Blame the coffee- it's been exactly 11 months since I have blogged....

Ok, it's been a LONG time since i have been here. It's not my fault I'm back, it's the coffee. It has a strange effect. So. Last year. I'd say it was alright. Busy. I didn't realize how much a toddler can do. I remember when Will was this age, I thought my sister was crazy, how did she keep up with him? He was a pretty "easy" toddler. That's an oxymoron. He just made me need a nap. Little did I know Lola could make Will look lazy. It's funny how things change once you have no choice to keep up with them- yesterday I was exhausted after dinner. My belly was full and I haven't been sleeping enough.... Never leave your plate on the table with a 2 year old around. Especially when her plate is still full of beans because after I gave her a second helping of them and brought out an apple for dessert she decided the apple was more fun to eat. I closed my eyes, I wasn't asleep, I could hear her. She was drinking the rest of my water.... Then I look back and there's beans, quinoa and water in a big nasty mess. Dang it.

Anyway, this is what has changed in the past year:
Well I have a bad memory so let's go out of order:
-We went on some good vacations this summer, and Lola even loved the beach this time!
-Lola turned two, she had a lot of fun at her birthday party too!
-Lola started preschool and has the same teacher Will had, and Finn is in her class. They are actually good friends now even... As good of friends as two year olds can be anyway. Lola really likes school at least after the initial dropping off time is over...
-Ok, this is the craziest thing this year. We got a dog puppy. I wanted a rescue dog but things have changed. Pound puppies cost nearly as much as pet store puppies. So we got a border collie/cocker spaniel puppy from the newspaper and he looks a lot like an english setter with his black and white fur and spotted nose, square face and long legs. Very cute, very bad dog. He's getting better luckily, I think four months is the "bad" age, just like babies have their hard stages.....
-Christmas was awesome this year, Lola was really excited and Christmas morning was awesome. Her kitchen is definitely high on her list of favorites and she also got playdoh- like a lap table that holds all the supplies. Makes life so much easier and Lola is very grateful that I finally let her play with playdoh now HAH
-Most recently, Eddy got a new job, back to Express he goes! With a decent raise :)

Alright, enough of the past, look to the future!
So.... Resolutions....Should I be realistic? who cares....
-First off I want to really focus a lot of energy on making my business work. It's going to work! ..... www.shopSweetSassy.com in case you were wondering. I'm expanding the site to include women's hair accessories, my sister is my guinea pig. Now for goals. Specifically!
1. Find 1-2 days minimum to make stock.
2. Keep the site up to date each week.
3. Inventory, Inventory, Inventory! Also weekly task.
4. eh, that's enough for the time being, I will revise after I meet these goals.

-Must get organized! Grocery lists! Weekly budgets!

-We must move, have to find a good place to move to, preferably with a yard and a fence. But we don't have a lot of cash to work with, I want to stay in the city. This is the most unrealistic goal I have.... I should go on that show where they find you a place to rent, except they almost never keep the people in the area they want to live in. Whatever

-Oh! And ...what else. Damn dog made me lose my train of thought. Oh yea, less tv, I really want to reduce my general screen time, including internet.

-And cooking meals at home! This should be a little easier since Meg got me "The Family Dinner" book, there are a lot of quick, kid friendly recipes. So Eddy will like them ;) I REALLY want to get Lola eating healthier. Today she was eating Megan's spinach salad with mangoes and chicken. And it was spicy! Oh and it had quinoa in it too! Trying to get her on the quinoa wagon, ...and me too, I'm not really a rice, grain, whatever kind of person but so far it's tolerable. I got a stomach virus the night I ate it last and it just won't leave the back of my mind and that was over the summer, that's how long it's taken me to try it again. lol

We need to move just so I can get organized again, I swear it's the only way to get SUPER organized, box it all up and put it all back in order and then figure out where it goes all over again. There was a house for rent down the street.... But that was a while ago, it was generally perfect, minus the terrible carpet upstairs and the crazy '70s mirrored wall up the steps. More bedrooms would be awesome, I need a guest room! Poor Lola has to share her room with anyone who comes to visit. and wood floors, oh how I would love to have wood floors, and for crype's sake a kitchen table just doesn't work on carpet! yuck! Lola spilled her soup on the carpet today. And she barfed pink on it a couple weeks ago, those stains just don't come out. They don't! I drive through the neighborhood and see all the cute houses and I can just picture us living there, I see us playing outside when the weather's nice without having to share our space with all the random people.
We will see... 2011 will be good, it has to be!

I should buy stock in Kleenex

I am currently watching my daughter try to get a tissue box off her foot, put it back on and start over. It's reminding me of  Madagascar with the germaphobic giraffe walking around NYC with tissue boxes on his feet because he was afraid to touch the sidewalk. Funnier to see than to read I'm sure. We are going through a lot of tissues over here, I can't figure out if Lo has a new cold or if the original has come back for round two but she's a snotty mess again. I am still fighting off the sinus infection I got from the original cold and the neti pot is my best friend...apparently it is the same as an antibiotic, just because you feel better doesn't mean you can stop using it or your symptoms are going to come right back.

So I'm trying to be frugal, I am clipping coupons and shopping sales. Unfortunately it is also back firing on me because if it's half off or more I want to buy it.... Granted the Ralph Lauren shirt and dress I got for Lo was something I wanted when it was full price so I technically wasn't impulse buying... the Juicy velour jogging suit is another story but it will fit next fall too and at the beach this summer when its cool at night so when you divide the price by the three seasons it will fit it's like 17 dollars a season.... I think it's out of my system though.... except the flip flops I just bought on Baby Half Off, but come on, 4.99 for really cute flip flops? She is going to need those this summer! Don't judge me...

I don't really have anything witty to say these days, just trying to make it through each day with minimal meltdowns.
Mine not Lola's
I'm failing miserably.

Playgroups are NOT for men! And a Long Rant

My husband works in retail so his schedule is always different. This means that he is home during the morning every so often when playgroup is going on... Or like today he is off during our "Girls and Babes Dinner" that is going on tonight, and he's not invited. This spurred a conversation about how he isn't invited to playgroup, ever. I had to explain to him that he is odd man out, literally, in a playgroup setting. His jokes don't go over well- they don't go over that great in general- but it is especially pronounced when he is surrounded by women and he makes a crude joke or makes fun of our jobs as stay at home moms. 

Playgroups are just not for men- unless it's a stay at 
home dad and he can jump in on a discussion about constipation or some such other topic that a working dad wouldn't truly understand the way a stay at home parent would. Maybe we should have a daddy playgroup so they don't feel left out anymore. Daddies take the babies, mommies go out for lunch, maybe shop or get a manicure and remember what it's like to be able to relax without a screaming child sitting on your lap. Don't worry dads, we usually have sweets and coffee- oh, but you will have to share that cookie with the kids, maybe the whole cookie depending on baby's mood. Raise your hand if you think Dad would rather go golfing!

I would like to talk for a moment about my most hated TV commercial...... Dun Dun DUUUUH

I can not stand(!) the high fructose corn syrup commercials!!!!!! Yea, the calorie aspect may be similar to table sugar...But who thinks table sugar is healthy anyway!? Let's think for a second, corn refiners are making these commercials, I mean, they have a lot at stake with HFCS- if America wises up and stops eating it they will loose A LOT of money. So they have a brilliant idea! Make a commercial telling them "Like sugar, it's fine in moderation!" Sugar is not healthy, artificial sweeteners are definitely not healthy and let's not pretend corn turned into sweet goo is healthy. Natural sugar is found in fruit and honey..... HFCS is processed until it's a clear sticky liquid that goes directly  to your liver and your body turns it into fat. I'm not saying you should eat processed white sugar over HFCS exactly, but between the two I would choose the white sugar and whenever possible I would go with unprocessed cane sugar- and reduce your sugar (any kind of sugar/sweetener) intake as much as possible. I am a sweet addict, I love sugar, I tried to leave it out of my tea and coffee but I can't so I cut way down. The easiest way I can see to cut a large chunk of sugar out of your diet is to ditch the soda and juice. And your kids do NOT need juice as a staple of their diet. Next time you pull out the apple juice look at the ingredients, the fewer the better. Kids have tiny tummies that need to be filled up with healthy fruits and veggies. Treat juice as just that, a treat. Water is essential to a healthy body, get your child in the habit of drinking a lot of water and it will stick with them. Read the labels, avoid any product with High Fructose Corn Syrup in the ingredients. 

 Don't get me wrong, Lola gets candy, she eats chocolate chip pancakes, last
night was a hectic dinner and she hit away everything but french fries..... Look at the big picture, offer as many healthy foods in a day as possible and remember that you are teaching your child the building blocks for healthy eating. Make sure they eat their growing food and have an understanding of how their diet affects their body.

Making Dreams Come True+Word Vomit

     Have you ever realized all your dreams have come true one of your dreams has come true? Today was that day for me. Lola napped for 5 1/2 hours total today, and not only that, she was in pretty good spirits between naps and went to bed at 8pm. Not only did I get to do my usual: being lazy and watching a little ton of tv-but I also got to tidy up, sort through toys and get them organized and cook Lo a semi-healthy meal for lunch AND dinner. 

      She is just a normal, silly 1 1/2 year old running wild. But she's also the smartest (of course!) funniest little kid around. Her vocabulary is growing faster than I can even keep up with, she cleans up her messes and even makes me laugh when she says no by shaking her fat little cheeks from side to side and very seriously and somewhat somberly stating "no...no.......no." 

      She is obsessed with Skype, can't see my laptop without opening it up, clawing at the keys and trying to climb inside of the screen all the while calling out "Mama! Papa!!!!" She calls her Aunt Megan mommy, screaming at the picture on the wall and squealing happy giggles. Chases me with a photo album yelling Will Will and kissing the picture of her cousin.

     Big personality all the way, including quite an attitude. A champion back-archer, the picture taken with Santa capturing this ability on film (or paper if you want to get technical...you always have to go there don't you?) as Santa's white gloved hand keeps a tight grip on her rigid little body. Her temper tantrums are almost comical, straight out of a scene in a movie, and she mastered this "throw herself down kicking and screaming" fit by the age of 9 months. She has been pulling the pouty lower lip card often lately as even the slightest correction brings on the water works in full force.

    

As for the Word Vomit portion of our program tonight I would like to start by asking if you have seen the movie Mean Girls... yea, Lyndsay Lohan, I know I know... In the movie she talks about "word vomit" and I instantly identified with this statement. I however, unlike Cady, can control my upchuck, but sometimes I just don't want to. I wonder what would happen if I just said what I REALLY wanted to, would it be worth it? I'm not one to hold back too much in the first place but in certain circumstances I just choose to take the high road, bite my tongue and ignore my fierce annoyance.  One day it will be different, one day I will set the record straight. 

*For those of you wondering, it's pronounced Katie... And yes, I have actually seen the movie that many times that I know she spells her name a very stupid way..

Thank you for joining us tonight, please tune in tomorrow and remember to spay and neuter your pets!

Dear Restoration Hardware,

     First let me start by saying I love your beautiful store. Even if I can't afford anything you sell and probably never will. That being said I would like to address your public restroom. Again, beautifully decorated.... and I was happy to see those toilet seat cover thingies. 

Now for the "buts".... WHERE IS THE CHANGING STATION?!?!?! I mean, yes, I understand that it would have taken away from the prettyness of the chair rail detail on the wall, covered up a portion of the nice yellow paint. BUT!!! what about function? It's just a bathroom, and a public bathroom at that so please address this as soon as possible. Oh, and that's not all. Seeing as you do not provide a changing station I became brutally aware of the state of your floor. Yea, gross. 'nuff said. Fortunately I came prepared with a disposable changing mat, as this was an emergency diaper change. 

Sincerely (dissatisfied),

A Skeeved Out Mother

The Seach is Over....

After looking through poo and looking all over for my wedding band I decided to pull the night stand out again even further than before and there it was. I looked through poo why? Oh, that's right, BECAUSE I AM A MORON. At least I don't have to clean it off.....

The Search is ON!

Have you ever lost something REALLY important.....like your wedding band?! There's one person that knows and she ain't talkin. I put my rings on the back of my night stand, where I thought Lola couldn't reach but apparently she can. I keep moving them further and further away from her reach but she must be growing at the same rate. I have searched all around in the usual places- and some new places......like poo. Yea, I did that.

Gross.

Searching and searching to no avail. I kind of hope she didn't swallow it but I kind of hope she did, at least I would find it. Eventually. The only other possibility is that she took it somewhere in the apartment. Wonderful.

I'm new here

So I'm not really what I would call a writer. In fact just writing at all I find very difficult. Talking, I can talk, sure. But writing is so .... I can't even think of the word. Final? Concrete? We will see I guess.

A little backround info- I am a cancer, and a redhead- that means mood swings on top of temper. I am the mom to a 16 month old crazy child who loves to climb, refuses to sleep more than 5 hours straight and loves to eat. Outspoken, shy, I spend a lot of time in my own head. I am a bit (hah) disheveled, scattered, I'm the cleanest slob ever. I accomplish this by being incredibly picky about some things (Lola's toys, the bathroom, vacuuming) and it's ever-changing. This week it has been the kitchen, closets, toys, anything that can be rearranged it has been. I have yet to figure out if my mood plummets as the state of my apartment goes from messy to gross or vice versa. I am constantly fighting inner battles, torn in many directions, always wanting to take on new projects (hello? blog-ME?!) Like my business, I get super excited about any new ideas- new is something I'm addicted to. What about making cool hats, felt bows, I LOVE felt bows! Restaurant Packs, ditch the capes, how about making wands to sell with the tutus. Cool baseball hats for the summertime. The list is endless. Is the scatterbrain showing? Try to keep up, it will probably only get worse. Oh, and I promise next time will be less "About Me"