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Spring is here and it’s about time to start shopping for for the warmer days ahead. San Diego Hat Co. should be one of the stores on your shopping list! San Diego Hat Co. specializes in unique adult and children’s hats and accessories for all seasons that are sure to turn heads when worn! Take the children’s hats for example, you will find yourself wanting them all!

Isn’t this the cutest little crocheted train hat? It was hand crocheted by Linda Day of DayLee Designs. She works a small bead into her pattern in honor of her mother who taught her how to crochet. She is truly a talented designer. I love crocheted hats and I truly appreciate handmade items. DayLee Designs are exclusively available to San Diego Hat Co.. Jayden will be rocking his little train hat next Spring or sooner if we go on a warm vacation. He is going to be a little hottie! It’s mother’s instinct ;-).

GIVEAWAY!: You can win this cute sunflower hat for an infant GIRL in a size 6-12 Months! Just visit San Diego Hat Co. and comment here telling me what your favorite product is. Those who don’t follow the rules will be disqualified. A winner will be chosen using random.org on April 10th, 2008 5PM CST.

Comments are now closed and winners have been announced! Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter!

What an exciting month this has been as the anticipation of Jayden’s arrival ensues! This month, we saw the ending of one giveaway and the beginning of another, we’ve been through four more weeks of pregnancy, we threw a blog party, we had our baby shower, and we saw everything from farting babies to poop time humor! If you missed out, don’t worry! It’s exactly what this monthly review is for!

So, what the heck went on this month?

Giveaways and parties and baby showers, OH MY! This month was definitely a fun a productive one! So, let’s recap! Here are our 10 most popular posts of March 2008:

• Welcome 5MinutesForMom Partiers! - Susan and Janice of 5 Minutes For Mom threw a HUGE party, and we just couldn’t resist joining in and getting doooown with our bad selves!
• 1,500 Entrecard Giveaway! - Still currently running! I’m throwing a giveaway for a total of 1,500 Entrecard credits, and there will be 3 winners! So, be sure to enter for your share of Entrecard credits today!
• So, What The Heck Is “Hounie”? - You’ve seen it used by Mommy. You’ve seen it used by myself. We even named our store after it. But, wait a minute, what the heck is “Hounie”? Everything you need to know about “Hounie” is explained in this post!
• 31st Week Update… Daddy Style! - You’ve seen Mommy pump out pregnancy updates week after week since our 22nd week. But find out what happens when I take the mic this time!
• 33rd Week Update - Halp! Mommy’s birthmark has gone GLOBAL! (And by the way, I know I misspelled “help”. If you’re not familiar with “lolcats”, Google “halp”.)
• Our Baby Shower Blast! - Friends, family, games, prizes, gifts, and fooooood! I don’t think our baby shower could’ve been any better!
• 34th Week Update - Mommy’s boycott of iron pills and the annoyance of her midwife’s repetitive questions make up her most recent pregnancy update.
• Feeling The Love Across The Blogosphere! - Quite a few people showed us love this month, and there was no way I was going to let myself get away without showing them love back!
• 32nd Week Update - Braxton Hicks contractions and the need for a nesting pillow; more signs that signify, “Hey, we’re pregnant!”
• Daddy Meets Babytalk Magazine - Find out what happens when I have to take a poop, and a Babytalk magazine is my only form of entertainment! Surprising results!

(If you would like to view every post from the month of March 2008, you can do so by visiting our Archives page!)

Thank you for spreading the word!

This month, we’ve had quite a few people link to Mommy Daddy Blog, and we continue to appreciate the love! It is because of you all spreading the word about us that enables us to grow! So now we would like to reciprocate the love! I present to you, our top 10 referrers for March 2008:

• Google - Yes, you deserve some love too, big guy!
• StumbleUpon - Thanks to each and every stumbler who stumbled Mommy Daddy Blog!
• Entrecard - Just in case you didn’t hear me the first time, we’re currently running a giveaway for 1,500 Entrecard credits! So enter enter enter!
• Sophistishe - Now who would’ve guessed that Mommy’s personal blog would be one of our top referrers?
• Wife Advice - Who knew that our love of a donkey and his ball and chain wife would send us traffic? Hee haw!
• 5 Minutes For Mom - Thanks Susan and Janice for throwing the Ultimate Blog Party 2008! We definitely had a lot of fun here at Mommy Daddy Blog!
• Dad Thing - Dad bloggers sending fellow dad bloggers traffic; now that’s cool!
• Babee Makes Five - Thanks for the love Maryam and Damon, and congratulations on the addition of your third!
• Tanyetta - Tanyetta loves us and we love Tanyetta! A lot! Plus two! Times infinity!
• MyBlogLog - Just couldn’t resist clicking on that pregnant couple every time it appeared in your MyBlogLog widget, huh?

Thank you for your participation!

The opinions, concerns, and advice of YOU, the commenters, are priceless to us! We appreciate each and every single comment that we receive; especially by those who continue to come back and contribute! We love you guys! Here are our top 10 23 commenters of March 2008:

• Keisha
• 1StopMom
• Sheliza
• Tanyetta
• Whitney
• Val
• Kim
• Elliott Kim
• Dara
• Get ready, because it was HUGE tie for 10th place!: Modern Mami, Pamela Kramer, Natalie, Holly, Tawny, Liz, Aubree, Angela, JMom, Tamara Wilson, Miranda, Jessica, Ana, and Lisa C! Whew!

This month was definitely an awesome one, and we look forward to April being even better; as April will be the last full month before Jayden’s arrival! Thanks to everyone who has helped to make Mommy Daddy Blog what it is now. It is because of all of you guys’ love and support that we continue on!

So the other day I was on my way to take a dump when I realized that I had no form of entertainment to bring with me. Now I don’t know about you, but dropping a load can get pretty boring. So what I’d usually do is bring my laptop in with me. But a few months back, the backlight in my laptop’s LCD screen went out and I’ve had an external monitor hooked up to it ever since (just been too lazy to fix it). Lugging a laptop AND a computer monitor into the bathroom with me is just a bit too much. I’ll pass. My other form of entertainment is usually one of my school newspapers that I’ll pick up from earlier on in the day. Unfortunately, I didn’t grab one that day, so that option was out too.

So what was I to do? I couldn’t go in there and just poop. Where’s the fun in that? So that’s when I approached Mommy and asked if she had anything that could keep me company. After scouring through her pile of magazines, she hands me an issue of Babytalk. Uh… I don’t think Babytalk is my ideal choice of a poop companion. But hey, who am I to argue? Beggars can’t be choosers.

So there we were, in the bathroom. Me and Babytalk. Babytalk and me. How am I supposed to approach this magazine? I mean, I’ve never met it before. What if it doesn’t like me? Then after a few minutes of me staring down at this unopened magazine in my lap, I started to feel disturbed as there was a baby on the cover staring back at me while I had my manly chunks exposed. So I quickly flipped to the back of the magazine in hopes that I’d find an ad for that brand spankin’ new Dodge Charger SRT-8 for under a grand I’d been looking for (hey, can’t a man dream?) (and on another note, I don’t care how overrated the Charger is, that car is one of the sexiest automobiles to grace the road. Can I get an Amen?… *cricket cricket*… agh who asked you anyway).

Well I didn’t find the Charger ad that I’d hoped for, but surprisingly enough I did find something that kept me entertained for the duration of my load shipment. It was an article by Babytalk contributor, Melissa Balmain, entitled, “Finally, the websites new moms have been waiting for…”. The “websites” part is what caught my attention (I’m sort of an internet geek), but it was the names of the websites that really reeled me in. Ever went shopping on Peebay.com? Me neither. Read on:

Finally, the websites new moms have been waiting for…

Weeharmony.com - Never mind that your baby’s the only one in the neighborhood who still isn’t doing yoga/learning Russian/keeping 5-4 time on the maracas. Register here to find hundreds of compatible playmates in your area!

Now if you’re anything like me, you immediately went to check out these websites. I’m pretty sure most of you probably stopped in the middle of this post to type one of the above domains in your browser (yup, I caught you!). Unfortunately, none of the websites exist. All except two of the them are parked domains. As for the other two, one redirects to a real estate website (Peebay.com) and the other redirects to a MySpace page (Zagattogo.com).

It would be pretty cool if the websites did exist though, as each one had a unique and creative idea behind it. I don’t know about you, but I definitely would’ve been on Peebay bidding on that Snoop Dogg potty! Fo’ rizzle!

Melissa Balmain, whoever you are, where ever you are, thanks for the poop time humor! And if any of you are interested in reading the actual article, it’s in the March 2008 issue of Babytalk on page 76 (It’s the page with a picture of a baby taking a poop on MY Snoop Dogg potty that I was supposed to win on Peebay! The little booger outbid me at the last second!). And by the way Babytalk, you now have a special place in my home reserved just for you!

In the prenatal months, a baby’s brain is at its most receptive stage of learning. This would explain why pregnant women are constantly told to talk to, sing to, and play music to their bellies. When hearing the same sounds outside of the womb, babies tend to react to them positively. The sounds that they’ve heard inside of the womb help them relax once exposed to the world outside.

Daddy and I talk to my belly and in addition we use a product called BabyPlus. The BabyPlus is a device that introduces patterns of sound to a prenatal child. The BabyPlus is programmed with 16 one hour lessons that resemble the rhythm of a heart beating, a language that a baby recognizes best. The rhythms gradually increase when advancing to each new lesson. It is recommended that pregnant women start BabyPlus lessons at 18 weeks. At 18 weeks a mother should start on lesson one and should play each lesson for one hour twice a day for 7 days. After an hour has passed, BabyPlus will cut off automatically. BabyPlus comes with a chart which lists allow you to record your week of pregnancy, the day and times you had your lessons, and the baby’s response to the lessons. There is also a chart that tells you how many days to use BabyPlus according to the week of pregnancy you are in. So if you are past 18 weeks, you can still use BabyPlus!

Studies have shown that babies that have been exposed to BabyPlus prenatal curriculum are born more relaxed and alert. They are more responsive, interactive, and are ready to start observing the environment around them. Parents who have used BabyPlus have reported that their babies nurse more readily and self-soothe more easily. As they grow older they demonstrate earlier developmental milestones, have longer attention spans, and improved school readiness. Check out what parents have to say about BabyPlus.

BabyPlus can be compared to a prenatal vitamin. Prenatal vitamins encourage strong physical development and BabyPlus encourages strong, cognitive development. This being said, don’t expect BabyPlus to turn your baby into a genius; BabyPlus just simply strengthens the foundation for learning.

I started using BabyPlus at 24 weeks and I will admit to missing quite a few days due to being overwhelmed with business and tasks at home. Since I threw my BabyPlus schedule off so bad, I decided to start over because I wanted to do it RIGHT. I found that the best time to do BabyPlus lessons are while doing housework or exercising, that way the beating sounds are less distracting. It is said that babies inside of the womb may react while BabyPlus lessons are in session. Some babies will move to the rhythm of the beats and some may settle down as if they are observing the sounds. When I use BabyPlus, I don’t notice a significant change in Jayden’s movements. Jayden’s really frisky, so he twists and turns during BabyPlus lessons as he would when lessons aren’t in session.

This is my experience with BabyPlus thus far. I still have 6 weeks of pregnancy and 10 BabyPlus lessons to go. I don’t know if we’ll be able to determine the effect, if any, BabyPlus has on Jayden since he is our first child and we have nothing to compare it to. But of course we’ll be documenting all of Jayden’s developments here on Mommy Daddy Blog. So we’ll see!

As of today I am 34 weeks preggo! I really have to get some exercise, going to and from the kitchen just isn’t enough, lol. It’s starting to get warm out so now I can take walks with Daddy. Yesterday we went to the mall, so that was something. I managed to somehow rip my jeans at the crotch while at the mall or coming home. The jeans in particular were a pair that were a tad too loose pre-pregnancy and I’m now nearly busting out of them. I guess I learned my lesson from that rip! Don’t wear anything else that I know is too small!

I had to get my grandma on and purchase a pillbox. Lately I’ve been forgetting if I’ve taken my prenatals or not. Some days I probably took them twice.

I can’t hold much liquid, as soon as my bladder reaches maximum capacity, my lower back starts killing me. It makes me want to cut down on drinking, but I’m always so thirsty! I’m going to talk to my doctor about the back pain just in case because it is so uncomfortable, but it only happens when my bladder is full. Once I take a tinkle, it goes away.

We had a doctor visit on Tuesday and of I get asked these questions one more time, I’m going to scream!:
- Is this your first baby? (They should know this by now.)
- Did you register for the child birthing class? (I was uninterested the first however many times I was asked.)
- Are you going to breastfeed? (Should have remembered my enthusiasm when asked this however many times.)
- Have you decided about circumcision? (I’ll let that one slide since it’s only been asked twice.)
- Have you decided on a birth control method after you give birth? (DIDN’T WE ALREADY DISCUSS THIS!??!?)

I hate having to repeat myself, why don’t they just record my answers in my chart?! I’m getting tired of hearing what classes are all about, I nod and “umhm” in a way that lets them know that I know already. I don’t want to go to any classes other than the epidural (required if I need one during labor) class, geez. Just because this is my first baby doesn’t mean I NEED to go or that I need to ask a bajillion questions either. In addition, I was asked if I was taking my iron pills and my answer was no because I’m afraid of getting sick. The doctor that prescribed them told me that many women don’t take them anyway. I’m not supposed to take the iron pills with antacids, eggs, cereals, whole grain breads, tea, and dairy products. I consume all of those things, around the clock!!! I took an iron tablet one morning and I starved that whole hour waiting to eat. Plus the pills can cause constipation. I already poop around the clock too (TMI, lol), so the last thing I need right now is to be constipated! I can’t do the iron pills, sorry. I get my iron in other foods (red meat, tuna, red beans, greens, whole grains, etc.) anyway. When I mentioned red beans, my midwife gave me a blank stare. When I looked at her back with my eye brow raised, she told me that she didn’t know red beans were a source of iron, but she could be wrong. Shouldn’t she know these things? Overall I’m very calm and on top of things and I guess that surprises them this being my first pregnancy. Plus nothing hurts, nothing swollen, I have no problems just the lower back pain that I mentioned above when I have to tinkle. Everything’s looking good, we’re sliding into the home stretch and I can’t wait to find out how my cervix is looking in two weeks!

(We have been keeping weekly accounts of our pregnancy since the 22nd week. If you’re interested in reading weekly updates prior to or following this one, click here!)