esskayelle

seeing appah, even when he's gone :: facetime

appah was out of town on business.  all the way in boston...man, how i wish we could have joined him.  boston must be so beautiful at this time of year.

the kids didn't realize appah was gone, until it got dark, and there was no other face to play with than mom's.  we took full advantage of the facetime feature on our iphone 4's.  and boy, did the kids get a kick out of it!

at one point, appah was really making all three of us laugh.  he was making funny faces and pretending he was slipping on and off the screen.  funny.  {if you don't know by now, i am easily amused}

what appah saw on his screen.

what we saw on our screen

another cool feature is the ability to flip the view, there are two lenses on the phone, so flipping the view allows the user to use the lens on the back of the phone.  by doing this, appah was able to show us what his hotel room was like, and still see our reactions on the screen.  hard to explain...but this helped the kids a lot, just knowing where appah was and where he was staying {and the goodies he accumulated}.

at some points of our conversation, i felt like we were in an iphone commercial.  seriously, it was so cute, it was almost gross.

speaking of iphone commercials, fred's cousin was the star in a korean one.  we love our caros, she is such a beautiful person inside and out.  we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw her in the commercial.  she's so good, i started to believe she was a mother and wife, and i completely missed her wedding and birth story.  :)

needless to say, i highly recommend getting the iphone4.  if you have any older version of the iphone, you can easily sell it on ebay.  we sold my 3GS and appah's 3 at a profit!!!  we also sold my OLD first generation phone!  so sell it on ebay and use the money to get the 4! :) 

a baby bathtub i'd buy.

this is what we used to bathe dillan and evan as infants:

not exactly, but pretty much this.  a $6 sponge thing that we stuck in the bathroom sink.  we did this for a good almost 5 months? 

so when i saw this:

 
i was immediately sold.

the best part is that it opens up for easy drying and storage.  plus, it's thin!  so baby can fit in the sink longer.  awesome.  go puj for acting on your instinct and creating an awesome product.

the best way to pick a melon...

this idea came about on a twitter post from my cuz, won.

in my experience, this is what i have found to be the best way to pick a melon...

{watermelon}
    :by sight:

the stripes should be less distinguishable, if they  are very clear white and green, that means it has been picked too early. 
the bottom of the fruit, where it rests on the ground, should be yellow, not white. 
i tend to believe that if the spot on the bottom is larger, it has sat longer on the vine to ripen.
the stem...i try to look for a larger, curlier stem, (or the biggest circle) this also means it' been on the vine longer to ripen.

    :by sound:

thump the fruit, you should hear a nice hollow sound.  nice and deep. 
if it's a high pitch, it's no good.

{cantaloupe and honey dew} 
    :by sight:

i do the same thing as the watermelon, look where it has rested on the ground, and see if it's a  larger "spot"   
the stem size, i try to find the largest circle, for the same reasons above

    :by sound:

i hear that you're supposed to hear a rattling sound, but i still go by the hollow thump.

    :by smell:

this is the BEST way, smelling the melon at room temperature, you can smell the sweetness   of the melon.  if you can, it's a winner.  if you can't don't bother.

hope you enjoy these last days of summer with a nice juicy melon!  no doubt, it's THE BEST

the best way to have your child sit in a car-seat...

{EDIT} when facing forward, the straps should be at or ABOVE your child's shoulders to prevent whiplash.  thanks sharon!

before dillan was born, i went to the fire-station to make sure that i had the carseat installed correctly.  little did i know that i would learn so much in that trip.

the biggest thing i learned, that i have had to tell LOTS of parents to do is...

on a five point harness, there is a clip that attaches in the middle of the child's frame. 

be sure to set this clip right at the chest of the child.  in the case of an accident, the clip will hold the child back right at the chest-bone, providing maximum protection.

so this is the incorrect way to place the clip.  notice how the clip is sitting a little low, closer to evan's belly than his chest.   

versus here, the clip is sitting right at his chest. also, the straps coming through the seat over the child's shoulders should come out right at the shoulder or just above to prevent whiplash.  when facing backwards, it should be at or below.


here's to the best way to seat your child in his/her carseat.  hope you know why, it's THE BEST

the best step stool...

i will start a new series on what my opinion {as little as it may be} of what i perceive to be the best of something.  once others share their "best of's" to me, i greatly appreciate the advice...so please feel free to share your best of's as they come along!  

today...

the BEST step stool.

i discovered this wonderful stool at my SIL's place.  

introducing the e-z folds step stool and boy is it awesome

this is such a space saver, it collapses to about 2" thick and is SUPER easy to fold.  the newer version, as appeared above, has a handle that you pull up, and the thing folds in a second.  AND it's super easy to unfold.  all you do is set it on its feet and push the handle down.  my 3YO daughter can use it without any help.  it's awesome and saves so much precious space in the bathroom.  PLUS it has rubber grips on the top and bottom to keep it still, so that my preschooler can hop off onto the tile floor without fear of slipping.  

forget about the eyesore of tacky step stools.  just stick this in an inconspicuous spot, and pull-out whenever necessary.  

PLUS it's relatively inexpensive.  $15 at bed, bath, and beyond.  use a $5 off $15 or more coupon and it's only $10!  a steal.  i am in love with this step stool.

it is THE BEST!