For those of you who don't know me...

Hi Guys!

You all know me, but a new bio and updated story never hurts!  I want us all to seem like old friends to you and not just like writers for a parenting blog!  So grab a cup of coffee (decaf for you pregnant ladies) and here is a little more about me!

I am a 29 year old wife and mommy from central Pennsylvania.  I met my husband in college, so many crazy and unbelievable occurrences happened to bring us together and we are still amazed that the cards lined up so perfectly for us!  We met in May of 2005, were engaged July of 2006, and married June of 2007.  Yep, didn't take me long to KNOW that he was the one for me!  He is my best friend and I could not get through a single day without him!  In June of 2009, we welcomed our first little bundle of joy, Miss A.  My pregnancy was quite easy with her, no morning sickness or problems, until my 32 week appointment.  At that appointment I discovered that my blood pressure was rising and I had developed PUPPS (pregnancy rash).  These two concerns were my constant companions for the rest of my pregnancy.  Lucky for me and for my little unborn Miss A, neither was too much of a problem and at 39 weeks I delivered her vaginally and started my incredible journey as a mama!

My first moments as a Mommy with Miss A.

When Miss A was born, I was still working Full Time as a Labor and Delivery nurse.  I absolutely loved my job!  Nothing compares to bringing life into this world and witnessing the miracle of birth on an every day basis.  I started working in L&D in 2007 and for sure, it was the perfect fit for me.  But what is even better than your dream career?  Your dream of being a SAHM!  This was my absolute #1 all time dream...but never thought it would be possible!  I tried not to hope or wish for it, but God must have heard my prayers!  Around Miss A's first birthday, my husband took a job with a better salary to cover what I was making and it was further away with longer hours, making it impossible for me to continue work anyway!  My dream of becoming a SAHM was finally a reality!

Around this same time, I took the plunge into cloth diapering.  Miss A has very sensitive skin and we were having trouble with eczema and other skin irritations.  Add to that, I had just become a SAHM and wanted to save some bucks!!!  So I started looking into cloth, but got so overwhelmed that it just turned me off immediately!  I met with some friends not too long after this, and one of my BF's (new contributor Laura B.) had her little girl in cloth diapers!  I casually asked her about them and about what she was wearing, and thus started my journey...um, addiction, with cloth diapers!

One of the first CDs Miss A tried...a BumGenius 3.0.

Being a SAHM is on of the most incredible and rewarding jobs EVER!  But it is also one of the most challenging and stressful jobs EVER!  Miss A definitely keeps me on my toes and there is never a dull moment...and she is almost THREE!  But she is my little bundle of energy and spunk!  I have never spoke on here about some of our more recent problems (mainly out of embarrassment) but we have had some speech delay problems and I plan to discuss this journey more in coming months.  We had noticed for a long time that she was not where she should have been speech wise, but our pediatrician (love him dearly but...) blew it off as nothing to worry about.  As she reached 2 1/2 we took matters into our own hands and had a speech consult.  I knew she was behind, but that evaluation really opened my eyes to just how behind she was.  The eval was just before Christmas and I am happy, proud, thrilled, etc to say that she has made HUGE improvements and is well on her way to getting back on track for her age.  It is just scary because a speech delay may or may not indicate other issues later in childhood and life.  So it is a constant worry and concern for us, but the improvement is astounding, so we keep hoping and praying that is was just a speech delay and won't be something more!

Add to all of that...we are expecting baby number two on June 6th!  Little man (Baby J) is 33 weeks baked and we are just so excited to meet him and become a family of four (seven if you count our dog Daisy and cats Maddy and Molly)!  I am excited to meet him, see what Miss A thinks of him, and just start our journey as a bigger family.  It is just so hard to believe that I am 33 weeks already...seems like just yesterday we were trying and getting nowhere fast!  It took us about 8 months to get pregnant this time which was extremely frustrating after we got preggo the first month we tried with Miss A.  It seemed like forever.  I know in the grand scheme of how long most people try to get pregnant, 8 months is nothing...but I can completely sympathize with those of you having troubles!

31 weeks preggo with Baby J.

My pregnancy this time has also been extremely easy.  No problems thus far!  No morning sickness and I got through my 32 week appointment last week with no BP issues...so I am going to keep doing what I am doing and pray that I can get to my due date with no concerns!  I have been working out (most of the time) and have been trying to watch what I eat a little better.  The past week or two, my diet has seriously slacked and so has my exercising...so I need to be better about that...especially in these final weeks when I really want to keep my BP in check!

I am really excited for the newborn stages coming soon!  Our nursery is back to being a nursery (we moved Miss A into her big girl room), I still need to wash baby clothes, but they are all out and sorted.  So washing is all I need to do and we will be ready for baby J.  I am excited for the prospect of the not knowing when he will come, when labor will start, etc.  I am just so anxious to see how his entrance into the world will be!  My labor and delivery with Miss A was fairly easy, so I am curious to see how this one will be!  I am excited to breastfeed again and do all of those tiny infant things!  Miss A was a breeze with breastfeeding, so I am anxious/excited to see what breastfeeding Baby J holds!   I am excited to get newborn cloth diapers on baby J and see how cute they are on him!  I am just excited for the whole deal!  The next 7 weeks just cannot pass fast enough!

30 weeks, my 4D Ultrasound picture of Baby J.

So here we are, with a new fresh start to my little blog!  I started this blog in August of 2010, just shortly after I got into cloth diapering.  After my experience with getting started and seeing how completely overwhelming the world of cloth diapering can be, and how wonderful online mamas were for helping me to get started, I wanted to pay it forward and create a blog where parents could come for honest information to help them on their journey!  From there it branched into other topics such as breastfeeding, babywearing, natural parenting, etc and now has grown to include 4 other mommies and their experiences!  I am extremely anxious and excited to see all of the wonderful things that come from this newest addition to the blog!  Each mama has her own flavor and ideas for what she hopes to do on the blog!  We still have a ton of kinks to work out, but this is extremely exciting!

I will still be working on cloth diapers (Miss A has no desire to PL) and will be doing my newborn cloth series after baby J is born!  More breastfeeding, babywearing, natural parenting, natural household supplies, and other topics to come from me!!!