Fancy Footwear

Since I approaching the 6 month anniversary of my foot surgery (surge-versary?), I thought it was time to buy some new shoes.

I was cleared to walk in shoes in mid-December and have since been living in my tennis shoes, a pair of $14 knock off ugg boots, and a pair of orthopedic crocs that my Mom lent me (aka the world's ugliest shoes).

Nothing else from my shoe collection fits my left foot, not even my precious cowboy boots. My foot is bigger for sure, but mostly in a thickness kinda way rather than wideness. Meaning those titanium screws are taking up too much room, especially in shoes that are tight across the top.

So we headed to the Walking Company at the mall only to discover that that store has closed. Von Maur was a good second choice. The lady measured my robo-foot a full size bigger than what I already own, which is not a surprise. I also discovered that anything that fit snuggly across the middle of the foot just won't work. Like the fabulous sandals I tried on. All the other fabulous sandals go in between your toes and that simply won't work either. Alot of the nerves down there are still super sensitive. There are a couple of toes I still just can't touch.

A summer without fabulous sandals. Sigh. I love sandals. I am the sandal queen of Greenwood. I wear them any time there is not snow on the ground.

Luckily I found several style of Keen sandals that close around the ankle, which may have to be my sandal style of choice. They are the ones on the left.

You can see I also settled on a funky pattern of athletic style slip ons, and a semi-fancy (aka fancy enough for my world) black Mary Janes. My friend Erin used to say I'm addicted to Mary Janes. Luckily with these pairs I still can be. Shew. I though I was losing my shoe-dentity.

In my realm of reality, the money I spent on these three pairs of shoes is borderline certifiable. I don't believe in spending more than $40 on a pair of shoes.

My wedding shoes were $30.

And  yet here I am. An old lady with back problems and a titanium filled foot. What choice do I have?

Now it's time to bag up my 30+ pairs of other shoes that will never fit again, and dole them out to some family members who wear the same size. There's no point in them collecting dust around here.

Simplifying. Upgrading. Walking Comfortably. 

Cloth Diapers (by my favorite blogger)

We have been a cloth diapering house faithfully for almost 5 years. Charley still wears them to bed so I wash at least 7 diapers a week, which really seems like a breeze.

As usual, "Crappy Mom", the illustrator and author of my favorite humorous parenting blog, summed it up perfectly. I couldn't have written this better myself. Neither one of our kids could ever undo the fuzzibunz snaps, and her description of the diaper sprayer is the exact reason we never bought one. We prefer the scrape and swish method...use your imagination.

But in truth, we kept doing them because I really do love cloth diapering. And we saved enough money to be able to send the kids to private school. 

Enjoy!

Cloth Diapers, the Good Things and the Crappy Things

Cloth diapers are diapers made of cloth. You put them on a baby and the baby poops and pees on them. And then you wash them. And then you put them back on the baby. And then the baby poops and pees on them. And then you wash them again. And then you keep doing this. 

Over the five years that I've kept doing this, I've come to know the good things and the crappy things.

And this is what they are...

The Good Things About Cloth Diapers

Now you might think I'm about to get on my grass-fed, sustainably raised, antibiotic-free high horse about environmental stuff but I don't really like riding horses. Especially high ones. 

Nah. Let's be real here.

I cloth diaper because they look cool and come in pretty colors.

I can't even tell you how excited I am when the mail carrier brings me a box of colorful diapers.

They are pretty! And soft! And come in fruity colors and patterns!

And my baby will poop on them and be so happy!

Also?

I'm lazy.

Slap a diaper on him and he is all dressed:

Insta-outfit. Minimalist. 

A similar outfit in a disposable diaper would never work on him.

Because of this:

They come off too easily.
Snaps on cloth diapers are awesome. Like tiny padlocks that keep the poop locked up. 

But cloth diapers aren't just good at poop containment!

They are also good at making friends.

I can use cloth diapers in the same way that a single guy uses a puppy. To get noticed:

I can't tell you how many times I've been hit on by other moms because of diapers. <--That is a very creepy sentence if taken out of context. 

But they aren't just a homing beacon to like-minded mamas, they also protect my baby.

I'm serious.
Cloth diapers are like little padded helmets for his butt:

His big smooshy butt is pretty cute too. 

And after my baby outgrows them:

I sell them. Cloth diapers retain their resale value better than cars do.

Buying a car? Skip it. Buy cloth diapers.

And did I mention they come in fruity colors? 

The Crappy Things About Cloth Diapers

It goes without saying that the worst part about cloth diapering is that it means more laundry. I hate laundry. Laundry can go and die. 

But diaper laundry doesn't bother me any more than regular laundry does. 

No, what bothers me is something else

It is that putting the diapers in the washing machine causes him to poop:

This means that I'm stuck with a poopy diaper and no wet bag to put it in. It sits on my bathroom counter on top of a plastic bag. This makes for some bad potpourri.

After the laundry is done? This diaper goes in the clean bag, festering at the bottom until I do the wash again. 

Yuck. 

And you know how I mentioned those fruity colors?

Yeah. He likes those too.

But only orange. 

This is yet another example of my own parenting tricks backfiring on me. I used to convince him to let me change his diaper by saying, "Come on! You can pick the color!" Bad idea.

But perhaps the worst part about cloth diapering is dealing with poopy diapers.

We have a diaper sprayer attached to our toilet.

I love this thing because you simply spray the poop off into the toilet. 

But actually I hate this thing. 

I hate it because sometimes I turn the valve just a teeny tiny bit too high.

Which transforms it into a water laser:

The water laser blasts the poop into a million miniscule pieces, carried by water droplets all over the toilet, floor and my barefeet.

And that is the crappiest thing about cloth diapers.

Syrupy Saturday

On this week's episode of Across Indiana....okay just kidding but that is a good show. I'm pretty sure the demographic is 99% old people and me, but I don't care.

We hit the road this morning and went to Rockville, IN to the maple syrup festival. It was about a 90 min drive but with beautiful scenery and the heated seats of Jeremy's car.

In their 4-H building was a bunch of vendors and syrup for sale as well as art and other stuff. There was also a pancake breakfast but we had already eaten. Poor planning I guess, but since I had already fasted 13 hours for a routine blood test...I couldn't hold out for pancakes.

The kids saw a clown and got some balloon animals. We got a gallon of syrup and Jeremy got a saw with a portrait painted on it. Yes you read that right. The boy's gone country.

After visiting the main building, we were given (very poor) instructions on how to get to four maple syrup farms nearby. We spent the better part of an hour getting lost trying to find one, gave up and found another one. See the trees with the white lines behind Jeremy? They are being tapped for sugar water which is then turned into syrup.

We got a little tour inside and Tessa was so cute, raising her hand and asking questions like 'how does the syrup get inside the tree?', and 'did you know that bees make honey but trees make syrup?'

Unfortunately because of our crazy warm weather, they weren't able to tap the trees yet and weren't making syrup. Wah wah, a syrup tour with no syrup making. Stupid global warming.

But there were maple cookies!

We ended up Plainfield, home of one of the two Red Robins that exist in central Indiana. Anyone want to join a petition for one on the south side?  Tessa went for cheese pizza and salad. Charley wanted a corn dog and then insisted we remove all the corn so it was just a hot dog on a stick. Oh brother.

Jeremy and I got the same thing we always used to order when we lived a mile from Red Robin in CA...a blue ribbon burger but with a veggie burger instead of beef. Oh yes. I wouldn't lie to you about the awesomeness of a blue ribbon veggie burger. The beef version is far inferior.

While in the Indy area we stopped by Trader Joes and Jeremy's favorite wine warehouse and headed back home in time for the kids to watch one episode of Backyardigans and crash.

Two Thumbs Up

Yesterday was cold and blowy and actually felt a bit like winter. The kids and I wanted to get out of the house so we went to see The Secret World of Arriety. We give it 6 thumbs up!

I fell in love with this Japanese director when Tessa went through a phase of being addicted to Ponyo. His movies are done in Anime style, but are made for American audiences using the voices of celebs we recognize.

I did some research on this guy and found out that the movies made from his studio are all still hand illustrated which is simply unheard of nowadays. And they are beautifully done too. I've seen Ponyo about 56 times and still enjoy watching it with her, with images like these...

Plus the plot lines of both movies are simple and very child appropriate with no scary bad guys. Is Ponyo a little strange and kooky?...Yes, but then again so are the Benningtons.

The Secret World of Arriety is based on the book The Borrowers which a lot people may read in school. It's about tiny little people that live in the walls of an old house and 'borrow' things they need like food. Tessa and I had read a similar book called The Littles.Very sweet, very pretty. Very nice afternoon with my kiddos.

Springtime in Tessa's Room

I decided that for an early birthday present, Tessa deserved a real set of big girl bedding, not just some thrown together blankets and plain white sheets. I also insisted that there not be cartoon character so that she can transition into these sheets as she gets older.

I had originally wanted this set from Anthropologie, but decided against that since we're not you know...millionaires.

Instead I found this beautiful set on sale at Target....

I love the colors in her room and it's hard to see but the sheets are also butter yellow. They are jersey cotton and for the first time Tessa actually has a flat sheet like a real big kid (for the longest  time she would get tangled in them). She loves them.

I also had the genius idea to bring an extra coffee table into her room to elevate the dollhouse and neighboring strawberry shortcake market up off the floor. It's only been one afternoon and she's already playing with it more cause it's at eye level and more easily accessible. Don't know why I didn't think to do that 2 years ago!

.
I even found a butter yellow blanket to cover the table with so everything matches. This old afghan belonged to someone in Jeremy's family but he's not sure who...grandmother, great aunt? Either way it's getting used and loved!

While I was spring-ifying Tessa's room, I took down her snowflake lights as well as the fake snow on the dollhouse and put up her old colorful paper lanterns. It's springtime! (Or close enough, seeing that winter never actually came).


She came home from preschool to find that all of this had been done. I love a good simple surprise.

School Picture Retrospective

 2010

2011

2012

Preschool Pictures 2012

I didn't realize that they were going to take their picture together and at first I was lamenting over the fact that I hadn't dressed them in coordinating outfits. Or at least matching colors! But you know what...I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out.

Cause you just can't beat this cuteness.

A New Record

Friday I took the kids to the Children's Museum to check out the new Mr. Potato Head exhibit. I forgot to take the camera so I'll just pretend this is our picture. See that's Charley and Tessa...

It was a pretty cool exhibit, especially the big trough of potatoes with thousands of parts for them to choose from. They could have stayed at the trough all day. It inspired me to come home and make an ebay bid. For only $25, we are now the owners of 4 potatoes and 125 pieces! Awesome, just as long as none of them get left on the kitchen floor. Ahem.

I think the kids and I hit a new record for us...staying at the museum from opening until closing. 7 hours total. The kids were so full of energy though I just let them play and play. Plus we ran into Rachel and Josh and couldn't resist visiting for a while. My foot was a little sore at the end of the day but nothing that an Aleve and a glass of wine couldn't fix.

Have I mentioned that I love our children's museum? It's the biggest in the nation you know. It would on the top of my list of things I love about Indianapolis. Right behind Iaria's and Silver in the City. 

Salad Face

Yesterday Jeremy made a bunch of raviolis with our new ravioli press. See?

No we didn't eat all of them. We bagged a lot of them up to freeze and had the rest for dinner. The kids liked them, but I guess Tessa liked our salad better because that's all she wanted to eat. We had to bribe her....eat a ravioli and you can have some more salad. Doesn't that seem kinda backwards? Who is this kid?

She even gave up her fork and started eating with the salad tongs out of the serving bowl.

Charley liked the raviolis but ate his fair share of salad as well. Point proven...if you want it to be delicious, cover it in ranch dressing.

Cinderella

Tessa has discovered her new favorite chore.

She gets a coin for every room she mops, and the Swifter is so much easier for her (or me, ahem) to handle than a real mop. I usually just give her a penny or whatever coin I have available. I'm going to be in trouble when she discovers that some are more valuable than others. Right now she either doesn't know or doesn't care.

We're Official

Tessa has is registered for the Kindergarten that we applied for. Yay! (and a little bit of boo for growing up). But mostly yay!

This is a Christian K-12 school private school that's about 5 minutes away from us. We toured in December (along with Dad, our school expert) and Jeremy and I fell in love with this school. It's pretty small and very nice and follows a Christian curriculum.

Tessa had to go in for an 'interview' and be evaluated. She played shy a little bit and said she couldn't remember some of the letters but I know she does. She warmed up to the principal eventually and must have done well. I was busy trying to entertain little brother in the hallway.

I had a little anxiety about applying for private school at first, for fear that my family full of public school teachers might think I was acting out of snobbery. But thankfully that's not the case. They were understanding. The school system in our area is huge and I LOVE the idea of them being in such a small environment, mostly because that's the way I grew up and what I'm familiar with as well. Both of us love that she will be taking bible classes and regularly attending worship, and the full day kinders also get 'specials' like Spanish and music.

That's right, this time next year my little girl will be sitting in a real classroom learning Spanish. Waaah!

Making Valentines

Testing Testing 1, 2, Pee

I recently had two very interesting medical tests done. Both very fascinating and enlightening. I tend to geek out over medical stuff and enjoy it probably more than I should. Jeremy said I should go to nursing school.

The first was a bladder test. In the interest of modesty and discretion, I won't explain some of the gory details here. If you want to know though, I am totally open to talking about it privately. Let's just say I pee my pants sometimes, and the bladder test was one of the stranger things I've ever done. 

I do have some permanent damage 'down there' but thankfully nothing major. It was that 10lb baby I had with no drugs. That crazy baby, screwing me up forever. Should I ever choose to, I am a candidate for an implantation that will help me but I'll leave those gory details out as well. Use your imagination...or don't, actually.

Yesterday I had an allergy test. I've had sinus issues for years, and had two surgeries in 1998 to fix some structural problems. Even so I still get sick with sinus infections VERY easily. As in, I mow the grass one day and the next day I have a sinus infection.

The test was amazing. I'm still in shock as I think about it, and then realize how long I've lived with these issues. Basically I am allergic to every single allergen they applied on my arm, in varying degrees. Some of them such as ragweed and dust mites caused a huge reaction, and measured to the maximum hive size almost instantaneously.

I was blessed to have a really great lady working on me, who is actually the head of the allergy department for all seven offices of Indy Otolaryngology. She doesn't normally work out of that office, but she had been called in because of a staff illness, which was much to my good fortune.

The test took about 3 hours and we talked the whole time. I learned SO much from her about how allergies work and how they can affect your whole life...your sleep, mental stability, digestion, energy level. How certain foods can make allergies worst. How if someone with a ragweed allergy as severe as mine ate watermelon at a Labor Day picnic, I could go into anaphylactic shock. She helped me to connect some links with my general health that she believes are directly related to allergies.

And I had no idea. I am stunned.

I feel like I just learned something amazing, like the secret of life.

When I was telling Mom and Dad about it, they could see connections to my childhood and the reasons I went for sinus surgery in the first place. Dad said he has always thought I was 'somewhat sickly' in general. I don't take that as an insult because he's right. I asked Jeremy if he thought the same thing and he said that he's always known me to get tired easily, even back in our early 20's.

The most amazing thing of all is that I left the office with a script for an Epi pen. When I've gone for years never knowing that I needed one.

So in two weeks I will start weekly allergy injections for a year. Then after a year I will do 2 years of 'maintenance injections'. And I am SOOOO excited to start this. I would start today if I could. I'd take 5 shots a week if I had to.

I'm so happy I could cry.

Or laugh hysterically.

But I won't for fear of peeing my pants.

It's Good to Be Conehead

Cause you get to have a special cone, pimped out with Dora and Elmo stickers. This is the life. 

BTW- don't be worrying about Hayden. He just had a little spot removed from his foot and has to wear this to keep from chewing on the stitches.

On a side note...Hayden turns 10 years old this spring. We should have our first doggy birthday party.

Anyone Need Some Cheese?

If their are two opinions my husband likes to offer regarding food shopping, it's that he likes natural products (preferably organic when available), and he likes to buy in bulk. He likes to buy like Armageddon is coming. In which case truthfully this much organic cheese wouldn't come in handy anyway. Twinkies would be a better bet to survive a nuclear blast.

It was to our fortune then, that recently a company selling bulk organic products started delivering to Greenwood and Jeremy and I were drafted to be the drop managers for our city. Probably because it was a friend of ours who had arranged for them to begin delivering here, and she knew that our patronage was a sure bet.

So once a month a semi truck comes to our church parking lots and unload things like Barbara's puffin cereal, Amy's organic frozen pizza, and chocolate milk boxes for the kids lunchboxes. Oh and cheese lots of cheese.

It's been pretty fun so far but I'm ashamed to admit to the amount of olives we have in our garage.

If you add this to the produce delivery company we've used for the past 5 years, and the place Jeremy has been ordering our local meat from....there is little need left for the grocery store nowadays. But sometimes mama still needs to go to Target for retail therapy a gallon of milk.

Papaw Puppy Eyes

When we were down in North Vernon last weekend, Tessa batted her eyelashes and told Papaw she wished she had an outfit to match her Bitty Baby that they had bought her for Christmas. And wouldn't you know what magically appeared in the mail today...

For the record, this kind of approach would never ever have worked on Papaw back when I was a kid. Interesting what happens to dads in their old age.

Tessa is now carefully studying the American Girl catalogue that came in her package, plotting what to beg for next.