Success

Well, I got crafty at the sewing machine once again! Here we have the Bapron! I feel quite proud of myself with making my own bias tape. This will hopefully help cover Eliza's pants when eating. The underside is done with a soft pink flannel fabric that came from my mother's old fabric hoard back home. I think there will be a few more of these in my future :) 

Seriously Kid?!

It looks like either one or both things are correct in this video:

1) The kitchen sink is going to be soon short lived.

2) This child refuses to crawl and insists on trying to walk.

Not quite yet to 7 months, which makes me wonder what is head....

Randomness

Thinking to myself a few mornings ago: I don't want to wear those jeans, they're mom jeans. Oh wait......I am a mom. How did I make it to this point?


Was blessed with a gift card to Target and I thought that a new bigger girl toy was in order. Thought the Fisher Price musical popping dino would be a fun new addition. Turns out its quite obnoxious with the constant banging of the mechanism that trampoline springs the balls out of the contraption if they don't find the chute to the mouth where they also go all over the place. Returned it and instead got this . Eliza has much more interaction with it and the music isn't all that bad. Even though the age is for 9 mo+, she got the hang of it real quick. There is more for her to do with out zombing out to a light up musical box.


LOVING peppermint Oreos right now.....


Why do I always get the motivation and energy to clean the house at the end of the weekend? Then only to lose said enthusiasm during the week. Hrmph!


After 3 months, getting your hair cut at the salon feels wonderful. Otherwise my hair was looking on the side of dead, dirty, old.


Would love to make a Bapron on the sewing machine (A bib / apron) Might work better at meal times and the sake of Eliza's clothes. Yet that pesky thing of time and motivation goes missing. 

Cloth Diapering

For those who don't know already, we cloth diaper in this house. When I talk to friends or co-workers, I get a lot of reactions, saying "Wow, that's hardcore." Then I state to them that they have come a LONG way from rubber pants and prefolds.

The kind we use are Bum Genius 4.0 one size pocket diaper with snaps. Before I made the investment, I talked with several mommies about their experience using and if they were happy with the system. I didn't get a single buyers regret. This took me to Craigslist to see if I could find any used. Turns out, it was hard to find any of the one size modern day kinds. This showed me that mommies use them and love them over and over from kid to kid.

Investment
The retail cost of one of these is 18.00. This shocks a lot of people. Yet if you calculate the money spent over birth to potty training, these will pay themselves off by the first year (all depending how many are in your stash). Then you can reuse them for the next child! I love not having worry about running out of diapers in the middle of the night or the chunk of money being taken out of our grocery budget. Not to mention the fewer cases of blowouts and rash issues. There are other cheaper alternatives out there. This is just what we knew about at the time. It all depends on your preferences, family needs and lifestyle. Not to mention them being daddy friendly.


Commons myths

I don't have the time to be doing all that extra laundry
       1 minute spent loading diapers into machine for cold water rinse
       30 sec spent adding special detergent to hot/cold cycle with second rinse
       1 minute spent loading into dryer

What about those poopy diapers?
       The wonderful invention of the diaper sprayer! When solids are introduced, removing the waste is needed  
       before washing them. All you do is take to the toilet and use the sprayer which attaches to the back of the
       toilet plumbing and spray it off. This takes all of 1 min to complete and we do it after each poopy.

What if you are away from the house?
       We use a "wet bag" which is a nylon or plastic coated bag for storing dirty diapers or even for accident
       ridden clothes.

How To Be A Mom Monday

When changing your child, they might find it to be the perfect time to exercise his or her talents of artistic expression. Pallets may include your long sleeve shirt sleeves.

Nuff said

Tea for One

Here is a photo opt that I haven't seen done much. At least with an infant. After all the work done in the studio, the weather cleared up and on impulse grabbed a tea cup and very soft blue blanket (it had rained a lot of the week prior) I guess you could say that I am trying to get as much mileage as I can out of this yard sale tutu. Now watch my daughter turn into a tom boy just like her mother and have to wait till prom to get her in a frilly dress! 

Christmas Cards

In case you haven't noticed......but Christmas isn't all that far off. From planning what family will travel to who, winter breaks for the kiddies and a list of "to do" adding up; its hard to find time in getting those pesky Christmas cards out in the mail. Now I have no problem with the traditional card sent, but after opening it and maybe placing it up on the wall for a brief time.....there isn't much incentive to hold on to it. This is why I LOVE the photo greeting cards. Its a great way to get a new picture of the family or loved ones that you can stick on the fridge all year long. Then you can save it for the photo album (if those still exist).

Here is an example at what I am pretty sure will be sent out this year. It would be the first time doing it for our family. I have taken the liberty of making my own template instead of paying a lot more money for the panoramic pre-designed ones offered at various photo depts. If you don't have a design program, simply take a  4x6 card and cut/paste your photos and use festive scrap booking supplies to make it your own. Then take, get scanned....viola!