Paul & Jenn's Adventures

Moms are no doubt amazing at taking on the main role of child-rearing in most families. Our bodies change to accommodate the growing child, produce milk after the child is born, and survive on minimal hours of sleep. And dads just donate the sperm and are done with it? However, after millions of years of evolution, dads are still around, and for good reasons beyond just the sperm. Let's give credit where credit is due. Ladies, remember these reasons next time the toilet seat is left up and appreciate all the things dads do that are often taken for granted! Mowing and watering the lawn, weed-wacking action, trimming bushes and any renegade plant-life in the yards. Squishing or evacuating spiders, ants, mosquitos, and any unwelcome guests Taking out the trash and compost material Doing odd jobs around the house like fixing a leaky faucet, painting a wall, or installing a 3-way light switch Playing with the baby so mom can take a nap or take a shower Fixing the computer when th...

This is the last part of my birth story, but really it's the beginning of the story of our life with our baby. It took me a while to finish this post because I feel like is not coming to an end yet and it has already been almost 5 months after Micah was born! It's still hard to believe that we have a baby on our hands now, although it seems like we've had him forever. Becoming a mom has been an incredibly transforming experience. Although I never felt I was missing anything, after Micah was born, I feel a new completeness and contentment that I never knew I could have. Holding him in my arms, even though he's heavy at times, truly makes me feel that it was all worth it, and excited at the same time at what the future holds. Now let me flashback to the Saturday night in March right after Micah's birth. Having Milk When Micah was born, he was slippery and wet, warm and cuddly, and vivacious! The first night he slept a lot which allowed us to get rested too. We bre...

While breastfeeding is natural, free, and so easy once mom and baby gets the hang of it, the first few weeks can be extremely frustrating for new moms. I read the books and even went to a breastfeeding class so I thought I was prepared. Boy, was I in for a surprise! A wise mom once told me, if you can breastfeed for 2 weeks, you can breastfeed for 2 years. I think its absolutely true, the first couple weeks were really rough. Although moms and babies are naturally equipped with everything they need to successfully breastfeed, these few items that really helped me cope during those early days and beyond. 1. Medela Hand Pump After my milk came in a couple days after birth, my boobs were so engorged I thought they were going to explode. My doula told me that it wouldn't be helpful to pump because pumping would increase my milk supply and make me even more engorged. She recommended cold compresses between feedings to help calm the engorgement and hot compresses right before and duri...

Marcelle and Lauren, fellow crafters, at the Artique checkout When I first walked in, I was immediately taken aback by the delightful range of visuals. On my left, was a beautiful antique hand-carved wood screen door, and on my right was friendly staff at the counter ready to help me find what I needed. There were gorgeous handmade, unique items everywhere offered by over a hundred independent vendors. The merchandise range from jewelry to stationary, hand made soaps to antique bowls, re-purposed, antique items, and much much more, all displayed thoughtfully and beautifully in vendor "booths". But "booth" is really not the right word because it looks nothing like the long windy aisles of home shows or craft fairs. However diverse the merchandise and vendor personality, the store really looks cohesive as a whole and feels much more homey and interesting than any craft fair could ever be.

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Since we've had Micah, I've gotten a good work out everyday from holding and carrying him. He gained about a pound a week in the first two months, so each day was a new challenge. I would wake up with sore arms, chest, back, and even my finger tips hurt. I knew I wanted to use some kind of baby carrier even before Micah was born, but we hadn't bought anything since he was 3 weeks early. We heard great things about the ERGO Carrier , but we hadn't bought the Ergo by the time he was 2 months old because we thought he was still too small and not enough head control. We did get a Maya wrap ring sling which came with a DVD that shows different ways to use it. The videos made it look so easy, but but it was a lot harder when came to using it myself. It wasn't until I went to a Capital Region Slingbabies meeting that I learned I should put the wrap through the laundry a few times to make the fabric more slippery, therefore easier to adjust. I tried a bunch of differen...

Ever since we moved into our first house, we've been doing home maintenance work and improvements one after another.  One of the first things that we needed was a ladder, because we wanted to replace our bathroom fan and need access into the attic.  I did some research online to see what options are out there for ladders and how much they cost.  At first I was interested in the telescoping ladder such as the Xtend & Climb types because I saw our home inspector use it to get access to the attic door, and it is very compact when folded down and easily fits into a car trunk.  I read some reviews and saw that some users find it not very durable and not long lasting, and it can only be used against a wall or some kind of support; it cannot stand by itself, making its use somewhat limited.  Right off the bat, I didn't want to get a regular ladder because it would be almost impossible to move it around inside the house and get to the room with a small...