ECing

Ok, so the camera and the Chinese food I ate last night added 50lbs to this picture - LOL. So just focus on my cutie. he is sitting on the insert portion of his potty while we are doing ECing (Elimination Communication). He was having a bowel movement when this was shot.

Our Diaper Stash

So here is our stash. Starting from the top we have a container that contains most of our prefolds - infant and premium. I also have large sized Kushies and Thirsties covers as well as two large Thirsties fitted diapers

On the next shelf in the left hand basket are my fitteds. I have my medium Kushies fitteds then the three Under the Nile fitteds then the green Little Beetle fitted and the purplish blue Baby Beehinds fitted on top of the basket.

On the right side of the shelf are my covers in their basket. We have Bummis Super whisper wrap in white and Froggy pond, followed by my Thirsties covers in white, blue and green, then I have our wool - a Stacinator, Aristocats, Little Beetle, Baby Beehinds and a WAHM shorties.

The Bottom shelf is a couple of premium and infant prefolds stacked then my basket of All in ones. I have Kushies One Size and Bumgenius 2.0 One size in Buttercup, Twilight, and Grasshopper.

Hanging are my two wet bags. A blue WAHM and a green Swaddlebees.

Missing are my chocolate brown with blue snaps Mommy's Touch One Size All in One (my favorite diaper), and 3 more grasshopper Bumgenius 2.0 and a couple more Kushies. They are all in the diaper pail except the Mommy's Touch as it is waiting for DS to wake up so I can put it in him for bed.

Casbah

So, DH and I got away for a day. My parents took DS for the night on Friday and kept him Saturday as well. DH flew in from Seattle late Friday night. On Saturday morning, we drove to Savannah for the Irish Festival. we tried to get reservations in at The Lady & Sons for dinner. At 1:00 in the afternoon, they were completely booked for lunch AND dinner.

So we headed off to the festival. While we were at the festival listening to some great Irish music, watching Irish dancers and shopping, we were debating about where to go eat.

We thought of the Pirate House, a restaurant that we had eaten at on our previous trip to Savannah two years ago.

But, when I was looking at the Savannah map, I saw an add that caught my eye, it was for Casbah, a Moroccan restaurant. So I called for reservations.

At 6:00, we got to the restaurant and were seated. They have no seating on the floor, but all of the tables and chairs were lower than what we are accustomed to. The ceiling and walls were draped with silk and velvet to look like the inside of an exotic tent. In the center of the room, a belly dancer was performing and was teaching some Girl Scouts some of the movements.

Joe and I ordered. After ordering, the server brought out warm water and a cisetern to wash our hands as it is customary in Morocco to eat with your right hand. He also brought us Moroccan bread and hot sauce which tasted like enchilada sauce with a kick and the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon we had ordered.

Our appetizers came next. Mine was shrimp with honey and caramelized apricots, and Joe got the Shrimp Casablanca which was shrimp in a garlic sauce. YUMMY!!!!

Then for dinner I had the spicy roasted lamb and Joe had the lamb with honey and caramelized apricots. They both were served with rice, green beans, carrots and potatoes. It was fabulous. Eating with your hands was a great experience.

Every twenty minutes or so, one of the two belly dancers would come down and perform for a few minutes. it was great entertainment.

The server came back out with hot water to wash our hands and then sprinkled them with rose water. Mmm... they smelled so good afterwards.

For desert (which we ate with forks) I got the coconut, pineapple and chocolate wrapped in phyllo dough. Joe got Baklava.

After dinner another one of the dancers was performing and got several of us there with her. I went with them and got to bellydance with them. The dancer showed us the moves and we performed with her. It was great!!

Joe had an awesome time watching me and said that i did very well!!

All in all, it was a great experience and we can't wait to make a trip back to Savannah and DEFINITELY back to Casbah.

Comments to Beneaththecarolinamoon

in one of my last posts, Dread made some interesting comments that I thought I would answer.

1. Designer diapers - yep, they aren't the kind your mamma used! And I love them. Now I do have the plain ole boring prefold diapers. They are the kind you have to pin (even though pins aren't used anymore) and need a cover (you dont' use plastic pants either).

2. White versus color - When DS has a poopy diaper I do one of two things first. I either shake out any solid formed poppies into the toilet or if there isn't anything really solid - I throw it in the wash. I always do a cold rinse/prewash, followed by a hot wash then cold rinse. The diapers come out clean. Actually, even with all of my diapers being pre-owned, most of the stains on my Kushies and Bumgenious are Butt Paste stains. now there are stains on my prefolds. Yes you can use bleach, but you don't want to use it often. 1. because it can cause some pretty bad rashes with sensitive skin babies, and 2. it breaks down the fibers. What I am going to do is wash then lay them outside to dry. This is called Sunning and all the stains magically disappear.

3. Fad diapers - Yes there are fad diapers in the diapering world. One is called Mutts (www.muttaqinbaby.com) I have personally seen this happen with these diapers. I had a little bit of money in Jan and found out she was having a stocking (where you upload your stock to your hyenacart for sale). So I registered at hyenacart (www.hyenacart.com - an online mall for work at home moms) and waited until the stocking time. So I logged on and within 14 minutes ALL of the diapers were sold. there were 220 shoppers on her one page. It dwindled down to 168 for the diapers I wanted. They were AIO diapers that had embroidery. They were beautiful! one was a peapod and had Sweetpea, 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, some celestial themes, etc. The stocking was at say 5:30. I literally refreshed the page and at 5:30:02 they WERE ALL SOLD!!! I screamed and DH was like, What? And I was like "they're gone!!!!!"

THere are more fad diapers like GADS (Green Acre Designs) which I need to check on b/c that mama said she might make some St Patrick's Day diapers. There are Goodmammas which a mother is offering to sell me a brand new one for $33.

There are also things like Crankypants which can go for $90 and up. i was hoping to trade my hypnobabies set for a set of crankies for my wee beastie, but I didn't I am getting two pairs of custom knit longies. They are being made now. YAY!! Keep checking back for an update on that!!

We might be coming to the Upstate for a function with my great-aunt. She is celebrating 20 years playing the piano at her church. We want to go but with all the Flu and Pertussis going around up there we are uncertain. I also need to get to the Jockey Lot as there is something there we have to get to match our longies.

Hmmm...Did that peak your interest???? Keep checking back!!! LOL

Palmetto Diaperworks

Here is Ryan with PalmettoDiaperworks based here in Charleston.

Introducing Joshua in the Lowcountry

We're going green!!

So since, January 1st, DS (Joshua) has only worn a handful of Pampers or Huggies. What? You say? That's right. We are tossing out disposable (sposies) diapers and have gone to cloth. Some people might think we are crazy. And at first I was. ON New Year's Eve I got my first "stash" of diapers. I had a couple dozen prefolds (the kind you fold), some Snappis (instead of pins), covers (not the granny panties you think of), and some fitteds (like disposables without a water proof liner).

I love them. My SIL bought a set for me that I found on Craigslist. It was 14 AIO (all-in-ones) and 13 covers. What a stash!! The AIOs are just like disposables, can come with velcro or snaps and all you do is take them out, out them on and throw them in the wash! I don't use a "wet pail" (most people dont' anymore), just use a cloth bag and throw it in the wash.

I am completely addicted to a site called Diaperswappers.com. B/c you can pick up diapers pretty inexpensively since they are used. There is a HUGE resale market for diapers and you can normally recoup 50-75% or more of what you paid. There are a ton of mothers on there and they are great to talk to.

I highly encourage you to do a Google search. Some brand names are Bummis (have covers), BumGenius, Happy Heineys, Muttaqin Baby (Mutts), Kushies (what I have), Under the Nile (what I have), Little Beetles (what I have), Thirsties (have some),the list can keep on going.

I am wanting a pair of Crankypants. You can see them at http://www.crankypantshome.com/ They are so popular that the owner does a drawing for 5 slots each month for a custom pair. Her regular stock doesn't stay in stock. I am also wanting some Mutts (http://www.muttaquinbaby.com/). Her site stays sold out. She stocks once a month and there are mothers "stalking" the website by refreshing it on the day she stocks. It is sold out within minutes.

Mine aren't the cutest or most expensive but they work great! I have some items that I have listed in FSOT (For Sale or Trade) to get some items that I wanted. I have a set of Hypnobabies cds that retail for 139.99. I was hoping to get a pair of Crankies with them, but no one has offered. I do have one lady that has offered to knit some custom wool pants for DS in exchange for the set.

I am SO addicted! LOL.

Anyways, here is an article from the NY Times. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1702357,00.html

Here is a great video to watch discussing different types of Cloth Diapers.

so, I keep getting requests for more pics of DS. Unfortunately, our computer CRASHED last week during the cold spell (we had power outages every 3-5 minutes for 3 hours). But I got a SWEET new computer. Its an HP tablet, laptop, pc. Is awesome. has swivel and lay down monitor, touchpad capibilities, Nvidia graphics, DVD burner/player. The works.

So I only have a few photos on here. So here are some new ones:

After 2+ years, we FINALLY got around to eating the top of our wedding cake. It tasted jsut as good as it did on our wedding. DS was asleep the night we did it, but the next night I fed him a little bit. YUM!

In his crib in the nursery

On the day of his baptism w/ me and his godmother

Smiling at Fr. Runnion after his Baptism

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

May 2008 bring you much joy, happiness,

and everything else you might desire!!

New Pic

Here is us on 12/08 as we were getting ready to go to a Christmas Party.

New Look

Ok, so I've made some changes to the blog. Some I like that blogger did, others will take me weeks to correct. Anyways, I am adding stuff to fit my "new life" as a Stay At Home Mom.

One thing you will notice is new music. This is only temporary as I love this song right now. It was used as a promo for my new FAVORITE Addicted show - MOONLIGHT. It is a must for DH and me to see on Friday nights.

Baby is crying - more later!!

Update -

Ok, Joshua has had his bath and is swaddled, rocked, sang to and is sleeping with his daddy while I stay up cleaning up the house from dinner. THis is pretty much my only "me" time as Joshua takes up all of my day and night.

You might be thinking - wow, she watches a lot of tv. Yep. I know I am probably putting a bad light on SAHMs right now, but currently my 9 week old only eats, poops, and rarely sleeps - at least during the day. He can not entertain himself for long periods of time right now - but it is getting better. So, since I am breastfeeding (and bottle feeding) I can't do much else then sit and watch. I've tried reading, but sometimes my little one likes to "play" with his food and it is distracting looking back and forth between the book and him.

Well, have to get to work so that I can get some sleep before the little wakes up for his early morning snack!

Yes!!!

Just had my six week check-up (at 7 weeks) and I have lost ALL of my pregnancy weight PLUS 3 pounds!!! Whohoo!!!!

Have the all clear to go ahead with our life and now we just need to make sure we don't have any "Irish twins."

Yesterday we baptised our sweet baby boy. I hope to have some pictures posted soon!!

Our Precious Pumkin's Birth Story

On October 15th, our Second Anniversary, Joe and I went to the OBGYN for another ultrasound. The doctor scheduled us for a c-section for Thursday, October 18th as he was 41+ weeks gestation and had not engaged and seemed to be perfectly content to stay inside. We were dissapointed, but ok with the decision.

That evening, Joe and I celebrated at 82 Queen, where we had our wedding reception and where we eat dinner on each anniversary. After dinner, we walked a little bit up King Street and then went home after I started feeling unwell.

When we got home, I went upstairs to work and Joe was downstairs working. Around Midnight, I emailed my boss and said I was done working for the evening and was going to bed and hoping the baby would calm down. When I hit the mattress, I started having weird pains. They were not like the Braxton Hicks pains I had had previously. Finally at 2:30, I couldnt' take it anymore and took a bath and got Joe to get up and bring me the cd player and I started listening to the Hypnobabies cds. I was able to relax enough to lay back down. Joe was zonked. I laid next to him and for each contraction I put his hand on my head as that was one of my "relax" cues. After each one, I would turn his wrist to see his watch to see what time it was and how far apart they were.

At 5:00 am, and with only the dozing between contractions, I got up and called my mother who immediately told me to contact the doctor on call. I did so and the doctor told me to go to the hospital, do not pass go and do not collect $200.

So called mom back and woke up Joe at 5:30. We showered, dressed and finished packing and loading the car. We got to the hospital at 7:00 am (I took my time to wait for my doctor to come on duty and there was rush hour traffic). I got to our room and they hooked me up to teh monitors. The Doctor B came in and checked me. I was 70% effaced and 1 cm and baby was still high. She told me that we could try laboring, so I said ok. She said she would be back at lunchtime.

I was allowed to get up and walk around for 30 minutes and afterwards, hooked to the monitors for 30 minutes. While being monitored I used Joe's laptop and worked on my work. After walking when they hooked me up to the monitors, the baby had some drastic heart decelerations. When Doctor B came back at lunchtime, the baby had another deceleration and I saw the concern on her face. I was 80% effaced and still 1 cm. She was leaving as it was her half day and left me in the hands of one of her partners.

After having another episode in the afternoon, I was confined to the bed. I was also put in some very awkward positions to help the baby's heartbeat. Labor was intensifying for me and was becoming increasingly painful as I was not able to move and relax through the contractions.

Around 6:00, Dr. W came in to check on me. Before she came in, Joe, my mom, the nurses and I had a chat about what to do. I had been in labor for 18 hours. I was convinced to go on pitocin and get an epidural as this would speed up labor and we could get the baby here faster since he was not doing well.

Well, when she came in, she checked me and I was still only 1 cm after 18 hours. I said, "ok, let's do a c-section." I knew that if my precious baby was not doing well in "early labor", I knew he would not tolerate hard labor. After we made the decision, everyone started "hoping to it"

I was rolled out of my room at 6:45 and put in the OR. I was given a "spinal" and they began the surgery and then let Joe in.

Our baby was born October 16th, at 7:14 pm and weighed 7 lbs and 14 oz and was 20" long.

Bond, James Bond

I take my bottle shaken. Not stirred...

Announcing!

Mr. and Mrs. Sweetheart proudly announce



the birth of their son,



Joshua J.



on October 16, 2007



at 7:14 pm.



Weighing 7lbs 14oz and 20 inches long.





Birth story to follow

Baby Davis update

Ok, so Friday I had a baby D scare, he wasn't moving very much. I tried everything and would get a half hearted attempt at movement. So called the docs and they told me to come on in. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor and sure enough the little squirt started moving. But he also had a lot of movements that I couldn't' feel. So doc did an ultrasound. The "problem" is three fold.

1. baby D moved to a head down position. He was diagonally from head to the left of my navel down to his feet in my left hip. So he swapped and put his head down in my hip and his little rear to the left of my navel.

2. I have an above average amount of amniotic fluid giving him PLENTY of room to move around in.

3. My placenta is still across the top of my stomach(kind of centered around my navel)

So those three things combined is what caused the concern. I also got some "startling" news. 1 is that the machine was estimating Baby D at 32-33 weeks (instead of 30+) and 2. estimating him to be 4.4lbs already. WHA????????? (yes, I deliberately left off the T)

So that was Friday.

This weekend DH and I got some shopping done. Bought a chenille rocker and ottoman for the nursery and the baby bedding. Since DH left for out of town on Sun, I went and got stocked up on diapers. LOVE coupons and specials. And the fact they were tax free this past weekend. So I think I am good for the first month or so. Have 3 boxes of 96ct each of newborn size and a box of 216 of size 1's.

On Monday evening about 8:00 I started having contractions. Quite an interesting feeling. I did everything to make them stop, and nothing seemed to work. Since they weren't "progressing" (getting stronger, coming closer together, etc), I knew they were Braxton hicks. I also could tell that I was not dilating or effacing so I wasn't concerned. So Tuesday morning i called the docs office to tell them that while I had a 3:30 appointment, I would come in sooner if they wanted me to due to the contractions. They had me come in. So they hooked me up to monitors one fetal and one for the contractions. Well, let me tell you. Baby D decided that it was time for him to work on his audition to RiverDance. He also had the hiccups while he was dancing. Quite interesting to listen to - I tell you. Even the doctor was laughing at him adn saying that we might just not be able to keep him on the monitor since he kept moving around so much. And I told her "see why I was concerned on Friday?"

This, of course, is NOT the first time that she has hinted around that my child is hyperactive. The last time, she politely asked if I had ingested some caffeine before coming in. I hadn't in weeks.

But I guess, like father, like son.

Oh - and I'm so excited - all my vitals were still in order and I had LOST A POUND in the two weeks since my last visit (am down to a visit every two weeks now instead of every four). Yay!! That means only 11lbs for the pregnancy!! yay!!