baby apps.

[my kick counter from BabyBump App]

Now that we are in the third trimester, our midwife asked that we keep count of the spud kicks. I am to choose a time each day that she is most active and record 10 kicks and see how long it takes. If it's fewer number of kicks or spud is just not very active in an hour I am supposed to go into the OB office immediately. Nerve wrecking right? This is serious stuff. Less activity could mean a low level of amniotic fluid, low blood flow, baby growth issues, stressful conditions for the babe, or still birth. Each baby has his/her own level of activity and awake and sleep periods... so it's not meant to freak us out just make us more aware. I think spud is most active in the morning, after I drink coffee or eat sugar (don't judge me! :) ), after I eat, drink cold water...and all of this has to happen when I am sitting and relatively still for awhile.

I have two baby apps that I like to use on my iphone and both are free (I'm pretty sure they are at least)!

[screen shot from babycenter app]

BabyCenter App:
I use this app just for fun. I think that site babycenter.com is the most helpful throughout trying to get pregnant and pregnancy, so the app is great too. It gives nice little updates day by day about what spud could be going through then weekly progress and utero pictures. The only downside is that I wish I could get a kick counter and be able to track my weight. But I love the community birth groups through babycenter.com. It's an awesome group of women who you know are going through the exact same thing week by week. It's fun.

[there is no coincidence that I chose a 6 week prego pic, as opposed to a 28 week face-shot]

BabyBump App:
I use this app to track my weight gain, do the kick counter, and see a different style of weekly in-utero photos of spud. I think this app has less information, but very helpful for documenting progress. You could also take weekly photos of yourself, which would be fun if I didn't have this blog. It also has a contraction counter which I am looking forward to using.

Do you like using any specific baby app? How about any mom apps you'd recommend?

a bend babymoon.

[here]

Well we just got back from our babymoon in Bend, Oregon a week ago. What the heck is a babymoon?! Well wikipedia says...


Babymoon: has several meanings. The original meaning is a period of time that parents spend bonding with a recently-born baby.

More recently the term has come to be used to describe a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby. Babymoons usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage.

Babymoon can also be used for a trip taken by a couple even before they get pregnant. As long as the trip is intended to be a final romantic fling before venturing into parenthood, the term babymoon applies.

The term babymoon comes from the more traditional term honeymoon, which is a vacation taken by a newlywed couple after their wedding ceremony.

[instagram version of us driving to bend]

Our babymoon is the second definition- a vacation taken by a couple (us) that is expecting a baby (spud) to enjoy a final trip together (in Bend, Oregon). And it was fantastic. We were hoping for snow, relaxation, and fun. We left the dogs at home with a pet sitter...and drove an easy 5 hours to Bend. This is a location I had never been to and matt always raved about. So, after a short drive we were there. It was beautiful, snow-less in town, but beautiful. A little modification to our babymoon is that my sister and her boyfriend met us in Bend also... it was a real treat!! They live in Boston, so I don't get to see her as often as I'd like. So I spent some much needed girl time with my sister while the boys went snowboarding. And I was also their designated driver for the beer/brewery tours, which was a blast. We had 4 wonderful days of hotel-staying, breakfast buffets, fun coffee shops, picturesque downtown shopping, trader joes shopping, and relaxation. It was wonderful to say the least.

Now we start in on the grind of school and enjoying the last trimester of pregnancy.

Us playing disc golf in Sisters, Oregon...incredibly beautiful. And as you can tell we just got a new point and shoot camera, so the date stamp is still present. Lame.

A little snap shot of matt riding in some powder on Mt. Bachelor. It was thankfully dumping on them. I had no idea he looked this good snowboarding. That's my husband... how fun is that?!

...a few of the breweries...

Also, the boys had a great time drinking....and pretending they were brewmasters. Pretty hilarious.

My sister and I... matching clothes, somehow it always happens. She was an awesome sister that didn't get plastered drunk, even though she could have...and instead kept me company with great conversation. The girly kind of talk... like when she's going to get married, how great our men are and how we got so lucky, matt and I being brand new parents, what kind of rain boots Cora should wear, how we could all pull off living in the same city and growing old together...the fun stuff. 

[week 27]

Hello 3rd trimester!!

This is pure craziness, right?! I thought so. I'm 2/3 completed with pregnancy, and it's unreal. I feel great, even though I just crossed over the 200 lb mark at my OB appointment today. Yikes.

We will see if I passed the 1hr glucose tolerance test. I almost passed out, but I think that's because I am used to eating/drinking every hour or so.  I'm such a weenie. But the glucola drink was fine to ingest FYI... like orange cough syrup, then you wait the hour to have your blood drawn. Matt also had his routine blood work done this morning too. And for the record, he is a bigger weenie than I. But I get poked, he gets poked... it was only fair.

What else going on over here? We added a few more projects onto our list, as if our lives aren't busy enough. We are (well, primarily matt is) building a few tables at our house...one for the entertainment area and one little coffee table. I am stoked about the design. It's a little like the patio table we made here with the pipes and a little industrial with OSB (oriented strand board... you know the stuff. Most people think it's so ugly they use it as sub flooring in their homes... well I love it, we even have some art up in our house we made from it). Anyways... I can't wait to get started on the projects and show you all what we are up to.

Yay! 3rd trimester!!

alphabet cards! [take two]

** So I posted this post a few weeks ago, and blogger ate it. I spent literally hours trying to resuscitate it, with no avail. Matt said I probably could have re-typed it faster. But, thanks to my incredibly amazing co-worker, Shauna... this post is now living again. Not to say it's an incredible post...it's not ...but the point is that I knew it was out there floating around on the internet, which drove me crazy. So thank you Shauna. You rock. You brought my blog post back to life.**

[on etsy, here]

In the spud room we have only one wall that is empty. Two of the walls have windows on them, and one wall has the closet/nook. So this wall is precious space. Being a former preschool/kindergartner teacher I LOVE alphabet cards and counting/number cards too. I had them up in my classroom and I really want them up in Cora's room. But I am having issues with throwing out my Montessori teacher training and jumping on the first cute etsy alphabet cards I find. It's like asking a nurse who has a child with a fever not to give her kid tylenol (ok, that's a little severe). But this is hard for me, and this is why...


Constituents for my alphabet cards:

-They should be displayed at the child's height. This is a Montessori thing where you are preparing the child's environment as their own sacred place- not for adults. So everything is at child level for them to access and learn from their space. I love this theory. It gives children the power and the independence to learn and grow without adult interaction.

-The letters should be appropriate to age level not only in pictures but that the word match up to how letters sound for the first words when reading. For example: A is for apple not ape. Children first learn to read very simple words, phonetically. English is tricky, but kids first learn it as though it is simple... each letter has one sound, then they add to that knowledge base by giving letters all of their corresponding sounds. So letter sounds are taught as short vowel sounds and hard consonants.

-The pictures should be colorful, enticing, and beautiful. I want Cora to be so eager to learn to read and absorb her beautiful environment.

-The first letters for children should be taught in lowercase. This helps to transition kids to writing easily.

[free to print out at home and a ton of other adorable free-printables!! from the handmade home here]

So after literally hours of researching alphabet cards I found some adorable and FREE ones. They are so gosh darn cute, I almost have the print button hit on my computer. They are exactly the splashes of color I want in spud's room and have a lot of turquoise in them. They are so much cuter than anything I could ever dream up. I am in love. Except. They are not 100% educationally appropriate. Do I just enjoy them for the first 6 months, then replace them with other ones later when she starts to talk? Do I just not care, and know that she will be fine regardless of the silly alphabet card I choose? Am I doing this for me then, not for Cora?! Ahhhh.... tricky! But, silly really. 


Problems I have with chosen cards:
-Babies are held, not on the ground crawling and walking for the first 6 months. So does that mean that the alphabet cards can be placed at adult level to show Cora the letters and words for the first few months while I walk around with her in my arms... then have them gravitate downwards on the wall later? I don't know how I feel about this. Because in real life the wall will look cuter if they are in the middle...not near the ground.
-It's VERY hard to find not only cute but educationally appropriate cards. I've searched. R is for rotary!? Come on. Super cute picture but seriously, that is not a first word I will be teaching Cora for R... how about river or raccoon?! Something that is in her daily life, it's a reality.
-Most of the cute alphabet cards are not short vowels and hard consonants. Like "I for icing"... it should be "I for igloo." So should I make my own? I can't really draw... so that makes things tricky.


This is what the alphabet looks like with short vowels and hard consonants from a very helpful website- montessori mom (I thought you might like to know these because I had to look it up again, I forgot all of them...)

a-short "a" as in "at" (later teach long "a" sound such as in "gate"- "ah" sound as in "father")

b- as in "rib"-With lips closed form a line and say sound.

c-"k" sound as in "cat"(later the "s" sound as in "cent")

d-as in " lid"-Place tip of tongue behind upper front teeth, keeping face still, say sound.

e-short sound as in "egg" (later long sound such as in "me")

f-as in "if"-Put upper teeth on lower lip and release air.

g-hard sound as in "big "(Later introduce " j " sound as in "gem" )

h-as in "her" -Open mouth and blow out sound.

i-short sound as in "pig" (Later introduce the long sound "i" , as in "pie"

j-as in "jam" -Keep jaw still and say sound.

k-as in "ink"

l-as in "lad" -Place bent tip of tongue under front teeth and say sound.

m-as in "him" -Close lips and make sound.

n-as in "tan" -Place tip of tongue against the roof of your mouth and say sound.

o-short sound as in "on" (later introduce the long o as in "open", then introduce the long "oo" sound, as in "to"

p-as in "yap" -Close lips lightly together and say sound.

q-I introduce q with the u ie "qu" and explain that u is always with q but the u doesn't say a sound when it is with q. Word sound as in "queen" (Place tongue in middle of upper plate and release breath.

r-as in "brr" -Pull back t towards upper mouth the tongue edges to the back molars. Hold and say sound. This one is a bit difficult. I had to practice not to say "er" sound.

s-as in "gas" -Place tongue behind lower teeth, bite down and say sound. (Later teach the "z" sound as in "as")

t-as in "bat"-Put tongue behind top teeth and release breath.

u-short sound as in "up" (Later long u as in "unicorn" and short oo sound as in "put"

v-as in "vine" -Place upper teeth gently on lower lip and vibrate sound.Let the children feel your lips with certain sounds, such as "v" and "f" since the sounds are easily confused.

w-as in "wag"-Slightly pucker you lips, release your breath and say the sound keeping lower jaw still.

x-as in "fix"-This has a ks sound (blended)

y-as in "yarn" -Do the consonant first, which is always at the beginning of a word. ( Later introduce the "e" sounding y, such as "holly", vowel long "i" sounding y, such as "my" and the vowel short "i" sound such as "gym"

z-as in "zip"- Clench teeth together and make sound.

[week 26]

Umm....yes, its week 26, but it's also snowing today! Finally...our first real snow this winter. Yay!! This weather almost makes up for the fact that school started up again this week for us. And this is the last week of my second trimester of pregnancy, craziness.

Other spud news... HUGE kicks and rolls and punches...and who knows what she is up to. My belly is constantly moving, you can even physically see the kicks. My shirt kind of just jumps here and there around my abdomen and takes on funny shapes when I'm sitting. It's beyond wonderful. Matt can feel each one now, we love it. Pure entertainment.

Ok, back to the snow. Time to run around with the dogs in the backyard (they'll do the running I'll do the watching). Hope you're all having a swell day!

P.S. I was looking back on my "week pictures".... How fun what 10 simple weeks can do. And almost hilarious. It's like I swallowed something rather large... like a balloon... a child... perhaps an enlarged version of the pumpkin I was holding? Oh, how I long to be tan again... just a touch of color without the skin cancer?! Soon enough I suppose. Focus on the glorious snow, silly Lindsey.

birthing classes.

[here]

Now is the time for us to start thinking about attending birthing classes. Our options in our area include:

• Happiest Baby on the Block
• New babies are such a blessing, but they can also bring with them sleepless nights, crying, and sometimes quite a bit of extra stress. In our Happiest Baby class, new parents will learn step-by-step how to help their baby sleep better and how to soothe even the fussiest baby in minutes. Magic? A miracle? No, it's a reflex! Our class is based on the new approach to babies pioneered by Dr. Harvey Karp in his best selling book and DVD, Happiest Baby on the Block.
• Music Birth (super exciting but only offered once April 17th -3 days away from my due date)
• Appropriate music enhances pain management, relaxation, imagery, movement, breathing and bonding. Personalize your birth with playlists and an original lullaby for your baby. Learn how music blocks pain, improves heart rate and blood pressure, increases the production of bonding hormones and makes remembering comfort measures easier. This class is designed to help you experience less pain, a shorter labor and improved outcomes by combining proven techniques with music. Natural and medicated births can utilize the MUSIC BIRTH method.
• Hypnobirthing
• HypnoBirthing is a complete childbirth education program that teaches you how to work with your body during labor and birthing for a calmer, easier, more comfortable birth experience. Breathing, Imagery, Massage and Relaxation techniques to help eliminate the Fear-   Tension-Pain Syndrome. What to expect/what to do during the birthing process. Prenatal bonding techiques for you and your partner. How to partner with your care providers and discuss your options in birth so you feel empowered by the experience. Nutrition, stretching and preparation for a healthy birth . How to work with your body, your partner and your environment in order to achieve a calm, peaceful birth.
• Lamaze
• For first-time parents or those who have not previously attended childbirth classes. This is a condensed course designed to provide information on prenatal care, labor, and delivery.  Learn skills necessary to make the best choices for your birthing experience. 
• CPR for infants and children
• The class teaches the basics of CPR and airway management for infants and young children. A course completion card from the American Heart Association is available after the class. Because class size is limited, please call if you are unable to attend.
• Breast Feeding
• This single class offers breastfeeding information and support to assist expectant parents. Topics include physical and emotional preparation, getting started, common problems and solutions, family adjustments, nutrition, and group questions and answers.
• Natural Childbirth
• By using a combination of techniques, this class assists couples in experiencing childbirth without the need for pain medication. Topics include creating an ideal setting in the hospital environment, activities and positions that allow free and comfortable movement through labor, comfort measures such as massage and acupressure techniques, and relaxation methods such as visualization and guided imagery.
• Child Birth Preparation
• These classes prepare mother and her support companion to become more physically, mentally, and emotionally ready for labor, birth, and postpartum. A variety of coaching, breathing, and relaxation techniques are demonstrated and practiced during class. Instruction covers the process of birth, pain management of labor, decision making, and the transition to parenthood.
• carseat checks
• hospital tour
  

Which do we choose? How do we make the time for the classes? Did you take any classes that were successful and worth your time that you couldn't get from reading a book?

alphabet cards

oh geez. well this was a fun post about alphabet cards and teaching children how to read. Its gone, blogspot has eaten my post. I guess thats what happens when you go away for a weekend. we shall see if I feel like re-typing it (it was super long too!) Sorry yall.

** update: this is now re-posted to here**

[week 25]

Oh, hello week 25. 

Things I have learned this week:

Not all orange juices should be treated equal. Some give horrendous indigestion, while others are simply heavenly. Costco brand- no good, while simply orange is just that...simple and wonderful.

Eating and drinking and lying down do not mix. Indigestion is not something to laugh about...it has snuck up on me this week, like a ninja. Then the fun foods like chocolate, pasta sauce, wasabi- they all do the reflux thang too. Tums has been my newest friend.

Sleeping through the night was something I took for granted. I now enjoy my little chunks of sleep between bathroom excursions and eating cereal.

Maternity jeans (capris) are incredible, you were all right.

Spud kicks make my mornings and nights. I usually wait for them to get out of bed in the morning or fall asleep at night. She is getting stronger by the week. I love it. I love her already.

A fresh haircut feels amazing... regardless of the face getting chub-i-fied.

The women in my life (family, friends, co-workers, fellow bloggers) are fantastic. They have been a great outlet to talk to about life changes big and small. Women just get each other...it's amazing. And to hear that you all are reading my blog just makes my heart smile. So thank you!!!

spud room projects to do...

[here]

Here are our projects to do during school break for spud room (that's now! yay!!). We have been chipping away at our list of things we'd like to accomplish during our time off this winter break. So far, not too bad. We have one more week. But some of the little details can be ongoing throughout our busy semester too.

 DONE:

-find a crib or paint current one
-move my current office (spud room) upstairs where Matt's office is.
-put crib together
-buy a lazy boy recliner for spud room...turns out we have such a small house that a lazy boy will not fit in the spud room. So we are working on shifting around our furniture to fit a lazy boy rocker/recliner in the living room... and it's bought and beautiful & ready for Cora. Thanks mom and dad!!
-paint room gray
-take down shades
-make diaper changing pad covers
-make a platform for the diaper changing table to sit on to make it taller
-make dutch door
-change out light fixture
-new outlets/covers
-buy 6 cute metal knobs for diaper changing table

TO DO:

[maybe just one panel of this per window?! adorable, from land of nod...too expensive, must find cheaper alternative]

-decide on a style and sew white curtains for nursery that not only block out most light but lighten up the room. Is that even possible?!

[love the way this rug looks....so fun yet subtle]

[this cute one too...from anthropologie of course, but is it $348 of cute for a 4x6 rug?! probably not]

[this creme rug is pretty calming and then have louder accent colors]

[home depot rug...big contender. love this one, not sure on light browns/creme going with gray walls, but we do have the dark wood accents in the room too]

-shop for a rug to fit in tiny room...maybe 3x5 or 4x6. Grey rug perhaps? Green-ish? Floral-ish?

[my journal sketches of rope-ladder closet]

-make a little closet rope-ladder for spud clothes. This will be out of about 3 dowels and white rope. I think it might actually look cute and be super functional.

[here]

-make mobile/hanging cuteness for over the changing table

[from etsy]

[from etsy]

-decide on making or buying alphabet & number cards to hang on the big open wall

[like this cute one, but instead of storing bunnies, store toys]

-find cute baskets either metal, wicker, or white something for under the crib storage for toys and blankets etc.

diaper bags.

[my diaper bag: amy butler pattern birdie sling]

I have been looking forward to sewing a diaper bag for a long time. Now that we know that spud is a girl, I've been able to choose fabric accordingly. I have this amy butler pattern that I have been holding on to for awhile, pre-pregnancy I was going to make it as a purse... it's adorable. But now, I think I'm going to retrofit it into a diaper bag with a few extra pouches inside.

[my joel dewberry inspiration]

[fabrics I will *hopefully* be able to find and use: outside-herringbone by joel dewberry, outside top- linen I already have, inside-wild thyme by carolyn gavin which I think is out of print now so I will substitute an amy butler green print]

I also have plans to make a diaper changing pad/roll like this one. I think I will just wing it with a bath towel, fun fabric, and binding.

[on etsy, super cute fabric outside and terry cloth on the inside]

[lowepro bag on amazon..." man diaper bag"... heck I could even use this one]

And if you're wondering what matt will use...my diaper purse is obviously too girly. But we do have a camera bag that we never use outside of the house- we just store the DSLR in it at home. We think he can use this. It's a masculine kind of a small messenger bag. Enough to carry a few diapers, wipes, a onesie, and diaper changing pad. Easy and done! It's nice to have a low-maintenance husband. 

slow on the mom-uptake.

Sometimes things hit me slowly. I don't mean literally. I mean like even though Matt and I had planned on getting pregnant for almost a year, got pregnant back in July and now are expecting a child in April... it just hit me driving to work this past weekend.... holy shit. I am going to be a mom. A mom! How could I be carrying a baby and not realize that I will be a mom?! It escapes me. I was on the verge of tears with this realization, listening to music loudly in my car on the way to work. It must have been a song that I heard in college during my single days- not that I miss those days, I don't. Oh god I'm glad I went through them and am done with them forever. But I started thinking about how drastically my daily routines will be changed (different and wonderful at the same time), my independence will be cut into pieces, and instead of thinking about what kind of traumas I will be seeing that night on my way to work I will be thinking about my little girl I am leaving behind at home with my wonderful husband. Life is going to be different as a mom. I have been looking forward to being a mom most of my life, and here it is so close.

Want another example?! I thought so. My sister in law asked when visiting this week what the elementary schools were like in the area. Ha! WHAT?! We are going to have a kid in elementary school? Oh my gosh, I really do care a lot about education for our precious little one, but why haven't I looked into this already? I haven't a clue about Idaho's school system... neighborhood schools... what our options are... or even a name of any school in Boise. Geez. I feel like a slacker mom already.

So I have really started to make a point of thinking of "mom things." Like what sweet little skirts I will sew for my daughter, with of course the corresponding leggings, socks, and tiny mary janes. That's pretty important right?! What if she has really long legs like I have? Can I alter her clothing to make it all fit and make her look adorable? I think so. Perhaps I should get on sewing diaper covers- those things are adorable. I started sewing a few things for spud's room... that's mom-ish and very much nesting. Or maybe the huge mom-issues deserve some thought like...how will I encourage my little girl to brush her teeth everyday? Not to fight bed time routines? To be gentle with the dogs? What if she doesn't like to read? Or a million other situations that I am sure I can't even fathom being kid-less. Can I be strong and brave around her when I see a spider that I'd really like Matt to whack the heck out of- but instead show her that nature is beautiful and not scary? And oh my gosh... have you all seen this fantastic youtube video?! It goes along with the spider-killing idea. I'd like to think that I'd be the type of mom that would let my loving child hold and befriend a dead squirrel...but I think I'd freak out and she'd never even get the opportunity to be this sweet and naive. Such a shame.

All big thoughts and questions I will continue to sort out in my head....hopefully not too late into the nights.

Being a mom is a BIG deal, I know...because I have one that is fantastic. Now I get to be one too!

[week 24]

Life is going well over here in and out of utero-land. I had my last every-4-weeks prenatal appointment, from the next one on it's bumped up to every 2 weeks!.... because I'll be in my 3rd trimester!!! Next appointment I also do my 1 hour glucose tolerance test. Man, I want to pass that test. If I don't I suppose it's with good reason. I am measuring well according to my midwife, so all is peachy!

Can I just mention one little teeny tiny minuscule gripe?! People sometimes tell me I look like I have a small bump...not showing enough for the number of weeks that I am. I think they mean well, but I can't help but have a little fear pop up in my head...what if my babe isn't growing like she should?! Yikes. Should she be bigger? That is a possibility in pregnancy. Or should people just think twice about what they are telling a pregnant woman who is whacked out on hormones?! I think I look like a blimp... a bountiful child growing blimp. But perhaps that's just me!

hello 2012!

[the chew man... photo taken by my new DSLR 50mm lens that matt gave me as a stocking stuffer... i love it, although chewy doesn't look too impressed. perhaps he wants his bangs and goatee trimmed, hard to tell for sure]

Happy New Year!

Well every year seems to bring its own changes here to our lives. This next one will be eventful also, I am sure of it. I will be graduating nursing school, having my first baby, and becoming a nurse (a real career with a salary!!). I hope you're all having a wonderful first day of the new year reflecting on last year or perhaps making plans for the new one. I don't really do new years resolutions so I will just focus on being happy and cherishing this time. Oh yeah, and I'm working today. 

This weeks projects:

-take a bump photo for week 24!

-paint our dutch door white...more on this project soon!

-add a latch to connect the top and bottom together when desired

[family heirloom...our changing table in the closet nook]

-build a platform to raise up the diaper changing table to a better height for us tall people

-paint the wood platform white to match the base boards in the room

[current knobs, which aren't too bad]

-find 6 new modern-ish silver knobs for the diaper changing table

-get a much needed prenatal massage...yay!

- & relax