Blitz-It Friday--Master Bath

Haha, it's my first time posting a "button," let's hope it worked.

If you're coming over from http://organizedeveryday.blogspot.com/, welcome to my little blog. It's a work-in-progress (like everything else in my life). ;-)

I set out yesterday to blitz my long-neglected and disgusting master bathroom. I thought I'd do 5 minutes sink, 5 minutes toilet, 5 minutes shower for a 15-minute blitz. I didn't set a timer because I was timing something else. (Yes, I know, I need a second timer.) In the end, however, the sink and mirror took 12 minutes, the toilet 7 minutes and the shower 8 minutes--so it turned out to be a nice 30-minute blitz (with the final 3 minutes spent putting supplies and garbage away and changing my yucky clothes). I knew this short time wouldn't get it perfect, but it was enough time to take the bathroom from disgusting to roughly clean. And the nastiness was really getting on my nerves so the blitz was a great way to tackle this job I'd been dreading. It will be much easier now to go back and make it guest-worthy.

I'm off to see what others have blitzed. Thanks for stopping by!

Things I Love Thursday--Eurobath Baby Tub

This is what I'm talking about today: http://www.amazon.com/Primo-340W-PRIMO-EuroBath-Pearl/dp/B000056OV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1235007226&sr=1-1

The Eurobath is the best baby tub ever! Okay, so it's the only one I've ever tried but L used it for two-and-a-half years and now T is using it, so I think it has proven itself.

It has two sides. The infant side keeps your baby at a nice angle--perfect for bathing and rinsing and she doesn't slide down. I like to keep a wet towel under baby for extra comfort, warmth and traction, and T stays in place. Don't ever leave baby unattended, but you can let go and soap up your washcloth without baby sliding into the water.

The second side is for kids who can sit up, this was the side L used till he was 2-and-a-half (I know the instructions say 24 months, I also added water beyond the max fill line--whatever, it worked for me). I felt he was safer and less likely to slide around in this than the real bathtub, plus it uses much less water and corrals his bath toys.

There's a little blue drain that I think is really dumb, but maybe you'd find helpful. I, however, just turn the tub over to dump the water. (I suppose I should mention that I use the Eurotub inside our regular tub, you could use it anywhere; when L was a newborn, we bathed him in the tub on top of our kitchen table, I don't remember why.)

Finally, the plastic is extremely easy to clean (very important for this lazy mom). So if you're in the market for a baby tub, or know someone who is, I give the Eurobath two thumbs up. For more things people love, visit http://thediaperdiaries.net/

Things I Love Thursday--Texas Toast in bulk

Once upon a time my husband brought home Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast from Sam's Club and I looked at the big box sceptically and thought, How will we ever eat this much texas toast? But it's genius, I tell you! One box comes with 4 bags of 8 slices each. You make as few or as many slices as you want at one time--throw them on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees, cooking time is 5 minutes. In my house it often happens that when I don't have anything planned for dinner, we end up making pasta, and it's been great to grab some texas toast from the freezer to complete the meal. Even when I do plan ahead, I've often forgotten to add garlic bread to my shopping list or I plan an entree but not the side dishes and texas toast saves the day.

This is what I'm talking about (though not the bulk size): http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductDetail.aspx?catID=761&prdID=112193

For more things people love, check out http://thediaperdiaries.net/

Things I Love Thursday--Shout Color Catcher

Let me begin by saying, I am the world's laziest person. Therefore, I am not the best laundry-sorter. Historically I've divided my clothes and my husbands' into three loads--lights, darks and the occasional red load. Then I had my son and I was NOT interested in dividing his laundry into different colors and I do wash his stuff separately in Dreft (a long story) so I was thrilled to discover Shout Color Catcher. You throw a sheet in the wash and if any dyes run, the sheet "catches" them so they don't redeposit on another item. And it does work!!! I throw all of L's clothes (and now T's too, except for reds) into one load and often the sheet comes out discolored but all the clothes look great. So whites, navy, pink, purple, all in one load. My mom was here helping out after T was born and was shocked I threw everything in together and I showed her my secret weapon, the Color Catcher. As a bonus, the sheet can go through the dryer, so no reason to go fishing for it as you transfer from washer to dryer. Thumbs up.

By the way, you can find it in the laundry aisle, by the Spray 'n' Wash.

For more things people love, head to http://thediaperdiaries.net/

Things I Love Thursday--So You Think You Can Dance

Ever since I started reading the blog "Diaper Diaries," I've wanted to write a TILT post, because I am nothing if not opinionated. So now she's made a carnival of it (is that the right term?) and here I am.

This week I'm lovin' on "So You Think You Can Dance." I'm not a reality tv junkie, I think a lot of it is garbage, but I enjoy the programs that showcase talented people showing off their skills (why I also love "Project Runway"). So right now SYTYCD is my favorite show. Unlike "American Idol," where I watch the auditions and turn off the actual competition, with SYTYCD, I skip the auditions and go straight into the top 20. By then, they've found some great dancers and I enjoy seeing who can rise above their usual genre and wow on each routine. Two hours of great dancing, in the words of Martha Stewart, "it's a good thing."

Now we're down to the top 6 and I love all the men (though I can't believe Will is gone--he was so incredibly talented). I don't love Katee or Courtney, but Chelsea rocks. Mark is adorable, but I think Joshua is the best of the remaining guys, he lights up every dance he's in and while generally a hip-hop dancer, he can sell any type of dance, he just Sells It. Love him.

So I love SYTYCD and I love watching the Wednesday night show on DVR during L's Thursday nap. For more things people love, visit Diaper Diaries.

Kids Eat Free

I think it's great that restaurants promote nights when kids eat free or at low cost. That's gotta be great for parents in these cash-strapped times. But it's frustrating to see all these great promotions and know they are irrelevant for my family. First of all, L always eats free--cuz if we ever go to a restaurant, I bring L his organic rice krispies, baby food or whatever. Second, we rarely go to restaurants, because we can't keep L occupied and happy while we eat and he doesn't.

Our air-conditioner died at the beginning of July so we had to spend a few days in hotels until a new one could be installed. The first night, we found ourselves at a restaurant without anything to feed L. I apologized to the waitress that I wasn't better prepared and asked if perhaps they had some carrot sticks for him and she said they did and apple as well (yea, another approved food). Now, I had brought a variety of toys, but neither those nor the carrots and apple slices could keep him happy.

So regardless of all the neat Kids Eat Free promotions, I don't see us eating out again anytime soon. Lest you think we are totally deprived, you should know we take advantage of takeout All The Time. Yummm.

update

A) I'm 7 months pregnant. It's been a tough pregnancy, so I haven't done food trials since we did broccoli in January (and took a brief stab at beef that went nowhere).

B) Broccoli guaiac card was negative--so that makes 11 approved foods (though it's pretty irrelevant since L won't eat it except disguised in squash or sweet potatoes).

C) Speech is going super well. L's speech really took off this spring and he'll say anything and everything, though he's tough to understand since he just has about one syllable per word. So we're working on ending sounds so we can distinguish book from bike from bag etc. And in the last week he's been saying "daddy" and "mommy" very clearly (previously "mama" and "dada" and then "mah-ee" and "dah-ee").

Finally, I'm going to try to resurrect my blog by doing some memes/carnivals, which is kind of scary since it will invite people to this blog which I've never done before. But I've really been enjoying reading mom blogs and I'm eager (if apprehensive) to join the community. So I'll keep updating on the EE and apraxia and Life with L in general (and life with a baby girl to be named later), but sprinkle in other randomness as well (cuz random is my middle name).