Project 52: Week 8

Super yuck weather.

But at least it's pretty.

Spoons Aren't Toys

Okay. I am a first time parent and know there are common sense things that you just shouldn't let your kids do, being a new(ish) mom is no excuse. 

Letting kids play with silverware is a huge no-no. I've seen the picture of the kid with the fork stuck in his face (google it, I don't want to see it again) Well...

I used to let my child play with spoons. I would let her run off and play around with her spoons in her mouth when she was done eating.

After all, it's just a spoon right? 

One early afternoon, Evelyn had just finished her yogurt and I took her form the highchair and let her run off. I don't recall noting that she had the spoon, but it wasn't a big deal, I let her run off with the spoon all the time. So she is goofing around, playing with her toys. She climbs on her ride on Jeep, it's not that big, the seat maybe 6 inches off the floor. She loves to stand on it, so that is what she is doing, standing, and I don't notice the (metal) baby spoon is in her mouth, and she falls. Her scream startled me, she normally cries, but this was a scream. When I scooped her up there was blood pouring out of her mouth.

When she fell she jammed the spoon into the roof of her mouth, and she cut a nice dent in her mouth. It stopped bleeding after a minute or two, but she wouldn't let me look in her mouth. She would nurse, so I figured that was pretty good. We ended up going to urgent care anyway because when she finally let me have a look she had a sort of pocket on the roof of her mouth and I didn't know if it was something that would need to be stitched closed. Thankfully it wasn't. 

It actually started healing very quickly, Here is a picture of her mouth a day or two later as it was healing. 

It was three weeks ago and she barely has a little dent in the roof of her mouth anymore. 

But we learned a very important lesson that day. Spoons are not toys (anymore). 

Tell me I'm not the only one who learned a hard lesson about something that was common sense. 

Custom Hello Kitty Camera Strap from Marine Parents

I can't believe I forgot to post this! I just found this in my draft folder, so I am sharing it now.

I love, love, love my dSLR camera strap from Marine Parents Etsy shop. 

I have been eyeing them for a bit and decided it was time to special order a custom Hello Kitty one.  

I even added a special pocket for my lens cover, that I seem to loose all the time

It's so perfectly perfect. You should for sure go check out her shop!

She has a lot more than camera straps too, she makes pouches, bags, purses, toddler backpacks (that are super cute!) and she does flash sales on pouches on her instagram @mppouchsale as well as on her main account @marine_parents

I do love Marine Parents shop, but I also have special love for her because she is in Okinawa, and if you have been around long enough you know just how much I feel about Okinawa. Also even though she is in Okinawa, shipping was quite fast, and I was very impressed. 

You can find Marine Parents on

Etsy & Facebook

*I was not compensated for this post, I paid full price for my camera strap, I just love it so much I think you should know, so I had to share.* 

Project 52: Week 7

My favorite pictures this week are from the other night when Evelyn decided to yank on a vine from one of my plants, the plant came crashing down on her and she thought it was the funniest thing. As she stood there covered in dirt. 

She is half dressed because daddy started to undress her before I could grab the camera. 

dirt in her hair, in her mouth, in her ears. 

It was HILARIOUS 

Ad Space Giveaway!

Vanessa over at Hearts On Guard is celebrating her 800+ Twitter followers

with a whole week of giveaways. Today I'm joining her and seven other

bloggers to bring you an Ad-Space Blog Bundle giveaway! A whole month of

ad-space on 8 different blogs!!!

Chantal from Scattered Seashells --

Middling Ad (200x200)

Jo from Jo, My Gosh --

 The Phone Call

(200x400)

Kara from Ramblings of a Marine

Wife --

The Gunny (200x100)

Alana from Fractured Fairy

Tales --

200x200 Ad

Melissa from Marrying the Army 

Jessica from Jessica Lynn Writes --

Large Ad (250x250)

Kara from Green Mtn Girl 

 -- 300x250 Ad

Elizabeth from The Young Retiree --

Retired Life (250x250)

a Rafflecopter Giveaway

Nose Frieda (a review)

I have had the NoseFrida recommended to me several times by several people. I really don't know what took me so long to get it, the first time Evey was sick, I swore up and down I was going to order one online the next day, but I didn't. Then Evey got sick with me mid January, and I finally ordered one. I really wish I had ordered one sooner. Its a wonderful booger removal tool, and works far better than I expected.
The only downside is Evey HATES IT. I literally have to pin her down to use it. At first I felt terrible doing it, because she screams bloody murder, But it works so well, far better than any bulb sucker I have ever tried. It gets all the boogies. 

When I explain how it works, to people they think it sounds like the most disgusting thing ever, but once you get your baby breathing clear for the first time in a week, you'll be sold too. 

It works just like the picture on the box shows, you put one end into the babies nose, that part is attached to a filter to prevent boogies from passing into the hose, and you put the end of the hose in your mouth and suck those boogies out. 

It forms a seal in the nostril so when you suck those boogies, all your mommy (or daddy) powered sucking is going straight to getting those boogies out. 

Well enough with the words, let me introduce you to the NoseFrida: 

Front of the package

The NoseFrida all opened up to show how it comes apart for washing (the hose detaches too)

filter will go back into that little hole. 

mouth piece

additional filters. There's three cut out in that you just have to pull them out. 

You can get your very own NoseFrida from Amazon and CottonBabies, among many other retailers, maybe even locally if you live in a bigger city than I do. 

Sorry no action photos, I don't know how I would take pictures of me using this, and Paul refuses to use it, so I can't take pictures of him sucking the snot. 

Evelyn - 14 Months

Today Evelyn is 14 months old. Its incredible to see how much she has grown. She is walking and running, climbing and being a little monkey. She has 4 bottom teeth now and 2 top, about to cut a third. She still isn't talking much, she can say one syllable things - da, ca, ah, ee, and she screams MA when I piss her off. Since she isn't really talking we started working on sign language again. She surprised me this week and signed "more" after breakfast, and was elated when I understood her and gave her a banana. She can also sign thank you, but she doesn't use it in context, only when prompted. She is also waving hello, and has been much more interested in strangers. 

Evey will eat about anything, we have reintroduced strawberries and had no reaction. Pickles make her face turn red though, so we will be avoiding them for a little while. One of her favorite foods is spaghetti squash, she shovels it into her mouth by the handful. She usually has vanilla Greek yogurt or eggs for breakfast. Her favorite snacks are cheerios and gold fish. She eats whatever we have for dinner, lots of chicken. 

We let her watch TV sometimes and she loves Yo Gabba Gabba, she will grab the remote and do a "dancy dance" and we know she wants us to turn it on so she can dance. She still likes Sesame Street, but not as much as Yo Gabba Gabba. 

We had our first urgent trip to the doctor a couple weeks ago, but I'll write a separate post about that. 

Overall she is doing really great, growing like a weed, I think she gets taller every day, and she is constantly 'exploring' the world around her, and by exploring I mean getting into shit. 

All photo credit goes to Yearry Photography in Helena, Mt.
If you are in Helena you should totally check her out!
http://yearryphotography.com/

Project 52: Week 6

These little feet, and the cute little person they belong to, keep stealing my spot in my bed. She's lucky I love her. 

View all Project52 Here

Winter Blues- update

I think I am back, hopefully I can get to posting again. I have been knee deep in the winter blues, and sickness. What started as a cold, turned into a sinus infection, and then turned into an upper respiratory infection, all over the course of about a month. It finally caught up with me, not being able to breathe, and not being able to get anything done around the house, and barely being able to keep up with Evelyn, I finally went to the doctor and began antibiotics, Slowly I have been improving, and after an antibiotic change I think I feel 100% again, but it's been so long since I felt better I am not sure. So between being knee deep in snow, seriously almost a foot this week, and the winter blues, I am so ready to move to Southern California, where it never will snow. I check the weather every day, it's so beautiful in Oceanside, and our forecast is calling for more snow. 

Yeah, I can't even make this shit up.

Saturday Morning 

Saturday Morning

Tuesday Morning
more snow, yay (heavy with the sarcasm)

But things are still looking good for our move, we should leave Montana some time in early/mid april and we will begin our trek across country to visit Evey's Grandparents, Uncles, and Aunts. Then we will head back west to Camp Pendleton. To say I am excited is an understatement. I have a countdown on my phone and We have about 60 days left until we leave! 

except I don't think we'll go through vegas on our way down, we'll just drive through northern arizona like we usually do.

Its going to be a huge pain in the ass at first because we will be driving 2 cars, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 baby from Montana to Arizona, then leaving one car and the animals at my parents house and my sisters place. Then picking them back up on our way to California. 

For our short time left here in Montana, I hope the weather improves so we can have some nice weekends to spend outdoors with our friends, and Evey's little boy friend, before we move. It really sucks that both places we lived here in Montana, we start making friends when we are about to leave.

Go Link up! 

Project 52: Week 5

I've been battling a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection this week so I haven't taken many pictures. But I am finally on the road to recovery (i hope) so maybe we'll have more quality pictures next week. 

This is an icicle in my back yard, doesn't even begin to describe how cold it is. 

I did make cookies for the Super Bowl though!