Wow, almost like Instagram!

The other day, I was a bit bummed that some of the pictures I took on my regular digital camera when Ryan was born looked a bit boring. We didn’t get professional pictures done at the time since we didn’t have all that much extra income to pay for them. And to be honest, I never even thought about it because of the whole baby delivery thing. Looking back, I wish we would have had professional pictures taken. However, the past is in the past. :(

So, I decided to search online to find some kind of software to make the look a bit more modern and fun. I came across a website called Photogramio (http://photogramio.com/photofilters) and was instantly hooked. It’s completely easy to use and changes up the photos just like Instagram does. I’ve been able to re-work a few of his pictures to improve their overall appearance.

Here’s one:  There's not a huge change to it, but I was able to add a neat border to make it look more interesting.

Before

After

And another. Again, nothing special, but it made the photo have a little more character.

Before

After

 This one is probably my favorite, just cause he's so cute! :) 

Before

After

We do plan on going the professional route when the little man turns a year old. If anyone has any suggestions on what photographer we should go with, please let us know! And if you want an easy way to change up the photos you take, head to http://photogramio.com/photofilters, I've been impressed with the site from the moment I started using it!

I wish there was a laundry fairy!

Ryan's clothes pile-up from yesterday!

I’ve always had a lot of laundry to do because I work out and that means each day, I accumulate not only the work clothes I wore that day, but the stinky workout clothes that I used as well. So, I’m used to doing a good amount of laundry. The thing is, now that I have a kid, the piles of laundry that I have to clean never seem to end and I wish I had a laundry fairy to help me out. I mean, it would be so awesome, so, so very awesome to go to bed at night and wake up to all of my laundry done, nicely folded and sitting atop my couch! That would be incredible! Simply INCREDIBLE! 

However, the laundry fairy has yet to make and appearance, leaving me with all sorts of wash to do. What’s been eye-opening about it all is how much laundry one little boy can produce. Yesterday alone, he went through two crib sheets, two sleepers, two outfits, two blankets, and one changing pad cover. It was insane since every time I cleaned him up or cleaned up his crib, he would get it dirty again! And no, he’s not super sick, just has a cough at the moment, but, the culprit is the fact that he’s teething and I’ve mentioned that before. So, he’s pooping a bunch and since he sticks his fingers in his mouth so much, he occasionally makes himself sick. It can get a little frustrating from time to time when he gets everything all dirty. What gets me through is his little smile though, when he flashes that grin, it makes it all worth it.

From all the laundry that I’m doing, I have come up with some laundry tips on how to save money and time. Here’s my list: 

• Coupons, coupons and more coupons – For example, the detergent I use when washing Ryan’s laundry is Dreft, which is really expensive. So, to make sure I don’t buy it at full price, I use coupons. Target has some good ones and there are some online too.
• Buying items on sale – When I do get detergent, Dreft or otherwise, I try to make sure it’s on sale. That also holds true with dryer sheets and pretty much anything else that I buy.
• Don’t go the name brand route – Generic and off brands typically work just as well as name brands and despite name brand laundry detergent makers saying otherwise, it’s true. What’s nice is they cost less and do the same thing as the name brands.
• Multi-task – This is the biggest time saver for me when I’m doing laundry. Like, after I throw a load of clothes in the dryer after taking out a load, I fold the one load and when I’m done with that, I get another load started. It may sound pretty simple, yet, it does save me a lot of time.
• Don’t let the laundry pile up – I learned this one the hard way when I decided to not do any laundry for a bit. I ended up doing laundry for an entire day and it was not fun. Now, I do a little laundry each day to keep on top of it!
  

This is what my grandma used to wash clothes!

In the end, laundry is a pain in the butt and when you have a kid, just realize, like I have, that it’s going to accumulate faster than ever. So fast that you might not be able to keep up with it and that not being able to keep up with it is probably going to make you fume a bit. Well, it has me anyway! :) And also realize, like I have, that laundry fairies don’t exist, they really, really don't! :) As much as I wish they did, they don’t, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and keep plugging away, washing and folding clothes! 

At least, it’s not the 1950’s with the hand crank washing machines like my Grandma had to use. (Check it out on the right, she actually used a machine like it still when I was growing up!) Not to mention having to hang all the clothes outside, or indoors, to dry. Now that wouldn’t have been much fun and I applaud her for her hard work. Love you Grandma!

Thus, I’m going to stop complaining now and be thankful for the advancement of technology! So until next time, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

Oh, my poor hair....

It was going to happen, but I wasn’t quite sure when and now that it’s happening, I’m a bit mortified to be honest. What am I talking about you ask? Well, my hair is falling out and it’s seriously grossing me out. What sucks is that mothers everywhere go through this all the time after their pregnancies and what’s even worse than that, is when people have cancer and go through chemotherapy, all of their hair falls out. I can’t even imagine going through that since I’m freaking out when it comes to what I’m dealing with right now. So to all of you cancer patients out there, props to you and I admire your courage. It must be hard, really, really hard. :(

With that said, I'm going to write about why mothers lose their hair after they have their babies. During pregnancy, women have higher estrogen levels so the hair stays in the growing and resting stages longer and does not fall out. Then, when a woman has her baby, those estrogen levels pretty much plummet and instead of her hair staying in the growing and resting stages, it goes right into the shedding stage and falls out. (Information courtesy of the Babycenter.com) For most mothers, this happens about three or so months after giving birth, yet it can be different for each individual and for myself, it’s been about four months now.

Probably the thing that gets me the most about my hair falling out is how it has been falling out. I mean, I’m in the shower and clumps of it just roll off of my shoulders. I’ve never been a fan of hairballs to begin with and now when I’m done showering, I have to pull a big junk of hair out of the drain. It’s super, duper gross. I won’t even get into what happens when I brush my hair since that’s even more disgusting not to mention the fact that you can find my hair pretty much all over the house. Dave has even been kidding me about it, telling me to stop dropping my hair everywhere. Hmm, maybe I could make a sweater or something out of all of it? LOL, that would be really icktastic! And yes, I was going to post a picture of one of the hair clumps I took out of the shower, however, decided against it since I couldn’t put all of you through that! :0)

Anyway, from what I’ve ready, it could take almost a year for my hair to get back to normal and in the meantime, there’s really not all that much that I can do about it. So, I’m just trying to roll with what’s going on and hope it stops falling out sooner rather than later. That’s easier said than done mind you given that I’m the type of person who likes to be in control of things and this is something I definitely have no control over. It hasn’t been fun, yet, when I think about people with cancer going through chemo, I tell myself I have it easy and to just deal. Again, props to all of you who have cancer and are dealing with what you’re dealing with. I wear my yellow Livestrong bracelet for you! :)

To learn more about hair loss after pregnancy, check out these websites:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpartum-hair-loss_11721.bc

http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-normal-to-lose-hair-after-giving-birth_1335883.bc

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/symptoms-and-solutions/postpartum-hair-loss.aspx

Well, that’s about all I got for today! Have a good one!

Having a sick baby is no fun :(

The sick little guy trying to nap.

I know, I know. I said in my last post that I would talk about my eating habit game plan when it came to losing my baby weight this time around. Well the thing is, that was before Ryan got sick so talking about weight loss is going to go on the backburner for the moment. Instead, I’m going to focus on what it’s been like to experience being a mom with a sick baby for the first time.

In three words, it is rough. There is snot flying everywhere not to mention the occasional urpage when he can’t hold down his Similac formula and then there was the mother of all poop blow-outs that had both Dave and myself gagging in disgust on Sunday. I mean, the little guy first pooped in his diaper, which was fine since that’s what babies do. But then when we went to change him, that’s where things got nuts because he projectile pooped when we got his diaper off, proceeded to poop more after I tried to wipe off his bum, and then thought it would be fun to kick his feet all around in it. He was giggling the whole time, so, he wasn’t feeling all that sick, but it was so gross that we both almost puked. Needless to say, Ryan immediately got a bath, his clothes were thrown in the laundry, and after changing the garbage in his room that was filled with his poop aftermath, we even had to plug a Glade air freshener in the wall since the smell wouldn’t go away! Ahhh!

Ryan is not a fan of the snot sucker!

Other than the blow-out of all blow-outs, the hardest thing to deal with is not being able to help him feel better. Since he’s still so little, he doesn’t know how to breathe through his mouth yet and that’s been a big problem for him given that his nose is almost plugged shut. So, we had to bust out the nose sucky thing and he hates it with a passion. Every time we use it on him, he screams bloody murder and it’s hard to keep cleaning out his nose when I know that it bothers him so much. Once we’re done, he calms down, but geez, it’s like his world is coming to an end. I’ve never felt so sympathetic for someone who has had a cold before, which is a bit out of character for me since I’m sometimes not a very compassionate person. It’s a character flaw of mine, so, I apologize to everyone who I’ve come in contact with who has had a cold in the past and have not show compassion for. That was pretty crappy of me and it won’t happen again, but I digress and back to Ryan.

Now, after we suck his nose out with the sucky thing, he could breathe for a little bit and would get comfortable enough to fall asleep in either my or Dave’s arms. However, the sleeping has always been short lived due to the fact that his nose would get plugged up again and he would snort and wake himself up. It’s a super vicious cycle that I’m hoping will end soon. The fever/pain reducer we got for him seems to help a bit with the congestion and we also bought him a warm steam vaporizer, something that has helped him sleep in his room by himself for a little while the last couple of nights.   

I must say through this whole thing, Dave has been SUPER DAD. He has been taking care of Ryan the last two days while I’m at work and has been doing an awesome job. He’s so patient with him and cares so much about him. Without Dave, I don’t think I’d be able to handle dealing with Ryan’s cold, especially since I’m getting sick myself. What really sucks is now Dave is sick and we’re basically all miserable. Hopefully, we’ll all get better soon and can get back to our normal routines…FINGERS CROSSED! 

So much to talk about, so little time!

You would think that since I’m at home all day long that I would have all sorts of time to do things. Well guess what folks, that’s not the case at all! :) And what’s worse is that my time with Ryan is flying by and soon I’ll have to go back to work, super yuck!

Anyway, with my griping now over, it’s time to go through some of the milestones that Ryan, Dave, myself, and the rest of the family have had over the last couple of weeks. So, here they are:

• Ryan was baptized! It was such an awesome experience and all of our family and friends were there. My brother Craig was his godfather and Emily, Dave’s daughter, was his godmother. The mass was very beautiful and the party after at my parent’s house was great. Thanks to everyone who attended!
  

We love the little guy!

• I got my sense of smell back! Sure, this might sound pretty trivial, but it’s been pretty crazy for me because of everything I can smell again. I had no idea how much I couldn’t smell things until I could start smelling them all again. Some pleasant things I’ve encountered so far are Dave’s cooking, the flowers outside, Ryan’s cute baby smell, fresh brewed coffee, and baked chocolate chip cookies. Some horrible things I’ve smelled so far are Ryan’s gross poop diapers, the skunk outside, garbage, and bad perfume!
  
• Ryan kinda slept through the night a couple of times! I say kinda due to the fact that it wasn’t the whole night that he slept, just part of it. For the past few nights, he’s been sleeping about four or five hours straight. Hopefully, the trend continues and he eventually gets up there to like six or seven hours, that would be so wonderful!
  
• Speaking of sleep, we’ve figured out a sleeping schedule that let’s both Dave and I get more sleep. The thing is, more doesn’t necessarily mean enough sleep and there’s been times where we’re like the walking dead. We’re getting through it though and what I’m taking from it is that what doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger! Hear my roar!
  
• I worked out for the first time! It was both fantastic and horrifying. I mean, it felt great to get moving again and workout, but then it was not so great when I couldn’t breathe and wanted to stop after like five minutes. Oh well, baby steps I guess.
  
• Ryan ate rice cereal! Yes, the little guy is only seven weeks old, yet he has such a super huge appetite that we had to try something to fill up his little tummy other than formula. He totally likes it and it’s so cute when he eats it! It’s like, num, num, num…rice cereal all over his face and then eventually, he swallows a little bit. Dave and I feed him together because it’s definitely a two person job!
  
• I’ve managed to figure out how to go grocery shopping and run errands all on my own with Ryan in tow. It’s a bit of a chore since his car seat is so freaking heavy! So my game plan at every store we go to is to park next to a cart rack with carts in it (because if there are no carts, what good would that do?), get a cart, put Ryan in said cart in his car seat, and then head into the store. We’ve been to all sorts of places together and now when he gets fussy at wherever we might be, I either bust out the nookie or the bottle and we’re good to go!
  
• Ryan has out grown some of his clothes! I knew it was going to happen and the fact that it’s happened this quick is pretty crazy! We now have a box for all the stuff he can’t wear anymore and plan on donating it to people in need. 

Scooch, scooch, scooch!

• The little guy has started to scooch across the floor, can almost roll over, moves his arms and legs like he's swimming, and with some help, can stand up. Granted with the standing, he can’t do it on his own, however, his little legs are super strong. Basically, he just stands on my lap while I hold him and looks around. It’s cute! 

• I’ve learned how to cook and make Dave dinner now and again. Tonight, I’m trying this crazy pasta bake thing that I’m going to create from scratch, we’ll see how it turns out!
• Ryan now smiles when he’s happy and has all sorts of facial expressions from grumpy face to pouty face to what the hell are you doing face to the I’m a cross between being happy and not happy and the I’m tired face, but don’t want to go to sleep! It’s interesting to see the little man he’s becoming and how expressive he can be. I just love being able to watch him and take it all in!

Well, that’s just a few milestones that we’ve all had over the last couple of weeks. Sorry that I haven’t posted more, but like I said, I’ve been super busy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start blogging on a regular basis again. So until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy and new mom saying farewell!   

Oh, the joy of eight straight hours of sleep!

So, for the past two nights, my dear husband did something that was completely wonderful, he got up with Ryan the entire night and let me get eight straight hours of sleep. Actually, I think it ended up being nine straight hours of sleep both nights and all I can say is that I feel like a completely new person. Typically, we will split up the night and take turns taking care of Ryan. However, the last two nights, Dave went above and beyond and let me sleep, it was heaven! I don't know how he does it and for him to let me sleep a whole bunch has been completely wonderful, thanks honey, I love you!

Super Dad and Ryan...I don't know what I would do without Dave! :)

Now, what I've learned during Ryan’s first three weeks of life is that sleeping and taking care of a newborn do not go hand in hand. Like, not one bit, not at all and one piece of advice that I want to debunk in this post is that whole deal about you need to sleep when your baby sleeps stuff.  In the last two or so months, I think I’ve heard that comment from more than 20 people and guess what, it doesn’t work. I’ve tried on numerous occasions to sleep when Ryan sleeps and it has yet to stick. Why? There are a variety of reasons. One, I need to eat and when he’s asleep, it gives me a prime opportunity to do so. I mean come on, it’s not like I can make a sandwich with one hand while I’m holding him with the other. Thus, when he’s snoring away, I can head to the kitchen and get some fuel to keep going. My favorite foods to snack on are Golden Grahams, string cheese, carrots, and peanut butter and jelly. They are all really fast and easy to make. Oh, and I really enjoy being able to drink as much coffee as I want too! :) When I was pregnant, the caffeine intake had to be limited, yet now, I can go nuts if I feel like it!

Anyway, another reason why I can’t sleep when Ryan sleeps is I like to stay clean. When he’s awake, he needs my soul attention and that means, no taking my eyes off of him. Sure, it’s not like he’s running all over the place, but I can’t let him sit in his crib or in his swing for 20 or so minutes (Yes, I take long showers now because that’s my relaxation time) and expect him to stay happy and occupied. He needs to be watched when he’s awake, even when he’s in his crib or swing, so, the only time I have to shower is while he’s snoozing.  Even then, I have his monitor in the bathroom with me to make sure he’s okay and if he starts to cry or whatever, I cut the shower short. That’s only happened on one occasion, so, I’ve been lucky.

I also can’t sleep when he sleeps since things need to get done around the house. People always say, “Oh, just leave the housework and take care of yourself.” Well guess what, that’s definitely easier said than done due to the fact that if it doesn’t get done, then things get chaotic and extremely messy. For instance, as soon as Ryan goes to sleep the first thing I do is check to make sure he has enough formula to eat, if not, then that needs to be made and if his bottles are dirty, then those need to be cleaned so he has something to eat out of. That takes about 15 or so minutes to get done. Then, if he has dirty laundry, that needs to be started and that takes another 15 or so minutes to get done. After that, there are our dirty dishes to take care of and if the Beaver our dog doesn’t get some attention at some point, he freaks out so I need to play with him.

Poor dog hasn't been adjusting well. :(

When I’m done playing with Beaver and have let him out outside, which takes about a half an hour, then it’s time put Ryan’s laundry in the dryer, and in a blink of an eye, an hour, hour and a half has gone by and that leaves me about an hour to take a nap before Ryan starts to wake up for his next feeding. That may sound like enough time to get some sleep, yet it really isn’t because more often than not as soon as I fall asleep, he wakes up and I feel worse than I would have without even going to sleep at all. So, I would rather just kind of veg out for that time, like play on Facebook or watch TV, and wait until I need to get Ryan’s laundry done and then eventually get Ryan to change and feed him. It’s just easier than falling into a deep sleep only to wake up 30 or so minutes later.

Basically when it comes down to it, sleeping when your newborn sleeps just doesn’t seem to work for me and it’s not advice that I would pass along myself to new parents. What I would suggest to new parents would be to simply take turns taking care of your little guy or gal with your partner. If you split up the duties, then, everyone will get some rest and for me and Dave, there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel with Ryan’s sleeping habits. Last night, Dave told me that Ryan slept from 10:30 pm till a little after 4 am straight. Dave stayed up to check on him once and awhile to make sure that he was okay and tonight, we have our fingers crossed that Ryan will sleep through the night again. All I know is that we just have to stay the course and if we do, we’ll all end up getting all the rest that we’ll need at some point! Sweet! And yes, Dave is taking a well deserved nap right now and I have every intention of doing something nice for him for all the support he has given me! There will definitely be some eight or nine straight hours of uninterrupted sleep for him in the future! :) Just saying!

Well, that’s about all I have for today. I’ll let you know what happens with Ryan’s sleeping in my next blog post. So stay tuned and until next time, it’s Carla the new mom and tomboy signing off!

I want to shop!

I do believe that I have never uttered those words before, “I want to shop.” Thinking that and then saying it out loud makes be believe that this pregnancy thing is turning me into a full blown lady. Well, probably not due to the fact that I’m still walking around in t-shirts and shorts or jeans like I always do, but still, I’m probably more girly now than I have ever have been before in my entire life! I don’t know whether to smile, cry or laugh at that? Oh, always so emotional.

Now back to wanting to shop, it’s not something that I ever really wanted to do before, yet now, if I could go to Target everyday and purchase something for little Billy Bubba, I would be happier than a pig in sh&t! (And yes, I’m going to swear since that’s the kind of mood I’m in.) It does not even matter what I would buy for him either since if I could just get him something, I would be happy. I mean, like just getting him some diapers and some wipes at this point would probably bring a smile to my face and those two things aren’t very much fun at all!

My wanting to shop for him is almost turning into an addiction. At night when I’m sitting at my computer, more often than not I’m scouring whatever store online or Ebay, looking to get something cool for him. I have come across some good finds, like a cute little Nike outfit (see below) that has a matching hat and booties, which has now turned into the first outfit that he’ll ever wear. 

Gotta love baby outfits!

Oh, side note to that, I have repeatedly told Dave that when little BB is born, I need him to be all cleaned up before I have to touch him because after watching too many episodes of 16 and Pregnant on MTV, I don’t want to have to deal with a gross, ooky baby right after he hopefully slides right out of me. I want that cute little bundle of joy to be just that, a cleaned up baby that is all cute, cuddly and ook free. Just saying. :) And, I’m sure that I will change my mind at some point and decide on another first outfit that I want little BB to wear, yet right now, I’m going with what I found above.

One thing that I’m hoping will curb my new shopping addiction (that’s right, I’m going to accept what it is at this point and isn’t the first step to recovery admitting you have a problem! Hah, too funny) is how Dave and I are going to go shopping for our son’s furniture this weekend. Dave finished up painting his room last weekend, blue of course, and now we need to fill it up with a crib, dresser, maybe a changing table, and anything else that I cannot control myself from buying. It should be fun and with that said, I bid you ado because it’s time to enjoy the weekend and I’m not going to be able to do that sitting in front of a computer. So, peace out and have a good one! :)

Wow, how cool is this?

So, I just got official word that the baby blanket Wendy G. was making for little Billy Bubba is now complete and I must say, after seeing a picture of it, I’m almost at a loss for words at how awesome it turned out. Like, super, duper, awesome! See:

The baby blanket for our baby boy!

I mean, this baby blanket is the bomb and I can’t thank Wendy enough for what she’s done for us. The time, effort and energy that she put into making it just makes me smile and knowing now that it’s done has completely brightened my day! The pattern is amazing and it looks warm, soft and fuzzy. I can’t wait to wrap little BB in it for the first time!

Probably what’s even cooler than knowing that the baby blanket is done is Wendy herself! There aren’t many people like her out in this world who are completely giving and selfless. Who are willing to do something nice for someone else just because they want to. People like Wendy are totally refreshing to be around and I consider her to be a great friend to Dave, myself, and little BB.

Thanks again Wendy for what you did for us and for totally making my day! I’m smiling from ear to ear!  

I wonder about my pooch…

The Beave!

So my pooch Beaver is pretty much attached to me at the hip when I’m in the house and I’m wondering how he’s going to react when little Billy Bubba makes his way into our lives?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Beaver is going to be extremely jealous for awhile because instead of having all of my attention like he does now, he’s going to have to take a backseat to little BB. As it is, the furball gets mad when Dave and I sit next to each other sometimes, so I can only imagine how it’s going to be when I’m rocking little BB back and forth instead of petting him. There are other times when he's even worse, like when I go upstairs and leave him in the living room. He'll cry and have a fit if I'm not around him. My mom suggested that we train Beaver how to be around a baby by purchasing a baby doll, however, I’m thinking that’s only going to end in catastrophe since Beaver will probably rip the doll apart in like three seconds without us ever getting the chance to tell him no!

I did a little research online to find out how to make the transition easier for my dog and little BB. There was talk about setting up boundaries, hiring a private trainer to get him on track, teaching him to be obedient with treats to not jump on people or the baby, and getting him used to infant smells along with the noises that an infant might make. I’m not quite sure how we’re going to go about getting Beaver ready for little BB, but I do know that it’s something that has to happen given that if it doesn’t, it’s not going to be a good situation.

I guess my fear is that Beaver isn’t going to get used to little BB and then we’re going to have to give Beaver away or something. That would be completely devastating to me, even though Dave would probably be okay with it since the pooch can be annoying, due to the fact that we’ve been through so much with this dog. Not only training him mind you, but nursing him through a hip surgery along with an infection that almost killed him. So, if we had to let him go, I would be super sad and for that reason, I’m going to do everything to make sure Beaver and little BB coexist nicely. If you readers out there have any suggestions on how to make things work, please let me know!

Some people are sooooo nice….

This post is all about giving mad props to one of Dave’s co-workers at the YMCA in Green Bay, WI, Wendy G. Why? It’s because of what she’s doing for our baby boy to be, she’s knitting him a baby blanket. It’s a gesture of kindness that has really touched my heart, especially since she extended the offer to do it for us.

Now, I don’t quite remember how it all transpired with Wendy making little Billy Bubba a blanket to begin with. I think there was some conversation back and forth about knitting, then I saw a blanket she made on Facebook for a friend who was having a baby, I commented on how cool it looked, and then she was like, “I can make you a blanket, just get me the yarn!” Of course, I was all over that because the one she made for her friend’s baby looked really cute! Then a few days later, I even got to see the one she made first hand for her friend's baby and it looked even better in person, if that was even possible? Not to mention that it was all warm and cuddly too! That day, she said to pick out the yarn, drop it off, and that she would do all the rest. We found the yarn for the blanket at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Dave gave it to her about a week or so ago.

Anyway on Monday to my dismay, I missed a Facebook post from Wendy about the blanket, which showed the progress she was making on it. She came up with a pattern that is super awesome: 

Like I said, super awesome!

I so can’t wait for the blanket to be complete and again, what she’s doing is such an amazing gesture of kindness that I don’t think I’ll be able to thank her enough. I figure writing about it on my blog is a good place start, so Thank You Wendy for everything that you’re doing for Dave, myself and little Billy Bubba! You ROCK!

Registering for baby stuff is fun!

This past weekend, my husband Dave and I registered for baby stuff at Target. I must say, it was actually wasn’t all that bad.

We started off the experience by heading to our local Target and after registering online at the store’s Kiosk, titling our gift registry Baby Billy Bubba Lee, we walked over to guest services. They provided us with this nifty scanner, which looked like a futuristic laser gun that made me feel like I was in a Star Trek movie, to scan the items that we wanted to put on our registry. Their instructions were to simply:  head to the baby section, go nuts and scan whatever items we wanted, and then when we were done, bring the scanner back to them.The only downer after talking with them is that we were supposed to get this free gift tote for expecting moms, but they were out. Hopefully, the next time we stop at the store there will be some available.

I heard that Target diapers ROCK!

Anyway, we then went to the baby section of Target and as directed above, we went nuts scanning different things that we both needed or wanted for our little guy who is coming in July.  I write both needed and wanted in that last statement because there are some things that we really need and other things that would just be cool for him to have. For example, some of the things we need before he comes are diapers, baby bottles, bath time supplies, wipes, bedding, clothes for him like onesies and socks, burp cloths, and so on and so forth.

The mobile we found Target! It looks like fun!

Then, there is stuff that we just kind of want like this fun summer outfit we found for him that we paired up with a hat. I realize that he really doesn’t need a hat or the polo shirt and short outfit that it matches, but it looked so cute that there was no way we couldn’t add it. We also registered for a Diaper Genie because I hear that they make diaper clean-up pretty easy and this awesome sports mobile, something matches perfectly with this sports motif bumper set we picked out. I must say, I think I’m starting to like this whole shopping deal. Please, don’t tell anyone! ;)

There were other expecting couples also registering for baby stuff while we were at Target and it was neat to see all of us going to town, especially since everyone was smiling and really enjoying themselves. The bonding that was going on was off the charts and cool to see. We also registered at Kohl’s, but that store didn’t have as much fun stuff, aside from some Nike socks, that Target does. I did find a kewl baby book online that would be super cool to record all of those fun baby events in his life along with a closet organizer that they had online, which would be helpful in getting all of Billy Bubba’s stuff organized! I've never really been a person who really cares all that much about being organized, yet I'm thinking I need to start given that if I don't, Billy Bubba's stuff might end up all over the place.

Nike socks, enough said!

All in all, registering for baby stuff was an experience that was a pretty fun time. And you might be thinking, does she expect whoever is reading this blog to go out and buy her and her husband everything on their registry for their baby??? My answer to that is a no, I don’t expect that at all. What is on the registry is all stuff that would be nice for us to receive. If we do, that would be awesome and I would be very thankful for whatever we receive and if not, no big deal. I basically just blogged about it due to the fact that it was one of those outings that moms to be get to experience and even being a tomboy, I really enjoyed myself and the time I was able to spend with Dave. With that said, I hope being able to read about my experience was able to brighten your day and until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy signing off!

Ooh, that’s not gas!

It took me a little while to realize that the stomach discomfort I was feeling wasn’t gas, but was actually my little guy moving about in my belly! Yeah, I know that sounds super weird, yet it’s the truth so proceed to laugh because there’s no reason not to. 

Okay, now that you got your chuckle out of the way, I just wanted to go into why I thought I was having stomach problems instead of realizing what was going on. The reason is, is because that’s what he felt like a few weeks ago. My tummy was uncomfortable and I felt like I had some digestion issues. I never thought that’s what the baby would feel like until I asked a few friends and other people who were pregnant in the past what it felt like when you started to feel your baby. Most of them said, “It feels like you have really bad gas.” Then a little light bulb went off in my head and I was like, duh, that’s my little baby moving about in my belly. It was a surreal moment and something that I’ll never forget since it meant that my baby was growing and becoming a little person. Super kewl.

The term that is used to describe a mother first feeling her baby move is called quickening. According to Wikipedia, it's defined as:

“the moment of quickening refers to the initial motion of the fetus in the uterus as it is perceived or felt by the pregnant woman.”

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my baby has certain positions that he likes due to the fact that I can feel pressure in certain areas of my stomach more than others. For example, he totally enjoys burrowing on my left side. Occasionally, he’ll sit in the middle of my stomach and sometimes, he’ll migrate lower and rest right on top of my bladder, which isn’t all that fun for me since, you guessed it, causes me to have to visit the bathroom even more than I have to already. Dave my husband pointed out why our baby likes my left side so much the other day and that’s because I sleep on my left side more than my right. It makes sense and something that I overlooked just like with feeling my baby for the first time due to the fact that for some reason I no longer have common sense. It’s like when I got pregnant, my common sense flew out the window. Hopefully after the baby comes, it will return, but who knows!

Now, the only real uncomfortable position that I’ve noticed him frequent is when he goes up right under my rib cage. He did this over the weekend and it was like, dude, what are you doing up there? It made it really hard for me to breath and as I’m writing this, he’s actually making his way up there right now!  Interesting, I guess the two of us are connected. Sweet.  Anyway, I’m crossing my fingers that this won’t happen often, however, I do realize he’s only going to get bigger and there’s only so many places that he can go. So, it’s just going to be one of those things I’ll have to deal with as with all those other uncomfortable pregnancy moments. It’s all worth it though because the end result is a cute little bundle of joy!

Well, that’s all for today. I bid you farewell and until next time, this is Carla the tomboy signing off.

Survey says...

My husband Dave and I found out the sex of our baby today!!!! Like I said in the last post, we weren’t all that sure if we wanted to find out if our little tyke was a boy or a girl, but after some careful consideration and some gentle pushing and encouragement from family and friends, we decided to go for it.

So as my favorite host of Family Feud Ray Combs would say, “Survey says,” we’re having a boy! :) 

Dave asked the doctor about the ultrasound if the picture was pretty accurate and the doctor said, “Yes, that’s a really good picture.” It made us both chuckle and what was even more funny was when the ultrasound technician was looking at the little guy’s parts before we spoke with the doctor. She was like, “Well, baby looks like a boy.” And then was like, “Oh yeah, baby’s a boy.” She said it with a big smile and it made me totally laugh out loud. She took a picture of the whole thing and on the picture, she even wrote “Boy” with an arrow pointed to his junk. Seriously, that’s what she did, but that’s not going to be posted on this blog because I don’t think it’s all too appropriate or something I want to have him see when he’s on the Internet when he’s like 15 or 16. Could you imagine that, him seeing the blog and saying, “Hey Mom, I found something you wrote about me before I was born,” and then be like, “You posted a picture of that. MOMMMM!”

Okay, I digress, but I had to because that picture is tooooo funny! Anyway, the best part of the whole ultrasound experience though was to find out from our doctor that the little guy is healthy and progressing nicely. He has all ten fingers and ten toes, a strong heartbeat, two kidneys, a liver, a stomach, a big noggin, a bladder, and lungs that we can’t really make out, but the ultrasound technician assured us that they’re there and just not visible yet. From that long list of things, I don’t think I’m missing anything, however, I’m pretty excited so forgive me if I did!

In five weeks we go back for another baby check-up and throughout the next five weeks, we get to do a lot of fun baby planning from how we should paint his room to what kind of furniture we should buy and so on and so forth. Here's a picture of something fun I already found online: 

Located at: http://www.greenevillegifts.com/baby/its_a_boy_baseball.htm,  Pretty cool!

I’m a big planner, so this is going to be fun and until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy signing off.