A few of "Mommy's" favorites...

 this picture cracks me up.

it looks like he's taking it of himself. i love how his cute little toes are all spread out!!

today i'm gonna share a few of the current baby products i "can't live without."

and then a couple random things G and i currently can't get enough of...

 two words: sound machine.

Kai has been taking AWESOME naps (2-3 hour morning AND afternoon nap!). i'm sure it's a combination of the fact that he's growing like a weed and has been fighting a cold, but i attest some of it to this wonderful, affordable noise drowning device that G randomly brought home from WalMart a few months ago (for HIM, not Kai). we barely used it because we prefer sleeping with fan noise. i discovered it in G's bedside table a few weeks ago and since then, Kai has been napping to the soothing sounds of a lazy mountain stream. at night he sleeps with his humidifier on, which is pretty loud, so i felt he could benefit from having a little bit of noise during naptime as well...and he does. it is also soothing for us as we hear it on our end of the baby monitor!

Elmo walker!

 Kai goes CRAZY in this thing! i can't believe how GOOD he's gotten in it.

he can walk forward AND backward, get in and out of cramped quarters, back out of dead ends and even build up enough momentum to get up onto carpeted areas. he LOVES to walk holding our hands, and has gotten to where he barely relies on us for balance, and i attest it all to the walker. Lately, Kai has gotten to use it in the garage when i'm up to my neck in laundry AND outside on the back patio (when it's sunny and there aren't 50 mph wind gusts!)

 ok so your probably thinking "why the heck is THAT on here?"

 this Culligan water bottle cooler/heater has been the BEST investment. we initially opted for the bottle cooler because we were going through a LOT of plastic water bottles and i didn't feel good about it. i was pregnant at the time and unable to drink our tap water because we have a softener in it and it's not reccommended. SO instead of going through packs of bottles, we decided to go with the BIG bottles that get delivered to you (affordably!). when we purchased this i had no intention of EVER bottle feeding. but now that i am, i am even MORE glad that we switched over to Culligan. why? because i don't have to use a dang bottle warmer, the microwave or the old "run the bottle under hot faucet water" methods to warm Kai's bottles...i simply mix a couple ounces of the HOT water with the 4-6 ounces of the COLD water and it's perfect. AND good, clean filtered water to boot! it's also been handy to make tea, oatmeal and even Top Ramen. i know, some of you would probably not want something like that standing in your kitchen but we found a good spot for it and have never regretted our decision.

 Kai's Skip Hop diaper bag BACKPACK.

I LOVE this thing (DESPITE comments from certain friends ((ahem, JACOB NEIGHBORS)) that i look like i'm walking to the bus stop...). it is just so much more convenient to strap the bag to my back and be handsfree than having to try to keep it up on my shoulder...and it has tons of room for everything i could need for a quick trip to the store or a weekend get-away.

i cope with my guilt from not being able to breastfeed anymore by giving Kai organic formula and rice cereal. it's more money, but obviously best for him. i've tried a couple of other "organic" brands, which messed with his tummy. Earth's Best has by FAR been the best. I have been buying it off of Amazon in bulk at a dicounted rate, too!

warm and cozy booties!!

my Grandma actually bought these from at a cute little shop in Joseph, OR for Jude, and we have been lucky to have them for Kai to wear. He will NOT keep socks OR shoes on and we have (cold!) hardwood floors so he has definitely benefitted from these booties, which have grippers on the feet (for all of his "walker" time) and comfortable elastic around the ankle. Check out how much use we've gotten out of the brown pair--he has literally worn through the bottoms!

No, we are not feeding Kai green Jello.

But G and i have been enjoying Sugar-Free Jello as a low-calorie, sugarless dessert alternative! super easy to mix up and great to have on hand when you are craving something sweet! i made this batch with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of club soda...but you can also use 7-up or orange juice. you can add some additional sustenance to it by throwing in some sliced bananas, pineapple, apples or berries...

FLEECE SHEETS.

we got these from G's mom and i just threw them on a few days ago....when i crawled into bed i honestly felt like i was being wrapped in soft warm towels straight from the dryer. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...