Advent 2013

Back in September, I made this advent calendar:

My idea was to write down 24 activities on red card stock and slip them into the library pockets. Max would pull one card a day and we would do the corresponding activity to "get ready" for Christmas.  For the most part,  I kept the cards really simple with activities like "drive around to look at Christmas lights," "bake cookies," and "sing Christmas carols."  However, my official opinion of our advent routine is I didn't like it.  

Advent is supposed to be a time of rest and watchful waiting, sort of like a mini-Lent.  Despite the fact that 90% of our advent activities were really simple, feeling like we had to do something every day was actually sort of stressful.  For example, one activity was to go on a Starbucks date.  This is something we do off and on anyway, but feeling like we had to do it because it was on the card really took the fun out of it.  

Going forward, I think I'm going to keep Advent even more simple in the coming years.  Maybe one year I will write the titles of 24 Christmas books on cardstock and we will countdown to Christmas by reading 24 books.  We read throughout the day and at bedtime anyway, so our advent countdown will fit organically into our routine.  It will also give us the opportunity to have "surprise" cards that instead list a special activity--this year we really enjoyed the Nativity display at the Mormon church and we would also love to take Max to the Santa train at Pullen Park next year.

I would also like to incorporate a Jesse tree into Advent someday and I can use the library pockets to hold small ornaments and their corresponding Bible verses.  The point is that 24 days of activities and "have-to's" is exhausting and is the complete opposite of the whole point of Advent.  I'm hoping for a more restful season in the years to come!

Los Fives

The pipes burst in Andres's office last week, so he's been working from home.  Which means our only computer is occupied all day, which means no cyber socialization for me. Until now, when I answer your most burning question of what does Heather Frowow like this week?  I must know!  NOW!  Wait no longer, people, for I present to you...

1.





I'm in the process of making a DIY jewelry holder.  My inspiration was the above image from pinterest.  I found a brand new shelf at a thrift store and I'm painting it with a leftover sample of bluish greenish paint from when we were choosing a color for Max's nursery.  Today I'm going to Lowe's to buy screw hooks, which will probably be a total fail and I'll end up ruining my project.  But maybe I won't, and if I don't, I promise to take a grainy phone photo of my accomplishments.  Promise.

2

Speaking of jewelry, my new favorite place to look at jewelry is Urban Peach Boutique.  Urban peach is where my friend, Melissa, purchased the necklaces she distributed at a favorite things' party and I'm hooked.  Hooked at looking, not buying, because my new year's resolution is a clothing and jewelry fast for the year.  I KNOW.  So far I'm 14 days and going strong.

3

I know I've blogged about Peppermint oil before, but that was one week in to using essential oils.  Since then, peppermint has risen to the top of my favorite oils list. One day in December, Max got a fever.  I applied Peppermint oil to his spine and underarms.  He napped all morning and by the afternoon he was playing and running outside with Andres.  However, that evening his fever spiked to 102.6 and he was shaking.  We gave him a bath, childrens motrin, and applied peppermint again (I applied peppermint throughout the day--maybe 4-5 times in all?).  The next morning he was completely fever free!  The fever never returned.  Now, I know you could say it was a number of things--but he's gotten several fevers in his life and not a single one of them has ever lasted less than 24 hours, especially one as high as 102.6.  I think adding the peppermint to our fever arsenal definitely helped lessen the length and severity of Max's fever.  So, yay peppermint! (And yes, yay childrens motrin and bathtime too!)

4

Ya'll.  Did you see Victoria's meltdown on the Bachelor this week?  My friends and I were at Kristyn's watching and as usual, we're just drinking wine and talking because who really knows anyone's name at this point in the season anyway?  All of a sudden I look up and see Nikki talking to Victoria's and I'm like "quiet everyone, we've got drama!"  And the room goes silent and it all goes down.  Unfortunately, we did not get to hear her scream, "I want Juan Pablo to die!"  I guess they just edited that in for the previews.  BUT, we got something much better:

She really said that, ya'll.  If it's a noun, she's gonna straddle it.

5

And can I just conclude these favorites by saying dinner and a movie is my favorite date ever.  Or a museum.  Or a picnic in the park.  Praise the Lord for my husband and all the men who take their wives and girlfriends on beautifully normal dates.  Because let me tell you how fast I would run away if any date ever involved this:

I am horrified.  Seriously, Juan Pablo?  You say you are looking for a stepmom for Camila and you do this on national television?  My new favorite girl is Elise who refused to pose nude, even if it was for the noble cause of animal adoption.  Seriously, some poor naked girl said, "If one animal is adopted by what I've done, then it's all worth it."  You know she has a point.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say this: we adopted our dog from the SPCA after seeing a naked girl on TV.  It happens.  It truly does.

 

For more five favorites click right here.



Bachelor Recap

Remember this??  I hope you do.  Everyone should remember everything I write on my blog, forever.  Especially that.
Anyways, last Monday night we were introduced to JuanPabs and his womens.  As usual, it was a train wreck.  And it was fantastic.  I don't remember anyone's name at this point, except for 4 girls:

1.  Amy J
Unfortunately for us all, my prediction from December 5 (click that link, people) came true.  In the worst possible way.  I imagined an awkward shoulder massage on a bench. Instead, this happened:

Avert your eyes!  Abort!  Abort!  It was horrible.  There was suggestive moaning, and it made me feel like I did the first time I ever heard an Herbal Essence shampoo commercial when I was in middle school.  You all know what I'm talking about.  Blurg.
But here's the thing:  not only was she awkward, she was terrifying.  Like, I think she boils puppies and roasts kittens on a spit.  Proof?  I've got it right here:

Nachos?  A salad?  You can't really tell.  Puppies and kittens, I'm telling you.

2.  Nikki:  
"Is drunk a type of dancing?" asks Nikki, earnestly.
The defense rests.~~typed by Heather Frowow, December 5, 2013
Nikki is a nurse.  And not just any nurse, she tells Juan Pablo.  A bay-bee nurse, she says in a high pitched voice, while rocking a imaginary child in her arms.  Seeing as she is a self proclaimed drunk, I can only assume that she is confused and thinks she's actually a Baby Nurse, you know, like this: 

In the event that I'm wrong--Nikki, stay the crap away from my baby!

3.  Lucy, the free spirit:
She straddled Chris Harrison on Sunday night's prequel, and when I saw that I thought--finally! Someone realizes that Chris is the real catch on this show!  Alas, she was just practicing the Run, Jump, and Straddle (hereafter referred to as the RJS) that the producers make an integral part of the audition process.  Lucy wore a wreath of flowers on her head and was barefoot, which in my book means she's trying a bit too hard to keep up the 'free spirit' image.  If she was a real free spirit, she'd be on Ina May Gaskins' farm in Tennessee, training to be a midwife.  Instead she's straddling Chris Harrison in an upscale boutique preparing to be on the Bachelor.  I'm calling her bluff.

4.  Sharleen
I love this girl!  First of all, she's awkward like a robot, yet confident:

Sharleen confidently standing up to give Juan Pablo a drink?  Or a robot dance move?  Watch the show or you'll never know!
Second of all, she's beautiful, talented (an opera singer), and is not letting the emotions of the competition carry her into a bathroom screaming, "I want Juan Pablo to die!" (That happens this season ya'll!  I can't wait!)
Third of all, Juan Pablo is totally enamored by her!  Her dress!  Her profession!  Her travels!  He is smitten and smitten hard.  Sharleen is just like, "Meh.  He's ok."

Sharleen got the first impression rose and instead of accepting by breaking out the RJS, she was silent for a moment and then said, "sure."  I love her.  And she secured her place as front runner because men like a challenge.  She has certainly got Juan Pablo's interest now.  I can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out!

Airing my own {unresearched cray cray} opinions

I like to be crunchy, or at least pretend to be crunchy.  I like to read about and research google mom blogs about crunchy activities.  You know, the natural childbirth, cloth diapering, anti-vaccination, CSA type moms.  I think it's fun to read about raising chitlins pioneer style out on the farm in the middle of the city in 2014.  For me, it's all just fun and games and it's your kid, do what you will--until I read a Granola Book "for fun" and it turns out to really grind my gears. (That's a Peter Griffin reference, for all you peoples who are also forced to watch Family Guy with your mens).  That's what happened last night when I checked The Business of Baby out at the public library, thinking it would be like a fun crunchy mom blog in book form.  It.Was.Horrible. So horrible that I cannot ignore it and I have to say something.  And because I have a blog I get to air my opinions on the internet while sparing my facebook friends annoying status updates. Are you ready?  Ok!

•   By the time I was 3 pages into the book, 3 c-section moms had died from post-surgery complications.  That is one maternal death per page, people.  The author was trying to illustrate that the United States has a high maternal death rate compared to other industrialized nations.  But by the first 3 pages, her book had a 75% maternal death rate.  Instilling fear into pregnant mothers is not helpful, it's mean.
•   The picture on the title page of the introduction shows doctors holding a baby up to show it's mother, who is undergoing a c-section.  There is nothing wrong with the picture, but on the following pages the author completely blasts c-sections.  I can only assume the picture was intended to support the "barbaric," "unnecessary" practice of c-sections and the author meant for her readers to cringe at the sight of the bloody, goopy baby who was so wrongfully torn out of his mother.  As a c-section mom, the imagine of my bloody, goopy son after he had been "torn" out of me is one of the best images I have ever seen in my life.  Ever.  So...so there! 
•   The problem with prenatal care is that it exists.  Apparently lots of women are supremely unhappy with their Ob/Gyns?  I don't know.  I haven't talked to a single mom who didn't really like, if not "love" their practice. Maybe all the good doctors are in Raleigh and everyone just needs to move here?  Also, prenatal vitamins make some women sick, so NO ONE should take them.  Sounds smart.
• Chapter Three was on the "real" cost of childbirth. Did you think it was free?  Doctors need to make money and support their families too, you know.  Also, of course hospitals are "businesses" trying to make money.  So is the grocery store.  So are farms.  
•   C-sections suck and are barbaric and horrible.  Unless your baby is transverse, or has some other medical reason which requires a c-section.  In those cases, I'm sorry, but you need to undergo a barbaric, horrible practice and will probably die from complications.  So sorry.  Ugh.  I hated this chapter.  
•  The author talks about how pediatricians like to "rush" through well-baby visits because the code is the same whether they spend 5 minutes or 25 minutes on your child. There is no chance for them to profit from spending time with you.  Ummm...Max's well baby visits have always been 30 minutes or more and our pediatricians take lots of time to answer questions.  His sick visits are always the short ones.  Once again, maybe people with kids just need to move to Raleigh?  All the good doctors are here?
• One chapter was filled with horror stories of botched circumcisions which resulted in additional surgeries and even death.  Definitely the exception, not the rule.  Ridiculous and horrifying, causing moms to make a fear based decision rather than a rational one.  And listen, I can understand how when presented with statistics, parents may opt-out of circumcision.  But "I don't want my son to die during surgery" is not one of those rational, logical reasons.  It just isn't.
• If you use plastic diapers, be prepared to care for a child with respiratory problems and bizarre, bleeding rashes, you unfit, uncaring mother.
• Vaccinations are scary and can cause serious reactions.  Umm...you know what else is scary and serious?  Your child dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.  The weekend we weren't positive whether or not Max had pertussis (he wasn't old enough to be vaccinated yet) was one of the worst, most stressful weekends of my life.  Vaccinate your child.  Listen to your doctors, not a former playboy playmate on this.

And there you have it.  My titillating thoughts on one of the worst crunchy mom books ever written.  In all honesty, I don't care if you cloth diaper or not, bottle feed or breastfeed, or whether or not you circumcise your son.  I do hope that you get prenatal care, take your child to well-baby visits, and I hope that if your birth doesn't go as planned, that you have access to a life-saving c-section.  My biggest problem with the book was that the author only presented the very worst of all outcomes to prove her points, appealing to a parents sense of fear, rather than their sense of reason and desire to do what is best for their child.

In closing, Happy Juanuary!

 

13 from 2013

I am linking up with Dwija, of House Unseen to review 2013 here in Frowowland.  Basically, you publish 13 photos about your 2013.  Preparing this post has taught me that:
1.  I don't take enough photos
2.  It doesn't matter, because I stink at taking photos
3.  2013 was a really big year for us but you'd never know it (see points 1 and 2)
Anyways, on with the show...

January

 

Max turned one and ate chocolate cake.  Not only did Max turn one, but this was also the day we found out that we sold our house!  

February

 

In February, we stalked zillow and trulia and tried to find a house.  We failed.  But, we did get a picture of Max eating dinner.

March

 

Still no house.  Oh well, we packed up and moved to hell an apartment.  The above photo is Max greeting his Abuelita who had come to watch him while we moved boxes into the black pit of sheol our new apartment.  

April

 

Still no house.  But we did walk around Pullen Park, as pictured above.  Yes, walked! Because, at the age of 15 months my little man started walking!  And we all became a lot happier and less whiny.

May

 In May we spent a wonderful weekend in Oriental, NC with my college friends.  We stayed at a cottage on the Neuse River and spent our time talking, eating, putting our toes in the sand, and boating.  Plus also, I missed out on bacon wrapped scallops because I was in the shower.  The price of being clean.  Wasn't worth it. :(

June

 

June was a huuuuggee month here in Frowowland.  (See how I did the word 'huge' in big letters to help prove my point?  Imma clever one and I'm good with fonts, I am).  My sister-in-law graduated from high school, we found a house and moved into it, and I quit my job to stay home.  June was muy big.

July

 

In July we went to Myrtle Beach and and AND I GOT A TATTOO!!

August

 

Holy smokes, ya'll, I promise my life is more exciting than it sounds!  Kinda.  In August we paid other people to paint our dining room so I now have the dining room of my dreams.  And Max doesn't even play in there so it's always clean.

September

 

In September, Max and I started MOPs and we celebrated with the obligatory grainy phone photo.

October

Max dressed up as a crocodile for Halloween and we walked around the neighborhood.  Then, Mama and Papi Frowow ate all his candy.
November

In November Team Frowow (the people, not the blog) turned 5 years old!  That's right, we've been driving each other crazy for half a decade.  We celebrated with shrimp and grits and family photos.

December

Here is the only photo I have of December:

I went to a Favorite Things party.  It was fun.

Hopefully I will take more and better photos in 2014.  But probably not.  Happy New Year!