Sunday Surf: Wipes, Books and a Carrier

I feel like I've not nothing productive all week. You know, other than feeding babies, changing babies, emptying the potty, washing diapers, washing clothes, washing babies, refilling the humidifier, occasionally feeding myself... There is always something else that needs done!

Here are the links I somehow managed to find for you:

~ Cloth Baby Wipes ~

Oh yeah! I did research and make my own wipe solution! I checked with Natural Parents Network and also found recipes at Zany Zebra Designs. I finally settled on my own version of one of the recipes:

• 1½ C Hot water
  
• 2 T Coconut Oil
  
• 1 T Baby Wash
  

Spencer's bum has seemed red, though. I'm not sure if its from poop or the coconut oil, so I'm afraid to use it anymore. I'm taking a break. I was loving having it next to the cloth wipes in a travel spray bottle, though! I didn't add any essential oil, though the bottle had previous had diluted lavender. I like the resulting scent.

~ Little Free Library ~

One of my friends is trying to get some of these set up and the project just look awesome! I love it! Its a little free standing library box available for people to exchange books for free. Check it out!

~ Tablerunner/Placemat Onbuhimo ~

This is a tutorial on how to make a carrier (an ABC type or similar to a Mei Tai) out of a table runner and a placemat! Talk about upcycling!

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I'm joining Authentic Parenting and Hobo Mama for Sunday Surf. Share your best reading of the week, and link up your post at either blog!

For more great reading, visit Hobo Mama or Authentic Parenting for the latest Sunday Surf and linky.

Happy Surfing!

Spencer's Birth Story

Welcome to the first edition of the Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival, hosted by Authentic Parenting and Mudpiemama!

In the month of January, we start afresh, a new year, new ideas. Hence, our participants have looked into the topic of “Birth and New Beginnings.” Take a look at the end of this post to find a list of links to the entries of the other participants.

***

I had a lot of contractions in my final trimester. They came often and they were hard. Because of this, our doctor had said that Spencer might (safely) arrive as early as 36-37 weeks. That'll make a family anxious! We were open to having Spencer any time as Giftmas approached. Then we hoped to wait a week. Our doctor was on vacation from December 25^th - 30^th.

At 11 o'clock on December 25^th (11:04 actually, if I recall correctly), I decided I'd better go tell Ronni (13yo) to get to bed. Sasha (2yo) was still up with me. As I walked to the other end of the house, I noticed I was wet... really wet. I went to the bathroom to check myself and found some slight tinge of pink.

I got very shaky. I called my Jenni (my doula) and explained what was going on, including feeling like I was having a major adrenaline rush from the excitement of it. She reassured me that the shaking was normal anyway, but that we should get to the hospital. I didn't feel a need to rush, but I woke Elmo and we started getting ready. He carried the numerous bags out to the truck. We (Sasha, Elmo and I) were loaded up into the truck by 11:30. I called Jenni again to let her know we were on our way. Ronni was staying up at home, waiting for updates.

Mamatography - Week 3

Mamatography now also has a Facebook page! I hope you're enjoying the project. Feel free to jump in at any time. I've made it through week 3, so I should be good to go, right? Lets hope I have gotten this habit well in hand.

Day 15

(01/15/12)

Beautiful January Day
Good swingin' weather!

Monday Minimalist: Baby Registries - Baby Gear II

Welcome back to the fourth installment of my Monday Minimalist series about registering for your Baby Shower gifts. Last week I brought you just part of the "Baby Gear" category. I'll dig through more of it today.

Strollers

This subcategory is broken down into Travel system, Traditional stroller, Lightweight stroller, All-terrain jogger/stroller, and Double stroller. I certainly don't think they're suggesting you need each of these. We have had several hand-me-down strollers and just keep the nicest one. Even then, we don't use one very often at all, especially since I have so many slings / carriers. I don't like the detachment of using a stroller and am certain we'd manage just fine without one. Even when we take one with us somewhere, we wind up carrying Sasha or letting her walk and then using the stroller for other stuff.

OMG those cheeks!
7mo Sasha in her Stroller

Sunday Surf: Cold Leash Carnival

It has been an up & down kind of week. Spencer aced a doctor appointment. My husband had a horrible court experience. We took our first visitor (Jenni, my doula) since Spencer's birth. (Oh wait, does Uncle Brandon count?)

Here are the links I found worth saving:

Confessions of a Child-Leashing Mom

My 2yo often runs away while we're out for walks or in the driveway or even in parking lots now. My husband (half-jokingly) asks why we can't leash her. Have you seen parents with kids on leashes and been amused? disgusted? This mom is embarrassed, but really offers another perspective. Check it out.

Cold Water Only

This is the January 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting submission from The Pistachio Project. It may have come along just in time to change my world! I had washed my cloth diapers once, in preparation for Spencer's arrival. I hadn't actually started using them yet, though. Well now I have! And get this... you ready? I wash them in cold water! <gasp!> Go check out her post to find out why!

Call for Submissions: Family Size Blog Carnival

And this is a new carnival that piqued my interest. I really like participating in carnivals. If you've got kids at all or even plan to have kids, you could participate in this carnival!

I'm joining Authentic Parenting and Hobo Mama for Sunday Surf. Share your best reading of the week, and link up your post at either blog!

For more great reading, visit Hobo Mama or Authentic Parenting for the latest Sunday Surf and linky.

Happy Surfing!

Adoption & Breastfeeding

Please welcome Melissa from White Noise as my guest writer today. Read to the bottom for her bio. Today I share with you Melissa's experience with adopting and attempts to relactate to initiate an adoptive breastfeeding relationship.

We have four kids. Three grew in my belly, and one in my heart. This topic is a very difficult one for my three year old to wrap his mind around; he keeps asking, "Who is my tummy mommy? Is she the same as Matthew's tummy mommy?"

When our oldest son was two and a half, we traveled around the world to Thailand to adopt his little brother. Ayden was very excited to meet "Baby Mafew" and to have a playmate and fellow mischief maker around 24/7. Matthew was a serious, intense fifteen month old powerhouse who motored around on four points like a spider. So cute!

Spider Crawl

Nursing through Pregnancy - final weeks (39th week)

I really got spoiled by having a few nights that took only half an hour or less to get Sasha into bed. Some nights were as short as 15 minutes! So I started the first night of this week (Giftmas Eve) by once again waiting for her to ask first... but still nursing for nearly a full hour before I was able to get her into bed!

If you're curious about the safety of nursing through pregnancy (and tandem nursing an older child along with your baby), check out the Nursing Two FAQs on KellyMom.com. These FAQs cover health issues, nutrition, the milk itself, discomforts and concerns of pregnant nursing mothers, tandem nursing and more!

So back to that first night of the week... Sasha slept nearly 5 hours before Daddy woke on Giftmas morning. (That makes it nearly 5 a.m. for those of you keeping track.) She was holding herself and moving around a lot. Once she opened her eyes, Daddy went ahead to take her to the potty.

Then she got into bed with me and nursed to sleep, but woke right up... twice before I got up to nurse her in my lap... As she nursed and nursed, I felt more and more awake. My agitation just got worse and worse. And on the flippin' holiday. Isn't visiting family stressful enough without adding lack of sleep to the mix?!

After enough fidgeting and asking her twice whether she wanted to get up, she finally nods and gets out of my lap. I am ticked off and relieved all at the same time. I wanted her to go back to sleep, but I also wanted her to stop nursing, especially if she wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway! I've mentioned how much I hate wasted nursing at this point. Nursing with no sleep feels pointless and just irritates me to no end!

It was nearly 6 o'clock by the time she got out of my lap. She faked a yawn and laid down on her bed. I am sick to my stomach already, but haven't had any meltdowns just yet. Before long, she'd convinced Daddy to turn off his game and put some awful kid show on the television. Then no one was happy but Sasha. It looked like he was going to join me in my frustration, in an effort to save me from my own. Then he cuddled up with her on her bed.

Honestly, just having him up with me, helps boost my sanity. It just isn't often that he can be up with me. Actually, on a work night... he'd already be at work! We got up and around and I cooked breakfast. Sasha was finally ready to nurse back down to sleep at 8 o'clock. We slept for nearly 3 hours before getting up for the day. So much for early morning stocking opening. I'm so glad we only had one holiday visit on the schedule!

Note: I started this post on Giftmas Day, the first day of my 39th week. However, I went into labor very late that evening, before Sasha was even ready for bed! Interestingly, I did manage to nurse her down to sleep while in labor at the hospital! More on THAT later!

Find the other posts in this series:

Nursing through Pregnancy - final weeks (39th week)

Nursing through Pregnancy - final weeks (38th week)

Nursing through Pregnancy - final weeks (36-37, so far)

Nursing through Pregnancy - 35 weeks

Nursing through Pregnancy - 29/30 weeks

Nursing through Pregnancy - 25 weeks

Nursing through Pregnancy - 20 weeks

Extended Breastfeeding, So Far! (posted pretty much the weekend I got pregnant!)