Thursday, June 25, 2009

New Baby Sling

I have a baby sling that I used with Bella. It is from Annabearbabyware.com and it is great. Here's the link to the site:

Here's a picture of Bella in the sling the day she came home from the hospital:

My only complaint about this sling is the fact that it wasn't really adjustable at all. It worked great when she was a newborn, because all she did was lay in it anyway. But once she got older and I wanted to hold Bella on my hip with it, it didn't work so much. The top part was always too loose, and I felt like I needed to kinda hold her with my hands, even though I shouldn't have to. I followed the instructions on how to fold it at the shoulder to where it was tighter at the top, but that just wasn't comfortable at all.
Seriously though...I LOVE this sling...this is my only complaint. There are actually some things that I can do with the annabear babyware sling that I probably wouldn't be able to do with any other kind.

However, this time around, I decided to try to find one that was a bit more adjustable.
Funny thing...when I went home for Christmas, there was a lady at my parent's church that had a baby sling that had rings to adjust it - it was awesome! (this was around the time that Neil and I were trying to get pregnant) I asked her where she got it, and she told me that a friend had made it for her. So, I got home and looked around online, and found the Maya Wrap website, which features the Maya Wrap Ring Sling.

The most awesome part is that they feel so confident in their product that they post instructions on how to make one yourself if you're trying to save money! Here's the link:
So... guess what I did?
Instead of it costing around $60 plus shipping for one of these babies, I made mine, and it cost somewhere around $10-12 for 2.5 yards of fabric, thread, and metal rings.

And it is SUPER easy! Yes, I am a very advanced sewer, but it only took me about an hour at most to make. AND - it's so strong, that I can hold Bella on my hip in it, without supporting her with my hands... and she weighs 30 lbs!

Here's the finished product:

I even made a "mini" version for Bella to wear with her baby doll:

Next, I'll be working on making a "Hooter Hider"... so check back on that later!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Orlando

Nana and PopPop (Neil's parents) came to visit the first week of June. They got here saturday night. We spent sunday with them, then on Monday, they stayed at our house with Bella, while Neil and I headed down to Orlando for 2 days to OURSELVES!

Here is the resort we stayed at (taken from the screened-in balcony outside of our room)
Neil and I went to EPCOT that Tuesday.
Here, the Jones family traditional picture in "Italy" at Epcot:
Chinese acrobats in "China"
We ate inside the upstairs of this building at a Hibachi restaurant in "Japan"

And here we are with the Epcot sphere as we were leaving that evening. I love the fabulous stain on my belly...ha. it's starting to get in the way :)

Nana and PopPop came with Bella and met us in Orlando on Wednesday morning. We spent Wednesday and Thursday nights there. On Thursday, ALL of us went to Sea World.

The first thing we did was saw the dolphin show. Bella got really freaked out. It was like when the people went under the water with the dolphins, she was afraid they weren't going to come back up! She warmed up to it all though, and ended up really liking it.

We also saw some sting-rays...

Here's Daddy and Bella at the Sting Rays:
We also saw some Manitees...

And Bella's favorite was the SEA LIONS! She LOVED the show, and we went and looked at all the sea lions for a very long time!


No pictures of Shamoo, but Bella really liked it. She just watched and watched. We almost didn't get to see the show, because of a really bad storm. We were just thankful that we were under cover at just the right time :)

We headed back to our house on Friday, and Nana and PopPop left on Saturday.



Good time together....good time alone...just good.