Boys in the Northwoods

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Thankful 30 - Days 13, 14, & 15

Day 13 - I am thankful for wraps and other baby carriers.

They make toting around big lugs like my boys so much easier. There are no huge strollers to collapse and put back together (although I love those too...see below), they keep baby nice and cozy with mama (or daddy), they're beautiful, and addictive. I love them so much, I'm leading a presentation on them this Saturday at our local breastfeeding support group. Apparently they think I have a lot of them or something....what? 2 wraps, an Ergo, 2 mei tais, a baby k'tan, a pouch, and two crotch danglers is a lot? I only use the wraps and ergo, and I use the k'tan until baby is about 15 lbs. I loved my Moby wrap that I got when I was pg with Callum, but I soon delved into the world of woven wraps which are just as good for a newborn and useful for much longer, so I handed down my moby to a friend. Someday, I will own a wrap in this pattern too:

yummy!

Day 14 - I am thankful for strollers.

Yes, I love my wraps and carriers, but strollers definitely have their place in our lives too. They allow us to still run, go on long walks, bike rides, skiing, etc. and they make it possible for us to get out of the house with daycare babies (Everett rides his scoot bike while I push two babies and possibly wear one). I may also own too many of those.... a BOB jogging stroller, a single Chariot, a double Chariot, and a newly acquired (used!) Chicco umbrella stroller. What? I needed a light weight, easy folding stroller for shopping... :)

Day 15 - I am thankful for the internet. Seriously, we all know I have an addiction, but you know.... Yesterday, my brain wouldn't work while I was trying to change some fish tank water and I couldn't figure out if I was using a 5 or 10 gallon bucket of water, which I needed to dechlorinate. So I quickly did an image search of 10 and 5 gallon buckets, figured out it was 5, and added my dechlorinating solution. Done. I've also made a lot of interwebz friends via message boards focused on pregnancy/babies. I've veered away from the original, massive site to an off board where it's a much smaller community with some awesome moms. And yes, I do still have friends in real life too. ;)

Friday, April 13, 2012

Boom!

That's Callum's newest word. I heard it first this morning as I was trying to continue sleeping and he was systematically throwing one item at a time off my nightstand and saying, "BOOM!" Yeah..... is it naptime yet?

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Thankful 30 - Days 11 & 12

Day 11 - I am thankful for coffee.

Mmmm....Can't really start my day without it. I brew it half-caff so I can have more of it. With just the smallest splash of Coffeemate Natural Bliss vanilla creamer.

Day 12 - I am thankful for cloth diapers. Seriously. Because there's no way you can argue that this isn't adorable.

Cloth diapers have saved us a bunch of money, kept my boys' sensitive skin happy, and they are just so cute. Nothing like a giant fluffy butt on a baby. Plus, I've become somewhat of a knowledgeable person on them and I am starting to do "classes" for others on cloth diapering!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Thankful 30 - Days 8, 9, & 10

Day 8 - I am thankful for the islands and the lake.

I just so happen to not only live on Lake Superior, but I live a mere 30 minutes from the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. I even got to work up in Bayfield, running the bookstore for the lakeshore for 1.5 summers. LOVED that job! Last summer, we had friends come up from Chicago and we took Gma and Gpa's boat up to Rocky island to camp and stopped at Raspberry island to see the lighthouse on our way home. I could go on and on (and on) about these islands, I love them so much. It's one of the greatest parts of living here.

Day 9 - I am thankful for my friends. I don't think I actually have a picture of a bunch of them, but you'll have to pretend. When we first moved up here, I went to a playgroup at the local episcopal church. This is where I met my friends. Our group has evolved some as the months and years have passed, but it's still a great group of moms who will help you out whenever you're in need.

Day 10 - I am thankful for volleyball on Wednesday nights. A year and a half ago, one of my friends gave me no choice but to join a volleyball team she was creating to play in the leisure community league. Seriously. She said I couldn't say no, even though I had never really played volleyball before. I'm so glad she was so pushy, because I look forward to Wednesday evenings all week. I try to have a dinner ready early, we eat, and then I run out the door in my bright pink shirt and Brian takes care of the boys for the evening. We generally win one game (out of six) each week, but we have a lot of fun. And we allllways go out to the DeepWater Grille afterward for hot wings/moz sticks/drinks.