Mistakes in Motherhood

I was having problems posting links in the comments section of my last entry, so I figured I would make a link page for you of all the nifty little ‘granola’ products I use and love.

Links open in a new window for convenience.

Mayawrap Ring Sling I don’t even bother with a stroller anymore. I got mine from E Bay though at a fraction of the price, however as you can imagine there is SO much more selection from mayawrap.com as far as patterns.

Fuzzi Bunz Cloth Diapers Also check out the tutorials and information on that website. That is where I buy my cloth diaper packages, I really like that store. The main website for the manufacturer is HERE.

Charlie’s Soap This stuff is great, I use the detergent for my diapers only for now, but once the rest of my current brand is gone I will switch to Charlie’s for all of our clothes. I also hear there detergent is VERY hypo-allergenic since it rinses clean. I also use the all purpose cleaner around the house since it’s biodegradable and safe around kids and pets. Charlie’s is also safe on flame retardant sleepwear. Check out the “Research” tab on the above website to see the research to beck up the above claims.

Signing Time These DVDs are GREAT! We also noticed our local PBS station is starting to carry signing time, we have our DVR record it since it’s an odd time. I got my first three DVDs on Ebay.

Babies Beyond Borders I love this Ebay store for soft sole leather baby shoes, but you really could just do a search for “soft sole baby shoes”. HERE is a link to 10 reasons why to use soft sole baby shoes instead of the shoes you will find in the shoe store.

Now if I could just find a product that keeps the baby out of the dog water and then keeps him from crying upon hearing the word ‘no’. I would also love to keep my husband from getting his feelings hurt because he ONLY calls when I am busy and then thinks I am bitchy because my answers are short, especially when he’s saying things that only require yes or no answers…(and then thinks he is putting me in a better mood by calling and texting me over and over)MEN!

2 Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Parenting, Shameless Plugs. | #

I am back, my old laptop is dead, well, not dead, but too expensive to fix. Can you believe the screen is just as expensive to replace as a new laptop?? So, I have a new baby, a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4094. Its a nice machine. Skip to the next paragraph if computer talk bores you.

• Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology with interrelated Intel® Core Duo processor T2250, Intel® 945GM Express chipset, Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection (802.11a/b/g) and extended battery life capability
• 1.5GB PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM for multitasking power, expandable to 4GB; 533MHz frontside bus, 2MB L2 cache and 1.73GHz processor speed
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media; also supports DVD-RAM

This nifty cord ROCKS! It’s 10x faster than transfering files over the network from the old computer to the new one, its been a lifesaver because I have SO many music and photo files on my hard drive.

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Ok, ok, I am done now I swear! Last night was my 9th anniversary, NINTH, amazing. As Bobby says, “our marriage is a 4th grader”.

Bobby and I met when we were 17 and 19. We had a mutual friend that I was calling on the phone and I got Bobby instead. We talked for about 20 minutes like we had been friends for years. Months later I was sitting with the same mutual friend having coffand and Bobby was sitting two tables away from us with his girlfriend on his lap, she was very pretty, she had done some modeling in the past. I tell my friend Dan that I was going to marry that man, and Dan laughed at me and said I had NO chance. Fast forward a few more months. I had moved out of my parents house, and a friend of mine invited me to a friends’ house for a little get together. Bobby was there (it was his place w/ roommates). We were hanging out and he pulled me onto his lap and kissed me. After that moment we were together nearly every moment. We stayed up almost all night talking and when it was time for me to go home, he asked me to stay. He asked me to never leave him again. And I didn’t! We were married 11 months later on July 28th, 1997. It was a small intimate wedding, perfect for me as I NEVER wanted the huge white church wedding. So, for a couple young punk kids, we seemed to have had a few things figured out.

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Cleaning. Not a difficult word, but Bobby and I seem to not agree with what it means. I give him credit, he did pick up… but cleaning did not happen while I was gone, except maybe in the final hours before I got home. It’s kind of funny, parents mark the bottles of alcohol and if the level is below the line thdisappointedpointed. Well, in this case, had I marked the bottles of cleaning solutions before I left, I would havdisappointedpointed because the level of cleaner would be right where it was when I left. He did do a little laundry the day I got home, he did vacuum, he did do the dishes and make the bed, the pets were well taken care of. But that is about it. The word ‘cleaning’ is in both of our vocabularies, BUT we obviously use different dictionary becaudefinitionsnitions are TOTALLY different. Just so you know, I am NO M@rtha Stew@rt by all means. But white tile should be some shade of white, and carpet should not have more fur than my pets.

No Comments | In: Geek Speak | tags: Bobby, Domestic Diva, Me, Ramblings, Shameless Plugs. | #

Friday we drove to Denver to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We loved it! We decided to go all out and purchase the deluxe tickets which included a tour of Body World, the museum, the planetarium and IMAX.

WOW! I think I was the only one who loved Body Worlds… the boys (big and little) thought it was kind of gross. Think of your high school anatomy textbooks, meets the Olympics and you have Body Worlds. It had people without skin playing soccer, or ice skating. It also showed the organs in display cases. We got to see healthy lungs vs. lungs of a smoker and of a coal miner. It was a great opening to the non smoking talk. It sure made me happy that Bobby is a non-smoker now. I want my children to grow up and be able to say that they do not know anyone who smokes and it’s a disgusting habit.

After body worlds we went to see the Egyptian exhibit. Chris loved the aerial view of the Egyptian city. Austin loved seeing the excavation process and how they studied the mummies.

Next we went to see the dinosaurs in the Prehistoric Journey exhibit, Austin’s favorite part. It was a HUGE exhibit covering 2 floors with probably 30 different dinosaur skeletons, mammoths, etc. He got to meet a real paleontologist and watch people cleaning and assembling real bones and fossils.

After more than an hour with the dinosaurs, we went to the planetarium to watch a movie on Black Holes. This was Bobby and Christopher’s favorite part. The screen was amazing; it was a dome that engulfed you so the movie was in front, on the sides, and behind you; Matthew was entranced. We then explored the Space Odyssey room… parking shuttles, making planets, craters, and playing with space tornadoes.

Finally we saw an IMAX movie called The Human Body; it was about such topics as how our bodies use and digest food, reproduction, puberty, heating and cooling, etc. Matthew pretty much nursed through the whole movie; he was tired and did not nap until the ride home. We spent nearly 6 hours at the museum and had a blast. It was a wonderful day.

Saturday we got our new sofa and recliners delivered, so we spent most of the day moving furniture, cleaning and organizing the basement, and I shampooed and vacuumed all the rugs. Not exactly a fun day, but productive and that is all that matters.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Austin, Bobby, Christopher, Matthew, Me, Shameless Plugs. | #

Santa got Austin a dinosaur digging set; he has been fascinated with dinosaurs since age 3 and has wanted to be a paleontologist for almost 6 years now! This year he has wavered a bit from paleontologist, archeologist, and zoology; but he has always loved biology/science jobs. The Fossil Hunter Dino Dig Kit was a huge hit this year, and kept him busy for hours. When it was all cleaned off and assembled, he painted and posed it for display.

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Austin, Shameless Plugs. | #

Finally, my precious, you are mine, mine, MINE!!! Heeheee haaa haaa hooooo hooooo!

I am in love with a camera. It may be sinful, it may be wrong, but I loooooooove my new Rebel XT digial camera. And why do I love it?? Because I can get totally amazing pictures of the ones I love!

Matthew – 7 1/2 Months

Christopher – 8 on the 31st

Austin – 9 1/2
(w/ Matthew)

Is it even legal to be this darn cute???

Thank-you Cannon, you make cute kids even cuter!!!

1 Comment | In: Uncategorized | tags: Announcements, Photography, Shameless Plugs. | #

Well, I will give Bill some credit…. his designers made a really great program in Windows Movie Maker. So I spent all afternoon scanning in older pictures of Austin and compiling them into a movie. I feel I did pretty good too…

Click here to watch ‘Austins-Movie’

No Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Austin, Shameless Plugs, Videos. | #