Drop-Box

I like my iPhone, but there is one thing that bothers me. My videos don't upload to the iCloud. All of my pictures do, but my videos don't. This makes me mad. 

I have taken a lot of pictures and videos of Max. And now, my phone is telling me that it is running out of space. OH NO! What do I do with my videos? Also, me being the crazy worried person I am, I can move the videos to my computer, but WHAT IF something happened to my computer? 

My father-in-law uses Drop-box. I love this app and software, because one, its free and two, it will upload my photos and videos automatically. I delete my photos off there, since they upload to the iCloud. BUT you only get 5G of space and let's just say, that isn't even close to enough for my videos.

It is a great tool and I can save some of my videos, so if you are in the same jam as I am, sign-up! It's free!! 

http://db.tt/tvPodTB8

P.S. And if you use my name, I get extra space! Help a momma out!! 

Magic Butt Cream

This past spring I was at my wits end because Max had been sick and put on antibiotics. While I have other reasons for not giving him antibiotics every time he is sick, they have horrible after affects with him. He had terrible diarrhea for 3-4 weeks! Then he has a terrible diaper rash.

I tried everything, Cloth diapers, letting him go naked, natural creams, regular creams.... nothing worked. Until my amazing day care provider told me about Magic Butt Cream. She said that her pediatrician told her about it. They can give a prescription for it, but it is cheaper to make at home.

I googled the recipe and found this site: http://www.savingaddiction.com/?p=28077 and scrounged up all of the components. I had everything but the Maalox. I had used the Clotrimazole when I had Thrush. It was kind of expensive, but it made a lot!

Well, I mixed it all together and used it on him and BAM, 2 hours later, the rash was gone! It is AMAZING stuff!

A couple of weeks ago, a lady a work was talking about her grandson having a bad diaper rash and I told her about the Magic Butt Cream. She didn't use it right away because she has just gotten a prescription from the doctor, but when that didn't work, she tried the Magic Butt Cream and it went away the next day! She was soooo thankful!

I needed to use it again yesterday and thought that I should shout about this stuff from the roof tops! So blogging it is!!

So, for any mothers, future mothers, grand mothers, baby sitters, aunts, sisters, let everyone and anyone know about this whenever you hear their kids have a diaper rash that just won't go away.

Google Yourself!

I've always been good at researching things on the internet. Some of my friends and co-wokers make fun of me because it seems like I can find anything online. Honestly though, it isn't that hard. A lot of things are really easy to find, because people don't seem to think about what they put out there.

So, I suggest that you google your name (or maiden name). This will show you what anyone can find out about you. Then you can work to erase the things you have out there that you don't want to be out there anymore. When I did this, I found some social media sites like Hi5 that I didn't use very much, but had some very public information that I didn't want out there. Luckily, I could sign in and delete my account. One was so old however, that I didn't have the email address that was used for the forget password, and I had to contact the company to get it deleted.

There are sites dedicated to finding information on people though. They could list your age, date of birth, town you live in, and your family members names. This is what creditors and scam artists use to find people. This is all on public record anyway though, so there isn't any need to try to find out how to get it removed from those sites.

Picky Eater

I always told myself (and anyone that would listen) that I wasn't going to have kids that were picky eaters. As I sure you might be doing, almost everyone shook their heads at me or smiled politely while I could practically see what they were saying in their heads "Yeah right!!!"

I should preface this a say, I am not a picky eater! I like just about everything (except peas, and even then I will eat them mixed in things). Opie is not a picky eater either, but he doesn't like some things that a lot of other people don't like.

When Max was starting to eat pureed food I wanted to make all of my food. I made my own sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and green beans to start. Well, he loved the sweet potatoes and squash, but not the peas or green beans. I could get him to eat the store bought green vegetables, but never the baby food I made. Big fail.

So, now Max is 14 months old and I would like to stop buying baby food and move him on to an all solid food diet. He won't eat vegetables! This is very frustrating for me! He loves fruit, which is great, but a lot of it will give him bad diaper rash. I don't want to trick him with it and hide it in things because I feel like that isn't teaching him to eat them either. I just want him to like to eat them like I do!!

Well, today I was going to put my foot down and get him to eat some green beans. I made a small bowl and put them on his tray. No such luck! So, when I felt the defeat, I started to eat the green beans (since I love them!) and he thought it was funny and he started to eat them! Then I sat down next to him and he would feed one to me and then eat one himself! It was great! He probably only ate 10 or so, but I call that a win!

I'm Back!!

Hi everyone! It's been over a year since I've posted on here. I tried to use Tumblr, but I didn't really like it. It kind of reminded me of another Facebook.

Anyway, I've definitely had a lot to say over the past year and I've started quite a few posts, but couldn't finish them for some reason. So, I'm going to take a few different paths!

I work part-time now, so I've been doing a lot more of the things that I am interested in; cooking, crafting, and of course spending time with Max!

I plan on sharing these things on here. I've made a lot of interesting things from Pinterest, some of which haven't always worked out! I look forward to blogging more frequently! It is a great way for me to relax! I've recently realized that I love to write! I used to write a lot at work. Even though it was business rules, it was still a good way to put my words together. So, I look forward to hearing your feedback and stories of your own!!

Max's Birth Story

I was due February 29th, Leap Day. I was convinced that I was going to have the baby on Leap Day because that was just my luck. My whole pregnancy I wanted to have the baby on March 1st because that was my Grandpa Kauffman's Birthday and he lived to be 100 years old and had passed away last August. When we told him we were pregnant and due on Feb. 29th, he kept saying that if it wasn't a Leap Year, it would has been due on his birthday. My Dad's side was also hoping that I would have him/her on the 1st as well.

Well, the 29th and 1st both went by and I still I felt great. (Honestly, I felt great for all of my pregnancy. Even in the end I felt good. I just wanted it to be over because I was so excited to meet him/her). I had had some regular contractions on and off for a couple weeks, but they never lasted very long and didn't get very strong. I wasn't dilated at my last two appointments either.

Now, let me preface this by saying that I wanted a natural delivery, however, I was going into the situation with a very open mind knowing that I didn't know what was going to happen or how it was going to feel. I knew I was going to try it without drugs, but if it got to be too much, I would have them. The only thing I knew for sure was I didn't want to drug through IV that made you feel/act loopy. Haha!

On March 3rd Opie and I went shopping. I had been having small contractions about 12-10 minutes apart, but they didn't get any stronger. We had dinner with my family for my sister's birthday that evening and my contractions still were 7-10 minutes apart, but they weren't any stronger.

Opie and I went home to try a few at-home remedies to induce labor. It started snowing pretty bad (that luck I was talking about)! I was worried because it was a 35-40 minute drive to the hospital when it was nice out. My contractions picked up to 7-5 minutes apart. I called the doctor and she said that she would normally have me wait, but since it was snowing that I should come in so that they could check me just in case I progressed fast.

We headed in around 10:30pm. I got to the maternity triage around 11:30pm. The nurse checked me and I was only at a 1 but my contractions were pretty regular and had picked up in intensity. I could still talk through them all though. So, we walked the halls to see if that helped. And it didn't.

They didn't want to send me home because we lived so far away and it was still snowing so they sent me to a room that had a whirlpool tub that I could labor in. It felt so nice, but didn't help me dilate.

They moved us to a delivery room around 3am. I sat in the tub a little while longer. Still nothing. The doctor came in around 9am and said that we could go home and wait a few hours or they could break my water. We decided that they could break my water. We were so anxious to meet our little one.

They broke my water and we waited. I progressed a little, but not enough. Around 11am the doctor came in and asked if we wanted to start Pitocin. We decided that we would. I really didn't want to, but I wanted to get this party started. I hadn't ate anything in over 12 hours and I hadn't slept for over 24 hours.

They started me off "slow" (or at least that is what they said). Wow, did the contractions pick up! They checked me an hour later and I was dilated to a 3 almost 4. They gave me some more Pitocin and were going to check me in another hour. Contractions were SUPER intense at this point. I was at a "good" 4 an hour later. I asked for an epidural at this point because I couldn't handle the pain anymore and it was making me tense and frustrated. I was hoping that easing the pain would calm my body down enough to dilate.

I got the epidural around 1:30-2pm and finally got to relax for the first time in hours. I was so hungry, so tired, and I just wanted to hold my baby. They kept checking me and I was progressing a little faster. I started to feel some pressure that evening and felt the need to push around 9pm. Our families went out to the waiting room and our wonderful nurse Kathy started to prep my room for delivery. I started pushing around 10pm. 1 hour and 23 minutes later I had a beautiful baby boy!

Opie was an amazing help during delivery telling me how much my pushing was helping and pushing the oxygen mask on me. Even though I had the epidural, I could move my legs and even got a chance to use the squat bar a couple of times.

Labor and Delivery didn't go at all how I wanted it to, but none of that mattered because he is healthy and that is all that mattered to me! I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Family of Three

It's been three weeks and three days since I had Max. It's all seems so surreal still. I can't believe I am a mom!

Max is amazing and we are doing great! There have been a lot of things that I didn't expect and a lot of things are exactly like I thought they would be (even if people told me they wouldn't).

The biggest thing that I didn't expect was to have such a hard time Breastfeeding. I had heard from so many people about how amazing the experience is. My experience hasn't been anywhere near amazing; it's been quite frustrating actually. It hurts and it seems like I am constantly feeding him. It is pretty much a roller coaster. We have a good day typically followed by a bad night followed by a bad day followed by a good night etc. But it does seem like it is getting better (or at least I hope so)! I did read a good article that has given me some encouragement. If you are also having a hard time breastfeeding, read it!

The lack of sleep has been exactly like I thought it would be. I actually do quite well on little sleep (at least I think so, Opie might disagree!) haha! He will sleep anywhere from 1-4 hours. It all depends on how he eats. If he has a full belly, he will sleep for quite awhile.

He is a great baby. He doesn't cry much; just when he is hungry. As of today he weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces and is 22 inches long. That is almost a pound and a half gained in a month (like I said, he likes to eat!) He is strong and holds his head up for quite awhile during our burpings and tummy-time.

I can't wait for the coming months to see how he grows and how his personality develops!