Marvelous Monday!

It’s Monday, Monday, Monday!!!! I both love and hate the day because it means that we get to go the pool PT… which has been wonderful for Addie, but also means that Dave is back to work (boo, hiss!).

This Monday, however, I refuse to be bummed out. Instead, Addie and I are going to go to PT and enjoy this day (regardless of rain forecasts) because it’s supposed to be in the 60’s. In November. In New England. Hellloooo Global Warming! If we are all going to Hell for destroying the planet, I’m at least going to enjoy it. But seriously- we are going to enjoy it- because everyday is a day to be thankful for!

My thank you list for last week?
11th: Those who serve… Veterans Day is something I choose to celebrate all year round- especially because I have family that serve this great country. While I myself may not be cut out for military life, I certainly enjoy my freedoms (speech!), and feel blessed we have so many who are willing to defend those rights.
12th: Having a roof over our heads…’nuff said.
13th: How people CAN change! It’s important to grow and change as time goes on… and I’m so thankful that Dave and I have both learned this in our 4+ years of marriage and year and a half of parenting.
14th: Our pediatrician, Pediatric Associates! When Addie fell and hit her head on this day, she actually knocked herself out… and our pediatrician made sure to keep in touch and give us all the security we needed to get through the night and make sure she was OK (which, yes, she IS!).
15th: All of my friendships! I love all of my “IRL” friends, but also for everyone who reads this blog, friends us on Facebook or Twitter, or Pinterest or whatever. I thank my friends- ALL of you- for your love, support and for sharing your passions with me.
16th: The minds of children. Addie had a full conversation while Dave and I were playing with her… only she was looking over our heads and not communicating with us, although she was pausing in her talk to nod and listen. We asked who she was talking to and she looked down at us (we were laying at her feet on our stomachs) and she nodded, pointed towards the door and said “papa”. Then she went back to her conversation, waved said, “papa, bye bye,” and that was it. I love that children are clairvoyant (yes, I believe they are)… and I am in awe that my father visits her.
17th: Lucky numbers! Addie is now 19 months and was born on the 17th of the month. She waited 2 days to be born so that she could come on my lucky number day!

I hope you found a lot to be thankful for this week, too!

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Laundry.

What?

Laundry.

There are so many aspects to being a parent. There are different ones to being the parent of an LP. But one thing I didn’t think about, parenting a child with dwarfism, who never really crawls, but army crawls for months on end, will mess up a lot of clothes.

A. Lot.

While Addie used her belly as a means for transportation for months, I spent every night scrubbing 2 tops. One Addie wore in the morning and the one I changed her into after her nap. The nap that I spent cleaning my floors everyday… and yet Addie’s clothes were still black with dirt at the close of each night. Beyond frustrating. I figured, I’m not the only parent with this problem, so I thought I would share what worked for me:

Each night I would fill the sink in the bathroom with luke warm water and then wet the front of the stained shirt and put a healthy dose of dish soap on (I used a free and clear one). I would then rub it in with my fingers and let it sit in the sink over night. In the morning, the stain was WAY less, mostly gone, and usually taken care of with just one wash. Of course there were ones that were seriously damaged, which I call “undershirts” now, but with all the things we parents spend on our babes, isn’t it nice to know that just soap and water can save the need for us to buy new clothes!

… I guess this makes me really thankful for walking! WAY less laundry for me 🙂

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Lastly… While at the bestie’s house, we were watching some cooking channel (shocking!), and we fell upon Giada and I fell in LOVE with these Thanksgiving recipes. I wanted to share them with you before the big turkey day so you could plan!! Check out these Garlic and Sundried Tomato Corn Muffins and these Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter. So excited to share these randoms with you!