A Conversation with Ella #17

Last night Ella was talking to me about how much she loves Quinn. She then states, "When Quinn is a big kid then we can get a new one. A girl one." As in another baby, this time a girl.

***

Today while making German potato salad (which has a lot of vinegar in it) Ella asks what smells so bad. I told her it was what I was making for dinner. "Don't do that anymore", she responds.

A Conversation with Ella #16

The other night while Paul, Ella and I were driving home this conversation took place between Ella and I.

Ella: "That car is going faster than us." To the car in front of us.

Me: "They are going faster than the speed limit. We have to follow the rules when we drive or we will get in trouble."

Ella: "When I grow up and I drive a car, I want to go fast."

Me: "Well, you can be a race car driver when you grown up and then you can drive really fast."

Ella: "When I grow up I can drive fast and have an El Camino car just like daddy. A pink one."

A Conversation with Ella #15 (and then some)

I haven't had much time to document anything recently, but this morning Ella reminded me that I need to document her little quips before I forget them.

***

Ella (this morning): "I have a runny nose." Then sniffs several times. "I'm drinking it. It tickles."

***

The other day Ella had a dress on (of course) along with leggings. Later that day she took her leggings off and stated, "Princesses don't wear pants."

***

About a week ago Ella states to me, "Maybe we have a barbecue tonight because I like that idea. Maybe we barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers, and daddy has a cheeseburger."

***

Yesterday morning I went to wake Ella up for preschool. Me: "Ella it's time to wake up and get dressed for school."

Ella: Wiggling under then covers and then bursts out stating loudly, "I am so EXCITED to go to preschool."

There are plenty more quotes by Ella, I just can't remember them. I am upset at myself for not writing them down when I hear them because some are pretty hilarious.

I will definitely be posting about Ella starting preschool. I just haven't had much time or inspiration to sit down and write. Soon, though.

Luck Be A Lady (Named Kati) Tonight

Ever since I found out that there is always some sort of drawing going on to win free diapers (cloth diapers!!!) or other diapering accessories, I have been entering contests left and right. One night while checking my daily enterings I discovered I did have some of the Cordoza luck in me after all and won some awesome cloth wipes. Usually I feel I am the less-lucky of my sisters, they are always winning at stuff like slots or any other gambling--which I now realize makes them sound like big gamblers, but they are not, I SWEAR! Anyway, it was a hodgepodge of wipes made up of different patterns and fabrics (flannel and hemp fleece--which I am in L.O.V.E. with). After that win I kind of gave up on entering other contests because 1) It took too much time to do all the different tasks each contest requested and 2) I would kind of feel guilty winning another contest. So...yeah.

Now, instead of entering contests for diapering stuff I've decided to order some organic bamboo flannel fabric to make my own wipes. So far I have been using the wipes I won as well as extra baby wash cloths that we have an over abundance of. Don't worry, those wash cloths won't be making their way back into the bath tub.

I ordered the bamboo fabric online (because I am cool like that) and and I am on pins and needles waiting for it to arrive at the Post Office. I am trying to decide whether I should leave it in it's natural un-bleached state or maybe do a fun little tie dying project with Ella. The website I ordered it from states it dyes beautifully. Paul voted for leaving it the way it is because he HATES (with all capital letters) tie dye. Paul said it would be appropriate, though, for him to wipe Quinn's little squishy bum (my description, not his) with tie dye wipes because of his dislike for tie dye.

In other diapering news (which I am sure all of you love reading about), we made the switch from disposable Pull-Ups to cloth ones for Ella. She is pretty much potty trained during the day except for an accident here or there, but she doesn't have night time down yet. You are probably wondering why we didn't switch her over to cloth when we did Quinn, and I am wondering that myself. Besides the fact that the pull-ups she is now using look like little mushroom pants on her, which is actually kind of cute, they work great, and I only had to buy four pair because I wash all the diapers every other day or two at most.

On that note, I will leave you with a picture of Ella's and Quinn's unmentionables drying in the sun.

Kevin?

I was taking my last and final bag (more on this later) of soiled Pull-Ups out to the garbage today when I heard this:

Turn up your speakers to get the full effect, unless you are at work, then I advise you don't turn your speakers on at all unless you want to get busted for not working (plus the person in the cubical next to you might think you have a wild bird in the office).

I swore it was Kevin, the bird from the movie Up, until the end when I figured it was probably just a crow. But still! It sounded a little crazy at first and I imagined a giant wild non-native-to-Washington bird out there. That's why I don't go outside after dark, I have a too wild of an imagination.

I also advise anyone who has not seen Up yet to rent it tonight, or tomorrow, or whenever you can. I literally cried while watching it. Darn you Pixar, I thought it would be a feel-good cute little movie for Ella and I was balling my eyes out.

Quiverin' Quinn: Episode 1

Since my conversations with Quinn are mostly one-sided, it's only fair to have some other way to document moments I have with him. I mean, we are supposed to be fair as parents and Ella has "Conversations" so Quinn is getting "Quiverin'" posts.

Now let me explain. Since the moment Quinn was born he showed signs of being startled very easily and sometimes at the most normal things, thus the nickname Quvierin' Quinn came about. I debated whether it was in good judgement or not to create a section in my blog dedicated to this, but after a lot of thought between Paul and me (approximately several whole minutes) we decided that it's not something that would scar him down the road. At the most Quinn being easily startled should last for only a few years, we hope. Plus, it would be a good way to document these first funny memories we have with Quinn. And so, I felt that it would be fun to share the odd startles Quinn has on a daily basis. Starting with today's, which goes something like this:

Me: As Quinn sits in my lap facing away from me, I take a sip from my coffee, not a loud sip, but not a quiet sip.

Quinn: His body jerks and he throws his hands up in the air, turns his head in my direction to investigate the strange sound that came from behind him. Quinn then turns back to watching his sister playing.

Me: Another sip from my coffee.

Quinn: Again, body jerks and his arms fly up in the air. He turns and looks at me with one eyebrow up and a look that says "What the HECK was that?".

Me: "Sorry Quinn, but I need my coffee."

This took place several more times until the cup was empty.

ETA: Happy Birthday to Halie!

A Conversation with Ella #14

I know I just posted a conversation with Ella, but this one had me cracking up. This conversation took place just moments ago.

Ella: Knocking on my chest, "You have boobies in."

Me: Laughing, "Yes, I just put my boobies in."

Ella: Knocking on me again, "How do you put them in? Do you hammer them in?"

Me: Laughing.

Quinn starts to fuss over the monitor.

Ella: "You are waking Quinn up."

A Conversation with Ella #13

This is rather a statement by Ella than a conversation.

Ella: Holding an apple in her hand, "Princesses don't eat apples" and then sets it back down in the fruit bowl and walks away.

Don' worry, she ate a pear later for lunch.

Period.

Habits are not always hard to change. I realized this just tonight as I was typing. I used to always put a double space after typing a sentence until recently when I heard that not very many people do that anymore*. I quickly switched over to only putting one space after my period (this "." not that "period") without really struggling with the old habit of hitting the spacebar twice. It was so simple.

This has made me realize that old habits are not always that hard to change. So why do I still have such a bad habit of always eating two cookies rather than just one? Why can't I simply give up eating that second cookie just like giving up that second spacebar tap? I know it's will power that has to do with the cookie business, but will power also has to do with holding back my thumb from hitting that spacebar. It was so easy to commandeer my willpower and say "Hey, don't you dare hit that spacebar a second time." and of course it listened to me and I had it trained pretty much immediately.

So, if anyone can kindly explain this weird phenomenon of me not being able to stop myself so easily from eating a second cookie, I would be much obliged.

*I believe this has something to do with when people used typewriters, it was difficult to locate the end of sentences, so they would add a second space after the end of a sentence to be able to locate it better. Now that computers can space the words perfectly, because computers are perfect like that, it's now easier to find the end of a sentence without having that second space.

A Conversation with Ella #12 or: Ella? Yeah, She's a Math Wiz

This morning Ella asked me what I was going to have for breakfast.

Me: "A banana."

Ella: Looking at the bowl and seeing that there are three bananas. "There will only be two bananas left."

On top of that she adds, "And if I eat one all by myself, then there will be one banana left."

Then, "And if daddy eats one, then he will have to buy more from the store."

That's right, my child is a math wizard. If only they made a school for math-craft and mathry*.

*A play on words from Harry Potter's Hogwarts a school for witchcraft and wizardry. Sorry, I recently (as in last night) watched a documentary called We Are Wizards about the fans of Harry Potter. Hilarious!

How I Stabbed Myself in the Finger

I took Quinn and Ella up to Lake Cushman over the weekend to stay at my parents cabin with them. It was the hottest weekend so far this summer. Actually the only hot weekend this summer so far.

I was a little hesitant to go in the beginning due to the thought of driving with Quinn in the car by myself. Paul was working over the weekend (like he does every weekend) and so couldn't go with me. Usually Quinn can't handle being in the car for more than a minute and starts to cry full force. The last time I was on a long distance car ride was over Memorial weekend for Paul's family reunion and lets just say Quinn cried across most of the state of Washington there and back.

Someone was on my side this weekend, though, and Quinn just cooed and awed as we drove through the evergreen trees and alongside the bay.

It was HOT! But a good hot. I was starting to go a little stir crazy at home because we have been having a more than dismal summer, so far. It was such a nice break leaving our house and traveling two hours to have a mini four day vacation.

Yaya brought a little blow up pool for Ella to swim in and as it was being blown up Ella stated to me that she did not want to go swimming. The moment the pool was filled-up with water by Papa, though, Ella jumped right in and was continually in and out of the pool the rest of the weekend forgetting the fact that originally she did not want to go swimming. She also acquired five splinters (or slivers, Paul) and was completely fine with it.

Quinn was happy as usual as long as he was being held 90% of the time. He didn't seem to mind the heat, either.

There was a trip to the local Walmart for some last minute baby supplies that were forgotten (I forgot to bring the bottoms of all Quinn's bottles, except for one, as well as the right size disposable diapers because I grabbed the wrong size from home, but hey, I'm not used to using disposable diapers because I am in love with using cloth diapers, remember?), a walk down to the lake and a stab to my finger which caused me to pass out not once, but TWICE!

I volunteered to cook dinner one night and was pitting an avocado with the best thing to use, a very long and large serrated carving knife. Yes, it was a bonehead move on my part. I was too confident in my knife wielding skills. This was what was going through my head the moments before the actual stab, 1) Is this the way Halie (my sister) said she removes the pit (but of course not with this very large knife) as I was holding the knife pointed to the pit, 2) This seems dangerous, 3) Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. This all happened in my head within a few split seconds. The next thing I remember was me holding my left index finger thinking the worst has happened, seeing a lot of blood (possibly diluted from the running water over it, but I was in a state of panic/shock so thought this was ALL my blood) and then feeling quite queasy and light headed. By this time my mom was holding me up as I was leaning over the sink and then the next moment I was being woken by my mom for some reason out of the best sleep I have had in a long time with her telling me "It's okay, it's okay." I still felt nauseous and tried to sit on the floor after waking up and apparently passed out again.

All the while Ella was entertaining herself in the living room and didn't know what was going on and then while I was lying on the kitchen floor Harry Potter came over and licked my face because he knew something was not right. No, I wasn't passed out again and dreaming of Harry Potter the boy wizard, this was really happening with Harry Potter the Corgi.

In conclusion, the weekend was good, stabbing my finger was bad and maybe I should have gotten stitches, but everything is healing up just fine. Oh, and Quinn didn't cry on the way home as well. The End.

P.S. I know, I know, I was using sposies (disposable diapers) over the weekend, but I wasn't really prepared to take a bunch of dirty cloth diapers home in my car. I mean, I am not that crazy over cloth...

He likes it, he really likes it!

It's only been a month since I started cloth diapering Quinn, but it feels like it has been a lot longer. Not because I don't enjoy it, though. To put it simply, I AM OBSESSED! I am so obsessed with cloth diapering!! I am sure everyone who knows me is tired of hearing about it, but I do truly love it. I have been doing so much research on cloth diapers and have been so immersed in them that it feels like I have been cloth diapering Quinn since birth. There is so much to learn about cloth diapers and so many options to choose from.

I love the feeling that I am doing something good for the planet. I read that by the time a baby is potty trained they go through 8,000 to 10,000 disposable diapers and those diapers stick around for 300 years in a land fill. That means Quinn's great great great great great great great great great (I think I did my math right on the amount of greats) grandchildren will be around when Quinn's diapers are still in the landfill.

Quinn's cloth diapers are so simple. He wears a diaper cover and the diaper insert is all that needs to be changed, the cover can be reused throughout the day until it gets dirty (I am sure you know what kind of dirty I mean). I even started using cloth wipes because it made much more sense to just throw the cloth wipe in with the diapers to be washed rather than worrying about tossing out the wipe. And the wipe solution is easy to make and smells so good.

I am sure everyone is getting bored with all of this so I will leave you with this cute picture of Quinn in one of his custom BSRB diapers (made by a work-at-home-mom).

Playmate Come Out and Play With Me

Ella has had a long list of imaginary playmates recently. I think the very first one was Ron from the Harry Potter movies. Next was Harry Potter himself, then Peter Pan and the littlest Darling child, Michael Darling. Oh, and I cannot forget Christopher Robin. I am sure there are a few more in-between there, but I can't recall them right now.

The latest imaginary playmate is none other than John Smith. Yes, thee John Smith. The one who was an explorer and friend of Pocahontas. I'm serious.

We watched Disney's Pocahontas the other day and since then Ella has been on many adventures with John (I'm on a first name basis with him). They have explored every inch of the house together and have had some exciting climbing adventures over the couch. She and Mr. Smith may have even walked across a log bridge or two.

By the way, have you watched any of the Disney movies recently as an adult? Pocahontas leaves me wondering if there will ever be a love connection between her and John Smith. Also, LOVE LOVE LOVE Snow White, that prince is pretty charming (I know, I know, Prince Charming is actually in Cinderella).

Oh and I know I owe you all a post on how cloth diapering is going. I will get to it soon. For now I will leave you with the knowledge that I am slightly obsessed with it.

A Conversation with Ella #11

This was Ella's observance while downtown the other day.

Ella: While running up and down a ramp she stops and points, "That car is broken!"

Me: After laughing a moment, " No, they just took the top off their car because it's warm out and they like to have the wind blow on them."

We had just finished painting pottery, enjoying a cookie and gift shopping and she was full of energy.

Time is of the Essence!

Ah, do you hear that? That's the sound of two little ones napping at the same time. Quinn always goes down for a nap at the same time every day (unless Paul is home, then our whole schedule gets out of whack). Today though, TODAY, Ella decides she wants to take a nap in my bed while I shower. I tucked her in with a little brown bear that was mine as a kid and she passed out. Only thing is, she is in undies rather than a pull-up so this will be an interesting first experience. I am not too concerned though, I can just throw the sheets in the wash and the mattress is semi-old anyway.

Speaking of wash, I finally did it. Did what you ask? I switched over to cloth diapers. More on that another post because I can hear Quinn crying...oops, I forgot to turn on the monitor.

Until next time!

The House is Alive with the Sound of Music

This morning so far has been spent listening to the Sound of Music soundtrack. Ella is obsessed with the movie and loves prancing around the house acting out all the songs. I had Quinn attempting a laugh this morning with my impression of trying to sing in a British accent a la Julie Andrews.

I love mornings like this.

You look familiar, have I met you before?

The moment Ella was born and put on my chest I looked into her eyes and had the strangest feeling of meeting her before. Her eyes were so familiar to me and I just couldn't place where I had seen them before.

I still get the same feeling every time I look at her, as if I have known her my enitre life. The strangest thing is, I had the same exact reaction when Quinn was born as well.

This feeling is so strange to me. Somehow, somewhere, I have seen them before. Maybe not them exactly. Maybe I have seen Ella and Quinn in the past in a family member's eyes, a glimpse into the future, my children's future. Somewhere I was given the chance to see the future, I have definitely met my two lovely children before.

A Conversation with Ella #10

Ella: "Hey, you have pants* on. Short ones!"

Me: "Yes, I have shorts on."

*Disclaimer: I always have pants on, so I am not sure why she was so excited and enthused to state that I had pants on. She has also seen me in shorts. Sometimes Ella tends to get very enthusiastic over everyday mundane things. It's great to see the world through her eyes.

My Life in a GIANT Nut Shell

Where to start. How about the fact that I don't even know what the date is. That is at the bottom of my worries, though. I keep stalking my blog. I come here almost every day. Poke around a bit seeing if something new has been posted, then realize, "Hey, I am the owner of this little bloggy spot." And then I run away from this site a-sap because I have no motivation to write anything.

By the time I am even able to take a moment for myself I usually end up as a pile of mush on the couch, too tired to exercise (which I should be doing to counter act the everyday sabotage I seem to be doing to my diet), and if my body is too tired to exercise from the chaos of the day then my brain is at an extreme failure for trying to come up with any sort of coherent words to make my fingers type out which they wouldn't anyway because again I am too tired for any sort of exercise. Yeah.

On a more positive update, Quinn is slightly kind of not really sleeping through the night. And when I say slightly kind of not really, I mean that usually he has been going down around eight or eight thirty and then not waking up until somewhere between four and five in the morning. Then there are the nights where he also throws a wake-up session in anywhere between eleven and two, and then also on top of the normal wake-up around the four a.m. mark he will again wake-up around six. In general though for the past week it's been just the one wake-up. Thank you very much, Quinn.

He has been delighting me (well I should say all of us) with cute little coy smiles and when I say "Ooooo" he will say "Oo-oo-oooo" right back at me. It kind of makes me think of a little baby ape in a super cute way. He's getting pretty strong and loves to do his wobbly-stance and holds himself up by our fingers. Granted this isn't the really deal, more like the way any new baby can stand, but it's cute none-the-less. He's also starting to hold his head up pretty high while laying on his stomach. His head is so large that when he is doing this he becomes top-heavy and it forces him to roll over onto his back with a little thud from his giant head.

Today was the day I finally decided that I was totally committed to the potty training business of a three year old. We had a few failed attempts in the past, but my heart was just not that into it, if that's what I am supposed to put into it. Today I was told by my heart that "Yes, yes I am finally into the potty training idea. Actually, not really, but yeah really. Okay, really."

So today I created a little white parenting lie and told Ella that we ran out of Pull-Ups (even though we were never really using them as pull-ups) and so she had to wear her undies. It's so cute to hear her call them undies. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Ella seemed a little bummed for a split second and then got into the whole "going-potty-on-the-potty" business. Her reward for getting things right were 3 mini M&Ms for #1 and a whole 5 mini M&Ms for #2, if that is the polite way to say it.

We had a few accidents which is expected, luckily always on the floor and not on the couch. At one point she was sitting there trying to go and angrily she states to herself "I need to go pee pee so I can get 3 M&Ms", and also when she had an accident on the floor she growled out "I made a BIG mess." Imagine both these being said with her "mad eyes" that she states she has whenever she is angry.

This is what my life has been like in a nut shell. Poor Paul is kind of on the back burner, as am I to him, but at least we both are okay with this at the moment until our family life gets back on track.

Now I must must try to peel myself from this bloggy-blog because what I really want to do is enjoy the latest Sookie Stackhouse Novel before I go to bed. Which means what will really happen is I will be able to read just two or three pages before my eyes just start scanning the words as my brain sleeps with my eyes open. I HEART Sookie (in a platonic way of course).

A Conversation with Ella #9

While Ella and I were watching The View yesterday this conversation took place:

Me: "Her name is Whoopi."

Ella: "Quinn went poopy?"

Me: "No, that lady's name is Whoopi."

Ella: "Poopy?"

Me: "Whoo Whoo Whoopi."

And then today while watching The View:

Ella: "That girl is Whoopi?"

Me: "Yes!"

A Conversation with Ella #8

Ella: "Me wanta drink coffee."

Me: "Only adults can drink coffee."

Ella: "Me get old, then me drink coffee."

A Series of Unfortunate Events

3:17 A.M. I wake with a start because Quinn hasn't woken up yet since we put him down at 11:00 P.M., I rush into his room thinking something is wrong. He is sleeping peacefully.

3:20 A.M. As I am leaving Quinn's room I hear music and something squeaking almost like an alarm. I realize it's coming from Ella's room. It's her music she turns on to fall asleep to. The mechanics that move the little figures are starting to go bad which is causing the alarm like noise. The music stops and I hear her moving around in her bed. I rush back into my room before she hears me and wakes up.

3:22 A.M. It's too late. Ella comes in saying she can't sleep. Paul volunteers to put her back to bed.

3:45 A.M. Quinn finally wakes up for his next bottle.

3:50 A.M. Before going into Quinn's room I realize Paul is asleep in Ella's room and he needs to get up in several minutes for work. I go in there to make sure he knows this. He does, he set up his cell phone alarm to go off. I end up waking up Ella by going in there.

4:15 A.M. Paul comes in Quinn's room while I am feeding him to let me know he let Max outside because he wanted out. Which means he will be meowing at the door sometime soon and will be waking everyone up until he gets let in.

4:25 A.M. Paul finds Max and lets him back in, then heads out to work.

4:30 A.M. I set Quinn in his bed and as soon as I do I hear Ella coming out of her room again.

4:30 A.M. Ella cries because she wants to sleep in our bed. I give in and let her because I am too tired to fight it. She decides she can't sleep so plays a monkey game on our iPod touch. I fall asleep to the noise of monkeys.

4:30 A.M. - 6:00 A.M. Ella is playing that dang monkey game. I think she may have fallen asleep with it on, but I am too tired to check.

8:30 A.M. When Ella wakes up we discover a huge wet spot from her diaper leaking. At least it's on Paul's side of the bed. Wahahahaha.

A Conversation with Ella #7

Me: "Ella have you seen my computer?"

Ella: "Um, it went to Disneyland."

Apparently it was hidden under a pillow on the couch.

7 Quick Takes Friday: Volume 3

- 1 -

Either Ella has become a teenager at the tender age of 3 or she is going through the terrible threes. I have come to this conclusion because a) she stomps around when she gets mad, b) she yells at me to get out of her room, c) she demands that I do things for her immediately, and d) she is obsessed with wearing lipgloss.

- 2 -

I joined Weight Watchers online and the other day I came to the conclusion that I would only lose 12 pounds in a year. This is how I logically came to this conclusion: I am steadily losing 1 pound a week and there are 12 weeks in a year. Yeah. And so, when I cried to Paul about this he explained to me that I will actually lose 52 pounds in a year. Harharhar. This is what happens to your brain when you are on baby-duty all night 5 days a week. By the way, I am not planning on losing 52 pounds because I would literally look like a skeleton.

- 3 -

Ella and Quinn got their picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the mall the other day. When it was our turn Ella ran up to him and threw herself into his lap giving him the biggest hug ever. I was so surprised by this because she was the total opposite when it was time to get her picture taken with Santa Claus this past Christmas.

- 4 -

Did I mention I am doing Weight Watchers? I am hoping that I will get the hang of it soon because right now I always feel soooo hungry. I think it has to do with previously being pregnant and kind of always eating a ton of food in one sitting.

- 5 -

Quinn gave us his first official smile three days ago. It was the sweetest little smile ever. Also he is extremely strong and is constantly tying to stand up when I have him on my shoulder to burp him. Today he was actually standing up for several long seconds at a time and I swear he knew he was doing it and so kept trying it over and over.

- 6 -

I am obsessed with Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream, it has chocolate covered pretzels with peanut butter inside of them and it is so so so good. I was going to use my weekly points from Weight Watchers to have some the other day, but to my dismay the store did not have any. I am seriously hoping it hasn't been discontinued.

- 7 -

Quinn's April Fool's joke he played on me was to make me think he could drink an entire 4 oz bottle of milk. When I went to burp him he threw-up the entire content of the bottle all down my back and soaked my hair and the couch cushion. It was probably one of the best jokes ever played on me, and it was played on me by a 7 1/2 week old baby.

A Conversation with Ella #6

Me: "You are hyper!"

Ella: I am diaper-hyper!" While bouncing on pillows stacked on the couch.

I am happy that she can rhyme while being so hyper. Actually, I am happy that she even knows how to rhyme at almost 3 years of age.

A Conversation with Ella #5

Ella: "I have shoo-shoo, Happy Birthday!"

Translation: I pooped, change my diaper.

One of the Perks of Being a Parent

You get cool mugs that describe what you are.

(Momcat and Beary Cool Dad - yep that's us!)

Update: I should let you know that the Momcat mug first belonged to my mom and was then passed on to me by her when I became a mom. I love drinking out of it knowing that it first belonged to her because it just means now I'm a cool Momcat like my mom.

Apparently I am one of THOSE Moms

This morning I found myself hesitating when I went to throw out the nipple shield. I had it inches from the trash can only to pull back and decide I just couldn't part with it. At least not yet. Quinn and I bonded together with that shield for 5 weeks, and I feel like it's part of his infant stage. So, I am saving the shield for now at least. Apparently this makes me one of those moms, the moms who save every little weird thing from their children. Well, I guess it's not that bad, but if you throw in the fact that I also can't part with the little plastic ring that was used to circumcise him, then it does make me one of those moms. When it fell off in his diaper several days after the procedure I was all about throwing it out, but Paul was the one who found the ring in his diaper so he put it on the shelf above the changing table so I could see it before we tossed it out. It's now been sitting there for approximately 3 weeks and I can't seem to throw it away. I will probably end up putting it in a little plastic bag and tucking it away in his baby box (along with the nipple shield).

Now, I just have to figure out how to explain to Quinn some day why I kept it.

Captain Obvious meet Common Sense, Common Sense I know you have heard of Captain Obvious

***Disclaimer: I am not trying to be insensitive in regards to the babies that have died due to carelessness in baby slings. I am just discussing common sense.

"Baby wearing" is all the rage now and all the awesomely cool parents do it. If you don't then you are so square. That being said, you definitely need common sense when using your cool sling you hand made or one of the slings you paid way to much for. I hope that most parents have common sense. You need common sense when you become a parent, but apparently some parents don't have it. I mean, hello Captain Obvious! A baby's face should not be covered/smothered in the sling. Come on! Babies obviously need oxygen.

I am on the email list at CPSC (US-Consumer Product Safety Commission), so I get all the latest gossip about recalls and safety alerts. So when the Government decided to warn the public about infant deaths in slings I was probably among the first to hear the news thanks to the email CPSC sent out. BUT WAIT! I was way ahead of the Government this time around thanks to being involved in baby chat boards. The mothers on there were way ahead of the news and were already aware of the dangers of slings. Well, we already knew the dangers anyway, but we were aware of the dangers of one specific sling that is basically the center of this whole warning. Apparently there have been several deaths with this sling this year. And thanks to the parents without common sense, us parents with common sense are now being scolded and given the stink eye for using baby slings because we are all like the few who didn't have common sense and we are not aware of the possible risks with slings.

It's ridiculous how many obvious warnings are out there now for baby gear, just because a few people didn't use judgement when using these products we all now have to be given lectures on the right way to use things.

I guess where I am getting at is that I have common sense and can spot dangers in things and it's too bad that there are people out there that don't see possible dangers for their children. I am not saying that I am Super God Mom and know every single thing about parenting and all the dangers for my kids, but I do have some good common sense to spot things that are obviously a danger. That being said, I am still using the baby sling I made to carry my baby around because sometimes my arms need a break from carrying around a baby who starts crying the moment he is set down, and as we speak, I am sitting here with him in the way-too-expensive BabyBjorn because that is the only way I can get him to take a nap. And don't worry, I am constantly checking to make sure he is breathing.

A Conversation with Ella #4

Ella: "I want to be a big girl like Daddy."

A 75 Hour Birth

Quinn officially arrived the day after my previous post. According to my awesome British nurse I was in labor for a total of 75 hours. Honestly though, I wouldn't really change anything about it. I was so happy with how everything progressed during the labor at the hospital and I loved my nurse. I must say, having a nurse with a British accent totally makes up for being in labor for 75 hours. I must recommend everyone try it.

Quinn was born February 7th at 12:23 P.M. and weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and is 19.9 inches long.

No Soliciting, Please.

It's very hard to come back home from the hospital and still be pregnant.

Thursday morning (and when I say morning I mean 4:00 A.M.) I started having consistent contractions every 4 minutes apart. By 8:00 A.M. I called my doctor's office and was told to go to Labor and Delivery. I spent the next day and a half at the hospital contracting regularly about 3-4 minutes apart and they we coming on strong and were definitely painful enough.

By Friday afternoon I did not progress anymore and was stuck at 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced. If you haven't been pregnant before you probably don't know what this means, and I am in no mood to explain it.

I was finally told by my doctor that I should go home since I have not progressed any further. He did not and would not assist the labor because I am only 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. He wouldn't touch me until I was at least 37 weeks which is considered full term. To be fair he was hesitant to send me home at first because of the distance I am from the hospital, but there was nothing they could do for me. He was soon to be done with his shift that day and the on-call doctor refused to touch at 36 week pregnant woman.

So, I am home. And for some strange reason my contractions have pretty much stopped being consistent, and are very random now. It's too emotional to deal with, thinking and being told the baby would be born yesterday to now sitting at home with a huge pregnant belly still. Everyone at the hospital was convinced that I would be having the baby then, but no, here I am not holding a baby.

I just want to lock myself up in the house and not have any contact with the outside world. At this point I am in no mood to socialize.

 I know I should be happy that the baby wasn't born yet until he is considered full term, but it's also frustrating thinking I was in labor, being told I was in early stages of labor, and then nothing happen.

Well, at least I am no longer on any medicine to control my contractions and I can now do "normal" everyday things again. Guess I will start scrubbing the house down to pass the time.

Just a Little Bit of Nervousness

It's only noon and I have officially had that weird nervous knot in my stomach happen 3 or 4 times already. I am 36 weeks pregnant now which means technically I only have 4 or less weeks to go.

Tomorrow is my 36 week check-up and I stop all contraction meds tomorrow as well, well technically tonight when I go to bed and so this means I can go into labor any time now. I have a 50/50 shot of going into labor now according to my doctor which is what keeps making me have the nervous attacks this morning. The baby can be here any time and now all of a sudden I feel like my house is filthy and there is so much I should get done, but I can't do.

I feel like any time anything gets cleaned, it just get dirty again. I guess that's what happens where there are other people living in the house as well. I am afraid to do any cleaning besides light straightening in fear that it will cause me to go into labor or my water will break. I don't feel ready for that just quite yet, but then again I want this pregnancy to be over.

I am looking forward to my appointment tomorrow just to see if the doctor has anything new to say. I doubt he will have any new information for me, though. I am hoping he will say "why don't you head up to the hospital now and go ahead and have the baby." Ha, like that would really happen. I think what gets to me the most is that there is no set date when the baby will be ready to come and it drives me nuts. I like things planned out, and I can't plan when it's the exact time for the baby to come, only that I know it will happen in the next 4 weeks. So it's the waiting game for me, and I do not like it.

A Conversation with Ella #3

Ella: "I want to have a prince."

Me: "Every woman wants to have a prince."

Teaching Ella to have a high expectation of men at such a young age, check.

7 Quick Takes Friday: Volume 2

---1---

I always remember to do the 7 Quick Takes when it is not a Friday, so I always miss it. Today I remembered...booya!

---2---

Ah, just one more week of this jitteriness and then I am done taking all my meds for the preterm contractions. I will be 36 weeks next week and the baby will be coming any time after that. I am scared and excited all at the same time. I don't want to have to do the whole labor thing again, but also, I do because then it means this long difficult pregnancy will be over and done with. Fini!

---3---

I am always amazed at the things that entertain Ella. We just ordered a double jogging stroller and the box has turned into a little house for Ella (door and windows and all). It's a pretty narrow box, but she can stand-up in it. and it's just long enough for her to lay down in. Just don't call it a fort or you will be hearing from Ella. It's a house, a house she says!

---4---

I am really looking forward to using this double jogging stroller. I probably won't be jogging with it, but it will be fun to go on walks and push it around. Yep, that's what I look forward to because I am a mom. By the way, my #1 criteria when looking for this stroller was that it had to be a color that stood out (i.e. red, yellow, orange) so that while walking on my road I would definitely be seen. I don't understand people who don't move over a little when they are driving by a person walking down the road, especially one pushing a stroller. Come on peeps! I always drive the way I would want someone to drive around me, duh, it just makes sense. I especially don't understand people who don't respect their own neighborhood and go flying down the streets over the speed limit. I am sure they don't like when people speed by them, but they speed themselves. I just don't get these people. Oh yeah, the stroller I found is bright red. 

---5---

I have been craving an apple bundt cake for several days now and finally broke down yesterday and made one. Mmm mmm good. It tastes (to me) just like a bear claw doughnut! I have been picking at it all day...I shouldn't be doing that, but it's too good to pass up.

---6---

I just made Paul throw out the rest of the apple bundt cake because I just realized I have no self-control when it comes to it. I kept eating chunks out of it every time I went in the kitchen today.

---7---

The other day I let one of my cats, Emma, outside. both cats are indoor cats only, but I just had enough of her pooping issue (I will not go into details for your sake) and I thought she would run away, but she just sat on the front porch meowing until I let her back it. Luckily everything was cleaned off by then, or I don't know what I would have done. Today was a similar issue with our cat Max. We let him outside and he just roamed around and hung out with us while we where out there and then he meowed when he wanted to come back in. Guess this means this summer when the weather is warmer the cats might get more outdoor privileges.

And Here We Go Again

Last Tuesday morning Paul and I spent another few hours at Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions between 2-5 minutes apart for several hours. We went in, they did their usual tests and I was sent home about 4 hours later.

Everything was okay, and the fetal fibronectin test came back negative which means that I won't be going into labor anytime within the next week or so. Apparently you are more likely to have a false positive on this test, and if it comes back negative it's pretty accurate.

So now we have had two recent test runs to the hospital and we are getting pretty used to the idea of being there. By the time my real labor comes around it should be a piece of cake, right? I am actually to the point where I am looking forward to labor because it means this tough pregnancy will be over and labor seems easy compared to what I have been going through.

I am constantly counting contractions and making sure I am not having consistent contractions that need to be taken care of. I am also taking medication every 4 hours to keep them at bay. Yes, I even wake up every 4 hours at night to make sure I take it. I have an alarm go off and every time it goes off Paul instinctively jumps up and squishes me in the bed to turn it off. He has some sort of built in instinct from having to work at 5:00 A.M. for the past 9 years, so he is trained to turn off the alarm right away so not to wake anyone up so early in the morning. And when I say anyone I actually mean me.

In conclusion (like I am writing a thesis paper or something), I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and I have three more weeks of constant vigilance at monitoring my contractions until it's time to cut off the medications and then I will be considered full term. What will be will be then.

Full-Time Parent

Full-time parent. That is what I have decided to call myself. Stay-at-home mom sounds a bit dated and I always hate saying it when people ask what I do for work. So, I just decided that I will now start saying that I am a full-time parent (or mom, or maybe stay-at-home parent, scratch that last one).

Paul laughed at me today because I told him that one thing I am looking forward to this pregnancy is not having to worry about going back to work. He laughed because I am "looking forward to not having to worry about something." But, if you know me then you know that I tend to worry about stuff, lots of stuff. I try to hide that I worry about Stuff (stuff with a capital letter) because it does seem ridiculous sometimes. So, when I realize that I won't have to worry about something I get pretty excited about it.

I also realized that while I was working full-time I thought that I was one of the only few moms that had to work. I came across blog after blog of moms not working and thought I was in the minority. Now that I am a full-time parent I realize I am more in the minority now. Most of the women I know personally, and through other means, are full or part-time working moms. I now know how lucky I am that Paul made it possible for me to stay at home with Ella, and how lucky I will be that I will not have to worry about going back to work after this pregnancy.

Yes, we made a lot of sacrifices money-wise. Worth it though, I must say. We have been lucky enough that we can even make those type of sacrifices. Looking back I realize how much spending money I had when working full-time, but I also realize that I spent it on stuff I did not need, I never saved it, it was gone by the time the next paycheck rolled around. Now, with our limited budget for the most part I don't miss having that extra money. Besides I have many other things in my life that I get to enjoy which very much outweighs having extra spending money. Money doesn't buy happiness, I am proof right here.

Baby Sling

I actually got myself up off the couch yesterday which was a very big feat in and of itself due to the constant contractions I am trying to keep at bay, and did something productive.

The second go around at having a baby is a little easier (minus the preterm contractions). I know what we need, what we want, want we don't want or need, what I would like to have, but know we don't need--you get the point.

So, I broke out the sewing machine I got for Christmas from my parents several years back, but have not truly used yet. I mean I have used it, tried it out more like it, but never actually completed a project on it. So yesterday I decided to sew something together that I truly want and need.

Ta-da!

This is obviously for the new baby coming soon, but it's also strong enough to hold a toddler, and this toddler did not want to get out of the sling.

By the way, I do try to do other more important productive things like dishes or vacuuming, but due to my situation I can only do so much before I start to get contractions. That's when Super Husband steps in and takes care of the rest, which is a lot and I can't thank him enough for what he does. He works hard enough as it is at his job and then comes home to take care of us as well.

A Month in Review or Long Time No See Blog

A lot has happened over this past month plus few weeks. The day, or I should say night, after Thanksgiving Paul and I spent the night at the hospital after I started having contractions. I was 26 weeks along at the time. Things were done at the hospital to stop the contractions (for the most part) and I was sent home and have been taking meds to control my contractions since then. I have been pretty good about managing the contractions, but of course still get several (or more) a day, especially on days where I try to do anything besides rest. I only have a few more weeks until I completely stop taking my meds at 36 weeks and then my doctor says I am pretty much on my own after that. So I have a feeling this baby will be coming sometime sooner rather than later.

Christmas was great especially with Ella understanding what actually is going on. We had two attempts at meeting Santa. The first was in November and the picture of her is hilarious. She was angry and trying to escape from his lap. A few weeks later she told me she wanted to see Santa again and that she would not cry this time. Those were her words. So we ventured out to the mall and she was very excited this time talking about how Santa would like the dress she was wearing and that she was not scared. Everything went well on this second meeting except for the part where she would not smile for the picture, but hey, she hasn't ever smiled for a Santa picture and we have been doing these since her very first Christmas.

I just realized that this year Ella will not be alone on the Easter Bunny's and Santa's lap. She will get to share this experience with her new little brother, Quinn. Yep we agreed on a name and started calling him by his name to Ella so we figured we are stuck with the name because it would be too confusing for Ella if we change it now. Now if only we can agree on a middle name.

New Year's Eve was spent by the three of us at home. I had a sudden strong urge to nest and was stressing out that Quinn's room was still packed to the brim with all of our junk. So Paul spent the evening cleaning out the closet (Ella's too) and finding places to store our stuff other than his room. It's not exactly finished, but it's getting closer and I feel better about it. Not the most exciting New Year's Eve, but Paul and I were never really into going out ever before and this year was no different. We always tend to stay in and I always tend to fall asleep right around 11:30 P.M. each year.

The tiredness has definitely set in this last trimester. I just found myself spacing off for the last minute or two, so I am thinking this is a good place to stop this post. So, until next time blog. Does that even make sense? My mind is too tired to work that out. There you go.