Thoughts about the Summer and beyond

September 1st, 2010

To be honest, I have about 40 posts in draft behind the scenes here. I just can’t bring myself to publish anything. Maybe it’s because too many eyes will read it. Too many eyes that I don’t want to read my thoughts, at least the thoughts that I’ve been writing about lately. It’s hard to write and publish when you are not anonymous.

Aside from that, I’ve been busy hanging out with my two favorite people! My husband, Binary Boy and I have had a busy Summer! Swimming lessons, good friends moving within minutes away, lots of (minor) home improvement and the general day-to-day business that raising a child brings. Really, it’s been amazing and happy. I am content and, if I could purr like a contented cat, I would be purring constantly.

Binary Boy’s birthday is at the end of October, so we’ve started planning. Nothing but the date is set, yet, but it’s never too early to start! My Dad won’t be able to make it this year due to circumstances beyond his control, but we’ll hopefully see him next year (we’ll miss you Dad and Kika!). We’re not sure who else is coming from out-of-state, but hopefully, everyone can make it this year. It’s hard being away from family for so long!

Oh.. and my birthday is in a couple of weeks. I’ll be over 30! Not sure what I want to do for it, if anything, but after about 25, I stopped caring, to be honest. I have more fun celebrating other people’s birthday than my own!

We’ll be having a very relaxed Labor Day, with nothing much planned other than being together. We always seem to have fun no matter if we just go grocery shopping or weed the yard or hanging out with friends, so I’m sure it’ll be more of the same for our three-day-weekend. Hope you enjoy your weekend, too! Remember to relax and have fun with friends and family. They are what makes life worth living for. 🙂

I Shop at Whole Foods…

April 18th, 2010

Whole Foods Market in Austin, TX So what!? For some reason, I feel like we are judged because we shop at Whole Foods. At least two couples I know of gives a little “heh heh”-type chuckle when the subject comes up. I have to admit, it makes me feel defensive.

I have no idea how much other people spend on their weekly groceries, or what other peoples budget is for food, but our food budget is one of the largest portions of what we spend money on.

Why? Because Kevin and I hardly spend on anything else. We don’t pay for cable. We don’t have Netflix (or any other monthly services except cell phone service). We rarely eat out (and when we do, we more than likely use a coupon). Kevin and I, on average, go out to see a movie every other month (separately still, until we are comfortable leaving Binary Boy with a sitter). We don’t buy fancy clothing or shoes – we both shop at Old Navy and Kohl’s (sales and coupons, of course), and occasionally I’ll find something at Costco. Hell, I’ve been wearing the same pair of Converse for over 4 years now and I still love them.

Sure, we’ve been buying some new furniture to furnish our used-to-be-bare home. Guess what, though? Mostly ALL of it has been on deep discount at World Market and probably bought in conjunction with a coupon! We patiently wait for sales… weeks, months even… and then grab what we want when it’s in our budget. We aren’t people who need to feel that instant gratification, clearly.

So, what do we spend a large chunk of our weekly budget on? Good, wholesome, healthy, safe food. Organic fruits and veggies. Sustainable meat and seafood. I have a wheat sensitivity, so I need to buy some of the gluten free items that can only be found at Whole Foods (and sadly, I think Binary Boy has inherited some of my food sensitivities, so we’ve been shopping for some of the gluten-free kids food, too).

Also, we shop their sales. When something is on sale, we buy it in bulk. We buy certain often-used items with their case discount (12 items = 10% off). We use the coupons they offer in store every month – yup, they put out their own coupon book! We buy their store brand, 365 Everyday Value, A LOT.

We don’t exclusively shop at Whole Foods, either. I know it’s not the be-all, end-all for grocery stores (but, we really, really love it there). We buy certain items at Costco and some things at H.E.B. (a local grocery store).

So, really? What is the deal with people judging us on where we shop? What’s with the judgment in general? What does that help or offer a friendship? I’ll tell you. Absolutely nothing.

Note: Not sure if I need to mention this, but just to cover my ass: Absolutely none of this post was sponsored by anyone and I got absolutely nothing to post any brand names. I added links because I felt like it, and as you can see, some brands I got lazy with and didn’t link.

A Day to Remember

March 23rd, 2010

Ever have a day where absolutely everything goes your way? That was today for me. I woke up feeling rested, as Binary Boy slept through the night. I had a good hair day. My morning espresso was especially yummy. I got to put in a load of laundry before we left for our class at The Little Gym. It was super fun, as usual. I had a wonderful chat with the instructor, who also happens to be the owner, while Binary Boy ate a snack there. As a bonus, the class tires him out so much so that I have to keep him awake on the drive home! He then usually falls asleep while I nurse him down for his nap.

Now, normally, I get on the computer or read mail and pay bills while he naps. Today, however, I started reading NurtureShock on my Kindle (it was recommended to me by a friend of mine) and started to feel tired myself, so I also took a nap. An hour and a half later, Binary Boy woke up. Amazingly, he napped for 2 hours!

Then it was time for lunch. I had another espresso, which seemed better than the first one I had this morning. After lunch, I transfered the laundry and we played for a bit, before heading out for a walk. It was a balmy 74 degrees today and sunny, with hardly any wind. Pretty much perfect weather.

We walked to the mailboxes, then we played in the park next to them for almost an hour. There were two other boys there, playing with toy helicopters, while their mom chatted on the cell phone. Binary Boy had fun watching the helicopters spin up and then crash down for a bit. We headed home after he started to get hungry.

Dinner was delicious, but simple. Baked chicken and rice/veggie pilaf. Binary Boy really loved the pilaf! After dinner, we played for a bit as a family and shortly after it was bubble bath time (not for me unfortunately – heehee)! Bath, stories, then bed, and, now, here I am trying to record it so I can remember it forever.

After putting it all into words, today doesn’t seem that special, but it was so very special to me. It was relaxed and all-around perfect. I hope we have many more days like it.

Making Peace with Naptime

February 18th, 2010

So, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I tweet often about Binary Boy’s challenges with taking naps (and the length of them) and I’ve blogged off and on about his (lack of) naps, too. Every baby has his or her own challenge. Napping has always been Binary Boy’s challenge. Mostly, it’s napping, not sleeping, as he sleeps through the night pretty often (or only wakes once), and has from a relatively young age, too. I believe around 6 months he started sleeping 10-12 hours through the night.

After our “before sleep” routine for every nap and at bedtime (with added bath before bed), I lay next to Binary Boy and sing a song, then quiet.. shhh… until he is past REM and into a deep sleep. I then carefully move him into his crib. Even though it takes up more of my personal time during the day, I relish those moments with him. The quiet, hushed stillness of relaxing into sleep.

Now, if he doesn’t fall asleep, that’s a whole different, frustrating story, but I talk enough about those times. I want to remember the good nap times, which truly are most days. Read the rest of this entry »