Read This!

This was a really great blog post I read because someone linked to it from their blog. It is long, and talks about being a mom to a newborn, and being a Christian and stuff like that. I thought it was great!  If you wanna read it CLICK HERE!

and also

Check my You Tuber channel over there in the right margin and click on my new Wilbur War Eagle Video!!

Craddle Cap is Disgust!

 

I thought we had missed the boat, but apparently not! PB got "cradle cap" this week! For those who don't know what the heck that is, it is basically a scabby scalp. I don't think there is any known cause, and as far as I know I think all babies get it? 

I thought it happened right after they are born, but here we are 9 weeks out and just now getting it. It is DISGUST!  I preen over my PB like a monkey and this is something I cant do anything about! Yikes! 

You can google the phrase "Cradle Cap" and click on images , if you dare. That image above is a random one from google cause thankfully PB's dark hair hides his pretty well.

So has anyone used any of the cradle cap cream's or treatments? Any recommendations or feedback? How long does it take to get rid of this junk?

Cradle Cap Brush/Mit

Fenn and His Fluffies

He's quite the social butterfly. He must get that from his momma......

Weekend In Review : Aunt Susannah Comes to Town

My bestie from college (& Edwards Edition) came to town last weekend to hang and meet PB. We had a great time dishing on mom stuff, wife stuff and relaxing. True to form, she cooked and cleaned at this house like it was her own and boy do I love the HECK out of her for that. One morning I walked in the kitchen and found breast pump parts all disassembled and washed and I stood there , BAFFLED about how Erik would know to take the stuff apart and wash it correctly & while I was sorting that all out in my head, in walks Sus and starts unloading the dishwasher and then it occurred to me that SHE washed all that stuff! She's a real good lady.

PB is NINE weeks today! Hard to believe. He has his 2 month check up on Friday and I'll post his stats and catch you all up on that then.

He has been making some cute faces lately, cute noises too and blowing spit bubbles. Below is his "scared or surprised" face. He makes it ALOT

Sunday, we went to Granny's and visited her. She is finally back in her house after the Nashville Floods in May. Her placed looked great but she is still pretty upset about it all. Understandably.

Then we took Peebs to Green Hills Mall where he made his first trip to Sephora while his auntee got herself some supplies. He never has a "blow out" but of coarse he did it right before going into the mall so he had to change and wear the only extra outfit I had on hand ( tailgating clothes).

I really regret not buying that nail polish I tried on listed above called "Already Famous". it looks pretty awesome on. Great for fall. We are having some awesome Fall weather here in Nashville now!
 In addition to our fun times, my internet was down from Thursday night to yesterday afternoon, which is a recipe for disaster with me. Thank God for the iphone. I am also having some post partum issues, which I will likely blog about later.

Baby Product Review: Sleep Positioners

I have no recollection how  found out about this thing but I do LOVE It!  It is basically a portable bassinet that is inclined so babies like PB who have a touch of reflux can rest and relax without spitting up ! He has spent a lot of nights in his swing bc our doc suggested he sleep on an incline to help with his reflux/congestion. Now I finally have a bed that is perfect for him AND that i can move all over this house and anywhere else we go since it folds flat! It also rocks. The cover inside comes out for washing. My only qualm is the color scheme. I don't know why all manufacturers INSIST on making all baby stuff printed and usually obnoxiously colored. I think this thing should also come in a solid color minky dot fabric! Chocolate brown, to be exact. ha
For $60 I think that is a steal.

Incidentally  I also tried THIS THING which was a piece and is being returned. Don't waste your money!

My friend Rachel, has a Snuggle Nest Sleep Positioner and loves it. It is great because:
- It is also easy to travel with
- you can use it for co-sleeping OR just use it in the crib, or even the couch
- it has a small built in (soft) light you can turn on for late night feedings so you can see without having to get up or use a big light.

Adding You Tube Channel to Blogger

I just realized today all the fun features of You Tube. I am not a big you tuber but MWL, Matt, and Bubs are all You Tube fanatics! Today I worked on setting up my own channel which makes it easy for me to upload videos from my iphone and save them forever in cyberspace, perfect for kid videos.
Additionally you can favorite videos you like to watch alot, like Bon Qui Qui. I LOVE that video!
You can also add it to your blogger sidebar, see far right! I have lots of funny videos from my nephew wilburs!

The Griza Channel is :

http://www.youtube.com/user/mrsgriza

A Newborn's Letter to Parents:

I read this on another blog and thought it was good to have around! 


Dear Mommy and Daddy,


Please keep this letter from me in a place where you can read it and re-read it when things are rough and you are feeling down.


1. Please don't expect too much from me as a newborn baby, or too much from yourselves as parents. Give us both six weeks as a birthday present, six weeks for me to grow, develop, mature, and become more stable and predictable - six weeks for you to rest and relax and allow your body to get back to normal.


2. Please feed me when I am hungry, I never knew hunger in your womb and clocks and time mean little to me.

3. Please hold, cuddle, kiss, touch, stroke, and croon to me. I was always held closely in your womb and have never been alone before.


4. Please forgive me if I cry a lot. I am not a tyrant who was sent to make your life miserable, the only way I can tell you I am not happy is with my cry, bear with me and in a short time, as I mature, I will spend less time crying and more time socializing.


5. Please take the time to find out who I am, how I differ from you and how much I can bring to you. Watch me carefully and I'll tell you things which sooth, console and please me.


6. Please remember that I am resilient and can withstand the many natural mistakes you'll make with me. As long as you make them with love, I cannot be harmed.


7. Please don't be disappointed when I am not the perfect baby you expected nor be disappointed with yourselves when you are not the perfect parents.


8. Please take care of yourself; eat a balanced diet, rest, and exercise so that when we are together, you have the patience and energy to take care of me. The cure for a fussy baby is more rest for Mom.


9. Please take care of your relationship with each other. What good is family bonding if there is no family left for me to bond with.


10. Keep the "big picture" in mind. I'll be like this for a very short time, though it seems like forever to you now. Although I may have turned your life upside down, please remind yourselves that things will be back to normal before long.

Enjoy me - I'll never be this little again!

iPad App Review: Friendly

I know some of you guys out there have an ipad, so I thought I would start reviewing a few ipad apps that are worth having. There are not near as many cool apps for ipad as there are for iphone.
The ipad has been a life saver for me since having PB because its alot easier to manage and hold when I am nursing etc.
So today's app: Friendly $.99
This is a FACEBOOK app for the ipad. I am astonished that Facebook does not have it's own app for the ipad, but that may have something to do with the changes that are coming soon in software. Who knows.

For 99 cents this app makes browsing Facebook much easier, better than the desktop experience almost ! The only qualm that I have noticed so far, is not being able to load pictures. Maybe that will come in a future update. The biggest plus is that it makes seeing other people's pictures much easier to navigate and load. Hard to explain but true!

From the Boob to the Pump and Back Again.....

Yes, this is another breast feeding article! I get so many emails and twitters about it I decided to do an update on that whole topic!  Before I get started, let me say that I am by no means an expert, but I do make enough milk to feed a small village ( basically 2 ounces every hour, so if I pump every 3 hours = 6 ounces, speaking conservatively) so maybe that qualifies me in some sort of way to be informative.
Anyway, I told you all about how I was almost exclusively pumping for the first 6 weeks. That started out because of my boob injuries and then I continued to do it so mom and bubs could help me feed him, and so we could monitor how much he was eating at each feeding.
When we were at the beach, my mom suggested to me that I try to primarily nurse him again and so I started working on that the week we were there. I made some beautiful discoveries when I went back to boobs only,  so thank you momma for your advice!

- nursing really is ALOT easier. Getting up to feed him in the middle of the night was easier b.c I went to sleep when he was done, instead of feeding him, pumping, washing parts and putting away labeled milk. Also easier when you go out because all you need is a nursing shawl instead of bottles and freezer packs, and you are always prepared.

- When they say pumping does not fully empty the breast, that ain't no joke! When I first read that, I was like, how do you know if your "breast is empty" well, trust me, you know. Basically it goes from being rock hard to flappy. I was always huge and uncomfortable when pumping and they filled up MUCH faster and it hurt SO BAD when my milk came in, each and every time. I really had to pump every 3 hours to avoid being uncomfortable and leaking. I never slept well either because of all that. They feel much better now that PB does the pumping.

- PB sleeps better after nursing because he has to work harder to get food, as opposed to the bottle which comes out faster/easier and sometimes he would get full and then look at me all bright eyed at 3 am like  " What should we do next mom?" ... well now with the boob he is asleep IMMEDIATELY after eating, sometimes while eating.

I am still pumping at least once a day, depending on circumstances so that I can share feedings with daddy. In fact, bubs took the night shift both nights this weekend and let me sleep. That is the MOST sleep I have gotten since PB was born!  It was fabulous!  I also wanna keep my milk stash current in case I need it.

I have had some emails asking about how or why I produce so much milk. I don't know the scientific answer but if you were asking for advice from me I would tell you, Say what you will about the pump ( mean lactation nurse lady!) but I think that is why I have such fruitful boobies! I think all that pumping got everything started and I drink a ton of water.
I also followed that book I read about breast feeding that suggested I keep my baby with me after birth so my body and hormones would get all the right messages to start milk production and I attempted to nurse him often during that time. 
Maybe that stuff helps, maybe it doesn't, but it works for me. Another thing I read, and has been true for me is that beer increases breast milk. So if you are struggling maybe have a beer. Obvi I am not talking about a 6 pack or anything, but one beer is not gonna hurt baby.

I got an email today asking me about any pain with breast feeding and another email about clogged ducts etc so to answer those questions:
It does not hurt. The only time it hurt was when I first started because I was doing it wrong. After a few days your boobs get used to all the work and adjust to it so they are much tougher. It helps to use lanolin RELIGIOUSLY during this time. I recommend the Medela brand. It also helps to balance out that frequent use by pumping and makes it all much more tolerable. I use the Medela Pump N Style and I REALLY like it.
I have no experience with clogged ducts yet, but I have some friends who know all about that and maybe they will write a guest post for me? I am pretty sure they told me that stopped happening once they started massaging the boobs before feeding/pumping. Stay tuned.

I have some future plans of blogging about the storing of breast milk, I am still researching that for now and I also plan to do a review of  "Milkies".  I laughed when I first read about those ( and watched that silly video on their website)  but now I can see the need for them! Nursing makes the ladies MUCH more trigger happy than pumping did. One night at like 2am i was nursing and checking twitter on my iphone and my iphone kept looking blurry, I was so sleepy it took me a minute to realize my un-used breast was dousing my phone in milk! gross!  Enter milkies... I'll let you all know how that goes.

Cloth Diapers: Take Two : Shinies

I am really gaining ground in the Diaper world I tell ya !
One of Erik's frat brothers from Auburn, Jeff Holomon, who was also Aubie, is married to a very skilled cloth diapering wifey and she has been schooling me this week. Thank you Katy and Thank you Kelli too!
So I told you guys last week that I was going to try some of the cheaper ones on ebay out. I had some great success. I bought a Shinies cloth diaper in white for $9.74. It is a Canadian diaper. The guy that sells them on ebay is a VERY quick shipper. I had another one of those "OMG this is my new life moments" when I was SO excited about that diaper arriving in the mail. Normally I only get that excited about a new handbag! ha

Anyway:

• Pocket Diapers, even though they are listed on eBay as a AIO
• Easy to get on and off
• Easy to wash/washed well/dried quickly
• Did not leak. 
•  APLIX - Loved the Aplix tabs. They are much smoother than the velcro on other diapers, doesn't hurt or scratch when you touch it. Doesn't catch on everything in the wash either.
• One Size - Instead of snaps, this diaper uses a series of zippers to change the crotch length as baby grows and not have to buy age appropriate sized ones.
• Comes in 5 sherbet colors (white, blue, pink, orange or green). For some reason, I just like them to be white and so I have this in white and its perfect. 
• This diaper is very trim, which is a must for me so that his clothes fit like normal. This diaper is MUCH trimmer than the bum genius one i reviewed last week.

I heard that the best, most absorbent inserts are made from Hemp and plan to try some in the next week or 2.

** Update**
I have been using the diapers for a few weeks now, and I have to say they are my favorite brand. I have tried Bum Genius Pocket, Bum Genius AIO, Thirsties, Mamma Little Helper  and this has been the cheapest and my most favorite of all diapers tried.

Have Ya'll Ever Heard of Bubble Tea?

I have been meaning to post about this and forgotten, but I recently tried this stuff called "Bubble Tea" which I think is an Asian fad. It basically is a drink, with a sealed lid, fat straw, comes in multiple flavors with this little gummy balls in the bottom that you suck up through the fat straw. It was pretty interesting experience, have any of you guys tried it?
There are 2 places in Nashville that I know of, serving Bubble Tea:  The Chill Spot in Brentwood and the place next to Taco Mamacitas.
and in case you need more detailed info:

Here is the Histroy of Bubble Tea:

If you visit Taiwan or Hong Kong you can't help but notice the unique bubble teashops on every corner. Bubble Tea to Taiwan is what coffee or soda is to the U.S. One would think Bubble Tea is the national drink by its popularity.

Just like in Taiwan, Bubble Tea shops are popping up all over the world. One Taiwan based company has over 450 locations while in the Philippines another person owns over 100 within 1.5 years.

The U.S. is also now feeling the growth. Hundreds of locations serve Bubble Tea in California alone. You may be wondering, "What is Bubble Tea and how did this all begin"?

Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980's at a small tea stand.

Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play. Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavoring to her tea. Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the "unique" and popular tea, so they started to add flavoring to their teas. When adding flavor, the tea and flavoring needed to be shaken well for a good all around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as "Bubble Tea."
In 1983 Liu Han-Chieh introduced Taiwan to tapioca pearls. The new fad was to add tapioca pearls into a favorite drink. Most of the time tapioca pearls were served in cold infused tea. After the tea and flavor were shaken well, it topped tapioca pearls that were sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. The tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles, thus also became to known as "Bubble Tea." Bubbles floated on the top your drink and bottom of your drink.

Bubble tea is also known as boba drink, pearl tea drink, boba ice tea, boba, boba nai cha, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl milk tea, pearl ice tea, black pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, BBT, PT, pearl shake, QQ (which means chewy in Chinese) and possible many others.

Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by a flavoring.

Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the color varies. I've been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black color.
The consistency of tapioca pearls are somewhere between jell-o and chewing gum. They are the size of a marble. They are also known as the "boba" drink in Western China because it is described as to having the same texture as the female breasts.

A clear cup with black balls on the bottom can easily identify bubble Tea drinks. Another obvious trait is a huge fat straw. The fat straw is needed so that the tapioca pearls can be sucked up with the drink and eaten. Bubble Tea's appearance definitely makes it unique. One thing is for certain. Bubble Tea is not a fad. It's a trend. This drink is addictive. If you've had a good one before then you know what we're talking about.

BUMC Consignment Sale

Thanks to Mrs. Wiggs I got an early shoppers pass to the BUMC consignment sale this past Thursday. It was so much fun! Thanks Mel!
As usual these ladies do not play around! The doors opened at 5 and at 4:45 some of the ladies out of the huge line got up and started stretching like they were about to run a race! HA
I found TONS of cute and wonderful things. Consignment sales are so much more fun as a parent ( than as a pregnant lady)  because you know your kids size and needs much more accurately. While I was sorting my choices before purchasing, a girl walked out and said " thats so funny you have ALL of my stuff I consigned" which I thought was neat. I guess we both have sons and like the same namebrands and solid colors! ha
Here are a few of my Fav Items:
Kissy Kissy Smocked Suit $6

War Eagle-ish Ralph Lauren outfit $6

Brand New NFL Licensed Titans outfit with matching hat $4

Pixie Lily Day Gown:$2

Weekend In Review: The Latimers Came to Town!

We had a really fun and busy weekend with some old college friends! The Latimers came up from Birmingham and visited us with their 2yr old princess MA. Friday night we ate dinner and caught up at home. Saturday, the mens babysat and @Mccoma and I shopped. We had some awesome luck at a childrens Store that is going out of business and everything was 60% off. WE got some SUPER cute hairbows. Have you ever seen anything so interesting and cute? I bought some as gifts because I could not resist. They were all kinds of shapes and creatures and SO intricate! That blue one I just bought for the blog pic, because WHO makes a child's hair bow to look like the creatures from AVATAR? ha

and here I am modeling some of the bows ( a lobster and some mushrooms)

Saturday afternoon and evening was all about College football and friends!

Coffee? check! Iphone? Check! PB? Check! cute game day outfit? #FAIL

They just don't make cute outfits that involve nursing holes, and as often as the momma of a baby piggy has to whip those things out, I cant wear regular clothes. UGH Any of you guys have some suggestions for cute clothes I can nurse in?

and look at these 2 in their War Eagleish gear! The Latimers brought PB that little AU onesie collar shirt! So cute.

MA loved PB ( as long as Meredith didn't hold him too much! ha ) she was so sweet with him and would kiss him and pet him and she even told me once " Careful now" ha as in be careful with him! ha  They may or may not have an arranged marriage and plans of attending AU together.

Little Dubs came over to play too ! He had a big time. I call him my feather baby because after holding PB, dubs feels like a feather!

Sunday was Titans Tailgate Day. It was one bajillion degrees outside and not near as fun and perfect as it was planned out in my head.  Meredith and I were being good wives keeping the babes back at the tailgate so hubby's could enjoy the game. Unfort, we had some issues. ABANDONED CHILDREN. I really don't like irritating, poorly behaved children, and what is worse than that, are parents who dump off those kids on other people.
Some random dude trolled through the parking lot, with his daughter and no tickets to the game looking for a tailgate to mooch off of crash, and then set up camp and sent his kid into the RV with us. SHE DROVE ME CRAZY. Meredith reminded me my hormones were partly to blame for this, but it was still hard to tolerate the situation in that scorching heat.
 I don't even think I can do the story justice without re-enacting for you all and I don't have the energy for that tonight! Just trust me! ha 

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and we are all exhausted! What did you all do this weekend?

Iphone App Review: Milk Maid

Basically, an app made for organizing and timing Milk production /pumping. I like and hate this app at the same time. It has some super useful features like a timer to use when you pump and a place to record how many ounces and so forth.

But the part where you have to move the milk around in the app from storage places and mark when used was annoying to me. I would rather have a straight history of how much I have pumped and how much is in the freezer with dates and ounces.

So over all I givet his app a C. I use it for the timer and the reminders you can set to pump like an alarm clock. The other sections I just dont get but there are VERY FEW apps available to manage milk. Do you guys know of any others/better ones?

2010 VMA Awards...

Even though the VMA's were last week, I still cant stop thinking about them! It was a great show, much better than years past IMO. Did ya'll watch? Do you Agree? The set/stage was sick. I loved each and every one's stage.  I also enjoyed Chelsea Handler hosting. She was funny and entertaining, unlike most award show hosts!
Here were the highlights:
Opener with Rihanna and Eminem. I am a fan of BOTH and I love that song "love the way you lie"

I had not heard of "Drake" before and love him. Loved his swagger coming down those stairs and love this song ( which is why I keep twittering about "Nails done ,Hair Done , Everything Did")

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video




I love paramour's voice and this song but her outfit was ridic ! UGH

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video


I love, love , LOVE BEIBS! He is sooo dang cute and I also like his music, even though I am not 12. I realize this makes me a total cougar! But , I'll be a cougar for Biebs!!

I also really enjoyed Ursher, as usual.

and I totally hate to admit it, but I dig Kanye's song "Runaway" at the end of the night. I hate him but I downloaded the song ( and you can too for FREE here)
Glad to see, he is aware of how everyone feels about him now.