Brand new invitation!

I have created a new birthday party invitation today, and am quite pleased with it! It's for a girl, but I used a picture of Odin because I don't have any girls to use as models (not until April, anyway!) and also I love this picture :) I can also do this in boy colors, or any colors really. Next I am planning to create a few new banner designs, including one for myself since I have had this banner for awhile and am ready for a change!

Cousins are fun!

Odin has a blast playing with his cousins! I was watching Janelle's boys so she could go to a doctor's appointment, but she was only gone for about an hour so it wasn't much babysitting! It's fun watching these boys together...Odin loves sharing his snacks and whenever we go over there, he points to the backyard and says "car" so he can ride on the green truck. Boys are so much fun! Oh, and Odin also got a haircut- thanks Janelle! I've added a few other pictures just for fun...I'm annoyed because when I upload pictures on here they get posted out of order. Oh well, you can figure it out!

Not happy with that law...

Aren't my boys cute?? Odin likes to bug his daddy when he falls asleep on the floor :) Anyway, the real reason for this post is to lament about the new law I mentioned earlier- i guess its called CPSIA or something, not sure what it stands for. It makes me sad, though, that so many great sellers on etsy are closing their doors, or emptying their shops of baby items. We have until February 10 to continue purchasing these items (and i love unique, handmade baby stuff!) so I encourage everyone to buy from them now, and to contact those in authority and tell them how you feel! It's ridiculously expensive to test for lead, and to me it is dumb b/c these items are made from materials in the USA that have already been tested, or should have been. Please check out http://jessicaleman.etsy.com/- she is having an awesome sale on baby stuff, and her things are great! I have several of her items from when Odin was a baby, but since we are having a girl this time, I want to purchase handmade items for her, too, which is another thing that makes me sad!

Our Backyard

So, I kinda wish I had taken some pictures of the yard before, so you can see all the weeds, but if you look back through my posts you will see some of odin playing out there after Christmas. Anyway, here are some pictures of the much-improved little backyard of our home. We absolutely love it and are so grateful to my parents for providing it for us. We've been out there every day since, and Odin has a great time playing (but he doesn't like to go outside without me!). For anyone wondering- yes we have grass in Arizona, but this makes it so much easier, because their is no maintenance! You don't have to mow fake grass :). Also, here is a picture of the chair I am planning to recover- the dark green isn't so bad, really, but it's corduroy fabric and really not my taste. It is a very comfortable chair though!

A random photo

I saw this on another blog- she had gone to her May picture folder (randomly) and then selected picture 21, urging others to do the same. This is what I found! I can't believe it...it's Odin with a paci (gasp!) We haven't seen one of those in our house for 3-4 months now. I don't think he would know what to do with one now. The picture is Odin and Bryce (cousin) playing with the cabinets at Grandma Ebert's house. Odin had just started cruising, I think. These boys are pretty funny together- they get very noisy and egg each other on. On time they both started yelling "Dada!" in church very loud, and laughing, and their dads had to take them out to the foyer, where we could still hear them, so they had to be separated. Funny boys. Bryce is 5 months older but Odin is bigger- yeah, our kids will be the giants on Adam's side of the family. I will post pictures of our (fake) lawn tomorrow, I hope!

Update...

I just got some information that this new law should not affect sellers of used toys/clothes. So, garage sales are still ok! Yay! I guess they aren't required to test the used items (presumably b/c they already should have been tested), but should avoid anything hazardous or that contains too much lead. This is good and means I don't have to rush out and buy a bunch of baby clothes at Kid to Kid yet!
I'm still unsure how it affects people who make homemade items, but I guess we will find out. Anyway, I was going to post some pictures of our new lawn- it looks awesome!- but I think Adam took the camera today. Yesterday we got a fake lawn put in, thanks to my dad, and it really looks real. No mowing or watering or reseeding required! And it's a small space, so this really makes it look bigger and nicer out there. Our yard now has a nice patio and lawn, and Odin had a blast playing on it yesterday. I also cleaned off the table out there, so maybe we will actually start to eat outside, or have people over or something. We still need to replace the cover on our awning over the patio, and should be doing that sometime soon. Another project is possibly retiling the shower and getting a new tub in the second bathroom (it would be more difficult to do our bathroom, so we want to start there). My talented hubby would be doing the tile work. I will post the lawn pictures tomorrow, as well as pictures of our new (used) glider/ottoman that I plan to recover and we bought for only $20 (it will be a work in progress...).

Annoying New Law

And not only annoying, but possibly very upsetting to some.  Most people have not heard of this, likely because the government doesn't want to hear any opposition, but it makes me mad.  On February 10, people will no longer be able to sell used children's items unless they have been government lab tested for lead.  Now, I am all for lead-free toys, but let's consider a few points.  One, this testing is very expensive and in many cases these toys have already been tested-before they were originally sold (am i wrong here?).  From what I have read, nothing addresses safe toys that have been tested before hitting the store shelves- recalled items, those should of course be thrown out.

My second point is this: Do baby clothes have lead in them?  I'm pretty sure fabric is lead-free, so why do those need to be tested?

Third point: Crafty people who sew/make items for babies out of fabric.  That fabric, I am guessing, was tested (or not, since we already concluded that fabric is lead-free, i think) before someone bought it and made it into an item for a child.  I am pretty sure most of us do not have time to make/dye our own fabric from scratch.

Anyway, the biggest problem with this law is how many small business it will destroy.  Lots of people handmake baby items to sell!  And what about listing things on craigslist or ebay, or having a good old-fashioned garage sale?  I guess we need to fill up the landfills with more junk, even if it is useful.  I, for one, enjoy buying things used rather than wasting my money.  Bottom line is, this law will hurt the economy further.  It's a dumb law and I don't like it.  I am buying as many used baby items as I can before it's too late and I have to go brand-new all the time.

Here is a link for more information, since this blog only holds my opinion:

http://kidsproducts.suite101.com/article.cfm/new_law_effecting_sale_of_childrens_products