Five Ways to Encourage a New Mom
Today I am wearing a cute maternity top and leggings. The top is roomy and comfortable, warm, but not too hot and it's pretty flattering. The best part- it was gifted to me.
We started attending a new church back in August. Now that our boy is older and more flexible with his routine, attending Sunday School has been easier. But up until this point our interactions have been limited to saying hi to the greater and having a quick chat with the nursery ladies. (Who all rock!)
Photo of me and my son (9 days old) by Frame Photography.
Today I am wearing a cute maternity top and leggings. The top is roomy and comfortable, warm, but not too hot and it's pretty flattering. The best part- it was gifted to me.
We started attending a new church back in August. Now that our boy is older and more flexible with his routine, attending Sunday School has been easier. But up until this point our interactions have been limited to saying hi to the greater and having a quick chat with the nursery ladies. (Who all rock!)
SO I was surprised when two weeks ago the nursery director said "I brought you a bag of my maternity clothes."
Her sweet boy is four-months-old and she had determined these were clothes she probably wouldn't need for a while. So she filled a target bag with cute tops and dresses and handed them over to me. It was a huge blessing. I opened the bag to find everything was in my size, all black and smelled of fabric softener.
I wanted to cry. It was kind and thoughtful and this woman hardly knows me, and yet she felt compelled to bless me anyway.
I thought about all the new or expecting moms I know and how I can bless them. So I jotted down a few ways that we as a blogging community can help out these women.
1. Offer free babysitting. I have a friend whose husband is deployed. I can't imagine caring for an infant alone! It would be nothing for me to keep her sweet baby so she could have a much needed break.
2. Offer to clean house. Those first few weeks can be tough. There is no sleep, babies want to nurse round the clock and a mom can still be in a lot of pain. Offer to clean her house, or better yet, watch the baby while she takes a long shower.
3. Bring some meals, one for now and one for later. Bring a big ol' bag of food. I love to feed people. It's the old southern lady coming out in me. Take a family a basket of muffins, a casserole for dinner and one to stick in the freezer. If you're super nice include some paper plates.
Here are some great freezer meals:
4. Share some loved favorites. Do you have some favorite books your older children loved? Maybe you have a box of diapers you never worked your way through? Or perhaps you have a nursing pillow, bassinet or infant toys your sweet child no longer needs? Share the love. (And as an added bonus get that stuff out of your house!)
5. Send an encouraging note. Mail the new mama a card reminding her she is doing a great job. Include a scripture or inspiring passage. Let her know she isn't alone.
Today I am linked up at The Baby Shower.
Starting Christmas Traditions
I fondly remember our Christmas traditions as a child. I remember drinking hot chocolate at the Christmas parade.
I remember getting in the car to go look at Christmas lights.
I fondly remember our Christmas traditions as a child. I remember drinking hot chocolate at the Christmas parade.
I remember getting in the car to go look at Christmas lights.
I remember leaving a shoe on the front porch and returning home to find that Mrs. Claus had left a treat in our shoe. (This is something my mother started.)
My mother would make seafood every year on Christmas eve.
These are fun traditions that you live with, that you carry with you to your own family.
I love this photo. Our sweet friends at Photo by Frame Photography were kind enough to come to our home last year and take this photo.
Last year our little boy was just six weeks old when Christmas arrived. So he slept through most of it.
But this year has been a whole different ball game.
He loves to playing with Christmas theme toys.
Particularly the Little People Nativity my Mama gave him last year.
He loves the way the Baby Jesus lights up.
He has enjoyed reading Christmas books. His favorite was "O Little Town of Bethlehem" which both lit up and played music.
Every night Jason reads him two books, one a fun book about Christmas. The other is a story about the first Christmas written for children. My sister was kind enough to give us a HUGE bag of Christmas books last year. So we have plenty to choose from.
He likes looking at the tree, we put it in our sun room to keep him from pulling off ornaments. One year olds are a bit destructive!
He loves dancing to Christmas music and dances to it when we listen on Pandora.
I even let him watch a little Charlie Brown last night and he loved it.
But I think my favorite thing we did this year was taking him to "A Walk Through Bethlehem" at a local church. It was a great way to share the story of Christ's birth in a way that the baby could hear, see and thanks to the real live stock, smell.
It was beautiful and moving and he loved to hear the singing, see the sheep that the "sheperds" were tending to and watch all of the people.
Here we are waiting our turn at the church. Clearly the baby is mesmerized by all the Christmas lights!
I am excited to come up with traditions for our growing family and I am excited to watch as my child (and one day soon children) discover all there is to love about the season.
What are you doing as a family to create memories?
This post contains affiliate links.
Ch-ch-changes
This weekend we celebrated my nephew and niece's birthdays. My nephew turned five and my niece turned four.
It got me thinking about all the things that have changed since 2008.
Us, childless, circa fall 2008This weekend we celebrated my nephew and niece's birthdays. My nephew turned five and my niece turned four.
It got me thinking about all the things that have changed since 2008.
In Oct. 2008 I was working as a nanny. The newspaper I had been working for folded and I was left without a job. I quickly found one working for a family with small children.
I'm not gonna lie. I hated it. The boy I was keeping was wild. And I mean wild! He was a cute as cute could be, but man... wild. That's the only word I can think of.
My husband had taken a HUGE pay cut and we were scraping by.
We were living just outside of Atlanta in a home we had purchased two years earlier. (It snowed in January 2009.)
It doesn't seem like four years since we were living in that house with what felt like a big set of worries.
A lot has happened in four years. I never would have thought that in 2012 I would be living back near my hometown, with a baby. I didn't think I would be a work at home mom. I wouldn't have guessed that I would have all these blessings.
This past December when my husband was offered his new job I was talking to my sister about how I couldn't believe we were getting everything we wanted. My husband would get a better job with better benefits (and I'm not gonna lie, more money) and I was going to get to stay home.
"God honors contentment," my sister said. And she's right. He does.
But when you have these two guys it's hard not to be content.
Keeping a baby entertained
Last Wednesday night my son laughed for 15 minutes at the spinning Lazy Susan on our kitchen table. He belly laughed as he watched our napkins spin round and round and round. It was delightful.
Babies are just delightful, aren't they.
Babies are many things.
They are fun (most of the time).
They are charming.
They are delightful.
But keeping an infant (or toddler) entertained is not always fun, delightful or charming. And while puffs
So how can you keep a baby entertained on a weekend, or how do you fill the day if you're a stay-at-home mom (or dad)? Or how do you keep that kiddo happy on a long car ride? And how do you keep all of this entertainment stimulating and engaging?
Here are five tips from the experts. (Notice I am not an expert.) Best of all- these ideas are either free or can be made from things you already have around your house!
1. Water Sensory Bottles Sarah Eleanor over at Spoonfed Baby shared this idea on her Facebook page. It's brilliant and Little Bits and I will be trying it this week. She combined oil and water with food coloring and all sorts of shiny things in a water bottle for endless infant fun.
2. Baby Core exercise. Okay, the first time I saw this I thought, "this woman is crazy." But when I tried it with baby boy, he loved it. I mean LOVED it.
3. Edible Sensory babies love two things, putting everything in their mouths and then trying to eat whatever it is they just put in said mouth. Why not try a little Edible Sensory Activity?
4. It keeps going and going! Let's add a third thing babies love- pulling on things. Hair, jewelry, food bowls. Why not engage them in some pulling that won't hurt your head or leave your floors a mess. I Can Teach My Child (my sister's favorite blog -other than this one of course) had this great pin worthy idea of putting scraps of fabric in an old wipe container for hours and hours and hours of fun.
5. Touch book. If you love to craft this one is up your alley. I found this idea on Pinterest. It's a sensory book you can make yourself. Out of scrap materials. Think: soft, smooth, rough etc. etc.
Do you have any ideas to share? I want to know how you keep your baby engaged.
The low down on cloth diapers Part Deux
So yesterday we talked about the cloth diapering system we use at our house.
Today let's talk about why I cloth diaper and some myths associated with swaddling a behind in cotton.
I decided to cloth diaper for three reason:
1. I am cheap. I am very, very cheap. I was buying diapers
2. I read the average baby goes through 3,000 diapers in his or her lifetime. I think my baby went through that in the first six months. That is a lot of diapers that won't decompose.
3. Fear got all up in my business. I read somewhere about diapers bleached in Dioxin. This might be fear mongering. It might be true. I don't know. All I know is my baby's business was red, a lot. I assumed it was the chemicals. But why not just eliminate that if it scared me.
Once I combined these three things I decided it was time to get cloth diapers. Now, I have stated before and I will state again. We are not 24/7 cloth diaperers. I have great respect for the women who are. But I am not one of them. Also, I don't think I am any better, or worse because I use cloth diapers. It's just what I wanted to do. The end.
During my research on cloth diapers I had a lot of questions. And boy did I get some answers.
Myth: Cloth diapers are gross.
All diapers are gross. The only diaper that isn't gross is the one that's never been worn.
Myth: But you'll constantly be touching poo.
Nope. No poo touching here. Just use a diaper sprayer
Myth: You'll change their diaper more.
I still change his diaper six times a day, which is what I did before I switched.
Myth: I don't want pins near my baby.
Then don't let your baby play with the sewing kit. My cloth diapers have cute little buttons. They are all in one. No pins here.
Myth: Your baby will get diaper rash.
I don't think this is really related to cloth over disposable. I think diaper rash is a number of factors. In fact, his bottom seems to get irritate less.
Myth: They will make your house smell bad.
This would be true if I didn't put them in a sealed bag and wash them often.
Myth: You'll do more laundry.
Hello! I have a baby and a husband who works outside in the Alabama heat! I do laundry every day/every other day any way!
Myth: It's expensive and it uses up a lot of water and electricity.
Refer above answer. If you're washing your laundry anyway what's the big deal. I wash the diapers with the towels, wash cloths and underwear on hot water using mild detergent. These are things I need to wash on hot water anyway. Then I hang them on the clothes line because the vitamin D in the sun kills the bacteria. This sounds time consuming and maybe for you it would be. But to me it's peaceful.
As for the cost, it cost me $72 to buy 12 diapers I can use through potty training. That's a bargain!
Fact: Cloth diapering isn't for me. You're right. It might not be. It isn't something everyone wants to do or should do. If you're repulsed by the idea, don't do it. If you don't have time to do it, don't do it.
Like everything else in raising a family, you have to do what's best for your family, not what you think other want you to do.
I hope this has answered your questions though. Thinking about cloth diapers and don't know what kind to buy? AllaboutClothdiapers.com have come great answers.
This post contains links affiliate links to Amazon. I do get a commission if you make a purchase. I am not asking you to, I am just trying to be up front with you guys.
The low down on cloth diapers Part Un
Before I had a baby I seriously thought about cloth diapering. Then I realized how much babies pooped and thought better of it.
Then I realized how much diapers cost and reconsidered again.
This diaper feels a little strange!Then I did some research, purchased a dozen cloth diapers and have been using them during the day time for about a month. It has been, fabulous.
These are not your Mama's cloth diapers with the pins and the plastic pants.
These are cute, economical, time friendly devices that are way easier than I ever imagined. That's not to say there isn't a little bit of work involved, but it's minimal at best.
Oh! It's cloth.
Note: We are not cloth diaper T-Totalers. We don't use cloth diapers at night, or while traveling or when we have a babysitter. Like everything else that comes with having a baby, it is all about balance. You have to decide what works best for you and your family.
I admire those women who cloth diaper 24/7. They know a secret I don't.
I thought I would break down my cloth diapering system a a part of Life As Mom's Frugal Fridays.
The diapers: I bought my diapers from Sunbaby Diapers. This is a female-owned company based out of China. (Don't give me grief for buying my diapers from China. The keyboard you are typing on was made there too.)
The owner is Sun pei. She had the best prices and amazing customer service. Four around $70 I got a dozen diapers and 24 liners. I didn't want to sink a ton of money into something if it wasn't going to work out for our family.
They have these really great snap closures and the diaper will grow with baby from eight pounds to 35 pounds. (Note: I would reccomend not cloth diapering a newborn the first week or two. It's nonstop poop.)
She had a variety of colors but I knew bleach would be involved so I just bought white.
The cleaning: When it's time to change the diaper I simply take it off of my boy, clean him like I would if he were wearing a pampers, and throw the wipe in the diaper genie.
Then I pull out the liner and throw the liner and dipey in a wet bag like the Planet Wise Diaper Pail Liner - Avocado
If the diaper is... shall we just call it what it is?... poopy, I shake it off in the toilet and rinse. I reccomend a bumGenius Diaper Sprayer
Then I spray the diaper with Bac-Out w/Foaming Action Sprayer 32 Ounces
You can spray this stuff on any stain. It got olive oil out of a dress!!
The washing: I wash my cloth diapers every other day. I throw them in the machine with towel, wash cloths, underwear, anything that would need to be washed on hot water. I put them on the regular cycle and use Tide Free and Gentle High Efficiency Unscented Detergent, 50 Ounce (Pack of 2)
I throw the liners in the dryer and hang the diapers on the clothes line or over a chair on the back porch.
I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.
Tomorrow I will cover a few facts about cloth diapering, a few basics and how to get started.
For more check out this video from Mama Natural on her cloth diapering set up.
This post contains links affiliate links to Amazon. I do get a commission if you make a purchase. I am not asking you to, I am just trying to be upfront with you guys.
A word on baby food
This is a blog about food and this is a blog about babies but this isn't a blog about baby food. If you want a great blog about baby food, I highly recommend Sarah Eleanor over at Spoonfed Baby. She is witty and smart and full of knowledge.
So I reccomend you go there to get your info on baby food making. But I do want to talk a little bit about the advantages of making your own baby food.
The other day I got a coupon from Publix in the mail. It was for $1.50 of Beechnut Baby Food. The baby food was also on sale BOBO. So I was able to get eight jars for $.64 total. That's fantastic! But it is also largely unheard of. I put the jars in the cabinet for use when we go on vacation.
Had it not been on sale, those eight jars would cost me $4 or more. While $.50 a serving seems like no big deal you have to consider this- I can make baby food for $.10 or less per serving.
Note: I pulled this out of the freezer to photograph. And yes, I am reusing baby food jars in the freezer.
Last week I got a bag of organic carrots on sale for $.99. I was able to make 11 containers of homemade baby food for that. That is $.09 a container.
It was simple. I chopped the carrots, put them in the rice cooker/steamer of all things. Let them steam for an hour. Then I poured the carrots and some of the water from steaming them into a blender and let them blend away.
It required little effort on my part and required no special equiptment. It saves money and I know exactly what is in my baby food.
5 Things I've learned about motherhood so far...
My little boy will be 5 months old soon. Since we are all about the 5's around here I thought I would take this as an opportunity to talk about 5 things I have learned about motherhood so far.
No matter how many books you read, people you talk to, advice you get, practice you've had babysitting nothing and I mean nothing will prepare you for taking a baby home from the hospital.
It will come as a shock to you when they wheal you out to the car and say goodbye. They won't let you take a nurse home with you. So this is what my husband, Beardface UnStoppable, and I have learned.
1. Sleeping
Newborns don't need the quiet to sleep. In fact, they will zonk out anywhere.
At a moments notice. (We did not leave him there.)
As they get older it's a different story.
But when they do sleep through the night the first time. It is like magic befalls your home. You can think clearly, you might get a shower. You can string together a coherent sentence. Magic!
2. Poop, spit up and other bodily fluids.
Babies, while cute and cuddly can often be gross. When the UPS man tells you you have spit up in your hair- gross. When you have to rinse out a onsie because poop came up and out the sides of the diaper- gross. When they poop on a hotel room wall in Greenville, Alabama- gross.
A baby will pass gas in church and it will be so bad the lady in front if you will turn to look. For a good laugh, blame it on your husband.
But hilarious. Even if those first few months teach you nothing else other than to relax and go with the poop, you're still good.
3. Emotions.
Babies have a lot of feelings. They are kind of like drunk college girls. They go from smiling, to crying, to passed out in a matter of seconds. Refer to images below for example.
4. Behold the power of routine.
Babies, even little babies, appreciate a routine. Don't we all. And in my case you dare not throw him off. My baby was a good napper... for 2 weeks. He was taking a 90 minute nap two times a day like clock work. Then went out of town.
That was two months ago. This (photo above) is the face I get 45 minutes into an attempt to nap. Pray for me, won't you?
5. Not matter how tired, exhausted, frustrated, upset, much pain you feel you will be able to take care of your baby.
I am struggling through some pain from a wreck I was in when I was pregnant. (Long story, not talking about it right now.) Last week I was in so much pain I feared I couldn't pick my baby up out of his crib. But I did and we were ok. It hurt, yes. But I "mommed up" and did it.
I had a good example. My Mama is still Momming up.
Bottom line. You can do it. It's great. It's fun. It's draining and exhausting. I get tired and frustrated. But every morning when I get my son up to start the day he smiles at me and I see the face of nearly everyone I have ever loved in that crib. That's the biggest blessing.