Naptime Blog

My poor little baby! This morning Tristan fell forward onto a plastic crate and his bottom teeth went RIGHT THROUGH below his lower lip! ALL THE WAY THROUGH! I scooped him up and I all but literally ran to the ER. I completely expected stitches for my little man….BUT…the Dr. said that it will close on it’s own. SIGH OF RELIEF! We simply cleaned it well and we were to daycare in 35 minutes from the time of the accident! I love our new fast track ER. You are in and out.  The accident happened when we were leaving for daycare. When we got there Tristan walked straight up to Cora (his daycare provider) and said “CORA….WOOK (look)!”. He just HAD to show off his booboo! It was soo sweet! This is going to be one long bumpy ride with this crazy boy!

At daycare Tristan has an electric tractor, his new thing is to stand on it and operate it. Talk about a heart attack.

Chrystal

Song for a Fifth Child.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow
.So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

L.O.V.E this poem by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

These past few weeks with Tristan while I’ve been laid off have been AMAZING. Its hard to do but we’ve grown so much closer. We do the grocery shopping and try to clean in between playing.

Today we ran to Safeway (a local grocery store and Wal-Mart.) I went to Wal-Mart first and stocked up on parents choice diapers, wipes, meal & formula! All a steal. The parents choice meals were way cheaper then the safeway ones offered at “Rock bottom prices.” Did you know the average family can save $3,200 a year shopping all Wal-Mart?

I do have to brag about my safeway score. They had 90/10 ground beef on sale at $.99 a pound. So I bought the max. 18 pounds! I have a food saver and plenty of freezer room. I would have spent $71.82 but my total after the sale was $17.82, I saved: $54.00. What a steal!!

Chrystal

With Thanksgiving a day ago, I have a long standing tradition of writing in a special journal what I’m thankful for that year. I have one book that dates back to my third grade project. So this year here it goes:

1. Rick: He is such a strong and steady rock for me. I think he’s pretty handsome too!
2. Tristan: He reminds me how to look at the world through a Childs eyes. He’s so sweet and innocent.
3. Cora: My daycare provider, she’s provided a second home for my son. He loves his second family and shows it with many hugs and kisses.
4. My In-Laws: They are so good to me. They support me as much as my husband.
5. Our Troops: I don’t care if you agree with the war or not. They put their lives on the line to keep us free. Since the current conflict started I’ve lost a very close friend to the madness and I’m thankful. As his Mom said he died doing what he loved and no one can change that.

On a different note, Tristan is back to all stage 2 formula and only Parents Choice Microwave meals. He had two major allergic reactions recently and until his allergy test we have to stick with what we know he’s not allergic too. I’ve never had food allergies (knock on wood) so I feel super bad for wee man! He gets a horrible diaper rash to go with it and the pain I see him in is almost too much to handle.

Chrystal

I love fall. It is hands down my favorite season; the crispness in the air is amazing. It is chilly here in the Washington DC area. I love the smell of fire places and the smell of all the yummy things I can from the Apple we pick. Here is a picture of Tristan eating an apple picked fresh off the tree like a big boy.

Mommy didn’t even have to cut it up. Tristan went on a hayride, picked apples, picked a pumpkin and tasted all kinds of new and exciting foods. He also made lots of friends. I love that my baby is open and loving. See the super cute jeans he is wearing. Those were $5 at Wal-Mart. I had him in jeans. When I changed his diaper at 8am he was bone dry from the night before. So I put a new one on him and when we made a pit stop 2 hours later he had peed all through the diaper and his pants. I had shorts as backups in the diaper bag but it was way too chilly for shorts. I was so happy when I saw those pants for $5. That is a steal. They have Mickey Mouse on this little tag on it and Tristan loves to point to it. He loves Mickey Mouse. While we were at Wal-Mart I picked up some more of the microwave meal for toddlers. They are wonderful when we are having a busy day and I can’t cook him lunch. In each one is a full serving of vegetables. Parents Choice makes them and I can’t get them at my local Wal-Mart so when I saw them at that one I jumped all over the deal.

-Chrystal
www.everydayoates.blogspot.com

I can’t believe how much a child changes in a year, especially in the first year. I was looking at old videos from daycare and I came across his first steps. I struggle with staying home or working. I feel that Tristan is better socialized at daycare then just at home with me. So sometimes I will miss milestones.  That is okay with me. Most of the time Mrs. Cora (Ma ) to Tristan gets them on camera. So I am sharing vintage Tristan today, his first steps. 

looking-back-video

 I almost cried when Tristan said Ma Ma. But I did cry the other day when I was tucking him in and I said I love you and he pulled out his pacifier and said I love you right back. It melted my heart and I picked him up and held him so tight. I don’t want to miss a thing with him and I love seeing him grow.

I had a person tell me something once and I have never forgotten it. She said “You have a baby now and his needs always need to come first. Pick him up, love him and hold him. You will never get this time back with him. In one hour he will be one hour older and tomorrow he will be 9 days instead of only 8. Enjoy this time.” It is true. We will never get the past back, cherish your children.

-Chrystal

Since Tristan was born we have not been back to church. I know that’s horrible but I don’t think he could sit through a service and I’m too nervous to leave him with strangers. Plus Rick is back to work on Sunday’s.

So here’s how it went:

Today I dropped Tristan off at the church nursery for the first time. It’s so tempting to always keep him with us since he’s so easy. We even contemplated taking him to the movies with us this weekend (confession: we DID see the new Twilight movie…with Tristan though). But I decided to bite the bullet and venture off without him for the first time at church. It’s amazing how much you UNDERESTIMATE how long it takes to get yourself and a baby all ready in order to go somewhere.  This whole process is definitely something we are learning a lot about as first time parents. So here’s how it went:

1. Arrive to church- already late
2. Arrive to nursery and are clueless about the “check-in” process
3. Holding baby in one arm, filling out paperwork in the other.
4. Holding up the line for people to drop their kids off
5. Realize baby’s entire outfit is soaked in a poopy-pee mixture as I’m handing him to the lady
6. Grab him back from the stranger lady, attempt to change him IN the stroller
7. Can’t find the diapers or backup outfit (”let’s just go home…” I say)
8. Finally find the diapers and backup outfit. **Note: the backup outfit was put in the diaper bag 2 months ago so you can only imagine how well it fit. Poor T.
9. Hand baby back to stranger lady.
10. Clean up the whole hot mess
11. Make it to church with 18 minutes left of service….victory!

Maybe next week I can get a half hour in.

Chrystal

Cherry Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust
• 1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, chilled

Directions:

• In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
• Gradually add the milk; stir until well blended.
• Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla.
• Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.
• Top with the remaining pie filling before serving.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Yield: 6-8 servings

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

We LOVE this recipe from Paula Deen! It is ridiculously easy…and it looks like you worked really hard on it when in fact you DID NOT:-)Now that’s my kind of cookin’! All though I’m sad it didn’t include butter. Just kidding. If you watch Paula you know she LOVES butter.
Ya’ll enjoy!

Chrystal

I always thought it was so cute when people had pictures of their children and they were asleep doing various things. Like time froze and they just went to sleep. I never had pictures of Tristan like that, until now. It is like he refuses to miss anything. I love it. 

  Tristan is talking more and more. It is so amazing to me how you bring this baby into the world and they are so helpless and rely on you for everything, and at first sometimes you guess at what it needs. Now Tristan can tell me or show me what upsets him or what he needs. Sometimes I still have to guess but most of the time we have our own little communication ritual. Tristan also makes his own choices sometimes. He chooses not to say Da Da anymore. Nope Da Da is not Ma Ma and he laughs when he says it. He must know it drives Rick nuts. Sometimes Rick will say Da Da for hours and Tristan will laugh and call him Ma Ma. Its a little game they play. 

 The one plus of being laid off is more time with Tristan. I still take him to daycare everyday so he stays in a routine and it gives me time to job hunt. I no longer have to get him there at 6:30 am. Instead we get up and spend time together and I take him around 9am. These extra times are so special. I wish I could stay home with him full time. I just love that he has a second family ay daycare and you can tell he loves and cares for them. When I drop him off he goes around and gives hugs and kisses and says hi to everyone. He is a character and a creature of habit.

-Chrystal

Well I should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. I was laid off from work. Thank god I had paid most of my bills for the month including daycare. So that means I have a month to find a job before I have to pay daycare again. To most people paying child care $150 a week is inexpensive. Some places it is double that. Now that we are a one income family it means we have to tighten the belt some more. Tristan is down to two formula bottles a day and the rest milk. I love the Wal-Mart brand stage two formula. I can count on it to make sure Tristan’s daily food intake is round.

 I forgot after being at a company for over 5 years how stressful interviews are. I feel like I am on display, I show up early and most times I am made to wait past the scheduled meeting time. So if anyone knows an open administrative assistant job in the DC area let me know. Also if you have any interview tips I am all ears.

 I love our Wal-Mart I went in for rice krispies the other night and it was like a new store. For a few months they have been working on it and now it’s complete. We have a Super Wal-Mart. All in one place I can get great deals on milk, diapers, formula, fabric, clothes, electronics and more!! Waiting for the construction to be done was a pain and learning a new layout is a pain but I loved the expanded selection. I no longer have to drive to the other Wal-Mart to get Tristan’s parents choice microwave meals. YAY for change!!!

-Chrystal

I have noticed since I started buying mostly store brands that almost all of the store brands are manufactured in the United States. Many of the national brands are made in other countries. So with the economy in such distress I am happy to help keep jobs local. Wal-Mart recently changed the packaging on their store brand and I love the clean simple labels. Sometimes labels can be distracting, so it is refreshing to see. The new packaging is Great Value, and it is a great value. I buy Tristan’s Apple Juice in a huge bottle for around $2. A bottle of baby juice half the size is twice as much. I do a 50/50 juice water mix and it is the same as baby juice, so my Great Value juice lasts almost 4 times as long as the Gerber juices I was buying before.

Since I started working out more a great high energy snack is the Great Value Mountain Trail Mix. It is a mix of salty and sweet and I have to hide it from my husband because he takes the whole big bag to work. It has nuts, raisins, chocolate covered candy and more. A few of the other staples in our pantry from the Great Value line are eggs, Yogurt, Sugar (I love to bake for others so I use an endless amount of sugar,) and so much more. They also have laundry detergent, fabric softner sheets, light bulbs and dish soap for half the price of national brands. I love to save money, get more and be totally satisfied. Great value’s line does just that!

-Chrystal