motherhood – Page 2 – BabyCostsMoney

Moving. Is. The. Worst.

Published on May 11, 2018May 31, 2018 by Darlene Dee9 Comments

It’s true. Moving suuuuuuucks.

I have a theory. Moving is so terrible that talking or thinking about a past move brings on a sort of PTSD situation. This is why no one tells you how bad it is. And so when you ask your friends and family and acquaintances for recommendations, no one really wants to think about that horrible time in their life. So they just pretend they didn’t hear you or avert their eyes and ~~walk~~ run away in a state of avoidance.

I get it. I don’t want to talk about it either. But I think that’s how I ended up with the WORST MOVERS EVER and I was crying on moving day but only because the mean mover guy made me hang out in 40 degree weather with no coat for two hours while he told me AFTER LOADING ALL MY STUFF that it was going to cost about twice what I thought. Fuck that guy. (I mean, thank goodness my husband’s company paid for the move, but it was still awful. And they couldn’t fit Babystar’s playhouse. And I was cold and tired and hungry and he kept adding wrong and starting over and talking to someone on that stupid phone clipped to his ear and omg I’m having flashbacks.)

Ok. Forget it. Never use Long Distance Movers. Oh yeah, I’m linking to them so you know exactly who I think you should never ever use. Trust me on this one.

(Though the guys that moved us IN in Colorado were simply lovely. But they also contracted for United Movers so maybe use them instead.)

So, moving sucks. Colorado is AWESOME, you guys. FREAKING. AWESOME.

But moving still sucks. I am STILL not completely unpacked. And that’s not even counting all the boxes in the basement. There is still one box in my bedroom and a few hidden in closets throughout this farmhouse. I doubt I will ever truly finish. I give up.

ANYWAY.

I have totally been feeding Babystar this whole time. And we went some fun places too. We also went a lot of boring places so Babystar got some cool Patience Presents. And I bought more Cat & Jack clothes from Target because they are so darn cute. And I bought other stuff because I am a sleep-deprived sucker.

I have a pile of receipts and no time or desire to take pictures or think of clever titles for separate blog posts so I’m going to cheat and list a whole bunch of stuff here.

(You know, for the Smithsonian. Yep, that one. Babystar turns eighteen in 2033. Hey Smithsonian, hit me up then, k? K.)

Princess Poppy pillowcase (for the bed she still won’t sleep in) $4.79
Princess Poppy blanket (that she at least uses in her teepee) $9.59
This adorable shirt because why is Target so cute!? $4.50
This shirt for St. Patrick’s day $4.50
Two more shirts and some leggings $5, $4.50, $5
Princess Poppy hat that we lost the same day $0.90

Brand new awesome stuffed Branch doll from thrift store $5
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book from thrift store $1
heart shaped rock $6
green rock from a random shop in downtown Boulder $2
quartz crystal (yes, the kid loves rocks) $5
Blue!! from eBay (that tag lasted twenty years outside of my house but twenty seconds inside of my house) $26.70

3-pack of Contigo water bottles from Costco $11.99
Coffee and snacks and tip at Java Mama which is a cool coffeeshop with a playspace that I wish was closer to my house $12.43
three sets of 4T pajamas from Costco that were marked $3.99 but I just noticed while looking at the receipt that I paid $7.99 each and I’m slightly annoyed although I knew that price was too good to be true
dinosaur dig kits from the Target dollar aisles $3 (times three)
four mall dinosaur rides, you know, those animal shaped ride on things in every mall in America $40
four mall carousel rides $4
another trip to Frolic, an indoor play place a bit too far from the house $9.86
a trip with dad to the Denver Children’s Museum $26
three crochet finger puppets from the grocery store line $2.99 (I didn’t know the price until they rang up and I was already feeling too defeated to try to put them back)
m&m tee shirt and m&m’s from dad’s trip to NY $29.65
Aldi wipes $3.49 times four because I made my son bring back a bunch from the east coast in February because Aldi wipes 4 lyfe and now anyone that visits me from the east coast needs to please bring me Aldi wipes because I miss them so much ok thanks
Other wipes $3.79, $3.49, $4.99, $6.99
Diapers $14.99, $7.99, $21.99, $21.99, $14.99, $14.99
laundry detergent (she shares with us obvs) $4 per month so $16 through April
Seventh Generation Coconut care baby wash $7.99
Honest bubble bath (that she asked for but hates) $10.79
Babyganics bath wash $8.99
bathtub crayons $2.99
dinosaur egg bath fizz thingy that she hates $1.49, $1.49
January food $159.42
February food $144.06
March food $142.24
April food $146.94 (Hit me up if you want the full list. I’m talking to you, Smithsonian. Also, I see your kid’s meal price jumps, Chick-fil-A.)

RAISING BABYSTAR: $28,011.65

(And now, hopefully, back to our regularly scheduled sass.)

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Castle Babystar.

Published on April 10, 2018April 9, 2018 by Darlene Dee4 Comments

I have a very serious question.

HOW DID THE TINIEST PERSON IN THE FAMILY TAKE OVER THIS WHOLE HOUSE???

Ok, for example, look at this dining room. There is a tiny dining table in the tiny corner and the rest of the room is a rocking horse and ride on horse and a bunch of blank space because Babystar likes to RUN.

Please also notice the living room. This ENTIRE AREA is dedicated to a teepee fort for Babystar. And the window seat holds her adorable toddler books. Including the new box of Baby Lit board books that I bought her from Costco ($15.99) thirty percent because I thought she would like them and seventy percent because if Babystar is going to take over the house, then her things should at least be cute. (All I read are children’s books. HOW ON EARTH do other parents read books?!? Genuinely asking. I keep a book in the bathroom and I read one chapter per bath so I will likely finish it by my birthday. In September.) Oh! That adorable tiny wooden bookshelf is from Ikea ($24.99) and it’s perfect for toddler sized books.

That window seat is actually pretty cool. It holds books and a couple of Melissa & Doug puzzles. One puzzle set is the really cool one she played with last fall with her cousins. I finally found it (on CLEARANCE at Target for $8.98) and Babystar LOVES it. I think it is the perfect started puzzle for kids, because you just match the shapes to create a picture. You don’t actually have to fit one particular piece into one particular place. Genius. The other puzzle was given to us by our only Colorado friend (so far). Babystar gets to drive the vehicles around the puzzle path to match them to their homes. I mean it: Melissa and Doug are both GENIUSES.

Over here we have the toy box corner. That toy box ($42) is FULL and it’s not even her only toy box. It’s her living room toy box. I don’t have room in this giant fucking farmhouse for a desk which I really need but we have a DOWNSTAIRS TOY BOX.

And do you even see this freaking train table?!? It is taking up some prime real estate in the living room just so Babystar can have a place to play dinosaurs with her rocks. Oh, and she plays trains sometimes too. Sometimes the Trolls ride the trains. Ok, it really does make her happy. And it was FREE thanks to an awesome mama on an awesome Boulder mama Facebook page.

We shoved the couches and lamps and end tables into the other corner over there and you better believe she STILL LEAVES HER TOYS ALL OVER THE COUCHES. Dude. What.

Also one of those ottomans is full of papers that really belong in a desk. Help. Me.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $26,955.75

Stop This Train.

Published on March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 by Darlene Dee11 Comments

Babystar visited the Emergency Room this week.

She was scared but very brave and very very sweet.

Babystar just wanted to make sure that I would hold her the whole time at the doctor’s office. I promised that I would. We first went to Urgent Care because Babystar had not peed in twenty-four hours. And she had a fever for about half of that time. AND I gave her a choice of peeing or going to the doctor and she told me that she didn’t want to pee. So into the car we went.

Ok, technically she had not peed in twenty-three and a half hours, but Urgent Care closes at seven and the co-pay difference is $300. And since we just moved here, Babystar does not yet have a pediatrician. That changes today, by the way.

(Anyone in Boulder have a pediatrician recommendation pretty please?)

The doctors and nurses at Foothills ER were all very very nice but they definitely underestimated the strength of my little ToddlerMonster. Since she had not peed, there was concern of a possible UTI or other infection. Which meant they needed a urine sample. She is not potty-trained, and she was straight up refusing to pee, so they needed to do a baby catheter.

I wanted to cry but I was a brave strong mama. (We were there alone due to family logistical reasons.) And Babystar was on my lap because I PROMISED. (Well actually she was between my legs but she knew she was on mama’s lap so that’s all that mattered.)

Do you know that if you take a young child to the ER they basically put them in a straight jacket? They hold baby’s arms by his or her side and wrap a sheet around baby’s entire torso. MY baby was screaming and fighting this whole situation, and they wanted ME to hold her arms inside this torture device. MY sweet baby wiggled her arms up and out, but not to rip off the sheet or push away the nurses. She just wanted to hold my hands.

Things were not going as smoothly at the other end of the gurney. The nurses cleaned and prepped her but holding her down for the catheter was not working at all. Babystar is strong like mom, y’all. She has a shirt that says so and everything. They had to go get another nurse to help hold down my little thirty pound kicking machine.

They tried.

It didn’t matter in the end.

She. Peed. Everywhere.

I have never been so happy to be soaked in baby pee. (She was on my lap, remember?)

And for those med students following along, since she was prepped, she was clean. A quick thinking nurse collected a sample for testing. Actually, I think they managed to get two vials and they probably could have gotten twenty. There was SO. MUCH. PEE.

She even peed on her head. I didn’t know that she peed on her head, so when the nurses left and I was cleaning her and changing her clothes and giving her a million kisses, I kissed her head. Right on the pee. It was gross. I didn’t care.

Hashtag momlife, right?

I got to wear awesome blue paper scrubs and pretend to be J.D.

We waited around for about thirty more minutes and Babystar was pronounced bacteria-free.

BOOM. $350.

We have been talking a lot about the potty the last couple of weeks. Babystar will be three in June, and she is showing all the textbooks signs that she is ready for the potty. She knows when she is peeing or pooping in her diaper (because she always tells me right before it happens so I can be ready to change her because “remember that time I had a rash and it hurt?”) She hasn’t had a wet diaper overnight in almost a year. She has the ability to hold it. Obviously. And she actually DID pee in the potty about two weeks ago. We made her a chart with stickers and did the pee pee dance and she got some chocolate candies and we did ALL THE THINGS.

But she hates it. She doesn’t want to use the potty and she tells us all the time. So I told her we would stop. And that while she was sick, she could have m&m’s every time she pees in her diaper. My sweet funny Babystar got so excited and said, “we don’t have to go on the potty train anymore?”

Did I just push her potty training back to age four? Probably.

Will she go to college in diapers? Maybe.

Am I the worst mom in the world? Nah.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $26,819.73

Big Girl Bed.

Published on March 22, 2018April 5, 2018 by Darlene Dee1 Comment

If I build it, she will sleep in it.

That’s a thing, right?

CAN IT PLEASE BE A THING?!?

Ok, so before we even left for Colorado, Babystar said that she was really excited to sleep in her own bed like a big girl. She also said it was going to be right next to mama’s bed.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. You will earn my eternal gratitude.

The night before we moved into the Colorado house, I sat in a hotel room and ordered this adorable pink toddler bed from Amazon ($63.99). Over the weeks, we also bought a cloud pillow and an actual lovely toddler sized blanket ($8 at Home Goods). Then, yesterday, after opening at least fifty million boxes, I FINALLY found the crib sheets. (Toddler beds are just cribs with no walls.)

Voila! The newest addition to my bedroom.

See it over there next to my bed?

(Yes, I actually made BOTH of these beds for this picture. I am not good at making beds.)

The ponies love it. As do the Trolls. And the dinosaurs.

For real though. Who actually thinks that BABYSTAR will sleep in this bed before her third birthday?

RAISING BABYSTAR: $26,469.73

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Monday’s Mama is Right on Time.

Published on March 19, 2018March 11, 2018 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Remember when I used to post about cool mamas every Monday?

Remember when I used to offer my toddler vegetables and have a generally clean house and have friends and playdates and take Babystar to the park all the time?

Remember when I used to change my clothes at least once a day?

Yeah, me too. If any of this sounds like you, first of all, let’s start a Club. We will never meet because we are all overwhelmed af.

BUT ALSO, you need to check out Bethany’s wisdom over at Mama Finds Her Way. She is finding THE WAY for all of us. Bethany has three kids and still finds time for herself so she’s basically a superhero.

Bethany has tons of great tips for taking care of your house or your finances or your kids but I love her blog the most because she focuses so many posts on taking care of YOU.

She even has a self-care workbook that you can have for free if you subscribe to her blog. Do it. You will not be disappointed.

Bethany answered some questions for me way back in 2017 and she is not even mad that I’m just now sharing her answers with all of you in March. She gets it. She’s overwhelmed too. But she’s figuring it out for all of us and trying hard to help us all be happy and calm mamas that remember to take care of ourselves. Thank you, Bethany.

1. Your blog is all about helping overwhelmed mamas practice self-care. That is AMAZING! Can you give us mortals an easy tip or two to help live our lives with Calm and Serenity? Or even just Clean Hair and No Yelling?

My best advice is to find some time for you to do something that fills you up. It doesn’t have to be anything productive, either. In fact, on particularly stressful days, during nap time, I will just sit on my couch and stare into space. (I may or may not be eating chocolate during this time). Everyone needs time to breathe. I also strongly encourage all overwhelmed mom’s to start slowly implementing self care. Implement one new habit at a time until it becomes ingrained and then focus on something else. Eventually you will notice that you have more energy and patience. You can actually enjoy your day and your kids more, instead of wishing it were bed time already.

2. What do YOU do when you get overwhelmed? (Do you ever get overwhelmed?)

I get overwhelmed quite a bit. More often than I would like to admit. It’s something that I am continuing to work on and, although I have come a long way, there is always room for improvement. In fact, I created my blog as a way to help myself process through my own overwhelm and help other moms in the process. For me there are different kinds of overwhelm. Sometimes, I am emotionally overwhelmed and when I feel that way, writing it out is very cathartic for me. When I am overwhelmed by my to do list or the state of my home, I do a complete brain dump of everything I need to do and then I will prioritize that list and start chipping away at the list one task at a time.

3. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

It has been awhile since I have been to the theater. I think the last movie I saw was Captain America: Civil War.

4. It’s the PTA Bakesale: homemade, store bought, or NOPE?

I intentionally try not to get involved with things like this. I am trying to create more space in my life for the things that fill me up by saying no to things that drain me. And for me, this would be something that is draining.

Bethany is an inspiration. Everyone should go read her blog and follow her on all of the things: Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

I am now going to practice self-care by making another cup of coffee instead of waking Babystar to take her to a 10am concert. Because fuck Daylight Savings Time. What will YOU do today for yourself?