The Olsen Family

November To Do's UPDATE

2011-11-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

Make Laundry Detergent - I now have everything I need except the Orange 5 Fold (Trader Joes does not sell essential Oils... I thought they were kinda like Market of Choice, which sells that kind of stuff, but they're NOT! Kinda like a ma and pop store.... I didn't like being in there... felt funny)
Make Dishwasher Detergent - DONE!!!!!

Here's my recipe: 1/2 C salt, 1 C Mule Borax, 1 C Baking Soda, 2 packages unsweetened Lemon KoolAid, Mix well, use 1-2 TB/load (we have good water in Oregon... so that's all I've been using)

The dishes are coming out nice and clean! And I love that there is no smell while they're washing. But the BEST thing about it is - When I pour water in a glass there aren't bubbles! Makes me think all the other detergent wasn't rinsing well and we'd been eating/drinking small quantites of it! Gross... I think I'll stick to making my own!

Sew 1 diaper / business day to sell (22) - hahaha This is my goal every month, and it never happens... right now I have 27 waiting to sell. I did make up a stack of inserts with my new serger though! I LOVE it... makes me want a new sewing machine, but that will have to wait until after I aquire an embroidery machine....

Some of my new diaper fabric is here and the rest of it has been shipped. I ordered some Eco Bamboo Lining - it's a semi-stay-dry fabric made from bamboo/cotton and backed with polyester. It is SO soft, I wish I had ordered more! I also got some bamboo terry for soakers. I'm going to sew up my "hours upon hours" worth of research and see how they fair. It really helps if you pay attention to the people who manufacture the fabrics and do what they say! I just hope the Eco Bamboo Lining holds up nicely! I only have enough for six!

Will be making bibs soon (maybe this evening if Trevor plays COD again).... went to get zippers today for the wet bags, but they weren't on sale so will have to do those another time.
Skirt for me - On hold until I find a better pattern. The material I picked up is kinda Autumny - so I cant wait too long!
Zip Up Vest in 2T for Kamrynn - going to try to copy one she already has. I got out some of her 2T clothes already... her 18mos PJ's were getting too small.

Longsleeved shirt in 2T for Kamrynn - not started

Going to use THIS Tutorial, have materials

Shirt for me - Found a shirt in my closet that I really like how it fits... constructing a pattern using the above tutorial.
Trevor a Travel Pillow - Not sure how to make this... he wants it to wrap around the seatbelt...

Kamrynn Unders - Decided not to make any more absorbent semi-waterproof undies for her because she's doing so well. Need to make 3 overnight trainers and some actual underwear.

Added:

Feliz Party Dress - The forup I participate in for the diapers has a group of ladies called "Hot Seamstress Mama's" who are doing a "Sew-Along" for this dress. They are INCREDIBLE!!! AND I LOVE THEM!!! So, I'm making Kamrynn a Christmas Feliz Part Dress. I want to get her pictures taken in it, and she can wear it for Christmas Dinners. I need to get going on it... most of the ladies are almost finished or finished with their dresses, and I want Kamrynn's pictures back in time to give out AT Christmas gatherings, so I need to get her in for her pictures! We got the pattern book and fabrics today. As soon as she's up from her nap, I'll get them washing so I'm not touching icky chemicals while I sew it!

PJ's - I'm going to make Kamrynn two pairs of PJ's using Butterick B4647 style B. We found some snowman flannel that we both agreed on. I really liked the frogs on ice skates but she kept shaking her head every time I showed it to her. She wanted to hold the snowman so I took that to mean she wanted it. The other pair will just be red flannel I got to make her a crib sheet, but never got around to. I have the pattern all cut out. I did the 1T size and lengthened it to the 2T size.

Soaping

2011-11-03T20:35:00.002-07:00

I've recently been having trouble with my laundry detergent rinsing completely during the wash cycle. So, I started researching how to make laundry detergent. It is REALLY SIMPLE:

Grate 1 Bar of Soap, add 1/2 C. Washing Soda (not baking soda, but you can easily turn baking soda into washing soda with your handy-dandy oven), and 1/2C. Mull Team Borax (not the toxic Borax, make sure it is MULE TEAM borax!). Mix well. Use 1 TB in HE machines and 2-3TB in regular machines.

It's low sudsing and rinses well.

The PROBLEM:
The recommended Bar Soaps all contain ingredients I dont want to wash diapers with (Ivory), some even contain ingredients I dont want touching our clothes (Fels-Naptha).

The SOLUTION:
Make my own Laundry Bar, grate it up and make my detergent!

NEW PROBLEM:
Making the Laundry Bar!

But I'm still going to try it!

Supplies
Digital Thermometer
Thick bucket or glass container/jar
Stainless Steel Pot
Mold & saran wrap or wax paper
Blanket
Digital Scale
Stiring Stick
Stick Blender (or arm muscle endurance)

Recipe
This is the recipe I'm going to use. It will make a small batch so I can see how it works. If it works well, I'll make a larger batch so I dont have to keep making it.

5 tsp Lye
1/2 C Water
1 C Lard
Orange 5 Fold (will have to look up how much to use)

I still need to gather all my ingredients and supplies... until then, I'll keep rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing, and rinsing.....

Soaping

2011-11-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

November To Do's

2011-11-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of all the things I want to do before the end of November! Not in any particular order.

Make Laundry Detergent

Requires making Laundry Bar Soap because I dont like the ingredients in Fels-Naptha

Still researching how to make it/supplies/ingredients

Make Dishwasher Detergent

1/2 C salt, 1 C Mule Borax, 1 C Baking Soda, 2 packages unsweetened Lemon KoolAid
Have everything but the KoolAid

Sew 1 diaper / business day to sell (22)

9 Cut out
need to order more fabric

3 bibs to sell
2 wetbags to sell

cut out, need zippers

Skirt for me

Have material, going to use THIS tutorial
Made a practice one, and I need more than 1.5 times hip measurement... going to use ALL remaining fabric.

Zip Up Vest in 2T for Kamrynn

Have materials, need pattern

Longsleeved shirt in 2T for Kamrynn

Going to use THIS Tutorial, have materials

Shirt for me

Have material, thinking about using tutorial above for me too!

Trevor a Travel Pillow
Finish 9 Remaining Pairs of Semi-Waterproof Absorbent Panties for Kamrynn, already cut out

3 Finished

Catcher's Diaper Company

2011-10-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

The diaper business is finally up and running. It's been a very slow process. I've done A LOT of research. There are so many regulations to conform to when selling children's products!

I have a Website, which has answers to some diapering FAQ's, diaper sewing supplies,a section for custom orders, and a link to my Etsy Shop. Most recently I started writing Blog posts!

Sewing diapers is a slow process. Kamrynn requires a great deal of attention, so I can only "work" while she is sleeping, this limits me to about 4 hours a day, minus time I spend doing dishes, laundry, cooking, groceries, etc., and if we go somewhere for the day I don't get anything done! My goal is five diapers a week, which I think has happened maybe once! November I'm starting fresh with my goal!

Happy diapering!

PS: Kamrynn is now in "Absorbent Panties," and only wet two pairs today, with some dribbles in the third pair! I'm SO excited for her!

Kamrynn Update: 1 Year!

2011-10-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

FIRE!

No, she didn't try to touch it, just looked at it!

Wondering why everyone was staring at her!

Sucking all the frosting off the top. (Cream Cheese Frosting)

yummy frosting!

What Kamrynn would look like as a man... ;)

(frosting mustache!)

At one year, Kamrynn weighed about 21lbs, I dont remember how long she was... that will teach me for writing this almost a month late! She was walking and we got her a first pair of "Walking Shoes." She has "Running Shoes" in the next size up for when she starts that! For now, I really like that she is walking. It is much easier to go out to the car because she can walk. And now, with her in a convertable carseat, I no longer have the bucket to put all my stuff in to carry to the car!

She still doesn't like confined to a shopping cart or stroller (tries to climb out, even strapped in), so I made a new baby carrier for her.... It is a Mei Tai and I LOVE it. Super comfy and she can ride on my back at the grocery store!

Kamrynn

waves Bye Bye and cries when Dada goes to work
has 8 teeth which she brushes with a tooth brush and water
goes potty on the big potty (we got tired of the Bjorn Little Potty, so we have an insert for the toilet) and waves bye bye when we flush it!
Loves Tacos, PBJ Sandwiches, LIME yogurt, Whole Grain Gold Fish, and All Natural Popcicles!
Helps unload the dishwasher by throwing the silverware on the ground!
Helps do the laundry by throwing the clean clothes I just folded on the ground! She also hands me the wet clothes from the washer so I can put them in the dryer (THAT is actually helpful, even though she only give me one article of clothing at a time!)
Loves going outside, dirt, leaves, grass, and water!
Tries to pick up small animals (dogs/cats) and is nice to them... no more pinching or pulling fur!
Likes to send email on the computer (mama translates)
Wakes up once or twice a night to potty, and has dry diapers all night and naps!
Signs "num nums" (to nurse), all done/no more, dog, potty, more. Working on Fish, Book, Mama, Dada, Grandmother, Grandfather, Cat, Banana, Eat, Hungry
Gives the sweetest little Kamrynn Hugs EVER!

Off to bed! Here are a few more pictues!

Reading a Birthday Book

Daddy's idea of putting the baby to bed....

Playing at the river

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

What is this stuff? I must taste!

Likes to ride in her new carseat! Sunshine Kids "Radian XTSL" One of the only carseats that will fit in my car (Ford Focus) Rear Facing. (We're doing Extended Rear Facing to the maximum of the carseat, and this seat has higher maximums than any other seat available in the US)

At the coast! Fishing Trip for our anniversary!

First Popsicle!

See my teeth! Gotta brush those pearly whites!

Kamrynn Update: 10 Months, Part 2

2011-08-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I forgot to write about all the things Kamrynn can do!

She can:

Find the correct hole in the "shape ball" for the shape in her hand. She tries to put the shape in, but cant get it lined up quite yet.
Stand up all by herself, with nothing to hang on to.
Squat down and pick up HEAVY objects and stand back up.
Kick the ball.
Go underwater with out sputtering when she comes back up.
Say: Mama, Dada, Papa, Nana, Babababab (whatever that means, but it is the favorite word), and Up (for Tub)
Find me if I hide from her (hide & go seek is a favorite game!)
Chew her food with her mouth closed!
Go up and down stairs safely (she slides down on her bottom with minimal help)
Follow simple directions
Go as much as 40 hours and only potty in her diaper 4 times (this has happend once, the day I finished 6 new diapers for her... she made me think I should have made Trainers instead of diapers because she's getting pretty good about going in the potty again, but the next day she only pottied in the potty twice and I had to clean out 3 poopy diapers... not my favorite chore!)
Sleep from 8:30-ish to 7:30-ish waking around 4 and 6 (huge improvement from 2 months ago)
Cruise the furniture a little
Walk hanging on to one finger
Climb out of our bed without falling (she rolls to her tummy and very, very, very, slowly slides off onto her feet)

That's all I can think of right now! More next month I'm sure... maybe even some walking!

Kamrynn Update: 10mos

2011-08-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

I dont usually write updates every month, but Kamrynn has mastered so many new things, I'd have too much to write at 12months!

Not sure on the weight or length, but I know she's close to 32" because we need a new carseat ASAP. We're dangerously close to the 1" mark! The carseat we wanted was the Safety 1st Complete Air. Same type as her infant seat (with the airbags for her noggin), but a Convertable. We will do extended Rear Facing, so we wanted a seat that has the tallest RF limit. This is THE seat. It's reasonably priced at just over $150, so we could eventually get one for each vehicle. Unfortunately, it does NOT fit in my car. Well, it does fit, but no one could drive or ride in the passenger seat! So, our next choice is the Britax something or other. I dont like how hard the location her head would be hitting in a crash is, but it has other safe aspects, like in a crash in lowers the center of gravity, and it is reinforced with steel rather than plastic. It is over $300, so we'd be switching it between the two cars. I'm not buying 2 $300 carseats!

Kamrynn has been keeping me busy! She knows quite a few signs, but still isn't "requesting" yet, she only signs after I sign asking if that is what she wants. She's also gotten really lazy with her signs. For example, "potty" has become shaking her hands up and down further and faster than "bye bye." "No More" or "All Done" is also the same sign. "More" is still clapping her hands...she's never put her fingertips together. She can sign "Dad" but not "Mom." Just today she kinda signed "banana," one we've been working on for over a week! Sometimes I just have to go through the list until I find the right one. I do think she understands language pretty well. She will sit down when asked, if she wants to. She understands and obeys when I tell her not to touch something, if she wants to, and until I look away. She knows what the bath is.

She got really fussy around 7pm one night. She didn't want to nurse, wasn't thirsty, didn't need changed or have to go potty. Finally I asked her if she was just ready for her bath. She took off at "head down" crawl speed towards the bathroom! (Kamrynn has two crawl speeds, Head Up, and Head Down. Head up is slow, Head Down is FAST!)

Not much new on the eating. We haven't tried any new foods.... We've had tacos a couple times and she takes bites out if mine. I hold it for her and she bites down and gives her head a little shake, effectively taking a "bite." She does the same thing when eating bananas now. She takes the biggest bites I've ever seen. Probably about the size Trevor takes! She manages to chew it all up and swallow without losing any, even though there's so much in there she cant keep her lips closed!

Ok, past my bedtime! Kamrynn has been grumpy the past few days and I need my sleep... The neighbor got a drumset and has been playing ALL DAY. I take that back. Not playing. Randomly beating on the drums! Cant hear it outside, only in our bedroom. One more day, and I'm going to go not-so-randomly beating on doors! ;)

G'Night!

Kamrynn Update: 9 Months!

2011-07-02T13:54:00.000-07:00

Time is flying! I cannot beleive Kamrynn is nine months already! She has grown and changed so much, so quickly! At nine months, she weighs 21 pounds and is 29.5" tall and has four teeth (two new ones on top, and two on the bottom).

New Top Teeth

Kamrynn loves to have a finger in each hand and RUN around the house. There is not walking for these feet... she moves them as fast as can be! She is also becoming quite the crawler... she not only crawls on flat surfaces, but over boxes I used to baracade her out of my sewing area, and on her daddy's new gun case. The gun case is her favorite. When laying on the ground, it sits about 6 inches off the ground, and she like to climb up and sit on top... usually falling off backwards and having Dada catch her. :) She also loves to climb up and down the stairs at Gama and Papa's house. I have a LONG video, when I get some spare time, I'll edit it down and post it.

New foods Kamrynn likes include, raspberries, watermelon, cheese, plain yogurt (w/blackberries), steak, stuffed mushrooms (she had already had mushrooms, but apparently they're better stuffed), triscuts, and scrambled eggs. She gobbles up almost everything I put in front of her!

Stuffed Mushroom

Cantelope - I have to cut bigger chunks now.....

Spaghetti - the all time favorite!

Kamrynn has been learning sign language since she was about 5 months old and is starting to sign. Currently, she can sign "milk," "more" (she claps her hands), and today signed "potty" correctly (she had just been shaking her hand, but today she put her thumb under her finger)! She didn't potty when I took her, she had already gone, but that's OK!

We are all finally starting to sleep better. Kamrynn only woke once at 3:30 last night. I changed her, offered the potty, then nursed and put her back in her bed wide awake. She woke me up, happily jabbering away, a little after seven. I was incredibly tired of being up every hour or so all night and up for the day at 4:30AM, SO, Kamrynn went on a schedule that includeds Plenty of sleep! The schedule starts at night and is as follows:

8:30pm - Bath time, Potty, lotion/massage, songs & PJ's, prayer, nursing until drowsy.
9pm - ASLEEP - she MUST be asleep by this time or I leave the room for 60 seconds come back and do more nursing until drowsy.
8AM - Wild Wake-up, Potty, Nurse- Anytime she wakes up before 8am we change diaper and nurse until drowsy, any time after 8am we throw open the curtains and act all excited that it is time to get up, potty and nurse. Then we have some breakfast and shower and go through a modified bed time routine getting ready for our nap.
10AM - Nap Time - Whatever time we get up for the day, she must be ASLEEP no more than two hours later for her morning nap.
NOON - Wild Wake-Up, potty, nurse - then we have lunch, then either have play time or we run erands.
3pm - Nap Time - no more than three hourse after wakeup from morning nap.
5pm - Wild Wake-up, potty, nurse, fix dinner/eat, nurse (for some reason, she likes to nurse before and after meals), then play time
5:30 - Optional Nap Time (If she didn't sleep for 2 hours in the morning and atleast 1.5 hours in the afternoon, she takes a 45 minute nap)

The schedule has been modified from "The Sleep Lady." The Sleep Lady has babies going to bed and getting up at 7pm and 7am. For Kamrynn's age, she should be getting 11-12hrs of sleep at night and taking one 2hr. nap and one 1.5hr. nap. Currently, Kamrynn is getting about 10.5hrs. at night and taking two 2hr. naps.

Here are some super cute pictures of my cutie!

Her "I'm gonna get you" face. :)

Up to no good.... she's knows she's not to touch the fan!

Fishing with Dada

Driving Papa's boat in the driveway! Cant wait for the lake!

Kamrynn Update: 8 months

2011-06-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Wrote this about 3 weeks ago.... meant to write more but Kamrynn has been keeping me too buys!

My sister has drawn it to my attention that I haven't posted anything on Kamrynn in almost two whole months! Well, here's what she has been up to (I'll post pictures later):

I'm guess she weights about 18lbs, and I'll have to measure her. I do know that she now fits reasonably well into her 12 month clothes and I actually got to go shopping for her, which is really fun, especially because now I get to dress her in clothes that aren't HOT PINK!

Kamrynn loves to eat. She slurps up spaghetti and screaches when I dont give her a refill fast enough.... New foods she likes are: Pad Thai, burritos, egg whites (even starting to eat them without ketchup), cottage cheese (although this has been limited), Pasta Salad, brocoli, mushrooms, French Toast (without the syrup Briana!), tangerines, blueberries, Kashi, Strawberries (more screaching when I dont give them to her fast enough)

Kamrynn Update: 6 Months

2011-04-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Back from the pediatrician yesterday. We just saw the Nurse Practitioner, usually we see the Physician's Assistant whom I really like. She holds Kamrynn and talks to her, and hugs on her and cuddles her. This woman didn't. Kamrynn didn't seem to care, until the actual doctor came in and double checked her ears...then she cried. I dont think she likes him! :( She's been pulling on her hears alot, so we wanted to make sure they weren't bothering her.... The NP said usually they dont find their ears until closer to 9 months but didn't say much when I said she'd been pulling at them since 3.5months. Maybe she just likes her ears better than her hands, which she only studied for a day!

Kamrynn has only gained a pound since the last appointment, dropping her down to the 60th percentile for weight (she was at th 87th I beleive). She weighed in at 16lbs 8.2oz, so she hasn't quite doubled her birth weight yet... something they told me she'd do around 3-4months, but she was way above average when she was born, so I didn't expect her to do that. Anyway, the NP said they dont worry about weight unless they're LOSING weight. I guess all baby's start to slow down now that they've become more mobile. She is 27.5inches long and still at the top of the growth chart for height, so it's not like she isn't growing....

Kamrynn is almost crawling. She can get up on her hands and knees all by herself, but tries to get on her hands and toes more often.

If she is sitting next to something, she can grab ahold of it and stand herself right up. The first time she did this was in her bassinet while we were in the shower. I peeked out of the curtain at her and she was on her way over the edge! Trevor jumped out real quick and layed her down... The bassinet went to the garage, where it will patiently wait for the next baby. She has also stood up in her crib several times... one time falling over and bonking her noggin.... she still has a brownish bruise.

Miss Kamrynn has decided she no longer has time to sit and nurse... so she eats for a couple minutes, then has to sit up and look around, then eat some more... I allow her to do this three times, then we're finished. We're also finished if she bites me. Thankfully she hasn't full on bit me, just little test bites, but I think she's getting the picture. She has two tiny little teeth that give puppy teeth a run for their money on the sharpness scale!

Can you see them? They're in a lot farther now. She showes them every time she smiles now!

The NP gave her the all clear to eat all foods now (except we're to wait annother month on the Green Beans since she had a reaction to them). Ofcourse, this means HEALTHY foods... no McDonalds! She has eaten: Avocado, Banana, Asparagus, Sweet Peppers (Red, Yellow & Orange), Chicken, Apple, Peas, Oatmeal, and Cream of Wheat. She's getting pretty good at picking up the flattend peas and putting them in her mouth, and she loves apple so much she'll eat 1/4 of one. She surprised us with Asparagus and ate nearly two whole sticks...leaving the stingy stuff behind of course!

She's also starting to get the hang of a sippy cup, but does best with just a regular cup... even holding it and getting a drink all by herself if there isn't too much water making it heavy!

Yellow Sweet Pepper - LIKE (Above) and Cream of Wheat - DISLIKE (Below)

She has become quite the Busy Body. She has to explore, touch and taste everything she sees! If she doesn't get to, so throws little tempertantrums. She got the picture she cant do it to me though. I was holding something, and wouldn't let her have it so she started screaming, kicking her feet, shaking her little fists and turned bright red. I set her down and left the room... she stopped instantly and I came back to a happy smiling faced little girl! She still give Trevor a hard time though... crying everytime he changes her diaper....even if he sings to her. Poor Daddy! But even he agrees, she is starting to become a lot of fun! We cant wait to see what the next 6 months brings! She has changed so much this past six months... it's going by so quickly!

Getting into the groceries!

Baby Led Solids

2011-03-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Kamrynn is 6 months old today! It seems lik forever since I've blogged!

Kamrynn has been learning to eat. Instead of learning to swallow solid foods, she has been learning to Chew before swallowing by feeding herself! She has been eating a variety of Fruits, Veggies and Grains: Avocado, Peas, Apples, Asparagus, Sweet Pepper, Mexican Squash, Carrots, Banana, Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal are what I can remember right now. She LOVES Apples and will eat nearly 1/4 of one - minus the peel of course!

We steam the slice until it is tender, leaving the peel on for "grip."

She also chowed right down on asparagus, eating almost 2 whole stalks, and choosing it over the Mexican Squash!

She isn't a fan of Cream of Wheat...

[Picture of awful cream of wheat face to be added when Blogger is working better]

I made up some guidelines for BLS especially for Kamrynn. These decisions are based on research and keeping her safe, both now and in the future....

• Kamrynn must be seated and properly restrained while eating. Either in a high chair or at the table being held. Do not leave her unsupervised.

• Offer “French Fry” size and shaped foods by placing them in her hand or in front of her. Do not “help” her by placing them in her mouth. Any item smaller than “french fry” that is round, such as grapes, must be “smooshed” or placed in the teether.

• She can better hold many foods if the peel is left on. Thoroughly wash all foods prior to cutting.

• All foods other than Avocado & Banana must be cooked to tender by baking or steaming (never microwaved) until Kamrynn has teeth.

• If a food not on the Approved list is offered, offer only one and let Kristin know. Kamrynn must eat it for 3-5 days to rule out allergy.

• Do not offer foods that have been in contact with plastics that are not BPA-Free or have ever been in the dishwasher or microwave (including BPA Free plastics - there are other chemicals that leach out into the foods).

• The following foods must be organic due to high pesticide content even after thorough washing: Peaches, Apples, Sweet Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Pears, Imported Grapes, Spinach, Lettuce, Potatoes, and commercially frozen fruits.

Foods that Kamrynn may not have at this time include:

Banned (until further notice)

Tap Water, Juice, Pop, Kool Aid, etc

Dairy Products

Honey

Citrus or Citrus Products

Tomato or Tomato Products

Nut Products

Meat, Poultry, Fish, Egg, Soy

Green Beans (possible allergy)

Commercially Canned Products

Products containing Dye, Sweeteners (including added sugar), BHT or other preservatives, MSG, added Sodium, microwaved foods

Strawberries

Beans

Broccoli

White Breads & Pastas

Sounds like Kamrynn is awake and then I'm off to bed! NIGHT!

YUM!

2011-03-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

The pediatrician recommended starting some solids at the 4 month appointment. We were to start with Avocado, then Green Beans, and Banana, for 5 days each prior to introducing the next food. Instead of doing commercially processed baby food, we're doing Baby Led Solids. Baby Led Solids means we go at Kamrynn's pace, and she eats the same foods that we are eating, but Kamrynn sized portions. We do not feed her, she feeds herself. Anything she cant put in her mouth on her own, she isn't ready to eat. We make it easier for her by offering food that is "french fry" size and shape. However, we do not eat very infant friendly foods, so I wanted to be gentle on her system, and give her the "easier" foods for her tummy at first.

Here are some pictures:

That is her pig. We played in the highchair to become friends with it for about a week before we started. Even though she has become friends with her carseat and no longer cries as soon as we put her in it, she wasn't friends with her high chair.

Happy after smearing avocado everywhere. All over the high chair, her belly button and even up her nose! She seems to love Avocado!

The green beans didn't go well, we had a rash later that night, so we're skipping them and moved on to banana. She's not sure what to think of banana. Avocado is still the favorite. After banana, we tried a bag of frozen peas to help the painful teething process:

Bag of Peas Teether from Auntie Nanners!

A New Adventure in the Works

2011-01-26T01:06:00.000-08:00

I should be in bed. Kamrynn is sleeping and I should be too. The only time I can get anything done is when she is sleeping though and I wanted to get a website somewhat designed. Here is what I have so far:

http://catchersdiaperco.weebly.com/

Once we get it going a little bit more, we'll get a better website with a more professional shopping cart than what weebly offers.

We are a Business according to the federal and state governements. We are approved to sell FuzziBunz, Happy Heinys, California Baby and Charlie's Soap products. California Baby as a HUGE minimum first order of nearly $1000 so we wont be carying any of their products any time soon! It's going to be a while on the others too. After going to other online CD stores and adding quantities of diapers to a fake shopping cart to see how many of what I should carry in our store, I discovered that most stores have 30-100 of EACH COLOR in stock. Our $400 we scrounged together will barely get us 100 diapers, much less that number in each color!

We have decided to only sell my Perfect Diaper (whenever it gets perfected) and some wipes and see how those do before ordering diapers (unless someone wants to let me know exactly what they want and I'll order them for them!). : )

Ok, I'm off to call Trevor to tell him good night (he's working all night) and then to bed for some much needed sleep!

Good Night!

A New Adventure

2011-01-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

Kamrynn is finally napping, and I should be folding laundry and cleaning out the closet, but I need to get some thoughts down:

After trying several different types of diapers, I decided I wasn't going to pay $20 a diaper for something I didn't TOTALLY LOVE, and ordered about $35 in fabric to sew my own cloth diapers. I can handle a sewing machine, making quilts is super easy, but patterns are lost on me... zippers too now that I think about it. (Paula - that woombie I'm making for you might take several tries!) I decided I would design the Perfect Diaper, and sell it because it would be better than all the other dipers out there and everyone would want it. It would have velcro closures, be super easy to wash, not need stuffed, contain leaks and blowouts, keep her bottom dry, be trim, and inexpensive. I've made two so far. The first one was actually just a repair of one of the cheapies I bought that failed. The second one the leg holes are too big and did not contain poo. :( We even had a name for our diapers - Catchers. Trevor wanted them to be named Poo Catchers and our logo be a baseball mitt with a pile of poo in it. I figured out if I could sew one per hour and sell them for about $12 each I'd make just under minimum wage for our state. Could be worse...I could also have to pay for a sitter! Six dollars an hour to sew diapers and take care of my kid. Sounded good to me.

Unfortunately, it takes me an entire day to make one diaper. Yes. One. I did not realize exactly how much time is actually spent taking care of Kamrynn. So, scratch that idea.

Fast forward about 5 weeks:

Still thinking and wanting to create the Perfect Diaper. I finally have a pattern that I'm hoping will work. Waiting for some velcro fabric I ordered to get here so I can finish it.

As I was drafting my pattern, I was still thinking about selling diapers... and how expensive they are and that Kamrynn is going to be needing Mediums soon and it sure does take a long time for me to sew them and how can I get more diapers for less money. My solution: Wholesale! I sold Mary Kay for a while, and know there is a 50% mark up so I figure there's atleast a 20% markup on diapers. I talked to Trevor about it and we're currently looking into opening an online baby store. I know there are lots of those out there, but ours will be better.

We're going to start small. We have $400 to invest. I know it's not much, but I think it will be enough. I found a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) webhosting/eCommerce place that is reasonable, have emails in to Fuzzi Bunz, BumGenius and GroVia and have a list of other companies to talk to. Once I know how much the mark-up is, I can do the math and see if our $400 is going to be enough to get this started and if this is even going to be worth while on such a small scale. We'll write up a business plan, purchase a federal business number, open a PayPal business account, order the diapers, pick up some flat rate shipping boxes, set up the website, and wait for the first order to come in.

I'm still going to design the Perfect Diaper. Kamrynn may be the only baby who will wear the Perfect Diaper, but it WILL exist. ;)

OK, off to the laundry and closet!

Excess Lipase

2011-01-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

I pumped excess milk as I had it and began to build a small freezer stash so if I wanted to go somewhere for the day and leave Kamrynn with daddy, grandparents, or sitter, I could. The maximum ammount of time it is safe to store breastmilk in a standard kitchen freezer is 4 months. Our freezer's gasket doesn't completely seal, but still keeps ice cream hard, so I didn't feel comfortable letting the milk go much longer than 3 months.

I thawed a pouch of milk in a sink of cool water and poured it into a bottle. I smelled it and thought it smelled funny and had Trevor smell it. He thought it smelled funny also, so I dumped it out and nursed her, thinking it was bad and not wanting to mess with unthawing a second pouch.

The next pouch was the same.

The third pouch of milk was barely 2 months old, so thinking I was safe giving it to her, I proceeded to thaw, put in a bottle, warm and sat down with Kamrynn in my arms. Having never tasted breastmilk before, I tasted what I had tested for temperature on my wrist. It tasted gross! Kinda rubbery/plastic-ish. Trevor had tasted fresh breastmilk a few weeks after Kamrynn was born so I had him taste it to ensure THAT gross taste was what it was SUPPOSED to taste like. NO! He made a face, rubbed at his tongue with his shirt and finally brushed his teeth. I nursed Kamrynn. And did some research.

Certaintly the milk hadn't gone bad. I had done everything I was supposed to do to store it, and it was well within the storage time frame. I soon learned that spoiled breastmilk will taste and smell sour - similar to cows milk. This was not a sour taste or smell. After more research I determined I have Excess Lipase. You can read about it here.

The milk is not bad, nor will it harm Kamrynn. It is just as good for her as fresh milk. If she will drink it, it is fine to give her. If she wont, I'll consider donating it - where it will be mixed with many other mother's milk and diminish the taste. I know I wouldn't drink it. I haven't decided whether I'm going to try it with Kamrynn or just donate it. I have about 50oz frozen (most milk banks require a minimum amount of 150oz.).

I now know why I haven't been hired for any of the jobs I've applied for. If I worked, I would have to pump and scald the milk to prevent it from changing. Scalding ruins some of the good properties of the milk... still better than formula, but not as good as fresh. The milk has to be immediately scalded and frozen, something that is unlikely that I would be able to do in a classroom (although most science classrooms have hot plates, they dont usually have a freezer). My number one job is taking care of Kamrynn to the best of my abilities. I guess the answer to my prayers for a paying job is, "No."

So, here's to being a Stay at Home Mom!

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-04T10:49:00.000-08:00

I figure if I make a ton of Resolutions, I should be able to keep atleast one, right? Well, here they are:

Not make Spaghetti more than once per week (three nights a week was getting a little much).
Eat a healthy diet according to the food pyramid.
Drink two (or more) tall glasses of water each day.'
Keep the inside of my car clean.
Keep the living room picked up (been doing good with the bathroom and kitchen, but the living room is a mess).
Remember to return any pop bottles when I go to the grocery store.
Buy a house.
Find a good church and go.
Think/Talk/Be positive.
Exercise 2-3 times a week.
Get a Job.
Potty Learn Kamrynn.

A Day at Our House

2011-01-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've had many people express shock that Kamrynn sleeps through the night. I really dont think it is anything we're doing, God just blessed us with a great little girl! Anyway, here's what our day looks like:

8am - Kamrynn usually wakes around eight (occasionally she wakes around six to eat, and after feeding and changing, we reswaddle and place her back in her bed where she falls asleep very quickly), ready for the day! I feed her, change her diaper and dress her. Then I put her back in her bed, and wheel the whole thing into the bathroom where I shower. She may or may not fuss, but if she does I just talk to her or we sing Old McDonald, and she is happy. I try to eat some breakfast. Kamrynn is usually happy in the mornings as long as you're interacting with her.

11am - Some time between ten and eleven, she becomes unpleasant and needs a nap. Sometimes we really have to work at it to get her to sleep.

Noon - Wakes from nap to eat some lunch. Goes back to sleep very easily.

3pm - Wakes to eat and is happy for several more hours.

5pm - Becomes unpleasant if not interacting with her.

6pm - Dinner Time

7pm - nap

9pm - After the feeding closest to 9pm we start our bedtime routine. We eat, take and play in the bath, put PJ's on, chatter for about 20 minutes. As soon as we become unpleasant, we swaddle and place her in her bed. She normally falls asleep within 10 minues without fussing.

If she stirs in the night enough to wake me up, I gently rest my hand on her or jiggle her until she stops moving about. If I dont catch her in time and she comes unswaddled, I reswaddle her.

I let her fuss, but I dont let her cry. I see no point in leaving her to cry all alone in her bed. It is not her fault we dont undersand what she is trying to tell us... so I hold her and try to comfort her. I change positions I'm holding her until something works. Sometimes I can just talk her out of crying by smileing really big and talking super happy to her.

Kamrynn is a great baby!

First Swim Meet (Willamette Alumni Meet) - and she slept through it!

Kamrynn's Birth

2010-12-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

The last few months of my pregnancy, Braxton Hicks Contractions were a regular occurrence. My abdomen would tighten for about a minute. Most of these occurred while I was doing something, and would subside if I stopped doing whatever I had been doing. I also had several each night.

At 40 weeks 4 days, on Monday, September 27th, I woke with slightly uncomfortable Braxton Hicks’. I got out of bed around 4:30 for my second bathroom trip of the morning. Before I was able to fall back to sleep I had an “upset tummy” feeling in my throat, then the baby started moving around like crazy, my back started aching and my whole tummy got tight and achy. This continued every 20-25 minutes. They progressively got closer together, and eventually I started timing them with the computer. They were randomly anywhere between 35 to 60 seconds long and 4 to 8.5 minutes apart. They never got consistent or developed any sort of pattern, and I didn’t feel any after 3:30pm. For dinner, I loaded the spaghetti up with basil. We went for a long walk. I swung on the swings at the park. We made love. All things to help get labor started!

Tuesday, September 28th, I got out of bed at 2:03 am for my usual trip to the bathroom. As I stood up my legs collapsed beneath me and I had horrible back and hip pain. Trevor helped me up off the floor, and held me up until the pain stopped because I could not move. Eventually I was able to make it to the bathroom where I noticed I was losing my mucous plug and I knew I was in labor. I had several more contractions in the bathroom, hoping my water would break over the toilet (with such intense contractions, I thought the baby would be coming quick!). No such luck. Eventually I went back to bed, but lying down was too uncomfortable. Trevor filled the bath tub up and I sat in it sideways and pushed my back against the side of the tub during contractions. Nothing seemed to help. I tried to relax, but the contractions felt the same as when I was tense. While I sat in the tub, adding hot water, Trevor got the living room ready and set up and began filling the pool. I realized me adding hot water to the bath tub was taking hot water away from the pool and finally got out of the tub and went and sat in the pool. I requested all hot water and directed it at my back during contractions. The sting from the hot water helped me focus on my skin rather than the back and hip pain. All too soon, there wasn’t enough hot water and we had to wait for the hot water heater to catch up. I would just fall asleep only to be woke up by another contraction.

Around 6am Trevor told me to “shush” as he was afraid the neighbors would hear and call the cops because he was murdering me! HAHA! I didn’t find it funny at the time, though, and very sternly told him NOT to tell me to Shush! Around 8 am, Trevor decided he couldn’t take watching me be in so much pain and started talking about going to the hospital for an epidural. A couple weeks earlier, I had made him promise not to let me go to the hospital because it hurt, and here he was encouraging me to go because he couldn’t do it. At this point I began to seriously consider it with every contraction, then after it was over I was fine and didn’t want to go. Around 8:30 we left. Traffic was horrible and we tried to take the back roads. It took us almost an hour to get there.

Around 11:30 I finally got the epidural. It was SO much better. I could still feel the contractions and a mild ache, but nothing like before. Unfortunately, with an epidural you cannot eat or drink and I was STARVING and incredibly thirsty. I chowed down on the ice chips and still managed to get sick several times. I knew by going to the hospital, I would no longer have a birth free of interventions.

The first slide down that slippery slope was the epidural. There are numerous risks involved with getting an epidural, but with the pain I was feeling with each contraction, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was repeatedly checked for dilation and my bladder emptied, greatly increasing my risk for infection. Late in the evening the doctor started talking about c-sections. When we first met her, she said she only does them as a very last resort and to not worry about it. Then all of a sudden she decided that was a possibility. One of the risks associated with an epidural is a prolonged labor. The longer you are in labor, the more tired your uterus becomes. A tired uterus cannot effectively push a baby out, and is more likely to hemorrhage. I agreed to have my water broke in hopes of bringing the baby down. Thankfully, there was no cord prolapse, a risk involved with artificially rupturing the membranes. There was still no change and we decided to allow the smallest dose of Pitocin (another risk involved with epidurals). Along with the Pitocin comes an internal monitor to make sure my uterus is responding to the Pitocin. Not long after, the doctor told me I had a fever (in Celsius) and recommended antibiotics as it was likely the baby also had an infection. - - I did not know at the time that fever is a side effect of the epidural as it diminishes my body’s ability to sweat, making it harder to dissipate excess heat. - - I allowed the antibiotics and shortly after I felt the baby move and felt pressure to push.

I was asked if I had thought about any pushing positions and I told them I had planned to just go with what felt right. I pushed for two hours, on my back – the most convenient position for the doctor. Several times I asked to sit up and was ignored. The baby kept pushing its feet up over my ribs each time I pushed. The doctor thought this meant it was stuck and had Trevor push up on my back during contractions. They put a mirror up, and finally I was able to see the baby’s head. Ever so slowly we watched the baby get closer and closer.

Finally the head was out at the end of a three push contraction. I wanted to push the body out with the next contraction, but the doctor pulled her from me. I’m still irritated with the doctor over this. She was laid on my chest, and rubbed with the roughest receiving blanket I have ever felt. As she was handed to me, Trevor had seen that she was a girl and was speechless with disbelief. We were told her APGARS were 9 and 9 (Excellent). She was born at 10:03pm. I held her and told her it was ok, that she didn’t have to cry. We told her we loved her. Trevor cut the cord. The placenta came out in a big goosh, startling me. I received six stitches. She cried the entire time. Finally her daddy took her and calmed her down. Everything was so surreal and was happening so fast. She was finally here.

A nurse wiped her down, weighed and measured her, swaddled her and put a hat on. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. She met her grandparents and aunt. After her visitors left, she was given a bath while I was helped to the restroom. I got sick, felt dizzy and my vision went wacko on me and I had to go back in the bed and lay flat. Her daddy supervised her first bath. Then she went to the NICU for half an hour with daddy trailing behind to have blood drawn for a culture (to find out if she had an infection), and have an IV put in and start antibiotics. When she finally came back I was able to sit up without feeling faint and we were moved to our postpartum room.

Trevor had come down with a cold, and went home after we were settled to try to get some sleep. It was after 3am. We had been up for over 24 hours. Something Trevor is used to, but not me. I was incredibly tired and but wide awake at the same time. I was afraid to hold her for fear of falling asleep and dropping her, so she spent the night alone in the bassinet next to my bed. We were disturbed several times for IV flushes and blood pressure checks, and I got almost zero sleep. Finally around 8am I was told how to order food.

A new OB came in, told me I had not had a fever and took me off the antibiotics and released me to go home. We had to wait for the pediatrician to come in. She decided that I had had a fever and refused to release the baby until the culture came back showing no infection. This irritated me. If I had indeed had a fever that indicated infection, I would not have been taken off my antibiotics. Infections in hospitals are very serious. The pediatrician convinced me that she was very bruised up and needed a Vitamin K injection. I requested Oral Vitamin K, but she was still given the injection as the pediatrician was convinced that the oral version doesn’t work. Finally I talked her into letting us move to pediatrics, and go home the next morning. After the pediatrician left, a nurse came in and I asked her if she thought the baby was bruised. She didn’t think so at all. This irritated me further. We were finally released to move to pediatrics at 8 that night. We gave her a first name right before we were moved - Kamrynn. In pediatrics, Kamrynn could receive her un-needed antibiotics in-room rather than being taken to the NICU.

We were finally released at noon the following day after Kamrynn’s last round of antibiotics and the culture came back negative for infection. She had never needed the antibiotics. Trevor dressed Kamrynn and loaded her in her car seat and we finally went home. That evening we gave her a middle name - Kay. Her daddy called the hospital to let them know her name and make it official.

Kamrynn is growing like a weed. She weighed over her birth weight at her one week check up. Breastfeeding is now going well, she has never had any formula – which is a huge goal for me through the first year. She sleeps well at night. Tolerates traveling, sleeping away from home, and having a lot of people hold her, like a champ. She got through her first cold, at two weeks, without any medication. At her two month check-up, she weighed 12 pounds ½ ounce (77th percentile) and was 24 ¼ inches long (97th percentile). After much consideration, we declined the two month shots and are dedicated to keeping her away from sick people for the first two years of her life (at which time she is no more at risk than those who are vaccinated).

Kamrynn is now 2 ½ months old, and this is the first time I have been able to reflect on her birth without crying. . I was so insistent I was not going to the hospital unless it was an emergency, that I did not fully understand the risks associated with each intervention, and was not able to make fully informed decisions… I could only proceed based on what the doctors were telling me. I did not fully trust doctors before this experience, and they did nothing to improve that. I must trust in myself and my ability to make decisions. I have decided I need to learn from this experience so I can better stand up for the next baby if we should be so blessed. I pray that future children will have a more peaceful entrance into this world.

Trevor tickling my feet. Lucky for him I couldn't feel it!

Happy Daddy!

She's Perfect.

Stop Bothering Me!

0-6 Weeks

2010-11-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

Love the non-pink outift! There just aren't enough girly outfits that aren't pink!

She loves the brown side of this blanket!

Ready to go!

~ Daddy's favorite picture~

She was screaming while I was trying to make dinner, so I turned on the vacuum. I think she was mad at it for making her stop crying! :)

"Daddy has the NumNums now???? I'm so confused!" She actually took the bottle from him with me in the room! Good Job Kamrynn!!!

First smile caught on camera!

She likes her showers...I think better than the baths!

Starting early on the sailing!

I'm almost always happy in the mornings!

Trick or Treat? Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat!

Shooting the Bad Guys with Daddy!

Help me win some free diapers!!!!

2010-11-09T14:46:00.001-08:00

Starved Fish

2010-10-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

I had several things on my To Do list for yesterday. I needed to pay bills and get them in the mail, wash the diapers, fold the ever growing pile of clean clothes (I manage to do the laundry with one hand, but folding is annother story), buy groceries, return some things to Target, Feed Trevor's Fish, Write Thank You Notes, Figure out health insurance for Kamrynn, and get gas for Daddy. I had no help in any of this as daddy was at work.

Here is what happend instead: I ate a sandwich while Kamrynn screamed in her swing. Fed Kamrynn, then changed her, then changed her a second time because she wasn't finished when I changed her the first time, put her in her carseat, went to the bathroom while she screamed some more in her carseat, lugged the carseat around the house to keep her quiet while I hunted down my grocery list...found the grocery list in my coat pocket! Installed the carseat in the 4-runner without the base while Kamrynn screamed at the top of her lungs...I was just about to take her out when she finally calmed down (I was beginning to think she was being pinched or something). Finally we were off. We arrive at Target, and rather than dealing with installing the carseat after we were finished, I just took Kamrynn out. That's when I discovered she had been crying because she had a poopy diaper. We changed the diaper in the back of the 4-runner... slanted leather seats are not conducive to diaper changes! We exchanged our items for a baby carier, and off to get the Car from Trevor's work to go put gas in it. Paid $3.15 for gas, and Kamrynn cried every time the car stopped moving. Took the car back to Trevor and Kamrynn decided she was hungry. She took her sweet time eating (falling asleep almost instantly)and even longer burping (we got one small burp out of her). I changed annother dirty diaper, but got smart this time and opened the very back of the 4-runner where it is flat. While putting her in her seat, she spit up, and I took her out and wipped her off... I just had a spare onsie and didn't want her legs to get cold getting groceries in the carrier so I left her in a stinky outfit. Finally we were off to get groceries!

Getting groceries was the easiest part of the entire trip! Kamrynn LOVES the carrier and fell asleep almost as soon as I put her in it. She cooed a couple times, but other than that I did not hear a peep out of her! I did find it too difficult to carry the groceries inside with her and she screamed in her swing every time I went outside to get annother bag. Thankfully daddy came home and helped with the last one!

Kamrynn ate dinner while we ate a pizza, and actually went to bed at a decent time last night. The fish starved. The rest of my list has been added to today's To Do list, and now Kamrynn is hungry. Bye for now!

BIRTHDAY

2010-09-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

KAMRYNN KAY

8lbs 7oz, 21" long

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 @ 10:03pm

Getting ready to go home!

I love my daddy....

What we did once we got home:

Babies

2010-09-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

We're at 40+1weeks today! One week from today and half of US babies have been born by then (those who are healthy, and mother's aren't induced by impatient doctors). One week, six days from today, and half of babies world wide have been born by then. Three weeks from today and the vast majority of all first, singleton, babies have been born by then (not sure if that is world wide, or just for the US). I really thought our baby would have been here shortly after it was safe for her to come out at 37 weeks (considering she has a very impatient father who wants everything NOW), but it looks like that's not going to happen.

I have only two things left to do before I am as ready for her as I'm going to be.... I need to steralize the receiving blankets, and clean out the car and figure out how to get the carseat installed so Trevor cant come along and move it more than the 2" it is allowed to move! Oh, and I also need to pick the house up once more.... It stays clean all four days that Trevor works, but for some reason, by Thursday nights it is a disaster! I wonder why that is.... :)

We watched the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD the other day. Pretty much, the steps to quieting a baby are: 1)Swaddle 2)On the side 3) Jiggle 4)Shhhhhhhhhhhh 5) Uh oh...I forgot! Guess I'll have to look that one up! I also looked into the Dunstan Baby Language. Apparently babies tell us exactly what they need when they cry: A hungry cry sounds like NEH; Tired is OWH; needing to burp is EH; having gas is EAIRH; and just uncomfy is HEH. I am beginning to be able to distingush between some of them when I listen to them on YouTube, so hopefully I'll be able to tell what the baby needs without too much frustration! Trevor thinks our baby wont make the same noises, but we'll see!

Here's some pictures for you!

Sucking my tummy in! Cant do that for very long so Trevor has to be quick taking the picture!

Email

2010-09-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to checking my email this evening. I had one email and a bunch of junk and some forwards. The email was from my sister telling me how bored she is and that I need to update daily what the baby has been up to. Soooooo.......

Yesterday:
We have a 20+ year old Full sized bed that we've been sleeping on and will continue to until we've purchased a house. We've already picked out the bed we'll be getting. It cost $3000. Quite a sizeable chunk of money. Money we'd like in our savings account until after the purchase of a house and anticipated repairs are made. So, until then, we squish ourselves. I've been sleeping ON TOP of pillows. I call it my belly nest. :) Some nights, if I dont get the pillows situated quite right, I toss and turn all night and wake up with a sore upper back. This happend one too many times and I decided we were getting a mattress topper. I thought I remembered Bed, Bath & Beyond having Temperpedic mattress toppers for about $100. Having just moved to the city, we dont know where one is, so we punch it into the handy dandy GPS. There are two that come up. One is 8 miles (about 30 minutes) and the other is 180 miles away. We select the 8 mile one and off we go. The highway is backed up, and we end up taking side streets. Finally arriving at our destination, we go in search of the bedding section. Of course, we walk the wrong way around the store! The mattress toppers are Therapedic and cost abou $200 for a FULL. The TWINS are cheaper though... only $180! I decide I'll just do a better job arranging my belly nest every night.... Knowing my luck, we'd buy the $200 topper, get it home and on the bed and have the baby before we even crawled in for the night! How many more nights will she stay in there now? Well, I'm afraid several more weeks! Grrr....

Yesterday was the third Thursday of the month, and there was supposed to be a Carseat Inspection at the Jeep dealership. I found them off a national website, searched by state and city. We find the dealership, and apparently they haven't done them in years...and then they were put on by the police department. We're told to just go to a firestation. I'm skeptical of this, as Trevor is a firefighter and is not certified to inspect carseats, nor does he know any who are! So, we have a baby comming soon, and between the two of us cant seem to get it snuggly installed in my car. I thought I had it installed, but when Trevor tested it, it moved around alot more than 2 inches! So much for LATCH! Or maybe Trevor is just too strong for our own sanity? :)

Baby: On to the more interesting information (notice I saved this for last so you'd have to read about our adventures from yesterday?). Baby was very active yesterday, and is taking a rest today. She is still in LOP, and actually had herself turned completely Posterior the other day. She needs to be Anterior for birth. I have had no signs or symptoms that she'll be born anytime in the next two weeks, unless you want to count our uninstalled carseat and that the water will be shut off for most of the day Tuesday while the city repairs the water main. If I were betting, I think I'd have to agree with Trevor's guess of when the baby will be born. Tuesday. While we have no water to fill the pool. While we have no water to bathe. While we have no water to do laundry. She'll either come Tuesday. While we have NO WATER! Or in three weeks. :(

Baby Statistics

2010-09-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

If you would like to participate in the baby game, please follow this link: http://www.expectnet.com/games/NewBaby1

If it does not work, you can copy and paste it into your browser. Our baby game is: Newbaby1

Please do this soon, as I am hoping to be able to lock the game sometime in the near future... I'm sooooooo ready for this baby to be here!

2010-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Anniversary Celebration: We celebrated our anniversary yesterday. I cant believe it has been a year already! We spent the majority of our honeymoon in Cannon Beach. We stayed at this little Inn for several days and fell IN LOVE with the town. I would love to have a home there, right on the beach so I could look out and see the ocean every day, as well as catch the probably not so occasional storm! Back to the anniversary: Trevor had to work on our actual anniversary, so we had decided to celebrate Tuesday instead (Trevor's 1st of three days off). Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain. As was Wednesdays. But NOT Thursday! So off we went to Cannon Beach... we did get rained on on the way over, but not too much. The beach was cloudy and warm. We walked all the way down to the most photographed rock (in probably all of the world!), on the beach, then back through town after we enjoyed a nice lunch/dinner at Doogers (we had eaten here while on our honeymoon - they even seated us in the same seat!). Trevor had the Admirals Platter - a sort of seafood sampler, and I had the Alfredo Linguine with Shrimp. Really Yummy!

Sweet Dreams, Little One: During one of the downpours we experienced on Tuesday, Trevor decided it was time to put the bassinet together. Please excuse the mess in the background... as you can see I still have unpacking to do!

Here is the finished product in it's new home. Still waiting for the changing pad to arrive, which will go on top of the dresser.

The Bump: 38 Weeks - Come out soon please!

Virtual Labor

2010-09-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

I was just browsing around on the internet and found Virtual Labor. I did it several times, each time was different. It was pretty interesting to see the effects of the choices I made. Hopefully I'll make good choices in Real Labor too!

I've also included a link to the right under "Fun and Games."

So Much To Do!

2010-09-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Bump
Alright... I thought I'd post the bump pictures first because I know that's what you've all been waiting for! haha

Been feeling uncomfy for the last couple of weeks or so, but I still don't feel like it is time yet... I feel like my tummy should feel huge, and even though it looks like it...it doesn't feel like it.

To Do before Baby

Finish Unpacking House
Order Emergency Birth Supplies

Cord Clamps
DeLee Suction
Herbs

Shepherds Purse Tincture
Angelica Tincture
Goldenseal Capsules
Peppermint Oil
Postnatal Sitz Bath

Steralize Birth Supplies (done in the oven - similar to an Autoclave)
Swap Washingmachines (the one in our new apartment has been leaving rust stains on the white clothes and doesn't do a very good job, so we brought up our washer and will use it)
Set up the Baby Area

Put bassinett together (Trevor's Job)
Move Dresser

Stock up on easy to fix meals
Wash cloth diapers (requires me to purchase diaper safe laundry detergent)
Find the connector to hook the hose up to the sink to fill the pool
Purchase extra batteries
Keep cell phones and camera batteries charged
Clean the Bathroom :(

I'm sure there is much, much more I still need to do, but that's all I can think of for now! Better get busy!

We made it!

2010-09-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

The baby can come anytime now! It is safe. She will be able to breath all by herself without assistance! Whan an accomplishment for her! I'm hoping she comes sooner rather than later... Trevor is taking time off starting Oct. 1st, and we really dont want him sitting home with no baby! He had a chat with her this morning and told her to come out today! I told her to stay in a little longer because I have a very messy house (we cleaned out the garage and brought everything inside that needed to be...I just have to finish unpacking it all), I need to find the connector to fill the birth pool, and we have some tinctures to get yet (Trevor's only hesitation about a home birth was that he wouldn't have access to his drugs...so I did some research and found some herbs that will do the same things as his drugs will do...stop excessive bleeding, etc.). Last night I had lots of Braxton Hicks... four of them in about twenty minutes, then the peetered out and this morning I'm still having them once in a while.... So I think we're getting close!!! I'm guessing three weeks. She is still up pretty high, needs to rotate a little to the right as she is still in LOP position.

Today we are going to pick out a birthday outfit for her. I have an outfit that, if it fits (it is for up to 3 months), will work really nice if SHE is actually a HE. :) But we dont have anything that looks like girl. And since Trevor is being so agreeable today (he put a hualt to my baby clothes buying about 3 weeks ago), I figured today is as good a day as any. Maybe I can talk him into a back up boy outfit in a smaller size!

I'll update tomorrow with some bump pictures! Have a great day!

Being Productive

2010-08-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

We got back late last night from Trevor's Family's Reunion, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get up when Trevor did or not. But, when his alarm went off at 6:06am (I know, weird time!), I was hungry. So, out of bed, and into the kitchen I went. I fixed Trevor his lunch while breakfast was cooking, then after he left, I sat down at my computer to get some baby stuff ordered. This was my top priority for the day, as it is almost time when she could arrive and be OK, and all I have is the carseat, diapers, and some clothes.

I proceeded to check my email, then facebook, then my blog and my email once more (for some reason I have to do these things, in that order, before I can get anything done). This took about 45 minutes as I had some emails I responded to, and a bunch of junk mail to mark as spam! Then it was off to the shower with me... I know.... I sat at the computer to order baby stuff, and what do I end up doing.... Anyway, in the process of dressing for the day, I realized I didn't have any clothes to wear, so I donned some sweat pants and began sorting laundry, thinking that multitasking was good and I could order the baby stuff while the clothes washed.

The third load is in the wash now, and I successfully contained myself to the computer chair and have ordered the Breast Pump, Nursing Pads (these supposedly really cool ones called Lily Padz, they have great reviews, so we'll see how they work out!), some nipple cream (just-in-case), as well as the Co-Sleeper. The Co-Sleeper is similar to a bassinet, but it has a side that folds down to provide easy access to the baby without getting out of bed... meaning I get to sleep more! She'll stay in it up to 23lbs or whenever she can pull herself up...then will move to a crib. It is also on wheels so I can wheel her around without disturbing her while I get things done (ie: shower, make food, etc.). AND I almost forgot about the scale I ordered. It is digital and acurate to 1/2 an ounce! I figure Trevor will get good use out of it weighing his fish he catches (AFTER we use it to weigh the baby of course!). ;) Remaining items to get are the Snap N Go: a stroller frame so we dont have to lug around a regular stroller in the back of the car (we'll save the regular one for walks), changing pad and covers (which I think I'll make), baby toiletries (wash, lotion, diaper rash cream, a wipes dispenser), as well as some breast milk storage bags. I also need to order the birth pool, some emergency cord clamps (just incase the cord needs cut) and herb tinctures (incase of excessive bleeding because eating the placenta just grosses me out) which I think I should be able to find locally.

Now that I have eaten my lunch (while writing this...gotta love multi tasking), I need to head out to the garage with some empty boxes (saving them for our next move), and bring in some more to unpack.... gotta love moving! Then figure out what to make for dinner... I'm thinking some BBQ chicken - or should I do fish??? - cob corn, and either a baked potato (which would require me to make some ranch) or some herbed pasta... leaning towards the pasta, even though it would take longer to make than the ranch! haha.

To ensure you have a great afternoon, I'll leave you will some Bump Pictures!

Time is Flying

2010-08-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Wow. I cant beleive we're over halfway through August already and I haven't posted anything. We just got internet in our new place today. It is still a mess or I'd take and post some pictures. It is pretty nice, even Trevor agrees, and he is hard to please... housing-wise atleast! ;)

We ended up signing a 6 month lease on a one bedroom that comes with a garage. We're not planning on staying long.... we're ready to buy a house. Hopefully by the end of our lease agreement, we'll have saved the other half of our house fund (we're anticipating whatever we buy to need immediate repairs...roof, flooring, etc). Moving was a little crazy. My poor little car was packed to the brim (suprising how much it can haul) for many trips to Portland. Thankfully moving expenses are tax deductible, because our gas bill for the month was outrageous. Our next move we're renting a giant U-Haul and making one trip!

Gotta get some dinner going, but here's a quick update on the baby.
She weighs aprox. 5.5lbs, and is over 20" long (this is average of all babies born at this time, not necessarily OUR baby). She's just sitting in there developing her brain and lungs and putting on the ounces! Her favorite thing to do is get up under my ribs and make it so I can hardly breath. Her second favorite thing is to lodge her heel at my rib and push. Not a pleasant feeling!

More later!

32 Weeks!

2010-07-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Baby: YAY! We've finally reached the point where we will make efforts to save the baby if she is born early. Before this point, we didn't feel that she would have a "life" if we attempted to saved her and were successful. Now, she may or may not be able to breath on her own, but would probably have difficulties and require oxygen as she is just starting to get surfactant in her lungs. She would probably be able to suck, meaning she could nurse rather than having a feeding tube. Because her liver is so under developed at this point, she would need to be under special lights to help her body process the Bilirubin (Jaundice) to prevent mental retardation. She has a minimum of 5 more weeks before she can make her entrance and most likely be OK. At this time, she weighs over 4lbs and measures about 18 inches.
Moving: Trevor got a new job in Hillsboro a couple of weeks ago. He gave over two weeks notice at his current job, and we gave our 30 days notice on our duplex. He has worked up there three days so far, and I hunted for a place for us to live. The first two days I had ZERO for luck. Everywhere was either full and only had 2 bedrooms for super expensive and required a 12 month lease, or had rather expensive 1 bedrooms and charged $50-100/month extra to do anything shorter than a 12 month lease. Yesterday, however, I widened my search radius to include Beaverton, and found two places with rent in the $600 range and 1 month free if we sign a 12 month lease! To break the lease, they charge 1.5 times one month's rent, so really, we'd only have to pay an extra $300 or so to move out if we couldn't find someone to take over the lease. Also, both of these places have pools! Sunday, I'll show Trevor and let him decide! We will be moving in the morning of the 7th because Trevor works the following three days in a row, but we dont have to be out of our duplex until the 12th, giving me plenty of time to put the non-essentials in a storage unit and clean so we get our deposit back.

Preparation for Baby

2010-07-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Carseat: The carseat will be here Monday! I'm sooo excited. This is the first big thing for the baby. My parents got it for her, so Monday I'll be heading to their house to await the UPS Truck! After much research, we decided on the Safety 1st onBoard 35 Air in McKenna. I actually liked the pink and gray one (one of the few girly items I actually like out there - hot pink just isn't my thing), but we dont know for sure we're having a girl...and what if the next baby is a boy... we'd like to be able to move this baby into a convertable and use the same bucket for the next kiddo (hopefully before the seat expires!). Originally we were going to just skip the bucket, and use a convertable, unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in my car rear facing at the angle needed for a newborn.

Diapers: My cloth diaper stash is nearly complete for the first 4-5 months or so. In the right hand column I've listed what is in it. I got all but one of the Nubunz for $3 EACH! Apparently, they got a bad batch of fabric and didn't know it until it was too late, so they're selling all the diapers made at that time at a huge discount. Customers have been reporting about a 25% failure rate, and some even luck out with all good diapers! Depending on how many are bad, I will probably have to get some more. Trevor's mom found a bunch of soakers (what goes inside the diaper) and a couple of used diapers that have been added too. The soakers were great because I ordered the Nubunz without them... the reviews on their soakers weren't all that great.

Rear facing vs forward facing position in the car

2010-07-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

Update

2010-07-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Lets see....

N. Umpqua Fishing Trip
We went fishing up the North Umpqua. Trevor had never been fly fishing and got a bite on his very first cast. The second cast he caught this fish:

And a few casts later he caught this fish:

He fished the remainder of the day, at three different spots along the river but didn't catch anything else.

Job Hunt

Trevor got the job with Metro West Ambulance in Hillsboro. He has decided he is not going to work both jobs, so I have been packing our house. We plan to put everything in storage except the essentials, and find something cheap to rent in Hillsboro or Beaverton until we can find something more permanant. Right now, there is only one house on the Good Neighbor Next Door Program list and it would take Trevor over 40 minutes to get to work.... So, we wait. So far, Trevor really likes the job, and LOVES getting EMERGENCY calls! He will continue his current job through the end of the month, then is on the schedule for August with Metro West.

Baby

The baby has been moving around a lot. Not many kicks but TONS of stretching and buldging. Her heart beat was 140bpm (138bpm last month), and she is still measuring about two weeks ahead. Her fingernails have reached the end of her fingers now, and it's possible for her to scratch herself... poor thing! We have one more week until she is developed enough that we will try to save her if she is born early, but she really, really, needs to wait annother month and a half to have no problems. She is about 17" long and weighs about 3.5lbs.

Here are some bump pictures:

30 Weeks

And I finally figured out how to set the self timmer on my camera, so these should be much clearer from now on!

31 Weeks

Here is the Belly Map from today:

And here is the interpretation of it:

If the interpretation is correct, she is Left Occiput Posterior. She has flipped, but is not in the best position for birth. There some exercises I will do to help her face backwards closer to birth.

Evidence-Based Medicine

2010-07-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

Even before we became pregnant, we looked into pregnancy and birth. I've spent countless hours looking at real research surrounding birth, and Trevor spoke (on a professional level) with OBGYN's while he was in clinicals for Labor & Delivery. We have listened to other's opinions surrounding pregnancy and birth, mainly, those who came to the same conclusions we have. One of my favorite blogs on the topic is Stand and Deliver. I agree with alot of what Rixa has to say (but not all, of course). Her most recent post got me thinking.

Every parent has to decide what is best for their family. What I don't understand is how people can just go along with what "professionals" say without looking into it themselves, and then try to force their beliefs onto others. Many of these "professionals" don't practice Evidence-Based Medicine. They practice what I like to call Routine-Procedure-Based Medicine. They do this because somewhere along the line, a patient needed the procedure and it wasn't done. A policy was made to ensure that this wouldn't happen again, and it stuck. No one considered the side effects this now routine procedure would have on those patients who don't need it.

I realize that these professionals are very busy and don't have time to pour over all the research. I also realize that research is a never ending process, and the more technological advances we have the more the conclusions that came from that evidence can change, and we can even find new evidence. I even realize that change is a slow process!

The first book on birth I read was on the Bradly Method titled "Husband Coached Childbirth." It was originally written to advocate for fathers being in the delivery room at the time of their child's birth instead of pacing the halls of the waiting room. It also talks about how animals give birth and how we should try to replicate that...that Natural Childbirth has the best outcomes for all involved. It may Talk the Talk, but it does not Walk the Walk. It is laden with Routine-Procedures...Interventions of natural childbirth. Interventions that are sooooo routine and so accepted their not even considered interventions.

I am no longer shocked by the numbers of people who think birth is an emergency, and is dangerous, and is the "worst pain of your life," and needs to be managed by a doctor. I am beginning to become amused by the number of people who want to be "Kept in the dark" regarding birth and pregnancy. I've had numerous people tell me, upon hearing our pregnancy and birth preparation and plans, that it was so much easier when they had babies... they didn't have to do anything, the doctor just told them what to do. How can they have so much trust in a doctor to keep them and their baby healthy... someone they see once a month, and have zero trust in their body to grow a perfectly healthy baby? Women have grown babies and given birth since the beginning, then all of a sudden we have technology and doctors and medications available and they MUST be used! I find it hard to believe that God, as Awesome as He is, would design us incapable of growing and birthing healthy babies. I think it is much more likely our interference with His plans for us that renders (some of) us incapable of growing and birthing healthy babies.

This Technology, Medication and information the Doctors have are gifts from Him, and have their place. However, because doctors don't do the research, and don't have time to review the research, they practice Routine-Procedure Based Medicine entirely too much. Especially in birth. Birth is not an emergency (there are some things than can become an emergency, but birth in itself is not an emergency), it is not inherently dangerous (driving a car is more dangerous), it is not "the worst pain of your life" (this is the media and general stigma surrounding birth - rent the movie "Orgasmic Childbirth" if you don't believe me), and it does not need to be managed (did Eve deliver her babies in a hospital with a doctor telling her what to do? I THINK NOT! Also, in other countries - Britain for one - you do not go to the hospital to give birth, babies are born at home).

I will not subject myself or my baby to Routine-Procedure-Based Medicine just because that is the view of our culture. We will not have a managed birth. We will not go to the hospital unless there is an emergency. We will not be induced leading to an epidural leading to difficulties in breast feeding and infection needing treated with antibiotics which leads to allergies in the baby which leads to feeding formula which leads to more allergies and food intolerance. I will not have a c-section if there are more than 12 hours between the water breaking and birth - this is necessary in a hospital because of risk of infection (my opinion - but a land fill probably has less antibiotic-resistant strains of germs). There will be no cervical checks to give me permission to push - again the germ thing, and I will push if and when I feel the need to assist my body. I will not be hooked up to an IV to keep me hydrated so I don't eat or dring anything in case of c-section. I will not be forced to lay on my back to give birth - which leads to tearing or an episiotomy and often a "stuck" baby requiring removal by forceps, suction and even c-section. The umbilical cord will not be cut or handled until it has stopped pulsing on its own - early cord cutting cause Rh sensitization in mothers if the baby and mother don't have the same blood factor, which leads to a managed pregnancy for the next baby, which leads to a multitude of other interventions. It also deprives the baby of its own blood which leads to an anemic infant and stresses its body in more ways than I care to list right now. She will not be suctioned, baby is capable of clearing her own passages given that the cord is not cut early. The baby will not be given painful stimuli to make her cry (many babies born in water don't cry and it does not effect their apgars). There will be no cord traction or uterine massage which can lead to turning the uterus inside out, partial release of the uterus, hemorrhage and maternal death. The placenta will come out when it is ready. There will be no Vitamin K injection - causes problems in getting a blood sample to check for the PKU test, nor will she be vaccinated for Hepatitis B - her body cannot process the other stuff in the vaccine and she is not at risk at this time in her life.

After we've had a chance to get to know our baby a little, get some food in all of us, bathe and get everything picked up, and rest a little, we will call our parents to come celebrate with some Birth Day Ice Cream Cake. :)

This is what is best for our family. To those of you who roll your eyes at me and give me speeches on what is best for my baby, you add humor to my day. You did what was best for your family given the information you had at that time. Do not tell me what is best for my family using the information you had at the time you decided what was best for your family. I'm choosing not to be stuck in the past, to live in the present, and have faith in the future.

3 WEEKS!!!!!!!

2010-07-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

WOW! I cannot beleive it has been three weeks since I posted on here! Time sure does fly when stuff's a happen'.

Lets see....

Briana's Graduation party went well, we had pizza and of course cake (dont worry I didn't eat the frosting...it had High Fructose Corn Syrup - why does everything have to have that stuff in it?). She got her quilt finally. :) which she was pretty happy over...unfortunately, I forgot my camer and dont have any pictures of it finished to post. Today is my Mom's Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!) so I'll be going over and will take a picture then.

We took a trip to Roseburg for Trevor's Job Hunt. Eighty-one people were invited to take the Physical Agility Test, 60 showed up for it and only 30 passed. Those 30, including Trevor, then went and took the Written Test, which Trevor did awesome on and now has an interview! We also stopped at the Umpqua Dam. Trevor had never been there and enjoyed seeing the fish!

We went to the lake this past weekend, and I ended up sewing a swim suit top because all the "Tankini" style ones are waaaaaay to short to cover the bump. It worked well, but I think it will be too tight across my belly in about 3 weeks, so I'll have to make annother, or break down and pay $35 for a "Maternity" swim suit top. Old Navy has them a little cheaper than that online, but I like to try things on and they're conveiniently NOT available in the store! Ugh. To the left is a picture of the ONLY fish Trevor has caught this summer. Mom was also the first person to ski, but I only have a video and cant figure out how to put that on here (which I"m sure she doesn't mind!).

We went fishing the other day to Cottage Grove Lake. Trevor caught Nothing. He wasn't a very happy fisherman. Plus the wind came up and blew the boat into shore after each cast. Next time we think we'll go in the evening. We know there are fish in there because we saw a huge dead bass. It was huge. And just floating there with its eyeballs all puffed out. Yuck! We finally left the lake, and got some very late lunch at Arby's where I had a Ruben (YUM), and we lucked out with the DMV being right across the parkinglot (Trevor needed a copy of his driving record for a job he's applying for). Never again will I go to a Eugene or Springfield DMV. I'll spend less time driving down to Cottage Grove, having our number called before we even have a chance to sit down, and driving back home, than I would if I just went to the DMV up here! WOW!

Yesterday, we went to Hillsboro for an interview with an Ambulance Company. They're hiring 1-6 of the six they interviewed...depending on who they like. Trevor HATES Portland, and would be getting paid less if he takes the job, so I'm not sure what will happen with that. However, it is EMERGENCY, which is the issue with where he's at now (not emergency), and he really wants emergency, so the draw to it is pretty strong. He thinks he can continue to work where he is and drive up there to work that job too. I dont want that because he already works 48 or 72 hours every week, add to that annother 40 hours in Hillsboro and 12-16 of driving every week and we will literally NEVER see each other. I told him we could put everything in storage and get a studio apt. or something and just "stay" up there rather than "live" up there.... The traffic was pretty bad (I thought the closer you got to California the worse they drove, apparently, Portland is the exception), and the rodes are so close together we turned several times where the GPS told us to turn then it ended up being the wrong rode and had to "Recalculate" us with it's attitude it gets (both Trevor and I think it has an attitude with it says "Recalculating!"), didn't help that we ended up getting on the high way instead of taking the rode NEXT to the highway, where we proceeded to sit while we waited for the all the cars in front of us to get the green light to get off the on ramp and onto the high way... I really dont like those things, but I think maybe River Road and Delta Highway in Eugene need them! Might keep Beltline flowing a little better!

Baby Update:

And here's what you've all been waiting for! :)

Our baby will start to vary now from the average as the average is just that. A computation of all babies' statistics at this point in pregnancy, some weight less and/or are shorter, and some more and/or longer. But, she now weighs about a little under 3lbs, and is nearly 17" long! She'll continue to put on the pounds for about 7 more weeks (when she is more than welcome to come out), then she'll slow down considerably (and we try to wait with patience for her to come out).

She blinks her eyes, and can see lightness and darkness (I put my tummy in the sun while we were fishing and she squirmed all over the place!). She knows my voice and most likely knows Trevor's voice. Funny thing is, when we're (baby and I) are around other people, she hardly moves at all... maybe she is listening?!!??! She is still giving Trevor a hard time. Everytime I tell him she is moving so he can feel, she stops moving when he has his hand on my stomach, then as soon as he gives up, she starts moving again. However, if he lays his head on my stomach, she has no problem kicking him in the face! Poor Daddy! He says it's ok, she wont be able to avoid him much longer, but I still feel bad for him.

Also, this past week I've been noticing some Braxton Hicks. They're really strange. I think I've been getting them for a while (you're supposed to start getting them some time in the 2nd semester, but some people dont notice them), but didn't realize that's what it was. Some times my tummy just felt uncomfy and "tired." Now that my tummy is bigger, I've noticed it gets very hard when it feels uncomfortable. I've also noticed they go away much faster if I sit down and rub it.

Found the cord to connect my camer to the computer...it was in my camera case... so here's the bumb @ 29 Weeks!

Baby

2010-06-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today marks the start of week 26 and I thought I'd write something about what the baby has been up to. We're going on four days of TONS of movement. Before it would move alot and then have a day or two where it was pretty quiet. However, it ALWAYS moves around in the morning. I dont wake up from it (I wake up from starving to death), but the days I've been awake early, movement has gone from around 6:30 to about 9. The last few days have been near constant movement all day long! Maybe she's just running out of room and I feel all of them now?

Anyways, she now has nearly completely developed blue eyes, and they will open this week. Her nails are growing, and the blood vessels in her lungs are beging to grow. Alot of growing still left to do, but if she were born now, she'd have a 70% chance of making it....of course she'd be immobile with drool running down the side of her face for the rest of her life if we tried to save her, so she can just stay in there until atleast September 2nd, when it is safe for her to come out. So far, no Braxton Hix contractions so atleast the baby and my body are in agreement that she should stay in there longer, however she has been measureing about 1-2 weeks ahead. I'll start the Raspberry Leaf Tea in a couple of weeks though.

It looks like it has been a while since I've posted any Bump pictures so here ya go!

Almost 23 weeks... laying down.

About 24 weeks.

Almost 26 weeks. FYI - That shirt is size LARGE! And I'm having a terrible time finding maternity pants that fit. Finally found those ones at Ross - they're super comfy, but the lack of a butt makes it so I have to pull them up quite a bit. I was really hoping I'd get a butt out of this!

Same day - 26wks - laying down.

Busy Weekend

2010-06-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had a super busy weekend last weekend, but I think we've finally recovered!

FRIDAY: Trevor worked and was up most the night running calls. I got stuff ready for the weekend and worked on the nightmare of a quilt I made for my sister for graduation (will post pics after she gets it at her grad party).

SATURDAY: 7:15AM - Trevor gets home, he takes a shower and we hop in the car. Trevor drops me off at my parents and he heads out to Elmira for a Burn. 8AM - Off to Corvallis I go with my family for Briana's Graduation.

We watch a mass of people dressed exactly alike take their seats.

Thanks to technological advances (cell phone) we are able to spot Briana - in the back waiving her arm at everyone - while she waits for others to take their seats ahead of her.

And through much eye straing, and several more phone calls, we find her at her seat.

We sit and listen to the "Important" people being introduced, and suprisingly, some very short speeches (took less time than the introductions). They called the names of those receiving their Doctorate, and they walk across the stage to retreive theire much earned diploma (yes, they actually received their diplomas at that time - no waiting until August for it to come in the mail!). Then the Master's students picked theirs up (46 of them teachers - more competition for me). And finally the Undergrads formed four lines and picked their diplomas up from the outer stages. I have a video of this, but I cant figure out how to put it on here without first putting it on YouTube.

After more phonecalls and crowd searching, we found Briana!

Then back to Eugene we went. Finally around 4pm Trevor showed up and we had Pizza and Spuds, then Trevor & I piled into the car and off to the Sister's Rodeo we went.

Every year, Trevor's parents get tickets to the Rodeo. We got there about 1/2 hr. after it started and missed the wild horse chase. None of the bull riders were injured, and hopefully none of the animals were injured...just mad as could be. I feel sooooo bad for the poor little calves with their headgear on so they dont get their horns ripped off their noggins. At the break, they had the buffalo again... then FINALLY came the good part. The barrel races! Unfortunately, most of the contestants knocked over a barrel, but one who didn't was 4 one-hundreths shy of a record, which was pretty cool.

SUNDAY we finally got back to Eugene around 5:30 and my mom made Trevor some BBQ spareribs for his birthday dinner. No idea what time we made it to bed, but Monday, Trevor was up at 6 to go back to work. Poor Guy.

Pirates

2010-06-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

I found a cribset I like better than the fire/dalmation theme.... it is PIRATES COVE. Problem is, it is much more expensive than the previous one, and only comes with 4 pieces - those in the crib! I'll attempt to make some of the accessories in my "spare" time after the baby is here.

This not knowing what it is forsure stuff is pretty hard. :(

Cheap Diapers!

2010-06-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Snappy Diapers is selling the "old colors" of FuzziBunz size SMALL for the same prices as the "seconds" sell for on other websites. I ordered 1 red, 4 light blue, and 1 pink as we dont KNOW forsure that it is a girl. The remaining diapers are PINK.... so if you're having a girl!!!!

http://www.snappydiapers.com/item_21/FuzziBunz-Perfect-Size-Diapers-Clearance.htm

Seconds are at: http://www.fuzzibunzseconds.net/store/Default.asp
These have slight defects or irregularities from the factory, but are still very usable.

Cichlid Attack!

2010-06-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Trevor has had African Cichlids for the past couple of years. We were worried about them when we went to Washington because they are very agressive, and will eat each other if not fed enough. We left them with a 14 day feeder disk for two days. When we returned, ALL fish looked just as they had before we left!

Friday, Trevor got two new Yellow Lab babies. An Albino had been chewed up previously and was living in the "recovery" tank. When he put the new Yellow Labs in the "recovery" tank, the Albino was moved into the main tank (she's been healed for some time now, just no reason to move her).

Saturday night, I come home (Trevor worked all weekend) to find the Albino all chewed up on her side at the bottom, barely breathing. I catch her, very easily, and put her in a special net inside the tank. I sat and watched the fish for quite some time, and the larger ones were being VERY aggressive. So, Trevor decided they had grown too large and needed more space (when they're small they need to be crowded so they cant single out a fish and pick on it).

We search craigslist for a larger tank, and pet stores for 55 gallon. [We planned to get a tank over 100 gallons after we bought a house and were hoping they'd make it until then, so we really didn't want to spend the money on a new tank just to turn around and buy a nice one in less than a year.] Monday, we ended up at WalMart, and purchased a 55 gallon kit for less than used ones were advertised on craigslist, and minus the extra fish they came with! :)

Here's what we spent last night doing:

29 Gallon - Please excuse the agle, it only showed up on camera...we couldn't see it...must be something to do with the flash.

Trevor saved as much water as possible for the new tank, and cleaned out the sand/gravel.

He caught all the fish and separated the mean ones in the bucket on the right.

He then filled the new tank.

And arranged his decorations, as well as added some new gravel (I spent the entire time he was dismantaling the old tank rinsing the gravel)

After carefully ensuring the water was the same temperature, in went the fish.

Ta Da! Happy Fish!

The orange fish are Red Zebra's - they look like gold fish to me, and there are three of them.

The black and blue fish was discovered so recently it has not been named... we call it the "Wanna Be" because it looks like some other fish he has but different markings.

The blue striped one is a Demasoni - they're our favorite and are supposedly the most aggressive of all the African's. They're one of our least aggressive ones. Go Figure!

The blue and orange fish is a Red Top. This one is a male, the female is an ugly brown. We have 4 baby fish from them in the "Recovery Tank" below.

Here is one of the two Albino's.

All of the larger baby fish. There are three Red Tops and the two new Yellow Labs.

The smallest baby. It is a Red Top. He is probably 10 times bigger than when we first saw him, and the only known survivor of the batch.

I am happy to report that all fish are alive and doing well this morning! AND their aggressiveness has diminished considerably! Today I am tasked with syncing the heaters at the proper temperature. :)

Nursery Ideas

2010-06-04T23:06:00.000-07:00

Since we wont be finding out if it is a boy or girl, I'm trying to do something that will work for either. I'm having a really hard time because when I see something, I dont see both genders in it...I see either BOY or GIRL, but I think I've come up with something that will work.

The lower half of the room will be painted red (once we buy a house - hopefully before baby), and the upper half will be left white.

If it is a girl (like we think it is), we'll do Lady Bugs:

I know if I order this, it will end up being a boy though.... So I'm going to attempt to make the main pieces. The border will go where the red meets white on the walls, and the red would be painted with black dots like a lady bug.

For a boy, I'd like something similar to this:

Probably more dalmation and less firetruck-ish. I'd like a cartoony dalmation border where the red meets white, and the white will get black "spots" like a dalmation. I even have a dalmation poster.

Onions!

2010-06-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the week Trevor and I had a nice Trip to Walla Walla, Washington. Trevor has been applying for 911-System jobs (he currently works as a paramedic for a non-emergency transport company), and was accepted to test with Walla Walla Fire District. It was a 5.5hr trip that we made in about 7hrs. We stopped to eat as well as several potty breaks.

I really enjoyed seeing the Columbia River Flood Basalts along the gorge (above), and Trevor enjoyed the rolling hills once we got out of the gorge (below).

We had planned to stay in a Budget Inn, but on the way up there we had drove by one and decided there was no way we were staying in one of those. We ended up staying in the next cheapest hotel...the Travel Lodge. The sign outside said it was recently renovated, but I think all they did was put tile flooring in the bathroom. It was clean though and we had a HUGE king bed - apparently I hog the entire Full we have at home, so Trevor was pleased. He quickly learned that it doesn't matter what size bed we have, I still like to snuggle up next to him... and he didn't have any more room than he does at home! ;)

Check-in for his test was at 7:15. I dropped him off, and drove back down the road to Milton-Freewater, Oregon for gas. Washington gas prices dont make sense. It was $3.15 in Walla Walla at the cheapie stations. I drove less than 5 miles south and paid $2.85. I had a nice guy come out and pump the gas for me, and there was no sales tax! Not sure why anyone would pay $3.15 for gas, when they can just drive across the border and save $0.30/gallon... 10 gallons and you save $3! I can think of alot of things I can buy for $3!

Anyway, on the way back from getting gas, I drove around and looked for houses for sale. They have decent prices, and nice sized back yards... however, their floorplans are a little off...but maybe that was just the architec?

As I sat in the parkinglot at the Test, I was suprised at how many people were finished in less than an hour. Trevor said the test normally takes him about 2hrs, and these people were done in 45 minutes! To pass the test, they had to score 75%, and only the top 20 scores were to move on to the Physical Ability Test and Interview. Some of the people were comming out and driving away, while others came out and sat in their cars. I assumed the tests were scored as they left the building, and those who sat in their cars were waiting to see if they were in the top 20. Trevor came out at the 1hr mark. When he got in the car he gave me the bad news. They weren't hiring. I was shocked. Why would they have all those people drive all the way there to go through the hiring process if they didn't have any positions open! Apparently, they're required to have a "List" of hires incase something happens and they have to hire immediately.

We waited around until 12:30 for the test scores to be posted. They ended up only posting the top 20, which Trevor wasn't in, so we headed for Oregon with the intent of doing some sight seeing and fishing. We were 40 minutes from Walla Walla when Trevor received a phone call. I was just about to get on the freeway when I heard it was someone from the City of Walla Walla. I went past the onramp and pulled over. They had moved Trevor to the #20 position because one of the top 20 hadn't showed up for the Physical Ability Test and Trevor had been #21 (out of about 100 people)! We turned around and drove back to Walla Walla.

Trevor went through the Physical Abilities Test with one of the fastest times. Afterwards they told him how many points they earned for certain times... Everyone else knew this ahead of time, prior to completeing the course. The time limit is 10 minutes, and normally you just have to be within that time. Trevor said he could have gone way faster had he known ahead of time that it was scored based on time. I timmed him at just under 2min. 30sec. and they timmed him at just over, well within the 10 minute time limit. Trevor did awesome!

We ended up having to stay the night because interviews were scheduled for the following day. The night before, after we had checked into our hotel, we had gone for a walk and found the Budget Inn. It looked super nice and brand new! We opted to stay there the second night, and were really impressed with it. BRAND NEW... even smelled a little like paint still... really nice... AND we had a huge bed agian! AND it was a few dollars cheaper than the run down Travel Lodge!

The next morning, Trevor interviewed at 8:40, which went really well, then we went back to the hotel, he changed, and we checked out. We decided to head home through bend. We went past a HUGE lake (Lake Walula, I beleive, below). This way took us a considerable amount of time because we made a few long stops and a detour. Leaving around 10am, we finally made it home around 7pm.

Overall we feel the trip was a success. Trevor is now on a list, and if they hire in the next year and a half, he will be called. We do have to wait a couple of weeks to find out where he is ranked in the list though.

Crooked River Stop (Near Bend):

He Did this to scare me.... :(

Columnar Basalts

Closeup

Trevor's Prairie Dog (can you see it?)

1 Pound!

2010-05-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

According to several "fun" websites, the baby now weighs about 1 pound, and is aproximately 11 inches long. The enamel is forming on its teeth and the air sacs in its lungs are growing. We will begin to gain weight rappidly now, the baby gaining an entire pound, and me about five over the next month!

Laundry Detergent

2010-05-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

When using cloth diapers, it is essential to use the proper type of laundry detergent to prevent buildup and maintain optimum absorbancy.

Good Choices:

Arm & Hammer Essentials Free
Allens
Green Mountain Free and Clear
Bio-O-Kleen Liquid
Charlie's Soap
Country Save
Dropps
Ecos Free & Clear
Envirorite
LifeKind
Nature Clean
Nellie's
Oxy-Prime
Penguin Sport-Wash
Plannet
SensiClean
Sun & Earth
Trader Joes

Stay Away From:

All Baby Care
Arm & Hammer
Bio-O-Kleen Premium Plus Powder
Cheer
Dreft
Gain
Ivory Snow
Krikland
Melaleuca
Method
Purex
SA8
Seventh Generation
Shaklee
Surf
The Laundress
Tide
Wisk

The Diaper Bag

2010-05-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

The bag itself:

Durrable and Well Constructed
Easy to Clean/Wipe
Comfortable to carry for intended duration
Wide, non-slip shoulder straps
Insulated bottle pockets
Key Clip & Cell Phone Pocket on exterior
Adult Neutral Color
Not to big, not too small
Combination of zippered and snapped compartments

What goes in it:

2-4 Diapers, depending on age of child and how long you'll be out (up to 1/hour)
Wipes & wipe solution or disposable wipes
Changing Pad
Wetbag or Wet/Drybag
Cloth Safe Diaper Rash Ointment
Hand Sanitizer
1-2 Change of clothes
Extra Pacifier
Burp Cloth
Bib
Blanket/Nursing Cover
Kleenex
Camera
Toys
Snacks & Bottle of water for Mom
Clean Shirt for Mom (or dad)
Breast Pads
Cell Phone
Keys
Emergency Contact Numbers (Peditrician, Daddy, Grandparents)

Disposable Diapers

2010-05-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Although we are going to cloth diaper, it does not save money to cloth diaper a newborn unless I wanted to do the old fashioned prefolds with plastic pants and safety pins (or now days, a thing called a "Snappy").

My mom gave me a bunch of coupons for dispoasable diapers. I proceeded to Wal*Mart with the intention of purchasing enough Newborn sized diapers to get through the first month, at which time baby should fit into the cloth diapers. I got out my calculator and began to calculate which package of diapers was least expensive per diaper with the coupons. Turns out, it was about $0.20/diaper! Of course these were Huggies and Pampers, so I'm not sure about the store brand, but $0.20/diaper! To catch POOP and be thrown away!

Lets do some calculations:
$0.20/diaper X 10-12 diapers/day=$2-$2.40/day X 7 days/week= $14-16.80/week X 4 weeks/month= $56-$67.20/month
Good thing that's only for one month!

I did not buy any diapers. Not because of the price (I cant cloth diaper a newborn for less than that), but because they were out of the kind I wanted: Huggies Pure and Natural and Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive (Staying away from anything with DryMax and it has been causing rashes).

I did buy some Huggies Natural Care Wipes though (with coupon), enough to last through the first month. Then I'll probably go with cloth wipes too because I was suprised how much wipes cost! Who would have thought!

Safety Pins & Plastic Pants

2010-05-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

We have decided to coth diaper. Trevor was onboard when he learned that we could spend $300 on diapers instead of $1200 from birth to potty. Diapers previously required safetypins and plastic pants.... Not anymore! We will be going with "Pocket Diapers" and a few "All-In-Ones" because they are super easy to use! So far, it looks like BumGenius and FuzziBunz brands have the best reviews.

I like the snaps and elastic sizing on the FuzziBunz (velcro wears out), but I like the way the pocket closes on the BumGenius. We'll probably use a combination of both: FuzziBunz durring the day, and BumGenius durring the night with minimal lighting (no snaps) and for when others will be changing baby as they are just like disposable. Idealy, I'd like to make a stash of diapers with the pocket closure of the BumGenius and the snaps and elastic of the FuzziBunz.

FuzziBunz One Size Diaper:

BumGenius 3.0 One Size Pocket Diaper:

All-In-One diapers are very similar to the above diapers, but the absorbant pad is sewn directly into the diaper. This allows less work because removing the pad for laundering and stuffing for diapering isn't necessary. The drawback is they are harder to get clean and take longer to dry.

I, like alot of people, thought you had to soak the diapers in a diaper pail until they're washed. Here's a video on washing cloth diapers:

Really, not too bad. The mess Pampers is having with their new diapers is great encouragment for sticking with these!

The Baby BUMP

2010-05-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

First time the bump was visible...

For a while it could only be seen while I was still laying down in the morning...

Poking my tummy out!!!

Can you see it? I'm not even poking it out!

I only have 5 shirts that fit the BUMP! AAAH!

We're Expecting

2010-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

October 15, 2010 we will be celebrating the first addition to our family!