5.

 Ergo Baby Carrier.  I didn’t actually find this until after Asa was one, but it is GREAT.  It can hold babies up to 40 pounds or something crazy like that.  I needed to have Asa on my person when we were taking a trip to NY (see below) and he had completely outgrown his Baby Bjorn.  This was what I found and it is AMAZING.  It really does relieve the pressure on you back.  Anyway, check it out.  I love it.  My only regret…not finding it sooner.  Find them here.

4.

Traveling Toddler Car Seat Travel Accessory- This thing (while a bit overpriced), was well worth the money.  I had to travel with Asa by myself to NY to visit a friend back in August.  I bought him a seat (I was not about to sit with a squirmy 1 year old for a 3 hour flight on my lap!) so I needed to get his carseat around the airport.  He has a Britax Marathon (here’sa picture) an let’s just say it was a bit heavy.  We had a layover in Houston and I needed to move fast.  I found this awesome invention that made getting his carseat around easier.  It was probably the best 14.99 I spent for a trip in a LONG time.  You can find them here.

3.

 Chicco Travel High Chair- LOVE this.  We keep it in the van and take it out whenever we are out and going to eat.  The seat comes off the metal supports and is machine washable.  It makes it so convenient to seat a baby in a challenging space.  There are not many places we haven’t been able to use it.  The best part?  The placemat below has a catch tray that fits perfectly in the space that exists between the chair and the seat!  Find one here.

2.
Summer Infant Tiny Diner Place mat- This thing is AWESOME!  We use it ALL the time.  It rolls up and that makes it easy for travel.  We use at home and when we go to other places.  It’s super easy to clean and has suction cups on the bottom that keeps it put.  Buy one here.

   Jesus Storybook Bible- Hands down the best.  I cry almost every time I read it.  Seriously, so good!  It is my son’s FAVORITE book.  Let’s just say it is falling apart in about 10 different places.  Find more about it here.  I can’t wait to get the Deluxe Edition!

A big problem. 

I have a little bit of an obsession. 

Brace yourselves.

I am in love with my Google reader. 

Why in the world did it take me so stinking long to set it up?  Why did I wait so long to dive into the online community of bloggers who are oh-SO-talented?!  I feel inspired.  I feel humbled.  I feel…well…that I shouldn’t waste time on the computer and should be crafting, building, baking, decoupaging, decorating, planning- you name it- I am inspired to do it.  There are a few problems with this though.

Money.

Time.

The fact that I have a family and household to take care of.

Work.

The list goes on.

I can say that even with everything going on, there is a project or two in the works.  Which leads me to my secret.  At first I didn’t want to share, but now I feel I must.  I feel that I need to support the average woman (or man) who would love to have nice furniture but doesn’t want to go broke doing it.   I feel I need to support the average mom who wants a cute nursery/toddler room but can’t pay $2500 for one.  I feel I need to support the average college student who needs college storage but lives on a college budget. 

Here is my secret, the coolest place to be on the web. 

http://knockoffwood.blogspot.com/

What is it you ask?  Click and find out.  All (okay, well a lot) of your furniture dreams come true. 

Ana is amazing.  She started this blog 4 months ago and is doing great things.  Because of her plans, Greg and I are now building this to put here:

(Sorry the picture quality is not the best.  I was too anxious to finish this post then wait for proper lighting, etc.)  We will save approx. $2800 by building it ourselves.  You can build it too!  Go here (Not all of the peices are on this post, but you being the smart people you are will figure it out!) 

Soon I will show you an update on where we are.  The only problem abut the process is that it won’t be done soon enough.  We only have supplies for the top half of the unit and have to wait for April to get supplies for the bottom. 

Now you know my secret.  I hope you can use it too!

Recently I got an e-mail from a friend of mine that said, “I thought you might like this”.  Typically I don’t pay attention to these e-mails, but something made me go look.  What did I find?  Paradise. (Well, not really).  But what I found was really cool.

Swaptree.com is a web-site that allows members to post items they have (books, movies, Cd’s and video games) in their member profile.  Then they get to go through and pick items they want.  When there is a match, swaptree lets you know.  You can then initiate a trade with someone.  If you both decide to trade, you get to mail your item and they mail their item and all you are paying for is shipping and handling!  Whoo Hoo!!!  It’s better then the library!!!  Users then rate each other (much like e-bay and amazon) and that’s how you build trust that you will send the item you promised.  It is so cool.

I’m addicted now.  It’s a great way to be green, save money, and get rid of items that you don’t want anymore. Go check it out!  Now, if only they would work on bundleing items…