Another Day

Another Day in the Life Of...

Lord, help me.

Bragging Rights

My good friend Meredith from school has a little girl, OK, only a month and a half younger than Gavin. I secretly compare their growth and milestones all the time. And even though Gavin is technically older than she is, she is like the "super baby" and has excelled in everything before Gavin. For example - she was sleeping through the night when she only a month old, when it took Gavin 3 months before he ever did. OK also ate cereal and baby food before Gavin did. And she behaves well in public and eats quietly in her highchair while Gavin is always loud and causing a scene, like when he almost pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall at Panera. My child is wild while OK is calm and sweet. Well, Jason and I went to Meredith's house for a football game a couple of weeks ago and she went to put OK down for the night. She said she did the "cry it out" thing and now OK goes to sleep by herself. I've heard so many other people talking about it, but again, OK has accomplished something else before Gavin. It amazed me. Jason and I have talked to several other of our friends and they can't believe that we don't do that with Gavin. We always rock him to sleep or Jason bounces him on his knee to go to sleep. (That's our personal snuggle time with him.) So, we decided to give it try. We've been consistent for 2 weeks. We have laid him down with his binky (teddy bear) and given him his pacifier, and said, "time to go night-night", and walked out of the room. What we're wondering is why they call it "crying it out"? (sarcastic question) So, even though OK and all these other people's children are "super babies", Jason and I have bragging rights - not once has Gavin cried when we've put him down for the night. Every time, he has laid down, talked to himself for a few minutes, and has fallen asleep with no problems. Now that's a super baby! Maybe there's still hope for my child. :)

A Flea Market Education

Jason, Gavin, and I enjoyed a nice Saturday morning out. The weather is absolutely wonderful today! We ate breakfast at Hardee's and then headed to the Barnyard Flea Market off of Hwy 101. We love yard sales and flea markets, especially that one since Tab's Flea Market in Greer is practically vacant. Even though we go walk around at flea markets all the time, today there were a few things that really stuck out to me:

1. You can buy all your groceries at the flea market now...veggies, snacks, make-up, personal hygiene products, and even your cleaning supplies!
2. Speaking of veggies, in the very last building, there was a Hispanic man selling produce - and it was fresh produce. It was so fresh that the dirt was still on the veggies! I was excited. He had the biggest zuccinis I have ever seen! So, we bought 2 humongous zuccinis, 2 green poblano peppers (so we can make chili relleno), and 1 big bell pepper for $3.00 - a whole lot cheaper than if we bought them at the grocery store.
3. Did you know that you can get all of your wedding supplies at the flea market? No kidding. There were 2 stalls that had wedding invitations, silk flowers, decorations, accessories, and even dresses!
4. The flea market is a hot spot for new items, instead of people's "stuff". I'm really disappointed in this. I love to look at people's stuff and junk - old books, dishes, furniture, etc. If I want to buy new items, I'll go to Walmart!
5. And of course, I learned today that the flea market is a great place for foreigners to sell stuff, as well as it is a great place for rednecks to gather.

I hope you have enjoyed your beautiful Saturday morning.

Interesting Facts, Part 2

To go along with my previous post tonight, I found this article on Good Like A Medicine's blog. Click on the link to read the article about irradiation. http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/news/nuking-our-food-irradiation-heats It blows my mind how scientists will put other people's lives in danger just to make advancements in science. Lord, have mercy.

Interesting Facts

I get the American Baby magazine each month. There were 2 articles in the September issue that interested me - or actually made me nervous. The first article was about the top germiest places for your children. And surprisingly, the toilet seat was not one of the things on the list. The study was done by a microbiologist at the University of Arizona. Even though some of the things listed weren't surprising, a few were.

1. Playground equipment - "...20% of playground equipment was infested with [fecal bacteria]..."
2. Shopping carts - "...about 70% have fecal bacteria on them, ..."
3. High chairs - "Out of 30 restaurant high chairs, 17% were contaminated with E. Coli and 10% with methicillin-resistant staph."
4. Restaurant tables - "...of 10 restaurants, tabletops had 45 times more bacteria, including E. Coli, on them after they'd been wiped..."
5. Elevator buttons - "The first floor button is always the germiest because everybody has to touch it to get out."
6. Phones - "In homes...80% of phones were contaminated with the flu virus."

This makes me want to take sanitizing wipes everywhere I go. I think I'm going to start packing some in my purse or diaper bag to wipe down the table when we go out to eat. How many times have I picked up a crumb or chip off the table at El Mexicano and put it in my mouth? This turns my stomach.

The second article was about how to make ourselves and children healthier by eating organic foods. It explained how important it is to watch what we feed our children because their bodies take in more of the chemicals than adults. The information in this article came from Environmental Working Group.

"The Dirty Dozen" - Top 12 food items that contain the most pesticides:

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet bell peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Grapes
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes - "...81% of potatoes still contained pesticides after being washed and peeled."

Another interesting thing the article talked about was peanut butter. It mentioned that the pesticides in the peanut crop could possibly be linked to the high number of people allergic to peanuts and peanut butter these days.

Just something to ponder.

Friday Five

Five random things going on in the mind and life of Kristi:

1. I think that somehow I lost brain cells when I got pregnant. I am all the time doing something dumb. I have burnt myself three times in a week.

I have a brand new stainless skillet, so I decided to sear some chicken in it on the stove, and then put it in the oven to finish cooking - trying to be like Rachel Ray. Just like a normal person, I used an oven mitt to get it out of the oven. About 5 minutes later, I realized that it would probably be safer for Gavin's sake for me to scoot the handle of the pan back so that Gavin couldn't reach up and get it and burn himself. Well, not like a normal person, I reached up with my bare hand and grabbed ahold of the handle and burnt the inside of my fingers.

The next morning, while curling my hair, I decided to lay my curling iron down, but my other hand was in the way. I partially laid the curling iron on top of my hand.

I usually get completely ready - make up and hair - before putting my shirt on. So, this morning, once again, I was curling my hair. I had the curling iron in one hand, and was trying to pick up a section of my hair with the other. As I was focussing on my hair, I guess I lowered my curling iron hand, and it skimmed my belly. Now, I have a red burnt welp on my belly. Maybe these things are a sign that I need to stay away from hot stuff!

2. How about those Byrnes Rebels??? My dad and I left the football game tonight during the 4th quarter. It was 56 - 0...Byrnes was smoking! (I was torn. I didn't know whether to cheer for Byrnes, or cheer for my school kids. Do you know that my first year's kids will be in 9th grade next year?? Holy cow!)

3. I'm a total marching band geek. I love to hear them play. But what happened to playing music we know and recognize, and most of all...actually hear? I don't want to criticize because I totally support them, but what happened to the days of stand-rattling entertaining music?? They need to do a show with the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean! That would be cool!

4. Jason and I have talked to several other parents with boys Gavin's age to try to pick up some parenting ideas. We still rock Gavin to sleep - or actually bounce him on our knee to get him to sleep. So, Jason and I thought we'd give "cry it out" a try. We laid Gavin down 3 nights in a row without a problem. We said "time to go night-night", laid him down, played some quiet instrumental music, and walked out. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, he was out like a light. Not a whimper. (I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by sharing this.)

5. And I saved the best for last... Last Sunday, I opened the refrigerator to get something to drink, and this is what I found:

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Digusted by Commercials

I tell you what - commercials have become so inappropriate these days. Everything seems to have some sort of sexual innuendo, whether it's perfume or cologne, hair products, and now it's a Levi's commercial. Has anyone seen this commercial yet??? The new "Live Unbuttoned" commercial?? If not, here is a link to You Tube that shows it. Watch it and tell me what you think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjf41diBv6c I think they've taken it a little too far this time. Our children are watching these commercials, and this disgusts me!