The 30 Day Meme: Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
I live in the boonies.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Woodrow Wilson. All opinions are 100% mine.
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Hurry, there’s a September 1st, 2010 deadline!
Last Friday Jason, the kids and myself headed down to Ocean City, MD, for the day. It was a perfect beach day — a late August Friday, shining sun, temperatures in the high 70s. The water was so warm. The sand was, too. It wasn’t blisteringly hot like it usually is when we go down in May. Like I said, it was perfect. Alyssa lost one of her Hello Kitty earrings in the ocean, I got smacked underwater by more than one wave (ocean water is disgusting), and whenever Ryan got overstimulated by the environment he headed up the beach a bit to check out/pull on/beat on signs (he has a fascination with street signs), but it was still a fantastic day.
My heart always flip-flopped when she disappeared in/beneath the waves. Ack!
Alyssa has no fear of the water. This is good, but also bad. Very bad. At one point she was out past where the waves would crest and crash against the beach, but in front of where the waves would first crest and raise up (if that makes sense), and she was stuck. She didn’t realize it, but I could see it. I was total Overprotective Mom and went right in after her and dragged her closer to the beach, and instructed her to Not Dare Go Out Any Further and to Stay Right In Front Of The Life Guard Tower, So Help You God. Needless to say, she listened.
Jason snapped this shot of me dragging my fearless child back to shore.
Ryan played a lot more in the water this year, and when it got to low tide, he was more willing to go in with his surfboard, as opposed to sitting at the edge of the water and waiting for the waves to come to him.
I have no idea what he’s doing here. Crab walking?
After we tired of the beach we hit up the boardwalk for a quick ride on the ferris wheel, a super yummy dinner at a smorgasboard, a stroll past some shops and a few games, and then it was time to head home. And crash. I don’t know about Jason, but I was exhausted (so exhausted that I slept for probably half of the three hour car ride home), and I know the kids were!
Taken from the ferris wheel.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. All opinions are 100% mine.
Ryan has been potty-trained for almost nine months now, so my diapering days are over (for good, thanks to my tubes being clamped whoo hoo!). But they weren’t so long ago that I don’t remember what I did to treat diaper rash. Diaper rash wasn’t something we encountered often, since we kept after the kids’ diapers frequently, and right after Ryan was born we switched to cloth, which is much better against sensitive skin than disposables. But diaper rash did happen on occasion, particularly in the summer, or around the time Ryan was a year and a half old and we discovered he had a lactose allergy. My solution was a warm milk bath (something about the enzymes in the milk clearing up the source of the infection, if bacteria was present, and alleviating pain), air drying, and then a very thick coating of what I always call butt cream (diaper rash ointment, obviously), followed by a sprinkling of Ammen’s medicated powder, and then a cloth diaper.
I hopped around from one brand of butt cream to another, before settling on two favorites (based on performance) – A&D and Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. Boudreaux’s Butt Paste is a little pricier, and when I shopped for it wasn’t available at every standard store out there (I always found it at Target), but it was well worth the expense and slight inconvenience. Butt Paste went on thick yet smooth, stayed put, and didn’t crumble or break down like other brands sometimes do. Most importantly, it worked. It protected chafed/broken-out skin, and helped it to heal speedily.
I always preferred to purchase Butt Paste in the big jar, but you can get it in several tube sizes, including 1oz, 2oz, 3oz and 4oz, all of which feature flip-top caps and are small enough to be travel friendly. It goes on smoothly and comes off just as smoothly, and has always been a great skin protectant.
Butt Paste contains 16% Zinc Oxide and Peruvian Balsam, and is great for a variety of skin irritation. It’s been featured on several television shows, including the Today and Tonight shows, Oprah Winfrey, and While You Were Out (on TLC).
Have you tried Boudreaux’s Butt Paste? If not, or if you’d simply like to stock up on some more, head over to their website for a free sample!
Ryan started his autism support preschool today. It’s the same one he attended last year, with the same teacher, though this year he goes at a different time, rides a different bus (a 15-passenger van, actually), and has new classmates and new goals and tasks. But still, the first day of school is the first day of school, and it’s definitely something worth getting excited about. ♥
Speaking of school, the weekday schedule is just nuts. It looks like this:
Monday – Alyssa: 8:30am – 12:30pm; Ryan: 9:15am – 11:45am
Tuesday – Alyssa: 8:30am – 12:30pm; Ryan: 11:30am – 3:10pm
Wednesday – Alyssa: 8:30am – 12:30pm; Ryan: 9:15am – 11:45am
Thursday – Alyssa: 8:30am – 12:30pm; Ryan: 11:30am – 3:10pm
Friday – Alyssa: 8:30am – 12:30pm; Ryan: 9:15am – 11:45am
Alyssa’s times denote when she needs to be walked down to the bus stop, and then picked up. Ryan’s times on Monday, Wednesday and Friday denote when he has to be dropped off at [regular] preschool and then picked up. Ryan’s times on Tuesday and Thursday denote when he has to be outside of the house for the van to pick him up. Yes, I have this schedule written down, along with specific pick-up/drop-off times and bus numbers. There’s no way I can recall all of this off the top of my head.
In other news, I’ve been running around like a nut lately. Evaluations and progress meetings for Ryan (one down, three to go), a physical for Alyssa, an eye exam for Alyssa, and most recently, dentist appointments for both of them. I have those weird kids that love then dentist. Oh well, that’s fine by me. Better happy kids than screaming ones!
I’m tired, so I’m probably going to go to bed early tonight. As I type this, I’m in the bedroom, in my underwear (you’re welcome for the mental image), with the lights out. Dan is asleep, and I swear I’m going to join him soon. Tomorrow is September 1st, which means it’s the start of the Month From Hell. I have a lot to do this month, and I am doing something that involves out-of-town driving (and in the case of one weekend, out-of-town flying!!!) and running around like a maniac Every. Single. Weekend. Add in my typical 50ish hour work weeks in between the crazy weekends and various appointments for the kids… and oh dear god, I’m going to be dead come October 1st. And then it’ll be the birthday/holiday rush, which means I’ll have to be revived by New Year’s. But hey, I won’t have time to get bored! (All of you people that have the time to get bored? I hate you.)
As the domain name suggests, my name is Jenn, and I own this blog. I'm 26 years old and married to my one true ♥, Daniel. And while I have two kids (Alyssa is five, and Ryan is three), you won't find "mommy" in my username or email address, nor does my blog revolve around them. I'm a mother, but most importantly I am me, with a passion for love, blogging, reading, and photography. I'm also a busy freelance writer, web designer & SEO goddess.
