Happy New Year

2010 was a full year. It was scary, amazing, terrifying, horribly, wonderful, and awesome! It was just one of those years that I will never forget.

2010 brought us a baby boy, a fourth birthday, the death of loved ones, a move to a foreign country, bed rest, rearranging priorities, learning languages, and lots of pictures.

It is a year that I both cherish and am exhausted from.

What will 2011 bring? A nursing school graduation, a fifth birthday, a first birthday, a long separation from my best friend, and being reunited with my family back home. Those are the things that I know for sure will be happening, but what surprises will be coming our way?

Here are my resolutions: and in true nursing form they must be real, and measurable.

1) Complete a minimum of 211 miles walking/jogging by the end of the year.

2) Lose 25lbs

3) Try 3 new foods (things Ive never tried before)

4) Spend 5 minutes a day homeschooling my son

5) Go camping

6) Read 5 non school related books

7) Pass the NCLEX

8) Start Nolan’s baby book

9) Blog once a week

10) Have no less then 6 date nights with my Hubby. (Sans baby!)

What are your goals for 2011?

Happy New Year from The Sailor, The Nurse (to be), and Baby Nolan. With Big Boy in our thoughts!

A very Merry Christmas!

I married my Dad.

He still does not sleep. And our pedi sucks. Like huge. Sucks giant monkey balls. Really.

The biggest downside to being overseas is that we are kinda forced to use the Naval Hospital so when there is only on Pedi on sight and I feel like he really sucks….well it leaves me little option. I just grin and try to bite my tongue.

And now more fun tricare crap. Apparently since I was stationed as a child on this exact same base, and was infact an inpatient at the hospital that we are currently being seen at for Primary care, tricare is unable to manage to put me into the computer. So instead of fixing it, they reassigned me to my father….as his wife.

Yup, you read that right. I am now (according to Tricare) my Father’s second wife. It took two hours of explaining to the woman behind the counter how incredibly wrong that is before she finally realized the error. Her response was classic.

She said “Its not my job to fix that.”

No, really. I couldnt make this crap up if I tried. So now, I am only eligible to be seen in the Emergency Department because my account is so screwed up. What an excellent way to exhaust an already overtaxed department.

Isnt that great?

Dear Nolan (week 20)

Dear Nolan,

You are nearly 5 months old now. This last week you learned how to blow raspberries and you found your voice. You scream and yell!! Not crying but just yelling!

You also discovered your toys and love grabbing them and chewing them
And talking to them. Its adorable!

You have a bump on your bottom gums that seems to indicate that you will be getting a tooth soon, but honestly I will believe it when I see it.

You just get cuter every day. More interactive and way more social. We just adore you!

Love you my lil guy!

Love,
Your Mama

Refreshed.

After more than two years of posting every single day, I took a break. I was stressing over what to write about, I was worried about trying to accomplish my continual postings. I couldnt do it. It was too much. So I let go of the stress and realized that my post will be more meaningful if I dont rush them.

Im refreshed after a little bit offline. I enjoyed spending the time with my family and not constantly thinking “Should I blog about this?”. I had ideas of things to write but instead of hurrying to the computer to jot it down, I sat and talked about those things with my husband.

This Christmas was wonderful. Relaxed, laid back. It was peaceful. We were able to enjoy our son and remember the true reason for this blessed season. The commercialism was lost on us since there were no big sales to run to before or after the holiday. There were no huge commercials trying to push paraphenilia on us. We put up our tree and decorated it with some simple decorations. We spent time playing with the baby and telling him stories of his family.

Some of my favorite moments included hearing my husband tell Nolan about his big brother. We looked through our albums and showed him the pictures we have, and my husband told stories of things from Big Boys babyhood.

On Christmas day we were blessed with news of Big Boy and were over joyed to hear that he is well. Granted it was from a third party, but still it was a Christmas miracle. It made our day. We still hope that in the future we will be able to have him in our lives more, but for now we are holding him in our hearts and minds and we speak of him daily.

We are loving Japan. I love having the time to ourselves to just be us. I miss our families incredibly, but it is so nice to be able to miss them for once. I particularly love being known as just us…not so and so’s ex, or so and so’s daughter. Its wonderful to be Mr. And Mrs. Sailor with Baby Nolan.

I will write more when I feel the urge. I do have some things to say about baby raising, cloth diapering, breast feeding, and the lack of sleep. But for now I wish you all the best of the season.

Merry Christmas.

Unmotivated

Im sure its obvious, but Im just unmotivated to blog. Im desperately trying to write, but Im in a writers funk. I hate making the entire blog all happiness and roses, but I hate documenting the bad things. Im so thankful for my life, but right now its tough.

The baby doesnt sleep, again. We were getting a 6-7 hour stretch at night, but that has stopped and been replaced by a baby that wakes every. single. hour. That makes for some realy tired parents. It seems that our nights consist of us trading off who is going to “handle” Mr. Fussy. I hate hearing him cry. Im a wuss at the CIO thing. I can let him cry for a few minutes at the start of bedtime, but once he wakes up in the middle of the night, I hate the idea of making him CIO. So I dont. We rock him, I nurse him, we try to snuggle him, I swaddle and rock and shush him. The four month sleep regression hit here, and it hit us hard.

Its hard being away from family during the holidays. I know it will get easier, but its the first time, and its freaking hard.

The turmoil in NK is causing alot of issues out here, and you can feel the stress in the air. It sucks, and its scary. I really thought that once my husband was out of Iraq, I wouldnt be scared for him anymore. It turns out that I was being incredibly niave.

Im sad that my baby is getting bigger. He just keeps growing and I know its a good thing, but I miss my snugglie and sweet baby. It seems like time is going way too fast.

And time here with us as a family is going way too fast, soon it will be the new year and the reality of being the wife of a sailor will have to set in again. The days of having him home are numbered, and I am sadly watching those numbers get smaller.

I get a sense of both excitement and dread over the upcoming New Year. Ive had some really fabulous years lately, but Ive had some pretty rotten ones too. I loved 2010, it brought some of the happiest moments of my entire life. But Im scared to see 2011 start.

I need to write, I need the outlet. Maybe another theme? Any suggestions?

Its starting to get cold, finally.

It just doesnt feel like Christmas when I can still wear short sleeves outside! Its just now starting to get cold in the evenings, cold enough that I broke out the winter coats and hats.

No has the cutest winter gear! I just cant get enough of his little face!

He is just such a happy boy. And seeing him in this adorable little jester hat makes me smile as big as him!

The poor kid spends so much time having a camera shoved in his face that he starts to get a little annoyed with me. The Mom-a-razzi strikes again!

But give him a second and he recovers!

What to get a 4 month old?

A box. A boy just wants a box. With wrapping paper. With shiny wrapping paper.

But in all seriousness, what do you get a 4 month old for Christmas? I chose the Vulli Sophie chew toy, and I cant wait to see how that goes. We got him a jumperoo, but gave it to him early. His grandparents got him a bunch of Baby Einstein toys and movies and clothes. What toys did you get for your children when they were infants?

211 in 2011

My goal for 2011 is to run/walk 211 miles. This should be easily accomplished as it breaks down to less than 4 miles per week, thats simple! Anyone else interest in joining me?

What are your goals for 2011?

Dear Nolan (Week 18),

Dear Nolan,

You are 18 weeks old. Four Months. Almost four and a half months. I cant believe you have been in our lives for four months, but I cant remember life without you either.

This week has brought about a huge change in your voice. You are using different a different pitch and different sounds. You make a noise that sounds alot like a growl, or maybe you are rolling your “r’s”, either way it is pretty dang adorable.

You continue to be a huge flirt. You smile, laugh, and bat your eyes at anyone who will stop and look. And since you are so dang adorable, pretty much everyone stops and coo’s at you.

You roll from your tummy to your back like a pro. Infact it is pretty much impossible to do tummy time with you now because as soon as we put you on your stomach, you flip to your back. Its ridiculous, but cute.

You love your Daddy. The minute he walks into the room you just light up. If you are upset, your Daddy can soothe you easily. If you are tired but cant sleep, he can rock you and in seconds you are out. Its amazing the bond between a Father and Son.

You love to be standing and sitting up looking around. If we hold your hands you tap around like you are trying to walk. You have me worried that you will be walking before you are crawling!

You still have no teeth, but are chewing and drooling on everything and anything. Its pretty cute watching you shove your hands in your mouth and smile!

As always, we love you to the moon and back.

Love,

Your Mama

It just doesnt feel like the holidays.

This year is our first year solo. No family will be here, we will not be visiting family. It feels weird. Quieter. Different.

I mean, its good. Its pretty close to perfect. Its just not what Im used to. I came from a tight knit family situation and am now living further away than was ever imaginable before. But now…is just us. Just our little family. And its….different.

Being a military family, it is easy to wind up away from the ones that you love. As a kid and a Navy Brat, we were almost always away from family for the holiday. I just never noticed because I had my Mom, and sometimes my Dad, and my sis. My little world was always perfect. However, now as an adult I can look back at the holidays that we did spend with my Grandparents and cousins and I think about how amazing and special those were. They are some of my most cherished memories.

Its hard being away. And yet its easier. I am looking forward to getting to visit with family, to have the time be special and mean something. To not take the moments for granted, to make memories for my son.

The tree is trimmed, the presents are wrapped, the lights are hung…and yet Im missing something.

Christmas ornament traditions.

The Hubby and I started a tradition when we were first dating of getting an ornament every year with our names on it and the year. The intention being, to be able to see our family grow. The first year (no pictures as it is with our packout and I still dont have everything moved in) we have ones that simply say “Hobby and Lindo 2008″. The next year the ornament says “Sailor, Tiffany and Big Boy C 2009″.

This year it is adorable and says “Sailor, Tiffany, Big Boy C, and Nolan 2010″. It makes me wonder what next year will bring.

Do you have special ornaments for the season?

My poor boy is sick.

And I mean sick. He is congested, runny nose, cough, sneezing, fever, and miserable. Poor thing. And to make matters worse, today he started wheezing. Ugh.

I called the Pedi’s office and when at close of business they hadnt called me back, I decided it was time to head into the ED (that is the only service available here, there is no urgent care). We got here and the idiot corpsman couldnt tell which end was up and had no clue how to do vitals on a baby.

Long story short, chest xray negative, but he is wheezy. Breathing treatment and then I expected to be sent home, the doctor was concerned about his fever so he wanted a urine sample. I requested to use a “Urine catch bag” but the doc refused and said that there are too many “false positives” with that method. After discussing it, I agreed to allow him to do a catheter to get a urine sample. The nurse who did it was kind and competent. Nolan was charming up until the moment of insertion and then cried briefly.

Urine came back clean. Sounds like a URI. The wheezing still scared the hell outta me. We will be hunkering down at home for the next few days.

First bites

More Wordless

Wordless

Dear Nolan, (week 17)

Dear Nolan,

Every day you get bigger and more alert and interactive. You are such a shameless flirt that it makes me laugh. Every where we go you are batting your eyes and smiling huge so that everyone can see your little dimples.

This week you have been fighting a cold. I feel so bad for you my little angel, you dont know why you dont feel good and so you just look miserable.

I have to admit that even though I hate seeing you sick, I am loving the extra snuggles.

You got to see your Grammie and Papa on the webcam this week and you loved watching the computer screen come to life and talk to you. You continue to love your Grover doll, and this week your Daddy got you a Jumperoo that you have been absolutely in love with.

On the advice of your doctor we started you with some rice cereal this week, you love it! When we bring the spoon to your mouth, you open wide and are ready to eat. It seems to have helped your reflux at night as well as helped with your sleeping.

You are starting to figure out napping. And this week on two separate occasions you slept for over an hour at nap time. It was amazing. Sadly, you wake up grumpy from nap time.

When you wake up in the morning you are usually talking to your mobile and when you see me, you smile.

We love you so much Lil Man. Thank you always for chosing us as your parents.

Love,

Your Mama

We have the plague 2010

Plague 2010 has set in motion in our house. Baby is sick, I am sick, the only one who seems to have gotten off lucky is the Sailor. We are so germy and snotty here that I am thinking he would rather be sleeping on the ship, Lord knows he would be getting more rest there than here taking care of us.

I hate being sick. But more than that, I hate the baby being sick. It seems to be just a URI but I am mindful of how easily it can move into his chest.

Fast fact: Being a mother is a 24 hour a day job with a ton of overtime. There are no sick days.

WTF?? Ghetto Christmas toys?

Its not just me, is it? These are some seriously ghetto barbie dolls. Im so disapointed in Matel for making a Barbie so absurd.

We were walking through the Christmas aisles at the exchange saw these and I couldnt help but be thankful that I have a son and that he is an infant, so I dont have to deal with this.

What is the most absurd Christmas toy you have seen?

My boys.

Im so lucky to have a husband who loves our son as much as I do. He looks forward to coming home to us and getting to play with the baby. He misses us when we are gone. Its wonderful. I love our family time.

And sometimes after a long afternoon of playing, I catch a sweet moment like this. Too beautiful to pass up.

Cloth diapers review- Mommy’s Touch

**This is not a paid or compensated review, I wish it was…so contact me to review your diapers.**

These diapers were a gift from a good friend who bought them from a WAHM (Work At Home Mom). This company has some great values, I love looking at their websight and seeing the various adorable designs. I have the Bulldozers (pictured below) and also the Zoo animal print. But they come in just about every color and print you can imagine. The ones I was gifted at pocket diapers, and are stated to be “one size fits all”, however this is not true for us.

The diapers are still far too large on my skinny baby and although they adjust around the belly, they are still enormous around the legs. They just leave way to much room for a blow out and/or other leakage.

The material is fabulous, the velcro is super sturdy, and the pocket is the perfect size for either my beloved Bumgenius inserts or prefolds. Sadly, we will have to wait to grow into these.

These too are a little pricey (especially for the lack of ability to use them) at around $20 a piece. Makes me glad I got them as a gift, and hopeful that I will be able to use them eventually.

Does any one else have experience with this company or these products?

Cloth diaper review- BumGenius

**This is not a paid or compensated review- I wish it was..but its not.**

Next up in my arsenal is my BumGenius 4.0 (and 3.0′s) one size diapers. (BTW…I am not doing these in any kind of order, this is just the way that they came out of the diaper carrier!)

These diapers are the simplest to understand. They look just like a disposable, and work as well if not better than most of my cloth stash. They are a pocket diaper just like the Smartipants cloth, but these have more of the PUL exposed on the inside of the pocket.

I usually stuff these with either my prefolds or the Bumgenius inserts. I love those BG inserts! They fit all of my cloth diapers and since I have a large supply of them, I use them more than any of my other stuffers. (Pictured is a prefold in infant size). The area that touches the baby is soft, super soft. And the legs are nice and tight so there are no leaks.

Like I mentioned above, these are another one size diaper. They fit babies from 7-35lbs (another one that is good from birth to potty training!!), I was able to use this one on my 5lb premie, so I know that they fit smaller than is advertised.

My favorite part about these are the simple velcro closures. This makes cloth diapering so simple that Husbands, Grandparents, and babysitters are comfortable with it. I just stuff them as soon as they are out of the wash and stock the diaper carrier, its as simple as that. While the velcro is a fabulous thing about these diapers, it also tends to be the downfall. These require a little more upkeep then the snap diapers because they have to be reattached to the wash patch before washing. Otherwise the velcro gets nasty and will stop sticking, or will stick to other things in the wash and snag. Its a pain, but so worth the extra effort.

These diapers are a little more expensive at about $55 for 3, but so worth the cost! They pay for themselves in no time (especially when you figure $0.37 per disposable).

Cloth diaper review- Smartipants

*This is not a paid or compensated review…I wish it was, but alas it is not.*

I have had many emails recently asking about cloth diapering. I am a cloth diaper diva!! I have an arsenal of a ton of different types of cloth diapers. While I was pregnant I researched the different diapers and then purchased one or two of the best brands so that we could try them on the baby. The result is that there are a LOT of great cloth diapers out there, and some not so fabulous ones.

I figured instead of emailing everyone long drawn out explanations of each diaper I would instead just review a different diaper a day for the next several days. I will include pictures!

Today I am reviewing Smartipants. They are a pocket diaper that I adore. I tend to stuff my pocket diapers with whatever I have available, prefolds, bumgenius inserts..etc… They work wonderfully with anything. They are soft, and have great elastic in the legs for my skinny little guy.

These were one of the first cloth diapers I was able to put him in because they were the easiest shaped for my premie boy.

My absolute favorite thing about these diapers is the fact that they are one size fits all. They are adjustable with easy snaps to fit from 7lbs- 35lbs. That means that it will work on him until he is potty trained!!

They are incredibly afordable at about $40 for 3 diapers and I think that the snaps are great.

Any questions so far?