Just a quick note to let people know that I am open for custom scrapbook orders at this time. I haven’t taken any new orders for the past three months- but I’m caught up, and ready for action! I do 12x12, 8.5x11, and mini albums and tag books, and anything else you can dream up! Also, I’ll give a 10% discount to anyone who wants a “Down on the Farm” themed project, because I’m in the mood for that.

And if you are in the mood for some scrapping yourself, I have a bunch of scrapbook supplies up on ebay this week, so check them out!

And, to prove that I am in indeed scrapping again. . .

You’re looking at Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey paper, ribbons from who knows where, charms from Gymboree, and iron on’s from SEI. Iron ons are rather new to the scrapbooking world, but they are very easy to use and fun! These are velvet iron ons so they feel very soft and add an interesting texture. You can iron over your photos to adhere them; I used a medium heat setting with no photo damage.

I figure, when life hands you a moment in which you can choose to laugh or cry- you may as well just laugh.

AD:

With some

activities for kids they might be busy all day!

I keep trying to update because I have things to say, but all I really have are short little bursts of information that you may or may not find amusing or interesting, so after three days of starting posts and deleting them, well, you’re just going to have to put up with this massive run-on sentence and whatever comes next.

I am dizzy. I have no idea why. I’m going along all fine and then- WHAM- sit down or fall over. I just started taking Claritan for these amazing allergies I’ve developed recently, so I am wondering if I should blame that or if it’s just one of those special Lou things that just happens. At any rate, I’m sitting a lot.

Jonas informed me the other day that we needed another baby. His reasoning? “Ours is broken!” And he’s right. Ours broke and turned into a toddler, who is very fun, but definitely not a baby, which she proved the other day by climbing onto the table and falling off. She scraped her nose doing it, and me, being the stupid mom that I am, tried to wipe the “dirt” off her nose about five times before realizing that I was looking at rug burn. On her nose. Ow.

Jonas isn’t the only one who is getting a little baby hungry around here. It’s been hitting me rather hard the past few weeks (Yes! Put Lou on anti-depressants and suddenly she thinks she can leap tall buildings in a single bound and manage three children. These are antidepressants, not narcotics, right?) When I was expecting Maggie, I swore to myself that next time I got baby hungry, I would get a dog. I spent two hours online last night looking at dogs and you know what? I don’t want a dog.

You know how I said I was singing again? I had no idea how much I sing until I stopped for awhile. I now find myself driving along making up Fleetwood Mac/ Joan Baez/ Tom Petty/ Fiddler on the Roof medleys. Seriously, I flow from one tune into the next, no rhyme or reason. It’s incredibly annoying.

I am doing a major de-cluttering around the house and now have a huge stack of stuff to sell. Among these things are several scrapbooking items, including three Quickutz fonts. If anyone wants them for cheap, just drop me a line. I also have bucketloads of stamps, papers, cardstock, embellishments, and a Canon Rebel that need new homes. I am astounded at the sheer amount of stuff we have. I clean stuff out at least once a year and at every move- and every year there’s more. It’s insane.

Oh! The cloth diapering! I must update! It is still going well, but I have decided that I really don’t like the Bumkins covers or All In Ones. They spring more leaks than all my other diapers combined. I’m going to buy more from Tallulah Baby and phase those out.

Chris’ office just called. He might be leaving for Hawaii tonight. Hopefully he gets home soon so I can tell him. I’d better see if I can track him down.

I cut my hair! I took about three inches off a few weeks ago and decided to go in and lose another eight today. I feel so. . .light!

You know when you see other families and individuals and it seems like they’ve got it all figured out? And you just know they are better mothers than you are, and always look as fantastic as you see them looking, and you are sure their finances are in perfect order and they are so in control of themselves that they never yell or cry or have really cruddy days where they feel a generalized loathing of the population as a whole? Then you wonder why you don’t have it all together just like these other perfect people, and feel like a loser?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me I was a Stepford Wife. Apparently she is living with the delusion that I am much more together, happy and perfect than I actually am. This got me thinking. I sure hope no one out there looks at me and feels bad about themselves. I’m sure you all know the wonderful feeling of relief experienced when you drop by a friends house unexpected and discover that they have Cheerios ground into the carpet and a pile of two day old dishes stacked by the sink. Of course, they are always embarrassed because you witnessed a day where things are just a bit out of control. To these friends, I always say thank you. Thank you for letting me see this, because it reassures me that I am ok, and that, in fact, this is normal.

So, today, I’ve decided to be open about some things I haven’t been sharing lately. Not only am I suffering from the usual malady of a massive mess of laundry and graham crackers sprinkled artfully around my living room, but I’m also dealing with a pretty severe bout of depression and anxiety. I’ve been a little off ever since I had my daughter, but in the past few months I’ve gone from “a tad irritable” to “run for your life!” Not being the kind of person who wants to admit something is wrong, I plodded along until I finally reached the point where I was simply unable to function. My anxiety was so high I had days where I couldn’t go out in public for fear of the noise and the crowds. I had weeks where I sat on the couch for most of the day, absolutely unable to even fathom motivating myself into productivity. Every little problem seemed overwhelmingly huge and tiny irritants made me freak out. I wanted nothing to do with the outside world. I stopped answering the phone. I quit doing anything that would bring me into contact with anyone I knew, and on the days when it was unavoidable, I spent hours panicking about it, and tried to get it over with as quickly as possible. The only thing I did do well was eat everything in sight. I stopped singing, hardly took any pictures, and had no desire to write anything. In short, I was not a happy person, and I was not me. I had the occasional good day, but in reality, most of them were crap.

So why haven’t I mentioned all this? Because, as stupid as it is, I want to appear happy and competent. I’m embarrassed by my body’s failure to deal with the onslaught of hormones brought on by being pregnant or nursing for almost five years straight while dealing with the stress of being a military spouse and the mother of two little kids. The plain truth is that almost anyone in my shoes would have some sort of negative physical response when trying to handle everything I’ve had on my plate. In fact, once I finally admitted that something needed to be done to change this, I discovered that several of the people who I thought were so “together” were, in actuality, having the same struggles. I really have no reason to be embarrassed, I just needed to fix the problem.

Now, after choosing to do something about this, I am telling you all this with the help of some high grade pharmaceuticals, which seem to be beginning to make a difference. I’ve managed to clean the house a few times. I’m reacting to life in a fairly normal manner. I had PMS without turning into a hysterical She-Hulk. I find myself enjoying the things I used to enjoy, and I’m starting to be able to not worry about getting through the day, it’s just happening. I’m even belting out show tunes while I tend my garden, much to my neighbor’s chagrin, I assume. I’m not perfect, by any means. I still have bad days, and my anxiety is still present, but everything is improving, and right now, that’s enough.

I was walking to my car when two women handed me a book and told me to read it with my Bible. I thanked them, and then asked which church they were from (seems like a reasonable question right?) Well, it turned out they were from a church that tends to be very hateful of my religion. They, of course asked what religion I was, and so I told them very friendly, and they very loudly and rather rudely said, “You make SURE you read that!” and then walked off, muttering about how if I was of that faith I was a lost cause and maybe I’d see the light if I read that book.
I was standing by my car thinking, dude, I can still HEAR you!

I really don’t understand how someone can call themselves a Christian and treat someone else with such arrogant, prideful disdain. My understanding of being Christian is that you treat everyone in a Christlike manner, you lead through love, and you see value in everyone, no matter who they are or where they are in life because your Savior saw that in you, and died for your sins.

I cannot accept any religion who’s members thrive on trashing other religions. When I go to a religious function and instead of telling me how good they are, they tell me how bad I am, or someone else’s religion is, it makes me think they have an agenda, and the first goal in that agenda isn’t related to spiritual enlightenment.

Today, while I was out, Jonas climbed onto the neighbor’s roof. Yes. The ROOF.

How did he accomplish this task? He climbed up our seven foot fence, walked along it all the way over to the neighbor’s house, and then pulled himself onto their roof. Yes. The roof.

Now, any normal kid would have a cast or stitches to show for this kind of maneuvering at age three. Yes. THREE. My son, not a scratch. I am convinced the kid has an extensive team of guardian angels so large they have probably unionized and protested the overtime.

I will be grey by age thirty. It will be Jonas’ fault.

Many of you have been requesting an update on the foray into cloth diapering and Maggie’s rash situation. I’ve postponed my review a bit because I wanted to make sure I had been using these diapers long enough to really see how they stood up, and to make sure that my interest in cloth diapering wasn’t a temporary thing. Now, about a month later, I can honestly say, I love cloth diapers!

When I finally broke down and switched to cloth it was due primarily to Maggie’s horrible diaper rash. We had been to several doctors and used every brand of ointment on the market with no result. Her rashes were raised, swollen, bleeding and extremely painful. Within three days of switching to cloth, her rash was significantly improved and within a week, there was no sign of it left. Now, Maggie does have extremely sensitive skin, so if a bowel movement goes undetected for a half an hour, she will still develop a small rash. This has happened twice in the past month, and both times the rash was gone within twenty-four hours. After fighting rashes for six months straight until we both cried, this is an awesome improvement! I can honestly say that I wish I had gone cloth sooner, and I know I will use cloth diapers when we have another baby. These are great!

I tried out a few different styles and brands to find out what I really liked and what worked the best for me. Originally, I was thinking I would want only All In Ones (meaning that the cover and absorbent parts are sewn together into one diaper). While they are great, I have actually developed a liking for the Chinese prefolds used with a cover. I was really worried about folding them wrong or having them leak all over, but that has not been the case. They are easy to learn to use. You can find several tutorials online to show you how to fold them.

Chinese Prefolds

The most basic of cloth diapers, the Chinese Prefold is a piece of material already folded in layers and sewn together. I am using Green Earth Chinese prefolds, which are ultra-absorbent 4x8x4 diapers (4 layers on the sides and 8 in the middle). They are woven from cotton and have performed very well. They hold quite a bit of liquid and have handled multiple washings very well. One thing I learned using these is to wash and dry them four or five times prior to use because the cotton fibers quilt up and become much more absorbent. I’ve chosen to use these prefolds with covers to lessen the risk of a leak. The most important thing I have found using them this way is to make sure that the prefold is tucked completely inside of the cover. Even a tiny bit poking out of a leg hole can cause moisture to wick onto your baby’s clothes.

Covers

I bought a few different kinds of covers to see which ones I liked best. It turns out that I like them for different reasons. I started out with two Whisper Wraps and two Bumkins covers. The Whisper Wraps worked very well when I needed to double diaper for nighttime use or long car rides. They are a roomier cover and the waist adjusts well to fit the baby. The only downside to these is that they are plain white, and I like cute!

The Bumkins covers win in the cute department. I got a Dr. Seuss One Fish, Two Fish motif on one and a purple floral motif on the other. I like these covers because they are very trim fitting, so they don’t add extra bulk under clothes. Maggie seems more comfortable walking around in a trimmer fitting cover, so I tend to keep her in one of these during the day. Another interesting feature to these is an built in mesh air vent on the back of the diaper. I’m not really sure if I’m being benefitted by this feature, but I do know that if you are pulling t ights over the diaper to go back and check that the flap is down, or the wetness will leak out through the mesh. My mistake, but still, something to consider. One other thing to note is that one of these covers has already snapped its elastic waist, and while it is still functional, kind of leaves me miffed.

The last diaper cover I bought is a VeryBaby cover. It wins in both the cute and functional departments. I got to choose from several nifty materials ( I chose a Mighty Mouse print), so it is, undoubtedly, very cute. It also has the most adjustable waist of any of my covers, and although it is not as trim as the Bumkins brand, it serves well as both a trim diaper cover during the day and a nighttime cover that holds more bulk comfortably, and without leaking. The last thing I really like about these is that the waterproof material they are made from is softer than the other brands, and the outside of the cover is a supple cotton, so it feels good against the skin.

All In Ones (AIO)

I bought two different All In One diapers, and I can honestly say I was shocked to find how different they are in both look, feel, and performance. The first one I got was a Bumkins brand AIO. These come in cute patterns, so obviously, my initial reaction to these, and the reason I bought one was definitely the cute factor. The inside is lined with material and then features another swatch of material running the length of the diaper. While these work fine for one small mess, I must say they aren’t the most absorbent things. She had loose stools once, and they were all over her, the carpet and me. Yesterday Maggie was wearing it while sitting on my lap and needed to be changed, she then wet again, and the diaper didn’t even begin to hold the moisture, so let’s just say I had to change my pants. It is fairly trim and has held up to washing well. This is an ok diaper, but not fabulous. I know I won’t be getting another one.

My favorite diaper is absolutely my VeryBaby AIO! I ordered both this diaper and the VeryBaby cover from Tallulah Baby, a licencee of VeryBaby. The fun thing about ordering from here is that all of the orders are custom made, so you get exactly what you want. The customer service was great, and although I was apologized to for the long turnaround time, I wasn’t even concerned because I didn’t think it was taking that long for a custom order. Seriously, two weeks for a custom order? I’m not complaining! Also, she only opens for custom orders once a month and she’s open now, so hurry on over!

This AIO is awesome! It has the nice supple PUL material on the outside, the inside is very absorbent, and it coms with a doubler inside to make it hold moisture even better. I know from experience this diaper can hold quite the mess without leaking. In addition to this most important factor, the diaper is the trimmest design of any AIO of combination I’ve tried. It also has a nice feature that allows the waist to be fastened tighter than any other diaper or cover I’ve tried, so for those of you with skinny kids- we have a winner! Honestly, the worst thing about this diaper is the stress of trying to choose your favorite color from all of the options. I will definitely be ordering from Tallulah Baby in the future. The VeryBaby designs are great!

Care

To care for my diapers I have been doing a load of laundry right after Maggie’s morning diaper change. It has worked into my routine quite well and really hasn’t been any more stressful than having to throw a disposable away. In fact, since it means I’m in my laundry room, I’m actually keeping up on my other laundry with a little more efficiency. I have been washing my diapers in hot water, and using baking soda and vinegar as detergent. I usually do a double rinse, more due to Maggie’s touchy tushie than anything else. I am looking forward to setting up a diaper line in my backyard now that the weather has improved. The light stains that haven’t been quick to come out in the wash should be easy to take care of in the sun.

I have been told that most cloth diapering people use a diaper pail and wash every two to three days. I use a plastic bag that hangs in my garage and wash daily. I do rinse the messy diapers n the toilet prior to bagging them, so they aren’t really nasty while they are waiting to be washed. This system has worked very well for me. I only bought enough diapers to get through about a day and a half, and I haven’t had a problem yet.

I am very glad I switched to cloth diapers. Maggie’s skin is so much happier, we’re saving money, and its great for the environment. They are cute, and they work very well. I’ve had less leaks, fewer blow outs, and a lot more peace of mind now that her rash is a thing of the past. If you’re considering a change, I encourage you to make it.