Insta-Friday [Construction Week Edition]

Construction started this week! This is somewhat of a miracle seeing as we're still in a holdup pattern concerning an insurance check. However we have been blessed with an understanding contractor who is willing to overlook all that red tape and begin work. It was the perfect plan, they'd work while we were out of the house at work and daycare. 

 Over the weekend we packed up/ gave away the downstairs of our house in preparation of what's to come: a new downstairs, woot! It was a lot of work, I'll tell you what. Makes me feel for my girlfriend who just moved across the country. We just had to get stuff safely to and from our garage and that was difficult.

Needless to say, Monday we were ready to rock and roll. Nary was there a thing in our cabinets, closets or bookshelves. And we managed to organize and clean out things during the process so that while we're in complete disarray we can still manage to live the rest of our lives.

 Meanwhile, this happened.

▲▲▲Gwyneth became ill with what we and the doctors can only explain as a cold followed by some wicked allergies. We're talking fevers, not swallowing for days, not eating or drinking and finally, once she kicked that sore throat in came her little cough. That annoying, incessant cough that has kept us all up for the past week.

▲▲▲This meant staying home from daycare. Which meant the following events occurred:

Day One: Jake and Gwen crashed at Gwen's Aunt Jackie's apartment for the day and hopefully didn't curtail any precious nursing school studying. 

Day Two: Gwen and I crashed at my girlfriend's apartment for the day where they fed us pizza and let us watch cable on their couch all day. 

Day Three: After spending all morning in the house as the contractors banged and sawed away downstairs, we escaped to a hotel. 

Day Four: (not pictured) where we took Gwen to daycare thinking she would benefit from the routine and familiarity only to have to leave work early to pick her up and take her to the doctor after she coughed so hard she threw up. 

But you know, between the sleepless nights and the days filled with exhausted, cranky parents this adventure has crafted a few fun stories. Like when we went to IHOP for breakfast and Gwen finally ate for the first time in days while I mowed throw their cinnamon roll pancakes. Seriously, go get you some of those, they're amazing. Never mind the fit Gwen threw in the midst of the restaurant because she just didn't feel well which meant she most certainly did not want to sit in that booth.   Or the fact that I got to spend time with my girlfriend and Jake with his sister. That's got to count for something.

Each day we're inching closer to a finished product and the good news is we like the floors we picked out.

So, onward we trudge while Gwyneth yells at us and coughs every two seconds and we try to not pull our hair out. 

Off the Ol' Camera

Before leaving for our trip to CA for Thanksgiving I had to purge my little camera to make room for the oodles of pictures that will inevitably be taken. We are going to spend the holiday with family and friends at my grandparent's home, where I grew up making most of my childhood memories and haven't been to visit in quite a few years. I can't wait to fill that memory card right back up with so many new memories. Meanwhile, this is what came off the camera from regular old life.



All of the sudden Gwyneth's little brain totally gets the shape sorter toys I've been forcing on her for over a year now. And then she goes and stacks them up like this and the sense of accomplishment beaming from her was beyond too much. She even said "cheese" while posing with it.



This kid loves to read. And also loves that backpack. And monkey.



Homer, the dog who can work a set of puppy eyes like it's nobody's business. This may have been a huge part of why he came home from the Humane Society with me after I volunteered there for two days. Oh yea, I just came across this post about Homer, you should read that.



I didn't have the heart to inform her that the heels don't go with the backpack. And she doesn't have the brain development to snap back "I've seen what you wear, Mom" yet, so we're even.

Hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving and Happy Weekend.

 

How is it November 16th?

A lot of things happened this week and over the weekend. We were busy bees being all social and what not while enjoying a nice little four-day mini vacation. All three of us caught a cold, so the extended weekend was more than welcome.

I didn't take a single picture of our friends non-baby-baby shower or our Thanksgiving dinner at my girlfriend's house (deep fried turkey is amazing, btw) but we did capture a few cuties thanks to those blessed iphones.

Like this one of Gwen on her motorcycle, backpack packed with the most important necessities ready for adventure on the road.



Or Gwyneth reading me the card her grandmother sent us, with her leg crossed, just like her mommy read it to her. Oh if you could hear her confident jabbering as if she was really reading every word aloud to me.



And then there's this picture I got from daycare. Silly girl.

This weekend we're hanging low, packing for CA and cleaning that blasted house that never seems to keep clean. Where does the laundry come from?!?!

 

 

 

Friday Without Pictures?!?

This morning our kitchen stunk. After taking out the garbage I came to terms with the fact that it was the sink full of dishes we had made the decision to ignore last night. I quickly delegated the task of dressing Gwen to Jake and busted out a load of dishes in the meager ten minutes we had before we needed to leave the house to get us to our respective jobs and daycares. In this process, I forgot my beloved cell phone which contained all those precious crappy iphone photos that make up Insta-Friday.

Like one of Gwyneth eating a giant chunk of chicken off a fork as if it were a lollipop? Yep, that one.

Or that picture of me modeling in my bikini with my hair perfectly curled with my well decorated, sparkling clean home as a backdrop? Nope, not that one, cuz that shit doesn’t happen, especially not this week.

So instead, I’m going to spread the word about The Happy Project, from Jeanett over at Life Rearranged, who started this whole Insta-Friday craze to begin with. She does a much better job of explaining it, so I’ll use her words:

“Before the crazy that is the holiday season…before the shopping and the cooking and the twinkling lights and the go, go, go of the next couple of months…we’d like to take a moment to slow down and love on others. Spread some sunshine. Make someone’s day just a little bit happier.

Why?

Because nice is good. That’s why.

Here’s how it works:

Every day I’ll give you an assigned task. Kind of like a Random Act of Kindness Week…but not really random.

Each day, you’ll also get a free printable that will help you make your happiness spreading just that much cuter.

In addition to each task, you’ll be given the option to fulfill the task virtually. So let’s say that your Tuesday is crazy hectic and you have a million things going on that day already…there’s just no way you can squeeze that happy task into your day…no worries! A few clicks of a mouse and you can spread happy alongside us!

Or maybe you want to spread happy beyond your own in-real-life world?…Do both! Whatever you want! There are no rules!

This isn’t about wowing your neighbors with your Martha-esque skills. This isn’t about stressing yourself out to keep up with the tasks. This isn’t about trying to out-do the other Happy Dayers.

This is about putting in a little bit of extra effort…even when you’re SO tempted to opt out because you’re busy or tired or…and make someone smile.

Easy. Peasy.

And don’t feel bad if you start off great and then don’t finish off the week either. Again, this isn’t a race. No one’s keeping score. Anything is better than nothing, right?

Don’t forget to include your kids! The questions and conversations that will come of next week are my favorite part of the whole thing. [excerpt from Life Rearranged]

I’m totally going to make some effort, except giving a gift card to a homeless person stresses me out. There was one time when I had a container full of cupcakes that really had nowhere to go. I just made them to make them. Gwen and I made a pit stop at a park to play, where there was a camp of homeless men. I thought about giving them the cupcakes, but got all freaked out about if they’d even want them and that maybe they’d be upset that I assumed they needed cupcakes? I drove away, with my tray full of cupcakes and gave them to people in an office who have too many cupcakes and ate them because they were available. To this day, I feel stupid for not just giving them the fricken’ cupcakes.

But other than that, a handwritten note I can do. That gets me all weird-excited. Treating someone? I’m going to admit that I’m selfish with this. I always feel like we don’t have the ability to treat someone. If we’re going to spend any of that hard earned, precious money, I want it to be a treat that I get to enjoy. But then I look at how many times I’ve treated myself and think, hmmm, perhaps it is manageable? Of course it’s manageable!

And appreciating someone in service? Do you know anyone who’s in the service? Cuz I don’t. Anyone know of anyone we can all show some appreciation to? Email me at renosparksmom@gmail.com or leave a comment below!

Writing this all out makes me realize how ridiculous I can be and that sometimes it takes some effort (albeit mainly brain power and changing the way you think) it’s totally worth changing. So ditch that selfish baggage and spread some happy!

Wanna join me?

 

 

Projects, Fun and More Fun Stuff

 

This past week and weekend packed a lot of fun things and a slew of pictures to accompany said fun things.

Let me begin with the projects I've been meaning to get to for over a year. Some might say my mother's impending visit lit a fire under my bum to get things done. Or it was just a productive weekend. Either or. When I talked to my sister a few days before my mom was coming she was getting her carpets shampooed.

She brings out the best in us procrastinators, I suppose.



We finally found a baby gate thanks to my online shopping and daily deals kick I've been on lately. Would you believe me if I told you that we live in a two story house and have survived with only a $15 pressure gate that's made for pets and over 5 years old? That's right. And Gwyneth has lived to tell the tale with only a minor few stair related incidents.

But now she's quite the confident little bugger who thinks she can just launch herself right off the top, because her mother thought it'd be proactive to let her learn how to go up and down the stairs by herself.

This baby gate is quite nice and has avoided the rushing to the stairs while shouting panicked as you watch your child fling herself down a stairwell and has revolutionized our upstairs playtime.



I've had these shelves sitting in the closet for one year now. I suck at decorating shelves. I try and try to be all awesome and put things on shelves and they always come out looking hokey. What's the trick?



On Monday I stayed home from work and had plans to drop Gwyneth off at daycare while I went to a doctors appointment. I sent her daycare lady a text with this picture explaining that there would be no Gwyneth today. She was bummed as Gywneth is her pet who she adores and tells us all the time how she'd totally keep her if we let her. We take this to mean that Gwen gets plenty of attention.

 



This is Gwyneth post- flu shot waiting for her hunky pediatrician to come look at her rash, eating a peanut butter sandwich.

 



This is me eating too much delicious cookie dough.



This is a picture Gwyneth's daycare sent me while I was at work. As I walked up to the front door I could hear Gwyneth and the woman who watches her racing around the house shouting "boo."

It's little things like this that remind me she's in a safe place. Because really, when choosing a daycare we tried our damndest to send her somewhere that's the most similar to us and our home. And chasing Gwen around with a handcrafted ghost is exactly something that would go on at our home.



And the tight little jammies?!?!  As well as her hair. It was spectacular Wednesday morning.

 

This Week

I got me some teal nail polish for my birthday. I feel hip and cool.



Awhile back we stopped buying the instant oatmeal packets. We figured we like to be in control of what we put in it like how much sugar, etc. But as I whipped up the day's oatmeals to take to work and looked at the disaster that is making oatmeal, I kinda wanted the packets.



This little one stayed home sick with her Mama on Tuesday. She and a few other kids at daycare picked up some bug that's left her nose running like a faucet. Poor thing.



So Gwyneth has been taking towels, wash cloths and blankets and holding them up to her chest. We thought she's been putting it on to be like a dress or clothes. Until last week when we noticed she's been trying to fold these things.

When I fold towels and blankets, I hold them under my chin to fold in half. Someone who happens to watch and absorb my every move has taken notice.

To make sure, I went through the process of folding. Out of four steps, the holding under the chin is only one step of the process. Just goes to show how much she's paying attention to me. Yikes!

And becasue it's too ridiculous. For the record she's making fart sounds.

And that curly hair? She won't wear anything in it and freaks out when I try to put it in a ponytail or pigtail. So a fro she has, despite my best efforts. I called our curly headed guru for any tips or tricks for dealing with such crazy hair, my mom. Her tips?

"Don't ever try to comb it dry. Grandma used to rip hair brushes through my dry curly hair all the time and it hurt."

Which explains why I don't recall any traumatizing hair brushing as a curly headed child myself. Thanks Mom!

How was your week?

This One's For The Grandmas - Insta-Fri/Wednesday

Lately I've been skipping out on Insta-Friday. I hit a point of getting sick of crappy iphone photos complimented with thoughtless narrative. But then I looked at my camera roll, full of all these cute photos just begging to have their story be told, or taken off the iphone at the very least. But if I upload it to iphoto the stories get lost, so good news! Insta-Friday is back in the most wicked of fashions, loused with cynicism.

That and both my mother and grandmother complained in the same week about the lack of Gwyneth photos.

So I guess what I'm saying is this is an Insta-Friday type post, on a Wednesday because there are no rules here folks, I do what I want.



Gwyneth's shoes got a little too small super quick. The next thing you know, we're sitting at Famous Footwear where we spent 20 minutes as she strapped and unstrapped the velcro on these sandals. I gave in and bought her the most expensive shoes she's ever gotten. They cost $20.

I was once at a moms club get together in a gorgeous home up in Arrow Creek. We were all standing around talking and I thought a great conversation starter would be how apalled I was at the price of shoes. I then blurted out, "$15 for baby shoes at Walmart?!?! Are you kidding me?"

This was followed by a very long awkward silence.

As I looked around the beautifully decorated, gigantic living room with the expensive view of Reno in the background, I noticed all the children were wearing shoes that must be $50 or more.

That was when it became clear $15 was not, in fact, too much to be asking for children's shoes.

And I was a little of place.

That being said, the $20 sandals were still a hard price to swallow but totally worth it. She loves them, wears them everyday with socks and we're all happy about them.



Gywneth has a couple tea sets. We play pretend tea with them all the time. One morning I got bold and put water in the tea pot. 30 minutes and five soaked towels later, I realized I was never going to do that again.



Sleepy Curls Curls Curls.



While frantically interviewing daycares one happened to be scheduled directly after work. This meant dinner in the car, from Jack in the Box. I have a sneaking suspicion that we all probably eat out at fast food once in awhile and are totally ashamed of it. How often do you see a picture like this gracing Instagram?  I know I purposely avoid posting photos of myself stuffing my face with tacos as I'm driving around town. It's just not the highlight of my life and I have no interest in bragging about it. But I mean, come on, it was pretty damn convenient, there weren't any dishes to do when we got home and it didn't cost $40. And Gwen was totally quiet in the back of the car for the first time in weeks.

And, I'm totally proud of this well-crafted FB post and just wanted to share it with you all who may have missed it.



Truth.



Moving on, here's a picture of Gwen reading to herself in her rocking chair.

See what I mean? Crappy quality iphone picture with thoughtless narrative.

Moving on.



Now this picture, this is an all-time favorite. I texted it to all grandparents, I think I'll print it out when I someday learn how to print out instagrams (don't print them out at Costco, it doesn't work). And then I'm going to blow it up on canvas for prosperity because that seems like what you do with photos these days. Instead of "put a bird on it" we've moved onto "put that on a canvas."



We went to a birthday party, there was a bounce house and it was awesome. Meredith, you threw one hell of a party. And can I say this? BEST GOODIE BAGS EVER!!! A little snack for the parents (which I'm sure was meant for the kids), a little snack for the kids, a bouncy ball, a kazoo and other awesome stuff. AND, they were in cute brown paper sacks with cute little stickers that said toodles. I'm proud of you Meredith, you knocked it out of the park, which is where the party was which is where we stayed and played for hours. It was a good time.



Gwyneth has pretty much stopped eating dinner. This may have to do with the fact that she eats a peanut butter sandwich during the commute from daycare in the evenings. Eh, we're not freaking out either way. But I did give her milk in her tea cup one night to get her to sit at the table for more than five minutes. This somehow escalated into applesauce in the tea cup and has now become "a thing" and I can't help but be so smitten with it and take a ton of photos and post them too many times. And her shirt totally has googly eyes on it.



Gywneth on the counter, next to a pot of soup that she stirred, in her lady bug dress up skirt that she demanded to wear all night.

Insta-Friday ladies and gentlemen!

 

 

From the Car-sta Friday

It's Friday! It's Friday! Alert the media, it's Friday! Does anyone else miss the T.G.I.F shows that were on when we were younger? You know, you when you had a good solid couple of hours of television you loved to look forward to on Friday night. Full House, Urkel, shows of that like. Gosh, that was so wonderful. They should do something like that nowadays. Put The League, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny aaaaand Friends on Friday Nights. Or, since we have Netflix we pretty much have this capability on a daily basis. Whatever.

Anyways, here we are, another week down in this thing called life. When times are tough time seems to creep by, and July did just that for us. Everyday I would look at the calendar and think, really? It's really only been two weeks? Then we crossed the August threshold and the angels came out blasting their trumpets announcing the deliverance of routine and adjusted people to the Sunderland family. August. August, beautiful hot, August.

It should come as no surprise that most of our photos from the week are from the car, seeing as it is where we spend quite a lot of time, like you know, 2, 3 hours a day. So, without further adieu, welcome to our week.

This is Gwyneth in her car seat, pondering life, Elmo, Curious George and how much sand she can get stuck to her body and/or hair at daycare today.

This is us, stuck in traffic because Hot August Nights sucks. That's right, I said it. All those lovely, old cars that have been restored means broke down cars everywhere. Ok, so there was an accident which is why we were stuck in traffic and that accident was most likely non-HANs related but I mean, there are a lot of broke down cars on the side of the road, are there not?

As we drive through town I love looking back and seeing the sun shining through Gwyneth's golden curly hair. They're just bouncing around, hanging out as she looks out the windows or decides to yell at us from the back seat for 20-30 minutes.

And then there's the story of the Carl's Jr star we sit in front of at a stoplight every morning. As we drove past it for two weeks, Gwyneth would giggle. I thought she was giggling at the bucket of chicken that's 20 ft high on KFC's sign while the husband thought it was the Carl's Jr star. Why would I think she'd be laughing at a bucket of chicken? I don't know, it just made sense.http://www.renosparksmom.com/2012/03/our-real-messy-smelly-life/

For whatever reason in the last week we've gotten stuck at the light where that is right next to the star.  Gwen talks to it, laughs at it and has a blast as if it's her own personal happy star. So, the husband was right. She was laughing at the star, not the bucket of chicken which makes a lot more sense.

And what's this? A picture not from the car not accompanied by incessant whining? I thought I'd keep you your toes.

 We had to get the girl a second car seat, since the husband was slowly going insane with the swapping between cars. And what does it come in? A big box! Oh what fun a big box for a little girl can be!

This is how I found her sleeping when I went to wake her up. She woke up in the middle of the night and needed a little love due to a fat lip she got while standing inside a colander. Long story, maybe for another day. The point of this is that she was one sleepy girl who had no intention of waking up, not even when the flash went off for this photo.

Also in highlights of the week were saying goodbye to a dear friend.  I made her a weird banner trying to be all cute-sy and attempted to decorate our living room with yarn, since she likes to knit. I massacared the spelling of "Auf Wiedersehen" and the yarn looked like a cat was let loose in the dining room. Sometimes decorating to show your thoughtfulness just doesn't work out. Always stick with baked goods. 

I made the best meatballs of my life with the help of my sous chefs, ate a ton of red vines and had a kickass sushi lunch by myself.

And that was our week, in a nutshell of some weird photos because that's how we blog these days.

Insta-Friday {Booster Seat Cuteness Edition}

Las week we finally got Gwyneth a long overdue booster seat. Throughout the week I found myself oohing and ahhing at her as she ate with me at the table. She's becoming such a little girl and it's fun to see. Since my husband's phone was flooded with pictures of her in her booster seat I figured I'd make a mashup of them for Insta-Friday. They're not the best, but isn't that what Insta-Friday is all about? Grainy, blurry pictures of your toddler in a booster seat? I do declare.







And it should be known that these were all taken during breakfast. She does eat more than just cereal, ha.

[caption id="attachment_4814" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="This is her shoving it in her face mode, which is basically how she eats. Utensils are thrown to the side and hands are used in the most barbaric fashion."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_4844" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="I used to think sitting down and eating with her was cute and fun but now it's gotten exponentially more like having lunch with a little friend. She talks (gibberish of course) and eats real food and sits at the table. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4845" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="This one kills me."][/caption]