Look how much I've grown!

Is it bad to say it felt like 6 years because that is the honest truth.

So Nugget is 3 months old!  Can you believe it?1  I know I can't.  

How much does Nugget weigh: 15 lb

What size clothes is Nugget wearing?  He consistently in 3-6 months, a lot of 6 months and some 6-9 months.

How much does mommy weigh?!  I am down to 130, not quite where I would like to be, but oh well.

What has Nugget learned this month?  Nugget plays with toys now.  I have taught him to smile when I ask him who the cutest baby in the world is...because it is obviously him.  He is also much better at tummy time and will start to roll over soon.

What adventures did Nugget go on this month?  Nugget got to meet his grandparents in Jordan and that is where he spent the first half of the month.  When he got home he got to meet a bunch of my cousin's.   This month was also when Dufda assumed the role as primary caregiver and I went back to work. 

Nugget's Favorite Things?  Wubbanubs, his hands, taggies blanket, getting a bath, and his OBall.

Man Cave Giveaway

Man Cave Dreams Event

Organized by: Mom to Bed by 8

Prizes Include: 46" RCA LCD-HDTV, 54" Foosball Table & Kegorator

Event dates: 6/14 – 7/5

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I don't want my baby to sleep through the night...

Almost immediately after having a baby, strangers and family alike want to know how your baby is sleeping?  I don't know the purpose of this question.  Are you trying to compare me to yourself, make me feel bad if my baby doesn't sleep up to your standards, or do you have nothing better to say?  Even as a first time mom, it was shocking to me how many other first time moms have it so imbedded in their heads that their babies must sleep through the night.  Everyone always asks, "My baby is 6 weeks old and won't sleep unless they are held, what do I do?"  Do you know what you do?  You hold your baby.  You can't get that moment back.  I feel like our parents make us think we can't hold our babies because they were raised to almost feel bad for holding us to much. 

Nugget sleeping his first week home

I write this because my baby didn't sleep.  Well, he slept when I held him or when I wore him, but then I couldn't sleep and everyone's piece of advice is sleep when your baby sleeps....this is a load of crap...most of the time.  For us, the first 6 weeks were a big crap shoot of when Nugs would actually sleep.  Most of the time he was in his car seat or wrapped in the Moby.  Then at 6 weeks something happened.  I was reading him a story while he played in his crib and he fell asleep.  Now I am not one to wake a sleeping baby, but I didn't know if I was ready for Nugget to sleep in his room.  Up until this day we either co-slept or bed shared and I imagine and wanted to do this for a pretty long time.  Nothing really beats snuggling with your baby.  That first night I barely slept, but Nugget slept really well.  From there we created our little bedtime routine.  Every other night Nugget would get a bath, then we would swaddle him and read him stories till he fell asleep.  We put him down at 8 o'clock every night and he was consistently waking up at 4 am to eat.

This week I returned to work.  I hate that I come home and I get very little time to play with my baby, but he knows his bedtime so I am still sticking with it.  Last night he went to bed just like usual.  I woke up at 4:30am and Nugget still hadn't woken up.  You would think that as a new mother who works full time and could seriously use that sleep would be so excited about her baby still being a sleep.  Wrong.  I was sad.  Everyone tells you that it won't last forever so enjoy it now.  Even with a 3 month old I know this to be true.  Be it, the late night feedings that are shared just between you and your baby, or getting peed or pooped on while your baby laughs because he thinks it is really funny, or anything else you may have deemed annoying before you had your baby, you can't get it back so enjoy it while it lasts.

How Nugs wakes up : )

Babywearing Grandpap

Before I had my little nugget I was very intrigued by this whole babywearing phenomenon, which isn't really a phenomenon anyway and has actually been around for ages.  Having a child has made me far more crunchy than I ever was.  I envisioned my little cloth diapered child, held up in a sling breastfeeding while I stroll around a farmer's market in a floor length flowy skirt.  I mean this really is how it turned out.  What I didn't realize is that babywearing can really help my dad be able to bond with Nugget.  I also didn't realize that everyone would think that my dad babywearing would be so cool...man was I wrong.

My dad broke his neck when I was 7 or 8.   It was a traumatic time for my family and I can remember being a little girl thinking about what I would miss out on because my dad was in a wheelchair.  The real answer, although he would tend to disagree, is nothing.  I feel like I was very fortunate growing up.  I got everything I wanted and more.  We went on vacation every year, sometimes twice.  My dad never stopped moving and I think this is why we were so lucky to have grown up the way we did.  There were some things that I did worry about.  Will I dance with my dad at my wedding?  Will he be be able to hold my children and play with them?  Well here is the answer to first question:

The answer to the second question led my Nugget and his grandpap to go viral on Facebook.  I knew I loved babywearing because I had two hands available.  I figured this would translate into a successful arrangement for my dad as well.  I have a whole slew of carriers, but didn't know which one would be best.  We tried the K'Tan first since it is easy to use.  I had an extra small, which I knew would be too tight but figured I would still give it a try.  This is what we got:

Since I posted this picture, the interest in babywearing in a wheelchair has been crazy.  I was just looking for some suggestions as to what other options we could try.  What I got was people being genuinely excited to see babywearing for its actual purpose.  Baby K'tan so kindly sent a more proper fitting carrier so hopefully my dad will be able to push around with Nugget.  Do you have an awesome babywearing story?  I would love for you to link in the comments to your babywearing stories!

Pregnancy is...

Now that I have had a couple month to bask in the glories of new motherhood, I would like to tell you what I think about the whole pregnancy experience   The entire 9 months I made sure I showered and did my make up before I took my weekly pictures.   This is not real.  No one does this when they are pregnant, so let's get real and talk about all the things no one ever tells you and all the awful judgements you are now subjected to.

So you find out you are pregnant. Yay! This is such an exciting time!  Well if you left it up to the entire population of the world, they would like nothing but to trample on your parade.  Don't let them.  I think being pregnant gives you the right to do what ever the hell you want.  You are making a frickin' human for Christ's sake.  Newly pregnant women have this battle that they must face.  If you were like me, you wanted people to know you were pregnant...you know because I have the super power of making humans and I think it is really cool.  The problem is, you don't look pregnant.  You will have to go buy maternity clothes and everyone will look at you like you are crazy.  You will try to plan for this baby and buy what it needs and everyone will tell you you have so much time.  I take this as making a new life is not nearly as important to the population as say.... wedding planning, since people take a whole damn year and still struggle to put together a wedding.

Once everyone finds out your pregnant you are faced with this odd question that most ask:  "Was it planned?"  What the hell does it matter if it was planned?  Do I need to tell you if it wasn't?  Does it make it any less awesome that I am making a human being right freakin' now?  No, it doesn't, so shut your trap!

Next up for discussion...your whoha...yep whoha.  Grey's Anatomy says va jay jay...I say Va-Giant,that's right chickas forget your Victoria's Secret Pink Yoga Hipster 6 for $25 underwear.  Let me introduce to a new secret...Hane's Her Way Granny Style.  Get to love them because after you give birth you and your va-giant will be wearing the biggest maxi pad/diaper your have ever seen.  Never in my life did I think at 27 I would be standing in Target with Dufda trying to pick out the right adult diaper for my needs...never....kids change things is all I'm saying.

Now that you have kissed goodbye to your whoha, let's talk about something else you will kiss goodbye to very soon...SLEEP.  There is nothing more irritating than when people tell pregnant women they should sleep because they never will again.  You can't store sleep nor is sleep very comfortable when you have a human the size of watermelon resting on your bladder.  You will try everything to sleep comfortably.  Your hubs...he will soon realize that your bed that your once shared and snuggled in, is now occupied by two people:  His crazy hormonal pregnant wife and his new arch nemisis...Snoogle.  You gave up your whole body to make this human for him, he is now going to give up his bed and get real acquainted on the couch while you have an affair with this magical "S" shaped pillow.  

Poor Dufda, I am almost positive he didn't know the half of what he was getting himself into when he got me pregnant.  Yes! This is all his fault I had to go through this : ).  Us, crazy pregnant women and later on crazy new moms expect our husbands to know all this random stuff that the world throws at you while we are pregnant.   You made me a turkey sandwhich?  Do you want your baby to die from listeria?  You want me to paint the baby's room?  Did the baby sign up to inhale toxins today?  What's that you say?  You won't give me a back/ foot/ whole body massage because I should just go in the hot tub.  Sure, 104 degrees sounds just about right for a fetus.  Your telling me that you did not know that this week the baby could see light/ developed eyes/ found his fingers/ some other obscure piece of knowledge you acquired from What to Expect When Your Expecting Volume 452, Iphone edition.   Your husband doesn't know this crap and frankly he doesn't and wont care.  Remember that you are growing this baby every second of everyday...he isn't and won't have the same attachment just yet.   It doesn't get any better when the baby comes.  Mother's are just made to care about things like rear-facing car seat requirements and when to feed baby solids.  I have recently found out that Dufda was researching proper handling of thawed breast milk, though.

Then you get to be about 5-6 months pregnant.  This is where shit starts to get real.  You are going to bring a baby into this world very shortly, or as I thought of it as bringing a stranger home who has to live with us from 18 years...really, you don't even know this person.  Once again the whole world will try to degrade the magnitude of this situation.  Three more months of pregnancy will turn into a lifetime for everyone else.  You will be too big or too small depending on who you talk to.  You are never just right or beautiful.  P.S  This is what you should say to every pregnant women.  You look beautiful!  That is it, end conversation.  This is about the time you can pull out the tape recorder, press record and repeat after me.  Yes, I am pregnant.  I am (insert weeks, then convert to months for the ignorant questioner), We are having a (insert gender), I am feeling very pregnant, thanks for asking.  Yes, we picked out a name (You will then need to spell it and justify it right now, because random person here thinks they now have a say in the naming of your children.), Then finish by asking the most stupid question ever.  Yes, of course I am excited.  You will be asked this every time you see people, so get use to it.

As if being pregnant isn't annoying enough, the most bothersome is how small your bladder has now become.  Let's jump to a lovely day I was having at work.  I decided I would wear demi-panel maternity pants when I was like 6 months pregnant.  As soon as you get a belly, demi panels should be retired because they are wildly uncomfortable.  Well I sat down at work and what do you know...I peed myself.  Awesome, right?  So I walk my pregnant ass down to the only store near my work...Rue 21.  No one should shop at Rue 21, specially not a 27 year old pregnant lady.  Well I had to purchase this stylin' pair of sweat pants with a raised velour heart on the leg (I guess it is better than being on my butt).  They were purple and I had to wear them the rest of the day at work.  Moral of the story:  You will pee yourself at some point, always have spare pants in your car.  Flash forward to the birth of my son...I wore those bad boys home from the birth center.

So after reading this you are probably thinking I never want to be pregnant again..totally wrong.  Being pregnant sucks, but you get this really awesome prize at the end...

We survived the first month! Part 1: Breastfeeding

Jad was born a month ago and I can't believe how time has flown by.  I am totally the crazy mom looking at her 9 pound baby thinking, "How did he get so big?"  So, How was the first month?  I'll break it down by topic of the wonderful things that you get to deal with experience.  Up first, the wonderful world of breastfeeding.

 I feel like this is the one thing that no one really tells you how hard it is.  You birth this baby and they latch on to you right after.  They feed for a couple of minutes and fall asleep.  You then think that every feeding is going to be like this.  Now, I went to the breastfeeding class that I was suppose to.  They really didn't  teach you everything that I am going to talk about here.  So we bring home Jad and as you probably know, you don't have milk right away.  It is just colostrum.  Well my baby was hungry.  Those first two nights he didn't stop eating from midnight till about 5 or 6 am.  My poor nipples.  Then my milk finally came in and Jad sure did pass out from being drunk off that liquid gold.  This is where the breastfeeding journey begins. I constantly have a baby attached to my boob.  You also feel helpless as soon as you sit down.  You realize you need all these things and you can't get up to retrieve them.  When Jad was about 1 weeks old, I had just heated up some chicken soup and it was literally sitting right in front of me on a TV table.  It felt like it was in China!  Dufda has retrieve remotes that are mere feet from me and it constantly bringing me drinks and food. My baby also has this lovely alarm that sounds when I am heating up any food or about to sit down to eat.  He becomes Ethiopian hungry and must eat at that moment.

If this baby is eating a lot, what does that do to your nips?  Well you will acquire every breastfeeding product known to man to try to make it more comfortable.  We have soothies, 3-in-1 hot/cold packs, nursing pads and nipple butter.  All of which I had no idea I even needed.  At first it felt like I was breastfeeding a piranha  but luckily it has since gotten better.  Then we get into all these magic herbs and blends so you can make more milk.  I will have to return to work one day and for that I need some kind of stash to feed this little nugget while I am gone.  I thought, "Oh hey I will just pump some milk into bottles and baby would be good to go."  Wrong!  I would try to pump after Jad was done eating and it barely would fill the bottom of the bottle.  Should I even save this little bit?  It took so much work to get it.  Since this just won't cut it, I have started to take...are you ready?...Fenugreek 3 times a day, Blessed Thistle, and drink Mother Milk tea like it  is going out of style.  If you asked me a month ago what any of these did or was I would think you were talking about some holy Christmas decoration and not some magic herb to make milk.  I still can barely pump enough to cover half of one feeding, but maybe I will get there by the time I have to go back.  This makes it so your baby is now your 5th appendage...i personally love this, but at times it is overwhelming to not be able to leave.

Another thing that I did not think about...what you have to wear to breastfeed.  I am still in my maternity clothes (no one told me this either).  So not only can I only wear my maternity clothes, I have to make sure they are nursing friendly.  I have had to give up all my pretty Victoria Secret bras for nursing bras.  I walk around the house now in just nursing bra and pants...sometimes.  Everything that you do wear, will be covered in breast milk.  You will smell it everywhere.  There will be a time when you snuggle up to you husband after forgetting what it feels like to cuddle to realize that, he too, smells like breast milk.

Your boobs will leak, and they will leak a lot.  I had been awesome about putting in nursing pads until I was in a hurry getting ready for my friends wedding.  I put on my first non-nursing bra in who knows how long.  I went through the ceremony and the start of the reception when I started to notice something wet.  Yep, I was leaking breast milk through my dress.  What a nightmare, but really what could I do.  I know I will never forget my nursing pads again though.  You also have to give up being naked or accept leaking breast milk all over your house.  A question asked frequently in our house, "Did he pee, or did you leak on him?"  Most of the time it is yes, that is breast milk.  

I have compiled all of my favorite products into one store.  Go check it out and make sure that you have all of these things on hand before the baby! 

Babylegs Review and Giveaway

As a brand new mom to my little nugget a.k.a Jad ( pictured above), I want to try to simplify my life in as many ways as I can.  One of those new tasks that I needed to master was late night diaper changes.  Jad hates to be naked.  When we change his diaper, you would think we were extracting all of his teeth.  So there are a couple of ways to get around this.  I put my babe in a sleep sack...functional, yes...cute...not so much.  I put him in a onesie and some pants.  This is ideal, if it wasn't so hard to then wrangle Jad back into those pants when we were done changing his diaper.  I can also leave him in just a onesie.  We live in Pennsylvania; it is cold.  This doesn't work.  That is where Babylegs come in handy.  They give you the warmth of pants, with the convenience of having just a onesie on.  They are also super cute.  You can throw a pair of Babylegs on with a cute cloth diaper and plain tee and you your baby is stylin' for a day of play.  This is the look Jad is rockin' today and if I do say so myself, he looks pretty cute.

Babylegs come in two different sizes.  Jad is sporting the newborn Go Fish legging, since he is at the ripe ole age of 2 weeks.  There are also the 0-12 months.  That would be the black pair you see pictured above.  Jad is about 7.5lbs right now and will be able to wear the newborn for awhile.  Look at those feetsies!

Jad is obviously not very mobile yet, but Babylegs are also great at protecting little ones knees when they start to crawl.  They are super soft and comfy, as well.  Another great use for Babylegs; keep them in your diaper bag when baby has an accident and you will have a quick alternative to pants.  

You can head over to Babylegs website to pick up some of your own, or just enter to win a great prize pack valued at $50 below.  Don't forget to "Like" their Facebook page to stay up to date on sales and all things Babylegs!


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