Babywearing Elsa Style

I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

I recently received this baby carrier to review. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015HO0OFO I love the pattern, it reminds me of Anna from FROZEN... I can't escape that movie no matter how hard I try! Lucy is obsessed with everything that looks even remotely like Anna or Elsa would enjoy it. So of course she instantly wanted to go up in the carrier.

Now, I will mention here that the RECOMMENDED WEIGHT LIMIT for this carrier is 35lbs. Lucy is closer to 45 so I only put her up for a minute to make her happy. Surprisingly, she (and I) were very comfortable in a back carry for about 10 minutes. I didn't want to stress the carrier over its recommended weight for very long on first use so we made it a short walk around the house to check her out in every mirror (her request).

Trying this out with Flynn, I opted for a standard front carry that most will be familiar with. Flynn is about 26lbs, 15months old, and not yet walking. Because of his low muscle tone I do not use a back carry with him in general. His low muscle tone and global developmental delays are caused by a genetic condition called Koolen-deVries Syndrome. We'll be getting into that in another post, I just haven't found all the words to re-cap the last year. So, back to baby-wearing... We grabbed this cute little carrier and off to the post office we went. This is super light weight, great to toss in the diaper bag or leave in the back seat for a handy way to get baby around without dragging that dragon stroller out of the trunk. I highly recommend this style carrier for people (mom, dad, nana, sitter, anyone) who are new to babywearing and want to have their hands free to do things while keeping baby close and happy. It was great for our trip to the post office today because I needed both hands and there is never enough room to bring a stroller in that tiny building.

Now, I have additional criteria when deciding if a carrier is a good fit for us... FIT! In case you were not aware, I am not a skinny person, If fact, I am plus-sized. And not "plus size model" plus size either. I am a size 24/26 and often am very worried that investing in a carrier will end up in sadness. I was very pleased that I did not have any trouble with this carrier. I was able to securely tie a square knot/ double knot behind my back. I had enough of the arm straps to wrap and tie in the front. Most average size people are able to wrap again and tie in back, this is not the case for many plus size women, or even men with a muscular build I suppose. I felt secure with the ties. The baby was happily seated and enjoyed his ride.

This carrier has a padded portion of the shoulder. This is a nice touch. Many carriers of this style do not offer padding. A very welcome plus that fit very well in both the back and front carries with both kids. The top of the carrier also has some padding, this was a nice addition as it gave a little extra sturdiness to where the baby is being held on his back.

I did have to do some readjusting to get the straps to fit well over my shoulders the first few times, however, I believe this was user-error and not a fault of the carrier. It had been a while since I used a mei tai style carrier and I have fit issues with most carriers due to my body type. A little practice and a good wiggle/bounce/tie and the fit is resolved.

Overall, I enjoy this carrier. I think it will be our go-to for Daddy's car. I like having a carrier in each car for times when a little extra snuggling is needed when we are on the go. This carrier would be a great starter carrier. The price is great and the pattern is so adorable.


Happy Babywearing!

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Episode IV: A Childless Summer

In this episode of The Catholic Lovebirds podcast, Dustin and Allicia Faber talk about their vacation away from Lucy, playing Paperboy (in real life and in the arcade), and Alli talks baby hospital gowns!

Click here to listen. https://archive.org/download/catholiclb071214/catholiclb071214.mp3

Intro music courtesy of Smooth McGroove.

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Episode III: Pregnancy Update and New Writing

In this third episode of The Allicia and Dustin Show (hey we got a new name!), the two give an update on how pregnancy is treating Allicia, when the gender gets revealed, and Dustin talks about his new writing venture with 1morecastle.com

Click here to listen: https://archive.org/download/AlliDshow52914_201406/AlliDshow52914.mp3

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Give a Little Gift

I was born 8 weeks early. I have spent my entire pregnancy praying my baby would not be premature. I have a friend, Janet, and her husband, Mike, who weren't as lucky as I have been.  They don't know I'm writing this post, and I really hope they don't mind. I'll show it to them when we're done here...

Janet and Mike are a sweet couple, smart, and funny. I enjoy their company.  I met them through a friend a few years ago.  

Janet and Mike got pregnant with twins after being married over a decade.  They delivered their babies early, 16 weeks early.  Which means their twins Jaina and Cade were born at 24 weeks. Sweet baby Jaina fought hard for a few days, but is now waiting in heaven for her family.  Cade spent about 4 months in the NICU surrounded by nurses and doctors who cared for him expertly.

I cannot imagine travelling back and forth every day like Janet and Mike.
I cannot imagine the pain of bringing Cade home without his sister.

Cade 4mo old and home!

Why am I telling you this story and showing you an adorable baby photo?  Janet is participating in the March Of Dimes walk and is raising money in honor of her beautiful son Cade, and in memory of her precious daughter Jaina. I'm hoping that by being a friend of TheCatholicLovebirds and all that we love, you might consider donating to this fight.  There are so many babies born early, March of Dimes is doing everything they can to prevent this. When it can't be prevented March of Dimes does what they can to support these babies and their families.  Think of all your friends, how many have been affected by miscarriage, early births, premature or preterm births, birth defects?  Then click the link below and donate.  Donate in honor of the babies that fight to become adults.   Could you give a dollar? One dollar isn't much of a sacrifice really when you think of it... You've probably got that much between the couch cushions.

I've committed to donate a dollar amount equivalent to the weeks at which Lucy is born. What will you commit to?  Pickel Family MOD page

MOD mission statement

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baby update

We saw the baby doctor yesterday to go over the results of our ultrasound done two weeks ago.  We were informed the baby has only a two vessel umbilical cord and were told not to worry.  I was totally cool with the diagnosis. The Nurse Midwife we saw at our appointment yesterday said it was never usually discovered until birth. We'd do a few extra ultrasounds starting in about 8 weeks and I'd have to sit through a few non-stress tests.  Measurements were good. Weight gain/loss on track.  Heartbeat (love hearing that) was great at 160ish.  See ya in 6 weeks.

No big deal. I wasn't worried.

Then, the secretary calls from my OBGYN's office and says that the doctor would like an ultrasound (yes, I tell her in 8 weeks, I was aware) actually- he wants one next week. A fetal echocardiogram. Basically meaning he wants to double check the baby's heart is working properly. (I work in a medical office we do echocardiograms on adults all the time) ...

Now I'm a little worried. I know I shouldn't be, but this is my BABY we are talking about here. How am I not supposed to worry.

All the evidence points to a very normal abnormality with little to no complications. A link here for some reassurance. 

I suppose if we lived in the time when ultrasounds were rare, and shoddy quality at best, it wouldn't be a factor. I wouldn't know this information, would deliver a normal healthy baby, and then the doctor would exclaim that the umbilical cord was different than most others. But man, this is throwing me for a nicely placed loop. 

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Crazy Dreams

So apparently at this stage of my pregnancy (17/18weeks along) having odd dreams is normal. Just so we are clear the dreams are hormonal, and in no way a reflection on my mental status. Seriously, I was so happy to get an email from WhatToExpect.com with my little timeline reminding me that I am not a wack job, it is just the hormones. Thank you baby Jesus. I was really concerned for the sake of my parents cat, who has had purple hair in one dream; my living room which didn't really have bean bag furniture on Thursday; and my baby who was born while a cannon shooting blue goo and confetti exploded in the same room. This too shall pass!

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The post where dustin's head explodes

I can fully empathize with J.D. in that Scrubs clip. While I'm awfully grateful that God decided to give us a child now (instead of waiting a few months like I proposed to him so that we could get better financial footing), not a day goes by when I don't ask God, "Hey, how about some extra money to take care of this kid?"

It's my wife's dream to be a stay-at-home Mom. It's something I desperately want to provide to her. My heart aches at the idea of her not getting to do this. Yet when I'm only pulling in $24K a year, with a shitload of bills to pay, it seems like a distant fantasy.

Each week, I'm always scratching out expense estimates, that always look something like this:

Rent - $600
Car - $300
Food - $200
Debt - $200


There it is, there's my paycheck. I've left out car insurance, any form of digital media (internet, cell phones, tv, etc), any kind of savings, and gas for the car. And in Harrisburg, good luck finding a place under $600 where you won't get mugged daily. Yet, that small little budget you see exceeds my take-home pay (don't get me started on the stuff they withdraw. Why do I have to pay union fees when I don't belong to a stupid union??).

I love God for so many reasons, but the one thing that drives me nuts about following Christ is this brain-numbing. And I'm sure you've dealt with it a time or two. Is this rough situation due to the fact that it's not the path God wants me to go down, or is this situation hard because God wants me to have faith and persevere? I honestly have no clue.

We could try cutting down on bills, but the only extravagant thing we have is a DVR on our DirecTV. Do we cut out tv service all together? I know many people do that and rely solely on the internet or dvds, but losing TV service would be extremely due to her love of HGTV and my love of WWE Raw. Besides, it isn't like cutting TV magically puts us in range to be able to pay off everything. We'd still be coming up short.

You might have seen in our bills that only one car was listed. We have two cars, one a 2006 Ford Focus and the other a 1976 beetle. I could sell the Beetle, pay off the loan used to finance the car and pay off a credit card or two with the earnings, and become a one-car family. If Allicia is a stay-at-home mom, this isn't very difficult. But if we both have to work, only having one car seems like a tough thing to live with.

The best solution I can come up with, save for getting a better salary at work, is picking up a part-time job on the weekend. If we could find a lower rent home, trim up expenses to the point of pain, and add $150 to the budget each month, that could help.

Until then, pray for us. God knows we need all the help we can get.

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We're pregnant! dustin's side of things

Last week my wife started feeling sick during our visit to Arkansas.

At first I thought it was just the humidity. The heat is a little more intense down south as opposed to Pennsylvania, a state full of wimps when it comes to handling the heat. I expected her to be fine after a few days of aspirins or children's tylenol. 

However, a cure didn't come very fast. She felt nauseous. The billboard for the Whopper made her unusually queasy. Sore breasts. Exhaustion. Cramping. And as cranky as a waitress being tipped with Monopoly money. 

Oh, and that promised menstrual period?

Late. 

She never got her period. Instead, we got a stick with two lines on it. Yep, we're pregnant. 

That Sunday morning after we got back from our 20-hour drive to the states, Allicia immediately took a pregnancy test. And it came back positive. But not after three minutes. We're talking mere seconds. Any doubts as to whether this pregnancy was legit was erased within seconds.

And within seconds, I realized that I'm about to embark upon a lifetime goal of raising up a faithful Catholic and productive member of society.

To quote a young Joey Lawrence, "Whoa!"

Let's get this out of the way now. I'm going to be a HORRIBLE father. Not because I'm going to go Casey Anthony on my children or anything, but because I'm still a horribly selfish man. Sure, some of that went away when I got married, but I like to have my own time to do whatever I want. If I want to stay up playing Epic Mickey, I can do so, because chances are my wife is in the other room working on her own crafts.

I know that I'll still have free time when the baby gets here, but I'm not going to be able to play video games whenever I want. I'm not going to be able to post on my blogs, or hurry up to post the latest Lino news whenever I want to. I realize that all of this probably sounds overly whiny, but this is the end of "dustin gets to do whatever he wants."

I'm sure it's a maturity thing. Hopefully I'll be able to find a good balance when that kid gets here. Eight months and counting. 

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