Fluffy Butt Friday: What's on the butt!

Brand: Sunbaby
Style: pocket diaper
Cost: $4.00
Where to buy?: Ebay



I'm also one of those moms whose shirt must always match the diaper.

Fluffy Butt Friday: What's on the butt!

Brand: Thirsties cover and a Bumkins prefold
Style: prefold and cover
Cost: $12.75 for the cover and $2.00 for the prefold
Where to buy?: Zoolikins

Thrifty Thursday: 99 Cents Only

Do you have a "99 Cents Only" store in your area? If you have one and have never been there, I recommend you stop in and browse for a bit. I don't shop here nearly enough! This store is my go to place when I need gift bags, gift wrap or batteries for Parker's toys. Nothing is over 99 cents throughout the whole store.

Lately, I have been seeing some great things! The most recent visit we purchased a few bibs. They aren't those cheap plastic feeling bibs, but high quality ones.

Some other purchases I have made in the past couple of months:

-Babylegs!!
-Snappies
-Sunscreen lotion(not some cheap off brand either, I was about to purchase this exact item at my local Fry's store for $8)
-Body Wash(large size)
-Books
-School supplies
-Cleaning supplies

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I have missed participating in Scavenger Hunt Sunday! I'm happy that I had some extra time to join in this week.

1. Give Me Flowers



This is what is left of the rose I received on Mother's Day. It's pretty much dead, but I keep it around because my kitty loves to eat flower petals when they become crunchy. I was having fun playing around with this window that is in our bathroom, and with the lighting that was coming through.

2. Visual Contrast



I usually don't take photos during this time of the day in Parker's room, normally the shadows are very distracting. Parker was being so funny when he saw his shadow, I couldn't resist taking some photos.

3. Friendship



I actually took this photo around Easter, but it was so cute and this photo came to mind immediately when I saw the prompt. I also used the picture in my new blog banner. It is amazing how much these two love each other.

4. Before and After



I was asked to sew up some newborn diapers this past week. I had no idea what I could use for this prompt, so I used a couple of the photos I took of this newborn order I completed.

5. Dark

Finally, something he'll eat!

So I'm a big planner, I like to know what is happening, how it is going to happen and when...and I really don't like surprises. So you could imagine how meticulous everything was planned out when I was pregnant with Parker. Plans of the nursery and birthing plans. Plans for his diapering, sleeping, his immunizations and plans of making my own baby food. I should have known Parker had plans of his own all along. He decided to arrive early, which caused me to throw all my birthing plans out the window and I also never finished everything in his nursery. He won't have anything to do with his crib, no matter what we do, and lastly he wants nothing to do with eating solid foods.

The other day we were at the grocery store and I saw a small package of Gerber graduates in the "impulse buy" section of the store, also know as the checkout aisle. I figured it couldn't hurt to try just one more thing.

I think he might like this...what do you think?

















It may not be a lot but it is big progress for him to eat something without gagging all the time or throwing it up.

Don't forget to vote...although I think we are way behind the competition. Oh, well it's fun anyways ;)

Fluffy Butt Friday: What's on the butt!

Brand: Bohemian Baby Couture
Style: One size pocket diaper
Features: Custom applique' letter on bum
Cost: $16.00
Where to buy?: bohemianbabycouture

Thrifty Thursday: $avers

It's days like today that make me love thrift stores. When I was growing up I was a little embarrassed to shop at them, but they were nothing like thrift stores are now. Now there is a possibility of finding designer gowns, purses and shoes. A few weeks ago, I saw a lady purchase a brand new coach purse, tags and all, for $40.00.

Other than the below picture of Parker in his new outfit, we found 1 other pair of shorts, 2 more shirts and another pair of Pedipeds one size larger. I spent just over $10 for all of it.

Shirt(Circo-brand new): $.99
Shorts(Baby Gap): $1.99
Shoes(Pediped-brand new): $1.99



Parker had to show just how happy he is with his new stuff

Laundry Day

Edit: I almost forgot to add that my business sponsors The Paper Mama and she is hosting a giveaway for one of my items. Visit her blog for more details!

Parker decided to help me with laundry. I now have to actually schedule my laundry days. Our washer/dryer decided to quit working a few weeks ago and there are no plans in the works to have it fixed anytime soon. It was a crappy set up in the first place, but it was still better than having to drag all the laundry to the public facility.

The upside? Bigger load capacities!

The downside? I have to be really careful with how hot the water in the wash gets and how hot the dry cycle gets when I'm washing the cloth diapers. I have known friends to lose hundreds of dollars worth of diapers because the wash or dry cycle melted the waterproof fabric in the diapers.







Parker helping me stuff and fold all the diapers.


Mommy?!? This is the one I wanted to wear...


Somehow he always gets his way, I can't resist those eyes.

Fluffy Butt Friday: What's on the butt!

Brand: Sunnybaby
Style: One size pocket diaper
Cost: $4.00
Where to buy?: Ebay

Vlog: Storing cloth diapers

I was trying to take pictures of my cloth diaper storage, but I couldn't capture it how I wanted and decided to vlog instead.


Here was my cost(storage items only):

Green stacking basket(Target): $5.00
Hanging shoe storage(Target): $6.99
Black trash can(Target): $9.99
Wet bag(inside of trash can): $5.00
Drawer oraganizer(99 cents only): .99

Total storage cost: $27.97



I forgot to mention in the video, the top drawer of the dresser/changing table has an organizer that contains the diaper creams, vaseline, powders and hand sanitizer.

A little bit of this...a little bit of that! (49/365)

I started researching cloth diapers when I was still pregnant. I knew right away that it was something I wanted to do. I was so excited to put the cute print diapers on Parker and show off his fluffy butt. I thought I knew everything there was to know about cloth and thought that I would have an easy time with it. I mean come on, how hard can it be?

Well, it wasn't as easy as I imagined, there were things I didn't really think about before Parker was born, such as;

• How tired I was with a newborn, utterly exhausted, I had little desire to clean let alone wash diapers.
• I couldn't get them to fit correctly, when he was little, they always leaked.
• Some of the diapers I bought were way too big to fit a newborn.
  
• I didn't have enough diapers in the beginning to get through a full day of changes.
• I couldn't figure out how to wash them correctly.
  
• My hubby loved the idea of cloth diapers, but was afraid to use them.

There was a point in time that I wanted to throw in the towel and quit cloth, I felt completely overwhelmed, frustrated and didn't think it was really all that worth it. I decided to take a small step back and only cloth diaper part of the time. When I felt overwhelmed, or needed a break from diaper laundry I would turn to disposables. I believe that had I not done this, I would not be cloth diapering at all today. The funny thing was that I felt somewhat embarrassed to call myself a cloth diapering mama because I did rely on disposables part of the time.

In the meantime I slowly bought diapers on sale here and there. I bought different styles/brands of cloth diapers until I found what style/brand worked best for us. I tried many different detergents and was able to get a wash routine down. Now, Parker is just over 5 months and I'm proud to say that I cloth diaper exclusively and have been for a month and a half.

AND, our little stash is now big enough to get through 2 or even 3 days without having to do diaper laundry...YAY!



I know that some other cloth diapering mamas will have you believe that cloth diapering is all or nothing and if you turn to disposables on a stressful, overwhelming day you are a bad mother. I wrote this post because I know that I'm not the only mama who has felt overwhelmed about cloth diapers at some point and if turning to disposables some of the time keeps you from losing your sanity, then go for it!

Crunchy, Silky, or Chewy?

I'm in an online Birth group with BBC and I kept seeing posts about moms being crunchy, silky or chewy. I was like what are these women talking about?!? Well, my question was finally answered when a fellow mom to be posted a quiz you can take that will tell you what you are. I had to snag this quiz and post it here. See how you rate. Apparently, I'm what you would call "Pretty Crispy". I scored a 76.

So I guess with this LO I will be babywearing, cloth diapering, circumcising, breastfeeding, co-sleeping for the first couple months(with baby in his own bed in our room), scheduling vaccinations, not homeschooling, making my own detergents/baby safe cleaners, and all this adds up to me being crispy.

Here's the link...how do you add up ;)

http://www.themoralesfamily.us/granola.htm

To cloth or not to cloth....

We have been talking about possibly using cloth diapers with this little one. I had no idea the "pandora's box" I was opening when I said I would spend my Sunday afternoon doing some research on them. I thought I would just jump on the internet and search a few sites and it would be an easy decision, boy was I WRONG! It was quite clear right away that the cost of cloth diapering is considerably less expensive than disposables in the long run. This fact however, is probably the only clear thing I came out of this day with. I just was not prepared for what I was up against. From prefolds to fitted, contoured, AIO, AI2, soakers, covers, hemp, cotton, pocket diapers, and OS..AHHH my head is spinning. I have read FAQ's and how to do's and I'm still no where closer to understanding any of this than when I first started. The big question, and the answer I have yet to come across is..THE POOP?!? What do I do with the poop? Surely I can't just take off the diaper and throw it all in the wash poop and all, can I?