I Swear I'm Not Lost!

I apologize for my unannounced, random disappearance for the past two weeks.
I have been busy, and feeling overwhelmed and was lacking inspiration. I didn't want to write for the sake of writing because I felt like I had to. Although I write for me, I want to write things my readers enjoy. I don't have many, but the ones I do have I'm thankful for and have stuck with me through it all. When I look back at my first post, I'm horrified. Thanks for sticking around. ;)

Work has been nuts! L has started crawling and pulling up, so there has been lots of falling and head bonking going on. The entire general living space of my work is hardwood floor, so he's definitely not thrilled about losing his balance. They also have a dog, so trying to keep dog necessities away from him is definitely a feat. He's already gotten into the dog's food on multiple occasions. Must be delicious!

I think school is going well. I had a 75% before the most recent test, but the tests grades still aren't posted online, which is driving both Joshua and myself crazy. He's even e-mailed our professor and she still hasn't responded. We both feel like we did well, so let's hope for that! We went to office hours before the test, and I feel like that helped us a ton. We were able to ask questions on whatever we needed to.

Joshua's birthday is on Wednesday and I also have family here for the holiday, so lots of exciting things are happening around here! I am also gearing up to go visit Emily for #OperationEmilyNaps. Letting her nap is the overall goal of my trip, weel, that and letting her sleep in. Her husband is currently deployed, so dang does that Mrs. need a break! I can't wait to go snuggle her bebes.

Happy Easter!

All About J

This is J, or Joshua. He's 21, and his birthday is April 3rd.
We've been dating since January 10, 2010 and I've known him since 2005.
He and my best friend are cousins. We keep it in the family. ;)

He likes good food, riding his dirt bike, wake boarding, all things fire technology and Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey. His hair is always short and he never wears white socks. He's a good cook, and makes a mean Chicken Stir Fry. He loves chocolate more than you can imagine and will choose it over any other flavor. He plays the snare drum, but can't play an entire drum set.

He has a heart of gold and when I send him pictures of my littles while I'm at work, if he likes them, he saves them to his phone. When he comes over to my house, he makes himself comfortable in my bed and promptly falls asleep until it's time for him to go home.

I talk about what I'm doing, and my ideas on this here slice of the interwebs. Sometimes I mention J, but have never dedicated a post to him and what he likes. I thought it was about damn time. :) 

Photo 1: Taken over the weekend. We went to TGI Fridays as a family. Photo 2: J's dirt bike after a day of riding. He no longer has that red truck. Photo 3: J driving his boat at the lake last summer. His natural habitat. 

5 for Five

Last week was actually an okay week, and I'm semi proud of myself. For some reason, I always focus on goals I think I put on this list, but didn't. Lesson? Write them in my planner, so I don't forget!

LAST WEEK:
1. Up my water intake. Nope, I misplaced my water bottle for four days of the week. Where was it? In my car, like anything else I lose.

2. Finish my library book. I read about 75 more pages...

3. Read 100 pages of my e-book for school. Yaaay! I'm on page 316/5,088. Remember, e-book...

4. Mail snail mail. By the time you read this, everything will be in the email. Counting this as a win, even if I have to stop on my way to work. :)

5. Babywear every work day. Now, now. I skipped a day at work, BUT I wore a baby yesterday. It counts in my book.

Three out of five? Not too shabby, my friends. I'll take it.

THIS WEEK:
1. Up my water, for real. I found and washed my water bottle. Same number of fill-ups (3) as last week's goal.

2. Schedule weekly play dates for L & monthly girls night for me. I spent Saturday night with my two best local (vs. long distance) friends and their babies and some other ladies we know, it was awesome.

3. Schedule academic counselor appointment for this week, if possible! I want to become a board certified Lactation Consultant, while also getting my AA in Child Development. Need help figuring out the next few semesters so I can get accepted into a program.

4. Read 300 pages of my school book.

5. Finish and schedule all the posts in draft. There are three, at this moment.

Happy Monday! What are your goals this week?

Zucchini Lasagna

*I personally don't follow blogs via Google Reader, but if you follow my blog this way, I'd hate to lose you! Follow my blog with Bloglovin!*

 I'm working on eating better, and being more aware of what I put in my mouth. It's most definitely still a work in progress. I like Pepsi (a lot), and other processed foods. My body goes from comfortable to so-freaking-hungry really quickly, so if I don't have food that I can make quickly or that I can reheat, I will eat out and probably make a less than stellar choice.

The first place I turn to for new recipes is Pinterest, of course. I can type in whatever I want and get recipes in many variations. I've most recently been trying to work on my fruit and vegetable intake. I'm pretty picky with them and have the palette of a five year old.

A few weeks ago during nap time at work, I made Zucchini Lasagna to feed myself for the next few days. It took a while to make, but boy was it worth it. I did make two changes to the recipe. I substituted ground turkey for my meat, and used cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese. I also used a smaller pan than the recipe recommended, but I wouldn't recommend doing that, as it made my layers too thick.

Everything about this recipe was absolutely delicious and I will be adding this to my little cooking arsenal for sure! Let me know if you try it out, and how it works for you. :)

Common Winter Carseat Mistakes

First off, I have to stay I have absolutely no problems following these guidelines. I live in Southern California, where the daytime low in the city I work in is over 40* F and typically happens in January... definitely warm for some places on the planet. I brought up these rules on Twitter, where some of the girls are from Winnipeg, obviously a huge difference in climate.

Don't get me wrong, I know its freezing there. I know that snow on the ground six months out of the year is normal. But really, really don't think that following these guidelines in impossible. A huge hassle and terribly inconvenient, yes; but not impossible.

1. No thick or puffy coats. Layer clothing instead. A long sleeved shirt and polar fleece jacket should be sufficient when transferring an infant or child from house to car and back again. Add a blanket during transfer for added warmth, if needed. If it's really cold where you live- warm up the car ahead of time if possible. Heavy jackets become compressed under the straps in a crash and can even cause the child to become ejected from the seat. In the event of a crash, the harness would be like the "Coat Off" photo, loose and essentially useless. A proper fit of the harness is absolutely crucial in the event of a crash. Period.

2. Carseat bunting should never interfere with the harness system of the carseat or go behind your child in anyway. There are carseat covers the have elasticized edges that fit the seat like a shower cap, like the JJ Cole Car Seat Cover. 

Spring is on the horizon, but for the remainder of winter, be safe & warm. 

5 for Five

I'm just going to call this the week of fails. 

LAST WEEK:

1. Read at least one hundred pages of my selected reading book for class. Decided to switch books, as I just couldn't get into the first one I picked.

2. Awesome craft project. I didn't have time! Urgh. 

3. Five scheduled blog posts. My Dashboard currently has five drafts and one scheduled post in it. So there are a lot things coming, but only one post that is complete and ready to go.

4. Take donation stuff to the Salvation Army.

5. Buy printer ink. I still didn't buy any, I've been printing what I need to at work.

THIS WEEK:
1. Up my water intake, again. I want to fill my Life Factory Water Bottle three times everyday for a total of 48oz. I haven't been drinking an extreme amount of soda, so my overall liquid intake is waaay low. 

2. Finish my library book (Gone by Michael Grant). 

3. Read one hundred e-book pages of my new selected reading book for class.

4. Mail my snail mail! I have letters to write and mail for like five people. I need to get on this. I have stamps and a post office within walking distance of my work. Seriously, there are no excuses. I love letters!

5. Babywear every day I work. I have a woven wrap and wrap conversion that are on their way to me right now! I'm super freaking excited and I just want to wear all the babies. :)

What are your goals for this week? 

This Is Now

L has decided to split his naps lately. So instead of taking two, two-and-a-half hour naps; he's taking four, hour-and-a-half long naps. I'm not down with this.

I watched the episodes of Duck Dynasty from last night. Si is freaking hilarious. I don't watch a lot of TV, nor do I have one in my room at home. I have three or four shows that I watch regularly, and two of them are on Hulu Plus.  I'm behind on Bones and Bunheads. I watch Duck Dynasty and Amish Mafia at work during nap time.

I like lists, A LOT. My to-do list is a full page long. My Erin Condren Planner is my life line and I've figured out a way to use it that works for my needs. I also just ordered (and received) business cards that match my planner, I got the smallest quantity (60) because I'm getting a new planner in June. They are of fantastic quality and I'm incredibly happy with them.

Money would solve a lot of my problems right now. I'm sure I sound like every other twenty-two year old out there, but its true. There are both things I want, and things I need to pay for. My Friday job is over in ten weeks (the mom is a teacher) so I'm thinking about getting a retail job, or working at the swim school I worked at after high school. I want to be able to clear my debt, with the exception of my car, without dipping into my nanny salary.

My dad is doing my taxes instead of me having to make an appointment and pay to have them done. This is exciting, because I'm cheap and it's not something I want to pay for.

There no reason that I wrote this, besides the fact that I feel like most of my posts are structured, informative, and well thought out. This is what I'm thinking about, and what's going on with me, right now.

Happy Friday, y'all (:

Anything on your mind lately?

Park Playtime & a Double Link-Up

I like to keep it simple yet cute when I dress the kids. I feel like no matter how I look when we're out in public, they have to look at least semi-cute, as it's a reflection on the job I do. B is still not 100% comfortable with hair accessories, but she's improving and will leave them in for a few hours now.

I think dressing B and L is one of my favorite parts of the day. For L, I try to keep it simple by sticking with a onesie and coordinating BabyLegs. For B, I usually stick to jeans and a t-shirt and add a little extra somethin'. Always a bow or clip, and sometimes a vest or cardigan.

Hair Bow: Unknown. // Top: Target // Jeans: Old Navy // Shoes: Target*

I'm linking it up, double time, with Megan for Trendy Tot Tuesday and Kenz for Too Cute Tuesday!

*I don't like these shoes, but they're all she has right now. Ideally, she'd be wearing Tiny TOMS or Converse.

5 for Five

LAST WEEK:
1. Order business cards. Got it handled. They should be here within a few days. These are the ones I got. They match the life planner I currently have. I got the smallest quantity (60) because I'm getting a new Life Planner in June. I like my planner to follow along with the school year.

2. Read one hundred pages of both my selected reading book and leisure book from the library. I only read about twenty pages of my selected reading book for class.

3. Get ahead with blog posts. Nope, couldn't make it happen. Hoping to get a few done today, but I'm not sure it will happen. I have to go get my car worked on and I don't know how long it will take.

4. Find an awesome craft project to do. I didn't have time for this. I want to make a chalkboard out of a picture frame, like this. I also want to hang up a few more frames and printables in my room.

5. Install Microsoft Office on my MacBook. It took less than twenty minutes.

Eh. Still not stellar, but I got everything that absolutely needed to get done, done. I would've been able to get ahead with blog posts, except I battled a migraine almost the entire weekend.

THIS WEEK:
1. Read at least one hundred pages of my selected reading book for class. I really don't want to wait until the last minute the get my paper done. I know I could, no problem. BUT I don't want to.

2. Awesome craft project. 'Nuff said?

3. Five scheduled blog posts. I couldn't get it done last week, so I'm really putting the pressure on myself. I have lots of ideas and things I want to write about, I just need to sit down and do it.

4. Take donation stuff to the Salvation Army. I have an ever growing pile of things that need to go, and it's currently sitting in a corner in my room taking up valuable space.

5. Buy printer ink. Only putting this on here because I know if I don't, I'll forget. I could go to Target eight times and not get what I went for. Especially if it's not written down anywhere.

What are your goals for this week? Don't forget to link-up with Jenn & Jessica!

The Danger of Projectiles

Car seat safety is a huge deal to me. It's something I'm passionate about, and I'm a huge advocate for extended rear facing and extended harnessing. But that talk will be saved for another time. There is another huge little-known danger when infants and children are in the car. They're projectiles.

What are projectiles?
Anything that is loose and able to move through the car in the event of a crash. This includes but is not limited to: sippy cups and/or bottles, toys, non-cling window shades, unrestrained booster seats, purses and diaper bags, and water bottles.

Why they're so dangerous...
Items flying through a vehicle are moving extremely fast. Think about how much a full cup weighs, or your purse, or that plastic toy your child plays with every time they get in the car. Weigh them, then put them in different scenarios using this formula:

[weigh of object] x [traveling speed before the crash] = [pounds of force]

For example:

B's full sippy cup weighs [1 pound]* and am driving at [45 mph] when a crash occurs. 

[1] x [45] = [45 pounds of force].

That's heavy. It's the equivalent of throwing a 45lb dumbbell through the vehicle. 

Keep personal items in the trunk and if you must keep it with you, put it in the glove box or an enclosed center console. Don't let children have toys or cups while the vehicle is in motion. I, too, am guilty of this. In the mornings when I'm running late, I tend to throw my things on the front seat which is a huge no-no. 

Don't use ANY after market items, at all. Suction cup window shades like this can become loose and be thrown about in the event of a crash, as can accessories such as: activity bars, and view mirrors. These items aren't crash tested with any child restraints. 

Don't think it can happen to you? Read Christina Hish's story here. I believe that when people know better, they do better. And I hope that now that you know better, you will do better too.