Ramblings of a Dislocated Sea Monster

It's been almost three years since I last posted. Life got very, very busy. How did my life go from my last post to three kids and living in Korea? I'm honestly not sure some days. ;) My goal is to get back to rambling as I see fit.

When I walked up to my first outdoor market I felt like I finally found the Korea I was expecting and wanting. Rows of brightly colored umbrellas and pop up canopies were squeezed into several narrow streets. The sights, smells, and sounds were overwhelming that first time as my family walked through what seemed like a maze. Food carts were squeezed into tight spaces with their spicy dishes and fried sweets. The language I didn’t understand buzzed in my ears as several stand owners yelled through bullhorns. Clothes hung in tightly packed racks. You name it and I’m sure someone was selling it. This wasn’t a fancy mall, the big box store Emart, or even the English speaking area outside of the base gates. This was Korea. One of the ongoing traditional outdoor markets.

I am not Korean sized, but they do have some great deals!

Very thankful we chose to wear our two youngest kids! On busy market days it’s really hard to fit even the smallest of umbrella strollers. Keeping up with three kids in such a crowded space is definitely made easier by only having to keep up with one walking child.

That first trip I decided to stick to the basics...bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and chamwae.

And have I mentioned that this was all WAAAAY cheaper than the base commissary prices?!

Also could be titled "OMG I can't believe I'm 30!!!" because yesterday was my birthday. Man these things creep up....

The day started off with Bug Boy (my 2.5 year old toddler mess) waking me up at 6am. (My husband has been gone for at least an hour at this point.) I swear the kid has an alarm in his butt. It goes off and he jumps up and does. not. stop. Baby Girl (who is now 7 months!) thankfully stayed asleep for another 90 minutes. During this time I sat in the living room drinking coffee while grumbling about how I am not a morning person. Bug Boy got to watch Cars 2.

Good morning Baby Girl! Always wakes with a smile. :)

I then feed Bug Boy breakfast (granola bars and Trader Joe's fruity loops because it's all that's in the pantry lol). When he's done I get him into the playroom where he decides he'd rather play with interactive story books on the iPad. Since he's quiet I go to start unpacking the "office".....cause that's right we just moved. Again. This time by choice and just from a base house to an off base house. LOVE allllllll the space we have now and the cheaper rent is nice too. ;) I hand Baby Girl random things to entertain her and she rolls around the floor.

I get about 30 minutes of peace before Bug Boy decides he needs to be in the room with me. I take a break to help him with puzzles and then I get him sorting buttons. Baby Girl decides she'd rather play with her wool diaper covers.

I look at the time and realize it's 9am and I really should think about showering and getting out of my PJs! I leave Bug Boy in the playroom with a prayer that he just plays and doesn't find trouble. Baby Girl gets a bin of toys on my bedroom floor.

My shower. NOT the highlight of the house. Still don't have a shower curtain hanging in the kid's bathroom (we usually all shower together so I can keep an eye on them!), so quick shower it is.

Dressed (but not ready! lol) and thinking who needs a full length mirror when your counters are so low?! :p Baby Girl is thankfully still happy. A quick holler tells me that Bug Boy is at least still in the house and alive.

Once I'm ready for the day I get the kids dressed. I find I have a few minutes before we need to leave so Baby Girl goes up up on my back and Bug Boy watches the two video shorts that are on the Cars 2 DVD. I load dishes into the dishwasher and pick up the playroom.

It's 10am now. I herd Bug Boy outside where he wonders "where bunny?" (The lot next to us is empty and there's a bunny and a couple of cats that live in the trees.) After some talking about bunny sleeping, I get them both into the car.

Quick stop at the Chick-fil-a drive through for my birthday breakfast. We've been dealing with Baby Girl's dairy protein intolerance since she was 2 weeks. It's been improving a lot for the past two months and I decided today was the day to eat what I want and see how she does. All day I was expecting the screaming to start back up, but it never did. *dances* This was a glorious chicken biscuit.

Our first destination was the monthly Real Diaper Association circle meeting. We meet once a month to share about cloth diapers, to talk about any questions or issues people might be having, and to just hang out as friends. Today's topic was cloth diapering multiples, though I think we spent way more time on other subjects. ;) Baby Girl thinks watching the other kids is way cool.

After the meeting I run by everyone's favorite Walmart. I needed supplies to make more laundry detergent and unfortunately this is the only place of in town that I know has everything I need!

Then it's off to McDonald's with two of the mamas from the morning's meeting to let the kids play during lunch. This was my first time ever at the McDonald's here and I was surprised how toddler friendly it was. :) Bug Boy ate his chicken nuggets. Baby Girl tasted his apple slices. Mama got adult talk. Heavenly.

After playing hard we head back home for nap time! Bug Boy was exhausted. It took me 20 minutes, but I finally got him settled in his room so he could fall asleep. Baby Girl had a long dozing nursing session and I enjoyed kicking up my feet!

Zoe resisted a real nap for a bit despite the long nursing session, so she had a brief jump to get out some more energy. I went searching for the lost bin of diapers. Once I finally found them I finished organizing the changing station! Organized cloth makes me happy. :D

Finally I get Baby Girl asleep! I was afraid to move her far, so she got a couch nap.

During the silence I spent some time online taking care of some of my babywearing group's stuff (I'm leader for my local group). Once Bug Boy woke up at 4pm, Baby Girl quickly woke up due to the noise. Since I had more errands to run we headed out to the car. Before getting in Bug Boy noticed the bunny was awake. Poor bunny got chased. *sigh*

We headed off to the base (just a 10 minute drive thankfully!) to get an item I saw on the base swap page, to get a couple of things from the BX, get gas, and check the mail at the base house we're officially leaving later this week. No pictures because this whole time I was playing beat the storm! It started to sprinkle as I pulled up to the house at the end. Made it!

It's now 5:30pm, so I settle the kids with Sesame Street on Netflix and I start cooking up corn and zucchini from the weekly CSA box (LOVE these boxes full of fresh local produce I get every week!).

While dinner is cooking I decide it's time to open a bottle of wine so I can enjoy a glass with dinner. Like the wine sippy cup I got from my best friend for my birthday? :D If you're going to enjoy wine with little kids around you need a cup that won't break or spill all over your carpet.

Dinner time! I had the veggies with some leftover Chinese. Bug Boy refused to eat. We don't force him to eat anything, but we don't fix him his own meals. If he's hungry enough, he eats what is given to him. Apparently he's not hungry tonight!

Baby Girl sits in her high chair while I eat. She throws the zucchini I gave her, tastes the carrot, and eventually eats a couple of the puffs. She's not too interested in solids yet!

After dinner I sit back and continue enjoying my wine while the kids play. My husband finally gets home at 6:45. I ask him about my birthday ice cream and he leaves to get me some. Coffee Lovers. YUM.

So at this point Bug Boy poops. Hubby changes him and make loud noises of disgust and declares he is going to find the diaper sprayer and install it right now. Ha.

(No he was not thrilled by me taking these pictures. LOL)

While hubby installs the diaper sprayer Bug Boy decides he's done playing nice with his sister. The result is an immediate stopping of play and he is changed and put in bed. Unfortunately staying in bed is not his strong point. We have not finished unpacking his bedroom, so in getting up in the dark he trips and falls on something. Oy. He's given an ice pack and is settled on the couch for us to keep an eye on him. Baby Girl bounces during all of this before she's finally worn out for the night. I nurse her down and lay her in bed.

I didn't take any pictures, but while Baby Girl sleeps I enjoy another glass of wine and a couple of episodes of Major Dad on hulu with the hubby. Then he goes to bed and I stay up chatting with friends online.

Not an ideal birthday, but it was a full day and it (mostly) went well.

For those who cloth diaper, I did take pictures of most of the diapers used. :D