I know, long time, no blog. Sorry. Just had a busy last 2 weeks. My mom flew in from out of state to see Gabe for the first time last weekend. So what do we do when mothers or mother-in-laws come to visit? We clean- at least this chick does! Especially if relations with said persons are kinda shaky. But that's another story for another time.

I guess I haven't updated since before our 6 week check-up, so I'll start there. As of 2 weeks ago, Gabe weighed in at 11 lbs. 8 oz.! Guess the goat milk must be working, lol! He weighed 7 lbs. 9oz. at birth, so I'm guessing that almost 4 lbs. is a pretty good gain. And he's 22 in. long. So definitely something happening in the growth department. Well, yeah, duh! And the midwife gave me the good-as-new, all-clear sign. So now, since I'm not nursing , I can concentrate on losing about 50 lbs.! Well, I'd love to lose somewhere around 70 or 80 lbs., but 50 sounds a little more doable.  We'll see how that goes... I can't wait till it gets a little warmer so I can get out and walk! Not that I totally love walking that much, but it's free and low-impact and I can take Gabe along in the stroller.

Gabe's started smiling and "talking" now and is just too cute! Of course, I'm his mom, so I can say that, haha. He's been sleeping through the night since about 5 weeks, waking somewhere between 6 and 7 a.m. Since Nate is up to go to work then, he just fed him and put him back to bed where the little guy would just go back to sleep for another hour or two. This week he's been sleeping right through til at least 8:00 a.m. WONderful! Now we put him to bed somewhere between 8 and 9 p.m. and he sleeps almost a whole 12 hours- yay!

Last week wasn't so much fun though. He was sleeping through the night, yes, but he developed a killer of a diaper rash! Of course, it was mostly my fault, poor baby. I started switching him over to his cloth diapers at the beginning of last week as the supply of gifted disposable pampers was running low. And dumb me, I didn't realize how much more often I would have to change him with the cloth diapers since they don't wick the moisture away from the skin as well as pampers. Sure, I changed him a little more often, but not near enough. Like I said, poor baby! He was so fussy those few days! But, after several nights of letting him sleep butt-naked (with a blanket over him and a space heater in his room) to let the air get at his poor little bottom, a tube of Desitin, and diaper changing vigilance, we seem to have it whipped and he looks and feels much better. Now I will try the cloth diapers again, but this time I'll try to change him every time he wets and use Vaseline on his bottom. Anyone out there have anymore tips? I'm using prefolds with Bummis diaper covers. I really love them, the design and everything, I just don't love diaper rash! And I hope I didn't start something with the whole sleeping naked thing! He'll want to do that soon enough on his own!

Here's some shots from the last 2 weeks...

The other night with his Daddy. Be still my beating, melting heart! *sigh*

In his stroller on a unseasonably warm day the other week.

These last four are some shots I took the other day while he was sleeping on the couch. There was really good, diffused light coming in the window and I had fun!

Ok, now I have to go make a bottle, get some baby poop out from under my fingernails, and put a load of laundry in the dryer. Hopefully it will not be 2 weeks before I post again!

Just a quick question to all the babywearing mamas out there: which sling do you reccomend? I am the classic first-born in that I research, google, read reviews, and everything else that goes into deciding what is the best choice, brand, etc. And this goes for pretty much anything I buy, other than groceries and clothes.  So I've been scouring the internet and finding tons of sites that sell baby slings and all of them saying that their's are the best and so much more comfortable then the competitions. I want some real live opinions here. Ring-type sling, one-piece? I am clueless!

I am not really into the whole babywearing/attachment parenting thing, though I can respect those who are, but sometimes Gabe wants to be held and I'd rather not just plop him in the swing, just because it's convenient. But holding a 6-week old requires at least one arm and doing things one-handed can get kind of frustrating. Plus, there are places I go, i.e., the library, that would be made so much easier if I could just put him in a sling and have both hands free, rather than lug his seat along everywhere. Basically, I want a sling for the convenience more than anything.

The other day, I folded one of my pashmina/shawls in half the long way, tied a knot in it, and slipped it over my head and one shoulder. Putting him in the pocket created by the fold worked pretty well and I liked the whole feel of it, except, he's getting much too BIG for the pashmina! But it was very nice to work at cleaning up my kitchen, wash dishes, etc., with him in it. Not that I intend to hold my baby every waking moment, but sometimes, he just needs to be held and usually at the same time I need to get a few things done.

So what are you're reccomendations? One stipulation- I DO need a one-size-fits-all. I don't want to pay $50 for a sling, only to have it not fit when I lose more weight.

...and it's a beautiful day, albeit a little chilly. The sunshine tempting me to break out with spring fever! Sorry for my absence of blogging and posting of pics. I have had one heck of a cold since last Tuesday- started with a sore throat, turned into a head cold, decided it liked my chest better and there it lingers! But I think I'm on the upswing. Gabe had a little bit of a runny nose on Saturday, but other than that he seems untouched by the villain. Of course, I've been trying to be extra careful with washing my hands, not popping his pacifier in my mouth (to make sure it's clean), not kissing him too much, etc., so hopefully he will remain untouched!

And then my husband was gone for a guys weekend at a cabin- and took the laptop (our one and only computer) along! So I was left high'n'dry as far as blogging is concerned. Although, it was probably good for me, lol. I entertained myself with a good book from the library and a 'Girls Movie Nite' with some friends. But I was glad when Nate got home- and not because he brought the laptop back either, haha! Now let's just hope he doesn't get sick! It seems to be his luck that whenever he goes on vacation or has a break, he ends up sick, or at the very least, his heartburn/acid reflux acts up from the junk food. Yeah, vacation = junk food for him.

Does anyone out there have a good facial moisturizer to reccomend? I have always dealt with very greasy skin and winter was great because my skin would dry out to almost normal oilyness. And when I was pregnant, my skin was great- not as greasy, very few pimples, etc. Now since Gabe's been born it's the exact opposite: I have incredibly DRY skin! I have never had this dry of skin in my life. It's very weird! I know, it's probably a combination of postpartum hormones and winter's dry air, but wow! I've been using some amazing homemade Body Butter from a friend, but I'm not sure if I should be doing more. My face still feels dry and tight, unless I just put it on. Anyone else deal with this? What's your advice?

Oh, yeah! Gabe's been smiling! I'm not sure if he exactly knows what he's doing, but this morning, it was definite happy faces and noises, if not all out smiles and coos! So precious! I think I'll just keep him this size for awhile, lol! Maybe I'll be able to get pics of this little piece of sunshine and then I will definitely post them!