Potty Training! TP Unravelling! And more. {7QTs}

Linking without thinking over at Jen's.

{1}

Because I believe in keeping things real on the internet, here is a picture of what our living area looks like rightthisminute.

We do have furniture now, so, yay!  But due to the new place being roughly half the size of the new one, we are having issues finding places for all of our stuff. I always thought I was a minimalist, but this move has taught me differently.

{2}

 While the house leaves something to be desired, the neighborhood is awesome (which is why we picked it). It is very peaceful and the weather has been so great lately that I have been making a habit of going out for a solo walk after we get the kids in bed. Last night the views were particularly nice.

 A neighbor's back yard. Tres jealous.

What you can't see in the picture is that for the last few days the lovely neighborhood has been smelling spectacularly of horseshit.

My theory is that some local green thumb got a delivery of manure for their garden beds, which is great, but boy does it stank.

{3} 

So, six or seven years ago my bike was stolen right off our then-apartment's porch. We lived a block away from a high school that could be politely described as "INTENSE", and stolen bikes were the least of the police department's worries. Anyway. I never bothered to buy a new one so I haven't biked in over half a decade.

Now, I know many super-cool people that are avid bikers, so when I saw there was a cycling class at my new gym I thought, hey, I'll be super cool too!

No.


Someone...

broke my tailbone about three years ago, and it still bothers me quite a bit. Somehow I managed to forget that when I was signing up for a class that would require an hour of contact between said tailbone and a narrow seat evidently made out of concrete.

I made it through the class and it really was a great workout, but I just can't bring myself to go back next week. Guess I can't be super cool after all.

{4} 

Speaking of CJ, I intended on starting to potty train him this weekend due to the impending start of preschool...then I remembered that I don't have a washing machine.

One is supposed to be installed before August 1, so I guess all potty training plans are on hold until then. Thank goodness. I hate changing diapers, but I am really not looking forward to the whole transition.

{5}

Speaking of CJ and transitions (poor kid is having a lot of them lately and he is holding up admirably under the pressure), we changed him over from a crib to a toddler bed when we moved. It has been going rather well, other than some early morning wake-ups to explore the new house when we first arrived. We nipped that in the bud and it hadn't been a problem for a while. Then at 4:40-something last night (I don't consider that to be morning and neither should you) he was stomping around the house looking for "Mommmeeeeeeeeee!" and he got very upset when Daddy tried to put him back to bed. Then when I put him back to bed he pretty much zonked right away. I'm thinking sleep walking, and I really hope he doesn't make a habit of it.

The kids don't often disturb my sleep these days, which is good because I do a fine job of disturbing my own sleep. Really really hoping that he doesn't make a habit of it...

{6}

Someone unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper all over the powder room and kitchen today. Surprisingly for a household with two toddlers and two cats, this has never happened before. That was super annoying.

{7}

Ya'll should know that Brother Francis has a new dvd available over at Herald Entertainment.  If you like to catechize your kids but don't have a lot of time or brain cells, Brother Francis is the guy for you!

 

That's the news for now. Later gators.

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

The Humblebees Go Glamping

Glamping

noun

[mass noun] British informal

A form of camping involving accommodation and facilities more luxurious than those associated with traditional camping.

Last Monday the movers packed up most of our stuff and took it away, and we made the move to Wisconsin with only what we could pack in the minivan--which turned out to be quite a lot, actually.

Not even the half of it.

 

How did we manage to make a 600-mile trip with all this stuff, plus the kids and the cats?

It was a tight fit.

When we were packing our "necessities" for the 10-day gap between when the movers packed up our stuff and when they will deliver it, we seem to have given precedence to Legos and puzzles and and completely forgot about practical things like a cooking pot or silverware. When we got to our new apartment we realized that it didn't have a microwave, and I only just rectified the situation yesterday. My kingdom for the means to make dinner!

Oh! And our apartment is currently devoid of a washer/dryer and it will take the landlord another week to get them installed. I just haven't had the energy to take the kids to a laundromat so...boy do we stink.

The first night without our furniture we discovered that our trusty air mattress had a leak--we noticed this when we woke up at 2am on the floor--which prompted us to go to Target and spring for the mack daddy of air mattresses, plus a memory foam topper. It is very comfortable, as air mattresses go, but I am dying to sleep in my own bed. 

I know it's not exactly like camping, but gosh it is really starting to feel like it.

Thank goodness the movers are scheduled to come first thing tomorrow morning.

An Interview with a Toddler on the Eve of his Third Birthday

Exactly three years ago I was a full day in to an epic back labor that wouldn't end for another six hours. Fun. Times. But look what I got for my trouble at 3:04 in the A.M. the next day!

Interview with a Toddler

E: Ok CJ, since tomorrow is your birthday I'm going to ask you some very important questions. Are you ready?

C: Yes.

E: Ok, first question. How old are you?

C: I'm freeeeeeee!

E: You're three today? Are you sure? How old are you right now?

C: One

E: Come on, how old are you?

C: I'm twoooo!

E: And how old will be be tomorrow?

C: *Gasps* My happy birrrrthday!

E: Yes, but how old will you be on your happy birthday?

C: Eighty-two!

E: Um, no, you're not eighty-two. Who is eighty two?

C: *grins* Gigi! (My maternal grandmother, who did indeed celebrate her 82nd birthday this month).



E: CJ, where do you live?

C: In mine house. It's yellow and brown.


E: And what is your favorite thing to do?

C: I don't know...that says "do". (I gave him  his own copy of the questions and he was busy trying to read it and thus not very focused on the task at hand).


E: What makes you happy?

C: Mommy! (Awwww...)


E: And what makes you sad?

C: I don't know. I just....1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.....(reading the questionnaire again). 


E: Ok fine. What makes you scared?

C: Chick-fil-a. (He climbed way up in the play structure there a few weeks ago and was too scared to come down.)


E: what is your favorite book?

C: Old McDonald book

E: Which one is that? (we don't own such a book).

C: I don't know.

E: Ok, which story do you want me to read at bedtime tonight?

C: Two stories.

E: But which ones??? Do you want me to read you "War and Peace"?

C: Yeah.


E: Who do you love, CJ?

C: Mommy! (Awwww!!!)1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 . . .


E. Great...now, what do you want to do for work when you grow up?

C: Be math teacher!!! (ya think???)


E: What does Daddy do for work?

C: She do math. He do math. (We're working on his pronoun confusion. He used to call everyone "she" since he spends all the time with me and Noni, but he's starting to correct himself now.)


E: What does Mommy do for work?

C: She do math!!!

E: Nooo...what does Mommy do all day?

C: I don't know. I'm going to be math teacher.

E:  And what does Noni like to do?

C: Math.

E: But what does she like to play with?

C: I don't know, I'm writing right now. (Sure 'nuff)


E. Ok, tell me this. What is the meaning of life?

C: I don't know. That says "who".

E: But what is the meaning of life?

And then we went off on a really wild tangent and never got back to the meaning of life. I was kinda disappointed that he didn't say "math".

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

PLOT. TWIST.

My battle cry these days.

Apartment hunting sure is a lot more complicated than I remember. I guess not being anywhere CLOSE to the city we are hunting in is one of the main complicating factors. As is moving to a place that is actually experiencing economic growth (that's a new one for me) and thus has a competitive rental market.

When we visited a few weeks back on an apartment hunting mission, by some miracle we found a three-bedroom that wasn't icky and was available when we needed it. We were thisclose to signing the lease and I had announced the happy news on Facebook, then I got cold feet at the last minute because

a) No garage. Which I hate.

b) Only one bathroom. Hello, IBS.

c) On the second floor, no elevator

d) Only 1000 square feet, which wouldn't leave much space for my sewing stuff

All first-world problems, I'll grant you.

It wouldn't matter so much but for the fact that Nemo's new job requires longer hours and more travel than we are used to. It's going to be a huge lifestyle change from home at 4:30pm every day and having summers off. Plus it's in WISCONSIN, where I hear the winters are not so fun. The thought of being cooped up in a tiny second floor apartment with a new threenager and the Queen of Sass herself, neither of whom are good at climbing lots of stairs and are even less good at helping clear mountains of snow off the car, with no Nemo to rescue me at the end of the day was really more than I could bear.

As I try to write this.

So back to the drawing board we went.

I've been glued to Craigslist for the last two weeks. We lost out on a great opportunity last week and everything else we've found is SUPER expensive. Like three times what we spend on our house now.

Have I mentioned that the movers are picking up our stuff on June 30? Ha ha ha ha. Oh. Crimeny. We're doomed.

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

The Projects Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Stress, thy name is relocation. Nemo recently decided to accept a job offer in Wisconsin, over 600 miles from the area we've called home for the last eight years. So for the next month we'll be extremely busy orchestrating the move.

Our house went up on the market on Friday, and we've had several showings so far with positive feedback. Although our agent reported that someone loved everything about the house, but hated the outbuilding. Me too, sister. Me too.

Prayers are appreciated for a quick sale.

We still have to find a place to live in our new city and we'll probably be making a trip out there in the next few weeks to scout out real estate, but realistically we'll be renting for a while before we buy.

Anyway, on to the project. With house showings on the horizon I had my eye out for a twin bed frame. We've had a twin mattress on the floor of my attic sewing room for two years, which doesn't exactly scream class.

A week or so ago I was out thrifting with my MIL (I'll miss our outings so much when we move!) and I came across a cute vintage metal bed frame. It was very dusty and cobwebby, but other than that it was in great shape.

The foot board of said bed.

One afternoon when Noni was sleeping Professor Nonappington and I sanded and washed it down.

 A bucket of water and a paint brush kept him occupied for SO LONG. It was incredible.

Then I dragged everything to my weed patch for many many layers of this blue spray paint (which looks oddly light in this picture.) The paint I used was Krylon ColorMaster from Walmart in Oxford Blue. In my opinion, it should be marketed under the name "TARDIS blue".

 

It took three cans of spray paint to get it completely and evenly coated, and this is the final result!

 

Here's the pic of the sewing room that appears in our listing.

 If we were staying in this house, I would have no worries about where to put any more kids we might have. One can easily fit 4 stinky teenagers in that room. It's huge!

The quilt is by my lovely, talented, and very busy grandmother. I love the colors! I hope to put this on Noni's big girl bed in about 6.7 years when she is ready to vacate the portacrib.

It is just too stinkin' cute. I can't even stand it. Can you?

 

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

Going Off

I owe my recovery from severe postpartum depression and anxiety to many different things. Loving care from my family, regular exercise, taking "introvert time", and perusing my passions all played a pivotal role in bringing me back from the brink.

As important as those things were, I absolutely would not be here today if it wasn't for medication. That sounds alarming, but it's true. Looking back on it now, I can see how close I was to tragedy.

That has been very hard for me to admit. For the first six months I was on Zoloft, all I could think about was how to convince my doctor to let me stop taking it. At the time I subscribed to a commonly held misconception that taking antidepressants made me weak, that that taking a pill every day somehow made me less of a person. I've always had an internal drive that makes me want to do things on my own--or not at all.

During my second six months on Zoloft, something changed. I was stable enough to look back on my life up until that point and realize that I hadn't really been living. My depression and anxiety didn't start when Noni was born; it was something I had been suffering from since early adolescence. I was just so accustomed to it that I didn't even realize that being afraid to leave the house, to be a passenger in a car, and to call people on the phone, is not normal. Having an hours-long debriefings with myself after any kind of social interaction to identify everything I did wrong, is not normal.

Zoloft introduced to me the concept of a semi-normal life, and how awesome that can feel. After half a year of blissful normality, I began to question my belief that I could think my way out of mental illness, that I could overcome it if I simply tried hard enough.

When my one-year Zoloftaversary was approaching a few weeks ago (the time at which my psychiatrist said he would feel comfortable letting me wean off my wonder drug) I found that I wasn't sure if I was ready to give it up.

I've heard it said that medication is a crutch. Well, there are lots of kinds of crutches. Sometimes you use a crutch because you have a relatively minor injury and you're too lazy to go to physical therapy.

And sometimes you need a crutch because your left leg has been blown off.

(Ok, I guess one could use a prosthetic in a situation like that, but it ruins my metaphor. Stay with me here.)

I have considerable momentum built up after a year of remission. I have a whole bag of (mostly healthy) coping mechanisms that I know how to use when the going gets tough. I now know to make eating right, exercising, and nurturing my interests a priority. I've discovered how to share my feeeeelings. I've learned to ask for help.

I was worried that it wouldn't be enough. As much as I thought about it, I couldn't tell if I was using my crutch out of convenience or necessity. I guess it's something you can't really know until you throw it aside (Gradually! And under a physician's guidance!) and try to walk.

I made the decision like I do most big decisions. I closed my eyes, held my breath, and jumped. With the caveat that at the first sign of trouble, I will accept the fact that I need help. And that it's totally ok if the help I need is an (FDA-approved, of course) chemical.

My dose is currently half of what it was two weeks ago, and as I suspected it hasn't been an easy transition. Of course I decided to do this during a particularly stressful juncture in our lives (possible employment and housing changes, hooray!) and it's hard to tell if I'm obsessing because I'm without my Vitamin Z or if my life right now would make the most stable person in the world obsess about things they can't control.

Besides the emotional stuff I'm going through a little bit of  physical withdrawal, which is pretty common even when gradually lowering the dose. Oddly, it seems very like my experience getting adjusted to being on Zoloft in the first place, albeit MUCH more mild. But I've got tremors, tingling extremities, ringing in my ears, and "brain zaps", which feel a little like a bolt of lightning ricocheting around inside my skull. Fun. Times. Can't wait until this part is over!

I'm at peace with however this little experiment turns out. If I can be this lovely Normal Eva without it, then great. But if being on Zoloft long-term is what it takes to maintain my mental health, then that is what I'll do. No guilt, no second guessing myself, no self-loathing. Just moving forward.

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

Accessorizing the Boodwah {Project}

I tend to get a little hyper when I'm stressed out, and ZOMG YOU GUYS, the stress right now. You don't even know. Possible job changes and possible moves hundreds of miles away...stress. Hence all the project posts.

I've been harnessing my seemingly unlimited nervous energy to tackle all the little projects that have been crowded together on my back burner.

It's a three-parter today, folks!

Part I:

I picked up this lovely painting at the St. Vincent de Paul store for one dollah.

But I didn't buy it for the painting. Sorry, Martin Johnson Jr. I took your painting out of the frame and it pretty much disintegrated, so into the trash it went.

The frame had some nice details, which got a thorough scrubbing with some Murphy's Oil Soap and a toothbrush.

Then a few coats of spray paint. 

Same blue as my new lamp!

Then I got a scrap of perforated metal sheeting that was left over from another project and cut it down to size to fit the frame, then glued it in place. Do you see where I'm going with this?

 

Part II:

 We didn't have a mirror in the master bedroom for the longest time. Then I finally bought an appropriately sized one at a thrift store for $8, but it was kind of ugly and I never got around to hanging it, so it was just leaning against the wall for the last six months or so. No time like the present, Eva!

It got a light sanding by the helpfullest toddler around. 

 Then it too got a few coats of the blue spray paint. I painted the stripe by hand with a 1" foam brush and a paint sample I had in my stash.

Part III:

Lastly I spray painted a scrap of wood I found in the basement and screwed some brass hooks into it and...

Look how organized my jewelry is!

Note the bored toddler reflection in the mirror. She's clearing asking herself why her mother is taking pictures of the wall and also why said mother isn't fetching her some goldfish crackers.

Never again do I have to hunt for a matching pair in the jumble that was my jewelry box.

Bliss!

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

Lamp Deconstruction {Project}

I've done a lot of DIY projects in my life, but I've never messed around with lighting. I didn't even realize that an Average Jill like me could work with wires and electricity and stuff.

But the lovely Sheena, the lighting ingenue who blogs over at Bean in Love, made me think that me + lamp repair might not = unmitigated disaster.

There was a beaten-up vintage glass lamp with a nice marble base at the thrift store for many, many weeks in a row. I always feel a little sorry for things like that, and eventually I couldn't stand it any more and paid the $3 adoption fee.

I SWEAR I took an official before picture, but I can't find it anywhere. 

**UPDATE** I finally found the "before" picture. It was in the completely wrong folder.

There's my little diamond in the rough.

The "remember how all the pieces go back together" picture.

Taking it apart was a leaning adventure.I forgot to take step-by-step pictures of the process but there's a very good tutorial here.
 
I had picked out a nice light blue color of spray paint at Lowe's, but when I got it home I realized that it had a flat finish, which didn't jive with my plan.

So I grabbed the only can of spray paint I had in my stash that had a satin finish and went with it.

All the metal pieces got a few coats of paint, the glass pieces got cleaned, and then I got back to work putting it all back together. Despite the "remember how everything goes back together" picture, I had a very hard time turning it into a functioning lamp again. My spacial reasoning skills aren't tip-top at the moment. Or ever.

Then once I finally got it assembled I decided that I hated the color, no matter how shiny it was, so I took it all apart and repainted the metal pieces with the original color I had chosen.

I added a $5 shade from the Dollar General, and BAM! My first lighting project was complete.

Fancy, no?

All in all I spent $13 on this project. I couldn't be happier with the results!

My masterpieces lives in the guest room now, so if you ever to meet it in person all you have to do is come visit us!

Love that retro plug.

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.

Operation: Curb Appeal {and WIWS}

So I woke up from my winter hibernation a few weeks ago and realized that our yard looked terrible. It's always looked pretty terrible, but now that the epic kitchen renovation is finally nearing completion (after 2 solid years), the yard looked extra bad by comparison.

In classic Eva fashion I made a ridiculously ambitious to-do list, then freaked and called in some reinforcements. Luckily my younger sister was able to make the trip and lend her muscles to the cause.

1. Power wash anything on our property that would hold still long enough.

2. Re-paint foundation blocks

3. Spread 35 (!) bags of mulch

4. Spray paint patio furniture, mail box, railings

5. Make the outbuilding look purdy.

6. Stain porch

It's been almost two weeks since beginning this mass of projects, and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still need to paint roughly 1/3 of the foundation and stain the porch. As you can imagine, painting/staining is not something I can do with the kids running about, and since CJ is a very unreliable napper the progress has been slow. 

As it turns out, sprucing up the outbuilding was a little bit...impossible. There's a reason my sister dubbed our outbuilding "The Murder House". But I assure you, nothing has been murdered behind that door, unless you count mice. Which I don't.

Power washing it didn't do terribly much, but I did build the planters on either side of the stairs and planted a few shrubberies. It will have to do, I'm afraid.

Zee outfit:

Blouse: Merona, scored at St. Vincent De Paul shop just yesterday.
Skirt: Hand-me-down
Tights: Merona. Ran in to Target for storage bins, came out with tights. Which is usually why I only go in Target if I am having a Starbucks emergency.
Belt: Kohl's
Shoes: Madden Girl

Do I look refreshed and rejuvenated? Because I got to sleep in until 9 and then sipped tea in bed while watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was wicked awesome. But somehow I still feel tired. I think it might be all the yard work.

Happy Sunday, friends. And a very happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, whether you be a mother of the biological, adoptive, foster, or spiritual variety. God bless you!

Linking up with Fine Linen and Purple today. Click through for more posts by lovely ladies who probably won't bore you about yard work.

Postscript: There's more Humblebee on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hope to see you there! Especially on Instagram. I love Instagram.