Adventures in Diapering and Beyond

To the reader who was pregnant with her 4th...

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:37:00 +0000

Last night, I received an e-mail from a reader, M., who was pregnant with her 4th. child. I typed a message back, but when I clicked, "send", the message was bounced back to me. It stated that M.'s e-mail address didn't exist. After looking at the original message again, I realized that it was dated April 2011! Somehow M.'s e-mail took 10 months to reach my inbox. Although M.'s message was so long ago, I would like to share it here as well as my e-mail back. Maybe someone else reading this is in a similar situation as M. and needs encouragement too.

M.'s e-mail:

***

Hello, My name is M., I have 3 children all born by c-section aged 14, 12 and 8 i just found out this week that I'm about 5 weeks pregnant.

When i was 17 i had my ovary taken out and then after my 3rd baby i had an ectopic pregnancies and my tube was taken, At which time i was told i would not be able to fall pregnant again. So almost 5 years on i was very shocked to find out iam in fact pregnant.

I went to the Doctors today who has advised me not to have the baby, as he thinks you should not have any more then 3 c-sections. I felt the doctors crying and feeling sick to my stomach, when i got home i started looking on the internet and found many women who have had 4, 5, 6 even up to 8 c-section, Which made me feel a bit better after reading this. I'm still very scared as i want this baby more then any thing. Any advice you could please give me would be very appreciated.

***

Here is my response:

***

Hi M.,

My first thought when I read your message is that you probably don't live in the USA, am I right? I say that because although a lot of doctors here say to stop at 3 c-sections, I have never heard of one advising an abortion for the reasons you listed.

Were your first 3 c-sections normal? Did you have any adverse reactions to the procedure or the anesthesia/epidural/spinals?

To give you an idea how laid back doctors are here (in the state I live) about c-sections- I have had 5, a former neighbor had 4, a friend at church had 4, my doctor's sister-in-law had 5, a lady in my mother's group had 4, and I have met many other ladies online that have had 4 or more.

One lady I met through a c-section group has had 11. Another had 7 c-sections. The one who had 7 did develop placenta percretta during her 7th. pregnancy and had to have a hysterectomy afterwords, but and her baby are fine. Her name is Sabrina and I believe her birth story is listed under my c-section link up top.

If your doctor is that concerned about your pregnancy, then you need to find a new doctor ASAP. You need a doctor that is confident enough as a surgeon that they are not scared at the prospect of a 4th, 5th, or 6th. c-section. Try to find a doctor that is pro-life and pro-family.

I'm telling you all this because I want you to know that although the risks do go up with a 4th. c-section, many doctors are not concerned about women having a 4th. when there have been no complications with the first 3. If it is uncommon where you live, then you are going to have to work harder to either find a doctor experienced in delivering 4th. + c-sections, or a doctor that is a highly skilled surgeon and is confident in what he/she does.

Keep reading positive stories and try to find a good doctor. Read as much as you can about how to make this birth a good experience and try not to worry.

***

M., if you read this, I'm sorry I didn't receive your message earlier because I would have encouraged you to keep your baby and enjoy the blessing that child would bring to your life. I hope that you were able to find joy in your pregnancy and look past the fear and that your c-section went smoothly.

All the best,

Year Round Homeschooling

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:44:00 +0000

Last year was a difficult year to homeschool. I had a baby, preschooler, kindergartener, first grader, and a second grader. In addition to 5 little ones to care for, I became ill for months. Doing the basics of taking care of the baby and keeping the kids clean and fed took most of my energy. During some of the worst months, we either did very minimal school work or none at all.

Despite many days off, we are almost finished up with our year of school, which started last March. As of mid-January, we are only a couple chapters away from finishing science and history for the school year! Plus, we finished up math last fall and are 1/4 of the way through the next books.

How did we manage to stay on track with so many days off? Year round homeschooling! While all the public school kids were out of school for the summer, my kids were still working on at least a little bit of school several times a week. We also took less days off during holiday breaks and occasionally did a bit on Saturdays.

There are so many advantages to homeschooling, and year round schooling is just one of them. If you're a homeschooling parent and are experiencing ongoing illness, expecting a new baby, or have another major event in your life, I highly recommend you consider schooling year round. It allows for a lot of freedom in days off here and there that would otherwise set August- May homeschoolers behind.

Lyme Disease

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:40:00 +0000

Lyme Disease. I had seen the Lyme booth every year at the county fair- the one where a poster with ticks and a bullseye rash are displayed, but I never thought much of it until last year.

In the fall of 2010, my husband removed a tick from my back. A month or two later, I noticed something on my scalp- a scab that just wouldn't heal and later turned out to be basal cell carcinoma.

***

In the spring of 2011, I had Mohs surgery to have the basal cell spot removed.

Two months later, I became sick. I woke up with my heart pounding, running a fever, and in a non-stop panic attack. An urgent care doctor diagnosed me with a kidney infection, (which later would seem that I may not have had one at all, or at least a very minor one). After starting the antibiotic I was prescribed, I felt worse. I was now pacing the house and very scared. My shoulder was popping and my leg had pain. Convinced that I was having a reaction to the medicine, I went back to the doctor and was told I could stop taking the drugs (3 or 4 days after starting them).

The fever went away, but the shoulder popping did not. 2 weeks later, I was running a fever again and having panic attacks. Another trip to an urgent care (this time out of state) showed that my fever was gone and I did not have a urinary tract infection.

A couple weeks later, a friend died. Again, I went into non-stop panic attacks. This time it lasted a week- straight! Sleep did not even ease up the anxiety.

During this time, I was also having tingling and numb sensations in my scalp. At first I thought it was from the surgery, but before long the tingling spread to the rest of my scalp, and eventually throughout the rest of my body. I started having vertigo.

A trip to an M.D. this time proved to be a waste of time. I had blood drawn and was sent me on my way with no.help.at.all. *I was later told that this doctor does not know about Lyme and would not have known to look for it.

At this time, I was already having the tingling going throughout my body, but was trying not to worry too much.

A couple weeks later, I started taking Amoxicillin for a sinus infection. I had taken it many times before without any problems. This time was different. The first night after I took it, I started having worse tingling. Now it felt like it was constantly running in lines through my body. I also started having problems sleeping. It was like I was stuck between awake and asleep.

The prescription was for 10 days, but I became afraid to finish it. Everything had gotten worse when I started taking the med., so I was convinced it was making me worse (a later learned that getting sicker from the antibiotics was a Herx-Reaction from the Lyme). I decided to take less than what was prescribed the last several days I was on it. That seemed to help, a little.

***

Somewhere in there, I found another tick attached to me. This made tick #6 between 3 of the children and I within only 12 months!!!

The tingling continued, and I was no longer able to fall asleep easily. My kids were waking me up repeatedly every 1 1/2- 2 hours at night, so I was extremely sleep deprived. I felt sick and fatigued.

The fatigue became very bad. Taking care of my 5 kids (ages 1-8) took every little bit of me that was left. My husband got used to spending dinner with me lying on the sofa instead of at the table with the rest of the family. He even brought me my food sometimes so I wouldn't have to get up.

The left side of my face felt a numb/heavy type of feeling. I also had weird sensations in my tongue and upper lip. Around that time, I noticed that my tongue was shaking. I also started having electric shocks in my scalp if I would get startled.

***

Between the tingling, vertigo, and fatigue, (and off and on fevers during 2011), I decided it was time to try another doctor. One of the first things she asked me was had I been bitten by any ticks. I went through a series of tests, which all came back negative for Lyme. I cried and cried after getting the phone call where the nurse said I didn't have Lyme. It had seemed so certain that was what was wrong with me, so now what?

After talking with the doctor, she told me she was pretty sure I did have Lyme Disease (blood tests are often false-negative for Lyme) and wanted me to start antibiotics. Within a day or two on the medicine, I was able to fall asleep just by lying in bed. It was wonderful!

Not everything was great after starting treatment. My anxiety increased 1-2 hours after each time I took the antibiotic the first few days. I began having random pain- in my knees, feet, toes, wherever. It would come on all of a sudden, then disappear an hour later. I started having muscle spasms all the time throughout my body.

A month later, another antibiotic was added to the mix. I had a couple days of migraines and sensitivity to sound. The muscle twitching increased drastically too.

One of the best things I did during all this was to take notes (and kept copies of lab work). I wrote down every unpleasant symptom I had, as well as any other relevant details (lack of sleep due to kids, stress, holidays, ect.). That helped my doctor a lot in keeping track of how I was doing. I had, I believe, 28 pages of notes from the first 10 weeks I was on antibiotics.

Two months into treatment, I began to feel worse. EXTREME fatigue, and muscle twitching that would not stop. It was worst I had felt since starting the medications. It was an internal fight for me to continue taking the medication when I knew it was making me worse. I had to eventually learn to stop fighting it and let it do its work. The ill feeling lasted a week and a half or so and then finally I felt alright.

***

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I started better and I feel pretty well except for the fatigue. I had never felt exhaustion like this before 2011. Sometimes I feel like I am on sleeping pills. I can sleep hours only to wake up and be too tired to want to get out of bed. Many times I will take a nap on the sofa in the evening because I am too tired to walk to bed. I feel as though my body is going into auto-shut-off and it is a very heavy and weird feeling. It's even worse if I take a short nap and then am woken up, so I have to work hard to time things right with the kids so that I don't become overly exhausted before they go to bed.

In addition to the fatigue I still experience, I am still having pain. Leaning over to give the kids a bath, or to switch laundry, causes my chest to hurt. I get aches and pains in my knees, neck, head, legs, ect. that come and go. I try not to make too many commitments because I never know how I will feel any given day. I also have a hard time getting motivated to do things (perhaps from the fatigue). The muscle twitching (which has eased up some) can make it difficult to fall asleep sometimes. I still get anxiety, but it's not the same as what was going on last summer. My doctor has even pointed out that I seem calmer than when she met me. My long-term memory has recently been improving too. After three months of antibiotics, there are still more months to go.

***

I am one of the lucky ones. So many people with Lyme go un-diagnosed from doctor to doctor for years. I don't know for sure how long I've had this (it's possible I had it before the tick in 2010), but I am thankful that God brought me to find this doctor.

Example of a Candy Land Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:05:00 +0000

For all you candy lovers out there, here is another example of a Candy Land Cake. Evi, an Adventures in Diapering blog reader, made this cake for her daughter's 5th. birthday. Check out the candy path she made- complete with the pink candy spots like the ones on the board game! The game pieces and the candy along the bottom edge of the cake were nice touches too. Apparently the cake was a big hit; Evi says, "14 little hands descended on her cake all at once and it was undone in about 45 seconds!"

Thanks for sharing Evi!

How to Make a Candy Land Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:22:00 +0000

Today I'm reposting one of my most popular posts- How to Make a Candy Land Cake. I'm adding back in tons of pictures which should be helpful to anyone making their own CandyLand Cake.

This week I made my first Candyland Cake! It was a HUGE hit with my kids. So much in fact that my other 3 children are all requesting Candyland Cakes for their birthdays too.

The cake was fairly easy to make, but very time consuming. If you decide to make a cake like this, you will probably find it easiest to assemble the candy by looking at a Candy Land game board. Then just use whatever candies you want.

If you have any questions that aren't answered here, leave me a comment or e-mail and I'd be happy to answer them.

Candy Land Cake

Supplies:

*Wax Paper

*13x9 in. sheet cake (the one I used was 2 cakes put together- half yellow, half chocolate)

*Buttercream Frosting:
*Purple
*Pink
*Red
*Orange
*Yellow
*Green
*Blue
*Black
*Chocolate

Various Candies, such as:
*Gum Drops
*Mini-Candy Canes
*Itty Bitty Marshmellows
*Peanut Butter Brittle
*Gummy Bears
*Licorice strings
*Suckers
*Heath Candy Bits
*Small Ice Cream Cones
*Cotton Candy

Directions:

The day before my son's birthday, I made the cake and put a base coat of frosting over the entire outside of it. I then put the cake in the freezer for an hour or so to harden up a bit before decorating.

After pulling the cake back out, I started to make the background colors (grass, sky, mountains, ect.) using frosting.

I traced the outline of the cake pan onto wax paper. Inside of the cake shape I had just drawn, I sketched out the Candyland path making just a simple curvy line that copied the game board.

Using scissors, I cut the wax paper along the line I had drawn. I placed the wax paper cutout on top of the cake and made tiny frosting dots to make the path outline onto the cake. After the frosting outline was on, I removed the wax paper.

I touched up the background scene and started making the path and bridges using the buttercream frosting. I also placed some of the candies on that wouldn't go bad before the next day.

After everything seen in the picture below was completed, I stuck the cake in the fridge until the next day.

FYI- The candy assembly the next day went MUCH quicker than the pre-assembly work day.

The Day of the Party

The next day I pulled the cake out of the fridge and started assembling all the candy details. Candy Canes in the bottom right corner, along with some tiny marshmallows for snow.

I stuck suckers into some of the gum drops, made a castle using 2 ice cream cones, frosting (including red to make a cherry at the top), cotton candy, and 2 toothpicks stuck into the back for support.

In the right corner I made Queen Frosting's place using pink cotton candy.

A licorice bridge was made using pull and peel licorice twisted and stuck in place with frosting.

I sprinkled Heath candy along the side of the peanut butter brittle house.

To finish the cake off, I tore little pieces of cotton candy off stuck them all along the base of the cake.

Voila'! The cake was finished and the kids were thrilled!

What happened to the photos?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:20:00 +0000

After receiving multiple comments/messages asking about what happened to the photos on this blog, I wanted to address the issue.

Earlier this year, all the photos on my blog were deleted… by me. For a couple reasons. First of all, at the time when you google c-section phrases such as "5th. c-section" or "c-section birth plan", my photos came up as some of the first ones on google images. That would have been great if all my photos had been watermark protected, but mine weren't. My babies' photos are important to me, so the idea of having people copy/paste them didn't set well.

I had so many photos that it would have taken a really long time to go through them all to find the ones that needed to be deleted (after all, I do have 5 little kids to take care of). So I took the easy way out- I clicked delete all. Just like that, all my pictures were gone. For a while they were still viewable on google images and I was able to pick a few to keep, but enough time has passed now that they are (for the most part) not there anymore.

Lastly, I've debated deleting (or making private only to me) this blog for quite some time. It's something I consider on a weekly basis. I get very close to taking it off, but then I'll receive an e-mail from a reader about how helpful the c-section information has been for them. So… this blog is here for now, but it might not be later, but might be again at a later date. Right now I feel God leading me to keep it up, but no promises on tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a blessing to anyone reading it in the meantime.

Baby Doll Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:24:00 +0000

A few months ago I told my 3 year old daughter that if she would give up sucking her fingers, she could invite her friends over to have a cupcake party. Not just any cupcakes, though. She would get to pick any kind she wanted from the book Hello, Cupcake! or from What's New, Cupcake?

My daughter was very excited. I don't think she ever sucked her fingers again from that point forward! She was even able to continue to sleep with her favorite blanket and not put her fingers in her mouth. She was very determined to have cupcakes!

Today we finally had her party. Her cupcake of choice? Slumber Party (or as she calls them, "Babies"), on page 104 in Hello, Cupcake!

My older boys decorated their own cupcakes and I did the rest for the girls. The kids were very happy with the way they looked (and tasted)!

This is the second cupcake party I've done for my kids as a reward for giving up sucking a thumb/fingers. We did a different reward for my (now) 4 year old, but plan to do cupcakes for her soon as well since she didn't have them before. Their dentist was the one who recommended the party, and I have to admit I was skeptical, but he was right on! We have 3 kids that have given up finger sucking/binky, so I'd say his advice worked well! A special party just for them was all the motivation they needed!

Related Posts: Tips on How to End Thumb Sucking

Where to find Hello Cupcake:

Feeding Baby Finger Foods for Less

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:26:00 +0000

Once my babies are around 8 months old, they start to make the transition from puree'd foods to finger foods. It's easy to find healthy finger foods, but it can get pricey when needing to buy baby foods for on the go. Diced baby foods can run around $1 per jar!

To save money on food for older babies, yet keep the convenience found with jarred baby foods, I shop in the regular canned fruit section. Many of the major canned fruit brands sell diced fruits in 100% juice. The diced fruits come in little sealed plastic cups that are perfect for tossing in the diaper bag. When buying the diced fruits for babies under 1 year old, I stick with name brands as I have found they are more tender than the off brands. It's easy to find coupons for the fruit cups in the Sunday coupons or on online coupon sites, which means you can buy a 4 pack of fruit cups for less than the price you'd spend on only 2 jarred baby foods!

We also buy 100% natural (no sugar added) applesauce cups. Like the diced fruits, these little cups are super convenient for just grabbing on the go and filling baby up with healthy fruit. I usually buy these in the store-brands as they are less expensive yet just as good as the name brands.

In addition to using convenience foods for Baby, I also will grab regular fruits that are soft (bananas, peaches, pears) for on the go when fruit is in season. Baby fruit "puffs" and O type cereals travel well too.

If your baby is ready for soft finger foods but you don't want to give up the convenience of jarred foods, give the fruit cups a try! You will save money by skipping the baby food aisle and going straight for 100% natural fruits in the regular canned goods aisle.

Making Baby Food in the Crock Pot

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:06:00 +0000

My little guy who is 9 months old and loves to eat!

With the price of baby food at over $1 per serving, (even more for the organic varieties) I try to make as much of my own as possible for my little guy. Recently I discovered how easy it is to make food for my baby in the crockpot. I wish someone would have told me how to do this years ago! Here's how I've made baby food in the crock pot:

My favorite veggie to make in the slow cooker is squash. Simply scrub off the squash in cold water, then use a knife to poke holes throughout the skin of the squash.Place in the bottom of a crock pot. Add enough water into the crock pot that it's up to about 1/3 or so of the squash. Put the lid on the slow cooker and then let cook on high heat for about 4 hours or low heat about 7 hours (or until squash is super tender). When the squash is tender, turn crock pot off and let it cool off. Once cool, cut open squash and scoop out the insides (minus the seeds) and place in a blender along with a littl

e of the water that was in the crock pot. Blend until squash is nice and smooth.

Purple Carrots my husband grew in the garden

Another veggie we've done is carrots. To cook carrots in a slow cooker, scrub carrots well in water. Peel carrots and place in crock pot (cut the carrots into slices if you want it to cook faster). Fill the crockpot with water, add lid. Cook until carrots are tender. It took about 3-4 hours on high if carrots were sliced first.

Purple carrots cooked in the crock pot with applesauce frozen into cubes

After you've pure'ed the baby food, scoop into a clean ice cube tray and set in a freezer. After baby food is frozen, pop the food cubes out and place in freezer bags (labeled with what food is and date). I find that one full ice cube tray fits into a 1 quart sized freezer bag.

To serve, thaw 3-4 baby food cubes in the fridge or in the microwave. My 9 month old usually eats 3 cubes worth per meal (which is about 3 ounces).

You can cook all kinds of foods for Baby in the crock pot. We've done apples picked at the orchard and made delicious apple sauce! You can do basically any fruit, veggie, and even add in chicken. The fruits and veggies come out so tender and soft after being in the slow cooker that often times I don't need to do any blending at all. I simply use a fork to mash it up a bit and it's ready for my baby to eat!

It's an easy way to save money and to ensure your baby is eating healthy, especially if you're able to grow some of the food in a garden!

***My husband bought the seeds for the purple carrots through amazon and planted them last spring. He pulled up a few of them in the fall, but they were only a few inches long. He went out into the garden the other day and was surprised to see that the carrots were still growing. He was even more surprised when he pulled them up and saw how huge they had grown! The purple color was really cool and cooked up into a red violet. Here's the link to the seeds he used in case you'd like to try them yourself:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 21:16:00 +0000

It's a little late, but Merry Christmas! My family spent Christmas Eve night watching the Nativity Story and falling asleep by the Christmas tree. Close to midnight, my husband, mother, and I filled the children's stockings and placed their presents under the tree. The kids slept right through all the noise we made!

On Christmas morning, we exchanged gifts and enjoyed a relaxing day at home with wonderful goodies to eat.

I look forward to updating Adventures in Diapering more this upcoming year. For now, have a happy New Year!

Zucchini inside brownies?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:00:00 +0000

My kids are not huge fans of veggies. When my husband announced the other day that he was making brownies with zucchini in them, the kids were less than thrilled. However, after my husband was done emptying the batter into a pan, my 2 year old decided to give it a taste.

Pretty soon, she gave up using a spoon and started licking it out of the bowl.

Since there were no eggs in the batter, yet lots of zucchini, I was happy to let the kids all try the batter. To their surprise, they loved it!

When the zucchini brownies were baked and cooled, the kids were excited to try them out. I heard my kids saying to each other, "there's no zucchini in these", "Daddy was just fooling us!". They have been begging for more brownies ever since, so I'd say the brownies were a big hit. Maybe some day I can get them to eat AND like zucchini by itself, but at least eating them inside of their dessert is a start!

Ideas of What to Include in Baby's Scrapbook

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:37:00 +0000

Each of my children has their own scrapbook. The scrapbooks aren't all that fancy, but they are fun for the kids and I to look at. They LOVE to pull out their book, lie down on the floor, and flip through the pages remembering what fun things they've done. Now that my oldest two can read, they also enjoy reading the stories I've written alongside the photos. Making a scrapbook for each of the kids has been a lot to keep up, but it has been worth it to get our family history on print for the children.

Here are some of the things I include in my Babies' Scrapbooks:

*Intro. page with Baby's birth info., meaning of Baby's name, Baby's hospital bracelet and bassinet card
*Family Tree up to Great-Great Grandparents
*Photos of my husband and I as kids and photos from our wedding. I write a little about how my husband and I came to know God, our childhood, and how we met and fell in love.
*Ultrasound Photos & Pregnancy Test photos. This is where I'll include how we found out we were expecting a baby and little details about my pregnancy with Baby.
*Pregnancy Photos- bi-weekly or monthly belly shots
*Baby Shower Pictures
*Birth Pictures
*Photos of Visitors and list of gifts received
*Pictures with Baby's Siblings and Grandparents
*Letters from Mommy and Daddy. We write about Baby's birth, how glad we are that Baby is part of our family, and our blessings for Baby's future
*List of Baby's "Firsts". See "Growing Up" photo below
*Growth Chart
*Page full of "what things cost" and "what's popular" from year Baby was born.
*Monthly Photos of Baby (a photo from each month of Baby's 1st. year shown side by side)
*Photos from Baby's major milestones
*General snapshots. As baby's growing, special trips, holidays, ect. Anything I think might be important to him/her when they're older.

3 DIY Cake Decorating Time & Money Savers

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:49:00 +0000

Recently my oldest daughter turned 4. I wanted to make her a special cake, but I didn't have the energy to do something really fancy right now (you know, with nursing every 2-3 hours and sleeping less than 5 hours a night). So... I did a couple short cuts.

1. Instead of making a cake 100% from scratch (which I haven't done since back when we only had 3 kids), I used a recipe off of allrecipes which involved using a store bought cake mix and adding some extras (like pudding mix and sour cream). The result was the richest chocolate cake I have ever tasted! It was delicious and SO easy to make!

2. I bought the buttercream frosting from the local grocery store's bakery department. They charge by the tub ($1.99 per tub) and I'm able to get really rich colors already made. Or, I'll ask for a couple colors which I blend together. The frostings are always smooth and super vibrant. I like that it saves me time not having to make the frosting from scratch so I can spend that time decorating the cake instead.

3. For fun decorations to put on the cake, the grocery store bakeries are the place to check! All the cool decorations (and even edible pictures) they use on those cakes are available for sale by asking the person behind the bakery counter!

For only $5 total, I purchased a set of 3 princesses (including a light-up disc that went under one of the princesses)! It would have cost me more to buy those cake decorations online, but at the grocery store they were very reasonable, plus no needing to wait on shipping.

My daughter's 4th. birthday cake wasn't my fanciest cake by far, but my daughters LOVED it and our whole family devoured every bite! Knowing that it was easy to make, personalized just the way my daughter wanted, and that it cost me many $'s less than if I had bought it decorated at the store, made it even sweeter. : )

Other Cake Posts/Pictures:

*Candyland
*Ambulance
*Firetruck
*Spiderdog
*Treasure Chest
*Simple Princess Castle
*Puppy Dog
*Shark Attack Cupcakes

My 5th. C-Section Birth Story

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:30:00 +0000

Last Tuesday I had my 5th. c-section and gave birth to a healthy little boy. He was 8lbs 4.9 oz.

Out of 5 childbirths, this one was by far the best I've had. In the weeks leading up to the birth, I had spent time praying about everything I was worried about and I believe it helped a lot in staying calm before, during, and after birth.

My husband was able to photograph the birth and someone who worked in the maternity department video taped for us.

The anesthesiologist turned down the volume on the heart monitor- I don't even remember hearing it during the surgery at all, which was nice because listening to it had made me very nervous with the previous 2 c-sections. The nurses said it was okay for me to take an Ipod into the O.R., so I was able to listen to music in one ear (the other ear phone I left out to hear what was going on) to help me relax as they started the surgery.

When it was time to pull the baby out, they lowered the screen so that I could see the baby's head, but not my incision or anything like that. His head was already out at that point and he started to cry before he was even born : ) The doctor suctioned his nose and throat out real well while he was still mostly in the womb and I was able to watch the whole thing. And then for the first time I was able to see one of my baby's being born. It was amazing!

My baby was taken to the warmer and suctioned out some more and dried off well. Then the nurse weighed and measured him a few feet away from where I was so that I could watch. He was then bundled up and my husband carried him over by me so I could touch him too.

The doctor, nurses, and anesthesiologist continued to keep me updated on how I was doing during the rest of the surgery. They were very reassuring.

Once they were done stitching me up, the anesthesiologist took some pictures of my husband and I with the baby. They moved me onto a different bed and then I was wheeled back to my room (no recovery room- just straight back to my regular room) with my baby lying next to me. There was no separation from my baby at all.

As soon as we were in the room, the nurse helped me get skin to skin with the baby so that I could have the baby nurse. He ended up nursing great right away!

We waited on having Baby bathed until the afternoon, and when they did clean him up, they did it in our room so I was able to watch.

My mother and father-in-law came with our other children to meet the baby about 6 1/2 hours after he was born. The kids were excited to meet their new little brother!

The rest of my recovery went really well. My uterus clamped down right away, so no problems with clotting or excessive bleeding. I had fantastic nurses and a wonderful hospital stay. I feel MUCH better than when I was pregnant, (I was in a huge amount of pain the last 8 weeks of pregnancy).

Despite all the contractions I had had for weeks/months leading up to the birth (including contractions 3 min. apart during the 2 hours leading up to the c-section), as well as the immense pain along my lower abdomen during the past month, my uterus wasn't all that thin and actually looked okay. I shouldn't have worried so much about it.

My baby is 6 days old now and is a healthy little guy. My milk came in either yesterday or the night before. It hasn't been any problem getting up and down stairs as I was afraid it would be. My incision still hurts- it's feels like a giant paper cut. However, the pain isn't too noticeable when I take the pain meds.

So after 3 really stressful births and 1 good birth experience (my 3rd. baby), I finally had one where everything went as perfect as can be.

We Had Our Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:45:00 +0000

After months of contractions and a whole lot of pain in pregnancy, I gave birth to my 5th. child this past Tuesday morning. Baby boy was 8lbs 4.9 oz.- which makes him my 2nd. largest baby (my first son was 8 1/2 lbs and the my last 3 babies were 7 1/2 lbs)! The c-section went fantastic and nursing has been going great.

Thank you everyone who prayed for us and gave us positive words. Everything went so well! I will share his birth story and more photos soon.

Who Do You Share Your Birth Plan With?

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:39:00 +0000

After yesterday's post that shares the birth plan for my upcoming 5th. c-section, I was asked, "Who do you share your birth plan with?" Here's my response:

Usually I make 3 copies of the birth plans. One copy for my O.B., one for the maternity coordinator at the hospital, and a copy for myself.

In the past, I would take the copy for my O.B. along during a prenatal appointment when I was around 7 1/2- 8 months pregnant. My doctor and I would discuss what was on the birth plan. I'd also find out if there was anything that I was asking for that was unreasonable and then I could make changes if I needed to. With this pregnancy, I didn't take a copy to my O.B. since everything on my birth plan had already been approved by him during my last c-section. Any questions I've had (regarding video taping the birth, holding the baby soon after birth, ect.), I've been able to bring up during previous appointments, so there really wasn't a need to go over the birth plan again.

Around 32-34 weeks pregnant, I have an appointment with the maternity coordinator at the hospital I plan to deliver at. At that time, I take my birth plan with me and go over it with the maternity coordinator. Along with signing all the consent or (non-consent) forms, we go over the birth plan and the coordinator takes notes and places them at the front of my chart. She also will inform me which things may or may not be doable on my birth plan, and sometimes makes suggestions.

As for the copy for myself, I just hold on to it so I can remember what I plan to fight for. The morning I go in for my c-section, there should be a chance to speak with the nurses who will care for my baby and myself, as well as the anesthesiologist and my O.B.. During this time I again bring up my preferences for the birth. We also go over any problems that I had during the previous c-sections.

If you're getting ready to create a birth plan of your own, I highly suggest that you find out ahead of time what your doctor already routinely does during/after the birth as well as what your hospital's standard procedures are. This is especially important when it comes to matters of what happens to your baby after birth. Try to keep your birth plan simple and stick to the things that are really important to you and leave off the things that your doctor or hospital already usually do.

My 5th.C-Section Birth Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 04:37:00 +0000

In preparation for my baby's birth, I've been working on writing a birth plan. Not everyone feels that writing a birth plan is worthwhile. In my experience, though, if you don't speak up for what you want with your baby's birth, than you will receive whatever your hospital does as standard procedure (the good and the bad).

For my 5th. baby's birth, I am using what I had on my last birth plan and changing it just a little. The hospital I deliver at is now very Mother/Baby friendly, so there is less that I have to fight for. Next week I'll be going over the birth plan with my hospital's maternity coordinator. They've been wonderful about respecting my wishes with my last two babies, so hopefully everything will go smoothly this time too. Here are the things I'm requesting for my upcoming baby's birth:

5th. C-Section Birth Plan

*If possible, I would like a patient and compassionate nurse who is good at helping patients stay calm.
*Lidacaine before IV
*Spinal before catheter
*Volume down on heart monitor as low as safely possible
*M. has permission from my Dr. *** and myself to photograph/video the birth. She is a LPN who is working on her RN and has done clinicals in the maternity ward at a local hospital
*Should I need general anesthesia during the birth, I would like my husband to stay in the O.R. to take pictures and be able to hold the baby.

*Warm Blankets during surgery
*OB will keep cord long for my husband to cut
*I would like to hold baby (with help) as soon as safely possible
*NO eye gel or Hep. B Vaccine for Baby. Vitamin K is okay.

*Unless medically necessary, we would like Baby to stay with us at all times
*I would like Baby to sleep with me in hospital bed (we've done this with our past 2 babies)
*Please ask me before bathing Baby. I will probably want to wait until late afternoon so we have time to bond first

*As soon as safely possible, I would like to be encouraged to walk so the leg compressors can be removed (walking has never been a problem after prior c-sections. I tend to recover very well)

How Our Family Got Out of Debt

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:27:00 +0000

3 days ago my husband and I paid off our student loans over 6 years early. With a lot of work, we were able to eliminate our debt while living off of 1-income and raising 4 young children. Other than what we owe on our house, we are now debt free!

Here are some of the things we did to end the cycle of debt:

*My husband made the decision to work on a college degree he needed in order to receive a promotion with the fire department. Although he had college courses, most of them did not count towards this degree, which meant he had to start all over again. The years he spent in school were the hardest years I have ever been through (raising 3 children 3 and under and being pregnant with my 4th. while he was working at least 90 hours a week and going to school full-time).

*To pay for school without creating more student loan debt, (as we already had over $11k in student loans) my husband applied for grants through financial aid. With having such low-income to family size, he was able to not only finish school for free, he also received his books at no cost through the school!

*A family member gave us Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book. Although we had already stopped keeping a revolving credit card debt, this book really gave both my husband and I the motivation to get rid of the rest of our debt. We don't use all the principals in the book, but we have used many of them. Had we not heard about Dave Ramsey, I'm not sure if we would have become debt free as quickly.

*We used our tax refunds towards paying off credit cards, putting money in the bank so we'd have enough to buy food and gasoline without having to use a credit card, and later to start a $1000 emergency fund.

*Once our credit cards were out of the way, we used tax refunds and stimulus checks towards our car loans.

*After my husband finished college and received his promotion at work, (and a raise), we put the extra money towards our car payment and paid the cars off over a year early!

*We made improvements to our house to increase equity knowing we would eventually sell. We used overtime and tax refunds to pay for the improvements.

*Last year, we sold our house and bought a bigger home that fit our growing family of 6. We found a foreclosure and acquired a low-interest rate which meant our new mortgage was not much more than we were paying before for our other house!

*With the car payments out of the way, we started focusing on our student loans. I upped our payments as much as I could, eventually increasing our payment to over triple what was required.

*This year, we put again put a large amount of our tax return towards student loans. We received money from a family member as a gift and put 100% of it towards the loans as well.

*2 days ago, I used savings to pay the remaining student loan balance off! I consider this to be only by God's grace as it would have been very easy to have continued on the path we had been early in our marriage. I'm thankful that he gave us the resources and wisdom to make a change when we did.

I believe the biggest help to getting out of debt is this: don't create more debt! Pay down debt as you can, and little by little you'll get rid of it. Buy only what you can afford right now, and if you can't afford it, don't buy it.

If you haven't checked out Dave Ramsey's site, do it now. The principals he teaches work, but you have to stay consistent. Things don't get better over night, it takes time and a lot of work. However, you can get out of debt. It was possible for us and I believe it's possible for others too.

Chewy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:29:00 +0000

Here's an easy (and tasty) recipe for Chewy Granola Bars. I've made granola bars in the past, but this version has been the best by far! The granola bars make a nice breakfast alternative, as well a healthier snack for me (verses the Easter candy I was snacking on before). They're full of protein and kid-approved!

Chewy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola Bars

*1 Stick Butter
*1/2 cup Honey
*1 cup Brown Sugar
*1 Cup Peanut Butter
*2 Cups Crispy Rice Cereal
*4 Cups Quick Oats
*A few dashes of Cinnamon

Optional:
*Experiment and add in ingredients as you like!
Wheat Germ, Mini-Marshmallows, Fiber, Choc. Chips, Raisins, sunflower seeds, a teaspoon of vanilla, ect. Use less Crispy Rice Cereal if adding extra ingredients.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the stick of butter, honey, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. *In the photos, the recipe is doubled

Add peanut butter to saucepan. Stir until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, combine crispy rice cereal and quick oats.

Pour peanut butter mixture over the oats/cereal and mix well.

Press mixture into a 9"x13" greased pan (or 2 pans depending on how thick you want granola bars to be). Using your hands or a large spoon, press mixture down into pan (this will help granola stick together rather than fall apart).

Refrigerate granola bars for 1/2 an hour or so, slice, and serve!

Store granola bars in refrigerator to keep firm.

Enjoy!

*This recipe was inspired by something I saw on Rachael Ray's website and was adapted for my family. If you''re looking for granola bars without peanut butter, check her recipe out!

Aubrey's 5th. C-Section

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:52:00 +0000

Today I'm sharing the birth story of a blogging friend of mine, Aubrey, who had her 5th. child via c-section 7 weeks ago. In her birth story, Aubrey describes in detail what it was like to have a c-section as well as her feelings about having cesarean births. If you're facing a c-section, whether it's your 1st or your 5th., I encourage you to read Aubrey's story.

*******

Anticipating Maria's birth was both scary and exciting. Maria is my fifth child, my fifth cesarean. There were many things to be eager for: the first sight of our beloved child, first cries and cuddles. There were also many things to be frightened of: post-op pain, a complication in surgery or after, overall recovery, and the safety of future pregnancies. All of my children have been born via cesarean section.

It started with Morgan, my 8 year old. After many hours of labor, her heart rate began to slow with each contraction. My doctor went for a second opinion and the second opinion said that Baby needed to come out now. My heart sank. Emotionally, I struggled with this birth for years before I realized that it had delivered me a healthy baby who otherwise could have been in danger. In our area, VBACs are discouraged; it is difficult to find a doctor who will help with a VBAC. We were also wary of the risks involved, especially since Baby #2 arrived 13 months after Baby #1. But I won't debate reasons for repeat cesareans now. I've had five and I'm still alive and kicking.

I'm not sure why you're reading this; maybe you're looking toward your first planned cesarean for a breech baby or looking for a little support (commiseration) if it's your second, third, fourth, or fifth cesarean. Maybe you're wondering if repeat cesareans are safe. I will share what my most recent cesarean was like. You'd have an idea of what to expect then. Afterward, I'll tell you how I feel now.

*Maria's Birth*

We arrive at the hospital at 5:30, 2 hours before surgery is scheduled. We check in and are taken to a labor and delivery room. The nurse comes in, introduces herself, and hooks me up to fetal monitors and the lovely sound of our baby's heartbeat fills the room. The phlebotomist comes in for blood draws. The nurse prepares my body for surgery--an IV, shaving, etc. I sign waivers and releases and other papers. Jeremy signs a paper promising that he will sit quietly in the Operating Room, do what he is told, and won't try to help with nor interfere with surgery. It is quiet and we watch dawn gradually overtake night outside. Snow is falling! What a pretty morning to have a baby.

My doctor comes in to check on us and soon after he arrives, the nurse comes in and says, "let's go have a baby!" It's 7:15 a.m. I make one last trip to the bathroom and gather up my IV cords and pole and the nurse drapes a blanket over my back so I don't have to close my gown. We walk across the hall to the operating room. There are already four people in the room. The addition of Jeremy, me, and the nurse makes seven. An intern arrives and introduces himself. The anesthesiologist comes in (we're up to 9 now, including two students) and begins setting up.

My nurse's phone rings. It is Dr. K (the surgeon) calling to say that he is in house, which means that the anesthesiologist can begin working his magic. I'm a little nervous and I shed a few tears. Jeremy is across the room and the won't let him come over to me yet. The nurses distract me with talk about what I think the baby will look like. I say that as long as she comes out with hair, I'll be happy. Soon he is finished.

Before I know it, there are 3 more people in the operating room, my gown has been removed, my feet are going numb, I feel warm all over, and the nurses are working on putting a catheter in. I feel a little humiliated, as there are now at least 12 people in the room and I'm the only one without pants on. My arms are stretched out in a T and there's a lot of motion in the room. Jeremy is allowed to come over and sit behind me holding my hand. It feels good to have him nearby and although I'd really like to have him closer, an arms length is better than nothing.

It's 7:30 a.m. Dr. K comes in and Dr. M (my primary/OB/family physician) is there. Everyone is cheerful and Dr. K says he's ready for a birthday party. The curtain goes up at my chest. The surgeons are standing at my hips but it feels like they're down at the other end of the room. The anesthesiologist tells me that I'm numb and that they're ready to get started. I say that I can feel Dr. K poking me but that it doesn't hurt. Is that normal? The doctors say it is and they begin working. I can feel--without pain--the first several steps of the surgery and I lay there thinking how weird it is. Soon I hear suction (that's the amniotic fluid) then they're tugging and pushing and tugging and then Dr. M pokes his head around the curtain, smiles, and says that Baby has a lot of hair. All of a sudden, I feel a great pulling sensation and then I feel very empty and I hear Maria cry. Jeremy and I are laughing and smiling and I squeeze his hand and tell him to go to her. It's 7:45 a.m.

Dr. M holds Maria up for me as he moves from the operating table to the warming table. He puts Maria down and begins to check her over. He and the nurses wipe her down. Someone moves the curtain so that I can see her and he holds her up again for me, then continues to work. I watch him tickle her to get her to cry. Although she's pink and had been crying, she calmed quickly and will squawk and then lay quietly, moving only a little. A nurse asks Dr. M what he guesses her weight to be. He says 7-3 and when she weighs in at 7 lbs, 2 oz, they applaud. Everyone laughs. When they are sure she's doing well, they wrap her up and hand her to Jeremy. He brings her to me and I kiss her warm face, smell her skin, and admire the full head of hair that she worked so hard on.

Jeremy is holding Maria and follows me to the recovery room. She's crying, so Jeremy unwraps her and lays her on my chest. The nurses offer me water and I take oral Percocet. They push my abdomen (thank Heaven that I'm still numb) and monitor my heart rate and blood pressure. As I get a little more comfortable, I tell Jeremy to go ahead and take Maria to the nursery for her bath and meet me in our room, as I should have only 10 more minutes in recovery. After he goes, the nurses call Dr. K back because my incision is bleeding on one side--not an emergency, but not a good thing, either. He puts 3 or 4 more staples in, tells them to ice it, and explains to me why this is happening. This keeps me in the recovery room for another half hour. Finally, they decide that I'm okay and wheel my cart to my room where Jeremy is anxiously waiting with the baby, wondering what took so long and a little worried.

It's 9:45 now. They move me to my bed and my new nurse comes to introduce herself, help me into a nursing bra and T-shirt, asks about my pain (I'm still numb) and is in and out watching me closely for the next couple of hours. I begin to nurse Maria. When we are settled, we pick up the phone to share our good news.

*Recovery*

I've heard that recovery from a cesarean birth is harder and longer than recovery from a vaginal birth. I've only done it one way, so I've nothing to compare a cesarean recovery to. I'll stick to the physical aspect of it for now. The birth is painless, except for the insertion of the spinal, and once the spinal wears off, that's when the recovery begins. As I understand, many doctors administer post-op pain medications differently. I do believe that they (the drugs) are necessary in order to recover properly. Ibuprofen is mandatory, as it reduces swelling and helps the body to cope with a new incision. My surgeon explained that Morphine or Percocet (I've had both) allows the brain to not care about the pain so much. It all helps with healing. In spite of pain medication, there is quite a bit of pain after the spinal has worn off. Within 12 hours of surgery, I was expected to get into a chair next to the bed, with help. I was expected to shower and to begin walking short distances the next day. I was able to do all of these things. I walked out of the hospital and walked around my house. I filled the prescription for Percocet that my doctor wrote and took every last pill along with the ibuprofen that he recommended. I did not need to refill the prescription for Percocet. For the first couple of weeks, I woke up in the morning feeling as if I'd been hit by a truck but I'd always feel better within a few hours. By the end of the day, was always tired and uncomfortable again. The pain and/or discomfort gradually wore off until this week--six weeks after surgery--when I'm noticing that I feel very normal again. I took five kids to Super Target and to the park and even jogged a little today!

My method of birth still gets me down sometimes. I'm still a little disappointed, I think. When I start to feel this way, I remember that the first cesarean saved my daughter and me from more suffering and possible harm. The subsequent cesareans delivered four more healthy kids into our family. I am blessed to have the children that we have, regardless of which way they came out.

I can't wait for summer to get here, for my kids to be out of school, for days at the lake and hikes in the woods. I know I can handle it. So after five cesareans, would I do it again? Indeed, I would!

Visit me at Laughing All the Way. Click here to read posts specifically about my cesarean experiences.

Note: my surgeon said that it is safe for us to have more children. Each woman's case may be different. This surgeon, a maternal-fetal specialist in my city of 250K, said that of the thousands of women he's seen, he's told only three women that they should not try to have more children. He said that as medicine advances, the safety of cesareans increases. There are risks, no doubt, which increase with each subsequent surgery but they are small.

Organizing a Kid Friendly Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:30:00 +0000

One of the ways our kids help out around the house is by emptying the dishwasher. To make it possible for the children to safely put dishes away, we store all non-breakable dishes where the children can reach. Not only can the kids help with putting clean dishes away, but they're also able to help themselves. They're able to get bowls out for breakfast, pick out plates and silverware for lunch, and even get themselves a drink!

To make our kitchen kid-friendly, we store plastic plates, bowls, cups, and place mats inside an under-counter cabinet. Everything is in stacks and easy to get to.

We also have a drawer for sippy cups and bowls with lids.

When it's time to empty out the dishwasher, I open the dishwasher up and start removing anything breakable as well as anything sharp. Sometimes my 5 year old will help with the breakable items by stacking them onto the counter for me to put away. My 2 and 3 year olds help out by taking the plastic plates, bowls, cups, baby items and putting them into stacks inside the cabinet. They also help with the silverware and measuring cups.

If you're interested in re-organizing your kitchen so that your children can help more, you might also consider storing all your breakable dishes in kid-reachable places. This makes it easy for children to help with everything in the dishwasher as well as being able to help set the table. However, I don't recommend trying that if you have a child under 2 years old as you may end up with dishes pulled out onto the floor and breaking.

What ways have you organized your kitchen to make it more kid-friendly?

Ways Young Children Can Help Around the House

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:32:00 +0000

Trying to keep a clean house with 4 young children can be discouraging. For example, I go around and pick up everything in the entire house only to find toys EVERYWHERE less than 5 minutes later! Dog prints cover the wood floor within hours of me scrubbing the floor by hand, little pieces of paper from scissor fun confetti the carpet, and hand/paw prints are smeared all over the glass door I just washed.

Recently I decided it was time to get the kids involved with responsibilities around the house. They also have the opportunity to earn money for their work. The kids enjoy saving money up for things that they'd like to buy or do (such as buying a toy from a catalog or using money to spend at a fair). Not only are they learning to be responsible, they're also learning how to save and use money wisely. Plus, it's a big help to me when everyone does their part around the house.

Here are some of the chores my children help out with:

2 & 3 year olds:
*Taking their dishes to the counter after a meal
*Helping clear the table of condiments
*Emptying the non-breakable items out of the dishwasher
*Washing tables
*Cleaning up their toys
*Switching laundry (My 2 year old LOVES helping with this- I pull the clothes out of the washer and she throws them in the dryer)
*Putting their clean clothes away
*Sorting and stacking clean diapers

4-6 year olds:
*Washing the kitchen table
*Dusting
*Cleaning bathroom counters with vinegar (and mirrors with Daddy's help)
*Putting away their clean clothes
*Taking out extra trash (empty cereal boxes, egg cartons, empty milk jugs, ect.)
*Carrying their plates to the sink
*Rinsing off dirty dishes
*Feeding and watering the Puppy
*Making their beds (simply pulling up their quilts over their beds)
*Vacuuming (my 6 year old is just starting to learn this one, so he just helps a little with it)
*House Sweep- Before bedtime going through the house and picking up any left out toys

My 2 year old loves to empty the dishwasher.

Her sister or I help with getting the silverware in the right spots.

A very happy smile after helping Mommy

The chores the kids do are just a small portion of what's involved in keeping a house organized. Even still, every little bit helps.

How about you? What ways do your young children enjoy helping out around the house?

Creative Gift Ideas for a New Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:37:00 +0000

Last month I shared gift ideas for a new mom. Today I'm listing some of my favorite creative and classic gift ideas for a new baby! Many of these baby items can even be made yourself! I've included links to some great tutorials. For the less crafty, you can find most of these items on Amazon.com or Etsy.com.

***If you have a great baby gift item I've missed, leave a comment and feel free to link to a tutorial!

Fun Gift Ideas for a New Baby

*Baby's 1st Year Calendar- I've kept one of these for each of our children on the nursery wall. Having it on the wall made it super easy to remember to the dates of Baby's first written down!

*Time Capsule- This is a time capsule you decorate and give to the parents. You include ideas on what to put in it. I've never received one of these and have never given one out, but I think it's a very cool idea!

*Receiving Blanket with Baby's name embroidered on it- Kids love things with their names on it. Plus, a personalized blanket makes a nice background for Baby's first photos.

*Diapers- Some babies fit well in size 1 from birth or quickly outgrow newborn size within weeks. Plus, almost everyone buys the itty bitty sizes as gifts (baby clothes included). So skip the newborn sizes and go for size 1 or 2 which will fit longer.

*Hand Casting Kit or Hand Print Kit- makes a great keepsake for both Baby and Mom

*Baby's First Doll or Stuffed Animal- Carters and Baby Gund have some super cute ones.

*Picture books to add to Baby's library- Write an inscription to the baby in the front of the book and it can count as a card too!

*Sleep Sack- Sleep sacks are nice for keeping little babies warm without using a blanket. These were great during the winter months even with older babies! You can find sleep sacks at Carters, Baby's R Us, Amazon.com and just about everywhere else. However, you can also make one yourself!

*Growth Chart for the wall- Makes a really nice way to keep track of Baby's height over the years!

*Personalized Burp Clothes- Very cute and sure to be used a lot.

*Bath Apron- It's a towel Mom wears to keep dry while giving Baby a bath. I received one of these recently from my mother-in-law and am looking forward to using it with my new baby. I always used to get wet when giving my younger babies baths!

*A Baby Sock Bouquet- This makes a really cool looking (and practical) baby gift! It looks like a bouquet of roses but it's made from baby socks! Plus, you can make it yourself!

*Diaper Cake- It looks like a cake, but it's made out of diapers and stuffed with goodies for Baby!

*Robeez Style Infant Slippers- Robeez shoes are really cute, easy to slip on Baby's feet, and keep Baby's feet warm without needing to put "real" shoes on his feet.

*Tiny Diner Place Mat- This is a really cool place mat that is for eating on the go. Instead of needing to put Baby's food directly on the table or on a plate (that will end up thrown on the floor), Mom can use the Tiny Diner to keep Baby's food clean! Although it's not something that Baby would use for 6 months or so, it's still a really cool gift to receive!

*Gift Card- Great for using towards clothes or diapers or other items that babies go through quickly.

Saving Money on Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:41:00 +0000

One of the most frequent items on our grocery list is bread. With 4 kids, we go through bread pretty quickly- we go through almost a whole loaf of sandwich bread in one meal! When I decided recently that it was time to cut back our grocery bill, I knew something would have to change in regards to buying bread.

Last month we decided to do something different. We visited local bread outlets and found the same bread we buy at the grocer's for less! We also found packages of breakfast bread, mini-bagels, and English muffins for significantly less than they're priced at Wal-mart and other stores!

The bread items at the bread outlets come from local grocers. How do they end up at the outlet? The grocers have a certain amount of time to sell the bread. If it hasn't sold by that time, the bread then goes to bread outlets. There were some loaves that were a little smashed, (make sure you check carefully as you're going through the bread) but most were just fine and very soft! Not even expired yet!

7 Great Things About Bread Outlets:

*Name brand bread loaves are significantly less than at the grocers or even Costco/Sams Club. For example, Sara Lee 45 Calories loaves were only $1.29 a piece (vs. the $1.89 at Sam's). Texas Toast was only $1.38/loaf (vs. $2.47 at the local grocer).

*The bread is as nice as what you'd find at a grocery store

*You'll find other great bread items- bagels, hamburger buns, breakfast breads and more!

*Specials of the day- shop in the morning and find special items of the day marked even lower. I.e., the day we shopped, Iron Kids Bread was $1/loaf, and bagels were packages of 12 mini-bagels for $1/package (marked down because they had a surplus of them)

*Free items or other incentives based on how much you spend. At one of the outlets we shopped, we were able to pick out 1 free item per $5 we had spent. The items we could choose from were ones that were either expired or close to their expiration date.

*You can freeze extra bread (therefore needing to shop less)

*Bread Outlets are located just about everywhere in the U.S! Use Google or a Bread Outlet Directory to find out which outlets are near you.

What NOT to do When Shopping Bread Outlets:

Don't buy so much bread that that you are left with little room in your freezer or have more than you can use before it gets freezer burn! We bought too much. I'm waiting to see how the bread holds up in the freezer before deciding how much to stock up on next time. It's been almost 1 month since we bought the bread and it's still fantastic, but 2, 3, 4 months from now? I'm not sure yet.

***If you've shopped at a bread outlet, what was your experience like? Any advice on freezing bread for more than 2 months at a time?

Reasons to Read to Your Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:48:00 +0000

When my oldest son was only a few days old, my husband and I began reading to him every day. As our family grew, we continued reading to our children daily. My children are old enough now that I can see that reading to them at a young age has has a big impact on them. All 4 of my children LOVE books, and now my oldest 2 even read to me.

2004

I'm sharing this with you in case you've been hesitant to read your kids more than an occasional story. Or perhaps you think your little baby is too young to be read to at all. Maybe you feel that it would be silly to read a book to an infant who isn't even able to sit up on their own yet. Today I want to share some reasons to read to your baby, no matter how old he is.

2005

Reasons to Read to Your Baby:

*Infants are good listeners and stay in one spot while hearing a story. It's SO easy to start when they're young!
*Picture books can be fun even for parents! There are books on just about every topic.
*It's a great way to bond. Snuggling with your baby while reading a story every day creates lasting memories. I still remember my dad reading to me every night when I was a child.
*Helps improve vocabulary. Your child is hearing words that they might not encounter otherwise.
*Improves early learning. I've noticed that children I've met who are read to on a regular basis learn and understand concepts earlier than children who are not read to often.
*They develop an early love for the written word. An interest that will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives.
*Read to your child and someday he'll read to you!

*Most of all, it's fun!

I want to encourage you to start a daily tradition of spending time reading to your kids no matter how old or young they are. Even older children who already know how to read can enjoy listening to mom or dad read.

2010

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