Windshield Wipers! August 28, 2009

Video as promised!  I did my best to try to catch it on tape…he does the regular wipers first…then turns on the wiper fluid………

No Sleep: The Ongoing Saga August 26, 2009

I’ve been wanting to write a “real” post for days, but my sweet boy is teething, therefore up the majority of the night.  Apparently he is a terrible teether.  I’m sure you guys will understand the update in bullets:

• Teething.  Still not a single one has popped through.  He is back to the up-all-night-screaming-and-grabbing-his-ear deal…but it’s worse now.  No fever though.  I was worried again about the possibility of an ear infection.  We took him to the pedi this morning.  Diagnosis: Perfect ears and teeth close to popping through the surface.  Arrrgh! When will we see them already?? We got him an amber teething necklace…..it sounds hokey, but it’s supposed to help.  No such luck yet.  He is still going to be around 8ish, but instead of a 5 or 6 hour stretch of sleep, we’re down to about TWO.  He initially sleeps for 2 hours, then wakes up screaming.  At this point he comes into the bed with us and nurses about every 15mins-1 hour until he gets up at 5-something.  He’ll suck for 5 seconds or 20 minutes at a time….it’s crazy.  I’m exhausted.  The worst part of it all: He has REJECTED the binkie! For the last 3 days he wants nothing to do with the thing.  Normally I could give it to him at night when he woke up and he would fall back asleep with it in his mouth.  No more, friends.  I am now being used as a human pacifier.  My boobs hurt.  But it’s that or walk around rocking him all night…..this too shall pass, right?
• You guys saw that he learned how to turn on the water, well, the new thing is that he has figured out the windshield wipers in K’s vehicle.  It is hilarious….I’m going to try to get it on video if I can.  He stands in the drivers seat and squeels with delight as he turns the windshield wipers on and off.  Not just on and off, but wiper fluid as well.  The boy is hilarious.
• He hates his car seat more than ever.  We have to let him play with the wheel for awhile before he’ll even ATTEMPT to get in the car seat without throwing a fit (complete with back arching and high-pitched wails and big teardrops falling down his face).  I feel so mean strapping him in when he’s like that, but it’s not like we have a choice.  I sit in the backseat with him while K drives and I read him books to get him calmed down….it works MOST of the time.
• Solid food is still a challenge.  Some days he eats a bunch, others nothing.  He is still nursing about every 3.5 hrs during the day.  He refuses to eat vegetables – except for sweet potatoes and the occasional mixture with squash.  He loves anything with apricots and bananas in it and is now trying to eat everything off our plate.  Pizza is the new fascination…and even without teeth he is able to eat tiny pieces at a time.
• He will be 8 months on Saturday.  How crazy is that? The time is going by so quickly.
• We drove 3 hours to Baltimore a few weekends ago to meet up with Jessie & Greta from love + love = marriage.  They are awesome and Holland was so cute.  Lachlan (and the rest of us) had fun at the zoo too, despite the heat.  Definitely want to hang out with their little family again. Photo below of the cuties:

• I’ve upgraded my membership back to TTC on FF.  Feels kind of weird to be charting again.  I’ve forgotten several times already to take my temperature RIGHT AWAY.  Mornings usually go something like this:  Lachlan wakes up by talking in his own language (eyes still closed) and half-crying, I wake up….then put on my glasses and and then he opens his eyes and sees me.  Smiles.  Then he sits up and takes my glasses off my face while giggling…then squeezes my nose or starts standing up on us….and then I start talking to him and then realize “Oh crap! I was supposed to take my temp before moving, talking….etc.”  It’s much harder this go round….especially with waking up so many times at night.  I don’t know how accurate my temps are…but I’m doing it anyway.  CM/CF is different too postpartum….I don’t know if it’s because I’m still breastfeeding so much or what.  But I still haven’t seen the desired EWCM, and I’m *technically* supposed to ovulate in the next few days.  I may just crack open a pee stick.  Just for kicks.
• We got Lachlan a tunnel.  Two words: LOVES IT.

Water! August 21, 2009

got moms? August 20, 2009

Thanks everyone for voting! We are excited to offer this “got moms?” design on onesies, infant and toddler tees through the end of August.  Please email me at lgraeapparel@hotmail.com with orders, as well as comments and feedback.  I’d love to hear from you!  Please include the following information in your email: the item you would like (onesie, infant tee or toddler tee), color (pink, blue or natural), size (see below) and the address you’d like the item to be shipped to.  Once I receive your email, I will email you back with my address to send payment to.  Items usually get printed before I receive payment, so prompt payment is appreciated.  Each item is $18 including shipping within the US.  If you can provide me with a business address to ship to, that would help!  If not, we can still ship to residential addresses. If you are outside the USA, you can still order, however shipping costs will be additional….please email me and I will let you know how much extra shipping will be to where you live….

Sizes of garments are as follows…..

* Sizes available for ONESIES:  6m, 12m, 18m, 24m

* Sizes available for INFANT TEE:  6m, 12m, 18m, 24m

* Sizes available for TODDLER TEE:  2T, 3T, 4T

* Once payment is received, you can expect to receive your product within a week via UPS or USPS.

Thanks for voting guys! Again, please don’t hesitate to email me at  lgraeapparel@hotmail.com with questions and comments – and check back in September for two new designs to vote on!

Onesie of the Month: Aug: VOTE NOW! August 18, 2009

Thanks for all the comments on baby designs – I really appreciated your feedback and will definitely take it into consideration when coming up with new stuff!! There were originally 4 designs to vote on for this month….but I’ve decided to cut back to 2 options to vote on each month to make things a little easier…..

You probably know the drill, but if not…..please vote for August’s “Onesie of the Month”.  The winner will be available to order until the end of the month at lgraeapparel@hotmail.com.  The winning design will be available on onesies, baby and toddler tees.  Available colors are pink, dark blue and natural.  All garments are 100% organic cotton and will be $18, including shipping!  Winner will be announced on Thursday with a post with details on how to order.  Thanks for your orders, feedback and votes!

Thoughts? August 14, 2009

Hey folks.  There are several sweet designs for you to vote on this month….however….before I unveil them, I really wanted to hear from you all!  The past two months, the votes between 2 onesies have been SO close (like by one or two votes).  I would love to hear from you guys individually to get some real feedback on what types of clothing interest YOU.  Regulars, lurkers…..anyone who is interested in baby clothes for their own munchkins, future munchkins, friends munchkins, etc….What are your thoughts?  We want to print stuff that people love and that they can’t find in other regular stores…..

What types of designs would you really like to see available??

What would you like your own (or future or friends) child (ren) to wear that would set them apart from other kids?

Is buying organic baby and toddler clothing important to you?

Would you like to see more clothing geared towards the GLBT community? Yes? No?

Any other feedback you’d like to leave is welcome.  Please leave your questions and comments in the comment section and I will respond there.  Thank you!!!

Back to Basics August 11, 2009

It’s hard to believe it’s mid-August already.  The days are going by so quickly and it seems like our Lachlan is growing up so fast.  He is pulling himself up on everything (and everyone) and is trying to “cruise”.  He has even taken ONE unassisted step (followed by falling).  He clearly recognizes so many words now too, which is so much fun to watch (he will look for the word you are saying until his eyes find it):

• fan
• vent
• papi (k’s dad)
• dogaroo (k’s mom)
• retta lee (our oldest beagle)
• bentley (our middle beagle)
• libbie (our youngest beagle)
• all of k’s siblings names
• red bird (e.ric carle cube)
• elmo
• moon
• bird
• water
• hats
• truck
• mocha (blanket)
• ball
• clock
• fire extinguisher
• puff (organic sweet potato and banana puffs)
• bite (organic yogurt and fruit bites)
• “big hug”
• “kiss”
• “high five”

I can’t believe he will be 8 months old this month.  People always told me when Lach was itty bitty …. “enjoy every moment because it goes by so fast”.  It truly does!  Some days I just look at him and think, “where has my baby gone?” He is becoming such a little man now.  We are taking him to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor this weekend to meet up with some girls from blogland and their adorable boy.  Planning to check out the zoo and enjoy some time relaxin by the pool.  I can’t wait to see his expression when he sees all the animals.

Now to the main reason I was going to blog today: I’ve been craving chocolate for days and just yesterday I told K that I felt like I had gained 15 pounds; my clothes were tighter than normal and I felt huge.  This morning I woke up with killer lower back pain, but thought it must have been how I slept (with Lach taking up most of the bed, and me sleeping semi-on-the-frame) last night.  Boy was I surprised when I went to the bathroom and saw blood.  Immediate thought: “Oh no! What’s wrong with me?” Second thought: “Oh wait.  This is normal.”  Everything makes sense now…the chocolate cravings, back pain, bloating.

AF has returned.  Not thrilled, but knew it had to happen eventually.  With the arrival of AF brings weird feelings.  It’s weird to be on my period again after not having had one since March of last year.  But, I don’t have any cramps – so that is something to be thankful for.  I must now get back to TTC basics.  I will have to break out the BBT thermometor again (how does that work with so many night-time wakeups?), up-grade my FF membership and try to track ovulation (am I even ovulating?) again.  On a positive note, this gives me several months of getting to know my cycles again before we start this whole process again (are we crazy doing it so soon?).

November will bring known donor re-testing, and then December we will start home ICIs/IVI’s.  I have no idea how long it will take for me to get pregnant again.  We are giving ourselves 5 months of trying (Dec-Apr).  If it doesn’t happen then, we will take a break during K’s busy time at work and rethink things several months later.  I am sort of excited….both K and I want Lach to having a sibling close in age to him.  I’m a little nervous too….nervous about how to keep up with a constantly-on-the-go boy while possibly being preggo….then how to keep with that constantly-on-the-go boy while having a newborn……..before even worrying about that…..I’m nervous that we may really struggle to get pregnant a second time….nervous that it will be a lot to handle if it happens right away…..nervously questioning if I could love another child as much as I love my son.  One day at a time I guess.  More than nervousness is excitement though.  Just to be trying soon.  Just the possibility of bringing another little person into our small family that I adore so much.  I feel like my heart can’t possibly love more than it does now…..can it? K really would love me to get pregnant in Feb….she wants a November baby (right around our 9th aniversary to be precise). We shall see. I feel very relaxed about TTC this second time.  We are pretty sure that this will be our last baby….so….when it happens, it happens….I don’t think I’ll be as stressed out this time.  I almost felt an urgency the first time….I don’t think I’ll feel that way with TTC#2.  But maybe I’m just saying that now, and when the time comes I’ll be peeing on the sticks at 8DPO.  I just might not be able to resist. But right now, I feel very blessed and very thankful that it happened for us the first time.  Thankful that I have a healthy son and partner and that we have so much love in our lives.  I wish that for every person reading this today.  Health, happiness and the family you have always desired.

Top 10’s August 4, 2009

While Lachlan was sick the other day, I used our thermometor to check his temperature.  It was your standard digital ear thermometor.  He would not stay still for anything, and I kept getting error messages on the thing.  That, along with the fact that I thought Lach may have an ear infection, caused us to say to ourselves…..”Isn’t there a better way to do this???”  The poor guy definitely didn’t want something jammed in his ear when he was feeling so crappy, and I certainly wasn’t going to poke something up his bum.  And, underarm thermometors…? How reliable are they, really??? This led us to the store, where we found the E.xergen Temporal Artery Thermometor.  Wow.  Talk about an ingenius product!!! It seriously takes 2 seconds to do, and is easy and accurate.  You put the thermometor in the middle of your baby/child’s forehead, press the button (hold it) and and move it to the side of their face…let go…and voila! Accurate temperature with no hassle (or tears).  This got me thinking about the baby products that I love, the ones that Lach loves, and items I feel we just couldn’t live without.  Thought I would post my list.  I am changing how I buy baby shower gifts now, because some of these products I seriously think every new parent should own.  What do you guys think of my 10? What would be on your list?

1.  E.xergen Temporal Artery Thermometor.   So easy and extremely accurate.   #1 on the list!  I’ll seriously never use another thermometor.

2.  B.oon “Squirt” Baby Food Dispensing Spoon.  This thing is awesome.  No mess, easy to use, holds a lot of food and great for parents on the go.

3.  S.kip H.op “Playspot” Play Mat.  – PVC free….No harsh chemicals….no smell!  100% safe for babies 0+.  Most of the points are for it being PVC-free and not being cheesetastic and having cool modern colors that you won’t be embarassed about having out in your house…the rest for functionability.  Helps prevents bumps and bruises when your little ones are learning to sit up on their own (and subsequently falling over).

4.  B.oppy.  This breastfeeding pillow has been a fav of new moms for a long time….and now I know why.  I have used it from day one, to now. I own THREE.  One at work, one in the car and one at home.  I love this product….and it’s not just for breastfeeding….I am using it right now as my lap top is sitting on it on my lap!

5. E.ric Carle’s “Brown Bear Touch ‘N Read Block”.  Lachlan’s favourite toy.  Period.

6. Baby Carrier.  B.jorn to begin with….then the E.rgo when your baby is older.  I loved loved loved the B.jorn for how easy it was to put on and take off, and I know Lach was comfy in it….but after about 15 pounds….your back is shot and needs serious help! The E.rgo is an awesome carrier…kids can be worn in front, on hip or on back.  It’s pricey, but worth it if you carry your baby lots of places like we do.

7.  F.isher Price “Rainforest” Jumperoo.  Lachlan started using it at 3 months and still loves it.  It is sturdy, and one of the better looking jumperoo’s out there, in my opinion.  Has gotten awesome ratings from other mamas too.

8. B.umbo baby seat.  We used this ALL THE TIME when Lach was younger and we would go out to restaurants.  He was still too small for a high chair (he would tip over to one side) and didn’t want to lay down in a car seat or in my arms.  We would actually put this seat right up on the table or booth and he would sit in it for a good amount of time.  Once he started grabbing at everything (the salt and pepper were first on the list), we stopped using it.

9. E.LMO LIVE! We splurged and Lachlan is in love.  He dances, he makes jokes and most of all, he loves you…mmm hmm..kiss kiss!

10. Pacifier/Binkie, etc.  A must-have for naps and bedtime.  Lachlan doesn’t use it all the time, but it really comes in handy when he needs to sleep or is upset.

11?  We just ordered an Amber Teething Necklace for Lachlan.  I have heard awesome things about the healing power of amber, and hope that this will help alleviate some of his teething pain.  He has YET to get a tooth in…..

Honourable mention #1: Activity mat.  We had the “Rainforest” one…but I’m not sure that part matters as much as just having one.  It really was fun for Lach and encouraged tummy time.

Honourable mention #2: BOOKS.  Too many to name….but Lachlan adores being read to…especially Dr. S.euss.

Crazy Crawling & Standing! August 3, 2009

He’s fast now folks.  I apologize in advance for the shaky camera at the beginning….and the very high-pitched squeaks from my beagle.

He was rather pouty the day the following video was taken, but it give you an idea of how much he is changing! He loves to stand now!