Tag: Fam

Posted on

A whole new (messy!) vocabulary

Since becoming parents, a whole slew of new words has begun populating our everyday vocabulary – breast milk, breast pump, breast any-kind-of-paraphernalia (those more so in the first months than now, but still never before D was born), diapers, wipes, butt cream (what, you used that one before you had kids? ok, then i’m the weirdo), onesie, teething, jumperoo, peekaboo!, spit-up… The list is quite lengthy, but I think you get the idea.

 

There is one word, however, that has unfortunately become more prevalent than the others. A word that has been the focal point of many a conversation and has caused load upon load upon load of laundry. Really, all from a single word? Yes really, all from a single word. What word could possibly have such an impact in its singularity, you must certainly be wondering by now? That word, my friends, would be poopsplosion. Yes, you read that correctly. Poopsplosion. As in poop-splosion. What the? May I have a definition? Absolutely!

 

poop.splo.sion [poop-sploh-zhuh’n]

noun

  • the act or instance of baby poop exploding out of a diaper and onto everything/one in sight – clothes, changing area, car seat, furniture, walls, floors, the baby, you.

Can you use it in a sentence, please? Why, surely!

 

“I picked up D only to discover her entire back and legs were covered in fecal matter due to another poopsplosion.”

 

Poopsplosion.

 

Our first encounter with this lovely word came roughly 3 weeks after D was born. And looking back on it, I’m actually quite surprised we made it that long before coming face-to-face with the dreaded poopsplosion. We had gone to my mom’s house for the better part of a week, and both my sisters and my dad came into town to meet D for the first time. It was a lovely visit, really. You know, first-time grandparents and aunts and all.

 

All went swimmingly, too, until shortly before it was time to come home. Babies seem to have magical timing, don’t they? I had been holding D on my lap and turned her around to go up onto my shoulder, when I noticed a damp sensation on my hand. Well that’s odd, I thought. Did she spit up or drool on me? Upon further inspection, I realized it was neither of the above options. Rather, a tell-tale yellowish stain began creeping its way across the back of her onesie. Oh no! Is that what I think it is? Yep, it’s what I thought it was. Poop.

 

Quick, let’s get her changed before it gets worse. Ha. Ha ha. HAHAHAHA! Nice try. Before I knew it (and of course before i could get her into the room we were using as the changing area), there was bright yellow breastfed baby poop engulfing my sweet baby girl. Up her entire back, out through the leg holes of the diaper, all around to the front of the onesie, on her legs, on her socks, in her socks, on her arms (what? yeah, i don’t know either). POOPSPLOSION!!

 

Needless to say, tiny little D went right into the sink for a nice warm bath, poopsplosion clothes and all. Don’t worry, she was quickly separated from the mess and given a new, clean bathing vessel, but we just wanted to try to contain the monster as soon as possible before the poopsplosion could claim any more victims. And thus, dear readers, began our lives with a new word – poopsplosion. I’d love to say that we and the poopsplosions parted ways after those newborn and breastfed months, but not even close. In fact, we’ve had a couple encounters as recently as this week. There is a very good reason we have to keep a spare outfit on hand at daycare. Twice this week D came home in different clothes. And you know what that means… More poopsplosions and more laundry. Hooray!! (insert much sarcasm here)

 

So there you have it. Our first (of MANY!) really messy moment with a baby, and our introduction to a new vocab word all rolled into one. Lucky us! And now I’m curious – what about you? Have any messy moments that stand out in your memories? In my experience, the poopier, the funnier!

 

 

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com.  Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

 

I’m also linking this up with Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.

 

 

Posted on

Happy Halloween!

So yesterday was the assigned day for trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Does anyone else have this? Designated times and days for trick-or-treating? Personally, I think it’s dumb. I mean I know they do it for safety and stuff like that, but really? It kind of takes the fun out of the holiday. When we were younger you always went trick-or-treating on Halloween night, no matter what day of the week it was, after dinner, with your parent who waited on the sidewalk while you went up to every door you could manage before your feet got too tired or your pumpkin got too full of candy or that parent who was so patiently tagging along decided it was time to go home. Now for us it’s always the Sunday before Halloween, or if Halloween happens to be on a Sunday then I guess we luck out.

 

And what really stinks about having trick-or-treating this way is that you always get inundated with people who bring in carloads of kids from all different areas of the city to simply clean up on getting all the candy they can, every day they can. That’s not fair. You don’t live here, I’ve never seen you before, and you’re neither wearing a costume nor bothering to say “trick-or-treat”! That’s the part that really annoys me.

 

But anyway… Yesterday was D’s first time trick-or-treating, and it was so much fun! Last year she was still just a wee lass and sat on Daddy’s knee to help pass out candy as a little moo-cow. This year, however, she was big enough to walk around to a handful of our neighbors’ houses with Daddy and get her own candy in her little orange pumpkin. She was Little Red Riding Hood, and Daddy was her Big Bad Wolf. Love!!

Friday morning - I was a ladybug for trick-or-treating at daycare!
Cutest ladybug ever!
1 of 3 ladybugs that morning (but still the cutest!)
Getting ready to head out yesterday
I'm Little Red Riding Hood!
Waiting with Mommy
Look, Daddy, an airplane!
Going up to my first house
Action shot - it was breezy
Time to help pass out candy with Daddy
Digging into the loot
Trick-or-treat!

 

Happy Halloween!!

 

 

 

Posted on

I’m crazy pumpkin head – give me some candy!

Unlike my husband, who holds this as his favorite holiday, I’ve never really been a big Halloween fan. Maybe it’s because I’m extremely uncreative (if that’s a word) and can never think up nor really feel like putting together a good costume, whereas he is the master. I mean, I always liked Halloween parties in school and stuff, and admire people who go all out on the decorations. You know, dry ice for scary smoke; bowls of jello, spaghetti, and grapes to represent various guts and body parts; robotic mummies and witches all over the place to bend over or jump out and scare you at just the right moment; spooky music. It’s just never been my thing to try and set up all that paraphernalia.

I’m more the simple pumpkins and mums on the front porch type. And although I’m the biggest wimp on the planet, I will admit that even I do like a really good, seriously frightening horror movie this time of the year. As long as there’s someone sitting next to me into whose lap I can jump, or a giant blanket under which to hide myself at the really terrifying parts, that is.

Carving pumpkins has never been the highlight of my year either, as I hate grabbing through all the innards and usually just go with a traditional smiling jack-o-lantern face. This year, however, I decided to spice things up a bit with the carving. We had a couple carving kits leftover from years past that I busted out last night, and we now have some pretty sweet-looking pumpkins on our front steps. And no, I didn’t suddenly get all artistically talented or anything; they were stencils. R did do D’s free-hand, though. See, I told you he’s the creative one in this family.

A little pumpkin? For me? Thanks! (pay no attention to the overflowing recycling bin in the background. *ahem*)
Daddy showing how to dig out the guts
Oh like this, Dad?
Hee - pumpkins are fun!
Daaad, gross, I don't want to eat that!
Well now what?
Pumpkins are REALLY fun!
Clothes get in the way of pumpkin carving
Bonus pic - D's new play corner in the living room
Family of jack-o-lanterns
D's
Mommy's (pattern was really called pumpkin head)
Daddy's

Didn’t they turn out great? It only took a couple hours to get them all finished because I had to give D a bath in the middle and then her incoming molar caused a scene at bedtime, but I’d say it was worth it. I did enjoy seeing D playing with her pumpkin this year, so that got me a little more in the Halloween spirit. And instead of real candles, this year we’re using little flickering pumpkin lights so we don’t have to worry about them constantly blowing out. Geniuses at work, I tell ya.

Happy Halloween!

 

Posted on

What a week it was

As you all know, last week I participated in the Week in My Life project with Mel from Adventuroo. After those 7 days of continuous posts, I figured I should do a little recap of sorts.


I took pictures (lots of pictures!). I made notes. I kept track of times. I paid attention to details I may otherwise have glossed over in the general day-to-day. I spent hours putting everything together so I could share these little moments of my life.

So what did I take away from all of this work?

  • I love being a mom. This should come as no surprise, seeing as I’ve talked about how having D has changed my perceptions in so many ways time and time again, but realizing that my posts from the week almost entirely revolved around how we spent our time with D really solidified in my mind and heart that my role as Mommy is what’s most important to me.
  • I want to be able to stay home with our children, and I’m going to work very hard these next couple years to hopefully make that happen someday.
  • After learning so many stories of SAHMs this week, I find myself trying harder to do what it would take to be a good one. More play time with D; more instructional/educational stuff for her so I could actually teach her something worthwhile if she weren’t at daycare each day; more hands-on with her toys to really be engaged with her; lots of reading books, which she now loves; lots of talking to her and with her, even without real words yet.
  • I am so blessed to have in R a partner who wholeheartedly loves raising and nurturing our little family as much as I do. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a culinary master either, so we don’t have to live on the bowls of cereal that are about the extent of my skills in the kitchen.
  • We want to take more advantage of nature. We live in an area with so many wonderful state parks, that after our little hiking adventure last week we realize we need to use them much more often. Sitting around the house on free weekends is great and all, but D loves to be outside and I think a weekly or even biweekly jaunt would be fun. Like our Saturday or Sunday morning time – head to a park, play around for a little while, come home and relax. Sounds totally doable.
  • R and I need to give each other more hugs. We’re constantly smothering D with hugs and kisses. Can’t forget about the adults in the house, too.
  • Even if I’m not continually taking pictures each day anymore, I should try to really capture the everyday mentally. Watch D’s little face because her beautiful expressions change daily. See her mouth trying to form new words and sounds and feel my heart almost explode at what an amazing little person we’ve created. Soak in her smell because nothing smells better than warm baby. Hear her contagious peals of laughter and tiny quick footsteps padding around the house. Watch in utter adoration as R picks up his baby girl and feel my heart overflow with love for those 2 – my family.

I can honestly say I never would have thought to do something as intense as this Week in My Life, but I’m so glad I did. Thanks again, Mel! You’ve helped me remember something that can easily get pushed into the background – I love my everyday, and every day of it most definitely is a blessing.

 

Posted on

Week in My Life – Day 7: Sunday

We made it! The final day in my Week in My Life with Mel from Adventuroo, and I survived. I’ll admit, it’s been hard work and some late nights, remembering to capture all the everyday moments I wanted to share with you all, figuring out what I wanted to say about everything so you got a true glimpse into our lives, and getting each picture edited and uploaded here for your viewing pleasure.

But you know what? It’s been great! I’m so glad I undertook this endeavor because I think looking back on this record of these 7 days years from now to see how we all looked, how little D was, and what our daily routine was will be pretty special. So here’s how my last day went down…

I know yesterday I said I was going to document our sports moments this weekend, but today’s Brewers vs. Cardinals game got moved to a 7:05pm start time, since the Texas vs. Detroit series ended yesterday. That meant ours was now the only game being played today, so they pushed it back to be a night game for tv.

Total boo on that, since night games are harder for D, what with the staying up late and being at the ball park way past her bedtime. Plus it totally screwed up our tailgating plans, because R was making jambalaya for it today and now we didn’t feel like lugging all the stuff for it out there.

Night games we usually park outside the park lots and walk in, which isn’t conducive for tailgating. Plus doing my post after another night game would mean staying up way late for me again, and I just got caught back up on my sleep from last week. So anyway… A change of post plans.

Instead of Brewers game pictures, I thought I’d share a little of our outside time this afternoon since it turned out to be a really nice Fall day.

D took a nap from 11:00 this morning until almost 12:30, then had some lunch and we headed outside to play with Daddy while he listened to the Packers on the radio and cooked the jambalaya in the driveway since it wasn’t going to Miller Park with us.

These were all taken around 2:00pm and prove that D was a little less enthused to be “jumping” in the pile of leaves than we expected. They were also taken with a real camera, not my iPhone this time. My treat, you’re welcome.

So that’s that! I hope you’ve all enjoyed sharing a week of my life with me. I know I’ve discovered some great blogs and bloggers through this process, and hopefully some feel the same about me. Like I said, this has been kind of a marathon blogging experience for me, so now I need to rest my feet. I’m gonna take a little break, but I’ll be back in a few days, nice and refreshed. Stay tuned!

Week in My Life. The End.

Posted on

Week in My Life – Day 6: Saturday

Seeing as I don’t normally post on weekends, you may be wondering what I’m doing here. Well, we’re still in the midst of Week in My Life over at Adventuroo, so I decided I’d give you all a glimpse of what my weekend life is like as a little treat. I see you’re thrilled. Excellent!

I couldn’t figure out what I was going to document for today, since I really didn’t feel like doing the whole day. 1.) I don’t have enough energy to run around snapping a picture of every hour, and 2.) I’m really not all that exciting and didn’t want to bore you to tears. So I chose to capture the sporting moments of this weekend. Wisconsin sports are ON FIRE right now, and this weekend holds both a Badgers football and Brewers baseball game. We’re big fans, so I wanted to show you how we here in SM land root on the home teams.

Today the Badgers played Indiana at 11am. It was a home game at Camp Randall, and our Homecoming. Go Badgers! Unfortunately it ended up being probably the least enthusiastic Badgers cheering section in our house in a long time. It wasn’t a super important game to get all fired up about since we were favored to win by 40, but still. 2/3 of the Badger contingent spent the majority of the game doing this…

And then there was me, stuck watching a good portion from behind one of the 5 loads of laundry I did this morning. Awesome. (but remember, at least it was only laundry, no other cleaning since i did all that crap last night. wahoo!)

D woke up a little over an hour into the game, and immediately began cheering on top of Daddy. Fortunately there were plenty of “touchdowns!” to cheer about today.

Since we didn’t exactly have the most exciting Badgers game viewing party for you, here are some bonus pics of D from this morning. She was playing in the bathroom as I got ready and then was enthralled by the animals on Jack Hanna’s children’s nature show on tv. I’m not really a fan of plopping her in front of the idiot box, but she LOVES animals and I figured it was relatively educational.

Tomorrow we’re going to Game 6 of the NLCS when the Brewers come home in a must-win situation against the Cardinals, so I should have a little more to show for that one. Hopefully the right team wins. Go Brewers!

 

Posted on

Week in My Life – Day 5: Friday

Now try not to get too jealous, but I just had the most exciting Friday in the history of Fridays. This fifth day in my Week in My Life with Adventuroo was stupendous. Please come inside and share my story, won’t you?


Friday afternoons at work generally result in my leaving pretty early, and today was no exception. R went to Great Lakes Distillery for a couple drinks with one of his coworkers after work today, so I picked up D and headed home.



Here comes the juicy part of my fun. You ready for this? I spent my Friday afternoon CLEANING MY HOUSE. Yep, that’s right – dusted, vacuumed, and cleaned the bathroom. Holla! I can see you all are green with envy, so I’ll break it down a little for you.

Yeah, I was totally kidding in that first line above, in case you hadn’t sensed my sarcasm by now. But here’s the deal. I hate… no, HATE! wasting even 1 second of my precious weekend time doing chores. I would much rather spend a late-week weeknight getting all of the housecleaning for the week done than have to do any of it on a Saturday or Sunday. Especially when we have nothing planned that night, why not get it out of the way while I can?

So today when D and I got home I dialed it into clean machine mode and got started before R got home. It’s actually much easier for me to do the cleaning while he’s gone and out of my way, so I wanted to take advantage of all the time I had before his coworker dropped him off after their little happy hour. Like I’ve said, D is really pretty good about entertaining herself, so once I satisfied her little “get me” arms reaching up with a few minutes of holding and snuggling, I gave her a bottle of milk and snack tub of Cheerios and put her down to play while I got to work right about 4:00. She loves just following me around the house watching, too, so it usually works out pretty well.




These Swiffer dusters are my best friends. I don’t think I’ll ever use a cleaning spray and rag again. These babies do the trick nicely.


I love those pictures of D above with both her milk and water bottles, because it shows how she plays with her hair every time she drinks from one. Apparently it doesn’t matter what’s in it either, as long as it has a nipple the hair gets twirled.

R got home shortly after 4:30 and played with D for awhile as I continued the dusting. Thankfully he gave D dinner tonight so I could finish vacuuming the rest of the house I didn’t do last night, Swiffer sweep under the bed and couch where the vacuum won’t reach, and wipe down the bathroom. D didn’t mind the vacuum at all tonight, and actually followed me the entire time wanting to inspect it and even touched it a couple times.




These are my second best friends, because I’m often not in the mood to do a full-on bathroom cleaning and will just wipe everything down to disinfect with them. Too bad I used my last one tonight, boo.


Hooray! House is clean! It was just before 6 by this point, so it took me right around 2 hours to get everything done. And just like that, I will not be wasting any of this weekend with a duster or broom in hand. I will need to do laundry and maybe mow the yards tomorrow, but those are easy chores to me. It’s this inside tediousness that I don’t really like. And now it was bath time for D since she didn’t have one the past 2 nights. Be prepared, because Naked Baby made an appearance after the bath and decided to do some dancing in the living room.







Tonight R and I ordered fish frys from the Legion Hall near our house, so R called those in for pick-up as I was doing a last little bit of cleaning up in the kitchen after Naked Baby was diapered and dressed. I wanted to be back in time for the Brewers game, so we nailed the timing. I left at 6:48 to go get the food and was back at 7:00, just in time for the first pitch. Go Brewers!



D played for awhile as R and I watched the game and ate our fish, with plenty of “touchdown!” arms when she heard the crowd cheering. She has an inflatable beer bottle (yeah i know, bad example, but she loves playing with it and obviously has no idea what it is) that she now likes to ride like a horsey and often bounces right off.




Around 7:30 R noticed she had puked up a little milk over in her play corner, so I went and changed her jammies to get the sour off. With a new diaper and fresh pair of pjs on, her tell-tale bedtime eye rubs prompted me to refill her bottle of milk and take her in to rock to sleep a bit. I carried her into her room at 7:41, rocked and snuggled for a few as her heavy eyelids finally closed for the night, and put the remainder of her bottle back in the fridge at 7:50.

And now, as promised, I am enjoying my glass of Hallowine. I may have to make it a little more than a glass tonight; this bottle’s almost empty, and I have another flower that could use a vase. What? It’s festive.

It’s 8:30 again, I just started the dishwasher, and I should have this post finished up and pictures added in about half an hour. Then it’s lounge, lounge, lounge for me and R the rest of the night. Hopefully the Brewers can get their heads out of their asses and pull off a comeback here, for this one’s looking pretty ugly tonight.

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do a separate post for Saturday and Sunday this weekend or just combine them into one big recap, since I don’t usually post on weekends. I guess you’ll just have to come back to find out. Oh the suspense!

It’s the freakin’ weekend, baby, and I’m about to have me some fun!