ALWAYS BABYWEARING – RUCK TIED IN FRONT

It feels like all I have been writing about these days is our daily babywearing, but with all this blah, snowy weather we haven’t done much else. Yesterday, I opened up a package & we immediately tried out the new wrap we received!

Oscha Okinami Zen is now ours! It’s the softest wrap we own and I already think it’s wonderful. Although, it is the only wrap we have that I’ll have to make sure the pattern isn’t upside down. When I first wrapped Tryson, I looked in the mirror only to see upside down waves, oops.

Last night, Tryson was a little fussy. He wanted to be held, then would want to be put down, but then would cry because he wanted held. Poor baby was just tired and needed some closeness. I wrapped him up on my back to get a few things done and he fell asleep as I walked around.

A ruck tied under the bum used to be my favorite carry, and I still love it for when I’m using my size 2 Indio. But, ever since we purchased a size 3 wrap at MommyCon, my new favorite & go-to carry is a ruck tied in front. Both carries are quick and comfortable for around home & out and about!

(Both videos below are by WrappingRachel, a wonderful YouTube channel for learning new carries!)

Video Tutorial – Ruck Tied in Front

Video Tutorial – Ruck Tied Under the Bum

I tend to only do the above back carries lately. I’m feeling like I need to mix it up a little! Maybe later today I’ll learn something new.

BEGINNERS – FRONT CROSS CARRY

My sister has been asking to wrap Tryson. Jolene doesn’t have any children, and she has only ever wore Tryson in a soft structured carrier when he was very small, never in a woven wrap. Since I knew I would be with her last night, house sitting for my parents, I brought a few different sizes of wraps along with me. As the evening went on and Tryson started yawning, the opportunity to teach my sister a simple front carry perfectly presented itself.

I taught her the Front Cross Carry. Jolene, memorize/learn the passes by watching this YouTube video (this video is by WrappingRachel, a YouTube channel that has helped me learn many carries)

Video Tutorial – Front Cross Carry

Jolene loved having Tryson wrapped close, and she was amazed that her arms were free for other tasks. She told me she wished she had known it was this easy the last (and only) time she babysat him, during which he only wanted to be held.

New to wrapping? Give a new carry a try today & keep at it!

WAITING, WRAPS, & TARGET

At the moment, I’m lounging on the couch at my mom’s house. Jordan is next to me, Tryson is in the other room with his Lola & Aunties. We’re waiting around for a little before we drive to a fundraiser for a local private school – chili, soups, bread, dessert, science fair projects on display, silent auctions… I look forward to this event every year!

I’ve been stalking the USPS website all day, although a package I’m waiting on was only sent out a day ago. I’m waiting on a new wrap! Recently, I noticed I am very much building a permastash off of sentiment, so I’m taking that idea and just running with it. I went through my stash and I sold two Girasols that really didn’t have any sentimental value to me. Jordan and I decided I could use the money to purchase a new wrap, so I happily searched the Facebook swaps most of Tuesday night while Tryson was in bed. Although I saw beautiful colors and patterns, I was very reluctant to commit to anything I saw. I had purchased the Girasols due to colors, patterns and trends, and that obviously wasn’t enough to stick emotionally. Wednesday, I had an idea – I had Jordan help me pick out a wrap. If having my husband involved with choosing a wrap I would carry our child in isn’t sentimental, I don’t know what would be! He actually had a lot of fun with the task, and decided he wanted to look through the Swap alone, without me hovering. Soon enough, he showed me which one he loved. Keep in mind, I was terrified he would pick something I wasn’t fond of… but he picked out an Oscha Okinami Zen! I was so pleased with his pick, and I was even more pleased with the fact that I contacted the seller just in time to buy! I can’t wait until I have another size 3 to play with (right now the only other size 3 I own is the Tekhni Olympos we got at Mommycon Chicago).

Last night, my sister arrived back in town from college. She’ll be home for all of spring break! Jordan, my sister, Tryson & I all piled into the car and went to visit my other sister at work. Late in the evening, we decided to stop at Target to just walk around, talk and shop. I’m sure we could’ve gone to more exciting places, but, it was already 9pm, and Target counts as fun when you’re a mom.

We’re still breaking in our ‘MommyCon Wrap’, the Tekhni Olympos Smoke. I keep asking Jordan if I can teach him a carry or two, but for now he isn’t budging. He says he will stick with his Ergo. I won’t complain with that! Babywearing is babywearing.

xo

MOMMYCON!

Friday around noon, Jordan, Tryson & I drove up to Chicago specifically for MommyCon on Saturday! It was an amazing mini vacation, and I’m so glad we decided to go (Jordan has even said we can go next year, too)!

MommyCon was many things my dreams are made of. Since becoming a mom, I’ve become obsessed with anything and everything I can do for (or with) Tryson. I love babywearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding to name a few, and all of those topics can be found at MommyCon through seminars and vendor booths.

We spent 10am to about 6pm there at the convention center walking around the vendors and seminar rooms. We listened to The Baby Guy’s time slot and shopped around a few booths, buying various items. I bought a wrap at the Tekhni table, learned about wool at Cloth Diapering 101, and I walked away with a couple shirts for Tryson and I (sorry Jordan, I couldn’t find any mens shirts). I wish I could go back and browse more thoroughly and sit in on more seminars, but I guess there is always next year.

We arrived at the hotel after dark, but the party in our room had just begun! Tryson was ecstatic to finally be out of his car seat, and Mama & Dada broke out the room service menus!

This was the view from our room, 9th & top floor. We stayed at the Double Tree, and our window was directly across from the convention center where MommyCon was held. Walking distant was key!

Later in the evening I showered, and I walked out to see this perfect sight.

All night, Tryson showed a rare daddy-snuggling side, and stayed close, even in a huge king sized bed.

MommyCon!

My friends & I stopped by the Catbird Baby photo booth for a quick snapshot.

Many times, we all sat in the halls for the babies to crawl and for parents to give their feet a break.

Tekhni! They handed out the cutest buttons, which I grabbed quite a few of, and I bought a wrap! Olympos Smoke, size 3, below.

The Baby Guy!

Babies playing during The Baby Guy seminar.

We stood through the final giveaways starting around 5pm, and sadly none of us in the group won anything. Tryson slept on my back (below) through the whole thing, tired from the long day.

Back at the hotel, babies played 🙂

During MommyCon, and through the night, Chicago and the suburbs received four inches of snow. The drive home was two things: dangerous & hardly remembered by me, because I slept through most of it. But before I closed my eyes, we drove through about ten accidents and witnessed one.

I cannot wait until we go back to MommyCon next year! This was our haul – the contents of two gift bags (mine & Jordan’s), vendor freebies, and my various purchases.

The shirts are one of favorite buys. Birth, breastfeeding and babywearing are all near & dear to my heart.

I’m pretty sad we’re not still in Chicago, and that the anticipation of going to MommyCon is gone. I know I didn’t get to do everything I wanted, but I’ll just mentally prepare for next year!

xo,

BABYWEARING

Today, Jordan & I did a little grocery shopping and I wore Tryson in my new wrap from the Tekhni vendor booth at MommyCon! Jordan bought me a size 3 Olympos Smoke. I really love it so far, but it needs a lot of breaking-in!

Goodnight world! Maybe before my eyes close I’ll start my post about our time at MommyCon…

PREPARING SURPRISES

I’ve been extremely busy today making last minute preparations for a big dinner I am hosting tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my parents’ 25th anniversary! Many more details on tomorrow’s festivities to come, I don’t want to spoil any surprises.

Today consisted of much cleaning, setting up tables, mapping out tomorrow’s cooking timeline, washing all the good dishes and doing as much decor as I could crank out. Keep in mind, I did most of this with a sleeping baby wrapped to either my front or back… now would be a good time for a back rub. I’ve done as much as I can for now, but I’m hoping to do a little more decor when Tryson finally sleeps for the night. Tryson is being unusually bearish tonight, he’s crying at everything and wants Mama to hold him, but when Mama holds him, he doesn’t want Mama to hold him. Does that even make sense? I didn’t think so either.

MY WOVEN WRAP STASH

Babywearing has been near & dear the past none months. I have twenty baby carriers; soft-structured, ring slings, a mei tai, some pouches, but I have eight wraps.

The wovens are my go-to carrier because you can do more than one type of carry with each length of fabric. I can have Tryson high up on my back, snuggled close on the front or happily riding on my hip.

1. Natibaby Feathers, graphite, 100% cotton. Size 6. This was my second woven ever purchased. I am in love with the feathers!

2. Didymos Mermaid Indio, 100% cotton. Size 2. As you can tell in previous posts, this wrap is my favorite! I love taking it on the go for a quick back carry as I’m walking through stores.

3. DIY ice-dyed osnaburg wrap. Size 6. I made this pretty easily around the time I bought my first woven.

4. DIY Galaxy osnaburg wrap. Size 3. I have hardly used this, but I got the effect I wanted when I dyed it. I think it turned out amazingly gorgeous! Hopefully I can get more use out of it outdoors in the spring.

5. Didymos Anthracite Hemp Niño. Size 6. This was my first-ever woven! It helped pave the way to me finding woven-love.

6. DIY wrap. Size 2. I found jacquard weave fabric in the fabric store clearance bin, and hemmed it into a shorty. At the time, it was my only red wrap, and I loved having the pop of color!

7. Girasol Native Red. Size 6. This was slightly an impulse buy, and I have yet to use it. Again, I hope the springtime brings many wrapping opportunities!

8. Girasol Ikat, Mayan Blue. Size 6. I obviously have a thing for blue wraps, yes? It’s funny that I’m so in love with this bright blue print, when blues usually are not my favorite when it comes to clothing.

Tryson knew he was getting wrapped soon! Or he just wanted to knock over the stack of wraps.

Jordan will be awake in a half hour and I then I will finally feel like I can start my day, that’s a bad mindset, I know. I really hope he will be moved to day shift soon!

Hoping for some craftiness today,

ANOTHER BABYWEARING ADVENTURE

Tryson & I joined my mom on Wednesday to explore some incredible record stores in Peoria, IL. My mom got a record player for Christmas, and ever since, it seems, she has been on a mission to buy just about every record ever made! I was more than happy to join her, and afterwords I felt even more satisfied with my decision to go!

As soon as we walked into Younger Than Yesterday, someone called out to me, “Papoose!” referencing Tryson on my back. I thoroughly enjoyed the nod at babywearing.

I had a very happy baby up on my back as I searched through rows and rows of decades. I was searching for a crazy variety of Blue Oyster Cult, Bellamy Brothers, Def Leppard and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I found a few others I may go back to buy. It was so fun looking through countless titles!

Along with all the vinyl, this shop also had a breathtaking display of memorabilia! KISS dolls in boxes, prized Beatles items under glass. We spent longer in there than we had expected, but we didn’t stay nearly long enough to see a eighth of it. I’m glad we made some purchases to hold us over until we visit again!

From there, we headed downtown to our next stop.

Downtown, we found Ribbon Records. Well, we had to walk across some ice to get to the store front (yikes, it was scary with Tryson on my back), but we made it.

Now this place was basically straight out of my dreams. As soon as you walked in, you could see the huge collection of vinyl, but the shop was also scattered with amazing vintage! Lamps, wall art, statutes, chairs. The back half of the store was vintage clothing! I spent quite a bit of time back there thumbing through dresses and skirts and somehow, just somehow, I made it out of there without any impulse buys. There was a stunning full skirt boasting the most whimsical hot air balloon print… I almost instantly regret not buying it as I wrote that. I did find a vintage rugby shirt for Jordan. Oh there was so much to look at!

Tryson started to get a little fussy as I looked through the clothing racks, so I walked back out to the records to bounce a little. Poor thing was getting tired so I popped him out and snuggled. I put him in a front carry and we looked through the records.

I will be happy to revisit to look a little harder with a happier baby. I didn’t get to look as much as I would’ve liked (and Tryson didn’t get to crawl around like he would’ve liked). But I did find a few titles my mom wanted to buy, and I found a Def Leppard album for $1. They had,seriously, countless crates of $1 albums on the floor. I really can’t wait to look through them all!

There was a third record store on our list to visit, but I seriously think we could’ve spent all day at either of the two we visited and we would still have wished for more hours in the day to take it all in. My mom and I plan on going back to do more wandering at each, including the third on our list.

At both Younger Than Yesterday and Ribbon Records, you can tell the owners/employees are living their dream! How seriously cool it would be to spend your days around music and vintage!

xo

MY DAY IN PICTURES

Babywearing for the win, always.

Tuesday, I went to the city with my mom. We stopped at the Asian market to buy some special items we can’t find in other grocery stores. I wrapped Tryson up onto my back, and he enjoyed all the new views!

A pummelo. They had them marked as grapefruit, which is Jordan’s favorite so I bought one for him. When I got home, I examined the sticker and it said ‘red pummelo’… I really should’ve known what it was from the size. I guess we’ll see what Jordan thinks, I’m sure he’s never had one before!

My favorite isle, all the colorful snacks. The child in me comes out every time!

BABYWEARING & HOUSEWORK

My trusty Mermaid Indio & ruck carry. I’m finishing up laundry, and I couldn’t do it so efficiently without babywearing! Tryson loves being on my back where he can see everything I’m getting done.