To the Moms Without Their Babies

I have had a terrific Mother's Day. I slept in-ish. My husband and sons gave me some incredible gifts, both impressive and meaningful. I got to sit in a friend's living room and enjoy a bloody mary (or two) while having conversation with four other women that have wild and crazy boys near my oldest son's age. Then all of our families went to a laughter filled lunch. We came home and I napped.  We picked up fresh flowers to take to a couple of the special ladies that my boys love.

I very truly had one of the best Mother's Days I can remember.

Yet, I feel sad.  I recently posted on my Facebook wall an article about how to explain miscarriage to a sibling.  One of the things that it talked of is how moms may have another child after a loss, they still may grieve significantly this child they lost.

It is like that for me.

A high school friend messaged me about three months ago to tell me she was very excitedly expecting for the first time. We talked a little about how nervous she was, and about my successful and unsuccessful pregnancies.  Sadly, a month ago that she too lost her pregnancy and was devastated.

Last night I messaged her, Happy Mother's Day.  We talked briefly, and I wanted her know, she deserved a Mother's Day well-wish.

Today, while buying the flowers for my own mother and the pseudo-grandmother for my boys I saw her.  I hugged her.  For the first time in probably ten years I saw her and was able to hug her a Happy Mother's day.

I wish I could hug all of the moms who have had a loss and tell them Happy Mother's Day.  They deserve to be recognized as well.

Please know, if you're part of the most undesired mom's club in the world and have lost a pregnancy or child, you are still a mother.  You are appreciated. You are thought of.

Crying Over Spilt Milk

There's the saying, "There's no good crying over spilt milk," which is to say that huffing and puffing over something that has already happened, that wasn't that big of a deal anyway, is silly.   Unless it's pumped breastmilk. That shit is liquid gold and I have totally bawled over accidentally knocking over a bag of freshly squeezed boob juice.

Really, I let little things go. Especially that lowly cow's milk (insert sancti-mommy "human milk for human babies" phrase and eyeroll).

But today.  Today is different.

It's 8am. I had a heck of a day yesterday and spent a good portion at the Mac Store repairing this trusty companion I write with to you today.  This morning I started finishing editing and copying images for a photography client that should have been completed yesterday.

I few moments ago I heard the familiar ting of a spoon in a cereal bowl. Ah, morning.

WHAT.

The kids already ate twenty minutes ago.  The breakfast table is clear. Why is that sound happening? Why is that sound happening in our living room?

I crept around the half wall to find E3 banging around in Daddy's cereal bowl he left on the end table.  There was just enough milk and Cheerios hanging out in it to pour down the side of the armchair and mash into the carpet.

UUUGGGHH. I had to gather the cleaning supplies and go forth to the battle field.  While battling the milk soaking into the carpet pad that will undoubtedly make that corner of the living room sour for a month, I hear it.

It's a splash followed by a plastic bump.  Instinctively I know.

You see, E2 has this habit of taking a few bites of breakfast then wandering around for twenty minutes. He will again sit to eat no less than three moments before we have to rush out the door to make whatever appointment we are already late for.

Which means one thing: E3 struck again.  I made it to kitchen to see the milk dripping off of the table and chair onto my freshly cleaned hardwood. E3 was trying to use Big Brother's spoon to eat the remaining CoCo Puffs out of the bowl.

I had to clean an even bigger mess and just tossed him into the high chair with the remaining floor soup.

I think I give up. If you come over, bring house shoes. My floors are sticky.

All Aboard the NOPE Train

This past weekend Husband Dearest and I got to go on our first EVER over night trip together where I wasn't pregnant. Make note: That was October 2009, ya'll. I'm telling you this just so I can share a couple pictures and then move on to the story you want to hear.

Hip (Hip Hooray! It's OK! ((we think))

Anybody with a four year old, particularly a four year old on the very top of the growth chart knows, growing pains a very real thing. It will take your happy go lucky little guy or gal and turn them into a screamy little thing that Ibuprofen and snuggles can hardly alleviate. Then BAM. It's gone as fast as it started.

According to KidsHealth.org, the average four year old boy is 40 lbs and about 40 inches tall. E2 is 49 lbs and according to the doctor's office, right at 47 inches tall. He has grown two and half inches in five months. If you do the math, he's growing at a rate of an eight of an inch PER WEEK.

A Big Old Handful

I can't make this stuff up. 

Today is not trash day. Tomorrow is trash day. I thought that I would be a good little housewife today and clean the trash from the garage to make Husband Dearest happy, then drag all the trash out to the curb tonight, instead of scrambling to get it done in the morning. While I was dragging things out to the curb, I could hear little E3 screeching inside the house. Not a screech of pain, but his very discernible "I'm pissed!" screech. I did not hurry. As I was about to pick up all the little pieces of junk the big dogs had shredded and strewn about the garage, E2 opens the door, "Mama, E3 is stuck." Sigh. E3 has recently learned how to climb unsecured drawers in the kitchen. There's only three or four drawers and they have all of the kid cups in them or are empty. The boys love to play with them and it keeps me from needing to get E2 a cup every. single. time. he's sssssooooo ttttthhiirrssttyyy. 

When I reentered the house, leaving all the bits and pieces of trash around the garage, I saw he was definitely stuck. E3 had climbed into the bottom drawer, then pulled the next drawer open over the top of him. He did the same thing the day prior, only he flipped out and smushed his face on the hardwood floor giving him Baby's First Bloody Nose. 

After disengaging Baby Climbs A Lot, I tried to go back to my trash pick up duty. "Mama, I have to poop," a deadpanned four year old snuck in front of me, just to make me very aware of his bodily function necessities. He then turned and walked to the bathroom. 

I just stood there, shaking my head. My daily conversations have changed a lot since I went to working only part time. E3 shot through the living room, tailing brother. At least I'm not the only person that doesn't get to poop in peace. 

FINALLY I could at least replace the trash bag in the kitchen. Just as I'm shaking the bag to put it in the can my sweet, darling little E2 yells from the shitter, "Moooom, he's going to touch the poop!"

WHAT. 

HOW can a BABY touch POOP IN the toilet? 

I ran. But not fast enough. "Mooom he's holding the poooooop!"

He was holding the poop. E2 stood up to wipe his butt (yay he's wiping his own ass! That's a big hairy deal!) as he hasn't mastered the lean technique yet. In doing so, he left the pot open for the unleashing of ninja moves from our 10 month old angel baby E3.  

When I skid into the bathroom, E3 was bringing his hand out of the toilet with a nice, big chunk of poop smashed in his tiny little fist. 

Now get on my level. Slow things down a bit. Let's give this image that special effect 3D image of zoom. He's bringing his hand to his face, he's opening his mouth... 

NOOOOO!

He stopped just as I smacked his hand down, making him cry and throwing half the turd back into the toilet, half onto the tile. I saved him. I saved me. No poop was consumed. 

I scooped little E3 up and immediately thrust his hands under the sink to scrub. I'm flustered, to say the least. As I'm scrubbing his little poop scoops, I hear the door open. Husband's home. "Court, did you miss the trash!? The trash is still out!? And you didn't pick up the garage..."

Organization Challenge Week 3: The Pantry

Still catching up on the A Bowl Full of Lemons organization challenge. I've finished the pantry and will move onto the master bedroom this week.

There's not much to say regarding my food pantry.

The before was a cluster f*ck.

The after isn't.

I don't really like the storage bins I'm using, but after nearly pissing myself after looking up the cost of the OXO containers, Imma ride this one out.

Playing with Annie: A Chalk Paint Experience

A couple weeks ago I decided I had HAD IT with my kitchen table and chairs.  The set, originally my grandparents, has survived their family of four, my parents family of four, and now is on our family of four. The chairs have been gorilla glued, screwed and nailed (kinky, I know) every which way. The table with a veneered top has been marked on, magic erasered, stabbed and the leaf completely warped (and that was just from me).

I've been pinning furniture redo projects since I did the Pinecone baby furniture a year ago. Es 1 and 2 were gone for the the weekend, and I had my chance. I looked up my dealer stockiest, the Annie Sloan term for retailer, and went for a visit.

I landed at Bella B Decor in Stanley, KS. I went in and introduced myself to Very Helpful Lady (she told me her name, but after I told her I was going to feature this project on my blog, she politely asked that she not be identified- so OBVIOUSLY she is a Secret Chalk Paint Agent. Obvsly.), and told her that after I browsed I would for sure need some help.

First, this store is really cool. Not only does it feature repurposed and refinished vendor booths but there were also really cool  boutique clothing booths alongside the normal decor.

A beautiful setup for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at Bella B Decor

The Annie Sloan and Milk Paint sections are well thought out, displaying all the color options as well as examples and previous works. Bella B offers some really neat classes showcasing design and work principles of chalk and milk paint. I'd love to take one of these classes in the near future.

I told VHL (Very Helpful Lady!) about what I was wanting to accomplish, showed her the current condition of my sad sad table and she set me up with some ideas. I settled on Annie Sloan Burgundy. for my "pop" of color. It's a reddish wine, and I'd show you an example, but I guess it's brand spankin' new because I cannot find it anywhere. Then I went with CoCo as my "over" color.  I also purchased the clear soft wax, although I do want to get the dark wax to add to my collection. The final purchase I made was a good wax brush. I'm super cheap and was having a hard time convincing myself to spend money on the paint plus brush, but I decided if I was doing it, I needed to do it right (for once).  VHL tried to add in a few point of sale purchases, but I held fast.
 Later that afternoon, I set to to work. The first thing I had to do was clean the grime and yuck off of the table legs and chairs. I had to call in reinforcements and get my friend Beck to come help.  Mostly because she brought chocolate liqueur.  After everything was thoroughly scrubbed and dry, I was ready. Okay, not really, I needed a pep talk and Beck pretty much had to shove me to start.

The first couple strokes are the hardest.
(That's what she said.)

The first thing I noticed was what a soft texture the paint had when applied to the table. It started to dry within a few minutes and was pretty thick. I did expect each quart to go a long way- it's nearly $37 so for that, it ought to stretch.

I worked on through the evening and had everything coated in the Burgundy for the next step.

The texture is incredibly soft- just like chalk!

I officially hate the chairs by this point. VHL told me that would happen, but boy was she right. See all those spindles? And the bottom section is basically another nine spindles on top of the nine on the back of the chair. The whole damn chair is made of spindles. And there's four of them. By now, after a million feed the baby breaks and not enough feed the mommy breaks, I'm ready to launch everything to the curb and head downtown to Hickory Dickory to buy a new set.

Once everything was sufficiently coated in burgundy, it was time to apply the Coco. The disappointment I have here is it's not as chocolatey as I expected. It's a grey base but between the grey in the Annie Sloan paint the the greige we had the house painted (which was happening at the same time, but we hired that out) I'm just over it.  I'm mad I didn't do a more drastic color change on our walls, and then the damn chairs seem to blend in.

Once the coco was applied and dried, sans table top, I got out the clear soft wax and my new fancy wax brush. Working in a circular motion, think Danny in Karate Kid- wax on, wax off- I began what might be my favorite step. In order to distress the furniture, I sanded small sections after wax was applied. This kept the dust down and made the top paint coat very easy to manipulate. I will say that the few pieces of sandpaper I got at Bella B were not going to cut it. I actually got out a nail file emery board and it did the trick perfectly.

I did a slightly different technique on the legs of the chairs- it really needed an additional coat of coco, but since I was SO. FREAKING. OVER. IT. we will just call this technique "Lazy It" and so there's no actual distressing on those legs- it's just a lack of paint. But it's good enough for the chicks I hang out with.

Here's the finished product. It takes about thirty days for the two coats of wax to cure (three on top of table) so we need to be careful with E3 not dumping chocolate milk all over and leaving it. Everyone is using a place mat and we have about 20 days of curing left. I think we'll make it.

My overall impression is that this is a really cool paint and techniques will vary as much as the style that influences you. Although I'm not enthralled with my color choices, I'm happy with the way the project itself turned out. I think the next item up for revitalizing is my jewelry stand left to me by my grandma. It's an old oak look that simply outdated but a very functional piece of furniture. I'll have to head back to Bella B to select something fun.

In case you're in KC and are interested in checking out the store, Bella B has several locations, although I would recommend stopping by the Stanley Station shop and saying hello to VHL. Here's their info:

http://bellabdecor.com
Bella B Decor7733 W. 151st Street, Overland Park, KS 66223 • 913-814-0300 • lynn@bellabdecor.comStore Hours: Mon-Sat 10-6 p.m, Sun 12-5 p.m.
Bella B Decor                                                          
11 W. Wea Street, Paola, KS 66071 • 913-294-4499 • lynn@bellabdecor.comStore Hours: Wed-Fri 10-5, Saturday 9-Noon
Bella B Decor @ The Painted Sofa  NEW LOCATION!!!                                                      
1413 W 11th Street, KC, MO 64101 • 816-474-8832
Store Hours: Wed-Fri 10-3, Sat 10-4
Week of First Friday Event: Fri 9-8, Sat 9-6, Sun 11-4
Bella B Decor @ La Bottega Vintage Market
173 English Landing Drive, Parkville, MO 64152 • 816-741-6255 • lynn@bellabdecor.com
Store Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5


http://www.anniesloan.com