Thanks to warmer temperatures than normal we were able to sneak in one final park day. As a resident of Syracuse, NY going to the park in December, and not having snow, are really rare. This was the first time Everett had been to the park since he learned how to walk. He had a blast! Sad to say we won’t be able to do this for a looooong time.

3 Year old Fletcher is the most awesome little guy in the world.  I don’t know how you couldn’t have fun with a kid this age.  He has really grown, even in just the past 3 weeks, and the changes he makes every day are amazing.  These are the many reasons, of a million, why I love my son Fletcher.  

I love the way he has changed over the years.  He started as a serious baby and turned into a comedian.

I love when he randomly says “I love you, mama.” And gives me a huge hug.

I love how he wakes up in the morning.  Today he woke up as a robot.

I love when he says “Hi, Little Buddy.” And pats his brother on the head.

I love that he is a proficient gamer already, just like Mom and Dad.

I love that he knows the names of all of his trains.

I love his sweet voice and the inflection at the end of his inquisitive sentences.

I love that he asks for me to sleep with him, but only sometimes.

I love how he hugs his brother

I love that he can balance a spoon on his nose.

I love how he draws his PawPaw.  He makes sure to include his mustache.

I love that he walks alongside me at the stores now.

I love that he has started calling himself a “big boy” and refuses anything baby.

I love when he cuddles with me.

I love how much he loves his Dad.

I love how he is absorbing so much information, so quickly, and learning every day.

I love that he asks for a lollipop at every Starbucks drivethru.

I love that he says “We’re almost home, kids” at a certain point in every drive.  Wonder where he got that from?

I love that he can spot a diaper a mile away.  He is familiar with my work.

I love his brutal honesty, even when it gets embarrassing in public.  ‘Whoa, you have a BIG TUMMY!” he says to strangers

I love that he plays dead and demands a kiss to come back to life.

I love that he will break it down in the middle of a store, or anywhere he hears a good beat.

I love the pretend food he makes me in our entertainment stand microwave.

I love how he plays “peek-a-boo” with his brother.

I love how he truly seems to have empathy for others.

I love when he lists all of the people in his family.  “Mommy, Daddy, Eberett, Oma, Pawpaw, Lana.”  Lana is his regular babysitter.

I love that he waves goodbye to his daddy almost every morning.

I love how much he loves kitties even though we don’t have one.

I love the random memories he recounts.  He remembers the funniest things.

I love that he can get himself dressed, pretty much.

I love seeing the world through his eyes.  Everything is amazing to a 3 year old!

I love this age and I love that I get to experience it with him.

{Embedded Video} Three years ago I became a mother for the first time.  Words can’t express how Fletcher, born on 11-22-2008, changed my life.  Before having Fletcher I was just a person living life.  I worked, I came home and played video games, I ate food, I slept in, and I worked some more.  I was newly married to my college sweetheart.  Fletcher was concevied a few months into our marriage.

Once Fletcher was born we became a little family unit.  He taught us what having a baby really meant.  He didn’t take it easy on us just because we were first time parents.  I didn’t know much about childbirth and the dangers of being induced.  His early induction meant challenges upon challenges in the breastfeeding department.  We learned together and had a successful 18 months of nursing, only weaning when I was into my second trimester with Everett.

Fletcher taught us that it was ok to have a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night at 6 weeks old.  We learned to listen to our hearts, not popular opinion, when it was bedtime.  He slept in the crook of my arm until he was almost 2 years old.  He taught me that food is for fun except after 1; he wanted to nurse and practically refused any form of solid food until he was over a year old.

He taught me the art of toddler survival and to never say never.  Before I had children I was a perfect parent.  After Fletcher I figured out that not everything is as it seems.  I’m nothing like the parent I thought I would be.  Good or bad, I don’t really know.

Fletcher is probably the funniest kid I know.  He really lights up a room with his personality.  He has never met a stranger and can often be found chatting up the locals about that one time he made chocolate in the choclate machine.  Or, you might see him pretending to be a robot.  If you are lucky he might even ask you to play Angry Birds; this game involves taking his stuffed bird and throwing it at you.  You MUST pretend to fall down, but he’s nice enough to play on the rug.

The journey to 3 years has been a great one.  Fletcher is no longer a baby.  He is all boy.  I’m amazed at his transformation, especially in the past few months when he has really grown into a polite, sweet, considerate little boy.

I made a video containing my favorite photos and videos from the past year.  I happen to think it is really fabulous and fun.  It starts a little slow but just wait until the Style and Dance portions.

Fletcher, thank you for making me a Mommy.  I love you!

Sandpaper Crayon Transfer

Jetpack: 1 liter water bottles, streamers, reflective craft paper.

= One Excited Boy

I found these by using Pinterest. Tutorial for Sandpaper Transfer. Tutorial for Homemade Jetpack.

I was reminded of a post I made a year ago for Fletcher that I wrote listing out all of the reasons I loved him.  It is only fair that I do the same for Everett.  I am also planning on doing another list for my 3 Year Old Fletcher when that time comes.

What I love about my son, Everett

I love the sweet way he leans in every time I ask for a kiss.  He never puckers, just leans and waits.

I love how he signs for “milk” when he is ready to nurse.

I love his drive to fill a bucket with objects and dump out the contents.

I love that he only wakes a few times a night and has since he was born.

I love the song he sings as he falls asleep in my arms every night.

I love that he has been able to stand for months but seems to be waiting to walk until he is 14 months, like his brother.

I love the way he pushes anyone’s hands away when he is being held by me.  He wants to be with me!

I love the two curls that flip out behind each ear and make him look like Grandpa Munster.

I love the fat on the top of his feet.

I love the way he smiles.  It is more than a smile, it takes over his face.

I love the way he holds out his arms to his dad when he walks in from work.

I love that he will sit in a high char while we eat out and behave.

I love that he thinks a crayon is the best toy to hold, much cooler than that 10.00 clutch toy.

I love that he is the total opposite of his brother in almost every single way and it keeps me on my toes.

I love his butt.  It is the chunkiest, cutest, biggest butt on a baby I have ever seen.

I love that he isn’t a terribly messy eater.

I love the way he says Mama.

I love that his first word was Dada.

I love the way he laughs with his brother.

I love that every time I hear an unsettling quiet I check on him and he is “reading” books, not making a mess.

I love the way he buries his head into my shoulder and pretends to be shy when greeted by a stranger.

I love the sound of his giggle.

I love that he blows out of his mouth when I wipe his nose to mimic the sound.  Good try buddy.

I love how he points with his tiny finger at everything.

I love how he covers his ears and rocks side to side when we say “Ay Dios Mio”

I love that he instinctively signs “more” the same way his brother did (and still does)

I love that he uses his Wheely Bug Bee as a walker and ZOOMS across our hardwood floors at warp baby speed.

I love how proud he is of himself when he puts crayons to paper.

I love that he is starting to cuddle.

I love that he will wear hats and not take them off.

I love that he plays by himself well.

I love his beautiful blue eyes.

Our first year together has brought so much love and happiness into my life.  Seeing my two boys play together has made the difficult aspects of becoming a family of four a distant memory.  I know Everett will fight with Fletcher, and life isn’t always easy, but remembering the best moments makes the bitter days easier to swallow.  He has been a much easier baby than Fletcher was.  He is still a baby but soon he will be walking and I’ll be aching for another squishy.  That is why I am in no rush for him to walk!

In case you missed it, I compiled my favorite images and videos into a Slideshow of Everett’s first year.

Over a year ago I gave birth to my second baby at home.  Almost 3 years ago I gave birth to my first baby in a hospital.  Both experiences were valuable and the results were phenomenal because I have two amazing sons.

Lately I have been going over each birth and the anticipation leading up to them.  As a first time mother who was living in a new state, far away from family, I was relying on acquaintances to help pick the OB/GYN that would eventually deliver my son.  We chose the OB based on the hospital he delivered at.  I never considered a homebirth but I was planning on a natural delivery.

Image credit Pavel Tcholakov via Flickr

The desire to get pregnant was strong for me.  I always wanted to be a mother.  The scariest thing to me, prior to getting pregnant, was the idea of being in a hospital.  I had never been admitted to one in my life before giving birth. Other than the occasional ER visit (including one for swallowing the bar on my tongue ring in college!) I never spent much time in the hospital as a patient, only as a volunteer.  The idea terrified me.  Hospitals are cold, depressing places in my mind.  There are sick people there, dying people, people in pain.  Then me: going to give birth on what would become one of the happiest days of my life.

I was afraid of getting lost in that gigantic hospital and never finding the labor and delivery ward.  I was pertrified of having any IV’s put into my veins.  I worried about how the unwelcoming environment would affect my labor and my overall comfort level.  I was even afraid of sleeping there overnight and the possibility that my husband wouldn’t be allowed to stay with me.

With all of these concerns a homebirth still never came to mind.

I ended up with a very intervened birth.  I was induced, I had IV’s in my  veins, I had a heartrate monitor on during the entire 20+ hour labor, I wore a hideous hospital gown, I received an epidural, I had to have a catheter inserted, and I received stitches.  I am still amazed that I still had a vaginal birth.  The odds were against me.

Now it is very easy for me to look back and scream into the past “Have a homebirth!”  It is even easier for me to wonder why, after having experienced both, hospitals are the norm.  Hospitals are for the sick and injured.

Labor is not a disease or a broken bone. Pregnant women are not sick.  Birth is a part of life that every mother is intended to experience.  On rare occasions complications make hospital births safer for mothers who are high risk or for babies who are known to have problems that will need medical attention after delivery.  Thank goodness these options are there.

It saddens me to think of the women who are in my shoes, or will be.  Afraid of the hospital but unaware of the alternative of a homebirth.  The more we talk about it the more the idea won’t sound so crazy.

I’m incredibly thankful for all of the women who make homebirth a topic of conversation, who normalize it, and who live it.  Ina May Gaskinand Ricki Lakeare my homebirth heros and women whose work and passion played a huge role in giving me the courage to homebirth.  I also admire Gina of The Feminist Breeder who writes about homebirth and feminist issues.  She also gave birth at home, live.  I’m honored to have witnessed it as well.

I don’t know if there are more children in my future.  If there are I will plan for another homebirth.  I can’t imagine ever going back to a hospital.  If I had to choose between a Hospital and Homebirth I would choose a Birth Center (which is cheating, I didn’t give that option).  The next time I’m admitted to a hospital it should be for a real emergency or illness.  Eventually my lucky streak has to run out, right?

You might be wondering where I have been.  (or not)  Some of you might assume I have been on a fabulous tropical vacation and haven’t had the time to post.  Or maybe, the family and I went on a cruise.

Sadly, nothing that exciting was keeping me from the blog.  I did have a mini-vacation over the weekend.  I drove 6 hours to Gloucester, MA with both boys and no husband to visit my friend Kristen.  She has 2 girls, one of which is Fletcher’s age and also happens to share a birthday with Everett (10/20).  We all had a wonderful time, with the exception of me losing my wedding band.  I’ve lost so much weight that I am much slimmer than I was when I was married.  Even after having it sized down once already, it wasn’t enough. I have already stopped wearing my engagement ring, but in the chaos of 4 kids 3 and under and 2 moms the band slipped away.  It hasn’t turned up yet.  I’m pretty bummed.

My two boys on the left, Kristen's two girls on the right

Kristen and Suriah, Everett and Kim (me)

We drove back home on Monday and the boys were amazingly good. There was no crying!  I made record time despite hitting Boston traffic too.  My husband saw us after he got home from work but I was sick and so were the boys.  We all picked up a nasty cold in MA.  Then, the next day he packed and flew to Florida for the rest of the week.

This is where my week got interesting. All of us are sick and my husband is out of town.  It has been a struggle for survival.  Each night at least one child needs special attention due to their fevers spiking. Last night it was both of them and I ran from room to room as each woke with a special need.  ”Mommy” Fletcher called out in his best sick voice “I need apple juice.”

I gave up and told Fletcher to join me and Everett in my bed.  Big mistake.  I couldn’t sleep because poor Fletcher coughed and sniffled all night.  Ev woke to nurse as usual and needed special bouncing once.  I believe I was up 12:30-4:30 and the boys woke for the day at 6:45.

I wish I could say I have been enjoying my blog break and sipping a tropical drink with an umbrella in it while laying in the sun.  Nope.  Just wrangling kids, folding clothes and diapers, mopping up spills, and doing work when possible on the back end to have my website and database moved to a new host.  One who won’t “suspend” me every 20 minutes.

I’ve also been brainstorming of a way to help Kristen and Emily (my friends in Gloucester) raise money for Giving Diapers, Giving Hope.  They are very close to acheiving Non-Profit status.  It is quite a journey to get there, in case you weren’t aware.  Once they acheive this any donations you make will be tax deductible.  They are working so hard to help families in need receive cloth diapers.  I hope I can do something more for them.

I am in the proces of reviewing a lot of cloth diapers, so there is that to look forward to.  Next Monday is the GoGreen Champ 2.0.  Then reviews of (in no particular order) the Bobux fitted, LuxButt, EcoBubs Wool Pocket, Blueberry Coverall, Bummis Super Snap, Smart Bottoms AIO and AI2, Fuzzibunz Elite, and Monkey Doodlez TAG.

I’ll be relieved when my technical issues come to an end.  Thanks for sticking through it!

This post was inspired by the book “Where Children Sleep” by James Mollison. Looking through the images was emotional as I thought of all of the things my children have that so many others do not. This is where one child sleeps all night, and the other naps.