Ups and Downs of Moving

Today was exhausting to say the least but we made great moving progress!

We woke up to a few inches of snow and a call from our storage unit facility letting us know that they would not be letting us borrow their moving van due to the weather. Bummer #1. Davis called Uhaul and reserved a truck and when he got there, they didn't have the size that we reserved. Bummer #2. Everyone did a great job going with the flow, though. David said that every bump in the road was another chance to practice patience And going with the flow. It was a long day for us all, Ayden included, and I am proud of my boys and all of our great friends and parents who have joined in to help us out. We couldn't have done it without everyone. It is times like these that really make you feel loved because everyone comes together to selflessly help you reach a goal.

Ayden has a runny nose and a cough that gets worse at night, as they typically do, so all of that considered he has been a trooper too. David's mom was SUCH a help with him today. He is so used to having my undivided attention so he had a hard time understanding what was going on. Having extra hands around was wonderful. I also have found yet another reason to love breastfeeding. During all of the hustle and bustle of it all I have really enjoyed getting to sneak away to a quiet room every now and then and get a little break. Tomorrow is our last day of this craziness and then we can catch out breath.


This arrangement we are going into will have it's challenges but my parents have generously opened up their home to us free of cost (though we fully plan to earn our keep in other ways). We will be able to pay off the rest of our debt and save so we can start our next chapter debt free! It is so amazing and liberating to daydream about. If all goes according to plan we will break ground on our forever home on the farm in the Fall. I am also looking forward to spending some quality time with my parents because they are not getting any younger. I hope to have some wonderful conversations, learn more about them and have even more wonderful memories to tuck away for safe keeping.

Even in the midst of the craziness we are having fun, embarking on a journey full of unknowns. It is so atypical for us and that makes it that much more exciting. This was going to be our last night in this house but we decided we should move our bed while we had the Uhaul. We will be spending the night with David's parents tonight, finishing our move tomorrow and then getting settled into our new [temporary] home tomorrow night. We close at 8:15 am on Monday. What a whirlwind!

~Sarah

Dishwasher Debacle Verdict

Today's moving progress... Getting there.
Just two days to go.  We can do it!

After posting about our great dishwasher debacle a few weeks ago some may be wondering how everything turned out.

First of all, I'd like to clarify that David's desire to hand wash did not stem from an attempt to preserve water, but from a desire to not support an industry that produces a product that will break after two years then be cheaper to replace altogether than to repair. We purchased said dishwasher only two years ago because the one we had before it flooded our kitchen and those repairs were also going to cost us more than just getting a new one. The whole cycle of purchasing dishwasher after dishwasher is what goes against our green living and sustainability goals. I'm sure that some families that have had their dishwasher for years and years but we really put a hurtin' on ours because in our house they just don't last.

Okay, back to the verdict... I totally prefer hand washing. I know, it surprised me too. The big thing that helped is that David did most of the work, as promised. He never wanted to get rid of the dishwasher just to make more work for me. Part of our deal was that he would do most of the hand washing work and he more than held up his bargain. Once he got us back to square one the night after I wrote the original post on this issue, it was incredibly easy to maintain. I would wash all the breakfast and lunch dishes, which is never much, and David would take care of our dinner mess while I put Ayden to bed. We found that we dirtied less dishes overall because we washed as we used and also found that our sink and counters were never overwhelmingly cluttered like they used to be. It actually made me really happy to always see clean dishes in the drying rack rather than dirties in the sink.

Some may say that as a house wife, my husband shouldn't have a say in how the dishes get cleaned as long as they do, but you see, we do not have your standard full time husband/homemaker wife arrangement. Once David gets home, he chooses to be as equally involved in keeping the household running smoothly and because of that, he deserves some say in how things are done. I told him I'd try it his way for a week and that time period came and went and he was right, hand washing is more enjoyable in the long run. Neither hand washing nor loading the dishwasher is what I would deem "fun" but the former definitely kept our kitchen cleaner overall which makes it a winner in my book.  Maybe my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother weren't so crazy after all...

For the record, we did have our dishwasher repaired so it would pass inspection after selling our house. The motor was busted and needed to be replaced. Also, we by no means expect anyone to agree when we say that we prefer hand washing, to each their own, but I will say that David officially converted me. The key is to 1) stay on top of it and 2) share the burden. Anything is easier when you have a partner in crime.

Is there anything that you prefer to do in a way that is out of the ordinary? Please share!

~Sarah

Our little trooper during the chaos of moving.

12(ish) Months Later

We are getting things packed up slowly but surely. I don't really care how quickly we have to be out, I refuse to throw things into boxes at random. We are still doing a "trash, giveaway, sell, store, keep with us" sort as we pack and it feels good. Moving is always a chance to purge and de-clutter. Our last day for moving is Sunday so we plan to have everything but the bed and our necessities out by Saturday night. We have a lot to do still but are well on our way! It doesn't help very much that Ayden likes to unpack as we pack but we have had some help with keeping him occupied from friends and family in the evenings. Moving with a toddler is very interesting to say the least.

Tooth number 8 popped through overnight and once I noticed it everything made sense. Ayden has been going through a biting stage while nursing over the past few weeks and then last night he wanted to nurse and nurse all night long. He usually nurses for a bit and then rolls away for a few hours. Last night he was wanting to pacify all night long. Nights like that make my hips hurt and obviously keep me from sleeping comfortably for most of the night. From what I have gathered after talking with some other co-sleeping mamas, I have gotten pretty lucky in the sleep department (never thought I'd hear myself say that!). It seems as though many co-sleeping babies spend every night the way Ayden spent last night but for us, on a normal night, I am able to sleep in whatever position I want for a majority of the night. Well tonight is a new night and now that the tooth has made it's appearance we are hoping that the biting and pacifying will subside.

Last night David and I were talking about how we were feeling emotionally now that we are 12+ months postpartum. For the longest time, we'd see another couple with a newborn and our first thought would be, "Better them than us!" Ayden was an exhausting newborn and those scars ran deep for a long time. Now, a year later, seeing a newborn or hearing about a new pregnancy still does not make us ache for it to be us but it does make is feel nostalgic and happy that we will someday do it all again. We are still very much enjoying Ayden being our only baby and are still very much on board with spacing or kids out.

During the same conversation we talked about some of the lessons that we learned and what we would do the same or differently next time around. Birth order is so interesting to me because a first born gets all of the excitement and attention of being the first (and only for a while) but in the same light they are total guinea pigs. I will love experiencing pregnancy again, love having a tiny, squeaky newborn again and I will love having a do over of sorts where I get to put the lessons that Ayden has taught me into practice. My parents caution me with how many pictures and videos that I take, saying that there's very little chance that I will have the time or energy to do any of it for subsequent children. I just figure if it is something that you really want, you make it happen. If I don't do the same thing I will probably do something of the equivalent in a different way. By the time we do have another baby we will be living a completely different life and will most likely be pretty different people too. Who knows what the future holds and that is what makes it all so fun and exciting!

What big lessons did your first child help you learn? How did you do things differently the next go around?

~Sarah

What's New?

Now that Ayden has surpassed the 1 year milestone, the shift in development has been interesting and was almost immediate. During the first year, every few months you have this huge event to work towards and look forward to: holding their little heads up, pushing up, sitting up, crawling, pulling to stand and walking; cooing to babbling, smiling to laughing. You witness so many firsts during the first year and they are such big changes that everyone around would notice. Once they reach the year mark, give or take a couple of weeks, things take a slight shift. The new developments are smaller, fine tuning types of changes. For instance, Ayden used to just walk around randomly babbling his foreign language but now he does it while he points to specific things in the environment, holds a phone up to his ear or turns the pages in a book. He still does it at random sometimes but he seems to be understanding the context for talking. He has also started holding whatever hurts after he falls. If he hits his lip or his ear his hand goes immediately to hold it while he cries his big crocodile tears. He is also listening when we say, "Ah ah, no thank you" and chooses to walk away where before he would look at us then go back to whatever he was doing with a big smile on his face. It seems as though the 1 year milestone brings with it a light bulb that really has transformed our baby into a little boy.

In other news, we had our first choking scare today. Ayden was sitting next to me on the floor at the studio and I had given him a small bite of chicken. I was rounding up everything for the diaper bag so we could head home and all the sudden he leaned forward with his hands on my leg as he made half a cough sound. Then he went silent and started to turn red. It took two finger sweeps to find the chicken and a couple of strong back pats to get him to take a big deep breath. Then he started crying because I'm sure it scared him as much as me. I was shaking and my heart kept pounding for a good 10 minutes afterward. It was the worst thing ever and I am so glad I knew what to do and didn't hesitate to do it.

Have you had any scary parenting moments? What did you do?

~Sarah

What About Ayden?

Frozen blueberries sure are messy!

When people first learn about our strict dietary lifestyle, they often ask if we expect Ayden to follow suit.  The short answer is, "Of course we do" but we realize that things are a bit more complicated than that. With food being a primary reinforcer (something we actually need to survive), it is really easy for unhealthy food relationships to form and even haunt one for their entire life and we definitely don't want this to happen to Ayden if we can help it.  Though we want to keep food a non-issue in an attempt to prevent some sort of fixation on the "bad" foods, we also still want to maintain some sort of balance.  Sugar and food addiction is no joke and as our current obesity epidemic will prove, the majority of Americans suffer from it.  David and I both suffered from it before making our lifestyle changes and also experienced being overweight during our childhoods.  Yes, the McDonald's we were eating at the time tasted good but the other kids poking fun (in David's case) or my being a dancer and therefore being acutely aware of how my body was not ideal, had a much longer lasting effect on our psyches. Though we don't want to place such a huge significance on certain foods that it will inevitably draw Ayden to them, we also absolutely refuse to feed him junk or artificial foods that are one ingredient different from straight up plastic (margarine for instance) which our bodies have no idea how to process properly.  Why do we do it to ourselves??

What is our plan?  We will let him make the first move.  Until he seems aware and actually asks us about it, he will eat as we do 100% of the time.  Why in the world would we give our child candy over raisins if he knows no different?  Just because it tastes good? So do raisins.  There is absolutely no argument that anyone can give that would convince us that it is necessary to give him anything but clean, whole foods at this point in his little life.  Once he becomes aware, we will take each situation as it comes.  We will talk openly about our choices, will lead by example and then let him make a few choices of his own all while helping him listen to his body along the way.  Our hope is that we can help him learn to identify the effects of how foods make him feel, physically and mentally.

Overall, we are realistic.  We realize we are raising a child in a country where the taste and social aspects of food far outweigh the toll that fake ingredients and sugar addiction have on our bodies.  There will be no escaping the classroom cupcakes and birthday pizza parties.  Lucky for us, we have a few years before we have to deal with it and once the time comes, we will do our best to give him the tools necessary to make the choices that he feels are the best for him.

Call us crazy for having the lifestyle that we do but now that we have lived on both sides of the track, we are not going back.  If the way I eat alone is what keeps me leaner than I was when I was in high school and dancing every night of the week then I am convinced it is what is right for me.  Some day Ayden will be all grown up and will be making his own food choices and all we can do in the meantime is fuel his little developing body with the best and hope he learns a lot along the way.  Isn't that all we can ever hope about anything for our children?

Napping while we work on packing up the house.

~Sarah

Easier Every Time

Ayden had his 12 month checkup today.

Look who's back on the charts!
Not that it matter but, 29" (10th %ile) and 17.25lbs (30 %ile)
Grow, Little Man, Grow!!  :)

Every time we go I think back to his 2 month well baby visit and his first round of shots. It was agonizing for all of us and we even questioned whether or not we would continue vaccinating him. But now, 10 months later, our boy smiled at and flirted with the nurse as she weighed and measured him. He only cried for a minute or two, knew exactly who was to blame (that nurse felt so bad when Ayden screamed and looked right at him), and we calmly comforted him as it passed as quickly as it started. He babbled and showed off his walking, which his doctor called "precocious" and tried to blow the ear-checking thingie out like a candle.

My handsome boys waiting (a LONG time) for the doctor to come in.
Watching out the window while a train passes.

Other than the visit taking so long, it was overall a great experience. Our pediatrician is open minded about and supportive of our dietary restrictions and desire for a staggered/delayed vaccination schedule. He never plants seeds of worry about Ayden's small size and is always so complimentary of the skills he does exhibit.

The rest of the day was filled with taking care of moving details. I took all of my summer clothes to my parents house, helped them clear out our closet and put the clothes in their new home. I got their truck key (because my dad brought the truck to his party then took the keys home with him) and then I stopped by the post office to get our new PO box and filled out a change of address form. I also already mailed off all the thank you cards for Ayden's birthday gifts which is a major first for me. I have never sat down the night of an event and written thank you cards but I just knew everything would get lost in the shuffle. I have to admit it felt good and just may become a new habit! After the doctor came home for dinner then took another load of stuff to David's parents house because they have so generously offered space in their attic.

It was a long, busy and exhausting day but we have to keep on trucking. We will rest when we are done!

~Sarah

Calling All Party Animals!

Hat tutorial

Well despite the fact that Ayden totally skipped his morning nap, his party was a great success today!

Best way to work without Ayden undecorating the house.

We made his cake (with WHITE icing), which he did not eat or smash,

Recipe

Purchased animals in the favor section of a local party store

conventional cupcakes that looked like lions for our non-paleo guests,

Inspiration Pin

a veggie tray, bacon wrapped dates, cauliflower pizza bites, guacamole deviled eggs, chips and salsa and hot apple cider.

The funny thing is that everyone ate the Paleo cake and we had to send the lion cupcakes home with people. I thought nobody would want our cake but I suppose curiosity is a strong motivator. The best part was that everyone liked it! My mom came early to help with the food, David put streamers all around and David's parents took the animal print balloons that I got on amazon and had them filled with helium so the party really was a group effort.

We played the slideshow of Ayden's monthly owl shots on the TV

and Ayden even barely tolerated the cute felt hat that I made him while he successfully blew out his candle all by himself on the first try.

Sweet, sleepy boy

Even without a nap he was happy to be center of attention while he showed off all of his animal noises and clapped for everyone, including himself. He actually seemed excited about every gift and helped tear off wrapping and tissue paper.

The favors:
stickers, bubbles, wodden animal to color + markers, little animal figures

Once it was all over and all of our guests had left he asked for me to pick him up and immediately signed that he wanted to nurse. I took him up to his room, changed him and he was immediately asleep. I am so proud of our little boy for being such a good sport. It made it all the more fun to know he was enjoying himself too. You could say that a lot of what I planned and what we did was for me or for us but seeing him enjoy all of the balloons and animals all around made me feel like it really was all for him. It is true that he would't have missed it if it wasn't there but you could really say that about anything in life. I feel like it was the kind of party Goldilocks would have approved of, not too big, not too small, but just right. Everything was put together with love and with our sweet, animal lover in mind. I think if Ayden could have asked for a party theme, it would have been animals of some sort, whether it be pets, farm or the wild that we chose. Next year he really will request his own party which will be so fun!

Now that the party is over it is time to switch gears. I am so very happy that we had the party here at Ayden's first home but now it is time to start a new chapter in our crazy, wonderful lives. This next week will be filled with packing and moving and all kinds of exhausting stuff of the like. Wish us luck!

~Sarah