Sometimes it's hard

Deciding to stay home with Little Lady was one of the hardest and easiest decisions of my life. My plan was to return to work after Little Lady was 3 months old, to a job I loved, with people who do truly exceptional work everyday. But when I held Little Lady in my arms, I couldn't imagine leaving her. I tried and it just broke my heart. It didn't help that she wouldn't take any bottle we offered and consequently never took a bottle her entire year-long nursing career. I resigned from my job with 100% certainty I was doing the right thing for my family, and 100% doubt I would ever find a job I loved so much again.

Some people might say I was crazy; crazy to leave, crazy to fill my days with cloth diapers, library storytime, stroller walks, and everything else "baby", but it it made sense to me, and I love it everyday, and even on the days I don't love it, I am thankful for the opportunity to never miss a thing. 

What I never anticipated was the feeling of being left behind. Left behind in my career, left behind as a functioning member of society with anything more to contribute than what the best brand of laundry detergent is at the moment, left behind in all things "intellectual". People try and be encouraging by saying that I'm leaning new things, baby and toddler things, and by trial and error half the time!

And it's nice. 

But it's hard. 

It's hard when The Hubby gets a promotion and a raise, and I get pooped on - literally poop on my hands. It's hard to wonder what my skill set will look like when I return to the workforce someday in the future when our kids are grown. It's hard to not hear the words "you're doing a good job" more often than on Mother's Day.  It's hard when you are having a tough day for someone to say "but you're JUST taking care of the baby."  It's hard to not question if you did the right thing by staying home. 

I admire women so much who have careers and a family because that's hard. I also admire women who stay home with 1, 2, 3 or more kids because that's hard.  

There is no easy choice and there is certainly no right or wrong answer. Just sometimes, it's hard - says the village idiot 

The Ultimate Mommy Fail

One might think the ultimate mommy fail would be accidentally locking your child in a bedroom by themselves and having to call the fire department to get them out, but nope, the ultimate mommy fail is something much worse, much much worse...

Losing a Lovey 

I always wanted Little Lady to have a Lovey, something cute that she couldn't live without.  It would be a safe place for her when she was sad or if we dropped her off somewhere without mommy or daddy. Yeah, well, I did not anticipate what happens when said Lovey goes missing.

We lost a good friend today. A faithful friend. 

While avoiding the terrible horrible 9°weather outside mall walking today, we lost our faithful penguin friend. He was very soft and cuddly and might have been the perfect lovey. He and Little Lady must have been having a spat though because, unbeknownst to me, she tossed him out the side of the stroller. I noticed too late and though we made laps and laps around our mall, we couldn't find him. We checked the security office but we couldn't find him. We did more laps around the mall but couldn't find him. 

What is a mommy to do?...

Order a new one on the Internet when she got home!  Thank goodness for the Internet and online shopping. The new Lovey should arrive in 5 to 7 business days.  Let's hope she doesn't notice the difference - says the village idiot 

2014 Pinterest Challenge - Week 3

For the 3rd week of my 2014 Pinterest Challenge I decided to get creative with wine corks...

And no, The Hubby and I did not consume all this wine by ourselves!  

My supplies: wine corks and a glue gun

I pulled out all the corks that were ugly, or not made of actual cork.

This week's craft reveals wine cork trivets! 

The Hubby pointed out that I am cheating a little bit with this craft because I actually already made 2-3 wine cork trivets several years ago, but I wanted to make some more so now seemed like a good opportunity. I have a lot more corks left so I am going to experiment with some brand new ideas in the next few weeks - says the village idiot 

2014 Pinterest Challenge - Week 2

I am so bad at this.  I am practically already behind on my 2014 Pinterest Challenge. 

This week I attempted “The Christmas Card Book.”

This had to be one of the first crafts I ever pinned on Pinterest when I joined several years ago.  I LOVE receiving Christmas cards, especially photo cards, and I think it is always such a shame to toss them in the trash at the end of the season!  I particularly like what some of our friends and family did this year by including a little “scrap book” of pictures and descriptions of what they did throughout the year.   How fun! 

Hence – The Christmas Card Book – a hole-punched "book" of all the season’s cards we received.

I started out with my supplies: Binder rings, a hole-punch, and all of our cards

I then organized the cards in piles by size so I could get an idea for the smallest/biggest size cards

In order to make sure I hole-punched the cards in the correct spot, I punched one, and used it as a template for the rest

45 min later...

Voila! Our 2013 Christmas Card Book:

I am really happy with the way it turned out! 

I know I mentioned how much I enjoy receiving cards, and I usually enjoy sending them out as well, but this year Christmas snuck up on me and I did not make our usual photo Christmas card :(  I will do better next year!  And I might even include some of our 2014 high lights! - says the village idiot 

2014 Pinterest Challenge

Every December, The Hubby and I make goals for the upcoming year, as well as review our goals from the previous year. (We usually review our goals throughout the year as well to see our progress).  Sometimes we do great in achieving our goals, and sometimes we fall short, but that is why they are called GOALS. 

That brings us to our 2014 goal planning. 

Like most of the female population, I am somewhat infatuated with Pinterest and the endless craftiness it allows me to dream about. I am not what you would call a crafty person, but I try, usually to the amusement of The Hubby or anyone else who has the privilege of seeing my creations. 

For the year 2014, one of my goals is to attempt one Pinterest craft per week, with some yearly Pinterest challenges thrown in for good measure.  I am going to document my progress, including all the crafty success and failures. 

For the first week of January, I am just going to dip my toe in the craft ocean with something pretty straightforward…and hard to mess up. 

Enter: Pinterest Craft Week One

Duh duh duhhhhhhhhhh!

The Memory Jar:

Throughout the year I am going to add "memories" to the jar for us to review at the end of year 2014.  As you can see, I have already added two "memories!"  I am looking forward to all that 2014 has in store for our little family.  

Another challenge I have embarked on for the year 2014 is the "52 Week Money Challenge": 

The Little Lady and I babysit a couple hours a week for a sweet family that lives nearby.  I am going to stock away my babysitting money each week in the predetermined amounts for the entirety of the year.  I am excited to see my money add up without even realizing I am saving!  Let's hope it goes that smoothly...

I know some people are jaded by making resolutions every year that most likely won't make it past January, but The Hubby and I do find value in having goals to keep us focused forward and striving to grow ourselves in little ways over the year.  Does anyone else have creative resolutions or goals for the year 2014? - says the village idiot  

Mother-of-the-Year Award

And the Mother-of-the-Year Award goes to…….ME!!

NOT!!!

This past week The Little Lady and I went to visit my grandparents at the retirement community where they live.   I planned to stay the entire day, and packed our bags that morning with all the essentials for a day away with a toddler….10 cloth diapers, wipes, bib, sippy cup, pack N’play, toys…etc…you know? The essentials.  I did however, forget the noise machine.  The importance of this oversight will come later.

We arrived midmorning in time to play and visit.

Playing with Great-Grandmommy's fish, Herbie

We ate lunch and then I put The Little Lady down to sleep in the pack N’ play in my grandmother’s back bedroom.  In their condo, the kitchen shares the same wall with the bedroom so it can sometimes be noisy in there.  

ENTER: forgetting the noise machine – oops.  In order to keep the noise level down, when I left the room, I consciously pulled the door shut behind me. 

I joined my grandparents for a card game of hand and foot, and went to check on The Little Lady after the first round.  Upon trying to open the door, I realized I couldn’t turn the knob.  I did not panic, but simply thought I must be doing something wrong.  Surely, the door could not be locked with my innocent, darling, helpless daughter inside. 

I called my grandmother over, and unfortunately she could not get the door open either, because it was horrifyingly locked.  After 3 hours 20 minutes of anxiety, which included an unsuccessful call to the building’s maintenance department, I had to call 911 – yes 911!!

Within 10 minutes, the fire truck had pulled up out front.

Hundreds of old people in this building and the fire department is here for me and my 13-month old daughter!  Mortifying.

Thankfully the fire department did not have to break down the door, as they were able to use a small tool inserted into the lock to open the door.  It was also a huge blessing that The Little Lady was asleep the entire time and had no idea what excitement was taking place on the other side of the locked door!

Double-check the lock on the door before your pull it shut behind you, leaving your sleeping child locked inside! – says the village idiot. 

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If you love animals, specifically birds, please do not read this post. I unintentionally killed one of God's precious creatures. 

It all started with Pinterest, I mean really, what doesn't?

This was my vision for the backyard for Little Lady's birthday party:

Unfortunately, on the day of her party it rained so we had to move the pumpkin patch to the porch. It still looked cute and I was happy with the way it turned out. We decided to leave everything out there for another party we are hosting in several weeks.

Please see exhibit A where you notice something has been munching away on the corn... 

My first thought when I noticed this was "aw, we are feeding the neighborhood animals. That is so cute.  We are good people." 

We learned later this week as The Hubby was about to leave for work that we are not only feeding the neighborhood animals, but the neighborhood rodents, specifically a rat. 

Foul. 

I am all for loving God's creatures, but a rat, on my porch, attacking my baby is just gross. Sorry PETA. 

The Hubby decided he would pick up some rat traps on the way home from work. I didn't think this was hasty enough for my rat-removal taste.  I had the grand idea to put down sticky traps

…Outside

…In nature

…Where all God's creatures play and frolic in THEIR environment....

So before The Hubby left for work, he placed two sticky traps outside, right underneath the corn. I waited and watched but no visitors came. 

Mid morning, I decided to walk the Little Lady to the library for weekly Storytime. Upon coming home an hour later I noticed one of the sticky traps was gone. 

First thought: Yeah! We got him!!!

Second thought: Oh dear, is that chipmunk? That’s terrible if that’s a chipmunk.

Third thought: Oh no.  Oh no.  That’s not a rat or a chipmunk.  Oh my goodness that’s a bird, two birds.  I’m a bird-killer.  I need to dispose of the bodies. 

I then did the most logical thing I could think of - call The Hubby.  He didn't pick up the phone.  He obviously had no idea what trauma was taking place in our backyard at the moment, and that he was married to a bird-killer.  I then did the next most logical thing - I called my best friend/neighbor to see if 1. her husband was home, and 2. if they happened to be taking a family stroll by my house in the next 30 minutes.  He wasn't home, and upon learning of the massacre happening in my yard at the moment, there would be no strolling by our house anytime soon.

I then had to wait 4 HOURS for my friend Ryan to come over and dispose of our flying friends.  I will spare the details, but he disposed of them and they are now in birdie heaven.  

DO NOT put sticky traps outside because you never know what you might catch, and it might be more than you bargained for - says the village idiot.