Gro Baby

I would really like to try out the Gro Baby company. The blackberry shell set looks very appealing! What I love about Gro Baby is that they have snap in soaker pads and reusable outter shells. I like simplicity with quality and Gro Baby seems to have that. My daughter has eczema and very sensitive skin and I think Gro Baby will do a great job in preventing diaper rash as well as keeping her little bum comfy due to the soft organic cotton inside of their diapers. My sweet baby girl also has a narrow waist but very chunky thighs and I think Gro Baby would be an amazing diaper when it comes to preventing leaks because their diapers have adjustable snaps to get that snug but not too tight fit. I would be very pleased if I was able to receive a Gro Baby from the offer going on at http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2%84%A2-ic-11_16.html . I think my daughter would also be very pleased!

Growing Like a Weed

Yes..that would be my daughter. The world's most beautiful, humorous, and amazing "weed". Only she's not really a weed. But she sure is growing like one. I'm very excited to get her stats next month and see just how much she has grown. I know my arms get sore after about 4.5 seconds of carrying her around. She's looking taller and her brains are clearly growing because her noggin is getting somewhat bigger.

Along with her growing..her love of food is blossoming as well. This girl LOVES to eat! Her favorites include Cheerios, berry applesauce, toast, steamed broccoli, and yogurt. We occasionally still do stage 3 foods but she's mostly eating whatever we eat. (Usually because when she sees us eating she starts a small riot..demanding our food in her belly). She does really great with her sippy cup too and loves ice water. She's not a fan of juice..which I don't mind at all. She's still working on her pincher grip because she's having difficulty getting her cheerios from her hand into her mouth. It's a work in progress.

She is also working on crawling. It's SO close to being there. She makes the crawling motion and will even move a small distance. But she hasn't made consistent crawling motions. It's only a matter of time..and while I am excited...it also means that absolutely nothing will be safe any longer. She really loves to walk. Of course she isn't doing it by herself but she loves it when you hold her hands and let her walk with you. Down the halls...outside in the grass..at the park...in the bathtub..pretty much anywhere her feet touch. She has almost got the hang of pulling herself up too. I'm really intrigued to see what this next month brings us.

One thing she does JUST FINE is screech scream so loud it makes our eyes and ears bleed vocalize. She babbles mostly but does say "dada" "dad" "mum" (what is she, British?) "no" "eye" (which is what she repeats after you say hi to her five thousand a few times) and ""oh". It's so sweet! She also screams, yells, hollers, and whines with no problem. It's not so sweet!

I say this all the time... BUT..I really can't believe 8 months have already gone by. I really can't believe she will be a year old in 4 months. I really can't believe my baby is getting so big. Everyone always says to cherish the times when they are this little because it goes so fast. It really does. I feel like I've blinked a few times since leaving the hospital with her..and here we are. Being a mother...especially to this baby girl...it's the best a most wonderful experience I've ever had. I never imagined I would love being a mother this much. It is my greatest accomplishment in life and I can't imagine existing without her (and Tim..but this IS Kylee's post after all... lol). Here's to hoping life slows down a little bit..and I stop blinking.

I love you Kylee Lynn. Always. Forever.

Blog Giveaways

SO I'm hoping to join the world of blog giveaways. I've seen and entered into some really awesome ones. (Currently I'm hoping to win one my friend Jessie is doing for a 3pk of Fuzzibunz cloth diapers!!)

Right now I'm in contact with the Kid O company in New York (that has GREAT toys and products..especially if you like toys with great design and wonderful educational purposes!). I'm hoping to be able to do a giveaway on their Bilibo toy. It's a pretty basic looking toy but is definitely an imagination stimulator! You should head on over to their site and check out what they have to offer..I'm sure you'll be sucked in like I was.

So..what's your favorite giveaway that you've done OR your favorite giveaway you've entered?

Mine is a toss up between Jessie's current giveaway (because I'm REALLY thinking about CDing) or a SKR giveaway I entered a while ago.

Happy 4th of July

From our family..to yours! We hope yours was fun-filled and amazing!!

Well I have to say July 4th of 2009 goes down in the books as one of the COLDEST and WETTEST I remember in my 24 years of life. The morning started out chilly with drizzle. I had to work for a few hours in the morning. Which wasn't awful. I went with some of the clients who didn't go home for the holiday to lunch. Then I went home and rested up for what was going to be a long night. We all got dressed in our patriotic colors! Tim wore red..for valor and hardiness. Kylee wore white.. for purity and innocence. I wore blue.. for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. We're proud Americans like that!

We were going to go to the Ralston Parade. Seeing as how it's like the largest Independence Day parade in the state..HOWEVER..the weather wasn't very parade friendly and I didn't want to drive in the slowest moving traffic to find a parking spot millions of miles away from the parade route only to be rained out.. So we stayed home and enjoyed each others' company and just vegged in our pj's and watched some tv.

Later in the day we went down the street to Tim's sister and brother-in-law's house for a BBQ and some fireworks. (With hoodies, fleece jammies (Kylee), and blankets in tow) Kylee enjoyed some green beans and rice and shared some Cheerios with her cousin (it was too cute). The rest of us enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, chips, pasta salad, and corn on the cob. I won't tell you that I ate two hamburgers and two corn on the cobs. Because THAT would be just down right disgusting. But, in my defense, I didn't eat a big lunch because I was preparing for the fabulousness of grilled food. (Not that I need to justify my "diet"..I'm just saying...) I was preparing for Kylee to go into a full blown meltdown because after waking up at 1:30 that afternoon..she hadn't had another nap..Needless to say..I was surprised! She was still going strong at 9:30 last night after only having like a 10 minute "nap". The fireworks didn't scare her..she LOVED watching them. The big booms made her jump, but didn't scare her. She enjoyed watching everyone and chatting it up. We got home about 9:45 and she was more than ready for a "ba-ba" and "ni-night". Our neighbors had other plans though. They were up doing fireworks until about 2am. Poor baby girl didn't get very good sleep at all. Just as she would start to doze off..BOOM!!! But overall..our first family 4th was quite the success. We'll see if she's loving the fireworks as much next year (her almost 2 year old cousin was NOT loving them).

Store Brand vs Name Brand

So I've never considered myself a "Name Brand Snob"..you know..people who refuse to buy anything other than name brand products. Now forgive me if this is you. There's nothing wrong with name brand. I buy name brand products too. But it just drives me crazy when someone refuses to buy store brand (even if they haven't tried it) JUST because it IS store brand. I always give something a chance. Hey, if it's going to save me money..why not? If I don't like it..then I just will keep buying the name brand. Simple enough.

I remember before having Kylee..I asked my MOM group about the big difference between name brand and store brand diapers. I was thinking to myself..why not save some cash and just buy the cheap diapers. They all hold poo right? Name brand diapers aren't lined in gold or anything..so why pay more? Well shortly after Kylee was born I found out that store brand (at least WalMarts) diapers are about as useful as a parka in the summer. They were horrible. She leaked all day, every day. That was the end of store brand diapers.

Then the other day I sent Tim (bless his heart) to pick up a wipe refill pack (Pampers Sensitive all the way)..he came back with some Kroger-ish brand. Hmm..I figured..why not. give it a try. I might has well been wiping her butt with my own hand..slightly damp. These were the driest, thinnest wipes I've ever used. We went through them much faster than our usual brand because you had to triple them up just to avoid getting her lovely teething/eating solids poo on your hands. I was so happy today to pick up a refill at the store. And an added bonus..Pampers is making Sensitives Thick now! Sweet days!

So diapers and wipes MUST be name brand. Papmers to be specific. But there are things I will buy store brand. Milk is almost guaranteed to be store brand (unless there's an out-of-this-world sale on Roberts) because milk is milk. I can't taste the difference so it doesn't matter to me. I also buy Kylee's cereal puffs store brand but usually Gerber food (believe it or not..it's cheaper than the store brand at Bakers). I have Tim buying cheaper beer and smokes these days (yes..he's back to smoking..........) because Budweiser wants your soul and first born these days for a 12 pack and Marlboro is only accepting kidneys and small intestines these days in payment. Screw that! You wanna poison your body baby...you're going to do it cheaply. Right?

Papers towels and toilet paper are a name brand must. My backside demands it..and I'd rather use 1 towel on a spill than 8 plus the mop. Tissues too...my nose is sensitive and I HATE having the uber red and flaked up nose during allergy time because I'm wiping my nose with a brillo pad disguised as a store brand tissue.

But anyways..this whole post came about because this older lady whining in line at Bakers this morning at the price of her cans of diet drink (SlimFast)..well...there is another brand..a cheaper one you could..*gasp*..try! I swear..Kroger doesn't put rat poison in their products anymore it's okay to try them. Who knows..you may actually like them (since most things don't taste any different then a name brand) and your wallet may be thanking you.

Thanks for listening to my rant. Next time you're hitting the store..try the store brand of something you usually buy name brand. I dare you.

Never Pleased

sat⋅is⋅fac⋅tion [sat-is-fak-shuhn]

–noun
1.
an act of satisfying; fulfillment; gratification.
2.
the state of being satisfied; contentment.
3.
the cause or means of being satisfied.

Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc...

Basically I have found that I'm having a hard time finding this lately. Satisfaction, that is. I've decided that I may be somewhat greedy needy particular in how I like things.

I did quite the research looking up and asking about different banana bread recipes. Finally picked one that looked promising..and made it. Now, it's not HORRIBLE. It's not even bad to be honest. It's just not the slice of perfection that I had envisioned in my head. I was satisfied..but I know there could have been improvement.

The weather. I hate the rain and clouds but I love the cooler temperatures that usually come with said weather. I hate the rain and clouds but I also hate when it's flesh-frying hot outside and I burn off breakfast and half of lunch just going to check the mail. Again..not satisfied with this summer weather business. (I think my daughter is taking after me as well..uh oh)

My appearance..it's high time that I start burning off this baby weight that I've been holding onto like Octomom to her "celebrity status"...Yes..I've been holding onto it THAT tight! I've finished mechanically breastfeeding (aka pumping) so I don't need to eat as much as I was trying to keep up my supply..so I just need to get to it so I can start wearing some of my old clothes that have been taken hostage by spider webs and dust bunnies on the top shelf of the closet. Body = not satisfied.

Along with my appearance..I am most definitely not pleased with my diet. As much as I wish Hershey w/ almond bars were equivalent in calories to say.. a carrot stick.. it's never going to happen. So I actually need to pick up that carrot stick and say goodbye to Hershey, amatuer-baked banana bread, and all the other less than good-for-me foods I've been shoving into my mouth the last few months. Diet = not satisfied (but it sure is yummy)

My housekeeping/motherly/wifely duties have also been getting neglected lately (I have been blaming this on an awful work schedule..but it's time I take responsibility for my lack of ambitions.) It's time to stop piling and hiding laundry and actually.. *gasp* get it downstairs to the laundry room. Dusting needs to happen before those dust bunnies which I mentioned earlier start carrying away my chunky princess. Ugh! Just thinking about tackling the neglected things in my house make me want to toss my cookies. You can say with absolute certainty that I am less than satisfied in this department.

So I guess in order to acquire this desired satisfaction ... I should probably remove myself from this comfy, welcoming computer chair and find my way to a broom, mop, and hazmat suit. Right? Okay then...

OH, and here's my chunky princess!!

She's not satisfied either..

Ignorance is Breeding

So this whole post is going to be one giant rant. So if you're not into listening to me bitch about how tired I am of ignorant people...you may want to direct your browser elsewhere.

I think of myself as a pretty easy going person. I tend to educate the uniformed rather than jump down their throats. I said I tend to..it doesn't ALWAYS happen. But..I realize..not everyone knows everything about all things. Myself included, of course. But give me a freakin break..are you going to tell me you weren't raised learning respect, common courtesy, and learning how to ...keep-your-damn-mouth-shut-if-what-you're-going-to-say-could-be-offensive?? I mean..it seems pretty simple to me. It's something I plan on teaching my own children. But apparently...not every family thinks the same way.

The purpose of this post is that I am SO tired of informing people of how I am related to Kylee..my daughter...the life that was conceived and GREW INSIDE OF MY BODY!! Not that it's any of their business. I could be her hired nanny or her kidnapper...but NO, I am her mother. Yes..I am biracial...yes she has her father's skin tone..which believe it or not..happens to be WHITE (most of the year anyway..unless I force him out into the evils known as ..sunshine). Now, just because you see me composed of olive skin and black hair...and a beautiful baby girl with light brown/blonde hair and pale skin...this does NOT mean I am:
A> Her babysitter
B> Her ADOPTED mother
C> An extended family member (i.e. her aunt)

So please...to save your face from meeting a fist...NEVER..I repeat NEVER..question a relationship status of someone based solely on their skin color. It's tacky and disrespectful. So when I'm at Wal-hell please don't look at my daughter and say.."Look at all the yummy food your babysitter is getting you..you're a lucky girl!" ...because I will jump over the damned register and beat your face into the dirty, mucked up floor you stand on day in and day out. I mean..seriously..who says that?!?! Also..never ask me if I adopted her. You look like trash and you sound like trash and I will pass my baby to the person standing nearest to me and I will repeat the attack I blessed the Wal-hell cashier with. No joke.

I would never in my LIFE ever ask anyone some of the questions I've been asked about how I'm related to my daughter. Never. Yes. I am a BI-RACIAL mother who had a baby with a WHITE man..and believe it the f$#@ not..my baby did get BOTH of our DNA's...and she did come out with my eye shape..but her father's color. My lips but her father's chin. My face shape..but her father's skin tone!! Holy shit balls! Can you believe it? Now crawl back in the whole you manifested from..and leave me and my "complicated" family alone. Thanks!