Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Whole Foods

Today I went to Whole Foods! I love that store - the food is delicious and fresh, the service is pleasant, even the people shopping are pleasant. It sucks that the closest Whole Foods is 30 minutes away- without traffic. Nowadays, an hour spent on driving is a long time! I know that within that hour I could have done some house cleaning, pumped, and browsed the internet. So my trips to Whole Foods are very rare. But I knew that I needed to stock up on organic fruits and vegetables to cook for David...so thank you Mr. David!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Brand Name vs. Safety

As a new mommy who googles hundreds of toys to see which are the most convertible, the funnest, and the best rated I'm used to seeing the Bumbo brand. It's a very popular seat for babies, as most of you might know. When I was registering for a baby seat I was tempted to put this on my registry but changed my mind when I found a seat that converts into a booster seat and a seat with a tray to play on. Anything that converts and will save me from cluttering my house with additional toys is always a must for me.

Today I read an article about the Bumbo seat and it reassures me that I made the right choice with the baby seat. Apparently the Bumbo seat was recalled in 2007...this I did not see amongst the 4 and 5 star ratings. After the recall, the seat came back into the market but is still having numerous injury reports attached to it. I'm sure this seat is great for many, but David would definitely prove the injury reports accurate. I can barely keep him in place when he's buckled up! Sure, if your baby is calm and can sit patiently in a seat without too much movement then you won't be having any worries, but if you're a mommy to be and you don't know if your child is going to be the one trying to fall out of everything then why take the chance? Because of the brand name?

I'm sure this isn't the first item to be recalled and still have so many issues but this just shows how much people follow the brand name. I admit that when I look into baby products my first google search is based on a known name so I too need to steer from the popular names sometimes to what's the safest for my little man.

Check out the link below about the Bumbo seat!

http://www.parents.com/blogs/parents-news-now/2011/11/28/safety/consumer-agency-warns-parents-about-bumbo-seat-safety/

Long Nap or Short Nap? You Never Know!

How long is a nap for a baby? An hour, or two, or even three. Not for David! Since day 1 our regular naps ranged from 20 to 30 minutes. David has taught me that whatever is considered the norm or average for a baby then he will do the opposite.

Once in awhile he decides to take an hour nap. That's great that he's getting his rest and giving me some time to rest...but I never do rest while he's napping. I have learned to assume that he's taking his usual 20 minute nap. Therefore, as soon as he's down I quickly attempt to wash the dishes, clean the house, eat, and/or pump within that short timeframe. The times when he does decide to nap for longer I get everything done and I sit on edge waiting to hear his little voice through the video monitor.

So his nap has been an hour and 20 minutes so far...I have to pump but I know that once I start he will suddenly open his eyes and abrupt my pumping session. So why not blog about it!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Poor Baby...Not Enough Toys

It's time for the holidays aka time for getting presents. I love giving presents and this year I have an additional cutie to give presents to! I haven't even thought about what I want to get David and even if I should get him a present... No I'm not a bad mom if I don't get David a present but he will think I'm showing him a colorful box that he will get frustrated by because he won't succeed in putting it into his mouth.

My aunt actually got me thinking about presents for David because she had an idea of what she wanted to get him. She suggested a booster seat that has an attached tray with toys, my response "Nope he has that". She then suggested a car with wheels to help him walk, my response "Nope he has that". She then suggested a big toy with random annoying songs and sounds, once again my response "Nope he has that". As you can tell, poor David doesn't have enough toys!

Obviously my aunt got annoyed and told me to find a toy that he does NOT have and let her know. My go to site, wwww.babiesrus.com, was opened up. After scrolling thru pages filled with baby toys and seeing that David owns a big portion of them I finally came across a toy! The Little Tikes 5-in-1 Adjustable Gym...it better be good. What caught my eye was that it can grow with David aka as me not having to get more toys and cluttering my house.

The thought of clutter brought me to David's next present- a foam playmat. The thought of a Little Gym playmat in my living room made me nauseous. Not only will this clutter my house but my living room will become a Little Gym. Now I can charge a ridiculous price to have babies roll around in my living room! But my new business venture came to an end when I came across playmats made to look like hardwood floors. Ok, so this playmat isn't going to fool anyone but it will allow me to enjoy my living room :)

Now I get to start thinking of what I want....




Sunday, November 27, 2011

True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to get together with friends and family to eat a lot of delicious food. A time to rest and have some relaxation. David showed me what a real Thanksgiving break should consist of: eating a lot of food, spending time with friends and family, being exhausted from a lack of sleep, David getting a stuffy nose and being cranky and not sleeping during the night, Mama getting a stuffy nose. This is a different take on Thanksgiving, definitely an eventful one.

 Our stuffy noses doesn't stop us from being true Philly fans....no matter how bad the Eagles do.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Let It Be

Definition of a mom - a person that gives unconditional love and nourishment to her child. Obviously this is my definition of mom and not Webster's but I don't really care what Webster says and even more so I don't really care what others think defines a mom.

I'm a mom to David and in my opinion I'm a good mom, for the simple fact that my obligation in life is to provide David with the best that I can offer. This ranges from picking out his stroller, his jumperoo, his bottles, his food, etc. Ever since I found out I was pregnant with a boy I researched every single purchase to make sure David was going to be comfortable while sleeping, playing, talking, pooping, laughing, etc. As he gets older there are only more decisions to be made; hence, more research by me. I read various websites, skim through mommy blogs, talk to moms of 2 year olds, 5 year olds, 30 year olds, talk to nurses, talk to doctors. I try to get as much information as possible from all different sources. And even after spending so much time doing my research about the best wipes, the best nasal sprays, the best veggies for David I may not be making the same decision with my future kids. But at this moment, I know that I'm providing David with what I believe is the safest and healthiest environment.

With this being said, I cannot understand why people feel they have an obligation in telling me how to be a mom. One thing is to give a recommendation but another is to tell me how to raise my son. Everyone has an opportunity to raise a child. Your opportunity may have been 6 months ago, or 3 years ago, or 20 years ago. Now is my opportunity to raise a child. So if you think that I'm being a terrible mom by allowing my son to watch several episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so that I can pump or make dinner or simply to lay down then you can go home and judge me there.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Gobble Gobble

This was David's first Thanksgiving and I think he had a good time...I'm sure he just thought of it as just a regular day :) Mommy was able to spend some time cooking with the ladies while David spent some quality time with daddy. It won't be much different when he gets older except that he will understand the football games he will be watching.

I picked out a cute outfit for my little man, hoping to take a nice family picture of the three of us. Of course that wasn't able to happen...David decided to projectile vomit all over himself and Gene as soon as they came inside the house. So both daddy and baby ended up in sweatsuits. I don't know if I should take it as a sign that David hates family pictures or just hates being dressed up. It better be neither because there are many more holidays ahead for me to attempt at family pictures.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

24/7 Work

Since when does being a stay at home mom mean that you're not working or that you're bored or that you have so much extra time to write a blog? I've only had a full-time job for a year and then I was out on maternity leave. It doesn't matter if it was busy season at work where I worked 16 hour days for weeks in a row...it doesn't compare to being a stay at home mom. This job is never ending.

Going food shopping with David doesn't mean that I'm simply food shopping. I have to make sure to pump while he's taking his 20 minute nap so that when he wakes up I can feed him, dress him, hope that he decides not to poop, get him into his winter gear while he's fighting it, change his bib 2 times while I'm getting my keys and purse together, buckle up his car seat while his winter jacket makes it difficult, put him into a cart by wrapping blankets around him because he refuses to sit on his own but is too big for the infant car seat, throw everything into the cart within 15 minutes before he starts grunting out of boredom, again attempt to buckle up his car seat, get him into the house and into his jumperoo so that I can bring in all the bags, and not have enough time to put away the food because he needs attention so I have to wait until his next nap to put all the food away. Never did I think that food shopping can be considered a job, but David definitely changed my view on it.

Simple things have been classified as work for me. Showering in 5 minutes is one of my specialities. Feeding David his bottle while feeding myself breakfast has become a norm for my mornings.

Work never called me at 1 AM, 3 AM, 5 AM, then at 6 AM but now it does, especially when work has some teeth coming in :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Kale Chips...Yum

Once David was reaching 4 months I knew that starting solids was days away. I spent days doing my research as to whether he was ready for solids or if I should wait. When I finally made the decision that he was ready the next decision was what should be his first solid food. Should I take the traditional route of rice cereal or should it be a fruit or veggie? Once again I spent days doing my research and then I finally made my decision of introducing David to avocados first.

After spending so much time on deciding what should be David's first food I came to realize that it wasn't as important what his first food was but what his entire diet was going to consist of. I want David to enjoy eating fruits and veggies and not be craving chips on a daily basis. The only way to have him enjoy healthy food is to grow up knowing what a healthy diet consists of. This realization brings me to do research on everyday healthy snacks, salads, entrees, etc.

This is when I came across kale chips. I read on someone's blog about them last night, so today I went to the supermarket to purchase kale. I drizzled some EVOO with some salt and into the oven pieces of kale went. Ten mintues later I was trying kale chips. And to my surprise they were very good. So simple yet such a good snack. I wanted to eat the entire cookie tray of kale chips.

I know that David is still young to be enjoying kale chips but now I know of an easy and healthy snack that he can be introduced to later on. And for now, Gene and I will be enjoying them :)

Helloooo Blog World

Hi everyone! I enjoy reading blogs, especially about being a mom, so I decided last night why not try BEING the blogger. So I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say because I am so excited to write about my experiences of being a mom to my beautiful and amazing son David.