When I asked readers to submit questions on my Ask Ellie 3.0 post, a handful of you asked about vaccinations and whether we plan to have our son vaccinated, and that wasn’t the first time that we received that inquiry. It’s a bit of a hot button issue, but Mr. Handsome and I decided to tackle it in a video blog (posted below).
Archives for June 2019
More Tools = More Manliness
This post is brought to you by Mr. Handsome.
Throughout history, men have sought to answer the question “What does it mean to be a man?” They have fought battles, slain dragons, searched for treasure, and built castles. All to prove that they are manly men. In a society of desk jobs and padded office chairs, it can be more difficult to determine what it means to be a manly man. I have developed a simple answer: Just count how many tools he has.
The following is a story illustrating how a typical man shows his masculinity while talking about tools.
Last summer while we were packing our moving truck, I realized that we needed something to tie the boxes down. My friend stated in his deep manly voice, “I always carry premium industrial grade ratchet tie down straps in the back of my truck. Surely you have some of those?” Unfortunately I did not have any tie down straps, industrial grade or otherwise, but I wasn’t going to admit that, so I improvised. “Ummm of course,” I gulped. “It just so happens that they are in my other car, which is currently in the shop getting an oil change.”
“You take your car to the shop to change the oil?” He asked incredulously. “It only takes a wrench and a drip bucket to do it yourself. Surely you have those tools?”
“Well yes I have those,” I replied, rolling my eyes for emphasis. “It’s just that I tweaked my back last weekend riding bucking broncos and didn’t want to re-aggravate it while crawling under my car.”…
Share Your Baby-Proofing Tips
It’s time to baby-proof! Little Buddy is five-and-a-half months old, and he is on the verge of being mobile. He still can’t quite crawl, but he can wiggle his arms and legs enough to spin around and even move forward a little bit. He is also strong enough to reach for something with one arm while still holding his head up with the other.
This week, I learned that he is drawn to cords and outlets like a magnet. You can see the excitement in his eyes when he spies one and tries to go for it, and he has already succeeded in pulling a big cord out of the wall. It’s really quite amazing how strong his arms are and how strong his drive to yank cords is.
Our house is now equipped with little plastic outlet covers, and I ordered a few plastic boxes that fix to the outlet and allow cords to be plugged in but prevent babies from pulling them out or accessing the outlet.
I spent a few hours scouring the internet for baby-proofing ideas and searching for supplies, but I was shocked (no pun intended) to find out that there is very little useful information available, and there are only a few options when it comes to baby-proofing paraphernalia. This is the 21st century. We have self-driving cars and watches with internet access, but we can’t design a few more gadgets to protect babies from electric shock. There’s something wrong with our world.
A while ago, I purchased a sliding outlet cover to try. You slide it open to plug something in, and then when the cord is pulled it, it automatically slides closed. There are several companies that make them, and I chose the one with the best reviews. We’re talking over a thousand really good reviews. But when I read a few reviews on another company’s sliding outlet covers that mentioned the phrase “fire hazard,” that was enough for me to question the safety of the entire concept. The concern is that the sliding mechanism might make the prongs come loose from the plug (but not fall out completely) and cause the plastic on the outlet cover to melt. In a very rare case, it could result in a fire. So there goes that idea.
I am familiar with the tamper resistant outlets that are required in all new houses, and we are considering installing them in our home. But I’m still not sure that I trust them enough to install them and do nothing else to baby-proof our outlets And of course, that still wouldn’t solve the problem of Little Buddy pulling cords out of the wall and chewing on them.
If any of you seasoned parents have baby-proofing tips (both electrical and non-electrical) to share, go ahead and leave them here. I know that other readers would appreciate them, as well.
NYC Themed Art
On Saturday, I told you all that we had just sent a bunch of Mr. Handsome’s paintings to a venue in New York City. Several of you asked to see the paintings that we sent. Below are pictures of the New York City themed art that my husband created with the venue in mind. We also sent a variety of other paintings, including musical instruments, a cow, and a few abstracts.
My favorite is the one at the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. If you enjoy history as much as I do, you have probably seen old photos of the bridge. I suggested that my husband create a painting that looks like a vintage photograph, and I think he accomplished that beautifully. The second painting is of the full Manhattan skyline, with the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge on either ends. The third painting is the Empire State Building, and the fourth is a smaller skyline with the bridge.
Sending Paintings to NYC
Most of you know that Mr. Handsome makes oil and acrylic paintings as a hobby. We have enjoyed traveling around the Nashville area to different art shows and town festivals to sell his works of art. He has also displayed his paintings at coffee shops and other venues across the city. He started with landscapes and has since branched out to a variety of other subjects, including musical instruments, ships, abstract paintings, animals, and skylines. And for Christmas, he painted a portrait of me.
For the past couple months, he has been working on paintings to display at a venue in New York City. After many nights spent burning the midnight oil, he finished yesterday. This afternoon, we packaged the paintings up into three large boxes and dropped them off at UPS. It was kind of bittersweet to say goodbye to two dozen of his best paintings, but we are hopeful that some will sell. And it’s exciting to be able to say that he displayed his art in New York City. Little Buddy enjoyed laying on a blanket on the floor while daddy did many of the paintings.
Our Fantastic Faucet
At the request of my readers, I have posted in the past about products that make life easier for me (Magic Erasers, makeup removal cloths, and our baby sound machine are some of the most recent ones–I still use all three of those). While washing dishes one day day, I realized that another such item was right in front of my face, something I use many times a day but rarely stop to think about its practicality: our kitchen faucet.
In our first four years of marriage, Mr. Handsome and I have lived in three different homes. The first two were rentals, and this one is our first purchased house. In our first place, we had a small, shallow kitchen sink with an old-style faucet that spun 360 degrees. There was no backsplash, and behind the sink was our living room, so you could technically spin the faucet 180 degrees and release water onto the living room carpet. Not exactly a practical feature, unless perhaps you had a big stain on your carpet that needed to be washed.
In our second apartment, we had the same small sink but with a fancy faucet. Not only did the faucet have a high arch, but it also had a retractable head. It was so …
The Woes of Breastfeeding
One of the many things that I have learned since having a baby is how much work it takes to breastfeed. Before I became a mother, I got the impression that it was a fairly simple process that didn’t take much time or thought. Sure, it was common for ladies to have challenges at the beginning, but those issues didn’t last past the first several weeks, right? Wrong. Now that I have experienced it for myself, I am realizing that my perception of breastfeeding could not have been more wrong.
According to the CDC, approximately 83% of children are breastfed as newborns, but when babies reach three months old, that statistic drops to just under 50%. By one year of age, only 35% of babies are breastfed.
All I can say in response to those numbers is this: I get it. Breastfeeding is hard. Even for those who have a fairly smooth experience, it still takes a ton of time and energy. Even in the moments when you aren’t physically nursing, it still has to be on your mind. Is what you are putting into your mouth safe for your child? Are you getting enough vitamins and nutrients? Are you drinking enough water?
For me, one of the most difficult aspects of breastfeeding has been simply getting enough food. Gone are the days when I can eat lunch and not have to think about food until dinnertime. If I leave the house for more than an hour without a bottle of water and a sack of healthy snacks, my milk supply takes a direct hit…as does my ability to stay energized and alert.
Little Buddy has struggled with breastfeeding from day one. Our hospital provided wonderful lactation consultants free of charge when we delivered, and they still do, which is amazing. I could bore you with the details, but they have basically determined that he has a mind of his own. Sometimes he breastfeeds, and other times he doesn’t. It took many hours of tears (both his and mine) to figure out out, but we have finally settled into a good routine that includes a combination of nursing and pumping/bottle feeding.
And while it took a while to accept the fact that my baby wasn’t ever going to “nurse like a pro,” I have come to really enjoy the flexibility that comes with being able to pump. It lets me take advantage of my increased supply in the morning hours without feeling the burden of a lower supply in the evening. It allows …
“Hater” Comments
“You know you’ve really made it when you have haters and critics.” (Mr. Handsome)
Later this month, I will celebrate my 10-year blogging anniversary. My blogging journey started in June 2009 with a simple summer recipe blog, and while that website is no longer live, I now have three additional blogs that are going strong. As a blogger, I receive my fair share of negative comments and emails. Some are kind, respectful, and helpful, but others are not.
A little while ago, some close friends sent us the link to a forum containing about 20 negative comments from folks who dislike Nashville Wife. Mr. Handsome and I got a kick out of these comments (they honestly made us laugh out loud), and because they are not inappropriate, we thought we would share a few of them with you (video below). We both agree that it’s important not to take ourselves so seriously that we can’t laugh at ourselves.