Drivin' and Laughin'

We had a great holiday weekend surrounded by family from the Garrett side and the Scott side. Grammy and Grampy Garrett drove from down from Charlotte and Uncle Rob, Aunt Kim, and Rose drove down from Atlanta on Thursday. They arrived just in time for the fireworks at UF. Check out Davis in his super cute First Fourth outfit that Uncle jim and Aunt Janice gave him. Uncle Chase drove down on Friday. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone and hope to see them again soon.

Uncle Chase took some super cute videos of Davis in his car. Tim was tickling Davis and he loved it. Davis has been in a pretty good mood since we abandoned all sleep tactics and schedules. His sleep is a little better- actually pretty good considering all the visitors and excitement we have had around the house lately. I guess Tim and I will just wing it for a while and see what happens.

In other news, Davis has two new friends on this planet. Colvin "Cole" William Caldwell is now two weeks old and Emily Lauren Fenn was born just last night. We have already visited with Emily in the hospital and she is so precious. We can't wait to meet Cole who lives just outside DC- hopefully we will see them before the year is over.

With all these friends having babies I have been introduced to some cool products that I didn't know about when Davis was born.

Flip Video Mino- My friend Amanda, who I've mentioned before, has been raving about this video machine and I got a chance to really try one out when I borrowed my brother's this weekend http://www.theflip.com/. I took the videos in this blog with the Flip and it was great. It is super small and you can jam it in your purse/diaper bag without fear of breaking it. It was so great that I'm wondering why we bought the JVC Enverio, but then my bro reminded me that the Flip wasn't out when we bought the JVC. Tim says we will user the JVC for holidays and major events because it holds lots of memory and is higher quality- the Flip only holds an hour's worth of video, but is perfect for catching Davis's super cute laughs and posting them to the net for y'all to see. We will be getting one soon.

Smilebox- Josh and Betsy used this email to announce Cole's big arrival. To see their announcement click here and scroll down to announcement http://www.zoomcaldwell.blogspot.com/ It was so special- the backgrounds were super cute, you can add captions and I liked the music background. I have not yet made a video of my own, but I plan to and I will let you know how it goes. This seems like a way better choice for digital announcement than the email with attachment that we sent. We sent the announcement out to so many people that most email systems thought it was spam. i think that would be avoided by using Smilebox.

Orbitz Carseat- I saw this at church the other day and it looks pretty cool. The couple that was using it for their 6 week old said that they really liked it and it was worth the splurge http://www.orbitbaby.com/, but but I suspect that if I was going to go for a $900 stroller it would be the bugaboo. This one does have a rocking bassinet option that looked interesting and it has the capability of docking into the carseat- two options that Bugaboo doesn't have. Aesthetically speaking, I prefer the bugaboo, but the orbits isn't bad if you are looking for a super nice travel system.

Titan 5 Carseat- Davis, on the other hand, hates travel systems. The car ride screaming had gotten so bad that I went ahead and bought him a full size carseat and abandoned our Graco Infant seat/carrier. The convenience of being able to move the carrier from the car and take it with us was lost on Davis. He doesn't usually fall asleep in the car and he disliked the snug, laid back fit of the infant carrier. He is still not thrilled about being snapped into the full-size seat but I think he gets better air flow (he sweats like his dad). He has been in it for about two weeks and I can already tell you that the cover washes well- we had a very unfortunate explosion on the way to the mall the other day. Tim used his master science and detective skills to disassemble and reattach the carseat cover- those things are really complicated!

So why the Tital 5? I was looking into the Britax Convertible System (Convertible systems generally work for infants up to toddlers and they switch from rear facing to forward facing- follow weight limits) because most of my friends have that system and I've seen some pretty groovy covers for their seats. I found the Marathon on sale online for $219 at Albee Baby and I figured that $200+ was ok to spend on the seat because Davis could use it until he weighed 65 pounds. It has a built in booster seat. But when I was at my mom's meeting the other day, one of the car seat specialists said that her child had been teased about their big "baby" seat when they were in Kindergarten. Ok, so maybe we would want to buy a smaller booster seat rather than keeping that gigantor seat until D is 65 pounds. By the way, I'm pretty sure my niece was in middle school before she weighed 65 pounds. When I think about what it will be like when Davis will be in middle school ...

A- it scares me. I will be in my 40's by then and I hate it that he will have to endure that weird part of life called puberty. He is far too cute for that.

B- I kinda thought they (scientists?) would have some crazy new kind of transportation and I was hoping to not have to have a car and carseat.

But back to Davis dislike of cocoon carseats. While I was considering the Britax seat, the people at Safe Kids spoke at the mom meeting about car seat safety and their program. They provide free carseat inspections at the Farmers Market on the corner of NW 34th Street and 441. They also sell the Evenflo Titan 5 Convertible Carseats their for $45 and they will install it correctly for free. They said it was a really good seat and they have no complaints about it, but that they had a tough time installing the Britax seat correctly. I figured that for $45 I would try the Titan 5. As I talked with the lady that installed my seat I asked if she was sure that she didn't want to charge me more- I didn't want to take advantage of a program if it was really meant for low income moms. (Umm- don't tell Tim I'm going around town offering to pay more for stuff. That tends to really irritate him.) She said no, but I was welcome to give donation if I would like- that way I would pay for my seat and for someone who couldn't usually afford one. So that's what I did. I paid about what I would have paid for the seat at a store, but it was installed by an expert for free and I paid for a seat for a mom in need AND I can deduct the donation on my taxes. Not bad and Tim was happy that we could provide a seat for someone in need.

Combi Urban Carrier (update)- This is an update to my previous posting on this product. Davis is now big enough and has enough head control to fit into this carrier. Tim used it the other day to take Daivs on a morning walk with Amino and Napoleon. The good thing about this carrier is that it fits Tim and it fits my Dad. They look so adorable in it. The bad news is that that I quickly found out that this is truly a carrier only for men. I tried it on, fitted the straps and slipped Davis in only to notice that he thought it was some kind of easy-access nursing device. It was like he was thinking "Well, I wasn't really hungry but since you offered...". Tim quickly lifted Davis out of the carrier but it was too late- I had Davis drool all over my shirt. So I've been using the Baby bjorn and sometimes the sling as a side carrier and Tim and Dad use the Combi.

That's it for now- Tim is headed home early so we can celebrate our 7th anniversary. I can't believe its been so long, but it has been such a great journey. When we said "for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want" I had no idea we would experience them all in the first seven years. But, overall, the last seven years have been so good that I would live through the lows all over again just to experience the highs one more time.

I love you, Tim.

jenn

What I Do All Day

Its 9am on a Tuesday and I am still in my PJ’s. Last night was rough- Davis is not a great sleeper and it is really starting to wear me down. I’m planning on writing another post sometime on that issue, so I won’t expound on it here. I am constantly wondering what the heck happened to my day, so I thought I would go over it here. This should be good insight for those of you, like my bro, who wonder what on Earth I could be doing at home all day. I’ll start with the first feeding of the morning yesterday.

5am- Seriously, he couldn’t possibly be up again. But he is and he is hungry- Tim brings him to me. I choose to feed him in our bed and I fall asleep with him in my arms. I love to fall asleep with him in my arms and I am not currently accepting opinions from other as to whether that’s a bad thing or good thing. Even in my sleep deprived state I treasure those moments, and in the word of Mr. T, “I pity the fool” that tries to take them away from me.

7:30am- Tim just got back from taking the dogs on their morning walk. He is moving to the shower. Davis is up and hungry again, so I feed him and flip on Good Morning America. Note that if it has been a really bad night, Tim will sometimes give Davis a bottle and put him in his bouncy seat so I can get a few more minutes of sleep.

8:15 am- Tim is headed out the door as Davis and I hobble to the front of the house. I’ve been having some early morning joint pain lately that is probably due to my muscles tightening back up. Apparently they go loose when you are pregnant because of a certain pregnancy hormone. Tim has usually already made a pot of coffee and I love him for that. I try to put Davis in his swing and check my email and my Ebay bids. I am so into Ebay and this one company that is based in Gainesville. I can’t say anymore about that company because I fear that I have already told too many people about them and I think that my friends are starting to outbid me. I did snag this amazing giant ultra-kitschy fork and spoon on there the other day. It’s so perfect for our house- I love the juxtaposition of our beautiful antique Bavarian Marriage armoire next to the couldn’t-be-tackier fork and spoon. It’s the metaphor of our life.

9am- As I hear Ty Treadway announce, “Welcome to Merv Griffin’s Crosswords” I’m usually on my second cup of coffee and Davis is taking a nap. I write a posting to this blog (in Word bc my poor spelling has proven to be too much for the blogger spell check) or my Junior League Miracle on Main Street blog http://www.jlgmoms.blogspot.com/. Today I am writing this posting, but tomorrow I will focus on a writing exercise about how I make big decisions in my life, a recommendation from my coach. Yes, I have a great business/life coach Wade Arnold who I’ve been working with to make the transition from the working world to stay at home mom. I am trying to find more time to do my sculpture work. I had a hard time making the decision to stay at home after Davis was born, even though I had always thought I would be a stay at home mom. Working with Wade really helped me be confident about my choice and I work with him to try to keep sculpture a priority in my life and work towards what I really want in life for myself and my family. If you want more information about coaching you can visit his website at http://www.wadearnold.net/. I can’t say enough great things about it- it has been so helpful, especially during this big transition. No, you don’t have to do a bunch of writing. I chose to do that because I wanted to keep up my writing skills. You set goals with the coach and discuss your progress. It helps to keep me focused on what is really important to me and helps me to work towards my long term goals while balancing my new role as mom.

10am- Davis is usually awake again, ready to get out of his PJ’s and of course to eat again. If I was wise, I took a quick shower while he was asleep, but if not, I park him in his bouncy seat right outside the shower door so I can keep an eye on him while washing my hair. He is not so crazy about this scenario, but he does seem to enjoy the hair drier that comes next. He loves white noise which is why you will see my rolling all over town blasting the AM station static.

11am- If it’s Monday, I’m headed to Mom Pool Day. A few of us that had babies at the beginning of the year started this great pool party club that meets every Monday at 11:30 at different neighborhood pools. We really look forward to it- Davis LOVES the water and it’s a great time chat it up about mom stuff. We chill there until around 2 when the other moms get their babies back home for a nap.

2pm- Since Davis prefers not to sleep, we just head home or sometimes over the mom and dad’s for more pool time, or maybe even a nap for me. Don’t start with the napping/sleeping advice. We were accepting advice but had to stop because we have now tried everything and none of it really worked. My new approach is to do what I want and at least I won’t be all stressed that I’m not “doing it right”. I’m done with doing it right- I rarely do other things the “right way”, so why start now. I appreciate your concern and I know you just want to help, but we are simply too tired to listen right now. I have found that when you are new mom, people know it can be hard at times and they just want to help. But you get to a point where you just want to figure it out on your own and I think we are there.

4pm- We are back at home and I think, “Oh man, what magic trick will I be able to pull off for dinner?”. Davis is eating again while I check to see what Oprah is up to. It’s more of her usual new age junk, so I flip over to the food network for inspiration. Some days Davis finishes up and I get into my running clothes, pile up in the Bob Stroller for a jog to Publix to pick up ingredients for whatever spectacular feast (sense the sarcasm here) I have planned to whip up. But today, Davis does the Afternoon Freak-Out routine where he wants to eat for about 2 hours.

4:30- Its one of those Freak-Out days, and I call Tim demanding to know the exact second I can expect to see him pop through the kitchen door. Thank heavens it’s a 5:45 day. I move to the bedroom to feed Davis in the hopes he will fall asleep before I do.

6pm- Davis falls asleep just about the time Tim rolls in, just so Tim wonders what the heck the big rush was. I've included photos of Davis sleeping to document the rare occasion. By then I’m too tired to run and I will go to the store and pick up the ingredients I needed from the store via the car.

7pm- Back at home and cooking. Davis wakes up and Tim takes the lead giving him a bottle. Tim plays with Davis as I get dinner wrapped up.

8pm- Bath time for Davis. We have completely stopped using the baby bath and instead, either Tim or I will get in the big pink bathtub in the Miami Vice bathroom with Davis. It’s usually me- Tim is always afraid that Davis will have the big one while he is in there. I have conquered many natural disasters from Davis and I am not afraid, although thankfully I have never had to face one while he has been in the tub. (Note: Thanks to my friend Amanda we now refer to Davis’s natural disasters as “a@#plosions”). Tim doesn’t want to eat alone so he joins us briefly to talk about his day while Davis splashes and giggles in the water with me. I hand the dripping wet boy off to Tim for drying.

8:30- Tim gets Davis’s PJ’s on while I get mine on. He has time to read a quick Curious George Story while I get the cuisine out of the oven.

9pm- Tim hands Davis off to me for one last feeding. Davis falls asleep in the middle and I put him to bed. Tim and I manage to eat dinner together without Davis waking up and we hope that tonight will be better than last night.

So being a stay at home mom is really fun, even if you are totally sleep deprived. I can say with confidence that I have not been bored a single moment. I love it, even though some days are rough. And I just can’t believe how fast each day goes by. There are some days where Davis actually does fall asleep when we are at home. When this happens I have the following antibordom options.

- Fart around on the Internet. I can’t get enough of Best of Craigslist and GraphJam. I actually had two friends email me this one from Craigslist

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/540076210.html
Let me tell you, when you have two different friends email you that clip you have to really start to wonder about how other people perceive you.

- Clean the house (Boo)

- Laundry (Boo)

- Give Napoleon a haircut- I did this one last week. Davis woke up in the middle of it so I parked him in his Bumbo seat next to me to enjoy the show. It was bad- really bad. Apparently sculpting skills are NOT helpful in poodle grooming. He actually looks worse than the photos show. Tim couldn’t stop laughing at him when he got home.

- Call Mom/Kathy/Holly/ or another friend who I can count on for an hour+ of conversation

- Take a nap- this is a guaranteed way of getting Davis to wake up.

- I’ve started baking bread again. I have included photos of my first braided loaf and of the rustic baguette that I made the other day. Tim was impressed by skills and has considered making an outdoor wood burning oven our next big project- after the remodel of the Miami Vice bathroom, of course.

Thanks to Cindy Fraser for the super cute Chicks Dig Me shirt for Davis. Thanks also to Uncle Jim and Aunt Janice for the too cute 4th of July outfit that will appear in my next posting.

Jenn

Voyage to Super Wal-Mart: The Snuggle Epiphany

The pictures in this blog include highlights from our (Davis and my) trip to the family farm in Kentucky. Davis met his great-great Aunt Lilian ("Sister"), Uncle Ken and his dog Barney, Franklin (our Donkey), and a bunch of cows. Note the rockin "Burkman Feeds" trucker hat I'm wearing. No, I did not take my baby on the tractor, although the farm hands did think I was kinda crazy walking all around the barn with Davis in his Bjorn carrier. But Davis had a blast and we didn't fall in any steamy mud, if you know what I mean. Too bad Davis is too young to enjoy Sister awesome home cooking. I'm working on a cookbook of her recipes through blurb. On the way to the farm and on the way back, we stopped by Aunt Kathy's and visited with Uncle Chase, cousin Ally and cousin Weston. Upon our return we embarked on shopping adventure that follows.

We couldn’t resist any longer. We finally trekked over to the Evil Empire also known as the new Super Wal-Mart Center (FYI- I just found out that WORD 07 spell check knows Wal-mart- scary). We actually went there to pick up a bunch of bikes that they gave us a deal on for the Junior League Miracle on Main Street Toy event this Christmas. However, due to a paperwork issue, Tim and I weren’t able to pick them up on that trip, but that’s another story. Anyway, since we were already in the store, why not go ahead and get the grocery shopping done. I had just reached an all time low as far as groceries go. We had zero- no canned goods, absolutely no meat for Tim, no cheese, no milk- actually no dairy products whatsoever, no pasta, no vegetables (fresh or frozen)- nothin’. We did still have coffee and sugar, but with no creamer even I was about ready to break down and go to the store. Why did I let the pantry go so bare? Two reasons- one, I hate going to the store to buy a lot. I prefer to just zip in, get only what I immediately need and get out. Therefore, we don’t ever have that much food around. Secondly, Tim and I had both just gotten back from out of town. Tim was at Nerdfest 08 (American Society of Mass Spectrometry meeting in Denver – see, I told you, total nerfest) and Davis and I had just returned from the family farm in Kentucky. So what little we had in the fridge went bad and we were in a bad spot. Someone was going to have to figure out what we could eat- Which brings us back to the Super Wal-Mart and our first grocery shopping experience there.
Tim and I were strolling down the extra wide laundry aisle in search of a good deal on laundry detergent. I remembered that the last time I had bought detergent I was at Target and Davis was only a few days old. I had convinced mom to take me to Target because I was going totally stir crazy in the house and I used our lack of laundry detergent as reason to escape. Never mind the fact that, having just had a c-section, I wasn’t supposed to be doing any laundry lifting. I recalled that I bought Snuggle at Target and that it smelled really good and it lasted a really long time because all these months later I was just now having to buy detergent again. I wondered why I hadn’t ever tried that brand before. So as Tim and I were looking for detergent at the Super Wal-Mart I noticed that the Snuggle was not with the other detergent- it was across the aisle with some other laundry stuff. Weird, I thought. Then it dawned on me- at Target, I bought the Snuggle because it was on the end of the aisle in a display and mom and I were in a rush to get out of the store before my pain medicine stopped working (I know- what the heck was I doing out?). What a second….OMG- It suddenly all made sense. Why did our clothes smell so good, yet no stains were coming out in the wash? Why didn’t the water get bubbly when I added the Snuggle to the wash? Why did that one container of Snuggle last through so many washes? Im sure everyone else already knows it, but at 30 years old I just learned that SNUGGLE IS A FABRIC SOFTENER- NOT LUANDRY DETERGENT. It doesn’t clean clothes. I was immediately disgusted by the thought that none of our clothes had really been cleaned since Daivs was born. Yikes.
So I told Tim what I had done and of course he said, “well yeah- its fabric softener- it doesn’t clean anything”. Hmmmm. And then I had the second epiphany. If Tim knew all along that Snuggle wasn’t laundry detergent, and we only had Snuggle in the house (and dreft- for D’s stuff), then that meant that Tim had done ZERO laundry since Davis was born. Not one load. Now that I’m at home, I don’t mind doing all the laundry, but I thought that Tim had at least done a load when I was recovering. I tried to give him a hard time about it, but I couldn’t for too long because he was laughing so hard at me thinking that Snuggle was detergent. I couldn’t help but laugh, too.
So if you thought that the dingy look about us since Davis was born was just a reflection of lack of sleep, now you know what really happened.

Fun New Toys

Its been a big week at the Garrett household- Davis had his first taste of cereal and he is finally getting big enough to use some of the great toys that friends and family gave to us. For those of you that don't have kids, baby cereal is nothing like your morning bowl of Lucky Charms. Its just these rice flakes and he only gets two spoonfuls mixed up with his milk. We fed it to him with a lovely silver spoon (thanks Susan), but it is really thin enough for him to take through a bottle. As you can see int eh photos, he liked the taste, but was perplexed by the spoon delivery. Also, you might be wondering why Tim and I are in our bathing suits. We were over at mom and dads and I pretty much just wear my bathing suit over there all the time.

If have kids, you might be thinking this is the perfect time to share your philosophy on babies and feeding with me. Let me assure you, its not. I've already had more than enough friendly suggestions on how, what, when and where to feed Davis and the suggestions box is full. We are no longer accepting advise. Please don't take it personally, I've just already heard everything under the sun.

These photos are some of the awesome toys that Davis enjoys now. He is really laughing and babbling a lot. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen/heard.

Prince Lionheart BebePod Orange Great for sitting, playing and mealtime at grams and pop's house- Thanks Paula, Ryan, and Erin

Rainforest Jumperoo Davis loves the noises it makes when he jumps. He doesn't quite weigh enough to really get a good jump in, so I put some of Tim's giant chemistry books underneath him. Those things are so think that he has no problem bouncing off them. Thanks Pam and Dean

Combi 3 in 1 Activity Walker

This walker is so incredibly cute. Davis can honk the horn and he loves looking at himself in the rear view mirror. No, he doesn't get that from me and lets hope he doesn't inherit my driving skills (or lack thereof) either. thanks Babs and Mike

These were just few of the really cool toys that we received as gifts. Thanks so much- we love them! This last picture was taken at mom and dad's just before Tim and I went to our friends Cindy's wedding.

Jenn

Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Will I ever fit back into my polka dot bikini?

Davis is now 3 months old and I can hardly believe it. It doesn’t seem like three months, but on the other hand, I really can’t imagine what life was like before him. It’s like he has always been a part of us. And speaking of three months, I didn’t get the memo beforehand about it taking 9 MONTHS to get back into shape. I didn’t know I was signing up for that! In fact, when I was pregnant, all I heard about was, “Oh the weight will just fall off of you if you breastfeed.” Well guess what- it’s nothing but more breastfeeding propaganda. I’m not trying to dog breastfeeding, but if you are thinking that it will be your ticket back into your old jeans, think again. Only a couple of my new mom friends have attributed weight loss to the breastfeeding, but many more of my friends have said that they couldn’t get back to their original size until they stopped the cow tricks. Apparently I won’t be losing much more weight until I stop- my mom said she held on to at least 5 pounds until she stopped b-feeding and I’ve lost a grand total of two pounds in the past two months.
It’s not that I look so horrible right now, it’s just that there comes a point when you want your body all to yourself again. It has now been a year since I became pregnant, which means that for one year, I’ve been supporting me plus some extra precious baby cargo. It’s been a year since I’ve been able to get new clothes (those prego clothes don’t count as real shopping). And at this rate, I won’t get to go anytime soon. I’m not ready to throw in the towel and buy all new bigger stuff just yet, especially with this new 9 month information (argh). So I am having a hard time feeling like me without my regular fashion features.
I have also noticed that people look at you differently when you are pregnant and after you have the baby, especially in this college town. For example, when I was pregnant I would go to my regular Publix that just happens to be the Publix where a lot of college kids go (Did I just refer to them as college kids? Geez- I am officially old). Anyway, when I was big enough to be noticeably pregnant, those college kids looked at me very differently. The guys would glance in my direction, detect the baby bump and immediately look away- sometimes even turnaround and walk in the opposite direction to avoid me. It was as if they believed they could somehow contract the pregnancy disease and pass it on to their girlfriends. The girls were also hyperaware of my new round state. Unlike the guys, they would acknowledge my presence, but they gave me a look that said, “Oh you poor thing- your life is totally over”. Some of you may think I was imagining these reactions, but my friend Amanda goes to the same Publix and she experienced the same reactions when she was prego at the end of last year.
So then the baby comes and they really start looking at you weird. One of my first trips back into the social world was with Tim and his twin bro and his girlfriend (who rocks- btw- good one, Rob) to Dragonfly Sushi. We were having a great time, but I decided to slip off to the ladies room for a second to call mom and dad who were watching Davis. On my way to the bano, I caught a couple of guys actually checking me out. After 9+ months of guys trying to completely ignore me, I hardly knew what was going on. It had been a while, but I didn’t remember getting that much attention before I got pregnant. Weird. My first thought was to look down to make sure I didn’t have a piece of sushi on my shirt or something. I didn’t see anything wrong, but I rushed to the bathroom mirror to make sure. As I looked in the mirror it became apparent to me why I was getting all the attention- my boobs are gi-normous. See, I didn’t really have those before and it obviously makes a huge a difference. I called my sister, who has boobs, to confirm. Yep, she said it’s defiantly the boobs, welcome to her world. Well, I’m not so thrilled about entering that world- young or old- those pervs will stare ya’ down. But it was a needed ego boost for the first time out of the house. I returned to the table to report my findings. Tim did not find them as amusing as I did.
With my newly found confidence, I made it a habit to walk to the Publix to get some exercise. I found that it was far easier to just put Davis in the stroller and walk to Publix than to load him into the car with all his gear and haul it a few blocks only to get it right back out again. The reaction of the guys was pretty much exactly how it was when I was pregnant- kind of a “Must stay far, far away from mom and baby”. The girls seem to appreciate the baby, and anyone that is not in college absolutely can’t get enough of Davis. It’s like walking in the store with a celebrity. “How old is he? What’s his name? He’s adorable”- nearly every adult would peek their head around to try to see him. It was really fun to walk around with him. I was thinking that this new mom stuff is a blast.
But on the way home, I had another realization. As I was walking with the stroller packed with Davis and the groceries I saw that some college guys were sitting in lawn chairs in the back of their pick-up truck that was parked in their front lawn. This is a completely normal occurrence around here, so I didn’t really think anything of it. It was the afternoon rush hour and I was walking past a lot of cars stuck in traffic and I heard an occasional horn honking. As I neared the lounging students I saw why the cars were honking. Leaned up against the pick-up was a huge plywood sign with spray paint script that said “You Honk, We drink”. And it was pretty funny- people were honking, they would hold up their beer and chug it down. As I walked on the sidewalk that crossed their driveway, I overheard one of them who was evidently talking to a friend on his cell phone. He said,
“Oh, yeah, man. Its great. Everybody is honking and we are gettin’ ripped! Its awesome, except that there is some mom walking by with her baby and I think all the honking woke him up.”
Oh- my- gah. Did he just say that?!?! Did he just call me “some mom”? I can’t believe it. Seems like just a few months ago I was a graduate student, or a newly wed, but now, I am some mom. How did this happen? No wonder I drive a station wagon- it's not a joke. I thought when we got the wagon, it would be funny for us to drive it- bc I was so far from any kind of soccer mom. We were a very fashionable young couple that just needed to haul around some stuff every now and then, but hated the hugeness and waste of an SUV. Thus, we bought the MB wagon. But now, I am “some mom” and I’m even “some mom” that drives her baby around in a station wagon! I can’t believe it. But then I looked down at Davis screaming his face off from all the honking. He is so precious and perfect. And I thought, “He is so worth it.” I’ll be “some mom” so long as I can always be his mom.

Baby book Publishing

For the past week I have been struggling to find the ultimate self-published baby book website/design and order it in time for Mother's Day. Finally, an easy Mother's Day gift for Mom S and Mom G with none of the out of the house shopping required. Plus, neither moms really "internet" much (thats how mom says it) so I knew that they probably hadn't seen one of those photo books yet and would be impressed by the quality- just like a professional book. I was familiar with the basic options from Kodak and Shutterfly, but I was looking for a custom designed look that didn't take forever. Here is what I found.


1- http://www.photoworks.com/- This website has some nice options and I found it by trusting some reviews I found online. I didn't end up ordering from them and here's why. It took 4ever to load up photos to the website. I don't generally load photos to share with people, so I didn't realize how long it took. It took several hours (no we aren't on dial-up- wireless Cable internet) and it kept messing up and requesting that we make it try again. I finally got them all on there, and found an acceptable layout. This website had several layout options that I liked- I was looking for not too cheesy, but baby looking, yet sophisticated. So then it was time to add the photos. The program had some major problems with my images. It kept switching out photos on its own, and it even got to where I would look in the folder where I loaded the photos and there would only be one photo there, copied 50 times. It was really weird. I did their online chat help and they informed me that my java was bad and I needed to download new version. By this time I was pretty much tired of fooling with it and was ready to move on to a different site.

2-www.mypublisher.com - With only a few hours left to make the book and make the standard shipping deadline in time for Mother's Day, I decided to try this My Publisher that several of my friends had recommended. I downloaded the software from their website and was please to see that orders over $50 were 20% off and orders over $100 were 40% off! Plus, as soon as I logged in the emailed me a coupon for one book free. Naturally, you can't use the one book free with the other offers, but still, either was good deal. So I downloaded the program and flipped through their layout options. And then, I wasn't so happy. There were only a handful of design options and they didn't seem to be super customizable. Maybe if I had gone further with the process I could have found more customization options, but I didn't have time for another disappointment. I needed groovy designs and I needed them fast. Despite the great deals, I decided to try one other site I heard good things about.

3- http://www.blurb.com// - Jackpot!
I am completely infatuated with blurb and its blurberati. It’s changing my life. I will take this opportunity to count the ways I love the blurb.
Their free software Booksmart is wonderful. It’s easy, fast and has super sophisticated layout options that totally customizable.
You can post your book on their site and sell it directly through them to the public. You set your own profit margin (if you choose to sell your book for profit).
After publishing with them you can "Announce" the publication of your book through them or through posting a blog badge of their site.

You can browse their bookstore for inspiration- and I highly recommend it. They have some incredible books in there.
They have great templates, including a cookbook template and blog template that will automatically link up with your blogger account. Genius.
Their books are reasonably priced- even as low as $13, full color. I chose the hardback- 40 color pages fro $25.
They just came out with a facebook option for getting photos off your facebook page. It's amazing.
I can't stop talking about how much I love this site. I have ordered Davis's baby book (don’t tell the moms) and I am in the process of designing a family cookbook, my design portfolio, my art portfolio, and I'm teaching my dad to use their software to do a book of my great uncle's photography.
Here is a link to Davis's baby book, a preview of which is currently available in their bookstore under new releases. The photos in this posting are from his book.

Davis Timothy ...

By

Book Preview

I named it "Here Comes the Son"
Enjoy your own Blurb creation.

Jenn

4th Trimester Must-Haves

Sorry for the delay in posts. We celebrated my 30th at the house a couple of weekends ago, then headed to St. Augustine for some beach time. I was completely unpreparred for the amount of time that it would take to prep fro a party and care fro a baby. Pics of Davis’s first beach trip to come in the next post. But this post is all about some of the stuff that we just couldn’t have made it without. If you are pregnant, you have probably already heard people refer to the first three months of the baby’s life as the “fourth trimester”. I think there is even a book with that title. This posting is all about what I found to be the best gear to be prepared for those first few weeks. Speaking of, Davis is two months old today! It doesn’t seem like that long, yet it feels like he has always been with us. Weird, in a good way.

1. Itzbeen Baby Timer-

This gadget is simple, yet such a life saver. Since Davis was our first, we came out of the gate stunned and a little intimidated by the race of parenthood that lay before us. All of the sudden, every nurse that came in wanted to know when he ate last, how long it took him to eat, when he doodled last, how many tinkles he had, etc. Those of you that know me well, know that I had only a loose understanding of time before I had Davis, so I had no idea how long it had been since he had done all that stuff. Plus, they keep you pretty doped up, making clock-reading and simple math a real challenge. I’m sure that the nurses at the hospital would never believe that the bloated and befuddled new momma that couldn’t calculate the total number of feedings in 24 hour period had once solved complex Calculus problems and proofs. Even Tim, whom my family believes to be one of the smartest people on Earth (and I agree), was having a hard time adding it all up. Thank goodness we had the Itzbeen. The gadget has four timers- each with a different image so there’s no reading required. Feeding is represented by a bottle, diapers with a little diaper, sleeping with some zzzz’z, and then the magic star button. I used that one to track my pain meds so I didn’t look like a total addict and start requesting the pain meds every 30 minutes or something. The Itzbeen even comes with a little nightlight that is great for checking to make sure that everyone is breathing OK in the middle of the night. Yes, even two months into this, I still check that he is breathing OK in the middle of the night, and when we are in the car, and even if he is asleep in the swing.

I have found this item on amazon and at traget online. http://www.amazon.com/Itzbeen-Baby-Care-Timer-Green/dp/B0012BS2O2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1208540749&sr=8-2

BTW- Target has finally released their mod line nursury furniture- I could tell it was coming, but way too late for us. I'm still shocked they were so behind the curve with that. It also appears they have some nice Dwell bedding available. These Dwell patterns appear to be made especially for Target, as most Dwell bedding is more pricey than the Target price-point.

2. The 5 S’s- This comes from the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD. It comes in book form, too, but there is no way you will have time to read through a book once the baby comes, and even if you do, you may be so sleep deprived and disoriented that you may forget how to read. The 5 S’s are five ways to sooth your baby when they are wailing. Unfortunately for me, Davis has got quite a set of lungs that he chooses to exercise frequently, so these techniques have been super helpful. The five S’s stand for shushing, swinging, swaddling, side (place baby on their side), and sucking. Its worth getting the DVD to get the visual on these. You’ll also want to avoid our version of the 5 s’s- Swearing, Screaming, Sobbing, Snacking, and Sipping. I can assure you that our 5 S’s are completely ineffective in resolving your little ones gripes and will likely result in weight gain, increased use of antidepressants, and inability to operate vehicles or heavy machinery (note- breast pump may be classified as heavy machinery).

http://www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying-Longer/dp/B0006J021C/ref=pd_sim_ba_title_1

3. The Pump- Speaking of breast pump, lots of my friends have asked me which one I chose. Its not galmerous, its not stylish, but you are going that route- you gotta have it. First of all, I hate pumping, but the pump I chose seems to be pretty good. And if you prefer for your baby to only have breast milk, then a pump is a must. No pump and you can pretty much kiss your former social life goodbye because you will be hold-up in the house with your crib munchkin (to qoute Josh C.) until they are on solid food. Think you can feed and then take off a couple of hours? Think again. There seems to be no pattern to Davis's feeding schedule and he often gets in to a feeding frenzy that is a real drag. On the reccomendation of my sis-in-law Kim, I chose the Lansinoh Double Electric Pump. This model comes with a DVD and highly reccomend having your hubby watch the video with you. It was way better for Tim to see someone else hooked up to that contraption before he saw me in it. After watching the DVD and seeing what pregnancy can do to another woman's body, he just kept telling me how beaustiful I was. I secretly think he was just really greatful that my bod didn't go all National Geographic like the ones he saw on the DVD. Anyway- back to the pump. To put it crudely, it sucks like its supposed to and its not too big and it only costs about $150. And really, wouldn't you rather only spend $150 and use the rest of the dough to get a message while you hubby stays at home and feeds the baby?

http://www.amazon.com/Lansinoh-Double-Electric-Breast-Pump/dp/B00157DIWE/ref=pd_sbs_hpc_title_2

Warning- chicks only for next paragraph-One more thing- be sure to get the nurses at the hospital to give you nipple sheild. We've all heard the horror stories from the breast feeding trenches, but with the help of this little thing, I never experience any of it. And I only had to use it for about a week. It somehow helps the baby learn how to latch on easier and for your bod to adjust to it. I have survived the first two months of feedings with no nipple caualties and only minor pain.

4. Swaddle Me by Kiddopotimus-

We call this swaddling blanket the best burrito. It makes burritoing (that’s our term for swaddling) Davis super easy, even in the dark when he is screaming and wiggling around like an octopus. Check out this photo of D all burritoed up. Yes, it looks a lot like a baby straight jacket, but he seems to dig it. We liked the 123 Swaddle blankets, too. They come with a cheat sheet sewn into the tag of the blanket. I can’t believe how many blankets we use- I use the cuddly home-knit ones when we are strolling or just relaxing on the sofa.

http://www.amazon.com/Kiddopotamus-Co-Microfleece-SwaddleMe%C2%AE-Sage/dp/B000BF2V56

5. The Noise Maker-

This little device has made getting D to sleep and STAY asleep way easier. Plus, I think it works on getting Tim back to sleep, too. Our model has several settings, such as waves and the heartbeat. I find the heartbeat to be creepy, so we keep ours on waterfall. Davis’s fav sound is AM radio, totally blasted in the car (I love to see the look on the drive thru attendants face when I roll up to order my diet coke -3/4 diet, ¼ regular- with the AM radio blarring) But since the AM radio noise is only slightly less irritating than screaming, we stick with the noise maker waterfall sounds at night. We have the homedics Sound Spa- note that I think the "on" light on this model is alittle too bright. It could almost double as a night light.

http://www.amazon.com/HoMedics-SS-2000-Relaxation-Machine-Nature/dp/B000F3QG0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1208542833&sr=1-1

You can get one at any drugstore or Target-type store.

6. Moses Basket-

I’m sure that this item wouldn’t be an essential for most people, but I LOVE ours. I keep it right by our bed so that when Davis wakes up at 3 am, I can just lean over and pick him up. Sometimes I can get to him so quick that Tim doesn’t even wake up. We have ours on a rocking stand that I often rock while I’m laying down next to it. Mom made an adorable liner for ours, but I think most baskets come with one. I love that we can easily move it from room to room. This was especially nice when he was very little and I didn’t want him out of my sight. Tim would just take it the front of the house for me in the morning when he left for work and then we would move it back the bedroom again in the evening. It’s not heavy or anything, I just couldn’t move anything after the C. We recently took it with us when we rented a house at the beach and it’s a lot less hassle and a lot more style than a full size pack and play. I recently read that “they” recommend that babies graduate to the crib once they are a month old, but I’m just not ready for him to be out of our room all night yet. I know I will have to get used to that soon, but for now, he is with me.

If your mom doesn't like to sew so much (I myself am alergic to sewing), Modern Moses Baskets can be found at http://www.allmodernfurniture.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=MBA1124&refid=FR32-MBA1124

http://www.urbanokids.com/

http://www.hoohobbers.com/mosesbasket.html# (Frilly but fun. Lots of choices)

Rocking Stands available at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Rocking-Wooden-Moses-Basket-Stand/dp/B00115LGHE/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_0

jenn