Tiny Humans are Portable: Part 2

Before we decided on Aruba, we established some vacation guidelines.

1. Beach/pool
2. Family friendly
3. Passport required
4. Warm weather

Since we had no idea what it would be like to travel with B, these seemed reasonable to us, and it turns out, we were right. In addition, to meeting our vacation criteria, Aruba has a couple of bonuses that we thought would be great for our first family vacation. Aruba's beaches are incredibly calm because of the direction of the wind and the island has a state-of-the-art desalination plant, which means that we wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the drinking/eating water.

Now that we had the destination, the planning process began. Before we I booked the flights, we I researched the hell out of the different hotels and resorts. When we take a trip, I typically begin with TripAdvisor, just to scope out the options that are available. I love that site for many reasons:

• It lets you choose all sorts of amenities, based on what your vacation preferences and needs are
• You can view photos from fellow travelers! This is a very cool feature because fellow travelers will tell it like it is. When I was making our final selection, photos from travelers were the deciding factor between two different resorts.
• Traveler reviews, with dates. This gives you some context around the comments, gripes and compliments. 

When I began searching, I didn't have a particular place in mind. I knew that we wanted to stay ON the beach, which eliminated a few properties right away. Once I found a few candidates, I looked on the hotel/resort's website for additional information, along with room tours and rates. I also used Google Maps to narrow down my selections. That really helps to figure out how "close" to the beach a resort REALLY is. Thanks to Google Maps, I was able to eliminate a few places that were across the street.

Once I had a few possible resorts, I started shopping for rates. I used the usual sites; Expedia, Travelocity, etc. to compare prices and deals for the week. When I found the lowest price, I actually ended up calling the resort itself to see if they could do better, and they did! Details on where we stayed and what we got, coming soon :)

Tiny Humans are Portable: Part 1

Before our party of two became a party of three, Nick and I traveled. A lot. We took cruises, weekend trips and sightseeing tours of Europe. After we announced that we were going to have a baby, I can't even begin to tell you how many people told us about the rude awakening that we were in for, when it came to our two vacations per year lifestyle. When people would tell us that everything was going to change (duh, really), we would politely smile and nod, knowing that we were still putting money into our travel fund and that our intentions were to fly somewhere with our tiny human, while that tiny human could fly for free. While we were at it, we also decided that the tiny human would have a passport and that the passport would have at least one stamp in it, as soon as possible.

While B was incubating, Nick and I had long talks about how B would adapt to our lifestyle instead of the other way around. After all we were here first, and B is technically the third wheel. From the very beginning, we never "holed up in the house" with our baby, we took him out and about. B's first outing was to Jeni's when he was two days old. Was it scary? Yes. Did everyone survive? Absolutely. That first outing set the stage for B's portability and provided the reassurance to us that he was, in fact, extremely portable, just requiring some equipment that we weren't used to before.

When we first started out, the outings and preparation was a very strict and choreographed process. I would nurse B while Nick packed the diaper bag and the car, so we could literally pack him up as soon as he was done and have 2-3 hours before the next feeding time. Soon, my comfort level with nursing in public made it so that we could go out and about whenever and wherever we wanted. Nursing in public became a little joke between Nick and I, and I'm pretty proud of my list of locations (dressing rooms, restaurants, parking lots, festivals, farmers markets, rest stops, picnics). We took him everywhere and were so proud when people commented about how they couldn't believe that we were still doing what we were doing, but with a tiny human in tow.

While we were festival hopping and enjoying the spring and summer, we were still putting some money into our travel fund, trying to decide on our next adventure. Our first stop? The post office, to get a passport for B. Of course, he sat for his photo like he had done it a million times before. (Note: before you get a passport for your tiny human, make sure to read all of the requirements - both parents need to be there with a lot of paperwork).

Once the passport application was submitted, we began planning our next vacation. After over-analyzing (it's what we do) and debating, we decided in June that we would be heading to Aruba in November.

Products I love: Kashi™ Hummus Crisps

When I was invited to join the Kashi Hummus Crisps BzzCampaign, I jumped at the chance. Kashi has been one of my favorite brands for quite awhile and their cereal and granola bars have been a staple in my pantry for a long time. Since Kashi is known for real and healthy ingredients, I was very excited that they were stepping into the snack food category. 

As part of my BzzKit, I received a bag of Kashi Hummus Crisps to try for free and a small stack of coupons. The flavor that I got to try was the Sea Salt & Olive Oil, although the crisps also come in Caramelized Onion and Sundried Tomato Basil & Feta.

As I expected, these chips were delicious! I say "were" because the bag has been gone for quite some time. They are the perfect standalone snack or sandwich accessory. The texture is very light and crispy with a subtle flavor. The bag is a good size and contains three generous servings (27 chips/serving). Really, you could eat the entire bag for just under 400 calories, which isn't too shabby, if I do say so myself. Did I eat the whole bag? No. But I did think about it.

I can't say enough about how delicious these chips are. I've since tried the Caramelized Onion, which is also delicious, but I would suggest having gum or mints on hand, because that flavor is pretty strong. My next trip to the grocery store will include the Sundried Tomato Basil & Feta, so I can truly pick a favorite.

As a BzzAgent, I did receive these chips for free and this blog post is one of my campaign activities. Being a BzzAgent is tons of fun and gives you the chance to try lots of new products for free or at a discount! Check it out here: https://www.bzzagent.com

Birthday Balloon Wreath

I've been slacking in the blog department lately. Lots of reasons, but those will make for some good posts, so you'll have to wait. One of the biggest reasons is that I'm getting ready for B's FIRST BIRTHDAY! In typical me fashion, I'm going a little over the top, but trying my best to keep it somewhat under control and personal. I'll have a whole post with all of the fun and photos, but first - I have to share this super cute balloon wreath!

I first got the inspiration (or should I say Pinspiration) to do this after browsing Pinterest for birthday ideas. When I realized how easy and fun this would be, it was a no-brainer that it could be a decoration for this birthday and beyond! I pinned several versions of this wreath, but landed on a hybrid of my own.

I found everything that I needed at Super Wal-Mart, but you could easily avoid Wal-Mart and head to Joann's, Michael's or Party City. I would have done that, had I had time, but I digress.

1. A foam wreath in your desired size
2. 1-2 spools of ribbon, approximately 2" wide
3. 2-3 bags of balloons. The number of bags that you need will depend on the size of the balloons that you used. I used 12", just to give you an idea.
4. A box of straight pins

Here's what you do:

  

1. Pin one end of the ribbon to the wreath and wrap it around until the wreath is covered. Secure the other end of the ribbon with another set of pins. Using a ribbon to cover the wreath helps to cut down on the number of balloons that you need.
   
2. Start pinning the balloons to the wreath. Bunch and tuck and arrange until you have the look that you want! 
   

Here is my finished product! I used about two bags of 12" balloons, trying to make the colors look random. I plan to hang it from the front door, using extra ribbon.

I'm thinking that I might add some elements from his birthday theme to the wreath, but that may end up to be a game time decision. Since the wreath is foam, it will be easy to stick some extra decorations in there that I can remove after the party. I'm really happy with how this turned out and even happier to have completed another Pinterest project. I'm adding this to my "Pinned it then made it/bought it/did it" Board!

Get Messy

Source: Here

The other night, I was on dinner duty with B and Chino. I needed a quick and easy dinner, something (somewhat) nutritious and of course, delicious. I stopped at Trader Joe's on my way home from work and grabbed some frozen gnocchi and some ground beef to throw together when I got home. I thought for a second about how messy B would get as he LITERALLY stuffed his face with it, but then decided to embrace it. Instead of feeding him with a fork, I stripped him down to his diaper, sat him in his high chair and let him go to town. I'm so very glad that I did. He had an absolute blast, picking up the food and feeding himself. By the end of it, his fact was covered, the high chair tray was covered and Chino was a very happy mutt, since he was the beneficiary of the food that was flying during all of the excitement. Of course, I posted the photo of B on Facebook because everyone loves a messy baby. He got a lot of likes and comments, but one comment stood out. Someone said that she was afraid to try that with her own son because she was afraid of the mess. In that moment, I decided not to be afraid of the mess but to embrace the mess. The mess is the fun part. Yes, it took some extra baby wipes and a post-dinner bath to clean it all up. Yes, I found ground beef in his diaper (how does that happen?), but the smiles and the fun and the laughter were all worth it. I know that some days, we won't have time to embrace the mess, but I'm going to do my best to wrap my arms around it and to live in the now, thinking about the consequences later. 

No Sew, DIY Crib Rail Cover

Do the sides of your baby's crib look like this? Mine do.

Baby B managed to gnaw his way around the entire inside perimeter of his gorgeous crib.The same crib that we painstakingly picked out so that it would LAST and be a piece of furniture that would grow with him from baby hood and beyond. Now that I look back on it, I can see that I was forgetting about the part where my baby figured out how to stand and was also teething at that exact same time, leading to a perfect storm of furniture destruction. All of those mornings, where B was quiet in his crib, "playing"? Yeah, this is what he was doing.

I'm not a huge DIY'er, so first, we headed off to the dreaded, Babies R Us to find a crib cover that would stop the insanity and save the wood. When we realized that they wouldn't fit, it was time for me to get creative, which turned out to be a lot cheaper and easier than exhaustively searching for crib rail covers. I'm so excited to share my first, official, DIY project as a mom! I wish I would have through of it before B left his mark on his bed, but better late than never, right? Here's what I did:

• Go to your favorite craft store and purchase 2-3 yards of fleece. I'm bad at measuring, so I always OVER estimate incase I goof. I went to Jo-Ann's and used a coupon, straight from my iPhone, so my fleece was 40% off! 
• Measure! Measure the length of your rails, the distance between the slats and the "wrapped" distance around the rails.
• Spread your fleece out on a flat, dog hair free surface. Cut rectangles in the appropriate dimensions. Length should be the length of your crib rails and the width should be enough to wrap around the crib rails, with a little room to spare, maybe 1-2". You can always trim back if you need to.

• Mark the fleece where the crib rails will be. For me, I just marked every 2" or so.
• Fold the rectangle in half and then cut on your marks, so that you have a fringe. Cut about 2-3" into the fleece. Don't cut too deep, you can always cut additional space while you're wrapping.
• Drape the cut fleece over the appropriate crib rails and start tying the fringes together. I started on each end and then worked my way to the middle. Make sure that you knot the tails on the side that the baby can't reach. Pull the fleece tight, so that there isn't any bunching or gathers on the side that your baby will see. Cut any loose "tails" off of the knots that face out. Repeat the process on the remaining crib rails and voila! You have a completely wrapped, and protected crib. Safe from beavers and babies.

This is my first DIY post, so my process pictures aren't the best. I didn't even think to take photos until I was almost done, but I'm hoping that you get the idea. I'm thrilled at how it turned out, and so is Nick. As usual, he had no clue about my final vision until he saw it come to life. We are week one into our newly protected crib and it is working beautifully.

This is my first DIY post, so if I'm missing any details or if you need clarification, let me know in the comments. Are there any other preventative measures that I need to take, now that B is a full blown toddler?

Breast Feeding - What they didn't tell me

Shortly after B was born, I captured my birth story, but I've been hesitant to write about my breast feeding story because it isn't over yet. I'm only on chapter 9 1/2 of at least 12. I may have more to share after the pump is packed away and I can finally go back to (my version of) normal bras.

Before B was born, I had decided that I would nurse, if I could. I knew at it was important and I also knew that what my body was making for him was exactly what he needed. In the back of my head, I gave myself permission to switch to formula if I had to, but I hoped and prayed that it wouldn't be necessary.

When B was born, I thought that he would just know what to do. I mean, his primary job in life was to eat so he could poop, pee, sleep and repeat. Boy, was I wrong. He didn't know how to latch and neither did I. While we were in the hospital, I struggled with different positions, trying to help him get with the program. I  asked for help from nurses and met with  lactation consultants. He would latch for a minute or two and then let go. I was frustrated and hormonal and creeping closer to throwing in the towel. B was losing weight, which made me nervous, but I continued to try. Thankfully, my mom was there to remind me that nursing was hard and I had to stick with it. Looking back, I'm so glad that I did. Hindsight is 20/20, and now that I look back, I know why we struggled so much. My milk hadn't come in yet. Simple as that. Once the liquid gold started flowing, B got with the program, started gaining weight and we never looked back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very, very grateful for the information that the lactation consultants and nurses shared with me. I can't help but feel, though, that some information was left out. Maybe it is because they hadn't been nursing moms for awhile and they forgot about the bad parts and also what it was like to have this brand new, tiny human to take care of. That is completely understandable, if we didn't forget about those parts, this world would be full of only children. I'm such an optimistic person, so maybe the problem was me, expecting more rainbows and unicorns? Either way - this is some of the information that I wished I had known before baby B was ready to latch on.

• They said that breast feeding shouldn't hurt, it should be a "gentle tugging." I have to say, during those first few weeks, it hurt like hell. Imagine someone sucking on your nipple for hours and hours each day. Of course it is going to hurt. The good news? It passed quickly after the girls toughened up. The bad news? Until that happened, it felt like B was chomping down on my nipples when he latched on. The better news? He is too little to remember the swear words that I screamed before my nips were properly conditioned.

• They told me that there would be days that I was feeding him a lot. That was basically the understatement of the year. Two words: cluster feeding. Look it up. Cluster feeding is what your baby does when he needs you to kick up the milk supply. Cluster feeding means that you will literally be feeding him or her CONSTANTLY. Had I known the magnitude of those two words, I would have saved myself the time and heartache, trying to calm a hungry newborn that had just eaten.

• Nipple confusion. Thinking back, this cracks me up. I know that he was literally born yesterday when I heard about this, but I can't see how he could confuse a nipple that produces food with one that doesn't. Just sayin'.

• Proper nursing position. They tried to show me how to make B lay when it was time to eat. Try as I might, he wouldn't cooperate. Baby's gonna do what baby's gonna do. If input and output are happening as they should, let him do what he wants as long as its comfortable for the both of you.

• Formula is not the devil. Personally, I never had to use it, but its there if you need it and I have a friend who had to supplement until her milk came in. Both her and her baby are doing wonderfully and she is one that made it to 12 months of successful breast feeding.

• The gave me these little tubes of Lanisoh to apply to my nipples after each feeding. As I look back, I wonder if that made things a little too slippery for B, screwing up his latch. It did prevent cracked and chapped nips though, which is definitely a good thing.

Now that I'm into month 9 of mommy hood and breast feeding, I can say proudly that I did it. I'm a full-time working mom with a happy, healthy baby boy. I even managed to produce enough milk to have a stash in the freezer (thanks to my trusty Medela Freestyle Pump). Was it easy? No. Was I a tad neurotic when it came to nursing and Pumping? Yes, because protecting that food supply is one of the most important jobs that I had during this first year.

As I'm watching my supply reduce in response to B's adventurous palette, I have mixed emotions. I'm sad that my little baby is getting bigger, but so proud that he's quitting me, naturally and gradually and even prouder of myself that I'm seeing this through and never gave up.

Don't get me wrong, I received some great and super useful information. I don't mean to be negative, but I wish that I had heard more of the bad to go along with the good. Knowing that I wasn't doing something wrong would have helped calm my crazy hormones...or at least refocus them on to another area of perceived inadequacy.