Wonderful Friends!

Many months ago, probably almost a year, I put a very large load of towels in our washing machine. They all fit, so I thought it would be okay. As the washing machine starts to wash I notice that it is not working as it normally does. I try to move some of the towels around and realize how heavy the soaking wet towels are, especially if you have a lot of them. So I ended up taking half the towels out and putting them in the bathtub. I wash the half that was left in the washer and then washed the other half later.

Ever since that day, our washer has not worked right. The top agitator will not turn, or doesn't turn very well. If you put in a small load it works great. But if you put in a medium load, it does not work very well. So, I have just been washing small loads ever since I discovered this. Now that I have a 8 month old, who is going through clothes, bibs, burp clothes, sheets, socks, etc. each day, if I don't wash clothes every few days, then the loads get to large for the current functioning ability of our washer. This is getting every frustrating. I either have to wash clothes every few days or wash many small loads in one day. This is much more time consuming then if I could just wash one large load.

Daniel and I have been discussing whether we should pay someone to fix it or just buy a new washing machine. If it was going to cost us a couple hundred dollars anyway to pay someone to fix it, we were thinking about just buying a new washer.

Then a friend of ours, Mike, said he would look at it. Within only a few minutes he had discovered what the problem was, looked up online the part we needed, showed us a website where we can order the part and showed us how to fix it once we receive the part. The part ended up costing us about $20 (including shipping). $20 is so much better than buying a new washer and I am so excited that I am going to be able to wash a regular load of clothes.

THANKS MIKE!

Blender Blunder

So I have decided to start making homemade baby food. It is cheaper and healthier because you control exactly what goes into it. I decided to start simple by making green bean baby food. I bought fresh green beans (actually Jackie bought them for me at the Farmer's Market, thanks Jackie!), cut them up, steamed them and then put them in the blender. The first two batches (did I mention that I got a LOT of green beans) everything went very smoothly. With the third batch I was blending them and the blender kept getting stuck with an air bubble. So I was moving the blender around and pushing down a little (and I do mean just a little) on the hard plastic that is in the middle of the blender lid. Suddenly the hard plastic piece falls through the blender lid and into the blender (I didn't even think it was possible for that piece to go through the lid.) Of course then the blender starts chopping up the hard plastic. I start pushing the off button and the blender is not turning off. Little did I know that the off button is also the pulse button (we don't use the blender very often), so the whole time I was continuously pushing the off button I was actually making the blender pulse and therefore chopping up the hard plastic even more. This whole time I am holding my hand over the lid to keep it on and to keep everything from coming out of the hole in the top. I finally let go of the lid and reach for the plug. I don't make it to the plug before the lid explodes off the blender, sending green bean mush EVERYWHERE and then the blender stops on its own without me having to un-plug it. Covered in green slime is: the wall, the cabinets, the counter top, the floor, the toaster, a basket, and some hand towels. Also there are small pieces of hard plastic everywhere.

The good news is that the blender still works. Though there is now a hole in the top of the lid. I am hoping we can buy another hard plastic piece for the top or find something else that will work.

Believe it or not, this has not deterred me from wanting to continue making baby food.

Not Answering my Front Door Anymore

So I answered my front door yesterday to find a guy selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. He slyly made his way into my house and started demonstrating his vacuum. I told him up front that I was not going to buy a vacuum. He said that I didn't have to buy anything, but if I would just let him do his demonstration he would get credit for it. He wanted to use my phone to call into his office to let them know he was doing a demonstration. I told him that I didn't have a home phone, only a cell phone. He then asked if he could use the cell phone. I said no because it would cost me my minutes. He then pulled out his cell phone to place the call. At this point I remember a story I saw on the news were sales people will use your phone to call into their office and it will put your phone number on their calling list. Because your phone called their number then it is not illegal to call you back even if you are on the "Do Not Call" list. I am very glad I did not let him use my cell phone.

Then of course he goes through his demonstration. At the end I again tell him that I am not going to buy his vacuum. He calls back to his office and tells them that he is done with the demonstration and that I was not interested in buying the vacuum. As he is slowly packing up his stuff, all of the sudden his manager shows up at my door and wants to talk to me about why I do not want to buy their vacuum. She talks to me about how if I were a good mother I would not want my new born baby to be in the filth that is in my house and that with this vacuum I could give my baby a safer, cleaner environment. I continued to say no and finally after an hour they both left.

After they left I realized a lot of things. First, they could have robbed me or done anything at the point they were in my house and no one would have known until it was too late and there would have been nothing I could have done.

The biggest thing that bothers me about the whole incident is the way I reacted through it. The reason I opened the door in the first place was because I had the TV on and I knew that he could hear the TV and knew I was home. So I felt it was rude not to answer. I know this is silly, but it is just the way I felt. Then once he was in my house I felt uncomfortable and I told him that I was not going to buy anything, but he was a very smooth talker and no matter how many times I said no he kept going. I felt really uncomfortable once his manager showed up and they were both working on me, trying to get me to buy this vacuum. I still had not been forceful and asked them to leave. I just felt like forcefully asking them to leave would be rude and I kept thinking that surely they will leave soon. They also didn't give me much time to say much of anything. They just continued to talk and make points and try to convince me to buy their vacuum.

In retrospect, I should NOT have opened my door. Even if they could hear that I was home, that doesn't mean I am obligated to open my door to them. Once they were in my house and I started to feel uncomfortable, I should have forcefully asked them to leave. If they still did not leave (as I am sure they would not have) I should have picked up my phone and called the police. I re-play the situation in my head and I can come up with lots of different ways I could have handled the situation that would have been better than the way I did handle it. I really put Addison and myself in a bad situation. God protected us. Maybe this was God's way of teaching me not to open my door to people unless I know them. I am not going to open it anymore to strangers, because the next time the person might not really be a sales person.

Why is it that we sometimes do really stupid things because of the fear of looking rude?

Addison at Six Months

Dear Addison,

You are now 6 months old. I can't believe how fast you are growing and changing. At your 6 month check up the doctor was very impressed with the fact that you can already sit up without any help. You weigh 17 lbs and 5 oz and you are 26.5 inches long. You are in the 85% for height and the 75% for weight.

You have the cutest two front lower teeth, though they are useless to you right now.

In just the past month you have gone from eating one meal of rice cereal to eating rice cereal in the morning and a vegetable at dinner time. You have tried carrots, sweet potatoes and squash. Your favorite right now is squash.

You are extremely observant and you always want to be able to see what is going on. This can sometimes make meal times a challenge, because you would much rather see what is going on then eat. But we are working through that.

I love the way you talk it up when you are sitting in your swing or when you are in your car seat.

I am so thankful that I get to stay home with you and watch all these wonderful changes. As my mom always says, "Soon you will be going off to college and I won't know where the time went."

Love Mommy

NO SMALL BAND-AIDS FOR BABIES!!!!!!!!!

Today I learned the hard way why you should not put a small Band-Aid on your baby's finger.

This morning I was reading Addison a book. She slid her finger down one of the pages and got a paper cut. I couldn't seem to get it to stop bleeding, so I put a little round Band-Aid on her finger. A few hours later we get into the car to go visit a friend of mine. As I am stopped at a red light I notice that Addison is chewing on something. I don't think much of it because these days she is always doing strange things with her mouth. Then she starts coughing. As the light turns green and I start to go through the intersection Addison stops coughing, in fact she is not making any noise at all, but her mouth is open and she looks weird. I immediately pull over, jump out of the car, jerk open the back seat door and jump in. SHE IS NOT BREATHING! At this point I realize that her Band-Aid is no longer on her finger. I reach down into her mouth, but I can't find anything. Finally in great desperation, I stick my finger down her throat as far as I can (I know this had to hurt her) and I feel the Band-Aid and I swipe it out. She sucks in a deep breath and then she let out a VERY LOUD cry. Both Addison and I sat there and cried for a moment. I finally got her to calm down, though I was still VERY shaken.
I praise God that I realized something was wrong. I praise God that I was able to pull off to the side of the road as fast as I did. I praise God that I was able to finally reach the Band-Aid. And I praise God that Addison is okay.

I've Been Tagged

Okay, so here are the rules: List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself. Tag seven people to do the same. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag “whoever wants to do it.”

The problem is I don't have seven people to tag, but I will at least share seven habits/ quirks/ facts about myself.

1 - I am a speed demon. I actually ruined a car once by going 100 mph on interstate in August with the air conditioner going full blast. I have to say though, I drive much slower today, now that I have a baby, but I am still a pretty aggressive driver.

2 - I love doing tax returns and learning about different tax codes/ rules. Yes, I know it is nerdy, but I find taxes very interesting. That is why I became an accountant.

3 - I like precision, which is why I hate cooking. If a recipe says a pinch or a dash, that drives me crazy. I want to be able to measure exactly how much should be used.

4 - I LOVE Sweet Tea!!!

5 - I cannot sleep unless there is a fan on. I grew up sleeping with a fan and now if there is not one (or at least a similar noise) I can not sleep. I even sleep with a fan on in the winter.

6 - My brother's name is Three, yes T-H-R-E-E. I know this isn't a fact about me specifically, but he is my brother and it is an interesting name.

7 - I love Broadway shows.

First Tooth!!!!

Addison has her first tooth. It is so exciting. Daniel and I didn't even notice it. A friend of mine noticed it. It is in the lower front of her mouth. I can't believe that she just turned 5 months and she already has a tooth. She is growing up so fast.