1st Father's Day

Dear Daddy,

 

You are teaching me so much.

 

One day, maybe I'll be able to build and fix things like you.

 One day, maybe I'll play sports like you. 

 One day, maybe I'll be able to cook and barbeque like you.

While I don't know what I'll be or what I'll do when I grow up.

I'm thankful that you are my daddy and that you love me no matter what!

Love, Aaron



Roadtripping & Camping with a Baby Part 2

We survived a major camping trip that included 1700 miles of travel, 3 camping locations, 3 states, and 5 nights away. This trip took a lot more organization than our previous camping excursion, but it went much more smoothly! Hopefully, our experiences encourage you to be adventurous with your family. It's ok if things don't go perfectly. Both of our trips had plenty of hiccups, even with lots of planning. But we came away with memories that will be foundational to our family.

Tips for long drives and camping with a baby: 

• Take breaks. Our goal was to try to drive in 3-hour increments before stopping, but being flexible to follow baby's lead in case he needed a stop sooner than that.
• Pack lunches and snacks for the drive. I made sandwiches for every driving day and portioned ziplocks of chips, fruit, and drinks for us. We also had snacks and meals ready to go for Aaron.

 

• Take advantage of community parks on the drive. We used our map app during our drive to find parks along our route. You can find yelp reviews and photos for most parks which can help to ensure that you are finding the correct kind of park (not a business park and in a safe area) and that it has the correct equipment (i.e. slide, bucket swings). It's also a fun adventure! We discovered some really special communities on our drive, like Dunsmuir, CA.

• Know your baby's limits. Aaron's daily driving limit is about 7 hours  (not including stops). It was painful for all of us when we pushed it to 8 hours. Plan accordingly.
• Be flexible!!! We booked a stay in a yurt in beautiful Harris Beach State Park on the Oregon coast. However, when we took our playground break in Medford, OR, it was abundantly clear that the 2.5 more hours of driving to get there was going to be a nightmare for all of us. Not to mention the extra 2.5 hours we would have to spend returning to the I-5 to resume our travels to WA. So we forfeited the $50 for that stay and drove to another campsite that had yurts 30 minutes away. When baby's happiness and comfort come first, the whole family is happier!

• Yurts/Cabins are an easy alternative to tent camping. We just brought some sheets and settled in for the night. It felt so relaxing! Oregon State Parks have the most amazing website to find campgrounds that have yurts, cabins, and even teepees.

• Storage drawers for kitchen supplies. This was an idea we found on Pinterest. It was so much better than digging through a deep tub of supplies.

• Make a detailed menu plan that includes all meals and snacks for baby. We also wrote all the ingredients for every meal so that we forget anything before we left home.

 

 Meals for babies included: pureed chicken soup, yogurt, mashed banana, applesauce, cheese, pear pieces

• Storage containers for baby food. The OXO containers for baby food that I had prepped ahead of time were perfect!
• Baby fence for a safe play area. This was helpful for making sure our crawler didn't go too far. I will say that it works best with a baby who can play alone or with 2 or more little ones.

• Foam tiles for a play area in the tent and for a cushioned walkway. We had a lot of roots and rocks in our campsite, so the extra cushioning was helpful.
• Tent big enough for a pack n play and our air mattress. This made camping so much more comfortable! We were able to put Aaron to bed at his usual bedtime then enjoy some adult time by the fire.

• Dressing baby warmly for sleeping through 50* nights. We put Aaron in fleece pajamas and a beanie to sleep, laid him on top of his lambskin, and covered him with 2 light baby blankets. Even when we were cold under our 2 heavy blankets and sleeping bag, he slept like a rock all night long!
• Toys, toys, toys. We brought lots of toys to provide some distraction during the drive and some entertainment at the campsite. New toys also help provide more interest. I can't believe how many toys we crammed in the car, but I was glad we took them all!
• Baths for baby in a storage tub.

• Put the phone away. Getting pictures is great, but sometimes the camera gets in the way of the moment. I wish I had left mine in the tent more often.
• Adapt and go with the flow. It seems self-explanatory, but when it starts raining or equipment isn't working, it gets really tough to stay focused on the big picture. If everyone can still be fed, sleep, and enjoy themselves, it's going to be fine. For example, we rented a cargo box to go on top of our car, but after our time tent camping with family, it wouldn't open at our next stop. Our tent, camp chairs, pack n play, sleeping bag, extra warm blankets, and astro turf were trapped. Fortunately, our next camping stay was in a yurt so we were done with the tent. We were really bummed to be without the sleeping bag and blankets, but especially anxious about missing the pack n play. While I happened to have a spare blanket in my bag, we had to get more creative to put together Aaron's sleeping arrangement. We took the twin mattress provided in the yurt, put it on the floor, put down blankets, then created a rectangle around the mattress with the baby fence. Ingenuity at its finest!

 

It was such a special weekend of good conversations with Brandon on the long drives and memories of experiences the 3 of us shared over the weekend. On the last night I was putting Aaron to bed and I took a few extra minutes to hold him as I realized how quickly time has passed. Our family will have more adventures, but we will never have that same experience again.

 

Camping with a Baby: Things We Did Well & Lessons Learned

After our first camping trip as a family of 3 we are tired, sore, wizened, and already thinking about our next camping trip.

While we had a great time making memories as a new family, we learned a lot. Hopefully our experiences will encourage you to have fun in
the great outdoors with your little ones too!

First, here are some of the things that we did well:

• We just went for it. It's easy to be intimidated by camping with kids, especially babies. But we loved camping before kids, and want to raise our kids enjoying one of our favorite past times.

• We kept baby warm. Between long sleeves, hats, double layered pants, and jackets, baby stayed very warm. At night we wrapped him in a blanket by the campfire. Then, he slept between us which was good for him... but not for us.

• Screened-in awning to keep bugs away from baby and meal time. Brandon found a huge 11'x9' screened-in awning with magnetic closing doors at Costco for $90. That thing was amazing! Looking forward to using this in the summertime when there are lots of mosquitoes. (This one is a similar magnetic door screened cover)

•  Pack n Play area. We put our Pack n Play in the screened-in area to create a safe, clean play space for Aaron. We would put a few select toys in with him and he played independently 10-30 minutes at a time.

• We brought lots of toys and favorite things. Even though space was tight, we brought a full bag of his toys and the familiar lambskin he sleeps on in his crib at home. Those items made independent play time and sleeping go smoothly.
• Clip on seat. This clip on seat hooked right onto the picnic table for our meal times. Bonus: it is compact for travel.

• We planned some low maintenance meals. Cooking meals that are as good or better than meals we make at home is one of our favorite parts of camping. We love Dutch oven cooking, but it is fairly time intensive and better for groups than it is for only 2 adults. So foil packet meals were great for the short prep and almost no clean up. Now, I understand why those boxes of Costco ready to eat cereal bowls were so popular with my family when we were little. (Remember those?!)
  
  
• Astroturf! We got a large piece of Astroturf for free recently and I'm so glad we picked it up! The turf was wonderful as a mat outside the tent to cut down on tracked in dirt and it was a great place to allow Aaron to do some supervised scooting. On our next trip, I don't think he'll stay on the turf as easily though unless we put up some temporary fencing; which, isn't a bad idea!
  
• Prepped meals at home. We spent about 2 hours at home prepping ingredients for meals so they were ready to go. We chopped onions, cooked bacon, fajita chicken, rice, and prepped an apple crisp topping and base. This prep made it so easy to reach into the cooler for the appropriate Ziplock and throw a meal together.
• Ready to go meals for baby. We love those Plum organic squeezeable meal packets! (He loves them too!)
  
  
• We planned a short stay. For our first trip, 2 nights was just right! Since we weren't sure how things would go, it was nice that we found a first come, first served site so we could pay one night at a time. 
• We did research. Campgrounds vary quite a bit. Some are wonderful for families, while some are more for crowds of college kids. Read Yelp, Tripadvisor, reservation details, and look for campground photos. We camped at Butano State Park which was perfect for families!

Ok, so before it sounds like I'm bragging about how great we are, here are some of the lessons we learned from our first campout:

• Everything takes longer. Everyone tells you how much longer things take with a baby, but sometimes you don't believe it until you experience it. Before baby, it would take us 1-1.5 hours to pack up the car and the same to break camp. With baby, it took us 3 hours to do both tasks. Knowing that it would take us that long would have saved me some anxiety.
• More easy meals!!!! We had a few meals that were a bit ambitious. The stuffed fajita peppers and paleo apple crisp were delicious, but could have been skipped or modified to be foil packet meals. This is one I want to focus on and start making a special family camp recipe binder.
• More blankets and warm clothes for mom and dad. Self-explanatory one. Baby was warm, but we were a bit chilly. We were so focused on keeping him warm that we didn't think about ourselves for every situation.
• Bathtime bucket. This time we were able to keep Aaron relatively clean since he is not very mobile yet, but next time we will definitely need to have a bath bucket and supplies under the screened awning for nightly scrub-downs.
• Bigger tent with a designated sleeping space for baby. We took our 4-person tent with a queen size mattress and it was very tight. Brandon and I were almost falling off the mattress with our son sleeping starfish style between us. It was also a bummer that Brandon and I couldn't cuddle in the cold, but rather had to sleep in odd contorted positions to make sure Aaron had enough space. At least he slept amazing! (Sidenote: we had a large tent given to us that we were planning to bring, but we discovered last minute that it was missing all the tent poles!)
  
• Try to keep your baby's nap schedule. Aaron's main nap of the day happens after lunch time from about 1-3, which is pretty typical. We made the mistake of taking an excursion into town during that time hoping that he would be flexible... this was a recipe that led to no afternoon nap and an overtired baby that evening. In my opinion, I think the optimal times for an outing would be in the morning after breakfast or late afternoon (post-nap).

 These last two lessons are the most important things you can take away from this post, and were big ones we debriefed about after some frustrated conversations.

• Make the choice between utility/resourcefulness and quality time. I can get pretty ambitious about trying to reduce waste, using non-disposable items, and maximizing baby-free moments to clean, prep, etc. All those things are well and good but if you try to do all those things 100%, you are choosing that over quality time together. I'm not saying use only Styrofoam and a new cup for every drink. Next time, I'll bring some paper or compostable dishes and create a soapy bowl or bucket to toss utensils and dishware into to create one dishwashing time. I'll also put quality time or relaxing first!
• Quality family time ≠ Quality couple time. We made wonderful memories as a family, but between all the work camping takes and wrangling a 7 month old, Brandon and I barely interacted as a couple, let alone had any physical contact! 3 things that we will do differently next time:
1. When (or if) baby takes a nap, take those first 15-30 minutes to connect in some way or relax together enjoying your surroundings.
2. If there's a time that baby is content with some independent playtime, again, take those first few minutes to connect even if it's just to hug and share a laugh over something that happened that morning before you start tackling clean-up duties.
3. Separate sleeping space for baby. So many reasons for that one! 

Camping with a baby and seeing their wonder as they look at the trees and touch the dirt is really amazing. It is also a rare time of being completely unplugged together. It takes work, but it is so worth it!

For more tips, check out Roadtripping & Camping with a Baby Part 2!

Thank you for allowing me to include some affiliate links in this post.

10 things I've learned about being a mom

Sitting on the couch at the end of our third weekend home with Aaron, I thought about how wonderful and different life has become. Empty plates from dinner sit on the coffee table, baby books are scattered, diaper bag is hanging open on the floor, boppy on my lap, and Aaron is dozing in Brandon's arms. This baby has certainly taken over our lives and our living room! :)

After almost 3 weeks of being a mom, I've learned a few things...

10. Our parents were right... one of the other perks of them becoming grandparents is getting to watch us learn the same lessons with our babies that they learned 20-30 years ago with us. 

9. Simple tasks become much more difficult... showers, bathroom trips, and household chores must be timed and scheduled.

8. Single parents are amazing. I couldn't imagine doing this alone.

7. Sleep quantity and quality will decrease with children. It's amazing how some of the smallest rustling noises will spring me into action.

6. The mother instinct is very real. There's a lot to learn when caring for children but it's amazing the intuition and instincts that kick in regarding your kids.

5. Each mother is the expert when it comes to her own kids. I had trouble with this idea before I had Aaron since I don't like gray areas. But it is very true! Unless it comes to extremes, it is a mother's perogative to do what is best for her kids. For one mom, scheduling is crucial, to another, responding to the baby's needs as they arise is the most important thing. Do what works best for mom and baby.

4. Goodbye purses... for now. I finally realized that the reason why you try to get a cute diaper bag is that you'll be using it for your purse in addition to carrying your baby's things. After a few days of trying to wrangle baby, diaper bag, and purse, I learned my lesson.

3. Support is crucial. Having people to connect with or to step in with help is necessary for moms to function at their optimal level. I'm so thankful to live near family and friends! My parents came to our rescue several times as I was recovering and taking care of a very new newborn.

2. Couple time becomes rare and treasured. Finding time alone with Brandon was easy before, now it is precious when we get to sit together without holding a baby or lay in bed without a baby nursing between us. 

1. I love being a mom. I was so scared about becoming a mom. I wondered if I could love him enough or if I would do a good job. Everything about it feels like I was made for this... I never realized it would be like this. I love him so much! He embodies a piece of our hearts now, leaving us vulnerable to any pain or sadness he may experience. However, that's no excuse to be fearful, he is a great motivator to seek courage. The safest place a child will experience (hopefully) is in the arms of his or her parents, so we must rely on God for strength and courage to dispel the fears of our children.

Back to our night on the couch. As we sat tired, not yet ready to clean up the remains of dinner, I thought about that Lincoln Brewster song... "this is real life, this is real good".

Aaron's birth story

Sitting up in the early morning I just said happy 4 days old to little Aaron after we passed his time of birth. We still can't believe he's ours! We are so thankful to have him, he's so perfect!

Nearly everything about Aaron's birth was different than what I had planned... First of all, I was overdue despite trying every natural labor-inducing trick I'd heard of! I am convinced that those techniques don't work unless your body is close to starting the labor process itself. I tried spicy foods, prego pizza, miles of walking, pineapple, pregnancy tea, membrane stripping, foot reflexology, labor-inducing massage, bouncing on an exercise ball for hours and hours, etc. I thought we must be so close to labor, especially since I had been 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced since week 39. We went in with false labor three times.

The weekends since hitting my due date ended with disappointment. After climbing stairs at my parents' house for 4 hours on Sunday 9/8 and getting very regular contractions, I was convinced that this was it! Our bags had been in the car since the previous Wednesday and we were headed to labor and delivery! Once we were in triage, the contractions slowed down and the resident on call told us that we should go home unless we wanted to be induced. Knowing that the 42 week mark is the suggested deadline to get babies out since research shows a higher likelihood of stillbirth after that point, I knew we were up against the clock! With tears of frustration, I scheduled an induction for Tuesday morning. I went home that night and had a complete break down. It seemed like I would never reach the end of my pregnancy!

Monday, 9/9/13 
10:15am
The following morning we had an appointment to see our OBGYN and I knew we would have the induction conversation. I almost cancelled since we had monitored baby's status the night before and had already scheduled an induction, but decided to go in since I had contractions overnight. As I was being checked in, I spilled my frustration to the nurse checking me in and she asked if I had had my membrane swept. I told her it had been done twice. She asked if our OB had done one and I said no. She smiled and said, "Oh, I'll make sure to tell him to do the sweep." I should have known... The OB came in, checked me (3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced) and did a very vigorous sweep for several seconds. I almost scooted off the table in pain! He smiled and said he was working labor and delivery from 8pm-8am and said he planned on seeing me there that night since I would definitely start contractions by afternoon. I stood up and my water broke! It was 10:15am Brandon and I teared up from the relief! We went straight to labor and delivery and the nurses were all laughing about the patient whose water broke in clinic after a membrane sweep... Apparently he has a reputation. :)

10:45am
Family was called to let them know we'd been admitted! My parents and sister Ashton came to support us during labor. A doctor came in and informed me that they would have to induce with pitocin if I had not progressed in 6 hours as the likelihood of infection increased over time due to the water breaking.  Slowly contractions were starting and Brandon and I went to work to help them continue.

6:30pm
After hours, they were becoming strong enough that I needed to use breathing techniques and positioning to get through them so the doctor allowed me to continue naturally since I appeared to be having effective contractions. My midwife was working that afternoon so she stopped by to greet us and check my progress at 6:30pm... 4 cm and 80% effaced after all that time. The contractions continued to get stronger. My mom and the rest of us thought I must be more dilated and closer to transition by the way I was acting.

8:00pm
My OB came in at 8pm to check and I was only at 4-5 cm! He reiterated the necessity of getting baby out, but understood my wish to have a natural labor and delivery. So he ordered internal monitoring to be completed to measure the strength of the contractions, if they were strong enough to make necessary progress he would allow me to continue, but if by 9:30pm they were not measuring strong enough, he would insist on pitocin. The contractions were unbelievably painful, I was barely managing.

9:45pm
In order to be strong enough, the contractions over 10 minutes needed to rate 180-205, despite all the pain, my contractions were measuring 105. I was exhausted and could not imagine going through pitocin with the pain I was barely tolerating doubling! I also knew that at the rate that I was exhausting myself, I would not have the strength to effectively push. Around 10pm, after 12 hours of labor and dilating only 1 cm, I decided to order an epidural and the pitocin. Not what I had planned... My family went home to rest until showtime. Brandon and I were able to rest as well. I kept the epidural low so I could still feel contractions but they weren't as sharp. I continued to focus on my breathing, mainly for that little heartbeat that would begin to race with each contraction. The nurse said we might be ready for delivery around 6am.

Tuesday, 9/10/13
3:45am
I started to feel an urge to push but thought maybe I was wrong. I woke up Brandon and waited to see what I was feeling. I called the nurse in at 4am to check, I think she was reluctant since it seemed early. She came in and said I was ready! Baby was already at +3 position. Brandon called my family to let them know it was time. While the medical staff began assembling in my room, I breathed through each urge to push. I couldn't believe how strong the instinct was!

4:30am
The other doctor on call was scrubbing in and was all set to begin, when our OB arrived from another delivery and took over. My family had arrived as well. After some additional prep, I started pushing at 4:40am. Watching progress in the mirror was incredible! All of a sudden, his head was out! The OB told me not to push anymore but to just breathe through the next contraction. Out came Aaron at 5:17am!!! They set him on my chest and this big baby boy began darting his eyes around the room as he cried. It was an incredible moment, unlike anything else.

Aaron measured 8lbs. 8oz., 21 in. long, and with a head circumference of 14.25 in.! He is the most amazing baby, making us a family of 3! From this point on, our lives are completely changed. I never knew I would love him this much! So even though things didn't go the way I planned, it was all perfect in retrospect since it brought Aaron to us safely and in excellent health!