Kicked the habit

That? That right there? That, my bloggy friends, is an empty paper towel rack. We have made it one month without paper towels! My husband doesn't miss them at all. I am still a paper towel addict and really want to reach for one for just about anything, but a dish rag or towel is a reach away instead. No paper napkins too! With the exception of an extra load of laundry, it has been an easy switch!

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Mommy Ingenuity

I'd have to say there is definitely a learning curve to becoming a mother.  There's plenty that you know you will have to learn, it's just a matter of figuring it out for yourself. 

However, there are tasks that you become capable of doing once you become a parent that you may have thought could only be achieved by magicians and optical illusions.

1. How many ways can I get my boob out of my shirt - If the baby is hungry, the baby is hungry NOW!  He does not have time to wait for you to figure out how to discreetly get your boob available for his meal.  GET-IT-OUT-NOW!  I've learned a good number of tricks to being able to nurse in any given outfit that I might dress myself in that day and in just about any position you can throw at me without revealing my goods to the entire world.  BRING IT!
2. Mary Poppins-ish diaper bag - You think Mary Poppins had a lot in her bag, check out the diaper bags that my husband and I are capable of packing.  Packing a diaper bag is tricky business - How many diapers do we need?  Remember to pack the wipes.  I packed a change of outfit.  But what if he needs ANOTHER outfit?  I better to pack another, just in case.  Even though he doesn't like pacifiers, I better pack one just in case he spontaneously decides he likes one while we are out.  His butt looks clear but better pack the diaper cream.  He's four months old and his hand is enough to keep him entertained, but we gotta be sure to pack a toy...OK two three toys just in case his hand is unavailable.  Grab a blanket, just in case and it can double as a nursing cover.  Hand sanitizer, for the love of all that is holy, don't forget the hand sanitizer.  Burp cloth...two or three.  OK, you get the point.  It's ridiculous.
3. Changing a diaper...ANYWHERE - The first time we had to change lil' man's diaper away from home (at home we have a nice changing table) the words "Where do we change him?" actually came out of my husband's mouth.  Oh, how far we have come in just a few short months.  Give me about three square inches of space and we are probably able to change him.  Short of actually holding him vertical and changing his diaper mid-air (which I'm sure plenty of people have done), we have done it all and could be creative enough to figure it out. 
4. The 6-armed parent - After becoming a parent, you have developed the ability to hold ten things, move two others, pick-up something else, while throwing away garbage, while taking a picture and rock the baby and at the same time make a bottle....all simultaneously.  OK, perhaps I'm slightly exaggerating.  But basically you become able to multi-task with your hands, your elbows, your knees, your chin, your toes. 

What skills have you developed??

Daddy has an important job

The hubby has an important job.  It's not the fact that he is a SAHD that cares for our child each and every day.  It's not that he tends to the house by doing laundry and dishes and yard work.  It's not that he is amazing to me and loves me and supports me emotionally. ALL of these jobs make him amazing and wonderful...but that's not what I'm referring to.

I've been back to work almost three months since my maternity leave ended and I still hate putting lil' man back in his crib after the morning feeding to leave and go to work.  I have 16 pictures on my desk of him and I have two monitors and both have his picture as the wallpaper.  OK, so perhaps slightly overboard.  I just love seeing his face all day long.  Not only do I require  these 16 pictures, but that's not enough for me.  I request for picture updates from home.  That's where my hubby comes in.  The 'picture of the day' he texts me is something I anticipate with great excitement!  I don't know when it'll come or what it will be.  I just know that when I get that little beep on my phone, I can't wait to see what present I have in my inbox!  See?!  I told you it was an important job.....

Monday's Picture - just a lil' tummy time

Tuesday's Picture - the men in my life

Wednesday's Picture - my happy lil' man!

Pregnancy - the aftermath

Did you just have a baby?  You survived the long seventeen years nine months of pregnancy, you popped out a kid and you think you're done and all you have to do is raise your beautiful baby girl or boy.  You think since you survived those long months of pregnancy related side-effects, you are ready to go back to the way "things used to be."  Wrong!

If you are one of those people that gives birth and hops right into your pre-pregnancy clothes, try not to rub it in to the rest of us.  If you are one of those people that doesn't suffer from any of the following ailments post-pregnancy, this is not for you....and I repeat, try not to rub it in.....

1. Feet - Pregnant women tend to have swollen feet during pregnancy.  I didn't exactly have swollen feet....mine were more like hot air balloons on the bottom of my ankles.  I spent the last few months in flip flops because not even Frankenstein's boots would have covered those bad boys.  So a few weeks after pregnancy, when the swelling subsided, I was finally ready to get back into all my cute shoes.  Well call me a Cinderella's stepsister, because most of my shoe collection no longer fits.  So those few people that you may hear about that their feet permanently grow after pregnancy - yeah.....I got that....All those pretty shoes in my closet that don't serve a purpose anymore - OH THE HUMANITY!!!
2. Post-pregnancy brain - I know that some women get upset when people talk about "pregnancy brain."  I don't think people are trying to insult pregnant women, only merely point out that their minds might not be working as effectively.  Whether the flood of hormones is overtaking parts of it or you are too busy googling every random symptom you have or picking out crib bedding to pay attention to other things, either way, things might be fuzzy.  Is it just me or is post-pregnancy a legitimate thing too?  I guess this is what is meant by "mommy brain."  How can I be searching all over my car for my sunglasses to find they are on my head?  How can I forget what day of the week it is?  No, seriously...what day is it?
3. Sleep - Is an explanation necessary here?  You just had a baby...sleep is a pastime.  In the 3rd trimester, people cruelly tell you "Hurry and get sleep while you still can!"  That is cruel because in the 3rd trimester, with the round ligament pains, hip pains, peeing every 30 seconds, hot flashes and Braxton-Hicks contractions, it's a wonder you got any sleep at all.  And as you would expect, little junior you just birthed is up and ready to eat, regardless of what sleep you would like to get.  Unlike my enormous feet, this at least gets better with time....
4. Hot flashes -  Yes, I was the pregnant woman wearing flip flops (because my feet were huge) without a coat (because my belly everything was huge) in 40 degree weather and was still sweating.  Now that my hormones are under control, this is much better, but I feel like I'm still HOT!  What up?!
5. Period - There's a silver lining to all this pregnancy and post-pregnancy madness - NO PERIOD!  This is Mother Nature's piddly consolation prize for the other torture fun times you have endured growing your human.  However, don't get excited yet.  When is it going to start back?  There's no telling.  That means you might want to start stocking up some feminine protection in your purse again.  Since, over the last 9 months, you've probably given away all your tampons to your girlfriends who weren't in a delicate state, you might be the unsuspecting fool when Aunt Flo decides to come to town. 

Are we having fun yet?  HA!

What weird changes have you experienced that you didn't expect?

[Note:  I say these things in jest.  Every bit of pregnancy and post-pregnancy is absolutely worth it when you give birth to your peeing, pooping, cooing, smiling, chubby, curious, adorably baby and your heart bursts ]

Baby's 1st Parade - St. Patty's Day

Babywearing Daddy took William to his 1st parade for St. Patty's Day.  I was sad to not have been able to make it - that pesky work thing, ya know.  Aren't they cute?!

Spring is almost here....

Spring is almost here.  It's starting to warm up and thanks to daylight savings, it's finally still light out when I get off work!  Taking a walk on the riverfront with my boys - good start to the weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday - spit up happens

Too soon to potty train?

I'm done.  I'm practically to the end of my rope with diapers.  We spent a long weekend away from home this past weekend and made the decision to use disposable diapers.  Since we would be traveling and staying in hotel one night, we figured this would be the best option since doing laundry would be out of the question and our stash is not large enough to last an entire long weekend. 
Let's just say that I'm glad we packed plenty of extra outfits for lil' man.  Leak after leak after leak with the 'sposies.  Have I been using cloth diapers long enough that I just don't know how to put on a darn diaper to prevent leaking?!  We even had two different brands and had problems with both!  Grrr....it made me miss my cloth.

So we get back home and the first diaper change, William was back in cloth.  More leaks overnight and this morning.  OK, seriously....what is going on!!!  I'm going to keep an eye to see if perhaps the diapers need to be stripped?  I've never done this and I really don't know how to tell if that's what the problem is. 

Is four months old too soon to start potty training?  HA!

One year later....

Happy one year of blogging at Does This Baby Make Me Look Fat!  I started this blog to track the months thru pregnancy and thru the experience of becoming a new mommy and many things in between.

One year ago was the day the day we found out our lives would change forever when we saw Two Lines on a simple pregnancy test that would start us on a roller coaster of adventure.  It's been quite a journey so far....

Happy one year later and all the good things a year can bring!!!

[Today my baby is 4 months old too!!  Time has flown by and I have fallen in love with our new family!]

Tipping Point - tumbling towards green

If you would have asked me a few years ago what "green" meant, I probably would have told you it was the color of trees and Kermit the frog.  Sadly, I'm actually kinda serious. 

When Adam brought up using cloth diapers almost a year ago, it resulted in a fight.  He suggested it, I completely fought back!  No way will I agree to reuse diapers and wash poo.  Sounds like a lot of work and I'm not OK with that. 

Then I did my own homework and fell in love with the idea of cloth diapering.  I found great resources and blogs that supported cloth diapering and with those came other ideas...green ideas [and not the Kermit the frog kind]. 

Hubby and I have recently made the switch to cloth napkins for meals at home.  We have a stack in our napkin holder, just as we always had - but they are cloth instead of paper now.  Totally easy switch!  Our collection of cloth napkins (which I made sure to find super sales, since I'm not much for sewing my own) cost about as much as a pack of napkins!  Love eliminating waste and saving money!

I have a confession....I love paper towels.  I could probably use nearly an entire roll to clean the house and everything else that you can think of.  We are slowly saying goodbye to paper towels (insert sad face here).  Cleaning is done with washable sponges and rags and towels.  [What a concept, I know]  Another great savings and definitely minimizing waste (insert happy face here).

Spring is very near and I'm already thinking about getting out the rain barrel.  We used it for the first time last year to be able to water our flowers and garden.  If you want to make an easy change to minimize water usage with no effort - this is the way to go.  Once it's set up, the barrel and the weather do all the work...it's THAT easy, folks!

I recently opted out of receiving yellow pages too!  This was a suggestion I hadn't thought of and read from Go Green.  There were three printers in my area!  That's three massive books that I wouldn't give a second glance at since I have internet at my fingertips. 

You know those pesky pesky letters that come in the mail, whether it's from a bank or local group?  The ones you don't even take the 10 seconds to open and throw right in your garbage can recycling bin?  Ask to be removed from the mailing lists.  Those mailings really add up!  I've made a few phone calls to be removed from these that we received.

Recycling!  Once we started to recycle, the trash we set out the curb each week was down to almost nothing! 

Composting!  We only compost in the spring/summer/fall months, but this also cut down on our trash.  It was so much easier than I thought!  We kept super small trash can with lid on kitchen counter and while we cooked, we put scraps in there and took out to the compost.  Pretty easy to manage and use.  Easy peasy!

No more plastic water bottles.  We keep a few reusable ones on hand instead.  A lot cheaper too!

Alternate ways of wrapping presents!  Instead of using wrapping paper, try giving the gift in a basket or in an adorable, reusable shopping bag that the recipient can keep as a bonus!  [I must confess, I'm not perfect at this yet, but I'm getting better!]

To avoid some of the chemicals we are using, we are changing our habits with the cleaning  products and landscaping products we use.  We are using natural and organic products as alternatives to what we would normally be using.  I feel a lot better knowing we are not exposing William, our dog and ourselves to unnecessary chemicals and products.

A year ago I would not have been interested at all in making eco-friendly changes.  Little did I know how easy it would be!  One thing led to another, which led to another, which started resulting in difference.  It's so easy to make little changes at a time and it results in visible cost savings too! 

What changes have you made lately to be more green?

Baby's best friend

I swear....although I've been absent in bloggy-land, I'm still alive.

I'm going to be THAT mom again and post all my pictures and videos of how frickin' cute my kid is....I just can't help it.  This video cracks me up.  The level of excitement that my {almost} 4 month old expresses for his glow worm toy warms my heart.  Seriously...he LOVES it!  He reaches for it and loves to give it kisses [OK...more like he's teething and he tries to put glow worm in his mouth - even so...]  hehe

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