This Mom’s Best Friend

Now that Eva has started eating solids, I’ve had to learn how to organize and plan for being out and about during her “meal” times. Since she doesn’t eat a lot of baby food, this used to mean packing up little containers of chicken pieces, peas and carrots, avocado and so on … not overly convenient.

I was at WalMart a few weeks ago when I saw these.

I remember my friend Trish (same girl who makes the muffins – she’s full of great tips) having something similar for her little girl who also didn’t like to eat purees. I picked up a few and decided to give them a try.

The first time I tried it, Evalyn like it pretty well and was able to figure out how to suck the food straight from the pouch. The only problem was that I felt like she was biting down on the plastic spout and catching her teeth on it. It just didn’t seem like it was the best idea. So, I tried giving some of it to her on a spoon, which worked fine, but then, was no different than any other jar of baby food.

In talking to a few of my tweeps, someone mentioned that there are spoons that are designed specifically to attach to the Plum brand baby food pouches. Unfortunately, these brands are only sold in the states. Of course, it’s no big deal for me to travel across the border for a shopping trip, but it is physically impossible for me take a trip to Target and come home with only baby food. So, I did what any logical human being would do and put out a request on facebook to see if anyone around me had plans to go over. Lucky for me, my Aunt Shelley was going the next day.

She came back with a pile of loot.

Two of these:

And a variety of packages of Plum food.

Let me tell you – these dispensing spoons are the kind of baby product that I would normally look at, laugh, and talk about how unnecessary it is to have such strange gadgets for kids. But, I would be wrong.

These spoons – which are made specifically for Plum pouches but fit on Baby Gourmet as well – make feeding my child on the go so.much.easier.

Even though she is eating mostly table food, we aren’t yet to the point where I can assume that what we’re eating at a friend or relative’s house, or at a restaurant will be suitable for her. Since we haven’t introduced wheat or eggs, and just introduced yogurt a few days ago – eating outside of our home can be difficult. At a restaurant, if we order chicken we can share with her, but there is usually some kind of sauce or breading or something that she can’t have. And, like I said previously, while it’s possible to pack up and cart around little containers of her finger food, it’s just not the most convenient.

Now, I always have a case of spoons and a few pouches of food in my bag for when we’re out. They are easy, less messy and so much more convenient than table food or jarred baby food. And I love that there is no waste. When I feed her straight from a bowl, I always toss the remainder out. I know different people have mixed feelings about this – but my kid seems to have a perpetually snotty nose – so by the time the spoon has gone between her mouth and the bowl a few times, I’m pretty sure there’s a nice blend of snot in her dish. Which,  you know, is disgusting. I wouldn’t want to eat that. But with the pouches and spoons? No snotty backwash gets back into the pouch. I can reseal it, put it in the fridge and have her finish it off at the next sitting.

So, if you’re looking for a quick and convenient way to feed your baby on the go, you may want to give these a try.

Of course, my raving about these products is only one side of the story. The important thing is what Evalyn thinks of them.

I’ll let you be the judge.

** These opinions are completely and entirely my own – I am not affiliated with or being compensated by any of these companies in anyway.

Halloween Weekend

This weekend, that of Eva's first Halloween, we spent at my inlaws place. Not only was it Halloween weekend, but Eva and I were also blessed with another baby shower put on by the Dude's aunt and cousins. Thank you so much, girls!

On Saturday morning, she and I got all dressed up to go. I called her outfit "Halloween Chic" (headband courtesy of Katie from Eme Kay Creatives, of course)

The baby shower was so incredible. I cannot even describe how blessed we are! Evalyn is going to be the best dressed girl in town until she's about two years old. Then I suspect things will go down hill. I don't have very many good pictures from the actual shower but let me tell you -we got spoiled! She got clothes, books, toys, a Dora suitcase, a baby gate and a bunch of other stuff, as well. I am so thankful to the Dude's extended family for all the love they have shown us!

Eva was definitely the star of the show. Everyone loved getting to see her and snuggle with her. Thanks to her, I'm sure no one even noticed that I forget my straightener and my hair looked like junk. Eva did really well although we were all a little disappointed that she slept through her own party :)

After the shower, my sister and her family came back to hang out with us at my inlaw's for the day. She and her cousin, A, are going to be the best of friend's as they grow up! Eva's just got to hurry up and catch up to her so that she can stick up for herself.

Because it was Halloween weekend, Evalyn had a number of costume changes. The next picture says it all ...

It is so true! He sure is under her spell.

She even went to church dressed for Halloween as Mommy's Little Pumpkin.

Even though she didn't have an actual costume and we didn't do any trick or treating, she had her share of Halloween fun!

Mom Fail

Yesterday was a big day for Eva. She ventured into a foreign land. That's right, Eva, Nana and I spent yesterday shopping in the states. Once again, she shopped like a pro. We scored quite a few good deals and I was able to get some bigger sized clothes for E for Christmas, a few other Christmas gifts, some nursing-mama friendly clothing (Thank you Target for cardigans and open sweaters), and four cases of Cherry Coke Zero. Don't judge. We can't get it in Canada and it's my coffee.

Before we left for our shopping trip, the Dude transferred the base of the car seat from my car into my Mom's car as that was the vehicle we were taking.

We arrived home about 3 pm and my mom was planning to head home shortly after. So, we unloaded the car, organized some of the stuff I bought and I headed back out to transfer the base back from her car to mine.

Um, fail. Major Mom fail.

I could not for the stinkin' life of me figure out how to get that stupid thing disconnected from the anchorage system.

I have said it before and I will say it again - there is nothing like fancy shmancy baby equipment to make you feel incompetent as a mother.

I tried to loosen the strap. No luck. I tried to unclip the hinges. No luck. I could see how it was supposed to come undone but I could not figure out how to do it.

So, I went inside and called the Dude's cell phone. Voicemail. Sweet. His phone was dead.

I went back outside and tried again.

Meanwhile, my Mom was dealing with Miss FussPotMcGee.

I still could not figure out how to get the bloody thing out.

So, I called my sister. She explained to me how to do it. But apparently her base is slightly different than mine because there was definitely no red and white button thingy to turn.

So, my mom called my Dad.

Of course ... Daddy saved the day!

He was able to explain to me how to loosen the strap on the UAS so that there would be enough give to get the clips unhinged.

Once I finally got it out - about 30 minutes after we arrived home - I told my mom that my plot to trap her there with us forever failed.

I guess it's time for me to have the Dude give me a crash course in manhandling all our baby's junk.

August Review and September Goals

August's goals and plans were pretty narrow in focus. We spent the better part of our month getting the last of the preparations in order for baby to arrive. Here's the recap:

1. Finish getting baby's room ready.

Check out the two part nursery reveal here and here.

2. Buy, wash, and organize baby's cloth diapers.

Everything about our cloth diapering plans can be found here.

3. Finish gathering and organizing birth supplies for home birth.

There are three boxes and a bag that have been sitting in our bedroom for a number of weeks. Two of the boxes contain sheets, towels, and blankets. One is holding all of the baby's things. And the bag is from the midwife clinic that contains all of the supplies they will need when they are here. We are all set!

4. Pack mine and baby's hospital bag so we are prepared to transfer to hospital if necessary.

Bags are packed - aside from my toiletries which will just be added at the last minute.

5. Finish stocking the freezer with food for post baby days.

I don't think I will have to cook until Christmas!

6. Celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary.

We celebrated our anniversary with a yummy dinner out at Red Lobster.

7. Can pickled beets with my mom.

We did beets, peaches and bbq onion sauce! Also, the Fabulous Dude and I got really eager near the end of the month and ended up canning 26 pints of homemade salsa and 14 quarts of diced tomatoes, too!

8. Celebrate my mom's birthday (which, yes, was way back in June - but this will be the first time she's been able to come visit since then).

My mom was here for 4 days and we had a great visit together. It was so wonderful to spend that time with her before the baby arrives.

9. Attend my second baby shower.

What a wonderful evening! Read about it here.

10. Put my feet up, relax, rest and enjoy the last few weeks of my pregnancy!

I have been napping when I can and trying to do all of the things that I won't be able to do quite so easily once I have an infant in my arms. I have a feeling the next few weeks will involve a lot more relaxing and resting!

September Goals

1. Birth a baby.

The end.

Dear Baby: Ready When You Are

Dear Baby,

We've passed the 37 week milestone! It's official - we are full-term, we've made it! As of today, we are eligible to labor at home when you decide to come (as long as you decide to come before 42 weeks - please decide to come before 42 weeks!).

I know that you will come when you are ready and well cooked but Mama and Daddy want you to know that we are ready when you are.

The clothes are ready to dress you.

The diapers and wipes are ready to clean you.

The blankets are ready to wrap you.

The bassinet is ready to hold you.

The chair is ready to rock you.

The slings are ready to wear you.

The stroller is ready to push you.

The car seat is ready to drive you.

Our family is ready to welcome you.

Our lips are ready to kiss you.

Our arms are ready to hold you.

And most importantly, our hearts are ready to love you.

Ready when you are!

Love,

Mama

Dipes and Wipes

I've mentioned a few times on here that we are planning on using cloth dipes for our babe. I've had a few people comment and/or e-mail me asking me a few questions about our choice so I decided to write a little posty post about it.

Keep in mind that I don't have my baby yet and I haven't figured all of this out yet so there is only so much I can say. I have a plan as to how I'm going to tackle the task of cloth diapering, but I'm sure it will change a great deal as I sort out motherhood and figure things out.

First of all, let me start by discussing our decision to use cloth diapers. To be completely honest, my decision to use cloth diapers stems mainly from a cost perspective. Sure, I know there are definitely other benefits to cloth as they are better for the environment, gentle on baby's skin, and often help toddlers potty train sooner. But, to me, these are secondary benefits. I'd be lying if I did not say that my choice rests mainly on the fact that I am a cheapo. I'm not going to go into detail on the financial comparison of cloth to disposables but check out this link for a great breakdown, that even includes depreciation on your washing machine and water etc.

So, now that that's out of the way, let's move on to talking about how I chose what type of diapers to invest in.

I've known a lot of women who waited until after their baby's were born to try a number of types of cloth diapers in order to figure out which ones they liked the best and then they purchased them. That is a perfectly good way to go about it if you think it will work for you, but I felt like it would not work for me. I was pretty certain that if I gave birth to my baby, spent the first month or so using disposables and then tried to figure out how to get into the cloth diapering scene, I would say forget it. My thinking is that by purchasing all of my cloth diapering supplies before the baby arrives, and knowing that I invested a significant chunk of mula in them (remember, cheapo Lucy speaking), that I would not allow myself to throw in the towel.

So, after a great deal of reading, researching and discussing cloth diapers with other Mama's I know, I settled on Motherease One Size (MEOS). Because cost was a significant factor for me, I knew that a one size was best for us. This means that one set of diapers, with proper care and use, should get me through my baby's entire diapering career. And, in fact, they will be able to be used for multiple children as well.

I was attracted to the MEOS for a number of reasons. Primarily, from the research I have done, I have found that MEOS is one of the best one size diapers on the market because they increase and decrease in size using a series of snaps, rather than velcro or elastic. This means that while the diaper is growing with your baby, you are not actually stretching the diaper itself, so even after diapering a 25 lb baby, the same diaper can again be used to diaper an 8 lb baby in the future. The MEOS line also features snap in absorbent liners to be used for overnights and heavy wetters and waterproof covers that can be used 3-4 times before needing to be changed.

I also liked that the ME diapers are manufactured and sold locally. Although they are available online all over Canada and the USA (and internationally, I believe), I found it helpful to be able to actually visit the location where they are manufactured and discuss some of my questions with a representative.

I was so grateful to receive gift cards to Mother Ease as well as some money from groups of women at both of my showers so in the end, we were able to cover the cost of purchasing our package of diapers.

What we got includes:

36 MEOS diapers
18 absorbent liners
6 waterproof covers
Diaper pail
Two mesh bags for the diaper pail

This should be all I need for cloth diapering, aside from needing to purchase some larger covers as the baby grows and replacement carbon filters for the diaper pail (which cut down on odors). And, of course, I will be investing in some super cute swim diapers for next summer.

As you may remember from my nursery reveal post, I mentioned that the plastic organizer drawers under the change table would be used for my cloth diapering supplies.

As it stands, I have the bottom two drawers filled with diapers, the second drawer filled with liners, and the top drawer filled with the covers and mesh bags, as well as wipes, creams and lotions.

My plan is to use disposables for the first 2-3 weeks until I get into a routine. Depending on the size of our baby, I may be able to start using cloth earlier or have to wait until later. The MEOS are made to start at 8 lbs but I have been told by a number of people that you can actually make them work for a baby as little as 6 lbs if you want.

As far as wipes go, I plan on using a combination of cloth wipes and disposables. I have a whole basket of cloth wipes on the changing table but also have a stash of disposables to be used when we're out and about and so on. I'm also planning on being flexible about using disposable diapers when we're out and about, on vacation, or when the baby is with a sitter. I do have a wet bag to carry in my diaper bag, so using cloth while we are out is definitely a possibility, so we'll see how it goes. I also have a few rolls of biodegradable liners that can be handy to use when we are out.

I am planning for the diaper pail to be stored in the laundry room and with the amount of diapers I have, I should be able to manage by washing diapers every 3 days. Sometimes I will likely need to wash more often and sometimes, perhaps, less often.

The wash and care of the diapers seems quite simple. You toss the diapers into the mesh bag in the diaper pail (rinsing in the toilet first if necessary) and when it's time to wash, you place the diapers, mesh bag and all, in the machine and let it go.

I am going to try to line dry as much as possible because the sun acts as a natural bleach which will minimize staining of the diapers. Through the winter this might be difficult, but we're going to see what we can rig up on our patio.

I feel like I've already covered a lot but of course, there is the one big question that everyone asks me that I definitely should touch on.

Don't you think it's gross?

Well, no, I don't. It's my baby. It's my baby's poop. And I'm going to clean it up. Sure, it might mean that there are times where I need to wear a nose plug into the washroom while I rinse the diaper in the toilet, but I feel like that's okay and it's something I'm willing to do. We'll see how I feel about that 8 months down the road, but for now, that's my thought.

If you have any more questions about our choice to cloth, please ask! And if you are a Mama who has/does use cloth - please leave any advice you may have for me! I am obviously new at this and, like I said, everything is theoretical right now since I haven't actually had a chance to do this whole cloth diapering thing yet.

I am sure I will write a number of posts about cloth diapering when baby arrives and we get settled and learn just how cloth diapering really works. But, until then, I hope this post answered some of your questions!

Becoming Monkey-Ville: Part Two

Yesterday I shared a bit about the process of transforming the nursery from being an office/spare room/craft room/everything room to being a cozy place for our Little Monkey to rest his/her head. Today you get the real good stuff and get to see what it looks like now that the transformation is complete.

By now, you all know that I love all things monkey for my Little Monkey. I am so happy with the way that the room turned out. Please keep in mind that I'm not much of a photographer and the shape, angles and lighting of the room made this a little difficult but I did my best!

Looking into the room (the room has double doors that still need to be put back on since FD replaced the carpet. The crib will be tucked behind one door which won't open and the other door will open into the room.

The Crib. Originally, this crib was dark brown but was painted white to match the rest of the furniture. The wall decal was ordered from Etsy and was not nearly as easy to put on the wall as it was made out to be. Thankfully, I have a patient, wonderful husband. Bless his heart.

The Changing Area. Remember that old crappy table that I showed you yesterday? Yes - this change table is one and the same. We've got the diaper stacker on the left, the hamper on the right, a bin for toys underneath, and a set of plastic drawers that will house all of my cloth diapering supplies.

The Armoire. The Dude did a fantastic job transforming the top section of the armoire from drawers into a makeshift "closet". He also replaced the base of it and put new hardware on to make it look just like new. The top of it is decorated with a Monkey basket full of books, a maternity photo (which will be switched for a newborn photo once he/she arrives) and a lamp. I also have a super cute pair of cowboy books that belonged to the dude when he was a wee one that are sitting in the basket that need to be incorporated somehow. Just not sure how. Inside the drawers of the armoire you will find all sorts of teeny tiny onesies, sleepers, socks, hats and bibs, just waiting for baby.

The Nursing Nook. If you remember, yesterday I mentioned that we had to get rid of my black chair and find something else a little smaller. I am so happy with our find! This chair is very comfortable and fits in well. The Dude said that during the winter he's going to try to find some time to paint the frame of both the chair and the ottoman white because not only do they not match the other furniture in the room, but they also don't match each other. But, for now ... they work just great! The cute Monkey sitting on the chair was a gift from the Baby's Auntie Katie (formerly known as the BFF) and came straight from FAO Schwarz in NYC. I'd still like to get a little side table to set beside the chair for the phone, my drink, or whatever I need if I'm using the chair to nurse (perhaps a good place to display the cowboy boots as well?) but for now, it's good the way it is.

Above the chair, there is a little display of wall hangings that I made with cheap Wal-mart frames and coordinating scrapbook paper. They look kind of funny and off balance right now but the space in the middle was left there on purpose and will be filled with a wooden letter once the baby is born and has a name. Both of the letters (baby girl's first initial and baby boy's first initial) are painted and waiting so the appropriate one will just need to be hung once he/she arrives.

The last thing to show in the room is a sweet little wall hanging that was made for Baby by a very special woman. In the first photo, you may be able to see that there is a door between the crib and the armoire. This door leads to the "cool room" where we have all of the Dude's tools and our canning shelves and so on. I decided to hang the wall hanging on that door. It's super duper special because there is a similar plaque that hangs in the Dude's room at his parents house that says "Evan's Pad" with a frog on it that was painted by this same woman when he was a wee lad.

Every so often, I find myself wandering into the room, sitting down on the chair, rocking a bit and daydreaming about the child that this room will belong to. I am anxiously anticipating the day that I get to meet him/her and I am so excited that we have a room that is ready for his/her arrival!

Becoming Monkey-Ville: Part One

I didn't originally intend on sharing the nursery reveal in two separate posts, but once I got started I realized there is just too much for one. So today I will share all the work that we the Fabulous Dude did to get the room prepared for baby and then you can come back tomorrow to see the Big Reveal!

I just realized that I do not have any great "before" photos. The photos all seem to start at the "during" stage.

The room that we are using for the Little Monkey's nursery used to be our spare room/office/ scrap booking room/place where we stash everything that doesn't have a home room. As you can well imagine, finding new places for all of these things proved to be quite a challenge. Thankfully, with my completely grad school a few months ago, we were able to significantly minimize the amount of "office" space we need.

Here is a little peek at what the room looked like before (the last three are more "during" photos as I took them once I had already started pulling stuff out to condense and get rid of):

Once I emptied the room of all of my office supplies and other junk, I moved on to the scrapbooking cabinet. You may remember that this was a job I was not pumped about. But I got it done!

After that was done, the next step was tearing out the old carpet. The Dude took care of this job one weekend early in July while I took care of finding a home for the last few items that were hanging around the room.

We were lucky to be able to keep the paint colour in the room the same because it matches perfectly with the decor I chose. There were a few nicks and holes that needed to be repaired, and the Dude decided to repaint one of the walls because it wasn't in great shape. I even helped with some of these tasks.

My parent's own a flooring business, so we are lucky to have the hook ups for flooring products and expertise. My Mom and Dad headed down to our place for dinner one night after my first shower to bring all of the baby's goodies and so that my Dad could lend the Dude a hand and help him learn how to lay carpet.

After the carpet was done, we were ready to start bringing in and arranging the furniture. Speaking of furniture, I just realized I have never posted about what we did about furniture. We were blessed to be given a crib by a lady at our church, and the Dude transformed two other pieces of furniture that we scored for free; one to be a change table and one as an armoire. Although I'm not showing you the finished product today, I will show you what he used to make the change table out of and the way the armoire looked before so you know where it came from when I post the final product tomorrow.

This became the change table:

And this is the armoire:

We had all three pieces painted white by my Dad's painters and they look like they are brand new!

The Dude set up the crib and brought everything in and we discovered that there was just too much for the tiny room.

With the scrapbook cabinet, armoire, change table, crib, and black leather chair the room was just too crowded. Thankfully we were able to solve this by moving the scrapbooking cabinet out to the laundry room (I found a new home for my completed scrapbooks on the shelf above my closet in my bedroom so that the humidity and moisture in the laundry room doesn't ruin them). Now, it's housing our board games and a bunch of baby stuff that we won't need until a few months down the line.

Sadly, we realized that there was just no way we could arrange the room in a way that didn't look completely jam packed and keep my black leather chair in there. It's part of our living room set, but we've never really been able to use it because the way our living room is laid out, there is no room in there for it either. We debated what to do about the issue, whether we should sell the chair or not. We both decided we didn't want to sell it because, likely, someday, we'll have a home where we can use it and we both love it. So, we decided to put it in storage for now and found a different, much smaller, chair and ottoman for $40 on kijiji to put in the baby's room (which you'll get to see tomorrow).

Even after we got the black chair and scrapbook cabinet out and the new chair in, it took me quite a while to find the perfect arrangement for the furniture to maximize our space and have the room look the nicest possible. Thankfully, my SIL Logi has the magic touch and found the perfect arrangement. She even helped me move everything around while the boy's were out getting ice cream! And when they arrived home, they didn't even notice.

After everything was in its proper place, the real fun started and we got to work on putting away his/her things and Monkifying (that's a word, promise) the space.

Come on back tomorrow to see how it all turned out!