Are You Serious?

I checked my email this past weekend and found a link to the following article which discussed the baby Bumbo seats being recalled. When I first read the headline I thought to myself "what could be wrong with them? I mean their isn't much to them...is the foam breaking off and children choking on it?" Oh no...much to my surprise the recall is because of parent stupidity! I'm sorry but do you think they post those warnings on products because they have extra money that they want to invest in the cost per unit manufacturing? Parents, do me a favor and "READ" safety precautions before you leave your most precious item 3 feet off the ground.

"Recalled: 1 million baby chairs from BumboThu, Oct 25, 2007 (BabyCenter News) — Bumbo has announced a recall of about 1 million baby chairs in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

If the baby seat is placed on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, a young child sitting in it can arch his or her back, flip out of the seat, and fall onto the floor, which poses a risk of serious head injury.There have been 28 reports of young children falling out of the Bumbo chairs, including three reports of skull fractures. These injuries were due to children falling out of chairs that had been placed on tables.

The recalled Bumbo "Baby Sitter" seat is made of foam, has leg holes, and comes in yellow, blue, purple, pink, aqua, or lime green. It has a round, flat bottom measuring approximately 15 inches across, and the seat back wraps completely around the child. The word "Bumbo" is printed in raised lettering on the front of the seat along with an image of an elephant. The words "Manufactured by Bumbo South Africa, Material: Polyurethane, World Patent No. PCT: ZA/1999/00030" are printed on the bottom of the seat.

The following caution label is attached to the back of the seat:WARNING — Never use on a raised surface. Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.

The baby seats were sold online and at various retail stores nationwide including Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, and USA Babies. The seats were sold from August 2003 through October 2007 for about $40. They were made in South Africa.

What you can do:• Don't let your child sit in the baby seat unattended, and don't use the seat on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface.• Contact Bumbo if you'd like to receive a new warning label and instructions.

The new warning label will say: WARNING — Prevent Falls; Never use on any elevated surface.• For additional information, call Bumbo International at (877) 932-8626, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or visit the company's website.• See a photo of the recalled baby seats on the CPSC's website.• Keep abreast of children's safety recalls by checking our recall finder.
-- Alissa Merksamer, BabyCenter News " http://www.babycenter.com/

I Love My Bed!

Many times I have complained about my bed. In fact, this past summer we started looking for a new mattress. However, the Lord had (and still is) been trying to teach me the art of contentment and this was one thing I could tell he did not want me to pursue. This past weekend God reminded me again how fortunate I am to have what I do have. Thursday night I spent the night at Miracle Camp in Lawton, MI for our Fall Conference with work. It really is a beautiful camp and the view of the lake from our room was amazing; however, their beds are the amazing equivalent of cement slabs. For someone who is 32 weeks pregnant, this is not a good combination. Between the bed and the allergies that came out of no where I got almost 3 hours of sleep that night. This experience has truly taught me that I don't need a new bed...I LOVE MY BED! Lesson learned.

My Attempt At Creative

My cousin gave me some super cute burp clothes at a shower a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to use the cloth diapers for burp clothes since they are so much more absorbent than others that I have seen but they are also pretty blah looking. So I loved this idea. Here are a few that I have done myself. Each one gets a little bit better as I am still new to the sewing machine. My lines are getting straighter and thanks to some great advice (thanks Anne!) the stitch isn't so noticeable on the backside. I bought a pack of 12 clothes and I have some plain ones from an earlier shower so I have plenty to practice with. My intention is to give some at a baby shower I am going to this weekend. I hope by then I'll have the art perfected! :)

The never ending list...

It seems that I have a disorder of sorts...I can't be without a project (or two, four, six). Since we moved into our house 4 years ago our life has been filled with projects. Don't get me wrong...I love having projects. I love seeing ugly things become beautiful. I love seeing an idea in my head come to life. I think this is why I always have projects. So here is a sampling of some of our current/near future projects:

Refinish Dresser: Greg is actually working on this one since I can't really be around all the sanding and staining that needs to happen. This project is actually something I have been wanting to do for about two years now. Given our need for another dresser I finally decided to tackle it...unfortunately for Greg that means he gets to do all of the work.

Paint Pictures: I have decided to paint the pictures myself for our daughter's room. I have never done this before but I have no doubt that I can give it a good attempt :) I figure that if they don't turn out than I can buy something than. But on the odd chance that they do turn out than I just saved some money and gave the room something with a little meaning. I'll let you know how they turn out (or don't).

Nursing Cover: Again, this is something I have never done. After seeing one that my cousin had I have decided to go ahead and give it a try myself. I have this inability to think I can't do something :) I have yet to find an actual pattern for one but I think I can wing it. I have all the material bought (even some extra if I mess up) and hope to start the cutting and sewing Saturday. Wish me luck!

Patio: This has been the summer project and something Greg has been more involved in that I have. We have a semi-enclosed patio off the back of our house that has been in desperate need of attention since we bought the house. When we first starting ripping out old screens from the windows I didn't realize I was pregnant. Shortly after we became aware of the new bundle so that is when Greg became the one in charge. I must say I like what he has done. It isn't completely done yet but it looks so much better. As the picture shows he is making it a rustic looking area with unfinished wood paneling. I guess all my forced remodeling has finally paid off...he has become a great designer!

So that is a touch of some of the things that we are working on. Rest assured I have a hundred more things in my mind that I want to do or learn to do. These are just the current or very near future projects. I still have pillow cases to make, diaper clothes to jazz up, ceilings to paint, trim work to finish....We'll see how I change once our baby comes. I am quite interested in seeing the changes she makes on my priorities. I am sure it will all be for the best!

Random thought...

When I run into something (I find myself doing this a lot lately) and it really hurts I often respond with, "that's going to leave a mark!" Yet I find it interesting that those scenarios never actually do leave a mark. However, I will find random bruises on my body and have no idea how they got there. Why is this? The other day my husband's eyes got large as he asked where I got the big bruise on the side of my leg. I had no clue I even had a bruise there let alone how it got there. Isn't that weird?

My belly...

For all of you who have been waiting for the pic....

here is my 30-week belly!

The Little Things

So for the last 2 months the car has had no radio and no clock. I must say....this was very annoying, more so because of the clock blinking random times than the radio being off. The reason behind this problem is quite simple: While trying to determine why our car wouldn't shift out of Park, Greg checked the fuses which then (due to anti-theft mechanisms) shut off the radio/clock. In order to restart the radio/clock you have to input your security code. This is where the problem lies....I seem to have lost the code. Ooops! At this point I had two options: call Honda and risk having to pay to get my code or just live without the luxuries of a clock in the car. Given the numerous issues with our vehicles as of late (the car not shifting out of park, the brake pad falling off the truck, and the deer wanting the up and close view of the car) the last thing I wanted to do was pay more money for something as silly as a lost code. So we lived without. A couple of times a week Greg would ask me to call our salesman and see if we couldn't get the code for free but I figured it was a long shot and just never made the effort. Besides that, I knew that as soon as I paid money for the code...I'd find ours. So the weeks went on. This morning I had to take the car to work because some part was in for it at the body shop (from the deer incident). When I got into the car this morning I had music and an accurate time keeping clock!!! Greg had told me he had a surprise in the car but I didn't realize what. Yeah for Greg....he fixed it!!! Then I had to ask the question "did you find the code or did you call the salesman?" He said he called..."hmmm, how much money did it cost?" Free! And now I am able to enjoy the simple things.....a clock and a radio in the car. (Kudos to you Greg for the great initiative...love you!)

Annual Family Campout 07

Greg and I actually made it to this year's Annual Family Campout in Cadillac. I think this is the first time we've gone in about 6 or 7 years. It was nice to see everyone again and just lazy it up. We took a few walks, a lot of naps, and ate way too much food! I finally had my first caramel apple of the season which was oh so good! I think I could eat one of those with every meal. I never made it out to the boat. The idea alone of being on something that swayed back and forth made me feel sick. However, I was able to get a few good shots of the lake.

Our First Piece of Baby Furniture!

Saturday night my parents stopped in and surprised us with a crib, mattress, and bedding for our little one! The crib is one of those lifetime ones so we'll be able to use if for a long time even if we don't have more children (which we are still not sure about so no one jump to any conclusions...let's welcome this little one first before we start making decisions!) I love the color of the wood on the crib. I was a little nervous at first when we registered for it since our walls and trim are both lighter colors; but, I am glad we choose the darker wood. It looks great against the sage walls. The bedding is so cute...so little girly! :) Now the room is starting to look like it belongs to a baby and not simply an oversized tool storage room (even though the air compressor is still in the corner)! It also makes me realize how close we are getting to welcoming our addition. I can't wait!