My guys

I think they're pretty cute!

Crib mobile, Chase loves it!

It's so cute seeing him reacting to different things!

Dance festival

The end of the school year is here,

so of course we had the school dance festival this week.

It was supposed to be on Monday,

but it was snowing Monday morning.

So they had it Wednesday morning instead.

(And no, they don't know I posted these. )

Glow in the dark miniature golf

For Family Home Evening this week

we went to Trafalga.

The kids had coupons from school for a free activity,

so we went miniature golfing.

Have you seen the indoor glow in the dark course?

It was pretty fun!

And Chase slept the entire time!

Soccer's over, or is it?

Well the official soccer season is over now. I only made it to a few games. I went to Julia's first game, hugely pregnant. The next day was Ethan's first game. I opted not to go to that one since I was in labor-- Chase was born 7 hours later. We continued having games for several weeks after he was born but I didn't want to take him out in the cold, so Derek and the kids went to all the soccer games without us until the very end of the season. I did attend Ethan's very last game. Chase stayed at Grandma's house during that one because it was windy and cold.

But we both made it to Julia's last 2 games (though that last one we watched from the warm car).
And that wrapped up soccer... or so we thought.

Derek wanted the kids to be able to practice soccer in the backyard without causing further damage to the shed. So he built this amazing soccer goal!

Ethan has become quite an accomplished goalie

The kids have used it every.single.day!

Except 2 days ago of course, since we had 3 inches of snow in the backyard

at the end of May!

Growing like a weed!

Chase got weighed at the doctor today,

he is 11 lbs 13 oz!!!

(He's 6 1/2 weeks old now.)

I knew he was getting big

but that's even bigger than I expected.

He's already growing too fast!

The top left photo here makes me laugh.
His eyes get all huge like this when we put him in his car seat.

I'll post his two month stats in a few weeks.

Sad and Happy

Chase tends to get a little fussy at night. Sweet little Julia was holding him the other night while he was crying. When she couldn't get him to cheer up she asked, "What am I doing wrong?" Poor thing! We explained to her that babies are just fussy sometimes. Here is Chase during one of his fussy times. I wanted to be able to remember what his sweet little newborn cry sounds like.




He's generally a pretty happy baby though, and he recently started smiling. His smiles just melt our hearts!

Sling Safety

Chase in a Ring Sling

So I've collected some baby slings over the past few years in the hopes that I'd be able to eventually use them. Yay that the time is finally here! Most of them are used from the FSOT (for sale or trade) board at thebabywearer, and are therefore much less expensive.

Chase isn't worn in a baby carrier all the time, but they can certainly come in handy if I need to actually get something done.

Recently I was questioned about whether or not the sling I was wearing was safe.
So I thought I'd share a little of the info I have about sling safety.

This is a bag sling:

This is the style of sling that was recently recalled. Some people are assuming all babywearing is unsafe. This is not true. Babywearing is absolutely safe and can be an amazing method of bonding and loving your child, when done properly. And with common sense.

Things to remember:
Your baby should be in a position similar to holding them in your arms
You should be able to kiss the top of their head
Your chest, back, or sling fabric should not obstruct baby's face
Do not wear a carrier that is too tight or too loose, or not properly fastened
Read and follow your carrier's instruction manual
Be aware of baby's temperature, don't let them get too hot or too cold
Do not perform any activities that you wouldn't normally do while holding your baby in your arms
Baby should never have his chin resting on his chest
Baby's head should be above the rest of her body
Baby's knees should be higher than his bottom
Baby's head should be supported

These are some of the slings that I've used with Chase:

Chase in a stretchy wrap (this particular one is an Anaju wrap, which is supposed to be more breathable than most stretchy wraps)

Stretchy wraps are great for newborns, but start to sag when the baby gets a little heavier. If you like wraps you'd want to switch to a woven style wrap when the baby is a little bigger.

Chase in an ETC sling


Chase in a Slinglings pouch sling

I love how easy pouch slings are to use!


There's a great article on correctly positioning your baby in a carrier here.

And if you're wanting to try out a ring sling, pouch, wrap, or mei tai

just let me know! :)

Chase's Blessing

Mother's Day was especially meaningful this year

because it was also the day that Chase was blessed.

He wore the same white outfit that Ethan wore when he was blessed,
and we used the same white blanket that my mom made when Ethan was a baby.

Chase did great for most of the blessing,
but he did start crying into the microphone toward the end.

He is such a sweet baby!