Spiders, Waiting Room & the Zoo

1. What's the one thing you buty every time you walk into the store? If it's Trader Joe's then it's almond and rice milk, we go through that like crazy and always seem to need more. If it's the supermarket, then whatever meat is on sale. If it's Walgreens or Rite Aide, then it's cereal and/or bread.

2. If you had a day all to yourself how would you spend it? First I would get some blogging done, read a good crime book and watch a movie. All while, eating food without having to share food with anyone (I am assuming our dog is out of the house too)

3. Are you a speed limit driver? If not, over or under? Definately an under or right at speed limit. I am too scared of the other reckless drivers speeding and talking/texting behind the wheel.

4. What's your favorite dessert to make, homemade or from a mix? apple cobbler, I cut apples, place in cast iron skillet, sprinkle with a mixture of pancake mix and butter (I use dairy free butter). Heat in the oven at 300 for twenty minutes and perfection. You could do this with any fruit, but I love it with apples. I will have to post about this one Tuesday.

5. Would you rather have a spider or a mouse scurry across your face (no copping out and saying "neither!!")? OMG, I would rather have a mouse than a spider, spiders are evil creatures that plot and plan your destruction. Yes, I have an irrational fear of spiders (ugh, I feel one crawling on me now)

Dear Beardsley Zoo Maintenance Worker,

Thank you so much for coming so fast to our aid. I can't believe we got into this situation (read below) and would have been waiting for god knows how long for Geico. So when you came and jump started our car, and then refused to take a tip you became an angel in my book. Thank you so much. I truly hope karma returns you good blessing in the near future.

Thanks, from the mother of the sick boy, daughter of the angry dad, and wife of the annoyed hubby

Dear Lady Parts Doctor

I understand you are popular doctor, but scheduling appointments every ten minutes is ridiculous. You have five patients waiting while you have only two rooms available AND you always run late. How about you schedule them twenty minutes apart, might make it easier on the ONE nurse you have in the office.

Sincerely the patient with not enough time to sit in your waiting room for forty minutes

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We had fun at Beardsley Zoo with my parents. If you live in CT area, Beardsley Zoo is an awesome place to take your family. It's big enough to spend most of the day, they have an indoor carousel that you can eat your lunch in and a large picnic area. Even though Dinosaur got a fever once again while at the zoo, he still had a great time. The last time we were at the zoo he was two, now at three he is experiencing as a big boy. He led the way and told us which exhibits we had to see.

with Pop Pop, La La, and Daddy

 Dinosaur was happy to touch the baby alligator, he wanted to help holding the snake, but he didn't get called. I tell you Dinosaur is NOT scared of anything...well except loud noises and thunder storms. But alligators, snakes, snapping turtles... please, he would scare them. LOL

He loved petting the goats and talking back to the roosters. He kept repeating what the rooster was saying, "Cock-a-doo-doo".

He was so happy to take a picture pretending he was an otter. But we
got a shock when we went out to my car and it was dead. DEAD. Hubby makes me keep a
charger in the car, but it was out of juice. Thankfully, the zoo was terrific about getting
my car started and refused to take a tip. 

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CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Friday:
wipe down bathroom, vacuum living areas

17th
clean car

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

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You DON'T Know It All

So tired of people telling me about allergies and dairy.

Dinosaur was born at 35 weeks at 4lbs 6oz, due to preeclamapisa, which should have been diagnosed by my FORMER doctor. He was in the NICU for 12 days due to lack of ability to suck. During that time I had numerous people say I was suffering from post-partum depression, which was frustrating and annoying. Everyone WHO HAD NEVER HAD A BABY OR NEVER HAD A BABY IN THE NICU WHILE THEY WERE STUCK IN THE MATERNITY WARD all had comments to make about how it would be okay or how I was feeling. Yes, I was depressed, any mom would be if you had to be let into a locked room to see your newborn son and go home without him. It was NOT what I expected at all. I was mourning for the loss of birth I expected. But, I also loved my son and held, kissed, fed, rocked, and talked to him every chance.

I cried a lot and everyone, but my mother was the only one who understood that I was just sad about the situation, NOT suffering from PPD. Everyone, except my mother, kept giving me advice and told me stories which only pissed me off more.

He couldn’t breast feed and I had numerous infections in a two-month span, so I decided to do formula and I am very happy with my decision, but that is a story for another day. He spent so much time at doctor’s appointments and was put on inhalers for asthma, since my father-in-law and  SIL's oldest son have asthma issues. I kept asking if he was allergic to dairy, but doctors and everyone else said NO.

He was then put on a very special and expensive formula with no soy or dairy, and he was a little better, but still sick all the time. Then he started drinking milk, because I was bombarded that milk was what he needed and he would be fine. Well, his "outside allergies" got worse and was going to be put on a higher dose of singular.  His colds were horrific, when he got sick he would be sick for up to two weeks and I would have to sleep with him for about three nights, because he coughed ALL NIGHT.

Thankfully I went to a chiropractor recommended to me and after casually talking about son's allergies he suggested I take son off all dairy for five days. Now, I have IBS and can't have any dairy myself, but was pissed that I should have listened to myself. So I immediately took him off all dairy, which was hard to do at first, and gave him almond and rice milk to drink and substituted soy cheese for regular cheese. Well, needless to say after only three days, all his allergies disappeared. He did NOT need any singular, and I have not used the inhaler for asthma since I took him off dairy over a year ago.

Of course some people can't handle that and every time they see me have comments to make. They insist  that I get him tested for allergies to prove that I am wrong. They insist that Dinosaur will grow out of it. They insist that because FIL has allergies, Dinosaur does too. Well, could it be that FIL should eliminate dairy and maybe half of his allergies would go away.

I am NOT forcing anyone else to go dairy free, I am not forcing my beliefs that cow's milk really isn't healthy for anyone and should only be fed to cows. I feel..."LIVE AND LET LIVE", so why do other people feel the need to get me to live how they want? Is my son's lack of reactions to outside allergies not enough evidence? Is my son's ability to now sleep through the night with a cold not enough evidence? Is my son's lack of need for medicine not enough evidence?

Or how about, it's not your flipping business what I choose to feed my son. It don't care if you have three, ten, or one kid, you are NOT my child's parent. You do not get to tell me how to raise my son.

I have never been good around know-it-all people and would always speak my mind. Now, I am just getting nasty and braver. Perhaps I should print out all the evidence that dairy causes allergies just hand it to him and other annoying people and tell them to get their facts straight before they decide to talk about what they know nothing about.

Anyway, I knew there was something wrong with my pregnancy, but everyone kept telling me after six years of trying to get pregnant I should stop complaining and enjoy it. I WAS RIGHT, I had preeclampsia

I knew that having that breathing tube down his nose into his throat and his failure to suck was going to result in speech issues and I WAS RIGHT! Dinosaur had speech services for a year. 

I knew that once  all his allergies disappeared, he was in fact allergic to dairy, and he has been better ever since, I WAS RIGHT.

Thank you for letting me rant today.

CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Thursday:
dust all furniture

16th
wipe down cabinets

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

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Dino in Cooperstown

In this post, Names have been changed and faces covered up for privacy .

On our trip to Cooperstown was an adventure, yeah an adventure, I'll go with that. Hubby played on Double Day Field and we went with him and it was exactly what I expected it to be, a disaster. While we went with Hubby's sister and her husband and their three kids and nephew, it was NOT the place for my Dinosaur. 

They were all older, except for Cousin Judy who is only 18 months. Dinosaur needs constant activities to keep him busy or he will become destructive. Cooperstown, even though beautiful and historic, was not going to fulfill that need for Dinosaur. 

Watching daddy play was NOT fun for him, climbing up and down the bleachers was the fun part, but could not let him do that with a bunch of people around who were trying to watch the game.

watching daddy and Uncle T play on the field

T at bat!

T catching

I tried to keep him running from store walls to me at the sidewalk each time someone went into a store, which was not an easy task. He kept tyring to run in the street and continually bumped into people during his fits. All he wanted was to go back to Sesame Place, I felt so bad for him. 

SIL and her hubby did their best to show me all that Cooperstown had to offer. There was the Fly Creek Ceder Mill that had a small play area and Dinosaur loved it; and running around the store trying all the pretzel and chip samples. But that was good for about an hour and half, and then he was back to boring stuff.

Nephews and their cousin pretending to chase Dinosaur running around the play area.
They sure did a good job of keeping him busy.

Dinosaur with his Buddy, he always asks for Buddy. He LOVES Buddy

Dinosaur going down slide, Aunt Ada and cousin Judy watching

Dinosaur got a fever and sniffles Saturday night, so of course I got almost no sleep. I had to run off by myself Sunday morning to CVS to get son medicine. His temperature was temporarily lowered, but kept rising back up. Hubby didn't get to go to the museum, but he as been there three times before so it's really no loss. 

We had originally wanted to go without Dinosaur on Sunday night, so Hubby could shower after the game and relax. But BIL talked Hubby into going with Dinosaur Saturday into Sunday. If an opportunity like this pops up again, I am going WITHOUT Dinosaur, I need a freaking break and time to myself AND time alone with Hubby.

I know some people take their kids with thme and make the kids adjust, but with Dinosaur that doens't work. 

Do you take your kids on adult vacations and make them adjust? Or do you leave them at home? Or perhaps only go on kid-friendly trips? 

CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Wednesday:
vacuum bedrooms

15th
catch-up day/declutter---now I can clean the fridge and microwave)

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

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Chocolate Pancake Heaven

OMG, I am in heaven with these pancakes. THEY ARE BEYOND DECADENT.

I did my usual batter but used Trader Joe's CHOCOLATE almond milk this time. I like to experiment and try things out, you never know until you try, right? And if if turns out bad, you just keep trying till it comes out right. I've never really had a food I couldn't eat, it was just different than I expected.

Doesn't that looks so delicious and creamy. Oh, I knew it was going to be good.

 

I didn't get a pic of me cutting and adding the diced strawberries and mashed banana chunks, but here is a photo of them cooking on the cast iron skillet. Can you see the chunks of strawberries and bananas in the batter. I was dying to to try them.

 

My hubby will eat almost any dinner I make (with the exception of pork and things with soy cheese) but he REFUSES to eat my pancakes. He prefers plain boring pancakes, who wants that when you can have.....

 

THESE!!!! Just look at how mouth watering those chocolate strawberry-banana pancakes are. You can see the fruit bursting to get out and when I added syrup...well oh my I was so hungry to eat them.

I didn't get any pictures, because Dinosaur and I were stuffing our faces, they were THAT good.
How do you like your pancakes?

CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Tuesday:
clean bathroom

14th
clean living room shelf

(Still need to clean fridge and microwave)

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

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Hummus, Detergent & Fruit Water

Should I feel sad that my son has chosen Trader Joe's hummus/guacamole and chips over MY HOMEMADE meatballs? Should I feel like I have failed as a mom. NOPE. As much as I love to cook for my family and want them to eat healthy foods, I am glad he is just eating. And, I rather him eat the guacamole and hummus instead of candy, potato chips, and cookies.

Look at those delicious meatballs (with bits of squash inside) to give them extra nutrition. They came out so good and were really easy to make, but that will be a recipe for another day.

Yup, son is chowing down on his hummus/guacamole and chips, well actually he sucks the hummus/guacamole off the chips, he loves it that much. He's quite the character.

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I use coupons to buy products for my house, I only show product loyalty if I am genuinely impressed with a product's 1. quality  2. price 3. Amount and quality of coupons.

There are a number of products Dinosaur and I one hundred percent love, they are listed on our sidebar. My newest love is for All oxi-Active. I had coupons and there was a big sale at Walgreens, the best part...I got $3 back to put towards diapers.

My clothes smells beyond amazing, I am particular to smells after I had Dinosaur, but the way All leaves my clothes smelling is perfection. I actually sat down and smelled my clothes for ten minutes. Sure I got weird looks from hubby and son said it smelled like poop. But, I still love smelling my clothes. Now, besides the clothes, the stains are zapped away. GONE. BYE BYE. A white dish rag that I used to clean hubby's coffee spill was returned to its original, pre-stain appearance. Isn't that amazing.

I just want to note that I am not being paid in ANY WAY for this review or any of the products that I listed on my sidebar. They are there because of their value, quality, and coupon availability. 

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I am so tired of buying fruit drinks, I buy them for Dinosaur when he is at daycare. When at home I give him fruit water. What is that???? I'll tell you. I cut up pieces of lemon or oranges along with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, or pineapples and put it in his cup. He loves to shake it all up, which makes more of the flavor come out. I know he is getting more water in his body with less sugar. Where did I get this idea???? From Momables Fresh Fruit Water

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CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
make it home from Cooperstown in one piece, unpack and wash clothes, get Dinosaur read for daycare tomorrow. 
Sunday:

wipe down bathroom, clip coupons & plan shopping list

12th
clean porch

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

You can find me on facebook and twitter

Magic Fork and Figerpeens

~*~Dinosaur's Side of the Story~*~

Why do adults only get to have fun when they eat? I wanted the special, magic fork and my mom said no. I sulked in the corner near my bedroom for a few minutes, then asked for gummies. She instantly gave me the fork. I think I may have found a new trick. Ask for two things and maybe she'll give me one of them. Anyway I got my special, magic fork.

Here you can see it better. It gets bigger when I pull on it, but mommy only let me open it a halfway. Even though it was hard to eat with it, I refused to give it up. I won this fork fair and square and I was going to eat my yummy pancakes with it.

Mommy got a little upset at me yesterday, because I added something to her special cabinet.  She said it's only for her figerpeens, which are special objects I guess. Well, I wanted to add my special robot to her cabinet too. He's really special, he can fly, shoot fire and growl like a dinosaur. He looks really nice in the cabinet, don't you think?

I know you all agree with me, so please tell mommy to stop being so mean or I may have to take out and hide some of her figerpeens. Or maybe I did already, *giggles*

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CLEANING SCHEDULE

may be altered as we head to Cooperstown

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Saturday:
clean door knobs, fan and light fixtures

11th
clean out utensil drawers

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

You can find me on facebook and twitter

Thunder Storms and Speed Racers

1. Thunder storms- love them or hate them? BOTH, I love the view of the rain coming down, the sound of the rain and the crack of thunder. I hate that my son is now scared of them and the damage they cause. Luckily our apartment is on the end of  business strip, so we haven't lost power yet. But, we'll see when the storms get worse.  

2. Do your kids get back to school clothes? No, he's only three and just wears what he normally does to daycare. I'm sure when he gets older I will, but the good thing about a boy is that he won't need outfits, just pants and shirts that kind of match. I hope I am right on that and won't be in for a big surprise when he gets older.

3. Do you golf? Do you watch it? No, I never have and never will. It holds no interest for me. 

4. Showers or baths? I prefer showers, as long as they have a shower head that is detachable so I can clean my shower walls when I am done. I don't think my chunky body will ever fit peacefully into a tub, LOL. Plus I just can never relax in a tub.I'd rather lounge on the couch, in my pajamas, with a class of rum and coke and a good book.

5. What's the strangest meal you ever ate? A few years after dating hubby and I used a gift certificate for valentines day dinner, we stupidly we got the special dinner. It was horrific! They served us caviar and frog legs. I at least tried it and almost threw up. Then there was some spinach and duck combo that look like it had been put on fire. We gave them our gift card, didn't wait for change and high-tailed it to the local diner where we had burgers. 

Dear speed racers

I understand you have someplace to go and think that the road belongs to you. I understand you might be late to work or need to get the best parking space. I understand that you need to beat everyone in life to prove you are number one. I understand, I do. I have places to go, but I NEED to get there. I need to make it home to my son and husband. I need to transport my son safely. If you can't handle that other cars might be on teh road, perhaps you shouldn't be driving. I will not speed just so you can go faster. I will not pull over so you can pass me, I don't trust that you will not hurt us or press on your breaks once you get in front of me. You will simply have to wait till I turn, my concern is not yours, it is my life and my son's life. And on that note, please hang up the phone and pay attention to the road.

Dear Dinosaur,
Please know that I love you with every fiber of my being,. That being said, you most certainly can not have ice pops, lollipops, or almond ice cream in the morning for breakfast. I love you that is why I am saying no. I want you to be healthy and eating a well balanced breakfast is better for you than sugar. No matter how many times you ask, the answer will still be no. No matter how hard you cry and kick the floor, the answer is still no.

Respectfully,
Your Loving Mommy

CLEANING SCHEDULE

Daily:
run washing machine if full, put away dried clothes, clean up disaster areas from Hurricane Dinosaur

Friday:
wipe down bathroom, vacuum living areas

10th
clean cabinets

What's your cleaning agenda today? 

  

You can find me on  pinterest   facebook   twitter