My journey begins.

Here it goes! Bring it on, Baby!

falling

i am finally pleased to see the world changing...referring to fall.

My quest

It is my mission to turn all the moms I know on to using cloth diapers. Why do we keep adding to the landfill? Cloth diapers feel better for the baby and are cute. We all know how much we hate the smell of those things stinking up our cars on a hot sunny day at the beach...or in our rooms waiting till trash day. What about the harsh chemicals leaching into our children's skin altering their future reproduction and hormones!?
Choose CLOTH!

Bum Deal

I have been sewing and I made my first PUL diaper! (that means waterproof) I am proud of it because it was harder than i thought it would be. I plan on making more but improving the design a bit so I can eventually sell some off. I do not plan on becoming a huge company or anything but I do want to sell some locally to help out the hippies.
Here it is!

Summer July 2010

It is July now. So much is happening. Blythe crawls now everywhere. She started a month ago. She also has 7 teeth! She makes a lot of noises and sounds and laughs a lot. She loves Peek-a-boo! She cruises around the furniture and loves to stand. She is a busy girl! Fiona lost her top two teeth and she is so cute! New ones are coming through and she is getting older. Her attitude is one of an older child and she is shedding the young child face quickly. She really is a funny girl. One day she is a ninja practicing her fighting moves outside with a stick and the next day she is a princess getting ready for a play. I love her many interests.

Aaron and I are having fun with our girls! I have started sewing cloth wipes for sale. My friend has a store in which to sell them for me. It is a start and I hope to expand what I make to better stuff like diapers and baby clothes. Really I would sew anything i can think of if I have what it takes! It is hard to find time to sew these days, though. These days I use Flip covers with prefolds and bumgenius elemental diapers. I am slowly getting a stash of fitteds and wool. It is fun for me. Aaron has his moths and butterflies and I have my sewing and diapers. :)

8 months ago...

8 months ago... Blythe was born! Blythe's new things: Scooting on tummy forward w/elbows and toes. Growling! Crying loudly and getting MAD! Eating baby cookies/crackers. She as 4 teeth with 2 more poking out. Grabbing onto low things and standing her legs straight with butt up in the air. Peeing and pooping in the potty. Sleeping in the crib...kinda ;)

The Tree

We had a ceremony on saturday. It was 2 years ago that we lost a baby. Our 2nd one who died due to miscarriage. We bought a cherry tree and planted it on our land in the garden spot. We buried Blythe's placenta, a toy from fiona that she wanted to give to the babies had they been born, and the little box that had in it the remains of my first baby w/ Aaron who died at only 10 weeks along. The 2nd baby who died at 13 weeks we didn't keep but will live on in our hearts through that cherry tree planted on the memorial of his/her loss. It was a nice ceremony but a sad one. A tree of life to give life to those who lost it and to give them comfort in our hearts that they are part of us........... oh I am getting too sad now.

I am totally hitting Nicki's diapers in Madison saturday morning to get some goood deals Yeah! I can't wait! I think I will pick up a lil something for Lori. I do not neeed any more but ahh the Hell! FUNN!!!

This is what I would LOVE:
http://nickisdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=766

news.

Blythe is 7 months old now and is eating food and wearing size 18 months clothing. She is the cutest beast! Fiona is 7 years old and she just got her ears pierced tonight! AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New contenders.

Well, we started Blythe on solids. She had her first REAL poop. I didn't have a liner in there so I had to rinse the pastey poop out. It was fine but definitely not as easy as EBF poop. I wonder if I should get a diaper sprayer. I think that after all of this I prefer the Flips the best with prefolds. I am sewing my own Hemp inserts one by one. I realize now that they are expensive to make and to buy. I on;y save a few dollars by making them myself. Oh well. I am also liking the Bum Genius Organic ONe size aio. I have 11 of the now thanks to finding them used on diaperswappers! I finally found a nighttime solution that works! A flip cover with 2 prefolds and a hemp babies doubler! No leaks. Very absorbent! Yay!

Babykicks.

I love Babykicks diapers from what I know about them. I have always wanted these since they came out. I hope I win! I would be IN LOVE!

Wipes

I made wipes to go with my clot diapers! I serged them and just tonight I made up a solution using water and baby oil and some lavender oil and folded all my wipes and moistened with my solution. I am going to phase out the disposables and use only cloth wipes. I can't wait to see what they will be like!

Crafty

I am feeling crafty! I got my new serger recently! I have already been making cloth wipes to go with all my cloth diapers. I would like to try my hand at making some more cloth diapers. Now that I have a serger I can have more options. I use 1 homemade diaper that I made with the reg. sewing machine. I want to ultimately make a Wool-in-two. I need to buy a snap pliers to do so. I would like to make a bunch for Blythe to use and to slowly make enough to sell. Ya never know if I might have more kids in the future too...I will need to know how to make all this stuff! I really enjoy cloth diapering. I also wanna make Fiona some dresses and skirts and maybe some cool tops. I love to make stuff and then be able to wear it. How cool! I cannot believe how many different hobbies there are to have. I need to go to bed earlier. I stay up late every night going online...not good! Go to bed, myself!

Crib Woes

I keep hearing Blythe in the crib stirring and making sounds. It is not crying so I sit. . . do I pick her up and give in? I want her to get used to it. Tonight is my first night trying to get her to sleep in the crib. I need to sleep better. I want her to go to bed earlier. I figure if I can get her to stop nursing AS much during the night and to sleep through most of it (meaning 6 hours) than I will be a happy woman. I am sure Aaron will benefit as well.

My room is a disaster. I want it to be magically cleaned so that when I have my infant in the crib I can aimlessly wander over to the crib in a daze in the dark and get her and bring her to bed with out the realistic fear of tripping over clothes. What IS my problem? I could go for some fish sticks right now.

Well, We will see how tonight goes. My biggest worry is that Blythe will be cold in her crib. It makes me sad to feel her cold hands or face sometimes. I always read in articles, though, that as long as the baby is bundles up appropriately with just their head exposed that their head will regulate their temperature. Should I put mittens on her? I dunno. Call me a worry wart I guess. That term is gross. Well, after I finish my pineapple martini I am off to bed. Hopefully I can get a few hours in before Blythe wakes to nurse. Do I nurse her and put her back in the crib or just grab her and bring her into the bed?! Maybe if my rocking chair weren't covered in clothes my choice would be easier to make. :P

Diapers wipes and bibs oh my!

I really wish I could hit Madison and go to Nicki's diapers. I need to do some more exploring!

http://nickisdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=612

Plans!

So here I am, finally got my internet back up and I recieved my newly fixed laptop back from Fed Ex today. 2 weeks without internet or computer. It was nice actually but I missed it! News: I am going to Florida in 3 weeks!!! Wahoo! An 18 hour non stop drive from Wisconsin. With a 5 month old and a 7 year old it will take 2 days. The rewards of paradise await. The house we are renting has a washer and dryer in it...you know what that means! Cloth diapering IS an option! I really wanna do it. I am a little concerned about the drive though. Should I use my 3 dollars off coupons for the Huggies organic disposables or just tough it out? Speaking of diapers we went to LaCrosee recently to the new cloth diapering store called Cutie Patootie and I bought a BottomBumpers organic cotton diaper and a pair of babylegs. I loved the diaper. I already had Blythe wear it twice! Very absorbant trim. Wish it was a one-size but the medium I got covers a broad range of sizes. I like the side snaps and the bright blue color. I like that it is a 2 mil PUL. Nice! I love the snap in insert. I only wish the wide end could snap in the back not the other way around. Great diaper and my hubby loved it! The baby legs are so cute! I splurged on them and I like that her legs can be warm during the winter but I can finally see her hanging out in all these colorful cloth diapers I got her. She is 4.5 months and getting big and smart. She is a ham I tell you. She spits and buzzes and blows bubbles and screeches and yells and laughs and coughs and squeals... Fiona was not this loud. It is really funny though. I love it! I cannot wait to get the girls down in Florida where we can escape the midwest depressing coldness!

Turn of Events.

We have been barely hanging onto this winter, financially speaking, thanks to Aaron being laid off and me not working right now. We rather enjoy it though. Aaron has been able to bond with the baby, who is 4 months old now, and help me homeschool Fiona. It has been nice having him around. I feel closer to him but at the same time I kind of miss my daily routine. I am glad he was able to be home during the first several months of the Blythe's life. I appreciate husbands alot now that I have had one kid with out and one with.

Julaina's (my sister) daughter Charlotte is about 8 months old and she just started crawling. It is so exciting! I love having all these girls in the family. This past year has been a good time for us all. No more miscarriages. We got our little babies!

I have high hopes for this year. We will do alot of things. Do alot more on our house and possibly move in. Take the kids on fun trips. Hopefully go on one BIG vacation. Maybe I will make some headway in my own little side business. Buy a car. I hope to be more artistic too. Keep a journal. Make some jewelry......

Well, we are losing our internet this week. We cannot afford to pay for it for now. I will miss looking up cloth diaper supplies and writing in the diaper swappers forum. I will miss reading up on baby stuff and talking to my friends online. I can still take the laptop to the cafe or library but still...not the same. I am looking forward to spending more time with my baby and my big daughter. I will get more out of life. Now if only it also was turning spring already!

Mommy Blues

I am feeling rather squishy and fugly and unkempt and gross and aesthetically displeasing. I have been a new mom (again) for 4 months now and I guess I still can warrant the new mom look but that mixed with this winter is not helping my thoughts. I get a headache alot from the hormones surging. I could really use a nice warm day with sun shining. I could more importantly use a make over. yes, a makeover. A visit to the salon. I need a haircut. I need some new clothes. I need some TIME and $$$.

On a lighter note: Blythe is JUST the awesomest! She is sooo cute. She is doing alot more now. She is starting to become a little feisty though. She has a bit of a temper. I think it is cute though. I enjoy being a mom to my 2 girls. I feel like I could possibly give a wonderful future to these girls and add a couple of good people to the future. I also hope to give to these girls a life that I wish I had had. Perhaps a feeling they take away with them from being mothered by me will be one of satisfaction and fulfillment and contentment. I love my girls and I love my husband. He makes it all possible for me to keep my sanity amoungst these hard times raising a family.

Side Note: Fulltime cloth diapering now for about 2 months. It is going great! Blythe has some minor pale redness going on but no diaper rashes yet ever since birth! I have yet to make the swap from disposable wipes to cloth. I will be making some soon. My only wish is that all of my diapers had snap closures and that they were all organic cotton or bamboo/hemp. The fleece/microfiber diapers work very well and are easy to clean and are very durable and also they do have a stay dry feel to them but for some reason her pee smell like lobster butter most of the time. That doesn't happen when wearing the cotton ones! Weird!

Winter

I enjoy winter now since I am experiencing it from the window with my little baby girl! She is 16 lbs!!! She is ssoooooo cute! We just love her big eyes. Her surprised look at the world around her is so funny. She seems amused by low voices as well as Fiona's high pitched laughs. Her little dimpled cheek when she smiles wins me over with every smile. This is a wonderful winter and I am so thankful for what I have. Two precious girls and a husband to have fun with :)