Our favorite baby "toys" as of late

There is no shortage of super awesome baby toys out there. Beautiful wood toys. Noise-making toys with lights. Balls. Books. Plush toys. Etc, etc. And while we own a fair amount of them, I swear Everett is not interested. According to Baby Center, Ev is in a stage called "object exploration." So to the curb with our carefully curated toy collection. The "toys" pictured above are front and center in our house these days. I like to joke that manufacturers should put age-appropriate guidelines on things like chapstick, mascara tubes and calculators as that is what my little babe is interested in most of the time. I'm assuming that one day he will be interested in all those lovely Montessori toys and blocks, but for now this is what is running the show.

1. My face lotion container.

2. The car charger. 

3. Ty's tooth paste.

4. Hank's dog bone (please don't judge me. we pick our battles around this house).

5. The empty popcorn bag that I have taped shut.

6. An empty squeeze-pouch food container.

7. The empty dish soap bottle - this one is a big hit when I squeeze air out onto Ev's face/neck/head/etc.

8. A basket plate that also acts as a fan (Everett loves wind).

9. A crumpled plastic fireman's hat we got at the Provo City Birthday Celebration from the city fire department. So many smiles repeatedly taking this off of mom's head / Everett's head / mom's head / Everett's head...

10. The IKEA trashcan that used to actually serve as a trash can in Everett's room but now serves as the star in games such as "Mom the trash can head" and "knock the trash can over and roll it around."

Not pictured but equally enjoyed: the remote control, tupperware containers, a basket full of baby food, Hank's frisbee, and all spring door stoppers.

A trip to Jackson Hole

Ty started a new job last week (a new super awesome job). And as he was so blessed to make his own schedule at his last job and got 6 weeks paid vacation(!), we thought we should take one last family holiday before he started his new way-less-flexible-and-vacation-friendly job. Ty found a decent hotel deal at The Lexington in Jackson, WY. And since I had never been (which is practically a sin in our group of friends), and we have some amazing friends who we wanted to visit there anyway, we thought we should take advantage.

We weren't there long enough to make a "What to do in Jackson and the Tetons" list, but I will tell you 10 things that I learned in our weekend there.

1. I am positive that the Tetons were the inspiration for the phrases "purple mountains majesty" and "jaw dropping," as well as the words the words "grandeur" and "magnificent."

2. Liberty Burger on Cache is delicious AND affordable -- a knockout combo for Jackson.

3. Jackson is a small town, and common crimes include the stealing of rental cars and bikes and driving/riding them across town simply because you didn't want to walk. The police reports specified almost 100% of the cars stolen had the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition.

4. On the first day of "on season" the Fjallraven store (among others) is not open even if their website states they are.

5. But...even though many stores are not open, the first weekend of the on season is most definitely the time to go to Jackson because you practically have the town and the Tetons to yourself - heaven.

6. In Jackson Hole, "The Grand" does not mean "The Grand Canyon" or "The river running through the Grand Canyon."

7. If you let your baby eat grass in the Teton valley you will find grass in his diaper the next day.

8. If you try to buy a t-shirt from a t-shirt store in town, you may be the only customer and spend 5 minutes yelling "hello? HELLO?" from the cashier-less counter only to, in the end, just take the tag off the shirt and leave it on the register counter along with enough cash to cover the cost.

9. You may also see a garage sale sign and make your husband drive in circles for 10 minutes around the supposed address only to realize the date on the flyer was for the day before.

10. Lava Hot Springs is conveniently located exactly half way between Jackson and Provo and stopping for a dip on the drive home is the perfect little respite when traveling with a 6-month old who doesn't love long stints in his car seat.

A lovely save the date

My sweet friend Alaina and her beau, Matt, are tying the knot in October, and I got to design her save the dates over the weekend. As always, it was such a treat to get all the lovely juices flowing. Congratulations Alaina and Matt! Thanks so much for letting me be a part of it.

The trick to avoiding a sore throat

You know how sometimes, right before bed, you get that tickle in your throat. That ominous, terrible tickle that whispers in your ear "You are gonna wake up in the morning with a soar throat, sucker." It's the worst. I used to fall victim to this every single time. Tickle - sleep - wake - soar throat. Ugh! But when I married Ty he introduced me to the handiest little trick. When that soar-throat tickle rears its ugly head, you throw on a scarf right before bed and sleep like that. Easy peasy.

It sounds a little silly, but truly it works. I was a skeptic but gave it a try when Ty tipped me off a few years ago, and it's now my go-to every time I think a soar throat is looming. Next time you feel you are at the mercy of impending sickness, give it a go. Sometimes it takes a few nights straight of wearing it, but it's heaven sent I tell you. I'd add a scarf to my sleep wardrobe any day to avoid a sore throat.

Momiform: stripes on stripes

I promise not to post momiforms back to back on the regular, but this dress is on sale right now! I didn't want you to miss it! It's just that good. 

I grabbed this little number at Old Navy yesterday and gave it a test run today down at the Provo birthday celebration. It passed with flying colors. I love this dress because it is stretchy, comfy, modest, AND nursing friendly to boot. The quadruple whammy. Plus, it's not too tight, if you know what I mean. It has that perfect little hug while still giving you enough bag that you don't have to have a supermodel body to feel comfortable in it.

Wrap: Solly Baby

Dress: Old Navy

Shoes: Birkenstock

Mama uniform

I wanted to call this series "Momiform" -- as in "mom uniform" smooshed into one word. But when I ran the idea by Ty, he said he would never, ever, in a million years, have put together that "momiform" was the words mom and uniform. So. Crash and burn. I settled on mama uniform instead.

Ever since Everett came along, I am much more selective about the clothes I put on my bod in the morning. Function takes the cake these days. Goodbye heels. See you later non-nursing-friendly tops. And so long anything that isn't drool and spit-up friendly. Dry-clean only? Don't be ridiculous. So I wanted to post mama-friendly outfits that consist of more than jammies, as I am sure there are a lot of mamas out there in my same shoes.

Everett is like a spit-up fountain lately, and eats every few hours, so I need to dress accordingly. My top in nice and flowy for easy nursing; plus, I got it for a quarter, so completely spit-up friendly. The jeans are already white, so no issue there. I got synthetic-upper Birks so they are wipe-wipe-wipeable. Thank goodness. And in an effort to catch as much spit-up as possible (and avoid as many wardrobe changes as possible), I stick a bibdana on Everett every chance I get.

Top: Thrifted - Liz Lange Maternity (similar)
Jeans: Old Target - Mossimo (similar)
Shoes: Birkenstocks
Baby bibdana: Milk Barn

No more rocking

And just like that, my baby boy no longer wants me to rock him to sleep.

We used to have this system; swaddle the baby, pick up the baby, put the pacifier in, and rock the baby to sleep. Boom. Worked like a charm. But a few days ago, mid sequence, Everett started arching his back like crazy. "Put me down!" he seemed to say. And so I did. Into the crib he went. And after a few minutes he was sound asleep. What the?! Babies do this? On their own? Babies just decide when they don't need you to rock them to sleep anymore? This is bananas.

All the books I read said things like "don't rock your baby to sleep / let your baby nurse to sleep / hold your baby until he is sound asleep because he will want to do it forever!" So I of course thought it was up to me. But no friends. No. I'm sure every baby is different. But this baby? This baby just weaned himself from rocking. And I'm not gonna lie, it makes my heart sink a little.

I remember I used to dream of this day. "One day he won't need me to go to sleep!" I thought. And it was such a liberating thought. But now that it's here, it's like "Wait...wait...you sure you don't want me to rock you to sleep? It's really nice...?" But he's sure. I've been trying it intermittently just to be sure sure he knows what he's doing, with no success.

So there we go. "Snuggle that baby while you can!" all the mamas told me. And I did. But it still feels too short. And I know he's only 5 months old. And I know I still have months of nursing and having him keen to hang out on my lap and want to be carried around by me. But it just made me realize. One at a time all of those things are going to disappear. Poof. So, lesson learned. I will snuggle that baby all I can while I can.

Next adventure? Getting rid of that swaddle. Wish me luck.