Pretty Little Whimsy

 I'm growing my hair out, which extremely difficult for someone who is constantly chopping on her own hair. Hair has never mattered much to me. I'm glad there is little photographic evidence of that, but I did shave my head when I was 15 and have changed the color about a million times covering most of the rainbow including a green that made my short spikes resemble a lettuce patch and an exciting incident in which I ended up with red ala Little Mermaid. Anyway, since it's at an awkward stage, not short and not long, I put it up a lot. I wanted to get some cute accessories to make it less likely that I'll randomly chop it all off again. Hair accessories are hard to find for a decent price and the ones I did find lacked character. I decided to whip up some of my own.

The Pneumonia

 I've been MIA lately. I thought I had a bad cold, which I guess is possibly what it was before I ignored it. I have pneumonia. It's one of those things that people don't just 'get', at least not in my world. I want to talk about how I felt before and after I got a dianosis. I was sick for about a month (give or take some days, it's all a blurr of coughing fits and grumpy kids). A few family members (including my three year old) had this bad cough that hung on for a couple weeks, I got it right about the time my son was starting to get over it. I mostly dealt with it, then about 2 weeks ago I started feeling worse. I spent as much time as possible in bed that first week still trying to deal with kids and make dinner, then Monday I got a bad migraine which set me over the edge. I decided I would suck it up and go to urgent care, feeling guilty because it costs money that my family doesn't have (we are uninsured now that my husband is laid off, because with my husbands current company, health care would be roughly $900 a month for our family) I went to the first walk in place and left because of the cost. On to urgent care number two. I waited and waited, then after the nurse finally got my blood pressure (they had to go find the tiny cuff because my arm was too small for the bigger one that she had with her) the doctor came in and listened and talked and finally told me I had pneumonia. Until that point I felt guilty for being there. I felt like I was wasting my family's resources, that I was over reacting and being a baby. I had convinced myself that I wasn't worth going in because it couldn't be 'that bad'. I got  my three prescriptions and called my husband with the news. Everyone else knew I was sicker than I thought, but I ignored it. I couldn't believe that I could get that sick from a cough or that I should 'waste' money going to the doctor over it. I was wrong. I'm not going to be ignoring my body in the future.
 I'll tell you this, pneumonia feels like someone is stabbing you in the lungs from the inside. It HURTS. Thank God for that migraine (aka His slap upside the head to go get help).
 Do you ever feel guilty for getting sick? I apologize to my husband every time I catch anything. I feel so bad that I am brought down and not able to do all my chores and keep up with the kids as well. I wonder to myself where that guilt is coming from.

A couple things I worked on in November and December. These are "quickies" which are my favorite projects. They took very little time, but turned out really cute.
I found a tutorial for a "bow cuff bracelet" online and I had some left over vinyl so I thought I'd give it a go. I used my vinyl (a remnant I picked up ages ago) and I got some sew on snaps (very tiny ones) at a craft store, because I wasn't about to mess with a snap putter onner (that's a technical term).




The 2nd project is a snowman face made from felt that I added magnets to (I cut up those advertising ones and hot glued them to the back of each piece)  so that my fridge would have a snowman face. The kids LOVE this one and I had a few friends ask me to make them a set as well. Both of these projects were super simple, but would make a cute gift to give.  P.S. My fridge is tiny and we are apartment dwellers so it came with the fine dents in the door you see there.

Words of love, not judgement.

 I've been thinking about this post for a long time. Weighing the importance of getting my piece out against the backlash I may get for it. I decided that it was time I spoke out about something that has been bothering me for a while. I have two children, they are six and three. My children are smart, beautiful and healthy. It doesn't seem like the choice our family made to feed them formula, from birth in a bottle, has made them unhealthy and our bond couldn't be stronger. There are so many people out there that make you feel guilty for making a decision that is right for your family, I wanted to be a voice that doesn't shame anyone for how making that choice.  As a first time mother, I took my oldest to my MOPS meetings at church. I was surrounded by mothers with babies at their breast. As I pulled out a bottle and held my daughter close, I felt overwhelming guilt.  I was frequently asked questions about why I didn't breast feed, the majority of people assumed it was a capability issue, not a choice, because why would anyone choose not to breast feed? Emotionally wrecked from having a newborn baby, I just chose to answer vaguely, that it just didn't work out for us. That wasn't the truth. I was telling lies because society made me feel guilty for making, what I felt was, the best decision for my family. I'm not talking about MOPS moms either, I'm talking about complete strangers, friends, family, all walks of life. People who didn't know me judged me because my child had a bottle in her mouth, and the people who loved me did too.
Fast forward almost three years to when my son was born. Born 8lbs 15.5oz, he was a little chunk of a baby. His thighs put my biceps to shame! We made the choice to use formula and bottles for him as well. Never having any troubles, except for his tear ducts that were too small, he has grown from a chunky newborn to a stocky preschooler. Always at 95th percentile for weight and healthy as a horse (or whatever that saying is!) he is ahead of schedule on his learning milestones and keeps me on my toes constantly. I felt less guilt, but it was still there.
Both of my children excel in the learning department, they are creative, loving and I share a very special relationship with each. There doesn't seem to have been any problems, long or short term, from feeding them formula. I suppose they each have a really special connection with their dad because of the special nights he spent hours with each of them while I was resting to be the best mom I could be the next day.
I really just wanted to write this all out, because I feel like there are so many out there that don't realize that what they say can be heard differently than they intended. When you have a baby people want to give you advice and help you. Mothers are one of the biggest 'word of mouth' groups I know of, and what we say to each other is meaningful and usually taken to heart. Be kind and graceful with your words, questioning someones decision about how they feed their child may be more hurtful than helpful. I wouldn't ask why your toddler only eats blue foods (and not just because I have been through the toddler years). As moms we try to be "fixers". We want to put band-aids on knee scrapes, and ice packs on bumps. We can't fix everything, but we can be more careful with our words. A new mom is so much more susceptible to guilt and that feeling like we don't know what we're doing. When my daughter was born I was sure I was going to end up breaking her in some way. Encourage your friends, your daughters, your sisters and loved ones in their new roles. Don't make them feel like they are making mistakes.
Thanks if you stuck around this long. I just needed to let that out. I can't say it directly to people who meant the best, but made me feel the worst. I sure hope that this finds just one mom who needed to hear that her decision is what is best for her and her baby and her family.

Pyrex; Better than your face

 This evening as I started my Martha Stewart pancakes and my husbands new favorite "oven scrambled eggs", I reached up for my mixing bowl. One of my casserole dishes was stacked on top of them and the lid came flying down into my face. I have a huge welt and a bad headache, but what was going through my mind was odd "I hope it doesn't break!" I was more concerned about losing another Pyrex dish than my own face.
I haven't blogged lately, I've been terribly lazy! I promise to come back more often and update with my projects. I sort of stalled out after the Christmas rush.

Friday!

 I really need to come up with catchier post titles. Maybe I'll have a contest someday for that.
Today I got up and bundled my kids and headed out for groceries. I am proud of myself, last night I made a menu plan to last for 14 days and a grocery list (that includes the extra items I needed to make dishes to take to Thanksgiving gatherings) and I managed to stay within my budget! This rarely happens... So of course I went to the craft store and bought stuff ha ha ha. I had a heck of a time finding sew on snaps. I picked up a "grab bag" at Michael's for only $2 and ended up with well over $60 worth of items (including a billion branches for decor, some with cranberry sprigs, a paperweight, and about 10 dry erase activity mats). I finally made my coffee filter wreath. I've had the foam wreath form for months that I picked up at Dollar Tree. Since I got some extra filters from someone I decided that there was no time like the present. I think for my first one (and considering how impatient I am when it comes to crafting) it turned out pretty cute and it's more dimensional than I really intended, also the middle needs help. I am sure I'll futz with it more soon, but for now it's time to do the dishes and get ready for our overnight house guest. My "little" brother (who is only eleven months younger so we're more like twins) is staying over to babysit in the morning for my way to early very important meeting with the deacons and their wives from another church we are in talks about merging with. I'm nervous as all get out and I have a list of questions. Thanks for hanging around long enough to read this and for visiting today!

Tuesdays Post

(This post is from Tuesday the 16th)
Today I cleaned the kids room and made cookies for the MOPS potluck tomorrow. I found this recipe online and they turned out better than perfect!! This is the best recipe I have found. I made very small cookies (because at the potluck we do small servings) so I reduced my bake time to 8 mins. I will NEVER use another base again, this one was perfect. I used a bag Heath pieces (from the baking section) instead of the nuts/raisins/choc chips because that is what I had on hand, but I want to try this with a mix of chocolate and butterscotch chips too


1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons)
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup nuts, chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins, soaked in hot water (optional)
1 cup semi-sweet morsels

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs.

Mix the flour and remaining dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.

Stir in vanilla, and add ins.

Drop the cookie batter by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. (I used a regular cookie sheet)

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and firm and only lightly colored. Do not allow cookies to brown.
Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container. Cookies may be wrapped well and frozen.

I also did my nails Monday evening and had a lot of fun with that as you can see! I've been putting my fingernail 'stache up to my lips a lot this week to make my husband laugh.