Baby's Favorite Things!

Seeing as how I've done a "Kitty's Favorite Things" post, it seems only fair that I do a "Baby's Favorite Things" post as well. Canon is a couple weeks shy of 7 months old and I can't believe what he's getting into these days. I have the urge to buy him a new toy at least once a week to keep up with his seemingly overnight developments! Here are a few things that he's really digging on these days:

Skip Hop Hug & Hide Owl
This was actually given to me by a customer at work when I was still pregnant. It was so sweet of her and her little girl to think of me. I put the toy away for a while, obviously, until Canon was old enough to start enjoying it. This owl really incites a lot of giggles, and that's never a bad thing! Plus, the fact that there are yummy owl wings to chew on is a big hit.

Tiny Love Take-Along Arch
This arch is amazing and it can be attached to virtually anything--car seat, stroller, Rock 'N Play, Bumbo, etc. It's a great price for something that has so many uses and a long "shelf life," if you will. Canon lights up when he sees this thing and I bought it months ago! It also was a lifesaver on our long, ten-hour road trip.

Bright Starts Bounce Bounce Baby Activity Zone
I chose this exersaucer because it was slim due to the fact that my living room is quite small and I hate clutter. So many jumpers/bouncers and exersaucers come with a lot of bells and whistles, almost looking like spaceships, which I'm sure babies love, but this one has just enough. I remember the day I was sitting in amazement as my baby entertained himself for a good 20 minutes. It's not the most elaborate item in the world, but I'm able to attach other toys to it and it keeps him busy. It also wasn't too expensive, as I just could not pay upwards of $100+ for an activity center. I'm happy to report this one works out just fine for us!

Autumn Cleaning?

As we face another year in our cozy, but somewhat small and lacking storage space, townhouse, I'm ready to get down and dirty making improvements wherever I can.

Growing up, my Mom loved (okay, maybe not "loved", but certainly knew it was necessary) to do deep cleans in our house and put away summer clothes to make way for winter, and vice versa. She also knew that sometimes to make things better, you had to tear everything apart, and she would often reorganize entire rooms in a day. This has definitely rubbed off on me, and since I had a baby in the Spring, a true Spring cleaning didn't really happen. Yesterday, I began to tackle our kitchen -- pulling items that I no longer use to sell or give away, cleaning the fridge, organizing my cookbooks. I'm only about halfway done and I already feel like I can breathe a little better. I hope to do room by room in the next few days, and with the aid of Pinterest (which I'm just now "getting" for some reason), I hope to maximize the space we have.

With holidays coming up, and a few visitors already making plans to stay here, I think it will make things that much more inviting and warm, which is what this coming season is all about!

Time to Bake!

Yeesh, between working a few extra hours, a sick baby and then a sick me, this blog has been sorely neglected. I'm feeling a bit better today and shirked a little responsibility to do something I really enjoy: baking!

Since C was born, I haven't had a ton of time or energy for this, until recently. As my husband pointed out, it is a fun and rather inexpensive hobby for me to have. Sure, the baby weight might come off a little more slowly, but I really enjoy having a cup of coffee and a baked good in the morning. It's something that I really look forward to. I decided today that I'm going to build up my pantry a little better so that pretty much whatever I'm in the mood to bake, I'll ensure I have the ingredients to do so. Today, I plopped my son in the exersaucer and got to work on these applesauce muffins. They came out really yummy and I'll be making these again!

Here are some handy tips to keeping your muffins from turning into mush.


Another recipe that I've made twice so far in the past few weeks is this carrot cake recipe from the Playing House blog. It's amazing and you can't go wrong with copious amounts of cream cheese frosting. My husband has requested this every week. That won't happen, but it's definitely in the rotation. Carrots are healthy, right?

I won't be entering pies into the State Fair contest anytime soon, but for now, I'm enjoying my little hobby and eating well because of it!

To Hem or Not to Hem

I seriously have the blues when it comes to jeans (pun intended). I'm barely 5'1", so even when I buy "petite" or "short", they are never short enough. The only exception are Calvin Klein Jeans in a 27" inseam. But gone are the days when I can spend more than $20 on a pair. Sigh.

I have rarely had the satisfaction of buying and wearing a pair of jeans on the same day. Hemming is always involved. Whether it's me doing a quick job hand-sewing, having my Mom do it for me with her sewing machine, or taking it to the tailor, it has to happen.

This is a great tutorial I found years ago and I'm glad to see it's still up as I ponder what to do with my new skinny Old Navy jeans, which were $15, by the way, and super comfy.

I'm really glad cuffing your jeans is a thing right now because that I can do right away. Between a cat who loves to attack my thread and a baby who needs to be entertained, I'm guessing I'll be cuffing a bit longer.

Labor Day!

Gosh, this is corny of me, but hanging out with my husband and baby on Labor Day, I couldn't help but think of my labor day, just about 6 months ago. It really was a great experience, and it's hard to imagine ever saying that after going through during labor and delivery.

It's painful, it's difficult, it's long, but that old cliche of all that sort of washing away once you see your baby's face is true. And that would definitely explain why women choose to do it again and again.

I feel incredibly fortunate that I was caught off guard, rather than having to go past my due date, anxiously awaiting my boy's arrival. My water broke 8 days before my due date and our baby was born exactly one week before my due date. From the time I checked into the hospital until Canon was born, it was just about 12 hours, which was not bad at all for a first-timer. The doctor and nurse that were primarily assigned to me were wonderful, and next thing I knew, I was a Momma.

I'm not exactly ready to relive the experience, but I am glad that I can look back on it with a fondness, because I know not every woman can. It was the hardest thing and the best thing I've ever done and you can officially add me to the group of women who would say, "Totally worth it."