Saturday, February 27, 2010

Diapers and More!

Last weekend, my mom and sister hosted a "Diaper shower" for me...it was a really relaxing, easy going get together, just like how I like things, not a big hoopla. They put together an AMAZING buffet spread for brunch - including yogurt and fruit parfaits, brunch casserole, tea sandwiches, the most delicious fresh tropical fruit, and cupcakes, among many other things! It was so nice just being able to hang out and socialize and have some mommy time for the day. We were so blessed to receive an immense amount of diapers and wipes- I think we have enough to last us the first 3 months, WOW! And even though I asked for no other gifts, we received really lovely gifts for the baby and we are so appreciative to all of our friends and family for their generosity and love.


Here I am with Jason's mom making nutella and raspberry tea sandwiches...


The brunch starting to come together...my sister made my all time favorite cupcakes, Confetti, and also homemade red velvet cupcakes!


Baby Sophie joined us for the shower - she has the most precious smile!




Me and my godmother, Aunt Sandy




Me, baby, Krissy, Baby Sophie, Kim and Tiffany

And here we are with Aleyta!





The token baby boy baseball outfit from Aunt Suzy





My nephew Spencer helping open our gifts

Some of my friends and family playing the "Dirty diaper" game - they had to guess what smelly treat was left in all 20 diapers(ie. candy bars and baby foods)! Gross I know but I think they had fun with it!


Before the baby arrives, T gets to have his fun with the diapers - he made the boxes into a bridge and also a racetrack for his cars!

Diapers galore!
These are the flower arrangements I made for the shower




Saturday, February 20, 2010

Just what I need...


Today my wonderful sister is treating me to a paraffin hand wax and pedicure!!!!!! After 3 days of taking care of little T and his stomach flu last weekend, I now have the rough, scaly hands of a carpenter after all of my overzealous, OCD handwashing and disinfecting (yes, I am one of THOSE people...sue me!)

The 3 of us are getting pampered at InSpa than off to Hakone Gardens to see my grandmother's flower arrangements on display in the Tea House. It should be a lovely afternoon and I look forward to some girl time with just my mom and sister.

Then tomorrow, we are having a little get together/diaper shower/"Sprinkle" but not a baby shower shower to celebrate the littlest guy's pending arrival in a few weeks. I look forward to seeing family and some dear friends tomorrow. And thankfully I will feel presentable enough in all of my swollen 9 month pregnant glory by having soft hands and pretty toes- I love my sister!

Monday, February 15, 2010

I guess we should figure our where to put the baby!

With less than 6 weeks to go before this baby is due, it's time to decide where we're going to have the baby sleep. Of course once the baby is big enough he will share a room with his big brother but the goal is to put that off as long as possible - I don't want a newborn waking up T every night for the next year. The original full size portable crib/bassinet we used for T in our room ended up breaking and we never replaced it because at 6 months he was old enough and sleeping long enough increments to go in his own room at that time. T's crib/toddler bed that we still have is far too large to put in our bedroom - maybe some people would make it work, but it's far too big to allow for me to function in my space. Anyone who knows me understands that every piece of furniture and storage unit has it's one special place and every toy has its own place that fits just right in our awkwardly laid-out house. In order for me to keep my sanity and navigate and stay organized in my life it is necessary for me to have a home that doesn't feel cluttered or over crowded as best as possible.

Surprisingly it is not that easy to find a smaller crib to fit a small space that can also grow with your baby until they are a toddler. Not everyone has a large home with extra bedrooms and closets and attics or basements to store seldom used baby gear. Bassinets are logical for a small space but are generally outgrown by the time a baby is 3 months old then you have to move them to something else entirely - then what do you do with the bassinet? We don't have an extra room, or storage in our one car garage so that is a waste of both money and space.

With that being said, these are the two choices for mini cribs that I am trying to make a decision on. What I am looking for is a mini crib with possible storage options that is relatively affordable and has the possibility of lasting until the baby is at least 1 yrs. old. After weeks and weeks of searching, these are the only options I found. There is a big price difference between the two, but they both have benefits that I really like...

This is a Graco Travel lite crib with bassinet. It has storage below and is 30% smaller than a regular portable crib. I like the storage below and that it can be stored away and used for travel or taken to the grandparents. Manufacturer info describes this as being used for newborn up to 30 pounds, so if it's comfortable enough, once the bassinet is removed, the baby could sleep on the mattress part - obviously it's not truly comparable to a crib mattress but it could work. It's not too frilly and foofy looking - I prefer a more modern, no fuss look to things. As a bonus, the color combo also matches our bedroom decor. It is $89.99 at an online website.

The second option is the Alma crib. It doesn't have any storage but the accessory I found below at Target could be attached to the side of the crib. The crib itself has 3 levels for the mattress to be placed (ie. bassinet level, to completely at the base) and the info states it is used from newborn to age 24 months. It is also collapsible, as the picture shows below, so it could be put away when needed. It is more modern in it's design and would match not only my bedroom but T's room once they moved in together. The only negative is the price - I found it on sale at one website for $350. I would probably end up selling T's original crib anyway and get some cash from that. Yes, it's pricey but if it could be used for at least 2 years I think that makes this one a possibility.



Monday, February 8, 2010

Our Mountain Buggy


I have been struggling over what to do about a stroller for the past few months, but as the countdown to our last weeks before this baby arrives quickly pass, I had to make a decision. We still have the single Graco Metrolite that I used with T, that has the baby carrier with it, but I have been trying to decide if I wanted a double stroller.

What was the big decision about you ask? So having a 4 year old one would assume he doesn't use a stroller any longer. Before I ever became a parent, I had quite an opinion on this matter, feeling very strongly that any child who could walk on their own didn't need a stroller. "I will teach my child to stay by my side at all times, and that they didn't need to be held if their legs worked!" Well my son was walking independently at 10 months old, so of course he still used a stroller. And to this day, T still asks to sit in a stroller, especially if we have been walking for quite a ways, if he wants to eat a snack while we run errands, or on the days he falls asleep in the car and I have things to do, he easily transfers to a stroller where he can sleep for a few hours. Am I ready to give that up? No. And my goal once the new baby arrives is to spend a lot of time outdoors going for day hikes and to our favorite places like the zoo and beach. So there are going to be many times when T doesn't want to walk and that's fine with me.
I decided a side by side all terrain stroller would be a good investment. The one I chose is called a Mountain Buggy Duo. It comes with an infant car seat adapter to replace the regular seat which I'm sure we will use for several months. The seats themselves recline all the way to flat which is perfect for T if he naps, or if I don't use the infant carrier and decide to lay the baby down. The canopy is removable, and the seats themselves remove completely to be washed. It has an adjustable handle bar which is a must for a short person like me, and a very large storage basket underneath with zippered compartments for water bottles, keys, phone, etc. I decided on the fun moss green color shown above....I love anything green! T loves his new stroller already, he helped me put the wheels on and has already adjusted his side of the strollers' restraint straps. I think we're going to get a lot if use out of it!
....AND DID I MENTION I FOUND IT FOR 50% OFF THE ORIGINAL PRICE, SCORE!!
Below are two views of how the stroller looks with the infant carrier attachment...





Saturday, February 6, 2010

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Wednesday we were stuck indoors due to the rain, so I decided to be brave and tackle one of my Family Fun magazine recipes to make homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli with herbed sage butter sauce. For any of you who have never read Family Fun magazine, it is for any parent, well let's be real, Mom, who wants to be made to feel inadequate about her lack of creativity, lack of spontaneity, and general lack of Martha Stewart-ness, this magazine if for you! It is a direct result of reading this magazine that I now have a large storage box full of empty oatmeal canisters, paper towel tubes, and shoe boxes in the hopes that one of these days I will build my son the coolest homemade castle, complete with working draw bridge and all! But until the day that I feel like erecting such a masterpiece, on this day I settled for making homemade ravioli dough! Here is the flour well - apparently it is meant to keep the egg contained while you gently mixed it all together. So what do you think happened? The second we began to mix in the flour, the egg quicky spilled over the sides all over the cutting board!

Cutting the ravioli...

This was T's favorite job, lining the edges with water so the two discs stuck together...

One completed butternut squash ravioli...



Ready to be filled...

He liked sealing the sides with the fork but sometimes pushed too close to the center, causing the filling to spill out the other side, then he would get frustrated...he delegated the fork job to me afterwards.

He dubbed us "Big chef and lil chef"


Enjoying the fruits of our labor! T didn't quite like the squash filling but ate the entire outer dough edge of each ravioli! The dough was a little too "doughy" but I didn't have high expectations for a recipe that called for flour, eggs and salt and was mixed by a 4 year old! I am now in search of the best ravioli dough recipe, something thin and light and with a bit of flavor.



The completed meal, with herbed sage butter sauce and fresh grated Parmiaggano Reggiano! Rachael Ray would have been proud! I was proud of the two of us at least!

It took a total of about 3 hours from start to finish. I had to run to the grocery store halfway through the process because I didn't have fresh sage and knew that dried wouldn't provide the right flavor. The dough also had to rest for 30min. Add to that frequent potty breaks, a few spills and clean-ups, 3 hours was about enough time! We had so much fun together which was the most important thing regardless of how the end product turned out. To see how proud T was to eat something he made from scratch was incredibly satisfying for the both of us.

Feeling stylish and pregnant

Being in my 8th month of pregnancy means that every day has now become a struggle to find something to wear that I feel reasonably stylish in. Is sacrificing comfort for style really necessary you ask? Well honestly most days no its not, I would much rather wear the same mundane, boring stretchy black pants and over sized cotton sweater that I practically sleep in. Also, being pregnant in the middle of winter means that the clothing options are more bulkier or require layers, during a time when your body already feels huge and poofy anyway. But there are some occasions when I would like to look more pulled together, even if I don't particularly feel that way, and not just look pregnant...I want to look like a stylish woman. And let's be honest, maternity clothes don't always make us feel that way.
So I was on one of the fashion blogs that I frequent and stumbled across this picture of Vanessa Hudgens which I was drawn to for some reason. I thought to myself this outfit could work even if I have a protruding belly. Quite excited actually! Just bought the boots from zappos.com, they're Jessica Simpson and super comfortable, have a low heel but enough to add some length to my short legs. They don't have a buckle like the photo but I think these are still super cute. And the sweater shown below in grey I found in a speckled charcoal/black from Express. The only maternity piece is of course my dark wash skinny jeans, but I would say I successfully adapted this look! Can't wait to wear it, probably for Super Bowl Sunday!



Monday, February 1, 2010

Fresh Air

After 2 weeks of being couped up in our house, Mommy needed some fresh air today! Not only has it rained every day since we returned from Tahoe but I developed bronchitis upon our return home, and T has been having a bad run of sleepless nights ever since then as well. He had a fever last week and then recently began coming down with the same symptoms as me and had a fever up to 103 for 2 days this week also. Being 8 months pregnant and miserably sick with the addition of a sick child who is only sleeping 3-4 hours at night if that, is no walk in the park.

I've never had bronchitis before so this experience was all new; in general since I was a child, I have been quite healthy with the exception of the occasional ear infection. This virus caused me to be terribly SOB constantly, with wheezing and such a deep painful cough. Sleeping was difficult because I had to sit up in order to get the full expansion of my lungs without feeling like I was suffocating. And let's face, who sleeps well sitting upright?

Thankfully my Dad and Jason really helped me out and pretty much forced me to stay home from work to get the rest my body needed. Jason doesn't miss work often, especially right now since he is just in the early phases of his biggest job since becoming a foreman. So for him to tell me he's staying home for 2 days and making me call in sick to work so he could help out must have meant I sounded pretty awful. It really made a world of difference for me to have that support from him. Truth be told, I think Jason often thinks as me as Super-Mom, being nurse and all gives him the sense that I know what I'm doing, leaving me to take care of things myself. So when we are sick he tends to just let me do the caring and tending, which lets be honest we as Moms would rather do anyways, and steers clear of the germs. After all, one of us has to be healthy enough to keep going to work! Plus he's a big baby when he's sick!

So here we are, on Monday, the start of the third week since initially getting sick. I am not fully recovered, still having intermittent wheezing and SOB prompting me to still need the Albuterol inhaler but I have some energy. T has a very wet sounding cough, but it's not very frequent and he has been fever-free for over 3 days with no complaints of ear pain and such so I suspect he will get through this virus without complications. He has slept between 10-11 hours the last 2 nights...Hallelujah. It's a beautiful partly sunny day so I took T to Almaden Lake to walk the trail for about an hour. He got to do what he loves the best which is collect sticks and rocks, watch the geese and explore to his hearts content.

We do have a few behavior issues to start ironing out however - most mom's would agree that when children have had a bout of illness or have been stuck indoors for some time, poor behavior can develop. I think what did it was that I lost my voice for 5 days, so needless to say disciplining my child was no easy task. Trying to redirect my son's behavior, or address his frustration about something, or just plain say no was physically impossible and he doesn't exactly understand sign language! What could I do?

I'm just happy to have gotten out today, take in some warm sunshine with my little guy, and get some exercise on the trail. I know that my cough is going to linger for at least another week or so but I'm feeling thankful we have gotten through the worst of it.