A bunch of rambling

I write blog posts all the time.  Unfortunately for my poor neglected blog, they are all in my head while I am jogging.  But let me tell ya, I am brilliant in my head.  But by the time I get a few spare moments in the evening, all I want to do is sit on my couch and stare at the wall.  

But yet there are so many posts I want to write.  I want to write all about the struggles with raising Destructo but also the joys.  The firsts for Owl and also the lasts.  And yet I open a blog post and get writers block like whoa.

But the blog post that has been swirling around in my head while I jogged this week is one about marriage.  And yes you read that right, I started jogging again.  I plan on running the Zoo run run again the beginning of next year.  I am excited and hope to do slightly better than my last time from 2013.

My husband travels a lot for work and I am home alone with my two hellion wild children.  In fact last month he was actually gone half the month.  That means days stretch into endless nights and nights stretch into never ending days and this goes on and on.  So when he comes home exhausted and just wanting to spend time with his family, all I want to do is be like see ya I am out enjoy your progeny.  

And then I get caught up in a movie about the history of AIDS.  And the blog post comes to a screeching halt.  I truly picked the right field to get into back before I became a poop butt wiper/taxi cab driver/lego builder extraordinaire.  I will probably go back to medical research one day.  And with that stay tuned for my actual blog post about marriage tomorrow.

The bouncers and swayers

I stood in church this past Sunday and bounced and swayed a fussy Oliver.  Church falls right at his nap time and this makes it immensely harder than it needs to be.  But I don't want to not go to church as a family.  So we go.  

We sit in the angel cry room.  My kids are far from angels so this always gives me a little case of the giggles.  This particular Sunday as I was bouncing Oliver to keep him from shrieking I happened to notice all the other mothers that were doing the mom bounce/sway right along with me.  I felt such a kinship with all these women, most of whom I don't know.

These women are tired.  They probably fought the I'm hungry, hot, thirsty, my blankets aren't right excuses the night before just like I did.  They probably stayed up too late just to get a little quiet alone time.  They were probably woken by scared toddlers or hungry babies all through out the night.  Just like me.

They probably woke up to the joyful sounds of a screaming baby demanding to be freed from their captivity of the crib.  They might have wrangled a bucking bronco toddler to get a clean diaper on his or her butt.  Stood in front of the fridge wondering what to fix for breakfast.  Again.  Every single morning these dang kids need to be fed.  But wait first they would have had to clear the dinner dishes off the table because she was so exhausted the night before she just couldn't.

They chase preschoolers and toddlers around trying to put them in their church clothes.  All while telling them the importance of going to church because face it, they would rather be outside playing.  Her kids are well dressed while she throws on clean clothes and brushes her teeth in five minutes because oh my gosh we are going to be late.

Then she stands with her fussy baby and bounces, sways, and rocks.  She is tired and can't hear a word the priest is saying but she is there.  Because in her heart she needs God and needs church.  Because if it wasn't for God she would run for the hills on the bad days.  Well God and cherry coke.  Definitely need caffeine.  

I could feel the exhaustion and weariness in these women's expressions but also the pure joy.  Raising my children to be God fearing productive members of society is going to be the biggest most heady thing I accomplish in my life.  While I think I can't keep doing this a lot of days, I wouldn't trade one second of it for the world.  

I am exhausted.  Just like all these nameless women I watched during church.  I am so bone weary tired some days I just don't know how I will keep up this frenetic pace without either going insane or just sitting down and never being able to get back up.   But I do.  Everyday I do.  God gives me the strength to keep on going.  And truly one day I will look back and give anything to go back to this crazy time.  

Fighting for Something I don't Want

As I have shared in this post, we have been in the process of having Destructo evaluated for behavioral issues and anxiety.  It is so surreal to be fighting so hard for a diagnosis that I don't want.  I don't want something to be "wrong" for lack of a better word with my son.  But on the other hand, if a diagnosis means insurance has to cover the therapy Destructo needs well I will fight without ceasing to get him that diagnosis.

We went back to the local children's hospital two weeks ago for another parenting and behavior clinic.  They recommended having Kai have a full psychological evaluation completed (which will happen in November.)  She said she sees some warning signs of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or a possible autism spectrum disorder (ASD.)  It is very clear he has a ton of anxiety that is affecting his daily life.  He doesn't eat well, sleep well, and has a lot of fears that have been popping up.  

Hearing he might have OCD made me want to cry.  While I haven't been formally diagnosed with OCD (because I don't want to spend the money to get that diagnosis) but the therapist I saw and my primary care doctor feel I have OCD.  I went on Zoloft for it back in the fall and that thank the Lord got my symptoms mainly under control.  I know that OCD can have a genetic component.  Way to make me feel like I gave my kid this.  

It is also hard because I know how badly OCD was messing up my life this fall.  I do not want to ever think about Destructo having to feel as badly as I felt when it was at its worst.  No mother ever wants her child to have to go through those kinds of things.  No mother wants to know her child might have a condition he has to deal with for the rest of his life.  But on the other hand, I have to fight to get him a diagnosis if that is what the future brings to get him any and all help to learn to cope with whatever that diagnosis might be. 

It is what it is has become my daily motto.  I can't change anything.  I just have to keep on keeping on.  Oh but I will say the ten minutes with the behaviorist was amazing because we got a velcro board schedule for Destructo.  I have always had a schedule but it was just paper.  Now he can take each thing off as he completes it to signal a transition.  Plus they are actually taking his schedule and making me a personalized picture for each item.  Yay!

Butterfly Life Cycle Week

This week's theme is going to be about butterflies and their life cycles.

Math:  I found a butterfly counting page on Flickr.  After searching I traced it back to My Organized Chaos.  I plan on letting Destructo count the different life stages of the butterfly and then I can write the number in for him.  We also went on a field trip to the zoo and counted how many different species of butterflies we saw while there.

Sensory:  I got the idea for our butterfly life cycle sensory bin from pre-K pages.  I put three boxes of noodles into our sensory bin.  I used rotini, shells, and farafalle.  I got the veggie noodles so they would be colorful without any work on my part.  Laziness I has it.  The rotini represented the caterpillars, the shells were the chrysalis, and the farafalle/bowtie shapes were the butterflies.  Both boys had a blast with the noodles.  And it was super easy to pick up.

Craft:  I made a butterfly life cycle craft.  It was super easy to do.  I got the idea from Bug and Buddy but modified it to go along with our sensory bin.  We painted the paper plates each kids favorite color and then Owl had eaten so much paint I gave up on attempting to do the activity with him and waited until his nap haha.  Kai then glued noodles that represented each stage in the butterfly's life cycle to the template I got from the blog above.  It was easy and turned out really well.

We also did a second butterfly life cycle poster that Destructo got to hang in his room.  I really felt creative with this one since I even used scrap book paper.  You know the scrap book paper I bought three years ago to use for Christmas presents.  That I never made.  Yeah.  Fail.

Reading:  We read a number of books this week.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
National Geographic Readers: Caterpillar to Butterfly
Charlie the Caterpillar The Lamb and the Butterfly
We also used both of the reference books I linked in this blog post (under language heading.)

 Science:  We used this Giant Magnetic Butterfly Life Cycle.  Destructo got to put it in order and stick it to his super fancy magnet board.  And by super fancy, I do totally mean serving platters that we have collected over the years and never used.  They are so super useful.

Fine Motor:  We also used the Magnetic Color Cubes that I mentioned last week.  I told Destructo to make a beautiful butterfly.  I am so in love with these magnet cubes.

Snack:  I made two butterfly themed snacks this week.  The first was the butterfly life cycle and both kiddos loved it.  The second was a decorate your butterfly yourself toast butterfly.  Both were super easy to make and the butterfly was fairly healthy.  (You can also use nutter butters for the butterfly's body but I wanted to up the health factor.)

T is for Turtle/Life Cycles of Turtles

So we are gearing up for Kai's preK year of home school preschool.  I don't think he will be attending an actual preschool so I am forcing myself to get more commited to schoolwork and a more "strict" schedule to try to get him ready for kindergarten.  As you know, he is a very spirited honey badger kid that really tries his best to get his own way.  This doesn't bode well with school haha.  So I am hoping to help him adjust to having more structure this year.  And having a lot of fun in the process.

He is really interested in life cycles of animals and I love sea turtles so that is where we are starting.

Field Trips:
 We went to the local farmers market and they had all kinds of awesome life cycle puzzles and figurines and a life cycle game.  It was perfect timing for us to learn about life cycles and have fun.  We also went to the local children's science museum.  They are surrounded by wetlands so we took a walk and looked for turtles.  They also have large turtle exhibit inside that we counted turtles in.

Science:
I downloaded these free sea turtle life cycle nomenclature cards from Teachers Pay Teachers.  We are going to use these to learn about the life cycle of the sea turtle.  I also bought a pack of Safari Ltd Life Cycle of a Green Sea Turtle for him to use with these cards.  Of course if Owl would quit swiping half of the them this would be a lot easier.  No swiping swiper.

Sensory:
I made a sensory bin to demonstrate sea turtles life cycles and to let Kai get his fill of sensory goodness.  I used blue water beads to be the ocean.  Destructo and Owl got to help the turtles hatch from a sensory bin containing kinetic sand and ping pong balls.  The ping pong balls were the turtle eggs since they are approximately the size of sea turtle eggs.  (They also had a giant T on them for Tennessee Vols since that was all I could get.  But I ran with it since T is for turtle.  haha)  We made a nest in the sand and then I used Easter eggs to put little turtles in so Kai could have them hatch.  He then had to quickly make the sea turtle run to the ocean before a predator (or his brother) got them.  Both boys loved it and played with it for days.

Important side note, you want to rinse the water beads daily though or else they mold really quickly.  I did not know this and had to buy more.

Math:  We used the pack of Turtles to work on basic addition.  Kai would pick a foam number out of a bag and a second number.  Then he would use the turtles as counters to figure out the answer.

 Language:  We read
My Very First Encyclopedia With Winnie the Pooh and Friends: Animals  and The Encyclopedia of Reptiles, Amphibians & Invertebrates.  The pooh bear one is a great book and details the differences in mammals, reptiles, etc.  The other book is not a children's book per say but it has all different species of turtles and lots of other info.  We picked out our favorite turtles.


Internet:  We watched this Sea Turtle Video.  I really like these science videos because they are short and very informative.  They have a ton of different animals.

Craft:  We made sea turtle sun catchers.  I let the boys stick tissue paper onto clear contact paper.  I put a layer over the top of the stuck tissue paper and then used Oliver's Cloud B Tranquil Turtle  as a template for the head and legs.  Easy peasy and super cute.

Fine Motor:  

I had bought Magnetic Color Cubes which are amazing for fine motor (but not for kids who could swallow them for obvious reasons.)  Destructo used them to feed all his turtles that I mentioned above.  He was feeding them a certain amount of pounds.  It was too funny (and mostly all on his own.)

I also did the turtle transfer activity on Nurturing Learning's blog.  I had Destructo pretend he worked in a sea turtle sanctuary and had to help the turtles.

So there you have it.  Turtle week.

The Day my Phone Went Swimming

Swimming, swimming, swimming in the deep blue sea.  Oh gosh I watch too much Daniel Tiger.  Yesterday was the kind of day where it is a good thing I am not a big drinker.  I would have probably been drunk by noon if that was the case.  Then my boys would have had to lord of the flies it.  That would have been bad given their propensity for destruction of themselves and my house.  Real bad.

I had the boys outside helping me clean up the patio.  I made it seem like it was their idea.  Let's pretend this is a car wash and wash up your car.  Kai ran with it and then said their play house was on fire and he had to put the fire out with the hose.  Whatever kiddo.  Just burn some energy (and clean my patio.)  

I cleaned the water table and filled it for Owl who loves playing in it.  I then took all the small water toys in to bleach them because they had mildew on it from sitting in rain water.  I didn't want to leave a bucket with bleach water in Oliver's reach because he is sneaky and quick.  So I filled it up in the tub leaving Oliver and Kai playing on the patio.  

I turned around and Kai came in ready to get into dry clothes.  I changed him quickly and then opened the door and got Owl in.  I changed his diaper and clothes and went looking for my phone.  I couldn't find it.  Then as I was about to walk back inside, I noticed pink in the water table.  The boys have no pink water toys.  Yeah it was my cell phone.  Under the water.  Swimming.  Thank you Owl.  Thanks so much.

Needless to say this is the point in the story where I have to give mad props to Samsung.  I have a Galaxy S4 active.  The ATT salesperson sold me on it even though it was fifty bucks more to get the active by saying what if Destructo (who was two at the time) threw it in a toilet or something.  It seemed quite plausible.  Needless to say I am oh so glad they did. 

I was a bit skeptical of whether the claims that you could put them 3 ft under water for up to 30 minutes was true.  It was.  As I reached for my phone, I could actually see a new email notification popping up under the water.  The only thing that was messed up was that water had gotten in the charging port because the little cover had broken off and I hadn't replaced it yet.  I blow dried it on low for about twenty minutes and that fixed the problem.  

I am going to be buying the S6 active for sure after this.  It actually made my day because I fully expected to have to immediately run out and get a new phone after I saw it in the bottom of the water table.  It was in there between 5 and ten minutes by the time I got Oliver in, diaper changed, clothes on, hands washed etc.  It is the best phone ever.  And no this isn't a sponsored post and I am not getting paid in anyway to say this.  It is just the straight up truth and I truly am that impressed by Samsungs Galaxy active.  I would take a picture of my awesome phone, but alas I only use my phone for my camera haha.  

The  moral to this story is Owl is sneaky and agile.  I am fairly certain he climbed up on the chair to get to my phone.  Destructo was never agile nor a climber like Owl.  It is funny how different kids can be.

Don't let this face fool you.  He is nothing but trouble.

What I would put in a Gift Package for a New Breastfeeding Mom

I used to post about breastfeeding and tips and tricks to make it a success all the time.  But then Destructo weaned and I started writing about other topics more.  Well it hit me that I never did a post like this.  I just had a childhood friend have a new sweet baby boy and I was thinking about ordering her a book that was a lifesaver to me.  Then this blog post idea popped into my head and I ran with it.

The book I had mentioned would be the first thing I would buy.  The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding became by breastfeeding bible.  It walks you through the different ages and stages and has an entire section devoted to all the problems that could arise on your breastfeeding journey.  It also has tables you can rip out and post on your fridge about safe handling of breast milk which was awesome.  It truly is a must read for any new mom.

I would include Booby Tubes.  These were wonderful for sore boobs when I was just starting out with my nursling but also for times when I would get a clogged duct.  I also had vasospasms so I used them for heat.  But you could also put them in the freezer and use them for cold packs if that made you feel better than heat.  Earth Mama Angel Baby is a really amazing company and I use a ton of their products.  In fact, I haven't found one yet that I don't like.

Another product that EMAB makes is Earth Mama Angel Baby Non GMO Natural Nipple Butter.  It is not made from any genetically modified organisms and is natural and better than lanolin for you and baby.  It works amazingly.  I wish I had known about this with Destructo when I really had sore boobs and nipples as he never had a great latch.  Owl was a much better nurser and I only had to use it the first few weeks.  I have also heard you can use it as a lip balm.  Yay for dual purposes.

I would include some sort of boobie pads.  If you wanted to spend more, you could get bamboobies.  These are reusable/washable breast pads and they work really well.  They are super soft and absorb a lot especially the over night ones.  For a disposable/cheaper option, I always preferred Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads.  Other brands made me itchy for whatever reason.  These were also smooth so you didn't get weird lumps under your shirt.

One thing that might seem out of place in this gift basket would be aden by aden + anais Swaddles.  Not to swaddle the baby but to use as a nursing cover.  These were amazing as a nursing cover.  I would tie a knot it two corners and put it around my neck.  It was super light weight, not hot, breathable, easy to fold small enough to fit easily in a diaper bag, and just amazing.

Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags would be in the basket.  I had very few leaks with this brand.  They also were easy to pour out into bottles.   I would include bottles of water because nursing makes you thirstier than if you were walking through a desert.  I would include snacks such as granola bars, trail mix packs, or nuts.  You are super hungry at first when you are nursing.  The last idea I have is something to make the new mom feel pretty.  Baby blues are real and I felt so much like nothing but a milk cow those first few dark, sleep deprived, exhausting days.  This would help me to feel less cow like and more woman like,

Source

So there you have it.  My ideas for a breastfeeding new mom gift basket.  What ideas would you guys include?

I hate cancer

A close internet friend recently had the shocking diagnosis of stage four neuroblastoma for her not quite three year old son Joe.  It just doesn't seem fair that a child who looks to be the picture of health can have cancer.  To know that he has such a long and winding road ahead of him on the road to kick cancer's butt.

It is one of my biggest fears as a mother.  To know that cancer could be lurking in my little boy's bodies with no outward signs just sends me running for my anxiety meds.  I can't even imagine being in my friends shoes right now.  

Please keep little Joe in your thoughts and prayers.  

Check out the links below for more info on Joe or to see pics of his adorable face.

http://www.youcaring.com/jacqui-and-joe-silvani-372997

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1444386385863062/?fref=nf

All by Myselffff

Mr. Destructo has been traveling a ton for work.  I am all by myself with these crazy kiddos.  Someone send reinforcements before I go to the loony bin. 

I have gotten used to his traveling over the past two years.  I still don't like it because then I am out numbered and as a stay at home mom never get a break.  It was actually a lot easier when I was working because at least I got away from the kiddos.  I CAN'T ESCAPE.  They are everywhere.  How are kids able to be everywhere at once.  

I only have two kids.  But yet I keep losing them.  Destructo can open doors.  Which means Owl escapes.  Then all of a sudden I notice it is way too quiet and lo and behold, the baby is wandering around the back yard.  

Someone help me......Vacation is in a week and a half.  Thank goodness.

Top Ten Favorite Art/Schoolwork Supplies for Preschoolers

As you all know, I am basically homeschooling Destructo for preschool.  I would like to put him in some sort of program this coming year but at best it will be ten hours a week.  Preschool is just so expensive.  So we do all kinds of schoolwork and crafts at home.

Here are my top ten favorite art supplies that we use on a regular basis.

1)  Do a Dot markers.  I love these for helping Destructo work on is fine motor skills.  I have found a lot of print outs that he can "paint" by using these.  They are basically bingo dabbers.  He has to keep the dot in the circle.

2)  Pipe Cleaners  So many uses.  Crafts, fine motor skills, he pretends they are spaghetti and cooks them.  You can put them in a strainer as a fine motor/busy activity.

3) Melissa & Doug Deluxe Alphabet Stamp Set.  This is the best money I have spent in quite awhile.  We use it to make words and to work on fine motor skills all at once.  He loves when I help him spell out simple words like mom, dad, etc.  But I sometimes write them on his dry erase board and he has to find the letters and stamp them onto paper. I also found some cool print outs that I use to have him stamp a letter in each circle and then stamp the word.  (If you like this one the link is on the bottom of the page!)

4) Googly eyes.  These make any art project more fun!

5) Crayola My First Crayola Washable Markers 8ct.  These markers had a rounded, blunt tip.  They were amazing when Destructo was first learning to use markers.  He couldn't push too hard and destroy the tip.

6) Jumbo Glue Sticks - 3 Pack.  These glue sticks are the best by far.  They are purple so Destructo can see where he is putting the glue.  They are really thick so he can't push so hard he breaks them in half.  I will never buy another type of glue stick again.

7) blunt kids scissors .  Scissors are a weapon in a toddler or preschoolers hands.  Blunt tip at least makes them less dangerous.

8) Color Wonder paper and markers.  These are great for when your kiddo wants to draw and color and you can't be rightthere to supervise.  They don't show up on walls, floors, and clothes.  They are also really good for car trips and church for this same reason.

9) Contact paper.  I will have to add a picture for this one tomorrow when Destructo is awake.  We use it for lots of things.  Makeshift laminating, collages, sticking things to walls and making it harder for Owl to immediately tear it down.  So useful.

 10) Pom Poms.  I use these for everything.  Crafts, games, counting practice, you name it, I have used pom poms for it.  Just be careful because they can be a choking hazard with littles.

There you have it.  My favorite art and school supplies at this moment in time.  What do you guys love?

Summer Fluff Fashions

Here is my totally unbiased list of top ten summer cloth diaper prints, styles, fashion.  Whatever.  And of course it is biased since it is my opinion haha.  All of these are available at the wonderful Kelly's Closet my favorite store to buy fluff fluff fluff.    Click here to visit Kelly's Closet and see for yourself why I love it so.  Free diaper coupons, points on each dollar you spend that can be redeemed for gift certificates, and awesome sales.

So on to my list.  I feel motivated tonight.  Like getting back my blog (back) on.  Maybe it is the happy pills.  Or maybe I just really miss blogging.  And Owl is down to one wake up a night finally at fourteen months.  ::side eyes the baby that hates sleep::

Anyways done rambling.

First on my list is Grovia shell in Adventure.  I mean what a perfect diaper for a camping road trip or a canoe trip.  I want this diaper badly.  But my last baby is already a year old so I really need to refrain from buying more diapers haha.

Blueberry in Snails is next up on my list.  Snails are the bane of my existence in the summer so they had to be included.  They have been decimating my veggie garden the past two years.  Does anyone have any wonderful organic snail remedies?  Nevertheless they scream summer to me so snail fluff it is.

Every last print in this Thirsties Ocean package is a must for the fashion forward fluff butt in your life.  There are whales, sand dollars, fish, octopi and more.  And yes this counts as one.  It is a package.

Softbums Omni in Froggy reminds me of chasing frogs and toads around my Aunt Cheryl's huge backyard and being oh so delighted when we captured them into buckets.  Now as an adult I love to listen to the sound of croaking frogs on a summer night.  It is relaxing and oh so summery.

Twinkle Tots Bots Easy Fit reminds me of being a kid and playing until dark on those long summer evenings.  Then watching the stars on your best friends lawn.  Okay this post was about fashion not my idyllic childhood but hey it can be both.  I hope my boys look back one day and have a smile on their faces just like I do when I picture summers of my youth.

Next up on the road through my past is the Moraki Nautical Collection.  We used to go to Lake Michigan nearly every summer for vacation.  The boat and anchor makes me think of a little fishing village where we used to get smoked fish and fish jerky called Leland in northern Michigan.

 Bottombumpers in Ahoy and Sweet Cherry remind me of summer for two reasons.  Pirates and the ocean scream vacation on the beach.  You might wonder why I chose a diaper with cherries on it.  Well as I mentioned previously we went "up north" every year for vacation.  Traverse City always has a cherry festival and we went to it every single year.  We would have cherry pit spitting contests (I sucked horribly at it), eat cherry ice cream, salsa, everything.  I remember getting so sticky from eating cherries on the beach.  We are actually going to Traverse City this year and I can't wait to take both my boys to all the places I loved as a kid.

Next up is Wolbybug cover in Ladybug.  This one is pretty self explanatory as the ladybugs are everywhere in summer.

Finally are Bonnie and Clyde Rumparooz.  What better print but to explain what happens when you don't securely put your trash up while camping.  Or when your brother in laws spread smoked fish around your tent as a prank.  I don't actually remember this happening but I have heard the stories.  Poor Uncle Tom.  Okay I don't actually know if that is ten or not.  I think it is a few more than ten but I am sure all you fluff lovers don't mind.

What diapers would you say are summer essentials?

All photos are via Kelly's Closet.   Be sure to check them out.





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