The [boring] life of a SAHM

I just said bye to the kids. They are spending the night with my grandparents. This is the first time Addie has ever stayed anywhere over night. In fact-I've never been away from her for more than 6 hours. I already miss her. I am sort of looking forward to tonight though.

DH & I are going to a movie and then hanging out at home. We had been invited to a few church parties but this is our first night alone with no kids. I kind of just want it to be us, spending some quality time together. Not to mention I will have to pump every 2-3 hours and I can't do that if I'm not at home...well, I probably could but just don't want to. Too much of a hassle.

What am I looking forward to the most?

----Having room on the bed! We co-sleep, and while I LOVE it...I miss having my space. There are four of us sleeping on a Queen size bed. Ack! But tonight...I can sleep however I want. I won't have an infant cradled in my arm, I wont be stuck sleeping on my right side all.night.long...waking up to an extremely sore body from being so still...

Whoo!

Today you are 3.5 months old. You can smile, laugh, roll over and hold a conversation in your own little baby babble. You are growing so fast and every day you learn/discover something new. I miss my tiny newborn. Please stay little forever. XOXO, Mommy♥:)

Addie in her jumperoo (a Christmas present but we let her have it early) :)


Her first pair of longies I got off diaperswappers.com



BIG smile

:)

Okay so on diaperswappers.com there is a forum for "thrifty mommas." I'm not really that thrifty and tend to overspend...like I just spent $500 on Addie in the past like 3 weeks. Yikes. But I am going to start *trying* to be a little better with our money. So I was checking out the forum...I don't think I can go to the extent some of the women were going (leaving their thermostat at like 68 in the winter!! ?!?!--I constistently have ours between 75-80 in the winter. I like to be warm.) :)

Anyways, on to the point of this blog-they have a whole list of "freebies" from all kinds of different websites. One caught my eye. A free Tag Jr book from Leap Frog. Here is how to get yours:

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/freebook/splash.html


We bought Braxton Tag Jr for Christmas plus 2 books to go with it. So I saw this offer and was psyched! I signed up for it and was really hoping I would get the book before Christmas so I could wrap it and put it with his other 2 books. Well today, on Christmas Eve it came! Whoohoo! And-it was one he doesn't have yet! My only advice is if you do this-don't buy the Tag Jr system yet. The book comes with a $5 coupon for the system.

I think maybe once a week or so I'll start doing little blogs like this with freebie offers. :)

Looks like we're in for a White Christmas...that doesn't happen too often here. A couple hours ago it started pouring snow and ice. A little too much ice and not enough snow though.

I'm kinda hoping for ALOT more snow so we can take Braxton out to play in it. :)

On the downside-our Christmas plans for today are cancelled and postponed until the roads get better. (They are SLICK!) And if they get any worse we might have to cancel our plans for tomorrow. :(

And to top it all off tomorrow is Christmas & Braxton gets to open all his presents and I cannot find my camera!!! Eeeek! It's gotta be around here somewhere. And when I find it I will have more blogs to write b/c I have to share some of the pics! (Last Sunday was the church play and Braxton was a wiseman! hehe)

I'll be back when I find that camera! ;)

We're going to a movie tonight! Whoo! We're going to see Avatar (Josh got to choose the movie since I chose the last one. (New Moon! ;D))

My grandma is watching both kids for a few hours. I'm so excited! I desperately needed a little break from all the whining and crying. (oh and Addie too.) Yes, my toddler cries more than my 3 month old. Sad.

Poor Addie has a cold though. I feel awful, its her 2nd cold ever and I just leave her. :(( I feel like a failure b/c maybe I could have prevented her from getting the cold...shouldn't my breastmilk be able to do that or something? I thought BF babies rarely got sick yet this is Addies 2nd time....blame it on cold & flu season? Every time she's gotten sick its been b/c Josh, Braxton & I were sick first. :( My poor Addie bug.

Oh well....I'll only be away from her for a few hours, she'll probably sleep the whole time & then I can go back to cuddling & spoiling her. :)

Addie is 3 months old today!!

I'm about to attempt to get some 3 month pics so when I do I'll come back and post a few! :)

Fluff-O-Rama!

the goodmama is having a sale on diapers! 40 percent off!!! Also, if you sign up for the great cloth diaper hunt you will get a coupon code for 10 percent off sent to your email that you can use at any store participating in the hunt. I was able to get a GM diaper for HALF OFF. =D

With shipping I only paid $20. Awesome deal. Thought I'd pass it along. ;)

I got LOTS of fluffy mail this week. :) See above.
Bubele Bums, Bumgenious, Lil Whispers, Econobum. 4 cloth wipes & Bumgenious insert.

Addie is wearing the newest addition-Blueberry dalmation cover over a fitted bamboo dipe.


ADORABLE! But I couldn't get her onesie to close b/c of the bulky-ness. Ironically her onesie says "Does the diaper make my butt look big?" Sorry Addie-yes, it does...but it looks so freakin' cute! ;)

I've got at LEAST another 8-10 diapers coming in the mail...I'll have to post pics when I get them all in. I really can't stop buying. It's addicting.

I'm pretty disappointed with the Christmas Photos I got today. I have been meaning to them all week but with Addie's growth spurt/teething and Braxtons fever yesterday it just wasn't possible. So today both kids were actually in a decent mood so I tried to get a few good "christmas card" shots. Failed. This is what I got.

Here are the Before and After's (editing)

Then just the photos

THE ONLY photo out of 200+ where they are BOTH looking near the camera.

The only photo of Addie looking at me. Through most of the shoot she was just fascinated by her feet. (sitting in her bumbo) this pic was one of the very last I got when she was starting to get a little cranky. I still think its cute though.

Absolutly could not get Braxton to look at me. No matter what I said, he wouldn't glance up. He was mad most of the time about having to sit and take pics. This is the best I could get.

I wish I had time to do another shoot but with Christmas 2 weeks away I need to make Christmas cards and get them printed off, sent out. Siiiigh. Maybe I will try to take some more next week just to have in our family album. ??

Addie is going through her 3 month growth spurt and Braxton is sick with a fever.

Enough said.

Glamour mom nursing tanks are on there today. 50% off which makes them 17.00!!!!!

I just ordered one, they only have 1 color left with 2 sizes available. Better hurry before their gone! :D

Crap, Crap, Crapppppp!

I completely forgot about the 3 month growth spurt. Usually I see them coming and recognize them. For a couple days Addie will do nothing but sleep all day, she will eat very little and is pretty cranky when she IS awake. Then she will transition to being awake ALL day, crying all the time, cranky, cranky CRANKY and will want to nurse all day long for about a week. Sigh.

A few days ago I noticed she was sleeping alot and eating only 4-5 times a day. We're feeding "on demand" so I don't wake her up to eat or anything but she was eating so little I was worried. So I was telling DH about it and about how much she's been sleeping and how I just didn't know what was wrong with her.

DH: "Isn't there like a 3 month growth spurt or something?"
Me: "Oh my gosh, you're RIGHT! Crap! No! NOOOOOO!"

Yeah. I completely forgot. Sigh. I'm not looking forward to this. I've heard this is a tough one. She's been in the sleep all day phase for a few days now so anyday she should be transitioning to the cranky phase. Oh, and I was going to attempt to take the kids Christmas photos sometime this week.

This should be FUN! (Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice?)

Addie had an appointment today with a nutritionist. We are on WIC thru the Health Department so it's kind of a "have to." blah. It went very well though.

The nutritionist was SO nice. We weighed Addie-shes at 13 lbs 3 oz now! Holy cow! 2 weeks ago she was 11 lbs 15 oz! She has almost DOUBLED her birth weight! She's also 24.5 inches long now! So she asked if everything was going okay and I said yes and that was the end of the appointment...kinda crazy.

However, we got to talking and probably sat there sharing breastfeeding stories for 15 minutes or more. She noticed the same thing I have: Around here in the center of the US people are very anti-breastfeeding. She said she rarely sees any bf'ing mothers and with her job, that surprises me! The people around here see breasts as a very sexual thing and as nothing else, which is very annoying! My brother is the WORST. He's almost 30, has 3 kids and thing BF'ing is disgusting. (He doesn't know I am BF'ing) at Thanksgiving I brought pumped milk b/c I know his views. Thank goodness I did b/c there was a show on tv about bf'ing and he started going off about how sick it was and how its just for the moms pleasure (ew!) and that bf'ing moms are pedophiles. O.M.G. I couldn't believe it. I told the nutritionist and she laughed and said "Oh these rednecks around here!" She said she would have been FURIOUS (believe me I was!) and would have gone off on him...I just kept my mouth shut. No need to fuel the fire. :)

Anyways, since I am on WIC & am breastfeeding I get a FREE breastpump! So today I got mine! They are soooo nice! I got the Medela Pump in Style Advanced backpack. It's amazing! It even comes with a small manual pump! I'm so excited b/c this pump is almost $300 on babiesrus!!

While I was there she also gave me something really need. For some reason Blogger doesnt let me post links anymore (is this happening to anyone else?) I would link to it if I could but since I can't its called: Playtex Ortho-Pro teether. It's really neat. It looks like a paci but the "nipple" part is textured. Google it. I've never seen anything like it.

Speaking of teething-I think Addie is. She has been drooling like crazy & gnawing on her hands. Also very fussy, sleeps alot and is eating less. It seems so early to me-Braxton didnt get his first tooth until he was 7 months. But then again I've heard that babies can teeth for months before the tooth actually pops thru. We'll see! :)

Cloth diapers!

I bought 2 off Craigslist:
-A brand new bumGenious (PINK) AIO (size small)
-(Not sure of the brand) Bamboo fitted diaper...still need a cover for it. I'm thinking of buying one from Blueberry Diapers. (They are SUPER cute!)

I ordered a OS pocket diaper on E-bay for super cheap which I have recently been informed is a really crappy brand...haha, so its a good thing I only paid like $6 for it.

I bought another off E-bay, its a Bubele I believe. I got it on Cyber Monday so it was 50% off. ($9) I should have bought more...its a pink & brown polka dot (minky? I think?) AIO OS.

Now I just need about 8-10 more before we can start CD'ing full time! I'm also bidding on several other CD on Ebay...so hopefully I win some! I'm hoping to win some goodmamas and fuzzi bunz!

Is it weird I'm actually EXCITED about this?! :)

I think I forgot to write about this...

Addie had her 2 month appointment on November 18th.

She had to get shots. :( I was very against getting so many at once, if any! But I talked to the dr about it and she would not let us seperate them/delay. :( So I gave in.

Addie did well with them though. She didn't cry when the needle went in-just when the nurse shot the vaccine in her and pulled the needle out, then she was over it in a few seconds. The nurse said she was "braver than all the boy babies." haha

She weighed 11 lbs and 15 oz and was 23 1/4 in long! She's growin!

purchased our first cloth diaper!

I looked on Ebay for some and found a brand new one going for .99, I waited until the bidding was almost over and bid $1.00 and WON! $5 shipping, so not too bad! :)

I'm so excited!

It's a yellow pocket diaper, I also bid on a pink & brown polka dotted AIO but lost. :( so I need to buy an AIO as well.

I can't wait to try this out and see if its something I think we can do! However, I'm not sure it will really save any money b/c at this point I want to buy TONS of diapers in cute designs! ;)

So. I never thought I would cloth diaper. I thought it would be hard, messy, and just gross. However, after learning more about it and how much easier it is NOW then back when all they had was cloth, I think I've changed my mind.

When I thought of cloth diapering before I thought of ugly white prefolds that you had to safety pin closed. Some still use that method but I've found out there are other ways.

Those of you reading probably already know this but I was absolutley clueless: Cloth diapers these days are much more than just a piece of cotton fabric pinned on your baby. You can get AI0's (all in ones) where there are layers of aborbent fabric sewn into the diaper, its the closest thing to disposables, you can get pocket diapers, where there is a pocket for a fabric insert. There are also fitted diapers, contours, All in Twos, One size, and of course the regular prefolds. Not to mention most of these types of diapers either snap or velcro shut. (Also available in SUPER cute patterns!)

Now I am just trying to decide what brand I want to go with. I'm deciding between:

-Kissaluvs
-Happy Heiny
-Bum Genious
-Blueberry

I think I will probably end up trying almost every type (AI0, AI2, OS, pocket) of CD to see what works best for us. I'm so excited!

Also since Addie is exclusivly breastfed the clean up should be super easy until we start solids at 6 months. But honestly-even then it shouldn't be so bad, I mean since Braxton started potty training he's had a few #2 accidents in his underwear. I figured-if I can clean those I can certainly cloth diaper! ;)

Now I just have to order some. Any suggestions on brands?


****Edited to add:
I totally forgot to share my newest obsession:

www.hyenacart.com

It's kinda like etsy but everything is earth-friendly (and SUPER cute I might add.)

For some reason its not letting me paste links from the site...so if you're interested I would definetly reccomend checking out their soft shoes. (just search them) They have some really cute ones!

And search cloth diapers, there is a shop on there that lets you custom order cloth diapers, you choose the type, colors, fabric, everything, for a reasonable price too!

:)

I'm so frustrated. I cannot stand flaky people.

Unfortunatly, Josh and I are friends with the flakiest people alive. My cousin & her DH. We make plans all the time to do stuff, we are lucky if those plans ever actually happen.

For instance-we decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner together tonight. So we split up the dishes & it was decided that Josh and I will provide:
-The turkey
-Chicken & noodles
-Dinner rolls
-Pumpkin cheesecake muffins
-Pumpkin cookies
-White chocolate covered pretzels

& they would provide:
-Home made stuffing
-Mashed potatoes
-Sweet potatoes
-Broccoli Casserole
-Pumpkin Pie
-Cherry Pie
-Pumpkin Cake

(Can you tell we all really love PUMPKIN?!) :)

So last night DH & I go to the grocery store to get all the stuff we need. So I start planning everything out until, I got a text this morning. "Hey we wont be able to have t-day dinner with you guys. we have to start moving today, lindsey didnt realize that." .....Crap.

So now DH has to go to the store to get a box of stuffing...since thats pretty much all I care about. :) Turkey & Stuffing.

It's just sooo frustrating to have everything planned out and then be cancelled on last minute. I am a PLANNER! I need to know what I am doing at all times, I can't handle this spur of the moment kind of lifestyle.

They do this all the time and its getting soooo old.

Vent over. :)

Braxton does the cutest thing now.

When he gets a "boo-boo" he doesn't do what most children do. Yes, he cries and tells me about his boo boo but then he prays for it.

It's so sweet.

His prayer is the same everytime:(though a little backwards..hehe)

"Jesus Name, God, Fix that. Amen." Then he tells me in a very knowing voice "God fixed that." and then he's over the pain the boo boo caused. I LOVE that he is praying at such a young age.

He prays several times a day. Not always for boo-boos, sometimes he will randomly pray for family members like Sissy, Grandma, or Daddy.

♥♥♥

Addie & I :)


She is one HAPPY baby! Every morning when she wakes up and sees me she gets the biggest grin on her face and chuckles. Her giggle is still a work in progress, it's still pretty odd sounding. ;)

We had our "Big Family Thanksgiving" on Sunday. All dressed up :)

Just hanging out at home. Looks like she's ready to fight. haha.

Big brother wanted in on some of the pictures.


Braxton and I were sitting on the couch when he told me he wanted to hold "Ah-wyn". So I let him hold her and he says "Get Cam." (camera) so I get my camera and he starts saying "Cheese! Cheese Mommy!" (Please note this is a VERY rare thing. If I even TRY to get photos of him he starts screaming, hiding his face and runs away. Sigh. It's kind of my fault. I took THOUSANDS of pics of him his first year...

Shes recently discovered her tongue. She's always sticking it out now.



Laughing.