It may seem like I’m jumping the gun a little, but I feel like if the last 10 months have flown by so fast the next 2 months will, too.  It seems like just yesterday I was seeing my little girl for the first time and welcoming family and friends in to meet her as Hubby was outside smoking cao cigars and celebrating the arrival of fatherhood with his best friend. 

I honesty hadn’t really thought much about the birthday party until a family member reminded me that her birthday will be here before I know it.  In the last week I’ve had more than a handful of people asking me if I’d started making a wish list of birthday presents I’d like Elliana to receive.  I never even considered the possibility of a wish list for a 1 year old, but I guess I better get started on that, too.

Over the last couple of days Hubby and I have some time arguing over which theme to use for her party.   I wanted to do a princess theme, but he wanted the cupcake theme he found.  The Lil’ Cupcake theme won the battle because I’m sure there will be plenty of princess parties in the future.  Now I need to start saving up some cash, create a budget, and all that good stuff.  52 days seems closer than ever now.

Care Cleaning and Protection gave me the chance to review one of these air fresheners for you , and I am so happy to do so.  This company specializes in cleaning supplies, Restroom Supplies, and all types of stuff to help you keep your home or business clean. They also carry quite a few earth friendly products. The unit I received is an Airworks60 Air Care Kit in Spring Blossom scent, and I am absolutely loving it.  Even though this air freshener is mostly seen in commercial restrooms, it’s also great for using in your home.  This is an environmentally safe product because it contains no VOCs, and it doesn’t require any electricity or batteries.  You just snap the cartridge in, and you’re ready to go.  Each refill lasts up to 60 days and is recyclable making it a great choice if you are trying to live a green lifestyle.

I was going to use this air freshener in my bathroom above the litter box, but I changed my mind right before I placed it on the wall.  With the typical hot weather we’re having in the South the diaper genie isn’t containing that dirty diaper smell as well as it should.  Every time you open it to put another diaper in you are hit with a foul stinky diaper odor that lingers long after the diaper genie is closed, so I decided to place the air freshener in the nursery above the diaper genie.  I’m glad I did because the Airworks60 is providing great odor control in the nursery now!

Watch the video below to find out more information about this great environmentally friendly air freshener you can get to use in your home or business!

Ellie and I headed into the store while my grandpa sat in the car waiting for us.  I don’t think he’s been in a grocery store in years as he always sits in the car while my aunt and grandma shop.  I thought this would be a quick in and out, but it turned into anything but.

I grabbed the stuff my grandma needed then headed to the baby isle to grab a canister of Ellie’s favorite snacks.  As we headed to checkout we had to pass through the pharmacy section where a mother and teenage daughter were standing, obviously arguing as the mother was flailing her arms around. She must have seen me coming down the isle with Ellie in the buggy because as we approached her she began pointing at us and telling her daughter “that’s why!  Because I don’t want you to be a teenager mother like her!”

As I wasn’t exactly trying to eavesdrop on the conversation it took me a minute to realize what the woman had just said and that she was in fact talking about me. I immediately turned my buggy around and said “excuse me?  Did you just refer to me as a teenager mother?”  For an instant I was flattered that she thought I looked young enough to be a teenager, but that instant quickly passed as I began to feel offended.

The woman scowled at me and told me to mind my own business to which I replied I was minding my own business until she decided to blatantly speak about me in that way.  She replied that she was sorry, and being a teen mother must be hard, but she was just trying to explain to her daughter exactly why she doesn’t agree with her getting birth control pills.  The daughter was beside her saying “Mom, I am 18 years old.  If I want the pill I will get the pill.”

Yet again the mother turned to her daughter and said “Why?  So you can be like her?” I was extremely offended, and I probably turned every shade of steaming red as I informed her I was not a teenage mother, I am in fact a 28 year old married woman, and if I were a teenage mother she would have absolutely no right to judge me just as she was doing. A teenager who finds herself pregnant has enough to deal with without someone being so judgmental.

She replied that teen pregnancy is completely wrong, and I replied that she had no right to judge anyone, and she so obviously wrongly judged me.  I felt like I was talking to my own mother as she used to act the same way when it came to teaching her daughters about sex.  She would drill into our heads that she would not allow us to be on the pill because that would “make you have sex” as if taking a pill controlled your mind and body into doing the dirty deed.  Anytime either one of us felt the slightest bit sick we were always accused of being pregnant.  The flashback combined with this woman’s comments were enough to put me in a bad mood for awhile.

Ellie was beginning to get fussy from sitting in the buggy, and I was done with dealing with this mess. I turned to the daughter, gave her props her for doing the right thing and taking the steps to prevent an unwanted pregnancy if she does decide to have sex, and then I pushed the buggy on down to the end of the isle and towards the register.  The mother must have been in a bit of shock because she waited until I made it to the register and began checking out before she marched to the end of the isle and yelled at me to “take back what you said to her right this minute!”

The girl checking me out ask if everything was okay, and I replied that I didn’t know the woman, and she must have activated her act like a child button this morning.  As I paid for my groceries and pushed the buggy out the door the woman was still yelling and having a hissy fit.  Talk about being an example for your daughter!  She definitely succeeded in showing her daughter that a grown woman can still act like a child, and in thoroughly offending me, but I seriously doubt she succeeded in the birth control battle.

I definitely know what approach I won’t use when it’s time to have the sex talk with Ellie.  I won’t make a fool out of myself in the middle of the grocery store!

It doesn’t help that we’ve been out late quite a few nights this week, and the other nights we’ve had company.  We had a house full all weekend, and that totally screws up Ellie’s sleep schedule.  Friday night she went to bed at a decent time, but she woke up as soon as she heard voices that were not Mommy and Daddy.  Last night she just wasn’t tired at all after refusing to nap most of the day.  At 11pm I broke down and took her for a car ride.  We made the 15 minute ride to town, ran into the grocery store for a few things, and she still wasn’t tired.  She finally fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got home, but she must have been playing possum because she woke up as soon as I pulled into the driveway.  She then stayed up until 2:30am.

She slept a total combined time of 15 minutes today.  She fell asleep twice while sitting in her booster seat eating lunch, but as soon as I’d take her out to put her to bed she’d wake up.  She’d fall asleep breastfeeding and wake up within minutes.  It just wasn’t meant to be.  When a few friends called wanting to stop by tonight I refused.  I explained the problems we’ve been having with Ellie, and I told them we just couldn’t have company tonight.

I was praying for her to nap for just 30 minutes so I could at least take a shower since she’s going through the separation anxiety phase and screams bloody murder if I leave her with Hubby even for 10 minutes to shower myself off.  No one ever said parenting is easy.  No matter how sleep deprived or dirty I am from lack of showering I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I just wish Mommy could get a bit of a break every now and then, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. 

It’s been awhile since I babysat a kid that age, and I forgot how funny they can be, and how imaginative they are!  At one point K had Ellie sitting in her little chair, and K was in the floor with a plastic comb running it over Ellie’s legs.  When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was practicing.  I asked practicing for what?  With a totally serious look on her face she said, “My career, Jenn.  Duh!”  I asked “What exactly do you want to do when you grow up?”  She replied “I’m gonna shave blind people’s legs, so they don’t get cut and bleed to death ’cause they can’t see!”  I couldn’t help but giggle at her as I walked back into the kitchen to do the dishes.  Only a kid would think of something like that! 

K left right as Ellie was getting ready for a nap, so I put her to sleep and sat down to get some work done and pay some bills.  Sometimes I wish I could go back to my childhood for just one day leaving the housework, job, and bills behind.  Don’t we all wish for that sometimes?  

But, I can’t do that, and now I have real adult stuff that has to be done. It’s time for me to request another insurance quote or two.  We’re really at a point where we’re needing a second car, so I can get around during the day while Hubby’s at work, but until we find cheaper insurance we just can’t afford two cars.  I’ve got bills to pay today, and some work to get done including a couple videos I have to make, and all this has to be done before the baby wakes up.  Hopefully she’ll take a good long nap today, but she slept so late this morning I doubt that will happen.