Mrs. Peterson, babywearing back in 1963!

Love this!

"Why are you so interested in baby toting?" asks host Anna Cameron in this 1963 clip from CBC-TV's Telescope. Her guest, Mrs. Peterson, has a simple answer: she was looking for a way to keep her babies close to her while still having her hands free to do the housework. She began to research baby carriers around the world, and found a variety of innovative contraptions. She also found an added benefit to carrying your baby this way — the motion puts the little one to sleep!

Watch it here.  Very fun to see babywearing being explained as the reasonable solution to having a baby and getting things done! :)

Baby Cuddles!

Leigh at Marvelous Kiddo has a beautiful post here full of baby photos, including this one that I sent her.  Thanks for including us, Leigh!

Routines...

We have been discovering that by changing our nap routine (one midday nap, and no napping past 4pm) the toddler goes to bed earlier and more easily.

On the other hand, this discovery went hand in hand with the discovery that if he goes to bed earlier, he doesn't need two daytime naps.  This I was horrified at not thrilled about.  I know I'm totally spoiled having an almost two year old who has been taking at least two (1 hour +) naps a day for the past six months, and three a day before that, but still!

Naptimes are times when I don't have to pop into the living room every five minutes just to check that the toddler isn't climbing the piano, make sure nobody is unrolling/eating/strangling their sibling in a ball of yarn, the baby isn't eating the toddler's snack, the toddler isn't trying to pick up the baby, the baby isn't eating a magazine, the toddler isn't unzipping the baby's outfit, etc.  Y'know.  I can power through laundry without interruptions, go to the bathroom without wondering what they're up to, or sit down with a cup of tea and concentrate on some reading.  So naptime is of course precious, and losing one?  Well, I'm going to have to get a lot more organized and incorporate the toddler into more of my housework while the baby is napping, I think!

So we've been pulling out puzzles and blocks and generally having fun figuring out a new normal, which has fit in nicely with the fact that he is ready for more "preschool" looking activities.  I'm planning on making him some playdough for his birthday, which I am really excited about.  We gave him eight pieces out of the giant bag of Duplo blocks I have stashed away for his birthday (shhhhh!) as an Epiphany gift, and he has been playing with them and really understanding how to pull them apart and put them back together.  Seeing him enjoy them so much is making it really hard to wait until his birthday to give him the rest of them! :)

Now that I've been thinking about this, and reading this post and  this post... I'm actually excited about this new opportunity for finding a new rhythm for our days! :)

Also, I'm wanting to start getting up earlier and working out while they're asleep... even if it is just a few minutes!  I think that will help me hit the day running... well, that and having a cuppa tea in my system before they wake up... ;-)

What do your days look like?

On a Cold Afternoon

Things that make me happy right now: babbling baby sitting on the floor clapping her hand on a measuring cup.  Toddler playing with a mandolin.  Freshly vaccuumed (as in, before naptime) office floor.  Hot cup of tea by my side.  The whiteboard I just hung on the wall, and especially the big ornate frame I hung over it that had just been kicking around waiting for a new home.  The fact that I quit procrastinating and got the diapers through the wash.  Fish thawing for dinner.  Beautiful, beautiful snow carpeting our beautiful view.  I'll have to see if I can dig out my camera cable sometime in the next few days and share some of the snowy goodness with you.

Also making me happy....

• Autumn Fallin, by Jaymay.  The embedding is disabled, so you'll have to pop over to YouTube to see it.

•  
  "Gotta Have You" - The Weepies

•  "Boats and Birds" by Gregory and the Hawk is the background music to this cute video, which is where  I first heard the song...                                                      
• Also, the very fun handmade, all-natural, rhino teether by Little Alouette being given away over at Marvelous Kiddo. See- isn't that adorable?!

•  

Slowing Down and Reading Aloud

Normally, I read fast. If a story grips me, barring interruption, two to four hours later, the book is done. I find a good story very addictive, and a good plot can induce me to forgo sleep, food, showering, and other basics of civilized existence.

However, I'm discovering that there are other ways to enjoy a good story than by snarfing it down as quickly as possible. Micah read 100 Cupboards and Dandelion Fire aloud, and I really enjoyed it. It is forcing me to slow down and enjoy each part of the story, instead of rushing to the end to find out what happens. Which is definitely the fate these books would have had, since I can't wait to find out what comes next!  And I can't wait until we start The Chestnut King!

 

Christmas Adam

The day before Christmas Eve... ;-)

8 cards are in the mailbox... I was actually not planning on sending any out until after Christmas, but had some extra time this morning and sent outa few.  I accidentally put larger sized pictures in some of those, that I was planning on framing, but didn't realize it until I had the envelope sealed, addressed and stamped.  Oh well.  Guess they just get a bigger version of our smiling faces!  At least, of Micah and my smiling faces... although we have very happy, smiley children, getting them to smile at 9pm or later on Thanksgiving after a huge day was a fail.  See?

 

Merry Christmas from

Micah  Natalie

Nathan

& Miriam

p.s.  I baked and frosted seven plates of sugar cookies over the past twos, and this recipe has my full and complete approval!  Amazing!  I have never had sugar cookies turn out well enough to deserve frosting before, and I am SO happy to have a good reliable recipe for them now!

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
7/8 cup honey (I used 1/3 c. sugar and 1/3 c. maple syrup Sunday morning... yum!)
1 stick butter
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups oats
3 cups flour
Raisins, craisins, blueberries, nuts, etc, if desired

Mix.  Pour into pan (I used a 7x11 glass pyrex Sunday morning).  Sprinkle top with oats, brown sugar, and nuts if you have time and desire.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, until fork inserted comes out clean. 

I put in about a cup of frozen blueberries.  Very yummy!  It is a really dense, filling breakfast.  Fine on its own with a big glass of milk. :)

Better Marriages through Twitter!

I think I'll write a book and become rich and famous.

This morning I tweeted the following as I sat and sipped my Lady Grey tea that my sweet husband had made me:

Slightly feverish and cranky baby makes for a sleep deprived, headachy mama. Working on this one sip at a time.

I don't know why headaches make it so I can't remember the existence of pain medication.  Unfortunately, this means I generally suffer until Micah figures out what is wrong with me and hands me the ibuprofen.

My tweet, however, sent a text message to his phone, and to my surprise less than five minutes later, he arrived with a glass of water and two ibuprofen.  At first I thought he had just looked at me and known I had a headache, which was slightly more impressive, however I think this worked much better than our usual system.

So I'll try to remember to tweet next time my head hurts.  Maybe I'll be able to remember that...even though I can't remember to just take some ibuprofen...

Although, considering my level of crazy, I'd say the chances of that are pretty slim.

Anyway.  My husband is the best. :)

Cookies

So I started to make cookies, and found that all the butter was frozen, so I substituted apple sauce, and I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I substituted some cinnamon to give some nice flavor, and I didn't have much brown sugar so I substituted white sugar and molasses for that, and then I thought oats sounded yummier with the apple flavor so I used that instead of most of the flour...

They're good! Kind of reminiscent of oatmeal, which is perfect on a chilly day. :)

Swagbucks

Some of you may have noticed my Swagbucks banner on the sidebar, but I thought I'd take the time to write a post on Swagbucks because I'm getting ready to spend my third $5 Amazon gift card thanks to Swagbucks.  If you're already signed up with Swagbucks, this won't be too interesting, but if you're not, keep reading. :)

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for searching.  It does this by randomly awarding points, or "Swagbucks" for searches.  Once you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for prizes.  I've redeemed all of mine as gift cards, but you could also get a Paypal gift card and spend it like cash anywhere online.  I installed the Swagbucks toolbar, and I can search easily and quickly from there.

Why should I sign up using your referral link instead typing Swagbucks into my address bar?
Because if you go using my referral link (every Swagbucks link in this post, or the banner below) then I get points. :)  And if you use Swagbucks after signing up with my link, I get more points.  Which means more Amazon gift cards for me, which means more books, music, and general fun splurgy goodness.  :)  Plus of course you're earning points just for searching the web like you already do!

So what are you waiting for?
Go sign up!  Start earning while you search the web! :)

I'm laughing so hard I hurt.

see more Epic Fails

Sleeping Baby on My Back :)

I was playing around with adding watermarks and trying them out on this picture, so I thought I'd share it.  Miriam fell asleep in the mei tai a few weeks ago while I was working in the kitchen.  Amazingly, I was able to get her off my back and in her playpen asleep... she is a very sound sleeper!