E.A.S.Y. as Pie

I bought The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems based on the reviews of the book and also because Baby Dufour said it was working for her Ethan.

Now, the whole premise of the book is to get the baby on a routine, not really a schedule, since we aren't locked into time slots here, and it's basically a 3-hr rotation (sounds like a schedule to me, but I'm open minded). Basically, the baby follows a pattern.

E- Eat (~30 minutes)
A- Activity (20-45 minutes)
S- Sleep (1.5-2 hours)
Y- You (parent) time during the sleep cycle

It says the earlier you start, the better the results will be. Today was the first day of monitoring Drake's current habits. Man, what a terrible day to pick! He has been fussy ALL day. He slept pretty much all of Tuesday (Dad was home) and from 5 am on- he would not allow me to do anything. I couldn't feed him, change him, or get him to sleep. Finally I managed to grab a cat nap around 2 pm and then my grandma came over around 4:30 and let me sleep until 9:30. When I woke up, Drake wanted a bottle and then he fell asleep, grandma left, and I fell asleep too. Bliss.

We will try again tomorrow. Part of this whole E.A.S.Y. thing is I am not sure if he is getting enough to eat now, we discovered one bottle nipple he couldn't get it fast enough and the other type it was too fast. The Goldilocks nipples we had before were disposable, so I may have to go on a hunt for other nipples. Also, I'm out of diaper creme, and now his ass is red. Fantastic. I've been using Vaseline. But tomorrow, Brian is off, and I am soooo getting out of the house and going grocery shopping/errands. Grandma said she would come over to baby sit while we get some "us" time. I am so thankful to her for wanting to come over so often, it's a bitch of a drive from her house to mine.

Ugh what a terribly long and exhausting day.

Brian took the car in to the auto shop and they ran an estimate. $2,000 to fix it- or it's totaled- depending on how the insurance company chooses to look at it. If they decide to fix it, we pay our deductible. If not, well we hope they give us enough money from it being totaled to pay off my car loan. I owe just over $2,200 on it. Then we would need enough money to buy a new car. Ugh. I don't really know what to do. We have a few options of course, but it all depends on what the insurance company says. We will know in two days.

Brian's on Dragon Duty now- Drake was screaming all day and finally, mercifully, passed out and seems to be in a deep sleep. Brian fully undressed/changed diaper/scrubbed poo off of legs & bum/redressed and moved the baby with out him waking. I can't help but be slightly jealous- why couldn't the baby do that for ME?- but mostly I am just relieved to have some peace and quiet. Poor Brian, he worked 8 hours today and when he comes home, I'm passed out on the futon and only woke up because I had a few hours of work.

We tried to do a "dream feed", where you don't wake the baby, but feed them while they are mostly asleep... and that didn't work out so well. Drake started sputtering and coughing and spitting up the milk (but not waking, of course) and then once he figured out it was a nipple, started sucking but not swallowing... basically using it as a pacifier.

Clearly, I need to read the rest of the book first before I try to put the practices into play, but it certainly doesn't hurt to chart his behaviors.

And that's all the exciting news from baby land. I was so flustered today, I didn't even take any pictures. Also, my iPad battery died.

Eat This, Not That!

If you haven't seen the Eat This, Not That! books around, I recommend picking one up (either at your local library or just your bookstore!) because it is jam packed with great nutritional advice....

Taken from Amazon.com

It tells you things you already should know. That eating real, whole foods is best. That eating processed foods is not. But it also considers real life. You know, how we go out to restaurants and like to eat our ice creams. It gives you food swaps... instead of eating 1 cup of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, have 1 cup of Breyer's all natural in the same flavor... and save a few hundred calories!

It's one of those books that gives you the information you need to realize the choices that we are making aren't always fantastic... but it doesn't make you feel guilty about eating anything. It simply gives you knowledge, tells you leaner options, and leaves it up to you to do what you will about it.

I really like it. It's small enough to toss in your purse or keep in the car for quick little dips. I got the 2011 version and it has a supermarket guide and also an extensive restaurant guide. I'm hoping to also get the supermarket survival guide, which is exclusive to grocery products and also the kids' edition. Since I'm having one and all. I'm not planning on using it as the "no diet diet" as it is called... but I am planning on using it as a reference and a tool. Like a responsible adult! wow... when did that shit happen?

Brian and I have been talking about eating more at home and one of my desires is to start cooking from scratch. I have some reservations because I love baked goods. If I made my own biscuits, I'd probably make them all the time and be a huge fat ass. I am trying to come up with a solution for that... but I love cooking and want to continue to expand my knowledge and make great, home made meals.

Reading the Eat This, Not That! book has shed a little more light on to the subject of nutrition for me. I realize I have little knowledge in that area. I mean, I know what calories and macronutrients are. I know the difference between a complex and simple carb, but I don't know enough about the rest of it.

I want to make better decisions about eating. I don't know if I will ever get to the point where I love fruits and veggies, but I am hoping that even swapping out one food for a slightly better version will help me get to that point. Brian wants to go balls to the wall and get rid of soda, caffeine, and anything that is not 100% natural. I love how he can eat fresh fruits and veggies all the time... but I am going to need to take baby steps.

I'm interested in hearing your recommendations for books and movies/documentaries on nutrition and eating better. But please- nothing that is all like "100% vegetarian/vegan- meat is evil!" stuff, because I am not really interested in becoming meat less. I just want to be more informed. Scientific, non-biased (or as little bias as possible) views will be my best options. 


Also, I just bought a Kindle so anything that is an e-book = win ;)

Babies are Serious Business.

I'm not going to lie. Today I overwhelmed myself with baby possibilities.

I started off looking at which hospital I'd like to have the baby in. But it turns out, almost all of the hospitals in town are owned by Lutheran Health Network and the ones that aren't are on the other side of the city. Which does not sound like a good idea... So really, that pretty much settled it for me.

The birthing suites seem a little... excessive in my opinion. A photography studio next to the nursery? Come on...

Anyway, got a while before I need to worry about that.

Then I started looking up the average cost of birthing a baby. That freaked my shit out. So I quit doing that. That was just silly. I put $250 in savings today. Yep. I actually have a savings!

Then I started looking for giveaways for baby things. Gift cards, baby bags, blah blah blah, whatever anyone was giving away! And I stumbled across Babies R Us... which is so silly, because that is the FIRST place I want to shop!

I started creating the registry but it's a little over whelming. They have a "quick start" option, but it's not working so I have to do it by scratch, category by category... I know I have a while to get it done, but they are doing a sweepstakes where Mom can win her entire registry (up to $5K) and she can enter once a day. Friends and family can play for her to win the registry too. And the more friends I have, the more of a chance I get. I fully plan to whore that out on the blog, so promise me you guys will help! It's only an instant win game  every day, so that won't be hard right?? Right. Thanks a bunch in advance. (I only got a few things in my registry now, I'd like to have all the basics added before I post the link)

Brian and I got a little excited today when we saw a father and infant son wearing matching baseball caps. He thought that was effin' cute and couldn't stop laughing over it. So that's good. He's finally getting excited about the baby now... I think the shock has worn off. He keeps saying things like... "Wouldn't it be amazing to have twins? God I hope my sperm is that awesome!" and "I can't wait to build things out of Legos!!!"

He is also worried a little bit. I can tell, because he will randomly tell me that everything is going to be ok. I'll just be sitting there, playing a game, and he'll tell me "we're going to be fine. Poorer people than us have been having babies." Or "Hell my parents had three kids and they are worse off than we are!" I think he's worried. Ha. Calm down, Daddy. Go take a chill pill.

I have so many things I want to get done! I have no idea where to start. Tomorrow I think I'll visit Babies R Us and get overwhelmed with baby cuteness. It sounds like a good idea. And maybe... a manicure. Oh. Heaven.

I also purchased "What to Expect When You're Expecting". It's my 1st official baby purchase (unless you count the yarn...) so that makes me happy! And I got Brian that "Caveman's Guide" :) <-- I just purchased that, like... now! Ha.

Okay, I'm going back to my baby blanket. I'm almost ready to add the third color! Once I get the first three stripes done, then I will post a pic.

Best Baby Books Ever

I found a baby book for both Brian and I.

Here's his

and here is mine

Both of them are written in a humorous tone, which always helps. I could not stop laughing at the "Let's Panic" book and Brian seemed to enjoy the "Caveman's Guide" which is nice, since he doesn't read much.

He will be reading a lot more! Ha!

We didn't buy either book but we did read a good chunk of them in Barnes and Noble.

I'd like to eventually own both of these books. I've put them on my "list of baby shit to get"

So far the list looks like this

Yarn 3 colors
Baby books
Bras

But I'm still in the early months.