happy birthday, mom!

So today is my Mom's birthday. In the spirit of writing little notes to Jude each month on his birthday, I thought I'd do the same for Mom. Besides, she hasn't gotten nearly the credit she deserves for being the amazing Mom that she is, and I think the whole world (...or all three people who read this blog) need to know the truth.

Dear Mom,

I just wanted to make sure you know how much I love you. I'm told often how much I remind people of you, and I take that as just about the highest compliment I could ever receive. You have strength, dignity, and grace that I can only pray to inherit. When I think back to what your life must've been like when we were little - four kids under the age of six - I'm amazed at how well you held everything together. Without saying a word, you've taught me how to handle issues in life as challenges to be overcome with grace rather than struggles to take passively. You taught me how to rely on God when things look hopeless, and you taught me to give glory to God when things look optimistic. Throughout my life, a steady constant has been your Bible on the end table. I can even picture it now - it was a pink paperback women's study Bible with a cream crocheted bookmark sticking out the top. I don't ever remember you giving the "Jesus loves you and died for your sins," talk. Maybe you did and I forget, but I do clearly remember you living your life in a way that I couldn't help but see Him through you. Through your life, you impressed on me what it means to forgive, to ask for forgiveness with a humble spirit, to be honest, and to be a woman of noble character.

I want to grow up to be just like you, Mom. I want to have your strength, and I even want to have the childlike wonder you've retained. One of my favorite memories is the year we got you Winnie The Pooh slippers for Christmas. You sat on the edge of the couch, put those slippers on, and bounced your feet so that the Winnie The Pooh head bobbled back and forth. And you giggled. If I remember correctly, you giggled every time you put those slippers on. Thank you for being a Mom who got down on the floor and played with us, for being a Mom who took walks with me when I was a frustratingly selfish Jr. High kid, for being a Mom who came and stayed in my dorm with me when I was in college, for being a Mom who cooked me a fatty homemade omelet every morning that you were here after I had Jude, and for being a Mom who prays every single day for her four kids. Can you imagine the trouble we would've gotten into if you hadn't been praying for God's protection over us?! :) Most importantly, thank you for being a Mom who showed me that it's okay to not be a perfect Mom. Thank you for trying your best and then leaving it in God's hands. Thank you for loving me so much and being a clear representation of God's selfless love for His children.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

mattresses and tacks

When I was about ten or eleven, my family lived in this large, beautiful old farmhouse just on the outskirts of our small town. My siblings and I (two brothers, one sister) were all home for the summer. In our short lives, we had already gone through and burned out many a babysitter, and this summer was no different. Our parents hired Jenny and Susie for the summer to tag team babysit on alternating days. Sweet girls. Sweet girls who had no idea what they were in for.

You see, you might think I've always been the demure, sophisticated, sweet, polite girl you see before you. You might think the grace that oozes from my pores (and the sarcasm oozing from my fingertips at the moment) has always been a part of my being. No, in fact, I was as good as raised by a pack of wolves...or my two brothers. Jesse is almost exactly one year older than me and we've often been mistaken for twins, and Jason is almost exactly a year and a half younger than me. I had no choice but to be a ruffian. It is only by the influence of my Mom who IS demure, sweet, graceful, adorable, and Godly that I resemble a female in any form.

This particular summer my siblings and I decided that we wanted to jump off the roof. We had a back patio to our farmhouse, and it just so happened that you could walk right onto the roof of that patio from the second story window - mine and my sister's window. Our only problem? Those blasted babysitters. Never letting us have any fun. We had to figure out a way to drag the mattress from our room, down the stairs, and across the yard to be used as a landing pad without them noticing or hearing. I can't remember who came up with the diversion. Jesse was the brains of the outfit, but Jason and I tended to be the most daring, so it's hard to say. Whoever it was - they're brilliant. It was the perfect plan.

Gum. Plus long tangly hair. Equals babysitter diversion. I mashed it in my hair, twisting my stringy strands of summertime kid hair around that gum until it was good and stuck. Always the actress, I went to the babysitter in tears, sobbing about having to cut my hair and ruin it. Being the great babysitter that she was (I'm so so sorry!) she immediately whipped out the peanut butter and went to work in our downstairs bathroom. My shrieks of pain were timed to coincide with the bumps of the mattresses being drug down the stairs by three pre-Jr. High kids, and I made sure the entire ordeal lasted at least an hour. Long enough for my three siblings to do several rounds of climbing through the window, jumping joyously from the second story, falling in a heap of glee on the mattress, and running back through the house, up the stairs, to the bedroom for some more.

I would like to say we did this once, got our fill of doing something we weren't supposed to be doing, and minded our babysitter well the rest of the summer. Truthfully, Rachael and I took turns entangling gum in our hair and allowing the other the thrill of the jump. Perhaps our babysitter knew, maybe she really was clueless enough to not realize - all I know is - it was a blast. And Mom, if this is the first you're hearing of this...I'm sorry. But I can't lie, it was fun.

When Shawn was just about the same age, he spent much of his time waiting on his Dad at the end of church on Sunday mornings. One day, he noticed a bulletin board. A bulletin board with tacks on it. A bulletin board with tacks on it that was right next to the baptismal. As he waited for his Dad to finish his ministerial duties, Shawn would casually walk by the bulletin board, grab a handful of tacks, and yes, my friends...drop them into the baptismal. For weeks on end. When the time came several months later for a person to be baptized, Shawn's Dad found a baptismal floor filled entirely with tacks and was none too happy about it.

As I've been typing this, Shawn wants me to make it clear that his feat of mischievousness was not nearly as deceptive as mine. So there you go - I'll just say that MY acts of being a rapscallion involved only the possibility of pain to ourselves...Shawn's acts involved potential harm to someone else. You be the judge.

It was as I was watching my son scoot across the floor for the first time that these thoughts came to mind. He was now capable of reaching for the toy he saw, grabbing the dog's tail, and scooting towards our brick fireplace - despite our repeatedly picking up and putting him eight feet away. As I watched him take his first steps toward independence, I was reminded of how his father and I expressed that independence when we were young, and I was scared. Oh boy.

We're in for it now.

a letter to jude

Dear Jude,

You were seven months old yesterday, sweetness. Seven whole months. Sheesh. Perhaps the most notable thing to happen to you lately is that you are a crawling expert. Well, it's kind of an army crawl, but it gets you to where you want to go. I'm proud of you, Jude. You have such a determined spirit and you work hard for what you want to do. You've had that personality trait (determined-ness...or some might say stubbornness) since you were born, and it looks like it'll be with you for awhile. I pray that God uses your strength of mind and will, and I know that He has a plan for it. Daddy and I have absolutely loved getting to know you better. You make us laugh - both with your infectious smile and your look of complete boredom at our antics - and our life is so full with you in it, sweet child. I love watching you grow and seeing you work things out in your head. I love to see you learning, son, and pray that never stops.

Because your personality is emerging and MommyDaddy can more easily tell your likes and dislikes, I'd love to share with you some of the things you seem to really love right now, at seven months old:

1. MommyDaddy, of course. You recognize us, laugh at us, and miss us when we leave. You especially seem to enjoy when Daddy comes home. Your little head follows him around while he says hello to me, puts down his stuff, and walks over to you...and you wait the entire time for him to make eye contact with you. When he does, your little body spazzes with joy and a grin overtakes your face.

2. Coletrane. You're actually laughing at his weird antics, and you love petting him - especially his ears. You're not so much of a fan of his kisses yet, but I think one day you will be.

3. Food. By this, I mean table food. Oh man, you love you some food. I'm pretty sure if you could developmentally move on to a completely solid food diet right now, you totally would. You especially love sweet potatoes and pears, but after the first initial looks of disdain, you'll eat pretty much anything.

4. Quacking. I know, but you're the one who likes it. Grampy started quacking at you when we were in Indiana, and you haven't stopped laughing at it since. It's my go-to trick to get you calmed down. I have no idea why it's so funny, but I've found no end to the humiliation I'll endure to make you smile.

5. Sleeping through the night. Oh wait, that's me who loves that. Still, you don't seem to mind!

6. Your medicine. We used to have to fight you to take the reflux med from a syringe, but you seem to look forward to it now. I know this will sound stupid, but you're really sweet when we give it to you. For whatever reason, I'm struck by how much you trust us when I see those big blue eyes looking at me.

I know there are more things that you love, but I'm expecting you to wake up any minute now, so I can't go on forever.

Jude, this month has been a wonderful month with you - maybe even my favorite. I love your kisses, I love your smile, I love holding you, and I love watching you grow in independence. You are a sweet, sweet boy who loves being smothered in kisses even though you already know how to pretend like you hate it. ;) You're a strong, brave little boy with a determined spirit and a strong will. Jude, God can use those two qualities in amazing ways if you allow Him. As much as Daddy and I love you (which is a LOT!), He loves you more perfectly and more completely than we ever could.

Happy Seven Months, baby boy.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

wait, they grow up?!

I've been hit right smack in the face this week with the stunning realization that Jude is growing up. I suppose this won't be a new revelation to me over the years - to suddenly realize that he's gotten older, but it seems to have happened almost without me realizing it.

For instance, we have a tooth! A tooth! Only grown up babies get teeth. Holy cow. You know what this means, right? This means that eventually he'll be eating. That crevices of our house will be filled with bits of slobbery biter biscuits, and I'll become one of those Moms who whips out Cheerios from the mysterious recesses of the diaper bag. His little tooth is sweet, though. It's just the tiniest little sharp white thing poking through.

Jude has also started sitting up on his own - much to the surprise of Shawn and I. We've been working with him a lot to teach him to crawl, and quite honestly - forgot all about sitting up. I mean, he sits up a lot, but we always make sure he has something behind him to help prop him up. We went to Jenn's on Saturday to take photos, and she asked if he was able to sit up and have some pictures taken with props. I figured we'd try, but hovered close by in case he took a spill after a few seconds. Do you know that this kid sat up - by himself - for like ten minutes?!

And then there's crawling. Oh, that boy is working hard! He grunts and scoots and pushes and shimmies and grunts some more, all for the prize of reaching either the puppy or an elusive toy - which he reaches more often than not nowadays. We keep thinking he'll be crawling any day now, but he seems to have stalled a little in progress now that he can shimmy his way around to get what he wants. He'll get there. We've definitely entered into the "I just left the room for two minutes - how the heck did you manage to get under the bed??" phase.

Not that I'd ever do that. :)

And my favorite part of Jude getting older (drumroll, please) - he is actually sleeping through the night!!! He goes down around 8:30pm and stays down! Yes, folks, Shawn and I are going on about two weeks of sweet, sweet slumber. Of course we've both managed to get sick in the middle of this, so we wake up feeling like we took a good beating - but that's okay! We're sleeping, Jude's sleeping, Coletrane's sleeping, and we are all very, very happy about this new arrangement. The teething has made Jude a little bit more fussy during the day, but so far the only changes at night are that he wakes up around 6:00am instead of 7:30am. What, you ask, do I do with my newly acquired baby-free time from 8:30 until we go to bed around 10:30 (if I have my way) or 11:30 (if Shawn has his way)? Shawn and I talk (and no, "talk" isn't a euphemism for "kiss." But we do that too), I pump and answer emails, sometimes I sew if I'm trying to get a project done, we do the dishes and/or laundry (yes, "we" does mean both of us. I prettymuch have the best husband in the world, it's true), we watch Ace of Cakes or Good Eats, we do some cuddling, and we basically just enjoy having some time to ourselves. I need to get better about working less during that time and spending it more with Shawn, but it's great to have it nonetheless.

So my friends, Judeabug is growing up. Not so much that I'll stop calling him Judeabug, though. I plan on doing that...loudly...in front of his friends...maybe with some kissey faces...and definitely in a singsong voice...for a long, long time.

I finally had a chance to pump for each of Jude's feedings, and realized that he's not getting nearly enough. I pumped about a total of 15 ounces a day. While it's hard to gauge how much he's actually getting, I know three things: 1) He is getting more than 15 ounces. The pump is never as effective at removing the milk as the baby. 2) He needs at least 24 ounces a day, and 3)Even with assuming that he gets a generous amount more than the pump gets - he's not getting enough. We've started mixing in 2 oz of formula (I have no frozen breast milk left) with his solid food three times a day, so he's getting an extra 6-7 oz a day. Because I'm a total spaz, I cried - and cried hard - the day that we had to give him formula. I wrestled with all kinds of stupid Mommy guilt thoughts like feeling like I wasn't enough, like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't provide a basic necessity for my son, like I wasn't doing the best thing for him, like I was giving up and quitting on him, and like I was being selfish and having to add another item to our budget in needing to pay for formula. Then I dried my tears, said "Jen, suck it up. Stop this. This is crazy. Seriously. Babies have formula ALL the time and are healthy as can be. For real. You're being ridiculous and overly dramatizing something that is not that big of a deal. So stop letting the breastfeeding nazis of the world dictate your self worth and feed your child what he needs. "

So I stopped my pity party and we're all good. Shawn actually came up with the idea to mix the formula in with his feedings, and I think that really made a difference. I was thinking that I'd have to pump each feeding, see how much I got vs. how much he should be getting, and mix in the difference with formula. I knew that if I needed to pump at each feeding, I'd start giving up and just feeding him a bottle of entirely formula. Silly as it may be, I feel much better knowing that I can still actually breastfeed him. If we see that I'm getting more or less milk when I have the chance to pump, we'll adjust the amount of formula we give him with his solids accordingly. I'm looking into getting a prescription from my OB for something like Reglan to help increase my supply. I've run the gamut of trying Fenugreek, eating oatmeal, pumping more often, increasing my water intake, stopping caffeine, drinking Mother's Milk Tea - and while I do still do all those things, just in case they make a difference - they're not working enough to give Jude what he needs. So I'll try whatever they prescribe me, and if it works - terrific! If not - we'll just keep doing whatever we need to do to fatten him up, and I'll lay my ridiculous breastfeeding pride aside and take care of my son.

Do you like I just casually slipped it in earlier that Jenn took some more pictures of Jude? They're cute. Super duper cute. And they're coming to a blog post near you...soon! :)

Not Me Monday

...a few things that I most certainly did not do...



Under no circumstance did I call our dog by our son's name. Only someone with serious issues would do such a thing. Conversely, I also did not call our son by our dog's name - any person with a shred of sanity knows the difference between a 100 pound lab and a 14 pound baby.



I did not audibly gasp with excitement when I saw that the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 is tonight. And I have absolutely not been watching the Yahoo news page to see if their marriage is okay. Because that would be slightly stalkerish and I'm too cool for reality shows, anyway.



Speaking of...I do not, and I mean...do NOT get excited when I see that iCarly is on TV. I don't laugh out loud at Spencer, and I don't pass it off as Jr. High "research" when Shawn catches me. And most importantly - of utmost significance - I do not love it when Gibby dances. That would mean I'm twelve.



I did not, in the process of eating an Oreo cookie, drop the cream filling on the floor. On the carpeted floor. On the part of the carpeted floor where our dog particularly enjoys rolling around. I absolutely, positively, did not pick the cream filling up, inspect it, wipe it against my pants, and then eat it. That would be gross. Nope, not me.



Obviously, I'm the coolest, cleanest, most mature, most "together" person you've ever known. Really, you should count yourself lucky to know someone with such sophistication, grace, and elegance. Obviously.

oh wow

So...I find myself utterly speechless right now.

Lucky for you that it doesn't require speaking to type, huh? Seriously, though. I'm astonished. My friend Patrice posted on her blog about my adventure in diaper making. It would appear that there's more a market out there than I thought possible for diapers-made-by-really-awful-saleswomanwhoiskindofaspaz. Who knew?

I was having a hard time keeping up with emailing everyone who responded pictures of the diapers, so I set up a blog specifically so that people can easily get information. Feel free to check it out:: Cloth Diaper Blog::

So I came up with a "company" (ha ha!) name, made some order forms, and am ready to actually do this thing. Ready and freaked out of my mind at the same time. I thought in my last post that I was just dipping my toe in the waters. I didn't even think it was my big toe - just my pinkey toe. I thought that maybe someone might want me to make a few diapers for them, and I'd get started pretty slowly. Our God, though, is a mighty God who seems to enjoy surprising me. So he took my pinkey toe dipping self and threw me right smack into the deep end.

I'm excited to see where this thing leads. I'm looking forward to learning how to make diaper covers, diaper pail liners, wetbags, etc., and I'm mostly looking forward to sharing my excitement about cloth diapering while being able to creatively help out my family.

I know I said in my last post that the next one would be filled with Jude goodness. So as to not make a liar out of myself, allow me to update you on how he's doing...

We took him to the doctor on Tuesday for his six month well check up, only to discover that he hadn't gained any substantial weight in the last ten days. My heart sank when I saw his weight and learned that he's now in the 1st percentile. But since having some time to think about it, I just am not freaking out like I did last time. Don't get me wrong - I'm concerned, even bordering on worried . Truth is though, we may have to supplement with formula and that would be okay. The Doctor wants me to pump to see how much Jude's getting at each meal. From there, we'll see how much he needs for his weight. If he's getting as much as he needs, then he's just a small baby. If he's not, then we need to give him either expressed breast milk or formula to make up for those ounces. I've officially depleted my freezer stash - so at this point, it would be formula. No sense getting worked up about it, though since 1)We don't know for sure that he even needs extra ounces, and 2) Formula is not the devil. Jude's been exclusively breastfed for six months and the occasional few ounces of formula a day will be just fine. So right now, we're doing a lot of waitin' and seein'...

In the meantime...Jude is officially saying, "mmm...mmmaa...mmaaa...mmaaaaa!" Most of time it's accompanied by crying, but occasionally it's said with a smile and immediately my heart does that melting to a puddle all over the floor thing. He's also so incredibly close to crawling, it's unbelievable. He's scooting up to all fours and rocking back and forth. Once he figures out how to alternate moving those arms and legs, he'll be off... and our lives will never be the same.

At his appointment, we found out that Jude had an ear infection (possibly contributing to his lack of weight gain...more reasons to not freak out and just wait), so he's taking medicine for that and is slightly more clingy than usual. To our absolute pleasure, he's got the skill of laughing down pat and uses that skill often. He laughs at Cole, at me, at Daddy, at other people, and even at my toast (I know...I don't get it either, but that toast got good and buttered just so I could continue hearing him laugh). He's also learned to imitate zerberts. Now, an ordinary kid learns to blow zerberts in the air. Our son though, picked that trick up a few weeks ago. He's now conquered the skill of blowing zerberts on my bare arm (or neck if he can get there). He actually puts his mouth to arm and blows slimy, drippy, sweeterthannythingyoucouldimagine zerberts. His cheeks even jiggle as he's doing it, allowing extra room for the carrot colored drool to completely encase my arm. Totally worth it, though.

you think i can do what?!

Shawn says that he thinks I should make and sell fitted diapers. I thought he was crazy at first, but since Shawn has a tendency to see more in myself than I do, I've been mulling it over for a few months. You read that right, it takes me a long time to mull. No need to judge.
:)

Actually, he started saying I should sell them when I made Jude's first batch of cloth diapers. I disregarded the idea because I was just starting to figure out what I was doing and thought Shawn was just trying to give me an ego boost. I also had no idea if the diapers would even work, if they'd fall apart after one washing, if they'd hold in stink, if the velcro would fall off, if the seams would come undone, if the elastic wouldn't work...you get my drift. I didn't feel comfortable trying to sell something that I didn't even know would work.

After having Jude in cloth diapers for five months (we did disposables for his first month), I can now say that the diapers I made are pretty dang good and hold up just as well (and actually hold the smell less) than the purchased ones. And since Shawn is still saying he thinks I could sell fitted diapers, I'm starting to take him a little more seriously. Truthfully, I'd love to be able to make them and give them away, but my time with Jude is very precious to me. If I'm going to be doing something that takes me away from him, I need it to be something that generates income to contribute towards my eventual dream of staying home.

Now for the embarrassing part. I'm not a good marketer, and I have a severe disdain for people who peddle themselves. I've stayed far, far away from businesses like Mary Kay and Pampered Chef - not because those aren't great opportunities for extroverted women - but because I'm just not good at the whole, "you should buy my product" thing.

Allow me to tell you a story to demonstrate my point. Two weeks ago, I took Jude into our pediatrician's sick clinic on my way to work because I thought he had a cold and wanted to make sure it wasn't something more severe before we left town. I usually try to put him in a disposable before we go to the pediatricians because I don't want the cloths to change the consistency of his weight, but this was a last minute thing, so I didn't have the chance and he went in his cloth diaper. As the nurse was getting some of his stats from me, I undressed Jude to get him ready for the weigh-in, asking if it was okay that he was in a cloth diaper. Yes, it was okay, and the nurse quickly became fascinated with my cloth diaper choice, telling me that she was considering cloth diapering her 8 month old. This is not an unusual occurrence, I get questions about it at least once a week. The conversation went like this:

"Where did you find the diapers?" the nurse asked.

Tell her you can make them, myself said.

"Well, I had a hard time finding anything locally, so my husband's parents actually bought us most of his online." Just do it. It's not that hard, just say, "Actually, I made some cloth diapers for him that work as well as the ones we bought. I'd be glad to give you a better deal than you could find online if you're interested."

"Do you happen to remember the website you bought them from?" she inquired.

"Gosh" I replied, "Not off the top of my head. I do know that they're Little Lions brand, though. I think you can do a search for Little Lions and probably find them pretty easily. They were the best quality for the best price that we could find and they work out well for us." Or...I can jot down my email address for ya. The Little Lions were about $9/diaper plus shipping and handling. I'd be glad to make you some for about $7.50/diaper and you wouldn't have to pay shipping and handling. I can easily email you pictures of the diapers I've made.

"I'll have to check those out - have you tried any other brands?" she asked.

"Yeah, I've tried the BumGenuis, they're a pocket diaper. That just means you "stuff" them with the liner that's already sewed into the fitted. I like them a lot, but I don't see much of a difference in functionality between those and the fitteds with the covers." Gosh, just say it! I made some for Jude that work really well. I'd be glad to make some for you to try if you'd like. Here is my email address and what I would charge per diaper. End of peddling. How hard is that? Really. How hard is that?

I went on to explain to her some of the details of how fitted diapers work, the best place to find the diaper covers, how often I wash his diapers, and the best way I've found to remove the smell and stains...all without mentioning that I'm fully capable of making fitted diapers.

See? I'm a total and complete pansy. It's ridiculous, really.

I certainly can't expect to sell any diapers if I don't let people know that I'm able and willing to make them. I don't plan for this to develop into any kind of lucrative business, I'm just thinking that I can take something I love and about which I'm passionate and turn it into a way to help support my family.

Because I'm completely stepping out of my comfort zone here and doing my best to put this out there, would you like to know why I think my diapers would be a great option? Well, whether you would or not, here you go:

• I'm really not lying when I say that they're equal to the diapers we've purchased. Shawn actually likes them better, but that would sound pompous if I said it. :)
• Because each order would be custom made, the client can tell me what kind of fabric and pattern they would like. The diapers I made are considerably softer (even after tons of washings) because I was able to choose my fabric. The pattern choices are almost endless and I'm sure I could find a fabric to fit even the strangest of tastes!
• Supporting your local economy and handmade goods is very trendy right now. So...if you're a jump on the bandwagon/peer pressure type of person, this is a great opportunity for you (but after this, you should really stop jumping on that bandwagon. The 80s are making a comeback in fashion and you really don't want to go back there. So really, for your own sake, jump right off).
• Included in the order, you would receive washing and care instructions so that even someone who doesn't know a cloth diaper from a trash bag would be able to get them clean like a pro.
• Really, this price is just about the cheapest you'll find for non-used cloth diapers. I wouldn't even consider selling them if I didn't feel like I could make something that is quality for a great price. I don't have time to waste making something that won't really work or that is overpriced.

So consider this my one and only solicitation of you, my friends and family. If you know of someone who is interested in cloth diapers, just let 'em know that I make them and sell them pretty cheaply (I'm thinking around $7.50/diaper, the price will vary slightly depending on the type of material and pattern they would like). They can email me (serwachic@yahoo.com) for more information or pictures of the diapers I've made. If you yourself are interested or would like to order diapers for a friend (great baby shower gift!), it would be my pleasure to make some for you, according to your specifications, and I can ship to anywhere in the US.

Okay, that's the last of that nonsense. I promise that my next post will be filled with lots of Jude goodness! :)

Phew. It's done. I did it. I am, by far, the worst saleswoman ever. Ever. But possibly...just maybe...next time someone asks me where I bought my cloth diapers, I'll actually muster up the courage to tell them that I make them. Maybe? Maybe. Definitely. I can do it. Jen Maurer - pansy? No, Jen Maurer - cloth diaper maker-er. Yeah, I can do it.

sweet home indiana

Despite my eagerness to leave my home state, I find myself excited and even eager to take trips back to visit family. When I was growing up, my extended family lived within an hour's drive and we spent most holidays, birthdays, and random weekends with my Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and Cousins. The stark contrast between my growing up years and my current situation (8 hours from home) didn't bother me much until we had Jude. Don't get me wrong - I love North Carolina and we are ridiculously happy here and are not thinking about moving back home, but it saddens me to know that Jude won't be growing up surrounding by his extended family as I did. Beyond that, I just miss them. There's something to be said for being around people who knew you as an awkward pre-teen with bad skin, a bad perm, and even worse clothing choices. It adds a good dose of humility to one's conversation and keeps one from getting too full of one's self. Not that those things describe me. Awkward stage? Me?

When Jude was about two months old - before he was diagnosed with reflux when we were in the midst of his all day/all night crying jags and I was struggling to realize I might have depression - Shawn promised me that we would make a trip to Indiana to see my family for an extended stay on Mother's Day. That single promise helped propel me through some rough nights when I wanted to pout out my lip and say, "I want my Mommy!" I had been looking forward to this trip for months! Jude did surprisingly well for a six month old being trapped in his carseat for eight hours, I'm super proud of him! Shawn and I loved our time with family and enjoyed watching Jude interact with his extended family. He (Jude) got a kick out of watching his cousins Avery, Asher, and Grace, and never failed to laugh at Grampy's duck noises. He was fascinated by his Uncle Jason and Aunt Rachael, and graced his Grammy with sloppy kisses on the cheek that he had previously reserved only for me. Shawn and I enjoyed being able to both get ready at the same time (as opposed to the hand the baby off game we usually play), eating our food without interruption, and having a few extra sets of hands to handle him when he got fussy. I'm thoroughly jealous of you Mammas who live near grandparents!

Because he loves us, Jude had a complete blow out in a gas station in Grayson as we were traveling back to North Carolina. His poo was all over his outfit, on his back, and well - it was disgusting. Call me crazy, but I think it's one of my favorite memories of the trip. Shawn and I were both disgusted and taking turns trying to clean up the mess without getting poo on the car seat, but couldn't stop laughing about it. Other favorite memories include going out (Jude-less) with my Mom and Sister for Mother's Day, pushing Jude in his umbrella stroller with Shawn through my hometown, getting to see so many of my family members on Sunday, and swinging on the front porch swing after Jude went to sleep, chatting with Shawn and my Dad.

It was a good trip.



This was pre-trip - tummy time in cloth diapers (with a drippy nose from the nasty cold he was working on getting over)
"Look at me! I can sit like a big boy!"

Hanging from Grammy and Grampy's front porch - our little monkey

Fascination with Uncle Jason

Watching Grampy cook hamburgers on Sunday afternoon

The kids (and their kids). Jason (my brother) and girlfriend Shatana, Rachael (my sister) and husband Gary, Shawn, Jude, and I, Jesse (my brother) and wife Sandy with their two, Avery and Asher.

Jude's six month half birthday celebration! Mommy...I mean Jude...was really wanting some ice cream cake

"MMmmmm...icing!"

Swinging on the front porch with Daddy

He got a bit of a sun burn on his nose, but he still loves those Daddy kisses.

talking, crawling, and teething

Salem Pregnancy Care Center's annual Walk For Life was a couple of weekends ago, and our little family took part. We had fun thinking back to a year ago when I was starting to grow out of my regular clothes and pooching out a little. Jude had fun and even got a baby footprint painted on his face by the Walk For Life's resident face painters, Brittany and Sara (two of my awesome "Pinedale Girls"). Shawn and I took turns pushing the stroller and while Jude enjoyed looking around for the first half of the Walk, he graced us with a healthy Nap For Life for the second.

I apologize for not posting anything substantive lately (not that anyone has been complaining about the mostly picture posts!) we've just had quite a bit going on here. The advent of spring always seem to stir the inner landscaper and home improvement...-er..in Shawn, and this year was no different! We've been saving for awhile to get desperately needed new windows in our home and were finally able to pull the trigger. Our old windows were old...really old. Brown, chipped paint, and most of them didn't even lock. I didn't worry too much about my safety though because you almost threw a shoulder out trying to open the ones that weren't painted shut. Our new windows are glorious. They're white, clean, and can open and shut on a moment's notice! It's incredible to see the difference they make in the look of both the interior and exterior of the house. The yard of our home was pretty much atrocious when we first moved in, and we've been trying to slowly tame the wild beast that is our landscaping. Let me be honest. Shawn has been trying to slowly tame this beast. When we first moved in, I decided to weed all of the beds. I did just that, spending a few hours doing so. Little did I know that somewhere in our beds lay poison oak and my hands were covered in it. My hands swelled so much that I had to get a ring cut off (thankfully not my wedding ring, I got that one off in time).

So the landscaping and I keep our distance.

But let's be realistic - you don't really care about our landscaping, I know. "How the heck is that Judeabug of yours?" is most likely what you want to know.

Well, he's great. He's almost six months old and is quickly turning from an infant to a baby and sometimes even looks like he's well on his way to toddlerhood. He's babbling quite a bit and if it didn't seem way too early, I'd swear he sounds like he can say, "mmm mommy." Rolling over has been a feat that Jude accomplished awhile ago, so he's onto the next task -crawling. He hasn't figured out that if he gets his knees up under him he can propel himself forward, so he's resorting to lots of scooting backwards and making angry noises at the toys he can't reach.

As I type this, Jude is jumping in his Jumperoo, letting out squeals of delight, and then craning his neck to see if Cole is reacting to his squeals (Cole is lying a few feet away, apparently thoroughly bored and unimpressed with Jude's noises). It's awesome to see Jude continue to recognize us and even be excited by our presence. He loves to watch Shawn and wait for him to catch Jude's eye - at which point he breaks out in smiles that overtake his face. (Jude - not Shawn. Although it's hard to suppress a smile with that bug grinnin' at ya!).

Diaper changes have become an Olympic feat as Jude continues to perfect his rolling skills. Consider the prowess required to diaper a ninja on attack and you have a good idea of the coordination and skill involved in diapering Jude. Sometimes he'll slip through our hands and roll over despite our best intents. I suppose I should be frustrated, but then I see his naked little butt and he pops his head up like, "hey there! this is pretty cool what i can do, huh?" and my heart quickly melts to a puddle all over my shoes.

For my first Mother's Day, we'll be traveling to Indiana so that Jude can meet the rest of his Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, Great Uncles/Aunts, Second Cousins, and many other dear people who love the heck out of this kid. I'm super excited, but again - nervous about trying to drive eight hours with him. Any advice?

While I could gush about this kid for days, he's quickly on his way to a meltdown, so gotta go!

pictures

I mentioned in my last post that Shawn and I traveled to TN for a wedding Shawn was officiating. We had a blast, and Shawn did what I humbly think was an amazing job. Thankfully Jude slept through the actual wedding, but that also means I wasn't able to get any pictures. It was beautiful and my handsome husband cleans up well. I did, however, take several pictures of Jude in the hotel room. The weekend away was awesome for our family. Shawn and I had a blast on our road trip, and it was nice to have some time to focus on Jude without the pressures of work/laundry/dishes/dog.

tummy time on the bed with daddy

if that hand isn't actually in his mouth, it's on its way at any given moment

he'd been holding his head up, but then laid it down as if to say, "oh, i love this daddy of mine."

jude is shocked...but daddy does the same thing to me

zerberts! or raspberries...depending on how you grew up. that tummy is just beggin' for some kisses!

that face makes me want to baby talk. i'll refrain from typing it out, but it's about all the self control i can muster to not baby talk at the screen right now

jude and daddy chillin' in the morning. he laid there with his hand behind his head like that for a good fifteen minutes.

"hey here. whatcha doing? checking out mommy's blog? cool pictures, huh?"

easter

Jude's first Easter was certainly a fun one. I think the holidays have a habit of sneaking up on Shawn and I lately, so we didn't really plan much for Jude to do this Easter. We figure that we get a free pass on all holidays for his first year. :) If you have Easter traditions that you love and would like to share, I'd love to hear 'em - we're still trying to figure out how to make Easter special for Jude beyond just getting dressed up and going to church. We did have a blast at the Poore's home with our good friends Mike and Jill and their son, Logan. Logan did a great job hunting those eggs!

Excuse the squash on his nose, we had to feed him in the car on the way over.

Hunting eggs with Daddy

Logan shared nicely!

Finding his first Easter egg!

Easter morning picture with Mommy. Ignore the wonky eye.

We had a terrific Easter, and we really look forward to being able to explain the meaning behind it to Jude next year. We tried this year, but well - he was more interested in falling asleep.

Jude's begun to really laugh out loud on a regular basis, which of course, thrills us to no end and provides hours of entertainment. Shawn got Jude belly laughing, and I was actually able to capture it on camera - enjoy!

And then part two: A few minutes later, Jude was still laughing:

Matt and Patrice

I just wanted to pass along that there was a follow up story to Jonah's story written in the Winston-Salem Journal. Click HERE for the link. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

how to make baby butternut squash

We started Jude on solid food on his 5 month birthday, so I went ahead and prepared the squash a couple of days in advance. My friend Krista sent me this great resource for making your own baby food: Homemade Baby Food which is where I've gotten the bulk of my information. I'm actually finding that doing things like cloth diapering and making your own baby food seem to be trendy right now. I don't know if it's because the economy is down so frugality is more popular, if it's because of the organic push of the last few years, or if it's because going green is what all the cool kids are doing. I'm just grateful that there are so many great online resources. I don't know very many people here in Winston from whom to get advice about this stuff, so it's great that I can find so much great information online.



So in order to prove that making your own baby food is actually easy, I wanted to post step by step instructions as to how I did it. I started with butternut squash because I had squash soup that I wanted to make for Shawn and I, so I needed squash this week anyway. I would actually say that squash is probably one of the more difficult things to make. I made bananas a couple of days ago, and it took all of five minutes. I would imagine that any food that requires peeling involves extra work, but it was nonetheless crazy easy.



Step One: Ask Shawn what butternut squash looks like so you don't look like an idiot in the produce section.



Step Two: Find butternut squash in the produce section, and feel like a bit of an idiot carrying it around.



Step Three: Bring it home and let it sit on the counter for a few days. Wonder if maybe you're crazy for trying to do everything the hardest way possible.



Step Four: Cut the squash in half lengthwise after cutting off a strip of both ends to discard. Actually, start to cut the squash in half, then let Shawn take over because he doesn't trust your clumsy self with a knife.



Step Five: Lay the squash - "meat"side down - in a baking dish with an inch or two of water.



Step Six: Put the squash in a 400 degree oven for 4o minutes.



Step Seven: Scoop out the now softened "meat"

What the squash looked like completely skinned.

Step Eight: After taking out however much squash needed to make soup, put the squash in a blender and hit the "puree" button.

Step Nine: Add a bit of water (about 1/4 cup in this instance), hit puree again. Amuse Jude while he temporarily freaks out about the noise. Repeat step nine until the food is the consistency you'd like it - very smooth for new eaters, not as smooth for older eaters.

Step Ten: Spoon the squash into an ice cube tray designated as the new baby food holder. Nobody wants squash/banana flavored ice.

Step Eleven: Place cling wrap over the tray. As you'll see in later pictures, we had a bit of freezer burn, so I'm going to try foil next time.

Step Twelve: Place tray in freezer for several hours. Right under the pierogies, if possible.

Step Thirteen: Label a freezer bag, pop out the cubes, and place them into the freezer bag. Put the bag in the freezer.

Step Fourteen: To defrost, just take one cube out and put it in a bowl. Let the bowl sit in warm water for a few minutes.

Step Fifteen: Feed Jude the squash:

...and there you have it! At Jude's last appointment, he weighed 13 lbs 6 oz! He's still not a fatty pants, but he's growing at a great rate and seems to be doing really well. We're off to Tennessee this weekend as Shawn does his first wedding ever. Have a great weekend!

gross...i mean cute... eating pictures

etcetera

Jude's first baseball hat...let the indoctrination begin!

Jude's first time in his jumperoo. This was taken a few weeks ago, he's quite proficient at jumping now.

Bathtime with Jude. We tried to keep it PG, but if you're listening carefully, you'll hear Shawn say, "bingbong." Fair warning. :)