Ergo Question

I have taken the advice that many of you have given me, and am pretty sure that I'm going to get an Ergo. I convinced Monte to get me one for my birthday, which is coming up. But I'm still being a bit hesitant, which is why I haven't ordered it yet. Just when I think I'm ready to order it, I think I can get by with the Baby Bjorn. I used the Bjorn almost constantly for the first three months, but haven't really used it since then until last week. We had a very short lived wave of nice weather (now it's back to cold and snow) and I decided to put Jaymes in the Bjorn (his first time outside EVER without being covered up with a blanket, can you believe it?!) so I would be free to hang out with Isabella, push her on the swingset, etc. And now I'm thinking if we had an Ergo it would get used a lot with summer coming up, and would make things so easy when we're out and about! So my question is, for those of you that have an Ergo, I'm trying to decide between the Ergo and the Ergo Sport. They are the same price, but the sport version is made of a lighter weight fabric, has vents for keeping parent and baby cool, but doesn't have as big of zippered pocket. So, do you or your kids get really hot in the regular Ergo? And how big is the zippered pocket in the regular Ergo, I would think that would be really handy to have. Also, is it hard to get your child in and out of it by yourself? I've read some reviews that said it is. That's one thing I like about the Bjorn, it's very easy to get him in and out (not so easy on the shoulders, though!).

Ready to go outside, he loved it!

Curls

It's a little hard to see in pictures, but Jaymes is getting really curly hair. Monte and I both have naturally curly hair (I usually straighten mine) so it's not a huge surprise that Jaymes is getting curls. It's more of a surprise that Isabella doesn't even have a single wave in her hair! Of course my boy would be the one to get the curls! :)

Glad to be home

We just got back a couple of days ago from a little vacation. Well, vacation for the kids and I, but the reason we went was because Monte had four days of meetings/classes to attend. So the kids and I decided to tag along. We hardly saw Monte at all, maybe an hour a day. By the end of our stay Isabella was crying because she missed Daddy so much. Luckily, Monte's dad works for the same company, so I had my mother-in-law there to help out most of the time. Isabella had a blast with Grandma, they spent a lot of time in the pool, and I went swimming with her on the last day. We had a suite overlooking the pool, which Isabella was THRILLED about! We also spent one day shopping, which was exhausting. Jaymes really doesn't sleep unless he's in his crib, then he sleeps great, but you can pretty much forget about him sleeping anywhere else. So the day of shopping about did him in! I finally took him in the mother's lounge at the mall, where it was quiet and free of distractions for him, and he finally went to sleep, then slept in his carseat in the stroller for a while (I'm thinking I would love an Ergo, just seems like a lot of money, though). He also got his first tooth while we were gone! That made for an off and on fussy baby! So we didn't really see Daddy, had an over tired, off schedule, teething baby, but . . . Isabella had a blast, and I admit, it was fun to get away, plus spend time with my mother-in-law. I will also add, though, if we go on vacation this summer, we are considering leaving Jaymes with Grandma and Grandpa, then he can feel free to sleep in his bed until his little heart is content.

Jaymes even got his feet wet, and loved it! Hanging out with Grandma.

Jaymes is very happy to be home.

A new shirt, her and Daddy's favorite! The kids needed spring/summer clothes. It's crazy, I don't even hardly look at clothes for myself anymore, just head straight to the kids stores/departments. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only mom that does this!

Look A-likes?

There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't make some comment about how much Jaymes looks like and reminds me of Isabella. I think they look / act exactly the same! Judge for yourself. :) Isabella is a little older in these pictures, but they were the easist pictures for me to find.

Baby Isabella

Baby Jaymes

So Happy!

My Girl

Jaymes seems to be getting most of my blog attention because, well, he's a baby and constantly changing. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about my sweet girl! :) My little 4 year old is getting so grown up! She has turned into an amazing big sister to Jaymes, and loves to play with him (except for a brief moment today when he spit up on her blanket - how dare he!). She's kind hearted, a huge people pleaser, and still extremely sensitive (maybe too sensitive I worry).

I've been teaching her to read lately, and that has been very exciting for both her and I! She will be attending preschool this coming fall, which she's quite excited about. I was okay with it until we got the letter yesterday telling us that preschool will be changing to 4 days a week. In our school district, kids cannot go to preschool until they are 4 (which I totally agree with), so this is their first school experience, and my opinion is that 4 days a week is too much when they are just starting out. I did call the teacher today, and learned that I am not the only parent concerned about this, so they may in fact leave it at 3 days a week, and if they do decide to have it 4 days a week, we don't have to send her the full 4 days (since we are paying for it, we can decide) we can just have her go 3 days a week, which is definitely what we will do. So it looks like she will be going 3 days a week, either mornings or afternoons starting in August. We have been open to all sorts of schooling options (homeschooling, private, and public). We have decided that for now homeschooling is not for us, the private schools are just too far away (20-30 miles, we'd never be able to get to them with our horrible winters, plus the cost, and our public school is very good, and nice and small). Plus, our public school has a 4 day week (Mon-Thurs), so I'll always have my kids home with me 3 days a week.

This was taken today, I can't wait for ALL the snow to melt, but I don't think it will happen soon.

Icicle!

These were also taken today at Gymnastics, Isabella is in the blue leotard.








I had a good laugh when I saw this picture. Check out the girl laid out flat on the right side of the picture, apparently she's had enough!

Baby Blues

Can't get enough of these big, blue eyes!