We've been in British Columbia now for just over a week. So far, it's been great. Hanging out with my family has been absolutely wonderful. I love being with them so much, and it is so beautiful here which is just a bonus. The house my parents live in is extremely nice as far as Army houses go. There's a great wood burning stove in the family room, and a view of a gorgeous forest from the back windows. The house is at the top of a hill so looking out over the neighbourhood it's like we're king of the houses.
G was great traveling here. She had a bit of a tantrum on the plane, but we dealt with it pretty well I'd say, and the other passengers didn't seem too peeved. The weather hasn't been great since getting here, but at least it's not -30! On Friday we go to my Aunt's house to pick up another Aunt and her husband so that they can come stay here. My grandparents will be there too which is awesome. I love them and miss them all so much!
Since getting here, G has been sleeping all night long every night which is phenomenal. She's doing at least 10 hours a night. The air here agrees with her so much better than back in MJ. She isn't snuffly anymore and has a more fitful rest. Unfortunately she refuses to nap much in the day because she's such a curious little button, but we make do. There's lots of people to help out so it isn't too stressful. Most of the time. As I'm typing this she's laying on the floor whining her face off even though B is playing with her. Just a cranky baby I guess.
Updates will not be frequent here, as I just honestly want to chill and watch TV most of the time. We don't have cable back at home so I'm watching the crap out of HGTV, Food, Slice and TLC. Plus there's my dad's Clint Eastwood box set to get through, in addition to Live Aid and 6 seasons of ER.
I likely won't post again until after Christmas, so I wish any readers the happiest of Christmases! I hope this holiday season is wonderful for everyone, no matter how you are spending your time whether or not it's with family or if you're on your own or if you're celebrating on Christmas Day or a different one! It's a wonderful, wonderful season and I'm so thankful that I get to spend it with so many of my loved ones this year...and I'm REALLY excited to be celebrating G's very first Christmas! It's going to be magical!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Blogs
Reading blogs is one of my hobbies. I read a pretty decent variety of them, ranging from mommy to fashion to humour. Below is a list of some of my favs, and you should definitely check them out!
1. Mommyish
This site features a huge variety of articles related to being a parent. The articles are written by a bunch of different women who all add their own opinion and writing style to what they're talking about it. It's very fascinating to not only read the articles, but the discussion in the comments as well. I check this site at least twice a day, and there is so much content that I'm never bored returning to this site.
http://www.mommyish.com/
2. STFU, Parents
This blog is hysterical. It basically points out how ridiculous parents are on facebook. I'm absolutely guilty of posting billions of pictures of my munchkin on facebook, although I don't feel a mite bad about it because I basically do it to keep my parents up to date on how G is looking. It's amazing how insane some people are though, and this site always has me laughing - and cringing in some cases. Seriously people...don't post pictures of your kid's poop on the internet. It's gross.
http://www.stfuparentsblog.com/
3. Go Fug Yourself
This is a blog I've been a regular reader of for years now. It's a fashion blog, run by two hilarious ladies who know what looks good and what definitely looks fugly. I usually walk away from my time on this site with a smile on my face.
http://gofugyourself.com/
4. Offbeat Families
I became a reader of this site's content once I became pregnant, but I was a follower of their sister site Offbeat Bride as I was preparing to get married. This blog features a lot of tips, personal stories, and great photo sets. It's pretty liberal which doesn't exactly mesh with my lifestyle all the time, but it's extremely fascinating to read about how other families are making it work. This one I'm actually subscribed to, and I get an e-mail nearly every day.
http://offbeatfamilies.com/
5. 11 Points
This is a site of top 11 lists and most of them are pretty great. Lots of Simpsons and Arrested Development related humour which I love! There's a pretty wide variety of topics, but pretty much every list is worth reading whether you're into the subject or not.
http://www.11points.com/
1. Mommyish
This site features a huge variety of articles related to being a parent. The articles are written by a bunch of different women who all add their own opinion and writing style to what they're talking about it. It's very fascinating to not only read the articles, but the discussion in the comments as well. I check this site at least twice a day, and there is so much content that I'm never bored returning to this site.
http://www.mommyish.com/
2. STFU, Parents
This blog is hysterical. It basically points out how ridiculous parents are on facebook. I'm absolutely guilty of posting billions of pictures of my munchkin on facebook, although I don't feel a mite bad about it because I basically do it to keep my parents up to date on how G is looking. It's amazing how insane some people are though, and this site always has me laughing - and cringing in some cases. Seriously people...don't post pictures of your kid's poop on the internet. It's gross.
http://www.stfuparentsblog.com/
3. Go Fug Yourself
This is a blog I've been a regular reader of for years now. It's a fashion blog, run by two hilarious ladies who know what looks good and what definitely looks fugly. I usually walk away from my time on this site with a smile on my face.
http://gofugyourself.com/
4. Offbeat Families
I became a reader of this site's content once I became pregnant, but I was a follower of their sister site Offbeat Bride as I was preparing to get married. This blog features a lot of tips, personal stories, and great photo sets. It's pretty liberal which doesn't exactly mesh with my lifestyle all the time, but it's extremely fascinating to read about how other families are making it work. This one I'm actually subscribed to, and I get an e-mail nearly every day.
http://offbeatfamilies.com/
5. 11 Points
This is a site of top 11 lists and most of them are pretty great. Lots of Simpsons and Arrested Development related humour which I love! There's a pretty wide variety of topics, but pretty much every list is worth reading whether you're into the subject or not.
http://www.11points.com/
Baby Names
I just stumbled across an old notebook and in it was a list of baby names. Clearly, I was not entirely serious while writing said list:
Andy
Ginny
Cate
Frodo
Samantha
Mark
Maximus
Maximum
Minimum
Hurricane
George
Elizabeth
Beep Boop
Leonarda
Salad Fingers
Cornballer
David David Reilly
David David-David Reilly
David Beckham
Crispin
Vernardly
Crispleton
Olivia
Anna
Soup
Like seriously...what the heck is wrong with me? It started off inoccently enough but escalated very quickly after Mark. And then it wound down again, only to end on weird note. Soup. Really Becca? Really?
Andy
Ginny
Cate
Frodo
Samantha
Mark
Maximus
Maximum
Minimum
Hurricane
George
Elizabeth
Beep Boop
Leonarda
Salad Fingers
Cornballer
David David Reilly
David David-David Reilly
David Beckham
Crispin
Vernardly
Crispleton
Olivia
Anna
Soup
Like seriously...what the heck is wrong with me? It started off inoccently enough but escalated very quickly after Mark. And then it wound down again, only to end on weird note. Soup. Really Becca? Really?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Baby Products
There are a number of baby products I am so thankful we have because they make life so much easier. I'm going to review some of my favourites below. Hopefully this helps someone out one day!
1. Avent Bottle Warmer
This has honestly been a life saver. Heating bottles is no easy task. While we were away in the fall we did not have this with us and it was a real chore trying to heat G's bottles. It takes roughly five minutes to heat a small 4oz bottle and about eight minutes to heat a bottle full to 6oz. Typically I'll get the bottle filled, mixed and into the heater and then in the five or eight minutes it takes to finish getting warm, I can change G and get her bibbed and ready to eat. I don't have to worry about boiling a pot of water or running the tap. Before we had G I had read about these and thought they might be a waste of money. I have completely turned around from that opinion and I would recommend these to anyone bottle feeding their baby, whether it be formula or breastmilk.
2. Avent Bottles/Nipples
These bottles are my favourite. We use another brand as well, I believe from Zellers, called Born Free and those are good too, but the Avent are really nice. They're easy to hold, have better airflow to help prevent colic and the nipples don't have to go a certain way. You wouldn't think nipple shape makes a huge difference, but when you're in a hurry to get that thing in a crying baby's mouth, you don't really want to have to waste precious milliseconds turning the bottle to find the right spot. It's not really that much of a hassle, but to me it does make a difference. I like the quality with which these bottles are made. In my baby product review book they got some of the highest marks and though they are a little more expensive, they're really worth the money.
In addition, the bottle set we bought came with several different bottle and nipple sizes, as well as a storage container for powder formula that later converts to a travel snack container, a bottle cleaning brush, sippy cup attachment nipple, handle attachment for little grabby hands, and a pacifier.
3. Avent Pacifiers
I know, Avent again, but they really are the best. The pacifier that came with our bottle set was G's first after those rubbery one piece ones (which were great and ALSO Avent). She will not take any other pacifier. We have several Nuks and she just spits them out. These pacifiers also don't have to go in the mouth a certain way which is a big help because you don't have to think about it in the dark of the bedroom late at night when you're popping it back in the baby's mouth. We recently bought some with glow in the dark handles as well, which is pretty cool. These too, like the bottles, are sometimes a little more pricey than other soothers but G loves them so we love them too. The pictures above are of all the different Avent pacifiers we have used, and they have ALL been wonderful.
4. Diaper Genie Elite
This was honestly the best Diaper Genie we saw. It was the most expensive (only by about $10) and it is THE BEST. The other day we ran out of bags for it and even though we still tossed the diapers inside and the were closed away, the smell was atrocious. The pail combined with the bags is really a miracle worker. The only time we ever smell poop or pee is when we open the lid and that's obviously going to be what happens so it is not a complaint or an issue. This thing is great. I love it, B loves it and our noses adore it. Little tip: to combat the smell that sometimes wafts out when the lid opens, I just toss a fresh dryer sheet on top of any poopy diapers we put in. It works really well!
5. President's Choice Infant Formula
We have tried several infant formulas and this has absolutely been the best. G pukes less with it, is gaining weight the way she should be, and also sleeps just fine after a bottle of it. We don't use the kind with added iron (as in the picture...I couldn't find a picture of regular) as that constipates her, but the regular kind has just been great. An added bonus it that it is at least about $7 cheaper than Enfamil or Similac.
That's it for now. It's about one in the morning and my brain is fuzzy. I'll probably add to this as we try new things out.
1. Avent Bottle Warmer
This has honestly been a life saver. Heating bottles is no easy task. While we were away in the fall we did not have this with us and it was a real chore trying to heat G's bottles. It takes roughly five minutes to heat a small 4oz bottle and about eight minutes to heat a bottle full to 6oz. Typically I'll get the bottle filled, mixed and into the heater and then in the five or eight minutes it takes to finish getting warm, I can change G and get her bibbed and ready to eat. I don't have to worry about boiling a pot of water or running the tap. Before we had G I had read about these and thought they might be a waste of money. I have completely turned around from that opinion and I would recommend these to anyone bottle feeding their baby, whether it be formula or breastmilk.
2. Avent Bottles/Nipples
These bottles are my favourite. We use another brand as well, I believe from Zellers, called Born Free and those are good too, but the Avent are really nice. They're easy to hold, have better airflow to help prevent colic and the nipples don't have to go a certain way. You wouldn't think nipple shape makes a huge difference, but when you're in a hurry to get that thing in a crying baby's mouth, you don't really want to have to waste precious milliseconds turning the bottle to find the right spot. It's not really that much of a hassle, but to me it does make a difference. I like the quality with which these bottles are made. In my baby product review book they got some of the highest marks and though they are a little more expensive, they're really worth the money.
In addition, the bottle set we bought came with several different bottle and nipple sizes, as well as a storage container for powder formula that later converts to a travel snack container, a bottle cleaning brush, sippy cup attachment nipple, handle attachment for little grabby hands, and a pacifier.
3. Avent Pacifiers
I know, Avent again, but they really are the best. The pacifier that came with our bottle set was G's first after those rubbery one piece ones (which were great and ALSO Avent). She will not take any other pacifier. We have several Nuks and she just spits them out. These pacifiers also don't have to go in the mouth a certain way which is a big help because you don't have to think about it in the dark of the bedroom late at night when you're popping it back in the baby's mouth. We recently bought some with glow in the dark handles as well, which is pretty cool. These too, like the bottles, are sometimes a little more pricey than other soothers but G loves them so we love them too. The pictures above are of all the different Avent pacifiers we have used, and they have ALL been wonderful.
4. Diaper Genie Elite
This was honestly the best Diaper Genie we saw. It was the most expensive (only by about $10) and it is THE BEST. The other day we ran out of bags for it and even though we still tossed the diapers inside and the were closed away, the smell was atrocious. The pail combined with the bags is really a miracle worker. The only time we ever smell poop or pee is when we open the lid and that's obviously going to be what happens so it is not a complaint or an issue. This thing is great. I love it, B loves it and our noses adore it. Little tip: to combat the smell that sometimes wafts out when the lid opens, I just toss a fresh dryer sheet on top of any poopy diapers we put in. It works really well!
5. President's Choice Infant Formula
We have tried several infant formulas and this has absolutely been the best. G pukes less with it, is gaining weight the way she should be, and also sleeps just fine after a bottle of it. We don't use the kind with added iron (as in the picture...I couldn't find a picture of regular) as that constipates her, but the regular kind has just been great. An added bonus it that it is at least about $7 cheaper than Enfamil or Similac.
That's it for now. It's about one in the morning and my brain is fuzzy. I'll probably add to this as we try new things out.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
One Is Enough...For Now
Ever since G was born, we've had a lot of discussion about whether or not we want to have more children. We agreed immediately that if we do, it won't be for another 4 years or so. But we're not sure we want more, and there are a few reasons why.
1. G is amazing and she deserves an amazing childhood. That's not to say that her childhood would suck if she had siblings, but it's no secret that it's hard to spoil your kids when you don't have the money to. We're never going to be rich, but if we keep it just the three of us we can give G the chance at more once in a lifetime opportunities. If we had more kids we would still try to do that, of course, but you have to agree it is a little harder.
2. I don't know if I can handle having a baby again. It wasn't too rough on my body. I have stretch marks, my lady parts are a little different, and I am a little flabbier, but on the whole I feel pretty good physically. The delivery went great, but the contractions were murder. The thought of those contractions are enough to make the thought of more kids pretty scary. The part I'm having the most difficulty with, is the post partum stuff. I'm not depressed, but there are days when I feel depressed, if you know what I mean. Most days I'm pretty happy, but suddenly I'm experiencing mood swings and my self esteem has gone down the toilet. My whole life I felt pretty good about myself. Yeah I could lose weight, but I loved myself. Now it's a real struggle feeling pretty, despite B's assurances that he loves me and loves how I look. There are days when I feel like the worst mother in the world because I don't want to hold G, or her incessant crying causes me to emotionally check out and I just sit there rocking her, hoping that B can come take her soon so that I can lock myself in our bedroom and cry. In all honesty, if I were to become pregnant right now or even in the next year, I would completely and utterly fall apart. I am certain that I would fall into a depression and it would take a lot of work to pull me out. I feel like I'm constantly on the edge right now, and I just don't want to feel this way ever again.
3. We're satisfied with G. She's great, we love her, and at this point there's just no real reason to think about makin' another baby. We're content with the three of us. I'm open to our opinion changing, but for now this is good.
At the end of the day, the decision to have another baby isn't up to us. We were not using birth control at all from about December 2010 to when I became pregnant. We left it up to God. It's my strong opinion that whether you're using protection or not, if God wants you to have a baby you're going to have a baby. Birth control isn't 100% effective. If I did become pregnant again in the near future, yes I might be a wreck emotionaly and mentally, but I think I would have the strength to take a step back and realize, God wouldn't give us something we can't handle. So many times in the months since G has been born we've wondered where we were going to get the money to care for her properly, and every time something has come through and I know that it's because we pray and ask God for help. G was a wonderful gift and God is definitely helping us take care of her.
So for now the plan is no more kids. But a few years down the road, who knows?
1. G is amazing and she deserves an amazing childhood. That's not to say that her childhood would suck if she had siblings, but it's no secret that it's hard to spoil your kids when you don't have the money to. We're never going to be rich, but if we keep it just the three of us we can give G the chance at more once in a lifetime opportunities. If we had more kids we would still try to do that, of course, but you have to agree it is a little harder.
2. I don't know if I can handle having a baby again. It wasn't too rough on my body. I have stretch marks, my lady parts are a little different, and I am a little flabbier, but on the whole I feel pretty good physically. The delivery went great, but the contractions were murder. The thought of those contractions are enough to make the thought of more kids pretty scary. The part I'm having the most difficulty with, is the post partum stuff. I'm not depressed, but there are days when I feel depressed, if you know what I mean. Most days I'm pretty happy, but suddenly I'm experiencing mood swings and my self esteem has gone down the toilet. My whole life I felt pretty good about myself. Yeah I could lose weight, but I loved myself. Now it's a real struggle feeling pretty, despite B's assurances that he loves me and loves how I look. There are days when I feel like the worst mother in the world because I don't want to hold G, or her incessant crying causes me to emotionally check out and I just sit there rocking her, hoping that B can come take her soon so that I can lock myself in our bedroom and cry. In all honesty, if I were to become pregnant right now or even in the next year, I would completely and utterly fall apart. I am certain that I would fall into a depression and it would take a lot of work to pull me out. I feel like I'm constantly on the edge right now, and I just don't want to feel this way ever again.
3. We're satisfied with G. She's great, we love her, and at this point there's just no real reason to think about makin' another baby. We're content with the three of us. I'm open to our opinion changing, but for now this is good.
At the end of the day, the decision to have another baby isn't up to us. We were not using birth control at all from about December 2010 to when I became pregnant. We left it up to God. It's my strong opinion that whether you're using protection or not, if God wants you to have a baby you're going to have a baby. Birth control isn't 100% effective. If I did become pregnant again in the near future, yes I might be a wreck emotionaly and mentally, but I think I would have the strength to take a step back and realize, God wouldn't give us something we can't handle. So many times in the months since G has been born we've wondered where we were going to get the money to care for her properly, and every time something has come through and I know that it's because we pray and ask God for help. G was a wonderful gift and God is definitely helping us take care of her.
So for now the plan is no more kids. But a few years down the road, who knows?
Monday, December 3, 2012
Packing
In about 8 days we're off to BC for our Christmas holidays. Last night I began the arduous process of packing for our little family of three. B hates packing, but fortunately I enjoy it (the first time around, at any rate - I hate packing whilst ON the trip itself).
Packing for B and I is easy. If it were just the two of us we could probably get away with one suitcase, though we'd take two to bring back Christmas presents. G presents a whole new problem. I have to pack enough to keep my rapidly growing baby sufficiently clothed for roughly 3 months away. That means A LOT of baby clothes, folks. I've already filled an entire suitcase and that is just stuff that doesn't fit her yet. It's really difficult on another level as well, because there are some things I wouldn't mind leaving behind but because they were gifts, I want her to have the chance to wear them. I've already had to pack away a few summer items that she never got to wear.
*Word of Solid Advice*
When you're buying baby clothes for someone else as a gift, think what season the baby will actually wear them in. So many people bought us summer little strappy onesies that G will never wear because it's too cold. There only ended up being maybe three outfits she couldn't wear, but it makes me feel bad (especially since they were SO CUTE). I am really hoping a friend has a girl baby who can make use of these. Which reminds me. Friends of childbearing age: I have so much stuff you can have/buy from me. Clothes I'd give for free but I'd prefer to actually sell the other stuff (for cheaper than I bought it, obviously...wish I'd got some things used instead of brand new). End of tangent.
Back to packing! I've got to pack wipes, dipes, bibs, sleepers, onesies, socks, blankies, powder, vaseline, clothes, a towel...There is so much involved when packing for a baby. And then there's our stuff as well. We need functional clothes that will last us 3 months. Thankfully we're staying with my parents so of course we can do laundry whenever, but you still don't want to overpack.
By beginning my packing a week early, I'm hoping that by the time we leave I'll have trimmed the fat off well enough that we don't find ourselves with excess items while we're away. On our Manitoba/Ontario trip in October, we had so many clothes in the suitcase that we hadn't even touched. I need to eliminate that! It's such a waste of space.
If anyone has packing tips, I'd love to hear them.
Now I'm off to bed. I went to bed at 1am, woke at 3, fell asleep at 4, woke up at 5 and have been up ever since. I enjoyed a hot turkey/potatoes/gravy sandwich for breaky and also a mildly flat Coke. Not exactly healthy there, but dannng it was good.
PS: Look how teeeeeny weeny G was! I love that she's growing but I miss my tiny baby sometimes!
Packing for B and I is easy. If it were just the two of us we could probably get away with one suitcase, though we'd take two to bring back Christmas presents. G presents a whole new problem. I have to pack enough to keep my rapidly growing baby sufficiently clothed for roughly 3 months away. That means A LOT of baby clothes, folks. I've already filled an entire suitcase and that is just stuff that doesn't fit her yet. It's really difficult on another level as well, because there are some things I wouldn't mind leaving behind but because they were gifts, I want her to have the chance to wear them. I've already had to pack away a few summer items that she never got to wear.
*Word of Solid Advice*
When you're buying baby clothes for someone else as a gift, think what season the baby will actually wear them in. So many people bought us summer little strappy onesies that G will never wear because it's too cold. There only ended up being maybe three outfits she couldn't wear, but it makes me feel bad (especially since they were SO CUTE). I am really hoping a friend has a girl baby who can make use of these. Which reminds me. Friends of childbearing age: I have so much stuff you can have/buy from me. Clothes I'd give for free but I'd prefer to actually sell the other stuff (for cheaper than I bought it, obviously...wish I'd got some things used instead of brand new). End of tangent.
Back to packing! I've got to pack wipes, dipes, bibs, sleepers, onesies, socks, blankies, powder, vaseline, clothes, a towel...There is so much involved when packing for a baby. And then there's our stuff as well. We need functional clothes that will last us 3 months. Thankfully we're staying with my parents so of course we can do laundry whenever, but you still don't want to overpack.
By beginning my packing a week early, I'm hoping that by the time we leave I'll have trimmed the fat off well enough that we don't find ourselves with excess items while we're away. On our Manitoba/Ontario trip in October, we had so many clothes in the suitcase that we hadn't even touched. I need to eliminate that! It's such a waste of space.
If anyone has packing tips, I'd love to hear them.
Now I'm off to bed. I went to bed at 1am, woke at 3, fell asleep at 4, woke up at 5 and have been up ever since. I enjoyed a hot turkey/potatoes/gravy sandwich for breaky and also a mildly flat Coke. Not exactly healthy there, but dannng it was good.
PS: Look how teeeeeny weeny G was! I love that she's growing but I miss my tiny baby sometimes!
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