Photo bomb

Block tasting, a favorite teething activity

A trip to the post office left James labeled by the postal workers as priority. I agree :)

Crazy morning hair (needs another trim!). Also his first tastes of a normal baked good made with egg - banana muffins. Trying to monitor the extent of his allergy. No hives this time, but possible itching and/or bellyache (hard to be sure when he can't tell us). We'll try again.

New baby, looking pretty sweet in its temporary little womb home.  Got to see (s)he swallowing during the ultrasound - very cool.

Impromptu dessert!  We almost never make dessert, but we wanted pie. Cherry!  Also my first time making crust without my mama's supervision.  Stuart said it was great.

Cutie James at lunchtime.

Snuggles on the couch after church on Sunday.

Life is so good these days!

SGO Tampa 2014

This past weekend, Stuart and I got to spend 5 days in Tampa, FL for the Society of Gynecological Oncologists' Conference on Women's Cancer.  It was 3 full days and 2 half days of conference sessions and research presentations for Stuart, and that same amount of time for me to lay around the pool, read, visit with friends who live in Tampa and explore the city!  Each day, Stuart would spend hours with important people (sober), and each evening I got to meet the same important people (after they've had a few drinks).  My job of impressing them and making Stuart look like someone they would want to have at their program was a lot easier ;).  Each evening, there was some sort of event that included lots free food and drinks and staying up really late.  Eventually it got late enough that we knew none of the important people would even remember if we were there or not, so we were lucky to sneak away and get to bed before midnight every night (festivities usually lasted until 3am or later...).

Stuart was post-call Friday morning when we left Raleigh/Durham and flew to Tampa (post-call means that he went in to work Thursday morning, worked all day and all night, then left work Friday morning and came straight to the airport).  The above picture demonstrates how he spent most of our Friday travels.  We had a direct flight to Tampa, hopped a shuttle to our hotel, checked in, and then Stuart took off for the Convention Center for the first part of the conference.

I met him around 5pm, after the Friday sessions finished.  It was a busy evening of networking and meeting lots of important people and hanging out with residents, fellows and attendings from UNC that we already knew.  We were just trying to decide where to go to dinner when one of Stuart's attendings pulled him aside and said "You NEVER pay for a drink or food at this conference.  Never.  There are too many drug reps available to do that for you!"  He had arranged for a rep to take us to dinner, but it turned out he had double booked.  So instead of accompanying us (which would have been terrible and awkward - who wants to have dinner with a drug rep??!), the guy just made a reservation for us at a swanky restaurant (Eddie V's Prime Seafood) and gave us his credit card.

It was delicious and awesome and very expensive.  And though it felt a little dirty, because we don't exactly love pharmaceutical companies and their representatives, it was the nicest dinner we have been to since our honeymoon.  And so, we were thankful for a free, fancy date night.  Though, we did avoid the drug reps for the rest of the weekend.

This was part of the view from our hotel room - a rooftop pool at our hotel.  I actually didn't spend as much time by it as I had hoped to, but it was nice and relaxing anyways!

I got to see my favorite life-long friend, Hannah!  She picked me up on Saturday and we went to lunch at a place called Datz.  It was delicious and really fun inside.  And it was just awesome to catch up on her life - she got married in August and moved far way to Tampa, and we haven't seen each other since!  I would have been so happy to just sit on a bench and talk all afternoon, but she was kind enough to feed me and my growing baby ;).  She also took me tie shopping for Stuart, as we discovered pretty quickly that SGO is a rather fancy conference, and Stuart was just a smidge underdressed (as was I, but I didn't have to spend as much time with important people as he did).

Saturday night was the UNC alumni event, where everyone who ever had a role at UNC gathered in a room at the hotel and had drinks.  We knew most of the folks here, but got to meet some new faces who either did their residency or fellowship at UNC years ago, and are now very important at other places.  We left feeling reminded how grateful we are to be at UNC and part of the community that has formed over decades in the department.  We were actually headed out the door with some residents and an attending (who were headed for drinks, but we were secretly headed to our hotel for sleep!) when this lady whizzes by us in the lobby and says "Come up to see the President!"  The attending turns around and says, "Change of plans - you don't turn this down."  So we find ourselves packed into an elevator with this lady and lots of drunk people and a professional photographer was taking our picture (?).  We got off on the top floor, and as we're walking down the hallway, Stuart grabs my hand and whispers "I don't know where we are going or which country's President we are about to meet, but everything will be okay!"

We walk into the Presidential Suite, where it just happens to be a private party for the President of SGO, Dr. Barbara Goff  (who, believe me, is a big, huge deal, but I was a little disappointed it wasn't Obama).  All of the important people were in this room, and here walk in a group of residents and an attending from UNC.  We had a great time chatting and relaxing on her balcony (and eating her delicious food).  We learned later that the lady who whizzed by us in the lobby was Mary Eiken, SGO's executive director.  We spent a lot of time talking to her between various events and learned that she is an onc nurse (like me!) and really a lot of fun.  I'm glad we got to know her a little - not just because she's important, but we genuinely like her.  In fact, we genuinely liked all of the important people we met.  A lot.  My husband has chosen a wonderful specialty and I'm excited to become more a part of it!

I borrowed two books from my BFF, Casey: Midwives by Chris Bohjalian and Running Scared by Edward Welch.  One to enjoy, and one to make me think.  And they were both excellent.  Between the airport and time by the pool, both were read cover to cover by the time we touched back down in Durham. (This is a noteworthy piece of information to include in my little blog diary here, because I never get to read, and I love reading, so I will celebrate two books in one weekend!)

Above are some palm trees.  They're everywhere, obviously because it's Florida.  Below is some grass, which is not everywhere, obviously because it's Florida.  In fact, the photo below is of a public garden on the riverfront that had big signs and lots of advertising drawing you in to come and see.  But it contained only grass and a few bushes.  I guess they were really proud that they could grow some grass.

Sunday night was SGO's big fundraiser event, so we dressed up pretty fancy and had a great time!  I wish I had taken more photos because it was 1960s themed (well, Mad Men themed to be specific) and it was really fun!  We spent a good deal of time with our own residents, and that was really fun.  We also had the opportunity to meet James and Vicki Orr, who started an endowment for uterine cancer research with SGO.  Vicki's mother was treated at UAMS for uterine cancer years ago, and so we really wanted a chance to talk to them.  Turns out so did everyone else at the fundraiser, but we waited patiently and had a moment to slip in and say hello.  It was very cool to connect with some important and really nice folks from Arkansas!

Monday morning, my dear friend Ashley picked me up from our hotel and drove us to the bayfront for a stroller walk with her sweet 8 week old.  Then, we had doughnuts and coffee.  A perfect outing!

It was so precious to see her as a mama with her babe and catch up on the huge way that becoming a mother changes everything (for both of us, actually!  We have not seen each other since before James was born.).  Ashley's husband, Garrett, was in Stuart's med school class, and they were some of our dearest friends in Little Rock.  They're in Tampa now as Garrett works on his dermatology residency.  We had a really sweet time of catching up.

Monday afternoon, Stuart skipped out on a few sessions and we took a nap (turns out that schmoozing around all day and night is exhausting for a young doctor, especially if you started out post-call).  We figured Monday night would be pretty low key since there wasn't a specific planned event for the evening.  I met Stuart near the convention center after the conference sessions wrapped up, and we were deciding what to do about dinner with some of his residents and fellows.  Of course, an attending jumped in to save the evening again.  He took us with him to crash another alumni dinner that was going on that night - a combination dinner for WashU and OSU.  Later in the evening, some folks from Duke joined the party, and then some folks from UAB, and then the President of SGO and her posse walked in!  By this time we had met most everyone, so it was fun to touch base and network a little more (networking is so hard and uncomfortable for me, but this evening was more fun and relaxed since we had met everyone).  We figured we would just go for a few minutes, and then go get dinner on our own.  We ended up staying all night, and actually got to bed the latest the entire weekend!

We slept in on Tuesday and ordered room service for breakfast (so fun)!  Stuart went to the conference for the last session, then we took a shuttle back to the airport and flew home!  As you can tell, most of the action took place during the evenings (and into late night).  Sounds like Stuart spent most of the day listening to research presentations, and drinking coffee in between sessions with all the folks we met throughout the weekend (both of which, of course, he loved).  Some of those sessions actually included research that Stuart worked on, and a few of them he was first author (I'll brag, even though he won't).  He had four abstracts at this conference, and I am so proud of him!

There's one detail that I didn't mention about this trip, though I'm sure you gathered from all that we did while in Tampa:  James stayed behind in NC with my parents!  For five days and four nights, I didn't get to see or snuggle or kiss or pray with my baby and it made my heart ache!  It was so sweet to come home to him.  James, of course, had a great time at my parents' house, playing with my dad and looking at the dogs (two of his favorite activities in life right now).  It sort of seemed like he didn't realize we were gone until we got home.  So, I'm glad he wasn't as sad as I was ;)  It turned out to be a really great weekend, and I'm so thankful that I had some time to be an adult and stand by Stuart's side during such an important event for him - as his wife, not as a mama - and I would very happily do it again.  However, I was very happy to see my baby boy and be home!

Cloth diaper update

We're still going strong on the cloth diaper front!  We use them almost 100% of the time, except for when he stays the night at Memaw and P/paw's house (more convenient for them) or I haven't gotten the dirty dipes washed and dried in time for bedtime and he doesn't have a clean night diaper.  If we have to use disposables, we have found that the Seventh Generation brand is the only one that doesn't give him a rash (I think Target carries them the cheapest, but can also be found at Whole Foods in a pinch).  I'd love to try the Honest Company diapers as an alternative whenever disposables are needed because of the company's ethics and the cute prints, but they are super expensive.

We have three different brands of pocket diapers: BumGenius, Charlie Banana and Fuzzibunz.  We definitely prefer them in the order I listed!  All of our diapers have snaps instead of velcro, and though they're more expensive, we expect them to last longer as we don't have to worry about the velcro wearing out.  We almost never have a leak or any problems with fit from our BG dipes, but they are the most expensive ($18/dipe).  I found four CB diapers at a consignment shop in GREAT shape for only $7/diaper, so I grabbed them and their inserts.  They have worked great, and fit really well, though sometimes the lining pokes out from his belly or leg and wicks onto his clothes.  Bought new, they are the same price as BG, so I would probably just buy BG if I had to choose.  This same problem happens pretty frequently with the Fuzzibunz if he is in the diaper for too long.  The bigger he gets, I have to watch pretty closely to prevent a leak, probably because the insert just isn't as absorbent, so we mostly use them at home.  Fuzzibunz are the most affordable diapers we own ($12-15/dipe), so they definitely were worth getting and have been valuable to have in our stash, and should work well for the new baby (who we expect will be smaller with less volume of urine).

We started with a stash of about 15 diapers when James was born, which came out to washing every other day.  Once we found out we were pregnant again, we started building up our stash with coupons and gift cards, knowing we will have two babes to diaper!  BuyBuyBaby has our BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers in their store, and they accept Bed, Bath & Beyond $5 off coupons for them, so I've been getting them for $13/dipe as I collect coupons (cheaper than Fuzzibunz).  We currently have 23 diapers, which allows for washing every third morning (just after James gets changed out of his third night diaper).  I think we started using the cloth exclusively on James when he was about 3 months old (mostly due to how skinny he was, so they didn't fit until then!).  So, I think we'll have a few months after new baby is born to continue building our stash.  I'd love to have 40 diapers by that time to allow for every two or three days washing and to have both babies in cloth.  I've also been keeping my eyes on the consignment store in Chapel Hill that has cloth diapers.  We'll see if we can get to our goal within our budget!

We have had a few issues that took some troubleshooting, but we solved the problems and have been able to continue with our cloth!  Around James' first birthday, he got a yucky rash around his boy parts that was sort of mysterious.  Dr. Z took a look at it, and wasn't really sure what it was, even.  We tried some Nystatin on it to rule out yeast.  So for a few weeks, we used the ointment everyday with some disposable diapers - the only ointment that is safe to use and won't ruin cloth dipes is coconut oil and some other specialty hippie ointments :).  After a few days, the rash went away and his skin looked really good.  We finished out the medication and finally got him back into his cloth diapers.

The first diaper change after going back to the cloth, the rash magically returned!  Turns out something related to the cloth itself was the issue... So, I did some reading, and stripped our diapers (washed in bleach then rinserinserinse like crazy to get all the residue build up from urine and detergent out of the inserts and liners).  After a few days, the rash came back again.  So, I changed our detergent - we were using Seventh Generation free & clear, but I found a specific detergent for diapers called Rockin' Green that was only $16 for 90 loads (comparable to what I was paying for the 7th Generation).  By switching detergents, we actually ended up saving money since the new expensive detergent was only for diapers (and we had been using 7th generation for all of our laundry), and we went back to using cheap-o Purex free & clear on all of our other laundry.  The diapers have been beautiful and clean and unsmelly, and there has been no sign of rash since the switch!

The other troubleshooting I had to do involved night leaks.  As James gets bigger, he pees more and more.  For disposables, when leaks start happening, you just move up to the next size, problem solved.  For cloth diapers, it means that the inserts aren't absorbent enough for the volume of urine anymore.  We weren't having any daytime issues at all, I suppose because we change him every three hours or so.  But every night he was leaking through and waking up soaked and sad :(.  So I did some reading and asked around for advice from my CDing mama friends.  Unfortunately, most of what I read or heard was that disposables were the way to go once night leaks started being a problem.  Unfortunately, that is not in our budget (on top of the fact that most disposables give James a rash, and we don't like the amount of waste they create).

So, I went out on a limb and tried some things I had read about.  We tried a new type of insert that I found on sale for $6 at the Birthing and Wellness Boutique in Chapel Hill (check them out - they have lots of awesome hippie mama stuff).  It was a hemp/organic cotton blend flat (which just means it's like an old school diaper that I had to fold and figure out how to fit inside our liners).  Hemp is supposed to be one of the most absorbent materials for the least bulk that you can use in diapering, and is usually very expensive!  I took it home and prepped it and James slept in it that night - no leak the next morning! Yay!  Half of the insert was actually still dry, which means it should solve our night wetting problem for quite a while!  I went back and grabbed 2 more while they were still on sale, to give us a total of 3 night diapers. We have not had a leak since, and James has slept wonderfully since staying dry all night :)

Stuart is the money guy in our family, and he definitely agrees that cloth diapering has been a life saver for us as we have saved so much money by not having to buy disposables (which just doesn't fit into our budget in this season of life).  Even though going with cloth has significant start up costs, we have even been able to be frugal there and not pay for much out of our actual budget:  first, we were gifted our entire start-up stash, and then we've been buying new ones either consignment, on sale, or with coupons, and all with gift cards or gift money from holidays or birthdays.  So, I think that Stuart would say his favorite part of using cloth is the savings for our family.  But for me, I have to admit I just love how cute and sweet James looks in his little diapers, which give him a huge booty and help his pants fit since he is such a skinny boy.  See below... so cute, right??

James 15 month stats

We visited Dr. Z for James' 15 month appointment. The boy finally hit 20lbs!

Weight: 20 lbs 4oz (5-10th percentile)

Length: 29.2 in (10th percentile)

Head: 50th percentile (don't have the actual measurent, but he has a fat head relative to his other measurents!)

Otherwise she says everything is looking perfect. She's not concerned about him not walking quite yet, and expects he will with some encouragement from us in the new few months. She said based on the fact that he cruises around and climbs stairs that it's probably lack of confidence  that's keeping him from making the leap (if you will).

James: 15 months

It has been a really fun week around here!  Stuart has been off all week on vacation, and we did not travel anywhere like we usually do, so it has just been bliss having him around to truly relax and enjoy the spring weather.  We also celebrated my 28th birthday this week, and James turned 15 months!

I feel like there has been a real cognitive leap that James has made in the last month.  When I ask him a question or tell him something, he seems to understand most of what I say.  It blows my mind!  If I ask him if he's hungry (which he almost always is), he does the sign for "food" or "eat."  If I ask him at nap time if he's ready to go to sleep, he crawls to the stairs and starts banging on the baby gate to go up.  If I ask him where almost anything is located, he will look around and hold his hands out like "I don't know, where?" if he can't find it.

He is saying several words:

dad

mama

dog

duck

sock

shoe

bye bye

ball

light

milk

more

animal sounds for cow, elephant, and a growl for lots of animals like lions and bears

He still uses a lot of signs, and has learned the sign for "help" and actually uses it!  We insist that he use "please" and "thank you" during meal times (and other appropriate times, but especially at meals) and he is getting good at remembering to sign those on his own.

Our sweetest friends, Wen and Casey Reagan, had their first baby (Ezra) a few weeks ago, and we stopped by to see them at their home when Ezra was just a few days old.  James took his first steps there!  He is getting braver and will let go of the furniture or wall when he's cruising around and may take a step or two on his own, but then drops to his knees.  If we are there coaching him and cheering, he'll take several wobbly steps before dropping.

James really enjoys playing by himself these days, probably because he has been working on more skills like stacking blocks and twisting lids.  In the kitchen, he matches tupperware to the correct lid and screws bottle caps on and off a bunch of 4 oz bottles I have sitting in the corner of the kitchen (been trying to figure out where to store them since the breastfeeding days...).  He also likes to pick socks out of the clean (or dirty) laundry and try to put them on his toes.  A big leap that happened this month is that he increased his block stacking to 5!  I was shocked when I looked over and saw a tower of 4, and he placed a 5th on top and then clapped for himself :).  He had been stacking 2 or 3 for a little while, so I guess he got adventurous and tried for more.  I was impressed since I can only stack 6 or 7 of his blocks before they fall over (is it me or the blocks?!?).  He also matches three of his shape sorter blocks to the correct hole in the container and puts them through all on his own (the flower, star and oval shapes).  He needs a lot of help with all of the others still.

Other than independent play, he loveslovesloves to read books, swing outside, and snuggle and tickle on the floor.  He is the sweetest boy!  He may be playing by himself, then crawl over for a hug, then return to playing (on a good day - other days he follows me around crying and wanting to be held.  I think those are the teething days... This is when the Moby wrap or our new Ergo carrier come in quite handy!).

It has been a month of new teeth!  James has 12 teeth total now, including 4 molars.  A dentist friend of ours took a look at everything and was impressed :)  He even said he saw several more (canines mostly, but also a way back molar) ready to pop through at any moment.  Yikes... I guess it's better to get it all over with at once, right?

He is still napping twice a day, though sometimes one of the naps is rather short and he spends most of nap time just talking and playing in his crib (includes removing his socks, launching them out of the crib, then tossing his teddy bear out, too).  On days where he only gets one nap because of appointments or whatever, he is pretty cranky and usually falls asleep in the car.  So, we'll stick to a two nap schedule until he seems to be able to do better without both of them.  Bedtime is strictly at 7pm.  We're pretty convinced that if he goes down later than that, he almost always wakes up earlier (as early as 5am).  If he goes down at 7pm, he almost always sleeps until 7am.

We love our little guy more and more every day, and we are so proud of him and the little man he is becoming!

Photo bomb 3/7/14

(Baby Canaan and aunt Mandy)

(Ppaw with baby Canaan and little James)

(James got his own personal swing for Christmas from Aunt Mere and Uncle Mattt. We finally put it up over a recent warm weekend.)

(First stack of 5!)

(Watching his mama sew on a very rainy day.)