Taking on church

We haven't been to church since Sam's been born.. yeah... I know, I don't need a lecture. lol I've decided that tomorrow I'm up for seeing how getting up and going on Sunday morning goes for us. Clayton's out working overtime right now so I bet he doesn't come home until around 4am or later... and he has to be at work at 2pm tomorrow.. so looks like it will be me and the kids alone. I swear I've told God, "If you want me to go to church.. you really need to bless us tomorrow!" Probably not the best of my talks with the Big Man... but he knows what I mean. One thing I don't like about going to church right now is that I, for some reason, feel really uncomfortable nursing there. Why? I breastfeed EVERYWHERE... why does church make me clam up so? I've got milk stored in the freezer just for times like these... but I really wish I didn't have that feeling of not being able to feed Samuel the way God intended in HIS house. I think it's probably b/c we're one of the only young families that regularly goes to church and I'm thinking the older generation is a lot less educated on the benefits of breastfeeding.. since back "in the day" people were told formula was the BEST way to feed a baby. (though I have had one of my favorite ladies at the church say how beautiful she thought breastfeeding was when she asked me if I was nursing Samuel... that's always nice to hear!) anyway.. enough booby talk!

Clayton starts back on nights in one week... part of me likes nights b/c he's home in the mornings so I can hand Samuel off (and the big kids!) and catch another hour or two of sleep. The other part of me hates the lonely nights. Now, don't get me wrong.. once we get reused to the night shift the nights aren't even lonely to me. But, when we get that once every several months day shift (that he's on this month) and then have to switch back to the several months of nights... it's just plain tough of me for about a week or so. Amazingly the kids seem to be completely indifferent to his schedule. I guess it's all they've ever known... and as long as Mommy is here the world is right! (b/c... let's face it.. mommies are the best!) I'm not sure which is harder.. getting used to being alone at night or having to get used to him being home at night complaining about the shows I've been watching for the past 4 months. lol I get sooo behind when he's here!

"You're Mean!"

Could I hear this phrase more often please? lol It usually starts out like this: Carter tries to hit Madison.. not because he 'wants' to hit her.. but because he knows it will make her scream at him. (and this is fun why?) Madison, right on cue, screams, "Carter, you're the meanest!!" To which Carter puts on his newly learned 'mean face' (see picture) and screams back, "No, You mean Ma-son!" Madison: "No, you are!" Carter: "No, YOU!" Then me.. from the living room into Madison's room: "YOU GUYS STOP YELLING!!!" Ahh... another good mommy moment from the Moss house... ;)

For Allison

You said I should blog my baby recommendations.. so here ya go!

You mentioned getting a hotsling..I do have to say that I like those too! I don't have one but almost got one before my GREAT friends got me the Ergo for my baby shower. I do think you'll get more use out of an Ergo... years and years of it. Any sling (in my opinion) will get hard to baby wear in after they get to a certain weight.. since they only go over one shoulder. Other recommendations I have... and remember, I do attatchment parenting so some of these things are specific to that. :)

Cosleeper! It's a bed that is for the baby that has one side off of it, it fits right against your bed so the baby can sleep right beside you, without you worrying about rolling over on top of him and without you losing any bed space. I have one that's a bassinet and a cosleeper.. you can put the side on it if you want. Love it! (mine is by Graco... got it at Baby Depot) I highly recommend cosleeping though.. not everyone is a fan!

"Swaddle Me" blanket. This by far is my favorite new find. I got mine at Baby Depot for $10 and have used it EVERY NIGHT since Samuel was born. (took it to the hospital.. it was all the rave lol.. every nurse came by to see it.. word of mouth spread!) It has velcro that keeps them swaddled up! Samuel is over a month old and he still fits in the 'small' size.. though I'm soon to buy a 'medium' b/c he sleeps sooo well in it.

Huggies Gentle Care diapers. I was a huge Pampers Swaddlers fan until I used these... I can't beleive I'm recommending Huggies over Pampers! lol

Plug in Baby swing.. mine is a cool Fisher Price Aquarium swing that my sister let me have.. but it takes batteries... LOTS of batteries. Now they have new swings that plug into the wall!!! Man oh man what I'd give to have one! lol

I'm a big breastfeeding nazi... so here is what I recommend for that!
- Lansinoh cream. (lanolin for your breasts... works wonders!!)
- Gerber Premium Contoured nursing pads... by far the best I've ever used.. and I've used them all!
- Boppy Pillow. I love mine and use it all of the time! Especially now that Sam's heavier... and especially at night when I'm too tired to really hold him well anyway.
- bottled water... sounds silly right? lol Let me tell ya... you'll want a bottle of water to sit down with everytime you nurse (because you'll be thirsty and b/c the more water you drink, the better your milk supply.. so drink up!) and having a cold one ready in fridge is always something I enjoy!
- the best breastfeeding book ever is put out by the Le Leche League... it's called "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" and will answer any question you could have and put to rest all of the awful myths out there that make many women quit. Please get this book!

How about a list of stuff i've found useless? lol (or a waste of cash)

#1 waste of money is any kind of diaper genie! If you have to buy bags to refill it.... forget it! Save your money and keep your walmart plastic bags and just twist diapers up in them and toss them that way... no stink! (and if you breastfeed the diapers won't stink anyway..another bonus!)

Snuggli baby carrier (or similar versions). DOn't get me wrong.. I loved them when mine were small infants.. but they outgrow them quickly! (and I spent a good chunk of money on mine with carter...) I'd definitely invest in a better baby carrier if you plan to use it long term.

Really expensive strollers! I just got the best stroller ever from walmart (a double stroller at that) for $89 and it rocks! (it's by Evenflo) Sometimes cheaper isn't bad!

I'm sure there's millions of other things that other mommies can comment on... I know I've left stuff out but there's what i thought of right off the top of my head. All you really need for the baby is a few outfits, you and your hubby, and some comfy blankies. :) (and a pacifier... in case your baby is like my second baby was and wants to eat CONSTANTLY)

by the way... would you please leave me your url to your blog again? I lost it :P

This is an Ergo

I've had tons of people ask me what an Ergo is since I've been raving about it... here are pics! I love love love this carrier.. it by far is better than others that might resemble it. For a newborn or young infant it has an "infant insert" that goes inside of it (the green 'blanket' looking thing surrounding Samuel) and it holds them in place so they don't slip out of the leg openings and snuggles them up! If you look you can see that he's being held in a cradle hold, not in a typical 'baby carrier' hold where the legs are splayed out in a seat. In this one his legs are both coming out of the same opening and he's seated in the carrier. There is also nothing between you and the baby with an Ergo... it is great for bonding and calming a fussy boy! (Ergo should really start paying me for these ads... ) I really wish I'd have had one of these with Carter... man oh man would it have been a life saver! Normally I have Sam snuggled down inside of it more but you wouldn't have been able to see him at all lol so I propped him up instead.

One month old

Somehow my little man turned one month old today. It's amazing how quickly time goes by. He's starting to stay awake more during the day, and also he's sometimes harder to get down for naps. (this morning is one of those times... he's asleep attatched to me in the Ergo as I type) He's smiled once or twice but still nothing regular.. he opens his mouth a lot when he's awake and grunts and sometimes lets out loud 'sighs' that show he's really trying to talk to us now. I can't wait for those sweet baby coos! He looks more and more like his siblings as he fills out.. and he's at the point now where I swear some mornings i look at him and ask, "Did you get bigger overnight?" He goes on really long "nursing sprees" as I call them about once a day. He'll just fuss and cry unless he's eating.. and this lasts anywhere from 1 to 3 HOURS. I've learned that after 30 minutes of nursing.. he's not hungry.. and I can stick him in the Ergo and clean the house or something and he'll pass out. (which is what we did this morning) He's doing pretty well most nights... sleeping 3 hours, up to eat, back to sleep for 3 more hours, up to eat, back to sleep for another hour or two... other nights he's up every hour. (last night was not so great...) I still enjoy getting that quiet time with him most of the time though. During the day when I sit to nurse him I've got my two 'helpers' on either side wanting to kiss him and rub on him.. which is sweet, but let's be honest, after this happens multiple times a day you just want them to go away so your newborn will stop chomping down on you everytime they scare him with a sudden kiss or squeel. lol Life seems to be pretty normal. It's as though he's always been here. He's outgrowing clothes already and it's killing me. I took millions of pictures the other day of him in the outfits I bought for him that he's already getting too big for. Realizing I'll never get to use them again almost makes me sick to my

stomach... I have such a hard time letting go of ANYTHING.. especially baby and kids' clothes. Oh well.. onto the next chapter of life! I know God will bless it just as he's blessed this one! It's going to be wonderful!

Supermom!

I feel like Supermom! Yesterday I had my first 'real' outing with all of the children by myself. I took them to the library and then to McDonald's for a rare treat of fast food and video games at the same time. lol It went pretty well.. I felt quite proud of my accomplishment when we got back home.

So, speaking of the library... has anyone been there lately? With their young children? While people are there on the computers? *sigh* First off, as soon as we walked through the door I got dirty looks from two different women that were sitting at the computers... even though ALL of my kiddoes were being totally silent little angels. I quickly realized that we could not hang out and look through books there like I had planned so my 'fun' day I had planned (mainly for madison because she loves the library) went down the drain. I spent the 10 minutes we were there rushing her to hurry and find some books so we could go because anytime Carter would whisper anything to me people would look over at us and give us the evil eye. (is it MY fault the library is so poorly designed?! Sorry that the 'work station' was put directly by the kids' area!! It's our library too folks!) The frustrating thing for me was that my kids were actually being REALLY good! Carter was even being quiet and doing what he was supposed to be doing... but that just wasn't good enough for some of those people I guess. I was feeling really looked at as we stood in line for FIVE MINUTES (which IS a long time with a squirmy baby and even more squirmy 3 year old) and Carter started getting into the stacks of books around us and Samuel started fussing. I finally get to the checkout line and had to get a library card (we usually use Clayton's) which was not easy with all that was going on. We finally got out of there! I told Madison that I'd have Daddy sit home with the boys next time and just she and I would go. We could both use the quiet time!

Thankfully McDonald's went much better! Samuel slept in the Ergo the entire time (which is the best thing EVER by the way... the Ergo) and Madison and Carter actually ate some food and took turns without complaining on the games. (anyone else find it odd that McDonald's... who's constantly under fire for "making people fat", would put video games in? So now kids can SIT and eat burgers and fries... YES!!) I even sprung for milk shakes before we left because I was so proud of them for being so good all morning. Too bad not all people could appreciate how good they were being.. but oh well... some people are just miserable I suppose. Must they make a point of making us happy people miserable too, though? I mean, I haven't slept in many months from being pg and now from having a newborn and I've been kinda cooped up for the past 3 weeks with all of the kids since I can just now really drive.. but I'm not out biting people's heads off... not yet at least. Though that one girl at the computer area did almost get it... ;)

Going it alone

Well, Clayton is back to work this week and all is well! It's our second day "going it alone" and I have to say that as much help as Clayton is when he's home, it is just WAY easier for him to be gone. lol Everyone that told me adding a third child to the family would be no big deal was so very right. I think a lot of that has to do with the baby I got... he's just about as content and quiet as a baby could possibly be. (unless he's hungry.. that's the ONLY time he fusses) Nights are going fairly well too. Right now Samuel is sleeping about 2/3 hours at a time, waking up to eat and get a diaper, and then back to sleep. (though at 4am he does want to wake up for about an hour.. ugh...) Carter is the hard one at night.. yes... still. I had that boy sleeping all night long in his own bed until right before Samuel was born and now it seems we're right back to square one. Clayton and I had decided a few nights ago that it just wasn't worth the battle and loss of sleep right now and we'd "fight it out" with him later on... but after he tossed and turned and kept me awake for HOURS on end last night beside me in bed... I am saying it's worth the fight NOW. Wish us luck... I have no idea what I did when I was pregnant with Carter to make him such a horrid sleeper... but I am so thankful he's the only one out of three that is like this. lol

One thing that I had not missed while I was pregnant was having to watch what I'm eating and exercising for weight loss... we're back to that.. sort of. One of my favorite things about breastfeeding is I can basically eat whatever I want, as long as I exercise, and still drop a lot of weight. One Sam decides to wean though... that's when the REALLY hard part starts! I hate having to watch what I eat. lol Right now I'm just getting really impatient (yes, already...) and I wish I could snap my fingers and have a waist line again. Must the baby belly hang around after the baby is out? Why does it have to take so darn long for me to get my midsection in working order again? Many of my friends and I have talked about how skinny you feel the first week after giving birth.. your stomach is so dramatically smaller! Then, as the weeks go on, you are still shrinking down, but you feel bigger. lol Patience is still not my strong suit I suppose.

I hear crying... must be feeding time!