7 (BABY) PARENTING RELATED BITS

This post is going to cover a lot of miscellany that all, in one way or another, relates to parenting - a lot of it is fairly specific to parenting babies.  It's kind of like a highlights reel of things that deserve to be blogged about, but don't have enough meat to stand alone as their own posts.

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(1) I recently downloaded the Legacy Countdown App.  It makes it easy to visualize the amount of time your kiddos have been in your life - and the number of weeks until they fly the coop.  It feels convicting in a good way.  And, it's free.

(2) I think Letterfolk Boards are pretty great all around, but I particularly love the posts their company shares on Instagram.  This one, this one, this one and about a hundred more.  Good, true, and funny stuff.

(3) Postnatal hair loss.  It's a thing.  I'm on my third go around and it's worse than ever.  I have actual bald spots on both sides of my head in addition to general all-over hair loss.  My mom said that she had a similar experience during a particularly stressful time in her life.  And (importantly) hers grew back.  I talked to another mom who has permanent bald spots following postnatal hair loss.  I feel like hair, and the having of it, should not be a huge deal, but somehow it is.  I really, really hope that my hair loss will slow down soon and that those bald spots will fill in.  Also, I've been too scared to google about it, so I just haven't.

(4) Lap shoulders allow baby clothing to be pulled DOWN over their shoulders (instead of up over their heads).  Am I the last one to learn this?  I'm on kid number three and just figured this out.  Allow me to repeat: baby clothes with a lap shoulder neckline (google it if you have no idea what I'm talking about because I can't figure out how to describe it for you), can be removed by pulling them down instead of up.  This is a big deal when it comes to things like diaper blow outs.

(5) Heating pads are a newborn's best friend.  I've written about this before, but thought it deserved another mention as it fits so well in this post.  If you have a new baby, put a heating pad in their crib / bassinet / swing / wherever you're going to put them after you get them to sleep.  Once the bed is warm and the baby is asleep, remove the heating pad and put baby in its place.  (Make sure, of course, that the bed isn't TOO hot.)  This little trick does wonders for keeping sleeping babes asleep.

(6) If you have even a small interest in photography, buy a "nifty fifty" lens for your dSLR camera.  There are a variety of types of fixed lenses, each with their own benefits and drawbacks and price points.  When I was pregnant with Sam, I did a bunch of research and ended up buying the least expensive option I found (this is the one I own) and it is fabulous.  I appreciate good photography, but really have no desire to learn more about it.  This lens feels like an easy compromise between those two things.  I am often rewarded with beautiful images of our kids and life by simply using my fixed lens, placing it on the "A" (aperture) mode and manually shifting the focus point.  I think this is one of the best purchases that I've ever made.


(7) If you have the opportunity to buy baby things that are not baby-theme-y, do it.  Particularly, if you're pregnant for the first time and / or are planning to have more than one child.  I realize there are some people that won't find this important, but it really bothers me to have ugly baby-themed things around the house.  I am thankful that, from the get-go, I bought a boppy cover that looks good even in the living room, a high chair that doesn't scream "jungle" or another kid-theme, and so on.

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And, as a bonus: People always say to "nap when the baby naps" which is good and fine, but I think an equally viable rule is "do something YOU LIKE/WANT TO DO while the baby naps."

CURRENTLY

Outgrowing most of my maternity clothes.  I am between 28 and 29 weeks and down to just a handful of shirts that stretch all the way over my belly.  Since I am planning on this being my last pregnancy, I've tried to get by with purchasing as few maternity things as possible.  But, I think it's time to do a little bit of shopping.

Eating too many sweets.  If they are in the house, I want to eat them.  I need to get them out of the house.  Soon.  My next doctor appointment is in less than a week and I'm kind of scared to step on their scale.

Using prompts from my "Documenting Baby" resource to journal about my pregnancy.  I haven't been very good about taking baby bump photos, but I've got the journaling part covered.

Feeling so proud of Sam.  He has made a lot of strides in the last few months.  I can see him growing and maturing all the time.

Confused by Sam's erratic sleep schedule.  He has never been a "good" sleeper, but he used to at least be predictable:  generally 8pm to 5am with a trip or two to our room in the middle of the night.  Since he started preschool in January, there is no telling what time he might fall asleep or wake up.  His bedtimes have been as early as 6pm and as late as 9pm.  His wake up times have varied from 4am to 7:30 am.

Thankful for a slight reprieve in the winter weather.  We had two beautiful days last week and the highs have just generally moved from the 20s/30s to the 40s/50s.  I will take it and look forward to the continued warm up in the next few months.

Amazed at Eli's transition to a "big boy bed."  We switched him just over a week ago and he's done so, so well.  The "bed" is really just a twin mattress on the floor and we had it in his room for a few weeks before trying to get him to sleep there.

Daydreaming about entrepreneurial ventures.  This is nothing new for me, but has been on overdrive in the last month or two.

A VERY BIG LITTLE THING

My boys love the Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever.  Eli's favorite page is the page of "Little Things" shown above.

Today we have big news about our very own, new and exciting little thing.  It's a baby and it's a very big little thing for this mama to think about.

The current estimated due date for the littlest Petermann babe is May 14, 2016 and we will schedule a C-section a week or so before that.  We got a sneak peek of the little bean, via ultrasound, yesterday.  We're convinced that he or she will be the perfect end cap to our family.  

It is hard to imagine how another kiddo will fit into our family and round out our family dynamic.  It is hard to imagine the boys being soft and quiet and gentle with a new baby.  It is bittersweet to think of our Eli not being the baby anymore.

I've been checking out all the mom's in the grocery store with three tiny ones - trying to see how they're making it work and affirming that they are making it work.  I still remember those first terrible trips with two kids in tow and can't quite imagine how I'm going to do it with three.  But, of course, I can and will and eventually it will just be our new normal.

This baby has us thinking about things like minivans and kids sharing bedrooms.  These are things that, not so long ago, felt like they would be concerns of the distant future.  Time passes, my friends.

So far, this pregnancy has been okay.  Not great, but not terrible.  I've experienced a lot of days of just feeling "yucky" and quite a few headaches and tummy aches, but really nothing debilitating.  I think it was a little bit better when I was pregnant with Sam and a little bit worse (although shorter lived) when I was pregnant with Eli.

Sam was born via emergency C-section and I didn't give much consideration to a VBAC for Eli.  But I've recently been clued in to the (possible) speed of recovery after a vaginal birth and it has had me thinking about it a little bit this time.  That idea makes Brian pretty nervous - and me a little, too - so we will probably stick with the C-section, but a more speedy recovery sounds so nice.  (I clearly remember one of the first days that I felt completely normal and healthy and just "like myself" after Eli's birth and it was nine weeks postpartum.  That's just YUCK and too long and not something I'm looking forward to doing again.)

And despite all of these things to feel and things to think about and the fact that my ab muscles are shot, so my belly is popping out at record pace, the reality of baby number three hasn't really hit us yet.  I often forget that I'm pregnant or that we have big changes ahead of us.  I am looking forward to next May.  I can't wait to see who this little person is and to snuggle their little newborn self.  But I also want to really savor these last six months of living as a family of four.

We are so incredibly blessed and so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be (and become) our very own little family.  

ELIJAH'S BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

Just as I did for Sam, I DIY'd the design of Eli's birth announcements.  I spent a bit of time looking through the never-ending inspiration of Pinterest and then just went for it. 

The photographs were taken on two different days, so the lighting and coloring among the three photos didn't quite mesh.  Once I converted them to black and white, they looked quite nice together and it was easy to see that a black and white color scheme was the way to go for the rest of the announcement, too. 

I sized the image to 4x6 and used a coupon code for 100 free prints from Shutterfly (kindly gifted by my sweet friend Melanie) to have the announcements printed. 

With many, although not all, of the announcements I also included a short hand-written note.  For these, I used a 3x4 Project Life Grid Card, a stamp of my own design and a pretty paper clip to attach the two. (I wrote the notes on the reverse side.)

I'm not sure what went wrong, but when I had the photos printed, the design got pushed off center a bit, resulting in cut-off text along the right side.  Generally, when I do big projects like this, I order my prints through Walmart and only print one as a "tester" before printing the rest of the batch.  Since I was ordering this set through Shutterfly and didn't want to pay for shipping twice, I just went for it.  Obviously, a tester would have been helpful, in this case. 

Oh, well.  Although I find the misalignment endlessly annoying, I decided to just go with it, rather than reprint the announcements.  In any case, I am pretty sure that the misalignment bothers me much more than any of the announcement recipients.

WELCOME ELIJAH AUGUST

I am honored to introduce to the world, Mr. Elijah August Petermann.

He is absolutely beautiful.  I could stare at him all dayr

I feel beyond blessed.  To have a new little man to call my own.  To get to spend countless hours snuggling with him.  To be married to my best friend who also happens to be an awesome daddy.  To have wonderful family and friends to care for us and spoil us with love.  To have two healthy boys.  To have the pleasure of watching them grow into their new roles as brothers.  To have had wonderful care at the hospital.  And to now be headed home.   To get the chance to be a new mama all over again. 

My recovery is progressing.  The first day was kind of terrible.  Thankfully, the pain seems to have turned a corner and I feel like I am now moving in the right direction. 

We are headed home in the next few hours.  I am ready to start working toward a new definition of normal.  I am anxious to see how Eli will fit into our world.  I am ready for the Sam snuggles and silliness that I have been missing these past few days.  We are now officially a family of four and I can't wait to experience all that that will be. 

A LOVE LETTER TO MY ALMOST-HERE BABE

A Valentine letter. 

Dear Baby P:

Happy heart day, my little newbie baby-to-be.

We've been hanging out together for a good eight and a half months now.  And we have less than three weeks to go.  I know your wiggles, but I don't know the color of your eyes or your hair. I don't know if you will have dimples or a birthmark. I can't imagine your laugh or your voice. And yet, you are loved so deeply. You have wiggled your way right into my heart and you are already a part of this family. We talk about you a lot and Sam likes to kiss you through my tummy.

I am so anxious to meet you.  I am anxious to see just who you are and to give you great big snuggles.  I can't wait to read you your first book and to play music for you.  I am looking forward to seeing all of the ways that you change our family dynamic. 

Daddy and I have been getting things ready for your arrival.  There is now artwork on your walls and your clothes and blankets have been washed.  The tiny newborn diapers and itty-bitty clothing that we've stashed in your dresser are nothing short of amazing.  It is hard to believe that you will be so little. 

You are loved, my little one.  I am so thankful to be able to call you my Valentine. 

All my love,

Mama

STATE OF THE PREGNANCY ADDRESS

Time line:

I am now 32 weeks into this pregnancy. 

That means there are only seven weeks left before we are scheduled to meet the little guy.  With longer and more-hectic-than-usual work weeks scheduled throughout that time, I know that the time is just going to fly by.

Growth:

I recently went through a few boxes that were filled with teeny-tiny clothing and diapers that are smaller than my hand.  It is hard to imagine that our little guy will be quite that little.  Our “Countdown to Baby” calendar says that the baby now weighs approximately 3 pounds 11 ounces.       

And, in other growth news: there’s no doubt about it – my belly is getting bigger.

Nursery:

Slowly, we’ve been working on putting his room together.  The furniture is in and the curtains are up.  We still need to make/buy/hang artwork and a mobile.  The closet also needs a lot of work.  The top shelves are still full of random things that need to find new homes and the bottom portion is a disorganized mess.

The nursery walls are a very light mint-y blue.  This means that anything light blue clashes and is off limits.  I don’t think I had fully appreciated the off white walls in Sam’s room until I started trying to decorate the baby’s room.  The wall color definitely limits what “goes” in the room and has me leaning toward reds, oranges, yellows and navy blues for all of the artwork, fabric, etc. 

I really dislike color themes in rooms.  The feeling is similar to how I feel about matching furniture sets.  (Okay for others.  But definitely not okay in my house.)  So, I’m a bit unsure about where this nursery décor is headed.  I have confidence that with some effort I can make it work without it being overly theme-y. 

Well-being:

With a few exceptions (headaches, leg cramps and some back pain) this pregnancy is moving smoothly along. 

I’ve been doing my “kick counts” and have no trouble getting them in within the first hour that I’m awake.  This little fella is active!  I had a doctor appointment yesterday and all seems to be going well.

Emotions:

The main thing I am feeling is excitement.  I can’t wait to meet, hold and snuggle with him.  I am so looking forward to watching Brian be a dad all over again and watching Sam explore the new world of brotherhood.

My secondary emotion is apprehension about my ability to spend enough/quality time with both Sam and the baby.

And then there is gratitude.  I am so thankful for fertility and for the miraculous things that bodies can do in 32 short weeks.  I am grateful for another opportunity to be a mama. 

NEW BABY TO BE: FIRST THOUGHTS

An excerpt from my journal.  Written on 7/10/2013.

Today we learned that we are parents of two children. Our Sam and one more on the way.  I have been waiting for this day and now that it's here it feels a bit surreal.  I didn't really expect there to be a "plus" sign on the pregnancy test.  I did, but I didn't.  I peed on the stick in our hotel room and then went out to see Sam and Brian reading a book and Sam drinking his morning milk.  I let Brian go back in the bathroom.  He said, "Well, whatta ya know..." and I was kind of in shock. 

We sat on the hotel room floor.  Just outside the bathroom door.  Our little family of four.  Sam crawling all over us.

It doesn't feel real.  It is hard to imagine loving another little being as much as we love Sam.  It is hard to imagine a baby that is ours that isn't Sam. Sam is not a perfect baby, but he's our perfect baby.  I feel a bit sad for him to not get to be the baby for more than two years.  I am also so, so excited for him to get to experience siblinghood.  He will get to share so many things with his brother or sister.  He will have someone to commiserate with about the weird things their parents do.  He will have that special kind of love and hate and friendship that doesn't end.  They will have a bond that can't be duplicated. 

I am so thankful for this gift.  I am thankful for our fertility.  For my Brian.   For our marriage.  For our little Sam that makes us excited to be parents all over again.  I'm excited about all of the forward-thinking this day brings.  We are already talking about room arrangements and vehicles and home schooling and what Sam will be doing next March.  And what it will mean for us to be parents of two.

Two!  Wow.  How blessed we are.  To have a family to love and support us to have a family that already loves this little life.  This blessed little child. 

Welcome child.  You are coming into a world of love.  A family of love.  A family that is so excited to have a new member.  A family that is so excited to get to know you and squeeze you and learn all about you.  A family that is weird and silly and affectionate.  We love you.  We can't believe that we are so lucky to get to be your parents and your family.  Please know that we take your life into our hands carefully, with consideration.  We take responsibility for helping you learn about Jesus.  And about love and life. 

Welcome baby.  We can't wait to meet you. 

IT'S A...

Oh boy.

Mabel and I will be outnumbered. And my co-workers tell me that my house will smell of urine in just a few short years. :)

But, I am beyond excited.  Excited to get to know this new little fellow.  Excited to be a mama all over again.  Excited to watch Brian be a dad to two little boys.   Excited for Sam to have a brother and be a brother.   Excited to see how this next chapter of our lives unfolds.  Excited to see how our family will change and how it will stay the same.   Excited to take “my boys” on adventures big and small.

And then there are the other fun things. Things that are less important perhaps, but still exciting. Like getting to unpack all of those tiny baby clothes and use them again. I remember how sad I was when Sam outgrew them.  I remember hoping for a chance to get to unpack them someday and use them again.  And there is the excitement of making real nursery (and big boy room) decorating plans. You can bet that my brain is overflowing with ideas.

PREGNANCY CRAVINGS

Greek salad = my biggest pregnancy craving

Thankfully, salads are easy to  make, a suitable addition to most every meal and easy to pack for lunches at work.

I am quite content with the very basic "recipe" of hearts of romaine lettuce, feta cheese, Kalamata olives and Greek salad dressing.  When I have them on hand, I add grilled chicken and cucumbers.  If it came down to it, I'd be quite content just eating the olives and lettuce with a little extra olive juice for dressing.  Those olives just make my day. 

I have always been a big fan of breakfast and this pregnancy is working well in the regard.  I have been particularly hungry in the mornings and easily full in the evenings.  After my typical breakfast at 6am, I generally have a second breakfast around nine or ten.  Recently, that second breakfast has been a Greek salad.  I realize this is not (at all) a typical breakfast food choice, but it has been totally hitting the spot. 

Other things that I have been craving:  buffalo chicken wings and anything sweet.  Since those things are less than ideal for my health, I've been trying to focus on the salads.  So far, so good...except for the times when we have chocolate ice cream in our freezer. 

And then there's macaroni and cheese.  Right now, I can (and will) blame that desire on pregnancy.  But, it pretty much exists at all points of my life - pregnant or not. 

CAPSULE WARDROBE - MATERNITY EDITION

A year ago, I participated in Project 333.  It is a wardrobe (and lifestyle) simplifying project created by Courtney Carver. The idea behind the project is to choose 33 clothing and accessory items to wear exclusively for a three month period.

I lo-oved this project. It motivated me to take the time to really dig through my closet and choose the items that I loved the most and those that worked best together. It allowed me to buy some new clothing without feeling guilty about the money I was spending. I found it liberating to have a limited number of clothing choices. It was also nice to feel like each day’s outfit was at least somewhat “put together.”

I stuck with my 33 items for four or five months, instead of the prescribed three. And then, random items started finding their way into my closet and the state of my closet slowly went from organized and curated to (pretty much) out of control.

******

One of my 101 goals is to create a new 33 piece wardrobe in 2013. My quickly expanding waistline tells me that the need for maternity clothes is here.  So, I've been working on putting together a wardrobe to last me from now until mid-April (or thereabouts.)  

As of today, my closet has officially been paired down to this:

1 – orange maxi

2 – tan maxi with gold dots

3 – teal and white striped maxi

4 – skinny polka dotted jeans

5 – skinny jeans

6 – boot cut jeans

7 – dress pants

8 – aqua cowl pullover

9 – black zip up hoodie

10 – black v neck t

11 – black crew neck t

12 – grey v neck t

13 – navy long sleeve t

14 – teal scoop neck long sleeve

15 – green/white striped cardigan

16 – navy cardigan

17 – fuchsia cardigan

18 – navy ribbed tank

19 – minty scoop neck long sleeve

20 – tan/white stripe t

21 – grey dress

22 – pink scarf

23 – yellow scarf

24 – orange knit cowl scarf

25 – pink converse

26 – grey boots

27 – black flip flops

28 – silver ballet flats

29 – orange tennies

30 – grey loafers

31 – black converse

32 – work uniform - scrubs/work tennies

33 – winter coat

The only planned purchase I see on the horizon is another pair of boots.  I also remember that with my last pregnancy, I ended up with stains on the belly portion of several of my shirts, so I anticipate that I may need to replace a few of the shirts on my list.  For anything of the sort, I plan to just stick with the one in, one out rule and keep my number of items at 33. 

I have a few lounge/exercise type clothes in my dresser, but I sorted through the drawer and paired it down to those that I actually use on a regular basis.  I also (of course) have things like underwear, socks and tank tops that I wear under my shirts, that I did not count.  

The hardest part for me was pairing down my shoe collection.  I hadn't realized how much it had grown until I tried to fit my favorites into the list and had difficulty deciding which ones to put into storage.

I am excited to have, once again, a closet full of clothes that all fit and all work so nicely together.  I am looking forward to stress-free mornings of deciding what to wear. 

SECOND TRIMESTER

A week ago last Wednesday was the official beginning of my second trimester.  According to pregnancy lore, I have now entered the “golden months” of my pregnancy. 

Honestly, my body feels like it is still solidly in the first trimester.  I’m trying to make a go of pretending otherwise.  No worries; I’m still getting plenty of sleep.  I’ve just been really pushing myself to get back to getting things done.

A week and a half into my “you can do this, brooke!” campaign, things are shaping up.  Our house is cleaner and a bit more organized.  My Project Life book is sufficiently caught up.  I finally mailed out some long-intended notes to friends and family.  And so on.  I am pooped, but my brain has moved into a more peaceful state.

BABY BOY NURSERY IDEAS

We won't find out if Baby P is a boy or a girl until the end of October.  Either way, Sam will be moving to our current, upstairs guest bedroom and the nursery will remain a nursery. 

Much as I did while pregnant with Sam, I have been whiling away my hours scoping out adorable nurseries and scheming up two nursery plans - one for a boy and one for a girl. 

No matter if we have a boy or a girl, the nursery walls will remain cream colored, the furniture will remain white (with the exception of the 1970s orange La-Z-Boy) and we will add in some happy colors with artwork, fabric and accessories.

Finding and coordinating boy artwork, fabric, etc. is proving difficult.  A big part of that is because I think it would be hard to decide which things should remain in the nursery as "baby things" and which things should move on with Sam to his big boy room as "Sam's things." Instead of stressing myself out over these things, I've decided to just wait until we learn if we are having a boy or girl to really try to make each room work. 

In the meantime, here are a few pieces of art that I'm crushing on for a baby boy's room:

1 - Adventure Awaits

2 - Lion King

3 - Baby Giraffe Little Darling

4 - Giclee Print

The Lion King print goes along with the Queen Giraffe print that I included in my girl nursery artwork board.  Again, I think it would be fun to have coordinating prints for both the new baby and Sam. 

The Baby Giraffe photo is by Sharon Montrose.  Sam has the Baby Porcupine (also by Sharon Montrose) in his room and that is one piece of art that will definitely be moving with him to his new room. 

And that's where I'm at on artwork for a little guy's nursery.  I can hardly wait until the end of October.  I am anxious to not only buy some art, but also some tiny little clothes. 

We love you already, Baby P! 

We won't find out if Baby P is a boy or a girl until the end of October.  Either way, Sam will be moving to our current, upstairs guest bedroom and the nursery will remain a nursery. 

Much as I did while pregnant with Sam, I have been whiling away my hours scoping out adorable nurseries and scheming up two nursery plans - one for a boy and one for a girl. 

No matter if we have a boy or a girl, the nursery walls will remain cream colored, the furniture will remain white (with the exception of the 1970s orange La-Z-Boy) and we will add in some happy colors with artwork, fabric and accessories.

I'm sure some of my ideas will change if/when I actually get to work on decorating a nursery for a girl, but here's the plan for a baby girl nursery, just now:

1 Hello, You're Awesome Print

2 Campout Print

3 Woodland Owl Frame

4 Queen Giraffe Print

5 Fabs - Limited Edition Print

If I buy the Queen Giraffe print, I won't be able to resist buying this coordinating print for Sam's room.  It has been on my wish list for him for a long time. 

And that's where I'm at with girl nursery ideas.  I love this part of dreaming and scheming up decorating plans. 

BIG NEWS!

I have some big news to share today. 

Our little family will soon include another bambino!  Sam will be a big brother.  We will be a family of four. 

The estimated due date for this little one is March 18th. 

Our next doctor appointment is the 27th of this month and will include our first ultrasound.  I am so anxious to get a first glimpse of the newest Petermann. 

Before we met and named Sam, we called him, "Baby P."  So far, this little one has been fondly called, "Baby P," "Baby P Two" and "The Blueberry." 

The Blueberry has only made me sick once, so far, but he or she is working my body overtime and my brain is having trouble keeping up.  All big plans and projects that were going, going, going are suddenly on hold.  I'm attempting to push through the fog that is currently taking over most of my brain.  Some days I am succeeding and other days not so much.  I have high hopes that once this first trimester passes, my energy will return. 

It is hard to imagine all of the wonderful ways that our lives will change with the arrival of a new little being and another personality to add to our mix.  I am  incredibly thankful and feeling so blessed for the opportunity to be a mama yet again. 

Note: The photo is of Sam on his first day in this wide and wonderful world.

CLOTH DIAPERING ADVICE

I wrote a post on cloth diapering back in February.  A few things have come up, recently, that made me want to write a little addendum to that post. 

I have two new pieces of advice. 

1.  Buy snaps not velcro.  For real.  You should believe me.

I must have read hundreds of diaper reviews as I was seeking out the "perfect" cloth dipes and countless reviews told me to buy snaps over velcro/aplix.  The reviews all mentioned that the velcro will wear out after they've been through the wash cycle a few hundred times.  Several reviews also brought up the (not so small) issue of able little baby hands being able to pull the velcro loose and undiaper themselves.  I read the reviews and then ignored them because I thought that those things wouldn't happen to me. 

I was wrong.  They happened.  Even to me. 

We considered replacing the velcro with more velcro, but that wouldn't have fixed issue #2.  We also knew that it would just lead to another round of replacing in a year or so when that velcro lost its "stickiness" after another couple hundred runs through the wash. 

Thankfully, we found this service which replaced all of the velcro with snaps.  We had a really good experience with this business and are happy with the way the diapers turned out.

We are now the proud owners of 26 snapping bumGenius Freetime  diapers.  (We also have some Pooters contour diapers, prefolds and Thirsties Duo Wraps but use the Freetime diapers 95% of the time .)

2.  Ask your daycare provider if they will use cloth. 

I have been pleasantly surprised to find that people are up for trying cloth. 

Our first daycare provider used cloth diapers on her own kiddos and offered her willingness to do the same for us before I even asked.  Our second provider has never used cloth before, but said that she had another mom also ask recently and she is willing to give it a go as long as we bring along a wet bag each day. 

I hadn't expected either provider to be so willing and I am really appreciative that we don't have to buy disposables just for the days that Sam is at daycare. 

So, my advice here is just to ask and to show any potential care takers that using cloth isn't any more difficult than using disposables. 

Do you use cloth diapers?  Any other sage advice? 

DOCUMENTING WITH EMAIL

Before Sam was even born, he had an email address.

I stole this idea from my bestest friend.  She's a smart (and funny) chick and an awesome mama.

Actually, at the time that I made Sam's email account, we hadn't fully decided on his name.  So, I made two accounts, one for each of our top two name choices. 

We used Sam's email account to send out the first emails about his arrival into the world.  We also used his email address as the RSVP contact on his first birthday invitations.

I love that his email archives date back to the very first few days of his life.  I love that he will forever have a record of that first email out to friends and their varied replies and well wishes.

But, the very best thing about Sam having his own email account is the ease with which I can send him little love notes, memories and photos.  It's like a virtual baby book without the pressures of making it "pretty" or organizing my thoughts into any sort of presentable layout.  Seeing as how I have yet to finish Sam's actual baby book, I consider this a blessing.

My own mama wrote me a variety of letters throughout my childhood and I absolutely treasure them.  It is fun to see  beyond the facts and figures of my baby book and into my mama's head and heart. 

I want Sam's email account to be a place for Brian and I to write these kinds of things to our Sam.

I am writing this post as a reminder to myself to put all of my good intentions into action.  Despite the plan and despite the ease of recording things in this way, I have not done as good of a job of it as I would have liked.  To keep myself on track as I move forward, I added some reminders into my google calendar.

I am also writing this post to encourage you to set up something similar.  There are a million ways that you could put this general idea to use. 

You could:

• create an email account for yourself; it could serve as a personal journal.
• create an email account for your kids, no matter their ages. 
• create an account for you and your spouse; write back and forth to one another.  Or, write daily love notes to your spouse for a few months and then reveal the email account to them on a special occasion.  
• create an account for your family; each family member could write in with their own thoughts about holidays, vacations, family traditions, etc. 

I think that creating a separate account (rather than just using your usual email address or creating a separate folder within your regular account) is a really important part of this idea.  It has encouraged me to think of the emails that I write as having a purpose, which motivates me to write notes that are a bit more in depth than what I might otherwise write.  It also means that nothing will get lost amongst the junk that inevitably shows up in your regular account.

I'm ending this post with a promise to head straight to the "compose" button in my own email account and send a special note to my little man. 

What else?  Do you have other ideas of how you could use a separate mail account to document your memories?  Are you already doing this? Or something similar?  Any suggestions or ideas to share?

I HEART CLOTH DIAPERS

We are almost a year into our cloth diapering adventure and I gotta tell ya - it's great. 

I love that we never run out of diapers.  I love saving money.  I love that this choice is better for the environment than disposables.  I love how cute Sam looks as he toodles around the house in his cloth dipes.

The first cloth diapers that we used were Bummis Tiny Fit Tots Bots Newborn Cloth Diapers.   They are a cross between a pocket diaper and an all-in-one and we rented them for 8 weeks before switching over to regular cloth dipes.  We were very happy wiht these diapers and had no problems with them.  I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for newborn diapers and would also recommend using a rental service for newborn diapers since you will only use for a short time. 

Once our rental was up, we switched to the products/routine that we are using to this day.

What we use:

bumGenius Freetime All-In-One One-Size Cloth Diapers. These are alll-in-one diapers, but the absorbent  layers are only connected on one end of the diaper (sort of like flaps that you can open up), so that the drying times are drastically decreased in comparison to traditional AIO diapers.  We use a mixture of hook-and-loop and snap closures.  The very best part of these diapers is that they have the convenience of all-in-ones without extended drying time or pockets to stuff. 

Planet Wise Hanging Diaper Wet/Dry Bags.  These bags are wonderful.  They are pretty (with a nice variety of designs, so you can choose one to fit your style) and, most important, they hold in the stink!  When we are past our cloth diapering days, these bags will be put to good use as dirty clothes depositories on vacations and trips to the swimming pool.  

One thing to note: do not to wash your wet bag with bleach.  I threw mine in with a load of diapers (as usual) and added some bleach to strip the detergent off of the diapers.  The diapers came through beautifully, as I expected, but the green dots on my diaper bag are now yellow. 

A small wet bag that we store in our diaper bag from this etsy seller.

A combination of cloth wipes - some Imse Vimse and some from this etsy seller.

A bumGenius Diaper Sprayer attachment for our toilet.  FYI: You don’t need to use this until your baby starts solid foods. 

Imse Vimse Flushable Liners.  Again, these aren't necessary until your baby starts solid foods.  Even then, they are not a necessity, but do come in handy.  We use maybe five to ten of these per week.

We also have some prefold diapers and Pooters contour diapers that we use with a diaper cover .  These get used pretty infrequently and only by me, but they are nice to have on hand and will become invaluable if we ever have two kids in diapers at the same time, as they should allow us to continue cloth diapering without having to buy any additional dipes.

How it works for us:

We do one load of diaper laundry every two to three days.  Between washings, we store the soiled dipes in a Planet Wise wet bag.  We have two bags because it is nice to have an odor proof place to store the next round of diapers while the first round is in the laundry. 

Diaper laundry is the only kind of laundry that I can claim to enjoy.  It is easy to put away, as it all goes in one place.  I don’t have to worry about fishing things out of the wash to hang dry or lay flat; it all goes directly from the washer to the dryer.  I know that some people are turned off by cloth diapering because of the extra laundry, but one load every two to three days doesn’t feel like an inordinate amount of extra work.

We have not had good luck using cloth diapers overnight.  For a while, we used one regular disposable diaper each night and then switched back to cloth the next morning.  Now, we have to buy the special “Overnight” diapers, because we started to experience regular mid-night leaks with the disposables.  We have been happy with Huggies Overnights.   

We are lucky to have daycare provider that used cloth with her own babes and is happy to do the same for us.  We send four cloth diapers in Sam’s diaper bag, each morning and our daycare provider sends them home with us at the end of the day. When we get home, all we have to do is add them to a wet bag to be washed the next time we wash diapers.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with our decision to cloth diaper and I am confident that this is a decision we will continue to make with future children. 

Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment if you have any questions or would like to chime in with your own thoughts/experiences. 

7 STEP DIY MATERNITY PHOTO TIMELINE

Throughout my pregnancy, I was open to the idea of doing a maternity photo shoot, but I wasn't set on the idea that we had to do one. Brian, on the other hand, was pretty strongly against it. I don't regret that we didn't do it, but I am thankful for the maternity photo timeline that we DIYed throughout my pregnancy.

Looking back now, it is pretty amazing to see the progression of my growing belly, particularly during the last few weeks.  I know that these photos will always be precious to me, as they represent our first few months of "getting to know" our Samuel and also the last few months of our married-without-kids phase of life.

I encourage all mama's-to-be to undertake a similar project.  It isn't hard and I promise you that you will thank yourself for taking the time to do this.  

Let’s delve in a little deeper, shall we?

1. Choose your clothing.  Choose something stretchy that will give as your belly grows.  I wore a dress that was not a maternity dress, but was very stretchy.  It worked well for my photo timeline, but by the end it was so short that it would not have been appropriate to wear in public.

2. Choose your location.  Unless you live in a very temperate climate, I would recommend an indoor location.  Most anywhere that gets a bit of sunlight should work.  I prefer a clean background, so we used an empty wall in our living room that is directly across from a large window.

3. Take your first profile photo and take notes.  Take a few mental notes or go ahead and write them down.  If you want your photos to remain consistent, it is important to be fairly systematic in recreating your set up with each photo shoot.  A few things to pay particular attention to: the lighting, the distance between yourself and the camera, the orientation in which the photo is taken (horizontal or vertical), and the direction you are facing.    

4. Make sure you are happy with this first photo.  If not, try different clothing, a different location, facing the other direction and/or changing any other variables that are in your control.  This step is important, because if you don't like your first photo, you won't have a lot of motivation to keep taking new ones every few weeks and you probably won't be happy with your final timeline.

5. Keep track of which photos were taken when.  With so many photos that are so similar (and sometimes not a marked increase in tummy growth from week to week), the photo order can get a bit confusing.  Make sure to mark your files with the date taken and/or how far you are into your pregnancy.  You could rename the photo files according to date, make a folder for each separate photo shoot or use a photo editor to record this information directly onto the images.

6. Take photos every few weeks.  Or take them once a month or, really, however often you would like.

7. Merge your photos into a timeline collage.  Use the collage function of a photo editor to make a photo timeline.  Or do it old school and print individual photos to display together.

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Extra bonus step number one:  Take one last photo in your outfit/location with baby in your arms.  I failed on this one.  Oops.  

Extra bonus step number two:  Don’t let perfection be the enemy of your good intentions.  It is easy to get nit-picky and want everything to be perfect, but impossible to make it so.  As I worked on putting my photos together, I was quite frustrated by the variations in lighting and cropping from photo to photo.  I decided to "let it go" and just enjoy the finished product, flaws and all.