Taking the plunge

And yes, pun intended.

Wish me luck.

I just bought an entire cloth diapering system. I went with Gro Baby Live system. I ordered it through a great online store (DiaperCo) that happens to be located in the next town over from me. The ladies who run it are great. The owner isn't LDS, but her daughter is. They're both really nice. They let me come to their house and look at all the different diapers and answered all my questions.

I thought I received my answer last fall that I wasn't going to do cloth, but it kept bugging me. Every time I read something from the church about being prepared (which is quite frequent these days), it comes to my mind that I need to be prepared on the diapering front as well. Not sure why. Not sure if it's going to be a necessity at some point. I just know it keeps coming back to me. So I am going ahead with it. Who am I to fight a prompting?

I won't, however, need to dunk the diapers since I bought a diaper sprayer.

I'm hoping that I won't have to custom make Walt's pants now. I have a hard enough time finding clothes that fit him with disposables since he's such a little chunk. Now with cloth it will be a little bulkier still...

We'll see how Dean does with the switch. Maybe it will help motivate him to fully potty train. Maybe not. I'm ok with it either way.
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On another purchasing/preparedness note, I decided to go with a Wonder Junior Deluxe hand mill wheat grinder. I was going to do an electric Nutrimill, and I still may later on, but buying both at the same time felt too frivolous. I felt like it was more important to have a decent hand crank in case power is down and we need it. This one can also grind oily things like peanut butter, flax, and herbs etc. Now to go to the cannery and get us some wheat!
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Oh, and did I ever mention I purchased a double jogging stroller after 8 months of searching? I bought a Baby Jogger Double Performance with 20 in. tires. It was about $150 cheaper on Ebay than I've ever seen it, so I went ahead with it. I had gone between the Tike Tech Sport and this one. This has a better frame (with a life time warranty), but I was a little disappointed that the seats didn't recline fully like the Tike Tech. So, I won't be able to take a new infant out like I could in the other. I didn't realize that before I purchased. But I'm still happy. It's a good jogger and it's nice to be running (...jogging...) again.

Christmas in September

Well, not really. Just booking flights and committing our time for Christmas today. Though I guess that is our Christmas gift to ourselves since it's more than we would have spent on a family gift. It will almost positively be our last Christmas spent with our parents. After October Dean is an adult according to the airlines, so we bought 3 tickets. We went with Southwest and it saved us over $450 (kept us under $1000)! The tickets were cheaper to begin, plus they don't charge for bags. The other airlines had as many or more stops/plane changes, so it was totally the way to go.

At least we won't have to try and keep Dean satisfied on our laps! I'm hoping by then he'll show some interest in watching tv/dvds and we'll buy a portable dvd player (are we the only people who don't have one of these by now? along with cell phones?) so he'll be occupied. But that is a long shot. And Matt doesn't want to buy a dvd player since he doesn't think it would help at all.

We'll have a nice long stay there. December 17th-January 4th! Hopefully the boys will be able to adjust and do well...

How to win my business

1. Have a kind, easy going, no pressure disposition right off the bat.
   
2. Tell me how cute my child is when I walk into the store and actually greet him as well.
3. Ask his name and gush over the fact that it's a good, solid, traditional name that he won't have to share with 5 other kids in every class.
4. Tell me to go ahead and set my 18 mo. old down in your shop full of breakable stoneware since you "haven't broken anything all week" and you'll just "write it out in damage if anything happens."
5. Constantly reassure me that it really is ok for him to touch things and lift the lids off of the little pots and move things around and make little messes.
   
6. Give my child a sucker and little spatulas and silicone bowls to play with as I browse.
7. Compliment my child on how smart and good he is.
8. Have the items that I've been wanting but couldn't find elsewhere (long wooden rolling pin with no handles, a butter dish with a handle, etc.). Also, tell me where I can find items you don't carry.
   
9. Show me other cool items without making me feel pressured to buy them.
10. Reassure me once again that it is ok for my child to play with your breakables.
11. Give me a 20% off coupon I didn't know about that can go toward my most expensive item.
12. Tell me if I don't like one of my sale items to just bring it back after I've tried it out once, even though sales are generally final.
13. Remember my child's and my name long after we told you them.
14. Tell me to come hang out and bring my child back any time I want.
    

We went to a baking/stoneware shop called Le Crueset in the outlet mall near us and the lady was awesome. I was a little nervous taking Dean to a shop with lots of breakables and no shopping cart, so I didn't set him down until my arm felt like it was going to fall off (and after numerous reassurances from her that it was perfectly all right). I meant to only buy a rolling pin and butter dish if I could find them, but she was so nice. I didn't feel like I had to keep Dean on a tight leash, so I allowed myself to browse her other items. I found a couple other things I could probably find elsewhere a little cheaper, but I went ahead and bought them because she was so accommodating and nice. Plus I could tell they were all really good quality items. Not all shopping experiences are positive with a very curious, very busy little boy to look after. It was nice and refreshing to have a good experience. And Dean didn't even break one thing (and he played with a lot of little stoneware dishes!). She will have my future business.

If nothing else

Making that one diaper inspired me to try a cloth trial before I make any more diapers, just so I can know first hand what's out there. I just purchased it from Jillian's Drawers. There is an initial cost of $100 plus shipping, but that's all refunded back to your card, minus the $10 trial fee and the shipping (both ways). (I decided to also get their detergent sample.) So, I'll be out about $35, but I'll gain a lot more knowledge. Of all the trials I found, this one looked the best for me. Most only give you store credit or half your $ back in cash, but this one gives it all back. Plus it included the 2 diapers I've wanted to try the most (Bum Genius 3.0, regular and organic). It only has 7 diapers, so it's not quite enough to do it exclusively (even washing every night) for the 2 week trial, but that's ok. At least I'll get a better idea of "modern cloth diapering". If I do switch I'll for sure get one of these little sprayers so I don't have to mess with dunking on those less than easy diaper clean ups!

Maternity shopping online

Ok. Well, I got my Shade shirts today in the mail. Super fast (and it better be since it cost nearly $8 for shipping! I missed out on the free shipping for orders over $50 that they're doing now.). I have a really hard time ordering stuff online because it NEVER is quite what I expect it to be. I was also worried because I couldn't try the stuff on and they didn't have a sizing chart or anything, so I just had to guess. I bought 2 mediums and 1 large, thinking I'd just use the large at the end.

The medium fits fine through the body and I'll be able to wear it the rest of my pregnancy, but holy crap are they long! I am 5'3" petite person and the medium comes down to mid-thigh! And I definitely have a baby bump already in the equation (updated picture to come this week). The large was ridiculously too long for me and maybe a little too big through the top/shoulders. So, I guess I'll try and sell it on craigslist or ebay or something. Any tall pregnant friends interested in a large white maternity baby tee? They're normally $24.50 but I'm going to be selling it for $18 since I got the "buy 3 get them for $18/shirt" deal. Brand spanking new.

Now that I know kind of know what I'm looking at, I'm going to now try a couple shirts from Down East Basics. This time I'm going to go for the small!!

Also, I finished sewing one maternity skirt and am close to finishing a second. When I finish the second I'll post pictures of both. I'm also going to try and make a "mini undershirt" like this mini-molly. I often need an undershirt for low cut necklines, but I don't want a full undershirt because it just creates too many hot layers, especially during the hot summers here. If knit proves too difficult to sew without a serger, I may just buy that mini-molly.

Goodbye D.I.

When we moved here and were unloading our furniture, our truck driver said something like, "Wow, this couch sure has been around the block a time or two!" I noticed a rip in the back of the couch and said, "I don't think that was there before we left." And the driver said, "Look at this thing, does it really matter?" No, I guess it didn't. We got it at D.I. 5 1/2 years ago and it has been through the ringer. It's still very comfortable and I often sleep on it, but it is UGLY.

Yesterday we went on a last ditch effort to Dallas to find living room furniture. We decided that if we couldn't find anything, we'd stop trying all together and go only once a year from here on out to see if stores had anything new.

We checked The Dump first and I was sorely disappointed. They tout prices as 30-60% off retail and they were supposed to be up to 70% off of their already reduced prices, but they were the most expensive store we checked!

We went to The RoomStore and found nothing (we weren't really expecting to since we've been there before).

When we walked into Freed's, we were a bit shocked. It looked a little more upscale than we were expecting, but at least they had a different selection! We walked around the upholstery (we've been holding out for microfiber) section and only found 1 set we liked. We were there about an hour trying to decide if it would really work for us. The one on the floor was baby blue with chocolate brown welting and some trendy blue and brown floral accent pillows. Nice, but not necessarily timeless. But, it also came in the green we've been hoping for!

Heavenly day! We bought a solid sage green couch with green pillows and green welting. I'll have to pick up some accent pillows somewhere else, but that is A.O.K. with me. We've been looking for furniture for over a year!! We also got a "chair and a half" instead of a love seat, but Matt and I fit just fine on it without being squished at all, and I think it will fit better in our small living room anyway. It was all on sale (even more than the list price on that link), so we got it for a very reasonable price with delivery, tax and warranty included.

It will be delivered in 6 weeks or something since it was a custom order. I hope it looks as good in our home as it did there!

I thought this day would never come.

Winterizing

We've actually had a delightful fall. While it's not really winter here, the current rainstorms have given a new chill to the air. So when I went to Old Navy to try and get a nice dress coat on their half off sale, I couldn't pass up this hat/glove combo for Dean. Just 2 bucks! I doubt he'll have to use them here, but we'll pack them when we go to Snowflake for Christmas!

Tell me he isn't the cutest little guy and I'll tell you you're lying...

Unfortunately I did not find myself a coat.

I'll take it

About two years ago I bought 2 new pairs of shorts since it was just too hot here for pants. Luckily long shorts were in, so I was able to find modest and cute shorts. Prior to that I hadn't bought non-workout shorts since...1994 or 95. (I still have those shorts in my closet. I wore them yesterday out of desperation.) Crazy, I know, but "cute" shorts were just too short for a looong time.

2 pairs of shorts don't cut it in the summer here with a messy baby. I can't wear clothes quite as many times as I used to before needing to wash them. My two pairs of "new" shorts were dirty, and after wearing my dated 1990's shorts yesterday and wearing pants today, I made an impromptu shopping trip for shorts. (I know, I could have just done laundry, but what fun is that?)

Long story short, I went to Target and found notta-one-thing I even wanted to try on. So I pressed forward to Ross. I almost left without trying anything on since they didn't have ANYTHING in my "normal" Ross size. I decided to try on 5 pairs two sizes smaller. Two were ridiculously too small. But two happened to fit quite nicely. (Yes, they were all the same "size," but the styles were different.)

So, today I added two more pairs of shorts to my collection (up to 5 total now-4 "un-embarrassingly wearable") for $15 total. (I love Ross.) I feel good because they are significantly smaller than the shorts I bought before I got pregnant. And since I'm blabbing all my size secrets (ok, not all), I'm actually weighing in about 5-6 lbs. less than pre-preg. and actually slightly less than my senior year of high school.

I'll take it.

Would you like cloth or plastic?

I haven't found any disposables I actually like. Huggies Supreme seem plush, but overall the shape isn't working for Dean anymore. Huggies Snug and Dry were not plush and STUNK of chemicals. I've long since written off Pampers. Luvs were probably the worst in leakage I've tried, plus they STINK of baby perfuminess. Costco Kirtland were ok, but you have to buy in such large quantities I'm not a fan. Plus they seemed to run a little small when I tried them. I haven't tried Wal-mart or Target brands.

After seeing these bumgenius diapers on a friend's blog, I've been contemplating using cloth diapers for a couple months now, but the idea of it is really intimidating. It seems like it will be difficult, gross, initially pricey (especially if you get the all-in-one diapers so you don't need diaper covers), time consuming with wash etc. Plus, there are so many kinds I don't want to just throw money down on one type and hope that they work well. (I mean, just think of the Pampers/Huggies competition. Some people love one and hate the other and visa versa.) I really wish that regular stores carried good cloth diapers (not the gerber pre-folds I use as burp rags) so I could look at them up close, compare them, see how the inserts work, see how it all fits together, etc. I hate shopping online because it seems like everything I get is not what I envisioned.

While I was searching this tonight, I found that you can do cloth trials for $10-$20. They send you an assortment of clean (but used) cloth diapers. You put down a deposit of around $100. You keep them for about 2-3 weeks, after which you can either keep them for the deposit price, or send them back and they refund your deposit minus the price to "rent" (the $10-$20).

I also really want to buy a cloth swim diaper since I feel swim diapers are such a waste of money.

Any thoughts on this? Do you think it's gross to use clean, used cloth diapers? Am I crazy for even thinking of switching? If you use cloth, what do you swear by?

Now that's more like it...I hope

Remember the swimsuit I bought at Target? Well, after posting and looking at the pictures, I decided it was quite matronly. I also thought it made my boobs look saggy, and we don't want that! Also, I wanted a modest tankini because they're just so much more convenient. So today I went to Old Navy and Kohls.

Old Navy was more of the same problems I had at target. All halter top tanks with ill proportioned boobs to body. Kohls had different types of tankinis than the other stores and this is what I got. (sorry about the pics. no timer on my camera) It was a little more expensive (even on sale), but I'm much more pleased with how it makes me look.

Better?

Swimsuit season is upon us

Here is the moment of postpartum truth. It's been 6 months and here I am! (You might want to put some sun glasses on. There's a whitey pictured below!)

In the way of diet...well, I don't diet. Unless you count my Isagenix shake that I have for breakfast or lunch about 4 times a week. I don't count it since I don't use it with the mindset that it's diet food, just good food. Plus it's not really "low cal" or anything, just packed with good nutrients. I kind of just eat what (and as much) as my body tells me to. Some days I am ravenous and eat a lot. Some days I don't eat as much. I try and eat balanced meals and snack on decent things (like string cheese, granola bars, fruit, nuts, celery and PB), and that's about it.

As for exercise, I change it up quite a bit.

• I have a video (seriously, a VHS video! Who even owns those anymore?) The Firm (abs) that I do probably 4 times a week. The work outs are quite short so I tell myself, "If I do nothing else, I can do 5 -10 min. of abs!!"
• I jog (sometimes with Dean during the week and on Saturdays without) about 1-3 times a week.
• Dean and I walk 1-2 miles almost every day. Sometimes he's strapped to me in the Bjorn and sometimes we go with his stroller.
  
• I do a yoga workout (Brian Kest's Power Yoga- The DVD has 3 awesome workouts about 1 hour a piece), generally 1-2 times a week. It is an awesome video if you have done yoga before. I wouldn't say it's really a first time beginner DVD. I love that there are 3 workouts. They are really great and I don't get bored of them. I have another yoga DVD by Baron Baptiste and boy does it drive me crazy! I hate his routine.
  
• And then there's the mama workout. Dean's a big boy! I'm constantly lifting and carrying the 20 lb (guestimating here) young'un. He also thinks it's fun to sit on my tummy while I do sit ups. And he likes when I bounce up and down and do plié type lunges while holding him.

So, sometimes some of those overlap and I do multiple things a day. It's fun. And since I only have Dean to worry about, it's still possible. On the up side, my legs and bum are the smallest they've been since High School. I have a pair of shorts from my freshman year of high school that I put on the other day, and they fit loosely. My tummy's quite a bit flatter than the last time I did a postpartum pic., but I am sad to say I don't think it will ever be exactly the same. The price we pay for our dear little ones. Honestly, I'm still trying to retrain myself to have good posture again. You know that's one trick to having a flat tummy, right? Tail bone tucked under, stomach pulled up and in constantly. (No, not sucking in and holding your breath all the time. Holding the muscles up and in.) I used to be so good at it. Pregnancy kinda threw that out the window. So, I'm reteaching myself.

I tried on about 15 suits today at Target since they were on sale. It was a little frustrating. If they fit in the chest, they were wrong for the body and visa versa. This was the second to last suit I tried on, and since it was a decent fit for both, I went with it. The little holes in the front were questionable, but overall it's one of the most modest suits I've ever owned...it's one piece with a little skirt attached. The skirt is kind of nice because it means I don't have to worry if I've used VEET recently or not. I seriously can't wait for the day I can get a full Brazilian laser hair removal! (I know, I know. TMI!!)

I think I'll keep the receipt for the suit and look at Kohls as well.

It's funny. Pictures are never as flattering as the image I see when I look in the mirror. I'll just chalk it up to bad photography angles. hehe.

Bribery gone south

Today I went and bought both the exersaucer and jumperoo from a lady off of Craigslist. (I totally shouldn't have bought them both, especially after my last post! I got both of them for $30 total. I've actually put the exersaucer up for sale because it's just too much big stuff for my little house! Plus it was definitely in used condition. Stupid, stupid me. Talk about buyer's remorse! The jumperoo, on the other hand, was in good condition and was a good buy at $20.)

She was pretty chatty and her little 4 year old was cooing over Dean. She was making small talk about kids, and said, "Good luck when they get to 4! I can't get her to eat anything! I tried giving her a bowl of cereal this morning and she wouldn't eat it. I tried giving her [something else] and still no. I just made her a grilled cheese sandwich in hopes of getting calories in her." Amidst this discussion I gave her a $20 and a $10. When she finished speaking, she waved the money in front of her 4 year old and said, "Look what I've got!" She whips the $10 out and says in a sugary voice, "I'll give you this if you go and eat your sandwich!" The little girl comes and grabs the money, but stays put in the front room with us.

All I could think of was, "Heck, give it back to me, and I'll go eat the sandwich!" I wanted to tell the lady "OF COURSE she isn't going to eat if she knows she'll get some sweet mula if she holds out long enough!" $10 for 1 sandwich! YIKES!

Minimalist mama

I really haven't bought anything for Dean in the way of toys. I figured, why? He has a shoe box full of toys he got from the baby shower, but that's it. He's just now beginning to pick things up on his own and shake them around. It's hard knowing what to get. When I go looking for things I see all the toys and think "that seems so excessive. Does he really need that to become a happy and developed baby?" Usually the answer is no, and I move on.

I have decided, however, that an exersaucer and/or jumperoo could be handy. While he doesn't totally hate his bumbo, he's not in love with it. He's also starting to get fed up with lying on his back. And then there's his tummy. He HATES, HATES, HATES tummy time. So I'm hoping he enjoys standing up at a little station with toys he may now (or hopefully soon) appreciate. But sheesh are baby things so danged expensive!! Thank heaven for Craigslist! Doesn't always work, but when it does, it's great! (I'm hopefully buying an exersaucer tomorrow through Craigslist as well). Also, baby items take up SO MUCH ROOM! I hope to keep my toys as minimal as possible while still keeping him entertained and happy. None of this "I-have-a-whole-room-dedicated-for-my-only-child's-toys-that-he-could-never-possibly-play-with- within-the-year" business.

I would love to get him some great books. He has about 20-30 Dr. Suess and Bernstein Bear books (Craigslist find), but I think they're still a little too advanced and long. I read to him every day, but he gets antsy before we finish those books. He seems to love the one cloth book I inherited from a friend that has one word and one picture per page and is 7 pages long. I need more of those. And more short board books. What are your favorite educational tools/books for infants?

Svithe: Fan of the fan chart

Design mom had an inspiring post about family history as art. So inspiring that I actually bought myself a fan chart. And for $10 you really can't beat it in the art department. I will fill it out to the best of my ability, frame it, and hang it. I want to create my own family wall with the chart and old family photos.

I think this picture of my Great Grandma will be a great beginning. I love this photo. She just looks so glam. Family History can be beautiful.

It's cool, too, that I have framed paintings done by my great grandma (the one pictured), my grandma, and Matt's great grandma.

Three for the price of...

Sometimes it pays to wait. And to open your mouth.

As I was jogging today I passed a moving sale in my neighborhood. They had this nice, plush, comfy green rocking recliner. The color was not quite the green I love, but its not like we have a designer set up anyway, and with all our furniture coming from yard sales and DI we haven't yet established a great color scheme. I figured it could work in place of a glider and it was only $15! As I was trying it out I said, "I've been looking for a glider, but I think this will work out pretty well." One of the daughters at the yard sale house said, "Hey, mom, I've been thinking of getting rid of my glider since I don't use it much. She could take a look at it." So I went up into their house and tried out her glider/ottoman combo that wasn't even a part of their yard sale. Awesome.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the material. The color was black and the material was kind of a faux leather (maybe even real leather..) which I'm not real fond of. But the chair itself was really comfortable. When I asked how much they'd ask for that, they said $30! It was way more comfortable than the first glider I missed out on from Craigslist for $70. Though the other had fit my decor a little better, this one was a WAY better deal.

So, I then had to decide if I wanted the green, plush rocking recliner or the black glider/ottoman combo. And then I thought..."for $45 I could get both and have one in the nursery and one in our bedroom or living room! And that's almost half the price of the one I almost bought in the first place!!"

So I bought both.

And the family was really nice and said they could deliver them tonight (since they wouldn't fit in my neon) when her husband got home. It is handy they live just one street over.

I love finding good deals, but I wonder what Matt will say...

Sometimes indecision is the decision

I like to find deals. I tend not to buy anything because I rarely find things I consider to be a good enough deal. You'd almost think that I was born 100 years ago by how much I think one should pay for items.

I have recently been looking on Craigslist for a good glider-rocker deal. I haven't truly convinced myself that I neeed it, but if I can find one for a smoking deal, I figure, why not?

The other day I found one just a few miles from my house for $70 (for the glider and ottoman). It originally cost over $200, and it was in good condition. But when I sat on it, I wasn't super impressed. I mean, it was ok, but not GREAT. Should I pay $70 for something I'm not totally sold on? I wasn't sure. I went and go the cash and mulled around most of the day before calling him back. I was going to ask to drop by and sit in it once again to make my decision there, but when I called him, someone had just picked it up 5 minutes before.

Well. That was an easy decision. My indecision decided for me.

I found a couple of sofas or sofa/love seats for reasonable prices that were nice and a style and color I liked. I would have gone and gotten them in an instant. But Matt's not ready to shell out money for furniture. And he's a little hesitant to get second hand furniture to upgrade from the second hand furniture we already have. So we'll continue to use our 70's orange floral couch for now...