Nora

So, I realized in my last post (after I published it, of course) that I gave away my daughter's name in the last picture. I, for some reason, wanted to keep it private, but since that's been defenestrated, I think I'll talk a little bit about...Nora. :)

Here she is at almost 15 months (next week). Ain't she a doll?

She has her mother's hard head and her father's creativity. This equals a very energetic, crazy, go-go-go little girl. My hubby and I are really hoping that somewhere deep down in our gene patterns there are some mellow genes that will all miraculously be given to our next one, because if we get another Nora, we can say goodbye to boring for the next 20 years or so. Oh, but she makes me laugh so many times a day, and I find her smile/bellylaugh/kisses/grunts/tumbles/babbles/toddle/curiosity to be so intoxicating. She's perfect.

So Nora. When I was pregnant with her, neither of us liked our choice of names for babies. So, we compromised and decided that if it was a girl, I would name her and if it was a boy, he would name him (the funny thing is we've since agreed on random names very easily that we both came up with. Go figure). Well, needless to say, I got to name her. I love the name Nora--I actually really love the character from an old black and white movie collection called "The Thin Man" in which the main female character's name is Nora Charles. Nick and Nora Charles remind me of hubby and I in many ways. I might as well throw my husband's name out there, since it seems to be the theme lately. His name is Darrenn. How he has two N's to his name is a whole other story. I just love this series. But, I did not just name my kid solely on a fictional movie character. The name Nora is a pet form of Honorah (pronounced AHN-ora) which comes from the Latin word for honor. I also found out that it's a variant of Honorius.

Well, being the anal person that I am, the first and middle names of my firstborn were going to make sense when translated. So, another name I like is Corinne, which happens to be the name of a few women in my father's family (my aunt's middle name, my cousin's middle name, and my great-aunt's name). By chance, I found out that it is French for maiden. So, my daughter is Nora Corinne, an honorable maiden. I found two names that go great together and have some great connections to my religion, my English blood, the family that is my maiden name, and the language that I'm studying in college (ahem, French). Win!

So that's Nora.

The New Crib Linens

I've finally found a spot of time to type this up! Yay! I must be the worst blogger of all time with my inconsistent blogging. Hehe!

So, I found an online tutorial of how to make a crib sheet and was very excited to find out it is not very hard at all. So here's it in a nutshell...

Cutting out the corners. If you read the above tutorial, then you'd know how she fit it to size with the elastic. I went ahead and took her what-I-should-have-done advice and made a seam all the way around and then threading through elastic to make it clean underneath.

My little sewing space. This is why I delayed sewing these things for way too long--I have to set this all up and break it all down since it's smack dab in the middle of my living room. Our dream house will have a designated sewing space. :)

I now have two best friends coming out of this project: Heat 'n' Bond and Velcro. That sums up the skirt. I hemmed all the sides with Heat 'n' Bond and then Velcro'd it to the crib base. No, I am not this creative to come up with it. I used this YouTube tutorial from my new favorite home improvement blogging couple. The only sewing I had to do was sew a pleat in the front panel because I realized my stripes were the wrong way on the fabric so I had to put two pieces together to turn the stripes from horizontal to vertical (as well as make it long enough to cover the front).

Ta-da! The final project all put together!

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Thanks to the internet, N now has a beautiful, one-of-kind sheet and skirt to call her own. It looks fabulous in the room and makes such a statement.

Doing Things Differently

I was bored (well, bored enough) the other day and started to day dream a little: What would I do differently with the next baby (whenever s/he decides to make his/her presence known to us) from what I did with this one? So, since I have a little time right now, I think I'll brainstorm a little.

For starters, I know one thing that I want to be different: Not another c-section! For those of you who don't know, my labor was being really boring initially, so they put me on Pitocin, followed (not immediately) by an epidural, followed by more Pitocin, followed by N being in Fetal Distress, followed by emergency c-section 17 hours after my water broke. I had to be put under because, even though I had that epidural (which I hated because it made me sick and the loss of feeling in my legs freaked me out--I think that's from my dancing history) I could still feel them cutting me, so they put me under, which I think now was a blessing, because I probably would've not done well not being able to hold my baby and then watch her being taken away while I got sewed up. I missed all of that and I'm glad for it. But I still hated the c-section. I hated the recovery. I hated how much breastfeeding hurt when my uterus was trying to shrink down after being surgically opened. Hated it all; and I hated it for a while afterwards. I think I was in denial early on (at least while a Postpartum Depression nurse calls you up to make sure you're okay) but then I had a hard time with it a few months after her birth. Now it's all good--I'm fine with it. Just, never again.

I've done plenty of research about a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and I know my risks. I've also done plenty of research about a RCS (Repeart Cesarean Section) and I know my risks there as well. I'm educated in both situations and I choose VBAC. It's not for everyone, but a RCS is not for me. Now, don't worry, if there's a medical problem prior to birth where it is obviously better to do a RCS (i.e. Placenta Previa), I'll do it. I'm not going to risk our lives if I know it's not safe. Be that as it may, if I'm healthy and the pregnancy is healthy, I'm doing a VBAC, and that's that.

Okay, moving on. Next to change for #2 would be a midwife. My Ob/Gyn was not even present for N's birth because she wasn't on call (I've spoken to other moms who have her and we're not sure when she's ever on call...) so I had a new doctor who had a mind of his own. Never again. It's a midwife for me. It will be someone who will listen to me and what I want done and will look into alternative treatments besides drugs and will help me through it all. Now, it won't be just any midwife; it'll be one at the Tucson Birth & Women's Health Center, right next door to Tucson Medical Center, so if there should be an emergency, an OR is just a hop skip and a jump away.

Next, making the switch to cloth diapers. I've had it with these disposables. Sure, they're convenient, but they're also super expensive, full of gross chemicals, sit in landfills for ever and always, and come with gross and smelly diaper pails (we have a Diaper Genie II Elite which certainly is not the greatest invention, for sure). Sure, I know that cloth diapers also come with gross and smelly diaper pails, but I also know that there's an enzyme/bacteria eating spray that you spray on the diapers prior to inserting them in the pail to get rid of the smell. You can't do that with disposables. Plus the wool ones would be awesome since we have rash-prone skin in our home and a breathable cover just makes sense. Besides the smell (duh), and the fact that I'm sure one needs to change cloths more frequently than disposables, I see nothing wrong with these things. Heck, if my mom could do it, so can I. Ha!

Something else I would change is getting a better sleep pattern started earlier then I did with N. She slept in a Co-Sleeper Bassinet initially until 1) she got her nights and days straight, 2) I felt comfortable enough to get up and feed without hurting, and 3) we got a crib (yeah, we didn't get the crib until she was 4 months old but when someone buys you something really nice, like a crib you can't really afford, you work with their schedule). Now that we have a crib, kid #2 is going in there before 4 months old. N was nursed to sleep, which, IMHO, should've have been done away with around 2 or 3 months old because she relied on it by 4 months. So, whenever she woke up, she had to nurse to get back to sleep. Now, I don't mind night nursings at all, but somewhere deep down inside me I truly believe if a baby can be put to sleep on his/her own at 3 months-ish, I think the kid would sleep better than somebody (N still wakes up too many times a night at 14 months). Plus, after about 2 months of that, I shut down inside. My body just can't do it anymore. Especially having N with her "sleep patterns", I'd really be in a world of hurt with another one added in the mix.

I do believe those are my only things I'd want to change. They're major things, but I'd rather have 4 big things to change then 15 little things to change. I really have had (and still have!) a wonderful time raising N. She's such a sweet little girl. And I really don't think these changes have anything to do with her. It really have everything to do with me! Funny how that is.

If anyone with children actually reads my blog, I want to hear from you! Is there anything you will do with a second (or third, or fourth...) child (or if you're done having children, was there anything that you would've changed thinking about it now) that you haven't already tried?

PS: Pretty soon I'll update you with N's room and our home improvement whatnots. I promise!

Potty Training

OK, I know what you're thinking when you read the title: Why is she talking about potty training when N is little?? Is she nuts?? To answer your question, possibly. But, it's not entirely what you think. Let me explain.

Hubby, N and I are going to Europe next August (2011) for World Youth Day, a Catholic Young Adult Pilgrimage, if you will, that Pope John Paul II started in the '80's and Pope Benedict XVI continues to celebrate. Every year, it's held in the Vatican except every third year when it's held somewhere else. We went to WYD Sydney for our honeymoon two years ago and are very much looking forward to WYD Madrid. Because we're planing a good two week excursion in España, I really (really) don't want to pack diapers. So, my thought is, since N will be two years and four months old then, we'd potty train her prior to the trip. Well, I've been looking online recently about what's the "normal" age to start potty training and found some surprising stuff. Most of the websites I looked at say there's no age to start, but rather the child must be aware s/he is aware of his/her body's way to go to the bathroom (to put it nicely), basically. I went on to look at some mom forums and a lot of the moms were starting their kids with potty training at N's age right now or even earlier (she's 14 months yesterday, if you're not sure)! I read on to find out that they were doing this three-part training session:

Step 1: is for them to understand that they did something (need a change of diaper).
Step 2: is for them to be able to tell you in some way and understand that they are doing something when they do it.
Step 3: is for them to tell you before they need to in order to be able to go to the toilet.

The whole process, they say, takes about 10-15 months to complete. I kinda like the idea, since there's no pressure because it's such a long process, and now I know so I won't be fretting later on when time is running out.

So, am I really starting potty training? Not really, but it's good to keep it in mind when changing her diaper. Do I want to start potty training? Yes, please. I hate changing diapers.

So, let me turn it around to you: When did you start/will start potty training? I'd love to hear from you!

Busy!

I do apologize for not posting anything on here...all week. I do have an excuse, though! N did not sleep well at all last week and I decided that my house was in dire need of cleaning (since I'm pretty sure it only got cleaned twice during the semester). As I'm sure many of you know, cleaning a house sleep deprived and with a toddler takes at least a week. Ha! So, now that my house is clean, and N slept well last night, I'm here.

The fabric for N's bed is cleaned, but still in a nice folded pile as just sheets of fabric on my shelf in my bedroom. That will definitely be my project this week. The balcony is fine for now--not completely finished but it'll do. Cleaning it out plus the old tool cabinet was a huge project we did in two days. All the stuff they left behind in that cabinet was nuts (like a bottle of acetone left outside for I'm sure too many Tucson summers). Our next project is to get rid of old paint that our landlords left. Apparently, you can't just toss paint cans with old paint still in liquid form since it could potentially leak out of the can and into the dumpster, and possibly out of the dumpster and onto the street. Then there's the hazard it causes at landfills...so, hubby and I need to get rid of it the better way. One is supposed to hardened the paint inside and then it can be tossed. Thankfully, our landlord also left us a small bag of concrete. Nice, huh? That shouldn't be too hard of a project.

In other news, this past week I found out about this great company called Melaleuca. It's an online store that carries only plant/fruit/vegetable-based products. They have cleaning supplies, skin and hair care, makeup, cereals, energy/weight-loss bars, vitamins galore, dental supplies, candles/air fresheners, and a couple other thing that I'm sure I'm forgetting. I really like the sound of the products, and one of my mommy friends swears by it all. You subscribe (like a Costco subscription) and then just "switch stores". Right now, until the 15th, you only have to pay $1 for subscription (instead of $29) and all of the product is at wholesale price. All you have to do to stay with Melaleuca is purchase a certain amount of product points (each product is worth an amount of points) each month. We'll be putting in our first order this week so I'll let you know what we think of the products!

Anyway, I've got to go--N is awake and hanging off of me while trying to get to my laptop...have a great Sunday!