New House

Master bedroom.

Living room.

Kitchen

Dining room.

Wooden stairway!!

Backyard

Our house:)

We close on our new house in 1 week!!! Getting pretty excited! I've already had 2 people ask me, "What, you haven't actually bought the house yet?" Um, no, we haven't, we've just been talking about it non-stop! It's bank owned so from the time we put in an offer to the closing, it'll be about 1.5 months. Apparently that is common for banks?

And, since it needs some work, cleaning, and painting, we won't be moving in for another month. Sigh.

HOWEVER, one month from today, we'll be waking up in our new home! It will be so nice to have a house again! To have a dishwasher, mixing bowls, my own pots and pans, and our own furniture and things back! It has been wonderful being able to stay basically free at my grandmother's condo (while she's out of the country) and we are very grateful for it!! There's no place like home though....

PS- pardon the photo quality, I took them with my phone:)

Rolly Polley

My Lovey Dovey Baby is having trouble rolling over lately. This is sometimes due to the fact that he prefers his hands clasped at his chest, for easy access to The Drooling Mouth. Other times it is Toys In the Hands that prevents him. And another reason could be Lack of Turning and/or Rolling Expertise. 

Most of the time when he screams because he can't roll over, I sit and laugh (quietly, so as not to damage his confidence) (Oh, who am I kidding, I laugh out loud, a lot) and encourage him to keep trying. Sometimes I grab the camera and record it for future embarrassing movie sessions. Here's one of them!!!!

My poor beautiful child:)

COUPONS

I read a few money saving websites/blogs like My Frugal Adventures, Slick Deals, Money Saving Mom, and Baby Cheapskate (I think I found most of these from my SIL Christine!). I do find some good deals, free stuff, and cheap things I wanted to order anyway. 

A lot of the sites help you save money with coupons, which I don't often use. Coupons aren't a part of my cheap life for a few reasons:

1. First of all, we don't get a newspaper or go out and buy a Sunday paper (Sunday has all the coupons). Sadly, I canceled our newspaper subscription a year or two ago because I hated recycling that much paper every week. Plus, I often didn't have time to read the paper for my money's worth. I hate that I am helping print news die, but it's really not practical in my life. We do donate to NPR though!! Every year!!! That's where we get most of our news and we'll help them out if we can!
2. Since I don't get a newspaper, I could still hunt for coupons online. But here's why I don't: I'm lazy. And busy. That's all.
3. And what it really boils down to: we don't buy products that you generally use coupons on. The majority of our food is fresh produce, bulk grains, store brands, or bought at local stores. No one offers coupons for a bag of organic potatoes. Or 1.5 pounds of lentils. Or those eggs we get from my mom's friend. I don't use makeup, our toiletries are the 365 brand at Whole Foods, I make my hair gel, buy store brand toilet paper, ect. 

Things I often buy name brand that I suppose I could use coupons on: ice cream, pasta, razors, toothpaste,  tomato sauce, and flour. I think that's all. See, it's not enough to go through the trouble!!

So that's why I don't use coupons. Just thought I'd let you know about this EXTREMELY important area of my life. Commence with your normal, more interesting lives.

Crying in the Snow

Yesterday was our first real snow of the fall (technically, it's not winter yet!) and OF COURSE we had to dress our 3 month old in his snowsuit and take him out to play. What kind of parents wouldn't?

This is when I realized you shouldn't have a baby w/o gloves make a snow angel. Oh.

C loves being outside but got pretty mad at this point, mostly because his hands were inaccessible for chewing and I made him look at the camera instead of chewing on his collar. WHAT, NO CHEWING??? MOM?!?!?!?! Commence sobbing hysterically.

So we went back inside, took him out of his snowsuit, put him in a light jacket, and went to Menards. Because you aren't supposed to put babies in carseats with coats on. WHO KNEW??? Well, who didn't know before having a baby= me.

C Laughs:)

Reading about my friend's little Kaylee reminded me of C back in the old days. Yes, I realize 3 months of living ain't nothing but he sure has changed a lot since birth! He pretty much follows a schedule and I am able to interpret what he wants/needs easier too. As an added bonus (for parental enjoyment!) he speaks, rolls, coos, attempts to sit and stand, and flashes a magical smile!!

Plus he laughs!!! Oh my, how J and I love to sit there and laugh at him laughing. It's amazing:) Now you get to watch him laugh!

C Sleeps

Yesterday my baby C turned 3 months old, weighing in at 16 pounds and drooling like a faucet (cause we all know faucets drool).  It's pretty hard to believe I've been a mom for only 3 months. It's been the best 3 months of my life, I have to admit:) Having a baby has helped a few things bloom in my life:

• I love and appreciate my hubby so much more.
• I feel very fulfilled as a woman and happy in my new career as Mom.
• My marriage is better than ever.
• I give and receive more love than I knew was possible!

ANYWHO, this is supposed to be about C's sleep habits (as much as I can figure them out!). Two weeks ago, I set out to get Charming Bambino to nap regularly AND to sleep NOT in my arms. The second goal was the most important since we're buying a new (to us) house and it will need much of my time soon! Plus, C had gotten quite attached to sleeping on me after our move the end of September, when his little life melted in to chaos. Actually, considering he'll have lived in 3 houses by the time he is 5 months, he's done pretty well! 

So Sleep Training Week 1 was a fun week of this: Swaddle C, nurse him to sleep, lay him gingerly in swing, withdraw arms ever so carefully, watch him wake and fuss (inside I would scream NOOOOOOOOOO), pick up, rinse and repeat. One day I repeated that sequence for 2.5 HOURS. Yep, I sure did. I don't know if that was stupid or smart. Probably it wasn't all that smart.

SLW1 then became this: Understand when C is tired (learned how to do this after talking to brilliant sister Leah about reading baby cues better), QUICKLY swaddle him, nurse to sleep, lay him in swing, turn it on high, dance happily away, and let Darling Little Man sleep for 2-4 hours. 

Now C naps 3 times a day, about 3 hours each nap. 

YAY!!!!!!

Evening naps are generally harder and involve more cuddling but I gotta let him sleep in my arms at least once a day. How can I not?!?!?! And at night we co-sleep, during which C sleeps about 12 hours straight, eating 3-4 times but never really waking up. This is MAGIC to me:):)

Last week, SLW1 morphed into SLW2 when I realized C was going to have to sleep around crazy-loud-funny family for Thanksgiving. You think he'd be used to it by now with me as his mama but NOOO. He's not. 

So while my sister packed and moved last week, I helped her everyday (except Tuesday) and by Saturday, C was sleeping so marvelously at her old and new house. And sleeping with tons of different people around! 

Moral of the Story: As long as Baby C is swaddled and has a swing (or Mommy or Daddy holding him) he'll sleep excellently. 

Now watch him change how he sleeps tomorrow. Just in time for Thanksgiving!!

GASP!!

Taking a moment from a busy day to say:

MY KID IS WEARING 6-9 MONTH CLOTHES. 

O. M. G.

Normally it wouldn't be a problem for my chunker to move up a size in clothes. Other than a wistful smile at his tiny previous size, I'm okay with it. I made a commitment to love my child growing up and changing and I generally abide by that rule. HOWEVER. Caden's next bag of clothes, 9-12 months, ARE ALL SUMMER CLOTHES. 

This will be a problem if he decides to fit in them in January. What do you think, can I squeeze him in 6-9 month clothes for another 5 months? Pretty please??? 

Because this frugal, garage sale shopping mom doesn't want to go to a consignment store and pay $3-5 for each piece of winter clothing that will fit my monster for 2 months. 

Maybe we'll just move to Florida in January. I wouldn't mind a temporary change of scenery until spring in Indiana!!

PS- My baby will be 3 months on Sunday. This is why it's not fair. I was worried before I had him that I would have a super-grower and all my clothes shopping would be in vain. Alas, it was:(

Baby + House

!!!LOOK AT THE DROOL!!!

!!!LOOK AT THE CHUB!!!

Have you ever wondered:

• Baby C must have to work very hard to push himself up while on his tummy. Is it like doing pushups? It wears him out after 5-10 minutes!
• It must be awfully comfortable to be a dog, lying on the floor all day, just following the sun around the house. 
• Don't babies' limb fall asleep? Baby C has to be swaddled for naps, otherwise his energetic arms wake him. However, he NEVER complains about sleeping for hours in the same position. HOW???
• Also, I would also really hate having a wet diaper. Squishy, wet, icky. 

Now- House News:

Our new house has squishy mold in it! Great transition, right???

So we had the inspection on our potential house on Friday. Other than not being able to turn on the well water, things were pretty much as we expected. The biggest issues we'll need to deal with are a mold problem in the basement, fixing the source of the mold (basement to exterior door), and filling in a crazy pond. I know, that sounds like a lot!!! But we've got $ set aside to fix the problems and since the house is bank owned, we're getting it for a pretty good price. 

It's on a 2.7 acre wooded lot that has a creek down the backyard wooded hill. So lovely and peaceful down by the creek:) It's a 2 story English Tudor with a basement (that we won't finish until we need room fro more kids), 2 fireplaces, and a giant deck. I'd show you pics of it but we haven't taken any of the outside front of the house and all the ones online have the address on them. I've had a stalker on my blog before so no addresses on here!!!

Anyway, we're having a few more inspections and repair estimates done this week and we'll know midweek if we are going to pursue.

PS I sure want this house no matter what. J will be my voice of reason.

Homebirth

Well, as everyone knows, I'm a homebirth advocate:) We had our baby at home on August 22 (and I say we because J was working pretty darn hard with me too!!). Giving birth was the most challenging thing I've ever done in my life. Totally hard. FREAKING hard. 

But oh my was it worth it:) And yes, I'll do it again at home with the next kid!

Anyway, someone shared this article on FB that condenses the reasons for having a homebirth in a neat little article. There were a 2 parts that I loved most:

When a woman is at home she can groan and make natural sounds (these sounds actually open up her pelvis); she can eat when we she needs to; rest when she needs to; have privacy when she needs to; kiss her partner, be held; walk around, look out at nature, and basically do what feels best for her. 

Very true:) Nothing like being "at home" where you have your baby.

A friend of mine who had both of her babies at home described just that: "The best thing about giving birth at home was that I never had to leave my home. I could be rooted there. My husband brought me smoothies. I could hop in the tub when I wanted to. I could get on all fours. Then after the birth, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was curl up with my baby, and that is exactly what I did."

Reminds me seeing my little guy for the first time:) It was perfect, as if this little gray and pink creature squirming and grunting on my chest had always been in my life. Nothing new, nothing crazy, just my marvelous baby on the outside of me:)

And after everything was cleaned up and everyone left, J, unnamed babe, and I went to sleep together in our own bed:) 

TED and Girls

Have you ever watched TED? They feature all sorts of people sharing all sorts of ideas worth spreading and some of the ideas are really neat and innovative! Also, they are hosting a TED Women conference in December about how women and girls reshaping the future. I like that:)

So hubby J hooked me on TED. I was a bit skeptical at first (boring stuff to listen to on the web? Blah!) but most of the talks are very clever and intriguing. Here's one of my favs: 

Speaking of TED Women, I was thinking on my walk w/ C and Sadie how glad I am to have a boy as my first child. For some reason I think it will be much easier to raise a son who knows women are capable, strong, and able to do and be anything. Is this because most men in my life think this way and it seems natural to me? Maybe?

I sure don't surround myself with anyone (by choice!) who thinks women are not in every aspect of life as capable and resourceful as men. In every aspect except perhaps strength; I know men physically have (what is it, 5%?) more muscle mass than women. But when you think about it, do men push a baby from inside their body, out their vagina? Could they do that???? I DON'T THINK SO. 

But I guess they could if they wanted to and they were physically made for it. Which brings me to the thought that modern medicine would know SOOOOOO much more about morning sickness, pregnancy, and childbirth if men were able to give birth. But this bring us to the topic of how men dominated society and used religion to control gender and cultural freedom for thousands of years and I don't need to get started on that. 

But a daughter. What if everyone gifts her pink clothes? I don't want a 'frilly, dipped in pink girl' just as I don't want a 'dressed only in blue, playing with tools and cars' boy. What if she notices how women are portrayed in pop music, politics, and the media? What if she notices how the girl is so often being saved in movies and books, not doing the saving?

Boys are so much easier. All I have to do is let him grow up around me and J as an example and teach him how life should be. For some reason I don't think that's enough for a girl:( I have to hide her from what culture thinks she should be.

This portion of the post was inspired by Liberal Simplicity:)

Car Rides of DEATH

This afternoon I need to go to the grocery store. And this seemingly simple task has me stressed already on this lovely sunny Tuesday. Here's why:

This Chubby Little Angel makes my life a living hell in the car. And I realized yesterday that I'm getting slightly bitter about it. It doesn't matter if I leave the house when C is sleepy, full, and clean, he will scream until I pull over/arrive at destination and pick him up. Scream for the whole trip, cling frantically to Mommy afterward. It's our routine now:(

Just thinking about it is making me cringe because there is nothing worse than Tiny Ball of Delight and Smiles shrieking as if you've abandoned him in the middle of nowhere with no milk, no warm cuddles, and no naked bottom tummy time.

I need to remind myself that all of my 7 nephews and nieces behave very admirably in the car now that they are older. Baby C will do the same at some point in time! After all, he sleeps so well through the night, naps so marvelously each morning, what are car rides and PM nap disasters compared to that?!?! 

Right.

Sorry for the complaints:(

I LOVE DST

So as new parents our minds are a bit fuzzy, right? The whole no sleep thing? Well, today is DST day and a Sunday so J and I played in bed with baby C for a while (smiles!!!) then got up for breakfast. We only have 2 clocks in our temporary house, compared to the 7+ in our old house. Yeah, I love knowing the exact time. So after talking about the time change for a sec, we changed the clocks from 9:16 to 10:16. Yay, we slept later than we have in 2.5 months!!

Then, while C is happily napping, J and I are sitting at the kitchen table, planning our decor and colors for our new house (more on that later) when we wonder aloud why our Macs are still on old time. WTF? Both lappies are 2 hours behind? Whatever! SUDDENLY J realizes our clocks should have been set an hour EARLIER!! Oops, we sprang forward last spring and now we are accidentally falling forward in the fall too!!

SO WE GAINED AN EXTRA !!!!2!!!! HOURS TODAY!!!!!!! We've been living in the 9:00 hour on a Sunday for over 2 hours now!! Talk about a relaxing morning!!!

~More on the new house later today~

C and His Daddy

My baby boy loves his daddy:) And J sure is the best dad in the world. Nothing like an amazing husband to keep a crazy me sane. J is the kind of man who will come home from a long day at work, find me a stressed mess trying to calm down the newbie babe, and without a thought he will finish (or start!) dinner, clean the kitchen, and then jiggle C to sleep. Such a dedicated dad and hubby!!!

Since I'm now a stay at home momma, my new job is to:

• raise, educate, and nurture our kid
• clean
• cook
• do laundry
• grocery shop
• pay the bills
• and anything else that comes up during the day:)

Makes my old 45 hours a week teaching job seem easy!

Of course since my job isn't confined to an 8 hour weekday and centers around a volatile yet oh so beautiful 2 month old, delightful hubby gets to work overtime with me. And he does it so graciously and happily. I feel very grateful for this and for him!

BTW, someone asked me (and I used to wonder this myself!) if I get bored being a SAHM. And the answer is NO WAY HOSEA. NOOOPE. Really, I have no time to get bored. Once (last week?) I actually sat and read a book during naptime! For 30 minutes!!! That's the only time I've not had something to work on during naptime. And non-naptime is filled with BABY. 

Speaking of work, I've got to go be the dishwasher to a countertop of dishes. It will be so nice to have a functioning dishwasher again one day!

Nice Time

Yummy dinner!!! By the firelight!!

J eating yummy dinner.

Me modeling yummy dinner. Notice absence of beautiful baby!!

If you hold C up high, he actually keeps his legs stiff the WHOLE time. Like a little airplane:) And he just stares...

We've had a lovely weekend:) Here's why:

• I figured out how to get C to fall asleep on his own!!! Sleepy, swaddle, swing. It's one of those catchy phrases to help you remember things!! Get your kid sleepy, swaddle him tight, set him in his swing with music on!
• J and I had a delightful 30 minute dinner on our own:) Baby fell asleep on his own and we caught the tail end of his nap. 
• Today I ordered a breast pump to facilitate more dinners on our own. I have high hopes for an occasional date night, a Harry Potter movie outing with my sisters, and even an afternoon or evening out on my own some day!!
• Wonderful time with family Friday and Saturday. We helped my mom around her house Saturday afternoon, went to J's fam for a fun dinner and movie. 
• Long lazy day Sunday:) We've done nothing today but play with Baby Boy, surf the web, go for a walk, and talk:) Oh happy lazy day, we needed you!

Sigh:)

2 months

BTW, Caden turned 2 months and here are his pics:)

Books

In the creepy spirit of Halloween, here are 2 creepy books to check out. Also, I'd like to let everyone know I really hate scary movies/books/experiences so these books are probably not really that frightening to normal people.

Right now I'm reading I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and it is giving me nightmares. I need to finish or stop reading it soon since I wake up pretty often during the night nowadays. Nothing like thinking about a freaky book when feeding your kid at 2:00 in the morning. The version I'm reading also has lots of terrifying short stories in addition to the main I Am Legend story.

Vampires. Shudder. Ick.

Also, last year I read Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. I've always loved a good Bradbury short story but this one bordered on too suspenseful and scary for me. Possibly because I'm a wimp. Also, now I don't like carousels. 

Eek, something truly horrifying has occurred!!! Baby Boy has woken early from his morning nap!!! The shrill screaming echoes through the house!!! 

Or not since he's happily eating.

Nothing New

More pics of the baby. After I stop feeding him every hour or 2 during the day I'll stop posting so many pics of him. As it is now, he's pretty much my main focus in life. Everything else that I do revolves around him, such as: 

When shall I grocery shop? Afternoon, when C will sleep in the baby carrier.

When shall I shower? Morning, when J can hold C. 

When shall I cook dinner? Late morning, when C takes his nap.

When will C take his morning nap? Oh, NEVER. 

Where will C end up taking his morning nap? On Mommy. 

When will I wake up? When C wakes up.

What makes me the happiest now? MY LOVELY, BEAUTIFUL, MARVELOUS BABY:):):):)

I'm so grateful my life revolves around him:)

Random

Our kid is 8 weeks old and we already like watching home videos of him. Our comments while watching them go like this:

"AWWWWW!!" "Look at how skinny he was!!" "Like a starving baby!" "AWWWW!!!" "Look how he can't control his hands!" "AWWWWW!!!!" "We made such a cute baby! Look C, look how cute you were!" "AWWWWW!!!"

Also, C's legs and arms are now too long for his 0-3 month clothes. I switched them out with the 3-6 month ones today... I must admit, I am very proud to be the sole source of my kid's chub. Pretty happy I've been the one to grow him from 1 cell to a 13-14 pound baby:)

I am also very glad we don't have to keep video-taping our pets. Seems a little more acceptable to have movies of your kid rather than your dog and cat. Oddly enough J did the pet videotaping and I do the C recording....

BTW, J and I discovered that we are too old and intellectual (code for stuck up) to listen to pop radio. Good thing we are NPR junkies since current music tends to inspire mucho mocking. We turned on the radio for C the other night in the car (he was screaming) and when he hushed, all you could hear was hubby and I mercilessly making fun of pop songs. So entertaining!!!

Baby is waking for his 10:27 PM meal, gotta go!

Amazing:)

We have a secret in our culture, and it's not that birth is painful; it's that women are strong. -Laura Stavoe Harm.

A friend of mine posed this quote on Facebook the other day and boy is it true. I think motherhood has maybe had a bigger impact than birth though...

I've never loved such a challenging job quite so much, 

never loved such a beautifully moody person so very deeply and completely, 

never been so satisfied and happy with my quiet little life as I am now. 

And I find that nothing is too much for me to do for my kid, and that my husband is more amazing than I ever knew.

Happiness:)

My Family: Aren't They Cute?!?!

Mom, Lilly, and Jo

Damian making breaded fried mushrooms:)

Sister Leah laughing... notice my lack of adjusting my camera's settings. Sometime I need to just put it on auto and stop trying. 

 Bad pic of my kid whacking Leah's kid in the face. Poor Lilly...

Notice the amazing shirt C's grandma got him: BARF VADER. So perfect for my little geiser..

Daily Life

Baby got bundled up for a chilly evening walk the other day:)

C loves staring out the big, bright window in the new temporary house:) This is his routine each morning while I eat and get ready for the day. He usually wakes around 7-8, nurses, then sits happily for a little while:) He grins a lot in the morning too!!!

I eat this (or some variation of it) for breakfast, complete with little notes from wonderful hubby. C begins to fuss about this time, necessitating foot rocking of his baby chair. He then breaks down completely, nursing again, then napping for a couple hours.

Lynda, our wonderful midwife, who helped me deliver C. We had one last postpartum visit Tuesday:( Won't see her much until the next baby:(

Wow

Not sure if it's warranted but every time baby C smiles in his sleep, I feel so proud of myself. I feel like all that healthy eating, exercising, and loving he got in my tummy for 9 months made him this happy. I feel like all my cuddles and rocking and swaying now make him content. I think that my words, kisses, and yummy milk make him deeply joyful. I think he must love seeing J and I love each other and laugh together. I think in delight that we made him this way: sweet, happy, and wondrous. 

Makes me feel beyond amazed, knowing I have a kid who is happy enough to smile and laugh in his sleep.

:)

Good Bye Lovely House

Well, 5 weeks ago today we sold our house. Now today is our last real day here since we move to our temporary home tomorrow. So J, C, and I are going out to celebrate tonight even though I kinda wonder if we should just have a picnic on the floor our emptyish living room. But it will be nice to go out and do something fun together (plus C took a 5 hour nap today so I'd like to keep him awake as much as possible the rest of the day!). 

It was a bittersweet day for lasts: today was my last day to wash the dishes in the sink J installed, with the faucet my dad gave me for my birthday. It was the last time for me to go for a walk with Sadie and C. I've had 5 years of walking these sidewalks... Last time to take a nap on the couch with my baby cuddled on my chest. Last night to sleep in the room where J proposed to me and C was born. Kinda surreal....

It's been a good 5 years here:) I bought this place when I was 24, J moved in when we were married 3 years ago (fun/crazy transition for Hard to Adjust Sadie and Sarah), and baby C was born almost 5 weeks ago. 

It's funny, J and I went out to eat 5 weeks ago today to celebrate our house selling, wondering what we would do and where we would go. I remember being big and pregnant, feeling the baby kick and hiccup while we ate. Then 2 days later we had a baby but still no new house.  Now 5 weeks later we are nomads with a child:) 

Hmm, hope J gets home from work fast so we can go out and be cheerful, I'm getting a little melancholy!! 

Wordless Wednesday....cause I want to take a nap

My home isn't really a home anymore

Moving out of a house is like putting a dog to sleep. The longer it takes, the worse it gets.

I wish I could just leave my house at the height of its welcoming prettiness. Instead, I'm stripping the life from it each day, seeing it a little less vibrant all the time until Saturday, when it will be naked and dead to me. 

Right now the windows are bare, the walls are bare, the cabinets are bare, so are the closets, the tops of furniture, ect, ect. BARE BARE BARE. You get the picture. 

But my Amazing Baby is beautiful and delightful (grunting in his sleep as I type) and my hubby is still charming and oh so helpful (even if I am grouchy and exhausted). And when we roam the earth as homeless adventurers as of September 25, at least we'll be together:)

Even if our house is dead and bare:(

I WON!!

Look, Baby does tricks!!!

And Smiles!!

And gets Daddy to play goofy hand games!

 Then feels very stunned as he realizes he's not in the womb anymore.

Today I went to J's work for a big lunch they had and my bread pudding (Leah's recipe) won FIRST PLACE in the food competition!!!! I'm a pretty competitive person so this was a big score for me. Unfortunately 1st prize was a giftcard to Cheeseburger in Paradise but I guess we can go there sometime for a date night. Would have liked it better had it been a Target giftcard!!!

Have you ever noticed people are ridiculously nice to pregnant women and people with small babies? I think it is our species way of preserving itself. Even grouchy old men like babies and pregnant ladies. 

Tonight I am going to get my hair cut .WITHOUT. the Amazing Child present!!! Without my baby!!! I hope he doesn't scream himself silly while I'm gone. I'm a little nervous about it.

Will update you on the haircut and baby howling later!!