Another week.

You know, I am really enjoying being part of the Diaperswappers Community. For those of you who don't know, it's an online forum/group for moms that Cloth Diaper. It's a really cool community. There are lots of moms there that are breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping advocates, and many that go farther than that, being against vaccination and circumcision also. I love the open mindedness that many of them have, and the willingness to openly share information on parenting and cloth diapering. The coolest thing is that in addition to the most often FSOT (For Sale or Trade) area for new and used cloth, they have so many WAHMs (Work At Home Mom's) who make diapers and other cool kid things like slings, wipes, felt food, dryer balls, nursing covers, etc. The FSOT can really be helpful when you are a SAHM and don't have the money to spend on the things you want. You can create a ISO/IHA list (In Search Of/I have Available) and then if you have something FSOT, other mammas can look at your list and see if they have something of equal value that they might be able to trade you. This is such a good feeling, to trade and fulfill your ISO list, while fulfilling another mamma's heart's desire. Just the other night I decided to go through my fitteds that Ardyn either doesn't use or has outgrown, and sell them or trade them. Before the weekend even started, I had two AWESOME trades lined up. One mamma is making me a custom pair of woolybottoms (footed wool longies) for Marek. She's even taking my own fabric for the toes, so that they will match a pack of 5 onesies that I have for him, and will be converting into shirts very soon. Another mamma wanted a diaper and cover set that I had, and I needed some wool dryer balls. This weekend she custom made five of them for me. I can't wait to see me as she is going to surprise me with colors. So today I need to get to the post office so that I can mail off my end of the trades. But I am still in pajamas so it might be a bit. The PO is closed from 12:30 till 2pm here (Stupid small town PO's) and so I know I don't have to go anywhere till after 2pm. I also have a package there, and I am HOPING it's my used Moby Wrap that I got from a friend in my September moms group. If you CD and have never been to Diaperswappers, let me know as I would love to give you a referral link!

Last night Evan came home with new goodies for us. He had credit on his game stop account from trading in used games that we had, so he got each of us a DS Game. I had seen a review for "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" for DS, and thought it looked really cool. It's like a combo of a role playing type of game and a puzzle game. It's a brain building game where you have to solve puzzles periodically in order to advance in the game. I didn't tell Evan about it, but I dog eared the page in the Game Informer so that I could find the name again, and he saw that it was dog eared and brought it home for me! I was so excited! He got a new Kirby game. I haven't played his yet, but I did play mine last night, and it is AWESOME. I can't wait to tell my friend Lisa about it! I also put both of our DS's on the wireless network last night. So now they can play online and we can download content and upload scores if we choose. Sweet!

He had also been to the clearance toy aisle and they had the accessory sets for the Rose Petal Cottage in the clearance. They have been in the clearance aisle, but this time they got down to $7 each, which is insane because they were like $16-$20 a piece at Christmas, and I saw so many parents buying all of them along with the cottage and the pieces. Evan bought two sets, one with a stockpit, timer, spoon, and felt veggies, and another with a cutting board and knife and chese, crackers, and fruit.... that also had a half-apron that velcros on. This morning we opened the cheese and fruit one, and Ardyn has been walking around all morning with the knife and crackers, wearing the apron. She finally just went to play in her kitchen instead of wandering the house aimlessly cutting things with the knife. That kid now has enough play food to feed the hungry of the world. She LOVES "cooking" and is constantly coming to me with some crazy concoction that she's stirring saying "Taste Mommy. Taste. Mmmm!"

We did some painting on Saturday, with the Elmer's Squeeze and Brush Tempera Paints. Ardyn loved them. I did too. Pretty cool. At 16 months, she isn't really coordinated enough to squeeze and paint yet, but if I squeeze and get them going, she can paint away. Of course she wants to stick her fingers up in the brush to see where all that fabulous paint is coming from, and then run her fingers through her hair.... but still cool. Completely washable I've discovered. She painted three valentine's before she got hysterical and only wanted to paint the tablecloth, so it then became naptime. I figure a few Valentine's a day and we will be done in no time! The COOLEST thing about the brushes is that they are refillable! How awesome is that, both cost wise and Environmentally? Go Elmer's! They are available in classics, glitters, and neons, and we saw the classics at the store so that's what we have. Crayola makes a similar set, but they are not as chunky and easy to hold onto for small hands, which also means less paint inside, and I am not sure that they are refillable, based on their size. I plan on trying several other Elmer's Products over time, as we have seen some really neat ones they have come out with. I'm working on cutting out hearts for her school Valentine's, and that's what I do while she is painting. Sit next to her and cut hearts.

Over the weekend we met my parents and sister for Supper, which was great. My dad just got back from a snowmobile trip up north, and literally met us for supper like 20 minutes after he arrived home. We enjoyed seeing him, and the food was great. It was really cold that night though, so we were glad to get home. It was about -3 when we went to eat.

I did some ebay shopping looking for an inexpensive used Easter Dress for Ardyn. I have an outfit for Marek (since he should be here by easter) and I wanted to have something that coordinated for pictures, and since his is navy and pink (yep) I found her a cute Gymboree Sailor Dress that's Navy with White. The price was good, not FABULOUS, but good, especially for Gymboree. I also grabbed another dress with a matching coat, that was insanely cheap, in case the sailor dress didn't fit, or it was too cool (probably will be) and she would need something warmer for an egg hunt outfit. Plus there is an excellent chance that there will be more than a few occasions we will attend around easter, and this spring and summer in general, that might require a dress. Now I just need to find her some shoes, but I will wait and make sure the dress fits, and then see what size her feet are by April. Sometimes they grow awfully quick.

Sunday we were pretty lazy. Ardyn and I both slept late, Evan went to work while we slept, and then I washed diapers and Ardyn and I took a bath. We went to my mom's for supper and watched the new Batman movie, and Evan met us there for Lasagna and Garlic Bread. Garlic Bread might be one of my favorite foods on the planet, but when I was pregnant with Ardyn the heartburn was so bad I didn't eat if EVER, nor spaghetti or pizza sauce of any sort. This time I have quadrupled my heartburn meds, and so it's doable. Still burning, but tolerable. Not watng Garlic Bread is one of the hardest things I have had to do. It was really even harder than giving up all carbs when I did South Beach for those 7 months or so before getting pregnant with Ardyn.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I need to get these diapers packaged, get myself dressed, consider lunch for us, and prepare to go to the Post Office in an hour or so. Have a great Monday!