The Adventures of Lil Mouse

We rolled over! Cried! Rolled over again. Cried! Better luck next time!

Know anyone who’s having a baby and you need a gift for them? There’s coupons at this link for dollars off of several products, including gift sets.

http://www.johnsonsbaby.com/special-offers-expanded.jsp

The ‘power nap’ is my frenemy–I just get a quick snooze in while the baby’s napping and WHAM upstairs they drop a 50 lb weight just for kicks, or AHHH the baby wails in her sleep–either way, I’m up and out of bed with my heart pounding, and then I lay there, for another hour, hoping I’ll get some more shut eye, exhausted…until the baby wails for real. Signaling the end to my power nap, which I never really got at all.. sigh.

Isn’t that just prune juice made to sound ‘better’? Same with the individually wrapped prunes sweetened with other juices. A prune is still a prune, no matter how much plastic you wrap around it.

Yup, i went to White House.gov and submitted this note.

Someone brought it to my attention (and I began to notice more and more) that the President (as many have done before), signs a document with several pens, handing them out to those gathered around the table for the signing. It’s nice for the event to be ‘documented’ somehow, in the physical sense, but wouldn’t it be better to save a few bucks by signing the document and tucking the pen back into a pocket or desk drawer for the next time? Everyone wants to talk about saving money, but as everyone (should) know, the little things add up. The lunches that are served to committees to say thank you for your hard work or to get together to kick off a big event (like the Middle Class Task Force thank you lunch recently sponsored by the VP), are we talking cold cuts and cookies or a catered meal? The things that seem to be ’standard’ and ‘no big deal’ as expenditures for the government really do add up. I’ve been in charge of my own budget and budgets through my work (private and public institutions) where I had to account for every penny, and justify the amount spent on items such as office supplies and round table lunches. Don’t get me wrong, I was classified as an administrative assistant, or secretary, not a comptroller, but I was held accountable nonetheless. Make it fabulous, and do it cheap! It was up to me to make sure that the money was there, and would be there for events for the rest of the year, so oftentimes a cold cut lunch or Bic pens that were $1 for 12 were the key. As a stay at home mom, I have been lucky to borrow items, buy clothes on sale, clip coupons to get discounts on things that are disposable, or reuse things (such as cloth diapers) that are a finite expense, and that in the event we don’t have more children, can be sold to recoup some of the outlay costs. Despite a considerable amount of pain, I’m also breastfeeding, saving several thousand dollars this year on formula alone (and the landfill of used containers that won’t biodegrade). Is it a pain to wash the cloth diapers instead of just dumping them in the landfill to be the problem of our children’s children? Would it be easier to plop a bottle in my baby’s mouth instead of going through pain every few hours?Yes, it’s called personal sacrifice. I grew up in hard times, and still live to some extent like they still exist, because in some part, they do. We eat leftovers, making a turkey breast into a nice evening meal plus lunches for a week, and stock for soup. My husband takes leftovers to work for lunch and I find ways to stretch them out to last longer. Chili becomes chili dogs and chili mac and a side dish to grilled cheese, if we get tired of it, it goes in the freezer for another time. I would like to know how our government is going to cut as many corners as we do, being middle class, living like lower class, trying to make ends meet far enough to purchase a home, to live the American dream. I guess what I’m saying is, can some of those lunches be trimmed or paid for (boy howdy!) by the people attending them, who can easily afford an extravagance, and can the President ‘just say no’ to handing out expensive pens to everyone in the room when a document is signed? Please make an effort to show from the top down that spending can be closely examined and trimmed, even in the highest offices.

Sincere apologies for the excessive quotation marks and parentheses, it’s hard to define emphasis in plain text.
Yours truly,
Lil Mouse

It’s Keeley, lifting her head and chest off the ground, just before her 4 month mark! Yesterday, she barely lifted her head, today, voila! It clicks!

Okay, so this blog is called the adventures of Lil Mouse, and I’ll tell you what the mouse clan did for about 5 minutes this afternoon, and that was go outside. Yes, it’s 35 out there. I went out in a hooded sweatshirt, and had her all buttoned up in a hooded (with ears!) coat, as her grandmas pointed out that her cute as a button brown and pink elephant one that her auntie Stacy had given her was ‘too small’ (think the 3 bears and the porridge), anyway, point being that I took her out, for about 5 minutes for a walk.

She was interested in looking around, but of course the sun hit her in the face, there was no breeze and when a little gust did stir up, I tucked her face into my chest so she wouldn’t get lungsful, as the grandmas are wont to point out that it isn’t good for her. Anyway, point being I FINALLY got out of the house, with her. If I could get the carry thing strapped on by myself, I would, maybe I will have to practice so she and I can get out and get some exercise. I’m down 13 pounds from my pre baby weight, but I’m still wiggly around the middle and I’d like to not be quite so wiggly. At this point my chest is still too sore to do aerobics, run, or just about anything else, so walking is it until the pain goes away or I wean her, whichever comes first. I kept it short, I was warmer when I came in than when I went out, and I checked and her hands (which were exposed) were still warm. She was cranky when she came back in, but it was also time for her to go to bed. She doesn’t get out without her carseat, well, ever, so it’s interesting to see how she reacts.

Look, a bunny valentine! Not a funny valentine!