This and That

I am woefully behind on my blogging. It's not that nothing blogworthy has happened lately. And it's not that I've lost interest in typing up long-winded accounts of the mundane details of our lives to share on the world wide web. I've just been a slacker.

In order to keep this entry under 10,000 words I shall attempt a list. A list of random things from the past few months that I find at least somewhat interesting or amusing and would like to recall in years to come.

1. Buttons

A few months ago Bennett began finding all kinds of interesting buttons to push around our house. This one was especially entertaining for a couple of weeks.


Therefore, we have become quite adept at using bobby pins to unlock doors.

I also had to do this:


That is a bottle cap taped over the pause/stop button on our washing machine. I kept finding loads of laundry that should be ready for the dryer but were stopped at some unknown point in the wash cycle. For some reason the control lock option works to lock every other button and knob on the machine except the pause/stop. Interesting.

2. Doors

At 18 months Bennett figured out how to turn knobs to open doors. I was hoping we had until he was least two before he grasped this fancy skill. I've added a few of those ugly door knob safety thingies to the pantry and bathroom doors and have been good at keeping the doors to outside locked (so far). But I'll need to do some more toddler proofing in order to preserve his safety and my sanity.

3. Favorite words and phrases

a) I love how he answers most yes/no questions with a sweet, lilting "yeah!". He never says "yes". If we ask him to say yes he responds silently with one vigorous nod.

b) My Dada. This phrase is used when Mommy is especially mean. He'll cry out for "MY dada" because he's convinced Daddy would never make him stay strapped in the grocery cart or accidentally let him get soap in his eyes. I've never heard him say "my mama".

c) But he does say Stacey. Sometimes in the morning we'll hear him chattering in bed, "Mamamama. Dadadada. Stayshe! Stayshe!" I think he picked it up from Ridge who very clearly calls me by my name. If we ask where Stacey is he'll point out the nearest door. Funny kid.

d) Moe Bubble. The kid loves him some bubbles. But that will be a whole 'nother entry.

e) Oohs! Shoes are also a favorite word and item. He likes to wear ours. He likes to wear his. He sometimes has very strong opinions about which of his shoes are most appropriate for a given outfit. I do not always agree.

Lately he's taken to walking around the house wearing one sandal. The first time he threw a fit as I tried to put on the second sandal I thought it was somehow pinching or hurting him. But no, it turns out he just wanted to wear ONE shoe. Of course.

f) Wawal. I've done it. I finally force fed the child enough TV that he's given in. I simply aspired for him to be entertained long enough for me to grab a quick shower. And now he likes it. He likes it a little too much.

The only show he watches is a Noggin program about a blue octopus named Oswald. And boy howdy does Bennett love him some Oswald. He wakes up in the morning and asks for "Wawal". We come home from an outing and he wants "Wawal". When the program is over he carries the remote to me asking for "Moe! Moe Wawal!".

I'm a bad mom.

4. More Evidence I'm a Bad Mom

My child cheers every time we drive past a Chick-fil-A. Any Chick-fil-A. He raises a fist in the air and yells "Yay!". I swear we don't go there THAT much. (Although I guess it could depend on how much you consider THAT much to be.)

5. Forward Facing

B is riding forward facing in the car full time now. He's within a pound or two of our seat's maximum rear-facing weight and since I'm not sure when exactly he'll cross that threshold I decided to make the switch.

I still feel whole-heartedly that rear-facing as long as possible is best. And actually, my child is a more challenging passenger now that he's turned around. He doesn't fall asleep as easily and since he can see us he wants everything we are "playing with" whether that be drinks, cell phones, lip gloss or the garage door opener. But it is fun to be able to point things out to him to talk about as we drive along.

6. Wednesday High/Low

We know families that spend time over dinner each evening sharing their highs and lows from the day. I'll share one of Bennett's from last week.

High - he pooped (a little) on the potty. Twice. He's taken to telling us when he has a dirty diaper by pointing at his bottom and saying "boo!". On Wednesday when he did this there was nothing there, so on a whim I took him to sit on the toilet and he actually pooped. He greatly enjoyed flushing and telling the poo bye-bye. We cheered and high-fived and did everything short of throwing him a parade. It happened again that afternoon.

I wasn't counting on this becoming a habit. (It hasn't.) But I thought it was pretty cool just the same.

Low - he did this to his best buddy, Ridge.




I was so sad. Poor little Ridge. Fortunately, they are still friends. Although Ridge did declare to his family at dinner "Bemet hurt me!" as he pointed to his cheek.

I do hope this will not become a habit. Yikes!

I'm Just Glad It Wasn't The Carpet

When I heard the "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh" coming from my bathroom I assumed he'd dropped a toy in the tub and couldn't reach it or something. Nope.

Note to self: it is past time to secure the upper drawers.

The tile came clean with large amounts of polish remover (pretty sure that isn't on the recommended cleaners list) and a little elbow grease. The grout on the other hand isn't fairing so well. Any suggestions?

The only other casualty of the incident was one cloth diaper. It is still totally wearable...the smattering of pink just makes it slightly more festive. Right?

Because He Loves Me

I think I'll keep him.

Flying High

30 Weeks!

Wow, where has the time gone? I can't believe I'm in the home stretch of this pregnancy. I have an OB appointment tomorrow and then start going to the doctor every two weeks already. It's crazy!

A couple of weeks ago my belly went through a growth spurt or something and I felt absolutely HUGE. I'm pretty sure I've gotten bigger faster than with Bennett (as everyone said would happen) and it's been weird. I spent pretty much all of my time in my first pregnancy thinking about pregnancy...reading books, researching online, taking note of every little change and odd feeling. I guess I've been not as inwardly focused so when this big ol' belly showed up all of a sudden (it seemed to me) I was taken a bit by surprise.

This little one is a mover and a shaker for sure! Baby Dos is constantly doing funny little jiggles or flips or something that make my whole stomach quiver. Bennett was active but did more leisurely stretching and rolling...not so much kicking and jabbing. I wonder if there will be any personality differences we can divine out from such in-utero differences. B's been a pretty laid back kid so far. Does this mean we're in for a spit-fire?

The bad news is that I seem to be wearing down a little earlier than last pregnancy. My energy level has been lower lately and my nausea has returned some. Sad! My back aches at the end of the day sometimes, which I attribute to hauling around 30 pound toddler who has suddenly decided that being carried is preferable to walking. Overall I still feel very good and there are no major discomforts or pain so I can't complain.

Finally, this 30 week marker has made me realize that we need to get on the ball in making some practical preparations for Baby Dos. I'd like to find a bassinet for our room through a friend or someone on Craigslist. We need to figure out what double stroller we're going to get. I need to find, organize and wash stored baby clothes. I should probably purchase a couple more nursing camis and gather some other nursing essentials like Lansinoh, pads and milk storage bags. We ought to consider finding coming home outfits (one boy option and one girl option) and packing a hospital bag one of these days.

As I'm typing this out more and more things are coming to mind. I should make a list for myself and not bore you all to death with my t0-dos.

I'll let ya know if anything of interest happens at our appointment tomorrow. It should be pretty typical and quick...they'll check my urine, weight and blood pressure, measure the belly, and ask if I have any questions. Good times!

As always we treasure and appreciate your prayers for the health and growth of our sweet Baby Dos and for our family as we prepare to make the transistion from one kiddo to two. It's going to be exciting!

CDing Answers From A Newbie

I realize that I'm running the risk of this turning into a cloth-diapering blog and some of you would rather not read about poop and wipes and stuff but I've been asked some good questions and I'd like to answer them to the best of my ability as a Certified Cloth Diapering Momma (I can give myself that title after almost two weeks, right?).

And anyway it's my blog and I'll do what I want to. So there.



1. Have we used cloth at the church nursery?
No, we've taken him to church in a disposable diaper and brought disposables for them to put him in. Even though the Bum Genius are very easy to use there is a constantly changing crew of volunteer workers I don't want to have to explain myself every week. We will also use 'sposies if he's being watched by someone besides family for more than a couple of hours.

If there was a major reason to HAVE to use cloth (i.e. he was terribly allergic to all disposables) I'd make the effort to talk to the childcare directors and I'm sure they'd work with us...but I'm just trying to keep it simple for everyone.




2. So what's up with the liners? Are they expensive?
Lydia had some really good questions about the liners we use to make poo clean-up more simple.

I think what you were referring to as the more expensive, swish-and-flush biodegradable diapers are the G Diapers (which, by the way are oh-so-cute!). G Diapers are kind of a hybrid between cloth and disposable. Let me see if I can explain clearly (don't count on it!).

The G Diaper consists of two parts. There is a thin outer pant which can be worn for more than one changing if there is no "overspill" and then washed and re-used. Inside that is placed a one-time use inner diaper that is biodegradable. It's like a regular disposable diaper but is plastic-free (hence the flushablitiy) and held on by the outer pant instead of attached tabs. The flushable refills basically take the place of the absorbent cloth inserts in my diapers that have to be washed after each use.

It looks like those refills work out to be 40-50 cents each which is more expensive than regular 'sposies. Plus you have to buy the outer covers. So I guess the motivation for using G Diapers isn't saving money, it must be really wanting to save the earth + not wanting to deal with cloth.

For comparison's sake these are the flushable liners we are using. They are not essential to the use of our diapers, it just saves some effort and reduces the yuck-factor in dealing with poo. The Imse Vimse liners are very thin and I got 100 for about $6.00. If they aren't pooped on they can be washed and re-used a couple of times before they start to break down. I expect the pack of 100 to last us at least three months.

3. So what about the cost of cloth?
Let's take a conservative figure of 25 cents per disposable diaper (you'd have to be shopping sales and with coupons to get this for premium brands) and count on using nine diapers a day (more for infants, less for toddlers). In two and a half years you easily spend over $2,000 using disposables. This number does not take into account the cost of wipes, diaper pail refills, or time/effort/gas in going to get more diapers.

I spent $200 to get started with a dozen Bum Genius 3.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. These are on the upper end of the cloth-diapering cost spectrum. I'll probably add some more to my stash over time and to be fair I should add the cost of liners (maybe $50 over 2.5 years) and wet bags to my total ($20-30 one time cost). I'll be interested to see how our water and energy bill changes with the extra use of the washer and dryer as that should be factored in too. I intend to buy a retractable clothes line to allow for occasional line drying (the sun is supposed to be fabulous for bleaching out stains).

And let us not forget that I can use these diapers for more than one child. Whoo-hoo!




4. What about the stink compared to disposables?
I haven't noticed a difference in the smell of a wet or dirty diaper on the child or during changing. The difference would be in storage of used diapers. I hadn't though of it until the question was asked but I think cloth wins out here.

We kept our dirty disposables in a Diaper Champ in the laundry room. It did a fairly good job of containing the smell but there sure was a knock-ya-down stink when you went to change out the bag. We could go almost a week before needing to haul the dirties out and, wowie, week old wet and pooey diapers could gag a maggot! Shew!

On the other hand, the poop in a cloth diaper gets flushed away and the used diapers get washed every other day so they aren't sitting around for long.

I have read that some people begin to experience problems with odor in their cloth diapers over time. I think the problem there is usually storing them too long before washing or a build-up of detergent or minerals from hard water in the diapers that can trap old urine and cause some pretty bad olfactory side effects. There are about a zillion remedies online for dealing with stink issues and I guess you try what seems best based on what you think caused the problem in the first place.

Hopefully we won't have to deal with that any time soon.

I know I've rambled on far too long (again) so if you're still hangin' with me you get a gold star! I'm certainly no expert but I hope my experience and research might help some of you who are considering "the switch" or those who are simply curious.

Much love!

*** edited to add***
I forgot one question. "Are they available in pink?" And the answer is YES!

Oh What A Day

In effort to not write an epic novel about the incident pictured above I am going to provide you with a few cut and dried facts and let you fill in the details.

* The car's occupants included one female, 6.5 months pregnant and one hungry and grumpy 18 month old.

* The incident occurred during rush-hour. More than twenty-five miles from home.

* The driver's cell phone battery was dead.

* The driver's husband was in Nashville.

* The driver's cell phone charger had somehow hitched a ride to Nashville with her husband.

* She was also scheduled to lead a small group of 10th grade girls at 7:00 p.m.

* A decision was made to ignore Dad's advice against driving on a flat tire for fear of ruining the wheel.

* Fear of being swiped by a speeding SUV on Loop 12 superseded the fear of replacing a tire.

* A Fina station with two very kind employees was found.

* As one worker changed the tire the child was fed a nutritious dinner of Ritz Bits Cheese Sandwiches and Tootsie Rolls.

* It was a long drive home on side streets and access roads.

* Upon arriving home the driver found this display on her kitchen table...exactly as she had left it .


Yes, that is an application for Triple A including pre-approved trial membership cards good until the middle of November.

I think that might be what they call irony.

Seven Days Down - A Cloth Diapering Week in Review

Well, it's been a full week since we began this little experiment with cloth diapers. (Don't you just love how I make a big ol' deal like I'm the first person in the world to attempt such a major feat?)

So what is the consensus from the Parker household?

So far, so good.

On the whole I'm not finding the switch to be as much of a challenge as I anticipated. There was a bit of a learning curve in using the liners. Since dealing with poo is a major mark on the disadvantage side of using cloth for pretty much everyone considering the switch, we purchased flushable liners that promised to make poo cleanup less disgusting. The idea is you just place this thin, biodegradable liner in the diaper and when there is a stinky you simply pick up the liner by the edges and toss the whole mess in the toilet. Ta-da! No scraping of poo or dunking diapers in the toilet or any of that yuckiness.

Sounded good to me. Except the first two or three times we changed a dirty diaper it seemed the liner was shifted to one side and the solid mess had miraculously landed on the other side. So there was scraping and dunking and yuckiness. It was frustrating.

But through a little trial and error we've learned to make sure that a tiny bit of liner is caught in the elastic of each leg and then it stays nice and centered and does its job as advertised. Ta-da!

The laundry has not been a problem. I shopped high and low for one of the recommended detergents and found some Mountain Green for a reasonable price at Sprouts. And since the care instructions call for using 1/4 of the recommeded amount (which works out to only 1/2 a tablespoon) for each load it is going to last us quite a while.

I've done a load of diapers every other day. Since I was only doing three loads a week before that seems like quite a bit more. But it hasn't bothered me yet. The part of laundry that I dread is the folding, hanging, dealing with wrinkles and putting away. Throwing stuff in the machines isn't a big deal at all.

I do kind of wonder if there is still some novelty attached to the whole process that will soon wear off and I'll be slightly less enamored with the flushing of poo, washing, drying and stuffing. But for the time being I'm content.

The diapers are slightly bulkier than disposables. This has actually worked out well for us as Bennett needs 24 month or 2T pants for length but anything without a highly adjustable waist was falling off of him. So the extra bulk is helping his new clothes to stay on! He's extra fluffy at bedtime as we double-stuff the diapers to withstand 12 hours worth of pee. We laugh about all his "junk in the trunk" when he struts around in his pjs. Too cute!

We've continued to use cloth even when out of the house. It's not hard to bring and extra diaper and plastic sack with me. The only difference from using 'sposies is that I put the wet diaper (remember that poo goes in the toilet) back in my bag to take home instead of trashing it. That might gross some people out but doesn't bother me in the slightest. I even just spent three days at my parents' house in Fort Worth and used cloth the whole time. I ran one load in Mom's washer and that was that.

I guess I feel like I'm doing something that is right for my family and for my child so the slight bit of extra work is almost enjoyable. Kind of like making a yummy, healthy meal from scratch requires more time, but I feel proud that I'm doing good for those that I love. I (usually) take joy in providing for them in that way. You know, when I have the time and ingredients and inclination.

So, there ya go. Way more than you ever wanted to know. Do you have any thoughts or questions? Am I seeming way to Pollyanna about the whole thing?

A great site for the nitty gritty details about cloth diapering is Pin Stripes and Polka Dots. Check it out if you are interested!

Attempts at Craftiness

This blog world is a wide, wonderful place full of unexpected nooks and crannies. When I first entered this crazy world I stayed safe, perusing mommy blogs of friends and friends-of-friends, reading funny toddler stories, oohing and ahhing over baby and vacation pictures and comparing lists of "what my child can do/say" at various ages.

Over time I began exploring a bit and slowly added to the rotation some blogs written by total strangers that I find particularly entertaining or influential. Some day I should list a few of my favorites...there's some good stuff out there!

Then I found sites of moms that are awesomely inventive and resourceful in teaching/entertaining their children or organizing/maintaining their homes (on a budget no less!). This was followed by alternating feelings of guilt and inspiration. And much bookmarking and tagging for future reference.

Recently I've begun uncovering some really fun crafty blogs that are stimulating my latent "crafty gene" passed down from my talented and creative mother.

As a child under the tutelage of my mom I crafted copious amounts of handmade gifts for family, friends and teachers through the years. I loved to color, paint, cut and glue and my sister and I collected random odds and ends with dreams of creating fantastic masterpieces (a favorite "find" was used communion cups we gathered after The Lord's Supper at church to rinse and reuse). As I got older I began to cross-stitch and braid friendship bracelets. Oh, the 80's provided so many opportunities for fun with colored string.

In fourth grade Katie Mellinger and I began what was sure to be a lucrative business taking orders and selling beautiful friendship bracelets to friends. Sadly our business model did not take into account that fourth graders never pay up and that selling stuff at school was technically against the rules.

As a teenager my desire to craft was superseded by the desire to hang out with friends, make money, spend money and meet cute boys. So there ya go.

As and adult I am neither terribly talented nor creative but I have the itch to take nothing and make it into something on the cheap. I'm one of those people that walks around at Canton Trade Days and talks myself out of making purchases by saying "I could make that!". And certainly I could if I just had a little time, talent and ______ (insert various tools and supplies that I do not have on hand).

I've attempted scrapbooking. And I have two half-completed scrapbooks, four empty scrapbooks and a large bin full of paper, stickers, stamps, die-cuts and a Swizzle. Turns out for many reasons scrapbooking is not the craft for me. For those of you that can and do I am in awe and a little bit jealous. Wanna' make mine?

So, back to the crafty blogs and the reawakening of my desire to craft (I sure can ramble on and on, can't I?). I've been feeling all inspired and last week a perfect opportunity for some craftiness presented itself. I was helping to host a baby shower and not only did I need a gift but I was in charge of decorations!

Scott, one of Jeff's coworkers, and his wife Annie are adopting a sweet baby girl from Vietnam. So a couple of girls from the office and some of the "work wives" put together a little shower to celebrate Elise's impending arrival (any time between now and December!).

So here are a couple of things I made, with links to my "inspiration". I realize my attempts don't quite live up to the originals but I had fun none the less.

Inspiration:
Mod-Podge baby hanger

My take (an "E" for Elise, used as part of our shower decor):



Inspiration:
Appliqued Onesie (I just LOVE the fabric they used)

My take:




(Thanks again for letting me use your sewing machine and for the encouragement, Lisa!)

I'd like to imagine that there will be much more crafty creativeness in my future but with a new baby arriving in the next few months and still much to do to get our house ready to my satisfaction I'm just not sure there will be time. You know I'll keep you updated.

The Spice of Life

That's a large container of finely ground black pepper, my friends.

On my floor. The mess was mainly concentrated in this pile but also stretched into the living room and around behind the island. Did you know that tiny bits of pepper hang around the the air for hours, making the house smell spicy and causing your nose to itch? It then slowly settles down, requiring extra rounds of sweeping for the rest of the day.

As I documented the incident Mr. B made sure the container was completely empty. And then did some off-roading with his school bus.




Thanks for keeping my life interesting, kiddo.

18 Months

Bennett actually turned 18 months over a week ago but today was his check-up with the pediatrician. Outside of B's multiple escape attempts (why, oh why did they choose to use toddler-operable pull-down handles on the doors in a pediatricians office??) it was a fairly uneventful visit. He's healthy, growing well and hitting developmental milestones. Thank you, God for a healthy, happy child!

The obligatory stats:
Height - 35.25 inches (>95%)
Weight - 29.4 lbs (86%)
Head - 19.5 inches (89%)

B's been at the top of the charts at every visit and so far isn't showing any signs of slowing down. I certainly don't expect him to stay in the top 5% for height for too much longer (although for the sake of future athletic pursuits his father hopes otherwise). It's just not in his genes to be huge.

Unfortunately for dad's lofty dreams the child is likely to be somewhat puny through at least middle school. I'd bet he ends up like his parents, slightly taller than average and on the thin side. Hopefully he'll at least inherit his father's coordination. Poor kid is certain to be the laughing stock of 7th grade PE if he takes after me and is skinny AND a complete klutz.

Only time will tell.