todd has a friend who has been asking us to put together a registry so that he can have the opportunity to bless us...which is crazy generous and humbling. (who begs you to put together a list of stuff because they're dying to give you a gift?! i wish i was more like him.) so we went to target to put stuff on our list and left with a total of 18 items on there. five of which were boxes of diapers and wipes. and the rest of which were comprised of some baby shampoo, diaper cream, and a couple of baby gates to replace the falling-apart ones we currently own. it's a short, boring list. (i could have made it longer, but i figured we should be responsible for buying our own nursing bra stuffers, hemorrhoid relief products, and giant maxi pads. i'm nothing if not willing to share the load.)
and yes, i did put a couple things on our list that i have lived without but that would be really nice, like a rocking chair and some swaddler-whatsits (i've always used normal receiving blankets, but both my kids have LOVED being swaddled, so if finneas is the same, it might be nice to have some on hand to make things easier.)
i thought i'd put together a list of things the registries act like you can't live without but you really can (and arguably should).
1. specialized diaper pail or system. your house will smell like baby crap no matter what you do or how much money you spend on something gimmicky. keep your outside dumpster close to the door and toss dirty diapers there, or just get a normal cheapie lidded trash can and empty it regularly.
2. cutie patootie slings. get the mammoth, ergonomically-designed kind. anything flimsy or one-shouldered will only get used occasionally and for short spurts at a time. migraines will abound. my personal recommendation is the moby wrap, although it is a bit awkward to put on and take off but boy howdie is it comfy. (when you put your baby in it, it's like you've got a 10-pound cloud strapped to you. it's still 10 pounds, but something ought to be said for the fact that it's a cloud.)
3. full-on outfits for really new babies. they sleep like 20 hours a day at first, so the closer an outfit resembles pajamas, the more likely you are to use it. and covet it for yourself.
4. expensive baby detergents and stain removers. this one might be a bit more controversial, since i know some babies have really sensitive skin and some detergents are especially harsh (anything with live enzymes in it, like tide, might cause more problems). but i would say more than anything it's fabric softeners and dryer sheets that are irritating to sensitive skin, and just avoiding these and using your normal detergent is way more economical. plus then you don't have to wash baby clothes separately from the rest of the family's, saving on water usage. basic baby hygeine on a budget? boom, roasted.
5. baby toys. maybe a couple to hang from the carseat. but i swear they'll ignore it for the first six months and after that they'll only want to chew on your tupperware instead, so why bother?
6. a special bathtub. while convenient, it's unnecessary if you keep your kitchen sink clean. i'm thinking about getting rid of our baby tub, but i'll make that call after i see whether or not the convenience factor is worth keeping it around.
7. tons of noisy and/or bulky 'holding' devices. yes, you definitely need a couple. probably a swing or bouncy seat, an exersaucery-thing and a bumbo. but i promise you will not need an exersaucer, a johnny jump-up, a jumparoo and a walker. pick one and pocket the cash and the extra storage space that the other ones would suck up. i would recommend getting something that's easily moved from place to place and not too bulky to be centrally located in your most-used rooms. my kids LOVED the bouncy seat that my friend jamie picked up for me on the side of the road by someone's trash can. babies aren't real housewives. they're happy to use whatever works even if you found it in a dumpster. (or on craigslist, which is another great option as long as you don't get yourself raped, pillaged or murdered when you go to pick it up. craigslist is getting scary.)
8. most things labeled 'baby einstein' or 'genius infant' or 'teach your baby to sign in binary.' i really believe that the things babies need to know and are capable of learning, they're equipped to receive without fancy or expensive stuff. they like faces. they like being talked to and held. they like looking at random stuff. mostly, babies are equipped to like stuff that is FREE. which means New Baby and i have a lot in common.
9. those weird, puffy crib quilts. they're really cute, but no one ever puts them to use because they don't seem warm and they are quite likely to suffocate a child to death. both valid reasons to not invest tons of money in one, in my opinion.
10. specialty dishwasher attachments for bottley things. i never put my bottles/accessories in the dishwasher because i was always afraid that the water spots on them were old, dried milk. yuck. plus, if you only have a couple of bottles or if you don't run your dishwasher every day (both true at our house) you're probably going to need to reuse a bottle before the dishwasher could get it clean anyway. buy a two-dollar bottle brush and rinse everything well and you should be set.
11. those weird head-to-toe snowsuit things. newsflash: babies do not play in the snow. and in the 3.2 seconds it takes to get them from the door to the car, most can be effectively bundled with a hat and a warm blanket or two over the top of the carseat. or gimmickier, but quite effective, a bundle me.
12. specialty bath toys. a cup, some tupperware, a spoon. maybe some dish soap bubbles when they're older. and done.
13. baby powder. i do not know anyone who uses this. i don't even know what it's for. i would also lump in large jars of petroleum jelly in here. not sure what it's used for other than lubing up rectal thermometers and about a weeks' worth of circumcision care, and in either case it's very concerning if you need such a large jar of it.
14. half the weird stuff that comes in a baby grooming kit. you will get a cheapo but very effective baby hairbrush at the hospital. ditto for a nose sucker thing. and any time your baby needs a medicine dropper, it will come with the medication. and what anyone uses tweezers or tiny scissors for on a baby, i don't know. why spend the extra money on this stuff? the major exception is baby nail clippers - NECESSARY. and how. get the kind that are normal-hand-sized with a tiny clipper on the end (ours have big bulbous handle things), not the kind where the whole clipper is tiny and you can't see what the crap you're doing. you will bloody your kid's hands faster than something really fast.
15. wipes warmer. your kid will just be thankful (or should be) that you're not making them crawl around in their own crap all day. cold wipes teach character and gratitude, that's what i say. (plus wipes warmers just remind me of whatever adam sandler movie it is where they give him a hot towel on the plane and he doesn't know what to do with it so he just wipes his face and puts it back in the bowl.)
16. baby bath robe. i can't even imagine when a baby would wear one of these if you have a hooded towel and, you know, clothing for him. except for in the evening when he's also wearing a fedora and smoking a cigar while reading an antique, leather-bound copy of milton. so maybe consider investing in one if your baby prefers to spend his leisure time thusly. otherwise, un.necessary.
17. specialty make-your-own-baby-food-at-home gear. do you have a blender or food processor and some ice cube trays? you're set. or do what i do and skip the baby food phase altogether and just mush some normal-people dinner up after a while.
it's so funny when i think back on the things i thought i HAD to have as a first-time mom. and how was i supposed to know any differently? the people telling me what was 'necessary' were the people making sweet, sweet moolah off my purchases. it feels nice to look back over the things i've used and the things that have gone unused and be more confident of what all i should keep around and what stuff is a waste.
anything else that should make the list? anything on here that you've actually gotten a lot of use out of?
why i couldn't tell you what 'niche' this blog fills.
when i get the time, i really love reading blogs. i've noticed that over the course of january, a lot of bloggers were evaluating and re-evaluating the reasons that they continue to blog and i felt encouraged and inspired and also kind of shallow because i never think of stuff like that. i just...blog.
i started this little guy when i was pregnant with atticus and still working...which seems like FOREVER ago. and i basically just used it to update our four readers on pregnancy- (and later, baby-) related news. then i went through this stage where i used it to tell people how to save money...which also seems like forever ago. (anyone else remember frugal friday and that one time i tried to make my own dishwasher detergent? i'm way lame.) then todd used it to update everyone on how much money he made picking up cans from the side of the road every week. then he stopped picking up cans and the blog kind of went quiet.
so all i'm really saying right now is that i don't really ever think about why i blog. if pressed, i guess i would say that it's so that when i see an eighty-year-old guy in running shorts, i can be all, i bet there's a blog here somewhere. so i have no direction for where i'm going because i just kind of...blog...and that's it. and i can't promise frugal friday (or something equally as lame) won't show back up again. because i just kind of blog about whatever i feel like. (wouldn't it be AWESOME if i could manage a whole segment on candid photos of old people in shorts?! i should teach atticus how to spell 'goldmine' so that when i come up with ideas like this he can cheer me on.)
but that's the fun part of all this. in real life, at church, at home, you make some fergie reference or you tell your husband you want to braid your beard and you get a weird look. but on the internet, you get more readers, some of whom are all, i know where you're coming from and i want to braid my beard too. which makes me feel loved and understood and also makes me feel sorry for them because i bet they feel just as misunderstood as i do sometimes.
so that's why i blog. for readers with beards and no other reason. and that is more than enough for me.
2012!!!!!!
i started this little guy when i was pregnant with atticus and still working...which seems like FOREVER ago. and i basically just used it to update our four readers on pregnancy- (and later, baby-) related news. then i went through this stage where i used it to tell people how to save money...which also seems like forever ago. (anyone else remember frugal friday and that one time i tried to make my own dishwasher detergent? i'm way lame.) then todd used it to update everyone on how much money he made picking up cans from the side of the road every week. then he stopped picking up cans and the blog kind of went quiet.
so all i'm really saying right now is that i don't really ever think about why i blog. if pressed, i guess i would say that it's so that when i see an eighty-year-old guy in running shorts, i can be all, i bet there's a blog here somewhere. so i have no direction for where i'm going because i just kind of...blog...and that's it. and i can't promise frugal friday (or something equally as lame) won't show back up again. because i just kind of blog about whatever i feel like. (wouldn't it be AWESOME if i could manage a whole segment on candid photos of old people in shorts?! i should teach atticus how to spell 'goldmine' so that when i come up with ideas like this he can cheer me on.)
but that's the fun part of all this. in real life, at church, at home, you make some fergie reference or you tell your husband you want to braid your beard and you get a weird look. but on the internet, you get more readers, some of whom are all, i know where you're coming from and i want to braid my beard too. which makes me feel loved and understood and also makes me feel sorry for them because i bet they feel just as misunderstood as i do sometimes.
so that's why i blog. for readers with beards and no other reason. and that is more than enough for me.
2012!!!!!!
happy friday.
i'm wondering if a few of you early-bird readers noticed i didn't have this blog set to auto-post this morning. and i'm wondering if any of you wondered if i'm in labor. it's probably wishful thinking on my part because a) who monitors what time i blog? and b) i'm still three weeks out and i doubt that's 'close enough' to my due date for anyone to even think about anyway.
except i'm thinking about it. and thinking about it. and thinking about it.
holy cow, get this kid out of me.
yes, friends, instead of blogging whenever i have the time and setting it to post in advance, last night i took a bath, read a birth book and went to bed. then i slept for ten hours, woke up exhausted, rolled my potato sack of a body out of bed, and here we are. i'm ready for a nap.
anyway, if i spend too long blogging, it will not go anywhere good and you will merely realize that i've kind of become some half-human, half-hyena life form that laughs hysterically one minute then rips you limb from limb to eat you raw the next. not pretty. so i'll leave you with this most current and deceptively cheery looking preggo update photo:
except i'm thinking about it. and thinking about it. and thinking about it.
holy cow, get this kid out of me.
yes, friends, instead of blogging whenever i have the time and setting it to post in advance, last night i took a bath, read a birth book and went to bed. then i slept for ten hours, woke up exhausted, rolled my potato sack of a body out of bed, and here we are. i'm ready for a nap.
anyway, if i spend too long blogging, it will not go anywhere good and you will merely realize that i've kind of become some half-human, half-hyena life form that laughs hysterically one minute then rips you limb from limb to eat you raw the next. not pretty. so i'll leave you with this most current and deceptively cheery looking preggo update photo:
goals for 2012.
i have finally - this week - polished up my goals for 2012. are they so set-in-stone that i'm prepared to print off my list, laminate it, and then enter into some kind of obscure contractual agreement regarding it? um hardly. but it's done-ish, which is all i can mentally handle right now, so we'll call it done.
the thing with me and goals is that i'm a pragmatist. i don't set goals for myself like 'be a better cook' or 'get awesome at being adventurous.' the thinker in me immediately says, how that crap will i measure that to see if i'm actually succeeding? how will i keep myself accountable? and at the end of the year, how will i know if i actually pulled it off? because what the heck is the point of working to achieve something that you later can only assume you've accomplished? I NEED CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF WINNING. it's easier to rub in other people's faces when there's the possibility for some kind of trophy.
i also tried to be diligent this year in not being too lengthy or ambitious in my goal-setting. i would love to say i'm going to read my bible every day. but i know myself and my life and it's just not going to happen. which means i'll end up scrapping the resolution entirely after about a week, which doesn't end up doing me any good. so instead, i tried to pick goals that would challenge me but not be so out-of-reach that i give up before i even start. (ex: 'run on the treadmill once a month' is more likely to at least be entertained than 'develop the upper body strength of a greek - or even american - gladiator.' less flashy, yes, but more likely.)
i'd love to set goals about trying new things in the kitchen or making all my soaked-grain breads from scratch. but hello, realism. some things can wait until next year or even for years before i'm able to allow them to take principal priority. right now, i try to feed my kids enough to keep them alive and not so much that we end up either broke or with kids who weigh more than i do. goal accomplished. moving on.
and finally, i did set some goals that are just for fun and have nothing to do with serving my husband or keeping my kids from starving to death. because every new year needs a little sass. (that motto is copyright of paige van voorst.)
so, without further ado, here we go:
Christian:
Finish my bible read-through plan.
Read the Bible at least three times per week.
Spend quiet time in prayer at least three times per week.
Wife:
Complete the husband encouragement challenge at least once.
Pray through ‘the power of a praying wife’ at least twice.
Mom:
Read to kids daily; check out library books regularly (twice a month).
Pray for kids during personal prayer times.
Pray with kids at least once per day other than at dinner and bedtime.
Read Bible stories to them at least three times per week.
Develop a plan for introducing homeschooling and catechism/scripture memory lessons.
Only have the computer out one morning per week while the kids are awake.
Homemaker:
Make and hone a weekly routine that I stick to.
Make the bed at least four times a week.
Focus on craft room/home school long-term organization and planning.
Clear horizontal surfaces (counters, table and floor) before Todd comes home.
Other:
Learn how to most effectively store photos off the hard drive.
Design family photo albums and be ready to strike like a cobra when a sweet deal on printing comes up.
Finish learning how to quilt, and finish Penelope’s.
Read 30 books.
• 3 parenting
• 3 wife-ing
• 3 nutrition
• 3 homeschooling
will they all happen? no way. but they're a good jumping off-point to getting me at least a little closer to the kind of person i hope to be at the end of 2012.
anyone else out there a realist with goals like 'eat easy mac only three times a week or less'?
the thing with me and goals is that i'm a pragmatist. i don't set goals for myself like 'be a better cook' or 'get awesome at being adventurous.' the thinker in me immediately says, how that crap will i measure that to see if i'm actually succeeding? how will i keep myself accountable? and at the end of the year, how will i know if i actually pulled it off? because what the heck is the point of working to achieve something that you later can only assume you've accomplished? I NEED CONCRETE EVIDENCE OF WINNING. it's easier to rub in other people's faces when there's the possibility for some kind of trophy.
i also tried to be diligent this year in not being too lengthy or ambitious in my goal-setting. i would love to say i'm going to read my bible every day. but i know myself and my life and it's just not going to happen. which means i'll end up scrapping the resolution entirely after about a week, which doesn't end up doing me any good. so instead, i tried to pick goals that would challenge me but not be so out-of-reach that i give up before i even start. (ex: 'run on the treadmill once a month' is more likely to at least be entertained than 'develop the upper body strength of a greek - or even american - gladiator.' less flashy, yes, but more likely.)
i'd love to set goals about trying new things in the kitchen or making all my soaked-grain breads from scratch. but hello, realism. some things can wait until next year or even for years before i'm able to allow them to take principal priority. right now, i try to feed my kids enough to keep them alive and not so much that we end up either broke or with kids who weigh more than i do. goal accomplished. moving on.
and finally, i did set some goals that are just for fun and have nothing to do with serving my husband or keeping my kids from starving to death. because every new year needs a little sass. (that motto is copyright of paige van voorst.)
so, without further ado, here we go:
Christian:
Finish my bible read-through plan.
Read the Bible at least three times per week.
Spend quiet time in prayer at least three times per week.
Wife:
Complete the husband encouragement challenge at least once.
Pray through ‘the power of a praying wife’ at least twice.
Mom:
Read to kids daily; check out library books regularly (twice a month).
Pray for kids during personal prayer times.
Pray with kids at least once per day other than at dinner and bedtime.
Read Bible stories to them at least three times per week.
Develop a plan for introducing homeschooling and catechism/scripture memory lessons.
Only have the computer out one morning per week while the kids are awake.
Homemaker:
Make and hone a weekly routine that I stick to.
Make the bed at least four times a week.
Focus on craft room/home school long-term organization and planning.
Clear horizontal surfaces (counters, table and floor) before Todd comes home.
Other:
Learn how to most effectively store photos off the hard drive.
Design family photo albums and be ready to strike like a cobra when a sweet deal on printing comes up.
Finish learning how to quilt, and finish Penelope’s.
Read 30 books.
• 3 parenting
• 3 wife-ing
• 3 nutrition
• 3 homeschooling
will they all happen? no way. but they're a good jumping off-point to getting me at least a little closer to the kind of person i hope to be at the end of 2012.
anyone else out there a realist with goals like 'eat easy mac only three times a week or less'?
now THAT'S what i call a good bumper sticker.
i have posted before about how ridiculous i find bumper stickers, because usually they're trying to be persuasive or funny or vaguely sexual... and usually they fail at all three.
HOWEVER. my mind was changed yesterday as i was driving home from my OB appointment and there was a van with a straight forward, no-nonsense bumper sticker that read, dogs love eggs.
well, who can argue with that? no one, that's who. everyone's on board with your point, it's not overtly trying to be funny, and i am pretty sure it's not sexual... so i declare that bumper sticker the winningest bumper sticker i've ever seen.
losingest bumper stickers:
1. anything that has to do with the rapture. (come on, christians. let's not, shall we? unless you bumper sticker your hand mill, in which case i would chuckle.)
2. anything that has to do with cowgirl/sex double entendres.
3. campaign paraphernalia from years and years ago... minus extra points if the politician lost that particular year. (your bumper sticker apparently had no gravitational influence on the opinion of the voting public. mission: failed.)
4. anything (other than the winningest bumper sticker) that has anything to do with pets. or eggs, for that matter.
5. anything that declares you're some kind of greenie weenie. minus extra points if it's on a prius. just because it's especially superfluous.
anyway. i just thought i'd use this wonderful tuesday to commend 'dogs love eggs' guy and encourage us all to be a little more like him in our bumper sticker choices.
HOWEVER. my mind was changed yesterday as i was driving home from my OB appointment and there was a van with a straight forward, no-nonsense bumper sticker that read, dogs love eggs.
well, who can argue with that? no one, that's who. everyone's on board with your point, it's not overtly trying to be funny, and i am pretty sure it's not sexual... so i declare that bumper sticker the winningest bumper sticker i've ever seen.
losingest bumper stickers:
1. anything that has to do with the rapture. (come on, christians. let's not, shall we? unless you bumper sticker your hand mill, in which case i would chuckle.)
2. anything that has to do with cowgirl/sex double entendres.
3. campaign paraphernalia from years and years ago... minus extra points if the politician lost that particular year. (your bumper sticker apparently had no gravitational influence on the opinion of the voting public. mission: failed.)
4. anything (other than the winningest bumper sticker) that has anything to do with pets. or eggs, for that matter.
5. anything that declares you're some kind of greenie weenie. minus extra points if it's on a prius. just because it's especially superfluous.
anyway. i just thought i'd use this wonderful tuesday to commend 'dogs love eggs' guy and encourage us all to be a little more like him in our bumper sticker choices.
them's fightin' words.
i'm in a fighting mood today, so i figured i would make some blunt and polarizing statements.
1. i strongly maintain that butter, certain sources of saturated fat and cholesterol, and red meat are fantastic for your health.
2. i vote conservatively and also i think fox news is THE. WORST.
3. i don't trust the medical industry. or the government. or the food industry. or the news media.
4. i am willing to entertain the idea that we never actually landed on the moon.
anyone else with me?
1. i strongly maintain that butter, certain sources of saturated fat and cholesterol, and red meat are fantastic for your health.
2. i vote conservatively and also i think fox news is THE. WORST.
3. i don't trust the medical industry. or the government. or the food industry. or the news media.
4. i am willing to entertain the idea that we never actually landed on the moon.
anyone else with me?
thwr: a lesson in positive thinking from todd van voorst.
todd: i bet most people think of potentially having a disability as a bad thing. they put it in the 'con' column, but they get to park closer to the door at church. and i'm like, COME ON, let's keep our heads here people. we're christians, the last bastion of silver lining in this world. we should be like, 'see a chipmunk eating a nut? winter's not so bad. spring is just around the corner.'
and that's how we roll.
and that's how we roll.
if you can't make fun of politics, what can you make fun of?
actually, a lot of things apparently, since i rarely talk about politics on my blog and i also spend a lot of time making fun of stuff on my blog.
politics is (sounds wrong, but i swear the grammar is correct) a touchy thing, you know? it's a powerful vehicle to talk about and see accomplished a lot of the things that people feel super strongly about. and while, yes, just like pretty much everything else in life i'm pretty opinionated on the topic, i don't really like to breach the issue much on here. maybe it makes me a coward or a loser or something. but probably it makes me a beautiful heroine with sparklingly white teeth.
that being said, though, i came across the following picture the other day and could not resist. i would like to preface the posting of this photo by saying i actually really like newt and hope hesmashes his opponents to tiny bits wins the election. but that's just me (and hopefully enough other people to make it happen). okay, disclaimer aside:
this actually convinces me even more that newt should win. anyone remember the time when dwight maced roy to protect jim? fearless. remember the time when dwight interrogated everyone in the office regarding a joint found in the parking lot? dedicated to justice. remember the time when pam was upset and dwight asked her if she was pms'ing pretty hard? compassionate. now that's the kind of paper salesman and also president i can get behind.
which is why i'm launching my own newt superpack ads sometime in the near future that adopt the following as their tagline:
"newt schrute '12: dismantling the obamney campaign one logical, well-articulated argument (and also one well-timed spray to the face with mace) at a time."
now THAT'S a winning campaign slogan. why has no one thought of this before me?
politics is (sounds wrong, but i swear the grammar is correct) a touchy thing, you know? it's a powerful vehicle to talk about and see accomplished a lot of the things that people feel super strongly about. and while, yes, just like pretty much everything else in life i'm pretty opinionated on the topic, i don't really like to breach the issue much on here. maybe it makes me a coward or a loser or something. but probably it makes me a beautiful heroine with sparklingly white teeth.
that being said, though, i came across the following picture the other day and could not resist. i would like to preface the posting of this photo by saying i actually really like newt and hope he
this actually convinces me even more that newt should win. anyone remember the time when dwight maced roy to protect jim? fearless. remember the time when dwight interrogated everyone in the office regarding a joint found in the parking lot? dedicated to justice. remember the time when pam was upset and dwight asked her if she was pms'ing pretty hard? compassionate. now that's the kind of paper salesman and also president i can get behind.
which is why i'm launching my own newt superpack ads sometime in the near future that adopt the following as their tagline:
"newt schrute '12: dismantling the obamney campaign one logical, well-articulated argument (and also one well-timed spray to the face with mace) at a time."
now THAT'S a winning campaign slogan. why has no one thought of this before me?
video vednesday: i poop at parties, but peoples don't know because i close the door.
i want to go to parties with jennifer just to make observation. she poops at parties.
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