The Golden Pig and Crew

Peter Tristum Roenke

2011-11-23T19:23:00.006-08:00

Hello abandoned blog. So, 9 months ago we were thrilled to welcome our second boy, Peter Tristum Roenke. That's right, 9 months ago. I am just now getting back to writing this blog. We'll see if this lasts.
Here are some pics...

Surprise Package!

2010-09-16T12:04:00.007-07:00

The other day I got a surprise package in the mail from one of my best pals, Lillian. She is relocating from NOLA to Paris and was de-stashing. HUGE win for me!!!! I couldn't believe it when I opened the package. She knows me so well!

Check out all my new-to-me vintage loot!

Fun postcards.
Scarf and placemat/napkin set

Ribbon perfect for boy clothes. If we have a boy, I am doing the room in submarines and whales, so these will be perfect for baby and definitely for Henry 5.

Vintage fabrics!

Vintage patterns!
I love this John John pattern. The shirt has a Peter Pan collar, which I have been looking for. The size is right for Little Henry for next summer. The shirt would work for a girl too.
I adore this coat and hat! Perfect for a boy or girl.

Goodwill Treasures

2010-09-16T11:52:00.005-07:00

Hooray for $1.29 Mondays at Goodwill. I have been going there in search of pants to convert to maternity. This week I found some other goodies too! I still feel a little guilty about spending money, but I love what I got.

My best treasure is this fantastic polyester shirt for after the baby comes (and maybe some extra weight loss.) I love it! I never find awesome vintage stuff there, so I was totally psyched to get this!
I made the mistake of browsing the dishware section which was ripe with vintage pyrex finds. I am using more vintage pyrex and corningware for heating things in the microwave because they are made of tempered glass and do not leach toxins into the food. Vintage corningware can also be used on the stove top, unlike their newer versions.

Un-needed awesome tin and vintage pyrex bowl. They don't quite go with my kitchen colors- hence the bit of guilt. (I didn't spend much, and they are soo cute!

2010-09-05T17:44:00.005-07:00

I finished the vintage bell bottoms for Henry the Fifth. Simplicity Pattern 7204 purchased from ebay. I used vintage corduroy and vintage floral fabric for the pocket contrast and linings. The pattern is a size 4, so I added elastic to inside and shortened the pattern and added cuffs to make them fit. I need to move the buttons for the inner elastic since they are still too big!
Next time I may add another dart in the back to help fit them.

Census Safety Information

2010-02-03T07:35:00.004-08:00

This is the text from an email I got from a trusted source. This director of the Infant and Toddler program for Virginia in this region. It is about safety and avoiding census scams. I figured I would cut and paste it here so it gets on my Facebook page.

Here it is...

2010 Census to Begin

WARNING: 2010 Census Cautions from the Better Business Bureau

Be Cautious About Giving Info to Census Workers

By Susan Johnson

With the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race, and other relevant data.

The big question is - how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist?

BBB offers the following advice:

** If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don't know into your home.

** Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information.

 Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census.

REMEMBER, NO MATTER WHAT THEY ASK, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TO TELL THEM HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE AT YOUR ADDRESS.

While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range,  YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations. Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau. AND REMEMBER, THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS DECIDED NOT TO WORK WITH ACORN ON GATHERING THIS INFORMATION.. No Acorn worker should approach you saying he/she is with the Census Bureau.

Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail, or in person at home. However, the  Census Bureau will not contact you by Email, so be on the lookout for Email scams impersonating the Census. Never click on a link or open any attachments in an Email that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau. Here's their web site: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

Additional security related information to keep in mind:

• Any request for census information from the Census Bureau will be clearly marked as coming from the U.S. Census Bureau and as OFFICIAL BUSINESS of the United States

• It is a federal offense for anyone to pretend they represent the Census Bureau, or any other office of the United States Government

• When the 2010 Census takes place, you will receive a letter from the Census Bureau Director, notifying you that, in a few days, your household will receive a form in the mail, or a phone call from the Census Bureau, or a visit from a Census Bureau representative

Identifying the Census Taker

• All census takers carry official government badges marked with just their name

• You may also ask them for a picture ID from another source to confirm their identity

• Some census workers might carry a "U.S. Census Bureau" bag

If you still are not certain about their identity, please call the Regional Census Center toll-free number to confirm they're employed by the Census Bureau.

Most importantly, the Census Bureau will NEVER, under any circumstances, ask to enter your home.

Scrappy Tea Cozy

2010-01-10T16:51:00.004-08:00

I have been drinking a lot of tea lately with the chilly weather. I was getting tired of my tea in the pot cooling before I was done drinking it.
So today, I pulled out a bunch of scraps and went to work. The cozy is lined with scraps of chenille from all the bibs I have made and has a thin layer of cotton batting in the middle for insulation. I think it turned out really cute.
Now for some Sleepytime Tea and local honey from our CSA farm. Yum!

True Up Favorite Fabrics of '09

2010-01-02T19:49:00.004-08:00

True Up wants to know about my favorite fabrics of 2009...

- Favorite Print from [Country of Your Choice]- Taiwan, the bicycle print from Tine at bytinster

- Favorite Handprinted Fabric

At Green Olive on Etsy. I wish it was in yardage!!

- Favorite Digitally Printed Fabric- The image on the fabric from Henry’s Daddy Doll

Favorite Home Decor Weight Fabric or Collection – We are plannning to reupholster a victorian couch from Henry's grandfather. I want to do something similar to Nie Nie's couch pictured here.

- Favorite Trend (Motifs) – hedgehogs and mushrooms

- Favorite Trend (Colors)- turquoise and orange

- Favorite Novelty Print – Petit Ecole purchased from Superbuzzy

Favorite Floral Print I made a 50’s style dress with this pique from Hancock Fabrics.

- Favorite Organic Print or Collection I love the collection at Volksfaden.

- Favorite Holiday Fabric or Collection – Michael Miller’s Funky Christmas

- Favorite Juvenile Print: Boys – monkey’s for Henry’s romper

From Matatabi

- Favorite Reproduction Print or Collection – Marcus Brother’s Aunt Grace. I have a few, but I am thinking of one of them for café curtains in my kitchen

- Favorite Solid/Nonprinted – anything that coordinates with my prints and is on sale!

- Favorite Fabric Shop – online: Superbuzzy, ReproDepot Walk in: G-street, local: JoAnns

- Favorite New Fabric You Worked With in 2009- craft weight fusible Pellon. OK, technically not a fabric, but it is new to me and helped make cute fabric boxes for my son’s toys.

Bloesem Giveaway

2009-12-13T05:58:00.001-08:00

Bloesem hand knitted these baby booties to give away on her blog!
http://bkids.typepad.com/intro/2009/12/what-can-you-win-text-what-do-you-do-textthis-giveaway-ends-sunday-20-dec-and-winner-will-be-announced-monday-21-dec-he.html

Making a come back??

2009-12-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

Alright, I am going to make the effort to post again.

Judy Needs Google

2009-02-18T05:37:00.004-08:00

I typed "Judy needs" into Google and here is what it came up with:

1. Judy needs her morning corree (yes, there was a spelling error)
2. Judy needs to go to anger management class
3. Judy needs to Get Out of the Shelter
4. Judy needs to pay her taxes at the Insider
5. Judy needs tumor removed
6. Judy needs a television set
7. Judy needs your math assistance
8. Judy needs counseling
9. Judy needs to run for president of the US
10. Judy needs a job

Several of these are right on.

Just like ours...

2009-02-03T17:29:00.002-08:00

I found this video via Jenny at Good Mom/Bad Mom

Henry is the same way with his toys.
Baby playing time lapse video.

25 Things

2009-02-03T13:14:00.007-08:00

I was tagged three times on Facebook! Here is my 25 Things list:

1. My 16 month old son was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, had open heart surgery at 4 months old, and now has a pacemaker. Luckily, it looks like he doesn't need his pacemaker anymore! We find out more in June. I am madly in love with my baby.

2. I swam on a relay across the Catalina Channel with teammates from Pomona College. We got a world record for the fastest womens team to cross. Our record is still on the website Catalina Channel Swimming Federation.

3. I was co-captain of my college swim team Junior and Senior year and waterpolo my Senior year.

4. I watch incredibly too much television. I have MSNBC on constantly and in the evenings we have a few shows we watch regularly. BSG, The Office, Burn Notice, Heros, 24, LOST, plus occasional other shows.

5. I found out that I love to cook after I graduated from college. I got a subscription to Bon Apetit and kept it going for 10 years. A few months ago I freecycled the whole collection to a woman who was thrilled to get them. I find that I use the internet for recipes rather than going back to old magazines.

6. I lived in NYC for 2 years working as an assistant coach at Columbia University and working a variety of Physical Therapy Aide jobs all over Manhatten. I think everyone should live in NYC for a couple of years in their 20's. The experience formed who I am today.

7. I gained over 60 pounds since college. No, it isn't all baby weight.

8. I have had clinical depression probably since I was about 12 years old. I didn't get true treatment until after graduate school. I sought treatment in college, but they sent me to a student who said, "Exercise helps depression." Those of you who swam with me will understand how that was not going to help as I already exercised an insane amount. If I ever become a millionaire, my Pomona College donation will be earmarked for a decent mental health clinic.
I have been on most of the medications on the market, and am still trying to find the best mix. I am currently seeking information on the hormonal aspects of depression and PMDD to find a safer way to control depression during pregnancy.

9. I desperately want to get pregnant again. My doctors want me to wait until the depression is better controlled. I want to be totally off of medication for my next pregnancy. My goals and their goals don't match.

10. I married the most incredible man. He is handsome, a genius, understanding, affectionate. He puts up with my crazy days. He keeps the house clean- that's the Navy in him. He is an incredible father to our son. Henry 5 absolutely adores him. A civilian worker thought he was out of earshot when she commented that he makes the new uniform look good. She was right.

11. I got married in front of the Beluga Whales at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT.

12. I hated living in Hawaii. (But that might be the depression talking. I am willing to try it again.)

13. I would love to live in Japan. But if we move there, I would spend all of our money on fabric.

14. I love being a Navy wife. I am so proud of my husband and how hard he works.

15. When I was 12 I thought I wanted to be a physical therapist. Now I am. I prefer working with Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury patients in Acute Care hospitals.

16. I am currently a stay at home mom. We thought I would return to work reasonably soon after giving birth, until we found out about Henry's ToF. Then I thought I would go back to work a couple months after his surgery. The delay is my need to catch up on CEUs.

17. I love to sew. I graduated from Pomona with a degree in Neuroscience and for graduation my mom gave me a sewing machine. I still have the same one and use it to make things for the baby and friends.

18. I have done several triathlons and want to get back into it for the approaching season. I did a half Ironman about 4 years ago. I didn't train adequately. I was the first out of the water in my age group. I was second to last in the entire field to finish. It was horribly grueling. The bike portion was so painful that I hoped I would get hit by a car so that I could stop racing without shame. I also had to pee really bad- so bad that I tried to pee my bike shorts while riding my bike- I knew if I got off I wouldn't be able to get back on. It didn't work- I found a port-a-jon by a nuclear power plant. After several years to get over the trauma, I have the urge to train properly and do another one. My husband says he never wants me to do another one because it was so painful to watch.

19. I joined a work out group at the YMCA.

20. I get so mad when smokers throw their butts out the car window that I sometimes give them the finger.

21. I drive too fast.

22. I want to go into my parent's basement and freecycle most of it.

23. I love having computers and electronics, but get really irritated when they are too slow or break.

24. I have travelled in Asia to Viet Nam (to visit Amanda), Korea and the DMZ, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Pacific Islands Guam and Saipan. If we have to move to Guam I am starting a dog farm to take care of all the strays. I Viet Nam I was attacked in the Binh Thanh market by a 100 year old pint sized little lady because she wanted me to buy a diet coke from her. A few days later I realized what she wanted was the $50 she stole from me. The best pastry I have ever eaten was in Viet Nam. In Thailand I ate a cricket. I have never been to Europe.

25. I can't get over how much I love my baby. He is the light of my life.

Sandra Boynton free song download

2009-01-14T13:19:00.002-08:00

For Christmas, The Golden Pig got the Personal Penguin book by Sandra Boynton. She has a website where you can download the song sung by Davie Jones.
http://www.workman.com/boynton/
The song is really cute. There is another free song on the website too. I added her CD's to our Amazon wishlist because the previews of the songs are also cute and funny.

First Haircut

2009-01-12T08:21:00.004-08:00

Daddy went first.

His little curls are all gone. I saved a few.

whatever

2009-01-10T07:39:00.003-08:00

1. I need a new book to read in the bathroom. Re-read Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side ad nauseum. Ditto John Stewart's book. The Japanese Art book is so guests think we are cultured poopers.

2. Just finished watching Tin Man last night. Enjoyed it.

3. Awaiting She&Him CD on back order.... hurry up and get here

4. still on a Zooey Deschanel kick

5. need to... upload photos, fold laundry, exercise, water the plants, wash baby's new clothes, make bibs and burps, more

6. instead I play scramble on facebook and apparently really suck at it

7. I love it when hubby lets me sleep in. I get up and the coffee is already made. But then i get jealous because he has a head start on the pot and I'm all, damn I gotta make another pot if I want more. And then I'm all, damn I am so lazy.

Out of Heart Block and other tidbits

2009-01-05T06:38:00.002-08:00

1. Just did Henry the Fifth's telemetry pacemaker check. The very preliminary result is that the pacemaker is just reading his heartbeat and not having to fire. This indicates he is out of heart block. The big official news will happen in June at our in-person electrophysiology appointment in June.

2. *Somebody* keeps farting so potent-ly that I keep checking his diaper for poops, but no poops. What up dude?

3. Henry the Fifth can now climb up and down the stairs. With supervision y'all.

4. Questionable vocabulary? Definitely has Dada down. Maybe Mama, No, Yes, Yeah.

5. Can definitely sign 'Finished.' At first he would grab our hands and make us sign it the way we were teaching him, but this week he started signing it on his own!

6. Decided he is willing to eat Gerber Cheesy Poof thingies, goldfish crackers, pieces of chicken tenders (Tyson white meat strips, YUM!), french fries, & tots. Yay, our kid likes junk food.

7. Incidentally/ accidentally discovered he is not allergic to peanuts. We did this by discovering that he loves the fries from 5 Guys. The next day it occurred to me that 5 Guys cooks in peanut oil. Oops. The GI doc said not to give him any more peanut stuff as early introduction can actually cause an allergy. And, he said that if the parent(s) have ANY allergy at all (such as my allergy to penicillin) he shouldn't have peanuts until age three. Sorry dude, you just have to wait for the awesomeness of the peanut butter/chocolate combo.

8. I will eventually post on the holidays - Turkey, Christmas, New Year. Here's a preview... I only gained 5 pounds. :) Hubby said to look at it in a positive light. It could be worse. Oprah gained 40.

freecycle blunder

2008-12-28T07:27:00.004-08:00

I'm sure Tommy Lee didn't mean to freecycle his kid, right?

My Brother Makes the News

2008-12-25T15:58:00.002-08:00

Check out the video of Charles doing a pro fit on the newscaster's daughter.

http://cbs4denver.com/video/

You will have to click thru the more current video to find the one called "Moody gets some company on the bike path of life" posted
Dec. 23, 2008, 9:13 pm Mountain Time

And the Winner is...

2008-12-04T06:17:00.004-08:00

Shaina of just because I Am Me. I will have to try some of the recipes on her blog!

I had so many sweet comments on the blog! How exciting. And such varied responses to Henry's pacemaker purpose from Heart Block to being a rambunctious toddler- all of which were correct!

The really good news is that Henry's heart block seems to have resolved. We will know more in January and even more in June of 2009. Until then we just keep up the good vibes on a totally healed heart!

Santa is Scary!

2008-12-02T16:56:00.002-08:00

Bib and Burp Giveaway

2008-12-02T16:31:00.009-08:00

It's Giveaway Day! I am participating in Sew, Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day. I am offering a pink and brown bib and burp set. Both are backed with pink chenille and the bib has a Velcro closure.
I am willing to ship internationally. The colors look washed out since I took the photo at night with a flash. It is cuter in person!
To win, leave a comment on this post telling why Henry the Fifth has a pacemaker. (hint: check here.) Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you, either by email or thru your own website. I do not SPAM, nor will I forward a bunch of annoying emails to you.
The winner will be picked from among the correct answers using a random number calculator.

December 3rd Giveaway!

2008-12-01T08:18:00.003-08:00

On December 3rd I will be participating in Giveaway Day. On this day, you can go to Sew, Mama, Sew and find a list of crafters/bloggers/sew-ers who are giving away items on their blogs. Check back here December 3rd to see what I am giving away. No need to leave a comment yet. Just be sure to leave one on December 3rd!

12 days of Giveaways on Mamanista

2008-12-01T07:53:00.004-08:00

Quite a while back I found the blog of a woman whose daughter also had Tetralogy of Fallot. http://mamasaga.blogspot.com/ I have been reading her blog ever since. She happens to also be a writer for Mamanista, a mommy shopping blog that has lots of good ideas and reviews.
They recently published their Best Holiday Toys guide where they are also hosting giveaways of some great toys and gifts! http://www.mamanista.com/best-toys

Germy toys are more fun than the expensive ones

2008-11-21T07:51:00.008-08:00

Now that Henry the Fifth is running around the house, he has discovered lots of new toys.
He is a big fan of flushing the toilet and pulling TP off of the roll. We have been keeping the door closed, but he barges in if one of us is on the pot.

His other favorite in the bathroom is our tub. He can just reach one of the faucet handles and has been turning on the water for a few weeks now. His new trick is to open our drawers, take stuff out, throw it into the bathtub and turn on the water. Can't find my deoderant? Check the tub. Can't find my brush? Check the tub.

Recently, he noticed that the diaper champ has a handle. And as we all know, handles are for moving. Plus, there is a big hole. And as we all know, holes are for sticking your face in and hollering.

Today, he was kicking around his O-Ball like a pro soccer player, but then things got quiet. I went into his room and here is what I found...

Apparently, while he was acting all snuggly with me earlier, he was actually swiping my credit card off of my desk.

The truncated alphabet pillow.

The New Hipster

2008-11-19T12:53:00.004-08:00

I made this for Henry the Fifth from Burda Pattern 9707. I have another one cut out, but sewing is really hard with a toddler running around!

The rug search that ended in a truncated alphabet

2008-11-19T07:08:00.001-08:00

Neighbor Friend e'd me a couple of days ago because she found something I was looking for. I wanted to get Henry the Fifth a city street rug for him to play with all of his cars and trucks. Neighbor Friend found them at Home Emporium for $15. Awesome. So I went...And also got this excellent bamboo bowl I have been searching for.
I wanted something to keep all of my root veggies in- big enough to hold lots of veggies, attractive enough to have on the counter. I got it for $5 - woohoo!

I also found a couple mushroom birdhouse ornaments and an alphabet pillow for the baby's toy bench - the funny part is that the embroidered alphabet goes from A to U because they ran out of room. I might add the rest of the alphabet to the back lest my son show up to kindergarten missing the end of the alphabet.

Grosgrain Store is Open

2008-11-08T09:06:00.002-08:00

Grosgrain's store is officially open. Here is the link to super cute girl's clothes.
GROSGRAINSTORE.COM

And the Winner is...

2008-11-08T06:49:00.003-08:00

Mary of Now Entering Momville. Congrats!
I used a free random number generator at random.org.
Thanks to everyone who entered!

Last Chance for a Free Bib and Burp

2008-11-07T08:12:00.004-08:00

I will be drawing a name tonight. I will use a random number generator. Hubby suggested one of his Dungeons and Dragons dice for the random number generator. Nerd.
Leave a post at the original giveaway post to enter. Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you via your blog or an email address.

Denver Fabrics: A reason to move back to Colorado

2008-11-04T14:14:00.006-08:00

Often, as I have searched online for various fab rics, I have come across Denver Fabrics in my searches. This week, my future SIL needed to go look at wedding dress fabric. She asked if I wanted to tag along. To look at fabric. Like, duh. Of course. Since we were in Colorado, I was hope, hope, hoping that we would be going to the famous Denver Fabrics. Sure enough, we did.
It is huge. Not as big as G-street in Maryland, but really really big. And they had sales. Lots and lots of sale tables. Needless to say, I got a little distracted. I found colorful elastic to make bands for my bentos. I found 3 future skirts. I found suit fabric for the baby, or maybe another skirt, or cute stuffed animals. I found the $1 a pound table where they had all sorts of ugly fabrics with a few hidden gems.
I was generally a good girl, but it is a good thing we don't live near there.

My favorite of the bridal shopping pics I took. MOTB,

the Seamstress and outrageously expensive beaded lace.

2008-11-01T06:55:00.002-07:00

First Pizza. Mandy the OT would be so proud!At the Pumpkin Patch

Halloween in our Hood

2008-11-01T06:41:00.004-07:00

How we dressed for the neighborhood Halloween Party

How everyone else dressed

Little Red Wagon

2008-10-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

My Sense of Humor is so Juvenile

2008-10-27T07:02:00.001-07:00

I just commented on someone else's blog and the anti-spam word was "adinho". TeeHeeHee.

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-10-25T06:04:00.002-07:00

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am so excited that Grosgrain will be selling her creations soon! Maybe, just maybe, she will make a few boy items - I hope I hope. She is giving away 3 skirts with matching tops to celebrate! I am so impressed. Bibs and Burps are the best I can do for now.
My mom is coming tomorrow to give me the respite time to finish his costume and maybe a few bowling shirts.

A Gift from Poland

2008-10-24T18:53:00.004-07:00

One of the gifts Henry brought back from Poland. A stylish bag of sugar. He knows me so well.

Sock Monkey Bib and Burp Giveaway

2008-10-24T06:48:00.002-07:00

My first Giveaway!! I am giving away this sock monkey applique bib and burp cloth set. Hand made with all new materials. Backed with baby blue chenille. I can vouch for my handmade bibs and burps holding A LOT of baby barf. They are very absorbent and have great coverage for your messiest solid food days. Velcro closure. Machine wash any temp, dry any temp, pre-treat with spray-n-wash for stains.

Open to all (three) of my readers! I am willing to ship overseas for this first giveaway. Although my readers consist of Hubby who lives with me (duh), neighbor who I can just hand them to, and buddy who lives in CONUS.

To enter leave a comment on this post. Link to your blog or leave an email so I can contact the winner. If you don't want to publicize your email, find mine in my profile and send me an email in addition to your comment. I will not publish emails or use them for any purpose other than notifying the winner.
I will use a random number picker to choose the winner. Last entry accepted November 6th, 2008 midnight EST. Drawing will be November 7th, 2008.

addendum: extended entries to Midnight Nov. 7th.

Google Ad Sense

2008-10-23T09:29:00.004-07:00

So, I decided to add ads to my site. In a few days, the ads should appear at the bottom and are generated by Google based on the content of the blog. I do not choose what ads appear or what products are being advertised. This is just a way for my site to possibly generate some revenue.

Birthday Gift and an Embarassing Photo

2008-10-20T15:56:00.004-07:00

One of Henry the Fifth's little girlfriends turned one a few days ago. For her birthday, BabyH commissioned Mommy to make her "The Cutest Dress Ever." I think I succeeded. She is a little swimmer, so the mermaid fabric I've been hording was a perfect match for her personality.

She is the same weight as Henry, so the poor man had to try it on. He looks so strange in a dress.
I also sent some Green Bay Packers coffee sleeves to keep Henry on he daddy's good side.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-20T07:47:00.001-07:00

Grosgrain is giving away this handmade gown! It even has period underpinnings and hand made flowers on the front. Go check it out! Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Wet and Wild

2008-10-16T06:44:00.005-07:00

My SIL gave Henry a water table for his first birthday. I hadn't even thought of it. Of course, a seasoned mommy would know what to get for a kiddo's 1st birthday.
Henry was playing with it inside until the other day. I took him out with a blanket to play inthe yard while I washed some selves off to bring in (to store my expanding sewing collection). Naturally, Henry didn't want to stay on his blanket, so he came over to the big puddle by me and got soaked.
When in Rome.... Since he was already soaked, I brought out the water table and filled it. He had a BLAST. He was hollering and laughing and splashing like crazy. Luckily it is mild enough here that he could play a while without getting too cold.
After playing his butt off in the water, he took off down the driveway. I followed, and he he ended up circumnavigating the entire house!! His poor little leg warmers are shot now.

Wing Tai, Geneva, NY

2008-10-16T06:42:00.002-07:00

Fabric Party Hat Tutorial

2008-10-01T20:01:00.003-07:00

I wanted to make a sock monkey party hat for Henry the Fifth's first birthday. I couldn't find a tutorial for a fabric party hat. This is my attempt at documenting how I made his.

Materials:
Paper Party hat
shirt box or cereal box
fabric of choice
matching and contrast scrap strips/remnants
fusible interfacing
pinking shears
scissors
ric rac
needle
thread
1/4 inch elastic

1. Open a store bought paper hat and trace onto an old box top or cereal box. Cut out template. You can use the actual paper hat as your template if you don't need it for guests later.
(There is a PDF template by scholastic here, but it is small compared to a store bought hat.) (Note: on my template I left the tab used for a paper hat to connect together. This was not necessary and will get cut off. Next time I will omit this tab.)

2. Using the template, trace and cut out your fabric and fusible interfacing using pinking shears. Make sure the sticky side of the interfacing matches the wrong side of the hat fabric.

3. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric following the directions on the interfacing.

4. (This step was added later when I realized the hat needed reinforcing.) Cut three 1 inch strips of interfacing to run from the top to the bottom of the hat. Iron on in equidistant spacing. Depending on the weight of your hat topper, you may need more reinforcement. It is possible to add later as needed, just easier to add now.

4. Measure and cut 2 lengths of ric rac to trim the perimeter of the hat bottom. Machine sew onto the hat. I chose contrasting colors I later picked up in the hat topper.

5. Fold the hat right side together matching the edges. (Note: on the template I left the tab used for a paper hat to connect together. This was not necessary and will get cut off.)

6. Sew hat edge with right sides together with 1/4 inch seam. If you haven't already, cut off the extraneous tab.

8. Turn right side out.

9. Make hat topper.

9a. I made a huge pompom following this tutorial by Molly Chicken. The pompom came out beautifully. Unfortunately, the weight of it was too much for the hat to handle, even after reinforcing.

My pompom circle.

Cutting the pompom.

I don't have a photo of the hat with the giant pompom squishing the hat down.

Hat topper, 2nd attempt....
The following is the fix I did to create a smaller pompom-esque fringe for the top of the hat.

9b. Cut 10 to 15, 1/2 inch thick strips of matching and contrasting fabric approximately 6 inches long. (I pulled about 10-15 strips out of the cute, giant pompom I made.)

9c. Thread a needle with matching thread. Knot the end. Push needle thru fabric at the top of the hat so the knot is on the inside of the hat. Then, push needle and thread thru the middle of all of your strips. Arrange strips on the thread so that they hang down in all directions. Bring needle and thread back down thru the fabric strips and thru the tip of the hat again. Repeat until the topper is secure. Be sure to keep the strips from getting caught in the loop of the thread as you sew.

(This is actually an after party shot, as you can tell by the buttercream frosting on the hat!)

You can sort of see how I sewed it on here.

10. Measure a length of elastic to go under the chin of the birthday person. I set the hat on the baby and held the elastic in place. If your birday person is not available, then guesstimate.
(In this view you can see the reinforcing that I added.) Hand tack the elastic to the inside of the hat on either side, making sure the seam is in the back.

PAH-TEY!!!!

(Launder: I hand washed his hat with woolite and it kept it's shape nicely.)

Please comment with questions so that I can edit the tutorial to future use.

12 things I did while the market crashed

2008-09-30T04:19:00.004-07:00

I saw this idea on Happy Things and decided to write a list of my own.

1. said Happy Birthday to my big boy who turned one
2. ate another chai cupcake. Yummy Yum!
3. reorganized my end table drawer
4. tossed old coupons
5. walked in circles and circles and circles with Henry the Fifth
6. played cars and trucks
7. lay my new-to-me freecycled fabric out on the lawn to sun and chlorophyll out the mustiness
8. uploaded birthday pics to flickr
9. re-learned some ASL with a Baby Einstein video
10. shared some cows milk with Henry the Fifth
11. gave the baby 100 kisses
12. catnapped with the ~~baby~~ big boy

Happy 1st Birthday to Henry the Fifth

2008-09-29T12:04:00.008-07:00

Vanilla and chai cupcakes. Buttercream frosting hand made by my SIL.

Grandpa did a great magic show for everyone.

Pin the nose on the lion.

We gave him a new chomp and clack for walking with.

Wearing his new party hat and and bib. I made a matching burp with 'one' spelled out.

Henry's first cupcake was a hit.

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-26T16:49:00.001-07:00

Grosgrain is giving away another adorable dress!! Check out her site for more details.
Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Monkey Romper

2008-09-21T07:24:00.001-07:00

Henry modeling the monkey romper I made him with fabric ordered from Japan via Matatabi's Etsy shop. The pattern is Simplicity 4243. Putting in the sleeve was not so simple. I also used snap tape instead of a zipper in the back. I am so so so proud of this outfit. Definitely the best thing I have made so far.
I am glad he is growing, but bummed he will not fit this for long!

With Nanie.

Fox Run Recycles

2008-09-21T07:01:00.002-07:00

The other day we had lunch at Fox Run Vinyards with my MIL. I thought their recycling box was a cute idea. Insted of an ugly can, they put out a wooden box with a sign. I hope other restaurants and businesses notice that the Winery of the Year is doing a great thing that is so easy.

Lunch included a veggie wrap with asparagus, carrots, summer squash and pesto. Plus this fantastic mexican chicken and pasta salad.

Apples on a New York Drive

2008-09-18T13:12:00.005-07:00

Returning from a visit with my former swimming coach, Hubby and I decided to program the garmin to take us back without highways or tool roads in order to stay on country roads. We had wanted to go apple picking and, as fate would have it, happened upon an orchard.

I am on a dial up connection at the in-laws, so more on this and flickr later.

Operation Undergarment

2008-09-12T18:07:00.001-07:00

Operation Undergarment is a giving opportunity organized by a group of moms who adopted children from Kazakhstan. Karaganda Kids is asking for packages of new underpants and undershirts for children ages 2-5. These will be sent to the orphanages in Kazakhstan for the children who have yet to be adopted.
I learned about Operation Underpants via friend Muriel, SIL to good pal Julie.
Click on the link to go to the Karaganda Kids site. Packages of undergarments can be sent to this address:

Operation Undergarment
1894 Techny Court
Northbrook, IL 60062

This is a neat idea to help out kids with something they really need. Muriel has helping organize and publicize this all while being super-preggo and now with a tiny one at home in addition to he beautiful adopted daughter.

Friday Giveaway by Sweet Life in the Valley

2008-09-11T14:22:00.002-07:00

Sweet Life in the Valley is giving away a set of trash ties. But hurry, ends tonight!

Kindermusik: Goal # 29 completed

2008-09-11T13:34:00.004-07:00

Yesterday Henry and I started Kindermusik Zoom Buggy. I had heard of it thru a neighbor, but the price was high. Then, another neighbor I met in the La Leche group, mentioned she was going to the class at the YMCA. I needed that little kick in the pants. Taking Henry the Fifth to the Y for class is great because, theoretically, I could work out before or afterward.
Henry the Fifth was true to form in his first class. He is a regular social butterfly, ditching me and hanging with the other kids during the free parts of the class. Fortunately, he had fun during the singing and dancing parts too, so being with mommy isn't totally lame... yet.
The cutest part was when the teacher read a book to the class. The toddlers all went and sat in front of her to listen. So, Henry got off of my lap, crawled over, and sat with the other kids big boy style. He watched and listened to the teacher the whole time she read the book. (The book was short. He's a genius, but it's not like he sat thru Moby Dick or something.) We get a book for the class so we can continue the fun at home.
I am just glad Henry 'played nice' on his first big social setting.

Charles and Robin on The Knot

2008-09-11T04:54:00.001-07:00

Charles and Robin made a page on The Knot!
They are so cute.

smushy fish cupcakes

2008-09-10T18:25:00.001-07:00

Hubby came home from a trip, so I got a special dessert at the Teet.
Poor guys got smushed on the way home. But they left their smiles on the box!

18 pounds 1.1 ounces

2008-09-09T05:58:00.004-07:00

I have been all psyched because Henry the Fifth has been gaining weight. I even put away all of his 6-9 clothes and pulled out his 12month outfits. They are huge on him. his 9 month and 9-12s fit the best. I was so tired of the 6-9s even though we could still squeeze him into them. They got a lot of use since he didn't grow for so long. Now, he gets to wear baggy clothes until he grows a little more.
We had a follow up at the pediatrician yesterday and I had all sorts of questions about when to stop supplementing and how big is too big. Well, that was all moot. Even though he is gaining weight like a champ, he is still in the 3rd percentile for height and weight. He is gaining 12 grams per day, which is better than the average of 8-10 grams that most kids his age gain. But all that is doing is keeping him on the 3rd percentile curve. He isn't regaining what he missed in those few months. The doctor is thrilled with his weight gain. She said we shouldn't expect him to catch up much (or at all) until he is a lot older.

I am just worried about him being scrawny and geting bullied when he is older. He seems to be a social butterfly right now., so hopefully that trait will help him out.

Vermillion Rules Giveaway

2008-09-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Vermillion Rules Monday Giveaway your choice of magnets from Daisy Mae Designs!

My favorite is the Monkeys of course.

Grosgrain Sleepytime Nightgown Giveaway

2008-09-08T07:32:00.002-07:00

Another Grosgrain giveaway! This is so sweet!

The Great Naked Escape

2008-09-06T08:32:00.001-07:00

OR: Henry the Fifth has a diaper rash.

Yup. His first diaper rash ever. We were wondering why he was so cranky at night. When we saw the rash develop, it all made sense.
Teething = more poops = raw bum = angry baby.
I consulted the EXALTED baby guide and found that gratuitous nudity is the cure for diaper rash.

Good thing we have a Bissel... because Mr. Pantsless made the most of
the opportunity. A wizzin' he went... on the carpet... on the
bathmat... in the kitchen... in his crib... on daddy's side of the
bed...on the guest bed because our sheets were in the wash.

To diaper or not to diaper?

The first night of the rash, Hubby and I debated about whether to dry
him thoroughly and diaper for the night. Henry the Fifth made it very
clear that diapering was not an option. So hubby had a fantstic idea.
In addition to the multilayered pee-pad crib I made, we would dress him
in a sleeper with the crotch open. Awesome. Assless Chaps it was.

Genius, pure genius. Baby stayed warm and rash looked a tad better in the AM.

As fate would have it, the following morning wasn't normal. I had a cleaning
service (thanks mom) coming at 9 and needed to straighten up. I went to
the baby's room to grab a diaper and instead started putting toys away.
Upstairs, Henry is a Free Range Baby, with access to a few rooms. You
already know what happened, right?

When I stepped out of his room and looked into ours I had a flashback to the dog, when he was old and grey. Poop. Everywhere. Shmears of poo from the door of our room to the foot of the bed. And at the end of the trail was Henry the Fifth, in his naked glory, laying there in his secretary pose, covered in poo from the waist down, chewing on a bath toy.

AAAUUUUGH!

run, pick up baby, rinse and bathe baby, DIAPER baby. Run downstairs. Bucket, Resolve and a scrub brush. Wipe up chunks with towels (real towels, goin' green, right?) Scrub multi-poo spots. Straighten up rest of house. Aaaaah, the housekeeper is here. And whe was really sweet too.

Hubby got home late, very tired. He ran the Bissel only to discover afterward that he had put the wrong product in the machine. Luckily that product was the wrong density and didn't go through the machine. Carpet survived, Bissel survived.

Later that evening, Mr. Pantsless escaped from Baby Jail and made his mark in the off limits part of the house....

Vermillion Rules Friday Giveaway

2008-09-05T09:23:00.002-07:00

Vermillion's Friday Giveaway is a free card design by less ordinary designs on Etsy.

This is my favorite. How cute!

The Chai Story

2008-09-04T06:32:00.001-07:00

This is a story about an unsafe dog toy. If you have it get rid of it.

Warning, the story might make you cry.

The Chai Story

via Rare Bird Finds and Apartment Therapy

Sassy Apron Giveaway by Vermillion Rules

2008-09-04T06:26:00.001-07:00

Vermillion Rules is sponsoring a giveaway of a cute hand made apron from Etsy shop Sassy Apron.

Click on the photo above to link to the giveaway!

Ditch the Disposables Challenge

2008-09-02T09:10:00.004-07:00

I am doing the:

Check on the: cloth napkins, reusable grocery bags (so many hubby had to give me a reality check to stop buying more), reusable water bottles

(except hurricane kit), using microfiber dust rags (me trying, hubby not yet, but would if I ask),
using Foogo thermo and BPA free reusable baby dishes.

Plan:

1. finish making cloth coffee jackets
(it's a step in the right direction)

2. really need to suck it up and
invest in cloth diapers (brand?),

3. interesting idea she has on cloth swiffers - I
will try it with the microfiber clothes we have

4. finish making hankies for baby from old flannel sheet.

Right now I am uncomfortable with cloth wipes for my own butt (and that whole pee
on your veggie garden thing Crunchy Domestic Goddess did. maybe someday. maybe...not.)

Addendum (Crash Course) - baby Henry has his first diaper rash. So I am using washcloths and water to clean his rear. Poor guy is not very happy!

crayon-stache

2008-08-30T12:12:00.002-07:00

crayon-stache
Originally uploaded by roenke47

I know you are thinking "Why did she give crayons to an 11 month old?" Well, when the OT asked if he could make marks on paper with a crayon, I did my suck-in noise of shock and said, "We don't let him have crayons."
Well, oops. Apparently, he is ready for them.

Or so we thought.

11 Months Old

2008-08-30T08:40:00.006-07:00

Yesterday was Baby Henry's 11 months birthday. We had an Occupational and Speech Therapy evaluation on the 28th to see if Henry qualified for the sate program. They found that he is at 14 months for his problem solving, on time for mobility and gross motor function and on the verge of falling behind for fine motor skills. This is because he is weak in his chest and shoulder girdle as a result of open heart surgery. He is not 25% delayed, so he didn't qualify, but we are already on OT for feeding with CHKD.
The therapists who came for the state eval were great and gave lots of ideas to keep Henry on time or ahead of the curve. recommended some toys he needs. So, naturally, I had to go shopping.
I got him Toddler crayons to be used with a parent (because they went straight into his mouth., blocks, and a shape sorter cube. We have other stuff on his wishlist.
I was going to buy a ball to use for shoulder rehab (like adults use an exercise ball), but I realized today I can just use my water polo ball. Early exposure to the sport is important.

One more month to go until his big birthday!

Child Safety Tattoos

2008-08-26T07:35:00.004-07:00

I think I found the Safety Tats thru Cool Mom Picks.... Here's the cool thing. I emailed with a question about whether they would add more allergy options (for a friend with egg/milk allergy baby) and custom tats for The Golden Pig (pacemaker baby.)

They came through!! Now available on the site are write-on tats. You can write a current phone number, accurate allergy and/or medical information. OR custom tats- just type in what you want it to say and place your order!

The turn around was really fast on this request! Thanks Safety Tat!

Golden Pig Update

2008-08-26T07:17:00.007-07:00

This is the email I sent to family and freinds with an update on Baby H...

Heart Health: Our Navy Pediatric Cardiologist Dr. Fleenor retired from the Navy and went to work at CHKD. So, our primary cardiologist is now Dr. Carr. He is a really great guy and terrific with the baby. At his last appointment, Henry was so chilled out that Dr. Carr took a lot of pictures with the echocardiogram. He noted that the left pulmonary artery had higher pressure than it did before. Fortunately, Dr. Vance over at CHKD took a look at the results and said we do not need a cardiac catheterization at this time. Good news, but possibility of a cath is another thing on the list of crap I didn’t know could happen with a heart baby.

Pacemaker: Henry’s pacemaker is working well and his heart continues to have a few sinus rhythm beats independent of the pacemaker. This means he is coming out of heart block. We use the telephone to have his pacemaker checked from home. This process only reads a minute of heart rate so they know the pacemaker is working, but not if he is any more out of heart block than in April. We go back to the Electrophysiology group in October and will get a better idea of if the connection between his Atrial and Sinus node has improved.

Eating: Henry started solids at 6 months old. He has had issues with vomiting when crying and when stuffy since he was born. When we started solids we saw this increase. We noticed that in addition to gagging on snot when he cried, he also gagged on thicker or chunkier foods. He started refusing food and ate very little. Meanwhile, he was still having his really short nursing sessions as had been his habit due to the reflux. At his 9 month appointment he slid from 50^th %-tile to 3^rd %-tile for height and weight. That made it clear that something was wrong. The good thing is his clothes all still fit. We have sleepers from Aunts Margaret, Ellen, and Freda that we use constantly.

Luckily, Dr Fleenor was instrumental in getting Henry a good primary pediatrician. His new PCM, Dr. Buryk is fantastic. She started him on a low dose of Prilosec, wrote a referral to a Pediatric Dietician and to a GI specialist. The dietician recommended supplementing his food and my breast milk with Similac. The food part was no problem, but and getting him to take fortified milk didn’t work. He hated the formula. She also gave us info on feeding solids and told us that the bulk of his calories should be coming from breast milk, not solids. This felt like a step backwards, but we did it.

I went to the Navy pharmacy to get Henry’s new Prilosec. I asked them if they flavored the medication, remembering how hard it was when we tried Zantac as a newborn. The Navy doesn’t flavor their meds. To make matters worse, liquid Prilosec has to be specially mixed by the Pharmacist. When they do this, the product is acidic and has to be neutralized with Sodium Bicarbonate – for you non-chemistry folks, that is baking soda. So Henry’s new medicine tasted like liquid baking soda. They gave us a syringe the size of his mouth administer it. I’m sure you can guess how well that went over, giant tube of salty liquid being shoved in your mouth. YUM. It took both of us to pin the baby down on the floor and force this huge syringe in his mouth to squirt the stuff in. He screamed the whole time. Not a great way to re-educate a kid who is already skeptical about food. I called around to pharmacies to find out who could make it with flavor, but liquid Prilosec is hard to make, so almost no one does it.

GI Specialist: We saw the GI doc a few weeks later. Dr. Kobak had so much information and knowledge, I was really impressed. He was also great with the baby. He said the baby has two different problems. 1. He has reflux. 2. He has a texture aversion causing the gagging and vomiting on certain foods. To fix these problems, Dr. K upped the Prilosec and had me get it at CHKD. Not only did the CHKD pharmacy add grape flavor for free, but they mix it in a higher concentration so we didn’t have to give nearly the volume. I don’t mind a $9 co-pay for that. PLUS, GET THIS, they will DELIVER IT to my house or to a nearby pharmacy FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely worth $9. Baby H wasn’t a big fan of the grape flavor at first. It took 3 weeks of switching to a skinny syringe, listening to the advice of other heart moms, and giving him Cheerios as a reward (yeah, like a dog), but he now opens his mouth for the meds and doesn’t spit a drop out. Awesome, awesome baby. He rocks.

The other fix Dr. Kobak recommended was to go to Occupational Therapy to resolve the texture aversion. Here’s the embarrassing part. I am a PT, right? I have worked closely with OT’s for my whole professional career. How did I not know you guys did feeding? I mean, I knew you did feeding with stroke survivors – as in get the fork to the mouth and such. But food aversions? Gagging? Barfing? Did not know this. Boy do I feel like a jerk. Anyhow, we got our OT referral and set it up. More on that later. (yes, that’s right. It’s a long email. Deal.)

Mobility: I’m sure the last time I wrote, Henry was rolling for mobility. See a toy? Roll there. See Daddy? Roll there. Got yourself stuck in a corner? Scream.

He learned to combat crawl around 6 months, I think. (The baby book is not filled out. Horrible, I know.) Combat (or Army) crawling is what you see in the movies where the dude is in boot camp and has to crawl thru the mud and rain on his belly while someone is yelling at him to “Git your ass moving, soldier!”. That is combat crawling and that is what Henry does. Minus rain, mud, and drill sergeant. I worked with him a little on getting up onto all fours for normal crawling, but I didn’t push the subject since many, many kids never crawl on all fours. It is usually ok to combat crawl and then walk. No big deal.

I started to get concerned that since stability in the shoulder complex is related to swallowing, maybe he needed to crawl on all fours. I asked the OT about it on the first day, and she wasn’t sure. But at our next session she had spoken with some colleagues and thought we definitely needed to work on his crawling.

Well, I gotta say, I really feel like I dropped the ball on this one. Baby H can crawl properly, but chooses not to – or so I thought. He is a genius, you know, so why not think he was making a decision about his mobility? As it turns out, the more I work with him on supporting his upper body on outstretched arms the more I realize he was avoiding it because he is very weak in his shoulder complex. This makes sense since he had his chest sliced open at exactly the time he was learning to push up and gain shoulder stability (duh.) At the time, I thought he was ‘on time’ with tummy-time skills, but it is apparent now that he didn’t gain the strength he needed. Instead, he opted to roll to places and then combat crawl. As I write this, I do think it was because of his genius. He didn’t have time to work on belly activities when he could just roll places and explore his environment. In retrospect, I should have forced him too. I am not sure I could have known it at the time.

In other mobility news, he can pull up on anything and everything. He cruises the furniture. He took 3 steps independently at Grandmas 3 weeks ago, but since then has chickened out. He cruises over to us, grabs our hands, and has us walk laps with him all over the house. It’s either laps or scream. Our choice.

Occupational Therapy: We are currently going to a CHKD outpatient OT clinic. Mandy works on his feeding and crawling. I am using my know-how to strengthen his shoulders in what is called ‘closed chain’ positions. Meaning, his hands are planted on the floor as in crawling. Boy-oh-boy, baby’s sure do have a short attention span. I get about 15 seconds of therapy before he is mad at me for stopping him from doing what he wants.

The good news is that he is now able to eat textures akin to thin rice pudding without barfing. He still gags and barfs when I give him thicker food like oatmeal, or cottage cheese texture, and occasionally gags on a cheerio.

Look who’s Talking: Ok, not really. He does say dadadada appropriately sometimes. He definitely understands ‘no’, ‘come here’, ‘danger’, ‘stop’, ‘good job’ ‘finished’ and a few more. He is vocal pretty much constantly talking or singing to himself or us. Soooo adorable. Oh, and he hollers in the grocery cart at the store causing people to look down the aisle to see what in the world is coming their way.

Sleeping: Does he sleep thru the night yet? Why is this the first question everyone asks? No, he’s not. But we sure are close. We had started sleep training with my college roomie, Dr. Lisa Meltzer , a while back. We decided to suspend training when we got the word on his growth issues. This allowed me to continue to breastfeed throughout the night in order to boost his caloric intake. Now that the cry/barf pattern is alleviated, sleep training is back on. He has actually done really well, with short cries under 10 minutes once he is in his crib. My instinct is to co-sleep and cater to his every need, but the reality is that Western-Born Judy cannot co-exist with Asian-Soul Judy. I was going nuts and getting very depressed. Sleep deprivation is very bad for depressed people. So, baby H is learning to be on his own at night, and learning it well. He still wakes and fusses a little a couple times a night, but settles down on his own for the most part. Now, we are tackling his nap schedule which is also a little off due to the frequent on-demand breast feedings required by a reflux baby. (Lisa’s sister Sharon has been really great too, she is a pediatrician and has a heart baby too!)

Speaking of Breast Feeding: I have to wean. Not my plan. I wanted to breast feed supplementaly for 2 years. Unfortunately, the sleep deprivation threw me into such a dark depression that my doctor added a new medication that doesn’t have as much research on it. I have been going to La Leche League meetings and Cathy, the leader, has been instrumental in helping me find the information on the medication and weaning. Luckily, I was able to breast feed for nearly a year. Even more lucky is that Baby H decided he will take formula in a bottle. Having to stop breast feeding was one of the worst decisions I have had to make. I went back and forth over it. I absolutely love the time the baby and I have together when he is nursing. My heart breaks when he is upset and starts nuzzling for comfort and I cannot give it. I just hate it. But, I think it is best for both of us to have me mentally healthy and reduce the amount of meds in his system.

HUGGS Group: CHKD has a support group for parents of children with congenital Heart Defects. I have never thought of my self as a support group kind of person. But I tell you, meeting these women has been so terrific. I had a bunch over to our community pool for swim time. We are making plans for other meet ups that I look forward to. Having people who understand and have been there is so incredibly helpful.

Our family has been very blessed to have the love and support of good friends and amazing family. Thanks to everyone!

NieNie recovery fund

2008-08-26T05:00:00.007-07:00

Blogger Stephanie of NieNie was in a terrible plane crash. She is recovering from burns over 80% of her body. her husband has burns over 30% of his body.

Her sister has stared a fund for their recovery and their 4 children.

Ninja Monkey!

2008-08-25T19:18:00.002-07:00

Don't you want to see the kangaroos little man?

2008-08-25T18:18:00.010-07:00

I took the little man to get his passport photos today. We are thinking of going to Australia in conjunction with one of Daddy's business trips.
When I called the Post Office to see if they would do the photos, the person hemmed and hawed about how it is really difficult for them to photograph babies. "Call JC Penny."
I called JC Penny. "Sorry, our lights are not right for passport photos, so they won't be acceptable."
Time to get out the phone book. Kinkos takes photos. Awesome. I call and the guy laughed when I asked about baby photos. He said it is difficult, but they could make it work.

Naturally, I brought his super cute vintage style outfit for the photo. Yes- my little guy got down to his unmentionables in the middle of Kinkos. Keesha, our Photographer, laughed that he was going to be trouble when she saw him whoopin' it up crawling around the store.

They hung a piece of poster paper as a backdrop and we set Baby H in front of it.

He was having none of it. Poor little man.

So, I plied him with Gerber Puffs. And wala! A perfect Passport photo.

Thank You Keesha!

#080/101: Facebook

2008-08-25T07:17:00.015-07:00

Well, I joined Facebook. I have gotten invites in the past, but it was old high school pal Christy who convinced me.

Christy, Nikki and I were lab partners in AP bio. Ronald Ann is our rat from "The Ronald Ann Files: A Composition about Decomposition."

I can't believe I didn't join Facebook sooner. Within a few clicks, I met Goal #080: Get in touch with 4 old friends.....

....actually, I kicked that goal's butt.

I Feel Pretty

2008-08-23T10:24:00.004-07:00

Henry has been eating so well lately. Usually between 4-8 ounces of food at each meal!! He loves his beets. It is so funny because we mix his food with Simila for a calorie boost, so the beets look like Old Lady lipstick.
I grabbed the camera to get a shot of his lips.

Then he gagged on a cheerio and .... BLEP!....up came lunch. Bummer.

But at least he got to finger paint.

Sherpani Love

2008-08-23T06:40:00.001-07:00

This morning I was looking at baby carrier prices online for a little budgeting. I stopped by one of my favorite bag stores, SHerpani. I love their products. I have several. In fact, I should avoid their website for risk of buying more. Like a backpack carrier.

Sherpani Packs

Some of my sherpanis.

Apple Orchard Overalls GIVEAWAY at Grosgrain!!

2008-08-22T11:31:00.003-07:00

Grosgrain is giving away this adorable overalls!
Grosgrain: Apple Orchard Overalls GIVEAWAY!!!!

Mandy said he can have biter biscuits!

2008-08-22T10:25:00.002-07:00

He is making progress with his feeding therapy. His OT said he can have biter biscuits. Yay!!

Er. Well, yuck.... What a mess.....!

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-08-21T07:10:00.002-07:00

Kathleen at Grosgrain is giving away this adorable dress! If I win it do I keep it for a future daughter or give it to my niece? Hmm, decisions..

Garden Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

101 Things in 1001 Days

2008-08-19T19:12:00.016-07:00

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Start Date: August 22, 2008

Midpoint: January 4, 2010

End Date: May 20, 2011

My List

Completed Goals in Green

Health and a Little Vanity

001. Blog a post about each 101 (/101)

002. Run twice a week for 3 months (3/3)

003. Then run 3 times a week for 6 months (2/6)

004. Then run 4 times a week for 9 months (0/9)

005. Swim at least twice a week for 3 months (3/3)

006. Reach goal weight of 135 pounds

007. Get Lasik or PRK surgery (done)

008. Eat 5 fruits and veggies daily for 4 months (/120)

009. Have my teeth whitened

010. Get glasses in new Rx (got lasik instead)

011. Weight train 2 times a week for 2 months (2/2)

012. Do home exercise program for knee pain daily for 2 months (0/2)

013. Use my skin care system and otherwise leave it alone for 2 months (1/2)

Competition, Athletics, Getting Outdoors

014. Go orienteering with our son (3 times)

015. Find 20 Geocaches (8/20)

016. Hide a Geocache

017. Compete in 5 sprint triathlons (3/5, plus 1 team duathlon and some foot races 2009) On hold for preggo.

018. Complete another Half Ironman

019. Go for run or ride on Dismal Swamp canal (done several times)

020. Take baby hiking (done - olympic mountains)

021. Take baby to neighborhood park each week (completed in chesapeake)

022. Swim with Belugas

Family

023. Have another baby, twins or quadruplets. 1,2 or 3 boys. 1 girl. Charlie, Willy, Jimmy and Annika Louise.

024. Do three 10 minute sessions of therapy a day with the baby (9/1001- no longer applicable, he is ahead of schedule/milestones)

025. Do baby massage 3 times each week (done, now replaced with reading)

026. Adopt a dog - on hold for 2 years per family decision

027. Fill out the baby book

028. Teach my son to swim

029. Join a mommy and baby class or play group- Kindermusik at the YMCA

030. Take baby to an aquarium

031. Get the rest of my stuff out of my parent’s basement

032. Help parents eBay excess tchotchkes

033. Plan my son’s first birthday party including guests, homemade cake, and fun gifts. (successful party)

034. Switch baby to cloth diapers at home - progress, bought some fuzzibunz, Abandoned, he outgrew them. Pottytraining now.

035. Play a board game with husband each week (25/143)

Mental Health and Mental Floss

036. Finish vision board

037. Finish reading the books in my pile o’ books on the nightstand

038. Record my dreams 4 times per week (2/572)

039. Meditate at least 15 minutes per day (while the baby is sleeping) for 2 months (0/2)

040. Start my day taking the baby for a walk or run instead of turning on the TV, and make this a habit for 2 months (0/2)

041. Post my blog once a week for 25 weeks (3/25)

042. Take a photography class

043. Use the library for 1 out of 3 books I think I want to buy

044. Take 5 CEU courses (4/5)

045. Learn HTML - Progress: bought this book, talked with a programmer.

046. Figure out how to use Twitter - completed 8/27/08

047. Learn to use Photoshop

Sewing and Crafting

048. Make OT equipment for baby (done)

049. Sew 11 outfits (1 per 3 months) for baby (2/11)

050. Sew 3 skirts for me (3/3)

051. Refashion a vintage dress

052. Refashion a vintage skirt

053. Sew 10 quilts for CHKD (one every 2 months) (0/10)

054. Complete wedding scrapbooks

055. Complete travel scrapbooks

056. Finish mending pile in sewing room

057. Make 6 coffee sleeves (6/6 plus more)

058. Make a pin cushion with silica sand and wool

059. Organize vintage button collection

060. Embroider 6 tea towels (0/6)

061. Learn to crochet amigurumi

House and Home

062. Frame old and family photos- Progress: frames purchased, photos in process of organization

063. Embroider a quilt for our bed

064. Reupholster the antique couch and chairs with a mod fabrics

065. Print travel photos to frame

066. Mop the kitchen once a week for 1 month (0/4)

067. Reupholster 2 office chairs (0/2)

068. Finish the Hurricane Kit

069. Go thru my magazines, cut out what I want to save, put clippings into binders. Progress: Freecycled collection of SHAPE mags and Bon Apetit, completes Aug 2010- recycled most

070. Freecycle, donate, sell or otherwise get rid of at least 2 items per week. (/143)

Be a Better Human

071. Donate to NPR

072. Donate to SPCA - blankets so far

073. Donate to American Red Cross

074. Donate to CHKD

075. Donate to American Heart Association

076. Donate to La Leche League

077. Resume donating blood every 8 weeks

078. Sew quilt for Dr. Gilbert

079. Use reusable shopping bags at least 75%of the time for 3 months (3/3, now a habit)

080. Get in touch with 4 old friends (4/4)

Travel to Exotic or Ho Hum places

081. Go fabric shopping at Tomato in Japan

082. Go to Australia

083. Visit brother in Colorado other than his wedding

084. Visit other brother

085. Baby and I will ride the train to Maryland to see my parents

086. Baby and I will ride the train to New York to see my in-laws

087. Go to Vancouver

088. Go to NYC garment district and SOHO to shop my favorite stores

Shop or Obtain by any (legal) means

089. Obtain a Gocco print maker (now looking at a yudu instead)

090. Find one more farm chair for kitchen

091. Choose a silver pattern that coordinates with forks

092. Get a blackberry or other mobile device

093. Buy art from Etsy for a baby girl’s room

094. Buy Art from local artist in Hampton Roads, possibly from the library collection

095. Buy cute reusable shopping bags once i meet goal # 79 with the re-purposed totes I already have. I cheated a little and bought green bags from the commissary, Barnes & Noble, and a tote benefiting the Arts Council here.

096. Get the napkins that match the French table cloth

Cooking for the Gourmet and Every Day

097. Make 4 recipes with miso in my fridge (3/4)

098. Make baby’s mangos

099. Make baby’s carrots

100. Finish organizing my recipes

101. Cook a vegetarian meal once a week (0/143)

Baby Equipment Recommendations and a Few Tips of the Trade from a First Time Mom

2008-08-19T18:57:00.005-07:00

I have several Preggo friends so I wrote an email to one with my recs for baby stuff. Over the past few months the email has been recycled, edited and expanded.

Here is the result...

My Baby Equipment Recommendations and a Few Tips of the Trade from a First Time Mom

Breastfeeding:

The most important thing I can tell you about having a baby is how much I love breastfeeding. It was a challenge at first, but after a couple weeks it was easy. Feeding him is my favorite together time. I definitely recommend getting your hubby to do a bottle feeding of pumped milk as soon as possible and keep it up. Baby Henry won’t take a bottle since Big Henry was not available to get the bottle started. If you are going back to work right away you need to get the bottle started. The LLL recommends doing it after 6 to 8 weeks I believe. An additional bonus is breastmilk poops aren’t as gross as formula poops. But, there are lots of mommies who don’t do it at all- like J-lo. But Jennifer Garner did, and filmed a movie in the desert while breastfeeding. She kicks ass. Ok, lecture over.

Reviews:

We paid for access to Consumer Reports online to help us research our gear for the safest stuff. Don’t bother. The reports are outdated and don’t cover all the gear available. All the coolest strollers aren’t even rated. Some articles are available without joining. I think you are better off reading the reviews on Amazon and Babies-R-Us. I write reviews of everything we have.

The Kick-Assness of Amazon:

On Amazon you can now get a Universal Wishlist Button. Say you are on a boutique site and find an item you like, just click this button on your tool bar and it puts the item on your Amazon Wishlist. That way, you can tell people about the Wishlist for the baby and include mod/cool/hip/indie clothes and toys from little boutiques and independent sellers that aren’t on Amazon. When the gift buyer clicks on the item, they will be brought to the outside site. I wish they had this feature when we were shopping. I would have used Amazon as a registry and been able to get more of my favorite type of stuff.

Here is an example: Henry the Fifths Amazon wishlist, you can use the compact view to organize your list too.

Other smart tips:

Get one small package of each brand on diapers to trial once the baby arrives. Don’t go crazy buying lots of newborn sizes since baby could come out bigger than these. Also, try a variety of nursing pads. DON’T buy lots of bottles. Buy one sample of one brand of bottle and nipple, try it, then if baby hates it get ONE of another. We have a ~~shitload~~ cabinet full of Dr. Browns that H5 won’t use. We are saving them for the next baby unless they decide BPA is bad again. Don’t invest in a specific brand, you could waste a lot of money before you know what baby likes.

At the hospital:

I brought an oil infuser and room spray that smelled so good that the staff liked coming in our room and commented on how nice it was. That’s good because you want them to be happy when they come in. We had Thymes Indigenous in our room.

Websites:

www.coolmompicks.com my favorite shopping site for ideas

http://mightyjunior.com/ fun daily picks for kids

www.etsy.com lots of handmade items for décor, bibs etc. if you want to avoid commercial things

www.dadlabs.com Must watch, diaper pail sniff test, poop in the tub 101 , breast pump on a man , football dad.

Ambajam

bloesem kids

Junior Magazine from the UK—I looked at the mag at Barnes and Noble, but didn’t buy it. I will check next month to see if I like it for sure.

Dr Sears defined the 8 principles of attachement parenting. Attachement Parenting International is a group that has information on the ideas.

Maternity gear:

motherhood maternity sleeping bras – I wore these to sleep at the end of the pregnancy and I still wear them daily. I am wearing one now. Not super supportive, but comfy for sleeping and once you are nursing they hold the pads well.

bella band, in Japan they are called haramaki and old ladies wear them. I didn’t get any Japanese ones, but they look really cool.

snoogle sleeping pillow

boppy sleeping wedge – as soon as I started to show I found this wedge helpful to tuck under my belly

funny t-shirts can be important for a preggo

Books:

What to expect when you’re expecting (they just updated to make it more modern) by Heidi Murkoff

What to expect the first year by Heidi Murkoff

Henry used this the most. Be Prepared handbook for daddy

Happiest baby on the block – I would get the book and the DVD. I wish we had this before he was born. We didn’t get it until he was 3 months. You need it right away. It would have helped a lot.

Toys: first months:

grabapple

winkle

play gym they can use it from day 1. Henry loved the whale first. Now the octopus is his fave and we take it everywhere. At 10 months he goes over to it and turns on the music. He hits it until his favorite song plays.

links – any brand will do. You will need a lot. They keep toys from landing on the gross floor when you are out and we hook is favorite car to the headrest facing him so he can play in the car. And, he will just play with the links and not the toy half the time.

bla bla toys are way cute, we have the monkey. I want the rattles, but H5 is a little too old now.

Toys age 7 months:

exersaucer

mirror we have this in a different color. We used it from day 1, but now he really likes it. This one can stand alone or attach to the crib. He is on the floor laughing at it right now.

Musical Octopus

Toys 10 months:

Haba fish Moby, he has 2 different rainbow fish like Moby, and a frog rattle. I love Haba stuff

Pop up toys

Balls to kick

Furniture to crawl and climb on

mommy and daddy to hold his hands and walk

boxes

scrap paper or important papers to tear up, chew, and turn into perfect spitballs if only we would let him play with a straw too.

Seating:

Bouncer we have the Svan one. The baby likes that we can hang toys on it with links. I liked the Oeuf one but it was being recalled so we got this. I think any kind will do, I liked the look the Svan, but it isn’t very portable. Good until the become mobile.

bumbo This is great for practicing sitting and getting strong. We got a tray too. He figured out how to crawl out of it at about 8 months I think.

Furniture:

We have a changing table dresser combo so he can use it longer. We got crib with a drop side since I am tall and planning to get preggo again soon. Leaning way into a crib is hard when you are tall and preggo. But, if I did it again I might get the oeuf crib because it is so much better looking. Our crib is good quality, not spectacularly fancy, definitely a step above IKEA.

Dwell crib linens are at Target now.

Combi play yard Henry slept in the bassinette until the surgery at 4 ½ months old. We also used this changing table for the first 4 months. Our 18 month old niece slept in it on a visit. It survived an airplane ride. We really like it. Unfortunately, the music feature plays some creepy Muzak that includes Celine Dion and Memories from CATS.

Eddie-Bauer-Infant-Travel-Bed We use this in his antique cradle to make it safe. We take it on trips because it fits in a large suitcase. I love this thing. We still use it at 10 months for naps. He gets in and out by himself. This was one of our best purchases.

multi use pad we lined the bassinette with these and use them on the changing table and to set him on for baby massage. We have 5. I left one at my parents house for use there.

Blankets: the hospital swaddled with 2 blankets. When we got home we swaddled with a flannel underneath and then the THERMAL-BLANKET on top because they can wrap really tight.

Clothing:

The first 2 weeks the kimono t-shirts are THE BOMB! We liked the long sleeve ones. After the umbilical cord fell off we liked the gowns for months 1-3. Then we switched to button or zip front footies, which is what he wears now. All his 6 weeks photos are in the same doggie footie romper because that was his only one and Big Henry always dressed him in it.

American apparel- we have several of the long sleeve t-shirts. They are perfect to layer under onsies or other outfits for winter months. Especially when you want to dress him in a cute or witty onsie but it has short sleeves. I also love the Karate pants. He has several. The California pants are thicker. He had a hoodie jacket too, but we lost it and were super bummed because it was our favorite jacket for him.

dreamsie – I love these. They come with the cutest hat and I like that they have sleeves. We also had the Halo sleep sack Swaddle when he was little. We used the swaddle part at first then quit using it. If you have AC, the microfleece are good. I think the cotton ones won’t be warm enough unless you don’t have AC in the summer.

http://www.happygreenbee..com/ I haven’t gotten these clothes yet. I just want them

Kumquat I have a couple things by them

Petit Bateau

Tea is my absolute favorite

http://www.robeez.com/ the IT shoes for babies.

www.threadless.com for awesome tees

Zutano I get these at various small boutiques and from Amazon

New Potatoes clothes are adorable. I can t find a direct link, but this store some examples. http://www.bestdressedchild.com/newpobyswpo.html I haven’t purchased from them.

http://tottini.com/store/ this store is in Seattle and stocks cool stuff

I have over 100 sites bookmarked in my Baby folder.

Travel:

snuzzler – we have 2. It makes him fit in his car seat and stroller better and looks cozy and warm. He is getting big for it in the car seat now.

Car seat: The main decision about a car seat is whether to go with a car seat only or a travel system. We picked a convertable car seat that doesn’t go into a stroller because they have higher crash test ratings (especially in cars without the LATCH system like my old car.) That means that we don’t have a ‘bucket’ that we can use to take the baby out of the car and carry him around. This is bad if you are going to restaurants since you have to bring the stroller and park it at your table. A bucket can sit in this hammock thing restaurants have or in the wooden high chairs they have. With the stroller we have to choose restaurants that potentially have people in costume, if we go to cute quaint places the stroller doesn’t fit well. Buckets also can sit in the shopping cart. Without the bucket, I had to carry him in my sling or Bjorn to go to the store (which is fine with me) until he could sit in the shopping cart. Now, I think the Travel systems with the removable bucket are safe enough. We are happy with our decision, but it was not a convenient decision. The car seat decision is one that we used Consumer reports for, but honestly CR was out dated and probably made the decision more complicated than it needed to be.

Stroller: This decision is related to the above one if you get a travel system. We got this Graco Quattro. This is where Consumer Reports sucked. They didn’t have a lot of the stylish higher end strollers that I now covet. (like bugaboo ....) Now we also have a BOB Revolution jogging stroller BOB ...

Carrier: We got the original baby bjorn and the wind proof cover. The Bjorn bugs my back a little and Henry’s too but sometimes the structure of it is better than my wrap. I would look at a carrier with a lumbar strap. I have the moby wrap . I love how comfortable it is and it doesn’t hurt my back at all. If you wear it for a long time it stretches a bit and you have to hike the kid up. It is also super long, so putting it on in a parking lot is tricky keeping it clean. But I prefer it to the bjorn. I might look at slings next time, or a MaiTai.

Diaper Bag:

We got the SkipHop because it has straps that go around the stroller bar so you still have access to the cup holders on the console. I don’t always use this feature, but it is cool when I bother to switch the strap. Usually I just hang it over the bar like any other bag. My Kate Spade bag is pretty, but it has to be carried on the mommy’s shoulder. I recommend a bag that can hang on the back of the stroller. The special straps on the SkipHop are good if you think you will actually take the 20 seconds it takes to clip them on. Addendum here: I heard that Target is getting skip hops that have the stroller straps and shoulder strap separated so you don’t have to clip and unclip as much.

Happy Tushies wet bag is one of the best things I purchased. I have a large one. It stays in the changing pad section of my diaper bag. When H5 has a blow out or barfs on himself while we are out (or in an airport) I can change him into his spare clothes and this bag keeps the gross stuff away from everything else. One time I stuffed his whole outfit and my wet shirt in there. (The first couple months I needed a change of clothes for me cuz he puked a lot.) It washes in the machine and then line dry overnight. I want another Happy Tushie bag.

Diapering:

We are killing the earth with disposables. We like Huggies. But when he is between sizes on the Huggies, Pampers hold it in better. I have looked into G diapers and various cloth diapers but haven’t made a change. I am leaning toward BumGenius one size cloth diapers.

Diaper pail:

The diaper genie will cost you $5-13/month after your initial purchase for bags and take 2 hands to work so you can’t hold the baby. We got the diaper champ –economical, minimally stinky.

Laundry and Getting barf off the floor:

Spray n wash – I use this on his food stains (yellow and orange squash carrots etc and baby Tylenol red stains. It hasn’t bleached or wrecked any colors on his clothes and has taken out all stains. I've heard Zout is good too and want to try it.

Tide he. We used Dreft for a while, but the baby does fine with Tide and scent free Bounce.

Bissel – a carpet cleaner is great since now when I hear the baby choking and know a big barf is coming I just hold him away from me over the carpet so he pukes on the carpet and not on me. Then I just clean the carpet (eventually.)

My parents got a hard floor steam cleaner I think it is this one. Anyway, their tile kitchen floor looked sooo good when they used it. I want one once I find out for sure what they have.

Germaphobia:

Lysol To Go- this is good because when you use a public changing table you will put your changing pad under his ass. But the baby does not put his own ass in his mouth. He puts his hands in his mouth. So all the disgusting germs and other baby poops and pees that are on the sides of that changing table are getting on your baby’s exploring hands and into his mouth. So carry a mini Lysol, spray down the table where his little hands can reach, wipe it with a paper towel and then lay down the butt mat. 2 seconds, no more germs.

purell portables I think I got mine a Staples. I keep these attached to his diaper bag, my purse, the stroller. Theoretically you can make people clean up before they pinch the baby’s cheeks. Especially if the baby needs surgery.

Sani-Hands wipes. But watch out. They are alcohol based, so paper cuts on you or hangnails on little hands will sting.

Wet ones – I carry my own wipes because Grocery stores have cart wipes but Babies-R-Us and Target don’t!! WTF?

Cart Cover: No luck with these. I hated the two I tried. I have this tutorial that I need to get measurements for and just make my own.

Health:

We are still using all the bath and lotion products we got from showers. Don’t stock up, you’ll get enough in gifts. J&J soothing naturals smells fantastic.

We also use Boudreaux’s butt bath. We use Boudreaux’s butt paste. It worked better for him than Desitin.

Saline nose drops for stuffy nose – we use tons of this since he is always stuffy.

I am getting a little worried about too many chemicals. I might switch to all Burt’s Bees products once we finish what we have.

blue lizard sunscreen is really good and safe. Pricey, but it’s all we use. Lots of baby sunscreen have bad chemicals.

snapper rock is the SPF swim wear we got for him

Sleeping:

James McKenna was one of my thesis advisors in college. He is why I believe in co-sleeping. For the next kid, I really want to get a co-sleeper.

Now, we are doing sleep training to get him to sleep longer at night. We decided to do this due to a worsening of my depression. We are getting help from my college roommate Dr. Lisa Meltzer with the sleep lab at CHOP.

Attachement Parenting

white noise machine projects fish on the ceiling, but we don’t use that. It has a freaky heart beat noise option that you can use at Halloween reading the Telltale Heart. We use the rain noise which is really nice.

Breastfeeding:

Medela pump and save breast pump. Talk to the lactation consultant at the hospital at your 2 week post partum. I found out when H5 was in for surgery that the boob shields that come standard with the pump are too small for my enormous boobs, so she gave me bigger ones for free. SOOO much better. Medela’s help line is great too.

Have the lactation consultant measure your boob size. The size 24 cups are way small. When the consultant at his surgery hospital saw my boobs she was like, whoa, you need bigger pump parts. You can get bigger ones from Medela and the pump will work better for you.

foogo thermos Babies R Us carry these. They are good since they don’t have that BPA plastic and keep things safely cold longer, or can keep stuff warm too.

peanut shell cover or Hooter Hider or others. I didn’t think I needed this until my mom got me one and I realized I really like it.

Johnson and Johnson nursing pads – I like these the best. I have used Lanisoh and others. These Gerber Ultra Thin ones are HORRIBLE. They are not sealed on the edges so they suck up the milk and then redistribute it onto your bra, so if your bra is padded, it gets soaked and if its not padded, your shirt gets soaked. I tried washable reusable for earth friendliness but they leaked too. I am looking at Etsy or might order soem PUL fabric to make my own.

Glamour Mom Tank tops. I wear these a lot. Comfy, but under another shirt they cause a uniboob look.

Lanisoh cream for sore boobies.

Feeding Solids:

I am making a lot of his food. These are books I use. Blender-Baby-Food, top 100 baby puree The info is not that unique, but I like them. Follow your pediatrician guidelines though, as these books suggest fish very early and our GI specialist said to wait until 1 year.

I got the Oxo Good Grips food mill. Milling food is a pain in the ass. Just use your Quisenart or blender. Or buy Gerber or organic brands. We use that too, I just like having more choices, making food is cheaper, and my food tastes better. Because of his feeding problems, we are ending up buying more manufactured food for the smoother texture. Bummer since I wanted to cook for the baby.

High Chair- I wanted the Combi chair, but none of the stores had models to try out so we went with the Chicco ..

We used this booster at his grandparents’ house: He flopped over in it and needed a towel roll to sit up at 5 months old, now we have one and use it when the Chicco straps are drying and for travel.

Stuff to take from hospital:

Most of the stuff they have in the room has to get thrown out, so take it when you leave.

Squirt bottle for bathing

Nose aspirator (booger sucker) – the one piece kind the hospital has works way better than the two piece one we got from Safety First

Diapers

Wipes

Hair scrubber

Disposable wash cloths

Giant maxi pads

Soothies – make the lactation consultant give you some!!

We also got a free hand pump from our lactation consultant

Things we don’t use:

Baby powder; this is good if you use cloth diapers. With disposables the baby stays dry anyway.

JJ cole bundle me – its cool since the car seat straps go thru it to keep baby strapped in safely, but sticking the straps thru while the baby is in it is a pain in the ass. But if you leave it in the car it defeats the purpose of keeping baby warm without having to unbundle him.

Clorox anywhere surface spray: this stuff kills bacteria only, not viruses.

Stuff I want for the future:

in the pocket chair harness

CARES airplane harness maybe

Safety Tattoos

Tumbleforms – ok, a cheaper version of these. I might make something. I need something to work on crawling on hands and knees instead of combat crawling. The OT and I think he needs the shoulder stability to help his eating.

Considering a subscription to Kiwi Magazine for Green mommy-ing

extra light days

2008-08-19T17:15:00.001-07:00

him: Holy crap, are these for extra light days? They're tiny! (on discovering a portable pantyliner unearthed by the baby dumping my purse.)

me: laughing

him: What?! The make other ones that are like this thick. (his hand holding an imaginary hospital grade maxi) This thing is like a microchip.

me: laughing harder

him: It's like a band-aide!

You think I'm all cute watching you roll coins...

2008-08-10T13:14:00.002-07:00

...but, really, I'm using you as leverage to ~~squeeze out a massive, noxious sweet-potato turd~~ have a bowel movement...

...that mommy gets to change.

Education

2008-08-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

Henry the Fifth learns to be a super-fantastic hubby from his super-fantastic daddy.

While mommy is still in her PJs after sleeping in.

Cool Kids Room

2008-08-08T08:07:00.002-07:00

If the baby's room was bigger than ours we would build him this.

(via BloesemKids)

Table and Kitchen Linens from France

2008-08-06T08:30:00.003-07:00

I love love love this website French Brand dot com! I am looking at napkins to go with my French table cloth that my mom got me for my birthday.
Napkins to match this in Caraibes

Or Turqoiuse and Verviene solids.

Beautiful tablecloth I don't need.

Tea Towels to Covet

Bedroom re-do wishes

2008-08-06T08:29:00.002-07:00

I want to re-do our bedding. I want turquoise or blue and chocolate with a mod floral, grass, tree theme.

I would love it to coordinate with this fabric. It is hard to find this particular Echino Kokka fabric anymore. Here it is in upholstery weight here. Because I want to re-do a couch in this one.

I may need to change to these ones, but I don't like spiders!

Cruisin'

2008-08-05T17:50:00.006-07:00

The Hibachi is one of Baby H's favorite toys. He has been playing with the handles since he could crawl and recently learned to open the drawers. Yesterday, he took plastic ware our of the kitchen cabinet, pushed it over to the Hibachi and put it in a drawer. Today, he learned to pull up on it. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. He had cruised to the side of it and was flapping the Japanese scroll against the wall.
His other new trick is that he learned how to get down from standing! It only took him a day.

Old Spice

2008-08-01T18:14:00.003-07:00

They say you should toss your spices every year. How about 15 years?

I was shopping/spelunking in my parent's basement and I found this.

My spices from my post college coaching years. Purchased in California and New York. Apparently they were in a box. At some point I must have taken things out of the boxes, but these got shuffled around. I randomly noticed them on a table today.

I dumped them into a bag and had my dad dumped them onto their compost pile. They have spicy compost now. The bottles are in the recycling.

10 month birthday

2008-08-01T18:10:00.004-07:00

Grandma bought me a present!

Ballistic Tofu

2008-07-30T07:56:00.004-07:00

Ballistic Tofu, originally uploaded by roenke47.

I forgot to bring his homemade chicken and turkey cubes to Grandma's house. But i brought tofu to try out. I mushed a piece up into his veggies. He ate it up!! He squished a piece when he started laughing and it shot out of his hand.

He has been eating really well. The GI doc said it would take about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks, so this is right on time. It's either the Prilosec or the baby showing off for the grandparents. I swear he has already gained some weight!

CopyCat (me)

2008-07-25T11:00:00.005-07:00

I borrowed the idea for monthly photos in my sidebar from good friend Julie. Her blog is private, so no link here.

Upper GI test

2008-07-25T09:47:00.009-07:00

Baby Henry had an Upper GI test on Friday. He had to be NPO (nothing by mouth) from 2am that morning. Then he was strapped into the X-ray machine. While in the machine I fed him a bottle of Barium. He was so hungry from not eating that he drank the Barium down. The X-ray takes a video of the barium as it traveled down to his tummy and into his upper intestine.
No immediate problems were found. We will get final results later.

The X-ray showed Henry's pacemaker which is right over his stomach. The big white blob next to it is his stomach full of barium.

He had barium all over his face afterward.

Daddy soothes baby Henry while he is strapped to
the X-ray machine.

Feeding

2008-07-24T07:43:00.011-07:00

Baby Henry is having trouble with his eating. Anecdotally, feeding and reflux / GERD problems are common in kids with heart surgeries. Depending on the cardiologist you talk to they may agree or disagree with this, but our GI specialist definitely finds this to be true. Baby Henry did not grow well from 6 to 9 months due to decreased appetite and gagging and vomiting at meals and even with breastfeeding. Fortunately his PCM Dr. Buryk got him started on Prilosec which the Dr. Kobak our GI specialist increased. The Prilosec has made a big difference in the throwing up when he is upset and has helped his other GERD symptoms. Unfortunately the gagging on certain food textures will take some intensive OT to overcome. The worry is that he will develop a full-on oral aversion.

Right now the kid is definitely NOT oral-averse. Everything goes in his mouth. He just refuses most food from a spoon and eats tiny tiny meals. He does love his Cheerios, so he gets those after each meal in hopes that the self feeding will continue to be enjoyable for him.

I made a hand bound feeding journal to follow his eating and nursing patterns.

It will be another week until we know if the Prilosec is really working to its full potential. OT starts the second week in August. I can't wait to meet our OT!!

In the meantime I will be thankful that we will get a little more use out of his 6-9 month clothes. (but I already shopped the TEA sale for 12-18's in prep for when he gains weight this fall!)

Ambajam contest

2008-07-24T06:56:00.007-07:00

Win a prize from Ambajam!

Ambajam's cute baby photo contest! http://blog.ambajam.com/august-cutest-baby-photo-contest/

Found via http://skimbaco.blogspot.com/

Hmmmm. Which is my cutest baby photo?

Old Red Barn Co. Giveaway

2008-07-16T19:06:00.003-07:00

Contest is over. I didn't win.

ScribeFire Test

2008-06-23T08:38:00.003-07:00

Testing my new Firefox 3.0 upload ScribeFire. Uplaod photos from my computer, add a link, upload from Flickr, see if text ends up where I want it.

Baby Henry learned how to escape from his Bumbo. He likes to play with his toys in the Bumbo for a while, but he got bored while I was making a food diary for him. Luckily the escape was in slow motion, so I had a chance to snap some photos and capture him once he was free.

I dressed him in this Kick Ass tourist outfit the other day. The pants are from Jack Sprat at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5288243.
When I put on the Gap shirt with the pants and the hat I just had to run upstairs for some black socks to complete the outfit. So hilarious.

The Golden Pig at 6 months pretends he is a crocodile.