Another Sick Day for Beebs

Monday. But better than any other Monday. Although stormy and rainy, it IS 60 degrees outside. Pretty good for the end of March. And all the gloom allowed us to get in a 2 hour nap already today, and it's only 2pm. We are once again home, the cough that Ardyn has had all weekend is worse, and last night she literally coughed like every 5 minutes all night. By midnight I just went to get her and she slept with me, which was a good thing considering she coughed enough to spit up all over her pajamas and soak herself. And this morning she had some blood in her nose from the soreness. Poor beeb. She seems to be in great spirits after a nice nap. In all truth she could have gone to daycare but at the same time I knew that rest would help her (and me) and at daycare she doesn't take very long naps, where here I can get 3-4 hours of naps from her each day.

My parents went to Southern Illinois last week and brought her back two pair of shorts and a Prairie bonnet that is to die for. It is so stinkin cute!
I finished all my dyeing on Friday night and took photos on Saturday morning of all the diapers together. They look FABULOUS and I am so pleased. Only thing is, since buying the Motherease Bamboo Fitteds, I have discovered that they are kinda worthless absorbency wise, without the snap in inserts. But you can only use the snap in inserts on the largest setting, and she still isn't to the largest setting. Although she might have to be with extra bulk of an insert. Another mom online mentioned she isn't a fan of the MEOS inserts, so I am a little hesitant to spend the $40 to get 13 of them for my diapers. But $120 of diapers that are not useful to me isn't a good thing either. Right now we have used exclusively prefolds this weekend, and I love them. And Wool. I really lreally love the wool. Today she has on camo shorties. Saturday she got a new wool set, which she wore to Ava's second birthday party. We had a good time and Ardyn wore a princess Tiara party hat. There was so much going on that instead of eating her supper, she pretty much didn't care about vegetables or fruit, and just wanted breastmilk all night. And for some reason she again started to get tired around 7pm, which was unusual considering she took two good naps that day. After I brought her home and put her to bed, my parents came over to stay with her while I picked up Lisa and we went to watch Evan play in the band at a local bar. I took some pictures at his request, which can be found here if you are interested.

I had a good time but I am NOT made to be out until 2am. I drank one bottle of water and I still woke up with eyeballs that felt like pinecones. Of course Ardyn was up from about 1 till 3am, so I didn't get to sleep till 3, and then was up at 8:30, so Sunday was another day we all took a big nap from 11-1 because we were exhausted from our new rock star lifestyle. I think when they play again I will make it a point to only see the first two sets instead of all 4, which should put me home around midnight. Much more respectable for a mom. LOL. I have to admit that even as a one time social smoker, I appreciate smoke free bars because I can go out and come home to the baby without reeking and needing to shower. That's important, especially when I have to breastfeed her in the middle of the night and I don't want to be stinky.

Three little t-shirts arrived today. That was fun. I am washing diapers and doing laundry, and folding, hanging, etc. I have a couple of windows open, which is nice, but people with loud exhausts keep going by and trains keep going through, and waking up the beeb as soon as I get her to sleep for her nap. She's been especially vicious lately with her grabbing and scratching and pinching. I have been working on "be nice" and "No!" But twice now I have had to just lay her in her crib and let her put herself to sleep because she gets meaner when she gets tired and cranky. I have scratches on my hands and a three nail scratch across my arm from yesterday morning. Today she grabbed my breast repeatedly and scratched me while eating and I kept taking her arm away and saying "no" but she kept it up until I gave her a little **Teeny** smack on the hand and she screamed like she was crushed that her mom did that.... and then stopped hurting me for the rest of her nursing session.

The weather says we are looking at a high of 65 degrees today and more thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight. I just hope that I can get some sleep tonight so that tomorrow I am not a zombie like I have been the past two days.

I have a mamma on diaperswappers making me a couple of pairs of custom wool shorties for this summer, to match some shirts that we have. I also just bought two more soakers and another pair of used longies from the FSOT area of the board (For Sale Or Trade) It was especially nice because the mamma who is making the shorties was looking for a couple of nursing bras that I just happened to have and want to trade for something, so It is working out great as a partial trade. She is custom dyeing the wool yarn and then knitting the shorties to Ardyn's measurements. Should be great for summer!

My goal for the week is to get a few household things done. With the addition of band practice for Evan and everything else around here, I have barely gotten to see him it seems, and every time I have a moment, I think "Oh I wanted to ask him to fix that drawer" or "I really need help putting that extra clothes bar in the armoire" and by the time I see him again, I have forgotten. I am going to mount a big whiteboard on the back of the door in the pantry area, so that I can keep a running list of things I want to tell him and things I want to remind myself to do. If I hang it on the back door, then I can hopefully remember things BEFORE I leave the house. Ha.

I sold Seven Small Diapers this past week, so I have them all packaged and ready to go. I am thinking that I also need to sell all the Snap-ez and probably the Drybees sooner than later. But she can still *barely* wear the drybees smalls, although the rise is getting too small... but if I sold them that would eliminate 9 diapers that we use for daycare, and so I am hoping they last for another month (hint hint.) I do have 6 Medium Thirsties AIO Pockets that I bought- they still have the tags on them and I expect them to be grown into sooner than later, but she can still wear the small Thirsties AIO Pockets very comfortably, so I don't see any reason to have two sizes of the exact same diaper going on for the confusion of everyone involved.

Now it's 11:36pm, which will tell you that it took me a total of 9.5 hours to complete this post. Interruptus Maximus. Hopefully I can just go to BED now. Have a great night. I can hear the baby having a coughing fit that has lasted on and off for about an hour. It makes me sad because I don't have anything to stop it!

More Problems with Comcast

Ahhh.... I've missed you all. I have been a busy bee! Ardyn decided that she wanted to do some more teething, and we have a sharp little bottom tooth pressing against her gums and just waiting to break through. Her fevers continue with teething, and we missed out on work/daycare this past Monday due to extreme irritability and a 101.9 temperature.

The weekend was nice, I did some serious dyeing. I got five colors done, which leaves me just green, yellow, and red diapers to dye. Here are the pictures we took while dyeing- Ardyn was my lovely assistant. Inspecting the final product, adjusting the washing machine to the precise settings necessary. We had fun.

Easter was good, we went to my parents and had a late lunch, and opened easter baskets and gifts. We took over 200 pictures of Ardyn, and there are some really cute ones, but I haven't gotten them uploaded yet, so stay tuned for those. I also got the house pretty clean, and that was a plus.

This week has been pretty fabulous. I reorganized the Changing Table and the dresser drawers in Ardyn's room and re-arranged a bit for easier access to things while at the changing table. I found some baskets that fit PERFECTLY into the drawers of the changing table and cause massive orgasmic organization of diapers and pajamas. It's a wonderful life.

Last night we had a delicious supper courtesy of my husband who grilled burgers outside, and Ardyn had a mini-banana and a piece of cantaloupe before she moved onto her regular sweet potatoes. She thought it was awesome to slime and grab onto food, but they got pretty slippery pretty fast, and she was unable to hold onto the pieces much more.

I have an "eBay box" that I keep at home where I throw in stuff that I want to sell, and last night I took some pictures of stuff and put them online and added them to my FSOT (For sale or trade) listing at Diaperswappers, which means that I may be able to swap things that I have for things that someone else has and I want.... pretty cool. I have some pretty good stuff to get rid of...

We also took Ardyn to see the Easter bunny last week, and I have photos of her with the bunny in her easter dress, but I need to scan them in so I can post also.

I haven't been online at home much because Comcast STILL SUCKS and we have very intermittent and sometimes non-existent internet connectivity. Out VOIP Service won't even work- the phone cuts out for 2 minutes at a time throughout your entire phone call, sometimes as soon as the other party answers, and sometimes the calls don't reach us because we have no connectivity. We are also starting to see glitches in our cable TV as well, and I spent another irate Hour on the phone with them last night. I was telling them that I wanted a credit on my account for the TWO MONTHS of internet service that we haven't had working and they told me that they would credit me $15- when the internet costs $44.95 a month. I ended up finally getting transferred to someone who told me that Comcast corporate won't allow them to credit anyone more than $15.... and that they don't give their employees access to contact corporate. They also told me that I "didn't call to complain enough in the month of March so they can only credit me for the month of February" and that even then, corporate would probably not approve the credit so I may never see it on my bill. I have to tell you that I pretty much flipped my lid at that guy. I explained that customer service is not about the customer calling and harassing you until you fix something, and that with a full time job and a 6 month old who is teething, I don't have an hour a night to spend on the phone with them "through the month of March" so that they know I STILL have a problem. I told them that they have a ticket open for me and that as their customer, it is THEIR responsibility to assure that I have service and to fix the issue once I have reported it. I am so frustrated with them right now that I can't even see straight. I am to the point or wanting to get some big petition started by everyone in the area who has had problems. I want a lawyer for the little people. I want to march out front of Comcast's corporate office. What's a consumer to do?

Let's see, what else is new? Well, you know how some people say, during their workday, "is it 5pm yet?" Well, from this point forward, you will find me saying "Is it May 1st yet?" Nuff said. Read into it what you will. Stay tuned.

This weekend should be fun. Saturday night we have Ava's 2nd Birthday party, and afterwards Evan is playing with the band so I may go listen to them play. Besides that it should be an around home kinda weekend. I hope. Quiet and productive. Maybe I can even get the red green and yellow diapers dyed. I also plan on doing some tie-dyeing.... so we will see what I can come up with there. Can't think of anything else exciting to say for the moment. So thanks for visiting. More later.

Just say NO to antibacterial soaps!

In the spirit of yet another headcold, I'd like to discuss my upcoming April "Going Green" resolutions. I have two of them. The first one is to avoid Tricolsan. Anitbacterial Soaps are causing a huge problem.... mainly the advancement of these super-germs that are resistant to antibiotics, and may one day be the death of all of us. From the over-prescribing of antibiotics by physicians to anti-bacterial hand and dish soaps.... it's a scary thing. Here is a bit of info:

The Bite (taken from the Bite daily newsletter.)
Take away the fiction part. While it seems like antibacterial cleansers would be more effective than plain, ol' soap, not-so-mad scientists have proven they aren't, and germs are getting stronger because we use so many antibiotics. Natural alts do the job minus the concerns.

The Benefits

• Getting just as clean. Germophobes rejoice: U of MI researchers reviewed 27 studies conducted between 1980 and 2006, and found that plain soaps are just as effective as those containing the antibacterial triclosan.
• Not encouraging the monsters. Antibacterial soaps with triclosan can reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics; our picks are naturally antibacterial.

Wanna Try?

• EO Products Hand Sanitizer - lavender, lemon, and jojoba oil help disinfect on the go ($4/2 oz).
• Naturally First Foaming Hand Soap - foaming, naturally antibacterial option with coconut and olive oils to keep your hands soft ($10/8.5 oz).
• CleanWell Foaming Hand Soap - uses naturally antibacterial essential oils (such as thyme oil) to kill germs; in three scents, including a spicy Lavender Absolute version ($14/28.5 oz).

Triclosan's in a lot of products, but you can avoid it by quickly glancing at the ingredients list - and yeah, your hands'll still get clean.

C'mon, people: A study by the American Society for Microbiology found 25% of men and 10% of women don't wash their hands after using public bathrooms.

So that's resolution numero uno. I have thus far eliminated all antibacterial soaps in our home, from handwashing to dishwashing. And my hands are still clean!

Resolution number two.... recycle newspapers and magazines. Although I haven't figured out the details, I have started a box. And there are newspapers inside it. Namely the Sunday paper and the Wednesday Focus. I am TRYING to get my husband on board with recycling cardboard, but he is resisting. When will he learn that resistance is futile? In the meantime, I am tentatively naming that my MAY resolution.... with the intention to do it entirely myself if need be. We have enough cardboard in our garage right now to build a city for the homeless. Seriously.

The Goodmama is here! Let there be Wool!

Well, the Goodmama Organic Bamboo Velour Diaper came. And it is the softest, most luxurious diaper I have ever ever ever touched or laid eyes on in my entire life. And I want millions of them. We want to roll around on the floor naked in a pile of goodmamas. If Suzanne had stocked wish boxes, I would have gone right out and bought a dozen of them. But she isn't stocking wish boxes. SO Instead I just put it on Ardyn. It is so soft and stretchy. It fits fabulously. It's like the Lexus of diapers. Maybe it's like the BMW of diapers. It's just fabulous. The hype is real. And Ardyn loved it so much that she pooped in it. Right away. And she smiled at me. And it washed up beautifully.

Since I can't just go get my hands on a dozen goodmamas, I decided to go online and research other one size fitteds. I discovered that a friend who had recommended Motherease diapers several months ago was right on the money. And I also discovered that Loveybums are revered as being VERY similar to Goodmamas.... except that they aren't one size diapers. And they do cost $26-28 a piece, while Motherease One Size dipes cost less than $15 a piece, which makes them less than half the price of a goodmama. But they aren't pretty colored. So I ordered 13 Organic Bamboo Motherease One Size Diapers and then 7 colors of Procion Dyes from the Dharma Company. I will dye the diapers. I will make them beautiful. I will also dye my prefolds and matching t-shirts perhaps.

In the midst of the teething frenzy, we tried wool. And. Addiction happened. Good-Bye Pockets! Wool hath won our hearts. We wore two soakers and the loveybums cover. The Loveybums cover is SO Stretchy and nice. The wool interlock is nice and heavy. The Curly Purly Soaker is so cute, and the daisy Kozy Soaker is fabulous. We found a mamma who had three more pieces of wool for sale in Ardyn's size, so she has a pair of pink and blue shorties, a pair of purple longies with a lovely flower on the bum, and a pair of watermelon pink and green capris all coming, with matching t-shirts. And also two more used loveybums covers in lavender and mint.
Let there be Wool!

I also tried a thirsties fitted. It was very nice, and super trim, but it almost seems silly because I should really buy one size fitteds so they last her for the rest of her diapering career. And also because the thirsties were soaked through very thoroughly in a shorter amount of time, whereas the goodmamas (which have a snap in soaker) were practically able to go coverless because they are so thick with softy goodness. We will try the motherease.

Ardyn is really sitting up well on her own now. She takes a topple now and then, so with the hardwood floors I put floor pillows on side and back of her, so she won't konk her head. Although when she does and has fallen, she doesn't ever cry, just looks at me like "Hmmm.... so that's how this all works!"

While she was teething and we were home with her fevers, I colored a bunch of stuff to put on the walls in her room for decor and entertainment. We did these things for above the changing table.... and these sesame street letters for by her crib.... She LOVES grabbing and staring at them. She loves Sesame Street, and pretty much everything on Sprout, especially Chica and also Fifi and the Flowertots. She also will stop whatever she is doing for the guy on the Oxyclean and Kaboom commercials, when he starts yelling out how great Oxyclean is. It cracks us up.

Last night I pulled out my diaper patterns and started making some recycled fitted diapers. The pattern shown above is called "poo-pockets" by new conceptions.... and has leg gussets- which are my favorites. I saved a pair of pajamas of mine that had a flaw that made them unwearable.... but I didn't want to toss them, so I am making a couple of fitteds out of them. I also grabbed an old Ozzfest 98 Tie Dye t-shirt and got four diapers cut from it. I needed to order inner fabric (Microfleece and Such) and Elastic, so I ordered them through Very Baby last night. Once they get here I can start assembling the pieces of the diapers and serging them. And then I can use my snap press to set the snaps. I can't wait! That reminds me, I need to get new sewing machine needles. I keep forgetting to go down to the sewing room and write down the number of the needles I need.

Evan's parents came over to visit for a while last night. I pretty much did laundry and ran the dishwasher, and Evan and I put clean sheets on the bed and a clean comforter. I realized last night that besides a trip to the post office on Saturday to get the mail, and our walk on Friday, I hadn't been out of the house since Thursday. This week we are taking Ardyn to see the easter bunny at the mall, and also out for supper with Evan's parents another night.... so there is plenty going on. Everyone have a nice week!

Sunday

Well, Ardyn's fever finally went away on Thursday night late. We stayed home Friday just in case, and because she had thrown up twice, and because she was extremely fussy and didn't want a pacifier, nipple, or anything else near her mouth. Friday ended up being especially nice, her attitude wasn't too bad, and as long as we kept her busy, she didn't fuss much unless she was hungry or tired. We went for a walk since it was 54 degrees, and walked to the cafe for a late lunch, but both Evan and I ordered food that wasn't very tasty, so we ended up eating our french fries and leaving the tenderloin and gyro wrap on out plates. We finished our walk and Ardyn napped in the stroller. Saturday I got up and got Ardyn and I dressed, fully intending to take her to see the Easter Bunny at the mall, but then we realized it was pretty cold out again, and windy, and snowing (although not sticking) and so we just took a big nap and messed around at home. I started out showered and dressed and by lunchtime I was wearing a t-shirt, no bra, my unerwear, and covered in applesauce and drool. Just how Saturday should be, eh?

Today looks to be another lazy day. Lazy being an objective word, since I have already washed diapers, jeans, cleaned the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher, let the dogs out twice, and put the baby down for her morning nap. This morning when Ardyn woke up at 6:30 I decided that this was MY day to sleep in. At 7:38am I took her to Evan, said "Here you go, it's my turn to sleep in, she needs her diaper changed, and wake me up at 9:30 when it's time for her to nurse" and then went back to bed, with earplugs in, and ocean waves on my iPod a foot from my bed. That was a nice change of pace. Of course he woke me up at 9 because she was fussy, but even a couple of extra minutes of sleep is fabulous.

AWOL

Sorry I have been a bit AWOL. It's become apparent that my daughter doesn't always teethe gracefully. She started with a low grade fever early Tuesday morning, and has progressed to the 101.3 level several times in the past three days. Tuesday afternoon I got called at work and had to go get her from daycare. Because I am so worried when she has the 101 fever, and feels like she is burning up, I can't even imagine her with 103 fever. Or even worse, something higher. Poor Beeb. Tylenol and Ibuprofen will bring the fever down and improve her spirits some, but it doesn't take away the teething pain, and therefore the Dr. doesn't want me to give it to her. Instead we are supposed to do lukewarm baths, but that's not possible while at daycare, nor is it especially feasible in the middle of the night when you have to work the next day. Ugh. Sunday night and last night were the worse. Yesterday she did get her 6 month shots, and around midnight woke up with a fever again. I did give her a dose of Motrin because of the shots and the teething combo, and she slept for a bit, but at 3am was up again until about 5am when she finally screamed herself into exhaustion. Not much I could do to soothe her, I would get her settled and cozy on my chest or my lap, and she would scream herself awake again in about 10 minutes. Poor Beeb. This morning I can feel that one bottom tooth is up further than it was before, but still under the gums. As much as I would like to avoid teeth for their nipple biting tendencies, I don't want to go through this constantly for the next two years, so I hope that this one just surfaces soon and we can have a break.

So mostly I have just been struggling to stay sane and stop from being exhausted. Carrie and Cara stopped over yesterday for a little visit, and it was so good to see them both. More Diapers arrived today... and my first wool and the wool wash and lanolin.

What frustrates me the most about having a child who is sick or not feeling well, is the varied responses that I get from my husband. He is such a good dad. And he really tries to help, but when the going get especially tough, he is still able to fall asleep while I am up with a screaming child, and then when I am up first thing in the morning and getting ready to go to work almost as if last night didn't happen, he is moaning and groaning and lying in bed or sleeping when I am walking out the door to work. This morning I said "What's wrong with this picture?" Argh. This is another reason that I am tired of working. I have to be the responsible party, and I am the one who calls off work and stays home with a sick child (which is fine) but I still have to be the one who gets up and goes off to work each day and loads up everything for daycare, and pumps breastmilk, and washes diapers. All things that are especially pleasant because I am doing them for my child, but especially unpleasant when faced with the added stress of a workweek and traveling and packing and unpacking, and not being able to spend that quality relaxed time with your child or in your home. I feel like my new life motto is "Something's gotta give" and no one but me can see it. I need a t-shirt and I will wear it everyday. Something's gotta give. I can't be expected to live my life this way AND enjoy myself, right? Whose idea was this, that women be the primary caregivers, the responsible ones, AND work? Honestly, I am feeling more and more every day like that was just a totally retarded idea.

Because I too, am a Goodmama....

So, you know how people go crazy for things? You know, like the year parents fought over the last Tickle Me Elmo, and things like that? Well, in the cloth diaper world, there are also freaky crazes. But sometimes they aren't just "crazes." Current crazes include Crankypants and Goodmamas. Crankypants are knit longies (pants) that are used as covers/soakers over cloth diapers. They are adorable. But they are incredibly difficult to get your hands on, and brand new they sell from $100-200. And used they sell for $75-100. Yeah. And the Goodmama is a fitted One-Size Diaper. It requires a cover, and it comes in several different "colors" which are essentially natural with different serged threading on the edges and matching snaps. They also have limited edition prints. A solid colored Goodmama (if you can get your hands on it) sells for $33 new, and can be even HIGHER used, because people scalp them, and they are so difficult to find. A dozen goodmamas in a box are $365, and require a several week wait (6-8 weeks+) as they are sewn here in the USA, and the demand is so high. Basically you aren't getting a price break by purchasing that dozen, but you are able to secure one in every color without all the hassle. Goodmama has a website, and they do "stocking" on certain days, and then everyone rushes into the store to try to beat everyone else out and grab up a goodmama before they are gone. And they are ALWAYS gone. They are all the rage in the diapering community. The demand is so high that when the store is "stocked" their website often crashes from the traffic. This is intense.

Now from afar, one might say "What's with all the hype, and the insanity?" And I too wonder the same thing. But I can't pretend to be immune to it. While you won't see my buying crankpants, the goodmama thing really is interesting to me. One spends so much time looking for the perfect fitting and performing diaper, and then the little one grows, and another size is needed, or their body shape changes and a whole new diaper is needed altogether. Goodmamas are hailed as being a "true" one size diper, meaning that they truly are usable throughout all your child's sizes. So if you can truly use a Goodmama from newborn to potty training, you are saving yourself from buying Four sizes of diaper, so the price may be worth it. Especially because after trying out two "one-size" pocket diapers, I have learned that one-size does NOT fit all.... and if the Goodmama is truly a one-size diaper, and it truly is what you have been looking for.... $365 will actually be saving you some money in the long run. And the quality and performance must be up to par, or all the fuss wouldn't have started in the first place? Right? One would think.

So last week, I decided to go to the goodmama website and check it out. I thought "it can't hurt to go read, look at pictures, and learn about these things." And wouldn't you know, that while I was on the site, I surfed right on into the middle of a random and unannounced/unscheduled stocking of a red organic bamboo velour Goodmamma? And that there were only 3 left? And that I couldn't resist the urge to buy one and see what all the fuss is about (after all, I can resell it for the same or more if it isn't what it's all cracked up to be.) And when I stopped by diaperswappers shortly afterwards to see that everyone was raving about an unannounced stocking, and was able to say "I got one, and i just surfed on it." I have to admit, it felt pretty cool. And it has shipped. And now, I wait. To see if it's all cracked up to be, and in a way, I hope it's not.... Because I don't need to feel like I should go buy a dozen goodmamas. I will keep you posted.

Another cool thing? She also has a new rule where you can only buy one diaper, per day, and if you break the rule, you will not get any diapers at all- mwahahahah! Awesome.

Blabber

Can I just say, I am SO tired of going to work? Really. I am. It sucks. I want to be home. Badly. Last August was my 5-year anniversary, and just today I received the catalog to pick out my "recognition item." It's really nice that they do that, but at the same time, there was really nothing that I was dying for in the catalog. I don't need a desk clock. I don't wear a watch (and the fact that it was "silver plated" didn't thrill me), and the jewelry was nothing like my tastes. I ended up getting an emergency radio, which I have been eyeballing in LLBean for sometime. But because I have been eyeballing it, I know that it retails for $29.99, and it makes me sad to think that after 5 years I am worth $29.99- I would rather have a gift certificate for somewhere.... But it does help alleviate any guilt that I would have about leaving here, if I ever get the chance.

Okay, moving on. Got some fluffy mail, and there will be tons more arriving probably everyday, as the stash completes itself. (Fluffy mail is code/lingo for diapers in the mail, FYI.) Yesterday I got the 6 Newborn fitteds. These things are teeny tiny. As in the palm of my hand. Seriously. I took a photo with a pack of gum for comparison. I also received the Thirsties Color Prefolds in Preemie Size. Today I received the 5 Drybees Mediums, which is a good thing, because Daycare lost a $17.50 Thirsties Diaper, which is the daycare diaper of choice. It happened on Friday, it appears that instead of putting it into our diaper pail, they put it into the garbage with the other disposable diapers and it was long gone. I am a little upset at the loss, and the $$, but not really at them, because it is an honest mistake. But that makes me short a diaper every day. Argh. I bought 6 so that they could have a whole day's worth of those diapers, and now they only have 5, so I am back to washing every single night, but since the drybees arrived today, that gives me 14 total daycare diapers and means I can send 7 a day and only have to wash every other day. Whew. Should have 2 more thirsties covers in newborn size and 12 Kissaluv size 0's arriving shortly. Then I can put the lid on the tote of newborn diapers and have the whole stash ready.

Ardyn got her first "incident report" at daycare yesterday afternoon, when another child fell on top of her with a toy and the toy smacked her in the head. She has a scratch and some missing skin scraped off, and it's red, but no bruising or bleeding. She seems okay with it all. She's a real champ. This morning she had a low grade fever in response to her massive teething as of late. No more "a little fussy." This seems to be the real deal. So she went to daycare with a dose of Motrin to keep it down and help with her teething pain.

My friend Carrie flew into Chicago this morning with her daughter Cara, and I can't wait to see them. Tonight I hope to get to see them, but I would totally understand if they are exhausted.... as flying by yourself from Alaska with an almost 2-year old can easily be seen as crazy challenging- especially when they are staying for as long as they are and that means lotsa luggage! Haven't seen Carrie since before I was pregnant, and she has never seen Ardyn. Plus Angela brought her home, and haven't seen Angela since Ardyn was like 2 months old.... so that will be awesome that the three of us can be together again.

The weekend was nice. Friday night my mom came over for a while. Saturday I picked up around home and hung out with Ardyn. Evan and I did some re-arranging in the attic, and put all my maternity clothes and the baby clothes and baby gear in one separate corner of the attic. Saturday night Evan and I went to Lou's LaGrotto with Josh and Lisa for Garlic Nuggets and Cheeseburger Pizza with Pickles. Evan was pretty cranky because he had a headache that he had since that morning. We went and saw Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell, and I have to admit it is probably the worst Will Ferrell movie that I have ever seen, and I am a big fan. It wasn't really even all that "stupid funny" and it was SOOOOO SLOW. But bonus, I got out of the house, and also pumped breastmilk in the theater under my coat (ain't Life Grand?) and had a drink on our way home. Sunday Ardyn and I met my family for the Pancake Breakfast at my grandparent's church. I have been almost every year for my entire existence. When I was little, they used to have a church carnival also. It was fun. Ardyn ate green beans. Saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, including Michael Jon. It was good.

Sunday afternoon we did more stuff around the house, and Sunday night Ardyn and I watched TV and she went to sleep SUPER early.... as in 6:30pm, and then woke up at about 10:30 and stayed awake till almost 1am. Then she was up every hour or so until about 6 or 6:30 when she woke up for good. Between teething, staying up too late for her grandparents the night before, going to bed way too early that night, and the time change, Her little world was all rocked. And therefore, mine too. I was so exhausted Monday morning, I ended up calling off and staying home. We finally got her down for a nap at 10am but she woke right back up and was incredibly inconsolable until about 11, when we ALL took an hour long nap which helped us to function.

That afternoon/evening, I took Ardyn to daycare and while the cleaning people came, I ran our braided rugs (we have 3) to the dry cleaners and then stopped quickly at the resale shop and at Wal-Mart for supper ingredients, and then picked up Ardyn. I made Vegetable Beef Stew for supper and we watched the new series "New Amsterdam" on Tivo, and then I washed diapers and went to bed.

My LLBean clothes have shipped, I can't wait for them to arrive, and I hope that there will be an Old Navy Order here soon too. When we were up in the attic I unearthed two totes of clothes and pants that I had stashed up there, which all will fit me now. One small tote of shirts, and two larger totes with pants (all Gap pants, cords and such) and another with skirts and all that. I wanted to bring them all down, but I know that I need time to try them on and go through my closet and pack away or get rid of stuff that is too big.... before I can make room for them.... so they just stayed in the attic.

Just for Fun....

Pictures taken on Saturday of the diapers that Ardyn actually wears right now. They are all size Smalls, except the Snapez, which run small and therefore are mediums.

Below:
in baskets, left to right.... Left Basket: Infant Sized Prefolds (stuff into pockets), regular size prefolds , snappis, Thirsties Covers in size Small. Center Basket: Pockets- Fuzzi Bunz, Drybees, Snapez. Right Basket: Nighttime Diapers- Bum Genius 3.0 One Size Diapers, Cloth Wipes.
In Cubbies, top left: Fake Fuzzi Bunz in Medium, 4 Ewe Need-It's we just packed away. Center cubby: Thirsties AIO Pockets for Daycare. Right cubby: Small Happy Heineys and GAD (we JUST packed them away.)

Below (far left to right) 1 Embroidered GAD, Five Bum genius 3.0 One Sizes, Five Snapez Pockets, 7 Small Fuzzi Bunz Pockets, 4 Drybees Pockets (5 more arrived today), 5 Thirsties AIO Pockets (one lost by daycare), Three of our Four Thirsties Covers, and Three Happy Heineys.



Go ahead, try to tell me these don't look funner than boring old sposies? LOL.

Awesome Deal

Here's what $19 gets you at the local resale shop! Whoa! All that V-tech,Leap Frog, and Fisher Price.... every toy was 25% off and so I got a whole brown grocery bag full for $19! Everything is so clean and works excellent. Awesome!!!

More Math

Since I have a calculator and all that, I thought I would share.

Figuring that the average baby uses 8 diapers in a 24 hour period.... although newborns use many more, perhaps as many as 10-12 per day....

This adds up to 2920 diapers a year, or roughly 36.5- $20 packages of diapers for an annual total of $730.00

Multiply that times the average of two years that each child is in diapers and you have $1460 of diapers for one child, for a total of 5840 diapers that go to landfills and leach their waste into our groundwater.

Have three children and you are putting an average of 17,520 diapers into landfills, at a total cost of $4,380

And that doesn't even count baby wipes.

When you do the math, it's really quite insane.
Okay, off my soapbox now.

Shopaholic Buys a new wardrobe.

Today I bit the bullet and bought new clothes. I can't wait for them to get here so I have things that FIT me! I bought 2 pair of khaki pants, a pair of khaki bermuda shorts, a pair of white cuffed bermuda shorts, a pair of denim shorts, and nine various styled v-neck t-shirts in Lavender, Aqua, Citrus Orange, Sunset Pink, Black, Navy, Green Seedling, Butter Yellow, and Lake Blue. Prepare to see me in my summertime mom uniform of v-necks, shorts or khakis, and flip-flops. I got free shipping from LLBean and $5 shipping from Old Navy. I bought the best quality stain and fade resistant shirts I could find.... hoping they will last long and hold up to my daughter's drool and squash flinging abilities.

I paid the water bill, the Culligan bill, and the daycare bill. I sold $120 of diapers that we weren't using and used that money to buy the finishing touches of the cloth diaper stash. Right now I have everything I will need for newborn through size Medium. Prefolds, pockets, AIO's, Covers, and even some wool to play with for Ardyn right now. It's really neat to have the newborn dipes ready, especially since I never CD'd Ardyn until she was in a size small. Last night I prepped prefolds in preemie and regular sized. The preemies are SOOOOO Super tiny! Can't wait! And I already have a dozen toddler prefolds prepped and packed away.

The list of what's coming in the mail:

• 6 Kissaluv size 0 fitteds coming (known as KL0's)
• a red wool soaker with daisies
• A berry plush minkee cover in leopard print with a snap in soaker
• the lavender curly purly rainbow wool soaker
• 8 thirsties color preemie prefolds
• an orange, yellow, blue, and green wool soaker
• 1 Thirsties Fab Fitted in Butter Yellow to try
• 6 Newborn Fitteds with inserts from a WAHM (snaps)
  
  • 2 monkey img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/monkies.jpg
  • 1 frog img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/frogsandsn...
  • 1 stars img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/bluestarsa...
  • 1 farm print img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/barnyardan...
  • 1 sheep img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/glockchick/SNS/sheep.jpg

• 10 Drybees pockets,
• 6 Medium Thirsties AIO's
• 5 XS Thirsties covers in Aqua, Ocean, Baby Blue, and 2 Raspberry Pink
• And of course the Loveybums Wool Interlock Cover with ladybug
• Sheepish Grins Lanolin
• Sheepish Grins Wool Wash Bar

Mom is coming over for a visit this weekend, and we are also having a date night this weekend with Josh and Lisa, going to Lou's LaGrotto for Pizza and then to see Semi-Pro with Will Ferrell.

The knitting is going well, I discovered that I seem to be better at knitting than perling. But I will eventually get the hang of it. I am playing with pretty yarn and that makes it easier. Last night when I sat down to knit, Ardyn woke up and decided to hang out for a little over two hours, so I didn't really get anything done at all. We did try Green Beans last night. At first the look on her face was hilarious. She gave me the "betrayal!" look and then she ate a whole pack and actually really liked them. Now she has eaten all her veggies and the only thing she doesn't like is peas, but she will eat half a jar. Pears also make her gag, and make her eyes water. It cracks me up. She prefers drinking out of a cup like a big girl to a sippy cup.

A couple of nights ago, we got tired of this icky Illinois Winter and we played beach on the bed. We got out the shovel and the sand sifter, and the sunglasses and our swimsuits and just pretended we were at the beach. It was also a nice idea to try on suits before swimming lessons next month. I don't know if her suit will fit her in a month or two.... only time will tell! We took lots of pictures. I couldn't find my two favorite suits for some reason. But since I haven't worn them since the summer before I was pregnant, who KNOWS where they have gotten to. Now I need to track them down before swimming lessons.

After giving Ardyn green beans, and a bath, and a massage, and putting her in her pajamas, and nursing her, she fell asleep by 6:30pm. Of course then at 8 she woke up until almost 10. Then at 11:30 we did a dream feed and she woke again at 5:30 to eat, and again at 7:30.... then snoozed until 8:40 and snacked a bit before going off to school in a grand mood and full of milk.

Everyone have a nice weekend! I know I will!

It was a wooly Wednesday....

I. Am totally knitting. And purling. And I suck at it. But I am getting better with each stitch. I just grabbed some brightly colored cheap yarn and started practicing at lunch today. Once I get the hang of the basic stitching and get quicker, I will buy that expensive wool yarn that I have my eyes on, and then I will start the curly purly soaker pattern and work in the round. I have my round needles. I have my markers. I am totally prepared. I figure I had better make a medium instead of a small medium, because if previous projects are any indication, I should have it done by the time she's 16. On second thought, maybe I had better make an XL. ha. Knitting is exceptionally hard for me because I am left handed but have been taught so many things right handed that It's hard to function completely either way. So while my brain wants to hold the needles right handed, it wants to hold the yarn left handed. My "teacher" has to laugh at how strange it looks, but I get my own rhythm soon enough.

Last night Evan made some of the most kick ASS tacos. Yum. And he cleaned up the mess. And unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. And put the dirties in the dishwasher, and put the leftovers away. Oh and he also washed the breast pump pieces and the bottles, and sterilized the pump. It was like a mini vacation for me. I fed Ardyn her supper, nursed her a couple of times and put her to bed, washed diapers, sold $100 worth of diapers on diaperswappers, bought this awesome ladybug wool cover and 5 more small drybees diapers, and then proceeded to crochet on the couch while watching the new episode of Men in Tree. A little slice of heaven.

Before bed, instead of pumping (since I am ahead on milk) I decided to wake the beeb for a "dream feed" (you breastfeeding moms know what I mean... a baby will eat in their sleep if they get the breast by their mouth. They are talented that way) which was nice because it topped her off and she didn't wake until about 5am. More sleep for me, except that I could hear my husband trimming his fingernails 20 feet from my head at 3:15am. Wha? Seriously. He is such a night owl. So then I had to pee, and then I had a hard time going back to sleep. My one chance to sleep through the night myself and he ruins it with fingernail clipping. But I forgive him because of the tacos.

Off to learn more about hand-dyed wool yarns on Etsy. In case I actually get good at this.

A bunch of random stuff.

So. Cloth Diapers. Totally addictive. Today I am working on selling about $165 worth of Knickernappies with inserts. We just don't reach for them and I am finding that I prefer to use prefolds and covers when we are at home.... and we have our daycare and daddy diapers, so it seems like some of them aren't getting used much and it makes more sense to get rid of those and buy up more of what I prefer.

I have started to grab up a few Wool items like this Curly Purly Soaker to use as covers. Wool shorties/longies/soakers are hand washed and lanolized once a week or every 2 weeks depending on how much wool you have to use. I grabbed two soakers and a pattern from Sheepy Time Knits to make my own, but that means I need to

A: Learn how to knit. Which Anya already tried to teach me, but I got frustrated because I knit everything so tight that the yarn breaks after a few rows.
B: Learn how to knit in the round and buy the damn needles and all that.
C: Purchase expensive wool yarn like the pink lemonade stuff that I covet that's $22 a skein
D: Learn how to follow a pattern which is difficult for me because I hate counting and can't pay attention to anything I am doing because I love to crochet while watching TV and therefore just single crochet the day away and can't figure out how to follow a pattern.

So. Chances of this happening? Slim to none. Does that stop me? Apparently not because I still spent $5.95 on the freaking pattern. Someone said they learned how to knit on You Tube. Hmmm. Interesting. I do know *someone* who makes their own yarn and knows knitting and crochet inside out- but I don't really get along with them well anymore and I can't even imagine asking for their help. Doh! This is another time (they are rare and far between) where I wish I were closer to a city so that I could do cool things like take knitting lessons and take Ardyn to Gymboree and playdates.

So, putting knitting to the back of my mind for just a MOMENT. I have been building up my stash of newborn diapers, since I didn't Cloth Diaper Ardyn until she was in size Smalls. So I have 2 dozen preemie prefolds, which are sooooo cute and tiny! And I have about 5 Thirsties XS Covers, and 6 Newborn Fitteds with Doublers made by a WAHM. I am currently trying to acquire 6 Kissaluv Fitteds in Size 0. Since I know that if we have two kids, I won't be able to work (boo. hiss. NOT!) and will have to stay at home (cost of daycare is already too much, add another and it's not practical. It would cost Money for me to work.) And if I stay at home, prefolds and fitteds with covers make so much more sense financially, and babysitters and dad can easily handle fitteds and covers. I will probably have a few Thirsties AIO's on hand for travel and things like that. And all those fitteds and prefolds give me an excuse to play with wool. So basically I am building not only my newborn diaper stash, but perfecting Ardyn's stash, selling what we don't use so much to make a size Medium Stash for whenever she decides to grow out of smalls and infant prefolds.

Ardyn has been a huge fan of 1:30am lately, that's her nightly waking time, during which she plays for a while, then whines for a while, then screams for a while until I feed her and she gulps down all the breastmilk she can before drifting off to sleep in our bed. She sleeps so much better in the morning hours in my bed than hers. I don't mind cuddling with her, but I still put her to bed in her own bed every single night.... But sometime during the wee hours of the morning she makes it back into mine. Sometimes by the time she is done eating I am just too exhausted to put her back in the crib and deal with her being up every hour or two until 6am, which is what she will do unless she wakes up and sees me next to her. Then she goes right back to sleep. Little stinker. And I could leave her in her crib all night (sometimes she sleeps there all night) But it's much nicer when I get to feed her at 5:30and 7:30am and don't have to get up to go get her all the time. It makes me feel like at least I got more sleep. Especially working full time. That's getting old, let me tell you!

I recently bought 9 new shirts/onesies too, since she is outgrowing the 3-6 month Gerber ones. They run small anyway, most other 3-6 month clothes she still has plenty of time to wear. I ended up getting some nicer ones from Babies R Us that are thicker and made by "SpaSilk." Some of them are regular short sleeved onesies, and some are tank top onesies, which will be great for summer and layering. And then I got some plain t-shirts for wearing with wool soakers and legwarmers around home. I think I will embroider on several of them.... but I will follow a trick I learned from a fellow Flickr friend, and embroider onto felt first, then sew the felt to the onesie. Gives it stability and then I won't have to take the onesie out of commission for the entire embroidering timeframe. SwEEt. It makes me so sad when I see the pictures of her wearing her embroidered "A" Onesie at 2 days old, and the embroidered birdie onesie at 3 days old. Awwww she was so tiny and sweet! Man is she growing or what? And besides the A onesie that was just for her, I am being very careful to mostly make unisex onesies so the next babes can enjoy them as well. I did try the pink drumset onesie, but I got so frustrated with the metallic thread on the cymbals that I never finished it.... Yet! But now she's outgrown it, so I hope we have another girl so that it can be finished and worn.

So now that you're inside my brain, have a nice night. I know I will.

The Sign Says It All.....

Charlie's All Natural Laundry Soap saving me $75 a year!

I did the math last night, and wanted to share with you!

after two months of exclusive use, I felt comfortable doing the calculations. We use Charlie's for all our laundry now, including Cloth Diapers.

The past two months we averaged one bag of Charlie's a month, equaling 80 loads of laundry each month. By purchasing in bulk, I spent less than $100 on a 5 gallon bucket of Charlie's, which is 1280 loads. At the rate we are going, that should last us 16 months and cost us less than $6.25 a month.

A concentrated bottle of ALL Free and Clear (what I used previously) costs $4.97 here and does 32 loads. That's $0.155 a load, which would mean at 80 loads a month, All costs me $12.40 a month.

Therefore Charlie's costs me HALF of what All free and clear does. And the packaging waste is significantly less also. And that adds up to $75 a year that I am saving in laundry detergent. And tons and tons of plastic reduction for the environment, and the soap is also safe for the environment. How's that for good news!