This makes my heart melt. 
I hope Charlotte has an affinity for music like her daddy;
and if not, it won’t be for lack of trying.
We’ve been exposing her to tunes since before she had ears!
I think we’re off to a good start.
Getting ready for our day
On the schedule today:
* Write in Charlotte’s baby book!! I really need to do this. I had every intention of writing in it every week from birth to catalog her milestones. That didn’t happen, obviously, as she is now almost 6 months old and her book remains in the package. My sister even gave me an adorable milestones calendar for recording and I didn’t make it past 2 weeks 🙂 Fortunately, many of her milestones have been recorded here on this blog so I won’t have to think very hard to remember the past 6 months. I do want her to have an actual baby book that I have written in though, and not just cyberspace memories, because that is something that is very special to me that my mom did and if Charlotte is even an ounce as sentimental as me then she will appreciate it when she is older.
*Grab some in season, organic fruits and veggies from the grocery store to make her more food. In season = cheaper and can be found from local farmers, organic means no pesticides on the food = no pesticides in the baby.
* Make cloth wipes. I know it sounds totally crunchy granola but I’ll explain in a later post about why it makes so much sense {if you also cloth diaper}.
*Go through and purge magazine pile. Even after reading one and tearing out anything I want to keep for reference I always save the magazine, which is pointless and a waste. Anyone interested in my Better Homes and Gardens and/or Every Day with Rachael Ray {and a few other random parenting, remodeling, organizing, decorating magazines?} once I am done with them? Chris also gets Golf Digest {a gift from his boss} so someone is welcome to those as well. If no one is interested I will just take them to the library and donated them.
ok, now that the to-do list is out and others can keep me accountable it MUST be completed!
And, for your viewing pleasure: Charlotte giving her binky a ‘talking to’ while waiting for her breakfast this morning {sweet potatoes and cereal}
Snow Day
I will get back to posting weekly {well, maybe bi-weekly?} updates next week so our far away loved ones can stay connected. A lot has happened over the past month. Did you know that January is almost over? Here’s a scary confession for you: I have vacuumed my house two times in 2013. Only twice. One of those times was today after my sister in law came by. We were sitting on the floor while playing with Charlotte and when I stood up my sweat pants looked like Chewbacca’s legs because of all the Baxter hair on them. Totally disgusting. Not you personally, Chewey… just the fact that I looked like you was disgusting. Also part of the confession, I wore sweat pants almost all day today. I will confess that but I will not apologize for it!
Anyway, the one time I did wear actual clothing today was to venture out into the beautiful snow with the whole family, Baxter dog included. I was excited to see what Charlotte’s reaction to snow would be. And now, without further adieu, please enjoy the nauseatingly adorable pictures of Charlotte and Baxter dog frolicking happily i
Notice our matching ‘boots with the fur’? Haha, I swear this is as far as the mommy/daughter matching will go. Cross my heart.
I made sure Charlotte got the snow sensory experience by letting her touch it. This look says it all: ‘Not interested, Mom’. Maybe because it’s such a boring color, haha. She was definitely more entertained by Baxter’s craziness.
I love Baxter in the background of this one. My little family.
Charlotte thinks Baxter dog is the bee’s knees; I have to agree, he was very entertaining to watch in the snow. My apologies for the ‘Blare Witch Project’ quality of the video; I am definitely not good at taking video while walking backwards in the snow. I’ll keep my day job.
Mommy Must-haves {Video Monitor}
If you have ever stepped in to Babies R Us to register for baby things or to purchase baby things then I’m sure you’ve experienced that overwhelming feeling of ‘holy macaroni. where do I even begin?!’ There are so many baby products out there boasting that they are a ‘must have’, making it really difficult to decide (particularly as a new parent) which ones are necessities and which ones you can live without.
I’m no expert, by any means, but as the months go by and I earn new parenting ‘badges’ with each new experience I am beginning to learn which things have been the most useful for our family.
Today’s “must-have” is definitely a luxury, and one I am SO grateful for: Video monitor
When we were registering for baby things I really liked the idea of a video monitor so we could see Charlotte (not just hear her) while she was in her crib. The problem was that all of the biggest monitor brands and models out there got pretty sad reviews (I use amazon to check reviews for most things). Complaints for the biggest name brands included poor reception and video interference/bad video quality.
In the end we decided to go a different route with a product called D-Link. It is not marketed as only a ‘baby’ monitor, but more like a home security system.
A very generous friend of ours gifted us the camera and then set up the system for us. We can now check in on her from our smart phones, Kindle, or laptop. The camera will automatically switch from color to ‘night vision’ depending on the amount of light in the room. The camera is also equipped with sound but we prefer to use a separate audio monitor that has several receivers so we can keep one upstairs and one downstairs.
I really love this system. I don’t have to worry about bringing a monitor with me from room to room or making sure I don’t run out of battery. One audio receiver is plenty for each floor of our house {Our house is not too large but also has an open floor plan which helps with being able to hear her no matter what room I am in}. The receivers just stay plugged in all the time {one in our bedroom and the other in the great room downstairs} so we don’t have to worry about battery life. The only time I unplug one is if I am doing something in the garage. The only thing I carry around with me between rooms or keep close to me throughout the day is my phone {which I did before Charlotte came along anyway}.
{2 weeks}
{4 months}
I am so grateful for this monitor and I use it multiple times every day. Around 2 weeks old we put Charlotte in her crib in her own room to sleep because she was {and still is} a very noisy sleeper. Grunts, groans, whimpers, moans…. all of these sounds set me on high alert in a hot second and I would just lay there, listening… panicking. Then I learned to check the video first before rushing to the pack-and-play {when she was in our room} or in to her room. Take it from me, if you rush in there all pell mell, expect to stay a while to comfort the baby you have just rudely awakened. 99% of the time when I check the monitor she is still snoozing soundly with a grin on her face, and seeing this on my phone allows me to drift peacefully back to sleep {or not, as post pregnancy insomnia continues to control me}. One thing I was worried about was some crazy lunatic somehow finding our video feed in the ‘cyberspace’ and being all creepy but then I discovered that I am able to tell when someone is linked in watching the feed from the camera because the camera’s red light will be flashing. It is also fun for Chris to be able to ‘check’ on her while at work and see how she is {not} napping.
Stay tuned for more Mommy Must-haves.
UPDATED: I forgot to add that the video feed is password protected so only Chris and I can access it!!