Rock On

Thank you Uncle Daniel for my new threads (with my name on them!)

Whoever Thought of Daylight Savings Anyway?

Daylight savings has really done a number on DC.  This rookie mom didn't even think about how it would affect him!  Poor kid is trying to go to bed at 6:00 pm every night.  The one thing about DC is that no matter what time he goes to bed he wakes up between 6:30 am and 7:00 am.  So with daylight savings he is starting to fall asleep at 6:00pm and waking up at 5:30 am!! Who do I need to talk to about getting rid of daylight savings??

Gag Fest!

How do you even begin to recover from this?  To make matters worse he was trying to touch his legs. Thankfully his jammies had buttons and didn't have to go over his head.  This was a job that only the bath tub could handle.

Sweet Milk

As previously posted our son had severe colic and the only thing that has helped him is breast milk.  Now seeing that he is adopted breast milk isn't as easy as it seems.  We have a WONDERFUL woman who has been so gracious and kind as to pump not only for her baby but also for mine.  We have been trying to ration the breast milk by feeding him formula about 1/4 of the time.  Well DC decided this weekend that he will NOT be drinking formula anymore.  He gags, he coughs, he acts like we are trying to poison him.  I feel bad because I am sure it was the formula that was giving him all his trouble (ie: reflux, gas, etc...) but, really what are we supposed to do?  I called our milk momma and told her about DC's new attitude on formula, I told her she must make some sweeeeet milk because that is all he wants and he inhales it!  And that great lady said not to worry and that she would increase her supply so that DC wouldn't ever need formula.  I am so thankful for her, I try to tell her but I don't think she knows how much we love her!

DC enjoying his bottle :)

This is our Milk Momma with her own precious preemie.

Chillin with My Gnomie

He tolerated the gnome and despised the security outfit.  Poor kid.  I only posted two but the kid had 4 costumes.  I guess I got a little excited about Halloween!

So True!

A Rare Moment

Good Bye Old Friend

It may seem silly, but I am sad about it!  The time has come for me to say good bye to my old friend, my Jeep.  My husband I decided we needed something with fewer miles (the Jeep has 200k on it) and that would be reliable for a long time.  We are also preparing to take in foster children and so we need a car that will hold more than 3 kids.  I tried to convince him that we could get a new family car and keep the jeep, he didn't go for it; I married Mr. Practicality... Once we decided to get a new car we had to decide what to get.  I wanted to get something fun and sporty like a Mazda CX-9. 

We went and test drove them and I fell in LOVE!  They aren't that much different than my jeep, they just have that beloved third row seat and they are new!  I could go on and on about why this would be the best car for our family, and to be honest my husband could too, but the Mazda was not what we ended up with....

Now remember I married Mr. Practicality.  After much thought and a look at our finances we decided that we didn't want such a huge car payment.  We could afford it, but then things like vacations, eating out, and fun money would take a hit.  It wasn't worth it to sacrafice those things just to maintain my SUV status. 

So in our quest to remain practical we were given a great steal on the new (to us) car we eneded up with.  It's less than half the price of the Mazda and newer.  It isn't what I was hoping for but I am getting happier about it as time goes on...

 

Mr. P is excited about it, he's ready for it.

On one hand I don't know if I'm ready for a mini van, we have one kid for heavens sake.  I also have been an SUV/truck girl since I was 17 and so this will be quite the change.  I liked having all wheel drive, ground clearance, and a V8.  I also don't know if I am ready for the mini van mom label, you can't get away with the same things.  In my Jeep I can turn the music up loud and sing at the top of my lungs and no one really pays any attention.  Now in my van, I don't think I can do the same.  When is the last time you rolled up to a stop light and saw a mom in a van with something like Jay Z cranked on the radio and didn't laugh your guts out?!  Know what I mean?

However, on the other hand mini vans are great.  Here is a list of why this is the best car for our family:

• Great gas mileage
• Roomy
• Seats 7, load it up with friends, it's easy!
• Can fit all 3 of our dogs
• Easy to get the baby seat in and out of
• No more dinging doors in parking lots, those slider doors are great
• Comfortable to drive
• Affordable payment
• Cops don't pull mini vans over as much
• You can easily get from the front to the back in a flash
• When the seats are folded down it holds nearly as much as a truck
• And many many more reasons.

So if you see me on the road with my music cranked, give me honk!

Alphabet Soup

I originally saw something similar to this on Pinterest and loved it!!  So this is my attempt at recreating it.  It was a little trickier than I thought it would be.  I didn't want my letters to all match and I discovered that if you only go to one or two stores you are going to get basically the same letters.  I was able to create my wall by going to JoAnns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.  I also had a few things laying around at home that worked well too.  The "s" is a wooden snake that I glued into the "s" shape, the "i" is a mini baseball bat, and the "j" is a wooden Christmas stocking that I covered in buttons, and the "u" is an old horse shoe my dad found while metal detecting.  It was a fun project although it began to add up $$$ after you figure the letters and supplies.   I believe it cost me around $100, but I figure that is about what I would have spent on a nice piece of art anyway and it probably wouldn't have covered as much wall space as this did. If you are patient you can usually get 40% off one item at each of the above mentioned stores per visit.  So if time isn't an issue then you can grab a letter or two here and there with your 40% off.    I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in my wall to hang these and so for many of them I used the 3M Command Adhesive strips.  Those were probably the most expensive items I had to purchase, but well worth it.

Lace Pumpkins

I love these pumpkins and they were so easy to do!  I found my lace at JoAnns and just wrapped them with the lace and tied them with ribbon at the top. Once you carve a pumpkin it usually doesn't last long before it rots. I like the idea of being able to have Halloween pumpkins on my porch all month and once Halloween is over you can remove the lace and you're ready for Thanksgiving.

5 Months Old!

Hard to believe he was so tiny when he was born! There is something special about preemies, they are tough little fighters. DC was 10 weeks premature; this picture was taken at about 2 weeks old (32 weeks gestation.)

Sweet Boy

DC loves his bath. Nothing sweeter than a clean baby, they smell so yummy.

It Takes a Village...

I really do believe it takes a villiage to raise a child.  Our 5 month old son DC is adopted.  He is the highlight of our lives despite a horrible bout with infant colic.  As previously posted we have tried everything to help relieve his pain.  We thought the colic was over and for the most part it was; however he would have relapses that would turn into real doozies.  Recently a friend stopped by and I was telling her of our dilemma with DC.  She suggested that we try breast milk and offered give us some of hers to try.  Now we have had a couple of people offer before, but I wasn't quite ready for it.  For some reason I wanted to try and exhaust all other avenues first, I wasn't convinced breast milk would help.  I also liked the idea of being independent of others and wasn't excited to start the breast milk hustle.  It made me nervous to worry about where, when and how I was going to get it all the time.  Not to mention that I wanted to make sure I was fully comfortable with the diet and lifestyle of our milk donors. And to be honest I also liked the idea of never having to get out of bed to feed him.  I really liked my system of having the water and formula pre measured on the night stand and just being able to roll over, mix the two, and then feed DC in his bassinet.  Lazy I know, but it was working for me in my half conscious stage; I never had to come fully back to life, and I could easily land back to complete unconsciousness.  There was also all of the logistics of how do you go anywhere when your kid is on breast milk?  You need to keep it cold enough to preserve it, but you also need it warm enough so he'll eat it; and what if you aren't anywhere you can heat it up? (Remember I'm new at this motherhood business.)  Formula just seemed easier!  Anyway, when my friend came over that day and suggested it I think I was so frazzled that I finally consented.  The next day she brought me 4 days worth of her milk.  Let me just say that those 4 days have been the BEST of our sons life!!  No more crying, no more waking up in the night, no more fussing!  We have had a happy, smiling, content baby!   I feel bad we didn't try it sooner; however, it didn't feel right before now.  Thankfully, my friend has offered to try and increase her milk supply so that she can produce enough for both her baby and mine.  I don't think she knows how grateful we are to her. 

It really does take a village to raise a child.  In our small village one mother gave birth to my son and knew she couldn't give her child what he deserved and so she gave him to me.  And I couldn't give my child the nourishment of mothers milk that he so desperately needed, so another mother kindly gave that gift to him.  What a wonderful world!

Good Intentions..

I had these great intentions to document all of my "mommy blunders" on this blog, however I was met with some GREAT opposition in the form of infant colic!  It has been horrible and all consuming.  I think we are coming out of it now which is why I can talk about it, a month ago this would NOT have been happening, I was way to emotional and crazy.  The colic journey has been interesting and not one I would like to experience again.  I didn't know that there was anything that could make me feel that helpless and that crazy.  I seriously contemplated jumping out a window until I remembered that my house is only one story and I would probably just stub my toe.  In all seriousness I really thought I was losing my mind, but it is slowly coming back, hallelujah.

One of the funniest things about colic is that everyone has a remedy and I mean everyone.  My sons colic was so severe that I honestly tried almost everything people suggested. I wanted to make a list of things we tried and things that people have suggested and give a little insight to what worked best for us.

In no particular order these are some of the things we have tried to combat colic:

• Gripe water- for us this was a joke! Didn't even phase our baby.
• Mylicon drops- also a joke.
• Boppy Pillow- DC couldn't sleep without it!  It also helps with his reflux.
• Similac Alimentum- It helped with his reflux.

• Enfamil Nutramigen- Don't know if it was the formula or if his colic timed out but he seemed better after we tried this.

• Johnny Jump Up- DC likes to be held straight up and so we tried to put him in the Johnny, but he's too small and it was a no go.
• Playtex VentAire Bottles- We like them but they have like 500 parts and so cleaning is hard, also I haven't noticed a difference between these fancy ones and the cheap ones the hospital gave me.

• Avent Bottles- DC does okay with them, but like I said, there isn't really a difference.

• Sleep in the car seat- He likes it, but he needs to be happy when you put him in there or you have to go on a drive to make it work.
• Hold him- That sadly gets old.  You can only them so much before you go nuts because you a million things to do.
•  Leg exercises- These include bicycling his legs, putting both legs up to his chest and then back down, etc.  These help get gas out, he hates them though.
• Pacifier- I want to punch people when they suggest this one, like I haven't tried it.  Isn't that the first thing you go for when they are screaming!

• Beer- Ummm...Not going to try that one.
• Mixing the formula in a different bottle to get the bubbles out- Such a pain and I don't think it makes a difference, so why make extra dishes for yourself?
• The Swing- We went and bought this big mamma jamma and it only works for colic if he is already happy, putting him in the swing will not make him happy.

• Bouncy/Vibrating Chair- Again, nothing will make him happy and so it only works if he is already in a good mood.
• Old fashioned hot water bottle on his tummy- This was actually something that would bring him some relief, it never lasted very long, but it would help him stop crying.

• Hold him across your knees- He liked it ok and it helped get the bubbles out, but yet again you are still holding him and I think when your baby has colic, all you need is some time when you can put them down and get somethings done. How do you wash bottles?  Go potty? etc?
• Hold him over your shoulder- DC also liked this hold, but we always felt like we were going to drop him, to make if affective we had to hold him so far over it was kinda scary.
• Burp him more frequently
• Take a 15 minute break- This is easier said than done when your kid is screaming his head off.  It made me sad to just leave him and he's also cry so hard he'd throw up and that worried me.
• Goats Milk- I had many people swear by this, but our Doc said it was a no go for DC.

• Chiropractic Care- We took him to the only man I'd trust with my back and he did an organ massage on DC.  It helped get the gas out and made a difference for the day, but I am unsure of the overall effectiveness.  But to be honest I tried so many things for colic there is no tellin' what really worked, if anything...
• Music
• Background noise
• Bouncing him on an exercise ball- He likes it but yet again, I can't do that for 4 hours straight every night, I need to be able to put him down.

• Rocking him in the rocking chair.
• Pacing the floor
• Football hold
• Essential oils- I held out a lot of hope for these but DC freaked out, he hated them to say the least.  I think they did help a little bit but it upset him too much to massage the oils in.

• Baby carrier- The baby carrier was my saving grace when DC and I flew.  I couldn't have gotten through the airport without that thing.  He didn't cry a bit in it.  The only trouble with those is getting them on! And also when you have a kid in front of you like that it makes it hard to do anything.



• Sling Carrier- I don't know what it is about it but DC freaks out in them, nope not happening. (And I wish that was me, but instead I put the model.)

• Sweet Basil Tea- Now at first when my neighbor brought this over I thought she was just another good intentioned individual with another crazy colic remedy.  Well let me tell you, IT WORKS!  Sweet basil tea works like a charm.  Now I don't know if it cures colic, but what it does do is makes your baby sleepy.  We only had to give DC an ounce a night and it put him right to sleep!

• Calling a friend, neighbor, family member, a teenager, anyone willing to come and hold him!- This was what saved me, kind people willing to hold a crying baby so that I could get things done.  The people who came and held DC or picked him up and took him home for a few hours will never know how much that meant to me! 
• Catnip- We didn't try this one, sounded too weird to me.
• Acid Reflux Medicine- Makes a difference to the baby I'm sure, but in the eye of the colic storm, we didn't see it helping much.  Now that the colic is about over it makes a huge difference in DC's happiness, but before I didn't think it did much.
• Baby Whisperer book
• Baby Wise book
• Healthy Habits, Happy Baby book
• Happiest Baby on the Block book
• About 15 other baby books
• A warm bath- DC likes his baths and it would calm him while he was in it but the second you took him out, woa baby, hold onto your hat!
• Swaddling him- It works great to settle down a colicky baby.
• Aden and Anais Swaddling blankets- These are the best blankets hands down.

• Anise water
• Calming lotion- (It doesn't really calm...)
• Baby in car seat on top of the dryer
• Have him in a routine- that is soooo much easier said than done when you have a baby who cries 90% of the day...
• Breast Milk- Now my son is adopted and so that wasn't going to work for us. :)
• Soy formula
• The 5 S's
• Coke in his bottle- Didn't dare do this one either.

• Crushed garlic with olive oil rubbed on his belly
• Colic Calm
• Kava root- (thats for you, not the baby)

This list could go on and on and on.  We tried most of the things listed and probably more that I am forgetting.  We also were given even more advice and suggestions.  Bottom line for us and our baby was that there were things that took the edge off, but nothing will "cure" colic, only time.  The best advice someone gave me was to throw out any advice we got and just figure out what was best for our baby.  In the end, looking back on this, if I had to do it again (heaven help me) I would use, reflux medicine, swaddle him, sweet basil tea, and a good friend for relief.

This was honestly the hardest thing I have ever had to endure, from what people tell me my son had a pretty severe case, but I can say I feel like Wonder Woman for surviving.

Realization.....

I knew I had to learn the tricks of the trade when I made this "rookie mom" mistake. My infant son was having one of those nights where he wouldn't allow me to put him down without a fight. So in an attempt to keep my sanity I carried him with me to the basement to do laundry. Needing both of my hands I thought I'd lay him down in the basket of clean laundry. It's warm, clean, soft, safe....good idea right? WRONG! Just as I was congratulating myself of a job well done...PROJECTILE VOMIT EVERYWHERE. Ahhh, are you kidding me?? What do I do now? He's covered, the clean clothes are covered, the carpet is covered. I don't even know where to begin this disaster clean up.