Our Mommyhood

Archive for June, 2010

Thank you to all who entered our The Pampered Chef Giveaway!  And thank you to The Pampered Chef for offering one of our wonderful readers a Cool & Serve Square Tray!

The winner is…

Congratulations to Sippy Cup Mom!  Please email us with your address with phone number.  The Pampered Chef will mail it directly to you.

By Toni, Contributor, Hemp and High Heels (@ToniSue)

Silly, silly me. After having moved out of my parents house and lived on my own for thirteen years, nine of those being in houses that were rented/military homes, I thought I knew exactly what I did and didn’t want in my first house. In that amount of time, I had lived in four apartments, and six houses. I had seen the good, the bad, the ugly and taken detailed notes along the way.

When it came time to buy our first house, I would not make the foolish mistakes you always hear first-time home owners making. I was careful to get a set interest rate, a safe neighborhood, good school district. So, what did I do wrong?

Everything else.

I took the first house that was just “ok”. It didn’t have everything on my wish list. (In truth, it had very little on my wish list) While it may not have made my heart sing, there was nothing wrong with it. It was a new- build, with a warranty, in a quiet neighborhood.

Sold.

Here’s the thing about “just ok” houses. They can turn into “How soon can we sell this house?” really quickly.

The one thing I wish someone would have told me is to slow down. Hold out for a little more “OOO!” and little less “Ehh…”. There is absolutely wrong with my house. The problem is that I call it a “house”. Not HOME.

When making a purchase in something so important, you want to make sure that not only is it a financially sound choice, but it needs to also make your heart skip a beat in a good way. You should love your home. Want to be there. Want to fix it up to show off it’s beauty, not to make it so you sorta like it.

Your home should equal love. It should reflect you. My house is like a vanilla cone. Nothing wrong with it. It will quench an ice cream craving. But, does it make my heart happy? Not at all. I would have much preferred a Cherry Garcia with whip cream and cherry on top. Vanilla pales in comparison.

The moral of the story? It’s a very exciting time, when you purchase your first home. Don’t let that excitement get in the way of common sense, and don’t forget that this is something you might have to live with for the rest of your life. Give it more thought than you do when ordering dessert.

By Shandal, Contributor,  My Life In 3D (@Shandal)

There is an amazing book out there that can really help boost your relationship with your partner or anyone for that matter. It’s called The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. The book explains that everyone has a primary way of expressing their love. As a marriage counselor for more than 30 years, Mr. Chapman was able to identify each of these languages.

My entire life, I have been ecologically-minded. I have always recycled and resused.  I donate to thrift shops instead of throwing away. I try to not “consume” too much, and this helps not only the planet, but my family’s budget.

Since having my baby, I have taken being green to a new level. Now I don’t only recyle, but I avoid purchasing products that are harmful to our environment. I buy only organic food.  My baby uses glass bottles or BPA-free sippy cups.  I don’t use chemical cleaners in my home.  (Multi-purpose botanical cleaners and vinegar solutions do the job.)  I use organic skin and hair care for both myself and my baby. Our shower curtains are PVC-free.

In other words, I do my research.

I mean, I can’t be perfectly green all the time, I just do my best.  I have decided, though, that green really is the way to go, and as a stay-at-home-mom, I have taken on the green movement like most women treat their full-time job.  So you can imagine my absolute delight when I found the Frog Pod.

The Frog Pod is a “Bath Toy Scoop, Drain and Storage,” by Boon, Inc. The most adorable scoop, drain, and storage ever created, that is.

My little one love love loves bath time. The more toys and the more splashing, the better. He squeals with delight when he hears the tub running. He just can’t wait to get into his tub and splash me as much as he possibly can before the water gets cold.  And the floaty toys are his favorite.  But I had found that it was really annoying try to store the toys in a way that they dry off and didn’t get all gross.  And I am hesitant to purchase baby water accessories, as many are made with the harmful chemical PVC and plastics.  Until the Frog Pod basically jumped off the shelf at Target and into my cart.

This scoop and storage unit not only can be hung from your tub’s facet, it is BPA-free, phlathate-free, and PVC-free.  I wanted to make-out with it, right there, in the baby section of Target.  Did I mention it was not only not hideous, but adorable?  Perfect for my adorable bathroom, which I have decorated to a theme that I like to call “Blue and White with Florals and Stripes.”

This product has become one of my absolute favorites.  It is functional and green, and it is cute, but in a modern (not cutesie-teddy-bears) sort of way.  Love it.

By Poppy, Guest Writer, Funny Or Snot (@funnyorsnot)

Blogging is time consuming.

My husband is not the jealous type and he is pretty relaxed.  I won’t gush, but I usually do my own thing and he doesn’t complain.  He’s quickly becoming irritated with the time I’m spending on the computer.  I try to limit my computer time to early mornings, naps, waiting while the kids are at practices or appointments, and after they go to bed.  I think he dislikes losing me to the computer after the kids go to bed the most.  Before I started blogging, we would channel Mike and Carol Brady in which he would watch TV in bed while I would read.  Unless it is Tuesday or Saturday in which case that is none of your business and I still report for duty promptly at 9:00.

When I first started blogging I had no idea it was a community.  I didn’t tell anyone, including my husband.  It was almost a month before I felt comfortable sharing the few  things I had written and almost two weeks after that (thank you Natalie @ Mommy of a Monster) before I realized there were so many fabulous women all over the world that did this every day that I could learn so much from.  Then it became complicated and time consuming, but wonderful.

I’m hoping this is kind of like the honeymoon phase of a diet and that it will slow down a bit because I think about blogging all the time.  I’m getting a little obsessive.  Even though I’m not sitting down at the computer all day, I’m constantly checking my email and scribbling down notes for possible blog posts.  The go to “grocery list” that my mind may have wandered to on an occasional Tuesday or Saturday sexy night past has been replaced by my blog which really isn’t fair to my husband because now I almost always forget something at the grocery store.

Truth be told, my house is also messier than I used to keep it, but it’s not exactly condemned.  Before, I would use nap time to clean without distraction, but now I use it to blog without distraction.  My husband hasn’t said anything specifically to me yet, but he did replace my keyboard one day with the dust pan.

I do think our unseasonably wet spring weather in the Pacific Northwest has accounted for a lot of the time that I have spent on the computer and if we ever get a summer I will abandon the computer and enjoy the outdoors with my children.  Who am I kidding?  I need a new laptop.