12.29.2009

Boo Hoo

I am sorry to say that we have hit a bump in the cloth diapering road. We use GMD unbleached prefolds, and although I love them almost as much as I love my own family, there is the age old draw back of wetness-on-babys-butt.
Normally, I wouldn't mind it. After all, that is the point of cloth diapering these days, isnt it? To not let baby sit in a wet dipe for hours on end. With cloth, you know when baby is wet, and change the dipe right away.
We have practiced this since day one of cloth diapering, but I have also noticed, since day one, that Gil would get "wetness" rashes in the folds of his skin. It started happening only when he would wake up in the morning, so I headed over to my local cloth diaper store (only fifteen minutes away, isnt it great?!) and bought some stay dry liners, and some stay dry hemp doublers just in case. They worked great at first, but day after day, Gil would wake up with the folds of his skin/butt red, then it would progress into an all over redness.
Since this was only a night thing, and since I dont have the money to spend on the AIOs with microfleece that I want, I gave in to my husbands urging and bought sposies. =(
We have been doing this for a week or so, and in the last few days, things have only gotten worse. Now I notice he has a rash ALL day long, and seeing as how I only have four stay dry liners, well, we go through those really quick.
So yesterday and today was a 50% sposie day, and I feel so ashamed. The only thing from making me run out and buying yards and yards of microfleece (hhmm...do they sell that at joannes? ive never actually *looked* for it) is that we are waiting on a paycheck.
So for now, my beautiful prefolds are sitting there next to my bed, weeping at the thought of being taken over by the earth-killing sposies ...

12.28.2009

Sewing

Sometimes it is a curse to know how to sew. Why? Because of all the fun projects that can be done! But it all takes time, money, fabric, thread, patience, pattern making, space and on top of all that throw in a 8 1/2 month old baby .... and nothing ever gets done!!

I guess this is more for myself, but here is a list of future To-Do's:

-Make fitted diapers
-Make Breast Pads (because I have started leaking again!! Pregnancy related, maybe?)
-Research and/maybe make Mama Cloth ... for after giving birth since this woman is a Diva Cup user and I refuse to go back to regular pads!
-Make Baby Legs
-Throw self out of window for insisting on making stuff with the cutest fabric, therefore hiking up the fabric bill

Oh geez, how will i keep my sanity?

12.27.2009

teaching little girls to breastfeed ... oh the horror!



Apparently, that what this doll does. A little girl (or possibly boy, never go by gender specific colors/actions) puts on a halter, and there are two flower patches that cover the nipple area. The child then brings the doll to her/his breast, and the baby suckles! I love this idea! Doing a real quick ebay search, I saw one for $96 =O

Again, just from doing really quick searches, I can tell lots of people are upset that this doll is imitating something "so personal." Maybe we should ban all potty training books then, too! And say goodbye to play diapers! Then we should just sand down Barbies boobs so girls *really* wont have a clue as to what to expect. Because icky, nasty personal stuff like that doesnt really happen, little Susie.

gggrrrr

my little boy just went to sleep...

im sitting here in the dark, wondering what to do. Clean our bathroom? Nah, he will wake up. Pump? Oh yeah, I forgot to pump.

::goes to get everything set up::

::adjusts self, resumes typing::

okay. I just ordered a cloth diaper pattern on Etsy from APerryPatterns and I am itching to start on it. I bought it to try out the AIOs, since I cant seem to make up my mind and actually BUY one. Dont ask why, I am just plain wierd. Looking at the instructions, though, Im thinking I should start with a fitted diaper, just to get the hang of it.

Oh, and by the way, I would *never* have picked out those fabrics that the seller picked out. Never.

Ever.




Anways, whenever it does get made, I will post it =)

12.26.2009

the murder bottles

Look at these pictures. It makes me so sad to see these tiny, helpless babies sitting there all by themselves, drinking out of these bottles nicknamed "murder bottles" because of the dangers of bacteria and falling risks associated with them.





Can you just imagine a baby back in the day, lying there, hungry, maybe tired, maybe wet, yearning for human interaction ... and everybody around the baby is busy and working hard and has no time for the time consuming chore of feeding their own infant? Not everyone breastfeeds, I know that. I, myself, exclusively pump for my son. I even will say that formula is not poison. I was raised without a single drop of breastmilk. There are even those times, when Baby wants a bottle and you have *the worst case of diarreah ever* or you are an entire hour late to work and your just HAVE to prop that bottle up, just once! Just for that emergency. But to intentionally not hold a baby because it is "easier" ... ohmygosh, it almost makes me cry! Look at their eyes! Breaks my heart...

12.24.2009

Merry Christmas!

and Happy Holidays everybody!!!

And a special Merry Christmas to my wonderful husband, Baby Gil and (Baby in the Belly)

I love you all <3

12.20.2009

AIOs

I have such a lame problem right now. You should see the looks my husband gives me when I repeat the pros and cons to him for the gazillionth time.

I cannot decide between keeping my son in his beloved prefolds, or adding some all in ones to the stash. So far, I have found only one all cotton AIO, and I was not too thrilled with it. So I have been scouring Esty and found a few that I like, but with man made fibers in them.


This one is from Babyhoots. I love the simpleness.


This one is from Junkique. It has Zorb, which I am not familiar with at all, but I guess it never hurts to try.

And then, to add to my dilema, I have the option of making my own diaper, and putting whatever I want in it ... but, where in the world am I going to find time to do that?

Any suggestions? Why can other people point and click when it comes to buying diapers and I spend hours on the internet researching every bitty detail and still come up with nothing?

12.19.2009

giving birth to gil

When my son was born, I didnt want to breastfeed him right away. I wanted to hold him, love him, and let him take in the world at whatever pace he needed. So when he plopped out, I couldnt wait to take him into my arms and protect him from all the wrongs in the world. And then in the quiet of our room, I would introduce him to my milk.

Now, why that didnt happen, I dont know. I dont even remember the moments right after his birth, but my husband said that they gave me a quick view of my son then went to clean him, weigh him, do some standard tests, diaper him, do his footprints, let my husband hold him, let my mom hold him and then I got him.

While all of this was happening, I specifically remember thinking, "Did I just give birth?" The two doctors that were stitching me up were joking with me about how fast and easy that was, and how wierd it was that the epidural didnt seem to take. (Thank goodness it didnt, I was so against that stupid epidural.) I remember feeling so energetic and talking my head off to those doctors, that when they finally brought my son to me, my first thought was, "Oh yeah!"

I tried explaining to my (very nice and helpful nurse) that I would be feeding him in my room, but another side of her came out and she started removing the top of my hospital gown and bringing my baby towards me. I remember how my voice on the outside was nice and calm, but inside I was screaming about how I did not want it to be this way.

In the end, she got her way and my son ate for a few minutes. When he lost interest I happily covered back up and started getting ready to leave the labor room. All the nurses couldnt believe I was walking around half an hour after giving birth, like it was a miracle. But to be honest, I just wanted to get out of that room ASAP, and everyone seemed to be taking their sweet time.

The worst part of being in the hospital was that in our room, whenever my son would cry, some nurse would come poke her head in asking if we were ok. Now, most people might like this, and later on my husband said he felt relieved that if we needed help with the baby, those nurses were there. But I felt like they were intruding, which made me anxious and annoyed.

There was also this one doctor, who insisted the baby be fed every two hours. I had to write on paper exactly when I fed him and for how long. If it wasnt every two hours on the dot, I got scolded. Now, I know a newborn needs to eat frequently, but I also know my son, and he let me know if he was interested or not. Seeing that he was also a huge 9 pounder, I felt no need to force feed him. So the rest of my time in the hospital, I fed him when he wanted me to and wrote down what they wanted to read. Then they would look at him and nod happily.

The worst part is that they think they are doing a good job.





12.16.2009

Today is not okay.

My son is currently lying in his crib, babbling on. He is probably talking to his friend, the Lion, about how his 30 minute nap was just fine and how mean his mommy is for making him go back down. (His friend is a drawing on his crib bumper.)

Well, my little boy, 30 minutes is not enough and you were just about to fall asleep again when your daddy closed the door too hard.

I need to do so many things. Find out if our second option insurance covers a homebirth with a midwife, finish knitting my friend her scarf, take a shower...

I really need to take a shower. Breastmilk, coffee and spit up (from the babies at work, no less) is not a good smell.

Gil just yelled at the top of his lungs. "GGAAH!" Hahaha, is that your way of saying that your nap is officially over, little man?

12.14.2009

today is the day...

...that I found out that I am pregnant with baby number 2!!!

12.13.2009

Gils Longies

So here are the recycled wool longies that I made. I dont remember exactly but the sweater cost around $7 a the thrift store.

I had actually been searching the internet for a tutorial on how to make them, but I found my own way - just cut off the two sleeves at an angle, sewed one side together to make the front, then cut off a pocket from the sweater, and sewed it onto the crotch in a diamond shape to make room for all that fluff, then sewed the other sides of the sleeve to the pocket. Lastly, I cut off the bottom waistband from the sweater, sewed the ends together to make a circle, then pinned and sewed that onto the longies. Ta da! (I wish I had taken pictures but I was so excited!)





i know the cuffs look uneven but they are just folded wrong. Yay for me, these are my first longies! Now off to lanolize them!

12.10.2009

dreaming of home

I love the internet.

When I change my sons prefolds, it just reminds me how much I love them! I love the wholesomeness of them. The natural-ness =)

And I looooove putting his clothes on over his diapers, and getting that poofy butt look. When I see a tad bit of his cover showing, it makes me squeal! And then I love even more when I wash his diapers, and they are on the last rinse, and I take them out just to smell the wet, cleanness of the cotton .... heaven!

Then, i look around, and there is no one to tell this to! I mean, my poor husband has got to have tons of cloth diapering and environmentally friendly info stuffed into his brain by now. No body I know really cares about what I'm doing. They dont care that although I *used* to want to live downtown and go out to eat at all the restaurants and go out every night and drink my jack and coke while watching movies with friends ....that thats not me anymore.

You know what my dream home is? A farm. Not a huge farm that produced food for markets or anything, but just a small farm house where I can grow some veggies for my husband and the baby. nothing big, just maybe a small patch of land to work on. maybe one or two cows, a few chickens for eggs for us, a dog or two. I want big, overgrown trees that my son can climb when he is older. Of course, there would have to be two clothes lines, one for the cloth diapers (cuz i am definitely having more than one child!) and then one for the regular clothes.

I just want to step out into the world! not onto the pavement ...

but i dont have that, and anyways, where in california am i going to find that? so i have the internet, and get to talk to people who do have that, and i get to look at their pictures, and i get to pretend.

dream over =)

12.07.2009

We got our tree today!



Here is my sons Official Fluffy Butt Christmas picture!! how adorable is he?!? of course, this picture was taken when it was soooooo cold!! haha, sorry little man!



Here is our little Christmas tree! I dont know if you can tell, but it is still in its pot. I love being nice to the earth! Hopefully this tree will stay with us for years and years to come, and I cant wait to see it grow with Gil ...

12.06.2009

My Camera Broke!

NOOooooo! and I was just about to post a picture of all the cute things I'm make for Christmas =(

Well I guess for now I will just have to tell you:

Lots of family members will be getting handmade baby food jar candles decorated with ribbons and flowers and rhinestones (sp?) ... oh, if you could only see them!

Other family members will be getting cute decorative handmade pillows, made from recycled fabric from clothes bought at a thrift store.

Still, others will receieve handmade felt keychains, so far, though, i only have a ladybug version.

and then a few will get regular potted flowers in a cute bucket from Target. Gotta love that dollar section!

and for my Little One, he will be recieving recycled wool longies, made from a wool sweater, also bought at a thrift store.

OH THE PAIN OF NOT HAVING A CAMERA!!

12.03.2009

Wool Longies

So I am learning to knit. I can sew pretty good- not super amazing, but I can follow a pattern and even make a few things of my own. If I'm in a rush, though, things definitely tend to come out ... floppy.
When i was little, my grandma tried to teach me to crochet. I even learned how to go in a straight line! But she got real sick, I got older, we didn't get to see each other as much, so crocheting went out the window.
Once I got little Gil his cloth diapers, i obviously had to start looking for covers. My first (and only) wool cover is Aristocrats wool cover, which we got for nighttime. I like it and all, it works great, but its kind of .... ugly. I mean, right?! Its beige and big and seriously meant just to work, not to show off. So that got me thinking, there has got to be some cute wool covers out there! And then it happened - I discovered (through The Bump EFF board and some searching on my own) wool longies! These are the most beautiful things I have ever set my eyes on! All sorts of colors, patterns, designs and ... colors! lol. I have yet to buy or make longies, but hopefully soon it will happen!

Anyways, wool longies = why I wanted to learn how to knit =D


12.02.2009

And it begins...

Hello! I have started this blog for a few reasons. 1) I can't seem to keep a paper journal and I am the type of person that needs to write things down. Otherwise, things will roll over and over and over in my brain until I burst! ... or until I tell my Husband =D. 2) Now that my son is napping strongly and three times a day, I can either clean up in our little studio and wake him up, or I can go online and read everyone elses blogs. and lastly, 3) I have been so excited learning about cloth diapering and babywearing and natural birthing that I just have to share it. My life has had a complete turn-around, from wearing my seamless pencil skirts and 4-inch heels, with my perfectly circular pin curls and freshly washed, blow dried, curled and pinned up hair, to now - a mama in jeans lol. But thats okay! Because I have found another calling that not only is just as fun, but maybe even a bit better for myself and the world. And, of course, for my baby.