Random thoughts Wednesday

Sometimes, as a mom, I think that my heart will burst open at the seams. Literally. The joy, the pride, the happiness I feel when I see my little blue-eyed, Bryan-look-a-like, Frankenstein-walking child is so overwhelming that my heart just skips a beat and I think it might explode. So, call the Doc, because today we're heading in for a visit with a bursting heart.

I have a lot of love to go around today. I don't know if it's the rain (I have to admit, I love a rainy day because God made it and it's beautiful), or afterglow from a fun night out with the hubs last night or three days in a row to the gym, but I am feeling pretty thankful today. I've got a running mental list of some things I've been wanting to blog about but none of them stood up on their own as meaty worth-while entries. So as much as I don't like making lists (that's boring for me and for you), the following is my ode to happiness for this blissfully rainy day.

1. Sweet potatoes. Love 'em. My 10lb box from Costco is dwindling because I've found recipes for this blessed vegetable to fit each meal of the day. Biscuits, mashed 'taters, "fries," and casserole. And the littlest Barber loves them - just one more reason.
2. Buy Buy Baby. The car seat story continues (I know - you're thinking, "really?"). I found a deal online that would have saved me over $83 on a $309 car seat. By simply calling the store manager and explaining my dilemma (and that I was about to make my third trip to the store to return said car seat), she did a price match and refunded me the difference onto my credit card. One happy customer here.
3. Matthews Police Department. Free child car seat inspection and/or installation saved our sanity. We have an older car without the easy hooks for new car seats, and I think we lost 3 hours of our Saturday trying to figure out what the great Police Department employees did in a matter of 15 minutes. Sophie is now rear-facing in her big girl Britax.
4. Buckle. Yeah - the teeny bopper store in the mall. Did you know they are the only place I was able to find shorts with longer than a 1" inseam in January? Lordy. And they fit. And they stretch. And they don't look like mom shorts. Win. Win. Win.
5. Allyson. My best friend in the entire world - who also unfortunately lives on the other side of the world (spoiler alert - I'll be seeing her soon - more to come). She has two kids to my one and she called me for some advice on something. Made my ever-lovin' day. All mommies do things a little differently, and it's really special when this is acknowledged and you can share something like baby-food-making tips, or nap tips, or nursing tips.

Are you left feeling completely enriched by my random thoughts Wednesday? What has made your day today - I'd love to know! xo

30 in 30 (and then some)

By now you are on the edge of your seat for my 30 in 30 list; I know, I know. You'll notice there are more than 30. I'm ambitious. And behind...

So without further ado - and in no particular order - here are the selections complete with Title, Author, and the woman who suggested the book to me. Anyone willing to read along with me?

Good Morning, Merry Sunshine, Bob Greene (Nancy)

Sarah's Key, Tatiana De Rosnay (Kelly)

Running With Scissors, Augusten Burroughs (Aarica)

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (Marcia)

Feel the Fear... and Do It Anyway, Suan Jeffers (Theresa)
*and if I have time, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Blue Planet Run, Rick Smollen (Lisa)

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (Lindy)
*and if I have time, Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner

The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren (Darra)
*and if I have time, The Love Dare, Stephen and Alex Kendrick

Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer, Nancy G. Brinker (Kristin)

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Christy)

Mother Teresa, No Greater Love, Thomas Moore (Margaret)

Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris (Amy)

The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman (Elizabeth)

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (Courtney)

Something Borrowed, Emily Griffin (Leslie)
*and if I have time, Something Blue

Tales of a Female Nomad, Rita Goldman Gelman (Allyson)

Catcher In The Rye, JD Salinger (Heidi)

The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls (Melanie)

Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen (Keri)

You Had Me At Woof, Julie Klam (Megan)

The Wedding, Nicholas Sparks (Carrie)

The Story of Edgar Sawtell, David Wroblewski (Rachel)

Hawaii, James A. Michener (Carol)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson (Jen)

It's Always Something, Gilda Radner(Kathy)
*and if I have time, Your One Year Old and Your Two Year Old, Louise Bates Ames

When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Megan)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Stieg Larsson (Lea)
*and if I have time, The Girl Who Played With Fire

Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert (Penelope)

The Help, Kathryn Stockett (Beverly)

Little Bee, Chris Cleave (Allie)

The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch - my own selection.

I love a good sale

You want Bathing suits? Kid shoes? Toys? Infant gear? Diaper bags? Maternity clothes? Smocks? Furniture? Bedding?

Consignment season is about to kick off again. For all of my lovely Charlotte mommies, here are the sales I've been able to dig up so far. Get out your calendars (and you checkbooks) :)

February 23-24
Posh Kids Consignment Sale
9009 Bryant Farms Road

February 24-27
Tot Trade Charlotte
Cabarrus Arena, North Concord, NC

February 26, 2010 7am-1pm
Holy Comforter Weekday School
2701 Park Road

February 26, 2010
Charlotte Multiples
7:30am - 2:30pm
Metrolina Tradeshow Expo

March 2-5
For Every Season
Trader Marc's Expo, Fort Mill, SC

March 3-6
Upscale Wee Sale
2225 Dave Lyle Blvd, Rock Hill, SC

March 11-13
9am - until
KidzExchange
Metrolina Tradeshow Expo

March 17-19
Kat's Kids Sale

Saturday March 26, 2010
Covenant Presbyterian Preschool Children's Consignment Sale
1000 East Morehead Street

Caught in the act

Sophie has had an on-again/off-again relationship with walking over the last month. She was up to 10 steps at once when we were in Florida for Christmas and upon our return to the Carolinas, she promptly went right back to a contented crawl. Over this past weekend, she rekindled her relationship with the idea of walking. Today I grabbed the Flip Video and this was the best I could do - sorry for the unsteadiness (I'm a photographer, not a videographer).

I'm not even sure I notice her walking in this video, her big pout gets all of my attention (and my heart - she gives the sweetest kisses!). You go, girl!

Cowmooflage

Cowmooflage almost hijacked and destroyed our otherwise perfectly good Saturday.

Sophie has been in the bucket car seat since, oh, birth. It's about time we move her to big girl seat and I've been doing copious amounts of research to find the *perfect* one. Graco, Chicco, Eddie Baur, Safety First, Evenflo, Sunshine Kids, Britax... I mean, with so many choices, it's hard to say that one is truly better than another. But, we narrowed it down to three based on safety ratings, mommy forums, and friend recommendations.

Did you know that the CDC and the AAP are now recommending that children up to 2 years old be rear-facing in car seats (or when the weight/height capacity of the rear-facing convertible car seat is reached)?

To get to the story - we settled on Britax. They have a local distribution warehouse and they'll even help you install the seats in your car. So when we picked out a Britax model, all we had to do was select the color. Cowmooflage, naturally.

I was in heaven. I mean it's adorable, right? Well, Bryan didn't exactly share my vision for our children riding in a cow-print car seat for the next five years (that is assuming we have another, and presuming that other said offspring is a boy). Boo-hoo. I think it's safe to say that the "discussion" that ensued was a little heated. We each had such good defense that we had changed each others' minds by the end - I wanted to exchange the seat and he wanted to keep it.

Needless to say, the Britax in Cowmooflage that rode all the way home with us will be going back this week - still in it's original box - and being traded in for a more neutral pattern. And our marriage is still in tact. Win-win.

Flax and babies?

Pictured below is the proud recipient of two big-girl waffles this morning:

Not just any waffles, homemade waffles (well, followed the box) with the addition of fresh yummy blueberries and a Tablespoon of ground Organic Flax seeds. If you're new on the Flax train like I am, it seems a little confusing, right? Couldn't be easier, actually.

I'm always looking at different ways to get the most nutrition into Sophie's foods since I can't just puree and spoon practically anything in her mouth anymore. (Side note: have I mentioned she's started using a spoon on her own with some success? I'm so proud.)

Benefits: Omega 3's, Protein, Lignans and Fiber. And, BONUS! it's a natural laxative . Which is why you should be conscious of how much you give baby (I don't talk about her poop much, but that's because she doesn't make a lot of it. We'll see if that changes with the addition of Flax). If you check this website, it recommends not introducing Flax to babies before 8-10 months.

Hubby and I have been adding it to cereal, yogurt and smoothies so far. It's a little gritty, but we'll be getting used to it because I bought a 3lb bag of it from Costco.

What have you used ground Organic Flax seeds in? It can go in anything, I know, but any specific recipes you've had exceptional luck with? Can't wait to hear from you!

Snow daze

Why, oh why, am I far less productive on a snow day when I cannot leave the house, than on a day where I - by choice - do not leave the house? I'll call it a snow daze... mesmerized by the glowing white coming from outside the windows and the soft, low sound of flakes piling slowly one by one. And, well, maybe it's because of all this cuteness going around my house:

One thing is for sure, our gas bill should go down by about 1/3 since I found our bathroom window has been open since, um, May.

For the record, Soph was NOT interested in the snow for more than 3 minutes after the 20 minutes it took us to bundle up (even the pooches had coats on).

That is all I have for today other than breaking my diet, missing a workout, not doing a shred of cleaning and playing in the snow (three times).

New year, happy?

I've been trying to compose some sort of New Year's blog post about reflecting on '10 and resoluting for '11, but to no avail. Don't get me wrong, the year was great: I survived. I survived and even thrived as a first time mom. I learned what I'm really good at and really bad at... that I'm cut out for pregnancy, not so much for delivery, and I am cut out for lovin' the stuffin' out of my bouncing baby girl.

I tried a new Yoga studio in the neighborhood the other night, and the teacher was talking about how no two practices are ever the same; no two days are ever the same. Ever. I started tearing up, and I think that is where my New Year began. A simple, but thoughtful moment in a Yoga studio. Go figure. No two days are the same, so I want to make the most of the ones I am given. I also want to keep working towards finding a family/life/friendship balance. I want to feel better in my 30's than I have my entire life! And I want to have fresh flowers in the house more - like these - that I just picked up:

Makes me smile :)

Sophie update! She still learns something new every day. Within the last two weeks, she's started giving kisses (to anything with a nose or a mouth), brushes her hair, feeds her baby doll, and she knows where mommy's "nose" is!

Sophie on her first birthday!

Sophie's New Years at Discovery Place Kids.

A ladybug in a sea of ladybugs.

Sew what? I've got a few things up my sleeves. Are you on the edge of your seat yet? The picture below is your only clue. More to come!!

Post partum event, 1 year later?

So the last post partum/really fun thing happening to my body... one year later?!

I could REALLY do without the two inch spikes of hair that stick out all over my head. When I try to do something cute, or even just a ponytail, I wind up with a halo of short spiky hair everywhere! Forget about sweating in a workout, jog, or yoga session... then they turn to little ringlets.

Without doing any sort of research, I'm going to chalk it up to the hair that all FELL OUT after Sophie was born is now growing back in.

Grow baby, grow.