My new favorite

This is my new favorite baby product! It's a baby carrier made by a company called "beco". They have two models - the Gemini, and the Butterly II (I have the Butterfly). No, I am not trying to win anything or advertize for the company, it's just that when I find something I love, I always want to share... :)


It's a soft structure baby carrier. I've tried framed backpacks - they don't work for me because I am too short for them, and I've tried the wrap things like the Moby - I really don't like being wrapped up like a mummy - way too much fabric, and I've tried the Mei Tei - way too much tying and big bulky bows all over the place, not to mention uncomfortable for me.

If you check out the beco website, you will see that these puppies are not cheap, so I looked at them for more than seven months before deciding to invest in one (my mamma always taught me to not impulse buy:). But I have to tell you, they are WORTH EVERY PENNY!!

They are extremely well-made (not to mention made in the USA, which I always love to see), have super cute patterns available (the picture above is the pattern I have, but there are many others), can be used as a front or back carrier, carry children 7-45lbs (yes, you read that right - they last from newborn to toddler), and best of all, they are SERIOUSLY COMFORTABLE!!

Like I said, I've tried a number of carriers (Snugli, Bjorn, Ergo, Mei Tai, Moby, Infantino), and this is by far the best one I have ever found. Here are a few pics to show why I am in LOVE with this carrier!

My girls and I like to hike - a lot. And taking a stroller on a hike...well, any Mom will tell you that it's not a plan. And carrying around 20lbs in your arms for over an hour at a time? Yeah...not happening. So that's the biggest reason I wanted a good carrier, so that our family could keep trecking around all over the outdoors and not be limited to tame stroller-friendly areas.

These last two pictures are from Watkins Glen (if you live in NY and you haven't gone - GO! It's amazingly beautiful). I hiked around for 2 hours with 20lbs on my back and was comfy the WHOLE time - amazing. No sore neck or back that night or the next day, either.

Here we are at the corn maze - it had been raining for days before we went, and there was no way a stroller was making it through the thick sticky mud everywhere - thank you, beco!

Clark Reservation - beautiful rocky areas to climb - if it weren't for my beco, we couldn't have gone.

Peek a boo!! Can you see the baby in this pic? :)

Elmwood Park - see these steps in the background? Built almost 100 years ago, and they are all over the park - no climbing up and down these with a stroller - beco saves the day again!!

Here's a pic of me wearing it in the front-carry position - yep, it's just as comfy as the back position (I wouldn't have believed it until I tried it myself), and I love how it gives me a chance to cuddle my now no-so-little baby. :)

If you are wondering where my girls are in all these pics - they are the ones taking the pictures!! They love to take pictures, and I think they don't do a half-bad job!

And finally my favorite pic of the bunch - the Trunk or Treat this year. Edward is in the crawling phase, so he doesn't really like to be in the stroller unless we're constantly moving, and if I try to hold him, he spends the whole time trying to get down and crawl away, so my beco saved me at the Trunk or Treat (a dark church parking lot is not really the ideal place for a baby to be crawling around, you see...) - he was safe and comfy the whole time, and since it was really cold out, I was able to snuggle him close to me and keep him warm.

Anyhow so there you go! As you can see, our beco has already gotten tons of use (I've only had it for a month now, and have already used it 9-10 times. And I don't just use it for hiking. At the end of the day, when Edward has had it and I'm trying to make dinner, I just put him in the carrier on my back, and I get to cook dinner in peace. He just chills and watches what I'm doing with no fussing at all - I love it.

I have always loved baby-wearing with all of my kids (I swear it is one of the best ways to bond with your babies), and this carrier has helped me to do it way more comfortably and was more often (those cheap carriers just don't cut it for long term use).

Conclusion: I love my new beco!!! And if you're in the market for a baby carrier, I highly recommend it. :)

Fall Treat - try it!

We have been doing everything pumpkin this fall - pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pudding, etc. I love pumpkin desserts, can you tell?

So I had to try this one when I saw it on one of my favorite food blogs:

PUMPKIN PIE MILKSHAKES!!

If you love pumpkin pie, then your mouth is most definitely watering right now. If you click here, you can get the recipe. So stop drooling already and go make it. It is easy and super delicious - mmmmm, fall desserts...

Cake-smashing day (aka Edward's birthday)

In our family, we have a tradition for each baby's first birthday. We head out to one of our local parks and have a family BBQ. We went out to Clark's Reservation this year because a) it's close. b) it's beautiful in the fall.

Here's Maria entertaining Edward while we pack everything up. It was a beautiful day - warm and sunny, which was lucky, because in Syracuse, especially in the fall, you just never know.


THIS was our view as we had our afternoon cookout. C'mon, admit it - it's gorgeous. Thank you, Edward, for being born at THE perfect time in the fall - peak color season. :)

Mommy and baby (well, not quite a baby anymore, but he still is to me)

Edward and Grandma Louise (Lou's mom)

Josephine and Poppy (my Dad)

THE CAKE!! Our other tradition is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for the first birthday. No fancy decorations for babies who are just going to smash the cake anyway. :)

Yeah, that's right, Edward, jam it in there!

This is his second piece, and yes, he ate it all. (disclaimer, I am not big on overloading kids with sugar, but on their birthday, all bets are off!)

And without further ado, here is the traditional "first taste of cake" video.

My baby is a year old!!! AAAAA!!! Bittersweet. :)

My lil' cutie

What's for dinner? This one's a keeper!

This is called a "French Dip Sandwich"

It is, as you can see, mouthwatering: kind of a pulled-beef idea, cooked in the crockpot (bonus!!), juicy and mouthwatering. Did I mention that it's mouthwatering? You should make it. Tonight.

I got it from one of my new favorite websites (thank you, Linda!), http://www.ourbestbites.com
The recipe is super-easy (completely idiot-proof, I promise you!) and comes out just delicious. Click here to check it out.

Happy eating!!

What does a geek look like?

So, hmmmm, when I think of the stereotypical geek, I think of taped glasses, bad plaid shirts, high waters and pocket protectors (Okay, so I watched too much of Eurkel on Family Matters back in the day...). I certainly don't think of this:

Yes, this is a picture of my darling Maria. I do not think of her as a geek. But apparently, there are plenty of others in her class that do. Maria mentioned casually tonight that all the kids at her lunch table were making fun of her lunch today. I sent her with some mashed sweet potatoes (at her request) for her veggie, and all the kids at her table told her that they were disgusting and looked like puke. She said one of the girls cringed away from her and said "Ew, ew, get AWAY from me!!". She then said that one of the other girls said that Maria always had nasty food, and referred back to the other day when Maria brought in cherry tomatoes. Seriously, are sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes that odd?! I mean, do I have to send my daughter with Twinkies and juice boxes in order for her to be accepted?

She then went on to tell me that several of the girls in her class make fun of her because she doesn't have any Bratz dolls (I seriously HATE those things) and because she doesn't know who Justin Bieber is. These same girls made fun of her kitty socks today and said they were "gross" (I'm not sure how socks can be gross, unless they're dirty of course, but ooookay...), and tell her on a regular basis that she can't play with them because they have enough people and don't want anymore. I told her to ignore these girls and that they were just being mean because they thought it made them look cool. I asked her if she had anyone to play with in school, and she said that there were a couple of boys who were nice to her. Great.

I tried to not make a big deal out of this in front of her, because I don't want her to get more of a complex than she possibly already has, but what the HECK?!! Why are little girls so mean?!! I have really kept Maria sheltered from all the tweeny bopper stuff like High School Musical, Hannah Montana, Bratz and now Justin Bieber because I think it's too old for little girls, and kids get rushed into growing up WAY too fast nowadays. I don't want her mimicing a trashy rock star, skanky dolls or pining after some boy heart throb who is a sex symbol before his voice has even changed. She is SEVEN for crying out loud!! Is it wrong for me to steer her away from the latest trends that I find a bit too old her for? Am I setting her up to be an outsider? I just can't imagine encouraging her to just "go with the flow" when I know that most of the "flow" leads to crap nowadays.

Now mind you, I know that Maria can be a bit bossy and a know-it-all, and she's not your average girl in that she'd rather read her "Animals A-Z" Encyclopedia than read Miley Cyrus' fan book. She loves chiles rellenos and asks for seaweed-rice balls on a regular basis. But does that mean she doesn't get to have friends? Does that mean she has to be the "weirdo"? We have taught Maria her whole life to be nice to everyone, to never pick on others for being different. Little did we know that SHE would be the one who is different, that SHE would be the one to be picked on!!

Just look at this face! She is such a sweetie (okay, she has her moments, but in general, she is a dear girl). As her Mom, of course I want to fix it somehow but I know that I can't. I just have to love her and encourage her to ignore the mean comments around her.

Sheesh, already dealing with this in second grade...

What is camping all about?

What is camping all about? We went camping this past weekend up in the Adirondacks, and this is what we found that camping is all about:

Hanging out in the hammock a lot

Helping out with little brother

Late nights at the fire

Practicing crawling skills

Playing in the dirt - a lot

Eating yummy camp food like corn on the cob

Having dutch oven treats with the family (chocolate cherry cobbler)

Semi-nude wading/swimming

Quietly observing a mother duck and her ducklings

Eating GIGANTIC marshmallows by the pound

And having tons and tons of laid-back fun. Bringing a 10-month-old had it's challenges, but all in all, it was a terrific weekend - I love camping. :)