Wife, Then Mama

I have only had Miss Baby for a week, but I am already totally, completely, head over heels, in love with her.  Michael told me not to get to attached, but it was already to late.  It is absolutely ridiculous, but I can't help it.  I adore her.  Even when she does disgusting things like pooping all over herself and her crib when she is supposed to be napping and making the whole house smell (literally) like crap. On the other end of the spectrum is the outpouring of love I have been feeling from other people.  We have so many clothes for Miss Baby, because everyone wanted to buy/give her stuff.  My friend wrote me the sweetest card that I had to read in bits and pieces to keep from crying.  I told a friend of my mom's that I have known since I can remember (like 2 or 3 I think) that we were getting a placement and I was excited, but also nervous, and she said she understood, she was like that when she was pregnant with her daughter.  I know to most people that wouldn't

Welcome back to Magazine Monday!  I am going to share some more advertisements from Parents' magazine. I have heard rumors about Kodak being out of business, but it appears that they just filed for bankruptcy, and are still around.  Which is cool because they started in 1888, so it would be sad to see them go now.  This ad comes off as VERY quaint to me.  Mostly because I can take color pictures and video on my phone that requires no telephone line.  Technology is crazy! Here we have some perhaps deviant behavior?  I mean its great that with the pressure cooker you can cook with only one hand, but why is Hubby tying up Wifey?   Are they into some weird stuff?  Does he like to torture her by making her cook with only one hand?  Either way, WearEver is still around, although probably using different advertising techniques.  If you are super cheap or super crunchy, or just like reading blogs by people that are, you have probably heard of Fels Naptha.  It is now owned

It is against the rules for me to tell you her real name, or show any identifying pictures of her on the internet, so this picture will have to suffice.  Since I lack creativity I am going to call her Miss Baby on the internet (if you happen to know me in real life and know her name, I would appreciate it if you don't use it on any pictures of her you might see).  If she is here for to long it will no longer make sense, but whatever. She is 18 months old and so far is a joy to have around.  We are her 3rd foster home in about a month and a half.  I was a little terrified about what I was getting myself into, but so far we don't have any problems.  She is an awesome eater, a pretty good sleeper, and quite sweet and affectionate. I am sure she will be the inspiration for countless blog posts in the future.  Hopefully lots of good ones :)

So my pathetic garden is actually doing quite well!  I went out today and realized that I had TONS of green beans, a zillion tomatoes (not ripe yet though), and a bunch of ripe cucumbers!  We had fresh picked green beans for dinner, along with a new recipe for Lemon-Pepper Salmon. Lemon-Pepper Salmon (adapted from allrecipes.com) Dinner:  Not many green beans for me, I can't stand them, they make me gag :( Serves 4 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 (4 ounce) salmon fillets 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 tablespoon lemon pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup water Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place salmon in the skillet, and season with garlic, lemon pepper, and salt.  Pour water around salmon.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.   No idea on the nutritional value, probably high fat, but its good fats, so who cares?  I thought it tasted pretty good, and Michael though

While For Teens Only WAS a fun magazine, it also seemed to be a little low-budget if you ask me.  The lack of name brand advertisers was fairly disappointing.  So today's advertisements are much better. This is from Parents' magazine, way back in October 1947 (39 years before I was born).  I will probably spend a few weeks (or even months) trying to get through all the awesomeness that is in this magazine, without overwhelming you with pictures.  I am keeping the pictures small so that the post isn't a mile long, but you can click on them to see them full-sized.  If you have any trouble reading them, please let me know and I will take a picture of the text for you. The cover.  An interesting note: that little feather that says "Give" in the bottom left corner, it talks about giving to your community chest.  Beyond being a part of Monopoly, I have no idea what a community chest is. This is an ad from American-Standard , which apparently made furnaces tha

So on Thursday I did a lame attempt at a post, and ended with "I was working on it last night and then I got distracted by something awesome, but I will tell you about that after I am 100% sure it is going to happen." Well it did happen, so I will tell you!  We got a foster care placement!  Now we have an 18 month old little girl staying with us :) I think we must be crazy taking her camping with us this weekend LOL Next week I will be back with better written posts, but for now I am just going to enjoy my mini vacation with the new baby :)

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a cheerleader.  So one year (I think maybe 4th or 5th grade?) I went to cheerleading camp.  It was just a week long day camp, and I am pretty sure I sucked at it (coordination is not really my thing) but I had fun trying.  Plus I felt super cool.  At the end of the week we got to be in the Crazy Days (now known as Summerfest) Parade.  I am pretty sure that is the only time I have ever been in a parade. By the time I got to high school and there was real cheerleading I was pretty much over it.  Mainly I had had the cheerleading coach as an art teacher in 4th grade and we sort of hated each other.  Add that to the fact that I was a loner, uncoordinated, and self-conscious and I just wouldn't have been a good cheerleader.  Plus none of my friends were cheerleaders, and obviously I wasn't going to be the only one trying out. Sorry this post is so boring.  I was working on it last night and then I got distracted by something awesome, but

As a child I went camping on a regular basis.  However, I have not gone camping in at least a decade.  Since I got married I've been trying to convince my husband to go camping.  I figure since we are always poor, camping seems to be a perfect vacation.  Until recently he always brushed my idea off.  But a couple months ago some good friends invited us to go camping with them and he agreed to go.  Our trip is this weekend.  Only problem is we don't really have any camping stuff.  I have a little tent that I got for being a good cashier when I worked at Target, and we have one sleeping bag.  Oh yeah, and no money!  So we borrowed better tents, and are going to borrow a sleeping bag, and I guess go to the store a lot since we don't have a cooler.  I am really, really hoping that camping doesn't suck.  Like I said, I used to camp fairly often, but always as a child, when everything is fun.  After years of asking Michael to go camping, I'm never going to hear the

So I told you that I would have something awesome to show you for "Ta-da Tuesday"...  Well I lied. This time my failure is not for lack of trying, in fact I tried really, REALLY hard.  I was going to make Simplicity 5706 which was printed in 1964.  *side note:  I seem to really favor Simplicity patterns over Butterick, McCalls, Vogue, and all the others.  Everytime I pick a pattern to make, it is Simplicity.* I was using some pink linen, and since linen is expensive I was determined not to waste the fabric.  I mean I didn't expect it to fit me right, since I am deformed, but I wanted it to look good on a hanger. I was a perfectionist and since I didn't have any marking pens that would work on this, I used (what I am pretty sure is called) tailor's tacks.  Basically you sew through the points you need to mark with a small piece of thread, then leave it in the fabric and play connect the dots with a straight edge (like a book, or for normal people,

So, sad story. I have a lot of SUPER AWESOME STUFF to review and giveaway. But my life is not cooperating with my plans. I am not going to go into anymore detail, because I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I am 100% sure that when you guys (or girls rather, guys wouldn't care) see some of the upcoming reviews and giveaways you will be stoked. But like I said, life is putting a hold on those. I mean I could give them away, but I couldn't review them. So instead, I am giving away something I don't really want anymore. In fact if you read my Created To Be His Help Meet review , you will find that I didn't even like the book. Why would I give it away then? Well because I am broke and can't afford to go buy something to giveaway. I thought about giving away a handmade, vintage style baby dress (that doubles as a toddler/preschooler shirt), but I didn't know if anyone would want that (if you would like that, let me know. If there is enough posit

I was given three ergonomic pens to try and review. You can buy three pens for $19.99 on their website. The Uglee Pen was designed by a doctor to be ergonomically correct and super comfortable. As well as being comfortable, I believe it could be useful in teaching children the proper way to hold a pen, although I didn't try this much because three-year olds and ink scare me a bit. It is also helpful to people who hold their pens to tight (guilty). I honestly didn't notice a huge difference in comfort, but that is probably because I don't write for long periods of time, and don't have any joint problems. The comfort pen has a cushioned gel grip and is very lightweight. Despite its name it isn't particularly ugly, although mine are a yellow color I wouldn't choose myself (I would totally pick the pink one). The soft grip has little specks of glitter in it, which I think is awesome. There are a couple of downfalls to this pen. The main o

Some of these I know are common to everyone that is going through, or has been through, infertility.  Others are perhaps not as common, and I might be the only one, but I am hoping for affirmation that I am not the only weirdo. You have taken your temperature hundreds, if not thousands of times (for those that are not well versed in infertility - lucky! - the only way to confirm if you have ovulated is to take your temperature everyday to see when your body temperature goes up slightly.  Or get a blood test, but that is much more expensive). You know what TTC, AF, BFP, BFN, IVF, IUI, BD, DTD, RE, FF, POAS, and countless other acronyms stand for (again for the lucky ones - trying to conceive, "aunt flo", big fat positive, big fat negative, in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination, "baby dance", do the deed, reproductive endocrinologist, fertility friend, and pee on a stick). You have spent days of your life searching for "whatever mild ailment you

In case I have never mentioned it, I am a fatty.  I mean not on the outside, I keep my fatness on the inside where it counts (and leads to cardiac disease).  Since I was a tiny little child, I have LOVED junk food, as evidenced by me chowing down on the French fry.  I mean I look a little miserable, but I am fairly certain that is because someone is taking my picture as I stuff my face with fattening food.  Plus no one gave me any ketchup. According my my mom and grandma, "French fry" or my baby variation on it (fre-fry), was one of my first words.  Apparently when we would be driving along, and I would see the golden arches, I would start say "Donald's! Fre-fry! Donald's! Fre-fry!" like a crazy person.  I don't remember any of this, but given my penchant for deep fried potatoes, I don't think they were exaggerating. My mom actually fed me fairly well as a child (as well as anyone could in the late 1980's before the internet had taken its

I am sad to say after years of wanting to read this book, and being certain that I would adore it, I am less than impressed with it. While I think the overall message of the book (wives are to submit to their husbands) is good, I feel like the author (Debi Pearl) is very negative, judgmental, and condescending.  It isn't the principles in this book that upset me, it is the delivery of the information that I don't really care for (I HATE how often I end sentences in prepositions, but it always sounds funny when I fix it!).  Some examples: She refers to women that don't do what she thinks they should do as stupid and silly ALL the time.  She also refers to men in similar manners.          “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and who