My Moby

I bought my Moby Wrap on a whim. I like the Kangaroo Korner Adjustable Fleece Pouch (I use this a lot on Sundays at church), but I wanted something that would more evenly distribute the weight over both shoulders and work for a newborn (my Ergo, which I LOVE does this, but I can't use it with Ally without the infant insert) when I went out walking and around the house.

I was glad that Serina had prepared me for the immense amount of fabric before I received the wrap. On my second try, I got it on and Ally in. Now it's not hard at all--of course, I use it daily. It really helped to go to mobywrap.com and watch the video. Ally likes to have her legs free and sleeps really soundly on my chest. She takes the best naps that way. I've used it this week at both the zoo and the Children's Museum, and she's slept the entire time.

I won't say that I don't have any back soreness. Any front carrier is going to hurt your back a bit, especially if you let your posture sag.

I highly recommend the Moby Wrap. It's not a bad price at all for how much I've used it. It's comfortable, versatile, comes in lots of colors, and it's cotton, so good in warmer weather too. When Ally has good neck control, I'll start facing her out. When she's a little older and heavier, I'll probably switch to the Ergo because it's easier on my shoulders and back.
Notice that's it's blue. My Ergo is also that color blue and my KKAFP is a blue-green. You'd think I'd go for some variety in my slings, but I guess I just lean toward certain colors.

A video test


I haven't tried putting video on here before. Forgive the quality--it's from our digital camera. But at least you can hear Becca's version of "Allelu, Allelu" on it toward the end. This was taken almost two weeks ago.

Almost 8 weeks old

Smiles--We're getting more of these from Alexandra lately. When she is really alert and happy, she will give me lots of bright, open-mouthed smiles that show off the dimple on her cheek. It's so rewarding. She is also holding our gaze longer and tracking us a little bit.

Swinging--We recently borrowed a swing from some friends and have used it daily. It gives me ten minutes here and there to fix some food or clean up a bit. I don't have to worry about Becca stepping on Ally on the floor, and Ally likes it. She's even finished a nap in it once or twice.

Sleep--She's been taking only short 45 minute or so naps during the day (one sleep cycle, I guess) unless she is in the Moby Wrap on me, and then she'll sleep for a long, long time. She slept during our whole trip to the zoo on Monday morning. At night she'll sleep anywhere from 3-5 hours at a stretch before waking up to either nurse or just needs a little comforting back to sleep. She usually goes to sleep for the night by 10:30pm. I'd like it to be earlier, but I'm not going to attempt to move it yet.

Fussiness--Ally still has a fussy time from around supper time until she goes to sleep for the night at 10:30. It's the main reason we're not trying to move the bed time earlier--because we really are trying to comfort her that whole time and she just won't give in to sleep. Mostly she just wants to nurse the whole evening, but she's really picky about the position. She will only nurse on my right side and I have to have her in the cradle hold in the crook of my right arm. She doesn't cry that whole time, but we have to be creative to comfort her. I know this time will pass, and I'm more prepared for it now than I was four weeks ago when it started.


I'd better get in bed while I have a chance to sleep. Goodnight.

Books Read Lately

Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse
Bachelors Anonymous by P.G. Wodehouse
Pigs Have Wings by P.G. Wodehouse

Can you tell I'm on a Wodehouse kick? I really liked Leave it to Psmith (the "P" is silent), and the other two were good as well. Wodehouse's stories don't grab you on the first page, or even the first chapter, but he has a way of having interesting connections between his characters. He also usually has a witty character that has me laughing throughout the book. If you haven't read any Wodehouse before, I'd recommend starting with Psmith, though I'm sure any of the Jeeves and Wooster ones would be good too. I haven't read those yet.

I'm currently reading:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Nuture by Nature byPaul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger (given to me by a friend--a book about parenting according you to your child's Myers-Briggs personality type)
Team of Rivals (the one about Abraham Lincoln that I was reading before)

No more sniffles???

I think Alexandra's stuffy nose is getting better. It took a full three weeks for it to go away.

Also, last night Ally slept for almost 5 hours in a row before waking up to nurse! That's a full night for a baby of her age. I could barely believe it when I looked at the clock. Usually she goes for 3-4 hours, which is still not bad, since she usually only briefly nurses and then conks out again. I'm hoping this is a new trend. :)

Ally hasn't been giving us too many smiles yet, but I'm sure they are coming. She has a dimple on her left cheek when she does give us a big smile.

She's been napping quite a bit during the day. Getting her down for a nap is a lot harder with a toddler around. Becca and I are working on her being as quiet as a mouse while Mommy tries to rock Ally to sleep in the morning.

I'm off to get ready for bed. Nate walked around with Ally until she fell asleep and just put her down on the bed, so I should get to sleep soon too.

House Update

We stopped by the house with my parents after church yesterday to see the progress. The siding, scallops, windows and most of the drywall looks to be finished. We had to peek in through the windows to see inside and it's coming along nicely. I updated my picture on the side--a family photo, complete with a 2-year-old that didn't want to be photographed and a hungry 6-week-old (don't worry, I fed her soon after the photo :) ).

The scallops are a blue-green, even though they look more green in the picture. We were trying to decide what style architecture the house it is, and we decided it is a type of Victorian--a folk Victorian. A similar looking house can be found here.

Front porch with our half-moon door and trim up.

The back--the upstairs window will probably be Nate's office (it's officially a bedroom, but he's thinking he wants his office upstairs now, so we can use the downstairs one for a bedroom when we need it eventually). The downstairs window is over the sink in the kitchen.

Some evidence that this was once divided into apartments--our steps to nowhere on the left side of the house. Might be a fun place for the kids to play. :)

I'm posting the picture so you can click on it if you want to see a larger version.

Cool giveaway

Zutano has super cute baby and kids clothes and Mumsthewurd is doing a giveaway for $150 e-certificate for their clothes. Enjoy!

Ally Grace--an update

Let's see if I can actually get this written and up before I'm needed. :)

Alexandra will be six weeks old tomorrow. It's so different this time around with both a newborn and a toddler in the house. Taking a nap during the day is a trickier thing with two. I sometimes get a little rest in the afternoon. But this is not supposed to be about me. :)

Ally looks like her daddy. If I had a scanner, I'd scan a picture of Nate when he was a baby and I'm sure you'd agree. It's something about her eyes and forehead.
Ally is still struggling with the cold/stuffy nose thing. It's a pain for both of us. She also gets hiccups a couple of times a day and she doesn't like them. She whimpers between each one.

One of Ally's favorite places is her changing table because it's right next to a mirror. She's getting more and more observant and loves to look at herself in the mirror. She has smiled a little a couple of times and tries to make some social sounds. It's nice to hear sounds out of her that aren't cries or burps.
My mom and dad just arrived, so I'll cut this short.

28 years ago today...

...my mom gave birth to me. Thanks Mom for your hard work. My parents are heading down here tonight for the weekend. I'm thankful for the extra help--though, I couldn't ask for a more helpful husband. Still, the two extra sets of hands will make our weekend a little easier.

Becca and me on our date last Saturday

To post

1. About Ally--her looks, mannerisms, development
2. Becca phrases (on Becca's blog)
3. My new sling
4. House update (after we take pictures of it this coming Sunday)
5. Books read recently

It may be awhile, but I will get to these.

This is getting old

We are on the beginning of week three of Ally's stuffy nose and we're praying it would go away soon. It doesn't interfere with her eating, but it does affect her sleep. Last night she woke up her normal amount to eat, but two nights ago it was every hour. Poor kiddo. It especially affects her naps. I'm having her nap mostly in the sling today just so she actually sleeps, otherwise the evening is horrible for both her and us.

Please pray that she would get better soon. She has not had any fevers and the doctor said (last Friday) that it looked like nothing more than a cold. We're just waiting it out, and praying for a completely clear nose. The first six weeks with a toddler and newborn are hard enough without this cold.

Praise God that at least she is eating well and that Becca's cold seems to be gone.

Our adorable girls

With her oven mitts made by Aunt Cara

An awake moment

My posting has been sparse. It's not for lack of things to write about. This past week has been rather overwhelming and difficult. I keep reminding myself that these hard times won't last very long, and yet, I don't want to wish away the days--our girls will only be this age once.

It's not getting up to nurse Ally that's been hard. She barely wakes up, and then goes right back to sleep. It's that both of our girls have had stuffy noses for the past week and Ally has been having a lot of trouble with gas and a hurting tummy which has caused her to have extremely hard evenings starting around 9:30 pm and lasting until she falls asleep around midnight or 1 am. It's not constant, but it is wearing and it's obvious she's hurting. We're doing all we can to help her through it.

Last night I decided to meet the time head-on. After we put Becca to bed, I put Ally in our KKAFP and went for a walk hoping that she would fall asleep. She did, and slept from 9-10pm or so. I kept her in our room and fed her, hoping she would fall back asleep. She ended up eating for a long time and didn't get upset again until around 11:30, when Nate came to help and walked her around until she fell asleep. We'll try something like that again tonight.

Please pray that God would clear up the girls' noses and that I would be able to figure out if it's something I'm eating that's causing her pain. I've given up dairy, soy, chocolate, and nuts. I don't want to give up wheat unless I really have to. The others were hard enough. We did try quinoa tonight with our scrambled eggs, so something good came out of it.