We're Still Here!

I'm SO sorry that I've been MIA for the past 2 weeks! Business has been booming with our Etsy store. It's been absolutely crazy and has required a lot of my time, leaving very little for blog updates. :( So, while my posts may happen a little less frequently, I am determined to keep things going here, as well. 

So what have we been up to???

We have had so many things happening just within the past 2 weeks! Asher now has THREE teeth, all on the bottom. This is accompanied by lots of crankiness and discomfort. Thank goodness for our mesh feeders filled with frozen fruit, and good ol' Sophie the Giraffe.

good ol' Soph

Check out this hilarious jChew Chocolate Bar teether that has already caused a few second glances (and Asher loves!): 

Can't forget the chicken wing appe-teether, either! Yum!
(The wetness is water from the ice in his mesh feeder.)

Asher is now MOBILE - eeeek! - and has mastered his "army crawl". He can get up on all fours now, but hasn't quite figured out how to crawl with his tummy off of the floor. That certainly doesn't stop him, though! This little guy is determined to get from a to z as quickly as possible. He has a weakness for the remote, phones, and the window. If any of those three things are within a few feet of him - everyone, out of the way!

Watch as he pulls himself around:

We are also babbling away now and there is still a lot of "mama" and "dada" coming out. He's also added LOTS of "yaya". I still haven't figured out what that might be referring to - maybe just anything and everything. You have to admit, it is a fun word!

We are still having quite a few night meet-ups with this little guy. Sometimes it's only twice night, but most of the time it's three. We make do.

"It's 3am and I must be lonely..."

Asher has decided that he HATES being at the shop with us. Along with the homemade baby food, the cloth diapering, and the non-use of "cry-it-out", another well laid out plan goes out the window.

I checked into some child care options and not only are places booked with infants but they are so expensive!! And really, I only need about 3 days a week...

ENTER LITTLE SISTER TO SAVE THE DAY!!!!!

Thank goodness for miracles. My little sister is able and willing to babysit Asher 3 days a week AND help out with a few chores around our house for less than we would have paid a daycare. Hallelujah!

The amount of work that I get done in 3 days without Asher at our shop is the equivalent to 5+ days of work with him there. He is no longer missing naps, in fact, he is taking 2 naps a day again. He is SO much happier. While I miss not being at home with him, I honestly feel like myself again being out and about and working on my own. Now when I am home with him, I am refreshed. I wouldn't go as far as to say "stress-free", but I defintely feel like I can tolerate more without getting overwhelmed now that I have a little time away. 

This leads me to my next announcement...

We have entered our business, Z Create Design, into a contest and we made it into round 2! Intuit Quickbooks has partnered up with entrepreneur Bill Rancic and coach Jimmy Johnson to find a small business worthy of a truly life changing prize in the Small Business, Big Game Challenge. The prize? A Superbowl commercial! Could you imagine that kind of exposure?

I need your help everyone! Click here to see OUR PROFILE and VOTE. Oh and there is a video. Yes, we made a video. Yes, it may be corny, but you gotta do what you gotta do. :)

Or.. click the button below to cast your vote. You can vote once a day, so keep voting! Help us win! 

We couldn't be more excited to see what happens... 

Since I am not able to update you all as frequently here on my blog, be sure to follow me on twitter and on instagram for daily updates! I'm also pinning all the time, so follow my boards on pinterest!

Well, it's 8pm and Asher is bright-eyed and bushy tailed after about an hour of fighting sleep already under his belt for the evening. It's just might be another long one... 

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The Zarski Household Update

This week is flying by and Asher is getting bigger and bigger with each passing day. We're out of almost all of our 3-6 month clothes now. I need to do some serious closet pruning. It's so tempting to buy new, cute clothes in bigger sizes, but knowing that he will only be in them for 2-3 months at the most helps keep my debit card in my wallet and my eyes away from Zulily. We've got so many things already that should last him awhile longer, thanks to our wonderful baby shower gifts and a plethora of outfits from both Grandmas in a range of sizes. They love spoiling him!

We're not quite crawling yet, but I'm sure any day now Asher is just going to take off across the living room. He "inchworm" crawls and sometimes moves in a circle or backwards.

In light of this quickly approaching development, I was able to talk John into letting me get a new rug for our living room. I found a great one on overstock.com that matches almost too well. It came yesterday! I also put away the baby swing that we haven't used in months and our living room looks so much bigger now! It's crazy how such a small change can really brighten up a room.

Suki likes to incessantly LICK the couch, so we have to protect it with a million throw blankets to avoid wet spots everywhere. Pugs are weird. I'm also going to replace the pillows and throws with ivory ones to keep the focus on the rug. Thanks to my sis, April, for the suggestion! :)

I also finally got around to covering all of our outlet plugs with safety covers. Yay! Next is the cabinet safety latches, but we still have a little time for those. They require some drilling, it looks like, so I'll be recruiting John for some help there. You don't want to see what I can do with a drill.

After our disastrous doggy-poo incident (happened twice more after that first morning, yuck!), I took Sumo to the vet and it turns out his gastrointestinal issues are stress-related. Our furry friend seems to still be upset from his recent boarding and/or still having a hard time adjusting to Asher having taken away some of his attention from Mommy (that's me!). I'll admit that I haven't been paying enough attention to him since we first brought Asher home, so I am making it a priority to give him some extra love. I've been getting him more involved when I am sitting with Asher, too, so that he warms up to him - and it's working! He's been letting Asher pet him more than ever and has been licking him like crazy (he likes to search out delicious dried hypoallergenic spit-up; but who can blame him? Yum!).



We have a new sleep routine going on due to some serious growing! I put Asher down around 7:30pm and he is up like clockwork between 10:30 and 11 for a bottle. It coincides with John getting home from work, so I almost wonder if Asher has recognized that pattern and wants to see his daddy. (Too much "crazy mommy" on that one? My baby is a genius? Sorry.) He'll stay up for about 45 minutes or so and then is back down until around 8:00am. I'm happy that we're getting that extra bottle in and also that he gets to see his dad a little more! When wedding season starts to taper off soon, he'll get more daddy time during the day with John not having to spend so much time at our shop.

I snapped this is NC on our vaca, but he has picked the habit back up starting a few days ago.
{ Love the Honest Co. dipes, BTW. Post to come soon on that. }

While on the sleep subject, Asher has started sleeping on his side, which is going to be a tremendous help for correcting his "flat head". This morning, though, he woke up with extremely puffy eyes! From a quick Google search, it seems pretty normal for when they start sleeping on their tummies/sides and should resolve quickly, but I am going to keep a close eye and definitely mention it to the doctor at our next appointment. Has anyone else had this happen?

The swelling had started to subside at this point, (like 1 hour after waking, but you can still see it a little on his right eye. :(

I've been gathering ideas for 6 month (half birthday!!) photos of Asher. So far I am thinking of having him wear a denim overall outfit with no shirt underneath for one outfit, a cute Mudpie chevron and giraffe coverall that I purchased before he was born (perfect fit now!), a onesie/leg-warmer from Kakabaka on Etsy, and of course some bare-bottomed baby pics :). I have my eyes on the CUTEST newsboy set with vest, bow-tie, and hat, but can't justify spending $75+ on a one time wear outfit. I'll have to save that sort of thing for 1 year pics. Maybe I'll just get the hat. And bow-tie. And vest. Ha! Any cute ideas? I'm all ears!

I'm kind of excited, I am going to attempt a semi-pro photo shoot with him on my own... we'll see how it goes and if I'm not pleased I'll have our photog. on speed dial. :) I'm sure we'll try to fit in a session with her anyways, but I'm going to challenge myself to get some professional looking photos on my own. I've ordered a 5 in 1 reflector because I think even lighting is one of the things I am missing when I don't use a flash, but I LOVE the look of natural light. I also have been looking at backdrops and some other fun props... I'm going to try and get a post together showing my "behind the scenes" with tips for taking pics yourself and FINALLY getting together some info on photography including my equipment, tips, etc. So look out for that in about a month!

We've introduced sweet potatoes now and all seems to be going well! I really need to get to the grocery store and pick up some more of those Happy Baby and Sprout food pouches. We're doing great with the stage 1 pouches right now and bananas are easy enough to mash up in the mornings, so I'll wait to make homemade baby food that until the "fun" combinations can begin!

So that's our week so far and now I need to stop procrastinating, for real! As usual, here are some more cute pics! :)

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Who Am I & What Am I Doing Here??

I feel like I haven't yet really yet revealed very much about myself. I am still "finding my voice" on this blog, in a way. So, I would like to answer the all too generic questions of who I am and why I am here with the goal of putting my thoughts and my day to day on the internet for anyone to read. It's not that complicated, really.

I am an introvert at heart, although I have overcome a lot of my shyness throughout the years. I've never been the social butterfly. There was a point in my life where I thought that meant something was wrong with me. I tried to force myself into being someone that I wasn't. I tried on so many different "selves" only to end up exactly where I started. And that's ok. I am still learning that happiness is not conforming to others' idea of what you should be, but it's being true to yourself no matter what that truth happens to be. 

I am sensitive. Overly sensitive, at times. I can't tell you how many times I have been told that I "need thicker skin". Sometimes I think I must have a target on my back, but in reality I probably just take things too personally or let them sink in too deeply. I quickly turn to "flight" rather than "fight" when I am aggressed or when personal situations become too much for me. It's my method of protecting myself. At times, this can backfire. It's something I need to work on, I guess.

I have a big heart. I love my coffee. Sometimes I wonder if I love the idea of coffee more than the coffee itself, because I often (most of the time) will brew a cup and not even take a sip.

I love my husband and my son more than anything. John and I are a team in parenting, in work, and in love. It's not always easy. There are days when we don't agree on many things. But we get through them and we are stronger in the end. As long as we remember that we are that team and that we will make it through, we can see the light at the end of any tunnels.

Although I am a new mom, I do not want to lose myself. I am creative. I am always expressing myself artistically whether through drawing, writing, taking photographs... I don't want to let that part of myself go because that's what makes me me. I don't think you should ever have to give yourself away just because you've become a parent.

I like to include lots of fragments in my writing. I know they're there, but I like them. I hate it when I see incorrect grammar and incorrectly spelled words, although I've made my share of mistakes. We are all human.

There are so many reasons I wanted to start this blog and many more that have become apparent along the way that push me to continue. Initially, it was a great way to keep everyone in the know with our baby boy's development and growth and our stories. But as time has gone on, I realize this has a lot to do with me. I want it to be about my life with a baby. My experiences, my wisdoms-gained. I get this excitement when it comes to helping someone who may be going through something that I have myself, giving or getting advice on why something worked versus another. I realize everyone has different experiences and preferences. Sometimes it's nice to contrast and compare, build a sense of community among us new moms in a somewhat unknown territory.

My blog also acts as a showcase for my somewhat newfound hobby, photography. I love photography. I didn't have any real hobbies until just recently. I was always engrossed in school and then work and that left me little time to "play" per say. I am happy to have a new place to show and track my progress, post pictures that I have taken and am proud of. My self-taught growth is apparent even in the few months that I have been doing this and I like to look back or critique my work. I think it's important to have a talent that you can take pride in. I think it helps add to one's own self-worth. And that alone is reason enough to keep doing anything you love. 

Blogging in itself is a hobby. It's an outlet. I love to write and I always have. I have to feel inspired or else it doesn't flow. Those days are "picture posting" days. But when I really feel something and need to get it out, I am thankful to have a place to do it. Some people have sports. Some have music. Others go to the gym. I like to write. I'm glad that I am letting myself explore that again. Of course I love my music, too. Just don't ask me to play anything for you. Or sing. Oh, please, don't ask me to sing.

It's also great way to find the humor in an otherwise awful day. It's better when others can laugh with you at things that can so quickly take your day into a downward spiral.

I hope my blog will help other moms out there find a sense of relief that we are not alone. I hope I can inspire some laughs and maybe even some tears (good ones, of course). Being a new mom is not easy. I think we all need as much support as we can get. There is so much to learn and it's nice to have others near that are going through it with you. When your day is filled with load after load of laundry (didn't I just wash this?), back to back feedings, the endless washing of bottles, playing with that same toy again and again, there is less showering and makeup than spit-up and carrot stains (the worst), and going out of the house seems like a chore when all you want to do is sit on the couch and do some browsing on the internet, a blog can be a comfort and a friend whether you are reading one or writing on one.

I am going to revamp my approach here a little. I want to be open and honest and gain your trust and your friendship. I want to reveal more about my days, even the dirty details that might not make for a Stepford, but certainly pertain to new motherhood. Because that's why you're here in the first place, isn't it?

So this is me. Some days I will be ripe with optimism and some days I may feel a bit down. There will be times when I can't help but let out the inner cynic. (Ok, lots of times for that one.)  There will be days when I express fears and others when I am fearless. There are going to be times I am just so excited to share something and others when I just want to slap up a few pics and be done with it. Sounds a lot like life to me.

I hope you enjoy it. :)



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iPhone Favorites & Random Thoughts

A post recapping Father's Day will be up soon, I promise! We have had one of our busiest weeks with our Etsy shop, so time has been in limited supply to say the least. We are all EXHAUSTED! We do realize how blessed we are to have a business that is growing day by day and we know all of our hard work will pay off in the end. My mom has been a tremendous help and Asher has enjoyed coming to our shop with me, too! 

HOWEVER, toting the little guy around with me like this is taking a serious toll on my back. My poor back and shoulder muscles are crying out for a break. Up - down - up - down - up - down... all day long! Who would imagine that such a small baby could wreck such havoc on one's muscles? I think I just may schedule that prenatal massage that I never had a chance to get... maybe I can trade it in for a couples massage and treat John to a late Father's Day gift, too. ;)

In addition to my ridiculously sore muscles, I think my immune system and my energy level in general are in need of a pick-me-up. I'm so pooped mentally and physically. I bright blue bruises everywhere - even on my finger (??!!) and have no idea where it came from. So, I've started on a multi-vitamin, some probiotics, am drinking an apple cider vinegar mixture each day, and am starting on a B12 supplement. We'll see if I can get back to my usual, energetic self. I will try to talk John into letting me get a Treadmill if I can find a good deal on Craigslist or something... Some exercise would probably provide a much needed energy lift. If anyone has any suggestions for boosting energy for new moms, I'm all ears!!

Next up will be revamping my eating habits, which are admittedly awful from time to time. It's difficult to eat very healthfully when I am home alone with Asher at night. I'm usually heating up a frozen Kashi meal and calling it a day. Once he is on solids, things will need to change. One thing at a time, though, so I will revisit this later..

Today, I am leaving you with my recent iPhone Favorites! I had over 400 pictures on my phone and had to clear them all out so I can continue to take pics! Here are my favs...

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14 Weeks + Phone Favorites

iPhone Photo Favorites!

{Forgive my writing today. I'm not really in the mood for full sentences!}

Asher's New Developments - 14 weeks

• Phasing out the nighttime swaddle. Prefers to fall asleep swaddle-free, but then wakes himself up! Falls into a deeper sleep with it on, then "houdini"s his way out of it to suck on his hands. Gotta love it!
• 95% there with the roll from back to tummy. Gets stuck on his arm! So close!
• Erupts in the cutest laughter over the silliest things!!! 1. me singing the 'Diaper Dance' song 2. peek-a-boo with Mommy - VIDEO BELOW - SO CUTE!!! :)

• Wants to look at my face while eating.
• Can drink from his Tommee Tippee bottles now. Getting use out of our bottle stash - finally!
• Awake for longer periods during the day and constantly wants to be entertained or carried... Mommy getting less done around the house. ;) HOWEVER, I tried a new position with our K'tan carrier today and this may be the solution... I got some much needed work done on the computer and Asher played piano on the iPad while in the K'tan. That required some interesting positioning, but worked out pretty well!

• Introduced iPad baby piano app with farm animal sounds. LOVES IT! After only 2 days developing skills to touch the keys, he is now using his hands more than ever to grab and touch his toys, pacifier, self, my face, Suki, Sumo…
• Asher is absolutely in LOVE with his Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 DVD. I need to get volumes 2, 3 and 4!
• Learning various signs - milk, more, mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, diaper, dog, frog... He gets dog and frog mixed up, i.e. looks around for Suki I say "froggy". We're not expecting him to sign back until 7 months or so, but he's watching and taking it all in!
• Reading him at least 1 book a day, sometimes 4-5 (baby cardboard books). Current Favorites: Little Monkeys Jump in the Bath, Goodnight Moon, Are You My Mother, Doggies by Sandra Boynton, & Llama Llama Red Pajama

MOMMY UPDATE - 14 Weeks Post-Partum

• 3-5 lbs left 'til pre-pregnancy weight! Feels like 15 due to redistribution of weight and needing to tone up. :( I want to start running again but my body is still saying, "Yeah, right!" Thinking about the P90X DVDs collecting dust in our closet... but with a 3.5 month old?? Really??? Who has the time for that?????
• Just when you feel like you're returning to some sense of normalcy, 3 mo. pp hits and you really do start losing your hair! My thick, pregnancy locks are everywhere except attached to my head. I swear there is hair all over the house. I'm shedding like one of our pugs! Ha!
• The hair issue reminds me to be more easy on myself. My body is still going through a lot and my hormones are obviously still far from normal. 
• The songs from the Signing Time DVD are always stuck in my head. "It's time to eat, eat, what a treat! Eat, eat, eat!" LOL

I have LOTS of pictures to share from John's birthday yesterday (age 29 and holding?????), so be on the lookout for that post within the next few days when I finish uploading and processing the photos! Here's a teaser - First attempt at a baby-free day at the beach and there may or may not have been a thunderstorm that lasted all day. You just have to laugh on days like that! ;)

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