What a Difference a Year Makes!

A year ago today, on August 26th, 2011, I got my positive pregnancy test. What a year full of change it has been. We've had so many wonderful things to celebrate but most of all a healthy baby boy! It is hard to believe a year ago we were just starting this journey and now Orion is 3.5 months old.

Positive pregnancy test from 8/26/2011

4 weeks pregnant 8/28/2011

My last pregnancy picture, 39.5 weeks, 4/30/2012

Orion 3 months old, 8/12/2012

Great DVD for young toddlers

I will start this post by saying I am very anti-TV. B didn't watch TV until he was almost 2 and then it was only Veggietales movies.

Baby Boy is a signing baby. Catherine at Evolving Mommy's daughter is also a signing baby, along with some babies I have worked with at church. I have loved being able to communicate with him effectively and teaching him some additional signs.

Catherine recommended the "My Baby Can Talk" DVD's. I was skeptical about a 16 month old watching TV but figured baby sign language was educational and learning more signs was good for him. I have now checked out all three "My Baby Can Talk" DVD's from the library and Baby Boy loves them!

If you have a signing baby or young toddler I highly recommend these DVD's.

If you have a young baby and you have considered signing with your baby I would also highly recommend it. You won't regret it!

How the Hell do Pack N' Plays Break??? Really???

So Baby Boy's mom told me he woke up at 5am this morning which was sure to throw off his schedule and make him crankier. So around 8:45 or 9:00am when I go to put this sweet, angelic, tired baby down for a nap, what do I realize? The top rail of the Pack N' Play is snapped in two! Really! You have to be kidding me! Baby Boy is 15 months old but weighs a mere 19 pounds which should not be strong enough to break a Pack N' Play. Now I am completely baffled! To make matters worse I have plans to take the kids to the library and run into Sunflower Farmers Market for some $1.97 per pound chicken and being without a Pack N' Play throws a huge wrench into my nap time plans. After trying to see if it will somehow go back together and be safe enough for one nap I give up and realize there is no fixing the Pack N' Play. This Pack N' Play is borrowed from a friend, nearly 10 years old and has been used by a few babies but the rail is inch thick plastic and should not break.

Now I have to pack up the 4 kids in various stages of getting ready from still in PJ's to showered and run to the church where I work as a nursery attendant. Luck for me there are two Pack N' Plays in the nursery. One I keep set up and hardly ever use and another I have never even opened. Crisis averted. Once we return it is nearly 10:00am and besides another fresh diaper I also decide baby boy needs a snack before nap time. After all this fuss his he is finally asleep at 10:40am for his 8:45am nap. So much for a schedule today!

Old Mom

The other day I realized I am an "old" mom. No, not old in age (I am only 26), but that I have been a mom for awhile now, approaching 9 years, and it has been a long time since B was a baby. I have worked with kids as long as I can remember and have been around babies and toddlers even as B has gotten older, but I have forgotten some important things!

1) 1 year olds need contained! I mean this in a nice way but shopping at a store without carts, without bringing a stroller with a 14 month old, BAD IDEA!

2) The don't make baby gear like the used to! This is a good thing. When B was a baby there were no such things as LATCH systems for carseats, and 5 point harnesses for strollers and high chairs. Oh yeah and Pack 'N Plays are harder to set up then they look.

3) 1 year olds don't drink as much milk as I think they need but they can sure out eat my almost 6 year old sometimes.

Otherwise it is pretty much the same, play, laugh, sing, dance, read books, eat, sleep, change diapers.

I think I can handle this!