The Mullet Cometh
Monday, March 31, 2008
I am sad to say that I have no pics of the mullet yet. I tried to get some last night after DH had it done, but it was late and DH assured me that since the mullet was here to stay for the next week, there would be plenty of time to capture it in all its glory. You see, DH just got a new job that he will be starting a week from today. It will require him to look...umm....NOT like a dirty hippy. His scruffy neck-beard and beautiful long locks will have to go. For a long time, he has said that the next time he cuts his hair short, he wants to walk around with a mullet for a while before chopping it the rest of the way off. I guess just to look like a total jack-ass....because it's funny.
Oh dear, is it funny! I cannot even look at him with a straight face. He shaved off the neck-beard and left behind some wicked-cool chops to go with his trashy new 'do. I am chuckling just thinking about it. He usually wears a hat when he makes service calls at his current job, so at least he can hide the wavy waterfall and look halfway professional when working on dental office computers right now.
I promise to post pics soon...if he'll let me.
In other news, Scout got her first real boo-boo. She's had plenty of bumps and bruises before, but nothing that has been accompanied by blood. This weekend, she fell on the concrete in front of our house and banged up her nose. I'm sure it won't be the last time.
Labels: dh, firsts, hair, holy crap
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 6:03 PM,
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My Weekend
Sunday, March 30, 2008
DH had to work about 2.5 hrs from home yesterday, so Scout and I just hung out by ourselves. I called 2 different friends to see if anyone wanted to hang out with me, but they were busy. I was REALLY needing some adult conversation. REALLY. Oh well.
After Scout's nap, I loaded the stroller into the trunk and we went to the mall to walk around. It was rainy and cold and I was tired of being couped up inside, so I had to do something. Well, when we got there and I pulled the stroller out of the trunk, I realized that I had forgotten to bring the detachable tray that fits in front. Without the tray, the stroller is next to useless because Scout is scared of riding in it without it. I think she feels all vulnerable, like she'll fall right out or something. If she has the little tray in front of her, I think she feels more like she is sitting in her highchair at home or in a shopping cart (which she loves).
Well, I did get her to ride in the stroller for a while, but not without telling her I'd buy her a pony when she's 8 years old...and even then, it was very short-lived. The tray would've also been nice to have when we went to the food court and had lunch. I could've just kept her in the stroller and put her little chunks o' food on the tray....instead of lugging a dirty mall high chair over to the table while trying to push the stroller at the same time. Public high chairs give me the heebie jeebies. And these particular high chairs were way too short for the food court tables, so poor Scout had to reach for her food and made an even bigger mess than she normally would have.
We left right after we ate because as soon as I tried to put her back in the stroller, she started screaming bloody murder. I did have the Ergo carrier with us, but frankly, I was too lazy and tired to wear her around the mall while pushing our giant stroller.
(Scout looking less than enthused at the mall food court)
We then went to Wa1-Mart to grab some ingredients for the Asian noodle salad I made for lunch today. The recipe is from The Pioneer Woman, adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe. I chopped all the ingredients, made the dressing, and cooked the noodles last night. All I needed to do when we got home from church is toss it all together. We had some friends and their sweet kiddos over this afternoon. They seemed to really enjoy the salad. I made some orange glazed chicken in the crockpot to go with it. Oh, and I also made some banana bread, which we enjoyed with the vanilla ice cream our guests brought. I guess I was feeling particularly Betty-Crocker-ish for a change.
Oh yeah. And DH got a mullet today. Yep. A mullet. You know, like business in front, party in the back? That's right. A real mullet. More on that later.
Labels: dh, food, general complaining, outings, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 10:06 PM,
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Nurse?
Friday, March 28, 2008
Scout learned how to do the sign for nursing yesterday. I am a proud momma. It is the most wonderful thing in the world to watch your child learn. I know that she has been learning things from DH and I all along, but lately the results have become much more tangible and it's so exciting. I am soaking up every moment of this stage in her life.
She first made the sign yesterday afternoon when she was nursing in my lap sitting upright. (a strange habit she's taken up lately) I had put my shirt back down when she seemed to be done. She quickly decided that she wanted more and started lifting my shirt when she remembered that there is another way to ask. She stopped tugging at my shirt, looked up at me with her great big blue eyes, and squeezed both fists open and closed. I asked with enthusiasm, "Nurse?" and she smiled a huge smile as I met her request.
Last night, we were playing in the floor next to DH, who was eating his dinner at my computer desk. Scout toddled over to me, sat on my lap and asked to nurse. DH thought she was waving at first, but I told him that she was signing to nurse. He was so proud. It was close to her bedtime, so I didn't really want to nurse her, for fear that she would fall asleep on my lap diaperless and barefoot and I'd have to disturb her to get her into bed. But I could not resist her request. How could I? I nursed her there in the floor for a few minutes and talked to her a little so she would stay awake. She unlatched long enough for me to close my shirt and quickly hand her to daddy so he could say goodnight. She wasn't pleased at all because she wanted to keep nursing, but I stuck her in the bathtub and she was happy again. After her bath, we went in her room and got her jammies on. As I walked over to the light switch with her in my arms, I asked, "Are you sleepy?" She replied with squeezing both of her fists and then rubbing her tired eyes.
Labels: firsts, sign language
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 4:18 AM,
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My snotty-nosed dirty-faced hillbilly baby girl
The weather was so beautiful yesterday. I took Scout for a long walk in the stroller. Then we came home and had some lunch and went right back outside to play. (without even wiping the food crusties off of her face) She sure can have a lot of fun with just a baggy full of hair clips and a plastic cup! Then, I strapped her on my back with the Ergo and trimmed the hedges around the house with a little pair of pruning shears. (I had forgotten to ask the lawn guy to do it)
I love spending so much time outside.
Labels: pics of scout, playing outside
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 3:30 AM,
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Slurp!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Everyone at my house has congested noses right now. I think it's just allergies. I seem to remember hearing something about an elevated pollen count on the news. Anyway, Scout's poor nose is always clogged and I can't seem to pull out much snot with the bulb aspirator. A friend of mine swears by her electronic snot-sucker, so I went out and bought one.
She is just as terrified of this BebeS0unds Nasa1Clear battery powered aspirator as she is the bulb aspirator, but at least it's faster. I seem to be able to suck a lot more gunk out as well. The Nasa1Clear has the rather odd feature of being able to play music while sucking snot. I guess it's to make baby less scared, but honestly I think the tinny loud electronic circus music adds to the horror.
In other news, the lawn guy is at my house cleaning up our hell-hole of a yard right now....just in time for Scout's nap. So far, so good, but his ginormous industrial mower is so loud, I cringe every time he whizzes past Scout's window. Please, oh please, don't wake up, sweetie!
MIP left a sweet comment on my last post asking if I have lost weight. I am proud to announce that I have lost 26.2 lbs since October. It really should be more than that, but Christmas tripped me up and I've had other brief periods of naughtiness interlaced in there as well. All in all though, I have learned to pay more attention to portion control and I try to eat lots of veggies, drink lots of water, and eat less sweets. Last night, DH and I baked a frozen pizza and I only had 1/4 of the pizza, whereas I would've normally eaten half of it and then wished that DH wasn't around so I could eat his half too. I felt satisfied with my one large slice of pizza, spinach salad, and apple. That is a huge thing for me, as I have always been a pretty awful food addict and binge-eater.
Well, my house seriously looks like a tornado ripped though it, so maybe I should go do something productive. Every day, Scout likes to open up every single cabinet in the house and drag everything out. She tears through the place, unfolding blankets, pulling things off the coffee tables, spreading books, CD's, and magazines everywhere, ripping up tissue, banging on the front door while screaming, etc. Usually, if she is not doing anything to hurt herself and she's not ruining anything, I pretty much let her do whatever she wants just because it keeps her occupied and I love watching her explore. I hope I'm not creating a monster.
Labels: baby gear, household chores, weight loss
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 12:50 PM,
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I'm not dead
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I've been a bad, bad blogger lately! I just can't seem to get motivated to post anything these days. The only time I have to sit at the computer for any real length of time is during Scout's one (sometimes short) nap a day and then after she goes to bed. These days, I've been using those times to either sleep a little or get things done around the house....OR just to sit on my rear and watch soap operas while eating lunch. I miss blogging so much, though. I'm going to try hard not to be as lazy about it in the future.
I should summarize the happenings around here.
-- Scout is walking almost full-time now. She went from only taking maybe 10 steps at a time sporadically throughout the day to using walking as her main mode of transportation almost over night!
-- She is sleeping soooooooo horribly lately. She developed a nasty yeast diaper rash from the antibiotics she was on for her ear infection and I was thinking that might have something to do with the crummy sleep. But her butt is almost clear now and she is still waking frequently through the night. I have resorted to letting her fuss a little longer than I used to because sometimes she will sound like she is not really "awake" when she cries and will just roll over and go back to sleep within a few minutes.
-- She says momma and (maybe) dada pretty frequently. Yesterday she said "baby" plain as day after I had pointed to a picture of a baby and said it...but I have yet to get her to say it again since then. Little stinker.
-- She has learned sign language for "more" and uses it in the correct context all the time now. I love it! She made up her own little variation of the sign and that's what we use now. I watched a baby signing video that said to go with your child's signs instead of forcing them to adapt to the real signs, so that's what we've decided to do. We're now working on "potty", "milk", "eat", and "diaper change". Sometimes I remember to sign for "mommy" and "daddy", but I'm not very consistent about it.
-- If she's in a rotten mood, Scout throws little tantrums now by flinging her head back then forward and arching her back while screaming if she doesn't get what she wants. Yeah. Fun. I particularly love it when she does this in my arms and head-butts my nose several times in the process. I think that's why I am all of the sudden getting proactive about the whole sign language thing....I know it'll help her not to get so frustrated if she has the ability to communicate better.
Here are some recent pics, for those of you who haven't already seen them on my Flickr page:
My new haircut:
Scout having fun outside:
Easter dress (made by my mom!):
Hhhmmm....what else?
-- DH has been having to work really long and hard hours lately. Maybe I'm just all wacky and hormonal from my stupid period (which came 2 weeks early...ggrrrrrr) but yesterday I was just thinking about how grateful I am to have him. He does so much and works so hard so I can be at home with Scout and we can have nice things.
-- My mom, step-dad, and grandma will be getting here soon. April 12th, to be exact. They will be staying 2 weeks and will be here for Scout's birthday! Woohoo!
-- We just hired someone to maintain our lawn for us this summer. DH HATES yard work with a passion and I can't seem to find the time to go out there to mow and weed-eat and rake, etc. I don't know where I would put Scout while I'm doing all of that and doing it during her nap is not feasible for many reasons. (including the fact that it takes 3-4 hours to mow and trim our yard with our push-mower) The guy is supposed to come within the next couple days to do a "spring clean-up". There are a ton of leaves smashed up against the back of the house, the flower beds are overgrown and ugly, the ditches are full of leaves and branches, and all the bushes need cut back. I really wouldn't mind doing all of that, but I just can't find the time! We normally wouldn't be able to afford a service like this, but we are able to use some of our tax refund for it. I'm so excited that our lawn will no longer look trashy!! (umm...which is more than I can say for my car)
Labels: firsts, my car, my house, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 12:24 PM,
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That Can't Be Comfy
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday morning, Scout woke up at 4 AM (as she did on Saturday morning as well...let's hope this does not become a trend again!) and wouldn't go back to sleep until 7 AM. I tried to nurse her back down 3 times, but each time she would squirm and pop right back up, eager to leave her bedroom to explore the rest of the house. When she woke up again at 9 AM, I changed her diaper and made a funny discovery. I had changed her diaper at 4 AM after realizing she wasn't going back to sleep. Changes are alway a struggle, but can usually be made less traumatic for all involved if I give her something to busy her hands, so I gave her a little plastic ring (which is a little bauble that used to be part of a larger toy)to keep her occupied. Apparently, the ring had fallen down into her pajamas before I zipped her up. The poor gal had to lay on top of it while I was nursing her too, because when I opened her pajamas, there it was on her right side...the side she lays on when facing me to nurse. At least there was a bodysuit between her and the hard plastic ring. Oops!
Labels: doh, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 1:03 AM,
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What a Novel Idea
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Hey, did you know that getting prints made of digital photos is pretty inexpensive? I didn't know that because I NEVER have prints made. No scrapbooks or photo albums laying around this house. Nope. Not because I don't like stuff like that....Truth be told, I would love to get into scrapbooking if our budget would allow it. For some reason, I assumed that prints would be expensive and I'm pretty content just having our pics stored on our machines. But I recently had some prints of Scout made for my dad (who lives in the stone age and doesn't have a working computer, so I can't e-mail him any pics of his sweet granddaughter) and it was only $3.75 for 18 4x6 prints with one-hour processing. To me, that's pretty do-able. I guess I am easily amused, but there is something really cool about seeing the pics we've taken on photo paper rather than a computer screen for a change. I'm a dork.
In other news, Scout's favorite thing today was banging on the dishwasher. A knee-slappin' good time, I tells ya.
Labels: pics of scout, product reviews
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 10:17 PM,
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Look Who's Feeling Better!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Scout is almost acting like her old chipper self. She woke up relatively happy this morning and is crawling through the house, wreaking havoc once again. She ate about 1/4 of a banana and 4 or 5 grains of puffed brown rice for breakfast. It's nice to have her back.
I suddenly feel the urge to deep clean the house now that she is mobile again. The floors feel so dirty and there are household chores that I could not seem to keep up with when she was sick and needed held 24/7.
I was afraid that her usual good sleep habits would be destroyed after waking up every one to two hours through the night the entire time she was sick. That's not something I want her internal clock to get used to. But I was pleasantly surprised (actually, shocked!) that she slept straight through from 8:30 PM until 6:00 AM last night and then went back down at 9:00 AM for a nap.
I think that life is back to normal. (well, you know, as normal as it gets around here)
Labels: baby sleep, health, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 1:09 PM,
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Scout has been sick for a week. Not just like sniffly-nose sick, but like the can't-keep-anything-down-high-fever-no-sleep kind of sick. Last Tuesday she puked once and had no fever. I just thought it was something she ate. I had given her some lentils and rice earlier in the day and I think that was the first time she had eaten lentils, so I assumed they didn't agree with her tummy. Wednesday, she had one BAD totally sick-smelling diarrhea diaper, but no vomiting and still no fever. I was still thinking it was the lentils. Thursday, she had a high fever, vomiting, AND diarrhea. Then I realized it was a virus and not just a sour belly from some new food. I think it was either Thursday or Friday when she had a temp of 104. If it wouldn't have gone down fairly quickly after a couple doses of Tylenol, we would've taken her to the ER. In retrospect, that's probably what we should've done.
Every day after that, she would have a few good hours when she would actually lift her poor little sweaty head off of my shoulder and she may even have enough energy to get off of my lap and play a little. I would think that she was getting better and then, boom....puke is projected onto my shirt and splatting onto the floor, while her fever would be up again. Night time was pretty miserable for her and she was waking every hour or two. Sometimes she would refuse to nurse. Instead of just turning her head away when I offered my breast, she would get angry and bite my nipple. Not fun for either of us.
DH was so extremely helpful through all of it, even though he was sick and had a fever at one point too. I honestly don't know what I would've done without him. When I would change Scout only to discover a bad diarrhea explosion, I could yell for DH to get me a change of clothes and some extra towels. He would hold Scout so I could go pee or change my clothes and scrub the carpet after being barfed on. Administering medicine and sucking snot would've been really difficult without his assistance. Thank you, DH!!
I continually put off taking her to see the pediatrician because she kept tricking me into thinking she was on the mend. I also just assumed it was a virus that needed to run its course and it would be a waste of time and not very much fun for Scout to drive 30 minutes into "town" only to be given some tylenol samples and told to keep her hydrated. I hate to admit it, but the fact that we are self-pay also plays a part in my reluctance to take her to the doctor when I feel the situation is non-emergent.
Yesterday, I broke down and took her in to see the doctor. Even though her fever was completely gone by late Saturday night, she was still puking and having diarrhea all day Sunday.
Turns out she has an ear infection on top of the tummy virus. The doc said that the infection is probably what caused the fever to spike to 104.
I feel so bad that I let it go on for so long. Who knows how long the poor thing has been suffering through the ear pain. Even though we did give her Tylenol a few times to keep the fever at bay after it reached 104, I don't think it would've been enough to relieve any pain she may have been having in her ears. She never grabbed at her ears (that I noticed), so I had no clue there was an infection.
The doctor was super nice and saw that we are self-pay, so he gave us enough samples of the antibiotic to last the full course. I am not a big fan of administering antibiotics willy-nilly. But I really didn't see another option. Maybe some of you mommas who embrace more natural remedies when it comes to treating sick kids can tell me.... What do you do when it comes to ear infections? (or any infection for that matter) I think I would've been comfortable treating it with garlic oil and skipping the antibiotics if we would've caught the infection soon enough, but I don't want to take any chances with letting an infection rage on in her little ear just because I am too stubborn to give antibiotics. It's so tough to know when to stray from medical advice in favor of a more natural approach and when to just heed the advice of the doctor and give meds instead. I really don't want to pump her full of antibiotics every time she gets sick.
I learned my lesson, though. If her fever spikes that high again, I am not messing around next time - I'll take her in to be seen by a doc.
She is doing a lot better now and has only vomited once since Sunday night. She is nursing better, but I can tell now that her ears are bothering her. Hopefully the meds will take care of that soon.
Somehow, I managed to escape this awful plague that had infected my household. Woohoo!
Here is a pic of DH and Scout* during one of her brief stints of feeling better the other day.
*Scout doesn't normally romp around in a diaper and nothing else in the winter time. I just happened to be changing her on the bed and she was taking a little break to snuggle with daddy.
Labels: dh, firsts, health, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 10:22 AM,
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Purdy Hair
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Scout has a fever and has diarrhea this morning. Poor little gal. She is such a trooper, though. Yesterday, her peppy spirit and will to play had me convinced that she was fine, even though she had a little diarrhea yesterday morning as well. I am very thankful that she is still nursing fine. I think she will be on the mend really soon.
She's napping right now, but here's a pic from a few days ago when she was actually on top of her game:
She has just learned to "brush" her hair. It's so cute! She starts at the back of her head and brushes it all forward into her eyes. (that is, when she is actually holding the bristles in the right direction)
Labels: firsts, pics of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 7:33 AM,
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Drinking From a Straw
Monday, March 03, 2008
I think it would've been a nicer video if my hands wouldn't have constantly been in the shot, fumbling with the juice box. But I was all paranoid that the teeny straw would go too far into Scout's mouth and potentially jab her in the back of the throat. I need to get her a good toddler cup with a straw. Juice boxes are (obviously) not ideal for babies, but I had some natural apple juice boxes laying around and thought it might be fun for her to try one out.
Labels: firsts, video of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 2:42 AM,
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Mommy's Day Out
Sunday, March 02, 2008
DH gave me a great gift. Yesterday, he watched Scout ALL. DAY. LONG. while I went shopping and goofed off all by myself. Not only that, he surprised me with a $100 gift certificate to a fancy-schmancy natural parenting boutique that I've been wanting to check out since they opened back in December but just hadn't had a chance. He started having second thoughts about the gift card after he gave it to me because he felt bad that it was for a store where I would just end up buying things for the baby. But I assured him that (like I've heard most of my mommy friends say) shopping for my baby is SO MUCH more fun than shopping for myself! It was the perfect gift: A day to myself and money to blow on expensive baby things that we wouldn't normally splurge on!
My "day off" started out with the seemingly mundane task of going to Wa1-Mart to get my oil changed. But I didn't mind at all. I felt light and free as I wandered the aisles of the busy megamart freely. Everyone else had carts to push, crap to carry, lists to check off, and kids to manage. Not me. I was just liesurely browsing the clearance racks and sipping my bottle of water while waiting for my car.
After that, I went through the drive-thru at Ch1ck-Fil-A (surprise, surprise) and ate my lunch while enjoying the gorgeous weather in the courtyard of the town center. The momma who owns the natural baby boutique is an acquaintance of mine and I ran into her while she was taking her toddler for a stroll around the block while her husband hung shelves inside. We chatted and caught up on things and then went inside so I could spend my moolah! It was so much fun picking things out for Scout. I picked 2 adorable organic cotton jumpers from Speesees, A wooden alligator pull-toy and a puzzle cow from Plan Toys, and some baby shampoo and body wash from Earth Mama, Angel Baby.
I can't say enough good things about Earth Mama, Angel Baby products. I was first introduced to them when sweet Wendy sent me their Post Partum Recovery Kit when Scout was born. The Earth Mama Bottom Balm was a lifesaver when my umm...nether regions were all sad and birth-battered. I had never purchased any of their baby products because, well...they're friggin' expensive. But after using the baby wash and lotion on Scout last night, I believe they are well worth the money. I only bought the travel size bottles because I wanted to make sure Scout's skin would react well to it, but I'd love to buy the bigger bottles when these run out.
Okay, back to my fun mommy's day out. After my shopping spree, I went to the Salvation Army thrift store to look around because I was inspired by some handmade bags at the boutique that were made from funky vintage curtains and table linens. I saw a desk there that I though DH might like, so I called him to let him know and he said that he and Scout were just driving around (I put the car seat in his truck before I left) and that they could stop by and check out the desk.
This is such a doting-mommy thing to say, but bumping into Scout out in public after being away from her for a while makes me realize just how stinkin' adorable she is. I mean, not just looks-wise. She just has an amazing personality. Strangers walk by her and can't help but interact with her because she is such a joy.
Anyway, DH and I parted ways and he went back to running errands with Scout and I went back to farting around. At this point, I was kind of bored. What do I do now? I almost headed home, but decided to go to a bookstore so I could dawdle some more and sit and read through magazines that I am too cheap to buy. After that, I headed in the direction of home and got pulled over for my registration being expired. Crap. It expired on the 29th and I had no idea because the reminder had gotten stuffed into my glove box along with some other mail. Doh! Oh well. I didn't get a ticket, but I was just so ready to be home. Then I hit "game traffic" by the university. Ggrrrr. When I finally got home, it was so good to see my hubby and baby again. I loved my day out, but it was nice to come home.
Labels: baby gear, clothes, dh, outings, toys
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 1:12 PM,
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Eight Wobbly Steps
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Scout just took her first steps last week. She started out with only 2 steps at a time, but very qickly got brave enough to try for more. The most I've seen her take has been 10-12 steps in a row. So far, we've only been able to capture 8 in a row on video.
Go Scout, go!
Labels: firsts, video of scout
posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 12:20 AM,
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