16 Weeks, And More About Cloth Diapers and Cloth Wipes

I'm 16 weeks along as of yesterday!  Only 5 more months to go!

16 weeks along.

I'm sure my kids will really appreciate that their belly photos were almost all taken in front of the 1960s bathroom wallpaper.  Actually, I'm sure they won't even care.  One day I'll remodel that bathroom.....one day.

But for comparison, let's see how my current 16 week belly stands against my previous 16 week belly.

Hahaha nice.....NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I didn't even have maternity pants on in that pic!  Which means I was still rockin' the Bellaband.  Well, I outgrew that Bellaband LONG ago this time around!

This looks more like my current belly.  This was at 21 weeks the last time around.

So I haven't talked about cloth diapers in a while!  I guess because Delano and I got into our "groove" and haven't been having any issues.  The last time I talked about cloth diapers (besides talking about new cute ones I'd bought) was probably when Delano was between gdiaper sizes and I was working with other diaper brands I own to keep his butt covered and happy.

Once I figured out what insert combination worked best for Delano in the medium gdiapers, it was smooth sailing from there.  Though Delano still wears some of the other diapers he owns (especially these two super soft and thick handmade ones this lady made), he is almost always in a gdiaper.

I'm talking about gdiapers now (again) because friends and relatives are always interested in how they work.  If they've never seen them before, they like to check out the diapers in his diaper bag, watch me change Delano's diaper and/or ask to see the diaper collection in his room when they come over.  And I totally don't mind at all.  I love to tell people how easy cloth diapering is, especially when they think that it must be such a hassle and a chore.  And I love to tell people about how much trash I'm NOT putting into the landfill by doing it!  And by using cloth wipes.....well, that's even less trash.  :)

The newborn gdiapers aren't meant to be used with cloth inserts, so I used the biodegradable disposable inserts for the first 5 1/2 weeks of Delano's life, which is when he outgrew the newborn size and moved into size small.  There ARE newborn cloth diapers out there - loads of brands make a newborn size diaper so that you never use any disposable parts - but I opted to use the gdiapers brand because they fit him so well.

**Note:  Every baby is different, but I personally discovered that cloth diapers that claim to be newborn and up (such as for babies 7 lbs and up) were ALWAYS too big for my newborn.  Delano weighed 10 lbs before I switched him to smalls.  So if you opt for cloth diapers from the start, I personally would choose newborn-specific diapers for those first few weeks.  How do you know that you're in a newborn diaper?  If it doesn't say "newborn", then it may be labeled as "XS".  But a newborn diaper does NOT adjust for growth.....as in, there are no snaps on the front to adjust the size.

Baby in a newborn-sized cloth diaper.

Once I switched out of the newborns and into the smalls, I switched to cloth inserts.  According to the gdiaper website, one of their cloth inserts is good for "normal" use, and then you can double them up ("hemp sandwich" style) for heavy wetters or nighttime use.  Well, I discovered that a single insert was NEVER enough for Delano, so he was always doubled up.  I also discovered that gdiapers did not work for us for overnight (always a leak), so I used another type of diaper.  But the small gdiaper with two inserts worked great during the day, and Happy Heinys worked great for overnight.

Once I needed to switch from smalls to mediums, things got a little tricky for a while.  The smalls were obviously too small (too low on the belly and were starting to leak regularly), but the mediums were still too big (still gapped around his leg, so would also leak).  During this time frame, I used a bunch of other diaper brands, such as GroVia and Swaddlebees (now Blueberry).  I still use these, just not as frequently anymore.

Once Delano was big enough for the medium gdiapers, I then had to figure out the right insert combination for him.  I tried doubling up the gdiaper inserts, but this wasn't enough.  Even with the longer insert, there's a lot more space in the medium gdiaper liner pocket than there is in the smalls.  I tried mixing up some of the other brands of inserts I had, but it still wasn't quite right.  It was when I purchased the Gerber 6-ply prefold diapers at Target that things fell into place.  The 6-ply prefolds are the large, thick ones.  I already had some of the thinner ones (the 3-ply) and they weren't cutting it.  But the 6-ply were just what I needed.

Here are two gdiaper inserts.  The top one shows the the microfleece side, and the bottom one shows the opposite hemp side.

The "hemp sandwich" method happens by putting two inserts together with the hemp sides facing each other. This worked great for Delano in the small gdiapers, but it just wasn't enough in the mediums.

One of the Gerber 6-ply prefolds, unfolded.  The center area has several layers of cotton sewn together for extra absorbancy.

How I stuff a medium gdiaper:  A gdiaper insert with the hemp side facing up, then a prefold on top.  The folded over part of the prefold goes in the front of the diaper, providing even more absorbancy in the area of Delano's pee-pee.

The finished product and perfect diaper for my child.

Actually, THIS is the finished product!

So that's how I do it, in case you've wondered!

I didn't start using cloth wipes until Delano was solidly in size small diapers (I have no excuse as to why - I should have started right from the beginning), and I don't use anything fancy.  Bed, Bath & Beyond sells reusable microfiber cloths in the cleaning section - 30 wipes for $4.99.  When I found them I figured that if they sucked as baby wipes, I was only out 5 bucks.  Well, they work great!  I've only had to throw away 2 or 3 of them (when they got weird and fluffy in the dryer for whatever reason), and the rest are still going strong.  I actually just bought a second pack of them so that I'd have more as a backup, but I really could have continued to get by on just the one pack of 30.  For the wet part, I have a spray bottle mixed with water, a little bit of Dr. Bronner's baby soap (purchased at Earth Fare) and a little bit of baby oil.  I probably won't need to buy any more baby oil or Dr. Bronner's soap for the rest of my cloth wipe career, Baby #2 included!

5 bucks well spent.

I still opt for the disposable inserts for out-of-town trips (with the exception of nighttime diapers), simply because it's just easier than lugging around bags of heavy, soiled diapers (been there, done that).  Especially when laundering isn't really an option.  The inserts are biodegradable but also flushable, so I can always opt to flush them when possible.  I also opt for disposable wipes when away from home (daily diaper bag use included), though I do buy the earth-friendly biodegradable wipes that consist of basically nothing more than plant fibers and aloe.  I also try to buy the flushable ones as well.  It doesn't really make sense that I use disposable wipes as a daily diaper bag option.....I really should invest in a tiny spray bottle for the diaper bag instead, and limit my disposable wipe use to just out-of-town travel as well.

Note to self:  Add "tiny spray bottle" to shopping list.  Let's pollute even LESS.  :)

Total change of subject (and blog post wrap-up), Delano's party supplies arrived this week!  Curious George for his Nashville party, Sesame Street for his Chattanooga party.  Going to be so much fun!!

Yay!!

Weaned. Like a Boss.

I totally forgot that months ago (and I mean MONTHS ago), a woman who read my blog sent me an email asking me to mention her blog in my blog to raise awareness for Mesothelioma.  I meant to do just that (I REALLY did), but apparently forgot (I'M A HORRIBLE FRIEND!!).  Anyways, her name is Heather, and here was her email request:

Hi April! Thanks so much for emailing me! The reason I have reached out to you is because of your blog! I am 44 and a mother to a quirky little 7 year old, Lily. She is my only child, and my whole world. When Lily was just 3 1/2 months old, I was diagnosed with Mesothelioma; a type of cancer that kills 90-95% of those who have it. As I’m sure you can imagine, the first thing that came to mind when I was diagnosed was my baby girl and how I wasn’t going to be able to watch her grow up.

After intense treatment and recovery, I’m still here almost 7 years later and cancer free! My journey with cancer was a terrifying one and I'd like to turn my pain into purpose and become someone that other people can look to for guidance, inspiration, and hope in situations like my own. I contacted you because I feel that your blog would be an excellent place for me to share my story. I realize that you may be thinking my story is not exactly a perfect fit for your blog audience, but I’m trying to raise awareness of this horrible little known cancer that is such a deadly killer (and sadly, 100% preventable) Would you accept a guest post from me about my journey as a new mother with cancer and the dangers of asbestos? I would love if you could at least include my link in your blogroll! Here is the link to my blog if you want to read some of my story: www(dot)mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather

So please take a moment to click on the link to Heather's blog to read her story!  I can't imagine being in her shoes, or being a parent watching a child fight cancer.

So big news....two days ago, Delano walked for the very first time!!  He walked between me and my mom, and then between me and Lucas.  He's still not stable enough to take off on his own quite yet, but he tests the water all the time.  He'll now walk around the coffee table, pick up an object, then let go of the coffee table and just stand there checking out said object.  I don't know if he even realizes he's just standing there not holding onto anything.  But it's only a matter of probably DAYS before he attempts to walk all by himself!

Our future?  I highly doubt that baby was riding that bike.....

Another thing that happened two days ago was that Delano weaned himself from breastfeeding.  Wham, bam, just like that.  The other morning, when Delano woke up and we went to the couch for our morning routine, he INSTANTLY clamped down on my nipple with his teeth.  We tried again, and he did the same thing.  I tried switching sides, and he did it again.  He wasn't even attempting to eat (but he was bawling his little eyes out), so after several attempts I finally fixed a bottle instead.  He did breastfeed both that afternoon and evening, though, so I figured maybe he just felt bad that morning (we think he might be teething some more, but aren't quite sure yet).  The next morning, he wouldn't even look at my boob.  He screamed and shoved it away.  And has been doing that ever since!

I'm bummed for two reasons.  First because he doesn't seem to want my boobs at all anymore (sniff sniff), and second because I really wanted to avoid switching to formula full time.  I pumped a few times yesterday and ended up with 3 ounces total, which I gave to him right before bed.  But it took me a long time to get that mere 3 ounces, and it was gone in a matter of minutes.  I have four 5-ounce bags of breastmilk left in the freezer, and then that's IT.  So it looks like Delano pretty much decided to wean himself.  And since he's not quite old enough yet for any other type of milk, formula it has to be.  On a good note, he's a little less than 4 weeks away from hitting the one-year mark, and he's only getting 2-3 bottles a day, with the morning bottle being 8 ounces and the other two being about 4-5 ounces.

Ummmmm........I'm not THAT distraught.....

So I'm 15 1/2 week preggers as of now!  Wednesday will be 16 weeks and the 4 month mark.  I know I look pregnant, but I still feel just fat.  I've had some of those super-low ab pains that come with being pregnant (especially if you're in bed on your back and you do something like cough or try to sit up), but otherwise I'm doing fine!  I broke out the body pillow last night to help me get comfortable, since the last two nights I've tossed and turned trying to fall asleep.  But there's been no more nausea (YAY!!!) and I'm actually not shoveling food into my face like I was before, so things are settling down.  I'm still just as tired, especially in the afternoons, and I'm still running very little.  The last time I ran, I actually pulled a muscle in my butt.  Fun times.

And so this is how I stretched it out.  Just kidding.  Fun fact:  this photo came from a blog called, "Confessions of a Watery Tart".

And to wrap this up with a picture of my own baby, here's a picture Delano's Grandpa took last weekend while we were in Nashville.  :)

We Are Now Official Members of the Minivan Club.

There are loads of unofficially official clubs out there.  When you graduate high school, you're in the "High School Graduate" club.  When you start college, you're in the "College Student" club.  When you graduate, you're in the "College Grad" club.  When you land a job, you're in the "Welcome to Adulthood" club.  When you get married, you're in the "No Longer Single" club.  When you have a baby, you're in the "Mommy/Daddy" club.  And when you buy a minivan, you learn that handshake as well.

Then there's that......

Lucas and I bought our first minivan this morning:

Thar she blows.

It's a 2004 Nissan Quest, white with tan leather interior (I'd rather it had cloth interior, but ah well), power everything, multiple sunroofs, 2nd and 3rd row ceiling heat/AC vents, heated seats (though right now I could use some cool-my-ass down seats), DVD player, etc.  We bought the van for $5,000 off of Craigslist.  It needs a new front motor mount (whatever that is) and the odometer/gas gauge digital display needs to be sent off for repair.  The new motor mount will cost around $100 or so (to be replaced by Lucas), and the odometer/gas gauge repair will cost around $200 (also to be removed and reinstalled by Lucas).  We also need to look into fixing the part of the driver's side seat that moves the seat forward and back.  My dad says that it's often the button that needs replacing and not the actual electrical component.  Since the other parts of the seat work, I'm guessing that may be the case.  And according to the previous owner, there's at least one CD stuck in the CD player that will need to be finagled out (which he blames on his wife....mmm hmm).  Besides that, we're good to go!

We don't actually need the van quite yet, but this one was a good deal so we went ahead and jumped on it.  Once this second baby gets here (and we'll have TWO rear-facing car seats to accommodate), the van will be much appreciated.  Not as much fun as piling the Simington family (me, Lucas, Delano, Grammy and Gramps) into the Rav4, but definitely more comfortable!  And when it's just me and Lucas and the two kiddos, the back seat folded into the floor of the van will give us a TON of space.

Here's how much space is in the back of a Rav4.  P.S. - A stroller takes up most of that space.

Here's how much space is in a Quest with the back row laid down.

Even still a lot of space with the back seat up.

Now I just need to learn to drive it, but more importantly, learn to park it.  It's a LOT closer to the ground than my Rav4, and a lot bigger.

Hopefully not like that.

Or like that.

Ok so maybe you might see a little of that.....

I used to drive a van around for work when I lived down in Orlando (one of those work vans with no windows in the back) and then a Ford F250 after a coworker rolled the van.  So I've driven larger vehicles before - it's just been a while.  And I only remember parallel parking the van ONCE while in Tampa.  I'm not sure I ever had to parallel park the F250.  If I did, I don't remember.  Or maybe it was just terrible and I blocked it out.

So we have a minivan.  Fist-pound to you, fellow minivanners.

Housekeeping While Parenting.

So as as stay-at-home mom, there are certain things I'm "supposed" to do, which involves keeping the house clean.  And I don't mean that in a sexist, old school, barefoot-and-pregnant kind of way.  Lucas does all the laundry (except for the diapers since I wash those way more frequently) and we split the cooking pretty evenly.  And Lucas, of course, now pays all the bills.  I'm just simply in charge of cleaning the house on as as-needed basis.  Things like dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and cleaning the bathrooms are my unofficial duties.

Somebody's been spying on me!!  Taking pictures while I clean house. ;)

I spot-sweep on a daily basis (I have 5 pets and a crawling baby), and I clean up the kitchen every day since I can't stand a dirty kitchen.  Dusting typically happens when I decide I need to do a major sweep/vacuum/mop of the place (which is usually every 2-3 weeks), and the bathrooms typically get cleaned when I start to see mold OR guests are coming over (I despise cleaning the bathrooms so they always end up as my moan-and-groan do-I-have-to grunt work).

This looks familiar.....a lot like my childhood.....maybe why I hate cleaning bathrooms so much!

Mopping probably gets done the least, because it's the trickiest to pull off.  It's not like I can just get up and decide the house needs mopping and get down to it.  Mopping, in my house, is a 4-step process.

1.)  I have to sweep.  First I have to sweep the floors of all major hair clumps and chewed up dog toy pieces.

2.)  I have to vacuum.  Since I have 5 pets, sweeping is NEVER good enough on it's own before mopping, unless I want to be pushing hair around on the floor.  No matter how well I think I sweep, there is ALWAYS still hair on the floor, so I have to go around with the Shop Vac to get the floor as clean as possible.

3.)  I have to mop.  Duh.

4.)  I have to find the time to do all of these three things consecutively with a baby in the house.  

I HAVE to do all three at the same time, or it doesn't work.  If I sweep and decide I'll vacuum and mop later/tomorrow, I'll just have to sweep again.  Same with if I both sweep and vacuum - if I don't mop immediately after, I'm just going to have to do it all again.  When Delano was itty-bitty, I could put him in the Moby wrap while he was napping and get chores done.  Now that he's older and mobile, that wouldn't last 5 minutes.  Plus he's now 20 pounds instead of 7.  The last time I decided to mop (prior to all the rain), I swept and vacuumed while Delano was in his walker and then mopped after he went down for a nap.  He chased the Shop Vac around while I vacuumed, grabbing the hose and shaking it in the air.  This past Monday when I put him in his walker and turned on the Shop Vac, he started screaming in pure terror.  We tried turning it off, touching it, playing with the hose, playing with the buttons....to no avail.  Every time I turned it on he would scream and shake and drop tears.  And I was afraid it would wake him up while he was napping, so I figured I'd just have to wait until Daddy was home and could distract him while I cleaned the floors.

Maybe Delano needs a Mop Romper.

Today, I came up with a plan.  Delano's morning nap is usually 2 hours long.  I figured I'd let him sleep an hour or so, sweep during this first hour, then try vacuuming during the second hour.  If it woke him up, then so be it.  If it didn't, then I'd get my floors mopped finally after 2 straight weeks of rainy weather.  Well.....Delano woke up as I was moving the chairs out of the dining room to get ready to vacuum (of course - why wouldn't he?).  So I tried again this afternoon...SUCCESS!!  I didn't vacuum down the hallway towards his room because the Shop Vac is really loud, but I did vacuum the rest of the upstairs with him asleep.  So we have clean floors!  Well almost.....I still need to mop the kitchen and the stairs.  The downstairs will get swept/vacuumed/mopped another day.  We're hardly ever down there so it's always a super-last priority.  :)

I'm really trying to get in the habit of cleaning of the entire house every other week.  Some people have strict weekly cleaning schedules they follow....that's just a little to gumptious for me.  Not that I'm lazy (all the time), that's just overkill for my household.  Those people also probably don't have 3 large indoor/outdoor dogs and 2 indoor cats. 

Maybe I need to recruit a babysitter for a few hours (cough cough my mom) every other week (rewarded with the love of your daughter and a tasty lunch) so that I can knock out ALL of the housecleaning at once so that I'm not doing little pieces here and there when I can fit it in.  Then it would just be DONE and I wouldn't have to worry about it until the next round.  Sounds like a plan to me!  :)

Daddy's home.....time to mop the kitchen and stairs!  That way if the baby wakes up, he's on Daddy duty.  :)

Curious George and Bitten Nipples

Delano is 11 months old today!!!  AHHHHH!!!!  Only one single solitary more month before he's a whole year old.  So crazy!!!

Which reminds me....I need to order his birthday party supplies!  I've decided that the theme of his party is going to be Curious George, since he likes monkeys (and it's super cute when he goes "Eee-eee-eee" to sound like a monkey).  The bad news is that Party City doesn't carry the Curious George themed party supplies anymore.....but the good news is that it's all 50% off on their website!  I'm also going to check Pinterest for some additional cute monkey ideas, though I'm not quite as dedicated to being crafty like some of my other friends are.  And I've put my friend Jill up to the task of making the cake.  :)

Delano will have his first party up in Nashville, since we'll be up there for the majority of the weekend, and then he'll have his Chattanooga party on Sunday evening.  I need to start making the guest lists!

So I was having this conversation with Lucas's mom last weekend........I always find the formal "sit down to open presents" portion of a one-year-old's birthday party to be awkward and almost pointless.  The one-year-old NEVER wants to sit still, they really could give a rat's ass about the act of opening presents, and the parents are always forcing cards and gifts in the child's face wanting them to show a positive reaction so the gift-giver can feel good about their gift choice.  I'd like to skip this whole formal "sit down to open presents" portion of the party, BUT I do want to know who brought what for thank you note purposes.  And people really do want to see the child open their present.  Am I just going to have to suck it up and suffer through it?  Any suggestions?

This is the reaction people hope for.

So Delano needs to be weaned from breastfeeding in about 3 1/2 months.  He could, of course, end up weaning himself (which would be nice), but otherwise I'm going to have to do it.  I actually don't think it will be all that bad (knock on wood).  Yesterday, he only breastfed four times - when he woke up, right before his morning nap, right before his late afternoon nap, and then right before bed.  Sometimes there will be another time or two tossed in there, and sometimes he skips the afternoon feeding all together.  Once he's over a year old and I can introduce whole milk (though I AM going to research other options as well before doing so, as there are LOADS of debates about what we've been engrained to believe about cow's milk), I'll be able to wean him off the boob. 

So is this considered propping the bottle?

One fun thing about Delano lately......ok not really......is that now that he has teeth, he figured out he can bite my nipple!  OUCH!  He's only done it a handful of times, but that's a handful of times too many for sure.  And this past weekend he bit down and then twisted away while holding on.....my nipple throbbed for half an hour.  Lucas suggested switching him to a bottle (formula) for this last month or so to save me from injury, but websites out there tell me that I can teach him not to bite.  I'm going to keep rolling with it for now and see if I can keep the biting at bay with the suggestions from the websites I've read, so cross your fingers that my nipples stay intact!  I'd rather save the formula for emergencies and babysitters, since I think I'm down to maybe two or three bags of frozen breastmilk for those times.

I haven't had any environmental projects tossed my way in quite a while.  In fact, the last project I completed was due on May 31st.  I've enjoyed my time "off" from working on projects, but I would definitely like to see a few more fat paychecks come my way before I get too fat to travel.....and then have two babies and can't take projects anymore!  I did receive a proposition from my "boss" for some lighter work I could help him with after Baby #2 is here and we all get settled into a routine, so I'm excited for that.  I want to keep my connections going with this company so that once the kids are a little older (and maybe with D in preschool) I can take full projects again.  I enjoy what I do, plus the money is totally worth it.

I can hear Delano waking up from his nap, so I guess it's time to wrap this up!

P.S.  There's a mosquito in my house.  I saw him once and missed catching him.  But since I've been sitting here, he's bitten both my elbow and my foot.  Grrrrrr.  Little bugger.  Literally.

He LOVES Annie's mac n cheese!!  Growing up!!

The Stay-At-Home Mom

(Written yesterday, Wednesday)

Whew.  What a day.  Or what a past two days, really.  Loads of go-go-go.  Now that I'm finally just sitting down "doing nothing", I can think of 10 other things I really should be doing while Delano is still asleep.  But isn't that how it always is, moms?  You know you could use the break, you know you WANT the break, but you feel guilty not doing those things that are really only successfully accomplished while your child is napping.  What's ironic is that catching up on one of my shows (aka "doing nothing") is actually one of those things.  If you think for one second I can engage in television while my almost-11-month-old is awake (and therefore expecting to be entertained), you've lost your mind.  Even though I know that's what some people think I do all day.  ;)  My friend Natalie said it best in her Nooga.com (Im)perfect Parenting Blog when she stayed home with her 3-year-old daughter for 3 days in a row and was trying to come up with things to do:

"I really loved the time I got to spend with my daughter and was also humbled because it made me realize how freaking hard stay-at-home parents work.  There are some who will tell you that staying at home isn’t really work.  Those people can just go eat a poison muffin from Whole Foods because STOP BEING RUDE AND MEAN.  So to all of you stay-at-home parents out there, my hat is off to you."

Natalie is a working mom, and I have nothing but love for working moms (unless you're a sucky parent when you ARE at home).  And most working moms pull two jobs:  their paying job away from home and then the job of being a mom when they get home.  But for those stay-at-home moms out there (like me), it's NOT lazy days full of shopping trips, daytime TV, bubble baths and truffles.  Unless you're one of those rich housewives who has a nanny.  Or one of those moms who constantly leaves your child/children with a grandparent or babysitter so you can go live life like you're not a parent.  But then, you're not really a stay-at-home mom, are you?  Your nanny/mother/babysitter serves as that.  ANYWAYS - it's a challenge.  Some days are relatively easy-going, but others are like thunderstorms of mayhem.  Some days I'm pretty productive - chores get done and I work on my to-do list, maybe because Delano takes great naps that day or maybe because he's actually content in his walker long enough for me to bust out a wifely duty.  Other days, it's pointless to even try, because Delano demands ALL of my time.  No matter what the type of day, the day is ALWAYS long.  It starts early and ends late.  And for a lot of moms out there, it continues throughout the night, so it never really ends.  And I know I've talked about entertaining the baby before, but OH MY GOSH......you can do/play with EVERYTHING in the house.......and manage to kill about an hour.  And you have to do it EVERY DAY.  It's enough to make you crazy sometimes.....and absolutely love your life other times.  But anyone who thinks it's easy should spend 5 days in a row with your child/children on whatever your budget is (no cheating with an unlimited budget!).  Actually, make that 7 days......because there is no such thing as a weekend off!

Please please please pay me this?  Or even just half?  :)

Let me add into the above paragraph that my husband is AMAZING and willing to do or help with whatever I need when he is home.  He needs no instruction or micro-managing at all.  I don't even need to tell him when the baby was fed/changed last.  He is an absolute NATURAL when it comes to taking care of a baby.  If something were to ever happen to me, he would be absolutely fine from a single dad perspective.  I say all that just to let you know that I'm NOT secretly complaining about my lack of support.  And I'm definitely NOT complaining about being a stay-at-home mom.  I love my job.  It's what I've always wanted to do.  It's just definitely not as easy as an outsider would think!

So I'm 14 weeks pregnant today!  Had my doctor's appointment this afternoon - I've gained one pound since three weeks ago, my pee looks good and the baby's heartbeat sounds good as well.  I go back in three weeks for another quickie appointment.  Speaking of being 14 weeks, I need to take a belly pic.  I guess I'll do that tomorrow.  And I realized yesterday that I COMPLETELY forgot to take Delano's 10 month sticker picture!!  I was looking for it to add to my "print" folder (for the baby book) when I discovered I didn't have it.  Ah well!  This high chair picture was taken a few days after his 10 month birthday, so it will just have to do as his 10 month photo!

So cute!!!!

Love Handles, Chicken Dinners and Big Ass Houses

Where did these big, fat love handles come from??  I didn't have these the first time around.  It just makes me wonder how AMAZING I'm going to look around Christmastime.

Can you even imagine???  P.S. - That's Kate Gosselin on the right.

And my belly is a bit jelly-rific.  Not nearly as firm and taught as the first time around.  More like squishy-squishy-chicken-dinner (winner winner!).  But at least there's a baby in there.  And at least that part's just going to become more and more obvious.  Because when there is NO DOUBT in anyone's mind that you are with child, then you could really give a rat's ass about love handles and chub and shoveling food into your face in obscene quantities.  It's quite nice, actually.  So are comfy, stretchy clothes.

My little punkin' now has two teeth front and center!  They're still very small as they just broke through the skin the past week or so, but they're on the up and up!  And thank goodness the second one finally broke through two days ago.....it took longer than the first one, and you could tell on that last day that Delano's gums were really sore.  Poor little guy!

Mmmmm....orange!

So the past few weeks I've been thinking about what I want to do for our 1-year wedding anniversary.  Since Lucas and I eloped at the courthouse this past May, I figured we would definitely have a vow renewal ceremony of some sort, so that family could be there and that I could actually go shopping for a wedding dress (yay!).  I tossed around some ideas......one was to go all out with a wedding and reception, as if it were the first time.  Another idea was just to rent a space and have a big party ("reception") for everybody to attend in honor of the one year mark.  The third idea was to do something destination-oriented, like on a beach or in a cool historic building.  Lucas said he was fine with whatever route we went with, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go with something out of town. 

This isn't the plan, but that's gorgeous all the same!

We wanted the destination to be within driving distance, since we'll have two kids to deal with.  Plus we wanted family to come, and also any friends who might decide to make a trip out of it as well.  After tossing around a couple of location ideas, we decided on the Destin, Florida area.  For a lot of people in Chattanooga, the Florida panhandle is the standard spring/summer beach trip destination, because it's not that far away (6-7 hours).  But neither Lucas nor I have actually ever vacationed there!  I take that back.  I used to travel to the panhandle ALL the time for work (it was my favorite thing to do), and once Lucas and I made a long weekend trip out of one of my work projects to Navarre.  And a few years before that, Leah came to visit me while I was working in the panhandle (in Appalachicola) and she and I spent the weekend lounging on St. George Island.  But we've never vacationed in Destin.

Emerald Coast, we're coming for you!

I know that next May is 10 months away, but I figured that we'd probably need to go ahead and book a place to stay so that we at least wouldn't have to worry about that part down the road.  And since we opted to put all the family in one place (if possible), I needed to look at some big ass houses.

Ok, just kidding......not THAT big.

I went to the Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) website to browse their listings, and after looking at loads and loads of houses, with most having not enough bedrooms, or having enough bedrooms but too many bedrooms with bunk beds, or being WAY too expensive, or having minimum night stays of 7 nights or longer, I came across one that was PERFECT for the whole family:  Banana Wind. 

Banana Wind was perfect.  3 stories, 7 bedrooms (only one with bunk beds), 6 bathrooms, awesome balconies, a pool, and a hop and a skip to the beach.  I was SOLD.  I emailed the property manager to make sure it was available for our 5-day trip in May, and it was.  Friday morning, I called the property manager to ask for a breakdown of the fees (which she provided) and the payment requirements (which she also provided).  She asked me if I wanted to go ahead and book it.  Since I was breastfeeding Delano and my wallet was across the room, I told her I'd call her back that afternoon to book.  About seven hours later, I called back.

SOMEONE ELSE HAD BOOKED IT THAT DAY FOR OUR WEEK.  Crazy, eh?

She first asked if our dates were flexible (no) so she looked at her other rentals and said she had ONE other property in Miramar Beach that would fit our needs (at least 6 beds full size or above) called Bella Rosa.

It's fabulous.  3 stories (with a 4th story roof balcony), 7 bedrooms (NO twin beds at all), 8 bathrooms, two kitchens, two laundry rooms, a pool, and a hop and a skip to a private beach.  It's also located within a gated community called Maravilla Shores with additional amenities such as kayak and paddle board rentals.  My friends Joe and Jennifer said they stay in Maravilla Shores every year and that the beach is gorgeous.  So it looks like we really lucked out!!

Bring it on, Bella Rosa!

When the property manager asked me if I wanted to book it, I was like YES DO IT NOW HURRY QUICK THERE'S NO TIME so it is officially booked!!  We are ready for action!

Now that the location is taken care of, there is PLENTY of time for the other details of the trip.  Plenty of time to pick out a dress (which won't happen until after Baby #2 is born), plenty of time to pick out the ceremony package and plenty of time to find a great restaurant for the afterparty.  I also have plenty of time to decide if I want to send out invitations or keep it to just the family.  I know that most people probably wouldn't be able to come with it being in Florida, but there may be a few people who would decide to make a little vacation out of it, since they'd have a "reason" to go to the beach.  I mean, seriously.....who doesn't want a legit excuse to go to the beach???  :)

So pumped!!!