Eat Your Peas, With Olive Oil, Please.

I'm the paranoid mom that worries about everything... are my kids meeting milestones? Am I securing them in their car seats properly; did that guy at the fire station inspecting the car seat fit really know what he was doing? What if they get the flu? Did the hand sanitizer work well enough after Annika touched the dirty toys at the doctor's office? What if she touches her mouth and gets alcohol poisoning from the sanitizer?

I have plans as to what room in our house would be the safest should spontaneous gunfire break out in our neighborhood; the downstairs bathroom has no external walls. It's the same room we would seek shelter in the event of a tornado. If an earthquake hits, we'll pile into Annika's room, on her bed. Somehow, that seems like the safest spot...

You get the picture. I worry about my girls, a lot. Before having kids, I can't remember having an emotion stronger than the desire I now have to protect, love, and nurture my babies. My heart grew when they were born. Their adorable giggles make me giddy.

Most of the time, my paranoia is unfounded; I always hope it is. I've been concerned that Lydia's weight is low. This week at her well baby check, we discovered that in this case, my worry was founded. I should have listened to my mommy instinct and pushed the issue earlier. Lydia, who has always been a little string bean, has dropped in percentile for weight. I'm beyond concerned.

Annika ate and ate, & nursed and nursed. She gained weight and grew like a  little weed, a chunky one. I felt like I had the nutrition thing down. I feed Lydia the same foods that her sister thrived on. Lydia isn't much of a daytime nurser, but makes up for it at night. Evidently, I have nothing figured out... my sweet baby is struggling to grow.

Our goal is now to feed our little one the fattiest, most calorie rich foods she'll eat. The difficulty? From sun up to sun down, she will happily munch on fruits, veggies, melon, and berries, but doesn't seem to have developed a taste for rich foods. Thankfully, she has recently let go of the idea that a bottle is an insult to her maturity, and is guzzling organic whole milk. Despite my preference to avoid dairy, I'm elated to see Lydia's sweet, soft little cheeks filling out.


Wanting my children to have every advantage in life, I wish with all my might for the girls to grow and thrive. Although assured by the dietitian that Lydia will be just fine, I am of course still worried, and can't wait until the pounds start pouring on.

My dear sweet Baby L, you melt my heart. I love you more that words can express. Please, listen to mommy, and eat your food, and a little less sand.

The Messy Side of Motherhood

Looking at my sweet little Lydia, it's hard to imagine her being anything less than perfect. Could I ever picture her doing something to completely gross me out? Not a chance... until last Wednesday, that is. We had a day that tested my gag reflex.

If you're squeamish, I'll understand if you slam your laptop closed, and stop reading this post; the next one will be cleaner, I promise.

Lydia is a constipated kid. We give her Miralax to help keep things moving. She missed a few days, but the dose following did a marvelous job. While in the bath, I noticed a serious face. Setting her wet little body on the toilet, I was so proud to have saved myself from a huge mess, a craptastrophe, as I call it.

With business complete, she was once again splashing in her clean bath. Seconds later, my victory smile faded. She pooped, a lot. Wrapping her in a towel, I set her on the floor and cleaned the tub and bath toys. Placing her in freshly clean, warm water, I began scrubbing her down. All was well, until... you got it, more poop.

Wrapping her in a towel again, I cleaned out the bath. With fresh water filling, I reached down to scoop her into the tub, only to find that our soft and cozy memory foam rug had been destroyed. Sigh. I texted Josh (picture included, although I will spare you the visual) letting him know that I had no intention of scrubbing the rug clean, we would be purchasing a new one. Finally, my baby was sweet and clean at last. Josh arrived home that afternoon with a new rug. The bathroom was back to normal...

Returning to work that evening for the beginning of the school year open house, Josh was out the door. As usual, Lydia smeared as much avocado in her hair, on her face, tummy, and arms as she ate. She's a bath after every meal kind of eater. Off to the tub she went.

With Lydia happily splashing in the water, Annika began her bedtime routine. As I turned from helping Annika open her Tom's Silly Strawberry Toothpaste, I saw what made the earlier events of the day seem like nothing. Lydia had once again "loaded" the tub, and as I yelled, "Not to eat!" scooped a handful of poo into her mouth. My first instinct? Rush her to the ER! I collected myself (sort of) and called both my mother-in-law and my mom. Both agreed that while disgusting, her little "snack" was most likely harmless.

With the bathtub clean again, I picked Lydia up to set her in fresh water, and noticed that she had peed on the new rug. Oh well, at this point, a little baby pee doesn't bother me a bit.

Here she is, looking as cute and innocent as can be, just after the incident. "Who, me?"

So what's your grossest parenting moment? And sorry Mom, no need to post yours; I heard it the other night ;)

Pesticide Face - A public service announcement

We do our best to eat fairly healthfully, buying organic whenever possible. Earlier in the summer, my husband Josh returned from a grocery shopping trip. I asked, "did you buy the organic apples?" It seems that this made quite an impact on Annika, 4 years old. Here's the proof, in her artwork. She calls this series "Pesticide Face."

"Guess he should have had the ORGANIC apple."

"Notice that his face is all messed up, you see?"

"You see, the pesticide messed up this guys FEET too!"

"He has a CRAZY pesticide face, and eye, and hair, and nose, but his nails are nice."

"This guy is messed up, but I gave him nice wings and earrings."

In conclusion to this warning regarding the negative impact of pesticides on our health, I think it is important to mention that if you have already been affected by harsh chemicals, it's not too late; you can still make your nails pretty. And, wings help too.

If you are interested in drawing your own pesticide face palls, you can order your Melissa & Doug "Create A Person Pad."

Salty Style at it's Saltiest.

When I was a kid, I swam at the beach. Rain, shine, hail or sleet, I was in the water. Despite having a swimming suit in the jeep, my clothes were soaked. Looks like Annika is picking up where I left off... It started with her toes in the water as she filled a beach bucked to dump in the hole she dug with her buddies. In no time at all, she was up to her waist, and then her hair was wet too.

I love my little beach girl, and am thankful for summertime southerly winds, bringing in warm (well, warm-ish) currents.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

While Josh wraps up track season (he's a high school track coach) and I scramble to print & sew for the Astoria Sunday Market and Zulily, we're all eagerly anticipating some quality family time. For now, we enjoy the snippets we have. Annika tells me that she needs much more mommy time, but popsicles help her feel better. So, on swimming lesson days, while Lydia naps, she eats one.

My fancy chocolate eating ballerina. (Posting pictures taken in our messy basement makes me cringe.)

We've been squeezing in time for walks in the recent beautiful weather. (Lydia yelled until she had a bottle of water too. She was happy as a clam spilling it on her shirt.)

O.K. I may be crazy, but does this look like an Oregon shaped whale? This is water splashed on the floor from Lydia's bath. It could be my state of sleepy, but I was pretty astounded.

Here is my visual to do list... T-shirts, dresses, and onesies galore!

Have a great weekend everyone. Wherever you are, I hope your days are as sunny as ours have been in Astoria recently. And yes, I'm feeling quite lucky to be able to say that.

Deanna

Sunshine, Moms, and Dragon Dancers

On this beautiful Mothers Day, we celebrated by kicking off the 2012 season of the Astoria Sunday Market. I awoke early to a very snugly Lydia smiling and cooing. Annika was up shortly after, ready to hit the market; the Dragon Dancers were to be there. For at least 6 months, it has been her dream to see them perform.

Just as the market opened, drums beat, and the dragon danced and swiveled it's way through the streets with drums booming. It was epic, as expected. Lydia danced to the beat and Annika was so happy when the dragon dropped it's huge head right at her eye level and stared her down as it passed, she nearly cried.

After bringing me a special decaf chai tea, Josh and the girls headed home. Sales were great, our best day ever! I guess this means I can go wild buying more fabric! Just kidding... sort of. Sitting in the tent in shorts and sandals, I was just a little too warm, which is an amazing event here in Astoria. It was perfect.

The booth has a new look this year, which I'm thrilled about. Things are beginning to come together.

 

Worn out from the fun, Lydia sleeping in her infant seat.

With each Mother's Day, I feel even more blessed to have such perfect, sweet, loveable little girls in my life. This day makes me reflect on how thankful I am for my babies. They are all the gift I need; Annika's sweet "Happy Mothers Day" in her first thing in the morning voice, and Lydia's wide excited eyes to see me. How lucky I am to have my family.

To all you mothers, mine included, I hope your day was filled with love and warmth.

Deanna

P.S.
Happy Mother's Day Mom, I love you.

Block Prints and a Fever

Hi everyone. My blog posts are quite sporadic as of late; I've been pouring every spare second into preparing for the Astoria Sunday Market which starts next Sunday, and printing & sewing for Salty Style's Zulily event the beginning of July. Twenty dresses are complete and ready for market and I'm hoping to finish up pants, dishtowels, and several dozen onesies this week. Today, I printed 200 shirts for the Zulily sale.

This one is a tunic for market, but is what the new dresses (Beach Bloom) will look like.

The back of our Expedition, filled with 180 yards of dress fabric!

Our kitchen looks pretty ridiculous with drying lines strung along the window wall, paint splatters covering the front of the stove (oops) and shirts piled everywhere. We had one of the most beautiful days here in Astoria; warm and calm, bright and sunny. I drug myself out of bed early, even with Josh offering to take the girls downstairs and let me sleep, so that I could print and we could enjoy the beach.

That plan crashed miserably when Annika threw up at breakfast, poor thing. She spiked a fever of 102.3 and said, "I'm too tired to play. I think I better snuggle with a blanket." Broke my heart, poor baby.

Alternating between printing feverishly, and snuggling a feverish little girl, I managed to print half of the recent T-shirt order. I think I'm going to make the 1,500 articles of clothing goal by July!

 Oh, and I carved a new block today; a baby whale for onesies.

Lydia had a giggly day playing with her Daddy, and is much happier now that two of her teeth finally cut through. She now has 6!

I hope you enjoyed the sunshine from the outside of your windows; we stayed in all day. The bright sun did help my paint dry extra fast shining through the kitchen window, so that worked out well.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Deanna

P.S.
Here's a picture that Josh snapped the last time we were at the beach. I'm calculating profit margins in the sand; shameful.