Diaper Bag List

Diapers – I usually try to 3-6 in the bag, but no less than 3.

Changing Pad

Wipes

Diaper Rash Cream – I keep one tube in each changing area in my house and one just for the bag.

Plastic Bags – Nothing is worse than a stinky diaper and no bag or garbage to rid yourself of it. Plus when I am at someone’s home I try not to stink up their garbage and take them home.

Disinfecting hand gel – Don’t be afraid to have others use it and you may want it after you change a diaper.

Bottle – Sometimes I pre-measure the water into the bottle, sometimes you won’t have access to water and need a bottled in a hurry.

Formula – I have a little dispenser that is nice to have. It has a couple bottles worth of formula pre-measured out. And I can have one scoop or two in the different compartments.

Bottled Water – I’m not one to buy Nursery Water, but I don’t like using the faucets in a public bathroom for a bottle though.

Burp Cloth

Bib – You will want this especially for special events when you have an extra nice outfit on.

Hat – In case it starts getting cold.

Extra outfit – You may need two if you have a baby that has blowouts, spits up a lot, or is a messy eater.

Extra socks – Those things walk off all the time!

Extra Binky – I forgot this when I went to a consignment sale and we were in line for two hours and I had dropped our binky somewhere. That was not fun.

Small Toy – Even when they are young it’s nice to have something that may distract your baby when they are getting fussy.

Light/Medium Weight Blanket – To keep the rain off, keep the sun out of their eyes or to use for nursing. (Light for summer or medium for winter)

Medium/Heavy Blanket – To keep your baby warm if the weather changes or it starts becoming late. (Medium for summer or heavy for winter)

Snack – It’s good to keep a snack for you in the bag also.

Easy print version of this list

Toddler Bag

We use a small child’s back pack to take Zanes supplies when we are out. Zane loves carrying it. I like having his toys when we go to the doctors office. I don’t like to touch the toys too much at the doctor’s office because of gerrms. I like to have his toys for those places that may not have toys either, it helps keep him quietly entertained.

Diaper – I ussually only need one in case he has dirty pants while out.

Wipes – I use a small travel case to hold them.

1-2 Board Books – Zane loves books and can keep him entertained for a long while.

2-3 Toys – One of our favorites is his magna doodle. He loves to draw and we don’t have to worry about him ruining anything with crayons or anything.

Juice box or Sippy Cup

So now I am off to clean out and reorganize my baby bag. Maybe you will want to do it with me. I will be adding my wallet, my computer or at least a space for it , a note pad and a pen just for me.

What do you keep in your diaper bag? I would love to hear other’s suggestions on what they keep in their diaper bags also.

Many of my friends did not know the struggles inside my heart as TJ and I tried to get pregnant and nothing happened. I am just not one to let people know that we are trying to have a baby so we didn’t get pity as we failed.

We hadn’t been using birth control for years but we were not trying to get pregnant either. After a year and a half at least of trying and having nothing happen I decided it just was not meant to be. I started a new diet July of 2006 deciding if I wasn’t going to get pregnant I might as well better myself.

When my period didn’t show I figured I was just psyching myself out but decided to get a pregnancy test. I couldn’t even look at it TJ came out with a fake pout and then showed me the positive test. The positive test that I kept on my vanity for pretty much the whole pregnancy to remind myself I was pregnant it hadn’t been a dream.

After Zaney was born I figured that we would have to work on getting pregnant again. Last July I looked at my calendar and mentioned to TJ I should have already had my period. He said no you miss counted it’s only been a couple weeks. Yet after I chewed my Mother-in-Law out I told TJ, I need to take a pregnancy test. To my huge surprise I got a very bright second line.

I want to send my congrats to Matt and Constance on their beautiful baby girl, so now it is not Maybe Baby anymore. Please stop by Matt’s blog and give them your congrats too!

Zarek Maddax was born 3/9/09 @ 12:57PM, he weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 18 1/2 inches long.

Two Zees in a Pod

Zane loves his baby brother. He came to visit us every day in the hospital and he would come running into the room going “Baby, Baby” and go straight to the bassinet. He loves to help with him. When Zane finds a binkie for him he tries to give it to him and when Zane finds a blanket he puts it on Zarek. He’s good about bringing a bottle over if we ask or a spit up rag.

On TJ’s first try to get them both in the car. He tried to get Zane to go out first and Zane wouldn’t leave without Zarek. He even ran over to the car seat and started dragging it along himself.

Here are some pictures of Zane and Zarek together:
Z+Z PICTURES

Zaney Update

Zane is doing really well he is learning his colors and he can count up to 5 really good and sometimes up to 10. He can also recognize squares, circles, triangles and his favorites stars. He is now set up in his big boy bed (a toddler bed) because we realized I would really be able to lift him in bed once TJ went back to work. He is adjusting to the bed really well and rarely gets out when he isn’t supposed to. He actually seems to be sleeping better.

Here are some pictures of Zane from January:
Zane Pics

On top of my christmas list is a laptop or a netbook to be able to at least blog while letting Zane play in the bonus room or the living room. I’ve really missed being able to do my computer thing. And I’m really going to need to figure something out because I am going to do a little work from home when baby is here and that will help me be home longer.

Almost forgot the Big Announcement:

WE’RE HAVING A BOY!!

Still haven’t come up with a name but we have scheduled the c-section for March 9th.

I have 200 days left ot go in this pregnancy and I get my real first ob appt tomorrow. I’m excited about hearing the heart beat. It’s so real when you get to do that. Though this morning sickness has been very real. Blah.

I’ve been working way too much and it looks like this next month is going to be the same. They have me working five days a week 3 out of four weeks. Which I’m tired, I don’t feel well and no one really cares at work.

I’m hoping to get some scrapbooking done tomorrow. I have someone who is going to buy a mini book from me so I need to try and get that done. My friend Andrea was talking about coming over and scrapbooking with me. That would be fun I haven’t had a craft day with friends in a long time.

I know just a quick boring update. But life has been boring lately.

Why do I have a compulsion to answer this question? No matter what, I answer-, even when it’s people I really don’t think they need to know. It just pops out of my mouth.

And if you are curious. No we didn’t plan this pregnancy and even Zane was a surprise. After not using birth control for six years and trying to concieve on and off Zane was a wonderful little surprise. I thought TJ and I would just not have children. But two years ago I got a positive test for my birthday.

And with six years to get Zane I figured it would take some work to get a second child. So yes this baby is a surprise and wasn’t planned on. But it is a wonderful blessing and surprise.

With my first pregnancy I had morning sickness and that’s all it was. I only had it in the morning and a few crackers were all I needed to calm my stomach. But this time around I’m just ill. You know that point where you want to throw up, that’s where I am all the time. Only I know throwing up isn’t going to make it go away. Nothing makes it go away and even drinking water makes it worse.

With my first pregnancy I didn’t have very much heartburn and I only had it the third trimester. Which is understandable when your stomach is being pushed into your chest. This time around I already have heartburn even if I sit up after I eat. So TJ will have to get me some medicine because I am already pretty uncomfortable.

With my first pregnancy my skin was the clearest it has ever been since I hit puberty. My face is so bad this time around that I have no idea what I’m going to do. It’s the worst it’s ever been. It’s pretty embarrassing especially since we haven’t been telling too many people yet.

Some of the things that are the same is the forgetfulness. Which I would love to know why forgetfulness is a symptom of pregnancy. I’m just hoping they don’t notice at work until I decide I want to tell them I’m pregnant. And then there is the complete exhaustion. I am falling asleep while playing with Zane. Which he doesn’t appreciate in the least. My first pregnancy I would wake up, shower, work, eat, sleep. Sometimes I would fall asleep at 6:30pm. I don’t know how this is going to work with a 1 year old.

It will interesting to watch how much more is different as I go through this pregnancy.

One exciting thing is that I had a place that had requested my resume a couple of weeks ago. I just got their message from monday that they wanted to meet me. (Good thing my interview pants have an elastic band.)

I wanted to be up-front with them about me being pregnant. I knew that some employers don’t like to hire someone that is pregnant. It’s a risk. Is the employee going to be coming back after maternity leave? How long of a leave will they be taking?

They were actually excited for me. They said that was a wonderful thing and that it wouldn’t be an issue. So I have an interview and I’m really excited about it. The only thing I’m worried about is my face is really broken out because of hormones and my clothes have already started not to fit.

Well, thank you again for all the kind comments. I will let you know how the interview goes.

I have to admit I’m actually depressed about this. I don’t know why I’m depressed and it upsets me even more to think about the fact that I’m depressed about being pregnant. I want to be happy. We waited six years for our little boy and to get pregnant again is such a huge blessing for us.

But all I can think about is the money, the budget, my friends, my work, my new business and so much more that terrifies me.

It didn’t help that the weekend I realized that my period was late we overdrafted our account horribly. We had the money to cover everything, but TJ was in a hurry and instead of depositing the money with a teller he put it in an ATM. He put it in Friday afternoon and it didn’t post until this Monday afternoon. At least six things posted on the account on Saturday and this morning it went through before the deposit. He is going to go in to talk to the bank manager, but I don’t have too much hope in them helping us.

I already have been depressed this whole month on the fact that our budget is -$80 a month and we don’t have any savings to pay our taxes. I feel overwhelmed with the fact TJ can’t find a better job and at my job I have no hope of a good raise. The last two years my raises have been less than the increase in the minimum wage in Oregon. My wages at this job are going backwards. Yet I have few choices in a new job. If I find a new job it cannot be in the same town, which is where Zane goes to daycare. I pay almost nothing for a wonderful woman to watch Zane and I could never replace her. So a new job would mean a longer commute.

Then there are my friends. As the first one to have a baby it’s been so hard. I’ve been so excited for my friends to start trying this fall. I had even hoped TJ would find a new job so we could start trying in the fall with them. But now I feel like my friends are going to be upset because here I am pregnant and they all want to get pregnant but have to wait for one reason or another. I know that sounds like a blanket statement, but 4 out of my 5 best friends want to get pregnant and have to wait. I don’t want to tell any of them and I feel horrible about not wanting to tell them. Plus I’m terrified that my friends are going to end up having difficulties getting pregnant and seeing me pregnant isn’t going to help. I hated when I learned someone was pregnant when we were struggling to conceive and I don’t want to hurt them in this way.

My work isn’t going to get any better. Being pregnant and being a mommy is almost a disease at work. I am surrounded by women who made the choice not to have children.  Half the time I’m treated “special” because I’m a mommy and half the time I’m treated like I’m stupid because I am a mommy. Most of the time they “know” what I’m going through and what I need. If I point out something I do need like having a set schedule, I’m asking for too much from them, because they don’t understand how important this is to a child.

I had been hoping to start getting my business off the ground, but I’ve already been feeling discourage for so many reasons. I want to be a work at home mommy. I wanted to stay home with my Zaney and now I want to stay home with both my babes, but unless a miracle happens with my business this is just not going to happen fast enough. Please pray with me that God will make this happen for us, somehow. And if you want to hire me to do any graphics or web design for you this would really help my family.

I’ve been trying to keep all the negatives out of my head and fill myself with the positives.

My husband is so excited. TJ sat down with me and comforted me when I had an inkling and told me how wonderful it was going to be. He told me he had a plan to make things better. I try to keep thinking about what a blessing this is and how for so long I had thought we wouldn’t have children. I’m trying to get myself excited about going through the whole experience of being pregnant, which I loved. I am trying to think about how close Zane will be with his little sibling. I am even trying to convince myself how great it will be not having my periods for a while.

Hopefully the hormones will pass soon and the joy will fill me. Hopefully soon.