House and Diapers

First: I am happy to report that THIS:
Is finally happening to our pond. Our excavator filling it in in February but since he's fitting us in between jobs, we got pushed aside until now. Or maybe he returned to us because I started calling/texting him and bugging him too much;) Hopefully it will be finished on Monday? Seems too good so I'll tell myself that by Wednesday it will be done. Because then we must away to North Carolina (isn't that how they said it in all the Jane Austin books? I must away?) for a vacation.


And then THIS:
mound of rocks/concrete/stuff/unuseable water feature in my front yard will also be gone. Yay!! Stay tuned for what we are going to do with our giant rocks. Cause I haven't 100% decided yet either! Ideas?


Also: I think having a few vases of dead flowers around gives any house a decidedly "Miss Havisham" look. Don't you? And isn't that what we ALL want for our homes???

So, while I work on my disorganized photos (that's what the current naptime has been reserved for), here's some cloth diaper pictures and info from The Jarvis Estate.

DIAPERS

C uses Bum Genius 3.0 during the day. We have 12 of these diapers and all except 2 or 3 were bought used. We used to use GMD prefolds and Thirsties covers during the day too but those are too cumbersome to take on and off when C uses the toilet. Alas. This means they've been bagged up for the next baby or loaned out to friends.


This is our current nighttime diaper: Thirsties cover, Mother Ease one size, and a small GMD prefold. C NEVER leaks out of these!! His behind is kinda big in them though.... We used to add an extra liner to the combo but nowadays he seems to be peeing less at night so we don't really need it anymore.


So, those diapers go on this boy's butt. He mostly wears just a diaper and a shirt or onesie when we're at home. This way I can squeeze, kiss, and tickle his chunky legs all the time!!! And plop him on his toilet quicker:)


Diapers go from butt to diaper pail in tiny laundry room. Then every 2 days I wash them: one cold wash with tiny bit of Charlie's Soap and 1/4 cup Bac-Out, one hot wash with tiny bit of Charlie's Soap, and an extra rinse. PS- if C poops in his diaper (maybe 1 out of 7 days) we spray it with the diaper sprayer in the downstairs bathroom THEN stick it in the pail. Ah sweet breastmilk-only baby poop, how I miss you. Eating-solid-foods baby poop, GROSS, I'm glad you go in the toilet!!!


The diaper covers go on my drying rack (AKA dining room chairs) to dry (no clothesline at the new house yet, too busy!!) and the liners and cloth wipes go in the dryer.


Finally all diapers, covers, liners, and wipes go in the laundry basket to sit in the living room for a couple of days. And if we're lucky, they get put in the diaper bin in the playroom. But did I take a picture of that final step? NOOOO. Because I wanted to leave you hanging in suspense. There's no way I'll get anyone to read a word I write unless I keep dangling that DIAPER BIN IN THE PLAYROOM photo in front of them.

Maybe later?

Elimination Communication

For a while I've been meaning to try Elimination Communication (EC) with Baby Boy. EC is really just a fancy way of saying you

1. Notice your your baby's signals for "I'm about to pee/poop!".
2. Set your baby on the toilet/bowl/outside ASAP.
3. Baby pees/poops.
4. Teach baby to associate a noise with peeing/pooping.
5. Wipe and repeat.

And btw, what do you think people did before diapers? What do parents in other countries do with their kiddos? Did you know about 50% of babies in this world never wear diapers? EC is natural!! And if (in the summer) my kiddo pees in our yard, how is that any worse than Sadie (our dog) doing the same? At least C doesn't eat his own poop (although given the chance, I doubt he'd turn it down, as I've said before).

What??? Doesn't everyone look ridiculously happy on the toilet??

Last week (Wednesday, Thursday?) we were enjoying a quick family breakfast when C started grunting in his high chair. You know what that means??? POOOOOO!!!! I seized the opportunity and we whisked him to the living room where his Baby Bjorn has been living for 3 months (btw, I like how BB potty's slogan is: Maximum comfort while sitting. So refined for a baby's butt). We took off C's diaper and plopped him on the little toilet. And out plopped his poo.

IT WAS AWESOME:) One less cloth diaper we didn't have to spray or scrape off! Yay!!! Then he peed too!!! WOWO!!!!

We're easily amused. Please still accept and love us.

After such a dazzling initiation, we now set C on his toilet or ours when he wakes from any sleep so he can laugh and pee. We also do this every hour or so while he's awake (the laughing and peeing continues, punctuated by occasional pooping). And the darling loves it! He generally gets right down to business and then we put his diaper back on. I have been shocked how quickly C has caught on... or maybe he's always preferred it this way and I've just now been brave enough to try??

And (preview, don't read if you are already disgusted) C has become much more regular in the last week. Used to be he'd poop every 2-3 days and now, he's gone every single day we've been EC'ing. I guess I would avoid sitting in a diaper full of gooshy grossness if I could.

C's favorite toilet sport- the Toe Reach. He also enjoys the Desk Reach, the Couch Grab, the Eating of Mommy's Face, and the Squealing Happily While Already Trying To Pee Standing Up.

So-

1. C is happier and actually holds his business until we set him on a toilet (who knew!?!?!).
2. We are happier with less diapers to wash.
3. The environment is happier with less water being used.
4. Our cloth diapers will last longer for the rest of our kiddos to use.
5. And it's pretty darn cool:)

PS- EC isn't potty training!! C can't do this on his own and will of course go in his diaper if we don't give him toilet access. He can't fully control his bladder/bowels either. So for now it's a partnership until he's 1-3 years old:)

Parental Thoughts

Just finished my second breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese, bread with butter and raw honey, apple cider, yum! We race through about 2 dozen eggs each week due to our/my breakfast consumption. Yikes!! Cheapest form of protein out there though!!

2 Pop Up Thoughts-

1. As a kid I was always told: eat your crust, it's the most nutritious part of the bread. That's not true, is it? I THINK NOT!! Sneaky way to get me to eat the crust!!
2. However, the white part of the orange is super good for you, I understand that now and tell J to eat it when he picks it off.
3. I am bossy.

Pop Up Parenting Thought #1 (Yes! Like a camper thing or a Pop Tart!!)

As my kid grows, I want to nurture his emotional self. I want him to know it's acceptable and normal to cry, to be angry and sad, and to learn how to voice those feelings. I feel marriage catapulted me into emotional maturity that I did not possess previously. I'd rather C learn these skills a bit earlier!

However, the media scorns men expressing feelings, portraying them as weak if they cry. And I'll admit, sometimes, deep down, I feel that way too. But when it comes to my son, this little person who I would readily give my life for, I want him to have EVERYTHING. I want him to have the full breadth and depth of life, to not be denied anything every. Sigh. I'll either shelter him, spoil him, ruin him, or scar him. But my hubby is awesome and will keep our baby normal:) YAY FOR MY LIFE PARTNER!!!!

Pop Up Parenting Thought #2

The other day I posted a list of wonderful things about breastfeeding my baby boy.

Here's the flip side.

Do you want to know the worst part of breastfeeding? The fact that only I can do it. C needs me to eat, to fall asleep, and to be comforted back to sleep at night and this interrupts my entire day. Not in a major or negative way but sometimes, honestly, yes. It is hard and frustrating to work and sometimes not get much done simply because my boy needs me every 2-3 hours to fall sleep and every 2-3 hours for a meal. Not to mention every 2-3 hours all night. My "me" life, work, and errands get accomplished in spurts that happen between my son's life. Plus he's at the age that when he's awake, he is my focus. He DEMANDS this! It's frustrating to watch my hubby (who said he'd care for C all day last Sunday) get more done than me simply because I am the parent with the LIFE FORCE flowing through my mammary glands.

Oh Mammaries,

You supply my Babe with life,

Fresh, perfect, always flowing.

Did you ever think about me?

My body has not been my own

for 15 months.

It will not be mine again for

years.

Each Babe will take more and more.

But then I will reclaim it!!

But my Babes will always be my mind

For Ever.

And that is fine.

I love Him and future Them

more than me:)

And in the end the love you take, is equal to the love you make- The Beatles. I would NEVEREVEREVER stop breastfeeding C so I could get stuff done around the house. HAHAH!!!! Health reasons, yes, but I have none of those. I am in awe of women who breastfeed while working jobs out of the home, while ill, or who have discomfort when nursing. My minor issues are minor:) Very minor. So I will hush:)

But did you like my poem? Isn't it ARTSY??!?!!?

This weekend I am hanging out with my lovely extended family and working on my pretty but needy house. And I'll leave you with some totally scorealicious pictures:)

C loves his feet! If he could, I think he'd pour ketchup on them and go to town....

C also loves every part of his dog Sadie, even her behind. If he found her poop in the yard, I'm quite sure he'd eat it without ketchup!!!

10 Things I Love About Breastfeeding

This post was inspired by a blog a friend recommended:) BTW, there's a pic of C breastfeeding on here. Not meant to make anyone feel awkward but to show how natural nursing is and how that's what breasts are made for:) Look away if you want to:)

C was exclusively breastfed until about 5.5 months old, when he started eating table food in soft form. Boy does he love our food (and plates)!

C used to eat every 1-2 hours as a newbie, spending at least 30 minutes to fill up. Long meals:) Now he can go up to 4-5 hours without nursing (when he's busy!!) but generally eats every 2-3 hours, for about 10 minutes at a time. He's growing up!!

Breastfeeding was really simple for me and C. I know this isn't true of some moms and babes though:( The only discomfort I've had was all in C's first weeks of life: uterine cramps while he ate for the first week and restless legs for the first 3-4 weeks. Oddly, as soon as C latched as a newbie (and for the duration of his 30+ minutes of eating) my legs went CRAZY! I had to walk while nursing him since sitting was unbearable!! But I had really bad RLS the last half of my pregnancy anyway.

These days C still nurses for most his nutrients but our nursing relationship has changed. He's so interested in everything happening outside his meal, he eats faster so we have less nursing time, and he stays awake after most meals. His sweet newborn days of being "drunk on milk" are pretty much gone:)

So, here's 10 Things I Love About Breastfeeding:

1. Love that I can feed my kiddo food made ~exactly~ for his stage of life. Amazing to think my milk changes as C grows and his nutritional needs change! I make food perfectly matched for his brain, health, future, and more! He'll have a better immune system, fewer infections, lower risk of SIDS, higher intelligence, lower childhood and adult diseases, and even be at a lower risk of obesity!! He'll be a healthier person forever because he's a breastfed baby!
2. Free!!! Can we say AWESOME?!?! Of course I need to eat more but I've basically kept my pregnancy diet (lots of protein, veggies, fruits, and at least 8-10 glasses of water/milk daily).
3. Easy peasy to make. Baby is hungry? Just pop out the boob!! Easy to soothe. Baby banged his head and is screaming? Pop out the boob!
4. I get plenty of time to clean C's: ears, eye goop, neck folds, fuzzes on his face/hair, and any other tiny nuisances flawing my kid's beautiful face. As my sister Leah told me when C was tiny, breastfed babies are very groomed babies! Ps- check out Leah's blog for a sweet post about C and his cousin Lilly!
5. I get to cuddle my boy. So nice. So unbelievably nice:) Holding a sleeping babe everyday is vital to a mama's mental health!
6. I get to play with C's chubby hands, legs, and feet. Now that he's older, he plays too; with my lips, chin, necklace, and anything his absently swaying hand can reach. Priceless:)
7. I get to try to make C laugh while he's eating. Most times I succeed and he pulls off to smile a mouth full of drool and milk:)
8. I can catch up on news, FB, e-mail, and anything Internety for at least 1 hour each day. Very often more;) Many days this is the only way I check my e-mail!! Love my smart phone!!
9. While it can be frustrating to be the ONLY thing that my baby wants sometimes, especially at evening bedtime, it is amazing. Pretty much nothing makes C happier than nursing.
10. I lost allllll my pregnancy weight. And more. Oops. So now I can happily eat fatty foods like butter, whole milk, heavy whipping cream, and seconds and thirds of any meal I want. In fact I HAVE to eat that way now! So much yummy food:)
11. ETA- 7 months and no return of my menstrual cycle:) Well, 16 months counting my pregnancy. Is pushing a baby out worth 16 months of no period? Very debatable!!!!

So there you have it! Hopefully C will continue nursing until he's at least 1 year old (as the American Academy of Pediatrics advises) and I'd love him to nurse beyond that (World Health Organization recommends 2 years).

And if you want to learn more now or one day, just read So That's What They're For!, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, and The Breastfeeding Book. Or (and I HIGHLY recommend this!) go to your local La Leche League meetings. You'll meet friends, get support, and have your questions answered.

Stefan and Bugs

First Of All: Do you ever get a word stuck in your head? Kind of like a song but it's a word instead? Like perspicacious or serendipity? Or names? Yesterday I had an NPR reporter's name running through my mind, a sports reporter named Stefan Fatsis. Fatsis. So fun to say! I'm mean, how does that even happen???? Words stuck in your head????? This is Stefan Fatsis BTW.

What. A. Dork. Me, not him. He's pretty awesome. I just found out from Wikipedia that he's married to Melissa Block. How amazing is that? I love NPR:):)

Back to me= dork. I know, I know, things such as my OCD mind chants should stay in my head (Bekah, be quiet) and NEVER see the light of day. Oh well. I hope someone else has this tic/problem too. I'm not that strange, am I? My baby thinks I'm awesome:) And so does my hubby, combined with occasional thoughts of "What a dork I've married."

Also, I wanted to tell you about the insects in my house. A lot of what I'm about to write is preeeetty horrifying information so look away if you'd like.

So we have insects. Lots of them:

1. Recently I saw tiny ants and
2. Medium sized black ants. They woke with spring and came exploring.
3. A tiny roach (?)(lets hope not) on its back on the stairs.
4. Normal centipedes.
5. Weird alien centipedes with wispy long antennae/legs (hard to tell case it was caught on a sticky mouse trap).
6. Not an insect but we have the occasional mouse, caught by the traps. So sad because they think this house is theirs. Don't know any way to tell them we own it now:(
7. Again not insects but we have seen: deer, squirrels, and raccoons.
8. Spiders- no giant wolf spiders but every other variety. Hopefully no shuddershuddershudder poisonous ones for my boy to pick up and eat.
9. Wasps horrershuddergrossdiealittleinside that could land on my BABY.
10. Earwigs. Harmless. Yuck still.

WHY DIDN'T WE CONSIDER THE INSECT/ANIMAL LIFE BEFORE BUYING A HOUSE IN THE WOODS??????? A HOUSE THAT HAD BEEN VACANT FOR 2 YEARS???????????

Sigh.

My philosophy on insects is KILL ZEM. KILL ZEM ALL. Except recently I decided to weed some spiders out of that category.

Service announcement: Those of you without 7 month old babies: appreciate your uninterrupted lives that have less love in them. This will only make sense when you actually have a baby so keep ignoring me for now.

Back to spiders. Did you know they kill other pests? I did but that mattered not in the fight for Less Fear In the World. Did you know that if you kill spiders and other carnivorous insects, the pests will take over? There are fewer carnivorous insects than there are pesky insects to begin with and if we kill all the spiders, that balance is tilted toward the OTHER bad guys (less frightening looking insects). I hope our spiders eat: ants, earwigs, WASPS, and other things I hate. Like pollution, laundry, and poopy diaper.

I feel that all insects in my house and in my hair are bad guys. Especially the ones that fly/crawl into my hair. Like WASPS. I hate you wasps.

But now I'm letting the spiders live. The smaller ones can stay in the house if they want. The bigger, ickier ones are now banished outside instead of being killed. The other day I even showered (carefully) with a smalltiny spider. With my glasses on (the glasses were on me, not the spider). In the shower. Couldn't see much!

The wasps are always killed though. ALWAYS. If only we could find the true source of their origin in the house.

Wasps, Torment to My Soul

By Sarah The Magnificent

Cursed wasps, why do you torment me?

Through you I have found my first real phobia.

And it is not pretty.

What if my baby catches my fear?

I want him to grow undaunted. Fearless.

A fighter.

Yet I fear what I fear, he will fear.
I shall irradiate you all before he grows.

No one out there is allowed to tell me wasps are good insects. Or that my poem sucks:)

Ze Lovely House

Sometimes when I think back to November, December, and January, I wonder how we survived. We had a 3-5 month old baby, packed up the second house we'd lived in in 3 months, moved to a third, bought a house that came with SO much work, worked on it 6 days a week, packed again, and moved. I would explain in great detail how incredibly stressful and busy it was but that would take too long.

Oh. My.

I'm so glad we have a home again:) I love our needy home:)

And maybe tomorrow or early next week I'll show you our dining room and kitchen without those funky bookshelves that I hated. I think we can all agree that space for storing book is to be cherished but COME ON. These things were pretty hideous. And pretty soon I'll show you how they are all gone:) Today begins Wall Repair Day and with focus, they'll be done on Monday!

I'm going to get my hair cut in 2 hours! With my baby! Wish me luck!!

Here are some pictures of our lives in the past month or so!

This pile of junk was our basement. J and Friends ripped it out. J and Friends moved it to the driveway. J and Sarah moved it to a dumpster. Sarah forgot to take pictures of the last step but it was TIRING!!!

The hood over our stove. It was black so I thought: black metal, huh! Then I scrubbed and found it was not black, it was stainless steel. FUN!!! Notice how the left side is partially washed but the right side is black:) Took over an hour. C has preeetty much nursed all my fat and muscles away but I managed to scare the grime into submission!!

The AFTER shot!!! Mostly clean! Decided to give up.

J sweeps the kitchen/dining room roof of leaves. We get to clean the gutters in the spring!!

The Love Shack standing in the weekend's flood. The water actually got higher than this and reached behind the Shack!!

Great picture of Sadie, our ferocious beast, and C, our less ferocious and more fussy beast.

Now C is beating Sadie in the ferocious department as he attempts to gnaw on her flesh.

C would rather be held than watch Mama cook. Almost bedtime!!! Funny thing is, as soon as J comes home he perks right up. Guess I'm that dull to be around:)

Someone at the farmers' market on Saturday was selling basil! Pesto for dinner! C and I happily ate our pasta and then a mango before J came home. Baby was stuffed completely in time for bed and his 1 hour later waking. The kid doesn't wake from hunger, that's for sure!

Sunday's Shopping Trip

It's my lunch break and I'd like to talk about something lighter than yesterday's post:) While I'm prefacing things, I'd like to say: Sorry for the teeny, odd font. Blogger/my computer/the universe changed yesterday and I can't fix it. I bet my charming hubby can! If I remember to ask him tonight.

I'm buying a new computer in a couple of months to fix this issue:)

So SUNDAY: I went shopping. Without my boy. OOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGG!!!!! I know it's only been 6 months that he's been alive out of my uterus, but what and AMAZINGLY unproductive 6 months it's been!! A cozy, delightful, cuddly, playful, happiest-6-months-of-my-life yet very unproductive. Even though I packed and unpacked my household/belongings 3 different times to move, bought a distressed house (following a trend), cleaned and fixed it, and am now happily residing there, it's been hard. And I only have ONE kid!!! Imagine how much I'd be complaining if I had more!

That's all to tell you I felt more productive in 3.5 hours (10:30 AM-2:00 PM) away from baby C than I have in a while. I went to 4 FOUR 4 (4!!!) stores in 3.5 hours. I haven't gone to more than 2 consecutive stores in 6 months. In case you don't know this: once you have a baby, your life revolves around your little pumpkin's sleep schedule! My beautiful boy sleeps so well in his swing or in my arms, and occasionally the carseat if he's uber tired. He doesn't like shopping trips too much though.

Back to the point: I went to Lowe's first. The thing I love about Lowe's, Home Depot, and our local hardware store is the customer service. We go to those places because every employee you pass asks if you need help. SOOO nice when you are wandering around a store bigger than a football field (I think?) (PS- our hardware store is tiny, like a preschool football field). We used to go to Menards ALL THE TIME but finding someone to help you there is like putting C to sleep unswaddled: tough. So: I like customer service in a hardware store:)

Then I went to Kohls. Exchanged some gifted clothes C can't wear due to sizing, got him more much needed onesies for free (basically!). Good service again:)

Next, off to Old Navy. C's wardrobe is getting bare. Sure, he doesn't need a lot. 4-5 short sleeved onesies, same for long sleeved onesies, a couple pants, couple shirts, few pjs, and socks. But he's outgrowing them. And I wanted 1-2 more outfits for cuteness' sake;) So I shopped Old Navy's sale and spent the rest of the exchanged money:)

Last stop: JoAnn Ect. Why I keep shopping here is BEYOND ME. Please remind me to nevernevernever go back! I think they hire only grouchy people. I think they hate their customers. Wish I didn't like the sale prices so very much! Took me 20 minutes to get fabric cut and check out. At this point I HAD to get home. C naps for me, only me, and just me. And he needed a nap.

So I'm FRANTICALLY driving home to my hubby and babe. I hate it when J has to care for C when he screams. The baby will accept no one but Mommy for sleeping. It's a phase! One day DADDY will put him to sleep! And Mommy will drink wine and read in the evenings:)

What's the point? Get all your shopping and errands done now, while you don't have kids. And if you do have kids? I guess we'll wait 5-10 years until shopping becomes easier.

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.

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!

Come ON!!!

One of C's finest moments repeated very often: Baby Spitting Up

Brother Micah, niece Charlotte, BIL Damian, niece Lilly, hubby J, baby C 

Cool evening at my mama's, blanket made by my BFF Abby:)

Family walk, being hounded by the paparazzi. Sadie, baby C, and I ignore crazy man with the camera.

C loves to scratch his face, as shown in detail here. PS, this is another fine parenting moment: we spent the day at my sister's, ran out of clean clothes and diapers so C is wearing his cousin Lilly's most gender neutral sleeper, bib, and of course a flowery blanket. Yet another embarrassing story for my one-day teenager. 

One of my friends just had a baby today and though my kid is barely 2.5 weeks old, I seriously thought: Awww, I want to have another baby.

Really??!!!!??? Geez, what a crazy I am.  

Today my Beautiful Baby C was fussy. Well, he was fussy this afternoon from 4:00 until now, 9:00. He is rarely that fussy and needy so it was a bit disconcerting and stressful.... But now he's SLEEPING!!! The Commencement of Sleeping caused great joy in the household and made Mommy and Daddy hug happily:) 

And since Glorious Baby C's 5 hours of fussiness wasn't enough FUN baby time, I'm now posting pics of him. Because Mommy's little mental breakdown at 8:00 wasn't enough to make her actually do anything when the baby is unhooked and sleeping. She has to go and post pics on the Internet instead of packing up her house. 

Did I mention we're moving in 23 days? Yep. I get nothing done all day long it seems except feeding, changing, and nurturing The Child. Packing must happen soon!!!

PS- My kid gained 10 ounces in one week!!!! I feed him well:) He will have chunky monkeys soon!!!!!

I Love Bebe

I love it when my baby kicks me in the ribs. And I think I'm not supposed to:) He's about 5 pounds now but I could sit around all day feeling him kick and squirm in there!! I think I should be complaining a bit more lately instead of enjoying this. If you agree, please see the following blog posts: here you go, and here. I complained at least twice and if you ask all my family members, they will testify that I complain a lot, I'm sure:) The full frontal adult whining can really drive them crazy!

But in reality, pregnancy hasn't been that bad at all. After listening to what women say about it, my pregnancy has been a walk in the park. Well, the nausea, severe hunger, and mood swings from months 2-4 were pretty awful but who can't handle 3 months of the stomach flu punctuated by hysterical crying sessions? Only a wimp!!!! January through March nearly did me in but April left me with nothing but easiness! At least I was suffering during dull, cold, dreary months. Everyone else in Indiana was also suffering I assume, though from the weather and boredom, not hormones and a child. Then in April we were all happy!! 

Baby still has to gain 2-4 more pounds of chub and then I'll let you know how the birthing portion of his life goes. Come back in September to read "Wow, pushing a baby out was amazing! I'd totally do that again to get a squishy, cuddly, adorable little baby!!"

Updato on Bambino

I would just like to say: 

1. The lungs are getting squished.
2. The stomach is jammed up pretty high so it's smaller.
3. Heartburn is starting. Never had this before in my life.
4. The legs and arms are wiggly.
5. I leak. J would think it inappropriate to say where. 
6. My tummy is perdy big and I can't roll over well. 
7. And various other things. 

But all day, I smile cause he wiggles and moves and kicks and slides. Totally freaking worth it:) Only 12 more weeks until he's 42 weeks old and should be out:)

Damn Spock

I would just like to reiterate that I WILL NEVER HAVE AN INDOOR CAT AGAIN. Ever. Dogs I can handle, cats NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO.  

So in the process of putting the house up for sale, I've been cleaning, organizing, and simplifying like a MADWOMAN for a few weeks. Today was carpet cleaning day and BOY AM I ANNOYED WITH SPOCK. The house STILL has a lingering "I hate you so I'm peeing all over your house" smell from months ago. Can't even clean it with a Hoovernobodydoesitlikeyou Steam Vac. For the second time really, since I steam cleaned it a few months ago. Should have kicked the cat out last year, not this spring. 

Baby agrees cause he just moved and I looked down my my belly was RIDICULOUSLY crooked. He was getting mad with me, delightful child. WAY TO GO BABY. 

Beware Bekah!!!!

My sister Bekah hates anything to do with babies until they are about 1-2 years. Or at least that's what she SAYS. I know she secretly loves it when I rub my belly against her. Baby bellies make Bekah so happy!! 

BTW, anyone who hates baby talk like Bekah should stop reading.

I'm taking a Hynobabies class starting on Monday (yay!).  This is because I'm having an unmedicated birth and need something to keep me sane and from shrieking while birthing a 6-9 pound child. Hypnobabies will teach me to relax and love birth!! So my Hypnobabies teacher sent me a sampler CD of what I'll be learning in the class. This CD has 2 tracks and I've listened to each of them once, falling asleep each time. That's how relaxing this Hypnobabies stuff is!!! I'll fall asleep during my baby's birth!!! Pain free, deep, happy sleep:) With funny dreams.

Right.

Here's a video explaining Hypnobabies a bit more if you'd like to watch it:)

P.S.- Baby is having hiccups right now. This is the 8th time he's had them in 6 days! I'd be getting pretty annoyed if I were him. It's HIGH-LAR-EEEE-OUS to feel hiccups in my stomach and lower.... SOOOO weird....

Whew.

Today I ate homemade ice-cream on a field trip. And homemade butter. There were 6 different stations the kids visited on this field trip but I bet you can guess which station I hung around the most. Plus all the cool people were teaching that station, people that like to rant about trash and plastic and oil in the Gulf. Yep, I fit right in:)

Plus I bought more cloth diapers for Ze Bebe after work. Then took a nap, during which I dreamed about cloth diapers a lot. 

Now I shall go to bed because I am oh so worn out. 

PS- Bebe is kicking me right now for talking about his future private toilet business and is making the computer jiggle.

Garage Sales!

This morning I went garage saling and got BABY STUFF!!!! Yay!

Cool Finds: 

1. A like new Boppy and a My Breast Friend. For $4:) I plan to do a comparison and make a final call once and for all about which works the best for breastfeeding. And make fun of their names. A LOT. 
2. Tiny socks. Oh so tiny. Will his feet really be that small? Will the socks really stay on his feet? Will they get stuck in other stuff in the wash (as they did today) so that I'm pulling tiny socks out of my pants a week after laundry day?
3. A SNOWSUIT!!! Because my baby will obviously want to play in the snow in January when he is 4 months old.
4. Toys:) So we're trying to stick to wood or stuffed toys. Don't want little guy putting plastics and chemicals in his mouth. I'm going to be one of those kinds of moms. Heck, I'm just that kind of person. Organic, local, natural all the way, baby.
5. Cloth diapers. Not at garage sales, just more came in the mail. So I had to sit and sort through my supply once again. And wash some of them. And fold them and organize them again since there is nothing more important to do in my life.  

Good day:) Cold day. Cheap day:)

DST

I know people hate it but I really don't mind DST. Or at least Hoosiers hate DST. Not sure about other folks.

Thanks to DST though, I am able to say I stayed up until 11:30 at night for the second time in 3 months!!! And then I woke up at 10:00 for the first time in that long as well!!!! DST has greatly befitted my sleeping habits! I am able to go to bed late! And sleep SUPER late!!!

Plus, I only woke up to pee 2 TIMES!!!! And woke up to eat once, as I normally do:)

DST is my new bestest friend.