Things I Love Thursday- Cranergy April 30, 2008

 I am not even going to try to pretend that I wasn’t completely skeptical about this energy drink when I was asked to review it for my blog. To be completely honest, I have never tried and energy drink before and tend to think they are a bunch of who-ha. Actually, I am also a bit afraid of them cause I don’t ever want to be on some Red Bull rampage cleaning off my sofa with a vacuum while my little dog stares on in horror (movie reference anyone?).

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that I pretty much nap every afternoon. I try desperately not to , but if I sit down for even a second during naptime/quiettime, I am out. That after lunch slump just hits me hard. It came as no surprise to me when my mom told me I was still taking a daily afternoon nap when it was time to head to Kindergarten. Me likey the sleepy.

So I decided to drink my Cranergy at lunchtime to see how it would affect my afternoon slump. I was amazed. I had so much energy all afternoon. And no ugly crash come 5 pm. While talking to my daily afternoon phone buddy, she even remarked that I “didn’t sound like normal 2:30 Jill.” Which is usually when she calls and wakes me up from my slumber.

Here is why I am a fan. This doesn’t taste like high fructose laden, sugary, syrup juice. It tastes more likely lightly flavored water. I also like that it is low calorie, 35 per 8 ounces to be exact. And my absolute favorite part? No weird caffeine substances. They use natural energizers like green tea extract and vitamin B. I love that cause I really try and avoid caffiene. I don’t like what it makes me feel like.

Cranergy comes in two great flavors: Cranergy Cranberry Lift and Cranergy Raspberry Cranberry Lift. Yummy and is it possible you can get energy and clear up that bladder infection at the same time. Not sure, but that would make a stellar ad campaign. And it is now officially safe to call the Diaper Diaries household between the hours of 1 and 2:30 pm and I might remember what you said. Who knows what kind of world domination I can achieve with that extra hour and a half a day?

Works For Me Wednesday- Never Wake A Sleeping Baby April 29, 2008

  If there is just one lesson you learn very quickly as a mother of young children, it is that once your children, finally, finally, finally fall asleep, you do not want them waking up. And you will inflict bodily harm and anything or anyone that wakes them up. I have thus far pretty good sleepers, but I am kind of a sleep Nazi and will stick pretty rigidly to a routine so that my children nap well. This could have something to do with my firm belief that naptime equals me time. So I am determined to have good nappers.

Sometimes however your kids foil you plans. What I really hate is when you get stuck driving around naptime. Suddenly you look back and your kid is dead asleep and you know the next few minutes are crucial to your enjoyment of the rest of the day. One false move and the transfer from the car inside results in a child who has woken up after a 20 minute nap somehow under the impression that this will suffice for the daily nap. You try and throw them in the crib, but they aren’t having any of that. They feel their nap is done and it is time to par-ty. For about and hour until you find yourself stuck in meltdown city for the rest of the afternoon. Yippee!!

So here is my trick to keep that kid asleep so you can have your 2 hours of peace and quiet to surf People.com, I mean clean your house and do your bible study. First of all, obviously if they are still little enough to be in an infant carrier, they stay in the infant carrier. If they are in a normal car seat, I have a multiple step process.

• I am a firm believer in the pacifier. If it has fallen out, make sure it goes back in. Otherwise the second you move them they will wake up so quickly it will seem like you have injected caffeine directly into their veins.
• Bribe any older children in the car with toys, food, money…whatever works to keep them absolutely silent and to keep their hands to themselves.
• Remove shoes in the car. Throw them on the floor which will probably come back to haunt you later as you search your house from top to bottom looking for their shoes.
• This is the golden tip: Remove the car seat straps very gently and then take the coat off while they are still snuggled in the seat. Just slip their arms out as gently as possible. The car seat will cradle them better than if you try and wrestle that thing off while they are in your arms or lay them down on the changing table prying it off while shushing your baby and pleading with her to please fall back asleep (obviously we have tried a few methods that weren’t so successful in the past).
• Pray all the way to their room, even more as you lay them in bed and then again as you go tiptoeing out of the room being careful to avoid that one spot on the hardwood floor that always creaks when you step on it.
• Give older child chocolate, toy, money, hours worth of TV to reward her for not disturbing her sibling.
• Plop down on the couch with a glass of lemonade and your laptop to enjoy a few minutes of heaven. Aaah.

That’s what works for me. For more fabulous tips head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

An Excellent Solution April 28, 2008

 Thanks to all of you who felt my pain with the loss of my dishwasher. We are still trying out some solutions and I am confident we are almost there. To those of you who live without dishwashers on a regular basis…I just paused and gave you a round of applause. Seriously, I am impressed. You are the wind beneath my wings…or something.

And then there was my mother and her big girl panties. If you missed that comment, it was just delightful. Thankfully I have found a solution to the pile of dishes I have been avoiding in my sink. It involves my mom and her big girl panties (not that my mom is big-in no way am I implying that, she is tiny). I fed her dinner and SHE washed my dishes. Before you think that isn’t right that I would make my mom wash our dishes, I should point out that I did feed her quite well, allow her to play with her grandchildren, and help her navigate her way around town today during several phone calls as she was a bit lost (and directionally challenged).

So I am pretty much thinkin’ I am daughter of the year. Oh, and thanks to you too mom. Dinner is at 6 tomorrow night. Same time, same bat channel.

A Catastrophe of Monumental Proportions April 27, 2008

  I don’t want to alarm you, but we have had a major problem here in the Diaper Diary household. It began Friday night and after much investigation it appears it isn’t immediately fixable. I am coping as well as can be expected, but it has been a tense couple of days.

Our dishwasher is broken. Wait, let that sink in (sink, get it-that ones for you Mom). Do you realize what this means? We have just gotten a new dishwasher. Her name is….me. Actually that is a complete lie. We have just been letting the dishes pile up in the sink. De Nile ain’t just a river in Egypt my friends.

My wonderful father-in-law has been by a few times today to try and fix the problem and we are definitely making progress, but we are still not in the clear. I do a lot of housework well…OK, mediocre at best, but I don’t DO dishes. And a new dishwasher is not how I wanted to spend our tax rebate. Unless it came with a matching stainless steel refrigerator and stove. How much are those rebates again?

To my readers who don’t have dishwashers: you have my deepest sympathy. My hat is off to you cause I wouldn’t last more than a few days. Actually, I am thinking I would throw all that “Earth Day” stuff out the window and just go with all paper and plastic. I would buy some trees to plant in Africa to offset my carbon footprint of course. You can do that right?

Benefits of Unpopularity April 25, 2008

 You know how there are times in parenthood when your child prefers your hubby over you. You know how it kind of hurts a tiny bit that they never seem to want you and sometimes even scream when the hubby hands them to you and leaves for work every morning. You know how you remind said child that you once carried them for 9 months inside of you and have the stretch marks to prove it. You know how you might also remind them that you pushed them out of you with no drugs whatsoever which is quite painful actually and they should be forever grateful for all you do for them.

You know when that pays off? When that same kids begins screaming when you are in the basement watching TV and one parent has to go up 2 flights of stairs to comfort her repeatedly throughout the night and though you try once, she begins to scream “Daddy” and will only be comforted by him thereby leaving you off the hook for the rest of the night so you can blog and watch TV in peace.

Frugal Friday- Company Discounts April 24, 2008

 Today I opened the mail and a coupon book arrived. Actually 2 did, but one I had signed up for somewhere a long the way. It was AWESOME, full of coupons for all sorts of groceries I regularly buy. The second one was a coupon book from my local cable company for pay per view movies. I don’t know what happened, but the second I birthed a child, we stopped going to movies. We even stopped renting them cause somehow the effort of going to the video store seems to be too much. Actually it is a good thing we don’t rent often cause we can’t ever seem to get them back on time leading to all sorts of late fees that far exceed the price we paid to rent our 1 movie for the year.

So pay per view movies have become our friend. We don’t do it often, but for the price of a rental from Blockbuster we get to watch one and not waste the gas and late fees. Still free is much better than cheap so I am super jazzed about the coupon book. Upon further investigation, I discovered that this coupon book is part of a deal we got from an employee discount through my husband’s employer. It also saved us a chunk on cable every month.

Upon even further investigation I found all sorts of discounts. Gym memberships, theater tickets, insurance, hotels, even cars. Now my husband does work at a rather large company, but companies of all sizes have things like this. If you aren’t aware what is offered at your or your spouses company check with human resources. You might find instant savings on something you are already doing or just find a way to save the next time you plan a trip. At my husbands company, these frequently change so check in and see what is new. Or taken away, I just noticed a local pedicure place is no longer offering discounts. I never even took advantage of that one. They are however offering a discount on WWE Smackdown tickets so maybe all is not lost…

Things I Love Thursday- A Plumm Summer April 23, 2008

 Don’t you miss an old fashioned “family film.” Cause the stuff labeled family coming out these days leaves something to be desired in my opinion. Now, I have mentioned before that I am hyper-picky about what I will let my kids watch, but still. The Dove Family Film Festival, a local festival here in Michigan has Bratz on the schedule. Since when is hoochy, over sexualized dolls “family fare.” Oh soapbox, how I want to leap up onto you right now. But I won’t.

I was given a preview of a new, independent family film called A Plumm Summer. Now, this is a true family film. Minus a tiny bit of mature content surrounding a alcoholic father and a few too many uses of the word stupid (a major pet peeve of mine) this is really a movie the whole family can watch and root for (by whole family I would suggest about 7 year olds and above, but I like I said, I am a bit conservative on this front). No violence, no swearing, no gratuitous sex (or sexual innuendo). Why isn’t Hollywood making more of these movies?

Probably because we aren’t demanding it. And not supporting when it is made. Now these movies might not be quite as fancy as the big budget stuff, but one of my favorite family movies of all time is about a pug and cat and I don’t even think there is an actor in it. This one has The Fonz, Billy Baldwin, and a super cute little boy reminiscent of that Jerry Maguire kid.

Here’s the premise: The innocence of an idyllic small town is torn apart when famous TV puppet ‘Froggy Doo’ is kidnapped and held for ransom. A Plumm Summertells the remarkable true tale of two young brothers, Elliott and Rocky Plumm, who go head to head with the FBI in order to crack the ‘frog-napping’ case and get their beloved Froggy Doo back on the air, all the while becoming local heroes and best friends.

It is only out in limited releasein California, Alabama, Minnesota and Montana in select theaters on Apr 25, 26, 27 and May 2, 3, and 4, so if you live there please check it out. Remember Hollywood will put out crap until we demand otherwise. So please support quality family films so we don’t find Bratz IV in theatres anytime soon.

Works For Me Wednesday- Transition for Formula to Milk April 22, 2008

 You know how you do something that frnakly you just do, but then you tell someone else and they think your brilliant. Don’t you just love it when that happens? Here you are, going about your business just thinking your a mediocre mom and then someone tells you one of your ideas is brilliant. Well, maybe she just thought is was kinda cool, but you hear “You’re brilliant” so work with me here.

So here’s the deal. You know when you have fed your baby a bottle or a boob for a year and then suddenly you tell them, ok, time to switch , it’s cow from here on out. Yeah, I’d be a bit frustrated too. So I have a little trick up my sleeve to help make the transition go a little smoother. I take the sippy (or bottle) and fill it 3/4 full with a yogurt smoothie (we used organic so our girls wouldn’t hit puberty at 7) and then 1/4 full of whole milk (once again organic for us). Then I gradually added more milk and less smoothie until we were at 100% milk.

Apparently breast milk (and formula) is pretty sweet and cow milk is a bit salty so the smoothie takes the salty edge off. My children who previously were having nothing to do with the cows milk were suddenly gulping the stuff down. Problem solved. See how nicely that works for me. I hope if you have this problem it works for you. No need to call me brillaint. Mediocre will do just nicely.

For more brilliant tips head over to Rocks in my Dryer.

Cleary we should just build a bubble April 21, 2008

 Well, I was “that mom” today. No, not that mom. You know, the mom that brings their sick kid to something infecting every other kid there. In my defense I was “that mom” by accident. Kind of.

Lily woke up this morning complaining of a stomach ache. She went on and on all morning before school about how much her tummy hurt. What you should know at this point is that she does this 2 out of 5 mornings. She is the hypochondriac that cried wolf. She tends towards a flair for the dramatic where injuries are concerned. I’m not sure where she gets it (ahem). So this morning I tended to ignore her. Plus, seriously, have we not already had round 2,3 and 4 of bugs around here? I am pretty sure that once the sun comes out you are off the hook for the sickies. However there probably were a few red flags that this one might be the real deal.

She said she didn’t want to go to school. Lily loves school. Lily lives for school. Every morning she has to look at the calendar to see if she has school and if so, what they will be learning and who will be the special helper. She hasn’t yet gotten to that age where faking illness gets you out of school so if she says she is too sick to go, one should probably listen. However, in my defense once again, she was wavering on this fact all morning. Second, she kept asking to lie down on the couch. She doesn’t typically want to lie still unless there is some sort of animal or spanish speaking character on the TV. Then of course she could lie still for hours upon hours, but otherwise not so much.

Still, I thought she seemed fine so we pressed onward. When we got to school I told the teacher that she had complained a little, but I thought she was OK and to call me if she decided she wanted to come home. I asked her once more if she wanted to stay and she said yes and went off to play. I began to head to the gym with Hannah and made it about 3 blocks before the cell phone rang, “Lily just threw up.” Fabulous.

I felt so awful for having sent her and that her poor teachers had to clean up the vomit explosion that apparently took place. I brought her home and laid her down. Of course Hannah wanted to crawl all over her and I so I went into distract Hannah mode. Finally Lily said, “Mom when Hannah is sick you should cuddle her, but when I am sick, you should cuddle me.” Touche. I called my mom to take Hannah and focused on Lily.

We snuggled the day away. We had several more pukey episodes broken up with a few hour long naps. It is possible I took one to for moral support. It is so miserable to see your child sick. She is truly the most amazing little sick person ever. She rarely complains and handles vomitting like no other. But she had reached her limit today. At one point she looked up at me with big, sad eyes and said, “Mommy, do something.” My heart broke. I could do nothing.

She seemed to turn a corner at around 7 pm tonight and her personality began to come back. She kept a popsicle down and began begging for food and water, neither of which she had kept down all day. Bedtime hit and of course she wasn’t at all tired. At about 9:30 she looked at the hubby and declared, “I am ready to go to sleep now and fell asleep almost immediately right on the couch.”

Let me just tell you, this day stunk on 100 different levels. I missed my workout. I got nothing accomplished. I missed out on gorgeous weather. I had to clean out a vomit bowl all day. But I wouldn’t trade this day for the world. My 4 1/2 year old “big girl” snuggles with us less everyday. She is still quite snuggly, but I don’t for a second think these days aren’t passing by quickly. And today, I got to be a hands on, full fledged, desperately needed mom. What an honor, what a privilege, what a blessing. So thanks puke bug. Now your dismissed.

It’s Giveaway Time!! April 21, 2008

It’s that time again. Are your fingers nimble and ready to comment “count me in” 400 times over the next few days. I hope so, cause there are some giveaways to be won!

Anywho, I will once again be giving away a product from my mother’s fabulous line of products, Script-Yours. Like before, I will be giving away a personalized scripture name.  

     

These are hand written and can be customized for the winner. You pick your colors, your scripture, and name. Then each name is personally prayed over with the scripture before it is shipped out.

We have chosen scriptures for each of our girls and had names done for them. I also give them out when my friends have babies. The result is always the same. People are amazed and touched by such a personal and unique gift. It also is a powerful way to bring scriptures into your home.

In addition, anyone who doesn’t win and would still like to order any products from Script-Yours can receive 20% off any order placed before May 15th by mentioning my blog when ordering.

So to enter, just leave me a comment and I will draw at random on Friday, April 25th at midnight. This contest is open to US residents only (sorry), but you don’t have to have a blog to enter. Now head on over to here if you want to enter some more.

* This contest is now closed. Thanks for entering. The winner is Shannon #28. Congrats!!