Show us your Life-Baby Gear

This week at Kelly's Korner we are showing off Baby gear that worked and didn't work or that we liked/didn't like. We were fairly lucky in that I feel like most of our stuff worked out and we used it at one time or another. Most of our stuff we got in neutral patterns so we could reuse it regardless.

My Loves:

1.Our bassinet was probably one of my favorite things. Ours came from Pottery Barn but I think anyone with WHEELS would be great. It was so great for me to roll the bassinet from the living room during the days to the bedroom at night. It fit right beside my bed, so I didn't even have to get up to check on her during the night.

2. Pack N Play-I think most everyone knows what one of these looks like! Ours is Graco. Since Emma and I have went back to work when she was 2 months old, so has slept in her pack n play everyday! She takes all of her naps there and it is super easy to travel with. I still have the changing table attachment on ours at work and use that too.

I found this picture while looking through others-there was a time I had to put a blanket over the pack n play for her to nap-don't worry she was in the same room as I was!

3. Floor Nanny I am not really sure how I found out about the floor nanny, but I am sure glad I did! It might have been the best money I spent. Emma napped, played, and learned to sit in that thing. It has handles; so for weeks I carried it to work and back home. She loved it when she couldn't sit because you could prop her up and she could look around. It was also great for tummy time. It is still useful now as a giant throw pillow that she can lay/sit in to look at books or watch toons!

4. Stroller/Travel System-We had a Graco travel system (car seat and stroller). The stroller folded really easily and Emma stayed in the car seat until she was about 9 months old. At that time she was getting too heavy to carry around her and that carrier! When we moved to the convertible car seat we bought this stroller-

It is super light weight, folds up great and only cost $30.00!

5. Diaper Caddy

We have this diaper caddy that sits on our changing table. It is great for keeping items organized and also as a catch all. If I am ever looking for anything of Emma's-I always check here first-I tend to just toss things in there! The great thing about this caddy is that if you are in another room and need to change the baby, you can just go grab the caddy and take the whole thing with you.

Didn't Use:

1.Doorway Jumper-we bought a doorway jumper but didn't end up using it that much. I think it is stored under Emma's bed now. Bradley wanted it because he remembered his cousin loving hers so much. Can't really tell you why we didn't use it-I guess Emma just didn't love spending time in it. However, we did have multiple friends ask if they could sit on it and try it out! I don't think they were made to hold up 20somethings.

3. Car entertainment w/ Remote-I tried to find a picture of the one that we bought, but couldn't find it. We got one of those car entertainment things that straps to the headrest and plays music. It had a remote and I thought it would be great in case Emma started throwing a fit and I was in the car by myself and needed to calm her down. Well the remote never really worked and the thing started shorting out very quickly. She ended up being much more entertained with the headrest mirror instead!

3. Bumbo Tray-we used the Bumbo a lot but didn't really end up using the tray that much. Emma figured out how to take it off pretty early so it is not like we could put many things on it-she just threw them off.

Other Random Baby Things that we used:

-I love OxiClean. I add some to all of my kid loads and let it run the soak cycle before washing. I think it is one of the few things that gets baby food stains out of clothes.

-Diaper Genies seem to be one of the most controversial gear items. I really like our Diaper Genie and use it, however, Bradley doesn't use it and just throws them in the trash. So, I guess the controversy lives on at our house too.

-Emma falls asleep to Rock A Bye Baby every night. We downloaded some to our ipod and put a docking station in her room. We take this with us whenever we go out of town and it really calms her down.

Well I hope ya'll enjoyed my opinions on our baby gear. Have a great weekend if I don't get back-going to my reunion this weekend.

Littlest Construction Worker

This past weekend we spent sometime over at my grandmother's house and checking on the river lot. The weather this weekend was beautiful and we enjoyed spending time outside.

After enjoying our time on the back porch we ventured over to my parent's river lot to check on the house progress. Emma enjoyed playing with some of the construction supplies.

She figured they needed help organizing their supplies.

I can't wait to sit out on this dock and enjoy listening to the peaceful river and of course, catching some fish. That is one thing that some people don't know about me. Underneath my girly, sorority loving ways there is a tomboy side that loves football and fishing. Maybe it is just that my dad only had girls so someone had to fish with him! Let's face it-my sister could never be quiet or still enough to spend much time fishing.

After many long hours of working at nighttime I have finally come to the point where I am taking my business website LIVE! It will always be a work in progress but it is a work that is ready to be shared. Maybe after you take a look, you will understand where I have been hiding instead of blogging lately! I picked up two new lines in addition to the products that I make myself and I think they are really exciting. I will still be using the Emma's Closet blog just to display new items and finished projects. Check out the website if you have a chance!

www.emmacloset.com

Future Roomies

We met Jen and Lilly for lunch today. This is not the first time the girls have been together, but the first time Jen and I have paused to take pictures. They had so much fun sharing some sweet potato fries at lunch!

I guess we will have to frame one of these pictures one day and hang it in their room in the Pi Phi house.

They were really having a ball by this picture!

Show us your Life-Dessert Recipes

This week at Kelly's Korner we are all sharing some of our favorite dessert recipes. I haven't been good about participating every Friday but I am going to try to get back on track! And I don't think there is a better week to do so than dessert week!
I know the Banana Pudding is really a more summer dessert but it is one of my husband's favorites and I know it by memory so I thought I would share!

Oreo Truffles
1 bag of Oreos
1 tub of whipped Cream Cheese
1 package of Almond Bark (I prefer the white chocolate, but you can use whichever you like)

place all of the Oreos in a gallon ziplock bag and crush into little bits. Pour crushed Oreos into a large mixing bowl and combine with cream cheese. Scoop mixture into balls. Melt almond bark and dip oreo balls into almond bark. Place into wax paper lined cookie sheets. Put in fridge overnight or if you are in a time crunch you can place in freezer for 2 hours.

Banana Pudding
1 large box of Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 bunch of bananas
1 box Vanilla wafers
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
1 small container of Cool Whip

In large mixing bowl prepare pudding according to box directions (you will need milk). After pudding is mixed, stir in Eagle Brand and Cool Whip (it is best if it has thawed out). Next take your serving dish and get ready to layer your pudding , wafers and bananas. I usually start with wafers, then bananas, then pudding and repeat. I finish my dish off by topping with the wafers. Hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over to Kelly's blog and check out the other dessert recipes.

Thursday=Game Day!

We are a little nervous about our Rebels taking on South Carolina tonight!
We will be watching our ESPN and cheering them on. Well, this little one will be cheering for the first half of the game!

Hotty Toddy! Go Rebs!

Happy Birthday

We would never want to forget
to wish our Aunt Teresa

A very Happy Birthday!

My 300th Post

Well I have been trying to come up with something to clever to write about for my 300th post but I never really came up with anything. A few weeks ago I read a post over on Kelly's Korner about things we are thankful for-she asked all her readers to comment about what they were thankful for. Well I commented that I was thankful for the calming rain! Emma seems to always take long naps when it rains and the day just seems calming. Well, after about 14 straight days of that calming rain I have to admit I was super thankful to see the sun today. Don't get me wrong, it still rained today but in the end the sun came out and we saw the light at the end of the tunnel with regards to the weather.

We are still thankful for the rain...and the sun...it sure is making our grass grow! Emma is thankful she can still fit in her exersaucer. She found it at the back of the office late last week and played in it for a whole ten minutes or so! Anyone that has a toddler knows that is pretty long to play with a toy.

Emma is also thankful for her CiCi who let her spend the night this Friday night. I am pretty sure this is the first person she has spent the night with besides grandparents! CiCi gave us a good report and it sounds like Emma was on her best behavior. Bradley and I went to a Trivia night thing-we didn't do very well, but we didn't do the worst! Afterwards we met up with some friends and then acted like an old couple and went home and went to bed. Seriously, it was my night out and I was at home asleep by 11:30. It kinda looks like CiCi let Emma do whatever she wanted-hey, what are aunts for!

Sometimes I think Bradley would be grateful for a little privacy around here. Emma is a daddy's girl and I have caught her numerous times just like this!
Guess what is behind that door? If you guess the bathroom, you are right! It is like Emma could be playing anywhere in the house and she has this radar that she know when someone goes in the bathroom. Today I walked down the hall she was looking under the door and yelling "da da, da da"!

So what are you thankful for? I would love to hear!