Rain or Shine

Pearl's Birth Story...Finally

2012-01-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Pearl was born almost four months ago and I'm just getting to this. Better late than never though, right?

Also...this is long. If you just want to look at photos, they are near the end.

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Pearl's due date was October 7th. I had a feeling that she would come early. I started having daily irregular contractions around the weekend of September 24th. By that point I was so ready for her to come. Jeremy and I went on multiple walks around the Glendoveer trail trying to induce labor that weekend. There seemed to be no new progression so I went back to work on Monday and started preparing for my design review that Wednesday.

We had an appointment with a midwife earlier in the week. She said I was dilated to 3cm and was 40% effaced. I was having a ton of contractions every day, but nothing regular and nothing painful so I knew it wasn't quite time yet, but it must be getting close.

I worked hard that week to prepare for my meeting on Wednesday. People on my team would periodically come by just to make sure I was still at my desk and not at the hospital. We were all hoping I could at least make it until after the design review.

I made it to the meeting. I started having regular contractions about 7 minutes apart while we were presenting. This was around 5:00pm on Wednesday September 28th. I sat in the meeting and waited for everyone to finish. The contractions still were not very painful, but I was starting to feel super hot and I think people could just tell by looking at me that she would be coming soon. After the meeting, I was convinced that I would not be back to work the next day.

I drove the 45 minute commute back home and continued to count my contractions which were still about 7 minutes apart. We had dinner and I made sure my hospital bag was ready to go. The contractions became irregular again at about 10pm. I assumed it must have been a false alarm. We went to bed. I was disappointed.

I woke up around 2am on September 29th in pain. My contractions were starting to hurt and I had a strange pain in my back that I didn't really expect. The contractions were still completely irregular. I was confused because I figured they would at least be close together when they started to hurt.

I got out of bed and went into the living room. I started doing some of the positions we learned in class to get through the contractions. I decided to let Jeremy sleep for a while. He had no idea that I was even out of bed. At around 2:45am I felt some wetness during one of the contractions. I remembered learning that when your water broke, it could be in a "trickle or a gush." So I thought maybe it had broken, but I wasn't positive.

I called the hospital. The nurse told me that it may have broken and if I felt more wetness to give her a call. It happened again with the next contraction. I called back and she told me to eat something, take a shower if I wanted, and to come in to the hospital.

I woke Jeremy at about 3am. He was completely confused. He thought I was waking him to get ready for work. The guy isn't very alert in the morning. He took a shower and I ate some cereal. Once he was out of the shower I fully explained to him what was going on. He decided to dress for work just in case this "was a false alarm." I kept telling him that if your water breaks, it's definitely going to happen, but he put on his polo shirt anyway.

We got to the hospital a little after 4am. It took a while for us to get into the triage room and the contractions were really getting to an uncomfortable point. I was also losing more fluid with each one. It was pretty gross to be honest. It would have been nice if it had all come at once.

They did a test to confirm that my water had broken. It had. Jeremy asked if we were going to be admitted or sent home. The nurse said "you are definitely having a baby today." I think he finally believed it.

They don't like to check you much once your water breaks because it can introduce bacteria so they did an ultrasound to check Pearl's position. She was occiput posterior which explained the back pain. The midwife said not to worry about it too much because they generally end up turning themselves at some point.

We were admitted into our nice room and I ordered food knowing that pretty soon I would be in so much pain that I wouldn't want to eat. My family showed up around 6:30am which was about the same time my food arrived and I decided there was no way I could eat it. My contractions were finally regular, about 2-3 minutes apart. There was only one position that I wanted to be in during contractions. We had the back of the bed up and I would just lean over it looking at the floor while Jeremy rubbed my back. The pain was so terrible. With each contraction I felt super nauseous and thought I might pass out. In between contractions I paced around the room like a crazy person.

I needed to know that I was making progress so around 8:30am I asked for the midwife to check me. Keep in mind that I had been dilated to 3cm all week. I thought for sure I was at least 6 or 7cm. Nope, 4cm. I cried. I couldn't believe there was such little progress. I really didn't want to get an epidural that early because I was afraid it would slow progress, but since I was having very little progress anyway I opted to just do it. I had my epidural around 9am. It was so hard to sit still during contractions while she put it in.

Once I had my epidural, I watched "What About Bob" and could not believe how different labor was with and without an epidural. There was definitely good and bad associated with it. I was glad to have pain relief, but was bothered that my legs were completely numb at first. My body started to finally make real progress after that. This is the opposite of how people said it would happen with an epidural so maybe I was just lucky. I was glad that I didn't need pitocin. I was checked at around 3:45pm. I was fully dilated.

Once we found out I was ready to push

I started to push around 4:00pm. By that point I could feel my legs enough that I could move them around on my own. That made me really happy because I didn't want people to help me with that the whole time. I could also feel my contractions enough that I knew when to push. I liked knowing that I was still in control of my body enough to know what to do. I was afraid I would need people to move my legs around for me and that the only way I would know when to push was to watch the contractions peak on the screen.

I pushed for 2.5 hours. It was my favorite part of labor. It was nice to feel like I was consciously doing something to get her out. The midwife would count while I pushed and I kept asking if I could get one more push in during each contraction. I really wanted to keep going. I found out later that the pushing took so long because she had her fist up by her head making it more difficult to get her out.

At 6:29pm Pearl was born. They put her on my chest and she just stared at me. It was an amazing experience. We just looked at each other. She was so beautiful.

There was a lot going on around us. I was bleeding a ton and the midwife couldn't figure out why. She called for the surgeon to come in to assist her. My mom told me later that the midwife was kind of freaking out. I really didn't know that was going on. I was just looking at my girl.

They finally got me stitched up, Pearl latched right on when we tried breast feeding for the first time, and I ate a big plate of food while the family came in to meet her.

The nurses were absolutely amazing. All of the midwives I worked with were great too. The staff was so encouraging and helpful during our entire stay. I'm so blessed to have this experience and most importantly my healthy baby girl.

-Kira

Cuddle Day 2012

2012-01-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

I decided that today would be a cuddle day. No projects or house cleaning (ok, maybe a little laundry). After Pearl's first feeding this morning we cuddled up on the couch with the dogs and took a little nap. I plan to do this again sometime this afternoon.

The funny thing about the above photo is that it is pretty similar to a photo I took of Pearl and I when she was about five weeks old. See below. The big difference besides her size is that she really moves her hands around a lot more now. I was fish hooked multiple times during the nap this morning.

-Kira

Baby Style #2

2012-01-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

A few of Pearl's outfits this last week...

She wore this over the weekend on a trip to Corvallis to visit friends.

Pearl had this on Friday night while her grandma Amy watched her. Jeremy and I went out on a date.

I put this on her for fun at home. We literally had not been anywhere all week long because of the snow and crazy rain. I was bored, and she is fun to dress. We did not think she would be wearing size 6 months this early on so some of the clothes that fit now are not really winter appropriate. I wanted to find a way for her to wear the romper before it gets too small.

I hope you had a great weekend!

-Kira

Flooding

2012-01-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

There is pretty intense flooding happening in the area I grew up in this week.

Please pray for everyone affected and for the water to subside.

Thankfully, my parents neighborhood is fine.

Shot of Turner, OR. One of the most affected towns.

I could not find the original source, found on Facebook.

The Corner Market in Lyons, OR. My sister and I used to ride our bikes here when we were kids.

I could not find the original source, found on Facebook.

Turner, OR

Source

Salem, OR

I could not find the original source, found on Facebook.

Salem, OR. This school bus was actually full of children. Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt.

Source

Turner, OR

Source

Downtown Scio, OR

Source

Thanks,

Kira

Unfinished

2012-01-18T14:04:00.000-08:00

Oh, unfinished projects...

every time I look at you,

I feel bad about myself.

I started this particular project about five months ago. I finished the "P" and "E" before Pearl was born. I did the "L" a couple of weeks ago while she napped. I thought it looked like the fastest letter to do. I hope I actually finish this someday and get it above the crib.

-Kira

Tweeting and Stuff

2012-01-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

via

I finally broke down and got a Twitter account. I joined so we could follow along with our favorite Trail Blazers broadcasters Mike Rice & Mike Barrett during games. Currently I follow the two of them, a few NBA players, and two actual friends. Is that lame? I don't even know who has Twitter. Do you have Twitter? Let me know.

Find me here.

-Kira

Resisting Temptation

2012-01-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

My sister Kacy came up to visit this weekend.

Kacy with Pearl

Kacy and I took a trip to Target to pick up necessities (ice cream & a phone cord). We decided to stop by and peruse the baby section. I came across the below little numbers from the Harajuku Mini line. I stood there for a while trying to justify how I could spend $56 on three pieces that Pearl would probably only wear once or twice each. I couldn't come up with a good reason to spend that much money on any of them so the items remained at the store. They are very cute though.

The line has adorable pieces for baby boys as well.

-Kira

Baby Style

2012-01-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Pearl has become my little dress up doll.

She spent the majority of her first three months in sleepers, but now that she is getting older, I find myself picking out her outfits in the same way I might choose my own. I stand in front of her closet, pulling things out until I have the complete outfit laid out on the crib.

I just wish I could get my little doll to stop spitting up and pooping on her clothes.

Here are a couple of her outfits from this week...

Pearl wore this last night when we had dinner with our friends the Cliffs at Foster Burger. My sister got her the little shoes and the leg warmers. They were both made by a friend of hers.

She wore this outfit today while we were out to lunch with some of my past and present co-workers (Karen, Gina, Melissa & Enzo). The shirt she is wearing is the most practical top we own. It snaps all the way up. I really like that because most tops and onesies barely fit over her head and I feel terrible every time I try to pull them on her. I wish all baby tops snapped up like this.

Sorry about the cell phone quality photos, I will try to remember to pull out the camera when I dress her next time. We seem to always be in a hurry to get out the door these days.

-Kira

Bridesmaid Dress

2012-01-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Remember this post about my search for a little black dress? I finally purchased one to wear in my friend's wedding.

The dress I chose was...

This one.

It worked out perfectly. I had a ModCloth gift card and they just happened to restock the dress in my size. It was my most affordable option and is something I know I can wear again.

I hope it fits. I'm always nervous about dress length. A lot of dresses tend to be too short on my 5'10" frame. Fingers crossed!

-Kira

Sleepy Little Hobo

2012-01-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Pearl and I met Jeremy for lunch today. After she was dressed, I thought she looked like a little old lady you might see waiting at a bus stop. Or maybe a hobo. Either way, I think she is pretty cute.

Have a great weekend!

-Kira

Short

2012-01-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been thinking about cutting my hair short.

Real short.

I have been growing it out for so long, but I hardly wear it down anymore. Pearl pulls on it and she often spits up when I burp her. I really don't enjoy spit up in my hair. I have been looking for hair inspiration as I ponder the potential cut.

source

-Kira

2011 - A Recap

2012-01-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

2011 was obviously a huge year for us. I spent a majority of the year pregnant and we had our perfect little girl at the end of September. I blogged a lot more in 2011 than I had in the past. These are some of my favorite posts from the year...

January

A fun Craft Project

My Finished Studio

When We Were on TV

February

Looking for Betsey's Make-Up

My Husband Built Me A Surprise Closet

March

At 11 Weeks Along We Shared Our Pregnancy News

April

Save The Dates For My Sister's Wedding

Baby Shower Gift Wrap

May

Living Room Project

Bathroom Remodel

It's A Girl!

June

Finished Sister's Wedding Invites

July

Sister's Bridal Shower

August

September

October

Photos From Pearl's Birth

November

Thanksgiving

December

Gift Wrap Posts Here and Here

Christmas Stockings

Pearl At Three Months

Happy 2012!

-Kira

3 Months Old!

2011-12-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

Pearl is three months old!

She has cast her lamp aside as her favorite thing. Now Pearl can't get enough of the mobile in her crib. She loves to lay under it and dance around. She smiles from ear to ear and makes sounds along with the music. I really wish that thing played more than one song. Pearl also enjoys kicking her legs a lot when I change her diaper. It makes things interesting. She is much more talkative now, intentionally grabs onto toys, and can twist her body around completely while playing on the floor. Rolling over hasn't happened yet, but it's definitely close.

See how much she has grown!

Clearly, my photography skills are unmatched. Somehow I managed to have completely different lighting in three photos taken in the exact same spot. Feel free to be impressed.

-Kira

Christmas Wrap Up

2011-12-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we went over to Jeremy's parents house in the morning. We ate homemade cinnamon rolls and opened presents. Then we headed over to Jeremy's aunt Ellen's house for Christmas dinner with the cousins. I managed to forget the camera (this happens a lot), but we did get a cell phone shot of Pearl's outfit.

On Christmas day we went down to my grandparents house for dinner. We have Mexican food every year. It is a delicious tradition. A ton of my cousins met Pearl for the first time, but she basically slept through the whole dinner. Again, same deal with the camera. Here is Pearl's outfit for that...

We opened presents at my parents house that night. I actually had the camera. Yay me! Here are a few photos...

We had so much fun celebrating with our little girl this weekend. I can't believe she will be opening her own presents and walking around next year. It boggles the mind.

-Kira

My Cutie

2011-12-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

My daughter is real cute.

Who would have thought that a little girl who looks exactly like my husband (who is good looking, but is also a man) would be so adorable?

-Kira

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

*These were the tags on our Christmas gifts this year.

Christmas Gift Wrap

2011-12-22T12:04:00.000-08:00

This year we didn't buy anything new to wrap our gifts. I used Jeremy's old plans from work as wrapping paper and added fabric, felt, twine, and stamps that I already had to embellish them and add color.

I'm not showing a close up of the gift tags yet because I don't want to ruin the surprise for family. I will post a close up after Christmas.

I found the tutorial for the felt pom poms here.

It feels so good to have this finished!

-Kira

Our Christmas Stockings

2011-12-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I actually found time to make our stockings this year.

There is so much more that I need to do before Christmas.

Back to work!

-Kira

Little Syd

2011-12-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the day worried about our dog Sydney. She had surgery to remove a tumor from her abdomen. Everything went well and she is home with us now. The poor thing has to wear a cone on her head for a week and she is looking pretty pathetic. I feel terrible for her, but I'm so glad the surgery went well. I love that little dog.

-Kira

Five Years and Many Changes

2011-12-16T14:55:00.000-08:00

I happened across this photo on Facebook yesterday. It's from a work Christmas party I attended back in 2006 when I interned at Betsey Johnson (that's Betsey next to me). It's hard to believe that was five years ago, but on the other hand it's crazy to think about all that has happened in my life since then. A move back to Portland, marrying Jeremy, getting a great job, buying a house, buying a house again, and now I'm spending my first Christmas as a mother. Honestly, during my senior year of college I thought I would move to New York to work and not come back. I didn't consider children to be a part of my plan. I'm glad I changed my mind because I couldn't be happier.

-Kira

My Wish List

2011-12-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

These are some of the items that made my Christmas Wish List this year...

alphabet stamp set

navy blazer

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)

these boots

MUJI socks, my favorite

pleated skirts

What's on yours?

Adorable Dolls

2011-12-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

My friend Melissa has a business making the most adorable dolls. I'm in love with them and I can't wait to pick one up for Pearl. If you are still looking for Christmas gifts for the little girl on your list, I recommend visiting her etsy shop. I promise you won't be disappointed. Here are a few lovelies currently in the shop...

-Kira

Little Birds

2011-12-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I purchased when we found out I was pregnant with a girl was a pack of fabric wall decals from the Love Mae Store. I had been in love with their decals for a long time and couldn't wait to get a pack for my girl's room. Somehow I didn't manage get them on the wall though until last night. I had fun finding places for the birds to perch all over the room.

-Kira

Christmas Gift Tags

2011-12-08T16:25:00.000-08:00

Remember my Christmas gift tags from years past? This year I am working on incorporating the whole family. We chose a photo to work from and I'm pretty excited about it.

I still haven't decided if I should leave Gonzo as is or if I should include one of the dogs faces. It seems strange to use one and not the other. Maybe Photoshop him out entirely? What do you think?

-Kira

Our Tree Dilemma

2011-12-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

We changed the layout of our living room this year so a new Christmas tree location needed to be found. The spot we picked had no nearby outlet. I think at this point a lot of people would either pick a new location or start running an extension cord across the room. This is why I'm lucky my husband is so handy.

His solution was pretty simple really. Put in a new electrical oulet behind the tree. This seemed like it would be a lot of work to me, but he had it finished in less than an hour. What a man!

There are not really any updates to our decorations from last year, but I still love them anyway. I'm hoping to make stockings for the fireplace sometime in the next week. If I find the time and motivation I will post photos once they are finished.

-Kira

Make It Work - Gift Wrap

2011-12-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend I had a gift to wrap for a friend's daughter. I searched my house but realized we were completely out of wrapping paper. I couldn't stand the idea of her getting a gift in a Target shopping bag so I went into my craft room to come up with something fun to wrap her gift in.

I ended up with a section of newspaper found in our kindling box, craft buttons, baker's twine, and a scrap of lace trim. It was fun to experiment with the supplies until I found something I was happy with. This is the final product...

I plan to treat my gift wrap more like a craft project from now on. It's more personal and bonus, it's cheaper.

-Kira

Portlanders, Mark Your Calendar

2011-12-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

I can't wait for Crafty Wonderland!

It's so much fun!

Are you going?

-Kira

2 Months Old!

2011-11-30T18:19:00.000-08:00

See her One Month photo here.

Pearl is two months old!

She is really fun now. Pearl smiles often and seems to love when I read to her. Tummy time is not her favorite, but her neck is getting strong. Her favorite thing in the whole world is the lamp in her bedroom. I was thinking about making her a onesie that says "I Love Lamp." She is pretty alert most of the time and doesn't nap too often during the day, but sleeps really well at night. Pearl currently weighs 12 lbs 5.5 oz and is 22.5" long. She loves to eat. We have a very good baby.

-Kira

Finding Oregon

2011-11-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

The state of Oregon is absolutely beautiful.

I feel so blessed to call it my home.

Finding Oregon from Uncage the Soul Productions on Vimeo.

-Kira

Thanksgiving Recap

2011-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving we had dinner with Jeremy's side of the family. There was tons of good food and fun time spent with the family. Most of the group played a hilarious round of Mad Gab that had the whole house laughing. Pearl also got to meet Jeremy's aunt and cousins for the first time.

With all of the things I felt necessary to pack for Pearl that day, I forgot the camera. We ended up with one cell phone photo of Pearl. That's it. Cute dress though, right?

On Friday, we had Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Again, we had amazing food and fun family time.

Pearl met her great grandma Nell and great grandpa Jack for the first time and spent some more time with her great grandma Pearl as well.

Maleah and Pearl put on matching dresses for the dinner. We took photos of the three cousins together. Maleah and Rowdy both got to hold her. They were both very careful, it was so sweet.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday!

-Kira

Believers

2011-11-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Oregon State may have lost the Civil War today, but we are still a family of

Beaver Believers.

Let's get them next year Beavs!

-Kira

So Thankful

2011-11-23T12:34:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I are so thankful that the Lord blessed us with this sweet, healthy little girl.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We're pretty excited for family dinners on Thursday and Friday. Pearl will get to meet some of her extended family on both sides for the first time. It should be a really fun holiday for us!

-Kira

Friends Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

Our friends A.J. and Safiyah invited us to their annual "Friends Thanksgiving" dinner on Sunday. There were so many people and so much food! I was a little nervous about going since I don't know many of their friends, but we had a great time and it was fun to see all of the other babies and children in attendance. There was a two week old baby at the party and Pearl looked huge in comparison to her! Our little girl is growing up so fast.

Pearl hanging out on the couch with daddy

I can't wait for more Thanksgiving festivities later this week!
-Kira

First Try

2011-11-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

Pearl tried her Bumbo seat out for the first time this week.

At first she wasn't sure what she thought.

Then she made her decision.

We have since had more Bumbo success.

-Kira

Christmas DIY Projects

2011-11-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to think about Christmas DIY gifts already this year. Even though I am home on maternity leave, I seem to have less time than I did while working. So I'm hoping to get a head start. I did a few projects last year that turned out really well so I thought it would be fun to revisit those for others who are also looking for homemade gifts to do.

Hot Chocolate & Marshmallows

Personalized Mugs

Accessories Displays

I also have fun every year creating personalized gift tags with my husband's face.

Maybe this year I will try to use the whole family.

If you have gift project ideas that are not too time consuming, please share in the comments section.

I need all the help I can get this year!

-Kira

Reflecting

2011-11-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

I lost one of my closest friends three years ago today. I shared a bit about him around his birthday in September, but if you haven't yet, please read about this amazing and beautiful man here.

I love you Sokhak.

-Kira

A Little Vacation

2011-11-15T12:14:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend we went on our first family vacation with little Pearl. Last year we went to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands and we had so much fun that we decided to go again this year. The trip was definitely different with a baby, but she did great!

If you want to see more photos of the actual island, check out my posts from last year. I had free hands to take photos back then.

-Kira

Sister's Wedding Photos

2011-11-10T12:13:00.000-08:00

My sister Kacy received professional photos back from her wedding in August. I thought it would be fun to share a few.

Family

Bridesmaids

Candy table at the reception

The happy couple

And my favorite shot of Kacy while getting ready

It was such a beautiful wedding and a really fun celebration!

-Kira

Weekend Rundown

2011-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been a bit of a homebody. Little Pearl and I hang out around the house most of the time these days. By the weekend I am itching to get out and do something. Thank goodness I had a ton of fun events to go to over the weekend.

On Saturday morning, Pearl stayed home with her daddy while I attended the Portland Bloggers Meet-Up with Becca and Lauren. I didn't take any photos of the event, but Sara and Jenni have great ones on their blogs. There was delicious food and fun craft projects to do. I actually ended up making one of the hair accessories I had pinned on Pinterest recently. Thanks to Jenni for bringing the supplies!

After the event, I ran errands on my own which is so much faster than with a baby. It was nice to check all of those things off the list.
On Saturday night we took Pearl over to a friend's house for dinner and conversation with a great group of people. This is Pearl and her new friend Charlie. He was born just a day after her!

Sunday morning, Pearl and I attended Lauren's baby shower. It was beautifully planned. The theme was "Fern" which will be her name. I'm super excited to meet her in January! See more photos on Lauren's blog over at Babble.

via

That evening, Pearl went and stayed with her grandparents while Jeremy and I went to LaMarcus Aldridge's Rip City Basketball Classic. It was so nice to watch a basketball game and get a little taste of the NBA. The lockout is bumming me out. The game was heavy on offense and very light on defense, but there were a lot of fun plays and it was exciting to see what guys like Kevin Durant can do up close.

It was such a fun weekend!
-Kira

Weekend Recovery

2011-11-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

We had a busy weekend. I was really ready to get out of the house this weekend and I definitely did that. It felt great to get out, but Pearl and I were pretty exhausted today. After my friend Emily stopped by for a visit, most of our day looked like the below photo.

Lots of cuddling and naps. Definitely not a bad way to spend a Monday.

Hopefully I will get to sharing about the weekend tomorrow.

Have a great week!

-Kira

Celebrities and Their Divorces...

2011-11-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I do not often follow celebrity news.

I could seriously care less about what is going on with Kim Kardashian.

I will be honest though, when I heard yesterday that Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard split up, I was a bit sad. They are two of my favorites as far as celebrities go. I guess I was hoping they were different. Call me shallow, but I was at least affected by it enough to mention it to my husband and apparently write this blog post.

photo credit

Generally, it's a bummer when celebrities who so many young people look up to don't seem to take marriage seriously. I know divorce is occasionally unavoidable, but in Hollywood getting divorced after a couple of years (or less) really seems like the norm.

-Kira

1 Month Old!

2011-10-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my baby girl turned 1 month old.

I can't believe how quickly she is growing up! It's amazing how fast she is changing. Pearl is starting to show a bit more of a personality now and is much more aware of her surroundings. I love that she spends time awake during the day now. We are having lots of fun getting to know our little lady.

-Kira

Music for Baby

2011-10-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is Pearl's tiny music collection. She also has a kids & a classical Pandora station that Jeremy started for her to listen to. I'm curious if any of you have albums you would recommend for children/babies?

I hope she takes an interest in music. I have always regretted the fact that I didn't pick up any instruments as a child. I kind of want her to be a drummer. I keep reminding myself that it's her choice, but we did put artwork on her walls to inspire the budding musician inside of her.

Artwork from Barking Bird Art

-Kira

Baby Sleep

2011-10-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

This girl likes to spread out.

Pearl will happily sleep anywhere during the day, but we are still working on getting her to sleep in the co-sleeper at night. She is generally wide awake from 9pm to 3 or 4am. She seems to hate swaddles, laying on her back, and her co-sleeper. I've given up on trying to swaddle her hands in at bed time.

I can proudly say we had a nice chunk of sleep from about 3am-7:45am this morning. It felt wonderful. I hope it's a sign of things to come. I would like her to go to sleep before 3am though. That would be nice.

-Kira

Little Black Dress

2011-10-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

I am in a friend's wedding in a couple of months. She told me that the bridesmaids can wear any black dress of their choice. I have a black dress that would work, but I'm taking this as an opportunity to get a new fun dress. It is also motivation to lose the baby weight. Of course I need to get the ok on any dress I end up choosing, but before narrowing it down, I'm having fun searching for pretty black dresses.
Here are a few:

Apparently I am into lace and pleating these days.
Check out my Pinterest board if you want to keep up on my other finds.
-Kira

A Big Thanks

2011-10-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to all of our family and friends who have helped us out since Pearl was born. We have had meals brought to us, cleaning projects done around the house, and had people hang out with Pearl so I could get the occasional nap. It has been such a blessing.

Jeremy and I really appreciate all of you who have pitched in.

-Kira

**If you are having a baby anytime soon, I recommend getting a meal schedule set up on Meal Baby. It's a very useful tool!

The Pearls

2011-10-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

We had a 90th birthday party on Saturday for my Grandma Pearl. It was our first big outing with baby Pearl (her namesake). It was also the first time the two met. My grandma was very excited to see her.

This was also little Pearl's first time meeting a lot of the family. She slept for nearly the whole party and was just passed around from person to person. She did great and looked totally adorable in her little party outfit.

I'm so glad the two of them were able to meet.
-Kira

This is What Motherhood Looks Like

2011-10-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

No makeup. Messy hair. Tired eyes.

I wouldn't change it for anything.

-Kira

When Pearl Met Syd

2011-10-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

We took a few photos on our first day home when the dogs were introduced to Pearl. Sydney was very excited, and although she has calmed down quite a bit, she still feels the need to occasionally give Pearl a few face licks.

Roxy is pretty nervous around Pearl, but is making progress. This photo was the closest I could get of Roxy to the baby on her first day home, but she has since been willing to sniff her on multiple occasions.

Do any of you have stories related to how your pets adjusted to a new baby? I'm curious to know.
-Kira

Pearl's Arrival

2011-10-02T14:51:00.000-07:00

As you may know or can probably imagine, having a newborn is a lot of work and really exhausting. I will get around to sharing the story of Pearl's birth eventually. Until then, here are a few photos from the amazing moment she came.

-Kira

She is Here!

2011-09-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the best day ever. Meet our little lady, Pearl Iris.

Jeremy and I are are just so happy and in love with her.

Pearl's stats: Born at 6:29pm, 7lbs 13 oz, 19.5" long.

-Kira

Guest Room

2011-09-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

We've had a designated guest room in our house since moving in over a year and a half ago. Until recently, that room has consisted of tan walls, a mattress on the floor, and boxes full of old stuff we don't use and never unpacked. Surprisingly enough, nobody has ever wanted to stay in the guest room before. We decided with the baby coming soon, people might actually want to visit and stay with us so we decided to make it a legitimate room people could sleep in. After a few trips to Miller Paint & Ikea, we now have a guest room.

Thanks to Amy for helping Jeremy paint!

Just one more thing off of the never ending projects list.
-Kira
--------------------
Baby Update...Still no baby, but my body definitely feels like she is coming soon. It hurts pretty bad to walk now. I do feel lucky that I made it until 39 weeks before any waddling took place. Now it's unavoidable.

Baby Room Update

2011-09-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

There are still projects to finish.

And pictures to hang.

But, some things are on the walls now.

The smallest of her clothes are washed and put away.

I'm feeling pretty good about where we are at. She won't be using the room right away anyway.

Now, she just needs to get here. I'm ready.

-Kira

Baby Shower #3 - are you tired of shower posts yet?

2011-09-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

I am blessed to have so many amazing family, friends, and co-workers! I know most people have one baby shower. Somehow I ended up with four. On Friday we had my baby shower at work.

Karen made amazing cupcakes (lemon, vanilla, and chocolate w/ chocolate cream cheese frosting). She also commissioned her super crafty mom to make a banner for little Pearl. We will put it up in the hospital room when she is born.

Melissa made us the most adorable bunny and onesie.

A lot of people went in together on gifts. We got a car seat base for our second car, tons of baby books, a beautiful blanket, and I received a really fun book full of patterns for baby clothes from my friend Roxy.

Thanks to everyone who came to wish me well on this new journey. I will miss you all while I am on maternity leave, but Pearl and I will come visit!

-Kira

Strawberry Pants

2011-09-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

This pregnancy is starting to take its toll. It's really difficult to sleep these days due to the fact that I constantly have to get up to use the restroom and I am having a heck of a time getting comfortable enough to sleep in between those times. I get up every hour and a half in the middle of the night.

I was especially tired this morning. I quickly grabbed clothing out of the dryer prior to my shower. Afterward, I was trying to get dresses and realized something wasn't quite right.

Yes, I thought the below strawberry pants were my underwear when I pulled them out of the dryer. It didn't take long for me to figure out that they were in fact not the article of clothing I thought they were.

Photo credit

Maybe the baby and I shouldn't share loads of laundry. Or maybe I should try harder to get more sleep.
-Kira

Photos from Baby Shower #2

2011-09-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

You may remember my ridiculous photo dump from baby shower #1. I tried to condense things a bit this time around.

This first group of photos is from the onesie decorating contest. Teams were given fabric markers and told to come up with a design. The one on the left won because I though it was the most clever. It is her name spelled out in illustrations. Feel free to try to figure it out. Just a hint, ignore the mouse and the little girl. Start at the top and work your way down.

These are some of the delicious treats from the afternoon. My cousin Brandi made lemon cake pops. One looked like a baby face. I was unwilling to eat that one. I don't think anyone actually ate the baby face. My family also made a mini candy and dessert table with some of the stands we made for my sister's wedding last month.

These are photos of some of my awesome friends. It was great to see everyone. I don't live very close to most of them so we only see each other on special occasions.

Pretty condensed, right? I'm proud of myself considering the fact that my sister Kara actually took 140 photos on my camera that day.
-Kira

**I used the My Memories Suite v2 software to very quickly create the photo layouts. There is still time to enter the giveaway if you want a free copy!

Scrapbook Design Software Giveaway

2011-09-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have a fun giveaway for you today!

My Memories has given me a copy of their My Memories Suite software to learn and use at home. They have offered up a free copy to one of my readers as well! The software was designed for digital scrapbooking. I actually hate creating regular scrapbooks because it is time consuming, expensive, and you can't really share it easily with many people. When I was contacted by them, I was immediately interested in the idea of scrapbooking digitally. I knew with our little girl on the way, we would have an influx of photos and a lot of people who would want to see them.
I use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop on a daily basis, but with maternity leave coming up, I won't have the newer versions of those programs available to me as my laptop will be staying at work. I was hoping this program would be a suitable replacement for making my photos of our daughter a bit more fancy before sharing with family and friends.

Just to give you an idea of what a few scrapbook pages can look like by using this program, I created a few pages of photos from our baby shower over the weekend. They have a ton of different kits that you can choose from that come with background, border, and embellishment options for you to play with and format. The kit I used came with the software. You can also go onto the My Memories website and download different theme kits. Some of the add on kits are available for purchase, but are so much cheaper than going out and buying paper and stickers to create one at home. There are also a ton of free options you can download straight from the website.

For these pages, I started with a template and modified it to suit what I like. I had never used the program before and this took me about an hour to do so it is obviously very intuitive. I found it a little limiting because I am used to certain features the Adobe programs have that this software doesn't, but I kept telling myself "this software can be purchased for just under $40," and for that price, it's extremely impressive.
You also don't have to stick to one kit. You can start with a blank page and add elements from whatever kit you want in order to create something much more unique. I'm excited to see what I can create starting with a blank slate. I also noticed other features (like video for example) that I haven't had time to mess around with yet.

As I was working on these, I thought of a lot of other things I could use this program for than just creating scrapbook pages. They have great photo layout options that I could quickly plop my photos into and then save as one jpeg. Then my photos on the blog would look a lot more visually interesting uploaded into Blogger and it would literally take seconds to do. I will show you examples of this in posts later this week.

To enter the giveaway:

1. Required entry: Please visit the My Memories Digital Scrapbooking website and post in the comment field below which scrapbooking kit is your favorite. Be sure to include your e-mail address as well.

There are multiple ways to have extra entries in this giveaway. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry with your e-mail address.

2. "Like" the My Memories Facebook page.

3. Become a follower of the My Memories Blog or Twitter feed.

4. Follow Rain or Shine through Google Friend Connect or BlogLovin.

5. Let your friends know about this giveaway by posting it on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Put the link in the comment field below.

The giveaway will close at end of day Friday and the winner will be chosen via random.org. I should also note that there are Mac and PC compatible versions of this software and the winner will be able to choose which they want. Good luck!
-Kira

**If you are interested in purchasing, use the below coupon code and receive a $10 discount on the My Memories Suite v2 scrapbook software. (Software also comes with a $10 coupon for downloads-a total value of $20!)

The coupon code is: STMMMS55994

------------------------------------------------
The winner is: Ellen, the Hardware Queen! Congrats!

37 Weeks

2011-09-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Ok...I'm almost at 37 weeks, but I'm claiming it anyway. As you can tell from this photo, I am rather large. The baby has dropped as well. People keep asking "can you breathe better now?" Apparently you can breathe better when the baby drops. I haven't noticed a difference and breathing hasn't been a problem at any point unless I am hiking or doing something active.

We had my second baby shower on Sunday. I will post photos from the shower throughout the week. We also had our work day on Saturday and got so much done. The baby's room is still lacking in decor, but has furniture in it now and our house is clean. Thanks to all of the family who helped!

I will have a fun giveaway up tomorrow so be sure to check back.
-Kira

For My Friend on His Birthday

2011-09-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

I was blessed to call one of the most amazing people my dear friend. He left this world in November of 2008, but he is still with me and so many of us today. If you didn't know him, I wish you had. My friend would have blown you away with his love for others. You would have been impressed by his passion for humanity. He would have called you a friend the second he met you and he would have meant it.

His name is Sokhak, and he would be 28 today.

If you haven't yet read about my beautiful friend, please do here.

-Kira

Nesting

2011-09-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

photo credit

I have become quite convinced that the idea of nesting while pregnant just isn't in the cards for me. I do think my house is pretty gross right now, but I don't have the "I need to scrub every inch of it clean" feeling.

Mostly, I just want to take a nap.

One friend at church told me that nesting didn't kick in for her until she was in the beginning stages of labor. She was running around cleaning her house like a crazy person until she was dilated to 5cm. She had no idea that she was even having contractions. So, I guess it is still possible.

With that said, we are having a work day on Saturday. I'm glad that Jeremy's family is willing to help us get our house into shape before our girl arrives. I'm not excited about taking part in said work day, but I'm sure I will be very happy once it is all done. I would take before and after photos, but I don't want you to know how dirty my house is.

-Kira

Her Nose

2011-09-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

My nose? Photo credit.

We had an ultrasound today. It is a little hard to get good shots of our little gal at this point because she is so big now, but we did see a nice profile view. It was determined that she has Jeremy's nose. We know it's not my nose because as someone (not naming names) pointed out, "It's not pointy like Lois Griffin's nose." Whether I have a cartoon nose or not isn't the point though, our little girl had a very cute little nose.
-Kira

My Friend's Big Leap

2011-09-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Photo stolen from Melissa's blog. That is her in the middle on her wedding day next to me on her left.

I have worked for the same wonderful company for 4 years. When I first started there, my cubicle was set up as a big open space shared with one other person. My cubicle mate was Melissa. We became fast friends. I have really enjoyed spending the last four years of life with her at work. I see my work buddies almost as much as I see my husband on a weekly basis so they are obviously very important people in my life. I have enjoyed getting to know her family outside of work, attending her wedding, and visiting her in the hospital after her sweet son Enzo was born.

Two weeks ago she decided to take a big leap of faith and leave her job to be a stay at home mom. I know it was a difficult decision for her and her family to make, but she is so excited to be home with her kids. I'm excited to follow her journey on her blog (and of course in real life, too). She is such a creative person and I can't wait to see all of the fun things she and the kids do now that she has more time at home.

It still seems unreal to me that she isn't at work this week. I'm not sure how long it will take for it to actually sink in that she isn't coming back. I'm going to miss seeing that face and having conversations with her daily, but like I said, I am so excited for her and her new adventure.

Feel free to stop by her cute blog and congratulate her on the big step she is taking.
-Kira

Baby Room - Making Progress

2011-09-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend we made quite a bit of progress on the baby's room. On Saturday morning I went and purchased all of the supplies I would need for a couple of craft projects I plan to complete for the space. I put together one of them Saturday afternoon. I followed this tutorial and made fun decorations for her wall out of scrap fabrics and embroidery hoops.

It's an amazingly cheap project if you are someone who hoards fabric scraps like me. All I needed to buy were the hoops and they were $1.29-$1.49 depending on the size. The entire project took me 1 hour from start to finish and that included picking out what fabrics to use and ironing them. The only modification I made from the tutorial was that I used a hot glue gun instead of Elmer's Glue because I didn't have any. The glue gun worked just fine.

We purchased lighting and Jeremy has already installed it. He painted the ceiling yesterday and is currently painting her closet and then the walls. I'm excited to see what it looks like when he is done!

I also went through all of her clothing and pulled out everything that was newborn and 0-3month size. I washed the clothes, all of her blankets, towels, bibs, and wash cloths. It was actually pretty fun to fold that laundry. The little socks are so adorable. I definitely had a Liz Lemon moment while going through the socks.

I'm sure I will have more baby room posts this week as things come together. I hope you had a great holiday weekend!
-Kira

Northwest Art for Kids Rooms

2011-09-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have recently been adding decor items to my Amazon wish list. I'm so excited to decorate our little girl's room. Yes, I realize I am 35 weeks along and we haven't started the nursery yet. But, we have paint, furniture in the garage, and lots of ideas. It will happen soon.

These are three illustrations, from artists in Portland & Seattle, that I would love to put on her wall:

by Barking Bird Art

by Lulufroot

by Berkley Illustration (yes I have blogged about this artist before)

-Kira

Candy Table

2011-08-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

My sister had a photo of the finished candy table! I'm proud of how it turned out. It started out as my project, but when I got sick a couple of weeks ago, Kara ended up doing the epoxy work for me. Thanks to my sister for getting it all put together! Setting up the table was definitely my favorite decorating task on Saturday.

-Kira

Wedding Weekend and a Forgotten Camera

2011-08-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

My sister's wedding this weekend was gorgeous. I am so thankful to everyone who put in the work to make it possible. I picked the absolute worst time ever to forget my camera. I didn't realize that I forgot to grab it it until we were pulling into town Friday afternoon. The wedding location is about an hour from my house one way and my help was needed so I really couldn't have turned around and gone home to get it.

I have pulled a few photos that my sister's friends and my aunt posted on Facebook of the event and I will definitely share more as they become available. I want to show you detail shots of the entrance, finished candy table, bridal party hair, and flower arrangements. I haven't yet seen photos of them.

I know I will eventually have beautiful professional photos to share of all of those things, but I am impatient and I want them now! Anyway, here are a few I have come across...

Walking out as husband and wife.

The only ceremony shot I have found so far.

The candy table Kara and I created. It looked amazing once the candy was added.

People getting seated at the picnic tables after the ceremony.

Close up of the centerpieces.

First dance. I was so impressed by their moves.

A fun night time detail shot my sister's friend took.

Congrats to the beautiful bride and my new brother-in-law!
-Kira

Wedding Hair

2011-08-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

The expiration date on the milk in our refrigerator is the same week as our due date. That just blew my mind. It really is getting close!

This evening I did a little Pinterest research to figure out how I want my hair done for my sister's wedding on Saturday. Here area few contenders:

via

Which would you choose?
-Kira

Mama Knows Best #9 Questions...I need answers!

2011-08-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

Photo credit

We ordered cloth diapers over the weekend. I decided to go with the FuzziBunz brand based on recommendations by my friends Sara & Emily (read Sara's cloth diapering post here). I also love the bright colors they come in and I'm pretty excited to get our rainbow of diapers in the mail.

I actually do have a couple more moms working on Mama Knows Best posts. I finally did some recruiting, but today I thought it would be fun (and helpful) for me to ask some questions that I have been thinking about. Most of them are related to labor and delivery. I hope that all of you knowledgeable moms out there comment to answer some of them.

Questions

1. Did you bring music to the hospital when you gave birth? If so, did you use it and what kind of music did you prefer? What about movies?

2. What did you wear during labor and delivery? I'm pretty anti-hospital gowns. I'm not sure what would be best to bring though.

3. How did you decide who to have in the delivery room with you?

4. Did you have a written birth plan? If so, did you stick to it?

5. How did you go about picking a pediatrician?

6. How quickly after labor were you able to breastfeed for the first time?

7. Is there anything not on the typical "hospital bag packing list" that you wish you had brought with you?

8. Did you use an exercise ball during contractions and was it helpful?

9. Do you have any other helpful tips for labor you would like to share?

To be honest, I can't believe there is going to be a baby (one which I have been told has a large head) exiting my body in around 6 weeks. I'm of course very excited to meet her, but the thought of going through labor is pretty frightening.

-Kira

Wedding Central

2011-08-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I took a trip down to "Wedding Central," also known as my parents house. My sister's wedding is next Saturday and their house is covered in projects. I took a few photos of some of the projects in progress. Most of the photos ended up being of the centerpiece pinwheels my mom and her friend Vicki are making. They look pretty fun.

These are for the center of the pinwheels. I think they look pretty as is.

Some just completed pinwheels on the dining room table. Notice my mom in the background.

A few clusters of pinwheels in the storage room (my old bedroom).

This is how you can easily tell these are a Choate project. They are clustered in Widmer boxes (my dad says the Widmer brothers are his "favorite brothers." Also, notice my old Incubus poster on the wall. I used to just stare at Brandon Boyd's abs for hours. Ok, not really. Well...kind of.

You can't really tell from this photo, but they also made giant pinwheels to line the aisles. These ones are pretty large in scale.

And, a bonus photo of pom poms.

As you can tell, this is going to be a pretty colorful wedding. I'm excited to see how it all comes together. I hope you had a fun weekend!

-Kira

Bed at 5:30

2011-08-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

I wish I felt like this.

I have been a disaster this week. I have a cold and on top of that I have had all kinds of stomach issues. There has been so much going on at work that there is no way for me to stay home and rest. My days have looked like this: Get up, go to work, come home, and go to bed at 5:30.

I had a doctor appointment today though and baby is doing well so that made me feel much better this week. Anyway, this is week #2 of me having little time for the blog or anything else. Maybe next week will be better? I hope so. Especially since my sister is getting married next weekend!

Ok, I will quit my whining now. How have your weeks been?

-Kira

Beach Weekend

2011-08-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend we stayed in an awesome house in Gleneden Beach, OR. The weather was beautiful. There was even one day where no jackets or hats were needed on the beach! If you have ever been to the Oregon Coast you would understand how amazing that is.

Our best attempt at a family photo

The four members of our group bold enough to go into the water. Only one was human.

Besides beach time, we hung out in Lincoln City. We saw the sandcastle building competition, ate at Mo's (kind of something you have to do at the Oregon Coast), went to the outlet mall, and stopped at Captain Dan's Pirate Pastry Shop. If you are ever in Lincoln City, I highly recommend visiting Captain Dan's. The couple that run the shop are so nice, Dan actually dresses like a pirate, and the treats are delicious.

Jeremy's parents, us, his brother-in-law, sister, and their dog

We ended up buying a few more outfits for our little lady at the mall. The prices were great, but we already have so many clothes that it's just not necessary to buy more. It's very hard to say no to such adorable tiny things though. I also got a great deal on a bag at the Pendleton store. I was pretty excited about that.

Playing with Syd

We took 136 photos on our camera while we were there. I would say 90% of them are of dogs frolicking on the beach. They were in heaven. I tried very hard to not go overboard showing you too many photos.

Sydney

Ellie - Syd's biological sibling, she belongs to Jeremy's sister

Roxy - our beach daredevil

I hope to have more time for the blog this week, last week was insanely busy.
-Kira

Looking Forward to the Weekend

2011-08-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

The last time we took the dogs to the beach. 2008!

Yesterday I was at work for 11 hours. I worked for 11 hours today as well. My guess is tomorrow I will be there for about 14. We have a big presentation I am preparing for that happens on Thursday. It has been so busy.

More fun facts: I have to pee every two hours in the middle of the night now and bonus, I got stretch marks this week.

I am so excited for our beach trip this weekend. I will really appreciate the break.

-Kira

Baby Shower #1

2011-08-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am pretty lucky. I get to have two baby showers. The first was planned by my sister-in-law Carolyn and my mother-in-law Amy. It was this weekend.

Carolyn is a master at hospitality and party planning so this was right up her alley. She prepared a meal for everyone complete with appetizers, salad, and dessert.

I thought her idea of having mini cacti as table decorations and party favors was perfect. I was pretty excited to bring mine home.

We got a lot of great gifts. One of my favorites were these adorable little sandals my friend Melissa made. In the below photo she is modeling them on her son, Enzo. He is not at the age yet where he would mind putting on a pair of pink sandals.

Want to see photos of me and my friends? Maybe not? That's ok. I know seeing a ton of pictures of people you don't know isn't very exciting, but I like them and I want to document it so I'm doing it anyway...

My mom and my sis, Kacy

Amy and Carolyn. I am squatting down in this photo. This is not a joke. Yes, I know I am a giant.

Emily, one of my best friends ever and also the photographer for the afternoon.

Melissa and Gina with their sons Enzo and Ash. They are two of my favorite co-workers.

Becca and Kelli. I guess you could call them a part of my "inner circle." Whatever that means.

Heather and Larissa. They are part of my "cluster". I guess most church people call that a small group. We dare to be different.

And, another bonus photo of my sister complete with her adorable stepson-to-be Rowdy. Yes, that is his real name and to answer your next question, he is very well behaved.

The group

You will have to suffer through another one of these posts in September after my other shower. I apologize.

-Kira

Little Syd vs. the belly

2011-08-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last night little Syd really wanted to sit on my lap. She doesn't fit very well anymore because of the belly so I had to sit on the floor to give her more leg space. She seems to be confused and frustrated with my baby belly being in her way lately.

She eventually decided to embrace the belly and gave the baby a little hug. I hope this means she is warming up to the baby already and that they will be best friends. I just thought it was really sweet.
-Kira

Mama Knows Best Recap and...I am Terrible.

2011-08-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

photo via weheartit

Hi friends,
So this is week #3 of me being too lazy to line up moms to post their Mama Knows Best musings. Instead of pretending like this feature doesn't exist on my blog, I decided to do a recap highlighting all of the past posts. They are all great reads and have been extremely informative. If you see a topic below that you are interested in and missed it the first time, please check them out!
#1 Consignment - Becca from Life @ 1521
#2 Sage Advice - Emily from Homemade Lovely
#3 Breastfeeding - Melissa from www.pdxritchie.com
#4 Sleep - Nicole from Adventures, Memories, and Love
#5 Home Birth - Jessi from Sparrows and Arrows
#6 Cloth Diapering - Sara from Life on Oak St.
#7 The Amazing Boppy (plus bonus photos of my adorable niece) - Kara, my sister
#8 Things You Don't Need to Register For - Becca from Life @ 1521

Moms - Contact me if you want to cover a topic that hasn't been written about yet. I would love your participation! Also, I think it would be fun to do one or two posts on pregnancy so if you are currently pregnant or have been recently I would love to hear your take on that topic as well.

Sorry I have totally dropped the ball on this one. I know people like reading them every week. Apparently I am just a really lazy recruiter.

-Kira

Bachelorette Party

2011-08-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my sister's friends treated her to a bachelorette party. I attended the dinner portion of the party. The girls were going out to a few clubs after that. To be honest, even if I wasn't pregnant there is no way I could have kept up with them so it was definitely best for me to skip that portion. Those girls know how to be party and quite frankly, I never really did. They rented a pink hummer limo to take around town. I'm pretty sure they had a lot of fun.

At the dinner, we hung out on the roof of the building one of her bridesmaids lives in downtown. It had a really great view of the city. It was also just a couple of blocks from Jeld-Wen Field where the Portland Timbers play. There was a game that night and we could hear the fans cheering and singing from the rooftop. I thought it was pretty cool.

View from the rooftop

It was super windy on the roof. All of Kacy's friends looked adorable with their hair all curled. They apparently use miracle hairspray (a handful of them are hairstylists) so all of their hair looked perfect the whole time. Mine didn't fare so well. I don't know how to curl it anyway so it remained pretty straight and eventually really tangled. Also, the front of my shirt kept blowing up in the wind. I pretty much said all of that just so I have excuses as to why I don't look great in this photo:

I had to get at least one photo with the bride-to-be though! I can't believe my little baby sister is getting married. I feel like she just graduated from high school, but apparently that was five years ago. Yikes. I'm feeling old.
-Kira

The Baby's Room - Inspiration

2011-07-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

We haven't started on the baby's room yet. The first thing scheduled to be done is to replace the window. Then we can really get started. I have been gathering inspiration images, but we haven't settled on anything yet. I still like my weird theme idea, but I think it will end up being just some framed photos on the wall. I'm not very good at sticking to themes.

Let the inspiration begin -

I love the branch hanger rod

yarn covered letters

bookshelves full of colorful vintage books

embroidery hoops and fabric, so pretty and simple

I had a lot of fun decorating my super girly studio and I'm sure this is going to be equally fun and colorful.
-Kira

**Oh, and I have gotten really bad lately at scheduling guest bloggers for the Mama Knows Best series on Wednesdays. If you are interested in participating please send me an e-mail!

Pregnancy Update and Hospital Things

2011-07-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

When you are pregnant it is completely acceptable to make microwave rice krispie treats, and eat them out of a bowl with a wooden spoon while watching Jon Stewart. This is one of the perks of pregnancy and it also happens to be what I am doing right now.

I wanted to share my experiences with the hospital facility tour we took on Sunday. We planned our tour of the labor and delivery ward of the nearest hospital covered by our insurance a little early so we would be able to explore other options if it didn't feel right. I hadn't done any research prior to the tour and to be honest, I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. What I found was more than a pleasant surprise, it was kind of exciting.

The tour was extremely informative. The tour leader took us all over the facility and explained the processes and procedures. The first thing I noticed was that the rooms are huge and you don't have to share a room with anyone for recovery. I was afraid that we might have to do that. I found out that my hospital is the only facility following the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in my area. They have one of the best breastfeeding success rates in the Northwest, are very conscious of giving you the birth experience you want, and all deliveries (except for high risk surgeries) are done by midwives. The facility was also recently renovated and is really beautiful.

I'm so impressed by the facility and I feel much calmer about labor and delivery now because I absolutely feel like I am in the competent hands of people who are going to listen to me and follow practices that I planned to ask for anyway.

Only 10 more weeks to go!
-Kira

Memories and a Wedding

2011-07-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Me, Danielle, my twin sister Kara, and our friend Vanessa playing dress up

Yesterday, I attended my friend Danielle's wedding. Some of my oldest memories involve playing games like dress up and "Bonker Burger" with her (Bonker Burger is a fast food restaurant we made out of a big cardboard box). My sister and I started doing play dates with Danielle when we were three years old. Our moms were best friends so we were with one another all the time and basically grew up together.

Over the years, Danielle and I had Barbie fashion shows, wrote and illustrated a ridiculous book of poems, and started a singing group with our friend Julia called JDK (we pretty much thought we were the next best thing to TLC).

My best memory though is seeing how happy she was last night. She looked absolutely beautiful and was so excited to be married. It was completely evident how in love she is with her new husband. I am so happy for her!
-Kira

*I apologize for the terrible photo quality. The image is a cell phone photo of an old picture at my parent's house.

Victory

2011-07-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

I passed my glucose test which means I can still eat this:

This recipe is amazing.

And this:

Found here.

And this:

Best ice cream flavor ever.

On occasion of course. I was pretty nervous about this test as cutting out sugar and carbs seems pretty unbearable to me. What a relief!
-Kira

Bridal Shower - Part 2

2011-07-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

At the bridal shower, the girls played the "toilet paper wedding dress" game. I walked around and took photos of each group's progress. There are way too many pictures to share here so I decided to just show one or two in progress photos and the finished products. Enjoy!

My favorite neckline

This team had a hair stylist so they even did their contestant's hair

A toilet paper train

She could not walk in this dress at all, I think they taped it around her knees

This team pulled a flower out of my niece's hair to accessorize

Definitely the most unique, but also not a dress

Lining up for judging

The winner

To the shower attendees - I will post the rest of the photos on Facebook soon.

-Kira

Bridal Shower - Part 1

2011-07-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

The beautiful bride to be

We had my sister Kacy's bridal shower yesterday. The weather did not cooperate. Thank goodness we had lots of guys with connections on hand to find and set up tents that morning.

I employed two three year olds to help me dry off all of the chairs before the guests arrived. They surprisingly did a pretty great job.

There were about 60 people invited. Only 9 RSVP'd that they would be attending. I think about 50 showed up. I'm glad we over planned in the food department.

I was in charge of the chocolate fountain. I enjoyed buying all of the goodies to dip in it. The fountain started making loud noises about two hours in and we had to turn it off. People didn't seem to mind just scooping up spoonfuls of chocolate though.

funfetti cake - the sister's favorite (really the only cake she likes)

Tomorrow I will post photos of the games. Usually I hate shower games, but I had fun while they were going on at this party. Maybe it's because I was taking photos instead of participating? Either way, there are some pretty good action shots.

Happy Monday!

-Kira

I Really Want...

2011-07-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

This recipe looks real good.

I want to eat a plate of eggs benedict, but I can't because of the hollandaise sauce raw egg situation. Out of all of the things I can't eat or drink during pregnancy, this is by far the hardest to avoid. Once I am no longer pregnant (and recovered from the whole birthing a baby thing) I will be eating a giant plate of this stuff. There will just be hollandaise sauce everywhere, and it will be glorious.

-Kira

Weekend Review - Birthday Edition

2011-07-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

I turned 27 this weekend. I'm not sure when I will actually start to feel like an adult, but I found a gray hair the other day so I must be on my way.

We spent three hours at Babies R Us on Saturday morning adding items to our registry. When we left we only had 49 items and the guy looked at us like we were crazy. He said most people leave with at least 200. I felt like we did a good job regardless.

Sunday was my birthday. It started off with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes, involved some shopping, and I began reading one of my gifts --Bossypants by Tina Fey. So far it is hilarious, but the cover totally creeps me out. Jeremy made hamburgers for dinner and the night ended with a big waffle cone full of a cookies & cream and a gold medal ribbon combo. Pretty good birthday, I think.

I am still trying to decide which pair of Toms I want to get for my gift. Which would you get?

via

I think another pair of comfortable shoes are pretty necessary for this summer third trimester. I love the chambray pair, but they don't have my size so I'm trying to decide if they are worth the wait or if I should go for the others.

Oh, and side note...moms, what bottles do you use & does you child use a pacifier? What are your baby monitor preferences? There are a few items for the registry still up in the air.
-Kira

A Parenting Book I Can Stand Behind

2011-07-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Generally, parenting books are not very desirable to me. I decided if a 16 year old can figure out how to raise a child without completely ruining them (and many can, I have relatives to prove it) that a responsible almost 27 year old and her husband can figure it out. Most parenting books and ridiculous "news" shows would tell me otherwise.

According to the society we live in kids shouldn't walk to school by themselves, they shouldn't talk to strangers, and apparently they can't even handle wearing a drawstring anymore until they reach junior high.

I have literally argued with older generations who believe that the world is a much scarier place than it was when they were kids. I adamantly believed this wasn't the case even though I had no facts or statistics at the time to back me up. I truly felt that it was the television news sensationalism of stories related to very rare and horrific events involving children that has started freaking parents out.

I guess that is one of the reasons I love the book Free Range Kids so much. In many ways, it proved me right. I like to be right, but I also like this book for other reasons. I appreciate the author's sense of humor as well as all of the fact and statistic based reasoning found in the book. It made me feel good to know that I am not crazy and that the idea of raising my kids a little more "Free Range" isn't radical and unsafe. I want our kids to have confidence in themselves and their abilities. I don't want to treat them like they will break in half or get abducted by some weirdo if they are out of my sight for five minutes. I don't want my children to be afraid of everything and everyone around them. If you feel the same way, you should definitely read this book. And, if you go through your child's Halloween candy looking for poison and razors...you should probably read this book, too.

-Kira

Craving of the Day #5

2011-07-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've done a "Craving of the Day" post. It turns out that cravings kind of go away after the first trimester and I really haven't had a good one since. I'm not sure if this current craving is related to the pregnancy or if it's due to the fact that summer is finally here. I think it has a lot to do with the weather. Either way, I have been eating tons of watermelon lately. Usually twice a day. Yesterday I was so lazy that I didn't even cut it up. I just cut one in half and started eating it with a spoon. You can do those kinds of things when you are pregnant.
-Kira

Mama Knows Best #8 - Registering

2011-07-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

things you don't need to register for...

Hi, I'm Becca from life@1521.

You're probably thinking to yourself didn't she already do a guest post for Kira?

You would be correct (read my first one here). I wanted to do a few posts for Kira about registering, since I know she is pretty nervous about it. I had always heard that registering was so overwhelming, so when I was pregnant, I tried to prepare myself as much as I could by reading a few great books containing a great wealth of baby product info and reviews (see those books here and here).

It's a fact that babies need a lot of stuff. But they don't need nearly the amount of stuff that the giant baby stores lead you to believe. I thought it would be fitting to make a list of items to not register for.

(These are things we found that weren't necessary for us, though I'm sure people's opinions differ, as with anything.)

don't bother registering for... by life@1521 on Polyvore.com

1. special baby-friendly detergents. These are quite a bit more expensive than regular detergents. Babies do have more sensitive skin, but they don't need anything special. Instead, choose a perfume and dye-free detergent like this that you can use on all your laundry.

2. bottle sanitizers. Just one more thing to take up space on your counter. This is what a dishwasher is for right?

3. baby bathrobe and slippers. Really? I've never known a baby to hang out in a bathrobe, let alone slippers. Resist the cuteness and put them straight into their pjs.

4. baby mittens. Babies have sharp nails and scratch their faces when they get frustrated. My son wore socks on his hands while he slept for the first six months of his life so he wouldn't wake up with a bloody forehead. He never once asked for special mittens. You already have the socks, so just use those.

5. baby food cooker. Once again, something else to clutter your counter. I made all of my son's baby food and was actually glad that I didn't buy one. The "puree stage" lasts for a month or two at the most, so don't waste your money on something you won't use for very long. Instead, buy this, this, or this... and at least you can use them later on for other things.

6. changing table. Not to say that you don't need a changing table, but at least get one that has a dresser attatched so they can use it for more than 2 years. Better yet, just plop a changing pad on any low dresser you like!

7. stroller frame. Total waste of about $80. You probably would use this for a total of 3 months. Most strollers have infant seat adaptors anyways.

8. baby powder. A little air-drying never hurt anybody, plus they think it's really funny when you fan their hiney with a diaper. Apparently, baby powder is dangerous to a baby's respiratory system if they inhale it as well. My son's pediatrican made sure we didn't have any at home.

9. special diaper pail. If you end up going with disposables, just get a kitchen sized garbage can and line it with a normal garbage bag. We use one like this. It's not an eyesore, we don't have to buy expensive inserts, it never stinks and we can use it later on.

10. wipe warmer. Dries the wipes out quicker. If you really want warm wipes just hold it in your hand for a moment.

11. bottle drying rack. Yet another thing to clutter your counters. Use a good 'ol towel or get glass bottles, they dry much better than plastics.

12. bottle warmer. Warming bottles in the microwave is a no-no because of hot spots. We put our son's bottles in a large mug and ran hot water over it. Warming the bottle in a saucepan with water works well too.

13. newborn shoes. It's hard to resist cute, tiny shoes....but really there is no point. The tiny shoes probably won't fit/stay on anyways. Keep their feet warm with socks, which are probably way more comfortable.

14. special lotions. My son has eczema and I spent so much money on fancy lotions when he was a newborn. His pediatrician recommended Cetaphil which works so much better than the expensive Aveeno Baby lotion and is way cheaper. The simpler the better.

15. formula mixers. Really? Do people actually buy those? Use your hands people!

And there you have it. I'm sure there are a bajillion other things out there that are totally ridiculous (like this) but I thought I'd stick to the items that you might actually be considering.

Thanks Kira!

**Thank you, Becca! I feel really blessed to have so many friends like you who are willing to help me navigate this task. I finally created our registry account on the Babies R Us website last night. I was so overwhelmed by everything, I kind of felt like my head might explode.

-Kira

27 Weeks & the Weekend

2011-07-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Jeremy took 27 week belly photos of me yesterday afternoon before we headed out to two 4th of July barbecues. I am really getting big now, and I don't have one of those cute super round bumps. It's kind of pointy. I think this is partially due to my weird belly button situation which is really cramping my style.

The weather was perfect this weekend and we packed in a lot of activities.

On Saturday I took a trip down to my old hometown and visited my sister who is also my hair stylist. After my appointment with her, I had lunch with a good friend, visited with my parents, and then headed back up to prepare for a party at our place.

The turn out for our friend's going away party was great and everyone (including all of the kids) seemed to have a fun time. We are really going to miss our friends Nick & Becca, but they will be within driving distance as they are just moving down to California.

Sunday involved going to church and having a barbecue (also at our house) with Jeremy's family. We were quite the host & hostess this weekend.

The 4th involved a lot of food and fireworks. Our little girl was moving around a ton during the fireworks show. I felt kind of bad as I was afraid she might be scared by the noises. I really don't know if she has the capacity for fear yet, but the noises clearly affected her. Hopefully she will not be traumatized for life now.

I hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend!
-Kira

Filling in the Blanks

2011-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today I am playing along with my friend Lauren's Fill in the Blank Friday for the first time ever. Here we go...

1. The best news I ever received was when I found out Jeremy had feelings for me. The whole process is a long and pretty complicated story, but he gave me so many reasons to believe the contrary that when he finally came out and said it, I was so happy and so surprised.

2. Something I'm looking forward to is meeting my baby girl.

3. Something I would never do is go snorkeling or really do anything that involves actually going deep into the ocean. Also, I would only attempt parallel parking if my life depended on it.

4. If I could choose someone to be my life coach (famous or not, living or dead), I'd choose Jesus. Ok, that's kind of a cop out answer. If I couldn't pick Jesus I would probably pick my friend Emily. She always has the best advice. She should probably move to Portland and start being my life coach now.

5. If I had to put a label on my style it would be Kira. I can't think of a word that really describes my style. I don't dress from a specific genre or era and my "look" can totally change from one day to the next.

6. One should always brush their teeth & wear sunscreen in the summer. I also like Lauren's answer which was to be kind to others.

7. I want to go home this afternoon and have my house be magically cleaned. We are having a going away party for friends at our place tomorrow and it is seriously a disaster. I really don't want to deal with our mess.

Have a great holiday weekend!

-Kira

More Wedding Stuff

2011-06-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

I hoped to have all 400 invitations cut, stuffed, and stamped by last night. I ended up having exactly 226 completed. I blame being sick, but I have also had a lot going on lately. I do kind of feel like a failure anyway.

This weekend my mom and I also messed around with some of our thrifted dishes to work on a set up for the candy table. Above is a photo of one of our ideas. We will probably stick with the homemade cake/jewelry stand idea for a lot of the containers. I really love the colors. Very 70s looking.

I swear, I have already done more for this wedding than I ever did for my own. Sorry about that, mom.

-Kira

Mama Knows Best #7 - The Amazing Boppy

2011-06-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Kara. I am Kira’s twin sister, and I have an almost four year old daughter named Maleah. I wanted to share my favorite baby related product with you.

From the beginning of my pregnancy I was really excited about the journey. I got my associates in Early Childhood Education, and took care of a whole room full of infants my whole pregnancy. So, I wasn’t worried about the mom part, but I didn’t really know where to begin when it came to what I needed.

There are so many companies trying to make money and promoting their items as the best, I didn’t
know who to believe or where to begin. My husband is quite the research man so he was on the lookout for the best and safest carseat, stroller, breast pump, etc. The only thing I did know from working in childcare is that my first purchase would be a boppy pillow. We used multiple of them daily with my room full of six week to eight month olds. What I didn’t know is that I would use it for more than just nursing Maleah.

After I had Maleah and before being discharged from the hospital, I called my mom and requested she
bring my boppy pillow, not because I needed it to nurse Maleah, but because it was killing me to sit on
anything. The thought of sitting on that thing was glorious. Here is a picture of Maleah and I the day
after we got out of the hospital and yes I am sitting on the boppy.

I shared a little in the hospital though, she didn’t have any desire to sleep while we were in the hospital, but once I laid her on the boppy she went right to sleep.

I used it to lay her on when I needed to get things done like fold laundry or take a picture of her looking all cute!

Maleah had reflux really bad and she was supposed to stay elevated for at least thirty minutes and not
be moved around a lot after she ate and sometimes it wasn’t possible for me to hold her during that
time, so this is where I put her.

Once she got a little older and started learning how to sit unassisted, I used the boppy to wrap around
her in case she fell over (we have all wood floors), which happened pretty often. I would scoot it back a little further the more I felt she was getting better at sitting alone.

It has many different uses besides what it is advertised for and I am sure there are many more than
what I have metioned. I would have to say the boppy is the one thing that I used the most in the first year, I took it everywhere with us, even though Maleah is almost four the boppy still gets used by her dolls and for friends babies when they come over, but it is waiting for round number two one of these days!

Thanks Kira for letting me post on your blog, you will be a great mom and I can’t wait to go on this
journey with you!

**Kara, thanks for posting, I know how much you love that thing. I started an amazon wish list and it pretty much only has three items at this point. The boppy is one of them due to your endorsement. Also, thanks for posting that make-up less photo of me :)
-Kira

Wedding Invite Weekend

2011-06-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was mostly dedicated to designing, picking out paper, printing, and cutting my sister's wedding invitations. I still have some cutting to do, 300 more envelopes to stuff, and 350 more to stamp. I have a good four or five hours ahead of me before these things are done, but I'm pretty excited about how they look.

After seeing this post on A Beautiful Mess, I decided it would be fun to have a custom stamp made of my sister and her fiancé to use on the invites. I contacted Kozue to make them. She did a great job, and I can't believe how little it cost for all of the work that went into the stamp. I highly recommend her.

I can't wait until these things are done and out the door. The goal is to be finished Wednesday night.
-Kira

Last Week

2011-06-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

My posting has been kind of sporadic lately. Last week was BUSY and I have developed an annoying cold on top of it. I thought I would do a quick post covering all of the fun stuff I did last week. I will have to do a separate post on the weekend since my photos are still on the camera and I am currently too lazy to do anything about that.

A pretty sunset one night at camp

Monday-Wednesday I attended Design Camp. I got to know a lot of the designers at my company who work on different product categories than myself. We did really fun group projects and activities including:

-competitive geocaching

-building rockets

-a beautiful hike

-creating short films (this was my favorite)

So, lame story...I don't feel comfortable posting a lot of work related stuff on my blog. And, that means even though I have awesome photos documenting these events, you cannot see them. Bummer, right? I apologize.

Anyway, even through the geocaching and the hike out in the hot sun, the baby and I did great. I was very proud of the both of us.

Thursday was our anniversary. Jeremy and I watched the NBA draft for a while (until we got to the Blazers 21st pick of course) and then went to dinner at Laurelhurst Market. The food was fantastic, but it's a small space with a lot of tables and we could hardly hear one another talk. We mostly discussed the Blazers acquisitions and trades since we are kind of obsessed. I'm sad to see Andre Miller go, but I could kind of care less about Rudy at this point.

If you're not a Blazers fan, I'm totally not offended if you just skipped that last paragraph.

After dinner we went to Ben & Jerry's and were able to hear each other once again.

I did a market shopping trip Friday morning that included a lot of vintage shops. I picked up this adorable little dress for our girl at Vintage Pink while I was out.

embroidery close up

Friday night we went to Hopworks Urban Brewery with a group of friends and then picked up some Chubby Hubby and headed home. It was a Ben & Jerry's kind of week I guess. Nothing wrong with that.

-Kira

Four Years Ago...

2011-06-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today, I married my best friend. This isn't one of those cliche "my husband is my best friend" statements, though. He was literally one of my closest friends for years. We were officially dating on the same side of the country for about a week before he proposed. A lot of people thought we were crazy, but we knew it was right. Five years ago I thought marrying him was completely out of the realm of possibility. I am so glad that somehow, it happened.

I also can't believe that in a few months we will be parents. I can't wait to see daddy with his little girl.
-Kira

Mama Knows Best #6 - Cloth Diapering

2011-06-22T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name is Sara, I blog at Life on Oak St. I am a mom to a little boy named Blake, who just turned one! When Kira asked me to be a guest blogger I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share about my experience with cloth diapering.

When you think about cloth diapering you probably think about safety pins, plastic covers, and gross smelly prefolds. That's not necessarily the case anymore. Cloth diapers have changed tremendously over the last several years. In fact researching cloth diapering can be quite overwhelming nowadays. There are several different types of cloth diapers out there. I'm not going to dig into all the different kinds there are (that would take all day!), but I am going to tell you about the two different kinds I have used with Blake. Here is my cloth diapering experience...

When I was pregnant with Blake I worked in a child care center with infants and toddlers. One of the little girls in my class used the Fuzzi Bunz diapers. I was lucky in this case, because I really got to see what cloth diapering would be like (except I didn't have to take the diapers home and wash them). After having some experience with using the Fuzzi Bunz I thought I could do this cloth diapering thing.

Before Blake was born I purchased 14 Fuzzi Bunz diapers, 10 smalls and 4 onesizes. I didn't have intentions of cloth diapering right away since Blake was my first baby and I knew life would be busy trying to adjust to having a newborn, and newborns poop and pee so much that I would have constantly been doing laundry. We used disposables for about the first 6 weeks. When I felt like I was ready to give cloth diapers a try, I pulled out the small Fuzzi Bunz and tried it on him. It seemed really bulky on him and he didn't seem comfortable in it. Blake was on the smaller side when he was born and didn't gain weight very quickly like some babies do. Since I was eager to give cloth diapering a try I headed down to the local cloth diaper store and purchased a dozen prefolds and 4 covers and 2 snappies. I figured these would fit him better and was the most affordable way to go since I knew I wanted to use the Fuzzi Bunz once he grew into them.

(Blake at 6 weeks in a prefold cloth diaper)

How a Prefold works: There is a cloth piece which is called the prefold, then you have the snappies to hold the cloth part together and then the cover (the cover can be reused a few times before it needs to be washed). Since prefolds are made from cotton and don't hold a ton, they need to be changed pretty frequently. We only used prefolds during the day and disposables at night for about a month and a half. They worked great for the time that we used them but I definitely prefer Fuzzi Bunz over prefolds.

We started using the Fuzzi Bunz when Blake was about 3 months old and have been using them since! I started with the smalls and as he has gotten bigger we have been using the onesize.

(Blake at 8 months in a size small Fuzzi Bunz)

How a Fuzzi Bunz works: Fuzzi Bunz are considered a pocket diaper. There are two pieces to the Fuzzi Bunz. The outer waterproof layer is lined with a fleece inner layer that creates a pocket where the absorbent microfiber insert goes. Here are some pictures...

(outer layer, and microfiber insert)

(the pocket where the insert goes)

I have found the Fuzzi Bunz to be really easy to use. They have seemed to stay pretty nice, the one pictured, is one that we have been using since the beginning. Now that you kind of have a little bit of an idea of the kinds of cloth diapers out there I'll talk more about our routine and how we do cloth diapering on a daily basis.

Storing: I have a garbage pail with a lid that I keep in the bathroom. It is lined with a mesh bag. For poopy diapers I simply shake the poop off the diaper into the toilet and then toss the diaper in the pail. For wet diapers I just toss them in the pail. You can buy a diaper sprayer that hooks up to your toilet so you can spray them off, I have never purchased one but I know a number of people who have and it can be helpful at times. When we are away from home I put the dirty diapers in a wet bag (or just a plastic grocery sack if I forgot my wet bag). Surprisingly, I very rarely smell the diapers both when they are in the pail or wet bag.

(garbage pail)

How many: I started with 14 diapers which would get me through 2 days, so I would wash every other night and occasionally have to use a disposable while washing. Right now we have 24 diapers since Blake can still fit in a size small (shocking, I know considering he is one!). Once he out grows the smalls we will be back down to just to 14 onesizes. I feel like 14 is a doable amount but having 24 has been great because we always have cloth clean (with washing every other night).

Washing when/how: You probably are thinking... "Washing diapers every other night?! That sounds like doing laundry all the time!" It actually hasn't been that bad. I find that it works best for me to toss them in the washer once Blake is in bed. I first run them through a cold rinse cycle and then a hot wash cycle with a tiny bit of ALL Free and Clear detergent and then occasionally I'll do another rinse and then pop them in the dryer so they are dry by morning. There are all sorts of special detergent you can buy for cloth diapers. I have found that ALL Free and Clear works good for me (it is best to use a detergent free of dyes and perfumes). The one thing with Fuzzi Bunz, (and I think goes for most cloth diapers) is that you should NOT use fabric softener. The chemicals in fabric softener do something to the waterproofness of the outer layer. There are lots of resources online you can find about washing your diapers and it seems like there are many ways to wash them and every washer can be different, so do what works best for you! Oh, and a great and easy way to remove stains is to simply lay them in the sun for a few hours!

Cost: Cloth diapering can be pretty expensive to get into. We looked at it as an investment. We know we want more then one child and our plan is to use the diapers on baby #2 as well. The savings really come in when you can use them on multiple kids. We haven't noticed much of an increase in our water or power bills from washing. And we are creating less garbage so that is nice and better for our environment!

I never thought I would be a cloth diapering mama, it's really not as bad/hard as it may seem. But you have to do what works best for you :)

Kira, thank you for allowing me to be a guest blogger! I hope this information was helpful! I am so excited for you and Jeremy and can't wait to meet your little girl! You are going to be a great mama!!

Thanks, Sara! I have seen the Fuzzi Bunz diapers and was pretty impressed with the quality. This info is really helpful so I know how many we will need if we do end up going that way.

-Kira

Father's Day

2011-06-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to my fantastic dad, 'the Neil,' and my father-in-law, Tony! We are so blessed to have such wonderful fathers.
I got Jeremy a Father's Day gift this year, too. He isn't technically a dad yet, but he will be soon and I figured since he is doing so many things to prepare for the arrival of our little girl that he definitely deserved a gift.

Flask by Whimsy & Ink

I had noticed him looking at flasks on occasion while we were shopping so I figured I could get him something he actually wanted. This one was funny to me because I absolutely refuse to let him grow a mustache even though he really wants one. So, he got a flask and a mustache in one!

I probably won't be posting much this week. I'm leaving for Design Camp tomorrow morning which should be really fun and we are celebrating our anniversary on Thursday once I'm back in town. It's going to be a busy, but exciting week.
-Kira

Perks

2011-06-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

This week we had Voodoo Doughnuts come visit us at work. I stood in line for half an hour in the rain just to get my "Old Dirty Bastard" doughnut. It had chocolate frosting, Oreos, and peanut butter on top. Super healthy, obviously.

photo taken by co-worker (You can see my red head in the middle of the pack on the left, waiting patiently)

Having frizzy hair the rest of the day from standing in the rain was totally worth it.

It's pretty fun working here in the summer. We have sand volleyball tournaments, farmers markets, lots of treats including doughnuts and ice cream, and of course the occasional beer. Not for me this summer though :)
Does your work have any fun perks or activities for employees?
-Kira

24 Weeks

2011-06-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

I am at 24 weeks now! This pregnancy is going by so quickly, I can hardly believe it.

People keep telling me how terrible it is to be pregnant in the third trimester during the summer. I can't wait to experience that blessing, especially with no air conditioning in the house. At least it's fairly mild around here. August could get kind of terrible though. If the summer goes as quickly for me as the rest of this pregnancy has, our baby girl will be here in no time and braving the heat will be totally worth it.

I find it interesting how complete strangers find it totally acceptable to tell me how huge I am. The checker at the grocery store the other day asked me when my due date was. When I told her early October she said, "that's going to be a huge baby, I was sure you were at least at 7 months." Thanks lady.

I'm just glad the rude strangers haven't started touching my belly. I might freak out on them. I have been able to handle the comments gracefully so far, but if someone I don't know touches me...I'm not sure how I would handle that. Strangers, don't be weird, ok?
-Kira

Mama Knows Best #5 - Home Birth

2011-06-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm Jessi and I blog over at Sparrows and Arrows. I am the mother of 3 girls, and am excited to take part in Kira's Mama Knows Best Series and share some of my experiences with you :)

Home Birth & Hospital Birth

My 3 girls are, Kate, Maya and Lily-and were all different styles of births. Kate was born via Obstetrician at a hospital, Maya was born via midwife at a hospital, and Lily was born via midwife at home - so I have covered some bases in child birth and have a somewhat educated opinion :)

If you wanted my short answer - Home birth FTW! They are an excellent option for whom it is an option, I don't want this to sound as though it is wrong to have a hospital birth in anyway! You need to do what you feel the most comfortable with, I was lucky enough to have totally text book, low risk deliveries that allowed me to have the option of a home birth.

If you want to know why, here is the long answer :)

Kate

When I had Kate, I didn't even know midwives existed, so I just went the hospital route, with no reason to question.
During pregnancy: I saw so many different students and residents and only ever got about 5 minutes face time with my obgyn - who really didn't have a clue who I was each visit. Every appointment was behind schedule and I really had the feeling that I was not being encouraged to ask questions, they needed to keep moving.
Delivery: When delivery time came, I was not in labour, but my water had broken. They said you'll be induced in the morning and left me alone. When I buzzed them that night to say I was feeling a lot of pain they brushed it off and were just going to give me morphine - I was not asked if I wanted it, I was told I was getting it. A keener student suggested they take a look, and wow imagine that, I wasn't just a wimp, I was 8 cm! The epidural guy was called in (I was never talked to about other pain options, and trustfully went with what was suggested).
I had 5 strangers in the room while I delivered, and then soon as she was out, the Dr. left and the nurse did all the work - until her shift was over.
Post Delivery: I stayed in the hospital for 2 nights, and was checked on when it was their scheduled time to - which sometimes was the middle of the night.... no matter if we were both sleeping - rounds need to be done! I had a rough recovery, and lots of stitches, but as far as I knew that's how babies were born. I now know it was the drugs that made pushing harder and therefore caused more tearing.

Maya

Fast forward to Maya: By the time I found out I was pregnant with Maya, I had met a friend who had had a midwife. She is my hippy vegetarian friend so I didn't take her seriously, I mean there was no way I was delivering my baby in a tent with a stick of wood in my mouth while the neighbors chanted in a circle! " Umm I had my baby in the hospital after being induced and having an epidural"she enlightened me. oops. She told me I really needed to at least meet them, and I would change my mind right away.
I decided to sit on it (which I have learned not to ...if you want a midwife go right away - there are wait lists!) so I was wait listed and started my care with an obgyn. Again I was a number, my appointments were always behind schedule, and therefore rushed. I hated it. I was so happy when the midwives called and said there was space for me, even 6 months in I switched.
During Pregnancy: Every appointment was held in a room with comfy couches - no medical looking equipment, they knew my name, she took time to ask me questions to get me thinking when I couldn't think of anything to ask. I was never rushed or made to feel like anything wasn't in my hands.
"Have you thought about natural childbirth" she asked. Here we go I thought - here is the hippy part - who on earth has natural child birth! Why suffer when there are drugs to help you?!
"Nope I had an epidural with Kate and I am going to again I guess." She smiled and let me believe that that was totally fine, but she said I had such a fast delivery the first time, that this one was bound to be faster and I should prepare myself for not having drugs - there might not be time.
Delivery: When I called to say my water broke, Heather (my midwife) was over right away to check me (despite an 12am false alarm the night before) and we headed over to the hospital - where 15 minutes later, and as predicted drug free*, Maya was born. She and another midwife were the only "staff" in the room, they kept the lights low and I was able to go home 4 hours later.

*I will add I had not taken her suggestion to prepare for a natural birth - and panicked when I found out I couldn't have any drugs... tried not to push and fought against my body..lol clearly the smart thing to do...also in all honesty, because I could feel the muscles I was using to push I was terrified and embarrassed to maybe go to the bathroom on the table...if we are being honest here :).
Post Delivery: I felt great after having Maya, I felt empowered and like I could do anything. I had very minor stitching needed, and the midwives came to me for the first month of post baby appointments. Hippie friend wins, midwives are awesome.

Lily

Jump ahead 3 more years and Lily is coming...

I got a midwife right away. Appointments and such were the same, I had decided that this baby would be really fast and I know I can do it drug free so maybe I should just stay home. What a great idea, I thought.
Are you F&%^%# crazy is what Clifford thought. How would I win this battle?? He thought I was putting our baby at an un-necessary risk, that I was being selfish thinking of comfort over the baby's safety. I posted to my baby center birth group ( a great recourse btw!) about my frustrations and recieved an answer from a maternity nurse who had some valuable information that helped convince my husband to at least attend the home birth information night.

She said the following: I work in a hospital, and attend high-risk deliveries on a regular basis as part of my job. I decided early on to have a hospital birth, because with everything I had seen over the years, I was convinced that I needed to be in the hospital for my own safety, and that of the baby. Well, I'm starting to regret that decision now. I've been doing a lot of research, and am slowly starting to discover that so many of these high risk deliveries that I have attended have only become high risk because of the medical interventions imposed on the mom. Statistics are actually showing these days that home births are extremely safe- there are fewer medical interventions and fewer complications. I applaud your decision to do this at home, and I will likely do the same thing for baby #2.

At the Information Night I was embarrassed that Clifford was the only dad asking question (and direct, "what will you do in this scenario...), the midwives answered all questions with medical statistics and science .... and he wavered, if science says it safe it must be! So we went ahead with my plan.

Delivery: I woke up and my water broke and contractions started, the midwife team showed up and hung around my bedroom quietly as I laboured. I was in such a different place with this delivery, I had research so much in to home births and knew this was the most natural thing my body could do and felt totally in control. At one point they decided to check me and realized that Lily was stuck - enter panic feeling of "what was f%^$ was I thinking!! Why am I not in a hospital".. 3 minutes later she was born, and I was totally team home birth again :)

Post Delivery: They let me hold her for awhile, then did all her stats right there on the bed with me. Clifford made coffee, the midwives went downstairs to do their paperwork, and our newly grown family + dog hung out together on a nicely cleaned bed that 25 minutes before - wasn't so clean. Again I had such a feeling of empowerment, something I did not get when I was numbed by pain meds. Overall it was just such a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere that I wished I had all my babies that way. And after all was said and done Clifford was a major advocate for home births too :)

Again, this is my opinion based on my own experiences and those of my friends. There are wonderful doctors out there and great hospital experiences, this is just my account and meant for those who are considering going the home birth option. It helped when deciding to hear other stories of women who had successfully had home births. I know that home birth isn't for everyone, and some medicaly are not able, but for me it was a most amazing and rewarding experience.

If it is midwifery and/or home birth is something you are considering, I suggest watching "The Business of Being Born" I watched it after having Lily and it really is full of great information, that I think will help in making a decision.

- Jessi

Thanks Jessi! I'm going the hospital route for my first birth, but I have the option to choose between a doctor or a midwife for delivery. This information is certainly helpful to me!
-Kira

Craving of the Day #4 - Junk

2011-06-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I went to the grocery store yesterday because we needed produce and milk. I did buy those things, but I also picked up a bunch of random junk (pictured) and somehow a whole lot of cheese.

This is proof that pregnant Kira should not go to the grocery store by herself while hungry.
-Kira