40 days

Flynn is starting to show an interest in solid foods and it's the cutest thing. We have him eat with us at the kitchen table during dinner (he sits in his bumbo seat) and he thinks the sight of us chewing is hilarious. He also loves when we make silly, loud chewing noises. Just recently, we noticed him opening his mouth and leaning forward... almost as if he's trying to take a bite of our food. But as much as we can't wait for him to try solids, we are holding off until he is absolutely ready. We'd also like him to be able to sit up on his own first.

The AAP now recommends waiting to start solids until 6 months of age, and I actually agree with them on this topic. So until May 6th (or for 40 more days), he will only be getting breast milk. Then, let the games begin! I am beyond excited to give him real food. Sweet potatoes, avocado, squash, egg yolk, banana... I can't wait to see his precious little eyes light up when he discovers that there is more to this world than just Mommy's milk! Cue the Aladdin song... a whole new worrrrrrld.

We received this book at Flynn's baby shower. It looks awesome!

Of course, I can't do anything the "normal" way, can I? I am interested in baby-led weaning, but need to read more about it. We are also skipping white rice cereal and going straight to more nutritious grub, like sweet potato and avocado. I just can't get on board with the idea of feeding Flynn a simple carb as his first food. What's the point? If it's not really that great for adults, it's probably not that great for babies. I will add oats & brown rice to his diet a little later.

Then there is the whole organic issue. I've always heard of the "dirty dozen" when it comes to selecting organic v. non organic produce, but now that I'm going to introduce it to my little baby's pristine digestive system, I can't stand the thought of feeding him pesticides. This website has the whole list of best & worst produce as far as pesticide contamination is concerned. Preview: Apples = the worst; Onions = not so bad; Oranges = right in the middle.

Growing up, I was always annoyed that my Mom wouldn't buy sugary cereals, like Lucky Charms. And now just look what I'm doing! Gah. I am my mother after all. If Flynn is anything like me, he'll love sleeping over at his friend's houses and eating their cereal. And if he's anything like my husband, he'll like Kool Aid. And have a full beard at age 14.

<3 Meg

P.S. - You can read more about why we're skipping traditional rice cereal here.

2 down, 998 to go...

I always have a list of projects that I want to do, and there is no end in sight. With this baby coming any day and my time about to be extremely limited, it's a problem. So tonight I happily told my husband, "Of course you can watch Terra Nova!" and I knocked two of them out of the way. To keep Indy from following me around the house, we gave him a disgusting delicious pork bone which he is still gnawing on hours later.

After my fabric flower failure, I decided to finish my placemat clutch with one of the brooches that decorated our wedding cake.

It started out looking like this.

The placemat cost $1.50 (Christmas Tree Shops), the magnetic closure was $2.49 (after a Joann's coupon) and the brooch was reused. Not bad. My plan is to look for some cuter placemats next time. Pier One? World Market? Just wanted to try it out and needed something cheap.

Next, I finished a project that I started LAST WINTER. Oh, the shame. I had promised Tim a cozy man-sized fleece blanket (apparently he was not happy with the size and warming capabilities of our current throws) and after I started it, we moved and it got packed away and forgotten about.

Until tonight!

 Just a simple tie-blanket, but hey, whatever makes the man happy!

I've also realized that this post at Small Notebook totally describes me.

My ideas definitely outweight my action these days.

Having a baby will solve that... mm hm... right.

Least Productive Weekend Ever (For Me)

My lengthy to-do list got very little crossed off of it this weekend. What happened to my nesting momentum? I feel like all I did this weekend was clean up dog hair and do laundry. However, in trying to stay positive, here is what I DID accomplish...

- Finished writing out all of my thank you notes for baby showers.
- Made a delicious new meatloaf recipe & made an extra loaf to freeze for after the baby arrives (Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatloaf... amazing).
- Survived the wacky October snowstorm. (4-5 inches and we haven't had snow before Halloween since the 1950's!)

In the beginning...

After an hour or so...

My mums were very confused.

Getting 2 all-wheel drive vehicles was an excellent choice.

It's official. Indy loves snow!



- 3 loads of laundry.

- Vacuumed, swiffered, dusted & cleaned the bathroom.

- Took Indy to the groomers for the first time where they made him look & smell pretty (he even got a cute little Halloween bow... awwh). I'm not sure who the groomers spoiled more... me or the dog. He'll definitely be going back next month!

Daddy is not pleased with our manly dog wearing a ghost bow.

Indy got an excellent "Pawgress" Report from Pet Smart.

- Did not go into labor during the snow storm (Tim was very appreciative of this).

- Bought a new pair of wedges that actually fit. Your feet really DO get bigger from pregnancy. I went from a 7.5 to an 8 and my current pairs of flats are sooo tight.
- Attempted to make a fabric flower and it was disastrous. I don't even want to show you. It looks terrible.

Annnd there you have it. Seems like I did a good amount, but most of these things weren't on my actual to-do list. I'm simply reiterating them to make myself feel better. And I kind of do! Mission accomplished. Hopefully I have another baby-free weekend in my future to git 'er done.

Pregnant on Halloween

Halloween is really a let down when you're knocked up. Every other female is dressed as a sexy insert noun here (pirate, cat, police officer, french maid). So you have two options: completely bare your stomach or completely cover it up. I have no artistic ability so painting my stomach was out. It's freezing cold here. And I didn't feel like spending money on a maternity costume (yes, they exist).

So I went with the second option and donned a giant Mexican poncho. FAIL. Instead of looking pregnant, I just looked fat. Let's just say there was a lot of unnecessary belly rubbing to show people that hey, there's a baby in here, I didn't just let myself go.

Tim basically wore his same clothes and pulled off being a lumberjack quite well! The suspenders are my dads and the rabbit-fur lined hat was his Valentine's Day gift last year from some awesome lady he's married to. (I got a bamboo cutting board from Crate & Barrel. Way better than flowers!)

Will I break out the fishnets & corset next year? Probably not. I'll be too busy making a costume for Baby A and people will forgive me for not dressing up because he'll look so adorable. Or maybe the Mexican poncho will make another appearance. It would work pretty well as a nursing cover...

Mini-Us

I won't lie, I stole the picture idea from The Daybook.

My husband and I constantly wonder what our kid will look like. Will my brown hair/brown eyes come out on top? Will he or she have beautiful blue-green eyes like Tim? We are dying to know. We'll be finding out the gender in about 4 weeks, provided that our babe cooperates during the ultrasound.

It's gonna be a long wait!

P.S. The Bachelorette starts on Monday. Who's excited? THIS GIRL!

We took a hike

Does anyone remember those cheesy public service accouncements on TV that tried to encourage teens to do something other than play video games?

Some hip actor would yell at you through the TV, "GO OUTSIDE & DO SOMETHING!"

Well, on Sunday, we did just that! We went outside and did something.

That something happened to be taking a 4+ mile hike on this awesome new trail through the woods. It was 10 minutes from our apartment and we didn't even know it existed until just recently. I guess advertising is not in the Parks Department budget.

The trail was probably a huge victory for our town's version of Leslie Knope.

We got suited up in our fancy hikin' shoes & even packed a little backpack of water and snacks. I mean, who knows when you're going to get lost in the woods, right?

We were definitely sore the next day. And I even got a blister.
Hardcore.

The best thing about spring

Tim grills the main course & all I have to do is make a side dish.

I can't tell you how much this simplifies my life.

Yes, we ate all 2 pounds of that steak.

See what happens when my husband makes the grocery list

My love of list-making is no secret. My love of proper grammar & spelling is also not confidential information. So when we were in a rush to get to the grocery store and I was still wrapped up in a towel getting ready, I decided to recite the list (in my head) to Tim so he could jot it down on paper. And he decided it would be fun to misspell as many words as possible.

He's not actually at a 3rd grade reading level, I swear.

And you know what?

It was hilarious!

Especially when I read OG. Which was apparently short for orange juice.

I love how we can take a boring task like grocery shopping and find a way to make it something fun to do together :-)

It's official. My husband is one sweet dude.

The Dealio

Sometimes I don't blog because there is literally nothing exciting going on in my life.

That is not the case right now, trust me!

There is a heck of a lot going on... but I'm going to hold off on that and talk about random things I've been doing instead.

Good things come to those who wait. How annoying am I?

1. Selling all of our possessions on eBay, Amazon & Craigslist.

Well not all of them, but that's what it seems like when I'm at the post office every single day shipping something out. I went through all of my books and decided to sell/donate at least half of them. I'm hanging onto the classics like Sylvia Plath's poems and anything by Jane Austen and Homer. Whatever doesn't sell before we move is going straight to the used book store down the street.

[SOLD!]

2. Watching Dancing with the Stars.

Well, I'm watching it, and Tim is usually sleeping on the couch. Every night, my darling husband asks for a head rub and then passes out instantly. It's pretty darn cute! Except when the snoring begins...

3. Collecting Boxes.

For the move. Not because we like boxes. They are actually pretty annoying space-hoggers. Thank goodness our 2nd bedroom doesn't actually serve a purpose.

[Boxing movies > Boxes]

4. Trying a New Shampoo.

Bye bye, Head & Shoulders. Hello, J/A/S/O/N.

(It's really Tim's but I used it this morning & now Jason and I are in LOOOVE!)

5. Being all-around awesome.

It's not always easy, but we manage.

Wedding Photos, Part I

Half of our wedding photos are here!

Enjoy this little slideshow, or go to my Picasa page.

Camping is In Tents

In an effort to enjoy the beautiful weather we experienced here in SEPA (southeastern PA) over the weekend, Tim and I practiced setting up our new tent!

Can I just say that registering at REI for our wedding was the greatest idea ever?

We are totally tricked out with the best camping gear and are already planning a trip for this Spring.

The only decision we need to make is whether we're going to a local campground which is 30 min. away... or if we're making the trek to a campground 2 1/2 hours away that has the most gorgeous natural waterfalls we've ever seen.

Convenient or Scenic!

Gah!



Ricketts Glen, 2008



Colonel Denning State Park, 2007



French Creek, 2009



After dealing with torrential downpours and bear encounters, we're kinda professional campers now. So what do professional campers do? Practice, practice, practice!

Barely fits in our backyard? Check.



Large enough to fit our queen-sized air mattress? Check.
Yeah, we don't exactly "rough it."

Tall enough to stretch out in? Check.

Quality? Check.

Husband-approved? Check.