Life gets in the way

As you might have noticed I took a break from blogging for a little while. I found out yesterday that someone who had a great impact on me as a parent passed away this week. It was a tremendous shock and got me thinking about a lot of things. I wish we would have made more time to see her more often or even text to check in. Life is so precious. Hug your loved ones often and don't put relationships off. You never know when it is going to be a real good bye.

Keep an eye out for some upcoming posts. While we haven't been cooking so much lately, we have been up to a lot of other fun things. 

Working out

After having a baby it is so hard to get back into working out. Throughout both pregnancies I was very active and did a light-moderate 60 minute cardio workout with strength training about 5 days a week. After the first baby, I waited about three months to get back into working out. It was not the best and most consistent workouts, but at least it was something. There were classes at the mommy gym and yoga videos at home. 

With the second baby, after 13 months of almost nothing other than walks with him and the dog, I finally feel like I need to start being active again. This week, I squeezed in 3 workouts already. I hope the satisfied feeling of accomplishment is enough to keep me motivated to get them in. It certainly isn't easy when the sleep hasn't come yet and naps are the only breaks in the day!

Hoping you all get your fitness goals in this week as well!

Seventh Generation

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Ring Review

Now that we have had the Ring doorbell for a few weeks, I will post my review.

Something this popular should be very easy to unbox and setup. We expected that this would automatically work the first time it was synced with the app and that isn't exactly how it went. We tried using the easy instructions, but for some reason that didn't work. We couldn't get the ring to send out the signal it is supposed to send in order to work properly. After a restart and a few times, then trying a different phone, another restart of the network, and putting the doorbell right up against the phone it finally worked. Something that should have taken about five minutes took us about an hour or so. Part of that is user error and the other part is that maybe it should say it needs to practically be touching when you try to link them for the first time.

We charged it up overnight and installed it the next day where our old wireless doorbell had been. The ring is much larger and actually hangs off of the shingle. Now that I am used to it, I don't notice how large it looks, but initially I wasn't too happy. Before buying we did take a piece of paper, cut to the size of the Ring doorbell to test. So we did know how large it was going to be. If there was a smaller one available on wireless, we would have considered it, but the smaller version has to be hard wired.

The first few days we adjusted the sensitivity a lot, since we were constantly getting motion alerts. Now we get one every hour or two all day. Usually it is a large truck driving by. The shingle angle has it facing up instead of down, so we are not capturing people walking up to the door, only walking away. There is a solution for this: a wedge to change the angle. It is on the website for $19. We had some leftover shingles from replacing some of the rotted ones when we painted last. We cut one down and made our own fix. Unfortunately, that looked awful and didn't change the angle enough to solve our problem.

The battery does start to deplete quickly with a lot of motion alerts, since it will record when it sees motion. That isn't a Ring issue, that is an issue that we need to address by buying the wedge.

The doorbell gives us a peace of mind that we didn't have before, but it's also one more thing to check and one more piece of technology to break and fiddle with. We like the function and the idea behind it, but there are a few things we would like to see improved. Perhaps some type of heat sensing detection rather than just motion would resolve the trucks setting off the motion sensor. We'd also like to see the wedges included with the doorbell itself. Or some type of adjusting installation (longer screws or a wedge base of some sort. Overall, we would recommend it, but just realize that there are limitations.

Craving some pizza

Being on a dairy-free diet for over a year is wearing on me. After preparing a few vegan recipes for a baby shower several years ago, I swore I would never buy vegan cream cheese (or vegan cheese) again. Two things have changed: dairy substitutes have come a long way in 6 years and I didn't expect to ever actually be dairy-free or have a need for a vegan cheese myself. Having my own kids changed things. I caved in and bought some of the cheese substitute over the weekend.

Today I tried a new type of "pizza crust" and "cheese". It was actually fairly close to regular pizza (at least what I remember homemade pizza to taste like), there was a glimmer of hope that I do not need to be pizza free any longer.

Where did this all come from? Well, I got a coupon to try out the Sweet Potatoasts from Social Nature. They sell them at Wegmans in the frozen section and they are a marketed as a substitute for a bread-like product.

PCIT

A friend of mine is a child psychologist and offered to give me some tips and techniques to get through "the terrible threes." Of course I jumped at the chance for any extra experienced help with the recent tantrums and streak of defiance we have been experiencing over here.

She taught my husband and me all about PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy). Though we already employ many of these techniques and others are common sense, my mind was blown by how effective it is when you combine all of these things together. So I haven't done any research or reading on the counter argument against PCIT, so I can't speak to any of its criticism. It makes so much sense to me that if you build up your child's confidence that they will be a happier child. I do feel many of the behavior problems we are having now started when the baby was thrown into the mix. Our attention being split has meant that sometimes she needs to wait when she wants something. Sometimes she gets Daddy helping her, when she wanted Mommy or vs. versa. We are both noticing on some long days we are running low on patience and sometimes will snap and yell or act in a way that we don't love.

I want to be a happy, low pressure/stress and loving parent. It may not be possible to be happy all of the time; it may not be possible to be low stress all of the time, but I can choose to try to find ways that will relieve some of the defiance that causes us stress and frustration. Maybe this is one of them?

Ring Review

As promised a review of our recently purchased ring doorbell:

We went with the cheapest version with the least amount of features. It seemed like it would serve our purposes. 
Before we set it up one thing we knew we might have an issue with was our network. We have a very old router that works, but is a little slow and doesn't reach all parts of the house well.
After unboxing, we had a little trouble connecting the device to the app on our phones. It took a little while, a few reboots and trying a few different ways to connect before it started to work. 
We charged the battery up overnight and installed the next morning. It was easy to install and came with a detachable level. Somehow it never looks level when it is. That probably has to do with our house not being level at all. 

The size is big and it doesn't fit very well in the spot we had our old doorbell, but I am sure we will get used to seeing it there eventually. The picture was a bit delayed and the doorbell is constantly detecting motion. Every time a car drives by we get an alert. I am already getting annoyed with my phone constantly chiming. 

The button is a little harder to push than I thought it would be. It doesn't appear to register a push right away. I do like that it chimes at the doorbell and on our phones, so if you are ringing the bell, you know if you have pressed it or not. I don't know if you can change the sound you hear when you push the button. If so, I would like to change it and I will research this later. 

Night vision isn't the best view. It is hard to make out any details. If something were to be caught on this at night, not sure how much help the recording would be to identify anything. We are hoping with an upgrade to our router, this will be more clear and the response time will be faster to when it started recording after detecting motion. 

The app is limited and feels clunky to navigate. Not all of the features are intuitive and there isn't an intro tutorial when you first open the app.
Pulling up a live view is slow and seems to drain the battery of the doorbell more quickly. Charging this model requires removing the doorbell off the mount. This is done with a special tool (which is good, so it is harder to steal the doorbell). If someone did steal it, I would consider adding a visible security camera. Didn't think we will need that, but who knows. 

We are both excited to have this new visibility, but annoyed by a few minor things. 

Trouble at Drop Off

When we started going to preschool, I was threatening to keep her home when she wasn't behaving. It was a good system, because missing school was the worst thing ever. But last week, for the first time in 8 months, big sister did not want to go to school. Both my husband and I were baffled when we first heard her utter the words, "I don't wanna go to school today." We tried asking her many times what was going on and why the sudden change in attitude.

We had recently gotten back from our trip to Richmond and Grandma and Grandpa had just gone home after their visit to our house for the birthday party. We figured that she was missing them and just a little extra clingy, but as the week went on, the protests about going to school became stronger and stronger.

This morning is the second week we have had this problem. She wanted to be carried and didn't want me to put her down. Even her friends crowding around her waiting to play wasn't enticing enough to get her down.

Well as luck would have it one of the kids was carrying a little bucket of sandy mud and I guess he tripped and the mud went flying through the air and landed all over us as I was fixing the croc straps. It went all over my shirt and into my v-neck. This meant that I could quickly leave to clean up without my little clinger. As I opened the door, the crying began. Her teacher quickly scooped her up and the door closed as her sad cries dissipated.

It breaks my heart to leave her when she is so upset. Now both kids scream and cry when they get dropped off. It is enough to make me want to take a break from working for the rest of the summer so I don't have to stress them out going to school. Although, I don't really want to do that and they both need the socialization (and I need the break & adult time).

What do you do in this situation? No one seems to be able to figure out why the change and Little Miss Tight Lipped certainly isn't shedding any light. Suggestions and advice are appreciated!

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A summer Sunday at the Splash Pad

This morning we went to a local splash pad (which was a work event for me). We had so much fun. This place is so busy that there is usually a long line of cars to get into the parking lot, but this morning it was not very crowded. It was sunny and nice a hot. We had a great turnout and are excited for our next event. 

Maxi Cosi Review

We were selected to test out the Maxi Cosi Adorra travel system. 
Since the baby just recently turned a year old, I was a little surprised that our family was selected. 

As you may know, I have a slight stroller addiction and the prospect of a brand new stroller gives me such joy. Below is my review. The baby took a really nice comfortable nap while I walked around Boston last week. It was basically the best recline/nap set-up of all of my strollers. Very happy! 

I really like this stroller! I rated it a 4, but would have given a 4.5, if that was a choice. Only removed a half star for the fold, which I think could use a slight improvement. Here is my honest feedback: Things I liked: Super cozy for my baby. Very easy to assemble and feels very sturdy right off the bat. Love the fabric color, quality and how plush everything is. Very easy to push (even one handed), easy to use foot brake in a great location. The air flap on the stroller canopy is great. Overall the stroller system is very flexible – can be used with infant seat, reclines to multiple levels for naps and smaller babies, rear or forward-facing seat and has a big basket under for hauling my junk or grocery shopping. Like how easy everything is to adjust and the adjustable handle since I am short and my husband isn't. Lastly, love that it comes with a big cup holder (which fits my massive water bottle), washable liner, and parent zip up holder. There was certainly a lot of thought put into this design. Areas I would love to see changed: The fold for the stroller is 2 steps- seat and then stroller base. It's stiff and not easy to get used to. It is a little heavy to fold/lift with the seat on (but I do like that you don't need to remove the seat to fold). I don't love how the buckle clips- they need to be together before going in, which isn't always easy with a squirmy baby. I wish the sunshade extended a little further to cover the baby's legs on both the infant seat and the stroller seat. I don't like the idea of draping anything over either, but don't want to get too much sun on his legs. I wish it were easier to convert this to some kind of double with a rider board or an attachable second seat. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a high-end comfortable travel system.

Super Fun Cookies!

I have the worst fun cookie decorating skill envy. We ordered these construction themed cookies for the baby's first birthday party.

How cute are these??

I love baking and love decorating, but have never tried my hand at decorating cookies with royal icing. Maybe I will pull the trigger and buy all the supplies & take a class. What do you think?

PS these cookies go for $40 a dozen and we had to basically beg to have them sneak us in between other larger orders. There is totally an undersupply for fancy decorated cookies around here. I don't know if I can make them look this good, but I also could charge a little less until established and make a good side living. 🤔

Boston Children's Museum Visit

Last week in honor of his first birthday, we took a "Mommy and me" trip to the Boston Children's Museum, while big sister was in school. We had a really nice morning, took the train into Boston and a nice walk to the museum. When we got there we went up to the baby area designed for kids under 3. To my surprise (and disappointment) it was closed for a renovation. There was a sign explaining that there was a "pop-up section" throughout the museum. After some searching around, we discovered a section of the museum we have never been to before where there is a STEAM room, and art room and all sorts of other goodies. After testing out some of the art supplies, we asked about the location of the pop up space and made our way down to it.

We had a blast and made a few new friends while we played. We had lunch, played a little more and headed home. It was a great day together and a great first birthday celebration! We are excited to see how the new space turns out.😃