Things I Like...

...that Earth Fare carries! And no, this is not a paid advertisement for Earth Fare. When I was driving around Athens the other day (okay, so I was lost), I drove by the store. I didn't even know Athens had one until that moment. Anyways, I love the following items (and not having to pay shipping fees for them!)

1. Charlie's Soap. I bought this to use with my cloth diapers, as it's one of the only laundry detergents free of brighteners, enzymes, perfumes, and basically anything that might leave residue on your dipes, rendering them less able to absorb. Now I use it on ALL my laundry. It doesn't have a scent, but my clothes just smell CLEAN, which I infinitely prefer. Plus it only takes one tablespoon per load- so a bag lasts forever!

2. Diva Cup. I wrote a post on this a while back. Once you have a baby via natural (vaginal) birth, you need a new size. So I picked one up- always be prepared, right? I highly, highly recommend it. Love not having to worry about it pretty much all day! Also, on a side note: I love my Lunapads. Before Lucy was born, I soaked several in witch hazel and froze them for post-delivery. Amazing. Strongly, strongly recommend it.

3. Fenugreek Tea. Fenugreek has been used for thousands of years to increase milk supply. I bought it because I'm worried about the effect going to work and pumping instead of nursing will do to my supply. I've been taking it for 3 days now, and let me tell you, it's made a huge difference. I would recommend Wedela Nursing Tea as opposed to Traditional Medicinals Mother's Milk, because it has much more fenugreek in it (500 mg vs. 35 mg), meaning you don't have to drink as much of the tea. The Wedela tea does have star anise in it, which takes getting used to, but I think it's worth it. You could also take fenugreek capsules if you wanted.

4. Norwegian Gold Daily Omega. I've taken a lot of different kinds of fish oils, and I think this one is the best. The capsules are coated, so no fishy burps! Nice side effect: my stylist says my hair looks awesome.

5. Midwifery Today. Love this journal. It's so interesting, full of great articles, stories, studies, and items that make pregnancy/delivery more comfortable.

Wordless Wednesday.

We went hiking over the weekend. Beautiful!

Lucy Can Laugh!

I know, I know- I am super-behind on updating this thing. I'll be done with my Master's class in a week (and headed back to work, but that's another blog for another day), and I promise to get back on the updating track when that happens. For now, here are some shots of Lucy smiling and laughing. The smiling has been going on for a while now, but the laughing is a new development. I've only heard it twice, but I do have a witness, in case there are any doubters out there!

PA Trip and Lucy's Baptism.

St. Anthony's-same church where Brett and I were married.

Last Thursday Brett, Lucy, and I flew up to PA to visit our family and to have Lucy baptized. I was a little worried about how Lucy would do on the plane, and I was prepared to nurse her at takeoff and landing to help her pressurize her ears. However, because she was in the Moby, she ended up falling asleep in the airport and not waking up on the plane at all! The trip up to PA was totally uneventful.

Turkey bib! Can't wait 'til Thanksgiving.

We had a blast in PA just hanging out with family and friends. Lucy was so excited to meet everyone at last! We were very sad, though, when my Nanny (Lucy's great-grandma) had to go to the hospital- she has double pneumonia. To be on the safe side for Lucy and Nanny, they didn't get to meet each other. Both were very, very disappointed. But we're working on getting a Skype chat set up, and we'll be up again soon for Christmas.

Godparents- my sister Megan and Brett's uncle Mike

On Saturday we had a baptism party for Lucy. Lots of fun, food, cake, and of course, lots of pink, frilly, girly clothes! Love it. Lucy received so many beautiful gifts. We especially love the beautiful silver crucifix from her godfather and her Lilly Pulitzer sweater. I've already decided that Lucy will get a new Lilly dress for back-to-school each year.

Saturday night was the baptism. Lucy took the everything very, very seriously! She looked right at Father Speice the entire time, and didn't cry at all. She looked very angelic in her Christening gown (which is over 100 years old and has now been worn by 5 generations in our family), ruffly tights, beautiful little booties, new crucifix necklace, and bonnet. You could tell she felt holy :-)

On Sunday we headed out early to fly back to SC. This time the flight was a little more eventful, mainly because the flight attendant insisted I take Lucy out of the Moby for takeoff and landing. At takeoff I just ignored her. At landing, she started to lecture me about safety, saying that Lucy was obviously safer in my lap than in the wrap (which she called a snuggi, by the way). Excuse me? Apparently it really is an airline regulation, and Brett kept shooting me the "you're being a rude, harassing Yankee, and this isn't worth fighting over" look, so eventually I dropped it and complied. Interestingly enough, on the second leg of our flight (after the layover in Charlotte), I kept Lucy in the Moby the entire time and not a word was said by the flight attendant. Expect a blog about this incident and the research I'm going to do about it soon. Has anyone else had an experience like this?

To sum up our trip: It was fun. I still miss my family. PA is cold. I'm glad I live in the South.

Wordless Wednesday.

Ruffly booties are the best kind of booty.