Book suggestions

See this pile?

I read this entire stack of books to Ian this afternoon...and several of the books were read multiple times.

I feel like I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. There's only so many times you can read the same book with the same excitement. Therefore, I am looking for book suggestions! Ian really likes the Sandra Boynton books, Eric Carle books, and a few others. Any out there you would recommend?

Cheap solution to protect your crib!

Don't worry, I haven't abandoned my blog! Although, it sure does feel like it.

We have been extra busy around here lately. My brother is getting married in less than two weeks so we've been trying to get all of those annoying projects that always seem to stay on the to do list, done. In addition, I have a 10 month-old who is only happy when he is WALKING around (with the aid of mommy's hands). This makes it slightly difficult to get anything accomplished.

I will say, that I did get this accomplished the other day...

I stole this idea from my friend Dawn (click to go to her blog)...instead of buying those expensive crib protectors, just buy enough fleece to make a cover yourself. If you have a crib like mine, you won't need to protect the back rail so about a yard and half should be enough fabric. Just cut the appropriate length and then cut strips to tie together. Voila. Cheap and easy solution to eliminating teeth marks on the crib railings (although I will say I was one nap too late...I have a nice little chunk of wood out of one side rail. At least it won't be used when it coverts to the full sized bed :))!

Happy Fourth of July!

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up we had fantastic parties with everything from basketball, softball, and horseshoes, to fireworks and croquet. Ahh...they were great! Lots of food and friends!

We didn't get to do that much celebrating this year - what with a nine-month-old and all. But we did manage to make it down to Rockets over Rhema for Ian's first firework show. Despite being up two and half hours past his bedtime (for those of you who know my analness about schedules I'm sure  you're in shock right now), Ian was a champ. And he loved the fireworks! It was so cute to see his little face light up.

We also got to spend Saturday afternoon/evening with Brett's family. Ian especially enjoyed playing in the pool with his cousin Wyatt. Aren't they cute?

On the actual Fourth we spent the evening on our back patio watching the neighborhoods across County Line shoot off a bazillion fireworks. It was great being able to watch a pretty great fireworks show from the comfort of our own house (and the little one was asleep to boot).

Hope everyone else had a nice relaxing Fourth of July weekend! God Bless America!

A good nights sleep...I wish

So we are in desperate need of a new mattress...there are "wells" on both sides of the bed where we sleep and a ridge down the middle. As you can imagine, this has made both Brett and I a little stiff in the morning. I decided it was time for a new one when I had trouble getting Ian out of his crib the other morning. Enough is enough!

We have needed one for quite a while but I have put it off for at least a year and half because I didn't want to spend the money. I still don't, but I'm TIRED of not sleeping and my back aching.

We currently have some sort of Serta pillowtop mattress. I can safely say that I will never purchase another pillowtop. What a waste of money. They all sag and dip (I will say I was warned - wish I had listened). This leads me to the question...what do I get???? I've been researching for weeks and still haven't come to any conclusion. I had almost made up my mind to get this Englander mattress, but after stumbling onto a website with a plethora of poor reviews, I decided it wasn't worth the chance despite the rave reviews from the lady who sells it.

Tempurpedic and Sleep Number beds are out for us because at this point they are cost prohibitive. I think I want memory foam, but I've heard they sleep hot so that could be a problem for Brett. Then I saw this last night. I think it might be my dream bed (well it might be after I actually try it). It's the new Serta iComfort. It has some sort of cooling gel in the foam that alleviates the heat concern of foam mattresses. JCPenny has it on sale for essentially 1/2 half, but still, the price is a little steep. Maybe I'll have to enter Serta's contest to win a free one...yeah right. I've never even won a game at a baby shower!

I LOVE the idea of the iComfort so I have now been looking for a cheaper alternative. I found something that is reasonable and comparable on Amazon. The only problem? I can't lay on it.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on a mattress they love (or hate)? I open to any ideas at this point!