the youngest at heart

Guest Party Blogpost: Karaoke Night

2012-02-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

My friend Angel turned 30 this month and to celebrate, she threw her own birthday party. Yes, that's right, she threw her own party. This may sound sad to you, but I thought it was BRILLIANT. I haven't had a real birthday party since I was six years old and although I talk about it, I've never actually thought of throwing my own party--exactly the way I would want it! I may have to follow Angel's lead on this one.

Her party theme was Karaoke Night and it was fabulous and tons of fun, so I asked her permission to share it with you. Onto the party details...

The party took place in the Al-Wahaa Women's Center down the street from the main school building. It's quite difficult to find party decor supplies here, so much of what you'll see was brought back from the States by Angel and her husband during their Christmas visit. The pink, yellow, and black colors she chose for this event were perfect for a fun adult party! First up is her simple, classy invite:

Using fabric, a sweet handmade banner, and the church sound equipment, she (along with the help of her hubs and a few others) staged a colorfully enticing singing spot that was begging for ~~victims~~ talented artists. These pictures just don't do it justice. The colors worked together fantastically. Hanging from the ceiling were simple streamers (brought from the States), but they added so much to the area. I wish I had a shot of the whole room to share with you:

The delicious food was an eclectic collection of dishes brought by various volunteers from our school. The food table, as well as the other tables, was topped with cute centerpieces made with tissue paper:

This goes without saying, but this party theme was loads of fun! Angel and her husband, Nick, started off the singing with the first song (splendid air guitar included) and then handed off the second song halfway through. It really got things rolling in a smooth, non-awkward way. By the end of the night, the majority of those in attendance (including myself, who was decidedly going to say seated for the night) got up to belt it out at least once.

Bohemian Rahpsody

Guests were asked to "dress up" and a few actually did. (I wasn't planning on it until I tried to style my unwashed hair before the party and decided it would look much better teased to 80's rockstar perfection.) Awards (and giftcards for a local coffee shop) were given at the end of the night for costumes and performances.

Turns out "teased to 80's rockstar perfection" actually means "hot mess."
Khalid is rocking a Rolling Stones shirt and Nyla is sporting her Beatles onesie.
Austin is.... handsome :)

Probably my favorite part of the party (besides the hours and hours of karaoke hilarity) were these adorable handmade truffle favors! Angel is quite gifted in the creative art department and created each tag herself. The truffles were DIVINE. Seriously. I must make these... and soon. We ended up with three bags that night and all were gone the next day.

Thanks, Angel, for planning your own, successful karaoke birthday party. Fun was had by all! Can you be 30 again next year?

Have you hosted an awesome party lately? I'd love to blog about it!

Repurposed Shelving

2012-02-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

I am beyond thankful that we were able to purchase some new-to-us bookshelves for our living room because these two will be ready for the dumpster before the year is out. They are hanging on by a thread... or a nail.

I've been racking my brain these last few days trying to decide where to put the overflowing plethora of toys we have accumulated. Khalid simply does not need a million and one toys out at once. Overstimulation anyone? We've created a one-toy-in, one-toy-out rule to fight this problem. I've also been putting together some Montessori-ish materials for him lately. All of these things found a perfect home this week when our decrepit shelves were...shelved.

So here they are, in all their glory, living out their retirement in the guest bedroom/craft room/throw-all-the-junk-in room, housing our (very well-organized, might I add) abundance of toys and all-things-learning.

Some things on the shelves:

Three different ring stackers (because you can always use an extra one of those)
Shape sorter
Wooden train (because there are two other ones floating around)
Basket full of animal toys
Basket full of big legos
Bucket full of random blocks
Old computer keyboard (because every toddler needs one)
Box with interesting things that I want to use for Montessori materials
Basket full of random containers that I'm sure we'll find a use for in all this
Puzzles (on top in the old, warped cereal box organizer I made for school)... p.s. writing the name of the puzzle on the end is perfect for organizing like this

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our home today...

Toddler Activity of the Day: Dropping Toothpicks

2012-02-01T01:59:00.000-08:00

I can't remember where I found this activity but I whipped it up, in all its awesomeness, in about 3 minutes.

Fine motor skillz

Step one: Rip off the top of an old spice container that has large holes in the top (empty the contents into another container first if you don't have any empty ones--like me).

Step two: Cut off the sharp ends of 10-12 toothpicks.

Step three: Give to toddler. Sha-ZAM!

Shaharain Nyla!

2012-01-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

Shaharain means "two months" in Arabic.... TWO MONTHS!? Wow, time has flown, right? Sorry, Nyla. I wasn't as much on the ball with your monthly updates as I was with Khalid. Perhaps it has something to do with a very short little person with lots of energy that lives with us too.... hmm. Let's get to it!

Weigh in: Baby girl was born at 9lbs 6oz, went down to 8lbs 10oz in her first week and is back up to 15 lbs. Yowza! I wonder if our scale is wrong?!

Breastfeeding: Nyla is a nursing champ! It took her about a day to master her latch, and once she did, there was no stopping her. I have no idea how often she nurses. We just nurse "on demand" and she's fat and happy. I imagine it's somewhere between eight and twelve times a day. Yes, Khalid is still nursing and we've experienced a nursing surge with him (as expected). He was jealous of Nyla's nursing for a couple of weeks, but when he realized there was enough for both of them, everything was all good. Sometimes they nurse simultaneously, but Khalid is usually satisfied with her leftovers a few times a day.

Diapering: This big babe wore orange edge GMD (smallest size) prefolds for about two weeks before moving up to the yellow edge infant-sized prefolds. In addition, she wore size 0 kissaluvs for awhile too. They were covered with Thirsties Duo wraps size 1. When she hit about 11 lbs (shortly after one month), we moved to her bumGenius one-size diapers (the same diaper Khalid wears). They fit her wonderfully and we only have to use one microfiber insert (trim!). So far, no poopy blow outs and only a few leaky diapers when mama or baba forgot to change her (oops!). We've also noticed that she has the same tendency as her brother to NOT pee when he diaper is off....weird... but lucky us!

Sleeping: When we left the States, Nyla was on a pretty good sleep schedule of her own (we're really not into sleep training but prefer to let her develop her own sleep routine). She took frequent naps throughout the day, and fell asleep hard sometime around 9ish for the night, waking only once or twice before morning. Of course, jetlag threw us all off schedule!

Babywearing: Our sweet girl LOVES to be worn and carried--naturally--and we gladly oblige, rarely putting her down. Babies weren't designed for cribs and carseats, but were made to be held which is why we don't push the issue, even if it inconveniences us. So no, we're not haphazardly spoiling her ;-) Nyla loves the moby which both Austin and I have carried her in. Austin also bought a Baby Bjorn that he found at a consignment sale for $15 (score!) and she enjoys that as well. I have a growing affection for my Maya Wrap, a ring sling that got no attention with Khalid. A friend from La Leche League schooled me on carrying baby upright in the sling. This doesn't really works for long periods of time but is EXCELLENT for quick trips or when she's especially fussy around the house and I need to put her in something quickly.

New Stuff: Well, everything's new at this point, but here are some highlights...

Smiles! In the last few weeks, our sweet girl has started smiling (on purpose!). She really lights up a room and makes her parents act like complete idiots, begging for more cuteness. We swear her little "coo's" are actually words.

Pacifier: After she turned six weeks old, Khalid gave Nyla her first pacifier. She was too fond of it at first but it's grown on her some. Unlike her brother, there are often times she simply does. not. want it. and pushes it out with her tongue before getting really ill at us for giving it to her in the first place. (Our bad.)

Head muscles: Baby girl's neck muscles are growing increasingly stronger. She's holding her head up for a few seconds at a time now and loves to watch her brother act a fool.

Alertness: We can't believe how alert this girl is! She has multiple long stretches of the day when she is wide-eyed and reacting to what's around her. Khalid can't wait to play with her, of course :)

Christmas: Nyla celebrated her first Christmas this year! How wonderful to be surrounded by all her cousins in the States.

All the cousins

Christmas Morning

With Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, and Maddie

Nyla with her Great Aunt Carol

Nickname: No idea where I came up with it, but we've started calling her Nyla-belle quite often. It has a cute ring to it :)

Happy Birthday, Nyla.

2011-11-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

November 5th, 5:00am:
Early contractions started but nothing too serious. We decided to go about our day as usual. I started the day with a great prenatal yoga class at the birth center. Later in the afternoon, I had my hair cut, we ran a few errands, and we met some friends for a late lunch. Later in the day, I started "losing my plug."

6:30pm:
After we got back to Austin's parents' house after lunch, the contractions started getting a bit stronger. We decided it would be best if I could get some sleep, especially if these were real labor contractions and not pre-labor contractions, so I took a relaxing bath and hopped in bed.

November 6th, 6:00am:
The contractions continued through the night and I lost more of my mucous plug. The more intense contractions woke me up about every hour but thankfully, I was able to sleep through the more mild ones.

9:00 am:
We decided it was time to call our midwife. My contractions were becoming more regular even though labor didn't seem too serious yet. I expressed this to her, and we decided it just wasn't time to head to the birth center yet. She was pretty certain these were real labor contractions since I lost my mucous plug and had my "show" yesterday, but I wanted to labor at home for awhile. She told me to go ahead and tell Mom to head this way.

1:00pm:
The contractions were becoming more regular although they would speed up to about 2-3 minutes apart if I was up walking and would slow down to 5-6 minutes apart if I was sitting down. Austin, Khalid, and I went for a pleasant walk around the neighborhood. I called Damaris when we got back and told her things were picking up, but that we weren't quite ready to head in yet.

3:00pm:
The contractions started getting serious and consistent. I called Damaris and told her we were ready to come in. We did some last minute packing and headed over there with Khalid. We noticed Khalid was getting a little worried about the contractions. When one would hit, he would put on a particularly sad face and say, "no, no, no." Still, we really wanted him to be around for the birth so we continued talking with him and trying to make him feel more comfortable with it, hoping he would come around. Austin's parents headed to the birth center a few minutes later. We called our photographer, Christina, and Susan, our babysitter for Khalid, and asked them to meet us there as well.

4:00pm:

We arrived at the birth center and were greeted by our midwife, Damaris, and our student midwife, Lorie. They checked her heartbeat with the doppler and everything sounded great. Upon arrival, baby girl started getting more serious. Apparently going to the birth center was a little kick in the booty for her :) Khalid really wasn't getting used to Mama laboring so, after hanging out at the birth center for awhile, we decided it would be better for Susan to take him home.

4:30pm:
Damaris wanted to check me and see how dilated I had gotten so she could know when to call in the second midwife. I expressed my hesitation with her because with Khalid's birth, I had really gotten emotionally hung up on my lack of progression. Damaris left the decision to us but encouraged me that she could tell I was further along than I had thought. I agreed to the check and was pleasantly surprised that I was 5 cm and, she was actually able to stretch me out a little bit further to 6 cm!

5:00pm:
Mom and Ray arrived at the birth center.

6:30pm:
It was time to move to the birthing pool, and it was the most relaxed I had felt in many many hours.

8:00pm:

By this time, my mom, Austin's mom, Damaris, Lorie, Christina, and Austin (of course) were all in the birthing room with me. Austin's dad and my stepdad were waiting outside in the next room. Everything was calm. The sun had set. Adele sang us some tunes. Labor was serious. I grew louder and louder as I worked through contractions. Some were taken in the birthing pool, some on the toilet, some lying on my side, some on all fours, some squatting, some leaning/hanging on Austin, and some while walking. I love to be mobile when I'm in labor and find it particularly difficult to labor in one position. Damaris made position suggestions and occasionally checked baby girl's heartbeat with the doppler (in whatever position I happened to be in). Other than that, she and Lorie remained on the sidelines.

We were ready for a second check to see if it was a good time to call the second midwife. 9 cm! Holy moly! I never made it to 9 cm with Khalid so this was a HUGE accomplishment for me. I felt a surge of energy and motivation. Damaris suggested breaking my water at this point because baby girl was still so high. After discussing it with her a bit, we decided it was a good idea. Sometimes, having a good pregnancy diet can make your water bag really strong and difficult to break on its own. We're guessing this was the case for both Khalid and Nyla.

8:30pm:
Damaris broke my water without any pain at all (although the contraction that she broke it during was still quite painful). I got back in the birth pool and she checked me again. After the birth, she told me that I actually slid back to about 8 cm at this point. In her wisdom, she decided this wouldn't be the best news for me to hear, especially knowing the situation with my first birth. I was quite thankful that she made this decision.

For the next few hours, labor was particularly intense. Damaris asked everyone except for Austin to step out of the room to see if it helped me progress any. I stalled out at around 9 cm. I felt the urge to push a few times and Damaris encouraged it, but then decided, after checking me, that it was too early. I don't handle regression well. There were moments where I completely spaced out. There were moments when I thought my body would burst and my muscles would explode. There were moments that were so intense, that I yelled out in a completely primitive fashion. At this point, my body was going into survival mode. Logic was no longer on the table. I don't know how else to describe it. I felt completely out of touch with reality and reverted back to everything innate within my body. It was truly humbling. What made this part of labor so difficult was how badly I wanted to push her out even though my body wasn't ready. Damaris was encouraging me to blow through the contractions rather than bare down. I can usually handle anything as long as I'm progressing, but I don't do "stalled" very well at all. At times, between my moments of self-doubt, I verbally coached myself aloud and under my breath. "Come on, Kayti. You can do this. I can do THIS!"

Thankfully, I had an amazing husband and labor coach along with two incredibly encouraging midwives to guide me and give me direction. Full disclosure, if someone had offered me drugs... I would have taken them, so I'm incredibly thankful to have not been at a hospital where this option would not only have been available but probably offered and encouraged multiple times. Again, my body was in the mode to survive and, I really wasn't thinking clearly at all. I needed medication not to be an option.

10:45? (Can you blame me for not keeping up with the time?)
Finally, Damaris decided she would try and hold back my cervix to 10 cm while I pushed. Unfortunately, we couldn't do this in the birth pool so I had to get up on the bed... on my back... not my favorite position. But, I was so glad to be moving on to something different. I started pushing with Austin, Damaris, and Lorie around me. At some point, they called my mom, Austin's mom, and Christina back in the room. I was wondering if this was for real, or if I would have to revert back to laboring rather than pushing once again. Trying not to get my hopes up, I pushed with every contraction and resisted the urge to push when I wasn't having a contraction. Eventually, Damaris and Lorie exclaimed that they could see her head. "WHAT?!" I thought. I really wasn't prepared for that at all. I guess I had talked myself out of this pushing thing being a reality. It gave me a surge of energy. "I CAN do this!" I told myself.

11:11pm:
After the top of her head was out, I was able to reach down and feel her. I'm not going to lie, I couldn't really tell what I was touching. There were a lot of things going on down there, but the thought of touching my sweet girl was exhilarating. I moved to a standing squat position on the bed, resting my hands on Damaris' shoulders as I continued to push her head out. When her head was completely out, I reached down to touch her, offering soft words from a loving mother in between contractions. "Hey, baby girl, I love you. Come on, sweet girl." Then, Damaris went behind me to help guide her out and I got down on all fours.

11:14pm:
A few more pushes and.... RELIEF... she slipped out quickly into welcoming arms. My immediate instinct was to open my tank top and put her on my chest as I had always imagined, but since she came out behind me, it was quite important that I be careful with her cord so as not to break it. I suddenly realized, she wasn't crying. The three midwives (another had come in to help once I started pushing), were trying to get her to breathe. Damaris gave her a few breaths mouth-to-mouth and then asked everyone to start talking to her. We all began greeting her sweetly and coaxing her to breathe. "Hey, sweet girl. Come on, you can do it." They brought out the oxygen tank. I prayed. They helped me turn over so they could lay her on my bare chest. I kept sweetly speaking to her as she began to cough up what was clogging her airway. The midwives continued clearing out her throat as I held her close, caressing her sweet hair and kissing her soft face. Austin and I continued loving on her as she finally let out her first little cry. The most amazing part was, as frantic as this situation could have gotten, everyone remained relatively calm. It was like we all knew she was fine. We all knew God was taking care of her.

On a lighter note...Moments later I delivered a whopper of a placenta to three very surprised midwives. "Whoa! That thing is huge!" Lorie exclaimed. At this point, we were all joking and laughing about everything. I mean, how could I not laugh about all the baby poop smothered all over me? Apparently I "won the award" for this one at the birth center too.

I can not express the immense joy and burst of energy I felt after giving birth. I realize a lot of it was hormones, but what an incredible design by God! I felt alive... invigorated... powerful... yet completely humble. "I can't believe I just did that," I kept saying. I sat up in bed and started feeding my littlest nursling who took a little while to get the hang of it. I was relieved when I finally felt her strong latch. Beautiful. Everything was just perfect. I birthed a 9 pound, 6 ounce baby, free of medication, with only one minor tear that didn't even require stitching. I am still in awe... not of myself... but of the One who created me to do this.

**Photographs by C. Taylor Photography

If you can't say something nice...

2011-11-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

You know how the saying goes. There are just some things that you should never say to a pregnant woman. Here's a roundup of inappropriate comments that I've gotten while pregnant:

1. You should really watch how much you're snacking: This comment came when I was making myself a (natural) peanut butter and jelly sandwich on 7 grain bread. The only other snacks I had that day were carrot chips and grapes. So... are you kidding me??

2. What have you been eating?!: BABIES!!! MWAHAHA!

3. One too many ________, eh? (fill in the blank with any food product): This one is usually in jest also, but seriously, do I look like I've been eating to much, or do I look like I'm... oh I don't know... growing a HUMAN!

4. When are you going to pop that baby out?: No one is allowed to refer to my nether regions in this way. Period.

5. Wow, you've gotten really big: Oh really? I haven't noticed. I guess that just snuck up on me.

6. You must have been eating a lot these last few weeks to have gained that much weight.: That's what growing babies do. Didn't they tell you that when you were pregnant?

7. I can see the weight you've gained in your face: Um, thanks? Now I know my face is fat. That's cool.

8. Are you sure you're not having twins?: I got this one a lot early on in pregnancy with Khalid.

In all seriousness, it's difficult for me to look in the mirror and see that much weight gain (even if I know it's justified) and it's only exacerbated by pregnancy hormones. Actually, there should just be a rule that no one (especially a person who has never been pregnant) should be allowed to comment on a pregnant woman's weight...with these few exceptions:

Caring husband: Not just any husband. I mean one who is significantly involved in the pregnancy. I mean a husband who is actually preparing meals for his wife and unborn child instead of criticizing everything his tired wife eats.
Trusted healthcare professional: This is only the case if the mother is eating too many non-nutritional foods and she needs some guidance from her provider.

So, if you're not in one of those two categories, then seriously... back up off. :)

What were you're most "memorable" comments during pregnancy?

When is that baby coming out, anyway?!

2011-11-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, not my favorite words to hear right now. To be quite frank, only God knows when this "baby is coming out." It is a huge misunderstanding in our culture that we can predict when a baby with be birthed. There are a few things that sometimes happen prior to labor, but not always, such as:

Dilation: Dilation doesn't offer an accurate predication of labor. Someone women start active labor at 3 cm while others do not. I do not plan to get "checked" during this pregnancy or during labor unless something goes wrong. It just isn't an accurate prediction of labor or birth and, for me, it can stir up unnecessary emotions.
Mucus plug: A lost mucus plug could mean labor in a few hours... or a many many days later.
Contractions: It's possible to start getting contractions early in the second trimester so obviously this doesn't mean imminent labor either. I have contractions occasionally, but this has no bearing on how soon I'll be in labor.
Water breaking: Just because your water hasn't broken, doesn't mean you're not going into labor. Some water bags don't break until you're pushing. Although, if your water does break (not just a leak), labor should begin in the next few hours or days... or induction should be on the table if it doesn't.
Dropping: Some babies drop weeks before labor begins and others don't drop until you're about to push (like Khalid), so no dice there either.
Due date: This is probably the most inaccurate (and outdated) prediction. There's so much unnecessary pressure surrounding this "magical day." Normal gestation is actually 38-42 weeks and even then, most women don't know exactly when they've conceived so it's difficult to have a very accurate estimate anyway. If I get to 42 weeks, I'll be examined by a doctor and if everyone is healthy, we'll keep waiting...

Sometimes, we try to have so much control over birth. We like to know when, where, and how it's going to happen. If you don't know me very well, let me disclose that I'm kind of a control freak in almost every aspect of my life. I would very much like to know exactly when and where I'll be when I go into labor. Watch out, now. I'm about to get spiritual on you...

Thankfully, God has orchestrated it so that it is nearly impossible for me to know when and where I will go into labor and I, therefore, must put my complete trust in him. He created the female body and its ability to give birth. He created HER. She is his handiwork, not my own, so who better to trust than her creator?

So... to those who are curious about all the "signs," to be honest, I'm really trying not to pay attention to them and just patiently wait for the perfect timing of the One who knows best.

...All of that said, it would be really really really cool if she came on 11/11/11!

Baby Girl Update

2011-10-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

We met with our midwife, Damaris, again today (love her, by the way) at the birth center. Everything seems to be progressing normally with our baby girl. My belly is measuring around 37 weeks (although I'm just barely 35 weeks along) but this is probably because she hasn't dropped yet. Her head is nestled down and she's in a great position though!

Much to my horror, today I realized that I've gained a whopping 40 lbs. so far! Eek. This is in spite of the fact that Damaris' guess is that baby girl weighs somewhere around 5 lbs right now. .... I... am ashamed. Oh well. Let's all hope my "birth and nursing diet" works just as well the second time around.

Only two more weeks until we're full term... !

Do it like they do on the discovery channel

2011-10-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so... I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose some people here due to a serious "gross factor," but hang with me.

I'm considering ingesting my placenta after birth. *gasp* I know. I told you. Gross.

We're meeting with a placenta specialist to learn more about this whole process and its benefits which, of course, I'm going to share with you. For now, I'll tell you some short things we've learned about it so far:

We're one of the only mammals who does not routinely ingest our placenta after birth.
It can prevent and treat postpartum depression.
It gives mama more energy after giving birth and helps reduce fatigue.
It lessens the amount of blood loss after birth.
It assists breastfeeding by boosting milk supply.
It helps balance mama's hormones.
It's a natural way to nourish both mom and baby after birth.
It assists in overall postpartum recovery!
Placentas can be ingested in a variety of ways but the most common is encapsulation. So, just like any other vitamin, just a tablet to take during the few months after birth. Simple.

I'll keep you updated...

You can eat whatever you want when you're pregnant!

2011-09-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've heard this spoken often and it just isn't true. I would even say it's borderline negligent. Let me preface this post by saying this is not in regard to the first trimester (or longer in my case) when your stomach is purging everything that enters it, and the most delicious meal seems like dog food to you. No, I'm talking about later in pregnancy when you are stricken with the urge to eat everything in sight.

This growing urge to eat during pregnancy is actually part of the design. We need the extra calories because...well...we're growing a human! The problem is, our bodies weren't designed for processed junk food; they were designed for actual. real. food. So, yes, eat more, but no, don't eat frivolously. Whatever goes into your body is also going into your baby. This is something I always try to keep in mind, even when I have a strange craving for a Taco Bell bean burrito (gross--I know).

Sometimes though, eating healthily for two can seem overwhelming. These are some things I keep in mind when feeding my growing little girl:

Lots of protein! Shoot for around 80 grams of protein a day. This is probably most important for me since I'm not accustomed to eating a lot of protein.
Calcium! (Since I'm still nursing Khalid, I need the extra boost.)
Whole grains! Stay away from processed white bread and reach for the whole grains.
Green veggies! Broccoli, spinach, kale (not my fav), collards, etc.
Avoid high fructose corn syrup! (...it's in EVERYTHING... breads, almost all soda, ice creams, etc.)
Avoid trans fats (check the ingredients label for partially hydrogenated oils even if it says 0% trans fat, because small amounts don't have to be reported in that number)

There are a few other guidelines I like to follow, but these are the major ones.

As for other ways we're keeping this pregnancy healthy:

Vitamins: In addition to my natural prenatal vitamin, I'm also taking a calcium magnesium supplement and a gentle iron supplement. Solgar is my favorite natural vitamin brand for these two.
Stretching: Contrary to popular belief, it's really not great for a pregnant woman to lounge in a comfortable chair all day. Instead, tailor sitting on the floor is much more conducive to preparing your body for labor. I also try to sit in a squatting position multiple times a day as well as do some pelvic tilts (usually right before bed).
Natural remedies for symptoms: I have serious heartburn issues during pregnancy so I've been taking a papaya enzyme for it. They work wonders for me. I've also had some urinary tract issues which have been remedied by a cranberry tablet a few times a day.

So, in short, it's my belief that parenthood begins much before the baby is born (and even before conception). Of course, we're not perfect, but right now, we are caring for our daughter by making sure she has the safest home to grow in and the healthiest nutrients going into her fragile body. We're also doing everything in our power to get ready for her to enter the world as safely as possible.

Just a few more weeks, little girl! We can't wait to meet you!

Feeding Our Toddler in the Land of Fast Food

2011-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that we've spent some time in the U.S., we definitely realize how spoiled we've been living overseas. Fresh foods are much cheaper than processed packaged foods back home but here, we're finding quite the opposite to be true. Not only that, but everywhere we go, we're finding in-your-face marketing toward convenience foods most obnoxious. Everything is "natural" now. Our only defense has been the ingredient labels required to be placed on all food products. At first, reading the ingredient labels actually made me feel worse. I was appalled at all the junk found in almost all of my favorite foods. Ugh. What's even worse? ...all the junk in so many baby and toddler snacks! It seems like there is sugar or sweetener in e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. It's absurd.

So, we've been two parents insanely diligent about reading package ingredient labels the last few weeks and have been pretty successful so far. Some of the major things we're avoiding are:

1. Sugars: Like I said, it's in everything. It's like these companies think kids won't eat it if it isn't sweet. That just isn't true. Khalid didn't even have unnatural sugars until he was a year old. He didn't even have fruit for a long time, and we're pretty sure he didn't know what he was missing. One thing we're noticing is that a lot of veggies for babies are sweetened with fruit concentrates. Why? Can't he just eat veggies every once in awhile? Also, some organic products have "organic cane sugar" in them. Although it sounds cooler, it's still sugar and our babe just doesn't need it all the time. (Yes, he does have sugars now and again, but just not in everything he eats.)

2. High Fructose Corn Syrup: Seriously? Why is this in everything? Ok, I mean, I know why. Corn is subsidized by the government making it extremely cheap, but still. Is it worth all the health problems? No thanks. We may be spending more money on products sans HFC, but we'll save it on health bills and sanity in the future. We're avoiding this mess at all costs for Khalid.

3. Partially Hydrogenated Oils: Our bodies just can't process this junk well, so Khalid's little tiny body must have an extremely difficult time processing it. A lot of companies are finally starting to avoid this, thanks to many activists groups and informed consumers, but it's definitely still out there in a lot of products.

4. Ingredients that are difficult or impossible to pronounce: If we can't say it, our toddler shouldn't eat it (and neither should we, while we're at it.)

Of course, there are other things we're keeping an eye out for as well (e.g. dyes), but these four are the biggest things on our radar. It's difficult and much more costly, but worth it. Our best strategy so far has been shelling out the big bucks for fresh veggies and cooking meals at home.

Slumber

2011-08-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

I've had this post in the brain for quite some time but keep holding it off because of our trans-atlantic travels as they've had some affect on the content. My last post was a bit of a foundation for this one as it was an overview of our general parenting philosophy. If you haven't already, please check it out before continuing with this one.

Let me start by saying, all of the reasons I have ever had for wishing my son would sleep through the night have been entirely selfish: more energy for school, the ability to have extensively intellectual thoughts, and just. plain. REST. Babies don't need to sleep through the night. If they wake up to nurse, there's a reason for it and they are no less healthy (physically, socially, or psychologically) for doing so. I do not believe that this behavior is manipulative or "learned," as some would say. That said, let's go back to the beginning...

When Khalid was born, we read that he needed to eat 10 times a day. In order for him to do this, he really needed to be eating at night. I'm not one for rigidity and schedules in parenting, but I'm quite thankful that we did make sure that he ate this often, because I'm entirely convinced that his IMMENSELY helped our nursing relationship in the long run. I've never had an overabundant milk supply and it is my opinion that our first weeks together set a solid foundation for the amazing nursing relationship we still have today. So, yes, we woke him every two hours to breastfeed. He nursed for about an hour (with me continually tapping his cheek to keep him awake) and then fell back asleep... soundly.

After about 8 weeks, we started letting him sleep longer and longer and eventually, by about the fourth month, he was sleeping through the night. Then, when he was nearly seven months old, we flew to the States for the first time. He never quite made it back on schedule and started waking up to nurse about 4-5 times a night until he was about nine or ten months old. Eventually, he tapered down to twice a night, once around 2:00am and then again around 4:00am.

Now, back to my selfishness... between teaching, chasing after a walking toddler, having a healthy nursing relationship with the boy, and growing an infant in my belly, I began dreaming of nights filled with uninterrupted slumber. We started researching about gentle nighttime weaning and decided to wait until after school got out in May to really start implementing any ideas.

In our research, we found a decently laid out plan for weaning our babe at night. So, in June, we cautiously began, knowing that he might not be ready for it and completely ready to back out if it really wasn't working him him. After all, my reasons for wanting to wean were selfish and, if needed, could be laid aside so as not to force our son into something he wasn't ready for.

The first three nights was step one: letting him nurse at his normal times, but not letting him fall asleep while nursing. He took to this quite well actually and eventually started unlatching and turning over to fall asleep without any prompting. After this was solid, we moved onto step two: not letting him nurse for the first session around 2:00am. Because it isn't our style, we did not let him lie in the crib crying at 2:00am but instead went in to comfort him with cuddles, whispers, singing, etc. Our objective wasn't to make him feel abandoned, but for him to feel safe and secure in our relationship with him so this was essential for us. The first time we tried this, it didn't go so well. We were both up with him for about two hours and I eventually let him nurse. We went back to step one for a few days before trying this again. He obviously just wasn't ready for that yet.

So, round two of step two. It went much better this time. He was a little upset at first but actually fell asleep with Austin. After he was doing really well with this, we pulled out his 4:00am nursing time. Again, it definitely took some time, but after about a month and a half, he was sleeping through the night without even waking! We were thrilled that he did this without ever feeling left or abandoned by us!

All of that to say, after we traveled to the States, his sleep schedule has, once again, been thrown off. He took about a week to adjust to the time zone, and after being here for about two weeks, he's starting to sleep through the night again (not consistently, but it's a start)!

I'll leave you with this:
Remember that you're not managing an inconvenience; you're raising a human being.
-Sarah Simon

If you're more interested in gently trying to get your toddler to sleep through the night, check out these resources:
Dr. Jay Gordon's nighttime weaning help (this is what we used)
Book: No Cry Sleep Solution (we have this book, but haven't looked at it yet)

Attachment Parenting

2011-06-23T07:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with the idea of posting about our nighttime weaning process, but realized a lot of people may not fully understand why we're in this position without understanding the basic concept of our parenting style. This is not a blog claiming that we're perfect parents or that we've somehow figured out the key to raising children in 15 months. Of course, these would be erroneous claims. This blog also is not intended to be an attack on anyone else's parenting. It's meant to be informative to those who have never heard of this type of parenting and to help those who are unfamiliar with it better understand some of my other posts about Khalid and the choices we are making with him.

As Westerners, we highly value independence, so much so that we generally try to train our children to be independent as soon as possible. Of course, choosing not to train our infants and toddlers to be independent will lead to a very spoiled child. At least, this is what I had always been taught, until I came across another theory. Attachment parenting is a new, fancy name for a parenting style that most non-Westerners have been practicing all over the world for ages. Basically, it means responding appropriately to a baby's cues in order that he/she feel a strong sense of security at a young age and, therefore, feel more comfortable being independent later on in life. Some general practices of these parents include extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, baby-led weaning, low/no intervention birth, babywearing, etc. (of course, every family is different and it isn't an "all-or-nothing" regiment by any means). Many attachment parenting proponents believe that forced independence actually backfires as the child grows and develops into an adult in that he/she is never fully secure in his/her independence. Research has shown that a healthy stage of dependence at a young age results in a more healthily independent child.

Attachment parenting is not spoiling your child as many people often perceive. I would even venture to say that spoiling a baby is quite rare. Khalid is almost 15 months old, and he is just now beginning to show consistent signs of learning consequences and repeating actions to get the same results. He has yet to show signs of manipulation in his behavior. As many in Western society, I've been led to believe that quiet, obedient babies that sleep through the night are "better babies," but I'm now learning that this may not be the case. Just because we can train a baby to do something quickly (such as sleeping through the night in 3 days) does not mean that it is a healthy lesson that will be effective in the long term. Researchers are now discovering the negative effectives of this, more modern, parenting style.

One of my favorite aspects of attachment parenting is that it is not a rigid set of rules or an inflexible schedule of learned behaviors. Instead of training your child, it allows your child learn natural consequences in a safe environment. It also enables us to respond to Khalid with a nurturing respect, rather than the attitude of a dictator. Attachment parenting understands that every family is different and that every child is different so although many of the concepts stay generally true, the actual practice of attachment parenting may fluctuate on a case by case basis.

When I used to see a toddler or baby who was standoffish toward other adults or who seemed clingy or acting unsociable. I would think to myself, "ok, I don't want my kid to act like that." I would ignorantly assume that that particular child had issues and was probably "spoiled." I've since come to the realization that this may not actually be true. We often forget that developing children are doing just that--developing. Attached children are often more clingy toward their parents in the beginning. Many times, the child is holding on to their safe zone while trying to investigate and learn about their surroundings. An excellent example of this is a little girl who was only three when I met her. She seemed, to me, to be moody at times and clingy toward her mom. Two years later, this little lady is five years old and one of the most socially well-adjusted five year olds I've ever met. I attribute this to the fact that her parents didn't follow a regimented "baby schedule" or specific rules to modify her behavior into what they perceived as well-adjusted but were, instead, sensitive to her cues and gave her a strong sense of security as she explored the world around her allowing her. They did what was good and right for her, even if that meant sharing a bed with her for longer than they had planned.

Yes, there are challenges to attachment parenting. Or, at least, there have been for us. Instead of a list of instructions, there are a lot of options and alternative methods to sort through. We've hit road blocks and tough spots (like exhaustion). But, again, we have long term goals in mind, not short term goals. We believe that the more secure Khalid feels in our relationship with him, the more freedom he will feel in the coming years to grow and flourish within our safe, secure boundaries. Hopefully, as I continue to blog about our relationship with Khalid (and baby girl on the way), this will provide some insight into our parenting ideals.

Also, we herby reserve the right to change our mind and make mistakes :)

If you're interested in learning more about attachment parenting, here are some links you might find helpful:

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/attachment-parenting/what-ap-7-baby-bs (and pretty much the whole website.. Dr. Sears pretty much coined the phrase "attachment parenting")
http://www.attachmentparenting.org/principles/principles.php
http://www.kellymom.com
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bond-Science-Behind-Important/dp/1402226578 (this is a book, if you'd rather have something in print)

The Big Reveal

2011-06-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

On June 10th, we held an epic bash to reveal the sex of our littlest chickpea.

It all began with a note inviting people to vote team blue or team pink by attending wearing a shirt of the appropriate color... (Sorry about this picture. Our compact flash card died as I was trying to photograph this invites so you'll have to settle for an iPod shot.)

Much food was had by all. Our sweet friend, Mandy prepared the cake for us with the hidden pink or blue surprise layer inside... (I forgot to get a picture before everyone started eating. Believe me, we actually put out full trays and bowls of food.)

Each of the other edibles was one of my delicious pregnancy cravings not excluding mini bean burritos, saltines, potato chips and ranch dip, tortilla chips and cheese dip, chocolate chip cookies, and macaroni and cheese. It was heavenly...

Above the food table hung this adorable bunting which I'll be posting a tutorial for shortly. This is become one of my favorite party decorations...

Votes were recorded via mini chalkboards on the drink table...

Khalid voted blue, even with his diaper...

Khalid also met our youngest guest at the party, baby Anthony, who was just days old...

Party favors for the guests...

It was finally time for the big reveal. (Khalid obviously wasn't feeling the anticipation...)

It's a girl!

Excitement all around...

One happy mama...

One happy couple...

Bring on the pink ruffles and skirties...

New addition to our family

2011-05-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

If you know our family at all, you'll know that almost every major item that we own is ~~used~~ new-to-us: almost all of our furniture (except a few things here and there from IKEA), our tv, almost all of Khalid's diapers, all of our major baby items (stroller, swing, pack n play, crib, play pen, walker, etc.), our washing machines, our car....yeah... you get the point. I pride myself on scoring sweet deals on used items, and I have no shame in reusing. After all, it is incredibly eco-friendly to give something a second shot at life.

That said, Austin brought home our first major purchase that is.... NEW! We've been without one for the last two and a half years and while it isn't a necessity, it's going to make life a heck of a lot easier. So, without further ado, may I introduce the newest member of our family.....

...the brand spankin' new microwave...

Adventures in Breastfeeding: We made it!

2011-05-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of "one year" posts in my brain, but I figured I'd start with this one. Let me preface this by saying this is not a judgmental post to those who formula feed or supplement with formula. This is not to spark any "mommy wars." I realize that we all face different circumstances in life and therefore, make different choices. This is simply a post dedicated to personal goal accomplishment, not prideful gloating, so let's leave it at that.

To breastfeed or not was never really an option I considered. I never thought of not nursing Khalid. Though as my pregnancy with him progressed, I realized I was pretty naive on the whole subject and needed some serious education before his hungry tummy needed something other than my placenta. I found multiple online resources to be very helpful, but two really stood out for me:

Diaperswappers.com: A forum that is mostly for cloth diapering moms, but also has a breastfeeding support forum that was really helpful after Khalid arrived.
Kellymom.com: One of the most thorough resources on breastfeeding on the web. Seriously.

I continue to frequent these sites for breastfeeding issues.

My first nursing goal was to get Khalid to latch in those first few days. I knew I was in deep water if we weren't able to get this far (not sinking, but in deep water). We left the hospital with a can of infant formula and a bottle of glucose water. Our pediatrician instructed us to feed him the glucose water within the first few days if he wasn't nursing well. There were a few moments when I thought we'd have to resort to those, but thankfully, we pushed through all of our latch issues. We tossed the glucose within a few days. That stuff freaked me out. At our first well-baby check up at 10 days, that same pediatrician suggested we start supplementing Khalid's diet with formula because he wasn't quite back up to his birth weight yet. We told him, we'd rather not go there, and instead, just see how Khalid started eating in the next few weeks. At his one month appointment, our pediatrician insisted on formula again and even resulted to pulling Austin aside and asking him to persuade me to supplement. That was the last time we visited this particular pediatrician.

After we had a good latch established, my next goal was nursing him for 6 months. I knew that the first 6 months of our baby's life were crucial in terms of nutrition, and that breast milk is the most nutritious substance for a baby. Our plan was to exclusively breast feed Khalid for the first six months. Success. For the first 6 months of Khalid's life, he only ate his mama's milk. We are a very small percentage of families who have made it this far.)

My next goal was a year. Six months is almost necessary, but nursing for at least a year is highly recommended. The American Association of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding up to a year and continuing past a year if both mother and baby desire to do so. The World Health Organization recommends nursing at least two years. Well, we made it. Khalid nursed on his first birthday... and is still going strong. I'm so in love with our nursing relationship. It's (usually) one of my favorite times to spend with him, stroke his cheek, kiss his forehead. Knowing it won't last forever, I'm soaking it up these precious moments.

Oh, and that can of aforementioned infant formula? It's still in the nursery, unopened.

Has it really been a month?

2011-05-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

So with chickpea numero dos, I have been spending more quality time with our couch and our bed (and, of course, our toilet). My brain power has continued to plummet, and I fully expect its contents to have completely deteriorated into a pile of goo come November, just in time to be squelched by sleep deprivation. Perhaps this was the part that slipped my mind as I desperately hoped to see that little pink line appear next to the "t" on my pee stick. Regardless, it will all pale in comparison to that sweet little face smiling in our arms in less than six months. (Six months?!)

I do have more thematic blog posts planned, but for now, a simple update on all the little going ons in our life:

1. We saw our little chickpea dancing around in my womb at our prenatal appointment a week ago. It seems my body is a baby making machine, and everything looks excellent.

2. School is almost out and it could not come fast enough. I have about one more month, and Austin has less. We're exhausted both mentally and physically.

3. I'm still getting flack from a few women about breastfeeding while pregnant and continually remind myself that "I am a good mom. I am a good mom." despite their ignorance laden looks of disapproval.

4. Our house is a wreck, BUT we may have a lead on some pretty good house help, so yeah, keep that in your prayers.

5. I actually stayed in the kitchen longer than five minutes on Friday to bake a cake for a baby shower. It took all day... and I didn't vomit! Success! (Ok, it looks like "Abby," I get it, but it's BABY.)

6. God willing, we're pretty certain that we'll be returning to the States to birth this sweet babe. (It's our best bet for having a non-hospital birth.) There are still a lot of details that need to be put in order and some major decisions that need to be made. I'll feel a lot better when we cross a few things off the list.

(insert "abrupt, uncreative ending")

Why my husband is a saint...

2011-04-05T05:28:00.000-07:00

For starters, let's just get it out there that I don't exactly carry pregnancy very well. With Khalid, I was throwing up every day for 5 months, and the very next day I started getting the most crazy heartburn you can possibly imagine. During my period of nausea, I can barely stand the kitchen and the smell of dishes. I'm picky about what I can or will eat and am incredibly indecisive around meal times. Throughout gestation, I'm irritable, exhausted, and weak. Basically, I'm a knocked-up, nightmare.

That said, my husband is. a. saint.

What I've discovered with this pregnancy is that nausea and exhaustion don't couple well with a toddler. He's ready to go-go-go, and I'm ready to... well... pass out. Yesterday, when we all returned from school, I laid down for a "short nap" around 6:00. Austin let me sleep until I woke around 11:30, despite the fact that he had work to do and Khalid to care for. Today, while hubster was at school (I don't work on Tuesdays and Thursdays), I just barricaded the living room and let Khalid roam around while I lain draped over the couch, nearly paralyzed by my sensitive stomach. It's quite important that I not throw up too much during this pregnancy. Since I'm still nursing Khalid, I desperately need the calories, so when the nausea hits hard, I try and do whatever I can to subdue it.

Austin came home today and took over right away without one complaint about the racks of laundry waiting to be folded or the pile of dishes in the kitchen. He made lunch for Khalid, fed him, and changed his diaper after he... ahem... poo'ed. In the midst of all this, he found the time to cook lunch for me, as well. Soon, it was time for the little man to nap so, Dad took him to the nursery and soothed the crying baby to sleep (which he's a master at, by the way).

So now, my saint of a husband, can be found curled up with a tuckered out sleeper lying on his chest... in the crib:

I love him.

I love them.

Chickpea Update

2011-04-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

Incubator Update

2011-03-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

It seems my eggo is preggo...

2011-03-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

"Insert Clever Title Here": Khalid is 11 Months Old!

2011-03-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Slumber: Still on a solid two naps a day, Khalid sleeps pretty well in the daylight. He's still waking up at night though, usually around 3 or 4 times. We've tried everything from feeding him more before bed, trying to not nurse him when he wakes up at night, etc. It seems this is just the way it's going to be for awhile, and that's ok.

Breastfeeding: Khalid still loves his milk, but this month we've really noticed that he is getting more and more used to replacing a nursing session with solid food. I can't believe our little boy is growing up! He still nurses every 3-4 hours when he's awake.

Solids: Our big eater tried his first fruit this month: bananas. The verdict: well.... he'll get used to it, haha. We think the texture really threw him off. Other than sweet potatoes, bananas are the only sweet food Khalid has really had so far. We're hoping to introduce more fruits in the near future, but we aren't in any particular rush either. He now enjoys all sorts of veggies, both whole and pureed. Also, turkey and chicken are up there on his lists of favorites. Still though, bread seems to be trumping every other food on Khalid's list. Of course, we use it as a snack, not a meal.

Diapering: No more nighttime leaks with our new hemp inserts--yay! Cloth diapering has been super-easy for us, and we thoroughly enjoy being able to do our part in keeping ridiculous amounts of plastics and chemicals out of the landfill.

Sign Language: "More" is now a common sign in our house (although still confused with "GIVE ME THAT"), and now we've introduced the sign for hungry with a prompt in both Arabic and in English. Khalid has really responded well to this but again, is sometimes confused by what it means. We're pretty sure he uses it for, "give me mama," on occasion.

Favs:

Books

Driving Toy Cars

Bath time

New Tricks:

Crawling: Yep! He started full-out crawling this month. No more soldier-style, stealth moves across the living room floor. He's now up on all four limbs moving like a champ.

Playing in baby play areas: A mall nearby has a cushy area for babies to play. Khalid braved the crowded, toddler-filled area and had a blast.

Cruising around the furniture: As scary as it is to see a little wobbly baby holding onto the coffee table, it's also exciting to see our little man shout with glee as he cruises from chair, to couch, to table.

"SO Big": "How big is Khalid?".... "SOOOO big" is a fun game now as he throws his arms up in the air in response. Of course, if he's using his arms to stand up, our cautious guy only lifts one of his hands.

Drinking from an open cup: While he still hasn't mastered a controlled dismount, Khalid is doing really well with drinking from an open cup.

Removing his clothes: Oh this is fun. Thankfully he doesn't do it often, but he has started removing his clothes. See...

And just some bonus cuteness:

Let the Curtain Be Lifted

2011-03-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I was showing off a picture of Khalid's birthday invitations to a friend and her response was, "how do you have time for that?!" Her comment really stuck with me and reminded me of other comments like it which made me think, "am I really portraying myself to be some sort of 'have-it-all-together' super-mom." I was immediately disgusted by the thought. This is the very thing that frustrates me about motherhood. We, as women, feel the need to hide all of our flaws, our faults, our mis-steps. In turn, other moms feel as though they are the only ones who have flaws, faults, and mis-steps.

So, I'd like to take a blogpost and reveal how disheveled my life really is. Let me first list some of my obligations: teaching 5th grade science for 3 classes, studying, and taking care of Khalid. Along with those things, I also prioritize these things in my life: Austin, friendships, Khalid's birthday party (short-term, yes, but worth mentioning), blogging, staying informed, cloth diapering, cooking from scratch, having a day of rest every Sunday, and just slowing down at times (I really wish I could put reading scripture here, but this is something I'm working on since I'm reading so much for our courses right now).

That said, the one MAJOR thing that you don't see on either of these lists is: cleaning our house. This is something that gets shoved to the bottom of the list all. the. time. for both Austin and I. This is not to say we don't clean, do dishes and laundry, and pick up things around our place, but it's more commentary on what gets prioritized. For instance, there was a going away party last night for a friend. We really needed to stay home and get our house in order, but we chose to go anyway. Things like this are just more important to us.

So, as painful as it is, I want to show you how much of a "super-mom" I am NOT:

We'll start with one of the biggest disasters: our bedroom. Clean clothes strewn over the bed. Random junk piled on the nightstand, and two sleeping guys in the bed. Um, can you even see them?

I don't even know what this room is called, but it perpetually has small toys thrown all over. It's in the middle of the apartment so we inevitably step on said toys and commence the "ouch dance."

Oh, this is shameful. Khalid's diaper changing area. I wanted so badly to pick up the soiled diaper on the floor next to the diaper pail and throw it in before I took this shot, but I left it, because sometimes, there is a soiled diaper on the floor when it takes too much time to put it in the pail as baby is screaming.

Our living room actually isn't too shabby right now. I cleaned it yesterday. If we clean any room first, it's this one since unexpected guests always enter our home here.

Yep, this is embarrassing. We spend a LOT of time in the kitchen which is why it looks like this. Austin and I both have "don't-close-cabinet-door" syndrome as well.

There is always endless racks of laundry on our veranda.

Ok, so it's out there. We aren't perfect, and I've probably completely repulsed all you clean freaks--sorry about that. (If it makes you feel better, clean-freaks, we are planning to hire someone to come clean once a week.)

Train Whistle Party Favors and Tutorial

2011-02-24T02:27:00.000-08:00

I am not a huge fan of birthday party goodie bags full of useless toys that will break within the week and candy that will certainly rot out growing little teeth. So, for Khalid's upcoming train party, we decided to do an old fashioned wooden train whistle as a favor. Durable, fun, adorable. A small tag attached to each whistle makes them custom for Khalid's train party. We bought the whistles from Discount School Supply online. After extensive research, I found that this website provided the best deal. When I first came up with this idea, I was picturing this amazing train whistle that one of my elementary teachers had when I was younger. It sounded amazing--just like a train. Well, these little guys that we purchased provide a good "toot," but nothing to the extend of what I had in mind. It seems my teacher had the mercedes of train whistles and, well, that just wasn't an affordable option for us since we needed about four dozen.

Here's a super-easy tutorial for our tags:

You'll need:
-Wooden train whistle(s) from Discount School Supply
-Two colors of card stock (We're using Stampin' Up's Tempting Turquoise and Real Red)

LOVE these paper punches!

-White printing paper (or white card stock if your printer will actually print on card stock--ours seems to have forgotten how to do this)
-Paper cutter (or scissors)
-Adhesive (I used these)
-1" circle paper punch
-1 1/4" circle paper punch (I am LOVING Stampin' Up's paper punches.)
-Circular digital design measuring .94" x .94"
-Color printer

1. Cut a small strip of paper about 5/8" wide and 4 1/4" long in one color of card stock.

2. Apply adhesive to the top, of your train whistle where you would like the tag to be placed. Place the middle of your strip on this adhesive and wrap the ends around the back. Apply adhesive to both ends. Fold one on top of the other and press firmly.

3. Using the 1 1/4" circle paper punch, cut a circle from the other color of card stock.

4. Print a sheet of your circular digital design with a color printer.

5. Using the 1" circle paper punch, cut around your design. The best way to do this is to turn the punch upside down.

Cut your design with the punch upside down.

6. Apply adhesive to your cut-out circular design. Center it on the larger circle and press firmly.

7. Apply adhesive in the place you would like the tag to be on your whistle. Center your circles on the whistle and press firmly.

8. Admire.

Ooooo...ahhhh....

Train Party Invitation: Show Off and Tutorial

2011-02-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

We're planning a train party extravaganza for Khalid's first birthday (yes, I know, please don't remind me how difficult it is to believe he is already one). I'll be posting updates as things start to come together as well as, of course, photos from the big day.

Today I started and finished (amazingly) his ticket invitations and they are OH-so-cute. See...

It reads:

"All Aboard!

Climb aboard the train of fun,
Khalid is turning one!

Leaving On: Friday, April 1, 2011
Leaving From: The Young Train Station
Board Time: 12:00pm
Return Time: 2:30pm
Reserve your seat with the ticket masters at (phone number)."

The "ticket number" is the actual date of his birthday (day-month-year).

They were surprisingly simple once I figured out my method. If you want to make these super sweet invites you'll need:

I used Stampin' Up's "Tempting Turquoise and Real Red.

two colors of cardstock
white paper
a digitally designed invitation (4.28 in. x 2.40 in.)
ruler
one sheet of heavy paper/card stock/thin cardboard for your templates
adhesive (I used scrapbooking permanent adhesive rollers.)
scissors

1. Print out your design with a color printer.

2. Cut out your design.

3. Using your "template" paper (heavy paper/card stock/ thin cardboard), cut out a rectangle that measures 5 1/2 inches long and 3 inches wide.

4. On the short end of the template, measure down 1 inch and make a small dot. Then measure up one inch and make a small dot. Measure the middle of the short side (1 1/2 inches from either direction) and make a small dot. You should have three dots down the short side edge of your rectangle.

5. Starting at the middle dot, measure across 1/2 inch and make a dot. Erase the middle dot. Now you should have a triangle.

6. Find something round in your house that connects all three dots. I used a half shekel coin, but I'm guessing you don't have one of those on hand.

7. Line up your round object on the dots, and trace around a half circle.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 on the other short side and cut both half circles out. Your template should look like a ticket. This was the hardest part, so if you've made it this far, the rest will be a breeze.

9. To make the second template, measure out and cut a rectangle that is 4 1/2 inches long and 2 5/8 inches wide.

10. Using one color of card stock, cut out your "ticket" template. I fit 4 of these on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of card stock. (I cut out the rectangles with a paper cutter by measurements and then used the template to trace the half circles. I guess I was measuring a little too quick though as evidenced by my uneven edges...)

Um... a little too uneven for my taste...

...much better

11. Using the second color of card stock, cut out your second template. I fit 6 of these on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of card stock.

Second template on top of cut out pieces

12. Finally, assemble all three pieces using your adhesive.

Soap Nuts

2011-02-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so when you first hear "soap nuts" your mind is probably conjuring up all sorts of weird pictures. Surprisingly though, the term is quite literal. They are nuts.... and ..... soap. See...

I often scour the internet (and diaperswappers.com) for greener ways to live and "soap nuts" was a phrase I quickly became familiar with. Most of what I find in my searching are products that I have never seen where we live. I usually end up getting bummed out over the lack of practical methods for our house. BUT... yesterday we stumbled upon this box of soap nuts in a small health food store (yeee!).

Generally, they are used for laundry, but Austin discovered (via the internet... of course) that they can be used for all sorts of things! We don't know much yet on the actual usage, but we'll keep you up to date.

Have you ever used soap nuts before? What do you use them for?

Rounding the Corner to the Finish

2011-02-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

Well, Khalid's nursery might actually be complete before his first birthday. Today (with the help of Austin for the hard-to-reach parts) I finished Khalid's nursery mural. I'm not an artist by any means, but after searching extensively for wall decals that weren't too babyish, I got inspired to paint a tree of our own. The colors aren't spot on, but it was designed to match the fabulous fabric I used to make his curtains (which have yet to be hung) and crib bumper.

Not the best overhead light so everything appears a little neon in this shot.

His unhung curtains are draped over our nursing chair.

My Dieting Secret

2011-02-10T00:16:00.000-08:00

After multiple "you're withering away" comments, I've felt the need to release my best-ever dieting secret. You will drop pounds (and/or kilos) like you've never seen before! It's an all-natural, organic, pill-free, no-gym-required routine!

My diet plan is three-fold:

1. Move away from the U.S.

2. Give birth.

3. Breastfeed.

Boom. Skinny.

In the Double Digits: 10 Months Old

2011-02-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

Slumber: Our guy is pretty much keeping to his "two-a-day" nap schedule. Thankfully, he's no longer waking up five times a night. It's now between one and three times. We put him down in his pack n' play and then he gets in bed with us whenever he wakes up (which can be anywhere from 10pm to 3am). We're soaking up the cuddle time we're getting with our little man as these times just won't last forever.

Breastfeeding: Going strong and loving it. Khalid nurses every three to four hours now and still prefers his mama's milk over solids. No nursing troubles this month unless you count a baby who has learned to pinch--ouch.

Solids: Khalid had his first turkey shawarma this month and loved it of course. He also tried pasta for the first time. This wasn't a big month for trying new solids but he's been eating a lot of the foods he's already comfortable with.

Diapering: With his night waking, we've had to do a little improvising on our little man's night time diapering routine. We bought a few Thirsties hemp inserts and have added them to our bumGenius diapers at night along with his usual microfiber insert and doubler. We cover it all with an extra Thirsties wrap-just in case. So far, the hemp inserts have been meeting our expectations as super absorbent diapering accessories. No leaks :)

Binky Chronicles: No progress here still, but to be honest, we still aren't pushing it. We rarely use his pacifier clip and he doesn't use his binky at all when he's just content. And right now, we're ok with that.

Favs:

books (particularly "Good Night Gorilla")

mirrors

screeching

bath time

(not pictured)--bread, getting thrown in the air, and tickles from Baba's beard.

Sounds: Khalid has quite a range of sounds now. "Ba ba," "da da," "na na", and even the occasional "ma ma" (though not on prompt). He rolls his tongue around in his mouth to make some interesting sounds as well. Clicking his tongue is pretty fun too. Of course he's still screaming like a prehistoric bird on crack on occasion.

Sign Language: Khalid learned the sign for "more" this month. Inadvertently, he also learned to clap this month (quite confusing since they are oh-so similar). Nonetheless, he's been using "more" quite frequently during meal times. Actually, we think he may be translating it as, "give me that NOW!" .... gotta start somewhere.

New Tricks:

Waving: Khalid's super cute waves started this month and we are loving. it. He's been waving to people, tvs, eggs, himself, and other objects that look like they need a good salutation.

Clapping: This is what Austin has been waiting for--the clap. Ok, not "the clap"... er... well... you know what I mean. Khalid. is. clapping. and it's adorable.

Walking around the pack n play: Our not-so-little guy is now standing up in his pack n' play and walking around the perimeter. It won't be long before he's racing across the living room (*sigh*).

Hiding and jumping out: Oh, this is THE cutest thing ever. seriously. I'm not even exaggerating. Khalid will crouch down in a tall laundry basket and jump out while simultaneously screaming at the top of his lungs. It's... phenomenal.

Standing up: We can not believe that he can now pull himself to a standing position with the aid of obliging furniture (or hands).

Escaping from the Bumbo: Stealthily, our guy will slither out of his Bumbo seat. Amazingly enough, he can also unhook his tray in order to do this.

"wah wah": Ok, this isn't really a trick, but Khalid got his first real "boo boo" (also known as a "wah wah" in Arabic) this month. He was crawling around in the nursery at school when he pulled a small plastic chair on top of his face giving himself a healthy looking black eye. I'm sure this is the first of many wah wahs. Bumps and bruises, here we come...

"kisses": When prompted, our little charmer will give "kisses" by planting a big wet open mouth on your face. Adorable? Like you wouldn't believe.

Being Mischievous: With all of the aforementioned tricks, Khalid is now getting into more shenanigans around the house. Hmmmm. I'm not sure if we can call this a trick.... no... it's definitely a trick. Let me show you...

shenanigans...

and.... shenanigans.

Blogtastic Update

2011-01-31T22:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, so let's be honest, this started out as a Mommy and Daddy blog and well, it's just a Mommy blog, save the one blog that Austin actually published when Khalid first started kicking in my tummy. So I'm officially calling it what it is: a Mommy Blog.

There.

I said it.

You've probably noticed that I've been MIA lately. We exceeded our monthly bandwidth limit on our internet about halfway through this month and the company slowed down our internet... big time. They left it going juuuuuust enough to really tick us off. So, I haven't had much energy for blogging, uploading pictures, sharing videos, or much of anything to be honest. Therefore, I have a lot of blogs stored up in my brain bank, so I hope you're ready for a spewing of baby fun-ness in the next few weeks.

Battling the Rashies

2011-01-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

If you've been around a baby for almost any period of time, you probably know that opening a diaper often seems like a flashback to the old television show, "Let's Make a Deal," (unless you're my husband, because he doesn't know any old television shows... or movies). Although you don't get to choose your door, it's always a surprise when opening it. Most of the time it's pleasant, but occasionally it gets a little crazy.

Well, it finally happened, we opened our little man's diaper a few weeks ago to find a red, bumpy, rashy surprise. Even though it didn't seem to bother Khalid at all, it bothered us. Seeing that strawberry colored rawness all over our baby's perfect skin was enough to make anyone grieve! Something had to be done! Looking for some answers, we contacted our doctor-on-call (a.k.a. Google) and discovered that the type of rash we were looking at was probably caused by wetness and movement (i.e. baby swishing his tushy around when he scoots all over the place). We learned that this type of rash is perfectly normal and basically unavoidable for most babies, whether they be in disposable or cloth diapers, use or don't use baby powder, or preemptively slather diaper cream or not. It. just. invades. at. will.

(This set my mind somewhat at ease as I had felt like a complete failure seeing that redness intruding on our baby's bits. This is a lesson we anticipate learning time and time again: you can protect your child from some things, but not every thing. *sigh*)

We knew that our cloth diapers wouldn't fair well with regular diaper rash cream. The chemicals in diaper rash creams often cause repelling issues (probably the very LAST thing you want to happen with a diaper), so we reached for a few of the eco-friendly disposable inserts we had left over from our flight to the U.S., slathered on some Butt Paste and wrapped his bottom with a Flip diaper cover. After about an hour, the cream seemed to do fairly well. I was certainly impressed, but it was a pain in the butt (no pun intended) to get all the cream off of him when we were ready to put him back in all cloth.

Enter remedy number two...

For a day, we covered Khalid's booty with prefold diapers (probably exactly what you think of when cloth diapering comes to mind) and used his wool longies (wool pants that double as waterproof diaper cover). Wool is known to be more breathable, therefore letting more air reach baby's skin.

After a day or so, the rash made its exit. Take that. Wa-POW!

Finishing the Year: 9 Months Old

2010-12-31T04:09:00.000-08:00

by Mommy

Slumber: It seems our sleeper has reverted and is now waking up 3-5 times a night--yuck! Thankfully, he seems to have pretty much nailed down a nap schedule--for now--with a morning nap around 11:00am and an afternoon nap around 4:00pm (give or take an hour or so). But with this night time schedule, we're having flashbacks of newborn parents! Since the weather has taken a turn for the lower temperatures, we've decided to co-sleep with Khalid through the winter. This also makes his night time snacks much more manageable.

Breastfeeding: Besides the extra 4-5 nursing times a night, breastfeeding still seems to be going well. When his nursing frequency picked up at night, I started getting a little sore, but my body has gotten used to it now. During the day, he started eating less frequently. Instead of every 2 hours, he's now eating between every three and four hours.

Solids: This month he's had bread, carrots, cauliflower, buckwheat (with salt--oooh), green beans, and peas and carrots (his first combo). He LOVES bread, which he obviously gets from his mama. We try to not over load him with bread, just a treat every now and then. Khalid was also pretty crazy about cauliflower. Didn't see that one coming. He's been eating a lot more solids lately. Oatmeal has become a regular meal, and he's putting down quite a bit in the mornings.

Diapering: Everything is still going well--even with the solid poo--despite numerous discouragers along the way. Since he's been sleeping with us at night and waking multiple times during the night, his night time diapers have become a lot. more. heavy. After changing our sheets a few times, we decided to send in reinforcements. He now sleeps in a pocket diaper with a microfiber insert, two doubles, and an extra cover on the outside (just in case). It seems to be working pretty well. Perhaps we should just start changing him in the middle of the night, but for now, this is working for us. Hopefully this night time feedings won't last too long anyway. We had our first bout of diaper rash this month as well (more on that in another post).

Binky Chronicles: Admittedly, we're rather lazy with weaning off the binky. Still though, he doesn't seem particularly attached. It does, however, calm him most of the time when he's upset.

New Stuffs:

Favs: tickled by Baba's beard, climbing our headboard, Baby Noah, strings on hoodies, cauliflower, giving "kisses" (a.k.a. slobbering all over faces), looking in mirrors,

Christmas: Ah, yes, baby's first Christmas. It was a joy... for us. For him, confusion. He just couldn't seem to figure out why we gave him all this great paper to rip up and then snatch it away from him just when he started having fun.

Solid Poo: Yeaaaah. Here it comes. We're finally getting past the "in-between" phase, and it's becoming much easier to dump (no pun intended) into the toilet.

The "Mom Phase:" We probably should have mentioned this last month. Our little guy has become ultra clingy to Mama, especially when he's super sad or hungry. Most of the time I'm more than happy to comfort my little dude, but other times *sigh* ok, it's kind of annoying. I'm trying to treasure these moments with him because I know one day they'll be gone forever.

(kudos to Jon Young for the photo up top)

The Afterbirth...No, the Other One

2010-12-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

by Mommy (and for mommies)

**TMI alert**

(Don't say you weren't warned.)

So I'm doing something around the house, perhaps putting the diaper laundry on its last rinse cycle, soaking a few dishes in some water near the sink, or finishing up breakfast, when it hits me, "I have to pee.... NOW!" Of course, I rush to the bathroom, as carefully as possible. The toilet is in sight. The door is closed and locked. I take one step toward relief when... BAM... the inevitable happens... I sneeze.... and.... you know. Ugh. No one told me about THIS memorable part of giving birth. Perhaps this is God's way of humbling the blissful attitude that lingers in my psyche after pushing 8 beautiful pounds out of ...ahem... myself. For nothing shatters superheroic feelings like a change of underwear.

8 Months of Khalid

2010-12-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

by Mommy

Khalid took his first trans-atlantic flight to the U.S. this month and did REALLY well on the plane. Of course, my family fell in love with him. (I mean, what else could honestly be expected?) The first trans-atlantic flight, he stayed in our laps. On the way back though, he had this sweet bassinet to sleep in. Oh, to be a baby...

Slumber: Jetlag got the best of our little guy this month, but he acclimated a few days after we arrived in the U.S. Then he was back to his schedule of waking up around 4:30am for a meal and then up for the day around 6:30 or 7am.

Health Stuffs: Poor baby got his first fever while we were in the U.S. He didn't seem to mind so we waited a little while to let the fever do it's job. Then Dr. Mom and Dr. Dad administered his first baby tylenol, which he immediately spit out. Thanks to my mom for tipping us off that we should squirt it in the BACK of his mouth on the side.... much better. His fever went down in a couple days.

Breastfeeding: Still going strong. Khalid doesn't seem to care all too much for solids when it comes to mama's milk.

Solids: Turkey, Blueberries (won't be having these again for awhile since we don't have them where we live--lame), mashed potatoes, and butternut squash. He really. really. liked turkey.

Diapering: We just bought 16 more prefolds to get us through the winter season since rack-drying takes so much longer during this cold, rainy time. Oops, mama forgot to wash the diapers a few times before putting them on baby (just washed them once) and Khalid got his first little rash dot on his thigh. Nothing too major and it cleared up without any cream as soon as we washed the dipes more thoroughly. We're still so thankful for not having any major rash issues!

New Stuffs:

Favs: Baby Noah video, standing up, being thrown in the air, being tickled by Baba's beard, climbing our headboard

Thanksgiving: Our little man shared in his first turkey day at my grandma's house in Houston. Of course, he also consumed his first bites of turkey.... and loved it. In addition, he enjoyed mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. What a feast for this tiny tot!

Stroller: Thanks to my grandma, Khalid received his first stroller this month. He is definitely riding in style now and totally digs it. Yes, we're still avid babywearers but it sure is nice to have another option.

Door Bouncer: As if the stroller wasn't enough, Khalid also got a door bouncer from (of course) TARGET! He wasn't so keen on it at first, but it's growing on him.

Video Games: Ok, he hasn't actually played any yet, but he was seriously exposed to video games this month by his tech-saavy cousins, Maddie and Jonathan.

Grass: Our desert-dweller sat in his first bed of grass while we were in Houston as well. He was mesmerized.

Scooter: Perhaps it was the wall-to-wall carpeting at my grandma's house, but Khalid's scooting really excelled this month. He'll be crawling or walking in no time for sure.

Foods:

Christmas Tradition

2010-12-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

by Mommy

Santa was always part of my childhood Christmases. We spent our holiday season at my grandma and grandpa's house in Texas every year along with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a celebration I always looked forward to. Even though my family never really kept up throughout the year regularly, we always picked up right where we left off when December rolled around. The biggest thing I remember about Christmas at our grandparents' house was lots. and lots. and lots of laughter.

But... I also loved our Christmas Day traditions. Every year, after all the grandkids crawled into bed, the "santas" would stay up for a few hours putting together our individual Christmas piles topped with a stocking stuffed full of goodies. We awakened to the delicious smell of Grandpa's cinnamon bread that had been baking through the night in the breadmaker. Of course, I always amazingly woke up before dawn on Christmas Day... even as a teenager (which is no small miracle). We were welcomed from our beds to our own Christmas pile from "Santa." Of course we all knew who "Santa" really was but it was still fun to play along. We tore through our presents and stockings and, afterward, we lain strewn about all over the living room floor with a Christmas morning hang over.

Pancakes for breakfast gave us energy for round two: the Christmas tree. We all got gussied up for this one. (Gussied? Really, Kayti?) I swore the Christmas tree room somehow managed to be full of more and more presents every year. These were not Santa's presents though, these were presents from each other. From brother to sister. From grandmother to grandson. From daughter to mother. Pictures were taken, laughs were bellowed, and thanks were given.

We tied up our Christmas Day with delicious food, a movie (usually one received as a gift), and just before bed, a slice of pie to top everything off.

I have such fond memories of our Christmases together, but now Austin and I have our own family. It's time to start our own traditions, create our own nostalgia. Begin things that Khalid will look back on one day... and smile.

What are your Christmas traditions, new and old?

Seven Months of Heaven

2010-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

by Mommy

Ok, so I've had this "seven months update" sitting in my blog edit for about... well... almost a month now. Lame? Completely, but here it is... seven months old...

Weigh in: No appointment this month, but my legs felt like jell-o after carrying him up the stairs the other day.

Slumber: It seems some biological ticker in Khalid's head clicked this month and reminded him that he's a baby who should wake up in the middle of the night. Toward the end of the month, he finally settled back into a routine, but the routine is waking up at 4 am to eat. Not cool, Khalid. Not cool.

Breastfeeding: Amazing. These are some of my favorite times with my son. I am so glad that I stuck through all of the discouragement in the beginning of our nursing relationship. It was totally worth it. I really wish I could stick it to our first pediatrician who kept trying to push us to supplement with formula because, "some moms just can't breastfeed."

Solids: Avocado, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and rice were all on the menu this month. His verdict.... indifference. He could really care less about solids and prefers his mama's delicious milk (see paragraph above).

Diapering: Our growing lad has forced us to pack away almost all of his size small Fuzzi Bunzdiapers (there are one or two that are a little bigger for some reason). We're planning to purchase some more prefolds to make up the gap in our stash for the winter since drying on the rack will take longer during the cold, wet months.

Health Stuffs: Khalid is still coughing a little bit, but we're chalking it up to the weather.

Binky Chronicles: He's still doing well with only having his binky for naps, nursery, and seriously sad times.

Favs: Standing up, Baby Noah (baby einstein video)

New Tricks:

"Baba" and "Dada": Yes, both of his first sounds are the two words we use for "Daddy." It's incredibly adorable though, I had to admit.

Screaming/screeching: If you haven't seen the video of Khalid screeching like a pterodactyl on facebook then you must check it out. He's not using it to get our attention yet, but somehow I see this in the not-so-distant future...

Wanting Mama: Cute and all, but also a little obnoxious. I don't want our little sweet chickpea to be one of those kids who pouts at everyone but mama. *sigh* Hopefully this phase is short... although I really do enjoy snuggling with my little guy.

"Waving": Ok, well, sort of. He kind of just flaps his hand completely oblivious to its meaning, but it's new!

New Look

2010-10-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

Loving our new blog banner....

Costume Reveal

2010-10-31T12:43:00.001-07:00

Yes. We. Did.

Remembering Halloween

2010-10-28T00:15:00.001-07:00

by Mommy

What's that? You need a reminder of how amazingly fabulous our Halloween costume was last year. Wait no more, my friends...

Yes, that is a bun in my oven.

Now, can we top our costume this year....?

It Happens All the Time...

2010-10-26T08:18:00.001-07:00

by Mommy

When it happens to you, it's absolutely terrifying. Not just scary-movie, pee-in your pants, terrifying... I'm talking about heart in your throat for the next hour, too stunned to cry terrifying--It's the first time your baby takes a major spill (and hopefully the last time).

Khalid fell asleep in the middle of our large bed, like he had always done. I laid down with him for awhile and then remembered something I wanted to tell Austin, so I got up and went to the other room. Then it happened... thud... wail. We rushed into the bedroom to find our little bundle of joy lying on the floor on the opposite side of the bed, flailing his arms, and screaming at the top of his lungs. Immediately, I was overwhelmed with fear. Brain damage? Spinal cord damage? Didn't I hear something about bleeding in the brain showing up weeks after a head injury? Subsequently, the guilty thoughts flooded in to take over. Why did I get up? What was so important that I had to tell Austin? Did I just alter his life forever? I. am. the. worst. mother. ever.

We were already scheduled to take him to the pediatrician that evening for his 6 month vaccinations, and so we called ahead and told our doctor about Khalid's fall. After a short series of questions, he basically said he wanted to have a look at him, but he was probably fine.

Indeed. He was fine, after all. In fact, his crying had stopped and he seemed to be back to normal pretty quickly. It was my heart....my ego... that was deeply injured. I was scared to tell anyone that I felt like the worst mother in the world for letting my baby roll off a bed onto a tile-covered cement floor. I was so afraid of the don't you know that's unsafe's and all of the other wonderful things people would surely blurt out without thinking. So I waited... and now, here I am... sharing my awful mistake with the world... and praising God that our baby is still a healthy, growing little guy.

After sharing it with a few people, I discovered that almost every single amazing mom that I know has dropped or let her baby fall at least once. Yes. It's that common. Of course, no one talks about it until it has happened to you. When you drop your baby or let them fall, you instantly become part of this inside club of accidental baby injurers. I wish more people had shared the commonness of this issue with me before it happened. Perhaps I wouldn't have had to dig myself out of a such a deep sea of guilt. It happens all the time. Now they tell me. This made me realize that I would like to openly share my parenting faults so that when other parents make the same mistakes, they don't find themselves feeling so alone... and awful. As parents, we should be supporting one another, not bringing each other down for failing to live up to some fantasy of a perfect mother or father.

So here's me saying to you, don't worry, it happens all the time...

Half a Year: Khalid's Sixth Month Update

2010-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Weigh in: At his 6 month appointment with our pediatrician, Khalid weighed in at 8 kilos! That's 17.6 lbs. This is exactly average for his age. He's about 65cm long which is about the 10th percentile in length for boys his age, so his "average" weight makes him look like a little chubs :)

Slumber: So evidently when you reach your first half year of life, your're supposed to revert back to newborn-ness and quit sleeping through the night. All the cool kids are doin' it. So, yeah, that's been fun. More about that later.

Eating: We made it! Six months of exclusively breastfeeding! This was our first nursing goal. The next goal is to continue nursing for a year. Keep rooting for us! Also, on Khalid's 6 month birthday, he had he first experience with solid foods: avocado! He wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but we aren't expecting much from solid foods for a few more months. The next few months will just be a time to touch, taste, and basically make a mess.

Since he's so obsessed with water, we decided to let him try a few sips from an open cup. He's pretty much a champ and loves drinking water.

Binky Chronicals: A new section to our update--our pacifier-weaning progress. At six months, we're keeping the pacifier usage limited to sleep times, sad times, and nursery times. In general, the little man isn't too attached to his binky, so we don't see this becoming a huge issue. Only time will tell.

Diapering: It took us long enough, but we're finally using cloth wipes! I can't believe we waited this long. It's SUPER easy since we're already cloth diapering. We made a wipe solution with water, olive oil, tea tree oil, and baby soap in a spray bottle that we keep at his diaper changing station. When it's time for a change, we shake it up (since the oils separate from the water) and spray his booty or the wipe (or both in cases of severe nastiness). After wiping, we toss it in the diaper pail. For on-the-go, we keep a few cloth wipes in small wipes case in his diaper bag and we grab the spray bottle when we're packing his bag. If we forget the solution, just plain water works fine too.

Health stuffs: If you're keeping up with us on facebook, you've probably seen that Khalid got his first little cold this month complete with stuffy nose and cough. As we approach 6 months, the antibodies in breastmilk don't fight off as much as they used to (or so I'm told). Through this process, Khalid has learned to lothe what I refer to as the "booger sucker." If you have any offpsring, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The snottiness has subsided but his cough is lingering. This may also be the reason he's not sleeping through the night. He seems to wake up coughing and consequently becoming frustrated. Hopefully when the cough makes its exit, his slumber will resume.

Khalid's New Tricks:

Sleeping in his crib: Our big boy slept in his big crib for the first time this month. He didn't seem to care, but Mom struggled with it a little.

Sitting up: I think I'm most stoked about this one. Our guy is sitting up on his own now and balancing pretty well. He still falls over occasionally so we still sit with him, but it's a pretty big feat!

Scooting: Like a little inch-worm, Khalid is scooting toward things he wants--head first.

Reaching/Wanting: I think this actually started earlier but I forgot to mention that Khalid is showing desire for certain toys, people, and, of course, things he shouldn't have. He strains to reach those things that are just beyond his grasp.

Standing up: Khalid LOVES to "stand up." He's not pulling himself up yet but gets completely giddy when we hold his arms so he can stand.

Review: iPod/iPhone Application "Baby Activitiy"

2010-09-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

by The Mama

Gone are the days of handwritten notebooks and penmanship. Instead, my tech-saavy hubster decided we would log Khalid's baby info on a nifty little application called "Baby Activity" compatible with the iPod Touch and the iPhone found at the iTunes store for $4.99. In our opinion: totally worth it. Here's why...

When Khalid was first born, it was important to make sure that he was eating at least 8-10 times per day. Since he was Mr. Super-Sleeper, we were having to wake him up for his meals. We could always reference this handy app to check the last time he ate. The "log" screen provides a brief synopsis of baby's last activities:

At the bottom, the first bit of information is how long it has been since baby ate. You can set it to time from the beginning of each feeding session OR from the end of each feeding session. It also tells where baby got his food (right breast, left breast, solids, or bottle). To start a new feeding session, simply click on the picture of the bottle (I guess a picture of a boob wasn't PC) and you're taken to this screen:

Click on where baby is eating from and you're good to go. You can browse around other applications on your iPod/iPhone while baby is eating. When he's finished, come back to Baby Activity, and follow the same route to stop the feeding session or switch sides. If you're breastfeeding, when you click on the bottle again, you'll see this:

If you're bottle feeding, you have a chance to enter how many ounces of mL baby ate. If baby is eating solids, you have a chance to type in what he ate.

When Khalid was a newborn, it was also good to make sure that he was peeing and pooping often enough, so we logged his diaper changes. Clicking on the diaper icon on the "log" screen takes you here:

Click on the contents in the diaper and you're set. Again, on the "log" screen it indicates how the time of the last diaper change and what were its contents:

We stopped logging Khalid's diaper changes quite awhile ago. He has definitely dirtied a diaper or two in the last 155 days.

Sleep is also a nice thing to keep track of when you are starting a nap time routine at around three months old. Many parents base their nap time schedule on when baby naturally takes naps so it's important to log this for a couple of weeks first to get an idea of when these times actually are. Clicking on the moon icon on the "log" page takes you to this screen:

When baby wakes, you simply follow the same steps and indicate that he has woken up. Again, a brief summary is located on the "log" page:

And, again, yes, we stopped logging his sleep quite some time ago.

The baby icon on the "log" page allows you to note spit ups, burps, and "something else." The "something else" can be typed in. We never used these features but if your baby were struggling with reflux or gas, these might be helpful to note. For each activity that you enter, be it eating, diapering, sleeping, etc., you can make a personalized note. We also haven't had a need for this feature, but it's nice to have available.

After touching the "today" button at the bottom, you'll find yourself at a daily summary screen that looks like this:

At a glance, you can see everything that baby has done on any particular day. It really helps in finding patterns of eating and sleeping. We are only logging Khalid's eating right now so that is the only activity that shows up on this page for us. On this page, you can also view graphs of sleep and eating activity, email data, sync data with another iPod or iPhone, and delete different activities individually.

The "totals" button will take you here:

This was especially helpful for seeing how many times per day Khalid was eating in those first couple of months.

The newest feature of the Baby Activity application is the "diary," which, to be honest, we haven't used yet. You can log different milestones in baby's life AND include pictures. The sync feature enables you to share baby's milestones with stalkers... er... I mean... "friends and family" on facebook.

All in all... two very large thumbs up for this application.

DIY Cloth Wipes Adventure

2010-09-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

It irks me that we are still using disposable wipes with our cloth diapers. I mean, cloth wipes seem natural in our situation, right? After scouring the internet for cloth wipes, I decided it would be in our best interest if we made them ourselves rather than purchasing them from the U.S. (Of course, this is also a more economical choice--bonus) I checked out multiple wipes tutorials and finally decided to have a go at it. We have a plethora of flannel receiving blankets so using them for the wipes was a no brainer. I also managed to find some flannel-esce "diaper" flats at a local baby store. They were uber-cheap and I, therefore, had no qualm with Edward Scissorhands-ing them up. So, if you're interested, here's how I went about it:

1. First, I decided to make 8" x 4" wipes, (Most baby wipes cases are this size. 8" x 8" was another option but then we'd have to fold them. Unnecessary.). I cut two rectangles of fabric slightly larger than my desired dimensions-- 8 3/4" x 4 3/4." I discovered that this particular fabric was a little "warpy" so, I actually got better results by measuring one rectangle and using it as a pattern for its pair rather than measuring out both rectangles.

2. Then I placed the two rectangles together and pinned them down. For the printed fabrics, I made sure the print was on the inside. (Sorry, I switched fabrics for the photos because I thought the print would be more appropriate for this step.)

3. Sew. A straight stitch (or slightly crooked stitch in my case) will do. I was sure to leave a gap (roughly 2-3 inches) in my rectangle, so I'd be able to turn it inside out in the next step. (Of course, I backstitched where I began and finished sewing each time.) I discovered that leaving the gap in the middle of one of the longer sides (as shown) made the "turn and topstitch" step much easier later on. For the first few, I left the gap in the corner which became a pain.

4. After sewing, I turned the wipe inside out and pinned it once again, paying particular attention to the gap I left open. To close up the gap, I turned the fabric inward and pinned it shut.

5. Sew. For my topstitch, I decided to get a little crazy and go for the zig zag. As you can see, I'm still working on it. I just thought it was more fun for the stitch on display to be a little quirky rather than a regular old straight stitch.

6. Voila! Wipes!

Check out this 5th month old stud muffin!

2010-09-13T00:20:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Due to unforeseen circumstances with my hard drive (sad face), I'll have to move ahead with this update without a ton of pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to add them in later.

Weigh in: We didn't go to the pediatrician this month, so we're not really sure but he's definitely putting on some pounds as can be proven by his dragging parents when we carry his car seat up three flights of stairs.

Slumber: Khalid is still sleeping through the night! He's still having some trouble going down for naps during the day though. Somehow his nursery worker gets him (and the three toddlers in the nursery) to sleep for two hours (at the same time!) in the middle of the day. Austin suspects she's slipping them a little something.

Eating: This month Khalid has been eating more from a bottle given by a nursery worker as I (and Austin) have gone back to work part time. He still eats really well from a bottle and it isn't affecting his breastfeeding at all. Yay!

Diapering: Ok, so evidently as Khalid matures, so does his poo. No more can we expect the runny, seedy newborn poo when we open his diapers. In comes the pasty, thicker post-newborn breastfed poo. TMI? Just wait until he starts eating solids .... hehe

Teefers: No pearly whites yet, but we do suspect there's some motion in the gums as evidenced by his mood swings that are soothed by frozen washcloths and teething rings.

Khalid's New Tricks!

Tripod booty: Our little man is quite successful at pushing his little tushy up in the air while on his belly. I don't blame him. This is one of my all time fav sleeping positions.

Giggles!! Alas he has let out some of the cutest little giggles for the first time this month. It appears the only thing he finds funny is being tickled by Dad's beard.

Scooting (a little): Unbeknownst to himself, Khalid has actually moved around a little this month by scooting when he's on his belly. He hasn't quite figured out how to utilize this new trick to reach those out of reach necessities.... like ipods. He would probably have more success if he picked up his head while doing this.

Where's Khalid?: A new version of "peek-a-boo," "Where's Khalid?" is played by putting a blanket over Khalid's face, calling out "Where's Khalid?," and then yanking it off exclaiming, "there he is!" And.... he loves it.

Khalid hearts condensation: Our little guy has discovered condensation on the outside of our water glasses and has gained an affection for it. He can now be found trying to yank cups from unsuspecting parents.

Babbling: With the help of Baba's finger, Khalid has now learned to make a babbling noise. Every time Austin taps Khalid's mouth with his finger, he knows to start making noise. We're pretty sure this is the first "trick" he's really "learned" to do. We MUST get this on video soon because it's adorable.

Grabber: He still grabbing EVERYTHING but now with a newly developed superbaby strength and desire. Also new... he whines when he can't get something he wants... fabulous.

Falling Behind in Cyber-world

2010-09-10T02:49:00.001-07:00

by Mommy

The hard drive in my beloved macbook crashed... ugh. Thankfully my super-computer-guru of a hubster has been fervently attempting to salvage pictures, videos, and other important files and has been quite successful thus far but, still in process. Hence, I've taken a bit of a blogging sabbatical lately. It just doesn't feel right blogging on someone else's computer. Does anyone else have this issue, or is it just me? Not to mention, all my cute pictures of my number one blogging star are temporarily imprisoned on my sad sad excuse for a hard drive at the moment.

But fear not, here's what's coming up:

*Khalid's 5 month update!!

* Doing laundry... cloth diaper style

* My attempt at making cloth wipes

* Khalid's new nursery reveal

Also, if you're interested in guest blogging about cloth diapering, parenting, baby product/store reviews, birthing, pregnancy, or anything related, we'd love to share your thoughts!

Consider This: Cloth Nursing Pads

2010-08-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

If you've read this blog more than once, you've more than likely picked up on our affection for all things fluffy (a.k.a cloth diapers), but what you may not know is that our love for cloth has infected other areas of our life too. A bit at a time, we'd like to share some of those with you.

As gifts, I was given a few boxes of disposable nursing pads before Khalid was born which I was VERY grateful to have when I was waiting for my mom to bring my brand spankin' new cloth nursing pads from Megaroo's Designs. After wearing the disposables a few times, I was pretty much over the disposable option though. Let me begin by saying, disposable nursing pads have some of the most wasteful packaging I've EVER seen. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this for yourself, let me enlighten you. Inside the box you can find individually wrapped nursing pads. No, not individually wrapped PAIRS of nursing pads, but each pad is individually wrapped in plastic. After discarding the wrappers, then you have to peel off the back of the sticky part of the pad as well! Let me just stop and say that the "sticky" backing on these are pretty much worthless, therefore after about 4 or 5 times, I didn't even bother removing the backing to release the stickiness.

I get it though, some people don't mind throwing away ridiculous amounts of unnecessary garbage, but there are other faults that I found with disposable nursing pads as well. One being that they really didn't work all that well (btw, I was usually Medela brand--a highly reputable brand of breastfeeding products). Another was their lack of comfort. The last thing I needed while getting used to breastfeeding was one more thing making me uncomfortable. For real.

My last beef with disposable nursing pads is actually a problem I never had the "pleasure" of encountering but have heard of it happening. Do you know why cloth diapers are so trim? They actually contain these little chemical-ridden gel beads that help absorb wetness without having to add extra layers of fabric. Sometimes when diapers get too full, these beads can actually come out of the diaper and onto your baby's bottom. Ugh. Well, these same type of gel beads can be found in many brands of disposable nursing pads, and when do you leak the most? In the middle of the night of course as your baby starts to sleep longer stretches without meals. So imagine this. You, unsuspectingly, wake up (groggy of course) and nurse your little one, not realizing that you were not the only one leaking and your disposable nursing pads left behind little gel beads which are now in baby's mouth. Fun times?

The remedy for all this mayhem? Cloth, of course. You can find some high quality cloth nursing pads with waterproof backing (not plastic of course!), inner absorbant layers, and cute prints (even though you're the only one that will probably see them... still... cute) on the market. Many are made by WAHM (work at home moms) businesses and you can buy a size that fits your body shape well. Have I mentioned how much more affordable cloth nursing pads are? Well yeah, that too. If you're super handy with a sewing machine, you can even sew up your own. Here's a quick tutorial.

To wash my nursing pads, I simply toss them in a mesh bag for laundry delicates and either throw them in with our diapers or just add them to our regular laundry. Super simple. If switching to cloth diapers seems a like a stretch for you, how about trying cloth nursing pads? It's an easy, safer, cheaper, more environmentally conscious alternative to disposable nursing pads. Either way....Happy Breastfeeding!

Walking Toward Adoption: Checking Things Out

2010-08-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Adoption has been a topic of conversation in our relationship even before we were engaged. It is something that has hit a heart string with both Austin and I. Before moving overseas we attended an adoption seminar at a local NC church which basically sealed the deal for us. After giving birth to Khalid, we've decided to revisit a lot of our materials from the seminar, get in touch with friends who have experience with adoption, and scour the internet (yes, the entire internet) about the process. Basically, we're getting serious about bringing our next addition into our family.

Our big decisions right now include:

Should we adopt domestic or international?
Should we adopt through an agency or independently?
Should we adopt cross-racially and what are the implications of this in the culture we live in?
How in the WORLD are we going to pay for this?!

These are some major "just-getting-started" decisions, and until we move on these, there isn't much we can do. Pretty much, the only thing we've already decided is that we want our new son or daughter to be younger than Khalid.

Oh, and we bought our first book which a friend brought over for us from the States: Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families

We'll keep you updated.

Our Breastfeeding Journey: Clogged Ducts

2010-08-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

So we've been troubleshooting our latest breastfeeding problem for the last week or so. It all began when I noticed a small white spot on my breast after feeding Khalid one day. It didn't hurt, so I didn't really think anything of it. What I didn't know was that it was a milk blister that was blocking any milk from exiting that particular duct. What I also failed to realize, is how painful this can be once the milk builds up. And did it ever build up. About a week later, the pain became excruciatingly intense. I frantically scoured all of my breastfeeding resources to find out what was happening to me. I quickly ruled out anything serious such as mastitis or an abscess due to my lack of fever. Then I read about clogged milk ducts and knew this had to be it. I knew it was important to keep breastfeeding, even though the pain of breastfeeding with a clogged milk duct makes your toes curl.

After Khalid ate, I followed directions to (brace yourself for TMI) break open the milk blister with a sterilized sewing pin. I hand expressed and milk was only coming from the previously clogged milk duct. I kept this up until the milk flow ceased. Then I pumped, just to make sure I cleaned it out completely. There was still an ounce of milk backed up in there! No wonder it hurt so badly. Even after all of this, I was still incredibly sore, so I took some (breastfeeding-friendly) pain medication and finally fell asleep.

That was two days ago and the pain has finally subsided today. It still hurts when Khalid first latches but quickly goes away once he starts eating. Hurdle, cleared.

P.S. We went to see our pediatrician for Khalid's vaccinations and I intended to ask him about our breastfeeding issue. Unfortunately, the words that actually came out of my mouth were, "I think I have a clogged milk dud." Thankfully, he didn't notice my flub, or perhaps he would have prescribed some jolly ranchers and a side of snickers.

Who's That 4-Month Old Baby Over There?!

2010-07-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Our little guy has hit four months and with it has made some great strides. Here's an update!

Growth: This month Khalid weighed in at 7.1kg which is about 15 and a half pounds! His weight is almost exactly average on the growth chart for breastfed baby boys. He's 61cm long which is about 24 inches. This is a little short for his age (around the 10th percentile) which is probably why he looks like such a chunk master!

Sleeping: Khalid is a sleeping king! This month he consistently slept from 9:00pm until 4:00am, and toward the end of the month he slept until 5:30. Oh, Austin and Kayti, how DID you do it? Two magic words: bedtime routine. Khalid starts off with a lovely bath, followed by a fresh diaper and a late supper. Then we move to his bed where we read "Goodnight Moon" (classic), pray, and give goodnight kisses. He almost always goes right to sleep and when he doesn't it doesn't take him more than 15-20 minutes. Brilliant. We also started regulating his naps a little more this month. He still slumbers quite often throughout the day, but has a tougher time going down for naps than he does in the evening. Khalid has also developed some interesting sleep positions. Well, just one really. See photo.

Eating: Still eating well, obviously, Khalid shows no signs of ever having nursing issues. We haven't use the nipple shields at all this month (w00t).

Diapering: It scared me when we had to unsnap his bumGenius diapers to the middle size this month. I was worried that we wouldn't make it to potty learning with these diapers as we had originally hoped, but after some online probing, my fears were put to rest. It seems that as Khalid grows, he'll start to thin out a little more and actually go back in diaper sizes a little bit. Whew.

Khalid's New Tricks!

Rolling over: Yep, he's definitely rolling over now onto his belly and he's even rolled back once or twice. Ok... that last part isn't true. He's actually getting a little "parental guidance" in his rolling back... but he is rolling to his belly on his own!

Flying: ... in an airplane that is! Khalid took his first plane trip to Tunisia this summer and did pretty well with it. He struggled a bit on the first leg of the way home, and let me tell you, the stress of having a crying baby on a plane is WAY worse than just sitting next to one. Show some love to the next parents you see with a crying baby on a plane. They're appreciate it.

Tripod arms and finger lickin': After Khalid rolls onto his belly he now pushes himself up and makes a little tripod out of his arms beneath his chest so he can see the world. You can also see in this picture that he has found his fingers this month!

Laughs: Ok, so he really only laughed like once.... sort of. But we have great hopes that this means uncontrollable giggling is just around the corner.

Nursery time: Khalid hung out in his first nursery this month with some fellow ex-pat babies. Turns out he's really into watching the "big kid" toddlers play.

Mr. McGrabby: Khalid has been grabbing all sorts of stuff this month. He can finally get a grip on not excluding Mom's hair, his pacifier (which he can't figure out how to put back in his mouth after he's successfully upset himself by taking it out), and the velcro on his diapers (which he has yet to actually take off...thankfully).

Couch Potato in Training: So it appears that Khalid has an affection for the big screen as evidenced by the wide-eyed captivated stare that commences every time we turn on the television (or computer). We're really trying to keep our son's brain from turning to mush, but seriously, kid could really be a couch potato. In the last few weeks he's enjoyed watching Arrested Development with Dad. Maybe we'll wait a few more months to cut him off. For now, he has pretty good taste.

Teething Ring: We thought Khalid might be teething toward the end of this month. He had a couple really bad days in a row. It doesn't seem that he was cutting a tooth, but he did enjoy his first cold teething ring.

Product Review: Mei Tai (Carrying a Newborn)

2010-07-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

This one is a little late getting up here, but I've really wanted to share our love for our Mei Tai with you! We actually weren't planning to purchase a Mei Tai but were sent one by a great friend (thanks Brittney!). So, here it goes:

Product: Sasha's ABC from www.sashawrap.com
Carrier Style: Mei Tai
Hold: Newborn
Reviewer: Kayti

Our Sasha Wrap Mei Tai (pronounced "May Tie") style carrier was our exclusive newborn carrier for Khalid. He rode home from the hospital front facing with his legs "froggy style" in this carrier (no car seat in Jordan). It was perfect for hiding his tiny, fragile body from the harsh, polluted world and touchy fingers of curious passersby. When at home, we found ourselves reaching for the Mei Tai to sooth him to sleep. One major benefit to babywearing, in general, is that baby can be close to mommy or daddy's body. This helps a homesick-for-the-womb newborn feel safe and cozy.

Getting a sleeping newborn in and out of the Mei Tai we found to be super simple. Khalid often fell asleep with his legs curled up either in his bed or in our arms. So, we would tie the Mei Tai around our waist, insert baby, and finish tying up the carrier. No need to wake him!

After a few practice runs, I could actually put him in the carrier and tie it on myself without help. One thing that makes this easier with this particular carrier is the fabric. When stretched, it clings slightly to your clothes allowing you to throw both straps over your shoulders, release, and grab them from the bottom without having the entire carrier slip down.

Another plus for thie particular Mai Tei is that your baby is mostly closed off from the sides. Most Mei Tais are open on the sides. We like it closed off because it feels more protective for such a small baby.

We are hoping to continue using this Mei Tai carrier until Khalid is a toddler. Keep an eye out for more reviews as our little guy grows up!

Our 10 Favorites: Month 3

2010-07-23T02:29:00.000-07:00

by Mommy and Daddy

These are our top 10 favorite baby products so far. We've found them to be most useful!

10. Playmat: We have a tiny love brand activity mat (pictured) that we bought used for 100nis (around $25USD). It's great for baby's independent play time. Hanging toys provide not only visual stimulation but fun things to grab! Turn baby over for tummy time on this musical mat with lights.

9. Cloth Nursing Pads: Kayti uses Megaroos cloth nursing pads with PUL backing and flannel tops (not shown). She has 10 pair at $2 USD a pair (plus shipping). Cloth nursing pads are worth it because they are cheaper, more comfortable, and better for the environment than disposables.

8. Mylicon Drops: We actually use a generic brand of infant gas relief drops. Most babies suffer from gas problems in the first few months and these drops provide instant relief. There have been a number of times when Khalid is screaming, thrashing, and arching his bath only to be relieved by a few drops of this miracle medicine. It's wonderful to have on hand!

7. Bath Sponge: Bathing an infant can be difficult and filling a baby bath can be tedious. A bath sponge like the one we have (pictured here) is much more practical if you have a removable shower head. Just wring the sponge out after the bath and it dries quickly. No more filling up a tub full of water!

6. Car Seat Carrier: We use an evenflo car seat carrier (pictured). Of course, a car seat is necessary by law if you live in the U.S., but they also come in handy when you're out and about. Baby can sit and play in the carrier when you're visiting friends, at a restaurant, at the bank, etc. It can be a hassle to carry around by hand, but you can also purchase a stroller that your car seat carrier fits nicely inside of. (Strollers are impractical for us at this point, so we don't have one.)

5. Baby Carrier: We use a Moby Wrap (pictured), a Mei Tai, and a TOMY carrier. We highly recommend purchasing a baby carrier! These can be useful both in the home for soothing baby to sleep as well as out of the home for shopping, walks, and errands. Most carriers have multiple ways that baby can ride including front, side, and back holds. We recommend purchasing gender neutral carriers so both mom and dad can wear baby.

4. Play Yard: We have a Graco Pack n Play with a bassinet, newborn napper, and changing table (pictured). Play yards (as well as strollers) can be checked through at airports free of charge. This, combined with their effortless set up, makes them ideal for travel. We loved the newborn napper on our Pack n Play. Khalid used it until he was about 2 months old. At 3 and a half months old, he still sleeps in the bassinet at night. Both the bassinet and the newborn napper are equipped with vibration on our model. We found the changing table to be pretty useless as it only attaches on one side so it sags pretty bad causing baby to roll to one side. Our model also has nature sounds, music, and a light.

3. Cloth Diapers: Well we all know how Kayti and Austin feel about cloth diapers, but seriously, cloth diapers have been so wonderful for us and definitely in our top ten list! We mostly use bumgenius brand one-size pocket diapers (pictured). Occasionally we still use his prefolds which were our exclusive diaper for his first 6 weeks of life. The snappi is a Daddy-invented necessity for fastening prefold diapers.

2. Boppy Nursing Pillow: Kayti nursed for about 2 weeks before borrowing a Boppy nursing pillow from a friend and it made a HUGE difference. Her back is still thanking her. Now we own a Boppy and it is indispensable. Khalid also uses it on the floor for tummy time.

1. Pacifier: This is our #1 baby product. We started using Avent pacifiers when Khalid was 6 weeks old (it is not recommended for breastfed babies to use pacifiers before 6 weeks of age) and have not looked back. We know there is some controversy over the use of pacifiers, but Khalid doesn't seem entirely attached to it, yet it provides some relief when he's especially upset (especially in public when anxiety can run high with an upset baby). We live Avent's pacifiers because they don't leave marks around baby's face, and they come in different sizes for different sized mouths. We are planning to wean him off his pacifier around six months. More on that in a few months!

one...two...THREE months old!

2010-07-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Ok, so I realize that every time Khalid turns another month old I say, "I can't believe it," but seriously, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. Our little chickpea is growing up so quickly! So here's a month three recap:

Weigh in: Who knows?! But seriously, this little guy is becoming a little chunky monkey, and no one fails to mention it. Once again, I'm sure glad we didn't follow our first pediatrician's instructions to supplement with formula because he might have actually become a giant (which would have fulfilled Austin's initial prediction).

Sleeping: As soon as we rounded into month three, Khalid thought it would be cool to revert back to waking up every 3-4 hours at night. Growth spurt? Probably... I mean... have you seen him?! But lately he's slept some 7 to 8 hour long nights! Now, if only I could pry myself away from the internet and get in bed when he does, I might actually get a decent night's sleep myself. These long sleeps aren't regular yet, but they sure are a breath of fresh air. We've also spent the last couple of weeks trying to figure out Khalid's nap schedule. So far, we've discovered that he takes a fairly regular long nap once a day, usually late afternoon for 2-4 hours. Other than that, he takes short naps throughout the day usually an hour after he eats.

Eating: Khalid is an eatin' fool (thank you, Captain Obvious) and is nursing wonderfully now. During the day he eats every two hours unless he's sleeping. He's gotten really good at just pulling away when he's finished rather than getting irritated. I LOVE it when he falls asleep nursing. I'm certainly treasuring these moments. *sigh* I haven't been pumping very often, maybe once every week or two. Then we freeze that milk and use it when we're needing to go somewhere when it's time for him to eat and he takes a bottle in the car on the way.

Diapering: Pretty much the same as last month, Khalid is mostly wearing Bum Genius one-size pocket dipes on the smallest setting. He also wears prefolds and fitteds with covers. He's almost outgrown his XS Thirsties covers. Thirsties says they only go up to 12 lbs, but I'm sure Khalid's much bigger than 12 lbs by now. Still, no leaks from them. We're going to get all the use we can out of every diaper! He's also on the last couple of snaps of some of his smaller fitteds.

New Stuff:

Play Mat: Khalid got a play mat this month and I think he would marry it if he could. He has really become active with this thing. While at one time he would only stare at his toys, now he can be found playing intently with them for an hour at a time. (How he doesn't get bored is beyond me.)

Eating Fist: Khalid seems to think he can fit one or both fists in his mouth. He's just discovered this. Now we're waiting for him to discover if he can get just his fingers in there.

Roll over: Ok, not quite, but he's ALMOST there. He can roll half way from back to tummy. We think this is accidental as the only reason he tries to roll over is for easy-access to his fists (see previous paragraph). I can see the headlines now: Baby Develops Due to Laziness

Bumbo: Khalid is getting more and more used to sitting in his Bumbo which we're pretty excited about! He's been working on those neck muscles pretty hard.

Our love affair with cloth

2010-06-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

I'm sure I could write a huge article on all the wonderful reasons that we chose to put Khalid in cloth, but there is certainly a plethora of information out there. I wanted to post a few short and simple reasons why we chose cloth. Perhaps it will whet your appetite for more information!

1. Keeping plastic disposables out of the landfill helps me sleep easier at night. 500 years for one diaper is just too much for me to handle. Yes, we do use water to wash the cloth, but the environmental impact of the water usage is far smaller than it would be by putting that many disposables in the ground. Note: we do not use a dryer... all of our diapers are line dried

2. Cloth is cheaper! You can save thousands of dollars by using cloth, especially if you buy second-hand cloth. Check out this website! Imagine how much you can save by using your cloth on more than one little bum!

3. Did you know that disposables are full of chemicals? Most diaper rashes appear on baby bums in disposables because of the chemicals found within them. Since cloth is more natural, many cloth diapered babies never see a diaper rash.

4. Can you imagine what a disposable diaper must feel like on your bum? I sure hope that if I ever get to a point in life when I must wear diapers that someone in their right mind would put me in cloth.

5. Cloth is ADORABLE! Have you seen how cute cloth diapers are these days? Ok, let's be honest. I actually enjoy shopping for diapers more than my own clothes now. It's sad, but true.

6. Less mess. Ok, hear me out on this one. I know that cleaning cloth sounds gross, but it's really not. Breastfeeding poo can go right in the washing machine, no rinsing needed, so we just pull the diaper off, and put it in a diaper pail. Then, every other day, we dump the diaper pail in the washing machine and boom... clean diapers. I've heard some pretty nasty stories of diaper blow outs up the back of disposables. Once you get the hang of cloth, blow outs are pretty much non-existent. Khalid has never had a blow out up the back (although I've seen that he's tried by the "pattern" left in his diapers). He had a few out the legs when he was little and we were still learning how tight to put his diapers on. Now, no blow outs, hence... less mess! Beautiful.

Well, the little man himself, is rousing from his slumber so I must go. Keep a lookout for an update soon!

Such is life

2010-06-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

So it's been a ridiculous amount of time between blog posts recently, but I have TONS of pictures to show you, plus a three month update on Khalid! Right now though, WE'RE MOVING! We found a wonderful apartment on Sunday so we're in full-steam-ahead moving mode. As soon as we're settled and our internet is once-again reliable, fear not, the blogging shall resume... such is life.

Green Blog Hop!

2010-06-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

It's a green blog hop! Click on the link to join if you consider your blog to be "green."

Recipe: Orange Cranberry Scones

2010-06-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

I'm a humongo (yes, I completely made up that word) scone fan. There's no hiding my love for these triangular perfections. I recently tried a new scone recipe that I want to share with you.

Ingredients:
2c. flour
10 tsp. sugar (divided)
1 tbsp. orange zest (I used two smaller oranges. There's no science to or
ange zest... it's delicious.)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda1/3 cup cold butter
1 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. orange juice (I used the juice from two small oranges.)
1/4 c. half-and-half cream
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk

Directions:
In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda...

Wisk in 7 tsp. of sugar, orange zest and salt.

Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs...

In a small bowl, combine cranberries, orange juice, cream, and egg...

Add to flour mixture and mix together by hand until a soft dough forms.

On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times and pat dough into an 8 inch circle...

Cut into 8-10 wedges...

Separate wedges and place on a lightly greased baking sheet (I prefer a greased silicone mat)...

Brush with milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar.

Bake at 400 F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Eat. Yum.

Shaharain

2010-06-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Khalid has completed his first two months of living in this big, crazy world (yes, I realize I'm about 14 days late on this post), and he has a lot to show for it. Let's recap...

Weigh in: Khalid weighed a whopping 5.7kg (12.5 lbs) at his two month check up! Guess my breastmilk is pretty healthy (take that Dr. Zuheir!)

Sleeping: Khalid gave us a couple 5 and a half hour sleep sessions at night! Yay! Unfortunately, this caused a rude awakening to an oversupply of milk. To ease this problem, I began pumping milk in the early morning--hold that thought.

Eating: Which brings us to eating! At two months, Khalid is officially weaned off the nipple shields (yay!). His eating time has dropped significantly since we began weaning him, from around an hour or more since birth to about 20-30 minutes at two months. He eats pretty well most of the time but has become a little fussy in the evenings when he eats making breastfeeding pretty difficult for me at this time. Back to pumping milk-- since Khalid seemed to be more hungry in the evenings than in the mornings, we started giving him a supplemental bottle of the pumped breast milk after his evening meal. He would put down another ounce or two after breastfeeding! This gave Dad his first chance to feed baby. ...We were a little worried about giving him a bottle so young, so Austin attempted a syringe feeding--no dice--

--so he quickly resorted to a bottle.

Khalid did really well with a bottle and it didn't seem to affect his breastfeeding.

Diapering: Our little man is completely out of preemie prefolds (those really only lasted about two weeks). At about 4 weeks, he was fitting into his size small bumGenius diapers, and now he is in the smallest setting on his One Sized bumGenius diapers (as seen here). We are LOVING these diapers. They are super simple. We are also using some infant prefolds and fitteds with covers from time to time.

New Stuff: Smiles! (on purpose!) We're so happy that Khalid has begun smiling around two months old. Playing has become a fun new aspect of parenting for us.

Late one night, I awoke to the sound of a moaning, hungry baby. As I looked down into his crib, his eyes met mine, and the biggest grin formed on his face. MELT. I'll never forget the first time my baby boy smiled at my presence.

As you know, we have baby-strong-head on our hands who thinks it's cool to start picking up your head around two weeks old. Well, praise God, he's decided to take it easy and stick with other babies on developmental progress. At two months, he's pushing up his upper body when he's on his tummy. He doesn't hold it for very long, and he usually ends up frustrated by it though.

We also found out how much Khalid LOVES to swing! Ok, so this picture isn't showing it so much, but he really does love it. He naps in his swing at least once a day.

Khalid also started taking a pacifier this month which has been a-mazing. We held off for 6 weeks because we kept hearing they can cause "nipple confusion" for breastfeeding babes. I can't believe how much we were missing out. This thing works miracles.. seriously.

Our Breastfeeding Journey: Touring and Nursing

2010-05-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

I'm so excited to report that Khalid is nursing wonderfully at this point. He still has about two hour intervals in between feeding times (we measure from the time he's finished nursing until the time he begins nursing again). If he's up during the day, sometimes he eats about a half hour earlier, and at night he sleeps at least 3 to 4 hours at a time. Last night we had about 5 hours of sleep time! What a wonderful feeling to sleep for 5. whole. hours.

He's gone about four days without using the nipple shields. Before that, he was only using them a few times at night and a few times when we were out in public. His latch is wonderful now and it's nearly pain-free for me (save a few times when his latch gets lazy at night).

Since he's on such a good schedule, we wanted to keep that up with my mom and brother's visit so Khalid just ate wherever we were. This is pretty difficult as nursing in public isn't very appropriate in Arab culture, so we had to try to get to more Westernized or tourist areas of town. Here are some places Khalid has eaten recently...

In the Old City...

A coffee shop outside the Jaffa Gate...

In Caesarea at the Aqueducts...

We don't have pictures but he's also nursed outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We found some secluded looking steps and sat. We soon discovered that these stairs have some sort of historical significance as a tour guide motioned in our direction and about 45 tourists began taking pictures. I'm sure they'll love that one when they get home... hehehe.

Khalid has also eaten in outside the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square (twice), in the car on the way to Caesarea, at a cafe in Caesarea, at the Dead Sea, outside St. Peter's Church (Caiaphas' house), near Shepherd's Field, outside a checkpoint, and.... at home in our little nursing nook.

A Bit of At-Home Tourism

2010-05-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

This was my mom and brother's first time to our home, so of course we needed to show them some of the sights! Here's a recap in no particular order...

Mom and I at "The Tent" restaurant...

Khalid and Daddy after pastries and cappuccino at Sam Bouki...

Church of the Nativity... We definitely thought about sneaking Khalid up to the altar and backing off in astonishment saying, "oh my goodness, it's the baby Jesus!" ....
Sleeping baby...

Stopping for some shawarma...

Outside the Jaffa Gate of the Old City...

Walking in the Old City...

Chillin' at the Dead Sea...

In Caesarea, the port that Herod built in 22BC on the Mediterranean...

Walking around Caesarea...

Climbing around some ruins at Caesarea...

The fam photo in Caesarea...

It was great having Mom and Steve here for a few weeks. The hardest part about living overseas is not the inconveniences we're unaccustomed with, but instead it's being so far from family.

We're Home!

2010-05-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

After almost three months in Jordan, my mom and brother helped us cross the river to come home. As nice as it was to have a little rest time in Jordan and to see all of our wonderful friends there, we couldn't wait to get back to our home.

Khalid and Grandma at the border crossing...

Home sweet home...

We did some touring with Mom and Steve, but getting back to the day-to-day was essential.

Making some pasta in our kitchen (the room we missed the most)...

Khalid's Stuff: how many toys can we fit on the bouncer...

After we got home, we unpacked and sorted all the bins that my mom brought. Here's Khalid's loot... and this is just the clothing...

"my sweet new shoes from Grandma"...

Finally, we got back to our swing, which is the most amazing baby invention... ever....

Khalid's first carseat ride. I'm pretty sure the baby is supposed to be grown out of the first size setting on the carseat by his first ride...

Family Photos at home...

We stopped by the school to see our students. I can't post any pictures of them, but here's a message from my fifth graders...

A onesie from Grandma......and Khalid with his Dr. Seuss "Who" hair

Grandma and Uncle Steve Come for a Visit!

2010-05-30T02:30:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

On May 15th, my mom and brother flew into Amman for a visit. We had a great time showing them the Middle East and spent about 4 days in Jordan before heading home across the river. Here's a quick overview...

Grandma's here...

Uncle Steve is here...

...and they brought me a sweet hooked-up pack n play...

Olives anyone... how about other pickled...things...

Lunch after Khalid's dedication at church...

Downtown...

Daddy and Khalid at the markets...

Austin in a taxi...

Having some juice...

Doin' a little dance...

Mom trying Kanafeh... no I'm not eating it of course... it's gross...bleh...

Family Photo Shoot

2010-05-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks and kudos to Noor Renfroe for taking this ridiculously amazing shots of our family...

Evidently this cat was quite interested in Khalid...

My First Mother's Day

2010-05-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Mother's Day in our part of the world is actually celebrated in March, but since Khalid wasn't born yet, we celebrated the American Mother's Day this year. Our celebration was dinner at Chili's (yes, Chili's). Khalid sported his "Mommy Thinks I'm Cool" onesie and adorable baby jeans.

MIA

2010-05-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been so MIA lately. Between our move back across the river and having family in town, (not to mention a newborn!) there hasn't been much time for blogging. We have been taking lots of pictures though so be on the lookout for those!

New Recipe: Chicken Tetrazzini

2010-05-10T09:41:00.001-07:00

by Mommy

I've recently tried out some new recipes I found on a great blog, $5 Dinners, and wanted to share this one with you. (I thought I had taken a picture of it completed, but apparently I was mistaken. Sorry!)

Chicken Tetrazzini
16 oz. or 500g. spaghetti or linguine noodles
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut or diced into small pieces (Austin cooked two whole chickens before hand so I used most of the dark meat for this recipe rather than the breasts. Delicious!)
Salt/Pepper, to taste
4 Tbsp butter or 55g.
4 Tbsp flour
4 cups milk
2-3 carrots, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed (I didn't have any whole garlic so I used garlic powder)

1. In medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add pasta noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain and return to saucepan.
2. In large skillet, add olive oil and chicken pieces. Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute until all chicken pieces have cooked through (or if you cook the chicken before hand, just make sure the chicken is heated through). Once cooked, remove from skillet and set aside on nearby plate.
3. Next, you're going to make a basic roux. In same skillet, add butter. Let melt over medium heat. Stir in flour, creating a paste. Whisk in milk. Whisk until paste “dissolves.” Let cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, or until begins to thicken.
4. Add shredded carrots, crushed garlic and cooked chicken to the white sauce. Stir through and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until reaches desired consistency. Stir chicken and sauce into cooked noodles.

I put my finished product in a 13 x 9in. casserole dish for serving.

One month already?

2010-05-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

I can't believe our sweet little boy is already a month old. It's a strange mix of feeling like we've had him forever, and yet feeling like he's growing so fast. He's a hefty 9 lbs now which we're pretty stoked about considering his "pediatrician" told us he was having weigh issues so we should "supplement with forumla." (Notice pediatrician in quotes. He won't be our pediatrician much longer). Ha! Exclusively breastfed and still growing like a champ.... that's my boy!

Our little man has learned a new trick this month. He likes to mimic his baba (daddy) sticking out his tongue. (Of course, he looks at his mama like she's a complete idiot when she tries to get him to do it.)

We're pretty sure he's going to be the adventurous type of person. You know, the type that just jumps to see what happens. He made his first rolling attempts around two weeks and was able to turn his body around at about the same time. He also started lifting his head almost as soon as we got him home from the hospital. Now, his steering isn't exactly spot on, but he's definitely got mobility up there, not to mention super-strong hulk-like neck muscles to hold it up. He definitely gets frustrated when he can't hold his head up as long as he'd like. (I foresee us chasing after this little guy quite a bit once his figures out the whole moving around thing.)

Other one month highlights:

1. high pitched cooing after sneezing (adorable and Dad's favorite)
2. his very serious poop face accompanied by very serious baby grunts
3. super farts that make us wonder if it was really him or not
4. fuzzy, post-shower baby hair
5. giggling while sleeping
6. mysterious poo dots in his diapers
7. giving mom the bird while nursing
8. sleeping with arms straight up (everybody say "hey" "hoe")
9. sketchy growling noises coming from the bassinet
10. the leg stretch, toe curl when he hits a good spot while nursing
11. squinty-eyed, "what are you doing to me" face when faced with light
12. trying to drink the water from the shower head, rain-drop style
13. the great baby arm escape from the swaddle
14. mid-sleep baby shakes
15. the wonderfully soothing feeling when he relaxes his head on your shoulder, sighs aloud a few times, and falls soundly asleep in the comfort of your arms

Just a few shots of our adorable baby via Photo Booth (hence the poor quality).

Our Breastfeeding Journey: Take Two

2010-05-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

The serious weaning process has begun. Not off the breast of course, but off the nipple shields. Khalid is now a whopping 5 weeks old so we figured we'd go ahead and start the process. Like I said before, he'd had some mild success with it already.

Our routine is to begin with the shield, let him suck for about 2-3 minutes, and then take it off. It's hit or miss with him. Sometimes he's happy to go right along with his meal regardless of the apparatus used, but other times he creates quite a fuss (side note: the word "fuss" in Arabic actually means "fart" which makes for some oh-so-hilarious sleep-deprived jokes between Mommy and Daddy).

Sometimes, we'll go back and forth with and without the shield. He'll get a little annoyed without it, so I'll put it back on for the last 5 minutes or so. I'm thinking, he's still so young so it's more important that he's getting enough food right now than making sure he's weaned off of an undesired aid.

My biggest hurdle right now is the pain. Last week I thought I might have gotten thrush, a common yeast infection that can be transferred cyclically from mom to baby (and even to dad). Khalid showed no signs of thrush, but I had sharp, shooting pains in the breast which is a common sign. Thankfully, those pains only lasted a couple of days. So, away went the thrush scare.

Now I'm just dealing with your average soreness. Most of what I've read says that it's probably caused by the position that he's in. Well, it's pretty hard to get comfortable (for me anyway) sitting up and nursing in bed for an hour at a time. (I usually start with my legs folded but then my knees hurt, so I stretch them out, but then my butt hurts, and so the cycle continues.) So, it's difficult to worry about his position when I'm overly concerned with my position as well. Nonetheless, I've tried repositioning him. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't, so I'm thinking it has more to do with his latch. It especially hurts when I remove the shield, but again, this is when he has more trouble latching. Perhaps when he really gets the hang of latching well without the shield, the pain will be suppressed.

I've also read that this soreness can go away on it's own in just a few weeks as I start to "toughen up" so, that's what I'm hoping for at this point. Any suggestions, mamas?

Pee Pee in the Potty: Our First Stab at EC

2010-04-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Elimination Communication (EC), Infant Potty Training, Natural Infant Hygiene, Diaper Whispering: The traditional practice of becoming in tune with your baby's elimination needs (and helping them become more in tune with their own needs) in order to avoid excessive diaper usage and diaper related problems (e.g. diaper rash). It is widely used in non-Western cultures.

This is my first blog on the subject so I hereby reserve the right NOT to know it all.

Khalid has a very distinctive way of letting us know he's about to poop. I imagine most babies are similar in this way. He gets a very serious look on his face and begins to deeply grunt. Since his signals have become so obvious, we've begun testing the EC waters. We've been trying it out for about three days now and things are going well. I can not believe that we've gotten our infant to poo in the toilet rather than his diaper. The great thing we've discovered about EC is that it doesn't have to be a "all or nothing" decision (kind of like cloth diapering!). Even if we just hold him over the toilet once a day, that's something!

So far we've only used our adult toilet. One of us (Austin or I) sit on the toilet with the seat up facing backward holding Khalid underneath his thighs in between our legs. We made a "psss" sound as his cue. Of course, he hasn't learned this yet, but the idea is that, over time, he'll pick up on it and realize this is "potty time" happening. If there's one thing I'm learning about babies, it's that they like routine.

We aren't completely sold on this idea yet. It's incredibly time consuming, but since we have time for now, we're giving it a shot. After all, who doesn't want a few less poopy diapers?

Interested in Elimination Communication? Check out Diaper Free Baby. As we continue trying this out, we'll let you know about more helpful resources we come across.

Earth Day Giveaways!

2010-04-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

In honor of Earth Day, I would like to challenge you to consider changing something in your life to become more environmentally friendly. This does not have to be something huge but could still have a huge impact (if many people have the same mindset). If you're a mommy or a daddy of a little one in diapers, would you consider cloth diapering or some hybrid form? Remember, you don't have to go all cloth at once. You can start with cloth wipes, using cloth diapers during the day and sposies at night, or just using cloth at home and sposies while you're out.

Many of the Mommy Blogs I follow are offering Earth Day Giveaways. I'll be posting some of them here. Even if you don't enter the giveaways, take a look at the Earth-friendly products!

The Ecofriendly Family blog is offering two giveaways. One is for a SodaStream Fountain Jet Starter Pack to make your own soda at home saving unnecessary packaging and transport costs. The other is for a Little Green Books Starter Set including kids books that teach kids about caring for creation. They've also teamed up with Nickelodeon for some of their books!

The Moms Wear Your Tees blog is offering a giveaway from Sprig Toys. Sprig Toys offers battery-free, environmentally friendly toys. Two winners will be chosen for this giveaway. One winner will be awarded the award winning Dolphin Explorer Boat which is great for the bathtub, beach, and pool. The second winner will be awarded the Dino Adventure Rig. Head over to the blog to check out the details.

The Tales of the Wife blog is offering a giveaway for a hemp diaper insert for cloth diapers from Artsy Fartsy Foo Foo.

The Once Upon A Baby blog is offering a giveaway from Reusable Bag Reminder Kit from Bagnesia. What a great way to get started with shopping with reusable bags!

Lastly, if you are a twitterer (is that a word?) then consider joining the twitter party tonight about cloth diapering. There are LOTS of giveaways for parents considering cloth diapering and tons of information!

(I'll be updating the blog with more giveaways soon.)

Our Breastfeeding Journey.... So Far

2010-04-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Disclaimer: The contents of this post may be TMI for some, but my intention is for this series of posts to be informative, supportive, motivational, and helpful for other moms and dads and friends of moms and dads who are desiring or trying to breastfeed.

Austin and I knew from the beginning that we wanted our newest addition to be breastfed. I had heard about all the hurdles with breastfeeding--all the potential problems and I was, admittedly, a little anxious about it. What if I wasn't able to produce enough milk? What if he didn't latch well? What if there was something wrong with my milk or my body that would keep us from breastfeeding?

I nursed Khalid for the first time just minutes after his birth. He latched... sort of. He drank... sort of. We tried again later that day with the nurses' help. He didn't seem to be taking well. Our pediatrician didn't seem alarmed since Khalid was so new still. He said it didn't matter how much he was eating at this point but just that he was eating the colostrum (the nutritious liquid that comes before a mother's milk comes in). I'm still not certain how true our pediatrician's statement actually is.

(It should be noted that the hospital gave Khalid one dose of glucose fairly soon after he was born. According to the pediatrician, this was necessary. It was given by syringe, not a bottle, which is important in avoiding "nipple confusion.")

So, we took him home and continued our nursing attempts. I was pushing to get him to nurse even for 10 minutes and the nurses said he should be eating for at least that on each breast. A few days later, we had a midwife come to our apartment to help out. This was our all-time breastfeeding low. Khalid wouldn't latch at all and basically cried the entire time. I underestimated how emotional this would be for me, and I cried as soon as the midwife left our apartment. She did offer some suggestions for us. The first one was that we purchase "nipple shields" (mentioned in a previous post) which are basically pieces of silicone that would help him latch better. Her other suggestion was that I use a breast pump until he latched better. At this point, he really just needed to eat, especially after discovering his high bilirubin levels.

Admittedly, I was pessimistic about these options. My emotions got the best of me (and perhaps the sleep deprivation as well), and I just felt awful. Later that afternoon, we went to the hospital so they could test Khalid's bilirubin level once again. On the way in, we stopped at the hospital store and purchased a set of nipple shields. The nurse sterilized them for us, and I found a quite place to nurse.

I can not even begin to describe how thrilled we were when Khalid latched and began eating vigorously!! My eyes began filling up with water. We were overjoyed to see him eat so well! Since then, Khalid has been eating an average of 35-40 minutes each session, and often eating for 45 minutes to an hour! Because of his Jaundice, we're having to feed him frequently (about every 2-3 hours).

Nipple shields are a great option for us right now, but we know they are not a long-term solution (our mid-wife suggested that they would slow my milk production). For this reason, I will sometimes stop Khalid mid-meal and see if he'll latch without it. To our surprise, he ate for nearly ten minutes the other day without the shield! We didn't expect him to be able to achieve this so early, so it was completely unexpected!

Breastfeeding is quite important to us. In these first few weeks, we've been pressured by our pediatrician as well as nurses to supplement with formula or glucose which is very common in this culture. We realize there are many cases where this is necessary, but we are so glad that we stuck through some of our initial issues with breastfeeding. It has been difficult and sometimes emotional, but worth it. Our goal is to exclusively breastfeed Khalid until six months. Thanks for rooting for us!

Check out this video from CBS about breastfeeding.

My Birthday: A Note From Khalid

2010-04-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying, my mom's tummy is a glorious piece of creation. It was so warm and cozy and I loved it in there. That said, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided I would see what this whole "world" thing was about a little early.

My adventure began on Monday, March 29th when my muscular home (aka Mom's uterus) started squeezing now and again. Silly Mom thought these were just a false alarm, even the fairly strong one that hit when she and Dad were playing Settlers of Catan at Uncle Keith and Aunt Christi's house that evening. I decided to wait until Mom and Dad were home around 10:45pm before I really kicked things into gear. I was ready and my home was contracting more often (about 4-5 minutes apart) and for longer periods of time (about 45 seconds long). Mom and Dad were a little nervous that things were moving along so quickly. After all, we had only been home for about three hours at this point. Like I said, I was ready.

So Mom and Dad called my other Aunt Christi at about 2:15am to take us all to the hospital. They still weren't entirely convinced they would be staying since they were pretty new at this whole "birth" thing. Upon arrival, the doctor at the hospital checked us out and said my exit door was about 3cm open. Yep, we were movin' alright. Mom and Dad got to work.

By early the next morning, we were at 5cm! Then... well.... I got a little nervous. Everything was happening so fast, and I wasn't sure I was that curious after all. Hours passed. I also decided not to drop down. It was just cozy in there! Can you really blame me?! Finally, the doctor and Mom and Dad decided to break Mom's water. They thought that would get me to drop down. Ha! I'm such a rebel... I refused! Hours passed, and it finally opened to 6cm. Hours passed. Barely over 6cm
.

Around the 14 hour mark, the doctor started talking about cutting Mom open to get me out. Well, she and Dad just weren't having that. My Dad was so awesome, fending off the doctors and letting Mom and me work at it some more. Time passed and Mom and Dad were doing great, but I just wasn't so sure I was ready anymore. At about 24 hours, the doctor was ready to cut Mom open or for us to leave the hospital. Dad called a midwife who suggested we try a medicine called Pitocin which was supposed to speed things up but also make things a lot more intense for Mom and me. They decided to go for it to avoid the doctor cutting Mom open.

Wow. Things got a little crazy for the next few hours. Mom was in lot of pain, and she wasn't managing it quite as well as before. It was a crazy couple of hours. We were all getting exhausted and after two hours, the door still wasn't open enough for me to make my exit! Mom and Dad finally made the decision to have some pain medication. It had been 26 hours. The first 24 were bearable for Mom, but these few hours on Pitocin were just too much and, she needed her energy to push me out when we finally got to that stage.

Mom finally got some rest with the pain medicine, but my exit was still only 8cm open and my heart rate was slowing down. I saw how tough things were getting for Mom and Dad so I decided to drop down. This allowed the doctor to offer the option of going in and pulling me out with a special baby vacuum. After all the "cutting open" talk, Mom and Dad were happy to hear this option and readily agreed, so we went into the operating room (just in case anything went wrong and they had to go get me from Mom's tummy).

Mom and Dad were pretty nervous but, I was ready at this point. I just wanted to meet my parents! Mom pushed about six times and the doctor was able to get me out! I was pretty chill upon entering the world. I didn't cry right away, until they started cleaning me off. Dad helped me detach from Mom by cutting my food cord, but I still hadn't opened my eyes yet. Then I saw him--this dark-haired, bearded man with a camera looking over me with all the love in the world. Yes! This was him! THIS was my Daddy! He walked over with me when they laid me in my Mom's arms for the first time. He looked over us, stroking Mom's brow as she kissed my arms and face. We made it. Thirty hours later, it was finished...

...and then there were three.

Cloth Diapering a Newborn: Take One

2010-04-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Thanks to those who have been really supportive in our decision to cloth diaper our son. I'd like to share our thoughts on cloth after diapering our newborn for a week. For his first 36 hours, Khalid was in disposies at the hospital. (They were doing the diaper changing, and we were exhausted, so we didn't argue!) As soon as we brought him home, Khalid was in preemie sized prefold diapers using the "Angel Wing" fold and a snappi to hold it shut along with size XS Thirsties brand covers.

It's been successful! We can't understand why parents wouldn't cloth diaper. Many people suggested that prefolds would be difficult to use with middle of the night sleep deprivation, but it really hasn't been that bad (and we've had some pretty hefty, explosive poos). He seems super comfortable in his dipes, they really aren't that much more difficult to manage than disposables, and we haven't had a leak yet. We don't have a diaper sprayer here in Jordan so we've been using the shower head which detattaches and stretches to the toilet. Spray the poo in the toilet, flush, rinse a little more in the sink (overkill, I know), put the diaper in the ziplock with other dirties, and wait until laundry day. Simple.

In the last day, we started using some of his other diapers: Happy Heiny's Mini-One-Size and a few WAHM (work-at-home-mom) fitteds with Thirsties covers. He's pooped and peed in all of these and all have held up well. No leaks! The Happy Heiny's were especially simple. These are pocket diapers which mean they have an insert that slides into the diaper that can be pulled out for washing, but they look and act just like a disposable otherwise. The prefolds are the most "difficult" diapers we have for him, so it only gets easier from here as far as diaper-type goes.

The only difficulty we've had this week has been getting our laundry routine down. We've now settled on running the diapers once on cold with soap and then one cycle warm without soap (this second cycle will get all the soap out of the diapers from the first load). It took us awhile to figure this out and to figure out how many loads we would need to do. Since Jordan has a water shortage, we have a limited supply of water for the week. We ran through our tank in four days this week and the pipes open up once a week. Thankfully there is a reserve of water for the building so we're doing alright now. We're thinking next week will be much better now that we've figured it out a little. We were also a little worried about breastfeeding poo yellow stains. After a little online research, we discovered that drying the diapers in sunlight works fabulous. No trace of poo on our white diapers!

Yay for cloth diapering newborns!

Khalid is here and healthy!

2010-04-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

by Mommy

Enter stage right: Austin Khalid Young

Born March 31st and 4:45am weighing in at 3.7kgs or 8lbs 2oz and measuring 51cm or about 21 inches, our hands are full of this newest Young who is now nine days old... and counting. We brought Khalid home from Farah Hospital on Thursday, April 1st. He still wasn't eating really well, but his pediatrician didn't seem worried.

Some friends of ours noticed the yellow coloring of his skin on Friday and suggested we have his Bilirubin (TSB) level tested because he may be Jaundice. So, that afternoon, we went back to Farah and had his level tested. They were in the normal range but we needed to return to see if they were rising. This was the important factor. On Saturday, his levels shot up about 3 points putting him out of normal range. Thankfully, he started eating better that afternoon.

Small tangent: We had a midwife come to our apartment to help Khalid and me with breastfeeding since he didn't seem to be doing so well with it. We had been told at the hospital that it might be difficult for him due to the shape of my breasts, but hadn't been given any further suggestions. Praise God, our midwife suggested something called "nipple shields." These are small silicone pieces made to protect mommies from aggressive eaters, but they helped Khalid get a solid latch. He's eating like a champ now!! Hope this tidbit helps another mommy out there.

Back to the story...

Since Khalid was now eating very well, the pediatrician was certain that he would work the Bilirubin out of his system easily. He informed us that the level would certainly go up another day but we were looking for it to plateau by Monday. It did! His level went up to about 16 (19-20 is the danger zone), but began descending by his check up on Wednesday. Yay for Khalid!

The most difficult part of all of this, besides the unknown of his Bilirubin level, was hearing him cry every time the nurses drew his blood. Though they took him out of the room to do it, we could still hear him down the hall. I can not imagine if our little Khalid had a serious medical condition, because I almost lost it every time I heard him wail. Now, it's one thing when he's crying because of a wet diaper or sleepiness, and it's another thing when we know it's because he has a needle in his foot. I can foresee this part of motherhood being very emotional for me.

Book Review: Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way

2010-03-13T00:55:00.000-08:00

Text: Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way (revised edition)
Author: Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg
Reviewer: Kayti

Overview: This book is written by a trained Bradley Method instructor and is intended to be read alongside Bradley childbirth classes. Unfortunately, these classes are not available where we live. The Bradley Method of childbirth is also known as "husband-coached childbirth," therefore much of this book is addressed toward the husband or coach. It deals primarily in relaxation-based pain management.

Part I: Getting Ready
The first nine chapters of this book are dedicated to general topics for preparing for birth during early and mid-pregnancy. Covered topics include nutrition, choosing a doctor, and choosing a childbirth teacher. There is also a very informative comparison made between the Bradley Method and Lamaze. I found it pretty heavily against Lamaze, although this can be expected from someone promoting a differing method of birthing. The last two chapters in this section were particularly helpful. Chapter eight is "The Mechanics of Labor and Birthing." The author walks the reader through three stages of labor and clearly describes, in detail, how the body works in understandable layman's terms. This chapter fascinated me as I marveled at how well designed the female body is for giving birth! What an Architect! The last chapter in this section, "Exercises: Getting Your Body Ready for Birthing" provides step-by-step instructions for a few simple exercises pregnant women can regularly do to prepare for birth.

Part II: The First Stage of Birth
The next six chapters of the book pertain to laboring. The main focus and mantra of the Bradley Method is: RELAXATION. What I find particularly helpful in this book are the "practice exercises." For each section, the author explains what the body is or could be doing during labor, then how the birthing mother should react in theory, and then clear, practical instructions for the mother and the coach to practice. The author provides a methods and positions for relaxation in this section.

Part III: The Second Stage of Birth
These four chapters mainly discuss the pushing stage of birth or delivery. Chapter sixteen gives very practical advice on a few pushing positions, breathing instructions for the pushing stage, and exercises to practice pushing contractions. It should be noted that there are many graphic photos in this section of the book. In this section you will also find a separate chapter devoted to alternative positions for the pushing stage, information about pushing twins, and breech birth. Chapter eighteen breaks down the different drugs often used during childbirth. Of course, since the Bradley Method is a natural childbirth method, the author has an ax to grind with the use of drugs during childbirth, but it is, nonetheless, very informative. Chapter nineteen is devoted to rehearsing the second stage of labor and has various exercises to do so. It also includes a short bit on the third stage of labor, expulsion of the placenta.

Part IV: Controversies in Childbirth
This section covers the episiotomy, ceasarean surgery, IVs, inducing labor, and other forms of medical intervention. The author explains the over and unnecessary use of many of these medical procedures. Chapter twenty-three provides numerous questions for your physician as well as the author's opinion on what his/her answers should be. The last chapter of the book details breastfeeding, which, to be honest, I did not finish since I have an entire book to read about breastfeeding.

Things I loved about this book:
* The practical exercises
* The, very frequent, "to the coach" sections--loved how much the husband is incorporated into the process! This book is clearly not written just for women.
* The clear explanation of the anatomy and function of the body during childbirth
* The clear diagrams accompanying explanations
* The organization of the book

Things I wasn't crazy about in the book:
* The instillation of fear of the hospital--could have been a little more balanced here
* Super-graphic photos--although helpful, some were a little unnecessarily over-the-top