Sling Safety

I cannot even begin to describe how frustrated I am by the recent media activity regarding sling and babywearing safety. So much of what is being reported is simply not accurate and only accurate when referring to specific baby carriers that really should have never been available in the first place.
I'm sure a lot of parents have been seeing these articles articles and have been scared and turned off of babywearing.
I am here to tell you that there are TONS of perfectly safe baby carriers that are widely available and affordable.
We as parents have a responsibility whenever we are using anything related to our children's health and safety. We need to understand that just because items are sold in stores does not mean they are safe and fool proof. We need to take responsibility as adults and parents to make sure our babies are safe. When using any baby product we have to make sure we are using them correctly. It seems most recalls on baby items are due to people misusing them. i.e. the bumbo seat specifically says to not use it on a raised surface. However people plop their babies on top of the counter in the bumbo and sure enough Bumbo falls! Like seriously what do people expect?!?!? Bathtub ring. DO NOT LEAVE BABY UNATTENDED IN BATHTUB RING. You guessed it, baby drowned and now those are outlawed.
Granted some of the carriers on the market should never have been as they are quite obviously unsafe. Any amount of common sense should prevail in most situations. If a newborns face is squished so that they cannot breathe that is unsafe and baby should be positioned so that the airways are accessible.
Babywearing is a learned skill and babies expect to be carried. Babywearing has been around far longer than most of us and North America is really just way behind in this "trend".
So for all the fear mongering that has been surrounding babywearing please don't paint all babywearing with the same brush. Get reputable, safe carriers and learn how to use them. Also recognize that lots of carriers can be used for the life of your baby however, different carries apply to different ages and stages. i.e. you are not going to cradle carry a one year old nor are you going to back carry your 3 month old. I have three different styles and have used them all at different stages and for different situations.
Here are some great links for safe babywearing and retailers.
the babywearer
babywearing international
parenting by nature

My baby is 2

Two years ago our littlest girl entered the world. I can't believe how much time has passed and how much she has grown.
I am happy to say she now finally sleeps through the night (most nights). Walks, runs, jumps and is starting to say some words. Her first word was about a month ago and we are proud to say it was "bum". Pronounced BUMMMMMMMMMM. Other words that are coming along are, "all done", "more" (which she also signs), She also signs for milk. Granted most two year olds are talking way more than her we are certainly not worried.
Jordyn was by far my hardest baby with colic that seemed to last forever, a lactose intolerance that was likely the cause of her colic, not sleeping through the night for what seemed like forever, and being an unexpected surprise on top of it all :D

However, with all that being said she is the sweetest little thing anyone could hope for and we are all happy to have a wonderful little girl in our lives.

Happy Birthday to my little peanut and princess Jordyn!

time for Mexico

Well the time has arrived. The bags are packed and I think I have everything I need. I have this sense of general angst and uneasiness that I hope will pass once I'm there.
I am feeling quite naseous and nervous and sad which of course is ridiculous. Oh did I mention that I'll be blessed with my period while I'm gone?!?!? So I can pretty much garuantee that a lot of my anxiety is related to that fact alone.
Well, hopefully my plane doesn't crash and I'm not lonely as heck and annoyed by my family.
Ugh, I can hardly wait to get back home and I haven't even left yet :(

Trying to be crafty

Well here I am again attempting my hand at crafts. As we know I am not the craftiest person around although I would really like to be.
With Valentine's Day right around the corner I figured I should at least make my family some cards. Carrie says I should also pick up some chocolate hearts or something as well and I guess if they're real lucky I might ;)
Here are some of my creations.








On another note, I have been on weight watchers for just over a month and have lost 10 lbs! I still have a super long way to go but I am pretty happy with the results so far :-)

Excited, Nervous, Scared, so many emotions

All over a trip to Mexico for my brothers wedding. They have chosen to have a destination wedding at a very swanky resort and we can't all go as it is just WAY too much money. I am lucky though that I am going. At first I was going to bring Jordyn because way back when this was first discussed she was still quite young and pretty hard to deal with as a baby. Plus babies under two travel free ;) I figured that way hubby would only have to deal with 3 kids instead of four.
As the date gets closer though (next month) Jordyn will be such a drag to have with me. I mean I'll be relegated to my hotel room for naps and early bed times while everyone else is out having a good time. She is also a much better baby now so she can stay home with dad.
I think it's funny though that most women would die for chance to get away for a week to some exotic and hot place without kids and I'm terrified. I've teared up a couple times this week already thinking about leaving them.
I have so many crazy thoughts that I know are unfounded and really quite ridiculous but I can't seem to help it. I know a big part of my issues are control. For instance I really don't think the week at home is going to run anywhere like it does when I'm home. I'm worried homework won't get done, meds won't be taken, Corey will have an asthma attack, Jordyn will be in her crib crying all night because no one will hear her, the kids won't have baths and will eat KD for a week, morning, noon and night. Then of course there is the chance my plane will crash and that this fate of KD and no baths will be their life for the rest of their childhood!!!
Now of course I am totally looking forward to getting away. It will be so nice to sleep in and enjoy the hot weather.
I guess it's true though that you NEVER stop being a mother. Even when I will be thousands of miles away I know that most of my thoughts will be on my family and my children. I know that KD for a week and no baths will not be the death of me or them and I know my hubby is quite capable so I just need to relax.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I haven't even left yet and I'm already appreciating what I have more than before.
I thought I should throw a pic on this post as my last couple haven't had any. Check out the amazing frost we had the other day.

Lots going on

Well it seems I have gotten too busy again to update this blog. As per my last post I think I have finally decided I am content with my photo blog the way it is.

We are in the process of some big changes in the P/G household. The first one being a possible move. I mean admittedly we had outgrown our little home the moment we moved in however we had to start somewhere and we can at least way this house is ours. (well technically the banks but that is neither here nor there)
When we took possession of our little house I was extremely pregnant. Infact it was only 3 short weeks after we moved in that we had Matthew. Of course a short time later ms Jordyn graced us with her prescense. pardon the pun ;)
So now we are in a little 900 sqaure foot bungalow with 6 people. Oh and don't forget the dumb dog! Well luckily Jayson is handy and so he built an extra bedroom downstairs. That still only leaves though 4 bedrooms for 6 people.
Anyways, all this to say that it is time to move on to something a little bigger and where there are at least rooms for everyone.
We are meeting with a real estate agent tonight to hopefully get the ball rolling and figure out exactly what needs to be done.
We have had our eyes on the Niverville area for quite sometime and the housing costs are substantilly lower there and really only 20 mins from where we are anyway. I hear the schools are pretty good as well.
School, that brings me to another heater topic. I don't honestly know if I should even get started. Needless to say things have been really bad and at this point my kids WILL NOT be going back there next year. It has just been one nightmare after another. Yesterday the school even went so far as to tell me I don't feed my kid enough and that he is so hungry. They questioned every meal I gave him and told me it wasn't enough.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. I also have a report from a dr. indicating that Kianne's teacher has reported she is one grade level behind in all her core subjets.... hmmm this is the first we have ever heard this. So my first question of course is why hasn't the school or the teacher been in contact with me about this issue. Why in the world am I reading it from a dr's report?!?!? So of course this prompted me to check last years report card as we had not received one yet for this year. As of last year all was well and expectations were being met. Something didn't sound right but I wanted to get this years report from the teacher and then review it. Well you can imagine my shock when I received the report card yesterday and again the expectations are all being met?!?!? Okay, now I may not be the smartest kid on the block however, if I have one report that is saying she is below a full grade and another report that says she is meeting all expectations....something is NOT adding up.
Of course this sent me over the edge! Someone is being lied to. Either myself as the parent or the dr. Now the scary thing is that if the Dr is being lied to by the school she is making diagnosis' based on teachers reports and in turn prescribing narcotics.... THIS is a serious situation.
I have put in a call to the dr as I want a copy of the report that was sent from Kianne's teacher. Once I have that there will be a meeting with the school to figure out all this nonsense.
Well I wasn't going to get into it but as you can tell this is a huge issue and one I will not let die.
I don't know what to do about this school we are dealing with but my kids will not be returning.

can't make up my mind!

I am having a multiple personality disorder over on my photo blog. I change my logo and header on my website and blog it seems on a daily basis.
This does seem to be the time to be making all these changes as of course the workload is down over the winter. I just can't seem to get across what I want.
I "think" I have finally found it though today. We'll see what tomorrow brings ;)