How many times do I have to tell you?

Laundry goes in the hamper, not in front of the hamper.

If you don't pick up your books they might get peed on or the baby might eat them, or worse, both.

I don't care if it is bright blue and tastes like sugar, it is not candy, so don't eat it.

Seriously, that is not how you operate the toilet paper roll.
(At least he got it off the floor.)

I don't care what it looks like, the tub plug is not a pacifier so spit that thing out!

Please stop putting the potty seat on your head and announcing that it is a hat.
It is most definitely not. 

Thank you for letting me vent. I am going to go scrub the bathroom now.

Happy cleaning,

 Mrs.PJ

PS - What room in your home elicits the most nagging? Comment in the comment section below.

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Fab Five Friday Round 2!

Here we go again. I was worn out last weekend trying to meet the demanding requirements for that dang Leibster Award. This past week I have been busy with work and domestic duties, so now the chance to unclutter my mind with the fab five. Remember, I totally swiped the idea for this post from upward not inward, but I had to because I just love it. I think their five question questionnaire is an excellent exercise in self reflection. You can do it too!

1. This week I am grateful for-  My Mom's talents on the organic farm she operates with  my Stepdad. They sent us a big box full of awesome goodies and our bellies couldn't be happier. We are talking about homemade pickles, jelly, bread, and honey from their own bee hives. They sent us loads of fresh veggies and inspired me to cook from scratch one night.
2. This week I enjoyed- My children. Just hugging those tiny people somehow has the magical power to make any day fantastic. I might be a little weird, but I love the way my tiny tots smell. Not to mention the way they crack me up when they play together.
3. This week I learned- That my strengths are Creativity and Caregiver. You can find your strengths by taking the online quiz at http://stronglifetest.com/  Just scroll down until you see the pink box. I am reading the book right now. I was skeptical at first, but now I am totally into it and a believer.
4. This week I accomplished- Creating a new dinner from scratch! I was inspired by the fresh veggies my Mom sent (see question 1) and the picture on the box of linguine. We had warm pasta with fresh chopped tomato, fresh basil, a dash of garlic salt, italian dressing and olive oil. We also had garlic bread that I made with slices of the homemade stuff my Mom sent. It was a party in my tummy and I think everyone else enjoyed it too. 
5. I am looking forward to - My son's soccer practice tonight. He is just so cute in his jersey. It is adorable watching three year olds trying to stop a goal. So Proud :)

You can check out how the ladies at upward not inward answered their questionnaire by going to their site here. What is going on in your world this week? You can share your own reflections there or in the comments here. I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

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Guest Post: Five Top Tips for Family Vacations

Hello Dear Readers,   
Today's post is written by travel expert and mother of three Kendra Thornton. You can read about here on the Guest Contributers Page. My family still has several weeks before we travel anywhere for Summer, but I know many people will be traveling soon. Anyone who has ever traveled with kids in tow knows there can be many challenges, so Kendra's post comes at the perfect time. Enjoy and feel free to share your own travel ideas/tips/stories in the comments section.


It’s summertime and we all know what that means: time for a family vacation. Trips with the kids can be the perfect time to bond and enjoy one another. As a travel advocate and enthusiast, I have been fortunate enough to continue traveling with my family. The best times we’ve had have been those I’ve taken the time beforehand to plan for success.

Tip 1: Find a truly family-friendly hotel

When looking for a family-friendly hotel, don’t just take the hotel’s word for it. Be sure the accommodations have amenities your family needs in order to enjoy their stay. Look for a hotel that provides in-room refrigerators to store leftovers and kid-friendly snacks. This is essential for small ones who require bottles. See if you can find a hotel that has a playground or other play area for young children to enjoy. Also, take a look at customer reviews to learn if the hotel’s claims are true. My family found a great family friendly resort in Oahu by reading through other families reviews of the top hotels in Honolulu.

Tip 2: Preparing for Fourth-of-July celebrations

Many families choose to go on vacation over Independence Day. If you are planning such a trip, consider fireworks displays when you book your hotel room. Watching local displays from a hotel balcony provides a safer, more kid-friendly option than celebrating amid the crowds and close to the hot embers. When booking your hotel, check to see if you can get a room with a good view of the fireworks display. In addition to safe viewing, you will be able to balance different interests and bedtimes seamlessly.

Tip 3: Help everyone enjoy themselves more by sticking to a routine

Both adults and children find comfort in routine. For young children who are used to regular meal and snack times as well as naps, a break in routine can be extremely stressful. While on vacation, don’t neglect regular naptimes and meals. It may take a little extra planning, but your kids will be much less fussy when these needs are addressed in a timely fashion.

Tip 4: Carry a backpack

You’ll find hundreds of trendy travel bags that you can purchase for your trip. I have found, however, that a backpack meets my needs best. A good, ergonomic bag will allow you to carry more without being encumbered by the weight. Also, most backpacks offer plenty of carry space as well as multiple pockets for organizing everything you need. Plus your hands will be free! Everlane offers some trendy ones or try your local sporting goods store for a variety of shapes, sizes and prices.

Tip 5: Remember to bring a few plastic bags

You probably won’t forget the big things you need to pack. You’ll bring clean outfits and underwear. You’ll remember everyone’s toothbrush. But don’t forget to stash a few extra plastic bags in your luggage. These come in handy when someone has an accident, the kids can’t resist a last-minute dip in the pool before leave or you just need to keep clean and dirty clothes separate.

Vacation is a time for fun and relaxation. Use these tips for the most success possible.


Thanks for the tips Kendra! I think my favorite is the plastic bag tip. We go through a lot of the sandwich and gallon slide top bags in our household. The small ones make the perfect holder for baby wipes, so everyone can carry their own in their bag. Also the backpack tip works for little ones as well. As soon as our son was big enough to walk we got him a backpack so he could carry his own diapering supplies. He loves it. What makes traveling with little ones easier for you? 

Happy Travels,
Mrs.PJ

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A Win & A Fail

A Win

For the past several months I have been looking for the perfect bookshelf for my children's room. We read every night and acquire new books on a regular basis because we want our kiddo's to enjoy reading.  By new I mean new to us. Most of our books are yard sale and thrift shop finds. As a teacher I can testify that being able to enjoy a book is something that can make the difference between students who struggle and those who are successful. Anyway, the book situation was getting a little out of control in their room.  We are talking piles of books creating a trip and slip hazard of ridiculous proportions. Every bookshelf I found was over priced or cheaply built. This morning I stopped at an estate sale and picked up the perfect shelf for less than half of what they had it priced for. I ended up not putting it in the children's room because it was a little wobbly on the squishy carpet, but there was a good spot for it in the living room. My little dude was super excited to help clean it and put the books on it. It is big enough that it also holds most of the toys that are usually randomly strewn around the living room. Score one for Mommy!

A Fail

I am vegetarian and I am outnumbered in my home by people who are not. Sometimes we all eat vegetarian and other times I make a combo meal. Vegetarian spaghetti with frozen meatballs on the plates of those who partake (heated up of corse). Portabella fajitas with chicken strips thrown in the pan after I fix mine. Point being, I gotta get creative sometimes. Sometimes I get carried away. Tonight's meal was supposed to be vegetarian, a simple pasta dish with some added veggies from our garden. It started out decently enough with some sautéed diced bell pepper. I started adding tomatoes from our garden, because they are really sweet and I thought they would make a good sauce. I should have googled  "making spaghetti sauce" but I didn't. That was where it started to go downhill.

Mr.PJ informed me later that sauce can take a day. I wanted to be done in half an hour. After destroying  dicing five perfectly good tomatoes I decided they weren't cooking down fast enough and I threw the whole mess in the food processor with some garlic salt. The result of that was orange runny tomato soup. Not being one to give up easily I just named dinner tomato soup with pasta and served it with a wheat roll. My husband quietly pretended to be too busy feeding the baby to eat. My toddler son loudly announced he didn't like it and began to play with it. I don't know if you have ever smelled real fresh parmesan cheese, but it is on the somewhat stinky end of the cheese spectrum. Our pasta was parmesan tortellini served in warm watery tomato juice that was slightly chunky. I have made some cooking blunders before but tonight was an all time low. The meal I tried to serve my family tonight looked and smelled like bowls of vomit. I've got to get some sort of meal plan together.

The good news is I went grocery shopping today so I have lots of ingredients I can use to follow a real recipe tomorrow.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

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Reasons I am kicking myself.

3. I signed up to teach summer school and now I totally wish I hadn't.

sensible me: It's an extra three grand, great way to make up money I lost on my maternity leave.
not so sensible me: Yeah, but that was last year. I'm ready for a break now.
sensible: It will be easy. It's initial credit, so the kids will all be nerds.
not: But summer won't start until July now.
sensible: It's just a few weeks, besides, there will still be the whole month of July and most people don't even get a month of vacation.
not: Why? Whyyyyyy? I want my summer!

2. I forgot the diaper bag.

My daughter had her nine month checkup today. So I had to speed pump milk, quickly resolve an issue in the parking lot (lady bumped into my car just before I pulled out but only damaged her car, so we parted ways), speed home as safe as possible (30 min drive), put pumped milk in fridge, feed dog, speed to day care, grab baby, go to pediatrician (25 min drive), go to get out of car and realize I don't have any clean diapers or wipes. We cloth diaper and the only thing I have with me is the bag of dirty diapers sent home from the daycare.
 I felt like everyone in the waiting room was staring at me like I just kidnapped this baby because I had no bag or other baby accessories. I was sure they were going to call child protective services because my baby was in a wet diaper when she had her exam. Then the nurse says, "Oh that's nothing, my sister left her baby in a restaurant when they left once." So I guess by comparison it wasn't that bad, but I still felt negligent.
Little Miss PJ handled the whole ordeal with a smile and didn't even cry when she got her vaccine.

1. I missed the boat.

If you have been reading R&R for awhile now you know I love my job teaching, but I wish my school was closer so I wouldn't have to spend such a huge chunk of my day on the road. Last week I saw that the school district I live in had an open position. I hesitated to fill out the application because it was already 11:30 at night and the application is loooooong. I left right after school let out on Friday rushed home to fill it out before I went to pick up the kids and, drumroll please, it was gone. I guess they filled the spot that fast. Maybe it was posted for a while before I saw it. I e-mailed the principal to let them know I'm interested in case anything opens up, but I still feel like I let my family down. Totally kicking myself.

What was I thinking? Anyone else out there wondering where there mind is?

Take care,
Mrs.PJ 

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Already

      This Saturday marks nine months since our little girl was born. That means she has been out of the belly longer than she was in. Already. Really. She is standing on her own and will be taking her first steps any day now. Already. She is eating squishy food and trying to talk. She recognizes her name, is doing a super fast crawl and is chasing all of us around the house. Already. She has outgrown the baby whale tub and is bathing in the big tub (in about three inches of water). Already. She loves it and I can tell she will be outgrowing her rear facing car seat soon. Already.
     They say time flies when you are having fun. They aren't kidding. Days and months disappear so quickly that I find myself writing the wrong date more and more. It is not just the little girl. Our son is telling us stories about his day and pretending to read his books. He wants to help with dishes and laundry and dinner. This year is just disappearing so fast. It is almost the end of the school year already. It is almost the weekend already. Wait, it is almost 10:00pm already. Good God where does the time go?

Milestones

1. Starting with the youngest, our  eight month old baby girl is crawling with her belly off of the floor. She is also pulling up and walking along while holding to furniture. Yesterday she pulled herself up to standing using my leg and then she let go and was standing on her own! So exciting.
2. Our son has been voluntarily brushing his teeth and sitting on the real toilet to poop. I mean without us prompting or nagging, he is getting excited about personal hygiene. This might have something to do with the fact that he has figured out how to make "snakes" with his toothpaste and likes flushing toilet paper. Hey, it doesn't matter what his motivation is, he is doing it. So proud.

That was a new roll five minutes ago.

3. The school district I work for has hired me to work on two curriculum projects. I feel honored that I was selected, plus it will help me recoup some of the money I lost when I took a three month maternity leave. Then on Friday my Assistant Principle and the Lead Principle gave me high praise for a study guide I created. So nerdy, I know.

4. Mr. PJ is making mad progress on the car he is rebuilding in the garage. A few weeks ago it just looked like an empty frame with a couple hundred parts laying around. Now it is starting to look like it might run again one day. So impressive.

Take care,

Mrs.PJ

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Show and Tell

How to change a wriggly toddler:
1. Lay toddler on floor and sit at a 90 degree angle facing him or her.
2. Use your leg to pin toddlers upper body and arms. There has to be some kind of wrestling term for this maneuver, I just don't know what it is. If you don't want to pin their arms you can hand them a toy or a book and hope they don't throw it back at you. Then pin their body.
3. Fold your other leg under you, sing a song to distract them and quickly change the offending diaper.
4. Release your toddler.

Don't let that tiny baby head confuse you, the toddler is behind the Dr. Suess book.

The demonstration photo above looks a little confusing, but this technique really works, trust me.  I witnessed a good friend of mine changing her little man this way and asked if I could share it with you.   Our tot is in undies most of the time now, but I will definitely be using this when little miss PJ gets big enough to fight back. 

How to break in a new glove:

1. Buy your new softball or baseball glove and make sure the person using it can fit their hand into it before you bring it home. 

2. Slather that crisp glove with vitamin E oil. Yes, the same vitamin E oil you used on your post pregnancy stretch marks. 

3. Now coat that thing with lanolin, rubbing it into every crook, seam and cranny. Yes, the same lanolin you use on breast feeding nipples. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. This stuff is good for your glove. 

4. Put the ball you will be using in the pocket of the glove and wrap that thing like a christmas present. Wrap a hand towel or handkerchief around the ball and glove, tie with twine, and then toss the whole ensemble into a pillow case and tie that off. 

5. Throw that thing into the dryer with a load of wet laundry. The heat will work the oil and lanolin into the leather, the tumbling action will beat the stiffness out, and the humidity from the laundry will prevent your glove from getting to dry. The pillow case and towel layers around the glove protect your glove. You will see a noticeable difference in the play of your glove, but you can repeat steps 2-5 as needed.

How to wear your baby:

I wish I could carry her to work like this.

1. Find a baby wearing support group like Bay Area Baby Wearers.

2. Check out the great guides at Becoming Mommas or Sleeping Baby Productions.

3. Enjoy snuggling with your baby and having your hands free!

Remember I share because I care. Nobody is paying me to, FYI. 

Take care,

Mrs. PJ

Lost and Found

Lost 
1. Cloth diapers size XL. Stored in a large space bag that may not have had the air vacuumed out. Our house is only so big and I have already checked every storage spot I can think of. Those things have to be around here somewhere. Little Miss. PJ's tush is getting bigger every day.
2. Issues of a magazine I published a decade ago. It was a very small operation titled Feed Your Head and consisted of mostly repurposed English papers. My friends and I created it when we were in community college. It was one of the first projects I really felt proud to be a part of. I lost all of my issues in Hurricane Katrina, but a friend of mine gave me another set. I remember thinking the last time I saw them, "Okay, I will just put them right here, so they will be safe and I will know exactly where to find them next time I need them." If only I could remember where "right here" was.
3. My Spring Break. Where does the time go? It has been a great week, but like every year before it, time is almost out and my to-do list is still miles long. My wedding anniversary and firstborns birthday always fall during Spring Break (because I'm a teacher). We also had family from out of town on both sides. We planted our vegetable garden and re-planted our front flower bed for the fourteenth time. It has been fun and busy, but I am not ready to go back to work yet.
Found
1. I just finished reading Whale Done by Ken Blanchard. It is a business management book and I am a super nerd who really enjoys reading motivational business management books. This one focuses on building positive relationships in the workplace and I can totally see how some of the techniques in it are also appropriate for the classroom.
2. It looks like it has been out there awhile, bit Parent Hacks is a website worth checking out if you have little ones, school agers or work with kids. It is fully loaded with all of the awesome parenting tips and tricks you wish someone had told you about at your baby shower. Seriously, every time I go there I spend way to long perusing their posts. www.parenthacks.com/
3. So, last night I was in the grocery store and I saw this woman with two tots in tow. A little boy and little girl like mine. She had the little girl in a baby carrier and they looked super comfy.  I have a baby carrier, but the straps on it are a million miles long and I can rarely get it to work the way I want it to. I had to ask her where she got hers at. She told me that she is actually part of a group of moms called baby wearers. You can check them out here:  www.thebabywearer.com

Take care,
Mrs. PJ



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Nursing update

   In a previous post, Mommy you feed the baby?, I wrote about how we were having nursing issues due to illness. Little Miss. PJ had a decreased appetite because of an ear infection and I had decreased production because of a sinus infection. We are doing much better now, but we have a whole new issue now. Previously she was sleeping from around 9pm until 4am which was pretty awesome. When we got sick she started nursing around the clock to make up for the measly amount she was getting. I think it comforted her to be back in bed with us when she wasn't feeling well. Well now she is feeling better and is super busy during the day. You know, baby stuff, rolling, trying to sit up, scooting after her brother, putting everything in her mouth except food. I can't get her to latch during the day. Literally she only latched on once yesterday to nurse. Then about two hours after she went to bed she was fussing for it and ended up in bed with us nursing all night. It is comforting to know that she is getting enough to drink, it is just not at the most convenient time. Every time she want's to switch sides she wakes me up by slapping my face with her little baby hand. Hopefully we will get back to a better schedule soon, but for the time being I'm thankful that she is still nursing and getting enough.
Take care,
Mrs. PJ
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Mommy, you feed the baby?

With your boobies?   If reading about breast feeding makes you squeemish then you can stop reading now.  I think that if more women openly talked about nursing, the ups and downs, then more women would be open to nursing. Just like every pregnancy is different, so is every nursing relationship. I nursed my son until he was just over a year old. The little girl is almost seven months old and we are still going strong. Well, sort of. She has an ear infection and I have a sinus infection and we both feel like poop. Over the past week my production has dropped drastically. Literally I was producing half of what I needed to. We had to supplement for the first time with formula while she was at daycare Thursday and Friday.
I felt guilty and stressed which I think just made the situation worse. Mr. PJ started complaining that the formula was making the baby smell funny. I went to my midwife, got on antibiotics for the sinus infection, and she loaded me up on herbal remedies to increase the milk output. The four fixes you see pictured above with the advice to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. My nose is still runny, but the milk is back!  I won't know how much for sure until I have to pump tomorrow at work, but I can tell the difference just nursing her. Hopefully it is not just my optimistic imagination.
It is not easy being a nursing mom and working mom all at the same time. I feel like if I can't be with my baby during the day, at least I can send her to school with milk made just for her. That means I have to pump three times during the day. On my conference period, lunch and after school you can find me locked in a little conference room, hooked up to that crazy pump. It can be a hassle, but it is totally worth it.


Click here to read the update.

Sick Days

  I'm out of them. The state I live in dumps whatever days you have accumulated when you use FMLA. Being on maternity leave earlier this year means that I don't get to be the one that gets to stay home when one of the little one's is sick. Working Mom guilt to the max. Not doing to hot on giving up on the TV for lent. Tried to make loopholes by telling myself that Netflix isn't TV, but it is. Anyway, here is something decent that I did do, even though it was months ago. This is our nursery.

The reading and rocking corner. The two hampers on the changing table sit on the floor usually. 

Little dude figured out how to get in there with her pretty quickly. Gotta watch that boy close.

Here you can see more of the feature wall. I love hearing our son say, "That my octopus."