Boo n Pawpaw

Boo is with his pawpaw, my dad today. YIKES!! I'm freaking a little. Dad makes me nervous. He's so stubborn. I hope he at least attempts to do things like I asked. I went over there this morning to find their cat killing a bird at the back door. Nice. Bird was still alive and trying to fly away. Feathers everywhere. Then dad was still asleep. I tried to call on my way, but he didn't answer. So I was pretty late to work, but oh well. Dad had to get up and get ready, and then he had to dispose of dead bird.

I have gotten really into cloth diapers. I was buying something almost every day, which adds up in money! But I still have to wash every day or every other day to have enough. I am really going to try to stop buying, but it's hard when I see something cute. I'll try to just enjoy the things I get in the mail. Buying things on diaper swappers and etsy is addictive. Diaperswappers.com sells new and used. I have only bought things in "like new" condition with no stains or problems, and I have gotten some nice things and saved money vs. new. And it will be nice if I want to sell some things Boo grows out of. I will probably keep them though and hope to have another baby... one day... not anytime in the near future.

You ask - I answer

I like questions... makes me feel loved!

What does our dr say about giving baby juice?
Dr said that juice is ok once a day mixed half with water. I'm not sure why there are so many different views on juice. I know that babies need formula or breastmilk first of all. But we use juice as a back-up method, and he only gets it occasionally, maybe a couple times a month.

What cloth diaper do we use at night?
We usually do a green mountain red edge prefold or a little lions fitted with wool shorties. I do a big thick doubler for night and usually don't change till morning. We have only had that one leak. I am lanolizing those right now, and hopefully that will help. I like the idea of a pad under him in our bed. I will try one of his waterproof pads tonight. It's soft and doesn't even feel plasticy at all. Last night I did a prefold with a normal weight doubler because I didn't know he was ready for bed, with a bummis superbright cover, and he was fine at 5:30 am when I changed him.

Poor Boo had a rough day yesterday. I am very thankful for Nicole for watching him. When I got to her house after work, he looked content on the floor playing with his toys, and when he saw me, he screamed (happy) and grinned and kicked. I picked him up and he was just so excited to see me. She said he was depressed all day and moped around. He didn't scoot or climb or scream or anything. That makes me sad. I really hope Paulina can babysit again soon. Boo does better with her. I know he just can't remember people for long right now, and when he gets bigger he will. It just broke my heart yesterday. I am home with him today since our babysitter for today is sick. Tomorrow and Thursday I am supposed to have a sitter. And Nathan is supposed to come home after lunch for me to go to work for a little while.

Back to Work

It's hard to go back to work after being off for four days. I do trust and appreciate our friends and family that help with babysitting, so it's not really that. I just miss him. He was sleepy and sad when I left him this morning. I hope he didn't get too upset. Plus it's hard with the bottles. We are only doing breastmilk, so whatever was pumped it what he gets. It works out, but most people probably think I should give extra "in case" he gets hungry. But he doesn't take formula well sometimes. And sometimes when I mix the breastmilk with formula and he doesn't drink it all, the breastmilk gets wasted. I don't like that. I sit here and pump, so I want him to get it. I give a bottle of juice too. So it works out. He eats baby food too. It definitely would be easier for me to give him formula, but I am committed to BFing, and I only nurse him when I am not working.

I'm not sure what happened with the diaper last night, but we had major pee leak at 4:30 am. I will re-lanolize tonight. So I had to change him and change my clothes. He was completely awake and happy to get up, kicking his legs and laughing and screaming (for fun). He finally fell asleep around 5:30, just in time for Nathan's alarm clock to start going off. Boo slept, but I didn't. Nathan doesn't understand why I get upset when he snoozes on his alarm clock for an hour... Maybe sleeping in separate rooms isn't such a bad idea.

Silly Boo

Boo's favorite new thing to do is scream at the top of his lungs for fun. It's very loud. He's done it before, but now he really likes it. It's funny as long as it's not in your ear. Ouch! We had the nursery at church today with Abigail and Boo. She is Summer's daughter that is almost 6 months old I believe. She is super cute, and it was fun to see them play together. She just discovered her voice and started scooting around. I think it's important for Boo to see other kids his age. We are at mom and dad's right now, and I hear Boo screaming. I think it's just plain screaming, as opposed to mad screaming. Fun.

Pics for you

Home

Me and mom and Boo had fun yesterday. Boo got a lot more comfortable with Mom after spending the day with her. He slept better too. But we will be glad for Daddy to come home today! We miss him. I am really going to enjoy being home today with Boo! I just love him to pieces. He is very rough and tough. He bites, pulls hair, slaps me, jumps on me, climbs on me, and I still love him!

I have ordered some super cute woolie longies that I can't wait to get in. I love Etsy! Go to www.catchick6creations.com and click on past creations. OMG! So cute! They are meant to be diaper cover for cloth diapers. Wool is so awesome! I wish I would have discovered sooner. I can go all night without changing a diaper. It would work very well to contain leaks in disposable diapers too. I ordered a pair of long green pants with a bright green dinosaur, the one with multicolor in the body. They are custom made to fit for only $23! I would have bought any one of her pants from Etsy, but they are not the right size for Boo. Can't wait!

I also have some shorties from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6448034 that work very well.

Fun times

Boo has three teeth, two middle bottom and one of the pointy teeth on the top. The top tooth is not in all the way, just the pointy part. It does look funny having that one and not the front top teeth.

Mom spent the night last night. We had a good time. Boo was so excited so was there, he had a hard time falling asleep. Mom just thinks he's rotten, but it was just a big change for him to shake up his nighttime routine. And I think the crying for momma is a normal thing for babies to do. He cries for me every time I move out of his view. It's just funny to think that I'm his favorite person in the whole world right now and his lifeline. But in about 12 years, I'll be dumb ugly fat mom...

Babysitter Scramble

This is going to be a babysitter scramble week. Paulina's son is sick! Yesterday was neighbors and today is Stephanie. We are so blessed to have help. Tomorrow is mom. I think I am going to take off Thursday. Scrambline does a number on my nerves. I just worry. I just wish I could stay with him everyday. But I know his relationships to other people are important too. It's so hard to let go even a little bit! Nathan thinks I'm nuts, especially when I complain about little things. He is going out of town tonight, so it's all me! Mom may spend the night. It's really nice to at least have someone there with me for 30 mins to help with Boo so I can bathe and eat. Some nights, Boo takes a little nap or goes to bed early, but some nights... like last night... he doesn't, and help is nice. Oh, and he was grinding his teeth last night!! How crazy is that? I didn't know babies did that. Weird...

Oops

We actually slept late today! Which is great, except that we slept too late to go to church. Boo woke up at 8 am, and then he fell back asleep till 10 am. He woke up in the night too, but it was nice to get a little extra sleep.

We hung out with our friends last night and Boo went of course. It was really nice to see them and visit and relax and eat.

Children...

Mya spent the night last night and MAN, fun times, I tell you. She went to sleep on the couch in the living room connected to our bedroom. Boo was in the bed with me. Nathan was outside most of the night working on the car. At 2:30 am, she woke up and came and stood next to my bed whining. She was not wearing a diaper and is doing pretty well potty training. I said, "Let's go potty" but it took me a few seconds to get up trying to not wake Boo. She made a face like she didn't want to go potty and was still being whiney. Then... she started peeing on the floor. Then crying, then peeing more. Then I got up, then Boo woke up, I tried to put him down, and he started screaming. So I had to carry him around while I was cleaning her up and getting her to finish peeing on the potty. Then Boo was up and didn't want to go back to sleep. I'm sure this is all normal stuff for parents with multiple children. Mya has been great other than that. She really keeps Boo entertained and I just sit in the room and watch.

At home

Me n Boo are just hangin out at home today. We got some new wraps to try out. One of them was majorly put to the test and held up! My favorite is still good old plain Prowraps. I also got some new wet bags which are pretty nice even though they don't exactly fit my diaper pail. I'm not sure what we are going to do today. We may go hang out at the mall and walk around. It's so nice to have a quiet day! No major plans! I might go get Mya if I get too bored. She always keeps things interesting.

Letting go of shame and guilt!

I am officially letting go of all shame and guilt associating with how I raise my child. I will no longer feel guilty or apologize for the following actions:

1. Public breastfeeding, including in front of male friends and family. I do try to be discreet.
2. Cosleeping. We have hesitated to call it that, but it is! And I think it's ok!
3. "Spoiling" our child. Ok, so he likes to get his way. And he ususally gets it. It's ok! He's a baby! If he wants momma, he gets momma, if he wants to nurse, he gets to nurse! He does have to cry for a minute if I need to go to the bathroom or wash my hands, but I'm not going to let him scream unless I absolutely have to. I worked really hard to bring this child into the world. I enjoy being with him and making him happy.

My grandpa actually made some comments about how the cloth diapers look on Boo, that his legs are spread too far apart. I'm not going to worry about that. He doesn't even walk yet. By the time he does, I think he will be big enough for his legs not to spread so much.

I encourage each of you to let go of something too. It feels good to be free!

25 Firsts

25 Firsts
I stole from Nancy.
1. Who was your first prom date?
Hmmm... Caleb. I wore a blue gown and he wore a tux. I remember having a good time and being with lots of friends. Nothing too wild.

2. Do you still talk to your first love?
That's a big NO.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink?
Probably a weak mixed drink given to me by my mother when I was around 12 and on vacation. I think it's ok to introduce an older child to alcohol. We'll see what Nathan thinks about that.

4. What was your first job?
I took clothes in and sorted them at a dry cleaners. Yuck!

5. What was your first car?
1994 Saturn 4 door. It was great and lasted all the way through college.

6. Who was the first person to text you today?
Paulina texted me after I texted her to tell her Boo didn't eat breakfast so she could try to feed him later. He was not interested this morning.

7. Who was the first person you thought of this morning?
What is morning? 2am, 4am, 5am, or actually time to get up? LOL. Definitely Boo.

8. Who was your first grade teacher?
I can't remember her name! Driving me crazy. Mrs. Harrington maybe? She was super sweet.

9. Where did you go on your first flight in a plane?
NYC in high school. It was so fun.

10. Who was your first best friend and do you still talk?
Hmm... I have to say my brother because we were very close growing up. Of course we still talk and we are still very close.

11. Where was your first sleepover?
Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house when I was one week old (so I've heard) my parents were both ill.

12. Who was the first person you talked to today?
Boo!

13. Whose wedding were you in for the first time?
I've only been in one wedding, Tiffany's.

14. What was the first thing you did this morning?
Nursed a baby.

15. What was the first concert you went to?
Rush when I was 15!

16. First tattoo?
None.

17. First piercing?
Ears.

18. First foreign country you went to?
Mexico.

19. First movie you remember seeing?
Ummm... Cinderella maybe.

20. What state did you first live in?
Born in TX, lived in LA for a few months (Louisiana)

21. Who was your first room mate?
Katie... we did not get along.

22. When was your first detention?
First and only. In middle school, some kids were being loud and bad at lunch, so they made a rule that only 2 or 3 could sit at a table together. We purposely protested by sitting our normal number. We were given detention and didn't regret it at all.

23. (Nancy didn't have a #23 and neither do i!) I'll make one up... How did you first meet your husband?
For those that don't know... we met in Physics II class at Lamar in 2001. We studied together, then were friends, then..... the rest is history.

24. What is one thing you would learn, given the chance?
That's a hard one. I would like to learn how to sew.

25. Who will be the next person to post this?
???

Attached

I never knew how attached I would be to my child. I think breastfeeding and cosleeping have a lot to do with it. And he is getting into the stranger anxiety stage, which is normal. At Nathan's aunt's house he really didn't want to be away from me or Nathan. I mean REALLY! I felt bad that he was such a momma's boy for a second, but I don't want him to be scared to meet new people. So I stayed close and played with him and integrated a couple of people at a time. A lot of people is overwhelming for him. Last night was funny. Me n Boo were snuggling down getting him ready to go to sleep. We were on the couch. I asked Nathan to come snuggle with us. Boo was so sleepy but not cranky. Everytime he looked at Nathan he would do this silly baby giggle. Nathan wasn't even doing anything funny. It was so cute. He loves daddy.

The kids

Mya and Boo are so funny together. They really are as close as brother and sister. It's so nice to see them together. Boo cracks up laughing when she is just sitting down being quiet. He thinks she is hilarious. Me, Nathan, and Mya were just sitting there watching him laugh at nothing. They really had fun when he was in his Johnny Jumper. He loves it. He loves standing up. I think he really wants to walk. Now also with the closeness comes jealously and fighting... already! In the backseat of the car, Boo started screaming. She had obviously done something to him and wouldn't say what. Finally I got out of her that she hurt his toe. She apologized. He forgives easily.

Boo did better last night and only woke up twice. I am really loving wool shorties! No leaks. We actually had more leaks with disposables, especially with nasty poo. So it's gross to deal with the poo diaper, but I would rather deal with that than deal with poo all over Boo and his clothes with a disp. diaper. I got my new dozen of Green Mountain Diaper (GMD) prefolds (PFs). I love! Now I just have to prep them which is a pain. I wash and dry 3 times. Our water bill is going to be high this month. I've spent about $450 on my stash of CDs! Yikes! I think I am done buying now. And I had to get enough to give some to Paulina to use and still have enough for nighttime. She really likes them. I will be evened out on costs in about 4 months or so by not buying disposables. I have plenty of Huggies for going to church or babysitters or just for a break. Then I think he will be in this size CDs for a long time. You wouldn't want to start using CDs when your child was at the upper range of a size, then have to buy another size shortly after. But diaperswapper.com is a good place to sell CDs, so I guess that would be ok, or if you are pretty sure you will have another child. Then you really save!!

We are going to see Nathan's family today. His cousin Seth graduated Marine boot camp! So we are celebrating with him. He is home. Hope everybody has a good day.

Good Boo

Boo has been so good with me this weekend. I do wish that all I had to do was play and hold him, but you all know there is a lot for a momma to do, especially one who is hosting a baby shower today. I am doing most of the food, and Jenn is doing the cake, decorations, and it's at her house. So it's a lot on both of us. I have tons of stuff to bring to her house. I LOVE the reusable grocery bags from HEB. Instead of 100 little bags, you fit everything into 5-6 big bags. Much faster to bring in the house. No tearing, breaking. And it will be easier to get stuff to Jenn's house. We are having deli meat/cheese sandwiches. I bought the good stuff. I got fresh fruits, veggies, dips, chips, drinks, salad. It doesn't sound like much. It seemed like a lot of work though. I went a little crazy at BRU yesterday. We are doing a clothesline for decorations. So you gotta have enough clothes to make it look cute right? I did get various sizes though. If it's too much, I may take a few things back.

Short Week

I'm glad it's Thursday. This has been a nice short week. Nathan kept Boo all night, so I actually got to sleep! We are giving a baby shower to some friends at work on Saturday, so that will be fun. My work friends have seen Boo once, but it's been a while. I like to show him off.

8 months!

Today is Boo's 8 month birthday! He has been kinda cranky lately, especially when he doesn't get his way. He likes to scoot around and play with toys and with non-toy items like remotes and phones and shoes. He likes macaroni and cheese baby food and banana mixed berry baby food. He likes to nurse! A lot! He's still a little smaller than your average 8 month old. He "talks" a lot. He has said mama a couple more times when he is mad and wants me to pick him up. He likes to play with daddy. He likes taking a bath, and he gets really mad when I take him out of the bathtub because he gets sleepy. He does not like having his diaper changed... any diaper, ever! He has been wearing cloth diapers. He's my sweet little man!!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day to everybody! It's nice to have a day off after being out of town. With prepping new CDs and washing our clothes, I have lots of laundry to do. Boo finally fell asleep. He really fought a nap hard. I let him play in his playpen for a long time while I did some laundry. He didn't cry, and finally I looked to check on him and he was asleep. I don't know what we are going to do today yet. I should be cleaning the house, but I'm not.

We are home!

We made it home. We had a very fun trip to Austin. Boo did well in the car, in restaurants, and out and about. It's really nice to start showing him the world and for him to appreciate seeing new things.

Had to add this...

Boo said "Momma" where I know he was talking about me for the first time today. At least I really think he did. I was getting ready and he was in his playpen fussing a little bit. He was saying, "Momma momma momma momma" wanting me to get him out. He's been saying "Dadda."

Gettin ready to go

We are getting ready to leave. Packing up for a weekend with a baby is hard work! Baby food, lots of clothes, diapers, soap...... But I'm excited. Mom came over this morning to see him. Boo is very well loved.

Here comes our trip

I am excited about our trip! We have not spent the night away from home in a long time. Boo never has. So it should be interesting to say the least. Nighttimes have been rough and evenings are cranky. But as long as we go with the flow and don't have any major plans, we should be ok. CDing is going very well. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It's really not that big of a deal. I used AIOs last night with a cover on them and that was much easier to handle in the middle of the night. I changed him twice in the night. With disposies, I usually change once, so no big deal there. I need to get some fitteds and more AIOs. There is actually a natural baby store in Austin that I hope to go to and pick up a few things. My major aversion to CD was poop, but the flushable liners make it so easy to deal with. So far, cleaning up poop pants in a CD is easier than disposies! Sounds crazy... I know

Wrestling

Last night I thought it was a major wrestling match to get on CD, but it was the same wrestling match this morning to get on disposable diaper. So I don't think CD was much worse. We didn't really like having to change CD multiple times in the middle of the night. Maybe we'll ease into that. I actually figured out how to use the snappi! And I got the prefolds to work decently. I think they will work well for nighttime since they are bigger. It was funny to see Boo scoot around with CD on. The big bulk in the front made his body like a see-saw! He would launch forward, then his legs would rock back n forth.

Adventures

So tonight we began our adventures in cloth diapering. I have a big stash of stuff.

2 wool shorties
2 Prowrap covers
1 Bummis superbrite
2 AIO (All-in-one) handmade
1 handmade cover
various doublers
16 premium sized Indian prefolds

Everything is size medium. Most of the stuff is really too big. Trying it on was interesting... to say the least. It would be easier to start CDing earlier before your child is a wiggle worm! I have to fight Boo to get any kind of diaper or clothing on. So trying to use a snappi to fasten a prefold that is way too big is impossible. The AIOs I bought are way too big. But too big is ok because I know he will fit in them soon. The Prowraps covers are really nice. They were the cheapest too I think. They have gussets on the legs that actually fit. His CDed bum is really big and fluffy! It will be nice to get the smaller prefolds in. I also ordered some AIOs that are smaller. I will have to figure out how to fasten a prefold if I want to use the woolies! Maybe I should practice on a stuffed animal! That will be funny.

Crazy Morning

I had a seriously crazy morning. I will share this with you all because, well, that's what I like to do. This is really nasty. Not for the weak stomached... But I know this is something most kids do at some point.

I normally wake up, change Boo's diaper, then leave him in the diaper only in the playpen for 10 minutes while I get ready. He started fussing, so I went to check on him. And behold... he had massive poop and took off his diaper and made a HUGE NASTY MESS!! He has had nasty poop since he is taking antibiotics for the bug bite infections. It was all over him head to toe. All over the playpen. So I took him out, bathed him, cleaned up the playpen, and proceeded with the morning. Then as I was ready, I found out I needed to get an alternate babysitter. Thank God for my wonderful neighbors who took him with no complaints! So I was pretty late after all that, but I will get some hours in.

I got my diapers in the mail! Everything looks really big though. I put them through 3 wash cycles and dried them on high heat. The prefolds look big enough for me to wear. I ordered some more from greenmountaindiapers.com since they have more tailored sizes. I also ordered a couple of smaller covers. He probably won't be in them long, but they will be good for going out and about so he can actually wear clothes over them. We will try them out tonight.

I don't think I will bring the cloth diapers with us when we go out of town. I don't have enough to last the 3 days, so I would have to bring all the disposable diaper stuff and the cloth diaper stuff and probably have to try to rinse it out in the hotel... That doesn't sound so fun. I don't want to ruin my experience so early. We'll see. I might change my mind. We are going to have to pack the car pretty full to carry our stuff, Boo's clothes, food, diapers, stroller, bumbo seat! But it will be fun!