Treasure EVERY Moment!

I think that sometimes as mommies, we get into shark mode: we just keep going through the motions in order to survive the stressful days. I know that there are days where I think, "okay, if I can just make it to 1pm" and try to find something to distract Buhba while I get work done. Then it's "okay, if I can just make it to 3pm..." and I don't take advantage of the time that I have to be a mom to such a wonderful little spirit. Last night, I read the blog of a young family who's eight-month-old son is losing the fight to cancer, and the time that they have left with him is quickly running out. I don't remember the last time that I cried so hard while reading the tender, heart-breaking words that these young parents wrote to inform people on their son's deteriorating condition. As the mother of a seven-month old, (heck as a mother, period), my heart just breaks for this family! I can't even think about losing Buhba! I vowed last night that I would stop just going through the motions, and appreciate EVERY SINGLE minute that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with my son; and start to welcome and embrace the responsibilities and challenges that come with this calling.  Today, when Buhba started screaming in Walmart, I let out a sigh of frustration, but quickly thought to myself, I'll bet that this poor mother who is losing her child would welcome a fussy baby in Walmart! So, I quickly picked up Buhba and held him close to me for the rest of the trip. I guess my point is that we just never know what life will bring, so my goal is to not take this time with my son and husband for granted ever again - no more shark mode - I'm going to treasure every moment! 

What a Difference a Year Makes!

My husband is an assistant football coach at a local junior college, and with football season in full swing, I'm having some serious flashbacks of last year's season. Has it really been a year ago this month that my husband started coaching, and that I was put on bedrest at 14 1/2 weeks along in my pregnancy? It hardly seems real as I look at the healthy, little seven-month-old who loves to give out slobbery kisses to his mommy and daddy, asleep beside me (okay, I admit, sometimes I give in and like to lay him down and snuggle with him in my bed when he naps :) . 

NOTE: If you were watching a TV show of my life, now would be the point of the wavy screen and the flashback sounds... :)

I'll never forget the day that I started having very hard cramps and my stomach went rock-hard. I looked up at my husband in horror, "Honey, I'm not sure but I think that I just had a contraction!" From that point on, it was strict bedrest, and lots, and lots of trips to the doctor's office and later on lots of trips to the hospital. 

I remember listening to my hubby's football games on my laptop as I lay in bed, and feeling the baby kick as the announcer got excited because our team made a touchdown!  I would always would look forward to the weekends because of the football games, but most importantly, it meant that I had kept Bubha in one more week, and every week meant a better chance of survival for our little guy! 

Some times I have flashbacks to a year ago feeling like I am still on bedrest and teetering on the verge of insanity from laying in bed all day :) I would literally countdown the hours until hubby got home from work each day, so that I'd have something to look forward to! 

This year has flown by! That time in my life seems so short now, now that I have something (actually someone) so wonderful to show for it! 24 weeks of bedrest doesn't seem like a very big deal in the grand scheme of things. I know that I've been so blessed because I know that some women unfortunately go on bedrest with less fortunate outcomes. 

The Story of Buhba's Bath and the UnWelcomed Visitors

This is a story about a little seven-month-old named, "Buhba" who loved to take baths. One night after a VERY long day of traveling, Buhba's mommy put him into the tub for what she thought would be a short bath. Buhba's mommy had just started washing his head when Buhba looked up at her with a funny look on his face. It was at that second that Buhba's mommy realized what this look meant, but she was too late. She looked down to find a VERY un-welcomed "visitor" in the tub floating along the side of Buhba's rubber ducky and other bath toys. 

Buhba's mommy panicked and grabbed a naked Bubha out of the tub so that he wouldn't "play" with the "visitor", and set him on the carpet in the hall, just outside of the bathroom (so that he wouldn't fall over and crack his head on the bathroom tile), while she started the process of "fishing" the visitor out of the tub. After she caught the visitor, drained the tub, got all of Bubha's toys out of the tub, cleaned the tub, and ran fresh water, Buhba's mommy picked him up off of the carpet to finish up his bath. But to her horror, smashed in the carpet and all over Buhba's backside were more, VERY large "visitors"! Buhba's mommy tried to hang him over the toilet to "brush off" the "visitors", but that just made a bigger mess and she just had to take the still-naked-boy into his room to get some wipeys. Finally, when he was cleaned up, Buhba finished his bath, and his mommy got some stain remover that she had purchased for doggie accidents to get the leftover "visitors" out of the carpet! 

That night Bubha had sweet dreams, but his mommy spent half the night scrubbing the carpet (which finally came clean thanks to a great new product!).           THE END!

To Alternate or Not to Alternate...That is the Question...

So, I just read somewhere that I should be feeding Buhba several different types of food at each sitting. I don't do this. I just get one container (or two helpings of my homemade babyfood) out and feed it to him. I do change up what he eats at each sitting/meal - but I don't really see the point in getting out a ton of food for each meal. My thoughts are that it may confuse him and his little taste buds. However, if the magazine says this, then perhaps it's the hard and fast rule for feeding - and I'm the only one not doing this??? I'm new at this stuff! I just don't want to make a mistake like this, and have Buhba grow up and be messed up as a result of my lack of alternating :) I'm finding that there's a lot of pressure with these decisions, you never know what ones will scar a child! ha ha...I can just picture it now. He's sitting on a therapist's couch saying, "Doc, I think that the reason I have relationship problems now is because my mom didn't alternate the number of foods I ate at each sitting when I was seven months old." You just never know... :)

Five Things I Learned While Traveling with My Baby

My husband, "Buhba," and I went on a business trip to Omaha, Nebraska, and below are five things I learned while traveling with my baby.

#1- Carrying a baby through an airport or having a baby at a business conference is just like carrying around a large neon sign with the words "Please stare at me" on it. 

Not that this is necessarily negative attention. I know that it's just because my kid is so cute, (no, I'm not modest NOR biased!) but it still makes me self-conscious. It's all I could do not to stop at every mirror or window and check for food in my teeth, or see if my hair is doing something weird. Some people act like they've never seen a baby before!

#2- There are no boundaries when it comes to babies and strangers.

The lack of boundaries I'm referring to is on the strangers' ends. I can't even count the number of people who just walked right up to Buhba and started pinching his cheeks, holding his hands, or putting their face right up in his. Again, I tried not to mind too much, because I know that there's just something about babies that makes just about everyone all gooey :) But, because I'm a little bit of a germ-a-phob, I was half-tempted to hold out a bottle of Purell, and make them use it before proceeding to touch the baby. The straw that broke the camel's back was when my husband was checking in to the hotel and a guy with a beer came up and started grabbing my baby's foot, and playing with his toy, and rubbing his head. A little too friendly for my taste. Hey, Mr. How would you like it if I just came up and grabbed your beer bottle without asking?

 

#3- If your baby is well-behaved in public, it reflects well on you.

I guess I never processed this before I was a mommy, but I got to see it first hand this weekend. Buhba was awesome on the plane, and nearly perfect at the conference that we went to. He usually is pretty mild, and used to spending a few hours with me at the office, so I didn't think too much of it. But, it took me by surprise when several people came up to us afterwards and told us how calm and mild-mannered Buhba was, and how they didn't even hear him during the conference. They continued on to say that it must be because we're "awesome parents." I wasn't about to argue with strangers and to tell them the real reason: that Buhba is just a really good baby :) I saw the flip side of this scenario when a poor couple with twins sat in front of us on the plane, and their babies were having a hard time, and screaming and crying most of the trip. I could see several people roll their eyes, and turn away from them. I felt like pinching Buhba just to have a distraction for the poor family!

#4- A tired, overstimulated baby = 2am and 5am scream fests.

Just to assure people that my kid isn't perfect, I added this one. While we were in Omaha, we did a little bit of walking around the city, when we weren't at the conference. Add to that a flight, sitting for long periods of time, a lot of new sights/people and long days, and we had one overstimulated boy! Buhba was so exhausted at nights that he fell right asleep. I knew that this could go one of two ways. Either he'd be so tired he'd sleep right through the night, or because his sleep schedule was so outta wack, he'd scream all night long. Unfortunately, I was right on the latter. 

#5 - Athletes/Celebrities are no intimidation when it comes to a mommy on a mission!

When we got on the plane to fly to Omaha, I looked up to see Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz boarding. I'm not a huge Jazz fan, but all I could think about was how cool it would be for my baby to have some kind of autograph or something for when he was older. So, when we got to baggage claim, I took Buhba, and walked up to Deron who was innocently waiting, and listening to his iPod. He had no idea what he was in for. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he pulled out his earphones, looking a little irritated. "Hi," I said. "Can I take a picture of you?" "Huh?" he said, looking a little more irritated. (I think that at this point, the average person would have walked away, but not me!) "Could I take a picture of you holding my baby?" Silence. He just starred at me. I think he thought that if he didn't say anything I'd go away. Nope. I just stood there with Buhba and smiled. He looked at me and finally said, "I don't like babies." To which I responded, "Even really cute ones like mine?!" Finally, he cracked a smile and agreed to the picture. So I handed him my most prized possession, and grabbed my phone and started snapping away. I got two good ones. He ended up being really nice, I'm sure that he just wanted to get away from crazy people like me, but I was on a mission! Mission accomplished! 

You Know You're a Mommy When...

You know you're a mommy when you no longer have direct conversations with your husband, but rather you use your baby/child as a communication avenue for indirect conversations. For example, "Buhba, tell daddy that he really should load his own dishes in the dishwasher." or "Daddy do you want to take a turn changing my dirty diaper for a change?" (this is said in a high-pitched baby voice of course, because it's the baby talking, mind you). 

Bebe Gloton : Healthy or Creepy?

As I demonstrated in a previous post, I'm pro breastfeeding (but certainly not to the point of judging others who choose not to). With that said, I think that the new "Bebe Gloton" goes a little too far. 

Check out this new doll:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32314995/ns/today-parenting_and_family/

While I do have to admit that after watching my mom nurse my younger siblings, I secretly (as a 5 year old) took my beloved Cabbage Patch, Aubrie Ann, into my bedroom and lifted up my shirt to mimic what I saw my role model doing. And, surprisingly enough for my five year old mind, nothing happened! 

I think that it is perfectly normal for little girls to want to do what their moms do. Even as young girls, the nurturing side of us come out, it's how we're wired. I think that its healthy for moms (if they choose) to let their kids know that this is how some babies get their food, and to help them understand that it is natural. However, I have to say that I think that this doll is creepy! (I don't know any other politically correct way to say that!) Also, if little girls grow up thinking that their breasts will develop into flowers (like the vest that comes with the doll) no amount of therapy will help when, as an adult, they are actually nursing their new baby, and the pretty flower is replaced by chapped, bleeding nipples, and saggy, milk-filled breasts! :)

I'd love to hear other takes on this. Moms of young girls, would you buy this for your daughters?

You Know You're a Mommy When...

You know you're a mommy when you look in the mirror and think "I won't wash my hair today" to make getting ready for work faster.  But then you panic because you realize that you don't remember the last time you washed your hair, but you're guessing that it's in the neighborhood of four days or so...and then you decided not to wash it anyway!

Thank You Card Etiquette

I'm very blessed, and when my little "Buhba" was born, I received an OVERWHELMING amount of gifts from friends, family, neighbors, old teachers, etc. - you name it. We received so many gifts that up until the last month or so, we probably only spent $50 or so on clothes for our little guy. How blessed are we!?!? The only downside (if you can call it that) is that I'm a firm believer in the "Thank you" card. I did fairly well and finished about 30 cards two months ago. I sent birth announcements with the cards, and vowed that I'd finish the last 30-40 before Buhba turned six months. Well, in less than two weeks, he'll be seven months old, and they are still not finished. I'm torn because I really want these people to know how grateful that I am for their kindness and for the love and support they showed our family, but it's almost getting to the point of "too little, too late". I don't know what I'd say on the cards at this point: "Dear so-and-so, Remember seven months ago when you gave me the cute little outfit for my baby that he grew out of about five months ago? Well, you may not remember, but thank you. And by the way, here's a birth announcement that looks nothing like my little guy now."? I'm a HUGE "to-do" list writer, and this item is on my daily to-do list, but on top of working two jobs, being a wife and mommy, and trying to sell a house, it just hasn't been crossed out yet - I'm estimating it to be a two day project. I'm very interested to hear other's views about "the thank you card!"