I have had a soft carrier since before Harper was born. We tried it a few times, but it's uncomfortable for me and she didn't like it much. I thought that maybe baby wearing just wasn't for us. Recently I've been looking into it more because with two babies who can't walk yet I'm sure it would make my life easier. Tonight I bought a Moby wrap from another mommy on base and when we got home I put it on and Harper immediately settled right into it. It was like she had been sitting in one of those all her life. And what a difference it was for me! It was more comfortable in absolutely every way than my old carrier with straps and buckles everywhere. It felt a little weird having Harper sit right on my baby (what's a word for huge bump?), but I'm looking forward to trying it out tomorrow when I'm trying to get things done around the house.
Today I also purchased 17 Alva diapers for an insanely low price from one of the fluff mommies on base. I threw them all in the wash for a quick run through and they're drying downstairs right now. I think I now have enough diapers to do both babies at the same time! I don't know how I feel about that... It's certainly a relief to know that one more thing for Kylie is taken care of, but that also means I might have to stop buying new diapers! What will I do with myself?! I guess I'll just have to start putting more of my energy into getting better at making diapers, so I'm still sort of getting new ones without spending all the money. Too bad the ones I make aren't nearly as cute as the ones I buy.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
My House Was a Crime Scene
I got fluffy mail yesterday! My first two Alvas. They're super cheap so I'm going to use them for a week or so and if they work well for us I'm going to order several more and then we'll be just about set on diapers for this second baby. I now have a total of 6 pocket diapers!
That diaper I had just made last time I posted works really well for my purposes. It's really messy and it isn't ideal for using out and about, but it gets the job done when we're at home. It is easy to put on her without a cover, but fits inside them without too much struggling. Yesterday I made two more in the same shape but this time left the two layers separated in the back so the diaper can be stuffed like a pocket. I haven't tried it yet, I'm eager to see how well it works. My goal is to eventually make a diaper hefty enough to use at night so that all her cute Fuzzibunz can be saved for the daytime. I have one of them stuffed with two of the older Fuzzibunz minky inserts and an Econobum cover on Harper right now. I put a towel down in her bed in case it goes horribly wrong, but I'm feeling optimistic.
So I was just walking around downstairs turning all the lights off when I stepped on something long and sharp. I felt it penetrate my flesh and, thinking it was probably a thumb tack or sewing pin, I very carefully walked over to the couch to sit and examine the injury. I tenderly lifted my foot and discovered that I had actually stepped on an overlooked shard of blender (Rest in peace blender, you were my favorite small kitchen appliance.) and since it was an uneven wound it was bleeding much more than a straight in-and-out pin injury. It was then I happened to look at the nice, clean, light colored carpet in my living room. There was a steady trail of blood soaking into the fibers as I watched. I sat for a moment, assessing the problem. I decided that it wouldn't do much good to clean up all that blood while I was still bleeding, so I went to the kitchen to get the first aid kit. I looked under the sink and remembered that last month, when my dad and I were unpacking boxes, I decided that the upstairs bathroom would be a much more convenient place to keep the things to clean and bandage a gaping wound. Not wanting to have to wash the upstairs carpets also, I folded up a paper towel and put it in the bottom of my flip flop to soak up the blood while I walked up the stairs. I got to the bathroom, washed my foot, and applied a Shrek band aid to the still steadily flowing cut. I then turned to go back downstairs and clean the carpet when I noticed that about halfway up the stairs the paper towel must have become saturated because the trail of blood resumed, following me all the way to the bathroom door. I proceeded to spend the next half hour crawling around my house scrubbing all the blood stains, trying to make it look less like a crime scene. In case you didn't know, Formula 409 gets almost anything out of carpets- including blood.
That diaper I had just made last time I posted works really well for my purposes. It's really messy and it isn't ideal for using out and about, but it gets the job done when we're at home. It is easy to put on her without a cover, but fits inside them without too much struggling. Yesterday I made two more in the same shape but this time left the two layers separated in the back so the diaper can be stuffed like a pocket. I haven't tried it yet, I'm eager to see how well it works. My goal is to eventually make a diaper hefty enough to use at night so that all her cute Fuzzibunz can be saved for the daytime. I have one of them stuffed with two of the older Fuzzibunz minky inserts and an Econobum cover on Harper right now. I put a towel down in her bed in case it goes horribly wrong, but I'm feeling optimistic.
So I was just walking around downstairs turning all the lights off when I stepped on something long and sharp. I felt it penetrate my flesh and, thinking it was probably a thumb tack or sewing pin, I very carefully walked over to the couch to sit and examine the injury. I tenderly lifted my foot and discovered that I had actually stepped on an overlooked shard of blender (Rest in peace blender, you were my favorite small kitchen appliance.) and since it was an uneven wound it was bleeding much more than a straight in-and-out pin injury. It was then I happened to look at the nice, clean, light colored carpet in my living room. There was a steady trail of blood soaking into the fibers as I watched. I sat for a moment, assessing the problem. I decided that it wouldn't do much good to clean up all that blood while I was still bleeding, so I went to the kitchen to get the first aid kit. I looked under the sink and remembered that last month, when my dad and I were unpacking boxes, I decided that the upstairs bathroom would be a much more convenient place to keep the things to clean and bandage a gaping wound. Not wanting to have to wash the upstairs carpets also, I folded up a paper towel and put it in the bottom of my flip flop to soak up the blood while I walked up the stairs. I got to the bathroom, washed my foot, and applied a Shrek band aid to the still steadily flowing cut. I then turned to go back downstairs and clean the carpet when I noticed that about halfway up the stairs the paper towel must have become saturated because the trail of blood resumed, following me all the way to the bathroom door. I proceeded to spend the next half hour crawling around my house scrubbing all the blood stains, trying to make it look less like a crime scene. In case you didn't know, Formula 409 gets almost anything out of carpets- including blood.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Well, hello there!
Wow! I guess I kind of forgot about my blog for... you know... 7 months or so... Last time I posted was about two weeks before I conceived of Kylie Wren!! Yeah, I'm pregnant again.
A lot has happened in the past 7 months (obviously: see previous sentence) and now I'm getting back in the swing of house-wifey stuff. I spent five months living with my parents and my sister in a very small house. My idea that I would keep cloth diapering while I was there did not factor into account that there were four adults and a messy infant sharing one washer and dryer. So I pretty much switched over to sposies (<I have spent a lot of time the past few weeks on cloth diapering co-ops, blogs, and websites so I'm up on all the lingo now) for most of the time I was there. When we found out we were expecting again Duncan and I agreed it would be prudent for me to move back to AZ a few months early so I didn't have to drive across the country nine and a half months pregnant, or with TWO babies under a year old.
So now I'm back in Arizona in a beautiful, big, new house taking care of Harper and growing another person.
I'm pretty much filling all my time with cloth diapers. Between all the websites and Facebook groups, washing and folding, and trying different patterns for making my own inserts; I pretty much spend about three hours a day doing stuff not related to fluff. This morning I drafted my very own pattern from scratch so I'm excited to see how that works. I cut out two pieces in the shape of the pattern from an icky towel; then sewed an extra, smaller piece between the two layers "where it counts"; and finished it off with a strip of flannel down the middle to protect Harper's lady bits from the rougher terry cloth. It seems like it will be my most successful insert yet.
I've decided that this blog will focus mostly on my cloth diapering experiences, because that's what I'm focused on right now. When my personal focus changes I'm sure the focus of this blog will change accordingly. There will probably be some pregnancy and deployment stuff sprinkled in there too.
Harper's nap is over and so is this post. It will probably be less than seven months before I post again, but I won't make any promises.
A lot has happened in the past 7 months (obviously: see previous sentence) and now I'm getting back in the swing of house-wifey stuff. I spent five months living with my parents and my sister in a very small house. My idea that I would keep cloth diapering while I was there did not factor into account that there were four adults and a messy infant sharing one washer and dryer. So I pretty much switched over to sposies (<I have spent a lot of time the past few weeks on cloth diapering co-ops, blogs, and websites so I'm up on all the lingo now) for most of the time I was there. When we found out we were expecting again Duncan and I agreed it would be prudent for me to move back to AZ a few months early so I didn't have to drive across the country nine and a half months pregnant, or with TWO babies under a year old.
So now I'm back in Arizona in a beautiful, big, new house taking care of Harper and growing another person.
I'm pretty much filling all my time with cloth diapers. Between all the websites and Facebook groups, washing and folding, and trying different patterns for making my own inserts; I pretty much spend about three hours a day doing stuff not related to fluff. This morning I drafted my very own pattern from scratch so I'm excited to see how that works. I cut out two pieces in the shape of the pattern from an icky towel; then sewed an extra, smaller piece between the two layers "where it counts"; and finished it off with a strip of flannel down the middle to protect Harper's lady bits from the rougher terry cloth. It seems like it will be my most successful insert yet.
I've decided that this blog will focus mostly on my cloth diapering experiences, because that's what I'm focused on right now. When my personal focus changes I'm sure the focus of this blog will change accordingly. There will probably be some pregnancy and deployment stuff sprinkled in there too.
Harper's nap is over and so is this post. It will probably be less than seven months before I post again, but I won't make any promises.
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