Oh, the horror! (carseat rant)

I recently observed the following: baby put in infant carrier in big puffy jacket with straps slack. STRAPS SLACK! What is the point of the carseat at all when said baby can be flung from it in case of an accident?! Might as well lay the child on the back seat with no restraints. I didn't say anything because I think I've said something before and if ya don't care, ya don't care. It's not my baby, after all.

Still, it upsets me soooo bad to see this. Stressful, that's what.

If you are one of these parents who straps their baby in this way, I hope it's because you didn't know any better. No one knows anything until they learn. I didn't know how to fasten my babies until I was told, either. Btw, thanks ALOT, Brooke, for making me so aware and irritated at others!;)

So, here's the safer way to secure your child in a carseat: Put them in a puffy jacket if it's cold, just leave it unzipped. Fasten the carseat straps over the shoulders with baby's arms in coat sleeves. The straps should come down over baby's shoulders, fastening across chest (chest/nipples, not belly) and between legs snuggly. Then zip coat around the fastened carseat straps. Ta-dah! Baby is warm AND safe. =D

Hardys' 2011

In lieu of a Christmas letter/card, I will sum up our year here on my blog, where it costs nothing monetary and I can do so from my pajamas at any convenient time- like now. :)

We started off last year living in Sammamish with Chris working at Formost Fuji by day and appartment maintenence dude by night (?) or whenever he got around to it. Heh. He was looking for another job and had an offer in N. Carolina- whew! That would have been different. In February, Chris was offered a preferable job locally so he started with Loud Tech.

The boys and I kept busy with the usual: playtimes, cleaning, errands. I also watched a couple of little Andersons part time which gave Rowan some friends to hang out with and learn the ropes with sharing, playing kindly, not hitting, and all the other things that make life sooooo hard. :P It was good for him, though.

In June we found out we're having our third baby and experienced differing reactions from various family members. =} Let's just say we might not announce #4 if people don't care to be excited for us.

It was a year of weddings: Matt and Marie Bergman, Eloi and Kimber Garcia, Joel and Kristen Meyers were a few we were thrilled to attend and participate in. Yay for friends getting married! I love weddings.

In August Elias turned 1!! Little darling's not a baby anymore. Well, he'll always be my baby. :} We threw a small bash complete with a cupcake. He loves his cake!

This summer we went to the horse races as a family and the boys LOVED it! Who knew? Every time the horses thundered by they were in awe. Rowan would scream and say "again, again!!" It was super fun to experience through their eyes. We had front row seats, too.

We participated in a Community Supported Agriculture again this summer at Jubilee Farm and enjoyed fresh seasonal produce from June-Oct. The boys love going to the farm, seeing the pigs, picking their own strawberries, and riding in the hay wagon for Farm School. Even Elias was an experienced strawberry picker by the end of the season. I would set him on the ground and he would crawl through the bushes picking the red berries and eating them with fistfuls of dirt. mmmmm. =D

Rowan turned 3 in Dec and we had the craziest and most fun party to date. The kids all crowded around while he opened his mountain of presents and were just as excited as he was. HAHA! It was great.

November brought a lay-off for Chris- just in time for the holidays. That was less than helpful but turned into a blessing in disguise as we got to spend alot of time together and exercise our creativity for homemade Christmas gifts. We didn't do too bad, if I say so myself. I post a picture below of some of my crocheted goodies...just to brag a bit. ;)

Thankfully, we haven't had to be work-less for too long. Chris started a new job at Micron Vinyl this month. Yay! Gotta love a paycheck. :)

I have continued couponing and do love a great deal. This has really come in handy, not only when not spending has become necessary, but also because it's a great hobby- doesn't cost me anything!

Turns out, I hate blogger because it adds spaces where I put none and doesn't have an easy way to upload pictures in the appropriate places. >={ Anyway, the pics at the top of this page are from our "camp out" in the Keevy's backyard. It was just a day trip because although our other attempts to camp this year did not go as planned, we couldn't just do nothing- hence, the day trip. It was fun, though and we had a camp fire, which is as much as I can hope for from a camping trip. :)

Looking forward to an epic 2012!

New Baby Blues

Is it bad that I kinda dread having a new baby?? Not that I would say I don't want this baby, just that I'm not too excited about those first few weeks... never sleeping more than 2-3 hours in a row, the general pain and discomfort, having to learn about this baby, the nursing challenges, the jealous and probably-misbehaving big brothers. :( I just don't look forward to all that. Can you blame me? I'm very content right now to watch other people with their newborns and grimace with understanding as they go through all of the above.

On the other hand, some good things about having a new baby include having meals brought to us so I don't have to raise myself from my sitting/prostrate position :}, Mama coming over for a few days to do my laundry (I said "my" before I thought, because it's NOT all my laundry-it's everybody's- but it's my job so therefore, it's mine. ugh.) and make sure the misbehaving brothers are entertained, a sudden lack of heartburn, standing up on my own again, AND a tiny baby to hold and snuggle.

I guess it's not all bad. Just how I feel these days.