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Van received the cutest back pack in the mail from his auntie Kat yesterday! It is just like the frog one pictured above but it has a monkey! It is adorable I can't wait to pack it up for our long weekend away! We are so happy to be getting out of here for the weekend to see friends that we miss so much! I need a break. Life just seems to overwhelm me at times, and I just keep finding myself stumped at how I am supposed to keep up with everything. I am working a fun freelance job, along with my part time job, and trying to keep up with my boy who gets a little spunkier by the day! Tonight I held him close to my heart and told him how deeply I love him. I rocked him for so long and cried a little because he is getting so big now and almost out of the baby phase. We are currently having our new home tested for black mold. Please keep us in your thoughts that we don't have toxic mold growing in our home and we can stay here. If it turns out that we do have it we will have to move again. Happy Long weekend.

Postpardum depression

I went to mamafest this week with some friends from my strollerstrides class and I was moved to tears by Michael Spangler's talk on losing his wife to postpardum depression.

Just as every woman is different, every woman's childbirth experience is different. And since the vast majority of new mothers eventually get some sleep, feel comfortable caring for an infant and fall into the rhythm of being a family, those who don't feel only more isolated and alone.

That's what happened to Annie Spangler. A naval officer, a pharmacist, she was stunned to find, at 46, that she didn't feel in control. One day, it got to be too much.

His story is life altering and it will change the way you feel about anyone close to you having feelings like these. I am making a point to support this cause, please help out in any way you can.

Feeling not so groovy, baby.

We took Van into the ER on Saturday night, he had a fever of 104 and his heart was beating so fast. He had short breaths, was not eating, and was sleeping way too much. On top of that he was lethargic and completely out of it. I felt so helpless, this was the first time I could not do anything to make him feel better. This past week was long, and drawn out. I felt completely exhausted by it. Worrying about your children takes all of your energy away, doesn't it?
The only thing that seemed to take his little mind off of his state was taking a walk in the bob, or watching baby einstein in our bed. Did I mention that he only wants to be held? I love holding him close when he is not feeling well. I know he has just felt scared lately and probably wondering why he is feeling so bad. It is a test of patience however, I am hoping tomorrow will be a little easier for all of us. The Dr. at the hospital told us he had a virus but my friend mentioned this specific virus to me today I just researched it and this is what I think he has.

1. Coxsackie virus – It usually affects children ages 6 months to 3 years. Symptoms include:
   • High fever – often up to five days.
   • Severe fussiness – this is often the worst part of the illness.
   • Severe mouth pain or sore throat
   • Copious drooling
   • Refusal to eat or even drink
   • Rash – small, red or white spots may, but not always, appear on the hands or feet (thus the name of the illness). A red, lacy rash can also appear anywhere on the body.

The funny part was while we were in the hospital Conner was eavesdropping on all of the other people who were in the emergency room. Especially the illegal immigrants who the police dragged in after getting into a fight!

Healthy O's & toys

So today when I was in the pantry I decided to read the ingredients of the trader joes cheerios that I give to my Van. I just read the ingredients on everything that I feed to my family so this is normal for me. I found an ingredient that I had never heard of (trisodium phosphate), so I looked it up and here is what I found.
An ionic salt used as a thickener/emulsifier for foods, as well as common uses as a degreaser, detergent, and laxative. It is a chemical that can peel wallpaper off of a wall & they sell it at hardware stores. I know the entire world and then some feed their children cheerios but I found a cereal that actually tastes better, is in the same price range and is all organic, healthy times teddy puffs
To read more about ingredients you should not consume click here.

Here are some of my favorite green companies offering eco-friendly & health-friendly toys, I feel it is important to check up on everything we give our kids to play with. It may save their life. I am just uber conscious and almost annoying about it. I love this peace baby block set.

• TaraLuna Baby Buddy Toy - this fair-trade cuddle buddy is made from organic cotton ($10).
• Organic Gift Shop Rollie Animals - toddler appropriate; made from natural wood and finished with food-grade oil ($7).
• Under the Nile Veggie Bunch - veggie-shaped toys stuffed with organic cotton ($26).
• Peace Baby Block Set - made from sustainably-forested pine ($28).

Music to my ears!

My sweet friend Jen
emailed me these awesome rockabye cd's and thought it would be a good blog post, I agree! I have seen these cd's. I find myself listening to baby einstein and other nursery rhymes in the car latley, and most of the time I want to turn it off but Van loves to dance and move his arms around to anything playing on the radio. These entertain the kiddies and they are favorite songs that we the momma and pappas like to hear too. What a great idea!

Van jaming in the car to tunes, and showing you how big!

Sandy feet and fruity cocktails

Well we made it to puerto Rico last night we arrived. It feels so different being away from Van for the first time. last night was the first night I have ever spent away from him, I felt like I had lost an arm or a leg and was wandering around looking for it (him). I know it is healthy to take trips and revive ourselves for him. It is good for him to be with other people too, I keep waiting for him to start being that baby who always wants his mom or dad, but he truly loves other people and loves being held by them too! I am going to upload some photos of van from florida and a few from our trip here so far.

we are having fun.... :)

D

Neck Tie Onesies

Here is Van in one of my neck tie onesies. I did a little photo shoot with him the other day, I am arranging a little shoot with some of my pieces. I just opened a shop on etsy.com
So I will let you know once I have images and my store is open for business. I will have a link directly to my shop on this blog! So you can shop to your hearts content.
I am having fun with the kids clothes. I just really want to break into the silk screening process and am about to buy some silk screening supplies so I can start doing kiddies tees too.

Tonight I had such a peaceful moment with Van as he was falling asleep in my arms, I felt his breath through his body, and as we were cuddling in the rocking chair he was reaching up to touch my neck and rub my arm. He is so gently and loving when he is falling asleep. He takes care of me in so many ways, his love feeds my soul and completes me in areas ,I never knew could be filled with so much love. It's funny when you think of having babies, the last thing you think of is that they will make you grow up. I have grown in so many ways since this child was put into my arms and I am so thankful for that little breath in his body everyday.

My First halloween

Van had his first successful Halloween, he was a frog in the morning for his little halloween party , and later that evening he had a wardropbe change and he turned into a shark! We went to dinner in his costume and hit a couple houses for candy in our neighborhood!

He had fun with his buddies at our stroller srtides party! I never knew that frogs attacked bees did you? ha
More pics later of Van's trip to Vegas!

"Van's buddies"

Van had fun with his friends, Laekin & Ezra this week, he is full of smiles, most of the time. He loves to spin things lately & really fast too. We are pretty sure Van is right handed too he always uses that hand to reach for things. He loves getting kisses on his neck, and being sung to. He turns on the charm when any lady gives him the slightest bit of attention - must be an Erwin trait for sure!!! Van is going in to see the Dr today for his 5 month shots.
Life seems like it is moving in the right direction, we are cleaning house and taking care of things that have been neglected these past 5 months.

blessings....

Fun Livin'

A tribute to children and their dreams. That's the tagline for Swedish design company, Little Red Stuga's first product, the Dream Bag. Carry it like a bag, sit on it like a pillow, or spread it out like a play mat.

Little Red Stuga attempts to accomplish a lot. Their goals include being kind to the environment, excellent craftsmanship, and stimulating the dialogue between children and grown-ups through everyday design. I like how the Dream Bag turned out.

The Dream Bag isn't available yet but will be in October/November 2007 from Little Red Stuga.



Check out how cute Van is with my grom nephews in Vermont! He loves them and is so amused by how cool they are!!!!


I stumbled upon this french kids website milk magazine, I love wood toys and they have some great things you can order here!!!

I didn't forget I need to upload Van's 5 month picture!! I am behind.

Oh by the way I have a funny story to tell you all tomorrow, it involves the authorities, illegal immigrants, and yes me too!
More later.
D

Van Pinches

Lately I have noticed that Van really likes to pinch and pull at my skin and hair when I am feeding him! It hurts, and today I had to tell him "NO" for the first time. He looked so confused , he has never heard me say something in a stern voice to him, so he was baffled to say the least. My skin was red and he was really hyper. I am always thinking of what I am going to look up in Google, to find out more info and this is what I found. It's a web site with just necklaces & bracelets for moms who nurse and bottle feed babies that can't pay attention and need to focus on something. I think Van can pay attention he just really likes to explore my skin and hair with his sharp little nails. check out this web site with nursing necklaces.

Baby's tactile development is encouraged through the following methods :

Type of tactile exploration	Sensory Information Acquired
Rubbing finger across surface	Texture
Squeezing or poking object	Hardness
Fingers resting on object surface	Temperature
Holding or grasping object	Shape, size, or volume
Tracing along contours of object	Global shape or exact shape
Holding object in hand	Weight

I guess I could just put on a colorful necklace and he could play with it, while he dines! But this is such a great little gimmick. Van just started eating rice cereal mixed with some milk, he eats off of a spoon and it is so cute. When we were in Vermont my mom and auntie fed him mashed up bananas and he freaked out. he loved it so much, he didn't want it to stop! So we are on to solid foods already. I am feeding him earth's best rice cereal out of a bottle and with a spoon now and he loves it!

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.

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!