Celebrating 28 Years

Today I celebrate 28 years of existing. No, that’s wrong. Not just existing - Experiencing. (I can tell you that it gets better with every year that passes) I’ve got a few more dollars in my pocket, a few more friends in my life, and I am just a little bit better at everything than I was when I turned 27.

I fell even more madly in love this year. I grew a person and brought her into this world with nothing more than my body and sheer will and determination. I’m tough as nails these days.

I know exactly who I am. I know what makes me happy. I awake each day to live with purpose.

I am lead by my husband’s hands, carried by the soft crevice where my daughter’s neck meets her cheek, sustained by my open door into new and exciting possibilities.

I am here...

Greeting the start of my 28th year

Arms spread open...

Experiencing

Vaccinations

4 month shots - so brave!

I’ve debated discussing this subject on my blog because it is a very HOT topic among parents, but after some thought, I’ve decided to post about our vaccination decisions for Aliyah.

I’ve really dug in and read and read and read on this as it IS scary - I’ve poured through the Dr. Sears sites, reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics and many autism and anti-vaccination websites. You hear so many people say “I had all my vaccinations and I turned out fine” But children today do have nearly 3 times more vaccinations than we received growing up.

I very much believe in the value of vaccines as they have almost eradicated very scary diseases like Polio among our population. Additionally, I continue to see new studies that have disproven the “autism scare" - but I have never been one to believe that we as humans know all of the effects of modern science and medicine (hence my personal choice to have a natural childbirth) and so I poured over all of the information from every side of the debate with a skeptical eye.

After looking at it all, Tyler and I decided that we fall somewhere in the middle - Aliyah is getting vaccinated on the schedule set-up by her pediatrician. We LOVE her (and her 5 beautiful sons) and trust her fully. One of her boys has autism and she has done a ton of research herself along those lines.

However, we did not give Aliyah the Hep B shot in the hospital because babies can sometimes have reactions to shots (sore legs, fever, extra crankiness) and we did not want this to interfere with getting breast feeding off to a good start - our pediatrician also recommended that we wait to start the Hep B shot for those same reasons. And as for now, we have chosen to opt out of the flu and H1N1 vaccines.

Our thoughts:

1. Because so many people are choosing to forgo vaccinations all together, diseases that were almost eradicated are beginning to pop back up in the US - measles, mumps, even cases of tuberculosis. Personally, I would be scared to get on an airplane (with people from all over the world in close contact) or even let her play on a crowded playground with other children for fear she could be put at risk at contracting something I could have vaccinated her against.

2. We plan to travel internationally with Aliyah when she is a child and we want the protection of vaccinations before we go.

3. Neither of our families have a history of auto-immune diseases or autism that would make her genetically at a higher risk for having a severe reaction to vaccines. There are many families that do have these genetic predispositions and for those families I can understand why they might choose not to vaccinate.

4. Yes, kids get 3 times more shots than we did when growing up, however, they receive a significant less amount of Thimerosal within those vaccines than we did (Thimerosal is a preservative that is approximately 50% mercury by weight - most vaccines are now made without Thimersoal at all).

5. (Here is a real hot button topic) In my opinion, based on ALL of the factors regarding our daughter and vaccines, we feel that is our duty to our family and our community to vaccinate our child. If every parent chose not to vaccinate, we’d see huge resurgences of some of these very deadly and scary diseases that have been controlled over the years by vaccines. Most parents who choose not to vaccinate do so under the assumption that these diseases are no longer an issue for our society and that they have blanket immunity due to the majority of children being vaccinated. This is true - but our decision to vaccinate her is, in our opinion, what is safest for Aliyah and for all of the children in our surrounding community as a whole.

We have chosen this route because it is what WE are most comfortable with for our child. Every parent has their own reasons and levels of comfortability with these studies - It is not an easy decision for anyone as we must weigh the benefits and risks of all options and decide what is best for our families.

So there you go. We feel really confident in the route we are taking regarding vaccinations and hope the same for other families facing this difficult decision.

Faith

Just a short note to you today, my sweet Ali-gator. Inside of me, the sweet moments of being your mother and Tyler's wife are mixed with worry for what this world holds for you as you grow up. You will see things in your life that you have little or no control over... I have seen a catastrophic oil spill in the gulf, tragic natural disasters in Haiti and New Orleans and I’ve felt an overwhelming sadness as I have followed a blog about a sweet kiddo who lost her battle with cancer.

Oh how I wish I had the power to protect you from everything. I wish I was strong enough to fight off every physical harm and smart enough to cure any ailment that may find you.

I wish my love for you was enough to keep it all away.

Even with all of the tools and technology of this modern world, often the only thing that brings me comfort is prayer. I have asked God more times than I can count to please let you grow to be a very old lady, to let your heart experience the same kind of love I feel for you and maybe, if possible, let your father and I be around long enough to see those things happen.

Sometimes on this journey called motherhood, the only thing that keeps me from feeling so incredibly small is putting my faith in something so incredibly BIG.

Love, Mom

Espionage

Sleep: What Works for Us

A friend gave me a great bit of advice when I was attempting to read a parenting book before Aliyah was born. She said “Every baby is unique. There is no book that will give you all the answers, so don’t worry too much about trying to follow them - do what you need to do for your baby and family”

I liked that. It resonated with me - but the planner in me still had a desire to read and learn all I could about how to care for Aliyah effectively. I browsed a couple websites on sleep and talked with a few other moms. I took away 2 main things that I decided made sense for us:

1. Stick to a bedtime(ish)

2. Stick to a bedtime routine

During the day Aliyah naps when she wants to. We don’t follow a schedule. Occasionally, I’ll put her down for a nap in her crib but mostly she sleeps wherever she happens to be - in her carseat, in her sling, in my arms, in her swing, wherever. This makes sense for us because we have been getting out of the house a lot - walking, running errands, visiting with friends. We’re lucky because Aliyah can sleep just about anywhere - and sleeps better when there is a buzz of activity going on around her. She gets restless if the room is perfectly quiet so her daytime lullaby tends to be our barking dogs, the cell phone ringing, or the hum of voices in a busy restaurant.

2 months old

Before she was 8 weeks old - we had no routine at all. We just did what we had to do to get her comfortable and asleep but for the past month we’ve been TRYING to stick to a “get ready for bed” routine with the following steps:

* Start between 7:30-8:30pm

* Turn down the lights in our room and turn on her sleep sheep

* Change her diaper and put her in a sleep sack (we used to swaddle her until she houdini-ed her way out)

* Nurse her until she’s full

* Give her a binky. I wasn’t sure if I wanted her to be a binky baby but after reading that studies have shown it can reduce the risk of SIDS, I was all for it - plus she seems to love it.

* Even though she’s too young to really know what we’re saying, we started reading to her from a stack of "goodnight" books. We read until her eyes start to get heavy and then we lay her down while she is still awake.

* Then we turn on her baby monitor and enjoy a couple hours to ourselves in the basement. In the beginning she would fuss some and we’d go in and make sure her binky hadn’t fallen out and rub her head a bit until she settled down. We always check on her if she fusses for more than 30 seconds. Now, she only fusses if her binky has fallen out, and most of the time, as soon as you put it back in her mouth she is content and falls asleep on her own.

With this routine, we are getting her to sleep for 5-6 straight hours - waking up at 2am for a quick feeding and diaper change (less than 20 minutes) - and then we lay her back down awake and she falls asleep and usually doesn’t wake up again until around 6am. When she wakes up in the morning we bring her in the bed with us to nurse and cuddle until we get up. This is what has been working the past 2 weeks.

Between 2 and 3 months she would sleep for 10 hours straight... but then month 3 hit - I felt as if she was back on an infant sleeping schedule again *UGH* But now with our routine, she is back to sleeping longer. Maybe a growth spurt - Maybe Aliyah likes to change things up so she doesn't get bored...

Every baby is different - some sleep in 3 hour blocks for months and others are sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old. But our once a night wake up is working for all of us right now because we wake up fairly rested and ready for the day.

There is one thing that has made our life easier:

Swaddling/Sleep Sacks. Even when she fought it initially - swaddling her made her sleep more soundly and for longer periods of time. Now that she’s getting bigger and stronger, we've been using the zip sleep sacks. The change was tough at first, but now wearing the sack gives her a signal that it is time for bed.

Aliyah in her sleep sack and new pony (thanks aunt penny!)

She looks ready for bed, huh?

I feel like this post is a bit all over the place - but this is what has worked for us. Like I said earlier, every baby has unique needs when it comes to a sleep routine - I’m really interested to hear tips and tricks from other new parents. What has been a lifesaver for you when it comes to getting your baby to sleep?

SHE LAUGHED...

...and my heart swelled so big

that

it very nearly burst out of my chest

Where do the Socks Go?!?

Does anyone care to school me in the fine art of keeping socks/shoes on baby feet? (rubber bands? glue?????)

I’m starting to believe that there is an elaborate hoax concocted by the baby footwear industry and they have some how magnetized all baby socks/shoes in such a way that at least one leaps from the baby’s foot as soon as you aren’t looking.

but this is just my theory... (or maybe a sign that I really do need a bit more sleep)

Feeling a Wee Bit Feisty

... So I decided to take my hat and my daughter and run a few errands around town

We made a pit stop in the Pottery Barn Kid's bathroom and decided it was a good place for a cell phone photo op - I think you can see the shine off her bald little head.

GOODNESS I love this girl

Money Saving Monday

Tyler and I have been doing our grocery errands over the weekend and using tons of coupons to get some really great deals. Here is a quick summary of our trip this past weekend:


3 Bags of Tidy Cats: FREE
6 Cans of Soup: FREE
2 Rolls of Paper Towels: FREE
2 Cans of Shaving Cream: FREE
Alive Multivitamin: FREE
2 Boxes of Milano Cookies: FREE
4 Bags of Steamers: FREE

3 Guard Deodorants: FREE

Mini Edy's Ice Cream Cup: FREE
(not pictured) 6 Revlon Lip Gloss: FREE
(not pictured) 1 Revlon Nail Polish: FREE
Mac & Cheese: .15 each
2 Bags of Steamers: .20 each
Kraft Singles: .28 each
8 Bags of Steamers: .50 each

Everything else was a great deal too. It is all about saving your coupons to match up with store sales!! i.e. The cat litter was on sale for $1 at Hy-Vee and I was able to use a $1 off coupon.

Here are some websites I have found helpful...

My Favorite:
Penny Pinchin' Mom - good blog for local KC deals

(hen house/hy-vee/price chopper) and more

Store Match-Ups:
I Heart CVS
I Heart Wags (walgreens)
Totally Target

Informative:
Hot Coupon World

Free Online Printable Coupons:
Coupons.com
Red Plum
Smart Source

Other Fun Coupon Blogs:
Gina Kokopelli
Krazy Coupon Lady
Hip 2 Save

(PS - happy birthday to our sweet Alexia... she is 9 today!!)

The Beatles

Last week we decided to meet up with Bebop and YaYa to have dinner and watch Rain: a Beatles tribute band.

The Beatles have touched so many people and it is down right crazy to think about how one group (shortly lived) changed music, history and the way people view this world. They sang happy songs. sad songs. trippy songs. and they sang peaceful songs.

Tyler and I both grew up with John, Paul, George and Ringo singing endlessly on the record player throughout our home. I would even hear a Beatles tune strummed on my dad's guitar while he and my mom sang in harmony - actually, I am still lucky enough to catch that at my parents' house most every time we visit.

The love that our parents have for this rock band has carried over into our own adult lives: We have had pet rats (yes, I know... not as creepy as you may think) named Prudence and Lucy -- We play Beatles Rock Band on the Play Station -- My parents sang "Two of Us" while my dad played the guitar at our wedding -- We have Beatles Trivial Pursuit -- Tyler really wanted Aliyah's name to be Shea b/c that was the first stadium the Beatles played at in the US (side note: I wanted another name, so we ditched both and came up with Aliyah) -- If we had a boy, we both loved the name Jude -- All three of us have some kind of Beatles clothing -- And many Beatles records that we still play often in our living room...

There may be more, but that is just what I can come up with off the top of my head. Needles to say, we LOVE the Beatles.

During the show at sandstone I held Aliyah in her pink pea-coat as she watched quietly. Tyler rested his arm around my shoulder while we rocked back and forth singing to each other and to Aliyah. At the end, we stood swaying and waving peace signs singing "give peace a chance" - It is moments like this that I love to replay in my head over and over.

Just a Couple of Modern Day Hippies

Pizza and Pears

We have a pear tree in our backyard and two years ago it grew a TON of pears...

(Fall 2008)

Last year we didn't have very many and would only eat what we could pick off the tree here-and-there. This year, when we saw that there was an abundance of little buds on the tree, we were on top of the game. Here are a few clips of our adventures canning pears at our "Pizza and Pears" party (this may have to be an annual event):

Tyler, Aliyah and I wore green to our pear canning party

Of course we need cans (and a few other supplies)

We couldn't have had our pear party without such great help!

Canning pears

Delicious! Looking forward to using some of these in a few months to make baby food!

Drool Monster

FEAR THE DROOL MONSTER!!!!! Wa ha ha ha!

Seriously, is there an off valve to this kid’s drool faucet?

Good gracious!

The Great Weight Update

I posted about a month and a half ago about my commitment to lose the rest of my baby weight by my birthday. I received all kinds of feedback - with most folks saying, “Marcie, give yourself some time” and I know that is true - but I didn’t want to give it time. I didn’t want to have to buy an entirely new wardrobe while I waited for the weight to slowly melt away. I didn’t want to shove myself in spanks every time I wanted to wear a slim fitting shirt. The baby was out and I wanted my body back!

I’m so stubborn (and maybe a little more vain than I thought I was) but I really beat myself up over it. I don’t know how many of you watch the E! reality show Kendra, but the scene where all of her beautiful friends have come to visit and she’s crying in the bedroom while holding onto her belly pooch and telling her husband “I don’t feel pretty” after the birth of her son - Well that was EXACTLY what was going down in our home too.

It was silly and maybe a bit irrational - but that’s how I honestly felt, no matter how much I tried to pretend like I didn’t care. So my goal was to lose the lingering 10 pounds I had gained with pregnancy (NOTE: I gained 32 pounds total but still had 10 to lose about 1 month after she was born). I tried doing this workout video in our living room. (Talk about hilarious - I am SO not graceful) I also cut out my “snacking” and walk more (although - I admit it was hard to give up a sweet treat after dinners).

Breastfeeding has been wonderful in helping me slim down too - My belly is finally starting to look a little flatter - (and until then ALL HAIL THE SPANKS!) I’ve currently lost 5lbs of the 10 that I had left to lose and I’m ok with stopping there. I decided I’d like to keep this booty and boobs I’ve acquired and if that means I weigh more - so be it. I recently went out and bought some larger sized jeans and tops and I’m no longer having body-image pity parties in our bedroom.

I feel good now. Every woman has her own opinions on what is her "ideal" body weight, myself included. Now I look in the mirror while changing clothes and realize that maybe my ideal has shifted. I like these curvier hips and having a real-life actual butt and cleavage.

So I’m happily keeping the 5 pounds I gained with growing a child and enjoying the fact that I’ve got a little more BA-DOW! in my favorite black dress. This body of mine has accomplished some pretty amazing feats in the last year and I’m through with giving it a hard time and ready to start embracing its awesomeness.

Yours in hips and boobs,

M.I.

Awesome Nine Month Video

The creation of a new little life never, ever gets old. Beautiful.

Getting a GREAT Deal

This couponing thing is getting quite exciting as I start to really see the abundance of great deals fall into my lap. Reading through the coupon blogs that I have marked as 'favorites' on my computer, I know that I have only gotten my toes wet compared to what is possible - I totally get how this can become addicting... especially after the trip Tyler, Aliyah and I made to CVS last Wednesday evening when we MADE money!!

It all started last week when I went into CVS b/c I had a few coupons. I walked out of the store with 2 boxes of FREE Wheat Thins and paid .50 for 2 boxes of Cheez-Its. But the best deal was the print-out from the store offering a $25 gift card to CVS if we started a prescription at their pharmacy.

It just-so-happened that Tyler needed a prescription filled and I had found some great match-ups with my coupons at CVS this week - hence, the Wednesday evening trip to see what kind of magic we could make happen.

We paid $5 for the prescription and got the $25 gift card (FREE MONEY)

Then, we matched up my coupons with deals that were going on in the store and got all these items:

(4 Sobe drinks free... I actually made .99 when buying the gum... bought some baby stuff as gifts for pregnant friends along with some wash for Miss Aliyah - oh! and a snack for Tyler & me)

As I was trying to calculate everything in my head while we walked back to the car I asked Tyler, "So do you think that was a good deal?" Tyler quickly replied while briskly putting the bags in the car (with his head down) "Just get in the car, I will explain it on the way home."

Whoa... what was that all about?!?

We get in the car and I soon realize that Tyler felt he had completed some top-secret covert mission - very proudly, "We can't tell anyone what we did... we made money off of CVS... Do you realize that we spent $5 and walked out with $15 in our pocket?!?"

I started laughing. GOOD! That is what I have been reading about in all those coupon blogs. This is why I spend an hour or so clipping each week. This is why I have color tabs to help organize all my clipped coupons - YEAH!

And on a side note, there are people that coupon who are not always honest about the deals they get... and I don't recommend it! I have never been one to stumble outside the lines when it comes to being honest. You can truly get a GREAT deal with a little work saving coupons and looking for sales - I have proof!!

When our trip was finished, we left with $15 that we didn't have when we entered the store (about $11 eb - money the store gives you to come back and spend - and $4 left on our gift card from the pharmacy)

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

34 YEARS & SOooooo IN LOVE...

Out of Diapers

There are actually two different stories that go along with being "Out of Diapers"

1. A few weeks ago we knew that we were getting low on our small stash of throw-away diapers. We had been using disposables at night and tossing one in the car dashboard 'just in case'

... Well, the night came when Tyler and I were staring at each other around 9pm after we had ransacked the diaper bag, car, and house without one disposable diaper in our possession. Ali was tired so we decided to be brave and double up the cloth. I am proud to announce that we have not bought any disposable diapers since that night... cloth diapering at night is not as scary as we thought

2. We are using cloth diapers for Aliyah 24/7 now which means no slacking on my laundry duties. I was doing really great until Labor Day Weekend - Aliyah's first KSU football game/trip to Manhattan, another outdoor concert, visiting Mojo (Tyler's good friend), and a few delicious meals with our families - BUSY & FUN!

... Well, Tuesday morning came and I was ransacking the house, car, diaper bag for a fresh cloth diaper - nothing! I frantically threw the clean diaper load into the dryer and searched my brain for a creative solution while we waited.

I decided to take my happy naked baby to the bath and let her splash around... she loved it.

Aliyah played happily until I heard the dryer buzz... thank goodness for creative solutions and a flexible baby.

Quick Question

How hard do you think it will be to convince Aliyah to bypass the Taylor Swift/Miley Cyrus stage and go right into Stevie Nicks?

Flustered With a Hungry Baby

Every Friday I have been getting together with my good friend, Carrie. I am so happy that we have reconnected again since high school. (We had been meeting with Patty too, who I also love dearly, but that busy mama started back teaching a few weeks ago) We were on the cheerleading squad together our senior year and apart of StuCo. You can image all the crazy fun stuff we used to do!! Almost 10 years later we are back together again... with kids! These girls are so fun and bright and such wonderful mothers to their sweet kiddos!

I know there are a ton of pictures with the three of us together, but all I could find were these pictures of us that I got off of Facebook: not the best quality, but you get the idea...

(Holy Bangs! What was I thinking?!?)

Recently, Carrie has been showing me how to get a good deal and I am SO excited about it. We have been meeting at her house over lunch enjoying our kids and adult conversation. I will hopefully post a blog about my coupon experiences, but until then - you can check out Carrie's post a while back about what she does: The Diggins Universe

After our visit this past Friday I decided to make a quick stop and use some of my coupons. I feel like every time Aliyah and I go out, there is an imaginary stop-watch ticking just over my shoulder... clean diaper, full belly, just had a nap... ready. set. GO! I seriously considered stopping to nurse her on the way home after our last stop, but just hustled in the car and took the last turn on two wheels with her screaming at the top of her lungs.

Can I confess something? When Aliyah is starving and crying - I sometimes get so unbelievably flustered. I hate the idea of her being hungry so in a rush to feed her, I break into a sweat and fumble with my top and usually wind up standing topless in the middle of our room trying to get baby to boob as quick as possible.

Does this happen to anyone else?

It’s amazing how this post went from talking about a nice afternoon with my friend to me ripping my clothes in 10 seconds flat.

Ah, motherhood.

My Whole Heart in One Little Photo

Day One

My dearest girl,

Today is the anniversary of Day One. The first day the switch flipped inside me, turning every thought and dream I ever carried for your father and I into something bigger than the both of us. Today is the anniversary of the day we learned I was pregnant with you.

When I started this blog around one year ago, I was trying desperately to corral the flood of emotion that began to spill out of me as soon as I learned you were to be. I wanted to harness the thousands of thoughts that penetrated my daily routine, ran through my dreams, existed just beneath my surface and put them somewhere so that one day you could go back and discover just how beautifully your existence impacted us.

In the 365 days since your father and I stood staring in disbelief at one another in our bedroom, me holding a positive pregnancy test in one hand and Tyler wearing the most ridiculously wide grin across his face - you have turned us upside down.

We are everything we were before, but better - deeper in our convictions, stronger in our passions, more devoted in our journey for a happy life. We could never, truly understand your impact, until you were there - tangible in our arms.

I’ll never forget those first moments when we all stared at one another, you blinking your little blue eyes trying to make out shapes in your new world, and us - trying to wrap our brains around the fact that this wet, pink little person lying on my chest was equal parts of both of us, our little girl, our responsibility and the beginning of a very real and sometimes intimidating journey.

Thank you for bearing with us as we have tried to figure things out. We try every day to make the very best decisions for you so that you will one day grow up to be brave and intelligent and loving. Thank you for being good to us - for eating well, and sleeping well and drizzling our days with your heart-bursting smile. You are so much more than we ever could have possibly imagined, Aliyah Jacquelyn. We are so blessed to have the privilege of raising you.

love on top of love,

your mama

Family Dinner in the Neighborhood

The weather has been absolutely perfect the past few days and we’ve taken advantage of it by getting out for a good long walk every night. Last night, our hungry bellies convinced us we should walk in the direction of our neighborhood sandwich/pizza place. We ate subs while Aliyah watched a group of older children playing nearby. It’s fun to think about what she’ll be like whe she’s that age - I get a kick out of imagining her running around with uneven pigtails and pizza sauce all over her face.

And of course our trip would not be complete without dessert! It just-so-happened that a new self-serve frozen yogurt place was celebrating it's grand opening right next door - yummm! I got raspberry with granola on top and Tyler spotted another opportunity to teach Aliyah some sign language - COW