YCN #8

Posted on June 23, 2015 by amberbatdorf

At my baby shower, I received a few things that I never thought would be my saving graces, but they became so. I should have had faith in the women who gave the first two gifts, as they were already mothers themselves and knew what they were talking about. As for the third gift, I still say my husband just got lucky.

Most useful gift #1: Cloth diapers

My grandmother bought me a few packages of cloth diapers for the new baby. They were not for what I thought, however. Today, burp clothes are thin and flimsy. Grandma bought the cloth diapers to be used as burp clothes. They are thick, super absorbent, and cover a lot of real estate. What is the point of a burp cloth that is none of those things? I felt the cloth diapers were a god-send and we still use them as burp clothes, napkins for bigger, toddler-sized messes, etc. Thank you, Grandma. You are so smart!

Most useful gift #2: Nightlight

My aunt gave me a nightlight for my first baby, but it was so much more than that. It also plays music. On those nights when I was tired and beyond singing to soothe the baby, I did not have to sing or hum to him. The nightlight did it for me. He absolutely loves it. When my parents come to stay with us, they even say they would not be able to fall asleep without hearing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Also, just the nightlight itself makes checking on the baby before bed easy. I can go in and cover him back up without disturbing him by turning on the overhead light or using the light from my phone.

Most useful gift #3: Fleece blanket

Not all blankets are created equal. I assumed that as long as the baby was covered and warm, any blanket would do. This is not the case. I have found that all babies will have their favorite, whether it be silk line, soft on one side, knitted by grandma…
My husband is a great Batman fan and found a fleece Dark Knight blanket and bought it for our son. The boy will not sleep without being wrapped in it; he must just love the feel of the fleece against his skin. Bedtime, nap time, Mommy always has to know where the blanket is.

YCN #7

Posted on January 20, 2015 by amberbatdorf

When my sister and I were younger, my parents took us on some long road trips. We drove to Walt Disney World. We drove to the Grand Canyon. You get the idea. My sister and I had some epic fights over the cooler that separated us in the back seat, but we also took some awesome pictures.

One summer, my mother decided we were going to drive to Roswell, New Mexico. We had been watching “Roswell” ever since it premiered on television and thought it would be cool to check out where it was all taking place.

There were museums about UFOs and space and we even got to eat at the Crash Down Cafe which is one of the locations where the show takes place. As we were walking back to the car, we came upon a little out-of-the-way place that looked intriguing and had only a $2.00 entry fee. We went in and it was amazing. The proprietor had scenes set up were you could take photos with “aliens.”

At the time, we were really excited. We took lots of silly pictures and thought that they were great when we got them back. Now that I am an adult, I look back on these photos and I am really embarrassed. I cannot believe I at any point thought what I was doing was cool. In one picture in particular, I look a little drunk and I really wish that I had been, because at least that would explain why I allowed my picture to be taken in such a way. Thanks, Mom and Dad. You had to realize we were not cool.

These awkward photos will forever be proof that I was a “weirdo” and there is no denying it. At least my sister was equally guilty.

YCN #6

Posted on November 13, 2014 by amberbatdorf

My most memorable concert experience is not because of the concert itself. My favorite moment happened before I even entered the venue doors.

My sister and I went to a Cobra Starship concert when I was junior in college. My boyfriend had gotten us discount tickets as the band was playing where he worked at the time. We were so excited because it was our first concert. We saved for weeks so we could buy as much merchandise as we could.

We left early to avoid the traffic, but we had an easy ride in. We expected a long wait in line to be screened before we could enter the venue, but the queue moved swiftly. Right before the doors, there were security guards checking bags. As I had driven that night, I had a small purse with me. I held it open as I approached security, but continued my conversation with my sister as I knew there would be no issues.

I halted in talking to my sister when I realized the guard was not letting me pass. He was shining a flashlight into my purse on something in particular. From my angle, I could not tell what he was looking at and my mind raced to think of what I could possibly have in my bag that would cause security to keep me from entering the concert.

The guard called his female co-worker over to my sister and me. He motioned into my bag with his flashlight. The female guard shrugged; she did not know what he was looking at either. He reached his hand into my purse and pointed to the object. She rolled her eyes and said to him, “You’re an idiot. That’s a tampon.”

I am still not sure who was more mortified by this: him or me. I do know that I have yet to ever see another human being display the same amazing shade of red upon their face.

I honestly barely remember the concert – I know we had fun, the music was great, I bought a hoodie that is still my favorite one – but I will never forget the look on that poor man’s face over thinking a tampon was some unknown, possibly dangerous object. Embarrassing, somewhat. Memorable, definitely.

YCN #5

Posted on October 30, 2014 by amberbatdorf

We all learn lessons from our Exes. Some of these lessons were hard to learn and even though, at the time, I wished I had not learned them, I am glad for the knowledge these exes gave me.

Lesson #1: Like father, like son.
John was funny and charming, just like the father he was named after, but during our phone conversations, I began to notice something. His father was a yeller and he seemed to always be upset about something. The longer we dated, the more mean John became. He yelled at me for things and was just downright miserable. My mother sat by me and held my hand after she told me that no 16 year old girl deserved to cry so much over a boy. Thanks, Mom.

Lesson #2: Pay attention to how he treats his mother.
If he treats his mother like a queen, chances are he will do the same for you. Beware that he does not cross the line into a “Mama’s Boy,” however. Sean was a sweetheart who picked you up for dates and held open doors. He did everything his mother asked of him; even break up with his girlfriend. I was deemed to be taking up too much of HER time, it being his senior year and all. No more “Mama’s Boys” for me.

Lesson #3: Saying “no” is hard.
Draw your line and respect it. Do not let a single person make you compromise your convictions. Rob, a different Sean, and a few more nameless fools all decided that because I was not ready, I was not worthy. After once, or even twice, of having a boy break up with you over something like this, it can make you start to question your choices. Saying no may be hard, but you will have more respect for yourself in the long run.

Lesson #4: Not all men deserve your trust.
While in college, I was seeing Ian. I came back from soccer practice one night, wet and exhausted. My roommate had the “code word” written on our door and I had to wait in the lounge on our floor for three hours. At the end of this time, Ian left our room. Guess we were interchangeable.

Lesson #5: Follow your heart.
There is always a gut feeling when you begin dating someone. Listen to it and you will save yourself time and heartache. You cannot change someone who is not willing to change themselves; you should never try. The “bad boys” will always remain as such and they are not the kind of man you want for the rest of your life.

YCN #4

Posted on October 24, 2014 by amberbatdorf

When we have the time to try an experiment from Pinterest, occasionally we find that what we have been promised is not exactly what will be.

I have extremely straight hair and have tried many things over the years to remedy this. My hair will not hold curls, it will not even hold a perm. I found a suggestion on Pinterest to get gorgeous, “beach waves” in your hair. The steps were easy. It did not require a curler or hot rollers. I thought I was in business.

The directions were foolproof. I was to section my hair into 5-10 groupings and then braid them. Then I was to run a flatiron over them, let them cool, hairspray them, and take them out. Simple, right? Apparently not. My only guess it that I must have cinched the braids too tightly.

After the braids were taken out, my hair looked like it had lost a fight with a crimping iron. This was not okay. I attempted to comb it out, but this only made the matter worse. I then looked like a lioness with a crazy mane. I did not have time to do anything else with my hair before I went out, so I had to put it up in a severe bun in order to hide the mess I had made of my hair.

I learned an important lesson that day: DO NOT experiment with Pinterest ideas, especially beauty tips, right before leaving the house. It should be done on a day when there is plenty of time before you have to see another individual just incase it is a complete FAIL.

YCN #1

Posted on August 25, 2014 by amberbatdorf

Well, it is official. YCN is gone and you can no longer find my articles online. As I said, I plan to post them maybe once per week, but I will only post the good ones.

Parenting Resolution

My parenting resolution for 2013 is to let my son get dirty!

In today’s society, overuse of anti-bacterial soap and hand sanitizer has led to some antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. The belief that keeping ourselves clean is keeping us healthy is not always the case.
Just like a muscle, the immune system gains strength from use. If we do not let it “workout” every now and then, it becomes weakened and cannot fight even the simplest strains of bacteria. Every cold makes it so the immune system has the ability to tackle larger, more persistent strains. Treating illnesses before giving the immune system a chance to fight them in essence makes one more prone to illness.

A study done in Finland found that children raised in homes with dogs were 73% healthier on average than those who were not. This is because dogs frequently bring the outside in. The dirt and all the goodies that are in it expose children’s immune systems to the natural things that their bodies need to be able to fight off more major illnesses.

I want my son to get dirty. I want him to play with the dog and roll around in the dirt. The antigens his body will absorb can only help him be a healthier boy overall. His body will fight off bacteria and infections that my husband and I, or even my son, will not know about. I want his immune system to be strong so if, heaven forbid, he becomes seriously ill, his body will have had the practice fighting and it will be able to more efficiently protect him from what ails him.

I know it is a little dorky, but it was my first one! I was very proud of it at the time.

Thank You

Posted on May 30, 2014 by amberbatdorf

Over the holiday weekend, we went to PA to visit with CJ’s family. I received a pleasant surprise while there. Turns out his aunt from OH reads my stuff! She asked me all kinds of questions about the articles I write for Yahoo!, about how I got into writing and if I was working on anything else. She was excited to learn about my current WIP and even offered to beta read it for me. It was really great to get such positive feedback about my work. It gave me an extra jolt to work hard to accomplish my goals.

Filler, Since It Had Been a While

Posted on June 11, 2013 by amberbatdorf

Life has been stressful this past month. I have had two job interviews, which led to two job shadows, but then nothing. I told CJ that I am not used to not getting a job I interview for. He tries to remind me that the economy is different now then it was three years ago, but it is still hard to not take things to heart.
MJ said his first full sentence at 15 months; it may have only been two words long, but I’ll take it 🙂
I have had a couple more articles posted through Yahoo! and anyone interested should check them out. I get paid per view, so you would be doing me a favor.
Last weekend, we went to the drive-in for the first time of the summer. We saw “Fast & Furious 6,” because we love the series, and we also saw “The Purge.” “The Purge” was a very intriguing movie with interesting concepts; definitely a thinker.

Party Time!

Posted on March 22, 2013 by amberbatdorf

It has been beyond crazy lately trying to get a house we have been living in for less than three months ready enough to entertain a large number of family members. Why do I need to have them over? My baby is turning one!

It is hard to believe that my baby boy is already one. He walks, he talks; where did the time go?

My family is great, but sometimes they can be a little judgemental. My mother will comment on how the kitchen is not painted yet. My grandma, who has a keen eye for dust, will let me know if I missed a spot. One of my aunts makes the cakes for everyone’s birthday parties, but I told her I wanted to do this one myself and I am sure she will let me know if it is not up to standards.

I know MJ will have lots of fun tomorrow, but I sure will not. Who ever really has fun hosting the party; making sure drinks are full, there are enough snacks out…

Somehow I managed to pull together the time to write a little more for the Yahoo Contributor Network so if anyone is interested in reading one of the two articles, here they are: “Words of Wisdom” and “My Son Creates his own Photo Ops.”

Hopefully after tomorrow afternoon, I will still be sane enough to post a few pictures of the birthday boy and of the main rooms of the house that have finally been finished. I am so proud of what CJ and I have been able to do on our own. CJ even built me my dining room table! I think it is beyond gorgeous and I never knew he was so handy. 🙂

Bed early tonight beccause I have a dragon cake to finish in the morning. Rawr! 😀

Amber Batdorf's Blog

stories about life – from frowns to smiles and all the miles in-between

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