What happened to the word of the day?

I have not gotten my "Word of the Day" email since last Saturday. I don't know what's going on. I even tried to re-register at dictionary.com but it won't let me. And I'm too lazy to go looking for it everyday. Hopefully, this issue will get resolved soon. My brain feels like mush.

Kids are still excitedly anticipating vacation. Only 3 days to go!!! Yesterday, they occupied themselves by building a tent in the living room. It was a blissful day of peaceful cooperation.


The cable guy came to fix our cable. He probably thought we were crazy. First, he had to wedge his way in between the giant tent and the TV cabinet. Luckily, he was small. Then he had to dig through the mess inside the cabinet. He actually asked if there was a "less congested" cable outlet. But I was completely mortified when he asked to go in the basement. He had to literally claw his way through the garbage and wires of my husband's man cave. I apologized for my pig of a husband. There's no telling what he found down there. It is seriously a HazMat situation. I'm really shocked that we don't have bugs. I'm going to have to put the smackdown on him soon. I think I'll take a picture and post it on here so you can see that I'm not exaggerating! Check back later.

Bored out of my gourd

I'm about to die of boredom. I've been cleaning all day and rearranging my living room furniture that has been in exactly the same spot for 11 years. The kids love it but I know I'm going to put it back exactly like it was. I'm just not ready to burst their bubbles yet. I guess I'll have to do it when they go to bed.

Waiting for this vacation to come is agonizing. It seems like it will never get here. It feels like we are stuck in a sempiternal time warp where nothing is moving. Geez, I am worse than a kid at Christmas. I'm worse than my own kids waiting for this vacation.

I've already done all the shopping for the things we will need to take with us. I've made a packing list and printed it out. I've caught up on all the laundry. I've done everything but pack. It just seems ridiculously early to pack.

I'm so tired. I need a nap. I think we will go to Starbucks. Maybe it's just some caffeine that I need. At least it will get us out of the house!

Calgon, take me away!

My kids drove me completely bonkers today. I thought I was going to lose my mind! All three of them – even Violet. Rarely do they all three misbehave at the same time. But not today! Usually, if one of them is misbehaving, the other will be extra good. Today, I believe they may have been competing to see who could drive me to drink or possibly run away, which I am proud to say, I did neither. Oh, the vituperations I wanted to sling at them! But I didn't. I just secretly kept cussing at them in my head like a good mom.

It's my own fault. We didn't leave the house today. We will have to do something fun tomorrow and hopefully it will be a better day!

Trying to win free diapers...

http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2008/07/
giveaway-12-bumgenius-30-diapers.html

"All Right . . . who threw the fish in the washer?"

Did I get your attention? More on the fishy washing machine in a minute...

I am already regretting that I told my children about vacation two weeks ahead of time. They are acting like they do when they're all hopped up on sugar – running around, jumping off of the furniture, yelling and screaming – ALL DAY LONG! I should have waited until the day we were leaving and just loaded up the car and said, "Hey, guess what? We're going to Florida!" But I had to go and open my big mouth (because I'm just as excited as they are – in fact, last night I could hardly sleep).

Yesterday evening, they were driving me so crazy that I couldn't even have a conversation with Michael about the plans. I finally told them to go and make a waiting chain. (See photo). It was Jonah's idea. He made a link for every day from now (actually yesterday) until we leave, so there were 14 links in all. Each morning, he and Sadie remove a link as a visual reminder of how many more days we have remaining until vacation. It kept them busy for a good 20 minutes! We do the same thing at Christmas.

Today, we went shopping for things to take on vacation with us. I am obsessed with all things travel sized! Deodorant, lotion, wipes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, you name it. They even have mini laundry detergent and rolls of toilet paper – which I was able to restrain myself from purchasing, although I may have to rethink that one. They're just so darn cute. The kids each picked out a few travel activities to keep them occupied in the car. Have I mentioned it's a 10 hour drive?!?

Now, on to the fishy washer. So the night before last, when I was doing the laundry, I noticed a putrid odor coming from the dirty clothes. I mean a really foul odor, not just the normal stench of dirty laundry – it smelled like someone (Michael) had put one of Violet's poopy diapers into the dirty clothes basket by mistake (which wouldn't be a first). I searched and searched for said diaper. It wasn't there. So I proceeded to go about washing the laundry as usual. When I went back to transfer the clothes to the dryer the next day, it smelled like I had left the wet clothes in there for a month. I washed them again and thankfully the smell was gone.

I realized something though. It wasn't the clothes. It was the washing machine itself! I have been washing cloth diapers in there two to three times a week for 15 months. It was bound to catch up with me. I did a search online and this is what I found:

http://www.thediaperhyena.com/washingmachinecare.htm

So I did the prescribed vinegar/baking soda voodoo and voila...no more stinky washing machine!!! Now I just hope my clothes don't smell like vinegar.

Oops, almost forgot the word of the day. Sadie is such a gamine. (Lame, I know, but I want to go to bed)!

14 days and counting...

until I am lying on the sandy beaches of Florida with the breeze blowing through my hair and a frozen drink in my hand. I finally planned our first vacation in 7 years! Seven very long years! It has been a supernumerary amount of time since our last vacation – we are long overdue! I can almost hear the waves rolling onto the shore now.

Of course, I'm not looking forward to the 10+ hour car ride with three children, but it will be so worth it to see their faces when we get there! Jonah has only been to the beach once when he was 20 months old, so he doesn't remember it and Sadie and Violet have never been. They are going to have so much fun! I can't wait.

Ice Cream Saturdae

The first Aldridge Ice Cream Sundae (or Saturdae in this case) was a smashing success! Due to a scheduling conflict, we decided to move it up one day early. We invited my mom and dad and some other relatives to join in the fun. In order to get ready for the 'party', we had to do a major clean-up of the house. Sadie, as usual, tried to malinger her way out of cleaning up with her "I'm too tired" excuse. ( Can you spot the word of the day?). This has become an everyday occurrence in our house at clean-up time. But with the threat of missing out on Ice Cream Saturdae, she perked up real quick!

Everyone had a great time and the sundaes were delicious, in spite of the missing ice cream scooper! I think this will be a wonderful family tradition that we will all enjoy for years to come!

After the ice cream, we played Wii bowling. The kids had a great time. Jonah gets major style points for his bowling technique. Sadie even scored a few strikes and was quite excited about it!

Oh, and I lost 1.2 lbs. this week, bringing my grand total to 31.4! Yay me. Only 31 more to go!

Sprinkles & Cherries & (Gummy) Bears, Oh My!

Today the kids and I went shopping for all the goodies for our very first "Ice Cream Sundae." It was so exciting! The kids can't wait. We bought ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, cherries, sprinkles, chocolate chips, nuts and Gummy Bears. Sadie chose the Gummy Bears. Each week we will take turns choosing one special topping and this week is Sadie's turn, so Gummy Bears it is. Yuck. I wonder what I will choose when it's my week?

Other than the ice cream shopping, we had a pretty boring day. We went to ballet this morning and Sadie dressed in her tatterdemalion purple leotard that has holes and is too small for her. (I may have to rethink this whole 'word of the day' idea. I spent most of the day trying to figure out how to work that one in). Jonah was so sweet while we were there. He kept taking Violet on rides around the room on the sling. She loved it!

After ballet, we met my friend Stacie and her son Lucian for lunch at Chick-fil-A (or the Country Club as my friend Angela calls it). It was very tasty as always.

I really need to go walking, but I think I'll beat the heat and stay home. Maybe I will taste-test the sundaes. No, I better not do that, tomorrow is the big weigh in! Wish me luck.

Creative Juices

When I worked in the 'real' world before I had children, I had to be creative every day. It was the nature of my job as an Art Director. However, once the kids started popping out, my brain cells began dying off rapidly. I believe they either came out with each placenta or with the massive amounts of hair that fell out after each pregnancy!

Now that I am done having children, I would like to get back some of the creative juices that I lost. Can you regrow brain cells? Or once you lose them, are they gone forever? Hmm. I may have to go and look that up.

This blog has been the anodyne to my "Mommy Brain Syndrome." (Oh, and by the way, I subscribed to dictionary.com's word of the day, hence the fancy word! My goal is to work the word of the day into each day's blog). It makes me think about something other than what I'm going to make for dinner or the mountain of laundry piling up.

I also mentioned a new web site the other day: www.highlowaha.com. I am totally addicted to it. The blog's premise is to share an idea each day. (She also gives away prizes)! I have gone back and read the posts that I missed and have gotten some really wonderful ideas. I am implementing one of them starting this week. From now on Sunday will be forever known in our family as "Ice Cream Sundae!" Every Sunday or "Sundae" as it is now called, we will have ice cream sundaes after dinner or maybe even for breakfast. I haven't decided that yet. I love this idea and I know my kids are going to as well. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them on "Sundae!"

On to my next topic: destiny...

In case you didn't know, I'm a big believer in it. Everything happens for a reason. Yesterday, I decided to take the kids out for ice cream. Jonah said, "Mommy, you need to get your car washed." So I did, since I am still trying to sell it. After we got ice cream, we went to Costco. Once our shopping was finished, I decided to get gas, even though I still had more than 1/4 of a tank and these days, with $4+ a gallon gas, I usually wait until I am running on fumes.

Enter Destiny...

As I was pumping the gas, a man and his wife pulled up to the pump behind me. The man noticed my "For Sale" sign and said that they were on their way to Indiana to look at a Honda Pilot! He asked me some questions about mine, took a peek inside and wrote down my phone number. He hasn't called yet, but I'm still hoping. How ironic would it be to sell my car at the very place that is responsible for the reason I am trying to sell it in the first place?

Random Act of Vandalism

So after my amazing good fortune at the mailbox yesterday, what do you think I woke up to this morning? We were the victims of a drive-by RAV (Random Act of Vandalism). Someone apparently thought it would be funny to play mailbox baseball with our mailbox. It was in pieces all over the street. There goes $50 down the drain.

Mean people stink!

Random Acts of Kindness

So I walked out to the mailbox today and amid the assortment of junk mail, credit card applications, bills and class registration forms (I received 2 today!), there was an envelope postmarked from Pennsylvania. There was no return address. I was immediately intrigued, seeing as how I know not a soul from PA.

When I opened it, there was a postcard that read: "What is your unrelenting passion?" So I'm thinking it's from one of those Passion Party consultants (you know, the kind that sell the lotions and potions and various toys? Wink, wink.) Then I flipped it over and there was a handwritten note that said, "Nicole, Enjoy the 'perk'." Signed "PPDC." I'm thinking who in the hell is PPDC? But that's not all. There was also a $5 Starbucks gift card! Score!

Inside the gift card envelope is a label with a web site address: HighLowAha.com. Of course I immediately went there. It's a really cool blog by a woman in Texas. She has fabulous ideas and does all sorts of random acts of kindness and apparently, has quite a following. You should check it out!

All day though, I was racking my brain trying to figure out how this PPDC chick got my name. I figured it had to be one of two people and I was right. It was my friend Stacie. I still don't know who PPDC is, but whomever you are, you made my day! Tomorrow, I will be heading to my local Starbucks and getting my usual – a grande Mocha Lite Frappucino, triple blended! And if you think that is high maintenance, my friend Angela orders her Frappucino double blended three times (also known as 6 times to normal people, but she thinks it sounds less high maintenance to say it the other way)!

Woo Hoo!

I finally reached my (Violet) pre-pregnancy weight yesterday! It's about time! I thought I would never get here.

Totally Bummed

Here is a review of a book I just read entitled "Growing Up Green" by Deirdre Imus:

When I ordered this book, I was so excited to get it. I am always looking for resources that support my decisions for a healthier life style and give me more ideas to implement those choices.

As the mother of three, I have always tried to give my children the best start in life – from good prenatal care, unmedicated births and exclusive breastfeeding to making my own baby food, not vaccinating, buying healthy foods and limiting their exposure to media.

I was appalled to read Imus' very limited and very uninformed information on breastfeeding – which I had assumed would be a very large part of “Growing Up Green.” After all, what is “greener” than that? True, there are some toxins present in breastmilk, but what about the toxins and artificial ingredients in formula? What about all the toxins and wasted resources that go into making the formula? What about all the waste that goes into landfills from the packaging of formula and the bottles that must be used to feed the formula? I can’t think of anything LESS “green” than that, not to mention the fact that infant formulas have been recalled many times due to contamination. To even imply that artificial feeding (organic or not) is in some way better for our children than breastfeeding is ludicrous.

Imus also writes about how unhealthy our diets are, which is totally true for most Americans. However, she fails to discuss that a mother who has a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods is exposing her child to various tastes through her breastmilk and is therefore more likely to have a child who will develop a taste for these foods.

She mentions several times about the childhood obesity epidemic and the rise in various childhood illnesses such as asthma, allergies and diabetes, yet fails to mention that breastfeeding has been proven to prevent obesity and these other childhood diseases that she speaks so often about. Not only is breastfeeding healthier for children, but also for mothers. Research shows that breastfeeding significantly reduces a woman's chances of pre menopausal breast cancer.

Perhaps one of the most important things Ms. Imus neglects to mention is the fact that breastmilk provides antibodies and immunities to protect our children from various illnesses. That is something that infant formula has never been able to replicate – and probably never will. Breastmilk is a live food, a perfect food. For someone who speaks so often of the importance of making whole foods a part of our diets, she is doing a real disservice to the women and children of this country by suggesting that artificial feeding is in any way equal to or better than breastfeeding simply because there may be toxins present in a mother’s milk.

Our Staycation

Michael was on vacation from work this week. We all had a very nice week together. One day, we took the kids to the park. Jonah almost broke his wrist jumping off the swings (see below).



Yesterday, we went downtown and took a riverboat ride on The Spirit of Jefferson since The Belle of Louisville wasn't running. It was very nice and relaxing. The kids really enjoyed it.



Before we even left the dock, Sadie had spotted a "lobster" (a.k.a. stick) and a "submarine" (a.k.a. buoy). Needless to say, this "vacation" was way better than the last one (see "We Need to Get Out More" below).


It drizzled a little and was a bit cool especially with the wind. I was definitely not prepared. You can tell that I'm a third time mom. When Jonah was a baby, if we had planned the same excursion, I would have packed two changes of clothes, a hat, several diapers, a jacket (for each of us), a blanket, emergency rain ponchos, the sling, an umbrella, toys, snacks for the baby, a sippy cup, antibacterial wipes, a first aid kit, the camera and video camera, extra batteries, suncreen (or "sunscream" as Sadie calls it) and rations in case we crashed onto Six Mile Island!

This time around, this is all we had with us (and I'm not exaggerating): one cloth diaper and cover, a onesie (size 6-9 months), a pair of 0-6 month socks (did I mention that Violet is 14 1/2 months old and wears size 12-18 mos?), the camera and $3. Luckily, it cost exactly $3 to park. When it started to get a little cool from the rain and wind, I had to improvise and use the cloth diaper as a blanket to cover the baby. I somehow managed to squeeze the 0-6 month socks on her – I'm still not sure how I pulled that one off. The other two kids were just s.o.l. Jonah tried to cover himself with Violet.


It all worked out in the end and we had a lovely time anyway – in spite of my lack of preparedness! At least I didn't forget the camera!

Car Buying Sucks!

I'm trying to sell my SUV (along with the rest of the country's SUV owners apparently). Good luck with that, right? It cost me $80 to fill up my tank the other day. That will last me about a week. So the way I see it, I have one of three options. Sell my car and buy something more fuel efficient, don't sell it and never go anywhere or buy a scooter and try to find a way to strap me and my three kids to it.

Although option C sounds kinda fun, I don't think I'm quite up for that challenge. And option B, well let's just say (to borrow a phrase from an old friend of mine) I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than be stuck in the house with three kids for the rest of my life. So, I decided to try to trade in my car.

I researched car options and finally decided on the one I want. A Honda Fit. It's small but I did test drive it with all three kids (and car seats) to make sure they would all fit in the Fit! It was cozy but I think it will work. All last week I spent hours upon hours on the phone with various car dealers from here to Ohio and driving all over town trying to trade in my car. Nobody wants to give me anywhere near what my car is worth.

I hate car salesman. They are so slimy (sorry if you are one or are related to one of the slime-free variety). EVERY single one that I spoke with over the phone said, "Sure, I think we can make that happen. Come on in and let's see what we can do." Of course, when I get there, it's a different story. "Well, as you know, the SUV market just isn't doing so well right now." No duh!

I guess I'm going to try to sell it myself. If you know anyone who's interested, it's a 2006 Honda Pilot LX 2WD with 38,000 miles. It is in excellent condition and very clean (yes, even with three kids). It is black and actually gets pretty good gas mileage for an SUV. So if you need an 8 passenger vehicle, it would be ideal. (Robin, any interest? You would only have to leave 2 members of your family at home! ;-)

Pictures

I was searching through my digital photo library trying to find a decent picture of all of my children together. It's impossible. Once you have more than two kids you can forget about ever capturing a good picture again. I can usually get one where two of the kids are looking at the camera with their eyes open and a decent smile, but never all three at once. One of them is always looking away, looking stoned, crying or all of the above.

I will illustrate this point below.

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy

Now imagine hearing that 35 more times in the span of 3 1/2 hours. Yesterday I decided to conduct a little experiment. I wanted to find out how many times my children say my name in the course of any given day. This idea came to me at noon and I stopped counting at 3:30 p.m. Thirty-nine times was the magic number, however, I know I missed a bunch.

I'm going to conservatively estimate that I missed at least one quarter of them due to the fact that I have learned to tune them out. When my husband realized what the little red tally marks were on the refrigerator white board, he started paying attention too. He heard several that I did not.

Only counting the ones that I heard for sure (since this is a very scientific experiment after all), that's an average of one "Mommy/Mama" (depending on which child is saying my name – Jonah calls me "Mommy" and Sadie calls me "Mama") every 5 minutes. Over the course of a day, well not even a full day since the kids are only awake for about 13 hours, that's 156 times. 1,092 in a week. 32,760 in a month. 393,120 in a year. That's a lot of "Mommies."

Now once Violet starts really talking, that will be well over 1/2 million "Mommies" per year! Maybe I'll change my name to "Daddy" and not tell anyone!