This is another great site to purchase wood and cloth toys from. three sisters toys
As I find sights for things that I like for Owen I will continue to pass them along.

hush lil' baby

Hush Little Baby

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,
Mama’s gonna buy you a talking bird.
And when its microchip breaks down,
Mama’s gonna buy you a dancing clown.
And when it gets recalled next week,
Mama’s gonna buy you some mice
that squeak.
And when they all get vacuumed up,
Mama’s gonna buy you a singing pup.
And when it wastes 12 batteries,
Mama’s gonna buy you some plastic keys.
And when they snap in just one day,
Mama’s gonna put her purse away.

– By Melissa Balmain. Reprinted with permission from Babytalk magazine (April 2006).

Happy Halloween

WOW, thanks Earl! My friend Earl brought over a swing yesterday and my sanity has been restored! (Not really I just have a bit more of hands free time!) I actually made winter squash chowder and punkin' bread yesterday. This morning I have already thrown chili in the crock pot! He loves it and I love that he loves it! I can not believe that I have gone this long without one! (by the way the chowder is heavenly!) I actually had to wake him up yesterday to get him dressed to go into town. I think that will also be the case today. WOW!

My friend Cory's mom, sister and niece were in town last week and I met them up at the zoo. It was a good time. The zoo is always bitter sweet for me. I love animals so much and think it is so rad to be able to watch all the animals and see them up close. It is the whole confinement thing that is hard to swallow. We had a good time though, thanks Cory! This is Cory and Courtney. He was teaching her all kinds of bad habbits i.e. she was saying "sucker" by the end of the day. (as in "uncle cory is a sucka" ! It was really cute but his brother is probably going to kill him! I guess that is what uncles do when they only get to spend 3 days out of a year with them! Is this what I have to look forward to? What is my son going to come home doing?!?

Changing the culture of gifts
When looking for a gift idea here are a few things to consider that may help you to make a
decision on one item or another. We are going to try to raise our child as green as possible in this
not so green world! I am researching on how to raise a child plastic free (or at least minimally, I
am aware of the fact that there are some things that seem to be unavoidable anymore.) So a
few guidelines that seem to be useful are as follows.

*Will this toy eventually turn into dirt-i.e. could I compost it?
Stones, driftwood, flowers...they will be gone and life goes on!
*Do I know who made this toy or specific item?
*Is this toy beautiful? Have human hands bestowed an awkward grace, a uniqueness lacking in
toys cranked out effortlessly by machine?
*Will this toy capture imagination?

We are going to be comming home for Christmas and I want to emphasize that we are trying to raise Owen with very little plastic in his toy box. There are some really great hand made toys out there that are wood. I know they are harder to find but I would really appreciate it if you are considering getting him toys that you respect our values. This is a good website that you can order from and there are plenty of others. www.gummylump.com It is always more special to recieve a gift that is hand made as well, especially by the persons presenting the gift.

busy days

Mike found his new born pictures so here is the comparison photos again.

I think that G-ma Bobbie just likes to upset Owen. This is her on the other line again. He really does smile sometimes. The camera is just never handy enough.

We took some pictures in the front yard the other evening and these were the results! They were fun. I like the whole fall harvest idea. "Look, we harvested a baby!"

It has been a busy weekend. I actually worked today for 4 hours at the coffee shop. My bosses went out of town and wanted someone there basically for backup. I nursed Owen when I first got there and he played for a bit and nursed him again and he went out and we put him in the stroller to sleep and he did not wake up until I was done with my shift! Good little man. I saw so many people that I have not seen since his birth so it was cool to show him off!

I love it when ya all leave messages. It keeps me motivated to keep up on the blog knowing that folks are actually reading it.