Things I love [a baby gear post]

Over an 8 ½ year span I have brought three children into this world. 

Over this same 8 ½ year span there have been some major improvements in baby gear.  I am going to use this post as an opportunity to review a few items that, after using with Cooper, I don’t know how I had ever lived without…and that I don’t really want to part with.

[rockaRoo by 4moms]

The rockaRoo is hands-down the best baby swing I have ever owned.  It is super-portable, has convenient removable fabric that is machine-washable, MP3 hookup, and plugs in – NO BATTERIES, PEOPLE.   It has five speeds, and rather than the typical swaying motion of your standard baby swing, it rocks like a rocking horse.    

 [mamaRoo by 4 moms]

 When we were expecting Cooper I was leaning towards purchasing the mamaRoo.  During my research, 4moms released the rockaRoo.  In the interest of saving money, I went with the rockaRoo.  After Cooper was diagnosed with torticollis and in PT, we were gifted a mamaRoo by the 4moms Cares program.  The mamaRoo is not a swing,  I refer to it as more of a “ride”.  This seat has five pre-programmed motions that mimic movements such as a car ride or a kangaroo bounce.  It has four built-in sounds, and like the rockaRoo it is also compatible with MP3 players, has the removable fabric and also operates by plugging in.

[breeze by 4moms]

We used the same Graco Pack ‘n Play for both Jack and Reese.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this product in terms of quality and reliability; it was the assembly that drew me towards the breeze.  Unlike your standard play yards, the process of assembling and disassembling the breeze is ONE STEP.  Well, two if you count the insertion/removal of the pad.  Don't believe me?  Watch this:

Amazing, right?!  It really is that simple.  It also comes with a storage bag and bassinet insert.  My one and only complaint about this product is that it is Heavy.  Like in excess of 40lbs, heavy. 

[Zipadee-Zip]

Anyone with a tiny human knows that (most) babies prefer to be swaddled; and to get a better nights sleep, it has to be straight-jacket style.  Once that tiny human has mastered the art of rolling, the swaddling ceases abruptly...and so does any chance of an uninterrupted slumber. 

Husband and I like to watch Shark Tank.  One night, we watched an episode that featured the Zipadee-Zip; a wearable swaddle-transitioning blanket.  This is essentially a starfish-esque sleep sack that encloses the entire body from the neck down, but still allows for full use of arms and legs.  That's Cooper in the photo above rocking his.  The Zipadee-Zip is designed with a slight resistance in the arm span to prevent the occurrence of the startle-reflex that causes babies to suddenly wake up.  This 100% works, and was worth every-single-penny.  If you are considering buying one, buy fast.  These seem to sell out just as fast as they return to stock. 

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WARNING.  Some of you may judge me for this next item.  To be honest, I judged people with this item, because no.  And ::gag::.  And gross.  But in a moment of desperation to get my congested baby to breathe through his nose, I sent the husband to Target just before close to get...

[Nosefrida]

I used the standard bulb nasal aspirator on all three of my kids.  You know, that blue one they send home with you from the hospital?  It generally does an okay job, but Cooper was so congested the other night that I was desperate to find an alternative solution.  After consulting Dr. Google, I stumbled upon reviews from other parents about the Nosefrida.  I will fully admit that I have scoffed at the thought of someone buying this product on more than one occasion, because the thought of using it completely freaked me out.  But you know what?  It works.  So well, in fact, that I almost want to kick myself for not buying this sooner. 

If you cannot tell by the picture on the box, the Nosefrida is a device made up of three parts:  the applicator, the tubing, and a filter.  The filter is placed in the base of the tubing which snaps to the applicator.  The applicator is then placed at the base of the baby's nostril and you use the power of your own mouth to create a vacuum seal that draws out everything you didn't want to see congesting your little one.  For those who are wondering, NO, you do NOT get anything in your mouth!  Everything is collected in the applicator and never enters the tubing.  The filter is in place to also prevent any bacterial transfer.  Although there was definitely some serious hesitation before using, I will tell you that this works a hundred million times better than a bulb aspirator and I will never, ever go back.  Judge all you want, but my baby can breathe freely.     

...................

Alright, I think that's enough for tonight. 

a global citizen.

As some of you know, I grew a wild hair and enrolled myself back in school earlier this month to obtain yet another degree. Although I graduated from the same school in September, I am still considered to be a "new" student. A new requirement for all "new" students is to take a course on Global Citizenship to learn what is means to be, and what we need to do to become more of a, you guessed it, global citizen.

In week two I learned that one of the requirements that I need to meet in order to pass the course is to donate my time to volunteer; which would be all fine and dandy...if I had TIME. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE volunteering. But between work, other classes, kids, etc etc etc... I had NO idea where I was going to pull "time" from.

Last night I attended an optional meeting about the global citizenship project, and I will be forever grateful that I did. I learned that volunteering doesn't mean giving up hours of your time each week for a cause. There are many organizations that are seeking "virtual volunteers" for assistance on projects that can take as little as 15 minutes to complete right in your own home. There are even projects that I can have Jack help with. Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Volunteermatch.org is a site that was recommended to me, and now I am recommending it back to you! You can search for in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities in your area and it's a great way to give some good back to your local community without having to dedicate a lot of your time. What can you do today to make someone else's life better?

One of the (big) Boys.

Jack's snowmobile surprise on Saturday was a hit! My Dad and brothers made him a track in the backyard. Although it was a little rocky at first, by the end of the day he was doing really well! There was only one casualty of Grandpa's bushes and one minor incident in which my brother literally had to superman off of his snowmobile to catch jack before he took off into the slough.

Suiting up...



One of the boys...


It was a good day.

I suck at updates.

Bah.

So I made three resolutions for the new year.

1. To keep a travel-sized bottle of contact solution in my purse so I don't have to make the walk of shame into the eye clinic next door to my workplace asking to borrow theirs when my contact falls out of my eye for the seventybillionth time.

check.

2. To spend less and save more so we can get out of the townhome that grew too small too fast.

It's only the 19th day of the year...but so far, so check.

3. To update this blog more often with more than just JACKtionary posts.

Crap

Oh well, two outta three ain't bad, right Meatloaf?

tap tap...is this thing on?

Ok, enough of the lameness. I am running on little to no sleep after being awoken every hour on the hour by JP because god-forbid he be sick in silence. Men are such babies when they are sick...Love you JP! Not to mention the sprinkle of awakenings by Reese who decided to randomly talk in her sleep at two different ungodly hours...and by talk I mean a very loud string of jibberish that sounded like MAmaDADADADAplbbbbbshhh. When I flew out of bed to check on her she was sound asleep. Go figure.

Anywho...

Tomorrow I have the day off of work to accompany Jack and the rest of his preschool class to see Sesame Street Live. While I am looking forward to going, I am looking forward to Saturday even more. Grandpa bought Jack his first snowmobile and I am super excited (and a little motherly-worried) to see him ride. More to come next week on how it goes!

Two years.

First off, to make future post writing easier I need to out Husband. Husband's real name is JP - and today we will have survived celebrate two years of wedded bliss. Two years of laughs, family, new houses, new jobs, and new beginnings. I love you JP and look forward to many, many, many, more years to come. Happy Anniversary.








(We'd like to thank Yapuncich Photography for our amazing pictures, I can still feel every second of that day each time I look at them. www.yuppyphoto.com)

pomp and circumstance.

A little over a week ago I suited up in the-ugliest-shade-of-blue-I-have-ever-seen cap and gown and walked across a stage in front of what seemed like a million eyes. After 6 years and three(ish) changes in my major, I finally earned my Criminal Justice degree. Actually, not only did I earn my degree, but I graduated with highest honors earning a 4.0 GPA while taking on a nearly-full course load, working full-time, and managing two kids…and a dog…and a husband. I make myself exhausted just thinking about it. My family and I went out after the graduation ceremony where we enjoyed dinner and a few laughs…mostly from my Grandpa who asked the waiter if his fajitas were held up at the border when he was the only one at the table without a meal.

While it makes me happy that I can move on, explore my options, and do something different and interesting, I think the best part of not having anymore homework is the fact that I can spend more time with my family…and maybe catch an entire episode of Glee.

What a difference 15 years makes.

It’s that time of year again! On Saturday we joined the crowd of 175,621 individuals for 6.5 hours of food, fun, sun, and more food. I’m talking about the Minnesota State Fair. We arrived at 11 a.m. and proceeded to eat anything and everything that would shame any McFatty participant.

Mini donuts? Check.
Bite of my Step-Mom’s deep fried Mac and Cheese? Check.
Pickle dog? Check x2.
Chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick? Don’t mind if I do!

While the food was great, I’m pretty sure it took two showers to completely wash off the grease that was emitting from my pores. I will probably be making up for my binge by logging many miles on the elliptical over the next couple weeks. Oh well, at least I will get my insurance discount by checking in 12 times at Snap this month.

Moving on…

What made this year at the Fair especially special was a caricature. Fifteen years ago in 1995, my brothers and I were forced to sit in close proximity for 20ish minutes while some random man drew our likenesses in charcoal. Because Husband and I joined my parents and my brothers at the fair again this year, my Dad insisted we have another one done. So now, for your viewing pleasure I give you what a difference 15 years makes…

1995...



















2010...



















Don't be hatin' on my glasses.

Beautiful.

I'm going to take a moment to plug a great blog.

Any mother can tell you that when you have kids, you have less time to dedicate to yourself. I am no different. When I do have time, I like to spend it either relaxing, or doing something to make myself feel good; which is why I love Lauren's blog. Although she is not a mother, she gives great advice on living beautifully both inside and out. She does great reviews on all of the latest and greatest beauty products, and if you're interested, she's even hosting her first giveaway this week for a Spornette Kabuki Brush. I definitely recommend you check it out.

Make My Week Wednesday

With the everyday stress of work and family added to the mounting pressure of squeezing 12 weeks worth of assignments into 10 weeks to make the deadline for September graduation, it’s the little things in life that really make me happy.

MONDAY - Exhausted from being woken thrice by my human alarm clocks the night before and running late for work, I ::gasp:: went through the drive-thru at our local coffee shop. Although some consider this a blasphemous deed (::cough:: Kenny ::cough::), I didn’t have time for to wait for the caffeine-fiending idiot that I’m positive would have been in line in front of me indecisive of which drink will adequately deliver.

ANYWAY.

As I pulled up to the window to pay, I was handed my order and was informed that the kind soul ahead of me had paid for my drink. An angel may have died, but I got free coffee.

And this is kind of unrelated, but as I was eating lunch in the 6x6 cave that we at work refer to as the break room, I looked out the single window which faces the parking lot of the eye clinic next door. As I was people watching and enjoying my sandwich, this creepy beat-up grey conversion van comes barreling into the parking lot. Normally, I wouldn’t have taken a second glance…except on this particular van, written in smeared white window paint, were the words “free candy”. Nice.

I heart my DVR.

I just realized that the day I graduate is the same day of the season premieres of Grey's and Private Practice. It was meant to be.

Thankful Things from Thursday...

I have two from this week :)



1.Husband. He is such a GEEK, but I love him lots. However, he does get lots of side-eyes; which he completely earns per the example below:

I had to work late last night so I sent Husband to our biannual Homeowners Association meeting.

I leave him unsupervised for two hours and what does he do? He nominates HIMSELF for Vice President...and wins. He finds this hilarious and is insisting that I refer to him as VP (not going to happen). Geek mania, I'm telling you!


2. DVR. Allowing me to corral the kids, get things done, and still be able to watch the season finales of Bones and Grey's in their entirety's. Grey's was AWESOME. Husband even kind of got into it. He was also laughing at me being on the brink of an anxiety attack as my heart raced and teeth chattered through a majority of the episode.

Better late than never.

I got my Mother's Day gift from Husband last night - only 10 days late, but worth the wait.

After seeing Blair over at The Heir to Blair rave about The Vintage Pearl (and a failed attempt a winning her giveaway - rats.), I decided to give Husband the ol' wink-wink-nudge-nudge-kick-in-the-shins approach.

And lo and behold, it worked! He got me this bracelet, and a picture of the finished product with the kids' names:





Love it.

And for your viewing pleasure, I give you Reese.

You never know when it will strike...

...but there comes a time when you know you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

That time is now. And I have only been here for less than 2 hours. ::Hi Dad. Yes, I am on break and not wasting company time blogging :) ::

I am so anxious and excited to get on the road to see the fam today that I can barely stand it! Just under five hours 'til freedom!

Hopefully I will have some good stories by Monday; but until then, have a fantastic weekend!

C'mon get happy!

Miss Krystal over at "Tie a Little Ribbon" has nominated yours truly for the Happy 101 Award! Way cool, right? Being a newbie to the blog world, this was a totally awesome surprise. And if you haven't already, go check out her blog. Even if you really don't feel like reading it, at least go to look at the pictures of her way cute daughter, Marley. And if you have a daughter of your own (or have a son that you wish was a daughter...or just really like hair accessories), check out her boutique too.

Rules of the award:
1. copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. list who gave the award to you and list a link to her blog (or hyperlink).
3. list 10 things that make you happy.
4. pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award

Things that make me happy:

1. A clean house. Husband calls me "Monica Gellar", I call it sanity.

2. My kids. I love watching them grow into the little people they are becoming. The random things that come out of Jack's mouth are hysterical (refer to JACKtionary for examples). I can't wait until Reese starts talking. ::side note:: I just realized that I put a clean house as #1 and my kids at #2. Clearly I love my family more than I love a clean house. Family 1. House 2.

3. Husband. To quote Juno, he is the cheese to my macaroni. He's laid back and I'm high strung (and bonus, he's totally OK with that). He is my Xanax.

4. Movies. I love, love, LOVE movies. Especially Backdraft. I could watch that movie everyday.

5. "Friends" reruns.

6. All things chocolate.

7. Family trips to the cabin in Hayward. My family (extended family included) rocks. Beer, laughter, bon fires, family, fishing, fun. 'Nuff said.

8. My dog. Calvin Caalllv! No matter how naughty he is I love him so much that I can't help but squeeze him sometimes. Then he gets mad. Oh, and he burps a lot too. It makes me laugh.

9. Shopping in general.

10. Complete e-strangers who take an e-chance to e-nominate me for a random e-ward (ha.). You rock.


Nominations:
smonk you: a story about being a dad
Webbisodes
finally Mom

Don't get mad...get 600 thread count bed sheets.

Can I just take a moment to express my adoration for Target? I love Target. I would probably live there if I could. Husband has threatened many a time to encase my check card in a tomb of ice to attempt to keep me away from there, with no avail.

ANYWAY...

Saturday I made my biweekly trip to Target. On the way there I got a phone call which made me extremely upset and on the verge of angry tears in the parking lot.

::side note:: The subject of the aforementioned phone call is irrelevant to this story, so I'll leave it at that. Besides, it would have been a whole other blog post in itself, but the issue was resolved before I could even click "new post".

Now, on a good day I could spend hours there just looking around; but that day I was MAD. So mad in fact, that the only thing that would make me feel better would be to:

a. scream; or
b. buy stuff.

I immediately eliminated option "a" as I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself; leaving option "b" as the only logical choice. So that's what I did. I bought stuff. I bought a couple new outfits for the kids, I got random things for the house, and then I saw it...

Sheets. And not just any sheets. Crisp, brand new, 600 thread count bed sheets.

::another side note:: I probably would have bought 23105640 thread count bed sheets if I had the option, but fortunately for my bank account, and my husband, Target maxed out at 600.

As I walked out of the store with my new purchase(s), I felt better. It just goes to show that when the going gets tough, don't get mad...get bed sheets.




...and don't watch "The Box" starring Cameron Diaz. Terrible, terrible movie. But that's just my opinion.