Five Favorites (vol. 3)

1.  When we were starting Michael on solids (oh so long ago, it feels like), I didn't think much about bibs.  We had an assortment from baby shower gifts, and (in hindsight) he was a pretty neat eater.  The cute little ones that came with outfits and the multipacks from Walmart or wherever worked just fine.

Enter the Liam-boy.  Tearing off his bib (because all the velcro is old and useless) is the favorite mealtime activity, following closely by completely pulverizing/liquefying whatever he is supposed to be consuming.  Getting the substance in (or near) his mouth comes in third.  Sometimes.  Getting him out of his high chair generally requires vacuuming off his lap first, unless you want the half of his meal not yet on the floor to end up there as soon as you pick him up.  Not to mention his habit (recently outgrown... mostly...) of consistently spitting out his first swig of whatever is in his sippy cup.  Etc.  Obviously the hand-me-down bibs have not been sufficient.

A good friend has these bibs for her girls, and after months of admiring the bib situation at her house and lamenting the dismal failure of bibs at our house, it finally occurred to me that buying bibs that work and tossing our useless ones would not, actually, be an extravagant waste of money.  Yes, I'm a little bit slow (is it too early to blame pregnancy-brain?).

Bumkins SuperBib

Bumkins Waterproof Junior Bib

I got a 3-pack of the smaller bibs and two of the junior bibs.  M doesn't generally want or use a bib (hello, worthless) anymore, but I know as soon as L has these spiffy new ones that will change.  Disaster averted.

They're supposed to arrive today and I am SO! EXCITED!

2.  French doors.  I was absolutely indifferent to them before we bought our house, but now I can close the doors between the den and the living room and blog work in comparative peace whilst still keeping an eye on the wildmen for about five minutes longer than I would otherwise.  Five minutes is a loooong time around here!

my room with a view

3.  In case you missed it floating around to celebrate Blessed JPII's feast day yesterday, this meme may be may all-time favorite from my favorite meme makers, Catholic Memes:

I'm seriously considering printing out a poster-sized version to hang in the baby's room.

4.  Speaking of babies (sort of), this address by Bishop Conley of Lincoln, NE on "Fulfilling Our Prophetic Mission" was absolutely wonderful (as is just about anything Bishop Conley says/writes).  Here's a snippet:

If we can understand God's love for the least among us--for the poor, the vulnerable, the unborn, or the disabled--we can understand his love for all of us.  If we can witness to the dignity of disabled lives, we're likely to witness deeply to all human dignity.  Our dignity is rooted not in what we can do, but in how much God loves us.

5.  And finally (how has this post taken me all day to write?!), if you are looking for just the right combination of wisdom, insight, and lots of good laughs I highly recommend Simcha Fisher's book:

It's currently only available on Kindle, but the print version is coming soon.  I downloaded the Kindle app for my iPhone just so I could read this book.  My only complaint?  It's too short.  I finished it in two days (albeit while neglecting other minor little tasks, like laundry) and I kind of wish I could go on reading it forever.  Or at least a month.  Fantastic :)

Go see Hallie and the gang for more favorites!