This Week's - Milestones

Finley 16 Weeks Old

Finley discovered the JOY of the exersaucer.

She smiles when she pulls up to standing.

She found her feet and her VOICE

She took a daytime nap independently!

The BEST development:

I did not have to BOUNCE Finley on the exercise ball ONCE!

We did not have a single COLICY HOUR in the past week!

We are LOVING the 4th month.

A New Party Vibe

Pig Roast 2009

I count my blessings everyday when it comes to my friends. Two of my besties host a pig roast every year and I can hardly believe we just celebrated the 11th annual one! All our friends do their best to attend, coming from all over the world. This year brought folks in from Africa, New York City, Calgary, Aylmer, Toronto and us from NC. One year my hubby flew in from Australia! This is the one weekend a year we get together to relax and catch up on the year's milestones.

It's usually a big party beginning mid afternoon one day and ending late afternoon the next. It's size varies depending on the weather and how many additional friends have tagged along. We play in a horse shoe tournament and volleyball. One year we had a camel toe race (don't ask) another year we had karaoke and I didn't think I'd get invited back the following year. I'm not much of a singer but I sure thought I was that year! And no year goes by without someone saying - remember when Shipley nearly caught fire? (I was cold so I stood with my back to the fire and scorched my sweater.) The 12 ft trailer parked to collect all the empty beer cases was usually full after the 24 hour kick back.

This year had a different vibe. Most of us came home to show off the next generation. There were 10 babies added in the past year and a half. The horse shoe tournament and volley ball was played in between baby changes and nap times and the trailer for empties was not nearly so full.

This is the NEW face of the Pig Roast.

Not surprisingly it began and ended early on the same day!

Party Flags - Diaper Covers.

Exersaucer Central.

Steve loading the shop beer fridge.

Me trading in the real for the NEAR beer.

The guys carving the tenderloin instead of the WHOLE pig.

Have Passport WILL TRAVEL!

We had to get Fin a passport on the double so we could use our booked holiday time to get back to visit Canada.   Luckily there were no snags and our passport arrived a day before our departure.

We packed our compact car and hit the road to Ontario to introduce Fin to her Canadian relatives and friends.  Our usual 13 hour road trip to Ontario was a breeze (I think) with our 3 month old along for the first time. We figure we tacked on an additional 15% to our driving time for stops to breast feed and stretch our limbs.  Major PHEW for hubby and I, as we love to travel, and really enjoy road tripping. After hearing some hellish tales about kids and car rides we were a little worried to say the least!

While we have always travelled lightly - one roller carry on suitcase for each of us on extended trips to the EU we were a little concerned now that we have baby on board. What to pack and what to leave behind?

 However, keeping with our pack lightly philosophy  we managed to get out of the house in our usual carry on bags -Fin's tiny wardrobe packed in with mine, and a laundry basket to carry our miscellaneous, shoes, laptops, snuggle nest, gifts, along with our stroller and our duty free limit in cases of beer (dad likes a particular Pennsylvanian beer not avail in Canada). We were packed to the tits and I was BEYOND EXCITED to bring our baby home to Canada. 

I was a little teary crossing the boarder with our little American baby. Hubby said;  "Look Fin an igloo! Keep your eyes on the look out for a polar bear."  I laughed and Finley screeched. She found her voice an hour before we left NC. She screeched exercising her voice as we smiled broadly from the front seat our first leg into Ontario a success.

More to come and pictures too - stay tuned!

Stay -Cation

I gotta say I think who ever coined the term Stay-Cation was onto something. In our case it does not refer to the economic climate putting a damper on our travels but rather a one income family with limited vacation time, the expansion of our family and a desire to explore our new location.

Since moving to Eastern NC from Canada, we have had lots of visitors and have taken time off just to stay home and entertain. We've taken to day tripping around our hometown and have managed to explore the beaches, antique stores, plantations, civil war sites and farmers markets, along the way.

This past week with a 3 month and 10 month old in tow our meanderings have been fairly close to home and just as enjoyable!

New Bern NC

A Day Excursion to PUTTER.

Steve & I with

Munch-Fin in the Ergo

Sarah & Ella Picnic in New Bern NC

We enjoyed the Open Jam in Washington NC

Adam with Ella reaching for the warm rain.

We were soaked and laughing after after a thunderstorm caught us at the park!

The calm before the storm.

Note to self: Put one child in each car so they don't egg each other on in the CRYING Department. Yikes that was a trying car ride!

"Miller Time" came early that day.

Cruising the board walk is a nightly adventure. We live on an estuary there's always lots to see!

100th POST

SERIOUSLY!

This is Earth To Mother Ship's

100th Post!

Mother Ship 38 weeks knocked UP!

Bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Photo Courtesy: Chris Witzgall Photography

Speaking of HAIR

My talented SEESTER SUE styled the hair for this AD!

There is another ad too - but- I don't have permission to repost it...

YET!

Hair Hair Everywhere ...Try Not to Clog the SINK!

I have been trying for a week without success to come up with a witty knock-off of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. "Hair, hair everywhere try not to clog the sink" is all I have managed to come up with. While it rhymes, my sentence is lost in translation. It might be fitting if I was BALD. I realize the point is that there is no clean drinking water while surrounded by the ocean and thus, I should have NO HAIR while surrounded by Hair to make a point. I only feel like I must Bald or at the very least getting close.

May I present HAIR in three Acts - No intermission.

I wish I had a dime

For every person who has commented on hair in my lifetime

I would have Finley's first year of college paid for by now!

Finley was not even out of my body when our midwife said, "Look at all that dark curly hair! " Suddenly I had five sets of eyes checking out my nether regions then commenting on the baby's hair. 'I sure hope it's a girl with all that hair. "You can already put it in pig tails I think!" I simply said or thought "CURLS? No one has curls who's kid is this?" There are no curls just lots of dark straight hair. Untamable hair. In the NC humidity it stands straight up in the air! Every passerby comments on the baby - "look at all that hair!" OR " My baby had that much hair." OR "Usually it falls out and comes back in later but your baby has not lost a HAIR." You get the point.

Finley 13 weeks old.

ACT ONE

Much like Finley, I was born with a head full of hair. My mother loved to tell the story about how she had to cut my hair out of my eyes at 6 months of age. My hair has been talked about for as long as I can remember. My kindergarten teacher used to brush and braid my hair while the other kids in class had "nap-time." Every hair dresser I ever saw called it a hairdresser's dream. I had a full head of straight, long, fine, healthy hair. I mean full. The first modelling gigs I landed were booked because of my hair. As got older my hair loss was pretty normal for a gal who hot rolled, flat ironed and blew dry her locks. I have always had to clean up the drain on the weekly and keep the floor swept.

ACT TWO

When I got pregnant I never saw MY hair ANYWHERE. It stopped falling out, it stopped growing on my legs and face, I had a break from hair maintenance. Ah, it was so nice not to wax, shave, vacuum the floor or unclog the drain as often. The only hair I was cleaning up for 9 months was my hubby's. (It strikes me as coincidental that he shaves his head on the day or day immediately following the day I clean our white tiled bathroom. He does clean up after himself in that hurried man clean kind of way. I always sneak behind him to detail. Yes, have already admit to having a cleaning obsession.)

ACT THREE

Lady Pushing baby carriage: Hey, has your hair begun to fall out?

Me: What? No! What do you mean has my hair begun to fall out?

Lady: Oh about three months after the baby is born your hair WILL fall out.

Mine came out in patches in big clumps. See?

OMG! What is this nasty bit of news? No one mentioned this fate BEFORE I got knocked up. It reminds me of a trip I made to the vet with my stinky mouthed Yorkie. Why on earth does he stink so bad I ask the vet? The vet says - it's his teeth - Yorkies are prone to gingivitis. You have to have his teeth cleaned and likely some extractions. We will sedate the dog for this treatment and you should do it once a year. Um, yeah? I read every book on Yorkies before I bought one and nowhere did it mention rotten mouth. The Vet said if you knew would you have gotten one? He had a point. Does What to Expect When you are Expecting have a chapter devoted to post-partum hair loss? If so I didn't read to the end of the book. Obviously.

Ever since Finley was born mothers have asked me this question and then they show me their bald patches and regrowth. This is more horrifying to me than all the women who shared their birthing HORROR stories BEFORE I gave birth to Finley. (Why do women do that? They should share the horror story AFTER you have been inducted into the child birth club - another blog for another day)

There is hair all over my house. I leave a trail. I am pulling clumps out of my butt crack after I shower and then I have to extract it from the drain. I have not dried my hair lately for fear I will blow the remaining hair right off my head. I imagine a tumble weed of hair rolling around the tiles after I am done and then I look in the mirror only to see Kojak looking back at me. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I have to swipe the hair off my pillow in the morning and then look through the pile of hair to find Finley who resembles Cousin It by morning. I then pick all the hair off her and from the folds in her cutie pie little neck. I bet she is reconsidering the co-sleeping thing.

I am losing so much hair I am wondering if I should be saving it to make wigs for myself to sport three months from now when I might actually be a bald woman. Also, I am so vain I had my human hair "extensions" coloured to match my current hair colour in the event I should need them soon. That is if I have enough hair left to clip them onto.

FINALE

Um, yeah. For those of you who have not yet had your baby and are basking in the; I have fantastic hair phase of pregnancy - Beware post pregnancy hair loss is NOT an urban legend. Your hair WILL fall out!

She GREWSOME- 3 Months Old

Finley Mae has had a monster growth spurt!

It's amazing how she changes right before my eyes.

I swear she wakes up from a nap just a little bigger and just a little more alert.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words ...

Finley 2 Month Photo - more here

TaDaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

3 Months

Finley 3 Month Photo

I love her little feet

Look at her legs & toes!

Finley and Momma just before we went out for our walk yesterday.

My Eco Baby

Thought I would spend today making a round-up of a few of the fun Eco friendly favorites I have come across since Baby has arrived.

Cloth Diapering:

Fuzzi Bunz & Bum Genius Cloth diapers ... I LOVE them! Everyone who has not used them and sees ours comments on how cloth diapering has come a long way. The diapers are so easy to clean. We have two dry diaper pails; one holds the liners the other the covers. Every other day I throw them all in the washer and run a cold rinse cylce with a splash of white vinegar, then, I run a hot water wash and hang to dry. We have 24 diapers in rotation.

If you want to read a good article on the economic impact over the Eco impact of cloth diapering read this. Our Fuzzi Buns are on loan from a girlfriend who used them on her two babes before Fin. They are still holding up!

We also received the G-diaper starter kit as a shower gift and are about to test run them on our holidays. I will report back on how they worked out.

REUSABLE Wipe Warmer:

The wipe warmer is made by Prince Lionheart and it comes with Bamboo Cloths. Bamboo is a natural antibacterial material and a quick growing sustainable farming crop that is harvested to make tons of products ( Finley has a blanket made of Bamboo and it's SO soft! ) I add a little tea tree oil to the distilled water on the sponge liner of the wipe warmer to help keep Fin's skin in good health. So far we are diaper rash free. (Which is also a perk of cloth diapering!) I am washing diapers anyway so it makes sense to use them. I also use Parent's Choice Organic cotton disposable wipes for quick hand and face clean up (usually mine). A package always in our diaper bag and car's glove box.

Eco style: NEW

BOHO Soul Child is my new fav! I found this little gem of a store on Etsy. Okay, so this was the first time I have ever purchased through Etsy and it was a great experience. My items came quickly by regular post and included a hand written note from Cyrena herself. All of her items are ECO friendly, made of ECO Felt & batting made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. I bought two headbands and a wrist cuff for Finley Mae. Honestly ADORABLE! I will be placing another order so I can give these items away to the new baby girls who have arrived in our circle of friends. I will admit - I kinda only want to keep everything for Fin because she rocks out the BOHO look so well.

Finley & I

(early June)

Eco Style: REUSE

You can't get more eco friendly than hand me downs! Since kids at this age rarely wear out their clothes, a great way to shop is at consignment sales OR if you are lucky, you have a friend send you their hand me downs! Thanks TWWLY!

A box of goodies!

Clothes and cloth dipes "hand me downs" from the Duncan Household.

Finley wearing one of Maggie's outgrown "ABBA" suits!

(Steve and I call this an ABBA suit as it has a frilly bottom and belled cuffs.)

Off The Hook

I received a Face Book note from an old college buddy last week. I had not heard from him in a very long time. Dibbi and I went to college together and moved out west to Vancouver about the same time. We were new grads struggling to get a gig, make the rent and find our footing in a new province and city.

Dibbi could always be counted on for a melo party night including scotch, smokes, ridiculous stories and burnt Kraft dinner. Dibbi is a very charming individual and he soon took off to find success in his much desired field as a DP.

It seems Dibbi has realized a new career ... or is adding to his current one? (Us TV creative types never really retire - the allure of the next project can overtake us at any time.)

Dibbi and his lovely fiance have opened and are operating Off The Hook B&B. Check them out if you are on the west coast of Canada! Good luck Dibbi!

Mommy Monster

This week's roundup of wonderful milestones:

Finley is continuing to sit up pretty well in her Bumbo seat, or supported by the Boppy.

Photo taken June 20th -Fin 9 weeks old

She is rolling over from her back to her belly. At first we thought it was an accident but she did it four times in one day so we figure she's onto it. Now we have to be very careful where we put her.

She has been working very hard to reach for toys offered and grasp them to bring directly to her mouth. And she has begun to drool. Yeah. Drool.

I managed to get Fin to ride in her stroller three times since Saturday, she is so curious and loves to look at things until the motion lulls her to a peaceful sleep - sans tears. Honestly, I can't tell you what a relief this brings me. I have been walking the empty stroller all around town while wearing Finley because she spazzes out after 10 minutes into our walk. People think I have twins and look into the stroller for the "other baby" then look at me like I am coo-coo. Ever since I got the stroller I had visions the stroller draped in mosquito netting parked beside me in the shade while my baby slept and I pulled weeds in the garden. Ahhh, ignorance is bliss. Finley has never slept while I pulled weeds, my yard has ever had so many weeds and and all my plants are dead as door nails including the one plant I was watering for my next door neighbour while she was away on holiday. (A quick trip to the garden centre will fix this problem - a replacement plant is in order!)

Finley has started to talk, awwws and oooohs, a pleasant use of her voice and a break from the usual hysterical crying she offers us. Best of all, I was gifted with a belly laugh! She gave me a belly laugh on Tuesday. I'm waiting for another one but she has not quite gotten going that much since. Probably because in the days since then she has become someone new.

My sweet darling baby has become a mommy monster. She only wants me. I love it and I hate it all at the same time. I like that she likes me or my boobies - one cannot be sure if there is a difference at this point. She only wants to be held by me or carried around in her sling for all her naps. The fact that it is 95 degrees is lost on her. She doesn't care so long as she is attached to ME. I take her off to feed and play between wearing her for her naps and I have to change my t-shirt and her diaper shirt because we are soaked in sweat. How's that for an attractive image?

Finley has a very good daddy who likes to share in her care giving and likes to carry her around in the MOBY wrap. The problem this week is that if anyone including her dad holds her she loses her mind screaming like she has a limb caught in a bear trap.

I had to teach a Yoga class with her strapped to the front of me. I went to the OB for a check up with her strapped to the front of me. I mowed the lawn (push mower no motor) with her strapped to the front of me. Seriously. I had to leave her at home to go to a wake and she screamed hysterically the entire 30 minutes I was away from the house until she fell asleep out of exhaustion. She was with her daddy not a stranger. She had a clean diaper, she was well fed, there was no reason for her to be upset. But she was. Because I was not there. The second I hold her she stops all her ridiculous crying.

I have been super tired this week. I am over tired. My brain is not working and I'm so over tired when my head hits the pillow I lie there awake instead of falling off to sleep. It's a vicious cycle. I have tried to break it by wearing myself out with physical exercise and yesterday I tried the opposite just resting. So being this tired and having the baby attached to me is a little wearing - pun intended. I would take her for a ride in the car just to detach her from me while she napped, but, I haven't trusted myself to drive because I'm just not feeling with it and don't want to do something stupid on the road.

Maybe, Fin's neediness is due to my tiredness - maybe she is feeling as off as I am. Maybe we are in a growth spurt. Maybe she has growing pains and I am tired from my body producing more milk. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I dunno. I do know that I don't want a kid who will only want to be with me. I want her to go easily to sit with or spend time with her daddy, her aunties, grandparents and our close friends. Mommy will be a better mommy with a little time off, not a lot, just a little.

Today Finely is 3 months old.

Is this a phase?

Will she outgrow it?

SIGH.

This is the little angelic face I look down at when Finley sleeps in the Ergo. Isn't she sweet?

Canada Eh?

Happy 142nd Birthday Canada!

Today is Canada Day - I am about to hang our beautiful flag from the front veranda and I'm thinking about all the wonderful Canada Day's spent downtown Ottawa where he biggest party is. I can't wait until Finley is old enough to handle the crowds on Parliament Hill so we can take her to see the parade, concerts and fireworks.

I am a proud Canadian, and soon Finley will be celebrating her Canadian heritage by holding both her Canadian & American passports. We'll teach her all the words to "Oh Canada" in french and English and she can teach me all the words to "Star Spangled Banner." That way we are covered in the anthem department when she takes her place on the Olympic Podium to accept her medal after placing top three in either Canada (naturalization) or the United States (birth country) ....a girl should dream big shouldn't she?