Semi-naked Fairy Baby!

Last week I dragged my mom {and Hannah of course!} to Gymboree to shop the sales rack and use my gymbucks.  After I had spent WAY too much on 3 shirts and a pair of shorts I decided to go into Baby Gap as well.

Its like when you're on a diet and you slip and eat a brownie.

You stand there staring at a pan full (minus One) of brownies and decide, 'Meh! The damage is done!'

and then proceed to eat the rest of the pan.

... not that I've ever done that.

Anyway, Baby Gap was full of very cute clothing, obviously, but my mom pointed out these fairy wings that were just TOO cute.

Hannah was way past grumpy after being confined to the stroller so I wasn't going to let her 'try them on' in the store, and instead waited till we got home.

Then I forgot about them.

I swear - this is why women have clothing with the tags still on them in the closet.  You get on such a high while shopping that you crash as soon as you get home and, after eating a pan of brownies, forget about everything you bought that day.

Sunday was a balmy 80 degrees in Oregon, which felt like 95 after the cool rainy summer we've had so far, so I let Hannah run around in the sprinkler in the back yard.  Best Mommy Ever.
When she came back inside I stripped her out of the wet clothes, changed her diaper and spotted the fairy wings in her closet.  Thus I present:

Semi-naked Fairy Baby!

"Mom!  I've got wings!"

"If I flap my arms really fast maybe I'll fly!"

"These wings make me run really fast!"

"Do these wings make my {cloth diaper} booty look big?"

"Any fairies in here?"

Seriously - cutest $10 I've spent in a long time!

Car Vlog - What An Annoying Day!

In Limbo

I feel like I'm in Doctor Limbo.

I'd like to talk to a doctor about TTC #2, while breastfeeding, after a csection, with an infertility diagnosis, and a blood clotting disorder.  I just feel like I should have my ducks in a row before peeing on a stick.

I'm not sure what to do or who to make an appointment with, but the way I see it I have 4 options:

1. General Practitioner.

I must admit that although I HAVE a doctor, I don't really know her.  I've been to her office approximately three times since January of 2007.  I actually haven't seen her since she gave me the diagnosis of PCOS since after that I was seeing the RE or midwife, and I haven't needed to go to the doctor since I had Hannah.

So I don't really KNOW her, and the last time I met with her and asked for an obgyn referral she was utterly useless, I just don't think she's the best bet.  Also, she's not affiliated with the hospital that I delivered Hannah at, although I'm not 100% positive that I want to deliver there again.

2. Fertiliy Clinic.

I know them, I like them, but I feel like it may be jumping the gun a bit.
The bonus is that they are with the affiliated with the hospital and were great at giving referrals once I conceived Hannah.  But should I really just head back to the fertility clinic when I'm only on my third post partum cycle?

3. Midwives.

Ideally I'd love to just go to the midwives.  I love them.  I truly loved working with them.
Since they're affiliated with the hospital they'd be able to direct me to a hematologist or OB if need be, and really - who else is more familiar with the post partum body?  But I'm not pregnant.  Can I make an appointment with the midwives BEFORE I'm pregnant? 

4. Find an OBGYN

An OB would be a good resource to discuss my concerns with VBAC and the Factor V Leiden blood clotting disorder, but I don't HAVE an OB.  Do I just look one up and go in to talk to them?  Plus if I start working with an OB at the hospital, wouldn't I have to find a whole new OB if we switch to a hospital closer to home?


---

See, we originally chose OHSU hospital because it had the fertility clinic. 
Then we stayed with them because they had the midwifes, water birth, NICU and hospital I was looking for (and should really HAVE given my likelihood of complications).  

But there are other hospitals in the area that are closer (which would make it easier with Hannah during birth #2) and still have midwives, and since a waterbirth isn't an option in hospitals after a csection, that shouldn't factor in.

My gut is telling me to make an appointment with the midwives, but I'm wondering what other women do in this situation. 

Who did you talk to before trying to conceive baby #2?

Hurricane Hannah Has Hit my House

Hannah Hopes you Help - Episode 2

TTC Baby #2 - Episode 2 - PostPartum Cycles with PCOS

Thoughts of a Crazed Mom

Hannah has been sleeping through a night for a few weeks now,
{searches frantically for some wood to knock on}
and for the most part we've all been sleeping fabulously because of it.

Until last night.
But, surprisingly, Hannah was not the culprit.

Well.... not directly.

At 1:25 I woke up completely engorged. 
My fear of plugged ducks and mastitis had me running to the kitchen for my manual pump
{I could have woken Hannah to nurse, but I was still a little short on her milk for today so I figured I could add whatever I pumped to the scant bottles in the fridge - worked like a charm!}

I use an Avent Isis manual pump for impromptu sessions like this, but before I talk too much about it and my experience with the product, I need to contact their customer service.  I digress...

So I spent a good 15-20 minutes in the living room pumping my kitchen light and then stumbled back to bed.

But I couldn't fall asleep. 
My mind was swirling with thoughts of paint color for the master bedroom, colors for the den, ideas on revamping my guest bath downstairs, trying to figure out how to custom cut the counter top for my laundry room, the dining room table revamp I saw on a blog, not to mention spectacular invention ideas.

This is what happens when I watch CNBC's "How I made my millions"

and then an episode of anything on the DIY channel before going to sleep.

Total insomnia.

My husband's first alarm when off around 2:45.
It was about this time that I began trying to figure out how to logistically become a 1 car household.
If we could save 1 car payment a month, that would be an extra $3,600 a year in savings.

Or, a European vacation.

And realistically, once I'm a SAHM, we probably could be a 1 car household if Chris was still able to bike to work.  Or we could just buy a beater car for him to commute with and still save the monthly payment.

Or we could win the lottery.

I was awake when my husband's 3am alarm clock went off, and I was still awake when he left at 3:30.

I was going to tell him about my grand idea of selling his car so that I could sleep in and not go to work today, but I realized that was a thought that only made sense in your mind at 3am and as soon as I said it I was going to get that look.

You know that look.
It's the one your husband gives you that says
"You've been thinking too much - you should probably stop."
Your husband gives you that look, right?
I'm not the only one, am I?

I think I fell asleep somewhere around 4.

Then my alarm went off at 5.
I brought Hannah into bed to nurse while I slept for 30 more minutes and then I tackled my day.

This blog post would be more entertaining, but I made coffee {freshly ground and everything!} and then forgot to pour myself a cup.  Probably because I was too busy SHOVING spoonfuls of shredded wheat cereal into my mouth while lamenting that I was running late for work. 

There is something wrong when it's 6:09am and you're already running late for your day.

Gross.

And now it's 9:11 and I'm late for my pumping break.

Story of my life....

What to do when your baby poops in the tub

Sometimes I long for the simplicity of the infant bath tub.   It was just a small tub of water, possibly a hammock to support them, a washcloth to clean them with and maybe one unnecessary toy that they really didn't play with.  There were times when Hannah pooped in her infant tub.  No Big Deal.  You simply lift the baby out of the water, dump the poop water into the sink or tub, rinse, refill and you're good to go.

If you're freaking out about an infant pooping in the tub and have stumbled upon this post looking for assistance, just wait a few months.  Bath time poops get exponentially worse with age.

Hannah pooped while I was in the bathtub with her once.

okay it was twice.  Possibly three times.  ... I lost count.

I was trying to relax with my newborn and enjoy some skin to skin bonding.  She even nursed in the tub.  It was fabulous.  Until a brown worm went floating over my thigh.

My body went rigid.  I didn't understand what was happening.
Then I noticed another worm.
And another.
And then I realized it was poop.

Oh. My. God.

It was at that moment that I earned a mommy merit badge.


I grabbed my Sassy Soft Touch Rinse Cup (best $6 ever) and began scooping up the worms as I yelled frantically for Chris and tried not to upset Hannah.  He dumped the cupfuls of poop water into the toilet, and when all the big chunks were removed  we simply drained the water, rinsed the tub, refilled it so we could rinse off and we were good to go.

The REALLY tough situation is when your baby is older.
Say... 9 months 28 days and 14 hours old.
For the sake of conversation, let's just take Hannah for example.

She can sit independently in the tub, loves playing with lots of toys and enjoys bath time SO much, that it's possible to clean your bathroom counter, clean the mirror, reorganize makeup - you know, general tidying up while she splashes and plays.


Then you hear bubbles popping.  forcefully.  and you look over at her and she seems incredibly pleased with her gas explosion, but you don't see anything to be alarmed about.

And then a minute later, out of the corner of your eye, you see too many 'toys' floating around the tub.  You realize that she didn't fart like a 200 pound frat boy, but instead lost complete control of her bowels and chunks of poop are everywhere.

My first instinct - as would be yours - was to yell for assistance from another adult - husband, mother in law, random neighbor - anybody.

But I'm home alone.

Here's what you do:

First

Close the bathroom door.  

I know it seems crazy to lock yourself IN with the mess, but the last thing you want to be doing is be on your hands and knees bailing poop from a bathtub with a 9 month 28 day 14 hour old toddler in the making - that is covered in poo particles - running loose naked in your house.  Unless that's your idea of a fun Sunday evening.

Second

Do a finger sweep of the mouth.

Babies put everything in their mouth.  Everything.  Enough said.

Three 

Lay a towel down on the floor, lift the baby out of the water and partially dry them off.  

Don't put a lot of effort into it because that child is going right back in the water in a few minutes and will receive a VERY good scrub down, but you don't want them getting cold.
... or dripping poop water all over your bath mats.

Four

Quarantine all toys.

The sink is the best place to put all of the bath toys.  If any of them fill with water, squirt water or plain touched the water, they'll need to be disinfected at a later date.  For now, you have more pressing matters.

Five

Grab your Sassy cup and start bailing.

If you haven't bought one yet I suggest you go to your laundry room and dig out six $1 bills or 24 quarters, 60 dimes, way too many nickels or 600 pennies from the 'loose change bowl' and buy yourself one.  You're also probably kicking your butt because now you're going to have to use a drinking glass to scoop the poop.    Just make sure it's an easily identifiable cup that you can pass off to company because the dishwasher will never get that cup clean enough for ME to want to drink out of again.

Six

Curse.  a lot.

By the time your baby is nearly 10 months old they'll probably be eating 'real' food and their poop will have lost its breastfed baby poop liquid-ness that caused it to float like worms in the tub as an infant.
As gross as those worms were, they are wicked easy to scoop up.
Older baby poop disintegrates in the water literally turning into poo particles that attach to everything.
If you're unlucky enough to have a drain trap with tiny holes so you don't lose important thing - like I do - then you'll really be cursing.  Most of the chunks will be too big to go down the drain yet too small to scoop with the cup.  Screwed.
Drain the water anyway, occasionally turning on the faucet to fill your cup and pour the water at the top of the tub so that it runs down towards the drain, catching poop as it goes.

Seven

Remember that you love your baby.

Keep draining, scooping, pouring and cursing until you have it all cleaned up.
If you have a non slip mat suctioned-cupped to the bottom of your tub - like I do - realize that you need to rip that up and rinse underneath.  Otherwise poop will be trapped underneath there and once you fill up the tub with clean water it'll quickly become contaminated with the hiding flecks of fecal matter.

Eight

Refill the tub.

Nice warm water, lots of soap and some old fashioned elbow grease should have your baby spick and span in no time.  Wash the hair, behind the ears and the in the arm pits - poo particles are sneaky little suckers.

Nine

Loudly exclaim 'All Done!'

Wrap up bath time however you normally do so, dry them off with a clean towel - don't even think of using that one that you laid out on the floor earlier - and exit the bathroom.

Ten

Curse again as you walk by the sink full of toys that you forgot you still needed to clean.

I wash them in the kitchen sink.  I squeeze all the water out first, then I do a really hot water soak with a splash of Bac Out.  A quick cold water rinse and they're all set for the next bath.

Congratulate yourself for managing the minor emergency with the grace of a domestic goddess.  I'm really proud of you and, ya know, after all that work you deserve a cool beverage.

I made some lemonade this morning and I have just the glass for you.

You're welcome.

TTC Baby #2 - Episode 1 - Let's Get on the Same Page

42 Weeks 3 Days

Although in many ways Hannah was a lifetime in the making, in reality she was created in 42 weeks and 3 days.
That's how long I was pregnant with her.

And today Hannah is 42 weeks and 3 days old.
So many things have changed since those first days in the hospital.

In 42 weeks and 3 days I made these cute little feet.  They were a little wrinkly and pretty long, but you have my second toe so you'll probably be able to pinch your siblings under the dinner table.  You're welcome.

Today, at 42 weeks and 3 days old you think it is hilarious when we sniff your feet and pretend they stink {sometimes we don't have to pretend - pee-U!}.  You know that it means it's bath time, and that is your favorite time of the day.  You have a collection of cute shoes but are quickly growing out of your size 4s.  Your feet stomp all over the house, trip over toys you lay strewn about and, funny enough, pet the dogs.  They are very active feet that seem to be growing by the minute and I can't help but wonder how hard it'll be for you to find cute shoes in your size when you're older.

~~~~~

In 42 weeks and 3 days I made your strong and healthy body.  

You weighed in at 9lbs 6oz and were 22 inches long.

At 42 weeks and 3 days old you are as strong and healthy as ever.  You weigh 20 lbs and are 30 inches tall. You're in the 97%+ for height and ~60% for weight.  You have outgrown most of your 6-9 month clothing because they're not long enough and are now wearing 9-12 month clothing.
You've surpassed everyone's expectations by rolling over - in both directions - at 10 weeks, crawling at 20 weeks, walking at 37 weeks and starting to run at 42 weeks.  

You've also lost the conehead you had when you were first born, which was quite impressive for a c-section baby...

~~~~~

Being born at 42 weeks and 3 days made you a great sleeper.
I remember wishing that you were awake more often because I wanted to get to know you and to see your beautiful eyes.  Shortly after I made that wish (around 8 weeks old) I kicked myself repeatedly as you started to have lots of issues with gas pains and your daddy was the only one that could rock you to sleep.  

At 42 weeks and 3 days old I'm happy to announce that you are now sleeping through the night.  It is amazing and it makes me love you even more.  (Probably because its hard to be in aww of the source of your sleep deprivation.  Not impossible, just hard.)  You usually go to sleep at 8pm and wake up at 6am.  Sometimes you still like your 3am feeding, but more often than not you start crying for 'ma ma ma ma ma' just as I'm gathering my bag to walk out the door.  We really are connected - you and I.

~~~~~

After waiting 42 weeks and 3 days we finally were able to look into your eyes, and we noticed that they were blue.  

Expecting them to be green like your fathers or hazel like mine, we kept waiting for them to change colors.

Now at 42 weeks and 3 days old your eyes are quite possibly your defining physical trait (right after "my goodness she's tall!").

They are a beautiful blue color that is just captivating and are framed with gorgeous long eye lashes.  Everyone comments on your eyes.  Everyone.  They really are very pretty.

~~~~~

After 42 weeks and 3 days, you let us know right off the bat that you were going to have some headstrong personality traits.

You knew what you wanted, and you wanted it right that second.

At 42 weeks and 3 days old, you aren't any different.  Except now you have enough core strength to arch your back and whine properly.  I think the 'terrible ten months' is going to be more your style.

~~~~~

At 42 weeks and 3 days I finally met you.

At 42 weeks and 3 days I was able to hold you.

At 42 weeks and 3 days we became a family.

And now, 42 weeks and 3 days later, I can't image my life without you.

You make every day fun,
You make every day an adventure,
and I can't wait to see what life has in store for you.

I love you, Hannah.

Pony Kisses

I was born in June of 1983, and by October of that same year riots began breaking out at toy stores between parents trying to buy Cabbage Patch Dolls for Christmas presents.  My mom was one of those parents.

She stood in line to get me my first Cabbage Patch Doll, and as I got older my collection grew and grew.
One of my favorites was my cowgirl CPD and her pony.  She had little brown plastic cowboy boots and he had a little leather bridle.  As a child that grew up on a farm, this was a best toy ever.

I love when things come full circle.

My mom brought my CPD pony up with her weeks ago, but Hannah just noticed it a few days ago.  She's not that big into dolls, she'd much rather carry around a book or blanket or bottle of nail polish, but on this particular morning she decided it was a good day for a horse back ride.

She doesn't actually 'ride' him yet, she just carries him around, but she loves him and gives him kisses whenever she sees him.  It's the cutest....

Make Strawberry Jam in 10 Minutes

Ikea

Chris and I have been slowly working on transforming the den from a please-God-don't-look-in-that-room to a PLEASE-look-in-this-room.

Subtle difference in text, but a big difference in reality.

The room has beigh berber carpet that is impossible to clean with our carpet cleaner (for some reason....), wood panelling on the walls, and a red/white/black brick fireplace.

Hot. Mess.

I know how I want to layout the room, but I don't have a vision for the color scheme or details.  I've been looking for inspiration and the only thing I need to keep in mind is that the red/brown/gold Christmas decorations are going in this room.

We went to IKEA to get some wine storage shelving for the under stairs closet turned wine cellar and spotted this rug.  It's a new item so it's not yet on the website, but I love the red and navy possibilities.  I like all the beigh that will help tie in the carpeting and I like all the paint options.

But there are almost TOO many paint options.  I need help.  I need Candace Olson.  STAT.

Here's some IKEA footage.  Hannah insisted on walking running everywhere.  while yelling.  Hilarious.

Travel System Review

I had a request to review my Babytrend Expedition LX travel system (jogging stroller and infant car seat). Here's the video:

Fireworks

If you couldn't tell from the ending of my previous post, I'm not a huge fan of at-home fireworks.  They're loud and dangerous, most people do not take precautions to make sure they're going about everything safely and most importantly - they're loud.

My neighbors stayed up past midnight lighting off fireworks in the cul-de-sac right in front of Hannah's window.  I'm amazed that she slept straight from 8pm to 5am without even a peep.  Chris, on the other hand, did not sleep well and was late to work.  I had the day off because I'm awesome.  Or at least my employer is.

That being said (that I don't like fireworks, not that I'm awesome because we all already knew that...) I DO like sparklers.

Note that Chris and I have freakishly long arms and pointed everything away from Hannah. 

Hannah went to sleep early (I guess the parade really tuckered her out!)  so Chris and I lit a few more sparklers ourselves.

Fourth of July Parade

MONTHS ago I bought this dress off Zulily.com .  Months.
I'm proud of myself for planning ahead and picking a such a cute dress because barely a person walked by Hannah without commenting on how pretty her dress was.  And it really is cute.

Like I-wish-it-came-in-my-size Cute.

The parade we attended was in the next town over (I figured that a parade was more her speed than staying up late for fireworks) and started at 10.  Chris worked all day so it was up to me to get her breastfed, fed, bathed, napped, dressed, packed, loaded in the car and happy by 9:45.
I also had to get myself fed (fail), showered (I washed my hair in the sink), dressed (check!) and laundry started (check!).  I also had to take care of the dogs, find a white shoe that Hannah hid (turns out she gave it to her monkey MOA for safekeeping), fold two loads of laundry and empty/fill the dishwasher (so I could wash my hair in the sink).

And Chris asks what I do all day.....

We were 10 minutes late and I wasn't quite sure where to park, so I found a spot on a side street 35 blocks away.  Okay... it was only 4 blocks away, but the 3 intersections I had to cross were ridiculous.

I can tell that I don't push a stroller in the city enough because every time I come to an intersection I have this fear of Hannah rolling into traffic like I saw on a local news story while I was pregnant.  I set the brake and white knuckle the handles.  The people standing next to me must think I'm the same weirdo that set their parking break at a red light.  I'm not.  I hate setting the parking break.

I digress.

The parade was really sweet and brought back memories of my hometown summer parade.  I forgot how funny it is to watch the FFA guys run around behind the horses scooping all the poop.  No high school crush ever withstood the pooper scooper test.  Once I saw them do that, I just couldn't get that image out of my head.  And before you think I'm vain... okay, well I am.  BUT I was a farm girl and I spent my summers wearing wranglers, so don't think I'm too prissy.  I can get my hands dirty if I need to.

I just don't anymore.

I digress again.

Here's some parade photos:

No parade is complete without the old fashion firetruck.  Complete with ANNOYING siren that they blast right in front of you.  I had flashbacks to watching 'Mr. Holland's Opus' and the scene where they figure out their son is deaf.  Hannah is not deaf.  It startled her something fierce.

The older lady in front of us commented on what an angel Hannah was during the parade.  It's because I was force feeding her cheerios to keep the "I'M BORED" whining to a dull roar.

I'm impressed.  and pretty sure that unicycle is taller than her.  She HAS to has assistance to get on that thing, right?

The only animal at the parade was horses (well, and some dogs, but we have those at home and I'm pretty sure Hannah didn't see the ones in the parade), so I made a lot of whiny-ing sounds like I do when reading Hannah her animal book.  She loves when I make a fool of myself in public so she kept pointing and expecting me to whiny.  I think she also expected me to stomp my foot and prance around, but some things only take place in the comfort of your own home.

Do you remember when balloon art was popular at weddings?

When we were planning our nuptials and attending all the bridal expos, I remember that there was a balloon vendor trying to encourage all the ladies that balloon arches were a hip touch to any reception entrance.  Suckers.

I'm sure you still see it at 8th grade graduations and small town proms, but I that's not really my scene, so I haven't seen a display like this in a decade.

Scurrying for candy.  Next year I'm going to bring a bag of the cheap bulk candy and throw it at them from behind - just to keep them on their toes when they wander out a little too far in the street.  The mom next to me told her kids to 'Step Back!' every 30 seconds.  I was about to throw Hannah's sippy cup at them, but next year I'll be prepared with a bag of peppermint candies.

The guy in front of us took a picture of Hannah, and in return she poked him in the bag and played with the tag on his chair the whole time.

Queen of the Cows.

.... best title ever.

Hannah was loving it towards the end when all the marching bands were playing Katy Perry's fireworks.  She danced along in her stroller.  So Cute.

This guy came through and ushered all the kids back - (Yeah, right, like they're going to listen to a guy in a straw hat.... I'm serious about pelting them with candy next year...)

So that this monstrosity could come through without squishing them.

12 tires?  Seriously!?  Why would you need 12 tires?

That's the end of my snarky parade route commentary. :)

I hope you had a great 4th of July and please - be careful with the fireworks.

I don't want to hear about anyone blowing off their hands or losing an eyebrow.

I'm going to light a few sparklers, but leave the big explosions to the professionals.  ... or the idiots down the street.