Norah's Birthday! {Better Late Than Never}

Norah was born in March. We had her birthday party in March. However, the photos just got uploaded. Oh well! Here they are!

We had a great time at her first birthday party. It was at our house and the theme was Norah in One-derland. Of course, there were so many details that didn't get photographed, but I had a ton of fun planning and throwing the Alice in Wonderland tea party. We were grateful for all of our family and friends that came over to help us celebrate. Most everything I made myself and put together over the course of the week before.

Although first birthdays are always more for the parents than the kiddo, she thoroughly enjoyed ripping apart the wrapping paper.

The cupcakes say "Eat Me" and "Norah's First Birthday." The homemade ones are pink and the morning of the party we worried we wouldn't have enough so Chris went to buy more. Glad we did!

The above banner was on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I got it home and it said "hapy 1st birthday" oh, and the "p" was backwards. So I adjusted it a little. Probably won't be buying clearance banners anymore, at least without checking them out first. 

The banner below I made with the help of a friend at work and her Cricut machine. It's hard to see the colors in this photo, but it looked lovely in front of our dining room window.

Oh yeah, she has always and still hates the Happy Birthday song. Everyone even whispered it...didn't seem to make a difference.

I made her hat with some leftover fabric and cotton puff balls. Below is the pre-cry face, but I love how bright her eyes look.

...and meltdown.

She recovered with a gf cupcake. Then on to opening gifts and watching the other kiddos.

We also had a little secret at this event, we had just found out that Gibson was on the way. It was hard to not tell everyone when they were at our house that day.

It's hard to believe how much she has changed in the last 7 months. Now she is closer to 2! Time to start planning the next party!

Pregnancy- Glass Half Full

This past week has been a little rough. Nothing huge just a combination of some relatively unfortunate events involving pets, work, money, etc...coupled with the "end-of-pregnancy" symptoms and a toddler who is not sure if she wants her independence or not has me in just a negative mood. So I set off to write this post to complain. Seriously. I wrote a bunch of negative things about how uncomfortable I am, how N is whining constantly, I can't sleep...yada yada yada.

But then, I stopped when I felt Baby Gibson move. At the moment, I'm not uncomfortable. Norah is rolling the ball for Thor and she is giggling pretty loud (so cute!) whenever he brings it back (which is every. single. time. haha). I'm actually not feeling too tired and my cat gets to come home (healthy--er) tomorrow from the vet.

So I deleted it all...

I decided to write down all the things I love and will miss about being pregnant.

1. My hair is SO shiny, thick and soft. My fingernails are doing great and my skin is clear.
2. I don't have to change cat litter!
3. Getting to know this little life we created better than anyone else. I get to feel him move, kick and stretch. He reacts to our voices (especially his big sister!) and I get to experience all of it.
4. I don't feel bad about wearing yoga pants or leggings every day.
5. The anticipation of meeting our new family member, all the feelings of anxiety, fear, excitement and love that go along with it.
6. Seeing Norah snuggle up and fall asleep on my belly.
7. Getting to play "guess the body part" when lumps come poking out of my belly.
8. The sheer amount of food that I eat...without a ton of guilt. It is A LOT.
9. A continuous feeling of accomplishment. Ya know...I'm growing a person!
10. The heartburn, swollen feet and hands, sciatica, hip pressure, headaches and exhaustion won't last forever. In fact, it's quite short considering the amazing gift we will soon get to meet. I know I'll forget all about it when I see him.

My glass is MORE THAN half full.

Contentment Challenge

Original image: here.

In July, we did a "no spend" month. We decided to see how much money we could save/not spend by strictly not eating out, not shopping, not buying anything online....we did it. We didn't fail. We also didn't save any money. I'm still confused and I don't think I learned anything, other than it made me mad. I felt like we worked too hard, both at home and work to not allow ourselves to buy things when we wanted them, to go out for sushi, to purchase an outfit for your daughter...right? But I think what I was missing was an initiative. Yes, we need to save money, but there is SO much more to it than that.

On various blogs, I've been reading a lot about a "Contentment Challenge"-- no spending on anything frivolous...clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up, gadgets, expensive coffee...etc. For three months... Three whole months.

I've been thinking about doing a Contentment Challenge for a while, although I was (and still am) quite hesitant to write about it. It seems that if I write about it, especially here, it becomes permanent. I can't change my mind, I can't rework the rules. What if I fail? What if I can't handle it for three months? 

Well, I'm doing it. Officially started on October 1...so this will go October, November and December. With a baby due right in the middle, I'm sure my shopping will be down anyway, so it works out. My goal is not to eliminate, not to tell myself "no," but to look at why. Why do I feel the need to buy "things" and instead of considering it a "can't have," I'm going to fill the proverbial void with a reason to be thankful, a reason to be happy, so many other reasons than just material items.

In the end, it's not about whether I pass or fail, but what I learn and discover along the way. Sappy, right? The original challenge is quite religiously based, so I'm going to alter it a bit to fit my lifestyle and general system of beliefs. It shouldn't negate the outcome at all. 

We're going into this at the height of the holidays, when frivolous spending is at a premium, so I want to make sure that I'm doing this for the right reasons. My children (I'll have another one at the end of this...) come first and they'll still get appropriate Christmas gifts that are meaningful, important, and in the budget. 

Here are the guidelines (I altered them from the original) if anyone wants to follow along:

• For the first 10 days, the homework is the following: prepare, organize, and make any necessary purchases that I might need during these months. (This is not a last minute shopping spree! This is one final trip to the store for items I may need, and the opportunity for you to say my goodbyes to Target.)

• Choose 1-3 inspiring books to read during this time. I don't have a lot of time to read, I decided on some of my favorite blogs for things I'm interested in like Young House Love and Finding Joy.

• Gifts are okay! If someone gives me a gift (my birthday is in this three months too!) I will receive it graciously! If I need to buy someone else a gift, by all means, I will do so. The point is not to be rude, but to learn more myself.

• Necessities are okay! If I drop and break my phone (gosh I really hope not!) ,I'll get a new one! I just can't start justifying new purchases for items that I already have. 

• I must actively pursue something - anything - that replaces my tendency to buy stuff. I will begin thinking about something I love or a hobby I've always wanted to do, and make preparations to actually do it.

More to come on this! 

Mini Mei Tai

Anyone who has been around since N was born knows that we have always used some sort of carrier with her. Moby Wrap, sling, Baby Bjorn and Ergo (our favorite!) to name a few. Not only do I enjoy the closeness with the baby/toddler but it saved my sanity while having a high needs baby. I learned how to nurse in it, hold my baby and still manage to go grocery shopping and occasionally make dinner.

We still wear Norah often, many times it is easier and more convenient than a stroller. Norah seems to enjoy the view, also. We anticipate wearing Baby G a lot (and still probably N, too).

I haven't decided if I'm going to give N this as part of her big sister kit or if we will wait until Christmas, but either way I couldn't wait to see how it looked before I wrapped it up. She will never remember, right? Haha.

I cut and sewed this in about two nap times (long ones because N has had a bit of a cold...). Honestly, it would have taken less time if I wouldn't have been too lazy to go find a crochet needle to turn the straps right side out. I used this tutorial.

I hope she continues to enjoy this! She seems to be just getting into playing with dolls and stuffed animals. I'm optimistic she will want to put her babies in it while we carry Baby G.

Birth Plan

Whoa- haven't kept up with the blog thing lately. I feel like we have been moving really fast just trying to keep up. Right now, both N and I are sick. Seems like a nasty cold is circulating. Hoping to be feeling better quite soon. In the meantime, Norah has been taking long naps (today was nearly 3 hours!) once I got her sleeping and all propped up so she didn't get congested while laying down. So I took the opportunity to write a birth plan.

Last week, I had an appointment with my midwife and she suggested that I write down my birth plan. I had been considering it anyway and it was just the push I needed to put everything into writing. It's also helping to get my mind of off the fact that we have about 7 weeks to go and baby G isn't head down yet (more on that later).

Let me preface this by saying that I had a relatively ideal birthing situation with N. Everything went very quickly, relatively smooth and with little to no complications. Although, I didn't have a plan. I went in mildly educated about a wide range of things and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would breastfeed. That's it. Looking back, I wasn't really prepared for some of the decisions we would have to make in a stressful and frightening situation.

Here's what I have. I'm shooting for a natural hospital birth with little interventions. I know it's possible and right for our family and situation.

Baby Prep

We have about 11 weeks until Baby G's anticipated arrival. While I know it is naive to think that we could ever be 100 percent prepared for life with 2 kiddos. There are a few things I have been doing or plan to do with N to prepare her for another person to share her mommy and daddy with.

1. In the next week or so, we are taking the unused crib out of her room and put it in G's future room. It will be replaced with a twin bed we already have. Although she never slept in it, she is accustomed to her room being set up a certain way. At this point, we plan to cosleep with both children until one of them lets us know they don't want to anymore. That being said, I'd like to try some naps in her own room.

2. We have been playing with dolls (okay, mostly her stuffed Mickey or Minnie). We call them baby, she pushes them in her shopping cart, places them in the mamaroo, and she has even learned how to "burp the baby." So proud of her.

3. I know she is young, but I think she understands a lot more than she is given credit for. She is such a quick learner. We read books about the new baby and talk about mommy milk, and generally try to get her excited for impeding changes.

4. I'd also like to make her a "big sister" kit for when the baby arrives. I'm thinking of sewing her a mini mei tai carrier. I'd also like to include a book or toy from the new baby. Anyone else done anything like this? I'd like to include more, but useful things!

Am I missing anything helpful to prepare her for the baby? Suggestions please!

Food Intolerance and Healthy Eating

When N was an infant we started noticing some significant gastrointestinal issues- certainly not severe, but absolutely bothersome. As an exclusively breastfed newborn she was experiencing a significant amount of gas, tummy troubles and general pain beginning at about 1-2 weeks of age. 

At first, it was attributed to "normal newborn" stuff, but it wasn't getting better. In fact, it just continued to get worse. She was in pain, awful pain. She wouldn't have a bowel movement for days on end (which can be normal) but when she would it could be runny and green. In between she would have a rock hard tummy and just scream. It was heartbreaking. So, I knew something had to change. Initially, I did an elimination diet that I found through Dr. Sear's website. Basically, I cut out dairy, soy and gluten. Yep, I was pretty much hungry all. the. time. Not sure if it was just me, but I could eat just about anything and everything when I was first nursing. Always hungry. However, N was doing better within 2-3 days and it just kept getting better after that. So something was going right. 

I continued on with the elimination diet and slowly starting adding things back in, except soy; best to avoid that anyway. I tried on a few occasions to add dairy back in with not good results, it was then I decided to embrace my dairy-free lifestyle as it wasn't fair of me to keep experimenting with my daughter. I had hopes that she would eventually outgrow it. As she started to eat more solid foods, around 8-9 months, I could eat butter, yogurt and some cheese (very little). Not to mention I was nearly 20 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. Happy day!

Fast forward to N about 11-12 months, still nursing but also eating a pretty significant diet of whatever we ate. I was cooking with dairy, eating cheese and generally not worrying about it. The symptoms returned...Because I wasn't interested in solely treating the symptom and trying to avoid unnecessary medication, I made an appointment with an allergist.

After a lot of conversation, some testing and a very pleasant and informative appointment it was determined that N is dairy intolerant. Not always easy to detect in a toddler, but the signs were significant enough to the physician and myself. Interestingly enough, the doctor highly recommended we eliminate or avoid high concentrated corn products and gluten, as well. I was told that generally it is a myth that she will ever grow out of her intolerance, but someday she may be able to tolerate them better. It is a choice I will leave up to her as she gets older, but for now, we find it best to completely avoid the dairy. There are a few exceptions- butter used in cooking doesn't seem to bother her and she is also able to digest yogurt and dairy kefir. Which I attribute to their extremely low amount of lactose. The probiotic factor seems to cancel it out and actually seems to help. 

Surprisingly, it hasn't been as difficult as I initially anticipated. My husband is also trying to avoid wheat to combat some issues and overall, we are all doing well with the lifestyle change. So, all in all we aren't doing it necessarily to be trendy or cool, but because it helps us all. However if eating healthy, whole and unprocessed foods is hip than consider me on that bandwagon. 

Camping- (Photo Dump)

This past weekend we drove up to Interlochen to "camp" (in a fifth wheel with a bathroom...the only way I'll do it) with my Mom while my brother and Dad were at band camp. My brother is a senior this year (whoa!) and it was his last year there and my dad was chaperoning. Chris and I met at Interlochen 10 years ago, so it is certainly nostalgic to be there, but also much more pleasant to be able to be on the other side of the fence.

We took Bella and Isabel with us. Bella is our dog and Izzy is my parent's golden. Isabel has stage 4 lymphoma, but is still in good spirits!

Isabel

Bella enjoying the car ride.

Our first day there we got to watch the band march to dinner. I wasn't sure how N would do with the loud drums and the yelling, but she did great!

We went on a few long walks. Well, at least they felt long! A pretty big highlight of the trip for N were the swings. She LOVES to swing.

Bella also enjoyed some alone time on our morning walks down to the water, watching and listening to the birds. She was our first baby and got to go everywhere with us and I can tell she really misses it, so I'm glad she was able to come this time. She did so well and was really well-behaved.

Plenty of escape attempts...

And playing with Bella...

 

On Sunday morning we got to watch the band perform. By some sort of miracle, N just sat on my lap the entire time and watched, so I got to watch too! So proud of my brother, can't believe how much he has grown up in the past 4 years. They all looked like they were having a lot of fun out there.

Pretty typical attempt at a photo. Chris trying to tell my dad how to use the camera, Timmy getting annoyed and all of us trying to get N to look at the camera. 

Outtakes:

This is a perfect example of an interaction between my brother and I.

...and I wanted to get a picture of N in her "I love my Uncle" shirt. She might smile someday, but she was pretty focused on grabbing the drum sticks.

All in all, glad to spend some time in Traverse City and enjoying watching my brother. He is all grown up now...

Setting Boundaries and Creating Balance

After a playful morning, my daughter desperately needed a nap. N has never been the type of child to just lay down and fall asleep. It generally requires a fair amount of cuddling, baby wearing and quiet time, which is fine because that's just her personality and we work with it. But right now, I'm enjoying the time where she does play by herself. But, I also have to take the opportunity to write down thoughts while they are fresh, otherwise I'll forget them and they'll be gone forever. Or maybe not forever, but they'll be gone and come back at a really inconvenient time. This is something that I have been thinking about A LOT lately in various contexts, but still quite a bit. Generally, I like to think that I have a pretty good handle on my life, I'm pretty much in control and don't let myself get too "out of control" with any one thing....however, there is an intense need/attachment in my life to media/social media/connection.  Idolizing. Something that is just always there, reliable, but good? Oh sometimes, absolutely. Most of the time, no. Just time consuming. Laying in bed with my daughter and husband scrolling through Facebook, yup. Checking email while at the park with N, oh gosh, yes. Nursing or feeding and flipping through Instagram, all. the. time. Get it?

Let me be clear, I certainly don't think this social media thing is a terrible, awful drug that should be eliminated--no, not at all. I have made friends, kept up with distant family members and continue to keep myself up-to-date with issues that are important to me. All things that are IMPORTANT. What I'm trying to say is that it's just TOO time consuming, which is where the boundaries come in.

I'm teaching myself to set personal boundaries. As someone who "works" in a hybrid way, in person and online, soon to be strictly online, it is exceptionally important for me to be available, but not always. It's easy to get caught up in constantly checking. I need to draw the line before it gets too far skewed to be deciphered. Make sense?

For the very reason of "teaching" myself and my family, primarily N, I certainly will not completely eliminate social media from my life. Not only it is a welcome escape for me when I spend 90 percent of my time with babies but it also isn't going anywhere. To eliminate it from our lives would be naive and silly. I want to set these boundaries early so that my children don't get inundated with social media but have learned how to effectively use it in the most beneficial and satisfying ways. In fact, this morning there was a segment on the Today Show that highlighted the "Twitter Revolution" and how it has changed Hollywood. media and life in general. It struck a cord with me, it's so interesting, gratifying and yet exceptionally scary for us and future generations. I don't want to be constantly checking, but I don't want to miss anything. Sometimes, the logging in has become more of a habit that an actual interest in the lives of the people that are on the other side of the meaningless (yet sometimes hilarious or infuriating or annoying) status updates, tweets or IG photos.

My phone and laptop aren't going to be locked up, I'm not going to delete any apps or accounts, but I'm going to challenge myself to just leave it alone. Thus I won't be eliminating the temptations but rather learning to deal with it. My hope is that I'm not alone in this struggle and that if you're feeling a little TOO connected that you'll take the time to enjoy the amazing things that are actually around you. Or spend the time you're online doing something that enriches your life rather than a pointless time-waster.

Pregnancy Update (24 weeks)

It's funny because as I was writing the title to this post, I had to look up how far along I was. That would have never happened with baby #1. I would have known down to the hour exactly how long until my due date. It's funny how different things can be between pregnancies. It certainly doesn't mean I'm any less excited, anxious, nervous, elated about this baby, but my life is certainly in a different place than it was the first time.

This time, I feel like the pregnancy is flying by! Sometimes I have to sit down and think about how close November really is (Hello! I only have 16 weeks!). There are so many things we still need/want to get done before then. Lots of house projects, baby projects and time to spend with N. Not to mention, the holidays will be quickly approaching right after and I would like to have a lot of those projects/shopping, etc. done before then too. Ahhh, overwhelming. But it'll all work out, because it always does.

I've discovered that babies don't really need that much, so we were able to pick up/or gifted a couple things that we would like to have for this baby and he should be all set (materialistically). For example, we bought another Ergo carrier because we used it so much with N and still do, it'll be helpful to have another. Additionally, we purchased the second seat for our stroller and another convertible car seat. We aren't going to go overboard buying "baby" accessories because we didn't use the majority of we had for N. Live and learn, I guess. I bought an Arm's Reach cosleeper used (we cosleep/bedshare) and I can't wait to set it up! Score!

Anyway, I thought it would be a lot of fun to compare photos of my belly at 24 weeks with N and the same with baby #2. I feel a lot different this pregnancy- emotionally speaking. I think I'm more prepared and thus able to enjoy it a little more. I'm also a lot more at ease about the entire experience of birth, so I'm just generally more relaxed.

It's interesting that a lot of people have commented on my size, how different I'm carrying, etc, but realistically I look very similar. What are your thoughts?

24 weeks #1

24 weeks #2