The Corona Family

things i have learned as a mom

2011-02-28T20:15:00.001+01:00

phone post...?

2011-02-18T07:08:00.003+01:00

i have so many videos on my phone and it just now occured to me to post them from here!

Green day

2011-01-31T19:10:00.006+01:00

With Roman asleep for his new trend of taking a morning 2 hour nap I find myself in the kitchen making flatbread. It is pretty good and pretty easy too.
Preheat the oven to 450 F and place the pan in the oven
Its just:
1 3/4 unbleached all pourpose flour
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup olive oil
(I added some onion powder and some sesame seeds too)

Mix the dry stuff make a well then mix the oil and water in with a wooden spoon. Hand knead 3-4 times. I divided to make 6 small balls. I rolled them out with both a rolling pin then I switched to my hand to flatten it out. I put some sea salt on top with some sprinkles, rosemary, and sesame seeds and even onion powder on some THEN top with olive oil and I pressed it all in with my fingers. Pop in the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Keep an eye on it till it starts to get golden on the edges.

I used waxed paper to flatten my bread, but didnt put it in the oven as I didn't have parchment paper just wax which smokes. Not that I have done that before.
SOURCE

Why a greenday? I was saving some green using the inexpensive things I had on hand. We ate all the rosemarry crackers I got at the store so now we get to try these. I think they are pretty good. I liked the ones that are not too thin, they are a cross between a cracker and bread. Not as crunchy as cracker but still good.

ALSO I realized I had not posted anything about going green in a while. SO here is my tip today. Pay all your bills online. I read this post today that reminded me how this idea is good in so many ways. Saves on the postage and might save you from possible mail thieves who want your credit identity!

video of roman in his new hiding spot

2011-01-22T23:37:00.002+01:00

Firsts

2011-01-21T20:21:00.001+01:00

Last week Roman learned to blow on a whistle! He also blew a kiss to me for the first time. I captured the second on video. I will do my best to get it up here soon.

Homemade "clif" bars

2011-01-10T03:51:00.002+01:00

I made some clif like peanut butter bars today. I have a ton of peanut butter and oats to use up. I altered this one up a little too because I cant follow it to the T. I will be making them again because I found some rice cereal to use.

I found the recipe here. I like that its no bake, but you do have to use the stove a little tiny bit.

1 cup Uncooked quick oats {I used old fashioned and did almost 2 cups to make up for lack of rice cereal}
1 1/4 cups Rice Krispies {I did not use them - I used 1/2 cup of corn flakes and crushed them in my hand to mkae them smaller}
1/4 cup Finely chopped roasted peanuts
3 Tbl Flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed) {I ground my own flaxseed - I dont think it was as fine}
1/4 cup Finely chopped dried dates {I used prunes}
1/4 cup Honey
Dark brown sugar {Used normal plus half splenda brown sugar}
1 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup Peanut butter {I used crunchy}
1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

grease an 8-inch square pan

1.) Combine oats, Rice Krispies, peanuts, flaxseed meal and dried dates in a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.

2.) Heat ¼ cup of honey with 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar over medium-high heat in a small saucepan, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla, 1/3 cup of peanut butter and ½ tsp. of ground cinnamon. Blend well.

3.) Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring well to coat everything thoroughly. {I used my hands at the end made sure to butter the pan ahead so you can just press it in} Firmly press the Cliff bar batter into the pan and cool it to room temperature on a wire rack

4.) Cut into 12 bars, and tightly wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Store the bars in the refrigerator. {I made 8 bars. I didn't wait till it cooled all the way and I pressed them together with my hand more in a mini zip lock.}

They are so good! I LOVE THEM> I am going to make more and double the recipe so I can use up all this peanut butter and cereal. I wonder if they will freeze?!

Upset baby new recipe.

2011-01-09T16:54:00.002+01:00

This morning I made an overnight french toast with some left over cranberry walnut bread using the following recipe. Roman was just throwing a fit because he ate his breakfast first while it was in the oven, then I shared some with him but when it was gone he was VERY upset. Stomping his feet and pouting and yelling about it. It was pretty funny. I guess he likes this one too.

adapted from this website. I have made another pumpkin one before and it is SOOO GOOD! We topped both with whip cream and agave/maple syrup. I have yet to make the crust on either. I dont think it needs it, but I am sure it would only be that much better. I do like the cubes of bread in this one.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
squirt of Agave nectar
1 tbl ground cinnamon
5 cups cubed crusty bread (I didn't measure.. it was just the rest of the loaf I think it was over 5 though)

Directions

Night before

In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, yolk, salt, agave, and cinnamon.
Add the bread cubes to the dish you will be using.
Pour milk mixture on top
Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate

Next morning

Take out of fridge and let come to room temp while oven heats up
Preheat oven to 350ºF
Bake until custard is set 25 to 35 minutes, depending on bread
I topped mine with some cinnamon and sugar before I put it in the oven. I had to mix around my bread crumbs in the mixture before I went to bed. I had so many they didn't all get soaked. When I put it in the top layer became pretty crusty, but it was still good.

Things Roman has put in my boot...

2011-01-08T23:26:00.004+01:00

Since its winter out I have my boots close to the door. Roman likes to put things in them. I decided I should start to post more of the little things he does so I never forget. Just now as I decided to write this he walked over to me happily carrying my boot and about to stick the toe in his little mouth. Lucky me, I grabbed it just in time, then he came back with the second one in his mouth. EWW.. gross. He got me. Good job Roman.

The first time this happened it was magnetic letters from the fridge. I went to put on my boot and had to dump out about 7 letters to get my foot in. Today he had put his shoe inside my boot and was carrying it around. He has also put his shoes inside the cereal box. He is our little squirrel. He likes to stash things around the house. He also has a few places in the kitchen that has things of his. One drawer and one cabinet. The drawer has sippy cups and bowls and a few little food pouches that we take on the go. It also has all the pacifiers he would not take. He likes to pull all those out and test them another time, then then end up all over the place.

Those happen to be the boots that Roman loves to play with. I will say that he does like to play with any shoes that happen to be around. This is the same face he made in all 3 photos with Santa. I would have bought all three if it wasnt so darn expensive! I think its wrong how much it costs to take ONE photo with Santa. This is his first since we didn't so it last year but that's okay because he was santa last year.

Walking because of the Cast

2010-11-20T05:48:00.005+01:00

Roman took his first steps on October 3rd. He didn't seem that interested in doing it alone until the end of October when he fell while taking two steps to the couch and hurt his poor little arm. He didnt even fuss when it happened. He wouldn't put weight on it to crawl that night and would cry when he did. I was worried and kept an eye on it for the weekend. Sunday my mom found that his forearm was slightly swollen. So Monday I took him to Grandma Corona's work where they took an Xray and found he had a small fracture. The Dr. said we could put a cast on to protect his arm and to keep it from hurting him. So we did it.

I took some video of him getting the cast, and I am glad I did because I was behind him and could not see his face. Oh so cute. He was so good! He pulled on it at the start and at the end he was getting bored sitting there. He did so much better then I would have ever thought having it on too! He pretty much stopped crawling that day because it was not as easy to crawl with the cast. SO I can say with most certainty that he officially started to walk on Nov 1. AKA the day of the cast. It was off by Saturday.

The fractured bones.

I can't even see them in this photo.. thats how minor

We went to a park the same day and he seemed just fine!

Roman turned one!

2010-11-20T05:33:00.002+01:00

I really am horrible at this blog thing. We moved to Va. Roman turned 1 year old. Tony got a new job. We drove to Va from Tx. Roman started to walk. Roman got his third tooth. Did I mention we moved from Texas? SOO I have some blogging to do about this. I will leave you with a few pictures from his 1st birthday party.

Playing with his new toy car. Seeing Tony the first time in over a month too!

Yes it does look like that candle would be fun to touch..

But its not.

Yes that happened. He was scared but had no injuries from touching the flame.

(I took the picture because I knew his hand was okay but it still makes me frown seeing it)

He recovered just fine

He was still very unsure about the cake. I think I ate more off my fingers then he did.

He would not touch it himself.

Not the first birthday cake experience we had hoped for, but it sure is memorable.

September Update in Photos

2010-10-05T05:21:00.007+02:00

since I have not filled in the blog world I thought I would make this post to inform my future self of the past few weeks. I think I made a few small updates, but I will post pictures from the past month now!

Roman took his first steps yesterday! I took video on my phone too and Tony got to see it minutes after it happened. I took a few pics also. We were at a tennis thing for Hunter and we later headed to the fair. He walked to my mom who was holding a chip that he wanted. He didn't get the chip, but he seemed excited about it! We had just been around another walking baby the night before.

Roman and I hung out in a park and took some 11 month pics last week

Took some pics with Grandpa Corona

Said bye to Tony as he left for his new job in Virginia

We also said bye to the Corona family too (and my parents)

He will talk on the phone.. or anything you give him

Romans reaction to the animals!

We went to Oktoberfest in Addison

Tony is so silly

We went to Grape Fest in Grapevine

We went to a bike race downtown Dallas

We saw Dr. Oz there too

We celebrated Tony's Birthday

We practiced walking, but it looks much more intense then it was.

Gotta love those food pouches! He just sucks them down!

We went to Grapevine for a town bike festival

We went to the TCU game at the Cowboys stadium

first phone update.

2010-09-27T14:38:00.001+02:00

This is an update from my cool new phone that does way more then i thought it could. More soon!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Update!

2010-09-27T05:05:00.003+02:00

Since my eco blog so much has happened. Tony got a job offer in Virginia. He took it and he starts on Wed. He will be driving there tomorrow to get there on Tuesday. He will be working M-F in a training thing till Nov 1. So he wont be able to come back to help us move till after then.

We spent the afternoon at Uncle Joe and Aunt Karen's house saying bye to the rest of the Coronas and my Family. Unfortunately Missy and Chris are on a cruise so they will have to wait till Tony comes back to say bye. I hope they had lots of fun and cant wait to hear stories!

Roman will be 11 months old on the 3rd of October. Everyone else is so good at telling their milestones so I am going to try to remember the things he does.

Has only two bottom front teeth. No signs of more.
Loves t o feed himself mum mums in banana and veggie and plum organics food pouches which he will suck down in 5 seconds flat.
He is so good at crawling I think he has no interest in walking, but he is so good at it! He walks almost unassisted but if we let go he sits. He stands often alone now and seems to not notice then he sits down.
He claps, high 5s, waves, gives kisses, points at us when you ask him (where's mama/dada or Elly/Mia) and throws the ball for Elly and giggles at the dogs. He also talks on the phone and loves the remote. He has a fake phone that looks real and he jabbers on it often. He will talk to anything though.. lego, block, ball. He will also hand you things if you hold out your hand.
He can drink out of a cup, a water bottle, a sippy cup, and a straw he can even do the camel back ones too. He doesn't drink much besides water. He will drink out of a juice box. He will also spit it out just as good as he drinks it for fun too.
He loves to play with Elly even when she is not interested in him, he thinks they are playing.
He loves other babies and points and talks to them in stores
He is a cuddle bug and loves to hug on me and tony
He enjoys flap books and looking under the flaps.
He loves to go on walks in the stroller. I think he could stay in it all day long if I could move all day!
He can say mama, dada, and we think he says ball and dog... but they sound like Bah and Dah. He uses them correctly so we are almost positive that's what he is saying as of tonight.
He is wearing anything from 6 to 18 months. I would say the 12 -18 months is much roomier but not too big.
Size 3 and 4 shoes but we don't wear them often he only has 2 pairs that he wears and his dress shoes.
Size 3 diapers
Still nursing a few times a day mostly mornings and afternoons and not at night.
Sleeps all night from 8 pm to almost 7 am most nights. The past few nights it's been a little later to bed, but still early to rise!
We are still wrapping him up (swaddling) to get him to sleep. He will go to sleep on his own sometimes. I sometimes worry this is bad and he needs to sleep on his own then we let him cry for a minute (or more) and he is out but its nice to hold him since he is getting big so fast. When he sleeps on his own its so cute because he will stick his butt in the air and tuck his legs under.

Thats about all I can think of for tonight. Tony put Roman to sleep and it will be more then a month before he can do it again. :( Night all!

Shoesssssss

2010-09-16T03:44:00.002+02:00

The shoe cabinet...

Can I tell you how much I LOVE this idea?! Its the cutest thing ever now I just wish I had a closet for it to go in. Or a room maybe? I can not wait to have a home to decorate using old repurposed furniture in it. I cant wait to strip it and paint it or stain it. I have so many ideas of what I want to do I have no idea where to start. I keep seeing cute dressers in thrift stores and I want to buy them so bad. They are so cheap too! This was on the blog for the store called Uptown Country located in Schneider Plaza in Dallas and they are so cute. I had never been in there till a few weeks ago. Its very cute. The whole store is also all about recycling! They use old things and give them new lives in the decor and the things they sell. Its a mother daughter team who does it too.

Check out their website www.uptowncountryhome.com

Anyday can be a green day.

2010-09-15T05:50:00.001+02:00

Remember the three Rs? Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? I will refresh your memory...

REDUCE
Anytime it is possible reduce the amount of waist you will make. Try to buy things that have less packaging. Less waste means less space in the landfill. Buy things that are free of hazardous chemicals. You can even make your own cleaners with a few simple ingredients (like your great great grandma did).

REUSE
Bring your own bags to the store and not just the grocery store anywhere you buy things and they give you a bag. Repeat again and again.

RECYCLE
The main things that most people know are paper, plastic, and glass and depending on your area you can drop them at your curb or find a local center to take them to. There are a number of plastics that can be recycled, you can tell mostly if they have a #1-7 on them you just have to find the right place.

Other things that should be recycled properly and not throw in the trash are cleaning items, batteries, old appliances, garage and garden supplies.

Earth911.com HERE
The EPA has a fun map game to play and find out more info on recycling HERE
HERE is a link to read more about what is recyclable

So I have more ideas to come.
What appliances use the most energy?
How can you save money and the earth?
Simple ways to go green.
What do you want to know about? Anything that you have been wondering about?

Going green is important to me so I thought I should share the things I feel can make a difference in the world. I read something like this the other day.. If you don't think one thing can make a difference you have never had to sleep in a room with a mosquito.

If you don't do it who will?!

My thoughts on the world

2010-09-15T05:20:00.000+02:00

The world is such a small place, but its also so huge. I know that's not a new idea but it is so big. I have been thinking often about how important recycling is to me and why. I know it sounds silly but I think it has to do with exactly that. How big and small our world is. There is only so much space out there and if its filled with trash how can the future beings enjoy it and thrive in it. We are all here to live and die. What you do with that life is up to you, but your actions impact others. Sometimes I think it I don't see something it doesn't happen; I often joke with Tony on trips that if I don't take a picture of it it didn't happen. Of course I know its not true. I find it frustrating when others refuse to participate when its so easy! Okay so I know that those things (The movie about a day on earth and recycling) are not exactly connected but in some way they are. In my head they are. Sooo since knowledge is power I have decided to try to do blogs about being green. I like to learn more about saving the planet and I might as well document it right?!

ONE Day on Earth

2010-09-14T06:25:00.000+02:00

Have you all heard about this upcoming film/media movement called One Day on Earth??? OH MY Gosh. I just read about it and watched this super cool video on it too. It is an amazing concept. I have no idea how they are going to edit the video and make it only 120 minutes.

This person has a video up that you can watch and a link to an entry about it here. *(He also has cool pics of his wife's pregnancy up till she started to have contractions on the 39 week shoot!)

Tony just came in and asked what I was blogging about and I got distracted and have a block in my head. I am going to sleep on this then come back tomorrow with my deep thoughts on the concept. The following is from the site explaining the project.

"Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period. By participating in this historic event, you will help capture the diversity of life and culture on this planet. Together we will create a document that is a gift to the world.

One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth. More than a film, One Day on Earth is a multi-platform participatory media project. The flagship of this project is a 120-minute documentary to be released theatrically. Through the One Day on Earth platform we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates."

Tooth #2/update 10 months

2010-09-08T18:46:00.000+02:00

Romans second bottom tooth came in. His left one I believe. It is hardly visible but you can feel the sucker! He seems to notice they are in there now. He is eating more and more table foods. He likes toast and real chicken. He does not like the baby food meats. He also does not like things that are too textured in his mouth. He will stick his tongue out till he gets the gross out. He looks like a lizard, or a kitty. :) We are still trying to do baby signs, but I dont think I do them often enough for him to connect them. I guess I need to work on that. We do signs for poopy, please, more, bite, kitty/cat, and dog/puppy (same signs for each). We were doing mom, dad, and baby too but its been a while. He sure doesn't like his naps. He goes down pretty good at night though. He sleeps all night still. Thankfully the teeth haven't disrupted that. He waves, and claps too. I am trying to also teach him that he is "soooooo big" by stretching his arms out. He is the most amazing baby on the go for the most part that is. He loves to eat. He sometimes will get mad at me when his first jar of food is out and I dont have another. Some days he is fine with one jar, but other days he will eat till his tummy is hard and gets very upset if I try to stop the meal. Most of the time two jars of baby food does it though. We are still nursing but we are down from 500 times a day to more like 2 to 4. Sometimes he goes to bed without a snack. I am not sure how ending nursing is going to go. There are times when he just fights and fights to get in the position. Any moms out there have problems with that? When did you stop nursing? I have been thinking I would stop at 1. But I am thinking maybe I wont.. I know what you are thinking! Its so easy to do! If we did go past 1 I think it would just be one time a day as he eases into milk. How much whole milk a day should he be drinking at 1?

Happy Birthday TONY!!

2010-09-08T18:33:00.003+02:00

Today is my wonderful husbands Birthday. He is away in California at an interview today. He will be back soon. :) We wish him lots of luck and hope he has a wonderful day!

Thank you for being so great Tony. I have spent just about everyday with you the past 6 months and I honestly can say that I never get sick of you. There are times when I am annoyed with you of course, but I never want to be away from you for long. You make me laugh even when I want to be mad at you. I love that I laugh at all your jokes, and not just to make you feel better, its because I really think you are funny. You are so seriously silly. I love watching you with Roman. You are the best father that I can imagine. You love to play with our baby and I love to watch you. You are better at putting him to sleep then I am and you do certain things different then I do and I love that. I love that I have you to help me when I cant do it anymore. I am happy you want to be so involved with our baby. I am so excited for the things to come this next year. We will have a one year old and move to a new home in a new location. I look forward to all the trips we will take together. Hope this year is better then last year for you! LOVE YOU!

Now and Forever babe
Your Loving Wife Crystal

Girls Trip!!!

2010-08-28T04:54:00.004+02:00

Is this real life?
Have you all seen that clip of the little boy who just had work done on his mouth and he is still on the drugs asking his dad if this is real life and if this feeling was going to last forever?! You should so watch it. Its hilarious.

Last weekend I went on a girls trip and it was so much fun. I went with my college friends. They all also happened to be in my sorority and I lived with 2 of them for two years (Liz and Katrina) and one lived across the street (Andrea) for one and I had fashion classes with Jessica. We sent to Surfside on the coast about an hour outside of Houston. It was a very small town - A mining town as we started to call it. There were tons of jokes and laughs and staying up late watching lifetime movies and random sales TV for personal items. We went on a giant blow up water slide that is larger then you are picturing, I promise. We rode around in a golf cart on the beach and to the store. We sat in the water and let tiny little clams try to dig a hole in the sand in our hands. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.

The best part was at the bar when a guy was looking at Andrea and I think Liz said "He is looking at your butt Andrea" and Andrea said something like "I have been sh*ting out of it all night" Then she walked off. We all laughed so hard and I know its gross, but it was soo funny. Even the guy laughed and brought her toilet paper later to be funny. The people were all pretty nice in that tiny little town. We saw Step Up 3D also. It was of course amazing.

I had to pump since I am still nursing and I made time in the morning or at lunch or before we went out for the night. I missed my boys when I was gone, but I know its good to get away. So glad it happened. Thanks to Andrea and David's family for letting us borrow their cute house on the beach.

Roman has a TOOTH and other things

2010-08-28T04:13:00.004+02:00

Roman listening to Grandpa Corona

He goes under!

He is okay though..

Roman with and a bunny that I had when I was a baby - so its old.

His first tooth came in last week! Its been a long time coming too! Since he was almost 3 months old and had his hands in his mouth I have been hearing how "he is going to get a tooth any day now" from everyone and their mom. My mom and mil included. I honestly thought he would but at 5 months with no teeth I started to stop thinking and for sure at 7 I had given up and thought he would just never eat with teeth and we would have to get him baby dentures. No, but really its just the cutest thing!

He is growing up so fast and I find it hard to believe the past year has gone by so fast. One year ago we were in Germany and today we are back in Texas! Roman has gone from being in my tummy to crawling around and walking and holding my hands. He giggles and smiles at strangers. He claps when we cheer for him. He drops things on the ground and watches them fall. He gives high 5s to Tony! Today he talked on the phone for the first time for real. Most times I try to catch him making sounds but the past two days he was holding things up to his ear and making baby sounds... things like the remote for the TV and a real phone. He loves his bath. He sleep around 10 to 12 hours a night. Depending on where he is and if he hears others awake before him. The other night he slept from 8 pm to 8:15 am! It was great, because it coincided with when I was sick and had mastitis. So I went to bed at 9:30 and it gave me plenty of sleep. He loves fruits and he is now eating veggies without fruits mixed in. He eats 2 to 3 jars of food at a meal. He is nursing still about 3 times a day. He loves the pool too. It has been so hot out and we dont have easy easy access to a pool so we have not been that many times this summer. He is wonderful when we are out and about. I am starting to try to have a schedule. The only time he seems very calm is in the car seat and I worry about that! Today we went to a thrift store and he played with a gross dirty toy that I know is gross and dirty but he wanted to play with it so bad that I just let him do it. I also have made a pledge to buy only used clothes for Roman and try to get his toys the same way. I started out with a cute T and a little button up sleeper/outfit. I will post my finds too! They were $3.50 total!

NINE MONTHS!! (& a few days..) and a trip

2010-08-13T16:23:00.006+02:00

9 Month post a few (10) days late.

Look at those eyes! He is such a good little traveler

Roman had his check up last week and he is growing but its slowed up since he turned 6 months as expected.

He is:

29 inches puts him in the 75th percentile for length

18 lbs 3 oz in the 25th percentile for weight

17.5 inches around in the 44th percentile for head circumference

He is for sure getting a tooth! We finally see a little white under is gums. He has had some other signs of teething as well. He doesnt seem any more annoyed by his mouth then normal but there is FOR SURE a little white speck that is getting bigger and bigger. Cant feel anything yet. He had chicken from the table last night and HE LOVED IT. He does not like the ground up stuff in the jar but he enjoyed eating the little pieces I gave him.

In other times..

We drove up to Oklahoma to see some friends from Germany who are now based there. Matt and Mike both worked with Tony but they didn't know each other before the course and they have become friends. Mike has a wife Rebekka and two kids. One they had before they left Germany 2 years ago and the second we got to meet for the first time on this trip. She was a bit over a month old I believe. Tony would have been in this very course had he stayed in the Army. He actually got his orders when we were still in Germany to go and he had to cancel them. Hard to believe our lives are still up in the air after almost 4 months but I know that when we look back this time will seem like a blink of an eye. We are thankful that our families are able to help us out and let us crash with them. :)

Here are a few pics from our trip up to Ok. Its a long drive but it was worth it in one day to see them and hang out a little! We have added two kids to our group since we last saw them!

Roman is very worried about her since she is crying.

about to go four wheeling

He is off.. I think.

Mike and little William

The Sky on the way back from Oklahoma on July 24th

Sale on organic baby food

2010-08-05T05:24:00.005+02:00

Recently I found out about these awesome baby foods. They come in a bag and they mix the fruits and veggies AND Roman (your baby) can just suck them out of the bag. They are so good I dont even put a bib on him because he doesn't spill. You can also squeeze them onto a spoon or in to the mouth, but he learned fast how to suck on them. There are 2 brands that I found at BabiesRus, Ella's Kitchen see selections on web {here} and Plum Organics {here}.

They are both on sale now at BabiesRus. I have found that the Plum ones (8 for $8) have more in them then the Ella's Kitchen (I think it was 8 for $10). The Ella's kitchen are on sale at Central Market now for $1! So the better deal still is the 8 for $8 (because you get more) BUT They have different selections of fruits and veggies.

We also just tried yogurt too! HE loves it. I got a tub of the whole fat plain and we mix it with a fruit. Today I thought about mixing in his veggies too since I already mix them with his fruits anyways then when we were at Central Market we found this yogurt that mixes fruit and veggies! CRAZY! We got strawberry and Carrots and he LOVED it tonight. Yumm.. doesn't that sound good?! It didnt taste that bad. Yes, I try everything Roman eats - potatoes and spinach are gross in baby food but good in real food, odd.

I have been buying only organic foods for him. He has eaten a few non organic things but I am trying!! Its more expensive but I think its better for him. I think its even more important when I am going to make it for him since I dont test them like the baby food people do. I said I always mix fruits and veggies and for the most part I do BUT today he ate lunch that was ALL veggies and no fruits. :) SO happy. He had sweet Potatoes and cinnamon and summer squash.

The other day he had a "my first baby soup" I don't think it is any different then other baby foods are so I am not sure how they can call it soup but they do. I got a variety pack at babiesRus (2 for $15 - on sale now) and didn't realize it had chicken in it till he ate half of it!!!! I was so freaked out about him eating meat! I just think its weird for babies to eat meat, they are sweet little babies not carnivores. Why would they have a split pea bisque with chicken in it?!

So I am still making him foods, but he tends to like the store stuff. So I have to force him to eat my stuff. I personally think mine is just as good but he disagrees. I might try to mix it into his plain yogurt tomorrow.

pretend I posted a pic of Roman being cute.

Without Roman

2010-08-04T09:35:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I was able to go out on a boat and assist Dixie Dixon. We went to TCU together and were both in Thetas. She is an AMAZING photographer and she let me tag along. She posted some of these pics on her page and gave me photo credit. I feel soo special! I took a ton of photos of her and the crew and it was a great experience. Everyone was so great and it really made me realize how much I love fashion photography. I thought I would put up some of my fav pics of Dixie at work. Kelley Eller was able to come along for the second half of the shoot too and that was fun to have her there. We want to do a shoot of our own. Do you want to be our model?! Let me know.

Mango, Peas, and Pears Please.

2010-07-16T04:38:00.006+02:00

Roman on July 5th in the pool with his ducky

Same day

Roman eating the beets my mom made for him - Or not eating

He looks like he just killed something.. and put on lipstick.

I was laughing so hard when i took this because it really looked like he had on lipstick!

I love reading posts but I just hardly have much to say and plus sometimes I don't feel like anyone reads my blog. I know you do.. Since you are right now. BUT sometimes I don't know who YOU are. I will admit that sometimes I don't read a post if there are no photos. SOO I posted photos. :) Just for those like me.
Leave some love.

Well this post might not interest many but I made a second attempt at making foods for Roman.
To backtrack - So far I have pureed and froze (Organic) Carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears. All in individual little cubes. I was so excited because he had liked the sweet potatoes and carrots that I got at the store at that point and when I was making him the pears I let him taste it in his mesh teether and he LOVED them. But he seems to hate my food. I think its not as smooth as the jars. I had to mix it with jars to get him to eat most of it. Sometimes he ate mine alone, not its still not gone. I decided to buy jars in an effort to get him to eat more things and see what he likes because at almost 8 months he had had like 5 things. I tried to start him on Veggies. I think he had bananas, then avocados, sweet potatoes - Maybe? Did I post about this already? Why did I not write this down? OK well. He hates veggies now. He has had a handful of others now and its official that he does not like any and all veggies unless they are mixed with fruits and preferably pears. He LOVES pears. I think tonight he ate so many that he was stuffed and not happy. He also likes bananas but I found out they are binding we are trying to be unbinding so I am limiting his banana intake now. Poor little guy was having troubles with his output.

I recently found a new prodcut at BabiesRUS. Its food pouches. They have mixed fruits and veggies in fun combos. Like "sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apples, and blueberries" or "Broccoli, pears, and peas". The two companies are Ella's Kitchen and Plum Organics. They have many combos and I was told by two people in the isle that their kids LOVE them. SOO i had to try them for Roman. He of course loves them and he can suck on them like a little juice pack with a giant straw. Or you can squeeze it right into his mouth or onto a spoon. We love them they are so easy to use! PLUS I think I can upcycle Ella's Kitchen. See Terracycle for more info on upcycling. Get paid to save the earth! I think I might do a post on them. !?

Why am I talking about them when I am supposed to be talking about homemade foods? Because they inspired me to make my own veggie/fruit mix. I came up with drum roll.......... Mango, Peas, and Pears of course - Hint hint! Let me tell you I am so proud they tasted good! I did about 1 cup peas and used one small pear and one mango. I choose not to peal the pear since he should be able to digest them at his age easily (according to the internet). I used ice cube trays for the first half then had the brilliant idea of freezing them in my extra Medela bags. BRILLIANT Idea. Since the peal did not puree very well I decided to strain it in a pasta strainer to get some of the larger pieces out. I put them in the bags and was able to see how much it was. Since its in a larger portion for him now I plan to just take out the bag and thaw in the fridge or in warm water then serve! The cubes also were getting freezer burn in the bag and I hope this will prevent it. I plan to make something with apples, broccoli, carrots, blueberries and I think blackberries. Whats the difference with Yams and Sweet potatoes I have those to use too? I know people have different thoughts on berries, but he has had strawberries and raspberries with no reaction so as long as the internet doesn't freak me out I plan to use those soon too.

Roman liked it tonight, but I gave him the unstained version so I did have some food spit back out, but he ate most of it with some added pears and some bites he ate just fine with no added pears! (I have a ton of Organic Pears since it was the special of the day at BabiesRUs - 3.60 for 12 jars!) I think I will for sure make this again and maybe just use mango and pear? Or Peach instead? The possibilities are endless! Wish me luck!

Giveaway Post

2010-07-08T03:12:00.003+02:00

Jessica over at Diamond in the Sky is giving away a super cute Bag from Ding-Bats a baby store located in Tulsa, OK. It happens to be marketed as a diaper bag, but its so cute anyone could use it. It has great storage and a gender neutral pattern too.

Hit her up over here .

Happy 4th!!

2010-07-04T21:13:00.003+02:00

I Hope everyone had a great 4th of July Weekend! Fireworks for anyone??! The rain has kept us from wanting to venture out to see any. We spent yesterday at my parents house with the coronas too. IT was an surprise birthday party for me. The earliest I have ever officially celebrated, but not the earliest I have started! Its my birthday month, right?! Missy made me a tree hugger cake. It was so cute and perfect for me.

Today we plan to spend the afternoon at Tony's Aunt and Uncle. My parents might stop by too for a bit. I plan on swimming rain or shine and it looks like shine! I know Roman is excited about getting in the pool too.

Roman turned 8 months old yesterday and he is doing so many things. I uploaded all the videos from the past 4 months from our computer and got to relive it all again. From our last days in our house there to the hotel to all our trips. He started to push up and roll over all the time, then he started to pull himself on the floor, then he ate his first solid foods, He started to officially crawl, Pull up to standing, Sit on his heels, sit up alone, go from crawling to sitting and vise versa, eat more big people foods. He also has been saying momma and sometimes dadda, he clicks his tongue and mouth making all kinds of sounds. He has also been sleeping all night long- That is a BIG one, I think it took him 7 months longer then all other babies we know. We are still nursing too. I have made him food too but he doesn't like my consistency I guess (I watered it down too), so I have been mixing it with cans till he will eat it more. He LOVES pears and raspberries. That is the only food he will eat the entire jar/container of. We are on 4 now. He hasn't eaten that much of anything else.

The following are a few pics I snapped in my parents backyard last.

Pulling up to stand

So cute

My mom helps him smile

"where did that kitty go?"

"now you see mom.."

"this is why I need.."

lounging baby

What a big boy!!!

The chair is from Iowa ;)

Roman update!

2010-06-16T18:48:00.004+02:00

Roman is 7.5 months old now. He is sitting up all by himself and he also has started to crawl for real! He was moving around in a weird way that was half army crawl and half face planting. He likes to go from crawl to sit too. His crawl is still slow. I am sure he will just get faster and faster as the days go by. He likes to pick his arms all the way up in the air as he moves along. He loves dogs and he has been trying to eat real food. He has had sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, apple sauce, pears, and, rice cereal. I have bought some peas, spinach and potatoes, and carrots for him to try next. I wanted to make his foods but its just not the right time. I made the banana and avocados and he has also tries small pieces of peaches and cantaloupe. He is getting so big so fast. He learns things so fast too. He is a pretty easy baby as long as you doing things! He can entertain himself ok, but he doesn't ever want to do that when I need him to.

We went to San Diego the first part of the month and it was a great trip! I lost my camera at the zoo, but luckily it can be replaced and I only lost 2 days of pictures. Other then that the trip was great and the weather was crazy. I was cold in the morning and nights and soo hot during the day, but it was cool and foggy by the coast. We went swimming this week too and we used his new floaty and its so awesome. I highly recommend it! It has two blow up tubes that have a mesh in between and as the seat and also a canopy on top to keep the sun off. He even kicked a little too!

I will work on getting videos and pictures posted. My computer is full so I have to clear up some space soon.

6 Months Old!

2010-05-22T05:56:00.003+02:00

Not the best.. but the most recent photo taken the 13th - him and his new Sophie.
I am going to admit that I am overwhelmed by my collection of photographs of him right now.

I am a little late with this post (and others) I have been working on a post with all that we have done in the past 2 months since I last posted. Today he had his 6 month check up. He is a very healthy boy and had 5 immunizations. He had 4 shoots and one oral vaccine I believe. Tony was there and got to hold him down while I leaned over him trying not to cry. There was only one nurse so she had to do them all different times while he screamed and his little face crinkled up and turned red. He stopped soon after, we had already been having a bad day, so that just didn't help him. He was happy by the time we left and then we went to go see my mom and she played with him in the pool. She just dangled his feet in the water and somehow he ended up naked and in to the chest. He loved splashing and being moved around in the COLD water. I think he was having too much fun to notice the cold.

Stats:
17 lbs and 5 oz/17.31 lbs- 45 %
27.25 in - 75%
17 inch head - 25%

He has stopped growing like he was! He is wearing clothes anywhere from 3 to 9 months with the 3 - 6 fitting tight if head to toe, but he can wear tops and pants ok. The only problem with long sleeves is they are 3/4 length on his arms and pants a a little loose in the waist and a tiny bit short. So the 9 month things fit the best, but I can get away with shorts and short sleeves if smaller size. I have yet to put him in shoes, so I really don't know what size he wears of those, just that he outgrew all the baby ones he had before we left Germany. Not one pair fit him and I feel bad since I hardly put them on him anyways since he was always in footy PJs to keep out the cold.

Just for fun I looked back at what he was. He started out in the 90th %s on length and weight and slowly went down and he is starting maintain a slower growth rate. I believe this is normal for a breastfed baby - according to what I have read. I think his head has always been on the lower side of the scale.

Birth - 21.25 in long and 8.18 lbs
Take home - 21.25? in long and 7.6 lbs
2 weeks - 21.25? in long and 8.76 lbs
2 month - 24.5 in long and 14.2 lbs
4 month - just above 26 in long and 16.7 lbs

? = I didn't record that data so I am guessing its the same.

My update from Germany till last month

2010-05-20T20:06:00.005+02:00

This is the post I started last month.

Tony's Grandma Corona, Tony, and Roman

Rena, Brooke, Roman, and Payden.

Noah, Cohen, and Roman

I have been neglecting the blog since we moved back. We got back to Texas on March 30th. It was great to be back and see family and friends. My dad, my little brother Hunter, and Missy got to hold Roman for the first time. (In that order) Our parents were at the airport to greet us and we went to see Hunter at Tennis practice and Missy came over after work. Roman did great on long trip over. He was all smiles when I got him up at 5 am to leave our hotel that we had been in for a few days. He is such a great little baby.

Mid April we drove south to see my grandma Cleo in Alamo, Texas. We stopped in Austin and visited the capital building and saw my friend Hernan too. We went over the border to visit Mexico for a few hours. We went even farther south to South Padre Island where Roman put his toes in the water and walked on sand for the first time. We visited Fort Hood on the way back to Dallas. My mom hosted a baby shower/welcome home party that Sunday we got back. We headed up to Wisconsin the 29th of April. We drove 12 hours the first day and got to Illinois where we spent the night. Roman was WONDERFUL. No tears or fits at all. He slept well in his car seat. He also played very nicely when he was awake, he would play with toys and look out the window or play peek-a-boo with whoever was sitting in the passenger seat. We stopped every 3 to 4 hours to feed him and never a time that day we had to pull over more often. The next day we only had a 4 hour drive to Milwaukee and we did have to stop once. Roman and I met Tonys Grandma Corona. She was wonderful and very sweet. She kept telling us how nice it was to see us and she told Tony I was beautiful and that Roman had a perfectly round head. Those last memories are very sweet. She passed away less then a week after we saw her and because we were in Iowa we just drove back over to Wisconsin for the funeral and were able to see his family again. His parents and sister also flew up. I am thankful to have met her and to have those memories to share with Roman of his Great Grandmother Corona. We spent most of our nights at his Grandpa Hahns House. Diane and I got to watch our shows and talk about Young and the Restless together. It was great to spend time with his moms side of the family. We went on a tour of Lakeside Brewery in the 3rd Ward in down town Milwaukee. They were great, it's a small microbrewery but they made a bunch of beers and on our tour we got to try 4 different kinds each. I think we almost got to taste them all between the two of us. Also it was only $7 and they are right on the river walk so you can sit/stand down and just enjoy the view all you want! Roman was a hit with all the people on the tour of course because he is so cute and well behaved. We went to his cousin Chris and Jarvis house. They have an awesome lakeside home that is home to them and their 50 some animals, including a dog, a cat, some goats, fish, chickens, and a bunch of other different kinds of birds. They are about to move to home with a ton more space and they hope to add some more animals to their family. I can't wait to head back there! We also stayed with his Uncle Ted and Aunt Betsy in our own section of the house they had built for her parents. It is separate living quarters that is attached to the house with its own everything. The Corona side came over for a Tuesday night gathering and it was also great to meet everyone that I had not met before. They are all so fun to be around. Made me feel part of the family. We spent our last night in Wisconsin at his Grandpas lake house and that was fun too! I forgot to mention Roman had his first taste of "real" food at Ted and Betsys. He had rice cereal then at the lake house he pulled himself on the floor "army crawl style" for the first time. I got if on video the second time. He had some more cereal that night too. Then on the way to Iowa we hit up the House on The Rock. All I have to say about that is its CRAZY> a crazy place with the most organized collection of hording I have ever seen. If you have not been it for sure is something else. It took us almost 3 hours to walk through it all and even at the end I was rushing because I had to pee and I think I was getting overwhelmed with all the stuff. So we missed a large part of the doll and gun collection. Darn.

On to Iowa. We stopped at the Field of Dreams, which I hear is about to be sold by the owners. I left Tony to pick a trinket for our collection of travel things - and he come back with a large mini bat. I guess it is the perfect thing, but at the time I am thinking what are we going to do with that!? I still dont know. I guess I like it more now. We spent the first two nights at my Aunt and Uncles house. *(Buffys parents - aka my favorite cousin) Tony met about 30 family members on Saturday night and that wasnt even all of them. The next day (Mothers Day) we went to visit my moms oldest sisters kids and he met the last part of the family. There are still two cousins he has not met but I think he met/saw again almost 40 people of my moms side of the family. That was so nice, its so large but it was great to get people together. One cousin even drove 4 hours with her husband and two girls! She got to see her siblings too. We spent one night at my grandparents house and then we drove to Wisconsin for the funeral and came back the next day. Then the next few days we moved every night. We saw my Dads sister in Bettendorf and she took us on a tour of the Quad cities. Then we headed to Iowa City to visit my Dads brother and his wife. Then we went to the city where I was before we moved to Texas. Tony saw both the houses I lived in in Iowa and we even saw a house my parents lived in on the Mississippi River too. We stayed with a family friend in Ankeny and had dinner at another. It was a whirlwind of a trip but great that we could do it together and we have the friends and family to see and the time to do it.

He is so lucky to have met all his Great Grandparents in the past 2 months. We have done so much. Tony is still looking for a job. Our next trip is to go to San Diego for a Military Academy Job Conference. We will stay with his Aunt Kathy and Mike and I have a good friend in Los Angles that I hope to see too! He has a few leads and he has been networking like crazy the past few weeks. He has been applying for so many government jobs in the past months and we are just waiting to hear things. We have planned for this, but its still weird to be staying with our parents. We are so thankful they have opened their homes to us. It is a major help. So much has happened in the past two months and Roman is just the happiest baby. I hope will adjust to much less travel in our life when that happens. All I know is that he has been amazing meeting all the new people and moving around so much the past 2 months and I couldn't be happier. (I guess if he slept all night that might make me happier, but I can't blame him for that)

I am still nursing him and I don't think the past few months would have gone so well if we were trying to heat up bottles and have the right formula on hand. I don't see stopping anytime soon either. I am so happy we made it to 6 months only nursing. He tried bananas for the first time last week and we will try avocados soon! Then I bought a jar each of earths best organic sweet potatoes and pears. The first two I will just mash up the fruit in a bowl. I want to steam and puree my own stuff. untill we have our own space I might just buy organic baby foods. I haven't been using the cloth diapers since we got back but I do want to start up again. I am wondering how the ones we had will fit him! We have his 6 month appointment and shots tomorrow. So far I think he is still a little over 18 pounds and around 26.5 inches long. I have so many pictures from the past few weeks I will just put a few.

Thats all our stuff

Family Photos at the Arboretum

Roman's First Easter

Great Grandma Montross

goodbye Germany

2010-03-27T14:26:00.005+01:00

The time has come for us to leave Germany. It is bittersweet and very unreal. I have said farewell to new and old friends and it just doesn't feel like I might never get to see them again. My time here has gone so fast. I know I have written this before but I just can hardly believe its been almost 3 years. We have also not been home to Texas since last year too. We will be returning almost a year to the day! With our new family to start a new life. We have been staying in a hotel since Monday, when our movers took all the rest of our things and packed them up in those crates. So much has happened since I met Tony almost 5 years ago. July 20, 2005 we met and I knew he was special. I am so very thankful for my life. I have been able to travel more places in such a short time then most people can even hope to see in their life. This only makes me lucky to have had the experiences. I feel like its my duty to document everything in a photo. I love taking pictures. I always have. I was always annoying people to get them to smile for the camera. I have rolls and rolls of film prints to prove it. What ever would I have done without digital! Much cheaper for my hobby. We leave on Tuesday morning and I am almost positive I will shed a few tears. I remember the day we flew over here June 3, 2007 and arrived on the 4th. That day was crazy. Tony had booked my tickets under Corona to be sweet, although my passport still said Montross (*Until just this year). So we had some troubles at the ticket desk and he made it seem like I could not fly. I am pretty sure this is a huge deal, but he changed my name on the ticket. Then my carry on bag was too big and I had to rearrange it while trying to hold in the tears. It was such an emotional day!!! I hope our bags aren't too big this time! Tony thought we had 70 pounds and it turns out its 50. We have many more bags this time, plus a car seat and stroller. We still have to make sure they will all fit in our rental car.

I have a few pictures from our last days here

We needed to simplify... still do

Roman on the floor on moving day

Trash

Watching Tony

Last walk in our town

meeting and saying goodbye to Roisin and Pat

Camden and Roman Playdate

Paris Trip!

2010-03-13T22:05:00.002+01:00

We went to Paris this past weekend with my brother Josh. He came to town for 10 days and this was the end of his trip. We got engaged in Paris and knew we wanted to take Roman. With our days ending it was perfect to go this weekend with Josh. We got up and around on Saturday morning and left before noon. Roman slept so long in the car! I had to wake him to get him to eat and that never happens. Makes me wonder if I need to try to get him to go back to sleep after his short naps. Got there by 5 and out on the streets soon after. It was COLD! BUT no snow so that made us happy. Roman was so good in his stroller all bundled up too. So we walked around and we went to Notre Dame. We took some pictures in front and showed Josh where Tony proposed.

Before he fell asleep - I got some of him all bundled up in his stroller.

He asked me to be his wife while I sat on the bench right
behind the stroller March 18, 2006 almost 4 years ago.

We took our first engaged pic around here in a
similar pose.. with the same scarfs on and Tonys hat too!

Then we went inside to take a look around. We also went to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore too. I got a kids book called "We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures" The pictures are all from different artists.

Then we went to eat and I of course fed Roman and we also had to change him twice! Our meal was great and we were all ready to walk around some more! It was around Romans bed time too and he soon fell asleep in his stroller. We walked from there to the Louvre then on to the Champs Elysee, then we headed back to the hotel and it was almost midnight by the time we got back.

We watched some CNN and headed to bed.

DAY Deux
Roman wanted to get up a little sooner then the rest of us, Oh well sleep is not for those who want to see Paris, right? So we got up and around for our big DAY in Paris. We had found out the night before that the Louvre was free the first Sunday of the month and to our luck that was this Sunday! Yippie! We got in right before 11 am, NO LINE, AND it was FREEE. Super lucky we are. Also since we had the stroller Roman and I got to ride a very cool elevator down to the Main level where the entrances are. We spent a few hours in the Louvre and saw every wing but not every floor. We saw all the main stuff and the Mona Lisa of course. She has moved since Tony and I last saw her (Separate trips in college - sooo..a few years ago). The new spot is much better for her and her many admirers. Its pretty crazy that she draws such a crowd. After about 4 hours walking we decided to move on to the next landmark. We had gotten a day pass on the metro so we headed to Le Sacre Coure aka the big white church on the hill. We took many pics from here and went inside too. It was beautiful but I was not allowed to take pics, google images, and there are some. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was so pretty. Roman was amazing all day long, till we got there then he was very upset about something. I sat and fed him (in the cold) right by the Eiffel Tower and Josh and Tony walked around. He calmed down eventually and was happy as a clam. It has been a long day so we headed back to the room around that time. I think it was around 10. The stroller was awesome and only once did we have to break k it down to get through the gates after the metro. I am not sure why some of them have the extra door but some don't! I realized having a stroller and not a friend to help you carry it would NOT work in Paris if you wanted to take the metro. A nice stranger would work. We were not the only ones who carried strollers up and down the stairs for the metro.. believe me.

There she is.. behind all those people The Mona Lisa.

Roman enjoyed listening to Tony out front of the chuch

We had dinner right across the street from the Moulin Rouge. It was a very American style place called Buffalo Grill. Josh was disappointed in the choice, I had ostrich and I think tony had a buffalo burger. He wanted to see a show, and checked out the prices, nothing under 100 euros!

Three different views of La Tour Eiffel

Last Day
We got up and walked around tried to go to the catacombs but it was Monday and they were closed. We then went to this VERY cool area that is a giant flea market. Its the largest in the world with over 200,000 visitors every weekend! The link is to a site I found that talks about it. That is about all I have to say about that! Then we had pizza. We learned you can have pizza without cheese and its still good. Then we headed home. It was the end to a wonderful weekend and most likely the last trip we will be taking during our time here in Germany.

Sometimes (most times) I love Graffiti

Pizza - NO CHEESE! Still awesome.
Cheese does not make the pizza we decided. I didn't think that was possible

What a great way to end our time here. Paris was the first trip we took together when we got engaged in March then we went 2 years ago in March and now again in March and now its our last before we move. Maybe someday I will go again in the summer.. warm weather makes every city better. Ahh Paris. Yet another reason for me to keep the "Paris room" in our next home. Maybe I will blow up some of these pics I took! You will have to come see.

4 Months old

2010-03-05T12:47:00.000+01:00

Roman had his 4 month check up on the 4th. He is in the -
97 percentile in height at 26 *plus inches &
93rd in weight at 7.6 kg/16.76 lbs.

Roman on the day he turned 4 months old - March 3, 2010

In his "Toy" or "The Entertainer"

My cute little baby boy- He loves you -in sign language..

He went from here -

to here...

to here.

When I was taking pics he just kept turning and
moving around and ended up turned all around.
He has been crawling little bits too. No joke.

Still not sure what this means and why they tell me or why I am telling you. Because if he was a super small baby or an average baby, or a giant baby (as he is) what would I change? Maybe now at 4 months if he was small I might start to give him cereals, but I am still planning on nursing him past 6 months and since I was told today that he has eczema too. She got us some moisturizer to use 3 times a day and I am supposed to have a check up in three weeks. Right before we move. I don't think he was hurting at all from it and I can hardly tell where she said it was dry so I am surprised that she wants me to use it 3 times a day. On his forehead you can see but his legs you can't. Well Thats about it for me today.

*Because I drove and dropped off Tony and Roman to find a parking spot. I do not know the exact weight because Tony did not remember and they already did it when I walked in. I did not think to ask. My bad. So I know its over 26.

Swimming Baby!

2010-02-25T13:27:00.004+01:00

We took Roman to the pool this past Sunday. It was SOOO MUCH FUN> he loved it. I was a little worried about how he would react to the water temp. I had been before and it was much warmer in the building this time. Even getting into the water felt warmer. So he was very unsure at first. I have videos posted on Youtube. The camera wont upload them in a playable format on my computer so they are on Tonys. Maybe I can sign on there and put one on. He made a few pouty faces that were of course too cute. Then he was happy as could be. He loved the water and we even put him in an infant lifejacket. That was sooooo great. He loved to float. We would just pull him around and he soon started to just coo and coo. It was adorable. He was so happy and I couldn't have been happier either. We stayed for about an hour and I was only a little worried about him pooping and ending the pool day for everyone. Even with swim diaper trunks I am sure that would not keep it in. Gross I know.. but still I was worried!

HERE is a cute video.
We took Roman to the pool this past Sunday. It was SOOO MUCH FUN> he loved it. I was a little worried about how he would react to the water temp. I had been before and it was much warmer in the building this time. Even getting into the water felt warmer. So he was very unsure at first. I have videos posted on Youtube. The camera wont upload them in a playable format on my computer so they are on Tonys. Maybe I can sign on there and put one on. He made a few pouty faces that were of course too cute. Then he was happy as could be. He loved the water and we even put him in an infant lifejacket. That was sooooo great. He loved to float. We would just pull him around and he soon started to just coo and coo. It was adorable. He was so happy and I couldn't have been happier either. We stayed for about an hour and I was only a little worried about him pooping and ending the pool day for everyone. Even with swim diaper trunks I am sure that would not keep it in. Gross I know.. but still I was worried!

First Family Trip on a plane!

2010-02-19T13:14:00.005+01:00

We took our first trip just the three of us overnight in another country this past weekend. We went to Mallorca and island that is part of Spain. We stayed in the town called Palma. We left from Hahn airport here in Germany and took the over 2 hour flight with Roman. It was his first time in an airplane. He did pretty good. He also slept in his first and second crib and saw the ocean and a beach. He rode in his first taxi and bus too!

My Valentines Rose from Tony

Roman wanted to be in the carrier the wrong way.
This is the only way he was happy

He was napping while we went to the Arab Baths.
I had to cover his face to get him to shut his eyes.

Family Photo with the city behind us

This place was wonderful. We left another place before we found this restaurant.
They were soooo awesome. She brought be a pillow and even suggested
this table so Roman could be next to me. Our meals were great too.

He got to surf the rail of the moving walkway.

We had a great trip. The weather was not as cold as here in Germany. It was supposed to rain all weekend, but we only saw rain right before we left.

did you know...

2010-02-11T17:17:00.003+01:00

This is the law in Texas regarding breast feeding. From www.breastmilkcounts.com

The legislature finds that breast-feeding a baby is an important and basic act of nurture that must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health and family values. In compliance with the breast-feeding promotion program established under the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. Section 1771 et seq.), the legislature recognizes breast-feeding as the best method of
infant nutrition.

A mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother
is authorized to be.

The month of January - Review

2010-02-07T21:05:00.011+01:00

January is Month 3! He is much bigger then he was when we brought him home. He I believe is already close to 15 pounds and according to my tape measure he is 25 1/2 inches long. He was 7.6lbs when we brought him home and he was 21 1/4 inches long. I will do again the month in photos..

I also posted some videos on youtube. This is a link to just one.

First picture of him in 2010
Happy New YEAR!!

Staying warm while traveling
Ride to the Fraport.
(Frankfurt Airport - I didn't make that up)
Saying goodbye (not for long!)

First trip to Frankfurt!!!

24 1/2 inches the beginning of the month!

First Shots!

Second month wearing cloth diapers at home

so strong

getting longer and longer

He loves his caterpillar

First trip to Macaroni Grill (in germany)

He likes his name I guess..
Love to play with Tony

keeping warm - even if he doesn't like his hats
all the time at least he does sometimes!

I took pics of him in his at 2 months and he fills it out now

He helped with laundry

He took his first trip out of the country to France!

I am sure we will use this often!

New big boy toys

He is loved

He has started to drool.. a LOT.

New Toys and giggles

2010-02-01T13:00:00.004+01:00

I got Roman a little bouncy toy. I don't know what to call it.

I guess its an entertainment center really. He is so very excited about it, cant you tell from his face!? He just loves it, for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. I guess its good that he doesn't like it too much or I would feel bad taking him away from it to say change his diaper, put him down for a nap, feed him or even play with him myself! Today we were playing on the floor and I swear he giggled for the first time that wasnt followed by a cry. He has been giving us a little giggle, but he seemed to confuse it with sadness, because he would cry after it. This morning there were no crys anywhere near it! AND I was being funny, so of course he was laughing. I was stretching his arms above his head saying "stretch, stretch, stretch" then we would move his arms across his chest and say "run, run, run" and he giggled! It was oh so cute and I did it till he didn't want to giggle anymore. It was a short one, so we haven't got a full out belly laugh yet, but still cute. Tony heard too because he was home for lunch. I am going to miss him when he has to be gone all day long everyday of the week.

ANOTHER giveaway!

2010-01-27T17:48:00.004+01:00

So that giveaway I posted a few days ago I became a follower and they are doing a giveaway again! This necklace is soo pretty and nice for any couple. :) Married or not.. kids or not. Here it is and its followed by the link to the website.

The Vintage Pearl

Thankful Mom

2010-01-25T16:12:00.003+01:00

I love my husband Tony. One year ago next month my life changed forever when we got pregnant. I am thankful for that. I am thankful for being home with my baby. I am thankful that my husband supports (financially and emotionally) this choice that we both made. I am thankful I have a baby. I am thankful for his health too. I am thankful for my wonderful friends and family who love me. I am thankful for the examples that I had growing up from my mom and dad. I am thankful that I have everything I could possible need and more.
I am thankful for my life.
Ever changing and ever growing.
Now and Forever.

Oui Oui!

2010-01-20T21:57:00.003+01:00

Today Roman took his first trip to another country outside my belly. He went to France! I introduced my two friends to Cora. Its right across the border in Forbach, France. Anyways.. it was amazing. You can buy Belgium Beer there so I got 6 Duvels and some 1664. Its our favorite French Beer. They make many kinds now. I got 3 different ones, and 6 of each. You might think I am crazy, but Germans don't sell other peoples beer. OK they sell Coronas and Heineken and Budweiser - The Czech Beer, not American but those are the only ones I can think of. American Beer tastes like crap to most Europeans and to these Americans now. Yes I said it. We are spoiled Americans who dont even want to drink our beer. However I still look forward to having the option to buy it in a store that isn't a Class 6 when we move back.

How did I get off of France?! OK I also got my favorite macaroons frozen and fresh and two baguettes that Tony and I ate almost one whole one tonight. They are amazing and only 47 cents! Also some frozen crawfish. I wanted frog legs but decided that Tony might go hungry that night if I got them. I will have to ask him if he will eat them.

Roman had the best time being held by one of the three of us and sleeping and eating in the store. I fed him in the store while I walked around. You can be grossed out if you want to, I was covered, and no one saw my boobs. Judge me if you want, but I did it he isn't hurt and I didn't kill anyone. I got the courage to do this because of a friend who blogs. :) You know who you are. Thank you, I was so inspired when you told me, only I need a sling still. I changed his diaper on the counter in the bathroom since they had no changing table I cleaned if off with a wipe then put him on my cover. I have a pictures that I will post. He was the happiest baby until we left France, then he was not so happy till he fell asleep. It was a very successful trip out of the country. I wish he got a stamp.

$50 Giveaway!

2010-01-19T13:17:00.004+01:00

My friend Allison posted a link to her friends giveaway. The stuff on the site is so pretty and I can't help but share! So for more reasons then one I am posting a blog about it. The giveaway is for a site The Vintage Pearl. The link to the blogger who is doing the giveaway is here. Hope you enjoy the site as much as I did! Maybe you can win the gift certificate!

Baabies can communicate!

2010-01-15T23:29:00.003+01:00

OK so there are many books/websites out there devoted to how your baby can talk to you and sounds they make mean this and I think they are all great and might be what your baby is telling you. However what i just found on babycenter.com (I LOVE THEM) is for sure right on and I don't know why I didn't get this. I know babies can be overstimulated but I didn't know the many ways they could tell you they were. OK get ready for this.
Here are some signs that playtime is over:
• Closing eyes
• Turning away*
• Tensing up, arching back
• Avoiding your gaze*
• Irritability

Ok you might be saying "Crystal, you are the only one who didn't know this" BUT Seriously did you all know this?! The * ones are the ones I had no idea that meant they were done. The others are a little more obvious. Roman was doing this to Tony one day and we both just thought it was a little funny that he wouldn't look at him, but I guess he meant something by it. OK just thought I would spread the good word.

OK another one I found a while ago.. but dont find to be completly accurate but for sure ammusing is athis Australian lady who foudn that babies make sounds to tell you certain things. I think this is from wiki. I copied it a while ago to a note on my desktop.

• “Neh” – meaning, “I’m hungry”
• “Owh” – meaning, “I’m tired”
• “Heh” – meaning, “I’m uncomfortable”
• “Eairh” (ah)– meaning, “I have lower gas”
• “Eh” – meaning, “I need to burp”

Neh I'm hungry - An infant uses the sound reflex "Neh" to communicate its hunger. The sound is produced when the sucking reflex is triggered, and the tongue is pushed up on the roof of the mouth.

Owh I'm sleepy - An infant uses the sound reflex "Owh" to communicate that they are tired. The sound is produced much like an audible yawn.

Heh I'm experiencing discomfort - An infant uses the sound reflex "Heh" to communicate stress, discomfort, or perhaps that it needs a fresh diaper. The sound is produced by a response to a skin reflex, such as feeling sweat or itchiness in the bum.

Eairh I have lower gas - An infant uses the sound reflex "Eairh" to communicate they have flatulence or an upset stomach. The sound is produced when trapped air from a belch that is unable to release and travels to the stomach where the muscles of the intestine tighten to force the air bubble out. Often, this sound will indicate that a bowel movement is in progress, and the infant will bend its knees, bringing the legs toward the torso. This leg movement assists in the ongoing process.

Eh I have gas - An infant uses the sound reflex "Eh" to communicate that it needs to be burped. The sound is produced when a large bubble of trapped air is caught in the chest, and the reflex is trying to release this out of the mouth.

3 nights!

2010-01-14T11:50:00.003+01:00

Roman has slept in his room 3 nights in a row now. Last night we even put him down after 9. Its been 10 to 11, but the night before I fed him at 8 and he was acting sleepy by 9 and he got pretty fussy since we tried to keep him up till 10 so I could feed him again. So Tony took him up stairs after 9:30 and it took about an 45 minutes for him to go to sleep. He never cried the horrible bloody murder cry, but he did fuss a little bit on and off. We just knew he was tired. So he didnt eat right before he went down and he slept till 4 45 that night and last night after going down at 9:15.. HE slept till 6 am.. When I went in and woke him up to feed him. I was so worried that he had gone so long without eating that I picked him up and fed him. He didnt fuss at all and he ate and then when I tried to put him back down, he didnt want to go. SO I fed him a little more to calm him down since he only ate for 10 minutes I thought he must still be hungry. Then he woke up at 7:45. That time he seems to like. Can you believe he slept from 9 to 6! Who knows how long he would have gone without me waking him! Since he turned 10 weeks old on Tuesday he had another photo shoot with me. Last night he played with Tony and he rolled over so many times. I thought he had forgot how since it had been so long. Its was just too funny since he did it so calmly, then he was all smiles. I kept putting him on his tummy and he would roll over faster then I could get the camera.

Big week!

2010-01-12T18:29:00.002+01:00

So far this week has been big for Roman. He slept in his room for the first time last night! Away from us, all night! He went down at 10, woke up to eat at 2:40 down by 3 then awake around 7:45. THEN he had his 2 month appointment and he had to get shots. He did great the whole appointment, then got fussy when the dr left. I had to go to the waiting room to wait for the shots and he was hungry so he cried until we got called and was still crying and fussing, so when he got the shots you could tell he cried a little harder, but I was ready to feed him and he quickly latched on and stopped crying. Then he slept off and on till even now, most of the awake times he has been a little fussy, but I still got some smiles out of him. I have pics to post soon too! Today he is 10 weeks! HE weights 14.2 Lbs and was almost 24 and a 1/2 inches LONG! That put him in the 80 something percentile for both those, I think 81 and 82. His head is smaller then most being in the 30th percentile. I don't remember how big it was. I think he seems perfectly proportionate. :) Time to calm my sad baby. I dont think his tylenol is doing anything! :(

BF

2010-01-08T14:37:00.002+01:00

I have been breastfeeding for over 2 months now! Wow its gone fast. I also had hardly any pain or discomfort. It was a shock to me and I also never had any leaking. I know you might be thinking tmi.. but this is my blog. SOO I will write about my boobs. I wish I had known that it was only a possibility of pain and leaking! I seriously thought that everyone had to go through a HARD time before it got better. I never hit that at all?! I am still kind of waiting. I did hurt the day my milk came in, but it was bearable considering I just gave birth a few days before. I have had a little bit of uncomfterable times when he latches on, but its totally NOTHING like I thought it would be. SO happy about it. I do have 6 pairs of cotton reusable breast pads if anyone needs them. I also have an extra tube of lanolin stuff too that I doubt I will use, and I have some breast shells. I was prepared to breastfeed. I hope to do it till he is 12 months old, maybe I will just start to pump more later. The thing I didnt think about was that I would have to think about what I put on that day and what I was doing if I was going to leave the house how easy is if for me to pull out my boob. HA! I dress for easy access. I just got three shirts today and a button up sweater to make it easier when we are out. Bonus for me they were on sale for $1 at the PX. Three shirts the same for $3. Wahoo. OK well Just wanted to make a short post about how surprised I am at how breastfeeding has been going. I think I was so scared and prepared for the worst that it just couldn't be as bad as I was thinking.

Nails and BUMBO!

2010-01-06T14:53:00.004+01:00

I cut Romans nails for the first time. I have cut one or two maybe, and I filed them twice a little bit.. but I cut all his nails on his hands and most of his toes. I wanted to do it when he slept so he wouldn't move, but he wouldn't fall asleep and stay asleep when I did it. So today when he was eating he just kept stopping and looking at me wondering what I was doing. He is so curious. I don't think I hurt him at all, but he did pull his hand away once, but he didn't really stop moving the whole time. I just had to hold on tight to his hands and feet.

Today we also got him a Bumbo chair! He cried when I first put him in it.. we needed to change the diaper. Then he was happy and smiles. We took some video and it was pretty funny to us. I will try to post it soon, for all to enjoy. :) ha.

UPDATE! We got his passport in today! Wahoo.. France will so be his first country to visit. I am so ready to go back to Cora.

Easy Meal - Risotto

2010-01-06T12:58:00.005+01:00

Pretty simple and delicious risotto. I found a similar recipe and just changed and added a few things to make it my own. I thought we would have left overs, but we didn't. I guess that's a good thing?

Spinach, Shrimp, and Mushroom Risotto

Cook time from start to finish - about 35 minutes (depends on how fast you prep)
Servings - 6 as a side or 2-3 as a main dish.

Ingredients:
2 cans reduced-sodium chicken broth

pepper to taste in broth
Garlic powder to taste in rice

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/2 cup fresh or frozen mushrooms

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (or however much you want) Shrimp

Preparation:

1. Bring broth and pepper to boil in small saucepan and reduce heat to keep simmering.

2. Spray large saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until hot. Add rice and stir about 1 minute. Stir 2/3 cup hot chicken broth into saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Add garlic powder.

3. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time making sure it's is absorbed before adding next. When last 1/2 cup chicken broth is added, stir in spinach, shrimp, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring gently until all broth is absorbed, everything is hot, and rice is done. (Total cooking time for chicken broth absorption is about 20 minutes.)

4. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in cheese and serve.

Recap of December! aka Month 2

2010-01-05T18:48:00.011+01:00

Lots of things happened last month for Roman. I have posted a few pictures to recap in a somewhat backward order..

He passed out soon after midnight

He was awake for his first New Years!

He went to a few meals with new friends

He took pictures with his family

He played with Grandma Corona and his New Years pig

He spent time in Grandpa Coronas arms

He turned 8 weeks old and is all smiles!

He celebrated his first Christmas

He got lots and lots of Christmas presents

YAY for Christmas Morning!!!

He met Grandma and Grandpa Corona on Christmas eve morning!

He went to his first change of command

Had lots of Tummy Time

Slept often in my arms

Went to eat with Daddy at work (He served a Christmas meal)

He met friends of mine

Went shopping with us

First holiday photos!

Saw snow for the first time!
He was not very happy about it.

Went to his first Army Navy party!
GO ARMY!

Got our first family tree

Went shopping with just me - and slept most of the time

Took Tonys favorite picture yet

Turned one month old

Smiled and talked A LOT!

2010 Here At Last

2010-01-01T22:56:00.006+01:00

I am so excited for this year. We will have so many things happening in the coming months. By next year this time we will have a whole new life in who knows where with a ONE year old. Oh my. My life has already gone by too fast. I guess I should get used to that since I have felt like I was just in high school last year for the past almost 10 years.

A friend posted a year in review with pictures and you would think that would be easy for me, but my pictures have been moved to a removable hard drive and I have to hook it up.. so maybe I will post the pics in a later post. I just am going to try to remember what happened last year!

January- I had just got back from Japan the very end of December and we brought in the New Year at my friend Mindy's house with friends. It was great and German new years are very fun with lots of fireworks!

February - We celebrated Valentines day in Berlin and we went to a GIANT indoor water park and we enjoyed a nude spa! We also took a tour on Segways and it was very very very cold. Tony headed to the field for 2 weeks and right after he left I found out we were going to have a baby! I waited till he got home to tell him in person and boy was that hard!

March - I took an official blood test at the hospital to confirm the pregnancy, filled out tons of paperwork, got our first taste of being parents by babysitting my friends little two year old girl one weekend, got our first sonogram and heard his heart beat, took a trip to the states, told our family and friends about the baby. I saw Britney Spears. It was awesome.

April - I spent a good 3 weeks in Texas visiting with family and friends! It was GREAT! My mom turned 50 too!

May - I flew on a Space Available flight to D.C. for my brother Josh's College/Masters Graduation and got to spend time with family. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a trip to Spain we stayed in Malaga and Seville. We visited Gibraltar also! We got to hear the heart beat again too. Tony's mom turned 50 also. Both would become grandmas at 50!

June - We found out its a boy!!! We also got to see the President of the UNITED States, Barack Obama, land at Ramstein Air Base. We also took a big trip to Dubai! It was a very nice trip. It was very hot there I don't know how they do it covered head to toe! I know that might keep some of the heat off them.. but when its all black!?

July - We hosted Tonys cousin and her family for a few days. I turned 26 this month. We celebrated with Thai food and friends. We also took a trip to visit our friend Roisin and the 3 of us went to Munich for a day of fun. I also got my hair cut - only a trim. I hardly ever get my hair cut. The last time was October of 08. Yes - sad I know.

August - We went to Trier with a friend of Tonys from West Point and it turned out to be a VERY VERY HOT day. It was over 100 out and we are no longer used to these hot days. Plus I was pregnant and already always hot. Tony bought a shield for Roman to play with. Oh and I finally did our Taxes..

September - We celebrated Tony's 27th Birthday with a trip to Belgium where he drank lots of beer and I watched. I climbed way too many stairs for being 8 months Pregnant. The giant KMCC also opened and began our many trips to the other side of the world for soap. (Ok so I exaggerate a little bit its 10 more minutes away but you have to add the time it takes to park, walk in, walk from one end to the other, and then stand in line, then walk out again)

October -October was a busy month. I played BUNCO for the first time and it was so much fun. I won two prizes. I think I played BINGO this month too maybe it was last month.. I won a very ugly wallet and I feel guilty about it since I am sure many people would have loved it. I wont twice really but didn't call fast enough and I the thing was cleared that lady was a bad caller.. We also went to the second largest beer fest in Germany held in Stuttgart Germany! It was much better then Oktoberfest according to me. Also my mom flew in to stay with us for almost 6 weeks to help with the baby. I am SO VERY thankful that she was able to do so, it was wonderful to have her. Oh ya and I cut my hair again this month.

November - Nov 3 I gave birth to Roman Anthony Corona. The most beautiful perfect little boy ever. He is such a joy and I love him so much. I swear he has the best smile EVER. EVER.

December - we celebrated our first Christmas Season as a family of 3. Tony's parents visited too.

I think I got all our trips in there?! How lucky am I? A wonderful loving husband, who is the sweetest dad and a healthy baby boy. We have our health and a safe home and anything we could need and a few things we don't. We both have wonderful family and friends that we miss and cant wait to spend time with. I am thankful for everything I have and all that has happened to be. Good and bad it all has made me who I am. Thank you for contributing to my life.

Books on babies.. have you read?

2009-12-18T17:33:00.012+01:00

I am interested in seeing if other people have read any of these books and what they think. I have only read one parenting book so far, but I have looked online for short articles here and there. I think its best to go with what feels right for you, but getting some guidance isn't a bad thing either. The first three are more about signals babies send, and the second three are more about how to "train" the baby.

1. What Babies Say Before They Can Talk : The Nine Signals Infants Use to Express Their Feelings

2. The Secret Language of Babies: The Body Language of Little Bodies
This one I could not find much about, but it seems to be the most interesting one.

3. Dunstan Baby Language -- Learn the universal language of newborn babies

4. The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

5. The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer

6. On Becoming Babywise

The last one I have checked out and started to read. I already have on opinion. But I will wait to see what other have to say. If you haven't read them look up reviews and tell me what you think! Leave a link of its a good one. If you have any thoughts or tips to share please do! About sleeping, feeding or whatever.
ps: I couldnt get the fonts to all be the same... not sure why. sorry about the yelling.

Go Army BEAT Navy!! Maybe next year..

2009-12-14T17:48:00.004+01:00

This was Roman's first Army Navy game. Although this is the 8th year in a row Navy Beat Army, we still had a good night and we still went into the game hoping. Good thing we can also clam TCU as our team. *I don't really get into football that much, but I still love TCU, no matter if they win or loose - I am just happy they are good at winning. Here are some pictures and videos (no sound because its broke) from the night.

Roman is not celebrating an Army Touch Down.

Believe it or not.. he is just dancing to the music. See video below.

Tony had to buy him an Army T.. its very large and will fit
him for few games to come. Its a 2T.

Can you find him?

Cute right?!

Roman can go to any college he wants to.
Its just fun to dress him up.

Quick update.. Roman I believe has grown an inch or so.. I tried to measure him and got around/over 22 inches. He was born 21 and 1/4. I wanted to weigh him on our scale and found out its low battery. A few days this past week he has been slept for almost 2 hours in his swing! Okay.. he didnt sleep the entire time, but on and off and he was content. He would open his eyes and then go back to sleep. It is nice to be able to move around without him, when he is not screaming or not holding him. Not that I don't love to hold him! He has also had over 6 hours of sleep a few nights, but I have NO IDEA why!? I would love a repeat though. His "old man" hair is still there, but he is starting to grow some peach fuzz on top. It's so soft and I like to rub his head now. He also smiles and "talks" to us often. He especially likes to talk to me when I change his diaper downstairs. He likes it downstairs because I use a warm washcloth but upstairs we use baby wipes and they are not warm. We will sit in the bathroom "talking" for a long time during the day.

1 Month OLD!

2009-12-06T17:24:00.009+01:00

Roman in his bear outfit - notice his ears

his arms were stuck up like that

Pics with Mom and Dad

He has so many cute outfits

I know its silly.. only to remember how tiny his feet are

Cute little butt - Legs are filling out too

Roman is growing so fast. We knew it would happen, but it truly is going by so fast. Its a few days past the big day of one month. He has done so many things this past month besides entering the world. He has already been on his first overnight trip, his umbilical cord fell off, we started to use cloth diapers. He can wear 3-6 month clothes because he is SOOOOOOOO LONG (he will still fit into the others, but they fit better even if the feet are big on him), he rolls over, he doesn't like his car seat that much and cries most of the time in it, We got a bouncer that he likes, still working on getting him to like the swing. He likes to listen to music and dance around, or be bounced around by Tony. He also likes to listen to the hair dryer in the bathroom to calm him down - my mom taught us about this trick. HE LOVES BATH- until it gets too cold. He also now likes the baby ergo carrier. Tony even carried him in it last night. Its a great carrier and will last us till he is a toddler too. He has hung out with just him and daddy too already and they both do great. I started to pump to allow me to be gone and to allow Tony time alone with him to bond. He went with me to a candle party too and he got to meet another baby who is just a week younger then him. They played nice (asleep and all). Then he pooped all over himself in front of everyone and I had to change him out of his dirty clothes. It was a mess.

He has been rolling over since the first week we brought him home. I think it has something to do with his long body. I thought it was a fluke at first, but he has done it many more times, although we are working on doing it on que. He does it best when angry. One day he actually was so calm that, not only did he not roll over, he put himself to sleep!!! That was a first. Most of the time he falls asleep only in my arms after eating and wont stay asleep unless I leave him there. OR Tony moves him. Last night he slept 7 hours in a row, Tony put him down and told him to sleep a long time. Went to bed at 11 then didn't wake up till almost 6 am!! We both woke up at 5 am and Tony asked me what time he had woke up and when I realized he hadn't and it was past 5 I had to check to see if he was still breathing. He usually went maybe 4 hours the first part of the night, then would wake every 1 to 3 hours to eat again. So tonight we cross our fingers but dont hold our breath that he makes it just as long again.

I leave you with a video of my smiling baby

Army time coming to a close

2009-11-30T22:30:00.004+01:00

Tony just got info that leads us to believe we will start clearing (getting out of) the Army in Mid March. MIDDLE OF MARCH. That is only THREE AND A HALF months away.. LESS THEN FOUR. Oh, my army time has gone fast. ha. That means we should be back in the states by April. Who knows where we wil live. Wow. That is just crazy.

I can't believe we have been married going 3 years and we have a baby now. Our little boy turns 4 weeks old tomorrow. My how much things change in a year. Last year at this time I was still in Japan and Tony had just visted me in Tokyo for Thanksgiving. We look forward 2010, but before the new year comes in a few short weeks we have more family and friends to see. We have to get shopping for the holidays! I started to put things on the tree today! Only got 3 ornaments on before Tony got home. Roman did not allow me much time away from him today.

I leave you with Photos of Roman and Jiffy the Giraffe. Tony must name all stuffed animals.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T23:26:00.003+01:00

I love Thanksgiving. Maybe its because I love food so much. Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without something to be thankful for right? I am Thankful for my healthy baby boy, my loving husband, my wonderful family and friends AND the freedom I have to live my life the way I choose. SO HAPPY LATE Thanksgiving! :)

3 weeks old

2009-11-22T18:18:00.007+01:00

Roman turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday! I can't believe it. Four weeks ago you were in my tummy and my mom was here telling you to come out every chance she got. I was fine waiting till you were ready. And you were ready on November 3rd.

The time we have spent with you so far has been full of learning and fun. Of course its also been spent changing dirty diapers, getting peed and pooped on, trying to get you to stop crying and not sleeping too. You are so interesting for being so young. You make so many different sounds. We have started to name some of them. One which you make most often in your car seat is the Dieing cat sound or as mommy calls it the "dead cat" to which Daddy pointed out that if the cat were dead it would make no sound. Still it's horrible and I like to say the one I made up. The other which is sooo cute is your little squeaky sound. Its one you make when you are just waking up or trying to get our attention, but your not as pissed off as the dead cat.

We have started to call you a few names too. Daddy calls you Romy sometimes. Which is funny because mommy wanted to call you that too and when she thought of it when we first picked your name she didn't want to tell Daddy about Romy because she was afraid he would ban that nick name. Turns out he likes it. (I do think of Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion) He also calls you stinky. I DO NOT APPROVE of that name. Daddy smells like crazy. I swear he took my pregnant nose. He can smell when you pee! Also your vitamins that we give you smell too. Then of course there is the spit up too. I don't think your poopy diapers smell that bad, but Dad can smell those too. I also call you Peanut and Pea. For some reason Tony doesn't like peanut. You are not a tiny baby though you are completely in the middle. Your not huge and your not small. Your perfect. You are gaining weight fast. You had to go to the doctor on your 3 week birthday. You had some green goop coming out of your eye and lucky us we made an appointment that day. Then it went away by the time we got there. Turns out your little tear ducts could be causing the problem. So we will just keep an eye on them.

You have already spent your first night in a hotel. You did pretty good. You slept in your stroller bassinet. Its been great for you to sleep in. We have taken many pictures and look forward to all the memories we have yet to make.

We Love You Roman
Your Mommy

Birth Story

2009-11-11T22:06:00.003+01:00

Introducing The Corona Family

The Sunrise the morning he was born (Taken by Tony)

The very first picture I took of him - many more to come

In the mother baby unit - sleeping after his meal

Tony holding Roman soon after birth - still purple

I gave birth over a week ago now. On November 3rd at 2:24 at Landstuhl Hospital in Germany to be exact. He was 21 1/4 inches long and he weighed 3.740 Kilograms = 8.23 pounds. This is my story about the day our first little boy came into the world.

I woke up at midnight that morning to pee then tried to go back to sleep only to wake up again at 12:30 and thought I had to go again. I guess Roman decided to start coming then. What I felt must have been his head according to the nurse that made me think I had to go to the restroom. Soon after that also started to have mild *painless contractions that were about 5 minutes apart. So I called the hospital soon after to make sure I was ok. Then soon after that I started to have REAL contractions. They hurt bad. I knew they were real and I had no doubt, but they were only 7 minutes apart. So I called again. Nurse Sheilds (who also happens to be a west point parent and know Tonys mom via email) answered again and told me that I could come in if I wanted to but she was pretty sure that if they weren't 5 minutes apart that if I was past 2 or 3 cm dilated she would be surprised. Especially since I was a first time mom. Sooo I decided to wait, since I didnt want to drive 20 minutes one way just to have to walk around the hospital for 2 hours while my body showed actual signs of progressing to labor. If it got too bad I was just supposed to call to tell them we were on the way.

During the waiting I called a few people. Who got to sit there while I had a contraction that I could not talk during every 5 minutes. I actually have the record of the times... I am going to post them for my own benefit so that I can look back. Tony came down stairs I think somewhere before the "started to get bad" phase during my second phone call to labor and delivery. I told him to go back to bed.

Contractions
1 19
1 24
1 29
1 35
1 38
1 43
1 51 or here..
1 55 Started to get bad
2 02
2 11
2 20
2 27
2 35
2 43
2 50
2 55 -5
3 02 -7
3 07 -5
3 12 -5
3 17 -5

I decided to wake my mom and Tony soon after this last one. Even with that random 7 minute one in there I just hurt too bad and felt like it was long enough at home. I didn't want to deliver on the bathroom floor. First I woke my mom, then I went upstairs and woke Tony and lay in bed for another few while he got ready. Oh, did they hurt. I was just fine in between them but it was amazing how I just couldnt move or do anything during one. My mom describes contractions like a really bad charlie horse that you get in your leg only its worse. I knew that once I got to the hospital I could not eat anything but clear stuff because they fear that during labor women will throw up. It was hard to have a contraction in the car. I had I think 4 on that 20 minute ride in the dark and drizzle to the hospital. Then one on the way in to labor and delivery by the elevator. So we get checked in around 5 am and I get into my beautiful backless gown to get checked.

Guess what I was already dilated to 5 cm! Nurse Sheilds was shocked. She said I had bragging rights. So I will repeat that over and over. She asked me if I was ready for or if I planned to get any pain medication. I told her I wanted to wait as long as I could for my epidural because I heard that it can make labor longer. She said I was already past a point and on my way so now was a good time. Can I tell you how little my epidural hurt! Oh my gosh I swear it was nothing. I did start to shake uncontrollably right before the epidural. I guess it was all the adrenaline running threw me. So she cleaned me all up and placed the tub in my back. Genius. They checked for the numbness to kick in with a wet cotton ball on my leg and stomach. That felt odd! I didn't know I would be able to move around my and feel most of my legs. The lady who gave me my IV hurt me 10 times worse then the epidural. The first attempt I had a blown vein; which is still bruised a week later might I add. I have no idea if that means it was my veins fault or hers.. but I do NOT like being stuck with needles.. I don't like seeing them or anything about them, so I will blame her. She put it in my upper arm and I asked her to cover it because I could see too much of it. I am guessing I was the first to ask that because she seemed confused as to why I would need that. We killed time by playing games and I tried to rest, but even without feeling the contractions anymore I was too excited to sleep.

5 hours later at around 10 am they came in to check me again. I had felt much more pressure for a while and when she checked she said she had good news. I was already to 10. The Dr came in to break my water and after they did she said my cervix was in the way. So They let me sit there for another hour almost two before we started to push. The beginning stages of pushing was so easy. They said I was pushing wrong so they brought in the nurse anesthetist to turn down my epidural. Then I learned about a button to push incase of too much "pain"/pressure. That was nice to know about later. I think they turned it off towards the end I swear I could feel way too much... but I guess I will not know unless I go with no epidural at all and I just dont see the point of that right now.

Tony was great the whole time. He was there by my side with the nurse helping me breath and push. He was the best coach and husband I could ask for. When I started to freak out and cry telling the dr I wanted Roman out right now he kept telling me how close I was. I guess I was close for a while because the Dr. kept coming in and leaving. BUT when she did come in she would have me turn to my other side or back talking about how I was doing better before. That upset me more times then not. Another thing that upset me was when she had me touch his head. If you are grossed out.. then don't read this part. I would have thought by the "pressure" and all the "good jobs" "Your almost there" that I would have felt a softball size BUT.. I swear I felt maybe an egg. I was sooo upset that made me cry too. Tony had to calm me down once again. I didnt want to touch his head but she asked for my hand and before I knew it it was done. When we got even closer the Dr. asked if I wanted to feel and before I said no the nurse made sure she knew that upset me last time. My mom was in and out of the room giving us time alone but she was there for the birth. She filmed and took pictures for us. I am very thankful that she was able to come over and be here for such a special time in our lives.

Another funny part I didnt mention is that I started to push around 11:30 or so and we were watching TV at the time. We had it on AFN Prime, the only channel I get at home, so I know the schedule by heart. At 1:00 young and the restless comes on and its over at 2:00. SO when I was still pushing when the "Next time on the Young and the Restless" came from the TV I was thinking its been over almost two hours already! Then the stupid soaps came on and I stopped paying attention to the TV. BUT I swear she told me during Y & R how close I was multiple times. The Dr. came in soon after it was over and then she said it was time and the Dr got all her gear on. She had a mask with a face shield. It was serious stuff. When I pushed the last time and he came out I had wanted to have him skin to skin but he wasn't making enough noise and she said the cord was around his neck so he went to the warmer. I was so upset that he was not on my chest I started saying how I wanted him on me as fast as possible. (There is lots of info saying how this helps the baby adjust to life outside the womb, and they are calmer and breast feed better then babies who are not skin to skin for an hour or more) He stayed with me on my chest as soon after they got him breathing ok and made sure everything was good. I think they wanted to put his eye stuff on and some other things but I insisted they wait. I was told by my midwife and also the lactation consultant that this was perfectly fine for him and that those things could wait. I am sure they just want to get their job done so they can move on. There are more details of course. Maybe I will post those later. I got to hold him and he was perfect. It was wonderful and I told him I was sorry for not wanting to push anymore. Then he kept me company while I was stitched up. I did force Tony to take off his shirt after they took him away from me and I have no memory of what they did to me, but I wanted him to have the Skin to Skin contact too. Thanks for going along with that honey. I love you.

Due date reached

2009-11-01T14:12:00.004+01:00

Tony and I the weekend before due date

My mom and I the same day.
Mom is excited to meet her first Grandchild

So I am due today. No signs of labor yet. SO I am guessing he will be late. Mom wants me to go for a walk. Maybe that will do it and I will be in labor later today. BUT I don't feel like it at all. I still feel great. I thought the end was supposed to be the worst part and I you would do anything to get the baby out. I am perfectly comfortable being pregnant. I am sure that means that the labor will be horrible.. or my next pregnancy wont be so nice. Either way I am thankful to have been so lucky this time around.

OH! We had a pizza from a vendor right behind us and he gave us our pizza for free and he touched my tummy when he brought it out and wished us luck then when we left he ran out and Kissed my stomach! He was a cute Italian and he seemed to have a crush on Tony. lol. Not really but he was very happy for us and the fact that the baby was a boy. That was the first time I had a stranger touch my stomach, but its ok he asked and I don't mind at all. I didn't even mind when he kissed it either. It makes for a funny story.

Pregnancy in week 39

2009-10-21T05:24:00.005+02:00

Me Tuesday, October, 20 2009 with Amanda my
midwife who just did a sonogram for my mom

So I am 38 plus 4. Its early here but it still counts as a new day to me since I have already gone to bed and woke up. I am sure I will crash hard tonight. Maybe even sleep ALL night long!? Ok so I have a secret. If you go by the days I have been counting down to its actually Halloween. It makes me feel better just to add that extra day on. According to my chart at the hospital its 38 plus 3 today (October 21). Why would I do this? Because at our first appointment when Roman was only 9 weeks old she said it looked like he was one day ahead of schedule. Then at our next sonogram appointment around 17 weeks she said he looked maybe a week ahead, but they dont change the date unless its 2 weeks ahead. Which I still dont understand.. because the say they get your date is to get the date of your last period and add 2 weeks to that. Soooooo if you minus two weeks from that first estimated due date... it just doesn't make sense to me. OK so I wanted to update the internet on pregnancy since my last post. Just fill in on the random things I have experienced since being pregnant.

So stretch marks suck. They make me feel gross and fat. Blah. OK So I put on lotion but I wasnt daily about it. I have decided to make myself feel better that some people get them and some people dont and that I COULD NOT have prevented them. So there. Thats how I am going to deal with it. Maybe they will fade. I only have a few so I will live and I hear you can laser them away.

My ankles are no longer. I have cankles. Not only are they ugly and gross. They hurt! I feel very vain when I say that if I always had them I might have to look into surgery to fix them. Hate me now. Its ok. I would most likely never want to spend money on something so stupid. My feet do go down at night but they swell up at the end of the day and walking on them they feel just giant. I can still wear my croc boots, but I did just get a pair of slip on house shoes with rubber bottoms that I did wear out yesterday. They are cute.. Maybe I will post a pic of them. They dont look like "house shoes" they look like felt slip on shoes. So its ok. I promise. I do have my slip on crocs, but every time I want to wear them all I can think is "why in the world did I let the shoe guys talk me into turquoise crocs, I should have got tan or black?!?!" Because when I look down that's all i see is TURQUOISE!

My belly button is still not sticking out. Its flat and that is almost just as creepy, but its just not a huge flag to the world like the sticking out belly button is.

Sleeping has its good days and bad. Last night I woke up a few times so I would say it was a bad night, more so because its almost 5:45am and I have been up for over an hour now. When you do wake up you either are in pain because you have to change positions or you have to pee. Then if you have to pee you notice, oh I hurt. It hurts to try to sit up and get out of bed. It takes much effort to get our of bed. More so because I have a pillow between my legs that I have to remove and make sure I place it where I can find it in the dark when I return. I have also started to sleep with two little pillows under my feet to help with swelling. I think its helped a lot. So I sleep on my side with a pillow between my legs and under my feet and one for my head. That's just 4 pillows the most pillows I have ever slept with in my life. I am usually a one pillow person. All these pillows are just crazy.

I don't think I experienced any crazy food cravings. The only thing I thought of was a beer float, but I didn't get to try that. The other thing that I didn't create myself was this dip I found at the bazaar on Ramstein last month. OK get ready for this. I didn't even want to try it either but I love samples.. so I had to. It was a garlic and honey dip! I KNOW! Sounds gross.. BUT they sell it so it means that other people buy it and I highly doubt that all those other people are pregnant. It was 49% honey and 51% garlic. Or the other way around.. one had that little bit more. I just sampled it on a piece of bread and it was so good. I should have bought it.. but I also have this tendency to think "I can make that" when I see something like that. Food and craft things apply to this.

I have received so many clothes/gifts for Roman. Thank you if you sent some! Tony had a co worker who had twin boys who are 3 months old I think.. and she gave me a ton of new born things! I think he has more newborn clothes then he does 0 - 3 month clothes. I have washed and put away all the newborn to 3 month clothes. I figure I can start washing the other months maybe next month or January. Its more by weight then the months (as you might know already) so I will just have to see how fast he grows and how big he is when he is born.

I have to also mention that my wonderful Cousin Buffy (AKA Jennifer to the rest of the world) sent out invites to our side of the family and had a over the mail shower for me as a surprise. It was so sweet and she even sent me the cute invite to save. She made me a cute onsie with the state of Texas on it and a coordinating burb cloth that she embellished too. Her mom made him two nice sized blankets. Her sisters (my cousins) got me some things from my registry. Another Aunt who has 3 daughters and 2 daughters in law all sent me a bunch of things in a box too ranging from bath duck toy that tells you if the water is too hot to books and cloths. My mom sent him a bunch of things too. A few cute outfits and some socks and other goodies.

My mother in law had a skype shower a few Sundays ago too! She had the Corona Dallas family members over to hold up gifts to show to Tony and I. They also gave Tony his own diaper bag with some funny things for him. Like ponchos and rubber gloves and nose plugs.. a Bio Hazard bag. Silly things like that. My mom brought over all the loot on Monday and we have unpacked it already and its put away in its place. They went all out on the gifts too. So many cute things. I have pics posted on facebook from the two "showers".

I also have to thank my friends who have sent things just because. Thanks so much. It means so much that you would go above and beyond to help us welcome our first baby into the world. Its very different being so far away so it really does mean the world to me. :) I love you all.

OOH he is always in my side. We joke that he is trying to get out. Its like he gets a running start and sticks in my side. Only its his feet.. since he is upside down. Which creeps me out btw. Why is it ok for the baby to be UPSIDE DOWN for so long?! Feel free to tell me.

I think I covered the things I wanted to talk about. Have a super week!

Peace Man

2009-10-12T13:13:00.004+02:00

There are so many opinions about the recent announcement of President Barack Obama as the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. I decided to look into who received it in the past and why. Because the only people I can think of are Al Gore and Mother Teresa.

In case you didn't know the committee who votes is composed of 5 individuals who try to make a unanimous vote for the person/organization, although this is not always possible. There are also a few people who never were given the prestigious prize that might be just as controversial as some who have. Search here. One such as Mahatma Gandhi who was nominated 12 times between 1937 and 1948. There is a very long article as to possibly why he was never a Laureate. Six have declined the a Nobel Prize- some were forced to reject it and others choose to. Only one to reject the Peace Prize. Hitler was nominated for a Peace Prize but his nom was taken back on the deadline of the same year.

There is a press release on the site stating why he was the recipient. Here is a link to the entire release. This is the beginning of the release about the Obama and the reason the committee is awarding him"..for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons....For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman."

I tried to find exactly what reasons a person should be nominated for the prize and this is what I found in Nobel's will he stated the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". I also found the following quote on Wikipedia. "Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which recognize completed scientific or literary accomplishment, the Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace." The council has released a statement about why they believe he should be the recipient so young in his presidency saying "the Committee wanted to demonstrate its support for the approaches he is taking towards global problems".

I visited the Nobelprize.org website and it's great. Listed is each recipient since 1901 (for all the prizes) and a search engine for the people who were nominated too! Can you guess who was nominated but didn't win? Go check it out here! The list is only released 50 years after the year in question. Alfred Nobel is the namesake of the prize and this is what the site has to say about him. "Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honoring men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. The foundations for the prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the Nobel Prize.... Meet Alfred Nobel - scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and pacifist. " Doesn't he sound great?

There is a process for awarding the Prize of course. Here is the long version on the website. To sum up - the person must be nominated by Feb from an eligible nominator. Thousands of eligible nominators are sent a letter in September and their letters of nominees must be post marked no later then Feb 1st. This date is only 11 days after Obama took office. I wonder how many people nominated him. This past year of 2009, 205 nominations were made for individuals/organizations for the Peace Prize. This is the most ever! The last record was in 1995 and was 199 people/organizations. As I stated earlier those names will not be released for another 50 years. Of course they receive many many letters, but many of those are duplicates, I also wonder who else was nominated this year. I will be in my 70's when the list is released.

OK now all those were just facts.. I wasn't putting anything I thought into it.. now in my personal opinion I think its a great thing that the world is looking at America in a positive way. We were not too long ago viewed very negatively in the eyes of the world. In Obama's very short time as the President of the United States he has brought the American people back into the light. I think he did that even before he took the oath. THAT is a big deal. Even if you don't think he should have been awarded its not a reason to direct negative energy towards him. He did not nominate himself, that's not how it works. I am sure he would much rather not be mentally defending himself because he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and he hasn't "done" anything. He should be able to be happy about this award. I think its very sad that the American people can't even let their President be happy for receiving such an honor. I do think its a good thing that he was so humble about being this years Laureate, but I cant really see him being any other way. Why all the fuss? Not everyone is Mother Teresa.

Take a look at the 90 recipients.. you might not even know who a most are. In 1973 during the Vietnam conflict Henry Kissinger, a German born who was serving as the US secretary of State and Le Duc Tho, the two chief negotiators who succeeded in arranging the ceasefire after negotiating for nearly four years. Le Duc Tho declined to accept the award, stating that there was still no peace in his country. Kissinger is criticized and even accused of war crimes for the policies he promoted during the Vietnam war and for his role in the establishment of dictatorial regimes in Latin America. The award to the Dalai Lama in 1989 was not considered as a friendly act by the Chinese government. There is an entire article dedicated to the controversy that the prize has caused.

Things I will miss

2009-10-08T11:36:00.002+02:00

My time abroad is only getting shorter as the days go by. I am of course looking more and more forward to being back in the states. That much closer to friends and family. There are many things I will miss about being here in Germany. I thought I would try to make a list because some of these things I might forget about later.

The Drives - The autobahn has some beautiful paths. There are no large billboards to block your view or distract you from the road. Its just the passing villages and trees and hills. So beautiful.

The SUMMER daylight- The summers are great because its light out till around 10pm at the latest! However you might have guessed, the winters here are very dark and depressing.

Christmas markets - The Christmas markets here are soo great!!!! I missed them all last year because I was in Asia working and didn't get back till right before Christmas. They serve a hot spiced red and sometimes white wine that they also put more alcohol in. It is best with amaretto I think.

Fests - The fests here more like a fair then i ever realized before I got here. I thought it was just drinking. Turns out its more like a family affair then I ever knew. There are rides and tons of food along with all the beer! PLUS the beer tents.. they are not really tents. They are real buildings! They go up and come down just for the events!

Indoor pools - They have tons of pools around here! I know in Texas there are pools too, but the giant pools here have tons of slides and they also have the outdoor part too for the nice summers. So in the winter when its cold, you can still go swimming!

Low flow water toilets - Ok I know this might be silly to some of you, but when I went back to the states and used a toilet for the first time I didnt want to flush all that water!!!! OH gosh.. the water that is wasted, it hurts.

Recycling options - Of course I will miss this! I can recycle anything! My trash never fills up.. I think I could go months without taking the trash out because nothing gets put in there! Just used Kleenex and gum.

B-I-N-G-O

2009-10-06T07:06:00.002+02:00

I also played Bingo last week! I know.. crazy. You have to buy two cards to play and the prizes when I went were coach bags and wallets. I won twice!! BUT the second time my win wasn't counted because the lady calling numbers didn't really call out all the numbers and I missed one but when someone else called I only was missing one so I looked at the board and turned out I had it! By the time I got up there she had already dropped the balls and couldn't count mine. The first prize I won was this wallet. I think it was the least cool thing that we played for. I still think its cool I won, but I feel bad because I am sure someone else would have LOVED THIS!.. here is a link to the print.. Mine is a wallet. I do like the inside. Its pretty. :)

Besides feeling guilty for not loving my prize, I think it was pretty fun! I didn't know that the same numbers were in the letter columns. Also that the pattern you have to get changes! Its not just a line. We played where you had to black our your card, get a "kite", four corners, clumps of 6 and 9, and a few more patterns I had no idea BINGO had. It was fun too. They change the bags they use I think, but it was still fun. When i won for the second time walking up these guys behind me said "Whats with all the pregnant women winning?" As if that has something to do with it!

I played Bunco

2009-09-30T07:00:00.003+02:00

Last night I went to a Bunco Party. It was my first one.. I feel way too grown up now. I don't think that being pregnant made me feel as grown up as going to a Bunco Party did. IT was fun!

This morning I was up at 5 am and awake like I had slept for days. Today I have planned to go to the pool. I am looking forward to feeling weightless. Hope its as good as its supposed to be.

Videos from Belgium

2009-09-29T12:32:00.003+02:00

Carol's Daughter

2009-09-29T12:18:00.000+02:00

I found this new product at the KMC Mall that I never knew about. Its called Carol's Daughter. They have a lovely website too here. She started working out of her home 15 years ago making natural and organic beauty products. Her mom encouraged her to sell at a local flea market. Then she had a mail order sometime after that then lead to the opening of her own store and now she is sold in stores such as Macy's and Sephora. Thought I would just let people know about it. They have tons of products for body and hair too! I love my Shea Souffle. :) Check them out.

Tony turned 27!

2009-09-25T12:59:00.000+02:00

So the trip happened to fall on a holiday weekend that was right before Tony's Birthday so we did celebrate his bday all weekend. BUT we also went to Macaroni Grill at the KMC Mall on the actual day. I also made him a cookie cake that we were too full to eat when we came back, so he got some the next day. It was pretty good if I do say so.

We had a great meal and Tony got sung to and this nice chocolate cake.. I am sure he wished they sent out the cheese cake instead. Maybe we could have finished that. :)

Silly Tony before we cut the cake

I think he had a good day. LOVE YOU BABE! Last birthday before he becomes a dad!

Brussels!!!!!!

2009-09-25T12:50:00.000+02:00

We spent the morning in Brugges going to a chocolate museum and climbing the stairs in the Bell tower then drove to Brussels a short distance away. First we went to Mini Europe then to the atom and on to our hotel to rest then out to eat!

The Atom that we went inside.

Head of the EU building.. we found the real one of this the next day!

The square in Brussels that we would see later!

View of the park from inside the Atom

View of our tickets and out the window in the escalator

Our names are on the TV!

Our pretty Hotel room!

Much prettier then the one in Brugges

This is the square we saw in mini! They were having a beer fest that we just missed buying coupons for!

Look at all the different kinds of beer.

A list of the beers that were sold

Right before we got here some woman had just flashed everyone.. glad we missed that!

Tony got a beer here right across from the Manneken Pis with the same name for the bar

Yumm my pizza was great! We decided to have a fast cheaper meal here. It was good minus the drunk homeless man who kept going by us. I don't think I have ever been scared of a drunk homeless person like this man. Even the other guys he was trying to hang out with didn't want him near them. I think he threw someones beer at them too.

Lucky we had eaten already because these restaurants all looked great! This street reminded me of Paris. I think Brugges was very German looking, but Brussels seems to think they are Parisian. They even speak French.

The next day we walked around some and then drove to Waterloo.

This lion was scared..

Bad Lion!

Doesn't this just make you smile?

Walking around. Miles of walking

The US embassy. They were closed since it was a holiday... so we didn't get to go in. The one time we decided to go to the embassy we cant go in.

Its Waterloo!

Look at all those stairs..

The Battle Site

The giant panorama painting with sound to make it real..

Its a SUNSET, look the sun is going down!!!! We don't see these often..

Been a while....

2009-09-25T10:44:00.003+02:00

So I haven't been that great at posting lately.

What have we been up to? Well Tony celebrated his 27th Birthday on Sept 8th and that weekend before we went to Belgium. We stayed in Brugges and Brussels. We visted Ghent that is in between the two and Oostende on the coast. We visited the ATOM that was built for the word fair when Brussels held the event. We also went to Mini Europe. Its a park that has many of the major buildings and sites from around Europe.

Us in Ghent on the way to Brugges and Oostende

Oostend - It was WINDY and that is as close as we got to the ocean

In front of a canal in Brugges

Cute little Ducks

Bell Tower

The arrow shows how many steps we climbed to the top of the tower above

Tony looking up in fear as I take a pic

and walk down the narrow staircase.

Tony celebrating his Birthday with a Belgium Beer in Belgium!

We didn't make it to the market they have.. but this is a shot of some fruits at a small store.

These are the tickets to the brewery tour we went on.

At the end they got us this "free" beer. Tony got to drink both...

There is a photo of French macaroons! I LOVE THEM! I bought an entire box just because they didn't sell them one by one.

The table setting was our Fancy Indian Meal. It was very good.

This was our FIRST and Best waffle. It had freshly cut strawberries on it.

Night shot of the tower

A bar that was a hostel and they had "American pool tables" and very crazy silly posters..

I am going to post some more of our trip to Brussels!

Thanks so much/Opps..

2009-09-02T13:51:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to thank everyone who made posts on yesterdays fear list. A few of you emailed me your comments too and I appreciate that as well. It was surprising that from so many different moms you all seem very very insistent that there is no right way. From a mom of a college age young man to a mom of under a year old baby. I think that's great. I am glad to have people like you all to talk to. Its even better that some are family!

Last night I was making fajitas. I grabbed what I thought was Cumin to sprinkle a TON on the chicken and veggies in the pan.. then I smelled cinnamon. I had grabbed the wrong jar! When I realized it I yelled and Tony asked what was wrong.. I said nothing. Then later he came in to the kitchen and said that it smelled like cinnamon. I had to tell him what I did, but it didn't taste bad at all! I have actually added cinnamon on purpose another time but less half the amount I did last night! Try it, its not just me being pregnant, it really did taste good! SO good Tony ate left overs!!!!!!!!!!! Now its all gone and none left for me. Non to go bad either. So that's a good thing.

I think I want to make cookies. The best cookies EVER! They are chewy chocolate chip.

14 Fears

2009-09-01T11:54:00.005+02:00

Two months from today is my due date. Oh my Gosh. Ok so I have read a few of my friends blogs who have babies and a few blogs of people who I dont know.. and I have learned some things about birth and the first few weeks that NO ONE TALKS about. I wanted to see if any of you out there had more things to say about this. So in no order whatsoever.. here is my list.

1. The possibility of peeing when you start to push. Ok Heard about the poo.. but never even thought about peeing!~?

2. Mucus Plug. I have a friend who had no idea this was even coming and it was a shock when it did before her birth.

3. Uterus contractions. I just learned about this recently and maybe everyone knew about it before but me. And I guess it happens faster when you breastfeed. Does that mean it hurts more?!

4. A month of bleeding. I had no idea that you would be bleeding heavy for the first week or so like a period then that would be followed by annoying spotting daily.

5. Having to "dress" your wound every single time you go to the restroom. With the pad and sprays and tucks pads or whatever it is you have to do.

6. You cant drive for 6 weeks?! What the crap.. is this only for that one person? Someone tell me its not true.

7. Did you moms really feel very alone at first? Even if you had family/friends and Dad around?

8. Breastfeeding is not easy. I didn't know how hard it could be to breastfeed. I didn't know you are supposed to take classes BEFORE you even have the baby!? Or that your nipples will hurt so bad you will cry and not want to feed.

9. How hard is it really to take that first #2? Did you all drink lots of prune juice? I heard that pouring water on yourself at the same time you first pee also helps that to not sting so bad.

10. Did anyone have their partner pass out? I am only slightly worried about this since I don't want him to go past my waist - for many reasons, not just that I don't want him to pass out.

11. Postpartum is normal right? How can it not be? I think there are varying levels but how can you not feel a little crazy? Your life just CHANGE FOREVER and now you have to take care of and nurture another living human.

12. Babies poo is black the first time. They should pass it in the first few days, BUT it can take up to a week for some? I am very not normal when it comes to poo so that doesn't really shock me that much.

13. Do people really give you all the advice in the world? I heard that people would want to touch my belly all the time but I hardly have. I actually don't mind it at all. I think its a miracle that I can carry a baby inside me and I feel very lucky that I have made it this far with no complications. I am not sure how I will feel about everyone touching the baby. I can see why any new mom would not be ok with that.

14. Fear of C-sections. Of the emergency kind. I know way too many people who have had C-sections. Is that normal? Please list how many people you know who had one (emergency or not). I want my baby out the best way possible, and if that's a c-section fine. I am scared by the recovery time maybe the most and the fact you have to do it again unless you wait long enough for the scar to heal.. I don't know what that time is.

SIDE NOTE.. what do I really need in the delivery room? Music, snacks, socks, my favorite pillow? What do you really think I need.

Baby in 65 days.

2009-08-28T13:27:00.004+02:00

So according to the internet I am 8 months pregnant this week. Why did I think I was 6 and a half?
Due Nov 1. So I guess it makes sense that next month would be 8 and October the final 9th month.
7 months = 27-30 weeks. 8 months = 31-35 weeks. 9 months = 36-40 weeks. 31 weeks this week! 32 starts Sunday! Ahhh.. We have a stroller and a person who is going to sell us her baby car seat. So excited about that. I just hope I don't have the baby before we get it from her. Its a maxi cosi car seat and she has a second base for it too. Or baby stroller is a German made brand called Hartan. Here is a link to the stroller. Then this is the link to the different colors you can get we got 927 near the middle.

I think I better start buying some diapers. Tony's mom and sister. My sister and mother in law AKA Missy and Chris have sent a few boxes of clothes already. I already bought some stuff to prepare for breast feeding. I have yet to take any classes about how to do it. Its not as natural as most people think, I am SCARED of breast feeding. I still have yet to buy a pump. I don't know if I should get a two pump electric or just a one pump manual. Or when to buy it. I should have a baby in 65 days according to the baby tracker on my page.

The Pain

2009-08-23T14:04:00.002+02:00

I have this ripping/tearing/burning/bruised/numb feeling in my upper stomach. Its right below my breasts in the middle. Any other of my female friends had this feeling? Oh my gosh it hurts. I tired to look it up and found some things that described it in different way but not many that told how to make it feel better. The only help I got was to walk around while drinking tea and rubbing the area. I am sure its because of my pregnancy and imagine it is the stretching doing it. It burns. It has been hurting me all day today. I took a tylenol but I dont know what else to do. Please help. Its not unbearable and child birth and many other things are much much worse I know.. its just not very nice. I first thought of it as a stretching feeling now with all these other feelings that also describe it, it seems to be worse!

Movies and History - we like it

2009-08-20T13:59:00.006+02:00

Since we have one channel that plays stupid shows most nights we have been watching movie
rentals from the library nightly.

Last night we watched this very funny cute movie about the history of the number 1. Its called The Story of 1 it was presented by Terry Jones (ex Monty Python). It was humorous and educational all in one. Most educational shows tend to end up being funny, but not on purpose. This one was a PBS home video. Here is a link to my favorite site. I learned how to write 9 in binary number system. 1001. That's nine. Isn't that cool!? This is how they showed it below in little egg holders. Imagine the numers are the egg holders and the # is the open place in the holder. The number places stand for different number and you have to add those together.
# # # # # #
32 16 8 4 2 1
so
1 1 1 1 1 1 = 63
0 1 0 0 0 0 = 16 ... I think.. haha. OK well Thats enough of that.

I tried to look it up on wikipedia.. and it confused me. BUT you can check it out if you like.

I watched the movie Enemy at the Gates. It stars Jude law, Ed Harris, and Rachel Weisz. It was a great movie showing what was happening in Russia during WWII. The nazis were in Stalingrad and if they took that city it would mean the fall of Russia. Law plays a character who is based on a real man. The story in the movie is mostly fiction but he was a snipper who may have had a battle with a German snipper (played by Ed Harris). It was great, I never knew the importance of the Russians during WWII. History is so biased.

This movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was sad to watch. I dont think its based on an actual true story but it too was based during WWII. It was about a German family who moved out of the city to a house near a concentration camp that the army Commandant father was in charge of. The mother is aware that the camp exists but is very unaware of what happens there. The young son 8 mets a boy in "striped pajamas" who lives on the other side of the fence. They become friends but soon learn they shouldn't talk to eachother. The boy also finds it unfair that the boy in the fence gets to "play" with all those people when he has no friends. Its so sad to see how innocent this boy was to what was happening around him. Their is a Jewish prisoner who works at the house doing odd jobs and peeling potatoes. The little boy fell off his swin and hurt his leg. The man carried him inside and fixed him up. Telling the boy he used to "practice medicine" as a Dr. To which the boy replied well you must not have been very good if you had to practice and that must be why he is here peeling potatoes now and not being a Dr. Because he wasnt that good anyways. I recomend it. Its a very touching story and its sad but real.

We also watched An Inconvenient Truth. I think it clearly shows how global warming not only is possible and real but how we as humans have changed the earth and its "natural" cycle. I actually felt bad for Al Gore in parts! Who knew I could feel like that. I usually find him annoying and boring. This has been a passion of his since he was in college. I think its amazing that he is still speaking about it after so many years. I am glad he has not given up on his mission. Thanks Al, keep up the good work.

We have also watched many other history movies and documenteries from everything on The American Revolution (16 disc CD set) to the Zulu Wars. A battle against the British where they lost even when they were supposed to be so awesome. They did some research to show how the Zulu men were at the advantage from the start. AND there was a solar eclipse the day of the fight too! Crazy.

I think Roman likes movie night too.

Pregnancy thus far

2009-08-20T10:54:00.004+02:00

SO I meant to write more about my pregnancy so I could look back on it. I am going to write some things down here while I remember them.

I didn't have morning sickness till after 13 weeks. It lasted till about 16 weeks and it was only about 2 times a week so I was lucky.

I had nausea from around 5 or 6 weeks till maybe 10 or so? The first two weeks were the worst when Tony was gone in the field and didnt yet know I was pregnant. Talking to him on the phone when all noise made everything worse wasn't great. I dont know how people can pretend to not be pregnant while working their normal job. I had to lay down on the couch and not move or look at anything. Also my gag reflex was very highly sensitive till about a few months ago. It just went away. When I was brushing my teeth I would almost daily gag myself.

Some point in the past 6 months smells also made gag, I am still sensitive to smells but I no longer have the same feeling that I need to run to the bathroom.

I have been able to feel him move since about 15 or 16 weeks. It was a very different movement then what I feel now but I know it was him. The first moves I felt felt like he was flipping over. I always cup one hand over the other fist and turn the fist. That feeling felt on the cupped hand is what I felt. Now it is full on kicking and moving and bouncing off the walls. Today Tony was talking to my stomach. I think it must be very loud to have someone yelling at you from outside and he got kicked in the face! It was funny to us.

I am starting to sleep horribly. I still dont want to blame it on my poor little baby, but I am starting to think its all his fault. Last night was very hot in our room even with the air conditioner on. We actually both happened to be awake at around 1 am (not talking) but I was thinking I wanted to open the window to let some air out and then all of a sudden Tony was doing it. Its like he read my mind. So after I saw that time on the clock I then saw 2:30, 3, 4 to 5, then 6 and 8. Before 1ish I think I had also saw 12:30. I tried sleeping with a pillow between my legs, but woke up only to be super hot and have to reposition. The night before was also bad but I woke up with major pain in my hip. I realized with a friend how to describe it - its like my hip was being ripped apart. She has the same pain at 3 weeks ahead of me. Its the hip that I was not laying on too. I took a Tylenol. That was only the second one I have taken since being pregnant. I used to take Advil all the time (not daily) now look at me going 6 months will no pain killers. Tony would be proud.*

*Tony refuses to take any pain medications because he thinks you just need to drink water. BUT other medications are ok. Just not ones that will make his headache go away. The first time was last week when I thought my hip wouldn't last the night.

I also think I like my now pregnant body almost more then my non pregnant body (minus my boob size). Not sure how I will feel next month or the month after that.. but now I like it and I feel pretty. I have enjoyed the majority of my pregnancy also. I know that so many people have a hard time getting pregnant and I feel so lucky that I have had no complications with anything so far. I am so thankful for that. I am also thankful that I have a supporting family and husband. I cant imagine what it would be like to be preparing for a baby without that support. I am thankful that I have/know other pregnant woman and friends who I can talk to or ask questions too. Of course I am happy to talk to my other friends too, I just don't know how much I am boring you. I am also thankful to have my Mom and Mother-in-law be so excited for their first grandchild. (Dads too) Also Missy (my sister in law) is trying way too hard to be the favorite Aunt. She is the only Aunt and will be the only aunt for a while I believe. Josh is not engaged and Hunter is only 13 so he better be at least 10 years away. ok maybe 9. BUT NO SOONER! OK.. maybe more later.

Forgot one

2009-08-12T13:13:00.001+02:00

Before I changed it to fit the header

Flowers

2009-08-12T12:55:00.004+02:00

Our town is a very small town with lots of homes and the people here love their yards and flower boxes. We have taken walks in our town but not in a while. All the beautiful flowers have been out and they are so pretty. I took lots of pictures on our walk. Tony doesn't like to wait for me when i stop, so I spent time catching up to him or yelling after him to wait for me!! Here are some of my favorite pics.

My Favorite Shake

2009-08-03T09:49:00.004+02:00

I love this shake and would make it everyday if I had bananas.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 ice cubes
splash of milk (1/4 cup) - I like mine thick so add more milk if you want
Scoop of Peanut butter
1 Banana
1/2 cup frozen blue berries

Blend in Blender till smooth

Optional Extras -
Cinnamon
Ground oats (just put in blender before you make shake then add at end)
Honey
You can also use water instead of milk

Easy Apple Crisp

2009-08-03T09:21:00.002+02:00

To make apple crisp you need the following

Insides:

1 unbaked pie shell, 9-inch
6 cups peeled apple slices (6-7 apples)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter - close to room temp but not melted

Put the pre-made crust into the pie dish. You can cut the apples really really thin and overlap them or use bigger chunks. Fill the pie shell with the apple slices. Then combine the Insides and sprinkle over top. It all combines in the end, but I am sure it would be fine if you wanted to toss them all together. Combine toppings in small bowl until crumbly then sprinkle over top. I had only a tbsp left of the butter so I cut that into small peices and put it on too. Bake at 400 F for 45 to 50 minutes or untill apples are tender and topping is brown. I thought about adding some honey to it too but forgot.. but I put it on top of one of my slices and it was so good!

This takes the most time..

Tadaaa! Apple Crisp. Its so good.

Organic Baby Momma

2009-07-30T12:57:00.005+02:00

So I found this website called Baby Bear Shop. They sell only a few products but I really want them. I found it because the lip gloss was mentioned in the Style Section of Heather Armstrongs website. They have scent called Lavender Vanilla. Doesn't that just sound great?! They also have some cute little dolls that I wont be needing for my little boy, but they are so sweet. I tried to get a pic from the site, but it cant happen. Just take a peek. Its so cute!

So you might have noticed I am interested in organic products. Because they are made with ingredients found in nature. Products I believe are safer for use on a babies skin and even on my own. The list of preservatives and chemicals that we are around daily is pretty long. I know that cant be great for a developing baby. Without going crazy about it I truly do want to use organic or natural things on my baby. Including the lotions and washes I use all the way to the diapers I put on his butt and as many things in between as I can. I do not want to use a disposable diaper (unless its biodegradable). I know that I can have all kinds of ideas about how this is going to work, but I am sure after the baby is here I will be a different person along with being a mom. I have read so many accounts of mothers who say that the moment you give birth and hold your baby for the first time your life changes. You go a few weeks without sleep and get a little crazy... but you come out eventually and know how happy that little baby makes you, even if its not anything like what you thought I believe its going to be much much better.

Tree Free Plantable Cards!

2009-07-29T17:48:00.004+02:00

The above is a baby announcements from a company called Green Field Paper Company. Right above is another card they sell that is a more anytime card. They also have the same print in red with Thank You written across the front. There are many different cards and they also sell blank ones as well as sheets of paper. If you need any invitations or announcements soon check them out! They are a little more costly, but keep in mind the process that goes into making them. Plus they are just pretty, and you can get flowers!

They are out of California, and I want to move there and work for them. These cards are plantable too! They have seeds (wildflower) in the card and is made from recycled paper. Along with being eco friendly with the items they sell, they also buy wind credits to offset their energy usage in their shop and offices.

They also sell Paper made with 100% Junk Mail, Garlic Skins, Roasted Coffee Chaff or Hemp Threads. AND they offer a bunch of different colors, and use soy ink to print. They make wedding invites and also have done and do promotional things for very big companies.

Green isn't just my favorite color

2009-07-19T10:20:00.005+02:00

I have a lovely dishtowel with this on it. :) From my sister-in-law Missy. So in my search today to find "green" toys for my baby I found this store in DALLAS that is called Green Living. They have a website here. Here is another "Green Living" site. They have many many lists and tips.

They have a list of easy ways to go green. I am going to post some of my favs from their list. Just to show how easy it can be to go green and SAVE money. Seven ways to save the earth in July!

1. Lighting: These Compact florescent bulbs are a little more expensive at first, but realize how much longer they last and how much less energy they use. Which means over the next few years you wont have to replace them and when that special someone forgets to shut off the lights it is wasting less energy. "Compact fluorescent bulbs save money and last years, in addition to reducing the release of thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide, which causes global warming, and sulfur dioxide, known to cause acid rain." Even if you don't believe in Global Warming its not hurting anything.

2. Reusable Shopping Bags: This is so easy. They cost so little at the store and if you invest in 7 or 8 (you can get them I think in most stores now, grocery and other) you can use a few and leave the rest in your car. I have all sizes and shapes and strengths. I just throw them all in one bag in the car and grab a few depending on how many I think I will need. I have a small one that folds down I carry with me when I am out in my purse and my purse also doubles as a shopping bag. I refuse bags at stores and even restaurants and just use my own or carry out what I got. Its so easy and its a nice to know I can make a difference. Just think of how many plastic bags you are given in a months time or even a week or day! So even if you recycle those bags you get you can still minimize the amount that you need to recycle by using your own bag.

3. Cloth napkins: Do you really need to use that paper napkin? No. you don't. Even if you dont have a cloth napkin around or want to buy them, use a kitchen towel or washcloth instead. I admit there are times when a paper towel/napkin is nice but when you can use cloth!

4. Natural Cleaners: Cleaners and products. Some might be more expensive, but some are also concentrated so you need less. Laundry detergent, soaps, and cleaning agents are so easy to find in the stores now. Even the things you use on your body can be found in a more natural form with less chemicals. Not just chemicals that we end up touching, the ones that go down the drain and harm other things. Antibacterial soaps are not necessary to the extent that people are using them. Our bodies are not going to be able to fight off the smallest infection if people keep living in a sterial environment. (Same with antibiotics - use them all only when needed) Ok.. enough of that.

5,6,7. Water Usage: There are a few directions this can go first you can use a reusable water container and fill it with filtered water from your very own tap. That's right! You don't have to buy hundreds of bottles of water every year! You can make your own. Just think about how many you buy then figure how much it would cost you to buy one or two reusable bottles and a filter. I think you have already paid for a few.
The other thing you can do is to shut off the water when you are not using it. Like when you are washing your face or brushing your teeth just shut if off in between.
Another thing when you do laundry take care not to over or under load your washer. Know how much water you need for the load you are doing so you don't waist the water or your time.

ABC 123

2009-07-19T09:41:00.007+02:00

This post is about wooden blocks. Why are they so hard to find. Shouldn't they be sold in stores?! I think every child should have wooden blocks to play with. I found some online and they are so pretty. These are made in the USA by a company called Uncle Goose. This is the link for the site I found them on they have tons of other baby things.

They make tons of different blocks in 14 different languages. FOURTEEN, including basic Chinese characters, Arabic, French and Italian!! They have upper case letters with numbers and the written out number below it and pictures of animals and the names below.

Aren't they Pretty? They say they are for 2 plus.

I want to get them now. :(

They also have Braille and sign language blocks for visual and hearing impaired children.

Breast Pumps?

2009-07-19T08:57:00.004+02:00

I want to know more! I have heard Dr Browns is one of the best.. but I want to know from moms who breast fed and pumped. PLEASE talk to people you know who have and let me know!

This is the Dr Brown's Pump. I think its being updated so this one
might be out of date. Its still Dr. Brown's. Now go find a mom who
breast fed and get back to me!!! PLEASE!!!

Diapers

2009-07-18T09:36:00.009+02:00

Is there anyone out there who uses/used or knows someone who used/uses cloth diapers. The new cloth diapers of today? Not the ones my mom used with the pins.

I have always thought that redusing, reusing, and recycling waist is the best way for our lives. It might have started out with my packrat tendencies, but it has evolved since I have been living in Germany. The Germans are ahead of the States in their recycling programs. They have much smaller trash cans here and in place of the large trash bin is a large recycling bin. Depending on where you live you might have to separate plastic from paper. They also have a Bio bin where you place biodegradable products like food waste and yard waste. ITS GREAT!

So of course when I got pregnant I started to think about all the diapers the new baby would use in its short little diaper life. Turns out its hundreds. I think an average of 500 diapers per child till they are fully potty trained. GROSS! Eww.. Diapers take more then the life of the child (*hundreds of years) to breakdown. SO they are just sitting there rotting and taking up space in the overfilled landfills. I know recycling seems hard for lots of people but to me its so easy here. You already have the right bins! YOU DONT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING! Glass is another story.. but still. I can't throw it in the trash either.

I have been researching and reading about all the different ones out there. These ones to the left are Kushies brand. They seem to have good reviews. These are an All in One Diaper. Meaning you shouldn't need a cover and a cloth diaper. They have some that are meant to have the cover over top of the coth to prevent wettness from leaking through. This brand also has a cloth diaper that needs a cover too. They also have this VERY cool disposible insert that goes in the diaper and is easily removed when the baby has a dirty diaper. You just pull it up and put it in the toilet and Viola! Mess is gone. They also have washable inserts to soak up more. There are a few other brands out there like these all in ones.

Since they dont have the expandable beads that are found in throw away diapers I am pretty sure they are not going to keep the baby as dry, however its been stated that this also leads to the baby potty training sooner. You have to be on top of changing diapers too and of course it does create some more laundry to do. The cost overtime is less even with the water and detergent cost. So reasons for wanting to use them also come from the cheapo in me too. It is a larger cost upfront but I feel like its better for my baby and the world in the end.

There is another type called GDiapers that has a disposable lining that is more diaper like in its appearance. They have the disposable insert that you place in the diaper before you put it in the child then when you are done you rip it in strips and flush down the toilette. Then you are just left with the shell to wash when it needs it.

Then there are these diapers that don't sit for years and years before they break down. These diapers break down in much less time. I read on a website a woman who even put them in her own backyard! The outer plastic-like layer is made of a compostable/biodegradable corn Bio film. The corn Bio film is composed of cornstarch and biodegradable polyester. The corn used in the diaper is 100% non-genetically modified. The inner tissue is composed of natural tree pulp. It is also Totally Chlorine Free (TCF). Not all Chlorine Free Diapers are biodegradable though, so do your research if you want that. This diaper seems like a good option for people who don't have a washer and dryer in home or like the convenience of the disposable diaper. I have read that many of the cloth diapers don't fit newborns, so I am going to try these out for my infant.

No bake cookies

2009-07-12T13:35:00.007+02:00

No bake cookies
1/2C peanut butter

3 tsp cocoa

2 C sugar

1/2 C butter

1/2 C milk

2 C or 3C of oats

1 tsp vanilla

Stir all ingredients except the oats and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook till bubbly. Only a few minutes - keep an eye on it. Take off burner and stir in oats and vanilla. Line pan with wax paper to make drop cookies or line whole pan with foil and make one big pan to cut into bars later. I topped part of mine with dried cranberries and part with chocolate chips and left the last part topless. Let sit overnight then cut.

The recipe I found on my cousin in laws blog had called for 3 cups of oats but I only had 2. This is her blog http://deannasstuff.blogspot.com/ and she posted on July 10th. I looked at a few other recipes too and decided the world would not end without that last cup. I have a feeling they might end up falling apart easier but we will see. So after being in the fridge for an hour they were still too soft. SO I put them in the freezer to cut some of them and then I left them out on the counter overnight and they were so much better. So in the end I suggest leaving them alone overnight before you cut them.