Awesome baby item...

My favourite baby item right now isn't one that will surprise people. I am loving Tender Tushies Bamboo Diapers. 

We switched Everly over to these when she was almost a month and half. She grew out of new born diapers fairly quickly, because she filled out really fast. The print diapers we had were too big, and still are a little to big for her.

The bamboo diapers are one size fits most and are a pocket diaper, meaning they will fit roughly 9lbs to 35lbs and you put an insert inside for absorption. This is a great size range because the diaper  will fit a child for a long time. The outer shell is made of a bamboo and cotton blend that has some stretch to it. I've seen my friends little guy running around in one of these and the stretch is nice because toddlers like to move! The insert that you put inside the diaper is made of 2 layers of bamboo and 2 layers of microfiber. The inside lining of the diaper, the part that comes in contact with baby's skin the most is made of soft micro fleece. 

Bamboo is the "it" fabric for cloth diapers. Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial. After some other reading its apparently also anti-microbial and anti-fungal too! So no my kids diapers are not uber dirty and disgusting as many think. Another bonus is that bamboo has deodorizing  properties. I notice a difference between the bamboo diapers and the other ones we have come wash day. Bamboo is also very absorbent, which is one of my favourite parts of this diaper. Moisture is absorbed quickly into the insert of the diaper, and the lining stays dry for longer against munchkins skin. (Click here to see a video showing the difference between bamboo fabric and cotton fabric in a soak test) Now, you did need to wash these diapers at least 4 times before putting them into rotation for use when they are new. Why? Because bamboo builds up its ability to absorb moisture. Washing it so many times before the first use helps make sure it becomes very absorbent.

These diapers are also a lot more trim in size compared to other cloth diapers. I don't find myself needing to put Everly into a bigger sized outfit to fit around the diaper, she can wear items true to size. She does still get a very cute padded bottom from them. 

There is also the fact that bamboo grows very quickly, so you could say these diapers are environmentally friendly in another way besides just being a cloth diaper... the fabric used for it can be made easier because of how bamboo thrives as a plant. Don't believe me, go to Hawaii and ask how often they have to cut the bamboo on the side of the road you take to drive all the way around Maui. Plus its just a good excuse to go to Hawaii, but I digress.

Tender Tushies Bamboo Diapers are our go to diaper for her. They have made some awesome changes recently too. They have found an even softer micro fleece that does not pill  as quickly as others. I have washed our new ones many times already and they still look brand new. They have also changed the place you insert the diaper liner so it wont cause munchkin to look like she has a "duck tail" at times. The colours! They have brought in new colours, and they are beautiful, they even have a black diaper now. 

If you are still debating about cloth diapers please don't hesitate to ask me. If its a question about something we haven't experience yet I know many others with older munchkins who can help answer questions. Personally I am loving all of the benefits from cloth diapering and cannot imagine going to disposables unless I am forced too.

The Weekend

I grew up going to the Aquarium a lot when I was little. It helped that we lived in Burnaby, and my parents bought a family pass. If any of us 4 girls acted up my parents could easily load us in the car and try again another day. If we had not decided to buy a home and move, we could have easily done that same thing... but we now live an hour away, or so Google maps tells us.

My sister Taressa and her friend Jackie (another one of Everly's honorary Aunts, she has many) let us tag along with them to the Vancouver Aquarium. Everyone had to do a few things in the morning so we did not leave until after noon. We learned a lesson again on the drive out there to never take Hastings Street as it will always be busy from an accident or too much traffic. It ended up taking us almost over an hour and a half to get out there, it would have been longer if we didn't change our route thanks to some side streets over to First Street. I am so thankful Everly was asleep for all of that drive.

Everly was a big hit at the aquarium, I had put her in a sleeper that has little whales and hearts all over it. She got many comments from staff members, and adults. It was the little kids though who really likes her outfit and really liked seeing a little baby. We had several little kids come up to see her and say hi. It was very sweet to see. I'm looking forward to when she is more interactive with others she is just starting to "talk" back when you are talking to her and to be more focused on you as well.

She loved all of the fish tanks, and seeing the belugas, and dolphins. It must have been the colours that were getting her attention. She was quiet happy to look around at everything in them. It was a different experience for Jason and I, as we were focused more on her than anything else. I did like that I got to see the penguins that are now there. They were one of my favourites to see when I was little, it was a different display back then the penguins used to have a slide. Nothing like that now. However these penguins did remind me of the group of guys from the Madagascar movies, they just seemed to be plotting something.

Taressa and Jackie left before we did, we did another quick loop around the Aquarium after Everly fell asleep in her bassinet. Jason and I then went for a little picnic on the sea wall before she woke up and decided she wanted more to eat too.

We then headed over to Jason's co-workers house for dinner. It was nice to hang out with everyone. The couple hosting have a little boy who is a month older than Everly, and the other couple there is expecting twins so of course there was lots of talk about babies. We really enjoyed getting out of the house, and the food for dinner was amazing. It is amazing to see the difference a month can make between munchkins, I am definitely looking forward to the next month and all the changes we'll see in Everly.

Sunday was a laid back day with church in the morning. Jason was speaking but sadly I did not get to hear any of it as Everly and I hung out in the nursery for the majority of the morning. She decided she was very hungry and then she was over tired and was getting way to distracted by all the people around her, so I had to go up stairs with her to the nursery to get her to sleep. Its still always nice to see everyone we know there and have some small fellowship even. I wasn't the only Mom stuck in the nursery for a chunk of time either.

The rest of the day consisted of me doing laundry and running around doing errands. My Mom and sister came over to watch Everly, Jason was had to work this afternoon, so that I could go around and do things in a timely fashion. My sister even helped me do some cleaning. Its nice to be able to see the island in the kitchen again! Now I'm just left hoping and praying Everly will go to bed by 9:30 and sleep for 10 hours straight again. One can dream!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day! 

Today started off with 10 hours of sleep from Everly (she did wake up for one feed around 6am but went right back to bed), and some fun photos in her Valentines outfit. Jason works at 2pm "(from home, yay!) and Everly has her appointment today with the physio. We intend to just have a laid back night at home as a family.

Jason and I have never been big into this day, we have always just made dinner together and watched a movie. Tonight we plan to do the same thing. We've tried going out for a movie before on Valentines day and that is just crazy, never doing that again. 

Hope everyone has a great day. Lots of love from the Goyette family.

 

Mommy and Daddy Can't Fix Everything: UPDATE

Everly was put on medicine by the doctor to try and help her reflux. We were not seeing any change in it, in fact it actually seemed worse. She did not seem like a happy baby after we gave her the medicine either. We did not like how things were going and decided to stop the medicine.

I had so many suggestions and words of encouragement from those who read about what was going on. Thank you so much, that was a huge help to us. We have switched to trying Colic Calm with her, this was suggested by an over whelming number of people. The stuff will throw you off when you see it, it is black! Its a little weird when your infant looks like she's already having a teenage emo-moment with black lips. 

We cut the amount you are to give down big time, and we still have it very low. The very first time we tried it my cousin Cathy and her husband Rod were coming over to visit and meet Everly. I hadn't seen Cathy since my sister's wedding in November (before that the last time was my wedding in 2010!), and its been years since I've seen Rod. Any ways, it was like she was a different baby I fed her a bottle and she had no problem just a little bit of dribble. She fell a sleep a little bit after, and stayed napping for 2 hours. It was amazing. Jason and I were left stunned wondering what happened. Cathy was happy to have peaceful cuddle time with Everly.

Since then she seems like a totally different baby. She sleeps more peacefully. Before she was always grunting and sometimes crying out in her sleep from the pain she was in with the reflux. That first day of trying Colic Calm she slept that night for 8 and a half hours of solid sleep! She has continued to sleep 8 or more hours straight at night. Which has been a huge blessing for Jason and I. We needed that! It seems she needed it too. 

She still has some moments of more than a little dribble (especially if she works herself up into a hulk rage moment because she is hungry [this is rare]) but she is a happy baby now. She wakes up making happy noises and isoften smiling. She isn't crying all the time. She rarely arches her back in pain. We feel we are now some where that is manageable. We just want to see her happy and thriving. We are continuing to monitor it. Everly's doctor was happy to hear today that she appears to be doing well, and is happy we have found something that seems to be helping. Everly has her 2 month check up next week, we will see where out little princess is at for height and weight.

She still favours turning her head to the right, so we are going to see a specialist in infant physio that was recommended to us as well. After emailing back and forth and asking more about it we feel this is another route we want to at least  give a try.

Thank you for your continued support and prayer for her.

Coffee Mommas

I am very lucky to have an amazing group of 4 friends who were pregnant at the same time as me or became pregnant soon after. We have been getting together for coffee for several months now. Some already had a child, and there was those of us who were hoping to start our family soon.

4 out of 5 of us were pregnant still in December and we managed to get a photo together. 

We have now changed from going out for coffee once a month to organizing play groups, normally at Carolyn's home,  for the older two kids and cuddle sessions with the infants. 3 of the babies have joined our group, we are now waiting anxiously for the last 2 to join us near the end of May. 

I am so thankful for these ladies because they were always honest when I had questions, and are more than willing to help me figure things out as a new Mom. It is always nice to have something to look forward to during the week. It especially was when I was in survival mode the first few weeks as a new Mom I would think to myself "make it to Friday, just make it to Friday!". I know if I ever need anything I can always talk to one of them when I need to.

Noah is always there ready to greet us when we arrive for play group.

Everly will join in playing some day. For now she is a cuddle bug and tends to sleep through them.

Carolyn is due with her second lil guy at the end of May. Noah is going to be an amazing big brother he is so good around Everly.

Georgia just had her second recently, a handsome little boy names Lucas. Lorelai loves to hold onto Everly's hand. She is also very quick to point out the number of babies in a room.

Family Day Long Weekend

BC has a stat holiday in February now, though my sister is very disappointed its not Groundhog Day. It is Family Day long weekend. Jason works for Telus and I'm sure many of you have seen on the news that Telus does not get this as a official holiday off from work. For Jason it doesn't really matter as the work he does is 24hrs 7 days a week, it just depends on what shift he gets for what hours he will be working during the week, and there is always people working in his department. He does not get Monday off from work, so we wanted to make the most of our weekend. But he does get a day off instead some other time.

Jason had played hockey late Friday night, and kindly offered to get up with Everly during the night so that I could catch up on lost sleep. None of us woke up fully until around 9am Saturday morning (Everly did get up at least once that I remember during the night). I had been messaged by our friend Carolyn asking if we'd like to join her, her husband Matt and their son Noah on a walk at White Rock. I said yes, and was mean and woke Jason and said we were going out in an hour. Some how we both managed to get ready, eat breakfast, and get munchkin ready to face the world just in time to meet them there.

Now the weather forecast the night before, and that morning had said no rain, and sun. As we all know weather forecasts lie! It was raining a bit but that was not going to stop us. We bundled Everly up into the Ergo carrier, and joined our friends for a walk.

The best part of the walk in the rain had to be little Noah walking on the pier. He was a bit timid about it when it came to the big planks of wood and the large spaces in between that he could see down (*I'll have to add the video footage of that later*). He was not a fan of this at all, and took his time walking along the pier, even walking along the planks side ways to try and avoid the holes.

If a seagull was pointed out to him a bit farther down he would be distracted for a little bit and move more quickly. We made it 3/4 of the way down the pier when Noah indicated he was done. We turned around and start to make our way back when we all heard the train coming. This would get any young boys attention so we picked up the pace with Matt picking Noah up and carrying him and we walked quickly to the end of the pier so Noah could see the train go past. I always love how children's eyes show so much intrigue and joy when they see something they really like.

Noah got to run into a large group of seagulls that were being fed some bread by an older gentleman. That gentleman was kind enough to give Noah a piece of bread to feed the seagulls with. He did things his way and wanted to hand the bread to a seagull directly instead of taking pieces and tossing it at them. One seagull was quiet committed in getting that piece of bread and followed Noah until he got it. 

Everly slept the whole time we were outside. She also crashed again when we went for lunch after. This may have worked in our favor, though we did not know it at the time. Everly didn't crash for her usual afternoon nap on Saturday, by 9pm she was fighting falling asleep and we finally got her to sleep at 11:30pm. Little did we know, but Jason and I were about to get the best sleep we've had in 6 weeks. She slept for 8 and a half hours! WAHOO! That was a nice little gift to us, as Jason and I both really needed some sleep and apparently she did too. Now that we know she is capable of sleeping that long we are hoping this is a sign that she will continue to do so for us. 

Sunday was a laid back day. We headed off to church in the morning, and managed to get there early. We are starting to get the hang of things with getting 3 people out the door to go places, but there can always be that curve ball still that makes us late. After church we did some shopping at Costco, and then went for a little visit with our friends the Spencer family. They just had their 2nd child, a very handsome little boy names Lucas. We wanted to return the favor of a pre-cooked meal to them, as they blessed us with one when Everly joined us. We are winding up the day with steak dinner, and pop corn while watching the Grammy Awards.

Monday will be back to the usual for us. I hope everyone has had a great weekend, and if you do have tomorrow off from work I hope you have a great day!

Anvil Island... with a 6 month old?

 

I have been going to camp on Anvil Island since I was 9. That's 16 years ago. I went from camper to staff member. Once Jason and I started dating he became involved with camp as well... we even got married up there.  Its become a huge part of our lives each summer. What about this summer? 

By the time Camp 1 rolls around our daughter will be 6 months old. Before even considering applying for staff spots again, we gave it some thought and prayer. I also asked the Directors if we were even allowed to go/would we be welcome with our daughter this summer. One answered by asking me how many cupcakes I would make him, the other said of course. 

Its going to be interesting and a change for me. I've been a cabin leader, photographer, in the kitchen, and the camp "baby sitter" to take care of the workers kids that come to camp who are not old enough to be staff. Well I'm going back to that last role. My focus will be mostly on Everly and I won't have Jason to help me out very much as he is going to be a part of Sports Crew again (he helps organize and run all the activities the campers do for the week). Which means I hardly see him for the whole week except for when he says good morning to me, and good night. However I am hoping Everly will let me spend time with the other workers kids, and do other behind the scenes rolls like going into the kitchen to help prep meals if they need an extra hand (This is what play yards are for right? Put the kid in her baby jail nearby when she is napping, and help where I can.)

I do know other families who have gone to Anvil with little munchkins and they have survived, the youngest I know of being taken as a workers kid was 3 months old. 

I'm already finding myself planning what all I will need to pack for Everly. The camp is run on a generator so the power normally goes out around 11/11:30pm it just depends on when it gets turned on each day. There is also no place for me to do laundry... so cloth diapers are not really an option for the week, unless I bring enough to a) last the week and that would mean having to own a whole lot more cloth diapers than I do or b) hand washing all of them and air drying them.  The first isn't really an option for me as I do not want to break the bank buying enough to cover a whole week of no laundry. I'm not really liking the idea of hand washing diapers while at camp... plus campers would probably think I'm crazy. I also do not need my daughter getting pranked and having her cloth diapers run up the flag pole. 

Did I mention that a chunk of the garbage at the camp goes into an incinerator, where it gets burned? This makes things a little interesting too. I am leaning towards buying disposable diapers (blah!) for the week. Doing so, I also have to bring up the Diaper Genie because all of those diapers are going to have to come off the island with us, and back to our house to go in the garbage. 

There are many other things I am wondering about and trying to plan for. Like the fact that she will need to be able to have her formula while we are there, I'm going to have to be able to boil water to make it and store that water. Thankfully there are accommodations with a kitchen.

 Accommodations... where will Everly and I stay for the week? Are there other brave people willing to crash in the same room as a 6 month old? Let's not even start on the amount of laundry I will be bringing back to do.

All of this doesn't really matter to me because I still feel like I am supposed to be a part of Camp 1 this summer with my husband and my daughter. I will be taking on a bit of a different role than I am used to but I am still hoping to have an impact on the young people that come to the camp for the week. I've already had a few people tell me I am crazy for wanting to do this, but I have a different mind set towards attempting this and a willingness to try. Anvil is a part of my life, and I am hoping it will become a special place to Everly too. Anvil is my home away from home and there is no way we will be missing out. Everly is going to be an Anvil munchkin.