Beach Trip 2014

The zero degree temps this morning combined with the fourth snow day in a row leave me some extra time to catch up on the blog and wish for summer! 

Last summer we went back to Atlantic Beach for a week.  The kids were so excited about the beach because they remember all the fun things from the year before.  Esther was underwhelmed by her first ocean sighting, but overall it was a great trip. 

Busy

Fall is a busy time for any family, but this fall I think we have hit the busiest season of our life so far.  We have two kids at two different schools, Jay and I working full time and a baby in our family.  Starting kindergarten, preschool, Jay working a new job with longer hours and having our first experience in rec league sports has left little down time in the past two months.  I am hoping we have rounded a corner and some of the busyness is starting to die down with the approaching end of soccer season and just learning how to adjust to our new "normal." In the meantime we are savoring every moment we have at home together!

VBS

Our church had a week of VBS in July.  This year the theme was "Agency D3," a spy/secret agent theme.  The kids had a great time, especially since 3 of their cousins came to VBS with them. 

The kids loved doing the pledges and learning all the new songs.  

Guess Who?

The three kids at four months of age.  Can you guess who is who? 

 

Four Months

Esther is now four months old.  She was a champ at her four month check up earlier this week and weighed in at 14 lb 11 oz (1 lb bigger than Charlotte and 2 lbs bigger than Trey!) and 24 1/2 inches long.  She was just over the 50th percentile for weight and just under the 50th percentile for height.  Thus giving her "the healthy, chubby baby look" said lovingly by her pediatrician.

She spent a lot of time playing at church while I got ready for VBS this summer!

Holding her head up so well!

Esther in the nursery on her first day of VBS.

She is still an extremely happy and go with the flow baby.  She has travelled the state this past month and dragged along to swim lessons, Bible school, and park play dates with her older brother and sister.  She handles it all like a champ and has become very adept at sleeping in her car seat, swing, stroller, crib, or being rocked in a chair.  At church they have learned not to let her get overly tired, because then she is very hard to settle down.  Once she starts to rub her eyes if you give her the paci, wrap the muslin blanket over her (including her head) and rock her tightly she will go right to sleep.  At night she does great putting herself to sleep in the crib around 8 pm.  She usually sleeps till about 3:30 and wakes up to eat, then is back to sleep until 6:30 or 7.  Some nights she sleeps through the night, but usually she will eat about one time a night.  She was sleeping through the night great at 3 months of age, but all of our traveling has thrown her off a bit. 

She is a pro at snoozing in the car.

She is growing great just on breastmilk and her pediatrician said we could start introducing solids sometime before six months.  I am in no hurry to start that, but I will definitely be making her baby food like I did for Charlotte.  She eats every three hours during the day.  She is still on a three hour schedule where she is up for two hours, then sleeps for an hour, wakes up and eats and starts all over again.  This means she has about 4 naps a day with the longest nap usually in the afternoon and her last nap is a quick catnap during dinner time.

Charlotte loves to match her sister.  Esther is not so sure...

She loves toys and everything is going in her mouth right now.  Once she gets a hold of a blanket, her rattle or burp cloth it goes straight into her mouth.  She has started to do this with the other kids' hair or Charlotte's blankie if it gets to close.  The big kids had to come to her check up with me and the pediatrician talked to them about keeping their toys off the floor so Esther didn't choke on anything.

Lounging at her older sibling's swim lessons. 

Esther has rolled over from belly to back one time.  On her back she rolls over 3/4 of the way, then is stopped by her elbow because her hand is ALWAYS in her mouth.  If she could take her hand out of her mouth I think she would finish the roll easily.  She has learned to cross rooms by scooting on her back.  She will dig her heels into the ground and lift up her bottom and scoot around.  She has moved from one end of the room to the other and we have to watch because she will get stuck against furniture or walls and get mad because she can't go the other way.

That bottom arm gets in the way every time! 

Evening snuggles with Daddy

Happy Birthday America

This week at story time the librarian explained The Fourth of July to the preschool age kids as America's birthday.  It was a great way for them to understand this holiday! 

We had a wonderful day as a family! After a morning of water play at home we headed out to a parade, had a picnic dinner at the park, and finished up the evening at an elementary school with fireworks.  We successfully navigated the fireworks with no tears and everyone loved the show! 

My Experience with Babywearing

I have had 3 carriers- a sling, the moby and the ergo

The Sling

Pros- small, easy to fit in a diaper bag, great for newborns, easy to put on
Cons- I was constantly checking to make sure the baby's chin wasn't touching his neck.  You have to buy the correct size and it is hard to gauge the correct size when you are pregnant. 

I had this one for Trey, but honestly he slept so well in his car seat that I didn't use it as much as the other ones.  I was also the most worried about how he fit in, but that could be that I was new mom so everything made me more nervous.  I wore it from birth until Trey was about a year (then I didn't really wear him again because I was already pregnant!). 

Moby Wrap- I had this for baby Charlotte and Esther.

Pros- Charlotte loved it, most like being in the womb, soft and easy to wash, I put it on before I go somewhere then when I get to the store I take the baby out of the carseat and put her in the moby.  It has much more back support than the sling.  One size fits all so if you lose weight after the baby you can just tie it around you tighter and it still fits.  I wore this for walks, going to the library with the baby and even apple picking when Charlotte was about 10 months old. 


Please forgive my exhausted look, this was the baby that didn't sleep :)  This is the moby with 2 week old Charlotte.  If I needed Charlotte to take a good nap when she was a newborn I put her in the moby. 

Esther in the moby at 2 months old.  She hated having her head tucked in so I always I had to hold her head.

Cons- For the newborn carry you have to tuck the baby's head into the fabric so it is truly hands free.  Charlotte did not mind this and liked being tucked in.  Esther hated it, even when she was fast asleep in the moby if I attempted to tuck her head in the fabric she would wake up and start screaming.  Also when you are out there is a ton of fabric to wrap around you so it is hard to keep it from touching the floor while wrapping. 

Ergo- Love this!! It is by far my favorite carrier of the three.  I have only had it for Esther, but I use it all the time. 

Pros- Great back support and easy to put on by yourself.  I can see how it would still be comfortable as baby gets older.  My  husband is willing to wear it if necessary (He wouldn't come close to the sling or moby:)  Esther loves it and she is not a fan of the Moby.  I feel very comfortable bending over wearing it as it is truly hands free, where as the other two carriers I always felt the need to keep one hand on the baby when I would bend over.  It also has a shade that you can pull over a sleeping baby to keep the head completely covered.

Cons- You have to get the newborn insert to use from birth-about 3/4 months.  About 3 1/2 months I stopped using the newborn insert for Esther because she had plenty of head control.  Trey had a very floppy neck so I probably would have had to use the insert longer for him.  Most expensive carrier.  The insert can be a bit warm, but if you are wearing baby anytime other than that hot summer months outside it is fine.  Plus if you have a newborn, you usually aren't outside for extended periods of time anyways.  Inside my house or a store I didn't find the newborn insert too hot. 

Esther in the newborn insert.

If I had to choose just one carrier I would invest in the ergo with the baby insert.  It is the most expensive, but I think it has the most longevity and is very supportive for the wearer's back and hips.  I thought about the K'tan breeze, but I don't know anyone personally who has a K'tan, so I was hesitant to buy it since I already have so many carriers :)  Also for help figuring out how to use each carrier there are tons of you tube videos!  Just search for the different carrier in you tube and watch the videos that demonstrate the different holds.  I found the videos way more helpful than the owners manuals. 

I bought my Ergo carrier and newborn insert off zulilly.com so I paid half the cost of it.  I don't know how often the Ergo is sold on zulily, probably every few months, but it is worth checking into.  I found the first 2 months of life I wore the baby all the time, even at home, just because it made my baby's sleep better and it was easier than sitting on the sofa holding them all day.  Once my baby's got out of the newborn sleeping all the time phase, I mainly use the carrier when I am out and about.  It is so much easier than lugging around the car seat or having to deal with the stroller every time I get in and out of the car.