Friday, September 19, 2014

It's been a long time [and some favorites!]


I sort of hate how long it's been since I last posted. Sort of, mostly because of how busy our schedule has been over the last several weeks. I keep telling myself that things will be slowing down and I'll get back to posting but more and more things get added to the calendar and days pass by in the blink of an eye.

Until it does, here's some things I've been loving lately:

  1. The Honest Company Bug Spray. The mosquitos around these parts swarm the second you step outside. Must be something about the warm/cool/damp weather we've been having, but it's ridiculous! I've found this bug spray to have a good smell, safe for little ones who rub their eyes or put fingers in their mouth, and actually repel mosquitos. I'm even dousing myself before going out to mow to save myself some misery!
  2. StitchFix. Have you heard of it? I saw things about it floating around Facebook a year or so ago and didn't give it much thought. Being a stay-at-home-mom, what do I need with a box of pre-selected clothes specifically for me? I don't have anywhere to wear those clothes anyway. After having M a few months ago, I was in desperate need of something other than yoga pants and a trip to the mall seemed impossible with 3 small children. I received my second fix today and love 3 of the 5 pieces, saving me a lot of time and struggle trying things on while fighting kids to stay put!
  3. Planning our garage overhaul. For far too long, our garage has been a place we avoided due to the piles of stuff ALL OVER. Before this winter (of the first snow), I am determined to get it organized and work for us! Here's my inspiration
What have you been loving this month, or last month... or ever? 


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Cover a duvet FAST & EASY!

This is not the post I intended to write today. In fact, I have 3 other posts half written that I haven't gotten to finish yet. With our vacation looming days away, as with the beginning of the school year, my brain has been consumed with to-do lists and reminders of things needed. A 5 year old, 1 year old, and 3 month old on a plane ride with four days in a far away land is a lot to take on mentally. I'm going to need a vacation from just planning our vacation.

Anyway...

I always dread the time of month when it comes time to wash the duvet cover on our bed. It's a piece of cake to whip off, I love the fresh smell that comes with laundering it obviously, but what a pain in neck to wrangle that bad boy back into it's cover. It almost always ends with me standing inside the cover, trying to finagle the duvet up into the furthest corners with struggles and failure time and time again. I hate it to the point that I avoid putting the cover back on for days in an attempt to psych myself up for it. Ridiculous.

I stumbled upon this gem the other day and lucky for me, it was right in time for bedding laundry day. (I wash the duvet cover and pillow covers about once a month, is that often enough?)

How to Cover a Duvet the EASY Way (The Two Minute Duvet Cover Trick) by Making Lemonade

I'm not going to lie. I had my doubts when reading her post. I just can't wrap my brain around how the process of rolling 2 things up on top of each other and flipping them inside somehow magically get the duvet inside the cover and unrolls perfectly without any effort at all. But then I did it and IT WORKED! I was done in a matter of 3 minutes, without sweating or cursing or threatening to throw the blanket away, again.

She even has this handy video to watch if the pictures just are doing it for you (skip to 1:38 for the steps to start)

*This video is not of me, but rather of the writer of Making Lemonade blog. I have included it in my post as an easy reference but please visit her site to see step by step directions to The Two Minute Duvet Cover Trick*

I am so happy to have found this trick and I hope it leaves you skipping out of the bedroom carefree when you're done with it too! 



Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I woke up in a cold sweat

Last night was a terrible night. I awoke from a nightmare several times over the course of 5 hours. Each time, thinking it was the last. What was I dreaming about over and over?

It was 9:00 a.m. and our flight for vacation was departing at 2:00 p.m. I had not packed a single item for any of us.

It's pathetic that this amazingly fun vacation my husband has surprised me with has me so stressed out that I'm having nightmares. I didn't even have to handle any of the coordination of plane tickets, hotel accommodations, scheduled activities (he's pretty amazing).

I only have to worry about packing. Packing what 5 people will need over the 5 days we will be gone. Packing the right balance of entertainment and necessity for 3 small children. Packing the perfect combination of items to keep a 5 year old and a 1 year old happy and tantrum-free on a 4 hour plane ride, twice. Packing enough bottles and diapers to keep a 3 month old satisfied and content.

I've been pinteresting my tail off for tips and tricks of traveling with kids and my brain is swirling with ideas and to-do lists. It seems impossible to get everything ready in 2 weeks. It shouldn't seem impossible. Am I making a deal out of nothing? I don't know, maybe.

Have you traveled with kids? What are the must haves to survive the plane and several days in a hotel? Please help!


Friday, August 1, 2014

Magic Stain Remover and 5 years of stains gone

Meet Singing Baby. She's been part of our family for 5 1/2 years. She's also never seen a good cleaning for the same amount of time. 

As her name suggests, she used to play light lullabies when you pulled her string.  Used to, as in she has been broken for about 2 1/2 years. With her music box inside her head, it wasn't as if she could get thrown into the washer like all of the other stuffed animals, so she became... disgusting. And she would have been tossed right out with the trash years ago, it is wasn't for a lovey attachment from infancy.

Today was the day that I could no longer stand to look at her brown wings and stained up face. She would undergo surgery today and get washed!

 It began with a careful incision along the back of her neck. I used the seam that I could easily stitch back up without problems or being too noticeable. It was a pretty easy ripout with a seam ripper and only took a few minutes.

It was a bit harder getting the music box out of her head, but it finally gave in and popped out. In it's place, a little extra stuffing and she got sewed right back up. Fitz was worried about the whole ordeal, but was surprisingly happy with her "scar".

Notice the horrible state of her wings in the head surgery picture. YUCK!

Here's the secret to getting just about any stains out,  even 5 year old dirt and grime.
Magic Stain Remover: 
     1 part Dawn dish soap
     2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide

I always mix up however much I need (usually a small dipping container) as I need it and apply it with a toothbrush. It doesn't take much scrubbing with fresh stains, but I scrubbed her wings for a minute a piece. 


I knew this stain remover was amazing with things like strawberry, juice, grass, etc. but I wasn't fully convinced it would work for this type of long-lasting stain. 

I was so pleasantly surprised when she came out almost like new. And even happier that she can now be washed on a fairly regular basis so it doesn't happen again!

I've even used this one on the carpet and it totally worked!

Never again will I let a broken music box keep me from cleaning a toy or stuffed animal again!


Thursday, July 24, 2014

"Mommy, why do you wear makeup?"

It's a rare occurrence to find time to put on makeup around these parts. Most days, my morning routine includes a speed shower, face serum and moisturizer, and a quick comb through.  If we have something planned outside the house, I try to use BB cream, concealer, and mascara.

The other day, while everyone was still sleeping (Hallelujah) I was showered, blow dried, and putting on makeup when Fitz came waltzing into the bathroom. She quietly watched from the doorway for a couple of minutes before asking, "Mommy, why do you wear makeup?"

It's the first time she's ever asked that. Usually the conversation is more, "Can I wear makeup?" Or she sneaks the bag into her room and emerges... remorseful.

My response took longer than it should. I ran through a list of answers in my head:

"To make Mommy feel better."
"To make Mommy pretty."
"So other people don't realize how tired and worn down I am."
"So other people think I look pretty."

In the end, I didn't really know what to say. None of the reasons I came up with would send the message I want her to grow up thinking - You don't need to change anything about yourself to be beautiful. 

We talked for a few minutes about what she thought makeup meant and how it affects how we look and it melted my heart to hear the words that came out of her mouth.

"I think you look prettier when you don't wear makeup. Then we look more alike and you look beautiful like me." 

That is one smart 5 year old.

In contribution to the real beauty campaign, I encourage you to post your makeup free pictures. Upload them to Facebook or Tweet them @Momma_ofThree #makeupfree and I'll add your picture to spread the word for all women that they are beautiful.


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Can we talk about eye creams for a second?

As the years creep on, and the exhaustion of parenting continues, I am noticing more and more lines, crinkles, dark bags, and dullness showing on my face and around my eyes. It's terrible. I'm not old enough for this.

I've been on the search for an eye cream that "works" for a couple of years now. I've tried most of them for a month or two and have yet to feel satisfied with the results. The ones I've tried most recently are below:


I found that the Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum worked tightening the undereye skin for a few hours after application, but was not effective as a lasting product.

All About Eyes, Timewise, and Yes to Blueberries only acted as an extra moisturizer to the undereye area but did not help to eliminate or diminish any of the lines or dullness. 

I'm currently using Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream.  I find this to be an added moisturizer as well, but it leaves the skin feeling more dewy under my eyes, which works well with my concealer in hiding the dark circles.  

I hear good things about Olay, but I don't know which eye cream to try.

Do you have an eye cream you love? Share what it is and what you love about it! 


Saturday, July 12, 2014

I didn't expect it to be this hard

Finding out I was pregnant for the third time threw me a curveball. Sure we had lightly discussed having another baby, but I never decided how I felt about it and the responsibility and work that would go into having 3 small children.

I was a really good mom of one. I had it down. I could juggle it all: playing, working, cleaning, teaching, disciplining. It had its hard days, but they were rare and short-lived. I had time to do things that interested me while she was napping or in bed for the night. Grocery carts are made for one kid with ease. And it wasn't difficult to find someone willing to watch one kid for a few hours during a date night.

I was starting to get it as a mom of two. Monkey was full of difficulties we weren't prepared for when we decided to give Fitz a sibling. The hard days were constant and seemed to drag on for weeks at a time. It became rare to have a "good" day for months. Even with becoming a stay-at-home-mom with the birth of our second, the balls I was juggling, for two polar opposite children, seemed heavier than before: playing, cleaning, teaching, disciplining, balancing attention, chauffeuring, feeding. Shopping became a struggle to keep both kids under control long enough to do what needed done and I felt guilt for asking people to watch them at the same time when I knew how hard it was with just the younger one. But it was beginning to get easier.

I talked to many moms who had 3+ kids while I was pregnant. It felt like the most common advice was "three is a piece of cake, you'll hardly notice an extra one". If that is true for most moms who have three or more kids, I'm so happy for you (mostly happy anyway... ok, jealous is probably the right word).

My reality is: I can't remember what it's like to have time to do anything I enjoy without someone pulling on me, asking a million questions, or crying to do something else. Getting out of the house with everyone without a fight is an impossible task at this point and doesn't seem worth even trying. All of the cleaning and cooking from a typical day drains everything out of me, let alone playing or teaching. "The third kid is the anchor." is something I was told by a stranger before M was born and I despised his attempt at humor. I understand his meaning now, it's not easy to ask anyone to watch 3 kids at once. I find myself tripping over responsibilities as a mom, wife, and friend daily and only have faint glimmers of light that it will become easier as time goes on.

Even if I do manage some time to myself, without anyone crying or needing help or fed, I'm too exhausted to do anything but melt onto the couch and stare blankly and what is sure to be a kid show on the TV.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

20 reasons baby wipes are my all-time favorite thing

I often find myself wondering, "What did I do before baby wipes?" Do you? They are an all-purpose product that I can't see giving up when diaper duty is over.

I use them for everything.

  1. They are the go-to for messy hands and faces after meals.
  2. Quick counter wipe downs in the bathroom. 
  3. Wiping runny noses, especially when they get raw from regular tissue.
  4. Cleaning the car dashboard.
  5. Makeup remover (or keeping it real, wiping away the old mascara from under my eyes in the morning).
  6. That restaurant table you are leery about putting the cheerios on. 
  7. Cleaning the spit-up that just happened down your shirt.
  8. Works to clean off the crayon from the wall, bathroom vanity, toy chest, etc. 
  9. Gets the grossness off of the laptop keyboard.
  10. Wipes the yogurt or applesauce out of hair.
  11. Cleans ink and marker off skin.
  12. Smoothing down fly-away hairs.
  13. Wiping down the kitchen table and high chair.
  14. Dusting tables (great for little hands to help without the chemicals). 
  15. Spot mopping. 
  16. Cleaning the inside window ledge that gets so dirty.
  17. Cool wipe down after some time in the heat. 
  18. Getting flung food off table legs and chairs. 
  19. Quick wipe up of spills.
  20. Cleaning up dry erase boards after too many uses. 
I have packages stashed in nearly every corner of my house so its just an arm's reach away when needed. 

How are baby wipes loved around your house? 


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Organize your email inbox in record time - Ah-mazing!

I am drowning in junk mail daily. I have 3 active e-mail addresses.  Is that too many? One of them is primarily for signing up for log-ins throughout the internet so that I don't have to bombard my regular e-mail with spam for the rest of my life. (Unless I'm really into the site I'm signing up on, then I'll use my normal e-mail so the system kind of breaks down after 5-10 log-ins.)

I don't know why I thought that was a good idea. I still have to check that e-mail at least once a day to clear out the 30-50 e-mails I get for soliciting traffic to their site. And going through each one to click "unsubscribe" seems like way more work that just deleting them all, everyday. Ugh.

Until I stumbled upon this AH-MAZING site!  Unroll.me Once your e-mail address in entered, it scans through all of your subscprition and populates a list for you.  Unsubscribing just became as simple as a scroll and click for all of your annoying e-mail lists at once.

This was my regular e-mail scan. I really had no idea that I had signed up for so many things with it.
After 5 clicks, the site prompts you to "share with a friend" via Facebook, e-mail, or Twitter before you can continue. What a small price to pay for organizing your inbox in record breaking time! 

I'm now down to a few e-mails per day, per address.  Totally doable. 

Do you drown in spam email, too? 


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Making a chore chart that works

Somedays, I have a hard enough time remembering if I brushed my teeth, let alone chores and educational activities (bad mom, bad). The intentions are always there, to help Fitz contribute to the family in more ways than "pick up your toys", but fleeting in the midst of feedings and crying and "that's dangerous, please don't". We've tried a few different chore charts in the past that were always more work than helpful so they were abandoned quickly.

During a quick trip to Office Depot, I spotted a large 2014 desk calendar for $1.00 I snatched it up and began brainstorming how I could make the calendar do all the work of remembering for me.

What I want my calendar to do for me:

  • Show 2 educational activities and 1 chore for each day
  • Be simple enough for Fitz to understand alone 
  • Allow her choice in her contributions
  • Not be ugly


Before the month began, I went through and wrote down 2 educational activities for each day. (I took most of these from the Kindergarten readiness worksheet sent home from Parents' Night). I left the chores blank intentionally. 

Every Saturday, Fitz will have the chance to choose her chores for the week (Sunday-Saturday). Giving her the decision makes all the difference in the world! She has a list of age appropriate chores to choose from, and each chore must be completed before choosing one again (Ex: she did not chose clean bathroom, put toys away, counters & table, or clean bedroom for the first week of July so they will have to be chosen for the second week, before any other chore)

Each chore is an extra contribution to the everyday responsibilities of the house. Put toys away means go through the house and make sure that things are where they belong, not just shoved into the nearest toy bin or bedroom. Clean bedroom includes dusting, vacuuming, etc. 

When the chore and activities are done for the day, she places a sticker on that day. When Saturday comes, if all of the days have a sticker, she will receive an allowance. 

Allowance is new for us. Before this, she was expected to help around the house and was given praise instead of money.  As she becomes older and her wants become bigger, we decided that having the opportunity to save money and use it for what she would like (without hearing "no" all the time) is an important lesson. 

With the new system in place and working with minimal effort on my part, I'm looking forward to getting Monkey in on it in a few more months. 

How are chores handled at your house? Do you give an allowance for family contributions? 



Thursday, June 26, 2014

10 secrets a Stay-at-Home-Mom doesn't want you to know

As I start my third year as a stay-at-home-mom, I answer the question, "How do you like being a SAHM?" a lot. How do you answer that question?
"Yeah, it's busy but great."
"Yeah, but it's harder than I expected."
"Somedays."
"I miss socialization."

The people who ask have never experienced the joys and struggles of the Stay-at-Home-Mom job. To them I offer: 10 secrets a Stay-at-Home-Mom doesn't want you to know.

10. Occasionally it's a race against the husband walking in the door and putting on real pants.

9.  Lunch options are not as glamorous as Pinterest makes it look.  Chicken nuggets, PB&J, Fish sticks, repeat.

8.  Make-up? Hahaha

7.  Somedays, we don't need to go to the store, we need someone to be buckled in one place for a little while.

6.  Other days, getting everyone packed up and in the car seems impossible and nothing is worth it.

5.  Showering is a luxury. Showering with no one else in the bathroom, a fantasy.

4.  The amount of dishes that are used throughout a day is insurmountable. It's a feat just to keep a few clean dishes in the cupboard.

3.  Same with clothes. And getting all the laundry folded (without someone unfolding them) is a pipe dream.

2.  Listening to others talk about lunch dates or coffee breaks is irritating.

1.  It's isolating when everyone else has peers and you're stuck talking to a 1 year old.

But I love it and wouldn't change a thing! 

I want to hear what you would add to the list!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Why we stick to a strict bedtime

How do you handle bedtime? It can be a tricky subject with it comes to parents.  Some have a laissez faire attitude toward it and others hold a strict regimen. Since Fitz has been a few months old, we have always leaned more toward the strict regimen. 7:00 is bedtime. It's something we have stuck to with Monkey and are looking forward to getting on schedule with for M.

We leave places to get home for bedtime. We end movies for bedtime. We make sure baths and dinner are done before bedtime.

It's hard. I'd never say it isn't. 7:00 is early, especially during the summer months, or when my husband doesn't get home until 6:30 from a long day at work. But we stick with it for important reasons.

Schedule

Our girls know what to expect at 7:00 every night. Fitz and Monkey are two of the most active kids I've met. All day long it's GO GO GO. By 6:00, both of them start running low on energy and listening skill but will fight with everything they have to keep going, which of course leads to meltdowns. It helps us keep our cool to know that soon they will be in bed, and it helps them to know that soon the fight will be over (whether or not they want it to be). 

*On very special occasions we will let bedtime slip and will struggle through the tantrums and grouchy attitudes, but it is almost always with regret by 7:45. It just doesn't work for our family at this time.

Alone Time

Whether it is much needed alone time with yourself after a rough day, or alone time together, we cherish this time every night. It gives us a chance to talk without interruptions, watch whatever we want, or sometimes eat without our food getting cold. 

I think this is an important part of a happy marriage as well. Many days end with exhaustion and/or frustration and spending time with the husband is calming and refreshing for both of us. 

Morning Routine

When my girls get enough sleep overnight, they wake up happy. If they wake up happy, we all have a better beginning to our day; I do not do well dealing with fits and whining first thing in the morning. 

We've caught a lot of flack about our unwillingness to change our schedule over the years. As the girls grow and become more involved in activities, we will have to change but for now this is what helps keep the sanity in our house. 

Are you flexible with bedtimes or hold firm? How does it work with your family? 

Sunday, June 22, 2014

How we survived colic

Monkey was 2 weeks old when the crying began. It was slow and subtle at first, each day was just a little more crying than the previous. By 3 weeks, she was crying between 6-8 hours a day. What was I doing wrong?!

When she turned 6 weeks old, the crying and screamed lasted upwards of 14 hours a day. I was drowning in self loathing. How could I let my baby cry like this everyday and not be able to soothe her?

Colic is no joke. And until you experience it for yourself, you can't understand how grueling it is.

Monkey was a baby of firsts. First child I nursed exclusively. First to not go to daycare. First to not gain weight likes babies should. First to make me doubt my own sanity. Because of these firsts, I knew the only reason for all of the screaming and crying was me.

I tried cutting certain foods from my diet (dairy, sugar, gluten, caffeine).
I tried holding her in every imaginable way ever (cradle, football, tummy on my arm, upside down, rightside up).
I googled every topic of crying babies ever for some glimpse of hope that it was something I was or wasn't doing (I could fix it if I just knew)
I screamed back at her when I had nothing left to try.

The doctor was little help. She offered a sympathetic look when delivering the news of colic and what it meant, and then moved on to her next patient. We were on our own.

Feeding

I nursed Monkey exclusively during her colic and questioned myself every day because of it. Is she not getting enough? Could she be allergic to my milk? It MUST be my milk causing her to have such terrible tummy pain. Do we switch to formula to see if it helps? Is she sensing that I don't enjoy nursing and feels this way because of that? Everything I googled and every nurse I talked to recommended the same thing, keep nursing.  If it's bad with breastmilk, it will be worse with formula. Breastmilk is easier to digest on their tiny tummies and she was already having a hard time. 

I didn't switch to formula during this period for her. Mostly out of guilt. I am not a mother who enjoys breastfeeding. It was a hard task, made even more daunting by the endless crying and constant worry. 20 months later, I still wonder if making the switch to formula wouldn't have helped. 

Babywearing

My back and arms ached from holding her nonstop. I couldn't do anything around the house that I needed to do (cook, laundry, dishes, play with my 3 year old). I couldn't stand the intensity of the screams if I laid her down. I tried a BabyBjorn carrier which made the crying worse. I tried a sling that I couldn't ever really get comfortable for me or her. I tried a Moby wrap recommended by a friend. It didn't stop the crying, nothing stopped the crying, but it made it more manageable when I had my hands free to do something else (anything else). 

The trick that helped Monkey was folding her legs up (like they are in the womb) and placing her into the wrap. Her legs provided a small amount of pressure on her tummy while she was held against my body and it seemed to give some relief to the uncomfortableness. She was even able to take a few short naps while tucked tightly into the wrap. Hellelujah.

Breaks

It was so hard to get away from her while she was colicky. I felt such guilt leaving her with anyone else because I knew how hard it was to deal with after only a few minutes. I was home with her all day and all night and it doesn't take long to be worn down completely. There were times listening to the neverending crying that I began to understand how parents could snap on their infant and cause great harm. Whether it's your husband, mom, sister, whomever... take a break from the crying everyday

Having someone help and understand what it's like, makes you feel less crazy. It's not just you doing something wrong. If you think you might harm your baby or yourself, seek professional help immediately, and please don't feel ashamed about it. 


When colic ended, it was slow and subtle at first, each day was just a little less crying than the previous. Then it was just a painful and distant memory.

How have you dealt with colic?


Thursday, June 19, 2014

When did letting our kids out of sight become so scary?

I don't remember when I started playing outside alone. I don't remember either of my parents saying "No" to a request to head outdoors for the day, or watching from the window constantly. I do remember having a curfew of street lights, or the dreaded yell from mom.  I do remember playing in the yard, at the park, or at neighbor's. Nothing terrible ever happened to any of us. We went home dirty, maybe a little bruised up, and ready for bed and a new day to play. 

Every day I fight the worry of what could happen to my kids. Monkey could fall off the edge of the couch she's always bouncing on. Fitz could be approached by a stranger outside and be her usual overly friendly self. Someone could get stung by one of the wasps that seem to make our deck their home every summer. 

When did I become that mom? I don't like it. 

When did letting our kids out of sight become so scary? 

Fitz has begun asking to play outside by herself more and more frequently. She loves riding her bike, she thrives on dramatic play, and could swing herself for hours. Everything kids should be outside doing. "Go outside and play" should be on the tip of all parents' tongues when the weather is nice and the kids are well. And yet, I hesitate every time. 

At what age did your kids start playing outside alone? Does it make you nervous, too? 


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Who did what now?!

Imagine with me for a moment...

It's 7:36 a.m. The sun is shining through the window, birds are chirping outside, your bed has never felt more comfortable than this very moment. Your eyes open lazily as you begin to take in the world around you. Suddenly, a blood curdling scream. What's the first thought you have?

Mine? "Who did what now?!"

Life with 3 kids is hectic. Someone is always in need of something. A hug, a drink, a diaper change, a piece of paper. Life with 3 girls is loud. Someone is always screaming. About a toy, a snack, a song, a nap.

"Fitz" is 5. She thinks she's 17 and ready for the world. One of the most strong willed, expressive, and passionate children I have ever encountered. Surely she's destined for some sort of dramatic vocation.

"Monkey" is 22 months and an absolute peanut. 'Though she be but little, she is fierce' - William Shakespeare. She is either overrun with silliness and giggles or angry screams of frustration, there seems to be no middle.

"M" is 6 weeks old. Spends most of her days sleeping and eating and already has strong preferences for how to be held.

This blog is going to be a collection of sorts, more or less me trying to depict my successes and struggles with 3 kids, a home, a few crafts/home decorating, and maintaining some sanity through it all.

Join me, won't you?

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