Much Needed Update

Well, not so much needed if you don't care what goes on in my life, but if you didn't you wouldn't read this, huh? 

Biggest news of  late--we bought a house!  We were saving up money and then Brendan got an unexpected bonus and we got a tax return and suddenly we had a down payment!  So we started looking at houses, found that we really wanted to stay in our neighborhood, no matter how amazing the houses were on the west side, we want to be by the lake.  So we narrowed our search to Bay View and found a little 3br colonial not too far from where we live now.  Our home inspection is tomorrow, we're hoping nothing major is wrong with it!!  We should be closing the end of April.

I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.  After all the effing moving we have done in the past decade, it will be nice to be settled and really make this our home, instead of wondering if we can paint, do they allow dogs, will the neighbors be too loud for our in-bed-by-7pm kids?  NO ONE WILL LIVE UPSTAIRS!  No one will be doing their laundry beneath our apartment at 3am.  No one will get drunk and be loud on a Friday night (seriously, no one.  We haven't been out in forever.)  I am so looking forward to this!

In other news, Ingrid is almost four.  She is the first on the wait list at the school we want her to go to.  Which hopefully means she'll get in because we did not choose another school for her to do a K4 program.  And I think she's ready for school again.  We have been keeping busy with playgroup at the community center and playdates with neighbors and friends.  It's been crazy nice out so we've been at the park nonstop and of course Ingrid gloms onto some poor unsuspecting kid and they play together the whole time we're there. 

Otis is one and walking and growing like mad.  He's got a ton of teeth and I have to cut his hair because he has a moptop.  He is funny and charming and as big of a ham as his sister.  He loves to flirt with people wherever we go.  He blows kisses now, the old ladies LOVE that.

Brendan is good, loving his job.  He has gotten to bike to work most days because it's been so nice out, which is unusual for March in Wisconsin...  I'm good, loving my many jobs.  Applesauce Crafts is going strong--I have two craft shows lined up for the end of April, early May.  I am doing some consigning at a local handmade shop, the Waxwing.  It's pretty great, if I can ever find time to sew.  We're outside most of the day, and when we're not I'm so damn tired I don't want to look at my sewing machine.  Toadstool Vintage is also doing well.  I haven't had a ton of time to go thrifting but hopefully will do in the near future. 

Now, hopefully I will not be so neglectful.  But with all that's coming up in the next couple months, don't hold your breath.

If Mama Ain't Happy...

Boy, does the saying "If Mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy" sure make sense.  Yesterday Ingrid woke up crying.  At everything.  I was super tired because she had gotten up a few times in the night, Brendan was tired because he was up watching TV late, so neither of us wanted to get up to deal with her.  We tried to entice her to come into bed and snuggle with us, but that kid is so particular.  She loves to snuggle in bed...with me.  If Brendan is near, she yells at him to get up, go take a shower, Daddy!  Since Brendan was not moving she threw a fit.  I followed suit and told her to get out of our room.  The morning just went downhill from there.

The whole day was LONG and sucky.  Lots of yelling, lots of tears and whining, nothing productive got done.  Brendan decided that it was a good idea to look at cars, although it was pouring down rain.  We went (why??) and Ingrid just wanted to splash in puddles.  When neither of us wanted to do the same she, you guessed it, threw a fit.  We went back home, she fell asleep for two seconds in the car but wouldn't sleep at home.  It was one of those rainy days that if you don't have kids is really nice and relaxing.  You can just curl up with a good book or veg in front of the TV.  But with kids it sucks.  Ingrid wanted to color, no play, no read books, no watch TV.  Her attention span was super short, her fuse was super short, we didn't really feel like playing with her anyway, so it just was not a good afternoon.

Fast forward to today!  Today I woke up to the same exact situation--Ingrid coming in our room and crying because Brendan was still in bed.  But today I felt rested and not sick, I was ready to get up and take her downstairs right away.  She has been happy and playing by herself all morning, ate some breakfast, sang some songs.  Ingrid has just been pleasant, a complete change from yesterday.  And why?  Because Mama is happy this  morning. 

It really sucks sometimes that that's the case.  Sometimes I'm just not in a good mood.  Especially being pregnant and tired and sick, I do not want to have the happiness of the household hanging on my shoulders.  Mamas need to be bitchy sometimes, too, you know?  I try my hardest to be patient and kind, but sometimes I just want to scream to Brendan to get his ass out of bed and deal with his daughter so his pregnant wife can get some rest.  Sometimes I just want to scream at Ingrid to quit her damn whining.  Sometimes I just don't feel like being the bigger person, but I know it's up to me to keep the mood light and happy.  Today that is easy, yesterday was not. 

Quit Selling Me Stuff!

I just got my issues of The Mother magazine, and Mothering magazine.  To look at them side by side is funny.  It totally made me realize that even though Mothering is geared toward a more natural hippy dippy kind of parent, they still are a big magazine that have to run ads to make it happen.  So while Parents magazine has ads for Pampers and expensive strollers, Mothering has ads for Bum Genius and expensive baby carriers.  But they're still the same--selling me things I don't need!! 

I remember when I learned about slings and I wanted to get one on a limited budget.  Some of them were pretty expensive but I always saw how you could make your own.  I never did.  I spent the money and got a ridiculously expensive Hotslings pouch, which I love, but now that I know I didn't have to fork over that much...sheesh.  And my Ergo, I just had to have one but never could fathom spending over a hundred dollars on one.  The only reason I have one?  I found one at the thrift store for $8!! 

It was the same with cloth diapers--I went the inexpensive route at first, got some used fitteds and some covers, they worked just fine and kept Ingrid dry.  But it wasn't enough.  I had to get the newest FuzziBunz, in cute colors.  I had to try the Bum Genius, and even though I hated the velcro, I still ended up with seven of them!  They don't work any better than what I had, but I thought I had to have more. 

Isn't that what I'm trying not to do?  Aren't I trying to live with what I have and be happy with what I have?  Aren't I trying to teach Ingrid that it's what we do that makes us happy, not what we own?  But dammit, you see these glossy ads in magazines and think your life would be so much better if you just had a different diaper, a better wrap, another glass bottle with bpa free nipple.  Or that organic cotton whatever that costs five times more than I can afford.

What can you do, we live in a material based culture.  It's up to me to figure out that I can read the articles and enjoy them while ignoring the ads and knowing I don't have to have every little thing that's out there, it will not, in fact, make my life easier or my baby happier.  It's so easy to get sucked into it though!!   

New Felt and Fabric Makes Mama Happy

Today I went and ran errands by myself.  How ridiculous is it that going to Target and Joann Fabrics without a kid in tow is my idea of girls day out??  I was so excited to be by myself, to browse through Target and check out all the little baby stuff for a friend that's due in a couple months.  I had to try on bathing suits, which in itself is very NOT exciting, but to be able to shudder at my fat bottom without a kid in the dressing room with me made it a bit more doable. 

And then I got to roam through the fabric store and not worry that there was a line at the cutting counter.  I got into a conversation with two grandmas about what they were making and how they started sewing when they were my age.  And now their daughters are 43...Someday Ingrid will be 43, how insane is that??  I got a bunch of new felt and a couple yards of the best green fabric, and some of the felt was in the remnant bin, which means half off! 

I got home to a happy girl and husband, and after Brendan left to go to work I put Ingrid down for a nap.  Usually I can't lie down until I know she's sleeping but today I just closed my eyes and drifted, took a 20 minute cat nap to the sounds of her reading her books in bed, and I woke up to silence.  She fell asleep with stuffed animals and books in bed with her!  Score!  I was fully prepared to get up and get her up and try to figure out what to do this afternoon, but now I can keep relaxing and get some sewing done! 

Great day.