Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wordless Wednesday



Sleepover in Coley's Room!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mommy Tip Tuesday

Cool new things that I found that I want. These are luxury items. Not must haves. I do not have these items, but I sure do want them.


http://www.booninc.com/products/Squirt
You load up your homemade baby food into this spoon, then squeeze the handle and baby food comes out onto the spoon. No jars necessary. Awesome.

http://www.diapers.com/p/Sunshine-Kids-Super-Mat-7884
I didn't even know that these seat covers existed! Our car seats get hashed with all the snacks and things that we give to Nicole in the back of the car. Once Daniel is old enough to feed himself too, it will ruin our backseat. Me wants!


http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=14036262&findingMethod=rr
I wish I had had this when I first had Nicole. I was constantly trying to keep track of the last time that I changed her and the last time I fed her and the last time she slept and it was a lot of times to remember. Matt is even worse at this. I get home and ask when Daniel last ate (because I want to feed him) and he is always like "I don't know, like an hour ago?" Which is not a bad thing, I just like to know so that I can be prepared to take over his schedule when I get home. I want to be the mommy!  Me wants retroactively!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Wipe Out!

One of Nicoley's favorite shows is... Wipe Out.


Yes, I am talking about the show where people do ridiculous obstacle courses and hurt themselves and win a ton of money. Nicoley loves this show. Matt and I enjoy watching it and then Nicole started watching it with us. She gets very into the show and gets concerned when people get hurt or don't finish.

Nicole: "Oh no, oh no. She fell!"
After the person recovers and finishes the course.
Nicole: "Yay! He made it mama, he made it!"

She takes Wipe Out very seriously.

Here are some pics of my kids while Wipe Out is on in the background.




Friday, August 26, 2011

Mad Monkey Boy!

This is what happens when you put a hat on a baby who has never worn a hat (because he has awesome hair, why would he need a hat?).


Monkey boy is so cute! I couldn't help it.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Letters to Mommy

Dear Mommy,

I have decided to take after my sister and be very picky about my eating. I know that all I eat is milks, but I want to make things just a little more difficult for you and be very particular about how my milks are served to me.

If the sun is out, I want my milks in a bottle. Do not attempt to nurse me Mommy, because I will just arch my back and shout at you until you stop all attempts to nurse and stick a bottle in my mouth. I am not as particular about the temperature of my milks, but I prefer it warm rather than cold. Also, I'm going to need at least 6 oz every three hours. Maybe you should be writing this down Mommy.

When the sun goes down and it is dark, you may nurse me Mommy, but only with the following conditions:

  • We must be laying down on your bed. I will not eat if we are laying down anywhere else and I certainly won't eat if you try any of those other nursing holds.
  • Do not even attempt to take out that nursing cover because I hate it and I will thrash and flail until you get that thing off of me. Unless I am in a playful mood, then I will just grab it and stick it in my mouth to suck on.
  • I will only eat on your right side unless I am half asleep and you trick me into eating on your left. You are a sneaky Mommy.
  • No one else may be on the bed with us or I will not eat. I will just look at the person on the bed with us. Unless, of course, you trick me again and put my silky/soft blanket on my face so that I can't see the person on the bed with us.
  • If the person on the bed with us makes any noise at all, or if I see them, I will not nurse. This is my domain and it must go my way!
If you fulfill all of my eating requirements, I may just be a good boy and make goat noises for you. If not, I will scream a high pitched scream that seems like it should only come out of a girl.

Thank you Mommy! 

Love,
Dan da Man

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mommy Tip Tuesday

To go along with my Mommy Tip last week, I am going to talk about nursing accessories.

My absolute favorite nursing accessory, my uddercover.


When I had Nicole, I wanted a nursing cover, so I bought a generic one at Target and I hated it! It was thin at the top (just as wide as my neckline) and wide on the bottom. It was NOT wide enough to cover me and baby while nursing. I used it the whole time, but secretly wanted a better one.

When I was expecting Daniel, I was sent a code for a free nursing cover from uddercovers.com and I got it. I love it! It is wide at the top, has boning in the neckline and it is a thin fabric so baby doesn't get too hot when I'm nursing. You can find codes for these covers for free all the time, just ask around.

My second favorite nursing accessory is the Boppy.
I love this horseshoe pillow. It makes nursing a lot easier! I can be hands free feeding my baby, which allows me to hold a book and read or help Nicole with whatever she needs, ect. Daniel doesn't like laying on the boppy anymore (mostly because he doesn't want to nurse). But, with Nicole, I used it for her first year for nursing. I also used it when she was learning to sit up. I put her in the middle of it and it was enough to prop her up and if she fell over, it was onto soft pillow. This does not work with Daniel. When I sit him in the middle of it, he does stiff body and falls back immediately. This boy does not want to sit up.

So, those two items made nursing a lot easier for me.

Monday, August 22, 2011

4 Months!



Dan the man is getting so big so fast! He is such a big boy and I'm not ready. Why can't he be a baby forever?

We brought Daniel to the doctor last week for his four month check up. He is a healthy baby boy! When the doctor was looking at Daniel, Nicole started to panic. She gets very protective of Daniel and kept asking, "What is she doing?" She was afraid the doctor was hurting Daniel.

Daniel got his shots while we were at the doctor and he was grumpy for the rest of the week last week. Shots sure do make for a grumpy baby. Hopefully, he will be a happier boy this week than he was last week.

Here are Daniel's stats... or what I remember of them.
Weight: 16lbs, 75%
Height: 75%
Head: 50%

Daniel's head keeps getting blockier, like Nicole's, so I thought he would have a higher percentage for head shape, but no, he is average. I just think that he has a big head.

I moved Daniel to size 6-9 month clothing this weekend because I was stretching his onsies to button them. I can't believe how fast they grow!

Here are some of Daniel's accomplishments.
  • Rolls over... sometimes. He is not very good at it yet, but he can do it sometimes. Mostly, he doesn't get the chance to try to do it because Nicole pushes him over. She desperately wants to help him.
  • Can grab things with his hands... most of the time. He is learning to use his hands and grab the things he wants. But, he doesn't always succeed. He likes to put his thumb in his pacifier and then chew on it. 
  • He just noticed his feet yesterday. He likes to put his little legs up and just stare at his feet.
  • His favorite thing, that makes him laugh every time, is rubbing his hands in Matt's hair and Matt's beard face. He thinks it is hilarious.
I love my Dan the man. Stay a baby forever!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friends Already


Look at my beautiful children. They love laying together and watching tv. Until Nicole tries to sit on Daniel. Then he likes it less.


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

20 Week Sisters


What the heck? Darn my short waist! Even though I am tall, my waist is really short. I'm all legs baby! Obviously, my sisters take after the Derington side, rather than the Moses side. I got the Moses waist, Moses hair, and the Moses nose. Okay, I don't mind the nose, but the other two! Oh, and I have the Moses flat head. Oh yeah, we have flat heads. It is like a board on the back of my head. My poor kids have flat heads too. Little block heads.

Hello Kitty

A couple of days ago, a pretty kitty cat came to visit us in our backyard. The cat was so pretty and Nicole was so enamored with it that we gave it a can of tuna. It was such a nice kitty cat. It let Nicole pet it while it ate the tuna and then followed her around the back porch for a while until it was time for us to go in and eat dinner.


The next day, Nicole was playing downstairs and the cat came back to visit again. Probably because we fed it delicious tuna and it wanted more. We gave it some water and Nicole played with the cat through the sliding door for like an hour. Nothing keeps her entertained for that long, so we were surprised. Nicole loves cats because her aunt Mee Mee has cats, but Mee Mee's cats don't like Nicole and they hiss and bite her.


Nicole said to me the first time that she got to play with this little kitty...
"Mommy, is it Mee Mee's cat?" (because, apparently, all cats belong to Mee Mee)
"No, it isn't Mee Mee's cat," I said.
"Is it MY cat?" Nicole asked.
"NO, it is NOT your cat!" I told her.

Matt and I are allergic to cats, so we will NOT be adopting this kitty. Plus, I think it is our neighbor's cat who lives behind us. Plus, I was reminded of a story that my aunt Deanne put on her blog. Where they tried to adopt a kitty who kept visiting, only to find out (when they took it to the vet to be fixed) that the cat had been recently fixed. The kitty was just making families with anyone who would give it food.


Last night, Nicole and Matt went out to the garden to pick tomatoes. As soon as that cat heard them in the backyard, it jumped over our back fence and came up to our back porch. I let Nicole go outside and play with the kitty because she loves it so much. Again, she kept asking if it was "Our kitty." No, it is not our cat.

Here is a little video with Nicole and the visiting kitty.




Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Mommy Tip Tuesday

For my Mommy Tip today, I wanted to talk about my nursing struggles/successes.

When I had Nicole, I had no idea how to nurse because I had never done it before. We struggled together (Nicole and I) while we were in the hospital, trying to get her to latch on and eat. The nurses kept pushing me to make her eat, telling me that she needed food. So, I called in the lactation specialist and got a little help and she did finally latch.

Now, let me tell you something about newborns. They do not need a lot a food the first few days of their life. Mommy's milk usually doesn't even come in until a few days after you leave the hospital, so all you are producing is colostrum. When baby does eat, it is only one teaspoon, maybe two, because their stomachs are super small. So, do not let your nurses make you feel bad about not being able to nurse right away, it takes a while to get the hang of latching your baby.

Once Nicole was home from the hospital and we got the hang of it, she nursed like a champ. She loved nursing. So much so that she wouldn't even take a bottle. When we finally transitioned her to the bottle at 12 months, it was really difficult because she wanted to go on nursing forever. Plus, Nicole was allergic to cows milk, so we were transitioning her to soy milk and it was not easy. We ended up spiking her milk with ovaltine in order to transition her to bottles. It was not fun, but she had teeth and I was definitely done nursing.

With Daniel, I had a really really hard time nursing at first. He wouldn't latch or he would latch and then immediately fall off. So, we would prepare bottles of pumped milk and start him on the bottle and switch him over to the breast. This worked most of the time, but it was very frustrating for me that my baby couldn't eat directly from me. There were many many tears.

Daniel's tongue was too tight at birth and this made it very difficult for him to latch and get food. I had mentioned to Matt that I thought there was a problem with his tongue, but we waited until his two week appointment to bring it up with the doctor. We got his tongue clipped and he started nursing a LOT better.

With Daniel, we knew that I was going to be returning to work, so we did bottles and nursing both, from the very beginning. I didn't want to go through the nightmare that was weaning Nicole to a bottle with Daniel. This worked out really well. He liked bottles, he liked nursing and he grew fatter all the time.

I had pumped and frozen a lot of milk when I was out on maternity leave because I wanted to make sure that Daniel would never be without food when I went back to work. I really love nursing, I love that bonding time with my baby. Also, after being the food source and life source for my baby the whole time in the womb, it is nice to still feel that connection with my baby that I am still supporting their life and helping them grow.

So, when I went back to work, I chose to continue nursing. Matt feeds Daniel bottle of breast milk during the day and I pump while I'm at work. Then, at night, I nurse him exclusively. Well, after not to long being back at work, my milk supply started to go down during the day. Not being around the baby all day long just didn't inspire my body to make lots of milk. So, we started delving into our frozen milk supply for Daniel's bottles during the day.

Slowly, the milk supply in our freezer dwindled more and more and I had to accept that we would have to start mixing formula into Dan's milk to prepare him for the time that my milk would just stop coming. This was a difficult decision for me because I love nursing so much and I kinda felt like a failure when I realized he would need formula to keep him fat and happy. But, the health of my baby is more important than my sensitive Mama feelings and we started doing half formula, half milk bottles. (Daniel drinks a 4oz bottle every 3 hours.)

He has been on half and half bottles for about 2 weeks now and I have definitely seen a change in him. When I get home at the end of the day, he does not want to nurse. He will reject the breast and still cry for food because he wants a bottle. Bottle give food a lot faster than the breast and he can wiggle and see the world while eating. The only way he will let me nurse is if we are laying in my bed together, he will not eat in the football or cradle holds. Additionally, he has decided that he only wants milk from one side. He does not like my left side and will only drink from it when he wakes up in the middle of the night and is so sleepy that he doesn't know any better. This is very frustrating because the non-preferred side is starting to produce less and the other side is producing more to compensate. I'm sure you see the problem with this...

As much as it hurts my heart to say so, I think my little baby boy is transitioning out of nursing. He has chosen the bottle. It makes me sad. I wanted to nurse him to six months, but he is only four months and already rejecting nursing. But, I suppose, there comes a time when I have to accept that my baby wants to grow up, even though I wish he would stay a baby forever.

So, I assume that we will start weaning sometime this month and hopefully, it will not be as painful as it was with Nicole (like literally painful!). I know that many other women have a lot more problems with nursing than I have ever had. Many women don't produce enough milk for their babies from the very beginning. Other women develop breast infections or their babies never learn to latch. There are so many frustrations that come along with nursing. So, I am grateful for the time I have had with my precious boy thus far.

If you are having trouble nursing or are fearing nursing to come, I hope my experience gives you a little idea of what is to come or at least gives you some comfort that you are not alone. Nursing is difficult, but it is so very worth it!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Naughty Nicoley!


We had many behavior problems with Nicole this weekend. She was disobedient for reasons unknown (other than her being two years old). I would send her to spanking land, but I don't actually spank, so I will have to be content with venting my frustrations on my blog.

Friday, we went to my brother Jake's house for the blessing of his baby. Nicole was fine at first, wanting to play with her cousins and being excited about being in a place she did not know. Then, it came time for the blessing. She sat next to me and folded her arms and was good for about 2 minutes and then her patience was up, the prayer was taking too long and she started to get restless. I leaned over to her and whispered that she should stay in her seat. Her response, "NO! I don't like the prayer!" Loudly, so that everyone could hear it in the middle of the blessing. I was so embarrassed.

Then, 10 minutes later, when it was time to bless the food, Nicole had had enough of prayers and when asked to be quiet during the blessing of the food, "No! I don't like the prayer. I not da da fold my arms!" Again, during the prayer because the prayer took more than the thirty seconds she was willing to wait for it.

I guess that I can kinda blame myself for this one. We keep our prayers short and sweet at home because I think that every prayer should have a purpose. When we bless the food, we bless the food, we don't go on about all the other things that we have been meaning to pray about. When we say prayers at bedtime, we pray with Nicole in mind, things she would want to pray about. Short and sweet. My personal prayers can get lengthy, but no need to subject others to all of my prayer thoughts, I save it for my own prayers.

Then, on Sunday, we were slightly late for church, so we sat in the foyer while the sacrament was going on. Nicole was out of control. It is like she had completely forgot what a whisper sounds like.

I whisper to Nicole, "Use your whisper voice."
Nicole in a loud voice, "LIKE THAT MAMA?"
Me, whispering again, "No, not like that, use your whisper voice."
Nicole in a high voice, "Like that Mama?"
Me, "No, just stop talking, play the quiet game."
Nicole in a monster voice, "Like that Mama?"
Me, "Arg!"

She just would NOT stop talking. Just asking me the same questions again and again and again.
"Like that Mama?"
"I hungry Mama!"
"I da da sit here Mama?"

Arg!

Then, she decided it would be a fun game to roll around the foyer. I was holding Daniel and so I asked her not to do it, then I told her not to do it, but she just ignored me, laughed and did it some more.

Then, she rolled over to the chapel door and I told her to get up and come to me. Instead, she laughed and started repeatedly kicking the chapel door! I was mortified! This, my child, is misbehaving so badly and I felt powerless to stop her. She  would  not  listen!

Matt and I had had it at this point, so Matt took her to sit in the car. She came back a little ways into sacrament meeting, but she was not better. She wouldn't stay sitting, she wouldn't stop talking, she was just so disobedient. So, I took Daniel and her home. Church is a privilege and if she can't behave, she has to go home. She cried her little eyes out and she went straight to her room when we got home, but I just didn't know what else to do.

I've always been critical of people who can't make their children behave during church. Letting them run up and down the isles. Letting them run up onto the stand. Letting them be loud and rowdy. And then, I felt like that mother who wants to just give up because the child is behaving so badly. I don't know what brought about this change, Nicole used to be so good during church, but the last two weeks, she has been a terror.

Naughty Nicoley

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Funny Nicoley


Here are some funny things that Nicole has said recently.

Nicole was walking up a steap(ish) hill and she said while taking slow steps, "This hill is heavy. It is so heavy."
Hilarious! She was trying to describe that the hill was difficult to walk up.

While driving in the car in the evening the other day, Nicole began to cry and said, "Oh no! The sun is going away Mama! The sun is leaving." And then she started crying really loud.

While leaving the library yesterday she said, "No, I don't want to go." Then, as we went out the doors she said, "Oops, it is closed! The library is closed."

Nicole often likes to say one thing and then correct herself for us. She will often repeat things that we have said to her in the past to herself, rather than waiting for us to tell her. For instance, at dinner, she has to take a bite of her food before she can drink her juice (the juice is a reward for taking a bite). The other night at dinner she said...
"I want some juice."
And in response to herself, she said...
"Oops, you have to take a bite."
Then, she took a bite, and then got a drink of juice.

We were driving in the car the other day and we heard Nicole having a dialog with herself and high pitched Nicoley.

High pitched Nicoley: I don't like that song.
Regular Nicoely: Yes, you do like that song.
High pitched Nicoley: No, don't sing it!
Regular Nicoley: Yes, lets sing it!

What is really funny is that Matt and Nicole have had this conversation before. Nicole claims she doesn't like a song, Matt says she does... she is repeating exact conversations for her make believe playing.

My Day Yesterday

6am: Feed baby, shower, eat.
7am: Go to work
8am: Freak out because I have tons of work to do and servers are down.
12pm: Quickly eat lunch while working.
4pm: Go home, relieved that I got all my work done.
4:30pm: Get home and feed baby. Then, pack a bag and get Nicole ready to go.
5pm: Go to the Library with both kids so that Matt could study for his final.
5:45pm: Leave library and put gas in the car.
6pm: Run to Macey's (with both kids still) and pick up grocery items so that I can make cookies and cake for family events on Friday.
6:30pm: Get home and start making dinner.
7pm: Serve dinner and feed baby. Then, I eat.
7:30pm: Dishes
8pm: Get kids in pajamas, get Nicole her nighttime milk cup, and feed baby.
8:15pm: Fold laundry.
8:30pm: Read Nicole and Daniel books we got from the library.
9pm: Put Nicole to bed and feed Daniel again.
9:30pm: My wonderful husband is finally finished studying and puts the sleeping Daniel in his bed. Then, I finally get to watch Big Brother.
10:30pm: Fall asleep while watching Shark Tank.

Long day, no break, tired today.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Tweeky Clothespin

Ever do that thing where, when signing up for something at a store or online, you use a false name? Matt sure does and it ends up with hilarious results.

Apparently, Stevens Henager College will accept anyone. Even if you have a crazy name and never actually applied.


Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Mommy Tip Tuesday

 Mommy Tip Tuesday! And today I am talking about my favorite stroller!

Philand Teds Explorer Double Stroller

This is my all time favorite stroller! I researched a lot of double strollers when we found out that we were having a second baby and they all seemed really big, bulky, heavy, and had bad maneuverability. 

My sister-in-law has a Graco Duo Glider and I pushed it around the Discovery Museum one day and I hated it! It would not turn and I kept running into things! It shouldn't require that many muscles to push a stroller. I promised myself that I would never buy that stroller because it was awful to push. 




Nicole in the stroller and Daniel patiently waiting to be put in.
After doing all my stroller research, I looked up the price of the Phil and Teds stroller and was shocked that it was $600 dollars! And, the second seat was another $99. And, if I wanted to customize it with things like the bar that allows the carseat to snap in and the parent organizer on the handle, it would cost even more. It was most definitely out of our budget.

So, what did I do? I lamented about in on my blog and posted a picture of the stroller that I felt was most definitely out of reach. And, to my surprise, I got a response to my post. My friend from college, Angela, had a Phil and Teds that she wanted to sell to me for the low low price of $100. I jumped on that offer!


Nicoley's fake smile
So, I purchased the stroller from Angela and then hopped on the Phil and Teds website to customize my stroller. I bought clips to put the second seat on the front of the stroller, the parent organizer for the handle, the carseat bar, axles for the wheels (because the axles were a bent and the wheels scraped the frame) and tire tubes (the wheels were flat and wouldn't inflate) and I only spent another $100 dollars. So, I got the exact stroller I wanted with all the extras for only $200 dollars! Awesome!


Nicole in the back seat and Daniel in the front.

I love this stroller because you can use it as a single or a double. The second seat snaps on and off the back of the stroller. Plus, you can use it with many different carseats (my carseat is Graco). 


If you have sleeping baby, the seat has a full recline. You can also put kid number two on the front of the stroller rather than the back with sleeping baby in a full recline right underneath seat number two. 

The stroller has great manuverability; it turns so easily. And, it is all terrain; it will run smooth on pavement, grass, woodchips, whatever! 





The only draw back to this stroller is that when the second seat is on the back, you don’t have a basket because that is where kid number two’s feet go. But, you can always buy the storage bags that snap to the sides if you need more storage space. But, I have the parent organizer, so I haven't needed any more storage space.
 

I love this stroller! I can't say enough good things about this stroller. I love that I was able to buy it used and upgrade it. Most cheaper strollers do not have the option to replace parts, but apparently, when you buy an expensive stroller, they have that option.

There are other good strollers out there, and my Graco stroller worked great when I just had one kid, but this is my favorite double stroller.

Another reason why I love this stroller, it is tandem. The double strollers that are side by side are huge and there was no way we would be able to fit them in our little cars. This stroller fits easily into our trunk and actually has a smaller fold than my single Graco stroller.

So, if you have a ton of money, buy this glorious stroller when you have one kid and then purchase the doubles pack when you have a second coming. You can also find this stroller on KSL used sometimes for half the price you would pay for it new.

For more Mommy Tips, go to my sister's blog here.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Letters to Mommy

Dear Mommy,

Mommy, I am getting bigger every day and I know that it sometimes makes you sad, but it makes me happy! I can't stay a little baby forever you know. I am already rolling over and I am super good at tummy time.

I loved it when you put me on my tummy last night right in front of Nicole's snack tray. I got a great view of Nicole stuffing her mouth with treats and I couldn't help but drool all over the floor. When will I get to put things in my mouth other than the milks Mommy?

You know that I love the milks, but I am so fascinated by all the other items that you put in your mouth. Sometimes I have to get angry when you are eating right in front of me and not letting me taste what you are eating. It makes me yell at you!

If I am to keep up my current weight gain, you know that you will need to supply me with more than just milks. A boy can't survive on milks alone you know. I am already becoming disinterested in nursing. I would much rather drink from a bottle that gives me the milks way faster.

I can't wait to grow up!

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Family Pics Results

We finally got the results from our family pictures. Some are good, some are great and others are bleh. Here is are some of the best pics.
 I wish we had gotten one with all of us smiling, even Dan, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. We only got all of us in one position and I look taller than Matt, I'm not especially pleased.





Hailey and Nicole




 I was really displeased with the ones of Matt and I. We were losing the light and were the last ones to go and I hate how I look in all of them.
I loved the ones of the kids, the photographer is great at taking pics of the kids, I just wish the ones of all of us were better.

I'm also sad that we didn't get one with Matt and Nicole. Nicole is such a Daddy's girl and I would have loved one of her and him. I'm considering getting just us a retake because I'm just disappointed by the pics of my family. The pics of all the family look great and I'm sure my Mom will love it since it was all done for her really.

Mommy Tip Tuesday

Yay! It is Mommy Tip Tuesday! Today's tip is on things that I want that I do not have.

Joovy Room Playard
Also available in black and blue
This playpen looks awesome. I have a Graco playpen that I got for free using my credit card points back when Nicoley was on her way. I didn't really get to choose my playpen, there was really only one available with my points. But, had I been choosing, I would have chosen this little gem.

This playpen can be a bassinet or a playpen, and it comes with a changing table. Which really isn't my thing since I change the baby on the bed and have never used the changing table on my Graco, but that might be a cool feature for some people.


The parent organizer on the side of the pen is awesome! Never underestimate the usefulness of baby storage. You could store diapering materials, baby blankets, baby clothes, whatever you want.




But, the all time best part of this playpen is the entertainment part. You can hook up your MP3 player to the pen and there are speakers inside so that you can play your own music to baby. When we were shopping for a mobile, Matt insisted that we find one that had classical music in it. I found one that met that requirement (see my other mommy tip for this mobile), but he still complained that it sounded digital and not instrumental. He always said that we should be able to hook up our ipod to the crib or the swing so that we could play baby whatever music that we wanted. Well, Joovy must have stolen his idea because they did it! I wish I had this feature!

Additionally, the playpen comes with a night light! How cool is that? I had to buy a night light for my room so that I could check on the baby in the middle of the night, but this one has one already built in! Jealous....

The biggest downside to this playpen is the price, at 270 dollars, it is quite the pricey item. Pricer than I could pay. That is more than I paid for my super awesome stroller (stroller post is soon to come).

But, if you have oodles of money, or if you have a generous benefactor, I would definitely go for this playpen. If you want to see this thing in action, check out baby gizmo's review.

For more Mommy Tips, see my sister Marie's blog.