A Clean Toofis

It's here! It's here! Jasey got his first tooth somewhere around the 1st of July. It's sooooo cute! But lonely! We're waiting for that 2nd tooth to make its appearance now. Until then I guess he'll be a drooling machine. Maybe that is what helps keep his tooth so nice and clean. As my friend Kiki used to say, "A clean toofis is a happy toofis!" (you can see the happiness radiating off of his face below):

Car Seats, Car Seats...here we go again!

UPDATE 8.29.08 (to my "new mom" friends--i am including a mini review below to hopefully make your choice easier for you! i.e., Tori!) I took Jase to BabiesRUs today to get some "hands on" experience with the car seats. Both employees immediately told me to only consider the Britax Marathon (or any of their models, but the marathon is the cheapest since it has less padding), Evenflo Triumph, or if I wanted to wait until he's 1, check out the Graco Nautilus (3 in 1 seat, converts to booster later on). I tried him in all three. Any of the other carseats only carry babies till 40 lbs, and the three they recommended go to 65 lbs (well not true. the evenflo goes to 50 lbs, the nautilus goes to 100). Since Jase is so tall & big we ruled out all the 40 lb limit ones (which are MOST of the cheaper ones anyways).

The car seat that was EASIEST to get him in and out was definitely the Marathon. Since my biggest pet peeve is buckling him in and out, I was pretty much sold just on that feature alone :) Plus, it comes in some pretty cool fabrics online. It is also the easiest to install in the car(Britax is the only brand that makes the super easy-to-use latch clasps so you can move the seat from car to car in a cinch). Another "plus" for me were these vertical shaped gummi rubber things that keep the straps from twisting up on you. They also help the straps lay comfortably on the babies' chest. And, it has velcro tabs that allow you to velcro the straps out of the way so you can put your baby in w/o having them sit on the straps while you dig behind their back for them (I always have to do that in the infant carrier and it drives me insane). Another great feature is that the Britax car seats sit higher in the car so your baby can have a better view out the window. Nice. Oh, and the Britax seats have been side impact tested for years (no others have been tested this way until the Evenflo Triumph just this very year).

The Evenflo Triumph looked comfy, but it's a pretty wide, bulky seat. They told me they get lots of complaints about them not fitting in cars very well when rear facing, and also it's impossible to put two of them side by side. But overall, it wasn't so bad. I mentioned earlier that it's side impact tested, so that's good. The other thing I didn't like too much was that instead of having to rethread the straps as they grow, you just turned a knob and they sort of rethreaded themselves. I found the knob to be kind of tricky to use and I had to struggle a bit to tighten and loosen the straps to get him in and out. I guess this is supposed to be "luxury" feature, but it wasn't for me. It did come in some decent looking fabrics, though.

The Graco Nautilus was not my favorite looking one. The buckle was pretty cumbersome. I had to use TWO hands to unbuckle it. Annoying! It also looked like it made Jase sit really upright (which didn't look too comfy), and we all know we want our kids to be comfy in their car seats or we'll all be miserable. Heh heh. The other thing to note is that it is only a front facing seat, so if we bought this one, we'd have to wait 3 more months before we could use it, and I think Jase will definitely grow out of his infant seat before then.

I tried Jase in the Britax Decathlon seat, too, just to see. It comes with more removable padding (I think it's intended for younger babies). It was a bit too much for him now, so it's not something he'd need in a seat. The one benefit it has is that the crotch strap adjusts farther out for bigger babies. The downside is that there is a push button release for the straps (to loosen/tighten them) but it's sticky and hard to use. This seat is about $20 more than the Marathon. But all other dimensions are the same on it.

So, I'm thinking we're getting the Marathon. I should be able to use it for Jase for a few years (yay). Now I'm going to try to decide what fabric I want to get. I think I will buy it online b/c you can get it for a bit cheaper and shipping is even included. Cool. And yes, I know I am a research FREAK. I can't help it. I'm trying to decide if these two "circled" patterns are too girly for Jase (pictured above). I think I like the gray one better. I am just going to freak out if for some weird reason he outgrows this seat before its limits. Yes, I will be fuming mad if that happens. I am SICK of buying car seats and this is only my 2nd one! Too bad you can't buy these used, huh?

Older News 8.28.08 Just when I thought it was safe to think I was done with baby gadget research, we are now at the point where Mr. Jasey could really use the next size up car seat. I'm told this would officially be called the "convertible" car seat. He's still in his infant carrier seat--which I have LOVED, by the way (chicco keyfit for bigger infants up to 30 lbs). I just think he's not so comfy in it anymore. So, I have heard good things about the Britax Marathon seat...but Britax also makes a few more seats and we've seen some Graco and Evenflo ones that look nice and comfy, too, for less than half the price of the Britax ones. Are they really that much more safe?? Who has what kind of carseat, and what do you love or hate about it? Someone told me to look for one that the baby can rest his head to the side--or what about armrests? Size? Width? Easiness to adjust straps? Is there some feature I am not aware of that I should be? I don't want to spend $ and be unhappy with the purchase. So I'll take all the advice I can get! Plus, I will be online in car research hell for the next few days trying to sort it out myself. *sigh* Not looking forward to that! So help me figure this out since most of y'all have already been there done that. Thanks! :)

Scentsy

A friend sells these candle things and I have been thinking about buying one. But I'm not sure of the scents to buy? With the Yankee candles I love the smell of baking scents or any coffee scented ones. Any suggestions? I know there are plenty of you out there with these in your home. Also, is it really worth it for the price? Do the waxes last a long time??

Comedy

I must admit I laughed SO HARD at these images!!! There were MANY more on the list that was forwarded to me, but these were some of my favs. Thought I'd share!

Mosaic

I got this idea from my friend Sarah's blog. It looked fun, but it took way longer than I thought and I did it too late at night so I was losing patience... Oh well. No going back now!

Here's how you can create your own Mosaic:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Use only the first page of results, and pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

Onto the questions and my answers:

1. What is your first name? Amiee. The picture came up since some girl with my name took it. My friends threw me the BEST 21st surprise birthday party when I was in college. We had a pinata and everything (hence the picture). The other reason I chose it was because the photographer's screen name was "polish sausage" and that is another inside joke. I tried on a trench coat that was bright red and too small once, and a roommate wrapped me up in string. I took a pic and said I looked like a polish sausage. I guess you had to be there...(Sarah, remember???

2. What is your favorite food? Shrimp! I have a billion other favs, but shrimp is #1 for main course items.

3. What high school did you go to? Loranger High. NOT many pics of this place, I tell ya! It's a tiny town in the south, so I chose a picture that reminded me of the country with cattails, etc. I must say that I LOOOOVED high school MUCH better than college. I really had the time of my life there. I miss it!!

4. What is your favorite color? Red. And just my luck a picture of red tulips came up. Tulips happen to be my favorite flower!

5. Who is your celebrity crush? The first that came to mind is Vince Vaughn. He's not the hottest of them out there, but he is soooo funny to me. I love his comedy style in the movies he's done. He cracks me up. Hence the silly ice cream pic of him. :)

6. What is your favorite drink? Not sure if I have a fav, but I LOOOOVE fresh homemade limeade. Especially in the summer! Rodizio Grill has a really good one (Kiki, you would love it since it has a nice tart kick to it.)

7. What is your dream vacation? I've been to Maui and I LOVE it, but I have always kind of wanted to travel to Italy. Probably for the food, though. LOL.

8. What is your favorite dessert? Chewy chocolate chip cookies. Costco makes some pretty good ones.

9. What did you want to be when you grow up? A horse trainer. For real! I dreamed of it for years and I was obsessed with horses as a child. Obsessed! I still have a desire to ride and learn how to saddle them up and care for them. But I guess they don't have a class called "Saddling/Horse Handling 101" out there. *sigh* (ok i just realized that instead of my cool horse and trainer picture, there are 2 pictures of the cookies. oops. don't know how that happened.)

10. What do you love most in life? Of course I love being loved. I love being surrounded by good friends and family. A pic of this mother and child popped up and I chose this b/c I love my little boy more than I thought I ever could. I am so happy to have him!

11. What is one word that describes you? Do I have to pick just one? Ok, funny. Not that I am really that funny any more...but I used to be, I guess. I hope I am still funny sometimes, though. But I don't know. Ok, it's getting late and I'm not able to think any more about what or who I am! Gah.

12. What is your nick name? Jones. EVERYONE asks me why Roob and I call each other Jones. Really, there is no reason. It just evolved out of a bunch of other nicknames we started such as baby head, baby face, face time jones, nugget, face time nugget head jones, etc. Jones just stuck. So I picked the Jones sodas since they are cool and pretty tasty, too. I buy them sometimes for us just bc of the nickname.

Awesome New Time Saver

If any of you spend time going to blogs (or other websites) to check if they've been updated, I have found your new best friend! If you have a google account, you can use "google reader" for free (look at the top of your email page for "reader" and click on that). All you have to do is add in the http link for each of the blogs you visit (click on add subscriptions button), and it will let you know when any of them are updated. IT'S AWESOME. No more checking each blog one by one...you can just do it all in one place in one quick glance. I LOVE this idea!

I "Borrowed" This

Found this pic my friend Wendy took of Jase on her photography blog. Just HAD to put it on my blog, too, since it is AdOrAbLe!!!! And of course, give credit where credit is due! She is pretty good with a camera, I must say.

Tiny Disappointment

About the rodeo...looks like I will not be singing this year. Turns out that the assistant who asked me did not know that her boss already had asked someone else (who already committed to sing). The boss lady called me and apologized like crazy. I told her not to even worry about it! I am fine with it since I'm completely flattered just for being asked! The ironic thing is that the boss lady was at the same missionary farewell at which her assistant heard me sing. So anyways, she told me that she really liked my voice, and she put me in her "file." Apparently, she does plenty of community events in the county, so there's a very real chance I could sing at some other things in the future. And I think she promised the anthem to me for next year's rodeo events. So we'll see. Just thought I'd fill everyone in.

Boating Fun

I love this picture! We took him out early one morning to take a few folks wakeboarding (that's when the water's good). He was kind of in this tired daze most of the time. However, he would NOT let go of the ski flag (the one you raise up when the skier is in the water). It was funny. You can see him holding it here. When I finally had to pry it out of his hands, he started to cry. Aww.Here he is sporting his cool life jacket. As you can see, it kind of pokes him in the face since he doesn't really have a long enough neck. I think he managed to have fun despite the fact, once he was in the water.

Here's Jase showin' off his moves! Look at him go! He was just slapping the water silly!
After a long day of fun in the sun, he is pooped out. He took a nap in the shade wearing his cool UV water shirt and hawaiian board shorts.

Go Ahead...Make My Day!

I couldn't resist these shots of my baby cakes in a big ol' cowboy hat and his cool UV water shirt. Don't you just want to eat him up?

See y'all later!

The BEST News!

Yee haw! Looks like I will get the chance to sing the national anthem during Pioneer Days in Ogden (if you don't know, that is a huge week long rodeo celebration)!!! YAY!!! I am soooo excited! I got a phone call tonight about 10pm from a lady I know in the neighborhood. She had asked me to sing it at a Lacrosse Championship game 2 years ago. Well apparently, another lady who heard me sing it there now happens to be the assistant to the person who runs the entire Pioneer Days celebration. She thought I did an awesome job on it back then. Anyways, when her "boss" asked if she knew anyone who could sing the anthem--she remembered me!! Ha! I was so excited on the phone it was ridiculous. I feel like I'm famous now or something. Heh heh. Ok, I need to chill! Anyways, she'll be contacting me soon to give me details. I can't wait! Weeeeeeeeeeee! This will be the third time I am singing the national anthem in public. The first time was at the Lacrosse Championship, the second time was at a dinner held to honor the county's elected officials, and this time will be the BEST b/c of the huge audience! Yippee! I hope I get a record deal! *wink wink*