First, let me apologize for not keeping up with the 'blogging everyday' thing. I do the best that I can but sometimes I get home and am dead on my feet or am too busy making memories with my family and can't bear to be dragged away. I think that is worth the missed day, and I will make it up, I am sure.
I mentioned in a previous post that we use Bac-Out as a part of our cloth diaper wash routine. Bac-Out is an awesome product. It's made by Biokleen, which is a company that makes a lot of natural cleaners. It's technically called Bac-Out Stain and Odor Eliminator. You can use it as a cleanser for laundry, cloth diapers, carpets, drains, etc. It has a strong lemon/lime scent which is nice in the wash but doesn't remain on your clothes after the wash. It's natural, non-toxic and biodegradable.
Unfortunately, since not everyone has caught on to the awesome-ness of this cleaner, you can only purchase it from a select few brick and mortar stores. There are a lot of places online that you can order it from but usually the shipping cost + the cost of buying it online is higher than to just drive to the store(s) that you can buy it from.
The closest place that we can buy it from is a Kroger grocery store more than 10 miles away and we were having to drive out there twice a month to buy the only size that they had available which was 32oz. We decided that since we were going to be using this as a part of our diaper routine that we would just order a larger quantity online and hopefully get a discount for ordering more than a gallon.
I searched on amazon.com and found a deal ordering from a website called vine.com . They charged $31.87 for a gallon of Bac-Out including taxes and shipping, which was a deal since we were paying more than $14 for the product at Kroger not including tax or the cost of gas to get there. Plus they offered 2 day shipping.
When I picked up the box from the front porch I noticed that the outside of the box was wet and I was scared to open it. When Corry opened it, more than a cup of the product had leaked all over the box and the packaging inside because when UPS shipped the package they damaged the box. It was packaged with those inflatable bags inside of an appropriate sized box. Needless to say I was disappointed.
I went back to amazon the following day and filled out a complaint with the company just to let them know that the item was damaged. I just wanted them to know for the future that maybe they needed to package to assume that there would be damage by UPS or that they would speak with UPS about it. I expected an apology and maybe a 'we hope that you have a better experience next time'. What I got was totally unexpected. Within an hour of sending the complaint, I got a returned email from the company stating that they were sorry that I had such a bad experience and that they would send a replacement item out immediately and that I could expect it in two business days. I was shocked and amazed that a company would go out of their way to make my experience right. I was even more shocked this morning to see that the box already made it to my door. They sent it overnight to my house. I am blown away with this company's customer service. Not only did they apologize and make it right, but they made it better than my original experience. I would completely recommend this company to anyone who shops on Amazon.
Vine.com is a website that offers 'everything green' including soaps, cleaners, food, and household items. They have anything that you can want, it seems, on their site. They offer free delivery with a purchase over $49, which is awesome since they offer 2 day or faster shipping. This is definitely a company that I will order from again. They have definitely made a good impression on me and my family.
What company's have you had an excellent customer service experience with?
-Sara
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Favorite Baby Products
When I first got pregnant with Isabella I was overwhelmed by all of the baby items on the market. There were swings, and bouncers, jungle gyms and floor mats. How did you know which one to buy? Which opinion do you listen to – the woman who says her kids never used anything and it wasn’t worth the money or the woman who said her kid cried day and night unless they were in a swing? There are more options and research out there than you know what to do with.
I was personally overwhelmed because I didn’t want to waste money and I knew that, at that time, baby products as a whole didn’t have a high resale value. I didn’t want to buy an item for $100 and only get $10 with it when I sold it even if my child did not use it. I knew that we needed some items like a crib, a stroller and a car seat but the rest was up in the air.
Luckily Corry and I are not picky parents at all when it comes to some of the baby gear. I didn’t care if all of our items matched or were even gender specific. I knew that we were going to have another child after Isabella and so I didn’t want to have to repurchase a whole new set of items if the second baby ended up being male. We are also very lucky that we live in a rather large metropolis that participates very heavily in the consignment sale scene. We bought a lot of different items, including clothing at consignment sales.
Below is a list of my favorite baby products, where we bought them and some general ideas about each one of them. I am definitely not saying that this is an end all be all list of the items that you need for a baby – this is just a list of items that worked well for us and our opinions on each one. I will touch on baby toys, nursery furniture, and baby fashion in separate blogs.
Moby wrap
Ahh the Moby wrap. There is nothing else like the feeling that you first get when you open up the fabric pouch for the Moby and like 9 million feet of fabric rolls out onto the floor. For me, it was sheer panic. How am I ever going to figure this thing out? What if I can’t figure out how to tie this wrap correctly? Luckily with the help of thousands of videos on YouTube I was able to get it tied on correctly.
Our kids loved the Moby wrap. Well, Isabella loved it. Silas tolerated it for a few months but didn’t care for it nearly as much as Isabella. She would sleep in it our entire shopping trips in the store. I started wearing her in the wrap after the ‘stranger putting her finger in Isabella’s mouth thing’ see post HERE. She got more attention when I wore her than she ever got in her car seat but I had total control over how much access people had. I quickly realized that people were a lot less likely to touch your baby if you were wearing them than if they were just hanging out in a car seat. Silas was a much larger baby and so I wasn’t able to carry him in it for as long and he has always been headstrong so carrying him in a wrap has always been a battle of wills. He prefers the Ergo. Well, now he prefers to walk, but he used to prefer the Ergo.
Swing
Our sister bought us our swing for Isabella. We put her in it for the first time when she was about a month or so old and she seemed kind of ‘eh’ about it. She didn’t particularly hate it or love it. She would sleep in it sometimes but it definitely wasn’t guaranteed to make her go to sleep like some babies. She learned to love it a lot more once Silas got here. She was WAY too big for it at that point and I think that she just wanted in it because there was a new baby in it. She did the same thing with the bouncer and the Moses basket.
We used the same swing for Silas and Addison but they much preferred the swings that moved side to side instead of just front to back. They would sleep for hours in the swings everyday and for awhile that was the only way that we could get Silas to sleep at night was to put him in the swing.
I would definitely recommend a good swing that you can plug into the wall because constantly having to load batteries into a swing gets annoying. I wish that we could just go back to the old school crank style swings, but the newer ones are nice that have music. Isabella liked the music to calm her down but Silas hated it. To each his own, I suppose.
Mobile
Mobiles are expensive for what they are. I mean, realistically it’s a music box with a plastic arm with a few small stuffed toys attached to it. We bought one from either a consignment sale or craigslist; I can’t recall. Isabella never cared for the moving parts, but she has LOVED the music box part and still uses it everyday to put herself to sleep. Silas and Addison absolutely loved the moving parts especially during diaper changes when it was difficult to keep them entertained. It didn’t really matter which model it was; this was definitely a good buy, as long as you can get one used.
Car Seat
We have used several car seats since Isabella was born. When we were pregnant with her we decided to use the Chicco stroller and car seat travel system. It had a nice material that wiped off easily and wasn’t particularly heavy without an infant inside. The stroller folded down easily and had lots of space for accessories, purses, diaper bags, etc. It was heavily used by us and has been heavily used by sister for Addison since she was born and still is in very good condition. The convertible car seat that we got after we stopped using the infant carrier was good for the time. It wasn’t my favorite because it had such high sides and was difficult to get Isabella in and out of it without banging either her head or her legs on either the seat or the top of the car. We were in a minor car accident when Isabella was a few months old, so we got a new seat. We decided to go with the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL. We absolutely adore this seat. I will touch on our car seat requirements in another video, but I will say that a higher rear facing weight was definitely one of our top requirements. The Sunshine Kids car seat can rear face up to 45lbs. It has a seat cover that easily comes off and cleans nicely. It also allows for three car seats to fit in a standard car backseat. We loved it so much that we bought another one for Silas. Now the brand is Diono but it’s the same basic seat. It is expensive but there are deals to be found out there and when it comes down to it, this is one thing that is totally worth spending the money on. What is more important that your child’s safety?
Stroller
Corry made it clear from the beginning that he wasn’t a fan of double strollers. Either they were too wide to be able to fit through most doors or aisles, or they were so long it was like driving a limo. I first heard about the Britax B-Ready on YouTube and thought that it looked neat. I figured that I could never get Corry to go for it for two reasons: 1) because it is a bit expensive ($499.00 for just the stroller without any accessories and without the second seat, and 2) because of the odd look to the stroller itself.
I took him by BuyBuyBaby one day when we were pregnant with Silas and he fell in love with it. He didn’t care for the cost but we found out that Britax runs a semi-annual sale that allows you to buy a stroller and get a second item for free. We knew that we would need a new infant seat so we decided to go for it.
We absolutely love this stroller. We get comments and compliments on our stroller every time we go out in public. It folds down the same size as our singleton stroller. It is heavy with both seats, but that is expected with a double stroller. A lot of people think that the lower seat is disadvantaged because they wouldn’t be able to see, but we find it to be totally the opposite. Isabella loves being in the bottom seat because she can easily get in and out of it with little help and she can still interact with her environment.
Muslin Blankets
When I first saw these blankets, I thought that it was just a gimmick. They are marketed as having the ability to better regulate baby’s temperature because there is breathability with the fabric. My husband flipped out because of the cost of the blankets. They are about $30-$40 for four blankets which seems crazy but they are awesome. It is easy to swaddle your babies with these blankets and they are super soft which is helpful with young babies. Silas still sleeps with one of these blankets as a ‘blankie’ every day. He would carry it around like Linus everywhere if we would allow him.
This is our basic list of our favorite baby items. We love all of these items and still use some of them even today. What are your favorite baby items?
-Sara
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Recipe Fail: Tuna Noodle Casserole
While Corry and I are on this restricted eating plan we eat a lot of meals with tuna; mostly tuna salad but sometimes other recipes. It is relatively low in calories, easy to make and good protein. At some point we acquired like 30 cans of tuna - I blame the frequent trips to Costco.
We were down to two cans of tuna remaining from the 30 so I figured that since Corry was on call I would make something for dinner with those cans. I searched the Cooking Light archives online for something to make that hopefully fit within our calorie count and came across a recipe for Tuna Noodle Casserole. The picture looked awesome and the ingredients didn't sound weird so I decided to give it a try.
Now, I will confess right now that I am the master of picking awful recipes off the internet. If there is one bad recipe online then I will find it and decide to make it. Just say tootsie roll brownies in my house and everyone will agree with this statement. (I was on a sodium restricted diet for one of the radiation treatments that I had to do as a follow up to having my thyroid removed. We found this recipe for a brownie with no salt that turned into like a tootsie roll consistency. Bad.)
Because of these awful recipe experiences, I have learned to not only read through the recipe for 'weird' ingredients - things that seem out of place that might turn out bad. Too much salt, baking powder instead of soda, etc. I have also learned to read through the comments on the recipe. I have learned many gems through just reading through the first few comments. Often times people will post their comment after they have made the recipe once and it was awful, so they remade it with changes and document those changes. This is where you pick up that you might need to add spice to a bland recipe, that you might want to cook your ground beef before just putting it into the oven, etc.
Back to this Tuna Noodle Casserole... the comments said that the original recipe was bland so that you might want to add some extra salt and spice(s) while you were cooking it. Noted. Since it came from Cooking Light I knew that it would say do not add salt while you were cooking the pasta so I figured that could be a bit of the problem. It was not. Corry added his Cajun spice blend to his bowl and said that it was good, but I think that he was just being nice, even though I told him that he could eat something else and I wouldn't be upset. I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt and it still didn't taste okay to me. I will post the recipe exactly as written. Try it if you dare.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
8 ozs pasta
1/2 medium onion
1/4 cup carrots, diced or shredded
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
2 3/4 cups fat free milk
4 ozs low fat cream cheese
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1 cup green peas
1/2 cup Parmesan, divided
10 ounces Tuna
Cook pasta according to directions on box and drain. Saute olive oil, carrots and onion over medium heat for approximately 6 minutes or until carrots are softened. Add flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add milk, stirring constantly for approximately 6 minutes. Mixture will become thickened. After thickened, add cream cheese, Dijon, salt and pepper. Continue stirring until well mixed, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Add pasta, peas, tuna, and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Mix well and add to greased pan. Top with remaining Parmesan and heat under broiler approximately 5 minutes.
Each serving is 1 1/3 cups and is approximately 475 calories. Let me say that it was a decent meal. It wasn't great by any means and it required too many modifications to make again to try out different combinations of flavors. There was WAY too much dijon mustard, so if you do anything, cut that down significantly. I am hoping to find a good recipe for a tuna casserole at some point that doesn't contain like 1,000 calories or more per serving.
Please share if you have a good recipe.
- Sara
We were down to two cans of tuna remaining from the 30 so I figured that since Corry was on call I would make something for dinner with those cans. I searched the Cooking Light archives online for something to make that hopefully fit within our calorie count and came across a recipe for Tuna Noodle Casserole. The picture looked awesome and the ingredients didn't sound weird so I decided to give it a try.
Now, I will confess right now that I am the master of picking awful recipes off the internet. If there is one bad recipe online then I will find it and decide to make it. Just say tootsie roll brownies in my house and everyone will agree with this statement. (I was on a sodium restricted diet for one of the radiation treatments that I had to do as a follow up to having my thyroid removed. We found this recipe for a brownie with no salt that turned into like a tootsie roll consistency. Bad.)
Because of these awful recipe experiences, I have learned to not only read through the recipe for 'weird' ingredients - things that seem out of place that might turn out bad. Too much salt, baking powder instead of soda, etc. I have also learned to read through the comments on the recipe. I have learned many gems through just reading through the first few comments. Often times people will post their comment after they have made the recipe once and it was awful, so they remade it with changes and document those changes. This is where you pick up that you might need to add spice to a bland recipe, that you might want to cook your ground beef before just putting it into the oven, etc.
Back to this Tuna Noodle Casserole... the comments said that the original recipe was bland so that you might want to add some extra salt and spice(s) while you were cooking it. Noted. Since it came from Cooking Light I knew that it would say do not add salt while you were cooking the pasta so I figured that could be a bit of the problem. It was not. Corry added his Cajun spice blend to his bowl and said that it was good, but I think that he was just being nice, even though I told him that he could eat something else and I wouldn't be upset. I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt and it still didn't taste okay to me. I will post the recipe exactly as written. Try it if you dare.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
8 ozs pasta
1/2 medium onion
1/4 cup carrots, diced or shredded
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flour
2 3/4 cups fat free milk
4 ozs low fat cream cheese
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1 cup green peas
1/2 cup Parmesan, divided
10 ounces Tuna
Cook pasta according to directions on box and drain. Saute olive oil, carrots and onion over medium heat for approximately 6 minutes or until carrots are softened. Add flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add milk, stirring constantly for approximately 6 minutes. Mixture will become thickened. After thickened, add cream cheese, Dijon, salt and pepper. Continue stirring until well mixed, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. Add pasta, peas, tuna, and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Mix well and add to greased pan. Top with remaining Parmesan and heat under broiler approximately 5 minutes.
Each serving is 1 1/3 cups and is approximately 475 calories. Let me say that it was a decent meal. It wasn't great by any means and it required too many modifications to make again to try out different combinations of flavors. There was WAY too much dijon mustard, so if you do anything, cut that down significantly. I am hoping to find a good recipe for a tuna casserole at some point that doesn't contain like 1,000 calories or more per serving.
Please share if you have a good recipe.
- Sara
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Dieting sucks
Being on a diet sucks. A lot. And the worst part is, I am not even on a diet yet.
Back when I was pregnant with Silas, Corry went to the doctor for the first time since he was a newborn, I think. The doctor warned him about his blood pressure (which he knew was previously high) and his weight. He made a resolution to eat better and much fewer calories and lost 70ish lbs in just a few months. During that time, I also starting eating better and cutting out all the junk food, sodas, etc. I lost about 30 lbs in the same amount of time. And then I was 9 months pregnant and feeling like Godzilla and I was ridiculously un-excited about eating better, so we started eating horribly again.
A few months ago, we decided that we wanted to get back on the eating plan from before and just never have. My job annually hosts a "biggest loser" competition to inspire folks to get in shape, eat better and exercise. I have never participated in said competition. I don't want to sign up this year but I did tell my husband that I want to get back on the eating plan during the time that my job is hosting this event. This should give us enough time to be on the plan so that once the competition is over, we should be able to easily maintain and further increase the weight loss that will have occurred up until that point.
One of the most difficult parts of being on a restricted eating plan is not calling it a diet. You will notice that even if you say the word diet, you feel immediately angry. I try to say restricted eating plan, or something like that. I try to not tell many people when I start something like this because I don't want to constantly talk about it when they ask how it is going, etc. I think it's that I am also always afraid of failing and having to be accountable to someone. I guess this is completely the opposite of that by spreading this news on my blog?
Once the first week is over generally I feel better. The first week is spent either starving or detoxing from all of the junk that I have been consuming recently. We are strictly just lowering calories. This was the advice of the doctor. I am still trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and not just eat like one item totally 1,100 calories for the day. I also am trying to eat more olives, pickles, and 'sour' type items because I have developed quite the sweet tooth over the past few weeks and am going to try to kick that habit. Eating olives and pickles has helped me with that in the past.
Tomorrows menu:
Breakfast
1 hard boiled egg
1 Torta bread (we found these at Costco)
2 cups coffee w/ 1/4 cup skim milk and 1 tbsp coffee creamer
Calories: 398
Snack
1 plum
1 100 calorie yogurt
Calories: 150
Lunch
4 ozs turkey breast
1 oz Colby jack cheese
1 oz pita chips
2 pickles
1 hard boiled egg
Calories: 420
Snack
1 hard boiled egg
6 olives
Calories: 130
Dinner - undecided
Total without dinner: 1098
My goal at this point is to get right at or under 1500 for the day. This is a bit less than when I was on this plan before and I was able to lose some weight. I have a tendency to snack at work because I feel like I am hungry. I am trying to combat this in two ways. I am bringing 2-3L of unsweetened tea to drink during the day to remind me to drink liquids since I could just be thirsty. And two, by eating protein (Greek yogurt, eggs, etc.) any time that I eat.
I am also going to follow my job's plan and weigh once a week. I am, of course, not going to reveal the number but I do plan on reporting back how much weight I have lost. Wish me luck!
-Sara
Back when I was pregnant with Silas, Corry went to the doctor for the first time since he was a newborn, I think. The doctor warned him about his blood pressure (which he knew was previously high) and his weight. He made a resolution to eat better and much fewer calories and lost 70ish lbs in just a few months. During that time, I also starting eating better and cutting out all the junk food, sodas, etc. I lost about 30 lbs in the same amount of time. And then I was 9 months pregnant and feeling like Godzilla and I was ridiculously un-excited about eating better, so we started eating horribly again.
A few months ago, we decided that we wanted to get back on the eating plan from before and just never have. My job annually hosts a "biggest loser" competition to inspire folks to get in shape, eat better and exercise. I have never participated in said competition. I don't want to sign up this year but I did tell my husband that I want to get back on the eating plan during the time that my job is hosting this event. This should give us enough time to be on the plan so that once the competition is over, we should be able to easily maintain and further increase the weight loss that will have occurred up until that point.
One of the most difficult parts of being on a restricted eating plan is not calling it a diet. You will notice that even if you say the word diet, you feel immediately angry. I try to say restricted eating plan, or something like that. I try to not tell many people when I start something like this because I don't want to constantly talk about it when they ask how it is going, etc. I think it's that I am also always afraid of failing and having to be accountable to someone. I guess this is completely the opposite of that by spreading this news on my blog?
Once the first week is over generally I feel better. The first week is spent either starving or detoxing from all of the junk that I have been consuming recently. We are strictly just lowering calories. This was the advice of the doctor. I am still trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and not just eat like one item totally 1,100 calories for the day. I also am trying to eat more olives, pickles, and 'sour' type items because I have developed quite the sweet tooth over the past few weeks and am going to try to kick that habit. Eating olives and pickles has helped me with that in the past.
Tomorrows menu:
Breakfast
1 hard boiled egg
1 Torta bread (we found these at Costco)
2 cups coffee w/ 1/4 cup skim milk and 1 tbsp coffee creamer
Calories: 398
Snack
1 plum
1 100 calorie yogurt
Calories: 150
Lunch
4 ozs turkey breast
1 oz Colby jack cheese
1 oz pita chips
2 pickles
1 hard boiled egg
Calories: 420
Snack
1 hard boiled egg
6 olives
Calories: 130
Dinner - undecided
Total without dinner: 1098
My goal at this point is to get right at or under 1500 for the day. This is a bit less than when I was on this plan before and I was able to lose some weight. I have a tendency to snack at work because I feel like I am hungry. I am trying to combat this in two ways. I am bringing 2-3L of unsweetened tea to drink during the day to remind me to drink liquids since I could just be thirsty. And two, by eating protein (Greek yogurt, eggs, etc.) any time that I eat.
I am also going to follow my job's plan and weigh once a week. I am, of course, not going to reveal the number but I do plan on reporting back how much weight I have lost. Wish me luck!
-Sara
Friday, March 22, 2013
If a mom was President...
Let's all take a break from our current reality with our jobs and stress and think about the major differences in our world if a Mom were President of the United States.
There would be a balanced budget and no more debt. Can't you just hear the 'mom voice' - "Do you think money grows on trees?" We would all have hand me down clothes and would save money for things that we wanted instead of just charging it. Moms are a master at being able to stretch a dollar, and I don't know many economic majors that could balance a budget like a Mom can. Once you are a mom, or a parent in general, you suddenly have to think about 900 moving pieces all simultaneously and to get all of those perfectly in line and manage to do it under a certain amount of money a year taking a certifiable genius.
There wouldn't be terrorists because right before anyone was setting off bombs or meeting to discuss any kind of terroristic activity, she would show up and say something like "I've got eyes in the back of my head and I have been watching you this whole time." How do moms have this ability? I have noticed that since my child has been I have been using a similar line more and more. My kids can be in the toy room and I can just sense that they are doing something that I would prefer that they not be doing.
There would be a balanced budget and no more debt. Can't you just hear the 'mom voice' - "Do you think money grows on trees?" We would all have hand me down clothes and would save money for things that we wanted instead of just charging it. Moms are a master at being able to stretch a dollar, and I don't know many economic majors that could balance a budget like a Mom can. Once you are a mom, or a parent in general, you suddenly have to think about 900 moving pieces all simultaneously and to get all of those perfectly in line and manage to do it under a certain amount of money a year taking a certifiable genius.
There wouldn't be terrorists because right before anyone was setting off bombs or meeting to discuss any kind of terroristic activity, she would show up and say something like "I've got eyes in the back of my head and I have been watching you this whole time." How do moms have this ability? I have noticed that since my child has been I have been using a similar line more and more. My kids can be in the toy room and I can just sense that they are doing something that I would prefer that they not be doing.
There wouldn't be any wars because we all know how moms are about fighting. We would have one big world-sized 'get along shirt' that we all would have to wear in order to stop killing one another, fighting in wars, etc. The US would be in one gigantic never-ending timeout because there isn't a switch big enough to teach us all a lesson at the same time.
In all fairness, I don't speak negatively about the President or any other elected official because I don't vote. It's a personal choice for me that I probably will touch on in a later blog. This is strictly meant to be as a joke and just something humorous to think about.
What other things do you think would be different if a mom was the President?
-Sara
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Why can't people do their jobs?
I just want people to do their jobs.
I don't care what your job title is. I have respect for people who work all kinds of jobs from CEO's to people who flip burgers. What I don't have respect for is people who don't do their jobs. You obviously were qualified enough to *get* the job; so do it!
Tonight Corry was on-call with his job. This is a less than joyous occasion because it never fails that he is out for hours at a time after his normal working hours. I appreciate the work that he does and that he supports our family and works hard, but it still stinks to be at home by yourself. I got lazy and decided to pick up some fast food for dinner... don't judge.
We drive into the closest town and pull up the speaker at a Taco Bueno. I tell the guy that I want two kid's meals. Both with applesauce and an unsweet tea. He responds with "hold on hold on hold on" and proceeds to ask me to repeat the order. I'm agitated but prepared for things like this at the speaker. I repeat it and he questions my drink twice on each kid's meal. Can you see the blank stare that I am starting to take on at this point?
I repeat the order again and then tell him what I want for my order. I have a confession. I gave up sodas for one of my resolutions this year and was doing amazing at it for two months. Over the last two weeks or so I have been awful and have been full time back to drinking sodas. Corry and I are back on our eating plan starting on Monday with the rest of my job's Biggest Loser program so the 'no drinking sodas' thing will be back on in full force starting on Monday. I digress... he tells me they are out of three different sodas and that I will have to pick something else and then repeats back my order with a "something like that" in the middle of the substitution that I explicitly spelled out. I should have known this was going to spell disaster.
I should back up and say that if we would have been with Corry we would have gone inside to eat and this would have never happened. However, I still have yet to figure out the logistics of eating out with two small mobile children. Because I knew that we were not going to be getting out I didn't make sure that any of us were dressed appropriately. Silas was in a shirt and a diaper, and Isabella and I didn't have any shoes on. I didn't look in the bags when he handed them to me because I (wrongly) assumed that it would be fine.
I get home and start dispensing food. Both kid's meals were missing applesauce. There were no straws for any of our three drinks. There was no plastic ware or napkins. And my entire order was wrong. All of the items that we ordered were wrong. Why does this happen? This is a fast food establishment. There are not that many items on the menu to where it would be confusing about what was ordered or what was in the bag.
On top of all of that, I look at the toy that was included in the kid's meals. It is a Mr. Potato Head that has removable pieces. The bag clearly says that it is for ages 2 and up (left). There are pieces in this bag for this toy that are smaller than a silver dollar. Picture to the right is two of the pieces from each set compared to an iPhone. What was the person doing who decided the age limits on that toy? Do they not know that any and all children put EVERYTHING in their mouths? Inappropriate.
It's been a long week already and I just needed to vent. Luckily since we are getting back on the plan on Monday I won't have to deal with this fast food stuff much longer.
I don't care what your job title is. I have respect for people who work all kinds of jobs from CEO's to people who flip burgers. What I don't have respect for is people who don't do their jobs. You obviously were qualified enough to *get* the job; so do it!
Tonight Corry was on-call with his job. This is a less than joyous occasion because it never fails that he is out for hours at a time after his normal working hours. I appreciate the work that he does and that he supports our family and works hard, but it still stinks to be at home by yourself. I got lazy and decided to pick up some fast food for dinner... don't judge.
We drive into the closest town and pull up the speaker at a Taco Bueno. I tell the guy that I want two kid's meals. Both with applesauce and an unsweet tea. He responds with "hold on hold on hold on" and proceeds to ask me to repeat the order. I'm agitated but prepared for things like this at the speaker. I repeat it and he questions my drink twice on each kid's meal. Can you see the blank stare that I am starting to take on at this point?
I repeat the order again and then tell him what I want for my order. I have a confession. I gave up sodas for one of my resolutions this year and was doing amazing at it for two months. Over the last two weeks or so I have been awful and have been full time back to drinking sodas. Corry and I are back on our eating plan starting on Monday with the rest of my job's Biggest Loser program so the 'no drinking sodas' thing will be back on in full force starting on Monday. I digress... he tells me they are out of three different sodas and that I will have to pick something else and then repeats back my order with a "something like that" in the middle of the substitution that I explicitly spelled out. I should have known this was going to spell disaster.
I should back up and say that if we would have been with Corry we would have gone inside to eat and this would have never happened. However, I still have yet to figure out the logistics of eating out with two small mobile children. Because I knew that we were not going to be getting out I didn't make sure that any of us were dressed appropriately. Silas was in a shirt and a diaper, and Isabella and I didn't have any shoes on. I didn't look in the bags when he handed them to me because I (wrongly) assumed that it would be fine.
I get home and start dispensing food. Both kid's meals were missing applesauce. There were no straws for any of our three drinks. There was no plastic ware or napkins. And my entire order was wrong. All of the items that we ordered were wrong. Why does this happen? This is a fast food establishment. There are not that many items on the menu to where it would be confusing about what was ordered or what was in the bag.
On top of all of that, I look at the toy that was included in the kid's meals. It is a Mr. Potato Head that has removable pieces. The bag clearly says that it is for ages 2 and up (left). There are pieces in this bag for this toy that are smaller than a silver dollar. Picture to the right is two of the pieces from each set compared to an iPhone. What was the person doing who decided the age limits on that toy? Do they not know that any and all children put EVERYTHING in their mouths? Inappropriate. It's been a long week already and I just needed to vent. Luckily since we are getting back on the plan on Monday I won't have to deal with this fast food stuff much longer.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Isabella the hoarder
When should you start to get worried that your child has a hoarding problem?
Once Isabella started sleeping in her bed, she slept with her pink glow-worm in her bed. Yes, even when she was a baby - we also used bumpers too ... don't judge. Once Silas was born and her crib was moved into her own room she slept with her music toy (just the music part of a baby crib mobile - see right) and her glow-worm, a pillow and a blanket. A review of this mobile is coming because this has been one of Isabella's favorite items ever. She still listens to this music every single night before going to bed. She seemed fine with that and has usually been awesome about going in her crib and putting herself to sleep. I feel compelled to say that we do not practice cry-it-out; we have been blessed with kids who fall asleep easily.
A few months ago she started asking to take a toy with her when she went to bed. At first it was cute. It was a baby here and a stuffed animal there. However, we quickly realized that it was impossible to remove that item in the morning. It was like asking her to pull off one of her own toe nails to get the stuffed animal back out. And don't even think about saying no that she couldn't take something to bed. Complete toddler meltdown.
We let it go on for some time until it became a game for her. Once you would tell her that it was time for bed, she would gather up every toy that she saw from the place that she was standing until she got to her bed. Sometimes she would tell you that it was too heavy and ask you to carry it for her. This got ridiculous quick. Mom would clean out the bed in the morning and by the afternoon Isabella had amassed an entirely new set of items in or around the bed to be taken into bed during nap time.
Eventually we had to put our foot down and tell her that she couldn't take things to bed with her anymore. Corry and I talked about it before hand that we would leave the items in her bed that were already in there, but we would limit the new items that she would be allowed to take in there. This was a lot easier said than done because a screaming, crying toddler is fairly persuasive around bedtime. Lately we have been able to just tell her that we are going to lay down with Rosie (super cheap Target baby named after the younger sister on Cailou) and she will be fine.
She still has quite a few items in bed including several blankets. More specifically she has all of these items (except the two frames):
3 pillows, three blankets and herself in bed with her at all times. From what I heard, this is normal, right? On one hand, I feel like we are raising a hoarder by allowing her to do this. However, on the other hand, if it isn't hurting her, it isn't stopping her from sleeping and it's comforting her at night, why should I take these items away from her? I am inclined to leave them alone and let her have them in her bed.
If we are truly raising a future hoarder, at least right now she is collecting cute items and she looks so precious doing it!
-Sara
Once Isabella started sleeping in her bed, she slept with her pink glow-worm in her bed. Yes, even when she was a baby - we also used bumpers too ... don't judge. Once Silas was born and her crib was moved into her own room she slept with her music toy (just the music part of a baby crib mobile - see right) and her glow-worm, a pillow and a blanket. A review of this mobile is coming because this has been one of Isabella's favorite items ever. She still listens to this music every single night before going to bed. She seemed fine with that and has usually been awesome about going in her crib and putting herself to sleep. I feel compelled to say that we do not practice cry-it-out; we have been blessed with kids who fall asleep easily. A few months ago she started asking to take a toy with her when she went to bed. At first it was cute. It was a baby here and a stuffed animal there. However, we quickly realized that it was impossible to remove that item in the morning. It was like asking her to pull off one of her own toe nails to get the stuffed animal back out. And don't even think about saying no that she couldn't take something to bed. Complete toddler meltdown.
We let it go on for some time until it became a game for her. Once you would tell her that it was time for bed, she would gather up every toy that she saw from the place that she was standing until she got to her bed. Sometimes she would tell you that it was too heavy and ask you to carry it for her. This got ridiculous quick. Mom would clean out the bed in the morning and by the afternoon Isabella had amassed an entirely new set of items in or around the bed to be taken into bed during nap time.
Eventually we had to put our foot down and tell her that she couldn't take things to bed with her anymore. Corry and I talked about it before hand that we would leave the items in her bed that were already in there, but we would limit the new items that she would be allowed to take in there. This was a lot easier said than done because a screaming, crying toddler is fairly persuasive around bedtime. Lately we have been able to just tell her that we are going to lay down with Rosie (super cheap Target baby named after the younger sister on Cailou) and she will be fine.
She still has quite a few items in bed including several blankets. More specifically she has all of these items (except the two frames):
3 pillows, three blankets and herself in bed with her at all times. From what I heard, this is normal, right? On one hand, I feel like we are raising a hoarder by allowing her to do this. However, on the other hand, if it isn't hurting her, it isn't stopping her from sleeping and it's comforting her at night, why should I take these items away from her? I am inclined to leave them alone and let her have them in her bed.
If we are truly raising a future hoarder, at least right now she is collecting cute items and she looks so precious doing it!
-Sara
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