mama's favorites

A couple of my friends have cataloged some of their favorite mommy & kidlet items and it was really interesting to see what was on their particular list. It goes to show how unique a mom's experience can be in what things really stand out in their mind as their must-haves. It also was great for getting ideas for things that I or Riley might enjoy! So I've been thinking about my list the past month or so. This is what I came up with after two years of motherhood...

MY MUST-HAVE ITEMS:
1) Medela Pump-n- Style Advanced Breast Pump -- I think this pump is da bomb and what was even better, my insurance paid for it under the "medical equipment" allowance since I was planning to return to work. Cool!
2) My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow -- goofy name but after the Boppy kept falling off my belly, this one fit perfect.
3) Fisher Price Swing -- the kind that goes side to side or front to back.
4) Bumbo Seat


ITEMS I'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF USE OUT OF:
1) JJ Cole Logic Diaper Bag -- perfect for the minimalist!
2) Chariot Carrier jog stroller/bike trailer -- spent more for a used one of these than anything else for Riley and it was worth every penny.
3) Floppy Seat Shopping Cart / High Chair cover
4) One Step Ahead Oversized Spill Mat -- my floors stay cleaner during meals.
5) Ultimate Crib Sheet -- waterproof, mattress pad/sheet that snaps around the crib slats for easy changing. The only downside is it doesn't come in more than two colors.
6) Portable DVD player -- essential for long trips with toddlers in the car or plane.


FAVORITE KIDS CDS:
1) Sleep Sound in Jesus (Michael Card) -- a beautiful, scriptural lullaby album
2) No (They Might Be Giants) -- We love all of TMBG's CDs, including Here Come the 123's & Here come the ABCs
3) Snacktime (Barenaked Ladies) -- Who else writes an ode to snacktime with dreams of world peace??
4) Awesome God (Sovereign GraceMusic) -- It's like Hannah Montana signing reformed theology. "Your Love" is our favorite jam...Riley loves it!
5) Meltdown (Justin Roberts) -- Great lyrics and oh-so-catchy music. Grab Pop Fly while you're at it.
6) Hide 'Em in Your Heart (Steve Green) -- Short Scripture verses put to music. A great way to get God's Word into their heads -- and yours.


FAVORITE BOOKS (for kids):
1) Barnyard Dance -- board books don't get more fun than this one!
2) The Foot Book -- Riley has the board book and the "real" one for later
3) Foodie Babies Wear Bibs -- Part of the "Urban Babies Wear Black" series. We like the "Winter Babies" one too.
4) Good Night Boston
5) Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers -- a gift from his "Gramma Betsy", it's perfect for his short attention span.
6) Yummy Yucky -- every time we come to "Burgers are Yummy, Boogers are Yucky", Riley sticks his fingers in his nostrils...very cute.

Though Riley's not yet ready for this book, I have to tell y'all about a book I came across that I'm really excited about. It's called The Big Picture Story Bible. This is a great book for preschoolers & older. Unlike most Bible story books that retell popular Bible stories, this book approaches the Bible as a historical narrative that reveals God as sovereign over history and perfectly fulfilling his promises to his people. It's reveals how active God is in accomplishing his will through the events of the world. It has interactive questions for kids that make it a great devotional book.


FAVORITE DVDS / TV SHOWS:
1) Blues Clues -- we have Classic Clues and Blue's Big Musical Movie for 100% Steve.
3) Curious George -- Free on PBS!
4) Veggie Tales -- We really like Ballad of Little Joe, Josh and the Big Wall, Dave & the Giant Pickle, but I think you can't go wrong with Big Idea.
5) Bob the Builder


FAVORITE BOOKS (for moms):
1) The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer -- She gives her advise on how to help babies establish a routine early on by using the E.A.S.Y. system -- Eat, Activity, Sleep & You time. This way of approaching new motherhood was just right for someone like me who craves order, predictability and routine. I realize that a "routine" may seem restrictive to those who enjoying just taking things as they come. The interesting thing about methods is that they reflect the personality, temperament and priorities of the parents (or more specifically, mother). So there seems to be a number of them that "work" for different types of people. The Baby Whisperer's worked for me.
2) Baby 411 -- This was my quick reference guide for all things baby.
3) The Baby Book -- This was my extended reference guide, when I wanted more data to consume on a subject.


MOST USEFUL ADVISE RECEIVED:
1) To help an infant to sleep without props, the Baby Whisperer advises to order their routine as sleeping, eating and activity. If sleeping comes before eating and after activity (bath, tummy time, reading etc), then sleeping won't be dependent on feeding in order to occur. I found Riley was also more likely to stay awake for the feeding and fill his belly up if it followed his sleep time.

2) Start as you intend to go on. Meaning, think about whether you are establishing a pattern that cannot or should not be maintained in the long run.

3) This advise from my lactation consultant: Pump a bottle of breastmilk for your husband to give to your baby during the night, if he's willing. For us, it meant that each of us got at least 5 hours of sleep, even when Riley was a newborn. I would nurse Riley in the late evening, go to bed and Jonathan got up a few hours later to give Riley a bottle of expressed milk. I got up for the next feeding, while Jonathan slept. Having 5 solid hours of sleep was a Godsend.

4) Enjoy every stage of development, because they move through them so quickly. Each one has very special memories.

in the office with daddy

One of the upsides of self employment is that if we have no daycare on any given day I can just take Riley into work with me. My boss loves to have him there. Actually, so do my patients. Some of them have even asked me to call them in the past to let them know he'd be there.

As he's gotten older it's been more fun in a lot of ways. The biggest is that he "helps" me do my job. This time he actually "helped" me adjust every patient that came in. My patients get a real kick out of it. He also helps me by bringing ice packs to all of my patients who need to be iced. Really fun stuff. Here are some pictures:

Chiropractor of the future?















The Doctor performs an adjustment















Patient of the present...















At the end of the day we had a couple of special patients come in. First was our babysitter Laura who Riley always enjoys spending time with. He played with the lights while she played along.

The lights in Daddy's office

Lastly, Gramma Betsy came in. You'll see a separate post about his day with her. His reward for being such a good boy all day was to get a chance to "drive" her car while Daddy shut the office down. Here's a picture of Betsy, her dog Jessie and Riley:

Driving Boy















I love having my boy in the office with me. I wish I could take him in every day. Of course that would mean I would NEVER get any paperwork done...


Jonathan

alaskan week in review

The major things we did while in Anchorage we've covered in our other posts. There were some miscellaneous happenings that deserve note though. So here goes.

There was plenty of just plain hanging out with family that went on:

Blueberries were shared with Poppa














Blueberries were shared with Grammy














Riley did some technical reading with Uncle Brian














The boys liked to watch Bob the Builder and Veggie Tales together














There were many playgrounds to play at, but this one had something Daddy could ride with Riley














Riley especially loved the fact that all the playgrounds were filled with gravel...














There was plenty of eating out:

We celebrated Poppa's 70th birthday at the Arctic Roadrunner














We went with Grammy to Moose's Tooth for yummy pizza














Shelby and I went out for dinner (thanks to Grammy and Poppa for the gift card) at Simon & Seaforts which is much more upscale than their 'saloon' moniker would suggest. It was great. Afterward Shelby got this picture of the sunset at 10:15 pm. It would go on for over an hour...














Riley loved the house that Grammy and Poppa made for him. Here's another shot of him looking out the window:














A trip to Alaska is not complete without spotting a Moose. It's usually pretty easy because they tend to wander all over the city. Shelby saw this guy while running the Coastal Trail and we got a picture of him in the same area the next day:














One of the things I was most looking forward to was taking Riley down a two story slide that is in the church building that Shelby's parents go to. The church is called Changepoint and their building is mammoth. The kid's area is called "Adventure Land" (it's big enough for the name too) and the slide is just off of it. I took Riley down the slide last year and he was terrified. This year it was a different story. Can you say, "More, more"? Take a look:














Lastly, all week we planned to take Riley down to Point Woronzoff so that we could go down to the beach to throw rocks in the water (a favorite pastime) and watch planes take off from the airport whose runway ends just before the park. So Friday morning we hopped in the car and drove down there.

The beach is at the bottom of a steep hill. Beaches in Alaska aren't like I'm used to in New England. They are covered in small rocks and gravel and have very shallow silty water. The key thing here though is that the water is COLD.

Riley had fun throwing rocks in the water for a little while. A couple of pictures:

Nice action shot














That one got away from him














Next though, Riley caught us all by surprise...

Yes, He found out precisely how cold the water is. You can tell how much he enjoyed it as well... If you watch carefully you can see the precise moment that it came to mind to run into the water. It was not premeditated. Fortunately it didn't stop us from enjoying some planes:

The Aftermath...and a plane

For the record, Riley claimed he wasn't wet.

Finally it was time to head home. We had a 12:50 am redeye out of Anchorage. Shelby caught a quick nap, Riley slept for about three hours and I stayed up. We were all in great shape when we got on the plane. Fortunately Riley slept for a little while on the first leg into Portland. So did I. Shelby, who was holding him, didn't. Thankfully the portable DVD player and the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer kept her occupied while she held her sleeping boy. Here's a frazzled looking Riley in the Portland airport:

Breakfast is done, let's go home!














It was a great week. I'm enjoying the trips out there more each time. It's kind of fun to go to someplace that is so very different while still being so much the same as what we're used to at home. It'll be more fun as Riley gets older as well. It will also be easier...


Jonathan

browning-rinner-beeman reunion

No trip to Alaska is complete without getting together with some of our longtime family friends from Grace Baptist Church & Grace Baptist Academy. Every time I return I get to see one or two people that I haven't seen in a coon's age along with the usual suspects that show up for the party at our house.

This year, along with the Rinner family, we got to see a couple of the Beeman kids now all grown up with kids. I thought it amusing that the "little kids" like Tiff, Brandon & Alisa are older than some of my Boston friends that I currently hang out with. Those 5 or so years of age difference don't mean a hoot now. Growing older really is the great equalizer.

Thankfully, the weather was nice and the kids were able to play outside most of the time. Here's some snaps for your enjoyment:

The Patriarch & Matriarch of the Rinner Clan, Ed & Dee:














Shane & Mandy with Tagan:














Brandon with Blaise & Ainsley:














Jeremy & Tiff with Ransom:














Trey & Alisa with Zeke:














Chris & his eldest, Savannah:














Riley & Ransom shared food & drink as well as toys:




























Riley flirted a bit with Tagan:














The big kids loved playing with Mandy:














While the little kids had fun in Poppa's playhouse:














Inside, you can see all the "men" in the kitchen ( J's leg in on the left in front of Riley ):














Alisa was one of my favorite roommates in Nashville back in the late 90's:














Tiff & I both married mountain bikers, have pierced noses and share some holistic parenting perspectives. I like comparing notes with her:














Growing up together, Shane and I fought A LOT, but that ended in high school and we play nice and set a good example for our kids:














It was a great way to end another wonderful trip home to Alaska.

Shelby

the alaska zoo

Riley loves looking at pictures of animals and making their noises, so a zoo is a no brainer. Anchorage has a zoo that's for animals from Alaska called the Alaska Zoo.

The animals that are kept in the zoo are mostly injured and unable to survive in the wild. In some cases animals that are going to be transitioned back into the wild are kept there as well. It's an interesting place, with many things you'd never see (or want to) without binoculars. Some pictures:

We started with Polar Bears














The Wolf cage














A Moose at its' leisure














Bald Eagle














Usually you see Dall Sheep with binoculars and they are waaaaayyy up the mountain...














Brown Bears














Daddy and boy at the Brown Bear cage














Caribou














Yaks














Unimpressed by the Black Bears














He loved the Alpacas...














His favorite thing was the rocks though














There was also a small Petting Zoo. At first Riley was a little afraid of the animals, but he warmed up to the situation quickly:

Petting a goat with Mama














Video

It was Riley's first zoo. I think there will be more in the future...


Jonathan

flattop

Our trips to Anchorage are mostly full of hanging out with family and friends, especially since Riley came into the picture. Even so, there's usually a little time for some more active things to be put into the schedule. This time around Shelby and I took advantage of the free babysitting to hike Flattop.

Flattop is a small mountain on the outskirts of Anchorage and is part of the Alaska State Park system. For those of you who are used to using the state parks in other areas of the country, keep in mind that what you'll be seeing is within the Anchorage city limits. And for those who did youth work with me, there were church youth groups on the mountain. This is a youth group activity there. Alaska is very different than the lower 48...

Shelby and I hiked Flattop when we visited in 2006. I remember enjoying MOST of the hike, but hating the last little bit on the way up and the first little bit on the way down. Fortunately I've either toughened up a bit or we took an easier route this time. I'm somewhat crazy on a mountain bike, but a rock climber I'll never be.

The weather was absolutely flawless, even at the top. The last time cold winds were howling up top. This time it was comfortable and we were able to enjoy taking pictures. The trail was mostly dry and dusty, but there was actually a bit of snow here and there. Some pictures:

Shelby in the snow














You can tell by the look on my face I'm just barely tolerating the snow














Snow covered with volcanic ash














The trail sign just before the hardest part; there were small kids and dogs at the top



















Shelby climbing














Me climbing














Flowers in the rocks














There were a few other climbers...














Shelby and I at the top














Alaska is just plain big














Video from the top

A perfect day for a hike and some amazing scenery. And I never felt like I was going to die. Unlike last time. I'll be looking forward to taking Riley someday. Not as soon as the Alaskans take their kids...I bet he'd like the climbing even now though.


Jonathan