Kimber's Navy Family

At the risk of sounding like a crazy Tula lady, I decided to write a blog post on Tulas. A friend of mine was asking me about Tulas the other day and when I started explaining the different kinds {canvas, wrap conversions} and about the stockings and buy/sell/trade pages, I realized there is a lot of information to take in and that I must, indeed, sound like a crazy Tula lady. So here it goes.... {In this blog post, I am only going to discuss the Tula buckle carriers , not the ring slings or woven wraps .} First of all, you are probably wondering what a Tula is. It is an ergonomical baby carrier, along the same lines as a Boba or an Ergo ; all three of these are also in the same price point. I really like this blog post by the Happy Hippie Homemaker that explains the differences between the three, " Ergo vs Boba vs Tula carrier comparison. " The blog post is biased towards Tulas, but it still does a good job showing the differences between each carrier. Why did I c...

Motherhood teaches you a lot about yourself, about character flaws you didn't realize you had previously. For one, I've had to develop a thicker skin. I know, more than once, I had to consciously not take it personally that our son decided to say "Dada" before "Momma." Ironically, when he said "Dada," he wasn't even spending anytime with Daddy. Daddy was out to sea! As a logically thinking parent, it is wonderful that your son is saying Daddy. As a tired woman balancing a toddler, the Navy, and living away from family, why can't your son recognize all the hard work you put in and say "Momma"? Not only have I needed to put small things like that in perspective, but the larger things have forced me to thicken my skin and stand my ground as well. We recently went to parent orientation at my son's preschool. The teacher explained that on the first day, the students will be given a card to write their name on that will sit on the...

 After a year with twins, we have been through our share with baby products. I try everything that comes my way or that fits in our budget. Here is what has worked well for us and some things that haven't. 1. Graco Pack'N'Play Before the babies were mobile, this was their go-to place while we were home. We knew where they were and that they were safe from a very "helpful" older brother. For travel, we used them as cribs. Now that they are a year, they are a great way to keep them contained when we play outside with D or if we are doing a less-friendly baby activity, such as a Legos. We love our Pack'N'Play. Bright Stars Play Yard in front 2. Bright Stars Play Yard Major thumbs down. My parents have a Graco Pack'N'Play at their house and we have a Graco Pack'N'Play. We bought a Bright Stars Play Yard because it was cheaper than buying another Graco Pack'N'Play-- big mistake. It looks nice, but it is a total pain to fol...

The first six months we have relied on a variety of baby products and techniques to make our life easier. Here they are: 1. Posting the schedule. If you ever plan on leaving the house sans children, your spouse or sitter will need to know the schedule. Make it easy. There will be reasons to leave the house: hair cut, picking up a medication, your own doctor appointments, running to the store, a much needed spa day, taking your other children somewhere. This saves you from writing it down every time you have to leave the house and it may prevent you from stalker calling your husband every five minutes, "Did you wake up the babies? Did you feed them? Did you give O his medication?" 2. Roll with the punches. Your clothes need to be washable. You need to be able to walk in your shoes. You need to be able to get ready in twenty minutes. You need to dress your new body type (even if it is a work in progress). You will be doing a lot of laundry, changing a lot of diapers, boun...

Our schedule has seriously made a world of difference. To go from 45 minute (max) sleep stretches to a full night's sleep (7 pm to 6:30 am) is... is there a word? My mind feels like it is actually connected to my body. I remember things. My eyes aren't black and baggy. I don't have a glazed expression and I can remember where I live. Conversations with friends don't involve strange looks (Me: "How old is he?" Her: "6 months." Me: "Aw! How old is he?" Her: glare). I drive to Target and not only remember what I wanted to buy, but I also remember that I have a list in my purse. With a full night's sleep to look forward to every night, we got a puppy. He sort of fell in to the family. I've heard from a lot of people that I was crazy (in a joking manner) and that I was crazy (in a serious manner). Animal people get it: I love having L to cuddle with after the babies go to sleep for the night, to sit with me during feedings, or to bou...

June 10th blog from our family website: The babies were 8 weeks old yesterday, 2 months. On one hand, I cannot believe that they are already 2 months old. On the other, what a busy two months! When they turned one month old, I wrote a blog about what has been essential to our day-to-day life. They were: my stroller, Itzbeen timer, Purex 3-in-1 washer dryer sheets, the diaper caddy, Munchkin formula holder, our Pack'n'Play, and the Boppy pillow. This past month we pretty much use the same things, but differently. 1. STROLLER: Our stroller still is what gets us from the van to the house and back out again, but now I take the babies everywhere! We go to the park almost everyday. I roll that thing over the grass, the bark chips at the park, gravel, and the sand on the side of the road (not like at the beach, haven't tried it out there yet). We go to the mall, out to lunch, and take walks. D uses his standing board all the time and the stroller maneuvers everywhere we t...