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I'm floored...
For the third night in a row, Abby has slept 8 or more hours... in a row!
She's 3 months and 1 week old.
Am I in the Twilight Zone?
Kitting out the kitchen!
I have been pointed in the direction of this product, a Kapoosh Knife Block. How cool is that? One of my biggest pet peeves is trying to put our knives away into the right slots. I usually pick the wrong one on the first try and have to have another go at it. By the time I'm done, I'm frustrated and willing to stick the knife just about anywhere!
While on their site, I saw this bamboo cutting board. Not only is it really pretty (I'm a girl, we notice that kind of thing) but it's also the "greener" type of cutting board to have, environmentally speaking. According to the website, bamboo is a grass that grows rapidly, making it a wonderful alternative to cutting down trees. Bamboo is also harder than wood and absorbs less moisture. To me, that screams that it must be easier to clean and therefore not filled with bacteria like my wood one surely is.
An finally, I thought the "Hug" Salt & Pepper Shakers were adorable.
Time to redo my kitchen!
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Soooo tired
Ten hours, people. She slept 10 hours straight last night. This is so weird.
But please don't go thinking that I had a nice, peaceful sleep! Oh no. You see, last night we saw the beginning of the snow storm we were expecting. The wind got stronger and the freezing rain hammered the windows. Both Abby and Jake's bedrooms are at the back of the house, where the wind pummeled the house.
While Stephen and I slept pretty soundly in our front-of-the-house bedroom, Jake was awake in his. The wind was so noisy that it woke him up. He kicked the walls and played and talked away to himself. With Abby asleep in the room next to him, I went in to quiet him down. That was at 2:45am. And I haven't been back to sleep since.
That's right. I've been up since 2:45 this morning. I started work at 8am and worked until 1pm. I was lucky to stay awake!
Anyway, Jake stayed in his room, awake, for a couple of hours, with Stephen and I hoping that he'd fall asleep again. Instead, at about 4:30, I went to get him and I brought him into bed with me, hoping that the quieter room would lull him off to sleep. But Jake just wanted to party. He scooted down under covers to play hide and seek.
And finally, Stephen brought Jake downstairs and offered him cookies and milk. Jake ate and drank and watched TV. I got up for work and left Stephen on babysitting duties for the morning. He's just gone off to work now, poor thing.
Abby? She slept through it all. The thundering wind, the clicking of the freezing rain on the windows, her brother kicking the adjoining wall. Everything. Lucky thing.
Just before I left for work, Jake fell asleep in our rocking chair. Stephen put him in his bed and Jake slept through until 11:30! You can bet that tonight's bedtime will be pretty screwed up.
It's still snowing now. 25 to 30 cms expected. Grrr.
Crocs, love 'em or hate 'em?
Have you heard of Crocs? I hadn't until today. Well, I say that, but now that I've looked at their website, I realize that I knew the look of those very distinctive shoes, I just did not know the brand name. You know the ones I mean: made of plastic, brightly colored, and with ventilation holes on the toe. They are often like flip-flops, with an open heel, but with an strap around the back of the foot.
Let's see... love them or hate them? Neither really. Hate is a very strong word, so I wouldn't use that word to describe them. Love them? No way! Will I ever own a pair? Highly unlikely. Except...
Upon looking through some websites, I realize that Crocs are not just those cheesy-looking shoes that I do not see myself ever wearing. The brand name covers lots of other types of shoes as well. And some of them I definitely would wear. Like:
Very cute. And they comfortable, with a thick, padded sole.
On the website linked above, there is a video segment from the Oprah show. Watching it made me realize just how popular the Crocs brand is and how passionate people are about them. Never owning just one pair. With Summer just around the corner (I hope), I imagine there being a pair of Crocs on pairs of feet all over the place.
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Abby: update
For the last two nights, Abby has reverted back to not sleeping through the night. She wakes once around 3-ish and then not again until early morning, like 6:30 or 7am. Not too bad. I'm truly not complaining. It could be so much worse.
I believe that things have gone back to the way they were because Abby's body has now gotten used to having solids (if you can call this really thin puree fruit and vegatbles 'solid'). The first four nights, when Abby first was given the solids, she most likely had a hard time digesting it and therefore, it lasted her until the morning. Now though, she's used to it and digested it before morning arrives.
It's just a theory.
Anyway, she seems not so fond of carrot, but loves strawberry, apple and banana. Puree'd to smithereens!
Review My Post
As I've mentioned before, I take part in a program called Pay Per Post, where, like the title suggests, you get paid to post entries in your blog. Simply visit their site, register, and browse through their list of opportunities. Then choose one, write about it, and wait for the cash to role in.
Pay Per Post now have a new program called Review My Post. You've probably seen the links for it at the bottom of some of my recent posts. It works in that you click on the link, register, submit your own blog, write a review of my post and, well, wait for the cash to role in. You'll get $7.50 US for each review you write! That quickly adds up to a decent little paycheck!
And the system works really well for other reasons too. It helps to increase blog traffic, which helps to increase your search engine ranking. This has a bit of a Domino effect in that your ranking increases, which brings more visitors, which then increases your ranking even further. This in turn increases your income opportunities, should you decide to take on Pay Per Post's sponsored posts.
The new program, Review My Post, is open to all bloggers, even those who do not want to write sponsored posts. Simply add the badge to the end of each post and earn easy money. It's that simple. Go to Pay Per Post's Affiliate Tools section for further details.
This post has been sponsored
One
Abby is at that wonderful stage when babies realize that they don't need to sleep as much as they used to and that they would actually prefer to be entertained. Too young to walk, too young even to sit up by herself, she would like for me to make faces at her all day.
Well, there are only so many funny faces one can pull before one worries that one may be loosing one's sanity! See? I'm even using the word 'one' waaaaay too much. That's a sign of temporary insanity, you know.
As I type, the angel is in her bouncy chair. I type fast because there's no telling how long this brief hiatus will last. Then it's back to pulling faces at one's three-month old. Sorry, our three-month old.
Air Filtration
In our house, we have an air filtration system and it's wonderful. Not only does it help to spread the warm air from our baseboard heaters around the house more evenly, but it also purifies the air. Cooped up in the house all Winter, it certainly feels good to know that we have the cleanest air possible for our kids.
In our previous home, we did not have the baseboard heaters. Instead, we had a furnace. Perfect for these bitter Canadian Winters! We would regularly replace the 3m Filtrete Air / Furnace Filters at varying intervals to keep our air clear of pollen, dust mites and mold. It helps to fend off colds and keep my dust allergies at bay.
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What a night!
Again, the troubles weren't from Abby. Everything started at about 6:45 last night. I was feeding Abby and Jake was playing happily at my feet. We were watching Friends and everything was peachy. Stephen was due home before 8pm, as usual, so Jake's bedtime would be around 8:30.
Then he started crying and moaning. For no apparent reason! I put Abby down - she sat patiently while I tried to placate the boy - and turned my attention to Jake. Cuddles, distration, changing the TV channel, putting his Thomas DVD on, food, drink... nothing worked. He wailed and sobbed and generally drove me crazy.
He just clung to me and I clung right back, thinking that he was jealous of my attention to Abby. But the wailing continued.
Finally, at about 7:30, I decided that he must be exhausted. On his PJs went and off he went to bed. He protested in his room for about 10 minutes, then went to sleep.
And finally, the house was quiet.
But at midnight, he was awake again, singing to himself and moving around. Stephen and I got him up and gave him cuddles and a drink. Then back to bed, without protest this time.
2:30am... awake again! This time, he lay on his back with his feet against the wall and gently banged the wall. This lasted about a half-hour (I think, as I fell asleep), then he was asleep again.
4:30am... Abby's turn to wake up. Feed me!!!! So I did. Then she went back to bed. Without protest, thank goodness.
It's 10:10am and I've just opened Jake's bedroom door to allow him to wake up slowly. Barney's blaring on the TV down here so I'm sure he'll be down shortly. If I let him sleep much longer, tonight will be no better.
Ugh.
