Christmas Haul: Part 1

How soon do you start shopping for Christmas? I shop throughout the year. This year I started as soon as E's birthday was over. I always buy educational things first, then I will move on to their interests when it gets closer to Christmas. This way I can get some fun things that they enjoy.

The way we do it is they each get 1 big gift individually. Then they get 1 big gift to share. After that, they get 1 or 2 small gifts, a DVD, and the rest is educational.

Right now, A is 2.5 years old and E is 7 months old.

I knew A's big gift would be a bike. Since I wanted to get A a bike, I decided I would also get E one.

I did some research on bikes, and I decided that we would give the balance bikes a try. I knew A was too young for pedals, but I felt she was too big for the one she has now. She is tall for her age. I decided to go with the Kazam balance bike. I got an amazing deal. They had some deals for 60% off back in May because they had some paint differences. Nothing that altered the function of the bike or even the look. The bike looks perfectly fine but they had to pull all from the batch. Since her favorite color is green, I chose a green one for her. Here is a picture of the one I chose for her:

E is obviously too small for a lot of bikes, but I want to get her something that we can push her in when we take A for bike rides. That concluded to this bike:

It's a 4 in 1 trike that she can grow into. I wish I had one of these with A, so I knew I wanted to get one for E. Since E is our diva, I went with the pink option. 

We already bought these. They have been sitting in the garage since this summer. 

I will continue this series until I finish off what we have gotten them!

It's Time to Write

It has been a while since I just sat and wrote what was on my mind. Generally I have list of what I want to blog about, but lately I haven't really looked at the list because it seems that most of it happened so long ago. Then I came across some cute pictures and great video footage that I thought would be so nice to document, so I started there.

But now I am here. Exhausted. And wanting to just write.

The last couple of weeks have been tiring. Mr. Man went to nights to prepare for his leave for my family who is coming to visit. Once he returns to work, he is moving to a different shop. For us, this is a big change. He is going to a days only shop. He says it is much more laid back and less responsibilities. The chances of him coming home and talking about work would be slim because it will be... well, boring because of the differences. He is excited and ready to move on, but I know that he will miss what he has been doing for the last 3 years. As a family that never knew when he would be home or what shift he would be on, this is good news. Even though I know he will miss what he did and I will miss the people, I am ready for this change. I don't know that he will be home every day by 5pm, but I do know that he won't work swings or mids. He will be on call less often, too. So back to being tired...

He went to nights. The first week he went to nights A decided to get sick. I'm not sure where she caught it or what she had. The weather has been changing and the tempteratures have dropped quiet a bit, but I really don't want to believe that it was her sinuses considering we have never had sinus problems. Now that she is in school, she could have caught anything from anywhere. So she got sick. E is 7 months and still wakes fairly frequently in the night. This made for a super long night for me. The first two nights were ok. I say that because they alternated waking up, and E was ok with us all sleeping together long enough to get A back to sleep. The third night was bad. They alternated waking up so I never really got the chance to comfortably lay down. It was still ok. But the last night of the week was a disaster. I drank and drank and drank coffee in hopes of keeping myself sane and normal to care for the kids. A continued school. She never had a fever and she didn't have the cough that she now has.

The weekend came and gone. Our schedules were all messed up so we didn't do much and just went with the flow. Sunday night, when Mr. Man was to return to work, he received a text stating that he didn't have to report to work that night because the other shops weren't reporting for whatever reason. He only had to go in last night. In he went, the next day I sent A to school only to get a phone call that she was running fever and needed to be picked up. She hadn't ran fever all night or even that morning. All day she ran a low grade fever but seemed fine. That night, when Mr. Man returned to work, it was another disaster. She couldn't sleep because she was draining and it was basically drowning her. I had another LONG night. The longest of all.

The good news from all this is that Mr. Man is off for the next 2-3 weeks, and we have family coming in to town.

My Mom and my brother will be here for 2 weeks. They have not met Baby E yet. It should be fun! :)

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Crazy 8 Haul

Another addition to shopping for Fall/Winter for A and E. Thesse are one of our first purchases. I didn't have many skirts for A, and most who know me knows that I like to have a variety of dresses, skirts, and pants. Of course long sleeve and short sleeve, as well as jackets. Here is my steal of a deal on skirts.

For A:

Anf for E for next summer: 

For $3, why not?

For all of this, I paid $35. This is also including the shipping. 

First time E had solids:

Here is a video of the first time we gave E solids. She was 6 months old. We gave her blackberries. She is now 7 months old and eats like a champ. In fact, she almost always refuses purees and wants something she can chew. She only has 2 teeth (on the bottom). But she eats very well and is not picky!

New Cater's Haul

I have  been shopping for Baby E since the weather has started to cool down. She really doesn't need much, but I definitely wanted to start preparing for the winter as well. Because she will need a lot when it comes if I don't start now. Carter's happens to have some sets on clearance right now, and they had doorbusters for their one pieces. Of course, I shopped the toddler side for Arianna because there was some things I wanted to get for her but couldn't convince myself to spend that kind of money on it since she is so rough on her clothes. Well, guess what... it was on clearance too. I thought I would share what I purchased.

For E:

For A:

I spent $65, and that included shipping :) Not too bad I would say.

Breastfeeding in Public

As most of you know, I breastfed A until she was 13 months. She self weaned right as I found out I was pregnant again. Eva is 7 months old, and she is exclusively breastfed. Breastfeeding is an amazing experience and something (that I believe) every mom should at least try if they can.

This post isn't going to be about why you should breastfeed or to convince you to. That is your choice, and I will not judge anyone for their choice. With that said, I wish there were more people who respect others for their choice to breastfeed. A baby has to eat at all times of the day, and a Mom definitely should not have to lock herself away because she chose a natural way to feed her child.

I am very fortunate to live in a country that is very supportive of breastfeeding. In fact, I get more looks when I cover up than when I don't. I have had people come up to me and lift my nursing cover to see and play with Baby E. But even though I am here, I still get the American interactions that are either for or against me breastfeeding in public.

Here is what recently happened to me: While out at a dinner for Mr. man's work, there was a group of people sitting  with us and sitting behind us. All there for the same reason - to send off a great troop and friend to his next duty station. As Baby E started to get worked up, Mr Man asked if I needed my nursing cover. Of course I replied with a "yes, please". I proceeded to ask him if I should remove myself since it was a bunch of men. He said absolutely not. He handed me the cover. I put it on and underneath it Baby E went. No comments, no bad looks, no one seemed uncomfortable.

An hour or two later, I went to change E's diaper. When I got back, it was time to nurse again. So I did. As I was preparing... like putting on my cover and unsnapping my bra, some girls at the other table begin to say things. Things such as, "is she about to breastfeed?' "I hope not." "Yep. She is." "OMG, that is so gross!" "Not to mention, unacceptable." I continued about my business.

At that moment, I didn't care. I don't care. Mr. Man does not care either. But what I do care about is how it could affect a breastfeeding Mom who may be insecure about it or a new mom. This is what this post is about.

I want and hope that all breastfeeding Mom's know that what they are doing is NOT unacceptable, NOT gross, and NOT disrespectful to others around them. I'm not saying flaunt what you have, but as long as you don't have everything hanging out, be confident in what you are doing. Do not let people with a different perspective, opinion, or preference affect your choices and actions as a parent. Many who are completely against breastfeeding are either not parents, lesbians, stubborn, insecure, or something in that nature. Many cases than not, there is a reason behind their reactions towards it. But as a parent, ALWAYS be proud and confident in your choices and there will be more people who respect, appreciate, and admire you.

This is for anything in life and anything as a parent. Yes, even parents who choose to formula feed or anything else that others may take a different approach to.

Always remember you are their parent and you know them best. You know what they need and what makes them happy. So I hope that all you new Moms or Mom's who do worry about what other people think, DON'T. Don't go to the bathroom to feed your child. Don't hide in your super hot car to feed your child. Don't seclude yourself from a crowd to feed your child unless you feel it is unsuitable for your child. And lastly, do NOT let anyone make a change in your parenting because they are insecure or uneducated in being a parent or as a parent.

Always remember, you are an amazing person, an amazing parent for whatever choices you make for your children, short of abusing and/or neglecting them.

And, treat people as you want to be treated. Respect others' choices and embrace the differences of our world.

Here is a picture of me in Barcelona on one of our last days of our trip. Breastfeeding. Uncovered. Walking down the street and the beach. Not a single person took a second look.