Let's Go Fly A Kite...

Sing the title like this:

:)

We got moving early today! We dropped David's car off for a tire rotation then we headed to a local seed/garden store. We are going to container garden in our back yard this summer and needed to wrap our heads around what we want to plant, about how much it will cost and what supplies we'll need. After doing our homework we headed home so that Ayden and I could nap while David went and got his hair cut. Once David came home, we got to the fun part of our day!

Kite Fest!!!

All of those kites are strewn together as one big kite.
So interesting to watch the guy fly them!

Every year our city invites everyone out to one of the bigger parks in town to fly kites together. So fun :)

There was also an inflatable slide and tents for face painting, paper kite making, cup stacking, etc. There were even some fancy hula hoopers for entertainment! My sister and her kids came and met up with us and we spent the whole afternoon at the park. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time!!  The only problem was that it wasn't very windy.

David had trouble keeping our fancy kite up but my nephews cheapy one flew perfectly! Ours was just too heavy for the pleasant breeze that we had today.  We'll have to go back out when the forecast calls for lots of wind!  Now that we have our little man, we're going to start going every year (along with any other free family fun events that our town has to offer...)

After we left the park, we headed to the mall so David could buy a couple of new work shirts. He chose Fossil which is my FAVORITE store. If I could sum up my style in one word it would be Fossil... I haven't purchased anything for myself there in over a year so I enjoyed sifting through the ladies side while David picked out his shirts.

At the mall with his current favorite stroller toy...

Ayden got hungry while David was shopping, so I headed to Dillard's to nurse him (the ladies room there has a comfy lounge with chairs) and left David to finish up on his own. Turns out he gets sneaky when left to his own devices because when we got home he had me look in his bag where I found this beauty!

He had seen me eyeballing it in the store and surprised me with it!!! So sweet :). He told me that he appreciates everything I've been doing for our little family and thought he'd get me a little something special. I cried when I saw it and I can't wait to wear it :). Maybe it will be part of my Easter outfit tomorrow...

I'm also apparently very difficult to surprise because he had to think of 3 different reasons for me to look in the bag before I saw it.  In my defense, it was covered by one of their free catalogues that they always put in the bags and I also wasn't really looking for a third item.  It was pretty funny!

Since we've been home, we've had a low key night.  Now we're going to snuggle up and try to stay awake while we watch a movie. Happy Easter Eve!

~Sarah

We're in trouble...

It was SUPER chilly this morning!

This week was Spring Break for the kids in our area so I didn't teach dance tonight. Since we have Easter festivities on Sunday, I did the meal planning and grocery shopping today. It will be nice to have that extra time this weekend!!

I wore Ayden in the Moby D. He was super awake almost the whole time!! People kept stopping to tell me how cute he is and would point and talk about him to their neighbor with smiles in their faces. I still can't believe that baby wearing is such a strange thing in my town but it's great to put a smile on someone's face! :)

While at the grocery, I was reunited with an old friend:

When I first tried Kombucha I wasn't a huge fan but it has a lot of health benefits so I would just drink half a bottle at a time. After a few bottles I was totally hooked! The jury's still out on whether or not it's safe during pregnancy since it's raw and all so I took a break for a while. I walked past it today and decided that I deserved a treat. Now I sip slowly and enjoy an entire bottle.

If you can get past the SCOBY ("symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast"... YUM?) at the bottom...

...you should give it a try (I realize how gross this sounds... David tells me this every time I have one)!

After the grocery we met up with some friends for a block party that was kind of a bust. Ayden strongly disliked the car seat as usual. This one was particularly bad because we were going downtown in a lot of stop and go traffic. He was so pitiful :(

We are in big trouble with that cute pouty lip and those big crocodile tears!

Our little family at the block party...

Since the block party wasn't as fun as we had hoped we headed back to our friends' house to watch a couple of episodes of one of our favorite shows.  We always have such a good time with them. :)

Sitting next to Daddy like a big boy!

It was a good Friday (haha I guess I could say a good Good Friday...) and we are looking forward to some quality family time this weekend!!

~Sarah

Let's Talk

Today was chilly and rainy.  Pretty different from yesterday...

We usually reserve our City Mini for Ayden but since we have a rain cover for it I let Little Miss have the privilege of riding in it for our morning walk...

She has always been a challenge to get down for a nap but now that I have Ayden, taking a walk is our ONLY option... rain or shine.  She just naps in the stroller.

Ayden napped in the Moby:

I guess he needs a rain hat.

Since the weather was so much cooler today we got lots of Moby time!

David had a rough day at work so I made sure to have the house clean and dinner ready in the crock pot so that he could come home and completely de-stress.  When he walked in, everything was in its place and the house smelled delicious. He definitely took notice and let me know how much he appreciated my efforts!  The crock pot is so nice because we can really maximize our quality time together in the evenings when we don't have to do dinner prep.  

My little sou chef with his little monkey toes! :)

David and Ayden had the sweetest moment last night before bed.  Ayden has added another awake time to his schedule at night which has been great for quality daddy time.  Here is a clip of their "conversation:"

The cooing just melts our hearts!  So. Darn. CUTE!!!!!  David felt like he was genuinely replying to everything he was saying. This is when turn taking skills for conversation start.  Yet another milestone! I know we're biased but we just think he's the best little boy there ever was :).

~Sarah

Reunited

Little Miss is coming tomorrow instead of today so we had another day with just the two of us.

All that was missing was Daddy!

Our house gets pretty hot during the day because we have a pretty huge living room window.  It's beautiful but holy moly it lets the sun warm up the place!  When I was working I never really noticed but now that I'm home all day everyday I definitely feel it.  Since it was so hot I wasn't really able to wear Ayden throughout the day like I usually do.  That being said, he had to have his naps in other places.  

He took his morning nap in his crib as usual, then his next nap was in the Pack and Play for the first time.  

I took his pants off since it was so hot...

We mainly use his Pack and Play as our downstairs changing station or a quick place to lay him while I put on the Moby.  We never put him in it to nap for some reason so today, I thought I'd give it a try.  It lasted about 5 minutes so I put him to sleep again and put him back in on his stomach.  It really makes such a difference!  He slept in it for almost an hour.  He's lifting his head so well now that I really don't worry about him.  I just make sure that there aren't any suffocation hazards and keep an eye on him.  Here was his tummy time today:

He's getting so strong and we are so proud!

The higher his head goes, the higher his eyebrows.  Too funny!

I went to my hometown to check on my family's pets so he also had a good nap in his car seat on the way home.

I finally got to wear him in the Moby while we cooked/ate dinner.  It's funny because I enjoy giving my back a break but I really miss it when I don't wear him.  When I finally do it's like we've been reunited.  I feel the same way when he's been given a bottle.  It makes me a little sad and I'm always so happy to actually nurse him again (probably why it doesn't happen very often...).  I just love the closeness that baby wearing and breastfeeding give us.  I know there are so many ways that a mother can bond and be close to her baby but those two things are my favorite ways to do it!

What are your favorite ways to connect with your baby?  How do you feel if you have to go a day without?

~Sarah

Conversation Starters

Ayden was happy to wake up and hear that the Cats had won the tournament last night...

UK Rocks!! :)

I don't have a lot of pictures from today because I was a busy bee!  Since we went to bed so late last night, Ayden and I slept in until about 8:00am.  I was so glad that he seemed to need a little extra sleep too.  I made it through the day without a nap and feel relatively good as I type this so it must have been a decent amount of sleep...

I spent the day whipping our house back into shape.  I just want to get to a place where I can just keep it up but exhaustion always wins out and I end up falling behind again and again.  I know that it will continue to get easier as time goes on but it doesn't make it any less stressful...

Ayden missed his morning nap (probably because we slept so late and he wasn't anywhere near our typical schedule  from the start.  I spent the entire morning trying to get him to go down for his nap then gave up and put him in his swing while I showered.  That usually puts him to sleep for at least a little while but he was wide eyed and batting at his toys the whole time.  I would stick my head out and talk to him every few minutes.  He's gotten to where he'll immediately try to find the source of the sounds that he hears.  Every time he heard me he'd become very still and look right at me and give me a little smirk.  It was so cute :).  He did it with the vacuum last night too.  David had him propped up on his legs (our favorite way to play with him at the moment) and when I started the vacuum Ayden immediately looked over at it and stared for a while.  It's just so neat seeing all of these milestones develop!

After my shower, I read him his favorite book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear then put him on his play mat while I fixed my hair and makeup.  His play mat has music and lights that come on when he hits/pulls a toy hard enough.  Today was the first day that he really seemed to notice the lights.

He was mesmerized!

Once I was ready, I had lunch then fed Ayden again and put him right into the Moby.  For the next 2 and a half hours I tackled all of the waiting chores.  Loads and loads of laundry that had been washed and have been waiting to be put away for weeks, ironing David's work shirts, the dishes (which is always a given...), and a load of diaper laundry.  I also had to change our sheets because Ayden had his first overnight leak.  If we've had a rough night, I usually pull him into bed with me for his 5:00am(ish) feeding.  Since we slept in together, he was in our bed long enough to wet our sheets a little. We use BumGenius 4.0's at night and I suppose it's time to move up from the newborn to the one size inserts (plus the usual hemp doubler) at night.  He's a growing boy!

Once I got the house in order, I fed him again then headed to the grocery to pick up a few items that Whole Foods didn't have during our weekly grocery run.  I wore him in the sling since he usually becomes impatient if he's in his car seat in the cart for too long.  

Looking for canned tomatoes...

I still can't get over how people are so amazed and interested when they see me baby wearing.  My Moby is always a conversation starter and the sling is no different.  I had one lady stop me and ask if it worked because she nannied and uses a Bjorn but finds it uncomfortable and is looking for other options.  Another lady stopped me and said she used to use one with her babies and loved it.  She asked how old he was and when I told her 2 months she was surprised and told me I look great which made my day!  She then went on to tell me that she "gained 27 pounds with her daughter and the weight just seemed to fall off without any effort."  Then she added that it's good to gain the recommended amount because it makes it so much easier to lose afterward.  I told her that that's how it had been for me and that I also thought breastfeeding and a healthy diet were helping a lot.

It's so funny that my little $14 Seven pocket sling gave me the opportunity to connect with two new people today.  

When I got home, David played some guitar for Ayden and then made Asian ground beef, mushroom and broccoli slaw lettuce wraps for dinner (YUM!).

What seems to be your biggest baby/child related conversation starter?

~Sarah

C-A-T-S Cats Cats Cats!!!

Not too much to type tonight because we stayed up late to watch our CATS win the NCAA championship!  

Go CATS!

Ayden stayed up for tip off.  We tried to let him sleep on us for the game but we got a bit too excited and he couldn't stay asleep.  I took him up to his bed and he celebrated with us via video monitor :).

Here are some more pictures from our day:

Fun with "Little Miss"

My favorite!

Mrs. Potato Head

The higher his head goes, the higher he raises his eyebrows...

So handsome!

Why do boys always get the great lashes??
We ALL took a two hour nap today... WIN!!

Overall it was a great day!  Looking forward to it being just me and my little man tomorrow. 

~Sarah

Complete 180*

Backyard camping was great last night!  We dressed Ayden really warm in a onsie, a fleece sleeper, a fleece sleep sack and a little Elmer Fudd type hat that covered his ears. Then we used the bundle me from his car seat to make his own sleeping bag next to us.  Trying to avoid all suffocation hazards, I folded the bundle me down to his waist and pulled his little hands into the sleeves of his sleep sack.  When he woke to feed for the first time, I pulled him into my sleeping bag with me. While he fed, I reached into his sleeve to make sure his hands were staying warm enough and they were so cold :(. It didn't seem to bother him because he slept better last night than he has in a long time but it still made me worry about him.  He apparently loves to sleep in cool temperatures (it got down to about 45*).  Even though he seemed comfy enough, I could not get him to keep his hands down in the Bundle Me.  Since he wasn't swaddled, he kept raising both arms up above his head so I decided to keep him in my sleeping bag with me.  I got in the protective C position that I had read about in The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and made sure the sleeping bag was away from his nose.  Though I felt better with him next to me, I was still a little worried about him being in my sleeping bag so I woke up about every hour to check on him.  He was warm and cozy and like I said, slept like a rock.  We had warned our friends that he may cry a time or two in the night but since he was so close to me and I was waking so often I would just see him starting to stir like he does when he's waking up and would go ahead and nurse him.  I don't think he ever fully woke the whole night and he never even made a peep!  When he finally did wake for the day he was all smiles right from the start.  So cute!  We will definitely keep camping with him because we want him to grow accustomed to it to make it easier for us when we finally decide to try to camp for real.

After all of Ayden's fussiness yesterday, we wanted to make sure that we made his routine a priority today. Since our plans didn't include anyone but us, it worked out PERFECTLY!!  Such a turn around from yesterday!  Since I got even less sleep than usual last night, I laid down with Ayden during his morning nap and we slept for 2 hours!!  He did wake up to eat in the middle of that but we both went right back to sleep.  He actually stayed asleep until his next feeding time so my need for an extra long nap didn't interfere with his routine.  The day was AMAZING!  He was happy, alert and smiling and didn't even cry in the car on the way to the grocery and back.  I even asked David if we had the right baby.  It just goes to show that routines really do make even the youngest of babies feel secure and happy.  He would get sleepy at the 2 hour mark and woke at the 3 hour mark to eat every time.  How consistent it was still amazes me.  Like I've said before, we don't want to be a "by the clock" kind of scheduled family.  Though Ayden seems to keep his own 3 hour schedule pretty nicely, the actual clock time has no meaning to any of us. We are going to try to stick to his routine as much as possible on the weekends from now on since it made our day so much happier overall.  On the days that we can't, we'll just go into them prepared for some fussiness.  No big deal.

Here are a few more pictures from the day:

Shoe socks are my new favorite! :)

Mommy Moby time!

Family lunch at the table...

For dinner, I thought I'd try my hand at roasting a whole chicken in the Crock Pot.  I had done it once before with less than stellar results.  It turned out super dry...  I used this recipe and was excited that it used the roasting veggies and drippings to make a gravy!  

The finished Product

It turned out much better than the last one but I still have a little to learn.  Chicken and I seem to have a love/hate relationship.  I even used a meat thermometer but the white meat, though not super dry, was kind of... sticky?  It seemed to stick to our teeth when we chewed.  Anyone have any tips to prevent that?  The seasoning was perfect, we used a rub called Loco Rub that my sister's farm in NY produces.  It's definitely become our new favorite chicken seasoning!

For the gravy, I finally got to give my immersion blender a try.  It made it very smooth and delicious!  Don't know why I've never used it before.

After we ate, I de-boned the rest of the chicken, saving the bones and skin for making home made chicken stock, which will be another first for me in the kitchen.

As always, my favorite part about de-boning a chicken is the wishbone!  

David won!

I used to always wish for a baby... This was the first wishbone that we've had since I got pregnant and I found it hard to find a wish. The pieces of my life have fallen into place and I just couldn't wish for anything more. :)

What do you wish for when given the opportunity?

~Sarah