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

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!)

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.

Handmade Gifts For Boys

So I was given an impromptu vacation. This happens sometimes with child care, the family takes a vacation and you are workless until they return. Fortunately I still get paid when they take time off so I still get a little money. Fortunately, this gives me some time to finish up some gift wrapping and getting a few of my little DIY gifts complete so I am excited about that. Not to mention all this one on one time I get with the little one, (she spends most of her time playing with the boy I nanny and rarely has time for mommy.)

Now that my scarves are done, (check my last post for more on that,) I have time to get the boys fort kit done. These clever little things go for anywhere between 30 and 40 bucks. I'm not terribly certain its worth all that so on Black Friday we went out and got just the pieces. I have two nephews so everything is doubled.

I grabbed:

• Two flat sheets. (I got twin sized just because of limited space and I know their families will have old sheets that can also be used. 
• Clothes Pins (You can get a ton for very little money)
• A mini child's flashlight
• Last but not least a book to curl up with in there. (The boys are pretty big on books so we play that up where we can.)

All you really need to do is cut a piece of burlap about double the width and length of the bags the sheets came in. You just want to make sure everything is going to fit inside. Fold over the long sheet of burlap and sew the sides. Turn it right side out and there is your bag. I took another strip of burlap very narrow and pretty long. Putting slits in the top of the burlap bag to weave your 'ribbon' through as a sort of tie.

These are the pieces all pulled together.

This is the final product. I'm going to embelish the front with some paint so it says Fort Kit and tie the top again to make it look a little more polished. I will update as it becomes completed.
I hope the boys like love them and have lots of fun.

If you liked these projects follow me for more great DIY on a budget.
See you soon.

Food For Tiny Fingers

It's official, my daughter is 1 year old! 

We celebrated her birthday over the weekend followed by my husbands party and it went very well. This morning my husband asks me, as he is making her bottle, "Aren't we supposed to be weaning her off of these soon?" Crap, he's right. That means more finger food, relatively scheduled meals, make ahead breakfasts. (I am out of the house by 6am and home with the other little one but 7am so breakfast is already a pain.) Then I start wondering where am I going to put all these meals and tiny tupper ware containers. Well, I think I've got it.

So There are several things I pick up for my lil munchkin to eat. 
Cut up green beans, peas, carrots, broccoli chunks, any frozen or canned veggies really. Throw some in a cup and microwave or grab a small pot and toss in your veggies. Storage is simply your pantry or canned goods cabinet and they take seconds to make. Pair them with some fruit or pretzels.

I will hard boil some extra eggs and throw them back in the fridge for a pre-made breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Cook an extra chicken breast or meatballs when you make dinner. Bonus: split it with the kids and make some quesadillas for lunch or a salad and you got your lunch too with little work.

I am a big fan of chunks of block cheese with some fruit and crackers or cheerios. All very easy things to put together.

With all these little finger foods filling up the fridge and pantry I decided to throw together some Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker and up-cycled some old formula containers to use as storage.

After you pull off the label you can spray paint it with plastic paint. Then I decorated it with some washi tape. The one on the left I use for storing crafts like beads, pom poms, washi tape rolls, etc.

Using small zipper bags and mini storage you can set these up for where ever you need them. For instance one will have small bags of cheerios, (instead of bulky boxes in the pantry.) pretzles, fruit snacks, snack pouches, really anything. 

For the refigerator snacks like fruits and veggies I have small storage boxes,

The white one you see here houses small tea boxes, instant coffee and all those rogue k-cups and kool-aid packets that make such clutter in your cabinets.

One of these little guys can slide out of one side of your fridge and all your toddler to-go bags remain contained in one place.

Last thing I am trying to do more of is making foods ahead, as I mentioned cooking a little extra the night before so you are all set for lunches and snacks the next day but I also like to load up the freezer. (Depending on space you can use those containers above to hold bags of freezer food.)

I like to make french toast sticks, mini pancakes, mini muffins etc. Its a good project for a lazy Sunday when I have an extra pair of hands for the baby. You can make up a ton of them in the time it would take to make a regular breakfast and on those busy mornings you toss 'em in the oven or microwave and the kids are happy. Not to mention all that breakfast stuff will make your house smell all yummy!

A new one I want to try is yogurt bites. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use an icing bag (or a ziplock with a hole cut in the corner.) and make dots on the paper. Freeze them and pop them into a bag for a cool summer snack.

Anyway, off I go to start cooking then off to work so my husband can clean the kitchen. ;) 

What time saving tricks do you guys have?

Cooking my day away.

Time for food and fall!

Cooking has always been one of my favorite activities. The dishes, however, not so much. Today my little one and I have the day off, just the two of us and what does that mean? I get to cook something so we are making some home made sauce from the tomatoes from my mothers garden.

My garden didn't do so well, I was very excited to see my green beans taking over the garden and thought, wow, I finally got something to do well out here. Come to find out morning glories had somehow found their way into the garden boxes and choked out everything but the cauliflower. After much cursing and a slight tantrum I ripped them all out and got the beds ready for next year.

As an act of sympathy my Mom shared her abundant garden supply and hooked me up with all kinds of fresh goodies. So off I went, tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic all in my favorite green pot, (we all have a favorite pot) and cooking away on the stove.

Next will be those wonderful fresh cucumbers. They look a little funky but taste just fine. Those will be jarred with some vinegar and brine to make some lovely garlic pickles. I'm not sure when the change happened in me. Perhaps it was just having my daughter and getting married made me a little more domestic but it is kind of nice.

Well I'm off to do some meal planning, it honestly saves hours of, 

"What do you want for dinner?" 

"I dunno, what do you want?"

"I dunno."

etc etc etc

Makes grocery shopping much easier when you already know what your going to be making. There are less of those mid week store runs or getting halfway through a recipe and realizing your missing something vital. I'm seriously digging this whole mommy thing. Anyhoo off I go. To spend a whole weekend with my loves!