Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Bowman's birthday and I am sad I live so far away. So I asked my mommy to help me send her some birthday wishes from away.




"my silly cat tried to ruin my photos"





I love you grandma! Mommy and I hope you have a great b-day. Eat some cake for me.
Love Ryder

Spring Maybe

We have been enjoying the warmer temps the past few days. Hoping it is here to stay. Ryder loves to go for rides in his stroller. I have yet to capture this on camera because I am usally too tied up with the dog and baby.



GO Cubbies!

Thanks Again

My parents drove in Saturday for the day because my mother could not sleep the other night worrying about my dryer. While she was in to watch Ryder on Monday she did our laundry and noticed the dryer was running slow. She decided to poke around on the tubing and made matters worse. SO my handy father brought in his leaf blower and plumbing snake to clear out the dryer air vent. Come to find out it was completely clogged shut with lint fuzz almost a foot. This could have caused a fire. We are so grateful this was caught. How scary.....

We went out for dinner at Tequilas for some good Mexican. Ryder loved the music. He just danced side to side.





Thanks Mom and Dad for everything!

Baby Products

There is some recent reports being flashed in the media about baby skin care products and toxins. This information is not new to my knowledge. I have been aware of an interesting site for years that researches and ranks the toxicity level of every skin product known to man, including everything baby.

Please check it out of you are interested.
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com
It is the Skin Deep Project done by the Environmental Working Group. I have always used this site before buying products for self or baby. Keep in mind the more organic you go the more expensive in most cases. For example, Seventh Generation baby wipes are better for little butts, but quite a bit more $. The worst part is they don't sell them in bulk.

My skin is very sensitive so I have found that using the least amount of skincare products works for me. I buy Kiss My Face soap by the bar. It is made of olive oil and mixed with Lavender. They have different scents. I use this for my face and it remains clearer now then when I used all kinds of fancy or harsh products. Bar soaps are always better because they have less chemicals in them. If you have any questions let me know.

A lot of things out there are trash even when they say they are natural. Most dermatologist and doctors have no clue. I have been to derms for years. They will just give you whatever samples they have no matter what chemicals are loaded in them.
Just food for thought

First day back

WE made it through the first dreaded day back to work. It was a lonnnggg day. I did not plan enough time to get ready and ran behind. The whole pumping thing added an extra element of stress. I had to come home at lunch and feed baby and then took the pump to work for the afternoon. I got all set-up in an office and then was interupted mid-stream. What a nightmare... I picked up my stuff and restarted in another room. I finally made it home by 7 pm. I rested for an hour and then was called out for a crisis by 8:30pm. So I finally got home, and to bed by 12:30 am my first day back. Lets hope the rest of my week goes a little better. I don't plan on it since I am on-call Wed. and Thurs night. Kevins step-mother studies astrology and has informed us this weeks full moon is the most intense moon for 2009. This wil tend to stir up problems and emotion evidently. SO look out!



A Big Thank you to my mommy for coming to take care of Ryder on my first day back. She did all the laundry and even had dinner on the table before we returned home. We need my parents to be closer. HE was great for her. We have also discovered skyping thanks to Kevins dad and Sandy. So we can communicate via skype with them. Check it out if you have loved ones out of town. It is free and fun.

Explorer

Ryder is starting to closely study everything in his sight. Due to the warmer weather we have been able to go on walks this week. He examines every little detail of his toys, his cat, dog, my face, the ceiling fan etc... He makes this silly little face as he stares at his target. You can just see the little synapses connecting. Items move from his visual examination onto the oral exam. Everything ends up in his mouth these days.




Did I mention there has been an increase in whining and demanding of entertainment. He no longer is content just sitting and observing. He wants to go go go!

Work Update

Next week I will be going back to work 2 days a week. I was given the opportunity to return to my old job part-time. They are getting slammed with referrals due to all the crisis. Mental health referrals are continuing to climb due to all the pressures of the economy. People are getting more depressed. Not to mention this weather is getting OLD!

I am excited to go back and see all my work chums. I work with an awesome group of girls and have missed them over the past few months. Many have visited Ryder and I. I am a little sad to be leaving my baby, but feel blessed it is only twice a week. Kevin will be with him 1 of the days. We are in the process of finding childcare for the other day. So it will be an adjustment for us all. I have grown quite attached to my new buddy.