As I mentioned in Cloth Diapering: Part 1, I really didn't think much of using our Kirkland detergent on our new cloth diapers. I did worry a bit about the fact that we have a front loading high efficency washer, but I asked questions online of other cloth diapering moms who have HE washers and they all assured me that it would go well. They did say I should get a cloth diaper detergent or a similar clean rinsing detergent, so I ordered some Rockin Green cloth diaper detergent but I didn't want to wait for it to arrive to get started and I thought - really how bad could using my Kirkland detergent be?
The answer? BAD!
I knew something was wrong with the very first washing. I followed the washing recommendations that the Softbums diapers recommend - cold wash with 1/4 of the recommended amount of detergent, followed by a hot wash with no detergent, and ended with a cold rinse (which is included in the wash cycle). When I took them out, I thought there was quite a lot of suds in the rubber fold of the washer seal. I'd been noticing this a lot lately with our clothes too I was starting to wonder just how normal it was. Our clothes seemed fine so I thought the diapers were probably fine too. They smelled okay coming out of the washer. When I took them out of the dryer howerver, they had a nasty funk smell to them. They smelled worse when peed in. I didn't know what I'd done wrong so I went online to cloth diaper forums and asked questions. The general consensus was that it was detergent buildup - either too much detergent, the wrong detergent, or a mixture of both problems. I reduced how much detergent I used in the next wash but we still had the same problem. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed with that washing and could not get the suds out of the diapers no matter how hard I tried. I modified my wash routine just a tad to match another cloth diapering mom on a cloth diaper forum since that was what was working for her - a prewash on cold, wash on hot with 1/4 recommended detergent, rinse on cold, extra rinse, extra spin. That didn't make any difference unfortunately. I started sitting in the laundry room to watch the rinse cycles and I was really surprised at how many suds were in the diapers. I can't say in the water because I couldn't even see the water. I don't see how it's possible to rinse anything - let alone a cloth diaper - in such a small amount of water that you can't even see it. I tried changing my regular wash to the 'whitest whites' selection - it runs for 90 minutes and is supposed to use the hottest water. Again, no difference. Someone suggested I add a wet towel to the washer to trick it into using more water but that was pretty pointless.
It was a little less than a week later that Elena broke out in a bad rash and I started feeling like the worst mom in the world. I didn't have any cloth diaper friendly rash cream so I decided to break out the disposables on her. Gabe was doing just fine in the cloth diapers, but he also wasn't wearing them overnight and I imagine Elena's younger baby skin is a bit more sensitive than his. It took nearly a week for her rash to clear up and during this time I was waiting rather anxiously for my cloth diaper detergent and I also went on a quest to try and strip the diapers of the Kirkland detergent. What I hadn't realized before I used the Kirkland detergent is that any detergent used on cloth diapers should generally be free of enzymes, brightenrs, scents, etc and that it should be a 'clean rinsing' type of detergent - meaning it dissolves well so that it rinses away and leaves the diapers free of any residue. Since our detergent is a 'free & clear' type detergent, I thought it would work fine. Apparently not so. Kirkland has enzymes in it and it's likely the enzymes in the diapers + Elena's pee that caused a reaction and made her skin break out in a rash. It is also not 'clean rinsing' at all which makes for pretty heavy detergent residue. Lovely.
Before I started stripping my diapers, I decided to try to clean the washer itself because I was beginning to suspect it also had a buildup of soap residue. I cleaned out the soap dispencer (and found some soap residue there) and then I ran 3 back to back 'clean washer' cycles with nothing added - no detergent, no bleach. By the 3rd wash I was still seeing quite a lot of soap in the water but it appeared to rinse clean so I got started on stripping the diapers.
"Stripping" is a term used to describe getting all the detergent residue out of cloth diapers. You wash your diapers on a hot cycle (with detergent if they are dirty since you want to start with clean diapers, no detergent if they are all ready clean) and then you rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse and rinse in hot water until the water is free of suds. I learned right away that this was going to be nearly impossible in my washer. The amount of water my washer uses on most settings is barely enough to wet the diapers. Certaintly not enough to thorougoughly clean and rinse the diapers. I played around with different settings and, on the suggestion of a cloth diapering mom online, I started adding hot water to my washer through the soap dispencer. I was adding 10 pitchers of water - so about 5 gallons - to every wash/rinse cycle in order to get the water level decent. This was just way too much work. I was spending so much time in the laudnry room that I had to keep the kids entertained all day with Veggie Tales. I did start seeing very small improvements in the amount of suds leftover during the rinse cycle. But after spending from 8am - 11pm trying to strip the diapers I finally had to hang it up and just wait for the diaper detergent. They did come out smelling much better (though certaintly not pristine) but I decided to stop using them while I waited for the diaper detergent so I wouldn't have to wash them using the Kirkland again.
The week out of cloth + lots of desitin was really what Elena needed for her rash to heal and thankfully it's all gone now. During that week I spent a lot of time examining my washer and all it's different cycles while I washed regular loads. I learned that the delicates cycle uses a TON of water, but I can't put it on a hot setting and it doesn't spin the drum enough to really clean well. The soak cycle also uses a ton of water and it actually spins more than the delicates cycle - which I find amusing since it's meant for soaking clothes, not cleaning. The next best wash setting with slightly higher water is the quick wash cycle, which surprised me, becaue that cycle is only meant for 2 - 3 items you need in a hurry.
Up until about 2 months ago or so, Nathan and I used this quick wash setting for everything. We just hadn't bothered to read our manual so we didn't know it was meant for smaller loads, we thought it was for quicker washes - makes sense, right? When I read the manual though I started wondering if we were going to break our washer by continuing to use the quick wash cycle (even though we'd been using it this way for about 3 years with no problems) so we stopped and started using the normal wash setting. It was about this time that I think I started noticing more suds in the washer rubber seal after the cycle was completed. It's hard to remember though, it's not something that I really paid that much attention to. It was also right around this time that Gabe started breaking out in really dry patches of scaley skin - it's a form of excema. I thought it was the cold weather, but I've started wondering if it's because the normal wash cycles is not properly rinsing our clothes. My skin has become fairly itchy as well, I also thought it was cold weather related. And it could be, I can't be sure it's the washer. But we've gone back to using the quick wash cycle for all our loads just in case - and if the washer breaks then OH DARN I guess I'll just have to buy a top loader!
After this experience I have grown to hate my front loading washer and I feel it was a waste of money. I loved the savings becuase it uses about 60% less water than a traditional top-loader but if I have to add water to my washer in order to clean my diapers then it's not exactly going to save me any money in the end. I spent some time googling and discovered that 1) I'm not the only cloth diapering mom having major issues with this particular model and 2) my machine has pretty bad reviews all around. Nathan and I never thought to look up reviews before purchasing at the time. We saw a good deal at Coscto and we jumped on it. I will admit, it crossed my mind more than once to sell this machine and use the money toward a good top-loader. They are so signiciantly cheeper that I might not have to put out any money on my own. I'll tuck that thought away for the near future perhaps...
The cloth diaper detergent arrived on Monday and I was happy to find instructions on the back for getting the 'funk' out of my diapers. I had to soak the diapers in hot water with aprox 1 - 3 TBSP of the detergent. I only used 1 TBSP because I didn't want to get them overly soapy and I decided that if they still didn't smell nice when I was done then I'd try the soak again with more detergent. I soaked them in a big rubbermaid tub in the bathroom and not in my washer since the soak cycle doesn't fill up the washer enough and it won't let me use hot water.
In the meantime, I took the time to really clean my washer again. I did a clean wash cycle with 1/4 cup bleach followed by another clean washer cycle with nothing. I was finally able to see NO soap in the water and was happy that my washing machine was truly free of soap residue. I noticed a truly major difference in the smell of my washer. I hadn't raelly noticed that the washer had a smell until it was gone! I now felt comfortable washing my dipaers in my nice clean washer. I decided to use the delicates setting for my cold wash since it uses such a high level of water. I followed it up with a quick wash cycle on hot water. I ran 3 quick wash cycles with hot water back to back and by the end there was no more visable suds in my diapers. They came out of the dryer smelling pristine! I'm was THRILLED! I put them back on the kids and they don't stink when peed in either. More than a week later and the diaper still smell good.
Gabe did develop a rash two nights ago, but I think I have figured out the connection. I washed the diapers right after I washed my dark bath towels. Elena got her rash right after I threw a towel in with the diapers to try and trick the washer into adding more water. My dark towels have a mild funky smell about them when they get wet that I have been attempting to fight off with color safe bleach or vinegar and nothing is working. I have tried just rinsing them and rising them but they still come out of the washer feeling slightly soapy and smelling funky. We've decided to toss them. I think they left a residue in my washer that the diapers picked up. Or at least, that is my hope, because I am done with diaper rashes. Gabe's rash is not bad like Elena's was so hopefully it will clear up in a day or two.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Part 2 - How they work and overnight leaking
I have to say upfront that cloth diapering has come with it's challenges, definitely some that I didn't forsee. I'm still so glad we switched and I can't imagine going back to disposable diapers now. But you'll get a good idea of the road bumps I've run into in my next blog. Sorry. For now, I'll just let you know how they are working on my kids.
They are quite absorbant and they fit great. It took 2 - 3 diaper changes for me to get the fit just right on my kids, but once we got it right it was perfect (though I did just have to re-size all of Elena's diapers - she is growing so fast!). We have had no daytime leaking at all, not even Elena's exploding poop - in disposables it often makes it all the way up her back but the cloth diapers keep the mess very contained. We ordered the Softbums diapers with the SUPER dry-touch inserts (instead of the regular dry touch) and I am so glad we did. Both my kids are heavy wetters and they can really soak up that insert within a few hours. But the covers stay nice and dry! I just hang a cover to air out a little (it does tend to retain that lovely baby urine smell if I don't let it air out first) and grab a different one. I tend to rotate between two covers during the day for each kid until a diaper gets pooped in (even if the cover stays clean there is just no getting rid of that poop smell until it's washed) or the cover gets wet.
Our leaking issue is overnight. Elena has done just fine (so far anyway), it's Gabe who pees out of his diaper. For overnight we add one of the mini-pod doublers to both of their diapers to increase absorbancy. It's just a smaller insert that gets placed on top of the larger one. This makes their diapers very absorbant and absorbancy is not the problem. Unfortunately the doubler makes the diaper so bulky that I can't get the fit tight enough around Gabe's legs without making the rise of the diaper too low. We had a good first couple nights and then the 3rd night Gabe peed right out of the side of his diaper. The insert itself was wet, but hardly soaked. The urine had wicked onto his clothing and spread all up his side. The poor kid really could have used a bath, but it was 3am. I put Gabe back in disposables at night after that because I couldn't bear another 3am full clothing change + changing the crib sheets. But leaking out of dispoables happens pretty frequently as well...I'd say he leaks out the front of the diaper probably every other night or so. It just tends to happen in the morning when the diaper gets completely full, instead of at 3am.
I ordered more cloth diapers after doing some googling on the best cloth diapers for overnight. Seems most people like pocket diapers + hemp inserts for overnights, so I'm going to give that a try. I finally recieved my pocket diapers tonight and will get them prepped tomorrow. I decided to order some very cheepy - and I do mean VERY cheepy - ebay pocket diapers. I just couldn't bear to spend a lot of money on diapers to use just for overnights. I hope they work. If they don't, at least I won't feel like I wasted my money. I recieved my hemp inserts over a week ago and those are all ready prepped and ready to go.
Prepping you ask? What is that? Apparently natural fibers need to be 'prepped' before they can become fully absorbant. For hemp they usually need to be washed and dryed 4 - 6 times. I skipped some of those washings by boiling them in hot water for 30 minutes, though and I like that much better.
I decided to be brave and try the hemp inserts on Gabe tonight, in one of the Softbums diapers instead of the regular insert. It's supposed to be much more absorbant than microfiber, so fingers crossed it works.
Next blog - laundry issues. It's a doozy. Stay tuned.
They are quite absorbant and they fit great. It took 2 - 3 diaper changes for me to get the fit just right on my kids, but once we got it right it was perfect (though I did just have to re-size all of Elena's diapers - she is growing so fast!). We have had no daytime leaking at all, not even Elena's exploding poop - in disposables it often makes it all the way up her back but the cloth diapers keep the mess very contained. We ordered the Softbums diapers with the SUPER dry-touch inserts (instead of the regular dry touch) and I am so glad we did. Both my kids are heavy wetters and they can really soak up that insert within a few hours. But the covers stay nice and dry! I just hang a cover to air out a little (it does tend to retain that lovely baby urine smell if I don't let it air out first) and grab a different one. I tend to rotate between two covers during the day for each kid until a diaper gets pooped in (even if the cover stays clean there is just no getting rid of that poop smell until it's washed) or the cover gets wet.
Our leaking issue is overnight. Elena has done just fine (so far anyway), it's Gabe who pees out of his diaper. For overnight we add one of the mini-pod doublers to both of their diapers to increase absorbancy. It's just a smaller insert that gets placed on top of the larger one. This makes their diapers very absorbant and absorbancy is not the problem. Unfortunately the doubler makes the diaper so bulky that I can't get the fit tight enough around Gabe's legs without making the rise of the diaper too low. We had a good first couple nights and then the 3rd night Gabe peed right out of the side of his diaper. The insert itself was wet, but hardly soaked. The urine had wicked onto his clothing and spread all up his side. The poor kid really could have used a bath, but it was 3am. I put Gabe back in disposables at night after that because I couldn't bear another 3am full clothing change + changing the crib sheets. But leaking out of dispoables happens pretty frequently as well...I'd say he leaks out the front of the diaper probably every other night or so. It just tends to happen in the morning when the diaper gets completely full, instead of at 3am.
I ordered more cloth diapers after doing some googling on the best cloth diapers for overnight. Seems most people like pocket diapers + hemp inserts for overnights, so I'm going to give that a try. I finally recieved my pocket diapers tonight and will get them prepped tomorrow. I decided to order some very cheepy - and I do mean VERY cheepy - ebay pocket diapers. I just couldn't bear to spend a lot of money on diapers to use just for overnights. I hope they work. If they don't, at least I won't feel like I wasted my money. I recieved my hemp inserts over a week ago and those are all ready prepped and ready to go.
Prepping you ask? What is that? Apparently natural fibers need to be 'prepped' before they can become fully absorbant. For hemp they usually need to be washed and dryed 4 - 6 times. I skipped some of those washings by boiling them in hot water for 30 minutes, though and I like that much better.
I decided to be brave and try the hemp inserts on Gabe tonight, in one of the Softbums diapers instead of the regular insert. It's supposed to be much more absorbant than microfiber, so fingers crossed it works.
Next blog - laundry issues. It's a doozy. Stay tuned.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Part 1 - Making Decisions
I had planned on writing a blog about our new cloth diapers, but it's taken me awhile to get to it - and now that I have a few moments I also have several more things cloth diaper related to blog about. I am really enjoying cloth diapering, but we've hit some bumps along the way that have made for an interesting experience.
Pre-kiddos I never gave much thought to using cloth diapers. A conversation came up once at work between my mother-in-law and another co-worker about how they had used cloth when their kids were babies simply because it was so much cheaper. My mother-in-law felt she'd earned the right to use disposables after dealing with all the folding, pins and plastic covers. Can't say I blame her, because that sounded to me like a lot of work. My only contribution to the conversation was to say that I thought cloth diapering was 'nasty' and there was no way I'd ever use cloth diapers on my kids, no matter what the savings. Foot? Meet mouth.
The idea of two kids in diapers at the same time really made me put the savings of cloth diapers into perspective. When I found out I was pregnant with Elena I started looking into the idea. I'd been better introduced to the more modern cloth diapers they have now thanks to a couple online message boards I participate in, as well as seeing some in person that Special Ed's Wife was using on her daughter. I was curious how cloth diapers worked so I started asking more questions - Which cloth diapers are the 'best'? How are they cleaned? Is it a pain? Is it really gross? Does it significantly add to your energy and water bills? I really liked the diapers I saw Special Ed's Wife using - they looked pretty simple to use and put on, almost like a disposable.
We ended up deciding against cloth at the time. Nathan wasn't 100% sure he liked the idea of using diapers that had to be washed - he gets gaggy around baby poop. ;) It was also the larger amount of money up front that we would have had to put out that turned us off, though I'm now rolling my eyes a little at this reasoning. We ended up spending that much on disposables within 3 months after Elena was born. When Elena was about 5 months old I started mentioning the idea of cloth diapers to Nathan again whenever we would go buy a new box of diapers and it wasn't long before he was agreeing with me. Nathan is nothing if frugal and spending that much on diapers was putting a huge drain on our grocery budget. I sat down one night and figured out the cost of disposables for the next year and a half, assuming we would continue to buy diapers at the same rate we were then (a huge Costco box about every 2 - 3 weeks) and compared it to the approximate cost of cloth diapers - the savings worked out to be about $700 and that was more than enough of a savings to convince us!
So now that we knew we for sure wanted to switch - we had to face an even bigger decision - what diapers do we get? Entering the world of cloth diapers is a bit overwhelming. There are so many different choices and when you ask for opinions 5 different cloth diapering moms can give you 5 different answers on what the best cloth diapers are.
The cheapest option by far is prefolds + covers, which was what my mother-in-law used. Now they have a fun invention called a snappi that means you no longer need to use pins. You can also skip the pins or snappi all together and just fold it in 3rds and lay inside a cover. There are a multitude of cover options now besides the wool and plastic covers my mother-in-law had. I thought prefolds didn't sound too bad, but Nathan didn't like the idea of them, especially if we had to use pins or a snappi. And I admit, I'm not sure if my kids would hold still long enough to get the diaper on and snappi'd in place. I'm slightly afraid of leaks by just laying the prefold inside the cover. But there are so many cute covers out there, I am tempted to buy some prefolds just so I can buy a few cute covers to use.
Nathan's one request was that the diapers be as similar to a disposable as possible. The cloth diapers most similar to a disposable are called All-In-Ones (AIO) diapers. The waterproof cover and the inside absorbent part are all sewn together. I like the look of them but I have been told they take considerable more time to dry than other diapers so I nixed them from our list. I just don't have the patience for something to take an hour or more to dry. I was also worried that the waterproof cover part of the diaper would wear out faster being constantly dried in the dryer. I don't mind line drying but I don't imagine it would dry very fast on a clothes line or drying rack either.
The next closest diapers to disposables are pockets and All-In-Two (AI2) diapers. I like both of these types a lot. The pockets have a waterproof outer cover that has a soft lining inside - usually fleece which helps a baby to feel 'dry' - and a pocket that you stuff an absorbent insert into. The nice thing about these is that if you need more absorbency you can just stuff more into the diaper. Most inserts are typically microfiber, but you can also change it up by using hemp or bamboo, which are more absorbent and trimmer. AI2 diapers are like pockets - without the pockets. Instead the insert lays or snaps into the cover. The advantage to an AI2 diaper is that the cover can usually be reused 2 - 5 times before it needs to be washed so you don't have to buy as many covers.
I did lots of research and asked a lot of questions on cloth diapering forums and we finally decided on an AI2 diaper from Softbums. What sold me on these diapers was mostly the ease of adjustability. I knew we wanted a one size diaper so that we could use it on both kids. Most one-size diapers use 3 rows of snaps in the front that you can fold down and snap to adjust the rise of the diapers. Softbums diapers however have a very stretchy elastic in the leg gussets of the diaper. There is a tiny pocket in the front of the diaper that you stick your fingers into and you find a small toggle - like on a hoodie drawstring - that you use to tighten or loosen the diaper this way. This makes it easy to fit on practically any baby.
These are our new diapers:
There are unfortunately no girlie colors because they were out of stock. I'm hoping to add some pink to the collection later.
This gives you an idea of how adjustable it is:
I was surprised how small the diapers looked when they were sized all the way down. I was curious so I compared one with a disposable newborn diaper I have leftover from Elena. I think the Softbums diaper may actually fit a newborn - even one of my 6 - 7 lbs newborns. Most one-size diapers claim to fit a baby from about 8lbs - 35 lbs but from what I've read the reality is that they don't usually fit properly until 10 - 12 lbs. Not something I need to worry about now, but if we decide to have another in the future it would be nice to not have to buy disposables for the newborn stage.
Once we decided on the diapers we had to start thinking about everything else we would need. How would we store the dirty diapers? What would we use to wash the diapers? How do we handle poopy diapers?
We like the wet bags they have to store dirty diapers. We ended up ordering 2 of them - one of them is large enough to be used as a pail liner if we ever decide to use a pail. For now it is just tied to the doorknob of the laundry room door. The other is a bit smaller, but it's my favorite one by far and it's still large enough to hold all the diapers I need for 2 days. It has a hook to hang it from the doorknob easily (the other one regularly comes untied) and it has a zipper close instead of a drawstring close which is much easier to use - and it's still stink free when closed. I like that we have two though so that I can still use one while I'm washing the other (they get washed with the diapers). We got a 3rd one as apart of a free sample pack, just a small one that we can use in our diaper bag for cloth diapering on the go.
We considered a diaper sprayer for the poopy diapers (it attaches to your toilet and you just spray the poop off) but in the mean time we bought flushable liners - they catch all the poop so all you have to do is dump in the toilet and flush it away. They are an added expense but at $6 for a roll of 100 it's nothing like buying disposables. They were doing the job quite well but I'm now re-considering the sprayer after the mess I had today...
Before we started looking into cloth diapers I didn't think much about our detergent. I figured we could use the same detergent we have now - Kirkland Free & Clear. I was told that I should probably use a cloth diaper detergent. I wasn't sure if I really 'had' to do that or not. We decided to use Purex since that's what Softbums recommends on their diapers, but when Nathan went to pick it up it didn't have the HE symbol on it and we weren't sure if we could use it in our HE washer. I decided to go ahead and use the Kirkland detergent. I did order some Rockin Green diaper detergent, but I figured that the Kirkland would work just fine in the meantime. Boy was I wrong - but that saga belongs in it's own blog.
There were also a few things I didn't think about, like a diaper rash cream. We rarely use that here but what I do have on hand - desitin - is not cloth diaper friendly. It has fish oil in it and will apparently make your diapers smell like fish, not to mention create a buildup that will reduce the absorbency of the diapers. I can't find anything in the store that is acceptable so I think I'll have to buy some from a cloth diaper retailer online. But other than the rash cream, we are pretty much set.
I didn't realize how long this blog was going to become, I hope you all made it this far. If you found this even remotely interesting, stay tuned for my next installment all about overnight leaks and laundry issues.
Pre-kiddos I never gave much thought to using cloth diapers. A conversation came up once at work between my mother-in-law and another co-worker about how they had used cloth when their kids were babies simply because it was so much cheaper. My mother-in-law felt she'd earned the right to use disposables after dealing with all the folding, pins and plastic covers. Can't say I blame her, because that sounded to me like a lot of work. My only contribution to the conversation was to say that I thought cloth diapering was 'nasty' and there was no way I'd ever use cloth diapers on my kids, no matter what the savings. Foot? Meet mouth.
The idea of two kids in diapers at the same time really made me put the savings of cloth diapers into perspective. When I found out I was pregnant with Elena I started looking into the idea. I'd been better introduced to the more modern cloth diapers they have now thanks to a couple online message boards I participate in, as well as seeing some in person that Special Ed's Wife was using on her daughter. I was curious how cloth diapers worked so I started asking more questions - Which cloth diapers are the 'best'? How are they cleaned? Is it a pain? Is it really gross? Does it significantly add to your energy and water bills? I really liked the diapers I saw Special Ed's Wife using - they looked pretty simple to use and put on, almost like a disposable.
We ended up deciding against cloth at the time. Nathan wasn't 100% sure he liked the idea of using diapers that had to be washed - he gets gaggy around baby poop. ;) It was also the larger amount of money up front that we would have had to put out that turned us off, though I'm now rolling my eyes a little at this reasoning. We ended up spending that much on disposables within 3 months after Elena was born. When Elena was about 5 months old I started mentioning the idea of cloth diapers to Nathan again whenever we would go buy a new box of diapers and it wasn't long before he was agreeing with me. Nathan is nothing if frugal and spending that much on diapers was putting a huge drain on our grocery budget. I sat down one night and figured out the cost of disposables for the next year and a half, assuming we would continue to buy diapers at the same rate we were then (a huge Costco box about every 2 - 3 weeks) and compared it to the approximate cost of cloth diapers - the savings worked out to be about $700 and that was more than enough of a savings to convince us!
So now that we knew we for sure wanted to switch - we had to face an even bigger decision - what diapers do we get? Entering the world of cloth diapers is a bit overwhelming. There are so many different choices and when you ask for opinions 5 different cloth diapering moms can give you 5 different answers on what the best cloth diapers are.
The cheapest option by far is prefolds + covers, which was what my mother-in-law used. Now they have a fun invention called a snappi that means you no longer need to use pins. You can also skip the pins or snappi all together and just fold it in 3rds and lay inside a cover. There are a multitude of cover options now besides the wool and plastic covers my mother-in-law had. I thought prefolds didn't sound too bad, but Nathan didn't like the idea of them, especially if we had to use pins or a snappi. And I admit, I'm not sure if my kids would hold still long enough to get the diaper on and snappi'd in place. I'm slightly afraid of leaks by just laying the prefold inside the cover. But there are so many cute covers out there, I am tempted to buy some prefolds just so I can buy a few cute covers to use.
Nathan's one request was that the diapers be as similar to a disposable as possible. The cloth diapers most similar to a disposable are called All-In-Ones (AIO) diapers. The waterproof cover and the inside absorbent part are all sewn together. I like the look of them but I have been told they take considerable more time to dry than other diapers so I nixed them from our list. I just don't have the patience for something to take an hour or more to dry. I was also worried that the waterproof cover part of the diaper would wear out faster being constantly dried in the dryer. I don't mind line drying but I don't imagine it would dry very fast on a clothes line or drying rack either.
The next closest diapers to disposables are pockets and All-In-Two (AI2) diapers. I like both of these types a lot. The pockets have a waterproof outer cover that has a soft lining inside - usually fleece which helps a baby to feel 'dry' - and a pocket that you stuff an absorbent insert into. The nice thing about these is that if you need more absorbency you can just stuff more into the diaper. Most inserts are typically microfiber, but you can also change it up by using hemp or bamboo, which are more absorbent and trimmer. AI2 diapers are like pockets - without the pockets. Instead the insert lays or snaps into the cover. The advantage to an AI2 diaper is that the cover can usually be reused 2 - 5 times before it needs to be washed so you don't have to buy as many covers.
I did lots of research and asked a lot of questions on cloth diapering forums and we finally decided on an AI2 diaper from Softbums. What sold me on these diapers was mostly the ease of adjustability. I knew we wanted a one size diaper so that we could use it on both kids. Most one-size diapers use 3 rows of snaps in the front that you can fold down and snap to adjust the rise of the diapers. Softbums diapers however have a very stretchy elastic in the leg gussets of the diaper. There is a tiny pocket in the front of the diaper that you stick your fingers into and you find a small toggle - like on a hoodie drawstring - that you use to tighten or loosen the diaper this way. This makes it easy to fit on practically any baby.
These are our new diapers:
There are unfortunately no girlie colors because they were out of stock. I'm hoping to add some pink to the collection later.
This gives you an idea of how adjustable it is:
I was surprised how small the diapers looked when they were sized all the way down. I was curious so I compared one with a disposable newborn diaper I have leftover from Elena. I think the Softbums diaper may actually fit a newborn - even one of my 6 - 7 lbs newborns. Most one-size diapers claim to fit a baby from about 8lbs - 35 lbs but from what I've read the reality is that they don't usually fit properly until 10 - 12 lbs. Not something I need to worry about now, but if we decide to have another in the future it would be nice to not have to buy disposables for the newborn stage.
Once we decided on the diapers we had to start thinking about everything else we would need. How would we store the dirty diapers? What would we use to wash the diapers? How do we handle poopy diapers?
We like the wet bags they have to store dirty diapers. We ended up ordering 2 of them - one of them is large enough to be used as a pail liner if we ever decide to use a pail. For now it is just tied to the doorknob of the laundry room door. The other is a bit smaller, but it's my favorite one by far and it's still large enough to hold all the diapers I need for 2 days. It has a hook to hang it from the doorknob easily (the other one regularly comes untied) and it has a zipper close instead of a drawstring close which is much easier to use - and it's still stink free when closed. I like that we have two though so that I can still use one while I'm washing the other (they get washed with the diapers). We got a 3rd one as apart of a free sample pack, just a small one that we can use in our diaper bag for cloth diapering on the go.
We considered a diaper sprayer for the poopy diapers (it attaches to your toilet and you just spray the poop off) but in the mean time we bought flushable liners - they catch all the poop so all you have to do is dump in the toilet and flush it away. They are an added expense but at $6 for a roll of 100 it's nothing like buying disposables. They were doing the job quite well but I'm now re-considering the sprayer after the mess I had today...
Before we started looking into cloth diapers I didn't think much about our detergent. I figured we could use the same detergent we have now - Kirkland Free & Clear. I was told that I should probably use a cloth diaper detergent. I wasn't sure if I really 'had' to do that or not. We decided to use Purex since that's what Softbums recommends on their diapers, but when Nathan went to pick it up it didn't have the HE symbol on it and we weren't sure if we could use it in our HE washer. I decided to go ahead and use the Kirkland detergent. I did order some Rockin Green diaper detergent, but I figured that the Kirkland would work just fine in the meantime. Boy was I wrong - but that saga belongs in it's own blog.
There were also a few things I didn't think about, like a diaper rash cream. We rarely use that here but what I do have on hand - desitin - is not cloth diaper friendly. It has fish oil in it and will apparently make your diapers smell like fish, not to mention create a buildup that will reduce the absorbency of the diapers. I can't find anything in the store that is acceptable so I think I'll have to buy some from a cloth diaper retailer online. But other than the rash cream, we are pretty much set.
I didn't realize how long this blog was going to become, I hope you all made it this far. If you found this even remotely interesting, stay tuned for my next installment all about overnight leaks and laundry issues.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Bye Bye Bottles
I never intended to have a toddler with a bottle....but best laid plans and all...you know how those go! Gabe ended up on bottles well past a year and we just went with the flow. His ped has been thankfully encouraging about it since Gabe is a very picky eater, and our main concern has been getting enough calories in him. We did wean him down to only a bedtime bottle by 15 months.
Much to my shock and surprise (and joy!) Gabe decided a week ago that he is done with bottles. We have been offering him one at bedtime and for the last few weeks he's only had about 2 or 3 ounces out of it before giving it back. A week ago he refused it all together, for 3 nights in a row. We just went with it and now he is completely off bottles and doesn't miss them at all. He gets a sippy of milk instead, with a 'splash' of chocolate flavoring, since he won't drink it unsweetened. I spent all this time dreading the day when I finally took them away, and anticipating total meltdowns...and all that stress was wasted on nothing. :D
Elena on the other hand seems more than ready to give up her bottle if I were to take it away. I have been offering her staw cups of water with meals, and she took to them almost right away. I offered her straw sippy of formula yesterday and she drank it all in about 10 minutes. We had a little spillage and she probably needs a full length bib...but overall she did really well! I have decided to offer her sippies during the day and only bottles in the morning and at bedtime. I hope to have her off bottles by 9/10 months so long as she doesn't mind. I'll be happy to put away the bottles for good!
Much to my shock and surprise (and joy!) Gabe decided a week ago that he is done with bottles. We have been offering him one at bedtime and for the last few weeks he's only had about 2 or 3 ounces out of it before giving it back. A week ago he refused it all together, for 3 nights in a row. We just went with it and now he is completely off bottles and doesn't miss them at all. He gets a sippy of milk instead, with a 'splash' of chocolate flavoring, since he won't drink it unsweetened. I spent all this time dreading the day when I finally took them away, and anticipating total meltdowns...and all that stress was wasted on nothing. :D
Elena on the other hand seems more than ready to give up her bottle if I were to take it away. I have been offering her staw cups of water with meals, and she took to them almost right away. I offered her straw sippy of formula yesterday and she drank it all in about 10 minutes. We had a little spillage and she probably needs a full length bib...but overall she did really well! I have decided to offer her sippies during the day and only bottles in the morning and at bedtime. I hope to have her off bottles by 9/10 months so long as she doesn't mind. I'll be happy to put away the bottles for good!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Pumpkin Carving and Costumes
We had a lot of fun this Halloween as a family. On Saturday we had our first pumpkin carving ever. I will admit that I don't enjoy pumpkin carving. The guts kind of gross me out. Last year we decided to just skip it, since Gabe wouldn't remember anyway. But this year we both really wanted Gabe to 'help' carve his first ever pumpkin so I but the bullet and we did it (though Nathan did all the gutting and carving!). Gabe wasn't sure what he thought of pumpking guts. He was hesitant to touch them and then once he did, he decided they were slimy and gross (guess he's just like his Mama!). He did taste a tiny piece that was on the floor but promptly made a nasty face and spit it right back out. He had a lot of fun using the pumpkin scraper to try and empty the bowl of pumpkin guts, though. Elena had much more fun with the bowl of pumpkin guts. She threw her hands in there and went to town, but was sadly disappointed by the taste.
Saturday night we visited City Girl's house for a fun Halloween party - pizza and brownies and Simpson's Halloween - oh my! I wish we could have stayed later, we really enjoyed ourselves. The costumes were great. Thanks City Girl!
On Sunday we got both the kids dressed up - Gabe as a dinasour and Elena as a cat - and went trick-or-treating. Elena obviously had no clue what we were doing and Gabe didn't understand much either besides the fact that there were suckers in his pail and he wanted them. He was bored quickly but I had fun getting them both dressed up. We visited a few houses and then went to my inlaws for dinner. All in all, we had a fun Halloween.
Saturday night we visited City Girl's house for a fun Halloween party - pizza and brownies and Simpson's Halloween - oh my! I wish we could have stayed later, we really enjoyed ourselves. The costumes were great. Thanks City Girl!
On Sunday we got both the kids dressed up - Gabe as a dinasour and Elena as a cat - and went trick-or-treating. Elena obviously had no clue what we were doing and Gabe didn't understand much either besides the fact that there were suckers in his pail and he wanted them. He was bored quickly but I had fun getting them both dressed up. We visited a few houses and then went to my inlaws for dinner. All in all, we had a fun Halloween.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
For B
Today in church, one of B's little girls came up and asked me if she could hold Elena. I let her and while she sat next to me holding Elena she told me all about how her mommy is having a baby too because she prayed for it. It was very cute, and of course I had to snap a little picture on my phone. So this is for you B. :-) Can't wait to meet your next little one, only a few more months!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Long overdue
Both Elena and this blog! ;-)
Two weeks late, I am finally getting around to writing Elena's birth announcement here. The basics - Elena Grace was born on May 6th at 5:38am weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and 21.5 inches long. I was 41 weeks 3 days.
The long story:
On Wednesday the 5th I woke up feeling pretty 'done'. More so than I'd felt in the previous couple weeks. I was exhausted, sore and all those fun things that go with the end of pregnancy. I called and left a message with my OB to get induced ASAP and waited anxiously for her to call me back. She didn't call me back all day however and I spent the day feeling fairly irritable and trying to not take it out on other people. I was having sporadic contractions but nothing to really pay attention to. My wonderful friend and neighbor mommagriffith invited us over for dinner which lifted my mood considerably and so we went over there and had yummy Mexican. While we were there was when I started to notice I was having more contractions that seemed fairly close together. I didn't think much of them, though. A few days previously I'd had a long bout of regular contractions that went away and I thought the same thing was happening again. When we got home from dinner there was a message on my answering machine from my OB to make an appointment the following day so we could discuss induction and I felt relieved thinking there was an 'end' in site. Nathan encouraged me to time the contractions I was having, which I thought was silly, but I agreed anyway. I noticed right away the contractions were 5 - 7 minutes apart but I definitely didn't consider them to be that painful. Uncomfortable yes, but nothing I couldn't handle fairly easily. I was having a lot of pain in my back though so I bounced on my exercise ball for awhile which really helped.
After awhile of timing contractions I decided to run a bath and see if that would help my body relax. I still felt that these contractions were not 'real' and I was getting pretty tired and just wanted them to go away so I could go to bed. The bath was very nice, but the contractions continued. After I got out of the bath I tried walking around to see if I could get the contractions closer together and more intense, but that didn't work. They continued to stay at the 5 - 7 minutes apart and of mild to moderate intensitity.
I'd been timing contractions on and off for 5 hours when I thought maybe I'd just try to go to bed. I was so tired. I didn't make it laying down through more than 4 contractions though. Up and moving they didn't feel bad, but lying in bed made them almost unbearable. I started to feel fairly overwelmed at this point. I was still certain that this labor was not real, or that it was very early labor, but it was uncomfortable enough that I couldn't get any rest. Around midnight I decided to call the labor and delivery floor to see what they suggested. They suggested that I come in right away, since I'd been experiencing contractions for so long without them going away, and told me that my OB would likely not send me home, even if this was not real labor. I woke up Nathan and we called his mom to come and sit with Gabe. It was while we were getting ready to go when I started to notice the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. It was almost like I needed that mental 'I'm having a baby today!' thought in order for things to really get going. By the time we got in the car I was quite uncomfortable.
The drive to the hospital was by no means fun, but it wasn't any worse than I expected. Having to labor while sitting strapped into a seat has got to be one of the most uncomfortable ways to labor though. When we got to the hospital the only real thought in my mind was 'I want that epidural, and I want it now' but sadly that wasn't going to happen right away. They got me admitted and hooked up to the monitors. I think laboring flat in your back in bed has also got to be one of the worst ways to labor but I sucked it up and gripped the bed rails for dear life while they got their 15 minute strip of the baby's heartbeat and my contraction pattern. After they got that they checked me and with a contraction pattern of 3 - 5 minutes apart and a check showing I was 4 - 5 cm along put me into the category of 'active labor' (no really? haha). I begged them to get the jacuzzi tub going and call anesthesia ASAP.
Now I've heard that laboring in a jacuzzi tub is like a 'natural epidural' to which I must laugh. No, no it is not. It was nice in the sense that I could relax better between my contractions but the contractions themselves were just as intense. I did enjoy the tub though and was glad I had that to labor in while I waited for my epidural. Anesthesia actually arrived fairly quickly and it didn't take long to get set up and get the epidural placed. Once it was placed I was one happy mom. I got checked again and was 6 - 7 cm but baby was still up at a -1 station. Nathan and I decided to take the time to relax and try to nap before delivery time.
I couldn't actually nap because I was still feeling intense pressure with my contractions, however I was able to doze between them well and I felt so much better not being in pain. Around 4:30 I started noticing a difference in the contractions, I was starting to feel an urge to push, but it wasn't a very strong urge and I was honestly too tired to buzz the nurses to tell them. At 5:00 my OB came in and checked me and found I was complete, baby at a +2 station and we could push whenever I wanted to. I was surprised, because it had all seemed to happen so fast. We woke up Nathan and my OB got all gowned up and within 10 minutes I was ready to push.
Pushing this time was an entirely different experience than it was with Gabe. I won't go into too many details, but my epidural was absolutely perfect. I was numbed enough to not feel too much pain, but I could feel all that intense pressure and my pushing was so well controlled. I won't say it seemed easy, because pushing is not easy, but it was 10 times better. It also took considerable less time! In fact, it took so little time to push her out that in that moment they took her out and put her on my chest I hadn't even fully had the time to process it. I just stared at her and couldn't believe she was finally born! No crying this time, unlike with Gabe, but I think that's because I was in so much shock and I felt such wonder looking at my beautiful baby girl.
She's got this amazing olive skin tone and a full head of dark hair. I'm not quite sure how Nathan and I produced a girl who looks so dark, but I love it! She is absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way.
My recovery this time has been so much easier as well, something I am so grateful for.
Here is her first picture, right after her bath:
Happy family:
Next blog: Elena's hospital trip. I'll write that one when I get a chance! Hopefully it won't take me too long.
Two weeks late, I am finally getting around to writing Elena's birth announcement here. The basics - Elena Grace was born on May 6th at 5:38am weighing 7 lbs 8 oz and 21.5 inches long. I was 41 weeks 3 days.
The long story:
On Wednesday the 5th I woke up feeling pretty 'done'. More so than I'd felt in the previous couple weeks. I was exhausted, sore and all those fun things that go with the end of pregnancy. I called and left a message with my OB to get induced ASAP and waited anxiously for her to call me back. She didn't call me back all day however and I spent the day feeling fairly irritable and trying to not take it out on other people. I was having sporadic contractions but nothing to really pay attention to. My wonderful friend and neighbor mommagriffith invited us over for dinner which lifted my mood considerably and so we went over there and had yummy Mexican. While we were there was when I started to notice I was having more contractions that seemed fairly close together. I didn't think much of them, though. A few days previously I'd had a long bout of regular contractions that went away and I thought the same thing was happening again. When we got home from dinner there was a message on my answering machine from my OB to make an appointment the following day so we could discuss induction and I felt relieved thinking there was an 'end' in site. Nathan encouraged me to time the contractions I was having, which I thought was silly, but I agreed anyway. I noticed right away the contractions were 5 - 7 minutes apart but I definitely didn't consider them to be that painful. Uncomfortable yes, but nothing I couldn't handle fairly easily. I was having a lot of pain in my back though so I bounced on my exercise ball for awhile which really helped.
After awhile of timing contractions I decided to run a bath and see if that would help my body relax. I still felt that these contractions were not 'real' and I was getting pretty tired and just wanted them to go away so I could go to bed. The bath was very nice, but the contractions continued. After I got out of the bath I tried walking around to see if I could get the contractions closer together and more intense, but that didn't work. They continued to stay at the 5 - 7 minutes apart and of mild to moderate intensitity.
I'd been timing contractions on and off for 5 hours when I thought maybe I'd just try to go to bed. I was so tired. I didn't make it laying down through more than 4 contractions though. Up and moving they didn't feel bad, but lying in bed made them almost unbearable. I started to feel fairly overwelmed at this point. I was still certain that this labor was not real, or that it was very early labor, but it was uncomfortable enough that I couldn't get any rest. Around midnight I decided to call the labor and delivery floor to see what they suggested. They suggested that I come in right away, since I'd been experiencing contractions for so long without them going away, and told me that my OB would likely not send me home, even if this was not real labor. I woke up Nathan and we called his mom to come and sit with Gabe. It was while we were getting ready to go when I started to notice the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. It was almost like I needed that mental 'I'm having a baby today!' thought in order for things to really get going. By the time we got in the car I was quite uncomfortable.
The drive to the hospital was by no means fun, but it wasn't any worse than I expected. Having to labor while sitting strapped into a seat has got to be one of the most uncomfortable ways to labor though. When we got to the hospital the only real thought in my mind was 'I want that epidural, and I want it now' but sadly that wasn't going to happen right away. They got me admitted and hooked up to the monitors. I think laboring flat in your back in bed has also got to be one of the worst ways to labor but I sucked it up and gripped the bed rails for dear life while they got their 15 minute strip of the baby's heartbeat and my contraction pattern. After they got that they checked me and with a contraction pattern of 3 - 5 minutes apart and a check showing I was 4 - 5 cm along put me into the category of 'active labor' (no really? haha). I begged them to get the jacuzzi tub going and call anesthesia ASAP.
Now I've heard that laboring in a jacuzzi tub is like a 'natural epidural' to which I must laugh. No, no it is not. It was nice in the sense that I could relax better between my contractions but the contractions themselves were just as intense. I did enjoy the tub though and was glad I had that to labor in while I waited for my epidural. Anesthesia actually arrived fairly quickly and it didn't take long to get set up and get the epidural placed. Once it was placed I was one happy mom. I got checked again and was 6 - 7 cm but baby was still up at a -1 station. Nathan and I decided to take the time to relax and try to nap before delivery time.
I couldn't actually nap because I was still feeling intense pressure with my contractions, however I was able to doze between them well and I felt so much better not being in pain. Around 4:30 I started noticing a difference in the contractions, I was starting to feel an urge to push, but it wasn't a very strong urge and I was honestly too tired to buzz the nurses to tell them. At 5:00 my OB came in and checked me and found I was complete, baby at a +2 station and we could push whenever I wanted to. I was surprised, because it had all seemed to happen so fast. We woke up Nathan and my OB got all gowned up and within 10 minutes I was ready to push.
Pushing this time was an entirely different experience than it was with Gabe. I won't go into too many details, but my epidural was absolutely perfect. I was numbed enough to not feel too much pain, but I could feel all that intense pressure and my pushing was so well controlled. I won't say it seemed easy, because pushing is not easy, but it was 10 times better. It also took considerable less time! In fact, it took so little time to push her out that in that moment they took her out and put her on my chest I hadn't even fully had the time to process it. I just stared at her and couldn't believe she was finally born! No crying this time, unlike with Gabe, but I think that's because I was in so much shock and I felt such wonder looking at my beautiful baby girl.
She's got this amazing olive skin tone and a full head of dark hair. I'm not quite sure how Nathan and I produced a girl who looks so dark, but I love it! She is absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way.
My recovery this time has been so much easier as well, something I am so grateful for.
Here is her first picture, right after her bath:
Happy family:
Next blog: Elena's hospital trip. I'll write that one when I get a chance! Hopefully it won't take me too long.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Birthday Boy
I feel a bit guilty that this blog is coming 4 days late. Ooops!
This year has gone by much, much too quickly. It's hard to imagine to me that a year a go today I was sitting at home with my 4 day old baby boy. And right now he's walking around the living room attemtping to beat up my exercise ball! How did he get so big so fast??
We had a nice little party for him Tuesday evening. My inlaws and Nathan's grandparents came over and we enjoyed presents and cake. I don't have many pictures because I spent the time filming on the video camera or helping him open his gifts, but hopefully Nathan's step-grandpa will share the pictures with me he took. The gifts Gabe got were wonderful of course and he's in love with all of them.
Gabe didn't really enjoy the cake, but I'm not surprised. I enjoyed watching him hesitantly test it out anyway! Nathan finally thought it would be fun to shove Gabe's hands into the cake and see how he'd react. He wasn't super pleased and it resulted in him needing an immediate bath!
Gabe only a few minutes after he was born:
My big boy on his birthday:
Motherhood is quite different than I thought it would be. I knew of course that I would love my child. But I never understood what the depth of my love for him would be. It's been a wild ride this year, and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again!
This year has gone by much, much too quickly. It's hard to imagine to me that a year a go today I was sitting at home with my 4 day old baby boy. And right now he's walking around the living room attemtping to beat up my exercise ball! How did he get so big so fast??
We had a nice little party for him Tuesday evening. My inlaws and Nathan's grandparents came over and we enjoyed presents and cake. I don't have many pictures because I spent the time filming on the video camera or helping him open his gifts, but hopefully Nathan's step-grandpa will share the pictures with me he took. The gifts Gabe got were wonderful of course and he's in love with all of them.
Gabe didn't really enjoy the cake, but I'm not surprised. I enjoyed watching him hesitantly test it out anyway! Nathan finally thought it would be fun to shove Gabe's hands into the cake and see how he'd react. He wasn't super pleased and it resulted in him needing an immediate bath!
Gabe only a few minutes after he was born:
My big boy on his birthday:
Motherhood is quite different than I thought it would be. I knew of course that I would love my child. But I never understood what the depth of my love for him would be. It's been a wild ride this year, and I'm looking forward to doing it all over again!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Nook!
Today I had quite a surprise when my husband came home from work. He had to drive out to Tigard today for work, and he told me when he was driving home that he'd gotten me a gift. Now when I thought gift, I was thinking flowers or perhaps a box of my favorite Tim Tams or some random baby item. Instead I about fell over when he handed me a Nook.
I was, at a time, totally against e-readers. I heard of the kindle and was just not impressed. To me, I felt books should always be read on paper. I didn't like this new idea of turning a book into something similar to an ipod or a small laptop. I also was under the assumption that it would be similar to reading a book on a laptop - something I have done and do not enjoy. After awhile it really starts to hurt my eyes.
Once I had Gabe though, I started to really see the advantages of an e-reader. I honestly haven't read much since he's been born. I'm too busy and by the time I get a moment to myself, I'm usually falling into bed out of exhaustion. It was simply not practical to hold Gabe while holding a book at the same time. So my books have been collecting dust on my shelves. And admittedly, some of my borrowed books are gathering dust too (really must return them...). I started thinking recently how much easier it would be to have an e-reader that I could just carry around the house with me. Something I could hold in one hand while also holding a child. Not to mention I'm running out of room to store books. I still wasn't totally sold, but was thinking of it. Then whem mammagriffith got one and I saw it I was definitely in love with it. I like the digital ink screen the absolute best. No eye strain! I have all ready started to pour into one of the free classics provided with the nook - Little Women.
I'm still in awe that Nathan even thought to get me the nook. He knew I wanted one, but I didn't imagine us purchasing it anytime soon. It was very sweet of him. He told me I deserved something nice for myself. Yes, I almost started tearing up.
I was, at a time, totally against e-readers. I heard of the kindle and was just not impressed. To me, I felt books should always be read on paper. I didn't like this new idea of turning a book into something similar to an ipod or a small laptop. I also was under the assumption that it would be similar to reading a book on a laptop - something I have done and do not enjoy. After awhile it really starts to hurt my eyes.
Once I had Gabe though, I started to really see the advantages of an e-reader. I honestly haven't read much since he's been born. I'm too busy and by the time I get a moment to myself, I'm usually falling into bed out of exhaustion. It was simply not practical to hold Gabe while holding a book at the same time. So my books have been collecting dust on my shelves. And admittedly, some of my borrowed books are gathering dust too (really must return them...). I started thinking recently how much easier it would be to have an e-reader that I could just carry around the house with me. Something I could hold in one hand while also holding a child. Not to mention I'm running out of room to store books. I still wasn't totally sold, but was thinking of it. Then whem mammagriffith got one and I saw it I was definitely in love with it. I like the digital ink screen the absolute best. No eye strain! I have all ready started to pour into one of the free classics provided with the nook - Little Women.
I'm still in awe that Nathan even thought to get me the nook. He knew I wanted one, but I didn't imagine us purchasing it anytime soon. It was very sweet of him. He told me I deserved something nice for myself. Yes, I almost started tearing up.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Night at the opera
Nathan and I had a wonderful night away on Friday. When we first got out to Portland we stopped in at Men's Warehouse to get Nathan a jacket to go with his pants. He looked pretty handsome if I do say so myself:
When we got to the hotel we both got all dressed up, unfortuantely my camera would not fit in my little purse so we couldn't get a full-sized picture of the two of us. I got a few pictures before we left. I very much like this picture of myself. I felt very fancy and pretty.
When we got to Morton's we were ushered to a big huge booth all to ourselves, despite the place being packed (yay anniversary reservations!) and were greated by this on our menus:
I had been planning on getting a lobster tail, but thought to myself...why not try a whole lobster? I've never done that before. Honestly - big mistake! I clearly had no concept of how big a full sized lobster is (they did tell me it was a 3.5 pounder, I should have figured it out, but something just didn't compute!). When they brought out my meal my jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock. The plate was HUGE. So here I am, this very large pregnant woman, with a humongous plate of food in front of me...I think I might have looked like a glutton. But then I decided to get over it and dig in. I only got through the tail portion before I was full. Yup, should have stuck to the tail.
We attempted a picture of the ginormous lobster with Nathan's cell phone. It didn't turn out great, but you can get an idea of how large it was:
Morton's apparently takes a complimentary picture for special events and so they took a very wonderful picture of Nathan and I, put it in a black cardboard frame, and it was signed by all the wait staff. I then proceeded to lose this great picture in the taxi. Yeah, I was having an awesome brain night.
After our meal (which was seriously delicious, we topped off our entrees with a wonderful warm brownie filled with hot fudge and served with ice cream) we were whisked off by taxi to the opera.
I had always assumed, and have been told by mommagriffith who has season tickets to the opera, that most everyone dresses up to attend the opera. Nice dresses, suits etc. I'm not sure if it was just the show we went to see or what, but Nathan and I were quite surprised when half the audience was in khakis and jeans. We were truly the best dressed there. Only one other woman was wearing a nice dress. I admit, I didn't feel out of place at all. Instead, I felt that everyone else was out of place. ;-) I just can't picture attending an opera in jeans.
The opera itself was fine, but not anything to shout about. The first two introductory acts (which I can't recall the names of) were sung in Italian I believe. I found them to be a bit confusing, despite the subtitles, though when I read the plot later they did make a bit more sense. They were not very engaging however, nothing about them really drew me in. The main show was even less appealing and while I don't have much to compare it to, I don't think I like operas sung in English. The title of the show was Trouble in Tahiti and it was about a 1950s couple going through rough times in their marriage, both of whom look for love and satisifaction in other places, while their son sits and home in front of the television and fantisizes of an idealistic 1950s dream family - happy homemaker, a loving husband and doting father who has a successful career, all of this packaged in a lovely white house in the suburbs of America. It is an iteresting subject matter, but I felt the opera itself fell flat.
That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself, though! We had a lot of fun dressing up and feeling fancy for a night. We caught a taxi back to the hotel (this is where I lost our picture from Morton's) and we both completely passed out upon arrival.
Gabe did great at Grandma and Grandpas. He didn't sleep well, but I'm not surpised. He just has too much fun playing when he goes to my inlaws place. He hardly noticed when we came to pick him up the next morning, I don't think he even realized we were gone. This gives me a lot of relief honestly, because I was concerned how he would do staying there overnight when Elena is born. Now I know he'll be just fine.
So that was our fun evening out! I can't believe I've been married 3 years all ready. It feels like the time has just flown by. It's been an amazing 3 years, that's for sure.
When we got to the hotel we both got all dressed up, unfortuantely my camera would not fit in my little purse so we couldn't get a full-sized picture of the two of us. I got a few pictures before we left. I very much like this picture of myself. I felt very fancy and pretty.
When we got to Morton's we were ushered to a big huge booth all to ourselves, despite the place being packed (yay anniversary reservations!) and were greated by this on our menus:
I had been planning on getting a lobster tail, but thought to myself...why not try a whole lobster? I've never done that before. Honestly - big mistake! I clearly had no concept of how big a full sized lobster is (they did tell me it was a 3.5 pounder, I should have figured it out, but something just didn't compute!). When they brought out my meal my jaw nearly dropped to the floor in shock. The plate was HUGE. So here I am, this very large pregnant woman, with a humongous plate of food in front of me...I think I might have looked like a glutton. But then I decided to get over it and dig in. I only got through the tail portion before I was full. Yup, should have stuck to the tail.
We attempted a picture of the ginormous lobster with Nathan's cell phone. It didn't turn out great, but you can get an idea of how large it was:
Morton's apparently takes a complimentary picture for special events and so they took a very wonderful picture of Nathan and I, put it in a black cardboard frame, and it was signed by all the wait staff. I then proceeded to lose this great picture in the taxi. Yeah, I was having an awesome brain night.
After our meal (which was seriously delicious, we topped off our entrees with a wonderful warm brownie filled with hot fudge and served with ice cream) we were whisked off by taxi to the opera.
I had always assumed, and have been told by mommagriffith who has season tickets to the opera, that most everyone dresses up to attend the opera. Nice dresses, suits etc. I'm not sure if it was just the show we went to see or what, but Nathan and I were quite surprised when half the audience was in khakis and jeans. We were truly the best dressed there. Only one other woman was wearing a nice dress. I admit, I didn't feel out of place at all. Instead, I felt that everyone else was out of place. ;-) I just can't picture attending an opera in jeans.
The opera itself was fine, but not anything to shout about. The first two introductory acts (which I can't recall the names of) were sung in Italian I believe. I found them to be a bit confusing, despite the subtitles, though when I read the plot later they did make a bit more sense. They were not very engaging however, nothing about them really drew me in. The main show was even less appealing and while I don't have much to compare it to, I don't think I like operas sung in English. The title of the show was Trouble in Tahiti and it was about a 1950s couple going through rough times in their marriage, both of whom look for love and satisifaction in other places, while their son sits and home in front of the television and fantisizes of an idealistic 1950s dream family - happy homemaker, a loving husband and doting father who has a successful career, all of this packaged in a lovely white house in the suburbs of America. It is an iteresting subject matter, but I felt the opera itself fell flat.
That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy myself, though! We had a lot of fun dressing up and feeling fancy for a night. We caught a taxi back to the hotel (this is where I lost our picture from Morton's) and we both completely passed out upon arrival.
Gabe did great at Grandma and Grandpas. He didn't sleep well, but I'm not surpised. He just has too much fun playing when he goes to my inlaws place. He hardly noticed when we came to pick him up the next morning, I don't think he even realized we were gone. This gives me a lot of relief honestly, because I was concerned how he would do staying there overnight when Elena is born. Now I know he'll be just fine.
So that was our fun evening out! I can't believe I've been married 3 years all ready. It feels like the time has just flown by. It's been an amazing 3 years, that's for sure.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Enjoying the sun
Today was a BEAUTIFUL day here on the coast. Not often we get to say that. This afternoon I visited my neighbor and Gabe and I enjoyed sitting in the sun on her porch while she gardened and her kiddos ran around playing.
It was so warm, it felt delicious.
When Nathan got home, we decided to go for a walk, and to take Gabe without his stroller. He LOVED it. He rode in Grandpa's wagon for awhile, ran around holding Nathan's fingers (he could not get enough of that) and kept reaching out to all the trees along the way. Grandma and Grandpa of course brought him to every tree within reach so that he could touch them and try to figure them out. Every time they pulled him away it was to a chorus of whines and him reaching out, wanting to go back. The only real fussing came when the sun was starting to set and it came time to put his coat on. When we reached our road we tried to let him 'walk' the last half of it, but he was so facinted by the rocks he kept letting go of Nathan's fingers and sitting down to play with them. Such a fun time.
It was so warm, it felt delicious.
When Nathan got home, we decided to go for a walk, and to take Gabe without his stroller. He LOVED it. He rode in Grandpa's wagon for awhile, ran around holding Nathan's fingers (he could not get enough of that) and kept reaching out to all the trees along the way. Grandma and Grandpa of course brought him to every tree within reach so that he could touch them and try to figure them out. Every time they pulled him away it was to a chorus of whines and him reaching out, wanting to go back. The only real fussing came when the sun was starting to set and it came time to put his coat on. When we reached our road we tried to let him 'walk' the last half of it, but he was so facinted by the rocks he kept letting go of Nathan's fingers and sitting down to play with them. Such a fun time.
Monday, March 15, 2010
I made a decision...
...and it's not any of the 3 that I posted! I found this one and think I prefer it, mostly because I don't have to buy a new bra to wear it. Of the other 3 I posted, only the last one would have worked with a regular bra - the 2nd one looked like it would until I got a look at the back, it was scooped and low.
So I believe I'll be ordering this one:
Now if only I could find my measuring tape...I have no idea what size I am...
So I believe I'll be ordering this one:
Now if only I could find my measuring tape...I have no idea what size I am...
Opera dress
Today my husband informed me that, for our anniversary, he is taking me to the opera! I was quite surprised. It would have been funner if he woudln't have told me, but he had to tell me...I need to find an appropriate dress in time!
After some online searching, I have found a few that are possibilities. My favorite is the first one, but I can't wear a regular bra with it and since going braless is NOT an option I either need to find a decently fitting strapless bra in time or pick a different dress.
Opinions greatly appreciated. :-)
After some online searching, I have found a few that are possibilities. My favorite is the first one, but I can't wear a regular bra with it and since going braless is NOT an option I either need to find a decently fitting strapless bra in time or pick a different dress.
Opinions greatly appreciated. :-)
Friday, February 26, 2010
The Bad Blogger
Once upon a time there was a blogger who could never remember to update her blog. Weeks and sometimes months would go by without a single written word from her.
Mostly her reasoning seems to stem from an inability to write anything interesting. Her life, you see, is just an average sort of life and there isn't a lot of material to pull from. She is fairly certain that updates on her baby's latest milestones and the latest pregnancy news would eventually bore her readers to tears.
So she's made a new resolve to try and remember to update more often and to try to find more interesting topics to write about. Will she succeed in her quest? Or will her blog continue to head down the path of total internet literary darkness?
Only time shall tell.
Mostly her reasoning seems to stem from an inability to write anything interesting. Her life, you see, is just an average sort of life and there isn't a lot of material to pull from. She is fairly certain that updates on her baby's latest milestones and the latest pregnancy news would eventually bore her readers to tears.
So she's made a new resolve to try and remember to update more often and to try to find more interesting topics to write about. Will she succeed in her quest? Or will her blog continue to head down the path of total internet literary darkness?
Only time shall tell.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Dreaming
I often have weird, disconnected dreams inwhich I'm not the main player or if I am, I feel like I'm watching from a distance. When I do have a dream where I'm center stage, it tends to stick with me, espeically the weirder ones.
Last night I had a dream that I slept in and missed my hair and makeup appointment before my wedding - my wedding of course that happened over 2 1/2 years ago! But of course I didn't know that in my dream. ;-) When I arrived at the church, my brother in law was the one who took me and for some reason or another he was in charge of my shoes and was guarding them with his life. The church of course looked nothing like the church I really got married in. All of my bridesmaids were there getting ready, and only my maid of honor even suggested helping me. I started panicking. I trusted my maid of honor to do my makeup, but who was going to do my hair??? Then I realized all my bridesmaids were putting on this awful pink taffeta dress that I definitely never would have picked out - and all of them were wearing brightly colored bras underneath which were more than obvious - thus more panicking ensued. Someone suggested I call the hair and makeup lady to see if she'd come and help me even though the wedding was only about an hour or so from starting.
Then my brother in law arrives in the dressing room, and for some very odd reason starts insisting that I do HIS makeup - yes, he wanted me to put foundation on his skin because he was afraid he would look bad. I concented only because I didn't know what else to do at this point and I felt my wedding was basically ruined anyway. Then Gabriel woke me up by pinching the inside of my elbow. Thanks kid.
Last night I had a dream that I slept in and missed my hair and makeup appointment before my wedding - my wedding of course that happened over 2 1/2 years ago! But of course I didn't know that in my dream. ;-) When I arrived at the church, my brother in law was the one who took me and for some reason or another he was in charge of my shoes and was guarding them with his life. The church of course looked nothing like the church I really got married in. All of my bridesmaids were there getting ready, and only my maid of honor even suggested helping me. I started panicking. I trusted my maid of honor to do my makeup, but who was going to do my hair??? Then I realized all my bridesmaids were putting on this awful pink taffeta dress that I definitely never would have picked out - and all of them were wearing brightly colored bras underneath which were more than obvious - thus more panicking ensued. Someone suggested I call the hair and makeup lady to see if she'd come and help me even though the wedding was only about an hour or so from starting.
Then my brother in law arrives in the dressing room, and for some very odd reason starts insisting that I do HIS makeup - yes, he wanted me to put foundation on his skin because he was afraid he would look bad. I concented only because I didn't know what else to do at this point and I felt my wedding was basically ruined anyway. Then Gabriel woke me up by pinching the inside of my elbow. Thanks kid.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Schedules and Menues
I really hate schedules. It's kind of fun to fill them out, but keeping to them is another story. I don't enjoy feeling like my life is regulated, it seems so...well boring.
But since I had Gabe I kind of feel like I'm drowning in house work and just don't know how to keep up. I've been contimplating making myself a schedule for probably a good two months now, and a few days ago I finally broke down and did it. It starts tomorrow. It's not an hourly schedule in that my days are broken down entirely and I have to do certain chores at certain times - since Gabe is not on a 'set' schedule that's pretty much just a laugh and I don't think I could live that way as it is. I might have a meltdown if I tried. Instead I just have a calander filled out with what chores are to be done on what days. For example every other Monday I will throughly dust and clean the living room, the dining room, and vacuum the house. Every other tuesday is an entire cleanup of the kitchen. Every Wednesday I wash sheets and every other Wednesday I clean the nursery. You get the idea. With the way I've scheduled it there are a few blank days during the month so I don't feel like my entire life revolves around houeswork. Those days are for relaxing, turning the TV on, and zoning out (as much as my child will let me anyway). I didn't put dishes or laundry on the calander because sadly those are daily chores, even on my 'zone out' days.
My mom has told me for years that if I would just make a menu for dinner for the entire month and post it up on the fridge, I would be a much happier person when it comes to dinner time. There wouldn't be any more of Nathan walking through the door and me thinking 'oh it's dinner time!' followed by a back and forth "What do you want for dinner." "I don't care what do you want for dinner?"
I have known she's right, but I've resisted doing it because I just didn't want to. But then I figured while I was making a schedule for chores, why not make a menu too? So Saturday I sat down with my pile of cookbooks that I rarely glance at as well as my favorite borrowed recipes that I've written down on scrap pieces of paper and set to work making an entire menu for the month. Nathan helped me, at least in the terms of 'Yes, make that I like it.' or 'No, I hate (insert food item here), don't make that' and 20 minutes later we had the entire month planned. I do admit it makes me happy to have my grocery list pretty much easily filled out just by going off the menu, not to mention I'll probably save myself a good chunk of money by doing many of the easy from scratch recipes I've found. Funny how I never noticed many of these recipes while looking at my cookbooks before. Goes to show how much attention I was paying them.
I'm refusing to call the chore list or the menu New Years Resolutions because I simply don't keep resolutions. It's just coincidence that it happens to be the new year, I swear. ;-) Hoping that having the menu and chore schedule at quick glance will keep me focued in getting thing done throughout the day.
But since I had Gabe I kind of feel like I'm drowning in house work and just don't know how to keep up. I've been contimplating making myself a schedule for probably a good two months now, and a few days ago I finally broke down and did it. It starts tomorrow. It's not an hourly schedule in that my days are broken down entirely and I have to do certain chores at certain times - since Gabe is not on a 'set' schedule that's pretty much just a laugh and I don't think I could live that way as it is. I might have a meltdown if I tried. Instead I just have a calander filled out with what chores are to be done on what days. For example every other Monday I will throughly dust and clean the living room, the dining room, and vacuum the house. Every other tuesday is an entire cleanup of the kitchen. Every Wednesday I wash sheets and every other Wednesday I clean the nursery. You get the idea. With the way I've scheduled it there are a few blank days during the month so I don't feel like my entire life revolves around houeswork. Those days are for relaxing, turning the TV on, and zoning out (as much as my child will let me anyway). I didn't put dishes or laundry on the calander because sadly those are daily chores, even on my 'zone out' days.
My mom has told me for years that if I would just make a menu for dinner for the entire month and post it up on the fridge, I would be a much happier person when it comes to dinner time. There wouldn't be any more of Nathan walking through the door and me thinking 'oh it's dinner time!' followed by a back and forth "What do you want for dinner." "I don't care what do you want for dinner?"
I have known she's right, but I've resisted doing it because I just didn't want to. But then I figured while I was making a schedule for chores, why not make a menu too? So Saturday I sat down with my pile of cookbooks that I rarely glance at as well as my favorite borrowed recipes that I've written down on scrap pieces of paper and set to work making an entire menu for the month. Nathan helped me, at least in the terms of 'Yes, make that I like it.' or 'No, I hate (insert food item here), don't make that' and 20 minutes later we had the entire month planned. I do admit it makes me happy to have my grocery list pretty much easily filled out just by going off the menu, not to mention I'll probably save myself a good chunk of money by doing many of the easy from scratch recipes I've found. Funny how I never noticed many of these recipes while looking at my cookbooks before. Goes to show how much attention I was paying them.
I'm refusing to call the chore list or the menu New Years Resolutions because I simply don't keep resolutions. It's just coincidence that it happens to be the new year, I swear. ;-) Hoping that having the menu and chore schedule at quick glance will keep me focued in getting thing done throughout the day.
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