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! :)