Demijohn's and more Demijohn's!!

 

Oh how I love fall time! There's just something so great about fall. The leaves falling off the trees, the festivals all around town, the cooler weather and all the upcoming holiday's. Fall time is by far my favorite time of year. 

And one of my favorite traditions since we left Italy is to dig out all my demijohns and fill them with bright colored leaves, then display them all around the house! We have green demijohns, blue demijohns and even some rare brown demijohns. And all of them are filled with bright colored leaves from the back yard.  In fact, my fall decorated demijohns are the most re-posted thing I have on pinterest. I get notifications all year round of people re-pinning my demijohns pictures.
 

This year was special because I had a little helper, helping me fill them with a little water. She had a blast pounding on the demijohns, hiding behind them, and playing peek-a-boo! I can't wait to one day teach her about the rich Italian culture and maybe even take her there.

When we lived in Italy, it was the law to recycle, especially glass. Get caught throwing anything recyclable away, and you get a nice little sticker on your garbage bin notifying you that you've been fined. In every neighborhood, there are large recycling bins on every street where people can dump all their glass wine bottles. We happened to have one on the corner, right in front of our house. Every once in a while, you'd see people drive up in a 3 wheeled Vespa farm truck (pictured below), and they would dump a full load of wine bottles and carboys (demijohns). Every once in a while I would sneak out and leaf through the bin, finding some unique and old glass bottles. Some small, some large.

The Italians think American's are crazy. They don't understand the big hype over these silly wine jars. In the States, the large demijohns sell upward to $100. In Italy, many Americans will  just pick them up from the recycling centers or the locals, clean them and send them back to the States to sell. 

I just love the bright colors, and the ability to display them anywhere in my home! And I love knowing these are the real things, not factory made bottles from Pottery Barn (which are a ridiculous amount of money as well, by the way!). 

Demijohns make the best vases! Once you add a little bit of water, the leaves usually last a few weeks. The leaves I picked this year weren't quite as red and colorful as last year, but one of the trees that I normally pick from in my yard hasn't changed colors yet. Once it does, there will be lots of bright, brilliant red leaves for me to pick.

Once while visiting a flea market in Italy, I bought two small wine vats that had wicker covers over them. I paid just 3 euros for them because they looked pretty beat up and dirty. The wicker wrapped around the entire bottle and you couldn't see the glass underneath. I brought them back to the States with me, fully intending to look them up and sell them. Instead they ended up sitting in my garage, packed away for two years. This year, I decided to peel off the wicker and see what the glass looked like underneath. They turned out to be beautifully aged demijohns that I'm estimating are at least 50 years old. There's a distinct writing around the neck of the bottles, which they don't do anymore, from my understanding. Anyway, I ended up cleaning them up well and displaying them on my mantel with leaves. I just love these darn little bottles, and the way the colored glasses filter the light.

Growing up!

 I've come to the conclusion, as I'm sure all moms have, that it is completely and utterly pointless trying to keep things clean and tidy when there's a baby in the house. On the other hand, as a photographer, I live for the moments (and sometime even encourage) when she makes those messes! I love snapping pictures of her when she's smearing potatoes all over her face all while trying her darnedest to get that one little bite in her mouth. I love when she kicks and splashes her bath water all over the floor, soaking everything and everyone in the room. And I love that when I turn my back for a minute, she has completely emptied two boxes of baby diapers that I unknowingly left right there in the path of temptation. 

 

Some of the most memorable pictures come from those messes; from those curious and exploitative moments. I'll admit that some of those messes are a bit less desirable, however. Like a diaper blow-out in the middle of the night, or puke all over your clean white shirt. 

 

All in all, I feel so blessed and humbled when I watch this baby play. I love watching the wheels in her mind spin round and round as she explores every path laid out in front of her. She is curious. She is creative. She is learning! 

Success!!!

YES!!!!

 

 

When you have a baby, isn't it funny how the smallest milestones can make you jump for joy inside?!  Today we packed up our good friends, the Wubbanub's, and said goodbye, once and for all. I've been trying to ween her off of the Soothie paci's for several months now since they're made for younger babies, but it's been one battle I have not been able to win with this girl, until now. Most of the age appropriate paci's we've tried have been the flat ones that have not gone over too well. She likes to chew them, but when it comes to nap time or bedtime, she is inconsolable without the Soothie paci. 

While I was in Utah, I was leafing through the baby section in Walmart, and I ran across a well made paci by Platex. Expecting it to be flat like all the others I've seen, I flipped it over and, to my surprise, I noticed it was round like the Soothie paci's. And, it was age appropriate (6-18 months). I bought it, washed it and gave it to her to try out. Once again, she chewed it but refused to go to sleep with it.
Then right before we flew back to GA, my mom sewed up a little security blanket with a loop so that we could attach the paci to it (in place of her Wubbanub's). I put her in her swing the first day we were home, and she took it and went right to sleep with it. That same night when I put her in her crib to go to sleep, she took it right away, and drifted rightvoff to sleep! SUCCESS!!!

I've noticed a similar battle we've been having with sippy cups. She took a sippy cup just a few times when she was around 5 months old, but after that, she would refuse them and cry whenever I attempted to give her one. Every time I took her to her baby wellness apts, her doctor would ask me if she was taking a sippy cup yet, and to my disappointment I would tell her no. She doesn't like the feel and texture of anything other than her bottle and paci. I talked to other moms and tried several different kinds of sippy cups but none of them worked.  Finally one day just a few weeks ago, don't ask me why, but I bought a cheap pack of disposable sippy cups, and to my surprise, that was the one she actually liked. She doesn't like anything but water in them, but she gets happy and giggly when I pull it out for her.
Since then, I've tried going back and giving her some of the "fancier" ones that I bought, thinking that she'd take them now that she's got the hang of it. . . Nope. She still likes the cheap little disposable ones. So, we will continue to use them for now.

It's Father's Day!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday this year since Sunday was going to be pretty busy. And we needed a full day to celebrate such a great dad!

I must say, it was a fun filled day! It started with breakfast in bed. Miss Nylah and I surprised Allen with an egg and bacon cup. Very rarely do we eat bacon in this house (eck!), so Allen was pleasantly surprised. The two without the bacon in the picture were mine. Although, just one proved to be quite filling.

On Friday, Nylah and I were busy putting together a framed poem for Allen. On the poem is a boot print from one of Allen's old boots. And of course the little footprint is Nylah's. The poem is called, "Walk a Little Slower Daddy. It reads,

"Walk a little slower Daddy," said a child so small. I'm following in your footprints and I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast; sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower Daddy,
For you are leading me. 

Someday when I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be.
Then I'll have a little child,
who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
and know that I was true;
So walk a little slower Daddy,
for I must follow you!

I seriously love that poem! But what I love more is seeing my husband and daughter together, snuggling, playing and laughing. She loves him so much!
And no one can make her laugh like Daddy! All he has to do is walk in the room, and her entire face lights up!

And don't worry, after I snapped a few pictures, I climbed into bed with them and we all enjoyed some yummy breakfast together!

 After breakfast, we let Daddy open some fun gifts. This was my best attempt to make a 'manly' gift bag for him, all while saving money on a store bought one.
I think he liked it.

Since he loves to BBQ, we got him lots of accessories for his grill.

And as you can imagine, we spent the afternoon grilling and hanging out.

Later that afternoon, we hung the swing that Nylah got from Grandma and Grandpa. Allen had to trim more branches in the front yard to make room, and then measure and hang it up on a level branch.

While he was busy hanging it up, all the neighborhood kids came around to lend their full support. Aiden stood especially close by to make sure to hand Allen his drill, and share his two cents worth of advice. And everyone else wanted to hang out with Nylah. So, we went out to join the party.

In the middle of this project, while we were all sweltering in the 90' weather, the ice cream truck strolled down our little cul-de-sac, music blasting and all. Everyone scrambled home and dragged their parents outside to buy ice cream. Then we all took a break and ate ice cream!

 Once the swing was up, Nylah wasn't sure what to think of it at first. She just laid back and chilled out, taking it all in. Then, after 5 minutes or so, she couldn't stop smiling and laughing at Daddy while he pushed her!

Last but not least, I decided to make a special desert that I kept seeing circulate around Facebook; an Oreo cookie brownie. I don't remember who posted it, but I thought it would be fun to try. I think I was more interested in the challenge, and taking pictures of the final product. I love food photography, and I love a challenge.  And this was quite simple.
Basically you take two Oreo cookies and put a layer of peanut butter in between them. You then place them in cupcake liner then cover it with brownie mix. Cook for 20 minutes at 350' and voila! It turned out pretty good. Here's the link on Facebook!

And below is a picture of mine. They turned out great. Very rich though. Good thing we have plenty of kids around to share with!

Again, I love food photography! So, of course I had to dig out some studio equipment and snap a few pictures. Allen was laughing at me, so he snapped this picture of me with his phone:

All in all, it was a fantastic day!  

Welcome to the Moms Club....Oh wait! Which one?

It's a funny thing. When I was still trying to get pregnant, I assumed that once I got pregnant I would automatically just be jolted into the 'mommy club'.  I assumed there was one big club, and if you were a mommy you just sort of became part of that club. As it turns out, once I actually became a mom, it was made very clear to me almost immediately that it's not just one big club....it's multiple clubs.... There's the breastfeeding clubs, the cloth diaper clubs, the holistic clubs, the working mother clubs, the single mothers clubs, the special needs clubs, the home school clubs....and the list goes on.
I remember one day listening to some moms talking while I sat holding my newborn, and it hit me that not only are there multiple 'clubs' out there for moms, but that there are some pretty strong opinions and views on parenting, and so many moms get caught up in comparing themselves with each other. You have some moms who feel so strongly about things that they have a hard time seeing any other views but their own. Then you have some moms who feel so guilty because they aren't meeting the standards of all the super moms out there, then they feel they have to explain themselves to everyone.

I wish there was a club for new moms called 'Like-a-deer-caught-in-the-headlights club'. ---the club where you are kind of standing in the middle, just sort of neutral about everything, trying to figure everything out but not wanting to be 'stuck' in any specific club....the club where you just want to let your hair down and enjoy your child, all while trying to do what's best for them.




I'm also noticing a lot of pressure from companies, groups and especially online resources advocating things and making you feel like a jerk if you don't live up to those standards.
Here's an example. I went to do a quick search for something the other day, and a website totally unrelated to my search popped up with this picture on it:

Notice how unhappy the first baby looks, and how happy the breastfed baby looks? I don't normally let things get to me, but this picture ruffled my feathers a little. My baby is formula fed and she's happier than a lot of breastfed babies that I know! I've also noticed that a lot of breastfed kids seem to have some of the worst allergy breakouts I've ever witnessed. One friends child broke out so badly over eating a couple of Smarties candies...apparently they have eggs in them. Point in case, does it really matter?!

Also, if you do your research not all formulas are bad. Not all formulas are caked with syrups and DHA/ARA additives. Just read the labels and do your research and find one that's best for your baby!  I get tired of hearing about all the negative things about formula. You never see lists of all the positive things about formula. Well, here's one: Formula is keeping my baby alive and HEALTHY and happy!  Sure, breastfeeding is best, but a mother should never feel bad because she can't breastfeed, or because she chooses not to.

Ok, so perhaps what bothers me the most about the picture above is that they put "bonding" next to the breastfed baby and not the formula fed baby! Really? I understand all the chemical releases in the brain that take place when a mother breastfeeds, but really? Why is it continually noted from all the breastfed advocates that breastfed babies can bond better than formula fed babies? Bonding is a huge perk when it comes to breastfeeding, but honestly it doesn't have to be any different with formula fed babies. I am truly thankful for the months that I was able to breastfeed my baby, but when I did have to switch her to the bottle, that did not keep us from bonding. In fact, when I was growing up I always saw moms prop their baby's bottles up and feed them in their car seats, and that always bothered me a little. I like to snuggle my baby close to me when she eats, just like a breastfed baby. At night, we snuggle up in bed together and she will gulp down an entire bottle while I stroke her hair, or just snuggle her. During the day, we rock together on the rocking chair while she takes her bottle. We gaze into each others eyes. She grabs my nose while she drinks, and I nibble on her fingers and pretend to eat her hand.

Also, for the first month or so after I switched her to the bottle, I wouldn't let anyone feed her, not even my husband, because, just like breastfeeding, that was our bonding time. Allen couldn't quite understand this at first because it was just a bottle and he felt it was something he could do. It used to frustrate him because he knew how exhausted I was and he wanted to help out, but no matter how tired I was, I always insisted on feeding her. And it was simply because I didn't want to loose that bond with her.
Daddy helps out with feedings now, but to this day, she still eats better for me, and it's because of that bond we share.

Last but not least, I had to share this little insert that a friend posted on FB the other day. It made me chuckle and it helped me to realize just how much a lot of us moms stress out over the little things...when in the end, kids are just going to be kids and do what kids do best! And hopefully, just hopefully, no matter what "clubs" we belong to, our kids will turn out just fine! :)