the crossley clan

Since being a mom, I've needed tips more than I've ever needed in my life. Blogs and self-help books have new meaning, and my ears are all but ringing with advise (great, good and bad) from those who feel they could help me. With all of this, I have realized that I need some way to filter, edit if need be, and share with those who may also be looking for the same answers I am.

So I'm going to start cataloging here. It's the perfect place, right? :)

Here's my first tip:
Pete left the house Monday morning thinking that I would let Lucy out for her morning "duties" a bit later, but by the time I got going, I thought Pete must have taken Lucy out already. And throughout the day, I also thought that she was pretty annoying - always getting under my feet - she wouldn't leave me alone! It wasn't until 7p that she couldn't take anymore and ended up peeing on the third floor, waiting for me to put Jack to bed. The poor dog! She did everything she could to tell me, but I was just oblivious to her. I felt, and still feel, terrible.

Anyway, we've tired a bunch of different things over the years for this kind of mess, but I personally believe this is the best way to get any kind of urine out of carpet - and the smell:

Absorb as much urine as possible then sprinkle area with warm water. Follow this by sponging area with a solution of equal parts of detergent and warm water and a half part of vinegar. Pat dry and repeat sponging with solution 2 or 3 times. Finally sponge with clean water and pat dry. At no time saturate the carpet.

Oh, and definitely wear gloves. :-)

I've been talking to different friends and family about making homemade laundry soap for a LONG time now, but I'm really going to do it!

Everyone knows that it's cheaper to make it yourself, but the main reason I'm doing it is for Jack. He has some very sensitive skin that, per doctor's orders, we've been maintaining by:

Prescribed lotions and lots of cetaphil
We buy Dreft laundry soap and we don't use dryer sheets
Instead of regular soap in the shower, we use baking soda in the bath water

So when my mom mentioned that my sister makes her own laundry soap and she noticed that it seems to help her son's eczema, it was a done-deal for me. Anything to help Jack's skin!

I was able to find all my ingredients at Fred Meyer of all places. And I found what I think is a really good website for people of my caliber: people-who-don't-know-much-but-want-to-learn. It gives 10 different recipes for laundry detergent as well as a million other helpful tips. I think I'm going to go for recipe #4 cuz it looks pretty darn easy.

Wish me luck!

Last year, I was adamant that Jack was to be a Lobster for Halloween (don't ask me why... hormones?) but this year I was drawing a blank. Everyone had good suggestions, but nothing really made me say, "Yes! That's it!"

So, after buying and returning three Halloween costumes, the winner finally came to us by mail: Frankenstein! It turned out better than I could have guessed - cuz I could have guessed that Jack would rip it off mere moments after having it on. But he seemed to adjust immediately after seeing tons of candy everywhere.

He looked adorable!

We had a great time on Halloween, even though Jack started showing signs of a nasty cold. I'll share the stories and pictures very soon.

Our little bug just loves the rain!

We got out an umbrella for him to see if he would use it - and he did for a bit - but more than that, it turned out to be a great toy.

I think we have a rock star in the making!

We love the Redmond Town Center. There is a great fountain to play in and ice cream and great restaurants... and the best music making area I've seen at a mall.

Click here to take a look!

Jennifer came up with the best idea: let the boys go crazy with some shaving cream. We stripped them down to their diapers and sprayed a bit on some trays. I don't know what we were thinking with using trays. We should have known that it wouldn't stay on the trays for long. Jack went straight to wiping himself down with the stuff and Pete helped him with some horns and a mo-hawk. Logan was a little bit more tame but loved it just as much!

Here are some pictures!

And for your viewing enjoyment:

So I love North Bend!

I've always been partial to this city, but I am now officially in love. In September, we went blueberry picking right up against one of my favorite mountains, Mt. Si, and had such a good time! We came away with pounds and pounds of blueberries, and Jack probably ate just as much while we were picking.

Here are some pictures: click here.

It was raining one day when Jennifer and Logan came over to play, so it was to be playtime inside - but the boys didn't see it that way. They wanted out on the porch to play! Jennifer and I resisted for a while, but the boys finally won. So we ended up just taking off their clothes and letting them go at it. They had so much fun! Well, that was until Jack got so cold that not only were his lips cold, but the skin around his mouth and creeping up to his nose were turning blue. Don't worry, we kept a close eye on them.

Here's some of my favorite pics:

Jack would get out just far enough to feel the rain - and then would freeze. Too funny.


Logan came running right behind Jack and pushed right past him. He acted as though he'd been freed from his confining clothes!


Boys enjoying the rain.


Jack finally got cold enough to come in and landed right in my lap. So sweet!


Do you see the raindrop running down Logan's left cheek? I love this kid.

I've been pretty excited about finding kraftfoods.com. They have easy, yummy recipes - and Pete agrees! I love it when I hear: "That was some the best chicken I've ever had." Here are my favorites so far...

Pete, you are amazing. Not that I can show you how much I love you through gifts, but I wanted you to know that I love you by spending time on making something for you. Even though you only got this one thing from me this year for both holidays, hopefully that doesn't distract from that fact that you are the best husband ever!

And thanks for being so excited about your gift. :) You're so sweet, love.

Once he got up...

He couldn't get back down!

One little monkey jumping on the bed.
He fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

But Jack's a rebel, so back to jumping he went!

Molly Novak and her boys invited us to go play in the fountains at the Redmond Town Center the other day, and it was just what the doctor ordered! Jack loved the little fountain the best, was a little intimidated by the middle sized fountain and definitely wouldn't go near the large fountain.

Thanks for such a fun day Molly, Jamie and Travis!!

What else would be more fun than Bubbles and Grandma on a hot, very hot, summer afternoon?

I found some old pictures, taken in March, from the first time I decided to let Jack feed himself yogurt. If I'm being completely honest, I really just wanted a good laugh that day. :0)

Take a look here.

Little did we know that when we adopted Lucy, we also adopted an interior designer. While we were out one day, Lucy decided to do some remodeling. First thing was the molding on the door. Guess she didn't like it, so... she took it off!

And she, apparently, didn't like our french doors, so she was starting in on those when we got home.

We had a fabulous time at Long Beach, WA with the Schmalle's this past weekend. It was sort of a last minute getaway and it really worked out great. The first couple of days were cold and windy, but Memorial Day was beautiful! We spent every minute we could on the beach that day. There are SO many pictures that I loaded them here. When you have a minute, go through them: I put captions on most of the pictures so it's like a picture book. :0)

Jack loves his new sunglasses! He even tried to get Lucy to try them on, but her nose kept getting in the way.

Ya, I had to update already with Lucy making herself at home.

We adopted the SWEETEST 5 year old, female Weimaraner from the Humane Society today. She's been home for about an hour now and she laying at my feet, sleeping. She didn't want me to leave her sight so she followed me up and down our three flights of stairs for a while, then I realized that she may just want to sit and relax so I got her bullstick and sat on the first floor. She immediately went to chewing her stick at my feet. That lasted for about 10 minutes and now she is dozing. Her name is Missy, but we are debating whether or not to change it. She's had this name for her entire life and I'm sure I want to change it on her. We'll see. But if you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I am so very, very excited to have a pup in our house again. Roz's death was a huge blow to our family, but it is time to take care of the hole that only a dog can fill. I have great hopes that she will fit in just fine. :-)

Rob and Jen moved to Seattle, but we've been able to go over for dinner a couple of times. This particular time Pete got it in his head to mess with the boys and ... well, you've just got to see Jennifer's post about Logan and Jack:

So, it's been over a month since Jack's first birthday. I know, I'm a slacker. Life has been pretty crazy around here and the blog has taken a back seat to my "things to get done" list.

Here's the low down: I had invited everyone and their brother to this party cuz, well, I was excited for an excuse to party. I knew I couldnt' fit everyone in my house, but through a long and unfortunate series of events, that's exactly what had to happen. Thanks to my in-laws, and my friend Jennifer who cleaned the toilet for me, the house was ready to go in just the nick of time, complete with decorations and an extra table for the buffet.

The theme was Jack's Favorite Things. He loves to kick around a soccer ball, so of course I made the cake look like a soccer ball and had soccer decor everywhere. And for lunch, we had meatball sandwiches with all of Jack's favorite side dishes and drinks: cheese, edamame, marshmellows, jello, yogurt, whole milk, water, peas, corn, doritos... you get the picture.

Once everyone arrived the stress desolved and we all were able to relax and laugh with our friends and family. We felt very loved because not a single person complained and I had a few people compliment on the food selection. :-)

Thank you all for such a good time.

This is one picture to give you a glimpse at how tight things were:

After lunch, we stripped Jack down to his diaper and sang happy birthday to him while he mesmorized himself with the candle on his cupcake:

But once the candle was off, it didn't take him much time at all to dig in:

And yes, you're right: that was green and black frosting. But it was easier to clean up than I had anticipated, so we were good.

Then after cake, it was on to presents. Jack got some great loot - thank you so much everyone!!

And he had plenty of help opening his presents:

You hear moms say it all the time, but I can't believe this much time has gone by. I can't believe it's been a year since I gave birth to my little buddy. I can't believe he's walking and starting to communicate and has a beautiful, unique little personality. I can't believe I'm a mom. I can't believe that we have been blessed with a son of our own. He is the light of our lives and the center of our universe.

Pete and I have the coolest kid! We couldn't have asked for more out of our Jack-Jack.

We love you, little bug!!