Spring greening

I would love to say that spring has brought out the cleaner in me like it should have. I did buy a steal of a deal on eversave.com for two full house cleanings for something like $76. I know they won't use what I would use to clean my house. However, I'm down with paying someone a few times (once right before and once a bit after baby comes) if my mental stability will improve in the process. I love a clean house. But, I am trying really hard to move towards an understanding with myself about cleaning. If you are always cleaning then you aren't playing enough. Sometimes mess is allowed to mean that you have had a really good day.

On that note, what I have done is attempt to expand my going green attempts. Little by little I am trying to rid my house of cleaners that aren't made by me. I could just buy organic cleaners and call it a day. The thing is, the more I learn the more I realize it's crazy easy to just do it yourself. It's also way cheaper. Here's the rundown of what I have been doing for a while along with what's new (to me anyway):

*Using towels instead of paper towels
Quite a while ago I purchased a big stack of not so fancy dish towels at Big Lots. They sit in a basket by my sink and I make every attempt to use them instead of paper towels. I do still buy paper towels, but in all honesty I rarely use them.

*Cloth diapering
Little do most know cloth diapering is a world unto itself. If you ever want info I am now a wealth of knowledge and I'm sure I still don't know the half of it.

*Cleaning products and tools
This is a big one. My cleaning staples have become Dr. Bronner's soap, vinegar, and baking soda. I bought one bottle of Dr Bronner's at Target in the fall and have yet to use half of it. Vinegar and baking soda, as I'm sure you know, are both crazy cheap. The "tools" are pretty random!

1) My most recent fabulous green cleaning purchase is the Libman Freedom Spray Mop. I used to be a Swiffer girl. We all know how wasteful those little pads are (not to mention a constant waste of money). The Freedom Spray Mop was my answer to the idea of the Swiffer. You fill the cleaning solution bottle with your own concoction and the pad is washable/reusable. My house is all hardwoods except for one room so I do just vinegar and water. I bought it at Target for around $15 I think.

2) I used to stock up on Bath and Body Works hand soaps whenever they had their sales or I went to an outlet. I love the scents, the foaming pump bottles, and when on sale they are fairly inexpensive. Needless to say, I had lots of them. I was getting down to the end of my stock and began to search for a greener solution. I found it! I used the same bottles because I love the foam soap. Per a post from More Green For Less Green I used one part Dr. Bronner's to 9 parts water. You can probably add an essential oil too for the fun smells :-)

3) My kitchen and bathroom cleaner consists of Dr Bronner's, vinegar, and water. I used to buy Method and now I'm using the Method spray bottles to house my concoction. Per the Super Natural Momma I use half water, half vinegar, and four tablespoons of the soap. Again, you can add lemon juice or essential oil to cut the vinegar smell. I use baking soda along with this cleaner as well to scrub surfaces.

Here are few links I plan to peruse further if you are interested:


Inhabitots How to Make Kid Safe Homemade Green Cleaning Supplies

Re-nest 25 DIY Green Cleaning Recipes For the Whole House


I honestly thought I had more than that going on, but now I am drawing a blank! So, you may see a similar post when my brain starts functioning better...someday...

I would love to hear what you do to work towards a greener home!

Holla Hump Day

This week's shout outs go to...

...Lee (Seth's mom). I cannot thank you enough for cleaning for me, for having Lila over on the weekends, for having Lila over during the week after work, and for that fantastic dinner you made. While I would prefer this baby not come late, at least I know I can deal with it because of all you are doing for me!

...Lila for keeping me humble. Instead of just repeating everything I say she is now repeating things I do. We were in line at the store and I was absent mindedly tapping on the car with my fingernails. She then started tapping too. She did the same thing when I was sitting with her playing and I started tapping my leg. Apparently while at Grammy's (Lee's) the other day she would squat down, lift up her shirt, pat her belly and belly button, pull up her pants, and pull her shirt down over them. When she follows me into the bathroom this is pretty much what she sees me do. If she follows me that is when I show her my belly sometimes. You know the maternity kangaroo pants as I like to call them? The ones that come up over the belly? That's what she is imitating pulling up I think. The humble part comes next...in the past few days when time she gets up from sitting or squatting she grunts and moans like an old lady. Lee also noticed this at her house. Slightly embarrassing...not at all surprising.

...Sonja for planning the street Easter egg hunt and the cookout. I didn't do a thing and I feel like such a slacker! We had the best time as I mentioned before. Next time I promise I will plan something...or at least be on top of things enough to bring something.

...Paige for planning my girls dinner/mini baby shower that happened last Thursday. I felt strange about having a shower for baby number two, but Paige planned it just right! It became incorporated into the monthly girls dinner we have so that future babies after the first can be acknowledged as well. Great idea Paige!

The navigation continues...

On a daily basis I try very hard to really appreciate the fact that I have a daughter who knows what she wants. I realize she's only almost two, but I hope she never becomes as indecisive as her mommy. We have scaled down the tantrums (even in regards to clothing) but scaled up the hint of bossiness I had seen in the past few weeks. It seems like every day her language builds at a speed that I have a hard time keeping up with. This means that she knows more and more how to get what she wants. She also knows that I have a VERY hard time saying no when she says please. Overall, we are navigating turning two on a constant basis...

* Lila has always loved music but she only recently realized that it quite often comes from this thing called a radio. Unfortunately, she refers to the radio as "TV". When we are in the car if I turn the radio down for even a second she is chirping "TV on! TV on! TV on!".  I tell her it's called a radio and she thinks it's funny to argue with me and says TV over and over again. Also, I am a Dave fm fan, but she prefers Q100. I know this because today we were in the car and I switched from Q100 (which was on commercial) to Dave fm (which was playing Rain King by the Counting Crows) and she promptly said "don't touch the buttons!". So, in the end we need to work on the demanding nature of her opinions and we may need to work on her music choices as well.  Last week she got mad over the exact same thing when I went from Britney Spears (Q100) to Kings of Leon (Dave fm).

* The term scoot, or in Lila's world "scoop", has become her way of getting you to move her or move yourself. I got her a little table to sit at in the playroom at a consignment sale not too long ago. She gets herself into the chairs but can't seem to then get the chair to the table. The same thing goes for the chair at the piano. Before I even have a chance to help her she is yelling "scoop mommy! scoop!". She has also commanded me to scoop myself out of my own chair. I mean, I will be the first to admit that I sit. A lot. She now tries to put her arm around my back and move me out of the chair. Have I mentioned I'm ready to have this baby?

* This is kind of random, but it's a testament to how concrete the world is at this age. When we are in the car and Lila sees a car just like Seth's she starts screaming "daddy!". I guess the silver Chevrolet Traverse is super popular these days. She gets mad if the car pulls away. She even started crying yesterday and seemed genuinely mad at me for not taking chase after the car.

* Last, but certainly not least, Lila's affection towards my belly is growing by the minute. Usually if she pays attention to it at all I have either asked her where mommy's baby is or mentioned that she should give the baby some love. But in the past few days she has randomly come up and kissed my belly or gently patted and talked to the baby. I know she can't possibly understand what's about to happen. However, I do feel like her little heart is feeling a big sister pull :-)

Easter

This past weekend was fantastic. I would say it was one of the best weekends we have had as a family in a really long time. It was crazy busy, but so much fun. Here's why...

Friday night was uneventful :-) Seth worked pretty late which usually leads to a lot of working over the weekend. Fortunately for us, that was not the case this weekend!

Saturday morning we got up and got ready for Lila's first Easter egg hunt on our street. It was less than nice outside, so instead of the cute little sundress I had picked out Lila wore her absolute favorite outfit....the "button shirt" and rain boots. We had a small posse with us that included my mom, Seth's mom, Sara, and Sara's boyfriend Tucker.

I just love our neighbors. Our kids are all pretty much around the same age, and they get along so well. It's a small group, but the hunt was a huge success! Lila, of course, walked around discussing to herself something about the eggs this and the eggs that as she picked them up.

This one is the favorite of the day. Everyone looks so awkward all at the same time. Priceless.

I mean seriously...could I look more frumpy?

After the hunt the sun started to shine and we headed to the Szubski's house for a driveway cookout. I didn't have my camera for this part, but it was just perfect. Seth and Ben almost ingested enough hot dogs to concern me. Teddy put his arm around Lila at the little kid picnic table. All was right with the world.

After the cookout we made the bold decision to skip nap and head to Grant park for our friend Eric's 30th birthday cookout. Lila has skipped naps before, but it was usually because she just chose to talk in her bed instead of sleep. We knew this could go one of two ways. However, we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best anyway. The best is what we got. She had her first experience with corn hole and she sat like a zombie in Meg's lap on the blanket filled with babies (so mad at myself for not getting a picture of all the babies on the blanket!).

Earlier last week Seth's mom offered to have Lila spend the night one night over the weekend. Lila has been having consistent sleepovers with both Seth's mom and my mom the past couple of weeks and it has been so nice for us and for Lila. She gets to be around an active adult that doesn't move like slug and we get to either get things done, rest, or go out for the night. I felt bad bringing our very sleepy child over to Lee's, but again she was a champ. Seth and I went to a very nice dinner and then to a movie with Meg and Skip. I got the best night of sleep I've had in weeks. I'm not sure why it was so good because Lila almost never wakes up in the middle of the night. But it was glorious just the same. Seth and I rolled over at 9 am and just stayed there basking in the fact that neither of us just naturally woke up way earlier.

It dawned on me that Lila didn't get to see her Easter basket that morning at our house. I did do one and she still has yet to see it. But, it doesn't matter. She has the best time at Grammy's house and we had our second Easter egg hunt to attend. I figured she'd be ok with waiting a few days on the actual basket presentation.

We got ready and headed to Seth's Grandpa's house in Monroe. Lee met us there with Lila. On Seth's side of the family Lila is really the only little kid. So they did a "big kid" Easter egg hunt complete with money in some of the eggs. Lila got a head start for the ones on the ground. She loved this egg hunt just as much! It was so cute to see her get so into it. She again missed her usual nap time. Lila is not the type of kid that has ever fallen asleep anywhere but in her own bed. I have tried to get her to nap with me or fall asleep with me at other random times and she just won't sit still long enough to do it. As you can see, she did it this time...in two different chairs on two different people no less! That's how you know she had just as much of a good time this weekend as we did. 

Holla Hump Day

Ok, this is holla hump day is dedicated to a very special group of people.  Let me explain.

I love that God has blessed me with two healthy pregnancies. I love that my lifelong dream of being a mom is coming true for a second time. I do not love the stage of being pregnant where I feel completely incapable 99.9% of the day.

My friends (and dear husband) know this about me. Seth knows that undone things in our house make me CRAZY. Meg and Kim hear about it pretty much daily. The big shocker here is that Skip, Meg's husband, started the whole Saturday housework day of fun. It's not that big of a shocker because Skip is just fantastic like that. But, he is also married to Meg who probably tells him that I complain about the undone things daily.

My mom had already been planning to take Lila from Saturday morning to Sunday. Meg was sort of haphazardly trying to come up with something to do for the weekend. It seems she and Skip chatted and Skip suggested showing up at our house Saturday morning to help us get things done. One thing lead to another and before I knew it Meg, Kim, Skip, and Seth were painting and letting me delegate other random things to be done. I looked over at one point and Kim was washing my kitchen windows while "taking a break" from painting trim. Yes folks, these are my friends.

So in true holla hump day fashion, this week's shout outs go to....

...Vivi (my mom) for taking Lila for most of the weekend.

...Skip for suggesting that he and his wife spend the day fixing up someone else's house, for painting whatever Seth suggested he paint, and for trying to get our existing kitchen blinds to work in the nursery.

...Meg for painting trim, doing decoupage, and mudding nail holes while washing her hands eight million times because Seth kept making more holes.

...Kim for cleaning my kitchen, painting trim, doing decoupage, and letting herself get roped into this day of fun!

...Seth for sort of last minute having to throw some things together. I know he wants this stuff to get done too, but he is in the throws of crazytown (also know as his job). I'm sure his stress level went through the roof when I told him he would have to take the day and get some things done. At least I provided help this time right honey?

Seriously, I love you guys. I am so very lucky.

VOID

I don't know about you, but there is now a void on Sunday nights. Maybe for you it's a void on Monday mornings. We looked forward to the name game even though it could be tough. Sunday nights for us brought about discussion and deliberation in a consistent and entertaining way. Therefore, here I sit trying to come up with a way to fill the void....and, I got nothin. Suggestions?

Until I figure it out I am going to just fill you in on our lives in a random outline. Remember outlines? I remember them from writing in high school. Does anyone use them beyond that? This girl is about to....

I. The latest and greatest that is Lila
    a. Getting dressed has become a daily test of my patience and her endurance. She spent the night at
        Seth's mom's house a few weeks ago and came home the next day in her pajamas. She spent the
        night at my mom's last night and came home this morning in her pajamas. You would think we are
        asking her to put something on her body that will go up in flames at any moment.  I know it's a
        control thing. I also know that while it would totally ROCK we will not be going places in our
        pajamas. This is obviously a work in progress.
    b. Going outside may as well be the same as going to Disney World. She walks around and talks with
        such enthusiasm and excitement. She identifies everything with some garbled Lila speak in between
        each identification. It goes something like "leaves wlekrjwlehraklhweklrwe garden wlkerlkw mail
        alskdfakljdkl car wlekrjwlkejrl walk wlekjrelkjr trees lwkejrlkej" and so on. Now if I could just get
        her to understand that going outside can happen much faster if we just put on clothes...
    c. More on this later, but we have been working on Lila's big girl room. She has been sleeping in the
        "new" room for about a week in a pack and play. She seems totally fine with the change. We know
        she isn't ready for the big girl bed, but at least she is starting to feel like the room belongs to her!

II. This weekend we lost my almost 102 year old great grandmother Mable Stevenson...aka Maw Maw. My mom was actually supposed to take Lila to Americus on Saturday to go to Maw Maw's birthday party. Instead, Lila stayed here today and mom, Sara, and I went to Americus for the funeral. Even though it was a day trip, I felt like it was a treat to spend the day with my sister, my mom, and my extended family that I don't see as much as I would like to. Plus, we were able to honor a magnificent woman who lived a long, full life. We will miss you Maw Maw.

These two were almost exactly 100 years apart in age.

III. Note to baby Burrow #2
I'm ready for you. I'm excited about you and madly in love with you already, but I need my body back. I need to eat and not feel like I may be miserable for the rest of the day. I need to run and actively play with your silly big sister. I need to feel capable and comfortable again. However, I also need for you to be ready to join the world. I just felt it couldn't hurt to mention that I'm ready when you are.

Gooder

Not to backtrack here, but I have a story to tell in relation to the female name choice made this week.

Gooder (Mary Evelyn) was Grandma's mom. Grandma is up there in the header playing piano with Lila. Grandma is my mom's mom and she is an avid reader of this blog. I truly love that she is able to "see" us more because of it.

Do you have any stories from your childhood about yourself that have stuck with you? This one stuck with me but I am horrible with details. All I can ever remember is that Gooder was killed by a drunk driver and I wrote a note to her and buried it in the backyard thinking it would go to her in Heaven. So I emailed my mom and asked her to refresh my memory. She tells it better than I ever could so she is our guest blogger today (hope that's ok with you mom!)....

"Gooder died Christmas day of 1983, so you were 3, almost 4.  You didn't really understand then what had happened.  You just knew something wasn't right when I got the phone call from my mom about Gooder.  We had celebrated Christmas that morning in the condo we were living in down in Sandy Springs.  Granny was there.  That was the year she gave you the rabbit coat that you adored!  The call came later that morning, after we'd had time to do Santa Claus with you.  After the call, we began to pack and get ready to go to Americus.  You/we wrote the note your school year that Sara was born, so sometime during your kindergarten year. It was probably close to Christmas because you mention Sara's stocking in the note.  I don't remember what prompted my conversation with you about Gooder that led to the writing of this note, but it was probably nearing the anniversary of her death and I was sad and you picked up on that ... precious, sweet angel that you are!!  Yes, her name is Mary Evelyn and you're spelling it right. Here's what the note said, as you dictated it to me:

To Gooder:
This is Jana.  I have started school.  I wanted to tell you that I love you and I hope you are feeling good.  This is a picture of Sara.  I wanted you to know that my mama and daddy and sister and me are feeling good.  I wanted you to know that Sara already has a stocking.  (You wrote this next sentence, some caps some lower case).  I WaNT you TO KNOW THAT I caN speLL Bat aND I caN speLL SARA.  (Then I wrote) ... We miss you.

You drew a picture of baby Sara lying down (sideways on the paper).  You also drew a picture of yourself standing up with hearts over your head going up to Heaven (I assume).  You're standing next to a picture of a flower.  Then you wrote all of our names as follows:  SARA Bateman, Jana Bateman, Vicky Bateman, Jeff Bateman.  We buried the note in the backyard before you went to bed that night.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  You said, "If buried people go to Heaven, won't buried letters to them go there too"?  I said, "Of course they will."  Then you said, "I want to write a letter to Gooder."  After you went to bed that night, I went out and dug up the letter.  It was priceless to me and still is.  What you did gave me such peace about the first family member I'd lost that meant so much to me ... a woman who beat all the odds, and a woman you and Sara would never really know.  She was one of a kind.  You and Sara would have loved her as much as I do.  If we have a baby girl, she couldn't be named after a better woman than Gooder.  I was secretly pulling for that name all along.  And you also need to know that her friends didn't call her Mary.  She was always Evelyn.  Just Evelyn."

Thank you mom for telling the story. Even if we have a boy this naming process and this week will stick with me just like this funny little story has.

Holla Hump Day

This week's shout outs go to...

...all of you who got caught up in the name game. You made it fun for us, and we love that we were able to share it with friends and family who already love Evelyn/Holden.

...Seth for everything he said in his post. I am just so very lucky.

...Lila for teaching me so much each and every day this past week. I knew I would love watching her learn and grow. I guess I never really thought about how much I would constantly learn and grow because of her.

...Sara again for wanting to help me with my garden, for loving Lila endlessly, and for being my best friend. What will I do without you when you go to the big city?

...my playdate neighbors/friends for making me feel sane because they have been there and/or are in the middle of being there. After the new babies are here there most certainly needs to be a girls night out involving adult beverages. Christy, I will have no problem drinking your drink for you as long as you don't mind driving us in your swagger wagon.

...all those strangers out there who stare a little longer than they should, who hold the door far longer than is necessary, and who offer assistance constantly. I could let it make me feel like I am incapable in your eyes. Instead, I am choosing to embrace your sensitivity because I hope that by doing that you will begin to behave this way with everyone and not just women who are "mega prega".

Day of Sara

There are so many things I want to get done before baby gets here. The list seems endless. With spring being the most glorious time of year for Seth (or rather everyone but him) he's rarely home to help. Sara offered to get the vegetable garden up and running for me and I couldn't have been more thrilled. When Sara was nannying for us/living with us last spring she and I ventured into the world of Square Foot Gardening. It's really quite brilliant. However, we did a lot of things wrong. This year I had a plan. My plan was to plan better and actually use some resources instead of just winging it. So with the help of The All New Square Foot Gardening Book, Georgia Organics, and The Kitchen Garden Planner at Gardener's Supply Company my plan was ready. The raised beds were still standing and in good shape from last year. All I needed was someone who could do the dirty work.

Sara is a member of the Oakhurst Community Garden which I will also now be joining. They had a massive plant sale this weekend and she went to get about half of the plants we needed. I bought seeds at Farmer D Organics on Briarcliff. Sara then spent most of Sunday in the sweltering heat getting the job done. I have not been feeling 100% in the home stretch here so Seth's mom took Lila to a birthday party for Seth's Grandpa. Needless to say, the garden is up and running and I got some much needed lounging around done. Thank you Sara for everything you did!

Lila came home on a good times with family/birthday cake HIGH. She was in rare form and Sara took full advantage. I just love how happy they make each other ;-)

....to my lovely wife....

Have you guys seen JB?  She is pregnant, like mega-prega.  She is stunning.  Gorgeous.  Adorable.

Alright.  So its Tuesday.  I know, I missed my self imposed deadline.

During this entire process, I thought this was going to be a fun way to try to narrow the choices and select a name.  I have had real strong feelings for one of the names on the list, and I attempted to manipulate this decision making process.  Last week, Jana cut that name.

Well not really.  My "name" is still on the list.

This seems like such a silly thing to be contemplating.  We dont even know if we are having a girl or a boy, but we are making such a deal of out this.

Evelyn Burrow.  Charlotte Burrow. Charlie Burrow.  Evie Burrow.

Seriously, how funny will this be if it is a boy.....

Evelyn Burrow.  Evelyn is a family name on Jana's.  I think it is a beautiful name.  Those that know me know that she will likely not be called by the name Evelyn.  I have spent countless car trips thinking of variations, repeating all of them endlessly, and loving all of them.  Evie, E, EB, Evelyn, to name a few.  I love that it is a name that comes form Jana's family.  Lila's middle name comes from my mother's mother, and I think that our new family should represent our past.  I can see myself (hopefully at least a month from now...sorry honey!) looking into Jana's eyes and telling her that she has another daughter, Evelyn (insert middle name determined by Jana here) Burrow.


I forgot how much I like the show Entourage.  Ari kills!


Charlie Burrow.  I love it.  Since day one.  I love it when Lila says Tchurlee.  I cant get the name out of my head.  I have spent countless days, or......hours, plotting which names to cut on my cut week to ensure that Charlie made it to the final two.  The deliberation was minimal.  Success!  Welcome Charlotte Burrow......

.....but its not that easy.  After last weekend. I thought this decision was going to be cut and dry.  Charlotte Burrow was a shoo-in.  I didnt even think about it all week.  Yesterday, I spent the day in the car.  When I say day, I mean 1000 miles (that is why this has been a Monday, err, Tuesday announcement.  Much deliberation can happen during that time.  I realized it wasnt as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I thought about my situation.  I thought about the names.  A lot.  Both names are beautiful.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was forever.  I mean when my daughter, I still cant get the idea that it may be a boy out of my head and we are making a huge deal of this, does something great (hopeful thinking), the world is going to remember her name forever..... and when they remember her name, I want it to be....




.....Evelyn Burrow.

When you see Seth....

....yell at him.

But do it gently because he worked until 9 tonight and then went to play a 10:30 soccer game on 4 hours of sleep. Yes, he's on crack. He claims three other people backed out or something. He also claims that "before the end of the day" means by 11:59 pm. If the name isn't posted by then you can yell at him not gently if you want.

On that note, I excuse myself from this situation. I am the most indecisive person you will ever meet. Therefore, the plan all along was for Seth to make the final decision.

And goodnight. Yes, I plan to go to sleep before knowing the name of my future possible daughter. I just ate DQ because I cried ten times today. That's what happens when you are SUPER hormonal and your daughter runs around in the heat and then talks her brains out instead of napping.

......delay......

On behalf of Seth, we are fully aware that the name was supposed to be announced last night. He didn't get home until 2am from working in Raleigh...he promises to have a post up by the end of the day!

Drum solo please....

It seems we have a musician on our hands. Can you catch the quite humorous Molly reference?

Holla Hump Day

If you have been looking for me or wondering what I'm up to I am apparently on another planet.

In the physical sense I am currently sitting on my couch waiting for Lila's diapers to finish washing so I can put them in the dryer. My friend Sarah just commented on something I said on Facebook hinting to the missing holla hump day to which I replied "holy crap is it Wednesday?".

So here it is...short and sweet.

This week's shout outs go to...

...Christine. She came over and gave me decorating pointers while patiently catering to Lila's attempts at sorting the maternity clothes I was trying to give her.

...my mom for listening to me whine. I'm sorry mom but there is most certainly more coming.

...Seth's aunt Jiff for doing a 3D ultrasound for us yet again. Those things are so cool!

...Lee (Seth's mom) for having Lila over for a sleepover Friday night so we could take a break and go out to dinner...and then for also keeping her most of the day Saturday so that I could attempt a yard sale.

...the midwife I saw on Friday who told me what to do to make my back hurt less and help me sleep better. I just might kiss her the next time I see her.

...anyone who comes in contact with me. This has been a tough pregnancy for me and I am (obviously) not with it to say the least. Someday after this baby comes I will sit here with a fat glass of wine and gush about how smart I feel, what great shape I am in, and how much I have gotten done that day. Ok maybe two or three glasses of wine...while on vacation...by myself.

Don't freak out. I love my family and I LOVE that I am fortunate enough to be having baby number 2. I wouldn't change my life for anything. I simply do not handle feeling incapable very well!

Happy hump day ;-)

The Decision 2011

And then there were two...

Allie

Amelia

Charlotte/Charlie

Claire

Evelyn

Kate

Lucy

Mia

Patty Lou

Peyton

Piper

Quinn

Riley