Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Lincoln is festive and ready for the big day!

Already 6 weeks old tomorrow!

Lincoln is a great baby traveler. He has already been to three different swim meets and has done well! He has also spent the night at my parents house in Ripon for two whole nights and did fantastic!
He has a big 5 day vacation coming up for Easter. We will be going to Turlock, Ripon and to Monterey for his first beach excursion. It will be a great Easter weekend celebrating family, and I don't think the lord would have it any other way to celebrate His resurrection. :)

Traveling with a newborn can be difficult, but only if you make it that way.
There are plenty of things that can be done in advance to make sure that you are prepared and ready to go on time none-the-less!

1. Have a good attitude.
I have found that when I stress, the baby stresses. You know this isn't going to be as easy as before you had children, so just embrace that. If you do, it will be a much better vacation for all involved. The baby will poop and throw up when you are not expecting it, so just deal with it and move on. If you forget something, don't worry that's why we have things called stores. Most of the time we travel far distances to have fun/vacation, so do that have fun and vacation! Trust me you will have so much more fun and less stress.

2. Avoid a departure time when you know the baby is going to be eating.
If you can, plan on leaving after you know when your baby is going to want to eat, that way you are not struggling with a hungry child and trying to get out the door. Generally, nap time follows eating time so that way baby will want to sleep for a good part of the trip.

3. Have an 'essentials' bag in the car at all times.
Find a place to store a little bit of diapers, wipes, 1-2 outfits, and small toy. This makes small trips to store easier that way you don't have to lug that big diaper bag around and you have everything you need for those 'just in case' moments

4. Plan ahead of time.
Pack all the baby's stuff ahead of time. Make a list of things that you need. Don't under pack! If its a long car ride, say 4+ hours, try to plan stops into your route about 15 min before feeding times that way you can stop and get everything done in one spot and baby is not screaming its head off in hunger. Make sure the car's gas tank is full before leaving the house. If you know your baby struggles with explosive poop and throwing up pack lots of wipes, towels and an extra outfit for yourself!

These are just some small things that work for our family when traveling and I hope they will help you! I know traveling with a newborn/children can be difficult and things don't always go as planned, but I have learned that if you plan ahead a lot of extra stress can be completely obsolete.  When you get in a situation where nothing is going as planned, the baby is freaking out and you have a flat tire on the side of the road just remember to laugh it off because if your biggest problem is a flat tire and a screaming baby, I think you will be just fine in the end. If you find yourself stressing just remember to smile and if you 'lose your cool' then just forgive yourself, and move on to the next part of your tip. :)

Lincoln is doing well as always. Our days are filled with smiles, formula, sleeping, swinging, pooping, peeing, reading, playmat time, and exercising when dad gets home. He also got to meet his Aunt Ginger and Cousin Sadie this past weekend at one of the swim meets he attended and they were just lovin' on him! I love seeing our family members with him.

Aunt Ginger snapped this cute pic!

I run in front while they walk a bit slower behind.

He will do this for a bit in the morning.

Have a great St. Patrick's Day,

Julia

ACHOO!

Along with the great weather we have been experiencing here comes all the beautiful blooming flowers. I love this time of year, but alas the allergies in this family do not! We recently learned that Lincoln is an allergy suffer. I originally thought he had a cold since Nate came home with a stuffy nose last week, but I later figured out nope, its just allergies.

The first thing that clued me in was that it seemed to come and go. The second thing was that when I used the bulb syringe, or rather what we call 'the booger sucker,' his snot was clear or white. Lastly, his eyes were watering like crazy, but were not red or discolored. Lincoln was stuffy but it wasn't anything to worry about, until a few days ago. 

I began running/working out again and we decided that it would be a great idea to take Lincoln for a walk, with all the blooming flowers out, in the baby bjorn. We thought it was the perfect family outing because I got my work out and Nate walked 2.5 miles with Lincoln in the bjorn. That night though things got rough! Lincoln began waking up every hour on the hour. He didn't want to eat, didn't have a stinky diaper, he was just so uncomfortable with not being able to breath out of his nose. I don't blame him I would of done the same! So, at 4:00am I decided to take him into our bathroom, turn the shower on high, and sit in there with him. It did the trick. The next day we bought a humidifier and it is working perfectly. We even took him back outside yesterday and stuck him right in front of the humidifier as soon as we got back. Hallelujah,  no more allergy symptoms! Yes! Lincoln is back to being his happy content self. 

The perfect solution.

Dealing with infants with allergies can be no fun! Thankfully, I grew up in a house with family members, including myself, who have severe allergies and asthma. Here are some tricks I have learned watching my own mother help her children relieve their allergy symptoms. A quick reminder to make sure that you are actually dealing with a kid with allergies and not a baby with a cold! Here is a nice link to help you decide Is it allergies?

1. Buy a humidifier. This makes a world of difference and really clears them up! Just make sure to place it close enough the baby is actually getting the air from it. Generally you want to do this while they are sleeping because it can be hard to get them to not get irritated by it when they are awake. This is because its cold air/water blowing in their face.

2. Get some eucalyptus oil. This stuff is amazing. Yes it has a funky smell, not bad, just different but man does it clear you right up. This used to be sold in pharmacies like CVS/Rite Aid but I am having a hard time finding it there. I have been purchasing mine at Whole Foods or Sprouts. A little bit of this oil goes a long way! A few drops in the humidifier should do it! Don't over do it with this or else it will just be unpleasant.

3. Wash all your sheets and blankets. Also, if you can don't have baby sleep around plush things like comforters and down pillows. Dust mites are the number one thing most people are allergic to. If your baby's allergies are acting up wash/vacuum everything and sleep with only sheets and blankets that can easily be washed until the allergies do clear up. Put those fluffy things away in the mean time! 

One thing Lincoln has really started recently is smiling! It's so cute. 

I can only get them when he's sleeping!
He's too quick for my camera recently.

This is also what Lincoln thinks of allergies....no this was not staged this is just how he feel asleep on his auntie this past weekend.  As Nates Aunt Heidi said, "Now I know he has a bit of you in him rather than Nathan." Ha! I hope he has inherited my ability to tell it like it is.

Poor Toby.
  He was actually doing this to him and he caught it on camera.

~Julia

Baby Products

Having a newborn can be daunting, but with today's products for infants it's even easier to take care of one. Here is my list of must haves with product reviews for all your baby care needs!

1. Diaper Bag
If you plan on going anywhere with your new baby you need a diaper bag. Now these can get expensive, but I have opted for the carters zip front bag. I looked at all the diaper bags Babies R Us had to offer and decided on this one. I liked the style because it looked more like a purse and it had zipper pockets in the front that I can put my stuff in to keep separate from Lincoln's stuff. I also liked the price! It ranges between 39 to 59 dollars!

Now, if you want the Cadillac of all diaper bags, I know that petunia pickle bottom makes an amazing diaper bag. My friend Amy has one and it is completely durable and will last through her second kid. Problem is the price. They range from about 159-300 dollars depending where you go to purchase it. I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much on a diaper bag right now...maybe for the second baby. :)

I think its also a good idea to invest in a diaper bag for the guy who got you in this whole baby predicament in the first place, and I love the look of the diaper dude bags. They look manly, are durable, and do the job. Nate's mom purchased him this one and he likes it, plus it doesn't make him carry around your girly one.

2. Diapers

I prefer the pampers sensitive and Nate likes the Huggies little snugglers. What I find about the Huggies snugglers is that with a boy they tend to fill up right at the front with pee very quickly. The pampers tend to hold a bit more. Either way, they both work and depending what's on sale we will buy either. I tried the swaddlers by pampers which a lot of my friends swore by, but I'm happier with the pampers sensitive swaddlers.













3. Wipes
The pampers sensitive win again in this category. Hands down they wipe off Lincoln's scheiss better than Huggies wipes and any other non-name brand.

4. Diaper Cream
Bordeaux Butt Paste wins by far. This stuff has Lincoln's bum looking brand new after one application and it wipes off easy! I used two other ones and butt paste won by a long shot!

5. Baby Bath Products
Pottery barn makes the best baby towels. Lincoln has one and it's so soft, nice and cuddly! One of these goes a long way and since they are not cheap I suggest only buying one. A nice substitute would be the target brand bath towels. They are cute, soft and make snuggle time after a bath great! As far as bathing products, I love anything Johnson and Johnson. They have so many things to try that I suggest picking up a travel set like I did. That way you can try all of them, and then decide what you would like to use. I use the basic baby shampoo and the Johnson Naturals line of products. A warning with the Johnsons Naturals is that they don't have a scent. They smell like nothing! So if you want a baby that has that powdery baby smell don't use this line of Johnson products. I use the baby shampoo and that gives me my fix of baby scent.

Lincoln has this exact towel from target.

6. Feeding Baby
Lincoln is a bottle-fed baby. If you are looking for information about breastfeeding this is not the place to get it because I have no clue about that!

Lincoln uses ADVENT bottles by Philips. I like these bottles a lot because they are easy to clean, he eats well out of them, and I have not had one leaking issue out of them. The thing with bottles is that if you use one brand, primarily stick to that brand! I had tried Lincoln on several types of bottles early and he did not show a nipple preference, but now he won't take any bottle that doesn't use the ADVENT nipple.
I like the natural style because they don't come with the nipple ring like the classic. Its just a lid and you screw it on, good to go! I swear by these bottles!
Formula wise we are using Enfamil Newborn and have not had one feeding issue in regards to spitting up/upset tummy. He has been drinking this since the hospital with no issues, and yes I realize how lucky we are! I know a lot of babies who take FOREVER finding the right formula that works for them.

7. Clothing/Wrapping Baby

Just stick your baby in anything cute and cheap because they will be barfing/peeing/pooping in them. The two things that have made a difference for us would be kimono onesies. I recently received a package of onesies from my friend Sara for Lincoln and they were like little kimonos. These things rule! They literally wrap around your baby and you don't have to do the whole OMG! I'm going to break my baby's neck trying to put this onesie over his head. (By the way you will not break their neck and really the quicker you get it done it makes a much happier baby!) I had no idea they made this type of style of onesie but I LOVE IT!

8. Soothing Baby
Lincoln loves to be swaddled! The potterybarn swaddlers for whatever reason keep their swaddle the best and I believe it is worth the money. Also, if your baby is showing preference for being swaddled in the hospital grab up all of those basic hospital blankets we all know about. No they are not the cutest, but heck nothing like a hospital blanket to swaddle. We tried all of those interesting swaddlers/wraps that almost work like clothes, but for whatever reason a blanket made for swaddling has done the trick. Lincoln is not a huge pacifier baby but when he does want one we use the philips soothies. There is also this company called Wubbanub that attaches soothies to a cute little stuffed animal. Lincoln has a duck one and he is all about it and they don't get lost in your diaper bag!

8. Things I couldn't live without

Finally, if you are going to have a baby invest in a nice swing, bouncer, playmat, books and some type of mobile/stationary light up toy. All of these items make the baby happy and frees up your hands so you can get some stuff done. I don't think I need to say the obvious and invest in a nice and well rated carseat too!

Lincoln is doing extremely well and I could not have asked for a better baby. I love staying home with him and we just hang out. I have no complaints or really any 'parenting lessons' for this week. I'm sure plenty more will pop up. He has already traveled to three swim meets to see my brother, Nate's cousin, and some of my high school kids that I coach swim. He has done fantastic!

One thing that did piss me off at the first swim meet we took Lincoln to, when he was almost 3 weeks old, was all the comments about how cold it was and the poor baby that is out here. First of all, Nate and I are not going to stop living just because we had a baby. People who just stay all cooped up in their house with their baby when its 55 degrees outside because 'its cold' are the parents who nobody wants to hang out with. Secondly, Lincoln was in a sweat outfit with socks, had a hat on, swaddled in a blanket, and had another heavy blanket wrapped around him. HE WAS SWEATY AS HELL when I unwrapped him to change his diaper so, I don't think he felt like he was 'poor baby cold.' Third, he slept the whole time and didn't seemed too bothered. Lesson here is what I mentioned last week about not listening to others about how to parent, but I'm still tired of others trying to guilt me into parenting decisions.

Nathan and I had our first funny miscommunication last week when I asked Nate to dress Lincoln. I wanted Lincoln to wear his only two piece outfit that fits as of now. I asked him to put on the outfit that has tools all over it. Nate then brought back Lincoln in a black onesie with red that has lightning bolts all over it. I was like, "uhhh no the one with tools." He then said to me, "Yeah that one like the band Tool, you know they have the lightning bolt as the symbol?" I laughed then replied, "No, like tools as in saws, hammers, and pliers." We both still laugh about that one today.

Nate and I really enjoy being parents and hope we're as good at it as we think we are!

Just chillin' like always

Until next week,

Julia

Listening to Others...and body update

Lincoln is going to be one month old on Monday. He is doing absolutely great. I could not have asked for a better baby! One of the major things I did while pregnant with Lincoln was pray my arse off.  I prayed for safe delivery and the ability to over come my feelings about my miscarriage. One thing that I prayed for, which might seem weird, was that Lincoln would be a content baby. I prayed that he would just be happy in his skin even at birth. I never, ever wanted him to have the same feelings of discontentment or just not being good enough that I had coming from a divorced home, so I prayed about it. Let me tell you, the lord answers prayers! If he is not hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change he can just sit and be happy. I have not found my self once feeling super frustrated or that I couldn't figure out what was making him cry. He will sit in my lap at night up against my arm and just hangout no matter what were doing. It makes me cry just thinking about how the lord really does listen when you believe. Now I'm sure he will have a meltdown at some point but its almost 4 weeks without one! FINGERS CROSSED!!

Evidence of the lord granting prayers!
He will seriously sit like that until he falls asleep.

The first lesson I have learned as a parent is not to take advice that has not been asked for from others.
Even more so from others who don't know you or your family at all!

Lincoln has been spending half of his nights in his bassinet and the other half in our arms in bed with us. He will not sleep without being in our arms when its late at night. Rather we get him to sleep pretty quickly and the second we put him down he flips a lid. Nate and I tried the whole forcing him to sleep not with us thing for one night and it was the dumbest thing we could of done. We both got zero sleep and were constantly fighting to get him in bassinet every hour on the hour that it just wasn't worth it! If I have to go back to fix it when he's older well then we will. For now though, I'm not going to lose sleep trying to force our little baby where he doesn't want to be. He still is able to sleep out of arms during the day when I have the time (and sleep) to rock him for about 45 minutes, but at 3am I want him fed, changed and right back to sleep...not fighting sleep until 5am. He will go right back to sleep after his 3am feeding which I have gotten down to a good 20-25 minutes, if I just bring him to bed. If I try to put him in his bassinet after that feeding its an all out cry fest with tears and all. Not a happy baby, momma or dadda so why do it?

Now, most people have made a huge deal about this when they ask where he sleeps. I say too bad, this works for Nate and I! We're going to keep doing it because for our family right now its what works! We're happy and not grumpy. We both get sleep every night between 4-6 hours and Nathan even gets 8 hours of full nights of sleep about 4 days a week! I have learned that if you listen to others unwanted advice and take it to heart you will go insane trying to live up to others expectations. Do what works for you and your family and screw them all. You don't need to justify it, just do it. If I had listened to others who know nothing about our family or circumstances I would be doing a lot of stuff that would make me go insane, with breastfeeding being one of them!

Now like I said in my previous blog entry, I have only 5 pounds to lose after having Lincoln. One thing I have realized is that I wore my clothes rather snugly before Lincoln....well all my jeans fit but I have a nice what one would call a muffin top in all my jeans, shorts and capris. My jeans fit fine and work, but with all of my tight tops that I own I'm not happy with it. I have been wearing jeans with more flowy tops but I only have a few of those, so these 5 pounds have got to go. I am not going to start working out though for another two weeks until I completely heal. Nate and I have been walking and that helps, but its not going to burn the calories I need to.

So here are my after pregnancy/before working out photos. I am wearing tight yoga pants and a tight t-shirt on purpose to show where it needs to go away. (Yes I find this very brave!)

That little pouch in the front was not there prior.

Little pouch and some back fat that needs to go!

Basically, the extra weight is all in my mid section! This is a new problem. I have never carried any extra weight there but hopefully in a few months I will have some new pictures. I have decided if I lose the weight and get my abs back, I will reward my self by re-piercing my belly button! It's not like the hole that is there will ever go away and honestly it got a bit stretched out during pregnancy, so why not put some nice jewelry back there! I have not had the piercing in since I was 19 and I got it done when I was 16 (Yes a tad early, I was a bit wild before Nate and I began seriously dating!), but I'm feeling adventurous and its either that or a tattoo. I'm going to stick with what I know for now. Maybe tattoo later...

One thing that I was not informed about was that during pregnancy is that your abdominal muscles can split! YIKES! Well I tested my self and I think I have a minor, baby, super tiny, separation like one finger-with big. Basically its not a good idea to do any full sit ups/crunches until the tear is repaired. Good thing I read up on it because I would of been going back to my ab attack workouts of doing planks, sit ups, triangle stands and ball exercises which you should avoid until the separation becomes healed. Here are some great sources on what you can do to fix this problem before you start seriously working out! Basically do a lot of pelvic tilts and you will be all good! If you don't fix this prior to seriously working out you can create a new bulge in your stomach and by the time you recognize it, it will be too late!

http://www.birth.com.au/Emotional-and-physical-recovery/Abdominal-separation

http://www.thepregnancycentre.com.au/post-pregnancy/exercise/postnatal-exercise-guidelines

http://www.pregnancy-info.net/separated_muscles.html

http://www.todaysparent.com/health/exercise/ab-rehab-post-baby-ab-exercises?page=0,2

http://clairemockridge.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/what-exercises-should-be-avoided-when-abdominal-separation-is-present/

http://www.thewomens.org.au/AbdominalmuscleseparationorDiastasis?printView=true

The first two links are my absolute favorite they have pictures and very informative. I will be doing these until 6 weeks postpartum and then I will start running again! YEAH! I can't wait to go for that first run!

Look forward to my favorite work out things and more new parent lessons!

~Julia