Three Things Thursday

1. My Bath Toy PSA

I decided it was about time to clean our bath toys about two months ago, so naturally I just got around to doing it yesterday. I sprayed down the toys with a vinegar/EO mixture and laid them out to dry, but when I went to collect them a few hours later, I noticed that the octopus was leaking some strange-looking residue. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the black flakes protruding from the hole (that sounds really gross) was black mold! I cut it open and saw this:

Nasty.

I did some reading, and apparently this is a common problem with bath toys that have holes, which makes sense. Water gets inside, and unless you're diligent about emptying each squirty toy after every bath, they're going to be constantly moist (ew), which is the perfect environment for mold and mildew. So, if you have any bath toys that squirt water, you should probably check them for mold. Rory loved her collection of squirty animals that Tio Paulo bought her when we visited him in San Francisco, but they are probably laying on the bottom of the sea now, where they belong. (I threw them away.) One of the blogs I read suggested hot gluing the holes closed before using the toys (ain't nobody got time for that), but instead I'll probably just give her some measuring cups and spoons to play with in the bath from now on.

2. Molars

Up until last week, I often bragged about the fact that Rory was a good teether. What does that even mean? It means that besides a little extra drool, I never knew she was getting a tooth until it actually appeared in her mouth. She was never fussy, and cutting teeth just didn't seem to bother her. Well, apparently molars are a different story. She's been crying out in the middle of the night, super clingy, and refusing to eat some foods because her mouth is so sore. A few days ago she looked at me, touched her cheek, and said, "ow!". I feel awful because there's really nothing I can do except try to distract her. (There have been a lot of "Shake it Off" dance parties lately. Like, more than usual.) And that's not even the worst part....we have 6 more molars to go.

Rory isn't sleeping well at night, apparently.

3. This is why we moved do Denver. 

Aren't people who take screenshots of the weather forecast so annoying?

That's right, we had two 70+ degree days this week. In January. Rory and I spent as much time as possible outside, because as you can see, it didn't last long. The weather here is so up and down that I don't even mind when it snows...I know it won't be long until we get some nicer weather. Although, I should probably mention that it snowed several inches on Mother's Day last year.

I love that she knows what it means to smile now. Makes picture-taking so much easier. 

Three Things Thursday

1. Mini Kitchen Make-Over
I was recently inspired by an article in HGTV Magazine titled "Everything Looks Better on a Tray". I decided to copy exactly replicate one of the photos from the article and use a serving tray to corral all of our kitchen counter clutter: olive oil, utensils, salt and pepper, etc. Well, let me tell you, I am now a true believer: everything really does look better on a tray!

Tray-Chic

I also finally figured out what to display in our glass door cabinet. I've been doing a lot of baking lately, and I've come to the realization that I don't have enough mixing bowls, so I found these colorful ceramic nesting ones from Sur La Table, and not only do they make awesome batter-holders, they fit perfectly in our glass cabinet.

Cute, right?

2. Goodwill
Okay, so I know what you're thinking: There's a fine line between wanting to save money and rummaging through used underwear, Lindsey. Get a grip. Marcos would agree with you. He has a special face reserved for the times I tell him something came from Goodwill. (Sort of a mix between smelling a fart and disbelief.) But have you been to a Goodwill lately? They're actually really nice and well organized. A new one recently opened close to our house and I have found some pretty amazing deals. For instance, yesterday, I found this Fisher Price shopping cart that currently retails on Amazon for $49 for $5! It's in perfect shape, and Rory spent this morning "shopping" for kitchen towels and outdated magazines.



I've also found a pair of Hanna Andersson Christmas pajamas for 50 cents, a Hanna Andersson Dress for $3, and a Widgeon fleece for $3 (The same one retails for $55 on Amazon!). The solid wood bench that now resides in our living room was $20. All it needed was a fresh coat of yellow paint and some cute throw pillows. So, if you don't mind hanging with the Goodwill crowd and doing some digging, it's definitely worth going.

3. Ebooks
I don't know why I waited so long, but last weekend I finally brought my ipad to our local library and asked one of the librarians to help me set up the ebook app. My main motivation was our trip to Mexico. I plan to spend the majority of my time there drinking margaritas lounging by the pool and reading, but I don't want to lug books around, especially since we're flying Frontier, and they would probably charge by the letter. War and Peace? Good choice. That will be $1000, please. I still prefer reading from an actual book, but it's very easy to use and perfect for traveling.

Three Things Thursday

1. Brrrrr! 
A cold front moved in on Monday, and to say it's been cold would be a severe understatement. It was -17 degrees this morning. It's literally too cold to leave the house, and Rory and I both have cabin fever. There's only so much Baby Einstein I can take and Rory's attention span is that of a....one year old. It's been rough. Even though it's still super cold, we're going to brave the freezing temperatures and head to the library or Target or anywhere but here.

Marli is not having quite as much fun as Rory. 

2. Skidders
Isn't it funny how other moms always seem to give the most practical/usable gifts? My friend Karla has two boys and asked me what Rory needed for her birthday. Rory doesn't like wearing shoes, but her socks make her slip on the hardwood in our house, so I asked for some socks with grips on the bottom. Karla, the all-knowing super mom, gave us something even better: Skidders.
They're reminiscent of water shoes, except much cuter. They have a super-grippy, rubber bottom (good for snow and ice), and a soft, stretchy top. They are tight enough that they stay on, but comfortable enough that Rory doesn't stage a sit-in every time I put them on. Plus, they're way cute and come in lots of different styles and designs. I definitely plan on buying a few extra pair.

Rory has these "mary-jane" style skidders in a purple chevron pattern.

3.Internet Karma
Remember when I bragged said that Rory eats whatever we put in front of her? Yeah, not anymore. I should have known better than to put that in print...and on the internet where everyone can see it. Everyone knows that internet karma is the most vicious of all karma. She's been spitting out everything that's not a fruit or some sort of chip. It's great that she's eating fruit, but fruit only has so many nutrients, and it's not especially filling. I'm not sure how she's still standing at this point. So far today she's had about 1 cup of raspberries, a half a banana, a grape/apple pouch from Starbucks, and 5 blackberries. She's spit out blueberry yogurt, turkey, green beans, a chicken quesadilla, and a raspberry oatmeal muffin. So, now that I've written about what a terrible eater Rory is, perhaps the internet karma Gods will take pity on me?

Three Things Thursday

1. Gilmore Girls is on Netflix!
Hello, my name is Lindsey, and I am a Gilmore Girls addict. All 100 episodes are on Netflix, and I've almost plowed through the first season in the span of 5 days. I forgot how witty, charming, and awesomely cheesy this show is. It's a nice break from Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Bachelor in Paradise. I will save the topic of the downfall of American television for another day.

2. Rory's First Birthday
Rory turns one in less than a month. (How did this happen?!) I am in the process of planning her birthday party, and once again, Pinterest saves the day. I want something easy classic and simple, so no themes. Here are a few projects I will be attempting...hopefully we don't end up with a bunch of #pinterestfails.

The cake is what I'm most excited about. Obviously.

A good excuse to print the photos that have been living in our computer for the past year.

3. Christmas Card Photos
Ugh. I managed to avoid this painful process last year because Rory was only a few months old at Christmas, but I have yet to think of an acceptable excuse for this year, so I guess you'll be receiving a card from us in a few months. (Just don't expect a letter detailing our every accomplishment in 2014...especially since the only real accomplishment I can think of is, "managed to keep baby alive and well.") The nice thing about having a kid is that you don't actually have to be in the picture yourself, so we're planning on taking a few shots of Rory in a Santa hat and calling it a day.

Is this for real?

Three Things Thursday

1. So, we need a new roof.

We had a crazy hailstorm on Monday. It went from zero to golfball-sized hail in about 20 seconds flat. As a precaution, I called a roofing company yesterday to assess if there was any damage. Here's how our conversation went:

Tony (Or was it Tommy?): Um, you need a new roof.

Me: Are you sure?

Tony/Tommy: Pretty sure. Here are some pictures. (He shows me some pretty gory pictures of our roof.) Do you have any questions?

Me: Yes, a very important one, actually. How is this going to interfere with my daughter's naps?

Front View. 

Back View. Liberty Mutual said they'd replace the table, so that's good news. 

I would also like to  take this opportunity to formally apologize to Marcos who texted me about ten minutes before this chaos began and told me to move the car into the garage. I waited a little too long, and let's just say our car didn't make it out unscathed. You were right and I was wrong. 

2. My First IKEA Hack

Ever since the invention of Pinterest, I've been fascinated by IKEA hacks.  I love IKEA (I mean, who doesn't?), and we have several IKEA pieces in our house, mostly from our very first apartment in New Hampshire. This means that these tables/dressers/shelves have survived four different moves. (Don't tell me that this stuff doesn't hold up well.) When we finished the basement, I knew I wanted to turn our black Expedit book case into toy storage for Rory, but I wanted to change it up a little. I used light gray chalk paint to paint the outside and we stapled fabric to the back. Here is the finished result:

Close-up. I did some sanding around the edges for a distressed look. 

We just used a staple gun to staple some cheap fabric to the back. It looks good and keeps the baskets from going all the way through and hitting the wall. 

3. "Shake it Off"

I love me some T-Swift , and her new song is so darn catchy. I've watched the video on Youtube more times than I care to admit. Here's the link. (You can thank me later.)

Three Things Thursday

1. Chalk Paint

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know what chalk paint is. It basically turns any old piece of furniture into...a much better looking piece of old furniture. We recently finished our basement, and we needed some side tables, but we didn't have a lot of money to spend, so I decided to try my hand at refinishing some cast offs I found through an online garage sale. We got large, solid wood end tables for $50, but I wasn't a fan of the oak color. I did some research online and quickly discovered that chalk paint is hella expensive. Fortunately, I found a magical powder on amazon for $20 that turns any can of flat latex paint into chalk paint. You simply add one cup for every gallon, stir, and voila....chalk paint that doesn't break the bank. I painted the end tables white and did some distressing. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out:

And why stop at end tables?

I found 2 of these mini chairs on the same site for $5 for the pair and chalk painted them a pale pink for Rory. Add a $10 Lack table from Ikea, and she has the perfect spot for her future tea parties.

I'm also in the process of painting our old Expedit bookcase to use as toy storage in the basement and an antique dresser for our bedroom that I found on Craigslist. Let's just hope chalk paint doesn't go out of style anytime soon.

2. Babysitting Swaps

We are very lucky to have awesome neighbors. They are some of the kindest, most helpful people I have ever met. When we brought Rory home from the hospital, they brought us several delicious meals and Amanda helped me a lot with breastfeeding in the beginning. She stays at home with her three boys, so we see each other quite often. A few months ago, we started a babysitting swap every few weeks. Here's how it works: On Friday night, Marcos and I go out to dinner/shopping/out for a drink and Amanda stays with Rory. On Saturday night we return the favor, and I stay with the boys while she and her husband go out for a few hours. It's the perfect arrangement because I trust her 100% and we don't have to shell out $50 to have a few hours of alone time. We paid $80 for three hours of babysitting in San Francisco...and Rory was asleep the whole time! I highly recommend making a similar arrangement with you neighbors/friends who also have kids.

3. Meal Planning

I've mentioned before what a terrible mediocre cook I am. Once 3:00 rolls around, I open the fridge and pantry doors and stare at their contents in the hopes that something will jump out and shout, "Make me!" (Disney style.) This rarely happens, so I end up throwing something together last minute while Rory throws tupperware lids around and begs to be picked up. My goal is to begin planning meals before I go grocery shopping in the hopes that I'll be better prepared for dinner time. I found some great blogs that list weekly meal plans as well as the corresponding recipes and shopping lists.

http://www.mealplanning101.com/

I'm ashamed to say that I've attempted meal planning more times than I can count, but the 100th times the charm, right?

Three Things Thursday

1. Don't cry over spoiled milk. 

Marcos asked me to get more milk at the grocery store yesterday, and I did...the problem is it never made it in the house. I guess between taking Rory out of her carseat and making sure I didn't spill my iced coffee, I forgot the groceries in the car. Good thing it's trash day.

Milk that's been sitting in our hot car for over 24 hours. 

Get it together, mom. 

2. "So, they're just toy logs?"

This is the conversation that occurred between Marcos and me last weekend when I got home from the consignment sale.

Marcos: How much did you spend?

Marcos' Loving, Money-Saving Wife: That's not important. What's important is that Rory has lots of new, imagination-inspiring toys...including a huge bin of Lincoln Logs that I scored for six bucks.

M: What are Lincoln Logs?

MLMSW: Excuse me? You've never played with Lincoln Logs?!

M: I grew up in Brazil. I had never played Candy Land before until two years ago when you forced me to play....after the kids you were babysitting went to bed.

MLMSW: You were so deprived. It's a good thing you have a wife like me who cares enough about you to make sure you don't miss out on some of life's most important moments, like your first trip through the Candy Cane Forest.

M: (Peering at the container of Lincoln Logs) Wait, so they're just toy logs? What do you do with them? I'm not sure I understand the appeal.

MLMSW: You bite your tongue! This is a classic American toy. Rory will spend hours using them to construct all kinds of things.

M: Okay, but they seem pretty lame.

Fast forward to two days later at 9 pm. (Rory has been asleep for two hours.)

Lame, indeed.

3. Yay for fall! 

Starbucks just announced that they're releasing their Pumpkin Spice Latte early this year due to the unusually chilly temperatures all over the country. I, for one, cannot wait!

Autumn in a cup.