Tag Archives: baby

The Bunny Trail

Posted on by
Reply

It’s amazing how much chocolate you can accumulate without actually leaving the house.

‘Cause you see, this year, we have our own little Hershey kiss.

IMG_2007

So we haven’t been out and about much. But one trip to school, one short Easter egg hunt at church, and one birthday party in the past two weeks were enough to supply Libbie with three month’s worth of treats. (What can I say? I’m the mean mom who limits candy in a major way.)

And then there’s this SWEET basket I got in the mail from Hershey’s!

This year I chose a giant Cadbury chocolate bunny, a Reese’s egg, mini Reese’s bunnies, and mini Cadbury eggs. Um, yeah. Chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate. And peanut butter. Apparently I was having some cravings when I “put in my order” for this!

So thank you, Hershey’s, for filling this nursing mama’s Easter basket with chocolate to help me get through these first few weeks of newborn madness. I will not be sharing.

baby in hershey kiss hat

Happy Easter! Hope you get your fill of Cadbury cream eggs!

Seventh Generation Free and Clear Wipes: Review and Giveaway

Posted on by
10

Someone makes a lot of messes …

There are honestly very few items that I am brand-loyal to. I tend to be a generic kind of gal, unless I’ve had a really bad experience in the past – or the brand name is on sale for cheaper than the generic.

But wipes are the one product where I almost always buy the same name brand. I’ve found they are simply the best.

Recently, I didn’t have a coupon and I couldn’t make myself pay a few extra bucks for the name brand I usually get. We ended up with a store- brand generic … and I’ve regretted it greatly. These wipes somehow managed to smell worse than the poopy diapers. I often felt like my hands smelled like they were BURNING after using them (??). Too weird.

seventhgenwipes

So I was hesitant to review Seventh Generation’s new free and clear wipes, even though I love their company. I do cloth diaper, at least most of the time with David, and one of the big reasons is that I don’t want my kids sitting in chlorine. And yet, I’ve used wipes with chlorine for years. I can’t deal with cloth wipes … especially with my darling son, who poops more and worse than any child I’ve ever met.

I needn’t have worried! The Seventh Generation wipes are just as thick as my normal brand. They are actually unscented, unlike many “unscented” baby items I’ve come across. (The first thing my husband said about these wipes was, “Well, they don’t smell worse than what’s in the diaper.” High praise from him.) They are soft, clean well, and I don’t have to use 10 of them, even on a big mess.

The price isn’t too bad (those linked above have a $4 coupon on Amazon, too, right now!) especially considering they don’t have any yucky chemicals, dyes, etc. The wipes really mimic cloth; even if you use cloth wipes at home, these might be worth a try for when you’re out and about.

The best part is that I am giving away a package of these new Free and Clear wipes! Open to U.S. residents age 18 and older. Use Rafflecopter to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored giveaway from Seventh Generation and theMotherhood. All opinions are my own.

Pregnant.

Posted on by
4

32 weeks pregnant

 

Perhaps it’s a gift from God that we sort of forget about this phase, the oh-so-pregnant one.

Right now, my hip has totally bummed out and most of the day I’m finding myself stuck on the couch or in my bed. Which has inevitably led to new distractions.

Distractions? Obsessions?

In the last 10 days or so, I’ve watched the first 13 episodes of Downton Abbey (OBSESSED and realize it. Have to remember they aren’t real people). Less exciting, I’ve picked up Candy Crush Saga on Facebook. Not to mention I’ve read an obscene amount of books in January.

I’m trying to recall if I had these same issues with my other pregnancies. With Libbie, it was Project Runway and Scramble on Facebook (I was GOOD, too, and I’m mad you can only play it as an app now given my smart-phone-less status). I’ve read through some old blogs and I can’t figure out what it was with David … I know we had a new DVR, I sat on my birth ball a ton, and I listened to a lot of Hypnobabies.

I can’t imagine sitting on the couch for the next 7 weeks, but I know it’s going to end up that way. I can’t imagine my belly being stretched any bigger, but I know it will. I can’t imagine being any more tired, but I know I sure will be.

God’s grace to women – He lets us forget a little bit in between these massively pregnant times.

Have you suffered from any pregnancy obsessions?

 

One Day in July

Posted on by
5

Today is ranking up pretty high on the Crappy Days meter, which reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile. So maybe it will distract me from the screaming kids and flu-bug husband.

Did I ever tell you about the day I found out I was pregnant with this baby (Joshua)?

In case you weren’t aware, we were actively trying not to have a baby. After having two kids 26 months apart, we wanted to wait until David was 3 to have a third. I was a little more than slightly overwhelmed when David was born, juggling a needy 2-year-old and a very-needy-and-didn’t-sleep-and-nursed-32-times-a-day infant.  (And God laughed. David and Joshua will be 27 months apart.)

THAT day, I took Libbie and David to the pediatrician. David was 19 months and needed a weight check, because he’d lived happily on the 2nd percentile for months. Aaand he still hadn’t gained any weight. The pediatrician told me I HAD to see a GI doctor, when I was pretty sure having a 5’5″, very small daddy is reason enough to have a petite but healthy child.

Then we went over to our friends Miss Ann and Mr. Bill‘s house. The kids were playing contentedly on their patio while I shared about our recent trip to the Outer Banks for my best friend’s wedding. Libbie picked up a watering can from their patio to pretend-water some flowers …. and a whole swam of wasps flew out. She got stung twice on her little hand and was, understandably, absolutely inconsolable. It’s been a long time since I had a sting, but those suckers hurt. Especially from wasps.

So I gathered up the crying little ones, retreated to our car, and came home. And took the test which I was about 95% would be positive. I don’t know why I waited until then – I think maybe I wasn’t sure I had one, but I did, a little lonely dollar-store thing shoved in a cabinet.

The day before this, I had slept the entire day and chalked it up to exhaustion from traveling and the emotions of the past several weeks, plus a lot of medicine for my back. But seriously. The whole day. And then that night, I had a very vivid, um, hormone-charged dream. Which only happens when I am in my first trimester. And that’s how I knew, or at least suspected.

I peed on the stick in my kids’ bathroom because my husband was in the shower. It was hot pink right away, that plus sign of mixed emotions bright as bright can be.

I barged into our bathroom and loudly proclaimed, “David has to go see the GI doctor, Libbie got stung by a wasp, and I’M PREGNANT.”

Subtlety is not my strong point.

Suffice it to say, Mr. V was much more graceful and excited about the pregnancy than I was, although I’ve gotten there. (Of course, he doesn’t have to lug a baby around in HIS stomach for 9 months.) And you would think that was the end of a day of emotional lows and surprises.

But oh, no!

That very same afternoon, I found out my debit card number had been stolen and there were 20 or more transactions I didn’t make on my account, adding up to hundreds of dollars. So in my state of pregnant shock, I got to spend the whole afternoon on the phone with Bank of America, trying to fix that issue.

At least it served as a distraction.

Today doesn’t seem so bad in comparison to that July day, actually.

So do you have any REALLY BAD DAY stories?

Three Kids

Posted on by
9

I’m starting to understand why people only have two kids.

With David becoming more active and able to fend for himself and Libbie slightly more careful with him, they actually play together. A lot. It’s spectacular.

While they need me to get them food, they generally don’t need me to feed them. I think David might even be done nursing; I can’t remember the last time he asked for “ga-ga” (sniff!).

It’s certainly not what I would call SIMPLE being mother to two under age 4, but it’s not nearly as hard as it was in, say, the first year of David’s life. Everyone sleeps through the night most of the time. Nobody needs bottles made. Only one of them is in diapers. Mostly they want me to read books and play Candy Land, and I’m pretty happy to oblige.

I think for most couples, the decision to have a second child isn’t that hard. We didn’t want an only child. But that push to number three … well, it takes some thinking.

My fear was starting over. Once David got somewhat self-sufficient, it was so hard to think about going back to no sleep, nursing non-stop, and carrying an infant bucket seat. Writing that out makes me feel incredibly selfish, but it’s true. Bouncy seats and jumperoos have been given away or banished to closets. Spit-up is something of the past.

Even though Mr. V and I have always, always talked about having 4 kids, I wasn’t sure I could go back to the beginning again and keep my sanity. Depression keeps me teetering on the edge for much of life. It’s a scary place. I remember the months when David was tiny and I wasn’t sure I could stop crying.

On the other hand … I believe children are blessings, I love babies, and I try to trust my fertility to God. I am not big on taking the Pill – and I haven’t since long before we conceived Libbie. I feel that it messed with my fertility in a major way and I don’t like the idea of synthetic hormones. We’ve been practicing NFP, but with my cycles being a little crazy – and I didn’t even have one until David was 16 months – things are a little wonky.

A few weeks before I found out I was pregnant, I remember driving my car and telling God I was tired of being scared. But if He wanted me to have a #3, He was going to have to make it very clear.

And oh, He did. That pink plus sign was HOT PINK. I was already 6 weeks pregnant when I found out.

So even on the days when I feel like this is the most insane thing I could ever be doing, adding another brother or sister to the mix, to the already-nutso life we lead … I know this baby is meant to be part of our family. I’m sure he or she is going to be the best surprise we’ve ever received.

 

Review Week: The Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby

Posted on by
4

Don’t you love to read at least one pregnancy book when you’re expecting, no matter how many times you’ve brought a baby into the world? I’ve only had two, but my craving for the sympathies of other gigantic bellies was no less with my second than with my first.

The difference for me was that the first time I read what I thought would be helpful: What to Expect When You’re Expecting (blech), Your Pregnancy Week by Week (EVEN WORSE), The Birth Book (eight thumbs up). And, OK, I also read The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy … which I kind of hated, despite everyone’s comments on its humor.

With my second pregnancy, I read The Birth Book again. I read Hypnobabies material. I read It Sucked and Then I Cried. I was really trying to prepare myself to have a natural birth … and for the reality I knew was coming.

The Christian Mama's Guide to Having a Baby: Everything You Need to Know to Survive (and Love) Your PregnancyI wish The Christian Mama’s Guide to Having a Baby had been out when I was pregnant with David. It was the kind of lighthearted, light reading that I craved from someone who had been there but wasn’t a medical expert. The Girlfriend’s Guide without the cynicism and ranting opinions.

Author Erin MacPherson is “just” a stay-at-home mom of two in Texas who felt there was a gap in pregnancy literature: something specifically for Christian moms-to-be. Her guide is published by Guideposts.

Although the Christian Mama’s Guide is really geared toward first-time moms, I enjoyed reading it (a few months after David’s birth!). I guess all moms get some enjoyment or at least sadistic pleasure reading about other mamas’ pregnancies and childbirths. (It helps me to know that despite the fact I am a miserable pregnant woman, there could have been a lot of other issues.)

Erin covers everything from peeing on the stick to bringing the baby home. She writes conversationally and isn’t afraid to admit where she is not an expert. One of the more enjoyable sections for me was where she interviewed men on what they wanted women to tell them during the pregnancy and birth.

Sometimes the “Christian” add-ins seem trite, but we can always use a good reminder to pray, especially when it comes to our children, right? Another section that just made me laugh was on naming. The author pretty much says, “You should never name a child with this category of names … unless it’s this, this, or this, because I like those.” Refer to a naming book or site if you really want some help with that. (Or, God forbid, just go with something you like or has meaning to you.)

But all in all, I enjoyed the read and it’s the kind of thing you want to peruse during those long, hot baths to help your aching, pregnant back. (But not too hot. We wouldn’t want to boil the baby.)

What kind of pregnancy books do you like to read when you’re expecting?

This book was provided to me by the author.
—-
Subscribe to the RSS feed or by e-mail.
Twitter much? I’m vanderbiltwife there, too.
Join my Facebook Fan Group

Top Ten Tuesday: My Baby Hates Sleep

Posted on by
22

David is an angel baby. He is smiley, happy, cooey, albeit pretty drooly. He nurses happily, happily spits up, and giggles as he gets his clothes changed.

SNV30552

But he hates to sleep.

At four months, the longest he has ever slept is 6 hours. And that is very rare. I am so tired I feel like I am sleepwalking a lot of the time. It is hard to have an infant and a toddler. HARD!

David is a tummy sleeper; he will only sleep about 15 minutes on his back and then wake up and cry about it. For the past three weeks, since he learned to turn from belly to back, he will roll over every 2-3 hours all night long, and then wake up and cry. He can’t roll from back to belly.

Again … it’s a good thing he’s usually happy and insanely cute.

My happy guy

Mostly in jest, here are 10 ways I have considered getting David to sleep longer.

1. Duct taping him laying on his tummy, as suggested on my Facebook Fan Page.

2. Swaddling. SwaddleMe? Nope. Miracle Blanket? Not a chance. He will wriggle until he is free or scream bloody murder until released from the restrictive cocoon. (If anyone would like to purchase an open but very much unused Miracle Blanket from me, shoot me an email. jessie at vanderbiltwife dot com.)

3. Co-sleeping. I like co-sleeping in theory. But in practice, I have a really hard time sleeping if there is a baby in the bed because I roll around a lot. I cannot get comfortable and therefore am getting even less sleep than I was before. We often end up co-sleeping some of the night if I fall asleep while nursing. The rest of the time he is still in a pack-and-play right by my side of the bed.

4. Just swaddling on the bottom half so he can’t roll over. We tried this. It worked for two nights, and then he figured it out. Dang it!

5. Putting him in his crib in another room because maybe he would sleep better if he couldn’t hear us Mr. V snoring or our moving around. Wrong. I have tried this a few nights but I just get frustrated walking the entire length of our ranch house back and forth a million times. If he’s going to sleep the same in the pack and play or in his crib, I’d rather have him where I don’t have to get out of bed.

6. Permanently attaching him to my chest. At least he’s quiet then.

7. Duct taping the pacifier to his mouth. See: #1, also: child abuse. David knows the paci puts him to sleep, so he rips it out of his mouth constantly.

8. Blanket sleepers. It is already 85 during the day here. I don’t want him to sweat and be miserable, not to mention I probably don’t need another SIDS risk.

9. Nursing every hour during the day in the hopes he wouldn’t get hungry at night. I would honestly do this if I thought it would help. But he’s not going to eat if he’s not hungry, so the chances he would do it are slim to none.

10. Trying to enjoy babyhood and remembering this too shall pass.

Do you have any super tips for me? Cause I have to go … he’s awake. AGAIN. (No, he doesn’t like to nap either.)

Please don’t leave chastising comments about all the reasons I shouldn’t co-sleep, have him tummy sleep, etc. I have a pediatrician to tell me those things and I know the risks.

Added to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.

—-  
Please visit my sponsors: Mimi’s Babies (adorable crocheted baby items) and MoxieMandie (ruffly and handmade!)
Subscribe to the RSS feed or by e-mail.
Twitter much? I’m vanderbiltwife there, too.
Join my Facebook Fan Group