Cheers to a new year!

So I havnt blogged in awhile. It's not because I'm busy or unmotivated. It's mostly because every time I read the blogs I like to follow, I start feeling really depressed about my life.  

Take Jessica Garvin for example. You can check her out at http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com  

She's got her shit together. Her house looks like a magazine spread, her gorgeous daughter looks like a living breathing Baby Gap advertisement, she has this amazing job where she works from home, she bakes, she crafts, she can throw a birthday party that would make all other parties look like a joke, Hell, she even has an Etsy shop so you can pay her to make all these beautiful things for you. And to top it all off she's skinny and beautiful. 

What the eff. 

She has perfectly edited Instagram pics of her entirely perfect weekend. Sipping mimosas in the hammock in the huge back yard, a family trip to home depo, spending the afternoon redoing the half bath, snuggling in bed watching a movie.

Can one person really have it all? 

Where are her blog posts about listening to her child scream for the entire ride home from work? Or having to spank her child every single day because her child runs through the parking lot and refuses to get in the car? Or how bout when she has to cook dinner and entertain her child at the same time because her husband works nights? Or not being able to pee, change clothes, take a shower, or do anything because her child wants to join right in? Please tell me her child still sleeps in their bed. Please tell me her husband works nights and is still a full time student. Where is the post about the shit storm that is every day life?

And the worst part is I don't even know this girl. Honest. I just stumbled upon her perfectly charming blog by accident via Pinterest And I've been stalking/ living vicariously through her blog for almost 2 years now. I know. I'm so embarrassed to even admit that.

Even more embarrassing than that was when I dreamed the 2 of us were best friends. And our kids were best friends. An we lived this perfect little life where we would hang out together and shop and make chalkboards together. And I secretly hated her. When I woke up that's when I knew I had a problem. I had let someone, who is borderline fictitious, become this idol of perfection and everything I wanted but didn't have. 

It was so bad that I just had to make myself stop reading her blog, and other blogs like hers. It was robbing me of all my happiness. Well, I guess I should say I was robbing myself. Jessica and her blog were the innocent bystanders in this scenario. 

I had spent so much time and energy comparing my life to a complete strangers and focusing on what I didn't have that I missed so much joy and happiness right in front of me. I have no one to blame but myself. 

We've never had that perfect weekend lounging in the hammock, and I've come to terms with the fact that we probably never will. At least in the forseeable future.

 And it would be terrible of me to think I haven't had a wonderful life because of someone else's blog. What a waste to think that I didn't already have it all. Everything I've always wanted. 

I have so much to be happy about. For starters I have a good man who loves me. He is faithful and loyal to me. Our relationship is built on complete faith and trust. He supports me in all my decisions. He endlessly tries to make me happy, and I all to often refuse to let him. I am completely undeserving of his love.  

I have a perfectly healthy and handsome little boy who adores me. He is so smart and funny. He is my everything and I'm pretty sure he is the only thing that keeps me going most days. 

I have a job where I get to use my gifts and talents. I have a job that provides for my family. I get to invest in our futures by investing in changing a childs life. Who else can go to work and say they are changing the world one day at a time? I may not make as much as I would like to have the life I dream of, but I make just enough to have what my family needs. 

I have an endless support system of parents, in laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the best brother anyone could ask for.  

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the stage of life I'm in. Who doesn't? I bet even good ole Jessica has her moments, she just doesn't blog about it.  

So I've bought a little journal to record these little moments of perfection and happiness so that when it feels like my life is in a blender I can remember every single little reason to be perfectly happy. 

So cheers to a new year! My goal for 2014 is to be happy. It really is that simple. I need to learn to focus on what I already have, which is all ill ever need.

And cheers to Jessica! I don't know you, but I know your awesome! And if by chance you read this, I promise I didn't escape a mental hospital. 

Toddler Gift Guide: Under &10

 

So I've been doing some online pre-shopping for Christmas and I've found some really great deals! Some of this stuff I really couldn't believe how cheap it was. If you are shopping for a toddler or a small child, you should check some of this stuff out! Of course, all of the websites had awesome toys for any price range, but here is the cheapest of the awesomeness.

 

Giant Clipboard

Pottery Barn Kids

$9

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/jumbo-clipboard/?pkey=cdecor-organization

What I love: It doesn't take up room like an art easel would. It also doubles as a chalkboard.

 

MULA 24 Building Blocks with Wagon

IKEA

$7

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80028929/

What I love: I love that its only 24 pieces (because lets be honest, who wants to pick up 117 pieces) and I love that it comes in a wagon!

 

LILLABO Toy Vehicles
IKEA

$9.99 (3pack)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40171472/

What I love: They are made out wood, perfect size for a toddlers hand, and don't make obnoxious noises.

 

 

 

 

Just Like Home Broom Set

Toys R Us

$6.99

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12918230&cp=2255956.2273442.2256395.4486211.2256451&parentPage=family

What I love: I love that it isn't pink. I could write a whole other blog post on that.

 

Melissa and Doug Puzzle

Anywhere (Walmart, Target, Toys R Us)

$7.99

What I love: I've always been a fan of Melissa and Doug. Durable, simple pattern, promotes fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. They have puzzles for any theme.

 

 

Dirty Cars by ALEX

Really Great Toys

$9.49

http://www.reallygreattoys.com/product/79726/dirty-cars

What I love: I love that the dirt "disappears" when you pour warm water over it! ALEX makes all sorts of bath toys for girls and boys! You should really check them out! They also make really great learning toys as well.

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

 

 

This year we took Bryce to Motley's Farm. We loved it! There was so much to do! Best of all, it was in town and cost to get in the gate and then you could do as little or as much as you liked.

 

 

 

We started off with a hay ride. He was more interested in the tractor pulling the hay ride than anything else.

They had a petting zoo area with all sorts of farm animals.

This is as close as he was willing to get. I have no idea where he got his scaredy pants genes from, haha!

 

He was so cute pointing to all the animals and making their noises at them.

 

Hay mountain. He was kinda freaked out by the hay. Are you seeing a pattern here? He doesn't like anything new or different.

Once he got to the top, he was so proud.

Scott was an awesome dad and climbed up on the hay and made all the cracked out big kids to quit pushing Bryce out of the way and to let him have a turn on the slide.

Again, he was scared of the slide. He isn't used to one that big.

They had a maze made out of hay bales. He loved running around and around in there. I stood at the exit and Scott at the entrance to make sure he didn't escape unnoticed.

The older kids were playing hide and go seek inside the maze. Bryce didn't understand of course, so he just followed that little cutie there with bow around and would hunker down with her. Then, Bryce and the little girl went into an area of the maze where I couldn't see him. Then, the little girl started screaming something awful. Her dad jumped the bales to her rescue. She was covered in ants! It was a terrifying moment for me because I had just seen Bryce go around the corner with her and now I couldn't see or hear him. He probably was covered in ants too and I couldn't reach him. There was a commotion, as you can imagine, with parents jumping the walls, snatching up their own kids, tearing their clothing off searching for ants. They were pouring bottled water over the screaming girl in an effort to get the ants off.  When I finally saw Bryce, he was panicking. Luckily he didn't have ants on him and he was just freaking out because of the mass hysteria.

Overall, we had a great time!

18 months

So Bryce definitely has his own little personality and opinions on things these days. It's been so much fun watching him grow and turn into a toddler (a little adult) right in front of my eyes. Here are some of the moments I wish to remember from these days. 

1) he is crazy about trucks! In the way to school we ride down the freeway and Bryce has his eye out for trucks. He screams "duck" and points out the window

2) his favorite shape is oval. I don't know why, but he loves to find ovals everywhere we go. The old navy sign, the Ford logo, a number zero, and anything else he can see. I'm curious if he knows his other shapes but oval is just the easiest to say. 

3) he has taken an interest in watching TV. I still limit his TV watching, but it is a MUST when you are basically a single mom. It's pretty much impossible to get anything done when Scott isn't around to entertain him. 

4) he have pooped in the potty! We haven't don't it again since, but I'm not stressing. I think he'll be more ready around 2

5) he has started to pretend play. He loves to make his toy cow moo and stomp all over me. The pig too. It's a lot of fun. 

6) he does this Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunting for "yes". For example "Bryce, you wanna play outside?" He responds with grunting. It's really cute. 

7) he loves bananas! He goes to the kitchens saying "nana, nana, nana" until he gets what he wants. I'm creating a monster, I know. 

8)he know only cries for 10 secs if he cries at all when I put him in his crib. Some nights he actually points to the crib and throws himself into it. He is so cute when he pulls Curious George up under his arm.  At least a few nights a week he actually sleeps trough the night without waking at all.  

9) he is so independent. He feeds himself and has been for awhile now. He attempts to put on his shoes and socks, but we are a long way from accomplishing that. He can drink from a straw cup with ease and understands not to tip it up or it won't work.

10) he is such a problem solver. The other day he was trying to pick up his paci and his sippy cup at the same time. His sippy cup doesn't have any handles so he had to grip the entire cup. He was trying to grip the cup with one hand while the other hand picked up the paci. This didn't work. He needed both hands to pick up the cup. He tried both hands while the paci was still in his hand. This didn't work either. So he put the paci down and focused on the cup. Once he had it wedged between his arm and body he then went back for the paci.   I'm so excited to see this develop. Dynamic vs static brain development, you know I'm all into that. 

11) he thinks that the longer he holds out the N, the more serious his "no" is. Lets change your diaper. Nnnnnnnnnnno

12) spanking is a waste of time. He is about as hard headed as I am. We have been trying timeout. Surprisingly he actually stays in time out, usually pouting and looking over his shoulder to give us some pathetic heart melting face of repentance. It's like he really understands WHY he is in timeout. Yes I know what all the research says about time out before 3, but I know my child. He knows. 

13) he is terrified of vacuums, hair dryers, animals, and people in wheelchairs. Not sure about the wheelchair thing, he is around them all the time at school. 

DIY Painted Canvas Curtains

So in the 4 years we've been married, we've only had curtains on our windows once. When we lived in the basement apartment in Provo, I bought some $8 valance curtains at Walmart. In all the places we've lived, out windows have always been curtainless. Why? Idk, I guess when getting settled curtains are kinda last on the list I guess. Also, I think they are kinda stupidly priced. By the time you buy 2 panels (presumably for 1 window) and the curtain rod, you've spent $50. I'm cheap, so this doesn't work for me. 

I saw on Pinterest where they made curtains by buying a drop cloth at home depo, cut it up the middle, painted the 2 panels and then hung then up. Sorry I don't remember which blog it came from so sorry I can't give them credit for the idea. 

I bought the drop cloth at home depo for about $11. It just happened to be the perfect size. I have 10ft ceilings and wanted them to hang from really high up.

  I cut it right up the middle. I didn't really measure, just folded in half and cut. It's not a quilt or anything, so being precise doesn't really matter. The great thing about using the drop cloth is that you get a lot of fabric for cheap but also it's already hemmed all the way around! Now that you've cut up the middle you have 2 raw edges. You can fold the raw edge back an hot glue it down. I actually was out of hot glue, so I just decided to see it anyways. Not a big deal, just a straight stitch. So to make the sleeve for the rod, I just folded the top over a few inches and made another straight stitch. Again you can hot glue just as easy. 

For the painting you can use craft paint or fabric paint but for some crazy reason I thought I should use latex paint. I guess bc I had some red left from the cabinet doors I redid. It worked out fine, just smelled up my apartment for days. My original plan was to do something trendy like chevron, thick stripes,maybe even an ombré look. But then after a good look a around my living room I decide I really needed something really simple. There is a lot if busyness in the rug and lots I color  on the walls and the ladder shelf, so I didn't want to make it too crazy. So I decided to just paint the bottom 1/4 red and leave the rest plain. I did measure and tape off where I wanted the paint so it would be straight and even on both panels. 

I know it's hidden behind the TV. My thinking was that we won't be in this apartment forever. The tv isn't always going to be in front of the window. 

I spent about $25 total after I bought the   curtain rod and the paint. So I saved myself about 50%! 

I love how it completely changed the room! It feels so much more homey! I definitely underestimated the value in having curtains! 

Ladder Shelf

So I've been wanting a ladder for awhile now. The original idea was to hang it on the walk above our bed and put picture frames and such on it. The problem is I couldn't ever find a wooden ladder that was just a rail ladder and not A-framed. Well I did find a few at antique malls. I'm sorry, I'm not paying $80 for a half rotted ladder. So I bought 2 A-frame ladders from a little ole man in my parents neighborhood who was selling all his possessions before being shipped off to the nursing home. I paid $10 for the 2 of them. 

Then I decided I wanted to make a book shelf instead. Can you tell I like to change my mind? Our old apartment had these nice built-in bookshelves in the living room, but now I have no book shelf! And we have LOTS of books! So a book shelf it was. I decided on this style since it gave more shelf space.

Step 1 was painting the ladder. I went to Home Depo and picked out a color I liked and had a quart mixed up. I also bought 2 pre finished 4ft boards to make the shelves. 

Painting took awhile. There are a bazillion sides. But it only took 1 coat since it was a dark color. 

I brought it inside once it was dry and laid the boards across. The shelves were lopsided. This was due to the way the ladder is designed. So naturally, I found some cardboard and folded it up and stuck it under the board to level it up. I'm all about cheap and easy. I didn't want to nail down the boards because I'm sure we have several moves ahead of us before we get settled so I wanted to make the bookshelf very movable. 

And that's all there was too it! No nailing, sanding, installing, ect! Literally all I did want paint it and lay boards across it. 

Now I just need to put books on it! 

Kitchen Cabinet Door DIY

So one of my favorite blogs is Shanty-2-Chic. If you havnt seen them on Pinterest, then you prob don't have a Pinterest account! 

I wanted to make something similar to this. And I wanted the hang them in either side of my window above my couch. 

Ofcourse I don't have power tools. I'm no where near the creative genius that the people at Shanty 2 Chic are. So I tried to come up with a similar project that was much less invasive.

Somewhere, very doubtfully in my own mind, I came up with this idea to use a kitchen cabinet door as my "canvas". I thought a cabinet door would be a good idea because the wood is already cut to size, finished, and painted. They also can be very decorative and give some character to the piece. My dumb self actually went to Home Depo to buy cabinet doors an then a lightning bolt struck me and I remembered seeing a mound of kitchen cabinet doors at the Habitat For Humanity Store. 

So off we went to the HFH Store. I hit the jackpot! Cabinet doors for $1 each!!! The projects are absolutely endless! So I picked out 2 that I liked and headed home to get started.

First step was to clean the doors. They had things that I would really not like to know on them since they came donated from a house demolition to the HFH Store. Then I unscrewed the hardware and filled the holes with putty. 

Now here is where I went way wrong. I know I should have sanded them before ever trying to paint them since they already had latex paint on them. But I didn't have sandpaper and I was too impatient. I know. I know. Mistake. I'm note sure why I desided to use more laytex paint instead of spray paint? Maybe heat got to me? What happened was 6 coats if laytex paint that did not have very even coverage at all. So that's when I was like I'm just gonna spray paint this and call it a day.

Still looks at hot mess!!!! But I had invested too much excitement to not bring them inside and continue my project! I decided that the lighting inside was much more forgiving and when I hung the sconces on, your eye would be drawn to the sconce not the paint job. At least thats what I told myself! 

 

I looked around for a couple of weeks before I found the perfect sconces. I found them at Blue Suede Shoes Antique Mall in Bryant for $5 for each. They were even gold, which is what color I wanted them! 

So they were kinda a booger to nail to the cabinet door. I just nailed a nail at an angle to the middle of the cabinet. I had to re-nail a couple of times to get the angle just right to secure the sconce perfectly. I dropped and cracked one of the sconces in the process. I was sooooo mad!!!!! Oh well, I'm still hanging this up! 

Then I installed the sawedge picture hanger to the back. Got that at Target  for about $3. 

Then I hung them on the wall! I have since added candles. I plan on putting pumpkins on them for fall and possibly tiny Christmas trees for December. I love that I can change the look throughout the year! 

A Working Mothers Guide to Meal Planning

So much has been going on! Scott traveled some this summer for Chick Fil A and enjoyed every minute of it. So for weeks on end, I’m at home doing all the laundry, dishes, diapers, trash, folding, scrubbing, sweeping, bill paying, mail checking, bathing, errand running, grocery shopping, cooking, vacuuming, gas pumping, and paci finding. Oh yeah and I work full time. I have a new appreciation for single working mothers. I don’t know how you do it! Having a husband pretty much spoils you!

 

So a couple of people have asked me how I do it all. How do I work, cook meals for my family, keep my house clean, and have all this “leisure time” to be doing Pinterest projects and such. Well I don’t have much leisure time, except when I get to potty alone. Any other leisure time I have is spent playing candy crush and occasionally updating this blog. All the crafting I do, I see as a nessisity to life. Just like eating I NEED to do it. It makes me happy. And we all know as a working mother you have to have that “me” time to keep your sanity. All my little projects are my “me” time. And pedicures. Pedicures are my drug of choice.

 

While I think the key here is time management (which I am not always a pro at) I will share with you other methods I use to deal with the madness. However, I will be focusing on meal planning, since this is what I get asked about the most.

 

First, there are many blogs and Pinterest boards devoted to meal planning and I am definitely not an expert. But I am lazy. And busy. So I feel that there are millions of other moms out there just like me who would like to know how to make this work

As a side note, most people meal plan for the whole month. This is great if you know that you are not ever going out to eat or ever have last minute plans that mess up your eating agenda for the day. Also, I live in an apartment with a rather small fridge/freezer so I really do not have the space to store a whole month’s worth of food. I cant figure out how people keep the produce fresh for the whole month. Obviously, they buy frozen or they are going to buy fresh produce every week, which totally negates meal planning in the first place (at least in my eyes). I also know I get paid bi-monthly so there is no way we could afford to shell out the money to buy all the groceries at once.

Monthly would work if you:

*get a big paycheck once a month (or if you just have a ton of money in the first place)

*have a big fridge and/or a deep freeze

*have a large pantry

If you are in the same boat as me, then weekly works fine too.

 

1)           THE LIST

I make a grocery list. It is bizarre to me that people actually go to the store without a list. How to do you remember everything? There is nothing more annoying than running from one end of the store and back again because you keep remembering other things to you need.

 

There are several pros to making a list

    *you save money

    *you save time

    *do you need more pros? I didn’t think so.

 

Here’s how I break it down. Pull out a piece of paper and make categories that correlate to the sections of your grocery store. Mine usually looks like this:

 

Produce:                     Meat:

 

 

 

 

 

Dairy:                       Canned:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dry:                                                        Frozen:

 

 

 

 

 

Misc.

 

 

 

 

Then I move into step 2…..

 

2)           PLANNING MEALS

Again, I cannot just walk into a grocery store and think “what do I want to eat this week?” $180 later, I have a buggy full of things that make like 3 meals. So I must plan it out in advance.

 

 

First, I look at Scotts schedule to see how many nights he will be working. On those nights, I do not plan to cook because it is pretty much impossible. My “go to” meals for these nights are either frozen skillet meals or chicken noodles with a veggie as a side. I love the skillet meals because they always have a meat, a veggie, and a carb in them. They are always tasty. And lastly, they take 14 mins to cook. It doesn’t get easier than that. If you can boil water you can make chicken noodles. Cook noodles, drain, pour a can of cream of chicken on it and call it good. When I’m real lazy I microwave a can of green beans to go with it. (Gosh, if I never sounded white trash, that was it) I always keep a stock of canned veggies in the pantry for such nights. If you don’t believe in canned veggies or only eat organic…I don’t think I can help you much. Bless your heart.

 

For the nights that Scott is home, I prefer to cook and prepare a meal. I don’t know, I kinda like being that wife that woos my husband with food. I like to rotate a few of our favorite meals with new meals every week. I get my inspiration from Simple and Delicious magazine and Pinterest. Also, as a side note, I LOVE my Six Sisters Cookbook. Never a bad meal out of that one. They have a blog, I highly recommend it!Six Sisters Stuff I pick a complete meal (main dish and a side) for each night remaining in the week.

 

After I have picked my meals, I then plug in all the ingredients I will need for each meal into my grocery list. Pretty easy. I then add the other things, like breakfast and lunch items, into my list.

 

Now here’s how you stay on budget….

 

3)           IF ITS NOT ON THE LIST DO NO BUY IT.

 

You have already listed EVERYTHING you need to make dinner, lunch, and breakfast for an entire week. If it is not on the list, you do not NEED it. They only “snack” item I buy is goldfish for Bryce. We are never home during the day, so we don’t need any snack food. If we get that hungry we eat a banana or a bowl of cereal. You waste so much money buying empty calories.

 

Couponing is over-rated. Kroger brand is the cheapest option even if you have a $2.00 off coupon for the name brand. This is true 99% of the time. Also, most of the coupons I come across are not for products I would ever buy anyways. Like cat food and contact solution. If you are into couponing, great. But its not for me. Everything that goes into my buggy is Kroger brand. EVERYTHING. And then I DO use my Kroger coupons that come in the mail.  

 

When picking meals, I tend to scan the list of ingredients. If I am going to have to buy more than 4-5 ingredients, then I toss that recipe out the window. The cost of the meal goes up with each ingredient. Obviously, I’m not including spices and pantry items I already keep stocked. This rule helps with cost but also with simplifying your meals. As a rule of thumb, I aint go no time to be cooking no meal that requires cutting an peeling 6 things. However, I usually go all out for 1 meal each week. This is usually our Sunday Dinner. I might spend $20 on that one meal alone. We eat good on Sundays. Mmmmm.

 

I follow these 3 simple rules, and I spend between $80-$100 dollars a week on groceries for a family of 3.

 

Hopefully, all of that made sense. Maybe you read that and was like “Wow, that was stupid. Everyone knows that.” Maybe it actually helped you. If you have any feedback on your meal planning experiences, please let me know and leave a comment!

16 months

I can not say enough about Bryce's teachers! They have taught him so much! I am constantly amazed at what all he is learning everyday. 

1) I am fully convinced Bryce understands 99% of what I say. From "stop jumping in the couch or ill put you down in the floor" to "I'm sorry you can't drink dr pepper you have to drink milk"  

2) he can point to his belly button, toes, hair, tongue, eyes, and ears on command.

3) he can identify people in our family by pointing 

4) he can identify most all farm animals, some jungle animals, and some food by pointing to pictures in books.

5) he wants to help do everything! Including helping mommy get dressed! He will bring me my shoes and socks and bra and then start bringing me dirty clothes from the hamper. He wants to help fold laundry and sweep. He loves to sweep! 

6) he is starting to communicate much better for his wants and needs. If he is hungry he will walk over to his high chair and motion to be put in it. If he is sleepy he will lay his head down and say "Night night". He is even starting to tell me when his diaper needs to be changed. He will grab his diaper an say "this?" 

7) he can say:

Ball=bah

Night night= nah nah

Milk= ck

Juice= oosth 

Hot= dop

No=no (he's got that one down!)

Yes= sssssthbra ( his s sound always results in raspberry blowing sounds)

Up= dup 

This= dis 

Dog= dah

8) he would rather read books than play with toys! He can sit for a long time in a heap of books in the middle of the floor and examine in each page and babble to himself in his Bryce language. I can only assume he his reading to himself. It melts my heart when he brings me a book and says "dup" and points to my lap. He loves to be read too! 

9) he loves being outside. He will go to the door and scream until someone will come take him out. He would stay out all day if he could. Doing what? All things boy ofcourse!  Eating rocks, digging in dirt, chasing bugs, climbing up a hill covered in pine needles, barking at dogs, chasing cats, and running away from me.  

10) by far, his new favorite thing is running away. If I say "Bryce lets go change your diaper" or "Bryce lets go get in the car" he takes off running in the opposite direction! He looks over his shoulder as he is running and laughs hysterically. When he sees I'm gaining on him he will find a corner and back himself into it. As if his back is hidden so I can't possibly grab him and pick him up! This is not a fun stage for mommy! It makes going anywhere nearly impossible.

A lazy girls guide to chalk boarding

So we've all seen the endless possibilities  of using a chalk board in our home on Pinterest. From  pregnancy trackers to quotes to weekly menus; they are insanely cute and versatile. Who wouldn't want one? 

Making the chalkboard was easy as pie. Bought a mirror at an antique store for $30. Of course it wasn't the color I wanted so I taped down a layer of newspaper over the glass and spray painted the frame red. Then I painted chalkboard paint over the glass. Easy. 

Next I bought a pack of chalk at target for quarters. Now all I had to do was write in some cutesy font. 

I watched several tutorials and read several blogs on how to do this. And my thoughts where "ain't NOBODY got time for that." Except maybe childless women who work part time. 

Most of these guides included using rulers and grids and making "guidelines" very lightly with the chalk so you would keep the text straight and even. Then afterwards you would go back and erase. One woman went as far as printing her text in the font she wanted off the computer on tracing paper. Wow. We average middle class working mothers who's husband is still in school and works nights and weekends most def don't have time for such foolishness. 

I decided I wanted mine to say "home sweet home". Pretty easy to just stack one word on top of the other. Now I just need to pick 3 fonts. I didn't have time that night to try to look up cute fonts online so I just went with the 3 fonts I already knew. 1) skinny all caps 2) modified cursive 3) block letters. 

I remember reading somewhere (Pinterest I'm sure) that picking alternating fonts makes it more visually appealing. For example a bold block font paired with a skinny handwriting. So I kinda kept that in mind when I was writing my text.

Since I picked an oval shaped mirror instead of square or rectangle I think it leaves room for error. It's not as noticeable if your text starts slanting or is off center. 

I decided to start with my middle, which was the word "sweet". I just put the S on the far left middle and went from there. I did the "home" on the bottom next. Last Idid  the "home" on top. As an afterthought I added the door and chimney. At most, it took me 15 mins.

No rulers. No grids. It's not perfect but I think that's what makes it yours. I'm excited to try some new fonts next time and we will see how it goes! 

Erythema Multiforme: what every mother should know

If something doesn't seem right , then it probably isn't. 

We are not newbies to rashes. Bryce has had an amoxicillin rash and a fever rash (Roseola) just within the past few months.  He used to get a rash from the carpet when he used to army crawl on his belly. I knew this rash was different. 

Dr:I think your son has erythema multiforme but I'm not completely sure.

Me: what? 

Dr: erythema multiforme. 

What I heard "I think your son has polywollydoodlealltheday" 

Me: what is that? 

Dr: well we don't really know a lot about it. It can be triggered by several different things. It's probably going to get worse before it gets better. It may blister and seep. He may also bruise around his diaper.  It is also a precursor to Steven Johnson's Syndrome...

What im thinking: What the hell is that? It sounds bad. It is a "syndrome" for goodness sake. Wait the dr is still talking...

Dr:... If he gets any in his mouth, on his lips, around it in his eyes do not call here or bother coming up here. You take him to the ER at Children's Hospital immediately. Has he taken any medicine recently? 

Me: yes he is currently on amoxicillin 

Dr: discontinue that immediately and never give it to ever again. He might be having an allergic reaction to it. 

Me: what did you say it was called again?

Dr: supercalifragilisticexpialidosis

What I'm thinking: Right. Dont be an idiot and ask her again

Me: what did you say caused it again? 

Dr: it could be the amoxicillin or it could be viral. The herpes simplex virus is know to cause it. If HSV caused it, he might get this again multiple times throughout life in times of illness. 

What I'm thinking: wait, what? He can get it again! Herpes? What is she talking about????

Dr: it will probably last up to 2 weeks before it goes away and all we can is give him Benadryl for the itchiness. Again, if any come up anywhere in or around his mouth or eyes take him to the hospital immediately. 

What I'm thinking: this is not what I wanted to hear. I wanted you to tell me it was a heat rash so I could sleep with ease tonight. And your not even sure it is "polymitoitisdosis" or whatever the hell you called it. 

We leave and head to Walgreens for Benadryl. My mind is going in circles. What did she call it again? You can't really google "pollywollydoodlealltheday" so I googled the one thing I did remember her saying. Steven Johnson's.

I do not advise anyone doing a google image search for Steven Johnson's because I almost threwup. Basically your skin blisters and falls off, including your lips and eyelids. It has a very high fatality rate. Survivors are left blind and their skin forever deformed. 

I freaked out. She didn't say SJs was what he had but i did remember her specifically saying what she thought he had was linked. 

Just moments before I had wished it wasnt chicken pox. How ignorant of me. Now my head was filled with visions of Bryce's skin falling off. 

I spent the next 48 hours walking around thinking "But there aren't any in his mouth. There aren't any in his mouth. There aren't any in his mouth. Maybe I should go check his mouth."

Meanwhile his spots were getting more red and bigger and spreading further all over his body. 

I was trying my best to keep my cool. If only I could remember what the dr called it! But then again she didn't seem so convinced herself. So I spent some time online looking at pictures I all sorts of rashes. I was so perplexed. None of them looked anything like his. I even found a multitude of slideshows of "common childhood rashes" that included everything from scarlet fever to heat rash. Still, none of them looked like his.  

I was frustrated. So I put the pics of his rash on Facebook and waited to see what people thought. It was actually one of Scott's friends who is in med school that started asking all sorts of questions and finally told me his educated guess was Erythema Multiforme. 

When I googled Erythema Multiforme I immediately felt some relief. His rash, while much much milder, looked identical  to the pictures online. Everything I read about EM matched what the pediatrician had said. All of his symptoms fit. 

It was clear that Bryce had EM minor and would probably not need any treatment and it would clear up on its own. Apparently the minor form is much more common than the major form which leads to hospitalization and sometimes Steven Johnson's. 

By Friday morning the redness had faded and his spots were more flat than raised! It was a huge sigh if relief!  

So my message is this- 

If something doesn't seem right it probably isn't. 

If your child ever gets a rash and blisters pop up in his/her mouth,eyes, or other mucus membranes take them to get seen immediately. It could be harmless Hand Foot Mouth but it could be much more serious.