I get lots of emails about babies and beach gear... and now that I have some experience under 
my belt I thought I would revisit this topic a little:












Meet the Super Brella Sport $50

• Ultra portable because it folds up like a tailgate chair and goes in a bag
• wind resistant because of those windows on the side
• you can sit underneath it, even in chairs
• You can use it for other things like tailgating and soccer or baseball games.
• Comes in 3 colors: red, blue, green

Last year when Peebs was a baby I LOVE this float:

I am getting bored with my normal monthly updates so I will just start summarizing with the important info! I can not believe my boy is almost 2 years old! He is certainly looking like a little boy now! In fact he looks like a 4 year old. 


He is not talking still. Says a few words: Momma, Dada, paw paw, bebe, etc but still doesn't ever say anything when you ask him, and doesn't chatter non stop. He will act out what he wants or needs and attempt to just help himself rather than speak his needs. He understands everything though. 


He has acquired some new behaviors which are hilarious to me but here are a few:


- He really enjoys "helping" you do anything. He wants to load and unload the dishwasher, and amazing knew where everything went , exactly. He has been watching us do that every morning for a year so I guess he was actually paying attention! He likes to put clothes in the wash, he helped me carry in groceries yesterday without my asking him , which was totally endearing, especially when he hauls a huge bag of potatoes in the kitchen.
- He seems to be kind of particular about where things go and making sure they go there. He has been an organizer since early on, but it was it for fun, and now he seems more serious about it. I watched him retrieve himself a cereal bar today from his cabinet and he got it out of the box , and put the box back exactly like it was, knocked over something accidentally and worked really hard to put that back just right, then shut both doors and put the child lock band back on them before asking me to open his cereal bar.
- Doors must be SHUT. I think all kids go through this phase right? He can't walk past ANY door without shutting it. 
- Dipping and Condiments! He has discovered the art of dipping stuff and now wants to only eat the condiment and not the food. He had some ketchup at my parent's house and wants to eat ketchup by the fistful.


- Mimicking. He does this a lot these days. He pretends to talk on the phone, clean up, anything that he sees us do. He learned how to relax in the recliner and dramatically point the remote at the TV from my dad last week and he loves to do that over and over. 
 - Hiding things under pillows.
- Dancing, He enjoys spinning in a circle to ANY music he may hear. I can barely turn on the iPod now because he spins till he falls over and over.




 He is playing SO hard these days, and mostly outside which means he is slathered in sunscreen or wearing sun-proof clothes all day.


I broke down and bought a bubble machine for $15 a Target cause I was so tired of blowing bubbles and getting all sticky. That was money well spent! It works like a charm and he loves it.
Sidewalk chalk is something we go through TONS of. I found a huge bucket of it at Michaels for $5 which seems to be a good deal.
I bought a water table at Target that is a piece of crap. Really wish I had just ordered a nicer one because he loves to play at it. The one we got has lots of pieces that are not attached well so I am always having to put it back together.
He also plays with his Fisher Price Etch a Sketch thingy all the time when we are inside. 


He has finally started showing an interest in toy cars and pushing them around. 




Other tidbits:


His new fav show is DORA THE EXPLORER! and runner up I guess is Mickey Mouse Club House. Dora is the only show that he actually will sit down to watch. Any other cartoons are just background noise.


He still really enjoys Ralphie the dog, and going for strolls. He will crawl up in his stroller now and start screeching for me to take him on a spin! 


I think his final teeth are coming in now. His cheeks are red, he is spitting again, and has his fingers shoved way back in his mouth pretty regularly. 

I can not remember how many days we have been here anymore or what day we are on... so
Here are some pics from our day on a Catamaran and snorkeling. I am SO sad that my dang Escape Capsule Waterproof iphone case was not in before this trip ( Kickstarter project I have been waiting a YEAR on).. anyway It would be have awesome to take pics and video underwater when we snorkeled!
We met some southern peeps from ATl and had a good time visiting with them.
Our favorite spot so far as been on the Southern beaches in Poipu. They are very pretty and swimable!
We were able to rent prescription snorkel masks which I think is pretty neat!
I am on book 2 in the 50 Shades series and I am sick of hearing about her subconscious all the time or her inner Goddess.
I finished my couch to 5k Run here in Hawaii which I think is worth celebrating!
Missing my boy something terrible and can't wait to see that joker!

Here are some pics from day one! I have no idea how this will look when posted as I am using my ipad with the blogger app and I think it does not line up pictures correctly?
You can see from the pics we look like the only peeps around, part of that is because it's much less crowded here than we are used to with Cabo , and also because we are up with the SUn every day ha!
Those creepy crabs are all over the rocks. I loved them and Erik did NOT. I am excited to see some sea life but we could not get a snorkel trip lined up till next week. We also have a luau booked and I'm excited about that as well.
We are driving somewhere to do a run on some pretty trails this morning. Gonna try to sight see a little bit as we spend the whole day lounging at the hotel yesterday ( and may have gotten a little too much sun).
I got a real plumeria lei last night for a $1! Pretty awesome. They have these stores called " ABC Stores" which I thought was a liquor store but turns out its a souvenir shop! I may have to go get peebs a HAwaiian shirt and matching shorts for kicks. He would look hilarious in that! It is almost 7am here now! So probably lunch time for you guys?...

We got to Hawaii about 5pm ( here) but about Midnight our time yesterday and we were SO tired. We basically stopped and had dinner then came to the room and went to bed!
It was some much needed sleep. We had an interesting flight because Charo was on it! I had no idea who she was but Erik recognized her as being famous. Her husband and 24 ( or so) year old son were on the flight too and her son was sitting with us. She was hilarious and kept coming over and kissing him and checking on him, bringing him food etc. When we first boarded she came over and introduced him to Erik and I and told us basically to be friendly and don't let him be lonely, which was kind of hilar adn really embarrassed her son. He told me she just started working for United( the airline ) and that was why she knew everyone etc. I believed him! ha finally as we talked for a few hours he said she was an "entertainer" and I realized Erik was right, she was famous. I said " you told us she works for united" and he was all "I did ?" well I just lie about her all the time out of habit basically.
Anyway it was crazy and fun. He was SUPER nice.
It is very pretty here and the flowers are amazing! We are kind of missing the boy but trying not to think of it too much. I got a video of him yesterday eating dinner with my bro , and Dave got him to eat corn on the cob! Super impressive. Maybe he will have good eating habits when we pick him up after all!
It is only like 9am here ( we have been up since 5) so all we have done is check out the beach and go grocery shopping! I will post some pics later today perhaps!
Aloha!

This post is a little different from our normal tutorials but if you don't need it now, you are likely to need it one day. I am in the process of navigating a hard drive crash and stupidly, I had not backed up since January!
BUT I had been regularly synching my iPhone and iPad and they acted as data back up for me.
If you have things on your phones or ipads that you want to transfer to your computers OR you just wanted to back up all the data on your phone or iPad you can do that with software.

The one I use is called PHONEVIEW. It only works with macs and is $20. I have used it countless times over the years.

I'd you have a windows computer the you can try TOUCHCOPY.

I am sure you guys probably go to the Zoo often with your kids, but we have been a total of 3 times so far, and today was  one of those times! We joined Cory & Walkybear for a day of sweating and pulling a wagon  up and down hills while buying $7 ice cream  animal sightings and enrichment.

It became apparent how unprepared I was, and next time I will DEF. do better. Read on for my tips if you are into that sort of thing! I am blogging this so I will remember next time!


First off, Stroller or Wagon? Probably depends on the kid, but since we had 2 kids we thought the wagon was a good option. This wagon in particular is  the bomb! It has a collapsible shade canopy, it folds flat for your trunk, and has a cargo area for purse/diaper bag. Everybody and their momma asked us about this Wagon when we were there! Shout out to @juliebray for recommending it to me.


After checking on Amazon for a link, it appears that my wagon is actually a "Garden Wagon" which is about half the price and folds better than the one advertised for kids. Just search "fold wagon" on amazon and check it out for yourself. We have this one.

Anywho.....

1. Mistake #1- Bringing a purse. There are many times when you have to park your ride and go elsewhere , but who wants to leave their stuff unattended? Next time I will bring a BACKPACK ( i feel like after watching Dora 47 times a day that word should be capitalized)
2.  Mistake #2 - Bringing a big camera. I brought my fancy camera cause I just knew that the zoo was gonna be a great photo op! Not so much.... Mostly I just worried about it getting stolen and took pics and video with the iphone because that was easier. Next zoo trip I will be leaving that bad boy at home.
3. Mistake #3 - Buying Zoo food and drink. No one checked my bag for snacks so I guess it's legal to bring your own. Certainly cheaper! Next time I will bring all my own snacks and drinks, for myself as well as the boy.
4. Mistake #4 - Tennis Shoes.. although I was comfortable, I could not get them on and off easily for the playground for kids that required you to be shoe-less. 
5. Mistake #5 - I only brought a $20 bill. I didn't know what I would need but the token machine for the train ride would not break a 20 so there was no train ride for our boys and I think they would have really loved that!

This joker right here had Obvi had about as much as he could stand,..... of the kids & the heat.. and I totally understood!

So.. I mentioned earlier about the groupon and stylist. I have had lots of events lately that  I do not have the clothes for because I so rarely need cute outfits , and honestly spent more time buying clothes in size 2 or 3T and toys for the past year that my closet has suffered. All of the work stuff has inspired me to get more serious about my overall "look" .. so I snatched up the groupon for $50 for  a 2 hour closet audit with the stylist and then she picks out outfits with shoes and jewelry and make syou several cute looks and takes pics and gives you a "look book" of outfits in what you already own. I hate trying on clothes so that was some work but I learned a lot!

• start with a good foundation ( underwear).  I finally resolved to get fitted for bras this year which I have never done in my life, and in addition got a good strapless bra that can be configured to different style shirts, and some shapewear. I can not believe I am buying/wearing shapewear, but overall your look is much sleeker and it helps push down my gut. She actually told me I should be wearing a cami under everything.
• She gave some nice honest feedback and told me what didn't look good on me and why, which clothes I should pitch and which ones I should keep. 
• She pointed out some basic things my wardrobe is missing,for instance some pewter or silver sandals. (Anybody know of a cute pair?)
• She suggested belting some things which I never would have thought of or would normally do
• and she made a pile of things that need altering and is putting me in touch with a person who does great alterations. 

 My fav outfit:
 and this is a cotton one piece that I loved because it is comfy with pockets but I did not feel like it was flattering and she suggested belting it and gave me a couple of jewelry options to help with that.

Obvi the blog has been falling behind lately.. and that is OK. I have had a lot on my plate and had to choose where to put my time and attention and I am also trying to transition from blogging just because or blogging because I want to.. so 
Here is what has been going on over here lately:

• Pred's games! It is play off time for the predators hockey team and we have been going to lots of games!
• redecorating our living room. I painted and sold most of our old stuff on Craigslist and am waiting on some new furniture to come in. I also sewed some new curtains. Once it is all done I will post some pics!
• Cooking! Trying to cook more often and more healthy meals. Y'all know I have food hoodoo and thanks to @paulburns watched the food documentary " Forks before Knives" .. excellent and highly educational. It is sad really how uneducated the American population is on our food and how it relates to health. 
• Computer issues. My computer started freezing between every action, right around the same time I switched internet providers. Really regret changing from AT&T to Comcast. Grrrr
• Working.My.Butt.Off. I finally tackled my fear of public speaking to be on a panel of mom inventors for the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce last week. 
• Still working on the ikid ipad case development. Developing any product from scratch is HARD. The design take s awhile , then finding a manufacturer, then trying to make prototypes. Right now we are trying different compositions of foam to find just the right one. 
• Working with a graphics expert to design the packaging for the ilatch. packaging in the retail world is a big deal so I have been working VERY hard to get just the right look. That means professional pics of the new design UPC codes, etc. 
• Filming the ilatch demo video with a professional videographer. Y'all! Acting ain't for me! No matter how passionate I feel about my products, having to remember lines, while having good posture and trying to remember to smile while I talk and stuff over and over again is hard work. Literally sweating when I do those segments! 
• running. I am still doing the couch to 5K thing the other day, and recently someone asked me what race I was training for... and I was taken aback! I am not training for any race, just trying to get more healthy and fit. Tricky business since running makes me eat more than I ever have in my life! Also kind of disheartening when I look down after 2 miles and its says i have only burned 280 calories.. for REALZ? That is like 1 drink or 1 cadburry egg! yikes.
• Sinus infection. Oh how I miss perfume. I battled a sinus infection for about 2 weeks and I think it is finally over. Trying not to take antibiotics for every thing that comes up, but it was not easy.
• I bought a groupon for a stylist to come over and do a closet audit. That deserves its own post and will get one!
• Preparing for our big trip in 2 weeks! Erik and I are going to Hawaii. I call it my swan song because we want to have another baby soon and leaving 2 kids behind is gonna be a lot harder than leaving 1 so we wanted to take one great trip together, just us before we try for a new little griza. 
• socializing! We have Jgro's baby shower this weekend! It will be Derby themed since its derby weekend! My birthday was last week , so we had some outings for that. sean & mary over for dinner one night. CoCo came to visit for a few days.. etc.
• Concerts! Death Cab in Louisville 2 weeks ago, Counting Crows Saturday Night!
• Buying gifts for various birthdays, weddings and babies. I am WAY behind on this and it has been driving me crazy so I finally sat down, googled registries and have been working on that stuff!
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