101 Things: 032. Find a reliable babysitter

Posted in 101 Things by

As part of finding some balance, Shawn and I are committed to having a date night at least twice a month. This meant finding a reliable sitter for Joseph.

For those of you who have close relatives or friends you can rely on to watch your kiddos for you-count your blessings and be ever so thankful! With no family in town -my MIL is the closest at 2.5 hours away- and friends that have enormously busy lives of their own, I was really stuck on how to find someone to watch Joseph for us on occasion.

Luckily, some friends of ours suggested their sitter. A lovely girl who works at their daughter’s daycare and also sits for them on the weekends. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I met her before and saw her interact with Joe and their daughter as well. She is also certified in child CPR and has major experience from her day job. Win! She actually introduced us to one of her friends that also works at the daycare and she has watched Joseph as well.

I cannot tell you how big of a difference this has made in for us. Shawn and I are able to get some much-needed adult time together and I’m not worrying about the little guy because I know he’s in good hands.

Now, if I could only find someone reliable who could watch Joseph during the day so I could schedule doctor appointments, run non-baby friendly errands, etc. during the week. It’s hard to get things accomplished like this without Shawn having to take time off from work. Hopefully, we’ll figure something out some day. Until then, I’ll be schlepping Joe around whether he likes it or not.

January’s Birchbox

Posted in Fashion by

1672This month’s box was about new beginnings and products that you can use all year long.

  • Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo – This clarifying shampoo has black currant and soy to restore vibrancy, acai berry and vitamin C to deliver youth-boosting antioxidants and Oolong tea and Irish moss to defend against environmental damage, as well as lemongrass and oatmeal gently cleanse and purify. Its vegan friendly and free from sulfate/sodium chloride and parabens. It had a nice clean, nice sudsy feeling, without stripping my hair and the scent was woodsy/mossy.
  • theBalm® cosmetics Hot Mama Shadow & Blush All-in-One -love this company’s products and have other blushes in past from them. Color is peach, not really a good color for me now, but maybe in summer?
  • Harvey Prince Skinny Chic-The fresh and fruity blend of apple, mint, and grapefruit is specially formulated to keep you energized—and curb cravings to boot. Interesting, but not really sure that it worked for me. Wears off fast, however it is supposed to be re-applied whenever you “need a lift.” I think that it  may be better as a room scent, but that’s just me.
  • Lashem Measurable Difference Lash Gel Serum– I didn’t use this product. It’s not for me, since I already have thick lashes. Plus, this kind of scares me a bit.
  • Bonus Freebie: fresh Lot Lotus Youth Preserve Face Cream – This moisturizer is made with a proprietary blend of seven actives to prevent and treat all the signs of skin aging while keeping skin moisturized day and night. I absolutely love fresh products, their lip balm is to die for, and this one is lives up to the rest. It is rich and creamy, but not greasy. Plus, it has a great, light scent. I thought that it was a bit too heavy for daytime, but it would work perfectly as a nighttime moisturizer. Something I often need during these winter months.

 

Anyone interested in signing up for a Birchbox? Makes a great gift for the holidays! Please click here so I get points for the referral. Thanks a bunch!

Moon Juice Cleanse: Wrap Up

Posted in Dream Year 2013 by

rainbowcleanse01Well, the original plan was to do a seven day juice cleanse with Moon Juice. Unfortunately, there were some shipping issues (FedEx in Columbus leaves a lot to be desired) and we decided to cut it short after four days. Honestly, I was a bit relieved to cut it off then. I can only survive for so long on juices, no matter how tasty.

Here’s what I took away from the experience:

  • I was surprised at how easy this was. I was not hungry and actually got to the point where I couldn’t drink all seven juices in a day because I was full. I did not feel like I was starving and was quite comfortable. 
  • I need more protein to get through the day. I was exhausted by 7pm and ready for bed. If you have an active lifestyle -or are chasing babies all day- I’d recommend having an additional amount of protein than just the one Almond Milk or maybe chill out more (if possible) while you are juicing.
  • Variety is key. If I had to drink the same thing every day, I would have quit after 24 hours.
  • I cannot live without coffee. If that means I am addicted, so be it. I need that fuel to keep up with Joseph and not have to nap when he does in order to make it through the day.
  • I can see incorporating juicing into our everyday diet, it was a great way to get in fruits and veggies and was great to be able to just chug down a “meal” while baby wrangling.
  • I was surprised how little dishes and trash we had for this time! That was another little bonus.
  • I need to drink more liquids in the day. Period.
  • This made me really look at what I was eating during a normal day and motivated us to eat healthier and smarter that we have been currently.

All in all, I would definitely do this again, but only for a 3 day period. I don’t think I could last that long without and solid foods, not to mention coffee, without feeling slightly crazy.

If you are interested in the Rainbow Cleanse that we participated in, or another type of juice cleanse, I highly recommend you check out Moon Juice!

Joseph: 10 Months

Posted in Oh Baby by

Double digit months!

DSC04629 I am always on the move. I crawl everywhere possible and cruising around on furniture. I have even started to attempt walking by pushing around my high chair and play table. I want to climb the stairs every chance I get, however going back down them still escapes me.

Walter and I are best friends and playmates. I can say his name and smile and laugh whenever I see him. We share toys and wrestle and give each other hugs.

DSC04632I love music and “dance” when I hear a good song and bounce on my toy donkey. I am obsessed with the vacuum and chase it around whenever mommy or daddy turn it on. I love it so much that I often open the closet and visit and talk to it. I still love to read and love my pop up books the best. I can work them myself!

I started swimming class with daddy and it is so much fun! I yell and laugh while splashing daddy in the pool. I also splash around in my bath and play with the bubbles.

I can say even more words now: book, bubbles, Walter, up, and bottle. I make lots of silly noises and sometimes sing with mommy. I can yell really loud, but haven’t really figured out how to whisper.

This month I saw snow for the first time. I wasn’t too sure about it, but I liked being outside and watching Walter catch snowballs and seeing daddy use the snowblower.

Only a couple more and someone will be a year old. . . .oh my!

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Rozalyn’s Quilt

Posted in She's Crafty, Uncategorized by

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Here’s the quilt that I made for my sister, Rozalyn. I modified a pattern that I saw online, making the internal blocks larger. The majority of the fabric I used was left over from Lucy’s quilt. Roz really loved the colors and fabric when I showed it to her, so I knew that she’d be happy with this one. I added the espresso micro-dot fabric to tone down some of the pink. This came together fairly quickly since I already had some of the fabrics cut into squares and strips. I backed it with green minky that matches the colors from the front of the quilt. I also used this machine binding technique that I found on Pinterest. It looks great with the accent color in the binding, but was a bit time consuming. I might try it again when I wouldn’t be so crunched for time.

My Moon Juice Menu

Posted in Dream Year 2013 by

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Due to a slight delay in shipping, we ended up starting our Moon Juice cleanse on Wednesday. We chose to do the Rainbow Cleanse – a choice of seven juices plus an Almond Milk per day.

Here’s the juice that I chose:

Beet Aid – contains beet, lime, and cucumber. This was a bit disappointing, since it really only tastes like cucumber to me. However, it’s very light and refreshing. For blood building, kidney flushing, and creating stamina.

Carrot, Lime, & Coconut – contains carrot, coconut meat, lime, and ginger. Yum! I like carrot juice and the lime and ginger add a nice zing. For fat flushing, virus fighting, and body strengthening.

Celery Cilantro Punch – contains cilantro, celery, green apple, lemon, ginger. Not one of my favorites. It started okay but hard to finish tasted mostly of celery. Grassy aftertaste. For heavy metal detoxifying, calming nerves and fighting infections.

Gingered Lemon -contains ginger, lemon, green apple.  Zippy! Like strong ginger beer, but not fizzy. Would be great as a cocktail mixer. For detoxifying, tummy soothing, energy, and immunizing.

Goodness Greens- contains kale, dandelion, parsley, spinach, celery. Traditional green juice. Like drinking a salad, but in a good way. For healing, stimulation, mood lifting and alkalization.

Tumeric Gold – contains tumeric root and red apple. Yum! Apple with an earthy spice. This one my be my favorite. For anti-oxidizing, pain killing, and boosting metabolism.

Spiced Yam – contains garnet yams, carrot, red apple, cinnamon, and ginger. Another yummy one. Add a little whiskey and it would be a perfect fall cocktail. For balancing hormones, brain power, heart protection, and mineralization.

Almond Milk – contains unpasteurized almonds, mountain salt, raw, wildflower honey, and alkaline, mineralized, oxygenated water. Not very flavorful. Mild nutty taste and no sweetness. Meh.

I’ll be posting more on how I’m hanging in there with all this juice soon. Until then, bottoms up!

 

Michael John’s Quilt

Posted in She's Crafty by

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For Christmas this year, I made quilts for my brother and sisters. It was a big project to undertake, but I was so happy to be able to make something for each of them. Due to time constraints, I went with making them lap/throw size quilts. Here is the one I made for my brother.

This is my first improvised quilt. I wanted something that would be graphic and masculine. I decided to use solids instead of prints and knew that I couldn’t go wrong with navy and orange (Chicago Bears colors) with a white background. I mitered those corners, a first for me. Pretty pleased with how they turned out. I backed the quilt with a navy minky fabric (super soft fuzzy fleece) which was another first for me. I gave the quilt a great weight to it and was super snuggly, however what a pain to quilt with my dinky machine. I bound it with a dark grey solid.

Going to the Moon (Juice)

Posted in Dream Year 2013, Noble County Gold by

As a way to kickstart our year, Shawn and I have decided to do a cleanse. Now, I am not normally in to the cleanse thing, I feel that starving your body and trying to survive on maple-lemon-cayenne water and laxatives is not really a very healthy thing to do. So when Shawn approached me about Moon Juice, I was fairly skeptical. But after a little research, I decided to give it a go.

Moon Juice is a cold pressed, 100% organic, juice and nut milk shop on Rose Avenue in Venice, California. It has been celebrated by Daily Candy, Sunset Magazine, among others for its innovative and tasty concoctions.

The magic behind Moon Juice is supposed to be the pressing technique. All their juices are hydraulically pressed between 2 steel plates. This pressing action doesn’t heat or oxidize the produce, resulting in a nutritionally packed, live juice that is loaded with enzymes, vitamins, trace minerals, and other vital elements.

One bottle of Moon Juice contains over 3 pounds of raw, 100% organic produce. We do not pasteurize our juices, they are live and with proper refrigeration they will maintain their nutritional stability and will taste crisp for 72 hours after being pressed.

After reading through the cleanse menu, we decided to try the Rainbow Cleanse. This particular cleanse consists of 7 different juices plus an Almond Milk for each day. Now that’s a TON of juice to drink! But, I like the idea that you can have variety in the types of juice you have – no monotonous meals day after day- and the Almond Milk will give you some needed protein.

I really like Moon Juice’s ideas about cleansing:

juice cleansing is a way to enable the body to naturally go into detox mode while at the same time flooding it with live nutrients and enzymes. As we live, eat, and breath we accumulate toxins in the body. Its important to take the time to release ourselves of these toxins, as they lead to problems with both the body and the mind. We spend an enormous amount of energy on the constant strain of digestion. When we stop eating solid food our organs are no longer tied up, and all that blood and energy is free to move to the brain, the skin, the liver, etc. we are able to attend to neglected issues our body hasn’t had time to properly attend to, we remove toxins, and are given a rest. All the while you are flooding yourself with over 20 pounds of 100% organic, raw produce.

Our cleanses are made to support your body in its own detoxification process as you go about your routine. We provide 8 juices and an almond milk, this is a nurturing and healing daily dose of juice, this is a time to support your body not deprive it or stress it out. We like to think of this as a juice feast, a holiday for the body, the ultimate indulgence.

Some signs that it is time to cleanse are: a weakened immune system, troubled skin, allergies, low moods or anger, sleeplessness, poor digestion, weight gain, low energy, and just feeling and looking blah.

 

We’ll be starting the cleanse tomorrow and are going to attempt to do it for an entire week. I’ll be checking in each day to let you know if I survive how things are going. Wish us luck!

The Year Ahead

Posted in All About Me, Dream Year 2013 by

Well, the Team Colley Holiday Tour has reached its completion and we are back home and settling into the new year. 2013!

I love the start of a new year. New beginnings, clean slates, a brand new calendar. . . and of course lists! Lists of things I want to do, see, make, cook.

I decided that this year I really need to bring balance into my -and by extension my family’s-life. That means focusing on our family as a whole as well as myself. I found that last year I made several fits and starts at doing this, but I always pushed myself aside to focus on others. This hurt me, both mentally and physically. I need to do better. Here are a few ways to start:

  • Shawn and I have talked about this and we are going to make sure to make time for us – date night at least twice a month – so we don’t become “mommy & daddy” and forget ourselves.
  • We will also be working harder to work as a team parenting. Before this meant that we often “tagged out” with Joseph. Leading to a lot of frustration on my part. I was not able to “tag out” as much with being home all day while Shawn was working and when he was home, I was often “supervising” his turns. I also felt a lot of guilt when I did step away to take time for myself. I always rushed and didn’t fully enjoy that time because I was fretting about getting back and “relieving” Shawn. Shawn is a capable adult and a wonderful father. I need to let him lead at times.
  • I have to make sure Shawn has time for himself outside of work, he needs his down time as well to relax and rejuvenate just as much as I do.
  • I need to allow myself to take time for me. This can mean going to get a pedicure, reading or crafting while Joseph naps instead of doing laundry, making it to the gym, or actually taking a nap. These things will all help me in realizing my goals.
  • Stop doubting and mentally beating myself up over my mothering skills, or lack there of. I put myself through a TON of mental anguish regarding whether or not I am doing the right thing for my son. I also get really down on myself whenever I get frustrated with him. I am human. I am doing the best I can. I will pay for his therapy. I have to remember this and focus on how wonderful this tiny wonderful human is and how he has helped me grow.

So those are a few ways I’ll be working on making this year all about Team Colley. I’m sure I’ll have my successes and failures, but I have a beautifully empty calendar in which to log my progress. I’ll be posting about my trials and tribulations under the category Dream Year 2013. Hope you’ll follow along with me.