If you are into beautiful photos of natural scenes, check out his site – Site to Place, Inc. Most of the pics are of his designs! And many of them are of our daughter.

Here is what I carry with me every day:

• 2 Diapers
• Baby wipes (Pampers, Huggies, etc.)
• Disposable changing pad
• Disinfecting wipes for dirty surfaces (Clorox or Lysol)
• Disinfecting wipes for dirty hands (Wet Ones or similar)
• Tissues
• Band-Aids
• Extra pacifier & pacifier tether
• Snack-size bag of crackers (animal crackers, graham crackers, Goldfish crackers…) – I’ll admit to having munched on these while sitting in traffic, E napping in her seat, blissfully unaware.
• Shiny, noisy toy for tantrum distraction – E has a toy cell phone that she loves to play with.  It’s about the same size as a travel packet of Kleenex, and is a sure-fire distraction when E looks like she’s starting to melt down.
• Boogie Wipes – I don’t always carry these, but whenever E has a cold with a runny nose, I don’t go ANYWHERE without them.

The list looks daunting, and you’re probably thinking that I must be carrying around an incredibly large suitcase as my beautiful purse, but I promise you, this stuff doesn’t take up much space.  I’m still eating away at that “obscene quantity” of travel sized accoutrements I mentioned in the original diaper bag post, so everything fits quite nicely.  Furthermore, with the central pocket zipped, my purse looks stylish and chic, without a glaringly mommy vibe.

And, since I’m bragging on the glorious purse, I’ll tell you a bit about it: it is a Nicole by Nicole Miller “Shopper”, though it’s from a previous season, and I’m not seeing anything exactly like it in stores now (I’ve been looking to see if I could get one in a more summery pattern).  I bought it at JCPenney on clearance last year, and it looks like the overall design has changed bit, though the central zipper compartment is still there.

Moms – what are your must-have toddler accessories?

And then E was born, and my organized, sane life fell to pieces around her.  My beautiful, amazing, awe-inspiring little girl threw our lives in to complete disarray, and now, the only thing I have enough mental energy for is making sure E is fed, clothed, washed and rested.  The rest of us (mom, dad, dogs and cat) have been pretty much left to fend for ourselves.

Well, that’s not good enough for me.  SO, I researched a bunch of different meal planning sites, and the one I like best is E-Mealz.com.  For a paltry $5 per month, I have access to a complete weekly meal plan, including grocery list.

The reason I like them so much more than the other meal planning sites is that they go way beyond a simple meal plan and list.  The folks behind E-Mealz have taken the time to look at the weekly specials for a number of different stores, and depending on where you shop, you just sign up for that store, and each week, you get a meal plan that takes advantage of those specials.  This will potentially save us a hundred dollars A MONTH.

They have a couple dozen plans to choose from, and offer stores like Walmart, Aldi, Publix and Kroger.  They also have “any store” options, in case you don’t shop at any of the specific stores.  They offer plans for families and couples, for 7 days and 5 days.  They have plans for low-carb, low-fat, or low-calorie diets.  They have vegetarian options, too!

I selected the Points Plan for 2 people shopping at Walmart.  It includes 5 dinners made to fit into the Weight Watchers points system, which is great for me these days, since I’m back on WW.  E’s daddy’s sort-of on it, too.  We’ll both do a lot better with the E-Mealz plan in place, I’m sure.

Anyway, I am trying very hard to get back into the groove that I was in before E came along.  I was so proud of everything I had accomplished in becoming a truly decent homemaker, and although I know that new moms get a “pass” on housekeeping for a spell, I think it’s time to kick some homemaker butt again.

Moms – have you been here before?  How did you break free of the baby black hole?  E is my world, and all I want to do is spend time with her to the complete exclusion of everything else.  How do you get past that?

Disclosure: If you do decide to try out E-Meals, you can help support our family by following the links in this post.  Once you subscribe, encourage your friends to subscribe, and you can earn free meal plans, too!

“I fed E. She drank the whole bottle and then she played. She walked around the house, pushing her little lion. I watched her, and then I went and played upstairs with my brother. We played ball with my Aunt K. We had so much fun that we got to stay for dinner. I was so hot – there were a lot of people here. E had so much fun and she played so much that she got tired and even cried a little bit.”

This story takes place at E’s first birthday party.

A beautiful fall day at E’s grandparents’ house.  We were swinging on the porch swing, E, E’s cousins H and L, and mommy.  Suddenly, we heard an odd sound, and “POP” we were falling!

Mommy was so worried that E was going to fall and get hurt, but luckily, E’s cousin, L, is a QUICK thinker, and caught her before she could fall.  Whew!

What a relief!  My hero!

Ta-da!  E is one!  12 months old.  A year has gone by.  What a year, too!  She is one amazing little girl.

She can make kissy-faces now.

She carries a purse, too.

She’s even asked for her own cell phone, in a way.  She grabs the closest thing and pretends she’s on the phone.  In this photo, she’s using a video camera.

She’s even used a cracker as a phone!  Not sure how good the reception was, but she seemed happy enough with the service.  (E did get a toy cell phone for her birthday – it’s one of her absolute favorite things!)

Over the past month, she has gotten better at many of the things she was doing at 11 months.  She can actually spear things with her little fork now (when the mood strikes her, that is), and she’s quite adept at using a spoon.  She still prefers her hands over utensils, though, and mealtimes are still VERY messy.

Speaking of messy mealtimes – E’s birthday party was a blast!  She ate her smash cake with a fork, the dainty thing, until her grandma showed her that her hands would be faster, and then voilà!  Cake face!

I’ll wrap up with a photo spread from the party.  Thank you to everyone who was able to join us!

She’s moved in with a toucan in a dicey neighborhood (known as “Our Living Room”).

They seem very happy together.

Anyway, I am absolutely floored by how busy I am now that E is walking.  I thought that I was getting nothing done before she could walk, but now I’m in a constant state of “what’s she doing?”.  I’m always dropping whatever I’m doing to check on her.  She’s a pretty quiet player, so the old “if they’re quiet they’re getting into trouble” adage doesn’t really apply to her.  She plays very well on her own, and usually isn’t doing something she shouldn’t.  BUT, every once in a while, she finds something she shouldn’t and then we’re off to the races.

Consequently, the housework isn’t getting done.  All those plans I put in place before she was born have been tossed out the window.  Laundry hasn’t been properly done in months.  I mean, things are getting washed, but it’s usually only because we’re out of clean underwear, rather than because it’s my day to do the whites.  Same deal with the dishes.  We run the dishwasher when we’re out of clean bottles for E, not because we’re normal people who run the dishwasher regularly.  And the vacuuming, and the dusting, and everything else you can think of that keeps a household from falling apart.

I’ve been told that this is normal, and that the best advice other moms received was not to beat yourself up about the things that don’t get done.  Try to celebrate the little victories, like actually getting a load of laundry done!  Still, I’m frustrated by the clutter, the piles of dirty laundry and the nagging feeling that I could be doing better.

So, I’m off to do laundry now.  E’s sitting with her daddy, napping, so I have some time to myself.  Funny, time to myself used to mean I’d read a book or research something great for my professional blog.  Now I’m excited to have time to do laundry.  *sigh*

Woo hoo! I’m so totally energized by this that I want to go straight into potty training.  I’m absolutely convinced that E is a 2 year old in an 11-month-old’s body.  She should be ready for potty training, right?  No?

Well, perhaps not, but this is definitely the most thrilling milestone to date. E is developing confidence and she gets steadier by the day – she’s already walking better than she does in the video, which was shot earlier this week! It’s so cool to see the changes in her each day.  Changes like this one:

She likes to hug things now.  Things and people.  Mostly Mommy & Daddy, but sometimes her baby doll (that used to be bigger than she was, but now is only almost as big as she is) and other stuffed animals.  She’s a lover, this girl.

E also likes to push things.  Like she used to do with the kitchen chairs (yes, she’s already past that stage in her life), she now pushes around a toy shopping cart, a lion walker, and this Winnie-the-Pooh thingie (at her grandparents’ house).  She doesn’t always pay attention to how they should be pushed, and often pushes them backwards, sideways (especially the lion), upside down…

She is even able to ride the Winnie-the-Pooh thingie (which I think she’s not “supposed” to be able to do yet, but E doesn’t seem to understand that concept).

And, for my finale, I would like to call your attention to the cutest child this side of heaven:

Just look at those pigtails!  I think she looks like Shrek (or maybe Fiona?).  Don’t you just want to kiss her all over!?!  Or is it just me?

Her motor skills are surprising.  E’s grandpa (my dad) thinks we should enroll her in sports as early as possible to take advantage of it.  Her strength and coordination certainly do make her a formidable little kid.

She’s also extremely inquisitive.  Very curious about the texture, size, shape and feel of things.  She’s always exploring our house, and as long as she has her pacifier in her mouth, we’re relatively safe from everything going straight down her throat (don’t panic, we’ve thoroughly babyproofed, honest).

The mobility she found last month (AKA kitchen-chair-as-walking-device) gives her the opportunity to explore all corners of the house, which means that she’s more independent than she had been previously.  Although I’m always paying attention to her, I don’t always stay in the same room as E.  I want her to feel as though she’s able to be by herself, and let me tell you – she rarely misses me.  When she does need someone, she will come and find me!  It’s really cool to see her developing in this way.

Speaking of developing, have I mentioned that E has FOUR teeth now?  Her bottom front two teeth have been around for a while (about 2 months), but now she has two top teeth, too!  They’re still on their way in, but she likes to show them off. See?

E has begun to realize that the dogs are on the floor waiting impatiently for her to be done with her meal (I always give the dogs anything that falls into the seat of the highchair after E’s done eating).  Once she figured that out, it was only seconds before she realized that she could make them scamper around noisily (to her great delight) by dropping food on the floor.

So now the routine at mealtime is one bite for E, one for the dogs, one for E, one for the dogs.  And, later in the meal, one bite for E, a handful for the dogs, one bite for E, two handfuls for the dogs…  That’s when we know she’s done.  I’d get mad if she wasn’t giggling so much.  It’s hard to discipline a girl THAT happy.

And BATH TIME!  What FUN!  E is definitely a water baby.  She takes great joy in splashing her way through a bath.  We have moved her into the big bathtub because the baby tub couldn’t hold enough water (we kept having to refill it, she splashed so much)!

I tried to select the least revealing photos, but I absolutely had to share some of these – they’re just too fun!