More Fluffy

As many of you know, we are a cloth diapering family.

It cuts back on the cost of diapering one child, let alone multiples. And while this go around we’re not exclusively cloth diapering due to the additional (sometimes) chaos of having two babies backing up diaper laundry, I am still enjoying diapering my littlest girlie. We made an executive decision not to cloth diaper Little Man for various reasons, but my little Hannah is a fluff baby.

For those of you getting used to the look of cloth over a slim disposable diaper, the pre-fold cloth diapering world has come up with a “better fit” option allowing for just as much absorbancy without folding over your cloth diaper to fit into a cover. Below is a picture of what I mean. The red-hemmed pre-fold is a Better Fit pre-fold and the white is a standard cloth diaper pre-fold. When you eliminate folding the diaper, it eliminates bulk in the back (for a girl) or the front (for a boy), making your infant less of a “large trunked” child.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (Difference in thickness)

I explain this to you not to sell the Better Fit models (though they are my preference in appearance) but to explain why we have chosen the bulkier of the two and it has everything to do with orphans.

When trying out pre-fold diapers and coming to a conclusion about what I liked best, I stumbled across a website of a fellow cloth diapering Mom. Thankful to find free shipping and a similarly cheap pre-fold price (they really are the most cost-effective of cloth diapers), I popped on over to her “About Me” part of the page to discover her heart. She donates 100% of the profit from her cloth diapers to World Vision’s care of orphans and “the least of these”. While she is currently no longer selling cloth diapers (she closed down after 3 years of business due to time commitment shifts), she was using her website (current website link) as a ministry to provide under-privileged families with a full stash of cloth diapering supplies. I admire the heart of this woman in desiring to be Christ in a very practical way. Currently, she continues to promote Christlikeness in generosity to the poor through cloth diapers through various drives providing diapers to underprivileged families all over the world.

So when there’s a little extra fluff in Lil Red’s diaper, I think about the orphans around the world who were and are being cared for from the proceeds of that very fluff. And it makes me smile at the hand of God.

– Practical orphan care beauty.

October 29, 2013 0

A Review

Last week:

Celebrated Aunt Sarah’s 19th Birthday with the fam.
Big Guy, Rachael and I took the cats to the yearly vet appointment on Monday and got their shots updated in time to give the record to our caseworker on Wednesday.
Started only blogging when the kids are in bed/asleep.
Little Man started rolling from belly to back. (YAY!!!)
We focused on sleep training for Little Man and reintroduced sleeping in his bassinet after he had to sleep the past two weeks in a bouncer due to sickness drainage.
Almost broke Abi’s new bad habit of getting out of her bed when told to go to sleep. (We’re pretty well there.)
Moved Hannah out of Matt and my room (we’re no longer dueling bassinets on either side of the bed. YAY!) into “the girls’ room” where she did AWESOME in the transition and continued her middle-of-the-night feeding (around 4am) without disturbing her sisters.
Matt and I had our first date night in weeks (months?) – thanks Grandpa for staying with the masses. =D
Hannah had her follow-up Dr. appt for her double ear infection, thus ending antibiotics.
Big Guy had his physical done for preschool with shots (boo).
Hannah started solid food. (Yay peas!!!)
Big Guy toured the preschool that he started today. (YAY!!!!! He likes!!!!)
Our foster care caseworker visited and met our new kids. =)
The boys’ GAL (court attorney voice) visited and gave me much more info about the case.
We had a second outbreak of lice (BOO!!!!!!) and this time my 2 yr old got it. (SO not cool).
Began planning for and hunting for tickets for our trip to CA in April. (WOOT!!!)
Upward basketball practice for Daddy and a movie night for us.
Nit combing, nit combing, nit combing…. hair treating (non-toxic, but still annoying).
Matt went to his brother’s Bachelor’s party.
Matt’s brother William married his lovely fiance (and now bride), Koutrney, Saturday so we hauled the masses out there to attend and celebrate.
I tried to do homeschooling prep so we could start homeschooling this week (goodbye 3.5 week break!!)
I cleaned like a beast, rearranged our room a bit (since Hannah moved out), caught up on my Bible Study, got those “twins” back on a feasible post-sickness schedule, treated our cloth diapers and got “the twins” into cloth, got my laundry routine rolling.
And we OVERCAME LICE!!!!!!!!!

And I survived to tell it all.

(Deep breath) Feels good to be almost on track! =D

February 19, 2013 3

The Projected Normal

* This is a sample of my current schedule mashed with our old schedule. And therefore the reason for the blogging silence. 😉

Thanks to my Mom staying for over a week, we have not run this schedule but for two days thus far. That being said, we are grateful and yet have found that this schedule is now in full swing with some obvious adjustments should Hannah add in an extra growth-spurt feeding and should there not arise any additional snuggle/teaching needs for the older two.

We just play each day by ear, but at least in this household this is what we’ve found to be most affective for this current phase of having a 3.5 year old, 2 year old and a newborn. Tweaking, obviously, occurs daily. 😉

Between 12:30 and 1:30a – Hannah wake-up feeding #1 (feeding takes 50 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes depending on her level of sleepiness). Change diaper and reswaddle before putting her back in her bassinet.

Between 4:30a and 5:30a – Hannah wake-up feeding #2 (see above). Change the laundry to the dryer (if applicable).

Between 6:30 and 7:10a – Depending on Hannah’s level of sleeping from previous feeding depends on when I, Ms. Roadkill, drag myself out of bed. Hannah feeding #3 (feeding only takes about 30-45 minutes this time). Change Hananh’s diaper.

Between 7 and 7:30a – Rachael and Abi awake. Mommy’s morning devotion time. (If I don’t get in my devotion at that point then I add it to a Hannah feeding somewhere else in the day).

Between 7a and 7:15a – Matt awakes, sets coffee pot, and showers.

7:30a – Retrieve Rachael and Abi (or send Matt to do likewise). Abi’s diaper change. Encourage girls to go to the table for breakfast or go play while breakfast is being made (depending on our level of breakfast involvement). Put soiled Hannah/Abi diapers in hamper. Take laundry out of dryer. Start folding previous day’s diaper laundry that I never got around to yesterday.

8a – Breakfast for girls (Matt usually makes it). Then Matt’s devotion time while they eat.

8:30a – Remind girls that breakfast is for eating, start girls’ bathwater, settle Hannah into swing or bouncer. Think about showering. Check facebook, email, pinterest (optional).

8:40a – Aid girls in getting into bath. Scrub a dub children. (On the non-bath days, aid the girls in picking out play from the magnet board and getting them on task.) Prep Hannah’s bath. Pick out Rachael/Abi/Hannah’s clothes/lay them out.

8:50a – Hannah’s bath.

9a – Dress and rediaper Hannah. Say goodbye to Matt (maybe asking him to feed the cats or bring out the trash on the way out if he can).

9:10a – Settle Hannah into swing or bouncer. Get Rachael/Abi dryed off/dressed. “Hair and teeth” for Rachael and Abi. Set out diapers to sun (if needed).

9:40a – Think about a shower again and try to strategize how to get one.

9:50a – Hannah feeding #4. Read 400 books to Rachael/Abi during Hannah feeding via their initiative.

10:40a – Encourage independent play or cooperative play or (mood-pending) watching a movie so I can get a shower.

10:50a – After gathering clothes, change Abi’s now poopy diaper, change Hannah’s diaper and settle everyone in so I can take a shower.

11a – I get my shower (victory!) and get dressed for the day while Hannah hangs out in the bouncer.

11:30a – Lunch prep while encouraging the girls to clean up.

11:40a – Rachael/Abi sit down to lunch and I attempt to tidy the house a bit.

Noon – Check facebook, email, or pinterest (optional) or do something for a few seconds “away” while the girls finish their lunch. Turn on nursery fan to aid Abi in transition to nap time. notice that Hannah’s starting to squirm a little. Snuggle time with Hannah. Bring in diapers from sunning (if applicable).

12:05 – 12:10p – Matt comes home for lunch. I usher Abi to say her “hi’s” and “goodnight’s” to everyone while encouraging Rachael to finish eating (she’s slow) and then go to the bathroom in prep for nap. Put Abi down for nap (diaper change and story reading).

12:15p – Hannah diaper change. Hannah feeding #5. Matt helps to usher Rachael to her bed if Hannah won’t wait for me to do it first. Matt makes “Mommy and Daddy lunch”.

12:20 – 1:05p – Lunch/feeding Hannah.

1:05p – Clean up from lunch. Bathroom break. Tidy up a bit (there always seems to be something on the “to do” list). Then settle Hannah in for her nap (usually not hard since the child sleeps constantly).

1:30p – Mommy nap (optional). Otherwise, make wipes, clean something, fix something, laundry needs, etc. as needed. Begin typing or just thinking about possible blog post (may or may not complete it in this 24 hour time period).

2:30p – Notice Abi is starting to stir a bit. Conclude what I am doing or continue to sleep because she’s yet to wake me up on the baby monitor.

3p – Abi awakes and stealthily climbs into Rachael’s bed. Rachael moans and groans. I either wake up (if I was napping) or realize that my productive time is drawing to a close. Hannah feeding #6.

3:10p – Both girls are now fully awake and no longer in the groggy wake-up phase. Listen for their cue to come let them out (they knock on the nursery door) when they’ve decided bed playing is done. Hannah diaper change.

3:30p – Girls are up and out of their rooms. Abi diaper change. Read books to girls while continue to feed Hannah.

4p – “Daddy’s home from work!!!” Participate in celebration and take opportunity to settle Hannah into the swing or the bouncer and “get some things done” tidying, cleaning, decluttering, or whatever that I didn’t get done b/c I was napping or because I ran out of time.

4:30p – 5p – Try to entertain two hungry children and keep them from driving Daddy crazy while he cooks. Change Abi’s diaper. Check Hannah’s diaper and change as needed.

5p – Set table with girls and help them clean up from anything they got out to play with.

5:15p – Dinner

6p – Hannah begins to get uncomfortable for her dinner. Scramble to get dinner cleaned up and prepped for another 50 minute round of Hannah feeding.

6:15p – Hannah diaper change. Hannah feeding #7.

7p – Last leg of play/family activity before bedtime routine.

7:30p – Start bedtime routine. Cleaning up any left-over toys. Pajamas for girls. Brushing teeth. Two books.

8p – Lights out for the girls.

8:10p – Breathe. 😉 Hannah diaper change. Moment to talk to Hannah while her eyes are temporarily opened.

8:30p – Begin bulk-feeding Hannah, getting comfortable because I’ll be here on the couch for a while.

8:30 – 10:30p – Matt/I hang-out time while I’m bulk feeding Hannah. Hannah diaper changes and bedtime prep. Somewhere during this time I pass out cold on the couch. It’s uncontrollable. I have just hit empty. A 20-30 minute nap gets me through the rest of the evening.

10:30p – Hannah bedtime. Kisses, swaddling, fans on, and “goodnight” small baby.

10:45p – Gather all necessary items to make it through the night (diapers -if not refilled, wipes, diaper rash creme, flannel inserts, extra cover, nursing pillow, etc) and make sure they’re bedside since I don’t want to be wandering the house all night long with a crying baby when I could be sleeping. Update blog (setting completed post, if applicable, to a scheduled date). Start cloth diapers in wash.

11p – Brush teeth, think through scheduling needs of next day, start laundry if needed, feed cats – especially if they were previously forgotten to be fed (my bad), last minute tidy-up. Transfer diapers to dryer or finish wash cycle.

11:30p – Fall over dead into bed… or a few minutes after 11:30p cause something else needed my attention.

*** Scroll to top of the post and repeat tomorrow. =D

September 17, 2012 0

Little Guy

We had a little guy for respite the past nine days (thanks, Matt, for the math). I can’t give out a whole lot of details about him, but I can tell you that he was tiny enough to utilize all of Hannah’s “new baby” things and sleep for the majority of the day and night (bonus!).

We weren’t given more than a handful of sentences of vague instructions on him so Matt and I studied him to figure him out. Since we weren’t given a general bedtime for him, the first few nights were very trial and error oriented. But we eventually fell into a “normal” routine with him.

The girls adored Little Guy, enjoying his “real life doll” qualities and returning him when their attention spans moved on. “Where baby go?” was a common phrase from Abi as she suddenly came to the reality throughout the day that she hadn’t checked on Little Guy recently.

She was always ready to hold him,

never turning down a single offer.

Look at her little Mommying. =) She was so preciously gentle with him.

Little Guy just snuggled right into our family and provided (Matt and I joked) “training wheels” for our soon-to-be addition of Hannah. I even got to play with cloth diapering Little Guy when he ran out of disposables a day and a half early of his pick-up date.

Little Guy… I don’t know if we’ll ever get a chance to meet you again. But I won’t forget your snuggles. And the way you scaled my shoulder, from the outside in, a few days after you met me until you were comfortably nuzzled in my neck. Thank you for trusting me.

Trust may not come easily to you. Most babies your age are more entertained by faces, studying them and wanting to interact with them. It took you a while to watch my face for more than a glance-by. You studied objects and flocked to fluorescent lights. Maybe faces were too inconsistent for you. Maybe you were guarding yourself. Maybe the lights reminded you of the NICU. Who knows. But thank you for getting to the point of studying my face for a few minutes by the end of your stay. Your eyes spoke volumes.

Precious boy, if I can leave you with nothing else, I want to leave you with the hope you listened to me singing with the congregation on Sunday morning. With your ear to my heart you heard:

” How sweet to hold a newborn baby;

And feel the pride, and joy he brings;

But greater still the calm assurance,

This child can face uncertain days because He lives.

Because He lives (you) can face tomorrow;

Because He lives all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living just because He lives.”

(“Because He Lives” by Gloria & William Gaither copy write 1971)

And

“I need no other argument, I need no other plea;

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.”

(“My Faith has Found a Resting Place” by Lidie Edmunds & William Kirkpatrick to a Norwegian Folk Melody.)

I sang these over you throughout the week. And I prayed over you that you would one day see that despite the pain and loss and uncertainty, Jesus is more than enough. No other argument than Jesus is needed in this world and because of His hope, tomorrow is able to be faced.

Thank you for the opportunity to love you, sweet Little Guy, and if we never meet again, I take comfort in my prayers and my family’s prayers for you not falling on deaf ears.

I loved you like my own, Little Guy, even if we only had you for a week.

How you blessed us.

– Thank you, Jesus.

August 2, 2012 0

The Joy of Financial Responsibility’s Accomplishment

I sent this email to my sister this morning and I just wanted to share it with you all over here too because it really makes me happy.

God has blessed us with our financial situation and the ability to stay afloat through good budgeting (even with some mistakes) so that I can stay at home to raise our two (almost three) girls. Along with choosing the budget and for me to stay home, comes gradual financial decisions and less of the “eggs all in one basket” whims. While the later method sounds foolish, there are some cases (like purchasing a vehicle) where “eggs all in one basket” is really the only choice.

One way to “cut back” and be more financially responsible in our spending has been to cloth diaper over disposable diapers. One helper of that decision has been Abi’s skin sensitivity, but another has been the obvious money saver.

I must confess, I have been slightly jealous of those with duel income or at least a greater nest egg that have been able to make the cloth diaper switch all at once, purchasing their whole stash in one big chunk of a withdrawal.

But the reality has been for us that the slower building of our stash and adjusting our stash method has been the piece by piece and most responsible approach for us.

This may not sound like too much of a sacrifice until you see the behind the scenes of that picture. Adding 1-4 diapers per month to get to a 3 day washing schedule for Abi and build our stash for a newborn has involved hours of research, trial/error, craigslist hopefuls and failures, waiting on 3 week difference international postage, and much strategy of mine and the girls’ allowance money over an eight month period.

That being said, I give you my email to my sis this morning and share with you my domestic joy:

“So I’m dorkily excited because my last shipment of cloth diapers came in today. I got 6 more. I have been slowly picking at adding cloth diapers to our stash for the last, seriously, EIGHT months and we finally have a full stash from birth to potty training. I’m SO EXCITED to no longer be looking at, sewing, altering, and fussing with cloth diapers to build up our stash. As it is our newbie baby stash has me washing every 2 days, for the 3month to 18 month phase I’ll be washing every 2-2.5 days and for the 18month plus phase I’ll be washing every 3 days. YAY! This just gives me a REALITY washing experience (cause washing daily is not on my agenda along with managing 3 kids/nursing/house work/wifehood/outside of our house ministry oh yeah and eating, breathing and sleeping).

So as I wash the “fresh from the factory” 6 diapers, adjust our diaper bins to fit our new diapers in, and settle into the new washing machine routine just know that this domestic-happy me is smiling…. big time.

And after next month’s allowance money spend on 3 wetbags (one for Hannah’s diaper bag [since Sundays/Wednesdays Abi and Hannah will be separate and I’d like a “catch the dirty diaper and lock out the smell” bag for each], one for the living room changing table [new baby = CONSTANT changes] and one for the nursery changing table), I will happily put the cloth diaper thoughts aside and just coast through diapering 2 kiddos. [Sure some of these things are not needed, but there also is a “convenience” factor of diapering two kids 2 years apart that plays into my success on minimal hours of sleep. – Just being real.]

On our registry there are still 3 covers/prefold sets for the 3m-18m phase that could be quite helpful to add to our stash as night diapers (prefolds/covers are the only thing we’ve found that can hold a HUGE amount of pee and not leak all over the bed while the child does aerobics in the night), but nothing we couldn’t live without. So it’s possible that in the future I may purchase 2-3 more diapers, but it’s just nice to sort of close the door on the “building our stash to actually work for our lifestyle” phase and move on. =D

If we were Mr. and Mrs. Moneybanks, we would have dropped the money all at once (up to $300 – and that’s on the cheap side!), but that’s not the case with us, so purchasing primarily 1-2 cloth diapers from overseas and waiting out the 3 week difference between purchase and receiving we have done… for eight months. And now…. YAY! We’re done! YAY!

The washer never sounded so good.

– delighting in domesticity. ;)”

Our financial situation is really good due to my husband’s hard work and great budgeting. So please do not think for one minute that I am complaining or in any way feeling oppressed. We are blessed beyond belief to be able to sponsor two (soon to be three) World Vision kids as well as serve the Lord in many ways with our finances. I’m just happy to see the fruit of our budgeting coming to a close in the world of cloth diapering. =D

– Thanks for sharing in my joy. =)

July 19, 2012 0

Laundry’s Done!

So I joined pinterest. Yes, I’m now one of those. And came across, amidst the WAY TOO MUCH, explosion of stuff, a do-it-yourself laundry detergent recipe. I didn’t like that one, but connected in a nearby search to a powdered laundry soap that promised to cost about $1.02 a month.

Now, we have sensitive skin needs in our household, so it perked up my ears to learn of a cloth diaper and sensitive skin safe detergent that you could make at home for $1.02 a month. And you only use 1-2 TBSP PER LOAD! So the formula-can sized amount made in the video gets the job done with extra to share. The shelf-life of the detergent is 2 months so you can have some hang-over.

I watched the video,

purchased by Borax/washing soda/Ivory soap for a total of $7 upfront (from Walmart), altered the “needed items” to use a hand grater (for soap) and a blender instead of a food processor and 20 minutes later: Voila! A month or so plus of detergent.

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 grated bars of Ivory soap (or other non-lotioned soap) to make 1-2 cups of soap for recipe. [I used 1.5 bars of original Ivory soap.]
2. 1 Cup Borax (found in laundry aisle at grocery store)
3. 1 Cup washing soda (found in laundry aisle at grocery store)

Directions:

1. Grate 1-2 bars of soap as thin as possible. Set aside.
2. Put Borax, washing soap and 1-2 cups of soap in blender and blend until mixed into fine powder. (Please wear gloves and avoid inhaling fumes from Borax and washing soda.)
3. Can and let sit with lid on can/container for 24 hours.
4. 1-2 TBSP per load of laundry gets the job done.

*** Detergent does not bubble so safe in high efficiency washers as well.

After waiting the full 24 hours of sit-time recommended, I tried my first load of laundry with the new soap.

It came out clean (good start), softer than usual, visibly brighter, and it smelled like…. nothing! (We’re a fragrance free family so that’s good.) Now the real test will come in the morning when my two enchiladas get dressed. I’ll keep you posted regarding if any skin breakouts occur. Immediate hives are a big “no, no” in the laundry soap department. 😉

So thus far, it has my star of approval. I have yet to try it on our cloth diapers because we have yet to need to wash them since I just washed them a day ago. But I’ll let you know how that goes too.

*********************************************************************************

RESULTS After Sensitive Skin Exposure:

No break outs. After having no reaction to the washed clothes, I washed all their bedding today. No reactions post-nap. I’ll update you if anything changes, but I think the verdict is in… detergent = cheap, effective AND proven good for sensitive skin. YAY!!!

June 24, 2012 0