Baby Ryan Laughs

For Ryan's day-before-3-month birthday, he decided to start laughing for us!

Well..actually he laughed for the first time yesterday when I was at work....telling them that I would not be coming back. When I got in the car to come home, Seth called to tell me that Ryan laughed! It was a sweet assurance that I'd done the right thing with work...thinking of missing all those "firsts" would be so hard.

I LOVE the end of the movie, it's my favorite, that sigh is just adorable.

Puj Baby Bathtub: A Review

When my friend sent me an email a few months ago calling for Puj Bathtub Product Testers, I jumped at the chance and was excited when they asked me to be an official Tester!

When I was pregnant I was a little frustrated at the bathtub options. When a baby is small you can only do so much...and those mesh slings in the bigger stand-alone bathtubs just seemed painful! We did end up getting one, and baby ryan tolerated it, but I was SO happy when we got the Puj tub! It's really soft squishy material (BPA/PVC free!) and it is the perfect recline for a baby! A few other things we found useful:

--it's easier than a bulky tub to wash off his back and bum
--he can't fall from side to side in the Puj, it kind of is molded to support him from all angles!
--it fits in our tiny sink in our tiny bathroom
--it's easier for me to bathe him by myself because he's so supported
--it folds together with four little magnet "thingies" and so when you're done you can pick it up with one hand and pull the magnets apart to hang and dry, just like that.


Living in a small apartment, we definitely need storage space, and this tub was the answer...

See, it folds flat and is only about an inch thick!!! This comes in handy not only for storage, but also for travel! When we went to Arizona for christmas, I was a little bit crazy (first time mother crazy) and insisted that we bring everything we have ever purchased for ryan, including his full wardrobe, his own bassinet, his bathtub, every blanket he owns....you get the picture. Well, needless to say our car was full, but this tub made the journey because it just was flat at the bottom of the trunk, no problem, slid right in!

This baby is obviously littler than Ryan...more like his newborn size of 9 lbs. But I'm happy to say that Ryan, at 15 lbs, still fits nicely in our tiny bathroom and the Puj tub! And he's not going to slide into the water or have any scary "slip and slide out of my hands " moments!

Ryan is adorable in the tub. He mostly just looks at us like we're crazy, but he loves a good bath time!
He even gets the bubble bath treatment now and again! (and look at those cute toes!)


So...if you're in the baby bath tub buying demographic, do yourself a favor and check out the Puj Tub for yourself at Puj's new website for Baby Bath Tubs!!

Undercover Mama: A Review

It's funny how we all go through "Phases" in life. It's even better when those "Phases" coincide with those of our friends! It was last year about this time that the "baby phase" hit--it seemed like every day another friend announced they were pregnant, and it continued throughout my entire pregnancy! At one point I counted over 50 people I was close to or knew fairly well that were pregnant. That's a lot of babies!!! So...now that lots of those babies have been born or are soon to be, what a better thing than to share the "products" that we have grown to love! So...this one is for all the nursing mothers out there!


I first saw this company on Give Away Today a week or so ago and immediately went to the website to check it out! I emailed the owner to ask about sizing and she was so nice I decided to purchase the Black Undercover Mama.

This might just look like another nursing tank top....but it is SOOOO not! It hooks on to the nursing bra and is strapless so that when you nurse the flap just comes down with the rest of everything so you're not dealing with a bunch of different hooks and flaps and straps! AND...unlike a nursing tank...if you wear an extra layer like some of us do, it can go right in between the two and then everything is nicely contained with the one-flap!!!
Seriously, this has made my life so much easier--it keeps your sides and front and back all covered up , which is just essential--let's face it, post pregnancy side exposure is about the worst humiliation I can imagine.

So, this is even better!!! If you go to http://www.undercovermama.com/ and pick out your essential color, you can email the owner, mention my blog post, and get free shipping!!! (I love the owner, we have exchanged a few emails re: size and payments, and she has just been wonderful. I'm all about supporting her!)

I have loved my undercover mama so much that I just bought it in the rest of the colors. Who doesn't need a tank of every color!!! I have a few drape front cardigans that work perfectly with the tanks, too, so it doesn't even add an extra EXTRA layer for me. YAY!

Happy Australia Day!

Thanks to my sisters, I found it it's Australia Day! (Next time you see Heather, ask her to do her Australian accent for you, it'll make you smile!)

Heather posted a recipe for Pavlova, and I was so excited and called Heather to ask her how to make it and she reminded me that I posted it and it was my recipe...oops. I originally got it from my friend Rob's mom when we were there for Easter, and when I went to Utah a few years ago to take care of Carol's kids I made it for them!

I was SO glad that Heather reminded me about this, because I made it tonight for me and Seth and it was So Yummers!

(I know...this is not photo composition to try for...I didn't want to turn all the lights on to take a picture of the pavlova)

What did Baby Ryan do for Australia day, you ask? Well, unless Grover is secretly Australian...nothing related to Australia but I wanted to share anyway.


He Hugged Grover...

And then he and Grover wanted to hug all of their blog friends!

Ryan also discovered something very interesting...

He has frogs on his feet!!!

And he's fascinated. They move whenever he moves his feet. And they smell just like his feet. and he can bring them closer to him and move them farther away. It has intrigued him for a good 20 minutes at a time :)

Is Delurk a Word?

My friend Melanie blogged that it's National Delurking week, which means that strangers who read your blog can come forward and introduce themselves, isn't that fun? (Also, who comes up with these national weeks? I have to say that it's ironic that Delurking week is on my birth week. Whoever came up with the holiday must know how much I LOOOOVE blog stalking :) )

I’ve seen from my blog tracker that I have readers in 26 States, Canada, and Germany. Please, introduce yourselves!!!

A visit from the Reeds & Prices!

Seth and I came back from the Arizona Johnsons in time to meet up with the California Prices and a special visit from the Reeds!

It's so fun to have Ryan meet his cousins. Brandon and Christi were so cute with him--we realized that Brandon and I are the same age apart as Brandon and Ryan are!


We were lucky to go to two really great restaurants--the prices are known for centering family activities around food, and that's exactly what we did! Thanks for treating us, Reeds and Prices!
I told Brandon I'd pay him a dollar to eat his entire chicken fried steak meal. He is way too smart and I'm way too cheap. He did get through half of it--I owe you 50 cents, mister!

Here are the Prices! Notice how Ashley has her hand on Adelyn's head--she always wanted to be right by her little sis! My favorite is when Dan was holding Ashley who was Holding Adelyn while Samuel had his arm linked in Dan's. I love seeing my family with their families.

The next day we had the Reeds over for Sunday dinner--Seth whipped up a great stir fry and fried rice for the family, I made everyone try edamame and the kids helped Seth set up the Wii Fit Plus. It was fun to get in girl chat time while I fed the baby upstairs!

Here's Christi showing off power yoga!

Thanks for the trip, family!

Baby's First Christmas

We celebrated Christmas this year in Arizona with the Johnsons! Ryan slept through most of his first Christmas, but he did wake up in time to show off his killer good looks:
And his Dad's new present from Aunt Samantha:


But don't worry, he was up first thing the next morning! (This is really what I woke up to every morning, and it would just crack me up...he makes the funniest faces in the morning!)Here's Grandma Johnson doing the two things she loves most....taking pictures and holding babies!
Ryan got lots of love from relatives over the holiday:

Notice how he's sleeping in all the pictures! Everyone is so good at getting him to sleep!

I was sick again on new year's eve, but Seth woke Ryan and I up just in time to welcome in the new year!

Baby Smiles

Yep, we're the parents that take videos of the baby staring at us. And anyone who watches thinks "seriously, nothing happened." BUT, he does smile and flap his arms and legs and as usual, I think he's adorable.

It's awesome.

The incredible shrinking dog

When did this little guy...

Become this little guy?

I could pinch those chubby legs all day.

One Little Word 2010

If you'll remember, I started doing One Little Word last year and liked it so much I'm repeating it!!

Last year my word was Possibility. I laughed as I read my explanation, as just about everything came true!

"I think this year especially, our world is full of possibilities. We may or may not move, get new jobs, quit jobs, uproot, multiply & replenish the earth, become famous, become super poor, get super rich, get discovered, gain weight, lose weight....i mean the possibilities are endless. And I think it will be really nice for me to focus on a "possibility" rather than any sort of "impossibility""

--We still may or may not move :)
--Seth is into getting new jobs!
--I am on Maternity Leave with my job
--Uproot? what's that? ;)
--Well, hello Baby Ryan!
--I am kind of famous since I was Almost in the Kinks backup choir, right?
--Did I mention we're both unemployed right now?
--I did, however, get a GREAT bonus with work.
--Seth did stand up comedy this year and I'm pretty sure that was discovery.
--Gained 60
--Lost 45 (15 to go...then some more!)

In addition to that...there were certainly some impossibilities. I don't think I've said much about this on my blog...but a year ago January we were pregnant and I miscarried. It was pretty devastating, and not something I ever expected. We were fortunate to get pregnant a few weeks after the miscarriage, and now we have Baby Ryan and couldn't feel more blessed. I'm not sure why, but the past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about last year and the range of emotion we've felt through everything. I certainly have a lot of empathy for people who have gone or are going through tough times with getting pregnant, staying pregnant, or who have lost children. While I can't fully understand everything, I certainly care and have very tender heartstrings when it comes to anyone having to deal with such hardship. Mmmm just felt like saying that.

So... Possibility really worked out for us as a 2009 word!

On to 2010. I have been thinking about this for a few weeks, and I think I've finally come to a word....


Balance


Why balance? Well...because it's a struggle for me. It's something I need to learn. I mean, how in the world am I supposed to carry a diaper bag, carseat, stroller, baby, bottle, nursing cover, purse, wallet, credit card, hand sanitizer, and lip balm into a grocery store and still have room (and energy) to shop!? Sigh. Needless to say, this is not an adventure I've been on yet.

All joking aside. Balance in life, balance with family, balance with church callings, balancing my emotions, balancing nutrition, health, and exercise with everything else I need to work on. Balance is also steadiness, finding equilibrium, a means of judging or deciding, "an aesthetically pleasing integration of elements", and last but not least...."an amount in excess especially on the credit side of an account" (seth's going to like that I'm working on having a greater balance in my checking account)

So 2010, let's balance each other out, okay?