Personal Picks

Driveway Alert System
I love this thing! Sean picked one up from the local Harbor Freight store for a whopping $15. We mounted it to one of the maples on the driveway and when someone drives in or out it has a receiver that dings in the house. It's wonderful since we don't have many windows along the front of the house to see when someone is here. It's also nice to not get caught off guard when you have an unexpected visitor. Wesley always knows when Daddy gets home now and runs through the house yelling "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!". Great little invention.

Personal Picks

Cozy Cover:
With this winter being wicked cold I absolutely love this product. I bought it during the summer and just took it out of storage about a month ago. Little Greta is toasty warm snuggled up in her car seat with this cover on. After doing much research I found that this sort of car seat cover is safety approved unlike some of the covers that go underneath the baby. These are known as the "shower cap" covers as they just fit over the top of the seat. Anyways, if you have an infant during the cold winter months this is a must in my book.



PS3:
Boy are we having fun with this little piece of equipment. Santa brought us this for Christmas and it's far cooler than either Sean or I thought it would be. For one, you can hook a network cable up to it and surf the internet while sitting on the couch. That's cool. Two, of course it plays some really neat games. The graphics are spectacular. And third, unbeknown to us, the unit connects with Sean's computer in the basement and allows us to view recorded programs....it works as a DVR for us. Really nice little game console.


Mr. Potato Head:
Wesley got two of these for Christmas and he absolutely loves them! By far his favorite toy. We sit around and play with the two potato heads every day. I guess two and a half is the age of the Potato Head. Now we just need to get a Mrs. Potato Head.

Personal Picks

Newest favorite items.


Eclipse Drapes:
I've mentioned these before but I'm just in love with these drapes. They are room darkening drapes that save on energy costs. We have sliding glass doors all along one wall of our bedroom and once that sun comes up it is blindingly bright in the room. Even with normal drapes it is still so bright. I bought these and Greta and I now both sleep in in the mornings. They are cheap ($25 a panel) and available at Wally World. One of the best purchases I've made this year.


Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag:
Ok, first off I'm not really into the whole designer diaper bags but I do like quality. I saw these diaper bags and love the fabric and functionality but wasn't about to pay retail (they run $169 new). I got on eBay and bought one in practically brand new condition (it looks new to me) for $31. I wasn't prepared for how large it is, but quickly adapted to using it and now can carry any and everything needed for two kids. Merry Christmas to me!


Baby Legs:
There isn't anything much cuter than these little baby leg warmers. It's easier than putting pants on a baby, plus I've never thought that pants on a baby look quite right.....they don't have a waist. Anyways, these are fun.

Personal Picks

Things I'm lovin' right now.


Halo Sleep Sack
I just love this thing. Greta just loves this thing too. She sleeps so well being swaddled and I know she's nice a warm in her sack. I like how the swaddle "wings" are velcro on the back so that when she outgrows the swaddle aspect, I can just take them off and still use the sack part. Great invention.


Temporary Tattoos
Ok so maybe I'm not loving these things right now, but Wesley sure is. And if they make him happy, they make me happy. He can have one new tattoo every other day and since it takes roughly three days for them to disappear...well lets just say the kid is covered in tattoos. He gets up every morning and before he gets dressed he points to each tattoo, counts them and tells me what it is. Kind of white trash but it works on a two year old.


Wife Beater Tank Top (turned into a nursing tank)
Yep, this is my favorite thing. You take an el cheapo wife beater tank top (pack of four Hanes tanks at Wally World for $8) and you cut a vertical slit over each boob then you just wear it under your normal top. When it's time to nurse you lift up your normal shirt and nurse like usual and your body is still covered....no postpartum tummy hanging out for all to see. I love these and wear one every day (under a shirt...NOT like the lady below). But this gives you an idea of what it looks like. This is not me, this is a brave lady that posted the idea.

My favorite blogs

I thought I'd post an entry about the other blogs out there that I try to visit on a daily basis.

http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/
This blog is a interesting and entertaining blog about horses and how humans screw them up.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
A blog about an art project where you send in a post card with a secret you've never told anyone before. Very interesting stuff.

http://acoupleofmonkeys.blogspot.com/
My friend Jessica just started a blog about her family. Lets make her counter at the bottom of her page move past 1.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/
This family is a miracle. The wife has cystic fibrosis, gave birth to their daughter at 24 weeks old. She then got new lungs. Just recently they were both released from the hospital. Amazing stuff.

http://www.ashleyquitefrankly.com/
A fun blog about the life of a woman with two boys and their every day happenings. I find it entertaining.

Good baby products

Yesterday evening poor Wesley started getting diarrhea and it just wouldn't stop. Luckily it wasn't explosive diarrhea, it just filled up his diaper every 30 minutes or so. After about the fifth diaper change in 2 hours he got a pretty bad diaper rash, his first ever. Poor little guy would just scream when I had to wipe his little tush. I stopped using baby wipes since they are notorious for having alcohol in them (even when they state they don't contain alcohol). So this morning my friend Jessica suggested using baby powder so I dug out a sample of Burt's Bee's Baby Dusting Powder I received from his aunt Becca (thanks Becca!). It has helped out his little bum so much in just the 3 or 4 hours I've been using it. The redness is almost gone and no more tears when changing the diaper. It has prompted me to talk about the other baby product that I use and love.

When Wesley was just a tiny little guy he started having some skin problems. I was using the standard shampoo and body wash by Johnson's and he wasn't reacting to it well. After his baths his eczema and infant acne would be more red irritated than before his bath. I did research online and found out that Johnson's Baby wash was notorious for being not gentle and containing as many harsh chemicals as adult shampoo. Some "no tears" formulas actually can contain numbing agents. So after a lot of research I ran across the California Baby line of Super Sensitive baby products. Oh how we love their products, Wesley's skin cleared up and has been that way ever since. They contain no fragrance, scent masking agents, clear formula chemicals, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, or DEA. Their products can be a bit pricey but they last forever. I buy their Super Sensitive shampoo and body wash for $9.95 for a 8 oz. bottle and I just used up the first bottle yesterday and he'll be eleven months old tomorrow. So yea it lasts quite some time. I am trying out their no chemical sunblock on Wesley as well as Sean and I and so far it works great. I buy this stuff off of Amazon but I know Target has started carrying it as well as some specialty stores such as our organic supermarket.

Interesting stuff

I thought I'd share with you a website that I visit every Sunday. It started out as an art project, people were asked to anonymously decorate and send in a post card to a certain address with a secret they have never told anyone before. Then certain post cards are selected and posted on this site. I can usually relate to at least one secret a week. Try and find yours. New secrets posted every Sunday. http://postsecret.blogspot.com/