Sleeping Arrangement

When I say Bear sleeps in bed with us, ever wonder what that looks like?

My growing Bear

This little guy is an absolute delight these days. He is always smiling, he smiles as soon as he wakes up, when he sees us, pretty much all the time.

He is super ticklish and giggly. No sound beats a baby giggling. 

He is exploring the world around him. Learning about textures, delighting in the small details. It is so much fun to watch him discover things and try to see the world differently through his eyes. 

He is a total cuddle. 

He loves all types of music, just like his mama. We are an eclectic pair. Jazz, solo piano, brazilian, chill beats, 80's pop, flamenco guitar, american pop, Euro dance, singer/song writer. We listen to it all. We dance together in the living room like no one is watching. 

What a joy and honor to be able to experience being a mom. It is everything I could have imagined and everything I could never have imagined. 

It is really hard to capture the true color of Barrett's eyes. They are the most amazing color I have ever seen on a person and a big part of me hopes they don't change. They are a very deep grey blue and in the right light, you can catch hints of green toward the center. They are so deep yet they have a warm and inviting look. I love them. 

The Banana

Home Sweet Home

We have done a lot to our house (I need to update our house tour page...it looks different)

Care for a list of what we have done?

Inside:

Hardwoods

Tile floors in entry and guest bath

Full kitchen remodel including all appliances (but fridge), cabinets, counters, sink, faucet ect. 

Full guest bath remodel including sheetrock, bath, fixtures, toilet, floor, sink, hardware, paint, electrical

Paint on all walls in the house

A ton of demolition of old stuff

Back wood french doors

Conversion to gas stove in fireplace

All new outlets and switches in the house

Outside

Level and change slope of backyard

Build gate, arbor

Build Garden

Change out front light fixtures

Demolish front yard (still demolished)

Remove most landscaping plants

Plant some new landscaping plants

Get rid of tons and tons and tons and tons (and tons) of blackberries

Prepare pad in the back of the property for a shop

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There are probably more projects that I cant think of at the moment, but is is safe to say, we have done a ton of stuff to our house. 

Then I was thinking about the things that I would like to complete before I would consider our house "done"

Inside

Finish Baseboard trim, new door trim

Change all interior doors to wood and get a wood door for the front door

Wool carpets in bedrooms

New linoleum for the laundry room, stacked Washer and dryer, floor to ceiling storage system

Backsplash in kitchen

Wine fridge/small sink/coffee area in kitchen

Hide wires for the TV

Complete master bath redo

Double french door to deck in master

Tankless hot water heater

Exterior

New siding (ours is recalled), new exterior paint

Carriage style garage doors

Repaved driveway

Blacktop asphalt anywhere we currently have gravel

Paver path around front of house to paver patio in back

Larger deck with covered screened in area

Landscaping trees and plants

So basically, there is still a lot to do. 

But that really wasn't the point of this post, I let the list get away from me. The point of this post is this. 

I always kind of had my eyes on this being a "starter home" - granted, it really isn't a starter home in the true sense of the word - it's in a great neighborhood, most of the people who live here are middle aged and well established, it is really a nice house and was even before we pretty much demolished and re-did everything and it is on acreage which is super nice. But again, I found myself always dreaming about our "future house." I would even look on the internet for it. And here's the thing - we may well end up moving someday if we end up moving to a different city like say Bend or McCall in the future. 

But here is the realization I had the other day. I really love our house. I love how much like home it has become. I love how "us" it is becoming. I love all the memories we have here from living in it without a kitchen, living on subfloor, one bathroom, being newlyweds, professionals, being pregnant, getting a dog, having a baby. This house really holds so many memories.

In addition, if you notice the list of things we have done and will do, many of them are kind of specialty things. Things that are less about increasing the value of the house for resale and more about making the house a great house for us. Things like wood doors inside and out, wool carpets, tankless hot water heater. These are things that we value but may or may not be viewed of a a value item for potential buyers even though they are "premium" items. 

And for the first time the other day I realized

I can't imagine moving away from here. I really love this house and what is has become and is becoming. 

In Pursuit of Sophie and Melman - The Giraffes

Going Vegan - On my body that is

I was giving Bear a bath last night. We have 2 soaps we use on him. 

Aveeno

and

Earth Mama Angel Baby

I was glancing at the Earth wash and it had a little picture of a bunny - the one that means cruelty free. That got me curious so I checked the back of the Aveeno bottle but there was no picture of a cute little bunny. I googled it and it turns out, Aveeno is Johnson and Johnson and it is tested on animals. 

Humph. 

There is just something slightly icky about that. So I figured, once the Aveeno is gone, we won't buy more, we will stick with our Earth wash which we love anyway :) 

But then I started researching. There is cruelty free for products and then there is vegan. 

What's the difference?

Cruelty free means no testing on animals or cruel treatment of animals by the company that makes the product. 

Vegan means no animal products (think crushed up bugs to make the pigment in your lip stain - Gross)

So while I won't be throwing out my products because honestly, I already bought them, I have them and I am not going to be wasteful, I am making the pledge to purchase Vegan cruelty free products for my body in the future. Now the worst part about this is having to hope that they have good Shampoo and Conditioner...I have very testy hair. 

There is one company that I am super sad about losing. Keihls (L'Oreal). Boo. 

But being Vegan in products doesn't mean a complete lack of awesome product. 

TARTE

Urban Decay

Ecco Bella

Make it easy! Sephora

Aveda - Read labels for Beeswax & Honey

Vegan Product reviews

So here we go. As I use up the items I have, I will replace with new Vegan items. 

Bear's 4 month Stats

We had Bear's 4 month appointment on 2/2/12, a little later than his real 4 month but we got it done.

First and foremost, he is healthy. 

His spitting up? Not an issue unless he wasn't gaining or was losing weight. 

His sleeping only 2 to 3 hours at a time at night? Annoying but not an issue. 

No interest in rolling over? Also not an issue. 

The Doc complemented him on having such a sunny disposition - yep, Bear has transitioned into being a little ray of sunshine. He is super smiley, giggles a lot and is generally a happy guy. When he wakes up, he is all smiles. 

Bear at 4 months

Weight: 15lb 2 oz (48%)

Height: 25 Inches (45%)

Head: 42cm (36%)

Bear at 2 months

Weight: 12lb 3oz (58%)

Height: 23.5 Inches (67%)

Head: 40cm (46%)

Bear at 2 weeks

Weight: 9lb 9oz (74%)

Height: 22 Inches (90%)

Head: 37.4cm (56%)

He is my little Shrinky Dink. But the Doc said he is growing well and that the fact that he is falling on the curve is nothing to worry about. Besides, the curve is a little skewed because there are both formula and breastfed babies on it and most (not all) breastfed only babies grow slower than formula fed babies. 

So today, on this beautiful sunny day, I am thankful for:

My healthy baby

His sunny disposition

His melt your heart smiles

Sunshine outside

An awesome run with Trooper and the stroller