Stye love you, little Quasimodo

My poor, adorable, puffy-eyed baby is breaking my heart. Just look at that mug. Harper woke up yesterday morning with the grandpappy of styes. She gets styes easily and often and spreads them from eye to eye, lid to lid, etc. 

Before you judge, I swear I wash her hands. A lot. It doesn't matter though because at two her hands are clean one minute and sticky the next.

In my quest to assuage the mommy-guilt that sweeps through me every time I look at my daughter -- and to ease her discomfort (that cannot feel good), I read that applying a warm compress for 10-15 minutes, 3-4 times per day can help. Hmmm. I can't speak for anyone else, but unless I hog tie my daughter this will never happen. Ever. 

But, I gave it a go anyway.

The screaming started before the washcloth touched her face. She lets me wipe her eye while I am cleaning her face but that's it. I am on the lookout for something natural that will help but haven't found anything practical. 

I suppose I need to follow the advice I always give Harper and use my patience. I know it will clear up in a few days. Until then, my heart will break a little every time I look at her. And, thanks to a heavy dose of insecurity partnered with good-old-fashioned mommy-guilt, I'll abuse myself with the things I imagine people must think about me as a parent. 

Please leave a comment if you have any experience with this that might help. 

Grandma's Pickles

As a stay-at-home mommy, my primary goal is improving my family's well being -- body, mind and spirit. For me, a big part of that means getting back to basics. I use natural remedies when possible, try to steer clear of harmful chemicals and focus on wholesome foods. 

As part of this journey, I started canning. It's hard work but I enjoy it. However, I seem to have a wide learning curve when it comes to preserving foods. Maybe it has something to do with the 2-year-old hanging on my leg? 

Cucumbers are taking over my garden right now so I grabbed a dozen or so and decided to make some sweet refrigerator pickles. I have never made sweet pickles before, so I combed though my grandma's recipe box and found something called Dot's Refrigerator Pickles. The recipe was a list of ingredients with no actual instruction other than to "layer the cukes and onions." So, in my true freeballin' style, I decide to just mix everything up and see what happens. 

When I mixed up the brine, there was only enough for about 1 quart. So, I turned where I always turn in times of need -- Google. I searched sweet refrigerator pickles, clicked on the first link that appealed to me and found the exact. same. recipe. But thankfully with more instruction. 

It is amazing to me that my first click turned out to be my grandma's pickle recipe considering the interenet didn't exist in her lifetime. Although my grandma isn't here to answer my questions directly, I know she helped me along my canning journey from the great beyond.

And good news -- the pickles are delicious. Here is the recipe I used. Remember to increase the amounts as needed.

Do you have any canning tips to pass along? I could sure use them! 

Sick and wiggles

I haven't posted in a while because I was sick. And I mean SICK. I read about decreased immunity to bugs while pregnant (because your baby is getting everything) but this was my first -- and hopefully last -- brush with it. I caught a bug on a Wednesday evening and was down for the count for the next week solid. And I am still having a tough time breathing at night (which Jon loooves). But, I am happy to report that I am definitely on the mend. I finally broke down and called my doctor about 4 days in and she prescribed an antibiotic. I don't think it kicked the problem completely but it definitely helped.

On a brighter note, little Miss Harper has been wiggling (and kicking...and punching) away! Jon got to feel her for the first time last week, which was sooo awesome! I'm a little concerned I might have a high-energy wiggle worm on my hands when she gets here. :)

The survey says...

It's a GIRL!!! A girl, girl girl! We're having a little baby girl!

I would be thrilled no matter what the gender of the baby ended up being, but I must admit to harboring some hope that I would have a daughter. I couldn't help but hope for a little partner in crime...and let's face it, the clothes are adooooorable! Jon is very excited, too. He was hoping for a girl from the beginning. As we went along, we were both on the fence, seeing positives to both genders. But, I think I was secretly hoping a little harder for a girl.

I had my ultrasound on Thursday evening, February 23 and I was soooo happy that Jon could be there for it. He hasn't been able to make it to any of my other appointments because of his work schedule. It was an amazing experience having him there, holding my hand through the entire thing. I started full on sobbing  when I saw my baby on the screen. The last time I saw her she wasn't much more than a blob with a beating heart. This time she looked like a legit baby! What a difference a couple of months makes. I am so excited and cannot wait to be holding my baby in my arms. Twenty weeks to go!

And when she gets here, she'll be able to sleep in the cradle that has been passed down in my family. We just picked the cradle up from my Uncle Craig and Aunt Nikki's last weekend and if I have it straight, I believe my great Aunt Dee got it for my uncle when he was born. It was then used by me, my brother Zack, my cousins: Matt, Kyle, Jake, Connor and Katie, my nephew Cody and my nieces: Brittany and Macey.

Harper Catherine Babcock will be next. <3

Here's Harper at 19 weeks, one day, although measuring at 19 weeks, four days. My due date may be off a bit.

The Reality of Pregnancy

In my naive, never-been-pregnant past, I suppose I considered pregnancy to be a joyous miracle (which it is). I'd heard of morning sickness. A few of my friends had shared stories about being uncomfortable in the third trimester. I mean, I wasn't entirely clueless. On some level I knew that pregnancy wasn't all sunshine and roses.

But I had no idea that pregnancy would seize my body like some demon-possessed spawn of Satan. My first trimester was horrible! There were moments when I thought I could never survive an entire gestation period if this is how it would be. I would think about that mother from Nineteen Kids and Counting and wonder what in the hell could be wrong with her. As I said, I was expecting discomfort...but not embarrassing moments where I had little to no control over my body's reactions.

In some ways, I'm thankful for the morning sickness. Who knows how long I would have gone along oblivious to the fact that I was pregnant if the constant puking hadn't set off alarm bells. But, once I had it all figured out, there was no need for it any longer. Going to work green around the gills was not my idea of a good time. Neither was wondering where and when the next bout of uncontrollable vomiting would occur.

I'm not going to get into the details of my embarrassing moments. I'd rather keep those memories to myself and the close friends and family that I've shared them with. But let me just assure you...they were very embarrassing and they totally caught me off guard. But, I now have a new-found respect for every woman who has ever carried a child. When you are pregnant, your body is not your own. It belongs to the baby and pretty much gives you the finger for about 10 months.

Wow! The things my baby is teaching me already!

I Felt Something!!!

This is just a quick update because I want to capture my excitement from yesterday. I was sitting in the car, riding back to work from lunch when I felt my first official "knocking" from within. I stopped in mid-conversation and just savored it for a moment. It was awesome!

Anyone who has been pregnant before can understand my excitement. And those of you who have never experienced it...let me just say it was amaaaaaaazing! I felt about 7-10 kicks or punches in a row and then about 5 minutes later I felt it again. Up to this point, I had felt some slight flutters but this was the first time I actually felt certain that it was my baby! My baby! I cannot even believe it! It felt like some sort of communication between just the two of us and it made me grin from ear to ear like a fool! It also made reality come crashing in that I am most certainly going to be a mommy in about 21 weeks.

I cannot wait! :)

Sharing the BIG News with Daddy

Friday, November 25, 2012

I knew I was pregnant. My mom knew I was pregnant. But, my husband Jon (aka daddy) was still blissfully unaware. And I was dying to share the news! I called him as soon as he was out of work, trying to act normal, but it was so hard not to spill the beans. Waiting to tell him that we created a life together made for the looongest hour of my life.

When Jon finally pulled into the driveway I raced to meet him at the door. I never do that but, oddly, he didn't seem to notice. I corralled him into our bedroom as soon as he got inside. I was surprised that he didn't notice my odd behavior. It makes me think maybe my behavior is strange more often than I would like to admit. Eh, whatever.

So, I had him corralled but I had no idea how to share this news. I mean, this was HUGE news! I had an hour to prepare but couldn’t think because my head was spinning the whole time. So, true to form, I did it on the fly. 

Here’s how it happened:

I casually mentioned that we got a package. Jon asked, "Did we?" And I said, "Yeah, you want to see it?" He said sure so I reached into my nightstand drawer, pulled out the pregnancy test and tossed it to him. He fumbled with it for a few seconds trying to figure out what in the world this "package" was. When he finally saw the readout, he looked at me with shocked confusion and asked if it was real. I assured him it most definitely was real, at which point we both burst into tears.

We walked around the bed to each other and hugged tighter than we ever have before. Jon looked at me and said, "You're sure about this? And you're okay with this?" I said I definitely was. Then he told me he hoped we had a daughter who was just like me. We cried and hugged some more and basically basked in the moment. Then Jon said he needed a few minutes to pray...so I left him to it. I must admit, I did peek back in the room just to have a look.

Sharing the news that we were going to be parents was probably the sweetest, most intimate moment I've had with Jon. And I can honestly say I've never loved him more. He handled the news like a champ and it makes me cry just to remember it. There’s one thing I can say for sure…our baby is loved and wanted – and we haven’t even met the little one yet. 

And if we have a little boy, I hope he's just like his daddy.