Water, Water ... Everywhere!

As I was going through my pictures trying to come up with a post, I noticed that almost all of the ones I had of Baylor taken recently involved water. The kid is in love with water and with the summer being as hot as it is, I can't blame him.

He got some cool shades recently and was testing them out in the pool the other day. My mom also got him some awesome water wings, but he is more of a step-dweller these days so they are merely an aesthetic accessory.


Little B fell in love with the water wheels at the Gardens during a recent visit with my mom, so she bought one for her house. He LOVES it! Both outside ...

... and inside!

Just look at that concentration!

Since not every day can be a pool day and since I can't spend all my time up at the sink with him (much as I'd like to), we recently acquired a water table for the little man to enjoy at our house. The first night we had it, I took it away before he even got to use it because he was throwing food on the floor; I had warned him, okay? Yes, I am a bit of a hard-ass sometimes ... sue me.

In any case, he got to use it the next morning while I was nursing Mollie and, boy oh boy, did he have fun!

The first scoop of water he had intended for the water wheel ended up almost entirely on the floor. But he soldiered on, and had a blast. (And yes, he's very serious about his fun.)

Though blurry, I was able to capture one of his smiles during his first encounter with the new water table. He's such a sweetie!

He did his best to keep the water in the water table until the very end. My mom had arrived by then and I think he was ready to move on.

Tile becomes quite slick when wet, so we had to lay down some towels so he wouldn't slip and fall ... which he did three times before we realized the need for said towels. We probably won't play with this inside again anytime soon, but it was a fun experiment nonetheless.

Back outside for a little more water wheel fun, Little B got to enjoy some pool step time with Grandpa E this week. He is really perfecting his staring techniques these days.

And for some reason he laughed quite heartily after doing this:

No idea why. Regardless, though, water sure is fun!

Four Months: Lady Amalia

Today is Lady Amalia's four month birthday! Can you believe it?

In the past month, she has really started a love affair with her lovey Winnie. Often she can be found in her bouncy seat, snoozing with him on her face. Yes, it freaks me out. Yes, I check on her frequently.


Last night we did a little photo shoot on the floor during tummy time, and she lit up.

I know she's my daughter and everything, but come on ... just look at that smile!

She has developed a super sweet personality and has an amazing smile to match. Oh, and though she will be weighed officially at the doctor's office on Monday, a preliminary weighing reveals that she's tipping the scales at 15 lbs. 8 oz.! And she's already fitting nicely into 9 month clothing. I can't wait to see how long she is now!

You go, chickabee!

Cord Blood Banking: A Real Life Saver

When I gave birth to my two kiddos, I was given the option of banking my kids' umbilical cord blood should someone in the family need it in the future for a life-saving procedure. The price was steep, though, and the chances of us needing it are unknown (and hopefully slim). I would have loved to donate this stem-cell-rich blood to a public bank, but our hospital didn't participate in such a bank so there was no way for me to do so.

That is not the case anymore, however. According to a recent TIME article, three hospitals have teamed up to provide anyone in the continental U.S. the chance to donate their baby's umbilical cord blood to Be The Match, the national cord blood registry.

It takes a little time and cooperation from your doctor, but this little bit of blood can go a long way to saving someone's life. Read the article. Decide for yourself. And if you or someone you know is giving birth sometime soon, pass this article along and consider donating.

Two Firsts, One Weekend

Miss Mollie enjoyed two firsts this weekend.

First first: She got to sit in the high chair while we ate dinner. Did she like it?

Oh yes she did!

Second first: She got to go swimming! Like the hat?

Yeah, she hates the hat (wonder why ...), but it's an SPF 50+ so it's essential.

Yeah, and right about then in the picture above I was getting a raging sunburn. I did something highly uncharacteristic of me and went sans sunscreen. And I'm paying for it; the pain is no fun and I'm aware of the risks I foolishly took. And it has reminded me why I am so vigilant about wearing sunscreen myself and slathering it on my children as well.

Anyhow, enjoy the firsts! We certainly did.

Revisiting NICE

Remember when I posted about Operation NICE? Well, Melissa is celebrating her two year "blogiversary" today and has asked people to participate in a little assignment. Leave some of her NICE notes around, send them to nice people, etc. and take a picture of the act. Then e-mail it to her and tell your story. That's it! And in return? Three dollars will be donated to The Hunger Project. How cool is that? Or rather, how nice is that?!

You can read more about the assignment here. And join in, will you? I have already sent out one NICE note and plan on doing many more soon! Sometimes the littlest things can make the biggest difference in someone's day, you know?

Celebrate niceness today!

Cloth Diapering Saga: Part 4 (Bring on the Swedes!)

When my family was in London they stumbled upon a store my mom said I would have loved called Green Baby. In it, they discovered some intriguing cloth diapers from a Swedish company called Imse Vimse.

Much like a prefold, they are a single-use, cotton cloth diaper and require a cover. Unlike a prefold, however, they are contoured and have wings that wrap around your baby, eliminating the necessity of a fastener (though I still use a Snappi on mine - call me overcautious).


An extra cotton panel extends from the front to provide added absorption where it is needed most. Should you be diapering a little boy, you can always fold up the extra panel - moms of boys, you know why.

In case you missed it, there's the extra panel!

The verdict? They are pretty sweet! While they are pretty absorbent on their own, you can always add a soaker for extra protection (or a long trip), and as long as you flare the gusseted sides they keep the poop in pretty well. Oh, and they are way thinner than a prefold, which means less bulk in your diaper bag and on your baby.

Now, that said, they do have a few drawbacks. First, they aren't quite as cheap as prefolds, though they don't seem nearly as expensive as other all-in-one style cloth diapers (though I don't know how shipping costs would alter their final price). Second, they would be awkward to reuse after diapering is done; prefolds make great rags when the kids are finally out of diapers. And third, though they claim to be a one size fits all product, I don't think that is necessarily so; Baylor would be pretty squished in these and I doubt they'd cover his tush.

While I like them a lot, I'm not sure I'll be getting any more of these, purely because I think we have enough cloth diapers floating around here right now. And if Mollie continues to grow at the rate she's been growing, then she'll grow out of them in no time, too!

That said, these are a fantastic product, and had I known about these from the get-go we might have a lot more of them!

A Trash Can That Locks!

Yup, you heard me right! A trash can that locks. We started needing one of these bad boys a while back ... Baylor was starting to think it funny to throw toys into the trash when we weren't looking. I wanted to get one of those slide-out trash cans you install under your sink (since our cabinet is locked right there), but we didn't have enough room. This beauty, however, fits perfectly under our island, has wheels so you can roll it out if you have something bigger to throw away, and - most importantly - keeps the little one from taking things in and out of the trash.

This particular model is the Black Slim Plastic Step Can by simplehuman, and though it retails for $39.99 it is well worth it; just think how much you could spend replacing things like toys, watches, wallets, etc. Oh, and if this one doesn't quite fit your space, simplehuman makes other sizes and shapes that lock as well.

Great for those with kids or with curious pets! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. (And though they recommend using their particular brand of trash bags, a standard kitchen trash bag works just as well for a fraction of the cost.)

Her Smile

She doesn't have her brother's cheeks or his bright blue eyes, but she has her own special trait that separates her from the rest.

It's her smile ...


... it lights up her whole face. It starts in one corner and spreads to the other, in an adorable little lopsided grin that is entirely infectious.

And it's all her.

Wedding Weekend

On Saturday, we headed to the Novi, MI area for our friends' wedding. Doug and Michelle were kind enough to invite the kids, so we made it our first trip as a foursome.

We left about ten minutes after our scheduled departure time, but since we hadn't firmed up our departure time until that morning I'd say that was pretty good. After about an hour of driving, we stopped in Okemos for a bite at Arby's. Baylor got to try a curly fry and had a lot of fun dipping his chicken into a cup of ketchup.


Mollie was kind enough to keep sleeping for a bit while I grabbed a bite to eat.

Then Baylor started having too much fun with his ketchup, dipping his whole hand into the tiny cup, so Bryson took over dipping duties.

We had borrowed my parents' Garmin, which would have worked out perfectly if not for one small address error. Instead of landing at our hotel before the wedding, we ended up changing the kids' clothes in the parking lot of this orthodontist's office. (And if they check their security cameras, they might get a sneak peek of me changing my clothes in the trunk of our minivan. Awesome.)

Without too much hurrying, we got to the wedding on time and were there to witness a lovely ceremony. Baylor squirmed a bit throughout the whole thing and was constantly marvelling at the stained glass, but overall he did really well.

Gorgeous church, huh?

The kids even let me get my hair all straightened out that morning just for the occasion! (Thanks, kiddos!)

Unfortunately, I forgot Mollie's binkie in the car, so we had to use Nora's trunk as a sucking substitute.

The reception was only a few minutes away, but Baylor still managed to fall asleep on the way. So we headed to the hotel instead, got checked in, and took our stuff up to the room. By the time we made it to the reception, Baylor was up and ready to party!

Oh, and so was Mollie!

Baylor had fun arranging our name cards in a line.

And we finally got what I believe to be our first foursome family photo ... at least the first one with us dressed in our finery.

After her dinner, Mollie fell asleep for a bit. She was awoken later by the vuvuzelas a couple guests had brought with them and were blowing in attempts to get the happy couple to kiss.

Michelle, the bride ... aren't her dress and hair positively lovely?!

Baylor enjoyed eating the cake with an adult-sized fork.

He got the hang of it quickly, too!

Then it was time for dancing! And boy, did we dance!

We stayed at the reception until almost 10:30! By then the kids were tired and ready to hit the hay, so we headed back to the hotel. Mollie chilled on the bed while we got Baylor ready.

The hotel said they were providing us with a "crib", but it ended up being a pack n' play. Oh well. We set that up in the middle of the room for Baylor ...

And set up our own pack n' play from home by the sink for Mollie.

After all that dancing and running around, Baylor slept like a champ! In the morning, he awoke, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to head home.

Mollie, however, was not a fan of sleeping in the pack n' play. So much so, in fact, that I could only get her to sleep in ...

... her car seat! So that's exactly how she slept. Right by the door. And, lucky for me, she only woke up once to eat! Whew!

At breakfast, Baylor got to try waffles for the first time and even got to dip them in syrup!

Thankfully, Mollie was awake for a bit during breakfast; I didn't want her sleeping through the morning only to be awake and upset for the car ride home.

As we packed the car up, Baylor took an opportunity to run out into the field next to the hotel. He could have spent all day out there if we'd let him.

It was a great trip, lovely wedding, and wonderful chance to see some of our old friends again! And for all that we put them through, it showed me that I totally lucked out and got two of the best kids you could ask for!

Congrats, Doug and Michelle!

Mollie's First Movie

Remember how I said I wanted to see the movie Babies when the trailer came out last November? Well, the movie did come to a theater near us! But since I had a new baby of my own, getting to the theater was a bit more of a challenge. I had a chance to see it with a bunch of other mothers a while ago, but I got sick and couldn't go.

So, when my mom suggested that we take Mollie with us, I thought, "Why not?!"

And we did.

She sat in her car seat in the seat between us, and as the trailers played we passed popcorn over her.

And then the movie started, and she started crying. Which means I saw one whole minute of the movie.

Yup, one minute.

The other 78 minutes were spent trying desperately to get her to sleep so I could sneak back in. I tried nursing her, standing up, in an out-of-order stall in the bathroom, but that is possibly the worst place to nurse a baby if you want him/her to go to sleep; with every flush and every burst of the hand dryers she jerked away from me to see what in the world was going on.

When that didn't work, we walked the halls of the theater, looking at pictures of Cary Grant, Veronica Lake, Roy Rodgers, Brad Pitt, and Denzel Washington. People commented here and there at the cute baby and whatnot, and an elderly gentleman even commented to his wife when he thought they were out of earshot, "That baby isn't going to sleep anytime soon."

*sigh*

My mom popped out a couple times; once while I was in the bathroom trying to nurse Mollie, and the other soon thereafter. She insisted she switch places with me, but the movie was already half over and I thought at least one of us should see the whole thing. After much debate, she lost the battle and went back in to enjoy the movie.

About twenty minutes before the movie ended, I had a hot and sweaty baby sleeping in my arms. But since I had missed most of the movie anyhow, I stayed out in the hallway with her so she could get some sleep.

Yeah, I missed the movie. But I got to spend time with my baby, which is more than some can say, right?