We got an unexpected surprise last night! Chad’s cousin Mikey was going to be coming through Topeka on his way back to Texas and wanted to stop and visit us. He ended up getting here at like 1:30 am, spending the night, having breakfast with us and then continuing on his trip. I think Chad really enjoyed seeing him and hearing his Army stories! And he brought his teeny tiny puppy, so Ava was absolutely thrilled! Unfortunately, since it was here when she woke up, she assumed it was staying and she was pretty upset when he took it with him!

Because of our late night and early morning (and several times being woken up during the night by Kelvin), we’re going to have to miss church again today. Chad is sleeping now and I don’t anticipate him getting up in time to help me get ready. I feel really bad because we’ve missed the last two weeks as well, thanks to sickness and thinking the kids were coming down with the chicken pox (and we usually try to make it every week…every other week at the very least). I know we need to be at church and we want to be at church, it’s just so hard actually getting there! It’s a 90-minute drive one way (and I end up spending most of it in the back, nursing Kelvin in his car seat), we have to spend all day getting ready, and then we don’t even get to hear much of the messages because of the kids (although there’s talk about starting an “underground” church nursery…that would be AWESOME!). It’s just hard at this age. But I always feel guilty if we don’t go, not just because I know we need to be there, but also because I worry about people judging us. There goes that Mommy guilt again! *sigh*

I’m going to have to figure something out to make it easier for us to actually make it. It’s not that we don’t want to be there, it’s just that we don’t want to kill ourselves every week trying to get everything ready on time. Any tips from Mommies who have been there? I think I’m going to try to start getting the diaper bag packed and snacks ready on Friday from now on. Other than that, I’m out of ideas. *big sigh*

Posted: January 31st, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 8

Part of the new CPSIA lead testing law has been suspended for a year! From what I can tell, the CPSC voted unanimously to make it so testing is not going to mandatory for another year (and then they will vote on it again), but if lead is found to be in a product, the manufacturer will still be held liable. This is still very good news!! I am so excited!

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement:

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously (2-0) to issue a one year stay of enforcement for certain testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old and younger. These requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which added certification and testing requirements for all products subject to CPSC standards or bans.

You can read more about it here.

Posted: January 30th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

I am very excited to unveil the project I’ve been working on for the last week (and in my head for the last few months). I have a new blog called Screaming Pennies where I share all kinds of ways to save money! I have several posts up already, but there are many more to come! I hope you’ll all come over and take a look!

P.S. This blog isn’t going anywhere! I just didn’t want to overtake this one with money-saving posts!

Posted: January 30th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

It’s finally quiet in the house! It has been quite a morning! Kelvin was up so much last night and woke Ava up every single time, so I did not get much sleep last night and I’m really dragging. Then both kids were really clingy and high-maintenance this morning, so I haven’t even had a chance to have a cup of coffee yet! I really need to go make one…soon!

Awhile ago, I sent in for a $60 rebate on the contacts I bought and today I got a postcard saying that it wasn’t sent in soon enough and there was an invalid postmark date. I was really mad because I know for absolute certain that it was sent in during the time they were running the promotion. So I called them, but didn’t really think I’d get anywhere since I had no proof of when I sent it. It must happen quite a bit because they had a number in their menu for rebates that were rejected. When I finally got to talk to a person, I told him the situation and he asked for the number on my postcard and then he said he’d update it and the money would be mailed to me within 12 weeks. WHAT? I was so prepared for a fight! Now I’m theorizing that they send those postcards to everyone and only send the money to the people who care enough to call them! I don’t have any proof for that, other than this situation, but keep this in mind and make sure you call the company if you have a rebate rejected!!

OK, gotta go get my coffee now…and get dressed. The mailman has had to knock on the door to give me packages two days in a row now and both days I was still in my pajamas! He must think I don’t ever get dressed! So embarrassing…

Posted: January 30th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

Are you a horse lover? I used to be…well, I still like horses, but I’m not as into them as I used to be. When I was a teenager, I read everything I could get my hands on about horses. I was so interested in them that my grandma even signed me up for a program where I could adopt a horse for a year. The horse, Savannah, had colt that year and I can’t remember his name at all, but it was a lot of fun because I got pictures of her and her colt and I got to write letters back and forth with their owner, Miss Vickie. I ended up growing out of my obsession with horses, but I still ride them any chance I get!

Anyway, if you’re an all-grown-up horse lover and you’re interested in dating other horse lovers, you should visit equestrian cupid. It’s a dating service, and it also has great information on riding trails, and the best areas to ride. I’ve never even thought of such an unusual dating service, but it makes sense because if you spend a lot of time riding and caring for your horse, you probably want someone else who wants to do the same thing!

So go take advantage of their FREE sign-up!

Posted: January 30th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

Does this frog look scary to you guys? It doesn’t look that scary to me…a little ugly, but not really scary. But for some reason, this frog freaks the you-know-what out of Ava! We can’t figure out why, either, because she has little lizards that look the same except they’re different colors and she loves those! But when Chad got this out (he actually got it from Jason awhile ago), she freaked out and went running into another room!

Now don’t judge me, but I kind of used this to my advantage. See, Ava loves crawling up on the desk and getting into things and scattering invoices all over the place and just making a mess! She does it all the time and it drives me crazy. I even put the computer chair as high as it could go so she couldn’t climb up on it, but she figured out how to lower it! This girl is just too smart for her own britches! Anyway, so I put the frog on my desk a couple of days ago and I haven’t had that problem ever since! Unfortunately, I think it’s “magic” is wearing off, because she saw it on Chad’s desk this morning and she picked it up and moved it over to mine. So if she’s picking it up, it won’t be long before she’s back up on my desk, whether the frog is there or not. It was nice while it lasted, though!

By the way, all my mommy-readers should hop over to Motherhood Moments and check out my latest post there. If you’ve ever felt like you’re in a mommy-rut, you need to see the blog I linked to!

Posted: January 29th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 4

If anyone is interested, I have a tutu identical to Ava’s listed on artfire. You can click here to see it.

Also, I guess Kelvin felt left out when I was taking pictures of Ava in her tutu. Chad decided to dress him in it and give him his own photo shoot!

Posted: January 27th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 2

We’re having a slow kind of day here. I’m not feeling well…not sick, just tired and overwhelmed. So we’re just laying low. Even though she’s a little gadabout, Ava also loves days where we just stay home because I just let the kids hang out in long-sleeve shirts and their baby legs. I wish I could get away with that!

I do want to get supper going and sweep the living room during naptime, so I need to keep moving!

Posted: January 27th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 1

I don’t wear much jewelry, but I was just thinking the other day that I should buy a few bracelets or something just to jazz up my outfits. Then I found lusterforever.com ! They have a great assortment of jewelry, but best of all they have a lot of bracelets!

They have all kinds, too…silver bracelets to go with your dressier outfits. Leather bracelets for more casual settings. And they even have charm bracelets, too (I’ve been seriously considering getting one). All at reasonable prices!

If you celebrate Valentines Day, this would be a great site for any male readers I have to head to! I’m sure your significant other will appreciate it!

Posted: January 26th, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: none

I’m starting to wonder if this new lead-testing law isn’t just a plan to stimulate the economy. Because I’ve certainly been doing my part to stimulate it ever since I found out how much it would affect us! I’ve basically been racking my brain trying to think of anything the kids are going to need that I would order online that I can buy now. As a result, the kids have reusable swim diapers on their way here, as well as Ava’s training pants for when we’re ready to potty train. Kelvin also has a hooded towel to match Ava’s on its way.

I have to admit, I’m kind of wondering if I’m overreacting and panicking because I don’t know exactly how this is all going to play out. That’s possible, but everything I’m buying is stuff that I would have bought eventually anyway. Plus, the swim diapers were on clearance since it’s not summer!

Is anyone else doing anything to get ready for this or am I just really strange? Because I kind of feel strange…I haven’t heard many other people panicking and stocking up on things their kids are going to need in the near future. Someone tell me I’m not the only weird one! LOL

If I am, it’s probably because I have a lot of friends who are work-at-home moms who are going to be shut down. I also buy the bulk of the kids’ things from work-at-home moms, small online stores and resale shops (like Once Upon A Child). Right now, it just feels like my whole world is crashing down around me! I don’t know how I’ll survive paying full retail price for everything!

P.S. If you don’t know much about this law yet, I would highly recommend this blog post . It really clarified a lot of things for me!

Posted: January 23rd, 2009 under Random Thoughts.
Comments: 7