Adoption Update

I'm going to have to do the very brief update outline here because so much has happened.

On August 19th we started our paperwork for the adoption.

On September 27th we completed our homestudy and our profile book.



On September 28th we signed up with our adoption consultant.

On October 7th we were matched with an unborn baby boy due in October or November!

Doodlebug's haircut

As we were putting together our family profile for the adoption we decided that we needed to get Doodlebug's hair cut. It was so cute with all the baby curls, but we really needed some pictures of him looking like a little boy instead of a baby.

Here is a before picture.

We took him to a place that caters especially to little kids getting their hair cut. I usually do it myself, but I was too afraid of making a mistake and our family pictures were going to be taken soon.

The lady that cut his hair was very quick and Doodlebug was very distracted by all the other kids, the little airplane they let him sit in, the cape he got to wear and looking at himself in the mirror. He sat there so well!

I just had to put this picture in, doesn't he look like the mayor of Munchkin Town?

And look at my big boy with his new hair cut! What a cutie!

Adoption Update

Ten days ago we started our adoption paperwork. That was the day we got our fingerprints done and sent off to the FBI and the SBI. We also got criminal records checks. Since then, we have gotten back all the paperwork we needed to turn in to our social worker for our home study and we gave it to her at our first visit today. The only thing we still need are our three references and those should be to her by the end of next week. Once she gets those she will finalize our paperwork, drop by for one more visit and we will be done!

Just in case you are not properly impressed, let me explain a little about home studies. This is when you hire a social worker to come out to your home and look it over. They are looking to make sure it is a suitable environment for a child (ie. no rusty nails laying about, no piles of garbage all over the floor). They also need a huge amount of information and documentation. Criminal background checks, family's names and contact information, medical letters stating you do not have any health problems that would cause a shortened life expectancy, tax returns, paystubs, references, birth certificates, pages of questions about your marriage, children and attitudes on adoption, budget.... Normally the process takes about 3 months to complete. It looks like ours will be done in less than one. Yay!

This really is going to happen. We are going to adopt a child. I can't wait!!!

Putting an Octopus in Pantyhose

I took Doodlebug to church by myself today. He goes to his class during the sermon, but we usually pick him up early and take him back in for the last couple of worship songs. As we came back to the sanctuary I noticed that people weren't singing yet, but since one of our friends was holding the door for us I decided that slipping in the back should be okay. Nope. It was totally silent for a moment and Doodlebug decided to annouce his arrival by yelling "Hi!" to everyone. Nice.

So the singing started and we went back to our seat. Doodlebug was, ahem, slightly restless. You know the kind where toddler's try to flip out of your arms headfirst onto the floor. That kind of restless. I finally held him upside down. That worked well for about 30 seconds. Now he is wanting down so badly he's pushing against me trying to get away. Unfortunately for me his hands happened to be on my throat so I got a bit strangled.

Now I'm getting dirty looks from the childless couple across from me so I decide it's time to move to the back of the room and put him down. Maybe he will wander around quietly back there. Ha! No, he thought it would be a better idea to head for the door and try to slip out, only to fuss when I prevented his escape.

So we headed to a different spot in the back of the room that is away from the childless glaring couple and the door. No dice. He did change from fussing to happy noises when he saw his friend. At least the singing was loud enough that most people could not hear him.

Finally I picked him up and just held on for dear life while he wiggled and squirmed. I am beat. It would have been easier to put an ocotpus in pantyhose.

My last post I said I would be back to blogging. And then I was gone for two weeks. Life does not always work out the way I plan it. I'm not sure when I will be back to blogging more regularly because I am really busy filling out adoption paperwork.

Wait, did you catch what I just said?

We are filling out adoption paperwork!

Like I said, life doesn't always work out the way I planned.

I was in the kitchen one morning and noticed it was awfully quiet, so I went to check on the Doodlebug. I found him sitting in our great room on the floor studying something intently. I didn't see anything there so I just stood back and watched him for a minute. Can you guess what he was doing?

He's trying to pick up the sunlight off the floor.

He stares at the patches of sunlight on the floors, puts out a hand to grab them and comes up empty handed. So he leans over to see them up close and they promptly disappear (since he's now between the window and the sun on the floor). He sits back quickly in surprise and presto! They're back. He's pretty perplexed about the whole series of events.

I love watching him explore the world and see things for the first time.

Update on the Doodlebug

So we had our 18 month well visit to the pediatrician. I had a page long list of questions for him, almost all of them about Doodlebug's development and if he feels like we can still postpone all the genetic/metabolic testing and MRI.

Right now we really want to wait and see if Doodlebug's able to catch up with therapy and some time. We are also trying to get into another pediatric neurologist for a second opinion. The doc we see now won't give us a clear answer on why she is ordering all of these tests other than he is delayed. Both my husband and I have spoken with her and feel like there is something she is not telling us. Bottom line, we don't really trust her. She knows way more about neurology than I ever will, but I know way more about this little boy than she ever will. We have to work together on this, and if she won't work with us, then we will find someone who will.

We have picked a new neurologist after talking with several moms who have children with special needs. Our referral information was sent over a month ago. Just last week we got several forms to fill out and mail back in, which we did. But still, no appointment date. And from what we understand, it will be early 2011 before we can see this doc. But this also gives us the time we want to see how much progress Doodlebug can make with therapy over the next six months.

One thing I love about our pediatrician is that he tells us like it is. This is a double-edged sword though because when I have hard questions to ask I get really nervous about going to see him because I know he will tell me the truth. So here it is...

• as long as he's making progress it's okay to put off the genetic and metabolic testing
• keep the appointment in October with the geneticist, since we made it in February and October was the first available appointment
• go see the other neuro for the second opinion and then decide how to proceed
• it's still possible that Doodlebug is still just a "late bloomer"
• all bets are off if he starts stops progressing or starts regressing

Our physical therapist says he is catching up. His skills are not age appropriate yet, but he is not as far behind as he was when we started. Go Doodlebug!

As for his speech, it's a little harder to tell if he's catching up. He is making progress but at this point we are not sure if he's getting closer to catching up with other kids his age or if he's still just as far behind. The good news is that shortly after kids learn to walk they typically have a language explosion where they progress very quickly in a short amount of time. We are almost at that point with Doodlebug. I have to say, I can't wait to be able to have a conversation with my boy.

So we are still waiting and still hoping. I was really hoping to be done with all the waiting and worrying by the time he turned 18 months, but that's just not how it turned out. It's been bittersweet watching him hit the milestone of being one and a half and knowing he is much more like a one year old than a child his age.

Looking ahead is still hard. Doodlebug is a very unusual child. In a lot of ways this makes him very easy. But then I wonder if that's just a quirk of who he is, or are we missing important signs of a bigger problem? And I just don't know.

So for now I'm just trying to enjoy my silly boy

I'm Back With Some Updates

I have managed to sell some stuff on Craig's List as well as on a mommy's website that I am a part of. I also participated in a community yard sale, but that was a whole lotta work for very little money. At this point I am really just selling to clear out the house. Making some money while I'm at it has been a wonderful, and motivating, bonus. I guess it's more of a drawn out yard sale than it is a business.

My impossibly cute, sweet boy turned 18 months old. When the heck did that happen???

I have realized two things about my blogging. One, I really do like it and miss it when I don't blog. Two, it takes up a lot of time. So, I am going to continue to blog, but cut back a bit. I won't be updating as regularly, but my goal is to post two or three times a week.

Things That Have Made Me Laugh.

Oh my gosh, I just came across this blogpost and laughed until I cried. I tried to call my husband upstairs to read it, but was laughing so hard I just ended up just laying on the top banister. Luckily he came up to see what the commotion was about and I was able to point to the computer.

Some things are too funny not to share.

Happy Monday everyone!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

My mom used to serve a chocolate cherry cake back when we could both eat gluten. The good old days.

But now that Betty Crocker has the devil's food cake mixes, we are making this again. It is so yummy.

1 box gluten free chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup water
1/2 can cherry pie filling

Mix cake mix, butter, egg and water according to the directions on the box.

When you open the cherry pie filling there will be cherries and some gel-like stuff. First divide your can of cherries into 2 portions. Scoop out as much of the gel stuff as you can out of one portion and mix it with the cake mix. You can freeze the other half of the cherries and filling to save for the next time you make these cupcakes.

Pour a small amount of batter into each cupcake cup. Place about three cherries on top of the batter and then fill the cup almost until the top. I did this with most of my cupcakes and I think it tastes the best, but I did have trouble getting the cupcakes out of the cupcake holder without breaking. I also experimented with placing the cherries on top of the batter. These cupcakes did not break, but they didn't taste quite the same. Experiment with it and see which works best for you.

Bake per the directions on the cake box. Enjoy!

Storing Gluten Free Flours

Any of you who have ever baked gluten free know what a pain it is to store all the flours needed. There are a million different possibilities and it seems that every recipe calls for a different blend of different flours. I realized one day that I was rarely baking simply because I did not have the needed flours on hand or because it was too much of a pain (and too messy) to get out all those flours. So I made some changes.

My first change is that I try to only make recipes that call for the flours I have on hand. I am not willing to buy Aramanth flour for one recipe and find out that I don't like it anyway. It's too expensive and having all the different flours clutters up my cupboard anyway. I keep on hand

• white rice flour


• brown rice flour


• potato starch flour


• tapioca starch


• corn starch


• corn flour


• xanthan gum


• sorghum flour


• Jules' gluten free flour mix*

*I make Jules' flour mix myself, but I like to make it in bulk and keep it in the cupboard. That way it's always ready since it is my go-to flour mix. It's also the reason I have most of the flours I do stock. It takes six of the ones listed to make the mix.

For some reason most gluten free flours either come in a narrow box or a cellophane bag. I can't get a measuring cup in and out of them and they make a huge mess all over the counter. I bought the store brand equivalent of Gladware in a large flat size. One that could hold an entire box or bag of flour, still fit on my shelves and that I could get a measuring cup in and out of. I got a couple of larger ones for things like my flour mix. I usually make a double batch at a time and I wanted it to all fit in one bin.

They stack up great in my cupboard and I can tell at a glance which flours I need to buy more of if I'm headed to the health food store.

Hiding Furniture Scratches

When I go to places like the Salvation Army thrift store I almost never bother to look at the art because most of it is terrible. There is a reason that the person that donated it no longer wanted it in their home and it's usually pretty obvious. But my mom was with me that day and when I went over to that section of the store to get her I noticed this mirror. It was gorgeous. I picked it up and it was very heavy, almost like picking up the Doodlebug.

The wood frame was real, but it had some nicks and scratches on it. And it was half off. That made it $7.50. For a gorgeous wooden frame with mirror.

The next thing I know, I'm in line with it tucked under my arm. Hmm, how did that happen?

I think a lot of pieces look better with a distressed look. But when my hubby suggested trying to touch up the scratches and dings with shoe polish my ears perked up. How could shoe polish fix a wooden mirror frame?

Well, it turns out that shoe polish is basically dye mixed into some wax. That sounds like it could work, so we got out the shoe polish and tried it.



Less than five minutes later the scratches were almost invisible. Amazing!



I loved this quick and easy fix to spruce up my thrift store mirror. Doesn't it look great in it's new home?



For more great tips check out Works for Me Wednesdays on Kristen's blog.

My Yesh Man

We're already seeing signs of the terrible two's.



Screaming fits on the floor that last twenty minutes at a time. Daily. Multiple times a day.

The cause of said tantrum? I asked Doodlebug to crawl or walk over to his highchair because he said he was hungry. It was ten feet away.



I guess that makes me the meanest mommy on the planet. I know that leads to some really rough days.

But a week ago Doodlebug also learned a new word. Yes. Or as he says it, "Yesh".

It is his stock answer for everything.

Do you want to eat?

Yesh.

Do you want to play ball?

Yesh.

How are you this morning?

Yesh.

Will you financially support Mommy in her old age?

Yesh.

Can I quote you on that?

Yesh.

In a few more weeks the stock answer will change to "No". But until then I'm just going to enjoy my little yesh man.



Isn't he the cutest little boy in the world? Yesh.

Silicone Bakeware

One thing that's different about gluten free baking is that the doughs are a lot stickier. One time I made my pizza crust without parchement paper. Can anyone say mistake? My husband and I were trying to chip it off of the baking sheet. Not exactly the result I was going for.

But for some odd reason the way to tear parchment paper eludes me. I cannot get it to tear in a straight line. Or anything that may resemble a straight line. So I always ended up having to fold some of the paper under and often tear off another small piece to patch up the side that doesn't have enough paper. Not fun.

So when I found out how easily food slides off silicone I was hooked. Until I priced it, that is. Yowza! They want how much for one baking sheet liner? Eventually I found a baking set on clearance. It was a bit more than I had planned to spend, but I got 2 huge baking sheet liners, 2 8"round cake pans, 1 9" square cake pan, 12 cup muffin pan, 2 bread loaf pans, and a meatloaf pan. I'm not quite sure about the meatloaf pan thingy, but the rest are awesome!

Most of gluten free baking requires 8" round pans or 9" square pans. When I used to bake with wheat flours a pan of brownies or a cake went into a 9" x 13" pan, but not anymore. This set is just the right size.

Now, I have been a bit surprised at how much better my bread turns out in the bread pans. Although they hold the same amount of bread dough as my old pan, they are longer and narrower. I think this helps compensate for the structure that is missing from the gluten in the flours.

When I took these pans out of the oven, one of the loaves of bread caught on the heating element at the top of the oven because it was so tall.



I just love my new baking set. It really does make gluten free baking much easier for me.

Pumpkins are a Mean Vegtable

A while back my blog friend Heather mentioned that her family grows a couple of pumpkins every year so they don't have to buy them for Halloween. I thought this was a most excellent idea so I stole it.

When we carved our pumpkin last year we saved out about 8 seeds. I dried them on the windowsill a while and then put them away until spring.

When I planted our garden this spring I dropped in a few of the seeds. I think I planted six in total and to my amazement, four actually grew! For the next week or so I had the cutest little pumpkin plants. Then I had some bigger pumpkin plants. By the time we came back from vacation the pumpkins had run amuck. They completely grew over the marigolds totally hiding them from sight, started to choke out the squash and were running vines out into the yard.

Then God intervened.

It's been in the high 90's all week and not a rain drop in sight. When I went out to pull some weeds tonight it was obvious that one of the pumpkin vines had perished from heat exhaustion and lack of water.

Oops.

So I pulled it out.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation I highly recommend that you wear gloves. Did you know that pumpkins have thorns? And prickers? And they are not widely spaced apart like rose. Oh no, they are packed in tight. And since I was not wearing gloves I felt the fury of the pumpkins wrath.

Thirsty pumpkins are mean pumpkins. After all, this is the pumpkin that the seeds came from.



And just so you know that I am not a total pumpkin hater I am adding on a picture of a very cute and sweet pumpkin. This one has no thorns and is very cute indeed.

Update on Doodlebug and Financial Challenge

Last week we went to visit the neurologist again. She no longer thinks that Doodlebug is a late bloomer. He's just too far behind and not catching up like he should be. He's 17 months old and still not able to feed himself. He does not call me "Mama" or his daddy "Dada" yet. He still is barely able to chew food. He is walking, but hasn't gotten really good at it yet. These are milestones he should have passed long ago. It breaks my heart to see him falling behind.

Anyway, since he's not catching up like we had hoped the neuro wants to start doing more testing to see if we can find a cause for his delays. Previously she ordered some bloodwork to test for metabolic and genetic disorders. We chose not to have them done at this time. We are still holding onto him being a late bloomer, and if there is a diagnosis it won't change what we are doing to get him therapy and try to catch up. He doesn't have unusual health problems that would lead us to think there is more going on and we just don't see the point of spending thousands of dollars to rule out disorders no one really thinks he has.

So now we are setting up and MRI. We go to get some basic bloodwork done tomorrow and hopefully the MRI will be done in the next month. I really don't want to have this done either. He will have to be put under and I hate for him to go through all of this. And anything the MRI could tell us is stuff I don't want to know. She is looking for brain damage, brain malformation and evidence of a stroke, just to name a few horrifying scenarios. And if all is well there, we are going to be sent off to the geneticist. Who knows what all that will entail.

This is taking it's toll on the potential adoption as well. The neuro wants us to find out what is going on with Doodlebug before proceeding with the adoption. What exactly is she expecting to diagnose him with? And really, what does it matter? We want to have another child. That won't change even if Doodlebug has lasting issues.

I am sure the MRI will cost a significant amount, even with insurance. Insurance only covers a portion and when Doodlebug had ear tubes put in and his endoscopy done we paid quite a bit of money out of pocket. That money will end up coming out of the adoption fund. And if the MRI is normal I'm sure we will have to pursue the bloodwork for the genetic and metabolic disorders. I know the tests are very expensive and we will again have to pay a portion.

Please don't misunderstand. I am grateful that we have the funds to pay for this. I am grateful we have insurance. I do not begrudge my son this money if he needs it to have medical tests done. It's just frustrating to know how far away we are from our goal of raising money for the adoption and realizing that this will only push us further away from that goal. It seems so unattainable right now.

So far in June I have raised a whopping $35. We have a looooonnnng way to go to reach our goal, and it will be even further if we need to dip into the funds we do have to pay medical bills.

I really don't want to leave this post on such a low note, so let me tell you a little bit more about my wonderful boy. He is my favorite baby in the whole world. If I could clone him I would do it in a New York minute.



He is so laid back and good natured it is unbelievable. When we were in Downtown Disney we decided to go into some of the gift shops. I could hand him a toy to look at and play with for a minute and then take it back from him and he never made a fuss. Not once. What kid does that?

He's started giving kissed on request. Of course I request them at least twenty time a day. He's almost always happy to oblige.

He has the best laugh. And he uses it often.

When we pick him up in the nursery at church and all the other kids are screaming he is the only one with a smile on his face. And his smile gets even bigger when he sees us.

He makes really funny faces.

He loves to read books. Dr. Suess and Sandra Boynton are his favorites. He will sit and look at books for almost an hour by himself.

And last, but not least, he is the personification of cuteness.

Gluten-Free Oreo Recipe

There are few foods that I truely miss after going gluten-free. Oreos is on the list though.

Come on, it's a classic. That chocolatey wafter with the yummy cream filling. Who doesn't love oreos?

So I was really excited when I found a recipe for homemade Oreo cookies one day on Smitten Kitchen's blog. Even though it wasn't gluten-free I copied it down thinking I could maybe alter it.

Yesterday I sat down at the computer and did a search for "gluten-free Oreo recipe". Zilch. Zip. Nada.

So I pulled the one on my computer and studied it a minute. The gluten free flour mix I use says that it can be substituted cup for cup for regular flour. What have I got to lose? I really want some Oreos and it's not like I can just waltz down to the store and get some.

So I started baking. This is what I ended up with.

Yep, that is a plate of homemade, gluten free, Oreo cookies. Yum!

They were easy and oh so yummy!

I will give you the recipe, but there are a couple of things I'd do differently next time so I'm going to make some notes on it too. Now don't freak out on me when you read the recipe. They really are not hard at all to make. And the only kind of cooking I like is easy and good. Okay, ready? Here it is!

For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (if you are making this gluten free, I used this flour mix)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

As always, if you are baking these gluten-free please verify each of your ingredients is gluten-free before starting.

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar, then beat in the butter, and the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass. This is where I made my first mistake. Maybe you all know this, but if you put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then add the butter and egg when you start to beat it the cookie mix will explode out of the bowl and all over the counters. Very messy. (Don't ask me how I know this, I just know.) Next time I will cream the butter and egg and then slowly add the dry ingredients.

3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set on a rack to cool. If you read my other recipes you know I don't follow directions very well. So I had to experiment. For about 2/3 of my cookies I rolled out the dough and used a round cookie cutter. I put the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and rolled it out thick 1/4-1/2 inch). The cutter is about the size of a regular Oreo. If you do this, be aware that your cookies will still spread and leave room on the pan for this. Otherwise you will end up with one giant cookie. These took about 7 minutes to cook. The rest of the cookies I used a cookie scoop and then flattened them slightly.

4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2-3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. I used butter flavored Crisco as my shortening and it turned my cream yellow although it came out white in the pictures. Just a note in case that kind of thing would bother you.

5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Remember when I said not to freak out? Okay good, keep reading. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. I don't have a pastry bag and I don't know how to pipe. That would be in direct opposition of my love for easy cooking. I tried just spooning the icing on the cookies, but it was kind of messy and didn't work well. So I loaded the icing in a ziplock bag and smooshed out all the air I could. Then I sealed the bag and cut off one of the lower corners. I squeezed the icing out of the hole into blobs on top of half of the wafters. Much easier than the spooning method. I got all the icing on in less time than it took me to load up the baggie.

The Verdict

Oh-my-goodness-these-cookies-are-awesome! Someone pass the milk.

I love them. The ones that I made with the cookie cutters were much thinner and more Oreo-like. The ones that I scooped and flattened ended up about an inch thick in the end (with filling and all). Now initially that sounds like a good thing, but ends up being a little much. If I try that method again I will have to flatten them out more. And maybe try a smaller scoop.

They do not taste like they are gluten free. I gave one to a friend who stopped by this morning (who is not gluten-free) and she declared them to be "better than Oreos!"



Oh, and because this is how my life works.... As the cookies were cooling I found a gluten-free adaptation on the web. It's very similar to the one I used and if the gluten free flour blend you are using does not already contain xantham gum, I would follow her suggestion to add 1/2 t of Xantham gum.

Jules Gluten Free Flour Blend

I refer to this gluten-free flour blend a lot when I am baking. It is my go-to flour for most of my baking recipes. It's easy to make and I keep a container of it stocked in my pantry and ready to go. I make double batches because I tend to go through it pretty quickly.

Just a quick reminder to always read the labels on every ingredient you use if you are cooking gluten free. I try to point out potential hazards but manufacturers make changes quickly and often so you always need to double check.

Jules Nearly Normal Flour Mix*

• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup corn flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour or tapioca starch
• 4 teaspoons xanthan gum

*recipe reprinted with permisssion

If you don't want to make your own flour mix it is available by mail-order. You can visit Jules' website at JulesGlutenFree.com for more information. She also has a lot of free gluten-free recipes.

Home Sweet Home

Have you ever wondered what your house would look like if you had strep twice, and then mono and then gone out of town for a week all while staying at home with your 16 month old? You haven't? Me either. But I now know. And if you keep reading, you shall too.

Can you say clutter?

On every. available. surface.

Before you feel the need to call social services to come and take my child to a less chaotic environment, be assured it does not look the same now. It took me all of Monday to clean up the kitchen, but it looks a lot better now.

Most of the time I am a reformed slob. I do actually have a routine I do every day to keep the house presentable. It's not long and complicated, just the basic stuff that needs to get done so we can keep on living here without falling all over stuff. Or sticking to the kitchen floor. Not that that's ever happened to me. Nope.

With all the sickness and then the vacation I have let things go for a little too long. There are unfinished projects in every room of our house. I don't remember the last time I dusted. There's a lot of cat hair on the stairs. It is a bit overwhelming.

But the difference now it that I know I can do it. I can dig back out. I can keep up a house while raising a small child without cleaning for hours every day. I have done it before and I will do it again.

Because I like the house cleaner. I like it when I can find what I'm looking for. I like it when the counters in the kitchen are free of clutter. I like it when the unfinished projects are projects in process and not junk left lying around the house forever. I like it when my son can crawl around on the kitchen floor and not get really dirty. It makes me happier. Calmer. I feel a bit more in control. So, I'm taking back my house. I will set my timer and work my behind off for 15 minutes at a time until I'm back on track. "The house didn't get dirty overnight, and it won't get clean overnight either." (Quote from FlyLady.)

Getting out Cherry Stains

Usually when I wear a white shirt I eat spaghetti and get sauce all over it. This time I wore a white shirt and got cherry juice on it.

Of course we were traveling and the only clean shirts I had were buried in the trunk. And there's nothing quite like showing up at your in-laws with huge stains all over your shirt.

So I grabbed a baby wipe and cleaned it up as best I could. The stains weren't gone, but they were much lighter. When I washed the shirt I fully expected to see cherry stains on it. They had set for three days and I had no pre-treater for the laundry either.

But they were gone!

I had no idea that a baby wipe would prevent the stain from setting and it would come out in the wash. But hey, I like simple. And I really like that my shirt was not ruined.

Now where are the rest of those cherries...?

Check out other blogs linked up to Works for me Wednesdays.

Vacation Pictures

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Doodlebug sat on the edge of the pool and would jabber to his cousin, Z. Then Z would get out and yell, "Hey Doodlebug, watch this!" And then he would dive in the pool. Sometimes Doodlebug would laugh, but usually he would put on his surprised face and yell "Oooooooooh!" And then jabber some more loudly. It really looked like he was trying to coach Z in the fine art of diving. We started referring to him as the German judge.

Spending a little time with Aunt K.



This is how Doodlebug spent most of the trip, clinging to Daddy. At least it gave Mommy a break.



Oh wait, is that a smile I see??? Quick, snap the picture!

We took Doodlebug to Downtown Disney. He was not impressed.



And when we stuck a hat on him, he became even less impressed.



But we did get one pretty good family shot.



Big boy walking!