It's Cold and Flu Season

So, I have a very useful tip today. I know it's not Thursday, but who cares!

Lydia has been sick with a cold (probably induced by teething) and guess what, I caught it. It's bad enough when the baby is sick, but now the caretaker? I guess it was inevitable, but it's not fair that a mom should ever get sick. We don't get time off, EVER! We don't even get time for naps, which is very necessary for the sick.

Anyway, let me tell you a trick that works for me. I've used this a few times, and it works like a charm. I found this trick on Pinterest.

1 teaspoon honey and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

That's it. Just mix them together and eat up, twice a day for three days. The honey coats the throat for immediate sore throat relief, and the antioxidants in both the honey and the cinnamon fight off the infection. And, it tastes pretty yummy. It's a little strong, but it's no nasty grape or cherry cough syrup. Bleh!

Holy wow! Right?

You're welcome. :)


*Other symptom helpers include:

-Pain killers/decongestants (duh)

-Chamomile tea (I add a little honey and lemon, with a lot of sugar, and it tastes divine, perfect to warm you up on a blustery day) P.S. Herbal tea is totally in line with the Word of Wisdom, if that worries you. Ginger and peppermint teas help with tummy aches.

-Sucking on a candy cane. This helps coat the throat, but the peppermint also helps nausea if that's a symptom. I did this while pregnant and it worked beautifully.

-Melt Vicks in a candle/scentsy warmer. This works especially well for babies who can't have Vicks on their skin. AND it clears everyone in the house up, to!

-Humidifiers. The main thing the doctor tells me to do when I take Lydia in. If you don't have one, get one! It's totally worth it. Ours is a cute little cow. Ha ha!

-Get moving! Moving around breaks up mucous. That's why we feel cruddy in the morning, but as the day goes on, we feel better. So, don't be a baby. Get up, get out, and get on with your life. (Only if you have a cold. If you have the flu, stay in bed!)

-Sip coke. The caffeine/acid helps with the icky tummy bug. Also, if you have a headache, the caffeine usually helps with that, too.

-Ginger snaps/anything ginger. Ginger helps with tummies, too.

-Suck on chocolate. Chocolate helps coat and soothe the throat. Milk chocolate works okay, but dark is the best for me. Milk chocolate just seems too sweet and irritates me a little. Just don't do this ALL day, although I know we all would love to. Right?

-Marshmallows. These also help coat the throat, temporarily. Lance is especially fond of this one. Ha ha!

-Get a good amount of sleep. Sleep is the time when our body does its best healing, so get at least 8 hours a night.

-If you feel a cold coming on, be sure to take your vitamins, drink plenty of orange juice, eat healthy, and get a little extra sleep. It may help prevent the bug from hitting you too hard, but it's not a guarantee.

*These tips were all tested by me, and are what work for me. Not every tip works on everyone. But most of these are easy and harmless, so it's worth a try, right?

I hope these tips help you control your cold and flu symptoms this year. Good luck!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

We've sure been enjoying the fall weather around here. My mom, brother, Lydia, and I went to Gardner Village a little over a week ago. Lance, Lydia, and I went to Pack Farms pumpkin patch on Friday, and we've let Lydia play at the park every so often. We've also taken some drives to see the leaves. Fall is so fun!

 Lydia at Gardner Village. I made the spider for her hair out of pipe cleaners. It fit right in at Gardner Village.

 Lydia loves riding on Daddy's shoulders.

Pack Farms pumpkin patch. Lydia was a great poser at first.

Pack Farms pumpkin patch.

Pack Farms pumpkin patch straw maze. Lydia LOVED this! She didn't want to come out.

Lydia was not happy to be out of the straw maze. She is distraught.

Pack Farms pumpkin patch. We picked a pumpkin. And we also got a baby pumpkin for Lydia. She loves hugging the baby pumpkin.

Lydia loves the swing. (Mantua park)

She wasn't too sure about the froggy she rode on. She bailed as fast as she could. (Mantua park)

Lance also went to Michigan for 10 days. He went to help Bryce and Jessie (his twin brother and his wife) with their house. Their house is super cute, but is in need of some tender loving care. Since we get help from family all the time, Lance thought it'd be nice to help Bryce out. He installed a dishwasher, patched the bathroom ceiling, fixed a light in the kitchen, and dug up some rogue cement in their backyard.  It was a foundation for something, but that something wasn't there any more.

Lance was going to take vacation leave for his trip, but since the government shut down for a few weeks, he only took a few hours of leave. Score! Thanks for being so stubborn, everyone in congress! Ha ha! Also, we got a LOT done around our house too, with the government's little shenanigans. So, hey, it's not all bad. Sorry to all the taxpayers who paid my hubby to go on vacation and get some household chores done. Bring that up with congress. I'm sure you have a long list of things you'd like to bring up with them...

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their Fall, and has a very Happy Halloween!!!!

I Break Rules Sometimes. So What?

I'm going to break my own rules and do an update post on a Thursday. Normally Thursdays are supposed to be for tips/recipes, but I haven't posted in about a month, so I think this is better.

What have we been up to the last month?

Lydia turned 1 year old! Ah! How did this happen? Did I ever even have a baby? She's growing too fast. She was in the 30th percentile for weight, 40th percentile for height, and 95th percentile for head circumference. I know, big head. She's got the smarts to prove it... She crawls, but prefers to army crawl (slowly making the switch), pulls herself up to standing, walks with help, has stood a couple times without help, says a couple words like "light" and "that," she loves books, tries to feed herself without a spoon/fork, LOVES food, and is just so much fun!

 

Lydia on her birthday

We had a birthday party with family this past Sunday. She LOVED opening presents, loved dinner, wasn't too sure about the birthday candle (Lance blew it out for her because she was going to touch it), and REALLY loved her cupcake.

Eating her cupcake, yum!

On her actual birthday (Tuesday), we celebrated by going to the park. She had so much fun! She likes the swings and the slides best, but we had her climb and try other things like monkey bars and walking around the platforms (with Daddy's help, of course). She also got to go through the car wash for the first time ever. She just looked around silently. I made cauliflower soup for dinner because I know she loves it. I just can't believe my baby girl is a year old.

 

At the playground

We have done quite a few small projects around the house. There will be more on individual projects in later posts, but lots of projects have been done because...

Lance hasn't been able to go to work the past couple weeks, so he's done all the outside stuff that needs to be done before it gets cold. We're making the best of a ridiculous situation... stupid government. It's been kind of fun being able to see him a little extra. I'm not sure what Lydia will do without seeing him so often. She adores him.

In other news, my dad is on the mend. He severely burned his leg while camping in August. He tried lighting charcoal with gasoline, and it basically blew up, caught his leg on fire, and also caught other things on fire. Luckily, the camp was okay, thanks to neighbor campers who helped put out the fire, but his leg was burned really bad. He was in the hospital for three weeks. He had to get skin graft surgery. He had his final (most likely, we hope) surgery last week and is healing well. I took him to physical therapy before his last surgery, and he was doing really well with that. His last surgery was just to address a couple spots where the initial graft didn't take, but they seem to be doing well this time around. He will probably go back to physical therapy next week, and hopefully be able to drive there himself. If not, I get to chauffeur again.

 

Most recent flattering picture of my dad. I took some of him in the hospital, but that's not blog material. Gross!

Well, September and the first part of October have been exciting. Now for the really exciting part of the year! Holiday central! Can't wait!

Movie Monday September 9, 2013

Yay movies! I love them so much!

Before I tell you about some more good movies, I want to share an experience I had today.

I went to Target (and other stores today, big errand day), and guess who I saw! Julianne Hough! At least, I think it was her. I didn't talk to her or anything. I'm sure if I were famous, I'd want to be able to shop in peace. But it looked like her and sounded like her (she was talking to her nephew). She is just as adorable in real life as she is on screen! She was even in work-out clothes, and she was gorgeous! I secretly hate people like that, but not really. I'm just jealous. She was shopping with her sister (I think). Her sister was gorgeous too . . . AND also in work-out clothes. So, yeah, it was a pretty surreal experience.

Okay, so movies I like:

Safe Haven

 

In honor of seeing Julianne Hough, I will recommend Safe Haven. It is a movie of a Nicholas Sparks book. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Nicholas Sparks is sooooo depressing." Well, at least I think that. It's always a tragedy. Well, this one wasn't quite as much of a tragedy as the others I've seen. It had a little sadness, but more suspense. I really enjoyed this. And the ending had a fun little surprise. So, if you like chick flicks, this one is great!

 The Guilt Trip

We watched this one recently. I wasn't too excited about it, to be honest. It was just something that was available at Red Box that we hadn't already seen, or that wasn't rated R. We got it on a Saturday night, so the box had been picked through. Anyway, I really liked it. It wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be. It had a great story about a mother and son and their relationship after he's grown, but yes, there was some comedy involved. I thought it would be total disaster trip, like the previews made it seem, but it really wasn't. There were some disastrous parts, but not like you think. And the overbearing mother role wasn't overdone at all, in my opinion. Maybe that's my inner mother speaking out, but it didn't seem as bad as portrayed in the previews. Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen did great.

Roman Holiday

 

How can I review and not do a classic? This one stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Oh, how I love Audrey... She plays a princess who is in Rome on business/publicity. She hates being a princess and always doing what others want, so she runs away for a day. She meets a handsome stranger who happens to be a newspaper reporter. Well, like all classic movies, they obviously fall in love. The ending is a little disappointing, but in real life, that's how the ending would go, so it works. But I mainly watch it for the story, not the end.

Tipful Thursday September 5, 2013

It's my first Tipful Thursday! Yay! I made it to Thursday! This week's tip is brought to you by Michigan humidity.

This week's tip: Don't Overreact!!

 

I have a terrible habit of overreacting . . . especially now that I'm a mom. So, what have I overreacted about recently? Well, it doesn't involve Lydia. What? An over-reactive mother not overreacting about her child? Shocking!

So what DID I overreact from? Well, it's a long story...

While in Michigan, I noticed a few red bumps on my feet that looked like bug bites. At first, I thought, "oh great, a spider." And I assumed they would go away soon.

Well, as we got home, I realized they weren't going away. In fact, they were multiplying. I remembered a warning from Jessie, "Watch out in Detroit. There are a lot of bed bugs in Detroit." I knew Bryce and Jessie didn't have any bed bugs in their house. They're very much germ-o-phobes, and recently had their house sprayed for all kinds of bugs. 

But I couldn't get the thought of bed bugs out of my mind. I thought that maybe one had hitched a ride with me after somehow brushing against someone at one of the places we visited, or that our luggage was next to another person's luggage who had bed bugs on the plane, and one of the little creeps decided to pay our luggage a visit. Or maybe someone before me on the plane had bed bugs and left one behind.

 

Alas, I had to wait a while to see if it really was a bed bug infestation, because they obviously hadn't been established long enough yet to tell. They're sneaky little buggers.

Well, by Wednesday, I was frantic. I was absolutely convinced I had bed bugs, but not 100% sure. I had washed all of our clothes and stuff in hot water, some loads twice, and dried each load twice upon arrival home. I changed our sheets, twice in one week, vacuumed out ALL of our bags, vacuumed our carpet, vacuumed our mattress, and did everything else I could think of. But I still couldn't get the creepy-crawly feeling out of my skin. And the bites kept coming.

I literally made myself sick thinking about it. I wondered how on earth we could get rid of bed bugs. What if one sneaked onto something I had overlooked, and we would have to fumigate over and over again? I worried about how I would have to call everyone we had come in contact with that they may have to watch for bed bugs. I was especially worried because we had visited our newborn niece in the hospital on our way home from the airport. "Welcome to the world little one, how about you get eaten alive by bed bugs!" Yeah, I was sick over it. I felt like the plague.

 

So, Wednesday, I made an appointment to get my "bites" checked out. Guess what... NOT bed bugs! The doctor was sure about it. Ah! I was so relieved! I was a little slap-happy. I didn't even care that I had a rash. I figured that a rash was much, MUCH better than a bed bug infestation. I was so happy. I felt pure bliss.

So, now I have to put some ointment on the red bumps, which by now are pretty much gone. I also have to be confined to using boring, unscented products (body wash, lotion, etc. Although, I still use perfume, lightly.) So, we spent a little extra money buying some fancy products just for me, although they shouldn't be so expensive since they don't use fragrance... But I'm doing much better. What really triggered it was the humidity and the heat. I guess I'm stuck living in the dry desert of Utah my whole life...


Looking back, I realize I was really crazy. Like, REALLY crazy. I was not too far from going to the loony bin. But here are some reasons why I should have known it wasn't bed bugs: Lance didn't have any "bites." I never actually saw a bed bug. The "bites" didn't look as bad as a bed bug bite. The "bites" were on my feet and my lower legs, nowhere else. Bed bugs like to bite the back and neck.

 

What good came from this experience? Well, I learned a lot about bed bugs. I also cleaned some things that probably wouldn't have been cleaned quite so soon. And I learned to have faith. There was a point in time when my faith wavered. Well, actually, I just pretty much disregarded my faith, but then I was set straight. So, there was a little good from this experience.

So, yeah, tip for today, don't overreact! It's not worth it. How would it have helped me if it had been bed bugs? Not much, because I didn't have enough information yet. I made myself sick and lost a lot of sleep for nothing. Oh, Michelle...

Michigan August 2013

We recently visited Lance's twin brother and his wife, Bryce and Jessie, in Michigan. We had a blast! Lance and Bryce loved spending time together. It's tough on twins to be so far apart sometimes. For me, it was fun spending time with Jessie. She's like my best friend, and yet, we're sisters-in-law!

While we were there, we did tons of sight seeing. We also helped a little with Bryce and Jessie's house. Lance did some of the tough work (he installed a garbage disposer and built some shelves), while I helped with some decorating. They were going to move recently, but then they didn't because they bought the house they were renting, so their stuff had been put away.

Here is a list of the things we sight-saw:

Belle Isle: This is an island in the Detroit River. We went into a museum, an atrium, an aquarium, visited a lighthouse made of marble, walked on a dock, saw a beautiful fountain, saw a bell tower, and saw part of Canada. All on one island! Oh, and there were tons of BBQ's all over. It made me very hungry.

 

Bell tower at Belle Isle

"The Cruise:" Every year on a certain street, there's an even called The Cruise. People come from all over just to drive it. There are really nice cars, old cars, and just whatever cars. We drove in it for about an hour. The speed was about 5 mph max. It's great for car lovers.

Detroit Temple: We just saw the outside of the temple, but like all other temples, it was beautiful.

All of us at the Detroit Temple

Mexican Town: This is a little area of Detroit where there are a lot of Mexican restaurants and stores. We got dinner and just drove. It was a little bit of a sketchy area, so we didn't want to linger. But the food was delicious, and the Horchata was delightful.

Drove around Detroit: There are a lot of burned houses in Detroit. People just burn houses. It's weird. I am sad for the houses. Some were pretty amazing back in their day. But there was a tiny part of Detroit that was pretty fun. It was where the Lions and Tigers stadiums are. The buildings were huge around there! We also went inside the GM building. It has a glass elevator that overlooks the Detroit River. I'm bad with heights, but I was very brave.

 

At the top of the GM building

At the top of the GM building in a high class restaurant. This is their wine storage.

Greenfield Village: This is a village that Henry Ford put together. He got a bunch of famous houses from all over and put them in one spot. Thomas Edison's house and laboratory were included, as well as the Wright Brothers' house and cycle shop. We got to ride in a Model T. All of the workers were in period dress. It was so much fun! Bryce and Jessie were working that day, so we went with their good friends, the Crofts.

 

Cute little hat shop in Greenfield Village where we could try on hats

 

Riding in the Model T

Henry Ford and Edsel Ford houses: We saw these mansions from the Ford founder and his son. Wow! Amazing!

Henry Ford House . . . HUGE!

Edsel Ford House . . . Also Huge!

Port Huron: Who can go to Michigan and not see at least one great lake? We went to Huron and saw a lighthouse. It was awesome! I love lighthouses! It was sunset while we were there, and overlooking the lake was beautiful. We also got to see Canada from there.

 

All of us at the Port Huron Lighthouse

F-150 Factory Tour: We were able to take a tour of the F-150 factory. We saw the assembly line and everything! We couldn't take pictures inside, but here is a picture of us on the shuttle there.

Frankenmuth: This is a German inspired town. Lance was so excited! The shops and restaurants looked like you were in Germany, or another European town. The actual shops were American, though, so no authentic German garb. But we did have some weinerschnitzel, sauerbraten, and sauerkraut for dinner. Yum! They also had a HUGE Christmas store. My brother, Paul, and Lance's brother, Blake would have been in heaven. It was a little overpriced for us, though, so we didn't get a souvenir, plus, we wanted to see the rest of the town. There also was a Silent Night chapel. So fun!

 

Our Bavarian Cupcake

 

Cute town!

We had lots of fun and miss Bryce and Jessie already!

Tune-up Tuesday September 3, 2013

Well, I have been MIA the past little while. The excuse will be revealed in my next post. It's Tune-up Tuesday!

So, what do I need to work on? How about EVERYTHING! Ha! But really...

Wake up early. I know this was on my last goal list, but I am shamed to say I did not achieve my goal yet. (Key word, "yet") How am I ever going to do this? Well, I will take it one day at a time. And by waking up early, I will be showered before Lydia wakes up, and be ready for the day, and maybe even get something accomplished during her naps rather than getting ready for the day.

Organize. Oh, the eternal struggle to get organized... Good news, though. A friend of mine is having a yard sale to help pay for IVF, and I have already got two boxes full of clothes. I need to look through other items, but hey, it's a start! Other organizational goal actions include: finding places for things to go. If I don't have a place, make one!

Exercise. Yes, this one has not gone as planned either. I did, however, exercise once last week, having a mini dance party with Lydia. She loved it! So, my plan of action is to exercise somehow, at least once a week. I guess two to three times was too much to ask right now. Once I get a solid one time a week, I can maybe think about adding another day or two to the mix.

Well, that's enough goal setting for today. I don't want to overwhelm myself.