Hotel Success

Yay! Maggie, Irene, Helen and I are going to visit Betsie and Scott for the weekend! I haven't seen them since early March. This will be my first time visiting them (and Maggie's as well). I think that we'd probably overcrowd their little apartment if we stayed there, so after being horrified at the hotel prices around there, I decided to try priceline.com. Now, the way priceline works is that you choose an area and a star rating and name a price. You can try again the same day if you change either the area or the star rating, but if you just want to change the price, you have to wait 24 hours. If they find a hotel that accepts the price, then they charge your credit card immediately. Only after you are committed do you find out which hotel and where it is. The first price I tried, no one would accept, so I waited 24 hours and tried again with a higher price. It was accepted! Not only did I get a hotel with the highest possible star rating in their town (2 1/2 stars) for more than 50% off, the hotel is less than five minutes from their apartment!

Birthday Party!!!

My first baby is almost three! We had a birthday celebration for her with my family on Sunday. I did not have it all together. Late Saturday night, I realized that I had not purchased a birthday gift for her yet. So, out to Meijer with Helen *hoping* that they carried some acceptable set of duplos. They did. Yay! Then, after gift-opening and a meal that went quite well, dessert time! Oops! The only birthday candle in the house was one left from her first birthday...in the shape of a 1. We turned it sideways and used it anyway. She blew it out before we had a chance to sing, so we lit it again. She blew again, but missed, then blew it out. At least she blew three times!

Her grandparents also gave her duplos, but it was a different set, so it was great. She has been playing with them ever since. The only trouble is that my independent player now wants Mark or me to play with her all the time. We made a piano with a bench today. Since her daddy is the one who plays the piano in our house, she sat the "daddy" duplo man on the bench.

Babywearing!

Helen is very different from Irene in many ways. One is that she dislikes the stroller. Irene loved riding in her stroller, so this was new to me. How could I take walks if Helen cried in the stroller? Irene still rides in a stroller, so I couldn't carry Helen and push Irene at the same time. Or could I? Oh yes! I had bought a Baby Bjorn carrier at a resale shop and only used it with Irene when I vacuumed because she needed that security from the noisemaker. I tried it with Helen, but I didn't like how little support it gave her, and it didn't feel very secure on long walks. I checked out out some slings online, but they are soooo expensive. Pattern search time!

I found a free pattern for a mei tai, and it looked really easy to make for a beginning sewer like me. My mom has a sewing machine, so that wasn't an issue. A fabric store nearby sends out coupons for 40% off one item, so I was able to get the fabric 40% off. Thread is cheap, and some of the other supplies were on sale. My mom showed me how to cut it out with her cutting mat and rolling cutting blade. Helen ended up needing to eat before we were done, and my mom finished cutting it out while I was nursing. I did every bit of sewing, though. It's a bit big, and it should fit us for a while. I think I need to start rolling up the bottom to make it shorter because she's so little. I LOVE IT! It is easy to put on, and can be worn in so many different ways. So far, we've only really used it as a front carrier, but I expect that to change as she grows. Here's a picture from a wedding reception last weekend. The blue panel is interchangable. I can make as many different panels as I want and put in the one that matches my outfit or mood. (The lei is not part of the carrier; it was a Hawaiian themed reception.)