June Holds Head High, Mine Hangs in Shame

Yes, I know that the following link is 99 seconds of pure self-indulgent mommybragging that will be of little interest to most people, but here it is.

June Holding Her Head Up

I'm totally embarrassed about my motherese voice cooing "Good job!" over and over, but I couldn't dub over it and risk covering up June's adorable sounds.

I'M A NEW MOM, I'M ALLOWED TO POST STUFF LIKE THIS, DEAL WITH IT!

A Peachy Pie

When you pick a bag of peaches, what do you do with all that fruit? You make you some sweet treats, that's what.

These:

Quickly became this:
Which quickly become this:
Which was soon this:
My lattice crust never looks quite right, but I guess the good side is that you can tell it's homemade!

Peach pie is considered a totally appropriate breakfast food, right? I mean, it has carbs and fruit in it, so...?
Totally regretting giving a quarter of this pie to my neighbors.

You're a Peach, Festival

Peach Festival.

Schnepf Farms.

Pancake Breakfast.Spontaneous Dancing.

Photo Opportunities.

Haywire Hayride.

Orchard Picking.

Juicy Samples.

Baby Hangout.

Tandem Napping.
Good Saturday.

Painting a Pottery Pig

Lyndsey and I, plus Lyndsey's mom and our two babies, painted pottery this week!

June didn't much mind getting her feet painted, she just didn't like it when I tried to clean it off later!
We made a piggy bank for her. Never too early to start thinking about saving for retirement, June!
The finished product:

Matteo was also a champ at getting his feet painted.

He and his mom made a picture frame!

Picnicking in the Park

Staying home with June is so wonderful. It's so incredible and every day I find more and more things to love about her. But I've also been trying pretty hard to fill my day with things to do, even if it's something small in the morning or afternoon. Otherwise I get the cabin fever and get antsy by the end of the day. Michael can always tell when I haven't left the house all day.

So when Lyndsey invited me to meet for a picnic yesterday, I was all for it!

The Bug was content in the car seat when we arrived.

Of course I forgot to take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I did remember to take a picture of the dessert I brought (of course)!
Afterwards Lynds and I took a walk around the lake with our babies in the Mobies (Mobys?).
I'm going to miss this nice weather and the opportunity to do things like this outside with the babe!

Tummy Time

Someone's been holding her head up!

Tummy time is just about my favorite time of the day because June makes the most adorable noises. She coos and squeals in what I can only describe as delighted noises of surprise at what she's found herself doing. Once she starts getting upset or frustrated, we pick her up in the following position to make her happy again:

Let's get a close up on that dimple, shall we?

I think she gets it from me. See!? Even on the same side!

Feeding Freely

I'm a public breastfeeder, y'all.

I'm not one of those super-enthusiatic activists about breastfeeders' rights or anything, but I do feel that I should be able to feed June in public. I'm not about to start dancing around topless in public, but also don't think that feeding babies is something that needs to be shamed into back bedrooms or public bathroom stalls. I went to a small party at a friend's house recently and I fed June in a back bedroom while everyone else ate and drank and was merry. By the time I was done feeding her, most of the food was gone and/or cold.

In these early months when June and I are still trying to get it right (latching and unlatching, head bobbing, etc.), I'm still breastfeeding while covered in public. This means either using an Udder Cover (wish I could take credit for the name) or the Moby (as seen below). So far I have breastfed in:

• The hospital lobby (I went back to shoot a promotional video for them)
• A baby shower
• The Arizona Science Center while walking around the Body Worlds exhibit
• A pottery painting place (stay tuned for more about this fun outing!)
• A park

When she gets older and we get a little better at the quick-draw, no big nip exposure, etc., I hope to go completely uncovered. After all, the baby's head covers everything anyway. I still don't think I'll run around shouting, "Breastfeeding! We've got a breastfeeder over here!" But I'd just like to be comfortable enough feeding her while out to eat or something.

And for the record, I feel sorry for the people who think of breastfeeding as disgusting or abnormal. If giving birth is the first thing that connects all of mankind, the need to feed those babies is the second. I understand if you - for modesty's sake - prefer that breastfeeding be kept behind closed doors, I just personally don't feel that way. And as an exclusive breastfeeder and someone who has generally spent about 30 minutes out of every 3 hours connected to a baby by the boob, I'd hate to have to make sure I got home in time to feed her every time that magic time rolled around. Or spend 30 minutes of a family dinner packed into a bathroom stall.

It's funny, though, because when I picture future free feeding, I don't mind the idea of strangers being nearby. The only time I do think it might be uncomfortable is if there are men around that I'm unrelated to. Like if we had another couple over to our house - feeding in front of the other man might be a little weird simply because I know him and I would know that I could be making him uncomfortable.

Anyway, this is June and me grabbing a snack at a nearby park. That white circular thing is a breast pad (used for leaks), if you're wondering. I was using it to shield June's face from the sun.

This duck hung out with us:

As did this turtle:
I'd love to hear your thoughts on breastfeeding in public!

Public or Private?

I have quite a few friends who have blogs that are private. (If you're not very familiar with the blogosphere, this means you have to be invited to view the blog. Then every you visit the blog you must be logged into the account you were invited with. For example, I have to be logged into my Gmail account.)

The PROs of going private:

1. You can control who views your blog
2. You prevent strangers and potential creeps from seeing pictures of you and - more importantly - your kid.

The CONs of going private:

1. I have a few friends and family who aren't exactly computer experts. The extra steps involved here might prevent them from being able to view the the blog. And sharing our lives with family was the whole point of creating this thing.
2. The number of people who view your blog goes down immensely. Any lurkers would probably stop viewing (even though I'd welcome you to ask for an invitation).
3. People would no longer be able to use any information on the blog for their use. For example, I know people have come to my blog from Googling "Lunar Bingo at Fort McDowell", "Toyota Prius" and "Nursery Decorating." It's not like I'm writing very much useful information on here, but I like the idea that some people can search for something and land on my blog to get information about it.

I know that there are creeps out there. And of course the idea of giving them information about my family just for this silly blog makes me feel terrible. But do I have horrible self-esteem in saying that I doubt anyone would be so interested in our lives to do anything with this information?

The thing is, I read several public blogs of people who have thousands of followers and those people post pictures of their children and family. Surely if they blog publicly without any problems, my meager readership is perfectly safe?

I'm truly unsure about what I should do here. I would love anyone's advice on either side - going private or staying public. Also, I've created a poll to get any lurkers' opinions. Please vote!

Baby Blanket

My Aunt Lorie made a beautiful baby blanket for June. She knitted it herself!

I can knit too, except I can only make scarves because I only know how to knit line after line until it's long enough to be worn around the neck. And even then I usually have to look online for instructions on how to start and end a project. I suppose I could make trivets too, given that they are essentially very short scarves.
Anyway, the blanket has become June's favorite place to hang out.
And smile up at her mommy and daddy!
Love.

A Hot Mess

When I was in the throes of early-pregnancy nausea (I love the word throe), I tried a lot of things to ease the barfy feelings. One of these things was drinking gingerale. (Note: I found out I hate ginger during this pregnancy.)

On one trip home from the grocery store, a can of gingerale fell out of my shopping bag and settled somewhere under my passenger side seat. This is where it lived for a good week or so because I kept hearing it roll around, promising that I would get it once I arrived at my destination, then forgetting about it.

One hot September day after a long day at work, I came outside to my steaming car and remembered to pick up the can. I placed it in my cup holder and drove away.

BAM.

I honestly thought I'd been shot. My first instinct was to do a split-second inspection of my body for bullet holes. None found, I registered that I was being sprayed with something.

My can of gingerale had exploded. The top of the can was all engorged and warped and molten gingerale was spraying all over me and the car. My terror at being shot was quickly replaced by irritation at the mess and then wonder at the whole thing. Some combination of the extremely hot carbonated liquid paired with the jostling of my driving caused a build-up of pressure that could not be withstood by mere aluminum. That's how hot it gets in Arizona.

The whole point of this post is to tell you that I do not like that it's getting hot.

Have a good weekend.

Moby and Me

I love my Moby wrap.

Actually, it's not really a Moby because I made this one, but it's essentially the same thing.

Every time I've taken June out in the Moby (except for walks around the neighborhood) I've gotten comments on it from strangers. Most people just stare. Some people are startled to find out that "Oh my gosh, there's a baby in there!" Two people have asked me where I got it. I guess I was a little surprised at how shocking the whole baby-wearing thing is to most people, so I figured I could blog about it.

A Moby is a baby carrier - one of many different kinds out there - that allow you to carry your baby around with you. It's called "baby wearing," and babies tend to love it. Newborns love being held and this gives them a feeling like they're still in the womb, all nestled in tight and feeling their mom's body warmth.

I take June on a walk with the Moby almost every day, but I've also started wearing her around the house. If she gets overtired or fussy I put her in the Moby, walk her around the house and she falls asleep within 10 minutes. It's nice because I can still do things with my hands - laundry, make a meal for myself, clean the dishes...all while holding June. She loves tilting her head up so I can see her face and I get to glance down and see her little sleep grins she does so much these days. I can't wait 'til she starts smiling big smiles.

And I'm not the only one who has "worn" June. Michael will put her in the Moby, and she was even worn by her Aunt Lauren when she came to visit!

June really misses her aunt - she got some prime naps in on her chest!

I know this post probably sounds like I'm being paid by Moby to support their product, but I'd really recommend making your own!

To Make A Baby Carrier:

Step 1: Buy a cotton knit or jersey knit fabric at a fabric store. If you go to Hobby Lobby, use a coupon for 40% off you can find around. Joanne's is more expensive! People also get fabric at Walmart. Get 5.5 yards. This allows for shrinkage.

Step 2: The fabric will be about 60 inches wide, but a typical Moby only needs to be 20 inches. Cut the fabric lengthwise into thirds so you have three pieces of fabric that are 20 inches x 5.5 yards. The knit fabric is great because it will not fray - you do not need to do anything special to the fabric because it will just sort of curl under.

Step 3: Wash the fabric.

Step 4: Wear your baby. View instructional videos on Youtube about how to put on the wrap. Or have me over and I'll show you. But I charge! One sweet treat of your choosing for unlimited demonstrations. I'm cheap.

Step 5: Give your other two wraps to other pregnant ladies (I gave mine to Jaye and Lynds. I'm really hoping we can arrange a group outing in a couple months where we'll all wear our little ones in our matching black wraps together.) (Is this getting too Spirit Week? I won't insist we all wear pajama bottoms or anything.)

Jaye's Baby Shower

On Saturday I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my dear friend Jaye. She threw my baby shower and I think it's so cool that I could throw hers only a few months later!

There were maybe 20-25 women in attendance...plus about 8 babies! I had no idea that so many kids were coming! It was really cute seeing so many babies of differing ages cooing throughout the day, plus one little boy that was SO cute who said, "Bye baby" to June right before he left.

One thing I learned about myself: I'm not good at predicting how much food to make for a party. We have TONS of leftovers. Also: drinking. Apparently I'm an alcoholic for thinking people would want to have some wine? I bought 9 bottles of wine for the event and only .5 bottles were consumed.

(Jaye has several elephants as a theme in her nursery.)

I didn't take a ton of pictures of the guests...I was pretty busy running around the whole time, but I did get a few pictures. Here are Anni and Erin who were my fellow bridesmaids at Jaye's wedding 2 years ago. Erin came all the way from Canada...along with her gorgeous and sweet baby!
And here is Anni with the Jaye's mom, Cindy. Cindy's holding Matteo - June's birthday buddy -from this post.
Jaye had a hard time getting to her chair through the sea of presents!


Even the grandma-to-be got a gift from her sister.

Overall I'd say it was a great shower. Sure, there was an awkward moment - apparently I make shower games that are a bit too difficult, complete with tie-breaker questions that are too tough (WHO DOESN'T KNOW THAT MOLLY WEASLEY'S DAUGHTER IS NAMED GINNY?!) but other than that, I thought it went really well.

I adored the shower Jaye threw for me, so I hope she had just as good at time at hers.

I'd like to take a moment to put out a HUGE thank you to my mom, who helped me out so very much in the days leading up to the shower and during the day itself. Trips to Costco, flowers to arrange, sandwiches to assemble, gifts to document/list. Thanks, Mom, for helping me so much! And to my adoring husband, who cleaned the house and ran to the store last-minute instead of going golfing at my request. And thanks to June, who was an angel all day.