Daily Baby - A surprise!

The surprise just might be that I'm back after a long and unintended hiatus.  The bigger surprise is that I'm 16 weeks pregnant with baby boy #2.  I was as surprised as anybody to see those two little lines pop up on the pregnancy test.  That surprise has turned into excitement that we're preparing to welcome another little man into our world.

Those first weeks were rough, to say the least.  The constant nausea sitting in the pit of my stomach all day long, kept at bay by shoveling food and hard candies in my face at frequent intervals.  My OB/GYN said happily "oh good, you've gained some weight!"  While I love him for putting a positive spin on it, I still felt huge very early on.  The exhaustion kicked in pretty quickly too - even more so from having to chase Owen around too.  It's true that pregnancy is a whole different kind of worn out when you already have a toddler in the house....and then there were the poopy diapers.  Husband is my savior for handling all of those between weeks 6 and 13, when the immediate need to hurl finally abated.  I think the hardest part about the first trimester is keeping all of this under wraps while you're waiting to feel confident enough to go public.  

I'm now considered of "advanced maternal age" having turned the grand old age of 35 this year.  The one upside of that being that I got to do one of the fancy new blood tests (MaterniT21) that cover both genetic screening as well as gender.  I don't even think that test was available just 2 short years who when I was pregnant with Owen.  It was pretty remarkable to know at 11.5 weeks pregnant that I was having a boy.  I think our families were a little disappointed as they all had their "think pink" banners waving proudly.  I'm actually pretty excited about a mom to boys though - they'll probably try to kill each other (lovingly of course) and we may have to bubble wrap the house, but I'm thrilled to see how they form their brotherly bond. 

Meanwhile, Owen, who I don't quite think has caught on to what's happening with mommy, is just the sweetest boy.  He's growing up so fast and the milestones he's achieving are much more subtle than in the first 18 months, but amazing all the same.  Being able to understand his words and getting a better idea of what he wants is a huge relief.  His love for books and puzzles makes me so proud.  The stories from daycare of how he gave one of the babies a toy they dropped, or handed them their bottle, make my heart full with love for the wonderful big brother he's going to be.  The flip side is that I also get the occasional story about how he sat on one of the babies thinking he could play horsey with them, which make me nervous for the inevitable time when the words "don't sit on your brother's head" will come out of my mouth.

There has been so much going on that I've missed coming here and sharing with you.  I am hoping I can get some momentum back despite all the craziness.  The next chapter begins!

Daily Baby - Owen's First Year

We just got the photobook of Owen's first year in the mail.  I'm really proud of myself for weeding through the couple thousand photos, keeping it down to only 88 pages, and actually finishing it before he started Kinder.  I know I can't bring the book around to share with everybody, as much as I'd like to (although if you're ever at our house, you're more than welcome to peek), so I made a short video from the scrapbook pages that I created.  I really hope I captured the essence of the tiny little goofball I'm proud to call my son!

The scrapbook pages were created using My Memories digital scrapbooking software.  I ended up ordering the book through Winkflash, who were having a flat page book sale (up to 100 pages for a flat rate, which saved me $66 according to my checkout receipt).  I'd say they run that sale a few times a year, so worth looking out for if you have a big book in the works.  Winkflash seems to be a lesser known printing company, but they do good work and the only complaint I have about their photobooks is that they don't print the album title on the spine.  
Anyway, enjoy!  I'll be back soon with those kitchen before and after photos!

Daily Baby - Happy Birthday Owen

Hard to believe that my little boy is one.  He's an actual PERSON, not just a helpless, tiny, scrunched-up thing.  We had his party this weekend and he was surrounded by family and friends, all of whom are very much appreciated for attending!  I was having a bit of a decorations meltdown at the park as there was just enough of a breeze that nothing wanted to stay put.  I had to take a deep breath, remind myself that it doesn't need to go on Pinterest, and be secure in the knowledge that the people there to celebrate were far more important than the balloons staying upright.  Armed with a roll of duct tape, my brother went for the uncle of the year award and fixed it all while I ran home to pick up the birthday boy, who was being dressed by his auntie, who should also get an award for leaving home at 4:30am and driving 5 hours to be there. Little man celebrated his first year with his first slice of pizza, stealing and chowing down on a cake pop from his auntie's hand, and sharing his first cupcake with mommy. 

So, after my first year of parenthood, I look back and wonder if I'd do anything differently.  To be honest, I don't think I would.  We've had our ups and downs.  There have been moments of sleeplessness and frustration, far outweighed by joy and laughter.  We have a happy, friendly, funny little boy who delights us and those around him on a daily basis.  He makes us proud, which makes me think we must have done something right.  It's been an adventure, but a grand one.  I can't wait to see what the next chapter brings.

Happy Birthday my little love.

Daily Craft - Birthday invites in a rush!

Has to believe that Owen is turning 1 next week.  People say that the time goes fast, and it's true.  Seems like yesterday he was a sweet little newborn, and now he's a fully mobile little dude with a huge personality.  We're keeping his birthday pretty low key and I was dithering back and forth for the longest time about whether to just send an evite (seeing as we're trying to keep things simple), or mail invitations (seeing as it's his first birthday).  In the end, I realized that we'd need to mail an invitation to Owen's great-grandmother at the very least, and the grandparents as a whole would probably like a proper invite.  Of course, I decided upon all this pretty last minute, which meant ordering and waiting for invitations to arrive probably wouldn't work.  Instead, I came up with a simple to make, but super cute (in my humble opinion at least) concept.

I designed a 4x6 card (using the My Memories Suite software, although any photo software could work).  I then got the photos printed at Walgreens, which generally isn't my photo printer of choice, but they conveniently offer 1-hour service and in-store pick-up.  The rest was some very easy construction.

Materials
- 12"x12" cardstock
- 4"x6" photos
- washi tape.

Steps
 - Cut the cardstock sheet in half to make two 6"x12" strips.
- Score the cardstock approx 2" from one end.
- Stick the photo onto the cardstock, up against the score line.
- Score on the other side of the photo.
- Fold both flaps over the photo, then
secure the flap and the sides with washi tape.
- Address and put on stamp.
- You're done.



It really was that simple and total cost of about $4 to make 15 invitations (not including postage).  If you wanted to, this leaves a ton of space for a personal message, which means it could work great for holiday cards.  The options for cardstock are endless too! 

I actually have a great giveaway coming soon from my sponsor, My Memories, who have fantastic digital scrapbooking software.  I have used it for invitations, holiday cards, photo collages, and it's currently housing the epic work-in-progress "first year" scrapbook for Owen.  Stay tuned...  :)

Daily Baby - Stash busting, infant approved!

Feels like the last week or so has been a whirlwind.  We have a trip coming up to visit my parents in England.  It's our first plan ride with Owen - an 11 hour one at that.  Needless to say, we're excited to take him, but a little nervous about our very active child being couped up in tin can for that long.  Hopefully he will be his usual charming self and our neighbor passengers will find him delightful before he passes out for the rest of the flight.  One can hope right?

Meanwhile, around the house, we've been having a blast.  While we have our fair share of battery operated toys, it is fair to say that kids and cats like playing with random household items.  Remotes, coasters, tupperware, spoons, cat toys, storage bins etc. are all fair game.  This suggestion is a quick and easy sensory toy for anybody who needs an excuse to get rid of fabric scraps!  I simply took a variety of scraps in different sizes and trimmed them with pinking shears.  I tied some pieces together to make longer strips, and popped them all in an old wipes case.  He took to it right away and loves to remove and inspect the fabric.  As with anything else, he also tries to chew on it, so if that is a risk for your child, don't cut any pieces too small that they could accidentally swallow them.  Time spent?  About 10 minutes (most of which was selecting the fabric).  Total cost?  Pennies.  Now, if only I could get him to put the fabric back in the box rather than leaving it all over the living room...

Daily Craft - Edible finger painting

Since it's been so hot recently, I've been hesitant to take the wee one to the park for fear of burning his butt on the plastic bucket swings.  This means I've been searching for indoor activities and finger painting seemed like a great idea.  Owen still puts everything in his mouth so I needed edible paint and, with this paint recipe from Growing A Jeweled Rose (who is a wealth of handy info for baby and toddler activities in general), I figured I'd give it a shot and make some potato paint.  When I first shared my plan with Husband, he laughed at me and wished me good luck, but I was determined.  I armed myself with some sketch paper and potato flakes from the dollar store, stripped off the baby, laid a towel on his high chair to try and contain the mess, and made paints in red, yellow, green, and blue.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first and needed some gentle encouragement, but was happy smearing the potato flakes around for a little bit.  He definitely tried to eat some, which I was anticipating.  Although I'm not quite sure he got the concept, he seemed to be curious nonetheless.  It pained me a little bit to admit that I probably spent more time cleaning up than actually painting, but I think we still had fun and I have a pretty neat (albeit lumpy) picture to show for it.  

If you are curious about clean up, the food coloring was sufficiently sucked into the potato flakes that it didn't make a mess and wiped up nicely.  The only bit that didn't wash off immediately was the couple of drops I got on myself when making the potato paint in the first place.  Overall, a success!  What are your favorite indoor activities?  We're always open to suggestion.

Daily Baby - A shower photo book

It's only taken 10 months, but with a free photobook code from Shutterfly via BabyCenter in hand, I figured it was about time to do something with the photos from my baby shower. I haven't used Shutterfly photo books since the one I put together after Husband and I got married. They've actually changed the whole set up since then and it's very user friendly, allowing you to easily move and rotate embellishments, add text, switch backgrounds etc. While I love using the My Memories software (which is what I'm currently using to compile Owen's baby book), for the purposes of just getting it done, I went with one of the themes that Shutterfly has available. Even more nifty is that you can now embed the photo book for all to see! Pretty cool. The book itself should be here in a week or two, and I will report back on how it looks when it gets here. In the meantime, I love having this digital version to share.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Thanks again to my girls, Holly & Paige, for being such amazing hostesses, my in-laws for allowing us to invade their house, and all my friends and family in attendance. It was beautiful and I cherish the memories of the day.

Daily Baby - A girl and a pump

This one is truly a blog rant from mommy-land, so people who are unnerved by discussion of breast-feeding beware!

When I became pregnant, there was no question in my mind that I wanted to breast-feed.  After all, it's the most natural thing that has kept our species alive for centuries right?  I'd heard about the struggles that come with nursing - problems with milk supply, pain, engorgement, and a plethora of other issues.  I was still determined and knew I could get myself into the mindset to overcome anything that would put a bump in the road to success.  Owen is now 8 months and we have had our fair share of bumps to get over, from an over-active letdown (resulting in him having gas pains) to a tongue-tie that wasn't corrected until he was 5 months old.  Don't even get me started on the leaking.  Regardless, I can happily say that, so far, he has only had my milk, no formula, and for that I am both grateful and proud.

Upon my return to work, I started pumping to supply Owen's bottles while at daycare.  The first couple weeks he was there, despite our best efforts to get him to take a bottle, he was stubbornly refusing.  His first day at daycare, he drank about 4oz in 9 hours, which sent me into a tailspin of guilt and panic.  On the upside, it allowed me to add the milk he wasn't drinking to my frozen stash for later.  Sure enough, as the little one settled into daycare, his appetite settled at a point where he's actually drinking more each day than I am able to pump for him.

Pumping sucks - literally and figuratively.  I'm fortunate enough to have an office where I can close my door and listen to the dulcet tones of the pump "speaking" to me in a funky, hypnotic voice that others have liked to Darth Vader.  My old pump (we'll get to that in a minute) sounded like it was saying "black heart" over and over.  Appealing when you're trying to squeeze out the life source for your child right?  Although, I sometimes feel like it's pulling the air out of my soul, so maybe it's appropriate.  In attempts to keep supply up, I have shoved a variety of different herbs and supplements down my throat (none of which made a significant difference I should add), I've made lactation cookies (which Husband quite enjoyed because they taste delicious, but he didn't start lactating so not sure if it was much help), drank gallons of water (which sent me back and forth to the bathroom reminiscent of my third trimester of pregnancy), and various other tricks.  The worst case scenario was when my pump output suddenly dropped to half and, having exhausted all possibilities as to what was wrong with me, I came to a disturbing realization that my pump was losing suction. (Maybe Dyson should get into the pump business, being experts about never losing suction and all.)  To their credit, the pump manufacturer (Medela) sent me a replacement overnight and I had a crazy weekend of being attached to the pump and baby simultaneously to try and send my body the simple message - MAKE MORE MILK!

I didn't know that boobs were as emotional as they are.  While they may respond happily to relaxed baby thoughts, they also respond negatively to stress, tiredness, anxiety...  Husband, and my girlfriends (who are huge nursing advocates) have talked me off a ledge repeatedly over the last few months.  My goal is to get to one year of pumping, which puts me at T minus 15 weeks.  Owen can nurse all he wants after that, but the days of anxiety over a bad pump output, repeatedly counting the bags of frozen milk in the freezer in the hopes they can cover my daily pump deficit, washing bottles and pump parts with scalding hot water every night, will all be over. 

I know that breast-feeding isn't a possibility for all.  I do feel fortunate that I have been able to supply my little guy this long, despite it being one of the toughest personal challenges that I have had to face.  What I'm trying to do now is just let go of the anxiety that I'm not producing enough, or won't make it to a year.  Let go of any guilt in case I do fall short of my goal.  The end is in sight and when I'm finally able to pack up the pump and put it in the closet, I'm going to do something whacky like drink whiskey at lunch...mid-week.

Daily Tip - Pool noodle to the rescue

Owen has very rapidly become a mobile baby.  Gone are the days when I could leave him on his activity mat and go shower with the peace of mind that he'd be in the same place as I left him once I got out.  Of course, mobile baby means baby proofing everything.  We already switched our beloved coffee and side tables for a cheapish ottoman that he can bounce off/barf on without incident.  The second he started crawling though, I knew something had to be done with the bed frame of the spare bed that's in his room.  It has a nice exposed metal edge...right at eye level for an infant.

We discussed various options - bubble wrap, packing foam, etc.  Then, one day on Pinterest, I came across a picture of somebody who used a pool noodle as a bumper.  It was just crazy enough to work.  So, a trip to my favorite place (the dollar store) and $1 pool noodle later, and we have one fully babyproofed bed frame.  No more sharp pointy edges! 

 

As you can see, it's also baby-approved, non-toxic, and matches his room.  A win for sure.  Short of putting  him in a bubble, we know there will be bumps and bruises, but we figure it's best to minimize the possibility of scarring and/or losing an eye.

Daily Baby - My strange addiction?

My name is Natalie and I have an addiction to board books.  It's rare that I can pass a stack of board books, all brightly colored, without diving in.  My favorite place to peruse would be at the dollar store.  Sometimes, they have nothing.  Other times, it's a score!  I can justify those purchases though because, at a dollar per book, I'm spreading the love of reading without breaking the bank.  Husband knows that if I pop out to get Ziploc bags, there's a likely-hood I will return with a box of Ziplocs and 4 books.  He says I have an itch that needs to be scratched!  I think part of the problem is that I always have to see if the book is part of a series and, if it is, I'll be damned if I'm only buying that book alone.  Next thing you know I've found all variations (shapes, colors, numbers....day at the park, day at the zoo, day at the movies...bath-time, bedtime, tea-time) and they will all be coming home with us!

This weekend's haul included a bunch of Richard Scarry "Busy Town" books, Garfield, a collection of Nursery Rhyme books (in part to help me remember them), a Pirate treasure hunt counting book, plus a couple of Disney classics (Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations).  Other favorites that I've been collecting are published by Ollie Bollie books, which I love for the illustrations.

Owen gets to enjoy a couple of books every night while he gnaws on his baby toothbrush.  Sometimes he tries to grab and turn the pages...but mostly he just wants to chew on them.  I think that's still encouraging a love of books!

What are your favorite books for babies/children?  I'm open to more suggestions on books to buy!

Daily Ramblings - The Return

My maternity leave from work ended up being somewhat of a maternity leave from blogging too. All the things I would normally have to share - food, crafting, etc. went out of the window and were replaced with trying to figure out what day of the week it was and how many times Owen had pooped/napped. I had many hours some time between 1 and 4 am to peruse Pinterest for all the fabulous things to cook and pretty things to make...when I could finally muster up the energy and/or time of course!

When I was originally figuring out my maternity leave, I was thrilled to be able to take 4 months off (although granted nothing like the year that other countries automatically grant - I mean how cool is that?) It really sounded like a long time but, as I now spend part of my evenings running around putting together daycare bags with clothing and bottles for my little guy, I realize that it still went too fast. I feel for those mothers who can't take much time due to financial restraints or issues with job security. I'm super grateful to California for being a maternity leave friendly state. I had grand aspirations for all the stuff that I wanted to do with the little one and, even though I hardly did any of it, I have no regrets. Some days we never made it much farther than the couch, but I will look back fondly at the time when he was just small and needed nothing more than snuggles from his mama.

I am truly amazed every day as I see my baby boy learn and discover something new. He has learned how to pick things up with his tiny little hands. Invariably, he puts said items straight in his mouth, which is just a momentary replacement for drooling all over his fingers. (People say that *insert fluid here* isn't gross when it's your child. Having been covered in it, I can say that it's still gross, you're just more accepting when it's your kid that's wiping it on you.) He is figuring out his toys - like the one that plays classical tunes and lights up when you push the button, or the lizard that lights up and says colors when you touch it (which is truly not a euphemism for anything). The problem is, of course, when he's been pushing the button non-stop for 20 minutes and you know you're going to wake up in the middle of the night singing the "red, yellow and blue" song in your head. He reminds me that sometimes the simplest things are beautiful. I catch him staring at something I haven't truly looked at and it helps me to rediscover. I also can't help but love that he puts a smile on the face of strangers when we're out and about. I'm a proud baby wearer and people really get a kick from seeing his little face peeking at them in line at Target/the library/restaurants. He loves to look around at everything, quietly alert and taking it all in. He's currently working on sitting up, rolling over, and is generally so strong that I suspect we'll be doing a lot of chasing him when he becomes properly mobile! He loves to chatter with us and imitates husband's facial expressions really well. (They do have the same eyebrows after all). The best though is his goofy toothless grin and his attempts to giggle - which sounds like a gurgling hiccup and is usually accompanied by a string of drool. He's going to be quite a ladies man and, while I may be a little bias because I'm his mother, he's a handsome little devil.

Fortunately, his good nature has held steady at daycare and he meets his caregiver in the morning with a smile on his face. He's learning from the other babies there and is a tired little boy when he returns at night. The transition back to work has certainly been easier knowing that he seems to be having a good time, and I am enjoying being back in the world of adult conversation. While I miss my baby during the day, it makes me treasure the short time we have to spend together each evening. 

Getting back into the swing of things will include blogging and adding my exploits into motherhood into the mix. I am finally back and have so much to share!

Daily Baby - Nursery Reveal!

I was actually hoping to do this post in the week before Owen's due date.  Given his early arrival though, I've been working backwards on a variety of things, the nursery reveal being one of them of course!  We were thrilled with how this turned out - and there's a few things awaiting the finishing touches, but it is certainly ready to share.

The overall view...

..and in the other direction.  The glider belonged to Owen's great grandfather who passed earlier this year.

Hot Air Balloon mobile (tutorial courtesy of http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/)

Building up the book collection already!

Dinosaur coin bank, thanks to Auntie Michelle
Bunting, thanks to Holly
Close up of some of the books
Mom and dad's collection of stuffed animals

We have Owen's name being painted onto wooden letters for us, and we'll also be putting a collage of family pictures on the wall under the bunting, so I hope to reveal those in the not too distant future.  We're also grateful that we've been able to keep the guest bed in the room as it has been helpful with allowing husband to get some sleep now he's back at work.  I know Owen doesn't really have much of a concept of what his room looks like yet, but I hope he loves it as much as I do!

Daily Baby - He's here!

Owen Philip Jacobs was born on October 29, 2012 at 19:19.  He was 7lbs 9oz and measured in at 19.5".

Little did we know, when we settled down to watch The Walking Dead, last Sunday night, that a trip to labor & delivery was in the cards.  Even while we were driving to the hospital, I thought in my head that they'd probably end up sending me home.  Turns out that I was actively having contractions only a few minutes apart and my doctor felt it best that they admit me.

17 hours of labor and the little guy arrived, healthy and handsome as anything!  The entire pregnancy, with my due date of November 4th, I'd had it in my head that we were going to have a November baby.  In fact, I'd told people that I wasn't ready for October and that he should just stay in there and bake for as long as necessary.  Turns out that, even though I may not have been truly prepared (i.e. car seat hadn't even been installed), he was ready to meet the world.

As I type this, I have one sleeping babe tucked into the Moby Wrap on my chest, sleeping so peacefully and making squeaky little newborn noises.  He has completely rocked our world and I hardly know what day of the week it is, or how many outfits he's gone through in the last 24 hours due to diaper change accidents.  At the same time, I don't know if I can truly describe how wonderful it feels to look down on his fuzzy little head, to laugh at the surprise on his face when he sneezes, to imagine what he's thinking behind his wise little eyes as he takes in his new surroundings.  It's so strange that he's here, but I wouldn't change a thing.