Macy + Greta

winter pregnancies stink…

because…

1. Snow and Ice: more likely to fall and hurt both me and the baby. plus very challenging to get to the hospital in the middle of a snowstorm. (We are forecasted to get another 18-24″ on Wednesday, so hoping for no baby then.)

2. Cold means more layers of clothing, which means it is even harder to move.

3. It is so much easier to get sick while pregnant, add that to cold & flu season and yuck. Plus baby is more likely to get sick in the middle of cold & flu season.

The only negative people complain about in the summer is being hot and they claim that is why it is better to be pregnant in the winter. Clearly they don’t live in the snowy, cold climates.

finding a church

We were very lucky in both North Carolina and Texas to find lively parishes, with great priests and who focused on the social teachings of the church. We have not been so lucky here in Pennsylvania. So far, we have been to 3 different parishes in hopes of finding our new church home and have come home feeling underwhelmed and unimpressed each week.

We have a mental list of things we are looking for:
1. actively promotes social teaching of the church through helping the poor and needy
2. a lively priest who gives good homilies that relate to the world and our everyday lives
3. good music
4. a church where we as a young family feel welcome to bring our kids who may not be silent during the entire mass (Greta certainly isn’t loud, but she makes a little noise here and there and we don’t want stares or to feel like we are the only ones with a child who is making a little noise) (basically a church filled with other little tykes)
5. a church with an active mother’s group for me to be involved in (although I did start a playgroup at our last church, so I am open to starting my own group)
6. a church with personality

The three churches we have been to are very blah. Only one seems to have a good number of young children. We like the priests at a different church, but apparently the priest we were impressed by just got reassigned to a church in Philadelphia. Only one church has a mother’s group. None of them really have very good music (I personally am not a huge fan of organ music, unless it is in a huge church and there is an awesome choir to accompany it).

One thing that is certainly different here is that every church has a parish school. I know this is how pretty much the entire Catholic church was several decades ago, but today that seems to be a rarity. The parishes all seem to be pretty focused on their schools, which is maybe why we aren’t finding the focus on other things. I don’t know much about the different schools, other than one is significantly larger (and supposedly better, but that is just what I have heard through the grapevine) and costs a great deal more. Another difference which I’m not a big fan of, is that children receive the sacrament of confirmation in 6th grade! Personally Matt and I think that is WAY too early for a child to be making that commitment. At that age it is the parents decision, which is not the point of confirmation at all. I was confirmed in 9th grade and I still think that was too early. Our church in San Antonio celebrated confirmation in either 11th or 12th grade (it was up to the child to decide when they were ready to make that commitment). Maybe things will change before our children are ready for confirmation, but I doubt it since we seem to be in a pretty conservative diocese.

We want to find a church where we feel comfortable and where we will attend for a long time. I don’t want to hop around to different parishes all the time. So far we just haven’t found where we belong. Hopefully we will figure it out soon since we will have a new baby to baptize sometime this spring.

let the guessing begin…

It is time to start guessing size/sex/arrival date of baby. Here are some facts to help you along.

Greta’s pregnancy:
1. By about 33 weeks I was measuring 2 weeks ahead.
2. Greta was born 12 days early, at 38 weeks 2 days. My water broke and labor started on its own.
3. I gained a total of 27 lbs when pregnant with Greta.
4. Greta weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz at birth.
5. Me at 35.5 weeks pregnant with Greta.

This pregnancy:
1. Measuring right on schedule, 35.5 weeks.
2. Baby’s due date is Feb. 24.
3. So far this pregnancy I have gained 30 lbs (as of 35 weeks).
4. Me at 35.5 weeks pregnant with Bubba Mae.

So when do you think baby will arrive? How much will Bubba Mae weigh? Will Bubba Mae be a girl or a boy?

weekend

This weekend we did quite a lot (or at least a lot picture worthy). Friday afternoon we went to the park, since it was finally warm, well warm enough.

Saturday morning we went in our PJs to Dunkin Donuts.

On Sunday, Matt put together the trike that my parents got Greta for Christmas. She loves it! So far Greta has just played with it in the house, which is probably where it will stay until it is nice and toasty outside.

Monday we had a morning of cleaning and rearranging. Monday afternoon some of Matt’s family came down to visit. Since it was 55 degrees outside we decided to head to the park for a little while.

costumes!

Greta is really enjoying dressing up these days. Here are some of the treasures she has found lately.

and my favorite:

7 quick takes!

1. Just verified that our new insurance DOES cover this pregnancy! This means that the delivery and midwife fees are covered 100%. Wahoo! Considering we started this pregnancy planning to pay everything out of pocket, since we had no maternity coverage, this is great. It will save us thousands of dollars! More money to put towards our new house.

2. I’m 34 weeks and change now. Wondering when this baby will arrive. We have family coming to stay with us for three weeks. First my mom for a week, then my sister for a week, and then my dad for a week. They will start arriving around 37.5 weeks. Hopefully the baby will be born when one of them is here, so we have someone to leave Greta with. Otherwise we will enter panic mode and hope that someone from Matt’s family is available and able to get down here in time to watch her so she doesn’t have to come to the hospital with us. This is the main problem with moving somewhere where you know no one so close to the baby’s birth.

3. We have been here a little over a month and are getting mostly settled. Greta and I went to storytime for the first time this week. She didn’t love it, but we will keep going for a while. I also need to join the playgroup that is at one of the local churches. We know where most stuff is, and have even found a handy car repair guy for my car. My car has had some pretty big repairs lately, and that along with new tires, hopefully will last it a long while. Volkswagens are meant to last right? Mine is 9 years old and has about 115,000 miles on it. Hoping to get another couple years out of it (at least until we need a bigger car to accommodate a third child).

4. Last week we lowered the price of our house in hopes of getting some new (hopefully higher offers). People really seem to want to get a good deal and are offering very low and ridiculous offers. We keep countering with something a little more reasonable in hopes that they will come up somewhat. Currently we have an offer in which both parties have agreed on a price. The house is not under contract yet, so there is still time for them to back out, but I’m hoping and praying this deal goes through and the house is gone soon. It will be nice to not have to pay double mortgage/rent every month.

5. We are trying hard to get ready for babies arrival. I have washed all of the clothes and diapers, so they are nice and clean and ready to go. Our crib screws got lost in the move and I ordered new ones. They came in the mail yesterday, so we are hopefully going to assemble that this weekend. Hopefully this baby likes the crib a bit more than Greta did. The crib will be in our room and as of now Greta is still sleeping with me.

6. Greta is mostly nightweaned now. We took the sleep with daddy approach. The first time she woke up and I wasn’t there she cried off and on for about 45 minutes. After that it was minor whimpering, and Matt was there to comfort her the whole time. After two nights I went back to sleeping with her, since Matt can’t actually sleep while holding her. Greta decided she wanted to be held the entire night when sleeping with Matt, while she lets me sleep next to her. I still occasionally have to tell her no milk, but usually I can satisfy her with water and some snuggles. She still wakes up at night, but is sleeping a bit longer of stretches these days and can sometimes put herself back to sleep. This week has been rough, I think her last canine tooth is trying to break through. Hopefully it is done soon. Then we will be done with teething until the 2 year molars show up. I’m hopeful that she will be sleeping most of the night by the time Bubba Mae arrives.

7. I’ve been on a baby wipe making frenzy. I bought some flannel a long time ago and am finally making us some new wipes. While the original ones I made before Greta was born are still holding up find, they aren’t quite soft and I think we made need some more with two kids. And here is a cute picture of Matt and Greta making facing in the computer (we love our new Mac, with photobooth!).

bathing baby & cowgirl

Here is a cute video of Greta bathing her baby in her kitchen sick. She did this all on her own. She has pretty much never taken a sick bath, so not quite sure where she got the idea.

Here is a video of Greta wearing her light up cowgirl boots that my mom got for her. They are a little narrow for her foot, but she loves them. The video isn’t the best quality since it is quite dark, but I liked it since you could see her shoes!

33 weeks

I have been terrible about taking belly pictures this pregnancy, but I guess that is normal. Here is my belly this morning at about 33 weeks.

For comparison, here I am last time at 32 and 34 weeks (for some reason I didn’t upload a picture of 33 weeks).

Last time it looks like there was a big growth spurt between 32 and 34 weeks, which is when I went from measuring average to measuring large, so that makes sense. It seems I am smaller this time around. Will this baby be smaller? Or maybe my boobs are bigger, so my belly looks smaller? Who knows. I think I have gained about the same amount of weight so far. Off to the midwife today for a check up, so we shall see if anything changes.

cloth diapering – 19 months

I’ve been meaning to update everyone about cloth diapers, but I’m a slacker and haven’t done it for months. We still love cloth diapering and I can’t wait for the new baby to get here so we can use some of the diapers that Greta wore for only a few weeks. I bet the new baby won’t get much use out of them either, but we will just keep saving them for the next baby.

For the most part I think cloth diapering is easy (I’ll discuss some issues we have had) and totally worth the little bit of extra effort. The last time I wrote about diapers I think I had different favorite diapers.

Today my favorite diapers are:

BumGenius One-Size Organic All-in-One – Currently these diapers are only available in the snap version. When I first bought them, they were available in the velcro, so that is what I bought. Just a few weeks after I bought them, they released the snap version and then shortly after discontinued the velcro ones. We aren’t using the velcro ones now because Greta became a diaper stripper at about 10 months, so those are in storage for the new baby’s first while, until he or she learns to take off diapers (or until Greta starts removing his or her diapers). These diapers are super easy to use and hold a lot. I have never used them overnight, but if your baby isn’t a heavy wetter you might be able to survive the night without leaks. I love that they are made of organic cotton and that is what touches baby. Since it is an all-in-one you don’t need a cover. These are definitely my go-to diaper for leaving the house. They are trim and easy.

Variety of Fitted Diapers – I kind of love fitted diapers. I have a variety including goodmamas, muttaqin baby, motherease, and es-baby. These are usually Greta’s first pick for diapers (she loves picking out her diapers these days), mainly because they come in pretty patterns. She has a few favorites that she always picks if they are clean. I usually put these on her around the house, and sometimes with a cover, sometimes not. Back when it was warm and Greta was not usually wearing pants, we didn’t use any cover. Now with the potential to soak through pants and tights I usually put a cover on her, just so if she does pee a lot I don’t have to change her pants as well. These are all pretty absorbent and all have snap closures. They are all also one-size diapers. These are all natural fibers, some cotton, some bamboo and some are a combination. I definitely prefer natural fibers rather than the synthetic fibers that are in most pocket diapers.

At night we use a goodmama fitted with two extra boosters, followed by a Thristies cover. Until recently we only used one booster, but she was waking up wet sometimes, so I added another layer to absorb more pee.

The main issue we have had in recent times is stink. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I suspect it is because I started washing diapers only every 3rd day, rather than every other day. Basically what was happening was anytime Greta peed the diapers would stink a lot, like dirty diapers. After about a month of trying a zillion different solutions I finally got them back to normal by soaking the diapers in oxiclean for a couple of hours and then rinsing like crazy, like 5 or 6 full wash cycles. I did that about a month ago (right when we moved in here) and the diapers seem to be holding up very well.

The BumGenius and mother-ease diapers seem to be holding up the best. The goodmama diapers are slowly falling apart, which is quite disappointing since they aren’t the cheapest thing in the world (although they did just lower their prices). Many of the knits have gotten holes in them and then snaps seem to almost be melting, making certain snaps unusable. I think they replace snaps free of charge, so I might look into that. The older goodmamas I have seem to have held up better than the newer ones, so maybe they changed the snaps they were using. I haven’t used the es-baby or muttaqin baby fitteds enough to know how well they will hold up. We don’t have as many of them and for some reason they don’t get picked as often (I guess Greta doesn’t love the patterns as much).

I really want to try some wool diaper covers, but I can’t justify the price. I’m thinking of trying to make some out of old sweaters, but so far I haven’t done that. I keep hoping I will win a contest for a pretty wool cover, but so far no luck.

I have had to adjust our washing routine a little bit since we are now using a top-loader washer, while our washer in in storage. Other than using more detergent, I’m not doing much different, but it took a little tweaking to get where I wanted it to be.

Anyone have any questions? There are oodles of you who have had babies recently or are due in the coming months. I challenge you to at least consider cloth diapers, if only for part-time. Better for baby, the environment and your wallet.

P.S. I haven’t really bought any new diapers for the new baby. Since we use one-size diapers mostly, after baby grows out of the newborn stuff, Greta and baby will use the same diapers. I may need to order a few more to last us 2 days, but other than that I’m set.

P.P.S. Have I mentioned how much Greta LOVES her diapers! She was so excited to see them when the movers brought them in and she loves to pick out which diaper to wear at every change.

super duper cloth diaper contest

Until Friday you can enter to win $300 to spend on cloth diapers at Diaper Junction! Go enter! Sorry I didn’t let everyone know sooner, I’ve been slacking and am just now entering myself. Good luck. I hope someone I know wins (or me of course)!