My Favorite: The List Format

• After a year or more of searching, we have finally bought a wooden swing set for our backyard. I had no clue when we first started looking for one that it would be a long, drawn out process. These swing sets are not cheap, which meant that we really wanted to find a used one in Craigslist. However, they are super popular in our area (maybe everywhere?) so as soon as a decent one was posted and also didn't cost a fortune, they were snatched up before I could even contact the seller. We got to where we actually walked up to a house in our friends' neighborhood and asked them if they were interested in selling the swingset in their backyard. (Our friends told us this house didn't have kids and had recently moved in, so we were in hopes they would want to sell it. They took our number down and never contacted us. They've since moved out and that swing set still sits there.) Finally, I had enough of the searching process. Garrett really needs something to play on right now when I don't want to haul Cooper to the park or somewhere else for Garrett to run off some energy. So I posted on our local Craigslist that we were looking for a wooden swing set. A couple of days later, a lady emailed me a picture of one she had for sale. We looked at it on Monday night, liked it, and paid her for it. Keith will be going to pick it up first thing on Saturday morning. I know Garrett is going to have so much fun playing on it once it's all set up.
• I am officially addicted to cheddar Chex Mix. Why didn't I discover this while I was pregnant?! My dad brought a bag with him when he came to visit and I probably ate half of it by myself. It is so good! Yesterday, Keith, Garrett, and I all polished off an entire bag. And I will confess that I did the majority of the polishing. Of course, that was my lunch because I never had the chance to sit down and eat anything. But still, I need to step away from it before this turns ugly.
• I took my first official trip out of the house with both boys by myself. I don't count trips to the doctor's office. This was the big one. Walmart. How crazy was I to dread taking just Garrett to Walmart in the past? Now I've got a baby in addition to Garrett and I'll just confess that taking a baby out in public is more stressful than a preschooler. Yes, Garrett could throw a fit (though he seems to have outgrown this for the most part). But with a fit-throwing child, you can take them to the bathroom and spank them and get on with your shopping. When a baby has a melt down, there's really nothing to do unless you just pick them up and walk out of the store. I know this is what the "experts" recommend that you do. But I'll be darned if I get halfway through my grocery shopping only to leave a cart full of things and go home. Of course if Cooper is having an epic meltdown, then I don't have a choice. Thankfully yesterday's trip went pretty smoothly. I had my carrier with me in case he got tired of sitting in his carseat, I could put him in the carrer on my chest and keep shopping, but it never came to that. Towards the end of the trip, I could tell he was "working" on something and by the time I was paying for the groceries, he was done and ready for his diaper to be changed. He cries loudest when he's hungry, dirty, or in the process of being changed (namely his clothes, but he's not a fan of the diaper change either.) Surprisingly, the cashier didn't even notice I had a baby with me until he started crying. I'm not sure what she thought was in the carseat sitting in the cart or who the cans of formula were for... So I changed yet another dirty diaper in the car. This is my second or third in the past week. Apparently he needs a change of scenery to get things moving.
• Garrett started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks old (just a few days before I had to go back to work, God bless that boy!) So we are halfway to that point with Cooper. For the most part, I'm doing things the same way this time, so I hope the end result will be another baby sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. I'm also ready for him to be awake more during the day. It seems like we only get 20-30 minutes at a time where he's awake and relatively happy. I'm finally starting to see his sweet smile and want to see it more often. But if being awake means more crying, then we can hold off on that for now.