Baby E is Three!

Our little baby is not so little anymore! Baby E is three years old today. I still remember holding her for the first time. I remember how exhausted I was after a 12 hour labor and two and a half hours of pushing. As I held her in my arms I thought to myself "That wasn't fun, but I would do it again!" 

Yesterday we took her to the Boston Children's Museum for some fun with mommy, daddy, baby brother, and grandma. She had a blast and of course so did we, because the most exciting thing for parents is watching their kids exploring, learning, and being inquisitive. Here she is above playing with tangrams on a light table. 

She was thrilled with the real stove cut down to a child's level as she was with the fridge, giant bubbles, water play, and play tent. In reality, she is one of those children that needs very little to be excited. At least we raised her that way. I love seeing the joy on her face from making a pie or getting a new set of hair bows.  She likes the simple things in life. She's easy to please! So this trip was like a huge party for her (even with the absence of an actual birthday party). At the same time, lately I've been walking on eggshells with her. She's always been a sensitive little girl, but even more so with the arrival of her little brother. You know how toddlers react if you give them a spoon instead of a fork, if you close the book too soon at bedtime, or you put their play purse in the wrong spot? Yeah, we've had our share of that lately.

Despite all the behavior troubles, these little toddlers-turning-pre-schoolers light up our life anyway. They teach us patience, perseverance, love, joy, contentment, among other things. They show us things we never knew about ourselves, positive and negative traits discovered only when we become parents, they mirror us in so many ways. I wouldn't be who I am if I never became a mother. It's an honor to be baby E's mom and to raise her to love God and people. 

2012 in 2012: Week 4 [First before/after pics]

Let's talk trash.

I mean about all the junk in our homes... 

What have we gotten rid of so far in 2012?

I honestly haven't thrown out much because of a family week of the flu. But what counts is that I am throwing things out and I always find myself thinking about the next thing to get rid of. Selling items isn't so easy, especially when you want to get good money for them. I suspect that during spring cleaning I will need several days where my mother would take the kids outside and I could focus on cleaning our closets, that's where the majority of our decluttering will take place and where hundreds of unneeded items hide.  

Moving on:

10 random old personal care items (trash)
5 husband's old [mostly empty] deodorants (trash)

1 handful small broken toy parts (trash)

1 closet full (more like overflowing, see below) of recycling (recycled, of course)

Total = 33 of 2012

YTD: made $50

before

after

Image: The before and after of our recycling closet under the stairs. See that white bucket? The recycling should be emptied whenever it is full - but what ends up happening is us waiting until the closet is full. I have a different system in mind, hopefully I'll get to it this year. The blue barrel houses our flour that we buy in bulk (in case you're wondering). 

Nielsen-Massey Organic Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract Review & Giveaway

I love cooking and baking. With little babies I don't have the time to be very experimental or adventurous, but I strive for quality of ingredients in the simple things I make day to day. One of my staples are Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I make them every few days so that the cookie jar is always full. My husband can't live without them and lately, so can't I! I've made them into 'nursing cookies' that are healthy for anyone but especially great for lactation. I add a good dose of wheat germ and flax seed into the dough. 

I have always added good quality vanilla extract into my recipe and I was excited to try the much acclaimed Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract. This certified organic vanilla extract has a full, rich, aromatic flavor that's a great compliment to my homemade creations and I know I am giving my family the very best. It is made from the highest quality certified organic vanilla beans and pure, organic alcohol. The cold extraction process slowly and gently extracts the maximum flavor of the vanilla beans without heat damaging the delicate flavors.

I would definitely choose this vanilla extract for baking in the future and I'll probably be buying it on Amazon, where you can buy it as well.

One of you will win 2oz of Nielsen-Massey Organic Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract!

If you're lost with Rafflecopter or don't know how to use it, check out this 45 second Rafflecopter video, it's simple! If you don't see the widget, click Read More... to see the whole post!

If you like our posts and giveaways, please click to vote for us on Top Baby Blogs and Picket Fence when you have a chance!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment for this review. I was provided a sample of the product for review purposes. The opinions are solely my own and your experience may differ.