SaVe The DrAma FoR YoUr MoMMa

This week pretty much dumped on us! I would like to say some other words but my momma wouldn't be proud of me. So you get the gist of it. I just want to play poor me in this entry because it feels better to write about it and then get over it.

The week started off okay, until I desperately wanted to get a video of Van laughing and I kept seeing a hair or a crack on all of the videos and pics I was taking. So needless to say the camera is ca put, It's going back to the store, broken and ruined. I needed to print out some documents for my work and my printer died, or as my dad said it on the phone it crapped out. I brought it to get fixed paid money to have em look at it, and it would cost more to fix it than the actual printer costs in the first place. A designer needs her printer, ya know! I was in the bath trying to de-stress last night and noticed I had lost diamonds in my wedding band AGAIN! So that ring is going away for a while again. This is the 7th time it has broken on me in the last 3 years. I will not take it as a sign either, the ring was just made horribly and they will not send us a new one...

Today Van had tummy troubles and was upset a lot, I took him to the Dr's for a looksy at that eye that wont clear up and some routine shots, that he did not like at all. The polio shot, and the DTap again. Then I asked the dr about his head and said he slept on only one side no matter how I laid him in the crib, and that I was worried his head was being misshapen a little.

Without even an explanation he wrote me a prescription to the physical therapist three times a week for this thing called Plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome , I guess. I said I just can't go home and show my husband this prescription I need to tell him what it is so you will need to explain it to me..... ugggh some doctors just don't do their job right.. It's really frustrating.

If you've noticed that your baby is developing a persistent flat spot, either in the back or on one side of the head, it could be a sign of Positional Plagiocephaly. Also known as flattened head syndrome, this condition can occur when your baby sleeps in the same position repeatedly. It can also occur because of problems with your baby's neck muscles. Fortunately, this condition is usually easy to treat. With appropriate intervention in most children, positional plagiocephaly will correct itself by the time the child is 1 year old. So that is a little about it... Van is instructed to do more tummy time, which he doesn't really like, but somehow I captured a smile while he was on that tummy today.

We also had to make a huge decision about something else this week, which I can not really elaborate on just yet, more on this next week. This was a major hurdle to get over also. My face broke out like I was in high school again, and all I wanted to do was shop to make myself feel better. However that would not be good of me to make any purchases right now, so I came to drink a mojito and relax..... ahhh it already feels better.

More later.

Babies love art

I have this painting of all of these colorful circles placed just above Vans changing table, so when he is laying there getting all of those diapers changed. Which is many times a day. He has something interesting to draw him in. He started noticing all of the art on the walls in our house more recently lately. He loves to look at the colors. I would say when designing a babies nursery this is one of the most important places to put something intriguing for their cute little eyes to soak up. It also helps their brain function better because it stimulates all of the different regions, and develops the fine motor skills


Here is some baby wall art from a web site that I love, piccolini.

Hiking with BOB

Hi there.
This weekend was good quality family time, we had fun just being together, as always. But we were free, finally feeling that we have a handle on when we can go places and when Van needs to eat, sleep, poop, etc. He just hangs out in his seat and chews on his buzzy bee or his hands and looks around wherever we take him. However we did take him on a kind of extreme hike/ trail this weekend with the dogs. We took him in the bob stroller, which he loves. We can be on the most extreme walk with crazy bumps and turns and he falls asleep. It is a great stroller, I recommend it over my other daytime stroller for sure. Thanks DAD!

We went to this lake in Carlsbad and the dogs were in heaven they ran like they had never run before and they laid in the mud to cool off. Lola looks like a true coyote, fo- sho.

Van is doing so many cute things now everyday he does something new. The giggling is my favorite. Conner is giving Van his bath right now, and I am eating a whole thing of ice cream and writing this lovely post for you all to read. i am so lucky to have a good husband who helps me and lets me relax. Oh Van slept through the night both Friday and Saturday night. I am so happy to sleep all night again, I forgot what it was like. Thank You Van!













Hope you had a nice weekend. Blessings. D, C, & V.

Hick -ups & workouts

Van woke up from a nap in his swing and I thought I should snap a photo of him in his wake up stage. We started stroller strides this week, and I have never been so sore in my life! I had to take pain killers to walk up the stairs. well okay just Tylenol.. But it is a really fun time, and while we work out we sing to the babies to keep them happy and interested! Van met some other buddies this week, that live in our neighborhood!

The Men of the House

Hi Stefan we miss you! Conner, Van & Zeek wanted to say hello. How is Puerto Rico? Is the house almost finished?

Just wanted to let you all know the second issue of small magazine came out, check it out it is great!

Make Your Own Collage

I stumbled upon this website today and could spend hours on it creating with all these fun pieces! Click on my creation to go make your own. It is kind of a de-stresser. I mean your actually not doing anything really but creating. And that is Therapy for your brain and body. Kind of like downward dog for your brain.

Well Van continues to amaze me last night was a record breaker, he slept from 9pm - 5:45am. We will see if he preforms tonight. He is truly the love of my life and I am so thankful to Conner for helping me bring him into this world... Here is a little helpful thing on how much sleep kids need at certain ages.

Conner spent the weekend in Vegas at a celebrity Poker tournament, livin the dream. Thanks Ford for showing him a good time, he needed it. Who wouldn't want to check out Giselle? Tomorrow we will most likely spend Fathers Day at the beach.

Sleeping

Yipee, Van slept through the night or well in newborn terms he did, he slept from 9pm til 2am, then I put him back down at 2:45 and with a brief wake up at 4am that only required a re-swaddle to our little houdini. I put him back down to sleep until 7am!!! Yes.
More on this later & how to get your baby to sleep longer at night. After reading 3 sleep books, including one from circa 1970's I feel I have the answers now! I will share them later on today with a photo too! I love the kiddopotamus swaddle blanket in cotton for Houdini because he can pretty much get out of anything. I hear him grunting on the monitor and I look at him and one hand is up out of the blanket, but this one you can swaddle him so tight he cant really get out. He looks like a little burrito.

Here is the happy well rested houdini now!

3 Months

This week Van turned three months old. I can't believe how fast he is growing before my very own eyes. I lay him down in his crib at night and when I take him out in the morning he is bigger....

The diapers we use for van most of the time, are seventh generation, they look brown because they are unbleached & chlorine free. This is a good thing. My husband called me a hippie until I explained all of the benefits to using these diapers & wipes!

They are totally chlorine free absorbent materials – do not contribute to dioxin pollution
Soft, cloth-like comfort
Premium absorbency
Hypo-allergenic
Super-stretchy resealable closure tabs
Close-fitting thin diaper
Super-stretchy leg gathers
No latex, fragrance, or TBT (tributyl tin)

I don't think I mentioned it but last week while I was at the gas station & Van was crying (because he had gas) I left my wallet on top of the car and drove away! I drove all the way to Carlsbad to realize I had driven away with my wallet on top of the car and it was probably gone forever.... I raced back to Oceanside, in between several frantic calls and some crying.
They had not seen my wallet, which contained my life. As I was driving away in shock with tears running down my cheeks, I got a call that a man had found my wallet on the freaking freeway and he had it. When I met him everything was in it, however it had been run over several times. Things like this make me realize God is looking out for me. I am really trying to find a nanny or babysitter in the north county San Diego area it is so hard any insight or help would be so nice.....

More later...

Van Practices for American Idol

Van has been practicing for weeks with his granddaddy "Big Ira" for the upcoming season of American IdolApparently granddaddy has been working on Van's Elvis routine since before Conner's birth, so we feel certain he is destined for Hollywood.

Baby Nicknames

Here are some of the nicknames van has had in the past 3 months, in case your looking for some new ones for your baby!
1. Officer Fussereli
2. Butter bean
3. Bubs
4. Bud, Buddie
5. Party boy
6. Pumpkin
7. The pimp (only uncle Smythe calls him this)
8. Boogie
9. The man
10. VW
11. Squirmy
12. Squeaky , Squeaks, or Squeak

Don't laugh at Van's outfit he was just lounging at home in his comfys, he was not dressed to impress!


Here he is so happy in the bath tub, he is a splasher!

My Favorite Things Continued...

I have to say I never thought I would be writing about diaper cream, "Butt" I love this one so much. I have tried all of the others cause that's just the kind of gal I am. I like to test products until I find one that I love. It has the best ingredients and they are all natural.

De-ionized water, zinc oxide, organic almond oil, avocado oil, cetearyl wheat bran glycosides, and cetearyl alcohol, echinacea extract, lecithin, algae extract, beeswax, allantoin, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate (preservative at only 0.3%), organic essential oils of lavender and roman chamomile.

This company makes some other really great products too... www.erbaviva.com


Van has a little pair of teeny tiny optics that I have put on him a few times, he likes em too.
I feel so bad when I am taking a walk with him and of course I am wearing sun glasses and I look at him squinting in the sun or just plain closing his eyes because the sun is so bright.
So I thought I would share the tips on how to get an infant to wear sunglasses.

Tips:

• The fit is extremely important. Baby will try to pull them off if they are uncomfortable. Keep trying on pairs until you find ones that do not slip down on their nose. There are many kids sunglasses available that are too large for babies. Also, if you see red marks or imprints on the face or sides of the head when you take off the glasses, look for a larger pair.
• Start early. I started putting sunglasses on my baby at 6 weeks. At 10 months, he still wore them without complaining. At 18 months he asks for them before we go outside.
• Be consistent. We wear sunglasses every time we go outside - even if it's cloudy. UV rays penetrate clouds, so it's still important to protect the eyes on a cloudy day. We have a dark pair for sunny days and a lightly tinted pair for cloudy days. My baby expects to wear sunglasses if we are outside.
• Wait until you are outside to put them on, so the shade provided will be more welcome.
• Give baby something to hold right before you put them on. If his hands are full, he can't pull them off.
• Get moving as soon as you put them on. Distract him with motion and he will forget about them in a minute (unless they do not fit well and start sliding down his nose.)
• Take them off as soon as you come inside. My baby will reach for them about 20 seconds after we come in the house if I haven't taken them off for him.

Almost 3 Months

My Favorite Things

I have been thinking latley about some of my favorite things since I have had Van and my hotsling is definently one of them. I love it and it is so easy to carry Van in when i am walking the dogs.

I also love my hooter hider so I can breast feed anywhere in public. Well not really but It is nice when Van needs to eat and it is crucial that I feed him at that moment even if I am in public.

Another one of my favorite things is Van - the love of my life. besides Conner. and here is a little video of him in his bouncy seat.

the itsy bitsy spider