Saturday, December 6, 2008

Deadlines- My First Video and Cookbook

Last week we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Garrett family up in Atlanta. It was great to see everyone, including the newest addition to the family, Kim and John's son Asher. Davis had a blast playing with his cousins and I can already tell that Davis and Caleb are really going to be tearing it up when they get older. Davis is 8 months younger than Caleb (Kim's older son) and Rebekkah (Heather's youngest daughter). Davis is about 9 months older than Asher, so when everyone gets a little older they should be great playmates. Unfortunately, I don't have lots of pictures from the trip- it was really crazy with that many babies around and I just didn't get the photos I would have liked.



The Thanksgiving holiday fell right in the middle of some big deadlines for me. You might be wondering why I would have ANY deadlines as a stay at home mom, but I find a way to make things stressful. I needed to get a video made of my Miracle on Main Street Event- that was the big toy giveaway that I chaired for the Junior League of Gainesville this year. It was a great event and we have lots of ideas to make it even better next year. Well I wrapped up the video just before we left town for Turkey Day and I have posted a copy of the video here.







Recipes from "Siste...

By Jenn Lane Scott G...






When we got back in town, I had two big deadlines- finish the cookbook I was making on Blurb for my great Aunt ("Sister") and get our Christmas card designed so that I have a shot at getting it to people before the holiday is over. I really buckled down this week and got some help from Mom (watch Davis) and everything is ordered now! I have included the link to Blurb for the cookbook- I love that Blurb because anyone from the Lane/Scott clan that wants a copy can order it right there. Of course, I don't make a profit from the book, I just wanted a way to make it easy for everyone to order without me having to print a bunch of copies. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, but I already see some changes that I have to make for the next "edition". Sister doesn't really use any recipes, so when I asked her how she made her cornbread, she told me the ingredients and how she mixes them , but she didn't have any amounts. Well I meant to go back and add what i thought the amounts were based on my own experience making the recipe- I just perfected my cornbread this year after 7 years of trying. Well I forgot, so if you look at the cornbread page, there are no amounts. Maybe that was a subconscious way of not making it too easy for anyone else to perfect their cornbread- the staple of country cooking????

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and look for our Christmas card in the mail!

jenn

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Halloween- new tricks, no treats (for Davis, except for sweet potato)


This posting will be mainly pictures because we have so many cute shots of Davis in his Peanut costume. Davis recovered from his first cold just in time for all the Halloween festivities. We started the day with a visit with Granny, then we headed home for a nap. After his brief morning nap, Davis made a great/horrible discovery: THE DOGGIE DOOR. Tim and I had worried he would find it eventually, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I left him in his room for a second to grab an outfit for him that was in the dryer. His room is baby proofed so i thought he would be fine. What I didn't know is that Napoleon popped in the doggie door right as I left, and Davis saw him. Apparently, Davis scurried right over to the door and Napoleon hopped back out it- which Davis thought was hilarious. I heard the laughing and caught a glance at the two of them playing with the door through the courtyard (the house is U shaped so I can still see Davis through the patio doors even when I'm at the front of the house). I grabbed the video camera to catch him on tape for Tim.




















So after I pulled Davis away from the thrill of the doggie door, we headed over to Amanda and Grey's house for a playgroup Halloween party. It was great- Amanda's new house is gorgeous and the back room is baby proof. Davis and Grey are really starting to play together, even without Amanda and I parking them next to each other. Davis scurried right over to Grey's mock four wheeler and helped him tip it over. This may be a sign of things to come and I think those two are really going to get each other in trouble in a few years.

After Amanda's party, the hubby's joined us for some Trick or Treating in Katie's neighborhood, Mentone. We had a great time just parading the babies around and Davis seemed to like seeing the older kids in their costumes. As it got dark, we headed to Gigi and Pop's house so they could have a visit with Mr. Peanut. It was a great day- one of those days that was so fun you wish you could live it over again.















This is my last posting until my Miracle on Main Street Event this Satuday! That's also Tim's bday so hopefully I can muster up some high energy between now and then.




jenn


















Monday, October 20, 2008

First Time Away- part 2

Sorry for the delay- Its been crazy getting back to normal. So back to vacation highlights....


On Friday, Tim came into San Fran and we spent most of the day at Golden Gate Park. They have a wonderful botanical gardens where we picked up lots of ideas for our yard and our pond. Every time we come out to Cali I get some great gardening ideas, but I have to try not to get too excited because the extreme heat and humidity of Gainesville means that we can't always have the same kinds of plants as Northern California. That was my biggest frustration with Sunset magazine- I would see amazing California gardens in there, and then everyone here would tell me how you just can't grow things like that here. But we try anyway.





We also checked out the De Young museum, where they were installing a new Maya Lin sculpture. If you aren't an artist, but the name sounds familiar, it is because her design won the competition for the Vietnam Memorial while she was a Harvard Architecture student. So it was a treat to see her new work be installed at the museum. I thought for a second that one of the installers might be Maya- this would have been my version of seeing some mega sports star in person. But unfortunately, a guard told me it wasn't her and when I got a little closer to her I realized that Maya would have been much older than the girl I saw.




To wrap up Friday we had drinks with Em and Ben at this great place called the Orbit Room (I lifted the photo from the Examiner- a bartender and his creation). They make tropical drinks with hand crushed ice and lots of fruit. Tim had the best bloddy mary of his life there I had a great Mai Thai. The drinks were wonderful (well worth the stomach pangs- I'm not supposed to drink hard alchohol) and the setting was a fabulous art deco building- enjoying good, fruity drinks and good architecture- I was in heaven. Tim and I spent the night at the Parc 55 hotel. It was nice and right on Union Square, but not historic or anything.

The next morning I trekked over to CB2 (http://www.cb2.com/). That's right- there IS a CB2 brick and mortar store and I was there. Actually it is store #3 in the US, the other two being in NY and somewhere else that is cold and urban. Tim and I tried out all their sofas and chairs so that I would be able to make decisions about potential dining chairs and sofas. Unfortunately, some of the chairs I liked the best visually were the least comfortable, so the search is back on for dining chairs. While we were in Union Square we went to H&M (http://www.hm.com/), a HUGE shopping fav of mine and I bought an absolutely enormous scarf. Seriously- its the biggest I have ever seen.





Then we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf to get on Em's party boat and watch the Blue Angels overhead. We nearly missed the boat, no pun, because of some crazy San Fran parking, but it was great once we were aboard. After the cruise we had bday cake and drinks on the lawn in front of the Ghiredelli building. Natalie (Em's sis who made a surprise visit) and I ran into one of the Blue Angels while sneaking into a nearby hotel lobby to use their ladies room. speaking of, thats my best traveling tip. If you are ever traveling in a big city and you need to use the restroom, but you are terrified of a public bathroom, your best bet is to walk in confidently to a hotel lobby. Walk in as if you are staying there and head for the ladies room. If you walk in a dont immediately see it, head for the hotel bar to give you time to figure out where it is. That can also throw off any suspicious bellmen. Of course, it helps if you are dressed up a little bit- I wouldn't try this if you are backpacking across Europe sporting some dreads and 50 pound pack.






So after we celebrated thouroughly, Tim and I headed to Windsor in Napa Valley to stay with a good family friend, Bill Sloan. We arrived around 9pm and went to bed soon after, completely exausted.









The next morning we enjoyed an awesome omelet with Sloan and his girlfriend Gail at Omelet Express in Windsor, then we headed for the Vino!!! We went to Sterling, of course, and took the Tram up the side of the hill to the winery at the top. It pretty touristy, but at only $20 a person, I recommend it. We also went to Clos Pegaus, a winery that features a great outdoor sculpture garden and it just happens to be my parent's favorite. We also zipped down to St. Helena to see the historic buildings at Beringer, then we enjoyed a nice picnic dinner at a little park there. We decided to skip Schramsberg because of their exorbitant tasting fee of $35 a person, plus we would have to wait until the next day, but they would charge our card that day. Um, no thanks, Schram- We'll just pick up a bottle at the Jonesville bottle shop and sip it by the pool when we get home. The Schramsberg is actually cheaper in G'ville than it is at the winery.





And finally, on Monday, Tim and I went up to Healdsburg, had lunch at a great French cafe and went back to St. Helena to meet up with Em and Natalie. We enjoyed a bottle of bubbly with them at Mumm, a gastronomic tasting at Robert Sinskey, a quick taste at Pine Ridge and then back to San Fran for dinner at Straights. At 11:30pm we boarded the red eye flight to ATL and on to Gville. We missed Davis so so much. It was heaven when we finally saw him. Jenn



Friday, October 10, 2008

First Trip Away






Davis is now 7 1/2 months old and Tim and I have gone on a little California vacation without him. Davis is chilling at mom and dad's (Pops and Grams/Gigi) while we are away. I know I am incredibly lucky to have mom and dad right there in Gainesville to care for him. He LOVES going over to their house and we have spent the night there a couple of times so he is used to sleeping there. Even though I miss him terribly, I know he is having a great time with them. I do fear that he will not remember us when we get home- he is so cute when Tim comes home or when we see mom and dad. We were in the grocery store over by mom and dad's the day before I left and we saw mom in the store. I had Davis in his new push car that he can't get enough of. I rolled him up beside her and when he saw that it was mom he shrieked with joy and raised his arms over his head. It was so adorable and I was so happy that he would recognize her even when we were in a public place. So I felt great about leaving him with them, but I still cried a little when I left.



So even though this is supposed to be a little get away for Tim and I, it is day 2 and I have yet to meet up with Tim. He is out at the Nerdery in San Jose packing up an instrument. I call it the Nerdery, but its actually a great company that Tim does a lot of collaborations with in mass spec. He is really excited about getting this instrument and I'm happy that we could tag on this bonus trip at the end of it. So I spent yesterday hanging with my good friend Emily who lives in San Fran.



Yesterday we did the informal "So I Married an Ax Murderer" movie tour. We ate lunch at Fog City Diner and took the ferry over to Alcatraz. Alcatraz was creepy, but I loved the history of the building and the island. And the self guided audio tour was really great. They rented you headsets like they have in many museums- it was included in the tour price. I would really like to see more historic sites and museums post these tours online so that people could download them to their own ipods and maybe look a little less nerdy. I also wish that I could have produced a few of these while working at my last job in place of HABS/HAER documentation, but we were never able to convince our clients that it would be as valuable as 4x5 photography. I hate doing 4x5's and the photos just end up sitting in a drawer in Tallahassee. I love how these audio tours add a human perspective to the historic structures and they can really do a wonderful job of explaining the value of the historic site to the lay person. So I highly recommend the Alcatraz tour even if you aren't an old building junkie. It was full of great scary stories and the views on the boat and on the island were incredible.



While we were in the island, the Blue Angels just happened to be practicing for the air show this weekend. It was great to see the San Francisco skyline with jets flying by and the boats on the water. It was great, except for the restrooms. Maybe they were going for the whole "prison" experience, but the restrooms outside the prison cell could have been cleaner. So as I left the restroom- the on that is located at the top of Alcatraz island- I stepped out into the beautiful California Sun and all of the sudden, this Blue Angel jet flew right behind my head. It was crazy loud and I swear I could see the whites of the pilot's eyes. Of course, I was already a little jumpy after hearing the audio tour about an Alcatraz break out attempt and the Marines coming in to stop it, so when a giant jet screamed by my head, I was a little shaken.



After taking the ferry back to the harbor, Emily and I headed for the Ghiradelli building. This is a really touristy area of San Fran, but it was fun to see it. That's when I had my second big scare of the day. I was leisurely strolling along enjoying my usual afternoon diet coke with splash of regular, and this crazy, dreadlock homeless guy (or so I thought) waving giant branches jumped out of a bush behind a trash can right next to me. I screamed out loud in front of the hordes of tourists. People, including Emily, were laughing hysterically. Emily gave the dude a buck and I realized I had been set up. That guy is a regular down there and we watched as he wedged himself behind the trash can to set up his next victim. As I wrote this posting, I have found out that this "Bushman of Fisherman's Warf" is not homeless, he is a street performer and he claimed over $60k last year in income. Only in San Francisco, but hey, I admite it was really funny. I was exhausted after my second big scare so we headed to the Buena Vista for their world famous, and much needed, Irish Coffee.



Feeling relaxed and wide awake, we decided to take the trolley home. There was a little bit of a wait, but we were able to see the sun set as we stood in line nest to the harbor. When the trolley came, Emily knew just were to sit so that we could hang off the running board in front seat of the trolley. It was a blast! By the time we made it home, we were completely exhausted so we ordered some Thai food and called it a night. I did have a chance to meet Ben, Em's new boyfriend, who was great. He is planning an awesome boat party for her 30's birthday on Saturday. So we will stay in San Fran until then, to celebrate with Em and watch the Blue Angels from the water.


I'm looking forward to seeing Tim today (Friday) and I miss Davis so much. I have a few things in mind for today, but I'll wait to see what Tim wants to do.
Jenn

Friday, September 26, 2008

He's Crawling!

Or kind of. It really looks like he is trying to do the worm, but I say it as a crawl. Guess we'll be baby proofing this weekend.
Davis reached another big milestone this week- graduation from swim class. He has now rescued himself in both summer and summer clothing so if he ever falls in, he knows just hoe to roll over and float. It was amazing- I will post the video once I learn how to scale the size down.

Jenn

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Thank Heavens- He's Baptised




Well it has certainly been awhile since I posted last. These swimming lessons have really cut into my blogtime. I am posting our most recent celebration- Davis's Baptism. It took place on Sunday September 21- and Davis was exactly 7 months old. You know how we do everything in sevens at our house- although we never realize it till after the fact. We were married on 7/7 at 7 pm. Davis was born on 2/21 at 2:21 measuring 21 inches- seems like a break from the sevens, but its not. He makes 3 of us, and seven times 3 is 21. So I guess his number is 21. I don't think that means anything- I'm just a number nerd. So he was baptised at 7 months on the 21st.



Tim's parents, my parents, and my bro were able to make it to the event. I bought a super cute baptism outfit. Its kinda girlie, but its not a dress like some of the "Christening gowns" I've seen. I don't have anything against them if that's your family tradition, but since we didn't have one to use, I figured I'd let him be a bit more manly. I set up a little reception that morning in our Sunday School classroom. When I returned to the house to pick up Tim and Davis and his parents, I asked Tim if he would go ahead and put D in his outfit. We waited until the last minute because the outfit was super white- the perfect blank canvas for Davis's array of stain opportunities. When Tim returned I realized that I forgot to tell him that he needn't put on the little Dutch hat (see photo). I laughed so hard I think Davis might have known that he looked goofy. I quickly took the hat off, much to his relief.



So we got to church just in time, meeting my parents on the front row. My dad held Davis during the beginning of the service, which is what he usually does. Except Davis usually "sings" himself to sleep- especially when Dad is holding him. I will usually have to head back to the cry room with him (soundproof room at back of the church where you can hear and see the service, but the babes can wail and no one hears them. We spend a lot of time in there). But luckily, Davis just nodded off to sleep, in silence. Before you know it, it was time to get baptised. Tim held Davis, still fast asleep (a SUPER rare occurrence that he would be so sounds asleep) as reverend Dan blessed him. He used the water that I got from the spring on our family farm in Sulphur Well, KY. Davis slept right through it. Then Dan asked if he would wake up upset if he held Davis up for the congregation to see. I nervously said he would be fine, knowing that Davis might very well let out a blood curdling scream. But I wanted everyone to see him, so Dan lifted him up and everyone clapped. Well that woke him up! but he didn't scream- he didn't even look that surprised, so I guess I owe him one. I guess he is used to waking up in weird places? He wakes up in the Baby Bjorn on the go all the time.



So Davis was baptised, we walked him around the congregation as they sang Jesus Loves Me- it was very nice. Then we had a lovely reception with our friends at church. It was great and I was so thankful that Tim's parents and my family could be there. Davis won't remember the day he was baptised, but he will grow up in a church surrounded by people that love him. Davis is seen here with our friend Cindy- he loves her!









Davis is scheduled for ISR swim graduation this week! Video and pictures to follow.










Jenn

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Cultural Exchange





For one week in July, Tim and I hosted two girls from Kazakhstan ages 11 and 12. The girls were here as part of their English class and our church helped to find places for them to stay while they were in Florida. The girls who stayed with us were Kristina and Kamilia and they were really lots of fun. We picked them up on a Monday evening after they drove here with their group from a stay in Atlanta. I was so excited to meet them, but I think Tim was a little nervous about what to expect. In the car ride home from the church we identified some cultural common ground that made things easier.



1. Beyonce- Yes, they just love Beyonce and they were thrilled that I had put a couple of Beyonce songs on Tim’s ipod. This was bad news for Tim, as he isn’t really a fan. In fact, every time we got in the car it was nothing but Beyonce, Fergie, Jonas Brothers, JT, and other bands that make Tim cringe. But most of the time I was carting them around Tim was at work, so it wasn’t too horrible for his ears.





2. Russian My Space- I quickly found out that Kazak has its own version of My Space and the girls were on it every night. I showed them that we have Facebook and I looked to see if there was a Russian Facebook, but I guess there isn’t. They get all their email and everything from this Russian MySpace page. Tim did enjoy altering our laptop so that it would write Russian characters. He put some kind of tab at the top of the screen that they could tap on that would change it to Russian.


3. Apple Cider and Honey Bunches of Oats- The girls couldn’t get enough hot apple cider at breakfast. We discovered this on day 4 or 5 after they didn’t like any of our tea selections and we had run out of orange juice. We sent them home with all the Instant Apple Cider packets that Tim’s mom had left at our house (we had many boxes of that stuff). We showed them a big country biscuit breakfast one morning and then I took them to the store to pick out what they liked. It was all about the Honey Bunches of Oats.



4. Limited Too and Old Navy- I kept telling them that they should have gotten their shopping done in Atlanta because Gainesville just doesn’t have too many clothing stores. They really wanted us to have this store Justice that they had been to in Atlanta, which we definitely do not have. I did get a lesson in how much girl’s clothing costs when I took them to the Limited Too. When we entered the store we were surrounded by the back to school crowd in a sea of sparkly pink everything. And I mean everything- the floor was a crazy pink terrazzo with sparkles and some kind of acrylic coating that allowed for maximum shine. I ended up waiting outside the dressing room for about 40 minutes so I had plenty of time to inspect the floor and try to think of how I could find out show did that floor finish for them and how to maintain it. I’ve been looking for a way to shine up our floors at home- minus the glitter, of course.



5. Domino’s Pizza and Pimp My Ride- We went over to Mom and Dads one night to chill by the pool and I ordered pizza for the girls. I ordered one pepperoni and one onion pizza- onion isa favorite of mom and me. The girls went for the pepperoni at first but tried the onion for round two. They were pleasantly surprised by the onion and I could tell that the pizza dinner was their favorite. Since we were already experiencing the stereotypical unhealthy American dinner, I thought I’d make the evening complete and flip on the TV. (Remember, mom is addicted to TV and they have one in every room, including outside in the lanai where we were dining). I knew that they liked the Hanna Montana show on Disney, but that wasn’t on at that time. Then I remembered- when Tim and I made that crazy trip to Czech and Austria we were surprised to see that everyone under the age of 30 was watching Pimp My Ride. It was like it was on 24 hours a day. So I flipped over to MTV2 and there it was. The girls loved it and were surprised to hear it in English. Apparently in Kazak, they dub over it, which is also what we found in Austria and Czech. The episode we watched featured a 1991 Ford Festiva that was rehabbed to have leather seats with Tattoo details, nitro for increased speed and a deluxe flame paint job. It horrifies me to think that this show, Pimp My Ride, has become a widespread example of American culture, yet I have to admit I like watching it. And the girls had a blast watching it. I’m sure their comprehension of American slang such has Xzibit, tricked out, and dog as term of endearment has increased tenfold.
The girls did get a chance to go over to Disney with their group on Friday and Saturday, which worked out great because our friends Jessica and Wade came into town for a last visit before their move to LA (Louisiana, NOT Los Angeles). The girls left on the following Monday for a day at the beach, another day in Atlanta and then back to Kazak via Moscow.



The next week went by super quick as my sister Kathy and Allie and Weston came down for an end of summer hoorah before Allie starts high school and Weston starts Middle School. How could my little flower girl Allie already be in high school? And Weston is a big time skateboarding punk! How did they already group up so much? We all piled up in the Family Truckster (my wagon) on Thursday and headed to Universal and Islands of Adventure. That’s right, we jammed 6 people and one baby into a single vehicle (he Truckster has a rear facing third row seat and I put the stroller on the roof rack Thule) and I am the bad, white trash mom who dared to drag her 5 month old to the Amusement park. Davis did amazingly well and I know lot of it had to do with Pops and Gigi’s help, plus the fact that he finds Allie and Weston to be hysterical. Kathy even tried on the ol’ Baby Bjorn while Allie and I rode Dueling Dragons, but it proved to be a little too much for her back. Davis even rode on one ride – the Seuss Carousel. We rode in a Seuss-mobile with Pops while Gigi (mom is trying to change her grandma name from Gramms to Gigi) rode the pink flying elephant in front of us. We all had a great time, but I ended up spending most of Friday in the bed recovering. Tim decided to take Friday off to spend a little family time with us, which was wonderful.


We are looking forward to next week and the start of Infant Swim Resource (ISR) swim lessons for Davis. In the mean time, I am doing lots of "Gator Mountains" at the stadium to fight off this belly. Its not so fun, but we still swim almost everyday and thats lots of fun. I will include swim pics in the next post. I think I have more pics of the Seuss Carosell, but I can't find them now. Will post when I find them.


Jenn

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Drivin' and Laughin'

























We had a great holiday weekend surrounded by family from the Garrett side and the Scott side. Grammy and Grampy Garrett drove from down from Charlotte and Uncle Rob, Aunt Kim, and Rose drove down from Atlanta on Thursday. They arrived just in time for the fireworks at UF. Check out Davis in his super cute First Fourth outfit that Uncle jim and Aunt Janice gave him. Uncle Chase drove down on Friday. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and hope to see them again soon.

Uncle Chase took some super cute videos of Davis in his car. Tim was tickling Davis and he loved it. Davis has been in a pretty good mood since we abandoned all sleep tactics and schedules. His sleep is a little better- actually pretty good considering all the visitors and excitement we have had around the house lately. I guess Tim and I will just wing it for a while and see what happens.

In other news, Davis has two new friends on this planet. Colvin "Cole" William Caldwell is now two weeks old and Emily Lauren Fenn was born just last night. We have already visited with Emily in the hospital and she is so precious. We can't wait to meet Cole who lives just outside DC- hopefully we will see them before the year is over.

With all these friends having babies I have been introduced to some cool products that I didn't know about when Davis was born.



Flip Video Mino- My friend Amanda, who I've mentioned before, has been raving about this video machine and I got a chance to really try one out when I borrowed my brother's this weekend http://www.theflip.com/. I took the videos in this blog with the Flip and it was great. It is super small and you can jam it in your purse/diaper bag without fear of breaking it. It was so great that I'm wondering why we bought the JVC Enverio, but then my bro reminded me that the Flip wasn't out when we bought the JVC. Tim says we will user the JVC for holidays and major events because it holds lots of memory and is higher quality- the Flip only holds an hour's worth of video, but is perfect for catching Davis's super cute laughs and posting them to the net for y'all to see. We will be getting one soon.


Smilebox- Josh and Betsy used this email to announce Cole's big arrival. To see their announcement click here and scroll down to announcement http://www.zoomcaldwell.blogspot.com/ It was so special- the backgrounds were super cute, you can add captions and I liked the music background. I have not yet made a video of my own, but I plan to and I will let you know how it goes. This seems like a way better choice for digital announcement than the email with attachment that we sent. We sent the announcement out to so many people that most email systems thought it was spam. i think that would be avoided by using Smilebox.

Orbitz Carseat- I saw this at church the other day and it looks pretty cool. The couple that was using it for their 6 week old said that they really liked it and it was worth the splurge http://www.orbitbaby.com/, but but I suspect that if I was going to go for a $900 stroller it would be the bugaboo. This one does have a rocking bassinet option that looked interesting and it has the capability of docking into the carseat- two options that Bugaboo doesn't have. Aesthetically speaking, I prefer the bugaboo, but the orbits isn't bad if you are looking for a super nice travel system.

Titan 5 Carseat- Davis, on the other hand, hates travel systems. The car ride screaming had gotten so bad that I went ahead and bought him a full size carseat and abandoned our Graco Infant seat/carrier. The convenience of being able to move the carrier from the car and take it with us was lost on Davis. He doesn't usually fall asleep in the car and he disliked the snug, laid back fit of the infant carrier. He is still not thrilled about being snapped into the full-size seat but I think he gets better air flow (he sweats like his dad). He has been in it for about two weeks and I can already tell you that the cover washes well- we had a very unfortunate explosion on the way to the mall the other day. Tim used his master science and detective skills to disassemble and reattach the carseat cover- those things are really complicated!




So why the Tital 5? I was looking into the Britax Convertible System (Convertible systems generally work for infants up to toddlers and they switch from rear facing to forward facing- follow weight limits) because most of my friends have that system and I've seen some pretty groovy covers for their seats. I found the Marathon on sale online for $219 at Albee Baby and I figured that $200+ was ok to spend on the seat because Davis could use it until he weighed 65 pounds. It has a built in booster seat. But when I was at my mom's meeting the other day, one of the car seat specialists said that her child had been teased about their big "baby" seat when they were in Kindergarten. Ok, so maybe we would want to buy a smaller booster seat rather than keeping that gigantor seat until D is 65 pounds. By the way, I'm pretty sure my niece was in middle school before she weighed 65 pounds. When I think about what it will be like when Davis will be in middle school ...



A- it scares me. I will be in my 40's by then and I hate it that he will have to endure that weird part of life called puberty. He is far too cute for that.

B- I kinda thought they (scientists?) would have some crazy new kind of transportation and I was hoping to not have to have a car and carseat.




But back to Davis dislike of cocoon carseats. While I was considering the Britax seat, the people at Safe Kids spoke at the mom meeting about car seat safety and their program. They provide free carseat inspections at the Farmers Market on the corner of NW 34th Street and 441. They also sell the Evenflo Titan 5 Convertible Carseats their for $45 and they will install it correctly for free. They said it was a really good seat and they have no complaints about it, but that they had a tough time installing the Britax seat correctly. I figured that for $45 I would try the Titan 5. As I talked with the lady that installed my seat I asked if she was sure that she didn't want to charge me more- I didn't want to take advantage of a program if it was really meant for low income moms. (Umm- don't tell Tim I'm going around town offering to pay more for stuff. That tends to really irritate him.) She said no, but I was welcome to give donation if I would like- that way I would pay for my seat and for someone who couldn't usually afford one. So that's what I did. I paid about what I would have paid for the seat at a store, but it was installed by an expert for free and I paid for a seat for a mom in need AND I can deduct the donation on my taxes. Not bad and Tim was happy that we could provide a seat for someone in need.



Combi Urban Carrier (update)- This is an update to my previous posting on this product. Davis is now big enough and has enough head control to fit into this carrier. Tim used it the other day to take Daivs on a morning walk with Amino and Napoleon. The good thing about this carrier is that it fits Tim and it fits my Dad. They look so adorable in it. The bad news is that that I quickly found out that this is truly a carrier only for men. I tried it on, fitted the straps and slipped Davis in only to notice that he thought it was some kind of easy-access nursing device. It was like he was thinking "Well, I wasn't really hungry but since you offered...". Tim quickly lifted Davis out of the carrier but it was too late- I had Davis drool all over my shirt. So I've been using the Baby bjorn and sometimes the sling as a side carrier and Tim and Dad use the Combi.







That's it for now- Tim is headed home early so we can celebrate our 7th anniversary. I can't believe its been so long, but it has been such a great journey. When we said "for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want" I had no idea we would experience them all in the first seven years. But, overall, the last seven years have been so good that I would live through the lows all over again just to experience the highs one more time.


I love you, Tim.


jenn

Thursday, July 3, 2008

What I Do All Day




Its 9am on a Tuesday and I am still in my PJ’s. Last night was rough- Davis is not a great sleeper and it is really starting to wear me down. I’m planning on writing another post sometime on that issue, so I won’t expound on it here. I am constantly wondering what the heck happened to my day, so I thought I would go over it here. This should be good insight for those of you, like my bro, who wonder what on Earth I could be doing at home all day. I’ll start with the first feeding of the morning yesterday.

5am- Seriously, he couldn’t possibly be up again. But he is and he is hungry- Tim brings him to me. I choose to feed him in our bed and I fall asleep with him in my arms. I love to fall asleep with him in my arms and I am not currently accepting opinions from other as to whether that’s a bad thing or good thing. Even in my sleep deprived state I treasure those moments, and in the word of Mr. T, “I pity the fool” that tries to take them away from me.

7:30am- Tim just got back from taking the dogs on their morning walk. He is moving to the shower. Davis is up and hungry again, so I feed him and flip on Good Morning America. Note that if it has been a really bad night, Tim will sometimes give Davis a bottle and put him in his bouncy seat so I can get a few more minutes of sleep.







8:15 am- Tim is headed out the door as Davis and I hobble to the front of the house. I’ve been having some early morning joint pain lately that is probably due to my muscles tightening back up. Apparently they go loose when you are pregnant because of a certain pregnancy hormone. Tim has usually already made a pot of coffee and I love him for that. I try to put Davis in his swing and check my email and my Ebay bids. I am so into Ebay and this one company that is based in Gainesville. I can’t say anymore about that company because I fear that I have already told too many people about them and I think that my friends are starting to outbid me. I did snag this amazing giant ultra-kitschy fork and spoon on there the other day. It’s so perfect for our house- I love the juxtaposition of our beautiful antique Bavarian Marriage armoire next to the couldn’t-be-tackier fork and spoon. It’s the metaphor of our life.

9am- As I hear Ty Treadway announce, “Welcome to Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” I’m usually on my second cup of coffee and Davis is taking a nap. I write a posting to this blog (in Word bc my poor spelling has proven to be too much for the blogger spell check) or my Junior League Miracle on Main Street blog http://www.jlgmoms.blogspot.com/. Today I am writing this posting, but tomorrow I will focus on a writing exercise about how I make big decisions in my life, a recommendation from my coach. Yes, I have a great business/life coach Wade Arnold who I’ve been working with to make the transition from the working world to stay at home mom. I am trying to find more time to do my sculpture work. I had a hard time making the decision to stay at home after Davis was born, even though I had always thought I would be a stay at home mom. Working with Wade really helped me be confident about my choice and I work with him to try to keep sculpture a priority in my life and work towards what I really want in life for myself and my family. If you want more information about coaching you can visit his website at http://www.wadearnold.net/. I can’t say enough great things about it- it has been so helpful, especially during this big transition. No, you don’t have to do a bunch of writing. I chose to do that because I wanted to keep up my writing skills. You set goals with the coach and discuss your progress. It helps to keep me focused on what is really important to me and helps me to work towards my long term goals while balancing my new role as mom.




10am- Davis is usually awake again, ready to get out of his PJ’s and of course to eat again. If I was wise, I took a quick shower while he was asleep, but if not, I park him in his bouncy seat right outside the shower door so I can keep an eye on him while washing my hair. He is not so crazy about this scenario, but he does seem to enjoy the hair drier that comes next. He loves white noise which is why you will see my rolling all over town blasting the AM station static.



11am- If it’s Monday, I’m headed to Mom Pool Day. A few of us that had babies at the beginning of the year started this great pool party club that meets every Monday at 11:30 at different neighborhood pools. We really look forward to it- Davis LOVES the water and it’s a great time chat it up about mom stuff. We chill there until around 2 when the other moms get their babies back home for a nap.



2pm- Since Davis prefers not to sleep, we just head home or sometimes over the mom and dad’s for more pool time, or maybe even a nap for me. Don’t start with the napping/sleeping advice. We were accepting advice but had to stop because we have now tried everything and none of it really worked. My new approach is to do what I want and at least I won’t be all stressed that I’m not “doing it right”. I’m done with doing it right- I rarely do other things the “right way”, so why start now. I appreciate your concern and I know you just want to help, but we are simply too tired to listen right now. I have found that when you are new mom, people know it can be hard at times and they just want to help. But you get to a point where you just want to figure it out on your own and I think we are there.

4pm- We are back at home and I think, “Oh man, what magic trick will I be able to pull off for dinner?”. Davis is eating again while I check to see what Oprah is up to. It’s more of her usual new age junk, so I flip over to the food network for inspiration. Some days Davis finishes up and I get into my running clothes, pile up in the Bob Stroller for a jog to Publix to pick up ingredients for whatever spectacular feast (sense the sarcasm here) I have planned to whip up. But today, Davis does the Afternoon Freak-Out routine where he wants to eat for about 2 hours.

4:30- Its one of those Freak-Out days, and I call Tim demanding to know the exact second I can expect to see him pop through the kitchen door. Thank heavens it’s a 5:45 day. I move to the bedroom to feed Davis in the hopes he will fall asleep before I do.



6pm- Davis falls asleep just about the time Tim rolls in, just so Tim wonders what the heck the big rush was. I've included photos of Davis sleeping to document the rare occasion. By then I’m too tired to run and I will go to the store and pick up the ingredients I needed from the store via the car.






7pm- Back at home and cooking. Davis wakes up and Tim takes the lead giving him a bottle. Tim plays with Davis as I get dinner wrapped up.



8pm- Bath time for Davis. We have completely stopped using the baby bath and instead, either Tim or I will get in the big pink bathtub in the Miami Vice bathroom with Davis. It’s usually me- Tim is always afraid that Davis will have the big one while he is in there. I have conquered many natural disasters from Davis and I am not afraid, although thankfully I have never had to face one while he has been in the tub. (Note: Thanks to my friend Amanda we now refer to Davis’s natural disasters as “a@#plosions”). Tim doesn’t want to eat alone so he joins us briefly to talk about his day while Davis splashes and giggles in the water with me. I hand the dripping wet boy off to Tim for drying.

8:30- Tim gets Davis’s PJ’s on while I get mine on. He has time to read a quick Curious George Story while I get the cuisine out of the oven.

9pm- Tim hands Davis off to me for one last feeding. Davis falls asleep in the middle and I put him to bed. Tim and I manage to eat dinner together without Davis waking up and we hope that tonight will be better than last night.




So being a stay at home mom is really fun, even if you are totally sleep deprived. I can say with confidence that I have not been bored a single moment. I love it, even though some days are rough. And I just can’t believe how fast each day goes by. There are some days where Davis actually does fall asleep when we are at home. When this happens I have the following antibordom options.




- Fart around on the Internet. I can’t get enough of Best of Craigslist and GraphJam. I actually had two friends email me this one from Craigslist


http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/540076210.html
Let me tell you, when you have two different friends email you that clip you have to really start to wonder about how other people perceive you.


- Clean the house (Boo)



- Laundry (Boo)



- Give Napoleon a haircut- I did this one last week. Davis woke up in the middle of it so I parked him in his Bumbo seat next to me to enjoy the show. It was bad- really bad. Apparently sculpting skills are NOT helpful in poodle grooming. He actually looks worse than the photos show. Tim couldn’t stop laughing at him when he got home.









- Call Mom/Kathy/Holly/ or another friend who I can count on for an hour+ of conversation





- Take a nap- this is a guaranteed way of getting Davis to wake up.




- I’ve started baking bread again. I have included photos of my first braided loaf and of the rustic baguette that I made the other day. Tim was impressed by skills and has considered making an outdoor wood burning oven our next big project- after the remodel of the Miami Vice bathroom, of course.




Thanks to Cindy Fraser for the super cute Chicks Dig Me shirt for Davis. Thanks also to Uncle Jim and Aunt Janice for the too cute 4th of July outfit that will appear in my next posting.





Jenn