Chores

Yesterday we were very productive over here.

We did laundry...

brushed the dog that decided she was done with her current coat...

made a dent in our mess of a garage while the baby napped...

and of course, more laundry.

Whew, I can't wait for Brett to get back tonight!


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Play Dates

I am a huge fan of play dates.

They give Barker a chance to interact with other kiddos (even if it's just observing the bigger ones running around) and it gives me a chance to connect with other Moms that are going through the same things as me.

Yesterday was our MOPs kickoff play date for this school year.

MOPs is for "Mothers Of Preschoolers." Our church has a group that meets once a month and has a scheduled play date once a month. It was so great joining last year, I got to know a lot of other moms around me that shared their experiences and gave me some great ideas. So I'm looking forward to it officially starting up again next month!

If you don't have an outlet like this in your life, I highly encourage you to find one in your area at www.mops.org!

As you can tell, yesterday's play date was at the park. Barker was surprisingly, not too into the swings, but he enjoyed climbing through the tubes and finding new friends! =)

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Making the Bed

I've read in multiple articles over the years that making your bed in the morning will somehow cause you to have a more productive day.

I never disagreed with this logic, it all makes sense. I've been making my bed every morning since I was little and I've always been pretty good about getting things done. But I'm also a morning person and I hate to procrastinate.

Sadly, since I've been married I've pretty much had to settle on making the bed by setting up my pillows and pulling up the sheets on my side as my husband sleeps in, then wakes up and leave his side unmade. ;)

Brett is out of town this week though so I actually got to make the bed yesterday morning! (At the time I didn't really feel like doing it, but seriously, the whole room looks cleaner when it's made; and we had just cleaned the whole house on Saturday so I'm trying to keep things neat!)

And guess what?

I had the most productive day I've had in a very LONG time. (Possibly since the baby arrived.)

I made numerous calls and appointments. (Pretty much setting up everything that needs to be done in September.)

I caught up on all my emails.

Did a little laundry.

Updated this blog. ;)

Made a trip to Target with the kiddo.

AND managed to provide all of my meals at home without the help of a drive-thru.
(Oh and I made brownies while my chocolate-hater husband is out!)

Did making the bed in the morning actually help? I don't know. But I definitely feel more productive when the house is clean.

I've already made the bed this morning...I wonder what I'll accomplish today...

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And in case you're wondering what my Barker Bear is up to:

Enjoying his play house.

I can't wait until he starts catching on to the "joys of cleaning." (If I make it like a game and pretend it is fun, he'll do it. Right??) 0:-)

Doggy Care

If you're a mom then you know that when someone loves on your kid, you feel loved too. I think the same goes for my furry kid as well.

Today I was calling and booking basically all of our appts for September. The last call I made was to make arrangements to board Sahara while we are out of town next month. I called up Lisa's Pretty Paws Pet Salon. All I had given them was my last name and before they could even look it up in their computer, the girl said, "Is this for Sahara?" I replied yes and she said, "yay!" How sweet is that? I knew our dog was special. ;)

So if you are in the Oldsmar, FL area, I highly recommend Lisa's Pretty Paws.

• They are very sweet and get to know your pets
• They have gone above and beyond to accommodate us when they had run out of space on a busy weekend
• They've defended my dog when another caretaker made untrue claims about her
• They only charge $20 a day for my 75lb dog!
• They are also a groomers so they'll beautify your pet for you before pick up =)

 

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I have the Hebejebes

It is only 8:20AM on a Saturday and I've already had a minor hehejebe freak out today. Here is what happened...

I was in the kitchen, making myself a latte while the baby followed the dog around, when Barker crawled into the kitchen.

I could see some dog hair on his mouth so I went down to wipe it off when I realized he was chewing something. I concerned, thinking it was a clump of dog hair and went to finger sweep it out.

Barker of course resisted but I got it and...it was...a...a...

COCKROACH!!

I made some sort of creeped out sound and tossed it on the floor. Sahara walked by, sniffed it, then walked on.

"See? Even the dog wont eat it," I told Barker.

I wasn't sure about what to do next. You can't exactly rise out an infant's mouth with Listerine...

I did however proceed to vacuum and look for more cockroaches. (I vacuum about 5 times or more a week, and no, I did not find any more bugs)

Meanwhile, I have to say, I couldn't be happier to have a drooling son than I am right now! Surly that saliva will rid his mouth of any germs the cockroach may have carried... (please God?)

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Secret Ingredient: Cold Water?

After a couple weeks of Barker gradually resisting anything on a spoon more and more, I'd resigned myself to only feeding him foods that could be mushy and bite size for him to eat.

...until yesterday I had a thought...

When I first started him on cereal I always made it with cold breast milk from the fridge. Now that I am making it with water, I am simply using tepid water from the sink.

Maybe it's the temperature that is bothering him.

I quickly remembered that when we were on a trip north this summer he always ate his oatmeal when it was made with water, but the water was very cold there. There were also times I mixed it up and kept it in the fridge for awhile where he had no problem eating it.

Yesterday I tried refrigerating the oatmeal after I made it and guess what, he ate it!

Today I have made his cereal twice with cold refrigerated water and my happy little eater is back! Woo hoo!

(This was a few weeks ago but I find it appropriate for this post =))

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Dreaming of a fenced in yard

I can't wait to have a fenced in yard one day.

Sahara constantly thinks she wants to go outside, but as soon as we get up, take her out, chain her up and come back in, she has already tangled herself in some bushes and declared she is too hot and ready to come back in.

This could happen every 30min if we'd let it.

Meanwhile I have a 9 month old going through another separation anxiety phases that insists on coming out with me. Oh and we have a pool by the chain so I can't just sit him down. I'm getting surprisingly good at chaining and unchaining the dog with one hand now...

Our current backyard isn't the biggest, and it has a big ditch that tends to hold water so a fenced in yard isn't feasible. =/

My dream is to one day have a big fenced in yard in the midwest where I can simple open the door of a mudroom and let the dog run outside for an hour. Then, once she has worn herself out, I simple open the door to let her come back in.

*sigh* One day...


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The Art of Baby-Wearing

I'm a fan of taking our little guy with us pretty much everywhere, but there are places the stroller can't go. The biggest example of this for our Florida life would be the beach.

When he was a wee one months old I first attempted to wear Barker around just so I could hold him and get stuff done around the house without my arms feeling like they would fall off.

I have two slings:

The Infantino Sash Mei Tai Carrier (I ordered this off of Amazon)




(One month old)

 (9 months old)


This one is great at distributing the weight of the baby, but once he is in, you kind of hate to take him out because it takes some work to get him there, plus it's not convienent to carry around or stuff in a bag on its own.

I will say it is easier to get him into this once he can support himself more though. If Barker didn't mind being in it for an extended period of time, I'd gladly use it more.


The Seven Everyday Sling (I'm always getting those "free sling" coupons for this one)

 3 Months Old

(Don't let his face fool you, it's just super sleepy in this pic. ;))

9 Months Old

I wasn't a fan of this sling until he was old enough to have his legs out and prop up on my hip more. You are supposed to be able to put your baby in it when he is tiny, but I didn't like how squished he was.

I sometimes wonder if this is tight on his legs, however, it is the most convenient for carrying around and he doesn't typically complain about it. 

I've used this one the most at the beach, it is just the easiest, although I do wish I had ordered a larger size than the one recommended. (That especially would have been helpful when losing the baby weight.)

Next time around though, I think I may pay a little more for one that is easier to simply clip on and off. But we'll see, I don't actually wear him that much because he wants to be able to get down and interact with everything around him.

Meanwhile, check out how much my little guy has grown over the last 8 months!

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Splash Park Fun!

I think you all know by now that my kid LOVES the water.

Tonight we finally got to visit the splash park with Daddy and it did NOT disappoint. =)

 He started giggling as soon as he saw the park.

 Trying to drink the water and loving it! =)

 Flailing his arms and giggling! =)

                                     Time to dry off!




It was a fun evening! And now little Barker is passed out in his crib. =)

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Baby's First Food Allergy

Well, it happened, our little one has a food allergy. =(

On Saturday Barker was getting sick a lot in the afternoon so after careful review and reflection on his past issues, we determined it might be sweet potatoes. I waited a few days, gave him some at lunch yesterday and 2 hours later...he confirmed the allergy all over both of us.

My poor baby. I've never heard of someone being allergic to sweet potatoes before, but I had noticed earlier this summer that the sweet potato puffs even made him spit up quite a bit more. At the time I suspected that was because I had tried a different brand.

He seems to be feeling better now and was still able to sleep through the night (Oh yeah, he SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT NOW! =D) but he does seem slightly off.

He has been acting super tired all week which apparently can trigger a loss in appetite as well. Perhaps he is going through a growth spurt too? He does look longer today...

What is Barker up to?

My little cruiser is into everything, I know I posted about this recently, but here is more of what my adorable 9 month old is up to!

Pulling up on EVERYTHING

Always willing to help

Sahara's things are way more fun that his own toys.

I usually move it, but it was empty so I allowed him to examine this time.

Mmmm Cheerios

How many Cheerios can I fit into my mouth at one time?

Ready to walk?! (Getting closer every day)

 I probably take at least 10 pictures of him every day now, everything he does is so cute and exciting! ;) And wow, he is looking more and more like a little boy. Adorable, but way to fast!

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Meal Planning

This is my first full week this summer in while I have no obligations or appointments on my calendar! Yay! Time to clean, organize and play and snuggle with Barker!

This week my goal is to start meal planning. I always think we need food and things for dinner, but I get to the grocery store and can't think of anything.

I have big plans for this meal planning thing but for now I've started by downloading an ap called "All the Cooks" on my phone (for storing recipes and finding new ones).

On Monday I picked three meals to plan for this week (Brett was inspired Monday night (Salmon, red beans & rice, and peach crumble!!) so I only had to plan for Tues, Wed & Thurs.

Yesterday morning I made my list and took Barker to the grocery store.

Then last night I tried out a new meal. Alfredo Chicken roll-ups. It's basically shredded chicken rolled up in a lasagna noodle with Alfredo sauce and some seasonings. Oh and of course there is cheese on top! I think it turned out pretty well. Brett even mentioned it to me later that he liked it. So that's an awesome sign. ;)

Tonight we're having taco salad. A classic from Mom's house and now in mine.

Happy Cooking!

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Cruising

Barker pulls up all the time now and just two days ago, he discovered the stairs...

It was his first time trying and he made it up 3 steps!

It is crazy how quickly this little guy is learning.

 I even think he's starting to take interest in the sign language I occasionally use with him!

He is turning into a little boy so quickly. How did that happen??

Looking more like Mommy?