Top 5 Must Haves for Babies and Tots

I'm no expert or veteran mom, but I've come across some pretty awesome products that have helped me survive or cope along this wonderful parenting journey. These items in particular have been extremely helpful in guiding us from infancy to toddlerhood....

1. Fisher-Price Apps There are loads of activity apps out there for little ones, but Brooks really likes these. He loves music and most of the activities in these apps involve a song or two. So whether he's learning about different animals or counting, he can always dance along. I especially love these because they hold his attention and keep him from having boredom outbursts for a surprisingly long time!

2. Skip Hop Moby Safety Bath Spout Cover I never realized how much B would bump his head on the spout when I transitioned him from a baby bathtub to our regular tub. It was a lot. Like, every time.. and not because I wasn't watching him. I could literally just blink and in that minuscule amount of time, he would bump his head on the spout. So, this is a lifesaver... or at least a concussion saver!

3. Intelex Plush Elephant Microwaveable Warmer Now, this comes in several kinds of animals, but I just really liked the elephant one. These stuffed animal warmers are great for bedtime! Not only are they cuddly and warm, but they contain dried lavender flowers so when you heat them up, the soothing scent of lavender lulls your little one to sleep. Zzzzzzzzz....

4. Munchkin Latch Trainer Sippy Cup Since Brooks was born, we've always used Latch bottles and he took to them perfectly. They didn't interfere at all with breastfeeding either! So, naturally, we picked up this sippy cup when he started drinking other fluids. Honestly, it's the best one we've tried so far. I've bought at least 5 or 6 other brands of sippy cups and somehow they ALL manage to leak. This one doesn't. It's a miracle cup! 

5. Baltic Amber Teething Necklace WHAT. IS. THIS. VOODOO. MAGIC. Seriously. I had heard about it from people at work. I was definitely skeptical when a girl told me that she noticed a difference in her child's behavior within 2 days of wearing one (or taking it off). So when a friend bought one for us, I put it on B... because what the heck. We had tried teething tablets and various teething toys to little or no avail. 

Alas, we put the necklace on Brooks (leaving it on 24/7 and making sure it kept in contact with his skin under his shirt) and within a couple days, he was significantly less fussy throughout the day and slept longer at night! You better believe I've been keeping that thing on him. Whether it is just giving some kind of placebo effect or the oil from the amber is actually absorbing into his skin, it seems to work! 

What are some life-saving products for babies/toddlers that you've come across? I'd love to check them out!

The Day My Computer Crashed and Burned...

...Well, it didn't burn, but it did crash... my hard drive, that is. The precious photo above is one of SIX full-size images that I have of Brooks after I lost everything. 

A little over a week ago, I was working on a graphic in Photoshop for my next blog post. I had it halfway done when I realized that it was getting pretty late. So, I closed my MacBook and went to bed. Little did I know, that that would be the last time I'd see my little graphic... along with everything else on my computer. 

My hard drive crashed. Dead. Gone forever...most likely. We're going to see if we can find someone who can try to recover some files from it, but as far as I know right now, I lost everything: Important files, tons of blog stuff and future posts, and most importantly - hundreds of photos from Brooks' first year of life. I have a lot of those pictures on this blog, but they're all significantly sized down and are too small to print. 

I can't put all of the blame on the shoddy hard drive, though. This whole mess is partially my fault. First of all, I could kick myself for not regularly backing everything up to an external HD. I know, I know. How stupid?! Secondly, I had been procrastinating on ordering prints of Brooks throughout the past year. The last time I ordered some was when he was a month old! Whhhyyyy??!! Ughh. So yeah, I definitely could've prevented a lot of this mess, but there you have it. Lesson Learned.

Nature Walk on the Natchez

Our little guy is fast asleep now after a long day full of warm sunshine and loads of play time. Since Brooks can walk now, we decided to take him hiking on the Natchez Trace. Despite a few falls and a scraped knee, he had so much fun waddling through the field and exploring in the woods. He discovered that pinecones hurt, riding on Daddy's shoulders is sometimes more fun than walking, and flowers don't taste very good! 

I love spending time with my little family, especially on beautiful days like today. I'm so glad spring has sprung once again!