Little Cooks in the Kitchen

It’s has been a while since I have done a “Favorite Things Friday” entry.  August 3rd to be exact.  So what would make me jump back in to sharing some of my favorite things?  Well, I haven’t washed my hair since Tuesday.  Yes, that’s right.  Tuesday.  Why, you might be wondering, would I share my lack of hygiene with you?  No, it’s not normal.  No, it’s not to gross you out.  And no, it’s not to try to communicate how hectic things are with 3 kids under 4.  I have hit the Mommy beauty care jackpot!!! 

This little bottle has revolutionized the “getting ready” process for me.  It is dry shampoo.  I know, it looks like something Farah Fawcett would have used in her Charlie’s Angels day.  I have no idea why they haven’t updated the look of the bottle, but I don’t even care!  I have really oily hair, so I’ve never been able to go even one day without washing it.  I was complaining to the girl that does my hair (whom I don’t pay near enough by the way!) and she suggested I try the dry shampoo.  So, I went to Sally’s Beauty Supply and bought me a bottle.

Those of you who know me IRL (that’s “In Real Life” not Indy Racing League in case you didn’t already know that!) know I have naturally curly hair.  When I use the dry shampoo, I have to straighten it or else I will have hair that looks clean on top and like a rat’s nest on bottom.  It does take a little longer to straighten, but then I can go 3 more days without washing it.  I do still take a shower in case you are getting really worried about me!  And let me tell you, I think after a few days of dry shampoo my hair starts looking so good that it makes me look Glam.O.Rous!  (That could just be in my head, but that’s ok!)

Anyway, if you are a mom and want to save some time by cutting out your hair washing and drying, do what I do, just quit washing your hair!  I mean, buy some dry shampoo!

A few photos to give you a glimpse of our day:

Garrett’s Reward Board.  We just started this morning.  I got the idea from my friend Jenn a while back and we finally implemented it.  (We’re having a few issues that have necessitated it.)  The idea is that Garrett gets 3 coins each morning and builds up coins in his account to “earn” special rewards.  The problem here is that this is what his board looks like now.  We put his 3 coins in his account at 7:30am this morning and by 8:00am they had all been moved back over to the bank.  All for separate “infractions”.  Maybe tomorrow will be better…

The kids went to preschool today and came home with Mother’s Day gifts for me!  Check out the purse that Garrett made me.  That is his footprint made into a butterfly and yes, I most certainly will be carrying this to church on Sunday!  I mean, how many times am I going to get to use a purse that my son makes for me.  He will be so proud and all of the other moms will be jealous!

I got the frame from Gracie.  It had a photo of us (Gracie and myself) in it, but I have to be honest, it was one of the worst pictures I have seen of myself in a long time, so in my vanity, I took it out.  I will replace it with a cutie-pie picture of Gracie.  Maybe with me, maybe not.

Bath time.  What is so great about this photo is that the toilet seat is up.  That means that Garrett won’t be standing up in the tub watching himself act as a fountain!

I had a few others, but I’m having a bit of trouble uploading them and let’s be honest, it’s 10:45pm, about an hour past my bedtime.  I have no business trying to upload photos even though they were good…I’ve gotta go to bed in case all three kids wake up at 5:30 AM again tomorrow morning.  That’s right.  This morning.  All. Three. At. The. Crack. Of. Dawn. ALL. THREE.

I have so many blog post ideas floating through my head right now and so little time to write them.  I was having a major case of writer’s block when I was pregnant, but now that my body is getting back to it’s pre-pregnancy norm, I am flowing with thoughts.

I plan on writing more about Griffin and our family, but for those of you wondering, he is just awesome.  He is SUPER laid back (at least so far!) and just a joy for all of us.  The kids love him and have been really sweet to him.  Here is one of my favorite photos from the day we left the hospital.

Gotta go grab some sleep.  More later!

The wait is over!

Griffin Elijah Cook

Arrived Friday, April 25th at 1:38 pm.

Weighing in at 7 lbs, 11 oz and measuring 21 inches, and I can’t wait to tell you all about him!

Until then, here’s a little preview of the newest member of our family.

We’re all so excited!  Welcome Griffin!!!

A few weeks ago, I got one of those automated emails you get every week of your pregnancy (yes…I am still signing up for those even though this is my third…) and I had to laugh.  After it told about what was going on with the baby and then told me how I felt, it said, “Now would be a good time to start baby-proofing your home.”  Huh?  At thirty-something weeks pregnant you should baby-proof your home?  I guess that’s in case your newborn jumps right out of your arms and rushes to stick his finger in an electrical socket?

No wonder new moms get so stressed and go way overboard on preparations.  It got me thinking about the differences between this pregnancy and my first.  Here are a few comparisons, I have drawn:

1st baby:  A house full of baby “stuff”.  Diapers in every size - up through toddler sizes, several different brands of wipes - in case the baby was “allergic” to one of them, “baby” detergent, clothes in every size for the first year of life, monitors, swings, bouncy seats, electrical outlet plugs (yes - I had them.), crib ready for the baby to sleep in at about 36 weeks of pregnancy (would have been earlier, but we had just moved into our house), strollers - including a jog stroller that Garrett wasn’t big enough to fit in the entire first year of his life, toys, sippy cups - that’s right, sippy cups.  The list could go on and on, but in the interest of time (a little late for that) I’ll stop.
3rd baby:  Huh?  We don’t already have it all?  I just bought one pack of diapers and a few clothes for the first month in case the ones we have don’t fit (they’re still in the attic).  The crib has no mattress and I have no idea where I put all of those bottles.

1st baby:  I was so worried about delivery.  What if I don’t know what I’m doing.  What if I have the baby in the car on the way to the hospital.  What if my water breaks in public.  Are they going to MAKE me sit on that big bouncy ball?  What if the epidural hurts.  What if the baby never comes out.  What if the baby does come out, what then?
3rd baby:  Only one real concern.  What if all the anesthesiologists are sick or on vacation.

1st baby:  I wore the obligitory (or so I thought) hospital gown.  Complete with broken strings to tie it up with.  Nice.
3rd baby:  I’m bringing my own, cute, comfy “lounge-wear”.  No worrys about broken hospital gown strings.  Or looking like I might be going into surgery at any moment!

1st baby:  I was determined to keep the baby in the room with me instead of sending him to the nursery.  (By the way, I only got about 5 hours of sleep the whole time I was in the hospital).
3rd baby:  I’ll be dropping that precious fellow off at the nursery by 8:30 or 9pm every night on my way to the snack fridge to pick up a coke and a cup of that glorious ice.  Oh, that ice!

1st baby (and 2nd baby):  Constant visitors.
3rd baby:  No one will know we’re in the hospital until we’re about to leave.  This is as close to a good long date as we’re going to get for a while!

1st baby:  I wondered why God had blessed me and trusted me to raise this amazingly beautiful and precious life.
2nd baby: I again wondered why God had blessed me and trusted me to raise this amazingly beautiful and precious life.
3rd baby: I am yet again wondering why God has blessed me and trusted me to raise this amazingly beautiful and precious life.

I guess some things will never change, no matter how many times you experience them!

I talked with my friend Jenn, who reminded me I had promised some re-runs when, in my late in pregnancy state, I didn’t feel like writing originals.  She then requested this one (from June 2007), so here you go:

What’s the opposite of the word vacation?  That would describe our trip last week.  We started coming up with “It’s not vacation when…” phrases.  The winning phrase was, “It’s not vacation when your 2 year-old pulls the gas pump out of the car while it’s pumping full blast and gets gas all over himself and you’re on your way to the hospital.”

That’s right.  We were a little over an hour and a half away from home and Ricky was pumping gas.  Garrett pulled the nozzle out of the car and gas was still coming out full blast.  It happened in a split second.  We had changed the kids’ diapers and I was holding Gracie.  We were giving them a little “out of the car” time.  Ricky picked Garrett up, and flung him out of the way of the pouring gas, which scared him.  He started rubbing his eyes.  His hands (and his upper-body) had gas all over them so he got gas in his eyes and started to scream.  I grabbed the bottle of water Ricky had been drinking and Ricky dumped it in Garrett’s eyes, while I put Gracie in her car seat.

The commotion sent Gracie into a panic and she proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs for 10 minutes.  Ricky couldn’t even touch Gracie because he was also drenched with gasoline and I wasn’t much help because I was carrying Garrett inside to wash his eyes out (at this point he couldn’t even open them.)  I should also mention that there was a man in his fifties on the other side of the pump while the whole thing unfolded.  He just stood there pumping his gas and acted oblivious to our chaos.  I guess he didn’t want to get involved.

So I carry Garrett inside.  He’s screaming and I have 3 people ask me if he’s going to be ok.  What?  I mean really…do you think I was capable of answering that question while I’m carrying a screaming 2 year-old who can’t open his eyes?  They take me back to this big sink and I stick Garrett’s head under the water and tell him to open his eyes. Unbelievably, he does and we wash his eyes out.  Did I mention he was screaming?  Then he starts trying to rip his shirt off and I notice that his skin is the color of a maraschino cherry.  I try to wash his upper body off while the girl that worked there was telling me how dangerous it was for little kids to get gas in their eyes and on their skin.  Yeah, thanks.

She called the hospital to see what we should do and they wouldn’t tell her anything.  She didn’t know and Garrett still was complaining about his skin hurting.  So we head to the hospital.  On the way, I decided that sitting in an emergency room waiting area for a couple of hours was something we were only going to do if absolutely necessary so I called our pediatrician’s office.  The nurse said we just needed to wash him off with soap and water and keep an eye on him.  Soap….that was the only missing element from our time at the gas station.

So we stop at the Dollar General Store.  I pick up some soap and wash clothes.  I take Garrett to the bathroom, strip him down to his diaper and proceed to wash his entire body.  We put new clothes on him, threw his gasoline soaked clothes away and we were on our way home.

Here are lessons we learned from the “Great Gas Catastrophe of 2007:

1. NEVER pump gas when you’re with a curious child that likes to put his hands on everything - unless said child is strapped into his car seat.
2. Gas station employees don’t know what to do if there is a pump-related accident. 
3. If a young child gets drenched in gas, wash them off with soap and water.
4. There is a reason people are not supposed to smoke while pumping gas (we still can’t even think about what would have happened if someone had been close to us and smoking.)
5. It’s really not a vacation when you travel with a 2 year old and a 9 month old.

Dear lady in the Target parking lot that was driving the convertible BMW with the bumper sticker that read, “Don’t let the car fool you, my treasure is in heaven.”:

When you are driving around with an advertisement for your faith on your bumper, please don’t frown, shake your head in disgust, make hand gestures and curse at a very tired pregnant lady who has pulled through the parking place in front of her to leave rather than go through the shenanigans of trying to twist and turn well enough to see past the two large SUVs on either side to back out.  I’m sorry that I was driving through your parking spot, but I think your reaction was a little over-the-top.

Especially since you ended up with closer parking place anyway.

Sincerely,

The very tired pregnant lady from the Target parking lot that was in the van, which by the way, has no bumper stickers.

OK, I totally just stole this from my sister-in-law’s blog, but this is a must-see!

I don’t like Monday usually but I LOVE Mondays that start like this one did.  I have not been feeling well and have been completely unable to breathe through my nose.  This issue is beginning to make my lips chapped and my mouth incredibly dry.  I had just looked in the mirror and thought, “Wow, I look rough.”  Then I strolled into the kitchen to get my 3rd glass of water since midnight (it’s 6:45am) and I see a note on the counter left by my unbelievably wonderful husband.  Because these romantic love notes are personal, I won’t tell you about all of the sweet, loving, captivating comments he made on that sheet of paper.  I’ll only tell you how it started.

Beautiful,

How about that.  His salutation today wasn’t:  “Dear Carmen,” or “Honey,” or Hey you,” - not that there is anything wrong with those salutations - except maybe “Hey You”.  He chose “Beautiful,”.  He came in and kissed me before he left so either his eyesight is going bad, he couldn’t see me because the lights were out or he sees beyond my looking “rough” moments and he thinks I’m beautiful anyway! 

I love him and I love how he sees me.  But just in case - I’m not getting him any glasses!

Happy Easter!!!!

I LOVE Easter more and more every year and it has nothing to do with the Easter eggs, baskets, cute outfits or even the family gatherings, although all of those things are great.  The death and resurrection that we celebrate at Easter is the foundation of Christianity.  Without it, as a Christian, I would have nothing. 

Every year I feel more amazed.  More humbled.  More in awe.  More excited.  More loved.  This year was no exception.  During worship I wanted to dance, jump up and down, bow down and weep all at the same time (a little of that might have been the pregnancy hormones!)  Our church service was amazing and I just wish that we celebrated Easter every day.  That’s really the shape our hearts should be in - celebrating the hope and joy and sacrifice that was made for us every day.