A ton of carrier info...

I was searching for something online (oddly enough NOT a carrier) and stumbled across this great source of carrier info. In doing so, I also came across this interesting website which has all sorts of parenting articles. Enjoy!






p.s. I had my Lille Hoppediz 4.6 sent here (my Mother-in-law's house) and I have been using it, its is amazing how much more supportive the weave feels without actually being any thicker than my earthy rainbow girasol!... but more on that later ;0)

Hallelujah!!

we made it, I can actually say I survived a 16 1/2 hour ride with two children in the car (and they survived too lol). I have to say the wrap came in very handy on the trip in ways that I wasn't expecting when I brought it along. My lovely earthy rainbow was used as...a carrier (well duh), a changing mat (how weird is it that we stopped at the only burger king known to man without a changing table in either bathroom!?), a blanket, and a toy (peek-a-boo has never been so colorful), I definitely recommend having one (or two, or maybe three ;0) on hand. Speaking of which...I actually sold enough things online that we just had laying around the house (meant for a yardsale that never happened) to fund two new wraps (yes, I am obsessed, but you should already know that given the title of this blog)! I bought a Hoppediz Lille and am now debating between a Didymos Petrol Nino or a Storchenwiege Vicky. I think I am going the Vicky route as its supposed to be indestructable and more supportive than the Nino, I just looove the color of the Nino. This is probably the last thing I will post before Christmas and all the family madness, soo...Merry Christmas all!!

Holiday shopping = hell

Today was an odd day indeed. My husband, Steve, had a Saturday off. Something which never happens with his schedule ever, especially because he is in retail AND it's the holiday season. We are driving from Maryland to Florida this year for the holidays (talk to me in a week or so and I'm sure my idea of hell will have changed from holiday shopping...) because of this we are trying to get all our gift shopping done by Monday so that we can ship out the gifts to the side of the family we won't be seeing and have everything wrapped and packed for the family we will be seeing. That meant that today was our shopping day. Off we went to the mall with our two children (Lily, who is 2 and Sofie who is 10 months), no stroller, and a need to get a tune-up/oil change on my car. We started by dropping off the car at sears to get the oil change done...effectively trapping ourselves in the mall for 4 hours as there was a line of cars ahead of us. No problem, right? we can kill 4 hours in the mall. Famous last words. The good news is that everyone did in fact make it home alive, the car now has its oil changed (and a new cargo container on the roof) and I wore Sofie on my back in my earthy rainbow wrap comfortably for the whole time with people ooh-ing and ahh-ing over her/it. I have to say that I was a little hesitant about the price tag of the wrap initially but today it proved it worth plus, Sofie was content and cozy (and out of the way!) drifitng between staring at everything amazed and napping. Lily on the other hand went back and forth from "cute and spirited" to absolute spaghetti-legged hell child as is her normal routine (can't make everything perfect lol) at least this trip we weren't dragging an empty stroller behind us the whole way through the crazy sea of people. My advice? avoid the mall at all costs the second to last Saturday before Christmas (a tidbit which any sane person would have already learned long ago but hey! we don't fall into that category in this household.)

The testing begins...

Drumroll please.....

Tada! I adore this wrap! ADORE!! It is soo pretty in person and super supportive (although all I have to compare it to is my DIY wrap which is also pretty comfy, however the colors in this make my soul happy!). I will review more as I wear it more. At the moment I've only owned it about 20 minutes....off to do a happy jig...

It's coming...

I have the best hubby in the world! The aforementioned earthy rainbow girasol wrap is on its way to my door as a Hanukkah gift (as are a set of lime green sling rings) ! woot!







Only the dorkiest of dorks would know the photo reference here...Hi Steve ;0*

Baby carrier contest!

Just wanted to share the love and spread the word. Follow this link
http://www.alongfortheride.biz/contest-s/49.htm
to enter to win a $250 shopping spree at alongfortheride.biz

Oh glorious day!

As I have said before my current obsession is baby carriers. I have owned a Mei Tai for quite awhile but just recently realized its usefulness. It has made my life so much easier (and Sofie more content) to be able to carry her hands free while I chase after Lily, so much so that my poor double stroller has been living on my porch for the last few months. In opening up the marvelous world of "baby wearing" I have realized that there is a great deal beyond just my marvelous Mei Tai (and if you yourself would like to discover the MT love, I highly recommend www.babyhawk.com . Their mei tai's are wonderfully supportive and their design center is addicting, soooo many gorgeous fabrics! I may actually "need" ;0) another one of these as well). While I would love to have an endless budget for baby things, it just isn't in the cards, so I have been carefully weighing the benefits of other sorts of carriers to figure out what I should try next. I have been stuck between a ring sling and a woven wrap carrier for awhile! Let me back track slightly, the wrap is more supportive overall to the baby and the person carrying the baby but it also have a higher learning curve and is more complicated to tie for quick errands, the ring slings seem to be generally less expensive and I like how easy up/down, on/off they are for in and out of the car, between stores, etc. Today I happened upon instructions for a no-sew ring sling, melding two obsessions into one! Which pretty much means I could buy the wrap I have my eye on (the fabulous earthy rainbow, doesn't it just make ya happy looking at it?) and use it as a wrap or a ring sling as I so desire! Squee!! If you would also like this marvelous knowledge to use to your multitasking advantage...all you need is a wrap (or piece of fabric that you like), rings (I suggest www.slingrings.com as they are made specifically to be weight bearing) and these instructions.

The reason I am here.

The simple answer is Molly (hi!). The longer answer is because after thinking about it awhile it seems like a sort of appealing idea to share my random object obsessions and opinions of baby items in a place where I will possibly be less annoying to my actual friends (ie. Molly, Liz, my other pregnant friends). :0) I am a researcher by nature, and therefore when it came time that I had to purchase baby items (where the market for such things is vast and everyone claims that there product is a lifesaver) I researched everything into the wee hours. I have possibly owned every sort of stroller and baby carrier known to man at this point and every time I think I have hit nirvana I become obsessed with something different that ends up working out better that the previous solution. My current love is a babyhawk...but more on that later, Sofie beckons...