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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My love

There's no need for me to state out loud that I don't know a darn thing about photography.  I love being able to see pictures that people post of their children or things around them that are breathtaking and beautiful and perfectly shot with the perfect lighting.  I just don't possess those skills to take that kind of picture.  Not a big deal - I am perfectly able to capture moments that I want to cherish later, just in an "average" kind of way. 

There are times though, regardless of my ability, that I capture a picture that still melts my heart....

The other 'child'

If you followed my blog before 3 months, 1 week and 6 days ago, when William was born, you would know that I have a puppy (OK, he's not exactly a puppy, he's 1.5 years old).  Before the birth of our son, he was our 'baby'.  All our pictures were of Tressel (named after the Ohio State football coach - yes, I'm a HUGE Ohio State fan).  We would run errands and Tressel was right next to us.  We would make trips multiple times a week to Doggy Disneyland (aka the dog park).  He was our guy. 

Everyone tried to tell us that after you have a baby, you just don't focus on your dog as much.  Sadly, this has come true.  We haven't made all those visits to the dog park.  We're lucky to capture Tressel in the background of one of the hundreds of pictures of William.  We bring William with us to run errands and that leaves much less room for Tressel to join.  

So far, Tressel has been such a great 'big brother'.  He is so gentle with lil'man and if Liam cries, Tressel either panics and comes to get hubby and me or he stays close to try to comfort him.  He has definitely been jealous.  If I'm feeding lil' man or he's snuggled on my chest, Tressel feels he needs to cuddle too and pulls all 80 pounds of him onto my hubby's lap or chest.  (it's somewhat hilarious to watch, actually)  He will always be our 'baby' too.  We still love him and I think he'll be perfect and ready to be best friends with lil' man as he grows up!



The love has grown

I love my hubby.  I have always loved him.  I feel like that love continues to grow each and every day as I watch him be a father our son.  He's gentle and caring and absolutely in love with William, as I am.  He plays with Liam and sings to him and rocks him and admires him.  My heart melts just seeing him as 'daddy'. 

I love you, Adam.

Before he turns 4 months.....

Before another month flies by, I wanted to make sure to get down my 3 month notes about William!

• He's talking and smiling so much more
• Mommy is happy - he's sleeping thru the night  (about 9pm until 6am)
• He has found his mouth and loves to pull anything into it - toys, hands (his or other's), mommy's hair, etc.
• He is starting to reach for things
• He LOVES....like seriously LOVES his glow worm

• Complete head control - he can sit in his Bumbo chair and bouncer
• He doesn't like his afternoon nap - he must think he's a big boy and doesn't need it
• He's already about growing out of his 3-6 month clothes, not too much longer...
• Daddy is able to calm William when he sings to him - he especially likes Cee Lo "Bright Lights, Bigger City"

• I'm convinced that teeth are just around the corner....mommy and daddy both had early teeth come in
• Holy drool machine.....
• He's sleeping in his crib all the time now - he's such a big boy!  No, literally....he could barely fit in his bassinet anymore