Life of Val

My choo-choo!

Val — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:41:29 +0000

Two significant things happened in the life of my son today; he was diagnosed with pink eye and he got a train table!

I’ll tell you about the train table, because that part’s more exciting. I have been toying (get it?) with the idea of getting a train table for Carver because he loves playing with the one at the museum, our neighbors’ and with the one at school. I didn’t even consider buying a new one, as they can cost $200+. I heard about a used one this weekend, selling at a consignment sale for $150. I went to look at it the 2nd day of the sale (everything was half off) and it was gone. Well, that made my decision easy. And then tonight, as we were getting ready to leave YL club, the area director’s wife pulled up and said “you guys don’t want a train table do you?” Five minutes later we were pulling into our driveway with a train table in the back of the van! Carver has not stopped saying “my choo-choo, my choo-choo.” He can hardly believe his crusty little eyes…

Back in business

Val — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:37:52 +0000

The coupon world has been good to me this week.

CVS

2 packages of Huggies diapers

2 tubes of Colgate Total

total: $9.00

Harris Teeter

$106 worth of groceries for $43!

27 weeks pregnant

Val — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:29:23 +0000

The third trimester has hit hard. I’ve been torn between a deep urge within my gut to GET THINGS DONE and the opposing weight of complete exhaustion. As I am well into this pregnancy, I remember from last time that Nesting (for me, at least) turns from an interest in browsing Etsy for cute growth charts to a need to scrub my baseboards. And this is coming from me, someone who loves to organize and straighten, but doesn’t enjoy any kind of cleaning that actually involves soap or a rag.

A few weeks ago I started to realize that by 8 PM I was feeling as tired as if I was back in trimester #1. I couldn’t manage to keep up with daily dishes, let alone actually get any real projects done around the house. After a while of complaining about being tired and not knowing what was wrong, I found out I have pregnancy anemia. NBD, I’m on iron supplements now, with high hopes of feeling back to normal soon.

I did manage to clean out my fridge, and I don’t just mean throwing out anything growing mold. I actually emptied it, washed it (with soap and a rag), washed the drawers and then took a picture. I did this for proof and motivation for the me 8 years from now, when I’ll have yet to clean out my fridge again. I also captured the moment so I could brag about something most people probably do once a month. Hey, we all have our strengths. Mine just happen to be more along the lines of abandoning piles of laundry to go hot-glue some craft.

Toddlers and picky eating (the story of my life)

Val — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 14:01:53 +0000

Adorable red-head, sense of humor beyond his years, social charmer, great sleeper… these are all characteristics that describe my son. However, good eater is not one of those descriptors. Ethan and I have been frustrated with the C Monster’s eating habits since we first put a spoon in his mouth. While our frustrations manifested differently, me catering to his pickiness by offering 30 different options at every meal, Ethan trying to reason or bargain with a toddler, nothing was working. So, last Wednesday night we went to a class that seemed to be very helpful. The approach they presented basically works like this, as parents, we decide where, when and what he eats. As the child, he decides if he wants to eat at all, and if so, he chooses how much of which foods he wants to eat.

What this means for us:

No more grazing, on-demand feeding out of the cabinet, when I’m cooking, or otherwise

Only water between the 3 meals and 2 planned, sit-down snacks (no more gross sippy-cups filled with forgotten milk lingering in the corners of our house and car!)

No more spilling drinks or snacks as he carries them around

I (we) have be very intentional about having dinner ready at a reasonable time (which for him is usually before or by 6 PM… this is a hard one)

No more using food as a distraction or manipulation

He is allowed to have seconds and thirds of whatever is offered at the table, without trying everything on his tray. Yes, this means that he could potentially fill up on bread and fruit every meal, if offered. But no walking back to the kitchen to offer substitute meals or replenish the bread bowl, etc.

Obviously, we are going to be flexible with this, while providing as much structure as possible.

***Warning: The following -and preceding, actually- might be incredibly boring if you’re not interested in the minute details of our parenting

Here is how its gone so far. I’ll write everything we offered at each meal, and what he actually ate in bold:

Day #1

B- Whole-wheat waffle with peanut butter, yogurt, blueberries

S- *At school he eats a structured, sit-down, typical preschool snack consisting of goldfish or graham crackers, etc. As far as I know, he always eats at least some.

L- Orange slices, garlic bread, pasta

S- Pears, cereal, yogurt

D- Avocado, bacon, corn chips, cheese, tomatoes, chicken

Day #2

B- Toast w/peanut butter, cereal, yogurt

Overall, we are noticing him eating more at each meal than he normally would. The hardest habit to break for me will be the snack I use to keep him in a good mood between school and home. I’ll give it a week or two, and I might just end up brining lunch to school if I need to. The whole change hasn’t seemed too hard on Carver, I think the structure of our weekdays helps. I’m pretty excited to have any sort of plan to go off of, and it helps so much with decision-making tension between the grown-ups.

Good ideas, suggestions and questions are very welcome!

Throwing a preschool birthday party

Val — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:13:30 +0000

I was talking to my sister about throwing a birthday party for young children. Sure, kids 3 and under probably won’t remember and its mostly for the parents, but that doesn’t make a birthday less worth celebrating! So for those of you that are interested, here’s my 2 cents:

Plan an easy menu or something you can make (or buy) ahead of time. This is just something I’m still learning about hosting in general. I never prepare enough ahead of time.
I love the idea of basing a party off a book. So many decorating, menu, invitation and game ideas can stem from one easy book theme… and if there are few enough kids, you could get them the book or memorabilia from that book for a favor.
Definitely have some pictures of your little one displayed. The tough part will be holding back the tears when you pick them out.
As far as entertaining your guests, put the focus on the child (and maybe the other kids, if they’re lucky). Guests are there to celebrate your b-day guy or gal, or at least to celebrate you celebrating them.
Keep the party short (I’d say 2 hours is about right) and make the agenda about the kid. Mingle, eat, do cake, presents, mingle, peace out.
Pick a time of day that your child is usually the happiest.
I didn’t want to deal with games for the other kids coming to Carver’s party so instead I got a huge sheet of blue bulletin board paper from school and used it to cover the dining table and coffee tables and set out lots of crayons. Adults and kids loved it and it left me with a “guest book” to keep, as lots of them signed it or wrote notes to Carver.
You could also do a plastic tablecloth and put play-doh on it if you can’t find paper like that. I would suggest keeping it over tile, though!
Put someone else in charge of the camera… a stranded-looking uncle or neighbor might appreciate the job.
Last, but most important, take time to be with your sweet dude or dudette on their birthday!

First trip to the ED

Val — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:51:33 +0000

At 11:50 last night I looked at my clock and thought “Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t fallen asleep yet.” Then, at 11:59 I heard Carver cough. We both heard it. By the second cough we were both heading straight for Carver’s room, Ethan for his crib and me for the inhaler. Turns out it wasn’t an asthma attack, but “just” croup/strider. Its funny how in hindsight I can say “just,” but at the time, my little baby couldn’t breathe. Not knowing it was croup, we tried the albuterol and when it didn’t help, at 12:04, Ethan had us heading out the door to the hospital. 3.5 hours later we came home, Carver breathing well with a steroid in his system. This wasn’t Carver’s first croup cough, but definitely the worst. I mean, he really couldn’t breathe. Next time we’ll try some cold air or turning on the shower, but I’m glad we went in… just very ready for my head to hit the pillow!

Q.T.

Val — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:32:36 +0000

Ethan and I are looking for something to do together (besides dishes). After our Google search: “couple hobbies,” these are some of the things we have ruled out: collecting stamps, archery, coupon clipping and taxidermy. We make a really great team and can tackle a week of parenting, school, laundry, keeping chickens, and preparing meals, all while being madly in love. Ok, so maybe our chickens have been neglected during these cold spells, and maybe there are loads of unfolded laundry sitting 6 feet away from me as I -eh em- blog, but you get the point. We would still like to have a little fun. With each other.

Is it too much to ask for a cheap (as in free), childless, easily accessible activity we could do on a weekly basis? I would even settle for bi-weekly. Tennis is near the top of the list of options right now, although we are both pretty bad at it. And sitting next to each other on the couch, eating ice cream and looking at Facebook does not count. So folks, if you have any suggestions, send them my way.

Symptom

Val — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:16:09 +0000

During this pregnancy, a lot of my symptoms have been much different than they were with Carver. I didn’t feel very nauseous this time, but did have extreme food cravings and aversions (“If I don’t eat a chicken caesar wrap right now, I’m going to throw up!”). And although I know I was tired last go round, I think exhaustion plagued me much more this time. Thankfully, I’m starting to perk up, and with that, a very familiar mark of pregnancy has emerged- nesting.

I laid down for a nap a couple days ago and played out the Pottery Barn Kid catalog in my mind for 2 full hours. I spend all my free time on Apartment Therapy’s children page. We don’t even know the sex yet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve nailed down a color scheme. I know it might sound ugly, but trust me, in my imagination, these colors are coming together beautifully: yellow, brown and cream. If its a girl, I’m going to throw in pink. I have a quickly-growing list of projects to tackle, and I’m so glad my energy is picking up almost as quickly. I can’t wait to get started! I know, realistically, I probably won’t be able to start until after the holidays, but I can keep scheming!

Valerie Stonerook is…

Val — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:26:43 +0000

I know I should just blog when my Facebook status won’t fit in the box. So here goes an elongated status/random stream of consciousness:

1. Cold weather and pregnancy…boy am I thankful for leggings.

2. These are the things Carver has done in his bat costume since the beginning of November: dinner at Moe’s, visiting Ethan at school, Trick or Treating by knocking on my bedroom door. I just can’t resist when he brings me the costume and says “tic-o-tee.”

3. It was so fun having friends over for dinner tonight. Not only did we know 6 whole people to invite, but I actually felt up to cooking! The menu: Cuban pork, rice and black beans (the kind that take all day to make), green beans, homemade Cuban bread (thanks to Ethan!) and key lime cheesecake. Mmmmm. It feels good to have fun with people that are taller than 3 ft.

Restraint

Val — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:38:16 +0000

A nice, quiet, low-key weekend usually gives me the chance to do some garage sale hunting, or at least make a trip to the farmer’s market. Well this was the perfect weekend for some bargain shopping. Not only has the weather up here been amazing, but I have a very willing husband who helped watch the babe and even accompanied me on a few of my ventures.

Garage sale-ing Saturday AM, for a grand total of $6, I found: 2 pairs of pants, a bat costume and a space heater (all for C Monster).

I had to keep my lips tightly sealed at one point. Having hosted a few garage sales myself, I like to think I have some experience on the other side of the fanny pack. One of the hostesses at the sale where I found C’s pants was frugal beyond compromise. There was a man there trying to buy a bag of clothes for his daughter and this saleswoman demanded he pay $35! Her argument was “Do you know how much I payed for my daughter’s clothes?” Ridiculous.

Next, we took a break from bargain hunting and went out to lunch. I have been craving sweet potato fries for about a month (BTW-I’m pregnant!). I found a restaurant near my preschool called The Filling Station that has a nice outdoor patio and SPFs. It was wonderful. It reminded me a lot of Cafe’ Gardens, back home (RIP).

The Filling Station is in this cute downtown-ish area of Winston-Salem called West End. Right around the corner is my new favorite consignment shop, Re-tale. I could let the owner of this place decorate my house. I really think, if I had the money I would have walked out of there with every household/furniture item that was for sale. Instead, with the $30 I did have, I bought a hamper to contain all the sporting equipment floating around our house and 2 cute candlesticks.

Here comes the best part…

On a thrifty kick, I decided to head to Goodwill and look for a shower curtain. That’s right. After 5 months of living here, we still don’t have a real shower curtain. I didn’t find what I was looking for, BUT, I did find a vase/bowl that I had just been eyeing at Re-tale for $2 (it was for sale at Re-tale for $8). I was so excited. I also found a Pyrex lemonade pitcher and a small wooden lamp base that one might find on Apartment-Therapy .

So I didn’t clean or grocery shop like I had intended. But, hey, when I do dust those shelves, now there will be a lot of cute items to decorate them with.