Britax are some of the very best safety rated car seats out there. I did a massive amount of research in purchasing our toddler-on-up car seats and Britax was the one that ultimately won. Britax is certainly not an inexpensive brand, but in my opinion, you cannot put a price tag on car safety and from what I found while doing my due diligence, Britax has unparalleled safety standards.

We bought the Diplomat Convertible car seat for my son in 2008, when it was time to move him out of his infant seat, and have been very happy with it. The strap you pull to tighten has frayed, but aside from that the seat has worn very well (we are currently in the process of buying a replacement strap). I’m not sure why it frayed. We are going to call Britax and talk to them about it.

Several months ago we bought the Boulevard Convertible car seat for my daughter. Since Madam Poopsalot is still in her Chicco infant seat, my son is using the Boulevard in my husband’s car and uses the Diplomat in my mommy mobile). The Boulevard is bigger and goes to a higher weight limit than the Diplomat. I chose the Boulevard over the Advocate since it was slightly less expensive with mostly the same specifications. However, if the price was the same, I would have gone for the Advocate.

You can now win one for yourself! Tammi over at My Organized Chaos is giving away one Britax Advocate convertible car seat. Click here to enter. What a great giveaway! Good luck!

Yes, that shirt is upside-down and inside-out.

Occasionally, Muffin will pull a nap strike. When he does this, I still make him have quiet time in his crib. And by “quiet time”, unfortunately I mean “screaming-yelling-noisy-time”. Fortunately, so far, these nap strikes are minor uprisings that mercifully have not become routine. Yet.

On Friday Muffin pulled a nap strike and when his “quiet time” was over, I went up to get him and found him with his shirt on upside-down and inside out.

I’ve found worse.

Not too long ago he was playing with a large thick scab on his elbow and managed to pull it off. He was so annoyed that his “toy” was ruined that he started screaming, “Put it back on! Put it back on”! There was no hope in hell of a nap occurring after that.

I know at some point Muffin will drop the nap entirely but both he and I are not ready for that. He often still has 3 hour naps. A far cry from his first year of life when he never slept. Seriously. He’s still got a lot of making up to do. I was that mom who looked like she’d gotten two black eyes in a bar fight because the under-eye circles were so bad from lack of sleep. That’s got to earn me at least another year of napping, right?!

Poor Muffin isn’t going to like this post when he gets older, but I can write about it now because it’s a phase that is starting to come to an end (I think). Up until a few months ago, my little man would show a great appreciation for girly things. He often will go into my closet and attempt to try on my shoes. He was most attracted to the high heels, of course. One day I came downstairs ready to go out and instead of my usual flip flops, I had on some super cute leopard print Corso Como flats. Well, Muffin took one look at them and said, “Ohhhhhhhh, cute shoes Mommy!” Little dude has good taste. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of them. Granted, I am rarely seen out of my flip flops, but I think it went deeper than that. He also used to love the women’s handbag section in Marshall’s and would b-line it straight there once we entered the store. The ladies hat section was also on his hit list. I have a cute pink mini-handbag that I was saving for when/if I had a girl and Muffin found it and commandeered it. He would walk around with it over his arm, saying “Look at my purse, Mommy. Isn’t it cute?”! Poor Madam Poopsalot is going to have to wrestle him for it when she’s older.

Now, I know that it is not uncommon for boys to be interested in girly things and if you think about it, toddlers like nice textures, shiny things, and pretty colors…so, what toddler in her (or his) right mind wouldn’t be attracted to pretty feminine things? Besides, he really didn’t have a hope in hell – it’s in his DNA. I am part Crow – I love shiny, sparkly, pretty things. Way to embrace your feminine side little dude! Just take it a bit easy on your Daddy – now that he’s got 3 princesses to contend with.

Some days I want to just throw my hands up and send everyone out naked. Laundry sucks. When I was working outside the home, my husband was The Laundry Fairy. Now that I am a SAHM the tide has turned. Gone are the days when I could put my dirty clothes in the hamper and they would mysteriously reappear nice and clean. Oh, how I hate laundry. Nevertheless, I have resigned myself to the fact that I am now The Laundry Fairy of our house. I suppose being the Laundry Fairy, has it’s advantages. I now know some secrets about laundry. Brace yourself for the exciting money-saving revelations about to come your way.

1) Wash the laundry in cold water.

2) Cut dryer sheets in half.

3) Wear jeans more than once before washing (this one I write with much reluctance as I have a thing about washing things immediately, which is evident by my never-ending laundry mountain).

4) Use less detergent.

5) Line dry your Laundry. By line drying you save money on electricity, which is frugal and green. You also save wear and tear on your clothes. The dryer actually beats fibers out of your clothing, causing them to wear out sooner. That’s where all that dryer lint comes from! Dryer lint is the kryptonite of The Laundry Fairy.

Which brings us to…

6) Keep your dryer lint free!!! A full lint trap doesn’t allow the moist air to escape properly, which slows down the drying cycle and uses more energy. While you’re at it, check your belly button too.

Okay, so maybe these aren’t really earthshatteringjumpupandkissme secrets…this is laundry we’re talking about, after all. Sheesh!

I adore the smokey eye look. I’ve long coveted the eye make-up of a certain celebutant who’s name may or may not rhyme with Tim Fardashian. I may have even possibly spent time on her website…but I only read it for the pictures, I swear! Anyways, I have found that this look is really hard to recreate. At least it’s hard if you’re not aiming to look like you’ve just gone a round with Mike Tyson. Also, it’s time consuming. And unlike Tim Fardashian, I have two kids, a husband, and a laundry pile to deal with every day.

Well, enter Cover Girl. Now, thanks to their Smokey Eye Kit, this look is easy(er) and quick(er) to recreate. Tammi, over at My Organized Chaos, is giving away 4 kits. Visit My Organized Chaos and enter here.

So, the question is…

Is it really okay for me wear the smokey eye look with my daily mom uniform (yoga pants and nearest clean nursing top)? Probably not. The playground can’t handle the foxiness that is the nursing smokey eye.

Seriously?! Seriously. Did he-who-can-be-heard-farther-away-than-the-Sonic-Boom just shush me?!

Ingredients:

5 (6 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
4 medium russet potatoes, cut into 1.5 inch pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into 1.5 inch cubes
1 (9 ounce) jar peach preserves
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 1/2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 TBSP minced fresh ginger

Directions:

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place into a slow cooker. Add potatoes. Whisk together the preserves, chicken stock, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl. Pour over chicken breasts.
Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 5 to 7 hours. Make sure to flip over the chicken breasts once during cooking. Add bell pepper cubes during the last 45 minutes.

Oh oh. I’m not sure I like this month’s focus of The Happiness Project. The resolution for the first week is Aim Higher. Oh dear. This seems a bit daunting when sometimes I feel like I’m already just treading water to stay afloat. Can’t we just have another resolution like Kiss More, Hug More, Touch More? I like that one! Okay, okay, I do agree that aiming high and achieving (or at least knowing that I tried really hard) does indeed make me happier. Hmmm, so what should I aim for? Should I aim to help build my children into happy well-functioning, thoughtful, caring and productive members of society? Oh wait, no, I’ve already charged myself with that small ridiculously easy not-at-all-time-consuming task. No pressure there at all. How can I aim higher than that? Okay, forget the kids. Maybe I’ll make this week’s resolution about outside work (as opposed to family work) and aim for a consulting project…or better yet, I’ll aim higher in my blogging efforts. Yes, that’s what I’ll do…thanks for the think aloud. How about them apples?!

One of my favorite Theodore Roosevelt quotes seems apropos here:
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, “Certainly, I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

Early last month I wrote about a goal I had set for myself to keep to our food budget in February (preferably coming under budget). For the past few months we had been running WAY over budget in the grocery category. We track all our expenses and so we are able to easily see where we are at any given day in the budget. I’m a bit of a data freak (and by ‘data freak I mean ‘control freak’). Anyways, it’s kind of a fun game for me and it also helps keep our spending in check. So, last night we looked at the expense sheet and…(insert drumroll)…I did it! We have budgeted $400 per month in groceries (not including diapers) and our spending in that category reached only $302.87. That’s $97.13 under budget! Yay! Of course, it’s a bit of a cheat because February is a short month and we also had Dr. CutiePant’s father visiting for about 4 days of that, during which time he treats us to dinners and lunches and I never have to cook. Regardless, I do think we still would have come in a little under budget. Goes to show that I have to start paying better attention to the numbers throughout the month and not just at the end of the month.

Dear Muffin,

Today is your third birthday. My goodness, my sweet son, where has the time gone? I can’t believe that you are already 3 years old. It seems like only yesterday that I held you in my arms for the very first time. My heart was bursting with love. I had been waiting my whole life to meet you. I truly had. I feel so incredibly lucky to be your mommy.

Mommyhood with you has been a joyous, crazy, intense, maddening, frustrating, exhilarating, wonderful ride so far. You came into this world with determination and never seemed to want to miss an instant of the action. You barely slept as a baby (even as a newborn in the hospital). Mommy was crazed with lack of sleep. You are my little energizer bunny. Oh how I wished you had slept more, but thank you for eventually learning how to sleep. When I think back on it, the lack of sleep was the hardest part by far. Fortunately, you were so darn cute and cuddly that I was able to keep from holding it against you. Nature’s way of helping sleep deprived new parents cope – NATURE MAKES YOU SO DARN CUTE!

I love your infectious laugh and I love to hear your thoughts (most of the time anyways). I love that you are so full of cuddles and smiles. You give the best hugs and kisses EVER. I admire your courage and your creativity. This year has been big for you. You have had to deal with Mommy being pregnant and on modified bed rest. You became very good at picking up your things (and some of mommy’s things) since Mommy couldn’t. You were very understanding about Mommy not being able to pick you up and carry you. I am so glad that I can again now! I missed that terribly. I am so proud of you for being such a good big brother to your baby sister. I knew you would be a sweet and caring big brother – it is your nature. I am so proud of you for so many reasons, but mostly I am proud of you for being such a nice caring boy.

Thank you for all of the smiles and even some of the tears. Thank you for always showing me love and everyday teaching me how to be a better person. You have taught me how to appreciate life more. Thank you for making me examine life on a large and small scope. I now truly do stop and smell the flowers and try to soak in every moment. Well, I try really hard to anyways. I don’t want to miss any moment with you – it goes by too quickly.

I feel so fortunate to be your mother and I am so incredibly grateful for you. Every. Single. Day.

Happy birthday my sweet boy. I love you so much.