Local

If you live in the Northwest Arkansas area, I wanted to point you over towards my friend Kristin's blog Another Gray Day.  She is helping out with a blanket/food drive for children in need in the area.  Spring Break can be a tough time for kids who depend on the school lunch program for meals.

Also, it's almost Rhea Lana time!  The sale starts this Thursday at the John Q. Hammonds Center in Rogers.  I am so excited!  I pretty much clothe the Pea with all Rhea Lana items, and I usually sell enough stuff on consignment to pay for at least half of his wardrobe.  Wa-hoo!

Oh, Come On!

What I've been trying to feed the Pea for dinner:  buttered corn

What you would THINK I've been trying to feed the Pea judging by his tongue-sticking-out-gagging-bleching theatrics:  poop-flavored poison pellets

Note To The Person Who Stole My Stroller from Hobby Lobby

I may not know who you are, but Jesus does.

And you are making Him cry.

To be fair, I left the stroller under the cart, and when I came back for it, it was gone. But what kind of person wouldn't take a BABY STROLLER into the store's lost and found?

My Bologna has a First Name

It's p-e-w-w-w-w-w.

I'm facing a tiny conundrum (and by tiny, I mean really, truly miniscule).

I bought some Oscar Meyer Cajun Seasoned chicken lunch meat.  It tastes yummy.  It smells like a small animal crawled into my fridge and died a horrible death.  Putting it in tupperware has helped to contain the stench  somewhat.  But each time I open it, it overwhelms.

What to do?  Throw it out?  Tough it out?

I'm pretty frugal, so I'm leaning towards toughing it out, but I just wanted to give everyone a fair warning for your own lunches.

A Lock for the Whosie Whatsie?

It is a whole new world in Chez Pea on the babyproofing front.  And I don't just mean "it's a whole new world now that he's mobile" (which he is).  It's a whole new world since the last time I ever looked at so much as a baby gate (hmmm...when my little sister was 2 years old?)

Did you know there are toilet locks now?  Toilet locks.

And outlet covers that have a little push button in the middle so you don't have to ruin your nails.

Oh, oh, and ridiculously expensive retractable gates that allow you to guard your wonky stairs.

Toilet locks.  Seriously.

Cool T-shirt for a Great Cause

http://zachanderin.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-t-shirt-design.html

Some friends of friends are selling these way cool t-shirts to benefit an orphanage in Malawi.

This is the design, available in different colors:

Get a shirt, you all everybody!

Dixie-Chicked

Last night, Bill and I were driving around singing old Michael Jackson tunes (and who hasn't for the last week?)  The conversation evolved to trying to remember the names of all the Jackson 5:  Michael, Tito, Jermaine, Shmerm(cough)...and the other one.

Bill thinks the band Dixie-Chicked (and he's trying to coin the phrase now, thank you very much).  Basically, any time the focus on a band's lead singer takes on such a life of its own that the remaining members become a vague buzz in the background, the group has officially Dixie-Chicked.  No Doubt.  Genesis.  Oh...old school...The Band.

Obviously, Michael Jackson took it to the extreme.  Which bands do you think Dixie-Chicked? 

Homemade Yogurt: Epic Fail

Riding on my Amish Friendship Bread high, I decided to listen to my older sister once again when she assured me that I can, indeed, make my own yogurt.

No, I can not. (Apparently, I managed to buy the one type of milk that you can't use to make yogurt...ultrapasteurized.  Pleh.)

There's a Post a Brewin'

I'm curious what other people's writing styles are.  When I write anything (a blog post, a story, a letter, an anything), I mentally write it out in my head several times before I ever commit it to paper (or cyberspace).  Then, I air-type it (much as I air-type dialogue in a movie if I'm bored with it).  Then, I actually sit down and write it out or type it.

This is actually the first post I've written in a long time where I sat down and just started writing.  Hence, it's pretty dull.  Sorry about that.  But I really am curious about other people...do you just sit down and start writing or do you think the wording out beforehand?

I Can't Believe I'm Actually Saying This...

But I kind of miss the early days of nursing the Pea.  Well, maybe not the very early days, but the pre-solids days.

I'm just terrible with food.  I feel like I've been faking it for the past however-many-years I've been feeding myself.  And then Bill.  And now the Pea.  It was nice to know those first few months that I was providing him the exact nutrition that he needed.  Now, I feel like I'm guessing.

I try to feed him lots of veggies and fruits, whole grains, yada yada yada.  But I find myself slipping into my same old "open up the fridge/cupboard and stare blankly for 5 minutes" pattern that I experience choosing foods for myself.  And there's this lowgrade, constant undercurrent of guilt (much like with  my own eating habits).  Is he eating too many Cheerios?  Am I ruining his speech development by letting him use a sippy cup (not very effectively at that) without a straw?  Should he still be eating this many purees?  Should I make more of my own baby food?

My mom has a refreshingly laissez-faire attitude.  Her opinion?  Keep a baby food grinder at the table and just put whatever I'm eating through that.  If he eats it, great.  If not, shovel some Gerber into him.

Apparently, no one ever told her that if you feed babies anything but homemade organic baby food, they'll explode into a fiery ball of nutritionally deficient pesticides.

Hey, Mambo!

The Pea has suddenly become very picky discriminating in his tastes.  I've discovered three tricks that seem to usually work for most foods:
1.) the old "chugga-chugga" choo-choo train.  Tedious and not very original but effective in a pinch.
2.) mix it with bananas.  While I consider spinach and bananas to be nasty unappetizing, the Pea loves it.  To each his own.
3.) sprinkle it generously with garlic powder.  Mambo Italiano!

Ahhh...#3.  Therein lies my problem.  The Pea's breath has become unbearable.  I was cuddling with him before bed, and he burped...I thought I was going to pass out.

Any ideas?

The Noodle Stops Here

It's interesting to me just exactly where the Pea has decided to draw the line food-wise.

Things that I would be...hesitant to put in my mouth, he loves.  Pureed brussels sprouts?  Faboo.  Mushed up cauliflower?  He sends his compliments to the chef.  Plain yogurt straight off a spoon.  More please.

Pasta with melted ricotta cheese?  Nnnn.  Nnnnnnn.  Nnn. (You'll just have to envision the Pea with his lips pursed, shaking his head from side to side giving me the stink eye.)

Now, I'm not a huge ricotta cheese fan.  I could kind of take it or leave it.  I prefer cottage cheese in my lasagna.  But the Pea acts like it is a foul substance created by evil minions to slowly poison him.

And avocados.  He hates avocadoes.  HOW can he hate avocadoes??

At least I've discovered that if you mix bananas in, he will eat anything.

Baby Pants Pockets

Why??

I've wondered this since the Pea was wearing newborn clothes.  What on earth are they supposed to carry in those little pockets?

And the pockets are so tiny that the only things they could actually put in them would be choking hazards.

Impressions

Whenever I'm out and about and see a Mennonite family eating out or shopping (and can I just say that I'm always very impressed by how well-behaved the children are in these scenarios), I always wonder if they think I'm dressed like a hussy. I'm a fairly conservative dresser but not when compared with a woman wearing a hat, full-length loose-fitting dress, and long sleeves. I'm not trying to imply that Mennonites are judgemental...I'm just curious.

Just like I've always wondered what Laura Ingalls Wilder would think of Wal-Mart.

Plech.

I've asked a bunch of friends how I'll know when the Pea gets sick. They have all assured me that I'll just know. (With the rotovirus, it was pretty much a no-brainer when I saw the pile of poopy diapers stacking up.) Well, I think the Pea is a little under the weather with a cold. He's just been fussy, ***clingy***, and not sleeping well during his naps for the past couple days (this morning, he actually went down for his 2nd nap at 10:15--not good for his schedule, but, hey, if he needs the sleep...). Then, this morning, I noticed his nose was a little runny and (to put it politely as my friend Rachel does) his stomach "released their contents" into his diaper. Thankfully, no fever. And, other than the rough diapers, I would probably just think he's teething, but I've never heard of teething causing diarrhea. Of course, I also started a new food yesterday...carrots...if he had a food allergy, would the gastrointestinal impact be immediate (i.e. yesterday)?

Onto a more pleasant topic...two separate people have recently told me about this slow cooker website. And I'm SO excited about it. I've already printed off a few recipes. I love using my slow cooker, and I like that she's really honest about whether a particular recipe is good or kind of lackluster or blatantly gross.

Oh, and Happy First Day of Spring!

Spinoffs that SHOULD have been

A few pics from this weekend (and, yes, I put the Pea and Bill in matching outfits).

Also, a word of explanation on the Michael Jackson mitten thing going on...I cut the Pea finger while trimming his nails, and he was bleeding everywhere. What a mess.

Okay, Bill and I were discussing this last night...80's spinoff shows that should have been made but never were. I came up with Nick and Mallory from Family Ties getting married and starting a family. A-ay!  How funny would that have been? And then, this morning, I thought of following Ben Seaver to college. Not as funny, but there could have been some potentially moving "Very Special" episodes. I'd give both of those ideas a solid 10 episodes each before cancellation.

What about you? What spinoff would you have watched for half a season?

Oi.

Ever have one of those weeks?

Okay, more like two weeks?

I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that it's been a bit of a rough month so far. The Pea is well (although we've been going through a rough patch in the ol' sleep department). He just started rice cereal and LOVES it. As in, yell-at-me-when-the-spoon-is-not-full-and-headed-towards-his-mouth loves it. We'll see how his introduction to veggies goes. I'll keep a camera nearby just in case it's hilarious. It's funny, but there's this little part of me that's sad that he's started solids. It's kind of the first step of independence, so while the biggest part of me is cheering, "yay!", there's a little part of me that's sighing, "aww..."

Any help here would actually be appreciated: what's a good veggie to start out with. My friend Ashley was going to lend me a book on it, but I'm always curious about others' opinions. Perhaps peas...it would seem appropriate.

And the Pea's waking up from a (two hour!!!) nap. Gotta run and get the oil changed and tires rotated on Bill's car.

Karen out.

Diaper Dilemma

Okay, moms, aunts, and grandmas out there...here's my question of the hour:

The Pea is currently in-between sizes in his diapers. The 1-2's are a smidge too small (we've been having leakage, especially at night...I'll leave it at that). The 2's are too big swallowing him whole. My current strategy is to put him in the smaller size during the day when he doesn't get as wet and then just wrap the bigger ones around him as tight as I can at night. But there's still a little gappage, especially if he squirms around a lot. And then, there's the bummer that you can't buy size 2 at Sam's. They jump from 1-2 to 3. The "3" package says 16-28 pounds. Pbuhh!

So my question is...what did you do during the "in-between" times? What I'm doing or something else?