Ergo=Love

I've loved my Ergo since first use, but after putting Ella Grace in the back carry for the first time I have fallen in love all over again! I wish I could supply Ergo's for all my mommy friends and readers. I love my Moby wrap as well, but Ella Grace is getting a little heavy for it and, it can't back carry.

I decided to try the back carry on a fluke, thinking she might be too short still, and she LOVED it!

Edited: I just found this awesome ERGO give away!! OMG!!!

http://thebabystoreplus.blogspot.com/2010/04/win-ergobaby-infant-carrier-then-get.html

I would LURV to have a second Ergo. Possibly one not so girly so Sean would wear it more :)

also- check out the giveaway-er's website http://www.shop.thebabystoreplus.com/

Friday Follow!

I am growing extremley fond of Friday Follow and Follow Me Fridays! I love the easy access to load of blogs and love "meeting" all the new people who stop by my blog. I can't wait to see what new friends I make today!

Thanks for coming by!

Thankful Thursday

I've seen this on some other blogs and thought it's a good one to add. Here is a list of what I'm most thankful for this week...

1. Ella Grace smiles first thing in the morning

2. My husband working hard to provide for us

3. A dad who is willing to drop what he has planned to help clean out the closet when the water heater busts

4. Apartment matienance people who replace busted water heaters so I don't have to

5. Friends who you can count on to share in your joys, sorrows, excitement, and fear

6.Pink & Red Starbursts

7.A big tub of orange Gumdrop pacifiers

8.Part time work with children I enjoy earning money we need

9.Barefoot weather

10.A safe return from a long road trip

What are you thankful for this week??

Barefoot and Fancy Free

Although cooler than a usual spring day, today was beautiful. Ella Grace fell asleep in the back seat on our way home from babysitting and when we got to the apartment I decided to take the opportunity to clean out the car. If you have read my last 5 posts, and have ever traveled yourself, you can imagine how badly this needed to be done. So while my daughter slept in her car-seat, I cleaned out and even did a mini detailing job on the car. Walking back and forth carrying stuff inside my crocks were getting on my nerves so I kicked them off. The concrete is bumpy and as I cut across the grass to my car, the feeling of the cool blades beneath my feet was immediately relaxing. Anyone looking out their window or driving by probably thought I was crazy as I walked first in circles and then in a back and forth pattern across the lawn. 

Have you kicked off your shoes lately?? 

5 Days, 5 States- Day 5

Today was the last leg of our journey and the longest drive of all. Newport News, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia.



Over 600 miles in one day wit my 12 week old. The two previous legs of our trip had been driven starting in the later afternoon. 2pm on both days actually. On both of these drives, Ella Grace was an angel. Sleeping most of the way and content to look at herself in the mirror during the times she was awake. Today, this was not the case.

We left Newport News around 9:30am and by 10:00 she was awake and fussing. She would take her paci, be chill for about 5-10 minutes and then fuss again. Where as on the way up we didn't have to make any unscheduled stops, today we had to stop quite frequently as Ella Grace decided she needed to nurse every 2 hours. Dad and I were and are pretty beat from the trip and we just wanted to get home. Oh well. Not much we could do. She did give us a couple of 1 hours naps and when I was sitting with her in the back seat she was much less fussy. It gave us some playtime too. She is starting to hold her toys and either try to eat them, or shake them around, so playing with her is becoming more and more fun.

Here are a few pics from our last day on the road...

5 Days, 5 States- Day 4

Today was our only unscheduled day. We were just chillin at my Aunt Jenny's with Gran, Shannon, and Tristian. Playing with Ella Grace and trying to keep Gran in check and daddy working on stuff around the house and in the yard.

Spending the day, helping take care of a woman who took care of me for years, has been both a rewarding and emotionally draining. I loved my Aunt Jenny before I came, but my respect for her has grown exponentially in the past 2 days. I am glad that I've had this time with my Gran, but I also am aching inside. The woman I knew as a child is gone. She knows who I am most of the time, but her actions and thoughts are those of a small child. Constantly feeling like others are out to get her and bossing her around just to boss her not to help her. She thinks she can still take care of herself and any help is just people picking at her.

Seeing her play with my daughter brought joy to my soul and I'm glad I've taken pictures to show Ella Grace when she is bigger. My eyes are watering just thinking of the day that Gran won't be here. I am pretty sure that she will mentally be gone for a while before she actually goes. Either way, I know Ella Grace will never really know her.

5 Days, 5 States- Day 3

Today was another travel day. Before we left we took some pictures on Aunt Cathy's back porch.

We started our day in Peterstown, West Virginia.

On our way out of town we stopped at Peterstown Cemetary to see my Paw Paw's grave as well as my great and great-great grandparent's graves. Peterstown Cemetary sits on top of a hill and the view is beautiful. I can't wait to take Ella back when she is older and I can tell her who is who and she can see where her Paw Paw's family is from.

 

(Me and Ella at the Williams Family Plot)

(Daddy saying hi to his Pop, My PawPaw)

 (PawPaw's Tomb Stone, next time I visit,I'm taking him a six pack.)

And drove across the beautiful mountains and hills and valleys of Virginia to Hampton, Virginia.

My daddy was born in Newport News which is just down the street from Hampton. My Aunt Jenny and her kids as well as my Granny still live there and we took Ella Grace to meet them!

 (Introducing Ella Grace to her Great Granny.)

5 Days, 5 States- Day 2

Today was my cousin Brennen's wedding. We started the day with a visit to take Ella Grace to  meet her Great Aunt Shelly (mother of the groom) and her 1st cousins once removed Seth and Brennen. Aunt Shelly and her boys lived with us for a good while when we were children. "The Boys", Justin, Seth, and Brennen are as near to being my brothers as possible without actually being my brother, and the only boy who holds a dearer brother spot in my heart is my own brother Joshua. I was beyond excited for Brennen, Seth, and Aunt Shelly to meet Ella Grace for the first time. Here are just a few pictures...

(Aunt Shelly and Ella Grace. Instant love.)

(Seth Michael and Ella Grace.I'm sure she'll adore him just like I always have.)

(Ben-Ben and Ella Grace. Ready for your own Brennen??)

Next was getting ready for the wedding and enjoying some yummy food. The bride was beautiful and we even managed to get a "cousins" picture. Only missing 2 by blood and 1 spouse. Tony, Joey, and Sean we miss you! I hope we can all be together as a group with no one missing sooner rather than later. Maybe we can plan for Ella Grace's 1st birthday??? 

5 Days, 5 States- Day 1

Starting in Georgia, then traveling through South Carolina and North Carolina to Virginia, sleeping over in West Virginia and then traveling across to the Virginia Coast and tomorrow we go home. Friday we left Friday afternoon around 2. Ella Grace was starting to fall asleep and we crossed our fingers that she would sleep for just a little bit. And sleep she did!

(Ella Grace sleeping on the road)

Ella Grace slept until we stopped for dinner around 6pm. She woke up, I nursed her, then we played with her while daddy and I waited for our food at Cracker Barrel (the best traveling food.) Then when dinner was done, I rocked her back to near sleep and put her back in her car-seat and she slept until we reached our home for the next 2 nights.

We arrived in Peterstown, West Virginina around 9:30 pm and were greeted by some of the cutest little munchkins ever!

(My Aunt Cathy and two of her grand-babies, Skyler (3) and Sydney (10) with Ella Grace)

Sweet Slumber and Wet T-Shirts

#1) I have never been a squeamish girl. I love a good day of playing in the dirt. I'm not afraid to kill a bug (I do HATE cockroaches.) I think worms and slugs are interesting and I can't wait to show Ella how a worm tickles when it crawls between your fingers. I don't mind smelling a little funky, be it from a day of playing soccer or running in the park or a weekend of camping and listening to good live music in a field (my husband is a reforming smelly hippy.)

#2) I love sleep. Me and sleep are like peanut butter and jelly. We are meant for one another. I function ok without it, but if given the choice I would choose sleep over most anything. This was true even before becoming a sleep deprived momma. I can push myself to function with little sleep, but it's not about how I function. I genuinely love snuggling down between cool sheets with the weight of a blanket on my legs, rubbing my cheek over the pillow and feeling my body fall into sleep. ( There is a picture of me sleeping in one of my high school year books, passed out on top of an open text book. I will have to scan this later and post it to give you a smile.)

What do these two things have to do with the title of this entry you ask??

Ella Grace has started sleeping in longer stretches as night. She will go down around 9 and sleep until 3, wake up to nurse and then fall back asleep until 5 or 6.  GREAT! Sleep is mine once again! Right? If I went to sleep with Ella Grace at 9 that would be six hours straight followed by another 2-3 hours. That would be the logical thing to do right? I've done this exactly once. Want to know why?? Even though I have no problem with getting dirty, and even though I am driven by a deep love of sleep, I HATE really really HATE waking up with a wet t-shirt from leaky boobs. I will take a shower in the middle of the night if I wake up in a wet t-shirt. I don't know what it is about the feel of a milk soaked shirt that bugs me so much, but it is currently my ultimate gross-out. 

So instead of getting glorious, dazzling, marvelous, divine, sublime, brilliant sleep- I stay awake until midnight, nurse my sleeping babe and then sleep myself from about 1 to 6 if I'm lucky. 5 hours is my current goal. 5 hours a night to keep my motor running. At the 5 hour mark, I wake up, boobs starting to ache, but t-shirt dry!  I guess this is my pattern for now. I do try to get Ella Grace to sleep for another hour or 2 after that 6 am feeding so that I can doze a little but more before getting up for the day.  

Five hours of sleep and I can go go go until midnight or 1 am. Pushing to get things done. Eventually I'm sure I will crash. I will have to take an afternoon nap with Ella Grace, or get a grandma or friend to play with her for 2 hours so I can sleep. Until then, I keep going and going and going and....

I'll let you in on a little secret, during those five hours of sleep I dream of the day where I can say, "Sean, tomorrow you get up with Ella Grace in the morning. I'm sleeping till noon." 

Friday Follow, Follow me Friday!!

  

Follow me! Follow me! Follow me!

I know this week's post have been sparce, but I promise to give you a good laugh this coming week. I mean, I'm going to have at least one good laugh to share from my 5 days on the road with my 12 week old baby. Yup, you read that right, Ella Grace and I are hitting the road. We are driving 5-6 hours (pre-baby drive estimate) today for a wedding tomorrow, then Sunday we are back in the car for about 9+ hours to take Ella Grace to meet her Great Granny, then Tuesday we are driving home. I promise to take lots of pictures and will try to write at least a post card or two.

So until we meet again, I can't spell that German word goodnight!

Happy Friday Follow!

Publish those sweet smiles and silly stories with Heritage Makers! (Giveaway)

“Photos without stories are memories lost.”

—Dr. Sharon Murdoch

Do you have a box of photos from your childhood that you need to do something with?? Wedding pictures you never put into an album?? Photos of that growing bump and the resulting little one that are more than just pictures? Heritage Makers offers a system and products that help individuals celebrate family stories and events through storybooking, greeting cards, prints, and more.

About a year and a half ago, I became a personal publishing consultant for  Heritage Makers. I have created cards, playing cards, posters, scrapbook pages and more with Heritage Makers. I can only be a consultant for a product I can stand behind. Now that I am a mommy, I am even more excited about Heritage Makers. I am currently working on a book of Ella Grace's first year and plan to continue making family "year books" to preserve not only our photos, but the stories that go with them.

As I said before Heritage Makers offers a full and versatile line of products to meet all of your needs. Each book is carefully assembled in the USA using only the highest grade materials including archival quality paper that is acid-free and lignin-free. Heritage Makers uses the latest digital printers and cutting edge processes to ensure your products are of the highest quality. Each book has a high gloss laminated cover for extra durability. Linen reinforced stitch binding and end papers that resist page tearing means your product will last lifetimes. Standing by the idea of these being stories to cherish forever, if your project ever becomes damaged or worn out, you may send it back to us for a replacement at half price. With this assurance, your storybooks can truly be treasured for many years by fingers of all ages.



Heritage Makers makes it so easy to share the stories of our lives that I not only wanted to tell you about Heritage Makers, but I want to give one lucky Deegan Daily reader a publishing credit for one 7x5 book. This book can be used to publish any story you wish to tell, but I will also provide the winner of this book and anyone else who asks with several story guides as well as ideas of what story they might choose to first write. With easy drop in, but fully customizable, templates available you'll be holding your new completed book in your hands before you know it!

BUY IT

You can create and publish your books, cards, posters, and more for as little as $10.00. Take a look at our product line and let me know what you are interested in. As a consultant I can offer you prices and packages not found on the website.

WIN IT


One super lucky Deegan Daily reader will be wining a 7x5 book, and 8x8 scrap page credit, and a free month of premier membership. Please note that shipping of your final project is not included. Just visit Heriage Makers and come back to let me know what your favorite  product or feature is.( You must follow my blog to comment.)


Extra Credit


1.  Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway
You can copy and paste this into twitter:

Win a 7x5 HM book  credit from #mommydeegan!


2. *2 Entries* Fan The Deegan Daily on Facebook! (please lave 2 comments)

3.  Subscribe to "Deal"ectible Mommies by Email or Subscribe to my feed. (please leave a comment)

4.  Follow The Deegan Daily...You can Follow My Blog on my right-hand sidebar! (please leave 2 commentd)

5.  *2 Entries* Blog about this giveaway (please leave a link to the post and comment.)

6.  Grab my button! (also in the right hand column of my page.)


7. *10 Entires* Purchase anything from the HM website. (leave a comment for each .)


Open to residents of the US only!   Giveaway will end on May 1st at Midnight! Winner will be chosen using random.org! 

And the winner is...

(image found on google images)

Number 3!  Alyssa from Adventures of the Stay At Home Mom is the winner of our 2nd giveaway. A gift basket of natural soaps from Turbid Blue .

I will be sending you more info later today!

Thanks to those who entered! 
Our next give away is starting tomorrow!

My #1

You see movies and read books and dream of having a perfect family outing on a perfect spring day. Well, at least I have. Being a wife, a mommy, having a family of my own, these things have been #1 on my to-do list for life since I was old enough to know what a mommy and wife were.

Tonight as I sit and think over my day, it was not perfect, but it wasn't a dream, it was in real life! So who cares if it wasn't perfect, I've made it! I have started my very own family. I'm a wife. I'm a mommy. I can check #1 off my list and edit the details a little to something a little more attainable and a lot more interesting than perfection.

9am, what a perfect wakeup time. Babe still snuggled deep in sleep, husband making breakfast to bring me in bed. A nice gentle breeze blowing through the open window.After having breakfast in bed and a long luxurious shower I hear the babe cooing gently in her cradle. 


The morning started early. Earlier than we had anticipated. Ella Grace decided to wake up at 6:30 and that woke Sean up. I fed the baby and rolled over to go back to sleep. Sean decided to take a shower and take Ella Grace with him. Did I fall back asleep? Of course not! I took a fast shower after they were out and then had to nurse the baby again and didn't even make it downstairs without smelling like milk.

Husband: "Honey, lets go for a nice stroll in the park. Pack a picnic and then come home for an afternoon nap."
Me: "sounds wonderful dear!"

8am
Me: "Ok, Lemonade Days start at 10am. Do we want to take the stoller or just the Ergo baby carrier? "
Sean: "Stoller? We have a stroller?"
Me: "Yes, can you clean it off? It was in Michele's garage for a while."
Sean:" Let's plan to be there when the festival starts."
Me:"ok"

10:30am
Me: "Ok everything is in the car. Sean, why are those cds there?"
Sean: "I was going to look through them"
Me:" Can't you just talk to me?"

Ok... I won't keep giving a play by play but there were arguments but there was fun and today was a dream come true for me. We went to the festival, walked around, and ate some BBQ. Left the festival, went to IKEA (where we met Sean's mom and brother for lunch) and walked around some more before coming home to crash around 5pm. Here are some pictures of my not so perfect, perfect life.

Sean packing his ever present backpack

(I'll blog about this some time.)

"Ok mom! I'm ready to go now!"

The view from Mommy's seat.
(Thank you Grandjo & Don for the mirror)

The"small" bag of yummy kettle corn that was bigger then Ella Grace.

Sean wearing the ergo for the first time.

My in real life dream come true family.

I've discovered my summer treat
Frozen Cherry Coke from Burger King!

Take a moment to enjoy the lack of perfection in your real life 

instead of wishing or hoping for impractical dreams.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

I am determined to lose weight so I have not been allowing myself to buy junk food when I'm out and about or at the grocery store and I will get rid of all the junk food in my house. By eating it. Not all at one time, but in moderation. I will eat it and I will not replace it, thus limiting my access to junk. Great theory right?

 The ice cream went first, then the Popsicles (although I 'm thinking of removing Popsicles from the junk list), the cookies have been gone for what seems like forever. I'm now down to the boxes of brownies, cakes, and muffins that fill my makeshift pantry shelves. The good thing about things that need to be baked is that I have to really want something to take the time bake it. And a little secret, frequently after I take the time to bake something, I no longer want to eat them. The smell has satisfied me. Yesterday was a day where I was hankering for something sweet and warm and delicious. Brownies, but if I was going to heat up the oven and in turn, my tiny apartment, they couldn't be just plain brownies. And really, who wants to read a blog or a tweet about plain old out of the box brownies. Big deal Callie. you put water, oil, and eggs in with some premade mix and popped the pan in the oven. Good job!

The Idea

My husband L-O-V-E-S peanut butter almost as much as I do. So i decided peanut butter swirl brownies were in order. Not that I'd ever made them before, but the concept was divine. I prepared the box as directed with two changes.

Change #1- I only used 1/2 the amount of oil the recipe called for. (My logic in this was that peanut butter has a good bit of oil in it)

Change #2- After pouring the batter into the pan, I poured melted peanut butter (about 3 BIG tablespoons) over the top and used a butter knife to swirl it in with the chocolate.

The Result

In the future I will probably put the peanut butter and brownie batter in in layers so that the swirls go all the way through not just on the surface.

What do ya' think? What are some creative things you have done with basic box mixes or think would be yummy to try? Leave me a comment and maybe I'll try it and let you know!

Friday Follow

As many of my readers know, I'm trying to make my blog great. Part of a great blog is the followers. In my quest for greatness, I have come across the Friday Follow. This is a great way to get new followers and to find new reading material for myself as well. This is my first week participating. Take a look and sign up if you also want to expand your reading audience.

If you have just discovered my blog through Friday Follow, don't miss out on the current give away!   Check it out HERE

BABIES Sweepstakes

There is a new movie premiering on Mother's Day. Babies, follows four babies from around the globe through the first year of their lives. I'm really looking forward to seeing this, possibly on premier day. (**Hint, Hint Sean**) I have been signed up for this thing called BzzAgent for almost a year now, but haven't really done much with it. With the encouragement of a friend who is also an Agent, I am back to it. Through my BzzAgent webpage, I found out about the Babies Sweepstakes. Below is the information on how to enter and what you could win. I entered and would LOVE ant of the items up for grabs. Let me know what you think about Babies. 

FROM BZZZ AGENTS:

The Babies are coming...and now's your chance to show off the moments in your baby’s life with the “Everybody loves...your BABIES sweepstakes!”. Become a BABIES Facebook fan and share a photo or video of your baby’s moments. Your baby could be featured on the BABIES DVD and you could win a Kodak Easyshare M350 Digital Camera plus an exclusive, limited-edition JOHNSONS® diaper bag, created by high-end designer Timi & Leslie, and filled with a year’s supply of JOHNSON’S® Baby products! Visit Facebook.com/BabiesMovie to enter.

This is hysterical! I love Jimmy Kimmel

Sleep

Tonight is the second night I have tucked Ella into bed and kissed her sleepy cheeks, turned around, and walked back downstairs. She is fine, I'm sad. I miss my night time buddy. I nurse her, then swaddle, then rock her to drowsy. Then I place her in her cradle, turn on the Sleep Sheep and go. Last night I dream nursed her at midnight. I plan to do the same tonight. I change her diaper and then she's back in bed. She slept until 5 am last night. 9:30pm to 5am is a pretty good place to start. But I will really love it when she goes until at least 7 when Sean is about ready to go to work. With this development of going to bed and sleeping through the night basically, means that the couch cave has been retired for now. My living room is back in order and I am sleeping next to my husband. I am happy to be next to him, but do miss my late night time with Ella Grace even if I now get more sleep. This development also means my little girl is getting bigger. She is almost a 1/4 of the way through her first year. I've been a mommy for nearly 3 months. There is still sooooo far to go, but I feel like this time is flying by. 

Random Photo Of the Day

Always kiss your children goodnight - even if they're already asleep.  ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It kills you to see them grow up.  But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't.  ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

Baaaaaa- Sleep Sheep Review

Very recently, we received a "Sleep Sheep" from Sean's Aunt. Mimi had heard raves about this product and thought we could use it with Ella Grace. It's a noise maker that fits nicely inside of a cuddly sheep. It plays for different sounds:

1. Mother's Heart Beat

2. Rain

3. Ocean Waves

4. Whale Calls

 The night we got this, we were heading back to our place late and Ella was rather fussy. Surprised and pleased that batteries were included we decided to give it a try. It has a great feature of a Velcro loop thingy to attache to a crib, pnp, bed-rail, or in our case- a car seat. We strapped it to the handle of the car seat and off we go. Within moments there was silence from the backseat. Ella Grace was fast asleep to the sound of the rain. We can't thank Mimi enough for the Sleep Sheep. It's now attached to the rail of Ella Grace's cradle and has been wonderful to help sooth her back to sleep this past week. Oh, and another great feature- it has a timer on it! You can choose to have it play for 25 or 45 minutes and that to me is awesome. No having to press the button every few minutes and no need to worry about wasting batteries. The best of both worlds! I'll load a video or at least a picture of Ella Grace and her sleep sheep as soon as I figure out why my laptop is messing up with YouTube.

Eat Sleep Poop

Yes, those are the bullet points of my day. They are also the title of a book my Grandjo & Don recently ordered for me.   

Eat Sleep Poop A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year This book by Scott W.Cohen M.D., F.A.A.P is great! I began browsing it last night and it really is a great resource. The wording is easy to read and the author is a hoot. He writes from the standpoint of both a pediatrician and a new dad. The book is broken into 10 Chapters ranging form preparing for baby to growth and developmental milestones to colds and food. Throughout each section he includes little boxes of "Common Sense Bottom Line" summaries. These are written with humor, but really to help you pull the main point of the information provided. Another great feature are the "Daddy vs. Doctor" segments. These little antidotes speak of his own path to realization as a doctor through his experiences as a father. I'm excited to continue reading this book and will surely be thumbing through the handy index in search of just the right answers. Of all the baby books I've browsed and own, this is thus far a favorite. I'm sure I will be pulling from this book for some of my upcoming posts.

Ella's New Trick!

Giveaway #2 Presenting Turbid Blue Natural Soaps!

So, a great friend of ours makes soaps. Not just any soaps mind you, but luxurious natural marvelous smelling and incredible feeling soaps. She has graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway and gift one lucky reader with a gift basket of these superior soaps. Her generosity continues by allowing the winner to pick any 5 item from her site and then she will include a selection of other goodies not necessarily currently featured. Sounds good right?? I'm jealous I can't win.

Turbid Blue keeps their cost and shipping fees low in an attempt to make natural soaps affordable for all budgets. This month all soaps are on sale for $1.99!!! Incredible!


To enter for a chance to win you must follow my blog. The task for your first entry is to visit Tubrid Blue's etsy shop and take a look around. Comment on this post about what soap you think you would like most.




EXTRA Entries:


1 Entry- vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking this link.You can do this once a day and receive an additional entry each day. Just make sure to comment on this post each time.


1 Entry-follow me on Twitter there is a link in the side bar of the blog. post here that you are a follower.


1 Entry- tweet or retweet about this giveaway. 1 entry per day w/comment on this post.


1 Entry- Fan The Deegan Daily on Facebook


3 Entries- Blog about this giveaway and post a link to your entry on this post.


5 Entries- Purchase something from Turbid Blue




Please leave a comment for each entry. If an action is worth more than one entry please leave a comment for each entry.



** Open to US Residents 18 and older.**


GIVEAWAY ENDS 4/16/10
THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED 4/18/10

The Fairest Lady In The Land

Last night Ella Grace and I went to Medieval Times with Betsy (my MIL) Maryanne (Sean's Aunt) Eddy & Maddy (Sean's Cousins). Fun was had by all and Ella was soooo good. The princess and prince adored her! I can't imagine if I had a baby that cried a lot. Don't get me wrong, Ella Grace has her moments, but generally she is a happy chill baby. Content to watch what is going on around her and snuggle into mommy's chest in the Moby Wrap or Ergo. Last night was an Ergo night. I can't wait to take her again when she is old enough to really be excited about what is going on and truly enjoy the show.

The 3/50 Project

I first heard/read about the 3/50 project on a poster in the bathroom of a local Mexican Restaurant. I thought it was cool then and I remembered how cool it was when it popped up on my FB page.

Below I have posted a copy of that poster. But basically the 3/50 project is a call to arms to help support local independently owned businesses. Those mom and pop restaurants and stores that get screwed by the big guys ability to slash prices. So, will you do your part? If you already eat out 3 times a month it's really not a difficult request. Choose local and your money stays local.

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

 I'd love to hear about the great places local to you that you enjoy! Personally I LOVE Marc Anthony's Italian Restaurant. Ordered 2 large pizza's from them for Sean's family that is in town this week and they loved it as much as we do. The customer service is wonderful and they knew who I was by the sound of my voice on the phone. The owner and his brother both brought the delivery because they wanted to meet Ella Grace. That doesn't happen with the big stores. We've never even had the same delivery guy when ordering from the many chain restaurants.

This is your charge! Below is the battle cry! Do your part! NOW! :)