2013: Bring it on!

Do you have new year resolutions this year? of course you do! I know I have them every year! Every day even! They rarely get achieved though...although maybe I don't give myself enough credit- it HAS been a crazy 5 years since I graduated high school and joined the air force. I went through Basic then to California where learned Korean and I met my husband and married him a little less than a year later! Then I got pregnant, left active duty, had Sonshine, went through a deployment, got pregnant again, went through another deployment and had Rose. Then we moved cross country...that's a pretty crazy 5 years for me! SO this year...although we will be busy I WILL achieve my goals!

1. I would like to get down to a healthy weight again- I've already started losing and look forward to making my goal which is set at 145lbs (high end of "healthy" BMI) and my best friend's wedding (yayyyy!) will be later in the year so I HAVE to look great!

2. Plan two AWESOME parties- Sonshine's birthday will be Phineas & Ferb themed- with a huge emphasis on his favorite- Perry and Rose's birthday will be Minnie mouse themed- just like MY first birthday was!

3. FINALLY get Rose's nursery together and Sonshine's new room

4. Start couponing and meal planning to save us money- I was couponing before I got pregnant with Rose and hubby deployed but lately (especially with the move) I only grab the coupons they have at the store. I have, however, been meal planning more but I'm still not very good at it.

5. Organize the house- its still pretty chaotic since we moved in and then the holidays happened.

That's it...it's a lot for me! 

I have a lot to look forward to this year too! Rose still has a LOT of first's coming up- she will start walking this year and have her first birthday! She will also be getting the rest of her teeth and hopefully start growing some beautiful blonde locks! Sonshine will turn 3 and hopefully, with the help of a speech therapist, start communicating a lot more. 

I also plan on doing a lot here on Sonshine & Roses! I'll post more babywearing videos, babywearing info, recipes, my house, and anything else I want to share! So I hope you'll join me this year and thanks for a great 2012!

Our Year: 2012

It's been quite a year here! We started off the year with a deployment and pregnancy. In January we found out at my gender party that our Rose was indeed a girl!

In Feburary not a whole lot happened...some playdates, Hubby had a birthday (which he wasn't here for) and I was still making a baby!

In March my handsome little Sonshine turned 2, I was still baking the bun in my oven, my mom came to visit (and we had a fun photo shoot with my amazing friend Melissa Posilero Photography  below), and we enjoyed lots of rain with our fun rain boots and umbrellas!

In April we celebrated my 23rd birthday, enjoyed a beautiful Easter with my beautiful friend Vanessa and her family and then Vanessa throw me a GORGEOUS baby shower!

In May I met up with J. Vendetti Photography for my maternity pictures and we picked up my mom at the end of the month so she could be there for Rose's Birth.

In June I spent some time enjoying having my mom around and my last few days with only one child.

Before Rosie came out to meet all of us! She was born on the 11th at 10:08pm and weighed in at 8 lbs 2oz and 20.5in! be sure to check out Rosie's birth story here. Then we spent the rest of June enjoying every second of her! Logan is a wonderful big brother, J.Vendetti Photography did her pictures again and we TRIED to send the hubby a NICE picture for father's day (this was the best we got!)

Then July came around and FINALLY my family became complete again! My hubby got to meet Rose just an hour after she hit 1 month old! We also celebrated Rose's first 4th and spent the rest of the month hanging out (we went to the zoo!), babywearing, being silly and just figuring out how to be a family of 4.

August was FULL of fun with two babywearing playdates with the PAXbaby family- one at the Jelly Belly Factory (yayy for free jelly beans!) and one at a park where I got to meet tons of my lovely babywearing friends in real life! Rose also hit 2 months old.

In September a sweet friend of mine had her little girl and so Rose got to meet her little friend J. Rose hit 3 months old. Then we spent the rest of the month getting ready for our big PCS cross-country and then finally we started our long drive by heading down to San Diego where we got to spend some time with a high school friend of mine and her beautiful family.

October started off with us making it to the east coast, spending some time at my parents and visiting the local children's museum there. Then we arrived at our new base and found ourselves a new house to call a home! We also enjoyed the air show, Rose hit 4 months and celebrated her first Halloween. Sonshine was Thor and Rose was a ladybug and we went trick or treating on base.

November started with a haircut for Sonshine followed by Rose hitting 5 months old and a trip to the Grandparent's for Rose's first Thanksgiving!

We ended the year with lots of Christmas festivities! We put up the tree and stockings, Rose hit 6 months old, we made cookies, and took family pictures with AK Photography. Both kids were blessed with some FANTASTIC Christmas gifts this year and then we all went out for dinner to celebrate our 4th anniversary. Tomorrow Sonshine has an evaluation with a speech therapist and then we will ring 2013 at our beautiful home together for the first time since we rang in 2010.

How was your 2012?
<3

Babywearing Videos: FWCC & DH

Hi Babywearers!

Here are a few videos to get you started as requested by my local mamas! (please remember I'm not perfect and neither are my videos!)

Front Wrap Cross Carry 

(FWCC)

Perfect for newborns and a great starting carry for new wrappers or even if your toddlers wants some snuggles!

I also did a double hammock (DH) with both my 6mo old and my almost 3yo for ya'll! The double hammock is great for your first back carry because even if something isn't perfect baby is still nice and secure!

Remember to practice over something soft like a bed or couch and in front of a mirror if possible!

Double Hammock (DH) with 6mo old

Double Hammock (DH) with almost 3yo

There you have it! Practice, Practice, Practice! Feel free to ask any questions and next time I think I'll show ya'll how to use a Ring Sling and how to nurse in a FWCC!

<3

Babywearing: Decoded

What's that mean?!

Types of Carriers

RS: Ring Sling

WCRS: Wrap Conversion Ring Sling

MT: Mei Tai

WCMT: Wrap Conversion Mei Tai

SSC: Soft Structured Carrier

HB: Half Buckle

FB: Full Buckle

WC: Wrap Conversion

Carries

FWCC: Front Wrap Cross Carry

FCC: Front Cross Carry

SCC: Short Cross Carry

T2T: Tummy to tummy
KH/KC: Kangaroo hold/carry
SFCC: Semi-front cross carry
PWCC: Pocket wrap cross carry
CC: Cradle carry
CCC: Cross cradle carry
HCC: Hip cross carry
PHC: Poppins hip carry
RHC: Robin's hip carry
CHC: Coolest hip carry
CHCC: Coolest hip cross carry
BWCC: Back wrap cross carry
DH: Double hammock
SH: Single hammock
GBC: Giselle's back carry
JBC: Jordan's back carry
RTUB/ RUB: Ruck tied under bum
RTIF: Ruck tied in front
RRRR: Reinforced rear rebozo ruck
WPBC: Wiggle-proof back carry
TC: Taiwanese carry
TIB: Tied under bum
TAS: Tied at shoulder
CB: Chest belt
TB/ TT: Tied Tibetan
CCCB: Candycane chest belt
TIF: Tied in front
FFO: Front facing out


Sites:
BabyCenter.com: BBC
DiaperSwappers.com: DS
TheBabywearer.com: TBW
NaturalMamas.co.uk [UK site]: NM
Babywearing Love and Support: BLS

Other Random:

DH: Dear Husband
DS: Dear Son
DD: Dear Daughter
SO: Significant Other
PPD: Postage Paid (typically seen after price to say whether postage is included or not)
FFS: Free For Shipping (you would just pay shipping)
GUC: Good Used Condition
VGUC: Very Good Used Condition
EUC: Excellent Used Condition
EEUC: Extremely Excellent Used Condition
Sub/Subbing: Commenting on a post in order to follow (mobile often can't click "follow")
ISO: In search of
DISO: desperately in search of
AP: Attachment Parenting
CIO: cry(ing) it out
OT: off topic
FTM: first time mom
CD: cloth diaper
Didymos: Didy
Beco Butterfly II: BBII
Girasol: Gira
DW: diamond weave
RR: Double Rainbow (made by Girasol)
COTW: Carry of the week
HSA: Highly Sought After
HTF: Hard to find
ETF: Easy to find

Babywearing: Size me up!

There are sizes?!

What size do I need?!

Yes woven wraps come in sizes. They are:

Size 2 (referred to as a "Shorty"): 2.6 meters (8.86 ft/102.36in)

Size 3:  3.1 meters (10.17ft/122.05in)

Size 4: 3.6 meters (11.81ft/141.73in)

Size 5: 4.2 meters (13.78ft/165in)

Size 6: 4.6 meters (15.09ft/181.1 in)

Size 7: 5.2 meters (17.06ft/204.72in)

Size 8: 5.6 meters (18.37ft/220.47in)

 Typically an average sized person can do any carry in a size 6. Plus Size mamas may need a size 7 and petite mamas can usually get away with a size 5. The typical stretchy wrap (i.e. moby) is made to be "one size fits all" and is about the size of a size 8 woven wrap. 

Why would I want more than one size?

Different carries can use more or less wrap- for example doing a Ruck tied under the bum (RUB) (pictured above on right-pink polka dots) takes a lot less wrap than a Double Hammock (DH) (pictured above on left and with boy in middle picture). If you were to do a RUB with a size 6 the tails (what's left over after you tie the knot) would be so long you would trip! Babywearers often choose to have a couple sizes in their stash so they can do all the carries they like. A shorter wrap is also nice to have when wrapping somewhere (like a parking lot or muddy field) because the tails don't drag on the ground.

Do I NEED more than one size?

No. Typically one wrap in the size that allows you to do any carry you'd like will work (5,6,7)...you may need to get creative with tying the tails for shorter carries but it can work.

Babywearing Link-it-up

Hey! This past weekend I did an "Intro to babywearing" presentation for my local momma group and it went fabulously! I decided it would be easiest for me to make a blog post including a lot of links for everyone to check out so here we go!

Proper positioning:

Spinal Stress in Infants

Thinking beyond the Bjorn

FAQ's on proper positioning

Hip health in infants

Position matters

 9 reasons not to carry your baby facing out

Benefits of Babywearing:

"4th Trimester"

Dr. Sears on babywearing 

The Babywearer's list 

10 reasons to wear 

Facebook Babywearing Related pages (includes makers and retailers):

 

PAXbaby 

TULA baby carriers

Beco Baby carriers

Boba carriers

Oscha

O & A

Kokadi

Didymos

Babywearing International Inc
Natibaby

Birdie's Room

Sustain.able Sprouts

ObiMama

Carry Them

Wrap Your Baby

BabyHawk

Ellevill

Sleeping Baby Productions

Babywearing Safety

Granola Babies

Marsupial-Mamas

Risaroo

Retailer Sites:

Wrap Your Baby
QuirkyBaby
FrogMama
Risaroo
Marsupial Mamas
PAXbaby

Facebook Groups:

Babywearing Love & Support
Babywearing 102 

also search for your local babywearing group:
South Georgia: Here

Tallahassee:Here 

Sacramento: Here

Others: Here

There are many more of course and as I think of them I will come back and add them! also feel free to comment with any! Thank you!

PAXbaby giveaway

Remember PAXmama Jillian? well she's doing a 10,000 fan giveaway over at PAXbaby! Go here to enter: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to show her some love! <3

Coast to Coast

Hi everyone! SO much has happened in the past month or so! We left Cali (I miss you mama's!), stopped down in San Diego to visit a high school friend and her beautiful family! Then we headed over to Tucson to visit with some friends from tech school and their lovely daughters both of which are only slightly older than both of my kiddos!

 Then we stopped in Austin where the kids got to meet their Aunt Courtney for the first time before finally heading to stay with my parents for a little while! About two weeks ago we finally made it to our final destination in Georgia and worked on finding ourselves a new home! We were very blessed to find a beautiful home! 

Just sharing a few pics :) I have LOTS of plans for making our new house into a home for us and I know I'll be sharing everything with all of you!

The hubby started back to work this week as well and so far things seem to be MUCH more relaxed- something both of us desperately needed!

And of course this move was made much, MUCH easier by always having a nice, warm, cozy place for the babes to chill!

That's all for now! Feel free to join me on instagram! @sonshineandroses

Wrap me up baby!

I explained a little in this post about babywearing and today i'm going to give you the basics on the different styles of carriers!

First up we have the stretchy wrap- the one above is a boba wrap (formerly sleepy wrap) but moby is also a popular brand. They are snuggly and t-shirt-like and perfect for newborns. They tend to get saggy around 15lbs though and should never ever be used in a back carry (check this video out).

Next is the Soft Structured carriers (SSC's)- the most common and easily found are the Beco (left), Ergo (right), and Boba. There are TONS of other SSC's out there- these are simply the more easily available kinds. (also please note that there are counterfeit ergos- do your homework and don't jeopardize baby's safety!) These carriers have buckles to adjust and are fairly user friendly. They aren't the best for newborns although it is possible to use them with an infant insert. They can also be used in front, back and some allow for hip carry as well although they can be confusing for hip carries.

The Mei Tai (MT) is similar to SSC's except instead of buckles you tie the staps. They can be used in front or back carries. The one above with the dinos and birds is my custom Ultimate Mama/Man Carrier from NuzzleMe Creations (they do AMAZING work!) and the green/blue MT is a Hopp tye we tried on at a playdate. Other common ones are BBtai and Babyhawk. They are easily adjustable between wearers and are easily rolled up and stowed away. For the most comfortable wear with SSC's and MT's you want baby to sit in the carrier and have it go knee to knee which distributes the weight better making them much lighter feeling and is easier on both wearer and wearee's bodies. This is part of the reason carriers like bjorn are so uncomfortable and heavy after baby gets bigger.

Ring slings are great for easy in and out making them fast and easy for quick trips or toddlers who only like to be up for short spurts. Both slings above are wrap conversion ring slings (WCRS) meaning they were made from woven wraps (BBSlen Pineapple on the left, PAXbaby exclusive Girasol double rainbow in the middle and Jillian, owner of PAXbaby, has a easycare #1 on her shoulder). Check out Sleeping Baby Productions if you find a wrap you want converted and she often has very affordable slings made in other materials- she does fabulous work and is very reputable.

Woven wraps are the most versatile and are comfy from infancy through toddlerhood (and beyond!). They can have a bit of a learning curve since there are TONS of ways to wear them but you can easily do front, back and hip carries. They come in different lengths/sizes- most recommend starting with a size 6 if you're average. Check out this handy chart for different carries and youtube. (BabywearingFaith and PAXbaby are great!) Some wrap makers are Girasol, Storchenweige, BBSlen, Dolcino, Kokadi, Didymos, and Natibaby.

(Wraps in photo above: top row: Natibaby Bamboo turquoise diamonds, Storchenweige Vicky, BBSlen Prunella. 2nd row: Ellevil Zara dyed Hot pink, Girasol Snow rainbow, Didymos Pink Punkte. 3rd row Didymos Old Standard Lago dyed Plumberry, Girasol Amitola Azafan weft, and Snow rainbow again)

This was just a little intro to the common different types of carriers and I hope it helps! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

ROYGBIV

WOW! What a FANTASTIC week we've had here! Started the week off with church and then a dear friends baby shower. Then a few relaxing days at home doing awesome stuff with the family like decorating our sidewalk and practicing our ABC's....

WAR EAGLE!

And then we went to the Jelly Belly factory for the FIRST time (can you believe that? we've been 15 min away from it for 4years!) with a couple dear friends, some new dear friends and the FABULOUS Jillian from PAXbaby!

The whole group!

Rosie and me!

Rosie and Mrs. Jillian

Me, Rosie and our favorite Rainbow Mama!

My lovely new friend and her daughter who is 5 days younger than Rosie!

Jillian wearing Rosie and my friend Lexie wearing her daughter in my wrap!

Me helping the hubby put Sonshine on!

Afterwards we went out to dinner with some fantastic new friends and then I got a massage the next day as well as getting groceries....I will desperately miss Larry's produce when we move! I got ALL this for only $35 there!

THEN yesterday we drove down to another PAXbaby playdate! I got to see more of my beautiful babywearing mamas and Jillian again!

The girls chilling while...

we enjoyed a picnic lunch!

Then later I got to toss Sonshine up in Jillian's Double Rainbow Obimama!

Later, while driving home, we saw this off the side of the road...

Well...we all know what happened next ;p

Overall I have to say this has been one of the most amazing weeks I've had in a long time!! My hubby was an absolute ANGEL this week and I'm so thankful for him indulging all my whims! I intend to see all my lovely babywearing mamas as much as i can before we move next month! (yikes!! thats sooooo soon!!). The hubby will be going back to work next week which means that I need to get back to keeping the house, getting stuff together for a yard sale, back to eating right and working out to lose this weight and of course taking care of my beautiful Rose and Sonshine!

A BIG THANK YOU to PAXbaby for including us on their fabulous trip and to all my babywearing mamas for being just so darn AWESOME!

(and I suddenly feel the need to tye dye EVERYTHING! hehe...)

Be sure to check Jillian out on FB at PAXbaby and her site here: http://paxbaby.com/

Together At Last!

5 days ago some pretty AMAZING stuff happened...My sweet Rose turned 1 month

AND She met her daddy for the FIRST time!

(Onesie courtesy of Mad Alli Designs-https://www.facebook.com/MadAlliDesigns)

SO my beautiful little family is once again complete!

And remember that "first" kiss i was looking forward to?

It was PERFECT!

(Homecoming photos courtesy of the FABULOUS J. Vendetti Photography https://www.facebook.com/pages/JVendetti-Photography/245070422247138)

Since then we've been enjoying every.single.moment.

Like...

His First "real" meal 

His First time wearing her!

(in a Didymos Pink Punkte shorty)

Our first family walk!

(Rose in a Beco Butterfly II and Sonshine in a Custom UMC Mei Tai)

Lots of adjustments going on of course (he tends to leave toilet seats up after he comes home from deployments) but...life is pretty sweet <3

Top 5

So, today's post was inspired by the many, many, MANY posts and pins I've seen with mama's giving their advice to new moms and well...my advice to all my lovely new momma's and momma's to be is as follows:

#1 Do your homework...PLEASE! I would get on my hands and knees and beg you in person if I could! learn everything you can and both sides of the debate....know WHY you do the things you choose to do! I don't care what you ultimately decide is best for your family-that's your decision and I will respect you completely for it! You may be set on using disposable diapers but would it hurt to spend a little time looking into cloth diapers? Proper babywearing? "extended" rear-facing? Breastfeeding past a year? (the list goes on and on)...all the information can get a little overwhelming at times which leads me to....

#2 RELAX!!! I say this to my lovely mama friends ALL the time....and they say it to me too of course! Honestly i find doing my homework helpful for relaxing...I didn't stress when Rose lost a little weight after she was born since I knew that most breastfed babies lose weight at first! 

#3 WEAR YOUR BABY! it will save your sanity and you can't spoil them...I promise...but don't wear them in a crotch dangler like a bjorn please....and if you must wear them facing out please do it only in short increments! (why? here's some links! http://theecofriendlyfamily.com/2012/02/babywearing-why-forward-facing-isnt-for-you/ 

http://jeportemonbebe.com/en/faq/physiology-positioning/all-questions.html

http://www.bobafamily.com/blog/2011/10/11/nine-reasons-not-to-carry-your-baby-facing-out/)

I didn't wear Sonshine as much although i wish i did...things would of been even easier! Rose though is worn a good portion of the day every day...because let's face it...she demands attention AND so does Sonshine AND things still need to get done...in fact tonight i tried everything BUT wearing her and i finally tossed her in her beautiful BBSlen Pineapple ringsling and now she looks like this!

*If you're interested in babywearing check out this fb group https://www.facebook.com/groups/377237985638946/ 

and if you're looking to buy a GOOD carrier check out http://paxbaby.com/ - the owner, Jillian, is a sweet & fabulous mama! They also have a rental program and a 90 day risk free trial!

#4 You *might* have mixed feelings after the birth and that's okay! I was in complete shock after I had Sonshine at how much my body changed and bawled my eyes out over it! I had a complete meltdown about it! But you know what? I AM GORGEOUS! (Thank you to the hubby for reminding me at the time hehe)

#5 Cuddle that baby like CRAZY! Remember that it will end....the saddest thing about babies is they GROW UP! So when they are driving you nuts, crying, nursing like crazy, pinching, pooping everywhere, keeping you from your precious sleep etc etc....JUST KEEP SWIMMING and enjoy it...because before you know it they won't wake up at night to snuggle, they won't be grinning at you in between sucks when they nurse and their sweet gummy smiles will be a distant memory...

So there's my top 5 at least...<3

Just a little info on EC...

I don't really remember where or when i first learned about Elimination Communication (EC)...it could of been while browsing forums, our natural parenting group or some other facebook group where it was mentioned...anyways since Sonshine was already well into his toddler years i didn't really look into it. Then, I learned that we were expecting Rose and decided to find out more about this "EC thing". So since i've had lots of questions come my way i thought writing a post would help clear things up a little (or at least save me a lot of typing every time someone asks)

Although EC is also often referred to as "infant potty training" i feel like that doesn't describe it as well as the term elimination communication- just like we know when our children are hungry or cold we also know when they have to go the bathroom- we just have to learn how to communicate with them. I truly believe that we, as humans, are born with the instinct to NOT soil ourselves and that we learn to ignore that instinct as infants because we have no other choice- we can't take ourselves to the bathroom at that age! So all EC is is learning the signs our baby gives us and responding appropriately by giving them the opportunity to go somewhere besides their own pants. I know in Rose's case she will refuse to nurse if she has to go and of course the obvious signs like passing gas and crying. I simply take the white bowl insert from our bjorn potty and sit it in my lap and hold her over it- letting her lean back on me. I "cue" her when she goes by making a "pssss" sound and so far she's gone every time i've offered her the potty. We're very laid back about it and i decided we would be from the beginning- she's still in cloth diapers most of the time and i give her chances throughout the day, usually when i can tell she has to go as well as at diaper changes, and if she goes she goes and well...that's one less diaper to clean! (and another "catch" i can brag about!)

SO while its only been 3 weeks i have had a lot of questions come my way! I'm going to try to answer some that i know i've been asked but feel free to ask me anything and i'll try my best to answer! Also i will list some resources for you to check out on your own!

Does it help them potty train sooner? overall i would think yes but no two children are the same and while most EC'd kids are diaperfree fairly soon that doesn't mean they won't still have accidents or go through periods where they are just too busy to stop and go the bathroom...still you can expect that they will be pretty potty trained by the age of 2 

Is it hard? Nope....it REALLY isn't- it IS intimidating at first I won't lie BUT how hard is it to sit there for a few minutes with your baby? shoot I have managed (picture this! lol) to have Rose on the potty while nursing her AND building an amazing block tower with Sonshine- trust me that took some skill! 

She looks like she's crying- maybe she doesn't like it? She's a newborn! The world is a big scary place to her! she doesn't always cry but sometime she does....usually when she's about to poop...which is VERY normal! Most parents don't realize that the reason they are inconsolable could be because they need to eliminate- there have already been times when NOTHING else i tried worked and so i put her over the potty and a few minutes later BAM! She's pottied and is now a happy camper again! 

That was just a few questions and i hope that it helps some- its getting late so i can't remember everything i wanted to say and i could probably babble on for days but i'm sure there will be more posts in the future. In the meantime here are some resources if you are curious about EC and knowing more!

 Diaper Free Baby (i have this book! its great!)

--Diaper Free Baby's website (the book's website as well as 75 benefits of EC and other info!)

--Diaper Free Baby on Facebook

Facebook Groups

Elimination Communication Community

Diaper Free Baby 

Me & Rose at 9 days old EC'ing!

(and we had a "catch"!)