What do you do all day anyway?

A tribute to stay-at-home Moms.
(TIP: If you can't read it hold down Ctrl then press + to zoom in)

*Trevor is 6 months, 1 week and 3 days old*

One of the Most Inspiring Stories I've Ever Read

This story touched me so deeply I couldn't help but pass it on. Its a bit of a long read, but worth it.

Warning: Have tissues ready.


One Woman's Mission to Save Babies

Do Luv's Diapers Cause Diaper Rash??

Luvs used to be my favorite brand of diaper. I sang their praises to all my mommy friends and felt like I was getting the best bang for my buck. Then something changed. With a purchase of a new box of Luvs diapers Trevor developed a nasty looking rash around the inside of his legs where the leakguard meets the skin. It took me awhile to make the connection, meanwhile I tried everything to get rid of it. NOTHING would touch it. When I finally realized the problem might be the diapers, I switched to Pampers and within one day in the new diapers the rash was almost completely gone. I waited about a week and put one of the Luvs diapers back on him and by the next diaper change the rash was back. At the time I chalked it up to Trevor developing some sort of sensitivity to an ingredient in the diapers, but then I found this post on Baby Cheapskate:

Luvs Not as Loveable?

Apparently I'm not the only one. My good friend Laura experienced the same strange phenomenon with her little boy. Prompted by the response from Luvs in the post above, I decided I would write and let Luvs know what was going on and I received this canned response that everyone else seems to be getting as well:

"I'm sorry about your child's recent experience, Keysha.

Our diapers are thoroughly evaluated to make sure they're safe for a baby's sensitive skin. In fact, they're hypoallergenic.

Some factors that can contribute to the onset of diaper rash are diet, diarrhea, teething, the use of antibiotics, and upset stomach. Taking all of these things into consideration, it's hard to pinpoint the cause of your child's skin irritation. If your baby's condition doesn't improve, you may want to speak with your pediatrician.

We appreciate your bringing this matter to our attention, and I'm forwarding your report to our Health & Safety Group. I'm also following up with you by postal mail. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.

Thanks again for getting in touch."

Um, yeah. This child has never had a diaper rash before, and I KNOW for a fact it was the diapers because I double checked after the rash went away.

Diet? At the time only breastmilk which is actually a great CURE for diaper rash
Diarrhea? Nope.
Teething? He wasn't then
Antibiotics? Never had any in his life
Upset Stomach? Not hardly
Luvs Diapers? YES!

There I pinpointed it. *rolls eyes*

I'm appalled that this is the best they can do when so many people are having the exact same problem. Then to imply that a Mother couldn't possibly have any clue what is causing her child's diaper rash is a sure way to turn away customers. You can keep your coupons Luvs, I'll never use your diapers again.

If you, or someone you know, have had the same problem with Luvs please contact them. Apparently you'll only get a canned response and some coupons for more diaper rashes, but they will never look into the problem until enough people get on their case. While you're at it, encourage them to employ more useful customer service.


*Trevor is 6 months, 1 week and 2 days old*

Morning Madness

I'm addicted to coffee. There I said it. (I guess I'm past the denial stage now.) I've drank coffee as long as I can remember. I think there is even a story about my Papa putting some in my bottle. LOL. It was always a random treat-when hitting the yard sales, having to be somewhere at an INSANE hour of the morning, or a spur of the moment cappuccino because it smelled so darn good. When my little insomniac was born however, coffee became my lifeline. Two strong cups of coffee in the morning and I'm good to go. Catch me before that and I'm a walking zombie. I'm convinced that two cups of coffee = 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Or at least as close as I'm going to get to it, ever again.


So this morning my pooping, crawling, squealing alarm clock woke me promptly at 8am as normal. I picked him up as carefully as I could with one arm being dead asleep and stumbled into the living room where I stripped him of his sleep sack and changed his 20 pound overnight diaper. As he went to investigate the toy basket I grumbled my way into the kitchen (have I mentioned I'm not a morning person?) to fix my oh-so-wonderful pot of coffee. Before I even opened the container I remembered what I had forgotten. I WAS OUT OF COFFEE. (Insert non family friendly word of your choice here.) There is no other source of caffeine in this house. NONE. I learned several months ago that too much caffeine for me equaled a very irritable and cranky child so I gave up sodas and switched to decaf iced tea so that I could have my precious coffee in the mornings. Josh has been working on giving up sodas, and even if he did have any in the fridge Pepsi makes me gag. So now I either have to suck it up and go without or tote the baby to the store with me to get some. (Why doesn't anyone ever warn you that it is such a freakin' hassle to go ANYWHERE after you have a kid?)

So I spend over an hour getting me looking presentable, remembering that at least I have a coupon for coffee (my other new addiction), changing an explosive poop diaper, getting Trevor dressed, finding a paci for the ride, reminding myself I have a coupon, looking for keys, looking for my wallet, looking for the keys again (Trevor stuffed them under the couch), getting us loaded in the car, finally get to the store, unload the baby, find the coffee, wait in line forever behind all the doughnut fanatics and get back home. By this time I'm fully awake and decide I don't need coffee this morning after all. Sigh. And wouldn't you know, I forgot my coupon.

*Trevor is 6 months, 1 week and 1 day old*

The Poster Child for Seperation Anxiety

Daddy is fun when it is playtime. Daddy makes me laugh like no one else can. Daddy is definately the funniest person in the world. Daddy carries me higher than anyone else, lets me chew on his phone, steal his hat and sings me goofy songs.

But if I am hungry, tired, wet and cold....only Mommy will do.




*Trevor is 6 months and 1 week old*

I think it may be time for Trevor to finally start sleeping in the room that we slaved over for him while I was pregnant. Early this morning, Josh let out some sort of war cry in his sleep which in turn woke the baby, who was then wide awake, and intolerably cranky, for the rest of the morning. It occurred to me that he might actually sleep better in his own room, where he can't hear all the horrible noises my husband makes in his sleep. :P (No really, I'm not entirely innocent either.) We are both avid sleep talkers. Josh's sister, Vicki, even overheard us having a "conversation" at an ungodly hour of the morning when we were staying with her once. Its no wonder the kid can't sleep.

So I put up all the laundry that has been living in his crib, and Josh lowered the mattress so he couldn't climb out and I decided it was time to start practicing sleeping in his room. I wasn't very optimistic. I put him down for his afternoon nap in his "new" bed and waited for the worst. He was silent. We watched him from the cracked door while he stood on the side of the crib, beating the rainforest aquarium that Grandma bought him. He tried to climb the changing table, tried to reach the laundry basket, chewed on the crib rails, finally turned ON the rainforest aquarium, watched it awhile, tried to reach the laundry basket again, walked the length of the crib, then finally realized he was, in fact, alone. He fussed for a couple of minutes and the next thing we knew he was asleep! Amazing. I never expected him to fall asleep first try in a new bed.

Problem is, I don't know if I am ready for him to sleep in his own room. He just seems so little to be left all alone at night (even if all alone is only five feet from our bedroom). So for now, I think we'll continue to practice taking naps in his room and maybe in the next couple of weeks I'll have the nerve to let him sleep in there overnight. Who knows, it could be the answer to getting the kid to actually sleep at night.




*Trevor is 6 months and 6 days old*

Q & A

Everyone seems to have tons of questions since Trevor started solids, got teeth, turned six months old, etc.! Answering the same questions a hundred times over is getting a bit tiring so I thought I would just do a quick Q & A and take care of them all!

Q. "What is he eating?"
A. He eats all kinds of fruits and vegetables! He isn't picky and will eat just about anything you put in his mouth! LOL Fresh, mashed banana was his first food. He eats peas, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, squash, peaches, pears, bananas, plums, apples etc. He loves to chew on some fruit in his mesh feeder and just started eating dry cheerios while I'm fixing dinner. He doesn't care for green beans all that much but I'm still going to offer them to him. Some things take lots of tastes to get used to.

Q. "How much is he eating?"
A.Most days he has one meal of a veggie or a fruit while we are having dinner. Sometimes he finishes, lately most times he doesn't. Some days he'll have some cereal and fruit with me for lunch, but not always.

Q. "Can he have a cookie/sucker/sip of soda?"
A. No, no and no. He won't be eating any of these high sugar, empty calorie foods until he dives into his first birthday cake. There are tons of other natural sweets that he can divulge in until then.

Q. "Is he using a sippy cup yet?"
A. In short, no. We give him one to practice with but he hasn't quite figured it out yet. I put about an ounce of water in it and if I hold it for him so that he can get a drink he makes an awful face. :P

Q. "Does he nurse less often since you started feeding him solids?" or "Maybe he won't nurse as often now!"
A. Nope. He still nurses about every two hours just like before. Seeing as how he still NEEDS breastmilk as his primary source of nutrition and I don't recall ever complaining that he nurses so often, I don't see why this is such an issue, but the short answer is no.

Q. "Does he sleep better since starting solids?"
A. Absolutely not. His sleep hasn't changed one bit. As his doctor told me "It's luck of the draw. Some kids sleep and some just don't." He obviously falls into the latter category.

Q. "Has he bitten you yet?"
A. Yep. Once and it wasn't as bad as you might think. It hurt a little, but he didn't rip my nipple off or anything. I told him no and sat him down, he cried for a minute, I picked him up and let him nurse some more and he hasn't done it again. Will I get bit again? Probably. Am I all that worried about it? Not so much.

Q. "How long are you going to breastfeed?" or "Have you started giving him formula yet?"
A. No I haven't started him on formula and I don't have any plans to do so. I will breastfeed him as long as I feel like it. Preferably until he is at least a year old, maybe longer. The World Health Organization recommends two years. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. As of right now my answer is that we won't be weaning anytime soon.


*Trevor is 6 months and 4 days old*

6 month Check Up

Trevor had his 6 month well-baby visit today and the doctor said he is healthy as a horse! Everything looked great, he's met or passed all of his milestones and is growing perfectly. He weighs 17 lbs 8 ounces and is a whopping 28 inches tall! He is a little thin for his height, but for one he is tall and secondly the kid never. stops. moving. ever. LOL He did great with his shots this time. Before it would always take almost 5 minutes to calm him down afterward, but today he stopped crying as soon as I picked him up and has been his normal busy self ever since. Its been a much better day than I expected! YAY for not having to go back to the doctor for three whole months!!

*Trevor is 6 months and 1 day old*

Happy Half Birthday Little Man!

Its hard to believe but today Trevor is a whole half a year old! I can't believe the year is half gone already. He is growing up so fast and into EVERYTHING!! Holy cow. There is not enough baby proofing for this kid. He's cruising the furniture, pulling up on everything and starting to walk behind his push toy now (even though it jumps up and bites him half the time). He's fearless. He cut another tooth this weekend so he now has both of his bottom teeth!

Since I'm still ticked off over the amount of money we paid for "professional" pictures before, only to get crap in return, here is Trevor's six month photo shoot courtesy of me. :P

Happy Half Birthday Trevor!!

Lots of New Pictures!

I haven't posted new pictures in awhile so here ya go!

Trying to figure out this spoon thing

"This way?"

Riding in the sling helping Mom do some housework

Looking handsome

Playing with blocks (he LOVES blocks)

"How many of these can I put in my mouth?"

Favorite time of day: BATH TIME!!

Trevors new arch nemesis: The Baby Gate (DUM DUM DUM!!)

BEWARE OF ATTACK BABY

Obviously up to no good...

So adorable!

*Trevor is 5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days old*

Peas Please!

We've started letting Trevor try bits and bites of solid foods and he loves it! He hasn't tried many things because we are taking it very slow (we don't need him dropping any nursing sessions) but so far we haven't found anything he doesn't like. He's going to be a big eater I think! I love watching him try new things, but I don't like the new adventures in poop since starting solids! LOL

Here's Trevor having some peas for dinner last night:



I love the sounds he makes while he eats! He is so funny.

Oh yeah some big news......

TREVOR CUT HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!

Bottom left center. Its SHARP and just broke the surface today. I'm excited but a little sad. My baby boy is growing up way too fast!!


*Trevor is 5 months, 3 weeks and 2 days old*

Electricity, How I Love Thee

I totally take electricity for granted. Due to a massive ice storm we have had no electricity for a solid 8 years. I mean nights. I never want to go that long without it again. Holy cow. There are still some people without it as I'm typing this. Some lost electricity and water, and some won't be on for a long time still. We got probably two inches of pure ice which in turn took out tons of trees and electric lines. Luckily we had a generator so we were able to at least keep warm.

The Jonesboro Sun said today:

"The Jan. 27 ice storm caused more damage to Northeast Arkansas' power systems than Hurricane Katrina did to the Louisiana electrical system in 2005..."

Link to Story

People were stealing generators like candy, the first couple of days there was no fuel to be bought, few grocery stores were open, and supplies were limited. There was a sense of panic in the air. Thankfully things settled down, supplies were brought in, people were able to get the things that they needed to survive (unless that included gas cans or chainsaws...then you were out of luck) and the panic subsided, replaced with impatience. I have never seen so many utility trucks. You have to hand it to those guys, they worked their butts off around the clock to get us turned back on, all while living in cubes at the airport and eating whatever they could get their hands on. Props to them. In my opinion they have done an excellent job.

Of course Trevor could have cared less that the power was out. Since our waterbed was frickin' COLD we slept on a mattress in the living room floor (thanks Dad!) and he quickly learned how to crawl up and down off of it without falling. He's so stinkin' smart. Heck half the time I fell trying to get on and off of it. Anyway, we survived and now we have one of those "I walked to school uphill both ways barefooted in the snow" stories to tell him when we get older. LOL










*Trevor is 5 months, 2 weeks and 4 days old*