The diaper drama continues. . . .
Even as a younger baby, I thought Ezra leaked out of his diapers more than the average baby. When in circles of mothers I would ask if their babies leaked frequently, and often I would get confused looks, and questions like "Is he in the right size?" and "Are you sure you are putting the diaper on right?" So this is not a new challenge. I made sure to change him frequently, ask friends if they thought his diaper appeared to be the right size and on correctly, and I bought so many different kinds of diapers. Over the last year, we have tried at least 9 different types of diapers, no joke. We've tried over night diapers, every brand we can buy, etc. (But no, I have not tried cloth diapers . . . . yet.)
Even as a younger baby, I thought Ezra leaked out of his diapers more than the average baby. When in circles of mothers I would ask if their babies leaked frequently, and often I would get confused looks, and questions like "Is he in the right size?" and "Are you sure you are putting the diaper on right?" So this is not a new challenge. I made sure to change him frequently, ask friends if they thought his diaper appeared to be the right size and on correctly, and I bought so many different kinds of diapers. Over the last year, we have tried at least 9 different types of diapers, no joke. We've tried over night diapers, every brand we can buy, etc. (But no, I have not tried cloth diapers . . . . yet.)
But now my son really seems to have a special ability. He saves an amazing amount of potty for night time, which means he wakes at about 4 a.m. wet, cold, and crying. . . . which means we wake up then too. Regardless of the diaper, I go in to get him and he is wet up to his shoulders!! His blankets and sheets are soaked, with a huge ring around the mattress pad, which means stripping the crib completely, putting my poor tired, cold baby in the bath and starting the load of laundry. Seriously, I might as well be potty training him for the night for as often as I do this. I feel sorry for Ezra to be wakened so early and by such unpleasentness. I'd say at least 5 early mornings out of 7, this is how we started our day. So fun.
Chris had a nice phase of work during this time when he was able to come home in time to see Ezra and put him to bed at night, which of course we all loved, but then it started to not be such a great thing because I thought Chris didn't know how to put on a diaper properly, and then I'd have the mess to deal with every morning. So we had to work on our diapering skills a bit. It wasn't all Chris though, Ezra even leaked (but not the major puddles!) when I put him to bed, so I really started to wonder if Ezra was drinking too much or if we really didn't know how to put on diapers. We considered limiting how much he drank after 4pm, but that seemed cruel, since we do live in Texas and it is summer time. So we compromised to just water after 4pm, so that he would only be drinking to satiate his thirst, and not because milk and juice are so yummy. It didn't seem to make much of a difference what we did, and I was about at my wits end!!! Then I decided that Ezra would just have to wear two diapers to bed. So he wore his regular size, and then a larger size over that. Chris was convinced there was truth in the old "duck-taping the diaper on", so he gave it a try.
Chris had a nice phase of work during this time when he was able to come home in time to see Ezra and put him to bed at night, which of course we all loved, but then it started to not be such a great thing because I thought Chris didn't know how to put on a diaper properly, and then I'd have the mess to deal with every morning. So we had to work on our diapering skills a bit. It wasn't all Chris though, Ezra even leaked (but not the major puddles!) when I put him to bed, so I really started to wonder if Ezra was drinking too much or if we really didn't know how to put on diapers. We considered limiting how much he drank after 4pm, but that seemed cruel, since we do live in Texas and it is summer time. So we compromised to just water after 4pm, so that he would only be drinking to satiate his thirst, and not because milk and juice are so yummy. It didn't seem to make much of a difference what we did, and I was about at my wits end!!! Then I decided that Ezra would just have to wear two diapers to bed. So he wore his regular size, and then a larger size over that. Chris was convinced there was truth in the old "duck-taping the diaper on", so he gave it a try.
Doesn't he just look so cute, and little and submissive in these pictures? He just sat there while Chris taped him up (which is very rare for any diaper change; he is normally all over the place.) It is hard to believe such a little body could produce such amazing amounts of fluid!
I thought the tape wasn't helpful, and the two diapers ended up working pretty good most of the time, so no, we did not tape Ezra up every night. I thought it was funny when Chris was doing it though, so I had to take pictures to remember, hoping that some day I would look back and laugh at what was driving us crazy at the time. I thought the two diapers worked best when the first diaper went on the regular way, and then the bigger diaper went on backwards. So I double diapered this way for a few months!
I am happy to say that as I look back a few months to blog about this, these pictures now make me laugh, because the issue is much better than it was at the time. Maybe it was just some weird phase his body was going through. (Oh, it was such a long phase though!) The improvement is very recent, but much appreciated. For a week now, we have been using only one over night diaper and without major leaks. Yahooo!!!
*****
Monte and Lanette visited us in the beginning of May. It was a fun visit. Lanette and I took off for some girl time of shopping at the outlets and then celebrated mother's day by getting pedicures one day while the boys stayed home. One night we all went out for a real Texas steak at where else, but the Texas Roadhouse. We had a nice Sunday dinner on Mother's Day and it was nice to have one of our mother's there to make it feel more celebrated.
Chris was thoughtful to get me flowers and a card for Ezra to scribble on and he helped him present it to me. It was all very cute; Ezra seemed to understand and looked very proud to be giving me his card.
Ezra relished all the attention he received from his grandma and grandpa. Ezra would walk over to Monte and grab his hand, then turn to pull him up and lead him to come play with him. He knew they were there to give him attention and he was not shy to ask for it by the time they left. I wish we had taken pictures during their visit but I guess we forgot. I really need to get better at using my camera!
*****
Ok, so I went to visit my friend Karis and I helped her do a little bit of painting, and I thought I had worked up the confidence to paint our home. Here's the thing though; our walls are textured with this annoying standard builder splattered mud look, and I wanted to paint on a technique that apparently only works on a flat, smooth wall. I tried for a while, practicing on our garage walls, and I was never able to come up with something I loved or felt confident in. I spent hours at Lowes, reading techniques, buying samples, and trying different color formulas, glaze ratios and techniques.
I would give Ezra a little brush of his own, and he would grab one of his nesting/stacking cubs, swirl his brush around in his empty cup, and then paint on the garage wall beside me. When he didn't see a difference on the wall from his brush, he sucked on it to cover it and then it had a nice wet look when he brushed it on the wall, so then I realized I could at least put some water in his cup so he could see some difference from his brush on the wall too. He was very patient with me while I was distracted with this attempted project, and he never tired of painting by my side with his wet brush. He is my little helper.
It seemes I am surrounded by crafty women who could do such things, so why couldn't I?!! I finally accepted that I was not going to be able to achieve the desired look, and broke down and hired someone to paint some of our walls. It does hurt my pride that I seem to be missing the mormon mom crafty gene, but oh well. I'm sure I have different talents somewhere, they just don't include handy home improvement skills. I feel like I am letting my family down with my lack of self reliant/self efficient skills though!
We have a "formal dining room" on the other side of the kitchen, but I don't think we'll ever use it for that purpose. While raising small children, I don't see us investing in formal dining furniture and dinner ware. Maybe it will be a music room some day, maybe a small piano . . . . who knows. For now, the room sits empty. So anyway, this picture is of our "breakfast room", which really, is our functioning dining room. It is behind the family room, and next to the kitchen, and those rooms are all very open and connected and I am very happy with the layout. I am not lovin' the one color of paint in every inch of my house though, walls and ceilings alike (accept for Ezra's room). It gets to be a bit too much neutral brown everywhere, ya know. I picked the color based on what we would want in the family room, knowing that Chris' animal/trophy mounts would be in there, because we knew we weren't going to be do-it-yourselfers and paint those 17 foot vaulted walls ourselves. So now that we have lived here a bit, I am ready to start adding a little bit of color here and there, starting with the rooms that feel like the center of our lived in area, that I spend the most time in, our kitchen and dining room.
See, lots of neutral brown. Don't get me wrong, I love our home, but I can also admit I could use some help in the decorating department. The foundation has been very safe and neutral, and now I really need to venture out into some color!
I wanted to add a "Tuscan Glow" or a color wash/aged wall look to our kitchen/dining area. I wanted it to have that sun baked look, to be glowing and inviting, and to not look so builder traditional and new. To go along with all of Chris' animal mounts, I hope to create a sort of rustic/old world style for our home, so that is why I wanted aged/glazed walls. I'm all about trying to create a certain feel, rather than caring so much about a certain color, which only makes my desired look harder to describe to someone like say, my painter. Luckily I met a very nice girl through going to the parade of homes and picking up business cards along the way. She just happened to be in our old ward in Temple, right before we moved in she had moved out. Small world. She was very willing to work with me and tried 7 different color combinations and glazes before we agreed on the right one. She is such an artist and really enjoys getting the right look. During this process it was also fun to get to know her and I would consider her a friend. You should check out her amazing work at http://www.chiaro-scuro.com/
And you'll just have to check back on my blog to see the finished result! Mid-May was when we started the project, but it didn't finish until June.
*****
Ezra and I left while the painting was still going on, to visit a friend in Utah. Chris was going to be out of town that week for business and my friend Ashley was going to be in Utah for a while and I thought meeting her there seemed like meeting up half way between Texas and California so I jumped at the opportunity to get together with her! She is expecting her second (due in October) so you never know between babies and budgets and schedules when you'll be able to see a friend, so I felt like I had to take advantage of this timing, even though it seemed in the middle of a lot of things going on at home. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law is so understanding and generous to let me and Ezra stay in her home and borrow one of her vehicles when we are in town. She is so nice to host us as often as she does. And yes, part of taking advantage of budget opportunities means traveling while your child flies free. . . . . . but sometimes, free isn't better or always worth the accompanying chaos. :) Words can not describe the experience it was to fly by myself with Ezra as a lap child. It took us a stand-by flight, and a total of 3 flights to get to Utah. I was definitely reminded of what it meant to have a prayer in my heart constantly. :) I was so happy to be on this little adventure with him as my travel buddy, but he did not share my enthusiasm. I just focused on the end goal and got through it some how with us both being alive to tell. :) There were so many delicious mommy moments. I'll just say that maybe my favorite was when I had to change Ezra's poopy diaper during the flight, and there was a line for the gross, cramped bathroom, so I changed him on the seat. Would have been fine, accept that my oh so not calm and submissive child kicked and threw a fit and grabbed his poop. You only have so many hands. Fun times. And so in public! Oh yea, I loved it. Gotta love those yummy mummy moments! And no, he never fell asleep, nope, not my kid. He fights till the bitter end. :)
One day Ashley drove up with her son Jalen (who is 6 months older than Ezra) so Ezra could continue napping, and we had plenty to talk about while he slept and Jalen played. Then we drove down to Salt Lake to take our boys to the Children's Museum at the Gateway shopping center. They loved it! We could have stayed there for hours!
Ashley, Jalen, and Ezra
This is the only picture I have of Ashley, so I had to include it, even though all of their backs are to me. We never remember to take very many pictures (or any at all) when we get together, but at least this day I took some of our boys!
After the museum, we went our separate ways for the night with plans to meet up the next day. After I put Ezra in his car seat, and I got in my seat, I felt the strong impression to double-check his seat belts and buckles and to make sure his car-seat was in correctly, which would have seemed redundant because I had just installed his car-seat in the car the evening before when we flew in, but it was the kind of impression you just act on, and don't think yourself out of. I probably spent 15 minutes with a sort of obsessive compulsiveness to re-install and tighten and secure every belt and buckle properly. Weird. Maybe unnecessary, nothing seemed out of place, but I felt I needed to do it.
When we were just a few miles from my in-laws house and had just exited the highway, we stopped for a red light, and were rear ended. I remember stopping behind a truck, then hearing the noise, and as I looked up to check in my rear-view mirror, we were hit too; the last car in the 3-car accident. At first I was just stunned, my head hit the back of the seat pretty hard so I'm sure my brain was a little scrambled, then Ezra started screaming. Well that's enough to shake any mother out of a daze. I ran around the car to get him out and he appeared to be fine, just scared. I was so grateful I had kept him rear-facing, which is the safest position for a young child when in an accident from behind. I think I would have been fine, but his crying just put my nerves over the edge, and I was grateful for my dark sunglasses as I got teary eyed embaressingly so. I knew there was no reason to cry, so I had whip-lash, big deal, and my baby was fine, but blame it on total lack of sleep from packing all the previous night, or hormones, whatever, I couldn't stop my eyes from getting moist and I felt all shaky while holding him. It was rediculous. I knew Ezra's crying was just making me upset because of the whole "what if" and "we almost" and more "what if's" that go through your mind when you are in an accident with your baby in the car. I called Chris to call his mother to come over to pick up Ezra from the scene. (I don't know why I didn't just call her myself, it just seemed natural to call Chris to do that, even though he was in another state, lol.) I couldn't very well fill out the report pages or even think clearly with him crying in my arms, while we stood in the hot sun on the side of the busy street, and I wasn't about to leave him crying in the car, I had to hold my baby. I don't consider myself the type to need to be rescued, to feel needy, or to make a big deal about such things, which is why it was very confusing to me as to why I even felt the way I felt. It must have all been because my baby was in the car; my precious, I'd-give-my-life-for-you child, could have been hurt!!! See, it was just the whole "could have" in the back of my mind that was putting my emotions on edge. I would have gladly gone home with Ezra and helf him all night, had my mother-in-law been allowed to take over for me, but of course that isn't allowed, so I felt bad as she drove Ezra away, but I knew the sooner I finished the sooner I could get home to him. Ugh! It was such a bummer! A Ford F-150 hit a new Ford Mustang, which then hit me, in my mother-in-laws Chevy Trailblazer. Minor bumper damage to the F-150 and the Trailblazer, but the mustang was definitely totaled from both ends. His airbag deployed and all that, but mine didn't. The bumper just had a hole and some dents and scratches, nothing too major. My head throbbed more than my neck hurt, but I was fine. I was so grateful that nothing more serious happened and that no one was hurt! I was also glad my car hadn't hit the truck in front of me. I felt bad that I was in an accident in my mother-in-law's vehicle though! It was all just a big bummer in my short little trip out to Utah! But all that mattered was that we were not hurt. This experience just made me more car-seat particular though! Please, wear your seat belt and take the time to make sure your child's car-seat is installed correctly and that their straps are snug and secure! :)
The insurance for the vehicle at fault bought us a new car-seat, which was nice. :)
The next day I wanted to have a mellow day with Ezra to observe him and make sure he was acting normal and just got to play and be a happy kid. Then I mustered up the courage to drive down to visit my sister Sandi and her son Landon that afternoon, although every car behind my made me nervous.
I ended up driving down to visit Ashley in Orem, where she was staying with her in-laws, and our little boys were so cute together. They played, ate lunch, and then napped while we gabbed away. Then we went to a fun pool/splash park for more fun. It was sad when it was time to say good bye, and I was sad that our time had gone by so quickly, but at least we got to get our boys together to play for a little bit and we got to talk for a few days. It's never enough, but I'm grateful for the times that we get to meet up and keep up our friendship!
*****
The night Ezra and I returned from Utah, our friend Karis arrived with her son Cole! I invited Karis to come play with us for one last harrah before she had her twins. It was fun to have a girl friend drive all that way just to come hang out with me! Our boys played and we talked and had as much fun as we could. Our favorite night was probably Monday night, when Chris was kind and brave enough to put our boys to bed so we could go out shopping at the great outlet mall in Round Rock, and then to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a great girls night out!
Ezra and Cole
*****
I wanted to add a "Tuscan Glow" or a color wash/aged wall look to our kitchen/dining area. I wanted it to have that sun baked look, to be glowing and inviting, and to not look so builder traditional and new. To go along with all of Chris' animal mounts, I hope to create a sort of rustic/old world style for our home, so that is why I wanted aged/glazed walls. I'm all about trying to create a certain feel, rather than caring so much about a certain color, which only makes my desired look harder to describe to someone like say, my painter. Luckily I met a very nice girl through going to the parade of homes and picking up business cards along the way. She just happened to be in our old ward in Temple, right before we moved in she had moved out. Small world. She was very willing to work with me and tried 7 different color combinations and glazes before we agreed on the right one. She is such an artist and really enjoys getting the right look. During this process it was also fun to get to know her and I would consider her a friend. You should check out her amazing work at http://www.chiaro-scuro.com/
And you'll just have to check back on my blog to see the finished result! Mid-May was when we started the project, but it didn't finish until June.
*****
Ezra and I left while the painting was still going on, to visit a friend in Utah. Chris was going to be out of town that week for business and my friend Ashley was going to be in Utah for a while and I thought meeting her there seemed like meeting up half way between Texas and California so I jumped at the opportunity to get together with her! She is expecting her second (due in October) so you never know between babies and budgets and schedules when you'll be able to see a friend, so I felt like I had to take advantage of this timing, even though it seemed in the middle of a lot of things going on at home. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law is so understanding and generous to let me and Ezra stay in her home and borrow one of her vehicles when we are in town. She is so nice to host us as often as she does. And yes, part of taking advantage of budget opportunities means traveling while your child flies free. . . . . . but sometimes, free isn't better or always worth the accompanying chaos. :) Words can not describe the experience it was to fly by myself with Ezra as a lap child. It took us a stand-by flight, and a total of 3 flights to get to Utah. I was definitely reminded of what it meant to have a prayer in my heart constantly. :) I was so happy to be on this little adventure with him as my travel buddy, but he did not share my enthusiasm. I just focused on the end goal and got through it some how with us both being alive to tell. :) There were so many delicious mommy moments. I'll just say that maybe my favorite was when I had to change Ezra's poopy diaper during the flight, and there was a line for the gross, cramped bathroom, so I changed him on the seat. Would have been fine, accept that my oh so not calm and submissive child kicked and threw a fit and grabbed his poop. You only have so many hands. Fun times. And so in public! Oh yea, I loved it. Gotta love those yummy mummy moments! And no, he never fell asleep, nope, not my kid. He fights till the bitter end. :)
One day Ashley drove up with her son Jalen (who is 6 months older than Ezra) so Ezra could continue napping, and we had plenty to talk about while he slept and Jalen played. Then we drove down to Salt Lake to take our boys to the Children's Museum at the Gateway shopping center. They loved it! We could have stayed there for hours!
Ashley, Jalen, and EzraThis is the only picture I have of Ashley, so I had to include it, even though all of their backs are to me. We never remember to take very many pictures (or any at all) when we get together, but at least this day I took some of our boys!
After the museum, we went our separate ways for the night with plans to meet up the next day. After I put Ezra in his car seat, and I got in my seat, I felt the strong impression to double-check his seat belts and buckles and to make sure his car-seat was in correctly, which would have seemed redundant because I had just installed his car-seat in the car the evening before when we flew in, but it was the kind of impression you just act on, and don't think yourself out of. I probably spent 15 minutes with a sort of obsessive compulsiveness to re-install and tighten and secure every belt and buckle properly. Weird. Maybe unnecessary, nothing seemed out of place, but I felt I needed to do it.
When we were just a few miles from my in-laws house and had just exited the highway, we stopped for a red light, and were rear ended. I remember stopping behind a truck, then hearing the noise, and as I looked up to check in my rear-view mirror, we were hit too; the last car in the 3-car accident. At first I was just stunned, my head hit the back of the seat pretty hard so I'm sure my brain was a little scrambled, then Ezra started screaming. Well that's enough to shake any mother out of a daze. I ran around the car to get him out and he appeared to be fine, just scared. I was so grateful I had kept him rear-facing, which is the safest position for a young child when in an accident from behind. I think I would have been fine, but his crying just put my nerves over the edge, and I was grateful for my dark sunglasses as I got teary eyed embaressingly so. I knew there was no reason to cry, so I had whip-lash, big deal, and my baby was fine, but blame it on total lack of sleep from packing all the previous night, or hormones, whatever, I couldn't stop my eyes from getting moist and I felt all shaky while holding him. It was rediculous. I knew Ezra's crying was just making me upset because of the whole "what if" and "we almost" and more "what if's" that go through your mind when you are in an accident with your baby in the car. I called Chris to call his mother to come over to pick up Ezra from the scene. (I don't know why I didn't just call her myself, it just seemed natural to call Chris to do that, even though he was in another state, lol.) I couldn't very well fill out the report pages or even think clearly with him crying in my arms, while we stood in the hot sun on the side of the busy street, and I wasn't about to leave him crying in the car, I had to hold my baby. I don't consider myself the type to need to be rescued, to feel needy, or to make a big deal about such things, which is why it was very confusing to me as to why I even felt the way I felt. It must have all been because my baby was in the car; my precious, I'd-give-my-life-for-you child, could have been hurt!!! See, it was just the whole "could have" in the back of my mind that was putting my emotions on edge. I would have gladly gone home with Ezra and helf him all night, had my mother-in-law been allowed to take over for me, but of course that isn't allowed, so I felt bad as she drove Ezra away, but I knew the sooner I finished the sooner I could get home to him. Ugh! It was such a bummer! A Ford F-150 hit a new Ford Mustang, which then hit me, in my mother-in-laws Chevy Trailblazer. Minor bumper damage to the F-150 and the Trailblazer, but the mustang was definitely totaled from both ends. His airbag deployed and all that, but mine didn't. The bumper just had a hole and some dents and scratches, nothing too major. My head throbbed more than my neck hurt, but I was fine. I was so grateful that nothing more serious happened and that no one was hurt! I was also glad my car hadn't hit the truck in front of me. I felt bad that I was in an accident in my mother-in-law's vehicle though! It was all just a big bummer in my short little trip out to Utah! But all that mattered was that we were not hurt. This experience just made me more car-seat particular though! Please, wear your seat belt and take the time to make sure your child's car-seat is installed correctly and that their straps are snug and secure! :)
The insurance for the vehicle at fault bought us a new car-seat, which was nice. :)
The next day I wanted to have a mellow day with Ezra to observe him and make sure he was acting normal and just got to play and be a happy kid. Then I mustered up the courage to drive down to visit my sister Sandi and her son Landon that afternoon, although every car behind my made me nervous.
I ended up driving down to visit Ashley in Orem, where she was staying with her in-laws, and our little boys were so cute together. They played, ate lunch, and then napped while we gabbed away. Then we went to a fun pool/splash park for more fun. It was sad when it was time to say good bye, and I was sad that our time had gone by so quickly, but at least we got to get our boys together to play for a little bit and we got to talk for a few days. It's never enough, but I'm grateful for the times that we get to meet up and keep up our friendship!
*****
The night Ezra and I returned from Utah, our friend Karis arrived with her son Cole! I invited Karis to come play with us for one last harrah before she had her twins. It was fun to have a girl friend drive all that way just to come hang out with me! Our boys played and we talked and had as much fun as we could. Our favorite night was probably Monday night, when Chris was kind and brave enough to put our boys to bed so we could go out shopping at the great outlet mall in Round Rock, and then to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a great girls night out!
Ezra and Cole*****
