Lions and Tigers and Hampton?? Oh My!

Hampton's new "thing" is growling! I really don't know if it was something he heard from one of us or if all babies start growling at some point in time, but it is the funniest and cutest thing. He does have stuffed lions and tigers on his mobile, and I always "Rawr" at him with those animals, so maybe he caught on from there? Anyway, he likes to growl. When you're changing his diaper, he growls; When I open the car door to get him out, he growls; Driving down the road, he'll be playing with a stuffed animal and he growls; Growl at him, he growls; Take too long to give him another bite of food, he growls...

But just try and tell someone how cute his little growls are and say, "Watch! Hampton, grrrrr." Nothing. Oh, baby, making your momma a liar already!

The Not-So-Crunchy Mama: CLOTH DIAPER GIVEAWAY!

I really was excited about using cloth diapers. Honest. I was. Jordan, not so much. He liked the idea of saving money, but that's about it. I read lots of blogs and articles on cloth diapering; I made sure that I knew how they were used and washed and dried; I decided we would probably do better with all-in-ones, but the option to have a few that needed covers was okay. Then I had Hampton. We used all the newborn disposables we were given, and I dove right in to the cloth selection. The Bum Genius 3.0s that I had purchased were HUGE. Seriously, he might as well have been naked. So, I put them away, purchased more diapers and waited for him to grow. The time came when they finally fit, and I was so excited to start using them. Here he is, my little cloth diapered baby: (This picture cracks me up! He couldn't even get his legs down!!)

I was so excited and proud. But after a little time, we decided that we didn't love using CDs. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but one of the things I disliked the most about CDs was how enormous they are. I've heard so many moms talk about the "fluffy butt," but it looked silly to me. And his clothes were all so tight! **Dislike!** I am doing really well with coupons and deals on diapers, and since it was really all about saving money, we've decided that will have to do. They are in our budget, and all is well. So, now, I have a nice stash of CDs that I had to decide what to do with. That's where all of you hard-core CDing mommas come in! My loss is your gain!

I am giving away TWO cloth diapers (w/ inserts) of your choice! I have some new, some used, some washed but never used--ALL in perfect condition. Here are the options:

To Enter (you can do as many as you like):

-Follow my blog or let me know you are a follower (1 entry)
-Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs. You can vote every 24 hours! (1 entry per vote)
-Follow me on twitter & tweet about this giveaway. Something like: "@_rebekah_ is having an awesome CD giveaway http://tinyurl.com/2vgyfd2" (2 entries; 1 entry per additional tweet)

-Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post (3 entries)

You must leave a comment for EACH entry. The giveaway will end on Tuesday, May 18, and I will choose a winner using random.org.

Toofies!

For those not familiar with baby-talk, we've got teeth! Plural. That's right--we're raising an overachiever here. Earlier this week, the monkey's bottom two teeth popped through. I finally wrestled him to the ground to snap a pic. Which isn't easy with an iphone, a squirming baby, and trying to pry his mouth open to actually see said teeth. So, this is the best I could get. Just squint your eyes and tilt your head a bit, that might help ;)

After several afternoons of terribly out of the ordinary fussiness, waking in the middle of the night shrieking and not wanting to go back to sleep unless cuddled in bed with mommy, almost a full bottle of recalled Tylenol (crap...), and wrestling matches to apply some baby orajel, we've survived. This round. His top two are not far behind...

So, that was Mother's Day?!

It was nothing like I imagined! I was going down my blog roll, and all I was seeing was, "My Mother's Day was...Great! Fantastic! All I imagined it would be!!" And, well, to be honest, mine was not much different than any other Sunday. Actually, scratch that, it was different b/c I usually hang out with my parents after church on Sundays, but they were out of town, so it was me and the monkey all by ourselves. NOT that I'm complaining. I was perfectly happy hanging out with my little man. I mean, come on! But when I wanted so badly to be a mom, I pictured Mother's Day to be this wonderful holiday where I floated around in a cloud of happiness-or something like that-doing nothing or everything that I wanted because, well, I was the MOM. :) Instead, I woke up around 7 when the baby woke up, and when I asked Jordan if I got to sleep in, he said, "Yes, but will you go change his diaper first?" I did just that, and got back in bed and lay there while Jordan fed Hampton. Then they came in and gave me a gift card to Old Navy and a gift certificate to get my nails done. Did I mention that when I walked down the hall to get the baby up, I saw a beautiful new rug that I have been wanting on the floor of my living room?? So sweet! We were up and at 'em soon after that for breakfast at Cracker Barrell. After breakfast, we went home, Jordan got ready for work, and that was that for "my day." From there, I cleaned out the garage, cleaned up the kitchen, watched a little TV, played with the baby, fed the baby, went and washed my mom's car, went and washed my car, got a Starbucks, had dinner with the parents, came home, went to bed. Ha! Sooooo not what I pictured. Honestly, though, it was nice. I didn't need someone waiting on me hand and foot. I didn't need the gifts. I didn't need any of the Mother's Day I pictured. I had my baby with me. And that's more than I could have ever needed. I love him so much, and I am so incredibly thankful to be his momma!

And since I didn't get ONE picture yesterday, I made the boys go outside this evening to snap a few shots: (This kid smiles all.the.time. until I want to do some staged pictures! Silly boy!!)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of my mommy readers!! I know so many of us wondered if we would ever get to this point. I'm thrilled to be able to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year. I've waited for so long to be a "part" of this day, and I am thrilled to be able to spend it with my sweet baby boy. We don't have anything special planned-Jordan has to work, my parents are headed down to visit my grandparents for a few hours, and Jordan's parents are down at his grandparent's house. So, it's going to be me and my little monkey. I wonder what kind of trouble we can get into?? ;)

Speaking of mother's, I want to wish my own mom a very happy Mother's Day. As I've gotten older, my mom has become one of my best friends. We spend lots of time together shopping, talking, and just hanging out with the baby. She was one of my biggest supporters when going through fertility treatments, with prayer, encouraging words, and just being there for me. And now, she is not only a great mom, but an incredible grandmother. I think she wanted me and Jordan to have a baby more than we did. Okay, maybe not, but she is definitely a close 2nd!! She adores the little guy, and she will drop everything to watch him or just come by and say "hi." Happy Mother's Day, mom. I love you!

I know there are several of you still in "the trenches" of IF. The pain of watching others celebrate with their children is still fresh in my mind. I hope you are able to enjoy your day, avoid all the facebook status updates that are bound to happen, and spend time with the ones you love. Know that there are people praying for your miracles--though I may not know each of you in real life, or even by your real name, He knows. And He is a mighty God. Big hugs to you on this tough day.

Yardsale Day

Our house is running out of room, and quick! I never imagined how much room baby stuff would take up. This stuff is HUGE, and there is so much of it!! We've had to use our garage for a lot of storage, and I was over it. It's already in the 90s here, so I'm hoping to have room to park in my single-car garage here soon! We got a flyer a few weeks back for a Neighborhood Yard Sale and decided we would participate. It was a yucky day, and it rained practically the whole time. Boo! Well, let me tell you, it is not easy getting prepared for a yardsale with a baby. Since we had already done the work, we decided to just move everything in our garage and try again the next week. (which turned into the next, next week since last weekend was calling for bad weather as well.) So this morning we got up, headed out, and tried to get rid of our junk...I mean, treasures...and had a pretty successful yardsale! It is so nice to get rid of all the stuff we have been holding onto for really no reason at all. And, bonus!, I got a little bit of a tan from standing out in the sun! Woohoo!

Hampton says, "Don't sell my stuffed animals, mommy. I love them!"

I just have to brag...

Yesterday morning, Hampton woke up around 7, and we went about our normal routine: I go change his diaper, Jordan fixes the food and bottle, I feed Hampton, Jordan gets back in bed. I know, it isn't very fair, but I seem to have adjusted much better than him, so it works (and don't get me wrong, he has to get up for work soon after getting back in bed; it's not like he sleeps all day!). But yesterday he volunteered to feed the baby and let me go lay down for a bit, and I did. I went back to sleep and woke up at 9!! And Hampton was already down for his nap! So I got to sleep in and was able to get some stuff done around the house! Yay!