Last night I burned a sponge... in the microwave.

I was cleaning up the kitchen and the sponge was looking rather used and germy but the dishwasher wasn't going to be run anytime soon, so I popped it in the microwave. (You heat it to the point of steaming and it kills the all the germies.) Only I couldn't remember how long it takes... and I was too lazy to Google it... with the phone that was probably already in my hand... so I guessed and did five minutes...

As the title of this post suggests... that was incorrect.

The entire downstairs reeked of burnt sponge, a surprisingly horrid odor. Thank goodness I had recently purchased these amazeball candles (Amazon Prime frivolous purchase to the rescue!). 

And now I have no sponge. And to be honest, I am tempted to just order more on Amazon Prime. But I draw the line at ordering kitchen sponges.

PS. Cats frolicking in a paradise of boxes. Because Friday.

PPS. Here's a picture of my cute kid.

PPPS. According to the internet, the correct amount of time to microwave a sponge is one minute.

Stepping Up My Babywearing Game: Buying a Woven

It's happening. I can feel myself being sucked in and I don't even own a single one... yet. It seems that all the mommas I know who wear their babies in fancy smancy woven (aka non-stretchy) wraps are completely o b s e s s e d. I can tell that I am about to be sucked right down that rabbit hole.

I love wearing her in our Moby, but she's getting bigger and it's not as comfortable as it used to be (because it's stretchy and doesn't provide as much support as we need). Our Ergo 360 is great for running errands, but not so much for snuggles around the house. 

Yes, that's a Moby on the left. I had a little bleach incident in the laundry room and decided to creatively camouflage it.

The next step in babywearing is the almighty woven...

I borrowed the striped wrap at our local babywearing meet-up a couple days ago and I'm already hooked. I spent an absurd amount of time yesterday researching the different kinds of wraps and watching videos of different complicated ways to tie my baby to myself with what is literally just a long piece of fabric... but such pretty long pieces of fabric!

I know that I will be buying one soon. And I know that I drop a cringe-worthy chunk of change on it. And there are so many options, how will I ever choose? What type of fabric? What weight? How long? Is it shimmery? How bouncy? How long until it's "buttery soft"? Is it grippy? What about breathable? How much shoulder cush? There is a whole babywearing subculture out there with their own forums and lingo and I am one very confused newbie.

I've been researching and pinning some possibilities and  ohmygoodness I want them alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

I'm stoked to learn a bit more about it all and become proficient at a few simple carries, especially back carries. Oh to be able to wear her on my back while I do housework! We've done a couple of back carries with the Ergo but she's still a little small and it doesn't feel as secure as I would prefer.

Do you have any experience with woven wraps? What would you recommend for a beginner who will be using it on the daily?

PS. The benefits of babywearing vs. carseat lugging.

The Busy, Busy World of Lillian Isadore

Lillian and I have been crazy busy traveling recently. She has been a total champ for all of it except for when we did six hours in the car in one day... she got a bit extremely pissy about that one.

Here she is doing some light reading in the car (pre-meltdown):

It all started in mid-April when we went to my parent's farm (where she was christened in the church where Lee and I were married)...
then to my aunt and uncle's lake house in Virginia (for lots of visiting with lots of relatives)...
then back home for two days (but with house guests)...
then to Sunset Beach (to spend a week with our good friends/Lillian's godparents)...

then to Asheville with my parents (we went to a small music festival and toured The Biltmore House and Gardens)...

we are currently home for three days...
and are flying to Vermont this evening so Lillian can meet her great grandmother this weekend.

Anyone have advice for flying with a four month old? It's her first flight and I'm going to try realllllly hard not to be that family with the baby that wails the entire time.

Lee was home Tuesday and I passed her off to him and literally slept almost the entire day. I was completely exhausted. I woke up to find her passed out in the Moby while he played video games in his basement man cave (complete with our sweet thrift store granny couch from our newlywed days).

Lillian is becoming more and more interactive and it is so fun! She is grabbing at things and talking constantly.

She smiles the second I walk back into the room which of course gives me all the warm fuzzies every time. And she loves to practice standing.

Apparently I never crawled and went straight to walking at ten months and my mom is convinced she will do the same.

Wish us luck with our flying adventures and hope you have a great weekend!