love, love, love, these

So I heard about these from my friend Kate in Boise. Then I read this review on them and I was instantly hooked on the idea.

I've had a few reusable bags from Trader Joes but they just weren't holding enough and I was still coming home with those pesky plastic bags that seem to overtake my garage. So I invested in a few online after I discovered I had some leftover money in my paypal account.

I LOVE THEM! They hold so much and are oh so cute. They also roll up super small and can be stored away in my diaper bag. If I need an extra bag to throw clothes into, I've got them.
As that cute mom over at diaper diaries says, (paraphrase) 'If I'm going to go green, I at least want to look good doing it'. I'm right there with you.

p.s. they have kids ones too

Economy

Being I begin my sob story involving our floundering economy, I'll update on Lily.

We went yesterday morning expecting things to be on the up and up. Not so much. Her levels were back down close to the original. Except this time with no strained breathing. Oh, and now we have an ear infection. So we started new meds and antibiotics for the ear. We'll check back on Tuesday and hopefully she will be 100%. The dr. commented on how tired and overwhelmed I looked last Friday (I didn't take offense at the time but wondered later what made me look so bad. I mean I only woke up at 4 a.m.). I told her I had no idea it was so bad. Her response, "You didn't think it was that bad when we kept you here for 2 1/2 hours? I had visions all night of seeing you in the hospital. So glad I didn't."

I know they keep all that scary stuff from you, but it would have been nice to know. Oh well, we're praying for a full recovery.

Okay, onto this gas price/economy issue. I haven't really been annoyed with it until today. Now I'm purely irritated.

I've been doing yoga on Wednesday's for the last 5 1/2 years from the same teacher. I've practiced through both pregnancies and LOVE LOVE LOVE my class and especially my teacher. I really only go for her. She is an amazing, 45 yr old, mom of 3, and avid athlete. She also teaches the cycle class right before and she kicks my booty like no one else.

Today she told us that she is having to resign b/c of her long drive from Hood River. It's about 45 minutes and wasn't very costly before but with gas prices, she isn't making any money. Her last class is next week. I was almost in tears today.

This class is the highlight of my week. My time to pray, meditate, stretch, enjoy the silence and most of all, breathe. She will still teach a class (cycle) at another local club and I can attend that one, but it's just not the same.

I'm sad that people have to make decisions like this. I'm not the type of person to get bitter or think that someone needs to 'solve' this problem, b/c I don't think it will be solved. I am the type of person who thinks, what I can do with what I have? What does life look like with gas at $4 a gallon? How will my friends and family stay connected despite the gigantic hole it will leave in my wallet? I don't know yet, but I'm not entirely opposed to communal living. Not hippy communal living where we share our spouses, but living in separate houses, but in a small area sharing resources and raising our families together. Community garden, shared transportation, maybe homeschooling, (I'm so not a home school mom, so this will be someone else's job), food (I'll do all the cooking - I'm good at that), and hopefully my yoga teacher will live in the community down the road and she can lead a class once a week.

Until then, I'm going to have one more excuse not to go the gym.

desperate times call for FUN!

With all the activity buzzing around Lily and her sickness, Eloise needed to have some attention and some fun. So who did we call? NANA! That's right, my wonderful mother made the 2 1/2 hr drive to help us out. Eloise and Lily always appreciate the Nanny hugs and mommy always appreciates the clean floors and laundry.

Nanny arrived just in time for activity central. I had some fun projects lined up for Eloise and my mom to do.

First, flubber. This was fun, but really messy. I would advise using a plastic table cloth and bibs. It's not hard to clean up, but it does get everywhere. Despite the mess, Eloise played with this for at least an hour. Very cheap to make too.

Second, Play Doh cookies. Found here
These were so much fun! Eloise had alot of fun eating. It helps to have an extra adult on hand to prevent the eating and to help with the rolling. These would be great for a b-day party.

Third, jumping in puddles in your big girl panties. Designed my Eloise, herself.

The boots are on the wrong feet

Can be designed to fit your toddler's needs.

germ magnets

On Tuesday, my little germ magnets contracted yet another cold. Eloise went down Tuesday and Lily followed Wednesday.

I quickly jumped into action:
Vick's - check
Ibuprofen - check
elevated crib (lily) - check
humidifier - check

I was prepared with the supplies and to stay home for the next few days. I was NOT prepared for the 4 a.m. wake-up call from Lily Friday morning.

Lily had been battling the congestion. Our nights had been uncomfortable, but nothing major. I could tell something was not right that morning. She wouldn't nurse (which she loves, despite my efforts to wean) and couldn't get relaxed enough to fall back asleep. The mommy alarms were sounding.

I called my pediatrician friend at 8 a.m. and she suggested I take her in. At 10 a.m. we were sitting in the office being probed. Lily was not good. As I know now, she was barely getting any air and suffering from Viral Induced Asthma.

They gave her some steroids to open up the airways and gave us two breathing treatments with this little machine. The little mask she had to wear had a chicken on it. It was so sad.

The little bean just moved in and out of sleep while being tested for her oxygen levels and her crackly little lungs.

They sent us home with a machine, lots of prescriptions and an order to head over for an x-ray to rule out pneumonia. Thankfully, she has not contracted that.

We have been treating her with breathing treatments and steroids all night. Not so much fun for a 1 year old.

This morning we had a follow up. The dr. explained how close we came to being admitted to the hospital. She was barely getting any air and struggling badly to breathe. They were so glad that she held on and is slowly working back to 100%. The dr. let me listen to her lungs. Very crackly. He explained that if it were us in her state, we would have trouble walking up flight of stairs. He said she'll sound like a smoker the next couple of days but should improve. She's not out of the woods yet. We still need to watch for bronchitis and follow up on Tuesday.

All of this has had me pretty emotional. Yesterday was so exhausting just holding this limp little baby for 4 hrs straight and today even more so with a greater understanding of just how bad she was.

Lily and I have had several (this being only one) dates together at the doctor's office. Every time I look at her sleeping little body on me, I just marvel at how thankful I am that she is here. She is my reminder that God is filled with grace. He has had grace for us so many times that she has been sick. I cannot explain how thankful I am that we have not been admitted to the hospital. We've come close too many times in her small life span.

I know the Lord planned these times of trial for us to be knit together as mother and daughter. Especially given the circumstances and feelings I had before her birth.

And within all this He has shown me a sister bond in the beginning stages. Coming home after all of this, Lily was most excited to see Eloise. She chased her around the house saying, "e-z" (weezy). Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the love grow between my little girls.

So we now wait and hope for healing of this little one. And we also hope for this nasty cold season to END. The doctor confirmed for me that this is one of the worst years on record for sickness. Good. I'm not crazy and don't have a family without a functioning immune system. Here's hoping for sickness free summer.

the bee's

Last night Eloise came into our bed around 3. (I think) She had walked out of her room and into the hallway. I noticed her and told her to come to me with the intent of telling her to go back to bed. Before I knew it she was in between Dave and I snuggled in tight.

At 3:45 a.m. my arm had fallen asleep under her. I quickly realized how uncomfortable and not fun this was for me and I took her back to her bed. (note: I despise sleeping with my kids. I have tried a few times and been kicked in the face and farted on. Plus, we have a queen sized bed, that just doesn't work for me.)

This morning I asked her why she had come to mommy and daddy's room.

e: There was a bee buzzing about my head. You turned my flower light on and it came to the flower and then buzzed my head. I got up.

So is this a 2 year old dream or did this really happen? All I know is that she managed to get out of bed, turn off her noise maker, and shut the door behind her. Must have been some bee.

hello summer

I do not like summer. I know, it's crazy, but I just don't. However, today I enjoyed. It was 90 degrees, why would I enjoy that? I have A/C and alot of plastic toys in my backyard (which is fenced) that makes for a great day at home.

We did venture out for a brief moment to buy plants for the garden. I'm so excited this year. Eloise, Lily, and I went to a local nursery where I bought my tomatoes last year. (I do not start from seed, that sounds like my worst nightmare.) I bought 4 tomato plants there last year and they produced over 200 tomatoes! Obviously, we went back. It was so cute. Eloise pulled the wagon and Lily did all she could to find the bird baths filled with water so that she could splash herself in the face.

We bought tomatoes (obviously), basil (LOVE pesto), corn (this is a new one) and zucchini. We also want to do potatoes and mini pumpkins for fall.

Tomorrow we are headed out to opening day at our local farmer's market. I'm hoping they will have tons of starts to choose from. I love the market. We get coffee first and then walk around for a bit. The girls love gawking at all the dogs and then buying honey sticks at the end. It really makes me feel trendy and fabulous to go. I wish it was about supporting local farmers, but really it's just about making me feel like I live in movie where the cute family enjoys a day sauntering together through the market. Ahhh...doesn't it sound dreamy.

of course, cute pics of the new summer swimsuits. Rather, just Lily. Yesterday was opening day of the davis pool (which I have a love/hate relationship with, the pool, not Angela) and Eloise couldn't sit still long enough to take a pic. So we have Lily in the backyard this morning enjoying the glorious bubble machine. (which is a gift from heaven)

a bubble hit my lense

What a cutie!

Starbucks Mug and an ipod

Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all my beautiful mommy friends! Hope you felt celebrated and your family offered you some sort of rest.

My cute family gave me a Starbucks Mug and and ipod shuffle. I was surprised at the ipod but now I'm pretty excited to start my journey.

First hurdle to conquer, using the ipod and becoming familiar with a new 'device'.

Second problem, workout tunes. I'm not the most well versed mama in hip music. Especially the kind that you listen to at the gym.

So...........those of you that know of some hip-hopping songs that would motivate this body to drop 10 lbs and 'bring sexy back' (don't worry, that one will be the first song added) I'm all ears. Let the list begin.

Creativity

I pray everyday for creativity. Creativity in discipline, activities, and meals. The past two days I have seen lots of creative ideas for activities.

Here's two super-fabulous ones:

First, outside dinner:



This was great b/c it was beautiful and here in the Northwest we have seen nothing but rain and crazy weather. Nothing like dinner outside. My mom bought this little table for Lily's b-day and it has already been a fantastic purchase.


Two, snack at the McDonald's Drive thru for $2:

Clean-up was even more fun

I needed a diet coke and a break. So what a better way to get one, then putting the kids in the car and going through the drive-thru. I ordered one hot fudge sundae and a diet coke. We got home, I divided them up, and topped them off with sprinkles. Oh, the silence as they devoured it. This is heaven moms. And it works great if you have a young one trying to learn how to use a spoon.


One sub-fabulous, creative idea:

Story Time at the Library.

Hmmm..Well we met my friend Jodi there with her kids. Let's just say that Eloise might not be ready to sit still for story time. She was distracting Jack with her kisses, "head hugs", and attempts to do a summersault. I had this nice woman next to me let me know that this was the first time she has brought her daughter back in 6 months b/c she wouldn't sit still and she was mortified. She was very kind and let me know that it wasn't bothering her one bit. Jodi was very affirming of this as well. We'll work on this one.

going green...

...and cheap.

So I'm not really huge into the green movement. But I am big into figuring out ways to make things have less impact on the family budget. Because really, it's way more important for me to pad my clothing budget than saving the planet.

Here's a great list of ways to make products. I'm trying the dishwasher detergent. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The fishing pole

Eloise has been talking about fishing since her friend Willy came over and wanted to carry around her small bath fishing pole. My mom arrived in town and heard her non-stop talk of fishing and ran out to buy her her very own small pole.

Apparently Walmart doesn't carry fishing items for kids that haven't sold out to Disney or Hasbro. So I picked the lesser of the evil's. Dora. It was either that or princesses. Ummm. Dora. Fortunately, Eloise has no idea who Dora is.

She spent 30 minutes in the bath on Wednesday "fishing". The rest of the day we made sure Lily didn't take it in the head.

Today, Dave, Eloise and her new Dora fishing pole went to a local fishing farm. Our good friends, Tone and Will, brought their sons along too. Eloise was the only one who touched the fish. Rumor has it that one of the dad's was even afraid to touch the fish.

They brought home two fish and cooked them up for dinner tonight. Eloise took one bite and decided they were better in full fish form at the farm.

Supposedly, there are pictures somewhere. When I find them I'll make sure to post them. I look forward to more father/daughter fishing days. Especially during Lily's naptime ;)

I found them.