Bad Dog

Yesterday was NOT Bella's day...

Philip walked her.

Peed several times. Poo'd twice.

She was empty.... or so we thought.

We ran up the street to my parents and left her out (we rarely leave her out, always cage her but figured she peed and poo'd we are good to go).

The baby was at my parents (so no real reason for jealousy)

I got home to this...

Pee on the carpet. We had he carpet cleaned TWO DAYS EARLIER....due to another "accident"  she had last week. She hasnt had accidents in our house since we moved in!? The top left stain is the old stain we had cleaned two days prior, the bottom right is the new one after I attempted to clean it. This is the beginning of the end of this carpet...once Asher gets his hands on it...I see carpet replacement in our future no matter what

Yet there is more...Chewed breast pump. She ate the connector piece, and the filter pieces. The entire thing had to be trashed and repurchased at our local Target immediately.

She also ate a raw chicken breast that was sitting on the counter in a plastic packaging waiting to be cooked by yours truly upon return from the parents. That WAS our dinner.

WE WERE PISSED!!!!!!!! 

She spent the rest of the evening in her cage.

No eye contact. Punished. Bad Dog.

But we still love her so much. We couldnt wait to get her out after her time out was over.

Rotten dog :)

Infections

Im so tired of infections.

First an infection from my delivery (don't ask!)

Then a breast infection (mastitis)

Now an eye infection (because I was stupid and used old concelar, gross!)

and a swollen left gland

When does it end!?

Thank goodness I met my out of pocket maximum with my delivery and now I PAY NOTHING for all of these medicines...! I hate being on antibiotics. I took ZERO medication for almost 2 years while getting pregnant and during my pregnancy.

Bring on the good health, please!

Jam Packed!

We kicked off the weekend with Asher's debut at Temple!

This was a big Friday night Shabbat Service at our Temple honoring our Cantor Andy for his 10 years of dedication to our congregation...leading us in beautiful song. There were over 500 people at services and Asher got A LOT of attention. He already has a reputation of being the "temple baby".

Already a momma's boy!

Check out my seer sucker jumper with little whales. 

Asher in his temple clothes before he crashed and fell asleep. 

This was the first time he wore "shoes" aka robeez. He didnt seem to mind them at all.

(note: this outfit was his coming home outfit...it now at 2 months fits him properly ha!)

 

He slept through most of the musical service (probably because he loves loud music).

Everyone "thinks" he is an angel baby because he is great a putting on a show right when he needs to in public. Smart kid!

After services we scooted over to Sarah and Robert's for dessert. Sarah's best friend Aliza was in town visiting and her other friend Talia surprised her at the last minute! It was great to get to meet them after hearing about them the past 2 years. Asher had a great time although by this point in the evening he was over it and ready for bed. He had a WAY late bed time of 11 PM. We were also completely exhausted!

Saturday Philip and I finally got out in the yard. Softa and Papu came over to watch Asher while we laid 20 bales of pinestraw throughout the landscaping. We also de-grassed and de-weeded all of the beds. It was a ton of work but it looks great. Thankfully it was quite cloudy and the temperature was fairly cool. We still worked up quite a sweat...I forgot how much hard work...yard work really is. Unfortunately 20 bales were not enough so we will be purchasing a few more and doing a little bit more work... more like PHILIP WILL BE DOING IT!

Our buddy Wes was in town for a wedding and he brought his dog Charlie to stay with us Saturday night. Charlie is the most laid back dog I have met in a long time. He did great with Bella...although we can't say Bella did great with him. Bella is a little snotty from time to time and she kept snapping at him if he got in her personal space. Snoooooty! Charlie was such a sweetheart and stayed occupied with this bone the entire time.

Saturday night we decided to go out to a family dinner at Brixx. We listened to live music at Blakeney and then rented Yes Man to watch at home. It was a lovely evening all of us together.

Sunday morning we invited the Plunkett's (Cassidy, Drew, Hailey and Keelyn) and the Sexton's (Fred, Jen and Ellie) over for brunch (Cassidy, Fred and I all went to high school together). 6 adults and 4 kids...it was quite a gathering. Out of our group of high school friends we are just about the only ones with kids (except Sarah...I can't leave you out girl!)...and we all happened to be together for brunch. BIZARRE. It felt like just yesterday we were in high school together...or jumping on my trampoline in my backyard. 

We enjoyed pancakes, custom made omletes by chef Philip, OJ and watermelon

Enjoying my time with the kids....

Hailey was great with Asher, so motherly!

My mom swears Hailey reminds her of me when I was that age!

Hailey happens to also LOVE Bella...

Daddy Plunkett playing with Keelyn... show me your tongue!

Asher getting some attention on the floor...

Thank you Sexton's and Plunkett's for joining us for such a lovely brunch.

We had a fantastic time and must do it again soon!

After everyone left Asher was exhausted. 

He passed out on the floor while we were playing with him!

He was so exhausted that he went down for bed at 8:30 PM and slept till 4:30 PM! 

A whopping 8 hours AGAIN!

aches, fever, chills oh mi

the flu right?

everyone has it?

first comes the headache, then the whole body aches, you get the chills, run a fever, start shaking...run to the bathroom to take a 800mg ibuprofen prescribed after delivery...wait for it to kick in as you continue to shake...sweat...and start over again

my sister and I had identical symptoms and she HAD the flu just this past weekend

BUT

she isnt breast feeding a 7 1/2 week old

she doesnt have a big red blotchy spot above her left breast

she didnt have a sore left breast

she didnt have MASTITIS 

i conquered one of my mommy breastfeeding biggest fears.

i got mastitis

you know the good ole BREAST INFECTION

i admit. im lucky. i got the "easier" version of mastitis compared to most of my girlfriends.

no real pain, just feels sore and bruised and of course the aforementioned flu like symptoms above that can be managed as long as ibuprofen is taken regularly.

two doses of antibiotics in me and already life is good.

thank god im not contagious and thank god it doesn't hurt to nurse

happy friday! 

oh and my sweet little asher slept 8 HOURS STRAIGHT LAST NIGHT!

by hour 7 i went in to make sure he was still breathing despite watching him on the video monitor. holy moly child, i love you. im wired i got so much sleep!

product review

***these are all my/our personal opinions and do not reflect that of anyone else***

im the type of person that will tell everyone and anyone about something if i like it or believe in it. it must be the salesperson in me

dont run into me at trader joe's or any supermarket for that matter...ive been known to stop people and go on and on about something that taste's sooooo good. go figure, me and food always.

so i finally decided its time to review some products that i am quite pleased with and in some cases NOT so pleased with

i will start off with two and add more over the course of my weeks/months/years as a mother

if you want me to review something specific let me know and if i own it i will tell you my thoughts

if i dont own it ill tell you why and my thoughts

one area we splurged on and many people do now that the technology is available is a:

video baby monitor

Summer Infant Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor with 2.5" Screen

its pricey i confess, we used gift cards, waited for a big sale and the registry completion coupon

it was worth every penny we paid for it and you can find it on amazon for less than $150 right now

i honestly DO NOT know how people can and did live without one (well I can, but now that its available its worth your sanity...or mine at least)

we love it

ours can pan and zoom the room

it has night vision and color day vision

you can add additional cameras

its digital so no creeps can tap into the feed or the audio

it doesn't conflict with Internet and phone

it holds charge fairly long, but we keep it plugged in when we are not using it

we can watch each other feed the baby, change the baby's diaper and/or watch the baby sleep and wiggle and turn counter clockwise in his crib (yes he only moves counter clockwise for some reason)

the screen is fairly bright so we leave it off at night unless he is stirring and then we turn it on to see what is going on

his room is fairly far from ours so this saves us lots of time and energy in the middle of the night and during the day

i love you video monitor.

nail clippers

safety first baby sleep nail clippers

our baby is a wiggle worm and its typically easiest to clip his nails while he is nursing or sleeping

the safety first nail clippers with the light are perfect for our night time feedings

not only is the room dim but the light on the clipper helps you see their tiny little nails

there is also a guard so that you dont clip their skin

totally worth the price for the little light

nail clippers are a must around our house

asher loves to scratch and grab philip's chest hair

asher loves to grab and scratch my nipples

both hurt A LOT

this lovely invention and a trusty emery board make our lives a tiny bit more less painful

upcoming reviews:

stroller travel system - Chicco Cortina KeyFit30 

Huggies Pure & Natural Diapers vs any other natural organic biodegradable diaper

boppy vs my breast friend

Vicks Flexible Comfort thermometer

pacifier's

sling vs the ergo

I'm cute

Overdue photo post. 

All from this past weekend/week.

This kid is pretty darn cute and he smiles constantly now

We can't get enough of him.

There is something about those lips!

I love to smile and am learning to laugh

I cant help being cute!

You know you want to hold me in your arms

I love to stick out my tongue

especially in the bath tub...to catch the water droplets

I absolutely LOVE my spa bath. It is one of my favorite things to do!

Daddy loves to spray the water all over my head

My first Bumbo experience with Nana!

Date night!

Philip and I are going to try to do date night fairly often. It is important to us to keep our marriage strong and spending quality time together is one way we like to do that!

We have no excuse...with both sets of parents dying to watch him.

But before we get to date night I must highlight my gem of a husband. 

As you have read things have been a little bit of a roller coaster for me with my "anxiety".

Philip knows exactly how to handle every situation with the right words or gestures just enough to set me at ease. One of the many reasons I married this wonderful man. 

Friday I decided to take some ME time and dropped Asher off at Softa's house. I went and got a manicure pedicure with a gift certificate from Softa for my birthday 4 months ago. It was great to have a little ME time. As I was sitting there I saw Philip walk in the door of the nail salon. I thought to myself..."what a wonderful surprise!" He wasnt the only surprise! He brought me a single red rose to brighten my day and to tell me he loved me. I was the luckiest girl in the world at that very moment. I sure do love him!

...so back to date night...

The date was on the calendar back in the 2nd trimester. 

Joe Firstman (Fuerstman is how he really spells it, but Firstmas is his stage name) was coming home from LA to perform at Neighborhood Theatre. Philip grew up with Joe. They used to run the streets together... no I am not lying when I say this. Despite his mother's wishes they would walk up and down the some of the not so safe streets in Charlotte together at a young age cutting up. 

Philip and Joe after the concert

Joe getting his groove on...

Everyone on stage. The mandolin player was a special guest just for the Charlotte show!

Joe has amazing talent. He has produced several albums, toured and most recently he was the house band on the Carson Daly show for the past several years. Every summer he makes a stop in Charlotte on his tour and we love hearing him and his band. 

So it was a date. Asher was 6 1/2 weeks old. I was dead set that I was going to put him down to sleep. It was 7:00 PM. He usually goes down between 9-10. He hadnt had a nap all day, partially our fault for planning a busy day, so I knew he would sleep and was ready for bed time at 7. Everything went smoothly and he went down perfectly. Nana and Poppy came over and watched movies while Asher slept and mommy and daddy had some big kid time. 

We didnt really eat dinner so we stopped at this cute coffee shop and we got a smoothie and a Frappucino. Then walked back across the street to go to the show. We sat in the front row at the concert....and I really enjoyed singing along. Im a huge fan. We bought his new CD...which is fabulous. The concert was over at 11:30... I was tired and engorged (yup... I said it!) BUT... we had heard about this 24/7 French Bakery called Amelie's that was only a mile away.

It's date night... so we found the bakery! It was 11:45 and the place was packed. They are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! This place is amazing. The pastries and the desserts are to die for (wow, I sound like my grandfather). We brought my parents home an Eclair and a Chocolate croissant thanking them for watching Asher. We also bought a caramel brownie, Eclair, Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffin and Twice Baked Chocolate Croissant for ourselves. AMAZING. If you are in Charlotte. Find Amelies.... located off N. Davidson and Jordan. Worth every calorie or gram of fat... and available any time of day.

Asher was a peace. He slept the entire time. We went to bed at 12:30 and he woke up at 1:30. He slept 6 1/2 hours!!!!

Date night was a success and was much needed.

And of course I wouldnt be a good friend/wife if I didn't pitch Joe Firstman and his music. Go check it out. His style is folk rock and it always puts me in a good mood!

http://www.joefirstman.com
http://www.myspace.com/joefirstman
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Joe+Firstman

Sweat!

I have previously mentioned that I love to sweat...but hate sweating. 

I cant stand to be "sweaty" or "wet".

Somehow I gave birth to the world's sweatest child and I have a feeling he doesnt like it either!

Yeah this could be a real weird blog post...but I promise I wont go there with it.

Asher sweats like nothing I have ever seen on a baby. Oh and by the way, babies dont typically sweat. Granted I havent seen millions of babies, I am not a pediatrician (even he said they dont usually sweat) or expert but this is no joke. Almost EVERY time he gets into his car seat it looks like this within in minutes. 

And I blast the air conditioning! You pull him out he is drenched. Back of his neck soaked with sweat, clothes saturated. No fever... just hot and sweaty. He would prefer to be naked or only in a diaper at all times, but of course I bought all these cute clothes that he is already outgrowing that I want him to wear. The battle against the the sweat.  I've lowered our house temperature 4 degrees from what we used to keep it at for him... and he still tends to sweat while I freeze!

I cant wait to see what happens in the winter. Be on the look out for a baby wearing tshirts and shorts in December or shoot maybe even his bathing suit, that will be Asher...! Only our child!

He definitely got this from his father.

Cloth Diapers!

Everyone wished me luck or laughed when I mentioned I was going to use cloth diaper's.

I think cloth diaper's are one big misconception. Particularly those from the generations "before us". Everyone still thinks pins, cloth and a service.

I am not sure if it was the nayser's or the environmental/cost reasons why I pursued it so intensely, but I did.

I admit the first two weeks of Asher's life I was real nervous about transitioning to cloth because this boy HATES being wet or dirty. You instantly know his diaper is in need of a changing!

Initally he was too tiny for the 25 cloth diapers and 40+ inserts that I purchased.

Instead we used Huggies Pure and Natural for Newborns. I confess. 

I loved them. But they are so expensive. Although I have started collecting coupons because I am obsessed with them.

After his 4 week appointment I decided it was finally time. He was over 10 lbs. He was going through 14+ diapers a day and endless wipes (we use cloth wipes at home too!). The diapers were sitting there screaming "USE ME! USE ME!" Philip encouraged me...constantly asking when we were moving to cloth. After all, we invested some decent money in our cloth diaper stash.

The cloth wipe warmer.

You can even make special recipes for the wipes.

Right now we pour 2 cups water, 2 tbsp of Olive Oil, 2 tbsp of Earth's Best Body Wash.

It smells delicious!

We cant say enough great things about the cloth diapers. Even my initially anti-cloth mom uses them when I bring him over to her house. It is much easier than dealing with all of that trash, running back and forth to buy new diaper's and we never run out (that is unless I don't do laundry for several days!)

So far my favorites are the velcro style diaper's. 

They allow for more adjusting in the waist and they don't bunch like the diapers with snaps.

Our velcro diapers include Bum Genius One Size All in One 3.0, Happy Heiney's One Size and Dry Bees Pockets Small and Medium. 

Mommy's Favorite the Bum Genius 3.0.

They are the least bulky and the fit the best!

Happy Heiney's!

Softa found these cute diaper's at a boutique in Black Lion.

We have bears and monkeys and they fit fantastic!

Dry Bees Pocket Diaper

Mommy found these buy one get one free while she was pregnant and snagged four. We have two blue and two in black and white cow print. We love these and so does Asher as you can see below. They come in Small, Medium and Large. We have two smalls and two mediums. 

I have about 15  Fuzzi Bunz's which is what he is wearing below. They have snaps but at his size they just don't fit right in my opinion. I have several friends that use them and love them so I think eventually we will use them more often. I sure hope since we have the most of this diaper. You can tell Asher is just as thrilled as mommy :) 

The wonderful thing about cloth is that you can leave the exterior diaper on for more than one changing... just change out the insert (as long as the exterior isn't wet). Less laundry and less work! I dont stuff the inserts in the pockets. I just lay them against his skin. I got this tip from a cloth diaper junkie. 

Philip even loves it...although he is always at work when the poopy diaper's go down. He has yet to deal with that mess...but again its NOT BAD at all. 

AND

You don't have to do all this crazy washing etc people tell you about.

I do a rinse spin cycle and then a regular normal cycle...and everything dries quickly in the dryer. Right now I use Seventh Generation Baby detergent but have been told by other cloth mommy's that other brands work just as good that you can buy at Target and are safe for babies with sensitive skin. 

Half of our cloth diaper stash....but no inserts

So, don't be afraid. Give it a try. You can save a lot of money and help the environment!

And it's OK to use an occasional regular diaper! We keep a stash of Huggies Pure and Natural around the house in the right size. You never know when you will need one.

Oh and if your curious... we wont do overnight travel with Cloth unless we have easy access to a washer dryer. We do however use cloth when we leave the house. We use biodegradable trash bags that are powder scented to store the inserts or diapers until we can get home to wash them. 

And just for good measure...Me and My buddy Bella after a long day of changing in and out of cloth diapers so mommy could take photos of me! Look at that clef chin!

All the way from Texas

Great Uncle Bill...

Uncle Bill, Papu's Identical Twin came to visit us from Texas for 6 WHOLE DAYS this week. Softa was out of town for the week with her girlfriends so Uncle Bill came in to town to hang out with Papu! We enjoyed barbeque at Jim and Nick's, they ran lots of errands, played pickle ball at the JCC, played Golf and ate at the Big View Diner...

This was the first time he got to meet Asher! We missed Aunt Hilda but someone had to hold down the fort at home!

As always...Asher got passed around like a hot potato.

First Papu... (he had just woken up!)

Next up Nana and Poppy...

Then of course Mom & Dad...

Oh and by the way... he is wearing a 6 month outfit at 6 weeks and 1 day.

Yup. We have been busy doing laundry to catch up with his growth spurt!

Thanks Great Uncle Bill for such a great visit. Aunt Hilda.... don't be jealous!