A Thousand Words Thursday....H1N1 Edition:

Put the swine down, and back away slowly....

I'm really REALLY asking for it-

So here's the deal... the babies are not giving me the usual bloggity-ammo.  As a matter of fact, I am posting simply to let you know that I have nothing to post. Really.  There's just a wonderful amount of nothing going  on around here these last few days.   Miss Sofs is being as awesome as ever, and the boy is working hard to take the title of "best baby on the entire planet!" away from his big sister.  I don't want to jinx anything by telling you just how well-behaved everyone has been, so-for now-let's just say... eeking-fray amazing-ay abies-bay!*

And also- ohpleasegodtellmemychildrenwillneverevereverstopbeingthisawesome!!**

you may now bask in the glow of the super-babies:

...well, hello perfect angles!***

*I am operating under the assumption that the evil gods of 'there take THAT!' do not speak pig-latin

**I am also hoping to confuse the aforementioned whores of fate by speaking quickly and in italics

***Yes, I know that tomorrow when I'm screaming and crying and pulling my hair out-we'll all be able to look back on this post and laugh about how I just effing set myself up.  I can't wait.  no, really... I can.

A Thousand Words Thursday....

The long awaited arrival of spring= eh. 

If green is the new black, then I'm inching toward chartreuse...

As a mom, I've been giving a lot of thought to the part I play in the world my children will inherit.  I really want to make sure that at least a few of the beautiful parts of the planet I grew up with are available to my children.  I won't lie, it's a difficult and, dare I say, uphill battle, to balance the deluge of information, the cost of "green-living," and the aspects that will actually work in my family and in my life.  But, rather than grumble about the changes I've not yet made, or the difficult decisions that lay before me at each turn... I'll share some of the [VERY] small things Patton and I have implemented around this here house.

• Probably the biggest decision we made, early on, was to use cloth diapers.  We researched endlessly, crunched the numbers and decided that the benefits of cloth diapering were huge in comparison to the inconveniences (which I must admit are very small- especially considering the blow-out factor and the amount of poo I was handling on a regular basis with disposables)  We loaded up on bumGenius 3.0's and have never looked back.  When you factor in baby two, the cost savings in addition to the eco-savings, are H.U.G.E.  
  
• To go along with the diapering, we switched over to a high-efficiency front load washer and dryer.  The washer uses a miniscule amount of water and detergent in comparison to a regular washer and it is amazing the difference it's made to our water consumption.  That beast spins the hell out of the laundry, cutting the drying  down to a fraction of it's old time!  LOVE IT!
  
• We use eco-friendly soaps all over the house:  Laundry detergent by Charlie Soap(I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!) dish and hand soap by Kirkland's 'Environmentally Friendly' line (leave it to COSTCO to come up with a catchy name *Pshaw!)  and use Seventh Generation or J.R. Watkins Natural Home Care cleaning products.  Bleach use is near non-existent, though I must admit- it's been a bit more common in the last couple of weeks in ridding our house of the yuck that followed Sofie home.
• I buy as much organic food stuffs as my budget will allow, and am making a concerted effort to buy local and in season (very hard to do at GIANT, but the local farmer's markets will start up again in the next couple of weeks and I'm salivating at the thought!).
• I shy away from scary plastics in both furnishings and toys for my babies and encourage play with toys made of wood or other sustainable materials.* I also having been working hard to keep the purchase of new toys and products to a minimum.  I am making the effort to search for gently used and recycled items before buying new (Thank you Craigslist and Freecycle!)  *this is not to suggest that I don't have a fair share of Fisher Price lurking about!
• We tote reusable grocery bags.  We've switched to compact floresence. We use recycled containers instead of Ziplock bags.   Just this week we installed a tankless water heater (which in addition to ultimately lowering our electricity consumption has encouraged us to use more cool water (saving us major dough!)).  We turn off the lights at night, keep the thermostat at a reasonable (and sometimes not so reasonable temperature- 68 in the winter=BURRRRRRR)  and keep our electronics plugged into a power strip which we switch off while not charging.  

I know this is not life changing stuff-  I also know there is a lot more we could and should be doing as responsible and educated citizens.  But this is a fair start, and I hope to continue implementing positive changes... which leads me to the real reason for this post.... a question.

What small thing do you do in your daily routine that I might implement into mine?  I'd love some new ideas to re-energize the pursuit.  So, do tell!  

And while you ponder... pictures... of all natural babies... made of real ingredients... and stuff.

A few of my faves.

I am not so much a "product reviewer" but, just for today, I thought I'd list of few of my favorite things... all are baby related, but I love each of the following...intensely...

bumGenius 3.0 one-size diapers:  

Quite possibly the best decision I ever made- for the environment and for my babies bums!  I am, recently, even more appreciative- as we switched over to disposables during our recent bout with 'the sickness' and had to deal with the subsequent diaper rash that is associated with paper diapers.  BumGenius are not only eco-friendly, and easy on the hineys... they are also SUPER-ADORABLE!!  

The Baby Whisperer:

Best.Book.EVER!  This was recommended to me by a close friend with amazing children and I have since passed it on to every one I know in the "knocked-up" department.  I love the middle-of-the-road philosophies and time tested strategies for getting babies on a solid routine of eating and sleeping.  If you have babies (or will have babies) READ IT!  SIX TIMES!  

Land of Nod:

Boy, oh boy!  This website is DANGEROUSLY ADORABLE!!  I love it all... no, I NEED it all!  The toys and furniture KILL ME!  Okay, I'll stop screaming about it and let you check it out for yourself... I mean it, Go CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!

Oompa toys:

Another amazing toy/gear website.  This one boasts European and American made toys of the "not so toxic for your pres-shus little baby" variety.  Awesome... and can I just say I LOVE Habba's doll collection

Tea Collection Clothing:  

Super adorable clothing for the little ones!  This is a prime example of a manufacturer that gets how cute boy clothing can be.  If only I could afford closets and closets full ....

Cool Mom Picks: 

For a proper foray into product reviews and all things awesome for mamas and babies- cool mom picks is the absolute best.  I love the way they conveniently gather amazing tid bits from all over the web and deliver them daily to my  reader.  Many a cool find can be credited to these lovely ladies. .. Also, they produce incredible gift guides (for holidays and showers etc) and offer giveaways and drawings almost daily!  Sweet!

There. Now you have all my secrets... this message will self destruct in 10 seconds

As Promised: The Gory Details of Our Last Two Weeks

It went a little something like this:

  Firstly, a late night wake up of a certain little girl, a week ago Monday, that included- but was not limited to, a high fever,  quite a bit of moaning and the start of what would be 2 full weeks of a full-color spectrum of diarrhea (every. two. hours.)  

  Secondly, a Tuesday comprised of an even higher fever coupled with a VERY pathetic baby, who was completely unable (or unwilling) to eat.  Every piece-of-shit thermometer in the house was employed to try to put a number to the steaming pile of magma that was my daughter's tiny body (hmmm... crappy-strip-of-plastic-forehead-thermometer reads 98 degrees [fail, this burn that I'm feeling is definitely not normal], useless-hunk-of-turd-ear-thermometer reads 95 degrees [wrong. again.  the kid is on fire!], horribly-misshapen-fake-binky-thermometer reads 'err' [because what kid will actually entertain the idea of using this poor excuse for a pacifier- especially when sick!]  and the really-are-you-kidding-me-flimsy-plastic-digital-thermometer thrust deep into the axillary only got up to 103.1 before the screaming, overtired, ball of sick squirmed away)*.   The pediatrician was consulted and I was told not to be too concerned unless the temperature peaked higher than 104 (and I'm supposed to know this how, exactly!?!) or if she becomes lethargic.  A follow up appointment was made for the next day.

  Nextly, Wednesday seemed slightly less scary, as her fever broke and the diarrhea seemed to be lessening (and by "lessening" what I actually mean is "arriving in intervals of every 4 hours instead of every 2").  This resulted in a cancellation of the above mentioned appointment (FAIL!) and, wait for it.... oh yea... a 7pm jaunt out to the emergency room.  Right before bedtime- Sofs had a particularly colorful (see also: RED, or BLOODY) stool which, needless to say freaked-my-freak!  So with jammies on, scary diaper in tow, and blanky in-hand we headed out the door, to what I was certain would be a LONG. NIGHT.  p.s. I was right about the long night.

Also-ly, Long ER story, short... we arrived, were quickly whisked off to the Pediatric Emergency Department (oh-la-la) and were seen by no less than 9 nurses, 4 (actual) doctors and 5 technicians.  Six different individuals examined the lovely soiled diaper that I brought along, and many, many, scary freaking tests were ordered.  My poor little baby endured a urine collection (NOT. FUN!) an abdominal ultrasound (longest ultrasound in all existence) and a chest x-ray (which, to hear Sofie tell it, must have been something like laying on a bed of nails and having someone literally reach inside to take a peek).  The poo from the diaper was sampled and we hung around long enough to have a few yucky diagnoses ruled-out.  We were discharged and sent home armed with no more information than we arrived with, but at least we got a free Gatorade out of the 6 hour ordeal!  We were told to follow up with the pediatrician and await the results of the poo culture.

Subsequently, Sofie has started to feel better (albeit, slowly) and we came to learn, last friday the results of the stool culture.  Are you sitting down?  Maybe you'd like to take a moment to locate the hand sanitizer.... 

The culprit:  Salmonella!  #GAG!  YACK!  EWWWW...

We think we've narrowed down the source to a plate of eggs eaten at one of our favorite little breakfast joints.  Needless to say we'll be eating our eggs, hard-cooked, from home for a while.  

Anyway- the prognosis is good and Sofs seems to be back to her normal spunky self.  Nothing to worry about and no harm done.  We will be seeing the Pediatrician every two weeks until the bacteria is fully eliminated from her system (and washing/sanitizing the bloody hell out of everything. everywhere. forever. ewww.)  

*I am, for the record, acutely aware that a 'rectal' is the only accurate measure of temperature in babies- but I was not [I REPEAT: NOT!] going in there, under these particular circumstances

Something akin to the conversation you'd have with a friend you hadn't spoken with in a year, because life got eighteen different shades of crazy.

I'm gonna go ahead an skip right over the missing posts from the last 3 weeks.  As a matter of fact, let's just hit the 'delete' button on the weeks themselves, and we'll save a lot of time that would otherwise have been wasted on bitching, and moaning, and general 'woe-is-me-ness."  *Don't fret, I'll post info from a few of the more notable happenings of the last few weeks in the near future...But for now, something, ANYTHING to get the blog rolling again...

Aaaany waaaay... some updates:

I'm currently in the market for a 12 step program.  Turns out I have an addiction, rather- I prefer the term sickness, but need intervention none the less. Hate 'em or Love 'em; I've got a thing for the Crocs.  

It started out innocently enough with a pair for myself, but like all controversial items of apparel, they began to multiply.  

Next, a pair was forced upon Pat, and before our very eyes his and mine made babies- lots and lots of babies. Now we have winter pairs, and extra pairs, and baby pairs, and HOLY CRAP! Foam foot-ware has taken over my house! 

But tell me pink baby Crocs are not the cutest thing on the entire planet.  Go ahead, just try.  See, you can't.

And also- Sofie hit the 18 month mark a week ago Thursday.  We snuck out of the house and shared a brownie in celebration.  It was good.  She is awesome.

Too-  Carter is still growing at a ridiculous rate.  He's all, "Suck-it, 6 month jammies! I will only entertain the idea of clothing in sizes greater than double my age!"  I can't wait to watch the eyes bug-out of the pediatrician's head when she plot's his stats on the percentile-o-meter.  Hmm, 4 months old, 65 lbs, 48 inches tall, and a head like a playground ball= 187th percentile.  

(btw- those stats may be slightly exaggerated... he probably only weighs 50 lbs... this week :)

In other news, life around here has been pretty crazy.  The whole two babies thing is shaping up to be almost as tricky as the legends foretold.  I've got plenty of examples to cite, but since I've been averaging 3 and a half minutes of downtime per day, those stories will just have to wait.  

But, remind me to tell you the one about Sofie and her visit to the magical land of pediatric emergency departments.  I think it involves unicorns and an enchanted fairy. No. Wait...it's poo samples and an abdominal ultrasound, but whatever... I alway get those things mixed up.

It's not you... it's me

Dear Interweb-thingy:

  It's been weeks... and I know I haven't called, I've not written.  Honestly, I've been neglectful of you- and I'm sorry.  It's not that I don't value our relationship (I DO!) but, you know, you're just not the only thing in my life these days.  

Your constant streams of information, and the uncanny way you let me [STALK], er, keep up with people I would otherwise never speak to, are very endearing qualities; but, you're also a bit of a know-it-all (GOOGLE!) and quite demanding (TWITTER)  and often a big fat sap (Cutethingsfallingasleep)!  

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is .... well, I just need some space.  We can't hang out all the time like we used to. I have responsibilities, and priorities, and I just don't think you understand where I am in my life right now...  

...no, don't cry, internet... I'm sorry.  

...I've missed you too.  

...Yes, I know I need you.

...You're right, I'm a schmuck.  

...I'll try harder... 

Let's meet at our secret spot, and I'll make all this up to you... 

  

xoxo,

C