busy, busy, busy

sorry about the lack of posting, but we've been busy with our house. I don't know how Courtney managed to blog at all while renovating their whole house. These are just projects to spruce up the place. They've been on our plate for awhile, but now that Josie is almost a year old we finally feel like we have the energy to do more.

Our latest observations of our babies:

Josie gets excited when it's time for bed and has a little party in her crib for a few minutes before passing out. She will be whining and just pitiful, but the moment she realizes we're getting her ready for bed, she's one excited camper.

Wesley LOVES his sisters. Loves to annoy them that is. That boy will watch them to figure out how to aggravate them and make them scream and then he sits back and smiles. Punk!

Carlise is VERY observant of behavior. Not just ours, but every single person she sees. And then she likes to repeat and imitate. So, fellow shopper at Wal-Mart, please don't be alarmed if you see me making a mad dash down a row with a heavy cart full of children to get away from your swearing. I'm holding off on that behavior for as long as I can, thank you very much. She has plenty of attitude for now.

um, yeah

Do you ever get really weird comments from complete strangers on your blog? I got my first on my USAA post. Thank goodness for comment moderation.

USAA

Pardon, but I just have to gush with appreciation for a moment. I just love USAA. Especially for their customer service. I don't do a lot with them, in fact, we've only been banking with them for 1 year. But they are the nicest people ever. I've never had a rude person. Or someone who was irritated, impatient, or even snippy with me. Very happy just to answer any question you have (no matter how stupid it is & I have a lot of those), and assist you in any way they can. To sum it up - In the words of Thurl Ravenscroft, "They're Grrrrreeeat!"

Clarification via The Simple Dollar

Thanks to Trent from The Simple Dollar for putting out all the fires:

On January 8, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a clarification of the law (emphasis added):

"The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties."

What does this mean?

Used children’s clothing will still be available at Goodwill and other places. These stores can continue to sell the clothing even without lead and phthalate testing. This would also apply to people who resell used children’s clothes on eBay and so on.

However, items that do not meet the new standards for lead and phthalate content are still banned. Even though you can re-sell used children’s items without testing, that does not mean that you can legally sell items with too much lead and phthalate content. If you’re selling them, you may be fined.

What’s the solution? Simply avoid reselling items that may have high lead or phthalate content. Most clothes should be fine, but you may want to be careful about reselling toys. The CPSC offers a bit of guidance in that press release:

"While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children."

And a happy new year

Well belated merry Christmas to everyone! If you didn't get our Christmas letter with an updated picture of us, that's because they didn't make it into the mail (Yet!). We hope everyone had a wonderful celebration!! Ben's been home on vacation with us the 19th and doesn't go back until Monday, which has been very nice!

Our Christmas was nice and very low-key. We went to my folks on Christmas Eve since Dad's schedule was horrible for Christmas Day. We had a lovely time in our home on Christmas morning and ended the day with Ben's family. The day after the women in my family went to our annual Olive Garden lunch. It was simply delicious! (and paid for with a gift card we received from Jason & Shell). =]

Ben's maternal grandmother, Granny Barrett, has been living here since the end of summer, but her health has gotten worse. She got accepted to a rehabilitation center to help her walk again. We went and visited her there the day after Christmas and gave her a gift. The kids loved giving her hugs. She especially loved kissing Josie. Wesley even gave Granny a kiss and told her, "I love you, Granny. Granny, I love you." Unfortunately though she passed away (but peacefully) on Tuesday. We are grateful for the opportunity we had to get to know her and the love we shared. I'm especially grateful that all of the Huttos helped her feel like part of a family.

We're having a memorial for her on Saturday, even though it'll just be Hutto family. Uncle Todd is having a hard time letting go of Granny, so we're hoping this will help him.

I'm not having a great start in the new year, though. We are currently waiting in the E.R. I would've gone to my doctor, but I forgot it's a holiday today! So everyone was closed except for the E.R. After speaking to the doctor on call we ended up here because of his recommendation. So we're still waiting. Thank goodness for a laptop and wireless internet to keep us entertained. We even watched a Star Trek movie to help pass the time. I just hope I can be treated SOON and get home. Not to mention, I'm starving! =]