In my children's eyes

action figures curiosity playfulness innocence light books reading disappointment school learning amazement blue pillow beauty happiness friends boys little growth flowers insects green grass believe faith time talking race cars blanky world life kisses hugs love change carefree walking strength birth music night old peace wonder perseverance myself reflections chocolate father intelligence mother possibilities curiosity enjoyment earth four hope little perfection sadness the ocean son bunk beds work years warmth home comfort my husband child health moon stars sunshine stories memories giraffe sleeping blocks bike rides teachers black nose grandparents coloring red sox mischief teaching humor playgrounds my sisters imagination tag bathtime discovery bliss photographs sensitivity expectations potential independence unconditional acceptance

This post is part of a blog exchange. My name is Nancy and I am the proud mother of two rambunctious boys, ages three and (almost) five. I've been writing fiction most of my life, but like so many before me have become an avid blogger who indulges in sharing her reality with the internet world. You can find Lara over at my blog, Just Thinking . . ., today where she has written a beautiful post about her son Kiernan.

Brain dump time

I now view my life through the eyes of a blogger. As I live, things happen, and I think "how will I blog this?" "is this blogable?" "I must add this to the list of things to blog about". And these things stack up, and I have too much to talk about, and they no longer make eloquent little posts because I think "there is so much to tell!" so that's why I have this brain dumps every once in awhile. Sit back, because here we go. (Maybe I can make this a weekly 'column'. Too bad no day of the week starts with 'b'. haha)

- Kiernan has two words. I think. He definitely has one, and I'm pretty sure he has two. But I think when you only have two words, you use them more than you're supposed to because you realize people respond when you say these words, but they're the only words you know!!! How frustrating.
The one we have for sure is "more". It sounds more like 'mo" and he says it when he wants more of something (food or play) but he'll also just randomly say it. I think he says it for food, which I give him (snacky stuff) and he eats. So hopefully that's what he means :) He said it almost all the way home yesterday and we were overdue for his bedtime milk.
The other word is 'hi'. Which still comes out as mostly "ha" and he says it when he first sees you and he lights up with excitement and just goes "haaa haaa haaaa" sometimes it sounds like "hi" but not as regularly :)

- Kiernan is cruising all over the place. If I thought it was kind of irritating that he wanted to stand all the time, I didn't know how good I had it, because now he wants us to walk him around all the time. Standing and leaning on things and walking himself from toy to toy is not as much fun as practically running across the room mom!! He's going to be walking soon I think. I figured he'd be at this stage for quite awhile, but other moms assure me it probably won't be long now. He stood with no support on the grass yesterday for over a minute straight. Good thing I dug the baby gates out of the storage area this week :)

- Have I mentioned how addicted I am to babywearing? I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I'm always telling people how much I love it. You can win a ring sling if you hurry!! Adventures in Babywearing is having a contest and they're giving away a ring sling today. At noon. From KimzKreations. Hurry!

- I am starting to really dread going back to work. I didn't think that would be me. I really didn't. And I only half dread it really, because I really want to work. Part-time. If only Apples'n'Oranges would make me instant money ;) Anyone want to hire me to do freelance work so I can stay home and make lots of money? Can you really have a career in blogging? Cuz I'd be into that :)

- I never properly disclosed all the information we learned from Kiernan's extra doctor's appointments and testing. He's fine. He has some reflux and his stomach empties slightly slower than average. None of this is anything to be particularly concerned about, or any worse than what we thought. It just was confirmation. We are continuing on the prevacid for now. The good thing that came from all these appointments is that I was assured that Kman is doing well. That he's growing well, that it's fine that he's a bit small, and that I can drop a feed a day from nursing and give him something else. He's drinking some rice milk now, and that's fine as long as he has a well balanced diet. He's still having issues with jarred baby meat, but has no problems with both the lamb and the beef I've made him. SO yay.

- We have thrush. For the third time. It sucks. Big time. We're on an entirely new treatment method this time which hopefully will get it for good. It requires a lot of effort and me taking 4 pills a day. I'm bad at remembering but I'll manage ;)

- More contests. 5 minutes for mom is having a july 4th contest spree (even though they're canadian, I guess more americans are into the whole blogosphere. oh wait, there are probably just tons more of them :) Go check it out. You can win tons o stuff.


- I'm going for a haircut soon, so that'll be all the brain dumping for now. The new blog name and look won't be up before next week, but we're working on it (we being Eric, my husband, is designing it for me. It's nice to have inhouse help isn't it?)

Can you pick out what's funny about this photo?

So here's the story. We decided to get a cleaning service because we just can't keep on top of it all. They started recently and after their first visit I went into my bedroom and say this and just about peed my pants.
As you can sort of see, the curtains in our room are way too long for the windows. This house has ceilings that are half a foot lower than standard, or some such bizarre thing, so the curtains hang down and I haven't gotten around to hemming them or replacing them. Since they're so long, I suppose things can get lost in them. Small things that I might have thrown in the general direction of the clothes hamper. Small things that might be misconstrued by the cleaning lady as floor protectors for my clothes hamper. Small rounds things like reusable breast pads ;)
Still makes me laugh. :)
***

Thank you Vicky for inspiring me to finally write this post.

Wordless Wednesday: First time under a sprinkler

New name

I've come up with a new blog name. It's none of the ones I previously discussed. I'm going to save it for a new look launch. So don't be surprised if you think you're "at the wrong house" one day when you come over ;)

Photo treasure hunt - June 25

This week's photo is in one of those rides for kids at the mall. An excuse to go to the mall! Who can pass it up?? :)

For anyone who didn't get their photo in for last week, feel free to still add it (on the bus), or the alternate (in something). I'm going to put people's name in the draw for the bibs for each submission they made over the course of the month as opposed to only people who submitted each week. So play! This is the last week for June. I think I probably won't have prizes anymore because not that many people are playing.... but feel free to astonish me by getting all your friends to join the flickr group and then I'll keep the prizes! (If there are 15 members by July 1 I will have a prize for July. There are currently 7 members) :)

There were some great photos from last week!! Check out the flickr group to see them all!

I don't have a photo for this week yet, so keep your eyes open later in the week for it to appear :)

Here is my original post about the treasure hunt.
The bibs up for grab.

What's in a name?

I started this blog before Kiernan was born. I had had a blog when I was pregnant, and sent the link to a few choice people. They checked it regularly, and I enjoyed having it, but strangers never checked it out.
So when I started my mommy blog, I didn't give the name alot of thought. Plus, I've always been pretty lousy at titles. Whenever I write articles for work I end up leaving the title for the editor because everything that comes into my head is so cheeseball I can't deal :)
So I called this blog Mommyhood for Lara. Which is so boring I want to cry when I think about it! ;) Therefor, it is time for a name change. And once I've done that, I'm going to get a cool blog look, like most of my favourite blogs already have: Adventures in Babywearing, Mom101, Some kind of Wondermom, Playgroups are not for children, Simply nutmeg.
Now, the fact that I'm lousy at coming up with good names means I"m having a hard time coming up with a new blog name, and I've been stuck at the picking a new name phase for weeks now.
The only name I've been able to come up with so far is Larapalooza. I used to throw a yearly cottage party that was called that. I think big crazy parties are mostly a thing of my past, so this parenthood thing has become it's replacement. Or should it be mamapalooza? But really, I have one kid, I don't feel entitled to mamapalooza yet. My husband suggested something relating to babywearing, but I don't really talk about that enough to warrant it?
Ideas anyone? Please help! :)

Adventures on the bus

Today Kiernan and I went out to get our on the bus photo for the treasure hunt. If WE can't do it, how can I expect others to, right? :)

I have to say, I love my car, I love my car, I love my car!

First I got all frantic because I was running late. Which made me hot. I hate that feeling. I came inches away from canceling the whole trip! But we didn't.

First we waited for the bus

When that got boring, Kiernan decided to read the paper.

Over all, the whole bus experience left Kiernan a little unimpressed I think. Couldn't agree with you more K-man!

Although we did enjoy all the people gooing and gaaing over the gorgeous baby. Including the woman who said "I would like to see that baby in commercials with a face like that!"

***
Contest stuff:
- Adventures in Babywearing is giving away a Royal Heinie from Stroller Mama
- Mums the wurd is giving away a Jasper hearts Ren tshirt that is oh so cute.
- BzzAgent is cool. They're about to send me coupons for Sol Beer to bzz about. Summer beer in time for bbq season. And all I have to do is talk about it. I can talk about it :)

It's time to dance to funny web videos!!

Hanging out with Vicky and Joel

Vicky watched K the other day and got some really cute shots.
Kiernan and Joel decided to start a band and Kiernan really enjoyed checking out the backyard (since he was standing and sitting is a big no no lately :)

Wordless Wednesday: my son the imp

It's sort of like a treasure hunt, but not really, but good for the environment! and fun!

Ok, worst title ever, I know. I have a post in me about naming things that I need to write soon, but I digress.

This Saturday, in Ottawa, is Give Away day. How cool! You put stuff on your lawn and people take it. And you go take their stuff. It's like garbage picking, but not for losers. (oops, hope I didn't insult any regular garbage pickers ;)

I'm really looking forward to going out and seeing if I can find anything cool, and then taking part in a peek inside the fish bowl's challenge to find the coolest thing!

You should play too, cuz if you don't, there won't be any stuff for me to pick through, and that will make me sad. ;)

Apples'n'Oranges - another survey

Vicky and I are trucking along with all the prep work for starting up our business - Apples'n'Oranges. In order to make sure we're creating a business that will actually appeal to our target market, we're trying to get as much feedback as possible. To that end, we've created another survey and I would really appreciate your feedback! If you could complete this survey (if we didn't already send it to you by email :) I'd really appreciate it!

Photo treasure hunt - June 18

This week's photo is on the bus. If you haven't got a photo of your little one on the bus and don't think you'll make it onto a bus this week, just be creative :)

For anyone who didn't get their photo in for last week, feel free to still add it (black and white), or the alternate (in something). I'm going to put people's name in the draw for the bibs for each submission they made over the course of the month as opposed to only people who submitted each week. So play! Next week's photo is 'in one of those rides for kids at the mall' so you better get started now! :)

There were some great photos from last week!! Check out the flickr group to see them all!

I don't have a photo for this week yet, so keep your eyes open later in the week for it to appear :)

Here is my original post about the treasure hunt.
The bibs up for grab.

When you do that, it makes me very very angry mommy!

Our little boy is getting all grown up and, well, attitudy. He has a new trick. And it's not a cute ;trick, it's not one of the ones I like to show off at parties (although apparently that wasn't up to me).

Kiernan SCREACHES. In a manner that clearly says "I DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT AND I AM GOING TO SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS UNTIL YOU STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME DO IT! I AM VERY VERY ANGRY AT YOU AND I SAID STOP IT!"

And it's piercing. And you want it to stop. And when he does it at someone else's house you are embarrassed and give in and let him not go to sleep. So I think he's learning it works, so he's trying to use it on other things. Like "DO NOT NOT NOT WIPE MY FACE OFF AFTER I'VE FINISHED EATING. I HATE IT AND I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE CARROTS IN MY EYEBROWS!" or "I HATE THOSE SANDLES. DON'T PUT THEM ON MY FEET! GET THEM OFF MY FEET NOW I SAY!"

What fun. We go back into battle at 7pm bedtime, I plan to win.

I always wanted to be one of the cool kids

I am SUPER excited because I just got tagged for a meme by Simply Nutmeg! People are starting to read my blog. I'm all excited and silly, cuz I guess I just really want to be a cool kid blogger like all the ones I read out there :). Ugh, I'm so lame and I don't even care. So here goes:

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ok, 10 years ago. I had just moved back home after a not-so-great first move out attempt. I had just decided to go back to University, after a year-long break. And I was about to start a fabulous summer where I spent almost every single weekend at a different cottage, lying about in the sun and bonding with girlfriends while trying to recover from my first real heartbreak. Oh crap. I think that was 11 years ago. Damn, I’m getting old. Let me try again.
10 years ago I was living at home, being single, umm... that summer was obviously far less memorable. Let’s pretend the 11 years ago one was right. :)

What were you doing one year ago?

Counting down the days until I went on maternity leave. Looking forward to the arrival of our new baby, and desperately wanting to not be pregnant anymore. Looking forward to getting a lot of time in my hammock at cottages over the summer.

Five snacks you enjoy:

Hmmm... do I list ones I enjoy on the craptabulous soy/milk free diet or include old favourites? Let’s not think about what I can’t have for now :)

Oreos
Salt and vinegar crispers
Pita and hummous
Plain chips
More oreo cookies

Five songs to which you know all the words:

I’ve never really been into music. I think I might still be able to sing some indigo girls songs, and More than words, but extreme. But really, these are the ones that spring to mind:

She’ll be coming around the mountain
5 little monkeys
The Elephant song
This old man
Rabbit Jack

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Get a bigger house, that doesn’t share any walls with neighbours
Pay people to do stuff we don’t particularly like to prioritize (cleaning, gardening, etc)
Buy a jeep
Help people
Not go back to work

Five bad habits:

Losing my keys, wallet, cell phone
Getting bitchy when I’m stressed out
Not writing down appointments
Not being organized
Letting the gas tank go until we’re down to fumes (I’ve never been stranded yet though!)

Five things you like doing:

Going on dates with Eric
Taking pictures of Kiernan
Hanging out with the girls
Going to the cottage
Traveling
Scrapbooking
Ok, this one needs more than 5 options.



Five things you will never wear again:

mm maybe... fluorescent clothing
vuarnet things
my favourite shirt that everyone hated but me and finally caved and gave it away
Plaid with stripes (don't ask me why I did it in the first place)
Boxer shorts

Five favorite toys:

(I am choosing my 5 favourite Kiernan toys)
His Fisher Price baby grand
His playskool air table
His xylophone piano
His exersaucers
The jumperoo I wish we owned :)

And finally I tag: Some kind of Wondermom, The Kiddos, and A boy and his sheep.

I totally am the 13 year-olds who think candy-grams are super-fly! :)

9 months old!

Kiernan is 9 months old today. I can't believe it. He's so grown up!!

9 months seems like such a significant milestone to me. Possibly because I walked at 9 months and so my whole life I think I thought of 9 months old as important. K isn't walking yet (and that's FINE with me) but he's doing SO many things, and going through so many changes:

- he now has 4 teeth. Two on the top and two on the bottom. Once those top two are fully down, it's going to totally change his face; I'm a bit nervous to be honest.
- He can self entertain! Unless he's tired or bored, he can sit for up to an HOUR at times, playing or watching tv. I could hardly have imagined it not that long ago.
- He LOVES cats. He sees a cat and gets really excited and starts waving at it. Almost makes me want a cat. (only almost ;)
- I've mentioned the standing thing, but he's also getting really good at walking with our assistance. He motors across a room, often is a relatively straight line.
- Some nights he'll sleep 5-6 hours in a row! Sometimes I'm asleep too!
- He's such a monkey! And that is his most common nickname lately.

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

First there was 'wormy'


Quite quickly he filled out a lot and didn't look quite so wormy. Kiernan at 5 weeks:


Then he started doing stuff, and we could pretend he did it on purpose. Look at him waving at the camera for us! Kiernan at 3 months:


Then his hair started falling out and I called him baldy. Despite all the comments from people with 2 year olds who barely had as much hair as Kiernan had - to me it was very sad looking :(
Kiernan at 4 months:

6 months was a good time. He was sitting well, we'd figured out the soy and milk thing so he wasn't in pain as much, and I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable too I think.

8.5 months old - on the verge of being mobile, really starting turning into a monkey

Monkey this morning, when we were trying to get a nice 9 month photo with the bear. You can actually see his teeth if you go to the full-sized photo. Happy .75 birthday monkey! :)

Wordless Wednesday: I'm not sure I like this lake thing...

No sitting!!!!

Kiernan loves to stand! He wants us to hold his hands so he can walk around, he likes to climb all over us if we lie on the ground, and like likes to stand leaning on his toys. He likes it so much he never wants to sit!! If you try to get him to sit and play, he turns into a plank. No no no sitting mommy!!!!
So I've taken to leaning him up against standing toys, and piling pillows all around him, so he can do things like watch baby einstein, or just play :) And he slowly inches his way around the room that way. It's really funny :) I think we're going to be digging out those baby gates we got at our shower last summer this weekend!

(please disregard the cluttered state of my living room ;)

Free stuff/contests/etc update:
Adventures in babywearing is having a contest to win a $75 gift certificate to MamaKanga, which I am of course entering even though I already have a billion carriers (including the new UpMama one I bought at Milkface this weekend) because I am addicted!! ;)
We're giving away prizes for helping up come up with a good tag line for Apples'n'Oranges - a choice of a long sleeved onesie, or a very amusing tea-towel with the unfriendly alphabet.
And I still have Tabasco sauce if anyone wants some! :)

Treasure hunt - June 11

This week's photo is a black and white photo. Time to play around in a photo editor! :)

For anyone who didn't get their photo in for last week, feel free to still add it (water), or the alternate (in something). I'm going to put people's name in the draw for the bibs for each submission they made over the course of the month as opposed to only people who submitted each week. So play! Next week's photo is 'on the bus' so you better get started now! :)

There were some great photos from last week!! Check out the flickr group to see them all!

Here is my photo.


Here is my original post about the treasure hunt.
The bibs up for grab.

Our sweet little chrono-vampire

Since having had a baby last September I think I must sleep, on average, about half as much as I did before. Wow! Half as much, think of all the extra time I'm up in a day!! All that extra time to make nice dinners from scratch, to keep the house clean and tidy ( a must for a baby that will soon become a toddler), maybe some time to start my scrapbook for Kiernan, or even try to get some work done on my wedding scrapbook. Oh wait, my baby is 9 months old next week and I haven't done any of those things yet ;) My days, weeks, months even, disappear, sucked away by our sweet little chrono-vampire. I really wish I KNEW where all my time goes!

My days are so packed with being with Kiernan; from playing with him, feeding him, getting him dressed, trying to get him to sleep, and trying to find a few minutes to myself that aren't all about being a mommy, that the rest of the day just disappears. And my non-sleeping baby is still up half the night and that's just me being up and tired and dragging along. It probably doesn't help that I've a)also decided to start a business this year and b)discovered the world of mommy blogs (wow can that make a 30 minute nap go by in what feels like 5 minutes. And yes, my baby naps for 30 minutes :P) It'll get easier right? One day? Ok ok, I'll just start getting used to it. For now, guess who just hired a cleaning service? :)

***

Join the fun! The Parent Blogger Network and Light Iris are teaming together to award one lucky blogger with a free, 2-day pass to Blogher’s 2007 Conference in Chicago. Write your own post on “Where Does My Time Go?” and submit it today. Good luck to everyone!!

Let me tell you about a thing called a milk scan

This morning we brought Kiernan to CHEO for the dreaded milk scan. Except it wasn't quite so dreaded anymore because I decided to call CHEO the other day and confirm the information I'd been given. For me, getting 16oz of breast milk for the appointment was so overwhelming I decided I needed to beg to not have to bring that much. So I called, and guess what. They said "bring as much as you can". Fiouf! I managed to get 8 oz and didn't feel awful for not having more than that. Then I confirmed that I had to get him to fast for 8.5 hours before the test. They said "no no, for his age he only has to fast for 4 hours"
Good grief!!! How much more manageable is all of that? Why the hell did they have to scare me and put me in panic mode at the thought of an inconsolable Kiernan, when he wasnt going to be fed all night (he still gets up at least once or twice to eat between midnight and 8am).
So, that being resolved, I wasn't dreading the test too much. He was cranky this morning but I put him in the mei tai and walked up and down the street until he fell asleep. Then I slouched on the couch with him strapped to me and fell asleep too until it was time to go.
So, for anyone who is interested, let me tell you what a milk scan entails.
They took the milk we brought and mixed some radioactive agent into about .5 oz of the milk (daddy surmises we will have a superhero on our hands now... we will call him the "Milkman!") and then he had half an hour to drink as much more milk as he could. He drank all 8oz that I brought! Next he was strapped to a table and put under a machine where he was to stay for an hour as it took 180 pictures of his stomach digesting the milk. We were allowed to sit next to him and entertain him, and he was allowed to have his soother. It went WAY better than I expected and he barely cried at all. I was really impressed.
After the hour, they assess how much the stomach has emptied. If it isn't at 50% then you get up and leave for 30 minutes - Kiernan's was at 26%, then you come back and they take another picture. If it still isn't at 50% then you do the same thing again - Kiernan's was now at 46% so we had to wait again. The test can take a maximum of 2 hours. So either your stomach is 50% empty, or the two hours are up.
Now we wait a week to hear anything from the doctor. My totally unqualified eyes thought that it didn't look like he was experiencing reflux. But what do I know? :) I wonder if any useful information will come from this.

Here are some photos of our trooper:

Wordless Wednesday: cousins

For more pics, visit WW or 5 Minutes for Mom

Happy !!

Things are feeling much better this week! Yesterday the allergist's office called with a cancellation and Kiernan will be seen this Thursday instead of August 30! Woohoo! Thank goodness.

More people have decided to join the treasure hunt. You should join too. I have prizes! And I'll mail them anywhere in the world ;)

And last night, Kiernan slept from 11:30 until 6. Keep you fingers crossed for us that he'll do the same thing Thursday night so we only have a couple of hours of howling in hunger and not 8 ;)

Treasure hunt - JUNE!

It's time to start the second month of the photo treasure hunt. Woohoo!

I'm happy with how the first month went! We had 20 photos uploaded to Flickr - so cute! Hopefully we'll have even more in June. And the lucky winner of the bibs for May is.... Danielle!!! Congrats!

So now, on to the June categories!

Week of June 4 - in the water
Week of June 11 - black and white photo
Week of June 18 - on the bus
Week of June 25 - in one of those rides for kids at the mall
Alternate - in something (a box, a frying pan, the crib, whatever)

So you have all month to start collecting your photos. Use the alternate if you need to, but it will come up as a main theme eventually and then that month you'll have to use the alternate.

Hope more people will play this month (there will need to be to justify prizes ;). Find out more about the treasure hunt here. Same prize is up for grabs. 2 bibs, made by moi. Same patterns even (next month I'll have ones with different material :) (I'm going to have to really get going on the bib making to have enough for prizes here, and for promotional items for Apples'n'Oranges. hehe)

Here's my 'in the water' photo


Oh disgusting tub, the count-down to your demise has begun! (the new tub comes July 16!!)

That big brain has been working hard!

After my not so positive post last night, I thought I'd post some of the good stuff that's been going on!!

Kiernan is developing like mad. This week alone, I think I've seen him do 20 new things. It's insane.

He now says: dadadada, bababa, gagagoogoo (seriously?!?), mamama (yay!), can click his tongue, makes chewing motions/sounds, and seems to be trying to imitate cat noises when Song sings to him (eric's parents' cat).

He can squirm himself over to things he wants, or pivot himself in a sitting position for better access to what he wants. He can pull himself up with someone's help. He can walk across the room with someone holding his hands. He is trying to pull himself up on toys and furniture and will probably get there soon. Is finally starting to get into positions that would indicate he might actually crawl (I thought he might jump right to walking)

I think I mentioned this before, but he's waving and seems to be getting the sign for more (but sometimes he does it when sitting on the living room floor and I don't know what he wants more of!!) He also knows to wave when you say bye bye, not just when you wave at him.

His new best friend is the cutest baby you ever saw. His name is Kiernan and not only is he in the mirrors in the house, it turns out he's in the mirror in the car, and in picture frames around people's houses, on the fridge, everywhere! He is so cute and Kiernan lights up whenever he sees him ;)

He hugs things he likes (like picture frames that have his best friend in them ;) and stuffed animals he likes, and us! woohoo! cuddles! Sometimes, and this is the most amusing, he lays his head down on whatever, just like one of those cheesy photography shots. So cute!

My little genius is doing so much :)

You know you need a date with your husband/partner when...

... you're sick of being told you look really nice when all you've done is combed your hair and put on clothing with no spit up.

It really has come to that, I am now fancied up if there are no snot or spit up tracks up and down my shirt! Imagine if I went to the effort of really doing my hair and putting on makeup!

I finally have some new clothes that fit me, so I could probably even wear something better than maternity t-shirts! :) And maybe we would talk to each other instead of eating dinner while we watch lost, or grey's anatomy!

This post is part of a Blog Blast sponsored by E-Harmony Marriage and Parent Bloggers Network. If you'd like a chance to win a $100 Amex Gift Card for a date out with your spouse/partner plus $100 cash for a babysitter, then write your own post "You Know You Need a Date With Your Partner when...." anytime June 1, send the link to parentbloggers@gmail.com, and they'll pick a winner at random. Click here for more info!

And while you're checking out other sites, check out Light Iris, a site that makes searching for mom stuff through google easier, plus other cool stuff, and enter the newest contest at Adventures in Babywearing, to win a gift certificate for Vincent shoes!
When Kiernan and I win the gift certificate I think we will buy the mini frogs (tee hee) and some Vidars, and (uh oh, there are too many fun ones to choose from!) the Simons!