And with this…
…my home office will finally be complete. That sad, empty wall will be properly adorned. Thank you, Etsy. Before and after photos coming soon.
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Tuesday was a rough day. Not only have I been completely heavy hearted over the escalating earthquake/tsunami/nuclear annihilation situation in Japan, but things are just a bit off on the home front as well.
Orion didn’t sleep well the night before and woke up in the morning complaining of pain when he pees — and by “complaining,” I mean shrieking and clinging to me nonstop for hours. I suspected it was a urinary tract infection, so we took him to the doctor, got the requisite antibiotics, and headed back home. He took a monster four-hour nap, and I wrung my hands the whole time wondering if it’s really just a simple infection or something more nefarious. You know, typical paranoid parent stuff.
Meanwhile, our beloved babysitter comes over to tell us she’s giving her two weeks’ notice. She’s a college student and she scored an exciting Hollywood internship. Of course, that’s exactly what she should be doing — we never expected her to stay with us forever, but it will be tough finding someone else who loves Orion as much as she does (and he loves her too). We are grateful for the time we had with her, and we’re sad to see her go.
Not my finest day. I was officially down in the dumps at this point.
(Oh, and perhaps it’s worth mentioning that when I came out of Orion’s room the night before, after putting him down for the night, I heard a noise in the kitchen and went in to investigate. Erik had been gone all day and all night for work, so I was all alone when I heard a small sneeze and a clanging of pots. And who do I find but a black cat — some completely random neighborhood feline — chilling out on my kitchen counter top. It sees me and bolts out the window it came in through, and is gone in an instant. I’m not a superstitious person but the weird hilarity of it was definitely not lost on me.)
Things turned around in the afternoon, though, when Orion woke from his nap feeling much, much better. He ate his first meal of the day and only complained of pain a little bit.
He and I walked to the park, and little by little, things started to feel right again.
Orion (plus cheese face) and Lars out for a stroll
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This weekend I made my annual pilgrimage to the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim — a ginormous showcase of literally thousands of organic/eco/healthy goodies ranging from food to cosmetics to housewares and beyond. It’s like trick or treating for health conscious adults — by the end of the day I waddled out with two giant bagfuls of samples, and had eaten enough superfood-laden snacks to meet my spirulina quota for the next seven years. I’ve been going to the expo the past five years or so to check out all the latest and greatest in the world of earthwise products, and it’s astounding to see how the show has exploded in both size and attendance. It’s intense.
Anyway, being that I am seven months pregnant and not as spry as I once was, I only stayed for a few hours and tried to keep my grazing steered towards health, beauty and baby/kid stuff. There was tons of great products — too much to even mention — and lots of the same ol’ same ol’, too, of course. Here are the best of the bunch, in my book.
*****
organicKidz Stainless Steel Baby Bottle
It’s such a simple, obvious idea, I’m befuddled as to why no one seems to have done this sooner. There are tons of stainless steel sippy cups on the market, but as far as I know, these are the first stainless baby bottles. Like all unlined stainless steel, these bad boys are BPA-, PVC- and phthalate-free and the double-hulled design keeps liquids cold (or warm) for 5 to 6 hours. Orion actually never took a bottle, but if the next kid is into them, I’ll definitely try one of these.
*****
I’ve seen these around already quite a bit, but given my obsession with never using disposables to transport food — and considering we never, ever leave home without an arsenal of snacks for both of us — I gave these adorable lunch kits a fresh eyeballing. This lil’ beauty comes with a recycled cotton lunch sack, stainless steel bottle and food containers (plus lids), napkin and food kozy.
*****
Another cute on-the-go lunch kit for your perusal — this one comes with a stainless steel food container, matching napkin and bamboo spork.
*****
hellomellow preggo/kiddo Body Care Products
Handmade right here in the LA megalopolis, these yummy products for mama and baby are chock full of such delicious all-natural ingredients — like mango and avocado butter — you may just want to take a bite. (Try to control yourself though.)
*****
Having endured many a toasty SoCal summer day sweating under a heavy nursing shawl with Orion, I was immediately drawn to these uber-lightweight scarf-like nursing covers. Although the many of the designs are just a bit too precious for my taste, the comfy airiness of these covers make up for it.
*****
This isn’t technically a kids’ product, but they certainly would work perfectly for feeding little ones prone to dishware tossing. These lightweight, toxin-free plates and bowls are made only from fallen leaves, and they’re biodegradable and compostable to boot.
*****
Okay, just one more sippy cup and I’m done with this topic. These super cute cups by Birds and Bees are free of all the bad stuff and can be fitted with either bottle nipples or sippy cup tops, thereby avoiding the need for eleventy hundred different cups — thereby eliminating the avalanche of sippys that fall on your head when you open the cupboard door. (True story.)
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Today was the first day in a long time that I didn’t have a jam-packed agenda planned for Orion and me. Seems like we’ve been run! run! running! every day, attending our music/gym/etc. classes, going to playgroups, having lunch dates with friends and the like, so much so that it feels like we haven’t had time to just catch our breath, enjoy playing at home and simply BE.
Luckily for us, the weather is crazy beautiful in SoCal right now — mid to high 70s, and not a cloud in the sky — so we spent the entire morning outside playing in the backyard, tending to the garden, eating snap peas straight off the vine and breaking out the kiddie pool.
It was perfect.
Adding to this morning’s awesomeness: Orion peed in his potty for the first time ever, all by himself. He was running around sans diaper — as he loves to do — then went into the bathroom and shut the door. Once he reappeared, I went in to assess the damage, and there it was — pee in his Baby Bjorn potty. And that was that. Give the kid a little privacy and he takes care of business, just like anyone else. I don’t expect repeat performances to be so easy, but it’s pretty exciting to know that he “gets it.”
Really, this morning was amazing — the stuff that warms my heart and makes our decision for me to be a SAHM for a while worth it.
And then it was time for his nap… and things very quickly went downhill. Cue crying, screaming and massive tantruming — for 2.5 hours. Every aspiration I had for the afternoon flew out the window, along with my patience. Just as I was ready to give up he finally showed signs of utter exhaustion, and finally passed out. I won, but I was too pissed by that point to enjoy my victory, and spent the majority of the afternoon stewing over how much of the day was wasted.
Two hours later he woke up, just delightful as could be, and any hard feelings I had vanished just like that. We grabbed some dinosaurs and took them out to play in the garden, and he proceeded to tell me which of them were the mamas and which ones were the dadas.
And it was… perfect.
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It’s begun. I’m officially getting those “You look like you’re ready to pop!” comments from random passers-by. People seem to be amazed by the way I sport a baby belly. Some women get big and round all over; I tend to only get bigger (and bigger and BIGGER) in the belly, while the rest of my body stays the same size (18 pounds gained so far, thankyouverymuch). It makes for a striking look: no big deal in the back, holy torpedo belly! in the front. And people just can’t help commenting on it, like, extensively.
And they don’t know when to stop.
“I can’t believe you’re only seven months—you’re enormous! Your belly is just so big and pointy! You’re carrying so low—it must be a boy!”
I don’t know why some people think it’s okay to openly critique the way my body looks. It’s like pregnancy somehow puts my body into the public domain, opening it up for whatever brutal discourse spectators wish to dish out.
We wouldn’t say these things about a person’s body who isn’t pregnant, right? That would be completely offensive, even to the most tactless of boors.
“Gosh, your ass sure is huge! Wow, you’re totally flat-chested! Your nose is so long and pointy. Is it always like that?”
Guys can say some totally ignorant things, but ironically, women’s comments are often the worst. They really don’t know when to stop, and not only that, they should know better.
For now I’m just keeping a sense of humor about it all. I’m looking forward to holding my baby girl in my arms, and to once again have the ab strength to not need a forklift to remove my ass from the couch.
Hello, third trimester. Home stretch, here I come.
My big torpedo belly would really appreciate your vote!
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It’s not just for newborns anymore.
Posting has been light this week, my friends, because I am plagued by a possibly teething/sick/possessed by Satan toddler who won’t sleep through the night. I’m on Day 6 (I think?) of being up most the night and sleeping the afternoons away. This is definitely not my most productive week but I’m assuming that this too, like all things, shall pass.
See you next week!
In a mellower moment, feeding the fish at our local koi pond
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I don’t know if it’s my pregnancy, or schizophrenic hormones, or the inevitable ravages of aging, or the super hot showers I’ve been enjoying lately, but this season my skin is so dry I’m practically turning into dust and blowing away in the crisp winter breeze.
Luckily, not all hope is not lost. I’m turning once again to my #1 weapon in the battle against dry skin: coconut oil. It’s a pure, unprocessed, extremely versatile natural moisturizer that can be used externally on the skin and hair or taken internally.
Here are some of the ways I use it:
As a massage oil. Great for backrubs with your significant other during a Friday night movie at home. Rawr!
As a basic moisturizer. Just slather some on after showering — et voila! — silky smooth skin that lasts for hours.
As a hair conditioner. I rub a tiny bit between my hands and smooth on the very ends of my hair at night, then wash out the next morning.
As a scrub. Mix roughly equal parts coconut oil with unrefined cane sugar and — well lookie there! — you’ve just concocted your very own fancy schmansy sugar scrub! (Add a couple drops of essential oil in your favorite scent to make it extra yummy.) Use it to slough off rough, flaky skin in the shower.
Keep in mind coconut oil is solid at room temp, but warms up and liquefies nicely simply but rubbing it between your hands.
For cooking and baking. Coconut oil (I like this brand for cooking) is said to have beneficial anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. This weekend I made some banana cinnamon muffins from the new-ish Skinny Bitch cookbook and substituted coconut oil for the Earth’s Balance called for in the recipe (because I hate using a processed food if there’s a whole food option I could be eating instead). They made my skin and my belly happy! Win!
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Orion: “Oh NO!” (Pointing to a rather large blemish below my nose.)
Me: “Yeah, it’s a zit. It happens to everyone sometimes. It’s pretty big, huh?”
Orion: “It’s HUGE.”
Two-year-olds can be so brutally honest.
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Once a week we get together with a kick-ass group of ladies and their offspring for a playdate; whom exactly the playdate is for is unclear, because both mamas and kiddos enjoy the time together. Today was definitely one of those outings where we’re not sure who enjoyed the experience more — we joked and giggled about the cute firefighters, but I think the little ones did have a pretty rad time, too.
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My last post on creating an ecofriendly lunchbox reminded me that I almost forgot to sing the praises of this charming little water bottle I got Orion for Christmas. How cute is this stainless steel school bus bottle from EcoUsable?
It’s non-leaching and toxin-free, with no inner lining (which will matter to you if you remember the Sigg bottle debacle from a few years back). Plus it can be clipped on to a backpack, stroller, etc., with the handy dandy cap carabiner so it will always be close at hand.
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