Dear Stan and Jan Berenstain....

                                  Thank You!!!!!!

After reading a bedtime book to our bear cub even my "Papa Bear" got the moral to this story.

I loved these books when I was a kid.  Luckily, my mom saved our childhood library and I am able to carry on the tradition.  Always a good story with a good moral for the youngsters and their parents.

It's all such a fine line

It really is.  
Such a fine line.
I think about this all the time.  It spawns and snowballs into so many 'what ifs' and 'what have yous'
I wonder if everyone wonders the same things?

We all do our best as mothers, parents.
Every little scolding, reprimanding turned lesson. time out...such a fine line.
You wonder...and maybe not in the heat of the moment...but at some point..
Did I handle that right?  Did I get my point across in positive way?  Did he really absorb what I was trying to teach?  Does he appreciate the boundaries?
Such a fine line.
Will he understand why I lost my temper?... Is my lesson on why we have to pick up after ourselves getting through??  Was that a life lesson?  Does he know I just don't want him to get hurt?  
Are we spoiling him?  Does he expect things or is he appreciative?
Does he know that last toy was for his good "report card" at school? "keep up the good work"...did I explain that properly?  Is he grateful?
Did he even hear me?

I could go on and on.
Every day EVERY thing we say and do they pick up on it.  Every thing.  Even when we don't think they are paying attention.   They are listening, learning, watching, absorbing.

Is this one action the thing they will remember forever and take with them?

No pressure, right?

I love them more than anything I could describe...I love their father.  They are being raised in a loving family.
The plan is that that will be the basis that shapes them into fine young men.
Well rounded people with good morals and respect for themselves and others.
People that you want to be around.  Men that you want to be like, that you look up to.
Positive and happy.

We all do our best.....
Then we send them out into the world and hope at least some of the things that we said, taught and did will stick.

Wait..It's been 7 weeks?

7 weeks seems like such a short period of time in the full scheme of things, but like such a long time since the birth happened.
Next week he goes for his shots.  The ones that "allow" him to go out into the world.  I feel like he's sturdy enough now, but why rush it?
Really don't need to get him to the grocery just so people can breathe, touch and germ all over him.  Let the preciousness of it all last just one more week.
Just one more week for me to coddle over my "newborn".
In my mind once he gets those shots, he'll be a baby not a newborn.
He's almost ready for the Bumbo....
Time is really gonna start moving after that.
He'll roll over.
Sit up on his own.
Start eating cereal.
Be able to go in the walker.
Crawl.
Walk.
Talk.
He'll be a toddler before I figure out how to handle each phase of all these weeks.

The benefit of him being my second child is that I do know the time is fast.  I can relish
cherish
live
each moment.
He's only a baby for a minute.

Just as an added Bonus I look at my 4 year old with awe.  He's perfect.
I often wonder how he grew so fast, how he was once so small?   Smaller, in fact, than his little brother.
His features are changing.  He's a little boy, not a baby, not even a toddler.
So smart, so observant, so aware.
He's really beginning to BE the big brother. 
He looks at his brother with love and sweetness.  I know he will be protective.

They smile at each other...it is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

The Diaper Challenge.

Our first son was a Huggies baby all the way.  
Nothing else worked.  If we got a different brand or a family member kindly brought some when they came for a visit, it was a disaster.

EVERY other kind leaked.  And leaked within minutes...not like we left them on to test the limits.

They say each child is different and I guess that goes for diapers, too.

When I was still pregnant and people asked what we needed I was sure to tell them diapers.  I kept all the clothes, toys, towels, burp rags, etc, so I really just needed the disposables.

So if they wanted to get us something, get diapers, if they were gonna get diapers, get Huggies. 

I was grateful for anything, but I was just trying to avoid wasting their dollars and diapers.

The hospital also gave Huggies.  Awesome.  I was stoked.

In the first week everything in the world of diapers was right.  No leaks, holding strong.

Then the flood gates opened....

I have no idea what happened.  Either the Huggies had changed or this kid is a peeing machine.

There were leaks.

Lots of leaks.

Quite humorous when my hubs lifts the baby away from him and there is a huge wet spot, but not practical.

Every diaper change it seemed I had to change the onesie as well, because the 'wet' had seeped through.  Seeped is the best way to explain.  Not like it leaked out the side, top or bottom, just sort of seeped through and soaked the baby.  Annoying.

Even with changing the diapers ALL the time he still seemed..damp.

So I've decided to take the competitors for a test run.

Once I find something that works, I usually don't stray, but this is not working.  Sorry Huggies, I sang your praises for years, but this may be the end of our relationship.  This kid is different.

Today (March 3) is the first day of diaper #1 test.  The Pampers.

These so did not work with the previous child.   My friends thought I was crazy, but they all had girls.  I assumed that the anatomy had something to do with why they worked so well for them and not for my boy.

This go around, they seem to be doing well.

I was a bit skeptical when I took them out of the package.  They were WAY thinner than the competition. Like paper. and they seemed a bit flimsy.   But so far so good.  No leaks, no seeps.  I haven't let him go too long without a change, so they are still on trial.....

On a side note, they do smell good.  I believe they have a baby powder kind of smell, which is a nice bonus.

(March 5)  I've now also tested out the Luvs.

Right out of the package they seemed similar to the Pampers, a lot thinner than the Huggies.   They also look like the Pampers on the inside.  I was very pleased with these as well, especially because they were the least expensive.  Then it went downhill.....

The baby took a really long nap (awesome) woke up had a few pulls of the bottle and fell right back to sleep.  So he was down about 3 or 4 hours in total.  I got him up and he was soaked through.   Maybe you think  I should be changing diapers more often, but what if he was one of those babies who slept through the night?  I would need more out of my diaper.  The Luvs are most likely out...definitely out for a nighttime diaper.  Oh, and these are the 'nighttime protection' variety.   

So I'm gonna do a nighttime or long nap test with the Pampers and hope it goes well.

(March 10)  At this point I'm starting to think that no diaper is going to win this challenge.  I'm not trying to leave a diaper on my kid for hours and hours, but like I said earlier...what happens when he starts sleeping through the night?  I mean, I don't want to wake him up just to change a diaper.  Or am I going to have to change the soaked sheets every morning?  

As far as the challenge is going the Pampers definitely are winning.  They don't seep through like the Huggies.  The also seem to contain the pee longer than the Luvs.  While the Luvs don't seep through, when the "fill up" they leak out of the back or sides.  

So it looks like I'll be converting over to Pampers.  All around they seem to be the most effective.

The Huggies where the one and only with our 1st son, but they just aren't cutting it.  This does sadden me a bit because they have a new feature that I think is pretty cool.  There is a line up the front of the diaper that turns blue when the baby pees.  This came in quite handy with a newborn.  Instead of sticking a finger in the diaper or feeling the 'plumpness' of it, you could just look and see.  So cool, but not cool enough to have a wet baby.

So I'll be buying the Pampers, but I still have some testing to do within the realm of Pampers themselves.  

Hopefully I find something amazing and truly leak proof!!

Also I want to add that before Tyce was born I was seriously considering a cloth diaper.  My husband was in absolutely NO way on board with this.  He did not want to deal with the poo in any more depth than he already had to.  I thought I would just use them at home.  When we went out I could bring some disposables.  With all this leakage I lost the battle.  I may revisit the idea when we no longer have a newborn and are on a bit more of a schedule.   We will continue recycling and reducing our carbon footprint in other ways...

  For now I'm going to put all my efforts into more consistent feeding times hoping it will result in more consistent nap and sleep times.  

All this sleep deprivation is for the birds...but that's a whole other subject....




Update. 
July 16th
Tyce is just about 5 and a half months and I've had a revelation.  
Pampers Extra Protection!
I discovered them by accident by way of a coupon that came in the box with the Pampers swim diapers.
They are a dream.  I was wondering how I had never stumbled upon them before this.  
All those nightly feeding interrupted by a warm, wet sensation on my body are a thing of the past.
Unfortunately they start at size 3, hence the late discovery.  But they are amazing.  Sure to stop all your leaky nights.  So get a coupon and go get a box.  It's the one with the sleeping baby, stars and Sesame street characters on it.  
You will thank me.  :)
 

Family tree project

 A few months ago my mom gave me a frame she found at a thrift store.  It was nice and big and already had a matte.  But it had a generic picture of some golf scene...not cute.  I couldn't figure out what I was going to do with it so we painted a poster board with random brush strokes and just put it in there for something to do.   It was fine, something on the wall in the baby's room.
Then I had a great idea....inspired by Pinterest, of course.  

We are going to make a Family Tree Paining with our hand prints. 

It will be cute and original.
I was gonna find stuff around the house to create my idea. 
I get the picture down and pull out the make shift painting we already had in there.  
I decide I'm just gonna paint over it and use the sides for some pops of color.  
I had some gray sample paint from tests in the hallway and Ryder has tons of acrylic and finger paints for projects.  
Perfect.
First I brush on the tree base.  Easy enough.  
I paint my hand and stamp a few on.  Then Ryder, then Daddy...looking good.  
Time for the baby...hmmmmm. 
I'm thinking Daddy will hold him and I'll paint and stamp.
I quickly realize this is not be as simple as I had it going in my head.
Tyce's hand is small.  There is no way I'm going to be able to paint, flatten it out and stamp in without making a big smear mess.   hmmmmm.
The feet!  I'll do the feet!
Perfect!

For a little personalization, I wrote 'Family Tree' on the top and added our names on one of our prints, then put the year on the bottom.
Turned out to be fun art for the baby's room.  
And it was FREE!  Cool bonus.
His room now has three projects in it.  :)  Maybe he'll be inspired to be an artist.......

UPDATE:  Since we moved, I moved the Family tree to the bedroom, but it may end up in the playroom...
Here's some new shots for now.

Strolling

A couple days ago the whole fam went for a stroll around the hood.
 Daddy with the leashed dog, me with the baby in the stroller and Ryder on his bike.  It was nice, we all had a good time.
Today, although Dad was in town at a basketball game, I thought I would recreate the act without the dog.  Baby, Ryder and myself around the block.   Simple.
I  gather everybody up.  Baby in stroller, Ryder on bike, let's move out.  The dog is barking like crazy, because he wants to go too.  Sorry pooch, not enough hands and you don't behave 100%.  He keeps barking, but we proceed.
It's nice.  We're just two houses down and Ryder wants to stop and pick some wildflowers out of the field for me.  Sweet boy.
Our neighbor comes out with his dog to chat and help Ryder get every color azalea off the bushes in his yard.  Very patient man Mr Bill.  A great neighbor. 

PINK AZALEA IN OUR BACKYARD GETTING POLLINATED BY A BUMBLEBEE

We get back on our way.  I can still hear our dog barking.
Some other neighbors stop in their car to get out and have a peek at the baby.  Nice.  He is a cutie.
As they pull away other people from the community are coming up the road with their dogs.  They are beautiful (the dogs, not the people)
Ryder stops again for more flowers for me, so I make small talk with the newcomers.  The dogs are some sort of Egyptian breed, tall and thin, show dogs.  Cool.  The lady is talking about the 'gentle leader' leashes they have on.  She's telling me I would be able to walk my dog and everybody else in my pack if I had one of these.  I'm smiling and nodding, the baby is stirring and I need to get moving.  As I turn to go she has a slight look of panic in her eye and says, "Is that your dog...."
(This next part happens in minutes, seconds maybe)
I turn to look down the street.
Mind you, we are only about 4 houses down, just right at the corner.
Out of the corner of my eye I see MountieBoo tearing at us.  He is running at us like a greyhound, full speed ahead.
So fast it looks like he's smiling.
The lady turns to get out of Dodge while saying..."we're just gonna keep moving, we don't want any trouble."
Trouble... ??
What the heck is she talking about??
Trouble?
From who the big galoot who's galloping at us??
Trouble?.. Like this is some sort of stick up.
Is my dog not pure enough to hang with your fancy dogs??
I'm so confused, I'm not even sure how to respond.
But what I'm really thinking is...
Holy Crap! how in the heck am I going to catch this dang mutt with the baby in the stroller, while keeping an eye on my other kid who has now abandoned his bike?
And how in the heck did the dang dog even get out?    
He better not have dug a hole!
So the lady kind of  run/walks away and, of course, our 'smart' dog barrels right at her and her husband and their show dogs.
Great.
They keep going, so does he.
God love him, he just wants to play.  He's running, jumping, just  a hot mess.
Somehow, by the grace of God, they stop retreating and I'm able to grab his collar.
He immediately realizes he's caught and in big trouble and gives up.
Again. Thank God.
So
Now I have the stollered baby and the dog by the collar.  Actually one finger in the ring in his collar so it stays tight and he doesn't try to shimmy out.  I'm looking at the bike wondering what my next move should be...
The show dog owners are practically out of sight at this point.  Thanks people.
I tell Ryder to go to the house and get the leash.  At least he will be safe in the yard or house while I comically walk, slowly, with everyone else in tow, hoping something doesn't catch Mountie's eye and he bolts tearing off my vulnerable finger.
Mr Bill appears like a saint, with leash in hand.
I hadn't even realized he disappeared.
He must have saw the whole scene play out when the dog was rounding the corner out of the driveway.   He managed to get his dog inside his house and reappear to save the day in seconds.  Smart, kind man.
 This could have been a real Greek tragedy.
 Instead it was hilarious.
Thank you Mr. Bill.
In the end, we did end up going for a walk.
All of us.
Even the dog.
And he did dig a hole.
Right under the fence.