Month Seven Must Haves

Heres what we're loving this month!

Jeep Liberty Renegade Walker

I never thought my son's first car would be when he was 6 months old, but he is obsessed with this jeep. We actually got this at Christmas time, but just this month did we bust it out of the box. Grayson LOVES it, and putters around the whole downstairs in it.  Its super lightweight, goes on carpet as well as hardwood, makes super cute car noises and has a mirror.  Its a win win for him for sure. He looks a bit like Fred Flinstone sometimes, but I think thats just a bonus.

Fisher-Price Topzy Tumblers Twirlin' Tumblin' Fun Park

This is seriously Graysons favorite toy. Its got these little bean shaped tumblers, that jump and tumble and he just laughs the whole time he plays with it.  He knows how to make the music come on, and how to make the wheel spin.  Its the cutest thing ever when he puts the bean on the yellow track and laughs as it comes to the bottom.

Plum Baby Organics Puffs

These were our first 'big boy' food item. We started breaking them into quarters, now he can eat them whole, but hes such a little bird when he sees the container come out.  They're great for sprinkling on the tray of his high chair when were cooking dinner- they keep him busy picking up and eating them for a good half hour.

Kodak PlaySport Zx5 Video camera

Okay, so this is more of a Mommy must have- but its still awesome.  We wanted a pocket video camera that we could capture all of Grayson's little moments on, without spending a ton of cash. This camera has met and exceeded all of our expectations. It goes from off to on and recording in three seconds, its waterproof up to 10 feet, shock proof, dust proof and husband who is clumsy proof. It uses an SD card, and a 4GB card can last for a whole hour.  Plenty of time for capturing little moments in our little mans life.

Tadpoles Stars Playmat

With Grayson starting to crawl, we spent too much time smashing our face into the hardwoods.  Enter this play mat.  We bought two sets to cover the floor in the living room where Grayson plays the most- and now when he topples over he just gets right back up. The gray color matches our living room, so it didn't look too silly in the middle of the floor.  One set only covers a 4 x 4 area, so if you need something bigger be prepared to get two or three sets.

Thats all for this month, if you missed months 1-6 check out the Raising Parents tab!



Seven Months Old

My Grayson Boy,

Seven months old already.  Wow.  Daddy and I cant believe how many things you do new each day, and its crazy to think that it wasn't that long ago you were not here.

You really are a joy, Grayson Boy.  You're such a smiley, happy, silly boy and you fill our house with love and toys and noise and giggles and we LOVE it.

• We had you at the Doctor 3 days before your seven month birthday, and you weigh in at a whopping 20 pounds 10 oz.  You're getting so big- Momma is not going to be able to carry you in the car seat much longer! 
• You're in size 6-9 month clothing, but can still wear 3-6 month shirts. You're also still in size 3 diapers, and we've found that Pampers seem to be the best for you.
• We celebrated your first Easter, and the Easter Bunny was super nice to you.  Almost as nice as your Grandmas were.
• You started eating solid foods, and Grammy taught you to chew chew chew so you don't choke on your food.  You want to try everything we're eating, but baby food you're pretty picky on.
• You went to your first Birthday party, your cousin Gavin turned 5 and Silas turned 1. You ate your first piece of birthday cake and discovered you LOVE icing.
• You started to CRAWL! Wooo hoooo!! My crazy baby, you wouldn't go any where but backwards one day and the next you were crawling everywhere!  Your favorite thing is to crawl from the living room into the pantry and play with the magnets on the door, but you also like to look out the front door to see if Daddy is home yet.
• Your third tooth came through this month, on the top- and it brought on your first ear infection. It was so hard for Momma to see you sick, but a few days on Amoxicillin and you felt much better. Speaking of teeth, you have discovered a love for brushing your teeth.  You will let us brush at first, then you have to give it a try yourself.  Its the cutest thing ever if you ask me.
• You started to pull yourself to standing, first on the couch, then on the ottoman at Grammy's, then in your crib. You haven't started cruising yet, but can you slow it down just a notch, baby boy? Mommy isn't quite ready for you to be running around yet.

Thank you for being the best baby Daddy and I could ever ask for.  We love you so much, and each day we love you even more.  I cant wait for summer so we can spend all kinds of time together doing all kinds of fun stuff, and maybe we'll even let Daddy tag along some times. :)

Love you so much pickle.

XOXO,

Mommy



Uh-oh, we're mobile!

Grayson has officially started to crawl, forward and with purpose.

Today I put him on his play mat and went to the kitchen to make a bottle. Not a minute later when I turned around, there he was, propped up on his belly on the kitchen floor looking proud as can be.

Insert the "Holy Hell, how did you do that" yelp from the Momma here.

Now don't get me wrong, I knew it was coming. For weeks now he has been getting up on all fours, but before yesterday he had never crawled more than five paces forward.  Usually he's like the Paula Abdul song- two steps forward and then two steps back.  He wasn't really getting anywhere.  Well, my little over achiever decided to change that today.

As if that wasn't enough, he also decided today to start feeding himself little bites of food from his high chair tray. Before he would just open his mouth and yell at us to put the puffs or bites of whatever we were eating in his mouth. Big things he's mastered, now we're working on the small stuff.

Oh yeah, and we also tried to pull ourselves up to a standing position on the Jumparoo.

I know I said I don't want to miss a single first- something I worry about alot being a working momma- but I never expected three in one day.  Don't tell the bean, but Id be totally okay if he stayed small for just a smidge more time.

Fashion to Figure Giveaway Winner!!

Well it only took me 20 minutes to figure out how to take a screen shot- but I got it!! 

Who would have thunk that giving away $30 to Fashion to Figure would teach me a new skill, too!!

Anyway- on with the goods!!  There were 15 of you lovelies who entered, and using Random.org we have a winner!

And the lucky lady is- Kristi Boyko!

Kristi said she loves the castaway striped top, and I hope it looks fab on her!

Ill be in touch soon to get you hooked up with your prize :)

Thanks again to the wonderfully generous people over at Fashion to Figure!

Fashion to Figure Giveaway!!

Could it be? A giveaway?

Oh yes, lovelies, it can.

A few days ago a friend and I were talking at work how hard it was to find clothes above a size 12 for an affordable price. She made a really good point when she said 'I feel like everything in my size is cheap or tent-like, so I end up spending a crap ton of cash on clothes because they actually fit.'

So imagine my giddiness when I was contacted by Jessica from Fashion to Figure an online fashion house that offers trendy and fashion forward clothes in sizes 12-26 and awesome accessories for super affordable prices.

 Cardigans in super fun colors for only $22? Scarves for $6.99? Dresses for $42?? A bubble pearl necklace for $12?!

Um, sign me up and hide my debit card like now!

Seriously, if you have ever felt that you cant find clothes to fit without having to sell a kidney on the black market you need to check them out.  Even if you're looking for awesome accessories, this is a place to look for sure.

And the best part? The wonderful people over at Fashion to Figure have graciously decided to let one of you lovelies choose one item at $30 or less from FashiontoFigure.com! All you have to do is comment on this post with your name, email, and what you would choose if you win!

Contest closes 4/30 at 11:59 PM and the winner will be chosen on May 1st, 2012 and notified via email.

So head on over to Fashion to Figure and tell me what you want to see in your closet!  

(Fine Print- Fashion to Figure can only ship to domestic US addresses, so you need to be a resident of the US to win!)

Cheesesteak Pizza = drool.

The spring cleaning bug has hit our house, so forgive me for my lack of blogging these days. Grayson Boy is attempting to learn to crawl, and with that comes the desire to scrub and baby proof every surface that he can get to.  It started with buying one of those foam play mats to keep him from bashing his head off of the living room floor and has morphed into a whole baby proofin madness.  Trying to find new ways to hide power cords has become a hobby around here.

Anywho, I just wanted to stop by real quick to share the most amazing recipe Ive concocted this week.

A Cheesesteak Pizza with French Fries.

Insert drool here.

Super easy and amazingly delish.

I started by picking up a ball of pizza dough from a local shop. Its super cheap, I paid $2 for a pound of Mancini's dough and there is zero work involved. Well worth it in my book.

1. I started by preheating the oven to 400 and stretching the dough out on a cookie sheet with a little bit of flour. Once I got it all spread out I poked it all over with a fork to prevent bubbling. Into the oven that went to start baking.

2. I crushed a few cloves of garlic and put them in a bowl with about a Tbsp of butter.  That got microwaved for 30 seconds to melt the butter and make it all nice and garlicky. 

3. After about 8 minutes in the oven, I pulled the pizza out and brushed the crust with the garlic butter and put it back in the oven for another 7 minutes. 

4. While that was finishing up I cooked up the thinly sliced sandwich steak with a good sprinkling of Montreal Streak Seasoning. Once it was cooked through, I put it on a cutting board and diced it up fairly small.

5. After the crust was cooked, I pulled it out and heapped on the steak then covered that with shredded mozzerella and provalone cheese. Then back into the oven it went for 5 or so minutes to melt and bubble up.

6. Into the deep fryer went a handful of french fries for a few minutes to crisp up- when they were done I put them on some paper towels to drain.

7. Once the pizza came out I topped it with the fries and it was done.

The hubs scarfed this down so fast we had no leftovers, and that is rare in our house. Even the Baby Bean enjoyed some pizza crust.

He looks so big in this picture- love.him.

Pretty Awesome Little Trick

In my neck of the woods I'm pretty sure Mother Nature is all whacked out. When its 80 one day, 50 the next, then snowing the next day its no wonder we're all walking around here hacking our heads off.

Its no surprise that the hubs got sick- he thinks once its 60 he should never wear a jacket again. Its also no shock that he passed it on to the bean, since they are attached at the proverbial hip.

So here I am, stuck with a baby and a big baby coughing themselves awake at least 5 times a night; and I couldn't take it anymore. Momma needed some sleep.

So off I went to Google. I was looking for anything to quiet the cough so we all could get some sleep, I wanted it to work and work well. 

 What I found was about 30 articles on Eucalyptus Oil.  

 

They all said to rub it on the soles of the feet, and it would stop coughs. I read some more, and they said it was safe for babies; so off to GNC I went.

I got a 4 oz bottle for $8- and it was beyond worth it.

All I did was dip my finger into the bottle and rub it on the soles of their feet, put on some fuzzy socks and tuck them into bed- and guess what- not ONE coughing fit. Not ONE! WOOO HOOO!

It worked for the congested little bean, the sicky husband AND the allergy ridden Grandma.

Seriously, it was amazing.

It also clears sinuses when a few drops are sprinkled onto a tissue and the vapors breathed in, and it removed my headache almost instantly when I put a few drops in a vaporizer and breathed in the steam.

Its pretty much my new best friend, at least during cold season.