things I love this week

New food pyramid design

No more pyramid hoping to show nutrition doesn't have to be complicated. However, is this plate too simple?

Newborns look more like fathers... at first

Evolution thinks men are stupid and need visual evidence in order to be good fathers. Or perhaps it's just the mother convincing the man his baby is a spitting image.

Great Joplin photos and how the story was told on Twitter

Disasters bad, journalism good.

Best pediatrics photo ever
Here's our new pediatrician. Yes, we chose her because of this photo. This is the kind of logical, well-thought-out decision making that good parents are made of.

Make your own crayon box
I'm totally doing this.

Follow me
It's the first Friday of the month, which means you should most definitely click the "follow me" button right up there. Again with the logical connections...

things i love this week

Baby Name Voyager
Very cool graph representation of the popularity of names which 1) confirmed the name we've chosen for baby boy and 2) visually represented why I hate many popular names today.

Google Internet in KC
Pretty cool. Hopefully it's cheap.

Burt's Bees Body Butter
The hubs rubs it on my lower back and belly every night. I don't even care that it's $13 for six ounces. It's worth it. Cheaper alternative: Vaseline Deep Conditioning Cocoa Butter.



Facebook in Real Life
Don't worry, we'll only share this info with 600 million people.

sara + abraham
Pretty much everything on this site, but more specifically this adorable plate.

five things friday

1. The best thing about my weekend is going to be a haircut. I get a cut ever four months much to the dismay of anyone who is unlucky enough to have me as a customer. But the whole pregnancy thing has made my hair even thicker and exceptionally dry. It's stunning, really.

2. We played the game Wits and Wagers with some friends a couple of weeks ago. Highly recommended.

3. I'm waiting for these shoes to come in the mail. The hubs says he'll love me more not less if I wear them, which is good considering most of my shoes resemble a four-year-old's. This is why we work.

{via Real Mom Kitchen}

4. I'm going to try these parmesan knots this weekend. I haven't made bread in a long time, not that these really count.

5. Guess how many people read this blog on average daily? 150. Less if I write something really boring, a lot more if I post a picture of my belly. Weird right? Anyway, you should follow me if you aren't already. Because it makes me feel nice inside plus it's less creepy than being an underground reader who can't admit it. The button is up there, on the right side under "Follow Me." Do it!

things i love today

spring weather

a new recipe
We made this orange chicken recipe this week. Just like a Chinese restaurant except no oil, MSG and way less sodium. I used Smart Chicken, which always tastes better and brown rice. And no orange zest because I don't have a zester or the time to zest anything.

retro kitchen
Our son will have a play kitchen. And if we win the lottery, it'll be this one. I'm thinking we should buy him a toy iron, too, because heaven knows we need someone who enjoys ironing in our house.

little boy clothes that don't say "all star" or "moms dig me"
It's possible. I've given a reprieve to animal clothing - some of it's cute. Luckily we have a Carters and OshKosh b'Gosh outlet within 20 minutes.

new baby blogs
I have my people blogs, my cooking blogs, my decorating on a budget blogs. Now it's baby blogs. My everyday reads now include:

Chic and Cheap Nursery

Spearmint Baby

Cloth Diaper Whisperer

pregnancy calendars
Because I love reading what's happening to my body and the baby boy's body. Except, you know, when the doctor tells you your life is a fantasy and really you're almost two weeks behind. But this Alpha Mom calendar is the best. Nice and sarcastic, just the way I like it. From 17 weeks: "I want to stab the world in the eyeballs with a fork right now, a little bit."

orange pillows
When we move to our new house we want to spruce up our old blue couches with bits of orange. I love these pillows from etsy. This one, too.


Happy weekend!

the most helpful websites

Tripadvisor
Awesome reviews of hotels, attractions and tours. My favorite feature, though, are the forums where you can find really specific advice and stories down to which bug spray to buy if you're staying in a cabana in the middle of the Belizean jungle. (To the family reading this: We're totally staying in American-style resorts with sterilized water and no-bug/snake/alligator bubbles around them)

Farecast
OK, it's actually a Bing site now but I refuse to conform to that nonsense. It's a regular old flight price search, but it's best feature tells you whether you should wait to buy or if fares will be going up soon and you should book it now. Handy.Or just buy your flights on Wednesdays. It's the cheapest; fun fact.

Daily Mile
Easy way to track my mileage and other workouts, and then send them directly to Twitter so I can be showered with awe and praise. The map works well to figure what distance I ran and calculates my pace, calories burned and how lame I am compared to everyone else running in KC. Tip: If your time sucked, then just put your impressive mileage and leave time blank. They'll never know.

Calorie Count
I don't use this much because I'm not counting calories at the moment. But when I feel like I've gotten into a gorge-myself-silly mode, I use the tracker to get myself in line. Seems to be the best I have found because it has all the foods and brands I normally eat.

Google Documents
Maybe not really a website per se... but I've used it for work task lists, project plans, wedding guests list, thank you note tracking, Christmas lists and budgeting. It comes in at a close second to my love of Google calendars.

Yelp
We love it! I never go to the dentist, eat at a restaurant, shop or subscribe to a service without checking for local reviews. Plus it's a great way to get back at a business who treats you like garbage when using your free massage coupon.


Retailmenot
Never buy online without visiting this site! There are others, but this one seems to be the most up to date with coupon codes, discounts and sales. I rarely buy something without finding at least a 10-percent off coupon, which is good because I'm cheap.

Which websites make your life easier? Share the love!