Scrapbooking Dilemmas

Tonight I am invited by friend JA, a science teacher at my school, to scrapbook at Culvers! A friend of hers reserved the back room from 3-9 for our pure scrapbooking enjoyment! I can't wait! Not only does it allow for some M-Daddy time, but I can get some pages done! Woohoo! I organized some of the pictures I had printed a long time ago (Thanksgiving, Christmas, baby showers, etc.). THEN I got to February. What happened to a few pictures here and there? MVJ has single-handedly taken over our photo directory. So here-in lies the dilemmas. I am making her her own scrapbook, so how many photos of her should be in the "family" album? I mean, she is the center of our universe right now, but I printed 115 pictures at Sam's yesterday. I don't think ALL of them should be in our family album... should they? They ARE so cute. . . . . And then in her album, I need ideas. Should I stick with chronological order, like I'm used to doing in my other albums? Or should I try some themed pages (think "friends!", "bathtime!", "new outfits"!)?? I can tell you one thing... I'm excited to try out my new cricut for some perfect titles! (It always takes me a few tries to merge new "toys" in with my scrapbooking!)

Googled

JJ and I took a trip out west to the J Ranch to visit for the first time since miss MVJ made her appearance in the world. We had a fabulous visit (as always), even if CPJ didn't let me play his wii fit. On the way home, JJ wouldn't let me put on the radio, and it was fabulous. We had conversation after conversation. I don't know if I've chatted that much with him in a long time! : ) We also got into singing some of our favorite songs. When we got home, this is what I googled, as a result of our conversations/song lyric-forgetting:

*The Highwayman Lyrics --- we had bits of pieces of the first three stanzas, but could not remember what the fourth person's occupation was.

*Info on the Highwayman --- we had three of the four singers, but who was that fourth one? Kris Kristopherson, that's who, according to wikipedia. Did you know the person who wrote it, Jimmy Web, wrote it after a dream? Oh, and it's supposed to be about a soul with four different incarnations in different places in time and history.

*Oh My Crafts --- they were having a Memorial Weekend sale, and of course I couldn't pass on that! JJ ok'd me for two new cartridges and I can't wait for my BIG PROJECT... I'll let you know more about it if it's successful! : )

Everyone Poops

... but especially MVJ

RETURN of the Poopetraitor. Ugh. I know you don't want to read about MVJ's bm's day after day, but seriously. Such is the life of a new momma I guess. Last night at like 4:30 (M's first wake-up -- I'll take it! We're getting oh so much closer to that target of sleeping through the night.), when Mommy was a bit bleary-eyed, M ate like a champ. Then that familiar sound of her filling her pants. Uncle CPJ knows what I'm talking about now! I waited a while. It's a tricky balance -- enough time for her to empty in her diaper, but not too much time that her bum gets diaper rash OR that the diaper spills over. I got up to change her. She has basically fallen asleep in my arms (little tricky kiddo), so I gently lay her down and start my diaper changing routine. As the cloth hits her bare skin, she squirms to life. I clean her up and as I swap out dirty diaper for clean, she poops. A lot. On the changing pad. I lift her up to clean her again and try to wipe the pad enough to get by until I can grab the stain stick. I put a receiving blanket under her so I could put the new diaper on without it getting smeared in poo on the outside. She poops again. I start getting frustrated. I fold over the receiving blanket and clean her off. She poops again. UGH. I could only laugh. What else was there? I get her cleaned and the diaper ON, finish nursing and put her to bed. Praise the Lord that she fell back asleep as I stain sticked the receiving blanket and her pj's (innocent bystander). Don't let me start in on what happened when we went to school on Tuesday -- just let me say that I RAN OUT of wipes... Oh, and check out the SUPERcute pics from school on facebook!!

Tidbits of Advice: The Cons

Having a baby is seriously the best thing ever in the world. When I think of that day all I can do is smile. I feel like Wonder Woman and it resulted in this absolutely perfect little thing! Buuuut, it isn't ALL roses and sunshine. Let me tell you the MOST annoying thing about childbirth I have found thus far. I am losing all my hair!!! It is coming out in clumps! SO disgusting! I honestly have to go through my hair before I shower because our drain gets clogged like none other. I could spend ten minutes combing through it with my fingers and still come back with loose strands. ICK! I sleep with my hair tied back because it gets all over my pillow and bedding. I have even found hair strands on my little girl! : ( I sometimes have to pull them out of grip if she's been up to my shoulder because hair strands have fallen on my shoulder/back. I really hope this phase gets over SOOOOON.

Oh J-y-J

Our good friend JBP spent a few days with us visiting. He is an air traffic controller, so his "weekend" is Tuesday and Wednesday. We went to Star Trek (and, gasp, had our first babysitter!). Here are a few fun quotes of J's time with us:

1) JBP on my cricut: "A scissors costs $5."

2) JJ on JBP's Guitar Hero abilities: "That's not the way I remember the song..."

3) JBP reminiscing on a get together with M and TAF: "FIVE TA, FIVE!"

4) JJ in the middle of a slew of Chuck Norris jokes: "Did you know CN is a big conservative?" (JBP: No... why??? --- waiting for the punch line.) "Yup, he is. That's it. It wasn't a joke."

5) JBP on our nickname for MVJ: "Did you know that Chi-chi is slang for boobs in Spanish?" JJ: "Well, I guess it still works. She likes boobs."

Tidbits of Advice: Nursing

Now again I can only use the disclaimer that this is my experience. I know not everyone is able to be home all day or produce milk or even not everyone's baby takes to nursing. Ok, with that said, here are my tips on nursing:

*Try to get that baby hooked up as soon as possible. Miss MVJ was a natural and took to it right away, which probably aided in my milk coming in shortly thereafter.
*Use your lactation consultant! She taught me different holds (what?!), how often I should be nursing, what was normal, etc. She also gave me some samples of lansinoh cream.
*I used lansinoh cream quite a bit in the first few weeks, and now only occasionally because I'm not usually sore very much anymore. (Oh -- that was another thing on our list from our first shopping trip!)
*Prepare to pump -- even in the first few days. I felt just miserable because I was so full all the time. Pumping not only took away the pressure, but also stored up some milk for MVJ's first bottle experience and for when Mommy is out of the house.
*Get a good nursing cover (or two) -- my Mom made mine! They are perfect for feeding on the go or for when company is over. It took me a few tries to get comfortable with it, but now I feel somewhat like an old pro... : )
*So I don't know if this is normal or not, but every time I nurse, the other side starts leaking. So whenever I nurse, I always have to have a burp cloth on the other side.
*There is some debate over this, but I've found that I just nurse on one side until she's done. Sometimes after burping, she'll go to the other side, but sometimes it's just one side at a feeding. You can also do like 5 minutes on one side, switch and keep going like that. Whatever works for you!
*Chi-chi is just getting into a routine, but before she would go two hours at a time up to like five hours at a time in between feedings. It was quite convenient that I could be with her all the time to just be on her schedule.
*Nursing pads : there are the convenient disposable ones or economical/"green" reusable ones -- I have both -- the reusables are easy to just throw in the washer to clean. I use the disposables when I travel. Also, for the first probably two months I had to wear my nursing bras/pads to bed because I was still trying to get in sync with MVJ's needs.

New Standard of Clean

As a Mommy of a relatively new baby, I've found that I have a new standard of clean. Basically, if I don't smell, I'm good. I guess I'd rather not have poo smeared on me either. It's so true that MVJ is sure to be dressed to the 9's and it's extraspecial if I've showered!

The other day I was holding MVJ and suddenly, sniff, sniff, I realized she stunk! Oh man, I don't want her to be the smelly kid in class, so I checked her out more closely. She didn't appear dirty and hadn't recently spit up. I went to wash her face, when I realized it wasn't her. It was me! I had old spit-up on my shoulder and smelled like sour milkies. Oh man, any bets on how soon into starting back at work I'll show up with a burp rag or spit running down my shoulder??

No lessons PLEASE!

Our upstairs neighbor BB always teases that her kids are going to teach MVJ a lesson or two so that she keeps us on our toes. We love your children dearly, BB, but please, please no lessons! Here are a few of the bad things little miss JB and mister EB could teach my sweet, innocent little thing:

How to --
1) climb on the furniture to try to get out the window.
2) climb up the shelves in her closet.
3) get things out of the refrigerator (and hide them in her room -- like eggs!).
4) take off her diaper and smear poo around the room!
5) balance on the foot of brother's bed and climb up the dresser.
6) open up her piggy bank to dump coins out for little brother to play with.
7) play with the potty in big sister's potty chair.
8) break the lightbulb in the lamp that was "out of reach" on the far end of the dresser and play with the broken glass.
9) open up locks on the front door to wander around the hallway.
10) run from Mommy at the mall.
11) dump out ALL the toys in her room before bed each night.

I'm sure there are more, but truly there are great things the B children know how to do too! The naughty list is just way more astonishing!

Hi-Tech Rummage Sale'n

I've been out rummage sale-ing three times so far this season and have decided I need to quit now for a while! We DON'T NEED ANY MORE STUFF! In fact, I'm also putting stuff together to give to our Church for their rummage sale! But, it's fun to get out. Fun to walk around. Browse through stuff. Buy cute things for my daughter! Lately I've really gotten into it. This is my standard preparation: 1) I go on our work email -- there are always TONS of rummage sales listed around this time. 2) I write down addresses of worthwhile sales (i.e. baby stuff). 3) I go to our newspaper's online site, where I browse through their lists of rummage sales. 4) I mapquest the addresses. 5) I order the addresses in a neat little route. 6) I bundle Chi-chi and off we go!

Today, I ended up disregarding my plans when I realized that there was a whole neighborhood of sales. So, off we went, and this time I even pulled out the stroller and we strolled along the neighboorhood checking out the deals. I didn't score too much -- there was a lot of baby boy clothes this time! After the neighborhood sale, I decided to hit up one more sale that promised lots of good stuff. I found it and found out that this sale was hot the day before and was mostly picked over. Boo. I got out my Garmin and hit "home". As I drove around in a seemingly out of the way pattern, I had a flashback to The Office when Michael and Dwight are driving with their GPS navigation. The voice tells them to take a right, and Michael all of a sudden veers to the right (nevermind the correct right turn just ahead) and drives straight into a lake as Dwight yells, "No! I think it meant the right up ahead! Wait! You're going to go right into the water!" Michael decides the technology is out to get them. It just cracked me up as I actually got right up to the river just south of Cabela's.

Crafting to the MAX!

Prepare to be jealous. That's right ladies. I am the proud owner of a CRICUT EXPRESSION!!! Woohoo!! My parents decided to get me one for Mother's Day/my bday/etc! It came in the mail yesterday and I am so. so. so. excited! I have three cartridges (two that came with it: Accent Essentials and Plantin Schoolbook and then a different school one). I found this site: Oh My Crafts! and it seems to have the best deals around. JJ mentioned that I should get a case for it or something. "Don't worry, dear husband," I told him. "That's what you're getting me for my birthday!" My bff, TAF, already has one and whenever she visits, she has been kind enough to bring hers along! Now she'll just need to bring all of her fabulous cartridges. Oooh ahhhh oooh ahhhhh... I can't wait to get to it!

Tidbits of Advice: Post Labor Must Haves!

I was in the hospital for five days, so I had to rely on things JJ brought me from home and things they gave me at the hospital. When we got home, my Mom volunteered to babysit (we really had to twist her arm!) so we could make an "essentials" Target run. This is what we bought (or remembered we needed at some point soon after we were home):

*Easy put together food -- and my dad sent along a huge "vat" of animal crackers from Sam's Club -- these proved to be PERFECT for late night feedings (for baby AND me!)
*Iron Supplements (I needed to whip my hemoglobin back into shape)
*A pack of newborn outfits (who knew our little peanut would be such a little peanut?? We found we prefer snaps over zippers -- for quick diaper changes, you can just unsnap what you need rather than taking off the whole outfit.)
*Batteries for the swing!


Now for the fabulous "feminine" post delivery products!:
*Breast pads (it takes a while to get adjusted to how much the baby needs!)
*Milk storage bags (to freeze pumped milk)
*Cold packs for your breasts (ouch, it gets painful for a few days -- I got ones that could be heated or cooled -- these came in handy later when I developed mastitis)
*Witch Hazel pads (sometimes labeled for hemorrhoids) -- trust me -- it's embarrassing buying them, but they will help heal and soothe your bottom!
*Light flow period pads (it takes a while for the flow to stop...)
*Dulcolax (as the commercial says - it doesn't make you go, it just makes it easier to go... -- you don't want to have to push too much especially if you need stitches, and the iron wasn't helping my numba twos either!)
*Dermoplast (it's a spray that can help take the sting away as your stitches heal --- another quick and easy pain reliever they used at the hospital was to fill a newborn diaper with ice -- the diaper soaks up the water and fits perfectly uhhh... on that area -- JJ still teases me that I had to borrow some of MVJ's diapers)

Happy Mommies' Day

My first Mother's Day! Wow! It is neat to have joined the ranks of motherhood. I feel unworthy and so blessed. MVJ woke up for good around 8 am and I gave her a speech about being nice to Mommy. She just smiled and smiled. It was the perfect present from her! JJ gave me the necklace I've wanted since I saw it. While JJ is an awesome hubby, don't get the wrong impression ladies... I did send him the link to the exact necklace I wanted! Then at Church I just cried when Pastor P described the transformation his wife had becoming a mother. It just brought back happy memories. Then, they honored the oldest Mom (a sassy little thing!) and the newest Mom (who would've been me, but I suddenly got the shysies) and a special Mom who is a foster Mom and single parent.

Then we got ready to head to the park for our first big grill out of the summer! YAY! We surprised AO (what cool initials!) with a bday party bash -- hubby BO (oh dear... not the coolest initials) and I schemed for a while. AO was mad --- [we're going to the park? To meet JJ and EJ? No. EJ didn't call me. She would've called me. Well, she called me at work. No she didn't.] : ) Oh yes, yes I did. YAY for surprises! We got to meet BO's sister AO (who had just graduated from UND Law School!) and hang out with lots of good friends! Even the C's randomly stopped by!! IC is getting so big! What a little cutie! She had to check out all the babies and then they were off to scope out the dog park to see if it's ready for their li'l guy. Yeah... their little GREAT DANE. Yipes! : )

I didn't even need to hit up the free stuff at TCBY or Dairy Queen!! Can you believe it? It was that great of a day.

Comment away!

I'm learning more and more that my love language is words of affirmation. So. Give me some love! Tell me if you love or hate my post. Tell me if you agree or disagree. Share a similar funny story or one completely off topic. I added the "anonymous" comment ability - so even if you don't have a google account, you can still comment.

Do it.

Just some stats

3 = the number of months old my daughter is today! Wowwie wow wow!

>$20 = total amount I spent at rummage sales this weekend

13 = number of outfits I bought for MVJ

3 = number of pairs of shoes I bought for MVJ

1 = number of toys I bought for MVJ

1 = number of toys given to me for free when the seller found out it was MVJ's 3-mo. bday!

0 = number of things I bought for JJ/I/the house

12 = number of items I already checked off my to-do list! (I got a little excited yesterday!)

7 = number of hours MVJ slept in a row last night (w00t!)

6 am = time JJ worked this morning

Spring Cleaning

I was telling JJ the other day that I had planned to get so much more done while on maternity leave. The time just goes so quickly! I feel like I haven't just been sitting around like a lump either! But, it's time. Time to do a little heavy cleaning. I love lists, so I came up with every little tiny thing I'd like to do. The list currently has 48 to-do items on it. My goal, and since I'm posting it here, hopefully I can stay accountable, is to do at least three things per day (in addition to the norm. stuff I need to get done - dishes, laundry, etc.). Some are rather big jobs and some are teeny tiny. I know they are all doable and my goal is certainly manageable. For example, one of my "to-dos" is to go through my shoe collection. (Ugh.) One is to clean all of the window treatments. (Double ugh.) But then also - switch out summer/winter clothes -- that's always a fun one for me! Or: organize the bathroom cabinet -- yay! I love organizing.

MVJ's True Identity

*Please note that we do realize MVJ will grow up and think we are huge dorks.

Lately we have been trying desperately to move MVJ through this phase of crying. We're not sure if she is sick, just going through a phase, or is just becoming a naughty child. This morning a calming bath did the trick until she had a small fit that was only cured by feeding her while walking around. Duh Mommy, how did you not figure that one out sooner? We ended up giving her a little baby tylenol and she is sleeping soundly in her room. I swear JJ gave her a little under her dose!! : ) So all of this has caused us to ponder MVJ's true identy. Here are two suggestions JJ has offered:

1) Baby Wolverine: She quickly grows "claws" and her "wounds" (though self-inflicted) heal rapidly. She unleashes her beserker rage and has superstrength (neck control, kicking/punching abilities).

2) Baby Jedi: She senses exactly when we think about putting her down. She changes our minds quickly through her mind control abilities (and supersonic scream!).

New Batch of Kiddos!

I've been going to school quite a bit lately in preparation for next year. I can't believe it's that time again! I'm sad that my maternity leave is coming to an end. : ( I know I still have the summer, but I just have a feeling that will fly by as well! But, I AM excited that this morning we divvied out kids. We tried our best to balance kiddos, balance "crazy" parents, put kids on the same team that work well together and split those who should be apart. It is lots to consider and of course it's not an exact science, but we do our best. Mr. B, team leader, was there to lend a hand (maybe more there for the muscle?). When he heard "works hard", "good attitude", "tries his best", etc. that student magically came to our team... funny how that works! : ) I have a total of 16 kids next year and am looking forward to a smaller group. I will also be working with a new sp.ed. teacher -- Mrs. KB is my new counterpart! I'm excited to work with her, but sad that DJ will be moving to 8th grade. I know, I know, right down the hall, but he sure was a great guy to work with! There are two open spots in sp. ed. at my school and I sure hope that our amazing RT, LH, snags one of them. I really should say I hope my school snags LH!

Please tell me this is just a phase...

Our sweet little girl has been a crying mess lately. Ugh. At times there seems to be no soothing her - although walks in the stroller or rides in the car (as long as there is NO stopping) seem to help at least. Bouncing her almost vigorously is a solution too, albeit a weird and inconvenient one. She seems to follow exactly the pattern for growth spurts laid out for us by Altru, and guess what folks, she is 12 weeks old!! That's right, we almost have a three month old! Can you believe it? We can't either. So anyways, at those times she seems a bit fussier and eats like a feign. Although lately she'll be SOOO hungry, but works herself up so she can't settle to eat, which leaves both baby and Mommy frustrated. Thank goodness for her sling -- she seems to fall asleep in no time when I throw her in it and bounce for a bit. Apparently baby MVJ is concerned with Mommy and Daddy's fitness levels and wants us to keep moving!

Tidbits of Advice: Must Have #1 (Shout!)

Feliz cinco de mayo! Or cinco de maja (it's my friend from high school, MFH's bday today too!).

I'm just learning what I actually use/what actually works, so this one will be a work in progress!

I have found one thing so far that I absolutely couldn't live without. A good clothes stain remover!! I really should take before and after pictures sometime. The one I happen to use is Shout - and it is grrrreat! It has a little scrubby head, so I squeeze a little on the poor victimized piece of clothing and the scrub. It can even sit like that for a day or two. Before I started using Shout, I would've thought many of the outfits MVJ pooed on (including some of mine!!) were lost causes.

Facebook Fast

I have officially joined a group on facebook that is fasting from facebook from one week. To be clear I don't think facebook is bad (or "the devil" as BIL CPJ calls it!), but I think my overuse of it is! I believe I have an easily addictive personality. I seem to jump on board things easily. This is worrisome! So for this whole week, my job is to avoid facebook and be more productive in other areas of my life. Say my prayer life for example. My reading Scripture life. My being a good mom life. (Speaking of that... my little bundle of joy was up just about every two hours last night... and peed through two outfits while changing various times in the middle of the night...).

Checking facebook is such a natural thing for me. I've had three "urges" so far. We went to Church yesterday and then headed to the Bible Study group we've joined that meets during the 10:30 service. Chi-chi (I have no idea where this nickname came from, but it seems to fit my spunky daughter's personality to a t!) was ready to eat, so I decided to head to the "breastfeeding/changing room". On the way there we saw the study leader, but he was talking to a group of people, so we just kept going. After MVJ was all fed and changed, we headed back to the room where we meet, but no one was there. Strange. On our way home, I was like, Oh! But I'm friends with the leader's wife on facebook! I can just ask her about it there... This is the communication tool I love about facebook (but has taken away from the direct contact I used to have... I even use my cellphone less).

The second time came when I happened to be thinking about a friend from jr. high. We recently became friends on facebook, and I was thinking that I hadn't checked out where she's working, her current religious views, things she enjoys doing now, etc. Yup, this is the facebook stalking part of my addiction.

The third time was when I realized I had a ton of new pics from visiting in Fargo and my recent trip to the Bizzo. I LOVE sharing pictures this way and love checking out other people's pictures as well.

The Bizzo

Bizzo. Oh, dear Bizzo. I enjoy Bismarck. I at least used to know my way around and it just feels so homey and familiar. So, last night I got home and my Mom and I decided to pick up my Grandma together. She was waiting in her usual spot by the window with my Grandpa. She looked. Looked again. Elbowed my Grandpa. They're both looking. I don't think it sunk in until I was in their house with MVJ. They were SO excited! Then at the Church my Grandma had to take MVJ around to every table. Lots of oohing and aahing ensued. She was the only baby there and got quite a bit of attention. My Grandma's prayer group had been praying for MVJ and I when my Grandma found out I delivered early and was having some health issues myself. It was neat to be able to thank them and show off my little bundle. And then MVJ just had to tell people all about how her lungs are working perfectly now. She's so thoughtful. Then she just absolutely tuckered out in Great Grandma's arms (which was perfect because Great Grandma was as proud as a peacock).

I was telling someone how I was so glad she had settled down. The lady said, "Oh, the Mom is always way more nervous and embarrassed by the crying than anyone else. Everyone else doesn't even notice the crying. They just see this beautiful baby." I think that is so true. Crying babies never bothered me before, but now I feel like I need to calm her the second she starts to make a squeak of a cry.

Back at home, it was time for Ace, the family dog to meet MVJ. He just got way too excited. He jumped a little and was barking and basically just working himself up. We aren't sure the best way to help him get over it and be the calm doggie he can be. But, to be absolutely on the safe side, he was taken to the "hotel" today. I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about MVJ.

This morning it was the return of the poopetraitor. I'm so thankful for my parents' washer and dryer -- what a luxury! ; ) Now MVJ is sleeping in our little sling while my parents are exercising. Shopping is on schedule next and then Red Lobster for my brother's birthday! (I made cupcakes and wrote 23 on one... until I realized he's 24! I can't believe my baby brother is 24!!)