The Truth

The vegan Spectrum spread claims to "taste like butter."

Let me just save you the $3 to find out - it's a lie.

God help me - I'm only on day two of no dairy.

Receiving compliments

Earlier this evening I was told that I look "tiny" after having two babies.

Instead of saying thank-you, I corrected her and told her how un-tiny I truly am.

This is something I need to work on, accepting compliments.

So, everybody, please give me a compliment sometime soon and see if I accept it graciously! Just kidding - though I am serious that it's something I need to work on.

Baby logic

One question: Why are babies OBSESSED with sucking on the most nasty thing available in the room?

This weekend Zachary discovered the caps on the base of the toilets (I do not know the proper term for this item). Now, whenever we go into the bathroom, it is his goal to go check out the "toilet cap" (for lack of a better term) first thing. His other obsession, similar to his brother 2 years ago, are the trash cans. He has yet to discover the toilet brush, but I give him another week to make this discovery - at which time it too will have to make a move to an undisclosed location within our house for the next year or two.

Of course, the Baby Einstein toys remain unplayed with in the toy box. Because who would want to play with expensive, educational toys when toilet caps and trash cans are available??

The things we do for our children

I am abstaining from dairy AND chocolate AND peanuts for three weeks - beginning today. Okay, peanuts are no big deal. I like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every once in awhile, but I am completely fine with going without for 3 weeks. However, dairy (read: ice cream) and chocolate are a different matter.

If the goal was personal weight loss, this would never happen - despite how huge I was. I just couldn't have the self-control. But the goal is to see if something I'm eating is contributing to poor Zachary's eczema. We met with a homeopath doctor yesterday, and she recommended dropping those 3 food groups from my diet for 3 weeks to see what happens to his cheeks.

The things we do for our children. And oh yes, Zachary will be hearing about this when he is an adult and pigging out on an ice cream sundae topped with chocolate syrup.

Milestones

I wasn't sure if I would celebrate the small milestones of Zachary's life as much as I did for Benji since he's the second-born. I am happy to report that it's just as exciting to see your second born crawl or sit up or get teeth as it was the first time around! Here's a picture of Zachary from today that shows his two teeth on the bottom. He has 4 more on their way (poor guy).

Crib bumpers

As Zachary's mobility is increasing (and when I say increasing, I mean it's here - he's army-crawling all over the place now), we are updating our sleeping situation so he won't crawl right over the side of our queen size bed. His crib is sidecar-ed up against our bed, but we'll be buying 2 rails this afternoon for the other side of the queen size bed (if that makes sense). Anyway, I was looking at our crib bumpers last night. They are not looking too good. I made them for Benji before he was born. I used a nice cotton chenille material but the stuffing inside is not very thick and is bending when it's not supposed to bend. Therefore, his hands and legs still can get stuck between the flats of the crib. Zachary also has discovered the ribbons that tie the bumpers onto the crib, and he thinks that ribbons make an excellent chew toy. So several of the ribbons are very frayed at the end. I think it might be time to make some new bumpers. Kristin, I will be talking to you about your pattern this Friday.

But all this brings me to say, in a very roundabout way, I think these crib bumpers are just a scam made up by the fabric people and the crib people, who must have gotten together to figure out a way to get us parents to spend more money. Why do cribs have slats (bars) anyway? The crib people make these fancy contraptions that aren't even ready for your baby to sleep in because you need to buy bumpers to keep them safe from getting themselves stuck between the slats. One big racket...

Shopping troubles

Last weekend I attempted a shopping trip (sans kids) in hopes of updating my wardrobe somewhat. Easier said than done. I remember in previous times when almost everything I tried on actually looked good. Now it seems to be a major endeavor to find one skirt that looks good on me. I eventually found one at T.J. Maxx ... but not after looking extensively at several other stores first. I was also looking for some of the longer shorts (I don't know the proper name, I'll have to ask my fashionista friend Linda). No luck there. Everything is low-rise. I used to love low-rise. Now, with a 2nd baby flabby belly (despite being back to pre-pregnancy weight), the belly over the waistband look is just not working for me. I'm sad to discover that Gap is almost 100% low-rise since that is my favorite store lately. All that to say... I will need to make another mall trip sometime soon. Hopefully I'll have more luck next time.

The facial massage

Over the last few days/weeks, Zachary has been working on his Mother's Day gift to me - a facial massage. Instead of purchasing the typical gift certificate to the spa down the street, he has decided to do the massage himself. He makes sure my face is within a few inches of his chubby face, then he makes his move. He grabs both of my cheeks and does his magic. He does a very deep tissue massage which also involves nails. So far no bruises but Mother's Day is still a few days off, so there are a few more days to practice.

The important things in life

One of Zachary's most favorite ways to go to sleep is in the sling. He just went down for his third nap of the day in the tan Over-the-shoulder sling. Sometimes I rush this process, trying to sway and bounce him to sleep as quickly as possible so I can go on with more “important” things – like cooking, throwing in a load of laundry, eating dinner without bouncing a baby on my lap, or the vital checking of email. But today I made the right choice – I enjoyed the process. I buried my nose into his lovely hair, drinking in his sweet baby smell, swaying to the music playing on the CD player. I held him longer than normal – not because I had to but because I wanted to. He will grow up so quickly (as evidenced by his brother) – I want to treasure every single moment of his baby days.

The stately prince sleeps in the royal position

Lousy shirts

This is starting to get really annoying. I discovered this morning that my 4th new shirt in the last 3 months is defective. So far I have had seams come undone on a Gap shirt, a Target shirt, and now a Sam's club shirt - all after only 2-3 washes. Yesterday an Old Navy shirt's decorative seam also came undone after the very 1st wash. Technically these are simple things to fix - if I had the right thread color (which I don't). But regardless, shouldn't I be able to buy a new shirt and expect it to hold up for at least, let's say, 5 washes? I think I am going to do a massive "return-the-lousy-shirts" trip this week and see what the stores will do about their faulty merchandise.

Old baby?

We took a family shopping trip to Old Navy today, and Benji mistakenly called it "Old Baby." I love that he is talking now more! I hope I can remember all the cute things he says. One way to memorialize them is to write them on the blog.

New haircut

Since I know that you guys like looking at pictures of my kids just as much as I do ... yeah right! Oh well, it's my blog and I will post what I want ... here's Zac looking timid with his new haircut.

Professional Pictures from mid-March

"Mom, where do babies come from?"

While in the bathroom (a popular spot for a potty-training toddler), Benji asked if we bought his potty seat at Wal-Mart. Indeed we had. Then he asked if we bought the toilet at Wal-Mart. That was here when we bought the house, so I didn't know the answer to that one. Then Benji turned to Zachary playing on the floor - how about him? Did he come from Wal-Mart?

A good sign that we spend too much time at Wal-Mart shopping.

There's a good reason why housewives don't get french manicures...

... it's called life. My french manicure lasted through J & R's wedding. But the next day, real life continued. After a day of chopping vegetables, washing dishes, putting diapers in the diaper pail, and gardening, the nails aren't looking so good. I am about to go remove the polish - though Benji will be sad when he discovers that Momma's crescent moons (the top white part) and Scotch tape (the clear polish below) is gone when he wakes up from his nap. It was fun while it lasted... :)