
Did I mention that Grandma is here too? My mom came down at the beginning of this week {we were hoping the new baby would be on time}, and Rowan's been having a blast with her as well as enjoying her cooking ;)
With three pairs of hands and no baby yet, we have been able to accomplish some much needed work on the house, so stay tuned for some updates there.
Thanks for helping us out Grandma!
Unless Trouble decides to make his grand appearance between now and 7am tomorrow morning, we'll be calling Kaiser to find out what time we start inducing.
I have mixed feelings about this induction. I wish he had just come on his own terms and I suppose I could choose to let him go a little longer just to see. But there are reasons why we've chosen to induce tomorrow and without going into all the details, I'll just say I'm happy with our decision. I won't say that I'm really ready for it though. Still nervous.
Plus, it seems kind of weird to me to have our baby's birthday predetermined, although, I guess that's how scheduled c-sections are.
When I told my doctor that Sunday was a good day, it had totally slipped my mind that this particular Sunday is Easter Sunday {there's a lot of things that slip my mind lately, including the horse's vet clinic today, which really sucks that we missed :(} So it looks like we'll have an Easter baby!
And since I'll {hopefully} be in the hospital tomorrow morning meeting our new little man, we celebrated Easter with Rowan today by sending him on an Easter egg hunt! So much fun!! We gave him his little basket and a Peeps chick to chew on, {he only took a couple bites of the Peeps and then got upset cuz it was sticking to his hand. Then we sent him out the door in search of colorful eggs, hidden in pretty plain sight, all over the back yard. Even as obvious as the eggs were, it took a little pointing in the right direction to keep Cubbie on track. But he was excited with each one he found and carefully placed them in his basket one by one. He's so organized!
At the end of the hunt, we gave Rowan his grand prize, an orange soccer ball, which we've been dying to give him ever since I picked it up from Target a week ago, but managed to keep out of his grubby little hands until today. OMG! He LOVES that ball!
Happy {early}Easter, Rowan!
Did I mention that Grandma is here too? My mom came down at the beginning of this week {we were hoping the new baby would be on time}, and Rowan's been having a blast with her as well as enjoying her cooking ;)
With three pairs of hands and no baby yet, we have been able to accomplish some much needed work on the house, so stay tuned for some updates there.
Thanks for helping us out Grandma!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Farm Fresh CSA Delivery!! {and how our dog got us roped into this}
Look what we found on our doorstep this morning!
We've done the CSA thing a couple times.
What's CSA? Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, local farmers provide produce weekly, which you pay {generally, a hefty price} to receive a share of.
I always enjoy getting the produce. It's great to always have veggies {and sometimes fruits} available, and it feel right to support our local farmers.
The drawback is, you typically end up with a LOT of the likes of kale and Swiss chard, especially towards the end of the season. I've tried multiple recipes with these greens and never found something that I actually like to eat. I usually just choke it down because we paid buco-bucks for the stuff!
Whenever people come around with sign-up sheets for these CSAs, we contemplate....and then ultimately decline due to the high $$$ tag and the inevitable kale overload. So what made this time different?
I'll tell you.
We were enjoying a sunny weekend afternoon. We had come inside the house to feed Rowan a mid-day snack. All the doors to our house were open, letting the outdoor air freshen out senses. Buddy was quiet {for a change}, Domino was laying lazily on his bed. It was about as perfect of a scene as you'll see in our house. But we're not dummies. The baby gate was up in the front door. The baby gate is always up if the door is open. Why? Well, we have a baby, duh. And we have a dog. A dog who likes to go outside. But he's a {fairly} good dog and he doesn't breech the baby gate....at least not usually....
Out of nowhere, our bliss was suddenly ended when the doorbell rang! There was no one to be seen, not even a shadow, but Domino was up off his bed and over the gate faster than lightening! His loud bark piercing the neighborhood's ears. Roger followed quickly behind, "Domino, get back here!"
But it was too late. He was gone. Chasing a young man down our driveway like a Hell Hound on a witch hunt.
The poor guy was booking it as fast as his legs could take him. {Imagine those cartoons where the body is leaning backwards and the legs are just a circular blur}.
"Don't Run!" yelled Roger to the hunted. Good advice, but not taken. Seriously, who wouldn't run from 80lb's of lean muscle, big teeth, and greyhound legs?
After a split second of madness, Domino returned to the house. D never followed the young man past our driveway. When he reached the end of our lot, he turned around and came home, thinking he had done his duty. Like I said, he is a fairly good dog...or at least he tries to be.
Roger literally threw Domino in the back yard, and ran down the street to see how the young man was fairing. He found him halfway down the block, sitting on the curb with his head in his hands, still trying to catch his breath.
"You okay?" Roger asked, "I can't tell you how sorry I am. What are you selling?"
And that's how we ended up with this CSA delivery.
But hey, at least it wasn't magazines or something lame. And this one actually delivers! Last time, we had to go pick up. Kinda nice when you have a newborn on the way. Interested in this CSA? Go here.
After a profuse apology and a plea that it would may be good for everyone, the young man, Sam, agreed to come back to the house and meet Domino, who, this time, greeted him with a sheepish look, wagging nub {he doesn't have a tail}, and plenty of licks in an attempt to say "I'm sorry". We talked for a while about Sam's past experience with dogs, and we apologized over and over, knowing very well, that he'd be scarred for life thanks to our over-protective dog.
It all ended OK. Thank goodness. Obviously with some pros and cons in between.
Of course, this wasn't the finest dog-parent moment. Nothing to brag about.... But we have to chuckle a little because this was one of many heart-stopping events in Domino's life resume. Events that both test our patience and endear him to us. If you don't know Domino, before you go thinking we're not suitable dog owners, try to refrain from judging too harshly. I think we do a pretty good job. Dom's not vicious, and he's probably better behaved than most household dogs, but he's not an easy dog. He's close to his instincts and always will be. Most people probably would've given up on him a long time ago, {in fact, someone did, and that's how we got him in the first place}.
Want to see more about Domino and our other crazy animals? Here ya go!
Now, to figure out what to make with the Swiss chard in our box ;)
Mmmm....fresh
We've done the CSA thing a couple times.
What's CSA? Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, local farmers provide produce weekly, which you pay {generally, a hefty price} to receive a share of.
I always enjoy getting the produce. It's great to always have veggies {and sometimes fruits} available, and it feel right to support our local farmers.
The drawback is, you typically end up with a LOT of the likes of kale and Swiss chard, especially towards the end of the season. I've tried multiple recipes with these greens and never found something that I actually like to eat. I usually just choke it down because we paid buco-bucks for the stuff!
Whenever people come around with sign-up sheets for these CSAs, we contemplate....and then ultimately decline due to the high $$$ tag and the inevitable kale overload. So what made this time different?
I'll tell you.
We were enjoying a sunny weekend afternoon. We had come inside the house to feed Rowan a mid-day snack. All the doors to our house were open, letting the outdoor air freshen out senses. Buddy was quiet {for a change}, Domino was laying lazily on his bed. It was about as perfect of a scene as you'll see in our house. But we're not dummies. The baby gate was up in the front door. The baby gate is always up if the door is open. Why? Well, we have a baby, duh. And we have a dog. A dog who likes to go outside. But he's a {fairly} good dog and he doesn't breech the baby gate....at least not usually....
Out of nowhere, our bliss was suddenly ended when the doorbell rang! There was no one to be seen, not even a shadow, but Domino was up off his bed and over the gate faster than lightening! His loud bark piercing the neighborhood's ears. Roger followed quickly behind, "Domino, get back here!"
But it was too late. He was gone. Chasing a young man down our driveway like a Hell Hound on a witch hunt.
The poor guy was booking it as fast as his legs could take him. {Imagine those cartoons where the body is leaning backwards and the legs are just a circular blur}.
"Don't Run!" yelled Roger to the hunted. Good advice, but not taken. Seriously, who wouldn't run from 80lb's of lean muscle, big teeth, and greyhound legs?
After a split second of madness, Domino returned to the house. D never followed the young man past our driveway. When he reached the end of our lot, he turned around and came home, thinking he had done his duty. Like I said, he is a fairly good dog...or at least he tries to be.
Roger literally threw Domino in the back yard, and ran down the street to see how the young man was fairing. He found him halfway down the block, sitting on the curb with his head in his hands, still trying to catch his breath.
"You okay?" Roger asked, "I can't tell you how sorry I am. What are you selling?"
And that's how we ended up with this CSA delivery.
But hey, at least it wasn't magazines or something lame. And this one actually delivers! Last time, we had to go pick up. Kinda nice when you have a newborn on the way. Interested in this CSA? Go here.
After a profuse apology and a plea that it would may be good for everyone, the young man, Sam, agreed to come back to the house and meet Domino, who, this time, greeted him with a sheepish look, wagging nub {he doesn't have a tail}, and plenty of licks in an attempt to say "I'm sorry". We talked for a while about Sam's past experience with dogs, and we apologized over and over, knowing very well, that he'd be scarred for life thanks to our over-protective dog.
It all ended OK. Thank goodness. Obviously with some pros and cons in between.
Of course, this wasn't the finest dog-parent moment. Nothing to brag about.... But we have to chuckle a little because this was one of many heart-stopping events in Domino's life resume. Events that both test our patience and endear him to us. If you don't know Domino, before you go thinking we're not suitable dog owners, try to refrain from judging too harshly. I think we do a pretty good job. Dom's not vicious, and he's probably better behaved than most household dogs, but he's not an easy dog. He's close to his instincts and always will be. Most people probably would've given up on him a long time ago, {in fact, someone did, and that's how we got him in the first place}.
Want to see more about Domino and our other crazy animals? Here ya go!
Now, to figure out what to make with the Swiss chard in our box ;)
Monday, March 26, 2012
Pancakes a la Chef Rowan
In the last few months, I discovered how quick and easy it is to make pancakes!
Since I misplaced my mom's recipe {which is still my fave}, I've tried a few different recipes from the internet. We're not big on the super fluffy pancakes, so so far, our favorite internet recipe is this one. Only, we skip the butter in the batter {this happened by accident the first time and then we realized they didn't really need it}, and put a little less baking powder in the mix, because I hate that baking powder taste, and because we don't like super fluffy pancakes, remember? We also use sugar instead of malted milk. Still, I should just get my mom's recipe again.
This Sunday, Rowan decided he should make the pancakes.
He did a great job! I must admit, I was a little surprised that he didn't make a mess at all. He whisked that pancake batter like a pro. What a chef!
Since I misplaced my mom's recipe {which is still my fave}, I've tried a few different recipes from the internet. We're not big on the super fluffy pancakes, so so far, our favorite internet recipe is this one. Only, we skip the butter in the batter {this happened by accident the first time and then we realized they didn't really need it}, and put a little less baking powder in the mix, because I hate that baking powder taste, and because we don't like super fluffy pancakes, remember? We also use sugar instead of malted milk. Still, I should just get my mom's recipe again.
This Sunday, Rowan decided he should make the pancakes.
He did a great job! I must admit, I was a little surprised that he didn't make a mess at all. He whisked that pancake batter like a pro. What a chef!
No mess!
looks about ready, Mom!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Hello, Again
It's been a while. I pretty much get an "F" in blogging.
A lot has been going on around here and blogging is the last thing on my list of to-dos. Can you believe that in just a few weeks, we'll have another little baby boy?!! It doesn't seem real. And the fact that I've been through it before doesn't give me a whole lot of comfort when I think about the whole labor/delivery process...or breastfeeding...*cringe*
But I am excited to meet "Trouble". Just like with Rowan, we wonder what he'll look like and what his personality will be. This time is a little different because we can't help but compare to the only thing we've got to judge by, which is the Ro-Bear, himself. I wonder if they'll look like siblings?
We feel both ready and unprepared at the same time.
Work has been crazy for me. I'm trying to get a couple projects completed, which is burning into my month of pre-delivery pregnancy leave. DAMMIT! But I couldn't in good conscience leave my projects half done on someone else's shoulders. That said, the 13hr days and restless nights, worrying about my projects are killing me! I'm so exhausted....so....that's why {well, part of the reason}, not much at home is getting done, and no blogging either :(
Unfortunately, we also have had a few computer issues {not sure if the dog knocking the computer off the couch and breaking the screen counts as a "computer issue" but it ruined one of our computers none the less}. Basically, we have 4 computers, all with different operating systems, saved information, programs, etc. Three of which barely hold a charge, one of those has a shattered screen, and the fourth is hooked up to the tv. This makes finding/posting photos and doing any kind of computer work super inconvenient. I'm ready for ONE decent computer, and sooo wishing we had a Cloud account.
BUT.....I do hope to share a couple house projects soon.
We're working on a "built-in" bookshelf/bench at the living room window! We're really happy with how it's going so far!
Oh yes, and there's still the lawn. We got some good momentum on it about a month ago, and then my birthday happened....my big 3-0. {kind of a big deal, right?} Well, I wasn't really in the mood to do anything, including what we had planned, which was to go to the snow. Just seemed like a hassle, especially with even the remotest posibility that our baby would come early and I'd be giving birth in some strange cabin in Strawberry.
So instead of going to the snow, Rogér brought the snow to me! And he did it all behind my back so that it was a HUGE surprise! Fake snow all over the front "yard"!!
Fun for us, not so great for lawn progress, but we're getting there.
Anyhow, I did manage to scrounge a few photos of the "snow" off my new iPod Touch. So here ya go!
A lot has been going on around here and blogging is the last thing on my list of to-dos. Can you believe that in just a few weeks, we'll have another little baby boy?!! It doesn't seem real. And the fact that I've been through it before doesn't give me a whole lot of comfort when I think about the whole labor/delivery process...or breastfeeding...*cringe*
But I am excited to meet "Trouble". Just like with Rowan, we wonder what he'll look like and what his personality will be. This time is a little different because we can't help but compare to the only thing we've got to judge by, which is the Ro-Bear, himself. I wonder if they'll look like siblings?
We feel both ready and unprepared at the same time.
Work has been crazy for me. I'm trying to get a couple projects completed, which is burning into my month of pre-delivery pregnancy leave. DAMMIT! But I couldn't in good conscience leave my projects half done on someone else's shoulders. That said, the 13hr days and restless nights, worrying about my projects are killing me! I'm so exhausted....so....that's why {well, part of the reason}, not much at home is getting done, and no blogging either :(
Unfortunately, we also have had a few computer issues {not sure if the dog knocking the computer off the couch and breaking the screen counts as a "computer issue" but it ruined one of our computers none the less}. Basically, we have 4 computers, all with different operating systems, saved information, programs, etc. Three of which barely hold a charge, one of those has a shattered screen, and the fourth is hooked up to the tv. This makes finding/posting photos and doing any kind of computer work super inconvenient. I'm ready for ONE decent computer, and sooo wishing we had a Cloud account.
BUT.....I do hope to share a couple house projects soon.
We're working on a "built-in" bookshelf/bench at the living room window! We're really happy with how it's going so far!
Oh yes, and there's still the lawn. We got some good momentum on it about a month ago, and then my birthday happened....my big 3-0. {kind of a big deal, right?} Well, I wasn't really in the mood to do anything, including what we had planned, which was to go to the snow. Just seemed like a hassle, especially with even the remotest posibility that our baby would come early and I'd be giving birth in some strange cabin in Strawberry.
So instead of going to the snow, Rogér brought the snow to me! And he did it all behind my back so that it was a HUGE surprise! Fake snow all over the front "yard"!!
Fun for us, not so great for lawn progress, but we're getting there.
Anyhow, I did manage to scrounge a few photos of the "snow" off my new iPod Touch. So here ya go!
looks real!
until you notice the orange tree and snow-free neighbor's lawn
People who drove by were a little dumbfounded ;)
Friday, January 20, 2012
A Look Back
As I've mentioned before, a big reason for starting this blog was to "scrapbook" without the paper. I don't feel like I've done a very good job of that, but like I've said in the past, I guess something is better than nothing.
Since I've been in another blogging slump, and with a whole year of Rowan behind us, I decided to go back and read ALL our blog posts. What's the point of a scrapbook if I don't ever look at the pages? Do any of you other bloggers do this?
It took a while, and was kind of strange. I liked it though. It was fun to look back on the past year or so and see what was going on. I noticed that a lot of the stuff we're going through right now {expecting #2} is very similar to our experiences the first time around. A lot of my horse worries are exactly the same, go figure. Re-reading my breastfeeding issues was a little depressing, knowing I'll be going through that again. Hopefully this time, being a seasoned vet, will make it a little easier. There were a few reminders of "to dos" that never got done. And seeing things like the driveway, kitchen, and outlets go in reminded me that they weren't always there!
Absolutely, I'm glad to have the posts about Rowan. It's hard to remember everything, so being able to go back and see/read about his progress, quirky moments, struggles, and triumphs is really special.
I still wish I could be better at capturing more these things, since I know there was so much more to the last year than what I posted. Maybe I'll get it right this year....HA!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Rowan's First Haircut
{ New Haircut}
Last weekend, we gave Rowan his first haircut. His first REAL haircut. We trimmed the side "wings" a while back, but weren't ready to tackle the whole head.
I always swore I would never let my kid have a mullet in the name of saving his baby curls. But Rowan was morphing into a mini MacGyver right before our eyes, and we were too scared to do anything about it.
{MacGyver}
Rightly so, because cutting his hair was about as difficult as we expected it to be {this might be some kind of lesson in predetermining outcomes with your attitude}. Not so much emotionally, although the thought of totally butchering his hair did have me a little on edge. But I mean physically...it was HARD!
Initially, I started with scissors, but that was super slow going. So I moved up to a beard trimmer. This also didn't work so well, as it was as intriguing to Rowan as it was slow. He kept turning his head and trying to grab it.
{super-preggo Mom, weilding scissors}
We finally decided to go all out with the big clippers.
Not having the slightest idea which length to go with, we opted for a 4. The first buzz took out a HUGE chunk that prompted me to lengthen the blade with the built in adjusting lever....bad idea. The next few strokes failed to cut any hair, but successfully tangled it, sending Cubbie into a wail.
The poor kid must've wondered why the hell his parents, who he loves and trusts, would do this to him.
That's when Dad stepped in to get the job done right.
{Dad saving the day! Someone still looks a little worried}
With a just a few more swift hand motions and some switches back and forth between 4, 6, and 8, we stood back and admired our work.
Not too bad.
{whoooaaaa, I'm handsome!}
The little man looks pretty dang handsome...and he also looks like he's two!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,....and two Dogs?
Rowan was born in 2010, the year of the Tiger. I was told by a friend that this is a very lucky thing, as the Tiger is a strong, independent and powerful animal. If I wasn't feeling proud enough to have my little Tiger, I was told that our next baby {we affectionately call him "Trouble"} will be a Dragon. This, my friend said, was very good. He said that I was extremely lucky to have {or be having} two boys, a Tiger and a Dragon - the two most powerful animals. He also said, that Dragons and Tigers get along. NICE!
Now, the Chinese zodiac calendar is not necessarily part of our culture or personal beliefs. I find this kind of information very fun and interesting, and I love to hear about it! That said, I wouldn't, say, make any important decisions or judgements based on these beliefs, or put too much emphasis behind them.
But....it got our curiosity burning a little. So we looked up compatibility amongst the animals of the Chinese calendar, and based on this website, it looks like Dragons and Tigers do, in fact, get along very well. And so do Dogs {Rogér and I are both Dogs} and Tigers. For the Dog parent/Tiger child, it said "Easy Parenting". Wahoo! So true, right?
What a roll we're on!
Until we got to the Dog parent/Dragon child relationship.....
"Problems will arise"
That's what it says. Looks like "Trouble" has been aptly nicknamed! Ha!
We'll have to try not to hold his personality against him....he is a Dragon after all. ;)
*shrug*
What fun our little Tiger and Dragon are going to be! Lots of adventures ahead of us with these two!
image source: www.peoplequiz.com
Monday, November 28, 2011
New Camera Lens = Love
We've had a really nice, Nikon D60 SLR camera for quite a while now,{long enough for many people not to recognize the model number}. The pictures were crystal clear, but to be honest, I wasn't very happy with them. I guess we had kind of neglected how important a good lens is. The camera itself was a hefty purchase, let alone the cost of some fancy lens, so we passed.
I guess semi-okay photos were acceptable until Cubbie came along. In our low-light house, the Nikon stock lens just wasn't cutting it. Rogér began looking into lenses, and although we dreamed about this one, it's a little over our budget, so we chose this, Nikon 35mm lens.
Unfortunately, our new lens doesn't completely take skill out of the equation, which is really what I need. There are a few things that I've had a hard time getting used to as well. The lens doesn't zoom. You have to back up quite a bit in order to take a larger view shot. And I'm so trained on the old lens that I try to zoom, by adjusting the lens, which switches the mode to manual! Manual doesn't work for me. I'm no photog.
But all in all, I'm so happy that we bought this lens! I mean, how can I complain with results like these?
I guess semi-okay photos were acceptable until Cubbie came along. In our low-light house, the Nikon stock lens just wasn't cutting it. Rogér began looking into lenses, and although we dreamed about this one, it's a little over our budget, so we chose this, Nikon 35mm lens.
Unfortunately, our new lens doesn't completely take skill out of the equation, which is really what I need. There are a few things that I've had a hard time getting used to as well. The lens doesn't zoom. You have to back up quite a bit in order to take a larger view shot. And I'm so trained on the old lens that I try to zoom, by adjusting the lens, which switches the mode to manual! Manual doesn't work for me. I'm no photog.
But all in all, I'm so happy that we bought this lens! I mean, how can I complain with results like these?
Friday, November 18, 2011
Halloween in November
So...we are a little behind.
But I wanted to share Rowan's first Halloween.
Most babies dress up as bugs, or peas, or furry animals....not our little Cubbie Cub. We've always thought that Rowan looks just like Toon Link, from the Zelda video games (I promise, we are not video game geeks...well, Rogér may or may not be. However, we do play some video games. I keep mostly to the cute ones, and the Toon Zeldas are pretty cute:))
But look! I mean, he pretty much is Little Toon Link re-incarnate. Especially with his crazy eyebrows, (which are hard to see because they're so blonde, but if they were black, I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get any closer than this).
So, there was no question in our minds. Rowan HAD to be Toon Link for Halloween.
I grew up where moms made their kids' costumes. Maybe this was out of necessity, but I've always felt like making home-made costumes was a standard that I have to live up to as a mom. It was hard to find the time, given ALL the things moms have to do, but I swore I'd do it for as long as I can, so I set out to make a Toon Link costume.
Okay, Green Tunic, White Pants, Belt, Hat. How hard could this be?
THANK GOODNESS, Rowan already had a pair of white pants! This costume may never have manifested if I had to make the pants. Kinda cheating, but I'm no seamstress, ya know.
I found the perfect green jersey material for the Tunic and hat. (Note: never worked with jersey before and never want to again).
The belt was super easy and fun to make from felt.
I made the little bootie covers out of some faux seude I just happened to have (sometimes I'm glad that I save EVERYTHING). They weren't too hard. I just pinned the fabric using some of Rowan's real boots as a model and then sewed them up. I attached them to the pants so that they would stay in place and Rowan just wore dark socks underneath.
The bright green undershirt was too daunting of a task to make, so I went to Kohl's in search of a pre-made shirt. Of course, I found the perfect color...in the girls' section. So, yes, that's a girl's shirt. It's got some girlie stuff on the front, but it's covered by his tunic ;)
Got the sword at Target for $1, and put dark blue carstock over the handle to make it blue like the true Master Sword (that's Links sword, for those of us who aren't Zelda savvy).
I'm not one to bragg, but I was thrilled with the way it turned out! He really is the perfect little Link.
Our costumes (Linebeck and Tetra, from the same video game) suffered from my focus on Rowan's outfit, but I was OK with that.
But I wanted to share Rowan's first Halloween.
Most babies dress up as bugs, or peas, or furry animals....not our little Cubbie Cub. We've always thought that Rowan looks just like Toon Link, from the Zelda video games (I promise, we are not video game geeks...well, Rogér may or may not be. However, we do play some video games. I keep mostly to the cute ones, and the Toon Zeldas are pretty cute:))
But look! I mean, he pretty much is Little Toon Link re-incarnate. Especially with his crazy eyebrows, (which are hard to see because they're so blonde, but if they were black, I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get any closer than this).
So, there was no question in our minds. Rowan HAD to be Toon Link for Halloween.
I grew up where moms made their kids' costumes. Maybe this was out of necessity, but I've always felt like making home-made costumes was a standard that I have to live up to as a mom. It was hard to find the time, given ALL the things moms have to do, but I swore I'd do it for as long as I can, so I set out to make a Toon Link costume.
Okay, Green Tunic, White Pants, Belt, Hat. How hard could this be?
THANK GOODNESS, Rowan already had a pair of white pants! This costume may never have manifested if I had to make the pants. Kinda cheating, but I'm no seamstress, ya know.
I found the perfect green jersey material for the Tunic and hat. (Note: never worked with jersey before and never want to again).
The belt was super easy and fun to make from felt.
I made the little bootie covers out of some faux seude I just happened to have (sometimes I'm glad that I save EVERYTHING). They weren't too hard. I just pinned the fabric using some of Rowan's real boots as a model and then sewed them up. I attached them to the pants so that they would stay in place and Rowan just wore dark socks underneath.
The bright green undershirt was too daunting of a task to make, so I went to Kohl's in search of a pre-made shirt. Of course, I found the perfect color...in the girls' section. So, yes, that's a girl's shirt. It's got some girlie stuff on the front, but it's covered by his tunic ;)
Got the sword at Target for $1, and put dark blue carstock over the handle to make it blue like the true Master Sword (that's Links sword, for those of us who aren't Zelda savvy).
I'm not one to bragg, but I was thrilled with the way it turned out! He really is the perfect little Link.
OH! And I can't forget the thrilling end to the pumkin portrait saga....The Good, The Bad, and...
The Ugly!
The Ugly - by Rogér Balyon
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Day of Fun in Moss Landing, a Little Reflection, and What's to Come
This last Sunday, we went down to Moss Landing (near Monterey, CA), to visit Rogér's dad and to see a ship from the Disney movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortuneately, the ship was only open for viewing for a couple of hours and the line was really long, so by the time we got there, we didn't think we would get the chance to get on, so we left.
No biggie.
I doubt Rowan really cared to see the boat anyway.
Instead, we grabbed lunch at the famous Phil's Fish Market & Eatery. YUM! And spent some time on the beach.
It was Rowan's first beach experience. He loved digging his little toes in the sand. And he was thrilled when Opa took off his shoes, rolled up his pant legs, and took Rowan down to the waves to play in the foam!
On the way home, Rowan couldn't stop "talking" about all the things he'd seen and done that day. And when I put him to bed, he refused his bottle, popped his speenje (pacifier) in his mouth, rolled over on his side and was fast asleep. Dreaming of fishes, and lobsters, and the ocean.
The next day, he could hardly stand, his legs were so wobbly! He must've been sore from all that running around on the beach! (oh yeah, did I mention he's walking now?? So much to say and not much time to blog ;) He took his first steps at 10 mos old...little man....I still have to post his Halloween costume!)
I can't even begin to describe how much fun this little guy is. It's crazy how quickly he learns. I wish I could capture all his little facial expressions somewhere other than just my memory, but that's kinda hard since babies don't exactly hold it long enough for you to grab a camera and click.
It doesn't really seem like the time is going that fast, but when I look back on the months that Rowan has been in our lives, it's a blur. I don't know what happened to the swim lessons I was going to sign him up for at six months, or all the jogging I was going to do with our snazzy baby jogger, or baby sign language, but those flew out the window along with blogging and a lot of other things. Oh well. Honestly, I don't think those things matter too much.
And now, Rowan's going to be a big brother! Yep, we're expecting another baby boy on April 2nd, 2012!! It doesn't seem real yet, even though my belly is growing and we've seen all the ultrasounds. I'm both excited and scared for two. I wonder how we'll dole out our time. I wonder how our next kid could possibly be as cute as Rowan (although, I'm sure we'll think he's is equally as adorable), I wonder how we'll ever pick a name for the new wiggle worm. But I also can't wait for two little boys to be running around making mischief ;)
Maybe it's the season, but I'm feeling especially blessed, and grateful for everything that we have and all the things we have to look forward to.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
To Brie, or Not to Brie
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Today, I ate Brie,
A big, honkin’ chunk of it {on crackers}.
And guess what, I ate cold cuts too.
And a few days ago, I ate salami.
And, although I haven’t yet had a glass of wine, if one was offered to me, I would surely take it.
The list of can’t haves during pregnancy is constantly evolving…mostly growing larger. I mean, really??
Last time, I was able to resist the temptation of most of these taboo foods, except feta, blue cheese, salami, and a glass of wine here and there. I believe I also had to eat a few bites of my dad’s smoked salmon, in order not to offend him. I’m pretty sure my parents think “the list” is ridiculous. What parent of the 80’s didn’t eat cold cuts? I was, however, able to forego the raw milk offered at the Campbell Farmer’s Market, which I sooooo longed to try!
Funny though, once Rowan was born, I raced over to the raw milk station for a taste and told them how I had been waiting so long to try their milk because I was pregnant. They looked at me as if I was crazy. Then they began to explain to me that, yes, there is potential risk, as with many {almost any} foods, however the risks are not as high as most people are led to believe and there are many benefits to raw milk consumption as well, and as the woman put it, especially for pregnant women.
By the way, it was delicious!
This time around, I don’t seem to have as much restraint. I don’t know that I ever really bought into these food No-No’s anyway. I feel like, sure, there’s a possibility that some bad bacteria could be hanging out in there and result in the unthinkable. But I think my chances of severe belly trauma, or death, in a car accident are probably higher.
And what about E. coli in spinach, or listeria in cantaloupe? How shall I avoid ALL the bugs that could harm me or our little bean sprout?
To me, and this is solely my opinion, based on things I’ve heard, not reputable articles {can you even find a “reputable” source these days?}, the list of foods to avoid seems like a load of crap.
Just sayin’
image source: realfoodblog.com
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Pumpkins & Corn Mazes
I can't tell you how happy we are that summer is finally giving way to fall. Not that we don't love summer after a long winter, but now we're ready for the super hot days {and nights} to be over...Okay, we've been ready for a while.
Okay, so I admit I didn't bust out the fall decor {I don't have any and don't have the time to decorate anyway}, but we kicked off the harvest season with a trip to Swank Farms, in Hollister, CA for some corn maze fun with a few friends.
The farm itself is free to visit. Then you buy tickets for each of the activities. They've got some farm animals that you can feed, a little tractor ride with cow cabs for the kiddos, pumpkin launching, a corn cabin, go karts, a pumpkin patch, the corn maze, the Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch, food, and a little shop. They've also got a nice picnic area.
This time, we stuck to the corn maze {$10 pp}. It was a lot of fun, with a little word game to play along the way, and about the right size. Not big enough to get truly lost in!
The Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch looked super creepy, even in the daytime! YIKES! You won't catch me visiting at night cuz I'm a scaredy cat! I bet Rogér would love it though!
I wanted soooo bad to get some pumpkins, but it was too early still. I figured they'd rot in the 90 Degree weather we were having in San Jose....bleh.
Oh well. Even sans pumpkins, we had a good time :)
Okay, so I admit I didn't bust out the fall decor {I don't have any and don't have the time to decorate anyway}, but we kicked off the harvest season with a trip to Swank Farms, in Hollister, CA for some corn maze fun with a few friends.
The farm itself is free to visit. Then you buy tickets for each of the activities. They've got some farm animals that you can feed, a little tractor ride with cow cabs for the kiddos, pumpkin launching, a corn cabin, go karts, a pumpkin patch, the corn maze, the Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch, food, and a little shop. They've also got a nice picnic area.
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This time, we stuck to the corn maze {$10 pp}. It was a lot of fun, with a little word game to play along the way, and about the right size. Not big enough to get truly lost in!
The Haunted Conover Mystery Ranch looked super creepy, even in the daytime! YIKES! You won't catch me visiting at night cuz I'm a scaredy cat! I bet Rogér would love it though!
Oh well. Even sans pumpkins, we had a good time :)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Blog-less
One of the reasons I started this blog was to keep track of the memorable moments, and some of the not-so-memorable moments in our busy lives. I wanted to kind of "scrapbook" without the paper, cutting, and glue. I thought blogging would be a way to capture and share our lives. But I've come to realize that I'm just not really devoted to keeping it up.
I hoped this would be a way to easily record our baby's milestones, but so many have come and gone and I never got around to writing a post about it. I'm kinda bummed about that. Oh well. I'm just not that person who can manage to at least look pulled together in all our madness.
If we were a reality tv show, I don't think we'd get a second season. You'd find us uneventfully just trying to live day by day, enjoying as much of our little man, each other, our friends and animals as possible. And doing a lot of recovery from only somewhat successfully cramming in too much.
After a highly stressful two week audit at my work and a trip up to my parents which was super fun, but also super hard on Rowan's {and consequently our} sleep schedule, we've been passing around some bug between the lot of us and since we can't get the rest we need to kick it.....it.just.sticks. And of course when you're not feeling even 25%, that's when your horse colics, work gets even more stressful, and all the things that you normally enjoy doing, or at least are able to pull off, become daunting and unmanageable. And, you know us, we don't like to get too comfortable with what we've got. We have to go and throw something more into the mix!
Rogér and I have pretty much been taking shifts in order to barely pull together all the things that need our attention. THANK GOODNESS it's all starting to come back together....ever....so....s..l..o..w..l..y. I guess patience and low expectations are the key here. Unfortunately, I'm severely lacking in BOTH of those areas!!
Anyway, that's just how things go. I suppose I'll still post now and then. Better to capture some moments than none at all. I am, however, relinquishing any plans of over-achievement I may have once had. You, obviously, will not be seeing a onesie announcing Rowan's age in months, or even get a glimpse of his two-tooth grin before he has four more pearly whites coming in. I guess when it comes down to it I just don't really feel inspired to document, since there's so many other things to be doing.
And when I'm not doing anything productive, I want to REST.
I hoped this would be a way to easily record our baby's milestones, but so many have come and gone and I never got around to writing a post about it. I'm kinda bummed about that. Oh well. I'm just not that person who can manage to at least look pulled together in all our madness.
If we were a reality tv show, I don't think we'd get a second season. You'd find us uneventfully just trying to live day by day, enjoying as much of our little man, each other, our friends and animals as possible. And doing a lot of recovery from only somewhat successfully cramming in too much.
After a highly stressful two week audit at my work and a trip up to my parents which was super fun, but also super hard on Rowan's {and consequently our} sleep schedule, we've been passing around some bug between the lot of us and since we can't get the rest we need to kick it.....it.just.sticks. And of course when you're not feeling even 25%, that's when your horse colics, work gets even more stressful, and all the things that you normally enjoy doing, or at least are able to pull off, become daunting and unmanageable. And, you know us, we don't like to get too comfortable with what we've got. We have to go and throw something more into the mix!
Rogér and I have pretty much been taking shifts in order to barely pull together all the things that need our attention. THANK GOODNESS it's all starting to come back together....ever....so....s..l..o..w..l..y. I guess patience and low expectations are the key here. Unfortunately, I'm severely lacking in BOTH of those areas!!
Anyway, that's just how things go. I suppose I'll still post now and then. Better to capture some moments than none at all. I am, however, relinquishing any plans of over-achievement I may have once had. You, obviously, will not be seeing a onesie announcing Rowan's age in months, or even get a glimpse of his two-tooth grin before he has four more pearly whites coming in. I guess when it comes down to it I just don't really feel inspired to document, since there's so many other things to be doing.
And when I'm not doing anything productive, I want to REST.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Adventures in Outside Lands
Outside Lands comes and goes and we always think how fun it would be to go but ultimately never pull it together. Go figure, that this year, the year that we have a small child to take care of, we got free tickets for one day at Outside Lands! Of course, we didn’t want to pass it up!
But, oh yeah, we have a 7 ½ month old baby. Who we’ve never got a real babysitter for. And it’s gonna be a late night.
Time to call in the reserves! Lucky for us, we have amazing friends that jump at the chance to practice their baby raising skills on our little guy. {We try not to use and abuse our friends for this kind of situation.} So now that Cubbie is all set to spend the evening with his Aunties and Uncles….
Let the adventure begin!!
We’ve always heard parking for this event can be a real pain in the butt . SF doesn’t exactly boast a plethora of parking in the first place. But we decided to drive and park on a familiar street about a mile from Golden Gate Park
The *mile* to Golden Gate park seemed like a lot longer than that, and by longer, I mean it took half an hour to walk! When was the last time it took you half an hour to walk a mile? Yeah, it was waaaay more than a mile. We trucked our way through the “panhandle” and were filled with joy to see a sign welcoming us to Outside Lands with an arrow pointing straight ahead! We’ve made it! However, we’ve seen soooo many parking spaces right at the entrance to Golden Gate Park
WTF?!
Why didn’t we try to park here first? FF a few steps and we see another sign informing us that the box office was just a mere 30min walk….further! This is where we stopped to make a crucial decision, weighing our assumptions:
1 hour in ≤ 1 hour out. MUSE closes at 10pm + 2 hour walk to the car {additional hour for extra crowds, confusion, darkness, and finding our way back} + 1 hour drive back to San Jose
The other option; walk back {30 mins}, get the car, drive the car to the park and park closer, but not too close so as to get stuck in the masses, and walk another 30 mins in to the venue. We went with the latter.
About this time, I was getting grumpy, as I do. So we threw in Option C. Option C was a clause to address the particular case in which we retrieved the car, but could not find closer parking. Option C allowed us to forego Outside Lands entirely, find a restaurant, and enjoy a nice dinner a la San Francisco
As we’re getting out of the car, a young {and super high} man stopped to ask us if this was the way to Outside Lands. When we gave a vigorous “Yes!”, he proceeded to tell us the story of his own adventure in getting to the festival. He was on a bus with his friends and had almost reached the venue when he realized he had forgotten his ticket! He ran all around town trying to find a computer to print his tickets out on. Oh man, his troubles and tribulations had been much greater than ours, and yet, he was just as happy as can be that he had made it, with his box of 30 glo-sticks in hand. Then we watched and he ran the rest of the way to the gate....which was a long way. This man shone a little light on our day and we shed any negative feelings about our long walk back and forth through SF. At least it was a beautiful day, and now I can eat anything I want at the concert because I burned enough calories for a feast!
A 30 min walk to the box office was like, extremely optimistic. We finally made it in {after wading through many a strange folk camped out along the way}, just in time to hear the last song played by The Black Keys while we grubbed on some samosas and chicken tikka masala from the food court. Then we had about half an hour until Muse started. We went to find ourselves a nice spot where we both would be able to see at least a little bit of the stage, and if not the stage, at least the big screens. We probably should have brought a grungier blanket. I felt kind of bad putting our nice knitted one on the ground. O-well.
After getting situated, we got a few minutes to take it all in, and we thought what a fun time it would be to actually get to spend the whole day here. There were all kinds of booths filled with free activities and freelance artists selling headbands and knitted beanies and face painting {sorry, we need to get better about taking pictures....maybe if we had iPhones like the rest of the world}. Of course, we missed out on all of that. Maybe next time.
Then Muse hit the stage. They didn’t disappoint. Although I wish that they had some new songs to play. I can’t say it beat the first time we saw them {probably nothing ever will}, but at least I didn’t get beer or wine spilled on me. I must be getting old because when I go to a concert, I don't want to come out drenched in other peoples' sweat and beverages. Anyway, they still rocked. And I’m pretty sure that Taylor Swift CD in my car {or wait, is it Rock-a-By Baby} will have to move over for one of my Muse mixes! Rogér will be happy about that.
It took us a ridiculous amount of time to walk back to the car, even though we parked relatively close, and we got back later than we expected. SORRY! I feel so bad for extending the “sitters’” watch. I really do. Not our intentions at all. We owe our friends big time, and I’m sure they’ll be calling on us when they have kiddos of their own. Of course, we’ll graciously offer our help when they need it!
You know, I think we'll hit up Outside Lands again when we have a little bit older kids. We'll slap some noise reducing headphones on them and make a big day of it. I also have to point out, that it was our first time truely in Golden Gate Park, and it is so beautiful!! We have got to go back to experience just the park itself one of these days.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Stripping
No, not that kind of stripping, pervs! Although we could always use the extra $$$, I think I'll stick to the only kind of stripping that I might have a shot at {and that's debatable} - diaper stripping.
Let's see, it's been a little over a month since my cloth diapers suddenly went waterproof. After doing some internet research, I tried dishsoap to rid the diapers of diaper rash cream {the prime suspect}.
The jury's still out on whether or not it actually worked.
The jury's still out on whether or not it actually worked.
{Sorry, I wish I could be more helpful}
But, I mean, it's hard to tell, since we didn't really experience the issue very much to begin with.
I have a feeling only a few inserts fell victim. I never pinpointed which ones. And now daycare is doubling up on the inserts {I have also been providing Gro Via Booster Pads, which work great!}, so they don't really have a problem anymore either. Though, I really don't think they need to be doubling up......I think they need to change him more often. This has been politely suggested, but I'm pretty sure the teachers have selective hearing.
When I get around to it, I think I'll give stripping another try. I think I'll use a hospital nail scrubber this time to help.
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