We had a few errands to run in Little Rock today, so we decided to find something fun (and preferably free) to do as well. Thanks to Sue at The Joyful Chaos, I read about the great things to do at Riverfront Park, including the water feature you can play in! I think Anna was a little unsure at first, but she quickly grew to love it! We stayed about an hour. And for those of us not getting wet, it was actually pretty nice in the shade, especially when the wind blew the mist over.

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Sarah is 8 months old today! It seems like every month when this rolls around we are busy with something else. In this case, we were coming back from my annual family reunion trip. I was going to just put Sarah on the floor and snap a few pictures of her in her onesie, but I’m glad I dressed her up and took her outside instead, because some of these came out great!

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What the government says you should eat:

What the government’s dollars say you should eat:

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Sarah has a tooth! She cut her first one maybe yesterday or the day before; I’m not sure. I could feel it before I could see it, so I’m not sure which one counts. But anyway, she has a tooth. She does not, however, have a toothbrush… I guess I’d better go toothbrush shopping!

And… Sarah had her first swim this weekend! Not to be outdone, she got in the wading pool with her big sister and cousins.

Here we go…

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It’s Sarah’s turn to borrow Mommy’s sweater! This is a sweater from when I was a baby!

And… we put Sarah in the high chair for the first time a couple of days ago. She’s been eating well for a few weeks now, but we’ve been just having her sit on our laps. It’s nice to have a hand free now!

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Today is Sarah’s 7 month birthday! This little doll is so much fun. She loves to play with toys and anything she can get her hands on. And she can get her hands on a lot. She rolls around and flops all over the floor, frontwards, backwards, sideways… any way she can to reach what she wants. It’s kind of nice that she can entertain herself now for a little while by just being on the floor with a few toys scattered around.

She is also eating solids now. I can’t believe how well she eats! The first few times, most of the food ended up on the bib, but by about the fourth feeding, she got the hang of it and has been enjoying food ever since. She eats rice cereal, oatmeal, green peas, and bananas. We’ll add another fruit and veggie over the next week or so.

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Finally, here is the post I intended to finish up the “Kitchen Remodel” series but never got around to. I believe I was busy having a baby. But since it’s Earth Day, I thought it might be appropriate to revisit it.

As we remodeled the kitchen, we wanted it to be as eco-friendly as possible, within time and budget constraints. Here are some of the things we did:

Demolition

We donated the old cabinets, countertops, range, microwave/range hood, and unbroken floor tiles to Habitat for Humanity for their ReStore, so these things won’t end up in the landfill. The dishwasher went to friends who needed to replace theirs. And the broken floor tiles went to a lady who wanted them for crafts.

Cabinets

We originally wanted to purchase wood that was certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) for our cabinets. However, we discovered that most FSC-certified wood is shipped from the northern regions of the US or from Canada. So we went another route. Another way to be eco-friendly is to purchase locally, so our cabinets are made from alder wood that was grown and milled right here in Arkansas.

Countertops

The countertops are a solid-surface material made with up to 40% recycled materials. There was a surface available that was made from 100% recycled quartz, but I think it also cost about 100 times as much… well maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it was definitely beyond our budget.

Flooring

Despite its lack of popularity around here and our not having the experiences of others to draw on, we went with cork flooring. Cork is a renewable resource harvested by removing the outer bark of the cork oak tree. This doesn’t harm the tree; the cork grows back and can be harvested again every nine years until the tree is 150 years old. Additional benefits: it is naturally water-resistant, anti-microbial, resistant to wear from friction and impact, and much softer to stand on and more noise-absorbing than tile or hardwood.

Lighting

For the main lighting, we decided to reuse the fluorescents that were in the old kitchen. We won’t win any decorating awards for it, but that’s not what this kitchen remodel was about.  Fluorescents use much less energy than incandescents or the current popular choice, recessed or “canned” lighting. Plus, what is more eco-friendly than using what you already have rather than buying something new? We also went with fluorescents for the under-cabinet lighting. And the light fixture over the dining area will probably have compact fluorescents in it after the original incandescents burn out.

Paint

We used the same paint we have in the rest of the house, a low-VOC paint. This paint releases fewer harmful chemicals into the air and, consequently, our lungs.

Appliances

We purchased a new fridge, dishwasher, range, and range hood. All are Energy Star appliances, which are not that hard to come by, but it’s worth a mention.

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Sarah is 6 months old today. Half of her babyhood is gone. Half. GONE! Waaaah! Ok, that’s enough. Here are some pictures!

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Sarah has been having lots of fun with her toes lately!

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We had Anna’s 3-year birthday party this past Saturday. It was her first “friend” party and she had two little girls over, as well as all the grandparents.

We started with “stick the candle on the cake” (like “pin the tail on the donkey”):

And, while you’re at it, take a look at those curls!

Anyway… next was the stamp-a-bag craft. I borrowed foam stamps from a friend and bought fabric paint and canvas bags from Hobby Lobby:

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