Sunday, July 31, 2011

Amazon Mom

I made a great discovery this week.  Like when I discovered that I could cook bacon in the oven...only better.  You know you're a Mommy when finding a great deal on diapers makes your day!  :)

Of course, I use cloth diapers when we're home, which saves quite.  But I'm not so dedicated to cloth diapering that I use them away from home.  For one reason, Kyla is a petite little girl, and the Fuzzi Bunz give her booty a definite bubble shape.  For another, well...two words.  Toddler poop.

A friend had just told me she orders her diapers and wipes from Amazon.com.  So I went online to check it out.  I discovered that by joining Amazon Mom (totally free!) and by signing up for Subscribe and Save (products are automatically sent to you at regular intervals [up to 6 months] unless you tell them not to or change your order), I can get Luvs diapers for 11 cents per diaper (compared to 17 cents/diaper at Wal-Mart)!  Plus, you get FREE 2-day shipping and FREE returns!

There are other perks as well.  By signing up for Amazon Mom, you are automatically enrolled in Amazon Prime for 3 months.  For every $25 of baby stuff you buy, you get another month, up to a total of 12.  With Amazon Prime, you get FREE 2-day shipping on every order, regardless of what you order or how much it is.

Told ya.  It's a great deal.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Beans, Beans, and More Beans

Canning green beans is a bit more challenging this year with a very active toddler in the house.  Beans on top of the table?  No problem for our little monkey!

The first time I canned beans this year, I left the kitchen momentarily and returned to find Kyla atop the table re-sorting my bowls of beans (snapped and un-snapped). 

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Bubbles!

One of Kyla's new favorite words is "Bubbles!"  She spots bubbles everywhere...on my hands when I am giving her a bath, at the top of the grape juice in the pitcher, in the soapy dishwater, and many, many other ways.  So when I saw a little toy for making bubbles today, I had to get it for her.


 


















I think "Bubbles" replaced "Puppy" for her most-spoken word today!  And that's saying something!!

On Saturday, we took Kyla's pacifier away.  What a mean Mommy I am, taking away her bestest friend like that!  She's done great during the day and in the car, for the most part.  But boy, oh boy, nights have been bad!  For the first few nights, she cried for a good hour or more before eventually falling asleep.  Tonight, finally, she went to sleep with barely a peep!  Yay!

Me, being the mean Mommy I am, checked on her the other night about 1:00 in the morning.  I had to get my camera and return to her room on tip-toes to capture the way she was sleeping, sippie cup and all.  :)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Toddler Days

Oh, the days of having a toddler in the house.  I want to treasure these days, to lock them away in my long-term memory so that I can recall them later when the pitter-patter of tiny feet is no longer an everyday sound in our house.

I love to see Kyla's creativity and imagination come to life in her play.  Today, she found a bottle of sunscreen that we had used before going outside.  When I found her, she had it open and was applying sunscreen to her stuffed puppy.  :)  Last night, she buckled her baby doll into her infant carseat.  I am constantly reminded of the fact that her mind is just a sponge, soaking in everything around her. 

Of course, there are the not-so-fun moments as well.  This afternooon, Kyla and I were outside by her pool when she got stuck by a wasp 3 times!!  Thankfully, she had no reactions to the stings and recovered fully within an hour or two. 

Yesterday, Dez and I took our girls to the lake to just relax along the shore.  Kyla and I did a bit of swimming.  Once she adjusted to the water and her life jacket, she loved it.

She loved playing with Lexi on the blanket as well while we Mamas chatted.


I had to snap a picture of Kyla drinking from the hose this morning while we were filling her pool.


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Boating

Kyla got her first boat ride last night, and what a ride it was!



We went boating on Lake Mitchell last night with our friends Brad and Dez, and their little girl Lexi.  It was a beautiful evening for boating.  We sped around the lake for a bit and then shut it off for a while to just relax. 




Brad decided he wanted to go water skiing, so he did that.  Then Bryan got in the water to give skiing a try.



Ready, set....no go.  The boat wouldn't start for anything.  The people onboard who knew something about engines and motors deduced that we had a dead battery for some reason.

Of course, we were on the far side of the lake from the dock, pretty much as far away from it as we could get.  There were no other boats around us...only one jet-skier that would zoom past every now and again, but he was still quite a ways away.  Every time he would come close, we would stand up and wave our arms.  He appeared to see us but didn't slow down. 

The guys decided to try rowing back but discovered there was only one oar aboard.  Finally, Mr. Jet-Skier headed our way again.  I stood on the back of the boat and waved both arms frantically.  This time, he slowed and came toward us!  He said, "I'm sorry.  I didn't realize you were trying to flag me down."  (Did he really think we were just being friendly!?!)  He agreed to pull us back to the dock.  Thus began the longest boat ride of our lives.  When the guys tied the rope between the boat and the jet ski, they doubled it for extra strength.  This, however, made it a very short rope.  Thus, all of the water that the jet ski sprayed up behind him came directly down into the boat like a full-blown downpour.

As Bryan, Kyla, and I huddled beneath a towel as best we could, Bryan just started to laugh...and laugh some more.  I'm so glad I married a man who can laugh when being utterly soaked in a dead boat.  I had to join in...what else could we do?  Everything in the boat, including ourselves, was getting totally drenched, and there wasn't a thing we could do about it. 

I had no idea that lake was so big.  It's huge.  At least the size of Lake Superior.

Friday, July 22, 2011

New Beginnings

Today is a day of new beginnings, happier days. 

At my doctor appointment yesterday, the doctor was able to do a procedure to remove the remaining tissue.  This means no surgery and no more waiting.  It was a huge relief to be done; but, rather unexpectedly, it was a very sad day.  It was the end.  I already knew the life within me was gone, but it was the final good-bye to a beautiful dream.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Sad, sad, sad

Tomorrow will be three weeks since we had our first prenatal appointment for this baby.  Unfortunately, my worst fears came true.  The doctor was unable to find a heartbeat.  A series of blood tests and another ultrasound revealed that this is another miscarriage.  It was a rollercoaster...we'd get a little hope, then have it dashed.  Get a little hope, then dashed again. 

Heather Bork is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com