JUST LIFE

I often think of my other (nonexistent) self who does an amazing art project everyday with the kids and gets time to make a wonderful dinner and folds and puts away laundry then gets the kids to bed by 8 and has time to work on a craft at night then sip on a drink and watch a show and still be in bed before midnight..... Then I get depressed. So I have resorted to catching a few minutes online on my laptop (not my Android in my pocket) around midnight and maybe having a drink then! I'm lucky if I make a decent dinner. An art project? How about: "Here, kids, there's the paint, brushes, glue and markers. I have to go nurse the baby. Here's a snack. See you in a bit. Please be quiet." It's called REALITY. We all DO try. Some days more than others. I am satisfied with one cool thing per day. Summer is easier than winter. Swimming, sand toys, playgrounds, sidewalk chalk, biking, picnics, running around outside....EASY! Winter: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm not lazy by definition. BUT I do tend to err on the side of lazy anytime a hardship enters my life or brain. LAZINESS/LAZY: "disinclined to activity or exertion, not energetic or vigorous." Yup, that is me some days. I am a mother to three girls. Sometimes I feel that if we can just have a little fun and be generally fine, that's a good day. Is that being lazy? ...or is it just life?

Three's Company.

I have 3 girls now! Here is my newest little member of our family! She is now 3 and a half months and her name is Faris Viletta Antheraea. (two middle names, i didn't add my last for privacy on this blog).

We just moved to a country house 20 minutes from any normal sized town with stores. It is nestled in hills and we rent the old house on a 200 acre farm. It is cute. Big yard. Lots of black walnuts. We love it out here. It is an adjustment for sure but we are acclimating. Fiona is going to 3rd grade and she gets picked up by the bus and dropped in front of our house. She loves it and is making friends and got placed in a high reading level. Blythe is 2 now and runs around the house talking non stop. She is funny and smart and kinda whiny. She keeps us guessing, that's for sure. Faris laughs alot and gets hiccups when doing so. She coos and yells and is generally a happy chill baby. She has gotten very fat. We DO use cloth diapers with her. It is nice to use the ones we already bought. Saves tons of money!

We have a house full of 4 girls (that includes me) and one boy (daddy). We have fun and cook alot and watch movies and dance and play and have fun!

Baby Registry

We are having another baby girl! We pretty much have everything we need because of having all girls. However I have been getting asked alot, "What do you need or want!?" So, I thought I would just make a list here and ppl can take that info and do what they want. I will list an item with or without a link. Then if you want to find that item used or on sale somewhere that would be the way to go. I am not really into hoarding tons of baby stuff....however there ARE some things we had our eyes on! :) I will start this list and add to it over the next few days. THANK YOU!!!!

Here is the list:

Baby disposable bleach free wipes:
http://www.amazon.com/Seventh-Generation-Chlorine-Wipes-Unscented/dp/B0037W6NZO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1309892927&sr=8-3

Baby

Some pack n play sheets! Any kind! :)

Potty seat for travel:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mommys-Helper-Cushie-Travel-Potty-Seat/10088173

bath organizer
http://www.amazon.com/Boon-Bath-Scoop-Green-Frog/dp/B000AV7O4O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1309491081&sr=8-3

Little Twig Bath Products:
http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Unscented-Baby-Little-Twig/dp/B0019HXRV2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1308637168&sr=8-6

Thirsties pre-wash and super-wash (soap for cloth diapers):
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?products_id=2214

Thirsties Booty luster: (butt spray)
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=2356

Croquet set: (or something similar)
http://www.landofnod.com/kids-outdoor-toys/kids-outdoor/noddo-croquet-set/f107

Building Blocks: (or something similar)
http://www.landofnod.com/toys-and-gifts/sale/taking-shape-building-blocks/f6649

Panini press: (hey, it isn't a baby item but since we'll have 3 kids, we need to make fast easy meals!)
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-GR-1-Griddler-Panini-Sandwich/dp/B000CPZXGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309230367&sr=8-1

Baby dishes:
www.amazon.com/Boon-Catch-Toddler-Catcher-Orange/dp/B001EU7MPQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1309491081&sr=8-4

www.amazon.com/Green-Toys-BPA-Free-Feeding-Bowl/dp/B0036MEL3G/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1309491680&sr=8-7

Baby bottle:
https://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/feeding/bottlespacifiersandaccessories/feeding/bottlespacifiersandaccessories/mimijumi-baby-bottle.html

Life Continues

I am pregnant again! I am 6 months along. Blythe is 1 1/2 years old and she is so funny! She climbs on everything. She plays silly peek a boo games and does funny dances. She demands juice all the time (not that we give in!) by stepping forward with one foot and leans in sorta and says adamantly, "JUICE!", with a serious look on her face. Sometimes she will say "wa-wa" instead for water. It is hilarious! She loves hugs and kisses and shows alot of sympathy when she sees someone sad. So sweet! Fiona is 8 now and has almost all of her adult teeth it seems. She is doing very well in homeschool. She is in 2nd grade but doing mostly 3rd grade level for math and writing and reading. Her reading is astounding. She reads full on chapter books designed for middle school kids. She is a computer whiz too. She also loves going outside and roaming about doing little investigations and explorations. She just got a set of rain boots and an umbrella. She will have fun this spring!

We are going to Washington State in 5 weeks. We are taking the girls. I will be 33 weeks preggo at that time. Yikes! This will be both the girls' first time on a plane! How exciting! I am a bit nervous for Blythe and also for being so far along in this pregnancy. We rented a bunch of cottages and cabins to stay in on beaches. I can't wait! One last hoorah before this baby girl comes. Yes, girl. I will have 3 girls!

We better pick out a name pretty soon!

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!