The Perfect Pinterest Meal

Three recipes...

Chicken
I just let this cook on 350 while I made the rest. And I used onion salt and garlic salt instead of garlic. And I added a little extra brown sugar.

Sweet Potato Discs
YUM. Make LOTS.

cover asparagus in salt, pepper, parm cheese and olive oil (i used vegetable oil)

YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

Why Cloth Diaper?

I have had some "looks" when I pull out or mention Lylah's cloth diapers. Why would I add all of that extra work? Well, here is a cloth FAQ.

1. Why would you do all that extra work?
It's really not that much extra work. As a mom, you are doing laundry constantly. But this laundry is actually fun. Yeah, that sounds weird. But really. I look forward to it! A clean diaper is MAGIC. Magic. I don't have to go to the store and buy diapers. So that is less work.

2. What about your washer and dryer?
What about em? Aren't they made to handle dirt? Liquids? Gunk? (Ew.) Yes. They are. And they do. Do they make our other clothes smell? Um, not that I have noticed. Do I smell like poo? I sure hope not.

3. Does it save money?
Heck yes. Think about it. You go to the store and buy diapers. They are about 20 cents a piece. On average, that is On average, a disposable diapered baby will cost around 3,000. Did you read that? $3,000 I have spent about 600-700 dollars on cloth. That is a lot of money saved! And I can reuse them for the next kid.

4. What about the water?
Yeah, I hear this a lot! It uses more water. Water is cheap! Washing a load of diapers 2-3 times a week equals the same amount of water that a young child uses to flush the toilet 5 times a day. It costs about $1.25 each time you wash. You can save even more by line-drying your diapers.

5. Is it better for the environment?
Yes. Of course. Think about all of the disposables used on all the babies in the world. They can't be re-used. I read that babies use 5,000 diapers. YUCK.

Are you interested yet? There are ways to "sorta" cloth diaper. You can research "gDiapers" which give parents the opinion of a washable liner or a disposable, flushable liner.

I have also heard you can try cloth for a month for the cost of disposables ($70 a month)!

Just try it..... You may LOVE it.

Here's some more stuff you might like....

Then and Now

Then....

Now...

Then....

Now...

Then....

                                                                        Now...

Now...

Newsletter--9 months

Dear Lylah, 

This has been by far the craziest month we've had yet! We went to Australia to see Gramps and Gigi. You were such a trooper! You were the best travel baby. I will post more about Australia later. But just know this, you had a great time. You loved hanging out on the plane, meeting people and seeing Gramps and Gigi of course. 

Jet lag induced here...

You had a little trouble adjusting to time back in the states. You have been standing up in your bed for a few days, and you have forgotten how to put yourself to sleep. Daddy discovered a magic method of keeping you in your crib and patting you. You fall right to sleep. Oh Daddy. 

Sleepy eyes

Still loving your baths. You are all over the tub and Daddy freaks out. Mommy lets you crawl...I figure you will learn. You just love the letters in the bath and splashing. And screaming. You also love books. Oh do you love books. That would be your toy of choice, definitely. 

Bath time 

Your Daddi graduated at the end of last month and got his masters. You were pretty good. I had to walk around with you for a while. It was too long for you. And me. :) 

During Daddy's Graduation

You are so curious. You are everywhere. You don't mind playing by yourself. You find everything. I will hide something behind my back, and you will start playing with something else....then somehow you find whatever I hid. You are TOO smart!

We got your a swing for our backyard time. At the new house our backyard is awesome, and the dogs love it. We go outside in the evenings and throw the balls for the dogs. You sit and watch and squeal. 

Loving your new swing

Love your Great-grands!

In Australia....hiking in the Daintree Rainforest. You are so happy in your carrier!

You are standing by yourself. What? I don't know how you pick this stuff up so quick. You can easily manuever yourself around any room. You crawl on your knees and then if there is tile and you have nothing on your knees, you switch to this cute crab crawl. So smart. If you REALLY want something, you do this hop crawl. You are just so cute!

You have 4 teeth now. Teething on our trip was interesting, but you did well. 

Feeding yourself

Your new trick is clapping! It's so fun. The "Oh!" I make at the end is cause you make a big toot. 

People ask me all the time why you are so happy! I love that. You love people. You smile at everyone. You still wave at people and you will go to anyone. I just took you to check the mail in the stroller and you waved at every car that went by. I couldn't make this stuff up!

We love you so much Peanut. You add so much to our lives. We miss you when you sleep. We love you so much!!

Love, 

Mom

I love Australia so much it hurts a little

Downtown Brisbane

I cannot even express to you, oh blog reader, how much I love Australia. I've already had the time of my life, but tomorrow is going to be even better...we are going to SEA WORLD. If you are familiar with my blog, you know I HEART Sea World. We went there for our first anniversary. We went there a few years ago. I went there in High School. In College. I love it there. I'd live there if I could. More to come on that. If I ever return.

We went to Southbank on Sunday. It has the perfect view of Downtown.

with my love 

How we got there...the City Cat!

They have a man made beach there. This was where Lylah went in the water for the first time. After slathering her with sunscreen and putting on her swim diaper, so got in. It was SO cold. Not a great first experience. It's Fall there. She preferred to eat the sand. 

Yesterday we went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This was the coolest place I have ever been. I got to hold a koala. I'll let that sink in. CUDDLE. A. KOALA. And then...feed a Kangaroo! And then, feed larakeets. They were so cool. Sounds lame, but they are really neat. They give you a torch type thing with food in it, and they flock to you. It was so fun.

If you are ever in Brisbane, go there!

I think I will just stay here. I could find a job.