Road Trip for Rennovations

This weekend we took a road trip to do some rennovations at my parents rental house. With 2 engineers, 2 construction workers, 5 women and 3 kids we got a lot done. A deck was demolished and replaced, 3 truck loads of stuff was taken to good will, 3 truck loads of trash were dumped, carpet in the basement family room was torn up, and a door was replaced. On top of all the work we accomplished we enjoyed dinner and being able to see MJ & BC's house.

Elmo Makes Music

My sis B called me on Friday evening to see what me & lil Miss C's plans were for Saturday afternoon. Mr. C had been out of town all week working and had just gotten back into town on Friday evening. Since he was back in town he was planning on helping B lay a tile floor in his dad's apartment. I was just planning on going over there and visiting with B, Dman, and Lfrog, so i told her we had no plans and were up for anything. My aunt had called and had gotten 4 tickets to see Sesame Street Live. So after getting the boys started on the tiling project, we headed to the show!

The tickets included VIP pass to the lounge. We enjoyed mini burgers, hotdogs, vegies & cheese & crackers before the show.

We then headed to our box seats. We had a great view!

B & her boys at intermission.

Dman & Lil Miss C enjoying the brownies after the show.

Enjoying the lounge after the show!

Waiting for the vallet.

The kids really enjoyed the show and it was a great afternoon spent treating them! Thanks so much to my Aunt & her work for the tickets.

Baby Reigstry help

My friend over at myhusbandswatchingtv asked for some advice for her registry and after thinking about different things to tell her, i realized i never posted about the things that have worked well for us. So below is what i am reccommending to her and any other first time moms. I have included links to the brands that we purchased. I know that walking into that store to register can be extrememly overwhemling and should be exiciting, but with everything that is available these days there is so much to choose from and that i appreciated all the help i got from other moms.

Bedding:
Changing pad, with at least 2 changing pad covers, sometimes I would like to have another one
Bobby pillow, with 2 slipcovers
2 crib sheets, 1 mattress pad cover; I bought a few extra mattress pads but they had not been moved from the drawer.

Room décor
Waste basket
Basket for diapers, or something to organize your diapering needs, we just have the diapers in the basket on the dresser and the baby lotion & but past sit next to it.
Mobile

Safety
Thermometer
Finger nail cutters
Baby Gear
 Bouncer
 Swing
Bumbo
Exercerciser or something similar like a jumper or a walker
Fisherprice Health Care Booster. We didn’t register for this one, but this is the one we got and we absolutely have loved it. Since it is all plastic it is easy to clear, attaches to any chair, and is easily transportable.
Pack-n-Play, with one fitted sheet
Graco car seats:We have the Snugride 35 & the Graco My Ride 65 and we like both of them.
2 bases for the infant car seats
Bundle Me. This was really handy in the winter months, cause it is easier than hassling with a blanket or coat.
Travel Mirror, but haven’t used any of the music features, so really any mirror would have worked. It has been nice to be able to see her in my mirror and she enjoys looking at herself and playing in the mirror.
Stroller: We got the Jeep Universal Cruiser that you can fit the infant seat into and not a travel system, we still need to get one she can use now but we haven’t had a need for it yet.
Activity Mat, Something good for Tummy time and play time!

Clothing
Sleepers, zippered ones are the best & easy for diaper changes.
Hats
A package of cloth diapers for burp clothes
Scratch mittens, 1-2 packs

Feeding:
2 Formula dispensers
Dr. Brown’s bottles:
12 4 oz bottles, 12 8 oz bottles
All the parts are easily cleaned in the dishwasher baskets and the bottles on the top rack. We got 12 of each so that we would be able to have enough bottles for 2 days without having to wash them.
Extra nipples in stages 2+, we barely used the stage 1 nipples.
2 dishwasher baskets
Spoons and these Spoons
Sippy Cups
Bathing
Baby bath tub
Hooded towels & washcloths, 3-4 of them is plenty.
Aveno baby wash & lotion
Bourdreaux’s Butt Paste
Diaper bag: We got the Organizing utility tote from 31 as a gift and it works great for a diaper bag and is the one we take to the sitters.We also got the one i registered for and we love it as well as well. It is my weekender, and has lots of pockets inside & out for storage. This one is really just a preference.
Things we used occasionally:Travel crib: We were given this as a gift, didn’t register for it, but this was extremely handy to take with us from birth to 6 months old instead of packing the pack-n-play along for her to sleep in when we went to other places.
Monitors. We really like the monitors that we got, although we wore the batteries on them out and never replaced them. These were also something we could have gone without, our bedroom is right across the hall from hers and so we could hear her just fine, anywhere in the house.
Humidifier
Infant carrier

Things not to register for:
Pacifiers We got a few, but she liked the ones from the hospital.
Wipe warmer
Bottle drying rack
Bottle warmer
Nose aspirator, sorry don’t know what the official name of it is, but it is the boogie getter, we have like 4 of them and like the one from the hospital the best.
Blankets
Swaddlers We just swaddled with receiving blankets.
Diaper gene
Stroller netting
Things I wish I would have gotten:Ice cube trays with lids for freezing baby food.

A little mommy-daughter time

Me & Lil Miss got to hang out just the 2 of us today. Mr. C had his annual man's winter campout so we just played at home, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and playing.

A weekend with nothing to do

was exactly what we needed after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. We spent our weekend with no plans, doing things around the house, and just relaxing. It was a great low key weekend.

Christmas 2011

The 2011 Christmas season started off for us on December 18th with the C Family Christmas, this year one of Mr. C's cousins had everyone over to her house, we enjoyed good food and great company for the afternoon.

On Wednesday Gpa J, S&K arrived so we went to Grandma W's to visit with them for the evening. Then on Thursday December 22, we had them, J&H, Kbug & Bbop over to our house for Christmas with them. Mr. C made chili & after diner we opened presents and then visited. The next morning, Mr. C, K & JS went out hunting for a few hours, then Mr. C got called into work and the rest of us visited at Grandma W's until it was time for lil Miss to take a nap and then me and her headed home.

That evening, it twas the night before Christmas eve so we went to Mr. C's parents house for movie night. This year it was just their family and Grandma H. Mama & Papa let the kiddos open up one present & Grandma H gave them each one present to open as well. we then enjoyed watching a movie.

On Christmas eve we spent the morning at home, and then went to church with the H family and back over to Mr. C's parents house after church for the H Christmas. We spent the evening at the parents house.

Christmas morning we awoke and awaited until everyone else arrived to open presents and enjoy breakfast.

All of the kiddos on Christmas morn.

Lil miss enjoying opening presents from Mama & Papa

All tired out from opening presents, getting in a quick nap before the next stop.

After breakfast and watching the kiddos play with their new presents, we headed to AK & UB's for Christmas with them and Grandma W. Lil Miss showing off some of her new clothes!

After visiting with them we headed back home to find this:

Yep...u see that correctly.... a horse jsut hanging out in our back yard. One of the neighbor's horses has gotten out and really enjoys eating the weeds in our back "yard". This is the second time this has happened. Mr. C had called me one day last week and said we had a horse in our yard. Luckily we knew who the owner was, so we called them and they came to get him.

Then we had our Christmas. Lil Miss opened her present from Santa.

Then she helped Daddy open his present from Mommy.

Sporting daddy's new stocking cap that he got in his stocking.

We enjoyed the rest of Christmas Day at our house.

Then on December 30th we headed to my parents house for our Family Christmas. This year not eveyone was able to make it. DMan was sick so B stayed home with him, my brother's finance had to work the following day so she did not make it and since my brother moved about 3.5 hours away he did not make it either, he got in later that evening.

Lil Miss & Lfrog watching Grandpa before dinner.

After dinner we enjoyed opening presents. Lil miss was being Santa's helper and took presents to her Aunts & Uncles.

Then the next day we had the B Family Christmas. We spent the day visiting with family, opening presents from our exchange and eating good food.

Lil Miss with Uncle MJ reading the book he & future aunt BC got him.

And that concludes our 2011 Christmas. We had a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!