I'm not a do it all kind of mom... and I'm okay with that!

Friday was like any other day. I woke up, checked my emails and played around with Monkey before starting diaper laundry. I have a very strict routine, prewash (cold), wash (hot), then another wash cycle at the end to make sure all the soap is out of the diapers. I was in the middle of the prewash when I noticed my washer making a weird sound. I went to investigate and of course, I hated what I found. My washer was broken! What the heck was I going to do with a broken washer full of dripping wet, dirty diapers. So after chatting online with some fellow cloth diapering moms, I decided I would attempt to wash them in the bathtub by hand. It sounded easy enough anyway. It took me roughly 2.5 hours to complete my wash routine by hand. It was the most exhausting and painful process I have had to deal with. Honestly, I would rather have given birth again before washing that many diapers by hand again!

Some moms actually hand wash their diapers every time they need cleaned. I couldn't imagine spending hours every time my diapers needed washed and all the effort that goes into it. I know, I know. That makes me sound lazy, but I'd like to see you try to wash days worth of dirty diapers in a bathtub and getting up to nurse a sleeping 15 month old back to sleep. It's not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. I enjoy having the ease of my washer to complete my strict routine so I may then finish the rest of my house work. Using the washer gives me time to do other things while each of the cycles are running. This means I get everything I need to get done in a timely manner so I can spend more time with Chester.

So, while I was hunched over the bathtub, swishing the diapers around then wringing them each out individually after each "cycle" I got to thinking. I am not a "do it all" kind of mom, and I'm okay with that. I don't want to be anyway! What this means is; I don't want to make my own shampoo, laundry detergent, or cloth diaper detergent. I don't want to spend more time (besides the blogging I do during nap and bed time) out of my day to try to do it all. I would rather spend that time with Chester, reading books to him or watching him explore things around him and learn his boundaries. This does not mean that I don't care about the environment, or that I'm not "green" enough. Slowly we are becoming a greener family and will eventually be to the point I'm comfortable with. I don't have to prove anything to anyone. I don't want every single thing being a competition. "Oh, I knitted Suzie this hat." "Yeah, well I picked the cotton myself to make this shirt for Timmy." It's annoying to see those kinds of parents "one up" each other all the time. I like to do what make myself and my family happy. This means you won't see me trying to make everything homemade or from scratch all the time. Yes, sometimes I like to buy ready to make cookies because I don't always want to spend so much time baking from scratch. This just makes me human. 

I read a blog post by another blogger one day that talked about the use of the internet and smartphones and about how you will be sure to miss out on your child's childhood if you weren't careful enough. I thought it was an excellent post that I'm sure plenty of people could take something away from. I think that goes for the television as well. Sure, Chester loves to watch Brobee, Toodee, Plex, Muno an Foofa dance around while singing about picking up their trash, but what he really wants is me. He wants all of my attention focused on him. He wants my patience and understanding when he gets frustrated. So while I managed to turn two blog posts into one, my point here was that Chester doesn't care if I knitted his hat by hand or just went out to buy it from the store. All he wants is me to give him all the attention he deserves and I make sure to do just that. So while I'm not a do it all kind of mom, I sure as hell am mom enough.

Chester turns one! Looking back on pregnancy and birth.

  I know I'm posting Chester's birthday blog late, but I haven't gotten around to it until now. The plan is to keep up on my blog and maybe even post more about cloth diapers and other things I'm passionate about. However, this blog is dedicated to our pride and joy, the reason for me starting a blog, our son Chester.
  One year ago (February 27, 2011) is the day I took one of many pregnancy tests. I had taken several and expected this to come out with the same results as the others, negative. I was sitting down at the computer with my mountain dew and decided, what the heck, I'll take a test to get it out of the way. I peed on that annoying little stick, sat it on the vanity in the bathroom and continued with my soda and Facebook. Roughly three minutes later I walked back, not rushing to see the results of the test. I looked closely several times before I could believe that the stick said positive. Of course Craig was still sleeping so I needed to wake him up. I held the little pee stick in my hand with a huge smile on my face and that's what he woke up to. We couldn't have been more excited. I immediately poured my mountain dew down the drain. I can't believe how easily I gave soda up while pregnant, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!
  Alright so pregnancy went wonderfully and I had hardly any morning sickness. I don't say this to make others jealous, especially if they had terrible morning sickness. I say this because I know how fortunate I was to have such a wonderful and easy pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, it's still rough being pregnant. You have people always staring and asking questions, wanting to touch your belly and getting way, way to close and intruding your personal space. So on June 6, 2011 we found out what we wanted to hear. It's a boy! We had known so many people who had or were having girls, we just really wanted a boy first. It was the first grandson for my parents and Craig's parents. So we were pretty ecstatic to tell them the news. Of course, his Mom, sister, my Mom and sister were all with us when we found out. There were many, many tears. I had no idea it would be so hard finding out we were having a boy. All the sudden you have a crap ton of research to do. If you have a boy, you know what I'm talking about. Since this is not the place for that discussion, I'm not going to start into that topic. I will however say that we left Chester with what he was born.
  So lets fast forward, my estimated due date was coming up, November 3, 2011. I wish I wasn't in such a rush to get him out. Had I read more into birthing and what not, I wouldn't have been so impatient. The third came and left and I was still very much pregnant. I was HUGE, seriously, I'm not kidding. Look!

See, I told you. People kept asking me if I was having twins. I would tell them no and they would ask, "Are you SURE?" I was certain I would be having a baby over the weekend. Everyone at work expected me to be gone Monday. Nope, I was still pregnant. They said I was making them uncomfortable just looking at me, uh, how do you think I felt? Finally the end of the work day was slowly closing in. I had felt some pain in my lower back, which I attributed to sitting in the chair all day. I also felt my stomach tighten, which I had attributed to whatever I had eaten for lunch, I figured my little guy didn't like what we had. So when I got home Craig and I went out to grab a bite to eat and when he shut the car off, I felt it again. Holy crap, what was that? Oh my gosh, that might have been a contraction. So we decided to relax a bit then go walk around the store. That definitely worked! We stopped off to get Taco Bell before returning home, yes I know, not the best food, but I love TB! When we sat down to eat, I was feeling so sick I couldn't finish it. I decided to get ready for bed and work since I decided I wouldn't be having a baby that night either. The very moment I fell asleep I woke up to the worst contraction yet. I had no idea what to look for because I wasn't timing the contractions and I hadn't lost the mucus plug. At one point I had three terribly painful contractions back to back to back and I just couldn't wait any longer. We called the doctor and headed to the hospital.
  We got to the hospital and they admitted me. We arrive shortly before 11pm and my Mom so graciously arrive quickly to help with whatever I needed. I went through most of my labor without pain medicine. I did end up getting something to help ease it to try avoiding the epidural. I wish I hadn't gotten that. I also wish I hadn't labored on my back. So after several hours of labor I opted for the epidural. I just couldn't take it anymore, I was exhausted. I hadn't slept in thirty something hours and had been in labor since 11pm the night before. Instantly after the epidural I went from being stuck at 4cm all the way up to 9.5! Honestly, I'm glad I got the epidural at that point because the doctor was talking about pitocin and I was too exhausted to do it anymore. (I plan to have a different laboring/birthing plan for the next baby.)

  So after about 11 or so hours of labor, it was time to push. It was only about three pushes and our perfect baby boy was here! We couldn't believe it. He was 8lbs 6oz and 21.5 inches long, born November 8, 2011! He was absolutely perfect and beautiful and I couldn't have pictured him any different. 

  Now lets fast forward a year. He's now walking and saying hey and hi, mommy and daddy. He's like an actual little person these days. Yes, he's always been a person, but now he has his own personality and he interacts with us. He always makes my bad days better, my good days even better and my heart a great deal bigger. I love being a mommy to a boy. There's just something so wonderful about little boys. I'm not saying girls aren't great, because they are, I'm sure. 

 

 
















  For Chester's actual birthday, we took him to Jump n' Joeys for a little bouncy house fun. He really had a blast there. It was so perfect for us because we took him later in the evening when there weren't many people and ended up being the only people there for the majority of our time spent there.
When it came time to plan Chester's first birthday party, which we had two days after his birthday, it was extremely stressful. Of course I tried planning it since the day he was born, but obviously that was a tad too early. His first birthday was Yo Gabba Gabba themed. I'm not sure what we'll do next year, or if we'll even have a set theme of a certain show or such. I do know that I'll plan like crazy the last couple of weeks and stress myself out, I'm sure. Luckily his party went off without a problem thanks in large part to my Mom and Chester was surrounded by a lot of loving family and friends. Chester received a lot of wonderful presents and was so happy to play with all of them after his nap. I want to thank everyone again, who showed up to be apart of his special day. We have some amazing friends and family. 
  I can't wait to see what his next birthdays bring and what he asks for. I can't wait to see what kind of a person he turns into and what his interests are. I will wait though and enjoy the time he's little. I love my baby snuggles and the middle of the night nursing sessions. I love everything about our little boy, he's the most amazing baby and we're such lucky parents! Here's to you Monkey, may you have all the love in the world.

Halloween 2012- Chester's first Halloween!

  So Halloween 2011 I was very much pregnant. I was HUGE and it looked like there was no end in sight. I walked around with my niece getting her as much candy as we could. All that walking still didn't help my little man on his way. So he was snuggling away nice and warm in my belly for that Halloween. This year, however, he was very much here and ready to get some candy. For Mom and Dad to eat, of course. When we went to the Halloween costume store the year before I got pregnant, we saw the most adorable garden gnome costume for a baby. We decided at that very moment, our future child would definitely have to be dressed in that costume. So of course we were hoping for a boy (for many other reasons) because a gnome costume would not be the best fit for a girl. So when Halloween rolled around this year, we purchased Chester the gnome costume about two months ahead of time. This- for obvious reasons- was a very bad idea. If you have a child, you're probably shaking your head right now thinking, "You know how much your child will grow in two months!" Yes, I do now! We tucked his costume away in the closet and one day, before Halloween I attempted to try it on him, but he wasn't very cooperative. So I just left it at that and decided I'd wait until Halloween to put him in it. Right before we were heading out to trick or treat, I started putting his costume on. I knew it was going to be extremely cold so I wanted him to have extra layers on under his costume. I put some babylegs, socks and a long sleeve shirt on him. Once I started getting the costume on, I realized we were going to have a bit of a problem. It didn't fit! I was barely able to button the pants and there was no way I was going to be able to close the shirt. So we just went with it. Once we got to Cristina and Abigail's house, we realized it was way too cold for Chester to go in just his costume. We decided to put his monkey hat and his monkey coat on. This turned out to be a bit of a costume change at the last minute. He ended up being a monkey/Curious George, since that's who was on his coat. We walked around with "Princess Abigail", Hope and Patrick until Chester got too cold and Craig took him back to Cristina's nice warm house. A little while later, we all filed in freezing and ready to warm up. Abigail rang the door bell and said trick or treat to Cristina. It was adorable because she said, "Okay, I'm done. Can we go get candy from my Mommy now?" I love how much Chester and Abigail get along, so I was super excited to go trick or treating with them. I decided several things about next Halloween though. First, we will not get his costume until a week or so before Halloween. Next, we will absolutely be looking at the weather to see how cold it will be so we can base his costume off that. Also, we need more chocolate! We went through Chester's candy so quickly, I was sad to see all the chocolate go. I think next year it would be fun to have coordinating costumes. I was sad that Chester's gnome costume didn't fit him, because he looked so cute in it! I can't wait for next Halloween though, I think Chester will have a better time than he had this past Halloween. I hope he enjoys watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" better and just has more fun overall. We're definitely carving pumpkins next year too. We just got so busy and kept putting it off, I still have the pumpkin! Overall though, we had a pretty good Halloween. It's Craig's favorite time of the year. Fall, Halloween, October and the color orange are all his favorite. I think that has something to do with being born October 22nd. Being with him so long has changed my favorite season to Fall though. It used to be and somewhat still is Spring. I just like Fall a lot better now. I hope Chester grows up loving Fall as much as we do. So here's to future Halloween nights for the Fender family. May we be better prepared than we were this year.
Enjoy these photos I took to document Chester's very first Halloween!

 

Dinner Time! Chicken and Italian Dressing Mix!

  I'm always trying to think of new things to make for dinner. I always end up making the same things over and over. While I don't mind, because they're super delicious, I get bored with making and eating the same things. I mostly make, lasagna, chili, hamburger helper and tacos. I used to make spaghetti, but lasagna took the place of that. I remember once I forgot to make the spaghetti without the meat. Oh let me tell you, Craig never lets me live that one down! The great thing about the internet and more specifically pinterest, is that there are tons of ideas on what to make for dinner. I admittedly "pin" various food items that I probably won't make anytime in the near future, but maybe since I'm getting a little more brave in the kitchen, I'll attempt to make some of those things.
  One day I was on a blog entering a giveaway and one of the entries said to comment on another blog post. So I went searching for the most recent ones the blogger posted and found a recipe. I read through and commented so I could gain an extra entry into the giveaway. I will mention as a side note, I did not end up winning that particular giveaway. Yeah, I was pretty bummed. Oh well, I got a pretty awesome recipe to try out anyway. That sounds like a win to me! This blogger mentioned how she found this recipe on pinterest where we all find the best recipes.
  Alright, the instructions and what you'll need, are as follows:

1lb boneless, skinless chicken

1-2 cans of green beans (I used a bag of frozen green beans)

5-6 small red potatoes

1 package of Italian dressing mix (.7 oz pack. I used Hidden Valley)

1 stick of butter

You'll want to preheat your oven to 350. Next organize your chicken, green beans and potatoes in a 9x13 dish. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning packet over the entire dish. Melt the butter in the microwave and poor over everything. Then you'll cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.

This was definitely a shot in the dark since I'd never quite made anything like it before. I was worried how Craig would like it and how it would turn out. Surprisingly it turned out rather well and Craig said he enjoyed it. I thought it was pretty good myself, although, I would like to try to substitute something instead of the butter, personally. I thought it was delicious, but I'd like to experiment around with the dish a little bit. Anyway, here is a picture of the finished product. It looks so tasty I want to make it again!

OH! If you decide to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you and your family!! Just leave a comment for me below.

A Very Happy Birthday To My Very Handsome Husband!

Birthday present!!

Delicious Funfetti cake!

  On Monday, October 22 it was my Husbands birthday. I think every year he expects a cake, because every year I make him a cake. Although, sometimes I switch it up and make cupcakes instead. Every year I give him his cake and his presents at midnight. I seriously think I'm more excited about his birthday than my own. I love getting him gifts and making him a cake, I love making him feel special the whole day on his birthday. What can I say, birthdays are fun! I remember last year for his birthday, I was as huge as a whale and took him to eat a nice filling dinner. I was so stuffed I had to change my clothes. This year we had the joy of celebrating his birthday with Chester right here with us. So at midnight I had his cake put together and ready to go, I made it special by making orange frosting, since orange is his favorite color. It was a delicious funfetti cake, because come on, who doesn't love funfetti! I lit the candles and had him come out into the kitchen to blow them out and give him his present. I really loved the look on his face when he was opening it. It was seriously like a kid on Christmas. So after he opened his present, we had some cake and I took Chester to bed. After we got up for the day, we had lunch then took Chester over to my Mom's so we could go see a movie. Craig decided he wanted to see Sinister. Ugh! That movie was terrifying! It's a good thing we were the only ones in the theater. I screamed at quite a few parts and had to look away, a LOT! There were even some parts where I slapped his arm. I'm a big baby when it comes to horror movies, but I go see them because he likes to see them. I guess that's what I get for taking him to so many chick flicks. Craig enjoyed the movie, of course. Although, I think he said something about thinking it would be a little more on the creepy or gory side. He's all about those movies though because he loves Halloween and the Fall season. It might have something to do with him being a Fall baby. I always strive to make his birthday memorable because I want him to know just how much he means to me. I'm so thankful to have him in my life as my husband and Chester's father. He's such an amazing person and always brings happiness to my life. I'm already thinking about next year, thinking how I can make it better than this year. I always feel like his birthday, or Fall in general, goes by so quickly. I can remember back to the very first birthday of his that we spent together. It was 2007 and we had recently just started dating. I didn't do much that year for his birthday and I felt terrible. I ordered a birthday present from online and it was so late getting to me. I didn't even get him a cake. We did go to a haunted house with a bunch of his friends though. That was a pretty interesting experience. I'm seriously not the person you want to take to a haunted house. I scream at everything! Craig really isn't the person you'd want to take either, because he ran ahead a bit and scared the crap out of me. I'm used to it now though, because he's a joker like that. 

Chester and Craig on his birthday.

Chester helping Mommy out in the kitchen.

  All in all though, this birthday was a pretty successful one. Besides the fact that I need to make the cake elsewhere and bring it home because every time I make his cake here, he knows. He can smell it and always asks what I'm making. He was even distracted by working out, but still could smell that smell of cake fill the house. (Mm. Thinking about that cake has me wanting a piece now.) I'm always so sneaky with everything else too. I'll get his presents early and leave them in the closet. Although, I usually tell him they're there and that he can't look. He never does. He likes the surprise of waiting until his birthday. I always make sure to write something heart warming and sincere in his cards too. Usually for people's birthdays you just say, Happy Birthday, I hope you have a great day. You know, something generic. I always make sure his cards have a lot more love to them. Although, I bet if we look back to all his past birthday cards, they might all have something similar. Anyway, I hope you had a very wonderful day, Hubby! Here's to another birthday together.

A day full of fun!

And hopefully a nice, long, full night of sleep!

Chester and Abigail playing at the park/splash pad!

  Today Chester and I had a day full of fun planned out. I assumed Chester would be waking up no later than 10:30 because he's usually up by then. I was wrong, he decided not to get up until almost noon! So I took advantage of the time that I was awake and he was asleep and put together our picnic "basket" for the day. It was nothing special, just some peanut butter and jelly, Cheetos, water and tea. After I put the picnic together Chester decided he was going to wake up. So I changed him out of his super adorable cow print cloth diaper into an orange one. I did my usual morning routine, let Chester play with his toys, check my email and since giveaways were recently posted, I took a look at a couple of those as well. So of course when you put a clean diaper on the baby, that's when they decide they want to dirty it up really fast. Lucky me, I got to change him again! That's alright, he was ready for the day, I got his diaper bag packed and ready to go, then got myself ready. Slowly, I might add. Chester has been super clingy lately, so anytime I try to change, do dishes or cook, he always crawls up to my legs, stands up and wants me to hold him. So it takes a while to get things done. Finally we were out the door and headed to pick Cristina and Abigail up. As soon as I got to Cristina's house, Abigail ran out the door screaming, "AUNT KATIE!!!" She gets extremely excited to see me. She was ready for the splash pad. First we had our fun little picnic, but the whole time Abigail had only one thing on her mind. She was extremely anxious to get to the water and play, so I tried to eat quickly. After cleaning up from the picnic, we went over and Abigail ran straight for the water. I stood out in the sun a bit talking to Cristina, then decided to take Chester on in. I had him in a GroVia shell without the insert and it works perfectly for a swim diaper. Chester LOVES the water so much! Anytime we have a cup of water, he always wants to put his hands in it. He loves splashing in the bathtub and I've caught him a couple of times playing in the toiled. Disgusting, I know! He also loves to play in the dogs' water bowl as well. So we played in the water for a while until I felt it got a bit cool for Chester. After that we headed over to the park for Abigail to run some of her energy off. We took a few photos, chatted a while, sun bathed then called it a day. With two kids, this process takes a lot longer than it sounds! So we decided to come back to my place and watch Lion King 2. I think Cristina was the most excited about this movie because she had never watched the entire thing. So we lounged around a while and let the kids play until it was time for them to go home. It's pretty amazing how much Abigail and Chester love to play together and how much fun they have considering their age difference. Abigail is four years and Chester is not quite a year and they still love the company of each other. Abigail loves her "baby Chester" and always enjoys seeing him. I think they'll grow up to be great friends and a great duo. We really just better watch out because I can see all the mischief they will be getting into.

Chester and Craig at the drive-in!

Chester taking a boob snack break!

  After taking Abigail and Cristina home, Chester had to lay down and nap, even though it wasn't a very long nap. Poor Chester was so exhausted and tired from the day he already had. Our day wasn't quite over with though, because we were headed off to the drive-in with Craig to have a fun family night. I packed some water, (we always have to have our water with us) tea and brownies that I made specifically for our evening. Once we got there, we sat around just relaxing, let Chester play in the grass a bit and of course he had to take a break to have a boob snack. Around nine or so, the first movie, Paranorman came on. It was a funny little claymation movie that had zombies and ghosts in it. I won't go into detail about the movie, just in case anyone wants to see it. In between movies Chester got pretty fussy, which was understandable, he had already had a really long day. So I nursed him and he fell asleep and stayed asleep pretty much through the entire second movie, which was The Borne Legacy. I was surprised I stayed awake through that entire movie, because I was pretty tired myself and Chester was making sleeping look really dang good! The night was perfect for the drive-in, it wasn't too hot or cold, the sky was pretty much clear and it was just beautiful. We ended our really long, fun filled day out perfectly- under the stars as a family.

Chester at the drive-in!

  Chester really loves being outdoors, I can tell this already. Anytime he is fussy and I can't seem to get him to take a nap or calm down, I put him in the Ergo and take a walk. There's so much to see outside and it's always something new to look at. He seems to laugh and carry on when he's outside too. He's just so interested in everything around him and wants to soak it all up. I'm so glad he loves the outdoors and I hope he always does. It'll be a lot more fun for him once he can walk around and be a little more independent. I think we'll do a lot more outdoor activities then. We already take plenty of walks and I love taking him to the park. He's a boy, so I'm sure he's going to always love being outside and exploring. I'm so excited to see the person he's going to grow into. He's already just this amazing little guy and I'm so lucky to be his Mommy. I can't believe he is going to be one in just a couple of months. Thinking about how fast he's growing up just makes me want to go snuggle him and enjoy this time, so on that note, I think it's time to step away from the computer and go cuddle with him in bed. Hopefully he won't be a bed hog tonight. I love bed sharing, but gosh, Chester just takes up so much of the bed space!

The Ergo vs The Moby, and why I love baby wearing!

  Just like anything else that has to do with your baby, you should definitely research baby wearing. If you don't know what it is, or don't do it, I highly suggest you look into it. I love to baby wear because it keeps Chester close to me. I love having him right against me, knowing he's safe in my arms. I love how I can easily get things done on days he just wants to be held. It's very convenient having the carrier so I can have my hands free when I need them. Baby wearing can also help extremely cranky babies. Chester will happily fall asleep in his Ergo when he's cranky and I can't get him to sleep any other way. Usually he will fall asleep nursing, but sometimes all he wants is to be snuggled up on my chest. It's comforting to them because it reminds them of being in your belly. I still use my stroller sometimes, but I like the option of having him right there against my chest so strangers have no way of touching him or getting in his face. That's one major problem I have with using my stroller, people love getting all up in your baby's face where they don't belong!

So what exactly is baby wearing? Basically, you have a carrier or a wrap and you carry the baby on you. It keeps baby close so they feel safe, they can feel your heartbeat and love the closeness. Of course there are carriers that aren't safe for babies, these are usually called crotch danglers. Here is an example from International Hip Dysplasia Institute showing the recommended way to carry your baby.

 So here it shows you the ones on the left are not recommended. The carriers should always support the baby's knee joint and allow the legs to spread, keeping the hips in a stable position.

  When I first started baby wearing I had no idea about the images above. I had a crotch dangler and though I only used it a few times, I wish I would have researched baby wearing more! So after realizing I had a crotch dangler I went with a Moby wrap. I thought the Moby was the best way to go and admittedly I did little to no looking into wraps and carriers. I wish I would have looked into all my options because I ended up unsatisfied with the Moby wrap. Let's start with the things I liked about the Moby wrap, don't worry, this list will be extremely short. I liked that I could baby wear safely, the Moby wrap supports the baby properly. Honestly, I can't think of anything else I liked about it, seriously, that's all. The only thing I liked about that wrap was that I could safely baby wear. Let's get on to what I didn't like about it, shall we? I didn't like that the thing took so long to put on. The Moby is so complicated that I would rather put Chester in his stroller and go, even if that meant getting the huge stroller out and shoving it in my tiny car where I really had no room! The Moby is also not good for hot days. On a warm day I couldn't wear Chester very long or we'd both be sweating and so uncomfortably hot. With that said, how the heck would I even try nursing him in that thing? He gets extremely sweaty and hot as it is while nursing, add in the heat from wearing him in the Moby, it would be a disaster. Also, I feel like the Moby really restricted us. He couldn't move around very much. He could look left or right and that was about it. He couldn't move his legs or arms very well. Craig refused to even try to put the Moby on because of how difficult and time consuming it is to put it on. He would rather carry our chunky baby around the mall than fiddle with the wrap. Now, if you're a Moby lover, don't start screaming at the screen saying how amazing the Moby is and how stupid I am for not liking it. For my family, the Moby was the worst idea and is just terrible. I don't feel bad for saying that either, it's kind of just a ridiculous wrap. Those things cost almost $50 for a huge piece of fabric. I could make a wrap way cheaper than that! Luckily I didn't spend THAT much on it, I bought a slightly used one for a little cheaper. The only problem is now I'm stuck with the dang thing! I really need to sell it, it makes no sense to have that stupid wrap laying around not getting any use.

Here is Chester in the Moby wrap.

  Well, now that I got that out of my system, I want to talk about the Ergo! First, the Ergo is a bit expensive. However, if you're looking for a great carrier that you'll use for a long time and often, this is definitely your carrier! The Ergo can carry up to 45lbs vs the 35lbs the Moby reaches. The Ergo can be used for your newborn too! There are several different prices for the Ergo. The one I purchased was the Original Galaxy Grey. I didn't purchase the bundle, because Chester is way over the weight for the insert, but there is an option if you're buying right from baby's birth. When we have our second child, we can purchase the insert separately. The price of the carrier without the newborn insert is $115 and the "Bundle of Joy" that comes with the newborn insert and the carrier is $135. The newborn insert by itself runs about $25. So you're saving about $5 getting the "Bundle of Joy" if you have a newborn. Luckily, I came across a sale at our local green/cloth diaper store so I saved some money on my carrier. You should definitely always keep an eye out for sales. 

Alright, so let's talk about my experience with the Ergo and what I love about it! First, I love how simple it is to put on. You put it around your waist, buckle it, put your arms through the straps and buckle that. I can easily hold Chester while putting the Ergo on and taking it off. It seriously only takes a few seconds. I love that the Ergo distributes the weight in all the right places. The Moby really put a ton of weight on my shoulders and I would be sore after wearing Chester. The Ergo is much better, I don't get as tired wearing him. Sometimes if I'm wearing him for hours, it takes it's toll on my hips. I'm pretty tiny though and Chester weighs a ton, so it's not a surprise that I would get a bit tired after wearing him for hours. The Ergo also has a little "hood" you can put on the baby, It snaps right over his head.  This way if he's sleeping and I don't want anyone disturbing him, I can put the hood on him. It also comes in hand when it's really windy or really rainy. Chester really likes the Ergo because it's comfortable and he keeps cool. He can stick his arms out if he wants or tuck them back in. It's great when he falls asleep in it too, he lays his head on my chest and still won't get too hot. I feel like it holds him in better too. I guess I would compare it to a bra- the Moby is like a bra without under wire, your boobs have NO support and kind of just dangle there. I feel like Chester was just dangling there in the wrap. The Ergo is like a bra with under wire, it pushes your boobs up and holds them there. I feel like it keeps Chester in place where he should be without the fear of him possibly sliding down. I really can't say enough how EASY it is to put him in the Ergo. Seriously, today we were walking into the store and I had Chester in my arms, putting him in the Ergo, snapping it together AND walking into the building all at the same time. Now if you know me, you know I can't walk and do ANYTHING. Seriously, I have to stop to take a drink or I'll have it all over me. The Ergo is pretty much like a backpack, you can wear baby on your back (facing you of course), you can wear him on your chest (again, facing you) or you can wear him on your hip (again, he should be facing you). They really don't recommend letting babies face outwards while baby wearing. 

Here's Chester in the Ergo.
(Yes, Dads can baby wear as well!)

   So the verdict is obvious. I prefer the Ergo carrier much more than the Moby wrap. However, I would definitely suggest research your options. Don't pick one just to get it over with. If I had researched from the beginning I would have picked the Ergo over the others and saved some money. I appreciate having good friends who suggest great products to me. A fellow intactivist told me I would love the Ergo and she was absolutely right! Even Craig will tell you how much he enjoys baby wearing now that we have the Ergo. He loves using the Ergo and will finally wear Chester because of how easy and great the product is! It's definitely worth the money you will spend on it. The Ergo also has great accessories to add to your carrier. Craig pointed out how Chester is always chewing on the straps. The Ergo has a great solution to that. They have teething pads to put on the straps, they help teething babies while keeping your carrier in top form. They're easy to wash and only cost an extra $17. Ergo really thinks of everything, they have so many cool accessories.

This is the exact Ergo we have.
They have a great selection!

All opinions are my own. I personally love my Ergo carrier, but it may not be for everyone. Research your options and choose what best for you and those little baby hips!