Nine months!

At nine months Acadia has turned into a crazy girl! According to one of my baby books, at nine months babies become more independent and start voicing their opinions. Things like diaper changes, getting dressed and sleeping become a little more difficult. Acadia must have read the book because she fits that description to a T!

While she still sleeps well, she's now getting up much earlier. And there's been a few nights that she woke up crying and just wouldn't stop. A few nights of mommy and daddy going in her room didn't help matters so she spent the next few nights having to settle herself down. The first night of this Acadia actually fell asleep sitting up. This was pretty funny to view from the monitor. She looked like a drunk little baby!

Diaper changes have become interesting to say the least. I've had to move her from her changing table to the floor as she tries to climb off the table. Even on the floor it's still a wrestling match. We've had pee on the floor because she wriggles away before I can get the new diaper on her and I've even had to put her diaper on while she's standing up! Not too bad with disposables, but trying to snap on a cloth diaper is a little hard to do that way.

Changing her clothes too isn't her favorite time either. Again she tries to wriggle away the first chance she gets. I can usually get her dressed either in a sitting position or standing, but it takes a lot longer than it should. And trying to oil her up then change her after a bath is the hardest. I've had to resort to pinning her between my legs and lube her up as fast as I can. No baby massage for her right now. Acadia's like a greased monkey trying to make a break for it!

There are lots of good things she's doing though too. She's crawling everywhere and trying to stand up on everything. She tries to stand on her toybox, on the side of the bathtub, on Scott and me. There's even been a few times where she pulls herself up then takes a step forward. I wouldn't exactly say she's taken her first steps, but it seems as if that will happen in no time.

EcoMom and Me

For those of you that know me, you know I'm a little...let's call it crunchy. You know, earthy, maybe a little bit of a hippie. You know what I mean. Scott and I did name our daughter after a national park after all!

Well, there's a website that I've been checking out that is perfect for me...Ecomom. If you haven't checked it out, you can here. They have all sorts of things from baby food to high chairs to green products for your home.

Well, they were looking for moms with blogs to do product reviews. I jumped on that immediately. I told them a little about myself and what I'm into and they sent some stuff out.

I anxiously awaited the arrival of my goodies...what would they be? I came home everyday checking the mail and when it got here I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I tore open the package as quick as I could. Inside I found packages of Plum Organics Baby and Plum Organics Tots.

Now, I try to make most of Acadia's food, but let's face it, I can't do everything. There's this little thing called sleep I like to get once in awhile. So I like to have options. For those times that I don't have any made, or if I'm traveling, or just want to try something new, this seemed like a perfect fix.

There were six packages and the flavors sounded great. We (yes, both Acadia and I) tried all of them. Pear and mango, pumpkin and banana, spinach peas and pear, and sweet potato corn and apple were from Plum Organics Baby. Plum Organics Tots consisted of strawberry mish mash and peach mish mash. They were all 100% fruit and/or veggies which was great to see!

We tried the Strawberry Mish Mash first. Yum is all I can say! I actually thought of using some of it to top my oatmeal with it was so good.

Next on the list was spinach, peas, and pear. While this one wasn't my favorite, Acadia ate it up, and since she's the one it was intended for I'd say I'd buy it again.

We gradually made our way through all the flavors, and Acadia loved them all. My only complaint is that they don't come in a recyclable container. Other than that, they're great!

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Now here comes the fun part for you...EcoMom is giving away $20 worth of Plum and/or Revolution Foods to one of you reading this blog!

Here's how it's going to work. From now until June 15th you can leave a comment on the blog (one per person please). On June 15th I'll choose, at random, one of you to receive the giveaway.

Another great thing EcoMom is doing...from now until June 30th you can use the code SBBL350 to receive a 15% discount off your first order. You can also get 15% every order if you purchase the EcoPass. It costs $99 a year and will get you the above described discount, PLUS free shipping on every order.

There's a couple ways to check out EcoMom and Plum Organics:

1. Follow Jody (the CEO and Co-Founder) on Twitter.

2. Become a fan of EcoMom on Facebook.

3. Check out the EcoMom website.

4. Join the EcoMom newsletter

(Please note: I received these products to test and give feedback. I was not paid in any way by EcoMom).

Random Pics

I just noticed how many pictures we've taken of Acadia lately. Here's just a few of my favorites...

Acadia and I headed home for a few days this past week to enjoy some family time. If you can believe it, this was Acadia's sixth flight! She's quite the traveler and I'm happy to report she was a great flier once again.

We got home on Saturday and I headed to my cousin Sara's baby shower while Grandma Lyn watched Acadia. I thought she'd be tired from the flight, but no. Acadia didn't nap all afternoon and somehow she was still a happy girl!

Sunday we met up with Tim, Dana and Ellie (along with Grandma Mary and Dana's parents) for the March of Dimes walk. The weather was perfect, at least during the walk. Then after we all headed to Tim & Dana's to hang out.

While we were there something big happened...Acadia said her first word! I was lucky enough to catch it on video, so I'll post that soon, but she clearly said dada. While it wasn't my first choice of things for her to say I'm so excited. Now we'll start working on mama!

Here's some fun pics from the week...

Miss Ellie looking super cute as always.
We had so much fun playing turtles and dinosaurs and reading.
She's getting so big!

And speaking of big, check out Keaton!
He's almost 6 months and has really grown since the last time I saw him.

Keaton and Acadia are about exactly the same size.

It was so cute to watch them play together.

Keaton was very good about sharing his toys with Acadia.

I think he's learning from his big sister.

In just over a month we're heading to North Carolina for a family vacation with everyone. I can't wait! Can't wait to see you all again soon!

Naked Baby Alert!

What do you do when you have a naked baby? Take pictures, of course! Due to some major diaper rash last week, Acadia had the pleasure of hanging out without her diaper on. To make it easier, I put some extra blankets on the floor and let her roam free. She seemed to have liked it...

Don't you just want to pinch those little cheeks?

Perfect toy placement.

This is one of Acadia's new faces and it's becoming one of my favorites!

Shouldn't we all love what we see in the mirror this much?



Thankfully, her tushy is much better!

Spring Has Sprung!!!

Spring has officially begun in New England!

(Chris is feeling under the weather, so I figured I would pitch hit for her)

Since moving here Chris and I have been under the belief that the season of Spring doesn't exist in the Northeast (Winter ends and immediately Summer begins in late May). However, this year Spring has started off more like we're used to with warm sunny days, flowers in peak bloom and leaves on trees.

This past weekend the weather was warm/sunny, so we ventured out and explored our area a bit more.

Before heading out we had to make sure Acadia was properly rugged up.

Acadia sat in her stroller like a "Big Girl" for the first time.

We walked for about 2 miles and came across a beautiful spot to hang out and give Acadia her afternoon snack. We're still numb to the reality we live in walking distance to this.

After returning from our walk, we put Acadia on the floor to play. As she started moving about -- Chris and I looked at each other and said...it's time to start baby proofing! It's official, she has figured out locomotion.

Below are some pictures from Easter Sunday. Needless to say we missed everyone.

That's it!!

I know New Year's was a few months ago, but I'm starting my resolutions now!

As I type this I feel half sick from all the ham I've eaten in the past 24 hours. I think I might have over done it this time. Mind you, I don't even really like ham. We had company over yesterday and got all the fixings for Easter dinner, but didn't really get anything else to eat. So ham for breakfast, ham for lunch. I'm craving something green...and fresh. The Reese's peanut butter egg didn't do it.

I made the comment to Scott the other day that Acadia eats better than we do. She has fruits or vegetables at each meal. They're all organic. I haven't given her meat yet because #1 meat in a jar grosses me out, and #2 I don't think she needs it. Maybe I should follow how I feed her?

Then, as I was folding laundry, I folded a shirt of mine that had a hole in it. Now, if it has a hole in it I probably shouldn't be wearing it anymore. But I really had to contemplate throwing it away.

What is wrong with me???

It seems to be the perfect time of year to overhaul everything. It's not called "spring cleaning" for nothing.

I think I'll be doing some spring cleaning of my own today!