Sick baby

lots of puking :( Thankfully I think its over now.

Edit: not over. As soon as I posted this, she started fussing in her sleep on the couch so I was going to move her upstairs to our bed and go to sleep myself. I take her up there, I had already pre-planned so I had everything ready and certain lights on that needed to be on, I go up there (meanwhile she is gagging on the way up the stairs) and none of the lights are on, none of the light switches work (keep in mind Mike is working nights this month so he's not here). So, she threw up on the floor/me 3 times in the span of 30 seconds while I'm helpless because I can't see anything! AHHHH I'm not even going to try to clean it up since there is no light and its scary up there! Vomit on carpet for 8 hours will be fine right? Why does electricity not work in half my house?!

I haven't blogged since August!!!

That is crazy! Faith doesn't let me be on the computer much lately, which is actually a good thing - I spend way less time on facebook :-). My laptop is in the kitchen and, unless she is really distracted, she will push at my legs until I get off. And, I have been knitting up a storm for Christmas - I knitted a scarf for everyone in my family in 3 weeks.... ok not a real scarf, just a neckwarmer... but thats 4 neck warmers in barely 3 weeks. And I can't really knit when Faith is awake - so I had to use my only free time during naps and after she went to sleep at night. blech! So glad thats over with.

Faith is 19 months old!! She says about 20 words and she's pretty much potty trained now. At 17 months, after hearing one of my friends with a baby the same age as Faith who didn't do EC talk about starting potty training I was like WHAT? Maybe I should get on the ball here! haha We hadn't been doing much EC, just first thing in the morning and after her nap, and she was wearing cloth diapers throughout the day and would tell us when she peed her in diaper. So I just started putting panties on her and reading her a book on the potty and she took to it immediately! Most of the time we'll go a few days without having a miss and she was telling us when she needed to go, but she's teething now so its kind of iffy but if I remember to take her fairly often she'll hold it. We still do diapers out of the house because it makes me nervous not to, but she stays dry almost all the time anyway.

Oh!!! AND (tmi?) I think I've finally got my period back. yay? Faith still nurses a lot and all night long, but she is starting to eat more solids... somedays lol.

My family came a few days ago and they brought our Christmas presents :) so here are some pictures in no particular order because blogger uploads them in reverse.

a hammock! Its in our bedroom - its so fun and comfy. Oh and her waldorf doll is with her too

my safely rear-facing 19 month old :)

reading with Grandpa

with Aunt Michelle and Aunt Emily

Grandma

a rough day of teething/sickness. Oh our tv is new too! Faith can't turn it off and on anymore because we mounted it on the wall! YAY!

I got an awesome new camera for my birthday! (I'm 23 now! crazy!) I've never had a dSLR before and I'm love love loving it!!! I also bought this awesome kinderpack, its toddler size... ssssooooo great (we haven't been the thriftiest in the last month if you couldn't tell lol!)!! She fell asleep with Gerber's eye in her mouth. Anyone else watch Gerber as a child?

We love to go on walks... except not so much when its freezing.

Picture Post: 15 months old, Wrap Rant, and some DIY

First off- I highly recommend woven wraps... they are amazing and 100% worth every penny. You can use them from birth to... whenever. There are a ton of different carries you can learn: front, back, hip, nursing- its endless! And, unlike stretchy wraps - they are still super supportive far far far past 15lbs. They have a steep learning curve, but its worth it! I started wrapping when Faith was 5 months old and outgrew the sleepy wrap. Anyway, on with the show! This is Anna she is made by Storchenwiege and this is how we used her today...

...For a 3 hour nap. She is still sleeping actually and I'm very comfortable. This is in a reinforced rucksack carry which I just tried today and I love it. Faith doesn't nurse to sleep very often anymore, but she likes to be wrapped to sleep, sometimes I take her off after she falls asleep, sometimes not.

as a hammock

She loved it!

I left her alone with this book for 5 minutes and she ate the entire corner off... she was suspiciously quiet, no wonder.

She loves to put our shoes on. :-D

Mmmm meatballs

Isn't this so cute?! She is smelling my wilted basil plant!

Family picture via self-timer. haha. use your mind to crop out Mike's feet. Faith is nursing, isn't she giant?

DIY shape sorter. We're only sorting one shape obviously, and she still just tries to shove it through. I think circles would have been the smarter option...

tape a cardboard box closed, cut shapes out of the top, make a hole in the side to retrieve "shapes", cover sides of openings using duct tape to make the edges not so sharp, use glue gun or fabric glue to attach scrap fabric to box. Viola!

DIY Babywearing sweater!

You need a stretchy knit sweater with zipper (buttons would work too)... hold on, I have to tell you about this sweater. It's from Anthropology and I found it at Goodwill with the $90 price tag still attached!!! LOVE! Ok, so baby on your back, put it on backwards and have someone zip you up! HAHAHA. Don't worry, I only go on walks after dark like this...

She is 15 months old now. Weighs 22 lbs (she weighed like 20lbs at 7 months so she has really slowed down the weight gain) and is 31" tall. She says ball, dog, mama, dada, down (I think), and no. She LOVES going to the play area at the mall, you know, the germ infested place you swore you would never allow your child to play at before you had kids (no? just me then?). We have to wait until after 8pm to go because its less crowded then and she really likes to climb up/slide down this one slide over and over again. Its fun to watch.

This is our new house :). Having our stuff split between the two levels is hard... I'm still getting used to it and trying to figure out how to make it practical. ugh. I like the space though, a lot!

the end.

Church Nurseries

Today we visited a different church. One with a nursery. It wasn't like a real church nursery, no one demanded I hand my baby over or assigned security bracelets or parent pagers... just a room with toys and an adult assigned to help in it. I thought maybe it would be good, I would get to listen to the sermon finally, Faith would play. Great.

Well, maybe I should start with the fact that I haven't really sat in church for a year. I sit out in the hall with Faith, since our normal church doesn't have a nursery. I liked this fact for a while, but now that she is getting older and just wants to play - I see their purpose. I've also only left her in the care of others once. I had a dentist appointment and was gone for 2 hours when she was 5 months old.... bad bad bad decision she was one very sad baby when I got back and didn't stop crying for 30 more minutes! Mike takes off work for my dentist appointments now ;-)

So, we try out this other church. I go sit back in the nursery with her for 20 minutes, she is playing and interested in toys so I sneak out - back in to the service. But all I can think about is what she is doing back there... is she sad? Does she miss me? Does she know I'm gone? Is she playing with the balls? What are the adults doing in there? Did they do background checks? I might as well be back there with her, because I'm getting nothing from being out here! So after 4 minutes I hear crying. I go back there and sure enough- crying hysterically, splotchy face, hyperventilating... that's my daughter! AHHHH so sad. So... all this to say, I won't be leaving Faith in a nursery again and I'm glad to know that I'm not missing out on anything by our church not having one.

Off-topic: what would you say to someone who asks you when you're going to have another baby when you want one right now but you haven't ovulated in 2 years? haha, pretty specific, right? I should say something like "In God's timing" but I usually say "whenever" to stop myself from saying "ask my ovaries %*#(@!!" UGH I just hate getting that question!

BoBB

The Business of Being Born is a great documentary on birth and the state of maternity care in America. If you plan on maybe, possibly, ever being a Mother or Father you need to watch this movie. And its free... so just do it. In fact, I'll just post the first part here for your convenience. Who knows how long this will be available on youtube, but you can watch it as an instant on netflix if you are so privileged.

I miss blogging

I haven't been on here in a few weeks. We made it home from Pennsylvania.... eventfully to say the least. Our car overheated on the way there, we barely made it there in time after getting completely drenched in a freak, 5 minute, thunder storm while switching our bags from one car to the other. We were almost charged a seat for Faith since we didn't have her birth certificate (what is up with southwest? They are the only ones to ask for this! Then they said that I should have faxed it to myself while I was on my trip... what?!). Then security has to throw away my new natural, etsy sunscreen because I forgot it was in my purse. We sit on the runway for an hour because of weather while the guy behind us is saying "da plane boss da plane" to his 3 year old over and over again. Faith fell asleep mid-flight, about 30min into her nap she starts crying unconsolably in her sleep and vomits all over me.

I hate New York now. Not fun with a baby in the summer at all. Its too hot to wear her and too difficult to use the stroller with the subway, so we did a bit of both. On the 5 hour drive back from new york Faith was hysterically crying a good portion of the time. I never know what to do when she is like that... I tried nursing her in her carseat, distracting her, nothing. She just wanted OUT. I'd let her out for a few minutes and put her back in, which only made it worse. I just kept thinking... would you rather have a dead baby or a sad baby? I confess, let her out... I know, bad, very bad, mommy. But, we still had over an hour to drive and she was way too upset to fall asleep, even after I let her out she cried for a good 20 minutes after because she was ssoooo scared. Poor girl, thanks Jesus for keeping her safe.

We got a poodle puppy! Then Michael decided he didn't like dogs after all, so we gave him back after a week. It was bitter sweet because... I don't know why anyone ever gets a puppy. It was SO hard with puppy & Faith. oh my. I'm very relieved, but kind of sad at the same time. I really had no time to do anything at all! It was miserable, now my plants are dying because I forgot to water them for 5 days in a row. I'm sure it would have changed once he wasn't a puppy anymore... but that could last 2 years! I really just wish we could go get a shelter dog, but we can't handle shedding and Michael is allergic to some dogs it seems. And I'm definitely not getting another dog until Faith is like 6... and I'll have 10 kids by then, so they can all take care of it. hahaha jk (about the 10 kids part)

We are moving! Did I tell you that? Michael's supervisor is leaving and we can take his house! Its two stories with carpet and a fenced yard. 3bedroom, 2.5baths, more open floor plan so the kitchen isn't secluded in a little hallway (which I HATE about this house). Its about the same size as our house now, except more living space because right now - half our house is the basement which I don't like. I LOVE moving! Organizing, planning, arranging. AHHH I could do it once a year for the rest of my life. lol This will be our 3rd house in 2.5 years on the same base (the other move wasn't by choice though).

My family is coming to visit in a week! They haven't been here since last summer when Faith was 1 month old (we have visited them since then, though). That will be fun, pretty sure my sisters hate me now that we don't have a puppy though.

Michael made "Below the Zone". So, he gets to rank up 6 months sooner than expected - so its basically like winning $800! Woo!

"Vacation"

We are on "Vacation" right now... whatever that means after you have a child. It is SO exhausting chasing a one year old around a non-baby proof house. There are 7 other people here and they of course offer to follow her around, but you know, they get distracted or something and next thing you know she is putting a whole grape in her mouth or trying to climb up the stairs in the blink of an eye. Not to mention- I HATE old houses that have no carpeting and creaky floors. Seriously, could the sound travel any better? If people are talking downstairs it sounds like they are right out in the hall. Needless to say- Faith is having a hard time napping/falling asleep and I'm having a hard time not being mad at everything. hmmmm 11 more days. I am looking forward to seeing some of Mike's family that we haven't seen in 3 years and his parents live in the town where we met, so its fun being back here and going back to all the places we would hang out at. Its the cutest little town ever, with a ton of family owned businesses and row houses. ahhh, adorable. And we are going to NYC tomorrow-Sunday so that will be fun and hopefully not too hot. I'm not even going to bring the stroller because subway = not handicap accessible.. meaning lots of stairs. And its crowded! (we have been using the stroller more because it is HOT to have a baby on your back in the summer)

And... everyone and there dog is pregnant and I'm not and I wish I was but I'm not even fertile yet (no signs of it at least). My heart aches every time I see a newborn... so I just try to remind myself how many people struggle with true infertility (not breastfeeding induced infertility lol). I guess I'm just freaked out now that I will never be able to get pregnant while breastfeeding and Faith will be 4 by the time we have another baby. lol. Yet just a few months ago I was freaked out I would get pregnant too soon. I SO do not trust God... :( its always something I'm worried about. Not even worried, I just WANT! Maybe if Faith is a little older though, I'll be able to tandem nurse and she won't wean during my pregnancy! fun! God knows what He's doing.... my body knows what its doing. words to remember. I have been having a ton of dreams lately like when I was pregnant. hmmm

sorry to be such a complainer...