Diaper Bag First Impressions!

Alrighty ladies, grab hold of  your bloomers!  It’s time for my first impressions and review of the oh-so-incredibly-coveted-by-me Storksak Olivia Diaper Bag!!!   And to grab your attention before I start blabbering on about other stuff for a minute, here is a picture:  All together now,  ”oooo, awwwe”

Here is a little back story, for any of those ‘newbies’ who may not have read any posts from earlier in my pregnancy, or aren’t friendly with me on Facebook.. (and again, I ask… why wouldn’t you be?..go ahead click above in the “in touch” section):

I hate baby stuff.  Putting Elmo on anything does not make it cute, it makes it annoying and red!  Primary colours make me want to gag, and if it lights up or makes noise I want to chuck it out of a moving vehicle after dousing it in gasoline and lighting it on fire!  Ok, that may have been true for the first 25-30 weeks of my pregnancy, since then, I see the gasoline as creating a really big mess, and the fumes might give me a headache, so now we can skip that part.

When it came to finding a diaper bag, I wanted something functional. It should work better than a simple purse for lugging around all those infant ‘essentials’, as well as something that was stylish, easy to clean and keep clean, as well as was well made and sturdy!  A pretty impossible task I thought.  No matter where I looked everything I saw screamed “Diaper Bag… Baby’s Diaper Bag” There was even some tongue sticking out and “na na na na na na” ing.  It was quite traumatic.

That is, until the heavens opened up, and a beautiful ray of light shone down and there is was, in front of my eyes, this video by Megan from Megandleila, the fabulous Youtube Channel found here! (My little rave about Megan:  She is so smart and wonderful and awesome!  If you don’t watch her videos you really, really should!  I have learned so much about toxic free living, and she is incredibly open to helping out when you have a question about certain products, or where to search for more information on so many things that can be very overwhelming!  I really really value her and her YT channel!  Well duh, I’m kind of like a creepy, copy-cat, fan girl!  The diaper bag, the chevron skirt.. it goes on, I’m sure <3 )

When I saw this bag I knew it was exactly what I was looking for!  There was just a slight problem.  The bag was super spendy, at $200!  I rarely spend more than $10 on a purse or pair of shoes, I couldn’t fathom spending that on something because it ‘looked pretty’.  But I was reminded that in the big picture of all the baby expenses we have saved on by buying used, accepting hand me downs, using cloth diapers, and hopefully exclusively breastfeeding, I could budget accordingly and splurge on something that was important to me!  For Christmas, my Mother in Law gave me a Visa gift card, and that, saved with a few other monetary gifts and a little savings, we were really none the poorer!

On our Baby Moon trip to Minneapolis, I sought out Nordstrom because I knew that they carried this bag, and I wanted to compare colours in person.  Unfortunately after a long day of shopping, I was so disappointed to find they didn’t carry any in store, at the MOA location.  Combined with a disappointing trip to Babies R Us, there may have been some tears on the way back to our hotel… but I won’t tell you if they were mine or Hubby Bumpkin’s!

All was not lost though because my own Momma gave me the great idea to check out sites like Ebay, to see if anyone was selling and sure enough there was 1 bag available, new with tags, for $50 less than in the store!  Did I mention it shipped in 3 days!  Saving money is so lovely!  Ok… now for my first impressions:

As seen above the bag I bought was in the champagne colour.  I had thought about possibly getting the green, or grey colours instead, but when only one bag was available on Ebay it made the decision making process much easier!  I am very happy with the colour.  Over all the bag looks well made, with no visible flaws and the fabric wipes clean very easily.

As a first time mom to be, I’m positive that the contents of this bag will grow and change as I learn what works for our little family!  Included in the bag right now are cloth wipes, 3 Snappis, 2 wet bags, 4 prefolds, 2 covers, 4 disposable diapers, the change pad that came with the bag, the little change purse thing-a-ma-jig (that’s the technical term), 2 extra large receiving blankets(3ft sq) and a muslin swaddling blanket!

When filled there is still plenty of room to add a plethora of items!  Things I already know I will be adding to this bag include a water bottle, or sealed travel mug with coffee for me, a small thing of disposable wipes, wipe solution for the cloth wipes and at least one change of clothes (more than likely 2) for Baby Bumpkin.

I love that this bag has so many large and extra large pockets!  There is really a great place for everything, and so far there are still 6 pockets that I am not using.  I’m sure that’ll change soon enough though.  I’m not intending on many outings without baby, so this bag will double as my purse, I hope to keep my wallet, keys and other ‘purse essentials’ in the Thing-a-ma-jig!

I really like the large front pocket that unzips on both sides!  Right now I keep the 3 blankets in there!

Over all I am so impressed.  Hubby Bumpkin in true guy fashion can not for the life of him figure out what makes this bag so special, but there are few things that I would find more concerning than his understanding on this topic!  In just a few short days of owning this bag (bringing it across customs from our American post office box, and having company notice it sitting on Baby Bumpkin’s dresser) I have received multiple compliments on it.  I love the way it looks, how it feels, the bag itself is fairly lightweight, and the size and placement of pockets is very nice!

I can’t wait to put this bag to the true test of day to day use when Baby Bumpkin arrives.  This is one of those things that to me really isn’t all about baby… Mama’s gotta be looking good too!

Digging In The Dirt

We are FINALLY getting some decent weather in these parts and I could not be more excited about it!  There is a billboard on the way to the closest city (where I have most of my midwife appointments) that since mid March said something about getting ready for BBQ season, and to pick up your meats at a local butcher’s shop.  On my most recent trip up there, the wording was changed to “Ok….NOW it’s time to get ready to BBQ”  As amusing as this is, it was kind of sad!

With the Leafs out of contention for The Cup, I’m convinced it is now OFFICIALLY spring!  So long suckers!  Sorry my inner Habs fan is just dealing with my grief with some smack talk.

So last year was the year of firsts!  We bought our first house, I planted my first garden and we are expecting our first baby!  While this year will have a whole new set of firsts, and probably much more significant ones, lets all lift our glasses (of virgin cocktails of course) to my second year of growing some of our own food.

Last year’s garden was filled with lots of learning opportunities, and a decent harvest for the two of us to eat!  This year I’m much more motivated to take what I learned and expand on it!

Starting with starting a few seeds earlier indoors!  Now I still got around to this on the late side, so a trip to a green house to buy a few more mature plants may be in order, but I’m hopeful that this will pay off.

It is recommended here to put plants in the ground outdoors on or near May long weekend!  Well Monday the 20th is Victoria Day here in Canada… Tuesday May 21st is Baby Bumpkin’s estimated due date!  I think it would be wildly appropriate for him to be born on Victoria Day, for reasons that I might go into, should that ever happen, but on the good chance he’s still not here, gardening sounds like as good a way as any to induce labour!

This year we are also expanding our operations in size!  The garden on the left was built and used last year, the one on the right, Hubby Bumpkin built this past weekend!  I am so proud of all he has accomplished!  Now we just need some good dirt (note how sandy the ground is between them…. that’s what is under all our grass!)  from a local farmer, and we’ll be good to go!

I’ve talked about the composter system I’ve found on Pinterest and Hubby Bumpkin thankfully agreed!  That will probably go somewhere near the metal shed, or along the side (where the black garbage bin a.k.a. our current compost bin is).

I plan on growing Beans, Peas, Carrots, Spinach, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Watermelon (this was a fail last year, we’ll see if I can make some changes this time!) Strawberries, Pumpkin, Cucumbers and I’m starting a crop of Asparagus.  I also have some plans for growing a few flowers and would like to find some rhubarb plants to add to my growing plans as well!   I will also be picking up some pepper plants at the green house for planting later, as they didn’t grow great for me last year from seeds.

If you have any tips for my garden this year please feel free to comment, or message me!  I am really looking forward to getting dirty this summer, and raising Baby Bumpkin to enjoy digging in the dirt!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I wanted to share another sneak peek of Baby Bumpkin’s Nursery!  I’m still a few sewing and painting projects away from finishing the look, and I am not sure if it’ll be completed before he arrives, or will have to wait for the final touches until after he’s born.  Isn’t the baby a nursery’s final touch anyways?

BUT I have been busy working on several little projects and wanted to share with you my progress.  Now I’m completely aware that to consider this task complete the pictures should actually be hung on the wall… but I’m not all that handy with a level, so I’m waiting for Hubby Bumpkin to get to that part of it!  They will go together like this above the crib!

This post also doubles as a “Name Clue”!!! If you remember correctly a winner, randomly chosen from those who correctly guess Baby Bumpkin’s first name before I make a formal announcement (after his birth) will receive a gift card in the amount of $50!!!  There are no limits on how many guesses you can make, so feel free to take a stab at it!

Feeding A New Mama

Ever have one of those moments where you sit back, thinking about something someone just did for you and say “Man I sure know how to pick some amazing friends!”?

I absolutely can not say that enough especially after the wonderful gift one of my dear friends gave to me this weekend.  We have lived in our home for a total of 13 months and 11 days (on Saturday) and one of my best friends, Diana, hadn’t been out to visit…. not that I was counting or anything.  There were actually several times when she was supposed to come visit and for reasons outside either of our control it just never worked out, for the last year we spent a lot of time together whenever I made trips the the Big City.  I can say it was such a gift having her come out and spend a couple days in my ‘neck of the woods’.

We spent the better part of Saturday making meals that I could freeze and keep for after Baby Bumpkin was born!  She was such a huge help and it has been such a relief to get those done and in the freezer!  It is a true sign of friendship to have someone offer to chop vegetables for close to an hour straight!

We made a big mess, but got so much prepped!

So much cooking required a lot of standing by the stove.  All 4 burners and the oven itself was running almost non stop!  With my sciatic nerve really bothering me, I decided to find a way to make things more comfortable!

This is really not my best angle, but I thought I’d share anyways, so you get a glimpse, of how I’m accommodating my lazy body over the last few weeks of pregnancy!

We made a great variety of recipes!  Two Lasagna, two Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casseroles, two Chicken Mushroom and Broccoli Alfredo Casseroles, Breakfast Burritos (these were SO EASY to make and looked and smelled delicious!), Chicken Enchiladas, Stuffed Pasta Shells, Lasagna Roll ups, and a few other smaller portioned meals.

I can’t believe everything we got accomplished!  In the future I would skip the lasagna roll ups.  I really don’t see them as possibly being worth the effort it takes to make them, especially when I can put most of the ingredients into a regular lasagna dish, but I am excited to give them a try one night!

I’m not sure which I appreciated more, the help prepping and cooking all that food, or the fact that Diana did all of my dishes!  We successfully used every last pot, pan and mixing bowl that I own in the process and that mountain of mess was a pretty overwhelming sight!

My freezer is now stacked to the top, and I can say that there is a huge weight lifted for after baby arrives! One less thing to think about with a newborn is going to really mean the world to us as we navigate the realm of new parenthood!  Thanks again D!

The Great Border Debate

Living where we do, there has been a great amount of interest from the community in where our baby will be born, and the citizenship issues that come with it.  As most of you should know by now, I live in Canada.  I grew up outside of the same small city my whole life, and moved to ‘The Big City’ when I was 17.  And last year we moved to a tiny little town that is right on the Canada/USA border.

We are 1 hour from the closest Canadian hospital that offers maternity services, and as a result our Provincial Government has arranged to cover any expenses incurred if we choose to use the hospital closest to us in the States.  This is very commonly done, and provides what many consider amazing ‘opportunities’ for the children born there.  Dual citizenship being one of them.

The other day I attended my first ‘Healthy Baby’ program.  It is a community service program that offers resources to new and expecting mothers, and although I didn’t take away much from the ‘info session’ (it’s really geared towards a certain demographic of mothers who may not have access to information or supports from friends and family as they start out on their parenting journey) I did meet a lot of other moms, and including myself, there were 5 women who are expecting!

I am the only one with plans to deliver in Canada, and I was met with a lot of questions not about why I am choosing to do so, but why we’re choosing NOT to deliver in the US.

It really comes down to a few simple reasons, and although not the popular choice, I feel it is the right decision for us.  Here are the top 3 comments that have been brought up, and our feelings on why delivering in Canada is better for us.

1. “But the USA hospital is so much closer.”  This is true, between 8 am and 12 am the hospital in the USA is about 15-20 minutes from our home (including a trip through customs).  The Canadian hospital is a solid hour’s drive.  It does make sense to want to be at the closest hospital, however what gets forgotten is that between midnight and 8am the closest customs port is closed.  Requiring a longer trip around through the nearest 24 hour crossing.  This makes the distance to either hospital just about equal, and as such is not enough reason alone for us to want to deliver there.

2. “The hospital is so much nicer, and the care is excellent”.  While I have no prior experience to compare this to, and I have no doubts that lots of women are very happy with the care they receive at the closest US hospital, I do not personally feel comfortable with the practices described by the mothers who have had babies there.  In the Healthy Baby group I was the only expectant mother to not have a scheduled induction or c-section date.  That is a concern for me.  I am perfectly happy letting Baby Bumpkin cook until he is ready to make his appearance, unless there is a founded medical reason for either intervention, I’m much more comfortable waiting it out.  I am also under Midwife care.  This would not be an option in the US hospital.  I have been so wonderfully cared for that I wouldn’t want to sacrifice that experience.  The Canadian hospital, may not be of the same ‘standard’ (I really don’t know as I haven’t been able to compare) but they have facilities available that lead me to believe that they are able to provide adequate care for me and baby, and that’s good enough for me.

3. “Don’t you want your baby to have dual citizenship, it provides all kinds of great opportunities”.  Being a dual citizen is a really neat bonus of being born in the US to Canadian parents.  This is the number 1 comment we get on a regular basis, and has caused many back and forth conversations between Hubby Bumpkin and I about whether this decision is the right one for us.  Canada and the US, from what I’ve read are 2 of the only developed countries that still allow dual citizens.  In a big way, that fact alone makes me a little nervous about the long term benefits.  I could see the “dualie program” as it’s been nicknamed in our area being done away with, and for that reason it would provide no benefit in the long run.  As well, looking years down the road, if our child was a dual citizen, married another dual, (as most children in our area are) and they have a baby also born in the very same hospital in the US, that baby would not be a Canadian citizen, and would This is a problem some of the mothers at the group were discussing.  I heard many say “If only I had known what a hassle that would be, I would have just had him in __________(the closest Canadian hospital).”  That makes me uncomfortable.  As well complications arise around tax time including being required to file with the IRS, even when no work or income was received in the States.  I also worry about the possible implications as different governments go in and out of power.  All of these are ‘what ifs’ and not very important in the mean time, but they do get tacked onto the “con” list in our house.

The benefits of dual citizenship would include the ability to work or attend school across the border.  After careful consideration, we feel that there isn’t enough benefit from this to deliver Baby Bumpkin there.  In the future if the subject came up, we decided that we would help support him in filing the correct visas and applying through the available channels later in life for work or schooling opportunities but as a ‘birth right’, it’s just not for us.

Over all, there is little difference where Baby Bumpkin and his peers are born.  What is right for our family might not be a good decision for another, and that’s ok!   Living in the area we do there are all kinds of neat opportunities, and it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of each.  Over time I know I’m going to really appreciate having raised our family making decisions that we feel are best for us.  I only hope that others can understand and respect our decisions, even when it’s the ‘weird thing’ to do!

38 Weeks Update

Well hello there, remember me, the blogger who makes all kinds of false promises?  I’m back!!!  ”Fo Realz” this time!  See what I just did there, I tried to be so cool that you wouldn’t even remember how disappointing it is that I haven’t been keeping up to date with this!

I have had the best of intentions, but it really just comes down to me not having a crap ton of energy these days!  My body is so spent after just short, small tasks that the last thing I feel like doing is coming up with something brilliant or funny to say.  Often I just stare at Hubby Bumpkin across the room willing him to carry me to bed… and not in some hot, romantic way either… I really just want him to hoist me over his shoulder walk down the hallway, and toss me into bed, covering me however I lie.  Anything would be better than having to walk there myself, spend 20 minutes adjusting with pillows only to finally find that sweet spot of comfort (or at the very least lack of discomfort) and BAM!  Time for my first pee break of the night!  But alas… I think it’s safe to say I officially weigh more than he does, and although he’s my hero, I have lower expectations for Superman!

All miserable ranting aside, things have been going well in terms of preparing for Baby Bumpkin!  Nesting has been an on and off thing, so I try my best to take advantage of the ‘on’s.  The other night I had Hubby Bumpkin remove the tray from our freezer so I could scrub out the bottom.  He simply stood back, smiled, sighed loudly and said “Ahhhh, this is nesting.”  I can only imagine how I looked with my belly propped up on the edge of the freezer, but I couldn’t resist the urge to clean!

I’m now only a few craft projects away from completing Baby’s nursery, and I’ll be making a whole separate post about some of those!

My midwife appointment on Tuesday went well.  Baby of course reacted with some ‘ttude when being measured, kicking back hard, as they felt out his position!  Still head down, nice and low!  I asked out of curiosity how big my midwife guessed he may be.  Her answer was that “well, he won’t be a little 6lb baby”.. but then went on to reassure me that mothers usually grow babies proportionate to their bodies!  I was not that worried about his size in anyway.  It was just total curiosity!  My belly measured 38cm, and his heart rate was 132 (nice and consistent!).

I plan on spending time this weekend making freezer meals in preparation for post baby days that cooking is just NOT going to happen, and I’m looking forward to spending time with one of my best friends, who was kind enough to offer to help!

Thank goodness for great friends!  I hope you all have a really wonderful weekend!  See you back here.. that’s right. RIGHT here, on Monday!

 

Week 36 Pregnancy Update + Name Clue

Growing a new human sure has a way of sucking the energy out of you!  I am right back at my first trimester all day sleepiness and boy do I sure know how to take advantage!

I’ve been having at least one nap every day, but I really think it’s just making up for the sometimes 5-6 trips to use the potty overnight!  Physically, my body is getting ready for Baby Bumpkin to make his arrival.  It feels like my hips are being continually pulled apart, and my back is constantly aching.  But all in all I’m perfectly content on just leaving the little man right where he is for a few weeks longer!

Baby is doing well, at my appointment last Wed. he was head down, nice and low (as he has been at my last several appointments).  his heart rate was roughly 132 which again is pretty consistant, my belly measured 37cm and over all everyone is happy with how he’s growing.  I did the GSB test and should find out my results at the appointment tomorrow!  Fingers crossed for a negative result, but if the worst part of a positive is requiring an IV during labour, I can live with that too.   Here is my 36 week belly shot!  I realize that the ‘months’ and weeks got kind of confusing in these pictures, but technically based on a 4 week month, pregnancy lasts 10 months, but only 9 according to the calendar. In hindsight I would have labeled these in weeks, but now for continuity’s sake… you get to deal with a little confusion!

I happen to really love this photo and the top I’m wearing in it, but had someone on my personal Facebook make a comment about horizontal stripes, that was pretty rude.  Let’s just say if you want to piss off a pregnant lady, comment on her size/appearance and see how well that goes for you!  Some people, I tell you!

The Nursery is coming along nicely, I still have a few more projects on the go, but otherwise things are almost done!  My parents visited this weekend and helped me so much by making a couple freezer meals, completing some spring cleaning, and setting up the baby furniture including the pack n play (without any instructions- it has a newborn sleeper which made this quite complicated)  Now that these things are done I’m feeling much more prepared for baby!!!

In the next few weeks, and really there are only a few, I am hoping that I can get things completely in order and focus on some relax time before he decides to show up!

Just for giggles, here is a “selfie” I took of myself at 35 weeks pregnant!  Ignore the nasty , dirty mirror (it’s where I do my make up and it gets it fair amount of smudges)  These pajamas are pretty fantastic for lazing around the house, and always put a smile on my face!

NAME CLUE:

Baby Bumpkin’s name comes with 2 typically used nicknames.  Of course I’m sure we’ll come up with a cutesy name on our own, just because that’s how I roll!