Joules - Pocketful of Joules

2 Changes in 2 Bathrooms

I got a bug up my butt over the weekend* and decided to make a couple changes around the house.

Actually, one of the changes was quite spur of the moment and the other one was a long time coming.

Change #1: My new Robot Friend
I stopped by one of my favorite kiddie consignment/specialty stuff shops (it’s called Greenberries) to see if they had any outdoor toys and saw something that I didn’t even know I needed.

Until I saw it. And then my breath caught in my throat and I realized that I simply HAD to buy it. In fact, my life would not be complete without it.

And that is how I became the owner of this amazing 3D Robot art crafted by Paul Ocepek at Modern Moose. I love it so much and after visiting his website I pretty much want one of everything. Or maybe just this, this and this.

And this.

And this for Katie at Words for Worms.

I’m not even kidding when I say I literally walked into the house, set Jack in his playpen and hung the robot on the wall within about 5 minutes. THAT is how excited I was to see him in his new home.

My robot buddy fits in perfectly in the hall bathroom, which is also Jack’s bathroom. I really wanted the room to be FUN without looking like a kid’s bathroom threw up all over the place. So I’m super happy with a little bit of whimsy in the striped shower curtain and fun artwork. Once Jack gets a little bigger, I’ll add in a fun colored step-stool and the bathroom will be complete!

Change #2: Master Bathroom Upgrade
The crappy builder-grade faucet that lived in our master bathroom leaked out the side whenever you used the cold water. Yeah, nothing makes me more annoyed than something that doesn’t really do it’s ONE JOB well!

Our long term plan for the room is to rip it down to the studs and start anew, however we don’t have the moola to throw in that project right this second.

Instead, we found a nice faucet in an oil rubbed bronze finish that goes really well with our current sink. So until we save up enough to have our total dream bathroom, we’ll be content with a faucet that looks pretty AND doesn’t get my makeup wet in the morning.

There you go, my two quick updates from this past weekend. I still have a ton more on my list, including painting my front door, installing hardwood flooring and repainting some outdoor chairs. I don’t have an unlimited amount of money or time though, so nothing is happening very quickly!

How about you, working on anything fun?

Do you have a random term you use that is vaguely gross sounding?

*Wait, is that a thing? I mean, is that a term that people say? Because I‘ve been saying it for a while and I just realized how kind of gross it is. Maybe I should say I got a bee in my bonnet. I’m pretty sure THAT is a thing…

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Childcare Wars, Take 3: The Wrath of the Working Mom

Jack in corner — The hero of the movie. Or maybe he’s the villain? I’m not quite sure yet…

Does the title of this post sound like some sort of kickass action movie?

It should, because that was totally my intention.

Well, it helps if you say the title in a super deep and corny voice. Try it… “The WRATH of the WORKING MOOOOOMMM!”

See, much better.

Frankly, finding childcare is pretty much an action movie, a drama and a comedy all rolled into one spectacular blockbuster. A blockbuster with poop jokes.

I wrote about our first try with an in-home childcare, which turned out to be run by a hoarder. I also wrote about our second try with a professional childcare center that I was initially super excited about… until Jack ended up being sick all month long.

We quit the childcare center in the fall and my mom took Jack for 4 days each week until the end of the year. At that point, we started with try #3…. the nanny.

I haven’t written about our experience with our nanny because I was kind of afraid to jinx things. I mean, what if she seemed super nice and turned out to be horrible within a couple of weeks? Thankfully though, it seems that the third time really is the charm when it comes to our adventures in childcare.

Based on a friend’s suggestion, I posted an advertisement on Care.com. I wasn’t really sure what to write though, so I looked around at a bunch of other posts to figure out how to properly word mine.

Here is what I ended up with:

Reliable and Friendly Nanny Needed for Fridays
We are looking for a nanny to come to our home and care for our son on Fridays from 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. We need someone who is trustworthy, reliable and friendly! Our 10-month-old son loves to play, so we want someone who would like to get down on the floor and play with him. We are looking for someone who has previous infant/toddler childcare experience and will require references. Both my husband and I work full time, so we need a nanny who arrives promptly at 7:30 a.m. so that we can start our long commutes. Also very important, must be a non-smoker and have CPR training.

Once I posted the advertisement online and direct messaged it to some of the people on my “favorites” list, I received about a dozen inquiries. Some were great and some were a bit more ridiculous. My favorite was the very sweet sounding older lady who said that she didn’t have CPR training, but didn’t need it because she is “a worrier who pays very close attention and totally avoids harmful situations in the first place.” Um… no.

My intention was to narrow the list down to maybe 4 or 5 applicants to do phone interviews… but there was only one person who I immediately loved. She passed the phone interview with flying colors and within a couple minutes at our house for the in-person interview, Jack crawled over and happily sat in her lap.

So it looks like our childcare saga has FINALLY come to an end! Megan has been with us for 4 months so far and has been doing an excellent job. She’s super friendly, professional and takes great care of Jack. The best part is that she makes my life easier and in addition to caring FOR our son, she cares ABOUT him.

I do worry though that someone will steal her away from me and I’ll have to start this process all over again. There is also the drawback of Jack not having regular playtime with other children. I’m hoping to be able to join some kind of playgroup in my area or maybe just start regularly attending the children’s group that meets at the local library on Saturdays.

Do you guys have any suggestions for children’s groups or activities that work for a 14 month old?

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Reviewing Citrus Lane: The April 2013 Box

Yay, its Citrus Lane box review time… bring on the party!

I was writing these reviews every single month before reducing down to a bi-monthly schedule. So, if you’re super curious to check out my previous box reviews, go ahead and give a little clickity click to this link to check them all out.

I still feel like I’m posting these pretty often though, so maybe I’ll reduce it further to once a quarter and do a death match between all the items to determine the ones that we love the most? Let me know your thoughts on that, mmmmkay?

Oh and if you’re a complainer or happen to have to listen to a bunch of complainers, check out my last review which included my rant on FunBurglars.

At this point Jack is 14 months old and we’ve been getting these boxes for over a year. I was afraid that by now we’d receive a bunch of duplicate items and be totally sick of the Citrus Lane subscription, but that has not happened at all. In fact, out of the 13 boxes we’ve received, we’ve only gotten one item twice. Since it was the Mommy’s Bliss Gripe Water and we LOVE that stuff I am definitely not complaining!

This month’s box was pretty much perfect for his age, so let’s talk about what we got:

Slide & Seek Toy from Melissa and Doug
First off, I really like Melissa and Doug toys in general and we only have a couple of their puzzles. This cute little Slide & Seek toy is the perfect size to throw in the diaper bag and Jack actually seemed to really like it.

Diaper bag essentials: snack container + baggie with a pack of apple sauce, a bib and the placemat.

Packin’SMART Stack –N-Seel 2 Tier from Innobaby
The brochure that came with this month’s box says it best, “Diaper bags have the amazing ability to swallow things whole, making it difficult to find what you need when you need it.” PREACH! I swear I’m tearing through my diaper bag once a week trying to figure out why I have 4 pairs of pants, 3 sippy cups, 2 baggies of crushed cheerios and a partridge in a pear tree all up in there. I try so hard to keep my stuff organized in baggies (one for diapering needs, one for feeding needs), but I’m ready to work this stacking thing into the mix. I’ve already filled one side with teddy grahams and one side with cheerios and it’s working fabulously at keeping my diaper bag a little less crumbly.

Non-Slip Placemat from Oogaa
~~I want to love this, I really do. In theory~~ it’s pretty much awesome – you take this snazzy silicone placemat and put it on the table when you’re dining out. In reality, once we’re done and I’m left with a messy mat I’m not really sure what to do with it. Do I fold the crumbs up inside it and take them home with me? Or, should I try to somehow empty the crumbs into the trash can and wipe the mat off with one of my bleach wipes? Maybe I just need to play with it a little more… About 8 hours after this blog post went live I got an email from the FOUNDER of Oogaa (her name is Sam and I’m super impressed that she reached out to me) and she explained that the easiest way to deal with the mess is by taking a damp napkin to wipe down the mat when you’re out and then you can give it a full washing at home. You can also throw the mats directly into the dishwasher, which is pretty darn awesome. So thanks to Sam for setting me straight and now we need to go out to dinner again so we can try this placemat out properly!

Shampoo & Body Wash from The Honest Company
The fact that this is a full-sized product in really cute packaging is totally right up my alley. Add to that a shampoo/body soap that is organic with essential oils and an insanely delicious smell of orangey vanilla and I’m huffing the bottle of soap like a junkie. Let’s just say, Mommy Likes. And she might not be sharing this with the boys in her life.

My typical disclaimer: I was not rewarded by Citrus Lane for reviewing their box on my blog. I review the boxes, because I feel like other mom’s would be interested in seeing what they’ll get if they sign up for the monthly service.

However, if you decide that you would like to sign up for your own subscription and use my link, I will receive credits on my account. Click here to access the Citrus Lane website with my special link and you will receive $10 off your order!

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