Stalker?

You may call it stalking. I call it being lonely.

Wait, that is still pretty stalker-ish to say.

I call it talking pictures of someone when they don't know you are there.

Wait.

Well, I guess I am a stalker. I'm a Lucy stalker. :)

Since I can't go visit Lucy as DayCare anymore (sad), I still walk by occasionally and peak in windows. Alright, alright. That is the epitome of stalker.

Who knew I had an inner creeper this entire time?

I just sometimes wonder what she is doing, if she is having fun, if she misses me, and so on. It's tough being a full-time working mom. I miss her lots of days.

Taking pictures and peaking are my only fix. Creepy or not.

Do you think of your kids all day, while at work? Would you creep too?

Poison Control Hotline

I've seen these lines on babysitting lists. And, I once watched a 'Punky Brewster' episode where they had to call it.

Did I ever really think I would call a poison control hotline? No. Never. We lock up the medicine and all of the cleaning products. Lucy would never get into that stuff.

Now, the question you are wanting answered: Did I call them? Maybe. Don't panic though; this is a mild story.

We will begin with me and Lucy, again, in the master bathroom. I was putting on my makeup and perhaps pestering a few facial blemishes. Lucy was digging through my travel bag, still packed from a trip we took last weekend. She used my brush to brush her hair. She moved my nail polish from the floor, to the top of the toilet, to the tub edge, and so on. She chewed on the lid of my perfume. I was watching and there weren't any choking hazards. I took away my perfume and any other liquids she could spray.

So, when she got quiet, I didn't immediately get concerned. I turned around and she had my deodorant in one hand, the lid in the other, and her mouth was wide open. By looking at my deodorant I could see the teeth marks. She didn't bite it; she just sunk her teeth into it. Little flecks of white were all over her tongue. I tried helping her wipe it out and promptly took my deodorant away.

My first thoughts? It's just deodorant; it can't hurt her. I'm sure I have accidentally eaten or licked deodorant in my time. I know for sure the dogs have eaten it!
Just to be safe, I turned it over.

I said aloud, "Are you freaking kidding me? Luuuuucyyyyy."

I picked up my phone and googled "Poison Control Center".

I called.

Ring.Ring.Ring.

I kept thinking, how am I going to explain this? I'm going to sound like an awful parent!

Ring.Ring.

"Hello, is this an emergency or can you hold?"

"Ummm.....I can hold?"

Thoughts: Oh no! Was that the right answer?

Several minutes went by, as I watched Lucy play. I started to regret my decision to hold.

"Thank you for holding. What is your emergency?"

"Well, my 18 month old daughter got into my deodorant and got some in her mouth. She didn't swallow it; I don't think. She just scraped it with her teeth. I read on the back that I should call right away."

"Yes. They put that one all products. What type of deodorant was it?"

"Dove Fresh."

"Is it a solid?"

Thoughts: Really? Does that matter? And, what do you mean they put that on all products? All deodorant products? Do they just want people to panic?

"Yes. It's a solid."

 "Alright. There isn't anything harmful in that product. You can just give her some drinks of milk or water. If she swallowed a large amount, she may have an upset stomach and might vomit."

"Okay. She didn't swallow any. She is acting normal. I will give her some milk. Thank you."

"Now, can I have your name and telephone number for our records?"

Thoughts: GREAT! I'm going to be on some child protective services list now! I can officially never call back or they will red flag me or something!

Reluctantly, I gave her my name, my telephone number, and my zip code. I'm officially a bad mom and on "the list". Perhaps I should never allow Lucy in the master bathroom again - bad things happen in there! :{

I have a whole new respect for the poison control center. I never would have thought...

Organized House, Organized Mind

I don't know about you; but, I like organization. I've mentioned that before; particularly at work I am very organized.

Since Lucy came along our house has been absolutely less than organized. I have become accustomed to just throwing things in a cabinet or closet and just closing the door. It's hidden from visitors right? I'm totally using the "clean your room" method that we all used as child. Just throw it all in the closet!

Alright - it isn't that bad. However, it does stress me out. I literally can't relax knowing that I have projects that I should be doing - like organizing my bathroom cabinets or the spice cabinet.

I have always said that if my area is unorganized that my mind is unorganized too. Knowing everything has a place and it is in it's home makes me happy!

"A place for everything and everything in it's place."

I preach it; but, I get tired of not living it. When I talk about not having enough hours in my day, this is one of those things that bother me. I never feel like I have the time or energy. So, one night, I sucked it up. I finally just asked Heath, "Can you watch Lucy while I do something real quick?"

"Real quick" turned into about an hour.

I decided to clean up our bathroom cabinets.

This is the spare bathroom mirror-cabinet. Notice how the left side was once a medicine/first aid area? Who knew that we had so much stuff? Would you believe that we barely ever open this for any other reason than to get Lucy's toothbrush?

This is our master bathroom cabinet. Notice again, the top, middle shelf. More medicine! I never took this much until I had Lucy. Now, I have all types of old prescriptions around.

Here is our 'spice cabinet'. You can also see that we have medicine in there! Pepto and off-brand tums are barely peeking over my pepper.

And this cabinet was not being used to it's full potential, in the spare bathroom. So, I decided the medicine needed to be put all into one place - here!

I started cleaning one at a time and categorizing. This is what I came up with (click on the pictures to make them bigger):

It looks like a lot, right? It is! I probably need to go through again and double-check expiration dates. (The red tin is holding medicines that are in a tube, like Orajel and my Eczema hand-cream.)

I have decided that we have too many cosmetics. These are just extras that we leave in the spare for guest use. That's just crazy. I, again, added a little red dish to hold dental floss and Lucy's little Orajel Toothpaste.

It doesn't seem like a big change in the Master. For the most part that is because I didn't touch Heath's stuff on the left side. But, already I have felt like it is easier to find things.

I did notice one thing though; I think I have a deodorant issue...

I have another one in my travel bag! Wow! Note to self: don't buy any more deodorant until at least 2012! I'm becoming a hoarder/extreme couponer.

I even made some changes to the spice cabinet. My greatest accomplishment was deciding to use my recipe card holder for packets, like below (sorry it's so blurry):

1) Yes, we buy Our Family taco seasoning.
2) Yes, I did have some recipe cards in here; but, I had a lot more that were too big and didn't fit. I decided to take the small ones out and put them with the larger cards. Win/Win.

What do you think? It is amazing how better it made me feel. Just a little organization helps me keep my sanity. Plus, I was putting the medicine all in one place; so we can lock that cabinet for Lucy-proofing.

Sorry to get off track a little on the blog; but, I felt compelled to show off my hard work! :)

Have a great, organized day! :)

Broken Hearts

I broke Lucy's heart this last weekend. In the process, she broke mine too.

Since we have three stories to our home, we often times have to "cage" Lucy into one area. This particular evening, Heath had closed our bedroom door to corral her in our bedroom and master bathroom. I was in the bathroom painting my toenails.

Lucy seemed particularly interested in my makeup bag on the counter.

I tried averting her interest by giving her other random things to play with: tampons, a brush, my mascara. Nothing was working. She kept reaching for my makeup bag.

"Lucy. No."

She would look at me with a blank stare, then immediately go back up to her tippy toes, reaching for the bag.

"Lucy. I said, no!"

She dropped back down to her flat foot and flopped her reaching arm back down to her side. She then grabbed my brush and lifted it to her hair, moving it back and forth - as if to act very innocent.

I looked down to paint another nail and then wham! My makeup bag came tumbling down. It was unzipped; therefore, random containers and eyeliner pencil shavings went flying through the air, then covered the floor.

"Lucy! What did I say? I said, no, no, no!"

Don't take my exclamation points wrong; I wasn't yelling. Was the voice stern and frustrated? Absolutely.

She watched as I squatted down, trying to find and pick up items and throw them back in the bag. Then, I discovered what I had anticipated - my blush. It was crumbled into a million pieces.

I let out a huff.

I pointed at it, showed it to Lucy, and said, "Look what you did. You broke it."

I threw it in the makeup bag and looked up just in time to see the saddest face I had ever witnessed.  Her brow line dipped, her eyes were scrunched, and her bottom lip was pushed out to the max. Her arms were at her sides and she just stood there in her little pajamas, with her belly protruding her pajama pants.

The tears came slowly and she only let out the tiniest wail. Her heart was broken.

My heart? Well, it didn't take long and it was broken too. I felt awful.

I shoved the makeup bag out of the way and opened my arms to her. Without thinking twice, she fell into them, hugging me tight. I immediately started telling her how sorry I was.

"I'm sorry baby. I know you don't understand."

All I could imagine was that mean uncle on 'Home Alone' saying, "Look what you did, you little jerk!"

I felt horrible. Reflecting on it, I really didn't get hard with her; but, she must have sensed my irritation. She is getting so smart that I sometimes forget that she is still just 17 months. She may know what 'no' means; but, she doesn't understand that if she pulls my makeup off the counter that it could break.

While we hugged on the bathroom floor and I apologized while rubbing her hair out of her eyes, I think our hearts both healed. It took her a few minutes to forgive me and it only took one tear for me to forgive her.

This discipline thing is going to be harder than I thought. I can't wait until she can fully understand.

Marshmallows?

"Melmo" Addiction

Lucy is officially addicted to "Melmo".

What is that, you ask? It is Elmo from Sesame Street. Lucy, so lovingly, calls him "Melmo!"

It all started when Heath and I discussed Lucy watching television. As I've mentioned before, we weren't too keen on the idea of her watching television. The studies say that it isn't good for her. But, in the words of our doctor on the topic, "sometimes you have to shower!"

Needless to say, Lucy watches television sometimes. Heath and I went back and forth on what was good for her to watch. SpongeBob? Not so much. Sesame Street? Probably. So, we searched Netflix and found several episodes.

Each episode has a small portion of Elmo's World - Lucy's favorite! She sings the song, dances, and yells "Melmo" at the t.v. when it comes on. She loves it!

Elmo's World is the only thing that got us through our 12+ hour trip to and from Texas. May I please add that I never care to see Elmo's World: Wild, Wild West ever again, in my entire life!!?

To be honest, with Netflix on our iPods and iPhone, Elmo has saved us lots of times. Whenever we are in public and there is a major breakdown, Elmo flies in to save the day. AKA - We've created a monster! Now, whenever she sees my phone or one of the iPods she begins to chant, "Melmo, Melmo, Melmo!"

Since she is nearing the tantrum stage, she hates being told, "No." She will throw her head back, wail, rub her eyes, and occasionally flop on the floor.

We've decide to intervene. I think we need to call A&E...she has a problem. Intervention anyone?

To end this post, I wanted to add something funny that I saw in Walmart. It made me laugh. I should get it for Lucy, for when she gets older. :)

"It's Melmo!"

The Winds are Changing

The Lucy household is in for some changes in the coming months. We are approaching the age of potty training and binkie removal. I cringe as I type those.

Potty training? I assume it is a lot harder than it seems. I, for one, have always been that person who would be shocked when older children weren't potty trained and would ask other people, "Shouldn't they be potty trained by now?"

Now, I just might have been putting my foot in my mouth all of that time.

I'm nervous.

What if Lucy has a hard time with it? What if it takes forever? She is in daycare, as you know, so the consistency will be a little difficult. And, to be honest, TMI, she has become a little inconsistent in the timing of messy diapers.

I've been told by several people:

"It isn't a big deal."
"Girls are easier than boys."
"I had mine potty trained before they were ___(insert unbelievably early age here)__."

It is a lot of pressure. I just don't want to start too early or start too late. Because according to my Granny, a cousin of mine was started too early, was potty trained for a while, and then reverted back to messing her pants. (haha - no, it wasn't Hannah.)

BabyCenter.com says that you shouldn't start until they are at least 18 months; but, people keep asking me when we are starting and why we haven't started yet. :{ I have to sadly say...I'm a "going by the book" kind of gal, for the most part. I was the youngest in my family, so I didn't really get to experience all of this stuff first hand. All I have are the answers from different mothers (which are always different), or references, like my doctor, BabyCenter.com, or What to Expect....

For Lucy's 18 month "birthday"? She is getting a big'ol potty chair. :) If for nothing else, then to sit on...naked. :)

We'll see how it goes. I'll be sure to let you know how hard or easy the transition is for Lucy and us. Watch - it will be really easy and then our next child will be super difficult (as my mom claimed it was with my sister and me).

As for binkie removal? Ugh...we really need to start weaning her. We've been trying. In fact, a couple of nights ago, I almost put her to bed without it! When I gave it to her, I realized that she hadn't had it the entire night! It was a small achievement. :) Perhaps it will be easier than we thought too...

My biggest worry with it? Is that we use it for this:

Is that awful? haha. Heath calls it "the plug."

Screaming in the grocery store? Oh, just get "the plug."

If you are interested in this particular pacifier, they sell it on Amazon.com for a decent price. :) I think it's great. haha.

The winds are changing...I just don't know if I want to put up my sail up yet or not. :{

Lucy's Ready. I'm Not.

We play with Lucy's baby dolls at home. She feeds them with a spoon. She puts them in the high chair and stroller. We have tried to teach her how to love her babies.

Last night, we were sitting in the living room. I had just pulled chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. I was blowing on one of them, trying to dodge the reaching Lucy hand coming at me. In between blows, I was chanting, "Hot, hot, hot."

Lucy began to mock me, whispering, "Haaa, haaa, haa."

Finally it was cool enough and I gave Lucy her bite. Yum. Chocolate chip cookie. Wait, "Lucy! No! Bad girl!"

I watched as Lucy stuck her chocolaty tongue out and scraped the cookie onto the floor with the side of her index finger.

One dish towel later, I was scrubbing the floor, the side of the couch, and Lucy's face, all covered in chocolate. She promptly took the towel away from me, wiped her babies mouth, the couch, and the floor as well. Alright - how could I stay upset with that? :)

She then proceeded to use the dish towel as a blanket. She went around the room, wrapping up every doll or stuffed animal. Once I figured out what she was doing, I tried to help her. She settled on carrying around a stuffed pig the rest of the night. He would come unraveled, then she would bring him to me or Heath for "re-wrapping."

Heath and I watched as she rocked him, hugged him, and even put him in her chair "to sleep." When she laid him down, she said "shhhh" and "night-night." Then, she leaned over and kissed him on the nose.

I teared up. It was the cutest and sweetest thing I had ever seen. Heath and I just kept looking at each other, beaming with pride.

I said, what everyone is now thinking, "I think she is ready for a baby."

Then I thought, "I'm not though!" haha.

We still need more Lucy-alone-time. Either way, it is nice to know that any future babies will have a wonderful bigger sister in Lucy. :)

And, this is where the pig slept all night -

We tried to get pictures of Lucy holding him and rocking him; but, she wouldn't sit still for us. These were the best, blurry images we could get, haha -

Motherly? Yes. Model? Not yet, anyway. :)