Friday is for Lists

I'm a list maker in every aspect.  I will create a new note on my phone but still have a hand-written one posted somewhere because I like the physical act of crossing things off.  Usually the phone note is just handy because it's always near me and the paper list is just at home.  No joke, I will even write down an already completed task just to cross it off...I know I'm not alone in this!

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I love reading bloggers fun finds on their weekly lists.  The randomness makes me happy and there's often so many fun times that I wish I'd seen before it's sold out everywhere.  So, let's just start a Friday's List Series.  Maybe I'll post some items for my wish list or maybe I'll post about the baby.  I won't constrict myself to what it can be about by labeling it to specifically; but I'll try to post 5 things each week.

Here Goes!

Pinterest:  We have a flaky relationship.  One week I'll pin and pin for hours but the next week I won't even open the app.  Fortunately, I don't feel the pull to be perfect in the eyes of Pinterest.  I can find some real treasures on there and do say out loud "How did I not think of that!?"  The recipes are endless and cover every aspect of the food world possible.  I'm currently Pinterested!

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ebay:  I cannot stop!  We've been selling and buying like it's 2003!  Transactions include selling an old iPad to buying my favorite discontinued swimsuit bottoms.  It's seriously addicting to watch items and decide whether or not to bid.  Their app is so user friendly and connection to PayPal just makes it too easy.


Speaking of...PayPal is my b to the itch.  Online transactions are ssooooo simple.  If your online store accepts PayPal then it gives me even more reason to buy something because I don't have to enter my credit card number.  I've sent photographers money for a session, ordered baby clothes, submitted my ncaa bracket money (and won the whole pot at the end!!) and so much more.

Planning Asher's First Birthday Party.  Endless options, endless ideas, endless, endless, endless.  His birthday is in mid-July and we will just have moved to Birmingham less than two weeks prior.  I just don't want to have any life-long regrets if we don't do it justice in the Pinterest and Etsy and photo department.  All I do know is that it won't be a budget buster!

The mild temperatures have been such a blessing.  It's southern Louisiana and it should be really (5 times) hot by now but it's not and I'm so very thankful.  It's been nice to walk or swim or just be outside with my busy baby and not be sweating at all hours of the day.  I know I know, the time is coming and I will be hating each one of you that wished winter away soooooooooo many times.



I've promised myself to step it up in the design factor on this space.  It's just a process that just hasn't happened yet.

Everybody's Doing It...

Listing their favorite baby items.  So here goes mine, then and now:

Newborn

Perfect for sleeping right next to you, love the rockability (?), the portability and the incline

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Deluxe-Newborn-Sleeper-Snugabunny/dp/B00A4B35I4/ref=sr_1_12?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399475924&sr=1-12&keywords=rock+n+play

Everyone in our house loved the swaddle and this allowed for the option of keeping his arms out, especially as he became more mobile

http://www.amazon.com/SleepSack-Cotton-Swaddle-Cream-Small/dp/B003E6OBMA/ref=sr_1_22?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399476230&sr=1-22&keywords=swaddleme

This pillow puts the Boppy to shame (sorry Boppy lovers) but it seriously is amazing.  Bonus in the pocket:  we needed the nipple shield for a few weeks (no shame here) and the pillow has a little pocket that I could store it in so it wasn't always disappearing...or for your phone or remote or whatever you need within an arms reach

http://www.amazon.com/Brest-Friend-Deluxe-Pillow-Light/dp/B000HZI1R2/ref=sr_1_12?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399476442&sr=1-12

Kick that cradle cap in one wash (for us) with this foam

http://www.amazon.com/Mustela-Foam-Shampoo-Newborns-5-07/dp/B00021AYF8/ref=sr_1_12?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399580711&sr=1-12&keywords=mustela+stelatopia

In the same Mustela line I loved this for morning or mid-day milk clean-ups

http://www.amazon.com/Mustela-PhysiObebe-Rinse-Cleansing-Diaper/dp/B00021D1GC/ref=sr_1_13?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399580783&sr=1-13&keywords=mustela+stelatopia

Older Infant

Some sort of umbrella stroller, any kind will do.  We have the big, comfy, ready for two children stroller which we love but is such a beast for travel.  We travel a lot and a stroller that folds in a flash and can be slung over your shoulder is so worth it.  

All Stages

Man these make changing crib sheets easy.  They're so durable and don't need additional pads of any kind to protect the decorative sheet

http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Infant-Ultimate-Crib-Sheet/dp/B00003XAKP/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399580898&sr=1-1&keywords=summer+infant+snap+sheet

Any type will do but this one came highly recommended and has been a champ so far

http://www.amazon.com/Medela-Pump-Style-Advanced-Metro/dp/B0011E5LXK/ref=sr_1_6?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1399581107&sr=1-6&keywords=medela+breastpump

Blogs!! Any and all blog posts you can read by real moms everywhere.   Man, there are some great blogs out there.  There is so much great advice about nursing, traveling, learning to stay at home, baby-wearing, getting out of the rut, bottles, strollers, etc.  I cannot begin to count the number of times I've googled (usually by the dimmest setting on my phone in the wee hours of the am) so and so random question and been bombarded with solicited advice.  I don't have to tell you to sift through the junk posts for the real truths, it is the www after all.

Is that simple enough?  I thought my list would be so long but when I started typing this days ago these are the things that really stand out as my overall favorites.

Good luck registering or shopping for the upcoming bebe in your lives!

Summer in NOLA

This post was written...LAST SUMMER! But it was in my drafts so I'll just post it because why not, errors and all!?  Oh, Keely and Jay are married now...


It's hot hot hot!  It's definitely hotter down here than in Memphis and I didn't think that was possible.  The main difference is that Memphis cools down a bit at night but the Big Easy stays hot and humid.

I worked about 10 hours a week during the summer break.  I wanted to work full-time but it didn't work out this year.  My contract went into effect this month so I'll be getting paid full-time for 12 months, like a teacher.  I'll work through the summer but will have 3 additional weeks of vacation, on top of regular school holidays...not too shabby!

Vik's cousin got married at the end of July so we went to California for the festivities.  I headed out west early for a girls trip to Palm Springs.  Vik got out for the weekend of wedding events.  By the time I got home I'd been in Cali for 11 days! It was a wonderful trip full of family and friends!  One of the best things about SoCal was the weather.  We spent the hot days in the pool and needed sweaters at night.  Glorious!

View from the driveway.  Bedrooms upstairs,
living room and bathroom downstairs,
kitchen detached to the left

After Cali I headed north to visit my sissy and her BF in Green Lake, WI.  She's been living up there since Christmas and we hadn't seen her since the end of March.  We've all be anxious to get up there to see the country life that's she's fallen in love with.  The lake was absolutely beautiful!  Nothing like the muddy lake water we're used to in TN.  You could see the bottom in some parts!  She's got their house decorated so cute, with a touch of animals/fish mounted on the walls :)  Mimmie and Big Daddy made the 11 hour drive up there which was such a blessing.  We all knew that might be the only chance all of us would get up there together so we were thrilled for everybody to be together.

Mom and Dad rented a cabin/cottage (I said cabbage one time...ha!) that was directly across the lake from Keely and Jay's house.  It was so quaint and cozy.  There was no a/c (or heat) and there was no need for it.  The temps dropped to about 60 each night and with all of the cross-ventilation it made for some windy surroundings.  The house was built in the 1920's as servants quarters but was abandoned before it was completed.  The current owners bought it in 1979 and finished off the electric, plumbing and other modern conveniences. They kept the cabin's original design...kitchen detached from the main house, bathroom in the main living area and downstairs from the bedrooms, walls that didn't reach the ceilings, etc.  We spent hours over there sitting by the fire, drinking wine and talking.

Living room

Kitchen

Keely works at the "fine dining" restaurant in town so we spent 3 different nights eating there.  There are several restaurant options for a town that only has one stop light.  It's a summer town, lots of Illinois folks spend their summer weekends on the lake.  In winter the lake freezes over and it's a dead town except for the couple of thousand folks that populate it.

Here I Go Again...

...trying to make this tiny space of the world wide web work.  I'm admittedly jealous of the mom bloggers who have every month of their child's first two years of life documented online!  Why didn't I just commit to making that happen?!  Oh well, almost 10 months too late on that note.  I've said it before, I don't know exactly what to do with this space so it will continue to be a random collection of our daily lives.

I can't count the times I've been told "You should write a blog about being a new mom or a resident's wife or a NOLA resident or your travels."  So, I'll attempt it all.  I'm an avid travel reviewer on Trip Advisor, Yelp and Open Table so I will incorporate that a lot.  We are less than 3 months from the end of residency and living in NOLA so maybe I will share some of the past highlights.

It's no secret we have a baby now!  Asher Charles Saini joined our family in July 2013 and what a blessing he has been!

I'll do an entire post to catch-up on Asher Man soon.  Let's continue the recap:

In January, Vik found out he matched into the surgical retina fellowship at UAB and begins the first of July.  We are both so excited about moving to Birmingham!  

Our house has been on the market since mid-January and it's turning into quite a stressful process...multiple offers, multiple failed contracts and multiple price decreases.  You live and learn, right?!  There's no doubt this house has been a great first home with some precious memories but we are ready to move on and sooner rather than later.

We are currently living about an hour away from NO, in Houma.  Vik's residency program requires a lot of travel.  In three of the cities they travel to they are provided housing.  Third floor apartment living, with a 9 month old and two dogs, is something to get used to.  Apartment living (oh and the fact all of our belongings have been moved into storage in b'ham) has forced us to simplify our material things and way of living.  For me, it's been a breath of fresh air.  Although, a dresser in the bedrooms would be nice :)...Asher's clothes are laid out on a plastic covered box spring right now.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining!! We are very grateful to have the flexibility to join Daddy on his away rotations and still be together.  It will just be nice to get settled down.

We just got back from a week in St. Kitts with Vik's parents and also a week in Key West with my parents.  I will add links to my reviews soon and would love to answer any questions about those destinations or traveling with a baby #havebabywilltravel

Up next:  my favorite baby items, then and now