I Heart Etsy and Babywearing

I think I first discovered Etsy from Big Mama's Blog. I was immediately in love. You can find so many things for sale on there...the catch is, Etsy is for all things handmade. The things you are buying are actually handmade...lots of items are made by SAHM's who have become WAHM's, like Joy.
My latest favorite things to look at are of course, baby things. There are tons of personalized items, diaper and tote bags, swaddling blankets and my absolute must-have baby item, a ring sling. If you can make it, then someone probably sells it on Etsy...even cute hospital gowns so that you can look fashionable while in labor!!! The prices vary to fit your budget. And if you have a super-crafty mom like me, you can get a few ideas and then buy the supplies and have her make some of the stuff for you.
As for ring slings, I've got a bid in on a cute one on ebay right now, but I found a cheaper back-up on Etsy. I loved wearing The Muffin! I probably used our front carrier more than my mesh New Native Sling, but the front carriers can be harmful to baby's spine and leg development, so I'll probably use the sling more with our Baby-to-be. Plus, I'm trying to be more realistic than some of the moms that I see out and about chasing a toddler while trying to carry a baby in their arms, push a stroller or carry the car seat. I also liked that when Muff was in her front carrier or pouch sling, strangers stayed away.
If you have any babywearing questions, you can probably find the answers and lots of great tips and advice on Steph's blog, Adventure's in Babywearing.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

First steps in the snow.

Our Little Snow Angel

Feeding Daddy

Adding marshmallows to the hot cocoa.

This is what Big Daddy does in his spare time- makes Baby Joy into Baby Ms. Potato Head. Of course, nothing upsets Muffin more than for the potato to be upside down.

Snow Day

We had a "Snow Day" today with about 6 inches of snow falling last night and most of the day today. This much snow is a rare thing in our part of central North Carolina. Big Daddy had the day off work and we too The Muffin out around 8:30 this morning. She was very grumpy today and seems to be getting some sort of respiratory-thing, so our time outside was brief. I made hot cocoa for us after our excursion outside and then we played inside, colored pictures, hung out and had a family nap together on our bed. The nap was SO good! I'm planning on doing a "Wordless Wednesday" post tomorrow with a few of our "Snow Day" pictures. I'm too lazy to go downstairs to retrieve the camera right now!

We tried to avoid the television as much as possible today. We watched a little news and weather this morning and quickly turned it off when they started covering the inauguration. I'm usually a sucker for pomp and circumstance, but I'm getting tired of hearing about the inauguration of the first black/African-American president, who happens to actually be of mixed race (???). The only reason I'm really tired of it is because we keep being reminded that it shouldn't be about race, but it keeps being mentioned. I watched about 15 minutes of coverage leading up to the actual swearing in and transfer of power before my sweet Muffin needed help with crayons.

Overall, we had a nice day that I'm sure I'll remember for a long time. I'll probably forget that our "big" snow was on inauguration day, but I'll never forget The Muffin being upset that the snow was covering our pansies and her Cozy Coupe car!

It's Not Nice To Kick

I told sweet Muffin that the baby was kicking me tonight and asked if she wanted to try to feel it. She was all too eager. After a couple of seconds she told me that the baby wasn't kicking, "she was probably just jumping...like this" and then Muff jumped up and down. After that, she pulled up her shirt and told me to feel her baby kick.

I. Love. This. Girl.

And Laura, I'm not brave for showing my belly pics, I'm just keeping it all documented for future reference. This may (or may not) be our last pregnancy and I want to remember everything or at least have the pictures to look at. I only took a few belly shots when I was pregnant with The Muffin and I'd love to be able compare the size of my belly. I love pregnant bellies. I love the different shapes and sizes. I think our pregnant bellies are amazing.

Most of all, this is not my first pregnancy and I lost all of my modesty a long time ago!

The Baby Belly- Week 20...

Our Baby-to-be is around 10.5 inches long from head to heel!

I cannot believe that we are are at our official halfway mark! The past 16 weeks (since we found out) have truly flown by. I'm still not feeling consistent movements yet, which nearly drives me crazy. I try to remind myself that my crazy fears are totally irrational, but I swear that the sweetest sound is hearing your unborn baby's heart beat on the doppler! Last Saturday evening I felt a definite nudge from our sweet baby and then I was able to feel it on the outside of my stomach, too. Of course, I was alone and Big Daddy did not get to feel it.

I'm always cautiously optimistic. It's never far from my mind that no matter what I am not guaranteed this sweet baby. Everyday that I'm pregnant I try to tell this baby how very much we love and want it. Muffin gives my belly kisses and tickles it. I'm reminded of all of my virtual friends that had to leave the hospital empty handed or had to leave their newborns in the NICU, not to mention the ones who care for their disabled children everyday because of VP. They spent nine months planning for a baby and had their hopes and dreams shattered. Maybe that has more to do with us not at least planning a nursery than some other things and I just have a hard time admitting it. All of my worries and fears are a reminder of how Vasa Previa has changed everything in my life. And then there are stories like Kelly's that remind me of all of the other things that can happen. I try to pray and have faith, but it's still hard.

On a positive, less depressing note...The Muffin seems to feel better. She's been fever-free since the afternoon and hasn't puked since around 10:00. She seems to be getting a stuffy nose, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Please continue to pray for Kelly, Scott and Harper Stamps. I know that they have so many prayers being spoken for them.
Our little family has a couple of "big" things happening this week, too, so say a little prayer for us while you're at it!

***UPDATE***

Around 2:30 this morning I felt the baby move again...after much poking, prodding and praying that "she" would kick. Needless to say, I woke Big Daddy up and he felt it too, but only after more poking around and him coaching the baby by saying, "Come on, Baby. Kick Daddy."

Update on the sick Mufffin

After a very long, messy and sleepless night, The Muffin seems to be feeling better. Her fever broke a little after 8:00 this morning and she was able to eat cheese and crackers and drink apple juice without getting sick.

We had a very long night. Muff & I slept until a little after midnight. I heard her crying and went to her room to find her "spitting up", as she calls it. Big Daddy and I cleaned her up, changed her bed and I started a load of laundry. Her fever was still up, so Big Daddy went to W.algreen's to get M.otrin. We had tried it before when ibuprofen wouldn't work. She had a popsicile and then we all went back to sleep around 2:00. I checked on her several times and then she woke up around 7:00 feeling bad and very feverish. Her temperature had risen another degree, she had more M.otrin and we moved our little pajama party to the living room. She got sick (in the trash can!!!) and then her fever broke and she started feeling great!

Muff wanted to go to church, but doesn't "want to make her friends sick", so she agreed to watch her favorite movie with Big Daddy. I had to come upstairs to get away from the music. I think my ears will fall of if I hear "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" one more time!

Even though I know a fever and "spitting up" isn't all that serious it's so hard to be helpless when it comes to your child. It takes me back to the day that she was born and I knew there was nothing I could do. Once again, please remember the Stamp family in your prayers. I'm sure they feel helpless right now as they deal with Haper's illness.

One More Thing To Pray About

We have lots going on in our little family that has kept me busy worrying and praying for months now. I'd like to say that the end of that is almost near, but we're not quite there. Of course, I pray for the safety of me, Big Daddy, The Muffin and our Baby-to-be as well as the safety of our families, but there's always more that we can pray about.

Please take time to pray for Kelly, Scott and their newborn daughter, Harper. I've been reading Kelly's blog since she announced her pregnancy. I found her blog through Big Mama...which I found through Angie...which I found through Celebrity Baby Blog...and that's how I was sucked into this whole bloggy thing about 10 months ago.

Please say a little prayer for our sweet Muffin too. She suddenly developed a fever and then puked all over herself tonight...just after her bath...which really upset her. I washed her off again, dressed her in clean pajamas , took her temperature, gave her ibuprofen and then she fell asleep in her daddy's arms while cuddling with her "Baby Bop" blanket (it's a yellow minky and silky blanket that looks like Baby Bop's). Big Daddy just carried her up to bed and of course, she woke up a little. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, stay here and take care of me." I sat by her bed, brushed my fingers through her hair and prayed for her. She asked for more covers, which broke my heart! I hate fevers and knowing that she has one and it's making my little girl that's never cold, cold makes me so sad. I'm tempted to stay in her room all night just so that I can take care of her!

All parents should really want to do is take care of their babies. One more reason to pray for Kelly & Scott tonight as they hope for Harper's recovery.

Moving On...with Big Daddy by my side

Now that the ultrasound is over I've started focusing on other things. I wish I could say that one of those things was the nursery, but we're not going to talk about that. We are still on hold for the time being.

I hadn't planned to start thinking anymore about my birth plan just yet, but I stumbled upon the pregnancy section on divine caroline Saturday and I started thinking. The Muffin was in her room for naptime and I was doing my usual 30 minutes on the computer before folding laundry or taking a nap myself, and it just happened. I read and read and read and read and decided to interrupt Big Daddy's game of computer chess so that we/I could talk about "The Big Day". When I told him my plans he laughed. Then he looked at me and realized that I was serious and said he thought that sounded fine if it would make me happy. I told him that I was having second thoughts about the baby having to come out and it would really make me happy if he could give birth to our Baby-to-be and any future Babies-to-be. Then I went on about everything I want and don't want to happen and I reminded him that he'll be there the entire time (as in you cannot leave the floor to eat lunch and will have to have someone bring you food and you will eat in front of me even though I'm NPO, thankyouverymuch) and that I can't do any of it if he doesn't suppport me. He vowed his support and I'm sure that somewhere in his mind he was imagining playing chess on his laptop while I'm laboring. No matter what, the baby will come out.

Then, I started thinking about the hospital stay and all of the things that I want (like a cute hospital gown that I saw on Etsy). We had such a great experience last time (after the crash c-section) but there were times when Big Daddy could have done a better job. 1) He slept. When I was on morphine and couldn't sleep the first night, he slept. 2) He slept. After I was able to get out of bed with help, there was that time that he was sleeping, Muff was crying and I couldn't reach her and he slept through it all. I finally was able to hit his chair with the bedside table and wake him up. It seems that he had forgotten that my throat was sore from being intubated and couldn't really talk that loud and had no way of waking him up. 3) His sense of humor. It really needs to go on vacaton this time. Around 48 hours after Muff's birth he purposely made me laugh so hard that I thought I would die...and he thought it was funny. I didn't have to laugh all that hard to feel like I was dying, but he didn't have to make the hilarious comment that he made. Even worse, when I asked him to leave the room so that I could try to compose myself, he sent the lactation nurse in because I "was crying"...as if he didn't know why! She came in thinking that I asked him to leave for some unknown reason and was completely surprised when I told her that he had purposely made me laugh and that I thought my insides were coming out and that was the reason I was crying.

To make a long story short, I'm thinking about labor and delivery of getting a doula to replace my Big Daddy.

Oh, I kid. He had his good moments too! 1) When our midwife, Peggy, was asking about how we wanted things to happen he passionately told her of his desire to "catch the baby". 2)When he was paged back to our L&D suite and he tried to look calm and reassuring while I was having contractions while standing on my head with Peg's hand up my private area. I remember she was explaining to him what had happened, what they were doing and what was going to happen with the crash c-section. 3) I remember the day after The Muffin was born and I looked through all of the pictures that were on our camera. That's when I really realized that he had missed the actual delivery too. I saw those first pictures of Muff coming out and then being held up to the window so that Big Daddy and my mom could see her and then the ones that he had taken in the nursery and then the ones that the nurses had taken of him sitting in the rocking chair holding our baby and grinning like he was so happy. 4) When I first (remember) talking to Peggy on the morning after the birth she told me more details about what had happened. I promised her that I would never want to have another baby and Big Daddy agreed with me and told me that one was all we really needed anyway. 5)Then I remember him taking 15 pictures of her in her little hospital bassinet all swaddled and content and how proud he was of our sweet little Miracle.

I guess he's not that bad after all, but he's no doula.

The Baby Belly- Week 19

The Baby-to-be is approximately 6.5 inches long and weighs about 10.5 ounces!

Great Idea!

I was tagged by my "friend", Lisa. And by "friend" I mean a stranger that I met on the internet...not once, but twice. I first met her through my Vasa Previa email group. She's a VP Mommy like me, with a VP Miracle and how our births started out are similar. I like to think that we make each other feel not so crazy. Then, once I started blogging she came to my blog from my Aunt Lisa's because they are both vegetarians and the same denomination...how neat is that? I met her online, twice!

Anyway... you are supposed to go to your My Documents folder, go to the sixth folder, the sixth picture and then blog about it.

Here's my picture...

It's The Muffin on the day of her birth, April 25, 2006. All 8 pounds, 8 ounces of her. It's still on my computer because I just can't bear to take the pictures of her birth day off. It's on a disk and in at least a thousand other places, but I view this particular folder more often than any other on my computer. As much as I wish I could forget that day sometimes, I never really want to. I look at the pictures and remember knowing and feeling that Someone was standing beside of me in the operating room and when I tried to reach over to touch them, I realized that my hands were already restrained. (Guess Who?) Before I had a chance to open my eyes and look beside of me, they put me to sleep. He was there, I'm sure.

We probably look at her birth pictures more that most normal people. I do it to try and remember more about that day and to search the backgrounds of the pictures to see more details of all that I missed. Big Daddy does it because he's sure that she was never that little.

I think that maybe, Tina, Tara, and Lisa would do this and then there's Laura and Joy, maybe they'll do it too.