Category: Everything Else

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Babies Everything Else

AppleCheeks Cloth Diapers

I remember hearing about AppleCheeks cloth diapers online way before I was pregnant. Their bright colors, fun names & cool designs stood out to me. Then I met the oh so fun & sweet Katie from AppleCheeks at BlogHer ’11. And even though Zach & Lucy were just a dream at that point, I looked forward to using the diaper she gave me on what I then called ‘future baby’.

Six week old Zach in his first cloth diaper 7/3

Katie & I have kept in touch, and when I mentioned that the AppleCheeks Wild Child size one diaper was the first cloth diaper Zach ever wore & how much I loved it, she offered ever so kindly to send me two more. Because both babies needed AppleCheeks love & one to spare!

So excited to receive fluffy mail!

I chose the Cherry Tomato {hello NCSU red!} & Appletini envelope covers & bamboo inserts because they were cheery, bright colors that would also work on either baby. After multiple washes & dries {I both line & dryer dry depending on how much time I have}, the colors are still as fun & radiant as ever.

Zach 10/13 in Appletini

And speaking of washing & drying, I also love that the soft bamboo insert in this pocket/envelope style diaper doesn’t need to be removed for washing. Unlike some inserts that get stuck in the pocket, these easily slide out in the wash aka no Suz digging out pee soaked insert FTW! And the inserts slide in easily enough that husband’s hands can do it.

Lucy in Cherry Tomato 10/12

These diapers are very trim fitting which means that while they work great on my skinny babies’ legs & booties, they might not be as perfect of a fit on chunkier babies. Although they’ve grown well as Zach was 7 lbs in the top photo & around 12 in the photo below.

Zach in Cherry Tomato 9/22

I’m hoping my babies will last in the AppleCheeks size ones {up to 20 pounds} for a while longer because they are honestly some of my favorite diapers they wear. It took me a little while to get these photos & this post done because they are a daycare top pick!

Lucy loving her AppleCheeks 10/12

I was provided AppleCheeks diapers to review but was not otherwise compensated for this review. All opinions stated are genuine & my own.

Categories
Reading

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin was my local book club’s October pick. We went out to dinner last week instead of meeting in our usual Starbucks room. So while we were supposed to discuss the book, instead catching up, babies, margaritas & tacos took precedence. Oh babies for sure as I’d brought L & Z with me & TWO other ladies in our group are currently pregnant with twins. Crazy exciting right?!

See why we didn’t get much book talk in? But I think the consensus was that we all enjoyed Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. The title is based on the childhood way to spell Mississippi, the setting of the present day novel about two men, Larry & 32, & how their lives have intertwined through the years.

It’s a crime drama that had me at the edge of my seat as I read it on the Kindle while pumping. It wasn’t scary but definitely was suspenseful. I was rooting for the two main characters the whole time in a way that made it hard to put the Kindle down.

And unlike some of the novels I’ve recently read, I actually liked the ending. I thought Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter wrapped up well. I’ve never read anything else by Tom Franklin, but I enjoyed this book enough that I want to look into what else he has. I would definitely recommend Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter to the casual reader, book clubber, guys as well as women.

Categories
Everything Else Reading

BlogHer Book Club: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie is young adult fiction and runs along the Hunger Games type of fiction. After some recent serious reads {Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter & Daring Greatly}, it was a refreshing change to have an easy read while I pumped away at work.

Matched is the first in a trilogy about Cassia, a seventeen year old girl on the cusp of adulthood & learning more & more everyday what that means. It’s set in a future North America where the government {aka Society} controls everything, what you eat, your job, which books/songs the citizens still have access to, even down to who you will marry aka be Matched with. The story begins at Cassia’s Matching ceremony on her seventeenth birthday just days before her precious grandfather’s Final ceremony.

While the government control {& possible future rebellion} is mentioned frequently in Matched, the focus of the story is Cassia & her love triangle. The childhood boy best friend Xander & the mysterious Ky who she’s learning more & more about.

I won’t give away too many spoilers, but suffice to say that I enjoy Matched a lot. So much so that I immediately upon finishing, jumped on my library’s website & requested Crossed, the  next in the series.

I’m intrigued to see where Crossed takes the story. I’d love to know more about how the society & government got from where we are today to total control. Can you imagine there only being 100 books? 100 songs? And I want to know more about the three emergency tablets to which all citizens are assigned.

You can join our BlogHer Book Club Matched discussion. I’ll be throwing out my two cents there too.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Categories
Everything Else Food Travel

B & Kevin’s Couples Shower

Beth {who ended up sick & unable to attend}, Kelly, Kim & I {& technically our spouses} gave our good friend B & her hubby-to-be an uptown Charlotte shower Saturday night.

The hostesses & the bride-to-be

We went with a luau themed drinks & dessert party.

All set up & ready for the guests!

For the drinks part served: Diana’s punch aka spiked Hawaiian punch, red & white wine, sodas & water, & had a 1/4 keg of Miller lite.

Cookies, Brownies, Dessert Sliders & Lemon Squares

Our desserts included: chocolate chip cookie bites, brownie bites, strawberries, pineapples, marshmallows, pretzels & melted milk chocolate in a chafing dish for dipping all the above.

Melted chocolate goodness for all!

We also had lemon squares with blueberries & raspberries, dessert sliders & vanilla cupcakes.

G cupcakes!

We decorated the cupcakes with mini umbrellas, hung Chinese lanterns, had wreaths made of the umbrellas & had bright flowers throughout. Oh & gave the happy couples lais!

They were a trip opening gifts~ taking their time & being so sweet!

The happy couple & the pitcher I gave them.

Laughing & joking & being so happy to have all their favorite people together in one place.

Party group!

Based on this crowd & party, I know the Apr wedding is going to be a blast!

B’s bridesmaids
Categories
Reading

BlogHer Book Club: Daring Greatly

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown was a bit tough for me.

I’m used to fiction. Where I can almost skim pages while also watching TV, care for babies, nursing or pumping at work. Where I can escape in the flow of words on a page.

But Brene Brown’s non-fiction, I guess really a self-help book, required thought. It’s not just because she’s covering a lot of research topics but because it takes what you think you know or think about everyday relationships & interactions and forces you to explore within yourself. I couldn’t skim words because then I’d miss a main point. I didn’t want to miss anything.

Daring Greatly refers to really putting yourself out there. Your real open-for-all-to-see-you-naked self. Being Wholehearted & vulnerable. I learned how it really takes courage & hard work to shake off the layers we use to protect ourselves, to fight off using shame to keep relationships at bay, to be vulnerable.

As a college sociology major, I related to her research & discussion on how men & women view shame, relationships/sex & vulnerability differently. There were so many places in the book where I was nodding along, mentally going ‘yes, I’ve done that, seen friends do that, my husband act that way & I now more clearly see why’.

Daring Greatly isn’t an easy read, but it’s a book I think I’ll hold on to. That I’ll pick up again as the babies get older & I need to more clearly show them that being a truely strong, healthy little example of feminine & masculine doesn’t mean to follow the definitions socity has created, but instead for them to be open & vulnerbale & real. God, I hope I can live up to that task.

Feel free to read more about Daring Greatly & join in the discussion at the BlogHer Book Club page.

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book CLub but the opinions expressed are my own.