Catch Up On C

For those of you tired of baby pics: LOOK AWAY!!

For family members (ie Grandmothers) who haven't seen Baby C in a while: LOOK HERE!!

Cause C is looking at you!!

C learned how to sit last week. In this picture he actually IS sitting, I promise. He's serious about doing the Butterfly pose to reach his toys. How he can lean that far over his outstretched legs is beyond me....

And he SITS!!! I got a mirror for C's playroom since he thinks he's the most amazing thing in the world to look at. And so he stares, laughs, and talks to himself randomly all day:) Right now he's thinking: "Mirror C, crazy lady is taking pictures again. SIGH. OF. BOREDOM. But look how hot we are!!"

And, on Tuesday, C turned 6 MONTHS OLD!! Yay!!! It's been a wonderful 6 months! Here are his stats: 17 lbs, 12 oz- 68%tile, 27 in. long- 82%tile, head is 17.5 in.- 78%tile.

I have an app that tells me baby stuff and apparently C has gained 125% since birth and stretched 25% longer:)

The other day we went for a walk to decide which trees to chop down. In pjs and blankets:)

C devours everything he can get his hands on. This is his current favorite way to read books.

He stares open mouthed a lot:) And wears bibs 24/7 to catch all the drool:)

In other news: he loves solid food! Last night C ate our dinner of carrots, potatoes, and chicken. He likes scrambled eggs, pancakes, yogurt, soup, bread, apples, and, well, everything. He eats what we eat and we haven't bought or made baby food yet. Nice and easy! We just give him little chunks or smooshed/soft bits of our meal and he's a happy boy!

Sunday's Shopping Trip

It's my lunch break and I'd like to talk about something lighter than yesterday's post:) While I'm prefacing things, I'd like to say: Sorry for the teeny, odd font. Blogger/my computer/the universe changed yesterday and I can't fix it. I bet my charming hubby can! If I remember to ask him tonight.

I'm buying a new computer in a couple of months to fix this issue:)

So SUNDAY: I went shopping. Without my boy. OOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGG!!!!! I know it's only been 6 months that he's been alive out of my uterus, but what and AMAZINGLY unproductive 6 months it's been!! A cozy, delightful, cuddly, playful, happiest-6-months-of-my-life yet very unproductive. Even though I packed and unpacked my household/belongings 3 different times to move, bought a distressed house (following a trend), cleaned and fixed it, and am now happily residing there, it's been hard. And I only have ONE kid!!! Imagine how much I'd be complaining if I had more!

That's all to tell you I felt more productive in 3.5 hours (10:30 AM-2:00 PM) away from baby C than I have in a while. I went to 4 FOUR 4 (4!!!) stores in 3.5 hours. I haven't gone to more than 2 consecutive stores in 6 months. In case you don't know this: once you have a baby, your life revolves around your little pumpkin's sleep schedule! My beautiful boy sleeps so well in his swing or in my arms, and occasionally the carseat if he's uber tired. He doesn't like shopping trips too much though.

Back to the point: I went to Lowe's first. The thing I love about Lowe's, Home Depot, and our local hardware store is the customer service. We go to those places because every employee you pass asks if you need help. SOOO nice when you are wandering around a store bigger than a football field (I think?) (PS- our hardware store is tiny, like a preschool football field). We used to go to Menards ALL THE TIME but finding someone to help you there is like putting C to sleep unswaddled: tough. So: I like customer service in a hardware store:)

Then I went to Kohls. Exchanged some gifted clothes C can't wear due to sizing, got him more much needed onesies for free (basically!). Good service again:)

Next, off to Old Navy. C's wardrobe is getting bare. Sure, he doesn't need a lot. 4-5 short sleeved onesies, same for long sleeved onesies, a couple pants, couple shirts, few pjs, and socks. But he's outgrowing them. And I wanted 1-2 more outfits for cuteness' sake;) So I shopped Old Navy's sale and spent the rest of the exchanged money:)

Last stop: JoAnn Ect. Why I keep shopping here is BEYOND ME. Please remind me to nevernevernever go back! I think they hire only grouchy people. I think they hate their customers. Wish I didn't like the sale prices so very much! Took me 20 minutes to get fabric cut and check out. At this point I HAD to get home. C naps for me, only me, and just me. And he needed a nap.

So I'm FRANTICALLY driving home to my hubby and babe. I hate it when J has to care for C when he screams. The baby will accept no one but Mommy for sleeping. It's a phase! One day DADDY will put him to sleep! And Mommy will drink wine and read in the evenings:)

What's the point? Get all your shopping and errands done now, while you don't have kids. And if you do have kids? I guess we'll wait 5-10 years until shopping becomes easier.

And So I Rant...

"Folks whose hearts aren't right with God will choose counselors who motivate them 2 destruction. Create in me a clean heart...pray it"- Someone on Facebook.

I hate when people say things like this. Makes me mad. Makes ME intolerant. I know plenty of people who "aren't right with God" and they live decent, helpful, good lives. They don't choose destructive friends; on the contrary, they surround themselves with positive people who enrich their lives. They nurture clean, happy, joyful, and fulfilled hearts and minds. Why is that people need to fit the mold of a certain religion, heterosexual, women in "their place" to be "good", to win the prize in the end?

Beliefs, I know.

I endeavor to be an accepting person. A lesson I learn everyday is that you cannot change others; you need to do that with your own life! Assist those you care about with their positive goals, and let things BE. I'm generally perfectly fine with both non-religious and religious people. I choose my friends (on Facebook too!) and therefore must accept them if I let them in my life. But when they judge others for how "wrong" and "evil" they are for not believing a certain way, I get frustrated.

What makes one person's beliefs right and another's wrong?

I think I'm just ranting. I think I'm just annoyed. I wish we could all just try to accept others instead of making them more like ourselves. I wish I could do this better!

So here I am, telling someone to be more open minded yet I am ranting about their beliefs. It's almost as if I can't say a single thing. If I want to be accepting, I must accept! Never ending cycle....

BTW, sorry for the rant.

My Future Garden

Now that selling the house, birthing the baby, packing the house, moving, buying the house, moving, cleaning the house, moving, and fixing the house are done, I've moved on to the next frantic spattering of thoughts. And it is.....

DUDUDUDUM!!!!!

MY GARDEN

How thrilling!

We're also doing a CSA again this year, this time with with Burke Farm, which is farmed by someone J works with (and apparently they don't have a website that I can link to!). Also, I want to plant basic crops, such as herbs, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and more in our new yard. That "and more" part got pretty big as I was seed shopping though. Oops.

I bought my seeds from Baker Creek which happily has no ties whatsoever with Evil Monsanto (who I refuse to really link to). Also, I bought raspberry, strawberry, and rhubarb plants from Nourse Farms. And now I want to buy some dwarf fruit trees from Fedco or somewhere. This list if wants rambling in my head gives me a sneaking suspicion I'm going to quickly outgrow my garden budget. Dang new house, it's always exploding it's budget....

Anyway, our soon to be former pond area will also need some ground cover planted and I'd rather not go with grass. I'd like something low maintenance, not too tall growing, and EASY! Maybe moss, clover, thyme, ivy, or basically anything but grass! We only have a push mower and since our backyard is all wooded, there's only the (large) frontyard to mow. No one in this house wants to mow more than is needed since we're all incredibly busy with fixing up the house. C especially. I tell you, that boy does nothing but WORKWORKWORK on painting, cleaning, and repairing!

HA!!!!!!

I love my boy more than anything in the whole world but yesterday it occurred to me I could get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much done if he was somewhere else for about 3 days. Babysitting volunteers???

Back to it: all my veggies seedling are going to grow up to be "flowerbed" plants. They'll be the house's exterior decor; functional and pretty! I won't have to buy perennials or shrubs and we can grab some tomatoes as we walk in the front door! Handy!

Last thought (not promising that though): I wonder if I should live here one growing season before planting anything? I haven't seen any deer but there are plenty of squirrels and we think a raccoon lives in our Love Shack by the creek. I wonder if I'm just going to grow a giant smorgasbord for them to feast on.... And, my front yard looks relatively shade free, but is it really??

I always jump in with my eyes closed and then find out the hard truths in life. This year will be no different!

My Lack of Fashion

My friend's blog post reminded me I need help.

I've been stuck in a "Now I have a baby and where did the time go?/Why yes, I did buy a fixer upper house that I work on for hours each day!/I don't want to spend the money" fashion mode lately. I'm generally not the kind of person to go for anything stripped/spotted/flowery so my clothes are pretty much mono-colored. As in:

I keep wearing my long sleeved, soft/comfy black, grey, brown, or white tees with a sweater and jeans. Yes. EVERY DAY.

Getting a little dull.

Now that I'm not wearing my junk painting clothes ALLLLL DAY LONG, I am feeling the need for variety. And I need it now. Nursing baby C is SUCKING/BURNING the weight off me faster than I can eat and replace it. None of my pants fit anymore, even my pre-baby ones. NOT A SINGLE PAIR. Belts are my best friend:)

Also, I'm notoriously cheap. Not a great thing when it comes to a wardrobe. I struggle to buy things that are high quality and easy on the wallet instead of IT'S ON CLEARANCE, MUST BUY IT NOW!!!

I need some fashion sense again instead of "it's easy, wear it" sense. The thing is, I don't really know how to make clothes look hotawesome while staying warm and comfortable.

Ideas? Blogs? Help? Hints?

Maybe I'll leave C with his baby daddy and go to Goodwill this weekend. And Target:)

Group Coupons!!!

So my new fun activity is: group coupon deals!! Here's what I've scored lately:

1. For Christmas, J got me a $12 Groupon to Love Stamped where I got this. Mine says "You are my sunshine" since that's what I sing to C every single nap, on our way upstairs to the rocking chair:) My hubby and baby are my daily sunshine!
2. I bought a Groupon for That Fun Place, a local restaurant/putt putt/pizza/playground restaurant for my sister, nephews, and niece. 4 kids with wristbands for unlimited playing while the adults dine on pizza and drinks? $18? Yes please!
3. Spent $1 at Dealpulp for a box of gently used clothes for C at Thred Up. I'm waiting until spring so I can get him some summer clothes since he's stocked on winter stuff for now.
4. Got an $20 Amazon giftcard for (:FREE:) at Living Social. This was supposed to be $10 but if you shared a link to it with 3 friends who also bought the deal, you got it free. I got it free:) Haven't spent it yet but plan on getting toiletries or stuff for our needy house.
5. At Green Savings Indy I scored $35 worth of local, organic produce and syrup from Green B.E.A.N. Delivery for $15. Score! I spend that much on maple syrup alone but this way I get a whole box of veggies and fruit for free!!
6. Curently I've got a $10 credit at Buy With Me and I'm just waiting for something I need to pop up.
7. J bought us $36 of yummyness at Creation Cafe (a restaurant we love in Indy) for only $18. The food is creative, organic, and local and it's right on the Canal downtown:)

So basically the necklace and restaurant coupons are the only ones we didn't 'need'. The others coupons I knew we'd use anyway and by buying the coupon, we pay much less for items we need.

Since these deals are generally only around for 24 hours, there's pressure on consumers to "buy it now!!" As long as you make sure you really need the product and that it is a worthwhile deal, go for it! Also, many of the sites offer $5-10 credits for new members!

Nothing like saving moola:)