Saturday, February 26, 2011

5 Things My Husband Does that I Love!

Okay, after reading my post from the other night, I feel bad for pointing out the little negatives about my husband to you all.  To make up for it, I decided to dedicate a whole post to highlight some of the little things that my husband does that make me love him more and more each day!

1. He warms my car up for me when it's cold outside (and even turns on my seat warmer).
Most of the time, when I have somewhere to be, I'm so busy running around trying to get myself and the kids ready that I don't even think to go outside and warm the car up in advance so that we aren't shivering for the first five minutes of the drive.  So when my husband's home, he will run out and start the car up, turn up the heat and even switch on the seat warmer for me.  It's the smallest gestures that mean so much to me.


2. Whenever he goes out to the store for something, he makes sure to bring me back a surprise.
This man loves to shop as much as I do.  He will go to the grocery store to pick up 4 things and come home with $200 worth of food, candles, loofas...you name it, he got it.  But it's so cute because he will sit and take the things out of the bags one-by-one, explaining what it is and why he got it for me.  One night he even came home with tons of lotions, foot scrubs, a nice bottle of wine and my favorites... sour patch kids.  I'm pretty sure I even got a foot massage out of him that night.


3. He will try to chime in and act like he knows what's going on in my weekly shows.
I never can get him to sit and religiously watch my shows with me (which is probably a good thing, considering my favorite shows include Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl and the Kardashian shows).  But he will stand over my shoulder and catch a few minutes of it and act like he's interested by either asking about what's going on or telling me something he remembers from a previous episode.  It's so cute that he tries to act interested in them, even though I know he could care less what's going on.

4. He loves to cook for me and the kids.
Cooking is one of those things that I'm still working on, myself.  I love getting new recipes and trying to make new meals, but I'm not that great at it yet.  And some days are just so busy and exhausting that I just can't seem to find the motivation to decide on dinner plans, so my husband glady offers to do it.  I'd say we split role of cook right down the middle.  But he's always happy to cook for us.

5. He holds my hand in public and will spin me around, pull me in and kiss me.
I was never that girl in high school that liked PDA (public display of affection).  But ever since I met my husband, he has done this with me.  It's like our little trademark move.  Our little mini-dance.  Gosh, I sound so corny, but it really is sweet and makes me feel like his princess.  Like he's proud to show me off as his.  I feel like every woman needs that little bit of romance in their relationship, even if it is something as silly and holding hands and dancing together.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

5 things my husband does that drive me crazy

Okay, don't get me wrong, I love my second half and wouldn't trade him for the world.  And maybe I'm just being a whiny, nagging housewife, but it helps to get this stuff off my chest sometimes.  So we all have our pet-peeves when it comes to our husband's habits... or lack thereof.  Here goes my list, in no particular order:


1. Uses a new glass every time he wants a drink!
I swear, I do a load of dishes a day in this household, and more than half the load usually consists of glasses.  I will go the entire day using the same glass.  When I finish what I'm drinking, I'll rinse out my glass and sit it by the sink to use again the next time I want a drink.  My husband on the other hand will finish his drink, leave the glass on the table, walk to kitchen and grab a brand new, clean glass from the cabinets and fill it up with the same exact beverage he had in the other glass... and before you know it, there are 5 empty glasses of orange juice sitting on my end table.  Grrrrr... it's such a simple fix, but yet he can't seem to do it, no matter how many times I ask him.

2.  Leaves a trail of dirty clothes around the house...
I can tell wherever this man goes throughout the house by the trail of dirty clothing he leaves behind.  It's like, "hi honey, I'm home" and there goes the jacket thrown to the back of the couch.  "How was your day", as he drops a shoe at the bottom of the stairs (yes, just one of them... God forbid he leave them both in the same place, because then he couldn't bug me later about how he can't find his other shoe).  I'll even go around the house and strategically place hampers where he tends to throw his clothes, but he makes sure to place the dirty clothes inches from the hamper instead of inside it.  Really, honey?  Really?

3.  Plays video games.  Online.  With his buddies.  Every night. 
Ridiculous! I'm sorry, but I cannot for the life of me understand this man's obsession with the playstation 3.  Or is it the Xbox 360?  Oh wait, that's right, he has both!  He comes home from work and runs straight for his mancave (also known as our basement that I am never able to enjoy because of this gaming addiction of his).  He actually has a headset, similar to those bluetooth ear pieces, where he can talk to his buddies while they play online together.  I hear him on his little head-set down there chit-chatting with his boys about killing zombies on a daily basis... don't even ask.

4. Throws his wet towels on the floor after he showers!
Simple fix.  Just hang the damn towel on one of the numerous hangers I've hooked over the doors for this exact reason.  If they are simply hung up, they will dry and you can use the towel again the next time you shower, rather than having to do 10 loads of laundry a week! 

5.  Leaves drawers, cabinets, pretty much anything that opens, open!
I'll neatly fold all his clothes, put them in their proper place, and then when he goes to grab a shirt or a pair of socks, he will leave the clothing hanging from the drawer and not even bother to close it.  Or I'll walk into the kitchen and one of the cabinet doors is wide open.  I believe I even witnessed him pouring a drink one day and he didn't even bother to close the refrigerator door when he was done.  For real?  Who does that?


Okay, I'm done bitching about my husband's imperfections.  He really is a wonderful man, he just isn't the neatest, most organized man in the world, I suppose.  It could be much worse.  For now, I guess I will just have to continue picking up after him, continuously closing cabinets and doing tons of dishes.  Anyone care to share their pet-peeves or annoying things your significant other does, or doesn't do for that matter?  I'd love to hear them! 




Wednesday, February 23, 2011

How I got my kid to voluntarily take his yucky medicine

So we're on day 3 of the flu virus, meaning dose 5 of the Tamiflu for my Pookie.  This little guy normally takes medicine like a champ (for a 2-year-old especially), but apparently the Tamiflu is not quite as tasty as that pink bubble-gum amoxicillin or the grape-flavored tylenol he's had in the past.  The poor guy barely had enough strength in him the past two days to pry his little butt off the couch, but when it came time to take his Tamiflu, he kicked and screamed and cried with every ounce of strength he had.  It was so bad that my husband and I had no choice but to hold his arms down while one of us squeezed the little plastic syringe into his mouth, while he screamed and attempted to spit it out.

This is one of the worst feelings as a parent, because you're only trying to help them get better, but they see it as you turning on them by forcing this disgusting liquid into their mouths, when they have clearly expressed their distaste for it.  And at 2 years, you can explain to them all you want, that you're only trying to help, but chances are they don't care what it is you have to say about it, because they don't like it.  Period.

Today being day 3, my little guy is feeling ten times better!  His fever seems to be gone, he's playing with his toys and even shook his little tush to the potty dance song when the pull-ups commercial came on television (I still have the little jingle stuck in my head... Do the (clap, clap) potty dance!)  You know you're guilty of it too.  But just because he's feeling better, doesn't mean we get to discontinue the Tamiflu doses.  So today I got creative and found a way to get him to take it.  And to my surprise, it worked like a charm.  He voluntarily took it!  So here's my secret:

I don't normally allow him to drink sodas, but since he was sick, we got some ginger ale for him the other day.  I used the ginger ale as a reward, and not to mention a chaser to get the yucky taste out of his mouth afterward.  But this wasn't what actually got him to take his medicine.  I decided, rather than to pretend it tastes good and tell him to be a big boy, why not show him that I totally understand why he doesn't want to take a swig of this nasty crap.  I put the syringe to the tip of my tongue (YIKES, that stuff is nasty), and made a silly, disgusted face and pretended to gag.  Then I immediately grabbed the cup of ginger ale, sipped it and made a nice relieved sound.  "Ahhhh, much better".  I did this a few times, until he was laughing at me and was eager to show me his silly face.  "My turn", he told me as he grabbed for the syringe.  He opened his mouth and I squirt the 3mL of yuckiness into his mouth.  I quickly grabbed the ginger ale for him to chase the taste away, but he was more interested in making his funny face first, dealing with the aftertaste like a champ.  I don't even think I could have done that, personally.

So next time you're trying to convince your little one to take his medicine, you may want to give this method a try.  Do you have another creative technique that you use to get your little one to take his medicine?  I'd love to hear some ideas from you parents out there.  Or if you decide to give this one a try, let me know how it works out for you.


-Crystal

Monday, February 21, 2011

Increased Seizures in Children Receiving the 2010-2011 Fluzone Vaccine

As a mother of two young children (Pookie, 2 years and Snoogie, 5 months), their health and safety is my first priority.  On a not-so-fun and fabulous note, my little Pookie was running a fever last night.  Motrin did the trick for a few hours, but he woke up with a 103 temperature again this morning, so it was off to the doctor's office we go.  The poor little guy was practically falling asleep on my lap in the waiting room and then sure enough, he tested positive for the flu virus.

The first thing that went through my head was, "oh no, my poor baby", and second "oh no, my other baby...I hope he doesn't catch it too".  Luckily, we caught it early enough to where the doctor was able to prescribe him Tamiflu.  Unfortunately, babies under 6 months of age cannot get the influenza vaccination, but luckily my little Snoogie will be 6 months old next month.  But being the overly-protective, paranoid mother that I am, I have been doing my research and found numerous articles online claiming that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has detected an increase in febrile seizures followed by the administration of Fluzone, which is the only influenza vaccine recommended in the 2010-2011 flu season for babies between 6 and 23 months old.

"Febrile seizures" are seizures that usually last only a minute or two, that are caused by high temperatures, but rarely have any long term effects on a child, according to The Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The FDA and the CDC are currently conducting further investigations in order to provide additional information to the public and health care providers as it becomes available. Recommendations for influenza vaccines in children have not changed and in the cases reported, all children recovered and no lasting effects have been seen according to the Vaccine Adverse Effects Reporting System (VAERS).

This is still enough to make me think twice about getting my 6-month-old a flu vaccine.  Do I risk him getting the flu or risk him having a reaction to the vaccine and possibly having a seizure as a result?  This is tough.  And with my older child having the active flu virus now, I feel like if my youngest goes without catching it now, then the chances of him getting it later are slim (especially since I now have my flu shot and my husband and Pete will be getting theirs as soon as the little guy gets better).  I am just kicking myself in the rear for not getting vaccinations for all of us earlier in order to avoid this whole flu season altogether.


I'd love to get other mother's opinions on this.  Did you get your 6-month-old vaccinated with the 2010-2011 fluzone?  Are the risks worth the benefits in the long run?  Feel free to comment on your thoughts or experiences.

My poor little Pookie!
Reference

Friday, February 18, 2011

What could make your Friday more Fabulous? How about FREE SHOES?


It's FRIDAY!  And not only do I have the luxury of staying at home with my little ones, as I do every day of the week, but I get to take them out and enjoy this beautiful weather!  75 degrees and sunny in February?  How fabulous is that?  And as if the day could get any better... I just so happened to win a $50 bonus card from DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) on twitter through their FREE SHOES FRIDAY contest!  I have been trying my luck at this for about five weeks now and started to think it was impossible to actually win!  But now I have and I want to give you all a chance to do the same thing!  It's really very simple.




 TWITTER:

1. Follow @DSWShoeLovers
2. Make sure you are a Rewards Member (you'll need your Rewards #) Click Here to sign up for one!
3. Fridays at 12pm Noon EST DSW will post a Trivia Question & you must be one of the first 10 people to respond with the right answer by email  (tweepluv@dswinc.com).  And you MUST include your Rewards # in the email as well as the correct answer.  

*It usually takes about 20 minutes for DSW to reply by email and to announce all the winners on twitter!



FACEBOOK:

2. Make sure you are a Rewards Member (you'll need your Rewards #) Click Here to sign up for one!
3. Tuesdays at 12pm Noon EST DSW will post a Trivia Question & you must be one of the first 20 people to respond with the right answer by email  (shuluvrs@dswinc.com).  And you MUST include your Rewards # in the email as well as the correct answer.  

*It usually takes about 20 minutes for DSW to reply by email!

The easy part is participating... the hard part is winning!  But if I can do it, you can definitely do it!  Just make sure you're quick because there are a lot of DSW Shoe Lovers out there who are very competitive!  Be sure to refresh your facebook or twitter screen right at noon and be sure to have your email already set up and ready with your rewards number and recipient email plugged in so all you have to do is type in your answer and send it off.  Then you must wait..... patiently.  I must say, the suspense is pretty intense, but when you win, it's so worth it!  And you can't give up.  I tried at it twice a week for at least 5 weeks, but I didn't give up and I finally won!  I felt like such a little kid again when I got the email and saw my @FunAndFabLife twitter name listed as winner #7 on their page!  Have a FABULOUS FRIDAY everyone and don't forget to try your luck next week for a new pair of shoes! 

~Crystal

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's Day is Dead to this Married Mama


Valentine's Day.  It's pretty much the best made up holiday ever, where women get spoiled by their husbands with red roses, foot massages, chocolates and if you're lucky, maybe even some bling.  From as early as I can remember, I was always spoiled on Valentine's Day.  As early as 4th grade, boys in my class would get me jewelry, flowers and I received numerous little valentine cards asking me 'out'.  Then even in high school, the quarterback of the jv football team brought me a half a dozen roses my sophomore year, just because he thought I was nice.  Then my long time high school boyfriend surprised me my senior year by getting a hotel suite, fully loaded with champagne and strawberries and a dozen beautiful roses.  The room was lit with candles and rose petals covered the bed (a bit over the top now that I look back on it, but he was definitely a romantic).

For the past six Valentine's Days now, I have gotten nothing on this romantic holiday.  That would be because my husband's birthday happens to fall on February 14th.  Now you could say that I'm just a selfish bitch for being a little upset about not getting anything on his day, but common...I don't even get a single rose?  And I figured an easy solution to this would be to make Mother's Day my new Valentine's Day, where he can spoil me, but unfortunately, this never happens.  I'm lucky if I even get a Mother's Day gift from him to be honest.   It's just that I always go above and beyond for him and never get anything in return.  Last year, to make Valentine's Day (or his birthday) more romantic, I did the whole champagne, rose petals and candle lit routine and even bought a sexy little outfit for him...well, for me, but for him. He appreciated it, but I would have appreciated if he remembered the effort I put into his day when mine comes along.  

What do you think the best solution to my dilemma is?  I suppose I could just throw in the towel and accept the fact that Valentine's Day is dead to me.  But I realize Valentine's Day, in the end, is really all about sharing the love you have with your special 'someone'.  So really we are just killing two birds with one stone by celebrating the day of his birth with the Hallmark declared day of 'love'.  I guess just by writing this blog post, I've sort of answered my own question.  It's not about Valentine's Day at all.  It's about my selfishness of no longer getting any of the attention on this dumb made up holiday.  I get to sign onto facebook and see all my friends beautiful flowers they got delivered to them at work and their diamond bracelets and candies, and not to mention, see all of my husbands ex-girlfriends wish him a wonderful happy birthday, while I figure out how to make his day fabulous.  Grrrr!  Suggestions anyone?  Or am I just a completely selfish momma for feeling this way?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Does Every Woman Have the Exact Love Life She Wants?

So I'm sitting here watching this movie, The Wedding Date, starring Debra Messing, or as you may know her, Grace Adler -- the cute, witty red head from Will and Grace.  It's a cute romantic comedy with a very handsome co-star, if I may say so myself.  But there was a quote from the movie that really made me stop and think for a moment.  

"Every woman has the exact love life she wants".  

Is this true?  As women, we are naturally complicated individuals. We think way too into things and are controlled by our emotions 99% of the time.  Do those of us who are constantly picking men who we know are trouble, who will cause us unnecessary stress on a daily basis and will probably drive us nuts more often than not, secretly wanting this for ourselves?  Or what about the women who are afraid of commitment and run from monogamous relationships. The ones who just can't seem to be happy with what they have until they can no longer have it.  Do those women secretly prefer to not be tied down to just one man, when they know they can have many?

Now looking back at all of my past relationships, I realize that all of the men that I dated were actually very similar in many ways.  They came off strong, almost too strong, to the point where I would almost lose interest because the chase was off and it was just too easy.  But then they would unleash their passionate side.  Passionate lovers, passionate fighters and passionate about their opinions.  I've found that none of my relationships have been easy.  It's almost like I enjoy the constant struggle for the power in my relationships, because the ones where I was given all of the control, where I could call all the shots without any discrepancy from the guy, I would get bored and lose interest.

My husband, the man of my dreams, drives me up the wall on a regular basis.  He stresses me out, makes sure that he has constant control over what I do, but yet I've never been so drawn to a man in my life.  When we get into arguments, I sometimes tell him that I can't stand him and don't know why I've chosen to spend my life with such a stubborn individual, but in reality, it seems like these little annoyances are actually what keeps me so intrigued and interested in him.  If he were to be as laid back and open-minded as I am, I would probably get bored.  But it wasn't until hearing this quote from The Wedding Date that I really sat and thought about it.  So I suppose in my case, I may find things about my love life that I don't seem to think I necessarily want, but when it comes down to it, I don't think I'd be as crazy in love with him if it were any other way.

What do you think about this quote?  Do you find that your love life is what you want it to be? Even if it may not necessarily be what you had always dreamt it would be?

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Mommy Guilt...

As a stay-at-home mommy of two amazing little boys, I find that I have mommy guilt all the time!  Though my mommy guilt isn't from having to work and be away from them, because I'm a stay-at-home mom.  I know most moms wish they had the luxury to be stay-at-home moms, but I just get so overwhelmed sometimes and feel that I emotionally shut down and am just too exhausted to play or run around the house all day with my kids.  Many times, I'll turn on some cartoons to chill my 2-year-old out and I'll put my 5 month old in his bouncer so I can just sit and escape to do something for myself for a moment.  

That's actually when I decided it was time that I start a blog, because I was going bonkers without having a job.  Everyday is practically the same routine.  Get up and make breakfast, drink my coffee, turn on Nick Jr, clean up the house, and a lot of times I will try to do fun, crafty things with my 2-year-old or play batman, but then the baby starts screaming and I have to feed him again or play with him because I know he's at an age where it's important that I give him plenty of attention also.  


I try to go outside to let them get fresh air, but at the same time, I don't want them getting sick from the cold.  Some days, if it's just way too cold out, I will take them to McDonald's so that we can at least get out of the house and the little guy can run around and have fun with some other kids for a change.  I almost feel selfish, because I always feel like I need more time for myself, to do something for ME for a change. But then when I do that, I feel guilty that I'm not playing with the kids or I feel like I'm a bad mom because I put them in front of the television and let them eat McNuggets, when I swore I would never be that mom.  

I know I'm not giving myself enough credit here, because I do so much with them during the day, but to me, it's never enough.  And my husband helps for a bit when he gets home from work, but then instead of spending quality time with me once the kids are in bed, he's busy playing video games with his buddies all night.  Are there any other stay-at-home moms who have this issue?  You just never feel like your doing good enough, but you're trying your best to be the best?  

I guess as women, or mothers in particular, we are just wired to always expect more from ourselves.  If we are working moms, then we are constantly putting ourselves down for not spending every waking moment with our children.  If we're stay-at-home moms, we disappoint ourselves when we are having an off day and just aren't able to give it our all.  I'd love nothing more than to sleep in until noon, just once and not feel guilty (my husband practically gets to do this everyday and it makes me green with envy).  

My husband is great though and he did offer to watch both the kids this past weekend so that I could have a much needed night out with the girls for dinner and drinks. But the entire time I was out, I had that knot in my stomach, where I felt like a bad mom for enjoying myself, without being there with them all night.  Is this a never-ending cycle of guilt or does this go away with time?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Super Easy Way for Breastfeeding Moms to make Money!

So if you're a new mom, whether it's your first child or not, chances are you signed up for at least one website to track your little one's growth while they were snuggled up in your belly for those 9 long months.  I know I probably signed up on at least 3 different pregnancy sites to see whether my baby was the size of a lemon or a squash and to get the low down on what he was up to in there.

Now that your baby is here, those of you who have chosen to exclusively breastfeed, probably aren't too worried about formulas yet.  I am fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with my 5-month-old and have not yet had to use formula, myself.  With that being said, you are probably receiving numerous coupons in the mail for discounts on Similac, Gerber Good Start and Enfamil baby formulas.  Which again, if you are exclusively breastfeeding, these are probably of no use to you, so why not make a little extra cash off them and help out someone who could get good use out of them and save a few dollars.  It's a win-win situation!

Sometimes, I get as much as $20 or even $35 worth of coupons in the mail at a time and will post them on ebay with the "buy it now" option offering them for $15 or $25 dollars and within minutes, they are bought.  It doesn't cost you anything to ship them if you have envelopes and stamps on hand.  As a stay-at-home mom, I love making any extra cash that I can to spend on my cute little boys.  So, don't let those coupons sit around and expire...stick them on ebay and make a few extra dollars for yourself and help someone out there who will be able to use them for their baby.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

My Newest Addiction!

So the last few days, I haven't been blogging, but it's because I've been baking!  Well, attempting it anyways!  I think the urge hit me the other night when I was looking up wedding cakes on The Knot.  Wedding cakes today are amazing.  They don't even look like cakes.  They look more like icing covered castles or frosted fountains of flowers...they are so extravagant!  So I decided it would be a fun activity, for both myself and my son, to make an attempt to decorate our very own spiderman cupcakes! We all loaded into the car, ran up to the grocery store and began grabbing a variety of cake mixes, icing, frosting and tubes of decorative gel.

As soon as we got home, my Martha Stewart skills kicked in and my son grabbed his spiderman figurines so I would have something to go off of.  I let my son throw all the ingredients into a big mixing bowl and I let him put his hand over mine while we used the beater to mix it all together.  I let let him help me pour the batter into the cute little cups we picked out and watched them rise.  He loved peeking in at them throughout the cooking process to see how they grew over time.  When the timer went off on the oven, his face lit up and he went running for the kitchen! I had to find a way to entertain him while they cooled for a few minutes, but that was easy to do since we had all the fun icings and frostings to pull out of the bags and open up to prepare for our decorating adventure.  

Once they were cooled, I showed him how you put the icing on, then told him from there, it was all his decision what he wanted to do with his cupcake!  We had a great time, but in the end, I was sitting at the table with 22 cupcakes to decorate!  After throwing way too many sprinkles on his, he took a huge bite and voila! "All done", he yelled, and ran off to see what dad was up to.  Luckily, I enjoy doing these types of artistic things and finished up most of the cupcakes.  It was great practice for his birthday, which is coming up next month!  I have a feeling we will have to have either a spiderman or batman themed party, so I'll have to break out my skills for the family and friends!  So if you want a fun activity for your little one, definitely give this a try, because he loved it!  And one of the best parts was getting to take one to give grandma this afternoon for her birthday.  (along with the carrot cake that we baked this morning and decorated ourselves) I told you I was going through a baking frenzy! Now I'm watching Fabulous Cakes on TLC!  I have a new addiction!  I suppose it's okay, as long as I don't get addicted to eating all of my fabulous treats!


Step 1: Add 1 1/2 cups water to cake mix


Step 2: Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Step 3: Add 3 eggs



Step 4: Mix ingredients and pour into cups & bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes


Step 5: Decorate with icing & sprinkles

Final step: ENJOY!! :)