one a day for a month!

i'm up for a challenge and will be participating in national blog posting month, which encourages people to write a blog entry everyday for a month. since it's my favorite time of the year with so much activity, i'm sure i'll find plenty of things to write about but my fear is that i won't have much time to do it, which of course, is the challenge. =)

yesterday's halloween festivities were awesome. spent a good morning having breakfast with a couple of our good friends. ellaroo spent almost the entire day napping, which made it very easy for me to transport her place to place. (they don't lie when folks say that babies are much easier to handle once they hit the 12 week mark.) went shopping with sis and "ev," my nephew. he became enamored with a box of "funfetti" cake mix which we bought, along with some halloween cupcake wrappers. it was so much fun to bake with him for the first time, that afternoon. ev's elmo costume was soooo adorable on him, as was ellaroo's ladybug outfit. before heading out to trick-or-treat in the "good candy neighborhood," we picked up our baby cousin and her mom. her chunky butt was dressed in the most gorgeous tulip fairy costume. the kids seemed to really enjoy the night and before you knew it, ellaroo was napping in my arms yet again. =)

the halloween season always marks the beginning of the holiday season for us. i cannot wait to walk into all the stores that have been decked out. starbucks, with their delish holiday drinks, is my fave! i always think about asking them if i can take their holiday decor after new year's for the next year. maybe i'll actually have the guts to ask this year.

welcome, november!!!

How I learned about Cloth Diapering

"This post is part of the Cloth Diapering Bloggers and Dirty Diaper Laundry hosted Cloth Diaper Carnival that is held every month. Many bloggers get together and write about the same topic. This month is “Where did you first hear about/ see cloth diapers?” (Quoted from the Dirty Diaper Laundry site)

I knew that cloth diapering was an "old-fashioned" concept, which I thought had pretty much died out. When I first became pregnant, a co-worker of mine asked if I would be cloth diapering since she knew I was attempting a lifestyle of "crunchiness" (i.e. green, granola) and her "hippie sister who lived in the mountains" had done it with her children. My response to her was nothing short of "he** no!" I had thoughts of handwashing poop out of diapers and pricking a little baby with pins in mind.

Months later, I saw a flyer for a local baby fair in SF, catering to green living. I went with hubby, looking forward to checking out the newest in baby products and sitting in on presentations, especially one on baby signing. I saw that there would be a presenter on cloth diapering so I thought, "What the heck, I'll check it out." The presentation was put on by a Bay Area diaper service, who gave a brief overview of the different types of cloth diapers out there. Of course, since she was pushing to promote her company, the main emphasis was on prefolds and wrap covers, which she passed around amongst the audience. We even had the chance to cloth diaper a stuffed animal and to my surprise, pins weren't used! I was amazed at the snappi, which was a modern invention for cloth diapering. The best way I can describe it is similar to ace bandage "claws" that snag fabric together.

Here's a photo from the Green Mountain Diapers site:

Learning about the benefits of a huge savings (upwards of $1000+ for 3 years of diapering) compared to disposables, better health for baby (less diaper rash, no chemicals next to baby's skin), earlier potty training since toddlers can feel when they're wet (on average, 12 months), and less environmental impact (with disposies being the 3rd leading item in landfills) At that point, I was pretty much sold on the idea of having a diaper service.

And then the obsession of researching cloth diapers on line began and I swear I spent hours each day discovering the differences between prefolds and flats, fitteds, pocket diaperes, all-in-ones, all-in-twos, one-size diapers, etc. I found an awesome deal on some new prorap diaper covers on craigslist, which was my first purchase. My second was on ebay which I regretted since the diapers ended up being really cheap Gerber prefolds (blech!) but I did get a snappi out of it. I also purchased the "Changing Diapers, Changing Minds" package through Jillian's Drawers, which allowed me to try out various cloth diaper systems for just $10. At that point, I was smitten. And the rest is history... =)

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the hubby

he loves to cover ellaroo in kisses, irritating her tender skin with his prickly mustache and beard (which caused some baby acne!). as much as she squirms away from him,  i know she loves him just as much. sometimes, he's the only one she'll calm down with. 

he can be quick-tempered at times but he is so patient with her. a couple of times a week, the crying can get so frustrating that i have to take a break and hand her off to him. last night was one of those nights. as i heard her crying downstairs, i tried to take a nap through my own tears upstairs. an hour and a half later, i felt much better. refreshed, i was ready to feed her for the 14th time that day. (she had been feeding every half hour that day. guess she's going through a growth spurt!)

the hubby is great and so is ellaroo. =) 

ellaroo's birthstory part 1

i am an avid craigslist stalker. i love hitting "refresh" on my laptop and seeing the new listings available on this chaotic online marketplace. some don't know but another section of craig's list features forums of all kinds of topics. i'm what you'd call a "lurker," one who reads the posts and responses of a forum without ever participating in the discussions. when i was pregnant, i browsed through the "pregfo" (i.e. pregnancy forum) and now, the "gradfo" (which i know is for those who've recently delivered a baby or has a LO ("little one"). i have no idea why it's called "gradfo..." graduate forum?)

one of the highlights of these forums was reading the birth stories that the women (and occasional grandma and dad) would post a few days/weeks after welcoming their babes into the world. i've always wanted to write one, especially after having to recount the details a bazillion times to folks (but of course with GUSTO! what woman doesn't like sharing her story?). so here goes...

all my appointments had been "normal" up until week 37. after having my regular ob not be available for a scheduled appointment for the 3rd time, i saw a nurse practitioner. (i now realize how great nurse practitioners are in showing more empathy and spending more time with me than the ob's would, probably because of their training, the type of personality attracted to the profession, and since ob's seem always have to rush off to deliver a baby.) although i wasn't, she was concerned by the carpal tunnel syndrome that was worsening which signaled swelling of extremities above the legs, my elevated blood pressure (within the norm but high for me, when looking at my records), and high levels of protein in my urine. this bought me a "ticket" to the labor & delivery triage department, where i was hooked up to a monitor to observe my blood pressure and the babe's stats.

after a couple of hours, my blood pressure had decreased. (i really thought that the high blood pressure reading was because i was so irritated that my appt. with my ob had been cancelled yet again.) my bloodwork came back and though the doctor thought that i should be admitted to ensure i was on bedrest, the midwife was able to convince him to let me go home since i didn't have any kids at home to attend to. (guess they don't know about hubby. ha!) i was given orders of bedrest and a plastic jug to collect 24 hours worth of urine for labwork, along with a peepee pan to place under the toilet seat. yuck! and i was told that the urine needed to stay cold and since the idea of placing this pee-filled container in the fridge next to my juice grossed me out, i opted to put it on ice in a cooler bag. 

since this birthstory has taken so long to write up (i've been working on this since i first created the blog!), i've decided to split it up. stay tuned for part 2!

my first blog as mom...

i admit that i've snubbed those women who, once they've had kids, become out-of-touch with the "real world." as soon as they become pregnant, it seems they morph into "momma" as their sole persona, shedding the identities they had pre-conception. i may not have shunned them directly (or i may have without realizing it) but indirectly in my perspective of them... i always told myself i would "never end up like them!" i would "make it work," as i imagined myself driving to places with baby in infant carseat, pushing stroller through mall, park, etc., never losing step with my social circles. shiz, i even made tentative plans to fly to hawaii with my baby a week after my due date while i was still pregnant. even my childless male friends criticized my flawed thinking. it wasn't until my sis pointed out that the elevation might cause the babe an earache during the flight that i began to admit it wasn't my best idea. 

but i can admit it now. your whole entire life and identity does change once you've had a baby. and daily tasks like going to the grocery store become arduous events requiring lots of preparation, discouraging new parents from wanting to leave the house. who has time to brush their own teeth and get out of jammies when life is dictated by this 8 lb being, 24 hours a day? and let's not even get started on if you're nursing! bad as it sounds, one of the highlights of my day is making a point to feed and change the baby and then run off for an hour, anywhere, to enjoy the temporary freedom of empty arms and mouthless boobs. i've never been more excited about filling up the car's gas tank! and my reward ends up being some frothy or icy beverage, be it a decaf mocha, sonic icee, or tapioca express snow bubble. judge me if you will but it's a reminder that i am more than just a mom now and i should take care of my own needs ands wants, if only for a few minutes out of the day. 

so it was with much hesitation, once i had the thought of starting a blog, that i succumbed to creating this online journal around the theme of motherhood. because it IS an important and THE primary role i have now. i still consider myself more than just mom: wife, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, co-worker, educator, entrepreneur... but even though "ellaroo" can't mutter the word just yet, i am first and foremost "momma" now and so i am utilizing this forum as a tool to document no only her journey into this world but my own. thanks for taking the time to join me in this wild ride...