The Kavanaugh Report

This past weekend, we took Henry on his first road trip to where else but my beloved Chicago! We made stops in Eau Claire and the Wisconsin Dells so that Henry never had to sit for more than 3 hours in the car -- he's generally a terrible traveler.

Henry actually surprised all our expectations and did really great in the car and the hotels.

We did a lot of swimming.
 Lincoln Park Zoo







Hanging out with friends.



Grumpy family pictures.




Fun, then a breakdown, at the Millennium Park fountains. Henry has no fear.


And an absolutely amazing picnic with a group of 6 other moms from an online mom forum I'm a part of.
Oh, and Cracker Barrel, how can there be a road trip without it?




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This week's TAT topic is all about your favorite places to shop. Since I've pretty much ignored my own needs since Henry's birth, I have no idea what my favorite stores are anymore. My body is so different I couldn't really even tell you what size I wear.
So, I'll just focus on Henry.
My philosophy when it comes to baby stuff, is buy cheap and buy used! While I'm still trying to get garage sale shopping down, I have already discovered the awesomeness that is consignment sales!
If you haven't checked out a children's consignment sales I highly recommend them. You can get great name brand, new clothes, toys, and books for great prices. For example, my last sale I went to I got 5 pairs of Carter's brand fleece pjs for $2 each!
A couple of my favorite local consignment sales are the Just Between Friends sales and the ECFE Sale in Roseville. These sales both occur twice a year and have really great stuff. The JBF sales are held all over the country (inc…

Last weekend was our neighborhood garage sale. I always here about all these great baby/kids deals that people get at garage sales, so Morgan and I headed out for some great deals.

While we did manage a new baby slide and toy, the rest of the hour and a half long trip was a total bust. There was nothing but books, junky CDs, and super old adult clothes.


Also, holy intense garage sale people! One lady was rushing between them so quickly, that she didn't want to stop at a stop sign as Morgan, Henry, and I were crossing the street. She almost hit us! I gave her a few comments, a nasty look, and some aggressive body language - but kept it civil -- no swearing, no middle fingers -- I'm with my kid after all.

But this lady was so pissed off that she circled the block, found us at the next garage sale, honked her horn, and flicked us off. Um....yikes.


So, this whole experience has left me thinking, what's the secret to garage sales? How do I find good ones? How do I avoid nutzo p…

Our small house is overrun with toys, diaper genies, boppy, clothes, exersaucers, jumperoos, baby gates, baby bottles, tot school...ahhh. Its easy to get totally overwhelmed with the shear volume.


So you would think it would be easy to just start to get rid of, or at least pack away, some of the tiny baby things. Right?
Wrong.

I've been stalling for months now to pack away the tiny baby toys. Morgan's been breathing down my neck about it, Henry doesn't touch the things, and our living room has constantly looked like it exploded. But still. I just didn't want to do it.


It meant the end of my tiny baby. For real. If the the toys were gone, so was the baby. And I pretty much hate that.
Finally one day I got sick of looking at all the toys and didn't let my emotions get the best of me. Well except for Sophie,  who I refuse to believe Henry will ever outgrow.
I may have cried.

But I'm happy with the new space we have for more stuff -- stinky big boy stuff. And at l…

Gardening has never been my strong suit: example 1, example 2. It's just not something that comes naturally to me. But I do enjoy it, so every year I try my best, hope that I don't kill everything.
We're very fortunate that our current house is beautifully landscaped with a huge variety of perennials that bloom throughout the summer. They are beautiful and for the most part require no work, but there are a couple I'm starting to think don't belong.
Culprit 1:





Weed Evidence: This giant plant is in a tiny area off our front walkway. It doesn't appear to bloom really, sticks around all summer, and grows rapidly.
Perennial Evidence: It came back again this year. Maybe weeds do that too?
Culprit 2:





Weed evidence: It's in an awkward location, near in the way back of a garden where the composting bin used to be. Its the only non-hosta/fern in the entire garden. 
Perennial Evidence: It almost looks like a small bush. Its has much more sturdier branches than I expe…

This week's topic is favorite milestones. I'm having a terribly hard time coming up with a list. Like way harder than it should be. There are so many things that I have really loved, and many that I have really just wanted to see end.

But, if I have to pick, in no particular order - you can't make me choose!:

Sleeping through the Night: Of course this has to be on the list. Who wouldn't be happy to sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time?



Eating Solid Foods: As much as I love breastfeeding, I have also loved feeding Henry food. I made all of his baby food, so it was great to watch him enjoy it. But somewhere along the way, Henry has decided he is entitled to at least 1/2 of whatever I'm eating, and that I'm not quite loving as much. Plus, who can deny the cuteness of a messy baby face?
Same look, 10 months apart!

Moving Around: Henry sat up at 4 months, crawled at 6, and walked at 9 -- so this is one I have mixed emotions about. I really love watching Hen explore t…

Henry is 14 months old


Being stuck in the house all week with hand, foot, and mouth disease made tot school a total lifesaver this week. We did have to skip it a few days this week because Henry wasn't feeling up to it, so we will continue the color orange next week as well. The activity wall was similar this week to last week. I added orange shapes, and an orange carrot to the felt board. Hen loved it all again. He pretty much has mastered ears and eyes now on the babies, but is still working on nose -- I think he thinks I'm saying "no" and he is thoroughly confused.


The tot trays were super fun this week. For the first time, Henry actually pretty much ignored his sensory bin.


The other two trays were both the color sorters I posted about earlier this week. His favorite was definitely the sticker color sorter. We used it so many different ways. He would point to the color I asked. Or place a sticker in the right box. Or point to a color sticker he wanted. Plus, each …