Knitted Things & The Wonderful World of Etsy

I’m currently sitting here, impressed with two very amazing things. One of those things is apple butter from Patterson Farms in Ohio (more on this later in the week), the other is an online store called Etsy. 

Is There Anything Cuter than This Hat?

If you’ve been living in a closet for the last 5 years like I have then you don’t know that Etsy is a website dedicated to re-inventing the way consumers interact with producers. Through this companies vision consumers are able to interact directly with the creator of hand-made products ranging from paintings and wooden bowls to knitted clothes, and Christmas decorations.  There are hundreds of thousands of people around the world who hand-make items and then sell them in their online Etsy store to people just like you and I (well, maybe like you, I’m just weird).

One of those hundreds of thousands of people is my friend Lindsey who knits children and toddlers headgear, along with handmade drawstring backpacks.  I’m very impressed with the quality of work my friend Lindsey does when it comes to knitting. There is no way on planet earth that I could ever create the adorable and professional quality stuff this woman is able to churn out ( I know I've tried). I love having her store available to me online, because she lives far away, and it makes it easy for me to see what she has going on and to pick items out. It’s also great because even if I didn’t know her personally I would still be able to contact her (the creator) directly and ask for something specific. Like for instance let’s say that I really like a hat she has but I also want matching gloves and a scarf, well now that’s possible.  It’s also exactly what I’ve decided to order if you were beginning to get curious. It was really hard for me to decide what I was going to order, but after realizing I don’t know the sex of the new baby, and my daughter requires winter gear I decided to go with the the beanie pictured at right, with matching gloves and scarf of course. After the baby is born I am certain to be back for more!

If you want to check out Lindsey's Boutique on Etsy just click the link below.

To Name Or Not To Name

There are so many things that you have to do when preparing for a a baby, and I’m not talking about picking out nursery sets. I’m talking the nitty gritty important stuff. These are the kind of things that moms and dads usually have figured out pretty early on in pregnancy. This list of very important things includes; deciding where you’ll have your baby, either at home or in a hospital, who will help you give birth your baby, having an actual home to have your baby in incase you did decide to have  a home-birth, and of course baby name(s). So let’s see how I stack up when it comes to that list of required items.

Photo Copyright BabyCenter.com

Where will you have your baby:  At home, got this one covered.

Do you have a home to have your baby in: Yes and no, we’re selling our house and moving to Ohio. We’ll be boarding with the in-laws until we’re able to get our own house.

Who will help you give birth to your baby: Now that is a very interesting question. I did meet a midwife in Ohio that is willing to take us on, so it’s possible that this question does have a concrete answer.

Baby Names: Ugh, nothing sounds right yet. I repeat,

N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

I know what your thinking, and honestly I am less worried about where, how, when and with whom I’ll be giving birth than I am with naming this baby.  The reason for this is that a name is everything to who a person is. Think about it, there are probably plenty of names out there you don’t like just because you don’t like a person you knew who had that name. It’s very important for me that we choose a name for our son or daughter that has a meaning behind it, because people usually become what you tell them they are. 

I am beginning to believe that I am going to end up one of those parents who takes  an entire week postpartum to name their kid after it’s been born.  I once knew a family that waited 2 weeks after their baby was born to have a naming party where they officially named and dedicated him. Part of me finds this odd probably because of my desperate need to have a name already picked out for the moment this little one is earth side, but another part of me understands the tradition of waiting to name your child.  It may not look like it, but I do have some American Indian blood running through my veins and I’ve always thought the Native American tradition for naming babies was pretty cool. My great grandmothers name was Leaning Bush, appealing, maybe not, but I’m sure it involved some significant event in her life.

So here I am, stuck at a crossroads, which one I don’t know,  because as you’ve by now discovered I’m not good at picking names. There is such a big part of me that wants to have a name for the first time I see this little ones face, and another part of me feels like maybe we should wait. Maybe waiting will allow this little one to show us a name of it’s own that we’d never expected. 

Tips For More Efficient Cleaning

This is for a friend of mine who recently asked, “does anyone else feel like they are spending 95% of their time cleaning?” I’m assuming the other five percent is for pulling your hair out, I know I save 5% for things of that nature.

The best way to keep from feeling bogged down by cleaning, and run over by little ones is to practice a few organizational  skills, and have the right tools. I have just a few tools  that are a must in order to keep my house presentable (not spotless).

Meet the gang:




                   




   
         Now that you’ve met my crew, you’ll just need to understand our mission plan, which is this; get out of bed. No, just kidding, but that is the first step, which is harder on some days. Ok, so after I get out of bed, and wake my kiddo up (yes I’m lucky enough usually to get up before her) and feed her breakfast I get started, but first I make my bed. My kid is usually in a pretty good mood during the morning hours before her nap so it’s easy to keep her occupied with simple things while I clean. I start with the kitchen, since that’s usually where I make the first mess.  After I’m done cleaning the kitchen I grab my trusty shark and vacuum the whole house. I love my shark because it can go from wood to carpet to the bathroom floors, it picks up things the broom misses, and it detaches into a little handheld vac. Then out comes the swiffer, and I swiffer every room in the house (I only have wood, laminate, and area rugs). Here's the thing about swiffer mops, they are ridiculously convenient, but they aren’t at all cost efficient, that is unless you employ my sneaky method. First you need to buy a pack of microfiber towels, heck buy two because they are the best cleaning rags I’ve ever used. Then you fold them to meet the dimensions of your swiffer mop, after which you sow the ends shut, and run three stitches down the length of the rectangle (evenly spaced of course). Finally you take two velcro strips and stitch them at the proper spacing so the pad will attach to your swiffer! Do ten like this, and wala! you have reusable swiffer pads that work better than the real thing. Now that you’ve gotten that annoying part of owning a swiffer mop out of the way, you just have to refill the non-refillable bottle. This is courtesy of my mother, who is apparently a genius, because I didn’t know it was possible to refill the bottles without ruining them. The easiest way to describe how to do this is to liken the cap to one of those chemical lids with the safety seal.  That bottom ring is what keeps you from taking the lid off the bottle, and you must therefore remove it with an X-acto knife, or similar tool. Once you’ve removed that annoying plastic ring, you can then unscrew the top and refill it with vinegar and water! It’s my opinion that vinegar cleans better than half the stuff  on the market, and so for a bottle that size I usually mix together 1/4 cup vinegar, a few drops essential oil, and enough water to fill the bottle back up. 

      So, suppose you’ve already taken care of those tasks, and you were me, then you’d move on to hurriedly wiping down all the surfaces in your living room and bathrooms (except the toilets and tub those are for the weekend). Wow! we’re moving right along here, and you’re almost done. Next gather up whatever dirty laundry is laying about and take it to the room where you do your laundry (if you really were me, then you’d have to take it to the garage, because that’s where the genius that built this place put the hookups for the washer and dryer).  Start Washing! I intermittently check on the clothes switch them out as they finish, and pile them up in a basket as they dry. 'Round about 3:30PM the laundry is complete, and I bring it inside to fold. This is the best part of the day, because we have a rule around here, I washed it and folded it so daddy has to put it away. If you’re afraid your kids will trash all your hard work of folding it, well then I suggest doing it on your bed where toddlers can’t get ahold of it. Otherwise why not have the older children help, I know I had to! Also as a side note I only wash diapers every two or three days depending on how many we go through, the rest stay in a specific hamper in the garage with the rest of the laundry waiting to be washed.

All of the other messes, like lunch and toys on the floor, I clean as I go. I find it extremely helpful to have a set place to put the toys, and when we’re done playing with one thing we put it away (for example, the crayons won’t stay out if we want to go play with blocks). When it’s time for naps, I relax and do something for myself, I  feel it’s necessary. Even if my daughter doesn’t want to take a nap, she’s still required to stay in her room for quiet time. As long as she’s not screaming I tend to leave her in there for the full length of her nap. I know that even if she’s not sleeping she is resting, and resting a little bit is better than not resting at all.

I usually start dinner somewhere around 4:00 or 4:30PM and we usually eat somewhere around 5:30PM. This is only because what I make most of the time requires baking in the oven, because I'm lazy and pot roast is an easy dinner. If I'm making something that takes less time to cook we eat at about 5:30PM. I usually dream up the next days dinner the night before after the young one is asleep. Then I take whatever froze meat I'm going to need out of the fridge and put it into the refrigerator. I'd probably save myself a lot of time if I chose to make weekly dinner plans, but hey, where's the thrill in that? Seriously though, I'm planning on becoming one of those weekly menu planers, and doing a weekly grocery shopping list. Then I'll save time AND money!

Also if you're interested I have many more homemade cleaning recipes available.

Honey I Turned Our Kid Blue!

Today I decided to actually make finger paints, and for some reason I already had all the necessary supplies on hand. So Isabell and I set to work rounding up our supplies, and following the recipe I have here on my blog. Now, when I say Isabell set to work, what  I really mean is that she ran around the house screaming like a maniac because she didn’t get an adequate nap today. The recipe itself is actually pretty easy and quick to follow, I’d wager that without a maddened toddler running between your legs you could complete the task in under 10 minutes.

                                                                                Step One: Gather your supplies

                                                    Step Two: Mix sugar (1/4) cup and cornstarch (1/2 cup) together

                                                                           Step Three: Add 2 Cups water

Step Four: Pour into sauce-pan and heat for five minutes on medium, stirring occasionally with whisk until desired consistency

Step Six: Add food coloring (if yours are this dark you used to much food coloring!)

Step Seven: Turn your kid into an easter egg!

No, really!  20 minutes into finger painting my dear sweet hubby came over and noticed that the dye was also clinging to our toddler’s skin, hair, diaper, teeth, nails etc. EEK! I ran to the tub to run her bath water, while he quickly removed anything paint like from her reach. We rendezvoused in the bathroom after about 4 minutes and began the scrubbing. Luckily for us the baby soap removed the dye from her hair, but her skin was still as multicolored as ever. Jordan then got the great idea of Googling what removes food dye, and low and behold, we also happened to have baking soda which we began rubbing into her skin. After a good 10 or 12 minutes of scrubbing we finally got her cleaned up.

The moral of the story? Ummm, the most popular finger paint recipe on planet earth is designed to turn my kid into an easter egg? No, that can’t be it! The moral of the story,  Which I only discovered after making yet another trip to Google land, is that you need very little food coloring. That is unless you want to dye your child and everything they touch rainbow color (“full on double rainbow....”). I’ve learned that just enough dye to give the paint a LITTLE color should suffice (it will darken as it dries), otherwise you better hope to have a box of baking soda waiting. 

Subsequently I’ve also been struck with another idea since finger paints are so messy, and that is to make bath paints. It’s the same recipe, you just bring it in the bath with them and let them paint the walls and tub, then just rinse and wipe it all down the drain when done. Presto, fun and squeaky clean!

Remembering to Love Your Man

Sometimes I think we forget what a special circumstance it is to be married.  I never stop getting warm gushy feelings when I look back and think about the day I said my vows to my husband. However, I often take him for granted, and many of the things I love about him also drive me crazy. I’m so used to waking up with him and being around him every day that I become desensitized to the special love he provides me.  

It struck me last night, that I need to take a moment everyday to remember who ignites my internal fire, and why I even have a fire at all. I think as women sometimes we nag our husbands to death (and I’m definitely no telling you to quit all together, how would you ever get a thing done then?) and we have these very high and unrealistic expectations of what we expect of them. We tend to forget all of the little things they are willing to do for us, like rub our feet, open doors for us, take out the trash, hold us when were sad, kill spiders, and get up in the middle of the night to check the house after we watched Dateline’s serial killer series.

Our husbands way of showing us their love is so different than our way of showing love. Woman so easily love their husbands unconditionally, because we are nurturers by nature, but we don’t necessarily respect them. Men are the opposite, they respect their wives, but they are not inherently nurturing. This is where signals get crossed, and I think this is where we forget how to take care of one another. I can’t count the number of times I’ve teased or made fun of my husband because he isn’t that mechanically inclined. Statements like that hurt a man more than anything else. Women need to hear how much they are loved, needed and appreciated, while men need to know how strong they are, how proud you are of them, and how they do a good job taking care of their family.

There is a really great book that I read about a year ago called love languages, and the author takes his reader through all the different types of actions and communications that might make someone feel loved. At the very end of the book there is a test that you each take separately to find out what your love language is. Each person has a major language of love, and two sub categories. My major love language is quality time, while my husband’s is words of affirmation. I have to remind myself of this all the time, sometimes I just assume he knows I love and appreciate him because I love to spend time with him. What he really needs in order to feel appreciated is for me to tell him verbally out loud that I love, respect and need him. If you want to take the quiz to find out your love language just go to http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/30-second-quizzes/love/. 

I’m really encouraging everyone to take a moment to think about their husband, look at them when they aren’t looking at you and think about all of the things they do that you could not live without. I’ll be very surprised if your head doesn’t just fill up with loads of thoughts.  One of the things my husband has been doing for me lately that makes me feel so loved and appreciated is;  he comes up behind me, puts his hands on my baby bump and tells me it’s the most wonderful thing in the world. For me right now in my life there isn’t a single thing better than that. I’d much rather hear that I’m still attractive, and that he’s glad we created this life together than to have my daughter’s flash cards picked up off the floor.

The Perpetual Boredom of Toddlers

In my recent transition from the daily grind, to the daily grime (just kidding), I’ve noticed that my ever growing toddler has become increasingly bored as the days go by. This may be due to her advancing in age, or the fact that I’m completely clueless when it comes to being creative with a 20 month old. For the past few days I’ve been beating myself up over the idea that a daycare might be able to do a better job than I at raising my kid. This thought was extremely alarming because I truly believe that if you have the ability to have at least one parent home ‘til kindergarden, do it.

It wasn’t long after complete and utter panic overtook me that reality set in. I thought to myself, “self if the daycare centers are able to entertain several toddlers for 8 hours+ a day without any of them going home broken, battered or completely covered in dirt, then you too can employ some of their methods.” Eureka! I spent the rest of the day brainstorming ( I learned that word in elementary school, and it’s still one of my favorite activities) all kinds of diversions for my little ones.

After I finished cleaning house and researching what other well intentioned parents were doing with their tots I headed off to the dollar store for supplies. Let me tell you by the way, that you can really get some great inexpensive things for kids at the dollar store. On my particular list was play-dough, shipping paper (the brown paper you wrap packages in), chubby crayons, a coloring book, yarn, die cut shapes, wooden letters and numbers, and a wooden circular board with numbers and colors complete with a little dial. My total bill was $19.00, I also got a few other odds and ends for the house and "containment" for the goodies I just purchased. On a side note, who knows if dollar store windex works, but when I find out I’ll be the first to let you know.

I think It’s pretty obvious what my plans are for the play-dough and  coloring books, but I’ll kindly fill you in on the rest. The role of shipping paper I bought has 50 feet of paper on it, and it’s approximately 20 inches long. I think it will be great for cutting sheets off, taping them to the kitchen table and letting her go at it with crayons and washable markers. The yarn really has endless possibilities including teaching her how to thread things onto it, making binoculars with toilette paper roles (obviously I’ll have to assemble), and making worms in a bucket. I was considering doing this by cutting sections and taping/gluing a length of each section to make it stiff. and then punching holes in an old yogurt container lid so she can smush her little worms into their bucket. The other items I got like the die cut shapes are for the few minutes a day I spend teaching her what things are. Very recently she has starting asking, “What’s that?” about everything, and when I say everything, I mean I hear it 2 billion times a day. I think it’s time for the interrogation to switch directions. I’ll be asking the questions around here now little lady!

I  really think I might be more excited than anyone else about this adventure!  My husband has been looking at me like I’m a crazed lunatic all day. he says, “Babe, she does what we do.” I asked him if he thought a toddler could really appreciate my blogging, Face-booking, and general laziness or his video games. A very gratifying look of understanding creeped across his face after that! 

Again, I’m all ears if anyone else has any other suggestions for keeping boredom at bay.