TMI

In the first few weeks following my daughter's birth, I had my share of "snarts."  Sure, sure- it is mostly funny, and only a little bit embarrassing when it is in front of your mother or husband.  However, I was petrified that this would become a public thing and had already begun practicing how I'd laugh this off in front of my friends (or would it just be easier to become a recluse?).  It seemed that the R&R, sitz baths, Tuck's pads, "maxsicles," and kegels were helping, but just not enough.  Then, I read this practically-life-changing blog post from Mama Sweat about incorporating exercises for your glutes.  Voila!  It was like magic!  Snarts-be-gone. 

Cloth Wipes

 

Did you know that the average family spends $800 on baby wipes?  Yikes!  Our family uses cloth wipes and we have found that they are not only less expensive than disposable wipes but they smell so much better too!

Want to try it? My absolute favorite wipes are BumGenius bamboo wipes but cloth wipes are easy to make, from flannel, terrycloth, old t-shirts, etc.  Every other week (or so) I take a 32 ounce plastic bottle and fill it with about a tbsp. of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap (I like lavender), 1 tbsp. of olive oil (or mineral, Johnson & Johnson, etc.), 4-10 drops of essential oil (I like lavender or geranium)- and then fill the remainder of the container with water.  I use an empty baby wipes container and put about 10-15 cloth wipes in before I soak them in the wipe solution.  I've heard that some parents use a wipe warmer too.   Happy wiping!

My New Favorite Thing

 

We recently received the cloud b Twilight Constellation Night Light Ladybug as a gift and LOVE it.  Its calming, projected constellation stars are the perfect distraction when my one year old daughter is fussy and tired.  The stars project for 45 minutes in a glow of red, green or blue.  There is also a cloud b Twilight Turtle that appears to have the same function.

It is so wonderful, my husband has mentioned several times that he would like to buy one for our room too.

Picture Pages: All The World

My little D just celebrated her first birthday.  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to start a tradition of buying her a book for each birthday.   I felt a lot of pressure to find the perfect book.  But I did, easily!  I could tell you how much I love the illustrations in All the World (it's a Caldecott Honor Award Winner), or how I love how it is written by Austin author Liz Garton Scanlon, or I could tell you about the beautiful simplicity of the text.  But I really think you should just check it out for yourself.

Music For the (Tiny) People

I swear that 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' by Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of AC/DC got me through some tough moments with a newborn.  Oh, the irony to hear that song on a xylophone, while addressing a Number Three!

Some of our other favorite albums for playtime are Bare Naked Ladies-Snacktime, Ziggy Marley-Family Time (we love the song "Walk Tall") and anything by Putumayo Kids.   

We are also into Ernie & Bert's Greatest Hits, Sesame Street Fiesta Songs, Cowgirl Sue- Giddy Up! Whoa!, Disney Greatest Hits Collection, and Laurie Berkner.  Need a soundtrack for toddler tantrums?  It's so much more fun when one can sing Justin Roberts-Meltdown (ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-meltown!). 

 
Let me know what your favorites are.  We try to keep it fresh (and so clean, clean!) in our household.

Disclaimer: I'm not responsible when you can't get Bananaphone or They Might Be Giants' Hot Dog out of your head.

Pregnancy on the World Wide Web

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I wanted all the information I could find (What was happening to my body? My emotions? Mywaaaaah!).   I signed up for the weekly emails from the American Pregnancy Association and Babycenter.   I devoured information from Dr. Sears.  I chose to take a Hypnobabies course and watched many births on youtube for inspiration.  

Nesting?  I got lost for hours on Project Nursery.  

I was (and still am) a podcast junkie.  I heard lots of great information from Pregtastic podcasts.  I also enjoyed a (free!) prenatal yoga routine from YogaDownload.com.
 
Unlike most women I know, I never hit information overload during pregnancy.  I hope these links provide you with helpful information when you need it.  This post certainly doesn't cover it all- so tell me, what are your favorite pregnancy resources? 

Picture Pages: Mo Willems

This week I was challenged by 'Fans of SCBWI' (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) on Facebook to "pick a successful writer/illustrator, whether you like their work or not, and write a blog post about what other writers or illustrators can learn from them."

 

When I'm reading to a child, I always enjoy stories that make my (and hopefully their) imagination soar.  When I'm brainstorming ideas for books, I'm always trying to think outside of the box. What's new and different?  What will entertain the little ones?  

One of my favorite authors and illustrators, Mo Willems, most famous for his Caldecott-award winning book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, has inspired me to do more than think outside the of the box, or book, but instead makes me want to think inside the book.  When I read any of the Pigeon series, I feel like I am a main character in the story, restraining that mischievous pigeon.  I recently read another one of Mo Willems' books, Big Frog Can't Fit In and was mesmerized by the brilliance of this story. This pop-up book features a giant frog that (when unfolded) literally is bigger than the book. Why limit ourselves to the dimensions of a storybook?    I hope to think inside the book more often in order to inspire the imagination of others as these books have done for me.