What a beautiful day..........

What an amazing day it is today!! We had our first blanket on the ground lounging kind of afternoon. We first took a walk and then enjoyed the weather on a blanket in the front yard. Luckily family was over at Grandma Phyllis's, so they came over to visit with us. I wish Lauren wouldn't have tired out so quickly. I could have stay outside for hours.

Wren and Nanny

Sunglasses Girls

Love the lighting

Wren and Aunt Lisa

Wren and her lovie Lucy

Best Baby Item!

Chicco 360 Degree Rotating Hook On Chair

I want to tell everyone about the highchair that we have. I opted out of the large free standing chair because we do not have a dinning room that has a place to store one. When I saw this online, I thought it would be perfect for us. We eat mostly at our breakfast bar and this chair fits right in between us perfectly. Instead of having to use restaurant high chairs that she is still a little to small for, we can easily fold this one up and take it with us. We have yet to find an eatery where it doesn't fit nicely on the end of the table. It's also great to take to our family get togethers. She is always in the same chair and she feels comfortable in it. Another great feature is that it has the 360 rotating seat. This is great for when one of us wants to eat so we swivel her 90 degrees so the other one can feed her. She also likes to people watch so I can turn it so she can take in the view. The only feature that I dislike and other reviewers agree, is that it is a little troublesome to clean. I scrubbed it last night with some spray on cleaner and a brush but it took Ryan a couple of minutes to figure out how to take it completely off the base to do so. But other than that, I would say this is one of the best baby items we have right now! So if you are in the market to buy a chair, look one up. I would strongly suggest NOT buying the 2 other options Chicco has out. They are the older models and didn't get the rave reviews that this one did. I got mine at Babies R Us but I see that you can order it on Amazon as well. Oh, and I didn't get paid to say any of that! Just wanted to share how much I love this chair!!!

Random Post....

Nothing too exciting going on in the Farley home. Work is nuts, weather is starting to remind us that there is life after Winter, and Lauren is gearing up for bikini season. She is starting to sit up a little on her own. Flipping back and forth from her stomach and back, which makes changing her diaper a little like wrestling a monkey. Other than that, we are just enjoying her day after day.

Her yellow polka dot bikini

I made her some baby legs from trouser socks found at Target. Online they are $12. I made them for $2.99.

Sitting up without help. Well, for about 10 seconds.

The look a likes

Getting ready for her first jewelry party, wearing her pearls.

Do you live in Southern Illinois?

Guys, could you imagine not being able to afford food for your children? Or having your child go hungry? Do you live in Southern Illinois? If you do there is an amazing program called the Gum Drop Kids. They are a non for profit organization that started in 2008, that provides backpacks full of child friendly food for at risk children during the weekends. Whether you would like to believe it or not, there are a lot of children that leave school on Friday afternoon that don't get a good meal until Monday morning when they return.

Currently they are doing over 1000 backpacks a week! Right now there are 487 children who aren't receiving backpacks. Here are the schools that are participating right now.
Carterville, Herrin, Murphysboro, Giant City, Johnston City, Marion, Tamms, Elkville, Pinckneyville, Desoto, Christopher, are the schools that are participating. I know several fellow bloggers and readers of my blog that are from all of those towns!

Here is how to help:
Donate Food
Help Pack Backpacks
Or Sponsor a Gum Drop child

Food Items needed are posted below:

How awesome would it be to make this a family activity? You could take your child to the store to pick out the food for their Gum Drop friend! Please visit their website http://www.gumdropkids.org

Girls, I know that we can make a small dent in that 487 backpacks still needed. Will you be one of those that feeds a hungry child in your hometown?

To all my fellow bloggers, if you are willing to help, copy and paste this on your blog so it will be passed on to several more of us. It is unexcusable that a child go hungry anywhere, especially in our hometowns!

You can sew just about anything!

Wren loves anything that has that crinkle sound or has tags. So I decided to make her something with both. I began thinking what I had that I could use for the crinkle material. As I was looking through my pantry I decided that a potato chip bag would be a perfect (and free) option. Surprisingly, it held up beautifully during the sewing process. I was so happy to finally get to use this material. I have had this fabric for 4 years now. I love the Olivia series, so when I saw it I bought it right away, knowing that someday down the line I would use it! So here is the final product! I made it in less than 15 minutes. Talk about re-purposing!

Completely Free Project!

The finished result

A happy little bird and her favorite pig.

Weekend of Random

Ryan left on a little ski vacation, leaving Wren and I to have some girl time this weekend. We had a wonderful time, eating out, shopping, and visiting with our family. She even got to go to our favorite restaurant Thai Taste!! We had a wonderful weekend but we are glad Ryan is home!

Friday night dinner with Nanny and Grandpa

These two are ridiculous

Big girl in a high chair!

Love this shot

I just had to!

Happy Valentines Day!

Guess who is 5 months?

Little Wren....you are 150 days old today. Let's review the month you have had!
You are starting to sleep a little bit better than you were in the previous month. You go down around 630, wake up at 1230 for your paci, wake up at 220 to eat, and 520 to eat again. I then usually feed you before I go to work and you are up for good around 8.
We started feeding you bananas and rice cereal. You love the bananas.
You have started playing games with us. During your lunch dates with your Grandpa, I'm told you play your "lunch" game. This is where you and Grandpa take turns shrieking at each other back and forth.
You are taking anywhere between 2-5 30 min naps a day.
We have ate a several restaurants this month. You sit in your Chicco travel chair like a big girl.
You are trying to hold your bottle.
You are taking your paci out of your mouth and putting it back in.
You have started taking sink baths.
You are 26 inches long and weight 17 lbs.
You are wearing 6-9 clothing and size 2 diapers.
You hair is still wild and is turning a shade of reddish brown.

Happy 5 month birthday my little bird! I have to say that everyone one was right. Being a mother is the best thing I have ever experienced. It amazes me (I know you mothers can agree) that when I'm so exhausted I still get up with excitement to see your little smiling face all snuggled up in your crib. I can't wait to pick you up and fill you full of love for the day. I love you my sweet little bird. Also, Happy 1st Valentines Day to a girl that has stolen our hearts and smothers us with little open mouthed kisses everyday.

Superbowl Sunday!!

It's a sad day for Wren. Tonight is the last football game for awhile. This morning I made us both Steelers headbands and I made Wren a Steelers onesie. We traveled down the road to our "extended" neighbors house for a party. What is it about Superbowl that makes you want to consume anything and everything in sight! The food was wonderful! Lauren enjoyed watching the game on our friends ginormous tv! Here's to a wonderful end to her first football season.

If you aren't a fan, the picture is of the Steelers coach. Very Obama like. : )

Here's the back. I added the logo and a close up of her matching hairband!
She loves him so much.
Horrible picture, but it shows our matching hair gear. : )

Lately......

It's Saturday night around 7:30. My plans are to post and to go to bed!! If I can be in bed by 8 pm, I will be so excited! I thought I would share just a few pictures of what's been going on lately around our household.

Lots of kisses

Venturing out to eat without any meltdowns

Sink baths

Bath time!

Just a few photos after her bath. I love that little squeaky clean baby!

Go Bears!!!

Let's hope the Bears pull through and beat the Packers this afternoon. It will be a fantastic Super Bowl if they do!!!

She's getting excited about the kickoff!

Lauren and Grandpa watching the first quarter.

A Wren in Jeans.........

When I picked Wren up from her Nanny's today, she had on these ruffled jeans that were just too cute. I leave before she gets up in the morning and my mother is so kind that she comes and sits waiting patiently until the little bird wakes up. So when I see her after work, it's always a surprise what she is wearing that day. I love that little jean wearing bird. Those chubby checks get me every time!!

You know you're a mom when.........

*** DISCLAIMER, if your squimish, don't read on.

Wren is soooo sick. So sick in fact that tonight she couldn't eat because she couldn't breathe. I had used the hospital syringe all day and we weren't getting anywhere. I had looked online

and saw this. NoseFrida, The Snot Sucker. Yeah that's right, the mom has the tube in her child's nose sucking out the snot. Now before you say, "What!! That's disgusting!" There is a filter that catches all the snot before it gets to the "suckers" mouth. Since I live in So. IL there were no local retailers. Since the reviews on this contraption were phenomenal, I knew that I could rig a NoseFrida of my own!

I took some tubing from my breast pump, cut it to a 4 inch piece and literally sucked the snot out of her nose! Not once did I ever encounter snot. So there you go.....You know you're a mom when you can suck out snot of your kid's nose. And you know what? It worked. She's sleeping peacefully right now! Moms, isn't it amazing the lengths we will go to to help our babies?

4 Month Stats.........

(Picture as she was spiting up, which she thought was hilarious!)

Well Wren, it was your four month birthday on 1-13-11. Here are some
little tidbits on how you are growing so far.........

You are 24 inches long and weigh 16.8 lbs
Two weeks ago we entered the four month sleeping regression club. You won't take your 3 hour naps anymore. They are a 30 minute nap to the second. At night you are waking up several times to eat and to fuss at me.
You rolled over on New Years Day!
The crickets you listened to at night and during nap time have left and have been replaced with a heavy rain sound. (I miss the crickets.)
You have found your tongue and like to lick everything you have in your hands, including your hands.
You tried rice cereal for the first and last time. You ate off a spoon beautifully but are still constipated from it!
You are starting to realize people you know from strangers, hence the screaming.
You have your first "lovie", who you seem to have an affection to.
We can't decide if you have gotten your first cold or if you are battling sinus allergies. (if it's allergies, it's official. You are 100% your father.)

I included this one because I can see a little resemblance of me in her. You think?

Can you believe it?

I told Wren that I couldn't believe that tomorrow was going to be her four month "birthday".


She and Sissy couldn't believe it either. Look at those little bird lips! They are just too much for me! Too much! Seriously, four months! I can't believe it!

Christmas Morning

I thought I would post a quick little video of Wren on Christmas morning. Enjoy!

Wren and Sissy.......

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!
Now onto our newest family addition, Sissy. (Ryan is the one who named her.) Sissy is a Taggie Baby that Wren got for Christmas. She is just the right size for our little bird. Most of the time she holds her close and likes to try to eat her face. I see this being her first "lovie". It's so sweet to see her holding her!

Sissy and Wren at the changing table

Sissy enjoying her first Bears game.