Where Have I Been?!?!

It has been a while since my last post... Why you ask??

I have been at a birth.

A really long birth.

A really hard birth.

A really exhausting birth.

A birth that was hard to watch.

A birth that is taking time to process.

Once my mind is finally wrapped around the entire birth, I will post a story from my (the doula's) perspective.

Farm Fresh Strawberries

Yesterday we went to a local (and by local I mean 10min down the road) farm.  They are famous for the sweet corn, but since its not that season yet, they are open to pick your own strawberries.  We go to this farm all the time, but have never taken the time to pick.  Since we had nothing going on and Yammie just finished teaching for the year, we decided it was time to take her on a field trip!

This cost us absolutely nothing, we just had to pay for the berries we picked!  They gave the kids each a basket and a pair of scissors and sent us on our way.  They got the hang of it real fast and were running around trying to find the biggest and reddest berries.

The kids with their finds!  We sat and ate a few, while teaching Baby C how to sit up.  He is officially sitting now, unassisted for a few minutes... then he is not sure what to do so he just flops over.

While there, we also picked up some cherries, potatoes, onions, peas and asparagus.

We ate very well last night.

We finished off the evening with homemade strawberry shortcake.  Yummy!

6 Months

Time has gone by WAY to fast!  Baby C is 6 months old... I really cannot believe it.

He is strictly a boob kind of baby, but we decided to try him on some solids since I am beginning to attend births again.  I have plenty of milk in the freezer, but thought he may stay happier if he has something else too.  He was not to fond of the rice cereal we made, but none of my kids liked that stuff!

Being the 3rd kid, this poor boy hardly ever gets a bath!  I know, I know... I am a crappy mom for never bathing my baby!  But when he does get a bath, he is so happy.

Solid food attempt #2... sweet potatoes.  He liked them, but not really.  He likes the boob and may just stick with that for a while.

Messy, but all smiles.  He is such a happy boy.

He is also rolling EVERYWHERE!  I forgot how much more cleaning has to be done when there is a mobile baby. 

Spontaneous Beach Trip

Daddy had to make a spontaneous trip to the Bay Area today for a few Jeep parts.  So we decided to make a family trip of it!  We packed up, hit the road and enjoyed a quiet (yes, quiet!) drive to "The City".

Buddy Boy eating his snack... 5 min after we left!  This boy can eat.

Bubba Love snuggling her Snuggle Bear.  She has had him since she was a baby.

While it was warm when we left our house, it was FREEZING at the beach.  But the kids didn't care, they were busy finding sea shells and playing tag with the waves.

Baby C was a trooper.  He hates the wind, but he was all smiles despite the cold.

Me & Daddy... we never get pictures together, so this is a keeper!

Tagging the cold water.

Treasures

She is starting a collection.

Buddy Boy's first trip to the beach and he didn't want to leave!  With his bleach blonde hair, he fit in with all the surfers.  I think he may become a beach bum like his mama.

On our walk back Daddy found a whole sand dollar!  Definitely a keeper for Bubba Love's collection.

We had such a fun day!  No plan and no worries, it made for a relaxing trip.  On the way home, we talked about all the places we want to go this summer.  I see lots of weekend trips and camping in our future!!

Look What I Got!

This was Daddy's Grandma's sewing machine. 

I am very much a beginner, but I am lookung forward to learning and creating new things!

First on the list... cloth wipes.

Homemade Mother's Day Gift

Mother's Day has come and gone, but I really wanted to share what we made for the Grandmas this year!  I couldn't blog about it before, because I know that both of them read this!  I found this super cute idea from Luxury Living Frugal Style.

It is really simple.  Fold, hole-punch, and tie they paper bags.

Decorate the inside with scrapbook paper, pictures and homemade handprints or poems.

The top opening of the lunch bag makes a great pocket for additional pictures.

This was a easy, fun projects that even the kids helped out on. 

Don't wait until next mothers day to make one,  they make great gifts for any occasion!

Oh, and did I mention that the Grandmas LOVED them ;)

Surgery

 Buddy Boy had his surgery today.  We woke up and packed up at 4am this morning to head out to the hospital.  Let me tell you, I was tired... but the boys were wide awake and ready to play!  

Here is Buddy Boy getting ready to head into the OR.  He is showing me his wrist band, that he told me isn't for his surgery... it is so he can get into the bounce house later!  Poor kid had no clue! 

Killing time by taking pictures... we have about 263 of my foot :)

As you can see, he was not happy waiting around.

The surgery went great.  It took him a while to come out of anesthesia, as expected.  They ended up taking his adenoids out also since they were enlarged and causing fluid back-up.

Doctors orders were lots of rest with cold and soft foods. 

This is Buddy Boy after he woke up when we got home.  He is getting royally spoiled today!  He is watching TV and playing on the iphone at the same time... two things that he usually doesn't get to do.  Also, can you see his black mustache??? Yay, that is chocolate vegan pudding!

7 Things... About Bed Sharing & Co-Sleeping

Having my babies sleep with me was never a question.  It seemed like the natural thing to do.  Before Bubba Love was born, I had a few reasons why I wanted to bed share/co-sleep.  The main reason was that I just wanted to have my baby close to me.  But when she was born and began sleeping with us, I realized there are far more reasons to sleep with your babies.

Having your baby skin to skin (or pretty close to) helps promote milk production.

Babies who are close to their mama, thrive better because they have unlimited access to on demand feeding.

Your closeness to the baby promotes rhythmical breathing, which is believed to reduce SIDS.

Bed sharing promotes bonding, which promotes higher self-esteem, which promotes independence.
(YES!, "babying" your baby makes them more independent)

Survival.  You and your baby get more productive sleep.

You naturally sync your sleeping patterns with your baby, waking around the same time for nursing but neither coming to full consciousness.

Sweet snuggles, smiles and kisses when you open your eyes in the morning.

Baby C & Daddy... what I wake up to every morning!

Home Birth Pictures

I just realized that I never posted any pictures of our homebirth. 

If you don't remember from my birth story, from start to finish my active labor was approximately 20min.  It was amazing to have it fast and to the point, but there was no time to take all the pictures I had wanted... bummer!  But this is what I have...

Hello Again!!

So I have been MIA for the last few weeks.  Not only have I been SUPER busy, but I have had "writers block" and couldn't really think of anything I wanted to post.  #Fail!  Oh well, I am back though :)  And I have been busy redesigning my blog to make it my own and I even made a button.  So grab it and show the the love!!

  Also, if you haven't already make sure you join my current giveaway.     

First Taste of Summer!!

Daddy was gone all week long, so when he got home we were all very happy to see him.  So happy in fact, that we put him right to work!  We wanted to play outside and the lawn desperately needed some TLC.  So after a long Sunday morning of yard work, we sat back to relax while the kids played hard. 

We turned the sprinklers on for the first time this year and the kids knew just what to do.  They put their bathing suits on and went running.  The bathing suits came off after 5 minutes though.

Doesn't the yard look awesome??  If only it would stay like this without anymore work.

Baby C... 5 months old.

I forgot how much I LOVE this phase of babyhood.  He is all smiles all the time.  He loves to touch everything and put it all in his mouth.  He loves watching his brother and sister run and play... I think he is taking notes! 

Kisses!  My tan little girl and my albino boy.  Hehe!



Yesterday was so much fun!  I can't wait for more summertime playing.