Sonshine & Roses: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

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!

Sunday, December 30, 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

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

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

Thursday, December 13, 2012

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.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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