blogging and randoms

I'm so sorry I have been so inconsistent with blogging lately! I knew life with two would be busy, really, I did...but I never, ever imagined it would be this busy. We GoGoGo all day long, and by the evening when the boys are in bed I flop down on the couch and it starts: Oh I really should blog. This would make such a great post and I still need to share that recipe I love so much...if only this couch were not so comfy...if only I weren't so sleepy...I need to remember to do it tomorrow.

I'm not going to take a blogging hiatus so-to-speak, but my posting will probably continue to be sporadic throughout the holidays. Afterwards I will return back to my regular posting because, honestly, I miss it. Blogging is such a wonderful outlet for me to share myself, my boys, and my life. I love connecting with other mamas and I find the comments, wisdom and advice from my readers invaluable. Thanks to those of you who have stuck with me through this very hectic time in my life.

I will also continue to do the occasional reviews and giveaways, though I will confess that they have taken a backseat because I got burned pretty badly. A work-at-home mom asked me to review her wrap conversions, so I sent her one of my wraps that I had purchased to convert. Unfortunately, she decided to just keep my wrap conversion and not respond to emails, leaving me out a wrap. Her business has since closed due to unethical business practices. Please, please do your research on small work-at-home businesses before working with them, or deal only with reputable moms. Most work-at-home moms are wonderful, but there are a few bad apples that ruin it for the rest.

And now on to a little bit of what we have been up to lately! We've been having fun getting ready for the holidays. Moose is so helpful in the kitchen, though mostly he likes to taste-test. Shhhh, don't tell him that there will be something wonderful for him and MackT under the tree this year that will hopefully encourage him to become a world-famous chef who comes over weekly with his wife and kids and cooks for his dear ol' mum. I can dream, right?

And in case you were wondering why I rarely ever post updated pictures of Moose, it is because he has recently decided that he no longer likes the camera or wants to put up with my photographing him, so most of my pictures of him turn out something like this:

I've been really enjoying watching Moose and MackT begin to play and interact together now that Mack T is getting older (sniff, almost 7 months!). These early days of watching their relationship form and grow are so special. Every night the very last thing Moose does is ask for "kissykissies" from his brother.As Mack grows and has a personality that loves playing with toys, Moose is getting a crash-course in sharing. He takes to it as well as a two-year-old can. I have a rule that if he wants the toy MackT is playing with he has to give Mack one of the toys he is playing with. It works for now while MackT doesn't care which toy he has, someday the rules will need to be adjusted!
Mack Truck is enjoying solid foods. We take kind of a Baby-Led Weaning approach. If you don't know what that is...neither did I, until about two weeks ago. It is something that I did unintentionally with Moose, but I don't think it had a catchy name then (or at least I hadn't heard of it). It worked so well with him that I planned to do it with Mack T as well. Basically it is built on the concept of not using purees, but textured foods and letting baby learn to self-feed early. Moose never cared much for purees so we started textures young with him and he loved it. Mack loves it, too. I use mushy foods and just kind of smoosh them a bit, but I keep it chunky enough to have texture. He's eating beans, peas, broccoli, apple, avocado...pretty much whatever we are eating, just chopped or cut into manageable pieces. Just to clarify, we are not weaning. I know the name Baby-Led Weaning makes it kind of confusing. We will of course continue to breastfeed often until Mack T is at least a year.

And, last but never least, guess who is makin' a comeback...