Saturday, November 20, 2010

Headbands, Ruffles, and Bows, Oh My!

We found out yesterday that Ben is going to have a little SISTER!!!!!!  I am so incredibly excited to buy dresses and to make all sorts of cute pink things!  My mom is going to have a hay day at JoAnn's.  She is doing well.  The ultrasound looked great--I could watch those all day.  Today we went out to buy the first outfit for her....ok, so we bought more than one.  But everything was less than $2 so i feel pretty good about it.  :) 

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bloggers: 50 free photo cards!

Is this perfect timing or what?  Shutterfly is doing this promotion where you blog about their cards and then you get a promo code for 50 FREE cards!  We don't send that many cards out anyways, so all of the ones we need for Christmas will be free!  I am so thrilled.  :)  Good advertising for them, too.  I ordered a photo book from Shutterfly last Christmas of Ben's first month or so and was so pleased with the way it turned out.  I've also done that with Picaboo (also free!) and Walgreens.  Shutterfly is definitely my favorite so I can't wait to see how their photo cards turn out. 

My favorite cards so far are these:




Choose your favorite one at...
· Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards




· holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards



· Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery



· wall calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars



· photo mugs to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts/photo-mugs



· birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

If you want free cards like me, go HERE! 

A Year Ago Today....

--I woke up dreadfully early to drive to the hospital to be induced at 5am
--we were late because we stopped along the way to make sure our tire wasn't flat
--I had pretty easy labor for about 3 hours, a couple more of not so comfortable labor and transition, and 45 minutes of pushing until...
--OUR BABY BOY WAS BORN!

I became a mother for the first time a year ago today.  Time truly does fly.  He's going to be in kindergarden the next time I blink. 

Today he:
--walks well
--is sick with a cold
--gets to have cake and ice cream for the first time
--waves bye bye to random cars passing on the street
--loves to be outside
--doesn't like the bathtub anymore
--loves dogs and cats his size
--likes to spit
--says "mama" :)
--signs "all done"

We absolutely adore our little boy!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Advice

So with baby #2 coming so quickly behind Ben, I've been considering several things.  With Ben, we did without a swing and a high chair.  We were given one of those infant to toddler rockers and I became very adept at rocking him with my foot while I pumped or whatever.  For a high chair, we use the booster seat that came with the bumbo wannabe from babies r us.  The lack of a tray is a bit of a bummer, but we make do and we now just scoot him up to the table.  A swing sounds almost invaluable with 2 little munchkins.  That way, I can put the baby in the swing and take care of Ben, without having to lay the baby on the floor.  A highchair also sounds nice this time around and Ben can still eat from the booster.  Either way, I'll have to buy some sort of feeding chair so that they can eat at the same time.  I have a swing and a high chair that I like, but I want to know...what are your favorites?  Are they really worth it or can I save some cash and not buy one or both?  Have you heard anything about the fisher price one that turns from swing to high chair?  If I buy something, I would like to buy something that's going to last through all of my kids. 

Another issue is the stroller.  Do I really need a double?  They are going to be 17 months apart.  I have an infant carrier.  Could I get by with that for the baby and then when he/she gets too heavy, make Ben walk?  I found a stroller that I love because it fits my eddie bauer car seat and allows them to face either direction.  But it's heavy.  like REALLY heavy.  and it's 200 dollars.  (Although that's signifantly cheaper than the Peg Perego that I fell in love with earlier...)   Pretty much all other tandem strollers that take a car seat have to be the same brand.  Eddie Bauer doesn't make tandem strollers and I don't want to have to buy a new car seat, too. 

The last issue is the crib.  Do I buy a second cheap crib for the baby until Ben is ready for a toddler bed?  Or do I introduce him to the toddler bed and hope for the best?  Or should the baby go in a bassinet until Ben is ready for a bed?  How long did a bassinet last for you?  Which one did you buy?  What did you like about it?  What would you differently if given the chance?  They are going to be in the same room...any tips?  I don't want to wake Ben up everytime I need to feed the baby and I don't want him to keep the baby up.  I see some very long nights in my future.  haha. 

I could really use the suggestions! 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A New Kitchen

Remember awhile back I posted about us remodeling the kitchen??  well, here it is!  it looks SO much better!

Here are some before pics that my mom took of the kitchen, after the cabinet doors had been removed. 





This is what it looks like now!



Halloween

 We took Ben to his first trunk or treat, all decked out in new shoes and a cute cow costume.  Note to self, husband was right, and the cow is girly.  Nearly everyone called him a girl, even some who should know who I am (and thus that I have a SON not a daughter).  They invited the neighborhood and a ward not in our building so there were quite a few unfamiliar faces.  I thought he'd be super excited to walk around outside, but that was short-lived.  Maybe next year will be more exciting. 


Ben with Grandma

Our pumpkin

Our "trunk"


Monday, November 8, 2010

Family Pictures!!!

I have several things that I want to blog about, but whenever I have free time, I feel like I should clean or organize something instead.  BUT, this is way too awesome to wait, plus I'm not at home right now.  We had family pictures/Ben's 12 month pics taken on saturday in gilbert.  I was reading an old friend's blog about her sister in law's engagement pics who I happen to know as well.  She was on the east side and reasonably priced and I loved her pictures so I emailed her and here we are!  Don't these just beat the socks off studio pictures??
check them out at http://www.jessicadrewphotoblog.com/?p=2989