The Real Baby Addict

One of my favorite bloggers, Lynette at A Day In The Life of Ordinary, asked me when I am going to share some photos from my recent makeover. I suppose she’s intelligent enough to realize that the photos from the makeover reveal are not an accurate depiction of my appearance in real life. Once the hair stylists and makeup artists left, I was all on my own. I actually have to dress myself everyday.

My bloggy friend is correct in her assumption that I don’t really look like my profile photo everyday. That photo was a professional portrait that was taken on the exact date that I had my hair makeover. In my defense, I also had a facial at the salon that day and didn’t have time to go home and put on any makeup before our family portrait appointment. So maybe that’s not my everyday hair, but that is my everyday face!

Per Lynnette’s request, I will eventually share some photos of the everyday Baby Addict.

Eventually.

It’s not likely to happen in the very near future simply because I avoid the side of the camera that takes pictures. I love to aim and shoot but I don’t really like to pose.

But I promise that you will be the first folks to see my new photos next time I let someone take a picture of me.

Just don’t hold your breath that it will happen anytime soon!

P.S. in my defense, this is what happened last time I let my husband touch the camera:

Stop Calling Me Cute

Since my whirlwind makeover, I’ve realized that the drawback to appearing presentable is that people then expect you to look good everyday. Once upon a time, I came to work or went to church and no one ever commented on how I looked. Now, I get daily comments about my hair, skin, and how much weight other people think I’ve lost.

I’ve been feeling the pressure to maintain myself (which is a good thing). I recently had my hair trimmed, which is something that I did about once a year before. I’m religiously maintaining my hair color and even dying my waxed eyebrows to match. I even flat iron my hair every couple days just to make sure I’m putting in some effort. Which is exactly why I’m so perturbed today.

I woke up this morning to the sound of squeaky mattress springs and discovered that Little King David was using his mattress as a trampoline. Unfortunately, he was bouncing around about an hour before he should have been awake. As luck would have it, my kid is the only kid on the planet that is not mesmerized by cartoons, so it’s virtually impossible to have a flat iron turned on in my house while he is awake. Do you remember what that kid has done with my stove? Can you imagine the destruction he could orchestrate with a hot flat iron? It’s safer not to give him the chance.

Since I just washed my hair last night, I looked like I was wearing Medusa’s wig this morning. As luck would have it, I didn’t have time to iron my hair today, so I grabbed a claw clip and whipped up a quick up-do.

So far, I have already heard five comments from five different people that “Oh, your hair looks so cute today!”

You’ve got to be kidding me. Either they’re patronizing me or my hair looks horrid every other day and I’m the only person that doesn’t know it.

Quote of the Day: Grace

Let's not judge one another for the decisions we make about working or staying at home, nursing or bottle-feeding, and homeschooling versus public schooling. Instead, I pray that we moms will give ourselves, and each other, grace.

~Dena Dyer

Translator Wanted

After a long day of work, daycare, and endless errands, we finally settled in around the kitchen table to eat our Chinese take out last night after 7:00pm, which is well after Little King David’s normal dinnertime.

About half-way through the meal, David insisted on holding hands with Mommy and Daddy. We thought he wanted to pray again and we were proud of ourselves for raising such a holy, religious child. Happily, we began to pray:

Mommy & Daddy: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest…”

David: “No! No! No!”

Daddy: “You don’t want to pray?”

David: “No! No! No!”

Mommy: “What do you want?”

David: “Wing a wing”

Mommy: “Huh?!?”

David: “WING A WING!”

Mommy: “Do you mean ring a ring?”

David: Happily nods his head in agreement

Mommy & Daddy: “What the heck is ring a ring?”

Holding hands.

Ring a ring.

RING AROUND THE ROSEY!

David wanted to play Ring Around the Rosey in the middle of dinner.

He was thrilled that we finally figured out what he was trying to say, but he was less than thrilled when we refused to let him out of his booster seat in the middle of dinner.

I wonder if there are careers available for Toddler Translators?

Fire Ball

You would think that eighteen months of experience would teach us to look at our house through the eyes of our toddler and realize that this place will never be completely baby proof. You would also think that we would have abandoned our attitude that we don’t have to baby proof everything because we can teach our son to be obedient.

Whatever.

We have a 1950s era Magic Chef gas stove in our kitchen that I adore. It is one of a kind and I’m reluctant to get rid of it. I’m a bit nostalgic. Not to mention that thing is so darn big that it won’t fit out the side door or the front door, so we plan to keep it for awhile. Either until our house burns down or we get ambitious enough to take it apart.

Fortunately for us, we shouldn’t have to wait too long for the house to burn down. Little King David has discovered the knobs on the front of the stove and he won’t keep his naughty little hands off of them.

Friday night, we were making English muffin pizzas for dinner because the kids love them and Mama was too tired to cook a fancy meal. Imagine our surprise when the one pound bag of shredded mozzarella cheese on the stove top burst into flames!

You might imagine that experience would teach Mama not to be leaving stuff on the stove burners, but you might be wrong.

Last night, I was distractedly packing up the leftover chili from the crockpot when my Tupperware container suddenly began flaming.

Consequently, my top Google searches today have been:

Stove Knob Covers

Discipline for Toddlers

Chocolate Sale

(Ok, that has nothing to do with this post, but it sounds yummy, doesn’t it?)

Wrong Impression

You might assume from the adorable potty photos I posted today that our bathroom remodeling project is finally over. Unfortunately, that assumption would be wrong.

I strategically took these photos so they wouldn’t include the pink sink or the pink bathtub. You also can’t see the peeling paint or the rusting light fixture above the mirrored medicine cabinet. As much as I would like this remodeling project to be over, it certainly isn’t.

I haven’t been complaining about the inconvenience of not being able to shower at home since August 14th simply because I am defeated at this point. Mama can only vent and complain for so long before it drains all the energy out of me.

The good news is that we are painting and replacing light fixtures this weekend. The tub and sink will be refinished next Tuesday. Those fixtures just need a couple of days to dry, then we should be able to use our shower next weekend. Hubby and I are fighting over who will get to take a bubble bath first, so maybe we’ll just take a bath together.

I promise to post before and after photos by the end of this month. If the bathroom remodeling project isn’t over by then, I might just light a match to this house and be done with it!

Wordless Wednesday: Potty Time

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Logic

Now that Autumn is quickly approaching, it is often still dark in the morning while we get ready for work and daycare.

This morning, as Little King David sat at the kitchen table happily munching on his ritual French Toast breakfast, he frantically began shouting my name.

David: “Mama! Mama! Mama!”

David is pointing frantically out the window.

Mama: “What is it David? What do you see?”

David: “Moon” he replies.

Mama: “I don’t see the moon. Where do you see the moon?”

David: “Ni – Nights”

David is gently reminding his mother that it is still dark outside, therefore, we should still be asleep.

Mama wonders why David doesn’t have this same epiphany each evening at bedtime?

Another Memorable First

In addition to this fascinating and entertaining lil blog of mine, I also keep a journal of Little King David’s memorable moments. I jot down all kinds of memories in there, like funny things he says and his favorite food of the week. It’s nothing fancy, just a sentence or two here and there. It’s not at all a daily account of his life, but it will be enough for me to cry over on the day he leaves home for college.

Last night, I added another first to his journal. David was bitten for the first time on the playground at daycare yesterday. He didn’t bleed, but he had a clear impression of his buddy’s teeth on his forearm when I picked him up hours later.

The teachers were frantic since they had reason to believe that I’d be that mom that would cuss them out for not watching my kid better. Despite the fact that I am choosy about the foods they feed him and insist that they apply sunscreen before he goes outside, I don’t really feel that I am that crazy, off-the-wall mom. I don’t want my kid eating cupcakes as a daily snack and he’s paler than Casper the Friendly Ghost, so a little skin cancer prevention is warranted in our case. Despite my overprotective nature, I do understand that every toddler bites at some point in time. I knew when he transitioned to the toddler class that it was only a matter of time.

Although I didn’t freak out about it, poor little David was distraught over the bite mark all night long. Every fifteen minutes, he would point to his arm, and exclaim, “Bite it! Lincoln! Bite it, Boo Boo!” Although the teachers didn’t tell me who the offender was, after listening to him whine about his arm all night, I assumed it was his good ol’ wrestling buddy, Lincoln.

Nope, it was Tyler.

Now I’m wondering why a kid that speaks like he has a mouthful of marbles can pronounce “Stinkin’ Lincoln” but not “Tyler?”

(if you talk to a toddler on a daily basis, you understand)

Geniuses At Work

I received this email reminder at work today:


Does anyone else think it’s ironic that we’re eating sugar to fight diabetes?

Rest assured, I work at one of the leading health care facilities in the nation.

We know what we’re doing here, folks.

Chaos

I’m ashamed to realize that my two most recent posts have both been Wordless Wednesday photos, so I suppose it’s about time I actually write something on this blog of mine. Don’t you agree?

In my defense, I am still “on call” for jury duty, so that means that every couple of days, I call the jury duty hotline and the message tells me that my case has been delayed for a couple more days. I then return to work and plow through my task list at a frantic pace with the fear that I will soon be out of the office for heaven knows how long. I’ve been repeating this nightmare every couple of days for the past month. Despite the frustration, I really do want to serve on a jury. It would be a learning experience and a paid vacation from work.

In the meantime, my bathroom remodeling disaster has distracted me from my jury duty worries. The remodeling project that should have taken three days took more than three weeks. (we later learned that 3 weeks is an appropriate estimate, but our salesman obviously isn’t familiar with construction) Don’t rejoice, because we have yet to shower in the new bathroom. We spent the entire evening yesterday touching up the sloppy grout job that was done so we can seal the grout over the weekend. Once that is done, we need to sand the walls and paint, replace the light fixtures and exhaust fan and caulk the tub and sink. Of course, we can’t caulk until after the tub and sink are refinished, which is scheduled for September 23. After that dries for a couple of days, I plan to move in some towels and a shower curtain. Then, Hubby and I will fight over who gets to soak in the bubble bath first!

You would think that not wasting time on showers would give me plenty of time to blog, but I’ve been drowning in schoolwork. In addition to reading an extremely heavy and extremely boring textbook for my history class, I’ve also been reading The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan. This yummy book is actually an assignment for my class, which I have actually found delightful. If you like to read, you’ll love this book!

Despite all these challenges lately, I remain optimistic and bubbling with enthusiasm. I’ve confirmed our November vacation plans.

We’ll be going here:

Wordless Wednesday: Cutest Passport Photo Ever

For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Wordless Wednesday: Yearbook Photos

1950

1964

1984

Try it for yourself at Yearbook Yourself, or visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday.