Knitting

2 years ago for Christmas by best friend got me knitting needles, yarn and a 'beginners' guide to knitting DVD. I wanted to take up a productive hobby. (Mostly to get my mind off of TTC....it took awhile for hubby and I to fall pregnant). I got hooked! Right away I made scarves, pot holders and then moved up to sweaters and booties. After Layla was born my projects were put on hold, but I've recently been able to start up again. yay! This was my latest project: -------->

A friend suggested that I try and sell my projects, so I went straight to my FAVORITE (babywearing) group on BC to see what they thought......and a mama was interested in me making a one for her. :) I was so FLATTERED! :) I'm off to the yarn store tomorrow to get more yarn......pictures soon to come!

My new baby carrier = true love

My custom Wrapstar Mei Tai, arrived yesterday and I officially have the greatest baby carrier of all time. I. LOVE. IT.
It is seriously the most comfortable, supportive and 'hardy' carrier I now own. Erin (the very talented creator) does amazing work and I already want a wrap conversion from her. *Sigh-with hearts in my eyes gazing off into the distance.* Oh, and Layla seems to love it too.

Speaking of.....little Magoo is now interested in some solid foods. She likes the muffins from work, little Organic baby puff cereal, avocado, and oatmeal. She'll eat a little banana every once and awhile. She still is not crawling. I really don't think that she will. She has absolutely no interest, and she's totally content to roll where ever she wants. I bet she will just go straight to walking at like 15 months. .... that's my newest prediction. She does although have a few new tricks in her rotation. Besides 'wiggle', 'bub-bye', and 'clapping' she does ' so big!', 'knuckle sandwich' (thanks auntie lol), 'say mama' = then she'll say dada, 'hello', 'play music' singing toys on her bouncer, and 'bounce'. It's so fun teaching her new things. She's like a little spounge!

Update :)

Layla is now 9 months old.....and still Exclusively Breastfed. I try solids a little everyday, but she really has no interest in them yet. (pic was the first attempt at solids....the kitchen was covered in food!) The most she has managed to ingest at one time is about 1 raspberry and 1 tsp. avocado. She's still well above average for height and weight (20lbs 3oz)so we are happy to still EBF for awhile. Plus, the WHO recommends EBF for 12 months.

She can now wave 'bub-bye', 'wiggle', and 'clap' when we ask her to......but no crawling yet. If she wants to get anywhere she just rolls. The other day while I was at the chiropractor, I put her on her tummy on a blanket while I got my adjustment, and 2 minutes later she was across the room by the door. Needless to say, if she wants to get somewhere she can!

A little update on me: - still no period back! whoo hoo! I have not had a period since January 2008. Weird concept, but I guess BFing is natures built in birth control. My boobs still leak. It's a bit rediculous actually, but I still have to wear bra pads or I would leak through everything. I must have faulty nipples. lol!

"Look at that!"

Whenever I am out and about shopping, I am usually wearing Layla in our ring sling or Babyhawk. Seriously, shopping is so easy wearing Layla! While at Target a few days ago I was wearing Layla in our linen ring sling (that has a pocket in the tail to store money, phone, keys etc.). We were taking our time browsing and pushing our cart when we heard a lady say to her mother (?) "That's what I need!". (she was holding her 10 month-ish son on her hip while shopping and pushing a cart). As we passed her, she asked what I was using to carry my daughter, where we got it, and how could she get one! I loved it! I gave her all the information that I could...I hope I just converted another mama into babywearing. :)
Then today, I was at the local farmers market wearing Layla in our babyhawk Mai Tei carrier. As we were getting produce form our usual table (our farmers market is primarily Hmong families) I overheard Yang talking to her husband, Chur, in Hmong and then she said "Mai Tei"...they were trying to remember the name of the style of baby carrier I was using! (as Mai Teis are an asian style baby carrier) It made my day. :)
I now feel bad for mamas I see carrying their little babes around in buckets. While grocery shopping recently I saw a mama put the baby's carseat sideways in the front of the cart. It looked like the carseat could fall out at any time ..... needless to say I tried to 'strut' by effortlessly with Layla snuggled up on my hip in the ring sling. Hopefully, the mama noticed and was envious enough to research a baby carrier for herself! lol!
I so badly want to convert ever mama I see into cloth diapering and babywearing a-holics like me! :)

Cloth Diaprs, Slings, Wraps, and Wool oh my!

When my daughter was born, I never even humored the idea of cloth diapering her. (I used disposable seventh generation diapers from day one). Just out of plain curiosity I went to a free Cloth diapering 101 session that a local mama taught.....I left with everything I needed to start cloth diapering my kiddo. (she was 2 months old). That was a little over 4 months ago....since then, we have become HUGE cloth diapering advocates, and needless to say it had become my new hobby.
We started with infant sized unbleached Indian Prefolds, and Thirsties PUL covers with a snappi (instead of pins) and wet bag for when we are out and about. Now we have a LARGE variety of styles and brands : from pockets, to fitteds, to All In Ones and more. We have recently decided that our all time favorite diapers are BagShot Row Bamboo (BSRB) Ultimate Snappiable Fitteds. We are trying to reach stash nirvana buy selling the diapers we are not using so much and buying all BSRBs. We are up to 18 UF and 4 Tucked in All Nights (TIAN) for the nighttime soakings. LOVE THEM! We also have been getting into Wool Soakers as covers. We have a Wild Child Woolies soaker that's amazing. I really love the idea of all natural fibers against Layla's bottom. She has NEVER had any rash, and he fluffy butt is adorable. I now cringe when I see babies is disposable diapers because I picture that diaper in a land fill 500 YEARS from now. Yuck......
Now as for babywearing.....
I always thought that having more than one carrier was unnecessary. I was using a baby bjorn while at work, and a moby wrap while at home. Both hand-me-downs from friends. Thanks to my unrelenting curiosity for everything baby related....lol I now have 4 carriers. And yes, I use and love them all (depending on the task I am doing). Our current inventory includes: a LoveyDuds organic cotton wrap, Kalea Linen Ring Sling, Organic Ergobaby, and a BabyHawk Mai Tie. I really love wearing Layla, it facilitates a bond like no other like breastfeeding does. I wear her everyday, while on walks, doing laundry, at work, cooking, shopping.....and if she is over tired or fussy.
There are so many things I never really considered before Layla was born, and I cannot imagine my life without them now. Yay for Cloth diapers, and babywearing.

So nosey!

So my best friend and I went out to eat sushi with our two children earlier this week. (it is very rare that we have time to go anywhere together these days....let alone out to eat!) Her gorgeous son is 19 months, and my beautiful daughter is now 6 months.
My daughter is still exclusively breastfed and eats about every three hours.....except when she is overly tired and gets angry when you try anything but put her to sleep, and that's what happened before we left.
We made it to the restaurant with both children sleeping in their car seats (its a 45min drive), and managed to keep them sleeping through ordering our food. (the whole time I am hoping my daughter doesn't wake up because she is probably going to be hungry, and she is so nosey she will not even eat when she is hungry if other people are around. ) AMAZING! Our food arrives and we start to dig in.
Oops. My friend drips eggdrop soup on her son's arm and he wakes up. Luckily there was food on the table or he probably would not have been too happy about being woke up. He's a good eater as we say. It wasn't but a few minutes later my daughter woke up.
We finished our sushi, paid and headed out to the car where I was going to feed my daughter since it had been almost 5 hours since she nursed last. And just as I had suspected she wouldn't eat because there was too much going on. She is just so dang nosey! By this time I am so uncomfortable from DD not nursing that I can't even lift my arms higher than my shoulders. So, I put her in her car seat and we headed for home. ....knowing she was going to start crying soon because she was hungry. (I used my hand pump while we were driving home to "take the edge off" my uncomfortable boobs. lol!)
Sure enough we make it about 20mins and DD is waling in her seat. ugh, I felt so bad.
So 10mins from home, we pulled over on the side of the road put our blinkers on and I managed to nurse DD even with cars driving past, and my best friend entertaining her son in the back seat. Oh how your life/priorities change when you are a mama. I love it. :)