Do any of you remember designer imposter fragrances?
They used to be all-the-rage (in my middle-school mind).
That was, until, I realized that they all smelled like a cheap, shitty version of the real designer fragrance.
"Imposter" was putting it mildly.

See, sometimes knock-off brands don't work.
Some times it's really true "you get what you pay for"





My mom has always said (with a sigh) that I was born with expensive taste.
Which is true.
And has been a constant set-up for huge frustration for my entire life, I want the brand name at the discount price. Most of the time, it just doesn't work out.

So I have to find a balance.
Some things I buy are "brand" while others are "knock-off".
I've categorized products pretty well (I think) in terms of what is okay to buy the knock-off for and what you really need to just splurge on.

Well imagine my inner turmoil when I turn on the t.v late at night and see an informercial for WEN.

Even the packaging is beautiful.
So what is Wen, you may ask?
Well, from what I gathered from the infomercial, it's pretty much magic for your hair.
PURE MAGIC.
See..Cara uses it.
Her hair is magical.

I became so infatuated with the idea of this magic hair product that I started PURPOSEFULLY watching the informercials. Sick, I know.
But...unfortunately, magic comes at a price.
And WEN is no exception.
Damn you expensive magic hair potion.
So what did I do (because I never give up that easily)....

I bought....................



REN!
I honestly can't even type it without laughing!
It's like  they didn't even TRY to get away from the original "WEN" name
I found REN at my local Walgreens.
I bought it half because I couldn't stop laughing at the label.
I'm pretty sure they will eventually get sued for copy writing, so I need to stock-up before they run out.

So?
I'm sure you're wondering...
Is REN as magic as WEN seems to be?
Yeah, I'm not sure.
Not magic, that's for sure.
But I will say that I like it a lot more than my old shampoo & conditioner routine.
The major magic power in this stuff (and WEN) is that it's a cleansing conditioner mixture.
It's not shampoo...it's conditioner, that cleans. So it's not going to strip your hair dry when you shampoo...and then you don't have to condition afterward because it's already a conditioner.

All you do is rub this all over your noggin and then let it sit while you do the rest of your shower activities. Then you rinse out at the end.
One word of warning...IT DOESN'T LATHER.
I know, it's kinda freaky.
So if you're the type that needs lather to feel like you're actually accomplishing something, then this is not the product for you.
Other than that (slight) downfall it smells awesome (I bought the mint flavor...flavor? scent.) and have liked it so far! My snarly, rat nest hair handles it well and even seems less likely to tangle in the hours after I wash & dry it (which is always a plus!)

Try it if you'd like.
I'd love for someone who actually can afford WEN to try REN and let me know if there's a difference!
Oh, and if Chaz Dean (the creator of WEN), or any of his people come across this little blog: Sorry I bought the knock-off to your brand. I'd love to try your version...if you send it to me for free :)

XOXO
Laurel

I think I'm going a little nuts. Everybody who's had a baby knows that besides feeding & changing your baby...and sleeping very little...the activity that takes up a lot of your time after giving birth is.................................................................................thank you cards.

Yup. You will be writing tons. TONS. When Steven & I got married we split up the thank you cards between the two of us and wrote them out over the course of 2 evenings. Quick, easy, done. When you have a baby they get drawn out...over LONG periods of time. You have your first baby shower...thank you cards.....maybe a second baby shower....thank you cards....you give birth & people come to the hospital....thank you cards....people come visit at your house....thank you cards....the baby gets baptized....thank you cards....OMG!!!!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you t...h...a..........
Exhausting. The next baby gift I give I am specifically going to write in the card, Please don't send me a thank you card. I know you appreciate the gift & I'd rather you spend time with your new baby than write me a thank you card for this rattle you've already received....3 other times...Love, Laurel.

So here's where I went a little nutty. We sent M.D. to the expensive daycare center for 1 day of fun & friend-making. Prior to sending him we did 2 tours of the facility. I dropped him off the day of his care and also picked him up. At none of these visits did anybody mention anything about paying them. What!? Drop-in care is obviously something they don't do very often because nobody seemed to be able to give me a straight answer. So I called. M.D.'s expensive day of fun was March 1st. I called and left a voicemail with the center on March 4th (Monday) asking somebody to call me back so I could find out how to pay them. Nobody called me back. WTF!? Don't you want my money??? The problem is...my "Laurel" side is saying, Sweet! Free expensive daycare day. Walk away Laurel. This is your blessing of the day. While my practical side is saying, Laurel! You have to find a way to pay them! They are your back-up daycare. They'll never take M.D. again if you don't pay them for the 1st time!!! 
**Notice my "Laurel" side and practical side are considered opposites...hmmm.... :)
Well, my practical side won-out...and apparently my insane side. Because I came up for a solution for how I was going to make this business take my money...whether they liked it or not.
I wrote them a thank you card.
Yup.
I know.
I'm an effing idiot.
But I did. I wrote a thank you card. I wrote thank you for taking such good care of M.D. and here is your check for an exorbitant amount of money that I really can't afford to pay you but I have to because my practical side says you'll deny me future childcare if I don't...phew. Okay so I kind of wrote that...a lot of that was more read-between-the-lines implied. I enclosed the check, licked the envelope, and put a stamp on it. I was actually proud of myself. How thoughtful they would think I was for not only paying them (when they clearly didn't want me to??) but also writing a thank you card to the staff.
I mailed the thank you card at 1pm on Friday, March 8th.
At about 2pm on Friday, March 8th I realized that I am a fucking lunatic.
I will be the laughing stock of this daycare center. A THANK YOU NOTE?! Geesh.
Let's ignore the fact, for one second, that I live approx 2 miles from this establishment, AND pass by it on my way home from work EVERY DAY. Let's just ignore that for a minute and focus on the fact that I MAILED a THANK YOU NOTE with MONEY because I couldn't get anybody to tell me how I was supposed to pay them for daycare. This is the bus of insanity and I'm the effing driver.

THANK YOU...for listening.

It's Friday again! Awesome! M.D. is at his new daycare center for the day...making BFFs and probably catching a cold. :)
In honor of it being Friday (thank god) I thought I'd share a humorous M.D. story to even further brighten your good spirits...because remember, IT'S FRIDAY!!!

Most kids aren't huge fans of going to church. I can't really blame them. When they aren't old enough to get what it's all about, church is basically a time where they have to sit still, be quiet, and listen to adults talk about things they don't understand for an hour of their day. It's basically the kid version of waterboarding.
M.D. is Lutheran. I grew up Catholic. Catholics and Lutherans have VERY different ideas about kids in church. I have noticed in the Lutheran church that there is a lot more focus on getting kids out of the sanctuary and into Sunday school classes while their parents sit and take part in the actual church service. Some Catholic churches are getting more into this idea...mine never was. So when it comes to baby M.D. I am stuck in my own traditions. Kids shouldn't get to go into some daycare facility during church...I see it as family time. You should sit in church together as a family. That's what my family did. All 3 of us kids were waterboarded together while our parents sat by and watched...with their eyes closed no-less. What the heck!? Why do I want my child to have to sit still & be quiet for an hour every week....because that's what I did. Sometimes there's no explanation for these traditions that rise up.

M.D. hates church. He already realizes that sitting still & being quiet for an hour is the opposite of a good time. M.D. has been to church a total of 3 times in his 5 months of life. Yup..I know...I'm going to hell. We started out with the best of intentions. We did take him for the first few weeks because, well, I didn't leave the house for the first few weeks. If we were leaving it was to go somewhere that sweatpants and greasy hair were welcomed. Church was not on that short list.
When we did take M.D. to church for the first time he slept through the whole thing. It was awesome.
The 2nd time M.D. attended church it was his baptism. He kinda had to be there. He was just shy of 2 months old...cried for part of the service...but who cares?! It was HIS baptism..he can cry if he wants to. 

The 3rd time M.D. attended church it was Christmas Eve service. It was this experience which has delayed any further church attending to this point. M.D. was asleep when we arrived. The church was packed. I had hoped to sneak a spot at the very back in case of a meltdown...always know your exit strategy! Unfortunately, we were running a little behind schedule....we were getting a 9 week old ready for church. We were escorted to a pew about halfway up the aisle (at least we got an "outside" spot). We purposely chose the children's service because I figured there'd be lots of noise to drown out M.D.'s cries. Lots of other babies to cry and scream and make him appear well behaved...or at least "the norm". What I didn't think through was that the children's choir was performing.

So...we arrived at church, got our seats, and M.D. continued to snooze. Awesome! Then the service started and it opened with a song by the children's choir. They did great. Cute. Not completely in-tune...thus the cute factor :) The song ended...and the applause started. APPLAUSE. Yup...M.D.'s not sleeping anymore, and not only that, but he's pissed because people woke him up! I got him out of his carseat without a peep but he had the look of revenge on his face. I distrated him with toys and looking at the people around us. He made it until the sermon. Of course he did. He was nice and quiet and well behaved until the church was completely silent except for the pastor speaking his sermon. This kid is a genius. The screaming started. I scooped him & the diaper bag up as quickly as possible and started power-walking down the aisle toward the back of the church. I faintly heard the pastor utter something about, Maybe that's the baby Jesus now! Followed by laughter from the congregation and eyes glued directly on me and my red faced child. FML. We spent the remainder of the service in the "crying room". There was a T.V. so we could watch the service as it was happening, but poor Steven was left to celebrate the Christmas Eve service alone. This totally defeats the purpose of family togetherness at church.
So, that's why we haven't been back yet. Pastor Phil or Paul, if you happen upon this blog, that's our excuse and we are sticking to it! We will be back...

So...weekend plans anyone? The D family is heading down to my hometown for a visit with my side of the family (Grandpa John E., Nana, Uncle Mark & Roby Clan here we come!!!) We are celebrating Uncle Mark's 23rd birthday...wow that makes me feel old!
Sunday we hopefully will have another day of R&R. I'm hoping to try out a new crockpot soup recipe. If I get the chance & if it turns out, I will be sure it share it on the blog :)
Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm a working momma...which oddly enough, I have discovered, is sort of rare in my neck o' the woods. Most women that I know that have children work part-time or less. I'm like the lone ranger out here! Regardless, I decided recently that I need to get M.D. and myself involved in some activities (Steven's allowed to join as he pleases....I'm not forcing parent groups on him...*wife bonus points*). So...I started looking into different activity groups that are available within our schedule...problem found. Since when do local child groups ONLY take place during the day? It's like they are TRYING to exclude us few-and-far-between working moms from joining in. C'mon! I'm not going to argue better or worse regarding stay-at-home mommying versus working mommying (because this blog will not be the platform of WWIII), however, I do believe that equal rights should be given to SAHM & Working Moms when it comes to child activities.

There is one...yes, ONE group that is available in the evenings. It's for "birth-5 years old". Seriously. WTF. So you're telling me you're going to stock a room full of newborns-5 year olds and somehow have organized chaos? Nope. You're going to have plain old f*cking chaos. I can't wait to watch. I'm bringing M.D. to f*cking chaos starting next month. I will report back...if we survive.

I suppose part of the incentive for me going to f*cking chaos group is to meet other moms in the area. I'm not from here. I don't hail from these parts...so I kind of started out fresh. Which is cool, except now that I have a child I have a helluva lot less time to go around making friends, nurturing friendships, and traveling to see my friends I've had forever in their distant lands. SO, I have to be resourceful. Who better to befriend than other moms with no time in their schedules? Except, how am I supposed to meet them? In the park by the swingset...sure...if it wasn't freezing cold outside. My best guess is at child groups...i.e. f*cking chaos group.
I'm a little nervous about the other moms at f*cking chaos. To be honest, my fear is not, what if they don't like me? In a complete selfish and narcissistic way I can admit my fear is, what if I hate the other moms?  Wow. That's awful. But true.

I have in my head a few types of 20-something-year-old mommies. These are 100000% stereotypes and totally irreverent..but I don't give a shit.

1) People who act like they don't have kids...even though they do
    -This type is seriously effing obnoxious when you are the type who has given up those drunk-fest Saturday nights/sleeping in Sunday Morning/go out on the town whenever you effing want in lieu of Friday nights at home with Grandpa's Magical Toys (awesome movie by the way...) Not obnoxious in a I'm-so-jealous-you-still-have-a-life type of way...but more of a why-are-you-acting-like-you-have-no-parental-responsibilities type of way. I can't be friends with these mommies...
    -I imagine their spawn to be rule-breakers. The kids who spit in your kid's face, bite them, steal their toys & laugh and run away. They don't give a shit..because their parents don't.

2) SAHM who think they are Martha Stewart
     -There are LOTS of SAHM mommies who are freaking awesome. Just because you stay at home does not mean you automatically are in my "no-potential-mommy-friendship" category. I just don't think I could stand having play-dates with a woman who has spent her day doing 1,000,000 arts & crafts, hand sewing her child's clothing, cleaned her entire home & made a 4-course-meal. I barely have time to shower. I don't have time for mommies like that in my life.
    -The spawn of the Martha-Stewart-Wannabe-SAHM is the kid whose parents believe will belong to MENSA at the age of 4, but the child is actually so scared of their own shadow they can barely make it through f*cking chaos playgroup without having a heart attack at age 2.

3) Mommies Like Me (obviously the best kind....*insert wink face*)
    -These are the holy grail to this momma...and if I can find Type 3 at f*cking chaos I will be super psyched. To explain: Mommies like me are moms who, still like to have fun, but realize their child(ren) and family are a priority over parties, friends, basically everything (except Jesus...duh!) We don't make 1,000,000 crafts/day or make 4 course meals every day but we sure work our asses off to make the best life for our child(ren) and spouse and ourselves too! Some of us work full time, part time, or not at all..and that's cool! We don't try to be something other than what we are. We are Moms, we are young women, we are effing great.
    -Our spawn are pretty effing great too. They're smart kids, but they still pick their noses and eat it sometimes...or a lot of the time. They throw tantrums but give the best snuggles at the end of the day. They don't try to be anythign other than what they are...because their parents showed them that's the way to do it. This is my goal for M.D.

Any other Type 3 Mommas out there?? Keep up the good work! Hope to see you at f*cking chaos.

Anybody who knows me, knows I'm horrible at crafts. I mean god-awful can't-even-make-a-popsicle-stick-christmas-tree awful. When I worked at Jesus Camp (not the camp's actual name) I would specifically tell my supervisor(s), Do not sign me up to teach a craft...For how can you teach what you cannot accomplish yourself?
Pinterest has caused major internal conflicts for me as I try to decide with each pin: Laurel, can you actually make this...or are you just wishing you could? Usually the answer is wishful thinking and I don't re-pin because who wants to be reminded of what they can't do. We all have our own strengths.

Anywho...This month we celebrated Jesus' belated-birthday with my Grandma Lu. When it came time to decide what Steven, M.D. and I should get her the answer was pretty clear: a picture of the most adorable baby in the world...M.D. of course! (insert wink face here). Now, it seems pretty selfish, to me, to only get somebody a photograph of someone else. I mean, obviously Grandma Lu was going to love a picture of her littlest Great-Grandbaby, but I couldn't JUST get her that. So, I had a genius idea. We would get her an orange scarf (her favorite color) and I would figure out how to wrap the framed M.D. photograph WITH the scarf. GENIUS!! Except...it involved being crafty.

Now everyone who is reading this thinking, ohmygod is she seriously celebrating figuring out how to use a scarf to wrap a frame?! The answer is, Yes! Yes I am! So STFU!! (Mom...don't google what that means...) This was pretty effing amazing of me to figure out without use of Pinterest, Youtube, or some random Martha Stewart wannabe blog...(a description that will never be used to describe this particular blog o' mine.) I figured it out on my own..and it looked pretty damn good, if you ask me.

Welcome to Monday...the best day of the week...yeah right!

We had a great weekend! Friday I got to stay home with little M.D. and we had a blast playing, singing songs, napping (yes!!!) and eating.

Saturday was Steven's birthday. M.D. and I got him a tech gadget for his bday this year. His birthdays for the last 2 years have had a Bose theme and this year was no different! Last year I got him a Bose surround sound system for our family room. It was also a gift for me as I get to enjoy it every day :) This year M.D. and I picked out this nifty Bose bluetooth. He loves it!
Saturday night we went out to dinner with Steven's family to our favorite thai food spot. Highly recommend you try it out! Delicious food and reasonable pricing. M.D. got to spend some quality time hanging out with his Auntie Michelle which was very fun for both of them...or at least for Auntie Michelle...haha

We had a new experience on Sunday in the D household. M.D. got his first taste of real food...RICE CEREAL. Not exactly what I would constitute as "real food", however, it's as real as this boy's going to get for a little while here.
I have always said (since M.D. was born) that I would not start him on foods until 6 months old. There's a variety of reasons for this...mostly selfish ones: 1) It's a mess to clean up every time...& 2) Something about having him eat food makes him seem grown up and I don't want my little bitty baby growing up too fast on me...
So, I broke my own rule and had him try rice cereal this weekend. There were a variety of somewhat selfish reasons for trying it:
1) We had been gifted a box of rice cereal from my brother & sister-in-law and it is set to expire this-coming weekend. I figured if we even got one serving out if it at least then it wouldn't be a total waste.
2) M.D. was pretty fussy all day and was in need of distraction. I had exhausted all other efforts and was down to my last ideas. Trying food seemed like a good distraction tool (and it was...for the record.)
3) He needed a bath anyways..so why not try some cereal, get a little messy, and get the bath he was going to get anyways!

It was definitely an entertaining moment. Steven got it all on videotape (videotape? is that phrase even applicable anymore? there's no actual tape involved...). Correction: Steven got it all on our camcorder (better..) which will be very entertaining to replay at M.D.'s H.S. graduation. All-in-all he got about 1-2 spoonfuls in his tummy and the rest went all over his face. That's okay. It was a successful attempt and back to formula we go...For now.

Today is my Friday...unexpectedly! Our daycare provider (my mother-in-law) is going out of town tomorrow so I will be staying home to take care of little M.D.
We don't have a back-up daycare provider set up yet, which is dumb of us. Today we have a meeting at a local daycare center in our town so hopefully that will go well. I'm a little nervous about him going to a daycare center at such a young age. Hopefully we don't have to do it that often. I want to ask them how much one-on-one attention M.D. will get....in other words...how many other babies will his care provider be providing care for. They do have a pretty neat system set up where, when your baby registers, they are assigned to a personal care provider. This means that, ideally, every time your baby goes to daycare at the center they have that same one person taking care of them. It helps the baby stay familiar with that one person so they don't feel like they are being passed around between strangers. That makes me feel better. They also have this strange policy where you have to label EVERYTHING that you bring with your child's name. This makes sense to me for some things..but their list is basically EVERYTHING you bring. Can someone please tell me how I should fit M.D.'s entire name on all of his pacifiers that we bring? I'm sure glad I bought that label maker a couple of years back...

In other news...M.D. woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and cough. Signs of a cold or just side-effect to this teething? I had to suck his boogies out with that god-awful blue bulb and he screams because he literally feels like I am sucking the life out of him. It takes his breath away and he gets scared...and I feel like an awful mother.
Then, on my way out the door, I casually ran my fingers through my hair. Low and behold...a booger....in my hair. Welcome to Motherhood. This is the 2nd time that M.D.'s boogers have found their way onto me before a work day. The other time it was on my cheek and I didn't notice until I had been at work for about an hour. How many people did I talk to before that? I don't even want to know!

Depending on M.D.'s nap schedule tomorrow I may or may not post. I definitely do not post on the weekends because that is my oh-so-precious time with M.D. and if I spent my time blogging instead of cuddling I would not have anything to write on this blog anymore. Therefore...I take my weekends off...from everything...except M.D.

It's Steven's birthday on Saturday so if you know & love
him make sure to wish him a happy one! 29 years old...crazy!

M.D. pulls hair. A Lot. I think I've lost a few handfuls in the past few weeks. He loves hair...probably because he doesn't have any himself. He gets so excited when he sees your hair close to his face that he grabs on with both hands and begins to swing his arms around....with you hair still in his grips....OUCH!

Mila, our pomeranian, loves M.D. She loves to snuggle with him, to lick his hands and face (when we aren't looking), to try to chew on his chew toys, carry
his baby socks around the house, the list goes on and on. Mila also loves to help give M.D. baths...lord knows why.

So let's do some simple addition together. M.D. loves pulling hair. Mila loves M.D....and has lots of hair. Get where I'm going with this? M.D. has started pulling Mila's hair. Great.
He can't help it. There's just so much of it and it's within his reach. He loves hair...even of the dog variety. SO you can see my concern about the future of this relationship. The main question I ask myself is...how long will M.D. make it before getting nipped. Mila hasn't suggested that is on her mind yet...when her hair gets pulled by the adorable-yet-dangerous baby beside her she simply jumps away...and then in true dumb-Mila fasdhion...immediately crawls back towards him and sniffs the hand that balded her. However, once M.D. starts pulling her lucious locks out more frequently, starts chasing her once he learns to crawl around the house, starts attempting to pick her up and squeeze the life out of her....how will she cope? Stay Tuned....

Hope everyone had a happy and fun weekend! The D household had a semi-happy but fun weekend. We brought M.D. to go visit his Great-Grandma on Saturday morning. He did AWESOME...until the last hour. This is the negotiating you do with yourself when you have a colicky baby. It's a trade-off. You will never get through a full event and think...wow..that entire time went perfectly well! This is probably the case with non-colicky babies also, though I argue that non-colicky baby problems don't usually involve screaming at the top of their lungs for seemingly never-ending chunks of time...so all of the mothers of non-colicky babies can suck it. I could deal with spit up, throw up, peeing in inappropriate places (this is the baby I'm talking about, of course). You have NO idea. We made it through 2 of the 3 hours with little-to-no crying, fussing, or screaming...everyone got a chance to hold a happy baby..and he gave smiles out like candy on Halloween. Phew. We won't talk about the last hour.

On Sunday M.D.'s Nana came to visit. God sent us a blessing in the form of a woman who raised 3 colicky babies. There is nothing more comforting than having someone visit who is, A) Your mother..so you don't have to dress up, shower, clean your house before she comes...and more importantly...
B) A woman who has experience with colic. She was not dismayed in the least when M.D. started his screaming episode(s)..yes...multiple..and knew all of the tricks of the trade to calm him down (even if just temporarily).

Speaking of screaming...that's M.D.'s newest trick. It's one of my favorites...or not. He doesn't necessarily cry as much anymore. I mean...he still cries...screams...at times. However, he's advanced in his abilities and has figured out in that giant noggin of his that if he screams, not cries, but screams at the top of his lungs he can get attention. And he utilizes this new tool to the best of his abilities. I would definitely say, at this point, that he is overutilizing his new-found ability. Steven and I just laugh because he will scream so loud that the dogs cock their heads and then immediately will stop...and look at you...like, Did you hear that? Yes, Mason. We heard you. Thank you for showing off your lung power. You sound like a kid on the rollercoaster at Disney World...yet you are here, sitting on our laps, in our house, in MN. What Talent!!

We've also started teething...that is a a post all of it's own which will come later. I can't talk about it until he breaks that first tooth through...which hopefully will be soon. Because this teething has started, anything & everything is now fair game to soothe those aching gums. On Friday..it just happened to be my bottle of Diet Mtn Dew. The child who needs caffeine like I need a hole in my head. 
The irony is great.

More tomorrow :)

In honor of today being the coldest day, seemingly, in the history of the world...I thought I would focus the post today on MN babies. Having a baby in MN is GREAT...oh wait...nope...no it's not. M.D. was born in mid-September which was great because the weather was not too hot..not too cold..just right (Goldilock's style). But now here we find outselves..in the depths of hell...MN winter. Today when I woke up it was -12. ACTUAL TEMPERATURE.

Babies + below-zero temperatores = it's own kind of hell. Firstly, you have the layers..and layers..and layers of clothing just to get them ready to put on that dreaded f-ing snowsuit. M.D. HATES getting dressed. He is happiest naked...the day he was born, au naturale...naked. Just the simple act of throwing a onesie over his head and popping his little chicken arms through the holes is enough to send him into a tailspin. So imagine my dismay when I realize I have to put on MULTIPLE layers of clothing onto this nudist.

The bigger issue with his clothing, though, is not the layers. Those I can handle. Those he can, sort of, handle. The bigger issue is the hat. UGH. We both hate hates...Steven hates hats too...M.D. and hats DO NOT MIX. You see, M.D. has a huge head. He gets that from his momma...(yup! So Proud!) So when we went hunting for hats for this little tiny baby boy we couldn't find any that fit. at 2 months his head was already too big for the 6 month sized hats which meant we had to go to 12 months. 1 year-old's hats. On my 2 month old. Great. Needless to say the hat fits his giant head..but then slips over his sweet little blue eyes so my baby is essentially blinded...and then, he freaks. You would too if you thought you were blind!

So we've got the layers on, we've got that god-forsaken hat, and then we pop him into the snowsuit...yeah right..."pop"?? More like squeeze and squirm and fight. It actually reminds me of this book , except the 4 month old version. The positive to this experience is that by the time we actually get OUT of the house we are both not only warm, but hot...sweaty...from the experience of getting ready to go outside. So the cold doesn't hit as hard. Silver lining?

One suggestion I do have is investing in one of these nice gadgets: The Carseat Cover. It saves you a lot of hassle with a baby who has figured out how to kick his legs like he is swimming through air so you don't have to keep replacing the warm blanket you threw over him on your way out of the door.

And there you have it....the joys of having an infant in MN, in the winter. The big problem is...here, winter lasts for about 9 out of the 12 months..so I can't really plan the next one to be a "summer infant". Super. 

On a poisitive note: T.G.IF.!! M.D. has a busy weekend
ahead. We will post all about that on Monday! Have a great weekend! :)