10 week budget bootcamp

 

With Christmas on the horizon and myself on maternity leave, our household needs to buckle down a over the next few months if we’d like to maintain our debt free status and continue saving for a new house.

Beginning on Friday, I will be posting weekly tips and challenges that I will be working on completing, and I’m inviting others to join me.  Even if your budget seems to be in top shape, maybe you’ll learn a tip or two that can help you save even more.

In the meantime, check out some of my favourite money management and frugal living sites:

Debt Proof Living
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Money Saving Mom
Frugal Dad

 

If you would be interested in providing a guest post about your own budgeting or debt payoff tips or stories, please leave a comment or send me an email.

our sweet pea at 6 weeks

 

Saturday marked 6 quick first weeks in the life of Emily (and me as a new mama).  In spite of everyone’s warnings and advice, those weeks have been packed with trips and visits and activities - especially the first week while Craig was still here - and it’s all left me a little exhausted!

Luckily Em has started sleeping better and although she is a very alert little girl and wants to hang out with mom most of the day, when she naps she goes down for long, predictable sleeps (most of the time).  Gas and tummy troubles have still been an issue for her, but we’ve come up with some creative solutions to help her with the pain as she still refuses any gripe water or gas drops.  One of the best tricks for her is just to lie her down on her change pad; maybe it’s the firmness or the action of her pants and diapers coming off, but she’s a tootin’ machine on there!  Here are her ‘gas legs’ at work, making it hard for mommy to change her bum:

She is so precious and I can definitely see little glimpses of her personality starting to show.  I’m not sure if it’s because I dress her in too much green, or maybe she looks like a boy (I don’t think so- I think she has really delicate girlie features!), but people always ask in stores if she’s a boy, so I’ve taken to making sure there’s always something distinctly pink on her or with her in the car seat.  I think people are just remarkably unobservant though.

1 week

 

6 weeks

As of last Thursday (technically 5wks, 5d) Emily weighed in at 9lbs 9oz and was 23 inches long.  Her head when she was born was 35.5cm in diameter, and its now measuring 39cm.  The first four weeks she was averaging almost 2oz a day in weight gain, but since that time it’s slowed down to just over an oz a day.  Still a great gainer!  As I mentioned, over the past week or so we’ve gotten a better handle on ways to help calm her gas, so I think she’s spending less time wanting to comfort suck to cope with the pain and that’s caused her to start gaining weight a little slower.  And is causing a lot of leakage for me as my body adjusts again.

I’ve been using the weight gain calculator on the www.kellymom.com website, a and it says that at up until 17 weeks, they should be gaining an average of 5-7oz per week and about an inch per month, and she is by far surpassing both of those!Here’s what it spit out at me:

Age in weeks       Weight           Oz gained per week
.7                                 6lbs 7oz        
1.4                               7lbs                   12.9
3.7                              8lbs 8oz           10.4
5.7                              9lbs 9oz           8.5

Bath time is an almost nightly occurrence around here as we try and establish a good bed time routine.  Emily LOVES taking baths.  If she is having a lot of gas or is just not wanting to go down to sleep, I can always trust a nice warm bath to make her sleepy.

One last update from the past few weeks has been the beautiful little smiles that have been fluttering across her face.  She is ticklish along her rib cage like her Daddy and at the lightest touches on her lips and nose.

 

One last great development for Emily is the first inklings that she is starting to be able to self soothe.  On a couple of occasions she has fallen asleep without needing to be rocked or held, including falling asleep in her swing.  I had to leave the vacuum running in the room she was in to induce the swing sleep, but it was still a great step!  Hopefully she’ll soon begin going down for naps and sleep without much fuss.

With this being the six week mark, it also marked an important appointment for myself as well.  The midwife checked me out and the stitches from my tear have completely healed and I got the all clear to begin exercising.  Now I just need to find the motivation and energy!  With every advance Em makes in her sleep habits, I get a little more time each day that I can devote to ‘me time’ beyond the personal hygiene and household tasks that are pretty top of the list.  Hopefully I’ll learn to make some of that ‘me time’ more sleep time as I’ve been finding myself with some insomnia some nights after she’s gone to bed.  Probably because that’s when the hubby and I MIGHT have the chance to do some emailing back and forth while he’s in the office in the morning over there.

What an amazing first six weeks of her life.  Motherhood is everything I dreamt it would be and so much more (both good and bad) and I’m excited to see what the next 6 weeks will bring.

deliver me

My posts the last few days about labour and delivery were very much about the physical (and painful!) aspects of labour, however I wanted to share a little bit about the emotional and spiritual aspects of delivery.

For the most part, I could take or leave the labour part of the journey – the best part of that process was just how bonding it was for Craig and I as leaned on him (literally and figuratively) and he was there and perfect in his response to me every moment I needed him.  Otherwise, labour was just a long period of painfulness that got us to the best part: Delivery.

I LOVED every moment of delivering Emily.  As I described in her birth story, my labour started with the spontaneous breaking of my waters, so right from the beginning my contractions were hard and strong – great for moving labour along, but not much else!  After the gave me the oxytocin to bring my contractions back, they grew to be even worse, so delivery was also a reprieve from the pain of contractions.  Sure there was still pain associated with each contraction, and the added ‘pressure’ of pushing, but none of it mattered anymore as it was all so…

Holy?

I can’t think of a better way to describe it.  More than any other time in my life, I was simply a vessel for what God had created, and I felt it.  Every moment and breath while I was pushing was so empowering and full of purpose and after many weeks spent praying that God would be present and provide us with a peaceful and uneventful birth, I was glad He was there providing it! 

On a less serious note, as much as I enjoyed delivering Em, I am much more enjoying having her here to cuddle with and smile at me (did you see her latest new skill!?) however I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I am looking forward to doing it again in the future.  As in planning out the details of our next birth.  There was a certain high associated with being so sleep deprived and deliriously happy to FINALLY be welcoming her, so it’s a distinct possibility that I could have developed an addiction to delivering babies! :P

Luckily, if the way I breezed through pregnancy and labour and delivery so well is any indication, I think I was made to have babies and can fuel that addiction.  I guess that means I should have lots! (Don’t tell my hubby!)  The midwives kept saying “wow, look how well she’s pushing – she’s so good at it!” and showing the nurses who came in, but I am 99% sure that’s probably they something they say to all women in labour to be motivational.  Who knows.

 

How did you emotionally experience labour and delivery?

 

(eta: alright, so by the time I got this finished, it was no longer a few days after posting her birth story – it’s taking me a long time to finish posts now!)

my advice for labour

As you can probably see lately, I’ve had a bit of a back log of half finished posts!  Now that Emily is sleeping through the night better, I’m finally able to finish them, and I’d like to get all of the labour and delivery posts out of the way so we can get down to some fall decorating!

Now that I’m an expert at all things labour and delivery (just kidding!) I figured I should pass on some of the valuable lessons I learned while delivering our little one!  These were all things that I would have changed or that would have helped me – they may not help everyone, and are not meant as judgement for those who do things differently!

 

1. Stay hydrated.  Invest in a reusable water bottle with a straw.  It can be difficult sipping from a glass when you’re lying down and a contraction could hit at any time, so being able to drink from any angle is a life saver.  Make sure the neck is big enough to be able to add ice as well.  I asked Craig to make sure I had a some water between ever contraction to make sure I stayed hydrated and I’m glad I did as I would have forgotten otherwise.  Here’s the bottle I used:

 

2.  Avoid an epidural/induction IV if you can.  I have nothing against using medications for pain management if that is your preference, or in medically inducing labour (we had just booked our induction the night we went into labour!), however I HATED having an IV for the oxytocin when my labour stalled.  I had to keep it in for 4 hours after delivery, and it was so annoying having a needle stuck in my hand and having to deal with all of the tubing whenever I wanted to turn over or reach for the baby or go to the bathroom.  It just sucked.

 

3.  Be wise in choosing your labour support people.  Don’t overcrowd the room.  I think the term ‘a watched pot doesn’t boil’ applies to women in labour too!  Additionally, delivery was such a spiritual experience for us, and the moment we welcomed the little girl we created into the world was so personal to Craig and I that I wouldn’t want to share it with too many people!  Next time Craig and I are hoping for a home birth with just us and the midwives.  We’ll have a little girl that needs looking after, so I’m sure my mom will be at the house for her, and we’d like for Emily to be present for some of it too to welcome her little brother (here’s hoping!) into the world and to feel a part of (and understanding) bringing him here.  I also think that moving to the hospital slowed my labour down.  I dilated 6-7cm in 7 hours at home and then took the same amount of time to dilate the final 3 (and then sat at full dilation for 5.5 hours, fun!).

 

 

4.  Try natural.  I’m sure everyone has different tolerances for pain, but I think women are better able to handle the pains of labour without medication than they think.  There were definitely moments I was saying to Craig “I don’t think I can do this!” because of the pain (particularly after they gave me the oxytocin and kept upping the dosage!), but the pain truly was fleeting, and once I reached the delivery stage pain was a non-issue.  I’ve also heard some horror stories about epidurals not being performed properly and women having to shift positions constantly to prevent problems, or women having zero sensation/control over their legs.  Most women go natural for the majority of their labour and then for the last few cm’s want some relief from the pain.  Totally get it.  Transition sucked.  But you can do it!

 

5.  Give midwives a try.  There is a belief in society now that labour and delivery is a medical procedure and that it is necessary for a doctor to be there to perform the ‘procedure’.  In a lot of hospitals women also fall into the ‘cascade of interventions’ and go from induction to epidural to stalled labour to c-section, instead of accepting the natural progression of things.  I even fell a little bit prey to this idea and wanted to have our first baby in the hospital (under care of a midwife) because I’m a bit of a worry wart and figured it would make me more relaxed – not true!  It was my first and last night spent in a hospital hopefully!  Did you know that in England almost all births are assisted by midwives, with only a small portion of them performed by doctors when they are high risk or complications arise.  I say assisted because it is truly something your body is meant to do (women in coma’s have delivered babies without assistance) so the midwives are only helping you to understand the cues and to help with pushing effectively and care of the baby once it’s born.  If you are living in Ontario, at least meet with the midwives and see if it could be a good fit for you.  It is covered by OHIP and you receive the same ultrasounds and tests as those under care of a doctor.  The biggest difference is ‘informed choice’ as nothing about labour and delivery is mandated or required.  If you’re in other provinces or living in the States, you may need to pay for the services yourself.

Overall, I wouldn’t have changed any of the choices Craig and I made that day.  We had to respond to some unexpected developments, but it only proved to make the moment she arrived even more special.  I look back on the day and am overwhelmed with joy for every moment, but I’ve got something that brings me even more joy calling for me from the other room – I must depart!

natural pain management for labour and delivery

As I mentioned a couple of times before (here and in Em’s birth story), I chose to give birth naturally and wanted to learn and use as many natural pain management techniques as I could for labour.  I mentioned in her birth story which ones I used, but I wanted to give a bit of a ‘review’ here of what did and didn’t work for me.

Hypnobirthing:

From about 32 weeks on, I began listening to various relaxation tracks as often as I could remember to do so.  Most often I listened to them while lying in bed at night, and usually fell asleep during them.  I would wake up almost immediately after they finished (and iTunes moved on to another song) and according to the internet that meant I was still taking in what the scripts where saying and wasn’t falling asleep but rather changing consciousness.  Sure. 

Either way, the scripts were very helpful in helping me to stay relaxed during labour and to provide Emily with a peaceful birth.  Hypnobirthing claims to be a means to eliminate pain during labour, however this was not the case for me.  It MAY have decreased the pain somewhat, but there’s no way to substantiate that as I have nothing to compare it to.  As I mentioned though, in between contraction I was able to relax, walk around with Craig, and chat with those around me, and during the contractions I just used to breathing techniques to try and breathe my way through them.  My contractions were pretty close together, even from the start, so I wasn’t able to fall asleep between contractions, but it did help me to keep my energy up somewhat (20 hours of active labour and 40 hours without sleep is going to tire you out regardless!) so that the pushing stage wasn’t too drawn out.

I would recommend hypnobirthing for those who have anxiety or fear about labour and want to prepare themselves emotionally for the experience, and who want to maintain that relaxed attitude throughout labour.  In Craig’s words, “I was super impressed by you babe, you did a wonderful job.  I know that it probably hurt like crazy but you handled yourself really well.  I'm really glad that you didn't snap or get frustrated with me, and I'm happy I could be there to support and help you with whatever I could do.”

On that same note, the next technique for natural pain management is:

 

The Birth Partner:

Seriously, having a supportive person in the room can make it or break it (in my opinion) if you’re trying to have a natural birth.  Not only would it be frustrating if they were constantly asking if you’d like an epidural (even if it was just because they don’t like seeing you in pain), but as well, they can be SO helpful in suggesting a change in position or to provide hands on pain relief, especially if they have attended classes with you or have done research into ways to assist a labouring woman.

Craig did SUCH an awesome job.  I was honestly expecting him to be a little bit out of his element in the delivery room, but he was so intuitive and supportive the whole time and it was such a joy to be able to share the experience together with both of us feeling like we were sharing the work.  I’m sure you’ve probably seen videos of women yelling profanities at their partners or not wanting anyone to touch them – not me and that was probably because he was such a good help and always knew touches that would help me, and as well because I was able to manage the pain well because of the hypnobirthing and the next technique.

 

Sterile Water Papules:

I described the procedure in another post, but I wanted to reiterate again how helpful it was for back labour.  It was awful to be experiencing such excruciating pain in my back along with the contractions, and having the midwives perform this (twice!) was such a relief.  I went through the first 10 or so hours of contractions without it but it was nice to have the papules for the last few cm’s and transition.

 

Performing ‘the popsicle’ on my hand as a calming touch.

Comfort Measures:

About a week before Emily came, Craig and I watched a video by Penny Simkin (who also wrote a FANTASTIC book called The Birth Partner) that described comfort measures that the woman and her partner can perform to help manage the pain and help labour to progress.  Even if the woman has watched and learned these techniques, it can be easy in the middle of a contraction to just want to curl up in a ball because of the pain, so it was great to have Craig there to suggest things.  And they helped SO much.  Craig performed a double hip squeeze whenever I was having back labour before the midwives did the water papules, and it made each one a little easier to take.

 

 No photo of the labour ball, sorry – we didn’t take any photos at home before the hospital!

Labour ball:

During the early morning hours, I spent my time with my arms and shoulders draped over the ball rocking my hips back and forth during contractions.  Later in labour when we were helping her to move down the canal, I would sit on the ball and do figure 8’s with my hips.  Helpful in so many ways.  Get one, it’s just a normal exercise ball.

 

Hot Baths:

I wasn’t able to take baths for the first 8 hours because my water had broken and if my labour wasn’t progressing enough to have me delivery within 24 hours, they don’t want you to introduce any bacteria, and I had to wait until morning for the midwives to visit and check me.  I could have called them earlier because my contractions were 5 minutes apart for most of the night, but I didn’t want to sit being watched for hours and hours so I waited until they called back again.  And I took a bath anyways in the middle of the night because I KNEW I was in labour and things were progressing.  We don’t have a very deep bath tub, but even the little bit helped to ‘lift’ my uterus a bit and carry a bit of the pressure during contractions.  The warmth was also very relaxing.

 

Lastly, one other ‘technique’ (for lack of a better word) that I found helpful both for preparing for and managing labour was:

 

Prayer:

A few months before I delivered I read a book that had a prayer for labour in it, an I rephrased it for my own purposes:

Father, as I look forward to delivery of my sweet baby, I am thankful to you for having enjoyed a blessed pregnancy of full duration, I thank You in advance for Your Word, Your blessings, Your peace, Your presence and Your divine intervention.  I pray that if it is Your will there will be no problems of any kind and that the delivery will be quick, short, easy, and painless. I pray that she will come in Your perfect timing and that I’ll have time to get the the proper place with the proper help, with her Daddy home and by my side!

Father, I pray that our baby girl will move into the proper position with her head down, facing backwards.   I pray that the umbilical cord will be in the proper position and that my body will function perfectly as labour moves along, with all of its parts performing in the perfect way you designed.   I pray that You will grant me peace and relaxation as I am labouring and will not allow fear of pain into my heart.    All fear must go and stay gone for I have God, Who is perfect love and casts out fear.

Father, I pray that at the proper time for delivery my water will break and my uterus will do its job and begin to contract and push my baby down the birth canal and out into our loving arms and lives.  I pray my cervix will dilate fully and easily to 10 cm., to be elastic and stretch.  I pray that you will help my uterus, vagina, perineum, vulva and cervix to perform as designed and to stretch without complications or tearing so that I will have an easier recovery and few complications.    I pray that You give me the strength to work through the pain of the contractions and to avoid any drugs or medical interventions; I wish for this labour to be completely natural, and I know I will need Your presence and support to do this.  I know that I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, and I have faith that You will be with me throughout labour and delivery (and parenting!) and carry me when I have not the strength.

Thank you for blessing us with this beautiful and wonderful baby girl and continuing to bless us with a strong and love-filled marriage.  We look forward to raising her to love You and to live a life of faith.

Amen!

Prayer is also very helpful during labour.  Craig and my mom prayed with me many times, asking for God to give me strength and help move it along so we could see our little girl.  He was definitely there with us. :)

 

I’m sure there were other little things through the day that was helpful in making labour an easier process and to assist us in achieving our goal of a natural and peaceful birth.   Our midwives also made it such an enjoyable experience, and we were so happy with them, Craig and I have definitely agreed that we would like to attempt a home birth the next time if we’ve moved to a bigger house (one of the issues this time around).

We are so glad we worked together towards natural birth, and I think that the efforts have also paid of in our daughter.  I’ve read that birth can often have an effect on a baby, and if it’s any indication, Emily is such a pleasant, relaxed baby who just loves to cuddle with everyone (but especially her mama! :) 

 

Resources (some of the products I mentioned):

The Birth Partner
Comfort Measures for Labour
Mindful Mammas hypnobirthing tracks

Bourbon Croissant Bread Pudding

 

I had a few old croissants lying around and have been watching a lot of Food Network lately, so I was inspired to find something creative to do with them.  I found this recipe for bread pudding that sounded yummy, so I gave it a try.

Emily sat on the couch and watched some more Food Network while I baked.

Bourbon Croissant Bread Pudding (from Savory Sweet Life)

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 large croissants, day old preferably
1 1/2 cups  sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3-4 tablespoons bourbon or rum OR 2 tablespoons vanilla
5 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon table salt

DIRECTIONS:

Tear croissants in half and place in a 9×13 casserole/baking dish.  In a large sauce pan, cook sugar and water on medium high heat stirring occasionally.  While sugar syrup is cooking, combine cream, milk, bourbon and salt in a microwavable container and microwave for 2 minutes (remembering to keep an eye on the sugar syrup).  In another bowl beat 5 eggs, set aside.  Sugar syrup should begin to change colors to a deep amber.  When you see the sides turning amber brown, start stirring.  When the entire syrup turns amber, turn off heat.  Grab a whisk and slowly add heated cream mixture and stir like crazy.  When the cream hits the sugar syrup it will bubble somewhat violently and will try to crystallize.  DO NOT PANIC.. just continue to stir like crazy until your caramel sauce is smooth.  Once sauce is smooth, slowly add egg mixture while stirring everything.  Pour everything over croissants.  Croissants may start to float.  Just press them down making sure every piece gets completely coated with caramel mixture.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Allow the bread pudding to rest while preheating and when your oven is ready bake for 30 minutes.

 

Notes:
- As you can see, it got a little crispy in the oven.  Everything takes a little longer when you’re working with an infant as an assistant and reading a great birth story like Lucy’s.  You can check out Emily’s birth story here.
- I also didn’t read the directions properly and added the eggs into the cream mixture before microwaving it.  Also Lucy’s fault!
- I didn’t have any bourbon so it just has vanilla.
- For some reason I could not get the sugar syrup to turn amber and it was bubbling like crazy and crystallizing right from the start.  Maybe I should have measured out the water even more carefully?
- I also only had 3 croissants and I tore them up into pieces.  Seriously a bad day for me reading recipes.
- So the recipe was a borderline fail for me.  But it still tasted delicious!

 

Oh, and what I said about Emily watching the Food Network?  Not true.  Not only are we not ok with planting her in front of the TV as a babysitter, she’s just not interested.

Starting to get a little mad…

 

…and completely disinterested.

Look at those mad little fists!  And crying without tears – she already knows how to get her mama’s attention when she wants some cuddles and to participate in the action!

are you ready for parenting?

I read a great interview today at Start Your Family and wanted to share some profound points I read.

They were interviewing husband, father and author Tony Woodlief about the effect of children on marriage and relationship with God and he explained how important children are for our society and faith.

 How has having children affected your marriage?

We probably wouldn't be married right now if not for our children. There comes a point in some marriages when you face the reality that you both would probably be happier without one another. These children remind you—or at least they should remind you—that marriage isn't, as Gary Thomas rightly notes, about your happiness. The Perfect Marriage fantasy is a lie promoted by secular society, and too often parroted in subtle ways by churches. Your marriage is an institution of sanctification, and children are the natural fruit of that God-ordained path. And the secret is, the greatest happiness lies along this path of self-sacrifice. You will definitely have more opportunities for immediate gratification if you remain childless. And you will also never know the fear that only parents can understand. But you will experience the greatest joy, too, which springs from a self-sacrificing love that draws us closer to one another and to our God. This is why the early Church—and the Eastern Orthodox still today— would not marry people unless they intended to have children, because marriage without children is like wearing flip-flops to a marathon; you aren't really serious about the race.

How has having children affected your relationship with God?

I never really knew the depth of love until I had them. Parenting cultivated a fierce love for others— both for my children, and for my wife who has suffered and rejoiced along this path with me. I'd read plenty about the love of our Father for his children, but I never really grasped that until it hit me like a thunderbolt that His love for us is a boundless passion, because we are His children. We parents would go straight into Hell to save our children, which is exactly what God did for us.

What advice would you give a couple considering starting a family?

You aren't ready, but do it anyway. You aren't good enough, but falling into the midst of it is the only way to get better. You're going to make mistakes, which is why God sends them to us with such forgiving hearts. Forget about how it will affect your lifestyle, or your career, or your other selfish pursuits, and choose the path of greater suffering and deeper joy.

 

You can find the whole interview here, or check out Tony’s blog and book site.  Check out the Family Making site for a chance to win a copy of his book (ends today)!

so in love…

…with the way she held our gaze when she was born, so full of trust and awe at the world we’d brought her into.

…with how much she looks like her Daddy (and like me at times) and what a miracle it is that we created this.

…with her little feet and the way she kicks her feet to loosen a swaddle so she can work her little arms out.

 

…with the way she purses her lips and the little bubbles that form when she ‘phantom nurses’ during her sleep.

 

…with the way she now smiles at me when I talk to her and tickle her chin and the tip of her nose.

…with the way she takes up all of my time and every beat of my heart, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Every day we thank God for finding us worthy of being your parents.  

Nursery Reveal

Emily was enjoying a long nap this afternoon, so I figured it was about time I finish things up in the nursery and get a reveal post up (especially considering she is almost 6 weeks old!).  She has actually been enjoying nights in her crib a few times now since she’s quite a noisy sleeper, and if she’s having a good night, it’s easier on mama to have her in her own room (which is honestly like 6 steps from my bed).

I’m realizing now I should have tried a lot harder to get the nursery reveal done long before she arrived, as it was much harder now to find the time to get it tidied up and arranged how I wanted it (plus we had her window replaced yesterday, so everything got shoved out of the way).

If you  remember, I created a polyvore of the elements I’d like to include in her room:

 

 

 

For the most part, I managed to stay pretty true to this vision, picking up a few items from IKEA and online, and refinishing a dresser we had in our bedroom.   The room colour is Rice Grain by SW (which has since been used by The Nester in her living room!).

It all started with her bedding.  We tried to pick a neutral bedding that we could use again in the future if we were having a boy, so we went with one that had greens and browns as the primary colours and that had a neutral theme of leaves.  It seems a little bit more on the feminine side to me now, but it might be because we’ve filled her room with other girlie things.

Here’s the bedding in her convertible crib and the sleep sheep that helps lull her to sleep each night.  Strangely, it has a ‘whale call’ as one of the settings – I’ve never heard of that as being a white noise for babies before!

Due to the fact that she’s not supposed to have any blankets on her for the first year if possible, I put the quilt that matches her bedding set on the wall above her bed.  It functions as art and I don’t have to worry about it hurting her if it falls of the wall!

 

Next, we picked up a BILLY bookshelf from IKEA.  I looked forever for the set of doors for the bottom and was concerned when I learned that they had been discontinued.  Luckily, I stopped in at the North York IKEA on my way to pick up Craig from the airport for his leave (and Emily’s birth!) and found that they had some of the doors still in stock!

 

I’m so glad I found the doors as they provide additional diapering, bath and medical supplies storage without it being seen.  I’m intending to get some different knobs on the doors so that down the road when we’re baby proofing, we can latch it shut.

The rest of her diapering supplies are on the top of her dresser along with the change pad.  I purchased the two IKEA wall lights for above the change pad as a friend of mine said they are great for night time diaper changes as they provide enough light to get the job done but it’s diffuse enough that it doesn’t wake the baby too much.  I’ve found the pink one really useful for when I’m breastfeeding her in the rocker – she doesn’t even notice the light but I can see enough to guide her on properly.  Above are the letters I painted and had Craig put up a few days before she was born.  It’s a good thing we didn’t have a surprise (boy) the day of!

 

 

I showed you the curtains and rocker before, but here they are again:

 

 

The closet still needs some work in terms of organization, and I think I’d like to get a second bar underneath and get rid of the cubbies, as she’s got lots of cute stuff to hang up, and will have even more with the colder weather that’s approaching.  Her winter coats will be moved to our front coat closet in a month or two. :)  My organization system for her clothing has become a bit overwhelmed because of the sheer generosity of our friends and family (4 showers!), but I’m slowly finding ways to organize and store everything.

  

My mom found this great cubby shelf on sale a few months ago, so I picked up some green bins from Walmart to match the carpet and filled them with toys, decorations still to go up, stuff that I may re-gift, and extra diapers that people have passed on.

 

I used the top of it to display a pretty plant we were given from Craig’s company overseas.  An etsy seller was selling prints like the one I made for her name below for over $30 dollars, so I used Photoshop to make one that’s similar, and spent only 2.49 for the 8x10 print.   I didn’t leave quite enough of a border, so I may reprint it again in the future, but I think it’s a really unique way to display and remember the details of her day.  I also used a shadow frame to display the TINY hat they put on her at the hospital (that seemed big at the time!) and her hospital bracelet.  I got the frame at Dollarama and painted it to match her room.

 

It’s not being displayed in her room at the moment, but here’s a BEAUTIFUL quilt Craig’s Aunt Hope made for her.  It matches our couch perfectly, so it’s in the living room for her tummy time right now.  She even hand stitched her name and the date on one corner, so it’s a great item to get lots of use of then put in her keepsake box for her to share with her own kids down the road. :)

 

I still need to get the mirror and other art/photos up above the cubby shelf, as well as something for the wall behind the rocker, but otherwise, I am pleased with how the nursery has come out.  The bookshelf as probably the most expensive item other than her crib, and both can come with us when we move and are flexible to our needs in the future.  The crib can convert to a double bed frame (it’s a sleigh bed style) so after all of our kids have worked their way through it, we can put it in a future spare bedroom or even use it in our bedroom if we feel like the queen size bed is feeling a little large once we’re no longer welcoming little ones in the middle of the night!

 

A tour of her room wouldn’t be complete without a shot of the girl herself in there!  I showed you a photo the other day of her in her crib, so here’s a photo of her lounging on her comfy green rug.

Being very patient while Mom shuffles around trying to get the perfect shot!

  

I hope you enjoyed her room tour as much as I enjoyed collecting ideas and making it become a reality.  It was such a joy to create a warm, comfortable space for her to grow and learn in!

quiet, baby sleeping!

 

As you can probably imagine, I haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep the past few weeks.  I have been breastfeeding on demand and for the most part, Emily wants to eat every 2-3 hours, even shorter if I’ve let her fall asleep in my arms.  I don’t have a partner at home right now who can check on her when she wakes up from naps or in the middle of the night, so I’m what she gets and often I think she smells the milk and wants to eat whether she’s really reached full hunger or not.

My Mom gave me a copy of the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg, and I’ve been eating it up like manna from heaven in the hopes that I glean some good tips on helping Emily to establish good sleeping and eating habits, and to help us to reach the infamous ‘sleeping through the night’ stage as easily as possible.  Hogg is not a fan of the Cry It Out methods that you often hear so much about and prefers the philosophy of Attachment parenting (basically, being kind, loving, and emotionally available to our children helps them to form trust in the relationship as a safe place to come to and to explore the world from).  Here are some basic tips for building a secure attachment.  Just for good measure, I’m also reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution and a copy of the Sleep Sense Program that a friend gave me (although that one does support CIO in some areas, so I’ll be taking some and leaving some).

I wanted to wait until I had a good understanding of her different cries and noises before I started trying any sleep training, as I didn’t want to mistake her fussing because she’s hungry or a tired cry with the cries and noises she makes when she falls asleep.  I’ve made the mistake before of going in to feed her in the middle of the night and she was just in between sleep cycles and had let out a cry – she just continued sleeping in my arms and wasn’t even interested in eating.  If you’re struggling to understand your baby’s various cries, perhaps the Dunstan baby language could help?  I saw her on Oprah one time…

Below are just some of the methods and routines I’ve been trying out from the Baby Whisperer to get us on the path to a well rested baby and mom!  Please note that I am not trying to get Emily to sleep through the night at this point; her little system is far from being able to go that long without nursing and may not reach that point for many months.  I am simply attempting to develop good sleep routines so that we’re not having to fight to get rid of any sleep props down the road.

Routine:

As I mentioned before, the basic routine with the Baby Whisperer is Eat-Activity-Sleep-You with the entire cycle taking more and more time as the baby grows older.  With a newborn and their tiny stomach and a limited capability for wakefulness, you should be aiming for around 40 minutes of nursing, followed by around 20 minutes of cuddling or interaction (it’s easy to over stimulate them though and that can make sleep difficult and shorten their nap length) and then around 2 hours of sleep.  Now that she’s getting a bit older and a bit more alert, Emily is averaging around 30 minutes for nursing (longer if she’s been over stimulated or has gas and alternates nursing and comfort sucking) and then 45 minutes of activity time, during which we diaper change, cuddle, spend a bit of time in her swing, or just have tummy time.  Her total cycle during the day is averaging around 2.5-3 hours at this point (unless we’re travelling and visiting a lot, in which case she eats more and sleeps less to cope with the changes) and at night she’s going 4 hours her first stint then three 3 hour cycles with bedtime at around 9pm and morning coming at 9-10am.  Supposedly it’s best to think of their day and night as two 12 hour stints, so I’m trying to adjust my own bedtime and morning to better coincide with hers.

Sleep:

Teaching Emily to self soothe so that I don’t have to rock or nurse her to sleep and then TRY to place her down in her crib without her waking up is the primary goal right now.  I find that if I follow the above routine she goes down a lot better and I spend a lot less time going in to comfort her when she starts fussing.  One of the suggestions the Baby Whisperer makes is to follow the four “S’s” of sleep: Set the Stage, Swaddle, Sit, and Shush-pat.   Basically you need to make consistent the motions you go through in their room before bedtime (closing the curtains, turning on music, etc.), the swaddling process, sitting unmoving with the baby for a short period of time to calm them, and then patting their backs while Shhhhhh-ing to help them move into sleep.  If they do begin fussing or crying, you go in and pick them up and calm them again and then set them back down immediately.  You’ll have to do this a LOT at first, but you will begin to see the amount decreasing if you stay consistent with it.  Finding ways to make parenting her by myself easier is the top priority right now, so she is currently taking her naps in my bed and (most nights) sleeping in her crib.  Our room is much darker during the day than hers, and on occasion I’ve fallen asleep with her while putting her down for a nap, which has done me well in the energy department.

I’m glad I found these alternative to the Cry It Out method as I hated the idea of leaving her in her room to cry – I want her to know that I will always come when she needs me and cries!  I don’t know if this method will be the one that works for us in the process of getting Emily to learn to self soothe, so I welcome any tips or advice from those who have gone before.  It does get easier, right?  I find myself going without a lot of sleep at night because she’ll only fall asleep in my arms and rarely will stay asleep if I try to transfer her to her crib or swing if I need to get something done or go to bed myself.  Getting more sleep will always help me to be a better momma!

Yankee Pot Roast Soup

If you’ve ever been to Montana’s (the restaurant), you may have tried their Yankee Pot Roast Soup.  Craig and I love to enjoy a bowl as an appetizer whenever we visit, and I thought it was a great, hearty fall weather food so I scoped out recipes online.  Would you believe it there is already a recipe online that people have commented and said it tastes like the Montana’s soup?  I made a batch of it tonight, and I have to agree that it is a pretty close taste.  Enjoy!

Yankee Pot Roast Soup

Source: Family Oven

• 2 lbs stewing beef, cut in 1 inch cubes (or cut up pot roast)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium onions, cut in chunks
• 2 medium carrots, cut in thick slices
• 4 red potatoes, cut in chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut in thick slices
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 quart beef broth
• 1 (156 ml) can tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon maggi seasoning

1. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper (I keep kosher salt in a salt pig on my stove for this purpose) then brown in butter over Medium High heat.

2.  Add in garlic during last few minutes of browning then add in a small amount of the broth to deglaze the pan. 

3.  Add in additional broth and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

4.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for around an hour (until potatoes are cooked through).  Check spices and flavourings and modify before serving.

 

Notes:

- I couldn’t find maggi seasoning in the grocery store, so I found a site online that said I could mix Worcestershire and soy sauce in equal parts to much the same result.

- I left out the celery as I don’t really like cooked celery.

99 days to Christmas

I did a scary thing today. 

I sat down and started planning our Christmas budget and gifts list; I also did some brainstorming about DIY gifts and made some plans for when to get a start on them.

Can you believe we are less that 100 days away from the big day?

Christmas 2010 is going to be extra special for our little family.  Not only is it Emily’s first Christmas, but the entire month of December is a month of celebration for us as it’s the month that Craig is coming HOME.  For good.  Spending the holidays together will be the best gift we get this year.

Craig made my job a little easier this year and picked up a few gifts for people while he was in a certain Middle Eastern country that cannot be named on his way home for leave – I’m sure they will love having something unique from another country, as well as a memento of Craig’s time over there.

Did I mention that my loving hubby picked a little something up for me too?  It was a combined anniversary/birthday/push present and it’s a beautiful diamond necklace and earrings.  I haven’t been wearing the earrings much as I’m afraid of losing one and I always forget to take it off before going to bed, but I’ve been wearing the necklace non-stop since he left, and Emily has taken to grabbing on to it while I’m feeding her or when she’s snuggling my neck. 

Anyways, back to planning for Christmas.  I’ve been collecting ideas for handmade/homemade gifts for family and friends, and soon I’ll start featuring some of the projects I’m working on and ideas for how to bring it all together to make great gifts for giving.

I hear a baby waking up, so I’m going to go make some hot chocolate and enjoy some cuddles with my girl.  Enjoy the fall weather!

happy 1 month birthday baby girl!

The past month had been the most amazing and exhausting month of my life, and I can imagine it has been much the same for her – she’s pretty new to the earth!

I’m still amazed by how much she changes and learns each day, and am trying to treasure each moment I have with her at this tiny age, even though I look forward to the day she can sleep through the night!  Never before has anything been so worth being such a home body or going without so much sleep.  She is such a joy to have in our lives!

I thought I would give you some updates on her development and achievements.

Sleep:

I’ve been reading up on infant wake time and the Secrets of the Baby Whisperer book says she should be awake somewhere between 50 to 75 minutes between naps, including feeding and diaper changes and that it’s good to follow an Eat, Activity, Sleep, You(meaning mommy time) routine, which, if she’s on a 3 hour cycle, would give me around an hour and a half each nap to get stuff done.  Does that happen?  No.  Most of the time she averages just over 2 hours between feedings, however this doesn’t mean she is getting anywhere near there in sleep!  She seems to be so awake a lot of the time, and I struggle to get her down to sleep as she just wants to cuddle and watch the world.  And because she’s already awake and near mama, anytime she starts getting an inkling of hunger, she’ll want to eat again, even if it hasn’t been 2-3 hours.  Slowly this is changing though, and I’m working to pay closer attention to her sleep cues and try doing some sleep training to help her learn to self soothe and put herself to sleep for nap time so that I can put her down after eating and activity time and have her either drift off to sleep or watch the sunlight dance on the ceiling (a favourite activity) if that’s what she’d like to do.

 

Growth:

Emily was 6lbs 11oz when she was born, and at our appointment on Thursday (3.5 weeks) she was up to 8lbs 8oz.  What a champ!  The midwives think she might be up to 10lbs by our final appointment with then (next Thursday), and I can’t even imagine it.  I think being with her each day I don’t see the growth as much as other people, although I definitely see the changes in how her diapers and clothing fit!  We’re transitioning her to size 1 (Pampers) diapers as the newborn diapers are getting pretty tight and leaky, particularly around her cute chubby thighs.  They are supposed to go up to 10 lbs, and we’ve got 20 or 30 left of them, so I may use them when I’m at home and changing her frequently.  The size 1 diapers look so huge on her and give her big diaper butt, but it’s nice not having to worry that they’ll leak pee out the top when she’s lying down!

They haven’t measured her length recently, so I’ll have to pull out the tape measure for her next weekly photo.

 

Play Time:

We’re still learning on this one.  She enjoys her tummy time and she’ll stare at lights and her stuffed animals (and the picture frames on the wall behind the couch) and stay entertained for short periods of time, but she really likes interacting with people more.  I’m hoping sometime soon she’ll start enjoying her swing more for entertainment, so I can put her in there while I’m cooking dinner or folding laundry, especially as her naps start decreasing and wakefulness increases.  She loves staring at herself in the mirror that is attached to the headrest behind her car seat – not a surprise, her mama loves to spend hours staring at her beautiful little face too!

 

New Skills and Achievements:

Our girl has got great neck control!  In her first week of life she was able to lift and turn her head from one side to the other during tummy time with us.  And now when you’ve got her up to your shoulder and she’s awake, she can’t stand to have her head resting against you – she needs to have it up and (shakily still) looking around at everything. 

She’s also starting to smile at mama!  I’ll have to try and capture it sometime with the camera.  I’m learning that it is really difficult to get all the photos you want of your kids when there’s just one of you.  I don’t think there’s been a photo of me and Emily together since her first week!  We might have to go back to the mirror photos that were helpful when I was pregnant.

 

Emily’s 1st Month Album

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