Diapers on my Doorstep

Ok, so I was home when they were delivered, and the wonderful UPS man slipped them into the house for me, but they still came to the door!

We've been running out of diapers for Tornado and Sweet Pea (isn't that what we're always doing... running out?) and weren't sure what we were going to do. We last purchased a couple big stock ups with a trial membership at BJs at the beginning of the summer. We only go through 2-3 diapers a day for them... total... so it works well to do that. But it was just a trial membership.

And for Little Man, though we are using cloth at home, My Beloved feels better in disposable when we go out. A wonderful lady from My Beloved's office gave us a huge bag of their left over newborn diapers, so once we were done with the ones the hospital sent us home with, I switched to cloth here and use the "hand me downs" when we go out. Problem is that Little Man is no tiny guy. The "Little" in this name I've given him refers to him being "little" for a man... not a baby. :) The last couple times we've ventured from the house even for a little while, the diapers really were too small... even leaking terribly one time because of the fit. But I kept using them because they are all we have.

What's that you say??? Go to the store? Sure... that would be a simple enough fix. Except... My Beloved is really busy these days, we aren't taking Little Man into "real" public yet, and I don't have a car at my disposal. Certainly My Beloved could have stopped by CVS for some diapers if I'd asked him to, but we hadn't gotten that far.

Then here we were... this weekend. We'd gotten *that* far. We really needed diapers for everybody! So I finally decided to look into Diapers.com. I'd gotten a coupon code for $10 off in my hospital goody bag, and I'd heard good things about them before, so I looked them up.

Prices looked good, there were some instant savings type coupons for the Huggies right there on the site, and I wouldn't have to leave home. They'd come straight to me... and in two days time! I was sold. Or at least the diapers were. I bought them. A huge pack (150 diapers) of size 5 Luvs for the kids (I hope they work, I've never really tried Luvs before) and a couple different sizes for Little Man. Since we are only planning to use them when going out, I got a pack of 1s (50 diapers) and a pack of 2s (36 diapers). Hopefully that will hold us over! And all for $44 and change.

Anyway... the whole point of this post is to say that it was so cool to have diapers delivered! And for the same amount (or less) than we would have spent if we'd had to go to all the trouble of going out! :) That makes this mama smile!

Labels: As it happens..., Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:49 PM 0 Comments

Chasing Three: Week 3

My Little Man is 3 weeks old! I had a bit of a rough patch today (hormones?) when I *realized* that he's growing up too fast and I'm practically missing it already. Then I realized that the only part I'm really missing is the part where he's asleep and that I'm pretty much with him every other minute. Such is life in these first weeks of having a newborn in the house (the hormones, the sleeping, and the going so fast!)

As of Sunday morning (last week... not today, sorry about the lateness of this post), my mom was at the airport and we were on our own. As we (the kids and I) waved good-bye to her and My Beloved at 6am that morning, I was sure I was in trouble. Little Man had barely been sleeping the previous couple nights. He'd wake up every 2 1/2ish hours for feedings, and then not always go back to sleep... crying until his next feeding, the whole time except when I was shaking his bassinet, holding him, or letting him suck on my finger (which was still attached to my hand, attached to my arm that was draped from where I was warm in bed over the side of his bassinet and to him.)

It wasn't all that bad though. The rest of the week was ok as far as sleep went... waking every 2 1/2 hours, but going right back to sleep each time.


Chasing "Babies"
I'm not going to hide it from you... not every day was as smooth and enjoyable (nor productive) as that first day home alone with them all. There was no schooling, few dishes done, and I didn't even try to follow that trial schedule I mentioned. Even though he was sleeping some, I was still exhausted! I spent more time falling asleep in the couch while they played (or better yet, while reading them a story) than I had planned to. (Does anyone really plan on that?) The weather was beautiful all week, but we never once made it outside apart from Monday. Bread making was on the schedule most of the week (and still is as a matter of fact!)

I am grateful that my church family began bringing meals this week and I didn't have to worry about the evening meal!! Praise the Lord for family in His body! We did accomplish a few things. I got the yogurt made and survived both Tuesday and Thursday nights (have I mentioned that My Beloved is taking an EMT class at the community college this semester... it started this week) with out back-up.

Overall, God is good. No one's been sick or gone hungry (apart from the constant "I'm still hungry" I get from Tornado after every meal!) The kids are enjoying their baby brother and haven't even hurt him yet. :)

And me? God is doing works in my heart in a number of different areas. Isn't it just like God to pick an unlikely time for Spiritual growth and challenging! I look forward to sharing some of what's been on my heart with you all someday... when I have time to actually write it up and post it. For now, I've been making more use of my journal than I have in a long time! It's way easier to journal on paper while nursing or rocking to sleep than it is to type!


Little Man
We've worked hard this week to keep him awake when he should be awake during the day in the hopes that he'd find his night time schedule. It seems to have worked some as we did finally find a 5 hours stretch one night night... followed by a 4 1/2 hour stretch the next night! Sigh. I hope it continues!

Nursing continues to go well. I wondered about my milk supply for a couple days, but am not anymore. I tend to worry/wonder about such things because of past experience and will hopefully be choosing a scale and getting it soon (maybe this week!) Spitting up continues as well... sometimes a lot at a time. Having a scale to monitor weight will help me to know whether it's too much spit up or just the extra that he doesn't need.

His alert times are stretching out some more most of the time. There are still a couple times during the day when it's really hard to keep him up. I have to be very careful not to keep him up too long or it messes with his nap times. At least this is what I'm blaming it on. He sleeps great at night and through the morning and mid day. The afternoons and evenings though, he doesn't sleep well at all. Some nap times are off and on crying through the whole time. Others he doesn't stop at all (without help). As PDF parents, one of our goals is to try to help Little man learn how to fall asleep by himself... without the sleep props of being rocked or nursed to sleep. This will be a help to him as he gets older and doesn't have those options available. A number of times this week though, I've grabbed him up in the evening to ensure he gets some of his nap. Part of it is not being able to stand the thought of him crying more (and I can't think of anything else that could be causing the crying... wet diaper, gas, hunger, etc.) and part of it is wanting him to get the sleep he needs during the day so that he's not over tired and won't sleep at night. If any of you PDF mommies out there have any suggestions, I'm all ears! I can't complain too much though... it's nice to have him sleep on me every now and then! I just worry that I'll do more harm than good in the training arena.


The EC'ing Department
Though I've been tired, I have also had more energy this past week. Does that completely contradict??? My body is coming back around and I've stepped up to a few more things. One of them has been ECing. We really buckled down to try this pottying thing. And it's magical!

Some days I've caught more potties and poops than I've missed (EC term for "accidents" or wet and poppy diapers). Each time he wakes up during the day, we head in to the bathroom where I have a diaper changing station set up. I remove the wet diaper (sometimes more wet than others) and we sit together at the potty.

I have found it much easier to do this with him since trying a slightly new position. I sit on the kids stool facing the potty, holding Little Man in my arms (one hand under each thigh) over the potty. Most of the time he's leaning on my chest. Sometimes he doesn't seem happy with this, but other times he's fine. Many times this week he'd potty almost right away (and sometimes not at all)... and often does his pooping there. I will say though that much of the potty early in the week was going everywhere but the toilet. I was starting to loose hope, wondering what I was doing wrong. I was holding him the way I thought they said too, but this couldn't be right.

I still don't know if I'm doing what they say to do or not, but holding a bit of toilet paper over "the zone" has helped (some) with keeping potty off the floor, toilet seat cover, and tub, and out of the trash can.

I still haven't noticed any obvious cues that he needs to go. We go when he wakes up and, as often as I have energy or attention for, a little while after nursing. Sometimes we go a third time right before going down for his nap, but it depends on how things are going and whether or not he's already gone in his diaper. At night, I just change his diaper and move on, getting back to sleep as soon as possible. I may add night time to our routine someday too, but not for now.

Overall, I'm happy with it. I have had many fewer poopy diapers to clean up than I would have otherwise... and saved many diapers from being needed (which is nice since I feel like I'm flying through them as it is.)

One thing I did find this week that is worthy of reporting. Little Man had some diaper rash that I was struggling to get rid of. One morning I just buckled down and worked at it... keeping him only slightly covered with the pre-fold diaper (this worked best on me rather than the floor, etc., as he did less kicking and I could hold the pre-fold in place)... letting as much air get in there as possible and taking him for even more potty-opportunities. It took all day, but by the end of the day, it was mostly healed, and gone the next morning.

Labels: As it happens..., Chasing Three, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:25 PM 1 Comments

The Way it Went: All Alone!

It had only been a couple hours since I'd begun his last feeding, but he was crying again. It was 7am. Though he'd been good about falling right back to sleep each time, he woke for feeding every two and a half hours through the night. Now, apparently, it was time again.

"Ok, baby," I whispered, as I lifted him out of his little bassinet beside my bed. So this was to be the start of today, I thought.

He finished his feeding and I battled within myself over whether I'd get up and start the day or lay him back down and cozy myself beneath those cool sheets again. I continued deliberation while changing his diaper, and then, with baby in tow, I gave in to my scratched out trial schedule and made my way to the kid's room.

Lights on. Diapers off. Potty time. To the kitchen. Light the stove. Empty dish drainer. Cook with hands full. Dish up oatmeal. Add medicine. Serve breakfast. Wipe up kids.

"Would you like to help mommy clear the table Tornado?" He would. "Sweet Pea," I start, heading off the *But I want to do it* whining, "would you like to help mommy wash dishes?"

Slowly, the stool is pulled over to the sink. Sweet Pea climbs up to the counter. Part of the new routine I'd worked out for *after baby comes* includes the children in meal clean up. This keeps them with me, teaches them skills, and increases the chances that I'll keep up with the kitchen in these crazy sleep deprived days.
Put Little Man down for his nap. Switch laundry. Singing on the floor. Memorization work. Library books. Table time. Stop procrastinating and make deodorant. Tornado narrates a drawing for the first time. Nurse the baby. Read aloud. Diaper "blow out". Change mommy's skirt. Nurse and read some more.



"Let's put shoes on," I proclaimed as Little man finished up his late morning meal. I was relieved, as I glanced through the window, to see the shade of the tall trees across the street still falling on our lawn. The plan was to be outside earlier in the morning, but with the baby still napping at the time, that wasn't going to work for us.

Schedules are meant to serve us, not enslave us. And when we see how our schedule could serve us better in a slightly (or even completely) different order, it only makes sense to switch it up. Instead we did our table time in the morning and spent our time playing in the yard now... with Little Man.

Inside. Baby down. Computer time (unplanned) while kids play. Eat and clean up lunch. Potty time. Diaper on Sweet Pea. Tuck in. Lights off. Reminders to stay in bed.

Wake up Little Man. Offer potty time. Catch potty and poop~Hooray! New diaper. Nurse. Computer time.

And the afternoon kept on. Before long, I was swaddling Little Man up tight, kissing his cheek and laying him down again. It was two o'clock. All the kids were asleep. Time enough to write a post and search for a couple things online before the silence would again be overwhelmed with little voices and precious running feet.

Nurse. Baby potties again. Kids up. Drawing at the table. Left overs in the oven. Little Man's down again. Time elapses. Daddy's home. Dinner's ready. Nurse again. All to the table. Dinner's gone (for most of us). A something sweet. Baby down. Dishes washed. Fireworks in the street.

Inside. Ready for bed. Goodnight kisses and hugs.

I pulled the door closed quietly behind me, saying one last good-night. My Beloved was already settled with his laptop when I came into the living room with an armful of laundry. I began to fold as he started our audio book, a nice alternative to movies, and settled himself and his laptop next to me on the couch.

The laundry folded and his computer set aside, we cuddled and listened, munched cookies, fed the baby when it was time, and were in bed by ten.

Looking back over "Day 1", I see many blessings, many things done well and much that could get better. I see so many moments to be thankful for and am aware of my need to focus ever more on thankfulness for those moments!

Until this, my first day *on my own*, I could only imagine what my days chasing three would be like. Even now, looking back at it, I know it's just one "baby step" to learning our new normal. It's a transition. Not every day will go this smoothly, and some days will be even better still. It is my desire to see God's grace and my growth in every moment!

Labels: As it happens..., Keeping My Home

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:21 AM 1 Comments

Chasing Three: Week 2

With the advent of Little Man's second week came a much appreciated reprieve for me! The pains in my back and tummy muscles eased their way out of my moment by moment movements and transitioned into the occasional unwelcome guest. Finally, leaving all together. Except when I bend wrong... but we'll pretend it's gone altogether.


Chasing "Babies"
We were blessed that my mom was still here... all week! Well, once she returned from her extended weekend visit to my sister's anyway. We (and by "we" I mean the kids and I, as My Beloved returned to work) somehow managed to make it through both Monday and Tuesday... though I have no recollection how that happened. I believe my memory is skewed because of how much of it I slept and dozed while the kids played. Or perhaps it's just gone in the jumble of my mind.

The kids were thrilled with her return, though, and had a great time. Each morning they would get up and going, have breakfast, and be outside "strollin'" and playing. They must have spent an hour or two outside playing and walking and strollin' (in the stroller) each day. This was great for them... and for us as we stayed in bed that much extra! They even found a not so bouncy (anymore), bouncy ball to play with at the basketball court across the street at the YMCA day camp area. Apparently Tornado even made some baskets... completely unassisted!

The rest of the days were filled with meal prep, dishes, clean up, playing, more clean up, and little projects... all of which were done in whole or in part (a major part) by my mom! (Thanks Mom!) I was feeling much better, but still could tell when I'd been doing too much. Part of each day was spent forcing myself to do less... and to just sit (while caring for my Little Man of course). Why is it so much easier to "waste the days away" when I am physically capable of more... and so hard to when I'm supposed to rest?!?


Little Man
Nursing continues to go well... as best I can tell anyway. He began spitting up this week... sometimes none, and sometimes more than I think he should. This always makes me a little nervous because Tornado struggled so much with it (even loosing too much weight and entering the failure to thrive category by 3 months old)! We're looking into getting a nice digital baby scale to ease my mind and keep a watch on it! I'd love to find one second hand, but so far it looks like we'll have to get a new one. (Any advice on brand, etc??)

He's got days and nights backward for sure. We work hard to keep him awake even the minimum amount recommended in Babywise after each nap. And then, if we keep him up too long (and I mean an hour and 15 minutes from the time he wakes up instead of just an hour), he's overstimulated and doesn't nap well! It's a teetering acrobat act for an already tired ball of nerves (me). He's been up every 3ish hours through the night most nights (every 2 1/2 hours last night) and occasionally refuses to sleep between feedings... crying off and on for a couple hours. I've been working on ways to help him quiet and relax into sleep without falling into the trap of rocking or nursing him to sleep all the way. It's not something I want him to learn... though it's so tempting and I've tried it a couple times this last week. I don't remember struggling with this so much with Tornado and Sweet Pea, but I know we'll get through it. I just have to remind myself of this often! Someday he'll stretch it out to 5 hours. :)

There is just so. much. crying! Praise God for a strong set of lungs!


The EC'ing Department
I continue to hold my EC dreams in a loose hand. I do dream of the day we've gotten the hang of it. I can see how much easier it could be than cleaning up the yuck with each diaper change. We're not there yet though, and that's ok. With my limited sleep, many times it just seems easier to change the diaper than to try to give him a potty opportunity. Some day, offering the potty will be the easier of the two, requiring less energy, but for now, offering often yields nothing, which means I'm doing double duty. And there is just not energy or patience for that when one has not slept all night.

I do pick at it though... and I've caught a couple potties and some very crazy poops in the last week. I have a new understanding as to how blow-outs happen! I'll just leave it at that.

Labels: As it happens..., Chasing Three, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:25 PM 2 Comments

Chasing Three: The First Week

A week ago, our little man joined our family... on the outside. Since I mentioned a little nervousness about adding a newborn to my schedule, I thought I'd share a bit about what life is like this side of the delivery room.


Chasing "Babies"
My Beloved brought Tornado and Sweet Pea to the hospital Friday night (along with my mom once they picked her up from the airport) to meet the baby. I was holding him when they came into the room. They came around the curtain and stopped at the foot of the bed... then Sweet Pea took several steps backward. Both of them just stared at me... or rather, at the baby. Daddy had tried to explain how the baby was out of Mommy's belly, but some things you just have to see to understand. They warmed up to him quickly, though, once we asked if they wanted to hold him.

The next day Daddy (and a group of grandparents) brought them back for a visit. Keeping 2 and 3 year olds quiet and still in a hospital room is near impossible. Add into that the excitement of visiting grandparents and seeing Mommy and it's plain ridiculous. They didn't stay long... and they didn't hold him again. I could see signs of sickness just emerging in both of them. By that evening, Sweet Pea had a fever of 102+ and both kids were coughing and runny nosed.

Sunday, Little Man and I were home, the house was full, and the kids were still sick. It broke my heart to tell them that, not only weren't they allowed near the baby, but they couldn't touch Mommy right now either because of their germy hands. Between feedings and diaper changes, I tried to give my other babies the attention I knew they wanted. I was very grateful for the distraction and help of grandparents! I can't even tell you how many times I changed my shirt and washed my hands as I went back and forth between the new baby and my sick "babies"! This went on for 2-3 days.

They are still not completely well (noses are still a little runny and coughs persist), but germs aren't flowing and flying as they were in those first days! We're managing much better. I am better able to give hugs on demand and to multitask... at least as it pertains to the attention I give my littles!


Little Man
A sweet change from my previous two, this Little Man took to nursing quickly and with confidence. As you can (hopefully) see in the picture, my feeding record worked wonderfully for us (and the nurse thought it was cute). He fed well, but the part I loved best was that he was also going through diapers at record speeds! He certainly didn't need to exceed the minimums for healthy growth (and please don't compare your baby to mine... each one grows and eliminates at his own pace), but after two babies that struggled to grow and get enough milk, it was encouraging for this mama to see!

We follow the Parent Directed Feeding (PDF) philosophy as explained in the book On Becoming Babywise.

It's not "Attachment Parenting" and it's not "Scheduled Feeding". It's somewhere in the middle. According to the book, helping baby get on a basic schedule aids in establishing his metabolism... and his sleep habits. Doing this (helping establish good sleep habits) makes for a happier, better rested baby (and mommy). Good sleep is also important for all the growth and developing baby is doing!

So what does this look like? In this first week my main responsibility has been to make sure Little Man gets a full feeding each time. This is often easier said than done with a sleepy newborn, and I can't say I was successful 100% of the time. By doing this, though, the theory is that he will fall into a nice 2 1/2 - 3 hour routine... making it possible to know a general time for the next feeding.

Step two is to work on doing the routine in the proper order... eat, wake, sleep. This means that when he wakes up, I feed him. Then, after some "awake" time (I think we officially had some of this yesterday), I put him down for his nap. I lay him down while he is still awake so that he can learn to fall asleep on his own... not dependent on mommy to rock or nurse him before he can fall asleep. This sounds brutal to some of you... and it's not always easy (read: ever) when your precious new baby is crying and you know that he'll stop if you just pick him up. But I've been through this twice before, and I can tell you that I wouldn't take anything in the place of a baby who has learned to fall asleep on his/her own! It's better than chocolate once you get there.

Lest you think I'm letting my little one scream and cry for hours through the night and day, I do lots of regular checking on him while he's crying... and a good amount of calming and cuddling. Now that we are at the end of this first week, things are starting to settle into a nice routine.

Oh, and one more reason this is so important to me... more important than it was when Tornado and Sweet Pea were this age? Having Little Man on this schedule (even a loose schedule) and being able to put him down for his nap gives me 45 minutes to an hour and a half (more or less) to give to my other babies... very necessary time!


The EC'ing Department

I mentioned my intention to use cloth diapers this time around and my plans to try something new in the diapering department. I've begun EC in a very laid back way... observation. In fact, this is the first step anyway... learning baby's patterns and cues.

I caught a poop (in a prefold while sitting on my bed) in the first couple days at home... and a potty in the toilet at the end of the week. Other than that, I haven't been trying very hard. Though he had a certain pattern I was catching onto in the first days, everything changed when my milk came in... and now he's often wet before I know it. I love having him in cloth (prefolds without a cover for now) because he gets changed so much more often and it's really no more expensive! I find that my body is taking it's time in recovering strength and moving around too much causes an ache in my back/side and sore tummy muscles. It's starting to get a little better, but still has me doing as little as possible. I am looking forward to stepping up the EC attempts more when my body feels better!

Labels: As it happens..., Breastfeeding, Chasing Three

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 1:16 PM 3 Comments

Including Toddlers in your Chores: Sweeping

I'm a song person... you wouldn't necessarily know that because I'm still working on how to share it with you, but I am. Just trust me. If there isn't a song in this world to do what I want it to do, I write it myself. Sometimes I adapt another song, other times I start from scratch.

When it came to sweeping the kitchen floor with my toddler a couple years ago, I struck up a tune to make it more fun. Here it is for your musical pleasure!


I'm a Little Helper
To the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot"

I'm a little helper
Yes I am
Mom holds the broom
and I the dust pan
When she is all finished
We sweep it up
Tip it over and dump it out.


It's lots of fun and the kids pick up on the song quickly. Just today I included my 3 1/2 year old in sweeping and he requested we sing the song. Then of course I had to sweep something else so my 2 1/2 year old could help... and we had to sing it again. :)

As you may be able to tell, they are the dust pan holders (most of the time with help from me) and I'm the sweeper! :)

Enjoy!

Labels: Keeping My Home, Mommy's Tool Box, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:10 AM 1 Comments

And the winner is...

... my mom. AKA, "Annonymous".

Anonymous said...

Well, let's see......I am going to go with 3 days...so that makes it FRI!!!

I guessed it was her because "FRI" was in all caps. That's the day she was set to arrive here, so she was a little excited. At first I was only going to let her sorta win and I was going to pick the next best person. Why? Because I was pretty sure winning by induction didn't count. But...

Get this, I was never induced. :) YEY! I woke up Friday morning in labor, and at 1:09pm my precious 9 pound 10.6 ounce baby boy was born. There is a more complete birth story to come (I actually already have it written out... I'm still trying to decide if it's best to post my daughter's first, since I never did that. But those are the basics.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement!! I don't know how much I'll be around while we settle (though I do have one or two posts already scheduled), but if you don't hear from me you can use your imagination as to what I'm doing with my days. Just hope some of it is sleeping. :)

Labels: As it happens..., Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 3:32 PM 4 Comments

Simplifying Sticker Time

I'm all about simplifying...

I'm also all about helping my kids help themselves (so I'm not needed for every single sticker)...

Way back when we were starting to play with stickers, I learned that the kids just can't always (read: usually can't) peel the stickers back off the sticker sheet by themselves. This means that I was having to be right there for every single sticker... getting it started for them so that they could peel it off "themselves". Let's just say this wasn't working for me. :)

Enter *brilliant* (read: formed out of desperation) idea. I peel the corner back on the sticker sheet and pull off all the "white" part... you know, the part that isn't the actual stickers. This makes it so that it's easy for the kids to peel off individual stickers... their little finger nails catch them a bit better.

Now, I know it's possible that everyone does this... but just in case (and since I'm looking for some things to pre-post for my "babymoon" [lightening the load of posting in these days of being overdue and having a new baby]) I'm sharing it anyway!

For those of you who aren't yet to the "stickers" stage... now you don't have to even think about it! ;)

Labels: Learning for Little Ones, Passing it On

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:03 AM 1 Comments

Well... I tried it again

... and it might or might not have worked. The first kid I tried to help said it stung when he applied it. We thought maybe it was because I used a less pure Aloe Vera (maybe with alcohol in it or something) or because he'd had it a while and had been scratching at it. Hmmm... maybe.

Then this week a lady My Beloved works with (and friend of ours) got it and said she was willing to try. So I mixed up another batch (they only last a week in the fridge) but used Aloe gel straight from the plant (we have one that is trying to live in our greenhouse). The report I got from My Beloved was that after 48 hours, she had gone on steroids to get rid of it.

I was so disappointed! I had drafted this post with that report and have sent an email out asking, "what am I doing wrong?" to someone who knows what she'd doing.

Another day later, I got a more complete story from My Beloved (because he got the more complete story from her). And maybe, just maybe, all hope is not lost on this one. Apparently, though she did end up needing the steroids, my little recipe did work. It cleared up the rash nicely (I'd love to actually talk to here and hear how exactly it worked). Unfortunately for her, she is so allergic to poison ivy, that it enters the blood and begins popping up all over her body in random spots.

So where does this leave me in my quest??? Ready to try it again I suppose! And way more encouraged than I was when I just thought it didn't work!

Labels: In our garden

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:06 AM 0 Comments

Not *Planning* on induction

... but things never do go exactly to plan, do they?

I had a prenatal appointment today and my blood pressure was high. They retested it after a little bit and it was down, but since I'm already overdue, my midwife said she'd rather not take the risk of preeclampsia. So... I'm officially scheduled for induction tomorrow morning, Friday, August 6th.

But... I'm also having some contractions today (more than I've been having), so I'm going to wait to award the winning title to our little game until I know whether today or tomorrow is the real day! :)

Labels: As it happens..., Pregnancy

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 2:46 PM 2 Comments

Millipede Habitat

We've been spending more time in our yard this past couple weeks. It's not natural for me to head outdoors, but I've been really trying to do it for the kids sake. Most days, especially when I'm tired or it's hot, I bring a folding chair out and sit in that while the kids run around (the heat and humidity doesn't bother them so much, and we go out while it's still shady!)

One of the things that has begun taking Tornado's attention and time is playing with the millipedes in our yard. We have had plenty in the house too... and he is my faithful "millipede remover" as I ask him calmly to "take it outside so that it can go home." When we're outside though, he just plays and plays with them. Holding them, unwinding them when they curl up. Sharing them with his sister. And collecting them in his yellow truck.


Today he made a bit of a habitat for a lucky group of millipedes he found crawling around in the grass. For those of you who picture millipedes as being 5 inches long and very troubling to be playing with... these are what we are talking about. Little one inch guys with lots of legs. Perfectly harmless... unless they're touching me. So far so good on that one!

Labels: As it happens..., Learning for Little Ones, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:17 AM 0 Comments

... and Counting (a little game)

Ok, I'm forty weeks and counting! (I'm the one counting!) Today is the official due date... which to me means today is the only day I *know* I won't be having baby, right?!?

My Beloved snapped this quick picture for you all this morning before leaving for work. I don't know if it does justice or not. Sunday morning at church about a half dozen people came up to me to inform me that I was "really low" and "had dropped" and it surely "wouldn't/couldn't be long now". I decided right then that they were cursing me to being overdue in some way. We'll see just how badly. :)

On the plus side, I slept better last night than I have in a LONG time! Weeks at least! And the cherry on top is that Tornado slept later than I did! No 6:15 wake up call for this tired mamma. I was actually still in bed, and asleep, when the alarm went off at 8! Woo Hoo! (We revel in small victories around here these days!)

So... in honor of this little one who is, apparently, not quite ready to join us, I'm thinking a little game is in order. I promise no prize (unless I think of something and come up with the time in postpardum... hahaha) but the winner can bask in the satisfaction of being the winner! (I'm a giver!)

The game: How late will I go???

Some information:

• Today is my official due date.
• Tornado was one week late, Sweet Pea was two days early.
• We are not planning on our doctor's standard induction at the "one week late" mark.
• We may let them induce at two weeks overdue, but I don't know.
  

The question to answer (in the comments): How overdue will this baby be? (how many days is good enough)

Tie breaker: Any other info you want to guess... weight, time born, length, etc.


So there you have it... give it a go. Entertain me. And no, I won't be offended by extra far guesses. Are you a lurker??? Encourage this tired mamma by jumping in and playing along! I'd love to hear from all of my readers. It makes me smile!

Labels: As it happens..., Pregnancy

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:48 AM 7 Comments

My Dream Diaper

Ok... so first you have to know that this is based entirely on recommendation and review reading. I have no personal knowledge of this product. I do however... want some!! (And if I get any, I'll let you know what I think!) My understanding, though, is that it works a lot like disposable as far as the putting on and off! I can work with a diaper like that! :)


The Fuzzibunz One Size All in one diaper, not necessarily in this color, but whatever is fine, is my choice of cloth diapers! I would love to have a small handful of these!

Ultimately, this...

Labels: Getting Ready for Baby

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 8:45 AM 1 Comments