Diaper Review- #SagToSwag

**Disclaimer: I have received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.com.  All opinions are my own.**

Back in the day, I tried to convince Luke that we should do cloth diapers for our children.  He did not like the idea of scraping poop off the insert and then throwing them into the wash, so he put the kabosh on that idea.  When choosing diapers, everyone we knew who had young children highly recommended the Pampers Swaddlers, so we decided to give them a try.  Since 8:36am on August 4, 2014, Max has been wearing the Swaddlers exclusively.  In an attempt to save a few dollars on diapers, we tried Up & Up, but he had 3 blowouts out the legs within 24 hours, so we switched back the the Swaddlers.

I was happy to receive this VoxBox at my doorstep yesterday!

This week, I received a free sample of three Pampers Cruisers diapers, and I can honestly say that this is the first time a sample item may have changed my shopping habits.  In the short amount of time I had Max in the Cruisers, had had 3 huge poopy diapers, and usually, even in the Swaddlers, that amount would start to seep out the openings.  But, not this time!  In the Cruisers, Max was able to run away from me several times before getting his diapers changed, and while that usually results in a mess, his chunky thighs were totally clean where the leg holes were!

During one of his diaper change escapes.  He ran all over the house, and climbed the couch without any leakage from a very full diaper!

After we finish off our current box of Swaddlers, I'll definitely be using my coupon to save a little bit on a box of Cruisers. I highly recommend this fit of Pampers to parents who have a wiggly, squirmy little one who is constantly on the move!

Cruisers worked well at holding in all the contents without getting saggy, despite being constantly on the move.

VoxBox Review

**Disclaimer- These products were provided to me for free, and the comments and reviews are my own**

A couple of months ago, I signed up for Influenster.com after someone in my moms group had mentioned that it was a fun way to get samples, participate in surveys and write reviews of products.  Well, I LOVE taking surveys, and free products, so checked it out.  Not too long after, I was selected to receive the Nurture VoxBox which was put together with moms in mind.  I was super excited when the fuchsia box arrived at my home.

In the box were some great, full-sized products for my little family to try out, and I am happy to report that we really did like the majority of the products we tested!

OreIda- I am a true Minnesotan when it comes to my potato products.  I love love love Tator Tot Hotdish, and the OreIda brand tots worked perfectly to create this dinner favorite.  My favorite part of this product is how easy they are to cook, and how they crisp up without becoming over-done.  In the past, I have purchased store brand tator tots and they never get as crunchy as OreIda!  I definitely have plans to make Totchos (Nachos with tots instead of chips) for dinner soon.

Uncle Ben's- I have not be able to use this coupon yet.

Dramamine with Ginger- I was unable to actually test out this product yet due to the fact that I am still breastfeeding my son.  The box suggests to get a doctor's recommendation if pregnant or nursing before use.  I am looking forward to giving it a try when we have our long car ride to Grand Marais in October and during our long flights to Hawaii this winter!

Retirement

By 2pm today, I will have completed my last pumping session, and will officially retire my Medela PISA!

Since going back to work after my maternity leave this past October, I have made pumping a part off my daily routine. The 5am,7am,11:30am, and 2pm pumping sessions are coming to an end as I finish up my last day of work before summer break. By the time I start up again in August, Max will be 13 months and hopefully weaned from nursing (though I'd be okay with result morning and bedtime nursing sessions until he decides he's done).

I can't even fully express how excited I am to be able to just nurse on demand for the last couple months of his infanthood. I do have a decent supply built up in the freezer stash for the occasional Max-free date night, so I'm not going to worry anymore about making sure I bring my pump if I'm going to be gone 3-4 hours. I'll keep my hand pump in my bag for emergencies, but I'm starting to really prepare for the end of a journey that I never expected to love as much as I have. 

Nearly 10 months!

Baby boy turns 10 months in just a couple of days, and we finally had our delayed 9 month well-child visit.  As of last week, Max weighs 22.5lbs (86th percentile), and is 29.5" (80th percentile) long.  I still find it crazy that my skinny little baby turned into quite the proportionate tank over the last couple of months!

I'm fairly certain that he's actually been directing "mama" to me when he says it.  He is still giving me (and Grandmama) tons of kisses.  I love that he's started to take my face in his hands and turn my face toward him to give me the kisses.  Luke's been feeling a bit left out, but I remind him that it'll happen more often.  Max has given Luke a few kisses, but he's not as free with them when he's around Luke for some reason.  Babies are weird.

Max has also started to "answer the telephone."  Grandmama taught him how to put the phone up to his ear and talk.  I had no idea he could do it, until a couple of weeks ago, I gave him the little plastic phone, and he immediately put it up to his ear and started babbling!




This past weekend was a very social weekend for the Lorenz family.  On Saturday, we met up with Penny (and Leslie) at the Children's Museum for a baby playdate.  Max loved crawling around the HabiTot area, playing at the water table, and opening/shutting little cabinet doors.  On Sunday, we met up with the Lupans for some fun at the Stillwater Art Fair.  At one point, there wasn't a good spot to sit, so I successfully nursed Max while wearing him in the Kinderpack carrier, WHILE walking around the fair!  I was super impressed with my super babywearing/nursing abilities :)  Finally, on Monday, we met up with Xander and Cam at The Chatterbox Pub for dinner.  Thank goodness it is a family-friendly restaurant.  Our little screatcher was really into pointing out and talking to the lights in the ceiling, and was determined to have everyone hear him.

Tonight is my last official night of night school (I agreed to teach 4 nights in July), so I will have to find time to actually update over the summer.  We'll have a lot of big milestones to cover, and I can't wait to share it with those few of you who read this little blog!

9 months, 4 weeks

Max is in such a fun stage lately.  Every time he makes advances, I feel like I'm saying that it's my favorite stage yet, but it's true.  As amazing as he is right now, I know that there are even better, more fun things to come (until he becomes a stinky teenage boy, eating me out of house and home... but even then I'll be loving how much he's learning and growing into a young man).

 What he's doing now:

• Pointing to lights and going aaaa--iieeeeeeee!
• High pitched shrieking (for fun)
• Temper tantrums when we tell him "no" or we take something away from him
• Playing chase with the dogs
• Eating lots of big people food!  He LOVES grapes.  He will eat pretty much any meat we put in front of him.  He's not the biggest fan of mashed potatoes.  He also doesn't like pureed vegetables, but will eat them as a combo pouch meal.  Yogurt and cheese are also big hits in the Lorenz household.
• Flipping over his walker and spinning all the wheels as they are up in the air
• Sharing his food with the dogs from his highchair
• Knocking over any tower we build
• Sliding and pushing around the dog dishes
• Crawling full speed to get to where he so desires
• He can stand unassisted, and even took a step!  We think he'll be walking pretty soon.
• Likes interacting with other babies.  He doesn't do a lot of baby socialization during the week, so I've been scheduling baby playdates at least a couple times a month so that he has a chance to engage and interact with kids around his age.
• Splashing during bath time!
• Smiling.  He is such a happy baby.
• Falls asleep pretty consistently in his car seat. For those of you who remember what it used to be like for the first 6 months, it's really really nice to not have a screaming baby for the majority of a car ride.  He's able to entertain himself more with the few toys we hand him in the backseat.
• Loves having books read to him (especially Little Blue Truck, and Curious Kittens)
• Playing by himself
• Grabbing his penis as soon as the diaper is removed.  This kid is definitely a boy.

First Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful first mother's day.  I couldn't have asked for anything better this year :)

At about 7:30, Luke took Max to run an errand, leaving me by myself in the house for the very first time in 9 months.  Sure, I've gone and done things alone, but I had never been in my own home without Max being there.  It was weird, but I'm not going to lie, it was really nice to take a shower without worrying that I was taking too long, or needing to relieve Luke from baby duty.  I also got a chance to blow dry my hair and snuggle the dogs for a bit.  Luke and Max returned with donuts from Mojo Monkey, and made me coffee.

Then, Luke showed me my mother's day gift.  The man who has to be dragged to get professional photos done secretly took the day off on Friday and brought Max into the Target photo studio to have portraits done of the two of them together.  It was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift Luke could have ever given me.  I am waiting for our copies of the photos to arrive, and then I'll share them here!

After being surprised by Luke's gift, we met my family for brunch at the Loring Pasta Bar.  It's always amazing when we can get all 6 Kleinbergs PLUS significant others all in the same room at the same time!  My mom even gave me a couple of lovely gifts (a coffee mug and a mother's necklace) to celebrate the fact that she gets to share mother's day now.  Since Max was off his napping schedule, once he fell asleep in the car, we let him nap for a couple hours, while we relaxed/napped along with him in the grocery store parking lot before heading over to Luke's sister's house.

At his sister's place, Max got the chance to crawl around like a crazy man, chasing after Lily.  Ade cheered them on in her own 3 month old way!  We had a stress-free dinner, and just spent some time together as a family before heading back home.

I went into Mother's Day with only the expectation of perhaps being able to sleep in before heading out to celebrate our own mothers, so I was happy with what it turned into.  I feel very appreciated by Luke (and by Max, even if he can't vocalize it yet!), and now I need to figure out a way to return the appreciation next month for Father's Day!

Struggle

Most of the time, I love being a mom and everything that comes with it.  Most of the time, I would give up my full-time job in a heartbeat and settle into the role of a stay at home mom until my kids go to school.  Most of the time, I want to be constantly interacting with my child, and worry about missing "firsts" when I leave the room or spend the day teaching.  Most of the time.

Then, there is that one night that makes me question everything I do and everything I am as a mother.  I doubt my decisions, and feel as though I have made horrible mistakes.  Last night was one of those nights.

Recently, Max has been on a "I want Mama to hold me and be near me all the time" kick. I know this phase makes some women want to tear their hair out, but I've enjoyed it.  I don't get tired of holding, playing, talking, singing, bathing, feeding, changing Max.  While some people look down on the fact that we've co-slept for the last 5 months, I have embraced it and found peace in thinking about the intertwined relationship co-sleeping has fostered between us.  I'm not completely whole without my MaxJack, and he needs me to survive.  Co-sleeping has kept me sane while being the sole person responsible for feeding Max at all hours of the night, and being able to roll over, latch him on, and fall back to sleep has gotten us all more sleep. Lately, it hasn't been that easy.

Max's "bed" in our room is a crib mattress on the floor (surrounded by 2 walls, our bed frame and a heavy laundry basket at the end to keep him contained), and I've been placing him on his bed to help start transitioning him out of our bed, but still keeping him close at the same time.  Getting him to sleep has been the easy part, but last night, at 1:30am, he woke up and decided that comfort nursing was this only thing that was going to make him happy.  I wanted to rock him to sleep, and give my poor nipples a break (he'd been latched on for the last 30 minutes or so without any signs of stopping).  He won't take the pacifier when I'm around, so he yelled at me, he yelled at Luke when Luke took a 5 minute shift to let me regain my sanity, he yelled at me while Luke walked him around... I knew the only thing I could do was to let him try nursing back to sleep.  Thank goodness it worked this time, but he still only wanted to sleep on me for the rest of the night.  So, that's how I wound up sleeping, curled up on a crib mattress with my 9 month old using my shoulder as his pillow.

Some people would say, "Make Luke take a shift!" They don't understand the immense guilt I feel.  I don't feel as though I can ask Luke for help in this situation because I am the one who pushed the co-sleeping. I'm the one who insisted that I breastfeed for as long as I am physically capable.  I'm the one who created this monster who needs to comfort nurse and co-sleep to get through the night.

I shared this with Luke, and he helped me get through it.  He reminded me that we've had many, many more awesome nights with Max than rough ones.  When we complain, it's because our baby is smiling and laughing too much as we try to get him down to sleep.  It's only every once and a while that we want to tear our hair our in frustration.  We have to remember that as we transition, we're bound to experience more sleep deprivation, but it's okay.  We'll get past this.