Turning the carseat around

First off, I guess I should apologize for how windy this post may be; but I'm actually really not sorry at all. I feel like this is something very few parents know about and something I am deeply passionate about so here we go...

When I was pregnant with Clay I did all the normal expectant mom reading and one day I came across an article that said children should remain rear facing until they are two.

Wait, what?

I had always though that at one you could flip that carseat around! It seemed a little crazy but one I read all of the info, I was game. Clay would stay rear facing until two. Fast forward to this year. I kept noticing on Facebook, Instagram, and blogs that moms were putting their kids in forward facing carseats as soon as they hit one, if not sooner.

Wait, what?

Didn't they know? This bothered me, but I'm not one to tell people how to take care of their children so I let it go. After some researching I found that very few states have laws specifying whether a child should be rear or forward facing (you can find those here).

Then one day a Facebook friend posted this article, "AAP: Toddlers in rear-facing seat until 2."

My immediate thought was, "that's awesome that she shared that!" Then I read her comment: "I can't imagine putting Susie Q in a rear-facing seat. She just rides so much better facing forward."

Wait, what?

Did we read the same article with the same research? The one that said your child is 75% less likely to die or be seriously injured if they are in a rear-facing seat? I don't know about you but I think 75% is a fairly large number. When it comes to Clay, I'm more concerned about his safety than how well he rides.

End mini rant.

We purchased Clay this convertible carseat from Britax that can be rear-facing until he is 40 pounds then it can be forward facing up to 55 pounds.

Linking up with Mommy Mondays!

Training Tuesday: Fail.

Or as this post will now be called,

"Things I've done to procrastinate writing about how I haven't ran since the beginning of July and I'm running a half marathon in November."

When I woke up this morning I had every intention of admitting that I hadn't started training but then glossing it over with the new meal plan I've started in preparation for the half. Then I decided I didn't like the pictures of the jar salads I had so I decided to wait. Then the following things just HAD to be done first...

I found most of the pictures for next Thursday's post.

I started to edit Clay's smash cake photos.

I checked Instagram 20+ times.

I emailed with a customer about a hat design.

There was a lot of staring into space.

I had to write down what I had eaten today. Again. You know, just to double check.

I thought about hoop designs for the hoop exchange going on at It's Just Emmy. (Which you should check out!! It's an adoption fundraiser for Blakely baby #3)

Caught up on all my blog reading.

Organized all the graphics I use for my blog.

And about a million other things.

So...

In short, I haven't ran since the beginning of July but I have this super sweet training program that I'm going to start tomorrow. Promise.

 

 

 

 

 

The countdown has started...

6 days until Clay's first first birthday party.

9 days until Clay's first birthday & first trip to the zoo.

11 days until Clay's 12 month checkup & Tennessee.

12 days until Clay's second first birthday party.

Phew. That makes me tired just typing that. We are going to be busy the next couple of weeks! There's lots going on around here so let's just get to it:

Party update:

I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I wanted to but at this point everything is planned, the work just has to be done.

I finished the invitations:

I made them in the Beautiful Mess app then just texted them to everyone.

The decorations are coming...

I'm almost done with the footballs for the monthly picture banner and the cans to hold utensils. After those two things are done, the rest should be fairly simple: putting pictures in frame, putting some footballs and "Clay's first birthday" on the backdrop.

Oh, you know, except the koozies. Because I have to make 20. And they're only half done. Erk.

Six. Days.

Weaning. Sleeping. Climbing.

The weaning is...well, not happening. I wanted to just do cold turkey but he's still in the infant classroom and I'm afraid that seeing the younger babies with their bottles will completely mess up the process. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the signs I was talking about a few weeks ago say that the 22nd and 26th of this month are the best days for weaning. So maybe?

The sleeping is...not happening consistently. Yuck.

The climbing is...happening on everything. He's wearing me out...we've definitely entered toddler life.

However, he is possibly the happiest baby I've ever met (I promise I'm not just saying that) and he eats SO well. Like to the point where I'm so confused about why he is still able to fit in 0-3 month onesies...

28 Days of Clay

To celebrate Clay's birthday I've been choosing my 28 favorite pictures of Clay and sharing one each day. Here's what I've got so far:

So there we have it. Now you're caught up on all things Clay :)

Linking up with Mommy Mondays!

 

SIX Awesome Things About This Week

I'm being a rule breaker. I just couldn't decide on five things...

I got my mug from the mug swap hosted by acuppakim!

Sweet Erin sent me this beautiful mug filled with (gasp) chocolate! Ahhhh! This woman knows how to speak my language! The best part? I don't even think that I mentioned that peanut butter cups are my favorites and she sent me this healthier version that I am SO excited to try! Oh, and the other best part? The weather in North Carolina politely cooled off for a few days so I can enjoy hot coffee in my new mug (I've been drinking iced all summer).

I got to introduce Clay (well, they met when Clay was way younger) to Bailey Boo. I've been dog sitting/babysitting/house sitting for this family for the past two years so Bail and I go way back. Here's what happened: dog licks baby, baby laughs, dog wants nothing to do with baby, baby cries because he wants to play with dog. The end.

Mike kept Clay last Saturday night so I got to spend some time with my Amy. Beer+food+the Whitewater Center= amazing!

I officially finished my first season of coaching for Soccer Shots. After a bumpy start with my mini's class, I had a blast and I can't wait until the fall season starts!

I went back to the climbing gym for the first time since I was 13 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately I didn't get to climb because Z&Z couldn't belay me BUT I remembered my knots and how to belay and passed a quick skills test!

I sold a hat from my IG shop!! The woman requested the colors in the top photo and I am loving it so much. I can't wait to show you the finished product!

 

Okay, that's all for now!

Linking up with Lauren and Jeannett!

 

Midweek Confessions

Because I'm a winner (winner, chicken dinner) I am linking up with Midweek Confessions at E, Myself, and I for the very first time...a day late.

So maybe that's where I should start... I've had this post on my to-do list since Monday and I'm finally getting around to it. Why so late you ask? Welllll, besides being a world class procrastinator the follow things prevented me from writing this post: Scandal, birthday party crafts, Instagram shopping (the best idea ever!), and leftover cake (see below).

****

We took Clay's smash cake pictures on Sunday and afterward the cake looked like this:

And it may or may not be sitting in my kitchen counter still and I will NOT confirm or deny that I'm still eating it.

****

The other night I had an almost full run of dishes in the dishwasher and no clean bottles for the next day. Brilliant Jess over here thought, "instead of handwashing these I'll put them in the dishwasher and get up early tomorrow and fix Clay's bottles for daycare." Brilliant Jess forgot to start the dishwasher but she also didn't realize she didn't start it until the next night. After Clay had used 4 of those bottles. In my defense I rinse everything with scalding hot water before it goes in the dishwasher so they weren't that dirty.

****

I was supposed to start training for my half marathon last Monday. I haven't. I actually haven't ran since the beginning of JULY. FAIL.

 

 

Shew. Well that is all the confessing I can do for one day.

Peace and hair grease.

(Umm, I don't know. Ignore that.)

 

 

One year pictures

Hey, guys! I just wanted to stop in real quick to share Clay's one year pictures and to give you a sneak peek at his smash cake pictures. It was a crazy weekend! I worked on my instashop (here), finished up my mini sessions for this soccer shots season, worked on birthday decor, and managed to have a girls night with one of my bests on Saturday. Phew.

I took these on Sunday at Grandma's. i had planned to wait til closer to his birthday but i wanted to display them at his party! So here they are:

[caption id="" width="500" align="aligncenter" caption="He does NOT like flowers."][/caption][caption id="" width="500" align="aligncenter" caption="I wonder what this tastes like..."][/caption]

[caption id="" width="500" align="aligncenter" caption="Oh, the faces."][/caption]

 

Hopefully I'll share his smash cake pictures soon! Out of 98 I ended up liking over 50 so it may take awhile for me to decide! Until I share here is a sneak peek:

Linking up with Mommy Mondays!

 

It's Fridayyyyy

Five things that are making me very happy this week:

I joined this fantasy football league and there are still spaces open so get your hiney over there and sign up! Stat!

On Monday I was just having one of those days. The remedy? Splitting a cupcake with my little man on the kitchen floor. I know. I'm an awesome mom.

I've been celebrating the 28 days of Clay on my Instagram and it has been so hard to choose my favorites!

I'm opening an Instagram shop to sell Clay's old clothes! I debated on eBay vs Instagram and honestly what won me over (besides how much easier it is) was the community! Moms helping other moms out wins. (Shop here)

So what if I get a little bored in traffic?

 

Well, young bucks, it's off to dream land for me. I hope you've enjoyed this nice serving of randomness.

Linking up with Lauren and Jeannett!

 

11 months

I can't believe that in under a month I will have a toddler. I am completely in denial and happy to stay there, thank you very much.

Anyway, I might be a little tiny bit obsessed with birthdays so during the month of August we're celebrating the 28 days of Clay! Each day I've been giving him a small present and posting one of my 28 favorite pictures of him on my Instagram here. I know. I'm crazy. I also made a wreath for our front door to put out each August:

Idea from here. Directions here.

As usual Clay's 11 month pictures got taken a week late but they were so much better than the 10 month ones so I'm not gonna complain.

 

And my two favorites...

Currently...

Clay's favorite toys are his stuffed animals for the win! Although he does love playing with balls a lot too.

[caption id="" width="500" align="aligncenter" caption="Maybe we should stop giving his stuffed animals such odd names...nah."][/caption]

Clay's diaper size is a size 3.

Clay's favorite foods are peas (they make his world go round), black beans, eggs, strawberries. Well, really anything. Haha. He has been feeding himself now for a couple of months (except for yogurt, oatmeal, etc).

Clay's clothing size is...9-12 months. Although we are still sporting a couple of 3 month onesies and a handful of 6 month clothes.

Clay's newest "tricks" are climbing, waving at everything (hi there, ceiling fan), standing on his own, and throwing the ball.

Clay weight and height are: we didn't measure again this month but I'm gonna guess 20ish pounds and 30ish inches.

Clay's vocabulary consists of: dada, hi there, hi kitty, August (friend at daycare), Amy (aunt), and guh (short for Guinny, the fish). Sadly, we haven't said mama in a couple of months. I'm pretty sure he thinks dada and mama are interchangeable.

Clay loves talking on the phone, pushing an upside down basket around as a walker, laughing, greeting people who visit his daycare class (seriously, they've started calling him the Kindercare greeter), sleeping on people, and taking selfies.

....

I'm so glad I started doing these recaps on here because I might have forgotten to keep up with his scrapbook...

Is anybody else in denial about having a toddler?

Am I the only crazy mom?

HELP! Any tips for the bottle weaning process?

We attempted to start this past week and it was a fail. My grandmother keeps telling me I need to look at the farmer's almanac signs to see when the right day is to start.

Linking up with Mommy Mondays!