DIY: Baby Wipes

Almost a year ago at my work baby shower, one of my co-workers was kind enough to give me the ingredients to make my own baby wipes. Him and his wife swear by them. I am a little embarrassed that it took me 8.5 months to get to making them! It was mostly because we were given so many wipes as presents that I thought I would use them first. We are finally out of wipes so I thought it would be a good time to try it.  It is so simple and made a lot!

Mizzou Homecoming 2012

This trip to Columbia marked John and I's 11th Mizzou Homecoming and our 1st SEC game. We had originally planned to bring Sawyer but when the forecast said high of 43 with an 11:00 AM game, we decide next year might have to be his first trip.
Thanks to my wonderful parents for watching him!
We made it into town Friday night to meet the Milbach's for drinks at Trey and late night snacks at Addison's with some of our other college friends (The Duncan's, Ahren's, Weston's and McMillen's). The Milbach's were kind enough to let us stay at their lovely home (it is impossible to get a hotel room on Homecoming weekend). Saturday, we started tailgating around 9:00 am and it was cold! Luckily we got to watch the game from the Tiger Lounge which is enclosed & heated. After the Tiger's win, we headed to the Weston's for food and a quick dance party and then decided to hit the town for some Willy's & Field House. Of course we had to end the night with a trip to El Rancho.  Ad you can see from the pictures, the them of the weekend was lots of dancing and chest bumps,

Girls at Addison's Friday Night

Tailgating Saturday

Looks like Ella is handling the cold better than John

Boombox dancing with a little RKelly & Salt N Peppa

Elizabeth, Me, Kathy, Ella and Lindsey

the boys

The boys trying to be hard

Shotgunning led to more chest bumping

Even moving coolers involved dancing!

Want to dance and eat sandwiches?

the effects of Chest Bumping

Watching the game from the Tiger Lounge

We won! 33 - 10

Gangnam style in the stairwell

Lindsey & Me

Lindsey Dancing, Chris creeping in the background.

Delta Gammas, Theta's and Pi Phi's all made an appearance

who knows!?!?

Me, Lindsey, Anna and Elizabeth at FieldHouse

What's in a name

John and I struggled when picking out our son's name, Sawyer. We had no problem agreeing on a girl's name or a boys middle name but when we found out our beloved Hamlet was a boy it took us months to decide on two names. We didn't pick the winner until we meet him on Feb. 17, 2012.

The name Sawyer became a contender simply because we liked it and thought it was a good strong name that worked well with is pre-destined middle name of "Farris".  Farris is a Hamra Family name that John, his father, his grandfather and his grandfather's father all share. Naming him Sawyer also gave him the same initials (SFH) as his Paternal Grand Father and Great Grand Father.

To our surprise, yesterday we received a letter from John's Grandfather who found out a little more about Sawyer's name. I found this so cool and coincidental, I look forward to sharing this letter with Sawyer one day.

It reads (I left out some items for privacy):
Dear John & Kari,
I just found out that "Saidya"means jeweler in Lebanese and "Saidya" is pronounced "Sawyer". You probably did not realize that by giving our great grandson and your wonderful son the name of "Sawyer," you gave him a Lebanese name....
Sincerely,
Poppa Sam

Weekend in Pictures: Birthdays, Breast Cancer Walks & Bonfires

We very rarely have a dull weekend and honestly I really like staying busy. This weekend was exceptionally busy but Sawyer got to do so many new things, he seemed tor really enjoy himself. We started out Saturday morning with the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk to celebrate our friend Mel's fight against the disease. We also walked for my Grandma (my dad's mom) who lost her hard battle 2 years ago. After the walk, my parents, Sawyer and me tried out the new breakfast at Springfield Brewing Company (so yum!), we definitely recommend it. 

Saturday night Trina & Darlene hosted an Appelquist Foundation Bonfire at their house to celebrate the success of this year's tournament. We raised a whopping $8500!!!!  

We finished the weekend Sunday, with 2 birthday parties. Gavin (my coworker and friend Karen's grandson) turned 1 and celebrated at the Fire House by MSU. He had a costume party so we dressed Sawyer up like a Tiger (of course). Cruze (our friend Susan & Dustin's son) turned 2 and had his party at Nathaniel Greene Park in the new Botanical Garden Center. 

Here are the pictures....

My dad, Sawyer and me at the MSABC Walk

Very clever way to drink a bottle, he must have been pooped from the walk

Hanging with Grandma at the Bonfire

The boys had a strobe light fight

First time on a slide and he is in love. Thanks Grandpa

Eyeing Grandpa's beer at the bofire. 21 years bud!

This picture cracks me up, Megan...great face!

The crew at the bonfire.

I love these girls!

Megan and me by the fire

Happy 2nd Birthday Cruze!!

Gavin's costume birthday party. The cutest Hulk I've ever seen!

Yummy Pumpkin

Do many cute costumes!

Impossible to get a shot of all the kids paying attention. The photos crack me up!

And the tiger is off.....

Me and my little tiger

Gavin's party was at the Fire House, lots of fun stuff to play with!

Cute little driver

Owen

Parker

Gavin enjoying his cake.

The boob: de-tabooed

Shocking blog title, right?  Let’s face it a lot of people are scared to discuss one of the most natural

processes a mom goes through, nursing!

    I had a friend, who is expecting her first child, ask me to send her my advice on nursing. She was having trouble finding helpful information and knew I was currently going through it.  Having so many friends expecting or having a new baby at home, I had honestly thought about blogging this for awhile.  I would always end up changing my mind because I thought it might offend people. Well,I changed my mind back. Frankly it is not anything to be ashamed of. I think all moms should be proud that they nursed or even tried to (it doesn’twork for everyone). It is the best thing for your baby! So if it is one week, 2months or a year, be proud you nursed at all.

   After 8 months of nursing Sawyer, here are my tips, tricks and advice that worked for me. Once again, it is different for every mom so please don’t take what I say as law. This is not a “how to breastfeed” blog it is a “what worked for us” blog

   And if you are someone who finds this stuff creepy, weird orgross…you don’t have to read it!

   Before I start I want to emphasis one thing I truly believe.Try to give nursing a shot for at least 2 months before decided to give it up.There are a lot of hurdles in the beginning and your tired new mom brain might make a decision you regret later. Remember, once you stop nursing, there is no going back.

   Also set a goal up front of how long you would like to nurse so you can hold yourself accountable if you have a "I want to give up" moment.

The Beginning

I know you have probably heard these things… “Nursing iseasy” , “Nursing comes naturally” , “Nursing doesn’t hurt.” Well guess what? I think those are all lies. My experience is that nursing is a “learned” skill just like changing a diaper. It takes practice and time to find what works for your baby. Your milk might not come in fast enough or your baby might not be able to latch properly. Sawyer’s tongue didn’t extend enough so we had to have his lingual frenum (connector under the tongue) snipped. For 2 weeks I solely pumped and we syringe & cup feed him. We were trying to do everything in our power to stick with breast-feeding instead of formula. It was a lot of work but it was worth it (time & money). After his tongue was clipped he learned how to latch again. Pumping every 3-4 hours in the first few weeks is not uncommon, I did it and although it was not favorable it helped me keep my supply up and freeze a lot for when I went back to work. You can do it!!!

My Advice: Start pumping from Day 1, you may only get an ounce or less but the more you pump the more you produce. What I did was feed him on one side and pump out the other side,every time he ate. I know that sounds like a lot but as their feeding get less the less you’ll have to pump, plus you will get a great supply of milk to freeze. We would freeze 1 bag of 5-6 oz and leave the rest in the refrigerator for bottle feedings when I couldn’t nurse

A few weeks in

I strongly believe all moms, who have the desire to nurse,should give breastfeeding at least 2 months before they give up. With so much is going on at the beginning (you are tired, confused, emotional and probably still healing) that it is so easy to just say “the hell with it, give him formula”. Do everything you can to not give up because you will want to, I promise. Think about it, it is so much easier to get up and nurse in the middle of the night because it is ready on demand. Preparing a bottle at 3:00am involves finding a clean bottle, mixing, warming...all in the dark while a baby is crying. Yes, this might be your only option but if you have the option to nurse, doesn't it just seem easier?

Some things you will go through in these first few weeks are:

1. Sore Nipples: Even if they are latching properly sometimes they can get carried away and pull or bite at you (my son was a crazy man) so I recommend getting some Gel Pads. (I use Lansinoh brand from Target). I never liked the paper pads they weren’t very comfortable. In the beginning I also used Lanolin whenever I was really sore and it seemed to help.
2. Engorgement: Once your milk comes in you will have times that you feel like you are going to explode, you can go ahead and pump before your baby needs to eat it is not going to hurt anything and will help to not overwhelm your baby with milk. This will also slow down the longer you nurse. You will turn into a supply and demand machine and your body will start to learn how much your baby needs.
3. Leaking: I was lucky and didn’t leak but if you do just keep some extra pads on you so you can quickly switch them out. I wore my Gel Pads at all times for the first 5-6 months, maybe that is why I didn’t leak. The past couple months I stopped wearing them and have had no issues.

My Advice: Give nursing 2 months before giving up, buy some gel pads and wear them all the time! Pump, pump, pump it up as much as you can! Start freezing 1 bag a day or more if you have it (in either store bought bags or Ziploc freezer bags) at around a month or 2 months. Set a goal for how long you plan to nurse and try to stick to it, this will help when you reach hurdles so you don’t just give up.

A few months in/going back to work

After a few months, you will develop a routine and it will seem so much easier. After Month 2, my routine was every 3-4 hours nurse &pump, this changed of course when I went back to work. I promised myself Iwouldn’t beat myself up if pumping at work didn’t pan out. This removed a lot of unnecessary pressure! I did start prepping for going back to work about a week or two before with practicing pumping with out feeding him.

My schedule at work went like this:

6:00 – 6:30 am: Nurse Sawyer before work

10:00: Pump at work (10 mins.)

12:00 pm: Nurse Sawyer on lunch (not everyone can do this,so if you can’t add another pump session)

2:00: Pump at work (10 mins.)

5:20: Nurse Sawyer at home

8:00-8:30: Nurse Sawyer before bed, pump

I continued this schedule for about month 4 when we introduced solids.

My Advice: Think of an “at-work” pumping plan so you can transition before you head back to work. Don’t beat yourself up can’t pump at work, you made it this far. Try to pump when you think they are eating so your body keeps on their schedule. Keep freezing a bag a day to build your home milk supply.

Month 4-6

You should start to feel like you understand what your doing and your baby will already be a pro. This is about the time we introduced solids to Sawyer’s diet and he was nursing less often. This means less pumping (yeehaw!!!). So our schedule changed to a pretty traditional breakfast, snack,lunch, snack, dinner, and bedtime snack - routine.

I started only pumping the 2 times at work also and stopped pumping after he ate. Since I had been freezing 1 bag a day since about 1 month I had about 80 bags of frozen milk, which seemed enough to slow down on storing.  One hurdle for us during this time was Sawyer got teeth and he wanted to use them. While he did bite me a couple times, I quickly learned if I said in a stern voice “No Sawyer!”, he didn’t like it and would stop.

My Advice: You can cut out a couple pump times and milk storage if you have a good supply. If you supply seems to start slowing down, pick back up on the pumping and it should fix it’s self. It your child gets teeth don’t automatically give up, try to stop biting right away by talking to them in a stern voice. They don’t want to stop nursing so if they know it hurts you, theywon’t do it.

Month 7 – One Year

Now nursing is completely different than it was at the beginning, I pump once a day and he nurses at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only reason I pump is to keep a little milk in the refrigerator in case he needs it but we still have a good supply of frozen milk left. My goal is a year and even though sometimes my supply feels really low, I’ll just pump a few times after he eats for a few days straight and it picks up. He definitely needs me less now that he eats fruits, veggies, meat and grains.  His favorite time to nurse is before bed because it relaxes him. That will be a hard thing to give up.

My Advice: Pump if you want to keep milk in your refrigerator or to keep you supply up.

Other HELPFUL Tips…..

Storage Duration of Breast milk :

Reference Center for Disease Control &Prevention

Breast milk at room temperature (66-72 degrees): Can be out for 10 hours (no need to refrigerator your pumped milk at work, just take it home and refrigerate as long as it is less than 10 hours)

Breast milk in the refrigerator (32-39 degrees): 5 days

Breast milk in a freezer (0- -18 degrees): 3-6 months

Thawed breast milk: 24hours from when it is completely thawed

Best way to thaw breast milk: Do not use a microwave!! The night before we would just put the bag in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. If it is still frozen, swirl in a container of warm water.

Items I recommend and how to buy them

- Medela Pump In Style Advance Double Pump w/messenger bag: If you can borrow or buy a double pump it will be so helpful, I borrowed mine: buy here

- Lansinoh Soothies Gel Pads: buy here

- Medela Tender Care Lanolin: buy here

- Boppy: I still use it to support Sawyer when he eats: buy here

- Medela Quick Clean Wipes : perfect for work cleaning : buy here

- Medela Quick Clean Micro-steam bags: great for traveling to disinfect at hotels: buy here

- Lansinoh Freezer Bags: cheaper than Medela: buy here

- Nursing Cover: If you want to venture out in public or around visitors, I found mine at Target for really cheap: buy here

The Infamous Pumping & Dumping Debunked

Not that you want to go get wasted face now that you have a little one but if you do decide to partake in some adult beverages you might consider “Pumping & Dumping.” Before you do, read this article: http://www.breastfeeding.com/breastfeeding-questions/breastfeeding-nutrition/qa/what-does-pump-and-dump-mean.aspx

It makes so much more sense to me now! Honestly before I read that, I literally thought the milk just sat there holding alcohol until it was dumped. Nope it just passes through your blood stream like anything else you consume - that is what Oprah calls an Ah Ha moment!

Cost Savings for my Frugal Friends

If you read my blog, you know I like to save money so I thought I’d try to put a dollar savings amount to how much breastfeeding can save versus formula feeding. This is all approximate but it will give you a good idea.

The way I figure it is like this…

What Sawyer ate:

1-2 months: ate 4 oz bottles every 3 hours or 32 ounces per day,224 oz per week, 896 oz. per month = 1792 oz. for 2 months

3-5 months: ate 6 oz bottles every 4 hours or 36 ounces per day,252 oz. per week, 1008 oz. per month = 3024 oz. for 3 months

6-8 months: eats 8 oz bottles every 5 hours or 38 ounces per day,266 oz. per week, 1064 oz. per month = 3192 oz. for 3 month

Total for 8 months = 8008 oz.

If we purchased the Premium Enfamil Infant Milk-based formula in the 23.4 oz container is would cost about $22. It says it makes approximately 167 fl. Oz.

So 8,008 divided by 167 = 48 container or  $1,054.95

So feel free to tell people your breast milk is worth thousands, because it is!

Sawyer: 8 Months

Happy Little 8 Month Old!

We have a wild man on our hands! We should have guessed this would be the case considering who is father is but it happened quicker than we expected. In the past couple weeks, he not only has developed some bumps & bruises from his daredevil tendencies, he also got his first black eye. He decided to let go and try to walk while he was holding on to a wooden table, lost his balance and hit the side of it. Can someone please tell this kid he is only 8 months!

Sit still? Whatever, lets move 

Stats this month

Weight: 17 lbs. 10 oz.

Eating: still nursing and taking 6-8 oz. bottles at school or when I am gone. Still on the same eating schedule and has tried lots of new foods like chicken, mango, oatmeal, graham crackers, broccoli, lemons, pickles, plums, cherries and even cauliflower.

Sleeping: Sleeping a lot better than last month! He doesn’t wake to eat in the middle of the night. Most nights he goes to bed around 9 p.m. and sleeps until 5:30-6:00 a.m., eats and then takes another morning nap until around 8:30 or 9. He is still a napper. Loves to be covered up at bedtime, his favorite blanket is his super soft Mizzou blanket.

Clothing: Wearing 6-9 month clothes. Most pants are still too big on him so we can still put him in 3-6 month pants. Hasn’t worn any 12-month clothing yet except for socks, those are always too snug.

Diapers: size 3

Showing off all his toys

Playing: Sawyer has masters crawling on all fours and is pretty stinking fast! He also pulls up and stands on everything and is very sturdy. He like s to walk around while holding onto things and is getting very brave by letting go (hence the bruises). We have even tried out his stand up walker and he is getting good at it! He walks all over the house in his sit down walker now too. A new development is trying to climb. Our friends lent us a jumper that he is obsessed with and keeps him self entertained for hours. He also loves to throw!

He wrinkles up his little face right before he laughs, it is adorable!

Just driving my car, no biggie

Talking: His favorite word is “dada” but also says “baba” and “mama”. Sometimes he sounds like he puts together a complete sentence of baby talk. He loves when we bounce him on our knee to hum so he feels the vibration. He also yells & grunts or as we like to call it “monster noises”. He recently learned how to make kissy noises back at us. One of my favorite things he does is yell and talk to Bowie and Faith (our dogs) as he eats his oatmeal in the morning. He also just laughs and giggles randomly now, we love his laugh!

Teething: Still just showing his 2 bottom teeth. When we took him to his pediatrician about 2 weeks ago she said his top 2 are about 1mm from the surface. Still all the signs of teething…drooling, chewing, runny nose, etc. We starting brushing his little teeth too, never too early to practice good dental hygiene.

j+k