Ingenue Mom

Who wants to help me make a logo & design for my blog?? I've gotten my desires down to the minimum. Just need a little help because I'm not so awesome at the codes & stuff. And I added a cute picture of Isis as a makeshift logo for the moment, but dang it is HUGE & needs to look a little less totally crazy big for my logo. Anybody want to help? Or know anybody who could help?

I must say, I have a wonderful husband! Every other Saturday is Daddy/Daughter day. I get to go out with Diana by myself & he spends the whole day with Isis. This Saturday I had to go to an event as a UK College of Education Ambassador, so I left before she even woke up in the morning. Lewis had her all day! I didn't get home until 4:30! He also does all her bath & bedtime stuff every night. I'm usually running around rinsing off cloth diapers or putting dirty clothes in the hamper. He really enjoys that time every night with her because he is at work all day. He always wants to cuddle with her when he's home and he'll usually change her diaper for me when he is home, too. He just does so much & I love it! He was completely on board with the cloth diapers and even told me that yesterday when he had Isis for Daddy/Daughter day that he tried to see if she'd pee in the potty like with the Elimination Communication! He's just not scared of anything! He...

Image Source Lewis & I have definitely exhibited some outside the "normal" parenting decisions: naming our daughter Isis, using cloth diapers, etc. So it should come as no surprise to you that we have decided to try out another unusual parenting strategy: elimination communication. First let me explain what it is: it is a method where parents use cues from their baby to let them know when the baby needs to use the potty and they just take them to the potty rather than have them go in their diaper. It relies on the fact that before diapers and in countries without diapers, mothers have been using this method for centuries. In America, we train our children to go in their diapers and then train them not to at the age of 2 or 3. There are many benefits to this method including less diaper rash, reduces diaper use, keeps baby in touch with their own body, etc. The thing I do like about it is that rather than teaching a child to "hold it" like you do when they are ol...

My friend Hannah who took our maternity pictures has just set up her own blog ! She's still getting it started and getting info and prices and pictures on there, but I still think you should all check it out!!! She is the one who is going to be watching Isis in the fall while I'm doing my student teaching, so I feel so lucky that not only does Isis have an absolutely fabulous babysitter, but she also has her own personal paparazzi to take her pictures!!! LOL we already have a bunch of pictures Hannah has taken so far when she's watched Isis! I look forward to many more!! But if you are interested in some pictures, keep her in mind!! Joie de vivre

This is totally debatable & I'm interested in hearing different opinions of moms who have been there. It's so funny that I'm so interested in this because I'm such a major TV watcher! Lewis and I have always been of the opinion that our children will not watch TV until they are 2 years old. I want lots more reading, crafts, games, etc. Even when they are 2, TV will be limited to probably two shows per day. And this doesn't include movies. We want to have family movie nights and things like that. We are still following this plan as of right now, but have heard lots of different opinions and would like to get some insight from others. I've broken down some pro and con arguments I have thought of myself or have heard from others. I'm looking for comments or additional insight! Keep in mind that for me , these are arguments for or against TV under the age of 2 . I'm ok with TV for my kids after the age of 2. I think educational programs are really benefi...

I posted several new videos of Isis on our YouTube page ! There's one of her rolling over, one of her playing on her play mat, but I have to say that this one is my favorite... She's discovered that she can grab her own legs. So now during diaper changes, while she's in her play mat, when she's just laying somewhere - she picks her legs up & touches her knees or her thighs. She started doing it tonight in the bath and then she would kick really hard. It was so funny! So we got it on video! I love looking back at her videos over the past few months! She's just growing up so fast!!!! I feel so lucky to live in a time where we have little video cameras and cameras on our phones and things like YouTube & Facebook where I can save these things and share them with friends & family! It's awesome!

I was talking to a woman tonight who is 7 months pregnant and she was asking about what baby stuff I recommend! So I've made a list. But I've only picked things that I think the particular brand was what made it special for us. My honorable mentions at the bottom are things that I've used a lot and definitely think I needed, but any brand could have worked just as well. Chicco Cortina Stroller & Carseat I absolutely love this travel system! It's really easy to use - once you get used to carting around carriers & strollers in general. I think there's a learning curve to that no matter what brand you buy! I looked like a total clutz the first few times I was getting out my stroller in a parking lot. But the stroller in this system is really smooth and the carrier is really easy to strap in to a car with or without the carseat base. Although I LOVE the carseat base, too! We chose the Cubes pattern and I love that it can be used with a boy or a girl. It's r...

I get asked a lot about how cloth diapering is going! I thought I'd post a little update! In short - we LOVE it! We knew it wouldn't be easy and it definitely isn't, but I can't imagine that it's too much harder than using disposables! I do more laundry now anyway, so it just adds one extra load every 2-3 days. We are using all GroBaby diapers . She's pooping less now, so we can reuse the shells a lot more. She's also sleeping through the night, so I bought some of the GroBaby stay-dry boosters . I haven't started using them yet because I need to pre-wash them. We had to buy some disposables, though, to use when she goes to the nursery at church now! So we'll use 2 disposables a week because they have to change them once during the service. We've been really happy with the GroBaby! She's on the infant setting now because she's 13 pounds. It has fit well around her legs the entire time. We've had a couple of leaks, but no more than I t...

Talking Well, she talks non-stop! She's always cooing and gurgling and blowing bubbles and making the "ah-goo" noises - although she normally does more of an "ah-gee" kinda of noise! She will just make noises over & over & over. Tummy Time She spends quite a bit of time each day now in her play mat. I try to start out on her tummy and when she gets tired of that - after about 10-15 minutes, I switch her to her back. I'm trying to extend the tummy time each day. She does better with it if I'm not right next to her, so I'll sit on the couch or watch her from the kitchen and she stays happier on her tummy longer. She does a little mini-push up now! And she keeps her head up the whole time. She used to hold her head up and then lay it down for a little while, but she's keeping it up the whole time now! She rolled herself over from her belly to her back the other day without me being around! I got it on video. I'll post it soon! Hands She...

Remember when I talked about flexibility? Well, we're having to adjust things now that Isis is sleeping through the night! Not a bad problem to have!! It's been 9 nights in a row now that she has slept 11-12 hours a night! The problem is that now her daytime sleep is totally different. She clearly doesn't need as much sleep during the day because she's getting so much at night! For one thing, I think she's starting to not need her swing anymore. She still sleeps really well in it for her first nap each day, but for all the other naps she wakes up after 30 minutes or so. So today I started putting her to sleep for her 2nd nap in the crib in her room. I figured even if she only sleeps 30 minutes in there, I can't really mess it up. She only needs 2-3 hours sleep during the day to have the minimum recommended for her age. She's in there right now for her 2nd nap of the day and she's been asleep for 30 minutes. She only fussed for 4 minutes when I put her in...

I was going to make my own one of these lists, but then I found that there are a million of them already online!! So I decided to just read over the other lists & pick the ones that apply to me! It's been surprising some of the things that have made me feel like a mom that I never expected! ...burps and farts are exciting and even CUTE. ...your morning routine has been cut from an hour to about 15 minutes. ...you’re picking someone’s nose. And it’s not your own. ...you have 20 minutes of free time and you’re able to get done what used to take you 2 hours to do. ...the slightest baby whimper wakes you up, but you sleep right through a level 4 earthquake. ...you’re willing to stand in one spot for 20 minutes, taking 100 pictures, hoping to get ONE good one. But you can’t delete any because they’re ALL good ones. ...you have caught spit-up in your hand. ...you have shared a fifteen-minute conversation about your baby with a complete stranger at the grocery store. ...you are just a...