It’s a really nice facility. The laboring rooms have lots of seating, a tv, storage, private bath, etc. One chair even pulls out into an extra bed. Olga Libova gave our tour (10+ people) and showed us all the ways their laboring mothers can use the room (pretty much anywhere and any position that helps!), where helpers can sit (though this isn’t a spectators sport ), the supplies available in-room (super-feminine hospital underwear , balance ball, water bottle, sheets, towels, newborn care station). I don’t know how others were feeling but with the very topic that can make me so emotional, her stories and descriptions made me laugh (kicking out too many people. big dinner and active labor? forget the sick pan, bring over the trash can!). She described the monitors (which actually show everyone on the floor, she said one was pushing), their procedures for babies who “aren’t behaving” and mothers who need help, how to communicate to the nurses about what you’d like. Anyway, there was a lot to see and hear about how things work there.

A couple things I found interesting regarding safety and security. No one is allowed to walk through the halls, or out of the hospital carrying the baby. During the hospital stay, newborns in the hallways have to be in the bassinet. In one’s room of course, they can be held. When leaving the hospital, Mom holds the baby while pushed in a wheelchair. We saw a few leaving, they all had the baby in detachable car seats on their lab. Mom, baby, and designated helper (Dad or other) get matching bracelets. The only non-employees allowed in the nursery are those with bracelets.

The midwives recommend Mom hold baby right after birth to encourage skin-to-skin, get started breastfeeding, and keep the baby in-room for the duration of the stay (as long as she hasn’t been overly exhausted by labor). She spoke of birth plans but actually calls them “Letters of Introduction”. These let nurses know who the family is and how they prefer Mom and baby be cared for as long as all is well. It’s not a list of “do not”’s. She even recommended photos, using it as a way to build a relationship with the nurses.

Upon arriving home, I started a written list for what we’ll need to bring along.
~ installed infant car seat
~ snacks. sandwiches were also recommended. (They have “nourishment” room with snacks and turkey sandwiches that are “ok”.)
~ trash-able tube top and skirt for laboring if a hospital gown is undesirable
~ Other clothes and toiletries for me and Tim
~ white robe (it’s lightweight and waffle knit) and flip flops
~ music player, chargers.
~ baby clothes for departure
~ blanket (from home to be cozy)
~ camera
~ Letter of Introduction

Labor & Delivery is on the first floor of the Women’s Hospital/Orchard Pavilion, which is one floor up. Ground floor has registration, the gift shop, garage parking entrance. On the first floor by the elevator is a waiting room but we saw a few people come to visit someone and Olga directed them elsewhere, “to the hippo”. Tim and I wondered if that’s really what she said. And there, walking between the postpartum nurses station and the nursery window, was a visiting area with a life-size hippo statue lying on the floor. It is a favorite with visiting children and an encouragement to women who feel like hippos. As I said, I’m really happy that I’m seeing this group of midwives and with El Camino. I’m looking forward to a good experience.

When I finally came downstairs it was lunchtime. Tim and I actually sat at the table together talking a little about baby names and potential activities for the day. We decided on visiting Half Moon Bay before removing to the office to check weather. We did some school research together, I had a little tear fest sharing everything I feel piling on me, and we determined to head to the coast despite the likely chill and wind.

We all managed to dress in stripes. Tim in a long sleeve shirt, me in a turtleneck sweater of blue and greens, and Sara Ellen in a pink and yellow hooded sweater and similar but different tights and her pink rain boots. She still had two braids from the night before (to prevent knots) in yellow ties. This was day two with my PackaBe and I very pleased!

I wanted to see if there was more to HMB than the cliff walk and town we visited with Emily in December so we headed north on 1 after getting into town. It does extend a little further up the coast but just a few businesses and small beaches. We stopped at one park but didn’t see much. There were small paths through the ground cover but hard to find or navigate paths to the beach. It was cool and windy but we were prepared with jackets. I discovered it was helpful to cinch my hood against the breezes trying to blow it off. Though reluctant to brave wind and possible rain, Sara Ellen didn’t want to leave. We kept driving north along the ocean-side highway very much enjoying the view but found nowhere else we wanted to pull over.

Highway 1 took us through Moss Beach and Pacifica and up to Daly City/South San Francisco where we took 280 back toward San Jose. Instead of heading home, we decided to visit Valley Fair Mall. Playtown was crazy busy so we bypassed that and went upstairs for a little baby furniture research at Pottery Barn Kids. I stopped in Motherhood and found their undergarment selection still lacking. Sara Ellen checked out all the goodies at the Disney Store (I’d like to get her a Terry cloth zip up dress to go over her swim suit), and then Tim parked us on a bench to rest his tired wife while he and his daughter played iPhone games side by side.

We enjoyed a very yummy dinner at CPK! We had the best spinach and artichoke dip ever. Sara Ellen devoured fusilli (curly pasta) with meat sauce, I had a Caesar salad with chicken (a very good choice after all the “spin-dip”), and Tim had a pizza. All of us enjoyed the red velvet cake with vanilla ice cream and then thankfully headed home where I can finally rest my tired back and belly in bed.

Feels so good to spend the day together, trying something new, and even something familiar. Thank you Alex! Tim is back to work tomorrow but not until after church and Sara Ellen and I will going to San Francisco for an R-MWC alumnae party.

The price is still great, but can we as parents actually participate? I definitely won’t be able to do the weekly work. Even if I were not going to be exclusively nursing baby #2, I’m not sure who I’d leave her with anyway. Tim’s schedule is now so full and sometimes unpredictable that we don’t know if he can still take the time to work at the school. All I can think to do right now is start looking at schools again, a task I really don’t want to do. I do not like researching. Most are much more expensive, there are the visits, recommendations to find, and the worry that even if we find one we’ll be on another waiting list. And Sara Ellen’s at the age where I could even begin looking at elementary schools, opening up a whole new can of worms!!

Is there a best choice? Or, are there lots of good choices? Should I just be looking at the local public elementary schools that feed into the highly-rated upper schools nearby? Or, should I look at independent schools that offer more levels? I wanted to be involved, but it doesn’t seem like I can do at least what I had hoped. Do we have yet to realize that we’re just going to have to shell out more money? And even once we make the choices, we’ll still be concerned if we’ve made the right one. As challenging as being a mother at home can be, wanting to find engaging activities to enjoy together, it’s a lot of fun, and making choices for us to grow on is getting trickier.

Lately, as I get bigger and bigger, I have been looking at photos of myself from 2007. Sara Ellen was a year and a half, I had been dancing three days a week and exercising as rehabilitation at the chiropractors. In other words, my face etc. was looking slim; gives me hope. I know it might sound silly. Then there is the fact that I am not set with a dance studio here and my workout is with WiiFit. Well, come June I’ll start nursing off the calories. Hopefully I’ll have a tiny bit more energy than I do now.

That is sufficient introduction to one of my favorite things, at least right now: my bed. My big, foam covered mattress with pillows and a blanket on top that makes me feel cozier. My bed has been one of my favorites since at probably October. Not every day but some afternoons or early evenings, all I want is to curl up in bed to read, eat, watch something, or nap. Even if I don’t feel the need to get in early, getting in at night is a lovely feeling! If I say bedtime is my favorite time, I don’t just mean because Sara Ellen is down. I get to curl up in bed, get comfortable maybe wait for the baby to kick (I was watching the movement last night!), and drift off in hopes of sleeping soundly all night.

Just a little randomness thrown in, my belly button is becoming less of an innie. I don’t remember if this happened with Sara Ellen. And I’m still trying to get my pants to stay up! I’m hoping capris might be better except they still have to make it over my bum and my knees. I have one comfy knit skirt. I’d like another. I’m waiting for my Liz Lange swim suit to arrive; dark skirt bottom and dark green floral top halter, the kind that covers front and center, leaves the shoulders open and has a tie right around the neck. I anticipate enjoying the heated community pool when they turn said heat on in May I think. I am also totally jazzed about the babysteals.com deal I scored yesterday. I was checking mail and facebook by iphone per my usual lazy morning routine and saw the JuJuBe fan page sharing the incredible offer, PackaBe backpack for $60!! It’s usually runs well over $100 and I have been wanting one for months, and they even had the color I wanted! They ship same day. Babysteals has one huge deal everyday that posts at 9 a.m. MST and goes quickly. K, that was a lot of randomness.

Another favorite thing: Coca Cola. It is the best tasting soda in my opinion and there is bubbliness. I really don’t want to drink so much fakey sugar but my weakness for this beverage is increasing. I don’t keep it in the house and I try not to buy it or request Tim bring it home too often. I was the same way with Sara Ellen, because it helped me burp. One of my particular pregnancy symptoms is the softening of the digestive tract making lots of burps and coughs because food can go down too quickly.

Other randomness, a couple weeks ago I went through the boxes of Sara Ellen’s baby clothes looking to see what we can reuse. We do have a decent amount that we can use, especially since the weather here allows for a lot of layering and continued use. There are even a few things we can use that we couldn’t with Sara Ellen such as a 6 month-or-so snow jacket and car-seat friendly snow sack. These two girls are born in opposite seasons and especially as we are going east next Christmas. Oh geez, we’re going to have TWO car-seats to install in a rental! Anyway, baby girl number two is going to need clothes for her first months in the summer and warm autumn; rompers, tops and bottoms, probably some tiny onesies.

Next favorite: organizing and re-purposing. My most recent success was clearing the corner in our play area, getting more off the floor, and making stuff more accessible. I got a short square shelf system from IKEA. I already had a pink canvas container from Target with bowling set. I added other active pursuit accessories in it. I got a matching container in yellow to put in dolls and accessories. Those two are in the top shelves. In the bottom shelves are puzzles and coloring items. For coloring and writing books I got two unpainted wood magazine holders. We painted them “pool blue” and on the front I used fish stickers to create a little aquarium, I’m quite proud. On the top of the unit I put all Sara Ellen’s board games, which had been on the refrigerator, and a purple basket for her play-doh. Years ago I bought a white shelf and storage bench set for my own room. In this house I put the bench under our door mail slot. It was holding random stuff. Next to our couch I had what was a nice box for blankets but it got soiled and squished so I moved the bench there and it’s also making a great end table. The hanging shelf had two small shelves and three hooks. It had been sitting in our garage until I realized I could use it to get laundry products off the dryer. It’s actually sitting upside down on the very top of the dryer, leaning against the wall and working very nicely but I won’t be sharing any photos.

Another happy thing: yummy food. That’s kind of obvious but especially now when I usually don’t want to cook much. I like to put together a meal for my family but sometimes it’s hard to come up with something that’s going to be healthful and very yummy. I’m not a very imaginative cook but I can follow a recipe and tweak it now and then. I try to keep food in the house to throw together but I do not like grocery shopping, even when I have a bunch of good meals planned. If I go alone and listen to my own music while shopping it’s a little easier but still not my favorite activity. Ham sandwiches are yummy, fruit juice is refreshing, veggie and/or sauce laden pasta dishes and Chinese food are good too. Milk is delicious. Fruit is awesome.

Speaking of refreshing, I discovered that I love to wash my face with cold water. It’s almost like drinking it. However I still prefer to shower in warm soothing water. My favorite products? Biolage Matrix antidandruff shampoo & conditioner. I have tried the readily available in-store products. I even tried the set from Proactiv. It treated my scalp okay but not my hair. It was poofy and impossible to run my hands through. I never before purchased from salon but I did and it’s been great. I had been using Aveeno shaving gel but tried Venus Spa Breeze razor cartridges with the water-softened gel on the razor and it’s way more convenient and works well. I’ve gone back to Mary Kay for facial cleansing but my consultant and I put together a different Timewise system. Instead of getting all normal to dry or all combination to oily we decided my skin would be better served by combination cleanser to take out less oil and normal moisture to put in more. I tried Proactiv for a while and I thought it was okay but my skin didn’t feel smooth and clean. I’m quite partial to MK tinted moisturizer, to which I can add extra moisture if the air is drier, and MK colors. It’s that cliche female thing, putting my face together along with pretty, comfy clothes and fun earrings makes me feel good, pregnant or not.

That’s all I can think of and it’s certainly plenty. A lot of those thoughts aren’t really fascinating conversation topics but that’s why I started a blog. Writing gets out of my head what I wanted to share, though potentially irrelevant but so normal that others might possibly take interest.

On returning home from driving Tim to work, Sara Ellen and I kicked her bright pink soccer ball around in our driveway, which is a significantly-sized, paved area servicing 6 2-car garages. We came inside when the lawn mower noise was nearing us, and had some more breakfast (Trader Joe’s plain bagel with pb and jelly). I also began reading Anne of Green Gables for the first time. Sara Ellen actually asked me to read her some of it. I don’t know if it’s familiarity with the Megan Follows videos, or the writing, or both, but I’m already hooked. I finished This Present Darkness yesterday after two days, and I am still trying to get through The Secret Garden. Sara Ellen wanted to play with her little cars on their toy mat, and I sat down to filter through her drawing paper, books, and coloring books. I got rid of the used up books so we can focus on what’s still available. Naturally, when I go through things which have previously been buried, Sara Ellen rediscovers them. Not that this causes a problem, she won’t miss them, and we still have plenty of books to use. I recently bought a new notebook, we have two coloring books that are nearly a year old, and another she received for her birthday.

At lunchtime she watched “Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure”, while I wished CSI had aired last night. As with most shows, there is a winter hiatus, but it aired last week and now won’t air again until February 13. We’re caught up on Hero’s, and apparently LOST starts next week. I watched a couple Hero’s on NBC.com but lately it hasn’t worked for me and, despite Tim’s suggestion, I am not signed up with Hulu. LOST usually comes in just fine on ABC.com. I *did* watch the the iPad video and part of the keynote, but the latter was a too long and I’m sorry to say, not riveting. When Tink was finished, it was barely two and as it’s been so nice recently, I felt like we had to get out. With Sara Ellen’s approval we headed to Palo Alto to visit the Jr. Museum and Zoo. The museum has been the same since we first visited, featuring kid-powered “Clean GREEN Energy Machines”. In this museum, as in the Children’s Discovery, I don’t have to do much. There is either much for Sara Ellen to discover on her own, or she works with other kids and has a grand time. I’m not disengaged, but watching her interact with others, or looking around. The zoo still has most of it’s displays open but is updating it’s bat house (reopening in the spring), and renovating what was something like an aviary for a bobcat run. The very cute bobcat was curled up in a cardboard box right by the window, we didn’t see it much in the warmer months. For some reason, they replaced an owl or other predatory bird with a domestic rabbit and a pigeon?! There is a shady spot (which to my currently sensitive nose was smelly) with four frogs that Sara Ellen enjoys jumping on, she joined two other children in this pursuit. After spending some time here, the other two (fraternal twins – boy [with deep red hair] and girl [with blond hair]) wanted to visit the park which is right next to, but not connected with the museum. Sara Ellen decided to join them but was distracted by the stump labyrinth in front of the museum. The others came out soon after and joined her. They did this for 30-40 minutes. Another boy joined them, and it was quite entertaining watching how each four-year-old claimed their place on the circuit. After a while I worked up my nerve, after asking a few questions, to ask the mother if she’d like to get our kids together another time. We exchanged information and soon after departed. Hooray for more potential local friends (they live in S San Jose, not Palo Alto)!

This evening involves more car play, a bath, and mini meatloaves with green beans. Tomorrow brings Sara Ellen’s final jr combo class at Studio10 Dance (hooray!) and Grandmommy (hooray again!).

~Question~
Ok, I will admit I haven’t read any of the books ([youngest] is on the last one now). I did finally watch the first movie this weekend and I have some questions for you – since you are an expert on it.

Does Edward essentially stay 17 in thought, maturity level, etc. even though he’s been 17 since (was it) 1918? If he does, that would explain why he is attracted to another 17 year old, despite the fact that he can’t read her mind; which was one of the main reasons he mentioned.

If he does not stay 17 and matures to adulthood over the years, I would think he would be attracted to someone who is more like 40+ years old with more knowledge and life experience. I’m just thinking as far as knowledge goes – he’s been there for every major technological advancement in the last 100 years – in high school or wherever. Obviously has a huge library of music and probably an great appreciation of the arts – having tons of time on his hands not sleeping and all.

Other vampire/immortal stories usually just have adults attracted to adults that are around their own age too. I found this story particularly interesting because there is so much that changes between say 17 and 27.

Well, if it’s just part of the fantasy of the story and doesn’t make much difference that’s fine but I thought I would ask you if you’d ever considered that.

I know, I know, I probably should go and read the books…in all my spare time

~Answer~
Hehe, I love a good Twilight discussion. It’s true that the answers to your questions are in the story, but many things can be missed in a first read.

Edward was born in 1901, so by age 17 in 1918, he’s grown, ready to join the army (or get married if he’d met Bella). By those standards, he is mature. Then he’s the first to join Carlisle and knowing his “father’s” pure respect for humanity, he is mature in how he acts. His first sister, Rosalie, is about the same age in the 1930’s but is extremely vain. Edward is the first she encounters who does not desire her. He hears everyone’s thoughts so he knows how immature people can be. He does experience a lot of the world’s changes because he has no mate and lots of free time to study. Selfishly Edward wants to keep Bella forever but he knows it is selfish so he decides to live with her for her human life. He doesn’t care what she looks like, she will always be beautiful Bella to him.

Bella is raised by a flighty young mother, and cares for her (in #2 her father Billy says Bella cared “emotionally” for her mother) by trying to keep her from senseless ideas, does the grocery shopping and cooking, etc. Her mother calls Bella “her middle-aged daughter” and says the engagement didn’t surprise her because Bella was never a typical teenager and always committed to her decisions. So Bella is also quite mature. She wasn’t one to marry young, her mother actually was very vocal about that issue (but later revealed it to apply to herself). Bella married b/c she thought it was the responsible choice she could make and share with her friends and family (couldn’t share the immortal choice) and then realized marriage was wonderful.

The vampire world rule was to keep the secret, and this meant never changing the very young humans because they could not be controlled.:-D

~Closing~
L: Lovely. The whole maturity level of Edward being ready to go to war, etc. makes total sense for that time. Most people did marry by their late teens or early 20’s (my grandparents were the exception – they were late 20’s/early 30s…old maids by 1935 standards).

I knew that you would have a reasonable, well thought out explanation. Now I really will have to read the books to get the little extra details.

Me: Well, it *was* written by a grown woman with three children.

• She did need a little convincing, and by that I mean putting her on it myself, to sit on the toilet this morning. But after that we were dressed and ready to go [where ever] when we dropped Tim off at work, we just had to choose a destination. We were between Playtown at Westfield Valley Fair and the Children’s Discovery Museum. Both opened at 10 and it was only nine so we chose to sit outside the mall for 45 minutes listening to music, driving Lightening McQueen, and playing Sudoku. Ok, none of this is really an achievement, WAIT, Sara Ellen went all night in dry underpants instead of diapers and had no accidents after waking! I believe this marks #8 of our diaper-free days.
• I didn’t accomplish what I would have liked (involving shopping at Motherhood), but “we” stayed dry.
• She gave me no grief about eating a banana with lunch before ice cream.
• She took herself to the toilet. The last few days she’s starting going 3 instead of 2 times a day.
• Gave me little grief about holding my hand in the parking lot and then coming when I asked at Target. We picked out 3 kinds of new underpants, we now have Tinkerbell, Princess and the Frog, and Fancy Nancy, on top of the others. She also helped pick out a sturdier laundry basket for her room. Besides that, when looking at bath toys (I will no longer purchase squirt bath toys – they keep water in and grow mildew), she told me she had to go to the bathroom, we made it there, and she went! This is the first time she’s gone while out. Then she helped carry the basket to the car.
• We also visited Safeway, and on returning home, she took the laundry out of the dryer all by herself, putting them in her new basket and mine while I put away groceries.
• After helping to put away her duplos, I let her play a little Wii Sports Resort while I made her bed and put away laundry. I also took out all the diapers from the dresser, and two unopened packages of swim diapers and too-small clothes from the closet. I even used the plastic snapping packages, empty of underpants, for hair bands, and moved bulky tights from the small sock drawer into the now less full top drawer. During all this, Sara Ellen calls up, asking me to turn on a light. She was in the dark, downstairs bathroom, needing to be wiped. I am so excited that she is taking herself to the bathroom, and am amazed that she doesn’t ask for help!
• Before we brushed her teeth, I decided to clean her toilet. She wanted to, and did help.
• Then, because I cleaned up instead of putting her to bed right on time, I told her I’d only read one book. She took it just fine, though this is not a first.

Did it seriously take one week to acclimate Sara Ellen to using the toilet? I didn’t use rewards, or anything that convinced her. I sat her on the toilet, asked her constantly, and made it consistent. That helped me learn more about her. I guess she got used to what it felt like, and accepted this transition as she has accepted many others. Would it have happened this easily if I had made the decision a year or two ago? I might try this sooner next time. I’ve felt that way about several things; ending night-nursings, getting her into her toddler bed, getting her to fall asleep on her own (after stories). I’m happy with the order in which I did things, but I might try sooner. In addition to all this, she’s so extra lovey; lots of hugs and kisses (almost too many, definitely another kissing bandit), telling me she loves and likes me frequently. My amazing daughter, giving so much back. She’s going to be an awesome sister.

I don’t expect a certain time frame. I didn’t know her patterns. I expected there would be accidents.

It’s been about five days, but I’m not counting anymore. It’s going reasonably well. I’m just glad she’s not in diapers. I’ll take this frustration that seems to be going somewhere. I learned that she does actually have a pattern in one way, it’s just quite surprising. We have to make her sit on the toilet in the morning, it usually takes about ten minutes, and it helps if we read so she can relax. She doesn’t go again until about dinner time! Sadly, she doesn’t have a bowel routine. It could be any time of day, she can go for days without, and then go more than once in a day. I have to keep my eye on her because when she starts to hide, that’s the clue.

I’m really happy to have made this decision. My first baby keeps getting bigger, it’s time for her to be a “big girl” in this way too, in addition to all the other ways she’s already achieved. I feel better now feeling I’ll have one daughter in underpants and just one in diapers.

• Diapering – I am way passed ready for Sara Ellen to be out of diapers. I’m sure some readers would be shocked to know she’s still wearing them. For every transition with her, it’s happened in her time, often influenced by what I really have to do for myself. I’ve tried persuading her, telling her what would be different if she finally made the switch to underpants. She doesn’t seem to care. She often says, “I haven’t learned yet”. There are ways to push it or force it, but most of those are just going to take it’s toll on me. Now and then I’ve had her walk around undressed or with underpants, at times she says she has to go and gets on the toilet, and other times she says she has to go and doesn’t, and still other times it surprises her and I have to clean up.
  Aside from toilet-training, I’m also ready to be finished filling landfills with disposable diapers. I’ve gotten recommendations and personal experiences from a friend and have chosen two brands of one-size, all-in-one diapers, Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius. I’m not fussed about color. I won’t be trying to get all pink for a girl or all blue for a boy. I’ll be borrowing Kissaluvs from my friend, the kind that are tiny and cut for an infant with a remaining umbilical cord.
• Bathing – I’m totally fine with Sara Ellen bathing in the tub, but I would like to get her more comfortable with showering, especially when it comes to washing hair. I’ve also wanted to cover the tub faucet to avoid [any more] injuries. When Sara Ellen was an infant, sink bathing was very acceptable. As she got bigger, I’d have to fill the tub and often bathe with her. I’d rather save some water. Also it’s difficult to handle and towel a slippery baby. With all that in mind I have added the Stay-Dry Towel Apron, faucet cover, mobile shower head, toy scoop/product shelf, and infant-to-toddler tub with sling.
• Furnishing – We’ve never had a true changing table, except that which came on the Pack ‘n Play. Most of the time putting a changing mat or pad on a bed works well. For this time I nearly chose a table that coordinates with the crib we have (Delta Cambridge) but then realized many dressers come with attachments. I’ve been happy with Pottery Barn Kids furniture so I chose the PBK Catalina Dresser & Changing Table Topper Collection in Sun Valley Espresso. Sara Ellen is using a dresser in a similar color given to me years ago by my grandparents. I’d also like a cozy rocking chair and a sturdy stool to use while nursing. I put my feet up a lot on our coffee table in Sara Ellen’s first few months, and that wasn’t the best. For these I’ve chosen PBK’s Dream Rocker with a poly frame and Brushed Blue Twill slipcover and the Medela Nursing Stool.
• Gear – Not sure what else to call a baby swing, car seat (infant supporter), sling, carrier infant insert, and bags. One thing I firmly believe would have a been a huge help in Sara Ellen’s early life, was a swing or a bouncer. Later on, sometime soon after returning to Maryland, we were given a bouncer and it did help. I’m thinking a standing swing, which would given a little motion of course, would be nice. I’ve chosen the Graco Sweet Peace Soother Swing (a friend has one). It has good reviews and another model is coming out in March with what I think are better toy options. For the carseat, we’re going with convertible again but this time with the Britax Roundabout which has great reviews, one of which is that it’s easier to install. When Sara Ellen was tiny, she slumped down while napping all the time, this time I want to add the Kiddapotamus supporter. We already have an ERGO baby carrier which is awesome for distributing weight, but we didn’t get it until Sara Ellen was a year old so this time we’ll need the infant insert. There is a new one available that keeps the baby upright instead of laying them to one side. I think this will make nursing easier. I’d also like the Dr. Sears Balboa Baby sling for cozy wearing in shorter time increments. When I was pregnant with Sara Ellen, I assumed I’d need some sort of diaper bag. I chose a large tote and rarely used it, partly because it was so much larger than we needed and when full didn’t zip well. It seemed using a larger purse to carry extra clothing, diapers, diaper pad and wipes was fine. After some time it got annoying because those items were mixed in with mine and was harder to extricate. This time I know more of my options. The Ju Ju Be bags are awesome. Even before this pregnancy, I’ve been wanting a pretty backpack with a messenger bag option for taking on day trips. Ju Ju Be has a fantastic one called the Packabe. All their bags have what they call “Mommy pockets” but I would also like to have the Be Mine so I can quickly take out my own belongings. With a baby coming I’m also interested in the Ju Ju Be Mess Shuttle to hold messes, obviously. However, the Packabe is too big for the average day. The one I’ve picked is called the Be All, a messenger bag with several great pockets to separate need items. It’ll be like a large purse. The particular one I’d like is customized under Be Unique, which can use 3 different models. I’ll choose the Be All in brown with the International Breastfeeding Symbol in a yellow circle or blue stripe fabric that I hope Tim will also feel comfortable carrying. This is only available for order by Be Unique Super Custom order form and I’ll be saving for it.