My Favorite Things

In my last post I mentioned how much I've learned from other mom's....so I figured I'd share some of my favorite things at the moment. Some recommended by others, and some that I found on my own - either way, I like them and use them because they are awesome. So here goes:

-The Moby Wrap...it's a long peice of material that you use to wrap around yourself and carry the baby in. Those baby bjorn things were just never comfortable for me - I think I'm too short or something, but the Moby feels like I'm wearing a t-shirt with a baby crammed inside. It's all soft cottony goodness, and my sister in law Carie bought it for me based on her friend's (a mom of FIVE) recommendation. It came with a book of instructions, which was basically sort of a nightmare to figure out - so I asked the mother of five to show me how to do it....she gave me lessons and now that I know what I'm doing, it's by far my favorite item ever...I use it AT LEAST once a day. I've never worn it and not had Adam fall fast asleep - It leaves my hands free to work or get stuff done around the house - I can walk on the beach with my dog with him in it - I grocery shop in it so the car seat doesn't take up so much space in the cart - and anytime I don't want to deal with the stroller or car seat, I bust out the wrap and away we go! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Moby and I recommend it to everyone. In fact I was recently at a birthday party where I had 3 mom's ask me to show them how it works and try on with their babies, and they thought it was pretty great too. I think I should be a consultant for that company or something since I'm wearing it all the time and constantly answering peoples questions about it.

- Aquaphor...this was also recommended by my sister in law Carie who's kids all have super sensitive skin. In all honesty, Adam has only had a few minor rashy spots since he was born, but this stuff nipped it in the bud and it was gone by the morning. She swears it's the best stuff she's tried in her eight years of motherhood...and although I like Boudreaux's Butt Paste too - the Aquaphor seems to work faster and not leave that pasty white stuff on my kid.

-Dimmer Switch...this was my handy dandy hub's idea. In our bedroom we both each have bedside lamps that we read by before bed...less bright then the overhead light, but still too bright for the kid at times. So the day after we came home from the hospital - hubs went to the hardware store and found dimmer switches that can be plugged into any lamp, and he kindly installed one for me on my side of the bed. He attached it to the bed, so I just have to reach up and turn it on when I need it in the middle of the night...and it's low enough to not disturb anyone else in the room (which of course was hub's intention from the get go - haha). Anyway, it's FABULOUS!

- Papasan Bouncy Chair...or any bouncy chair for that matter. This was actually a hand-me-down from Carie, and I love it because it fits perfectly on my dining table (which is in my kitchen). The boy can watch me do dishes and fold laundry and make dinner, and he's right there so I can talk to him the whole time. I also set it up with a towel at bathtime and put him in there after bathing him at the kitchen sink to dry him off. I can also remove a couch cushion and put it on the couch...and I can also put him in there and bring him into the bathroom with me when I'm showering or drying my hair, etc, etc. - It also folds up flat so I can bring it to Nana and Pop's when they babysit.

-Nature Babycare Wipes...I found these online and liked them immediately. They are biodegradable which is awesome, and they are very clothlike and bigger than regular wipes. I also like the soft scent used, and the fact that they are environmentally friendly is a huge plus. (for the record, I also tried the biodegradable diapers - but didn't like them...they felt too rough and stiff to me - but I've heard some people love them)

-Exercise Ball...currently parked on top of our dogs bed - ha! I discovered this thing at my friend Ashlee's house when I was pregnant. She had one at her house and it felt so good on my back to sit on that thing - we headed out to Marshalls and her husband found me one for 10 bucks. Well, this gray one is currently ball purchase #5 because we discovered that owning a big rubber ball isn't really condusive to sharing a house with three cats...and we've woken up to many a deflated rubber ball....but I love it so much and use it so often, we just keep buying them. I sat on it like crazy during my pregnancy, and after Adam was born, we discovered it's excellent for getting him to calm down or go to sleep. I think he must remember that motion from being in my belly or something. For anyone like me who has a baby who likes to be in MOTION and is sick and tired of pacing the halls...get thyself a big bouncy ball pronto because you can bounce your baby and watch Two and a Half Men at the same time....brilliant.

-Tap Lights...they are all over my house. I'm like an infomercial on crack over here. From our second day home we focused on getting AJ to recognize the difference between night and day...and it's hard to do that when you get up at 2am and turn on the kitchen light to make a bottle - or turn on his bedroom light to change a diaper - or turn on the bathroom light so you can stumble to the toilet to pee with big white spots in front of your eyes. So we purchased tap lights (and rechargeable batteries). I have one in almost every room of the house, and they're just bright enough to see what I'm doing, but not bright enough to fully wake up the critter. So he stays sleepy - gets a clean diaper - a full belly -and back to bed without me stubbing a toe on anything. Perfect.

- Colic Calm...this stuff was actually recommended to me by my friend Kelli whom I met in birthing class. You can read the website about it here. Kelli's daughter is a month older than AJ and she had horrible acid reflux and problems with gas. After being put on medication for the reflux, they discovered colic calm and it changed their world completely. She gave me a sample of it and I took it home and tried it out during one of his colicky episodes and it worked like a charm. He almost instantly calmed down and fell asleep after using this stuff. It's blacker than black and looks pretty lethal, but I checked with my doctor and he said it's fine and if it works then USE IT. It's homeopathic and also FDA approved. Kelli discovered quickly that it's messy when using the dropper it comes with, so she bought a pacifier medicine dropper. That's what we use it as well and it's great. Highly recommended for anyone with gassy kids!

-Seventh Generation Diapers...this one was also recommended by Kelli - and I discovered I really like them. They're not cute diapers, just plain brown and boring - but they work well and they're environmentally friendlier than regular diapers. They fit smaller than regular diapers, so I had to go up a size earlier than normal, but that's no big deal. I wish I had the patience for cloth, but I don't - so I'm doing the best I can with these :)

-Dekor Diaper Pail...speaking of diapers! I'd always seen the diaper genie, but never really liked it because you have to open it with your hands. So when we were registering, we saw this hands free one and decided to give it a shot. We love it - and it's got a really neat little bag cutting system inside, so when you need to dump it, it's super easy to change out.

-WhiteBoard...we have this handy little item on our fridge, and I use it constantly. Since becoming pregnant and my brain turning instantly to swiss cheese - I never seem to remember anything anymore. So my grocery list goes on here, phone numbers, when I changed my Brita filters, when I gave the dog her flea treatment...all that stuff that I used to be able to remember and now I can't. VERY WELL USED ITEM!

-Cloth Diapers...this one I've learned just from all my years of babysitting other peoples kids. These things make the absolute best burp clothes/spit rags! They absorb everything, and they're big enough to catch a surprise feeding reversal...you know, that event that follows the BLORK sound your kid makes after drinking a bottle? Also? They're great for dusting furniture...hehe

-Swaddler...sort of like a sleeping bag with velcro....otherwise known in our house as a "baby straightjacket". See, the boy has an intense startle reflex and STILL wakes himself up from his hands flailing around. When he was first born, we became pros at the tight burrito swaddle you learn at the hospital - but as he's gotten bigger, he's learned how to muscle his way out of a blanket swaddle....which is when velcro became our friend. When it's not too hot, we'll put him in this just for nighttime sleeping and he sleeps like an angel.

-Angel BabyCare system...speaking of angels! This thing gives me so much peace of mind at night, I sleep much sounder because of it. It's basically a little pad that goes under the mattress where your baby sleeps and if any movement stops (such as stopped breathing) for 15 seconds, an alarm will sound to warn you. I know it works because 9 times out of 10 when I get up at 3am, I forget to turn it off when I take Adam out of his cradle, and I'll be walking down the hall to the kitchen when I hear BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...and then hubs groans and turns it off. I'm so not kidding when I say this happens almost every night. BUT, I like knowing that I don't have to check to see that he's breathing 49832 times a night because I'm a total spaz and that's exactly what I'd be doing if I didn't have this thing.

So there you have it - my current list of favorite things. Won't you all please do your own list (whether you have kids or not...) of favorite things so I can learn about stuff I may not know about???? puh-lease???

A Response...

Thank you everyone for all of your thoughts/opinions/etc. about the sleeping issues. I feel the need to respond to April's comment...I DO NOT think you and Jeannette are nuts! I am a huge believer in doing what works - and I think every person's journey through this whole parenthood thing is different. I'm reading the no-cry sleep solution book because it was recommended by a fellow mom, and because I figure it's worth a shot before going through the torture of letting him cry. Honestly, at nighttime, he's not that bad. He usually falls asleep around 10pm...wakes up around 3 or 4am...gets changed, eats, and then is right back in bed 30 minutes later...and then he'll usually sleep until around 7 or so. We do have the oddball days where he wakes up more often...or even the oddball days where he'll sleep from 10pm until 8am the next morning. He just goes through different spurts now and then. I may very well end up having to let him cry, but I honestly feel like he's too little right now. Some of you may agree with me, and some may not - but that's just how I feel.
I'm only partway through the book, and there are a few things I disagree with...a friend of mine is reading a "cry it out" type book - so we're going to swap and take from each book what we can and leave the rest. Every baby is so different, you know?
My biggest challenge lately is naps - or lack thereof. I can't let him cry it out during the day because of my work phones...our house isn't big enough that my customers wouldn't hear him screaming in the background. I should probably try it over a weekend, but somehow it seems lately we've always been out and about and unable to really focus on changing his sleep habits.
He's not difficult to get to sleep at all...it's just that he sleeps for 10 minutes and then "BINK" eyes open, wide awake and ready to play. And then a couple hours later we do it all over again...until around 9 or so when he's just plain exhausted and fighting it with every ounce of stubborness he has, until he finally collapses at 10pm.
He is also not used to his crib yet, and seems to wake up EVERY time I put him in there. He'll stay in there for a while and play and stare at his mobile...but he won't sleep no matter what. I feel like the space might be too big for him, and my sister (who is visiting currently from Minnesota) suggested putting a rolled up blanket in the middle to sort of seperate it during his naptime until he gets used to the crib....said she had to do that with my nephew.

I also struggle with helping him get to sleep every time instead of letting him fall asleep on his own. He's only done that a handful of times - and the thing is, I LIKE rocking him to sleep - it's like our time together (maybe since I'm not nursing it's like my bonding time or something?) - but I just worry that I'm setting myself up for problems in the future with him being able to self soothe himself to sleep. Part of me feels like it doesn't matter at this age, and I should just do what I want - but another part of me feels like it's my responsibility to teach him to not be so needy of me...not just for my own sake, but for anyone who watches him as well.

Overall, I guess our sleep issues aren't too bad considering I'm getting a decent night of sleep - but on those oddball days like my last post when I'm stumbling around bleary eyed and trying to remember my own name...it seems alot worse. ha!

I like to ask other mom's what they've dealt with and how and sort of arm myself with different methods and advice so that I can try this and try that and use everyone else's expertise until I find one that works for my kid. We did this at the hospital too - every nurse we came across had a different method of burping, so we started asking EVERY different nurse what their method was, so by the time we came home - we had armed ourselves with plenty of different positions to try once we were home and he was fighting the belly bubbles.
I'm so impressed with other mom's and the knowledge that comes from experience - I've learned alot of tricks of the trade just by asking questions.
So thanks everyone - I feel like you all are a wealth of information out there ...and I like hearing what everyone else has gone through in certain situations and what works for you :)

Catching up...

For the record...I'm so tired today that I just spent 10 minutes going through my son's itty bitty pockets before throwing his clothes in the wash and then realizing that HELLO - he's 3 months old, DUH.
I also was getting a bottle ready and I almost poured coffee into it instead of water...that's the SECOND time I've done that.
Last night sucked. The boy is a power napper. I have no idea how to break him of this habit. He thinks it's fabulous to sleep for 10 minutes at a time alllll day, only to be so overtired at night, that he kicks and fusses and fights getting to sleep until he passes out from pure exhaustion. Usually he's a good nighttime sleeper and only wakes up once around 3 or 4am - but last night, he decided to wake up every single time I put him down, which means I was up pretty much most of the night.
For all you mom's out there. Got any tips of the trade on how to break my kid of the bad habit I've gotten him into of sleeping in my arms? Also - is it possible to put a baby in their bed when they are tired and actually have them fall asleep on their own? because if so, I think mine....is broken. It's never happened, I've tried and tried and tried and if I want him to sleep, I have to get him to sleep and THEN put him down. And the power napping...anything I can do about that?

Otherwise, hubs has been dealing with kidney stones for the last 3 weeks. It's been really hard on him because he's either in pain or drugged up and sleepy....which means it's also been hard on me because I've taken the brunt of the parenting during my most busy time of year (fiscal year end/beginning). We're both tired and ready for the whole kidney issue to be over and done with.

My house is a wreck and I'm off to clean it :)

Finally....a proper "Thank You"

You know about blogger friends? People you don't actually know in person, but you FEEL like you know because you read about their lives on a regular basis and comment back and forth? I think blogger friends are awesome and I sometimes feel so connected and cared for by these people that I don't really know...it's just an amazing thing.

So one day I was visiting my friend Alison...and she presented me with a gift bag. She told me to read the card first, so I opened this adorable card and discover that it was signed by Alison...and 3 blogger friends - April, Kelly, and Joanna. I was blown away! So I reached into the bag, and I pulled out a teeeeny tiiiiiny onsie with a tuxedo imprint!!!! I cracked up as Alison told me April had found it and they all collaborated to give it to me. Oh man, it was so awesome...I can't even tell you. See, Alison once made a snarky (rightfully so) comment on her blog about what hubs was wearing at my baby shower. My mom had told him to dress up - so he did...with camo shorts - a hat on backwards - and a t-shirt with a tuxedo imprint on the front....yyyyeaaah - stylin!

Thus...the teeny, tiny onsie was an absolutely perfect and thoughtful gift :)
Then Alison handed me a big envelope and said "and now this"

and I'm like "???????"

"Just open it" she said...

and I proceeded to pull out a letter from the IKHFC (the international knit-hat fan club). BWAAA!

To explain - Joanna is bow obsessed and has two very adorable girls who are always sporting bows in their hair that match their outfits. Now, Kelly also has an adorable girl who is learning the "ways of a matching bow". I haven't noticed any obsessions with April and her also very adorable girls, but I might not be looking hard enough :) (correct me if I'm wrong here)

So when I had a BOY - Alison was nice enough to do a guest post for me on this blog, and beg the question of the IBFC president "what is the proper accessory for a boy? since a bow is just not happenin".

And here is my answer...a letter....ON LETTERHEAD no less...that basically said Knit-Hats are Where It's At.

She also sent these three super cute knit-hats as part of my "welcome packet".

Oh man, I was laughing so hard at this whole thing...absolutely hilarious - and so much thought went into it all! I felt super special to receive such neat stuff from people I hardly know! (except for Alison of course)

So I immediately put the little tux onsie on Adam, and eventually we left Alison's and headed home to greet hubs and show off our new duds.

When hubs got home, I was sitting on the couch with Adam facing me, so his outfit was hidden. I handed hubs the card and picked up the camera:

Reading the card...

He was suspicious:

But when I turned our son around and showed him our gift...he was STOKED

And shortly thereafter...Alison presented me with another gift...camo shorts for AJ - so I snapped an appropriate picture of my "Boys"

So girls...Joanna, Kelly, April, and Alison....I'm so ashamed that it's taken me this long to send you a proper thank you post for the nice thing you all did. But please know that I truly appreciate it and I found it to be absolutely hilarious. I've learned something from each of you about friendship and parenting, and I'm so glad to know you all and call you my friends!

Mad About Hubs

Since having a baby...I've discovered that some of my favorite old TV programs are played in the wee hours of the early morning. I've got my DVR set to record old episodes of Wings and Mad About You (which was a favorite of mine). At the beginning of an episode we were watching the other day, Jaime walked out into the living room holding a new roll of toilet paper in one hand, and an empty roll of toilet paper in the other. She said to her husband Paul "Watch Me" and proceeded to show him how to replace the roll and then left the room.
I said "she's brilliant...I should do that for you"
hubs said "har-de-har, I know - I know" and we chuckled.
Fast forward to tonight...
See, I have a problem with leaving diapers everywhere. Not poopy ones of course, but when I change a wet diaper on the couch or the floor, I'll wrap it securely in a little ball , and then set it aside....of course meaning to toss it the next time I get up - but I have a really bad habit of forgetting. Which means there might be the oddball diaper in the office, the car, the bedroom, the living room, etc, etc. Gross, I know - but there it is.
So tonight, hubs walked into the office where I was feeding our boy - he had the diaper pail in one hand and a little balled up diaper in the other. He said "Watch Me" and proceeded to throw the diaper into the pail....and then walked out of the room.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! Brilliant...gotta love him :)

Absorbing every minute...

Hubs and I watched the movie "Definately, Maybe" last night...and LOOOOVED IT. That little Abigail Breslin is a little spitfire, and a fabulous actress.
Anyway, after that movie of course we were both in sappy moods. We were on the couch with our son sleeping between us. I stood to pick him up and take him to his bed...but I stopped in my tracks and just stared at his tiny sleeping body.

I said "look at him, he's so little...his whole little self fits on one sofa cushion"
Hubs said "yes, he does"
I said "and he's going to grow bigger and bigger"
Hubs said "yes, he will"
I said "and taller and taller"
Hubs said "yes, and he will slam his bedroom door at some point"
I said "yes, and may say "I hate you!" in anger"
Hubs said "yes, and stomp out of the room"
I said "yes, but he'll also say "I love you""
Hubs said "yes, and he'll laugh and be silly with us"
I said "and he'll know that he's loved"
Hubs said "and one day, he'll become a father himself"
I said "and he'll finally get it..."
Hubs said "and he'll finally get it..."

and with tears in our eyes, and smiles on our faces...we picked up our sleeping son and carried him off to bed.

giggle

Isn't it funny how you can spend 90% of your time trying to make your kid laugh, and they end up being thrilled by something completely random? So of course you do it 59723 times over and over because it cracks you up that they think it's so funny?
The boy was laying on the sofa next to me and fussing and getting cranky even though we'd done the three B's (the checklist for when he's fussy - Butts, Bottles, and Burps), so I grabbed his hands and said "Why don't YOU tell ME what to do?? and he just thought that was hilarious - so tell me...is this considered laughing? giggling? or just abundant smiling?

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Proof of a Quirky Family...

Soooo, Fathers Day. Hubster's parents were in town, so I got up with the boy at 7am...made coffee, and let hubby sleep in. We went out for Brunch at Marie Callenders and then hit up Avila Valley Barn and ate some fresh roasted corn which was fabulous. His parents left around 4ish and we headed over to my brother's house....where he was a "man with a plan".
I love my brother dearly - he is such a wingnut and ALWAYS makes me laugh. He's continually coming up with crazy ideas and the one he had for this Father's Day was a show stopper and very picture worthy. I snapped away like crazy because it was all so very blogworthy. See - I record a certain show called Diner's, Drive-in's and Dives for my brother. He doesn't have cable, and so I record all kinds of things for him - but he's taken a distinct liking to DD and D. On one recent show, they profiled a place that made a HUUUUGE hamburger. I'm talking huge. So huge that they used one of those loooong spatulas that are used to get pizza's out of an oven, just to flip over the patty. Thus began the wheels in Aaron's head spinning and a crazy father's day surprise was born.

Upon arriving, I saw these...and thought Carie might be making a cake or something...

Didn't think much of it because Carie is a master cake baker...but then I saw these:

ummmm, yeah. That my friends is a FOUR POUND hamburger. No lie. And those up there? HOMEMADE HAMBURGER BUNS. They are officially insane.

Aaron began building hubster's burger with cheese, while neice Keeley read off the condiments hubs wanted:

Except that hubby doesn't like lettuce or onions or tomatoes on his burger and Aaron anticipated building a supreme masterpiece, which can't be done without all the fixins - so he left hubs a message about his picky ways in ketchup:

Luckily - Dad wanted ALLLLL the fixins, so Aaron went to town building his burger...observe:

(glass of wine and a giant burger anyone?? hee! )

Dad was thrilled:

But said "there's no way I can even begin to take a bite of this" - and yet proceeded to try:

Aaron built another "regular sized" burger for comparison - but in all honesty, that "regular sized" burger was also impossible to get your mouth around.

Let the fun begin...eating time!

Lemme tell you - we all laughed SO HARD during this process...it was absolutely hysterical to see three grown men actually try and eat these gigantic frickin burgers. Funny, funny, funny! My brother is too much. And now he thinks every year we gotta come up with something BIG. I smell a new family tradition coming on...

Also? He got a very cute and cuddly father's day gift...his name is Cooper

Growing...

Our little man turned 2 months old this last Sunday. Part of me can't believe it's been 2 months already, and another part of me feels like he's always been here.

We had our 2 month check up today and he weighs 12 pounds and is 23 inches long. He's really strong and holds his head up like a champ. Still has a wee bit of bobblehead happening, but as time goes on he seems to be gaining better control.
His hair is still strawberry blond in color and it's growing back in on the sides, so he's got less of the trump comeover going on. His eyes sometimes look brown, and sometimes look hazel/greenish...we really can't tell - and it seems to depend on what he's wearing, so who knows what color they'll end up being.
He had to get an oral vaccine and two shots in each leg today...poor little guy. He screamed during the shot process, but once I picked him up and cuddled him, he calmed down quickly - quite the trooper I must say!
He's really starting to smile alot now - and I just know that he's right on the verge of laughing which I can't wait for :)

I have several posts half completed, so this week I'll try and get them finished to finally catch up on this blog. In the meantime....squishy baby pics and even some video!!



One of my vendors at work, from the LA area, who I speak with all the time - but don't actually know, sent my kid a blanket embroidered with his name and date. I took some pics to email...

He actually thinks he can hold his own bottle now...

This is a super short, accidentally filmed video of his tummy time. I was trying to take a picture and had it on video instead. Thought it was cute anyway :)

Hubs is home this week - and since our boy is pretty sleepy after his crazy shot-filled morning, I just snapped these pictures of them snoozing on the couch.

Be Still My Heart!!