Summer...

Hanging clothes on the clothesline. Eating dinner on the porch, sitting on the porch swing. Flowers blooming unexpectedly. The fair, and free ice cream. Perfect pasta salad weather! Green fields. Margaritas. Afternoon naps.

These are the good things I'm enjoying.

As well as the back carry in the mei tai! Which makes hanging clothes on the line, making pasta salad, etc, easier which makes more time for afternoon naps. :-)

New Favorite

If you're like me, most of your furniture comes to you in a condition which suggests that it has been either extremely well loved, or abused.

If you're like us, the furniture continues on the same path of heavy usage after we acquire it.

This is the dramatic story of a coffee table.

I was given this hand-me-down coffee table shortly before we got married last year, back when we could count the pieces of furniture we owned on our fingers. When I came into possession of this table, it had glitter and marker all over the top. Fortunately, that came off with elbow grease, and I gave it a little shine with some furniture spray. Until now, that furniture spray was the big gun in my furniture improvement tool box. Well, it's been replaced by a better solution for most of the problems. This Old English Scratch Cover (yes, this is the part of the post where it starts to sound like an advertisement, skip to the end of the paragraph to miss that part) is amazing. I like darker colored wood furniture, but scratches show up really well. And if, hypothetically, the puppy chewed on the legs? Well, all I can say is, that would be really bad.


Like, really, really bad.

So, anyway, I found this scratch cover, and I tried it, and I like it. Here is the before:


...and here is the after.




True, this is still not perfect. You can still see the tooth marks from that scourge- er, I mean, adorable puppy. But it took me less than 15 minutes, and since it darkened all the scratches they aren't the first thing I notice about my coffee table anymore! And THAT is something to smile about. :-)

Win a babywearing stash!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)



I love my ring sling and mei tai (the picture is Nathan enjoying the view from the mei tai)... but that doesn't keep me from wondering what I'm missing with pouches and wraps! :-) Definitely still room for exploration here...

Mark Twain on Friendship

The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
- Mark Twain

This is slightly disturbing if you use CFLs

Because they contain mercury, if a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb breaks, you need to open a window and evacuate the room for 15 minutes, turn off the A/C, and (the following is for hard flooring, quoted from the EPA website, there are different instructions for carpet):

• Carefully scoop up glass pieces and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
• Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Nathan

"What is that funny square thing that goes click?"

Spring

Midwife "not practicing medicine without a license"

"The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled 5-2 on Friday that a Lancaster County, Pa.-based midwife was not practicing medicine without a license by assisting at home births, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The ruling lifts a cease-and-desist order from the State Board of Medicine against midwife Diane Goslin. State officials initially charged Goslin because she is a lay midwife and not a nurse midwife (Couloumbis, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/24)."
- From an article here, which showed up in my Yahoo! News Alert for "midwife".

This article mistakenly refers to Goslin as a "lay" midwife. This is incorrect, because as this other article notes, Goslin is certified as a CPM through the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) which is recognized in 22 states, but not in Pennsylvania.

True Story!

Read it here.

And you thought we were sleep deprived just because of Nathan!

Meanderings, with links

* Here is a great page on how to wear your baby in a ring sling (that's what I'm using right now) or pouch. This was really helpful to me since I've only seen one person using a ring sling, and hers was slightly different from mine. Great instructions on how to use it for different carrying positions. I wish I'd found this earlier!

* A new study warns about the possible dangers of mobile phones and pregnancy. Hmm. They do also add that "there might be other possible explanations that they did not examine – such as that mothers who used the phones frequently might pay less attention to their children – and stress that the results "should be interpreted with caution" and checked by further studies. But they conclude that "if they are real they would have major public health implications"."

* It was a disappointment last week when the Missouri legislative session ended without passing the midwifery bill that we were hoping would go through. Here is an article with more details- note, however, that it incorrectly states that the bill would've legalized "lay midwives". It would've legalized CPM's, which isn't at all the same thing.

Cute Baby

One Hand

...is all I have to type with, at the moment, so I'll keep this short...

Nathan weighs 12 1/2 lbs! He is 1 month old and becoming more aware and alert. He has rolled from tummy to back several times, and kicks a lot while on his tummy. Gearing up to go. :-)

Meredith at Like Merchant Ships posted a Fruit Tea recipe that looks delicious! Especially with warmer weather, and summer on the way.

On the topic of recipes, check out Luke's Cookies! These are reaaly, really, really good. Really. But unless you're going to freeze pre shaped cookie dough (I've done it with this dough, works great- the perfect thrifty convenience dessert!), or you're planning on feeding an army of cookie monsters (or siblings!) you'll probably want to halve the recipe. I usually do. This recipe is in the Hot Providence cookbook, which I absolutely love. Nothing I have tried from there has failed, which means I can cook with confidence and try new recipes without wondering if they'll work.
(In the middle of that paragraph Nathan woke up and I switched him from my left arm to on my lap, so I've had both hands. There. Full disclosure.)

Well, he's waking up, and a bit fussy, so adios! Have a blessed Tuesday. :-)