Christmas 2013

I've decided that every year I am going to take a photo of Norah in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.... so here we go, 2013-- Norah's first Christmas!

Photos from the following festivities, of course. Bryan and his glorious beard.

Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas morning...

 Great Grandma snuggles, of course! 

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Wisely

And, because I love the lighting in our bedroom-- here are a few pics from the weekend. I love her little face so much, it's crazy. I can't help but take millions of photos of her. It's a problem.

Norah: 5 Months

Size: I really need to weigh her again! Over the past month she feels substantially more solid.

Sleep: A bit more reverting has ensued. It seems as the bigger she gets, the more she needs to eat-- she's up about twice a night these days (once at about 12:30 or so, and once at 4:30ish). I'm sure she will start sleeping a bit better once we introduce solids, but I'm still in no hurry!

Social: She is definitely turning in to her own little lady, for sure. She loves to interact with everyone--whether it's smiling, shying away, giggling, grabbing, etc. I'm noticing she's getting a bit more clingy to both Bryan and I-- me, a bit more I think-- and although this warms my heart being needed, I am making a conscious effort to make sure she is comfortable with as many people as possible. 

Diet: Still my boob-monster.

Clothes: Six month clothes are fitting pretty snugly. On the way to 9-month!

Likes: Grabbing! Anything within reaching distance is fair game. Scratching is another thing she loves-- my chest, the sheets--especially the sheets. (Which, on a side note, is quite creepy to wake up to.)

Milestones: I think the grabbing is a big one. She can pass things back and forth between her hands, and can concentrate on things as well. (Also, noteworthy-- Norah's first Christmas! Photos to follow, of course.)

Norah's first encounter with Santa

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to steal my mom and sister for a shopping trip (one of my favorite traditions). While at the mall, we were shocked to find that no one was in line to see Santa-- so quickly, I did a few things:

1. Called husband. Asked if he would be sad if Norah visited Santa without him (he was sad he couldn't be a part of the experience, but agreed that we wouldn't have time to go back later in the season)
2. Purchased a Christmas dress. Got help getting beautified by Mom and Sister in the Sears bathroom (Woo! Classy!)
3. Caught Santa, waited a whole 45 seconds in line.
4. Took adorable photographs. No smiles, but no crying was a good thing!
5. Changed back into regular outfit--courtesy of Mom and Sister in the mall lounge-- so no fussing commenced.

Overall? Super excited. I have to admit, early planning isn't one of my strong suits. So this worked out for the best (lord knows I would have been sad if Norah didn't get her first photo with Santa-- or sad as well if we had to wait an hour in line to see him as well!)

This is, of course, a stark difference from the first time that I met Santa-- let's just say it didn't go well. And although my sister appears very unhelpful in aiding me in my attempt to ask for help during my childhood, she was extremely helpful in helping Norah be happy during her photos. 

("Amy. That's NOT SANTA. Look at the beard! And I'm pretty sure those eyebrows are fake TOO!")

Norah: Four Months

Size: A week ago she weighed just over 16 pounds. This was, of course, before she had eaten though-- so add in another half pound or so of milk at any given moment.

Sleep: Well, our little bean must be focused on growing moreso-- she has been up once a night about three in the morning every day, but it's really not bad. On another note-- we finally made the switch to the nursery! It was hard. Harder for me than for her though, I think. (Took me one time putting her in there to fall asleep... then me promptly taking her to bed with us again once it was time for us to tuck in. I can't resist that little face.) 

Social: You can officially glare and smile at her from across the room, and she will smile back! She definitely knows both Bryan and I, and smiles at Grandma whenever she sees her. She loves to sing songs with us, and loves when you dance with her-- she's also discovered how neat her voice is. Sometimes what started out as a fuss turns in to, "oh! That's neat. Let's draw on that note for a few minutes." Makes Bryan and I smile!

Diet: Still breast milk only-- I've been cleared by the doc to not start solids until 6 months, woohoo! (Not looking forward to that switch, for purely stinky reasons, if you catch my drift). And, you know, the longer I can breast feed her exclusively the better. She definitely doesn't have a problem with size!

Clothes: Fitting snugly in six month clothes, swims around in nine month a bit, but we're comfortable in those, too.

Likes: Singing, dancing, talking to you, and playing with all her new toys (especially the chewy ones)!

Milestones: Turning over! First time was officially last Friday. Hasn't happened since then, but she spends a lot of time flipping to her side these days. I feel like her puffy diapers might have a part of this; but I figure that makes her even stronger in the end. 

I had today off, which was amazing-- so much snuggle time! And I couldn't resist another little photoshoot, of course. Here are a few of my favorites:

Some random phone photos...

Just a few favs from my phone... thought I would share!

Having contractions in the waiting room of the hospital...

Cloth-tastic.

Aaah. Why yes, this is a post about cloth diapers! (Who gets excited about diapering?! I do, of course. Especially when diapering involves cuteness, softness, and saving money. Yes please.)

I first read about cloth diapers on younghouselove.com, where I was basically intrigued by the idea. I loved how cute they were, and overall, how much money I had the chance to save. And also, the whole 'hooray I'm not throwing away mounds of nastiness every day' was nice as well. (I know there are studies about how the creation/repeat washing of cloth diapers are just as bad for the environment... who knows. For now I'll just keep some extra poundage out of the landfill.)

And from my interest, came advice. It ranged from "oh, neat" to "holycrappleasedon't do that." In fact, Bryan's boss even bought us a month's worth of diaper service to deter me from my quest (which turned out to be really sweet, I spent the second month of Norah's life letting someone else do the washing-- thanks Judi!) What I learned? I'm not a huge fan of prefolds. Lots of steps. Pretty messy. Very bulky. Seemed to leak a lot, despite efforts of calling the service/asking advice/researching YouTube videos to help me out. And at $80 a month, I still figured I could do better and cheaper.

So starting out, I decided I was going to follow the footsteps of John and Sherry (from younghouselove), and go for the BumGenius Elementals. All in ones? Sounded like a great idea. Possibly even husband-friendly. But $25 each seemed a little steep. So I went about searching on the internet.

Holy crap (literally). SO MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THESE THINGS ONLINE. Who would have know so many people obsessed over cloth diapers. I quickly became overwhelmed by the possibilities. Brands! Styles! Colors! Price! I decided to just go for one brand and stick with it. I took the advice of a friend, and ordered two styles-- the uber-expensive Elementals, and also the classic BumGenius 4.0's. 

(Elementals on the left, 4.0 on the right)

The verdict? I am totally sold on the 4.0's, but I'm happy with my choice. I ended up getting six Elementals, and 12 4.0's. Here's the breakdown:

BumGenius Elementals
Pros?

• One step
• One-size fits all (newborn/toddler)
• A little less bulky than 4.0's
• Can throw them in the dryer (I'm sure this isn't the best, but they would take three days to dry otherwise)
• No stuffing
• They are made with organic cotton, which feels nice

Cons?

• When they are on a smaller size, you have to fold them over in the back. The cotton is soft, but hard when you fold it up like that-- it makes a hard 'bar' on the back of her tush.
• Poo seems to fly right out of the absorbent area-- we've had a few blowouts.
• From what I've read, the old version was better-- more cloth by the PUL so you wouldn't get so much 'overflow.'

BumGenius 4.0's

Pros?

• Holds EVERYTHING. A few tinkles. Massive, earth-shaking poos. (Nice blog post, eh?) Overnight flooding. You name it.
• Covers dry overnight on their own, so I feel like they will last longer
• Super-ultra-mega-soft 
• Can stuff with whatever you like (Comes with one large microfiber stuffing-- which folds over with a snap, for my lady you can put the fold in the back, which gets the blunt end of the soaking-- and a small newborn stuffing, which I add at night)

Cons?

• A bit bulky, although still pretty adorable
• Have to take a few extra minutes to stuff them
• You have to 'unstuff' them after they've been used-- which doesn't bother me any, you wash your hands anyway after you change baby-- nothing crazy in my opinion.

Overall, I am super happy with my choice. Although I prefer the 4.0's, I love that my Elementals go in the dryer. Makes my life a bit easier. I love having a choice between the two. And for a few hundred bucks (roughly the cost of four months of disposables), I'm set for this baby, and the next. WOO. And I know this is a long post already, but here's the rundown on my routine:

• I wash every other day with Nellie's Laundry Soda. I love it. Considering switching all of my laundry to this. And, the tin is adorable. Not like that has anything to do with cleaning, but anything that makes laundry more adorable is alright by me. 
• I air-dry my 4.0 covers, and dry everything else. Takes about 1.5 rounds in the dryer to keep everything dry. I would recommend using Dryer Balls (Hedgehog edition!), as the seem to cut down on drying time a bit.
• I was everything in hot water, on the heavy setting (I have a simple washer, I'm sure you could do fancier things with another type-- but I work with what I have)
• I made cloth wipes-- and love them. $4 for a flannel sheet at the thrift store=30 or so wipes. I sewed two squares together, flipped them inside out, and sewed an 'x' in the middle so they wouldn't puff up in the wash. I love them. They go in the wash with everything else. I use a solution of water/a squirt of baby oil/baby soap in a squirt bottle, works great!

• I love my Wetbags from PlanetWise. I have a large one for the nursery, and a medium one for the diaper bag. More durable than the other wetbag I've used; seems like they will hold up over the long haul. 
• I invested in a diaper sprayer, which helps with staining now (breastfed poo is pretty water soluble, but pretty orange-- and figured it wouldn't be a bad thing to have for future messy-poos.)

I am oh-so-happy with my choice to cloth diaper. Seriously. I had some major concerns at first (will laundry take over my life? How hard is this going to be? What about being the road? Isn't having a newborn trouble enough?) but I'm super happy to announce that this is way easier than I thought. And, talk to me next month when I've made up the cost, but I'm already happy we don't have to run to the store to buy diapers last minute. I'm surprised more people don't do this. EASY. Do it. And ask me if you have any questions, I really do enjoy this stuff :)

A little article to share.

Every once in awhile I read something that makes me smile/feel better/think, and I feel the need to share. This one comes from an article called '10 True Things about the First 12 Months,' about advice:

Nobody is out to get you. Everyone wants you to succeed. And screw them all anyway, because you are raising a child, and that is awesome. Did your kid eat something today? Is she relatively hygienically sound? Smiles occasionally? You win all the things. You are awesome enough to absorb any and all commentary, keep the bits you like, and toss the bits you don't. How sweet of them to care.

Great little read! You can find the whole article here. I love it.

Halloween and other things (better late than never)!

So I know that Norah was only three months old on Halloween... but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress our gal up in a costume. I figure I only have a few years where we can choose her costume before she starts choosing ninja-space-warrior-princess-rockstar or something like that. So alas! Mouse it was! We got to go visit Kelly's Mom (it was also her birthday), and snap a few pics of Norah at my parent's house. It was a pretty good impromptu Halloween! (And, because we only had five trick-or-treaters, we were--oh no!-- overrun by candy. Oh. Darn. :) 

Also, here are the looks I get when I take too long getting her out of her car seat (AKA, I know I'm looking cute, mom, but please get me out of here.)

Rockin' the pumpkin patch. And by rockin', I mean snoozin.

Saturday morning we took a trip to Spooner Farms to go catch some pumpkins. It was a bit crowded, but a happy day nonetheless! Norah slept the whole time in her carrier. A pretty awesome way to travel, I'd say. 

Of course, it was a good day... started out super snuggly. I love weekends :)

Norah: Three Months! My little chunk monkey.

Size: I weighed her two weeks ago, she weighted about 15.5 lbs, not sure how long she is though! She has an appointment coming up soon, I'm curious to see how tall she's getting.

Sleep: She is doing pretty well at going to bed at 8-9, and waking up anywhere between 4:30 and 6:30. I feel lucky that she lets us sleep that long! On weekends she wakes up once at 6 or so to eat, then back to bed with us until 10 or so... I love it.

Social: Our little bean is officially giggling. I'm pretty sure I almost cried when she first did it for us. She will smile and laugh at you from far away now if you talk to her, which melts my heart!

Diet: My little milk-monster. She has been munching on everything she can get her hands on-- including her hands. And toys. And my hands. 

Clothes: In 6 month clothes comfortably. I got my shipment of cloth diapers from cottonbabies.com-- and I LOVE them. A little too much. Post coming soon about all of that business.

Likes: Still likes changing table time, and playing with her hands! We made her floor gym more interesting by attaching a bunch of links and balls-- she has fun shaking the whole thing like crazy. Makes her super happy. She's all about grabbing things these days!

Milestones: Giggling and grabbing! If it's within her reach, it's in her mouth. The funniest thing she eats is her ruffle shirts-- there's always a ruffle within grasp. As soon as the onesies are unsnapped, the whole thing goes in her mouth.

Eat, Sleep, Poop.

Sleep, eat, poop. by sarawisely on Polyvore

Amazon.com / Medela Advanced Personal Double Electric Breastpump Model #57065 / Up Up Milk Storage Bags

After three months of our wonderful little bean, we have learned a few things. Not anywhere close to everything, but enough to say, "oh my. That was a great purchase. Perhaps I should share that with the world." So, here it is. My favorite things regarding eating, sleeping and pooping.

Halo Sleep Sack. The hospital was actually nice enough to give us this one. Full of fleecy wonderfulness, this swaddle blanket--most of the time-- lets our gal get a good nights sleep, free of face-punching baby movements. Sad for us, it was too hot to use in the summer, but it's working well now. Would I change anything? My mom ended up getting us a few more of these that weren't fleece so we could use them earlier, which was great-- however our little gal is always quite determined to escape. In doing this, she often pulled the entire swaddle wrap up around her face-- which is scary. Looked uncomfortable, and nothing like waking up to your baby with blankets around her face. I think I would opt for the miracle blanket next time-- which was sadly too small for our gal by the time I discovered it.

Waterproof changing pad liners. You think you have poop under control. Until it comes shooting at you from all directions. Trust me on this one. You don't want to have to be worried about changing out the whole cover every time an explosion happens. Fold it over, and continue your diapering experience (even when giant floods attack you and your little one. It happens.)

Muslin Receiving Blankets. These are amazing. Cuddly, soft and wonderful. By far my favorites that we have. They wash up great, and are warm in the cold, cool in the summer. I lovelove them.

Medela Pump/Up and Up milk storage bags. This works great for me at the moment. I have a place at work where I have a locked door, countertop, sink and outlet-- if not, I've heard fantastic things about the Medela Freestyle. Nuff said. And Up and Up makes great storage bags that are pretty cheap compared to other brands.

Dr. Brown's Bottles. The bottle aisle in Babies R Us is seriously scary. Who would have thought there were so many choices?! My mom has been using these when I am at work, and she says good things about them so far. I like the fact that they decrease tummy bubbles by letting no air flow in. Good? Good. Easy-peasy. Just remember to get your size 1 nipples for your newborn (hooray learning things!)

BumGenius 4.0's. I love these. Lovelovelove them. I have also purchased a few Elementals (I have 6 Elementals, and 12 4.0's) and I prefer the 4.0's. I will probably post again only on how much I love my diapers-- hubby things I'm crazy, but I have to say, I am super excited and pleased with my purchase. Perhaps he will change his mind three months from now when they pay for themselves. Until then, I'm enjoying my happy little bean's face every time I change her... super microfiber-y softness = happy girl. Grandma doesn't mind using them either! (Again, more to come!)

Other Sleepy things.
Right now we have her sleeping in a little pack n' play by our bed. We use extra receiving blankets as sheets, which is working well (no need to invest in sheets, people were awesome and gave us a million blankets-- we can change them out as spittle happens, as needed. We put her down for naps in her crib, which we've outfitted with the Breathable Baby Crib Bumper, to save from those 'oh-sweet-lord-I've-got-my-arm-caught-in-the-bars' cry. I think it works quite well so far.

We also love our Sleepy Sheep, which makes white noise. It's actually quite nice for us as well; it helps a bit with the anxiety at night of 'oh my gosh! Is baby breathing?!?!?!' moments. Only downside to this one is it turns off after 45 minutes. If I were to get another one, it would be the Sleep Slumber Sound Machine.

Relaxing.
As far as 'just hanging out' goes, we love our swing. This one works well for our house, because it's pretty small as far as swings are concerns. It also rocks, plays music, and all of that other good stuff. But again, any would do.

Traveling.
We have a Graco Quick-Connect Jogging Stroller travel system, which we love-- I just wish we had figured out that it doesn't quite fit in to our Mazda 3 hatchback. Which is crazy. Because it's got a giant trunk. You live and you learn. We also love our Ergobaby, which my sister so wonderfully purchased for us-- it's amazing. Super supportive, has extra storage, and she feels nice and snug. It's a winner, for sure. 

I'm sure there are more things... I will post as I think of more! I was obsessed with baby blogs telling me what to buy when I was pregnant-- and after dozens of blogs, the one thing I've discovered is that it's different for everyone. I've had a blast figuring out the good, bad and ugly around here-- but learning is half the fun! (Which would be my last bit of advice... find your local baby consignment store sooner rather than later. I discovered mine recently-- and was floored at how cheap everything was-- and in such great shape! Check it out before you spend $60 on a swing. In our case, we got lucky and received one at our shower-- and then my aunt happily found the same one at a garage sale for $5 a month later. Keep your eyes open :))

Even more photos!

Just a few photos from last week's adventures... couldn't help myself. Amy got her this adorable outfit, and brought her a few more!! (6-month clothes already... I can't believe it!)