Feeling Crafty & Thrifty

It seems like ever since I became a mom that I have a hawk eye for finding toys on the side of the road that no one wants anymore.  I found Nugget's John Deere riding toy in the neighbor's trash pile and all that was wrong with it was that it needed a new charger and battery ($60ish), I found old school Tonka metal dump trucks, and yesterday, what at first I thought was a major score, a train table compatible with the Thomas wooden trains.  Nugget is a huge, and I mean huge Thomas fan.  She knows the Roll Call song, knows the name of every one of Thomas' friends, and could probably watch the show 24/7 if I let her.  So when I saw the train table on the side of the road on our way home from daycare, I did a 180 attempted to load it up in the car.  In my adrenaline rush I failed to notice that the tabletop was trashed, there were parts missing, and the table itself wasn't in the best of shape, but dang it, I got that table in the jeep complete with the kids, packages I needed to ship, and groceries, and I was proud!

After finding the train table online with a little Google-fu, I discovered that when it was new it was selling for almost $200.  In the end, I'm not going to be able to salvage the top, there's just too much yucky sticky stuff on it, but I can save the tracks and bridge it had on it and keep the table base. The table base needs a good cleaning and tightening of the screws.  What I'm probably going to do (and hopefully I'll find time before August which is Nugget's birthday) is buy some plywood, either felt or low pile AstroTurf, some sand, plexiglass, and type of paint that I can make to look like water and make Nugget her very own one-of-a-kind train table.  When my brother and I were kids we had our own HO scale train set and I built most of the buildings, so this should come natural, right?  Well, after hauling that damn table home, I am determined to make this work!  haha

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Invasion of the ladybugs!

Say hello to our leetle friends...

Our house has apparently become a haven for Japanese lady beetles this winter.  I first noticed them in November when they were all clustered at the peak of the ceiling in our livingroom and until I used the binoculars on them, I thought I had a black mold problem.  The peak of the ceiling is at least 20 feet tall, so unless I got out a ridiculously tall ladder and ventured up there with my hand vacuum, they weren't going anywhere.  Eventually they disappeared and I thought that was the end of them.  The end of them that is until last week.

For some reason, they are drawn to Nugget's room.  They are EVERYWHERE.  On her humidifier, in her dresser, on her windows, on the floor, on her owl nightlight; it's beyond ridiculous!   I tried crushing them, but they leave a brownish-yellow stain and also let out a unpleasant odor.  Did I mention that they bite?  While reading Nugget bedtime stories the other night, one crawled up my pant leg and chomped down on me. So yeah, other than bug bombing the house (which is not going to happen) I guess we are going to be stuck with our invaders for awhile.  I think I'm going to have the hubby crawl around on the roof come spring and look for places these little buggers are coming in and plug the holes with caulk.  Maybe until then I can get a few carnivorous plants and start feeding the lady beetles to them for fun or is that a tad twisted?

My little guy is growing up

I installed "big boy" car seats in both vehicles today and put the "bucket" seat in the basement for now until I decide what to do with it.  It's bittersweet to me because this means that in a little under two months, Hank will be a year old.  My "baby making" days are behind me, and as much as I loved being pregnant, it's not worth the risks for me or any potential spawn.  My age, risk of birth defects, the sizes of the babies, and injuries to me outweigh my desire to be pregnant again.  The hubby and I did talk about it, and if by chance I still have the baby itch in a year or so perhaps we could foster/adopt a child.

I've also had to run around the house and start re-baby proofing everything.  Hank is pretty mobile and cruising next to any object that he can pull himself up on and walk around.  He's also managed to get into Nugget's crayons on her art table, the pantry, and the cats food dishes when I've had my back turned for a moment.  There are few things freakier than looking at your 10 month old with rainbow colored teeth.

Other than that, I am getting tired of being cooped up in the house because it's too cold to take Hank out to play with Nugget.  I know she's feeling the same way.  We've been doing lots of dancing to the Spotify playlist I made for her to help beat the boredom and make car rides more fun.  Her favorites are anything Yo Gabba Gabba, Elmo, and Pharrell's "Happy."

Bargain Hunting the Geekius Domesticus Way

Raising kids is expensive.  I knew this when we had Nugget, but I didn't have any idea of a dollar figure.  Cribs, diapers, clothes, pjs, toys, car seats, high chairs, the list goes on and on.  According to a study that came out last year, it costs an average of $241,080 to raise a child from birth to age 18.  That figure doesn't even include college or trade school, which is insane to me.  I'm not a extreme couponer, but I do like the satisfaction of getting a good deal when I can.

Enter Amazon.com and Warehouse Deals. I honestly hate the word "pre-owned" as it just sounds cheesy as heck but if I can buy something that's new and the packaging may be damaged but the item is okay, sign me up!  I bought Hank's bedding, lamps for the house, and now Hank's big boy car seat.  My biggest saves so far were Hank's bedding ($60 less than original price) and his car seat ($50 less than original price.)  So yeah, I can live with the fact it doesn't have a box or the box has extra tape on it.  All the item are backed by Amazon's guarantee, return policy, and best of all, Amazon Prime shipping.  I'm the first to admit I love the fact I don't have to drive to the store and have it arrive a day or two after I order it.  Granted, Prime costs $79 a year, but if you factor in Instant Video and if you do a lot of online shopping, it almost pays for itself in the long run.

I've also been utilizing the heck out of craigslist too,  Nugget is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan and I'm pretty sure I've seen every movie on Netflix and Prime Instant video.  The wooden trains are not cheap, and I know how much she loves them.  I've been able to score quite a few of them via craigslist and get her lots of track too.  Next on my craigslist search, Tidmouth Sheds and Sir Topham Hat.

So yeah, while I may not have a basement full of toothpaste and mac and cheese boxes, I do know how to save a buck or two when needed, and as Martha says,"It's a good thing."

Random Food Ramblings

One of the many things I've been working on is cutting down processed and pre-made foods in our house.  You may notice that I said cutting down versus eliminating.  Although I love to cook, I need a break every now and again and love me a frozen pizza, and I'll be honest, I am a sucker for Rice-a-roni.   Eating healthier is something that I have been thinking about lately, especially because of where I work and having two small children.  Growing up, my mom didn't do a lot of cooking from scratch.  Sometimes I wonder if it's because as a child of immigrants, she helped make the sausage, unknowingly raised her pet rabbit to be dinner, and just got burnt out on it and felt Hamburger Helper was the way to go.

When I'm at work I've noticed so many people (especially families) buying prepared foods as their primary meals. As I said, I do love me a pizza or even orange chicken from time to time, but I can't imagine not cooking meals from scratch or even semi-homemade. I realize that people lead busy lives and may not enjoy cooking but it seems like even those people could prepare meals in a crock pot with little or no effort. I love to cook but I also know how much money I save when I cook from scratch versus popping a Hungry Man in the microwave. Many foods that claim to have no preservatives are loaded with sodium, and that's not exactly healthy either. I also like knowing where my food is coming from and how it was prepared.

Waiting for the Thaw

Winter has been pretty harsh in the Magical Mitten State.  There have been more days below twenty degrees than above, and according to the meteorologists, this has been the snowiest winter in Michigan since I was four years old.  I am not a snow hater.  I chose to stay in Michigan rather than move to a warmer state, it's these temperatures that are driving me crazy.  Nugget wants to go out to play, but in order for me to do that, I have to bundle Hank up so he looks like Maggie Simpson or the kid from A Christmas Story.  As you can see from the photo to your right, being not old enough to walk and talk, leads to not so fun times getting hauled around the yard by your older sibling.  Nugget was having a blast though!

Due to all this time being trapped inside the house, I have a major case of cabin fever.  When I'm not dancing around the living room, drawing pictures of owls, Mommy trees & baby trees (long story), being climbed on like a jungle gym, I've been looking through my gardening books and seed catalogs.  Nugget even got into the act and was showing me all the things she wants to grow this year.  Now that she's two and a half, she's really into nature, plants, flowers, and wanting to grow strawberries.  I actually bought a strawberry pot and planted it for her and we did get quite a few berries.  Unfortunately, she didn't always wait until the berries were ripe, so our yield wasn't as good as it could have been.  I'm thinking this year will be different.  She told me today that she also wants to grow corn in a flower pot like we saw in the Burpee catalog and lots and lots of flowers.

I am hoping to get the raised veggie gardens I wanted to build while on maternity leave last year built this year too.  Our garden last year produced, but to get maximum growing power, I am definitely going to have some beds near the middle of our backyard so they are away from the tree line and more in the sun.  Much like remembering to update this blog, making sure I actually get the garden built is going to entail staying on my own butt and harassing myself to make sure it gets done,

Hank the Tank is here!

"I'll make you an offer that you can't refuse."

I kept joking that I was keeping Hank in until Ely made it from Chicago.  True to my word, I went into labor the day after I picked Ely up from the train station in Ann Arbor.  I went into full on labor about 4 in the morning and Henry (Hank the Tank) was born 04.28.2013 at 2:59 p.m., nine lbs., five ounces.  If only it was as easy as it sounds.

I had decided to try to go the all natural route after having to do the emergency c section with Nugget.    The hubby got a big chuckle that even though Hank was almost out, I was crying for an epidural.  Because of his size, they had called in extra doctors to aid the midwives in the delivery.   I had passed the glucose test, so I did not have gestational diabetes this time, and they didn't do too much extra monitoring like they did with Nugget.   To make a long story short, there was a decision made whether to break Hank's clavicle or tear me.  I'm glad in the end poor Hank didn't have to endure a broken bone even if the healing longer than I had planned for,  We are so very lucky to have C.S.Mott Children's Hospital in our backyard.  I don't know if I would have wanted to deliver anywhere else.

Having two under two has been a bit crazy.   I honestly feel like The Walking Dead but I wouldn't change a thing.  Nugget is in love with her little brother and wants to help in any way possible.  I should probably try and get some sleep, because these moments are far in in between!