DIY: Colored Play Rice

Like almost everything else I do, or know how to do, this comes from waaaaay back when I was a ittle kid.

When my younger brother was learning to walk, he burned his hands. Severely.  He was toddling along, and started to fall, when he grabbed one of our old-fashioned radiators. It left the palms of his hands completely covered in blisters, and I think this is probably the only time I have ever seen my mother in abject terror, and probably the first (& only time) I didn't ask "Why?" before doing as she told me to do. After we got him to the hospital, he spent 3 weeks in the burn unit. The doctor's weren't sure if he'd have full use of his hands from the scarring, so we were given activities to do with him to help stretch the skin, and improve his fine motor skills. He basically had to re-learn how to use his hands.

One of the things was playing in rice. Pick it up, scoop it, squish it, spread it out, etc.

My mom also discovered that she couldn't keep my hands out of it, either. It was permanently added to mom's arsenal of rainy day things to do.
Such a simple, yet amusing thing, and best of all, dirt cheap.

The one problem with play rice is... It looks like regular rice. And once my dad tried to cook it. Only when he saw all the fuzzies, cracker bits, floor pepper, etc, float to the surface, did he realize his mistake.

So I have a fix for that, which is pretty simple... Color some of the rice. Which also comes from my mom, although she never did it. I adapted her colored toasted coconut recipe for using with rice.

What you need:
A big ol' bag of cheap, white rice.
Some type of food coloring- drops, paste, gel, or Kool-Aid packets.
13x9 cake pan, lined with tinfoil. If you want to do 2 colors at once, use 2 small pans, or divide the pan with tinfoil.
Glass or stainless steel bowl
Soup or tablespoon
Slightly warm tap water
Oven preheated to 350

Paste, gel, or Kool-Aid: Take your bowl, put about 1-2 tbs of water in it, and mix in the food coloring/K.A. until it's dissolved. Pour in about a cup of rice, mix until covered. If there are puddles of color at the bottom, add more rice. You want the rice to look glossy, but not have a lot of extra water.
If using liquid color: Put the rice in the bowl first, then drip and mix until the rice is covered.
(will try to add pictures the next time I do these steps... Doh!)

Spread the rice out into your baking pan, it doesn't have to be perfect.
Pop it into the oven for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from oven, and stir. The rice should be mostly dry already, try to get any rice that has stuck to the tinfoil off, and crush up any clumps.
Shove it back in there for another 2 minutes, then repeat the stirring.
The rice should now be dry, if you didn't put too much water.
If it's still wet, put it back in, and stir at 1 minute (or less) intervals. Watch it like a hawk, seriously! It will start becoming brown lightning quick once it's fully dry. Let it cool, and mix it with your white rice.
You can also layer it in jars, and make it pretty for an easy gift! (see below)

Finished results:

The pink & blue rice was made using Wilton paste colors, Christmas Red & Sky Blue. Yeah, it looks orange, but that's my camera. It's actually hot pink. I was not impressed, so I tried something else to get red...

Older siblings will also like it....

Watch out for this position, though, it means you're going to have a roomfull of rice in 3...2...1...

Gifting: Layer your colors with white rice in a way that is pleasing to you... Very simple. The ones with the wavy lines was as easy as poking a chopstick down the sides to make the dips, like sand bottle art. These are going to live with my mom & my brother for my nephew to play with. I'm sure my brother will at least get a kick out of it. :)

 These were all done with Kool-Aid... Green is Lemon-Lime, bright red is Cherry, and the darker red is Black Cherry :)

More Random Stuff

I'm not exactly sure what I'm writing... so here's a picture of a kitty!

Our new kitty, to be exact. My mom... (love her to death, but she's an idiot sometimes) took in a kitty. Female. Not spayed. I TOLD her she was going to get kittens. The cat was preggo, and there would be kittens everywhere. I also told her that Mama Cat would have a calico, and it was MINE. Well, somehow, she forgot all that. So, kittens arrived, four of them. One was calico, one was the one above, and there were also two orange tabbies, which my aunt took. My freakin' brat of a sister decided she wanted to keep the calico kitteh. I want to bitch-slap my mom for forgetting what I said. So... We looked around a bit, but we couldn't find a home for Mr. Poe. Admittedly, we didn't try that hard. We were going to put up a poster at the hospital, but somehow, I never got around to making it. And then....

GW's ex wife happened.

Yeah, I know, it sounds like it doesn't have anything to do with my mom's unwanted kitten, but it does.

And this is how. 

X-Lady sends GW a Facebook message, asking if he could take one of the cats that they had when they were married. She's getting another divorce, and isn't sure if wherever she is moving to will take 3 cats. Could we find it in our hearts to take Sir Henley? GW says... Of course we can. And then says to me that it's not fair to say no to my mom, and yes to Ex-Lady. So... Kitteh count will be up to SEVEN, come Memorial Day weekend. 

So, here are some more pictures of Mr. Poe, who is adorable beyond words.

Blurry, because the little bugger never stops moving unless he's asleep.

Scoot & Mr. Poe

Scoot & Mr. Poe 2

Shopping Beats The Crap Out Of Me (and Alex, too)

We. Are. SO. DONE.
With the x-mas shopping.
I spoke to my mom earlier today on the phone, and asked her what she wanted for a gift. She said there was nothing she wanted. So I asked her if there was anything she needed. She said "food".
This makes me sad. I've been there. Things have been rough for her since she left my father several years ago. Her life has been a total mess ever since then.
I still feel partially responsible for it, but I know she's a big girl, and she can make her own mistakes choices. So anyways...
We decided that we should get her & my sister (they live together) gift cards to their usual grocery store, and some staples to go along with it, as well as a few things they would like, but would never buy because of the cost. We got them a few boxes of pasta, some sauce, soup, chocolates, a Ghirardelli brownie mix (mmmmm!), $75.00 to Hannaford, and $25.00 to WM. Oh, and a fruitcake, because that's one of my favorite things to call my sister. We also got Romeo a new jacket, and Bertha & Cleo a stocking full of kitteh goodies from WM. Which Romeo will probably steal. (He thinks he's a cat.) As I think about it, we left out Mishka, my sister's snake. DAMMIT! We should probably get her some frozen mice. Their gifts are going in a set of poinsettia boxes from WM. (One of my mom's favorite plants... She fell in love with them when she lived in Florida as a teen with my Aunt Kay.) We also fund some fuzzy minky socks for them, because my dad is a lazy ass, and doesn't fill their oil like he should, so the house is cold. I had originally planned to keep them, but when we got to the register, I decided that they would go to my mom & sisterface. Mom's are black, so they can still look professional if she wears them to work. Sisterface's are my favoritest color blue.

Since I know Holly & Heather don't read my blog, I can tell you what we got for them, too: $30 each to the movies and....
 For Heather's extras, we got  a bunch of movie candy boxes (she likes to feel naughty and smuggle in her own), as well as some little packages of rainbow Goldfish and a horse ornament for Rebecca.
For additions to Holly's gift, we got a couple of pretty tea mugs, some tea in festive flavors, and some cookies to go with it.
They both got coffee from a local maker that claims the "buzz lasts all day!" with a picture of a mosquito on it for LOL's. We found some AWESOME!!! top hat baskets that were 50% off at Michael's that we're putting their stuff in. They were every penny worth of the $10 each, and then some! We may have to go back and get one for ourselves, Paris would try to sleep in it, and it would be totally adorable!

We also decided my grandma needed a fuzzy minky bathrobe like the one I have. We found the perfect one at Reny's. It's all pink and flowery, like the room my grandma always wanted, and didn't get until after my grandfather got sick... He couldn't go upstairs to know what we were doing to that room. ;)


But...
Now we have all this crap all over our kitchen floor, and I don't want to deal with it.
Alex was miserable for most of the time. He didn't eat as often as he normally gets to, so when we finally got home, he pigged out, and then threw up all over the place. Three times. GW put him to sleep while I finished putting the snaps on the pirate & space fitteds. It kills me to listen to him cry, but if I hold him, he NEVER goes to sleep. And if I nurse him to sleep, he nurses all night long, and I wake up more tired than when I tried to go to bed.
So now, for de-stressing, GW is shooting people in an online game, and I am... Well, here. I keep thinking I should go sort out some of that crap we got, and pack things up, or make some more diapers, but meh, I just don't want to.

I made Miranda's (possibly future SIL) scarf, (a cute minky penguin print that I want to BURN!! because if I ever have to sew that shit again, it will be too soon) and I still need to make Kathy's (SIL), which will be a fleece Kermit. I'm thinking I will make it a wide scarf, so she can wrap it over her head or hang it on a wall or just hug it, or... whatever. She had mentioned her favorite character ever was Kermit when we showed he Alex's green fleece pants, and she wanted some. I don't have enough of the "Kermit Green" left for pants, but I do have enough to make it a 2-sided scarf, along with an awesome Kermit print remnant from Joann's. I think I can pseudo-quilt it, to make it more interesting. If Priss is agreeable.

My BIL Ryan (Miranda's mate) is getting a gift card to Sears, because he's started a new mechanic job where he needs his own tools. He's also getting a cheesecake, because it's his favorite dessert. He has to share it with Miranda, though. I think if we neglected to get him cheesecake, he'd cry. (Of course, he practically cries when I breastfeed in front of him, but again, whatever. He doesn't have to look if it bothers him.)

For GW's dad & stepmom (Dawn) we got a set of Budweiser BBQ sauces & a beer bread mix. Dawn is getting a pretty jar filled with hot chocolate.
GW's mom is a lot more difficult. She doesn't need anything, and he's been estranged from her for quite some time. I've tried to remedy this since we started dating, and I've done a pretty good job. But we still don't know WTF to get for her. She always gives us really weird crafty things. Like a magazine print of "American Gothic" by Grant Wood, mod-podged to a green painted board. (It used to be above my sink when I lived alone. When GW moved out of my apartment, I told him I was keeping it. It's hanging above our stove, for the OMG/My-MIL-Is-Cracked/LOL/WTF's.)
We decided that everyone's fambly is getting pictures of Alex on CD, so they can print whatever ones they want out of our vast collection. That was what Kathy had asked for, so we thought it would be a good gift for everyone, too. Plus, if we give them to everyone, there is no chance anyone will feel slighted. Kind of like how we did our wedding. We also plan to give Alex one of the butter cookies we are dipping in chocolate (before it's dipped), taking a picture, putting "Ha Ha! My Germs!" on the picture, and putting the picture under the cookies. And then we'll let the LOL/OMG/Which-Cookie-Was-It???'s begin. Of course, Alex will NOT be allowed to actually eat the cookie, but it will be funny just the same.

Oh, and speaking of Cookies... We got Alex some organic teething biscuits on our shopping extravaganza...
OMFG.
NASTY.
Not the cookies themselves, they smelled really tasty, but the mess he made was EPIC.
Note to self: baby needs to be nekkid for cookies. White is not appropriate.
We got Chinese for dinner, since we knew that once we finally made it home, we wouldn't want to make anything. I got mine with white rice, just in case Alex wanted to share in our dinner experience. (BLW... FTW!)
Alex really liked the magical rice, which disappeared when he tried to pick it up. In reality, it was sticking to his hand. And sleeper. And head. I'm not sure if he actually ate any, but with BLW, the whole point is exploration, not consumption. Then, he started using the (nasty, smushy, icky) cookie to pick up the rice. "Yay! Moms, I makes a spoon!" It was so cute, and so gross. I didn't take any pictures, because I had misplaced the Panda, where my cameras were. There were a couple of times when Alex dropped the cookie into his chair, and I had to retrieve it for him... EWWWWW!!!! I forgot just how gross these things really are. Eleven years tends to erase a lot of the bad stuff from your memory.

And the Bibbit wakes, and I must go....

I Am Sew Happy!

WOOHOO! My experimental diaper is a success! I just need to add Snappi tabs, but I am soooo not waking Bibbit up for sizing...

I have also been reading about baby-led weaning (BLW). I'm not in any way ready to wean Alex, but he started refusing anything pureed. But he still wants our food. So I decided to give it a whirl. He loves to play with the food... Mostly. He gets angry pretty fast if he can't get as much as he wants in his mouth. But it sometimes keeps him happy enough that I can scarf a few bites of my own food. 

Cheese Ravioli

More Cheese Ravioli

Cous-Cous and green beans... Yes, it's on his head!

Also, we finally killed the yeast rash! After the EVCO, I got some nasty-ass-itin powder. But it STILL came back. So, we got some internal medication, because I was terrified it would develop into a systemic infection, which can be deadly. It seemed to work, but he's still a bit rashy everywhere, and I suspect he has eczema. We're trying a hazelwood necklace right now before I go to any steroids for it. He's only been wearing it for a few hours now, but I'll keep you all updated on if it works. I'm hoping it'll work for his reflux, too, if it works at all for anything. His appointment with the pediatric GI isn't until January 4th. 

Does the spit-up ever end?

I'm guessing the answer is a big fat NO.
Alex's swallow study didn't go too well. He hated the stuff, even though he was absolutely starving. He drank less than 2 ounces of it. So of course, they didn't see any reflux going on. The doctor was a jackass, even after someone told him that GW is their IT guy, and to tone it down a little. The guy completely ignored me as if I was invisible. (I was livid, but was able to wait until we got back to the car a couple of hours later to flip out. That poor man I'm married to doesn't know what to do with me, or our miserable baby.) When the nurse called me, she said that there was nothing to do, Alex was fine, he was just going to be a spitter, it wouldn't hurt him, and there aren't any other medications they can use other than Zantac. All of which I know isn't true.  The poor kid is in fits half the time from silent reflux, and the rest of the time he either spends trying to make up for lost calories, or spitting sour milk all over me (and GW, and the floors, and the cats...).

The same nurse who said there was nothing wrong with him also told me that I should just "put him on formula and stop wasting my time" breastfeeding him. And that "formula is just as good, if not better" than breastmilk. WTF. What era is she from?? Does she not know that formula SUCKS?? And that there's no way it can ever be as good as mom noms? I'm not bashing the people who NEED to use formula, btw. There is a place for it, or it wouldn't exist. One of my cousins was both milk protein and lactose intolerant, so I know. And I know the pain her mother went through finding out that she couldn't breastfeed her daughter. It isn't always a choice of convenience.

On the same note... You may find this gross, but I convinced GW to taste some mom noms (and joked that he'd probably need one of his lactose pills). He said it was good, and it didn't bother him like cow's milk does. Not that he had a lot, just enough for a flavor. He said it was very sweet. We'd been debating about letting Alex have fruit purees, because of the sugar content. Tasting the mom noms & comparing them to the fruit has proved that mom noms are sweeter than fruit, so all is well...

And Alex can now have things with fruit. So far, he's tried pearsauce (like) and applesauce (dislike) in addition to his avocado. We also gave him some green beans (home made from freshly steamed beans), and he was not really impressed at first, but he got used to them. I have a freezer bag full of "green bean squares" now. They didn't really want to stay in circles like the nice, obedient avocado. I sort of put them in a pile, and smoothed them out to a relatively flat surface, and scored the top so that I could break it into smaller portions once it was frozen. It worked out pretty well, I think. I made some of the squares smaller for morning meals, and larger ones for evening.

I don't believe in "breakfast foods". I'm the freak who would get up in the morning and open a can of green beans instead of cereal. And eat them with my fingers, because I'm just that lazy. They were also one of the things I'd give TJ for a snack when I wanted to go back to sleep on the couch. They make great toddler snacks, really. Dump a bunch of them in a dish or on a plate, and let them go to town. Sure, you end up with mashed beans in the carpet, but it was easy and it saved me from having to make anything, or worry about him choking on crackers or other un-nutritious things. (canned baby carrots are also good... if you don't have light colored carpets).

I'm trying to remember all the things I did with TJ, and when. It's really hard, because that was 10 or so years ago. And he was a difficult kid in ways of food. I remember that he really liked plain yogurt with peaches (gross!), but for the life of me, I can't remember how old he was when I let him have that. The feeding guidelines have changed so much, that I really don't know what's "right" or "wrong".

Christmas is already RUINED.

So, we had a really frustrating day. I woke, gave Alex his Zantac. He promptly barfed it all over the place. And continued to barf all damn day. I'm not talking a little bit of spit up. Barf. Projectile-style. It only got worse when I stepped in some I had missed. (Oh, yeah, it's all up in the bedroom carpet :P) So, the Zantac is officially NOT WORKING anymore. He was fussy and pissy all day.

And the yeast rash has come back. The nasty-ass-a-tin (my word for nystatin) isn't working anymore, either. It's spreading, instead of being made better. It's everywhere. All the way up his back & in his belly button. Possibly on the back of his head as well. I just don't know what else to do.
Disposables are not an option. We tested this yet again, as previously mentioned. I can put one on him overnight, but just ONE in 24 hours, or it's all over. Still gives his butt a horrible, bleeding, painful rash, on top of his yeast infection. For the other times, I have to layer liners & "rig up a system" so that as little of the ointment gets on the diapers as possible. Every time I wash my diapers, I'm basically stripping them to get that crap out, and this is just not working for me, or Alex.
So we're visiting the office on Monday.

So then, when GW comes home, he tells me, just before I'm getting ready to eat, that he's on call for Christmas. Alex's First Christmas. Don't they have someone else for this crap? The last 2 years, he's been on call for Thanksgiving, and spent most of the day traveling to Lewiston to fix their shit.

Lewiston is the only place that EVER calls in problems on a holiday, or even after hours, for that matter. And it's generally stuff that can wait. Nothing life-or-death-OMGZ!-NEED-IT-ASAP!!!-YESTERDAY!-OR-PATIENTS-WILL-DIE!. It's more like "Ummm... I spilled something in/on/around my keyboard, and the keys are sticky. Can you come clean it?". No. No, he CAN'T. HE'S BUSY WITH HIS FAMILY. Which is vastly more important than you spilling Diet Coke or yogurt (yes, that has happened) in your keyboard. You have been told numerous times by the IT staff NOT to eat & drink near your keyboards. SUFFER!!!
>>pant pant pant<<

So anyway, this was just the end. I went & shut myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes & cried. I try and tell myself "at least he has a job", but that doesn't help very much when everything piles up like it did today. And I still have to do the diapers.

I Love Me Some Boobies!

If you're on Facebook, and you love boobies (specifically, babies on boobies) then you should JOIN THIS GROUP! Just sayin'.

I chose to upload this picture, but I didn't caption it. I just didn't know what to write. What could say more than the photo already shows?

In other news, we had a visit to the "vet" (What GW calls the Dr's :P). We couldn't see Dr E, she's out caring for her mother, who is (sadly) dying. We saw the flaky NP. We asked about Alex's rash, because we'd done everything, and nothing was helping.

Turns out, he has a yeast rash. WTF? I've never even had an infection, and there were no other signs anywhere else. Alex's mouth was clean (no thrush), and there was none on my nips, either. Since TJ only had a rash like, twice, EVER, I was pretty much at my wit's end with this. She gave us a script for some super-yeast-killer, because she said it was too bad for OTC treatment. Damn.

Well, it works. Last night we slathered it all over his bum, bits, and the backs of his knees, because he had it there, too. (I chose to stick him in a disposable for this event.) It looked so much better this morning. He's sleeping now, with the same thing we did last night. I'm hoping that it clears up soon.

She said it generally goes away in a couple of days, and I was skeptical, but seeing it work overnight makes me think she isn't totally loopy. She also told us we didn't need to treat the cloth diapers, just wash 'em the way we had been. She CD'd her kids when they were small, and she was really impressed with the fitteds & babylegs I had made, and she positively cooed over the Fishnoodles cover. She said she was jealous, and wished she'd had a couple "back then", and the leggings were "brilliant!".

I think I hear a Bibbit fussing... and after looking at all the pictures of babes and babies, my boobs would love to feed him.

Making Things...

Is taking up my time, and so, I haven't written anything with substance for a while.
I'm trying to perfect my diaper making, and it's slow going.
I made The Cutest Diaper Ever, only to find after testing it out that it wicks, which was a huge mental setback for me.
So I bought some fleece to line the diapers with. Get it home, and I find it's the wrong kind of fleece. It repels. I wanted the absorbent kind. :(
So I made some booties out of the fleece. And they're too small. (and misshapen, and don't stay on...)
So I made some wipes out of my scraps. They work, but Miss Priss (my sewing machine) thought they were tasty, and tried to eat most of them. Meh. :P
Go me.

Miss Spider, my sink pet, can't keep up with all the flies in the bathroom, so they are now all over the house. I opened the diaper pail to do a wash, and three came flying out. I'm doing some extra washing on those diapers. I was totally grossed out. I have to give her credit, though, she dumps her prey in the sink when she's finished with it. She's a very tidy spider. 

And just a little bit of cuteness (in case you don't think spiders are cute)... Alex being cute :D

 The one below is Alex in a WAHM diaper that I bought to match my bathrobe that I bought especially for the hospital (which he is on, if you couldn't tell). It was made by this seller, DypesByDixon. Sooo Cute And Soft! And it works (unlike mine). Alex is actually sleeping in it right now. She's doing a custom drawing right now, so of course, I entered. When I got my package from her, there was an organic lollipop in there. I'm sure she didn't know my favorite flavor is strawberry, but that's what I got, and it made me squee!

Oh, and GW has noticed that Alex's hair is red. And we had to have a discussion (not sure if he was totally serious, but it bugs me) about whether or not he was really his. Idiot.

We are gathered here today, in front of these ducks... {pic heavy}

I am a wife. How it all went down was...

I called Heather to find out when Eric was getting out of work, since they'd be our signing witnesses. Eric got out at 5, so it'd have to be after that... So, we called our Reverend (heh hehe, riiiight... he really is, we just think it's funny) around 2-ish to see when he & his wife (she's a notary public) would be available. We settled on 6-ish. Ian & Inge would meet us at the cemetery, and (since we'd forgotten to ask the night before) their services would be free.

I called Heather back, and made some final arrangements with her (what flowers I wanted, etc.), and then had to rush around getting my dress & makeup together.

We left the house at around 3:40, with an unhappy baby who was missing his cuddle time. I sent Heather a text to let her know we'd left the house. There was no way we could have heard each other if I'd called, Alex was pitching an unholy fit.

Alex finally fell asleep about halfway to Portland, and then I asked GW if he'd remembered the paperwork. I got an open-mouthed stare, and an "Oh, SHIT!". uggghhhhh... He'd left it on his desk.

We debated for about 5 minutes- should we go back and get it, or should we just keep going? We decided that dropping me off, leaving sleeping Alex in the car, and GW going back for the papers was the best idea. Then I could get ready without having to tend to an extremely pissed off infant.

I sent a text to Heather telling her that the papers were at the house. She freaked out and called me, and I told her the master plan. She told me she was running out to get a cup of coffee & the flowers. She'd be back before we got there.

However, Heather had not gotten back when we arrived. Turns out, a yard sale caught her eye. Sheesh. But, she did find some black ribbon there, and bought it to wrap the flowers with. I sat on the porch chatting with her landlord who was trying, (and failing) to fix the screen door spring until she got back.

Heather had gotten some pink champagne, some white roses (to match my corset) and some red dried flowery things to make my bouquet. She hung my skirt over her fan to play with it, and fluff it up after being folded in it's bag. Then I commenced dressing. This only took me a few minutes to complete.

Heather messing with my skirt

Makeup didn't take long, either. I just did some red glitter for my eyes, and lipstick. GW called me to ask if there was anything else I needed from the house, so I reminded him to grab a bottle and some frozen milk.

Holly & Kris showed up about 5:30. We teased Holly mercilessly for getting so wasted the night before. She took it well, but looked like she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die from misery. GW finally showed up at around 5:50.

Holly wanted to hold Alex, because he'd woken up, but we decided it was better for him to just stay in his seat, since we'd be leaving ASAP.

GW finished dressing, and we left at 6. Fortunately, the cemetery is only a couple of minutes away from Heather's by car. I&I were already there. They'd decided to come early and look around. Since Evergreen closes at sunset, and it was nearly time for them to lock the gates, we opted to leave the cars parked outside. GW dropped me & Alex off near the duck pond, so he wouldn't have to be carried in. I slipped his skully outfit over the onesie he had on, and stuck the bottle in his mouth, since he was getting fussy, and he likes to eat at 6. He immediately started to poop. Great... Then a mosquito bit his head. Then it bit me. Through my corset, of course, so I couldn't scratch it.

When everyone was assembled, Ian wanted to take some pictures before the light faded, so we did that, and joked about the ducks, who always seemed to quack at just the right time. Holly kept herself busy with Alex, which allowed him finish his bottled mom noms. A lady walking by with her dog asked if we wanted a group photo, so Ian handed her the camera, and she took a couple.

The actual "ceremony" was short, but I hardly remember what was said. We had told Ian we didn't have any planned vows or anything, and he was ok with that. He began with "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in front of these ducks..." And GW was kissing me before Ian was even finished saying "man and wife". When we were kissing, somewhere, someone, set off a bottle rocket. So there were fireworks. The whole thing was quite amusing. Then we stood around and chatted, and took more pictures. 

Oh Noes! My Parents Is Married??

Heather showing off the paperwork envelope (holding my purse)

 Walking out of Evergreen, I shot this photo below, just moments before Alex puked all over Holly, who insisted on carrying him with her everywhere. He got the entire length of her dress, and in her shoe. I think he gets bonus points for the shoe.

After we left the cemetery, we all went back to Heather & Eric's. We decided some type of wedding dinner was in order, and got pizza delivered. Super fancy, I know, right? When we busted out the champagne, Holly wasn't interested (haha!) but she had ginger ale instead.

Poor hungover Holly!

 All in all, things could have gone a lot worse. I'll probably have some better pictures when Ian gets them on a disc for me. The one full-length pic I have just doesn't make my dress looks particularly awesome, but it was, really. Because we care about equality, we decided not to tell any of our family members that we were getting married, because it was such short notice, and people who couldn't have come would be offended. So we thought it was best to offend everyone equally. We'll see how this goes. My parents will be pissed, but meh, it was a nice, short, intimate thing with our friends, and for what it was, it was just right.

Selected corset shall arrive tomorrow!

Yeah, I've been stalking it on the USPS tracking. So it should be here tomorrow, and I'll get to see if it works for me. Which is good. This is the one I *finally* chose. I also have a plain black satin over-bust corset which I got at our semi-local "naughty shop", if the floral doesn't work out... The black satin one has a zipper in the front, which will make breastfeeding a hell of a lot easier than hooks.
My only issue with the under-bust is that I'm not sure what I'm going to put under it to cover mah boobies. I had thought that I'd use my favorite silk shirt for layering, but there are white 'oderant stains on it. This is hardly noticeable in the club, but during the day, you can definitely see them. Because of the shirt's delicate nature, I'm hesitant to just scrub them out.
Then I thought of something brilliant!
I could just scrub them, and then re-dye the shirt. But then, will I end up with a shredded black silk shirt that is useless? I just don't know what to do. Dammit.
I hate hitting a wall with all my ideas, which will always happen when I go off half-cocked like I do... Like the dress I spray painted black, and turned into a painful dress of pain, then wore to GFAK '08. But damn, it did look good.

In other news, my brilliant idea to make some cloth diapers (to save us some money) has turned into a project of projects (and I don't think we're actually going to save anything by me making them). This half-baked idea was inspired by the hundreds of BabyCenter moms who make their own cloth. Then, every time I turn around, I find out there's something more I need to do it right. I finally have all the stuff to start making some practice dipes, with more materials on the way.
I'm upcycling a pair of my old Tim Horton's work pants (yup, I did the "barista" thing for a while) as the outers for my practice runs. I bought some microfiber towels from the automotive section (I was told they're a cheaper alternative to buying by the yard, and it's the same stuff, really, it is!) for inserts, and some microsuede that was $2.00 a yard. The PUL (which will be hidden) I got at Joann Fabrics. I already had some elastic- it was left over from reconstructing my maternity jeans (I got too big for them).
And I picked up an el-cheapo snap kit just to try them out.
Oh, and the Velcro I got wasn't the right kind (it was sticky-back) the first time, so I had to get some more that was non-sticky...
And then I got a rotary cutter, and a board for that, too.
So, yeah. Not as easy (or cheap) as I was planning at all.    

First Day OUT Without Alex

My mom came to my house with my sister and our friend Shannon. Shannon's having a problem in her bedroom. Well, it wasn't just her problem, everyone who's gone in there has said it feels creepy lately. Her mother had stayed there to house-sit for her while she was doing something for the Coast Guard (training?) and had to go to the West Coast... Her mom ended up sleeping on the couch, because the bedroom freaked her out...

So we went to a shop where our (mostly my mother's) friend Tom was working to pick up some smudging stuff. On the way, I was telling Shannon what she could use, and how, and, lo, she already had the required items. (This was after giving her a lesson about how to use Sweet Fern, and cutting a bagful for her.) So when we finally got to the shop, we just kind of poked around at all the "magic" items, since she really didn't need anything. Tom (idiot) tried to be helpful and convert us to Wicca. Or maybe the pervert was just looking at our breasts. (He had an unhealthy interest in me feeding Alex at GFAK. Not like "Wow, the female body is so amazing & nurturing!" More like "Wow, your boobs are so amazing! Nurture me with them!")

After we were done doing nothing at the Luna Gallery, we went to the Christmas Tree Shop, because I wanted to pick up some more curtain panels. They were all out of the color I needed (red), but I did find some super-cute Halloween-themed board books for Alex. They were only $1.69, and for a board book, you can't beat that.

You spin the wheel, and the textures change! Sooo Cool!

It's Fuzzy! And Oh-So-Cute!

So it wasn't a completely wasted trip, and GW didn't call me once for help or advice or anything. To tell the truth, I was a little worried that the whole house had exploded, because he can't even go to the grocery store without calling me six times. I also picked up two glow-in-the dark star fridge magnets with the boy's names on them, and 2 others- a spiderweb & a grim reaper. I have an addiction to fridge magnets. I'm perfectly willing to admit I have a problem, and that I can't won't stop buying or making them. Hey, at least it's not crack.  

So, This Kinda Sucks...

I was all excited that I'd have a year to prepare our wedding, and it would be fabulous. Well... No dice. I need to get married yesterday.
How this happened was:
I no longer qualify for state heath insurance, with GW's income. So, we thought it would be a simple matter to just add me & TJ to his insurance (Alex is already on it). Then we find out that he can't do that unless were're married. They cover same-sex domestic partnerships and their dependents, but they don't cover domestic partnerships for a man & woman. I think this is a little bit effed up.
I honestly don't give a rat's ass if I'm covered or not, but TJ needs coverage for dental- he's got braces. And of course, true to his douchebaggery, his father never offered to try to do anything about it.
So now, I have to get married, STAT.
I tried on my dress, it fits around my waist with room to spare, even in a nursing tank. But... lo and behold, it doesn't fit. It zips up... and then it gets to my boobs. Then it just won't budge the last 4 inches or so. So I need a new dress. I'm not having much luck with finding one. I found an incredible, AWESOME! skirt on Etsy, but they're all custom order, so it would take 3 weeks for them to get it to me. I sent a message, because it said they had 2 in stock, but nope, they don't, they're all customs.

And I would still need a new corset. I don't have any that are plain black. I'd probably be able to find one locally, though, at Midnight Boutique. They had some really nice, excellent quality ones last time I was there, but at the time, I chose a green one over the plain black. And now I'm kicking myself for it. /facepalm.

I really, really, want, need, have to have it OMGS! this dress, but it's over $1500, plus shipping from Europe.
 Just can't toss around that kind of cash right now... Even if it is one of the most incredible dresses I've ever seen.

But, there is this awesome dress on Etsy as well, only $500. Except it takes 1-2 months to make, because again, it's custom...
And, to top it off, I've lost my seamstress tape. So I can't even get a good measurement for ordering anything online. Knowing just how huge my boobs really are would be a big help. I think I'm up to a G cup or something insane like that. Go breastfeeding, right? :p 


I could make a skirt, but then well, when do I have the time? And I don't have a dressmaker's form (something I've wanted for years), so it would be a challenge, and my sewing machine still hates me. 


We talked about just doing a small ceremony, just to get the formalities over with before TJ's next orthodontist appointment... So it has to be soon. Really soon. Like within a couple of weeks... I won't get any of the dresses I like in that time. I'm really pissed about it, not about the married part, but I wanted it to be a big deal, with a huge party, and awesome everything, and it won't be. I can't even find a suit that will fit Alex. Mr. Big Baby is still just too small. Weddings shouldn't be depressing, but I seriously want to cry. 

So... That's awesome, hun.

GW & I have an open communication policy. As in, when our exes and/or former lovers communicate with us, we're open about it. The science behind this is if we're telling, we're not hiding anything. And sometimes, the crazy stuff they do is amusing.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I got a random text ("Is this still your number?") that turned out to be from Mr. Wonderful, who I haven't heard from in, oh, about a year and a half, at least. So, oh course, I related this text conversation to GW. I'm guessing that Mr. Wonderful heard from my brother about my succesful pregnancy, and was ticked off, but of course, I didn't mention Alex to him at all. It only occurred to me after that that may have been the reason for his sudden interest.

Yesterday, GW got a Facebook message from his ex-wife. He'd forgotten thier wedding anniversary. :P She's all re-married and had a kid of her own with her new hubby, and she still won't leave off.  She wrote something like how she was thinking of him, and wondered what her life would be like if they'd stayed together, and that Alex is a really cute baby, she wonders, if they'd had a baby like she wanted, what would it look like... blah blah blah.

Part of the reason he left for good was that she was pushing to have a baby, and he thought (at the time) that he never wanted kids. They had a "trial separation", and when he came back, she laid down "Either we start trying now, or we're through'", so that was it.  

What is with our crazy exes?

GW thinks it's because we're so awesome, they can't give up. Uh huh. I'm sure that's it. My theory is that they're just crazy control freaks who can't leave well enough alone.