What am I? A Cow To You? Here For Your Nutrition?!

I know a lot of my blog friends aren't parents and obviously haven't breastfed, but I would still like your opinion so read on...

OnFriday night, I'm sleepy and in that mood where I'm fighting going to sleep cause I'm certain that I can find something interesting on the internet to look at... I somehow wander on to the Yahoo newspage and Ca-Blowh there's this big article and attached video about Mayim Bailik (Blossom) and her "EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL PARENTING VIEWS". I read the article and was in shock.

Here are the things that were so freaking controversial: co-sleeping and demand breastfeeding. Controversial? Really?
I have nursed four children and it has been one of the greatest and most fulfilling achievements in my life. I'm not saying breastfeeding is going to make every child healthier than bottle fed children, but I always thought, 'I'm here at home with all the time in the world to give my kids, why wouldn't I breastfeed?' It was hard at first but I perservered.

Demand breastfeeding just means that you feed the baby whenever they want, not on any set schedule. I've heard that bottle fed babies get a certain amount of formula for a certain amount of time (correct me if I'm wrong) but breast milk doesn't last as long in the stomach as formula and the baby needs to be nursed more often. There are a lot of sad stories about parents not wanting to 'spoil' their newborn, putting them on a breastfeeding schedule and the baby ending up dead or malnutritioned. And a big part of these horrible tragedies is Gary Ezzo. The author of Babywise teaches parents to disciples young (YOUNG) infants and reccomends babies should only be fed every four hours AND not through the night.

I also co-slept with my baby a month after their birth and for a couple months after that. I think the baby is too young to be 'spoiled' and I also know that breastfed infants need nursed quite often, so I just nurse in bed all night long. More sleep for me, more cuddle time for both of us. Those nights and mornings were some of the best of my life, waking up holding my baby, looking into her/his eyes. dreamy and sleepy.

Does all that sound controversial to you?

I also want to add that if you don't breastfeed, I don't think that you're a bad parent. I would be curious about what led you to the decision, and if you needed help with nursing I would counsel you on it...but I would never judge any good parent for how they decided to care for their child. And I applaud anyone who as at least tried to nurse! The first few days of breastfeeding are very important to a baby's health and to the relationship between the mom and baby.

I hate the feeling that I'm a weirdo or that someone might think that my children aren't being cared for properly. I feel a little paranoid that Rose might be talking about how her mom nursed her and her siblings, or slept with them when they were babies and someone might tell her that I'm a crazy freak...or controversial. ha.

Oh well...what are your opinions on breastfeeding or co-sleeping? Katie Allison Granju wrote the above linked article about BabyWise and Gary Ezzo, here is another one of my favorite articles by her: The Family Bed.

The 1934 Peanut Butter Massacre

I just made the little ones breakfast and they're sitting in our gameroom on their 'picnic blanket' eating and watching Little Bear. All is well.

All is well NOW, that is. All was not well when I found a dozen peanut butter footsteps leading to previously mentioned 'picnic blanket'. And I mean whole freaking footsteps, mounds of peanut butter in footsteps form, one little foot after another all over the floor!

It turns out that Olivia (I'm guessing Olivia because Max was in bed and Rose was with me all morning until she left, she was following me around quizzing me about horror movies I've seen and why she can't watch them) has been going into the kitchen while I'm doing morning things with her siblings and sneaking spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the peanut butter jar.
Elijah saw her doing this and probably either begged her until she had to give in to him to suppress crying (that would give her villainy away to me) or he got it out of the peanut butter jar on his own.
We'll won't know for sure until Olivia arrives home from school later, and by then I'll probably have forgotten all about it.

But regardless, Elijah somehow got peanut butter all over the bottom of his feet and then walked from the kitchen to the gameroom and sat down on the picnic blanket to wait for his breakfast like nothing ever happened.

Then Max came down from bed and demanded that I get her 'A DWINK AND A BUN WITH NOTHING ON IT!!!!'.
Although I reminded her that I am not her slave in a very stern tone, I still went and got her 'A DWINK AND A BUN WITH NOTHING ON IT!!!!', and then I kissed her mean little face and left the room delighted with my life.

I noticed yesterday that I didn't post a photo of Max....

Tomb Tainting Thursday?

Ok, it's definitely Thursday. That means I must absolutely post photos of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah has been skating since he was a young kid. He's super kick-ass, just out of practice. Just recently he started skating again after about three years of hardly doing it at all.
I love to watch him skate, and skateboarding has a special place in my heart because that's how we met 13 years ago.

Here are some photos of him skating in a small parking lot near our home. In honor of embarrassing photos of Jeremiah Thursday, he's not successfully landing anything in these pics.



Now that I'm looking at these photos, I realize they're not very funny...I'm not very funny, am I?
So I'll add some photos of Elijah and Jeremiah to even up the not funniness.




And then, to even out the maleness of those photos, here are Rose and Olivia on their first day of school. They both seemed to enjoy it, and they looked absolutely delightful in their new school clothes.

In My Life...

There are people in my blog world that I tend to associate with people from my real life here on earth. I'm going to list some and give short explanations, but with this disclaimer attached: If you're earth-match seems like a dork, or a bitch, or a whore...please don't think I'm calling you that. I just mean that you remind me of that person and their personalities, not their downfalls....even though their personalities tend to have something to do with their downfalls...oh well. There are some people I'll talk about today that just remind me of a type of person in my life, or the type of person I've always wanted in my life. Bla Bla Bla

I hope everyone enjoys and no one is offended!

Ms. Moon reminds me of this incredible women named Deb who helped me through a rough time. I was in an unhappy marriage and although I was blessed with three lovely daughters from that union, I was never happy with my relationship with their father. It was after Olivia was born that I started to spend some of my free time on a Theology message board. I'm not of any religion per se, but I enjoy debating and reading debates.
Anyways, on the social pages of that message board I met Deb. She was natural, generous and thoughtful. We had an instant online 'connection' and she taught me how to do all kinds of crafty things like soap making and candle making. When I had a rough day I turned to her and she was so kind and helpful. When times got really rough after Maxine was born we talked on the phone for hours and she was a pillar of strength for me at that time. We don't keep in touch as much anymore, the random email here and there, but she's always in my heart!

Sam (Sam and I just lerve each other) reminds me of the older sister I never had. I'm the oldest of five kids and I thought being the younger kid would be the bees knees. Someone to listen but still jab at you in that way that makes you want to be better, do better. I remember helping my siblings with their homework, or helping them button a shirt and thinking how nice that would have been to have someone help me with that stuff! That's what Sam reminds me of, an older sister that is assertive, but caring. And awesome. And award winning!

OWO reminds me of my first college buddy, Jenn. We met first day of orientation, sitting in the hallway of our ancient dorm, sweating our non-existent balls off, listening to a very boring R.A. tell us all the rules of our hall. I thought this was so pointless and ridiculous, there were only 6 of us on that floor... I looked over and Jenn was pulling a flask out of her purse without hiding it and taking a big swig. She had a smoke tucked behind her ear and had this mess of frizzy red hair radiating out and around a dirty white hankerchief. She didn't care what anyone thought and I was instantly taken with her. We spent the next couple years joined at the hip, she even dropped classes to take ones I was taking. She was charasmatic, sexual and often egotistical to a fault. She and I left school the same semester, she was pretty much kicked out for smoking pot in the kitchen of the cafeteria, I was pregnant with Rose. She came and visited me a few times after that, but over time we drifted away into our new lives. I think of her everyday.

Prosy reminds me of my daughter Rose. Charming and empathetic, she has a tough exterior that's easy to see through. Although she has a biting wit and an acerbic tongue, I can see that she is kind and sweet. I look forward to her posts and comments.

Steamy reminds me of myself. The self that only comes out with Jeremiah, actually. I'm constantly saying highly inflammatory and ridiculously inappropriate things when we're alone. I think sometimes I even shock him, although he's pretty darn inappropriate himself.
I like to think that I'm as clever as her, but the truth is I'm absolutely not.
But we'll pretend for now and everything will be okay...yes...everything is just fine...

Mr. Condescending reminds me of a boy I met at an airforce base outside of Philadelphia. I can't remember the name of the base, I just know that I was staying there over a long weekend with my cousin while she was visiting her then fiance, who was stationed there. He had a friend, a boy from New Orleans who was absolutely hilarious. He had a drawl and although his voice sounded very down south, he was intelligent and quick witted. I ended up hanging out with him a lot over the next couple days and he never tried anything with me. I hadn't been interested in him in that way either, so I figured there was no chemistry, or maybe he was just shy with girls. On the way home from our trip my cousin wanted to hear all about the time I spent with him, assuming that we 'hooked up'. When I told her that we didn't she was absolutely shocked. She said he had a reputation as being the 'sluttiest' guy there. This pissed me off for two reasons, one that she was letting her little cousin hang out with the 'sluttiest' guy on base and two, why the hell would he get with every girl on the earth except for me? I wrote to him as soon as I got home and waited and waited and waited for an answer. After a whole year I got a letter from Louisiana...it simply said sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I thought you were cute, but way too young for me.
Duh. He once again proved himself way way more clever than me.

MissChief reminds me of a girl I went to high school with, Erika. We had a lot of the same friends and some of the same classes, but for some strange reason I had this feeling that she definitely hated me. She would never start talking to me, only answer questions...and would exclude me often from conversation or plans. We were similar, and I could tell we would get along if she would just let me in a little bit. But saying that, or admitting that, would be just too uncool than our teenage selves could handle. I saw her the other day while Jeremiah, Elijah and I were having lunch, we looked right at each other and looked away. It was kind of sad.

TMEmotional Garbage Tuesday Night

I'm an emotional wreck lately...up up up and down down down and lost in this vague, restless fog.
I feel relentlessly pursued at some times, by nothing at all...mind you. Other times I feel completely lost and ignored, and mind you once more- no one is ignoring me.

I cry at the drop of a hat (or bowl or glass, I'm notoriously clumsy but it's been 10 times worse than usual lately), I think in grandiose terms constantly.

I'm sure I'm not staking any superbly original claim here, many people feel like this all the time and if those people happen to be women it would be chalked up to 'hormones'. So be it.

I just find it strange that after touting my new Simple Life, I now am wrenched by my old friends, 'anxiety', 'restlessness', 'turbulence' (none so turbulent to be dangerous, more turbulently whimsical if nothing else)...

So I'm sure that I jinxed myself. I am jinxed and insane, obviously.

I didn't even laugh when Max told me that she couldn't eat the Pasta Fagioli I made (not really pasta fagioli, but I call it that anyways). She said that the red beans tasted 'too red' and the black beans 'too black'. The biscuits and Smart Balance, however, were delicious enough to devour three of them.

I didn't laugh when Olivia told me she wanted to have creamsicles packed in her lunchbag for her first day of school tomorrow. Not just one, but two, because she 'might make a new friend who's cool and likes creamsicles'.

I didn't sigh when Max insisted to drink water from my cupped hands like I do when I'm brushing my teeth.

I didn't kiss my daddy goodbye when he left after having dinner with us. He didn't think the red beans too red, or the black beans too black...I should have kissed him.

Well, I'm smiling now! I guess that's a good start.

I think that I started smiling cause I imagined Jeremiah reading this and feeling bad for me until he got to the part about my dad. At that part he would roll his eyes, and seeing him do that in my minds eye is hilarious.

This is my first nighttime post in a long time...it feels good. Oh yeah...I feel good now. In ten minutes I'll be a freaking train wreck again, crying at the new Law and Order CI I taped last night. I love Jeff Goldblum though, so a little tears are worth it.

Tune in tomorrow for a post about the people of my blogging world and what people in my real life they remind me of. Fun!

No Baby Bears Were Hurt in the Making of This Hat

Last time I posted hat photos I got a lot of comments about the baby bear hat like:

"OMG I love them! I want one but for MEEEE~!!!"

"I don't really NEED kids for this... do I?"

"I NEED one of those bear hats!! ah! oh my...maybe in black and white like a pandaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"nuts to the kids...i want them all for ME"

So I made two new listings and decided to go ahead and put them in the store before fall.
Tell me what you think and don't be shy! Give me input!

Slouchy Tam

Bear Hat

I also dropped prices quite a bit...and I'm offering custom order at almost half off until the end of September.

(Kara- email me with a description of what you want, I'll email you an invoice. Then depending on the hat it's usually done and shipped within the week)

And with that, I'm off to the kitchen to serve the man and boy a delicious and nutritious breakfast. Tonight the girls come home from their dads and the early bed time for school ritual will begin. I'm sure there will be many tears and maybe even some tantrums...but the show must go on.

Happiness Is...A More Serious Post Than The the Day Warrants

Why is that sometimes happiness seems so unattainable but then in the moment it's so pure and undiluted? Happiness from a distance is enjoyable and mostly entertaining, so much so that you don't mind not being in the midst of it all that much. From a little bit further away it's like a cloud of pink and orange smoke, puffing towards you in wisps of clarity, it seems so far away but what reaches you is well worth waiting for.

What types of things add up to equal happiness?

Comfort
Love
Passion
Excitement
Contentment

I adore those things, but here is what has to be mixed into my equation to come up with happiness for me.

Obsession
Schedules
Stimulation
Health
T.V.
Books

That's it.

The reason this has been swirling around and around my head is that I've been reconsidering myself.
I've become one of those people I thought I would never be. Content, Boring, Heavy with Words and Thoughts...

I was positive that I would flighty and light headed for a lifetime. I was never able to sit through a movie, sit still for very long for anything really. I could talk for hours with strangers, stay up all night, get up early every morning...I was up for anything and everything. I'd bring a walkman and a book to the dinner table, walk away from my home and walk nowhere for hours on a whim. I was annoying, trite, egotistical....so many more things.

And now I'm simple. Thoughtful. Sometimes even quiet. Last night I was so excited when Project Runway came back on. I worked on a couple baby hats, Jeremiah and I went to bed at 11pm and laid side to side together in our bed and watched some crime show.
Tonight we'll cuddle on our super uncomfortable couch, watch a movie, tomorrow we'll go on a bike ride...
Right now my children are snacking and I'm typing. Typing meaningless drivel that a couple people will read, and yet I'm happy.

These things would make this year really great for me:
Olivia will do well this year, her first year of all day school. She will not fight with me too much about homework, the teacher won't call.

Max will stop throwing fits. I'm so afraid she'll get hurt.

Elijah will learn a few words so he won't be so frustrated when asking for something.

Santa Claus will give me a new camera and The Beatles Rock Band.

Jeremiah will find a shit load of bikes to work on and rebuild.

My grandmother's health continues to improve.

I get to spend as much time as possible with Jeremiah. I get to look into his eyes at least once a day. I get to hold his hands, kiss him....all that super great stuff that you don't want to hear about.

I get enough orders this year to pay for some Christmas gifts!

Toe Fungus Thursday

Dear Summer,
It's still hot outside but I can feel you letting go...Six days till school starts and sleepy, sticky mornings are replaced by rushing, anxious children in on brisk fall mornings (this is wishful thinking on my part, we'll probably have an Indian Summer).
Did you pack my lunch, did you finish your reading, are you properly dressed for the day, are we going to miss the bus, what time is soccer after school?

Early bed time.

More hair bows and ties.

Grandparent's Day.

Teacher/Parent conferences (not this year OLIVIA!!!)

Rose's perfection anxiety ('Mom you'll HAVE to call the teacher and tell her I shouldn't have missed these two questions... I obviously know the answers')

So here are some snapshots from my summer...and if you wade through them, I promise there's an embarrassing photo of Jeremiah at the end! I know you all love those so much!


Olivia was born to 'ROCK'! That's what the tattoo says, at least.


Jeremiah's vacation from work was one of the highlights of this summer, even though we didn't actually go on vacation.


SLIP N' SLIDE MOTHERF'ERS!







Thursdays and Photos of Jeremiah are so much fun, don't you think? I've done this a couple times now...and just for posterity's sake, I'll link them right now! Thursday, Thursday and not Thursday but we'll include it anyways

The Day Has Come, My Friends

So today will be a crazy ass day...because today the children and I are going school shopping with MY MOMMA! Ahhhhh!!!! Everyone scream!!!!

My mom is awesome and cool but she is a shopping maniac. She can leap Ten Targets in one small bound, wrangle deals out of every Sears coupon and cash register and get Two For One leggings from every Old Navy store across the nation.

I'm more of a buy it all online at one place and then sort through it when it gets here and send back what doesn't fit.

She's more of a try every single thing on, even when they're two of the same thing, just in case the stitching is different.

Today, with school fast approaching (one week away) I will brave the flurry of activity that is my momma and shop with my daughters for their clothes and school supplies. We will exit the stores laden with our booty, pencils and baby doll dresses, I-Carly slip ons and crayons. I will buy them underwear and socks, even though I'll probably have to buy more in a couple months.
And then tomorrow I'll call their dad and precisely tell him where to get their fall jackets or hoodies (and upside to sharing custody, last year he bought their bookbags, this year their jackets/coats or sneakers...pretty much whatever one or two things I don't get today!)

Later tonight Jeremiah will have to withstand several small girl children flailing clothes in his face, modeling shoes and insisting he watch binder demonstrations. He will be overwhelmed, but he will smile and give them the same response he gives me, "Ah-ha....Riiiight....I don't know....of course....uh-nuh....ok I'll do it when we get home..."

So Adieu fair blogging friends, I'm off to pack a days amusement for my darling baby boy. I'm sure he'll have to endure days like these for years to come...poor, poor Elijah.

Jeremiah doesn't listen to me V-Blog

In the past couple weeks the topic of v-blogging has come up a few times in conversation. Well, in the conversations I have with myself...or with Jeremiah when he's pretending to listen to me. (Which usually goes like this: "Ah-ha....Riiiight....I don't know baby....of course....uh-nuh....ok I'll do it when we get home...")

So since the girls aren't here and I'm eating my breakfast and paying some bills, I decided to v-blog for everyone IF everyone promises to comment and give me your opinion on video blogging.
I'm guessing that it's not all that popular... I know that some people can't watch video at work...
Without alarming any employers out there, if your employees have a computer at their desk or workstation, they're probably reading my blog right now!

Here are some other examples of v-blogging, Steamy's was a one time thing (I think) and then at Betsy Booms she's doing it all the time now and even has a live webcast of her vlog, Boom Tube.



I just watched this little video and I'm thinking the same thing you probably are. 'Why is god's name is she posting this!????????'

And the answer is...um...

Because I can?

I love how I accidentally say V- Log and V-Logging and then smoosh my mouth up in a weird way, like I'm trying to hide my crooked teeth...but we all know there's no hiding those bad boys.

Deep Thoughts with Erin

I have been thinking a lot lately about posting something more serious or cerebral...like trying to wrestle with some serious issues like, 'Why does Hilary Clinton always look so pissed off?' or 'Why do people who go to college for four plus years and spend $80,000 on their education to make $10 an hour?' or better yet 'Is D.H. Lawrence actually a misogynist, hidden behind the trappings of a 'womens writer'?'.

I'm not affiliated with any political party and am all over the board with my opinions on all matters political, national and worldwide, but 'What the frick is up with Bill O'Reilly? Does he always have to be such a freaking douchebag?'.

And more importantly 'Why did they ruin movies like The Watchmen or The Zodiac by making them excruciatingly long???'.

I guess I could discuss these things with you. I would accomplish something today that isn't totally revolved around my children if I did, but instead I will post videos of my children. I think they're priceless, adorable etc...etc... and you will too. Darnit.

I'm trying to get Elijah to talk more so he request the things he wants with words instead of grunting pointing and crying. But he isn't interested.



This is a little clip that gives you some insight on what it's like to live in our house. I suppose the children will really learned to appreciate silence and quiet as adults after living in a househole with layers and layers of noise and activity at all times.

Tag! Rip Torn is It! What?!

Today I'm tagging all of you....yeah you heard me right, ALL OF YOU.

So this tagging event is a little bit different, being that I made up the questions myself. Cause I'm so freaking cool. Just copy and paste these questions, fill them out with your own answers and voila! automatic blog post. AND AWAY WEEEE GO!

(Oh yeah, that reminds me. Can someone tell me if my amazon music recommendations comes on blaring at you when you enter my blog space? That's one of my pet peeves about other blogs, although it does not keep me from visiting said blogs, and I want to make sure mine doesn't do that)

1. Describe the person nearest to you, or if no one is near you at this moment the person who was last nearest to you, duh.
Rose is my oldest daughter and turned 9 this May. She has long wavy dark hair which is very very thick and at some times unmanageable. She is entering the Third Grade at the end of this month and has always had Straight A's. She likes to read, play soccer (she plays on two different teams) and does Suzuki piano lessons with Jeremiah and their instructor. She has large dark eyes that turn up at the ends and black thick eyelashes. Her nose is straight and small and although her lips are thin she has a generous smile. She's wearing black soccer shorts, a purple tank top and is at this moment braiding her hair.

2. Who do you think you resemble most in your immediate family and why?
I used to think I looked the most like my father, but now I'm not so sure. If I had to pick someone, I suppose it would be Maxine. Even though that's a little bit of a stretch.

3. Who do you think (what nation, group or individual) is the biggest threat to our nation's security?
I'm mainly curious about your answers, considering if I told you all my ideas you would probably think I'm a total nutjob.

4. What do you do at night before you go to sleep? Do you have any rituals, usual behaviors?
I used to have a whole thing I would absolutely have to do before I could even think about sleeping, but now it's so much simpler. Brush teeth, get in PJ's (if I'm not in them already) watch t.v. or read a book, sleep.

5. What's the most challenging thing about being a parent? OR If you don't have children, what do you think will be the most challenging thing about being being a parent?
I used to think that you had to be in mom mode 24-7 and that someday when the kids were older I'd get some time and indentity back. Then after I hit rock bottom after Max was born I realized that I need to be me and not just Momma. Walking that line everyday is the most challenging thing for me.

6. What do you think is your most attractive feature?
Ha! I feel embarrassed asking this question and I came up with it. I like my mouth.

7. Who is your favorite blog friend? Link them!
I adore Kara at Condi's Hair. And I have no idea why.

8. Max just got in trouble for hitting Olivia in the throat. She's now sitting in time out screaming 'I'm STUPID!' at the top of her lungs. Should I ignore her till her time out is over, or should I talk to her now and ruin the time out?
How do I answer this? You answer it, and then we'll discuss amongst ourselves. Oy! I'm feeling verklempt.

9. Who was the first person you kissed and where are they now?
His name is Dane and we're still friends to this day. I was 13 and he was 14 and we were at Kennywood park. Someone dared him to kiss me. I was shocked at the velocity with which he lauched his mouth at mine.
Jeremiah and I kissed all the time when we were going out as teenagers. They were the most 'passionate' of my teen years. I remember him fondly, even though he was mad at me last night. I totally badgered him to do piano lessons with the girls earlier than usual and I feel like the biggest douche bag in the world about it.

10.Ok, here's the final crapola questionado: What's the grossest thing you've ever done or has ever happened to you?
I'm sure no one can beat me with this one. I was changing Olivia's diaper on a changing table in her bedroom when she was about 6 weeks old. She had this weird problem that she would shoot poop everytime you wiped her bum and low and behold I was wiping her and poop shot out and into my MOUTH! Yep into my MOUTH!

And if you haven't read yesterday's post, check it out here. I'm selling baby hats and custom orders at pretty much half off! Miss Yvonne picked the bear hat and the little red pixie hat, so the rest are still up for grabs and I'm still taking custom orders for baby/kid/adult hats and accessories.

Miss Yvonne's Starts a Hatting Riot!

I guess I shouldn't have mentioned Miss Yvonne in my last post, cause I'm mentioning her again today in this post...Oh well, I guess she deserves it, sort of.

So anyways, a while ago Miss Yvonne asked me to make her some baby hats for her freelance photography business. I said 'Oh yeah, sure, sure...I'll get right at it' and then I never did. Mainly because I didn't have the time, otherwise because she's like my blog sister or second cousin, I decided to put her off until I absolutely had to deal with her and her odd request for the recipe to the spicy chicken dip I made for the Fourth of July party six years ago.

Not that her request was all that odd. I do make hats. Adorable baby hats and Ultra-Cute adult hats and accessories for the winter. But alas, it is freaking hot and I have no business at all...so here at the hats I made for Miss Yvonne.
I'm going to let her pick which ones she wants to purchase and then the ones that are left over will go at the same discounted price that I am giving to her to the first people that contact me at my email. I'll also do custom orders at reduced prices till the end of September.

This is my favorite one, it's for newborns or smaller babies. I think the colors would look great with any hair/eye color. I might have to make one for myself for the winter...


Bear hats are always cute. It's odd that I've never made them before. This is also in a smaller size. It's hard to size baby hats because baby's heads are always so varying in roundness. This could be worn by a larger newborn up to 6 months.




I love stars, pink and yellow! LOVE earflaps and pom poms. So I just threw them all on one hat here.
This hat is larger 6-12 months.



I made this hat for Max last year and got so many compliments on it. I call it 'The Little Red Pixie Hood', I'm so original. This hat is for any size up from 9 months, really. You can make it tighter with the pom pom's strings.




This is Jeremiah's favorite of the new hats. It's larger but can be worn from 6-18 months. It almost fits Elijah and he is a giant, but it would definitely work well a little slouchier for a small infant.



This one is plain tan and lavender, a 'nipple' hat that I did a lot of orders for two winters ago. It seems that some parents or gift givers like the simplicity of them, so I decided to make up one and see if they're still popular. It's a small, 0-6 months.



This one I call my 'Rainbow Brite' hat....I made it for Max and she hated it.
Surprise, surprise. It's a larger size 18mths-3 years.

Too Much Tofu Thursday?

Ok, let's all gather our thoughts and try to remember what day today is in the blogging world. I've been confused before.

Is it Tiny Tits Thursday? Turbo-Powered Aluminum Mini Rocket Thursday?

Is it the TMI Thursday where people talk about their bowel movements or recounting childhood horror stories of walking in on their parents having sex?

Or is it not Thursday at all, and instead Wordless Wednesday? I did one of those once. I guess it didn't work out for me, considering I like to 'talk'.

Random Acts of Violence Monday? Getting to Know Your Elderly Great Aunt Tuesday?

Alright, I'm done. For a while I was posting embarrassing photos of Jeremiah on Thursdays...maybe after I'm done linking you to some things I want you to see, I'll regale you with a photo that will make him sigh heavily and roll his eyes at me.

Now for the linkage:
John Pender is my blog friend, formerly The Angry Georgian, now just John Pender. Although I've only read snippets of his work, he is a very talented writer, and aside from that, a very nice man. Check out his website HERE. There's a link to his blog from that page as well.

Also, THIS is my friend Sam's blog. She's multi-talented, intelligent, funny and she always has a kind word for me here on my blog.

Miss Yvonne is also worth the time HERE at Yo Mama's Blog. I look forward to her posts and I won something from her, which is kick ass because I never win anything.

My dear dear Trodo McPupperson hails from The Great White North and can be found HERE at Diamond Pewpin' Carnivore. If you scroll back about three or four posts you'll find her giveaway. Get to entering it now cause there's only one more day to win a religion!

And that's all folks...oh except for two little things.

One, I would like to thank everyone for their comments the other day after my 'nervous breakdown'. A lot of people gave me some advice and 'hang in there's and it was appreciated.

Two, here is a photo of Jeremiah. I know that you and I know that it's not an embarrassing photo, but he will think it is!

Chill the Frick Out!

I was about to preface this post with the comment 'I don't complain all that often.'.

But now that I'm thinking about it, I've recently complained about pregnant smokers (if you are one of these people, take heed, I cursed this blog with my mojo and you'll have horrendous heartburn for the rest of your life if you do not stop poisoning your unborn child), the weather...well, I guess that's it.

So today I'm going to complain about myself. I have this problem lately where I can just not relax. You know, chill, take it easy, enjoy life...bla bla bla. It's really starting to take a toll on me. I'm not reading as much, I'm worrying more about cleaning than playing with the kids, I'm fretting about what to make for dinner instead of plotting and carrying out the American Forces take over of North Korea and how many different ways I could humiliate KimIllJongFatHead.

Right now the baby is napping and the girls are with their dad and I'm worrying about whether or not I cut up and refridgerated enough cantaloupe to last till tomorrow. Who cares? Can't I just cut up the other cantoloupe when the first one runs out? Maybe I should just go cut it up and refridgerate it right now?! WHAT!? Like that's of any import whatsoever.

I have three books sitting here, staring at me, calling out to me. I have a billion blogs that I usually love to read yelling my name at the top of their lungs, "Erin, we're hilarious and yes even sometimes informative!".

Now I've noticed that the mailman still has not taken our Netflix movies...does that mean that we won't get movies when I thought we were going to? I had this weeks evening activities planned out and the god damned Mail Man is ruining everything!

See? Mega-Uptight.

The house is going to get messy, the laundry will always have to be done, dinner will always have to be prepared....but do I have to sit and think about these things ad nauseam? And why in God's name is the spell checker telling me I spelled that wrong? IT'S CALLED LATIN YOU FREAKING IDIOT.

Am I drinking too much coffee? Where does the clean and tidy disease come from? Why do I feel the need to be on top of things all the time?

I remember when Rosey was a baby we would play all day long. The house was always a complete and total mess, I never cooked or did laundry unless it was completely necessary. We watched movies, read books, played with PlayDoh, talked, went on walks, danced around. I was so relaxed and totally awesome. Somewhere between the stress and mental breakdown of Maxine (child number three) and the calm after the storm, Elijah (child number four) I became a normal uptight bitch-mom. Was my mom totally cool and laid back at one time??? Oh my God, I think she was.

I'm going to turn into my momma.

Soo...any tips, advice? Tell me something other than 'Chill The Frick Out!'.

Everyone quickly analyze Miss Yvonne's handwriting...commit it to memory!

So after years and years of wishing and hoping, I finally won gum with a smart-ass name and a hand-made card from Miss Yvonne!




Hooray!

In other news, I take photos of my children while driving, it's an extreme-mom sport, in honor of the X Games!