Feed Me Books Friday: Are You Ticklish?

Are you hungry? HUNGRY TO READ? Good, because here's a great book for you and your toddler. The book is called Are You Ticklish? It's a touch a feel book and super fun to read. Claire LOVES this book. We read it..A lot..So much I want to hide it, but I digress.

On every page you read about a different animal. The pages then open up to show a fuzzy lions mane, or the underbelly of an elephant. Claire has great fun with this. She "tickles" the animals and giggles uncontrollably. I giggle too. What can I say? Laughter is contagious. You'd laugh too if you heard Claire's little squeals of delight. At the end of the book it asks if you are ticklish. I've tested this. Claire is, in fact, ticklish. This also makes this her favorite part of the book. After three times of actually reading the book and tickling the animals, she speeds right through it and gets to the good stuff..AKA tickling.

So, Claire gives the book 5 giggles out of 5. ENJOY! If you have a book you like to read with your child, head on over to The Adventure Of Motherhood and share! Oh, and also, our book is not bilingual. I couldn't find a picture of the book that was not bilingual, and our book has been read so much the cover is worn out.

Off topic::David has been watching Conan O'Brien in Phoenix for about an hour. I'm jealous.

HaHa Wal-Mart Part 2

Wednesday I got another call from the paper towel company. Want to know the highlight of this conversation? GOOD!

1) As soon as I answered and the woman started talking to me, she said that they made a mistake and that the company that does testing for them decided that it couldn't possibly be ink so they closed my case without ever sending me anything to mail them the towels in and wrote in their report to just go ahead and tell me it was ink. Apparently, this was funny, because she laughed through the whole thing. I said, "I don't really find this situation funny. Your business ethics are horrible." She cleared her throat and said, "Of course it's not funny."

2) I told her I didn't want to send her the paper towels anymore because if they are just going to close my account and then call me and tell me the things they told me, then what is the point of my sending them the paper towels. I already know they are not above lying. She thought this was funny, again. She said, "Oh no no no, we would not lie to you. No." I said, "I don't think this is funny. You did lie to me." She cleared her throat and said, "Two people made mistakes." Pretty big mistakes if you ask me!

3) She told me a story about a woman who called and said that she thought there was blood on paper towels she bought. She sent them in because she was "curious" about what in fact the substance was. Apparently, this woman wasn't AT ALL worried about what the substance was. I'm sorry, that story is a crock of SHIT!!! I mean, REALLY?! REALLY!? Is there anyone out that that wouldn't be worried that a product they bought had BLOOD on it? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Thought so. I'm not "curious" about this stain on my paper towels, I'm furious that they would have the audacity to think me a fool and LIE to me about this situation.

4) She tells me that I can still send her the paper towels and when they get them they will look at the stain and decide if it needs testing because the, "Test costs us $350 and you probably just spilled coffee on it or something." Uh, no. I don't even drink coffee. You think I would with three kids and barely any sleep, but I don't. And, is spending $350 on a test that would put your consumers mind at ease too much to spend? Again, I say HORRIBLE BUSINESS ETHICS!

I've decided that this is no longer worth dealing with the company directly anymore. I'm calling the Department of Consumer affairs in Wisconsin tomorrow. I'm done with this. Especially after all the crap I was just fed yesterday by these people again, I'm so over it.

Oh, and to put a BIG BRIGHT SUNNY SPOT on top of all of this, our crib was recalled this afternoon. Since David is out of town, I had to take it apart and take the bassinet down in our room and convert it back into a playpen for Claire. Grayson will be bunking with me in our bed for the next few days until David gets back and can take the crib back to Target and get a replacement. Awesome.

HaHa Wal-Mart..You Make Me Laugh

I really think I need to boycott Wal-Mart all together. Seriously. After today's incident, I am think I've been pushed to the edge. What sucks about this is that, if I ban Wal-Mart for grocery shopping, I have to drive an hour to get groceries. I mean, I like Stillwater, MN. It's a pretty little town with a great little view and a very homey neighborhood that I drive through once I cross the bridge and get out of downtown, but the downtown area is CRAWLING with tourists in the summer. It makes it crazy difficult to get through. You probably want to know why I want to ban Wal-Mart though, right? Well, here it is.
About 4 weeks ago I went grocery shopping. We were in desperate need of some paper towels, so I grabbed a three pack until we could get to Target and pick up our usual supply later that week. It was an off brand. Decorator Towels or something like that, sold only at Wal-Mart I believe. All was fine. I get home and go to rip open then pack when I spot something on the inside of the package. I take a closer look. There is blood dripped onto the top of the paper towels. I'm not crazy, I know what blood looks like. Want to see?
The first spot is big, the second spot isn't huge, but it's blood. I'm not going to clean my counters or my kids with those. I look all over the package and find a phone number for the company. I call and tell them what happened. The lady is nothing but nice, saying it's probably ink but they'll send me a postage paid package to mail them to them and they'll test them and also refund me my money. Great. I can deal with that. I put the paper towels on the shelf above my washer so I can find them when the package comes and go on about my business.

About 2 weeks later, I receive a check for $3. I wondered where the box was to send them back, but didn't really have a whole lot of time to contemplate it because I had other things to do. Besides, we'd gotten some paper towels and I was too worried about getting Claire's birthday in order.

Fast forward to today. My phone rings. It's the people from the paper towel place. Here's where it gets bad. She asks for me and then says that she's calling regarding, "Um..The um..I don't know..The um...Umm.." "Paper towels," I offer. Oh yes, yes, that must be right. She goes on to tell me that they received my paper towels (I look up to spot them on the shelf) that they tested them (Wow, they must be magic testing them all the way from Arkansas while I'm staring at them in Wisconsin) and it turns out that it was, in fact, ink. "Oh really..Because I'm staring at the paper towels right now. I never received a box or a envelope or any such thing to mail you these things back." Dead silence. Then, she started stammering, "Oh..I..Well..You never...Um..Well..I don't really know....I'm so uncomfortable...I...Well, I guess I should see what's going on. I'll call you back." Yes, she really did say all of that..Word for word.

Horrible. Just horrible. So, they called me to insult my intelligence and LIE to me about a product that has bodily fluids on it. That's a public health issue if I'm not mistaken. So, let me just say, if you are going to call someone to handle a customer service issue, have all of your paperwork in front of you and know what the hell you are talking about before you get on my phone and out right LIE to me about something. I'm not an idiot and I won't be taken for a fool. I'll be ignoring your brand.

Pizza, Moldy Bread, TiVo..OH MY!!

David's been gone for over 24 hours. How am I doing? I'm OK. I mean, he's at work 3 days a week from 4PM to 7:30AM. He's been home since last weekend though, so I've kinda gotten used to the extra pair of hands I've had. When Grayson started crying while I was making dinner he would come to the rescue and take him from the bouncy chair and play with him. He would diffuse Claire the Meltdown Queen when she would lay at my feet, sippy cup in the air repeating, "Milk! Milk! Milk!" Ethan? Well, he's pretty much happy if he gets to play in the front yard or watch a movie, so no need to worry about him.

So what happened today? I had to make a quick run to the store in town, or as I like to call it, We Make You Bleed Money Foods. The thing with living in a tiny town like mine, the major shopping centers are pretty far away. The prices in our store are insane. I didn't have much of a choice though. So, after Ethan left for school, I got Claire and Grayson ready and we headed on out. The nice thing about the store in town was that they have little shopping carts for kids Claire's age. The bad part about that is that Claire decides that we need things that we don't really need and she throws whatever she wants into the cart. I pulled chips, canned veggies, ham and quite a few packages of cookies out of her cart. She tried to throw a greeting card in there too, but I caught it before she let it go. Guess what I get to go back for tomorrow? Bread. I made a quick list before I headed to the store. I took at look at the bread and saw we had almost a whole loaf, so I left it off the list. I got home, and started to put things away. When I went to put something in the pantry, I caught a glimpse of the bread, and it was MOLDY. DARN IT!! Want to know what we're eating this week? GOOD..I'll tell you! We're on a steady diet of frozen pizza, hamburger helper, mac & cheese and tacos. Mmmmm....Ethan is excited about the pizza. Claire will pretty much hoover anything I put in front of her. Grayson? Well, he's enjoying his homemade baby food and breast milk, so we're all set.

Guess what else happened in the house of Townsend that I didn't even mention? David canceled Dish. I know..You're totally shocked, right? I can hear the gasps. You're taken aback. How could he? I'm right there with you. Totally. Why? I have four words for you: Playhouse Disney and Ghost Hunters! Claire LIVES for Playhouse Disney. She lives and breaths Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Imagination Movers. When she hears the Imagination Movers theme song, she drops everything and runs. She knows what time they are on. At 8:30AM the day after David canceled dish, she got her little sippy cup and walked up to the TV to be greeted by Sid The Science Kid on PBS kids. She stared at the TV and then turned to look at me with this, "What is this CRAP?" look on her face. There were no Imagination Movers. There was no theme song. There was no Warehouse Mouse. There was no Mover Scott (who is her favorite). She whimpered a little and wandered away from the TV. She came back at 9AM to watch Sesame Street and Barney. She still looks for her favorite Mover though. And me? I am missing Ghost Hunters. I haven't missed an episode since is started is 2004. I even what the spin offs, Ghost Hunters International and Ghost Hunters Academy. I whimpered a little last Wednesday. I think I might do it again this Wednesday. I might actually sob on Halloween after Grayson's birthday has been celebrated and he's tucked into bed. Ghost Hunter's LIVE will be on, and I'll be missing it! David bought a TiVo to replace our Dish DVR. Guess what? I HATE IT! It records show's randomly, it deletes shows I recorded before I have a chance to watch them and their Netflix setup is awful. It also makes these really loud noises whenever I click on stuff. It's horrible. I wish we would have just kept the Dish. I miss it. Why do they have to have horrible customer service?

This Week.....I'm Going To Be Tired

David leaves for Arizona for a week tomorrow. Why am I not going? It's a long story, and not one that I'd like to go into detail about. Does he really need to go? No, but his ticket was already bought and we don't want to have wasted that money, so off he goes for a week. Guess where that leaves me? Alone, with three kids, in Wisconsin. Here's why I am not excited about this.

Grayson does not enjoy my putting him down to make dinner. I think hate is an appropriate word for this. It angers him, which leads to crying. I can't pick him up because either oil is popping or I'm washing dishes trying to contain mess that I have to clean up after I finish making dinner. This leads to Claire freaking out because I won't let her touch the knives when she's trying to "help" me do the dishes. I don't mind her splashing in the bubbles in the sink, but I do mind her trying to slice herself or me up. My taking things out of her hands makes her even more mad, which leads to squealing and crying. Add this to Grayson screaming in his bouncer on the floor, and I have myself and awesome mix of Grayson/Claire Screamfest 99 LIVE in my kitchen. Want to buy a copy? It's $12.95 on CD. Want to catch the live show? It's happens everday around 5:30 when I start making dinner. What? You don't want either. Alright.

Another reason I'm not happy about this? Starting Monday, the binky is going bye bye. I'm starting slow. This week Claire will only get the binky at naptime and bedtime. Next week she'll only get the binky at bedtime. The week after that she won't get the binky at all. Why am I planning on doing that this week. Well, I had a pretty good stretch going with not giving it to her. I had it tucked away on a shelf. One day, she spotted it and started whining and was reaching as far as her little toes would stretch her to get it. I stood my ground. David? He felt bad for her and gave in. She's been happily enjoying her binky ever since, thanks to daddy. They say that little girl's usually have daddy wrapped around their little finger. I think Claire has David wrapped around her little fist. He melts when she wants something from him. However, having him here as I start this journey would be a help. I could use him to help me distract her while I nurse Grayson.

So, here I am, with 3 kids alone for the next 7 days. David's flight leaves tomorrow at 3:30. Will I survive? I think I will, but with some gray hairs I'm sure.

Trying To Do My Part

Today is Earth Day. Earth day is a pretty big deal in my town. Why? Well, I live in Clear Lake, WI. Why is this important? It happens to be the birthplace of Gaylord Nelson. You're probably all, "Who?" Gaylord Nelson is the founder of Earth Day. He is a pretty big deal around here. There is a sign on front of the house he grew up in. The school Ethan attends is named after him. There is a HUGE display case full of pictures, articles and other things inside the school. He is buried in our cemetery. So, we must be pretty green, right? No. Earth Day is pretty much the only day I've seen around here where we make a fuss about the environment. Ethan takes an eco-friendly lunch to school. They talk up reduce, reuse, recycle to all the kids. He comes home telling me how sick the Earth is. By the time school rolls around again the following Monday, it's all forgotten.

So, I've decided to green it up a bit. I've replaced all of our cleaning products with Seventh Generation products. I've been cleaning with them for about a week now, and I love them. They smell like Thyme. They laundry soap has a light scent, and I've noticed the clothes feel different after washing with it. The toilet cleaner is awesome, and works just as well as the other toilet cleaners out there. The thing I really like about them? When I'm cleaning, I don't breath in strong chemical smells. It smells like Thyme everywhere. My hallway doesn't smell like bleach after I put toilet cleaner in Ethan's toilet to soak. Seriously, I gagged on that smell, and I dreaded having to go into the bathrooms to scrub them out after that. It's better for me, for my kids and our home in general. I think my lungs will thanks me.

I bought reusable shopping bags. No more plastic bags. I'd like to get reusable produce bags, but I don't know where to get them. The only bags I haven't bought are Target bags, but Target wants 99 cents a bag. I got 4 bags at Wal-Mart for $2. I don't want to pay $4 for 4 bags at Target. Maybe I can find some neutral reusable bags somewhere at a reasonable price for Target shopping. Any plastic bags we do get we reuse in someway. Doggie doo on walks. Garbage bags in Ethan's bathroom.

I know there are other ways I can make our home more green. Right now I'm researching cloth diapering and looking up Fuzzi Bunz on e-bay. Claire is on her way to potty training, but Grayson still has quite a bit of time in diapers, and I think cloth is the way to go. I've read some things about it being just as expensive and disposable with all the wash you do, but I do laundry twice a week as it is, so throwing cloth diapers into the mix really wouldn't bother me much. Besides, if all I have to do is wash a diaper and not drop $20 on a box of diapers, I'm all for it. We buy diapers every other week, that's $40 a week. Double that with two tushes to diapers, and that's $80 a MONTH on diapers. REALLY? Even with my coupons and our Target discount, it's still insane what we're spending. I know buying a lot of diapers on e-bay is going to run us up, but I'm sure they'll pay for themselves. I plan to just get a couple and see what they're like. If we can't handle cloth, then I plan on getting a greener diaper, like Seventh Generation.

Here's to a greener lifestyle!

UBP After Partay!!

The Ultimate Blog Party 2010 has come to an end. It had to end sometime, right? Well, yeah, it did. It was super fun. I found lots of great blogs, and lots of great people found me. That makes me totally popular now right? I don't know, but I had fun!

So, you want to know who I found, right? Well, here are three people that I visited.

Adventures Of Motherhood--She does a fun link up on Friday's where you get to share a kid's book. Super fun. I took part yesterday and found a couple of books to add to my kid's reading list.

The Toy Box Years--She's doing a series on Momnesia that I find pretty funny. You might too. Read it.

Tales From The Motherhood And Confessions Of A Former Childhood Actress--Read her story about stalking Kirk Cameron. Super funny. She guest starred on "Growing Pains". I wonder if she met him then?

So, there are three picks I visited. I had a great time finding and reading new blogs. I'm already excited about next year. Weird? Maybe. But seriously, it was fun. Hop on over and check out the blogs that I found!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a baby waking up that is demanding a nursing. Good night!

Feed Me Books Friday: In The Night Kitchen

Welcome to my first Feed Me Books Friday post.

I chose one of my favorite books from childhood that has become one of my kids favorite books. In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. He also wrote Where The Wild Things Are, just so you know.

The book is about a little boy named Mickey. Mickey was sleeping until he was awakened by some bakers. Mickey also loses his clothes while going to meet these bakers and ends up wearing a suit of cake batter, but not before the bakers mistake him for milk and try to bake him into a cake. SAY WHAT?! No really, it's true. Mickey, being the good kid that he is, decides that after these bakers try murder by cake, he's going to help them get milk. He fashions himself a cake plane and goes on up to the Milky Way to get some milk. You're probably thinking "2% or whole?!" I have no idea. They don't tell you. The bakers get their milk though, and bake a cake with the help of Mickey. I know...You're relieved. What would we do without those awesome things known as doughnuts, right?

Anyways, I recommend this book. I loved it when I was little and my kids, the two that are interested in books now, love it as well. My daughter so much that I probably read it 5-10 times a day...If I'm lucky. On the days I'm not so lucky, I get to read it 15 times or more. We're on our 3rd copy it gets read so much.

This book can be found on Amazon. I've had some difficulty finding it in bookstores such as Border's and Barnes & Noble.

Dear Claire

My Snuggle Bunny,

Today is you're second birthday. At 2:37PM, after 20 1/2 hours in labor, 2 years ago, we met each other for the first time. They laid you in my arms, and I cried. You were precious. You were beautiful. You were my daughter. In the last year you've gone from this:

April 14, 2009
To thisApril 14, 2010

This year you learned to walk. You learned to talk, with your favorite word being "wow" and you're favorite phrase being "there you are". You're hair came back lighter than at birth, but curlier than ever. You became a big sister. You dance at the first hint of music and laugh every chance you get. You make mommy's heart skip a beat when you daredevil yourself off the couch. Everyday you learn more, you talk more and you get more beautiful. I can't wait to see what this year brings you.

Today you had a party. Mommy made you a princess cake.
Was it perfect? No. Did you care? No. Were you excited? Yes!
Well, maybe you weren't that excited, but that's OK. It was pretty early when you first saw it. Maybe you knew today was a special day, because you sounded your wake up call at 6AM!! We had pancakes for breakfast, you're favorite!

At 5PM, Aunt Kim, Makayla and Grandpa Earl came over for cake and ice cream. You were very excited to see everyone, especially Makayla. You two played for hours on your brand new KITCHEN!
I guess this was your favorite gift of the day. The look on your face when you saw it this morning was priceless. I'll never forget it. Grandma Meredith mailed you some kitchen dishes to play with it with. I gave you a sponge. You stole my potato masher. You fed me fake food. Aunt Kim, Grandpa Earl and Makayla got you lots of kitchen stuff. You are well stocked for a plastic chicken feast. You also got lots of cute dresses for summer, and a super cute pair of jeans. Thanks Aunt Kim..You have style!

You tried to be a big girl and blow our your candle.
But, it didn't go as planned so mommy and daddy helped. I can't believe I have such a big girl. I love you Claire Bear. I'm so glad I'm you're mommy!

It Seemed Like A Good Idea

I keep a couple of canisters of shaving cream with all of Ethan's Play-Doh and art stuff. It's good for his sensory disorder to play with different textures, and he has fun without knowing that I'm putting his senses to the test. Today, he asked to play with shaving cream. Not a problem. I knew Claire would want to play too, so I set up an extra space for her to play, slapped an apron on her and sprayed some shaving cream down. Ethan dug right in as usual. Claire looked at the shaving cream, looked at Ethan, looked at me, looked back at the shaving cream and back at me with the, "And, you expect me to do what with this?" look she likes to give me. I thought, "Hmmm..Maybe she really doesn't want to try this. Maybe I can entice her someway." Then, I thought, "AHA..I know just what to do to make this moment fun!" Can you guess what I did? Can you? Go on guess! Here's a hint.If you guessed that I added food coloring to the shaving cream, you would be correct. I thought Claire would have fun with it. I added a few drops of pink to hers and a few drops of blue to Ethan's. By few I really mean 2. Ethan dug right in. Claire just stared at me again, so I swirled hers up with my finger and then pushed her hand lightly into the shaving cream. She got what you see in the picture above. She spent the next 15 minutes staring at her hand and at me saying, "Wow...Wow...Wow!" Then waiting for me to say it back. After getting her hand in it, I rinsed my finger off, and discovered it was pink still. CRAP!! I looked back at the table, where Claire was still saying wow, but Ethan was laughing and looking a little something like this:
Whoops. I thought, "Well, I guess Ethan will be heading to school looking a little smurf like tomorrow." This was when I decided to make the most of it and grabbed my camera.
Claire was still in wow mode once I started snapping pictures. Finally though, she got into it and really went to town. She was so excited. She even helped Ethan smear some of his shaving cream around. Then, she had an idea. You see, Ethan was covering his arms, so she one upped him.
She covered her face. She actually laid down as far as her little tip toes would let her stretch across the table and got shaving cream all over her apron. It's a good thing David came home when he did. Grayson was starting to not enjoy being supervisor of this little art project. I sent Ethan into his bathroom to shower, and I took Claire into my bathroom where I stripped her and put her in the tub where she promptly dyed the water pink. It all came off of her though. All except her hands. Her hands are still pretty pink. Ethan ended up taking two showers. I had to clean his ears out because they got dyed blue on the inside.

So, what was my lesson here? DO NOT PUT FOOD COLORING IN SHAVING CREAM!!!

But, even though things were stained (including my table) and shaving cream was thrown everywhere, I didn't worry about it. They had fun. There was lots of laughing. I got some great pictures. It's a memory well worth keeping.

It's An Ultimate Blog Party (2010) Up In Here!

Word up bloggy land! Welcome to my little slice of the blogosphere. Maybe you were brought here because of the 5 Minutes For Mom Ultimate Blog Party, or maybe you already read me and were distracted by the pure awesome in my title. Either way, kick up your heels and enjoy the fun.

My name is Chantel. I started this blog because I thought I'd like to keep my family informed about what's happening with me and my family since they all live in the tropical weather (Arizona) and I moved with my husband and our then 4 year old son to the frozen tundra (Wisconsin). To date, the only family that reads my blog is my MIL. In the almost 4 years we've lived here, we've added two more children and a dog to our family. May I introduce:Ethan, age 7. Second grader. Joke teller. Likes the question, "Why?".

Claire. Will be two on the 14th. Diva. Could probably teach a class on temper tantrums.
Grayson. 5 months. Born on Halloween. Only blue eyed kid in the bunch and prominent hater of tummy time.

I'd introduce Teddy, but he's more one for sniffing the camera than sitting still for it.

Want to see my husband and I?That's hubby, David, and I. This was our wedding day. Seriously. We aren't really in the habit of dressing in a white gown and suit and running around town.

So, there's my family. This is who my blog is about. I've recently jumped into baby food making. I'm trying my hand at paper crafting. So far, it's not going my way. Paper and I have regular arguments. I'm determined to get it down though. Do I have any posts on this? Not yet. I want to make my own decorations for Grayson's first birthday party. I did win a gift card to buy his invitations, so I don't need to worry about that.

Take a look around. Enjoy you're time here. Please, let me know you stopped by so I can visit you. Party on party peeps!

In the event that I were to win one of the fabulous prizes that are being offered during this fantastic event, I think these three would be my choices:
1) A scentsy warmer and scent bars.
2) The 'What's New, Cupcake?' cupcake book. Ethan and I really loved the 'Hello, Cupcake!' book. We made lots of cupcakes!
3)$50 gift certificate for Amazon.

I'll be making my party rounds tomorrow evening. Now it's time to spend some time with the hubby for he heads out to work the whole weekend.

I Can Cook.....Baby Food.....Want Some?

I bought a Beaba Babycook. I got it back in January. It's been sitting in its box waiting for use. Well, since Grayson is starting in his baby food adventure now that he's hit 5 months, Monday was that day. We went to Sam's Club so I could pick up some apples and carrots. We actually went out to pick up quite a few things, but Sam's was on our list of stops. When we got home, I assembled my team. Please meet my assistant chefs.

Chef GraysonChef Claire
(By the way, please excuse her play doh mess in the background.)

Assistant chef number 3 was too busy playing in his room to be bothered with making baby food.

First I peeled and diced the apples. Not too hard, unless you're dealing with an almost 2 year old who insists on taking bites of all apples in a bag. There was lots of No's and squealing.
Then I steamed the apples. This took 10 minutes. See the light on the switch. It goes off when the steaming is done. I played with Grayson. He thinks mommy dancing is hilarious. I know, I'm such a comedian.
Once the apples were steamed I took them out of the pitcher and then I dumped them back in with a little bit of the steaming water to puree them.
Getting ready to puree.
Voila! Pureed Apples. I even tried a little taste. Super yummy, and I'm not even a baby!Apples all ready for the freezer.
I also made carrots. I didn't take pictures of the whole process because you've already seen it.
Voila..17 serving of apples and carrots ready for consumption.

So, after thinking about this, at Sam's Club, I spent $3.50 on a 3lb bag of carrots, and $4.68 on a 5lb bag of apples. I made 17 servings of food. If I had bought 17 stage one jars at my local Wal-Mart at 37 cents a jar, it would have cost me $6.29 plus tax. That's $1.61 more than I paid for one 5 lb bag of apples. I really think this Beaba Babycook is going to pay for itself quickly. I am EXTREMELY excited to try more food in it. I can't wait to try more foods! And, the Beaba was so easy to use. Steam, Puree, DONE! Cleanup was a breeze. I just washed everything and put it on the drying rack. I didn't need to wash any pans or anything like that. Awesome. When lunchtime comes around for Grayson, all I do is pop one of the cubes into a bowl, pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds and he's ready to eat. When he gets older I'll defrost 2 cubes. The only thing I wish the Beaba Babycook had was a sound to let you know steaming is done. If you walk off and the light goes off you won't know. I stayed next to the Babycook and played with Grayson so I could keep an eye on things. I was also force fed apples by Claire. Grayson also thought this was hysterical. It was also about this time that assistant chef number 3 emerged from his room asking for an apple himself. I complied.

So, want to see how Grayson took the baby food?

This was Grayson's first time having any baby food that wasn't rice cereal. I just popped one of the cubes into the microwave for 30 seconds like I said before. I set it on the table to cool while I got Grayson into his high chair and put a bib on him.
Then, he had his first bite. As you can see, he wasn't loving it. He made that face for the first 7 o 8 bites. Then, his face eventually changed to an, "Hey, this stuff is OK!" face.

By the end of it all, he was smiling and happy. Surprisingly, he didn't make that much of a mess out of himself even though his hands spent most of their time in his mouth while I fed him.

We're starting out slow. He'll be eating one serving of carrots once a day for the next few days. We'll start apples next. I'm excited to start in on the baby food adventure, but it's making me a little sad too. Grayson is our last baby, and now he's getting into the big baby stuff. His poo (yeah, like that's what you wanna read about!) was orange instead of yellow like it has been because of his breast milk diet. That made me a little sad. I'm excited to see him grow though.

Oh, and, just so you know, I bought and paid for my Beaba Babycook on my own. I wasn't supplied with anything, nor was I paid to write this post. I just thought you'd like to know how awesome it is. You're welcome.

Colored Eggs And Earless Bunnies...Don't Worry, It's Chocolate!

On Friday night, we colored the rest of our eggs with David. This time we did it at the kitchen table. I just didn't want to take the chance of getting more pink on the kitchen floor. Who knows how long that would have taken to clean up! My floor already has a good pink tint to it courtesy of Claire and Makayla. It's OK though. The kids had fun and that's just fine with me. I might be singing a different tune if it was permanent marker, but it wasn't. I pretty sure this will come out in a few mops.
Anywho, we got our table all set and up set to dying. David was the photographer for this round. I don't usually let him take pictures because A) He gets all up in my grill with the camera and if you look closely, you could probably see my brain through my nostrils or something and B) He thinks he's artsy and takes weird pictures of random things. Seriously. It's not pretty. I erase a lot of stuff. He's funny though, so I keep him around. Claire actually got the concept of dying this time. I did have to pry one egg from her grip of death, but after that, she did a great job.And Ethan? Well, he's always known what to do, so there was no need to be all over him about it. He did, however, decide to use his hands this time because, "Claire got to do it with her hands!" It was messy.After all the eggs were dyed, Claire went to bed, we watched Planet 51 and called it a night. Good time had by all. Egg dying #2? SUCCESS. No spilled dye!

Saturday night after the kids went to bed, I got out the baskets that my mom sent the year before and the gifts my grandma sends every year. I packed the baskets and set them on the table.The pig is Claire's and the dog is Ethan's. Grayson does not have a basket yet because, well, he's 5 months and we couldn't find one like Ethan or Claire's. My grandma sends a couple of toys, a card and a chocolate bunny for each child each year. It doesn't matter if they can eat it or not, it comes. She sends one to David and I as well. Mine comes like this:Notice the missing ears? It's a tradition. She does the same thing to my brother's. When we were little, she would tell us the Easter bunny did it because it was the best part of the bunny. Every year, without fail, a chocolate bunny missing his ears arrives in a box on my doorstep. It makes me laugh every time. I think I might start doing this to my kid's bunnies. It's a fun tradition. She did the same thing to my grandpa's bunny too. His favorite candy was M&M's, so now she takes him an empty M&M egg and sets it next to his flowers on Easter. He'd probably think it was funny. He had a great sense of humor!

David hid eggs this morning when he got home from work so he could see the kids find them before he went to bed. Did I get pictures? No. Why? Claire wasn't interested in the eggs until she realized that Ethan had stuff in his basket that she didn't have. Ethan was finding all the eggs that Claire was realizing she didn't have which was starting a war. I had to diffuse and egg war filled with Ethan screaming, "Don't take that Claire. No..I said NO!" and Claire screaming, "NO! NO! NOOOO!" Grayson was the only calm child this morning. All eggs were found though, and all was well.

Happy Easter everybody!

Two Toddlers Destined To Dye Things Pink! By Things, I Mean My Kitchen Floor!

Yesterday was egg dying day in the Townsend household. We had planned to do it later in the evening because David had stayed up all night Thursday night in preparation for his overnight shifts on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The day was going to be filled with quiet play with a little bit of silliness sprinkled in. By quiet play I mean two kids running, screaming and laughing while the third sits in my lap adding his own squeals of excitement followed by his new found interest and talent for blowing raspberries. Good thing David is a pretty hard sleeper when it comes to these three. However, at 11AM, my SIL called because she had just learned from our family friend/neighbor/her co-worker that Ethan is on Easter break. She decided that she and Makayla (my adorable 18 month old niece) would head on out to dye their collection of eggs. This, of course, thrilled Ethan. Claire didn't really get it. She did get it once Kim and Makayla walked in the door. This caused crying from Claire, followed by crying from Makayla. Snacks were doled out in an attempt to calm the storm. This led to a fight over sharing said snacks between the girls. The calm came when Claire hopped on her princess ride on toy and started honking the horn while wheeling herself around the kitchen while Makayla watched, mesmerized. These two are destined to be best friends. Kim even said she can't wait until their old enough to be spending the night at each others houses and we're breaking up fights over clothes.
After a bit of chit chat while Kim finished boiling a set of eggs, we finally spread out our newspaper, put some dye together and set to getting our dye on. As we set out the cups, Claire tried to drink them. It's non-toxic, but I don't think she'd like the vinegar. It's not much, but it's pretty strong. I was able to keep her away long enough for the cups to get set out and the dye tablets dropped in. Then, there were three set of eyes staring into the cups while Kim and I snapped pictures. We got the eggs down, looked into the cups and saw all the dye was ready, except the pink. It just wouldn't dissolve. We ended up smashing it as best we could with a spoon and mixing it up. Ahhhh...Finally ready. We set the pink down, and opened up a carton of eggs, where Makayla reached and promptly...SPILLED THE PINK DYE!!

(The aftermath of Makayla's pink spill.)

We were like, "Eh..It's fine. There's still some tablet." We were able refill it and save the day since the pink was just not willing to go. Makayla reached into the carton, grabbed two eggs, looked at them and SLAMMED them together. This prompted Claire to reach into the carton, grab and egg and test her strength on it by squeezing it until it was unrecognizable. After they ruined three eggs, we were finally able to get everyone down to business.

(Finally getting their dye on!)

They did a great job. Makayla was a pro though. If you weren't fast enough getting an egg in a different color, Makayla was on it. She'd snatch an egg and throw it in the color without even waiting for you to get to it. You snooze you loose in the eyes of a toddler. As we were nearing the end of our egg dying adventure, Claire was finally getting the hang of the dying. She was super excited. She reached for an egg and SPILLED THE PINK DYE!(The aftermath of Claire's pink spill.)

Yeah, Claire was pretty colorful. She managed not to get any dye on her clothes, but did wipe her hands all over her face and arms. Surprisingly, it cleaned up pretty easily. However, my kitchen floor has a slight pink tint to it. It's OK though. I think with a few mops it should be back to it's normal, beat up self.

All in all, it was a super fun time. We ended up dying our eggs later that night with David, but I'll post about that tomorrow.

And, if you're wondering why no pictures of Makayla, well, I'd rather not post her pictures without her parent's permission. She isn't my daughter after all.

Warm Weather And A Milestone (Or Two)

The weather here has been FANTASTIC. A super awesome 70 degrees or a little more since Tuesday. We took a walk to the store, which is just up the hill from us. We spent time out in the yard getting fresh air and playing. Well, I stayed with Grayson where the sun wasn't hitting him in the face and watched Claire and Ethan run around the yard squealing. I went in the shed and busted out the Bubble BBQ. We don't have any bubbles, so I just put some dish soap into a dish and added a little water and VOILA bubbles. Claire thought it was the best toy ever...At first. I forgot how little bubbles this thing actually makes, so it wasn't all that fun. She eventually got frustrated and dumped the whole dish of soap onto the BBQ, which made TONS of teeny tiny bubbles and some of those weird bubbles that look like bunches of grapes. That got a laugh, and then she was bored. Today when we want out she wanted nothing to do with the Bubble BBQ. She played with the leaves instead. She got a little over zealous when going out to play though, and took a header down the stairs. Well, off the side of the stairs. She kinda rolled to the left and somersaulted of the edge. She was totally fine though. I think it scared her more than anything. She barely let me check her really. I jumped into action as fast as I could with Grayson in the sling across my chest, and she didn't even want me to check her out. She was all, "Um, not thanks, I've got leaves to throw." So, it's been a great couple of days outdoors in the fresh air, bumps, bruises and all.

Now, MILESTONES...YAY!! Grayson hit his 5th month of life yesterday. This afternoon at "lunch" time, he had his first official bite of rice cereal, and he LOVED it. I mixed a tablespoon with some breast milk and he was all over it. He's the only one out of all of them that actually ate it all on the first feeding. Ethan cried the entire time he first tried it, and Claire just spit it out. Now all I need to do is get some ice cube trays and some fruits and veggies to make into baby food. I can't wait to try my Beaba Babycook. Until then, enjoy these two pictures of Grayson's first baby food feeding.

The very first bite!

The end result!

Another milestone for Grayson? He's getting his bottom two teeth. He's not very happy about it. I give him a little Tylenol when he's showing a lot of discomfort and a cold teething ring when he gets fussy after that. I try to massage his gums, but he doesn't like that at all. I'm not really a fan or orajel. I need to look around and see if there are other products out there for teething. I'm very excited he's getting teeth, but also a little scared. I don't want him to bite me when he's nursing. If that happens, I'll need to start pumping, and that won't be a good thing. Grayson is not a bottle fan. He hates bottles. He will not take one. He may take a bottle in the car, but only when he's super hungry and when he doesn't really have any other choice. All other times, it's all about nursing.

One thing I'm a little concerned about is he doesn't do well with tummy time at all. He hates it. It's probably because of his acid reflux, but it's something that he needs to do. As a result of his not doing tummy time, he hasn't rolled over yet, either way. Both Claire and Ethan were rolling themselves all over the house by now, but Grayson just won't do it. He'll spin himself in circles on his back like a breakdancer on the floor all day long, but he won't roll. Hopefully it happens soon.