A Sweet Big Sister and Her Baby Brother

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The CDE Days 4-6

So, we're on our 6th day into our cloth diapering journey and I am still loving my decision to use cloth diapers! Of course I'm really regretting not using cloth when I wanted to with Leah, but you can't go back, only forward. {The amount of money we would have saved just kills me, ugh.}

Okay so:
Basically from day one the Bumgenius 4.0 pocket diaper has been my top fave. It has continued to be! It's tied with the Bumgenius Elemental all-in-one, and the Flip hybrid. {Which is also made by Bumgenius.} At Grayson's "Meet the Baby" party we recieved a gift card from my dad {thanks dad ♥ you!} to get more cloth diapers. I really had a hard time deciding between the 4.0 and Elemental. I ended up going with the 4.0. {A} Because they're cheaper I was able to get 4 diapers rather than 3. and {B} Easier and faster prepping. I could use them after only one wash, whereas with the Elemental I would have to wash and dry 5 to 6 times before using. I was also really excited to sell some diapers I wasn't super loving and use the money to buy a couple more diapers, another 4.0 is on the way, as well as another Flip cover and 2 inserts.

I was really bummed to find out that my FAVORITE store {Jack Be Natural} was out of stock of another favorite of mine, the Kawaii Green Baby Fun Print Cross-Over Snap Version. {Whew! Long name!} As soon as they are restocked I will be ordering at least two more of these diapers.

Lastly, I plan on adding 3 more Elementals to my collection. I am hoping to sell a couple more diapers that I didn't love so we're not drowning in cloth diapers, and to also fund the last few purchases I have to make. I plan on coming back with a total of how much I've invested so far to compare to how much disposables would cost to see what the overall savings would be.

I also want to put together a post about the diapers that didn't work for us, and why.

By the way, I'm in the midst of making a decision and would love any experiences, tips, advice, etc. We've dealt with a small case of diaper rash the past week and have had to use a lot more disposables than I would have wanted. I can't decide if I should buy cloth diaper safe rash cream, disposable inserts for the Flip covers to use with my non CD safe cream, or disposable liners to use with my pocket diaper and all-in-one's for the non CD safe cream. I really need to sit down and do the math on that one. I have been told that CD safe diaper cream isn't as good as healing as it is at preventing and that only creams with zinc oxide will really clear up diaper rash. So if you have any thoughts on that please share!

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Wordless{ish} Wednesday

Grayson James

Linkin' Up with:

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Hello Baby!

Grayson's Woodland Creature 

"Meet the Baby" Party

{The Invitation}

Top Left: Toadstool Cupcakes Top Right: Acorns!
Middle Left: Wishes for Grayson Middle Right: Goodie Bags, baggies with river rock candy, and a woodland animal cookie cutter.
Bottom: The whole table! Lots of yummy foods, bottled water with matching labels, and mason jars w/ ice for ice cold lemonade!

Left: Owl Cake!
Middle Top: River Rock candy Middle Bottom: Cupcakes w/ Cupcake Toppers and Cookies
Right Top: Utensils with napkin rings. Right Bottom: Sign and Banner

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The Milky Way

I have nursed all four of my babies. Some nursed longer than others but overall I've spent a lot of time nursing some babes. You would think that because of this I'd be somewhat of a breastfeeding pro. Or at least rather knowledgeable of that which is breastfeeding. In fact I thought I was a boob milk know-it-all. And while I do know a lot, I'm so far from knowing it all. In fact I barely know just enough.

One thing I've discovered quite recently? I'm basically a milk monster. I see photos like this one:

{Source}

And while it's a beautiful picture of a mother nursing their baby, all I can think is, where's the burp cloth/receiving blanket to soak up the dripping milk?

I see photo's of mother's braless, in strapless dresses, nursing their babes. Where's the nursing bra?! How do they hold nursing pads to their breasts without a nursing bra????

I read posts where mothers talk about only needing nursing pads the first couple of days of engorgement. Whaaaat?! How is that possible?????

From the time my milk comes in, to the time my baby weans I am a milk flowing factory. Not wearing nursing pads? NOT AN OPTION unless I want to walk around like this:

I thought it was normal to leak all the time. I thought it was normal to choke and almost drown your baby during let down. I thought their cute little gulps as they tried to keep up with the geyser coming from my nipples was what all babes did. While funny, I thought it was normal to spray milk across a room or cover my babies face in a spray of their special beverage if they happened to turn away.

Apparently I was wrong. Very mistaken. I'm not normal at all. I'm a mega producing milk monster.

I'm certain I keep nursing pad companies in business. I go through them so quickly I've thought about using washable, renewable pads. But seriously? They'd be more a bitch than cloth diapers. Probably. Maybe. Okay, maybe I do need to look into that...

I happened to be blissfully unaware that not only is it not the norm, it's coveted as well. At least that makes me feel better. If I'm going to be all weird and whatnot at least I can feel special about it. I can turn my freakiness into a blessing.

When I nursed Leah Mel and I used to joke about my overproduction. I said I was going to open up a dairy store with products made completely from breast milk. Our shelves would be stocked with "Brianne's Breast Butter, the 'Breast' Butter in Town!", ice cream, yogurt, cheese. As I type this I am slowly realizing that the things I talk to my husband about late at night should never be blogged.

Now I'm sure someone is going to think I'm a freak and tell me how gross and disgusting I am. I say I'm hilarious and brilliant and they can suck it. And when they do they can enjoy the nice milky beverage that is sure to drown them. BOO-YA!

I just boo-ya'd, so on that note, I'm out.


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The CDE Day 2 and 3

Saturday wasn't much of a "cloth diapering experience" day. I put Grayson in Pampers Swaddlers Friday night for fear of overnight leakage in cloth. The funny thing is, he woke up soaking wet from a leaky diaper anyway. Blah. Then, not only that,  he woke up with diaper rash. :( Thursday he had a little redness before I put the BG 4.0 on him and miraculously it was gone by the time I changed him. I was hoping for the same results and put him in another GroVia all-in-one. I was bummed because once again, the GroVia AIO leaked. :( I don't think I did anything wrong this time, but I really don't know. When I went to change him his diaper rash was a lot worse so it was back to Swaddlers so that I could use some Butt Paste on him.  I'm 99.9% sure the rash is from the wipes I've been using. They're AWFUL. I accidentally bought the wrong ones at the store. He most def needs sensitive wipes.

I'm hoping I will be able to start using the cloth wipes soon. I just need to figure out a solution for...well...wipes solution. lol Of course I will be sharing that experience as well. I'm also thinking I need more cloth wipes. I only have maybe 14 as of now, 10 custom made wipes, and 4 baby wash cloths. I don't know, maybe that's enough, anyhow, back to CDE 2 & 3!

I put him back in cloth before leaving to visit my brother-in-law yesterday. This time around I used my FuzziBunz one size. At first, as I was struggling to adjust the dipe to fit him and I was really questioning if I would like the Fuzzibunz. It went on as easily as a disposable, but to be honest if I hadn't watched a the video on their website I probably wouldn't have snapped it properly. The FB has hip snaps which I hadn't came across on any other diapers. Seeing the video though, I knew to snap the hip snaps first, and was able to get a really great fit. The Fuzzibunz is a pocket diaper, which requires stuffing, and while you do have to adjust the elastic in the waste and legs to fit, I really liked it. The website has a chart so you know which setting to use for your babies size, and like mentioned above, they have a video to show how to use the diaper. Adjusting the straps was kind of a pain. But once you have it done, you don't have to do it again until your baby grows enough for the next size up. And really once I did it the one time I'm sure I got the hang of it. I ended up really liking the Fuzzibunz. I won't be finishing my stash out with them, but I'm glad I have one in my "collection".

After the Fuzzibunz we went back into a Pampers Swaddler for more Butt Paste. I had to change him while we were out and about and I worried about what to do with a dirty cloth diaper, but I just threw it in a plastic Walmart bag, tied it off and threw it in the diaper bag. Just as easy as dealing with disposables in my opinion. I wouldn't want to leave it there for days or anything, but it did the job until we got home. I'm hoping to get a small wet bag for the diaper bag. {A wet bag is a water proof bag with a zipper, basically a reusable, washable replacement for plastic bags.}

When we got home I put Grayson in a KaWaii Green Baby Bamboo Diaper (Mom Label). It is a one size pocket diaper and let me tell you, that thing is SOFT. It's super soft minky on the outside and I loved rubbing his little tush after I put him in it. Hehe! It fit great, I loved the cross-over tabs, it was super snug around the waste and legs. It lasted until the next diaper change with no problem!

When it was time for bed I decided to put Grayson in cloth for the night. After all, what's the difference if it leaked? The disposable he was in the night before leaked everywhere! I went with my KaWaii Green Baby Cross-Over, with snaps. It's a one size pocket diaper. The print was REALLY cute too. {It's called "Retro", check it out HERE.} This diaper actually had the hip snaps like the Fuzzibunz! I'm glad I saw the video and knew how to put it on properly. Verdict? LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it! It fit wonderfully, the print was SO cute, and it lasted alllllll night without a single leak! Best part? This dipe costs less than 11 bucks. $10.25 at my FAVE shop Jack Be Natural! I'm really excited for them to restock this diaper because I fell hard for it.

Today was day 3 in cloth! I really have no more new diaper experiences to share. :( I will say that I did have a successful experience with the GroVia all-in-one today. So far, out of 4 uses, they've leaked twice. I'm really thinking it's user error. I was really careful with how I put the diaper on him and checked the back and legs to make sure there were no gaps and that it was fitting properly and it worked like a charm.

I can, however, share my first laundry experience!! I was going to do a load last night, but we got home pretty late so I decided to wait until this morning. In case you're curious, right now I'm not even using  a diaper pail, or a wet bag. The diapers don't stink {gotta love that breast milk poo} so I just throw them in a laundry basket with his clothes. I do have a large Planet Wise wet bag that I will be using once we start getting stinkage. The all-in-one's I just fold over with the yuckiness on the inside and throw them in the laundry basket, the pocket diapers I pull the insert out, lay it in the diaper, fold it over and throw it in the hamper. This morning I took the hamper to the laundry room and separated the diapers from his clothes, blankets, burp clothes, etc. I put a towel in the washer first, and then threw in the diapers. In case you're wondering, I have an HE washer so to make sure that I would get enough water in the wash, I added the extra weight of the towel. I did a cold rinse and spin, with no detergent, then I did the "Whites" setting on my washer which is a hot wash, cold rinse, faster spin cycle, and extra rinse. I used two tablespoons of Crunchy Clean in the wash cycle. Once finished, I threw the towel, inserts, and all-in-ones in the dryer, and hung the pocket diapers, and Flip cover up to dry. First I did a "Normal" cycle on "More Dry". When that cycle was finished everything was still damp, so I decided to do a timed dry. I did a timed dry for 60 minutes on high heat. For the last 10 minutes I threw the pockets and Flip cover in also and everything came out super dry!


To be honest it was really fun sitting down and folding everything and stuffing the pockets. Why? I don't know. It just was! lol I'm definitely addicted to cloth at this point. I couldn't wait to change Grayson! And for the record I put him in a Bumgenius 4.0 as soon as it was clean and dry. :)


Yesterday I ordered 4 more Bumgenius 4.0's and I plan on ordering a Flip cover with 3 inserts Friday. I will also be ordering the KaWaii Green Baby Cross-Over, with snaps as soon as they come in. And that's basically it! You can call my stash complete! I'm sure I will put in a custom order here and there, it's kind of impossible not to. lol


My overall verdict of the whole cloth diapering thing? I am sold. I love it. I know that there's more to come with the need to strip them eventually and that I may have stink issues, repelling issues, etc. But for now, I'm going to enjoy it and take it as it comes. I'll keep everyone posted of course. If anyone has any questions let me know! I'm not an expert, but I've read enough that I can probably answer anything.



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The Cloth Diaper Experience Day 1

Yesterday was a big day for Mr. G James. He became a whopping THREE WEEKS OLD! The one and only big milestone? His very first fluffy butt! ^_^ I put him in his first cloth diaper last night. After carefully inspecting his belly button it FINALLY looked well enough to make the move from disposables to cloth. I was super excited to finally make the move. His very first CD? A Bumgenius Elemental. It is an all-in-one cloth diaper and the closest to a disposable. There's no stuffing, no folding or pinning, you just put it on like a disposable, take it off, and wash it. Verdict? I LOVED it. I am actually really disappointed that I only have one. It was super trim, fit G like a glove, and he wore it through a 3 hour nap with ZERO leaks. I was super impressed.

I put him in disposables for the night because I was unsure how cloth would hold up leak wise and I didn't want to wake up in a puddle of pee.

As soon as we were up for the day though it was back to fluffy butt! I went with the Grovia all-in-one this time. It was SO cute! It had little airplanes on it! ^_^ Unfortunately, Grayson pee'd pretty much immediately so the airplane diaper didn't last long. :( I went to throw his night time disposable away and by the time I came back he was wet. I'm not sure if the diaper had leaked, or if he had pee'd and gotten wet while I was changing him and I didn't realize it, but either way I'm pretty sure it was user error and not a reflection on the diaper. I was super bummed though. {And praying it was user error. lol} I moved on to the next diaper and went with the Bumgenius 4.0. In a lovely kelly green. :) The Bumgenius 4.0 is a pocket diaper. It's one step away from being an all-in-one, it has a pocket {hence the name} that you stuff with inserts. The BG 4.0 come with two inserts. A newborn insert for newborns and a one-size insert for your older baby. {The cool thing is once baby outgrows the newborn insert you can use it along with the one-size for overnight or heavy wetters.} The 4.0 fit Grayson amazingly well. Super snug, but not too tight, around the legs and waste. It also lasted a good 3 hours. Not one leak and when changed there wasn't even a hint of a leak. The cool thing is, he had a tad bit of a rash this morning, and by the time I was changing him after the 4.0, it was gone!

For Grayson's next diaper I went back to the Grovia all-in-one, this time the super duper cute {and my fave} owl print. I put the diaper on and it fit great. I checked all around for any gaps and couldn't find anything significant. It seemed to fit his legs and waste just enough. Any looser though and I don't think they would have worked. I'm sure if he was even a pound smaller we would have to wait for the Grovia all-in-one. Luckily enough it did fit. I love how super trim the Grovia all-in-one is. It comes pretty close to a disposable! Not quite as trim as the Bumgenius Elemental, but pretty dang close! The Grovia all-in-one lasted a long 3 hours with no leaks! Which leads me to believe that whatever issue I had with the airplane print was complete user error. I was super happy with the diaper and I'm really glad I have a total of 4 GroVia all-in-ones!

The 4th diaper for the day was a super cute custom diaper I had made by Three Monkey's Cloth Diapers. It was also a pocket diaper like the BG 4.0. It came with a hemp insert. It fit Grayson but to be honest I felt like it was a little too tight at the back. I couldn't find a happy medium that I felt comfortable with. It either felt too tight or too lose. I finally got it snapped to what I felt would be okay. The great thing about this one size diaper is that Im' quite certain it would fit most babies 7lb's and up, where as most one size diapers don't fit until babies are 9lb's or more. Grayson is between 10 and 11 lb's and was certainly not on the tightest snaps. Just as it was time for change, about 3 hours in, we got a leak. His outfit was wet right at the back, and left leg. To be honest, I looked and I don't see how there was a leak at all! It fit him like a glove, there was no gaps for moisture to come through. I'm not giving up on the diaper though. If it leaks again I will contact the seller. I'm sure she will help me out as she was awesome to work with! I definitely recommend her to anyone wanting custom diapers! {She makes sized all-in-one's too and cloth wipes, which I have as well.}

The 5th cloth diaper I used today was a Flip hybrid diaper. The Flip is made by Bumgenius like the 4.0 and Elemental. The cool thing about the hybrid diaper is that you just lay the insert in the cover, rather than stuffing a pocket, and you can change just the insert out rather than changing the entire diaper. You also have the option of using disposable inserts! Which is great for vacations or when you're out of the house. The Flip fit basically just like the 4.0. It was a tad bigger and bulkier, not as trim as the 4.0 and not even close  to as trim as the Elemental. It was the fluffiest butt of the day for sure! ^_^ It fit really well around his legs and waste. {Thank goodness for chunky thighs!} The Flip lasted the 3 hours with no leaks at all! Grayson even had a BIG poop, which I'm sure would have been a blowout with a disposable. I would have had to change the cover and not been able to just change out the insert, if I had other inserts, but the cover kept the poop and pee in like a charm. :) I'm thinking another Flip cover and a couple more inserts may be on my shopping list.

I went back to the Bumgenius 4.0 for the last cloth diaper of the day. I would have tried another diaper, but I only have two 4.0's and I'm trying to make a decision on if I will be buying more so I wanted to see if I liked it the second time around as much as I loved it the first time around. He's only been in the second BG 4.0 for about an hour now, but so far so good!

So, the verdict of my first official day in cloth? I think I'm in ♥LOVE♥!!!! Granted, this is day one, no washing yet! I'm looking forward to another day in cloth and will be washing my first load of CD's tomorrow night! Of course I will sharing my first washing experience as well as the experiences with the diapers I will be trying tomorrow. There's some Kawaii's, a Fuzzibunz, and a Grovia all-in-two hybrid diaper on the list to be tried next!

Stay tuned for more cloth diaper experience and if you have any questions throw them my way!

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3 Weeks Old, a letter to G

Dear Grayson aka G aka Punkin' aka Gray Man aka Buddy,

Look  little man, this whole "growing at the speed of light" thing you got going on isn't working for me. Mommy and Daddy are retiring from the baby making days and moving on to the baby raising days. You are our last contribution to the world and it would do me great pleasure if you would ever so kindly just stay a baby. Forever. Or at least for a really long time. At least consider it? Thank you.

I have some bad news. You are sick. Sick for the very first time. Just typing that makes me want to cry. Your brother and sisters made it months before they battled their first cold and here you are, in our world for just 3 short weeks and you can't breathe through your snotty nose. I'm so sorry punkin'. It makes me so incredibly sad. You see, your brother and sisters don't really comprehend the whole "hygeine" thing and even though daddy and I constantly beg them to wash their hands, and post hand sanitizer at several stations through out the house, somehow it's overlooked and they spread germs leaving you, our sweet little one, sick as can be. You woke up from one of your naps yesterday coughing and choking on your post nasal drip and it's been downhill since. Last night was rough. It's hard to nurse when you can't breathe through your nose! Daddy and I bought a humidifier, hooked that bad boy up, and pumped you full of saline drops. We also sucked gallons of snot from your nostrils. Which you hate. But we're trying baby boy. We're trying. I even bought expensive "Boogie Wipes" just so your tee tiny precious perfect nose will feel as little discomfort as possible. As long as you don't run a fever or stop nursing we just have to ride it out. Amazingly we have an AWESOME physician who cares about his patients, so I'm not worried. As I type this you are nestled close to me snoring away. I hope you feel how loved you are....if you could feel the full extent of it you'd be so overwhelmed. It's a crazy amount of love kid. Crazy.

{This is you, snuggled up to me, as I type this post. Do you know how adorable you are?}

You're not quite at the age for milestones and developmental achievements and such. You're still basking in your beautiful and sleepy newborn glory. And I love it. I'm eating it up. Capturing it in photos every chance I can, and spending every second I have doting on you. You're spoiled. Awfully spoiled. And my give a damn is broken. You are awake a little more each day. Your belly button stump has fallen off, but it is giving us an awful lot of trouble. You've had it cauterized with silver nitrate twice. Luckily it didn't hurt you at all. You didn't make a peep. Your circ is healed although you did give your mama a total freak out a few days ago resulting in an unnecessary trip to the docs office. You're nursing like a champ. When you can breathe that is. You're peeing on less when your diaper is changed. You still hate sponge baths. You're loving your swing, and bouncy seat, and are tolerating your car seat somewhat better than you were. Somehow your fingernails are dirty and it drives me nuts having them be too tiny to clean. I'm really about to soak them in a little bowl of water. How does a 3 week old get dirt under his finger nails anyway?! I guess it's a boy thing. You are precious and adorable and sweet and the bestest baby and I hope your laid back attitude lasts through life. You're cute. Just cute. So, so cute. I hear it all the time and I can never hear it enough.

Your "Meet the Baby" party turned out great and so many people came to see you and love on you! You weren't put down all day, not once. You had to have felt the love. It was palpable in the room around you. I am totally doing a post to share the party details with the world. {Mommy worked hard, for months, planning that shindig, I want it shared with all!} So many people came. Grandpa and Jeri and Jeri's kids, Grandma was able to come before she returned to PA. Your great Uncle Ray, mamaw's brother surprised us from the coast along with great Aunt Nancy. Aunt Dana, Mr. Howard and Howard's children, Brin and Milo, Kay Kay, mamaw, Aunt Debbie, Joshua, Hailey, and Leah of course, all of our local family were there and I know Uncle Tom wanted to be as well as everyone out of town that couldn't make it. Millie and Christine and Camryn, Christa, Mary and her friend Gary, Jenn and Kelli, Alison and Ava, you had so many visitors come meet you and welcome you into this world.

I'm in disbelief that you are 3 weeks old and yet it feels like you've always been a part of our lives. I can't imagine life without you. You've completed our family so greatly. You've perfected it. Thank you for that.

Love, 

Mommy

PS I forgot to mention that at your last doctors visit {for mommy's freak out over your penis} you weighed 10.5 lb's. You gained half of a pound over a weekend. You're pretty much an expert on growing, and getting chunkier every day. It's over the top cute. I promise I won't let you be a Maury show fat though. No chicken wings until at least 2 years old, I don't care how much you cry for them you will not convince me that it's okay to gum them.

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♥

A daddy and his baby boy.

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This commercial is HIL-arious...

 Seriously, makes me laugh. If you're a lady, woman, girl, teenager, any female that has "come of age" so-to-speak you'll get it. And laugh too.

Here, I'll get you started...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now press play....





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What I'm Loving Wednesday!

  

Bright Starts InGenuity Automatic Bouncer

This bouncy seat is pretty awesome. No it IS awesome. It keeps baby G safe from the dangers of his brother and sister so I can do things like go to the bathroom and eat, and other things that require my hands but not necessarily time consuming enough for me to use a baby carrier. It bounces and has great nature sounds and music and it was worth every penny.

Johnson's Nursing Pads

Dear Johnson's Nursing Pads,
Thank you for being so awesome and soft and absorbent. My bras thank you and my sheets thank you and my shirts thank you and my nipples most definitely thank you. Your super absorbency, contoured shape, and adhesive strip perfect your awesomeness. I couldn't get through nursing without you. I love you.

My Cellular Phone {HTC EVO Shift 4G at Sprint}

Because the interwebs would be completely abandoned if it weren't for my smart phone. Okay, I still get on the laptop. BUT, not nearly as often. I use my phone more than anything and only get on the laptop if I have no other choice. I love that I can connect to my WiFi and get super fast browsing. I can read all the blogs I follow with my Google Reader app, tweet, get on Facebook, check emails, even pay bills. The only thing I can't do is blog. Actually, I can, just not up to par to my blogging standards. {I.E. It jacks my pics up, I can't put them where I want them, and I can't do all the linking I do. Plus sometimes it doesn't want to post.}

Yea, can you tell I'm living in the land of "newborn"? I've been on a slow descent to reality, and I'm enjoying the ride. There's nothing better than baby mooning and as Grayson's first two weeks come to a close, so does the babymoon. Super sads....

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12 days

 Grayson's hospital photo. How can something be SO cheesy, yet SO cute?!

Grayson will be 2 weeks old the day after tomorrow. It honestly feels like a lifetime ago that I brought him home to his brother and sisters, yet I can't wrap my head around the fact that he is ALREADY 12 days old. I can honestly say it's been an awesome 12 days. He's sleeping longer stretches in the night. The night before last he slept from 11pm to 7am only waking once at 4am to nurse and get a clean butt. Last night he slept from 11pm to 9am waking twice, at 1 and 5am to nurse and get changed. Yesterday was our first daddy free day and I made it alll day without a single nap!

I felt like a rock star.

I even did a load of laundry. Hold the applause. The c-section incision is fab. It still hurts when I cough and sneeze or press it up against things. Like the washing machine. Carrying a laundry basket full of clothes, or G in his carrier doesn't feel too swell either and I probably shouldn't be doing either one of those things. I definitely know when my body is telling me to chill the frig out. I'm down to like one pain pill a day, but even that makes me feel like a wuss. I wish I could just do the ibuprofen thing, I'm just not there yet.

Last night and today was great. Just the boys and I. The girls were off, distributed amongst family. No one was able to come to me to help so they took the girls to lighten my load. I'm doing great with all 4, better than I imagined. But Hailey's attitude can be so exhausting. And Leah is starting to hit the Terrifying Three's prematurely. Screw "Terrible Two's", they have nothing on the third year and unfortunately, Leah's third year is upon us in just 2 short months.

Grayson's umbilical cord has fallen off already. It took all I had to not bawl my eyes out. He's lost his tag! He's no longer new. :( And no longer returnable. Kidding. Actually he has a mini cord stump now, so he still looks all fresh and newbornish. Still needing the sponge baths, and whatnot. And still unable to wear cloth diapers unfortunately.

Part of me is super scared to switch to cloth. Part of me is super excited! I just don't know what it's going to be like until I really jump into it. It's daunting.

Soooooooooooooooooo here's some info on G:

•Still super sleepy. Sleeping alllll day.
•He has two "awake" times a day where he sits and stares around for about 30 minutes or so.
•He's a super, awesome, mega baby and doesn't cry unless he's hungry, or you touch his bum with a cold wipe. Baths aren't his deal either. {KNOCK ON WOOD}
•He's a Huggies baby, Lil Snugglers to be exact. Until his mini stump falls off. Then it's all cloth, all the time. No more Lil Snugglers in the trash.
•He's a champion nurser and nurses like he's done it his whole life. Okay...he has done it his whole life, but seriously, he nurses like a rock star. {If rock stars nursed.}
•He's wearing 0-3 months, newborn barely fits, he looks like a stuffed little sausage in NB clothes!
•He's OFFICIALLY on the family wall of photos! Welcome to the family Grayson...
•He's totally blonde when his hair is all clean and fluffy.
•He is a pee'er and pees every time air hits his junk. And I mean EVERY time. And he pee's a TON. Not just a little squirt, squirt.
•None of his socks fit his feet. His feet seem tiny and small, but seriously the heel part doesn't quite make it to the heel of his little footsie. However instead of pulling out bigger socks, which I do have, I just shove the wee little socks on his feet anyway.
•He's a squeeker and a vocal eater. I recorder almost 45 seconds of his eating vocalizations. It's adorable. And so funny. He's a grunter too.
•He's a gassy thing. Not in the sense that he's colicy and in pain. {KNOCK ON WOOD} He has NO problem getting that gas out of his belly. He is a farter. Just like his dad. Every time he coughs or sneezes he farts. Every time he cries hard, he farts. Every time he has a diaper changed, he farts. Every time he pulls his legs up, he farts. He just farts. All the time.
•He likes the moby wrap! Yay! And I do too...I just hope I remember how to put it on when we leave the house. {Good thing I can pull up YouTube on my phone...}
•He smiles! Not on command, not on cue, but he smiles. And don't tell me it's gas. He expels gas too quickly for it to make him smile. They're REAL smiles damn it.
•Even thought he's held entirely too often he's not spoiled. {Yet anway.} He doesn't mind being put down so I can do things. I hope that lasts...
•No color to his eyes, although I'm thinking they will be blueish, or at least start out blue. I'm guessing they'll take the same journey Leah's eyes did.

G's blonde, fluffy hair. He's nursing, but I did ya'll a kindness and cropped out my boobage. You're welcome! To some. Sorry to others.

I guess that's it. I can't squeeze anymore Baby G trivia out of me anymore. He's a newborn though and sleeps, and eats, and poops, and farts. There's not much to him. Other than the fact that he's the cutest, sweetest, bestest, most awesome baby in all the land. Of course. Duh.


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Musical Monday #12

I L♥VE Johnny Cash wish a passion. Love, love, LURVE him. I must share his music in more Musical Monday posts for now, this is one of my favorite covers of all time...






He makes this song A-MA-ZING. It was an awesome song before, but Johnny Cash makes everything a million times better.

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"Sweet" 

Joshua meeting his baby brother Grayson for the first time. This literally brings tears to my eyes and I know it will each and every time I look at it.

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Introducing...

Mommy's Little Monster

Mamaw {Mi Madre} crocheted this blanket for G.

The photography by the a-ma-zing Dimples & Curls Photography by Christine Bryk.

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Closing Up Shop

Being the third girl born to the family I was the honorary "boy". I was a tomboy. While other little girls went crazy for princesses, I flipped my lid for Mickey Mouse. Give me soccer and horses, pants and sneakers. I wore boys clothes, and rocked a short, cropped, Dorothy Hammel esque boy cut. The one thing I was "girly" over was babies. I was an awesome mom to my dolls. I loved my babies. I always wanted to be a mom. I wanted 2 boys. It was what I dreamed of!

When times changed and real-life mommyhood came along I was over the moon happy to find out I was pregnant with a boy. Joshua came along and I was head over heels in love. When I found out I was pregnant again I couldn't help but hope and dream for a second boy. I wanted my 2 boys that I always dreamed of! Brothers! When I found out I was pregnant with a girl, I won't lie, I was disapointed. {For like 5 minutes maybe.}

I had my boy. I had my girl. And at the time that my girl came along my marriage was falling apart. I was done having kids. I asked my OB about sterilization and tying my tubes on up, shutting down the factory, closing up shop. She wouldn't even discuss it with me. {Could I blame her? I was 20 years old!}

I'm so, so glad she wouldn't. Because of course along came my greatest love, and with him, more babies!

Life changed when I married my love. I was a stay-at-home mom now. I wasn't working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to put food on the table, I wasn't missing out on my children growing up. I loved this whole "mom" thing even more! I wanted babies. Lots and lots and lots of babies. If I could, I'd totally go the way of the Duggars and just pop out a whole herd. But. I'm not Michelle Duggar. I'm human. lol And I have my limits. I always wanted an even number at least. My dream? 8. How freaking awesome would it be to have 8 kids?! Friggin' hella awesome. Ask my hubby though? And he's all "Yea, friggin' right!". No way Jose'. So I 'settled' for wanting 6. Only 6! Ha. It turns out I am completely satisfied, and complete with four.

This has been the HARDEST pregnancy BY FAR. Having to raise 3 other kiddo's while I can't keep my my head out of the toilet, or my butt off the couch and out of bed was a wake-up call. There's no way I could endure a difficult pregnancy with 4 or 5 kids. I knew it in my heart. I was also thrilled to have my 2 boys and 2 girls. I was ending on an even number! Now that #4 is thisclose to coming everything is just bittersweet. Every kick is cherished. And as miserable as I am, I'm clinging on to the last few moments of feeling life growing within me.

It may be too soon, but I'm already starting to freak out somewhat over what precautions we will be taking once our finall installment makes his way into this world. It is officially time to shut the factory down, and close up shop. For reals. No fakesies. Of course we originally discussed and decided on tubal ligation. After all, I will be having a c-section and they will be in there. But after reading online the prospect scares me. Not being sterilized, but the side effects. It turns out that it can cause a build-up of scar tissue, and with scar tissue comes pain. {Trust me, I'm all too familiar with pain in the baby making regions.} I already have the pain of endometriosis and c-section scar tissue to deal with. Do I really want to add to that? I only know one woman who has had the procedure done, and I know she has had difficulty over the years. I don't want to face that.

To be honest, if there were such devastating side effects with hormones and whatnot I would say to just take everything out. There's no point in being there after all if you're not going to be cooking up babies. Right? Why should I have to deal with a monthly if I don't have to?? But I'm SO not going there. Those bits and pieces are meant to be there and when they're not your body flips the freak out. I've seen it happen.

So my decision? Leave my bits and pieces along and close down daddy-o's shop. The big V word. Snip! Snip! VESECTOMY.

We've seriously had a TON of guys in our circle of family, friends, and co-workers go that route over the past year or two. Mels worry? Work and "getting fat" like a "neutered dog". Okay, he's totally kidding about the fat part. {I hope.} But he has a point on the whole "work" thing. He would definitely have to take time off of work. Most guys can get it done Friday and be back to work Monday. But most guys don't have the physical demands that his job has. He's lifting hundreds of pounds a day, crawling under people’s homes in crawls in mud and crap. {Literally.} Not a prime job to be doing after getting snipped. He wouldn't have to take a LOT of time off. But he would need a few days. And with G coming, we'll be using his "off" days for that. So a V's not out of the question, it's all in the timing.

So what do we do until then???? Mirena has been recommend. HELL FREAKING NO. I've been down that torterous road before. F that. {That bitch don't play. I’m pretty sure it bullies your reproductive system with pain and threats to keep it from reproducing.} It may work painlessly for some woman, but of course, it's not just my bag to be so lucky. I've tried Nuvaring. Not enjoyable. At all. My go to? The shot. But I swear that injection bloats me up like a float in a Thanksgiving day parade. And I'm wanting to lose, not gain and anything that is going to make that harder just isn't going to work. I'm guessing we'll have to do the whole pill thing. Which sucks. I hate having to take that thing every day at the same time. I'm going to have 4 kids. Doing ANYthing every day at the same time is going to be hard. It's not something I'm going to love gambling.

At this point, I don’t know WHAT to do. I guess it’s time to hit up google. If anyone out in the interwebs have any words of wisdom, or advice, or have anything to suggest please let me know! Thank you kindly.

I thought the biggest decision to make was going to be if we should continue having children or not. It turns out that the biggest decision is how to keep us from having future children.

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Musical Monday #11

Jimmy Eat World- "Hear You Me"

 This is an all time fave of mine. And it may be cliche', but when I pass, I want this played at my funeral. Yes I went there. I want the angels to lead me in! It's a beautiful song. L♥VE it.

♪♫And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god wouldn't let it live.
May angels lead you in.♫♪

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