Sleep on it

We've had a successful run at the BGB experiment (Big Girl Bed) with the crib/toddler conversion and Sophie is ready for a real bed. The honest truth is that Tucker is officially ready for Sophie's sturdy crib that won't fall down as he rocks and rolls and bounces off the sides.

First day in big girl bed. I was nervous. She did great, per the usual.

But I had no idea that shopping for a mattress was going to be, um, horrifying. {Shakes fist at Google.} Before I continue, in full disclosure, all of the mattresses that currently reside in our home are of the regular store-bought variety (i.e. the carcinogenic, toxic kind), and it makes me ill.

There are no labeling requirements for mattress manufacturers. So unless you do some due-diligence research, you have no idea what you're spending a third of your life lying on - and breathing in. My kids have spent more than half their lives in bed (hands in the air for good sleepers!) and sleeping on these toxic little packages. Traditional mattresses are made with synthetic materials, Arsenic, Boric Acid, Formaldehyde, PVC, vinyl, Polyurethane, PBDE... known carcinogens that are banned in many parts of the world. These chemicals have been linked to skin irritation, respiratory problems, hormone disruption, fertility problems, learning disabilities, thyroid problems and even cancer. They can be traced in our breastmilk and in cord blood from newborns. Poison!

Mattresses made or sold in the USA are pumped full of poisons in order to meet fire "safety" requirements - they must resist open flames. Why? Because people died from fires that started as a result of smoking in bed.

As a mattress ages, it gets worse. The chemicals and compounds off-gas (that's the "new" smell) and create a cloud of hazardous fog in our breathing space adding to our already full chemical load.

Here is a really good FAQ on why you should buy an organic mattress.

Organic mattresses are made with organic cotton, wool, sustainably sourced natural latex, or a combination of these materials. With springs and untreated wood frame, or not. And the natural flame retardants (again - thanks for the frivolous requirements) are commonly made of natural wool or hydrated silica - or sand - that will melt instead of ignite.

So, to go organic or not? We vote yes. While I'm on the quest to lower the amount of toxic products in our home, we can only afford to do so one thing at a time. Now that it's time for this purchase, we're going organic for Sophie's new bed. Only the best for my best girl. But honestly, it's not even a question when we considered what is in a conventional mattress. 

There has been a significant amount of hand-wringing and hair-twisting when it comes to which mattress we would spring for. Organic mattresses can quickly jump to more than three times to cost of a traditional mattress and there are lots of options. Next up, the final selection!

Road trip!

Alternatively titled, All I need to know I learned from 22 hours in the car with my kids
Or, I used to hate road trips

There's nothing quite like a booster shot of super-mommy-ness to my ego other than two - count 'em, two - successful 11 hour road trip journeys with my two kids. Now I'm not suggesting that anyone else channel their inner mommy diva by hopping in the car and driving 600+ miles, but it worked for me.

Maybe a time or two I've doubted my mommy instinct, and doubted my children's ability to bounce back from a routine change (late naps or bedtime) or dietary indiscretion (processed food). I was so afraid they may melt down into a weeping pile of toddler-infant-babyGap-drool-and-snot on the floor. Rational me knows that is not going to happen.* Irrational me watches the clock and has more than once removed forks from hands mid-bite when we are approaching bedtime and are away from home. (Tell me I'm not the only one...)

Dear Self, doubt no more!

We got back from vacation number one: Lake Michigan (where it's like the beach but better - fresh water, little waves and no crabs, stingrays, sharks or other digit/limb removing creatures) and I had been thinking about driving the kids down to see my parents in Florida. With clean laundry, beach accessories, snacks and the double BOB already packed, we hit the road. Once we were on our way at 6:30am I knew we were locked in. I tried to quiet that little voice of doubt in the back of my mind; and quiet it did.

It was the perfect age for both of them. Sophie is so dialed into tv and movies that she had zero qualms about watching the screen for an entire day. Tucker is no longer nursing, so bottles were really easy to mix and administer. He's also just starting to worm around on the floor, so he isn't an anxious-I-want-to-run-everywhere toddler yet. (Although he is a oh-you-thought-your-floors-were-clean-watch-me-worm-around-and-then-check-my-onesie type of kid these days.)

All of our food and drink was packed for the day, so stops were mainly about gas, bottles, diapers and stretching our legs (as if we needed yet another great reason to delay potty training until 13 years old). We played on QSR playgrounds and rocked on the porch at Cracker Barrel and stopped about every three hours.

Our road trip was SO uneventful. Blissful, even. Tucker might make a peep every so often, but Sophie was quick to make a funny face or "speak whale" to make him giggle. Sophie watched Finding Nemo FOUR times on our return trip (where she learned to speak whale). Three stops on our way down south and two stops on the way back to KY.

Speaking of the return trip... I have a family member that once told me she used her daughters diapers to thwart extra stops if baby was sleeping but el baño was calling. Let me just tell you that a size four diaper does not accommodate the bladder of a 31 year old adult.

And that's all you need to know about 22 hours in the car with my kids.

*I'll still defend my nap/sleep/dietary choices as the number one reason why I have happy children 95% of the day.

Photos from our Florida trip. Not pictured: Tucker's first tooth, delicious, fresh shrimp and oysters, yummy burgers, Peg Leg Pete grouper sandwiches, infamous Brussells sprouts, a trip to the children's museum and six days of shake-the-house thunder, lightening and rain.

Girl loves some bubbles.

I really just take pictures of this swim suit
because I think it's so cute.
Going to sell it soon though :(

Happiest Baby on the Block.

Yaya and her babies.

Sophie and her Avengers "swim-a-ring"

Girl's got some hops.

Sweet thing.

I mean, this is not an act.
90% of her day is spent loving Tucker.

Beach bum.

Yes, the sun actually came out.

Sir splash-a-lot and Yaya.

Case and point.

Tucker's model face. Those lips!

"You would have more fun with
wet sand on your face."

New towel from Yaya's friend, Peggy!
(Her handmade creations are adorable, yall.)

Weekend in review, or, the crappity-crap-crap-crappiest weekend ever

I've been neglectful, friends. I've been meaning to write about Sophie's new phrases that drive me bananas are SO adorable:

Watch me do dis, mommy!
No, I can do it all.by.myself.
Mommy, look at me!
But, why?
Why?
Why?
But WHY?

And I've been meaning to tell you about this new venture if you haven't already heard: Bluegrass Bebe photography in Louisville (go on over and 'like' my page if you have a minute, it would mean a lot to me).

Also been meaning to write about Tucker (aka Super Baby) and just post some sweet pictures in general.

And finally to tell you about my furbaby Maddox who has officially torn her other ACL. My first born... its been really tough to see her age, but she is a champ. Still happy and still wagging that awesome boxer nubbin (or her "kickstand" as we like to call it).

But, I've just been a little busy.

We had an awesome weekend planned of good food, some outdoor adventures, a party to celebrate the engagement of sweet cousin Lindy, and probably some good drinks going down like water - you know how we like to do it on the weekends.

Instead, Sophie had some firsts that were probably inevitable for a toddler, but still unexpected. Her first big fat bloody event: landed face first into our brick fireplace, first trip to the emergency room and first stitches. It happened so fast I am not 100% sure how she fell. Daddy rushed her to the emergency room where she remembers nothing of the experience with the exception of Dora, stickers, slushies and two balloons. Phew. She has three stitches between her eyes and almost her entire nose is skinned and raw. I'm so super thankful that she still has all of her teeth and that her eye didn't catch the brick. That said, I'm still a mom and am concerned about scars on her face. We will be following doctors orders to a "T" to care for and protect the new skin that will grow back.

Not to be outdone, Tucker had a temperature that kept going up and down from a normal 98 up to 101.5 for more than 24 hours. Sophie was settled down watching a movie Saturday night (and still acting like a little drunk person from the meds) and I decided to take Tucker's temp one more time before he went down for bed. And the battery in the thermometer died. Which part of the plan, obv. Shakes fists to the heavens.

Two different stores and no replacement battery, I finally just bought a new thermometer. Back home, his temp registered at 103 which was the highest I've ever seen. Off to our second trip ever - and in the same day - to the emergency room where he rang in at 103.5 degrees. Thank heavens it was an ear infection (never thought I'd say that). And let me tell you how much fun it is to try and administer amoxicillian through a dropper to an infant. I kid. It is the opposite of fun.

Everyone slept through the night, but Sunday started at 5am with my early bird Tucker. When Sophie finally woke up around 8am she said, "Mommy, my face is coming off." I die. One of the bandages that Bryan taped her up with had peeled loose, and with no memory of her injury, of course she thought the bandage was her face coming off. I mean, who wouldn't?

Mommy and Daddy are exhausted - physically, mentally and emotionally. We all survived and everyone is generally happy. Just hoping that the week ahead is a little less eventful. And hoping Sophie leaves her stitches alone in bed tonight. So while we enjoy some Copper Cupcakes and a bottle of wine, we raise a glass to Lindy and Tim and to the close of this crappy weekend from the comfort of our cozy sofa. Salud!

Vitamin D drops

Forgive me, as I totally meant to write about this months ago when it was really on my mind! Some pediatricians advocate giving exclusively breastfed babies Vitamin D supplements. There is existing research that Vitamin D is the only thing missing from breastmilk. 

So... if you're sort of crunchy granola, really into breastfeeding, planning on making baby food, using some organic baby toys/clothes/accessories... If you like the idea of keeping chemical and unnecessary additives out of your growing baby... then you are kind of like me and you might care about this:

Also: smells, is brown, and stains.

If the ingredients alone aren't enough to make you skip over Enfamil for Carlson for Kids, then consider the price tag. On drugstore.com 50mL of D-Vi-Sol is $9.99 (that is 50 servings of the recommended daily dose). Carlson for Kids Vitamin D drops are $15.99 for 10mL (which is 365 servings of the recommended daily dose - an entire year's worth - AND the serving size is only one drop which is a LOT easier to get into an infant than an entire 1ml dropper).

Carlson for Kids: Winning.

These are the moments

I'm kind of obsessed with this picture. And I'm kind of obsessed with holding my baby boy whenever he wants me to right now. Because he won't be small forever. And he won't want his mama forever. These sweet, intimate moments are fleeting. And damn am I glad hubby got an iPhone and Instagram.

Tuesday thoughts

Can we first talk about this picture? Braided bangs, color blocking and a tiny guitar print jumper. I felt a lot more stylish than I think I actually looked... forgetting that I ditched the strapless bra for my oh-so-matronly nursing bra after lunch and a trip to the splash pad. Let's not miss that super sexy black thumbnail that is threatening to hang around, like, forever. Add to the fact that Bryan snapped this picture while he was putting together his own Father's Day present and I am the picture of a stylish, helpful, mother of the year... yeah, not so much.

Sometimes I look at pictures of my babes sitting in my lap like this and think, that kid used to be inside of my body. Now that is crazy.

Pouring one out today for our old Black and Decker blender. It was a wedding gift and I used it to make all of Sophie's baby food, some healthy toddler and mommy smoothies and a few batches of Tucker baby food, and it finally bit the dust on Monday (that sent butternut squash sailing across my kitchen, I might add). Currently in search of the next best thing that won't break the bank.

My hair is falling out in mass quantity again. I forget this fun part of post-partum.

I made my Change Your Life Brussels Sprouts yesterday and grabbed the 400 degree pan with bare fingers.

Sophie finally said "I want you to hold me" today instead of my favorite Sophie-ism ever: "I wanna hold you." Wahhhh. Stop growing up, already.

Finally, school is out for summer and I have yet to make any sort of weekly plans for the kids because I can't stop reading these damn Hunger Games books.

Six months old

We are over the moon excited that the "weight issue" is past us, at least for now. At Tucker's six month well baby visit today, he rang in at 14lb 7oz, which is in the 4th percentile. Watch out, we're climbing the charts! This is largely due to supplementing breast milk with some formula and adding in solids at least twice a day. His palate is ever-expanding and so far includes:

Green beans

Sweet potato

Carrots

Avocado

Banana

Pears

Apples

Brown rice

Mango

He is sitting up for short periods of time and pushing up with strong arms when he's on his belly. He's started with "ba-ba-ba" and other short syllable sounds in just the last few days. He loves watching Sophie run around and dance and jump for him - she even helps sing him to sleep with her favorite Twinkle Stars. He's just a little love bug all around and I'm lucky to be his Mom. I love you, Buddy!

Some pictures from last weekend for your viewing pleasure.

Operation: fatten him up

What.was.that?

Tucker was not really impressed, as you can tell from the above photo, with his first foods this past week. Unfortunately for him, we have to keep moving in the solid food direction. I totally forgot how frustrating exciting this time is in a baby's life. Needing a quick brush-up on baby's first foods? Find that here.

I declined the Hep B shot in the hospital when Tucker was born, and I have been putting off getting the immunization at his well visits. I only like for him to get so many vaccinations at one time. This past week I made an appointment to get caught up, and we had to weigh and measure him. I thought the scale must have been wrong when he rang in at 13lb 2.2oz. So we moved the scale away from the wall and reset it to zero and reweighed. The second time he was still only 13lb 6oz. By five months old, babies traditionally should have doubled their birth weight (which his was 7lb 13oz) and we clearly have not accomplished that goal. I'm hearing more about a new growth chart that some doctors are using for exclusively breastfed babies. On that particular chart, he's in the curve. On the traditional chart, he's fallen completely off the bottom at his current age/weight.

Jump to today and I'm ultra paranoid about my milk supply and regularly hanging out with my old friend Medela. And drinking raspberry tea. And eating lots of oats. And drinking organic Milkmaid Tea. And Medela. And water. And Medela.

Love love love this stuff.
Can be found at Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby and Amazon.

What a cruel cruel joke from mother nature that my baby sleeps really well at night, and when I take advantage of an almost full-night's-sleep, my milk supply decreases. It's so difficult to tell how much Tucker is getting at each nursing session, but when he eats a teaspoon of food and then still takes every drop of a bottle, it makes me worry I'm not providing enough. Insert crying emoticon.


Tucker has had a couple days of sweet potato and avocado and it gets a tiny bit better every day, though he wears more of it than he actually ingests. On top of that I'm still nursing and offering the pumped milk from the day before or defrosting some from the freezer. Fatten up, boy. I've got two weeks before our next weight check and I'm confident we can do this together!

My freezer stash that I've been SO proud of.
Time to put it to use!

LL Tucker J

Watch out ladies. 

It's spring and he's wearing seer sucker. And he's teething. And he's five months old. And he can roll all the way over. And he sleeps for 12 hours sometimes. And he grabs my face when I talk to him. And he finally takes a bottle (um, sometimes). And he's awesome. Ladies Love Tucker J. Five month photos taken in blue seer sucker monogrammed jumper made by his Yaya. Thanks, mom!

Loves his mommy, thats for sure!

Sweet little grin.

OK, this isn't the official five month picture,
but I love that I captured this face! He sucks on his
bottom lip sometimes and I think it's damn adorable.

The kid will roll over any chance he gets.
Case and point.

Purple prairie sunscreen review

I told you about the scary stuff I read up on sunscreens while preparing for our trip to Florida. When we arrived to my parents house, so did our little box from Good Stuff Green Stuff!

The Purple Prairie sunscreen does not carry much of an odor and goes on pretty smooth. The whiteness goes away within a few minutes after applying. It wasn't runny or greasy or super sticky. I did wind up applying it on Sophie three times at the beach because I thought her arms were looking pink (tough to see in the sun though). We got home and no sun burn! I am happy with our purchase and have some friends who have also tried it.

Spring break 2012

Spring break 2012. Yes. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some adult beverages and worked up a little sunburn. Isn't that was Spring Break used to be about? Instead of waking up nursing a hangover, I woke up with a little nursling in my arms; a difference I'd say was welcomed. These last few years of Spring Breaks have been the best ever with our babes in tow.

For a brief recap before I get to an insane amount of REALLY cute photographs...

Tucker slept like doo-doo in the room with me, rolled ALL the way over, like 360, for the first time (and then kept rolling and rolling to the other side of the room while mommy brushed her teeth thinking baby boy was just fine on his play mat), was scared of the baboons at the zoo that were crazy loud, protected his Super Baby status by being perfect on his first flight, and the sweetpea was Baptized on his first Easter Sunday.

Sophie ate the pavement on day 1 and had a giant boo-boo that (thankfully) quickly healed, slept like a dream as always (asked to take naps and "go to night night" because the excitement of our visit wore her flat out), enjoyed her day at the zoo, was great on the plane, and got her fill of fun, sand and wind on our somewhat short trip to the beach.

For a vacation that started with solo travel mom slamming her thumb in the car door at 6am en route to the airport, I'd say it turned out rather nice. I guess I never realized how much I need a thumb until it is throbbing and can't come in contact with anything (anything including a stroller, a toddler, a nursing infant or a carry on bag - you get the picture).

Chillin. Mackin.

My little dumpling. I think she was off to check on Tuck.

See that boo-boo on her forehead?

Yep, she was off to check on Tucker.

Sibling love.

Bath time body paints!

I do this all. the. time.

Feeding the giraffes with Yaya.

She wanted to get IN the bunny pen to figure out which one
was the actual Easter Bunny,

Hugs with sweet Harper.

Cold and windy, but she didn't seem to care!

Working with some sandcastles.

My little cutie.

Sweet friends. Only six weeks apart!

"BIG MUCH!" when asked how much mommy loves her.

Gummy smiles are my favorite!

Just love.

Tucker's baptism Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday.

Looking out for eggs.

Easter egg hunt!

"Aqua Man" and Tuck-tuck.

Roar! Tucker and Grandpa.