The "Crunchy Mom"

Lately there has been a lot of talk on some Facebook groups that I follow of being "crunchy." Being the curious person I am, I googled it. According to the Urban dictionary someone who is crunchy, is someone who is eco-friendly, vegetarian, tree hugging, liberal (leaning to the left), cloth everything and "local" (meaning one who grows their own foods and only eats locally grown food.). 
In my research, I found this article from another blog entitled "20 signs you're a crunchy mom". I just want to share my results. Whether these are legit or not, I don't know, but here are my thoughts to how crunchy I really am. 
Disclaimer: The views on my blog are MY opinion and in no way reflect on anyone else. And I'm not mommy hating! I support all mama's. As long as they are doing what they feel is the best interest of the child. I just dont support moms who could care less about their children. But I support all Mama's! Peace, y'all. 

1. You have a chicken coop in your backyard, and you're not a farmer.

• I don't have chicken poop in my yard, but my in-laws do. Free range, organic eggs are the best. Slurp! 

2. You love a good chicken pox party.

• Not me. Not this one. I am so glad my parents decided to get me the chicken pox shot. I am thankful I never had to go through the chicken pox as a kid. And I don't want my little one to go through the chicken pox. 

3. Scoring raw milk is your idea of a thrill.

• I'm sure it would be great, Just don't know where I would score raw milk in Hampton Roads. I also think we would go broke, considering the amount of milk my husband consumes. 

4. You and your husband haven't slept alone in your bed since your first child was born.

• Well, that's kind of true. But that's only because my Little One is 3 months old. But other than that, I couldn't do this. My dog slips in and sleeps our bed almost every night. I couldn't imagine having a kid in the bed too. How are you supposed to have "mommy and daddy time" if your kids are in the bed with you? Don't answer that question. 

5. Your children indicate their need to nurse ... in full sentences.

• Nope. And if your kid can ask you to lift up your shirt to nurse, its time to stop. Sorry, that's just my opinion. I know others disagree, but I'm not a clingy person to begin with, and I'm not sure I can have all that all up on me. LOL 

6. You use terms like EBF and assume everyone knows what you mean.

• I do know what this means, but that's mostly because I do EBF. Its Exclusively Breast Feed. 

7. You coordinate your wardrobe around wraps, slings, and other baby-wearing devices.

• Guilty. I love baby wearing. Its so fun. And everyone always compliments on how beautiful my baby is. They don't do that as much if E is in the stroller. I got the Ergo baby Carrier. Its about $100, but I got mine used, for half the price! 

Here we are, babywearing in the middle of marshall's a few weeks ago! This was Hubby's first outing after his appendix surgery (He is alsmost fully recovered now. Thanks for all the prayers! )

8. Your kids whip out kale chips at playgroup while the other kids eat Oreos.

• Not sure about Kale chips, but I wouldn't have my kids out with Oreo's either. My Kiddos would probably have a granola bar. LOL Crunchy?

9. Their diets are gluten-free AND Paleo.

• I heart carbs. And I really hope E will love carbs too. I know how hard it is to eat gluten-free because my MIL has a gluten allergy. I hope E doesn't develop this allergy because gluten is everywhere. But it can still be natural. Wheat is something that is grown. In the ground. Its one of Gods natural creations. 

10. You know some really good placenta recipes.

• No. Just no. Not for me. 

11. You not only use cloth diapers, you make them (and wash them) yourself.

• I love cloth diapering. Its so much fun. The prints are so cute, the laundry isn't that bad, and there are no chemicals on my baby's bu. Oh, and I'm not filling up a landfill of dirty diapers. I don't have a terribly large stash of diapers like some do (but that's a whole new blog post in itself). There will be a few more added around Christmas.. I love my little stash =) 

Lot's of these diapers are what's called diaper covers. They are just a shell and have a place to put your own inserts in them. That means that if "Little Girl" just pee's, I can just change out the insert and reuse the same shell. So I might have 15 diapers, but about 7 are covers, which means that I can use 7 multiple times (safely and cleanly) before I toss them into the wash pile. But like I said, Its a whole different blog post. 

12. The only school for your kids is homeschool.

• My major in college was education, and while I know the school systems are flawed, I do believe that every child should be entitled to a public education if they want to, not just because the parent "thinks" that its best for them to stay home all day and minimally socialize with other children. 

13. You use "family cloth" instead of toilet paper.

•  I KNOW hubby would shut it down, so I wont bother. Since I cloth diaper, I figure I am making a good enough difference in the world, so I'll just use the regular toilet paper stuff. 

14. You drive a Prius (and almost never look longingly at minivans).

• I totally got a Prius last week! I Love it. EEKK!

15. You have a composter, and you use it.

• I don't even know if having a composter would be allowed in my rental unit. LOL 

16. Your children aren't vaccinated and never will be.

• It might just be my opinion, but I think that kids should be vaccinated. It leads to healthier life styles for the community. No one wants another outbreak of Polio. Or Scarlet Fever. President Roosevelt was considered a liberal (leaning to the left) president in the 30's and 40's, but I think that even he would agree that children should be vaccinated. If you didn't know, FDR was a victim of Polio in the 1920's and spent the remainder of his life on crutches or in a wheelchair. You can read more about him here. He is kind of my favorite President.

17. There's pretty much nothing you can't make yourself from bug spray to cleaning supplies to granola (of course).

• I haven't tried this, but I think I would give it a go. 

18. You believe coconut oil and breast milk can cure pretty much anything.

• I am quickly learning that this is pretty much the case! I am also kind of getting my sister on board with this one.

19. You use a menstrual cup.  

• I think I am going to leave this one alone for now. I'm not really in to talking about my lady bits and its correlating products all publicly like this. Awkward.

20. You talk about transitioning your children into their own bed ... about the time they're ready to go to college. 

• I am in the process of transitioning Eleanor into her bed now. Last night was her first night in her crib and she did wonderfully. I pray she keeps this up.  I think every child deserves to have their own bed. And sleep in it. Unless there is a scary storm, or the heat is out and everyone needs to stay warm, kids should sleep in their beds! 

Here's my Girl trying out her new bed! She was just making sure her monitor worked nicely. Look at that smile!! 

Some others that I read about on the group, but not mentioned above were:

"keeping all body parts on the body"

• Circumcision. Some people circumcise just because it has been the socially acceptable thing to do, but I believe in circumcision for Biblical reasons. Nuff said. 

Fecal pills

• I am not even going there. Google it if you want, but I am not going there. 

Birthing at home/un-medicated birth

• I did have an un-medicated birth, but that is mostly because I had an incredibly short labor and honestly didn't have any time to get medication. Birthing a home can be alright I guess, but there is always the chance that something unexpected could happen that could put the baby in danger, and I don't think I would want to be away from a hospital if something terrible happened while giving birth. 

So, there you go. That's pretty much how crunchy I am. I think I am a healthy medium between regular, normal American mom, and Crunchy mom. In food terms, I think that would translate to a granola bar. Not too crunchy, like a box of stale raisin bran, but not too soft, like smooth peanut butter.. So, lets see.. How crunch are you? 

Thankful for the Weekend

This past week, my husband has been out of town for some training for work. This was my first time alone with Eleanor for the whole week. I had been staying alone with E on John's Duty nights since she was two weeks old, but a whole week home with her was a completely different story. On Sunday, Johns mom, Cindy came over to stay the night. She helped me a little Sunday and Monday with E, but she went home Monday afternoon. I really do appreciate all she did to help. But I'm sure she just looked at it as snuggle time with E.
Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty good days with the baby. Thursday everything fell to the crapper. I suddenly felt like I pulled a muscle in my back, which made it hard to do ANYTHING for Eleanor. It hurt to put her down, pick her up, change her diaper, and even hold her in some positions. I could have really used Hubby Thursday evening. When bedtime finally came, I was so relieved that she would be finally going to bed. Apparently not. Little girl decided to party until 11. Then woke up at 2 to eat. This might seem normal to yall, but she usually is passed out by 10 and does not wake up until at least 3 to eat. Thursday night, I literally felt like I was trapped in the song that never ends.
Well the morning finally came. It was Friday. The day that John was coming home. I think Eleanor knew today was the day that he was coming home too. She was so fussy, I didn't know what to do with her. On more than one occasion, I considered having a nervous breakdown, but apparently I am the one who thinks about a nervous breakdown before I have one. I figured it wouldn't do me any good to scream and cry while she screamed and cried, so I decided against it.
But I did learn something new about Eleanor. She likes to sleep on her tummy. Laying her on her tummy, on her play mat, was the only way I could get her to nap today. I know, I know, its not good to lay a baby on their tummy, but I needed a break and I watched her the whole time. Don't judge me.

John Finally made it home about 4:30 on Friday. Thank the lord almighty. I was so glad for my family to be back together. We had a nice dinner out with the Hubby and Little Lady at a place called Firebrew. It was so nice, being out in public, having an adult conversation. It was also nice having a reason to get dressed and decent, other than a doctors appt.

Saturday, E woke up earlier than usual. John was such a sweetie and got up with her. They apparently went downstairs to play. An hour later, I woke up to the sounds of my hubby opening the bedroom door. My love made waffles and eggs and brought me breakfast in bed. He even brought it on a tray! Granted it was the tray to the Baby Bumbo, which was the funniest thing ever, but it was so sweet. My little heart just melted. =)
After breakfast, we went shopping! Washer/dryer shopping to be exact. We picked out our washer and dryer at a local appliance store and got a pretty good deal, I think. We saved $178 on our appliances that were already on sale! And to top things off, we had them delivered the next day.

Here they are! Aren't they beautiful!?

And look at my grumpy girl. Shes just precious! She was NOT happy about taking her weekly Sunday picture.

Happy Columbus Day!
AND, Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy. Celebrating 239 years today! Boy, they are old. Hooyah!

5 Things that helped me survive having a newborn

Having a newborn in the house is no joke. Being a mommy is no joke either. But here are some things that I have saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

1. The Bible. And its App.
Having a newborn is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting. Being able to read the Word is what I need to hear the most, on some days. The scriptures are uplifting and always seem to give me the boost I need. I look forward to reading The Bible every night before bed. However, having a hungry baby that needs to nurse can sometimes hinder that, especially on the nights that hubby has duty and I am all alone. Having the Bible app is such a life saver. If we are having a bad night, we can set the app up, press play and the nice man with a British accent, reads us the Bible. His name is Max, by the way.
This app is especially helpful because back in January, both John and I decided to read the whole bible in a year. This app has plans that breaks down the Bible into little bits, that make it really easy to read the Bible in a year. It keeps track of the percentage of how much of the Bible you have read so far and helps you get back on track if you miss a day.
I have my app downloaded to both my iPhone, and iPad. It's pretty much the best.

2. Angel Care Monitor
I cant quite take credit for this one. My sister found this monitor years ago with her first baby, and I knew I wanted the same kind when I got around to having little ones.
The Angelcare sound and movement monitor that we have, can be found here. We got the standard sound and movement, but they also have a video option that is a little more expensive and it can be found here.
 This monitor is not quite like any other baby monitor. This monitor detects sounds as well as movement. This means that it makes sure that the baby is breathing when it is laying down in the crib or bassinet. If the baby doesn't make any movements for 15 seconds, the monitor will let off one loud beep. If the baby hasn't started breathing in 5 more seconds, the alarm will constantly sound until there is movement detected again.
The peace of mind that this gives new parents is un-parallel. There have been many nights when I know other moms would lie awake, listening for their babies breaths and I would be soundly sleeping.
And I know this sucker works. My sweet Eleanor has had a few scares with her breathing the last few nights. Take last night for example. Both John and I were snoozing away when we got a wake-up call by the warning beep. We thought it was a fluke so we didn't move. But when the real alarm sounded, I bolted up and woke Eleanor up. Right away, I heard her take a big breath in and start breathing again. This happened twice last night. I am praying that this was only a one night thing, but if its not, It does make me feel better that if she does have breathing problems, that monitor will be there for us, to alert us when our sweet baby has problems breathing.

3. Carters Swaddle Blankets
These suckers are gold. From day one with E, I have swaddled her and she has not minded it at all. I like the big ones, that stretch. The more they stretch, the tighter the baby can be swaddled. Someone gave me most of my blankets so I am not 100% sure where they came from, but they are available on amazon, here.

4. Fisher Price Swing
Since I worked in day care, I know the ins and outs of baby gear. Mom's used to come in all the time and tell me their kid didn't like the swing. I knew better. All kids like the swing, they just don't know it yet. I got my swing from a virtual yard sale site, used. Best way to save money, mind you. I snagged a model almost just like this, for the low price of $75. I heart saving money!
Any-who, for the first two weeks, E would not even touch her co-sleeper. All she would do is sleep in her swing. I don't know how I would have gotten through the first few weeks without this life-saver.

5. Electric Baby Scale
After having Eleanor, we had a rough start to get our breastfeeding routine going. Because my milk didn't come in soon enough, Eleanor started to loose weight. Which is normal, right? Well, yes, but to an extent. Little lady ended up loosing about 12% of her weight, and anything above 10% is cause for concern, apparently. We ended up having to supplement with formula for a few weeks, which broke my heart. I felt like such a failure as a mother that I could not provide the most basic need for my child. After having a few sad conversations with my Mom about the situation, my mom got on her lappy (her laptop) and bought me this amazing baby scale from amazon. She said that it would be much  easier to monitor her weight if I had one. It would also give me peace of mind knowing that she is gaining weight appropriately. This little beaut has an infant tray for when they are small, and when they can stand, you can take the tray off and it becomes a toddler scale. Pretty cool, huh?
Since we have had trouble with her weight, this product has given me peace of mine in another sense. I put E on the scale at least twice a week to make sure she is gaining the weight that she needs. AND, thanks to this handy-dandy infant growth chart calculator, I can monitor what percentile she is in.

Here's my little nugget! She holds her head up so good now =)

So there it is folks, my top 5 things that helped me survive a newborn. My little nugget is almost two months old now and I am happy to report she is gaining weight like a champ. She is still on the low side of the growth chart, but she has made so much progress! She goes back to the doctor next week, so I guess Ill share her progress on her height and head circumference then. Ta-ta for now!

Eleanor's Birth Story

Today I want to share with you the story of the birth of my beautiful daughter Eleanor Reece on August 7, 2014. The past few weeks of being a mother have been a whirlwind of new experiences and emotions but I would not change any of this for the world. I must warn you of two things. One, this story will be long. Two, this story is the story of me giving birth, so if you can't handle it, just go ahead and stop reading. You can wait until the next post, which will be less awkward. Okay, Are you ready?? Here we go! 

To start the story of her birth, I must start with the day before she was born which was August 6th. Hubby and I went for my 38 week check up. As we were on the way, we discussed the hopes that progress had been made in the last week, because I had been doing a substantial amount of walking and "other activities" wink wink. We talked about how excited we were to have our little girl here with us. We got to the doctors office and did the business as usual. Then the midwife came in she told me she was going to "check me". While she was checking out my lady bits (which by the way I was 4cm already. WOWSA!), she decided to do some other things. These "things" she did said that they would make me go into labor within 1-3 days. The excitement that I had at that moment was like no other. I was so ready to have my baby here with me and not be pregnant anymore. 

We left the doctor's office and immediately called our family to update them  on my progress. My parents were in Florida, so I told them to start making plans to come to VA. My parents said they would start packing (ppsshh, my mom was already packed for weeks by that time), and get a rental car to head our way soon. We then went about our business, doing some yard work for my MIL. It was more like my hubby did yard work and I sat on the porch with lemonade and watched. My MIL brought us some Chick-Fil-A for dinner. It was Delish! It also happened to be my last meal before baby came. 

That night we went home and decided that we should make sure we had everything we needed for the hospital. I unpacked my hospital bag, laid everything on the bed and repacked it, just to make sure everything was in order. We brought everything downstairs and by the door so that we could load up at a moments notice. Then, finally, we went to bed. I only slept for about an hour before I woke up with contractions. I made sure I was having regular contractions before I woke John up. He did the right thing and started to time them. After about 45 minutes of them being 4-5 minutes apart, I called the doctor and told her I was coming in, which was about 12:45AM or so. 

Let me stop right there and share with everyone that going into labor does not happen like it does in the movies or commercials. It also takes a lot longer to get dressed and ready when you are in labor. I thought that it would take me about 15 minutes to get dressed and ready. Wrong. Having to stop for a contraction every few minutes really adds up. So instead of being ready to go in about 15 minutes, it took me about 45 minutes to get everything ready and out the door. 

Our ride to the hospital was uneventful, with the exception of Charlie being with us. Poor charlie knew something was up, and looked at me VERY concerned the whole way there. Since we knew this was "it", we took our dog with us and my MIL would meet us at the hospital to take him to her house. 

We got to the hospital about 2:15, but by the time we actually got to the womens center it was about 2:30 because I INSISTED on walking in myself. I did not want to be carted around the hospital in a wheelchair because, you know, pride. I have no idea why I did this. 

Finally, we arrived at the women's center and got all of our paperwork in order, only to find out there were no rooms! I felt like the Virgin Mary on Christmas night. No room in the Inn. We spent a little over an hour in a waiting room, waiting. All the while my contractions are becoming more intense and closer together. It seemed like every 3 minutes I was asking John to go see if they were ready yet. 

I wasn't until about 3:45, when the nice nurse came for me, saying that they were ready for me. We got to the room and I finally got to put on that ever so attractive hospital gown. I looked smashing. 

The nurse asked if we wanted to take bets on how many centimeters dilated I was. I wasn't amused so I didn't guess. Hubby guessed 6, I believe. Before she could even check me, another contraction hit, and lo and behold, my water broke. Boy, was that awkward. When she finally checked me, she said I was 9cm and ready to go! Honestly, I couldnt believe that I progressed this far without any drugs. 

My nurse said that the doctor was on the way, and asked me if I wanted the epidural. In the middle of my thought, my first contraction post "water breaking" hit. WOW. It was about 5342 times more intense than what it was before. I succumbed and said "yes". "give me the juice." She nodded and said she just needed to wait on the labs to come back. Apparently, the people running labs that morning were too wrapped up in a Netflix marathon to run my labs because they never came back. 

With each passing contraction I was losing hope in the fact that I would get the juice. I looked at John and asked him to pray for me. we shared a quick prayer and finally, I made peace that I would never be able to get an epidural because I knew she was coming too fast. However my doctor wasn't. I felt, and fought, the urge to push for 45 minutes before the doctor showed up. 

Then, to my relief, the doctor decides to make her appearance. I didn't even pay attention to the directions she was giving me on how to push. I just put my legs up and went for it. I only had to give about 5 good pushes, or about 10 minutes worth of pushing before my sweet girl was finally here. At 5:32 AM. It was the most rewarding feeling, knowing I did it. I delivered a baby into this world. I could hear my husband saying "Shes here, baby! She's here! You did it baby! You did so good!" My first words were thanking God that I my delivery was over and thanking God that she was here safe and sound.  

I have to say, out of all of my accomplishments in life, tending to multiple infants at a time at the daycare, graduating college, getting a licence to teach, teach students with disabilities, I knew this was my greatest accomplishment. Bringing another life into the world with-out the help of any drugs what so ever, was the greatest thing that I have ever done, and it will be the greatest thing that I ever do in my lifetime. Anyways, back to the story. 

The nurses immediately took her, made sure her lungs were in proper working order, weighed her and gave her straight to me. Holding Eleanor in my hands for the first time was so crazy. I waited 9 months to see the face of the baby that I created. I had no idea what she would look like. But she was BEAUTIFUL. She IS beautiful. I immediately Thanked God that she was in my arms and healthy. From that moment, we went from being John and Melissa, party of two, to John, Melissa and Eleanor, party of three. 

Here is our beautiful little family =)

Photo by: Alicia Austin

I leave you with this verse. We used this verse to announce our pregnancy with Eleanor. 

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. I Samuel 1:27

Tales from the weekend

Good day, everyone! Lets talk about the weekend! Shall we start with Friday? Okay.

Friday I had my six week postpartum doctors appt. I decided that in order to cut down the times that E spends in doctors offices, I should probably have someone watch her. My sister ever so willingly volunteered. It worked out because she lives only 10 minutes from the Dr. Office. 

This was the first time that I ever left Eleanor. I was so anxious about leaving my precious little angel. Not that I didn't trust my sister... She has two kids and they are still alive... LOL I just did not want to leave Eleanor quite yet. But I did, and I am proud of myself. There may or may not have been tears shed by both Eleanor and I at some point, but it got better. 

After my appt. I hung out with my sister at her house, for a bit. It was so nice spending time with my one and only sissy. She helped me get the last few things together for my blog, because she is a blogger too! You can check her blog out here. =)

Saturday was quite a busy day for us Payne's. We took a family trip to Lowes to get some things for our latest DIY project, tutorial to come later. We also had lots of cleaning to do around the homestead. This is due to the fact that we have a newborn.  And mommy can't always keep the house in tip top shape all the time, because, you know, I'm human and I need naps. 

Saturday afternoon, our new couch was delivered! This was so exciting for us. The couch we had was a piece of junk that we bought for pretty cheap off craigslist when we got married. This is the first (new) major purchase that we made for our home. We searched high and low for the perfect couch and finally found it. We bought it before E was even born and waited 7 whole weeks for it to actually get to us! P.S. I do not reccomend going couch shopping while extremely pregnant. All the couch-ploppin you do at the funiture store gets super old after about 5 test plops. 

Now on to Sunday. Church day! My favorite time. I dressed E in a dress made exclusively for her by Nana. Eleanor's cousin, Sophia, has one just like it too. Aren't they the cutest?!

After church I made a trip to Joann's fabric. I got a few things for another DIY project. I am so excited to share later this week about a baby wrap I am making. YAY! I do love going to the fabric store, but E does not. It seems like every time I go into that store, she knows. She knows, and she throws down. Full on screaming. The ladies at Joann's have gotten to know me because I am now the nice lady who comes in with the cutest, screaming baby there is. 

so, that's pretty much it for my weekend. Well, the highlights at least. Tell me how yours was in the comments!