Friday Fun

I’m off work today…

I’m out hanging out with these hosiers…all weekend.

Watch out Tampa, Pentwater is in town! (and so are the Red Wings!)

I just hope Jenni can keep up

Thoughts-Love

I came across a post on Facebook on how to know if a guy is “boyfriend” worthy. I’m well past that stage, but I do have a young daughter who will someday have a boyfriend.  So I read the article and thought, did Adam meet these criteria? Luckily he did…but just to be sure I did what they suggested and replaced his name in the following:

Adam is patient, Adam is kind. He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. He does not dishonor others, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. Adam does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Adam never fails.

Sound familiar? Here is the actually passage:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Kind of neat isn’t it? But it is so true. Does your love stack up? Someday I’m going to have to listen to my daughter tell me how “in love” she is. Someday I’m going to have to hold her as she cries over her first broken heart. And someday I’m going to have to meet the love of her life. And I’m going to ask her…”does he measure up?” And when he does, I’m going to smile and give her my blessing. Because we all deserve true Love.

Humpday-PhotoDump

So I haven’t been taking many pictures with my phone lately, maybe because it sucks and my kid won’t sit still long enough to actually get a picture. I’ve been trying to use my point and shoot more, but she still moves to fast sometimes.

Anyway, here’s what I got from the last week.

Learning to use a spoon.

Grandma is here!

Fun Friday Night at the Young's…

Street Art Contest in Lakeland

Trying on street fare

Fountains are fun!

Celebrating grandma’s birthday at Grille Smith in Lakeland

Blue Man Group-Orlando

Beautiful Sunday!

Super Bowl!

Checking out the Children’s Museum on Target Tuesdays

Look dad! A playground!

My poor attempt at a family selfie.

My Loves

10 Things on Tuesday

1. Charlie is quite smart for someone who doesn’t talk. We found one of her shoes out in the living room and she picked it up. I asked her “where do your shoes go Charlie? Can you put it away?” And she proceeded to walk into her room and place it under her dresser with the rest of them. After I picked myself off the floor I told her “good job"!

2. My mom and dad showed up Thursday night Charlie and I met them at the airport and she gave them the welcoming they flew 1300 miles to see; big smiles and hugs. She knows her grandma and grandpa.

3. Adams Grandma was in the hospital last week. We all had quite a scare as they said there was nothing more to do and where calling in hospice. But in the end they found out she had a few deficiencies, watched her and let her go home yesterday. Hospice is still going to come help out because her dementia is getting pretty bad. Thank you to all of you who prayed for her.

4. In an effort to be more thrifty and green we purchased some refillable food pouches.  We haven’t made any yet, but if you have tips please share! Charlie has finally learned how to suck them down and not squirt them all over herself.

5. Speaking of food…don’t think she likes salmon. We were out to eat and she had mac n cheese (which she was eating good) so I snuck a piece of salmon in there. It went in her mouth, one chew and out it came. Oh well…maybe next time!

6. Saturday we had a fun day traveling to Orlando to see the Blue Man group. We had won tickets at Adam’s Christmas party.  The show was neat, my mom and dad REALLY enjoyed it. Charlie and Adam watched from the lobby since she wasn’t willing to wear her pink earphones grandpa bought her. Everyone had a good time and there were 3 people asleep in the back on the way home!

7. On our way to Orlando we stopped off in Lakeland. I had only been one other time, but I remembered it being a cute town with a nice downtown and knew mom would like it. They actually had a farmers market going on so we had fun shopping and finding treasures and treats. And poor Charlie got soaking wet feet from the ground still wet after the rain. He pink shoes bleed all over her tights and feet!! We had to stop and buy her new shoes since the leather was soaked. She officially has Wal-mart shoes.

8. Sunday we went to church downtown. I really love that church, it’s so beautiful. Afterward we discovered a farmer market and a cheese guy from Chicago! mmmm We stocked up on cheese for the big game before heading across the street for fun at the park and ice cream! Charlie loves playing at the park and being free to run around. She’s such a friendly little girl and wants to discover all she can. Truly a joy watching her.

9. We lowered Charlie’s crib to the last spot last night. She won’t be able to climb out of this (not that she was trying) for a long time. But it’s still sad to thing the next step is toddler bed!!!

10.  This morning Charlie was up before I got in my shower. So she hung out with dad for a bit while I got ready . Next thing I know Adam is back in our room sans Charlie. He told me she went into her room, pulled on the crib posts and pointed in there. So he put her in she grabbed her frog and just sat there. He turned out the lights and she stayed in there another 10 min! I guess she wasn’t ready to get up!

The Chair-off “Kid Version”

When Charlie and I were at the Children's Museum in Naples, we had lunch in their little eatery. I asked if they had a highchair and the girl pulled out this tiny little seat that attached to the table. Charlie loved it and Stephanie and I were impressed. I took note of the brand (one I’ve admired) and when I got back home I looked into it.
The chair wasn’t cheap, but it also wasn’t outrageous. I also noted that there were a lot of other portable highchairs out there that were a big improvement from the one my little (24 year old) brother used back in the early 90s'. So I began my search and decided on ordering two to find the best one for Charlie (and us).

The Phil & Teds Lobster

The Inglesina Fast Chair

We still had some money left on our Buy Buy Baby gift card and a 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon, so that’s where I ordered them from.  (Phil & Teds is not included in the 20% deal-boo)
When they came in we quickly realized that neither of them would work with our dining table, but that wasn’t a big issue since this wasn’t for home use (that would just have been a bonus). But they did both work on the small countertop at our pass through. (Adam would have to install a piece of wood for the Lobster to be properly used.) So that’s where we set them up.
Note: Both chairs will hold a child up to 37 lbs (about 3 years) and both weighed in at just over 4lbs.  Both area  screw/twist on clamp style. Both can be cleaned, but is hand wash only.

This is how they stacked up:

Ease of install:

Both chairs attach by turning the clamp until tight. The Lobster won hands down. The Fast has more of a hook so I had farther to turn and the lobsters handles were larger and easier to turn. It took about 20 seconds to install the lobster and 50 to install the Fast.

Winner: Lobster

Stability:

Both chairs seemed very stable, but Adam noted that because the Lobster has, well a lobster clamp vs. an arm and rod, it was more stable. More surface area is grabbing the underside of the counter.

Winner: Lobster

Accessories:

The lobster comes with a plastic try, It just slides under the clamps, but is not attached in anyway. so if your kid can get it loose it could be thrown. This is nice though to have at a restaurant if your kid isn’t a plate person yet.
The Fast has a pocket in the back of the seat. Great place to keep a bib (which we always forget) spoons, wipes…ect.

Winner: Draw

Storage:

The Fast has a bag that is stored under the seat and it is attached and closed with a drawstring. The Lobster has more of a tote type bag that it slides in and had two handles. The Lobster was about 1/2 the size of the Fast when in the bag and much easier to carry.

Winner: Lobster

Safety:

The Fast has a waist belt with a Velcro cover to keep your kid from messing with the buckle. The Lobster has a 5-point harness with pads over the shoulder straps. In both we didn’t use the buckle on Charlie, but I have a feeling we will. The Fast seemed to be easier to buckle her in, but when we used the Lobster at the museum I recall only doing it on her lap as well-so maybe you can do that too. Over all though we all know that a 5 point harness is safer…so

Winner: Lobster

Size/Comfort:

(Note neither of these are my kid)
The Fast had a lot more room and a higher back rest. Also the arms are padded. The Lobster seemed more like a bucket and the child sits lower. Both had a padded seat. When Charlie sat in the chairs she was above the table in the Fast and at table height in the Lobster. Deciding factor: If we have more kids and use it at an earlier age we’d be more comfortable putting a young child in…

Winner: Lobster

Charlie:

Each time we sat Charlie in a chair she smiled and kicked her legs…then immediately pointed to the other chair. She seemed happy in both.

Winner: Draw

Ease of Breakdown:

This was pretty similar to the install. You just untwist and collapse the clamps and fold up in put it in it’s corresponding bag.  The Lobster was a breeze to take down, fold up and put it in it’s bag. The Fast took a while. While having the bag stored with the chair is nice…it was cumbersome and hard to get into. And took at least twice as long if not more to get down than the Lobster.

Winner: The Lobster

Quality:

The Lobster has an aluminum frame, rubber/plastic clamps and a fabric/mesh seat. The Fast has a metal frame, canvas seat, and rubber clamps. Both chairs seemed good quality and both weighed around 4lbs.

Winner: Draw

Versatility:

For the Lobster you must have 3” deep of solid surface for the clamp to work. The Fast has  hook type clamp which could be used on a table with a lip/skirt as long as the rod could get beyond it to attach to the underside of the table. So being more versatile this one goes to…

Winner: The Fast

Cost:

(we had $25 left on a gift card, so we’ll apply this to both final costs)
The fast is $49.99 But with the 20% it comes to $39.99. Our final cost would be: $15.
The Lobster is $79.99. We could not get 20% off due to it being a Phil & Teds brand. Our final cost would be $55.

Winner: The Fast

In Conclusion:

We hummed and hawed over this decision. Both were really good chairs. They are well made and did the job. Some of the cons of each chair we could turn into pros…and vise versa. The price was a big issue we mulled over as we both wondered did we really need this chair? It’s nice to have, but we could live without it. In the end we knew what our decision had to be on how we live our life and what works best for us.
So..Any Guesses what we decided? …

The Lobster!

We tried it out Saturday when we went out to celebrate moms birthday and it worked great! We sat in a round booth and Charlie was right there with us. So far we love it!

Humpday-Photo Dump!

Hi! it’s been a fun week. and it’s about to get funner! (yes I’m using that “word”) Mom and dad will be here tomorrow, my two best guy friends from back home will be here next weekend along with my brother and Jen!! whooop whoop! But on to the pictures…

It was pretty cold last week at Shuffle Board, but they still came out to cheer me on.

The shelf in our fridge has been broken for a while…I finally ordered a replacement…if only FedEx would leave it at our door!!

Big girl has moved from the pack-n-play to a mat at daycare.

Since Charlie seems to love pushing the Tang around the shuffle board courts I thought I’d try her with the swifter….

She is determined to use silverware…she’s getting better…

Look mom, I found daddy’s marshmallow gun!

Got my hair done, finally!

Welcome to Moe’s!

It’s a jungle out there kid…or at least it is in the play area at the mall!!

Shopped till she dropped…on the floor of Nordstrom's.

My little Mall Rat!

Learning her B

Putting my new bag through quality control checks…

Getting ready for her play date with Adeline!

The Adeline and Charlie Show!

Mondays….

Post dinner picnics…

and tea parties-she’s such a girl!

Look closely…she’s trying to pull off her diapers! So glad we went snaps and not Velcro!

While the rest of the country is freezing we had a beautiful day yesterday. So I picked her up from daycare and instead of going straight home we hit up a “new to us” neighborhood park. She loved it and I think I’ll do this more often!

It was a great week.