Newborn Cloth Diapering

So Jon & I have made the decision that we are going to cloth diaper our baby blueberry… just as soon as we get comfortable with having a newborn and his umbilical cord stump is gone.
We have friends that use BumGenius 3.0 one size pocket diapers & love them. So our plan is to use those as soon as he gets big enough (around 12 lbs). And they’ll work until potty training (unless he ends up being a giant/huge).

In the in-between time, according to experts, newborns do best in prefolds or fitted diapers with covers (I guess since the size and fit are highly adjustable). What on earth are ‘prefolds’? - Basically, the ‘cloth diaper’ that are widely used as burp cloths. There is this new fangled alternative to pins – it’s called a snappi. The snappi looks like a “T” and hooks into both sides and the bottom of the front of the cloth. See picture for illustration of a baby wearing a prefold diaper with a snappi.

Fitted diapers go on just like disposables, but they are made of cotton or flannel or hemp or any absorbent fabric. Both prefolds and fitted diapers require a waterproof cover over them.
Now, my husband has a heart of gold. He is so well meaning and always has good intentions. BUT – I just don’t picture him taking to folding and snapping prefolds. Since there is only like 2 months where we’d be doing this (until he fits into the one size diapers), I figured fitted diapers were the way to go! Now – how to secure a well functioning, cute stash on as little amount of $$ as possible? I figured that we’d be using the cloth diapers only part of the time (when we’re home) and using disposables for a while for when we’re out and about. BUT – we’d still save a lot of money using cloth just at home.

Once he’s big enough for the one-size, I found a ‘hybrid’ diaper – uses either biodegradable inserts OR cloth inserts in a one-size cover! So we’ll be using these for travel eventually…

here is an example of fitted diapers:

So – I decided to try my hand at MAKING fitted diapers! So far, I’ve made 3.5. I used prefolds, 2 old tee shirts I was going to donate & an old fleece I was going to donate. I only have a picture of the first one I made. Since the outer layer is fleece, technically this is an ‘all-in-one” diaper, meaning that it doesn’t require a cover since fleece will wick all the wetness inside back to the absorbent layer. The next one I made was with an old ECS school of Engineering tee-shirt, so it would just be a fitted diaper. I can’t wait to try these out on blueberry & see what works, what doesn’t – how to redesign it. *sorry for you non-engineers… this next part is the engineer in me* I feel like the leg gussets are critical to leak prevention. I’ve been experimenting with different size elastic & stitching techniques to get the optimum amount of elasticity and coverage without it getting too tight & making marks on my little blueberry’s thighs.

here's my first attempt:

After making a few diapers, I looked into covers. I found a few really cute and affordable ones on etsy.com. 2 PUL & 4 fleece covers. All beautifully handmade by work and home moms (WAHMs). Here’s a picture of the covers (the 3 on top are gro-baby shells that might work for newborns).

I’m very excited about these ultra cute diapers & covers! Hopefully blueberry likes them just as much!

Banana Nut Muffin Flats - an accidental discovery

If you are a banana eater, you probably know the story well: you bought bananas to last the week - a few green for later on, and a few RIPE and yellow. the banana eater(s) in the house decided to skip a few days & the yellow ones turn brown and questionable...

What to do? do you risk eating one before it's too brown OR do you ignore it all week and hope the OTHER banana eater picks it up? well... in my house, these get ignored in hopes that they will be good for nothing else but bread/muffins.

So 3 shrively nasty brown bananas - let's make muffins - right? Well, I mixed up the batter of the recipe I use sometimes (banana pecan muffins from the "MUFFIN" cookbook) forgetting that they tend to be quite dense & compact. Well... the oven was pre-heated, the batter was ready to go, when I figured out that my muffin pan was dirty! (Since I had JUST made corn muffins to accompany dinner, this should not come as a surprise, but alas it did. It was too hot to clean off).

So, I decided to make scones instead... except... when I started to pour the batter onto the pan, it was not acting in the typical manner of scone batter! I ended up making it one big blob of banana nut.

Here is what it looks like fully cooked:

here is what it looks like semi-eaten:

Turns out this is a genius find! They taste the same - better even because it's essentially only the muffin TOPS. They are more portable, easier to store (lays flat!), and kid-friendly.

All in all, great discovery & delicious muffin flats - maybe we'll ignore those somewhat questionable bananas more often?

360 degrees around the Nursery

I just realized that this tour is backwards somewhat. First, here is the door you exit from out of the nursery... notice the crib in the lower left-hand corner! This is the closet (so far) I've got big plans for organization & the hanging 'drawers' and extra rods are a start to that. I've got big bins and extra shelving yet to install up top. the lamp might have to go. I haven't totally made up my mind yet on that call. notice the corner of the dresser/changing table in the lower right-hand corner. if you zoom in, there are little onsies hanging in the closet!!!!!!!!!!

I tried to get a good shot of the new ceiling fan, window and changing table, but alas - this is what came out. Since I insisted on a dimmer switch for the main light in the room, Jon and my dad installed this remote control that controls the light with a dimmer and on/of AND it controls the fan speed! I guess this was our only option becuase the light was installed with the fan. oh well :). as you can see, around the window is the chocolate sprinkle colored trim (did I mention that the walls are "lemon pound cake"?). I have yet to finish the curtains and install them. lastly, in the lower left-hand corner is the changing table/dresser (with a diaper bag on top). you can't tell from this picture, but it's really nice & matches the crib (they come in a set).

And finally! the crib... we left the plastic on the mattress so as to deter the kitties from thinking that it's their new bed (however, I have caught Kittenpants walking along the ledges!). It's a little sleigh crib! very sturdy (I guess the manufacturing was fairly jon/liz proof).

Next steps: curtains, possibly installing a light green border (depending on how it looks), hanging things on the walls, installing a decorative shelf somewhere, and getting a comfy glider chair to fit in there somewhere...

Picture updates - around the house

My Beautiful garden! I think the yellow one in the middle is a tulip - it looks great with the daffodils!

Our NEW front door! since our old door was so bad, we decided to replace it & got a lovely full length glass storm door. If you look closely, you can see Kittenpants enjoying the view...
This is Mr. Jack enjoying the baby carrier. There is just something different about this dog...

Our new roof! we just got it done yesterday! we used Reid Roofing - they did such an awesome job!

I tried to capture the whole garden here... The multi-colored tulips came up in the past few days. Turns out, all it takes is a few hours of digging holes & planting bulbs (the right side up!) for a gorgeous garden to come in year after year (and it gets better with age).

2000 words

22 weeks:

My happy puppy:

NYC/NJ Trip

I just had to share my recent trip to New York City to visit Melissa. Mostly in pictures though...

A beautiful church being used as a theater:

We went all over the place - wandering, stopping off wherever, the weather was so nice after all!

One day, we went down to the union square area to go to the farmers market:

discovered this AWESOME bake-shop. They make cakes & pies that look like pieces of art!

Most of all, I got to spend time with two of my longest standing and best friends. To catch up & just chill out with them, share some laughs, good food, good times! It always surprises me how the years melt away when I get to see friends like that!

Then, I hopped a train back to Jeff & Elizabeth's house where I had the pleasure of spending a few days with my newest nephew Carter! he is such a little cuddle bug - I didn't want to leave! Jeff & Carter in their nightly routine (just before Carter goes into tree-frog position on Jeff's shoulder & they watch TV)

my little buddy bee!!!

The First day of the rest of our lives!

So much excitement buzzing around my house lately:

Blueberry is coming! Today marks the start of 22 weeks (he is the size and weight of a papaya now). Lately, I’ve been feeling like he is starting to crowd my lung capacity! It is especially noticeable at choir and while swimming. He is kicking up a storm in there! Every time I eat, I can count 2 minutes & he’ll be kicking. Yup – he is definitely his father’s son - in love with food already. I wasn’t aware it started that early!!!

Today is the opening day of PRI trading. Jon has been SOOOOOOOOO excited for the Primerica IPO to hit. I don’t think he’s slept much in the past few days just due to excitement alone. We get to watch Primerica ring the closing bell on Wall Street later today!
In other blueberry news, since the nursery is *almost* done (Jon just has to install the baseboard, put the fan back, install the doors, and we’ll be all set!); I bought the crib mattress! It was delivered in record time too! (2 days?). So now we just need to set up the crib & I can put it in there!

Also, being the dork that I am, I’ve been researching cloth diapers & looking at reviews, etc. I know there is truth to the ‘ try before you buy’ adage, but it’s hard! They’re so cute! I did however buy some awesome detergent – Rockin green detergent. It’s chemical/dye free, safe for cloth diapers, sensitive skin, baby stuff, Jon, etc. Now I just need to get excited about doing laundry… or should I say folding laundry? I seem to have no problem throwing dirty clothes in to be cleaned, however – it’s the folding/putting away that gets me every time!

Also – I bought a bunch of parenting books. The one that came yesterday with the mattress? The Modern Girl’s Guide to Motherhood. So far, it looks awesome. As far as I can tell, it is fairly neutral on a lot of the ‘heavily debated’ topics.

Kayla is getting more and more excited that it's spring! She sits outside eating sticks for longer and longer everyday. Also, she loves that it is still light out when mommy comes home (which means we go play ball in the backyard for a bit as long as it's not too muddy!). and this weekend is supposed to be 80 degrees? super awesome!!!

I'm getting low on clothing options (as compared to my pre-pregnancy wardrobe). And since I have this uncanny aversion to folding and putting cloths away, a lot of my (limited) options are sitting in piles, unironed, lost... But on the upside, as a result, I wore a dress to work today, which is super comfy & pretty, so that makes up for it!

Easter is this Sunday. Need I say more?

This will probably be the last time Jon & I exchange easter baskets, but I'm excited for it anyway (it was a target special!)

So this morning, on the way to work I told Blueberry - today is the first day of the rest of our lives! I know he heard because he kicked back (or was that the luna bar?). ;)