taralyn GRACE

From the fullness of his GRACE

we have all received one blessing after another.

John 1:16 NIV

5 Months Old

Taralyn Grace

This baby girl is such a blessing!  I can’t begin to tell you what a sweet baby she is.  Tara is truly perfect in so many ways.  I don’t know where on earth she inherited her laid back, patient spirit, but the Lord certainly blessed us with a wonderful baby.  She just goes with the flow of our craziness.  And totally tolerates her mama’s obsessive picture taking!

The boys are totally crazy about her.  Each one of them!  They are already very protective of her.  I’m not sure she has a favorite brother yet, but Trevor sure is working hard for the title.  He never refuses to help me with her & I still catch him just staring at her.  He is so smitten it is adorable. 

Little Miss is rolling all over the place & trying her hardest to crawl & sit up.  She is very complacent, there isn’t much she doesn’t like – Noise doesn’t bother her & she doesn’t mind if she is being held or not.  She will lay in her play area for hours, just cooing & sucking her little fingers (she is a self-soother).  We are loving every minute of watching her grow.  Although I look forward to this journey I truly hope time won’t zoom by, I want to soak in every single moment.

A Splash of Pink

Now that Tara is getting bigger we decided she needed her own little area in our school{barn}…

Wild Thang

I Think I LOVE You!!

newborn Cloth Diapers

After almost 3 weeks the newborn disposable diapers that were given to me were all used . . .

Time to start using cloth diapers!!

When I was pregnant with Truman I decided to use cloth diapers, but I wasn’t sure I would stick with it long-term.  I figured the cost & learned that I had to use them for at least 4 months for them to “pay for themselves”.  I ended up using them almost 2 years – until Truman potty trained himself. 

When I initially began using cloth diapers I didn’t really know a lot about them, (what was good or not) & made most of my purchased based on recommendations from blog mamas that used cloth. 

My beginning stash included:

Diapers (suggusted:  24-36):  I ordered both contour & fitted diapers.  I don’t have any complaints about either – contour aren’t as easy with newborns; however, they make great (less expensive) back-up diapers.  I purchased: 

• 6 fitted Kissaluvs
• 1 fitted Thristies
• 6 contour Kissaluvs
• 4 Imse Vimse flannelette contour
• 1 Imse Vimse terry contour

*Thirsties are my all time favorite!  I also really like the Kissaluvs fitted, especially for newborns.  I am not crazy about the Imse Vimse diapers at all.

Covers (4-6):  I ordered

• 2 Imse Vimse cotton covers
• 2 Imse Vimse wool covers
• 1 Thirsties cover

*I happy with both these brands for covers.

AIO (3): The AIO's are awesome, but they are also awesomely expen$ive.  Initially, I decided to order 1 of each brand that I had my options narrowed down to. I ordered:

• 1 AIO (w/ snaps) from Imse Vimse
• 1 bumGenius one size
• 1 pocket diaper from Fuzzi Bunz.

*I like all these brands, but the Imse Vimse didn’t fit as long as the other 2 brands.

Doublers (12-24):  I ordered:

• 1 bumGenius insert
• 4 Kissaluvs booster doublers
• 1 package of Thirsties doublers
• 2 Imse Vimse terry liners
• 5 Imse Vimse flannelette liners
• 2 Imse Vimse stay dry liners
• 200 Imse Vimse flushable liners

*The bumGenius inserts are great for pocket diapers, I really liked the Kissaluvs & Thirsties doublers, but I did not like the Imse Vimse liners at all.

Taralyn’s Newborn Stash

I still have all my diapers I originally began with as well as additional purchases & gifts, but this time around I definitely have favorites!  As my second go around with cloth diapering a newborn I am using:

• Thirsties fitted diapers & covers
• Kissaluvs fitted diapers & covers
• Lil’ Joeys newborn AIO
• GroVia newborn AIO
• BumGenius newborn AIO
• Fuzzi Bunz newborn pocket diaper

I also found some “pretty girly” cloth diapers on Etsy, as well as some really inexpensive wool diapers (which make a great alternative to the expensive wool covers). 

A little bucket of LOVE . . .

            

Purple Prissy Princess

    

<3 Taralyn <3

A Miracle from God

Our Little Princess . . .

      

L&D

Every new mama loves sharing her birthing story.  Here is mine . . .

I woke up Saturday morning feeling great after finally getting a good nights rest.  At about 9am I started contracting every 15-20 minutes.  They weren’t painful, but slightly breath-taking.  I was also feeling quite a bit of pressure & unusual back pain.  The day before was my last OBGYN appointment (as I was scheduled to be induced the following Monday) & I was dilated to 3cm & 60% effaced.  Given my history of quick deliveries I decided to check-in with my doc.  Without any hesitation he suggested I make my way to the hospital.  Big Daddy stayed home with the kids (all but Trevor – who insisted on staying right by his mama’s side) & my mom took me to the hospital since we weren’t sure if I’d be staying or not. 

Once I arrived at L&D, I was observed for an hour – still having strong contractions, but not very close together.  Considering I live over an hour & a half from the hospital, my doctor encouraged me to walk around for an hour to see if I could make any progress.  After an hour of walking & squatting my contractions still were not any closer together, but I was dilated to 4cm.  The decision was made to admit me!!

 

At 6pm Big Daddy called to let me know him & the kids were heading my way & I let him know – my doctor had just broke my water!  Since I was already “laboring” my doctor was totally on board with seeing how I progressed on my own without any Pitocin.  All of my boys were induced (with the exception of my preterm labor with Talon), so I was really praying for a natural labor without any medicine.  I had to stay in bed for observation for an hour after my water broke, but after that I was free to walk around . . .

      

Big Daddy & the kids made it, as well as 2 of my best girlfriends. 

    

We all took bets on when I would deliver & how much the baby would way.

  After roaming the halls for a little over an hour it was time to see if I was making any progress.

           

My doctor suggested starting Pitocin at this point, but I negotiated for 30 more minutes since I was still progressing on my own.  Then things began to get pretty intense . . .

                     

My contractions were about every 3-4 minutes & I was dilated to 8cm

 

15 minutes later the doctor was rushing in & within moments Tara made her debut.

   

This was by far my easiest, quickest, most natural delivery – EXACTLY what I had been praying for.