Moby vs Sleepy

I have now given the Moby a fair try. I like it. As previously mentioned, it's less stretchy. So it takes a little more precision in wrapping if you don't want the baby to be sagging down by your belly or pressed up tight under your chin. But in the end, same comfort for you and baby. I'm glad I started with the Sleepy though since the wrapping concept is a bit overwhelming to begin with and there's less of a learning curve with the Sleepy. But I'm thinking that the Moby might end up lasting longer by being less stretchy. Either way though, I think I'll get my money's worth, since to demonstrate it's longevity to a friend, I was able to wear my 33lb 3yo in it!

Sister Wives

I watched this new TLC show the other day. I've always been intrigued by any specials that come on about polygamous sects in our society. The people featured on this show seem the least weird of ones I've seen before. They aren't all 1910 with the way they dress and keep their hair or anything. Their home is essentially like a huge triplex.
It's such an interesting concept to contemplate. While I love the idea of having a "sister" with whom you share childrearing and chores, and always having someone to talk to, the idea of sharing a husband is just too bizarre for me. I want to say that it seems like it's against our nature to be okay with loving someone who doesn't only love you back, but is that really our nature, or just the product of how most people are raised these days? I mean, I love my mom, and know full well that I share her love with 3 siblings, and I don't resent her or them for it; why does a spouse have to be different? I don't know, but it is!

First Doctor Visit!

Today I took Bauer in for his 2mo well check. It's his first doctor's visit. His sister was with us. After grocery shopping, I didn't have anything that needed to go in the fridge so I really didn't want to go all the way home just to turn around and leave for the pediatrician in 20min. So Emberly asks where we're going. I tell her that I think we should kill time at the mall until it's time for Bauer to go to the doctor. She says, Bauer has to go to the doctor? He's sick? I tell her, No, they just have to check him out and make sure he's healthy. And he has to get a shot.
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to tell her. She anxiously asks me why he gets a shot. I told her that it will keep him from getting sick later, even if it hurts a little now. Then came the tears. She told me her brother didn't want any shots, that she didn't want him to cry and that we should just take him home. It was so sad and cute at the same time. I assured her it'd be okay.
Then at the office, after the doctor has checked him out, the nurse comes in with the needle and Emberly gets anxious again, asking a bunch of questions about what she's doing. But then she saw the cool charlie brown Band-Aid and was able to chill out a little. Bauer did one of those cries where you're waiting for him to take a breath and you just feel so bad for him, and then he was done.
I had to request a shot record. They were all surprised. Didn't he get Hep B at the hospital, they ask me. As busy as my midwife is, you'd think they had more home-birthed babies coming in there!

Unique

There aren't really that many places to shop for kids and babies, at least places with reasonable prices for something that's to be outgrown in a matter of weeks/months. But still, something in me wants my kids to be wearing something unique, something that no other kid at the park is going to be wearing, like a high school girl not wanting to show up at prom in the same dress as another. Silly, I know. But I think that's a major part of why I like making apparel. And it's definitely why I hesitate when someone asks me where I got something when it's from my fave online store that has no locations in the area. I'm selfish like that.

Tea!

I have a really hard time coming up with incentives and rewards that are not food/dining related. Like if I lose five pounds, I deserve a decadent slice of cheesecake, right? LOL As I've mentioned, sugar is a slippery slope for me. Other things that come to mind are just too pricey. Like shopping, especially since I already have plenty from sizes 2 to 12! And massages or other spa treatments.
A lot of thinking and a perusal of Fashion Show Mall later, I've settled on... tea! And tea accessories. It's a treat to my taste buds without really being food. The Teavana boutique is fun to browse; so many tea sets, loose teas with different beneficial properties, with plenty out to sample. So, my first goal, getting under 150 (4lbs to go! well, 3.1 if I'll count 149.9), will be rewarded with a ceramic tea pot. After that, every 5lbs will be a new loose tea! And of course once I reach goal and maintain, I can get some as often as budget allows.

Photographs

I tend to do everything in excess. And then take pictures to commemorate, because I either can't hold on to the item(s), like cookies, or a crocheted baby gift, or because I don't want to hold to the item, like the bajillion art projects my daughter brings home from daycare. Solution, photobooks! I've made several now and loved them all! My first was all the photos from my 25th birthday "party." Oprah had a free offer for Snapfish and those pics were the most easily accessible as the expiration of the offer quickly approached. Then earlier this year I made one for Emberly's third birthday weekend. We spent the weekend in Los Angeles, took her to Disneyland, Santa Monica Pier (where we saw Gwen Stefani, Gavin and kids!), and had a little gathering at my sister-in-law's house. And recently, Shutterfly was having a sale, on top of which, I received and email coupon. So I made two more; one of Emberly's art from the past two years and one of everything (well, almost everything, I had a couple handmade scarves stolen with luggage when Emberly was a baby and I don't have any pics :( ) I've crocheted, knit and sewn in the last several years.
It feels like such an accomplishment to have done something with all these pictures, for them to not just be lost in cyberspace forever.
And I've decided to stop waiting for coupons and rushing to put together a book, but to simply put them together, save them, and wait for a coupon to actually print. And if you're asking yourself if I could possibly be cheaper, the answer is, no, no it is not possible to be more of a cheapskate than I :D

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to view this photo book larger

Wraptastic

Children, as anyone who has them probably noticed, have extra senses. My daughter would wake up within moments of me getting up in the morning, no matter the time. My son, he will sense that I have put my sleepy wrap in the washer, and these will be the mornings where he is what I like to call, a grumpalump.
Obvious solution, buy another one. Some extended family gave us a gift card to Babies-R-Us, so I came up with the genius idea of getting a Moby Wrap, which I thought was the same thing. Wrong. Same concept, but the fabric is completely different. The Sleepy Wrap fabric has 4 way stretch. The Moby seems to only have 2-way.
My initial reaction is disappointment, but I have yet to actually use it. So... to be continued...

Straight Hair

My daughter's hair is not as coarse as mine, but the curls are so tight. I straightened it for the first time yesterday and it's down to the middle of her back, yet curly, those corkscrews are still a fro halo around her head.
It took FOREVER. I put a straightening glaze in after I washed it. Brushed it out into sections that I twisted loosely to dry. Some of her hair was still so curly though, that I wish the both of us had the wherewithal to have blow dried it. She pissed and moaned the entire time as is.
She looks... off. LOL. The blond-brown color looks more foreign with her hair straight, it seemed like a silly wig on her little head. I'm sure I'd get used to it if she wore her hair straight all the time, but that was a process I'm in no hurry to do again. I am going to make her an appt with my stylist though to get a cut because 3.5yrs of no haircuts = terrible ends!

Hooray!

Today, my best friend that I've known for... 18! wow, yes, 18 years, is arriving. Our friendship is old enough to be an adult. Now I feel old.
Anyway, we were pregnant at the same time this last go 'round and she's bringing her daughter Penelope who is just a month older than Bauer with her. Renting a van so that we can all fit in one vehicle together. This could end up being complete insanity, but I suspect it will be a blast no matter what!
At least they're not yet mobile so it's not a HUGE deal that my house isn't as clean as I would like!

Semantics

I read an interesting thread on a forum today.
So let's say a woman is lying on her back helpless, crying "no, stop!" while a man shoves his arm elbow deep into her vagina.
Rape, no?
Okay, now let's say that woman is in labor or has just given birth and the man is an obstetrician or a female midwife. Is it still rape?
I would venture 'yes.' I would consider anything done to one's crotch area by anybody without consent, regardless of occupation, is rape, or at the very least sexual assault.
Some people didn't even define it as rape because the doctor was simply doing something integral to his job, regardless of consent. They even brought sexual intent into the equation, which I found interesting since I thought most people knew that the largest component in the "intent" for most rape is not the sex itself but to wield power over someone. And as if doctors were somehow excluded from depravity, and it was impossible that maybe some went home with souvenirs to sexually gratify themselves to the memory of wielding that power.
Some people didn't define it as rape because there are no cases of felony rape against a doctor for a birth experience. As if the legal definition for something is the end-all-be-all. Some pointed out that until recently, date rape and spousal rape didn't fit into the legal definition of rape, but it was no less a crime.
And yet others didn't want the term used in reference to birth experiences because people would be too "loose" with it, calling any birth experience that was traumatic and not going as planned a rape. Because your pitocin drip turned into an emergency c-section and you might want to call it "rape," that means when my doctor forces an internal exam on me, manually dilating my cervix without my consent, I can't use that term. Hmmm.
I had never considered that things like that actually happen. I mean, I know that hospital births can often involve coercion into procedures that can create a domino effect that often turn into a nightmarish birth experience that leave one traumatized. That's a large part of why I chose home birth for my uncomplicated pregnancies(not that rape can't happen at a home birth, just that most of the procedures that are being used to assault someone aren't performed routinely at home births in my experience). But that someone could be in a hospital, with people witnessing the events, and be actively crying for someone to stop? That's horrible. I don't really care what you call it, but I hope those people are brought to justice.

Sleep Science

Bauer and I went to bed at 10:30 last night. And did not open our eyes again until 4am!!!! He skipped the 1:30/2am feed! That's the longest stretch of sleep yet. He's gotten close to 5hrs a couple times before but it's been awhile. I felt fantastic. It's amazing how 5.5hrs of uninterrupted sleep is so much better than 8-9hrs with him waking every 3hrs, however brief the waking is. Best part: there was no milk puddle under me from the skipped session. Worst part: he still peed like normal and without the 2am change, his diaper area was pretty red this morning. But nothing a bath and little diaper-less time couldn't fix!
Small miracles, people. Life is about the small miracles.

Mompetitors

I came across this great bit on a forum today:

Even though I'm probably considered "crunchy" and overbearing with my opinions on child-rearing and everything, the humor of the one-upper was not lost on me. I was rotfl the whole time. I thought the digital voices even enhanced an all too real-life scenario. Of course I had to go and make my own. This is a memorable conversation between my husband and me the weekend we got married. Well, actually it wasn't memorable to me until our cousin Malik reenacted it for me months later and I lmao. I must warn about the eff-bomb- I was very pregnant, irritable and had no kids yet to watch my mouth around and I chose to stay true to life with my script ;) I'm lucky he didn't get an annulment right then and there when I flipped out about the temperature :D


That was fun. I think I have a new time-waster ;)

Old Fart...

... in a 3yo body.
Today we left Emberly's kids' theater class early because she wasn't participating, frowning and saying she wanted to go home. When I asked her what was wrong:
"Those kids are loud. They bothering me. I just want to go play in my room."
Really?!? I suggested to her that next week she get loud too, and have fun.
Then on the way home, she's snacking on cocoa almonds when she proclaims "I'm thirsty. I want some coffee." No, I did not appease her, nor has she ever had a coffee. I sometimes let her have the last sip of my blended coffee, and apparently she thought she'd try to get her own, to herself.
Funny girl.

Three Years, Four Months, Three Weeks and One Day

That's how long Ms. Emberly has been teaching me about being a mom. My green-eyed, sandy haired mini me.
She loves to box her dad, and flip across the living room, but also loves to put on costumes and Easter Sunday dresses.
She is completely insane. Forget Ambular Logic, preschooler logic is the best.
Ems: "I want to go to the park."
Me: "It's too hot, I don't want to go."
Ems: "No, me!"
Me: "You can't go to the park by yourself, and it's too hot, I don't want to go. And look, there's no kids there anyway."
Ems: "No, me, I want to go."

These conversations go on forever and are probably hilarious to any onlooker, because each of us is sure that it's the other that is confused.
One of the best things she does lately is try to lure people into her room. She promises presents, treats and juice that are not in there. I don't know where she learned this sexual predator tactic, as we aren't much for bribing her. She'll ignore all resistance, insisting that if you only knew how wonderful her room was, you'd come. Her Uncle Brian said, "no, thanks, I'm going to stay down here and play." She paused but for a second, "Well, I have lots of toys. Come on, I have toys for you."
She also has a keen ability to imitate things she's heard with impeccable comedic timing. Like when she was in the shower, light was hitting the spray and she went "Oooh, a double rainbow all the way across the sky! What does this mean!?!?" She really has a wicked sense of humor and while I'd like to take 100% credit, really, I think a big part is her exposure to TV that's not necessarily targeting preschoolers. She races in the room with rewind requests anytime she hears guffaws.
And the latest roll she's mastering, big sister. She LOVES her brother. I'm pretty sure that it's crossed her mind to put a hit out on me so that SHE can be mommy. But like her love for me, it can be a little smothering. We're working on understanding personal space. You don't need to lay ON TOP of Bauer. When you kiss him, back up. Don't hang out in his face while he whines, trying to get a breath that isn't your exhale. And, ohmygod, stop trying to pick him up!
Even when she's being a total pain in my ass, she's an utter joy. I can't wait for her to really be able to play with her brother.

Here's crazy pants running around with freshly unbraided hair...

That's why Credit was Invented

On my way home from the chiropractor today, I had the radio on. I hate the radio. Too much talking and commercials. Anyway, a lady called in to talk about her friend who she had lent $200 because she was going through a financial rough spot. Said friend then stopped communicating with her, but would tweet that she was at various social hot spots, enjoying pricey leisure time. So she was getting pretty irritated that her friend was doing these things while having trouble making ends meet (hello! Sound financial decisions aren't what led her to borrowing money from friends!).
I am a big believer in the financial advice of Dave Ramsey, so I'm essentially just regurgitating here. Don't lend money to friends and family, please. Don't part with money that you are counting on getting back. It's a recipe for disaster and strained relationships. If you can't just give it to the requester, like as a gift, then you can't afford to help them. If you can, great. And if the requester is then a lovely responsible person and somehow repays you without you expecting it, that's just icing on the cake. But otherwise, that's why we have financial institutions and credit. It takes personal feelings out of the equation. It's business and Bank of America or whatever isn't going to be pissed that you went to happy hour without her because you're avoiding a conversation about borrowed money. And if they can't even borrow money, please, don't cosign on anything! If a financial institution can't trust that person to pay back the money on their own, why should you?? Unless you're completely okay with having to pay that money (which is what you have to do, should the person you cosigned for default!) and never see it again (again, a gift), you have no business doing it.
No one asked me, but that's how I feel about it :D

Not-so-blissful Ignorance

So, while I was pregnant I ate pretty damn well. And around the time that everyone starts taking that glucola drink to assess risk for gestational diabetes, I started being extra mindful of how much sugar was in things and tried to adopt a more diabetic type diet to keep my blood sugar levels stable and give me energy.
I wish I were better with moderation, but I'm typically balls-to-the-wall about everything. So, when after my son was born, I thought I deserved a triple chocolate oatmeal cookie, of course this meant I ditched everything I was doing while I was pregnant and ate a BATCH of triple chocolate oatmeal cookies. And this just snowballed into me eating whatever sugary loveliness to which I had access. And of course I wasn't tracking how much sugar was in anything, because then I'd have to face it, and then I couldn't, in good conscience, eat it! Makes so much sense, right? Ignorance is bliss, right? My mind is fabulous for this kind of problem solving ;)
And I of course still had the nerve to be totally pissed at my lack of progress with postpartum weight loss.
So, I reigned in the amount of calories I was eating, but it was still pretty friggin' sugary. And then my best friend who is also on maternity leave, suggested that I watch the new show that Jackie W. has on Bravo, Thintervention. She made the participants rid their homes of sugar. Anything packaged with over 5g per serving had to go. Hmmm. I know this. I even know how much it helped my fatigue to eat that way. But I was being purposefully stupid about it. Now I'm back on the wagon. The cravings are already starting to subside, and when I get one, Trident Layers have been my best friend.
Here's to having more energy and being healthier again. Oh, yeah, and obviously most importantly, ditching the rest of this pregnancy weight.

Platform Booties

One of the things I miss since working from home: excuse to shop. When I modeled, I could buy outrageously trendy items, because I needed them for go-sees. Even when I'm at the mall now, I can find a great deal on something practical and I always talk myself out of it because I don't go anywhere! It's really quite difficult to be a clothes-horse who is also cheap and works from home LOL I can usually satisfy those urges by clearance shopping for the kids or or at Nike.com since I do work out enough to wear things out.
My latest covet-but-will-never-buy item is a pair of platform booties. With straps. Something like this:

Shorts, skirts, ankle length skinnies. Whatever. I want to wear them everyday. Could I seriously injure myself and others chasing a 3yo while wearing an infant in these? Maybe. Such is the cost of being fabulous.

Football and Video Games

Insert exasperated sigh here. Damon, my husband, loves football and video games. And books with pictures LOL. I think part of what brought us together was our ability to enjoy those things together. But that was pre-kids. I've never been into football really. I'm into socializing and the energy of people who are passionate about it. So going to someone's house or whatever to watch a game sounds like a really good time. Especially if we can throw some booze in the mix. But with a preschooler and a breastfeeding infant, I have to subtract booze (well, I can have a drink, but I'm not a one drink kind of girl). A nosy, talkative preschooler means that I'm keeping her out of things, listening to her stories and trying to keep her from talking the ears off of an unsuspecting, childless adult who didn't realize that telling her they like her hair meant they were best friends and thus needed to hear everything she's done the past... 3yrs of her life LOL. And the infant, if I set him down when he's not in the mood, or his dad looks at him funny, well, the price is a good 15min of him screaming like he's been stabbed. I don't have a problem with these things, I'm used to it. I'm just not always excited about dealing with it in someone else's home. So now I'm the party pooper that usually doesn't want to go anywhere.
Video games. I like video games. I used to watch him play his role playing games and we would play action games and fighting games together. He's always on the hunt for a game that we'll play together. It makes me tired just thinking about playing one of those games. Let's assume the baby is napping. Having to read and follow along and learn button pressing combinations while my daughter is all over me, talking, grabbing my chin trying to force eye contact while she tells one of her rambling stories, or dancing and singing in the way of me even seeing the screen, all with the perpetual exhaustion that is the first several months of infant care... No thank, you. It's not fun to me anymore. Makes me want to take a nap. For some reason, I am able to play puzzle type games (tetris, boggle, etc) without feeling like I need a nap. Probably some left brain, right brain thing.
I wish Damon really understood that I have this attitude about these things not because I just don't like these things anymore, but because I'm truly not able to have fun with them.

I don't get it

A lot of new moms find breastfeeding to be difficult. We must all experience things so differently. I've been lucky enough so far to not experience things like thrush and mastitis, but neither have many of the moms who talk about being so overwhelmed. They talk about their day being consumed by and revolving around feeding. I haven't ever felt that way. I do get annoyed with the limited clothing choices that make for easy nursing in public, but other than that I never think about it. I go about my day and when baby cries, regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, I shove a boob in his mouth. And usually continue about my business one-handed (we haven't mastered hands-free nursing in our sleepy wrap). What could be simpler? Does it all come down to modesty and one's comfort with nursing in public? Because I guess I would be overwhelmed and anxious if I felt the only place I could nurse my infant was at home, lounging with my boppy. Especially in these early days when babies nurse every 1-3hrs. It would be hard to get anything done let alone leave the house if you felt that way. If I knew the secret to not giving a f*@#&, and multi-tasking, I'd share it. Or bottle it up and sell it at least.

The skin I'm in

Some women are able to embrace their curves and love the shape of a mother. I'm really just not one of them. Maybe it comes with age, but at 27, I still view my skinny, nearly flat-chested 22 years old self as the ideal "me." I can deal with being a bit heavier as long as everything is still firm. And I felt fantastic and sexy during this last pregnancy, having maintained my fitness level the entire time. But the huge round belly is gone, seriously throwing off the balance between my lower and upper body and leaving mushy, stretch-marked muffin top in its place. I mentally know that it's ridiculous to expect things to snap back overnight, and I mentally know that it'll eventually and slowly happen because it did after my daughter was born. But that doesn't stop the emotional stress it causes me. And the sugar loading that I use to treat emotional stress, which slows the process down even more. I'm still physically fit. And WELL within normal BMI for my height. It's entirely possible for me to dress in a way to flatter this figure. But that just pisses me off. I don't want to buy new clothes (even if I could afford to), and I don't want to have to pay attention to what flatters me. 22yo me looked great in everything. I want that back and I want it now!
Anyway, I'll let everyone know when I find the secret to patience and self-acceptance.

Income Property

This HGTV show has become a little addiction for me while I'm on my maternity leave. Thick-eyebrowed, long-haired Scott comes to the rescue of homeowners who bought homes with spaces capable of becoming rental suites in their home. Typically basement apartments or triplexes. He then draws out two options for the homeowners, explaining the return on investment for each. I've seen renovation options range from 5k all the way to 50k. And when he's done, and they've staged the space for prospective tenant viewings, it's always ridiculously posh and probably looks better than the main living space.
How great would that be, to have an apartment be part of your home that adds value AND pays your mortgage?! I've always found real estate and being a land lord to be fascinating but overwhelming since all I know about it, I learned from HGTV LOL I have a mom friend in Atlanta that seems to have the most interesting job, buying homes, renovating, building homes, renting, selling. It makes me wish I was still 17 and could spend a summer shadowing her, just learning everything, in a practical environment.
When it comes to our house, I already feel influenced not as much by my own personal taste, but what adds value to the home and would make it a great rental property. Who knows though if when we outgrow this house we'd be able to keep it...

Hello and Welcome

I first dipped into the world of blogging by tracking my endeavors in prenatal fitness with Another Bun, Better Oven. Six weeks postpartum, that blog reached it's expiry date to keep the title relevant. So I thought up a more open ended title that would allow me share my oh-so-important thoughts and opinions on... well, everything, FOREVER :D