More stitchin and less bitchin...

It's been a while since I posted; mainly because I have had nothing to bitch about. Family life is busy as we are making the most of this really nice weather and I've been trying to do my best impersonation of being a crafty momma. I am attempting to re do our spare room in a black and white them by using as much as our own stuff and not buying anything new. I'm all about re-using and re-purposing. Trying to environmentally friendly as well as cheap. Truth be told I fell off the wagon a few weeks ago and spent a bit more than I should have on clothes but I was in desperate need of new things now that I am back to my pre baby weight! Can I get a yeah baby?
So long story short I've been busy trying to clean and organize my home and haven't had a lot of time to blog.
Time flies. :)

I love crafty chicks who share....

I love all those crafty chicks who make amazing stuff out of some pretty basic material. I especially love that they  post step by step instructions with some photos for those of us not so crafty chicks. Then I think to myself...self, you are crafty, you learned to embroider in the 8th grade and made a fantastic Peanuts pillow, you made your own apron in the 9th grade and heck you painted your child's bedroom. Not sure I am ready to make my own curtains yet but I have an overwhelming urge to make an owl themed pillow out of felt for my son's room. Not sure what the kick is with owls and felt lately but it's there and I can't shake it. Felt seems to be calling my name. With that in mind, I stumbled (and not sure how I got to amazing blogspot) but I found hand made little kiwi's from felt. Aren't these adorable? So perfect for little hands and not made from plastic...hooray. I love clean, simple, imaginative toys for my dude. What a great idea for my first crafty project. I found this photo and idea from a blog called "Craftiness in not optional" and what a great blog. There are tutorials for making broccoli, green beans and even pizza. So excited to go and get some felt. I feel my mad money burning a hole in my wallet! I'll attempt this and share how it goes; disaster or not!

Another Saturday Funny...Are you talking to me?

My beautiful perfection of a child is 16 months old; I think he is the smartest most adorable child as does every mother. That being said, I was chatting with another mom who said, "he SHOULD be talking already" WTF?
He knows where his nose is, which book to pick up when I ask for a particular book, what I mean when I say "get your shoes", and whatnot so there is not question of his intelligence but talking...really? Am I naive? I realize every child reaches their milestones when they want to but SHOULD he be talking? He is very vocal, he says mama and dada but that's about it. He points, he gives kisses and all the other "normal" behavior. Maybe he has nothing to say?

However, when he wakes up he sound like a little jewish boy with sounds like coya, hosta, goush  a goya, and does so in a stream of babbling and maybe he is thinking he's saying in a Stewie voice, "come get me you vile woman, I'm up".

Is it criticism?, Am I too sensitive? How do you handle this? Augh...

Blog Love

I've not been blogging recently because I work full time and have been too busy but I've missed my little blog. It's like a friend who is always there, never borrows cash, invites you to their wedding, lets you have the last drink of cold Pepsi and loves you always.

I like blogging for several reasons; one because it helps to organize my thoughts, I can get some feed back on issues I need help with and the support is amazing and sometimes I just like it so I can bitch and rant.
 

So thanks.

Saturday Satire....

I got a spiffy new hair cut on Friday and one of my male co-workers comments on how nice it is and then continues to chat about work and how I am liking being back full time after having my child and blah, blah, blah. Then he says, "wow, you are back to you regular size" and I say how it took a bit longer than I thought and we get out and try to get lots of exercise and more blah, blah, blah. Then he says, so, he's using a sippy cup now? Is this code for "are you still letting him drink boobie milk? Does this mean he thinks the only reason I nursed is because he wasn't able hold his own sippy cup? Not that he can, am I supposed to stop?
 Augh.... my child uses a sippy cup quite effectively and is feeding himself on most occasions as well.

I just thought this was kinda funny....

Coupons..where do you get them?

I see all these posts on the frugal blogs from couponers who save $20, $30, $40 bucks per week by using coupons at the grocery store and I want to know where everyone get their coupons? We use about $10 bucks worth, maybe $15 on a really good trip and I think we are pretty savvy with about $400 to date, but $50 bucks each week? Seriously, we are on the save.ca websites, smartcanucks.ca getting all of our freebies and we collect lots of coupons in store. We find the occasional one in weekly fliers or mail outs and we've even emailed and called companies for products we love. Any other tips out there for fellow coupon moms and dads?

Are people counting the regular price as well as the discount in the total? I purchased two bottles of dove body wash on sale for $2.99 (reg. $4.99) and had a coupon for $2 when you buy two so I did. So I consider this a $2 saving...not a $6 dollar saving.

We don't have double coupon days at our grocery store or coupons printed on the back of receipts here like many places in the US, I'd love to hear some more tips and tricks.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! Hopefully, the Daddy's out shopping for something this evening choose something wonderful. It doesn't have to be big or expensive, just thoughtful. Favorite cookies, a great book and maybe fresh strawberries for my favorite breakfast; waffles and bacon.
Enjoy!

Oh Sleep Where Art Thou?

I am so tired...my son finally sleeps though the night but I am still pooped...and cranky. Does it ever get better? Please tell me it does. Cranky I may be able to handle but tired and cranky? Did I mention my muffin top? I am back to my pre birth weight but still fight the roundness of a once mostly firm belly. I hate sit ups, crunches and all that other crap but I have to do something.....maybe belly dancing. HA

Tired, cranky and still kinda fat. Thank God my child is amazing....my husband is pretty groovy too.

I love the Internet, seriously I do. I spend more time on the Internet that I do watching the television, movies or even reading a good book. I can remember when we first had Internet hooked up and I was introduced to Google and oddly enough I could not fathom why anybody would need to or want to look up stuff, I mean really, we have books for that sort of thing. Ha Ha Ha. I think I "google something" everyday. It's great because I am in information junkie and I love to learn about people, our environment and this little planet we call home.

I love that we have so much information at out fingertips and hopefully this information will lead to better choices. As an example I've done a bit of research into why organic cotton is better, why Eco-friendly cleaners are the best choice and now that I have a child I want to make environmentally friendly choices for the products we choose for him to eat, wear, sleep and play with. As with any parent, I don't always make the right choices but we are trying to shop with an informed voice. I love to support companies who choose to make a difference and I love when companies make decisions that are good for the planet and not just the bottom line.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good deal as well but is it possible to be Eco-friendly and reasonably priced?

Books We Love

As a new parent there are so many resources; sometimes you know where to look, sometimes you go searching and sometimes it falls in your lap. We were given The Baby Book by William Sears and Martha Sears the day after our darling dude arrived in the hospital and it's been a life saver for us. I've learned so many things from this book and I would highly, highly recommend it. The things we like are the easy to follow chapters and everything is subdivided so that you can read from cover to cover or you can just pick it up and read the section you need when you need it. As anyone who reads this blog knows, we are big fans of attachment parenting....in a nut shell,  "The essence of Attachment Parenting is about forming and nurturing strong connections between parents and their children" as taken from the attachment parenting website. (www.attachmentparenting.org)
 
As a family we believe in extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering (most of the time), we co-slept for many months and we use a variety of slings and support baby wearing. I like this book because it supports many of our principles as mentioned above but gives a mostly balanced picture of raising a baby and some of the issues one may face. I say mostly balanced because the authors do support extended breastfeeding, baby wearing etc so if that's part of your parenting plan, this book would be great be for you. Even if you don't do all those things, this is still a great book for you. We've referred to this book at least once a week; there are baby care basics, common concerns the early weeks, an extensive section on breastfeeding and bottle feeding, feeding the toddler, parenting the colicky baby and a really great section of how to play with baby, stages of development from infants to toddlers and lastly keeping baby safe and healthy. We've only read The Baby Book, however, Dr. Sears has several books to choose from and I am hoping Daddy picks up a copy of the The Family Nutrition Book as a surprise for mommy. To get your copy, you can click on the links and go to Amazon or pick one up at your local bookstore. Well worth every cent. It's on the BuzzWorthy List.

One Down...

These days the mail comes in with little excitement, it's rare I receive anything other than bills or crap from local politicians who want my vote. Yesterday was an exception, we received something worth framing! A letter from students loans saying "congratulations your student loan is paid in full" Hooray....as this was addressed to my husband we have one down and one to go!

Baby Blue...Love this

I am honestly overwhelmed by the amount of nursery room decor there is available...I've tried to get dude's room organized but it just seemed so...well, overwhelming. We moved when he was a few weeks old, he slept with us for months so we are finally getting around to having his room painted and I am looking for decor. For some reason owls are my thing these days and I love them, not sure exactly why, I think they remind me of my own childhood but owls are my thing of late.
So it was love at first sight when I saw the owl wall decals at yourlittlesweetpea.com. How cute are these? I am borrowing the image as it was just too cute not to post the photo and I don't have any of my own to post so if you are the photographer/website owner, send me a message and I'll remove the image if you wish. I just had to post these, isn't this just the cutest decal?

I've painted his room a soft baby blue and will be adding some art work, bins, growth chart and a lamp or some sort of lighting in the coming weeks. I'll be bookmarking yourlittlesweetpea as one of my favorite websites as they have an amazing assortment of nursery and other room decor.I am not sure why I feel he needs "the perfect room"but I am always in search of some original things for the room. It's a work in progress and I'll post some of my own pics as I complete the room.

Where the girls are...

Life can be full of mockery...more often than not it's my debit card that laughs at me, on occasion it's the scale but yesterday it was something completely unexpected. A bra... huh? I am still nursing my 13 month old and I am back to my pre-baby weight and am wearing most of my clothes so I thought...hmm, I'm at work for most of the day so I figured I might as well start wearing my regular bras again. All I have to say is Ha, Ha, Ha and then some. I'll say it again...ha! I am not going to be fitting "the girls" in there for some time. I was shocked and quite frankly disappointed. As much as I love my amazing nursing bras...one from Thyme and one from Bella Materna, I really had quite the collection of under garments pre-baby. It doesn't look as though they'll be an option for a while. I guess I need to go and get some nice new ones. Hi ho, hi ho...it's off to shop I go.

Things I didn't know...

As I read more and more mommy blogs I find I learn so many new things. One thing I discovered that I hadn't heard before was "Tandem Nursing"...so I was curious and googled it.

Tandem nursing is the art of breastfeeding two children of different ages during the same time period. Who knew? Most of the women I know who became pregnant while still breastfeeding are often encouraged to stop breastfeeding while pregnant...hmmm. Not sure if it would be for us but options are good.

Big Girls Don't Cry

It's Saturday night and my amazing child is in his own bed in his own room and I am equally thrilled and saddened. He slept in our bed for months and we would sleep almost nose to nose, we could smell each other, we would breathe in and out at the same time and have an amazing sense of each other. I would move over a bit to give myself a bit more room and his chubby little hand would reach out and pat the bed looking for me. I miss that. I love getting more sleep and stretching out but I miss him in our bed. I am at work all day and often can come see him at lunch but its not the same.
Yesterday I was thrilled to have my own bed back, today I just want to squirrel up and cuddle with him. He needs to get a good solid sleep and so does mommy but it's a hard transition. If I feel this way, does he?

Whose business is it anyways?

I love blogging, seriously I do. I can express my thoughts on a variety of topics and if someone reads the post...bonus. If somebody comments I do a small dance of joy. Who knew it could be so fun? It's like I've made new friends and I'm still in my pajamas.

I also discovered I like reading blogs. I've found a few new ones which I follow quite regularly and my new favorite is http://womanuncensored.blogspot.com/

I laugh, I've cried...there are funny posts, touching posts and a mix of interesting topics.

It's such a great way to be able to read so many perspectives on a variety of topics. So often we are influenced by the people in our immediate proximity; for better for worse. I was so happy this past evening because our 13 month old has finally slept through the evening! Hooray! I was quite happy about it and wanted to share my success but I was a bit disappointed as my success story was met with "that's great, now you can stop nursing too", "he's too big to be nursing, he's spoiled", WHAT? really...spoiled? We love those quiet times of the day when we connect and looks up at me with those big eyes and smiles, I know he's happy, he's well fed and chubby to prove it. I am going to wean gradually and when we are both ready. I am guessing he'll want to stop before I do but I think that will be the case for just about everything. Mommy doesn't want to cut any apron strings...

Our Top 5 Favorite Needs VS. Wants-Big Stuff

The thoughts of having a baby are overwhelming in many ways. We waited several years and knew we wanted to start a family but we were a bit overwhelmed financially with all the stuff we thought we needed. We made a list of what we thought the perfect nursery should have, scoured the internet and made several registries with hundreds of things we thought we needed. Fast forward one year later and we have a much better idea of what we actually use every day and what we didn't really use so I am sharing my experiences with you. Someone else may make a list and it may be totally different, this is merely our experience.

NEEDED: Crib....

We have the Sydney Crib from Bily and its amazing.
We had a lot of problems with our original stockcraft crib but that's a whole other post...needless to say, we then finally have another crib which was probably the most expensive item we purchased at $390.00 but again, well worth the money. I love it....its so beautiful, so study and well made. Definitely Buzzworthy

NEEDED: Mattress, the firmer the better. Don't go cheap on this one.

NEEDED: Stroller/Car Seat:

Our best investment was our car seat/stroller. We purchased the Euro Graco Deluxe. Retail price was around $389.00 but with a sale, a price match and a few gift cards redeemed we paid closer to $275.00. It should be one of your most thoroughly researched purchases, we use ours almost every single day and it absolutely worth the money. We used the car seat until our child was about 10 months and we still use the stroller almost daily.

NEEDED:

Sleepers...lots of them, at least a dozen and if you have a baby who spits up, maybe 2 dozen. As cute as the little outfits are, buy them in 6-12 months because most newborns are in sleepers or jogging outfits all day long.

NEEDED:

A swing, we started using ours at 6 weeks and we would have been completely lost with out it. Ours swings in two different positions and plays music and we love it.

WANTED:Rocking Chair with Ottoman:

We had to have one...we used it for a few week and now it usually holds laundry before it gets put away. Its nice, no issues with it, we just didn't really use it much.

WANTED: Designer Diaper Bag

We have a beautiful diaper bag and its so incredibly well made and very beautiful, I loved it the moment I purchased it. I do find we often use the free one from pampers because we can throw it in the bottom or the stroller and I don't worry about it getting dirty or stuff falling out of it.
The diaper bag is so nice I've taken to using it as a purse and no one can tell the difference. So, a bit of a splurge but I've used it often.


WANTED: Change Table

Never used it as a change table, its great to keep all of our child's linens and shoes and what not's but we never used as a change table. Personal preference but that's us.

WANTED: Exersaucer

We used ours for about 3 months, great to put the kids into when you need to go the washroom or are cooking supper but our child didn't really "play" in it...great if you can borrow one or pick one up second hand.

WANTED: Crib bedding

As amazing as those bedding sets can be, we decided to only buy fitted sheets for the crib. Most sets come with "bumper pads" and you are not supped to use them. So we didn't buy a set. I drooled over many and if you have the extra cash, go for it. As a mom on a bit of a budget we determined it was a want and not a need for our family.

I want a Britax Car Seat...seriously, have you seen these? They are the Cadillac of car seats and there are a few of my fellow mommy bloggers who are giving one away...hooray!

Visit My Organized Chaos for your chance to win one as well:

They are really beautiful! Visit and read the review, it's great.

Cloth Diapering Lesson 101

Every parent makes the decision to cloth diaper or not to cloth diaper. Is is possible to do a bit of both? Does it make us "environmentally un-friendly"?
When we found out we were going to have a baby we decided we would use cloth. Where to start? We are so very fortunate as we knew of an online store (now a retail store as well) called Nurtured. There are so many details and so much to learn about cloth diapering, this is definitely a great place to start. We opted for the Bum Genius pocket diaper and overall are quite happy with them. We have a dozen of them (cost was under $300) and we are quite happy with them. I tried to use them 100% percent of the time but that was unrealistic for us. Other than doing all the laundry, sometimes, you just want to grab a diaper and go. For example, its much easier for trips to my parents to use disposables.

Additionally, I prefer disposable diapers for overnight. Everyone's experience is different but we found that we use cloth about 65% of the time. We were given a few other pocket diapers and a few of the Kushies to use with mixed reviews. We much prefer the pocket diapers.

I used to spend lots of time scrubbing and rinsing and then I thought I'll try just throwing them in the wash and I was so happy as they come out as good as new. We have never had a problem with staining or whatnot. One time I just threw out an entire liner as it was more trouble to wash it...it was really full of sticky poo and I wasn't interested in even trying. Call me lazy but I wasn't going to go there, sometimes you just know when to throw in the towel.

As we used all the diapers over the course of the past several months the pros and cons become clear:

Bum Genius:

PROS
The Bum Genius are quite absorbent, poo is easy to rinse from the liner and there is no staining. They fit from 10 lbs to his current 28 lbs, one size really does fit all. They come in a wide range of colors. Boy, Girl and Unisex. All in one diaper, no cover required. The Bum Genius wash and wear like rags; we throw them in the wash and then in the dryer...no fuss, no mess, just flush the poop and off you go.
CONS:
I find the velcro are easy for my son to take off his own diaper and on occasion the velcro has stuck to the carpet when my son rolled over on his belly. The velcro has also bent back a bit and can trap bits of poo.
Often have to purchase on-line.

Kushies:

PROS:
About half the price of the Bum Genius, easy to find as they are often sold at many large retailers. They come in a variety of patterns and colors. Waterproof exterior so no diaper cover is needed.
CONS:
We didn't find them as absorbent as the others, they did not fit as well and they stained quite easily. Ours were already used by one family so that may have had an effect on their life cycle.

Overall, based on our experience I would have to say the Bum Genius are the Buzz Worthy choice.

Yet again...Baby Gates Recalled

Click here for the story. It's appalling the amount of product recalls we are having lately. Our stork craft crib has had two separate recalls...two! Are you kidding me? This is where my child is supposed to be safe, where he sleeps. I guess this is what happens when products are made cheaply for maximum profit.

What to take to the hospital?

As our due date approached we were happily out shopping for our gear for the baby's room as well as gear to take to the hospital. We were given lists by friends as well as the hospital and in the end we had a suitcase and a duffel bag to bring with us! It was way too much stuff! Every hospital and every parent is different but we found there were only a few things we absolutely needed.

For Mommy: we packed a headband and small bag of toiletries (brush, tooth brush/paste/floss, shampoo, conditioner and soap) jogging pants and sweater and socks to wear home. I had packed a housecoat and slippers...not necessary. Our room had its own heater so the room was more than warm and I didn't leave the room for days so no need for slippers or the housecoat. Our hospital provides the johnny shirts and those were roomy and comfy. Ugly but comfy. You may want to bring your own but these are so much more comfy and have snaps at the top so designed well for those who are planning on nursing.

For Daddy: Cell phone/blackberry to write down all the details of what happened when...mommy was too wiped out and drugged up to remember anything. A camera...don't depend on someone else bringing one in, those first few moments happen so fast, take some pictures. Clean undies and another t-shirt. Daddy was also clever enough to bring a small dvd player and a few movies...its often a long evening and a movie is a nice way to pass a few of the wee morning hours. I didn't sleep much but what new mom does?

For Baby: Two outfits; just in case one doesn't fit so well for going home, a hat, a blanket and car seat. We brought bottles and soothers and diapers and half a dozen changes of clothes. He was swaddled the whole time in the hospital and wore only an undershirt. You can dress them everyday in a new outfit if you want but we wanted to do as much "skin to skin" as possible so he wore an undershirt onesie and that was it. Too much dressing and undressing makes most babies fussy. We had some of our own diapers as well but many hospitals do have the essentials.

So pack lightly, people will often bring presents to the hospital and that's more stuff to carry home.

Having a baby has changed my life in ways I cannot imagine; life is different while pregnant and continues to change 1000 percent since our son came into our world.

Hello out there

First post-I've been blogging off and on for a while and I've discovered a love of writing! Writing about my past, my present and my future. In the past few years, I've started a business or two, I've moved, and the most spectacular; I've had a child. I feel as though I've learned 1001 things and if I don't share them I may explode. Every experience is different, here are some of mine. Welcome to Buzz Buzz Moo Moo...why that title? I am very busy woman who is always on the go yet I am still breastfeeding so there are more days than not that's how I feel. Buzz Buzz Moo Moo