DIY Living Room Reveal

As most of you know my husband and I just bought a house last month and it was a major fixer upper. When I say it was an old school trailor I am talking textured wallpaper, low hanging cabinets and the most wrinkled, ugle, rose colored semi shag carpet I have ever seen in my life... and I grew up with orange shag!

So what did we do with this steal of a house? Well, for starters it really has good bones, it's a three bed, two bath manufactured and set on a basement. (bonus!) So... we gutted it. Ripped out cabinets painted EVERYTHING! Seriously, I don't ever want to paint again and it isn't done yet. Anyway, the place is really starting to come along so I wanted to show you how it's going by room,

Before!

And here is the after...

Sadly I don't have any before photos of the other side but here is the after anyway.

We ripped out the ugly carpeting and carpet pad and put in some laminate. We chose Saratoga Hickory, it is hand scraped so it has a nice texture on it and much less shine than your typical pergo floors. I picked up some black out curtains and a double curtain rod for the sheer panels. (I think it makes it look classier but that's just me.) All the furniture came with us, (and will be replaced soon I hope.) The floors were 99 cents/sq ft so to do all the living space with enough leftover to, possibly, do another room it only cost about 700 bucks.

All in all this room was one of the easiest because it required very little construction. I'm sure in the above photo you can see the half door. Those walls were knocked down and will be replaces by a knee wall on one side and a railing on the other. (Father-in-law's handiwork.) My pride and joy is the kitchen. I don't like the paint I used but otherwise is looks much better.

If you have any questions on how we did this go ahead and write a comment and I will get right back to you. There will be much more to come very soon.

Meal Plan Week #2

Well, it's that day again, time to put together our meal plan for the week, pick up the few things we need until shopping day and organize my shopping list. Since I posted a couple weeks ago about my meal planning I thought I would update with this weeks entrees for week night meal ideas.

This week we will be having:
 Baked Mac & Cheese with a panko crust and some broccoli
Loaded Nachos. (not very healthy but you can add any ingredients you want to healthify it)
Corn Chowder and breadsticks. (Pillsbury now sells breadsticks in a can.)
Homemade Pizza/Calzone
Homemade Chicken Finger with a Panko crust, peas and fries
Burgers on the George Foreman and Oven fries
Panini's with leftover chowder
Chicken Caesar salad with homemade dressing (Here is the pin. This stuff is amazing!)

Some staples your will need for this plan is your standard chicken, hamburger, oil and sauce but don't forget to pick up some pizza crusts (tip: spaghetti sauce works just as good as pizza sauce and doesn't go bad as fast.) You will also need some block cheese, panko and maybe some fancy bread for the paninis. You know, if your feeling especially adventurous.

Well, off I go to check out some sales. Good luck and happy shopping.

Fighting For A Little Green

I am an avid gardener, notice I didn't say successful. Seriously though, I know I have been complaining a lot about the winter and the cold but, well, it is stupid cold. Anyway since the move I have been able to get all my planting things in one place and boy am I ready to get moving. In fact I may have jumped the gun a little and started one of my mini green houses in the living room. I gathered a few seed packets over the winter. (I have found you can get all kinds of fun seeds on eBay.com for very little cash.) so I got some of my rarer things started that way I don't waste a whole growing season on some bad seed pods.

I use one of these and you can pick one up at most hardware stores for less than 20 bucks.

You soak them down until they stop taking water. It will be more than you think and they will puff up. Simply press in your seeds or whatever your planting requires. Give it a couple weeks and you can plant the sprouts in a larger pot or let them get big enough in the spring to transplant them into the garden. Right now I have some roses for the new trellis along the house and some sunflowers and bamboo for the living wall. I have big plans for my little yard so who knows how much I will really be able to get to, although, I will be able to bring the rugrats outside.

As a little side note: You can start your garden anytime you want with some garden scraps. I have successfully sprouted some romaine lettuce, carrots, onion, and garlic. Just place the root end and about and inch of the vegetable in some water and refresh it every couple of days. Once you have a decent healthy looking sprout it can be transplanted in some soil. Let it hang out there for a few weeks before trying to get it into its final pot. 

Hope this shares my anticipation and hope that spring will indeed come back.

Trusting Your Gut Can Be Harder Than It Looks

I recently brought my daughter in for her 15 mo checkup. (We did it at 16 months because her former doctor was difficult to schedule with as she sees a very high number of patients because she is wonderful at what she does.) Sadly, our beloved pediatrician went off into her own practice and our insurance didn't allow us to follow her. We opted for the next best and was given another woman. My daughter has no dietary restrictions, allergies and is on no medication so there was no need to find a doc with special skills or anything. Well, my daughter got nursemaids elbow, (it's a slight dislocation of the elbow that can happen from picking them up by their arms, playing, even getting out of the crib wrong and it's apparently very common.) I was a bawling wreck, while my daughter played on the floor with her non hurt arm, as I was assured by a woman with the most fake smile and ingenuine look on her face that she is fine but they would like to give her x-rays just in case. Sure enough all comes back well and she was back to normal in a couple of hours.

A couple weeks later was her wellness checkup and my visit with this doc was very brief so I thought there was no need to book and appointment with anyone else. I should have trusted my gut the first time. We go over all the usual, no allergies and meds, she is walking and she chatters but no real discernible words just yet. At this point I figured at 16 months it was something to work on but I wasn't overly concerned.

The doctor tells me that it appears she is just fine and will be one of those children that just explodes into language since she learned a little sign language, she shows us what she wants and even lets us know when she is ready for bed. (Yes, my toddler puts herself to bed most of the time, be jealous.) Then she informs me that she likes to be conservative with medicine and is going to refer me to a specialist that is going to run her through a bunch of tests and cover all of her development, you know, just to be sure.

Few things, just over a year is not nearly time to start worrying about delay in development when it comes to talking. Two, I do not believe a battery of testing over this matter will lead to anything different down the road. I really believe that large amounts of testing and 'precautionary measures' will be requested by this doctor. Three, the fake smile and insincere expression. I'm sorry how am I supposed to trust you if you are going to pretend to be friendly.

I had a little sister with special needs her whole life, my best friends daughter had some complications during birth and has had to undergo therapies of all kinds and may have to for a long time. The fact that my perfectly healthy daughter is being recommended for some of the same therapies absolutely baffles me. Please don't misunderstand me. I will never deny my daughter of services she needs. If she was 2 and not speaking then this would be a very different post or if she didn't seem to hear me or understand what is going on around her then I would completely understand the cause for concern.

This whole event has left me shaken a bit. My husband and I decided we will work closely with her on language for another month and then reconsider her referral after, of course, we get a new pediatrician and a second opinion. I hate that she was able to make me question my own parenting decisions. It makes me angry that as a society we have so little faith in each other as parents, as care givers, or even just as people. Kids can't explore their own towns anymore. We are drugging kids up and insanely young ages. (Don't dare tell me that it's necessary either. I'm from the Rx generation and they tried putting me on Ritalin in the 4th grade. My mother refused and it turns out... she was right. I didn't need it and if it had been given to me I never would have learned to deal with social anxiety, stress or even just daily life because the drugs would have done it for me.) It makes me sad to wonder what will happen when my daughter gets married and has a baby. Will she be forced to raise her children by a pamphlet given in the delivery room and will be arrested if she doesn't follow exactly? Yikes!

I shall step down off my soap box I suppose but feel free to leave your two cents. Would you take your child to be tested this early or would you give it some time?

One Should Always Try Something Different

This time of year I'm antsy, I want to take the little one sledding but as I look at the temperature we are reading a crisp -20 degrees today so perhaps not the best day for outdoor activity. Normally I would reorganize furniture and clean everything but we just moved so everything is still relatively clean. (Plus I did that yesterday and I am just not feeling it.) I have got a very short work week since the little one I nanny had an allergic reaction to some teething tablets and is home sick with his daddy. So what to do, what do to?

This photo was taken from a Pintrest
page and is not mine.

Well it hit me, I'm gonna dye my hair blue this weekend. (Granted that doesn't help me today but the major change will help diffuse the monotony of this frigid and snowed in winter.) I know what your thinking.... blue? Seriously, who does that?  >This chick!<

I am not exactly your cookie cutter type, which will be come more noticeable as time goes on here at Nanny Mom Adventures. Besides, I'm looking for a big change, you know, something to shake things up a bit. In the past I have dyed my hair a variety of colors such as black, pink, blonde, orange (not on purpose.), purple, (on purpose.) but I took a long break from all the chemicals because, as I'm sure you can imagine, my hair was fried. Well, that was years and years ago and I am much smarter about what I put in my hair and I'm ready to be funky.

I intend to start with just the bottom half of my hair, (I'm a brunette with highlights if you have never seen my photos.) just to get a better idea of how it will wash after the bleaching and dyeing. Bright colors like you find in Manic Panic or like dyes tend to fade strangely when not bleached or cared for properly. While I have never personally done a blue color (other than blue black) I have seen it fade to a icky green algae color over time but it wasn't cared for properly so fingers crossed. One of the wonderful things about hair color is that you can always change it back if it doesn't come out how you like, a bad haircut however, not so much.

Anyway, I am picking up the hair masque that I read about and some clarifying shampoo to get the gunk out and the bleach kit and dye by this weekend. I am very excited but not sure who to trust to help me, (my sister once colored my hair a dark brown to cover the brassy bleach job I attempted and covered all but two large circles that laid just above my temples. When highlights were added to hide the strange markings she got half way through and confessed she has never done highlights and just ran out of bleach. Cold day in hell before I let her tackle this on her own.) My husband will probably get roped into doing the job I just have to pout for long enough.

Anyone who is as familiar if not more with the bright color dye jobs and has any advice or tips and tricks that could make this a little easier on me please comment below. It is much appreciated. Or even if you just wanna add your two cents to a Mommy dyeing her hair blue that is alright too. Thanks guys and see you next time!

Feeding Your Toddler

Anyone who has ever had children knows that when it comes to meal times it does not always go smoothly. Of course, by that I mean it's a flipping nightmare, (trying to really curb my language but saying fudge just ticks me off more.) they tear apart sandwiches, squash the grape tomatoes and smash anything soft into the floor boards or curtains. Not only the mess but it's difficult to plan out regular meals with out feeding them pop tarts everyday. Don't get me wrong I'm not above throwing the occasional pop tart in the toaster or some crackers to keep her happy. Still, it's nice to try and get some real food into them so I'm here to reveal my current weeks meal plan. (I change  these up all the time its a little easier to have some ideas worked out ahead of time to choose from.)

This week I got a little lazy, I like to make batches of pancakes to freeze or french toast sticks but with the move I have too much other crap to do, so here is a menu example of a typical week for us.
(P.S. I also have another post about Meal Planning that's worth a peek, I promise. Here)

Day 1:

Waffle (cut up) Strawberries (cut up) bananas (cut up)     Lets just assume everything is cut up.
Turkey and cheese roll ups, cucumbers, grape tomatoes
Spaghetti and Meat balls

Day 2:
French toast sticks, halo's (those tiny oranges)
Peanut butter sandwich, cucumbers, pretzels
Sausage and peppers

Day 3:
Oatmeal, strawberries, halos
Chicken fingers, grapes
Stir fry

Day 4:
Waffles, banana's, yogurt
Chopped salad chunks with a dressing I make
Honey Dijon chicken, broccoli, potatoes

Day 5:
Bagels, applesauce
Leftover chicken and individual canned veggies. (I care for two kids so it all gets eaten.)
Burrito bowls, (This way she can eat what she wants.)

As you can see she pretty much eats what we do and not every meal is a success. I have found, however, that she is more willing to try and to eat something if we let her do it herself. She has always been a really good eater and I we have been lucky for that but we still face the challenges of pickiness and mashing food instead of eating it.

The trick to plan out your week but not set it in stone. You're not always feeling like chicken one day and ground beef the next but, instead, use it like a guideline for your grocery shopping and to give yourself ideas so your not getting sick of the same thing over and over again. This plan has saved us a ton of aggravation from avoiding the "What do you want for dinner?" "I dunno, what do you want?" All those blank stares into the back of the freezer and not seeing anything you want.

All it takes is 5 minutes and an open pintrest page.

Snack Mix For All

Warning: My daughter has no known food allergies so I have included peanuts in the recipe. If your child is allergic to nuts please don't attempt to feed some to them.

Earlier I posted my snack pack ideas here and mentioned my snack mix. This stuff is magic to kids. Have you even been ready do give your little one a snack and they can't decide what they want or won't eat what you gave them. Fret no more fellow mommies! Seriously, it's as simple as throwing all kinds of  similar ingredients into a container and going on about your day.

This bad boy is filled with pretzles, goldfish, raisins, honey roasted peanuts and cheerios. Really anything can be used in these. I have mine in an air tight storage container but mason jars work great too. You can always add things like dried fruit, different nuts, seeds and even those yogurt dipped snacks.

Be creative and if your kids are old enough this could be a great activity for them to do during the week. One less thing you have to do and we all know... there is too much to do.

Good Luck!

Even more fun!

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Mom Adventures

DIY Snack Packs

Traveling with a toddler is quite the endeavor sometimes. Have you ever noticed they eat.... constantly! My rugrat has always been a good eater but this also means she wants to eat all the time and packing snacks in a diaper bag doesn't always work out as planned. Snacks get left in the bag and go stale or the apple sauce will spoil when the car heats up and cheerios... friggan... everywhere!

While my methods are still in, what I like to call, the planning stages, I have found a few hacks over the last year or so that have made my life slightly easier and I'm here to share them with you guys.

I found this idea on Pintrest and adjusted it to suit us.

 My daughter had mostly formula as a baby and I had dozens of these plastic containers lying around. (I also use them to store crafts like beads, pom poms, washi tape and rogue crayons. Highly recommend holding on to a few of these if you are going to buy them anyway. The scoops also work great for the DIY detergent I posted yesterday. DIY Laundry Detergent)  A few staples I throw in these are oatmeal, fruit cups or fruit snacks, animal crackers and those squeezy applesauce packets. You can obviously adjust the contents for whatever you kids may prefer just don't forget to take some of the perishable stuff out and throw it in the fridge when you get where your going. These little guys are perfect for a night at the Grandparents house. (My parents don't usually have a lot of kid type food around.) A trip to the park or the beach. (Wishful thinking!) I also make a snack mix that she just loves and it saves a little packing time when getting ready to go. I will be posting my snack mix soon so you guys can give it a shot.

As always feel free to share and comment away and I hope this helps you guys in your own planning stages.

DIY Laundry Detergent

Recently I was asked about making my own laundry detergent due to a FB post I posted the other day. Well, it's true, for around 30 bucks I was able to make over a years worth of detergent and it works great. The next time you hit the grocery store go ahead and pick up a few ingredients.

3 Fels Naptha bars. (These are with the regular detergent, in fact most of these things will be in the same aisle.)
1 box Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 box Arm and Hammer baking soda
1 box Mule Team Borax
1 tub Oxi-Clean stain remover
1 bottle of Purex crystals, any scent

Alright, you got a bunch of random cleaning stuff, now what? Brace yourself, this part gets a little complicated....
Grate the Fels Naptha into a powder. then, mix it all together. I recommend using the oxi clean tub to keep a small usable amount by your washer and keep the rest in a bucket in the basement or garage.

As a nanny I am constantly cleaning up gross stuff. Blown out diapers, spilled food and the ever present milk residue that gets literally everywhere. This stuff cleans great and smells awesome, you know, as awesome as laundry can smell.

You can also use a little distilled white vinegar and either a cake pop pan or an ice tray and press the mixture into handy tabs. I tried it with half of the mixture and it came out just fine. I recommend using only half the space in an ice tray as it wont completely dissolve and you will have little white stuff from the undissolved solids. Personally, I just use a baby formula scoop and use two or three depending on the load. (Don't use a scoop in the detergent then make a bottle with it. Have one designated for the laundry room. I don't feel it is necessary to inform you all of this but well.... There are some people...)

So there you have it, I have saved hundreds if not thousands in laundry detergent. Don't forget to use walmarts savings catcher app to save even more money and an occasional bleach run through the wash will help keep your washer clean and avoid that mildew smell some washers tend to acquire over time.

Lazy Sundays

 

Some times Sundays are the tiny vacation we all need. After all the moving and cleaning, packing and unpacking day after day we needed a break.
We spent Valentines Day cleaning out the old house and getting it ready to be shown and followed that up with a yummy Roasted Chicken dinner and Tequila shots. As I'm sure you can imagine we had high hopes of putting away the last few pieces of the old house today, however, that doesn't appear to be the case. I'm okay with that. We worked very hard to get here and we have busted our butts making this place look like our home and not the 70's nightmare of wood paneling and textured wallpaper. (I mean we are talking rose colored, matted, shag carpet.) We deserve to sit on our butts and give it a rest.

I feel like there is something cathartic about doing nothing. As Americans we live by our schedules, our phones, our timed coffee makers and constant reminders about this bill and that event and this chore. We all need at least one day we can throw on our giant fuzzy sweaters, grab your warm blanket and have a snuggle. This gives me inspiration. Why not have a vacation day?

Perhaps paint my nails, have a dance party with my daughter, make a fun dinner, something elaborate and yummy. Sadly, it is far too cold to go out today and my husband and I are supposed to go out for dinner but we will see if we get that far today. No worries we have tomorrow night too. Oh we could do a dinner and a movie and maybe introduce a movie from when my husband and I were kids to our little one. Ugh wait, that means I have to clean the kitchen and I really don't think that is going to happen. (I didn't do the dishes for one day and it looks like I hosted a mess hall dinner.) So I guess I will have to wait for my husband to get it together. Ah yes, all the pressing matters of the day. To paint my toenails or to make dinner?

These are wonderful days and ones that I am thankful for. The cold wind is blowing outside making the fine snow blow up and down the road. We are curled up nice and warm on the couch. I have my coffee and my laptop while my daughter dances around the living room to a song, I assume, only she can hear. This is bliss and days like today can really put in connection with your own family and give a real feeling of stability, you feel grounded and it is a wonderful feeling.

Feel free to let us know how you like to spend your Sundays but commenting and sharing away. Thank you for reading as always!

Meal Planning, Saving Time And Money

So you have to go grocery shopping, huh? Don't pull your hair out or do any creative accounting to pay for it. I plan out our meals and saved my family hundreds of dollars every month. No you don't need to be an extreme couponer and you certainly don't need to make it your new part time job.

Here is a little back ground into why I started doing this. Before our daughter came along I was the manager of a portrait studio 45 minutes from my house. I worked 45 to 50 hours a week on a constantly changing schedule and sometimes, (about twice a week) I wouldn't get home until nearly one in the morning. This meant I ate lots of takeout  and slept when I was off to try and maintain some sort of normal schedule so real food and a full refrigerator was a bit hard to come by. Then I got preggo and quit my job to become a SAHM and nanny. Now we were down by nearly half our income and I am eating all my meals at home and thus, my meal planning began.

To start with you should know I like lists. A lot! So I have dozens of yellow legal pads all throughout the house and I highly recommend this because I hate hunting for paper every few hours. So I start by making my meal list.
MEALS: This part is fun. Write down your favorite recipes for the week, or two if you are like us and get paid bi-weekly, cruise those pintrest recipes you have been pinning all month, add in a few staples your family loves. Here is my list for this week,
Meatball subs
Homemade chicken fingers and oven fries
Stir fry (stressful days require and easier, one pot, meal.)
Spaghetti and Meatballs, (make your meatballs ahead and save yourself a step.)
Honey Dijon Chicken
Sloppy Joes
Wet Burritos
Lemon Chicken Pasta
Roasted Chicken with Mashed potatoes

Sometimes it's a challenge to plan too far ahead because fresh ingredients don't last as long so if your an every two week shopper then you should plan to pick up a couple more fresh things the following week or keep some frozen veggies on hand. I like to chop fresh veggies and freeze them. Bell peppers freeze amazingly and you can add a little healthy to almost any meal.
I also add an extra meal here and there because sometimes you just don't feel like having that for dinner and sometimes it is just easier to order some pizza. So don't feel like you have to follow your list to a T.

Now you got your list so now you need to scan through and figure out what you need for ingredients.
SHOPPING LIST:
Now you have an exact shopping list and you can stick to it. This can prevent impulse purchases, aimless wandering and strategically placed, over priced items. You just have to stick to it. (Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the oreos or the fun sized twix bag.)

I am a Walmart shopper, okay I know they are a big corporate meenie but I don't work there, they are cheap and mama has gotta save some coin.

So you have your shopping list, let's go right? Nope, almost though. Walmart has a weekly flyer, like most grocery stores do so where ever you shop go ahead and flip through the sales. If you need corn anyway why not get the kind that's on sale. While this is a great strategy you have to keep your eyes open, I have noticed a lot of times the store brand, (for Walmart this is Great Value), tends to be still cheaper than the name brands sale price. We are all brand loyal to certain things like toothpaste, coffee or even TP and that is just fine but you can have your Crest toothpaste and generic canned veggies too.

Alright, you have your meals, your shopping list and you know what is on sale. You could head on out to fill your car with food but I have another step for you. I can assure you all this extra work pays off in the end. Most people shop at the same stores and know the layout like the back of their hand. This is a great skill to have, when you make your shopping list you should then make a second when the list is finalized. Ugh, I know more lists, I told you I like em. However, the second shopping list is to reorganize  the items by how your store is laid out. I start from the back and work my way up.

While this seems like a pointless step it really does serve a purpose. This prevents unneeded trips around the store, lots of back and forth and when you're walking back and forth you tend to see things on end caps and little odds and ends that you normally wouldn't buy but when you have walked by it six times you are more willing to snag it off the shelf. So I'm saving you time, money and hair pulling. Plus, a little heads up, produce is usually kept in the front of the store. If you grab that last you don't have to worry as much about weather or not your fresh food is sitting a room temp for too long. Besides, since you know exactly what you will need for the week, what's on sale and where everything is you can cut your shopping time and budget in half.

I hope this was at all helpful for you guys and I'll keep sharing my money saving tips and tricks. If you want to know more or share some of your ideas feel free leave a comment and feel free to share it up.
Happy shopping!

SAHM Yoga, Relaxing Or Rage Inducing?

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. I didn't have to work but I had shopping and had to go clear out stuff from the old place. (P.s. Always get the fridge first when moving. We had to wait for our refrigerator to arrive and it was a week late. I somehow managed to get my husband to clear out the nasty food. Guess we need new tupperware.) Anyway, with all the work on the new house, moving and watching the kids and cooking I haven't really had much me time. I needed a little down time so I popped in my yoga video and figured my munchkin would try to copy me or would dance to the soft music that plays.

Oh boy was I wrong. She wanted to climb on me like a jungle gym which started out cute and funny until her straw cup got dumped on my lap mid hero pose. I paused the video and cleaned it up. I grabbed one of her favorite toys and set her up on her mini couch beside me.

This worked out well for a few moments but the next thing I know she is hungry and wants a snack. Pause. Goldfish. Couch. Deep breath for Mommy. Press Play. At this point I'm not feeling very zen but I gotta push through. Breath in to cat lift making sure your catch your daughter regurgitating goldfish all over the yoga mat where your hands go next. Back to her feeding seat, fresh milk and a warning that she will get time out if she doesn't listen. Get through the last string of movement and now its time for the relaxing part. Lay on your back and breath deep. All I smell is those stupid goldfish and my eyes pop open long enough to witness my toddler about to force feed them to me. After some creative new words ushered under my breath I pick up my daughter to clean her off and she waves to me signalling nuh nights. Of course your ready for a nap now! GRRRR!

Deep breath, start video over and let my muscles guide me through. Arm's up and deep breath in, my husband walks through the door, if you have ever tried to do yoga in front of your husband you know what it usually stops being yoga and starts to become and activity for your husband to see just how much of the Kama Sutra you could really do. At least that's what my husband does, so he came in and made the mistake of asking how my day is going....

Moral of the story is this, always try to cut some time out for yourself but I urge you to wait until the children are napping or down for the night because when deep breathing is used to prevent drywall damage you don't really get the zen relaxation it's supposed to encourage.

I think after the kids go down today I'll try out some meditation and get my head back. 10 more inches of snow this weekend. Ugh

Please oh please bring me some sun!

Never Plan For A Plan To Work

I learned very quickly in life that if you plan something out then it rarely works out that way. Parenting is exactly the same. Ladies, I can assure you....

You kid is going to flip out for no reason in the middle of a grocery store.

Your dishes will never be done. (This goes likewise for laundry.)

That Zumba class is going to drop in attendance. 

You will count the minutes until its bedtime, meal time, TV time, nap time. (anything that will give you ten minutes to yourself and chances are you will look at that sink and think. "Meh, that will still be there in the morning."

And that is all okay.

I read a blog recently that just made me laugh. When becoming a parent or just a stay at home parent tends to be more than we expect. My advice. from a SAHM for the last, almost, two years is to take a deep breath and just say..... "Fuck it!"

This post is coming from my dedication to get my toddler to keep sleeping through the night and she was up at 5:30 this morning. Which isn't all that bad since I am usually up at that time anyways but today is my day off and that's not fair. (I know, I'm pouting but I'm tired.)

So expect the unexpected and perhaps pick up some meditation tips and a bottle of wine because we got at least 18 years to go. It's a good thing they are cute.

If you want to read the post that cracked me up check out the link below and don't forget to leave your comments, advice or just your sympathies.

Recently I've Become A SAHM - The Opinionated E

Bring On The Vitamin D

It is absolutely amazing to me what only a few minutes in the sun can really do for you, especially this time of year. Due to the bitter temperatures lately we have all been stuck in the house as I mentioned in another post. Well, today we got a heat wave! That's right ladies and gentlemen, we hit a whopping 35 degrees this afternoon. This allowed us to drop a layer of clothes and step into the sunshine and the result was just awesome.

The snow banks are well over four feet tall and the white, undisturbed snow is quite blinding but within only a few moments I felt my mood improve ten fold. It was amazing, I felt a burst of non-caffeine induced energy and felt like I was taking a deep breath for the first time. I even rolled the windows down while running my afternoon errands and cranked the music. I have some work to do on my day off tomorrow but I fully intend to get some of that sweet sweet sunlight tomorrow.

I recently posted about how to beat the winter blahs and one of my strongest suggestions was to get outside and into the light. Even I didn't know how spot on I was. I feel more motivated, (we will see how long that lasts.) even more ready for spring. I realize we have a ways to go since we have been well known to get snow in April and sometimes May, but man am I counting the days now.

Seeing the kids running around outside and the older one making a snowman in the yard made me realize these are the things I wanted to have children for but I have been hibernating. Well, lets stop hiding from the cold, suck it up and get out there. Hit a local tourist trap with the kids or something. I know here in NH we have a state website for fun and FREE things to do all year long. There are always event lists all over the interwebs at your finger tips. Instead of camping out in front of the TV, (no judging here, I'm a fan of TV too.) open the door and blink away the cobwebs of hiding out inside. Talking to you SAHM or WAHM especially.

Besides, it's only snow right?
More to come of tomorrows adventures and as always comment and share away!

Toddlers Are Nuts

 My daughter is a 16 month, don't worry that ends at 18mo then she is a year and a half. (When I was a photographer I had a woman tell me she wanted photos of her 42 month old. I, legit, wanted to slap her, just a little.) Anyway, she is cute as a button and smart as a whip. Seriously, she surprises me everyday with something new. She is also the demon baby from hell sometimes. You know, one of those kids who is always great and very well behaved when she is with Grammy but when left alone with Mommy throws tantrums smacking her head on the floor and fake crying. Even gone so far as fake coughing for a while but as soon as attention was paid to her again her ailments magically dissipated and she was just fine again.

Clearly less than amused!

If you have one of these children, and I'm sure there are a few out there, I have a little ray of sunshine just for you. It eventually ends. For real, I'm not pulling your leg I have seen it.

At the moment I think my case is just the beginning stages of the terrible twos and I know it is going to get harder before it gets better. That said, even New England's snow melts eventually and it does still get hot in the summer, (I have to keep reminding myself), and that will go a long way to keeping both tiny terrors content for a while but I still have a few months and three feet of snow to melt before that can become a regular thing. Once that happens all my gardens can get started and that will be a nice learning experience for them. It also prevents me from stabbing my husband in the face with a fork when he tells me about an annoying customer and how tired he is after I explain the four and a half hours of constant screaming, throwing food and milk... just.... everywhere. But I digress...

I did yoga for a while but, honestly, the 30 minutes a day I get to actually sit my butt on the couch I intend to take full advantage of. Besides when else am I going to get to eat something. Goldfish, pretzels and coffee does not a healthy diet make. I really thought I would be able to take the babies for a little sledding this year but if you have ever been caring more than one toddler, you know, the second you set them down they make a break for it in two different directions and think it's hilarious as you get red in the face trying to remain calm while you half nelson them both back into the house. I'm sure you can imagine that was not a fun day.

Despite the tantrums that only I deal with, (At least she doesn't do it in the grocery store or at restaurants,) or when no is the only thing she chooses to communicate for an hour. My baby girl is awesome. All our offspring are awesome and if you think about it, if they weren't perfect gray hair production assistants we would have a bunch of em and well.... that's not good for anyone or their wallet so have a glass of wine instead

 

Tell us about your rant or rave. Show off those munchkins being crazy, silly or just adorable. As always, feel free to leave a comment or question. 

Fighting The Winter Blues

Well, I'm sure you're all watching your social networking sites filling up with dashboard temp photos and complaints about the snow. We live in New Hampshire, don't know where that is, don't worry it's north of Massachusetts and it snows in the winter.... a LOT! In the last two or three weeks we have accumulated around three feet of snow and an inch of ice. The kids had a couple of snow days so I have had two toddlers and a 9 year old stuck in the house all day. (The temps have been hovering around 10 - 20 degrees during the day and -8 degrees over night) So as you can imagine we are freakin' bored. Usually on days like this we would grab all the couch pillows and throw blankets, toss em on the floor and pop in some fun movies. Have hot cocoa, maybe some popcorn and I like to bake something on cold days. (Lets me heat up the house without using more oil.) However, when you have four days like this in a row you get a little stir crazy. If you are not from New England you must understand, by February cabin fever is a very real thing and the results are not pretty.

It's important for, even us parents, to get outside too. Have you ever been sitting somewhere and you just look at the person next to you and think, 'I swear if that guy doesn't close his mouth to chew in the next two minutes I'm going to stuff a sock down his throat.' Or how about when you drop a pen and smack your head on the table picking it up and you think, 'That's it, we are burning this table, I never liked it anyway.' Well, we all have those thoughts but they get worse in the winter and you have got to do something about it otherwise you wind up that guy who took a chainsaw to his neighbors tree because the acorns kept falling in his yard. So what do you do?

Since this weather will last us a few more weeks, at least, I have decided to find something more active for my kids to do. We will be venturing outside today and perhaps I can get the porch shoveled before it falls off my house, but more importantly get the kids outside to play. (When it's just too cold out doing something active like hide and seek can really help.)

Simply opening you shades makes a huge difference. Even cloud diffused light is still natural light and letting it in and brightening up your house can improve your mood almost immediately. Cleaning up around the house or clearing out the areas you use most can have a similar effect. Like wise wearing brighter colors can perk you right up. On a particularly gray snowy morning (an absurd 5am) I was getting dressed and happened to remember something I read about the affect of the colors you wear impacting your mood. So on went my candy pink scarf and while this didn't make me bust into my own theme song or induce a flash mob, it did make me feel a little perkier and less like the whole world is turning gray.

I find we sometimes forget the impact our favorite things have on our emotions and our behavior. You try to frown on a jet ski! It occurred to me that these kids have been hanging around a quiet house watching the quiet snow fall, the quiet TV humming away, the quiet padding of little feet on the hardwood floors. We have a big house.. why are we being so quiet? Turn it up, I have all the music channels so I use the popular hit list and the kids seem to like it. (I have noticed they tend to like your favorite music better as you personally have a more energetic approach to it than, say, itsy bitsy spider.) So crank it, jam out a little maybe even turn this into a crazy playtime. Sometimes we will pull out all the funny hats and scarves for the kids to wander around in and they love it.

 Just a little silliness can cure that case of the blahs but sometimes there is only one thing that really works and that is simply bundling up and getting outside. Blow up a tube or dig out that sled and enjoy the powder because it's only a matter of time before the snow stops and we go back to 90 degrees with 110 percent humidity. Then we can go back to figuring out how to beat the heat.

As always feel free to leave your ideas and thoughts on breaking up your winter blahs. Send us some photos of you and your little one enjoying the winter wonderland and you could be featured in the next post.

Not Your Average Mom

The more I build my blog the more it becomes apparent that I should find a style that suits me and portrays the type of woman, wife, and mom that I am. And I can assure you I'm not you average mom.

The basics, I mean, sure, I make meal plans and grocery shop. I'm a stay at home mom that nannies on the side. I'm a home owner and an Aunt. But what people don't see in the endless stream of Facebook posts and mommy blogs is that we don't all start out as Mom's, wives etc. I like rock music and horror movies. I have gauged ears and tattoos. Don't bother asking the internet for they will tell you that I am teaching my daughter all the wrong things by having a tongue piercing or letting her stand on the couch.

To that I say, shut it! No one asked your opinion. I say this half kidding because when I was pregnant I joined a very popular mommy thread for new moms. While the information I could get was very relevant and eased a lot of fears I had about starting this new type of life there were so many women looking for real help and real advise that were torn down by other moms. By people who, for all intents and purposes, were supposed to be there to support each other in a very challenging and scary time in life. And that just sucks.

That all being said I am going to celebrate being different, being an alternative mom. I believe instead of focusing on how we can be more like other mothers we should focus more on being ourselves, something so easy to lose when you have children. Are we withholding vaccines because we believe they cause Autism or are we doing it because it is the new fad these days? What do you really think? Yet, no matter what you choose people on either side will give you a hard time with it.

I received almost hate mail when I mentioned in a post that I was thinking of getting my daughters ears pierced at three months. I can guarantee someone you know had their ears pierced as a baby and they didn't explode into flames or spend their whole lives believing they were mutilated as a baby. Still, this is how we think. Am I doing things right? What will the other moms think? How will society view me if I make this decision? These are things that we shouldn't care about. Our children are ours and no one else's, (assuming your children are safe and not being intentionally placed in danger.) So if you think earrings are a good idea then do it and stand up for yourself. If you want to dye your hair blue and wear shit kicker boots everyday and no one can stop you. Certainly if you believe that a drug of vaccine is unsafe then don't give it to your child. But please, as responsible adults, make sure your getting real information because your FB news feed is not real news.... please remember this. (Always do your research first!)

I say we take back a Mom's real power. We are responsible for our children and we alone get to make these decisions. If my four year old wants a mohawk then so be it and if my daughter wants to wear a hoodie with a skull on it then I am not going to teach her that self expression is unacceptable.

Besides, what is the point of having children if we turn them all into little adults. I guess we might as well just clone people. Have some fun.

If any of you have advise (positive) for other readers about parenting, kids or just being a Mom these days please post it in the comments. Any questions you have for me go ahead and post them or send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as I get it.

Thank you all for reading my blog and I will have much more to come as this parenting thing is just starting. (My husband mentioned having another baby soon YIKES!)

Be Fashionable. On a Budget.

Lately, I have been receiving lots of compliments from my mom and sister about my fashion sense and my outfits. This is not normal but as I have grown into an adult a have dropped the wallet chains, black lipstick and chokers for distressed jeans, chucks and chunky scarves. In fact, my sister has been asking me to seek out certain articles of clothing as they come into fashion because I can get the best deals.

Well, I'm here to share those deals with you.
For starters, eBay needs to become your best friend if it isn't already. When your looking to a specific piece like an infinity scarf or certain type of shoes something then your going to search for it right? Sure thing! When you do search by 'lowest price + shipping' these will usually start at the auction starting price and almost always start at .01 $. I know what your thinking, "But Erin I don't want to waste time sitting and watching a stupid auction just to win a new hat."
Not to worry, like everything else in life these days you can set the notifications to let you know when you have been outbid or when time is running out. That way as long you stay the highest bidder you don't even have to worry about it. If the item is from China or sold by a company rather than in individual person there is likely several of the same listings floating around. Some times these are used as a feeler for what the item is likely to sell for in the states. Use this to your advantage by bidding on a couple of them while they are low and when one price gets too high for an item just let that one go and watch your other options. I have scored several items this way. Two baseball hats for .11 cents each. Three infinity scarves for no more than $1 for each.

Sometimes we have the hardest time getting away from some of our favorite name brands. I really like my Charlotte Russe jeans but I can assure you the world will continue to spin and life will continue if your shoes are not actual Chuck Taylors. I bought my mock sneaks for 13 bucks. (keep in mind that in some cases you are in fact trading quality for price but when three pairs of fake sneakers is still cheaper than one pair of the name brand I will wait for my shipments thank you very much.)

When your just not sure what your looking for and really need a website to guide you then I highly recommend 10dollarmall  everything you could want under ten bucks. I order from them all the time and I'm always happy. They tend to keep up with fashion and usually have a huge selection of nice tops and, of course, shoes! Lots of Shoes! Word to the wise the sizes are really close so if you are in between M and L go with M. Some of the tops tend to sit a little baggie so keep that in mind when looking at different styles of tops.

Alright, you're all set for clothes and shoes, even accessories, so you're good to go? Hold up! Make up, how on earth and you head on out without a little face enhancer. Scroll on over to E.L.F for a pro looking style. The prices can't be beat and I can tell you after years of ordering from them that the quality is always fantastic. Even the brushes are great quality and last forever.

These websites will save you a ton of time and money when pulling your look together. Go ahead and comment with some of your favorite sites and stores you use to save money and happy styling.

We Made It! Mostly.

Well, I have been away for just over a month now but I proudly return with wonderful news. My husband and I bought our first home! I report that we are happily terrified home owners. Mostly because it's all on us now, although, we weren't really the, 'call the landlord for everything' types but still it's a lot especially for a couple kids. (I know we are definitely not kids anymore but we forget that sometimes.)

A little background on our little slice of freaky luck. We looked all over the state looking for a place that was close enough to my husbands work and populated enough that finding nanny work would be easier. our budget was very tight but we had a little cash for renovations and restorations on the new place so a fixer upper was perfect. We saw the most bizarre looking homes. An old camp cottage that had a couple additions but they were never insulated so they were unlivable rooms and the only access to the water heater and the basement was a creepy floor panel crammed awkwardly in a corner that was only big enough for a smaller person to drop straight down. Then the old place by the hospital with the exposed hot water pipes along the walls, built in everything and strangely disjointed rooms. Oh not to mention the only bathroom was upstairs by the bedrooms and the stairs were cut in too close to the slope of the roof so you have to sort of duck under the roof at the top of the stairs. Yeah, I saw that going bad fast.

So after all these crazy things we found a two bathroom three bedroom mobile home that was set over a basement. Boom, I'm in, the price was right and it was in the same town we live in and we can make it our own. We discover the front wall is rotted so we were forced to walk away.
About two weeks later I get an email from the realtor selling the mobile home saying the bank is willing to fix the front wall, (new windows new dry wall, better flashing on the front porch and resided the area.) We are in. For those of you who have ever bought a home I'm sure you can imagine what the next month was like for us awaiting approval and sending in last minute paperwork etc. Nightmare! We got it and we moved in and started tearing the place apart. It was AWESOME! We painted everything, got brand new floors, which we are still in the process of putting it in.

It is a wonder my husband and I have not had strokes over the whole process. I swear my house was built by college students. Most of the trim isn't nailed down properly, the new wall is currently leaking again, the previous owners decided to try to heat the uninsulated basement by cutting large holes in the air duct so the heat is just dumping into the basement. This goes on and on.

Yet through all that I have to find a reason to smile. My husband and I bought our first leaky, drafty house together. We have an adult refrigerator and oven now, my daughter is comfortable here and is sleeping through the night again with very little bedtime fuss lately. Not to mention her hair is just barely long enough to do something with and that is very exciting.

 These are the new floors. Not bad for 99 cents a square foot. All of the renovations, and there will be a before and after post, cost us a little over two thousand dollars. As long as you have a plan in mind and the patience to bargain shop you can reno even a disgusting old trailer into a beautiful modern home.

She clearly has no problem with the move. She loves the sound of her boots on the hard floors. 

Hooray, no more gross carpet!

Well, now that we are back into somewhat of a normal routine I can come back and snuggle with the blog again I don't know how many of my little projects I will get done with so much needing to be done on the house but I did get a dremel tool for Christmas from my step father and it is definitely bad ass little machine. I'm pushing for a kraig jig for Mothers Day but we will see. Now I'm off to make a broquet for my husband for Valentines day. 

Another day. 

Another chance.

Another smile.