From Sunday, October 12th.

Can you believe I am blogging in notepad? Holy crap. I am on Evan's new laptop and he doesn't have office installed. It bugs me, but at least when I cut and paste this into blogger it won't go all wonky with Microsoft Formatting Code and cause me an extra hour to fix it. Although, without word wrap, this may get old very quickly. Maybe I should have used....ahhh yes, here we are, Microsoft Works. This is so 1994 Sophomore Keyboarding class that I can actually SMELL the old Manlius High School Computer Room. Wow.

Well at least I am not using my laptop that is so damn hot that you can’t stand to put it on your lap and even with the chill pad the fan runs constantly and will run the battery completely dead in less than 40 minutes. I think I need a new fan, but really I worry that it’s probably something else. Because hey, if the fan is running but not cooling, we have a problem. But I don’t want to think about that.

Today I didn’t do a whole lot. But you know how my lazy days go. I sewed Ardyn 4 pair of pants (seriously) and then cut out two more and washed and prepped six more yards of flannel prints. I loaded and ran the dishwasher. Unloaded it. Made Ardyn lunch and watched two movies. Washed a load of clothes. Picked up toys. Then at 11pm when we finished watching Speed Racer I recall thinking that I couldn’t stay awake another moment (I didn’t take a nap with Ardyn today or yesterday) and heading to bed. I took my medicine. I was in my pajamas. I was even getting INTO bed when I remembered I needed to grab my iPod from my purse (I listen to ocean waves) and that ended up with me rinsing poopy diapers, pre-washing them, washing them, unloading the dishwasher, adding dirty sippy cups from the day, cleaning up in the kitchen, going pee three more times, carrying up empty hampers and the empty diaper pail, and grabbing Evan’s laptop and sitting on my bed, again, 45 minutes later, still forgetting to grab my ipod.

Tomorrow I have so much going on! But I won’t likely get to post anything until later, because I have a lot going on, and freaking Starbucks doesn’t have “free” internet because you know that a $4 latte can’t possibly help them afford Wi-Fi in their many locations. Seriously? I am sure this is old news to many, but I live 45 minutes from Starbucks and don’t go there often. As a matter of fact I have probably had a drink at Starbucks, oh let’s say 7 times in my life. And only once was I alone. The only time I stop at star bucks is when it’s Pumpkin season or I can get a bottle of Tazo ginger peach green tea which I have never ever found sold anywhere else in rural america. I don’t like going to city places sometimes because then I feel all sad when I remember that I have to patronize star bucks (damn works keeps making that two words) in order to get the ONE bottle of cold green tea that I enjoy drinking. Bastards.

So anyway, tomorrow I go back to the endocrinologist to have my thyroid tested. We will find out if it has corrected itself or if it is still a problem and will need to be treated during this whole pregnancy. If all is well, I will continue to be tested on a regular basis to determine if things are still going the way they should be. Then on Tuesday we have one company coming to give us another estimate for windows in the house. Then Wednesday I have an appointment with my midwife again, and we will likely schedule my sex determination ultrasound about 4 weeks from now. I am trying not to get excited because Ardyn kept her legs crossed for SO long that we didn’t actually see that she was a girl until like 7 weeks after our sex determination ultrasound. It was AGONY I tell you. I am not the kind of person who wants a surprise sex announcement after a long labor. Or even after a short one.

It really warmed up here today, we had the house open still, and I had on shorts and a tank top. My favorite $45 Bravado Nursing and Maternity Tank Top which I accidentally dyed when I washed my Bravado Tie-Dye Bra from Nestmom with my load of good clothes. Ugh. We have been working on foods that Ardyn can eat. It is AMAZING that there is milk or milk products in almost ALL prepackaged food. Side Dishes of rice or pasta, bread, snacks, even in some MEATS! Holy cow! You learn so much about the food you are eating that it’s kinda scary. It took me almost two hours to get groceries because I spent so much time reading labels. I found chicken noodle soup without milk. I found a few family friendly meals without milk. Seriously, I feel like there should be an entire list of specific brand items that don’t contain milk. I have to say BLESS those companies who label their ingredients with the big bold words at the bottom that clearly say “THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS: Soy, Wheat, Milk.” Hello. Isn’t that fabulous? Instead of looking at boxes and trying to find crazy words like Whey? Seriously. I have started keeping my own list of things that she has been eating with no issues or reactions, that have no dairy. Then grocery shopping should theoretically get easier. Except when they change or discontinue products, or stupid stores like Wal-Mart change what they carry. I almost had a freaking heart attack (more like a 2-year old’s tantrum) in the snack food aisle when I discovered that my local Wal-mart has stopped carrying Honey Main Grahams “Bees” and I had to read 50 thousand labels to find a substitute that has no milk. Ardyn loves those things so much that she buzzes like a bee at the sight of the box. Did you KNOW that the only animal cracker I have found on the market that doesn’t contain milk is Barnum and Bailey? Seriously. I probably said that in a previous post. My heart truly goes out to families with a nut allergy, or a wheat and milk allergy combo. I swear Ardyn would starve. Even most sandwich rolls and buns contain milk. Practically every Gerber graduates product contains dairy. Today I had to clean out her snack tote and replace the snacks with safe ones. I got rid of SO many cheese goldfish crackers, and graduates cereal bars, and earth’s best organic crackers.

I was able to get my first batch of goat’s milk to give it a try. Today I pasteurized. I learned that it is illegal for the farm to pasteurize the milk, and that a buyer has to go to the farm with their own container to get the milk. So after getting groceries, I went to the farm, saw the goats, met the family, and got a quart of milk. Tonight it was cooling in the fridge and I hope that tomorrow we can try a bit and hopefully it doesn’t cause a reaction. Poor Ardyn just finally healed up about a day ago from eating the wrong animal crackers at trick or treat last Saturday. So with Vaseline with every diaper change (which happens like clockwork every two hours unless she is poopy) it takes a full week to heal an allergic reaction from milk. A full week of cracked and bleeding diaper rash. A full week of screaming and crying and thrashing hysterically while you try to gently clean her, ointment her, and put a new diaper on. Also trying to not get my hopes up about the goat‘s milk. But it would be SO nice to get away from Soy. It is really tearing her up, the poopy diapers are insane. If she DOES get a rash, the soy poo makes it worse and more difficult to get under control. I bought a little rice milk to try also, once we test out goat’s milk and make sure we have no rashes. The issue with goat’s milk is supply. Like a human mother (take me for example) when they are pregnant, their milk supply starts to drop and eventually can be gone altogether. So when I got pregnant, even thought Ardyn wanted to nurse like crazy, she slowly weaned herself because my supply decreased as a result of my pregnancy. Well, take a herd of goats, who are being bred, and the whole herd will have a supply drop if they are bred and due around the same time frame. So right now, all the goats around are bred, so even IF the farmers milk the goats, they don’t have much for supply. And most of them drink the goat’s milk themselves, and don’t have enough to spare 1 gallon a week for Ardyn. So if the goat’s milk DOES work out, I then have a supply and demand issue. Ha. But I do have three contacts who milk goats and hope that between the three of them I can find SOMEONE who will have a bit of milk here and a bit of milk there to part with. Otherwise we can supplement with rice milk or soy if we need to. Ick. Soy. I still wonder if she is having some type of Soy allergy.

Next week we have an appointment at the dermatologist to have Ardyn’s rash looked at. I can’t believe how much it looks like my eczema. I hope the doctor recognizes it and can help us get rid of it. I plan on taking my prescription ointment with me to show him.

Well, it’s nearly 1am. And I am going to regret this tomorrow because I won’t be able to nap then either! Hope I get this posted soon, Take Care!

Pics and Stuff

Good Day! I am amazingly on the internet briefly for the THIRD day in a row! It's a miracle. Not at home, but still very cool.

Today I got my own sewing machine setup for a while. I took my MIL's machine off hte cabinet and got mine all reinstalled and setup and then did some sewing. I made a couple of pair of legwarmers for Ardyn, and worked on mamma pads for postpartum. It was so awesome to sew again! FINALLY not so tired that I can't function! I have also been watching lots of movies lately. I rent about 5 or 6 a week. Recently my favorite was "Waitress" With Keri Russel. It was really good.

We got a tree removed from alongside our driveway today, it was dead all down the middle. We also got the maple in our front yard trimmed, we had branches so heavy that they were almost touching the ground. It looks so NICE and our yard looks so much BIGGER! Soon we will have our fence! We hired a tree service "A Cut Above" and they did an AWESOME job. Seriously. The trimming of the front tree was something that I was excited about but also worried but the tree is Beautiful! They did such a nice job while still taking good care to keep the tree pretty and healthy!

Here are a few photos: Starting with the Onesies that I converted to T-shirts yesterday.
Here's Ardyn today modeling the legwarmers we made this morning:It's so strange to be writing every day that I feel like I am blank!

I had a few blog-worthy revlelations lately, but by the time I get to the internet, I forget what they are!

Quickly.

So, last night we got home late and I saw the offending "mouse" leftovers. I got even more angry. There were seriously 4 mouse shit droppings and they were IN THE CORNER, BEHIND THE KNIFE BLOCK. Seriously. I rarely pull out hte knife block, specifically because the cleaning people clean behind the knife block every two weeks. So here they are all acting like we are filthy, because there were 5 mouse turds behind the knife block. I knew that I hadn't seen any droppings around in the last week. I couldn't believe I missed some. So there. Ha.

That's all I have to say.

Today I watched movies. Ate popcorn. Peanut Butter Cups. Ardyn took a three hour nap.

Oh and last night she took a dive and got a big lump and bruise on her forehead. She cried and cried. Poor baby. I put ice on it for a while and then the swelling was down by this morning. So she has the full body rash, a breakout of diaper rash from some milk that got through, a bump on her head with a bruise, a spot under her eye from her fall, and we are watching for Hand Foot and Mouth. Fab!

Sparkly Clean

You know, it really is hard to get people to understand that there is more to milk than dairy. Sometimes I make stupid mistakes, or totally innocent ones. But while doing a little trick or treating with bigger kids at a campground over the weekend, we stayed back and mostly watched, and several people tried to get us to take candy. Which was nice. But occasionally I would say "no thanks, she's allergic to dairy" and the one woman said "well here, she can have M&M's!" he. it was hard not to laugh. I mean seriously, who knew that chocolate was made with milk! I did make a mistake and let some animal crackers through the cracks, without checking, and of course, they had powdered milk in them (Barnum Circus crackers are the only ones that don't bother her) and last week we accidentally gave her a cucumber dipped in ranch without thinking. Both wreaked havoc on her poor bottom. Cracking, bleeding, the whole deal. and dark, pasty poop. Poor baby.

Her full body rash is looking more like eczema every day. I have put a call into the ped as "tomorrow" it will be three weeks since essentially removing dairy from her diet (except for a couple of slipups) and the rash on her body has gotten worse, and looks exactly like my eczema. I have asked for a referral to a dermatologist or an allergist. how long do we mess around with an allergy and an "unidentified" full body rash? I mean, we dealt with the diaper rash for 6 months before i suggested a dairy allergy, and the full body rash has been there for over a month now. I am done messing around. Mom has had enough.

So on top of all that, she was inadvertently exposed to Hand Foot and Mouth Disease on Saturday. I keep telling myself it happens, it issn't my fault, I didn't know, and on top of all that, of she had remained in daycare she already would have had it. But I am still twiddling my thumbs through the 3-7 day incubation period, watching for the fever, etc. Can this child's body handle another rash? ack. We had a great time going to visit Cari and her family at their camping site at the campground. There were older kids everywhere and they all seemed to like Ardyn and want to play with her. A couple of times I had to step in because some of the kids were trying to feed her random snacks (all dairy hazards I am sure!) but they were really very good with her. One girl was probably 10 or so and came over to play. She offered to walk around the site with Ardyn. She was very polite, and gentle, and patient, and never let Ardyn get down in the dirt or get out of my sight. it was relaxing and Ardyn was enjoying it. She held the older girl's hands and played with her, sat on her lap, etc. Then in conversation we overheard the girl say she wasn't feeling well and Cari asked her what was wrong and she let out that she was two days infected withhand foot and mouth disease and showed us the lesions on her hands that were just starting. I felt bad for her because I could tell that she had never thought about infecting Ardyn, but of course as a mom I had this sinking feeling of not having protected Ardyn. And then I worried about getting it myself, and while pregnant to boot. But of course they say that adults don't usually get it, although they CAN get it.

But overall we had a great time at the campgrounds, good foor, warm campfire, watching older kids run around in costumes.... Ardyn fell asleep in front of the campfire. She got a glow stick while trick or treating. She loved that! We tied it to her stroller. I have pictures that I need to upload. But since I am not online at home, it won't be today!

Yesterday we went out for brunch with evan, which was nice, and today we took my dad (grandpa Dave) to pick up his new car (new to him) because he has hit two deer in the past three weeks, which was the third deer he has hit with his bonneville, and finally it is to the point of no return. So he bought a new work car.

Every Fall we get mice in our house. We have an old house. Built in the 1920's and there are plenty of ways for a mouse to sneak in. We have a cornfield in our backyard too, which doesn't help. We have all our food in tupperware containers. We have glue traps, ultrasonic pest repellers plugged in in two rooms, and we have also used poison in the past. when the damn things want to be there, we have a hell of a time getting rid of them. I am not afraid of mice, but I despise mouse poop. This past week they got into the cupboard that has nothing but glass pyrex containers and drink pitchers, and 1 bottle of canola oil (that's too tall to fit in any of the above cupboards) and since there was nothing to EAT in there, the damn things ate the label off the canola oil bottle. Well, about two weeks ago, the cleaning people came. And while I try to stay on top of the mouse poop, there are bound to be a piece or two that I miss, and the cleaning woman got a little upset with me and asked "when we were going to get our mouse problem under control" as if I could just snap my fingers. I told her that we were using glue traps to no avail. I hate to use poison with both the dogs and Ardyn in the house, and also because then you just have stinking deal mice in your walls and how gross is that, especially when you are pregnant and gag at everything stinky. She told me "I don't DO mouse poop." and it kinda sounded like a threat. I just played it off, and said "Oh, I know. I wish we could catch them!" Then today she called me (they are at my house) and I returned her call. Evan had forgotten to leave their check.

Her voicemail to me was dripping with attitude. I called her right back and apologized that Evan had forgotten to write the check and asked her if she would like to leave us a self addressed envelope and we would send it to her right away. She said she would, and then continued to very harshly ask "when are you getting your mouse problem taken care of" and continued to tell me that she doesn't deal with mouse droppings and that she wouldn't be touching them because today is "not a mouse poop kinda day." I understand that, but at the same time I get the feeling that for all the YEARS they have been our cleaning people, they are recently trying to find reasons to drop us. All they have to say is "we won't be able to clean for you anymore." To be quite frank, I am really tired of being given attitude over things like mouse poop. But also when they started cleaning for us, we had no kids, one dog and both worked full time. Our lives have drastically changed. I don't believe that they have children, and so they don't understand what it's like to have a 1 year old and be pregnant and tired, and to have two dogs (who by the way are only allowed on the front porch right now and not in the house) and to really have more important things to do than lose sleep over a bit of mouse poop. I tried to tell her that we currently have traps, ultrasonic pest things plugged in, AND all of our food in tupperware, on top of having all dirty dishes inside the dishwasher... so we are doing what we can except for the potential Poisoning of a family member over some mouse shit. Basically I am upset because she is trying to make me feel like we are filthy because we have mice in the fall. Seriously? I have better things to worry about. And seriously, I think it's time to get different cleaning people. People who won't have a heart attack if they find a dirty sock under the bed or a cheerio on the floor. I mean I have the damn roomba that vacuums every day. How seriously filthy can it be? And when I pay them $65 every two weeks for 2 hours of cleaning, I figure we ought to be able to live in our house and I shouldn't have to worry about cleaning before they come to clean. I already run around like a nutcase picking up and organizing and making sure that all of Ardyn's toys are put away and that anything on the floor is up and out of their way (like the bigger toys, the bouncing Zebra, the ride-on car, the wheeled horse, etc) and I try to be understanding and don't say a word when for 6 weeks straight the top of Ardyn's bookshelf (which is like 4 foot high and mounted on the wall) never gets dusted, even when I remove everything from it in case they don't want to pick up the book and the frame and the stuffed bunny that's up there. And when I know that in the past six months they have never dusted the tops of the two wall shelves in the living room. maybe the problem is that I never say a word? I appreciate my cleaning people, but at the same time, I am tired of worrying that they might see something that will send them heading for the hills. Like, what if I don't get all the hair picked out of the shower drain? Or what if they find that sippy cup that I can't figure out WHERE my daughter left it last? I am pretty good at being on top of things, but spending quality and fun time with my daughter is my priority. And THAT is why I still pay for someone to clean. Because that is what's important to me and I intend to keep it that way. My house isn't filthy. But it is cluttered. But I take lots of time before they come to be sure that the important surfaces are visible, and I tell them that if the dining room table is cluttered, not to worry about it. They almost never have to clean the office desk or the scrapbook table, because they are always full of projects in progress or paperwork. I don't fault them for any of that. My mom mentioned that they never dust one of my end tables, and Evan mentioned that they never dust the arms or the backs of the leather sofa and loveseat. I notice these things, but I don't stress about them. If it bothers me I just do it myself later. I guess it doesn't matter to me if you don't get to everything every time you are cleaning, just as long as at least once a month, the dust gets off here and there. And seriously, I do get frustrated when I pay them for 2 hours and I get home and an hour and a half later, not only are they gone, but they had to pick up all their supplies and pack them up and then leave. I just figure that if they still had 30 minutes to go, why not dust that shelf or that corner end table? Ugh. Sorry. Enough ranting. Now they are probably going to read my blog and be all mad that I was "talking trash." They will probably post about how that one time my husband left his gum in the shower (WTF?!) and I didn't catch it in time. Or maybe about the time that somehow in some wild abandon a pair of my pajama pants entertwined with dirty underwear found their way under my bed, and *gasp* I didn't look under there for two weeks until they cleaned and found them. Jeez. I swear life is too short for this crap!

Please share your cleaning people stories. Am I the lone ranger here?

More Rambling.

Thursday. Really a beautiful day! It's been so cool and fall-like here, and for the first time inyears, farmers are taking out soybeans before corn. We've been drinking hot apple cider and eating lots of muffins, apples, this week (we have been there twice already!) and I cut one in half because I thought they would be really rich. I have to say, I couldn't even eat HALF of one. I needed to cut it into thirds. I am the chick who can eat two pieces of rich cheesecake without blinking, but this brownie was so rich it actually HURT my mouth to eat it. Isn't that crazy? I should have taken pictures of them to post. Since I am not online at home, I am online away from home, which means I can't reach the brownies from here. LOL.

Ardyn is really walking well now and I am trying to work on putting her down more out in public. When we walk to our table at a restraunt or while in the hospital having tests or in a parking lot that isn't busy, I have started to take her hand and let her walk alongside me. She LOVES that and I love not having to carry her everywhere. Last night I decided that I should write down the words and phrases she knows, because I haven't really done that yet (with the exception of her first two words) and by today I was already up to 65 words and phrases. Not bad for a 13 month old? When people had asked me I had been saying she had like 15-20 words to say, but wow was I way off. It's funny because sometimes she will say something and I will be like "Oh, forgot that one!" and run to my journal to add it to the list. Today for the first time she verbally answered a question I asked her. I was astounded. Seriously, very cool. She is getting really good at repeating just about anything you want her to say, but she never does it for an audience. In fact, I can't get her to say hardly anything for the video camera either. I love when she says "shoes" (sooos) and today I was trying to get her to say Rocket and it kept coming out like Cock, so I gave up. he.

Today I had foot and ankle x-rays and also visited a couple of nurses that I used to work with and who were there when I was in the hospital with Ardyn. Then we closed my bead retreat party. I got 4 half-price items, $80 in free stuff, and a free October Bracelet. Yay. Can't wait for everything to come in!

So I have been having issues with the ball of my left foot, right below my second toe. It's been very sore for a few weeks, and usually by the end of the day, I am limping. It has gotten better since I have been making an effort to wear shoes or slippers while around the house, and wear shoes versus flip-flops while out. I made an appointment a while back to go to the foot doctor, and my appointment was Wednesday afternoon. It was enlightening to say the least. My mom has feet that are much like mine, and has had nothing but problems recently, as she works on her feet all day. When I started to have pain where she was having pain, I decided no messing around and went right to the foot Dr. He drew me several pictures of the foot and toes and bone structure and explained that what I was experiencing was due to the way my feet are formed, with extremely high arches. This causes my weight to be distributed too much on my toes, and affects the balls of my feet.

I also have ankle problems, which increases my issues, and explains why I spent LOTS of my college years on crutches with ankle twists and sprains. It also explains why my ankle gave out on me while I was 9 months pregnant with Ardyn, and even though I was standing completely still, I had an avulsion fracture of my ankle where the tendon actually tore away from the bone and chipped a piece of bone off. Ack. So today's xrays will determine at which stage my foot problem (Second Metatasal Pain) is in. It starts with Bursitis, moves to a Plantar Plate Tear, and eventually becomes a Ganglion Cyst, where the bone has rubbed on the bottom of your foot for so long that liquid has filled the area around the bone and the fat pad of your foot has worn away and all that is left between the bone and the ground is your thin layer of skin. It's freaking scary, because not treated, it can end up with foot surgery, specifically a chunk of your bone removed and hoping that your foot bone heals at a different angle. So as complicated as all that sounds, the xrays are to determine if I am just at the bursitis stage, or if the plantar plate has already torn on my left foot, and to see the status of my right foot and my ankles. The plan will probably be to first get custom made arch supports to correct the way weight is distributed on my feet, and potentially Physical Therapy, Cortisone, and/or anti-inflammatory medicine (which I have taken in the past with flare ups of carpal tunnel or the arthritis in my lower back that I got from the double whiplash car accident when in my early 20's.) So next Friday I get to see the Xray results and see what the first step is. And of course since I am pregnant, and will be soon breastfeeding another, I won't be able to take medicine or likely cortisone either. Luckily my foot doctor is not only excellent at what he does, but extremely interested in making sure that it all makes SENSE to me, which is right up my alley.

Of course Ardyn's body rash is a little worse lately. Still new breakouts on her forehead and temples and in her hairline, also on her neck and her chest and tummy. I myself am beginning to think it is eczema. It looks almost Identical to the eczema that I have (when I first was diagnosed) and I am currently testing a bit of my steroid-free lotion on a patch to see if it gets better and so far, it seems to be getting less scaly and red. After Tuesday I can officially call th pediatrician back and let them know that the body rash has not been elimitated by removing milk from her diet.

I also recently learned online that there are vast differences between lactose intolerance and a dairy allergy. Children with lactose intolerance can likely eat milk products in moderation but can be pushed over the edge by drinking milk or eating too many dairy products. They may have gas, stomach upset, or diahrrhea as a result of their intolerance. These aren't allergies, just their digestive system's reaction to dairy consumption.

A Dairy Allergy, on the other hand, is a true allergy to dairy products. It's characterized by allergy symptoms, body rash, diaper rash that won't heal without removing dairy from the diet, etc etc. People with a dairy ALLERGY are the people who don't consume any dairy products, and usually this means even things as simple as the milk powder found in things like instand oatmeal, "lactose free" cheeses, and certain crackers and cookies. They have a true allergy to dairy products characterized by an allergic reaction when given any dairy. That's Ardyn. Today we mistakenly let her dip cucumber slices in ranch dressing, because we weren't smart enough to remember that there is milk in there! Tonight she had really bad, dark, pasty poo, and a diaper rash. All from a tiny bit of ranch dressing. Hence Allergy, not Lactose Intolerance.

Of course now I am reading all about phytoestrogens in Soy products and really searching for locally sold Goat's Milk. I have a couple of leads that I plan on pursuing tomorrow.

Well, still not internet at home, and it's past Ardyn's bedtime, so I think it's time for me to get offline and go home. Have a great night and a happy weekend, since I don't think I will be back before then!

Lots going on.

I have so much to write about. I am not as concerned about the time it will take to write it all as I am about my memory’s capacity to not leave anything out. It has been a fairly busy week. Really, I can’t recall when the last time was that I wrote in the blog, and because we are going on three or four weeks without internet at home, I can’t even check to see what I wrote last.

I decided to just sit down tonight and write a bit while offline, and hope that I can publish this maybe on Tuesday. It’s Sunday night, and I really would normally be in bed by now. It’s about 11:15 and I just started diapers. It’s technically only four days of diapers, but again, I have two loads to wash because they won’t all fit into the washing machine. I can’t remember if I mentioned in my previous post that Ardyn is allergic to dairy, but we discovered that almost two weeks ago, and have had her on a dairy free diet ever since. Her diaper rash cleared up in 2-3 days but she still has the body rash, including new dots on her chest and temples/forehead that show up every single day. The Dr’s office assures me that is also dairy related and that when she has had the dairy out of her system for three weeks, it will also be gone. I am still not sure, because why would she be getting NEW breakouts? Hmmm. Not convinced. But only time will tell. I am worried that I will discover that she is allergic to something else…. And I don’t know if they can send a 1 year old for allergy testing. And I can’t get online and investigate, because I have no internet and when I DO get to the internet, my time is limited because I generally have Ardyn with me. So far, Soy milk equals MANY more dirty diapers than usual. The Dr. also assures me that this 4 poops a day routine will end once she is adjusted to the Soy. Again. Three weeks. SO we wait.

In the meantime, I wash an insane amount of diapers. I try not to put it off too long, but when you are pregnant, rinsing poopy diapers is not at the top of your to-do list. Especially newly stinky and pasty diapers.

Washing diapers does take a bit of time. Basically because it consists of a prewash cycle, and then you have to go add the soap and disinfecting stuff and then do a wash with a double rinse. Just takes the washing machine more time. And when you have two loads to do, well, you get the picture. And when you have lots of poopy diapers, that usually adds an overnight soaking to the list of things for the washing machine to accomplish. Tick Tock. So I am trying to stay awake long enough to get the first load of diapers prewashed, and then washed and rinsed, so that I can get them into the dryer and get the second load started on it’s overnight soak. Don’t know if I can make it that long.

So this past week I hosted a Bead Retreat Party, and was in my friend Lisa and Josh’s wedding. Thursday was the bead retreat party. I had 10 people attend, and 8 people came for Chili and Homemade Cornbread before the party. I had a great time eating with everyone. It was less stressful than Thanksgiving and really so nice. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy having people over. I got to use all the nice napkins and tablecloth, the nice dishes, the expensive wine glasses… It was the best. I am still about $100 short of my goal, and the party closes Tuesday. Not having the internet is not helping me much with rounding up orders, but I have three more outside orders that I am expecting, so everything pretty much hinges on that.

The other thing, is that we don’t have cable or a home phone right now, since it is all through the same company. It’s just too damn expensive and not a priority. We have been renting movies instead, and I am more caught up on movies than I have been in years. I doubt I can remember everything I have seen lately, but I know the list includes Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Lucky Number Slevin, The Bucket List, The Constant Gardner, The Astronaut Farmer, Baby Mamma, Then She Found Me, Wilderness (totally retarded), In the Land of Women, The Darjeeling Limited (don’t waste your time), and Mr Woodcock (which I will watch tomorrow.)

And that doesn’t include all the things that I watch with Ardyn, like Rolie Polie Olie, The Wiggles, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, and The Little Einsteins.

Tonight Ardyn and I had to run to Wal-Mart and get dog food, and we also had to get a new DVD Player because we wore ours out. We just buy the cheap $29 model, it usually lasts a few years and that’s cool with us. We also bought some Halloween Cookie Cutters, and she said “Cookie” for the first time. And we got her a pair of Dora fleece lined clogs, and some Cheesecloth for part of her Halloween costume.

Other than that we accomplished a bath for me and a nap for both of us. That was nice. She has fallen asleep with me several times in the past couple of days. She is officially weaned, and she did it all herself. First she dropped the naptime nursing session, and then the bedtime session. Friday morning was her last morning nursing session and today I leaked a teeny tiny bit for the first time. No problem and really no pain. It was awesome to let her self wean. It couldn’t have gone more perfect. So I get to say goodbye to what was really the perfect breastfeeding relationship. She never had formula. I pumped through 5 months of full-time work, She breastfed for over a year, and I never had mastitis or a plugged duct and neither of us ever got thrush. I am so happy and proud, it is a major accomplishment!

So Friday was a great day too. Evan took Ardyn to his mom’s around noon. I went to town, checked my email, received a couple of paypal payments and sold all of my Size Medium Thirsties AIO Pockets to two mammas on diaperswappers. Then I turned around and bought four Goodmamas from a mamma on DS and they are from the hopscotch switch box. I can’t wait, they should be here this week. It’s insane that I can sell 12 used diapers and turn around with that EXACT money and buy 4 new ones. But that goes to show how badly the resale value is on those Thirsties AIO Pocket V1 when so many people have had issues with the leg gussets leaking, and Thirsties redesigned and came up with a V2. I am just relieved to have them out of my sight because they were really disgusting me, seeing them sitting here worth so much money and not being used. Ugh. So I mailed diapers, and then went and got my hair done for the wedding, and ran to Wal-Mart. I ate lunch and went home, where the house was ALL to myself and Incredibly quiet. I spent the next 2 hours listening to Tommy James and the Shondells, painting my toenails, and applying artificial fingernails, and then getting dressed and heading for the wedding. I picked up Josh’s sister and his nieces, and we drove to the home where the garden wedding was held. It was so nice, but the problem was the tiny biting black gnats. They had the garden sprayed that day, but nothing deterred those little bastards. Everyone wearing white (poor Lisa and the flower girls) were covered with the bugs. Everyone else was also getting eaten alive. I have so many bites that pretty much everything is still itching, and it’s terrible. I coat myself with Benadryl cream a couple of times a day to try to stop myself from itching. Just to give you an idea of how many bites I have, there are TWELVE on my left breast. And I was NOT naked at the wedding. They were in our clothes, down our backs, up our skirts, it was terrible. I was wearing Off, Cutter, Repel, Skin So Soft, and my Jason Natural Bug Repellent. I was also wearing Vanilla Oil that someone told me was a deterrent. Nothing kept them away. Nothing stopped them from biting. Luckily by the time the ceremony itself started, they were mostly leaving us alone. But that didn’t help us during the 2 hours of photos. The reception was nice too, I still think about the slices roast beef. Mmmmm.

So Evan’s parents kept Ardyn overnight on Friday, and had her for more than 24 hours, and it was FABULOUS. I felt so FREE! Seriously. We tried to sleep in but we ended up getting about 5 hours of sleep. We have a King Sized Sealy Posturpedic Mattress and Boxspring Set that we bought with tax return money in February of 2007. I was worried because the mattress can’t be flipped, and they assured me that it was designed to never NEED to be flipped. I am now absolutely sure that statement is a load of crap. We are so uncomfortable. Evan is sleeping on the couch and I am sleeping in the middle of the bed. We have tried rotating it, and it seems better for about two weeks. We have called the furniture store where we purchased it because it is under warranty. I am waiting to hear back from the “guy” who handles warranties. Of course I read the fine print and the warranty from Sealy states that the warranty does not cover “customer preference” and I will be infuriated if they try to tell me that our preference is the reason we don’t like the mattress. I really loved the mattress until about 5 months ago. The problems really started to become unbearable about a week ago, when I lay down on the mattress I feel like everywhere my bones touch, I have bruises. I can’t see the bruises, but if I touch my skin in those spots, it feels just like a bruise. Evan said the same thing a few days later. And because I am pregnant, I sleep on one side or the other, with a body pillow, so the same spot on my shoulder, leg, thigh, and Hip Bone always touches the bed. And I feel like I am covered in bruises. It is NOT a good thing and I sure hope that the furniture store or Sealy can help us and I mean FAST. Nothing is worse than being exhausted and pregnant and not being able to sleep because of your mattress. And I tell you, this is the FOURTH Sealy Posturpedic that Evan and I have owned. The Queen that we had last time was about 12-13 years old and we loved it. The twin that we have is about 9 years old, maybe 10, and it is in PERFECT shape and SO comfortable. As a matter of fact, that’s where I SHOULD be sleeping!

Hang on, let me go put soap in the diapers and get them started washing.

Well, now that is done, but it is almost midnight and I really can’t stay awake long enough for them to wash and rinse. Ugh. Oh well. Tomorrow is a different day, and I have a clear schedule. I did get the dishwasher run twice today, once for the china and wine glasses and once for the heavier dishes and the crock pot. It’s not like I did nothing all day. Not bad for a Sunday.

I also have everything from inside Ardyn’s crib to wash. Her sheet, blankets, mattress protector, toys… etc. When I was having the bead party, I had everything ready, myself cleaned up and dressed, the Chili ready and the cornbread in the oven, the table set, and was waiting for the hour to pass until the guests showed up. 15 minutes before the consultant was due to arrive, Ardyn woke up from her nap. I went in to get her and she was poop… head to toe. Under her nails, down her legs, in her hair, on her face, and on every area inside her crib… even the bars and the pouch of puppies that hangs on the side or the crib. I had to carry her at arm’s length to the bathtub and strip her down and give her a bath. Evan stripped the crib and scrubbed it clean and sanitized it, and put everything in the laundry room. We have been so busy that I haven’t got to wash it all yet. Ugh. Another fun task for tomorrow.

Have a great night.

Sweat Shop Mamma

(I am without internet at home so keep in mind that this post was written on 9-12-08)

The past couple of days I have shocked myself with the things I have accomplished. The pre-pregnancy Meagan must be in there somewhere trying to get out. Of course by 8pm I am so exhausted I can’t hardly keep my eyes open.

Yesterday (Thursday) I picked up the living room, dining room, bathroom, and our bedroom. I re-organized Ardyn’s toys and packed up some more “baby-ish” toys. I took tags off the new clothes that Evan bought her. I washed diapers. I went through a stack of magazines and papers on the dining room chair that was no shorter than 2.5 feet tall (seriously) and did something with everything, and kept a 1 foot stack of magazines that I haven’t cracked the covers on yet (I suck.) and am keeping them by the bed so that I may hopefully flip through them, and tear out the things that I want to file. I went through the file on the top of the desk in the office. I created new folders for each pregnancy (going to specialists really gathers lots of paperwork…. Insurance, referrals, prescriptions, letters and maps, lab tests, new patient forms, etc) I keep most of this because I am going to many specialists this time around too, and they always want to compare things to last pregnancy. I emptied folders from being a Pampered Chef Consultant, (2003-2005) and fold veterinary bills from when I had Carrie’s beagle. I consolidated paperwork from my “former” employer. Threw away 6 years of paystubs, and filed the contract for the website that I am currently working on (soon!) and also my exit interview from my former employer. I was pretty proud of getting all that in order. I found my envelope full of cards that I received from Ardyn’s baby shower, and cards I received in the mail after her birth. I decided to keep them for her, because I remember how much fun it was to see the cards that my mom kept in my baby book. But she has so many that I had to punch holes in them all and put them on a zip tie ring. I also found cards from her first Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and finally all of her first birthday cards. I added those to the ring too.

I miraculously found a gift card that fell out of one of the cards, and wouldn’t you know that it was a card for ME from my former co-workers, from when Ardyn was born? It said “this is to be used for something special for mom” and of course THAT is the card that got pushed to the wayside and never used. 1 year later, you can bet I will be buying something for myself! Ha!

I also went through Ardyn’s baby books and her health tracks book and put in her 1 year stats as well as her shots and the info on her new teeth that have come in. I filled out the pages for her first birthday and info on when she started crawling, standing, etc.

Yesterday Ardyn took three steps to Evan, which was awesome. She’s getting closer to full-blown walking every day.

So today was Friday, and it started out like any other day but got humid as hell. Around lunchtime I decided to bring up all the fabric that I had bought to make baby wipes. I started cutting and I cut 164 eight by eight squares of fabric. Then I serged 82 pair of them into 82 new and fabulous baby wipes. They are Organic Sherpa Fleece on one side and flannel or cotton knit on the other side (prints.) Then I folded 82 baby wipes in half and admired them over and over. Then I fray checked the corner of 82 wipes. Then I put them in a tote and smiled at them all. I can’t wait till tomorrow when I can start wiping a little butt with them. The sherpa fleece makes for excellent poo grabbing and they wash up really nice. They are so soft and thick. I am terribly excited.

I have been using baby washcloths for the past 9 months, and even though I have about 140 of them, they have been washed SO many times, and there just aren’t enough for two little butts to wipe. Plus toddler poos require a whole new wipe animal than little breastfed baby poos. So I feel like I have done a very accomplished thing and that I am even a little more prepared for two babies. I have also been loving the new stack of goodmamas. That’s all she’s been wearing for the past two days. It’s so nice. She can run around coverless and she is even coverless at naptime! Holy moly! I now know without a doubt that if I come into money, I will be ordering a Goodmama box, or even a bunch of bundles. Although I really like the clean look of the OBV’s. The prints are adorable but I can just see them getting pilly and faded so I am not sure that’s what I want.

I have gotten back into some books that I had been perusing, Green Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck, Unplugged Play, and Raising Baby Green by Alan Greene MD. In order to prevent myself from getting bored, I just keep rotating between them. I did a few things form Unplugged play with Ardyn today. I put a blanket on the floor and gave her a Tupperware container with an inch of water in the bottom of it, and gave her a bunch of her own spoons and forks and a dishrag. She was thrilled. She washed them. She washed herself… her legs, her hair, and then she put her feet in the water. Then she dumped it over accidentally, and then on purpose. Then she splashed around in the little bit of water that was left. I also got her little tiny stuffed baby doll out and cut her a blanket out of fleece from the sewing room. I put her baby to sleep in a shoebox. I showed her how to rock the baby and sing to the baby and put the baby “night-night.” She wasn’t fond of the attention the baby was getting. I then asked her if the baby wanted milk and acted like I was going to breastfeed the baby through my shirt, she got VERY angry and smacked the baby out of the way. Then she climbed up into my lap and started giving me kisses on the lips, like she wanted to remind me that SHE is my baby and a very sweet and loving one at that. And then she shoved the baby in her shoebox, under the coffee table where no one could find her. It was hilarious. We will have to keep working on the baby.

Ardyn loves to say that things are pretty. Candles and things that are glass and not to be touched are regarded as “pretty.” Freshly folded clothes, towels, and diapers are “pretty” (otherwise she will unfold them) and when I put clips in her hair I announce that they are “pretty” otherwise she will take them out. I gave her a big fat powder brush a month or so ago, and showed her how to put on blush and say “pretty” and now she loves to put blush on herself and then mommy and say “pretty.” Today we discovered a magic trick with a toilet paper tube and the brush. We put the brush, handle side down, into the tube. She can SEE the top of the brush and touch the bristles and she is trying to get it out and then suddenly, I whisk the brush out of the bottom of the tube and display it up by her face and she squeals with delight! Magic! How did that brush get out of that tube! And so quickly! We played with that for a long time today.

She also amazes me how fast she catches on. Earlier in the week I was using the oven and told her it was hot. Every time she sees me open the oven she makes her “hot” sign (waving her hand back and forth like HOT) and I saw “yes, it’s HOT. Don’t touch.” Very smart. Unfortunately, if you don’t know her, you might get her hot sign confused with her “stinky” sign. But her stinky sign usually comes with sniffing of the nose and sometimes the word “stinky.” And I guess it could also be confused with her waving hello or bye bye…. But again, in context.

Well, it’s past my bedtime. I intended on sleeping long ago, but wanted to get diapers started so I would have a full stash of goodmamas for the weekend and also wanted to get some stuff written down lest I forget.

Like today, I decided that for the first time in 29 years I would try mustard on my hot dog. I never tried it because even though I love mustard, it just never sounded right on a hot dog. And you know what, I was right. Mustard doesn’t belong on a hot dog. So I guess I haven’t been missing anything. But this from the person who had never had a chili dog until about 3 years ago. Sheltered I tell you!

Happiness is: Homemade Chex Mix and Goodmamas.

Hello everyone! Wednesday. We have been pretty lazy the past couple of days. We had a busy weekend and a Busy Monday (okay, a hectic monday) and so we have pretty much been napping and eating and sleeping and eating. Today we slept in again (ahhh, 9:30!) and then Ardyn and I lay around in bed and watched TV until 11am, when we made scrambled eggs and toast. I have laundry going, the dishwasher unloaded, reloaded, and running again, and Chex Mix in the oven. I love the smell and the satisfaction of chex mix in the oven. I am going to make two batches. I have a close friend whose family member is seriously ill (very likely terminally ill) and I will make Chicken Casserole, Cheesy Rice and Broccoli Casserole, and Chex mix to take over to them tonight. I feel like I want to DO something but I know that right now it's just a bunch of waiting for them, and spending as much time with their loved one as possible. I feel terrible. And Helpless. I can't even imagine how they feel.

Monday was my appointment at the Endocrinologist for my thyroid. It is overactive now (it was previously underactive) and they did more bloodwork and intend to monitor it for the pregnancy. No medications just yet, as they feel it might very shortly resolve itself. So I have been laying low. MIL Asked me if I wanted to go shopping today, but I just Can NOT do shopping. I can barely make it through a 30 minute trip to Wal-Mart. Last night I thought I was going to take Ardyn for a walk because it was so nice, but I forgot that I left the stroller in the loaner car and they have it at the dealership and I keep forgetting to pick it up. Ha. I go back to the Endocrinologist next week, and then I will probably go see my midwife, just because I miss her. LOL.

Last night I made Ardyn and myself some fabulous Cheerios Snack Mix Just mix...no baknig required!) For my recipe and a photo, go here! It is SO yummy. A little sweet, and dry... great for a preggo tummy... both to tide you over and get rid of nausea. (which I have no more... YAY!) When Ardyn finishes a little bowl, she turns it upside down and says "uh-oh" and looks at me hopefully.

Off to stir the chex mix! I love that burn in your nose when you open the oven and a big waft of seasoning and sauce hits you in the face. YUM!Last night I washed the BIGGEST Load of diapers ever. It was awesome. I actually had to wash them twice. I probably should have split it into two. Yesterday was an awesome day for fluffy mail. I got 5 Goodmama OBV's and 1 PIddle Poddle, which I also adore. It's amazingly similar to the Goodmama. The only differences that I have noticed with our first wearing is that the rise seems shorter (which will soon be a problem) and the wing snaps (to prevent droop) aren't exactly where I need them. I will probably stick to goodmamas for those reasons. This brings my Goodmama total to NINE beautiful OBV's. I adore them. I never thought in a million years that I would choose the $37 diaper as my favorite. Never. Ever. But I certainly do adore them. the fit is just perfect. And the fact that they are super soft, and one size, AND absorbent enough to go coverless yet trim enough to be comfy... not to mention they clean up spotlessly. Every. Freaking. Time.

I have been very much considering selling the Thirsties AIOs. I am disappointed that since the release of V2, V1's resale value has dropped to like $11 each. It makes me furious, especially since they were $17.50 each new. We aren't using them, I just have them in a tote looking at me.
I guess the money could go torwards more goodmamas.

Last Sunday was a busy day. I attended Lisa's Bridal Shower for her mom's family, and then went right to Evan's grandparents for his grandpa's 79th Birthday Party. We had a nice supper and sat outside and Ardyn played. She adores Evan's cousin Lukas (who is 18ish) and gave him hugs and kisses and snuggles. It was so cute. She kept going to him so he would pick her up and put her on his lap. It was cute. I stopped at Tanner's on my way back from the Dr. on Monday. Bought some apples and apple cider donuts, and some apple muffins that are TO DIE FOR. I also got some pumpkin butter, which I thouht I would love, but really didn't. Ardyn LOVES it though, so that's a plus. I recently had to make the honey/peanut butter decision for her. "They" still debate about giving peanut butter or honey at 1 year. The Ped gave the go ahead for honey in small amounts and the pep talk for staying clear of Peanut Butter and other nut products for another year. So I bought some sun butter (sunflower seeds) and she doesn't know the difference. I haven't given her the honey yet, but we have a LOVELY jar that just came fresh off the farm at Evan's parents, and the hives are located in the timber with wildflowers, fruit trees, and a garden... the honey tastes FABULOUS!

Ardyn's 1 year photos came back from the photographer. I have to decide which ones I am going to order. Tough Tough Decision!

Well, batch one of chex mix is cooling. Gotta go start the next one. Have a great week!

The longest post ever. And My Beef with Thirsties AIO Pockets.

Well, the birthday party is over. It was great. I was feeling icky. It was hot. I was exhausted. And Nauseous. And had a weird pain in my upper belly all day. But It was still fun. The pool was refreshing. The food was AMAZING. The cake got rave reviews for taste AND looks. I was pleased. Evan did a great job of blowing up the balloons and making a pretty balloon bouqet for the bench along the driveway. It was wonderful. Ardyn got lots of good stuff, a few toys, books, a beautiful quilt made by Bekah, and some really great clothes from my mom. She enjoyed every bit of it and wouldn't nap for a second. She was awake from 7:30am till 9:30pm, that little stinker didn't want to miss a bit of HER party. Ha.

Since the party we have recuperated. Gotten the dishwasher installed (I am in love) and Ardyn and I met with Nicole Isaacson and spent two hours, two locations, and FIVE outfits getting pictures taken. I can't wait to see the results! Hopefully we will see them online by the end of this week or the beginning of next week at the latest. Today Ardyn and I took the van for an oil change, and also to get the AC Checked out because by Saturday it was not working again. They found the leak this time and have ordered parts. We took a Dodge Magnum Wagon as a loaner car today. It wasn't bad but I wouldn't trade it for my van. I don't like all the blind spots it has, it's way worse than MIL's newer Durango. But it was a nice loaner. Except I left the stroller in the back like a Moron. But in my defense it WAS Pouring rain all day. And I didn't like moving the baby, car seat, diaper bag, purse, etc. in the rain.... let alone the stroller. I just forgot. Until about three hours later when I was mentioning strollers when talking to my mom and I was like "Holy shit I have to call the car dealer!"

Tomorrow are Ardyn's 1 year shots. I am not looking forward to them. At all. They worry me because she will get ones that she has never had before, and because MMR is "the" controversial shot. I am sure it will all be fine, but mom's can't help be be anxious abut these things.

Lisa's Bridal shower gift arrived today via UPS and I am SO Excited to give it to her. I also got a dress and shoes in the mail today, that I will wear to her wedding. I already had a dress with a cute little sweater that I bought at the beginning of the summer, with plans to wear it to the wedding and reception, but that was BEFORE I was pregnant, and it still has the tags on it because NOW I can't wear it. LOL. Oh well. My shoes are so freakin adorable. They are Kenneth Cole Reaction and I got them from PiperLime. I adore them and will be able to wear them comfortably forever and ever. That's the best kind of shoe there is. When I measured my belly last week it was already 46 inches! Holy Cats! They are right when they say that you show quicker the second time around. By 6 weeks I couldn't button my pants and had to break out maternity clothes. The only bad thing for me is that all of my maternity clothes (most of them) are too big for me. So either I can't wear them (in the case of jeans and some of my shirts) or they look frumpy. I have asked my mom for some smaller maternity clothes for my Birthday, which is actually approaching fairly quickly. I sent her links to ones I like and am pretty sure she's got me covered. Evan my maternity underwear are too huge, and my swimsuit too. For Ardyn's birthday party I was able to wear my regular swimsuit but my stomach was all squished and killing me after an hour or so. I had to get out of that suit.

The weather was awesome today. Low 60's, rained all day. We opened the house up yesterday and it is so nice and cool. Ardyn and I have snuggly pants on and long sleeved shirts and socks and slippers. We drank tea (juice for her) and baked cookies this evening. We have all the Scentsy warmers going with Sugar Cookie bricks. It smells heavenly here! If you haven't heard of scentsy, my best friend Carrie is a consultant and you NEED to check it out. Flameless home scents with wax that isn't hot enough to burn. It's heated by a regular lightbulb, and the warmers are beautiful. They JUST released a plug in warmer that I want to get for my kitchen. They are awesome. Check them out here www.scentsy.com/carriestokes

I was actually motivated to clean off the dining room table, which was a mess of paper and glue and scissors and glitter from working on decorations for Ardyn's party. I was pleased when I finished. I am really wanting to get my 2 yards of Organic Sherpa Fleece cut into 9" squares so that I can start matching them up with my flannel and cotton knit fabrics and making wipes.

I just bought 5 Goodmama One Size OBV Dipes to add to the collection today. Lavender, Purple, Hot Pink, Orange, and Light Blue. I already have Lime, Red, Circus (rainbow Serging), and Marigold. Ardyn is just now growing out of her Size Medium Thirsties AIO's.

They recently re-vamped the Thirsties AIO Pockets and removed the fabric from inside the leg gussets. The V1 model had leakage issues, which to my dismay, we have experienced. It is frustrating because I paid $17 plus for each diaper and we have a full dozen of them in Medium and another full Dozen in size Small. That's alot of money ($414.00 to be exact), and that doesn't count the Ten Thirsties PUL Covers that I have (@ $11.50 each) or the Thirsties fitted or the 18 Thirsties Prefolds.

Even though the thirsties diapers are under warranty, the manufacturer doesn't feel that the leaking warrants a replacement or a discount on replacements, even though the leaking did warrant a redesign of the product into a V2. This has been something that I have been thinking alot about and I have made the decision to no longer purchase Thirsties AIO Pockets. I think. So instead of moving up to the size Large, I will move into using more fitteds and OS diapers, like the BG 3.0's that I am so happy with, and the Goodmamas. If I want some AIO's I will be trying BG AIO's. I like their Organic AIO but it is pricey at $24.95 per diaper... but really not bad for a OS AIO (which there aren't many of.) AND I was recently able to send in 3 BG OS 3.0's that I had aplix issues with (they had the older style aplix) and have them completely replaced at no cost to me, with new identical diapers with all the newer aplix and newer foldback tabs. Now. That is what I call customer service. And THAT is what makes me be a repeat customer, when you will stand by your product. I adore thirsties, but when you feel like you have $414 in diapers that you can't use for your second child, that frustrates you. It frustrates you enough to not invest another $217 to buy a dozen large diapers. I saw that Kelly's closet is clearancing out the V1 for $11 each. Ugh. Proof that they have been improved and aren't worth as much anymore.

For me, It is making more sense to use more OS Diapers. OS dipes will fit the new baby and Ardyn at the same time. I can use the BG 3.0's, the MEOS OBV's, and the Goodmama OBV's for both kids at the same time, eliminating the need to keep different sizes of diapers separate, and also eliminating the need to pack two sizes of diapers for an outing. The only downside is the added bulk of a fitted and cover (but fleece covers seem to work well for us in substitute for pants) and the fact that the millions of snaps in pretty rows tend to make a grandparent's and daddy's head spin. Although Evan does really well with snap MEOS. Unfortunately, when grandparents see those snaps, their mind automatically says "Disposables at my house" which really does make me sad. Very sad. I don't mind education sessions, but the older you get, the more you can't remember from one day (or hour) to the next, and not everyone in the grandparent lineup is a good listener.

We adore prefolds at home, but if you think snaps make a person's head spin.... just let them face down the pointy teeth and snappin stretch of a snappi. LOL. I love snappis. I love prefolds. But it sets panic into the hearts of babysitters everywhere. Evan doesn't do snappis. But he does fitteds and that makes my heart beat faster. He he.

So tonight I put Ardyn in a Fattycakes Heavy Wetter Fitted By Butterfly Baby, and some wool longies for overnight. I know the fattycake will do well overnight, but I have never used it with wool overnight, so we will see what the morning brings. I usually use BG OS for nights, but they are all in the wash, with the exception of the 3 new ones that are on the way to replace the ones I sent back to Cottonbabies.

I also ordered 5 pair of Custom Fleece Longies from Michele at ThePeaChicNest (part of the inspired congo.) I have SEVEN of her fleece inspiration soakers and they are hands down the best on the market. She does great custom work. I can't wait for the new ones to arrive. Aunt Liz gave Ardyn some birthday money and that has funded the 5 pairs of Fleecey goodness that we are awaiting.

Well. it's midnight. I am falling asleep. Gotta Go!

My Review of Toys on the Go Backseat Organizer

Originally submitted at One Step Ahead

We asked our Parents Panel to describe their ideal backseat organizer, then made their wishes come true! Our ultimate organizer has a full 15 pockets in various sizes, including one big enough to hold 8½" x 11" books. There's even a detachable activity case for bringing special ...

Toys on the Go Backseat Organizer

Has worked really well for us!

By dazed81 from Illinois on 9/4/2008

 

4out of 5

Pros: Durable, Easy Use, Easy Setup, Strong Construction, Portable, Easily Accessible

Best Uses: Newborn, Travel, Infants, Toddlers, Daily Use

Describe Yourself: Pregnant with 2, First Time Parent, Used in both a car van

I bought this item when I was pregnant with my first child. She is now One and I am pregnant with #2. I initially used it in a 4-door 99 Grand Prix. It was close quarters in the backseat (even though the backseat is big!) and couldn't be used by the carseat at all (rear facing, not a good idea anyway) so it practically made anyone riding in the backseat impossible.

When we upgraded to a Dodge Grand Caravan, I loved this organized MUCH MUCH more. I have always used it to keep supplies handy. Extra wipes, a few extra disposable diapers (we use cloth diapers) and also wet wipes in a popup cup sized container (fit perfect in the cupholder areas) and sunscreen, bug spray, first aid items, extra pacifiers, sippy cups, etc. When I would get a travel size baby product I would stash it in the pockets and velcro them shut, and then I was always stocked. It seriously lightened the load in my purse and diaper bag. Bandaids, etc could be kept close at hand, for both adults AND kids.

My daughter isn't old enough to reach this yet, so we haven't used it for toys. My only thing is I wish it were a bit WIDER so that it took up more of the valuable space behind the seat. It's my estimation that if your car has small seats this will be in your way more than it's worth, so I wish it were bigger.

GREAT for a van. Okay for a car. Has lasted well, easy to move from vehicle to vehicle, very sturdy.

(legalese)

Dishwasher Worship. And why can't you blogger peeps fix the photo upload thingy?

Well, we are feeling pretty much "better" around here. Except for Evan that is.

My bloodwork showed that my thyroid IS off again, but this time the exact opposite of what it was towards the end of my pregnancy with Ardyn. I have an upcoming appointment with an endocrinologist.

In the meantime, I continue to get tired really easily. Pretty much anytime I do any walking, I feel exhausted and need a nap. But I don't usually get to take a nap.

I have practiced Ardyn's birthday cake:
I have made decorations, including a banner/garland for her high chair tray and a cupcake crown for her to wear:And on a totally "off topic" tangent, to the folks at blogger, WHY can't you make it so that when I insert a photo into my blog, the photo goes where my CURSOR was, instead of always at the top of my post, forcing me to re-arrange and backspace annoyingly? Seriously? You haven't figured this out yet?

Now back to Birthday. All the food has been bought. All the ingredients and decorations for her cakes are sitting in the kitchen. Tomorrow I bake them, Saturday I decorate them, Sunday I inflate the balloons. All is well. I have a few things to wrap and I hope to get that done today. I also hope to get dishes done (I have to) so that I can have a clean kitchen and maximize my counter space for cake baking tomorrow.

These past few months have been the worst of my life because our dishwasher took a total shit. I hate life without a dishwasher. It's torture. I don't know why people choose to do that to themselves. Even if I get all the dishes done, and go to bed, when I wake up, there is a whole meal's worth of dishes. Evan makes a late night snack or a late supper and I wake up to more dishes while he marches off to work, immune to the dishes. It infuriates me.

We have had our dishwasher ordered, and it has been in at Sears for almost two weeks. Yesterday we were finally able to get it picked up, and next Tuesday it will be installed. We used to have a portable and this time around we got a plumbed in model, which meant that we had to have a surround built in (which was done several weeks ago) and the drain and water lines will be run next week and then my life can resume it's happy normalcy that a dishwasher brings.

Once the birthday party gets over, I have an exceptionally busy week ahead of me. The dishwasher gets installed, a new kitchen faucet (because our portable dishwasher has already ruined three faucets in eight years) and hopefully the ceiling fan in our bedroom can get fixed. It's stuck on high because the cleaning people pulled the chain and it broke off up inside the fan. Thank GOD the fan is under warranty and Hunter sent us parts, but this is the second part in three years that has had to be replaced on that $200 fan. That really pisses me off. First the light kit quit working and now the fan kit. So basically if you want a light on in our room, you have to have the fan on high. And if you want to sleep with the fan on, high is the only speed. Ugh. I hate it. I NEVER put that fan on high. Medium maybe. So it is eternally annoying to me.

Ardyn will be getting her 1 year pictures taken by a photographer (YAY!) and I also have an appointment for an oil change on the van and Ardyn has her 1 year appointment and shots with the pediatrician. Tons going on next week. Then I have a bridal shower. And then my appointment with the Endocrinologist in Peoria. SO MUCH. I hope I can stay focused and take naps so I don't get sick again. I had a friend call and want me to go shopping with her next week, and she literally didn't get that I Had something going EVERY SINGLE DAY and I didn't want to go. She was trying to find out what time I would be done with this or that so we could go later in the day. I was like "I can't go do two things in one day. I will be so exhausted after one that I won't be able to function. It will literally make me sick." I felt bad but I just can't do that now. Maybe once my thyroid gets straightened out and I get out of the first trimester. I hope that will mean I will feel better all around.

Well, Ardyn just poo'd her third poo of the day and it's only 12:30. I can't believe that. Must be the antibiotics she is on. Poor baby.

Have a great day, I am off to change a diaper.

Belated

So since I know you are all wondering where I have been, I can quite easily tell you that I have been.... on the couch. Ardyn and I have been sick.

I have been sick for a couple of weeks. I kept being told that it was just pregnancy fatigue and nausea but I knew better. It just kept getting worse and worse. Ardyn was running a fever of about 101.2 and we attributed it to teething since she has all 4 top teeth visible, and two poking through the gums... and then on Thursday she broke out in a full body rash. We took her to the pediatrician and discovered that she has a virus, which COULD be strep (babies get a rash with strep) and then not even 5 hours later I started to have a killer sore throat. I have been so exhausted that I kept telling Evan to jut take me to the hospital and have them admit me so that I could have some sleep. Wednesday night I ended up having hallucinations in my sleep and getting all freaked out. Between an upset stomach, barely being able to eat, being pregnant, and breastfeeding.... I was just so exhausted I could barely function. Friday I had a scheduled ultrasound and my midwife added bloodwork into the mix. We decided to check my thyroid, since it was not right at the end of my pregnancy with Ardyn. And I got a strep throat culture.

So we saw the heartbeat and the baby is great, and I got all my many vials of blood drawn. Then Evan bought me ice cream and I went home and went right back to bed, because my mom came over and was watching Ardyn, doing dishes, cleaning, and doing laundry. I have been able to get enough sleep the past few days and nights, so that has helped immensely in how I am feeling. I feel like I have plenty to do with cleaning people coming tomorrow and Ardyn's birthday party next Sunday. I have to practice her cake (I got cake pans like Michele's) and I have to get my hot dogs at the locker and chips, ice cream, etc. I still have to make a few decorations, and of course get all the balloons blown up. I plan on making the cakes this Friday (there will be two of them!) and taking all the food and decorations to the pool on Saturday. Then Sunday morning all I will have to do is get the balloons filled up and go finish decorating.... I can't wait!

I called a photographer to get her 1 year photos taken... and should be hearing back from her the beginning of this week. Evan cut me 2 cake boards to fit perfectly under my cupcake cakes. Now that I am feeling a little more like myself, I might be able to practice cake on Tuesday.

More later.... time to rest!

Online (for a minute)

So. Here I am. Momentarily!

Still no internet at home, but should be soon. As soon as they get out Check that is. LOL.

It really hasn't been half bad. I have been keeping a mental list of what I need to do online, and today is the first time I have gotten online in two weeks. I had 1131 emails. Ick. I responded to most of them that I needed to. Checked my mom message board and posted a quick update, and then paid a few bills online.

I most recently made the BEST decision I have made in a while, which was to pass the bill paying on to my husband. With no income of my own to speak of, it was really getting ridiculous to be the person in charge of paying everything and trying to make ends meet everywhere, when really it would be good to have him doing it. So for the first time in 8 years, I just washed my hands of it and passed it over to Evan. I am loving that. No problem. When I went to Peoria with my mom yesterday, we were picking up the crib from Evan's cousin (that we will use for Ardyn until she moves into the toddler bed.) and when we got to JC Penney they had everything "buy 1 get one for $1" since it was back to school time. I also had a $10 off coupon. I had intended to maybe get Ardyn some pajamas but didn't find any I liked. I called Evan and said "how much can I spend?" and he told me, and so I was able to get a pair of maternity jeans, a maternity shirt, and a whole outfit for Ardyn for photos in the future, for about $50. This is the FIRST Pair of maternity jeans that I have ever bought new, as all my previous pairs were on eBay. When I tried on all my maternity jeans and shirts, they are all too big because of all the weight (50+ pounds) that I lost after having Ardyn. Plus I am going to be pregnant in the winter and not the summer like last year, so that will be different. I love the jeans. Thank GOD. and so now I just need to pull the rest of my stuff out of the attic. I have several fall/winter shirts and such, and because last time I wore them very early in my pregnancy, I am hoping that with all the weight I lost, they will fit me LATER in my pregnancy this time so it will work out.

We had an ultrasound last week at 6w1d, and saw the yolk sac but no fetal pole yet (still early) so next Friday I go back to look for fetal pole and heartbeat. Cross your fingers. I had some spotting last weekend, but it was light and only lasted Saturday morning. None since thank goodness.

Ardyn brought a top tooth in last Saturday also. So I was spotting, it was our wedding anniversary so we cancelled our plans to have dinner out, and Ardyn was teething. It was quite the weekend. And we were away from home. I can see all 4 of Ardyn's top teeth, 3 are just below the gums, and then the one that popped through Saturday.

I have been taking "Morning Sickness Magic" supplements by Mommy's Bliss, and have had almost NO morning sickness since I started them. As long as I remember to take them. Heartburn, on the other hand, is brutal for me. I take Zantac at the approval of my midwife, at take 150mg a day, but later in my pregnancy that just does NOT cut it. I remember being SO sick and having SUCH terrible heartburn, that I couldn't sleep. Even with the max dose of Zantac, I would have to sleep upright and I couldn't even get near something with tomato sauce (pizza, pasta, etc) and garlic or onions were big NO NO's. And Lemonade. This time around Lemonade isn't bothering me. But tomato sauce and garlic and onions.... no way. I swear that I will not deal with this for my entire pregnancy. Just drinking WATER gave me heartburn with Ardyn. It was insane. I have heard of lots of other people taking prescription strength acid meds- and even though my midwife said no, I am about to go in and tell her I am taking them if I have to buy them on the damn black market. Although I think that taking the Zantac BEFORE a meal seems to be better because it is preventative. I have read that using an acid reducer doesn't work so well AFTER you already have introduced the acid into your stomach. So if YOU took an acid reducer during pregnancy, you need to comment and tell me WHAT you took and what dose so that I can arm myself with ammo in case I need upgrade. Because I have acid reflux, and that throwing up in your mouth thing, and it's all because of heartburn and excess acid.

So. What else is new? Not much. Pretty much the same thing. We practiced giant cupcakes for Ardyn's 1st Birthday party, and I hated them. So I decided to maybe to make one giant cupcake cake. But I have to practice. Still. I also need to get plates to match the napkins, and forks and spoons, and streamers. I just ordered the balloons. My mom is making potato salad and Evan's mom should be making beans. I need to get my hot dogs, etc etc in order. I can't believe it's two weeks away! Holy MOLY! I had to pay for express shipping to get the balloons in time!

Well, stay tuned. More sometime later when I get online again!

Hope this lasts you a while....

So What's New? Ha. Well, we are currently in the stages of "thinking double." It's ironic because just a month ago I had a family member offer me a high chair AND a very very nice crib. I told her while I would love to take them off her hands, I really didn't need them since we already had one of each. And we of course were going to try to get pregnant right away, but when you are breastfeeding you just have to wait until your fertility comes back. And we figured that when it came back it would take a while, since Ardyn took two years. But... we were wrong! We are so lucky to be pregnant on the first try, it seems too good to be true. SO far so good, my Beta numbers are climbing. I have two more blood draws this week and then we schedule my appointment with the RE and get a TVU (our first ultrasound) in about a week and a half from now. We will be looking for all the good parts (fetal pole, yolk sac, etc) and of course a heartbeat. We saw Ardyn's on TVU around 6weeks 5days, so there is a good chance that we will be able to see this baby's. Keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts with us!

SO I emailed that family member and asked if she still had the crib and high chair because I am PREGNANT and because I am not confident that Ardyn will be ready for her twin bed at 1.5 years old when the baby gets here. Ardyn napped in her crib from day 1, and I would like to continue that trend with baby #2, because it made it a cinch to get her into her crib at nighttime once she was ready to be out of the co-sleeper. She slept through the night the very first time I put her in her crib! We never looked back. So hopefully next week we will be picking up another crib and the second high chair, which also straps to the dining room chairs like Ardyn's. There isn't much I will need for this baby, except a few things that we have worn out, like new diaphragms for my breast pump, new stage 1 Avent nipples, and a couple of the swaddles that are my favorites. I tried lots of them with Ardyn, and they were a godsend. I have SEVERAL Halo swaddles but Ardyn could easily get out of them and it was practically impossible to change a diaper without unswaddling her completely... and also she would often wake up with the swaddle part up hear her neck, and that was horrible. So I eventually found ONE that I really liked, easy to change diapers, easy to use, never ever ever came loose. I only own one, so I will probably get two more. And the double stroller. I found a couple locally that are in great shape for around $40-$50, which is awesome considering they are $200-$700 brand new. I would also like to get one of the Cube Organizers from Target with the fabric cubes for some additional diaper storage, since I will have two in cloth. Luckily before I left my job I thought ahead and bought an entire stash of newborn cloth diapers. I took the tote down last week and peeked inside and they are soooo tiny they just make me smile! I started myself an Amazon baby registry for these few things we might need, and will be using it as my own shopping list so that I can spread the expenses out over the next 7-8 months. If we have a boy, I do have one tote full of boy clothes in various sizes, and several gender neutral pajamas for infants. Beyond that I have a friend who has lots of boy clothes in the exact seasons/sizes I need, and I will be buying some from her if I need them. If we have a girl, we are totally set! YAY!

Ardyn will move into her "big girl room"- which basically means we will lose the scrapbook room and office, but not a big deal. We might finish off the attic and move stuff up there, otherwise I will have to put the scrapbook stuff into my sewing room and make it work. No big deal. I already have a Sealy posturpedic Twin Bed that's like new, a brand new comforter set and two new sets of sheets for her new room, and also an area rug to match. We have plenty of furniture, as her nursery is cramped now, so we will likely split some furniture in each room and be done with it. Sounds like fun! It will be fun to put the bumpers and the mobile back on the crib! Last week I just packed away the baby bottles, sterilizer, baby bibs, nipples, etc.

So that's all our excitement. Ardyn is growing like always, walking around the coffee table and the couches, standing up on her own and playing with everything in sight. She reads BOOK after BOOK and knows horses and dogs and ducks. She knows what a ball is, and signs "more" and "milk" when she wants to eat. She recognizes SO many words and phrases. She's been eating table food for a while now so dinnertime is a sharing affair, and we love it. She and I take baths together and play. We got some bathtub markers, and I draw animals and things on the walls and she names them and makes their noises. I have refrained from using the Red marker because it appears to stain, so I will be getting out the soft scrub to see if the lovely red heart with daddy's name in it will come off of the shower surround. :) otherwise I am sure a bleach pen will take care of it.

It's been plenty hot lately but we have enjoyed pretty much nightly walks. Sometimes we call LIsa to join us, or Grandma Deb, or sometimes it's just Ardyn and I, and we take both dogs. I just tie them to the stroller and we roll. Now that I am pregnant I can't walk without water, or I am dying halfway through. But it doesn't help that it's usually almost 90 degrees with the humidity each evening. I really love going on the walks though.

We are planning a picnic lunch this week with a friend and I am catching up on laundry. We were displaced for those couple of days without power last week and that got me a bit behind on diapers and dishes. It's good to be home, and tonight a storm blew through when I was making BLT's on Hoagies, Corn on the Cob, and Rice.... the power went out JUST as the bacon was finishing and I was SO angry, but it came back on fairly quickly. We need a generator! Ha! For lunch Ardyn and I had Baked Tuscan Chicken and Teriyaki Vegetables. Yesterday we had baked tilapia, chicken vermicelli, and steamed asparagus. I am making a huge effort to eat well and keep Ardyn eating a nice and balanced meal with lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

We started to participate in the local SHARE Program. Families get their buying power together to get food at lower prices. With the costs of gas and groceries rising so much, It's REALLY awesome. For $16 we got a TON of stuff last week. A pound of Bacon, Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry, 4 Hamburger Patties, Cheese HotDogs, Pluots, Nectarines, Strawberries, Kiwis, A head of lettuce, a head of cauliflower, radishes, and a few other things that I can't think of off the top of my head. It's a great deal and we will be signing up for August as well. The hard part for me was picking it up at 8am on a Saturday. It wouldn't be a big deal except that I feel more nauseous if I have to move fast in the morning. Lots of times Ardyn and I will lay around in bed and snack on crackers and pretzels and watch TV and read books and just be goofy. If I have to go pick up RAW MEAT at 8am, I am not so thrilled. Or should I saw my stomach isn't. I just brought it home and told Evan to unload it where it belonged and then I checked out what was in the clothes basket that afternoon. That was a good arrangement. He watched Ardyn too so I didn't have to have her ready and out the door with me.

I did get some really cool stuff that I will try this pregnancy. It's called Mommy Bliss Morning Sickness Magic. It's an all natural remedy for morning sickness and it has WONDERFUL online reviews. With Ardyn I pretty much had all day nausea, especially about halfway through or just after my meals. I spent some time laying low, but for the most part was able to function. An online mom friend suggested Jolly ranchers (because they are sour) and boy do they work! You'd never think... but preggo pops are basically the same thing but lots more expensive. I haven't had it too bad yet so I haven't started the Supplement yet, but today I started to notice the texture of chicken (which I had an aversion to early on with Ardyn) and changed my mind about pork chops for supper for the same reason. I remember during a strange bought of nausea while working, I thought that Macaroni Pasta salad was "squeaky" and the way it rubbed against my teeth made me nauseous. So I avoided that for MONTHS.

Once I have been bothered by the smell of rinsing poopy cloth diapers.... but I have been able to work around it and do the laundry when I am feeling well.... so I hope I can continue to do that! Or else I will be more diligent and use rice paper liners in each diaper, or at least each time I know what to expect from her, which is pretty much predictable. I just haven't been doing it, but I bet it would make my life a whole lot easier. :)

Everyone have a great night. I don't anticipate being online for a while, as the evil devil that is Comcast is really charging a holy-hell of a lot for internet and cable these days, and it just isn't in the budget. We are going to try out the "library" internet access for a week or so. That's how it goes when the van payment, power bill, and cell phone bills are more important. Not to mention having some FOOD to eat and GAS in your car. Everyone take care. I'll be back!

Pregnant.

Yep. I am pregnant. Isn't that exciting! Ardyn will be a big sister! Due sometime the end of March or beginning of April. :) YAY!