Carry My Baby Like a Kangaroo?

If you’re like me, when I had my first born I immediately opted for a car seat and stroller travel system.  I figured this would make things more convenient and it just seemed like all mommies owned one.  Isaac would frequently fall asleep in his car seat to our destination and instead of taking him out; I would just unclick the car seat and snap it into his stroller.  This was seamless

because our little one would remain fast asleep.  I also enjoyed going to places in a fairly fast pace with the stroller, the ability to load it with my heart’s desire of bags and the protection it provided our baby from sun, rain, winds, you name it.  I absolutely loved this part of having a stroller, however there were some things that began bothering me with continued use.  Going in our trunk and fetching the stroller in and out of it, trying to get through doorways and small spaces using one hand to steer and another hand to hold the door open and not being able to cuddle up with my little guy as much as possible. 

Carry Ian in our Boba.  Sound asleep

That is when I discovered baby wearing and O.M.G. my world changed!  At first we bought a Baby Bjorn because and I am embarrassed to say this, but honestly because I saw many celebrities with it. Yeah, do not do that.  It was not until I went to one of my best friend’s medical school graduations that I was enlightened about the possible harm one of those carriers could cause to my baby (hip dysplasia).  One of my friends (who I consider the baby-wearing guru) suggested I try a carrier called Boba as it carries baby in an ergonomically correct position, has snaps to hold your purse/diaper bag, has a snap on hood to protect baby from weather or privacy to breastfeed, holds up to 45 lbs and is easy to handle.  I thought why not, I will try to do whatever is best for my little guy.  Well let me tell you, once I bought my Boba I became a baby-wearing mama and love it!  Why??

Dad even gets into the baby wearing

Experienced mommies always tell me how time flies so make sure to cherish these times with my little ones.  What better way to spend precious time with your little one than with him/her snuggled up close to you especially while out and about?  When my little people look up at me in their carriers and give me the sweetest smile I immediately melt.  There is also the added convenience of being able to carry baby and have your hands free.  This is especially handy when grocery shopping or if you have a toddler in tote.  You also do not have to worry about navigating through crowds and spaces to get to a destination.  I am also a breastfeeding mama so being able to either use the hood of the carrier or just slip a nursing cover over while having baby on me and moving about is an added bonus.  Oh yes, did I also mention that for the most part, carriers are cheaper than strollers? That is some extra cha-ching in your pocket!

BOB Duallie Stroller

I am a mommy to an almost 3 year old and 6 month old that both enjoy being carried.  My toddler prefers the back carry, while my youngest son prefers the front.  I now own three carriers (Boba, Tula, Bali baby wrapsody) and use them on a daily basis, especially since Ian, our second son prefers a carrier over stroller.  The only drawback I can think of is while you can speed walk and hike with a carrier, you cannot run/jog while baby wearing and with this remaining post partum pudge, I need to kick my workout into high gear.  My hubby and I have a couple, ok fine a few pounds to lose, so we gave in and bought a duallie jogging stroller to fit our workout lifestyle of running (I wanted to cry when we bought it because they’re not cheap and those of you who know me, know I always try to be economical!). 

Isaac's phase of only wanting to go everywhere in his car

We are a family who enjoy and embrace baby wearing, but we also do not knock strollers because we own our fair share of them.  I think it is important to have an arsenal of baby gear, ready for whatever activity your family will engage in. Some kids prefer baby wearing, while others say forget that and opt for the stroller or walking.  I say do whatever works and best fits the needs of you and your child!  You are the judge and if you should happen to enjoy wearing your kid (pun intended) like a kangaroo go for it!  I know I do! 

Speedy Update on What’s Been Going on & Why I’ve Been MIA

Hey Guys!

38 weeks preggers here

First off, let me apologize for my extremely long absence from blogging.  I was distracted and overwhelmed by my spirited 2 year old at the time and then became preggers again!  Unlike my first pregnancy, which I absolutely loved, I had a rather difficult time this go around.  I was throwing up like crazy, to the point that I lost weight while pregnant, had tons of pubic bone pain (it felt like my baby was resting completely on my vay jay jay bone!) and had to try to keep up with a very active toddler in the midst of it all.  The important thing is that I’m bizack now and I am going to make a concerted effort to consistently blog and start vlogging as well. 

Life is very busy and while I feel overwhelmed and exhausted beyond belief, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!  I feel very full right now in life and I can say that I definitely want more kids in the future lol!  Call me crazy!  My almost 3 year old is finally over his crazy tantrum phase (I’ll definitely blog about this), I’m studying at nights for my GMAT (planning to get my MHA), my 6 month old baby boy is starting to crawl all over the place and my hubby is now teaching Biology at GA State University.   Oh yes, and did I mention that I am getting back into running to lose the remainder of this post partum weight. 

The struggle to get fit

In future posts I plan to talk about differences between my first and second pregnancies, labor and delivery for the second, juggling life with two babies, handling a spirited toddler, products I cannot live without, and the list will go on and on so stay tuned! 

Our loves

The Horrors of Teething

First off, Happy New Year everyone!  Hope everyone has had a great start to 2013!

For this post, I decided to discuss something that we recently experienced with our baby, teething.  It has not been an easy process by any means.  We feel so badly for him each time because it seems extremely painful and there isn’t much we can do to completely alleviate his pain.  He experiences a rise in his base temperature and oddly enough gets a runny nose as well.  At first we weren’t not sure if this was from a cold or a result of teething.  I did my research and I’ve read/heard both, however, I’m going to say it’s a cold because we all got it!  Welcome to parenthood, lol!

Isaac was actually a late bloomer when it came to teething so we were thankful for that because it honestly makes everyone miserable when our little one is in discomfort.  The only thing is that instead of cutting one tooth at a time, he cuts multiple teeth.  For his first time it was four teeth and this last episode was three.  He would wake up several times throughout the night in pain and I would give him these homeopathic teething drops (Gentle Natural Homeopathic Teething Drops) that actually provided temporary relief.  He also loves to take it (guess he likes how it tastes) so it has definitely been a good thing for us. 

Sophie the Giraffe

I’m not going to lie, I was a hot mess during this time because I was worried/concerned about our little guy, extremely sleep deprived and sick.  I did my best to comfort him with homemade chicken noodle soup, cool pureed fruits and veggies, the teething drops, teething toys (Sophie the giraffe, toys that we froze), and of course lots of cuddles and snuggles.  You have to figure out what works for your baby because there are so many products out there.  I think I went out and bought around 10 different things and Jon had to put the hammer down on that!  Guess the product freak in me was coming out, lol!

Examples of different teething toys out there

Also, now that our baby boy has some teeth in his mouth we are sure to brush those bad boys every day.  He has picked up on this as well and loves to do it himself while taking his bath.  Gotta start them early with good hygiene, especially boys from what I hear, lol! 

Overall, teething eventually passes and I had to keep reminding myself that this is a normal process that every parent experiences, sickness and all!  Some of tools I took away from teething that may help others get through this time is having lots of patience, empathy, teething tools (toys, drops, etc…) and most importantly just being there for your little one during this painful time.   Another thing, if you notice your baby having other symptoms beside a slight rise in temperature, it’s often a sign of something else going on.  I called our pediatrician regarding this and they gave me this piece of information that I keep in the back of my mind at all times. 

This year I’m going to eventually try out something new and start doing some video blogging, so we’ll see how that goes!  I think my first one will be a review on baby products.

The Fun to Turn One!

When our baby turned one I knew I wanted to have a birthday party for him while keeping it simple and homey.  I figured he would never remember this, but I still wanted him to have something for pictures for his 1^st year!  We didn’t want to go all out, firstly because we couldn’t afford that (hello, we’re on a one post doc income right now lol!), secondly because we didn’t want to have to top it year after year and thirdly we knew that Isaac could care less at this point about a birthday party, lol.  Frankly, his dad did not see the point either, he was like, “Umm this bday party is not for Isaac, this is for you.” Ok ok, maybe it was for me (I do love planning events!), just a little, but I was honestly thinking about the memories for our little one and having loved ones around. 

First thing I did was tackle the guest list.  Poor Isaac does not really have other babies his age he plays with (except his one bestie), so his party mainly consisted of grownups (our friends and fam).  We figure as he gets older and starts going to pre-school and school this will be rectified soon enough, so we’re not sweating it.  Plus, I haven’t been too pleased with the braggy, bougie stay at home moms I’ve met in Atlanta (I’ll discuss this in another post).  We wanted to keep it intimate and not have a very big event because we’re rather simple, so the number of guests that came was just right for us!  After the guest list was complete, I had to figure out a theme.  There are soo many cute ideas out there for kids!  I went with a theme centered on one of Isaac’s fave books we read to him almost every day, Eric Carle’s, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  How did I pick this theme?  I wanted to have something personal to him, something he liked/enjoyed and full of vibrant colors!  I didn’t go with Sesame Street because his room is already decked out with it and one of my baby showers had this theme as well, so I wanted the new new!  It wasn’t until he brought his baby version of the book to me that a light bulb went off in my head and I started my research.  If planning a bday party or kid event, just observe your kid and see what he/she enjoys.  This will definitely inspire you!

Caterpillar made out of paper lanterns

Desserts and favors

Some decor inside at dessert table

Upon my research online, I found soo many cute caterpillar ideas and went with what I could, based on our budget and designated space.  I found cute décor online and ordered almost all of them on Amazon for the low low!  I like cute stuff, but for the right price honey!  Anywho, I really LOVE this store, Pottery Barn Kids and I actually found a super cute caterpillar themed party on their site as well and I definitely used some of their ideas (the hanging caterpillar lantern, red tablecloth).  Pinterest was also a great resource (gave me ideas for polka dot fabrics)!

Caterpillar cake

An extra cake we got just in cake the cupcakes were gone!

Some of the Trini food!

 I found a couple of ideas for a cake (see below), but one of my besties, Alex found the caterpillar cupcake cake that we went with!  I thought it was super cute because it was in the shape of the caterpillar, I was going to use its head as Isaac’s smash cake and who doesn’t like cupcakes?!    One of my other besties, Melissa’s mom who makes all of our beautiful and yummy cakes made this so special for Isaac!  It was a hit, we all LOVED it!!  We also wanted to have food because his party was from 1pm-4pm and I don’t know about you, but I like to eat lol!  We decided to go with Trini food to go with something different… and Isaac is part Trini afterall! 

Another cake option:  cake pops

One of the cake options

Watch Me Transform

If any of you are familiar with Eric Carle’s book, you know that one of the many lessons it teaches is the concept of metamorphosis and growth as the caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly.  With that, I wanted to showcase the same with Isaac so I made a banner saying, “Watch Me Transform” and had a picture of him from birth to each month leading to his 12 month birthday, so that we could all see his transformation.  Babies sure do change a lot in appearance from month to month!

Here's the tunnel, balls scattered, one of our furry babies and a couple of Isaac's cousins!

Smash cake time!

The weather was surprisingly nice that day so we had activities outdoors in our backyard and indoors.  We got the kiddies a tunnel with balls to crawl (like a caterpillar) in and out of (Isaac still loves this tunnel so def recommend this!), a car buggy that his Auntie Zak got him and of course our other babies Pumpkin and Toby running all over the place to keep them entertained!  The smash cake is also messy so had him eat it on the deck for easy cleanup, thank goodness!  Almost forgot!  Isaac’s bday is actually very close to Halloween, his bday being on October 26^th, so I decided to have everyone dress up as well!  For some reason, I think this will occur at many of his bday parties, call it a hunch lol!  We had him dress up as our little caterpillar and Jon and I were mommy and daddy butterfly.  I thought I was going to have to battle Jon for him to dress up as a butterfly, but he surprisingly didn’t!  I was shocked, but it also warmed my heart knowing that he was doing this for his fam and didn’t think twice about it.

Our happy baby!

Family shot!

Overall, we had a great time filled with love and laughter!  We couldn’t have asked for a better 1^st bday for our baby, and while I was busy planning trying to make it cute and whatnot, I realize that’s not what matters the most.  What matters is having special people around you (who can make it of course) to celebrate this time and create magical memories together!  So whatever your budget, work with what you’ve got and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.  As long as those dear to your fam are there, it will be awesome!

Ohh and how can I forget, Isaac also got his first haircut after he turned one!  We took him to a cute kiddie salon called Kuts 4 Kids and it was the cutest little place.  I don’t remember ever seeing those when I was a little girl.  He was all smiles before, but once he got that smock on and his hair got wet, he looked oh so pitiful and cried as well.  He wanted to nuzzle his head in my chest and as much as I hate to see him cry, I absolutely LOVE when he does this!  Internally I’m like yes, he needs me and wants me to comfort him!  I am such a weirdo I know, lol!  I’m going to be one of those moms who can’t handle their child growing up and will be a bag of bawls once he has to start school.  I think we’ve found the perfect hair stylist for him though, Shiquita, at least I think that’s her name???  I dunno, I’ll have to find out again because I know I have a difficult (ghetto lol) name as well!  The place was super kid friendly, with a toy train travelling around the entire shop, toys, music, Disney movies playing and cute seats for them to sit in.  It was also a good price, only $14.50, score!  They also send coupons in the mail so I love that!  Shiquita also gave us tips for Isaac’s hair that I wanted to share because I had no clue!  She said to make sure to cut his hair with scissors and not clippers or else it will affect the way his hair grows and completely change it.  I love his big curls, so I definitely appreciated that bit of advice and won’t let clippers touch those locks!  Check out pics below of my sad cookie bear!  I thought that people would stop thinking he was a girl with his haircut, but it keeps happening (even when I have him dressed in blue from head to toe), to the point that I don't even correct them now because it happens quite often so I just smile lol!  

Before haircut

Smock time

Crying Cookie Bear

He only cheered up after we left lol!

0-12 Full Speed Ahead!

There are soo many milestones from birth to 12 months of age, from the first angelic smile to those first steps.  It has been quite an adventure, an awesome one filled with lots of laughter and awe inspiring moments. 

Here I am feeding him for the first time

I remember Isaac’s first feeding of solid food, baby oatmeal mixed with breast milk.  I was extremely nervous about him choking. I would put the tiniest amount of food on the spoon and the whole process took me an hour, which in my book is ridiculous, lol!  I made and continue to make all of his food simply because I’m trying to ensure he eats very little processed or fatty foods.  I am constantly trying to come up with yummy food options for his developing palate.  Some of his faves are:  green peas, pears/pineapple and apple chilled puree, avocado with minced chicken breast, chow mein (Trini style noodles with veggies and meat) and pancakes with flax seed and fresh fruit mixed in an oatmeal batter to name just a few.  He is used to seasonings because that’s what I cook with on the reg, hello, his mom is Trini afterall!  I also make sure to taste everything I feed him because if it doesn’t taste good to me, why would I expect him to eat it?  I also have to make sure the consistency is spot on because when he first started eating he preferred a smoother/creamier texture to his food, but now he actually likes some tiny bits to chew on.  He also self weaned as I started to feed him more and more solids.  I managed to breastfeed him for 1 year and after that he has graduated to a diet consisting of solid foods (veggies, fruits, whole grains, meats, starches) water and lactaid milk (unfortunately he’s lactose intolerant like his mommy and daddy, curses!).

Opening his mouth for Toby! Gross!

Isaac is definitely on the move now, so we made sure to baby proof our house (cover electrical outlets, hide wires, pad sharp corners, childproof doors/cabinets, oven/stove, gate off areas, etc…)!  The only area that is ehh is the food and potty area for our doggies and we have to block off our kitchen because those little hands like to touch everything!  And I dunno what it is, but he is always trying to eat the dog food!  I’m like this stuff does not smell good and you’re not a doggie, stop trying to eat it, yucky!  This is also gross and can’t believe I’m sharing this, but he’ll also open his mouth so the dogs can lick inside of it!  The whole time he is also smiling as his mouth is open as well!   I guess it feels good, I dunno, but I’m not trying it!  I’m like omg disgusting what are you doing?!  Jon just laughs and says, yup he’s getting his germs, that’s my boy, how cute!   I’m sorry, but that’s not cute, lol!  Needless to say,  I brush/clean his mouth every day.  Friends and fam keep telling me boys are gross and I’m starting to believe them, yikes!

Our little Cookie Bear (one of my many nicknames for him) is also trying to walk and it’s just the cutest thing to us of course!  Seeing his chunky legs and potbelly on the move make me all warm and fuzzy inside.  He started walking after he turned one on November 5^th and I remember being like umm when are you going to start walking because we need you to be ahead of the game here buddy.  I was becoming one of those annoying parents and Jon had to tell me to take a chill pill and let him develop on his own timeline.  Sometimes I just need a wakeup call and after that I stopped placing my own developmental demands on little one.  I realized I had to let him do it at his own pace.  I think the moment it clicked was the day I took him for his 12 month check up and while in the waiting room another mommy was there with her 12 month old for the same thing.  She asked if Isaac was walking and I was bashful and sheepishly said no.  She seemed almost relieved and said that her son wasn’t either and she was feeling pressure from her other friends with babies because their kids were younger and walking already.  I was like whew, I’m not the only one!  It was such a relief!  After that, I took advice from Dr. Sylvester (Jon) and took that chill pill.

In the meantime, I try to expose all of Isaac’s senses to as much as possible, from his first time in the pool and beach, to fireworks in the park, festivals and road trips.  We go on adventures almost every day and while I may be apprehensive sometimes due to my shy nature (contrary to what many may think, I am extremely shy to the point that my fam used to call me Shyesha), I get out there for the benefit of our baby.  Witnessing his first impressions to new experiences and interacting with other babies is always entertaining, at least to me.      

Next post I’m going to go into details on Isaac’s first birthday party, how we came up with the theme and his first haircut!

To Work or Not To Work... That is the Question!

This is by no means an easy decision!  As my 12 weeks of maternity leave were dwindling away anxiety started to kick in for me because I was grappling with a difficult decision.  Do I go back to work knowing that we would continue our comfortable lifestyle and be able to provide our baby with anything he, or rather we wanted, or do I stay home and provide the best care possible to him each and every day?   I went back and forth with this, while my husband was resolute on me becoming a stay at home mommy.  I definitely would have gone back to work (at least in a part time capacity) if either grandmas would have been able to watch Isaac, but alas, that was not the case.  Therefore, we had to make a decision on what would be the overall best for Isaac.  

I had to let go of my pride and put my family at the top of my list.  I would think, Omg I went to a fairly good university to become a stay at home mom?  And what will everyone think about me?  Am I a failure/loser?  I prayed about this constantly and God kept telling me that at this point in our lives I was to stay home with our son.  I kept trying to fight it and take control, but He truly knows what is best.  I also had to tell myself who cares what people think.  Do they pay your bills?  Heck naw! I don’t know if this is part of me growing older, but I just don’t care anymore about other’s opinions.  Life is too short to worry about that!

I must say that I am soo happy that I decided to become a stay at home mommy for the time being, even though it is a lot of work and at times waay more stressful than working!  This is probably one of the happiest and most satisfying times for us.  And although we definitely don’t have the funds we did with a two family income, God has been providing in all the ways we could ask for!  This is certainly a blessing and we do not take it for granted in any way.   Every now and then I’ll ask my hubby if he wishes I were back at work and he always responds with, Heck no, you’re much happier now and I love coming home to a happy and well taken care of family, what more can I ask for?  Hearing this from him really gives me that boost I need on those days I get down on myself because no matter what I do, I want to make sure I’m doing a darn good job at it!

After a few living/lifestyle adjustments (clipping coupons, yes maybe one day Issac will imitate honey boo boo child and say, “My mama nickname is Coupon Queen!”; monitoring our spending; hitting up the farmer’s market; cooking for most meals; limiting the vacays; finding free or cheap events to attend, etc…) we have been able to tweak things in order to provide for our family.  Sure, we are no longer able to go on our annual Sandals vacay or impromptu shopping sprees, but we know this is temporary and we will appreciate it much more once we are able to do it again.  In the meantime, we continue to look at the positive aspect in every challenge and work on being the best parents possible!

By no means am I knocking parents who choose to place their child in daycare or whatever means to get back to work.  We as parents must make whatever decision on what is best for our family and it is no one’s place to judge that.  Priorities are different for everyone, so figure yours out and make it happen!  And either way, get a great support system around you because I can testify that great friends and family really make a difference! (I will brag about this, God has placed the best people in our lives and we are always in awe of this!) 

Whether you decide to stay at home or go back to work be at peace knowing you are doing what is best for your baby given your current circumstance.  Also, if something isn’t working, don’t feel trapped, make whatever changes to ensure happy living for your family!

This is Definitely NOT Easy!

When we came home from the hospital, we were relieved to be home so that we could start getting into a routine.  There has definitely been little sleep since that time and man, I definitely miss those days where I could sleep for 4-5 hours without interruption!  Everyone tells you to sleep while the baby is sleeping/napping, but I just couldn’t.  This was the only time I had to do household or personal things, so I skipped the sleep.  However, after almost falling asleep at the wheel I definitely put the kabash on that and try to get my sleep on!  I had to come to the realization that these other things could wait. 

I am also a clean freak so I’m always cleaning and making sure things are straight and in order.  I remember when I couldn’t do this the first couple of weeks home I felt like I was going to go crazy!  Praise God for my mom who understands me because she would clean and this is going to sound crazy, but I would come out inspect and make sure it was up to par.  Yes, I have problems.  Once I saw all was well, I would go back to taking care of Isaac and trying to heal.

I was so happy my mom was here because I was having a really difficult time getting around for a while after giving birth.  It took me about 6-8 weeks to heal and it was painful.  I couldn’t sit or stand for long without feeling pain and then to make matters worse I started to get hemorrhoids!  This is common due to the force behind pushing your baby out.  Basically, it's like you're making the biggest poopie of your life!  Not to be too graphic, but it felt as if someone were pulling down on my piece!  Can you imagine?!  So yeah, having pain everywhere down there was just unbearable!  Thank goodness it went away after about 8 weeks because I don’t know how much longer I could have taken that!  The two products that really helped me heal were Tucks Medicated Wipes for the hemorrhoids and Dermoplast Pain Relieving Spray for the stitches. I was suffering for weeks until my sister-in-law told me about Dermoplast.  She told me it really helped her heal quickly and provided pain relief as well.  I wish I had this product from the beginning because it was a miracle worker!

During this time, I also became frustrated with breastfeeding occasionally because Isaac would sometimes feed every hour from 6am-2pm!  I remember crying and thinking omg I don’t know if I can do this!  I felt trapped as if I were one of those dairy cows, existing to produce milk.  I was trying to bear it until one day my mom came in the room to check on me and I had a major meltdown.  She knew I needed some time alone and took Isaac so that I could rest and just have some me time.  I felt bad that I needed this, but it’s okay, it doesn’t make you any less of a mom, it makes you human.  Rest assured this too passes and it does happen occasionally, but it is perfectly normal.  I was apparently going through some post partum, which has since subsided.  Make sure you discuss this with your doctor and be honest about your feelings.  I did this and felt so much better after gaining more knowledge about it.  It also helps to have supportive friends and family as well!  Thanks everyone! 

The first couple of months are rough at first, but once you get into a routine it significantly improves.  You’re still going to be in a perpetual state of exhaustion, but you’ll get used to it because your little one makes all of the above worth it!  (I don’t want to scare anyone from having kids!)  Those times are now fading memories, but the love for your baby is never forgotten and grows stronger and stronger each day.  And you best believe I will let my kids know what I went through for them and they better appreciate it, lol!  Just kidding, ok maybe not! :)