Our ‘tiny baby’, as we call our in-utero child (either Anne or Jonathan depending upon gender) has been moving for a couple of weeks now, and it’s always so exciting.  I think I can even feel some movement with my hand, but whenever I call someone over to have a feel tiny baby stops moving!

Ah well, it won’t be long now and my family will be able to SEE tiny baby moving, as well as feel tiny baby with their hands .  I think baby movements are one of the greatest joys of pregnancy, when I feel tiny baby I’m always reminded of the new life growing inside me, and it brings a smile to my face!

I’ve been researching making lotion for my eczema prone daughter, and I have to say – there’s a bit of a learning curve here.  Right now I’m just learning about ingredients, but the one that is currently working for her is a type of silicone/herbal extracts shielding lotion, and if I can just figure out this whole silicone thing I’m sure I can whip something up for her that will cost less than $19 for 4 oz.

Have any of you tried to make your own lotions for children with skin issues?  Any successes or recipes that you’d like to share with me?  I HAVE found a supplier of silicones in Canada, which is pretty much the first step for us, because some of them have a low flash-point, they’d have to go UPS, and we all know how expensive that brokerage is!!!

I’m on day 2 or 3 (depending on how you count it) of weaning Sarah, who just turned 2 at the end of June.  My poor little dove.  This is the youngest I’ve ever weaned one of my children, but she seems to be taking it well.  Nursing through this pregnancy just hasn’t been working out as well as I would have liked.  I’ve nursed through two previous pregnancies, but I’m just feeling so ‘done’ with nursing this time, also – there is very, very little milk at this stage in the game (I feel a bit full on my high-production side, but have had NO engorgement or pain.)  She and I have been fighting about how much she gets to nurse and when, so I thought our relationship would be much more harmonious just to be done with it.  And so far it has been.  She’s asking less, crying less, and has been happier.  I think this has been a good decision for our family.

This might seem odd to women who don’t nurse for as long as I do, but I do still struggle with residual guilt.  Tell me it’s okay!

For some reason I always decide a month or two before I get pregnant that I never will, and that I might as well stop tracking my cycles.  As a result, my midwife always asks, “Do you know the first day of your last period.”  My answer is typically, “Umm…I think it was around…insert date here.”  She then responds, “Weren’t you tracking Jen!?”

Ehm.  In any case – I think I’m accurate to within a week either way.  She’s got me set up with a due date of December 06th, so I think my official due date for myself will be “some time in December”.  That way I’m good to go in a wide variety of date ranges and hopefully, won’t get too jittery as the date approaches .

I have to say though, being pregnant with #4 looks MUCH different than being pregnant with #1 did!  LOL!  We’re all very excited to have this new little love join us this year .

I missed my nap yesterday, I was non-functional for most of the afternoon and evening. I missed my nap today, and am really starting to bottom out. Where oh where did that early first-trimester energy go? When, oh when, will it come back? I remember the days…I remember walking at the zoo all day long at 9 months pregnant when I was pregnant with Sarah. Oh, month 9 energy levels, how I long for you.

Month 3 = total energy sink.

How can such a tiny little baby take up so, so, very much zippity-doo-dah.

Thank you God for this dear little life inside of me. Please let me nap tomorrow. Please, please, please.

In Yeshua’s name, I pray!

In different seasons of my life, people tend to gravitate towards asking me certain questions on a regular basis.

If I have an older baby on the ground and I’m not pregnant yet, it’s the inevitable, “Are you pregnant yet?”

Quite a few people know that we don’t act to prevent conception, and leave our family planning in the hands of the One who knows what’s best for us.  And no, that Person isn’t me, I do a very poor job when I try to run my own life!

When I am pregnant it’s the “How are you feeling?” question, particularly in the tetchy first trimester, where I currently find myself.

My answer over the past few days?  Yes, I am nauseous, in fact, I feel like I’ve had a mild case of the flu for the past week (I  did have a cold, but the nausea is independent of the sniffly nose.)  I barely kept my lunch down while I was eating it and it was…mashed potatoes, doesn’t get much blander than that.

Yes, I am eating a very limited number of items these days, most of which are white, and experiencing cravings for…frozen french fries (after they’re baked).  Of course, that isn’t a staple around here, so I’m longing for a BIG shopping trip to the city where I will buy a LOT of cottage cheese, a HUGE jar of polski ogorki pickles (dills), and a ginormous bag of frozen french fries, because honestly – here in the country, they don’t make their containers big enough for a family of six.

So, there’s my official answer .  I am glad to be queasy however, as I hadn’t been feeling very pregnant before.  Knowing all those hormones are hard at work lets me know that tiny baby is hanging in there, knowledge that puts any first trimester moms mind at ease.

Today I received my very first dandelion bouquet of the season from my four-year-old.  When my seven-year-old daughter saw this sweet expression of love she exclaimed, “Oh, I can’t wait until I’M a mommy!”

Do you ever feel like your children will see the hard work, the frustrations of parenting and somehow get burnt, or turned-off by the struggle?  I do.

My daughter’s excitement at the possibility of becoming a mother some day is so refreshing (and in all honesty – it’s a relief!)  She sees what being a mom is about, and she is excited to be part of the adventure!

Mother on Moms, and Happy Mother’s Day!

…that motherhood so instantaneously kicks in once knowledge of a new life is obtained. Minutes after my positive pregnancy test this morning I found myself fervently praying that God would preserve the life of this new little one that He is knitting together in my womb. That this new child would be born whole and healthy, that this baby would live until I could hold him/her in my arms.

Every time he entrusts me with a new life to grow for Him I’m in awe of the responsibility of motherhood, the burden and delight of carrying new life within me, the excitement of being a part of His plans for the future.

Thank you Father, for this very best of gifts!

When my mom called to ask what I was planning to do for my birthday I replied, “I’d like to have a shower, and get dressed, and pluck my eyebrows. Maybe I’ll put on makeup. We’re going to have cake.”

This might sound silly, but after my first born was pretty high-needs I seem to have become trained NOT to take time for grooming. It’s not as gross as it sounds, but sometimes personal grooming just doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to.

Other moms – I’m sure you can relate. How to consistently make time for personal grooming with multiple preschoolers is a challenge I’m sure many of us face – moms of 8, 9, and more – I stand in awe of how you ever find time for a shower!

Shortly after my third child Sarah was born, I had the chance to review the Sleepy Wrap baby carrier.  I fell in love, hard and fast – the Sleepy Wrap is without a doubt the most comfortable and easy to use carrier for babies up to a year old on the market (of the carriers I have here at home at least!)  The Sleepy Wrap also carries older children as my photos of my then two and five-year-old’s demonstrates, but it’s not the most supportive carrier for older kids.  I also would never feel confident enough to execute a back carry in one due to it’s stretchy fabric.

Naturally I was incredibly thrilled to have the opportunity to review Nap Inc.’s latest child carrier!  The Boba is a soft-structured carrier (think Ergo) designed to be used for children ages 1 to 4 (15 – 45 lbs.) for front and back carries, and my two youngest are now 16 months and 3.5 – perfect timing!  As an Ergo owner my first thoughts were – how does the Boba differ from an Ergo?  Well, to be honest there are quite a few points of differentiation, most good, some not-so-good.  There are also some similarities and challenges that seem to present themselves with any structured carrier.

Before we dig in, I want to let you know that there are lots of pretty pictures on the Boba website itself, I’m not going to use them in my review though, I have plenty of pictures of my own kids enjoying being carried!  Feel free to head on over if you’d like to see some ‘professional’ looking snaps!

So, first off, the Boba is an organic cotton carrier, made in Boulder, Colarado by mountaineering professionals – very neat!  I received the Walnut to review; there are six earthy shades to choose from.  You can find a complete list of the major features here.  The first things I noticed were the nicely contoured padded shoulder straps, the handy ‘hide-em’ elastics to roll up the excess webbing from the shoulder straps and waist strap (very nice touch!), and the heavy duty safety-buckle.

Loading both of my children in the front facing position was very simple, but I did need some help fastening the chest-strap across my back (I have limited mobility in my right arm), so I need some help there.  I played with the foot-straps some before realizing that my baby’s legs are just too short for them to work at the moment, but they are very adjustable with a neat sliding feature that let’s you move them around the bottom of the carrier.  Adjusting for circumference is tricker, as they velcro up inside of the padded waist area, which is securely fastened when you have a child in the carrier and are trying to adjust the straps.  The front carry with Sarah is blissful, it’s the snuggliest, worry-free front carry ever!  She’s in the perfect position to kiss, and the extra fabric on the sides and top really gives it a cocoon-like feel.  She slept for hours in the Boba the first time she rode in it.

Now, the shoulder straps were hard for me to get snug enough, so I called in my husband, but this isn’t unique to the Boba, I always have a hard time with this design of tightening fixture on soft-structure carriers.  Once adjusted though, between the shoulder and chest straps you can get a good custom-fit for your child.  It does take a few minutes to adjust the carrier back and forth for different children.

Now, my 3.5 year old IS tall enough to get use out of the foot-straps!  Looking at this picture I think they could be a wee bit tighter, but they’re pretty good here.  Designed to be used with shoes, the straps function almost as a stirrup, and are designed to lift the leg to a healthy, 90degree angle from hip to thigh and thigh to calf.  You can read more about it here.  I think it’s a pretty neat idea, and you can tell that the posture is definitely better with the strap as opposed to without when you compare the photos.  If she gets excited and tries to ’stand’ in the stirrups, the velcro lets loose and needs to be done up again, and she did say they were a bit ‘itchy’ – some of the velcro must have brushed her leg (something to note if your youngster has sensory-integration issues).  Again the front carry is very supportive and incredibly comfy, I could carry her for hours like this!  She likes it too .

Now, for the back carry, I actually got Sarah in without help on my first try by following the instructions!  The extra fabric on the panel really makes a difference here.  With other soft-structured carriers I often felt like my baby was leaning away from me because I couldn’t feel her upper body against my back.  With the Boba that problem is no longer there!  With some careful adjustments I can get my little girl hugged up nice and comfy….see?  I REALLY like this…sure helps when I’m doing dishes!

Now with Rosie, you can see her shirt through the gap between the carrier and me – that’s just because she’s bigger (and the camera angle), she’s still nice and tight up against me as you can see.  It also looks as though I should have slid the foot straps around the unique bottom rail to be closer to the front, that would have brought her legs into a slightly better position.

Now, with her being heavier I did notice that the unpadded webbing that makes up the front portion of the Boba (where you fasten the safety buckle) carries more weight and did dig into my abdomen some.  That’s likely due to my squishy mommy belly, but it wasn’t entirely comfortable.  Some other carriers feature a flat band of fabric that goes underneath this section of webbing to distribute the weight without so much digging, but the Boba doesn’t. Thankfully, I don’t use a carrier with her often, as I’m the only carrier wearer in the family, so I usually take Sarah.  If Rosie tuckers out her Dad uses his arms .

The Boba also doesn’t have a sleeping baby head flap, but in truth, I’ve rarely been able to fasten those by myself with a baby in the carrier, and often it woke mine up.  With the extra fabric providing upper-back support, Sarah just tucked herself in closer when she fell asleep in the front carry, so I haven’t missed it yet.

With both the back and front carries high, snug, and secure, the Boba is a great carrier for moms who want to wear their babies through the winter with a baby-wearing coat.  Once you get your adjustments made you’re ready to go, there won’t be any budging.

Parents shopping for a first soft-structured baby carrier should STRONGLY consider the Boba due to the extra fabric in the panel ALONE.  The added feeling of security is so sweet, snuggly, and above all reassuring!

If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them for you from a first-hand users perspective.

Thanks to Nap Inc. I have a coupon code to share with you all!  You can buy the Boba online here for $99.00 plus shipping. If you use coupon code “QuiverfullFamily” until November 11th, US purchasers will receive free shipping, and Canadian orders will receive a $3.99 discount (every little bit helps!)  Enjoy these precious times of baby-wearing with your little ones – my too tall six-year-old so misses those special times with mommy already.