The new "New Moms" thread!

[kpm76]

So, has anyone thought about Halloween costumes for your kids? I know it seems early, but I was at Target the other day and Walmart today and both places seemed like the costume section was already picked over! I don't want to wait until the last second and then not find anything. We were thinking of something Disney since we are going to WDW in November and Abby could wear the costume again. She was Tink last year. I was leaning toward Minnie but it's $30. I'm cheap when it comes to stuff like this. Walmart had princess costumes for $16.88. DH likes the Snow White one but Abby is so light, has barely any hair and the hair she does have is really blond.....I don't picture her a SW! Maybe Cinderella? I just don't know.....

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

Hey Ladies!

I feel like it's been forever since I posted, but I'm pretty sure I posted this week...it's just pages and pages back!

KPM -- WELCOME! I wondered if you'd make it over here! Colin is going to be an elephant this year -- and I'm insane and sewing it myself! Last year, he was a pirate, and the pattern included a "pirate ship" to put on an umbrella stroller. It was really cute!

IMarriedGrumpy -- we have the P3 and it travels fine on the bus, because it folds up like a golf bag. Plus, the basket is big enough and doesn't get in the way of folding that you can leave stuff in it. We liked it more than our Zooper umbrella (similar to the Mac). When we go down in December, we're flying with the Zooper, but sending the Peg down with my parents to take to the parks.

Becky -- AKV is awesome! We have 100 pts there and 50 at SSR. We're staying 5 nights at AKV and 1 at SSR in December. We didn't plan very well, and it's the DVC annual meetings the week we're going, so it's completely booked and we weren't able to get the whole time at one place. But, we waitlisted, so we're still hopeful that it'll come through!

RE: Money. I'm not so good with it, though am getting better. Came into the marriage with lots of debt, both credit card and school loans. When we sold our last house, we were able to pay it off, and I cancelled 2 of 3 cards. I have one card just in my name so that I've still got my own credit, but that's it. We didn't do so well the year that I was on mat leave -- we still lived like I was getting my full salary even though my unemployment was only about 45% of it -- but, I gues that's what lines of credit are for.


Things here are going okay. Colin's been fighting major diaper rash since he was on antibiotics last month for an ear infection. I think it started off as a yeast rash, but then has since turned into a bacterial infection. I had him into the clinic on Friday night, and the doctor prescribed an antibiotic cream for it, and it seems to be working. We're giving it until Tuesday and if it hasn't improved remarkably, I'm making an appointment with our family doctor.
In addition to the rash, I think he's teething so we've been giving Tylenol before bed for like the last 5 days. Tonight was the first night that we didn't get him any. We'll see if I'm up at 2 because of it!

Hope you guys are all keeping well. I'm keeping up with the thread, but have severe mommy brain and can't remember what everyone's doing!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

So, has anyone thought about Halloween costumes for your kids?

Our friends do a huge Halloween display and party every year, and they decide the theme a year in advance so they can hit the post-Halloween clearance. We always help hand out candy (they had 700 kids last year) so we've been thinking about costumes to match their theme all year! This year's theme is "Superheros and Super Villans", and I'm going as Kim Possible, so the plan was for DH to go as Ron Stopable, and Owen would be Rufus, the naked mole rat!

However, DSIL gave us a dragon costume for Owen, and since Owen's bedroom theme is dragons & castles, it would be really cute to dress him up like that! Our friends said a dragon counts as a mideval super villan, so he could still be outside with us if we wanted.

DMIL also has a pumpkin costume that she wants Owen to wear, and she's somewhat offended that her daughter gave us a costume, too, and I suspect even more offended that we like the dragon better. So we're placating her by having Owen's 9m photos taken in the pumpkin costume (for a couple poses).

I'm still torn on the dragon vs. Rufus, but we have the dragon and we don't have a naked mole rat costume. (I'm sure there must be tons of people asking for naked mole rat costumes... )

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Oh, and our friends told me the theme for next year's Halloween extravaganza: Princesses and Princes! They're going to turn the front of their house into a big sparkly castle, the DH will be Prince Charming, and the DW will be Malificent. They're suggesting all the women come dressed in old bridesmaid dresses!

 

[kellyf2626]

Wow! This thread has been very active lately!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Ours was a bit hectic - Brady decided to get sick on Friday (just a runny-nose, low-grade fever - but enough to make him MISERABLE the entire weekend!). Wouldn't have been too bad, but he was in my best friends wedding as the ring-bearer on Saturday! We skipped the rehearsal Friday night - DH and I just went to the dinner and my mom came and watched him. He slept pretty-well Friday night and didn't seem any worse on Saturday, so we decided to bring him to the wedding. He did great! He was so distracted and intrigued by the music and people....I'll have to post pics later once I upload them!

As for $$ and finances....if I were in charge, we would be in BIG trouble. I am lucky my DH has good money-sense - I joke that he makes the money and keeps track of it, and I just spend it.

Becky - That is great that you will be staying at SSR! We also got those SSR points when we added-on 100 pts at AKV. We will be using them for our trip next year for the week after Labor Day. When are you going again? Will we over-lap?

TiggerStac - I have a Phil & Teds Sport with the double attachment (don't ask....yes...I only have 1 kid! The doubles-kit came free when I bought the P&T.) I have used it a handful of times with my girlfriends son. It its great b/c it's narrow like a regular stroller and pushes very easily. Not sure if the child that rides "under" would like doing it all the time....they are just staring at the under-side of the stroller! But - the stroller is great and seems a lot less bulky than other double strollers. I would also look at the Baby Jogger City-Mini...they have a double one that looks great! I saw several down in Disney and they were considerably less wide than the "average" double-stroller!

 

[ashjohnson80]

So, has anyone thought about Halloween costumes for your kids? I know it seems early, but I was at Target the other day and Walmart today and both places seemed like the costume section was already picked over! I don't want to wait until the last second and then not find anything. We were thinking of something Disney since we are going to WDW in November and Abby could wear the costume again. She was Tink last year. I was leaning toward Minnie but it's $30. I'm cheap when it comes to stuff like this. Walmart had princess costumes for $16.88. DH likes the Snow White one but Abby is so light, has barely any hair and the hair she does have is really blond.....I don't picture her a SW! Maybe Cinderella? I just don't know.....

We're going to do Snow White. But I didn't like any of the costumes in the store so I'm making it myself. I've already got the yellow tutu completed and the top dyed blue. I just need to put the finishing touches on it.

 

[jennyL]

My DH does a huge Halloween yaed too but I don't normally dress up since he does and thats scary to some of the little kids. I usually just wear a Halloween shirt. This year Noah is going to be a Karate Kid. My Stepdad is a huge Karate guy and we have a Gi(is that how its spelled? I have no idea) that was my sisters when she was a baby that my mom gave us. It fits Noah perfectly now and since when else are we going to able to use it thats what we decided on for Halloween. I'm not sure about next year but I'm hoping to maybe get something this year when they all go on sale. Guess I need to start thinking about that.

 

[beckmrk04]

Well- V s going to be Minnie Mouse this year. We were going to do Tink, but the costumes at WDW were too big, and since we'll be there for MNSSHP next year, I'd rather really do up the Tink costume since she'll be wearing it at WDW and at home.

But, BIL/SIL bought her a cute Minnie costume from WDW, so that's what we'll be this year.

Kelly- THAT IS WHEN WE'RE GOING!!! Actually, we're planning on flying in Labor Day weekend!!! We'll have to meet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, we had our dinner vacation planning meeting last night, and decided we'll get a 2 bedroom villa at SSR and we're going to leave Labor Day weekend. I am pumped! But, we can't book until February.... Seems like a long time.

I need to get back on my diet, though! I have a year to be looking fab for Mickey!

 

[DMickey28]

Ok... First: breathe. Then look at Ellery. You have kept her alive this long because you are a responsible, sensible, caring Mommy. You are doing a GOOD JOB.

Now: The tylenol will not damage her liver unless you give her entire bottles every night (or unless she already had liver problems or a confirmed issue metabolizing medicines). The warnings are there for idiot parents who overdose their kids to shut them up. Or, idiot parents who give their kids cold meds AND tylenol AND motrin... You are not an idiot parent. You will measure out the correct dose for her weight and then give that to her and you won't give her another dose until it's time (by which time she'll be sleeping peacefully). Also, you can minimize risk by alternating Motrin and Tylenol, ensuring that you won't OD on one med since they are different kinds.

She will be ok.

And, the baby orajel thing? I mean- that's a "gut" issue. V's doc reccommended it in small doses. Personally, I have used orajel on myself for toothaches, and in small amounts, I have never had my throat go numb. I put a small (tiny!) amount on a "finger brush" (baby gum cleaner), and rubbed it only on her gums.

The teething tablets- I just dug out our bottle. Here's what I found on the website concerning the belladonna (keep in mind: ANY medicine is poison if you ingest too much!!): "To put homeopathic dosages in perspective, typically a 10-pound child would need to ingest 1,000 Hyland’s Teething Tablets (at least 6 bottles of 125 tablets) to exhibit even the first possible side effect of Belladonna." You can look at that page here.

And really, I bet you'll find that one small dose of Tylenol or Motrin each night will be all you need- during the day it doesn't bother them much because they are busy busy.

Ellery is a healthy growing beautiful baby girl because you are careful and you are responsible. But, because she is healthy and growing so perfectly, you don't need to worry about giving her a dose of Tylenol or Motrin. You'll BOTH feel better!

What she said.

Hmmmm.... Baby Jogger City Mini......

YES!!! I am holding back on that one but have promised myself the BJCM double when I have another baby.

Now I'm looking for a good umbrella stroller. I want one with a basket and a sun shade, and I'd really like adjustable handles but so far the only one like that I've found is the Peg Perego P3, and DH vetoed that one because he thinks it's too big. He wants a small umbrella stroller, but the really little ones I've found have such low handles that DH can't push them. I found a great Maclaren at the consignment sale, but the seller wanted $150 for it and that's more than our budget. I also found a P3 for $75, but since DH vetoed it I resisted. Sigh. Such a good stroller, but it is almost as big as our "regular" stroller, and we need a small stroller for the bus.

Love our new P3. It's really a lot smaller than a regular full size stroller but seems super comfy for DS and hasn't a lot of the features I 'needed'.

with all this talk of strollers...anyone w/any double stroller suggestions??

Trying to figure out what to get. I have a graco travel system and a maclaren triumph. I've been mostly using the maclaren, because of the size.

I have a ford edge, so really...I can fit a double in back w/out a problem. I was orginally thinking sit n stand, but Brady will be just over 2 when the baby is born, so not really ready for just the stand part at that point.

Baby Jogger City Mini ... I swear I am not going to by the single one but wait until we have another baby and get the double. DS will be about 2.5ish (hopefully). I don't think he'd be happy sitting in the bottom of the P&T one at that age all the time.

*********************
Wow you guys are busy this morning!!! I just checked our bank account and updated my spreadsheet ... ouch. My MIL's cable bill is STILL coming out of our account ... argh. She just got a $80K+ settlement for a workmans' comp claim she has been dealing with over the last three 3 years. We have been helping her with certain bills and cash. Now she hasn't put the cable in her account yet ... drives me nuts. We have no idea ifshe is going to give us back any money but she is coming down on Wednesday for two weeks so we will find out. We figured out this weekend we have given her about $8K over the last three years. I'd like a little gesture of something as thanks in return, we certainly don't expect $8K back but $500 would be nice (and helpful!!)

Done venting ... I hate money. I seriously took my American Express card this morning, while I was on the phone with my mom, and put it in a sandwich bag, filled it with water and it's in the freezer. Seriously ... it's dangerous. My bill this month is $2700 and my bill next month is close to $5000. fARGHHHHHHH

 

[mrs.explorer1977]

Done venting ... I hate money. I seriously took my American Express card this morning, while I was on the phone with my mom, and put it in a sandwich bag, filled it with water and it's in the freezer. Seriously ... it's dangerous. My bill this month is $2700 and my bill next month is close to $5000. fARGHHHHHHH

Good for you! Of course, my problem is that I know my CC number and could still use it online! ;-)

Tired this morning -- Colin was up at 11 and again at 12 last night -- I think his little mouth was hurting. Darn teeth! Had to scrounge around and russle up enough Tylenol out of 3 part bottles to give him last night. Guess I need to make a pit stop on my way home to get some more!

But, the good news is that his diaper rash appears to be responding well to the antibiotic cream, so fingers crossed that it does the trick.

Better get back to work. I need to call the Spa at Saratoga on lunch to book manicures for my mom and I for December -- it's going to be her birthday present this year!

 

[exwdwcm]

ASH- sorry about your trip- hopefully it will just be delayed. on teething- i use the hyland's natural teething tablets- they melt in his mouth and he likes them. also baby orajel. i tried teething things/toys, but he doesn't want them. instead he uses his hand. I've also tried frozen wash cloths.

Bethany- LOL on the up and chuck! i'll have to remember that one.

STacy- welcome back!!

Jen- congrats again!!! can't wait to see more pics of little Evan

Becky-OMG on V and her head- i would have freaked. So glad she is okay and sorry about the mama drama too. last thing you need to deal with when you are worried about your own little one. she should have known that.

So today is my first day at the new job. so far, so good. The boss is in NY and back tomorrow, so I'll sit down with him then. Today I am just reading through materials and watching videos etc. It's all skincare type stuff- aesthetic medical lasers, smart lipo etc. Pretty interesting.....very different from defense! instead of working with armed forces journals, I'll now get to work with cosmetic/aesthetic magazines, even cosmo! They bought me a new desk today and they are finishing painting my office, so i should get in there and settled some tomorrow. I did find out they want me to travel nov 1-4 to chicago for a plastic surgery show......nov 1st is Will's 1st bday party. hopefully i can just fly out that night or the next morning. i already hand made the invitations with the date and all. They also want me to do a seminar in this area on oct 13-15....of coruse the disney roadshow (to promote the new celebrations theme in 09) is coming oct 14th and i am trying to volunteer at it. they are using WDWCP alum apparently to help out- i am waiting to hear on details. so i already am having scheduling problems on day 1!!! lol

 

[exwdwcm]

Jen- yeah on Christopher walking!

and Ash- i agree on the teething stuff- try not to sweat the small stuff.....the media and everyone else tries to scare the public to death over every little thing. We've all managed to live this long just fine.......heck, we all laugh when my sister asked about what my mom did with us when we were babies and car seats didn't exist.....she said we just 'rolled' around the back of the station wagon. lol......but seriously- take it all with a grain of salt. I've been giving Will orajel and he has never choked and this is a boy that has a BAD gag reflex too. hang in there, you are doing great!

on the money thing- been there, done that. won't go back. When i worked at Disney in 96, i was broke and of course they paid the CP ers min wage and subtracted our rent/utilities, so i was left with like nothing. i racked up some serious credit card debt that semester away. DH and i just paid off about $15,000 in credit card debt this last year. we are done with it!! no more debt and we only keep one credit card now for emergencies and keep it paid off. no department store cards, gas cards or anything. We simply won't go there again. part of it is the fact that you are never taught how to really manage money- you go to college, get all these credit cards they offer you on campus and before you konw it, you have thousands in debt and nothing to show for it.

i am fortunate DH is a finance major and works in finance and real estate handling millions all day. he is a penny pincher to the EXTREME. every spare cent he has goes into savings or etrade where he trades stocks and makes a pretty good killing most years. He has really turned us around from living pay check to pay check to having a nice cushion of multiple savings accounts and 401ks. I have money automatically go into savings each check. i never see it or miss it. we also take advantage of everything we can- like FSAs, childcare reimbursements (tax free day care) etc. Those things help too. I am a shopper and spender. But now i have to account for everything. We even went through 2 layoffs (me) and then DH taking a new job (where he works now) making literally $5 an hour. It was a new company and he went there to work on a trial basis and they couldn't afford to pay him much for about a year. It was not easy, but it was worth it, since he does well there now and is #3 on the totem pole. DH is my saving grace when it comes to money. he is so disciplined (to the point of it being annoying!), but without him, i'd be broke, even though i make great money. we both make the same amount of money and are very lucky and blessed in our careers. I am hoping some day all his penny pinching pays off when i can quit work and he can retire early. That is his plan- he doesn't want to be 65 or 70 and still working. He wants to retire when he can enjoy it and travel etc. It is annoying some when everyone else is spending their tax refund on a vacation or something and he is putting ours into savings right away. Any bonuses we get go to savings as well or paying something off. He hopes to pay off our truck with his bonus in December. We still have 2.5 years of payments on it, so it would be nice to not have that payment anymore! He is just a rock with money, so i lucked out there. i do pay all the bills and keep us organized, but he is the one that is great about saving. it's a pain sometimes now, but i know it will be worth it in the end and it is nice knowing we have something to fall back on if there is an emergency. It took us a long time to get here. It is just in the last 5 years that we really started to do well. it was a struggle before that. it took time, day by day, penny by penny, but it can be done. I thought i would be stuck under that $15k of credit card debt for the rest of the my life, but we got through it.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Michelle, I hope you'll be able to work around those travel dates & Will's B-day! Your dh sounds like mine - every bonus and tax refund has to go into savings, retirement, college fund, paying something off, etc. This last time around I finally persuaded him to let us each have some "fun money" with our refund. I think he went along with it because he was dying to do the lifetime payment on the Lord of the Rings Online game. But I am thankful for his background with money stuff, especially because I hope Owen grows up with a healthier relationship and understanding of money than I did.


Well, we're going to move Owen out of his Amby bed and into a regular crib tonight. DSIL brought over the family crib and helped me set it up, and it's not as bad as I was imagining it would be. The slats are close enough together, and there's nothing poking up or anything that Owen could catch his clothes on. The only problem with it is that we can only put it on the two lowest mattress heights, and since Owen's 9m and getting close to pulling himself up to a stand, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I was really nervous about this crib because it's at least 25 years old and has been used with a half dozen kids, but the mattress is only a few years old and has always been covered, so it's in great shape, and the crib is still very solid and meets all of the current safety standards.

Anyway, we're going out to get a new mattress cover and mattress pad as soon as DH gets home for work, and tonight will be Owen's first night in a real crib. We decided we'd just move him over cold turkey, since he did fine in a pack & play on our vacation last month. Plus, one of DH's childhood friends has a new baby with acid reflux, and we want to give our Amby bed to her to try it out and see if it will help their DD sleep better. I'd wanted to buy the jump jump attachment for the Amby since Owen loves to bounce, but I think our friends need sleep more than Owen needs a jumper!

 

[kellyf2626]

Becky - This is so exciting!!! Not only are we going at the same time, but we are also staying at SSR in a 2-bedroom!!! How fun! We will absolutely have to meet-up!

Michelle - I don't think I knew you did the WDWCP...or maybe I did? I forget!! I also did the CP and worked summer of 1997. Looks like we just missed each other. Ya - talk about no $$ to be made there! I also racked-up some serious debt because everything I made I spent, and then some! It was a great summer, though!!

My brother just booked a trip for around Memorial Day. He is staying in a 1-bedroom at the new Kidani Village at AKV. I am trying to convince DH that we should join them! We could go down the Thursday night before Memorial Day and stay until Wednesday after, and he would only have to take 3 days off from work. We will see.....it may take some convincing!! I like how the 1-bedrooms have two full bathroms in them....makes sleeping 4 in a 1-bedroom that much easier!

I added some pics of Brady in my girlfriends wedding to his blog if you are interested! www.nhbradyboy.blogspot.com

 

[kpm76]

Great ideas ladies on the Halloween costumes!

kellyf2626: Brady is adorable Very cute pics from the wedding!

 

[beckmrk04]

Kelly- the pics are too cute- and the wedding! It looked BEAUTIFUL! And hooray! New Mom meet!

Bethany- good luck moving Owen to the crib! It sounds like your friends need the Amby. Aren't you glad those nights are over? Sometimes when I think about having another one, I think that maybe I should set my alarm to get up every 2-3 hours for a week, and still try to function and take care of V. Cuz I'm pretty sure that's what it'll be like.

Michelle- It's good to hear encouraging stories about making it out of the financial pits! I wish my DH OR I would have been blessed with more money know-how. But, we're learning. I am determined to plan wisely for our future and stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. The discipline is the hard part. As with anything. Glad the new job is going good so far- I hope you can work out the scheduling thing! And mama drama- I am SO used to it that it barely phases me anymore.

DMickey- I hate money too. But really, I mostly hate how bad I am with it.

BUUUUUUTT!!!!

I got the transfer!!!

I found out this morning. Now, my commute will be 5 minutes, instead of 35. And, I will get off earlier (I'm off no later than 4:30 M-Th!!!). Right now- I get off between 5-6pm, and by the time I go get V, I don't get home until 6-7 at night. This will be much better.

And, I am going to find someone around here to watch V on Tues and Wed, and my mom will probably blow a gasket, but at this point- I am so done with her drama. And I know she loves V- I know she does, but at this point, I'm just not willing to let the situation continue and I am so tense when I even have to interact with my mom. It's tiring. And it shouldn't be like that, kwim? So, this is all going to work out. And I can stop spending $300/month on gasoline.

 

[DMickey28]

Congrats Becky!!! That's awesome!! That should really help you with the budget. Less money on gas and more time at home to make dinner so less convience foods and take out!!!

 

[beckmrk04]

Congrats Becky!!! That's awesome!! That should really help you with the budget. Less money on gas and more time at home to make dinner so less convience foods and take out!!!

And, I can come home on my lunch and actually have time to make something.

Not to mention- there's no fast food around here, so even if I was tempted- it ain't happening! So, that will also help on my diet, because I am going to lose weight before WDW next year.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

just had to share this pic..

Christopher was trying to be helpful....

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

The pics of Brady and Christopher are so cute!!

congrats on the transfer, Becky! Yay for shorter commutes!

Well, Owen is safely in his new crib, and he's not particularly happy about it. The screaming is over, but now he's doing his sad complaining cry, saying "ah yah yah yah yah yah bbbbbbbb bah bah bah bah bah bbbbbb, ah yah yah yah yah yah yah" over and over as he cries. (kind of cracks me up even as it's sad to hear him crying...) I wish it could be easier on the poor baby, but he needs to learn how to sleep in this bed and I know he's going to be okay. He's got a wubbanub, 2 pacifiers and his eeyore, so there's plenty of comfort items in case he "looses" one in the bed. It's just so hard to hear him crying. I just want to go pick him up and snuggle him and tell him he's okay and mommy's here. Of course mr. wiggle pants never sits still and snuggles for very long anymore, so I really wouldn't get any cuddling with him. He's very squirmy these days!