Beach with Baby!

When we took our 7-month baby to the beach, I wasn't quite sure how to prepare.  That's hard on me, because I like to plan and prepare for everything!

Knowing that my son had just started crawling, and knowing that everything he touches goes into his mouth, and knowing that he loves to explore; I knew it would be an interesting experience.  I'm grateful to say that he loved the beach!  Here are some things that helped us:

*chair & umbrella service - so we didn't have to lug anything else to the beach!
*an extra umbrella to shelter the baby during play and naps
*a cheap inflatable baby pool (thank you Jessica for this advice!) that gave him a confined non-sandy play space
*a handful of toys and balls to put in his pool play area
*lots of snuggles as we ventured into the water.  The sudden changes in the waves made him nervous, but he enjoyed it as long as mom & dad held him close.
*building his own sand piles that he could bat down (instead of batting down the castles his siblings were building)
*disposable swim diapers!  Our LO only poops every 3-4 days, so on the days we knew he wouldn't poop, we used washable swim diapers, but on the 'he might poop' days, we used disposable diapers.  The best thing about them is that you can rip the sides open to get the diapers off - limiting exposure to poop & eliminating the challenge of sliding a wet sticky diaper off a baby.
*jogging stroller to cart LO and stuff to beach (though it was too hard to push on the sand)

What have you learned to make baby beach time safe and fun?

Oops and Ouchies

Our LO is crawling like crazy now, so I didn't think twice about letting him crawl around in a friend's driveway the other day, as I sat down beside him.  Little did I know that the paved surface would rub the top of his feet and cause little ouchies!  Poor little guy!  Guess I'll need to start putting socks/shoes on for his outdoor adventures now.
We live & learn, huh?

Tech and Travels

Our family of 6 went to the beach with my parents last week.  We didn't have a car DVD player, so my mom offered to get us a portable DVD player for the car to help my constantly on-the-move 7-month old baby sit still happily.  It was such a blessing to us on our trip - especially when he decided to stay awake almost the whole trip from Florida to Tennessee!  We didn't use it constantly - he still had independent play with toys, playtime with siblings/parents, and quiet rest time.  But when he was tired of sitting still, it was a HUGE help with keeping him happy.  The rest of us were very grateful for a little bit of technology during our travels!

Powerful Moments in the Presence of God

This beautiful book, Powerful Moments in the Presence of God, just came in the mail.  Lorraine Varela has combined her love of photography with her love for scripture in this new devotional book.  It would be a lovely gift book for Christmas or birthdays.  I like that Varela has gone beyond traditional devotional scriptures to some scriptures that are often overlooked.  Each devotion has a 1-2 page photo with a title, scripture, and 1-2 paragraphs.  I would recommend this book to any woman interested in spiritual things - it will encourage a nonbeliever to ponder God's love, and it will inspire a more seasoned believer to revisit scripture in a new light.

I received this book as a gift from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.