April Photos Posted

Check out the April batch. Here's a little taste of the cuteness within:

 

Books of 2008 (So Far)

I'm going to start posting reviews of the books I read, but here's a quick summary of the books I've read so far in 2008. Ratings are out of 5 total. You can find reviews in my LibraryThing library.

And if you haven't heard of LibraryThing, it's a site where you can catalog all the books you own and/or read. Then you can see who's liked the same books as you and get some great recommendations for what to read next. I also like it because I can keep up with what my friends are reading and get good recommendations that way too. And the best part is it's free up to 200 books! Even after that, a lifetime membership is just $25.

Nonfiction

• Birthing from Within—3.5
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth—3.5
• Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!)—4
• The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer—3.5
• The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child—4
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life—5
• Book Crush: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest—3.5
• Nursing Mother, Working Mother—3.5

Fiction, Adult

• Austenland—3.5
• Ella Minnow Pea—3

Fiction, Young Adult

• Twilight—3.5
• New Moon—3
• Eclipse—3
• Sorceress—2.5
• Rebel Angels—4
• Flush—4
• The Secret Under My Skin—3.5
• Dairy Queen—3
• Frannie in Pieces—3

Fiction, Children's

• When Zachary Beaver Came to Town—3.5
• Olive's Ocean—3.5
• The City of Ember—3.5
• The People of Sparks—3.5
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret—3.5
• Semiprecious—3.5
• Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies—1.5
• Clementine—3
• So B. It—3.5
• Criss Cross—3
• Skulduggery Pleasant—3

Abby's Abbey

As a homebrewer, I'm always looking for occasions to brew beers for. So about a month after Abby was born, I decided to brew up a batch of Belgian Abbey. And because Abby's body was built with organic food whenever possible, of course this batch would be all organic—from the malt down to the hops. The goal was to brew 5 gallons, but I had a volume error and ended up with 4 gallons. In other words, this was much more concentrated than what I planned on. Belgian beers are notoriously strong in alcohol, and this one was no exception. It clocks in at 9.5% abv. Ouch.

Overall, it turned out great. It's strong, beautiful, sparkling, and elicits reflection. It's definitely Abby's Abbey.

Note to Self

Avoid brownies and ice cream smothered in caramel sauce in the half hour before you want to nurse the baby one last time and put her to bed for the night. Because not even a 15-minute dance to baby's usual favorite, Jack Johnson, or a midnight walk in the Moby will put baby to sleep for good. Baby will enter an ever-so-light sleep state, lulling mother into a false sense of accomplishment and relief, only to wake up the moment mother sets baby in the bed. And especially avoid said situation when husband has had three beers that evening and thus is dead to the world.

Ban BPA

Finally, a U.S. health agency admitted that bisphenol-A (BPA) might cause cancer and other scary health problems like birth defects, fertility problems, and obesity. BPA is a chemical found in common products like most #7 plastics and the lining of most canned foods and baby formula. In other heartening news, Canada plans to ban baby bottles that contain BPA, and water bottle manufacturer Nalgene is starting a new BPA-free line of water bottles.

But until the U.S. and more product manufacturers do what's right and ban BPA, you can take some easy steps to protect yourself and your family. (I compiled this list of tips from several sources, such as CHEC, EWG, and The Green Guide.)

• Avoid type #7 (PC) plastics when buying food and drink containers, toys, and so on. For water bottles, look for metal bottles that are not lined with a plastic coating. Klean Kanteen and SIGG are popular brands. For baby bottles, Born Free and thinkbaby are BPA-free brands.


• Buy fresh or frozen produce instead of canned items. If you must buy canned items, avoid buying acidic foods like tomatoes—acidic foods can cause the BPA in the lining to leach into the food more.


• Children are very susceptible to this chemical, so avoid canned formula. Breastfeed if you can, or look for other non-canned alternatives.


• Don't microwave plastics, wash them in the dishwasher, or place hot food or liquid in them—doing so causes the plastic to degrade and leach chemicals into their contents. (If you use plastic tupperware, consider replacing them with glass storage containers such as Pyrex.)

And here's an easy way to ask baby bottle manufacturers to get rid of BPA.

Flowers Purty

Erik and I have both lived in Austin over 10 years, but neither of us had ever been to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Abby turned 9 weeks old today, so we thought we'd celebrate by taking her to see the pretty flowers. And of course, we had to dress her up in her Under the Nile dress (thanks Doug and Deb!) and matching sun bonnet (thanks Grandma Linda!):

She slept most of the time and didn't really get to see the flowers, but we're going to let it slide since she was dressed head to toe in flowers herself. I can't believe it took us this long to go to the Wildflower Center. But from now on, it'll be a yearly tradition in the M-H-M family.

 

Abby's Famous

A few weekends ago, we had a photographer come over to take pictures of Abby. She posted a few of the pictures on her blog so you can get a taste of how they turned out. We love them! (By the way, if you're in the Austin area and looking for a photographer, we highly recommend Katherine O'Brien.)

Here's my favorite:

Moby-licious

I know every baby is different, but I will be recommending the Moby wrap to every expectant parent I meet from now on. It's the only baby carrier that Abby will tolerate being in while I'm sitting. She likes our Zolowear ring sling if I'm walking. (And not just puttering around the house either—going on an actual walk outside.)

But I tried a new wrap with the Moby this weekend—the hug hold. She was fine while I was walking around the house, so I decided to put it to the real test and sit down at the computer to work on our never-been-this-close-to-the-wire-before taxes. And OMG. She stayed asleep while I was completely still. I feel like I could conquer the world with this new sense of freedom. Plus, she's just super cute with her little legs dangling out the front.

March Photos Posted

At the end of every month, we'll post that month's photos. So here are the March photos! And here's our favorite:

 

The Road to Three Last Names

Welcome to the Marr-Holmes-Marloh family site! Eventually, we'll have a lot more content than just a blog. But until then, here's a little bit about us...

Up until 8 weeks ago yesterday, our family had just two last names—Erik's and Kelly's (that's me, by the way). But then our daughter Abby was born on February 16th. We didn't want to give her just one of our last names because we wanted her name to come from both of her loving parents. We didn't want to hyphenate because that solution just isn't sustainable if everyone does it. And this family is nothing if not sustainable.

So Abby got her very own last name that's a combination of both of her parents' last names. The first three letters from Erik's and the first three letters from mine. How much more democratic can you get?

And now we have three last names in our immediate family. It's different. And kinda weird, we admit. But we like it. And anyway, show me a family that isn't weird in some way.