Preparing for a trip home

We booked our tickets for the States last week.  Ryan is going to Connecticut for the first time, on the outside, in June! 
One thing I've noticed already is that traveling with an infant is vastly different to our normal experiences in travel.  We decided to fly from Stuttgart, and change planes in Frankfurt.  We did this because we felt like the ride to Frankfurt at 4:30 am would be really stressful for all of us.  We used to wake up at 4:15 to leave by 4:30.  If we had to leave at 4:30 am now, I would probably not sleep the night before, mostly out of fear of waking up our little demon at 3:00.  It takes so long to get the baby out the door.  There is a diaper change, get dressed time.  And, I can't just throw Ryan down on the changing table, there is a lot of tickling and laughing involved, to coax out his good mood :)  Then, there is run to the diaper bag and run around and grab any last-minute toys that might be necessary.  I have a feeling that I'll need to pack the diaper bag at least a day in advance, and not my typical at midnight the night before. 

We're also flying out in the afternoon, just to make our lives signficantly easier :)




We're not bringing very much, because, well, there will be gifts and shopping galore.  But, we need to bring 30 bags of formula, I'm only slightly over-estimating, he goes through about one bag a day.  I thought about buying bottles at home, but Ryan will probably go through quite a few bottles on the plane, since, knowing Ryan, he'll have a few sips from a bottle here and there, and I don't see how I can wash his bottles between uses.  I'm also planning on using a special diaper called an All-in-2, or Ai2, that is like a cover with changeable inserts.  The brand I have, Flip, has disposable inserts.  I have 2 covers for the trip, and I have to buy some inserts.  I also need to remember to pack a tiny bottle filled with vinegar, so I can make a vinegar/ water solution for a quick spray-out of the cover during diaper changes. 

I'm busy preparing a list of items to ask my stepmom to pick up in preparation.  I always used to go by the rule, "all I really need is a passport, toothbrush, and a change of underwear."  Not quite the case anymore, and my cloth diapering only makes it worse.  We need baby wash, baby oil, butt cream, and diaper inserts.  We need nursery water, because our little forumla guy uses nursery water here.  We need a place to change diapers, and of course, we need some kind of bed situation.  We co-sleep here, but I'm not sure we should co-sleep at home, unless we buy a king-sized bed. 

Then, there is the stroller issue.  What stroller do we bring?  Do we bring one? 

And the car seat.  Do we buy a convertible car seat, or do we borrow someone's infant car seat? 


In February, as we trudged to the embassy, it felt like once we got Ryan's both passports, the trip home would be an easy one.  Ha! 

But, I am so very excited for Ryan to meet his family in person, especially his grandpa.  It will probably be one of my most exciting trips home!

My Fluffy Butt Part 2

Today is Saturday, which means that Ryan and I have officially been involved in our "Great Cloth Diaper Experiment" for a week now.  I have mixed emotions about the whole thing.  The beginning of the week was really rough, I must admit.  We had lots of leaks.  When we didn't have leaks, I had Ryan's diapers way too tight, and the poor baby had these huge indentations and red welts all over his legs and waist.  I almost admitted defeat.  But, it turns out, you need to have patience.  Like with anything that seems difficult, you have to stick with your beliefs.  My belief is that disposables are not the best for Ryan right now, so I want to stick with cloth. 
Yesterday seemed to be a turning point, and all of a sudden, we went the entire day with only one small leak, near a leg, after 4 hours.  Today, the same.  But it was my fault, we messed up nap time, and Ryan was in his diaper for a long time, but only a little leak out one of the legs. 
I will write another post about the brands, what I like, and what doesn't seem to work so well.  But for now, I'll leave you with my happy baby, in all his fluffy cuteness :)

Poor Baby

Ryan made it three months before getting his first cold, but we're now in the throes of stuffy nose and cough.  Poor little guy!  I first noticed the cough on Saturday, and hoped it would get better.  Instead, by this morning, he turned into a congested, wheezing, hacking mess.  So, off to the doctor, who we haven't visited in a whole week, we went.
After looking in Ryan's nose, ears, throat, and eyes, the diagnosis is that he has a stuffy nose which is causing his problems.  I've now learned that as only nose breathers, a stuffy nose is a miserable thing in a baby.  According to the doctor, it is no great virus or horriffic illness, but a stuffy nose in baby world can be as hard on a little one as a great virus.  We left the doctor's office with a rental inhalation machine for a saline solution, nose drops, strict orders to keep Ryan upright as much as possible, and one totally done little boy.

Feel better, Little Man.  Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

My Fluffy Butt Part I

One of the things I've learned in the past 3 months about parenting is that no one can really tell you what parenting is like, or what your child will be like, or what your child will need.  It turns out that EVERY baby is completely different, and what works best for one baby may be the worst thing in the world for your baby. I found this to be especially true with lots and lots of baby products.  Over the 8 months of my pregnancy, people would tell me, "oh you NEED this," or "I couldn't live without that."  A lot of the things I bought on recommendations are things we rarely use now, because Ryan simply does not like them. 

When it came to diapers, most people I talked to balked at the idea of cloth diapering.  I had been toying around with cloth diapers for months while I was pregnant.  But, everyone assured me that disposables are the way to go.  So, as any good first time mom, I listened to the advice, collected the evidence, and agreed, disposables would be the best thing for Ryan and myself.  Then, I had Ryan, all adorable, lovable 7 kilos of Ryan, with legs that most cloesly resemble large sausages.  I say that last statement in the most loving way, of course.  It turns out that the disposable diapers leave these huge indentations on Ryans thighs, and they get really red.  So, I went to find another diaper.  I found some that fit much better, but smell so horrible that we can never figure out if he pooped by smell, and as soon as they are wet, you can smell the diapers across the room.  I kept searching, and kept discovering that most disposables simply do not fit right, or are very chemical smelling.

Enter cloth.  I'm not talking about your old fashioned piece of material with pins.  No dunking and swishing.  No diaper service.  I'm talking about the new, modern cloth diaper.  Of course, there are tons of options out there for cloth diapers now, and it took a lot of research, and it just may take some trial and error.   The cloth diapers I settled on are All in Ones (AIO)  pocket, mostly for the fact that they are most like the disposable, and as a cloth first-timer, ease of use is a good thing.  The AIOs are well, just that.  They consist of a waterproof, outer cover, with all the absorbant material sewn inside.  They look just like a disposable, but have the added benefit of being adjustable in size, which is fantastic for Ryan.  The pocket diapers are cool too, because they have a waterproof outer layer, and a pocket inside, which you can stuff with inserts, meaning that you can vary the absorbency of the diaper, which is also very cool.  And, as an added bonus, they come in ultra-bright colors and fantastic prints.  I went with two brands, Fuzzibunz and Bum Genius.  Fuzzibunz Elite came very highly recommended, as the legs have adjustable elastic, which is a dream come true for this chubby-legged baby mom, they are also one size, so Ryan can wear them from now until he is toddling around, which is a good thing in terms of cost effectiveness.  The Fuzzibunz are pocket diapers, so I'll be able to play with them quite a bit in terms of absorbency. I went with Bum Genius because there are rave reviews of Bum Genius all over the Net.  It was a little trickier to order Bum Genius though, because they have a bunch of different styles.  So, I went with a little of each.  I ordered some of their 4.0s, which are pockets.  I then ordered some Bum Genius Elementals, which are AIOs made of organic cotton.  Finally, I ordered a few Freetime, which are new and are AI2, or All-in-Two, meaning that they are like AIOs, but you can adjust the absorbency with the two inserts that are sewn in. 

I received my order yesterday, and will start prepping the diapers tonight.

  Oh yeah, and prepping these two brands means sticking them in the washing machine.  No boiling or anything tricky. I hope to start daytime cloth diapering this week, and moving to nighttime diapering in a few weeks.  I can imagine that the learning curve with cloth is large, and I want to be patient with myself and with Ryan. As I gain experience with cloth diapers, I plan to enlarge my stash a bit, but for now, I think I have a nice assortment, and they are pretty "Daddy friendly," which is an added bonus.  I know that this is best to get Ryan out of disposables, and I'm excited to see my little Fluffy Butt!

Things loved in February

Is it possible that February is already gone?  I feel like I spent the majority of the month awake at night, trying to find sleep whenever possible, and laying on the couch being a "human pillow." 
But, I was still able to find a few things that I fell in love with.

Yves St Laruent- Touche Eclat

                       As it turns out, when you have a baby, you stop sleeping.  If you don't sleep for a longer time, you start to look like it.  This really helps with brightening up my face, so that I don't look, well, like a zombie.


Alcina Rich Anti-Age cream
   This is the embarassing thing.  I got my hair cut this month.  It was a desperate situation.  But, while I was there, my hairdresser mentioned that my skin seemed a bit dry.  I knew "a bit," was a huge  understatement, as the skin under my eyes was bright red, and hurt horrifically.  It got really embarassing though when she offered me an enzyme peel and moisturizing treatment "on the house."  My hairdresser kept saying that good skin is really important, and that I looked so tired!  On the way out, I asked if I could purchase a moistrizer, as I knew I needed a face cream.  She handed me this anti-age cream, and without a second thought, I purchased it.  When I got home, I read the box, it is supposed to be for "mature skin," which tends towards the over 40 crowd.  Fantastic!  I look 10 years older!  But, I love the face cream, it is so rich and not greasy, and feels like heaven on my dry cheeks. 

Facebook
   I am a member of a moms group on Facebook.  It is amazing!  The women are so kind and supportive and it is a huge help to go through this new mom thing with 193 other fantastic women.  I would be lost without them!

Fleece footie sleepers

    They do not sell fleece footie sleepers here.  I don't know what Germans do!  In the country where one must bundle their child beyond belief, I haven't figured out how people cover baby feet at night.  Ryan's feet get cold if they are bare in his sleep sack, so I really love footie sleepers! Ryan was lucky enough to have had one in newborn sized and one 3 month sized,. and we have a few terry hand-me downs.  I would be lost, and Ryan's feet would freeze without his footie sleepers!

The USA
  On the last day of February, which happened to be a Leap Year, my little one became a US citizen.  Joern stopped in front of the Connecticut flag in the US embassy in Frankfurt, and softly hummed the Star Spangled Banner in Ryan's ear.  The country may be frought with problems right now, but it is my home, and I am so excited that I can share being a part of this country with my son!

"You'll be my American Boy"

Things are slowly starting to resemble a life here.  Ryan is growing and changing all the time, and we realized that it was time to apply for Ryan's passport.
Little Ryan is one lucky little man.  Not only is he a German citizen, but he is a US citizen as well.  Of course, since he was not born in the USA, we did have a little extra work to do to obtain citizenship for Ryan, but we did that all today.  And now, our little guy will soon have all the documents necessary to prove this fact.
Becoming a US citizen when you're born outside of the US for Ryan was not too difficult.  Since his mom was born and raised in the US, and lived there for a period of time after her 14th birthday, it was relatively easy to pass on citizenship to Ryan.  But, we had to travel to the embassy in Frankfurt today to get this all accomplished.
Today was full of firsts.  Ryan wore his first red, white, and blue outfit.

Ryan had his longest car ride this morning, as we made our way up to Frankfurt, arriving 20 minutes late.  It was then Ryan and Joern's first time inside the US embassy.  Joern was required to be there as well, as both parents needed to be present to apply for a foreign born birth certificate (report of birth abroad.)  The wait was short, and quickly, we were upstairs at citizen services.  The lady was very kind, and took all of our paperwork.  We needed to apply for a report
of birth abroad, as well as a passport.  Then, it was over to take an oath.  I was all excited thinking we would need to go and promise to teach Ryan all about his second home, but disappointingly, we had to promise that we told the truth on his paperwork.  Afterwards, while Joern ran out to the car for the second time to get money, I went to the Federal Benefits window, to apply for Ryan's social security number.  Easy-breezy. 
We were in and out in about 30 minutes.  In that time, Ryan became a dual citizen!
We have to wait a few weeks for his birth certificate to arrive, and then, his passport will arrive in a few more weeks.  But, as of today, there are two Americans living in our house!  Hip hip hooray for the US' latest adorable citizen!

Stationery card

Vintage Heart Valentine's Card

Shutterfly offers custom St. Patrick's Day cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Sharing the love a little early.  My adorable little heartbreaker!