round here

We got some relief from the hot weather, and we've been celebrating with trips to the park.

I finally have a little girl who brings her tigger baby doll along. I love that.

I love being at the park with my kiddos.

I think my kiddos love it too.

And, I think this was Mr. Carson's first ride in a real park swing.

He's always so peaceful.

And, yes, his outfit has owls on it....yes I picked it out and yes I love it.

So sweet & So happy.

We also added some new animals to our family this week. Meet baby zebra, baby lamb, and baby lion. Emma loves these figurines more than anything. We had a gift card to spend at Toys R Us, and out of the entire store, this is what she wanted...the babies to go with the mommas that she already had. All mommas need babies right? The other option was the $400.00 jeep that seats two. I went with the animals :)

I splurged and bought Carson a Sophie the Giraffe. I'll admit that I wanted her too. She's been a part of our family for 24 hours now, and I am sold. She's a wonderful teether, perfect for an infant to grab, she squeaks, and she's safe to chew on. She's visiting us all the way from France, so if you need a wonderful baby gift, here's my vote.

Here's Sophie in color. You can read more about her here.

Our sweet neighbor brought over a new book for Emma and Carson. We love Max & Ruby at our house.

And, it's been autographed by the author herself, Rosemary Wells. I was excited about this one too. What a special gift.

The new animals have obviously made themselves at home.

And Carson is still going strong with the purees. I made a whole new batch this week...apple & sweet potato yogurt, mango yogurt, acorn squash & sweet potato with brown rice, just sweet potatoes, just mango, just peaches, just pears, and of course in celebration of fall...pumpkin apple cinnamon oatmeal. We've all been stirring pumpkin into our yogurt and oatmeal. It's so yummy and healthy too. You should give it a try. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors ever. On another note, my ten year class reunion is just around the corner. It's so hard to believe.... We've enjoyed our week and we hope y'all enjoy your weekend. Cheers to the fall.

I'm a Barbie Girl

Although, it looks like a bomb went off in Barbie World...

Wouldn't you agree?

I brought these home from my mom and dad's this past weekend. They were both my and my sisters' Barbies. They were in storage, and with Mom and Dad's impending move, they needed a new home.

From what I can remember, Mom still had most all of it. Of course, I could have told you that :)

Their hair was matted, complete with dead flies. Their bodies were molded, and each of them had received somewhat of a new hairdo. I presume that this was courtesy of the "little sisters." They were headless, legless, and everything else less.

I soaked them all upside down, in a tub full of liquid fabric softener. This was their "conditioning" treatment. Yes, I googled "how to wash a barbie's hair," and this was the standard protocol.

I am sure that Rob was thrilled to have about 30 naked Barbies in the kitchen. I am also sure that he was beginning to think that I had lost it for sure this time.

In an attempt to complete this project without Emma's knowledge, I tried to keep most everything down in the kitchen sink.

She busted me in the process by getting on her tippy-toes and peering over the counter and down into the sink filled with barbie legs, arms, and heads. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and said with such worry, "oh my Mommy, oh my."

So many memories were stirred up in the process. This was always my favorite outfit-the classic wedding dress and matching tux.

And, this is what I always used for her wedding bouquet. It was still in tact.

I found Barbie's tv, which would now be flat screen.

And, Barbie's dog...

Now, meet my very favorite Barbie. She was the "mom" to "The Heart Family." The set came with her, the dad, and a set of twin babies~a girl and a boy. She used to have long hair too, but I think those "little sisters" got a hold of her too. The baby boy is missing, I think he was Jack's lunch one late afternoon. So sad.

They all got the "upside down fabric softener conditioning treatment," followed by a good brushing. After that, I threw them all into my washing machine on the sanitary cycle. Y'all know how I am about germs. Germs and black mold...they were just covered. My sanitary cycle gets so hot that I was worried that they would all come out "face-less." But, they didn't :)

Then, I put them all back together. Some needed legs. Others needed heads, and then they all got a hair cut. The "little sisters" left some of the barbies with half long hair, half short, so after twenty years, a haircut was a must. Emma helped, and this is what they looked like after a pretty good cleaning...

Much improved, right? I washed all of the Barbie clothes too, and after Emma was in bed one night, I dressed them all. I'll admit that it was so much fun.

I am pretty sure that the top row of Barbies were mine. The six or eight on the far right hold a lot of memories for me, all the way down to their faces and clothes. As for the bottom row, I am not so sure, so "little sisters," you can stake your claim. I could tell that quite a few of the bottom row Barbies were ballerinas, gymnasts, cow girls, flight attendants, veterinarians, etc. None of which were mine.

Emma has enjoyed her loot. Thankfully so, it was a lot of hard work. I brought home my Barbie Doll Dream House too. Although, Rob and I were joking that we should rename it the Barbie Doll Ghetto House. Suffice it to say, it needs a remodel.

If your mom has your Barbies, go get them before they ruin. I promise you, you won't regret it.

my favorite things

well, for baby anyway. All of them are new to me...as in I didn't have them when Emma was born. What a shame! Let's start with my favorite....the itz been timer. I wrote down all of this stuff with Emma, and let me tell you it was a struggle to say the least. With Emma, I had a notepad and pen next to my nursing chair. Next to the pen, I had my heartrate monitor, so I could see the time. While nursing, I would attempt to use some sort of glare in the den (it is dark at night people) to read the time on the heart rate monitor. Then I would grab my pen and the pad, and attempt to record it on the paper. If I was nursing on the right side, it was particularly difficult...to write with my left hand. I was also constantly subtracting the current time for the time that I started nursing to see how long she had been nursing. All of you right brained people are probably laughing, but I did keep up with all of this, and I have the notebook to prove it :)

Well, all of this is over now. I just hit a button, and it keeps track of how long itz been since the last~feeding, diaper change, sleep, etc. When I came home from the hospital, I used the sleep button to keep track of how long I was sleeping, and I used the * button, which is the extra button, to keep track of how long it had been since I had last taken my pain meds or advil. It also has a slider at the bottom to keep track of which side you nursed on last, and you can also set an alarm...to wake you in x hours. I think it was made for me. Oh, and the screen lights up too, so no looking for a glare to see the screen. And one more thing...it has a nightlight too. I will stop there. And, I promise I am not receiving profits from the sale of these! You can find it here.

My video monitor. I didn't have one with Emma. I didn't find it necessary with a one story house, but with a two story, it is a God send. You can find it here.

My nightlight...it is an oxo candela night light, and I love it! You pull the white section away from the blue circle, and take it with you. I set it next to my nursing table every night. It gives off a great glow. Then during the day, I just put it back onto the blue circle to charge back up. You can find it here.

My nursing pillow is a luna lullaby pillow. I still have my boppy. It stays downstairs. I use this one upstairs. I still like my original boppy, but love this one too. I don't nurse without one of them. This one is bigger and fluffier than the boppy, so Carson lays a bit higher which is nice. It also covers the wooden arms on this chair, which lessens my fear of bumping his head. You can see the nightlight I talked about above in the photo below.

The Miracle Blanket. Trust me on this one. It works miracles. I have three. We swaddle him in this every time he sleeps...naps or night. This sounds kind of crude, but it is like a straight jacket for a baby, and Carson seems to love it. It keeps him all wrapped up, just like the womb :)

And, the moby. This was a gift from a family member, and I wish I would have had it with Emma. I have a Baby Bjorn, and it wears on your back...terribly. This one does not. They advertise that it is "ergonomic." I carry Carson in a different way than the photo. He is typically vertical, with his legs dangling below. This one is "womb-like" too, and is great at freeing up your hands when you are chasing a three year old. There are multiple ways to wear your baby, and it's fabulous at calming a fussy newborn.

All of the above would make wonderful gifts for a new or repeat mommy. I use them all daily :)

Here's a sneak peek at what's to come....

We are picking strawberries tomorrow with a group of friends, and Emma is oh so excited! I have plans to make strawberry jam with our pickings, so check back soon. I have visions of a strawberry jam post, a two month old Carson post, and a post with some of the photos from our family photo shoot when Carson was one week old, and a clean house, a pre-baby body, a hubby with a lessened load at work, one silent night, a three year old that listens, and a completed to do list.

Be back soon...promise!

a little retro red

Emma got a new tricycle for her birthday, and can I say that I love it?

It is the original design, complete with streamers and a shiny red bench on the back.
You all know that I love red and classic, so this one had my name written all over it.
Did I mention that Emma LOVES it too? The bell is by far the best part. When it rings, it sounds like 1950 :) So fun.

Emma's New Playset!

Rob and I decided that Emma's birthday present this year would be a playset. I did tons of research trying to find the best buy for our money, and we ended up with this one. Unfortunately there was definitely some assembly to be done! I started by labeling all of the wood. Then, Rob and I water sealed everything before beginning construction. It is difficult working on a major project like this with Miss Emma running around, so we stayed up until 1 am several nights in a row putting it together. I have to say that I was very pleased with the end result. It is just the right size for our backyard, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg! We just happened to finish it the night before her party, so the timing was perfect. I also bought Emma that lady bug sand box to go underneath. Of course I didn't fill it with sand (gross!), we used deer corn instead, and it seems to be working out just great! Here are a few photos...a few from the morning that she first got to play (9/20) and a few others from another day outside (9/26).