Foto Friday

Jackson always curls the big toe of his left foot under the others when he sleeps.  <3

Check out this cloth diaper giveaway! :)

I recently began following ELF: A Family Blog. The author is a young mama who is funny, authentic, and insightful. After reading her Thirsties cloth diaper review and giveaway, I decided to try out a Thirsties Duo Diaper. Seriously, I got on Amazon and ordered one that came two days later. I put it on Jackson to try it out as an overnight diaper (sometimes we have leaks with cloth overnight if I don't change him the first time he wakes up)...and guess what? No leaks! Thirsties rock in my book. (Thanks for the great review, Libby!) You should definitely go enter at least once if you're a cloth diapering mom. :)

For the Thirsties giveaway opportunity, click here and enter by July 12th at 11:59 p.m. Better late than never...and who knows? You might win a sweet cloth diaper!

I'm hoping to win this one for Jackson:

goals

This is highly personal but because I somehow think that this will hold me more accountable, I'm going to post my goals for the rest of the summer...I'm the type of person who likes making a list and checking things off of it. Keeping in mind that I'm a teacher (and we tend to overplan lol), here's what I've got in mind right now:

1. Work harder at figuring out the manual settings on my Canon Rebel XSi
   
2. Paint at least one more room in the house (possibly our bedroom, but it's huge so I don't know...)
   
3. Rearrange the furniture in our bedroom and figure out where to put all of our books!
   
4. Start work on a place to spend time outside (i.e. a patio or deck)
5. Start meal planning and sticking better to a food budget to save money
   
6. Lose the rest of the baby weight that I've got left so that my work clothes will fit!
7. Figure out the details of childcare for Jackson for the school year
8. Wean Jackson from nursing before the end of August :(
9. Finish at least one photo book that I've begun (I'm trying to make one for each year of our lives with the digital photos I've taken)
   

It had to happen, I guess.

Kids grow up way too fast. :/

At two months and about 13.5 pounds, Jackson is almost too big for his bassinet...I'm not sure how I'll handle having to move him from out room to his room. I like having him right beside me while we sleep.

And how is it even possible for this little girl to be six and a half already? She still needs me, but she becomes more independent by the day.

Changing Diapers - Part II

See, Jackson likes cloth diapers! :)

Well, well, well...it's taken me a couple of weeks, but I'm back with the second installment of my cloth diapering posts. I know, I know...you've been eagerly awaiting my second thrilling treatise on diapers lol. Life is crazy hectic with a six-year-old and a two-month-old, but I think I get a tiny bit better at it each week. Tomorrow we'll be having quite the adventure because we'll be taking our daughter, son, and twelve-year-old niece to a local amusement/water park, Waldameer.Anyway, back to my cloth diapering post...here are my thoughts regarding my experience with cloth diapers (CDs) and my advice to you if you're considering using CDs. The following thoughts are probably a bit random, but that's what you get when you're talking about a sleep-deprived mama of two. ;)

• Why Do I Cloth Diaper?
  I was intrigued by the idea of cloth diapering while I was pregnant with Jackson. Spending time on different pregnancy websites and forums made me aware of cloth diapering as I actually had no idea that people still cloth diapered their babies. I was curious to know how they worked, since it seemed like it was a common thing for mamas to do these day. I initially decided that it would be too big of an initial investment, but when Jackson was about two weeks old I started looking into it again. I mainly decided to give it a go because (1) I wanted to see if I could...those of you who know me in real life know that I love a challenge, (2) I hated the idea of throwing away so many disposables because it just seemed so wasteful both in terms of money and resources, and (3) I imagined that CDs would feel so much better than the disposables on my little guy's bottom because some of the disposables feel scratchy and I hate when those little gel absorbency beads come out of the diapers onto babies' skin! I also heard that it's easier to potty train babies that are cloth diapered because they are more aware of when they're going. Not sure if that's true, but it would be pretty awesome if it is!
  
  
• Washing Cloth Diapers
  Many people decide against CDing, thinking that it will be too time-consuming to keep the diapers laundered or that they will be inconvenienced by having to rinse the diapers (you don't have to) or scrape the poo off before placing them in your diaper pail (you don't have to do this until the baby starts solids, because, well...things start to solidify, if you get my drift). In all honesty, I have not felt that it is much more time-consuming or inconvenient to have this additional step of cleaning the diapers your babe uses. Does it take a little more time and thought than simply changing a disposable and throwing it in the trash? Yes. But, I would argue that it doesn't take much more effort to launder and use cloth diapers because washing them is mostly about remembering to throw them in the washer and dryer before you run out of diapers. You don't really have to fold them and put them away as most other clothing that you launder, so it's just a matter of staying on top of it and putting them in the washer and moving them to the dryer. How much more energy does it do that?
  
  To wash cloth diapers, you are supposed to put them in the washer for two cycles. First, you put them in for a cold rinse and spin. Then, you wash them on a hot cycle with diaper-safe detergent. Afterwards, you throw them in the dryer for 60-90 minutes on high to dry them and to sanitize them. (Or line dry them to save electricity!) Poof, you're done and have fresh diaps to put on your baby's bum. Truthfully, the only time that this has been inconvenient is when I have another load of laundry started and forget about getting that load moved through the washer and dryer and put away. CDing has probably made me a little more accountable with my laundry because I do make more of an effort to remember to get my laundry dried and put away instead of leaving it in the dryer and "fluffing" the load once or twice to get the wrinkles out. ;)
  
  At this point, I haven't had the experience with having to rinse/scrape off solid feces. From what I've read and heard, it's not that huge of a deal as usually you can just shake it off into the toilet and flush. A friend of mine who CDs her toddler said that using a diaper sprayer is a lifesaver.
  
  
• Leaks and Blow-Outs?
  In all honesty, Jackson has only had leaks while wearing cloth diapers if (a) the diaper he is wearing is not the right size or (b) I left him in it too long. Thus far, I have not had any "poopslosions" while he's worn cloth; the CDs really seem to hold that well. One of the things that I've noticed about cloth diapers is that you really need to be conscious of how long your babe has been in them, whereas with disposables they seem to have an almost unlimited capacity to hold pee. It seems that Jackson needs to be changed about every two to three hours when he's wearing cloth, but I don't think that's abnormal at this point since he's still considered a newborn and goes a lot because he eats often.
  
  Though I haven't tried this, I know that many CDing moms "double-stuff" their pocket diapers by putting two inserts into the pockets to extend the absorbing capacity of the diaps for nap times and overnight. I'm thinking of ordering some hemp inserts because I've heard that they're amazing at absorbing.
  
  
• Opinions on What Cloth Diapers to Use
  To save the most money, you're going to want to go with one size diapers that snap to the size of the baby. In this way, the same diapers that you put on your newborn will adjust in size to fit your toddler until they're ready to potty-train. At first, these are going to be pretty bulky on your little baby because they are essentially folded over and snapped to make them "smaller," but that's the price you pay for cloth and not having to buy disposables every week. And, of course, this will change as time goes on, the babe gets bigger, and the diapers don't need to be snapped down to the smallest size. This is not really a concern for me, but I know some moms wouldn't want the bulk.
  
  I would advise going for pocket diapers because they takes so much less time to dry in the dryer. Personally, the BumGenius 3.0 and Fuzzibunz Perfect Size have worked great, and though I've had more leaks with the cheaper ones that I bought on eBay I think that was due to the diapers being a little too big on him and not fitting well around the legs. I also read somewhere on the web that cloth diapers tend to absorb better the more they are washed. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it could be accurate in this case because they didn't work well in the beginning but now they are just fine. So, I guess my final two cents on which diapers to get is this: make sure the diapers fit your little one well, and you'll likely be happy with them! :)
  
  
• How Many Cloth Diapers Should You Get?
  If you're CDing a newborn, I'd get at least 20-24 diapers in your stockpile since you'll go through an average of 10 diapers a day (yikes!). Typically, this allows me to wash every other day instead of every day (as I did in the beginning with only 10 diaps), which makes it that much more manageable to cloth diaper. I'm not sure how many you'd need for an older baby, but I would assume fewer than that since they don't go as much...but I guess I'll find out as I go...haha.
  
  
• Cloth Wipes
  I LOVE using cloth wipes! My favorite of the two I bought are the GroVia Cotton Cloth Wipes. Even when I use disposables at home, I tend to reach for a cloth wipe over a throw-away wipe just because they seem to get the little guy's bum cleaner. I think this is because they're a lot thicker than disposable wipes, and you can definitely use just one and feel like you got the baby clean. I'm not sure how other mamas do it, but when I use throw-away wipes, I typically get the baby clean with one and then use another "just to make sure" he's clean. I put my cloth wipes in a wipe warmer (even though I will agree that this is one of those nice to have yet unnecessary baby supplies), dump enough warm water over them to make them damp, and that's it. I would imagine it feels better to have a clean, warm cloth rather than a cool disposable wipe...kinda like getting those nice warm cloths to wipe your face at the end of a long airplane ride. ;) Oh, and I just put the cloth wipes in the wash with my diapers...no need to separate them or anything.
  
  
• Commitment to Cloth Diapering
  If you're thinking about cloth diapering but aren't quite sure if you want to commit until you know if it works for your family...try it part time and see what you think! There's no shame in buying a few CDs and trying them out while you use disposables the majority of the time. Honestly, I am not 100% cloth diapering because sometimes I run out of diapers before I get them completely through the wash/dry cycle. I sometimes use disposables overnight because I don't want to have a leak wake my little supersoaker up, and as I said before, disposables tend to absorb a ridiculous amount of pee before leaking. I also use disposables when I'm out and about because (and yes, I know this contradicts my earlier rant on how many people choose convenience over what's really important...) it's just easier not to have to worry about remembering to take wet/dirty cloth diapers out of the diaper bag when I get home. Eventually, I will get into the groove of things when I'm on the go and get a "travel wet bag" (like one of these) to keep in the diaper bag.
  

Changing Diapers - Part I

Recently, we've made the switch from disposable to cloth diapers.

And if you know me, you know I like wordplay...so...changing diapers...get it? ;)

I'm by no means an expert on cloth diapers at this stage, but with a little experience under my belt now I felt it was time to share a bit of what I've learned about cloth diapering.

First of all, my mom thought I was nuts to take this on because she (like many people) thinks of cloth diapers as the classic Gerber prefolds (above) that many people use for cleaning or burp rags. She remembers using these with my older brother and having big time leak issues. I'll admit, I wondered if this would be a big problem. I was also wondering if I wanted to deal with even more laundry than I already have to do. And yeah, initially cloth diapers are more expensive than disposables so I was wondering if I should spend the money in case I ended up not liking them. But...after noticing that I was going through about a box of diapers a week, I decided to investigate cloth diapering. Throwing out two completely full bags of used diapers from my diaper pail a week made me feel really sick about what I was doing environmentally even though it is more convenient. Honestly, so much about what we (in the U.S.) consider necessary or more desirable because it's "more convenient" makes me ill because there are so many long term effects that come from that convenience, and many people never think about those effects or really seem to care.

Okay, back off my soapbox...

So, sure, the prefolds are diapers and I'm sure many people still use prefolds...BUT cloth diapering has really advanced since this type of diaper! There are so many great options out there that I had difficulty deciding which diapers to try out. I did some research online Because there's not a store locally (unless I drive down to Pittsburgh with a 6-year-old and a newborn), I ended up purchasing some used cloth diapers from eBay. I went with some BumGenius 3.0 All-in-One (AIO) diapers, a couple of Fuzzibunz pocket diapers, and some "off-brand" cloth pocket diapers that I bought after trying out the BG and Fuzzibunz to see if going with cheaper diapers would work (they were only $4.50 each!).

First, the BumGenius diapers:
The BumGenius 3.0 AIOs are exactly like a disposable in that they are already completely "assembled" and you just put them on the baby. BumGenius has since phased these 3.0s out in favor of 4.0s (one-size diapers like those I mention below), but I wanted to try them because they seemed like a good place to start since they were so much like the disposables that I was used to putting on Jackson. I also thought this would be a good option for winning over my husband to the cloth diaper cause, who had never changed a diaper before Jackson came along...and who was good-natured enough to go along with my crazy idea of cloth diapering but probably thought it wouldn't work out.

Now, the pocket diapers that I bought off of eBay:These diapers and the Fuzzibunz (at the very top on Jackson's cute little bum) are considered "All-in-Twos" (AI2s) or because there is a pocket that you stuff with an absorbent insert, and then you separate them for laundering. Fuzzibunz have snaps and come in different sizes so you have to buy different diapers as the baby grows. The cheaper pocket diapers that I got from eBay have snaps also, but they are made to grow with the baby by snapping to three different sizes. Fuzzibunz also come in this "one-size" variety.Besides the diapers, the supplies you need for cloth diapering are pretty simple and not too difficult to get:
You need a (1) diaper pail to keep your dirty dipes in, (2) a waterproof "wet bag" to line the diaper pail, (3) cloth wipes (Well, I guess this isn't "necessary," but if you're washing the diapers, you might as well wash the wipes too!) and (4) some cloth-diaper safe laundry soap. I ordered all of these things from Amazon except the trash can, which I got at Wal-Mart.

The Planet Wise diaper pail liner/wet bags are awesome! I don't know what other options there are out there, but they had every color imaginable so you could pick your favorite color or match the nursery theme color. I ordered two because it works out better to have one to line the diaper pail while the other is in the wash.

I decided to try out a couple different kinds of cloth wipes that I found: GroVia cotton cloth wipes and Kissaluvs wipes. After trying them both, I have to say that I like the GroVia ones better because they seem softer. The Kissaluvs are definitely durable though, and I can see why they are highly recommended. I would recommend the GroVia for little babies since you don't typically need to scrub their little bums. I would also say that if you don't want to spend the money on buying "cloth wipes," you could definitely just buy some washcloths from a chain store for a lot cheaper. Some other bloggers that use cloth diapers recommended the cheap baby wash cloths from Target, and I've seen similar ones at Wal-Mart.

I also ordered some Kissaluvs Diaper Lotion Potion, which is a wipe solution that you can use to clean baby's bum...you're supposed to mix it with water to dilute it and spray a little on the baby before wiping. I don't like the scent much and I actually think wipe solution is pretty unnecessary. I just pour a bit of water over the wipes in my wipes warmer to make them damp, and this gets Jackson plenty clean. There are recipes on the internet to make your own wipes solution, or my friend Annie recommends Honey Chunks wipe solution and says that it smells awesome. :) I'm thinking of ordering some to try.

Last, but perhaps most importantly, you need some laundry detergent which is cloth diaper-friendly. Most commercial detergents contain a lot of extras which can interfere with the absorbency of cloth diapers, which is obviously a major problem! I opted to try Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda, and I have to say that I can't complain about it. It gets the diapers fresh and clean. Here's a list of other "diaper-safe" detergents. You don't want to use traditional fabric softener on cloth diapers for the same reason (can coat the diapers and affect absorbency), but to make the diaps smell good you can try something like these Nellie's Lavender Fragrance Sticks. I'll let you know what I think after I get some.

And that's it for supplies! In Part II (when I get a chance haha), I'll let you know my reactions to cloth diapering and my suggestions. :)

P.S. These great posts (Newborn Diapering and Cloth Diapering Guide) from Becoming Mamas is where I started my research and really helped me understand how to start this whole process and which supplies I needed to have to begin my cloth diapering experience. I highly recommend reading through them if you're interested!

a new job?

I've attempted to start this post at least 3 times already...and actually, I hear the baby crying right now though just a moment ago he was napping peacefully. It's as if he senses when I've made my mind up to write and wakes up! haha :) Well, I'll have to postpone this yet again....flexibility, thy name is motherhood!

ABOUT 7 HOURS LATER...
Anyway...I was about to write about how I have a new job next year. Though it's not something I was planning to do, I will be the high school Spanish teacher next year at our district. I'm not going to go into a lot of details, but due to the uncertainty of the state budget (and thus, uncertainty in the funding to the school districts in PA), school districts are looking at ways to cut spending in any way that they can since the proposed budget leaves most (if not all) districts in the red (to the tune of millions). One way that my school district has come up with to make up for our proposed deficit is to "reassign" teachers who have multiple certification areas...yep, like me. :/ They have moved me to the high school to teach Spanish and moved another teacher from kindergarten to my classroom to teach second grade. This is not the only switcheroo that has occurred at our little district, as many teachers are being moved to a different grade next year and many are having to move their classrooms. There is still talk of furloughing staff who have not achieved tenure yet due to budgetary shortcomings, and I don't know when we'll know for sure what's going on because the state budget needs to be passed before anything is certain. In general, there's a lot of change afoot at our school and, I'm sure, across the state. I know that the administration and school board are just doing what they need to to be able to keep the school running and that they're making hard decisions, but it's such a difficult time for all of us because of the uncertainty and the way everything is constantly changing.

While I'm definitely grateful and relieved that I still have a job at our district, I'm heartsick that I have to leave the elementary school for so many reasons. I love my coworkers there, and I'm nervous about making new friends at the high school...I know it'll come in time, but I've just never been that good at getting to know people quickly, and I will miss my second grade team a lot. :( I will also miss the kids so much; when I started teaching second grade I wasn't sure I'd like it or that I'd be good at it, but now that I have four years of teaching under my belt, I feel competent and satisfied with it...I love seeing how much the kids grow personally and academically throughout the year. When I student taught, I really liked my high school placement, but it's been years and I am going to have to adjust to the different age group...what a change to go from leading eight-year-olds through the halls in two lines to teaching teenagers who might be texting during class. It's a little scary to be starting out fresh again, especially since I'll have a four-month-old baby to deal with along with figuring out a new curriculum. That's going to be tough. Perhaps the biggest issue that I've had with this is related to my stubborn personality (lol)...it has been very hard for me to accept this because I didn't choose to make this change, and I hate it when I have no choice in the matter at hand. It's kind of like I've always had this little kid inside of me screaming, "But I don't wanna!" when someone tells me what to do. Gotta work on that.

Obviously I have mixed feelings about this, but I'm trying to look on the bright side whenever I can. For example, there will be many things about teaching in the elementary that I won't miss, such as: the stress of parent-teacher conferences at Thanksgiving time; teaching cursive handwriting; giving spelling tests; taking the class on restroom breaks and dealing with silly bathroom issues that come up; and many other things that I can't think of right now since I'm feeling brain-dead after a long day following many nights of broken-up sleep from taking care of Jackson. Maybe I'll get to lead a trip abroad to Europe or to Latin America! I love Spanish so I think that will go a long way in helping me to accept and enjoy this new position in which I find myself.