Evolution of My Diaper Bag

Now that I have had 3 kids, I have been thinking about how my parenting has changed & evolved over the past 5 1/2 years of Motherhood.

One of the most obvious things that has changed from Baby #1 to Baby #3 is my diaper bag (or lack of).

This was my diaper bag when I had Kate:

I took it EVERYWHERE with me. It was huge. And, because I was a first time mom, I wanted a "name brand" diaper bag. I researched & researched diaper bags & got this Peutina Pickle Bottom at Nordstrom for a ridiculous amount of money. (Shaking my head)

This is what I had in Kate's diaper bag:

• 5-7 extra diapers
• Package of wipes
• Fold up Pad to Change her on
• 2 extra pacifiers
• pacifier holder
• bottle of hand sanitizer
• 2 burp cloths
• 1 plain white onesie
• 1 cute onesie
• 1 pair of footies/sleep n play outfit
• socks
• gas drops
• extra breast pads 
• Hooter Hider
• diaper cream
• Aquaphor
• Lanisoh Nipple Cream
• Bib
• Blanket
• bottle of water (for me, since I get thirsty while nursing)
• a plastic target bag in case she blew out an outfit
•  Squeaky Toy/Rattle

This is what I used when I had Claire.

I ditched the huge Diaper Bag and used this:

It contained a built in changing pad & fit in my big purse.
This held:

• 5-7 diapers
• package of wipes
• extra onesie
• extra outfit
• pacifier & pacifier holder
• burpcloth
• hand sanitizer

Fast forward a few years & here I am with Baby #3.

It has been YEARS since I carried a diaper bag 

(Luke is almost 4 years younger than Claire & 5.5 year younger than Kate)

 I didn't want to use a diaper bag with him, so this is what he gets:

That's right. 

A ziplock bag that I keep in my purse with a couple of diapers & a pack of wipes.

No change of outfit, no pacifier, no spare onesie. 

In fact, he had a blow out the other day and since I had no back up outfit, he just rode home in a diaper with no clothes on.

But, hey! Luke's "diaper bag" is the only one that is "monogrammed" Ha!

I am much more relaxed & go with the flow this time around & my diaper bag situation is proof of that!

Any other moms out there who ditched the diaper bag after their 1st or 2nd baby?

Life is Precious

It started off like any other Sunday.

But it wasn't.
We went church (running late, of course)
We came home, made lunch, let the girls play for a little bit & then put them down for naps.
Kevin & I planned on getting stuff done around the house, but I was exhausted from our Tahoe trip last week, so I decided to take a nap also.
After we all got up from our naps, the girls had a snack & then they were playing dress up & blocks.
Claire was running around the living room like she always does,
(If you know Claire, you know she doesn't walk...she runs)
As she was running toward the stairs, she tripped and fell right before the entry way step.
Her chest hit the step & her head hit the tile entry way.
Kevin and I were only a few feet away, so I quickly picked her up to console her.
Claire didn't cry....she was doing the "silent cry" (you know when their mouth is open, but nothing is coming out?).
After about 20 seconds, she was still doing the silent cry, so I handed her to Kevin to see if he could get her to settle down.
Next thing we knew, Claire went limp & her eyes glazed over.
We were screaming her name & got no response from her.
She wasn't breathing. She was turning gray.
It was the scariest moment of my life.
I thought we were going to lose her.
Kevin told me to call 911.
I remember saying "Jesus help her!"
I called 911 while Kevin took Claire to the front yard.
The 911 call was a blur...I remember walking upstairs while I was on the phone so that Kate wouldn't hear the call (she was still playing dress up while all of this was going on)
Part way through the call, I heard Kevin tell me that Claire came to and was breathing & responsive.
A few minutes later the fire truck & ambulance arrived.
(I was seriously impressed how fast they came!)
We were in the front yard waiting for them & we all went inside for them to check out Claire.
At this point she was responsive & alert.
They checked her for a concussion, check her eyes, palpated her, and did a bunch of other stuff to make sure she was okay.
It was all a blur....I just remember counting 7 firemen/paramedics in my house.
Then Claire starts batting her eye lashes & flirting with the fire men. They got a kick out of that.
Kate remains unscathed from this event...she loved seeing the fire truck on our street.

What they think happened is that she got the wind knocked out of her when she landed on the step and because of the "silent cry" (not breathing) it caused her to pass out.
They reassured us that we did the right thing by calling 911.
They don't think it is a concussion, but gave us a list of things/behaviors to be aware of for the next 24 hours.
It was such a random freak accident.
Kids run & fall all the time.
Claire just happened to fall at the wrong spot & give us a big scare.
It was the scariest moment of my life.
I can't get the image out of my head of Kevin holding her while we screamed her name and her not responding. It was awful.
We are counting our blessings, Claire is fine and was back to her spunky self this evening.
This evening after dinner we played in the backyard.
Every laugh, every giggle and every funny thing Claire or Kate did seemed priceless and un-replaceable.
Life is precious & today I am thankful for that reminder.
Go hug your kids.

**Edited 8.6.10**
Turns out Claire has Breath Holding Syndrome and she will hopefully outgrow it by age 4.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

A sad & heartbreaking milestone happened in our home yesterday.
I was in Claire's room changing her diaper & Kate came in to hang out with us.
Claire has mirrored closet doors in her room & Kate was looking at herself intently in the mirrors.
Kate started wiping her face over and over again.
I asked her what she was doing and she turned to me with big crocodile tears & said,
"Get them off!!!!"
"Get what off?" I responded. (There was nothing on her face)
"These marks. These dots. Get them off my face" She was sobbing.
At that point, my heart literally broke.
Kate had noticed the little sprinkling of freckles that have shown up across her face this summer.
I tried to hold in my tears as I reasoned with and tried to console my oldest daughter.
(Typing this out & remembering this is making me cry again)

As we sat on the floor of Claire's room with tears running down both of our faces I reminded Kate that she is beautiful. I told her that her freckles are kisses from God. I reminded her that lots of people have freckles...Mommy, Auntie El, Auntie Bots, her cousins & some of her friends have freckles.

I told her they are cute & they are unique.
She wasn't buying it. She still wanted them off. She wouldn't stop crying. She kept trying to wipe them off her face. My heart kept sinking & sinking.
(sorry Kate, I am part English/Scottish/Irish/Danish...the odds of you getting freckles are high)

So, I did what any good mom would do, I offered her chocolate & gave her some M&Ms.
It seemed to quell her emotions for the time being and I haven't heard about the freckles since then.
I felt like I had been punched in the stomach... How is it possible that my daughter who will be exactly 3.5 years old tomorrow is brought to tears because of the way she looks?
This is one of my fears about being a mother to two little girls.
Girls have self esteem issues. I have self esteem issues.
I could very easily list about 20 things about my looks that I don't like about myself.
I don't want my girls to have self esteem issues, although I know it is hard to avoid.
I want my girls growing up with confidence in who God created them to be.
I want them to know that they are fearfully & wonderfully made.
I want them to not compare themselves to other people & for them to be thankful and happy with the talents that God has given them.
I want them to know that they are loved for who they are.
(preaching to the choir....)
This is a BIG task, raising girls (and boys for that matter)
God has entrusted me (and Kevin) to raise up the girls in this scary, scary world.
Each day I realize more and more how unequipped I am for this job.
Each day I realize more and more how I need to rely on God to be the Mom that I need to be.
I don't have the strength, wisdom or patience to do it on my own.
I feel asleep last night with tears streaming down my face crying out to God & begging him to protect my girls from self esteem issues and asking Him to give Kevin and I guidance as we mother these 2 beautiful & amazing girls.
Ironically, all of these pictures of Kate last week when she was dressing up in her Princess clothes & staring at herself in the mirror that is in our living room (but not hung up yet). As I took these pictures she was busy admiring herself & singing at the top of her lungs, "I am a Princess, oh yes, I am a Princess!". She was so busy admiring herself as a Princess that she didn't even notice the freckles on her face....
Psalm 139: 13-14

¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.