parenting – Page 3 – BabyCostsMoney

Monday’s Mama is Legit My Hero.

Published on March 26, 2018March 25, 2018 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

This Monday, I am excited to introduce you to Leah Martin. Leah is a Colorado blogger (like me!) and she has all the secrets of living clutter-free with kids (not like me!). She and her husband have three kids under five. She writes about living a full life with less at Less in the Nest.

Read her blog. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It might change your life. I have definitely changed my buying habits so I can have less stuff. Less stuff means less cleaning. Less cleaning means more time.

Now I just have to figure out where to put all the crap we already have.

Leah even explains WHY kids create so much clutter. She writes about other things, too. She shares great DIY instructions and interesting recipes and writes awesome articles about parenting. But I am OBSESSED with her ‘less in the nest’ philosophies.

Enough about me, though. Leah was kind enough to answer some questions about Colorado and clutter.

1. What is the coolest thing about Colorado? What is the most annoying thing about Colorado? What is the Colorado-est thing about Colorado?

Getting to go to the mountains whenever we have a day or two free is definitely the coolest thing about Colorado. The culture and the economy revolve around the outdoors. The most annoying thing about Colorado is that it’s hard to breathe! These high altitudes make for less oxygen, and as a bad side effect, the air quality is not good a lot of days. The most Colorado-est thing about Colorado is that the first snow is a big, exciting event. People literally mope around all fall until that soft powder falls. I’m talking, standing on street corners with signs to protest the lack of snow kinds of things. And when that first snow comes, it’ll probably melt the next day.

2. Your blog is awesome! I love the idea of having LESS in my nest. I cannot even believe how many boxes we moved from Virginia to Colorado. What can I do? Donate all of it? Please help.

Aw, thank you! And congrats on the move! I remember when we moved a few years ago, I was shocked by how much stuff we had. There are lots of outside-the-box ways to donate it in Colorado. You can print off a label and ship it to the Goodwill in Amazon boxes. You can even call Arc and they’ll come pick it up for you! But if it’s junk, just toss it (as bad as that sounds!) Once, we put my husband’s beloved recliner in the driveway for pickup. Arc showed up, took one look at it, and turned around. When my husband got home that day, he couldn’t believe his chair was still sitting in the driveway!

3. Everyone outside Colorado wants to know: are people here walking around high all the time? What are your thoughts on the legal weed?

In my little pocket of suburbia, I don’t notice legalized marijuana at all. But really, people already do dumb enough stuff without it.

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

I’m a “homemade” in my mind, but since baby #3 was born, it’s more realistically a “nope.” And also, we’re going to homeschool, so I’m the parent, the teacher, and the association.

I want to be like Leah when I grow up.

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

SaveSave

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?

New Digs = New Haunts.

Published on March 5, 2018April 11, 2018 by Darlene Dee1 Comment

OMG YOU GUYS. I really miss Nook and Busy Bees and Scramble AND all of the awesome playgrounds in and around Arlington, Virginia. Hey NoVa parents, go out and play. Don’t take it for granted. Especially get yourselves and your kids to Watkins Regional Park and Clemyjontri and Potomac Yards.

Don’t get me wrong, I AM ABSOLUTELY SMITTEN with Colorado. But we are still figuring out the indoor play spaces. And on the few non-windy, above 60 degrees days, we go out looking for our favorite parks. We have found a few great playgrounds and a few, um, small interesting playgrounds. We are still looking for our most favorite park ever, but it’s more of a Spring Goal.

We HAVE found a few indoor play spaces that we like. WOW! Children’s Museum in Lafayette, Colorado is kind of the bomb diggity. We joined the first time we visited ($99). It has everything a toddler could want — a light piano, art room, tiny grocery store, pirate ship, dance studio, sand box, and so much more.

We also found a fun play space in Thornton, Colorado called Frolic. We’ve only been once ($9.86) because it’s kind of far away, but it was adorable and great for an afternoon of fun. It was NOT as good as Nook or Scramble or even Busy Bees but really, what is? (ARLINGTON YOU LUCKY BASTARDS!!) Frolic has a great CedarWorks play structure and smaller dollhouse, a train table, mini grocery store, orange ball pit, and a few other ride-on and bounce-on toys that kept Babystar’s attention for over two hours. I do wish it had better seats for the grown-ups. The picnic tables in the corner are great for Toddler Snack Time but not so great for mama’s lumbar support.

We are looking for more, more, always more, but so far everything I have found is open for like three hours from nine to noon only two days a week and I just can’t get out of the house that early. Maybe someday. I believe in us.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $26,397.74