Dreaming of vacation

One month til vacation. Sunset Beach.
I need some rest and relaxation!!!

Garden Explosion!

Ok, prepare for a bunch of pictures of vegetables. I know, you can't stand the excitement, can you? In order to be properly amazed by these pictures, first visit this post of the garden a few weeks after planting. Now, note that these pictures were taken a mere 19 days ago. Can you believe the difference?

Here is what we picked yesterday.

Some of those cukes are supposed to be pickling cukes, but they got a little out of hand!

Banana peppers

Cucumbers

Radishes

Molly and the cucumber plants

Beans

Basil

Tomatoes

The wide view

More tomatoes

There are so many reasons to love a garden. You connect with your food and your seasons. You get great tasting organic veggies. And my favorite reason is that you get your kids involved. Emmett has really enjoyed digging in the dirt, planting seeds, and see what grows in the garden. The only challenge is that we just don't have enough time to weed as we should so the grasses have invaded the garden a bit. Oh well, some things you just have to let go when you have pre-schoolers. It is definitely still worth the effort to have a garden.

more baby things to mention

Here are a few other things I think are worth mentioning....

The Baby Bjorn bib. This bib is great in that it is easily wipable, has a pocket that stays open, and it is a relatively firm plastic, so it doesn't flop around. The only downside is that unlike the Kiddopotamus bib (see this post about the Kiddopotamus bib and other favs), the latch not secure enough to keep it from been ripped off by a child who is done with the bib. The Kiddopotamus bib latches in such a way that prevents that. However, it is in the top 2 of my bib rotation.

Have I mentioned the Graco SnugRider Infant Car Seat Stroller frame? If you have a Graco infant car seat, I just don't see any reason to buy any other this. It's inexpensive, lightweight, easy to open and to maneuver, and has good storage. You can easily move baby to stroller without disturbing them as well.

This next item is for both form and function. The See Kai Run Smaller shoes. Aren't these shoes so cute? This is the Hadley style (which I think is not available now, but they have tons of other cute styles). I like these toddler shoes because they are very cute (even have cute style names), flexible, and they have rubber grippy things on the bottom so your child won't slid around. And while I do like Pedipeds as well, they don't have the grippys on the bottom, and that was a big selling point for me.

(And by the way, no one has asked me to do these reviews, just my two cents from one mom to another.)

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt

I found a new place to go for a tasty treat! Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt in Chapel Hill. I went after seeing a post on the blog, "Notes From a Mom in Chapel Hill". And by the way, if you live in the Triangle area, this blog is great for parents. All different places to take your kids are described and reviewed on this site. Check it out. Click here for her post on Orange Leaf.

They have several different flavors to choose from... I got a little of Original Tart (which I loved!), Peanut Butter, and chocolate. They were all good. Emmett got Strawberry which I tasted and was surprised at just how strawberry-ish it was! The toppings bar had a lot to choose from, however, I didn't get any this time. Emmett got strawberries and chocolate chips. You could even get chocolate sauce, caramel, or whipped cream. But be careful! Price is determined by weight so if you fill up your bowl too high, you may end up paying a good bit. It was $7.20 for both of ours.

You can see all their flavors and toppings at their website.

blog block

Yes, I know, it's been a while. But, it has not been for lack of trying. I have opened up the blog a few times to just end up sitting there with a blank screen. I just haven't been inspired. And it is also not for a lack of things going on. However, I wondered if everyone would be that interested in me reporting on the latest events? But, I guess we should catch up.

Since you last heard from me, we have celebrated Emmett's 4th birthday and Molly's 1st.

We also celebrated Seth's sister's graduation from high school by going to their house outside of Charlotte for graduation and a party (with a nice stop at Ikea on the way back). (I really like my Tjusig shoe bench by the way).

And I got a new job! Exciting and scary that I will be leaving my current job which I have been doing for 5 years, but I think this a good opportunity that will allow me to be more involved in working on women's and children's health research.

Then, just recently, Molly has 3 or 4 teeth coming in, and 3 of us have had a sinus cold.

Phew! Alot going on! Maybe that's why I haven't had time to ponder deeper thoughts to share with you.

Small Pleasures

In our house, we only have 2 bathrooms. Which means the kids bathroom is also the guest bathroom. As you can imagine, this can pose some challenges in accommodating both adult and child. Our 4 year old still uses his kid size toilet seat. And out of all them, I like this one by Baby Bjorn. It is well designed and easy to use.

But it can be messy, and is not very inviting for the adult guest to remove. Or for our son to replace when he is in a hurry. Hence, my new purchase: the Kohler Transitions toilet seat.

It has a lid, kid size seat, and adult seat. Perfect! Easier to clean!

No moving around another seat.

Sometimes it is the small things.

Celebration time

Within about a two week span, we have my birthday, our anniversary, Memorial Day, Molly's birthday, and Emmett's birthday! Lot's of reasons to celebrate.

I am very lucky to have the family I do, and all these celebrations remind me of that. We are happy, healthy, have food to eat and a nice house. We have no debt besides our house. We both have good jobs.

Life is good.