Almost 14...

My little angel is almost 14 months and amazing. I cannot believe that such a little person can completely blow me away every day. She's learning so fast, and is expressive, and a complete doll. Really I can't think of a better place to be than by her side. She has been shaking her head no for months now, and this week she started nodding yes! It's amazing how much you can communicate with a person one-sidedly using words. I still get a kick out of watching her do what I ask "sit in your chair mama so we can eat" or asking her to show me something "baby, where's "Goodnight Moon" " how telling her it's bath time makes her sit in front of the bathroom door, or the way she points at everything. Her words are becoming clearer...or maybe only mommy understands the goobly gob that comes out of her. She's my heaven...I almost can't breathe, the love just fills me. She's proof that I'm doing something, if only one thing, RIGHT! MY Brianlily...

Cannon Beach & The Oregon Coast Aquarium...

We did it! We took a trip to the coast and it was beautiful! The most picturesque scenery ever! The cliffs, the misty waves, the TREES! The trees were insane! They were coated in moss and so lush and dense. I guess that's what happens when it rains for 6 months. My goal was Cannon Beach. How could I pass up the chance to visit a GOONIES location. I MEAN, I AM A GOONIE AND ALL! It was perfect. You have to keep in mind, West coast beaches are NOTHING like back East. They seem soooo much bigger and scary! It was the day after the big earthquake in Chile and all the talk of tsunami's made visiting the coast creepy, but we did it anyway. It was a cloudy chilly day, but Brianlily soaked it all up! She had so much fun running along the beach and totally wanted to get in the water! It was pretty spectacular. The town of Cannon Beach is super small but totally quant and touristy. I can't wait to go back in the summer and check the creatures that live around Haystack Rock. Here are more shots from our trip.

Next was the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We drove 3 hours from Cannon Beach, down the coast...breathtaking...to Newport. That night we stayed at La Quinta. I needed something last minute and this was the only hotel reasonably priced and available. It was pretty on the outside, but old and shabby on the inside. The indoor pool was open all night, which on first thought was super cool, until we realized that was the sex spot for the late night freaks!!! lol We enjoyed a dip with the baby after we checked in and that was the end of the pool for us! Then we spend $50 on crap food from a place the front desk recommended!

The next morning we headed to the Aquarium, which was right behind the hotel. It seemed small at first, and the moment we started our tour through the aquarium we realized it WAS SUPER SMALL!!! The only aquarium in Oregon, hella far from home, and it was such a let down. I guess having visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium doesn't help matters, it IS only one of the top 5 in the country. It was really horrible. Just a few tanks in I think 3 little buildings. The grand finale was supposed to be the Passages of the Deep. It's where the sharks are housed, and where you'd sleep if you Sleep with the Sharks. Side note; I spent a Night at the Museum at the Museum of Natural History in New York City and it was one of the most memorable expierences of my life. I thought I would be doing the same at the aquarium, but after seeing what a mess it was, it is out of the question. My biggest isssue was the state of the tanks. You would think the tank would look like a natural habitat, you would think. There was only one in the Passages of the Deep that looked good and it was the first one, then it all went away. The next was a room filled with water, and a bunch of sharks looking soooo sad. I saw walls PEOPLE! There was nothing, just water and fish. I really hope they were just renovating. Oh and did I mention it was overpriced! Thank God we were still able to get really amazing photos of our baby's first trip to an aquarium. Check'em out at Facebook!

In the end, we had a great time seeing Oregon's Coast. It was Brianlily's first night in a hotel (which was a mess in of itself; thank God mommy brought outlet covers!), I can say I've been to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and I'm now and OFFICIAL GOONIE!!! Yea Baby!!

Split Pea Lentil Soup with Ham...

DELISH! My first attempt at making split pea soup was terrible. I made it with bacon and there was soooo much fat in it, it was a nightmare. This time around I bought shank/hock and it was AMAZING! I had some left over split pea, from the first try, soaked overnight and frozen. I put the ham and peas into a pot, added a little salt and pepper, covered them with water and boiled with the lid on for an hour and half. Once the peas were gone I noticed that the soup was too thin (I only had about a half a bag of peas), and decided to add some lentils I had. I boiled everything for about another 1/2 hour and Voilà!

Ikea Cookie Sheet...

While I love Ikea for almost everything...sometimes things just don't work the way you'd like them to. Take this cookie sheet. I have been using one of those disposable sheets because the only sheets I find are for too expensive ($13 or so). On our last trip to Ikea I picked this one up and was sooo happy...it was only $6.99





Then I used it...I hadn't realized there was a rolled edge on the sheet. After cooling my favorite cookies on top of my electric stove, I tried to remove the sheet and couldn't. The rolled edge was caught in the heating element! UGH! The damg thing gets caught on everything! I still love my $6.99 Drommar cookie sheet, but I wish it was FLAT!

Diaper Rash Ointment Review...

I thank God my daughter never had much diaper rash...I was kind of a mad woman about changing her diaper right away! She is over a year old and has only had diaper rash twice when she was very young. I tried a few things but nothing worked, until her then doctor told me about Triple Paste . It's super expensive, but I swear it worked overnight! I tried Desitin Creamy, and Palmer's Bottom Butter, but neither worked on her horrible rash. I did also keep her out of her diaper more to air it out (her doctor recommended), and for that I laid her out on adult incontinence leakage pads like these, which can also be used as WeeWee pads for doggy training ;o)

Diaper Review

I am guilty of purchasing Pampers brand Swaddlers and Swaddlers Sensitive diapers for the first 6 months. I loooooved them. I tried Huggies, but they were too stiff and hard. I tried Luvs, but they were crappy. Pampers brand is amazing; super soft and fit well. Once we moved to Portland, and were living on one small income, paying $40 for a box of diapers was out of the question. I decided to look into store brands, and started with Safeway Mom to Mom brand. They were horrible. The shape was ridiculous. They were square, which meant my daughter walked around with a huge bulge between her legs. On a trip to Target I saw that they have their own brand Up & Up. The polka dot pattern was cute (wish they made pink and yellow for girls!) and they were cheap so I gave them a try. I loved them! They're great great great! The shape is close to Pampers brand, and they are not stiff. I have been using them now for 6 months and am doing wonderfully. I even got my sister in NYC (who gave birth to my nephew 5 days after I gave birth to my daughter!) to switch from Pampers! She's also tried the Babiesrus brand, and didn't like them because she had to re-adjust the tabs all of the time. I just couldn't believe how much money I spent on diapers before Up & Up. I've done a little research online, and have found some mothers complaining of rash with Up & Up, or most not even mentioning them and talking more about CVS and Rite Aid brand diapers. So I checked out their sites for cost comparison and Up & Up are by far the better value!

Here's the break down for a size 4 (example):

Pampers Cruisers 46ct $17.49 shown here that's over 38 cents per diaper
Pampers Dry 52ct $17.49 shown here that's over 33 cents per diaper
Babiesrus Supreme 46ct $10.99 shown here that's over 23 cents per diaper
Rite Aid 34ct $9.99 shown here that's over 29 cents per diaper
Huggies 46ct $17.79 shown here that's over 38 cents per diaper
Mom to Mom 64ct $15.99 shown here that's over 24 cents per diaper
Mom to Mom 52ct $10.99 shown here that's over 21 cents per diaper
Target 82ct $14.99 in storeshown here that's over 18 cents per diaper

Please keep in mind, just about every brand has a regular diaper and sometimes a supreme or "better" quality diaper. I included a few, but not all. I tried to find packages that were about the same size too.

In the end Target brand Up & Up totally wins! By the way...they make just about everything else too. I've purchased their version of Oil of Olay facial moisturizer, Johnson & Johnson baby lotion and body wash, and Head & Shoulders shampoo, and they're all great! Shopping on a budget is totally doable...it just takes some time and research!

My Monkey...

I had to buy this for her at the zoo. It's a great first zoo visit memory keepsake, but she's also been my little monkey lately...clinging to me just like this!