First kids meal: Wordless Wednesday

Due to all the moving adventures, baby G got her first restaurant kid's meal yesterday. She's a ballin' kiddo & had a fancy Hereford House (voted best steakhouse in KC) li'l wrangler meal.

For $5, we got an all natural beef hot dog on toasted bun, steamed veggies (broccoli, carrots, green beans, red bell peppers, squash, zucchini), fruit cup (pineapple, melon, strawberries), and it was supposed to come with a drink & ice cream sundae (but she didn't need those). I thought that was a super deal!

Link up!

BFBBP: Londonware Etsy Shop - diaper cover & leg warmer giveaway

I have been using cloth diapers for over a year, which is crazy to say! I can't believe baby G is a year old. Ten months into our cloth diaper journey, Wendy of Londonware contacted me to review her fleece diaper covers. I knew many pocket diapers use fleece as a liner, but I had never considered using it as a cover. I was a bit apprehensive about how it would work for us, but I ended up loving it! I've since found that many tried & true cloth diaper moms love the combination of fitted diapers and fleece covers as the most absorbent option around. Check out my review of her handmade items below & be sure to enter the giveaway to her Etsy shop as the Babies First Birthday Blog Party continues!

How cute is baby G in her Londonware cover and leg warmers?!

Moving day

When I woke up this morning, I did not realize it would be our last day here... Turns out the movers are coming tomorrow!
Here are a few notes to catch you up to speed:
-Shipping our cars & things, flying into SFO on Saturday
-Visiting family until then
-baby G is getting better & better at walking & "talking"
-She loves Elmo & her new cabbage patch doll. She has a touch of a cold & I hate hearing her cough at night.
-G is teething on 6 & 7, and not sleeping great...perfect timing ;)
-her birthday party was AWESOME & my pooh cake turned out great
-I'm pretty sad about living where she was born & all the other things Iove about our current home
-I do look forward to all the exciting bay area things we will explore
-I am not looking forward to the "settling in" process...wish we could skip to the "know your way around" feeling

I'm sorry my blogging is on a back burner now but there is a new giveaway up soon :)

Seven Quick Takes 14

--- 1 ---

We spent this week at my parents' house because my husband was away on business. I was looking forward to "relaxing," but this week definitely didn't go as planned. My mom ended up getting sick and actually sprained or tore a muscle in her ribs from coughing. She wasn't able to play with baby G very much, so we were all really bummed about that. I can't wait for my mom to come visit us in California and make up for her limited playtime this trip. My grandpa and two aunts (and a cousin) came down for a birthday party for baby G. She got her first taste of cake and received great presents. On Mardi Gras, we were supposed to have a party with my mom's 3rd grade class, but since she was sick, the baby and I just delivered cupcakes & party favors. Ash Wednesday brought abstinence and fasting for us, but I still gave baby G a piece of birthday cake because it was finally her real birthday :-)

Happy Birthday baby girl #WW #linky

My baby girl is one year old today. Time flies but it is also hard to remember life without her :-) I'll write a one year post soon, but for now feel free to check out her birth story I recently posted.

Link up!

BFBBP: Tommee Tippee Tableware Giveaway

I think the true sign that baby G is turning into toddler G is her use of tableware at meal times. I introduced her to eating off a fork many months ago and she picked it up right away. As long as I put the food on the fork or spoon, she'll pick it up and direct it into her mouth. She still prefers to feed herself with her fingers, though; so I decided she needed to at least learn to eat off a plate or out of a bowl. I reached out to the company I trust to provide great toddler tableware items--Tommee Tippee. To celebrate G's birthday, Tommee Tippee allowed me to review many of the products suitable for one-year-olds. Everything we reviewed is up for grabs in the Babies First Birthday Blog Party giveaway event that starts today!

My first daughter's birth story, part II

I was born on a Tuesday in December. My husband was born on a Tuesday in January. Our daughter was born on a Tuesday in February. Perfect, huh?

Although her birthday is not until tomorrow, today is technically 52 weeks after her birth. Thus, I am sharing the second part of her birth story. Check out part one, if you missed it.

After my husband, doula, and I got to the 4th floor, we found the admitting desk & they directed me to a triage room. I was certain we were not going to be there long at all. In fact, I even whined to my husband, "why are we going to triaaaaggeeee?" My husband, doula, and I thought we were an hour from meeting our baby. If this were a movie, there would be ominous tones playing to indicate we were all obviously wrong.

My first daughter's birth story PART I

52 weeks ago, on Monday 2/21 last year, my first and only experience with labor began.
I've not shared G's birth story but now is the perfect time to do so, seeing as how her birthday is Wednesday. I wrote a long birth story after she was born, but I've rewritten and tried to condense it for my blog. It's still not very short because I am a detail person, and have a pretty vivid memory of the whole thing. I just don't feel right about leaving much out!

This is part one, everything before the LDR floor. Hope you enjoy it.

Family Photo

February 18, 2012

Seven Quick Takes Friday (13)

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So Lent starts Wednesday...I am not sure what I will give up or choose to add to my life. I think this move is absolutely stressful, so I don't know what other type of penance God would will me do. Last year I was a brand new mom, so I didn't give up much...I just gave up watching Ellen. I added receiving Eucharist on the tongue and have kept that as part of my life.
I think this year I will do what I did for Advent; add a daily mass to my week...except that we will be moving the week after Ash Wednesday, so I'll start the next week.
I don't know what to give up this year that is meaningful... What are you doing??

Winner: Swaddlebees Cloth Wipes

The Swaddlebees cloth wipe (and wet bag) giveaway has ended. I appreciate everyone who read the review & entered the giveaway. There were 142 people who entered and 3119 total entries after bonus entries were counted.

The winner is:

Thank you to all who entered!

Please consider entering the Babies First Birthday Blog Party giveaways that start next Wednesday :-)

To my dearest husband #WW #linky

We didn't plan to do anything fancy for Valentine's Day, although we did have a very nice dinner out with the baby on Sunday. I made a nice dinner for the actual 'holiday' and made my husband a homemade valentine. I also got him some candy.
Last week I briefly mentioned that I wanted chocolate covered strawberries...but didn't think I was going to get anything and that was just fine. I was really surprised when my husband walked in the door with a little white bag. He got the GOOD kind!! (half a dozen from Russell Stover)
I'm eating them all tonight A)because they don't have a nutritional facts label so they are calorie free & B)because they won't be nearly as good tomorrow!!! :-) LOVE HIM!

Link up your wordless Wednesday posts below!

Pacifier: to use or not to use - guest post

When my daughter was 2 months old, she had a well-child check that didn't go very smoothly. For some reason or another she was really fussy. A "helpful" nurse popped her head in to ask, "Do you need a pacifier??" while holding one in a sterile little package. "No thank you," we replied, "we don't use one." Our daughter has never taken a pacifier, in fact, we never even tried. Apparently that is almost unheard of--so I was excited to hear that my bloggy friend Mandi had a blog to share about the decision not to use a paci, binky, or whatever you call them. Mandi & I have known each other since September and have become pretty good friends. We have many of the same parenting and lifestyle views. I've written two guest posts over at her blog, Catholic Newlywed that I hope you've read. Today, I am sharing one that she has written for me :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Well, I don't know if it's quite yet official, but I can't hold it in any more. We are moving to half way across the country. Next week I am going to my parents while my husband is out of town on business, so I won't be having a meal plan then. The following week we are probably moving (wowzers, huh?), so I don't think I'll be meal planning then either. Welcome to "use up everything in the freezer & fridge so it doesn't have to be thrown out" week.

Monday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole (left over ingredients from last week)
Tuesday: leftovers
Wednesday: Cheese & Asparagus Stuffed Pork Loin Roast, sweet potatoes, frozen veggies, bread
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Buffet of random food
Saturday: Dinner out, using a groupon we need to use before moving
Sunday: at my parents

Thanks for checking out our weak meal plan ;-)
Check out the others on OrgJunkie.com

Our Love Story

After reading two posts linked up at From Mrs to Mama about the ladies' loves stories... I decided I had to share the answers to these questions for myself. I'm a big ol' sap, despite what you might think about my type-A personality. Marley & Me makes me cry every time and I love getting flowers and cards. I used to be a hopeless romantic, but now I'm a happily married romantic :-) I hope that you enjoy reading about me and my husband's love story. Also, join in the fun by heading over the the link-up (there are also questions for single ladies)!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
Five years as of St. Patrick's Day 2012.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?} --my answer is long, sorry!
We met at a fraternity St. Patrick's Day party in at Missouri S & T (formerly UMR). My Mizzou roommate and I headed there for the weekend because I had a friend from high school who invited us down. There was a big concert (one of my then favorite artists, Trapt) & lots of Catholic single guys. On the drive down, I told my roommate that I was going to meet my husband that weekend........AND I DID. Ironic.

Create online clipboards with Clipix

I love my laptop. It's an Apple from 2005. Yes, I am aware I need to get a new computer because this one is seriously ancient. It is slowly dying and I'm sad to say we won't be able to replace it with another Mac unless we get a sweet windfall.

My favorite feature of my MacBook is that it has sticky notes where I keep random thoughts and links from things I find online. But, my home screen is a disastrous mess--I seriously don't even know what my background picture is anymore.

Luckily I just heard about Clipix. I don't need to have a million sticky notes on my desktop anymore, I just use clipix to organize my online life! As a compulsive list maker, I actually think it's quite handy. Clipix is a free tool that attaches to your bookmark bar in whatever browser you use. While you go about your day online, simply click the Clip button when you are on a site that you want to remember. Clipix automatically saves the web address to any of the clipboards you have set up for your account--very easy to use.

You're able to keep your various clipboards private or public, and the settings can be different for each one. So, if you want to publicly share things you want for your birthday, but keep the ideas for a surprise family vacation a secret....you can! There is even an iPhone app so you can even take / clip pictures of things you see on the go. 

I really like using Clipix to clip all of the giveaways that I've entered so that I can return to the posts to submit my daily tweet bonus entries, or see who the winner is once it's ended. Clipping recipe pages is really easy--so it's also handy for menu planning. Another idea for Clipix is to use it while house or apartment hunting. Our lease is up soon, so I'm going to start clipping places we might want to live, so that they are all saved in one place for easy comparing.

 

What will you use Clipix for??

To get started with organizing your online life, head over to clipix.com. You can log in with Facebook, Twitter, or an email account. 

 

Disclosure

Promoted Post

Seven Quick Takes Friday (12)

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I had a great guest post this week from another Catholic momma. She wrote about breastfeeding, including BF'ing while using NFP. I hope you'll check it out, and visit her blog Via, Veritas, Vita.

--- 2 ---

On Sunday afternoon, we were playing with the baby in the, but she crawled away from us to play independently in the dining room. I was going to show her "the girl" to get her attention so that she'd rejoin us in the living room, but I couldn't find the toy. I asked my husband if he had it, and he said no. I decided that maybe if I asked baby G where "the girl" was, she could find her...because that is her game, after all. So I said, "Hey G, can you find the girl??" Baby G perked up, crawled over to the full laundry basket and started digging around. My husband went to help her and retrieved the girl from the bottom of the basket. Apparently G had hidden her there earlier. We all started laughing. It was one of those priceless family moments :-)

Sleep Breakthrough! the 2-1 nap transition & our current schedule

You may recall the blog I posted last Wednesday about my "failed" nap experiment. I went into it with the impression that I couldn't screw things up any worse than the already were--and it was just one day--so why not try something completely different regarding baby G's lack of sleep.

I couldn't have been more right. Apparently the ridiculous amount of crying G and I endured last Wednesday flipped some kind of switch in her brain. I hated it, she hated it, the whole apartment complex hated it. But then the most magnificent thing happened.

Ba-Ba-Baby #WW #Linky

I took a long video of baby G this past weekend because she was playing so well on her own. I'm going to title it, "A Day in the Life" and show it to her when she is older. I've included part of it below as Wordless Wednesday this week.
It is of G doing her "ba-ba-ba's" by moving her hand to her mouth (although she does it with her hand closed, so it looks like she is punching herself...silly kid), which is one of her 'tricks.'

I hope that you'll link up your Wordless Wednesday post! All you need to do is write a blog that features a photo or video, then include the link & title below.

Save on Prescriptions at Walgreens

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

You may remember the post I wrote a few weeks ago about the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club special that ran during the month of January. The prices have changed since that post and I wanted to update you on the options you have for saving money at your Walgreens pharmacy.

If you need to have prescriptions filled, Walgreens is a convenient choice. Walgreens is the most widespread pharmacy in America & many stores fill prescriptions 24 hours a day, every day of the week. If you don't already have prescription insurance coverage, Walgreens has a program to reduce the price you pay on prescriptions and other items when purchased at any of their 8200+ stores. Once you are a member, you can save money on over 8,000 name brand medicines & on all generic medications the pharmacy offers. You get discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers, and diabetic supplies. There are also added bonuses for purchasing Walgreens brand products throughout the store & for using the photo services.

An individual may purchase an annual membership to the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club for $20, while a family can join for $35. A family covers a spouse, dependents 22 & younger, and even pets.

To stay current on all the latest Walgreens information, like Walgreens on Facebook & follow Walgreens on Twitter.

Breastfeeding Basics {including NFP while breastfeeding}

Today is another great guest post! Erin of Via, Veritas, Vita shares some awesome breastfeeding advice, stories, and information about using NFP while breastfeeding. I couldn't have written a better post myself! I hope you all enjoy reading & I'm sure some pregnant and new moms will benefit from her tips!

Sprint Online Sale Ends Wednesday!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
We live in Kansas City, where the Sprint National Headquarters is located. This past summer, my husband sat behind the plate at a Royals game, through tickets he earned at work. The Sprint CEO had seats near him and my husband saw him using a new Android phone that had 3G capabilities. My "techno-struck" husband came home speculating how much the phone cost and how awesome it was.

Menu Plan Monday

The best thing we ate last week was breakfast yesterday. My husband made Taste of Home waffles. They were so amazing, but then he broke the news that they were nearly 1000 calories per waffle. Why is my favorite breakfast food sooooo bad for you! Another highlight was our homemade stuffed crust pizza. We used cheese sticks cut in half tucked into the crust perimeter--turned out great. Oh, and I almost forgot about the awesome oatmeal-raisin-chocolate chip cookies I made. I took half to my husband's work, but I kind of wish I hadn't because our half is already gone!

Here are our dinners this week--I'm most excited to go out for a nice dinner on Saturday :-)

WINNERS: spa gift card & Progresso prize pack

Letters from Momma's most recent giveaways have ended. I appreciate everyone who took the time to read my reviews.

There were 1031 entries (47 unique entrants) into the Trop50 sponsored $50 Spa Week gift card giveaway, and the winner is:

Letter to my Future Son {thoughts on beauty}

To my future son,

You are not even conceived yet, and already I dream of you. There are many fears that raising a girl sparked in me, but raising a son comes with a lot of responsibility. For now, there is really only one thing I want to talk to you about.

Appreciating people for who they are, not what they look like. Specifically, I want you to respect the bodies of women and not let societal pressures persuade you to put such an emphasis on appearance.

In society today, the media is flooded with images of thin women portrayed as beautiful. Movies promote sex as a way to begin a relationship. Pornography sets the stage for lust. Men are often given a "pass" to be chauvinistic, disrespectful, and perverse. Please do not take it.

Seven 100% positive things about my life right now (7QTF)

This week's 7QT are going to be all 100% positive. I wrote a pity party blog about G's sleep this week but I don't want my readers to think I am a debby downer--because IRL I am actually quite a positive/optimistic person.

--- 1 ---

Baby G's birthday invitations have been mailed, most of the supplies have been bought, and I've got the party favors planned (personalized & useful things...none of the cheapo-lameo stuff!). I just need to find a cake recipe I like. The frosting will be buttercream colored to decorate the Winnie the Pooh mold I am using; so just focus on picking a cake recipe.

Yummy Chocolate Cake 
Melt in your mouth method Butter Cake
Simple White Cake
or...
half chocolate half / half one of the other 2 (I'm not quite sure how I would get the mold to be half and half, but I'm thinking that'd be a fun option)

what are your thoughts?

--- 2 ---

Baby G has started saying MOMMA!!! Pretty much all of the time, she means me :-) and Dadda means my husband. I don't want to write them down as first words, though, because occasionally she will say them but not mean us. The first time I heard momma, I about melted. {I'm not talking about the maaaa-maaaa babble; I mean full fledged, momma!}
SO EXCITING. I can't wait to hear her say "I love you momma!" Even if that is years away.

First LFM Guest Post: You'll have to Touch Poop!

I asked for guest posts last Friday, and had several mommas respond! I'm excited to share the first one with you today. It comes from Kira of Musings of a New Momma. I just love when other people call themselves Momma :-)

She is a fellow cloth diaper parent & today she shares how people responded to her choice to use cloth diapers on her baby--she then debunks a common reason not to cloth diaper!
I actually received similar remarks, and have still persevered through the negativity. Check out her great post below, especially if you haven't fully decided to switch to cloth diapers. Thanks Kira!!

January 2012

Monday night I told my husband, "I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of January." He said, "What?? Where did the time go? This month went too fast....this year is going fast...last year went fast...."

He's not usually the dramatic type, so his comments struck me by surprise. Yes, January did go fast...but since having baby G, the time does seem to fly by. I think it is because we find ourselves in this cycle of grinding out the days just to make it to the weekend, which then is over too soon. If only we could live a life of weekends. Wouldn't that be so lovely?

The weekends are such a magical time. Fun things happen on the weekends.

Sleep Crazy

I am so tired. G is so tired. My husband is so tired. I'm sure our neighbors are tired.

This crazy sleep pattern is driving us all mad. I think I should turn my blog into a sleep-nonsense-pity-party blog instead of a semi-crunchy momma blog.

I've tried all tactics known to parents.

I've tried keeping her up to the point of exhaustion...20 minute nap, wakes up still tired.
I've tried taking her on errands to wear her out, 25 minute nap, still wakes up dog tired.
I've also tried keeping her on a sleep training schedule...doesn't work.
I've tried letting her cry it out, an hour later...still nothing.
I've tried not letting her nap, to see if it would help her sleep overnight--it didn't.
I've tried putting her to bed early to help her get more sleep...didn't work.

And yes, I've tried those things more than once, while giving them "time" to work. She is 11 months old and we have been on this sleep journey since 11 weeks. From 11 weeks to about 5 months, she was "sleep trained" just fine, but then it all went to hell in a hand basket despite me doing nothing different. There are rare occasions when she takes a 2 hour nap, but I don't know why. Everything can be the exact same to me, so it must be something in her head. I don't know. Night time is the same crazy chaos.

Today, when she woke up from her nap too early (20 minutes in) and too overtired, I decided to experiment.

She didn't know what to think when I calmed her down, laid her on her back, and went to sit in the chair in her room. At first she just laid there, then she got up and walked around the sides of her crib, then she played with her bear, then she threw her bear and pillow out, then she walked over to me (I paid her no attention), then she laid her head down on the corner of the crib walls next to me, then she reached for me, then she cried because she wanted me to pick her up (I ignored her), then she walked over to the other side of the crib and reached for her Winnie wall hanging (we usually say "hi" to him when we get up), then she screamed.... then I started the whole process over. It failed. So then I tried to "show" her how to nap by snuggling her bear on the floor by her crib.

I also learned that you cannot "teach" an 11 month old to sleep by pretending to nap on her floor.

Random things I saw by staying in her room:
She tried to walk from one side of the crib to the other, but fell 2 steps in (kinda cool).
She got absolutely PISSED when I laid next the crib, stuck my hand through the slats, and held her pillow down (because she kept trying to throw it out).


At my wits end,

Kaylene

ps. Babies her "age" are supposed to get 11-14 hours of sleep. She gets 11 if we are lucky. I worry what this does for her development, because she can't grow/retain memories if she doesn't sleep well enough. I know that in general, she is developing just fine; but at what point does she start falling behind?

My Big Girl! #WW #linky

This week's Wordless Wednesday are a few pictures of baby G that I took and just couldn't believe how big she is getting. When I see her every day...it's hard to notice that she has gotten so big. A picture, however, freezes a moment and forces me to see that she is becoming a big girl!

LINK-UP!!