Baby Fashion

I'll tell you one thing I know for sure - no longer are we slave to pink frilly bears or blue boy boats when it comes to kids clothing. There are OPTIONS, people! Baby fashions are available in every style to reflect the unique personalities of each baby (or is it the PARENT'S personalities that are reflected??).

Gorgeous couture for newborns that will cost a small fortune and fit the baby for no more than a month are as readily available as sleek jumpers for the ultra mod, understated babe. And, if you are into it, you can even emulate the stylish get-ups we have seen on the LDS kids that have been plastered on the news recently with the arrest of Warren Jeffs (just visit FLDSDress.com if you don't believe me):


There have been a few stand-out funny and clever baby clothes we have come across in our search for baby gear that we thought were worthy of sharing. This is not mere clothing, people, this is entertainment for the adult crowd. Enjoy!

*For the die-hard Steve Colbert fans (such as us), available at Baby Wit


* For the Hippies with a sense of humor, available at Green With Whimsy


* For the little political activist, available at BarakObama.com (yes, McCain has one, too, but I wasn't going to spend time digging it up...)


* For the Baby Hunter - Bear Gloves, complete with blood from a fresh mauling. (sorry, forgot to note the source for this one.)


* For the student of pop culture. (Again, I forgot to note the source.)


* For the future martial arts master, available at Stardust Kids.


* For the Jewish Rapper in all our babies. Another winner from Stardust Kids.


* For the Superhero wannabe, but I think every kids deserves a cape. Available at Spoon Sisters.


* I think this one would be quite fitting for our little one, available at Urban Baby Runway.


* And for those of you who know Jim, you'll know why we appreciate this, available at Bambina Mia, an Etsy store. (For those of you not familiar with Strong Bad of Homestar Runner, click here.)

Nuchal Translucency Test and Integrated Screening

We just received the results of a battery of tests that screens for genetic risks and possibly determine whether or not a baby has any of the following:

• Down Syndrome (DS)
  
• Trisomy 18
• Neural Tube Defects, such as Spina Bifida or Anencephaly
• Other various Genetic Disorders

The screening is a time-sensitive, multi-step process. First we went for a high-resolution ultrasound when we were 12 weeks along. At this time they did an initial check of the baby's anatomy, a crown-rump length to measure the size of the baby for it's gestational age, as well as a nuchal translucency (NT) screening. The NT measures the water present in the back of the baby's neck. Too much water can be a risk factor for DS.

Once the ultrasound was done, we did a little blood draw. The labs measure the amount of two protiens in my blood - proteins normally found in pregnant women:

• Free 8-hCG
• PAPP-A

We then compare these blood levels with a second blood draw at 15 weeks, which we did last week. Together, these tests catch about 85% of positive genetic and spinal defects, leaving parents with positive results time to consider the problem that is present and either decide to terminate or prepare themselves for a child with special needs.

The doctor just called and we are happy to report that all of our tests came out negative. Just thought we'd share the good news!

If you are interested in reading more about this screening process, follow these links:

Nuchal Translucency
Integrated Screening

Should I Be Worrying About This Yet?

So, I don't really have any bills from college to speak of since my classes were mostly paid by my previous employer. But my college experience consisted mainly of classes at night and on weekends with other people employed full time. Baby Momma's college experiences sound much better, but she has to send $250 a month to Sallie Mae for thirty years.
We want Lemon to have the best of both of our stories, M's normal college experience and my lack of a drag on my credit report. I've been doing some research and right now I think I've narrowed it down to two ways to help our little citrus pay for school. The first way is the Washington GET and the second is the Coverdell ESA and we could also do both at the same time.

The Washington GET (Guaranteed Education Tuition) is, according to their website:

GET is Washington state's 529 prepaid college tuition program. With GET, you prepay for your child's college tuition today. The State of Washington guarantees that the value of your units will keep pace with resident undergraduate tuition and state-mandated fees at the most expensive public university in Washington, either the University of Washington or Washington State University.

Basically, you buy units at a set price today and you use them in the future to pay for college. Right now a unit costs $76 (125 units = 1 year of college) but in 18 years it will be worth 1/125th of whatever tuition costs at Washington's most expensive public university, presumably a lot more than 76 dollars.

The Coverdell ESA (Education Savings Account) is a tax advantaged investment account designed to encourage savings to cover future education experiences. It's kind of like an IRA but for education instead of retirement. It even used to be called the Coverdell IRA until somebody realized that didn't make sense.

Both programs have their pros and cons, which you can read about in the links above. I think we will end up using a combination of both. If anybody has any helpful info please feel free to leave it in the comments.

Book Review: FRESH MILK

Need I spell out the topic of this book? if it makes you uncomfortable, look away.

If there is one thing I have come to understand, with help and stories from all my mommy friends, it is the importance of flexibility. It is unrealistic to expect everything to go as planned or pictured in your head, so as a parent you must be willing to accept any situation that arises, make the best decisions you can with the information you have at the time, and GO WITH THE FLOW.

I think this starts as soon as you get pregnant. I remember being quite surprise at how it "felt" to be pregnant. I'm not sure what I was thinking it would be like but feeling the "fullness" as soon as I did was unexpected. I expect this to get even more interesting as we proceed through the pregnancy, and of course through the birthing process.

One of the first tasks we are handed as mother, though, is the responsibility of nourishing our children. Fresh Milk is a collection of short stories witnessing the experiences of breastfeeding from a quite diverse group of women. Their stories vary greatly from elation to frustration, from the (shockingly) erotic to the terrifying, and honestly there are one or two disturbing/controversial tales in there as well.

This is not a "guide" to breastfeeding. Instead, for me, it is permission to feel whatever I personally WANT to feel about breastfeeding. It gives me the freedom to make the choices that are right for me and our baby without the guilt of other people's words or judgments nagging at my conscience. And it gives me the right to change my mind, without having to explain to anyone, if what we originally decide does not work for us.

The act of nourishing your child is a deeply intimate matter, no matter how you go about it. This, at least for me, is something to look forward to.

Fresh Milk gave me perspective on the subject I had not considered before, and for that I am happy I read it, even if parts did make me a bit uncomfortable. I reserve judgment. To each her own.

I give it 4 out of 5 contractions.

Our first purchase!

I have heard how helpful swings are with infants - apparently they LOVE them (maybe something to do with the front-back motion that simulates the mom walking around with baby in the womb?) - so I knew that this would be a purchase we would make before Lemon's arrival. It was one of the products I started looking at first.

Now, while shopping for baby things, there has been one common theme I have been steadfast in keeping in front of my mind: everything being as multi-functional as possibe. As much as I am tempted to buy every gadget and amenity for Lemon, I am determined to remain practical and frugal when I can.

So I happened upon this swing from Graco:



Not only it is the best pattern and color scheme I have seen in unisex baby gadgets, but beyond it being a swing, it is also a BOUNCER. The seat easily lifts off the frame - and this will be perfect for me to move around the house and keep an eye on baby as I cook, clean, etc. I looked at other swings without the bouncer feature thinking I can buy a bouncer separately, but I couldn't even come close to the same $130 price point when combining the cost of separate pieces - at least not in a design-sensitive manner. Those of you who know me know that I can not sacrifice aesthetics no matter how much money I might save. If it's ugly, I can't live with it, and I am determined to raise my child to have an innate understanding of beauty and good design.

So, my heart was set on this swing. We would have waited a bit before purchasing, but unfortunately this swing is being discontinued so we had to snatch it up before it was all gone! Now it sits upstairs in the nursery, kinda lonely, waiting for the company of the rest of the cute future baby furniture... and hoping to be fed some D battieries so it can come to life with gentle vibrations, 6 swing speeds, and soothing nature sounds.

We are looking forward to Lemon's first ride in it!

My new best friend

I just added a link to the right called "CR Baby Product Blog". CR stands for Consumer Reports - the most trusted guide we use when making household purchases that we would like to last for a while. Who else would be a better reference when researching all our baby needs than the guide that has steered us well in the past, especially now that safety is the biggest concern!

They also cover general child safety topics and tips that are not product-review related, such as recalls, avoiding choking hazards, food safety... basically, if you have a concern about it, they cover it. It's worth sifting through the post archive to catch up on items you missed, too.

Granted, the blog doesn't give you rating information that the CR subscription affords you, but there is lots of good info here.... and it just MAY inspire you to become a CR subscriber. (Another example of how blogs are such a force in marketing these days - good for them!)

I think this is a must-read blog for any mom and dad, so bookmark it, subscribe to it, or do whatever you do to keep updated on your favorite web stuff.

Look What I Found!

Yeah, Lemon will have something to wear to our Super Bowl party!

It can be found at NFLshop.com

it's been a nervracking few months...

(lemon at 10 weeks)

...but here we are, 15 weeks along! understandably, we've been gun-shy about announcing that we're expecting. a few of you have known for a while, some are just finding out. caution has been the word through the first trimester.

now we are happy to report that baby, aka LEMON (nickname), is doing well - bouncing around like an acrobat - and will be making his/her entrance somewhere around january 8th. this due date has changed several times - the 13th, the 14th, the 11th, and now the 8th. we have come to the conclusion that lemon will come when s/he wants to come!

we are looking forward to documenting the process of lemon's arrival, then his/her life thereafter. we are excited about the journey and are more than ready to be happy (though sleep-deprived) parents. we heard a very healthy little heartbeat today - 155 beats per minute! it was the first time we had ever heard lemon's heart, so it was so much fun!

we've started the "gender poll" - cast your vote in the right-hand column! we will find out who's right and who's wrong on august 21st during our next ultrasound, so you have a few weeks to cast your vote. we can't wait to see what the consensus is!

please subscribe to this blog - either via feed-reader or email - so you are notified of updates automatically. you can find links to subscribe either way on the bottom right-hand side of this page. if you need help putting this together, let us know and we'll walk you through it.

love,
jim, maggie, and lemon