February was bizzzzy.

February was a big month for us! We started off the month by taking our first big trip to Washington. A few bumps in the road to start with. We had a pitstop in Centralia, where I realized I forgot my nursing cover. The lunch crowd at BK got quite a site as Norah cried and mom tried not to flash the world. 30 minutes and some chicken strips later, we were back on the road. On our way up to Sumner to visit my brother and his family for the night. My niece, Hannah, lent us her room for the night. They had a cradle set up for Norah at the foot of the bed. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner and Hansen family time.

Hannah and Norah

Our welcome sign in "Hannah's Suite"

Aunt Bobbi and Uncle Kelly

We then hopped the narrows bridge over to my old stomping grounds, Gig Harbor. One of my best friends was having her baby shower for a baby girl who is due in March. It was so great to see her (although we see each other weekly) and her family.

Norah finally made it back to dad's arms after wooing all the moms and grammas (to-be)

Unfortunately, I did not pay enough attention to my own needs. We returned from Washington and I had a clogged milk duct. It is one of the most painful things I have experienced (since giving birth, that is).  After some heating pads and lots of wincing while nursing, it unclogged throughout the week. Note to self, Jen's ducts are numero uno.

Cloth diapers. First off, we starting researching cloth diapering when we were early on in the pregnancy. I ran into this site: http://www.diaperdecisions.com/pages/cost_of_cloth_diapers.php. It gave us a good comparison financially. We told ourselves that as soon as we were finished with the box of disposables around 2 months, we would start on that investment we had made before Norah came. We chose to use the brand Best Bottom. Why?
1) Recommended by friends of our who are cloth diapering.
2) Available at a local baby shop in Hillsboro (also online at www.mypreciouskid.com). We were able to touch and feel a number of cloth diapers. Also doing much research on www.diaperpin.com and comparing brands. There are hundreds!
3) Nitty gritty - the cloth part comes out of the liner. If she just pees, we don't have to wash the whole darn diaper. There is no mesh to dig poop out of. We bought 14 cloth liners and 10 waterproof covers. We've been doing most-time cloth diapering (disposables at night...easier on mom) and are loving it. We now only use about 14 disposables a week instead of a billion. It has also bumped her up to most 6 months clothes since her "cotton-butt" is so big.
4) These diapers will fit her [theoretically] until she's potty training. 

"line dry" in Oregon happens inside with twine

Before baby girl came, we won a $50 gift card at the store where we [already] bought our diapers. So we used the money to get a poo-sprayer aka bidet for diapers. Attaches to the toilet so we can spray off the poo instead of soaking. Helps keep em clean and her room smell not terrible. Our total cost to start out with cloth diapering came in around $120 (along with the gifts from showers).

Other photos:

He gets cozy...sometimes too cozy.

We love our hands!

hi BOB

We finally received our Christmas gift from my mom: our BOB revolution jogger/stroller. We listed it on our registry, and were planning on purchasing it ourselves off Amazon, but were super surprised when my mom told us that she got it for us for Christmas. Unfortunately, we received it damaged from FedEx the first time. Then it took nearly a month to get it replaced. Was it worth the wait? Most definitely! Why did we choose a BOB vs other strollers? I'll tell you.

1) We got a convertible car seat for Norah. We were not intending on buying an infant seat, but a relative of ours said they would sell theirs to us for $25. Yes. Ok, twist our arms. We are happy we did, but did not want to go as far as buying a "travel system" (stroller + carseat combination).

2) The BOB revolution allows you either buy a infant car seat adapter OR wait till 8 weeks and it reclines enough for 2 month old. This worked well since we didn't get it until she was 6 weeks old and the weather has been pretty terrible for outdoor walks.

3) The model we got has large wheels in the back, but a smaller one in the front. This makes it not entirely bulky but still "able to trek through sand" (that was a nice feature for us). Also, some of you may know that the roads we live on are not sidewalk material. We wanted a stroller with good shocks and able to gracefully go over the bumpy country roads.

Needless to say, we couldn't wait till 8 weeks. She is about 12 big ones anyways. We put in a nice and secure head support, bundled up our little bundle, and took to the road! We have the perfect route because we turn around at Roman's grandparents house so we can stop and visit (and rest) if they're home!

With the continuing chronicles of Darby... our wonderful can decided to jump off of something and sprain his arm last week. You would have thought someone was killing him. Roman was playing basketball that night when I heard the crash and then the howling cat, hobbling on three legs, and falling over from pain. I thought he broke it. Of course, this happened at 8pm aka emergency vet time. Yes we did. We took our boy to the emergency vet. We had 2 options:
1) Sedation and Xray to see what happened. All I heard was $400.
2) Pain medications, shut him in the bathroom, and watch him.
Option 2, please. And of course, the next day, he strolls out of the bathroom. Well...limps, but not in a my-leg-is-broken type walk. Needless to say, a week later, he's back to normal. Queue jealousy film roll: 

 

My first day back at the gym went...well. The following day I received an invitation for the Shamrock run from a friend. I laughed when she said "I saw you checked in and were on the treadmill so you should be ready in a month" BAHAHAHA the optimism made me feel good. Unfortunately, a few years back I messed up my knees while "training" for my wedding. So it would be a Shamrock walk for me..which I'm not so excited to pay $$ for. Anyways. My first day back, I get this video from Roman:

Made me want to RUN home back to her :]

Superbowl was wonderful time with friends! Such a change from 2 years ago...now with little munchkins running around (and lying around). We had a great time letting the other "babies" to play with her as their parents either expecting or may soon be expecting their seconds. 

Soon-to-be big sister Keira helping Norah with her pacifier.

Other random photos since last post:

The refinished cradle from Roman's childhood.

Never wear mascara, Norah. Never. Looks at those lashes.

Our first boo-boo. Mom's fault. I was almost in tears too.