Suzy Q Homemaker

It's begun!  The Great Cloth Diaper Hunt started yesterday, and I totally forgot.  Make sure you head on over to Diaper Decisions and get registered if you haven't already!

Happy Hunting.  :)

Remember back in February when I got my hands on a custom Ooga Booga from Barrel Full O' Monkeys?

Well...


I don't know about you, but I can't help but squeal whenever I look at this picture.  Isn't Timothy the cutest?

The answer is YES.

But what about the diaper?  The organic bamboo velour is so incredibly soft, which is great for a newborn's skin.  Not only that, it is super absorbent.  Timothy is already a super-soaker, so the absorbency issue is key.  The diaper also has a snap-down front to accommodate a healing cord.  Timothy's cord already fell off, but I snapped it down to see how it would fit.  Verdict: it's the perfect rise!

I highly recommend Barell Full O' Monkeys if you're in the market for a well-made, not to mention, ADORABLE custom diaper.

Well, I did it.  Nice people from church asked me what kind of diapers I wanted and if I could link them to some they could find at the stores in town.  I knew Target carried BumGenious and Bumkins, so I went ahead and started a registry to make it easier for people to find them.

And then I got carried away adding stuff like this:


And this:

My baby will not poop on anything as cute as this diaper.  Other than me, of course. I got this set from Barrel Full O' Monkeys yesterday.  The organic bamboo is so soft and snuggly I want to sleep with it on my pillow.

Have I mentioned that I have fabulous friends?  If I haven't, then I shall surely sing their praises now.  One of them noticed on my blog that I have been in the market for a new diaper bag.  Last night after choir rehearsal, they presented me with this glorious specimen of diaper bag gloriousness:
No more diaper bag giveaways for me!!  I'm now the proud owner of this beautiful Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpack and I could NOT be happier.  I wanted to bring it to bed with me last night and snuggle it, but I don't think Jamie would've appreciated that.  Here is what I adore about this bag:

• Detachable dirty diaper pouch  (a must for cloth diapers!!)
  
• Built-in changing station with detachable changing pad (note: DETACHABLE=WASHABLE)
  
• Handy key clip (I am constantly losing my keys in the bottom of my purse & old diaper bag)
  
• Backpack and shoulder straps

The last feature is especially wonderful since I will need to have both of my hands completely free to wrangle all four of my kids when we are out shopping.  Not that it will keep the kids from running in and out of the clothing racks at Goodwill or tearing down the aisles after their favorite cereals at the grocery store, but it certainly might help in parking lots when I need both hands to grab the inevitable runaway shopping cart or toddler.

I want to cry whenever I look at my new bag because it is just SO PRETTY.

I love you Beth & Mary Ann!!

Please don't roll your eyes.  I'm writing yet ANOTHER post about my goals for 2009.  This time, though, THIS time I'm writing about how I plan to improve my green living.  Here are things we have already done over the past couple years:

• Eliminated the use of paper towels and napkins
• Use cloth diapers
• Employed the use of a clothesline (though it had to be taken down for the garden last summer)
• Switched to an eco-friendly dish soap and other household cleaning supplies
  
• Started wearing burlap sacks and cardboard shoes...HAHA.  Just kidding.
• Use canvas shopping bags

And here are things we'd like to do in 2009:

• Have a homebirth! (does that count?)
• Put the clothesline back up
• Plant, harvest, and can some vegetables
• Jamie wants to get chickens and goats.  We'll see how that goes.
• Continue to use more eco-friendly cleaning products
• Find a reasonably priced potted Christmas tree
  

I may add more to this list as I think of things, but for now I don't want to put any more pressure on myself than I already have with all these goals and challenges.  See?  Told you I need an intervention.

What are your Green Goals for 2009?  Head on over to Crunch Domestic Goddess and let her know!

With only a few months left of this pregnancy, I'm starting to examine our cloth diaper stash and all of its accessories.  For the most part, we're all set with prefolds and a few fitteds for the non-prefold-loving family members/church nursery/lazies.  I have to knit a few newborn and small woolens, but there's still time for that.  One item in particular that we received when Simon was born is still going strong and I am anticipating will last well into this baby's potty-learning days: The Hanging Diaper Pail.

The Mother of Eden Hanging Diaper Pail is a magical bag that contains the smells of the worst diapers and is leak-proof.  It can be hung from a door knob, or like we used to do, the corner of our changing table. And it holds a LOT of diapers.  When the bag is full, you just dump the dipes into the washer along with the bag and wash it all at once!  Oh, and there is also a nifty little sachet sewn into the bag so that you can add a few drops of essential oil for extra odor control.  BRILLIANT.

We still use our hanging diaper pail even though Simon wears only a nighttime diaper...and those are RANK.  For a while, we just tossed his nighttime dipes into the laundry room with the underpants, but the smell gets overwhelming after a day.  I suggested we just use the diaper pail for them and save the planet from excess toxins in the atmosphere.  Problem solved!  We hang it from the back door knob in the laundry room since Simon has significantly outgrown the changing table.

My only regret with the Mother of Eden Hanging Diaper Pail?  I wish we had an extra one to use while the other one is in the wash!  I do believe another one will be going on our new baby's wishlist.  :)

It's a good thing Simon is potty-learned.  Cause I'd be keeping this soaker if he wasn't!  This would be the perfect soaker for some lucky boy...

We never bought newborn-sized prefolds. Because of this, I had to figure out how to fasten a too-big pf on my wee one.

I hope this pictorial helps (it was done in haste & while nursing at the keyboard):

Lay baby in the center of the prefold with the back edge slight above the hips.

Fold the sides in.

Pull the diaper up between baby's legs.

Fold the topside in.

Pull the corner out from under the topside and over baby's hip. (this reduces the bulk in front)

Pin close to the hip to get a snug fit.

Do the same thing on the other side, and you're done!

Look! Bonus gussets to hold in the poo!

Yesterday didn't turn out to be the fiasco I expected. My mother wasn't home, so it was just me and the boys, taking on the town. Everything was going smoothly until we stopped at the fellow freecycler's house to pick up the diaper covers. At that point, the baby started screaming from his carseat and was pretty much inconsolable until we arrived at the ped's office. He calmed down when I finally got him out of the van.

The office visit was fine. The older boys spent most of the time playing with the stuffed animals they brought and playing with the door to the exam room. The only thing that bothered me about the visit was the fact that the ped wants my little one to start a multivitamin supplement (and possibly a fluoride treatment) in a few weeks. I would find this logical if he was formula-fed and anemic, but he's completely bf and gaining well--he went from 8 lbs to 9 lbs 7 oz and grew a whole inch! So, next time we go, I'll have to just politely say "thanks" and be done with it.

My next obstacle will be refusing the vaccinations. We have so many reasons not to at such a young age, and a lot of them are very personal. I'm going to need to gather my resources and prepare myself for a possible battle with the ped over this.

One thing I finally got to discover yesterday was the awesomeness of a Fuzzi Bunz diaper. It turned out we didn't have any disposables left, so I finally put a fb on the baby while we were at the doctor's office. That was around 11:30 and I didn't change him again until well after 3:00. No leaks! I was so glad. And now that I'm going to be an NFB consultant, I'll be able to get discounts on more fbs. We only have two right now.

Jamie ordered me some black Aplix for my wool covers and also ordered my NFB kit. I wonder when it will arrive. It's supposed to take 1-3 days for my account to be activated and my website up and running. I'll be sure to post a link when it's ready for action. Then once my kit arrives and I've studied all my materials, I need to call my sister and have her schedule a party. I should think about what kind of free gift to give her for hosting a party for me. It's too bad I don't know enough people to host a Mary Kay party for her.

Since I vacuumed yesterday and washed diapers, I'm not sure what to do with myself today. There's always something that needs to be done around here, but nothing pressing right now. I should make a to-do list. I know the refridgerator needs cleaning out, but I'm in no hurry to do that by myself. I need Jamie's help with it or there will be vomiting.

Well, the baby's awake again. Time to be a mommy again.

DH forgot to take out the trash again this morning. He usually takes all the trash down for pickup on Tuesdays, but he forgot to do that on Tuesday, too. So, here we are with another day to look at the growing mound of garbage in the can and I have no desire to take care of it myself. First of all, it's too heavy and I'm not even 3 weeks pp. My bleeding is finally starting to wane and I don't want to do anything to compromise that.

Today will be my first adventure taking all three boys with me on an outing. We're going to the baby's checkup. I'm seriously considering calling my mother to see if she can come with me to help. I'm afraid that while I'm getting the baby out of the van, my 3-year-old will take off and run out into traffic or something. Not that he's ever done it, but I don't have an extra hand when I'm trying to carry the baby, diaper bag, etc. So I'm waiting until a decent hour to call her. Like after nine. Most of the normal world is up by then, right? I hate waking people up.

Before we go to the doctor, I'm swinging by a fellow freecycler's house to pick up a few diaper covers she's giving me. I posted yesterday about needing a couple more newborn covers and she's the only person who replied to actually offer me anything. I need to remember to write a thank you card to stick on her door in case she's not there when I come by.

Speaking of covers, I really need to order some black Aplix so I can finally put fasteners on my cute green wool cover. Then I can make some more out of the $2 blanket I found at the flea market. I'm thinking I could probably make more than enough for me and then sell the rest on ebay. I'd also like to make a purse out of the wool. If I use the same color scheme as my covers, it would be the cutest purse in the world, I think. And I'll try to make some sort of cute flower or star to decorate it.

It's not too bad of a start to the day. I've already rewashed the towels I left in the washer overnight and started a cold wash for the diapers. DS has been quite the super soaker these days, even with a doubler. I make stick one of the last few disposables on him for our car ride. Maybe not. I'll decide before we go. I also think I need to get a different pail liner. I got a nylon laundry bag to use but it's not waterproof. I'm afraid that if I keep using it, as the baby gets bigger and wets more, it will end up dripping if I try to carry it across the house to dump in the washer. Of course, a logical solution would be to just carry the whole pail, but then there's the possibility of a big puddle at the bottom of the pail that I'd have to clean. If I come across an extra $15, I'll probably order the pail liner I saw at www.thefuzzibunzstore.com. I think it's a logical investment.

Oh! Along the lines of investments, I finally get to order my consultant kit from NFB today! I need to check and see how long it will take to ship. I can't wait to finally get my Moby wrap and start baby-wearing. When the older boys were babes, I had one of those stupid, uncomfortable snuglis (it was a gift), and I hated it! It was ugly and hard to adjust. Now I'll finally be able to wear the wee one and look cute doing it!

In cooking news, my meatloaf was ok last night. When we bought the ground beef, I didn't notice it wasn't lean, so I ended up with a big puddle of grease at the bottom of the baking dish, not to mention a deformed, ugly loaf. Despite its looks, it did taste good. Even ds2 ate some and he's been known to reject some forms of meat. The strangest thing about him, though is that he'll eat any vegetable except potatoes in any form (French fries excluded, of course).

I'm planning on cooking some banana bread whenever the two bananas on the counter get ripe enough. This means I'll have to buy some yogurt and coconut from the store, or make dh pick some up. Not tonight, though. A girl from church is bringing us dinner tonight. Maybe we could go after we eat. We'll see. I may not be up for another outing today.

So now I'm going to call my mother and see what else there is to do around here before we go. Here's hoping I'm not completely alone on my adventure...