Happy New Year!

Hi, to all my faithful blog readers who did not abandon the blog due to inactivity. Hopefully this post will be a pleasant surprise! Well, Seth just turned 10 months and is growing like a weed. He is now pulling up on everything, and crawling around. One of his favorite things to do is to open and close doors repeatedly as well as take all of the toys and books off of the shelves. I'm trying to teach him to put them back on, but to no avail...I did have him "help" me clean his room before bed today and it made me feel really good. I'm starting a better routine with him now - up at 7am, nap at 10-12 (or 1), then another attempt at a nap at 2ish (though I haven't been successful the past few days) and down to bed at 6:30. This gives me an hour to clean, cook, facebook, etc before the hubby comes home. I hope you are all having a great new year!

Life in the Baby Lane

In the past month I've made it a point to go to as many baby play dates and activites as possible. This helps fill the gap that a few of my friends left when they skipped town, and it also gives Seth the opportunity to try many new things and spend time with other kids. It's beautiful to see how well he acts when there are other babies in the house. He was cuddling with his new friend Kaleb yesterday, and if you remember from before, he was holding hands at his first playdate ever. I think he's just an affectionate boy, I'm so in love with him!

Seth is Learning to Walk!

Seth Learning How to Walk from Luke Erickson on Vimeo.

"Going Green" or the "Accidental Hippy"

The more I thought about my role as a mom, and my response to the previous comment on the garage sale post, was that I am a "green" mom. I am everything a hippy mom is like, but it was not totally intentional. Not that it's a bad thing, I'm totally into being responsible and respectful of our planet. It's just that I'm also not the stereotypical "green" person, who must buy organic everything, wear hemp, and try to become a vegan...you know what I mean. Anyway, the ways that I'm a green mom are:
1) Cloth diapering - yes, this is better on the environment, and I'm likely saving 2 tons of diapers from the landfills, but the diapers themselves are amazing. I do the bumgenius 3.0s and I (rarely) supplement with disposables. I just find that the cloth diapers contain the "explosions" really well, and though they are more work, in the long run I'm sure it's the same as I only have to wash the diapers instead of a million outfits that have leaks on them (not to mention his sheets, my clothes, etc. that are around the leaks). They are also cheaper then disposables, and a heck of a lot cuter.
2) We recycle - this is a no brainer with my mom working for the environmental mgmt of our county...though it's such a simple act, I'm rather shocked when I visit peoples homes that don't recycle. I mean, it's not much effort throwing a can/bottle/paper into a bin that is right next to the trash bin and it is good knowing that we aren't contributing to the detriment of our planet
3) I garage sale/buy craigslist - I've always been commented upon that I have champagne tastes with a poor mans budget - well this is how I get the best of both worlds! I find what I want, then buy it used...a lot of times it's in mint condition and for pennies on the dollar. Plus, there is great satisfaction knowing that if I ever wanted to "change it up" I can always sell the stuff and usually I will break even. Also, if something gets wrecked, I don't have that "sick to my stomach, I paid a thousand dollars for that!" feeling.
4) I breastfeed - it is definitely not the most fun thing in the world...being the only one my child can come to for nutrients (he's allergic to formula). However, I know it is healthier for him, and I think parents need to be self-sacrificing for their kids. Just one thing that we can do to make their lives better and healthier.

I Love Garage Sales!

I just love garage saleing! There is nothing like the thrill of paying next to nothing for nice things. $100 spent at a garage sale is like $1000 spent at regular stores. So, though I have said countless times "I'm done garage saleing for the year", I'm so glad that I didn't give it up! Yesterday, on a whim, I asked Amber if she wanted to do a little saleing as the weather was beautiful (though a bit hot). We passed by a few sales that didn't look like they had much to offer, but at the last two we struck gold! I found a puppet theater for $5 that was still new in the package, I looked it up online and the seller had originally paid $110! After that sale, I found the rest of the little people sets I was looking for (Noah's Ark and the Castle), so now I'm set! I would have to say this beautiful theater is exactly what I was looking for and for me is the ultimate garage sale find of 2009.

Seth's First Play Date

I joined a group of stay at home mom's via meetup.com. Today was the first official "play date" and it was really fun seeing all the kids interact. At one point, a little 9 mo. old boy named Henry came up to Seth and smiled. Seth smiled back and when Henry reached out his arm so did Sethy. They held hands briefly and we were able to get a few pictures, though Seth started getting mesmerized by the camera as soon as it was taken out.

More pictures!

Seth found his hands this week, he's so cute! He's still kicking away a lot, I have a feeling if I had him on his tummy more he'd be crawling by now, but I'm not ready for that! He's growing too quickly! He is really a sweet baby, and I'm happy he has his daddy's temperament. Luke came home last night and wanted to play the baby a song before bed on the guitar, unbeknown to him Seth would go CRAZY over it. His eyes got really huge and then he started dancing wildly. It took an hour for him to calm down and go to sleep...cute, but I told Luke he can only play guitar for him in the morning from now on!