Leah's blog

The Department of American Foot Transportation (DAFT) is planning to issue a warning in the near future regarding the danger of footwear, specifically shoes.

"We have seen countless accidents, both minor and serious, and even deaths occur while people are wearing shoes," said Gloria Fitzfootster of DAFT.  The government agency feels it necessary to invade and intrude into every possible sector of traditional American lifestyles, stating that "intervention is the best invention".

Urgent action and panic should be taken by all US citizens regarding the safety hazard of shoes and shoe wearing.

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In no way do I want to undermine the injuries/deaths that have occured over the last decade because of certain types of baby carriers.   But I am also furious with the idea that the government feels the need to step in, instead of the companies themselves doing their own regulating, checking, and improving. 

I'm also upset at the unneccessary fear this is going to cause.  Is your baby going to suddenly and spontaneously fall from her baby carrier and get seriously injured?  Most likely not.  There have been injuries resulting from everything from high chairs to cribs to bouncer seats.  And you're still using those, right?  With any product, baby related or not, there are inherint risks.  The important thing is for you, the parent, to be informed, active, and secure.

It's snowing.  Blah.  But on a recent walk around the neighborhood I saw irises starting to poke their pointy little leaves through the soil, and our shrub oak have tiny fuzzy buds just beginning to peep out.  There is hope!  I am itching for spring and summer.  It has my mind racing over all over the places I want to go, things I want to do, and people I want to see.

Of course, I do have a baby coming this summer so my plans have to be altered a little.  Who knows how much bike riding I'll actually get done!  But I'll still have a plenty of time to enjoy the great outdoors, and I'll be taking the little bundle everywhere. So here are a few the things the baby, the sling and I are planning on doing.

1.  SWIMMING!!!!  I cannot wait to go swimming.  I'm so flippin' excited!  It will be absolutely amazing and wonderful while I'm super pregnant all summer.  Hey, I'll look like a whale anyways, right?  After the baby is born, the HugaMonkey carrier is the perfect way to introduce the little one to the water.  Since it's a single layer of fabric, it dries quickly and easily.  It's light weight and I can easily adjust it while I'm in the pool.  And without buckles and straps, the baby can be removed really quickly and handed off to Daddy to quickly towel off and warm up.

WITW?  IDRA, DTMIO?

Translation:  What in the world?  I don't read acronyms, does that mean I'm old?  Part of my job here at HugaMonkey is to be active in forums and "get in touch with the common (wo)man", to take a page from Obama's book.   I cruise sites like Baby Center and see what the peeps are all abuzz about.  And I must confess, it's not easy.

Maybe it's because I've never texted.  Oh, yeah, you read that right.  I don't text.  And I survive just fine, thank you.  Oh, I've got the basics down by now.  BRB, lol, etc.  But some of them are more confusing to a newbie like me.  It took me ages to figure out DCP (day car providor), and people use BC for either birth control, before children, or because.  Now that could be confusing.  Here are some of my favorites:

BFN big fat negative (pregnancy test)

BM either breast milk OR bowel movement.  Maybe you're just better off typing out the whole word, IMHO (in my honest/humble opinion)

BD  baby dance (sex)

GB  get busy (sex)

DTB   down to business (sex)

DTD  do the deed (sex) - it's funny that the acronym is just as long as the word, and takes more syllables to say.

CWIM  see what I mean

POAS  pee on a stick (take a pregnancy test)

This is clearly a very small list.  Some sites have translators that have hundreds of acronyms and abbreviations,  I mean, A&A's.  So, as I usually do when something is weirding me out, I wrote a poem.

Mom, Abbreviated.

While changing my DS today (I don't know how you could CD)

My MS made me CIO and go totally OT.

So DH and DD came TMR with some IC

IMHO they are the best, TWI, OMG.

PG sometimes is NTB, but it's seriously NP

I love being a SAHM, I LOL constantly

IRL it's NBD to just RWTP

I love naked babies.  There, I said it, and I'm not ashamed.  From a very young age, my kids have an uncanny ability to get themselves completely undressed in a matter of seconds.  Sometimes I can't fathom this super power.  Even my 4 year old nephew can't get himself undressed!  How do they do it?

A certain 2 year old boy is rampaging through the house in his birthday suit, and rather than get him dressed -again- I'm just going to let him be.  He has the cutest bum ever.  And he's so soft and smooth when he runs in for a hug.  I have no problem letting my tiny ones do stuff in the buff.

My little sister's in-laws are of a different opinion.  All humans should be entirely dressed at all times.  Bath time is the exception, of course, but for heaven's sake put a wash cloth over it.  The first time they came to my house, my free roaming 2 1/2 year old boy had escaped the back yard (and his swim suit), and had climbed the chain link fence out front, standing with the top bar across his thighs, completely nude.  He waved an enthusiastic hello as they pulled up, and they turned white as a sheet.  I laughed.

So be free, little one.  Feel the wind between your....uh...nevermind, new thought.  Be free, little one.  The rest of your life will have you buttoned, zipped, snapped, and wrapped.  This is a golden time when you can run wild and have 4 little sun-kissed cheeks.  Enjoy it. 

Well I feel like a cheap-o.  I often compile lists of baby/mommy must-haves, and after reading another such list on another such blog, my jaw dropped and my eyes bulged and my brain said, "Are you kidding me!?"

When you think of a good price on a handbag, what do you think?  I'll tell you what I think: twenty bucks.  I was shocked to see a sentence that went something like this: With today's tough economy, the $400 price tag on this hand bag is a great value..."  Maybe it's my "poor as dirt" upbringing, or my particular geographical environment teeming with penny-pinchers, but I simply could not justify spending almost a month's worth of grocery money on something like a handbag.  

I justify such an attitude thusly: That item is very trendy.  It will likely be out of style next year.  I should just spend my money on something far less expensive if I'm just going to get a newer, trendier bag next year/season.  Also, that bag will not match with everything, so I should instead spend far less money on getting two, or even three handbags so that I can switch it up.

Am I alone here?  Sure, I dream of a day when I can spend more than $8 for a pair of jeans at the local thrift store (although I get a smal thrill when I find a great deal there).  I long for a time when I can get all new dishes that actually match, don't have chips in them, and were not on sale at the time of our wedding 9 years ago.  But I like to think that even if I was rolling in the dough, I would not spend $1200 on a stroller, $160 on a pair of baby shoes, or $125 on mascara. 

"I'm terrified of the library!"

Those are the exact words a good friend of mine said to me tonight.  It knocked my socks off!  How can anyone be terrified of the library?  I suggested that she get a cook book from the library after she confided that she was terrified of cooking as well.  I felt like I was worlds away from my dear friend at that moment. 

We were having a lengthy discussion about cooking.  No, not heating up.  Putting a frozen lasagna in the oven or adding water to pancake mix IS NOT cooking.  I mean real live, measuring cup, pure flour, raw ingredient cooking.  It's becoming a lost art, isn't it? 

After nearly crying about enormous credit card debt and saying that 80% of their meals are eaten out, and the remainder came pre-made/out of a box,  I told her about the enormous value of cooking.  Just a few quick reasons: way cheaper, tastes better, healthier, no artificial ingredients, colors, preservatives, you're in control, emotionally rewarding, and it's fun!

So I challenged her to make pancakes without Bisquick.  Pancakes aren't terrifying, right?  I'm sending her some great, simple, healthy recipes.  You can't suddenly just start making 3 meals a day from scratch.  You'll pass out.  Start with two recipes a week: one breakfast and one dinner.  It takes me about 5 minutes to whip up a batch of whole grain waffles, and costs just pennies compared to Eggo's.  And when they come hot off the waffle iron with some warmed apple slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top... Heaven!

Home to Richfield to home to Weber Canyon to home to Boise to home.  Driving is the pits!  20+ hours in the car is not my idea of a good time, especially when it involves three kids and a pregnant me.  My salvation is this very laptop on which I am typing.

What in the blamin' bleep did people do before in-car movies!?  I spent a few minutes last night transferring about a dozen movies from our external hard drive onto my computer through the magic of wireless magic.  Stick the lappy on the lap of the eldest, most responsible child, and BLAM!  I barely hear a peep from them.  Eldest child knows how to start a new movie on her own, and toddler generally falls asleep in minutes.

To make matters better, our sweet minivan (Honda Odyssey, get one, love one) can turn the rear speakers off so Dylan and I can listen to an audio book up front while the kids rock a movie in the back.  It's like the mullet of traveling.  You know, business up front, party in the back. 

So even with numb buns, gas station restrooms, pretzel debris, and rock chips, we're surviving.  Seeing our friends, family, and beautiful places on God's great earth make it all worth it.

PS  BEST TRAVEL BED EVER!!!  Dylan and I are super picky about our sleeping arrangements.  Everywhere we go, we take 2 twin size air mattresses and a big king size memory foam mattress topper.  The two twins are brilliant.  When he rolls over, I can't feel a thing!  It's soft and comfy and we don't end up with our butts on the floor in an air mattress taco.  And, hello - king size!  Trust me, it's pure genius.

You've been on the brink, I know.  I told you I'd write about meal planning, and it's been a while.  Sorry for the terrible suspense!

Meal planning is a HUGE help in making trips to the grocery store easier.  It also eases a lot of mental anguish around meal times.  As another plus, food does not go to waste, unused and rotting in the depths of your fridge.  You'll know exactly what you have and where it's going.

Over the last several years, I've switched up my meal planning strategies to keep things livened up.  Sometimes I have assigned every day of the week a "theme", if you will, and continued the themes for a month or two at a time.  Example:  Monday - Mexican, Tuesday - Italian, Wednesday - Soup,  Thursday - Sandwich, etc.  So the four Mondays of the month could be burritos, enchiladas, posole, and nachos.  I really love to cook and try different foods, so I like to throw in several nights a month for a new cuisine.  We'll have Greek, Arabic, Australian, or German recipes on occassion. 

That method doesn't always go exactly as planned, because sometimes I have something time consuming planned on a night that just isn't working out right.  So here's my new method:

1.  Meal list.  Easy as that.  On the computer I have a document entitled "Fave Meals".  On it, I list the things we like to eat.  If I try a new recipe and like it a lot, it goes on the list, along with the source for where I got it.  Recipes we don't like don't make it on the chart.   It started simple:  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinners.  It has grown to sections you'd find in a cook book: Chicken, Rice Dishes, Salads, Sandwiches, Soups, Eggs, etc.  This is just a simple reference list I can quickly skim over and see things we like that maybe we haven't eaten in a while.

Today we went to a Speed Pitching event to ask total strangers for money for HugaMonkey.  It was exhausting!  But I was perfectly suited for it and this is why:

Repeating the same thing 10 times in a row.

Sound like something a Mom would be good at?

Also, I said this sentence yesterday: "Don't stomp on my sandwiches!"

"NO CAPES!"

Remember the scene from "The Incredibles" where the designer is detailing scenarios where heroes have met a tragic end because of their capes?  Sucked into a tornado, jet engine, missile, etc.  Well, now I can relate.

The kids and I did a service project today, and went to our neighbor's house to rake leaves.  Helen passed away in April, and Charlie is now living with one of their daughters.  Their lovely old home sits sadly vacant, and the big yard was piles with leaves from their many beautiful trees.  We swept, power-blew, and raked for quite some time.  In fact, my forearms are reminding me of all that hard work as I type.

Anyway, My 5 year old boy decided that he needed a drink and ran home to get one.  Naturally, he wanted to get back to raking by means faster than running, so he rode his Spiderman bike.  Here's where the problem comes in: he was wearing his long Superman cape.

I hear him holler and ran around the corner to see him leaning waaaay back on his bike, a look of panic in his eyes, and his cape wound very tightly in the tire chain spoke thingy.  I quickly loosened it from his neck and carried the bike home.   Once there, the back tire got disassembled and the cape was released.   It was mangled!  You know in cartoons when someone shoots a wall with a machine gun and there's a zig zag of holes streaking across it?  That's what the cape looked like. 

"Don't ride your bike with a cape on," I implored the little fella.  And that got me thinking of other unusual things I've found myself saying.  Here are but a few:

"Get your pants out of there!"

"I said 'sectional', not 'sexual'"

"A little barf never hurt nobody."

"Shampoo is not for eating."

"How did he even get it in there?!?"

"What's in my shoe?"

"He pooped WHERE!?"

What have you said?

Sadness is not funny. 

"I want to do something funny."  I told my business partners at our last meeting.   I felt daunted by having to write a huge blog post every day about something I didn't really care about.  "Go for it!" was their response.   If you're a mom, you know that enough ridiculous and bizarre things happen to fill a book.

Then I miscarried.  I spent a few days crying, feeling like it was a perfectly suited ending to a year long struggle for pregnancy.  I was supposed to have written a handful of clevery, witty, light pieces to post by now.  I haven't been feeling to light a witty.

It's easier, though, with three kids around, to pull yourself out of a rut.  My very first pregnancy ended at 13 weeks, and it was miserable.  I thought I would surely die of sadness.  It's a lot more difficult to curl up in your bed and wallow when three little bodies are laying around you, giggling, telling knock-knock jokes, and asking for pancakes in the shape of a hammer. 

My sweet hubby went grocery shopping and brought back a lovely boquet.  My mom is going to take the kids to her house for a couple of days so I can rest and get some things done (eight month old kitchen project, I'm looking at you).  Church was a wonderful pick-me-up.

Look forward, dear readers, to joviality and fun and silliness.  But today, just let me be.  But if you're severly disappointed, here you go:

"Funny Things Olivia Says"

Upon returning home from a magic show, I told Liv that my favorite part was when the lovely assistant got cut in thirds wth 2 giant blades and then the magician slid her midsection out sideways.   I was so excited, and exclaimed, "How did they DO that!!!"   She looked at me, expressionless, and replied, "Mom, they're musicians."

Parents probably already realize that pouch slings are a great way to carry around newborns, as they give the newborn the support that he or she needs. In fact, pouch slings are better than any other type of sling for carrying a newborn around because they offer support that other baby carriers do not for newborns. On top of that, however, a pouch sling is also a great way to carry around a larger child, especially if the child is old enough that he or she could get into trouble on an outing.

These baby pouches are very strong and as long as your baby is light enough to be carried, the baby pouch will work. They have been reinforced in order to make them among the strongest baby pouches on the market, so they can support over 30 pounds of weight. This means that if your baby keeps wandering off or simply cannot be trusted in a busy store, then you can carry the child in a pouch sling.

The beauty of pouch slings is that your child can be carried in a number of different positions, depending on his or her age. For a newborn, you will want to place the baby on his or her back because the baby's hips will not be strong enough to support sitting up. As the baby gets older, however, he or she can begin sitting up and looking around in the pouch sling.

In fact, you can even place your baby on your back with a pouch baby carrier, as it can be worn like a backpack. That way, your baby can face the same direction that you are facing and can interact with other people during your trip. If you pick up one of these baby pouches for a newborn, you will not have to worry about your baby outgrowing its usefulness for years, which is a huge relief for cost savvy parents.

As adults, we know exactly how uncomfortable it can be to go from a nice warm bath into the cold air. Even if it is not particularly cold outside, the transition period is very cold and this is even more of a concern for a baby. Getting out of the bath can make a baby hate the bath, which will make bath time a nightmare as your child ages.

A hooded towel is specially designed for your baby and it is sure to keep the baby warm under any circumstances. These hooded towels are very similar to a blanket, as they can be wrapped around your baby completely.

Since the hood will cover the baby's head, there is very little heat that will actually escape from your baby's body, which will prevent that uncomfortable cold feeling from even setting in. This idea is so simple that it is a surprise that it has not been used more often, but luckily for you, it is here now for your children to use.

Your hooded towel will quickly become your child's favorite, to the point where he or she will demand that it is a part of the bathing experience. Not to worry, however, as these hooded towels are so inexpensive that you can pick up a few of them to have around the house. That way, your child will never have to bathe again without his or her hooded towel.

The benefits of a hooded towel go even further than warmth, however, as they also make it much easier to dry your child in a gentle manner. These towels will pull the moisture away from your child's skin, so your child will basically dry him or her self while wearing this towel. This includes his or her hair, as the hooded portion of the hooded towel will pull the water away from the hair, so you will not have to hand dry this area.

No one has ever said that parenting is easy and that is particularly true if you are responsible for changing the majority of the baby's diapers. This is part of parenting, but it is definitely not enjoyable for any parent at any time. Luckily, there are changing pads on the market that can make the process a lot easier, no matter how large your baby might get.

These changing pads come in a wedge shape, so they protect the baby from falling off the table and provide optimal support for the baby's head and neck. Many other changing pads are flat, which can be dangerous if the baby decided to change positions by even a few inches. The wedge protects your baby from ever falling and since the sides are padded, your baby will be completely comfortable.

In fact, the wedged sides make the changing pad very similar to how your baby would feel when he or she is wrapped in some blankets, so your baby might just go to sleep once he or she is placed on the changing pad. This wedged design is what gives these changing pads their high level of comfort and also their high level of safety.

Another great safety feature that these changing pads offer is a safety belt that will hold the baby in place while he or she is being changed. This safety belt is very gentle on your baby's skin and will not leave any marks because it is fastened with elastic. This safety belt is just a little added security should your baby get past the wedge. After all, you can never be too careful with the health of your baby.

These changing pads truly are much better than pads of the past because they take even the smallest risk factors into account and make sure that they will not become an issue. For example, if the phone suddenly rings while you are changing your baby, you might have to look away for a few seconds.

Ask any parent what they want from their baby products and accessories and they will tell you that they want quality. Parents are not as worried about how these items look or whether or not they are trendy, as they realize that quality is what will keep their babies safe. Luckily, Rumble Tuff changing pads are high in quality and they look great, which gives parents the best of both worlds.

Another common complain for parents is that high quality items are not portable. This makes sense to a certain extent, as many higher quality items are bulky, which leads to them being less easy to carry around. The Rumble Tuff changing pad, however, goes against this trend, as these are items that were made to fit inside your diaper bag.

You will never have to go anywhere without the Rumble Tuff changing pad because the designers did not believe there was any point in making Rumble Tuff changing pads that could only be used around the home. In order to truly be effective, these items must be as portable as your baby is and that is one of the beauties of Rumble Tuff changing pads.

Not only are other types of changing pads not as portable as Rumble Tuff changing pads, but they are also not as durable. This is an easier decision for a parent to make because Rumble Tuff changing pads are higher in quality, easier to carry around, less expensive, and all around better than their competitors. Therefore, it is easy to see why Rumble Tuff changing pads are so popular amongst parents.