My Little Man

Playing at Nana's house.

Seriously I just love this kid. 

I get a lot of "He should be learning this by now." or "Why can't he say certain words?"

I am done listening to "them". I am going with my gut instinct on how to teach him and it's not forcing him to sit in a chair and look at flash cards all day.

Well, I did buy flash cards, but we do this when he is willingly sitting next to me while I am nursing his sister. He points and says the ones he knows and he has learned a few of these cards.

 He's 2(and 2 months ;))! He is the type of kid that learns by touching, feeling, doing it himself.

I have to warn Ben every time he does something, because it takes just one time for this kid to know how to do what you just did by just watching you one time. 

Opening doors, unlocking doors. opening the fridge, putting a toy together correctly. 

He knows how to get into my iPhone and get into the game that is meant for him by himself.

He knows how to call Grandma up on my phone.

You name it, this kid may not say a ton of words, but he makes up for it 10xs with his knowing how to do things.

I swear this is kid is going to be a baseball player someday! He literally throws the ball right at you, seriously, I am not bluffing whatsoever.

He has a sweet heart, hugs and kisses for his family, even his baby sister who he yells at to be quiet while she is screaming in the car. He still loves her.

He doesn't throw a fit when another kid takes a toy away(only when mommy or daddy does)he just walks away and finds something else to play with.

At around 18 months of age he found out how much he did not like food on his hands. This resulted in using a fork and spoon really well for the first time. Today he eats with kitchen utensils every time and always asks for them. He prefers a regular cup over a sippy cup. He always wants to eat and drink out of the same exact things that Ben and I are. 

He loves book! He has a few favorites that I have needed to fix with packing tape because he loves them so much. His favorite is a pumpkin book that his Grandma Wendy got him for Halloween. He opens it up and looks at the pictures and pretends to read them

He is a daddy's boy! He loves me, but when daddy is home and around I am chopped liver till he leaves again. Every McDonald's that we pass by, Josiah points and asks where's papa?  Every time I am talking on the phone he always asks to talk to papa. 

Daddy always gets the BEST pictures!

 

Yes, he calls his daddy papa right now, not sure where he got that because I always say daddy when I am talking about Ben. He's got his own names for everyone.

ran-pa-pa     Grandpa

Gai-Gai     Aunt Casey

Eeeee      baby sister Eden

mama       me :)

ran-ma-ma       Grandma Wendy

nana        Grandma Laura       

He says other things that only Ben and I can make out. It takes a little more effort from others.

uck      milk

duce       juice

up          up

kiki       dog

chus        shoes

suks         socks

ook         book

attermelon      watermelon(weird that he can say that one)

racker           cracker

kiki          cookie

it's gaud           it's good

thanks 

ulco           apple

nana         banana

grips       grapes

So many more words that I can't think of right now.

Nope he doesn't say as many words as some 2 year olds are expected and the words are hard to make out sometimes. He may have to take speech therapy in the future, he wouldn't be the first in his family to do so.

I am not going with what the world says any more, I am doing what I can as a mom so that he learns. I am not going to force him, I will try and teach him while he plays. When we are outside, we ask him to repeat certain things and we talk to him like any body else.

He is my awesome little man that is super smart and is learning and growing everyday.

Playing in the dirt-cause that's how they learn.

Thank you for reading about my favorite boy. My kids are my world and my husband my best friend.

I am so happy for the little family that God has given me.

-Jess

Tidy Home...Not!

As I am sitting here, typing and nursing my newborn, I realize just how badly untidy my house is.

I have a consignment in May that I am apart of so there are hangers and piles clothes every where.

The main bathroom hasn't been cleaned since I've had my baby. I have taken a rag to it here and there, but I haven't been able to get down on my hands and knees to get to the nitty gritty.

We are planning on moving out of our house one way or another by summertime, so I have been trying to go through our stuff, organizing it and such.

Everyone has one of these--the place where everyone puts there stuff--bills, keys, coupons, trash in corner of the kitchen is over loaded and needs to be looked through.

I have to get my license before the end of this month, preferably without any of the kids.

The carpet still needs my special spring clean treatment.

The outside of our house needs some attention too.

I kinda feel like I am failing as a wife and mother to not be able to keep up with the over load of house work that needs to be done.

It makes it extra hard when I have a little girl that is so attached to me that I have to carry her in a Moby around the house all the time. I have been up to my ears in appointments for myself and both the kids. Most of which is just routine. 

I find it a successful day when I can get the laundry done and dishes cleaned with dinner on the table on time.

Some days, this does not happen.

I miss my clean home. :/  I miss not stepping on a lego. I miss not injuring myself by accidently kicking his buzz lightyear across the floor. I know to not sweat the small stuff, but when the small stuff has been bugging you for a month or two, it kinda gets to you. I guess I could do all these things when the kids are both down for bedtime, but that's the only quiet time that I get with my husband. That time before bed is so precious to us and is much needed.

Looks like my daughter is done nursing now so time for me to attempt to tackle that bathroom.

How do you mommies do it? Do you just keep dealing with it for a few more months? Hire a housekeeper? What?!

My little mess maker
but I wouldn't trade him for a house keeper! ;)

-Jess

Baby Bottom Problems

Changing a diaper from a boy to a girl is different. Honestly, I like changing a boy over a girl. Boys are so much easier in that department.
Diapering Eden has been a challenge for us. Ever since she was born and put into a diaper she got a rash in about a week. I felt so bad, but I kept up with the cloth diapering, changing her every 2-3 hours and I would put a coconut oil or Grandmas Els diaper cream on every change.
Apparently my techniques didn't work. :(

I went to the doc this morning because her rash was getting progressively worse. I felt like I tried everything.
Doctor recommended at her 2 week appointment to use Cortizone cream 2xs a day and Desitin at every change. So I did that with the cloth diapers for a bit, then I broke down and got some disposables because I felt like the cloth I was doing was making it worse(which it really wasn't) . I was going through diaper liners like crazy. You can't have zinc oxide directly on your cloth, it will make the stay dry fabric waterproof resulting in possibly ruining your diapers.
Changing the type of diaper to the type of cream to how I applied it. I did a baking soda bath. I even had a couple of days where she didn't even wear a diaper, I just had her lightly wrapped in blankets and when she peed or pood i changed the blanket.
Yeah we went through a lot of laundry that day.

So we went to a last minute appointment this morning and her doc said what I kinda thought that it might be.
A yeast infection. :( My poor baby.
I feel so bad and yet I tried everything in my mind that I could think of to do and none of it was working. The only thing that makes me feel a little bit better is the fact he said that it's pretty common for girls to have yeast infections and that it's really hard to keep away sometimes. Just like women, some are more prone to them than others.
Great!   ...not.

I am pretty good with my diet, I eat yogurt 2-3xs a week to help with probotics in my system, I don't eat a ton of crap food. It's not a perfect diet, but I am better than most.

So we got the cream that the doc suggested to get, going to apply that 3xs a day with desitin in between and then in a few days apply that with cortizone and desitin in between still. Still gonna stick with the sposies till I can get rid of this yucky infection that she has.
Also, I have to disinfect every diaper that she has ever worn and every cloth wipe that I have cleaned her with. I am washing diapers like crazy over here. Deep cleaning with bleach and vinegar, making sure that the bacteria is out of all of them. I am one tired momma. I can't wait for this to be over so that we can enjoy diapering her again.
I really hope that this system that the doc put me up on works. If not then we might have to go even farther and get a prescribed antibiotic. Pray that we won't have too!

Moms with babe in diapers, have you had issues like this?
What was your solution and how did you get rid of it?

-Jess

Cloth diapering a newborn

Cloth diapering my little girl has actually been really easy!
Besides a few user errors of leaks, it's been enjoyable.
What makes the most sense of why I cloth diaper my newborn is the fact that my son is still in (cloth)diapers. So when in the process of making this decision i thought, "Why not?!"
If I am already going to be washing his, what's an extra bit of a load going to matter?

What about the poop?
My son's poo I have to get off in the toilet, I use my shower head to spray all the ickies off into the toilet. It doesn't bug me whatsoever to do that. However, doing newborn diapers are totally different! So much easier! I promise! If you exclusively breastfeed(EBF) your baby you don't have to rinse the poo off in the toilet. Breastfed(BF) poo is completely water soluble. At night I just wipe her with a cloth wipe and throw both into my diaper pail and wallah! It's the same effort as a disposable!

Do cloth diapers(CDs) hold more?
I think so! I have had about 3-4 blow outs that don't really blow out of the diaper. All the poo stays in. Pretty awesome to not have to change clothes every time this happens if you ask me.

Meconium?
(That nasty sticky tar poo) Every one has told me that this stuff stains diapers. For us, not true. The yellow BF poo stains WAY worse! Also, the meconium seemed to come off her hiney a lot easier this time around.

Kinds of diapers that I use?
I use all the different kinds that you can think of. I like all of them for different times of the day.
Fitteds and prefolds at night because they hold the most liquid and I only have to change her every other time.
AIOs, pockets and hybrids during the day because they are the easiest for us on the go.

Favorites?
My most favorite brand of diapers that I have come to love is the Fuzibunz xsmall. I kinda knew that I would like these in the first place because of how well the other sized Fuzibunz fit my son now.
My least favorite is probably the Grovia newborn AIO. They always had a problem wicking onto clothing and they didn't have the stay dry for the little bum which I think may have caused the huge rash on her hiney that is still taking awhile to get rid of. They also did not hold as much liquid as I would have liked. Maybe Eden is a heavy wetter than most, but these seemed to have not worked as well for us this time around. Not saying that this is a bad diaper, but for us it wasn't working out. Some people have had good luck with these, and some people don't.

I just want to let you all know that this is my honest opinion. I am not getting paid to promote anything that I have mentioned. I like to let people know what works for me so that maybe you can do your own research and get the best of what you pay for.

Here is a list of my newborn cloth diaper stash

6 week old Eden

My baby turned 6 weeks old on Thursday!

She is growing like a weed, seems like my boobie milk is doing it's job!

She is pretty close to 9lbs I think the last time we weighed her was 2 weeks ago and she was 8lbs 12oz at that time. She is slowly starting to get little rolls.

Breastfeeding is getting easier and easier everyday. The first few weeks were the hardest. We never had troubles latching, but the pain when she first latched on was awful! I am glad to say that we are through the roughest part(i think) and I don't dread breastfeeding her anymore.

The last few days she has started to smile! Oh how i love it so much. Her smiles are big, opened mouthed and so happy looking. Her eyes show that she is truly smiling and that it's not just gas. 

Eden Penelope

Right around when she turned about a month old we got some pictures done of our little girl. This is a few of them that I got off of her blog, I hope to show more pictures in the future.

Having a girl is such a joy, I knew that it would be. From ruffles to headbands with flowers and bows I am loving it all. I am so happy that God has blessed me with her. Josiah still loves her. He does get a little jealous at times and he likes to get into everything that he's not suppose to while I'm nursing her. He has never intentionally been mean to her. All he does is kiss her, gently pats her head and when she cries he asks if she's OK. What a good big brother he is. I don't think that we will have any problem getting him to bodyguard her while they are in high school together. ;)

We have just been enjoying her and I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging or video logging lately. Taking care of my husband and kids comes as one of the firsts in my life.

Thank you all for being so patient and sticking with me, love you all!

-Jess

Eden's Birth Story

February 20th 2013-Eden's Due Date

I was just starting to be tired being pregnant. All the ladies that were pregnant around me already had their babies and i was getting restless. I really wanted to meet my baby girl. I was already doing all sorts of natural inductions and all of it seemed to not be working as well as i wanted to. One thing that I didn't try that I was told that worked was to bounce on a excercise ball to get baby to move down and start some contractions.

I was having contractions all day that day, and even told my midwife about it. She wasn't really convinced that it was the real thing, and I wansn't either. They were very irregular and came any where from 10-30 minutes apart. They weren't really that painful either, I could do everything without a problem

On our way home from our appointment, we dropped by a friend of mine's house to pick up the excersise ball that I was going to borrow and we headed home.

At 8:00 I started bouncing on it. I remember the time specifically because I just put Josiah to bed and was working on my  40 week pregnancy video log. From 8 to about 9 I was bouncing on that thing on and off. I was actually starting to get some pretty good contractions going. I didn't really think nothing of it, so I grabbed myself a snack and headed downstairs to try and get some sleep.

They were coming in at about 5-7 minutes apart and were about 30-45 seconds long. I timed these till about 1am, and then I went to go and take a long hot shower. I really just needed to relax and if these were the real thing then they would keep going even after I was done showering. I showered for a bit till the hot water ran out, I stopped the tub up and sat in the water for a bit. The water helped me to relax really well and I sat in there till about 2am.

Then I went to get up, get dried off and got some comfortable clothes on. I put on my nursing tank top that I was planning on laboring in. I still didn't think that this was the real thing, they just didn't seem strong enough to me. So i went to bed and turned on my relaxation CD on my phone and put my headphones on. My husband was sleeping soundly right next to me. He got up a few times concerned, but I told him not to worry and to go back to sleep. I would wake him if we needed to go. I didn't want him to be up for no reason. I finally started to relax enough to get to sleeping in between contractions, listening to my CD.

At about 3am, I felt a huge POP right in the middle of my belly. I was sleeping and I remember how strong it was cause it woke me up. I thought that maybe Eden hurt herself? It was really weird. I poked at her to make sure that she was still moving. As soon as I started to feel her move around in my belly, i was happy and relieved. After feeling that, I went to the bathroom because i had the urge to pee right after that. Not only did I pee, but little gushes of fluid was coming out of me. I sat there on the toilet for a little bit, trying to figure out what to do. I was sorta in a daze because I couldn't believe that my water just broke. Just to be sure, I stood up and more gushes of water came out, I couldn't stop it. Yep, it's my water! 

I called my midwife and told her what was happening, she asked me questions about my contractions and what color the fluid was and she told me to make my way to the hospital when I can. After my phone call with her  I got up and very quickly pulled up my underwear before more fluid came out all over the floor. As I was walking over to Ben in our bedroom more gushes were coming out. 

I looked over to my sleeping husband and said, "Babe, it's time!".

It took him a moment to realize what I said, I had to repeat myself a few times. Finally after a little while, he got up and called his mom who was coming over to take watch Josiah during our time in the hospital. While he was getting last minute stuff together I texted my doula Britney that my water broke that that we were headed to the hospital. She texted back to say that she'll meet us there, she had to make a few arrangements before heading over.

We were only waiting about 10 minutes and Ben's mom was already at our house. We left around 2:30.

Of course, my wonderful husband, because he went out with his friend just a few hours before, he was super tired. Not only did we HAVE to stop for coffee for him on the way, we had to stop to get gas! 

Really?! We could have not been any more unprepared!

On our 15 minute drive to the hospital I breathed through each contraction, listening to my relaxation CD.

When we got to the hospital, I was guided into the delivery room and put on a few monitors. I was only monitored for a little bit before Britney walked through the door. After being monitored for a little bit I was able to walk out of the room and labor. Britney and Ben right behind me walking with me, supporting me every way they can. We all kept walking the halls of the hospital, then I got tired of that and went back to the room.

Maybel wanted to see how far I progressed, I was checked and only at a three when i got there.

By the way, getting your cervix checked is the worst!!!

:( I labored for awhile longer, taking one contraction at a time, trying to find positions to be comfortable in. 

Having both my husband and my doula there to help me really helped with the process.

I hit a roadblock and I asked for the epidural at 5 cm.

Everyone kept asking me if I was sure. My husband probably asked me about 100xs if I was sure. He knew how important a natural birth was to me.

I was sure. I was tired, worn out and wasn't allowed to get into the tub till 6 cm. It seemed so far away and the contractions were so strong. Even getting the epidural was a challenge, the guy who did it had the hardest time and complications followed it.

After the epidural was in place, I felt a little better. Not to the point where the contractions were completely gone though. The guy had to come back in another time to give me a boost of pain relief.

I got the epidural at 9am and close to 11am I started feeling pressure with each contraction. After just 2 hours of relaxing and having a good time talking to Britney, it was time to push my baby out!

They called my midwife in, got me all ready and I pushed.

Because of the epidural not working completely like it was suppose to, I felt everything.

All that it did was take the edge off the contractions and the ring of fire. 

At one time I asked them to pull her out of me because it hurt so bad. 

I pushed through the pain, everyone around me, supporting me, telling me that I can do it.

I could hear my husband beside me giggling, yes, giggling. I almost the guy cause it made me so mad. Good thing Britney was there to keep my calm and assured me that he was just an excited father ready to meet his daughter. After about 20 minuted of pushing, my midwife told me to pull her out, I could see her right there. At first I said no, she kept telling me to do it. I am glad that she made me, I am glad that I got to deliver my own baby into the world. 

I laid her on my chest and I just cried. She was so beautiful, she pinked up right away, cried right away. 

She was perfect.

I got to lay her on my chest for awhile, skin to skin. After about 30 minutes I put her to my breast and she immediately latched on. I was on baby high for awhile.

After about an hour they took her to weigh her and measure her.

During the 2 hours of the epidural and talking with Britney, she asked me what I thought my baby was going to weigh. I told her, "I think she is going to be 6lbs 13oz"

Well something to laugh about always and forever is how accurate I was with her weight.

She was 6lbs 13.5oz. haha!

Beautiful little girl, welcome to the family! We are so blessed to have you!

Your daddy, brother and I are so happy that you are part of us.

That is my birth story of little Eden. I don't regret getting the epi. I think that the reason why is because I felt every thing. Once I did get it, my body was able to completely relax and I went from a 5 to 9 1/2 in 2 hours. I think that if I would've gotten into the tub, it would have had almost the same affect. Next time maybe. I did get a 1 degree tear! yay! I needed a few stitches for those, I did feel the shots that my midwife gave me. That was no fun.

Here are the stats:

February 21st 2012

11:11am

6lbs 13.5oz

20 inches

14 hour labor

20 minutes of pushing

A healthy baby girl.

I couldn't be happier. 

-Jess

Life with 2

Let me tell you, it has been interesting!

A lot of people ask me how Josiah is handling everything, so I will start with explaining that.

Josiah absolutely loves her! He can't stand NOT kissing her at least 20xs in a day, he always wants to pet her head and he says hi to her every time he sees her.When he hears her start to fuss or cry(which isn't very often) he always asks OK? This is his way of asking if she is OK. He is so sweet to her.

However, even though he loves her, he has his moments. He knows that once I am sitting down nursing he can get into whatever he wants and I can't do anything about it. I do punish him afterwards and explain to him why he is getting a swift swat to the butt or going into time-out. It is improving, but I like results now so the consistency in patience is a challenge.

Little Eden on the other hand is probably the easiest baby ever! Seriously!

Josiah was a super colicky baby. I never got to enjoy that newborn stage of cuddles and cuteness. I am part of the blame for his cockiness, breastfeeding ended too short for him. :( So this time around, I am actually enjoying this phase of her life.

Eden latched on immediately at the hospital. She only fusses when she is hungry--only cries when i don't get to her hungry cues in time. The only issue that we have with her is that she really likes to be held all the time. It's a struggle sometimes to get things done around the house because of this. Once she is asleep, I lay her down after about 10-20 minutes of holding her and she stays asleep in her crib next to our bed or in the play pen that I have in the living room. She will stay asleep until she starts to stir a little bit letting me know that she is ready to eat again, usually about 2-3 hours later. Night time feedings are easy. She sleeps in bed with us so when she is ready to eat I just feed her right there in bed. Ben doesn't even get up at all. For the first night he was up getting me things like water and diapers. But now we have a system so that he gets to sleep all night without being bothered. He gets a good nights rest for work the next morning.

I try to nap when I can while her and Josiah are both asleep. But if not, I take an extra long hot shower--complete with shaving my legs! ;) It's the little things right?

When Eden was just 4 days old, we went to church Sunday morning. The Tuesday after that we attended our Financial Peace University(FPU) class at church. Then that Wednesday morning I went to my women's bible study. I was called crazy and a trooper and when I put on Facebook that I went to the library with both the kiddos I was called the bionic women. haha. 

You really do bounce back fast after your second. I was told this by many, but yet I didn't believe it until just a few days after having my baby I was ready to clean my house!

So that's what been going on here, routines are pretty much the same with (light)cleaning and doing things with my son. I am hoping to go to the kids museum next week with the kiddos. I just strap her in a front pack carrier or my moby wrap and she is good to go for an hour or two and Josiah can play all he wants.

One thing that has been really nice is all the meals that people from our church have been bringing us. I am enjoying more time with both my babies than cooking. I have such yummy leftovers for lunch, I fear that I may gain back baby weight. ;)

Thank you all for your help if you are reading this! Everyone coming in and helping with meals, watching Josiah, and getting us any last minute stuff that we need at the store had been a huge blessing. It has made the transition from 1 to 2 so much easier.

-Jess

Now let's look at these two side by side. :) Both about 1 day old.

Eden

Josiah