Things No One Tells You Before Becoming a Parent - Vaseline

Back in the day of setting up our baby gift registries, when we had no clue as to what we actually needed, we saw a big 'ol tub of Vaseline labeled for babies.  I'm sure it's just regular Vaseline, but the pink & blue baby label drew in these naive parents-to-be.  It just seemed at the time that it was something we should add to the registry.  It was in the baby section after all!

Fast forward two years and said big 'ol tub of Vaseline has hardly ever been used.  Until 3 days ago when Shay decided to take the lid off and scoop out gobs of it, smearing it all over her arms, legs, clothes, hair, our guest bedroom comforter and her daddy as he tried to grab her.  Bath #1 resulted in getting the goo off of her skin but did absolutely nothing for her hair.  Strike one.  A friend of mine Googled the How To's of how to get Vaseline out of hair.  We tried one of the suggestions of rubbing with baby oil (supposedly to get the Vaseline out) followed by a shampoo (supposedly to get the baby oil out).  Strike two.  We put Shay to bed and she looked like a grease monkey the next morning.  The third attempt involved Dawn dish soap followed by shampoo.  Success!  In fact, quite amazing success (thank you Google, Kristen & Jennifer)!

Moral of the story...don't keep Vaseline within a toddler's reach.  If this fails (which it or something like it will inevitably do), keep a bottle of Dawn handy.

Things No One Tells You Before Becoming a Parent - Toddlers Can Rupture Eardrums

I'm compiling a list of things that no one prepares you for when becoming a parent, the most recent being that loud, shrill screams from your baby can have the power to perforate an eardrum.  That's right folks, Shay literally shrieked a hole right into her Daddy's ear.  My sweet little Seraphina has turned into a banshee!

Goodnight Moon!

We're on our second hard copy of the book Goodnight Moon. The first one got worn out from so much use and ultimately met its demise in a toilet bowl (thanks to a precocious toddler who will remain nameless)!  The current copy has definitely seen better days.  Thanks to Grandma Pam for both copies.  Since Grandma should not be an eternal source of Goodnight Moon books, we found an alternative...YouTube to the rescue!  This animation brings the book to life and we all love it.  It's part of Shay's bedtime routine to watch this along with a few other favorite videos linked below.  Enjoy!

Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Gorilla

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Shay's absolute favorite video. Ever!)



Shay's Favorite Snack Recipe - Nut Butter Balls

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time and just haven't gotten around to it.  I like to try to make new things in an effort to expand Shay's food list and she absolutely loves these nut butter balls.  The recipe is courtesy of one of my favorite baby books The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet.  This book is filled with a lot of great recipe ideas for babies and toddlers.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsalted or lightly salted cashews
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 T. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pulse cashews in a food processor until they are fine crumbles, but not smooth cashew butter.  Add the remaining ingredients and process until combined.  Form into small, bite sized balls.  Store tightly covered in refrigerator.

Sorry, I don't have enough blogging foresight to take a photo.  You'll just have to make them yourselves and let me know if your little one likes them as much as Shay does!

Bad Blogger

Hi, my name is Jamie and I'm a bad blogger. 

It's been awhile since I've last posted anything on here.  I'm actually still debating the direction I want to go with this blog since I'm obviously really slow at updating what's been going on in the life of the Burton family. 

I've been getting a lot of questions from friends about all things baby.  While I'm very far from any sort of child rearing expert, I'm learning a lot...on a daily basis it seems!  So when I get the time and the motivation to start typing out some more thoughts, I'll probably start sharing more about some of the baby products, blogs, advice, etc. that I'm discovering works (or doesn't).  The recommendations from friends and advice I've discovered from other parenting resources has been so helpful so I'd like to pay it forward.

Stay tuned...

Springtime Fun

Nashville is beautiful this time of year with new leaves unfolding on nearly every tree and flowers in full bloom everywhere.  Perfect time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors before the sweltering humidity rears its ugly head.  What better way to kick off spring than a photo shoot of Shay at Centennial Park.  Once again, our creative, talented and generous friend Erin got behind the viewfinder of her camera and shot a bunch of great photos of Shay, her gift for Shay's 1st birthday.  Below are just a few of our favorite shots:

Flower child 

Love this one! 

Love that she's starting to look like a little girl in this one...

...and still looks like a baby in this one

On April 9th, Erin, our friend Liesl and I threw a bridal brunch shower for our friend Kristen who is getting married at the end of May.  We enjoyed beautiful weather out on the patio at local Nashville eatery Mad Donna's where we noshed on tasty food, sipped sweet mimosas and watched Kristen open her pile of gifts.  A perfect lazy Saturday morning. 

The bride to be

 Pretty flowers Erin brought

 Something must've been funny

Also this past weekend, my Aunt Paige & Uncle Bob rolled into Nashville in their motor home so we got to spend time with them on Saturday and Sunday and they met their grand-niece for the first time.  Shay, having gotten over her stranger anxiety a couple of months ago, welcomed them with all the vigor a 1 year old who has never before met her relatives can.  Which basically meant that she did not cry and instead offered up some waves and blew kisses.  She grabbed her Great Uncle Bob's cheek, fascinated for a brief moment in time with his facial hair, something she's never seen up close before (unless you count when her Daddy doesn't shave for a few days).

On Sunday, we drove to the campsite where Paige & Bob stayed in their motor home.  It was fun to check out their mobile digs and Shay enjoyed the playground and an impromptu dip in the lake, her first time in non-bathtub water.  She had a blast splashing around in the shallow water on the sandy beach and then trekked out into the lake itself seemingly oblivious to the coldness of the water.  She even fell backward and went completely under but came up unfazed.  As her mom, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she's so fearless when it comes to water.  Maybe there's something to the ol' astrological sign thing...she is a pisces!  After our daughter was thoroughly soaked, we brought her back up to the motor home, got her changed into a clean, dry outfit and enjoyed a great dinner outdoors.

 Checking out the inside of the motor home

 Jeff & Bob hanging outside "Big Gray Box"

 A happy Shay Bug

 Yep, she has all the makings of a gymnast...loved hanging on the bar

 Great Uncle Bob & Shay at Old Hickory Lake

Splish Splash! 

 She kept the boys on their toes

 Beach baby

The Big 1!

Shay's 1st birthday has come and gone and I am left in awe thinking back on everything that has changed over the past year.  Her Daddy and I can't stop referring to her as a "baby" even though she's technically a toddler now.  I have to admit I cried a little the day of her birthday at that thought.  Not because I'm not absolutely thrilled to be able to watch my little girl grow up happy & healthy, but because this first year has passed so quickly and she's changed so much that I just don't want her to grow up TOO fast.

Part of me misses (and probably always will) Infant Shay.  Don't get me wrong, I don't miss the crying-almost-all-of-the-time Infant Shay.  The little banshee wails at all hours of the night and the shear exhaustion that would ensue.  Infant Shay did not smile or laugh for the first few months.  However, Infant Shay would cuddle and fall asleep in my arms (didn't realize how fast that stage would pass).  Infant Shay would let me swaddle her into a little "baby burrito." Infant Shay had that intoxicating sweet baby scent.  Yes, I will miss her.

Ah but Toddler Shay is so much fun and there will be new, exciting things to look forward to.  Toddler Shay gets more and more interactive with each passing day.  She's still not saying any words but she likes to mimic facial expressions, sounds and actions (she gives high fives, waves, claps & gives kisses).  Toddler Shay loves going to the playground and running around.  She really keeps us on our toes!  She is into running and climbing on everything.  She has a smile on her face a lot of the time and it's easy to get a giggle or squeal of joy out of her.   We're going to enjoy every stage of watching her grow up.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to Shay Bug's birthday party!  We are so blessed to have family and friends who love on our little girl so much!  Here are some pictures taken by our friend Erin...

 Butterfly Birthday Cake

It was a butterfly themed party

Me & my little Love Bug 

 Smiles

 Love this photo!

1st cupcake 

 Enjoy it now kid...you won't be able to play with your food like this for long

Love that Erin got a shot of the cupcake 'do!