G Diapers

I've been thinking of trying these flushable diapers. I wasn't sure and then I watched the video on them. You can watch it here. The put 3 diapers on a compost pile: flushables, chlorine free diapers (which we think would be better) and a regular diaper (Pampers, Huggies etc.) The flushables were reabsorbed back into the earth within 2 months. Both the other diapers weren't absorbed after a year. It takes diapers 500 years to absorb back into the earth because they are made of plastic. Americans throw away 20 billion diapers a year. That's a lot of diapers sitting around in the landfills. I think I'm going to order my flushables today. They aren't more expensive and look at the cute diaper covers you get let your little one wear.
Check out the website: gdiapers.com

Why are gDiapers good for the planet? It is simple. Our flushables are designed using the Cradle to Cradle design principles of Bill McDonough and his firm MBDC. That means everything that goes into one of our flushables gets re-absorbed back into the eco-system in a neutral or beneficial way. So you are turning waste into a resource. At the same time, you are putting poop in the toilet, where it belongs, and avoiding the landfill issue all together.

New Game

Samantha has a new game where she is really into her babies. Elmo is one of the babies. She feeds them, puts them to bed, and her new thing is wrapping them up in blankets and taking them for a walk. She just walked into the other room and I peeked in. She was struggling with swaddling Elmo in the blanket the same way I do. She saw me and said, "Mama help Melmo". It is very cute. Unfortunately only one baby fits in her stroller and she can't decide between Melmo and Baby. I think she needs a double stroller...

We had a nice weekend. We went to help Tim last night with a catering job and then went to a party. Samantha was the hit of the party with her pigtails. I don't think anyone didn't comment on how cute she was. She also was saying "beer" when she saw one so people also thought that was pretty funny. We're working on wine, she's just in a beer phase right now. : )

I'm going with a "this time last year" pic today. My how's she's changed...

Going Green

This blog is taking a short Samantha hiatus (I promise, really short) to devote a day to going green. We have been working really hard to do our part to help preserve the world around us. We're going green. I try to do my part to turn off the water when brushing my teeth. My now I'm making a bit more of an effort by buying products made from recycled bottles and trying to purchase natural products.Although I'm not quite ready to buy a hybrid or stop using the washing machine (sort of impossible with a 1 yr old). I am trying to not use disposable products and do my part to make this world a better place. Anyone else with me? If you're interested, saffronrouge.com has a lot of health and beauty products that are all natural and organic.

Weekend Fun

We had a fun day yesterday with James Ryan, but we forgot out camera! Today we're going out with Mimi (Grandma). We have to go get ready. Here's a few cute pics of my girl. Hope everyone else is having a nice summer weekend.

I know my blog posts have been fairly nonexistent, in terms of actually posting. This has mostly been a picture blog. But I figure, you guys don't care what I have to say, you just want to see pictures of my beautiful daughter. When I first starting blogging I tried to come up with cute, funny little stories of new parenthood. But now those are hard to come by. Of course, Samantha does many funny things, but we're in such a routine that it's really nothing to write a blog entry about. I read a lot of other blogs lately and they do a good job of telling little funny stories. I think I have to try a little harder. So I'll get on that.

I'll leave you with this. Lately Samantha has been saying beer and pointing to Tims glass with a big smile on her face. But she says it kind of like (be-eer) it's kind of with a funny Long Island accent. I admit, I try to get my kid to say beer in front of other people just because it's so funny, even though it is morally questionable.

Oh, and a question for moms, if I have any readers left. Samantha has always been a great eater. Lately she hasn't been eating too well. But she's been spitting her food out when she doesn't want it. How do I stop this?? Help!?! It's driving me crazy. Just so you don't think I have a demon child who wpits things out I'll leave you with this adorable picture.

Oh, and we're going to see this little guy over here this weekend. How cute is he? I can't wait. / Go visit his blog and tell him we said hi.

More Pictures

Here's some more pictures. One is Samantha trying on the flower girl dress that she will wear in Aunt Katie's wedding this September. The others are some Fathers DAy pics. One is Samantha with her Gpa (what she finally settled on calling GRandpa) and the other is her playing on the deck, dancing on Sunday.

Today we are busy cleaning, we have to go do some errands, which around here means a half hour each way. Then we're going to a friends house for a playdate. We have to get a move on. Have a good day.

Happy Belated Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to everyone! Hope it was nice an relaxing. I think Tim had a decent one. He had to work till 3, but then he was home with Samantha. And he had Monday off. Here's some pics from a few weeks ago. Sam & Tim, and Samantha riding her bus and saying goodbye.

CATCHING UP

I'm way behind on posts so I'll leave you with 2 pictures. The first is Samantha with her cousins, aren't they all so cute? There's sure to be problems when the 3 of them are teenagers and all going out together. We went there last weekend and had so much fun with them. Courtney and Ava are getting so big. We don't see them enough! Come visit us girls!

The second is of my daughter stuffing her face with pizza. I don't know anyone else who has a better apetite. This girl can seriously eat. If we're eating late and feed Sam early she will eat a full meal again later if she sees us eating later. Luckily she has fast metabolism and is so active, she's on the low end of weight for her age. Hopefully she'll either change her habits later or it won't change. And she LOVES pizza.

This past weekend we saw Emma Kate & Peyton and Sam's cousins Madison, Sara & family babysat her. Pics to come.. stay tuned.

Could she get any cuter?

Harley Davidson shirt, a tutu, and Mardi Gras beads. I think a girl this cute deserves some extra comments today, people... We've been low on the comments lately, come on. If you do we have lots more cute pics like this one.

Hey Mom, at least she didn't wear the rain boots with it.

Sorry

I know, it's been awhile. We've been busy, traveling and will be busy visiting friends for most weekends of the summer. But this time it was also that somehow I got signed out of my blogger account and could not get back in. I couldn't remember the username or password. Finally, it was figure out. I'm usually pretty good about the same password for most things. This also happened with my netflix account. I hate getting junk mail and I set up an email just for those types of things and I totally forgot about it. Pictures to come soon, I promise.

Driving Miss Sam

Here's Samantha driving in her cousins Jeep. She was too cute, but she couldn't reach the gas pedal, her cousin had to help her. She loved it though, it was one of the few times, she wasn't running all over the place. She was quite content riding around in the Jeep for awhile.

Saturday Recap

We had a very busy yesterday. I like to keep my weekends busy mostly. But today is a rainy day and I'm looking forward to just hanging out and playing inside. Cleaning up a little and finally putting up Samanthas curtains that just came a few days ago. Yesterday was fun. We went to swimming, which Samantha loved, as always. Then I got my hair cut, finally, it was the first time since the beginning of Feb. Then we went to my Grandfathers 70th birthday party. We had fun, Samantha basically had everyone wrapped around her finger, as always. She went in the pool, got to ride in a little car with her big cousins, played a lot, and went on her first trampoline. She loved the trampoline, she kept running around and falling and she just thought it was hysterical. We got home late last night, and got up early this morning (of course) so we're a little tired and in need of a lazy Sunday.

Here's Sam on her first trampoline. It was very safe, it had a net, she was the only one on, and there were about 20 people standing around it to make sure she was safe.

By the way, on a personal note, I'm having a little problem. The people I used to babysit for have hired a new babysitter, but they asked me to do an overnight this coming Wed. They have a new babysitter and the grandmother lives in the next town. So I said no. And I feel so guilty like I should have said yes. I should help them out. Blah blah blah. Anyone want to make me feel better? It shouldn't be my problem. I don't know why they ask me. I could go on and on about this but I won't. Oh well, if anyone wants to know more about the situtation feel free to ask, I guess I'm just going to go on feeling guilty. By the way this other babysitter is new for them but doesn't have her own baby, like I do who she'd have to bring along. And the grandmother is here too! (Oh wait, did I say I wouldn't go on??)

Weekend Fun

Our new mattress came yesterday. It was coming from 4-8. I rushed home at 3:30, just in case. When did it come? 8:15. And guess what else? Our box spring did not fit up the stairs. So we have to get a new one, isn't that fun?

We have swimming today, I'm finally getting a haircut, doing errands and then off to a family party. I have to go decide what Samantha should wear. Note I don't care what I wear to parties anymore. I live vicariously through the compliments that Samantha gets.

By the way, Sam I'm sorry I'm posting this picture of you in the bathub on the INTERNET. Hopefully you will never see it, or not hate me for it when you're 15 and your first boyfriend finds it online. But it's cute. (Sorry Tim, did I say 15, I meant when she's 25)

Better Days

The rest of our week is going much more smoothly. After Samantha's sleepless night she took a 3 hour nap that next day and then slept that night from 7:30 to 7:30. And this morning, Thursday it's 7:05 and she's still sleeping. It's a daycare day and we have to leave at 7:30 so I might have to wake her up soon if she doesn't on her own. We're having a nice shirt week. We got some very exciting news about some good friends having a baby, we're not telling who yet, but we just can't wait. Samantha will have a new friend. Today we have music class and tomorrow if Friday, yipee!
I also got some nice work related news. I have been babysitting sicnce the end of last summer. It has slowly gotten to be more and more hours and I have been saying I will stop for months. Well they finally found someone else! I'm so glad, she starts next week. Now I will work a few days a week in the mornings, and be done at 12:30 on the days I work. I think it will be much better for us, Samantha will get to spend more time with her grandma and have 2 days at daycare until 12:30, which she really seems to enjoy. I am really looking forward to having the afternoons to myself (and Samantha).

Amendment

Hi everyone. Let me just be a little more clear as to why Tim's bedtime routine annoyed me last night. Sam has a strict 8:00 bedtime. Definitely by 8:30. She is a little angel when she goes to bed on time. You say good night, plop her in her crib, and rarely hear from her until the morning. She's not so good when you mess up her routine. And last night she went to bed really late and ate cookies (i.e. sugar) after her regular bedtime, which can't be so good. I shouldn't really say went to bed at all, because she basically didn't. When Tim put her in at 9:30 she screamed for hours, when she woke up every few hours of the night. It was awful, she was just up and crying, wanting to get up and play. I'm not totally blaming Tim for this but I do believe that it was at least in part due to the lack of her bedtime routine last night, late bedtime, and late sugary baked goods. Let's all hope that tonights bedtime goes normally. I'm not sure how I can get to work today, I have a headache I'm so tired.

Weekend Review

I love long weekends. Doesn't everybody, right? What did you all do this weekend? Saturday we went to swimming lessons, Sam had such a great time. She was going under and jumping in and just loving every second of it. We went to a few tag sales and I got her a little slide for $5. We went to visit Tim at the store, of course. We did a lot of gardening. Basically my whole yard is weeds amd I spent a lot of the weekend digging up the weeds, putting down new soil, planting some new flowers, and getting some areas ready to plant new grass. My mother in law is amazing at gardening, I'm hoping she can help me out because I've really never done this before. The weekend was spent digging, raking, planting, and watering so I'm hoping that it will turn out nicely. I still have a lot more work to do to get the yard in good condition. I'll leave our Monday Memorial Day adventures for another day this week.
Here's some pictures of my yard in progress, and my daughter who decided it would be fun to plant her own garden in the pool, she was so so dirty it was disgusting.

Disclaimer: If you're a Cocheo you may not want to continue. However, Tim has been working hard and not doing much around the house, which is completely fine with me. Tonight he said he wanted to give Sam a bath and put her to bed. It is now 8:44 and they are in our bed, eating cookies. I don't think this is the best way to put her to bed, and I'm not going up there until she is in her crib. And it better be soon...

Long Beautiful Hair

Look at the hair Sams been sportin lately. Check out this pic from last May, she was a total baldy at 6 months old and a year later, she has so much hair! I love it, she wore a ponytail today! I'm still hoping that she gets wavy hair from Tim. It looks a little wavy sometimes. I don't want it to be so super straight like mine.

Any Lost Readers?

Anyone want to tell me what they thought of Lost? I can't believe I have to wait until Feb. I like the flash forward, it was a great ending. But I hate that there's 3 more seasons, how long will this be dragged out for? Any guesses on who is in the coffin? Who are the people on Nadia's boat? What happenned with Jack and Kate?
How sad was the whole thing with Charlie? I was crying, and I don't usually cry.

Anyway, here's Sam making a funny face and telling me. "I don't know". She does a funny I don't know gesture with her hands. Sorry she's all dirty and gross, it was a long, hot day here.

Just Right

Here's Sam making sure the boots are on just right.

What is everyone up to this weekend? We're hoping it's nice b/c I'd like to do lots of outside things with Sam. Maybe a hike at the state park? The park? We have swimming lessons. Sams daycare is all marching in the parade together on Monday. You don't have to march but if your child is under 3 the parent has to accompany them. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to march in the daycare section of the parade. Maybe Sam and I will just watch... that is if Mimi and Grandpa want to come. Tim, of course, will be working.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Cookie

Samantha thinks all treats are cookies. One of our favorite snacks are rice cakes. I remember when I was little thinking rice cakes were bland and gross. Samantha loves them, she calls them cookies. My brother in law Mike thinks this is wrong and that she should know what a cookie is. I assure you, she's had cookies, and loves them. But she also loves the rice cakes. What's wrong with that?

Tonight after dinner we had leftover cake. When Samantha tasted it she erupted into giggles and started kicking her highchair with a huge smile on her face. I said to Tim, wouldn't you just love to that kind of reaction to something, especially food again? It was like a gut reaction, she couldn't help herself, and it was just soo cute.

MY Daughter the Fashion Victim

Samantha insisted that she wear these rain boots with this dress when we had company the other night. I know, as my mom pointed out, she's 17 months old and I'm her mother. But it was so cute and she wasn't hurting anyone so I let her. When I tried to put normal shoes on her she said, no shoes and kept grabbing the boots and giving them to me.

We've gone 2 full days without a pacifier outside of the crib!

Cheese

What happens when I ask Sam to say cheese... she loves the camera... most of the time.

Not Fair

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, and yesterday morning, and the morning before that. 5:30 is when Tim leaves for work. He slams the door shut every morning (not toally his fault, it's the door) and Sam wakes up. Some days I can get her back to sleep for a little, but most days I can't. I have repeatedly asked Tim to use the back door but he has been refusing, it's too far away or something. I know Tim has to be up at 5:30, but I don't, so it's not fair. Finally today he agreed to use the back door tomorrow. We'll see...

Also, one of my cats has been outside for 18 hours. That is the longest he's been out at this house. I just looked around for him when I got home and don't see him. I want him to stay outside and be a happy outside cat, so I'm glad he's out. Just a tiny part of me feels bad and worries that he'll get hit by a car or something. Lots of cats are outdoor cats, how do they know to stay away from cars? Instinct, I hope.

Boring Life

Tim and I have been going to bed around 9 pm. Thank God we have Tivo to tape our favorite shows. We were actually just complaining that we should have the Tivo in our room instead of the living room b/c we're not watching it. Our routine for the last 2 weeks has been, dinner at 7, bath and Sam to bed at 8, then straighten up and in bed ourselves at 8:30. I was actually just in bed but I didn't like what Tim was watching so I came down to check my email. Right now it is 9:15. Pretty sad, huh? Oh well, it doesn't bother me. A few months ago Tim was getting home at 1 am and I was in the routine of waiting up for him. I was always tired when Sam woke up at 7. Now I am very rested and I don't mind too much when she wakes up early. So going to bed early has its perks. I need to clean up and make my house presentable b/c my sister is visiting on Monday. Mimi and Grandpa are taking Sam tomorrow so I can clean up. I might even have dinner here Monday night instead of at my sisters. That will be the first time we have had people over and don't forget I'm nto exactly a chef, just a chefs wife, so my cooking isn't always too great. On that note, since we moved here, May 1st, I have cooked dinner every single night and Tim has said its been good. Samantha has loved it. I look up my recipes and go shopping and I've made a real effort to cook dinner for my family. I like it, it's fun. I just don't like the cleaning up from cooking part. So tomorrow I'll figure out what I should make on Monday.

By the way, can anyone tell me how to get rid of this thing? The paci, or juju as Samantha calls it. I think she got this b/c it reminded her of how she would suck on the sippy cup of juice, juice became juju. Anyway, I desperately want her to get rid of it. We were on car and crib only, then we were on crib only, but car crept back in. Now we are car and crib and if she's really sad I will give it to her in the house. I can't help it. Any suggestions? She loves it and says juju juju over and over when she wants it. I just want to lose them all so I don't have choice. She's 17 months now. I want them gone by 18 months, or at least on a STRICT crib only policy.

Updates

Let's see, I did find my camera cord but have not taken any other pics, so I'll give you one from this time last year. Tim did find a dishwasher but he's still not getting home that much earlier, but at least I'm not washing dishes. Now we need a breakfast cook to do egg sandwiches and omelets. Right now Tim is going into work at 5:30 to do all that stuff. Things are so busy, it's going really well. They have about 10 events to cater so far. The first one is this Friday and is a kids birthday party. We finally put blinds up in our office, we have this room sort of figured out. We still need to put our pictures up on the wall. By the time Tim gets home and has dinner, he's practically ready for bed. We have a busy weekend. Sam and I are going to LI to have brunch with some friends and hopefully will see Samantha's new baby cousin.
This pic is from today last year. We had just moved out here from NYC.

Hard Times

Sam looks like she has the hardest life, then wait, but I do have nice shoes on. Nice shoes can cheer any girl up...

Here's my messy girl

More Mothers Day

As promised...

Happy Mothers Day!
How cute is she?

Sorry

I know I have been a horrible blogger. I just can't seem to post lately. First we moved on May 1st in an unexpected rush. Then Tim opened his store on May 6th, and we catered an event on the 5th. Without being able to hire help just yet that meant I had to help and by help I mean mostly do dishes and it was not fun. I washed so many dishes I never want to look at another one. Anyone know a prep cook/dishwasher/stock person near Ancram NY??
And we're still trying to get the house in order/set up the office/get our satelitte guy to come. Every spare moment has been spent at the store and not at the house where I should be. Oh and Samantha started swimming lessons, which wasn't the greatest start but hopefully she'll have more fun tomorrow.
And, I can't find my camera charger. And I still have dial up.
My cable modem comes Monday so hopefully I will have found my charger by then and can take some beautiful pictures of my lovely daughter over the weekend.
If all goes well I will have pictures and a witty post for you by Monday, I'm sure I can think of something witty to say, I'll work on it...
Have a good weekend.

Sorry no time to blog this week, we're moving this weekend and I have tons to do.
Updates next week.

What's Going On...

Let's see, I've been lazy and just been posting pics lately. But hey, at least you're getting something. We've been busy, as always, Easter was crazy and flew by. This week we're working a lot, I'm looking forward to the weekend. Samantha and I went to music class today. It is a different place than her last Music class and we really liked it. It's called Music Together and we got CD's a a songbook so we can learn the songs. As soon as we got there Samantha was walking all over the room and checking it out. She seemed perfectly comfortable there. Sometimes I wonder where Samantha gets this socialness from. Tim and I are not the most outgoing people. While starting to sing Samantha was walking up to all the other kids. While playing the instruments she walked up to another mom and helped herself to the instrument the mom was using. She did share and give the mom her instrument. So at least she's being nice.
I was at a playgroup a few days ago and the facilitator asked everyone what the want there kids to learn and take with them throughout life. I was thinking that being happy is the most impt thing. Some other moms said being honest and polite. Which is also important, but today I was thinking that if she can keep being social like this that would be great. Some kids are so painfully shy and I'd much rather Samantha be outgoing, which I think will help her to be happier too.
She is just so happy, friendly, and full of life right now. It's pretty amazing to watch her interacting with other people.

By the way, here's Sam at the Easter Egg Hunt Saturday at the gun club. Did I mention this already? Is it just me, but is there something wierd about having a childrens Easter Egg Hunt at the gun club??? I guess that's how they do it in the country, we're still new to country life. Don't worry all guns were safely locked away. It was actually just big fields where they hid the eggs.

Happy Easter

Another happy easter pic! Here are the kids doing there Easter egg hunt. It was freezing outside. And this morning there is some snow on the ground. When is spring coming? I'm going to be late for work, so gotta go. Will try to write later.

What Is This?...

Could it be...candy?!?
Believe or not Sam did not have candy for Easter, she was too littel to know what it was. She played with candy, her cousins ate candy, but I figured if this year I can easily keep her from eating it I might as well. We don't need cavities in those little tiny teeth. Did your kids eat candy?? Am I a mean mom? My neice who is 3 months older did have candy so I'm feeling a little mean, but still I'm sure she'll have enough next year, when she DOES get it. And really, she certainly knows what cookies are and has enough of those.

Easter

Easter was really fun. It was a pretty drawn out holiday. Thursday Samantha got a present from Mimi and Grandpa, this chair and ottoman. She loves it. She is so cute, she plops herself down and puts her feet up. It is the perfect chair for her.
Fri some things came in the mail for her, Sat we went to an Easter egg hunt and dyed eggs, of course. And Sun was Easter and we hunted for eggs and had tons of family over. Samantha is very spoiled by all of her cousins. They give her so much attention, I think she was laughing and playing every second of the weekend, which is just how it should be. I'll post more Easter pics throughout the week.

Happy Friday

Here's my big girl, looking all proud of herself. She loves to sit on things, she's a little wierd. : )

Almost Bedtime

I was at a playgroup today and moms we're talking about never having time to themselves and feeling like they were "just moms" because of that. We were all asked whether we get time to ourselves daily, weekly, or monthly. One mom said daily. When asked to elaborate she said the kids go to bed at 8, then she has time to clean up and go to bed. I don't think of this as time to myself. I thought time to myself was time when I'm not expected to do "mom/housewife things" at all. What do you guys think? Do you get time to yourself, if so how and what does that entail?

Also, Sam really needs a haircut, right? What am I going to do with this hair?

I Love NYC

New York was fun. Samantha felt right at home, she loved the subway, and stopped to chat to as many people who would talk to her. We went shopping, saw some friends, and had a fun time. However, Mon night when we got to NY Samantha was pretty awful.. She woke up when we got there and would not go back to sleep. We usually will leave at bedtime so then we put her right into bed when we get somewhere, and she stays asleep. Not this time. Maybe it's the age?? She woke up when we got there and stayed up until 2 AM!!! Does anyone have any tips for traveling with toddlers and dealing witht he bedtime schedules? And, she still got up at 7! She did take a lot of naps yesterday but that didn't help us since we couldn't take naps. I really don't want to hold off on trips for the next few years but Monday night was the worst we've ever had with her. Help!

Just because it was easy

So now here's 2 more pics from our vacation that I'm posting just because I am in shock of how quickly that last picture uploaded. Here's a bad picture of me, Tim, & Sam at Chichen Itza and a picture of the cenote.
I would post 10 times a day if I had high speed.

NYC

I know, again I'm apologizing for not posting. Let's see what's my excuse this time? I don't even know where the last week went. On my day off last Thursday I was so busy, had tons to do, and even a birthday party. Over the weekend was my Dads birthday celebration and just regular business. I have a hard time posting when I don't have pictures to post. Now we're in the city and I'm taking advantage of the high speed internet. I know it's awful but I live in the middle of nowhere and don't have high speed at home, so you guys should all be really impressed that I post at all.
Anyway, enough complaining, Samantha is now a great walker! In a week she has really improved on the skill, we are happy she's on track and now want her to slow down (just kidding!) She has taken to chasing the cats around the house. If anyone wants a new cat we're giving 2 away for free to a good home (don't tell Tim I said that). But seriously, have a cat, it's our Easter gift to you.
Here's a picture from the winter, but isn't this funny of Sam & Courtney. Samantha looks like she thinking, stop touching me. We will have all sorts of fun adventures in NYC tomorrow and I will post about them at some point this week. Have a good week.