Thanksgiving CD

I'd been wanting this Thanksgiving CD for a long time and finally got it in time to listen to it for Thanksgiving this year. I highly recommend it. We all loved listening to the dramatized story about what we were celebrating on Thanksgiving. It is a two-CD set with the second CD filled with Thanksgiving music. It's about $12 with shipping from this site.
http://www.shopfamilylife.com/thanksgiving-time-remember-cd.html

Mothering Magazine

I don't care for many magazines. Most of them have content I try to stay away from (look sexier, buy more stuff...) or I don't have much time I care to spend reading them anyway. But a friend recommended Mothering Magazine and gave me an old issue to try out. My husband and I both really liked it. It's a magazine about natural parenting. There are some things in there that weren't really the way we want to do things, but there were a lot of really informative articles. You can get a free one-year (6 issues) online subscription at http://mothering.com/subscribe/ by using coupon code CSUBD. Can't go wrong with free. Print version is $15.95 with coupon code X9GIFT.

The best $34 we spent

Okay, this has to do with dogs, not babies. But it does help with momma sanity, which helps babies, so it's worth posting. Last fall we attempted to adopt a dog who ended up being crazy and barking all the time. He lasted three weeks with us before being returned to find a different family. We now have two great dogs, but the dog who was here with the wild dog learned from him to bark for no reason. Our dogs don't bark all the time, but they bark more than they should. And we live right beside the street, so when people walk down the sidewalk with dogs, our dogs get excited and drive me crazy with their barking. We had an Amazon gift certificate, so I finally spent that and a little more to buy this $34 PetSafe Untrasonic Outdoor Bark Deterrent. We love it!! As soon as it went up, the dogs stopped barking at unnecessary things. They still bark if someone is at our door or in our yard. Perfect. I wish we had bought this last year.

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Outdoor-Ultrasonic-Bark-Deterrent/dp/B000UZNLGA/ref=pd_sim_k_7

carriers

Happy baby wearing week!
We love our carriers, and people are constantly commenting on them, so I thought I’d share a little.
Our favorite is our Sleepy Wrap. We love it. I recommend them to every parent of a baby (fit under 1ish-year-old best).
I also love our ring sling. It’s not quite as comfortable as the wrap, but it’s faster to get her in and out of. I keep it in the car for quick run-in errands. It’s also really pretty! Two places around here that I think have good slings are http://babysosmart.com/ (through 9/28 use coupon code “celebrate” for 25% off non-sale items) and http://www.teenygreenykc.com/HandmadeProducts.php (the one i have but it's not quite as wide as the BSS ones).
And the carrier I don’t have but would love to have is http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/.
These carriers are so much more comfortable than just holding her in my arms! And they're super healthy for baby, too!

Oh, i also have to say that i tried a pouch sling, and none of us liked it. I also have a Bolivian wrap for a high back carry, although i've only used it for a blanket so far (I got it in Bolivia many years ago. You should see how they swing their babies up there!). And in South Africa they use a simple towel to carry babies on their back. So you really don't need special equipment to wear your baby. Here's a slideshow of some beautiful babywearing around the world http://www.flickr.com/groups/ethnicbabycarriers/pool/show/.

11/30/09 update: My wonderful husband gave me the pictured sling for an anniversary gift. We've been using it so much. The extra width makes it easy to nurse my big one-year-old in (she's in a sitting position, with the tail of the sling draped back over the top if we need some privacy). Both my daughter and I love this sling. I tried on a couple of Ergos and was surprised at how unimpressed I was. They just were not comfortable to me. I tried on a Baby So Smart Mei Tai, and I really liked it, so we're planning to get a toddler-size BSS Mei Tai. I'm so excited to be able to use that--mostly to carry her on my back around the house. Yea for great baby carriers! By the way, my husband wore my "girlie" sling when he took our daughter for a walk over the weekend, and he also said it was a very comfortable way to carry her, and it helped to keep her nice and warm. Here are a couple of November coupon codes for you. Sleepwrap: HOLIDAY15 (for 15% off http://www.sleepywrap.com/). BSS: cybersale (for 25% off http://babysosmart.com/).

jean skirt

We love this tiered denim skirt we found at Children's Place so much that we now own two 3T skirts and will probably get more bigger sizes when they go on sale more.
http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10001_-1_558081_88536_25851%7C25924%7C26301_baby%20girl%7Cbottoms%7Cskirts_babygirls

biting and sippie cups

After a week of being bit almost everytime we nursed, I finally figured out what was causing the biting. I had looked up and read everything about breastfeeding and biting that I could think of. I was getting so frustrated and trying to think of when she did it, when she didn't, anything that changed when she started... After we got home from our vacation, she would clamp down and bite very hard and not let up. I'd put her down and tell her she couldn't bite me while having milk. She would cry so hard and sign milk. I knew she really wanted milk and she wasn't purposely hurting me. Then I made the connection! At home she usually uses a regular cup for water, but while we're in the car or something, she uses a sippie cup. We only had one sippie cup, so I bought a few cheap ones before we went on our vacation. They were inexpensive, BPA free, and seemed easy enough to get water out of. But she had to bite the spout to get the water out faster--the same way she was clamping down on me while nursing. We switched to straw cups and use regular cups whenever we're home, and she has not bit me since then. I am so thankful for our great breastfeeding relationship. Biting does not mean that a baby is wanting to quit breastfeeding; babies usually don't self-wean until they're at least a couple years old.

9/23/09 update:
I found some cups that work for us: http://nuby.com/products/cups/9609.aspx. They're the Nuby two-pack insulated flip straw with prints on them. There are other non-insulated nuby straw cups that do require biting the straw.

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers

I love this book. It has so far answered all the questions I and any of my friends have had about breastfeeding. I highly recommend it as a reference to have on hand for anyone who is planning to breastfeed. I still look most things up on http://kellymom.com/, but this book is a really great resource and has more in-depth expertise on breastfeeding.

The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers: The Most Comprehensive Problem-Solving Guide to Breastfeeding from the Foremost Expert in North America, Revised & Updated Edition by Jack Newman M.D., Teresa Pitman
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Breastfeeding-Book-Answers-Problem-Solving/dp/0307345580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247195097&sr=8-1#

cutting holes in shirts

I did it. I cut boob holes in perfectly good new shirts. And they turned out great! I bought some cheap t-shirts and camis. I cut slits down each side. I started the hole kind of right under my chest, where the fabric wasn't being pulled quite as tightly so that the holes won't pull open as much and stick out and get lumpy under my clothes. Now I can wear these nursing undershirts so that my tummy doesn't show when I'm feeding Little Girl in public. I love it! Easy, cheap, and very useful!

sunglasses

I love these baby sunglasses. http://www.frubishades.com/

I got ours from http://www.cottonbabies.com since I could get free shipping.

Old Navy nursing shirt

I found a nursing shirt I like at http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=41578. The Maternity V-Neck Nursing Tops are nice and cool for summertime wearing. And the neckline is high enough for what I like. It's listed as a maternity shirt (although I think it fits fine not being pregnant), so even though I wear a size large, a medium in this shirt fits me well. The only drawbacks are that you you have to order and return it online and that it costs $19.50, although I got it for 20%off and free shipping. It's a super comfey and easy to nurse in shirt, though.