Bleargh.

I've been a little blah lately. Not in the mood to do much of anything. It happens from time to time. That is all.

Oh yeah, Happy Halloween!

How do you keep your family from sneaking your child food?

 At home I don't have a problem with this (yet). However, with the holidays coming up I know this is going to be an issue. When BB was 3 or 4 months old (I can't remember anything anymore) a cousin of mine gave him a lick off her spoon of ice cream. I was so pissed off! And I couldn't coherently explain why it was a bad thing to do. I think I said that babies intestines aren't sealed up yet and she just kind of laughed at me like I was stupid. I could have explained it better if I hadn't been flabbergasted by her flippant behavior.

A few weekends ago we had a small family gathering for those who had October birthdays (really it was for one person, but I showed up anyway because I don't want people knowing that I'm a terrible bitter person, but lets face it, I am). I made a special bib for the occasion so no one that could read the English language could say that they didn't know any better. I made a picture and I ironed it onto the back of a different bib.

You are welcome to use this, although I don't know who made the monster picture.
 Just remember to mirror the image before printing or it will be wrong when you iron it on.

So, I had my bib safety net in place and it worked a treat, but it didn't stop people from telling my 7 month old baby (who is not yet eating solids) that his mommy was mean and wouldn't let him have cake and ice cream. Really? Really!? For serious. This shit happened. I just don't know what to do to make them shut the fug up about it.

Perhaps I can glean some information from other people in internet land.
So, how do you keep your extended family from feeding your kid crap? 

7 Down ? To Go.

BB and I just hit 7 months of nursing and we are looking forward to 7+ more. I feel really lucky that we had miniscule problems that were very easy to overcome with the help of my LC and support from my family. I'm also lucky that I'm able to stay home which makes nursing much easier. I do not have an estimated weaning date. My goal is to let him self-wean.

Slightly related, I attended my first LLL meeting yesterday and I had a great time! There were a few ladies still nursing their 2 year olds and it just made me happy to be around like minded ladies.

I even made friends with the hostess and we're going to get coffee some time. Hooray solidarity!

International Man-on-Bottom Sign For DONE

Seriously, look for it the next time you're riding your cowboy. The (most likely dominant) arm will rise to the pillow area when he is finished. It's a good tell for when you've finished but you're being a good person and doing all the hard work and you aren't sure if he is done or not and you're getting really tired and you have a cramp in your calf but you don't want to ask him if he is done. Keep an eye out for that arm. I laugh now every time. I can't help it! I think it's funny.

And no, we don't wear underpants (most of the time) when we make with the hankey pankey. I wanted my stick figures to maintain a modicum of decency.

EdenFantasys Yarr! :::ADULT:::

Adult Post. Do not read if you are offended by things of a sexual nature (or if you're under 18).
Go on...

Check it out

I'm an amazing artist yo!

I got some birthday money so I bought one of those bamboo tablet things so I could do awesome stuff like the above. You know you're jealous of my mad artistic skillz.

HTML/CSS Snafu

I've made a new layout but I'm having issues getting the html/css to work the way I want it to. I want my header to be fixed so that the blog content scrolls under the header and the header stays at the top of the page. I found a code (http://fixed-header.blogspot.com/) to do that and it works except that my blog's content starts halfway behind the header which is not okay.

I'm also having a problem where the background image is for some reason showing up enormous when it is supposed to be the same width as the header.

I've searched for answers to my problems, but all I'm finding is a whole lot stuff from 2008 that doesn't seem to work. Maybe because I'm using chrome? I don't know :-(

Can anyone nudge me in the right direction?

At this point I just need the background image to stop stretching to ginormous proportions.

Breastfeeding - With A Little Help From My Friends

When I was pregnant, I never took a breastfeeding class because I was on strict bed rest when they had the class. I also had two Non-Stress Tests a week. I saw the breastfeeding support group pamphlet twice a week for about eight weeks.

After BB was born the nurses at the hospital were quite helpful. Except for the night nurse who said if BB's blood sugar was low one more time they'd have to supplement, to which I said "Nope, it will be fine next time" (but tiny little poppy seeds of doubt were scattered in my brain). It was unfortunate that I never got to see the LC, as she had pneumonia.

At home I had great support. No one told me to just give formula or anything else that I didn't care to hear. They just helped me. I had read a great book while on bed rest, but books don't give you a sense of sisterhood or community.

At three weeks PP I was still hormonal and crying all the time and my nipples hurt and I needed help. So I found my big girl panties and I went to the breastfeeding group. I made a few friends, had a wonderful time, and I really wish I had gone earlier. The LC (I call her my LC) offered me some advice and a few pointers to help with my discomfort. It was like MAGIC!

I go to group almost every week. I've missed four meetings since my first time going, but even if I don't go, it's okay. I can catch up with our Facebook page. The Facebook page is nice because it is mostly made up of moms who have been to that group, or their friends, and you can ask any question and someone will have an answer or suggestion for you pretty quickly.

If you are pregnant and plan on breastfeeding I highly suggest/recommend that you take a breastfeeding class and attend a few meetings of your local BF group before you have your baby (if you are able). It really does help that extra bit. And if  you are BF now, even if you're doing great with it, find a local meeting and go. It feels great to get out of the house and interact with people who have the same feelings about BF as you do. You get help, and you give help and you may even make a few friends. It's also really cool to watch the other babies grow.

Thanks to going to group, I haven't felt like I didn't have enough milk or that BB isn't eating enough or any of those other fears that breastfeeding moms have. I have an awesome group of other nursing mom's behind me, and I'm behind them. We've got each other's backs, and we help each other out.

Hooray for the sisterhood of boobies!

They've got a thing going on.

So I say to PB,
"He's [BB] having a love affair with that remote" Then I'm thinking that I should name the remote Mrs. Jones, right after I have that thought, PB kind of sings
"Mrs. Joooones..."

We are so creepy. This happens all the time. It's almost to the point that I sound like I'm making it up when I say, "Oh my gosh, I was thinking the SAME THING!"

So, the remote has been named Mrs. Jones, and they've got a thing going on.

Today I'm Linking Up With...

HOSTED BY

Woosah.

Sometimes I forget that other people's problems are not my problem. I need to quit getting so emotionally worked up for people that I don't know. Grown-ups can handle their own problems. I do not need other people's anxiety, I have plenty of my own. Woosah.

Composting Is Fun!

I've got a nice heap going in my back yard. I feed and water it several times a week, and turn it once a week.

I fed it a few books the other day that got water damaged. Today I fed it the clippings from my mom's rosebush, and a bunch of stuff I cleared from the fridge. Then I turned it. Then I took pictures of it and the slugs that inhabit it.

Trash Day

Now, I'm multitasking here, let us hope that I do not drop my phone upon Baby Bear's noggin.
A few days ago I thoroughly embarrassed myself so I thought I'd share because it was really funny.

Picture if you will...
My short hair is sticking up and out all over the place. I'm wearing brown leggings and a snug teal shirt. I don't wear a bra around the house because that's one extra layer I have to move for BB. I've just cleaned a stinky animal cage. I have a stinky bag of trash. I can hear the garbage trucks so I decide to toss the bag now so it will be gone instead of sitting in a trash can all week long.

I run outside. My neighbor to the right's trashcan is on its side, indicating that our cans have already been emptied. My neighbor across the street to the left has visible trash in their can, it has nit been emptied. So I look at my neighbor across and to the right, I know she won't mind if I place my trash in her can.
So I start to walk across the street. I take four steps and the trash truck comes around the corner, my neighbor's can is the first one to be emptied so I sprint, in all my floppy and jiggly glory, across the road and slam dunk my trash into her can then hop triumphantly onto the sidewalk. I turned around and the trash collector man waved at me, and I saluted him. We had a moment.

I then walked quickly across the road, back to my house, laughing all the way. I hope I made that guy's day a little brighter. He definitely had a silly story to tell.

Trash Collectors, I salute you, fo reals.

Dur.

In past posts I wouldn't publish unless I had a picture to go with the post. I read that naming the pictures with_descriptive_titles helped get your blog more traffic from image searches. I'm sure it's true, but I got it in my head that no picture means no post. That has been kind of crippling.

I do this all the time. I get it in my head that things can only be done one way, and it is always the hard way! Why can't I ever get stuck doing things the easy way? Because that would be too easy? Le Sigh.

Except I do lots of things the easy way that I forget to give myself credit for. Breastfeeding straight from the source is easier than bottle feeding of any kind. I don't have to clean bottles every day, only when I use them, which is rarely. I bedshare, which is MUCH easier than having BB sleep in a separate room. When he is hungry, he just roots around for a nipple and it is right there. I don't have to get out of bed.

There, I feel better now. And I don't have to have a picture for everything now. Besides, I can always go back and put one in. 

SSS {10.9.11}

Howdy! If you've arrived here from the SSS I'd just like to say I'd love to have you follow me, but only if you want to. Please don't follow me JUST because I've followed you, because I'm not going to follow you JUST because you've followed me.

Take a gander, read a few posts, and check out my Proclaimer. Then, if you're still interested, follow in whatever way is most convenient for you.

Do I not have your favorite way to follow implemented? Leave me a comment and I'll see about fixing that for you.

Thanks, have a Super Sunday!

I Made A Diaper!

Go me! After reading the instructions 30-40 times it was pretty easy. The hard part was figuring out the elastic in the seam allowance. I used the free Rita's Rump Pocket Diaper pattern.

I used a flannel receiving blanket as the inner and polar fleece as the outer. I was hoping that the fleece would be waterproof, but I got the wrong kind and it wasn't. However, that is not a huge problem, I can use it the other way and the fleece will wick moisture away from Baby Bear. I don't mind using a diaper cover. I also didn't fold it right and BB blew out of the diaper into the diaper cover, which is what the cover is there for. Which, now that I think of it maybe pee escaped where the poop did. Hrm.

So, one down, several to go. I'm a fan.

Multitasking Fail!

I do "multitask" while nursing, but I really shouldn't. ¿Por qué, you may ask? Porque I always end up dropping, plonking, or otherwise bonking Baby Bear on the head with whatever electronic device I happen to be using.

He usually doesn't notice, as his skull is neandertalish like his daddy's, but when he does there is much wailing and even tears. Tears! Tears are awful and they break my heart.

So, yes, I do sometimes multitask and I am terrible at it. And its not as if my multitasking is anything important. I'm not folding laundry or doing anything else useful; I'm dicking around on twitter or Facebook.

I wrote most of this with my phone while nursing, and I nailed him with the phone before I even started. I accidentally knocked it into him when I tried to grab it off the bed. I wont be winning any awards any time soon.

I prefer the times that I'm technology free. He just eats and smiles, plays with his food (sometimes squirting himself in the eyes ) and sometimes falls asleep. I prefer the times that we just are.

Blog Hops Everyday!

A blog with a lovely collection of weekly blog hops. If you did a different one every week you'd have 35 weeks (of Wednesday hops at least).

 Having discovered this today, I think I will pick a different hop to join for every day of the week. Funsies!

You'll See It, Eventually

photo from www.manix.com

Because This Is Excellent

And I want to be able to find it whenever I want to.

Ten Rules for Fat Girls « CrazyBeautiful

Sunday

I've given myself quite a busy day. I'm going to stalk/socialize my brains out and try to make two cloth diapers while trying to keep BB entertained. This will not be easy. Especially since he keeps making this nerve grating whining noise and there is no one else around to take him. So, I'm going to go be a responsible parent and get off of the computer... for now.

Let’s Get Social Blog Hoppin’ (10/2)

Super Stalker Sunday 23 #Bloghop

Happy Sunday everyone! I've been looking for ways to get more followers so this week I've linked up with Super Stalker Sunday. Hopefully a few SSS travelers will like what they read (I know there's not much here yet, but I am working on it) and follow along for a while.
Don't know about SSS? No, problem!

What is Super Stalker Sunday?

Glad you asked! Super Stalker Sunday is a weekly blog hop hosted by

Marni of Marni's Organized Mess

April of Mama on a Green Mission

Mariah of Formula Mom

Kortney of Kortney's Krazy Life

and Emily of Nap Time is My Time

Blogs hops are a great way to meet other bloggers, socialize and gain more followers. Do you like to socialize? Well, we all like followers, right?!

If you've been around the blogosphere you know there are Blog Hop's for everything you can think of and every day of the week: RSS Feed, Google Friend Connect, Email Readers, Facebook Fans, and Twitter Followers.

Well, why not get all of your followers in one place once a week? This is the place to do just that!

How to Super Stalk

Follow each host at least one way. Don't forget to let them know you did so by commenting on their blog. We will return all follows, but please be patient as we are busy mama's it may take us a few days to return the visit and follow.

You will only have to link up on one of the host sites and your link will appear on all as we use the same linky.

After you follow the hosts, follow as many bloggers in as many ways as you are willing!

Already follow somebody? Consider visiting and following them in another way as well!

Remember: You will only get as much as you give. The more blogs you can visit, the more visits you will gain in return. We are all here to socialize and greet, not visit only your blog.

While we encourage sharing our button and hop with as many as possible, it is not required. The more you spread the word though, the more we socialize and all gain followers!

This week's featured blogger is






We took this opportunity to ask Mehreen a few questions, and she's shared her answers below:


What’s your favorite way to stalk a blog?

I follow via GFC mostly, but I like to follow via Twitter too. I think it's a great way to share useful links plus get links from what my friends are reading and finding useful.


You have an extra hour added to your day,what would you do with it?

I'll definitely be blogging more and doing more research on the SEO side of it too.


Is there a TV show that you have watched every episode?

Not in a long time though. I usually go for comedy series I watch regularly and if I miss any, then thank God for places like YouTube! ;-)


What book is currently on your nightstand?

I have just picked "The Guardian Angel's Journal" by Carolyn Jess-Cooke and gone through the first few pages. Looks promising enough!


Pick a post,any post.

http://www.myperfectline.com/2011/08/some-thoughts-to-live-by-it-is-so-easy.html



If you would like to be a featured blogger,being shared with more than 4,000 combined followers between the hosts of this hop,please link up! At the end of each week we will select a blog via Random.Org to be the featured blog for the following week.

This linky will go live Saturday at 7:00 PM PST and end Monday at 12:00 PM PST.

Thank you for participating, now let’s go “stalk” up a storm!