Bloglovin...

May 31, 2013

Since Google reader is almost no longer, I have joined the ranks of bloglovin. To be honest I am really loving it.  So follow Every Little Cloud by clicking this link...we hope you join us!

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My buddy and me...

May 30, 2013

Chris and I were having a conversation via gchat (because that is how we have most of our "serious" conversations these days...yep marriage at its finest) and he was expressing how he is having a hard time with Scarlett's lack of affection toward him.  And it is true, she needs me.  She needs me to fix her boo-boo's, she needs me to put her to bed, she needs me to make her dinner, she needs me to read her books, she needs me to hold her tight.  99% of the time she asks for me.

I realized the truth in his statement, and thought of a couple of things.  1) I am her comfort.  I rocked her to bed every night.  She was my baby and I had nothing but time to sit and watch her grow.  2) I fed her.  I was her only source of nutrition for the first 6 months of her life.  We bonded more in the wee hours of her first six months than I will with her for the rest of her life.  3) I spend two full days more with her than Chris does.  Quality time is her love language.  4) I am unfortunately more lax in my parenting than Chris.

On these last two points Chris and I decided something must be done.  We have to create space for the two of them to "bond" on the same level that Scarlett and I naturally do.  Daddy/daughter dates and late night story telling in a homemade fort is a must this summer.  But, with all that said the two of them have a bond that I never will.  He can make her laugh.  Like deep belly laughs.  When Scarlett is a hormonal teen and she no longer needs me to rub her back to fall asleep, she will still need her dad to tell her a joke or teach her to drive.   Two areas that I fear I am and will be no good.  Right now I have Scarlett, she is a mini me.  We can cuddle and love all day long and her "pretty please with a cherry on top" will always get her an extra jelly bean after dinner.  But my mini me also knows how to push my buttons, and I fear that a "hug it out" session just wont work with a troubled teen, but a dad who actually knows how to listen and give legitimate advice will always come in handy.  For now I will try to meet Chris in our parenting strategies, knowing fair well that his strategy is the one that will get us through the next 15 years alive.  

My relationship with Dominic is the complete opposite. Where Scarlett is my shadow, Dominic is my sidekick.  He is relaxed ALL of the time.  The ONLY time you will hear him cry is if he has tipped over and hit his head on the floor unexpectedly or he is hungry.  He puts himself to sleep.  He is self sufficient and can lay or sit surrounded by toys for a good hour before getting antsy. Getting him to smile is easy but getting him to laugh takes work.

Sadly, I have yet to create the same bond with Dominic that I had with Scarlett from day one. Those midnight hours that I would look down sweetly at Scarlett, spending an extra hour with her laying on my chest, are unfortunately lost with Dominic.  I am too tired to sit for a hour in the middle of the night, soaking in the smell of newborn baby and warm milk.  But there is a bond with Dominic that is different.  Dominic is just Dominic.  He is not complicated or needy.  He just is.  He makes me smile just by being him. He is my little boy, my sweet even tempered little boy.  Every day I am thankful for his calm demeanor and the light that he adds to this family.  I am truly blessed by him and thank God daily for my little buddy. 

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Oh this face...

May 29, 2013

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Babysitting...

May 28, 2013

The weekend babysitters as we organize our messy home.

Digging these plants:
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Playing elevator in our empty soon to be pantry
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Water, water and more water...
















And this:
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Movie Monday...

May 27, 2013

So close...let the scooting begin.



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Teeth...

May 25, 2013

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These two little buggers have been causing quite a stir in our nightly routine.  Why is it that new teeth only effect the sleep schedule in the middle of the night?  This tired mommy is not a fan. 

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Tired...

May 24, 2013

I am tired...

of the lists growing in my mind -  
One for things I need to fix: crack in car windshield, Moms iPad Scarlett dropped on the floor and shattered. 
One for things I need to do ASAP but do not have the time to do them: buy new pacifiers (Dominic is currently using a broken one), oil change, buy True German Schnapps for Los Padres this weekend, pick up the diaper bag we left on Wednesday at the babysitters.
One for things I need to do before making our house a home: sand drips on the wall in the living room, finish painting the grey wall, pick out fabric for the couch, paint kitchen, plant bamboo.
One for things I need to find: missing key from my sisters dresser that Scarlett has hidden somewhere in my parents house, all of Scarlett's shoes, my sanity.  

of painting in the silence of a dark house in the hours after work and before I crash on the lonely living room couch in my parents living room.

of keeping things organized in a dusty construction site home AND in the small space we have managed to squeeze four peoples worth of clothes and two peoples worth of toys into at my parents house. 

of keeping our families dirty clothes in a trash bag at the top of the stairs.

of sharing a couch with Scarlett every night.

of waking up to a monitor at 2 A.M. telling me it is time to feed the littlest and rushing to make sure that he doesn't wake the rest of the house.  

of missing my husband as we go to bed in different rooms and generally just missing him. (He is teaching full time, taking two seminary classes, attending a class at the church to become a Deacon, being a father and squeezing in husband when he has time. Seriously...it is crazy town in his life right now.  But I could not be prouder of how he is handling it all.)

of eating out ALL of the time. 

All this to say, the house is ready.  After spending two full weeks prepping, painting, sanding and potting.  The house is finally ready to become our home, and I could not have come at a better time.  I keep reminding Chris that we never expected this process to go as quickly and as smoothly as it did.  We are lucky that we found a home within the first two weeks of looking.  We are lucky that we only had to put 6 offers on potential homes before finding this one.  Houses were going like hot cakes and with lots of prayer and even more schmoozing on our realtors side we found "the one".  We are so lucky.  But in between the constant reminders of how lucky we are I feel like this:

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Tired and crazy! 


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Bouncy balls...

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Just like the uses of borax there are a million tutorials on how to make your own bouncy balls...we used this one.

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What you need:
Borax
Warm water
Elmers glue
Corn starch
Food Coloring (optional)

Mix 2 Tbs of warm water with 1/2 tsb of borax and mix until borax is dissolved.  (Add food coloring if you want your balls to have color.) Set aside.
In a separate bowl mix 1 Tbs glue, 1 Tbs corn starch and 1/2 tsp of the borax mixture.

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Mix together with a spoon mashing the mixture to break up all of the corn starch.  Mash and mix until the mixture is clumped together as a sticky mess.  Take clump out of bowl and begin kneading it into a ball with your hands.  Mixture will be really sticky for about 5 second but will harden into a dough quickly.  Once mixture is in ball form let it dry for a couple minutes and then bounce away.  Dough will not dry completely and if you let it sit out it will begin to crack.  If you want to play for days, keep dough in a bag in the fridge.  Enjoy!

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To be a little girl again...

May 17, 2013

A year ago I wrote a post about barbie dolls.  About my fond memories of being a little girl and getting lost in the make believe of barbies exotic life.  Dressing her in clothes to fit my ever changing mood and bonding with my sister over our barbies trip to the salon, involving a short barbie buzz cut and lots of giggles.  My husband on the other hand fought hard against the idea of teaching our daughter a definition of beauty in the form of a doll. 

As I was packing up the RV and moving bags full of clothes and kitchen items into my parents garage, I found a giant box full of my collectors item annual Christmas Barbies, and once again was torn.  I fought against the nagging in the back of my head telling me that I could probably sell these Barbies, still in their boxes, and make a little extra "fix up the house" money, but eventually decided I knew the perfect little girl that was in need of imagination stimulation. 

Unfortunately Scarlett is a realist. I made a huge deal of these special Barbies.  Told her they were from my collection when I was a little girl and that I wanted to share them with her. Gave her free reign to imagine all of the balls that these fancy women would be invited to to dance the night away.  She looked at me, excited for the pretty dresses and the tiny shoes, and said "what do they do?".  I told her they can do anything.  They can be friends going to the store, they can be mommies taking their babies to the park, they can be dressed up for an extravagant night on the town.  They can be whatever you want.  Imagine away.  She just made them hug, brushed their hair and laid them down.

And then I smiled.  Every day I am reminded that this little girl is half of me.  I thought of my childhood, and my idea of playing with Barbies really was limited to changing their clothes over and over again, brushing their hair and giving them extravagant up-dos.   They some times went on dates with Ken, but never really did much talking.  Barbies were fun, but only because of the piles of clothes, shoes and accessories.  I would have much rather spent my time reading or creating an elaborate dance to Gloria Estefan's "conga".   I loved to sing and learn new lyrics, I loved to sit in a quiet corner reading a choose your own adventure.  I still lack imagination and so does Scarlett.  When we play "doll house", she is the mommy and I am "the girl" and usually it involves nap time, wake up, nap time, wake up and then we are both bored and move on to something more productive like painting or bubble baths.

Sometimes I will catch her with her dolls or stuffed animals, putting them to bed or changing their dirty diapers.  Sometimes she will play school, lining her animals up one by one, driving them on the bus and teaching them the alphabet.  This is the Chris half.  This is the half that indulges in make believe.  The half that I always seemed to be missing.  The half that my sister always complained to when I wouldn't join her in her imaginary endeavors.  The half I wish came naturally.  To be a little girl again and indulge in this missing half.  To take Barbie for a joy ride in her convertible to some exotic place, meeting her girlfriends for a quick lunch full of five year old gossip.  To be a little girl again through the eyes of my own little girl.

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Home sweet unfinished home...

May 14, 2013

We got the keys to our new home last Friday and Chris and I had grand plans to have the bedrooms painted and ready for a move in on Sunday afternoon...unfortunately we had ambitious dreams that came no where close to reality.   

We added a wall, a pantry, 12 can lights, and spent an entire day painting one pitched ceiling.  Home ownership is turning both of us into dreamers and unfortunately we are caught in the cycle of one step forward, twenty steps back. 

But with the hard weekend of work behind us, we are finally seeing a little light at the end of the "still living with my parents" tunnel.  We have conquered the high gloss walls, ceilings, casings, and doors and now thoroughly understand the importance of a primer.  We have installed all of our lighting and built all of our walls.  We are ready to move forward one step at a time and pray that next weekend our dreams of sleeping in the same bed again will become a reality.

Here is to a week of paint filled late nights.

Our home/construction site...
We tore down the giant shelf jutting out of the wall...
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and installed spotlights in the drywall...  photo 017_zps8b471c93.jpg
We turned a coat closet into a pantry...
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And turned this open den... photo 004_zps49c74ccf.jpg photo 005_zps0a169c2c.jpg
Into a closed third bedroom...
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We painted these beams by hand...and then finally decided a paint gun would save our sanity...
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And we painted our bedroom with two coats of paint...only to find that the paint peels right off of the wall...thank you oil based glossy paint.
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