Win an Ergo Carrier!

Please check out this site to entry for a chance to win a free Ergo carrier!

Cloth Diapering is harder than I thought...

So since i'm in this eco-craze right now I went about spent almost $200 on bumgenius cloth diapers last week , they arrived in the mail and I was SO excited because well.. because mail excites me!

Ryland was put into them almost immediately and he looked adorable. I loved the way they fit, I loved how they felt when I held him (all comfy and soft). As you can imagine when I woke up this morning at 3am soaked in urine the love of the cloth was OVER. I had always heard women RAVE about how they love cloth because there are "no leaks", we've experienced a leak here or there with disposables but nothing like I had experienced this morning. The puddle of pee that covered my sheets was the size of Ryland, it looked as if he didn't have a diaper on at all and just peed all over. You may be thinking, well that happens if its been hours since you've changed him, but no-it was 3 hours. not any longer than a normal change during the day.... what can I say? my son can pee!

Today hes in sposies again, and I realize its purely because i'm angry. I need to give them another shot, or maybe find a different type of cloth for nighttime, I'm just so discouraged now. Plus, now I have extra laundry to do as if the house isnt out of control anyways. I don't know if this is just me, or everyone but even little things like this make me feel insecure, like I'm an idiot and can't figure out how to use something properly. Kinda like working out at the gym, I hate going because I always feel like i'm doing something wrong, even running on the treadmill! Hopefully i'm not alone.

Anyways, I've decided that at nights he will be in disposables until I can figure out what cloth diapers would be best for night time, but i'm sticking to cloth during the day! After years of thoughtless waste I need to do it for the environment!!

Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!!!

In honor of Earth Day Ryland and I are going to spend most of our day outside, enjoying this incredible weather AND picking up trash that we find along the way! I'm glad is so nice out because by us being outside we're not using up electricity (lights, TV, COMPUTER!) so it'll add to our Earth Day celebration!

I'm hoping I get the cloth diapers I ordered last week today, I can't wait to start using them. I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit nervous about the transition but when I think about how many diapers he goes through a week and how long those diapers sit in a landfill it makes me sick so this is the best thing we can do!

I'm trying to get Mark on board with having a compost in our house. Right now the idea of worms hanging out really bothers him, I think I have a chance of winning this battle but like everything else, its a wait and see game.

As some of you know, I'm a big-time admirer of Amy from Crunchy Domestic Goddess. For Earth Day she is holding a giveaway so you should def check out her site, the winner is going to get some pretty awesome stuff!

Here are some ideas on how you're family can make small changes for our environment from TheDailyGreen

• Pay bills online
• Fill the Fridge
• Turn off the tap
• Walk up instead of Drive through
• Put on a sweater
• Donate instead of throwing away clothing
• Microwave in glass

Just a few of the incredibly EASY things you can do in everyday life to do your part! Check out the link for ALL the ideas and explanations to why you want to do these things!

ugh, i'm sick of being HUGE

Being huge and pregnant is one thing. Its no fun but its something you learn to accept because you're carrying your child. Post-pregnant bodies however are not easily accepted. I don't understand the women that talk about how they LOVE their bodies. I understand the badge of honor with the stretchmarks, I understand that this is what our bodies look like because we gave birth, I even would do it all over again because I love my son more than anything but no, I don't LOVE my body- I HATE IT!

I just bought size 16 jeans!!! How the heck did I go from an 8 (which I wasn't happy with) to a 16!? and even in the 14 (which by the way goes up to my belly button) you can see fat sticking out in EVERYTHING I wear. I am now always in a hoodie, or I don't leave my house. I think no one should look like a muffin top coming out of their pants, its just disgusting. I gained 40 lbs while I was pregnant, 20 was gone in the first 2 weeks, so 20 lbs heavier than I was 12ish months ago and i'm wearing jeans twice as big and I have fat hanging EVERYWHERE!

bleh, its just so upsetting..i'm sick of feeling this way..

Finally the sun!

Its 70 degrees out today, I can't believe it, just last weekend it snowed! I took advantage of the incredible weather and took Ryland out. Here are some pics (you all know i'm camera crazy) Sad thing is it's supposed to be raining for the rest of the week :-(

Take 20 mins

Please take 20 mins to visit this site http://www.storyofstuff.com/

It will really make you think...

I am in need of change.

This will be a short post, but its something I felt that I needed to write down.. sort of to be a promise to myself that I am going to do it.

After lots of reading about all the pesticides, chemicals and because I want to help the environment I've decided to become more eco-friendly and also start eating/ washing/ being organic.

I think this will be quite the challenge for Mark, but its something that is important to me. I want Ryland to grow up healthy, not eating crap from McDonalds, not being around cleaning supplies that are harmful to him. I think it will be a tough adjustment at first but its def worth it. I'm really excited. A change is good. I need it.

oh! on a sidenote, I got my AP books today! I can't wait to read them!! :-)

Oh Vaccines..

I had never heard about the controvery around vaccinations before being a member of babycenter. After reading many mixed reviews from the posters I decided to research the safety of vaccines on the AAP, AMA, CDC and IOM websites myself to get a better understanding of what the issues were. I found that most of the research I found related to vaccines and autism, which was my main concern due to all the media attention relating to the topic so I was okay with focusing my attention to that issue.

I read a good chunk of the immunization safety review:vaccines and Autism (www.nap.edu/?record_id=10997) and based on what I found I decided to vaccinate Ryland. What I found throughout the review was:

The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological

evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship

between the MMR vaccine and autism.

They stated that low doses of thimerosal exposure has not been demonstrated to be associated w/ effects on the nervous system. I have to admit that after reading that I felt more at ease, considering my main concerns w/ vaccinations was the risk of autism.

I still wanted to consult Ryland's ped though to find out how he felt about vaccines, and learn a bit more, he was great about going over what each vaccine was, and why he felt it was important for me to vaccinate my son. He went over stories about a case in Britian where a man went on about how vaccinations caused nervous system damage and as a result the number of children vaccinated went down, he then said there was an outbreak of measles or something (sorry, my memory is terrible) and children died while the rate of autism stayed the same during that time, then because of the increase of children dying due to not being vaccinated, vaccine rates increased again. He told me that more mercury is found in breastmilk than vaccines, which I didn't even think about. He also tried to make me feel "safe" saying that all the peds in the office had their children vaccinated and it was the best thing I could do as a mother. So he was vaccinated.

I trusted his ped an incredible amount, not just because he was a doctor with "knowledge" on the subject but because that man saved my son's life. If it weren't for him I would have taken Ryland home and he would have died within the week (born with a coarch, but displayed no signs minus a small heart murmer-usually coarch babies are blue, have little movement etc).

I can say now, I regret the decision to vaccinate Ryland. I feel like even though I was briefed about what each vaccine was for, I was not prepared for the effects that it would have on my son, let alone the low immunization success rates and having to continue giving him the vaccines in order for them to work. I feel that it is part of the medical communitys job to let us know EVERYTHING about vaccines- the pros and the cons. In today's society we're told to take the doctors advice, when I tried to do my research I went to "reputable" sites instead of basing my opionings off BCC or blogs and I feel that I was still given biased information collected by people that make money by giving children vaccinations.

My son, who rarely fusses, has been fussy for almost 3 full days now. i've tried tylenol, cuddling, everything I can think of and hes still fussing. not just fussing, full out crying! I can't handle it!!My son is in pain and it is 100% my fault. He has puked more in the last 3 days then he has his entire life, he had a fever for 2 days, and has been extremely sleepy. I'm furious.

I'm going to research Dr Sears vaccine schedule more. I need to find out if children need to be vaccinated before entering daycare (I think they do), A lot of this post was scrambled together because i've been cuddling my poor son who has been passed out while typing and I have a million thoughts running through my head. I feel completely betrayed.

I don't get how when I tell people how Ryland is feeling I get an "oh he'll get over it, all babies react that way" speech. I don't get how such a bad reaction to vaccines is just accepted by parents. Why is it that I don't learn about things until after I do them? Where is a new-unexperienced parent supposed to go to learn(which includes what sources to trust).

I'm just very frusterated...and sad.

9 week photos!

Couldn't resist putting up the photos I took today of Ryland :-)