T-Minus 33 Days Until the Anniversary…

Posted by on March 30, 2009 5 Comments

of the stitches, the contractions, the pain, the catheter, and my little man’s entrance into this world. Just a year ago I was happily plump, round, patient, preparing, reading books about lactation and practicing relaxation exercises that were supposed to help make laboring without medication not hurt like my spine was being ripped from my body, tailbone first, by the thing from Alien.

I was blissfully unaware of what lay (lie? This is where my grammar incompetence shines through) ahead for me. I couldn’t, at that point, wrap my head around how little sleep I would get. I didn’t know just how bad breastfeeding would seriously hurt at first. I had no idea how to soothe a colicky baby because it never occurred to me that I would have one. Most importantly, I had no idea how one tiny little bald man would turn my world upside down, give me a reason to be a morning person and to learn all the words to “Elmo’s Song” (though that’s really not a very hard song to commit to memory).

And now, a year later, I find myself in researching and planning mode once again, all for his first birthday party. Admittedly, up until a couple months ago I just didn’t see the point in a big party. I thought we’d just do something small at home with the three of us and maybe my mom if she could make it. After all, he won’t remember it anyway. But, as the months passed by, more and more people asked when the party would be, and so I began to think, “Why not? Why wouldn’t we have a big party to celebrate this past year?” God knows this has been the hardest Scott or I have ever worked, and we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know an amazing, intelligent, adorable little boy who has transformed from a colicky small swaddled stranger into a jolly, even if a bit demanding, piece of our world and hearts. We deserve a party…. and a beer. Oh, yes, there will be beer.

Sure, I don’t know what the next year has in store for us, but for the time being, I’m choosing not to focus on the upcoming challenges of disciplining a toddler or teaching him not to take his diaper off and smear poop all over the carpet. Instead, just for now, I am focusing on shallow and frivolous things like birthday cakes, cupcakes, decorations and invitations, the latter being what I will leave you with.

Mandy, a reader and Twitter friend (Follow her! @MandyHornbuckle), made these A-freaking-DORABLE invitations for Kendall’s party, which will be the day after his real birthday at a local park. It should be far more entertaining for the kiddos than the tiny plot of dog shit covered land we call a yard.

So cute, right?  She designed it with digital elements from Creations By Rachael, and also designs really cute blog layouts in addition to digital and paper invitations (for a very good price!).  Best part is she donates a portion of the price to a good cause.
Check her out here.
Blogs by Mandy

Thanks again, Mandy!

Kendall is 10 months and 4 weeks old…that’s just a smidge shy of 11 months, folks! And that’s just a hair shy of a year!

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For the boy who eats everything, a bib that catches everything.

Posted by on March 28, 2009 3 Comments

Kendall is getting to an age where he is not so impressed with the purees I lovingly make for him.  Doesn’t matter that I am a rock star domestic goddess when it comes to steaming and mashing up veggies and fruit, he wants nothing to do with them.  So I guess that means we have moved on to the lovely stage of self feeding.  It’s a double edged sword.  I don’t have to spend 2-3 hours every few weeks preparing cubes of squash, sweet potatoes and green beans, but meal time is undoubtedly 10 times more messy than it ever was when I was the one wielding the spoon.

He is very, uhm, independent when it comes to meal time.  So much so that if any spoon is involved, it’s only used after I load it with something (usually thick and sticky, like pastina), place it in front of him, and then let him pick it up on his own.  He proceeds to stick it behind his ear, smear it all over his hair, and maybe, just maybe, gets the tiniest bit in his mouth.  Then he un-ceremoniously drops it on his lap and the dogs compete over who can make the quickest nose dive at his crotch.

The end result (spoon or not) is always a mess of food bits that litter his changing table and carpet below where we strip him down for bath time.  It seems his pants take the brunt of it.

Enter the Baggino Learner’s Bib.  This is one freaking cool mess catcher!

Now,  allow me to take a minute to disclose that this is something that was sent to me to review, and I was a little leery of starting product reviews on here because I don’t want to become some PR puppet.  I’ve always been nothing but honest on here, and don’t intend to change that in exchange for some free stuff.  But, really and truly, I swear to you this is a product I would spend money on (and probably will so I can have more than one).  So, let’s get down to the details…

First thing I noticed is this thing is super duper soft and thick.  It’s double layered cotton terry.  It is very easy to get on with a nice wide Velcro strip at the back of the neck, and the arms slip on effortlessly.  It’s nice and big with room to grow (even for my little muscle man), but not overwhelmingly large.  Best part is it covers his lap pretty well.  We used it on a night we had Crockpot beef and tomatoes for dinner, and my little carnivore went to town. There were meat and tomatoes everywhere, in his hair, in his ears, his neck rolls, but not on his clothes!  The real test came when I took him to his room to strip him down for a bath.  Not a single ounce of beef or tomato rolled off of him onto his changing table.  Success!

My only concern is that the bib doesn’t have any sort of waterproof layer, like for the times he decides to give himself a sippy cup shower, but it really wasn’t an issue that night since a. the double layer terry is super absorbent (and soft! I told you it was so soft, right?  Not like those plastic smocks.) and b. I was a sippy cup Nazi and didn’t let him go crazy.  So, for normal messes, like a little bit of juice dribble and spaghetti sauce, I think it will more than do the job.

I just got it out of the dryer and it washed up very nicely.  Still just as soft, no issues with the velcro. This is very nicely made.

The bib is for sale at Baggino.com for $12.50. Considering this thing will also make a great art smock one day, I say that’s definitely a great price.

Stay tuned for my review of Baggino’s Combination Diaper Bag-N-Changing Belt. Still working on testing that puppy out.  Need to get to a dirty truck stop for a quick diaper change with it.

(Dude!  My ticker is broken!  How the hell am I supposed to know my son’s exact age without it?!  Ugh… He’s something like 10 months, 3 weeks, and eleventybillion teeth)

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Filed Under: Post Incubation, Reviews |Tagged With: , , |3 Comments

Rainy day wishes

Posted by on March 27, 2009 5 Comments

7 am, he wakes, I hear him on the monitor.  Actually, he’s probably been awake for at least 15 minutes now because by the time I wake from my dreams of trips to Italy in skinny jeans he’s audibly annoyed that I’ve yet to come pick him up.  I stumble out my bedroom door, through the living room and kitchen, down the hall, and into his room.  A trip that seems to be, in total, about 5 miles long.  It’s still dark-ish outside.  He seems sleepy-ish still.   As I reach in to pick him up, I see him rub his eyes. The little ember of hope burns inside me.  Maybe, just maybe he will go back to sleep.  Ahhhh…that would be SO nice.  It’s raining outside.  Rainy days are meant for sleeping in, at least past 8.  How do I communicate that to a 10 month old?

We go back to my bed, snuggle under the covers, I flop a boob out and he happily cuddles up to me and eats.  ”Please, please, please, magical boobs, do your magic.  Make him sleepy,” I think.  I doze in and out to the soft noises of my little piglet snorting and sucking.  He seems to have a stuffy nose every morning these days, which turns to a runny snot nose by breakfast and a crusty booger nose by lunch.  It’s a giant PITA to keep clean, and snot on my boobs has become a fact of life these days.

As he finishes off on the other side he pops off and smiles at me.  ”No!” I think, “Okay, don’t move.  Keep your eyes closed.  Maybe if he thinks you’re sleeping, he’ll go to sleep.”  We both lay there, silently willing each other to go to sleep/wake up.  In my head I’m saying to him, “How can you NOT want to sleep right now?  It’s cold out and rainy and we are so toasty warm and snugly here.  We don’t have anything important to do today.  Sleeping in is so much fun!  I swear when you are 13 you will be begging to stay in bed.”  He’s probably thinking something like, “Ugh.  Come ON, mom.  Let’s get up!  I have things to do today.  I have to climb onto the fireplace and figure out how to open those glass doors.  I have to pull the internet cord out of the wall completely in the office.  I’ve been working on that project for days now.  Stop being so lazy!”

Of course, he always wins now that he’s mobile.  There is only so long I can lay there with my hand gripping his ankle, preventing him from launching himself off the side of the bed.  I used to distract him for a few minutes by letting him play with my phone, but he quickly managed to get it unlocked and called his father at work not too long ago.  I had no idea until, from my sleepy haze, I heard my husband’s distant voice coming from the inside of Kendall’s mouth.  So I get up with him, and that ember of hope stays lit, waiting for nap time.

Kendall is 10 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old

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Stuff Every Parent Must Have That You Can’t Find in the Baby Store

Posted by on March 24, 2009 2 Comments

Head on over to TheBump.com to read my guest blog all about all the STUFF you might actually find useful with a baby.

(you have to click through from this preview for the link to work)

Kendall is 10 months, 3 weeks and 1 day old

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Filed Under: Post Incubation |Tagged With: |2 Comments
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