Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A bit of Cheer (Albeit not of the Yule Tide Variety)

Do you ever have a bad day? This is a silly question. Of course you have bad days. We all do. But what we don't all have that I am blessed beyond belief to have is a wonderful class of first graders to make it all better.

About a week ago I was having one of those bad days. Well, it was just the morning that was bad at that point. And one of my girls walked in and the first thing she did was hand me this note shyly and take her seat. This is what it said:

"I <3 Mrs. Lynch. You are nice. You are buetiful (beautiful). you have pretty hair. you are creative and I like that. You are an artist. I like your close (clothes). I like your shoes."

My day was totally fixed. I love my job!

Jillian


Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Letter to the Enemy

Evil One,

You have been busy this season. Your handy work has been seen in many events in this last week. Not least of all in Portland, Oregon (you remember, at the mall) and worse in Newton, Connecticut. I am writing to let you in on a few things. You may think that you have won the day. When we look around this world we see pain and hurt and inexplicable acts of horror committed by our fellow humans. It would be easy for us to give up, to throw in the towel and lose our faith in humanity, or worse, in God the Almighty. But do you know what I saw when I turned on the news this morning? Grieving, yes. Heart ache, yes. But do you know what I remember most about the news? 

This:


And this:


And this:


And this:


It wasn't the name of the shooter. Are we talking about the gunman? Sure we are. But do you know what we are really spending our time on? The heroes. The people who risked and gave their lives for others. Like the teacher who shoved all her first graders into cabinets and then faced the gunman on her own, knowing that she would die, and in the process save every single one of her students. We are talking about the person in the office who left the loud speaker on to warn the school that there was danger, giving teachers time to protect their students. We are talking about the six year old boy who bravely lead his friends to safety after their teacher had been shot. We are talking about the  vigils and the rallies that people are holding to honor victims. We are talking about the people who are helping and holding and praying for the hurting. We are grieving and weeping with those who lost. We are mourning as a nation and do you know why? Because, you have lost

Take a second and let that sink in. This is not a recent occurrence. You lost and it happened 2,000 years ago. It happened the day Jesus conquered death to save us. You lost in that pinnacle of Godly sacrifice. And that, oh Evil One is truth. You have lost and you had better get used to it.

Your Enemy in Christ Jesus,
Jillian


Photo credits to yahoo news

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Thankful Thursdays

Linking up with A Beautiful Ruckus again. Make sure you check out her cutie pie kiddos! 

Thankful Thursday is going to be very easy this week. I am very simply thankful for almost instantly finding this:


In a crib that looks like this:


Thank you Lord Jesus for consistantly guiding my hands in the dark, Amen.

Jillian

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Good Friends

A friend recently reminded me that good friends are worth the work it takes to keep them good friends. So Wiggles and I made a trip to visit my college roommate and honorary sister yesterday. It had been a while. Too long really. Here's to a shorter interval between this and the next visit and also, to a more than gracious friend. Also, Thanks for the fantastic pizza!

Here are a few pictures of the visit. Every single one of them is of Wiggles and The Roommate's dog. Now, I've decided not to share Wiggles' real name for security reasons, so suffice it to say the dog and the girl have the same name, and boy was that fun! And also let me say, that dog is a FABULOUS doggy who let my little girl poke, prod, crawl on and generally torture her for the better part of three hours. Good Girl, doggy.

Here she comes!

Chocolate (lab) Kisses!

Buddies


Thursday, December 6, 2012

Thankful Thursday

Don't you just love linking up with other blogs? For one thing, it gives you new ideas of what to write about, you get to look at other peoples blogs and people get to look at yours. It's fun all the way around. Besides, I thought this would be really good for me. When you stand back and look at your life and you feel like all you have done is struggle and strive and you still don't make it, it's very difficult to be thankful. I think Thankful Thursday is going to be a fitting challenge for me. Plus also, as Junie B. would say, I have something I am thankful for today.

It's funny how these thankful moments sneak up on you. They usually appear on the worst days. The days where your first grade class seems to have run you ragged, you child hasn't napped all day or you're so late getting home from work that dinner is pizza... again. Or like me, on a day like today when you have had all three. 

Wiggles was crying after bed time. For the third time. And since it is a day I work, neither I nor she can handle a cry-it-out kind of night. I turned off our show (again), went downstairs (again) and picked her up (again). But this time when I picked her up, instead of looking around and talking to me, showing me her monkey and pointing to monkey's "ay" (eye) she immediately put her head on my shoulder and it was as if she became part of my body. She snuggled in so close to me. I just held her and I'll admit, I even teared up a little as I remembered what it was like for her to be part of me. Longing for that feeling of closeness and mourning just a little bit the thought that that feeling of "oneness" is no longer.

I thank God for my little one. With every fiber in me. May God continue to bless her. May He find her when she hurts, hold her as she cries and comfort her when I can't.

Amen


Sleepy head Wiggles with her favorite bed time pal, Monkey

Curly Baby Hair Care Continued

Remember in this post I said that I would keep you updated about how I take care of Wiggles' hair? Well, here is the follow up. It took some trial and error, but we seem to have perfected it, at least for now. I'm sure that it will change as her hair gets thicker and longer. Here goes:

Step 1: Wet your child.


Step 2: The conditioner. Use more than you think you will need. Slather it on her head.


Step 3: Wash the rest of your child leaving the conditioner in her hair to soak.

Step 4: Comb through her hair holding the root so as not to hurt getting the snarls out. I use the fat end to separate the curl and the finer end to get the snags. When snarls are out rinse well.


Step 4: Get child dry (skin only, leave the hair alone).

Step 5: Gently squeeze out the moisture with the towel. Do not rub dry. It will break the hairs.

Step 6: Comb again to separate the curls again.

Step 7: Products. We use Johnson & Johnson leave in conditioner first. I run my fingers through her hair to make sure it gets good and coated. Then we use Herbal Essences Scrunching Gel. I do not run my fingers through her hair anymore. This is where we form the curls. Rub the gel in your hands and gently but firmly squeeze the gel into her hair. Hold for a second and repeat.

 

Step 8: I form some of the curls that need a little extra help at the front, but for the most part, it just needs scrunching.


Let it air dry. Ideally you would schedule bath time a long way from a nap time or a bedtime.


See? Nice cute burls. They last for quite a while. We take a bath every two or three days at most. For bed head we use the same Johnson & Johnson leave in conditioned. I use almost none. Just rub it on your fingers and gently fluff. 

I'll keep you abreast of any changes in the routine, but for those of you with adorable baby curls you don't know what to do with, this seems to work well for us.

Jillian

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Getting Your Child to Eat Stuff

You know how you read all those books about your baby's first year? And you think "My child is never going to be like that!" I thought that about everything I read. My child won't have colic. Ha! nearly four months of continuous screaming! My child is going to be a great sleeper. She took 15 minute cat naps for the first six months! I literally almost had a nervous break down. Ask Patrick. 

Well, I hate to say it, but I've proved another My child will never to be sorely incorrect. I have a picky eater. Ugh! Who knew right? I mean I'm a little weird about food textures myself, but the kid won't even touch a banana. The thing is, it's not the flavor. I know this because she'll eat almost anything in baby food form, but she won't touch it's finger food counterpart. She'll eat chicken and apple baby food, but she immediately spits out any chicken (or really any meat for that matter) that so much as touches her lips, that sort of thing. She devours all carbohydrates. She is her mothers daughter I guess.

This is the "gross out face" It is made in the presence of all vegetables and nearly all fruits.

The reason I bring this up is because miracle of miracles! This child ate a real grown-up food fruit tonight for dinner! And, and (!!!) she ate a real live vegetable the other day! Turns out my child will eat five real fruits and vegetables. Her acceptable food list is as follows: Apple slices (with no skins of course), tangerine slices (this was the new discovery. Gobbled up about 5 slices so fast I thought she would choke!), mashed potatoes but what child won't eat those? I don't really see this as much of a victory, raw cauliflower, raw carrots and of course any carbohydrate (toast, crackers, cereal, pasta, rice etc. etc. etc. I give her huge pieces of the cauliflower and the carrots (too big to choke on) and she gnaws on it like a bunny. Pretty cute really. 

Spaghetti night at our house was a BIG hit!
I know it's blurry, but the hand shoving the food in her mouth
 says it all when it comes to this girl and carbs!

So for those of you with picky eaters, hang in there! They'll find something they like to eat. When you figure out what it is, stock up. And keep trying new things. I read this tip on another blog (forgive me, I cannot remember what it was). She suggested that you start with what you most want them to eat. For me that's always the fruit/vegetable. That way she gets the stuff that's best for her when so hungry she's willing to eat almost anything. Then work your way to the stuff she loves even when she's not hungry. In Wiggles' case this is always the carbohydrate for the meal.

Yay cauliflower!

I still can't get her to touch meat of any kind. If anyone out there has suggestions for how to get a (nearly) one year old to eat meat, I'm open to hearing it. Does anyone else have any picky eater tips? 'Cause I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the "gross out face" from Wiggles when it comes to eating healthy food! Feel free to comment! Seriously folks, we need to stick together as Mamas on these things.

That's all for now. Ta ta friends!

Jillian

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A "Conversation" With My Husband

I'm trying to cook healthy meals for my family on a budget. That often means there is no meat involved in dinner (too expensive). The other night I decided to try a recipe that I found on pinterest involving quinoa, the new "it" food. Feels like a carb, works like a protien. Plus it's cheap. Hoorah! The recipie I followed was supposed to taste like mac n' cheese, except with quinoa instead of noodles. Sounds great right? Well, between beautiful fluffy picture and gloopy weird reality, something got lost in translation. I'm not even going to show you a picture to compare because I'm sure if you do it right the recipe is fantastic and I don't want to bad mouth the person who made the original. Long story short, this is a paraphrased version of the conversation between Pat and I after tasting the aforementioned mess:

Me (from the kitchen): Ummm... It looks weird... I hope it's ok?

Pat: Oh, I'm sure it's great

Me: I'm not so sure. It looks sorta funky.

Pat (takes a bite thinking he can be honest because I have already stated that it's funny looking): Um, well, it's got a funny texture. I think it's a little bitter. More cheese maybe.

Me (dejected): I know it's weird, you don't have too eat it. I bet it's really weird. Here let me try it. (pause for chewing). Yeah, it's weird

Pat (tasting the aspasugus, which he always says is fantastic, and then making a face): Um... is the asparugus under done? (Then seeing my face) I mean! It's fantastic, I love it! And you know, the quinoa mac, isn't so bad either. I mean! It's delicious. Yum!

Me (hurt face): You don't have to say that. (Takes another bite, still dejected about the hour wasted making a yucky meal.)

Pat (being an awesome husband): No really I love it!

Me (suddenly happier and able to honetly evaluate the atrocity before me): That's ok. I think it's gross. You don't have to like it. It's disgusting.

Pat (throws hands up with a slight smile): Women!

PS. Pat actually finished the whole plate! That's love I tell you. Cause friends, it was awful!

Jillian

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

A Day in the Life of Wiggles

I read a post on this blog where she (I think it was her friend actually) challenged her readers to write about one day. Just one, random day in the life of you. Well, I decided to do that, but then I realized my life isn't all that interesting or exciting. So instead, I'm going to do one day in the life of Wiggles. Mostly in pictures. so here goes. 


This is how my day starts. Mama has to take a shower
and I only nap for 45 minutes at a time,
so Mama has to shower with me in the highchair while I eat breakfast

Here's Mama's view from the shower. Hi Mama!

Mama had the nerve to try and do her hair!
She had to put me down for five whole minutes!
This makes me sad, Mama!

See? Told you Mama did her hair.
(PS. who knew my hair could do this?  I've been doing it like I do
Wiggles hair. Turns out I have really wavy hair. Who knew?!)

I spent the rest of the day touching things I shouldn't...
Dancing to my music. That's my favorite!
Hiding in the laundry basket (my second favorite thing).

Then after my nap Mama did the dishes while I ate my snack.
Then Mama tickled my head with the head tickler. 



I played with Grandma!

We played the in-out game.
Then Daddy came home. He was feeling sick so...
I hugged him!
Hanging out before bed time.

And that's her day. Wouldn't it be nice to be so carefree? Just play all day and sleep? Really this is just an excuse to have lots of adorable pictures for Oma and Opa (my parents) who haven't seen her in a few weeks. You're welcome Oma and Opa! 

Until next time,
Jillian

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pinbusters introduced

My name is Jillian and it has been 30 minutes since my last pin.

Seriously though, Pinterest is a scary thing some times. I spend far to many nap time hours when I should be scrubbing or cooking, looking for ways to scrub or cook on Pinterest instead. That being said there are some fantastic ideas on there. And, conversely, some not so fantastic ideas. I'm going to, on occasion, do something I like to call "Pinbusters" like Mythbusters, but with pins. I'm not going to commit to a certain day of the week etc, I have far too many ideas to pin to spend my time actually doing them! Without further ado, here is Pinbusters Episode 1.

So, last year when it got icy my husband, Pat continually bought deicer for the car. Let me take a second to mention that this wonderful man scrapes my car for me every morning I go to work. Even when he leaves before me, I come out in the morning to a ice free car.

Anyway, I digress. The point is it was the first frost of the season and the deicer had not been purchased. I didn't want Pat going to the store to get deicer at 10:00pm so I turned to the most wonderful of nearly-holy websites (that's Pinterest, for those of you who may not have been paying attention) and looked for a DIY version. I stumbled across this:



2 parts vinegar
1 part water

Spray on the night before and supposedly in the morning you have an ice free car. It's even supposed to last until the next strong rain! Too good to be true right? Right. 

This is the sight that greeted me in the morning. Pat even scraped the car when he left at 6 then I had to scrape it again at 7:45. Oh and PS, the car still smells like vinegar...on the inside!




This pin? Busted!

PS Should you want to follow my obsession on Pinterest my boards can be found here

Thursday, November 8, 2012

What To Do With a Bored Baby Girl

We are living with my in-laws. Something we are extremely greatful for, but all those involved are a little tired of. Part of the issue with sharing space is that there really isn't a way to baby proof the livingroom without a whole lot of moving things into spaces no one has available. So... That means I get a little tired of saying "no," don't touch that," "yuck! What are you eating?!" So yesterday found me on Pinterest  frantically (I mean, she was literally on my lap squirming towards certain death) searching for a 10 month old friendly activity. Painting? too messy. Sensory bins? Really? And tell her not to eat any of it? wasn't that the point of finding a new activity? to avoid that conversation? Then I found it. Two ingredients=1 hour of baby fun! Shaving cream plus food coloring.



Hello bath paints! Here's the original post. I take no credit for the idea, except that I did discover that it works just fine with gel shaving cream, you just have to whip the heck out of it.

Ok, now for the fun. Enjoy the pictures! I know, I know, the phone camera... Stupid camera...

Unsure at first...

"OK momma... You say this is fun..."

I helped her get started. Mostly I just wanted to touch it too!

"OK, now I get it!"







I'm sorry, but is she not adorable!?





Such focus.







"OK Momma, time to get out now, right?"
That's my hand saying "No no baby! Sit down! Messy! Yucky!"

The best part? Strip her down, hose her off!

As you can see, she's still a little blue on her chest. Oh well! It was well worth it!


SO there you go. 1 Hour of entertainment for you little and you!