Every little bit helps!

So last week, in honor of Earth Day, I started hanging some laundry. At first, I was going to only do a load of diapers, but after hanging two more loads of regular laundry, I made a plan. Instead of using the dryer for my other laundry, when weather permitting, I am going to make it a goal to hang at least two loads of laundry a week.


Here are some pictures of my makeshift clothesline. I wanted to see how well things dried out on the deck, so I hadn't bought a clothesline yet. Instead, I used some 12 gauge black wire and speaker wire that belonged to Papa Bean. I say belonged, past tense, because apparently clipping clothes and such to wire, could break the inner wires, thus defeating the purpose of having a wire! Who knew! So, let me tell you, don't use wire... although it worked great! :)


I am so glad that I decided to start hanging clothes! Not only does it help save power, it, in turn, cuts back on the bill. I have begun a few things other than just the clothesline to cut back on our outflow lately... washing clothes on cold, not using the heated dry in the dishwasher, and minimizing our dependency on paper products. I am considering starting a compost pile, and planting vegetables (like cucumbers, zucchini, peas, lettuce), herbs (like oragano, mint, basil, lavender) and fruit (strawberries). I will keep you posted as I make more changes!

Well now, a week later, I have a REAL clothesline, and I love it! Papa Bean rigged a pully system, so it's a piece of cake hanging clothes outside. I just have to wait for this cloudiness to burn off!

Have an awesome day!
Love,
Mama Bean

Our visit with Grammy and Papa!

So Grammy and Papa from Boise were in town last week and boy did we have some fun! We went to the zoo, the Meremac Caverns, and partied down for Haleigh's birthday. It was quite an eventful week! Here are some pictures from their visit....

Here are some of Little Bean and Grammy.... gotta love his new shades!



Here is one of Big Little Bean playing basketball outside... a girl after my own heart!

Here is everybody getting ready to eat lunch at the Meremac Caverns...



Here's me, Mama Bean, toting Little Bean through the caverns.... The first one he's looking out and the second he is (obviously) passed out! Gotta love baby wearing! It was a little chilly so I had to wrap a blanket around the sling...




After our spelunk through the caverns, we were able to convince Big Little Bean to try on some silly hats in the giftshop... so hilarious!

Well anywho, thanks for reading! I'm off to get some sleep!

Love,
Mama Bean

We are here!

In the famous words of the Who's from Whoville (from Horton Hears a Who), "We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!" No, we haven't been abducted by aliens or run off with the circus, things have just been a little busy around the Bean house. We have been to Portland, Seattle and back; spent Spring Break with Big Little Bean, and Grammy and Papa from Boise; and finally gotten back into the swing of things.

Little Bean is growing like a weed, and smiling almost non-stop! It's wonderful :) Here's a pic of him in the bath tub earlier this week...
It's almost as if he knows that I gave him a faux-hawk! Here's another one from bath time...

I love it!

I'm going to be posting some special posts on here that will be a weekly thing. For instance, there will be Menu Mondays, Word Wednesdays, and Friendly Fridays (all with alliteration too!). Come back and check those out when you can and let me know what you think of them. I'm up for any suggestions!

With Love,
Mama Bean

Whoa, I just realized it's been a month since I posted! How time flies!

10 Things "They" DON'T Tell You About Motherhood

So, as I was sitting up last night nursing Little Bean, I realized that my life has changed in ways that I had never heard of, nor was I prepared for. Most of you other parents out there are probably like, "DUH!" But as a new mom, it was cause for reflection. That is how I assembled this list...

10 Things "They" Don't tell you about Motherhood....

1. Every blanket, towel, sheet, shirt, etc. will become fodder for cleaning up spit-up. And I'm talking EVERY. Just last night I was without a burp rag within arms reach, and I grabbed a fleece blanket to field the puke! Honestly, I would never thought that would be me! I would have scoffed had someone told me that one day I would willingly use my shirt to clean up baby spit-up... oh, how times have changed.

2. Some babies absolutely HATE to ride in an infant seat. Okay, now this one caught me utterly off guard! Since having a child that cannot stand his infant seat and would scream bloody murder upon placement in it, many parents have shared with me about their own child or children not liking their infant seat. Now, in my ideal world I pictured Little Bean and I strolling through Target or the grocery store, peacefully. While I shopped, he cooed and smiled at me from his infant seat, tenderly placed atop the cart... Oh, how wrong I was.

3. The sound of your child's cry can bring you to both laughter and tears. Now, I know this sounds mean, but there are times when Little Bean's cry is so cute that it makes me laugh. Especially now that he is a little older and his cries vary. Sometimes he has a cry that sounds like, "ging," and I can't help but giggle at it, it's so stinking cute! But then he has another cry, that is absolutely piercing. I mean, I can feel it deep down in the pit of my soul when he cries like this and in the off chance I can't fix what the problem is, the stress of this distressing cry can easily bring me to tears.

4. Your baby's smell with be the sweetest smell you have ever set your nose on. Some may differ with me on this, but all babies have a smell. And no, it's not the soap they use, or the spit-up stuck in their neck rolls. It's distinct. It's amazing. I love, love, love the way Little Bean smells, and he smelled the same way the second I got to touch him after he was born. It's wonderful and lovely.

5. You will worry about the most irrational things possible. Okay, so I'm a pretty rational lady. And in the past, with my experience in child care, I have been able to remain calm and rational in regards to the children in my care. But for some reason, with my own child I have become that parent that is constantly picturing the worse case scenario. Maybe his legs are losing circulation while he's sitting in the sling like that? Then he won't be able to walk until he's 5! Oh no! What if his head is leaning too far off to that side? He may asphyxiate! What if he cries so hard he chokes himself? What if... What if...

6. Time to yourself will become a distant memory and it will look so different than it did before. This falls into the category of the "not MY kid" syndrome. When I was pregnant, I thought that I would maintain such a perfect schedule, still have time to read my 40some blogs everyday, shower daily, etc. Ahhh, the memories. But, I kind of don't mind it most of the time... just occasionally I would like to take a shower without worrying that the baby will be screaming when I get out. And I would never thought that something as simple as a shower would be coveted as much as it is.

7. If you have a pet, he/she will fall very far down on the totem pole as soon as you walk in the house with your baby. Again, I didn't think this would have been me. I loved Newton, we took walks together all the time, and even if he peed or pooped in the house, I still was looking out for him. But then, it all changed. I didn't want to clean up the puddle of pee or the pile of poop while holding an infant, and washing your hands one handed is like a circus act! His barks, yelps and whines absolutely drove me crazy, and finding dog hair in Little Bean's folds was only the beginning. Since adopting Newton out, I have found other parents who have said the same thing about their pets and confer -- your child will become your priority and that high maintenance animal either learns to cope, or trouble ensues.

8. Your baby's smile or coo will absolutely light up your day. Little Bean started a few weeks ago to smile in response to me, and he talks constantly, it's so wonderful! The way that he smiles when he sees me, has warmed my heart beyond words in a way that I never would have imagined.

9. When going out, everyone will want to see your baby. And I'm talking everyone. The first time I went to Target with Little Bean, I had more attention that I ever have in my entire life! And all because I had a baby in my arms. Most just wanted to know the facts, how old he is, what his name is, etc. And all commented on his hair :) But then there are the token few that want to give you their two-cents about every little thing... It's way to cold to have a 5 week old out! I think he's hungry, why aren't you doing anything about it? He looks like he's mad at you, etc.... argh.

10. You will love that baby more than you can even fathom. Seriously.

I'm here. I promise.

Okay, so the last few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotion and stress, and we are finally on the downward slide of it. I will maybe blog here about it, maybe I won't, it just depends upon how much time I have in the future.

Well, on another note, Little Bean and I are getting ready to do a little traveling! We are hopping on a plane on Tuesday to Portland, where we are going to be for two weeks! Amidst that time we will be taking the train (since LB still has a tough time in the car) up to Bremerton to visit Grandpa Bean, Grandma Bean and Auntie Lucy. It's going to be awesome! I am so excited! The flight may be a little interesting, y'know traveling with an 11 week old and all, but I'm sure we will make it there fine and he will do amazingly.

I plan on posting more when I'm there, and hopefully I'll get some good pics to add as well!

Much Love,
Mama Bean

P.S. We are heading out without Papa Bean because he is being sent to a job three hours away for three weeks... argh... we're going to miss him...

Oh what a beautiful morning....

Bonjour! And hello! I am so excited about my morning thus far, I just had to share it with all of you! As a new mother, I have realized that a day in which both Little Bean and I get to bathe, qualifies a day as a "good day." But wait! There's more! Not only did both of us bathe, but I have gotten the diapers into the wash, pumped, sanitized my pump accessories, done my makeup, sent off a little something for my favorite nephew, and cleaned the kitchen! That's what I'm talking about!

Okay, so, I was reading on one of my favorite blogs (thenaturalmommy.com) about some trouble she was having her cloth diapers. There were rashed cropping up on the little ones bums and the diapers were a little stinky. She said that free and clear detergent (which is what bum genius said I should use, by the way) can build up in the lining of the diaper and cause both rashes, and stinkiness! It was a revelation for me. I just started Little Bean back on his cloths after a series in disposables due to our thrush treatment, and his little bootie has been getting red ever since. So... for all of you cloth diaper peeps out there (I know of at least one that reads here :) check out her post here. I just started doing her routine and I'm hoping it works! As she states in her blog, do not change detergents if you're not having issues, because it seems the water softness or purity may be a factor.

On another note, I have picked up my Through the Bible in a Year plan again. I have some catching up to do (since I'm still in January!), but I am so glad to be getting some solid daily time in the Word. I just started writing in my new bible, which is kind of a breakthrough. You see, my old bible was well loved, written in and worn, and this new bible was so pristine and lovely that I didn't want to mess it up... well... actually... it was because I was having a hard time leaving my old bible behind... in the old one I knew where all of my favorite scriptures were and could flip to them easily, I had everything highlighted, noted, and underlined... it was a good friend to me and has been with me from the beginning. But, it was time to move on. Leave New King James behind and start walking with the English Standard Version... I'm glad to be getting more acquainted with the new one, but ahhh, I'll never let go New King James!

Anywho, the only downside from this morning is that I missed Le Leche League! I had planned Little Bean's eat, wake, sleep periods around the meeting being at 11, so that we could drive when he wasn't hungry or tired (which seems to work-- cutting down on the all out screamfest that he has when we take a drive). But alas, the meeting started at 10. I didn't realize this until 10:15 and it takes about 20 minutes to get there, plus Little Bean was sleeping... Argh. It's a big bummer because league meetings are only once a month, so I now have to wait a month until I can go. But, Babymoon has a breastfeeding support group that meets from 1-2 every Thursday that I might start going to. I have yet to check it out, but it may be great. With all of Little Bean's weight gain issues and their correlation to my milk supply, I definitely need all the help I can get. Speaking of help, JAW gave me a great idea to help get more when I am pumping... visualization! I started doing it this morning, picturing Little Bean all plump and chubby from guzzling my milk, and it totally worked! I got more milk this morning after feeding LB than I have the whole time I've been doing it! Yay for visualization! Thanks JAW :)

We have our appointment this afternoon with the Pediatric ENT specialist, to check out LB's "borderline" tied tongue, so I'll keep you posted on how that goes! I'm off to eat some lunch!

Coffee Thoughts...

I am so excited about Papa Bean coming home today! I have missed him so much, that I have barely been able to stand it. It's amazing to think that we used to go for even longer without seeing each other in the beginning... that is, before we were married.

It's amazing how marriage creates a bond that cannot be discounted or even very well explained. When we were living at a distance, yes, it was difficult, and sometimes painful. But when you rely upon another human being for every day things, like affection, feedback, support and love, there is a realization of your wantonness when they are gone. Yes, I can live and even thrive without my husband, but I don't want to. I love having him near me, just even in the same room. Needless to say, I am so glad that we are married, that we are one.

I love you Papa Bean.

Love,
Mama Bean