Cloth from birth!

Well everyone, my EXTREME delay in posting can only mean one thing. Baby K is here!  He was welcomed into the world by Polish Prince, B, and myself one month ago today and it's been crazy ever since! I'm happy to say I was able to achieve my completely un-medicated VBAC when it came to his delivery. (It didn't help that by the time we got to the hospital I was already at a 9.5! No time for meds now!).  Anyway, I thankfully had packed our hospital bags a couple days before and had plenty of fluff for our new little man! 

Very first diaper! Rumparooz Lil Joey!

Polish Prince getting in on the action

Welcome Baby K! 9lbs 13oz!

 I'll be doing a post on my experience with the various diapers we've tried. But just to give you an idea, we have: 

Lil Joey's AIO

GroVia newborn AIO

One Sweet Pea Newborn AIO

Thirsties AIO size 1

BumGenius XS AIO

Bumkins Snap In One OS

Oh Katy pocket OS

Geffen Baby prefold size Small

Rumparooz and One Sweet Pea covers

Such a good big brother!

We were only in the hospital for about 26 hours, so there weren't many shift changes in the staff, but all of the nurses and the on-call pediatrician loved little man's fluffy bum! One was shocked at how easy they were to change on top of how cute they were! Plus, he looked so awesome rocking the colorful diapers with the little half shirt the hospital provides. I had no issues with the mecomium coming out of the diapers when I washed them and all of the diapers we brought fit into a medium wet bag so there was no need to worry about the laundry until a couple days after we were home. Overall, it was such a great success and I'm so happy we did it (and are continuing)!

This wasn't suppossed to happen

I've been debating about how/when to write this post for a while now. You may have noticed I've been pretty non-existent in the social network and blogosphere lately, I think it's time to explain.

Does anyone remember this post? It was one of my first posts and it was about my journey with infertility. We were blessed to not have to go through even half of what a lot of families do when trying to get pregnant, but it wasn't an easy journey nonetheless. Anyway, after having B we were given options for family planning. Polish Prince and I always joked that we had to pay for the first baby, if we got a free one next time we'd consider ourselves lucky! Truthfully, I hated being pregnant. I never felt like that "cute, glowing, pregnant woman." Couple that with having Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and I wasn't exactly a fun person. Don't get me wrong, I loved the end result of all that misery, but I certainly wasn't in any hurry to go through that again. Polish Prince and I had talked about more kids in our future and ideally I would like B to be around 4-5 when I got pregnant again. That way he was a little more self-sufficient, out of diapers, most likely in school of some sort, and I would be able to devote time to being sick should I be blessed with HG again. Well, has anyone heard the anecdote "When we make plans, God laughs". Well God is certainly having a chuckle with me!

Part of extended breastfeeding that I enjoyed was the absence of mother nature's monthly gift to women (Sorry if that's TMI for you ;)) But it was great. B was 13 months old before I had to deal with that and wouldn't you know I only dealt with it for one month before mother nature was in cahoots with The Big Guy. Around Thanksgiving I knew something wasn't quite right, but the possibility of being pregnant wasn't even on my radar. Fast forward a week and I had to buy a test. 2 pink lines. W T F. I couldn't believe it, there was no way this was possible, this wasn't supposed to be able to happen. I immediately called the doctor. I had to get this confirmed before I even thought about telling Polish Prince. I didn't know what I was thinking much less him. Well, blood confirmed it, I was (and still am :)) in fact pregnant.

I'll likely follow this post up with a couple different ones about what's been going on since. How I told Polish Prince, how we told our families, our interesting trip back to the Midwest for the holidays and so on, but I thought I'd first just catch you up to where I've been! Bear with me, I'm still trying to figure out time management as well as how to drum up extra energy but in the meantime, now you know.

Oh, and be on the lookout as I research/review/giveaway (hopefully) some great maternity and newborn products!! I started B in cloth at about 4 months, so I have a lot to learn! :)

The holidays are here!

I'm getting excited for Christmas this year. B is really starting to take an interest in all the festive-ness that's going on around him. He loves the lights, the tree, the ornaments (we're working on this) and even loves playing with the snowmen and Santa dolls that sing and dance. I'm even getting excited to take him back to the Midwest for the holidays and hopefully getting to see some snow and do some ice skating! There are a couple things I'm struggling with though as I write this. 

Christmas is not about presents and Santa. It's about the birth of Christ. I want B to recognize the Nativity scene as easily as he recognizes Santa. I want him to know why this day is important, and I want him to sing "Away in a Manger" as often as he sings "Jingle Bells". How do you teach this to a toddler, when do you start? How do you know he's following what you're saying/doing/teaching? 

What about the family members that aren't with him anymore. The holidays always seem to exemplify the absence of loved ones who have passed. The traditions I remember as a child will not be the same memories B has. He will not get to have memories with such important people in his family. With all the spirituality that surrounds the holidays, how do you remember and honor those people without feeling the sense of longing that accompanies such amazing memories?

I'm sure as time goes on we'll figure all of this out, but I always want B to remember how special the holidays and family are, and not just focus on what's under the tree (or ON the tree as it seems this year :)).

Thankful Thursday part 3

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! I swear this month has flown by, not to mention the entire year! It's been a busy week, but I can't forget to refocus! 

1) My Education- True, at this moment I may not be using my degree per-sea, but I'm thankful I have it to go back to when B is in school full time. I'm thankful for what I've learned through that degree both in and out of the classroom, and I'm thankful that it will afford me many more opportunities in the future!

2) My Car- When we made the decision for me to stay at home I was worried I would become a shut-in, but having a car and the ability to go where I please, when I please is something I try to not take for granted. The fact that it's a safe car in addition to being spacious enough for my family is a double bonus!

3) Jeans- Well, all pants really. I'm glad it's now finally cool enough in the desert that I can wear pants and go a couple days without shaving my legs! :) I guess that makes me thankful for marriage too... :) 

Anyone else care to share? Feel free in the comments!