Missing These Two

 Sadie (yellow) and Eli (chocolate)

Eli and Sadie are at my parents until Easter and the house is SO quiet without them here.  Danny and I both feel almost lost without them.  When I get up in the middle of the night for Marissa I always check to make sure I'm not going to trip over them, Danny goes to let the dogs in every time he walks by the back door; I expect them to be waiting at their bowls for breakfast or for a treat.  Sometimes they drive us crazy, but they are such a big part of what makes our house a home and we miss them.

Give them big hugs and sloppy kisses for us, mom.

Wash Routine

I've had a few people recently ask me about my wash routine for my cloth diapers so I thought I would dedicate a post to washing!  Keep in mind what works for one person, may not work for another person, but it's a start.  Cloth diapering is an art, not a science.  As a lot of factors, like hard water, can come into play with how you wash and care for your diapers.  It doesn't have to be hard or difficult, you just have to find what works best for YOU.


For starters, you want to start out with a cloth diaper safe detergent.  Don't skimp on this...seriously!  I've talked to several people who are using detergents that really aren't recommended for cloth diapering and they are now having issues (rash, stink, repelling, etc) and they wonder why.


Here is a very helpful list of detergents to use and to avoid:


http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html


Personally, I use Allen's Naturally detergent.  I bought a gallon bottle (for about $37.00 with shipping) and I've been using it since day 1.  I still have a TON left, so while it may seem expensive up front, it lasts a long time (7 months and counting). 


Now on to the wash routine (note, I have an HE front loading machine, which requires less detergent than a top loading machine):

1. Cold rinse, no spin with no detergent (takes approximately 9 minutes)
• Note: HE machines are just that, high efficiency, so they use less water to save energy.  I do the cold rinse with no spin to "trick" the machine into thinking it needs more water.  The weight of the wet diapers will tell the machine that it needs more water to get the load clean.
2. 1/4 ounce Allens Naturally detergent, fill fabric softener dispenser to line with white distilled vinegar
• Vinegar is great for many reasons...1) it kills odors and 2) it can also kill bacteria, which is obviously a good thing when cloth diapering and 3) it is a natural product so no harsh chemicals like bleach on babies bum!
3. Optional, add 2-3 drops of your favorite essential oil to the vinegar.  I use lavendar oil, but I have read that adding grapefruit seed extract is a great way to prevent and cure yeast spores (often times a baby will get a yeast rash after being on an antibiotic)
4. Hot wash, followed by two cold rinses (takes approximately 1 hour and 11 minutes on my machine)
5. If no soap residue (bubbles) are in the machine, you are ready to dry your diapers.
• If you see soap residue, you need to do another rinse and you may be using too much detergent.  Soap build up can cause lots of problems (which leads to stripping).  Soap build up can cause your diapers to repell and make them unable to absorb.  It can also lead to rashes on baby.  If you see suds, rinse again!
• If your diapers come out stinky, you probably didn't use enough detergent.  If they come out soapy, you probably used too much.  It's a fine line but once you find the routine that works for you, stick with it! :o)
6. No suds?  Throw those babies (I mean diapers) in the dryer.  The majority of my stash is made up of pocket diapers.  A pocket diaper has 2 parts, a cover and an insert that goes in the pocket (usually made up of microfiber (MF), hemp or bamboo).  I put all of my inserts in the dryer (along with my fleece liners and cloth wipes) with wool dryer balls (found on etsy.com and most cloth diaper stores).
• Note: Do not use fabric softener or fabric dry sheets with your cloth diapers. It will cause the diapers to repell.  Fabric softener also makes clothing highly flammable, so I don't even use it on our clothing (especially Marissa's) anymore.
7. I hang dry all of my covers inside when it's cold and outside when it is nice!
8. Once everything is dry, I stuff all of my pocket diapers and get them ready for use.  It usually takes me about 15 minutes while watching TV to stuff all of them.

Currently, I do 2 loads of diapers a week.  It really depends on how many diapers you have in your stash that will depend on how often you have to do laundry.  I currently have about 45 pocket and all in one (AIO) diapers.  I wouldn't recommend going longer than 3-4 days between washes, just because you don't want them sitting around dirty for too long.


In the beginning, when we were using prefold diapers (newborn stage since pockets were still too big) I had 28 prefolds (size infant with green stitching) and 3 Kissaluvs Size 0 (KL0s) and I washed every 2-3 days.  It sounds like a lot but it really wasn't, I was on maternity leave and had nothing better to do anyway, right? :)  I used Thirsties duo covers to put over the prefold as a waterproof cover to prevent leaks.  Next time around (yes, I am already thinking about baby #2), I think I want to try some workhorse fitteds instead of the KL0s.  They are much cheaper and I've heard great things about them!


If you are interested in prefolds for the newborn stage, check out this site with great pictures and tutorials on how to use prefolds, snappis and covers!  http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/


So I got off on a few tangents, but hopefully you now have an idea of how to wash your cloth diapers!


Questions?

How Cute is THIS!?!?

Isn't this print just adorable?  If you remember...we are doing a pink lady bug theme for Miss Marissa's 1st birthday and since I am a freak for cloth diapers, I obviously have to have a diaper to go along with her theme!  This print is just PERFECT!

Click-a-doo dipes (go "like" her FB page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Click-A-Doo-Dipes/123560291034609) will be making a custom cloth diaper, made one of a kind for Marissa.  This will be my first Working At Home Mom (WAHM) diaper purchase and I am beyond excited!  I had to be put on a wait list, so that should tell you how awesome these diapers are. :)  This is what a custom finished diaper looks like...and I'm contemplating getting this one too.  Ahh, they are just so cute!

Can you see why I have a "fluff" addiction!?

Colonial Williamsburg!

Our trip to Williamsburg over the weekend was great.  We left home around 2:00 on Friday and arrived at the hotel and got checked in around 4:00.  We met some friends for dinner at a really good BBQ place.  It was yummy!

Saturday we did our timeshare tour and went to the outlets to do some shopping.  Neither of us were really in the mood for shopping so we mostly walked around and it was nice getting Marissa out in the stroller.

We went out for sushi Saturday night and it was delicious.  We called it an early night with Dairy Queen flurries and went back to the hotel room to relax.

Sunday we packed up and headed to Colonial Williamsburg to walk around and site see.  We didn't have a lot of time, but it was beautiful outside and Marissa seemed to enjoy our morning stroll.  We then headed to Michelle and Mark's for brunch and ended up staying for a few hours to talk and enjoyed a Sunday afternoon beer.

Carriage rides in Colonial Williamsburg

At the end of the lane is Williamsburg Inn, where every president of the United States has stayed.  The presidential suite costs $27,000 a night (per our tour guide)...don't you love how tax payers money is spent?  Queen Elizabeth also stayed here during her visit to Williamsburg.

An old well

Marissa watching daddy pet the horses

The kiddo's got to play and Marissa came home with a few goodies from Michelle.  She loved this toy, so Michelle gave her one to take home with her.

Marissa and AJ

AJ blowing kisses to Marissa before going to take a nap

It was really nice catching up with friends.  Danny and I talked about how beautiful Williamsburg is.  We both joked about how we would like to move there... :o)

All in all, it was a great weekend!  It will be nice to relax this upcoming weekend and have no plans on the calendar for the first time in several weekends.

Weekends are for PJs!

We had a good weekend at my parents house, minus Marissa not wanting to go to sleep on Friday night.  She was up until 1:30 in the morning and nothing seemed to be making her happy.  She didn't want to be rocked, laid down, didn't want to eat, nothing!  It made for a long night, but she finally went to sleep and was back on track by Saturday night.

We didn't do much, mostly just hung out and played with Marissa and there's a good possibility that we stayed in our pj's most of the weekend.  My brother came down too, which was nice.  My dad didn't get home from his "dig" until late Saturday night, so he didn't get to see Marissa until Sunday morning.

We stopped on our way home to see a good friend of mine, Sara.  She was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding, she and her husband, Drew, had their first child, Isaac, on Valentine's Day.  He is 6 weeks old and so tiny!  It truly amazes me how fast they grow.  I got to hold him for a bit and I couldn't believe how much Marissa has grown physically and mentally in 7 short months.  It almost gave me baby fever (though Danny would argue that baby fever never went away)!

Marissa LOVED this rocking chair, she was actually rocking herself. 

Being nosy about something...

Always biting her bottom lip now, teething - maybe?

Can't forget Sadie, too!

It's been a crazy week so far and it's only Tuesday!  Come on weekend!

"WHO" Percentiles

I found this handy little chart today on the CDC website that has weight and length-for-age percentiles for breast fed (BF) baby girls.  This is called a "WHO" chart.  The pediatrician's office combines formula fed (FF) and BF babies charts all into one.  So the results can be a little skewed.

The WHO chart that I found actually shows Marissa's weight percentiles to be higher when compared to other BF baby girls.  On the FF/BF chart, she is currently in the 38th percentile but on the WHO chart she is actually closer to the 50th percentile range, which I think is great!  Her current height on the pedi's chart shows her in the 66th percentile range but on the WHO chart she is in the 75th percentile.  So I think she's doing well on momma's milk!  Not that her scores were bad on the chart the pedi uses, but this reflects a little bit more accurate information and compares her to other girls her age that are BF. 

As a mom, you often wonder if you are feeding your child enough, are they getting everything they need, are you producing enough milk?  I've noticed that the other baby at Marissa's daycare is formula fed.  He drinks 8 ounce bottles at a time, whereas Marissa only drinks 6 ounce bottles at a time (and sometimes it's like force feeding her to finish that).  I started questioning myself and wondering if I should be giving her more.  So I did a little research about BM composition.  A lot of what I have read indicates that BM actually changes over time (I had heard this from lactation consultants but had never done any of my own research on the topic).  The fat content increases which provide all the nutrients your baby needs to grow, without having to add additional ounces (like FF babies).  But many women start to believe that they aren't producing enough milk, so they subsequently start to supplement with formula.  I found a lot of this information to be helpful and informative.  Of course, if Marissa needs more ounces and if she is showing she is still hungry, I will give it to her, but it does help to kind of understand what it is my body is doing.  And that it might actually be doing what it's supposed to be doing!  Whew.

::Disclaimer - if I need to give her formula, I will, but it's more of a last resort for me, just because she is doing so well right now that I don't want to mess anything up.::

It's easy to second guess yourself and I am constantly struggling to ensure I'm making enough for Marissa; I often measure my worth in ounces.  Unfortunately, a lot of things come into play with milk production, like: how much rest you have gotten, how much water you are drinking, your monthly cycle, stress, your diet, how often you pump/nurse, etc. etc.  I guess I have a hard time when people make passive aggressive comments about Marissa needing more food because she is BF.  It's hard to not take comments like that to heart.  There is such a thing as over feeding a baby.  Just seeing her numbers on paper and seeing that her growth is right on track gives me a little more assurance that I'm doing what's right for us.  People who have never BF long term don't really understand, I guess. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is I have a love/hate relationship with BFing.  I will be happy when I can ditch the pump, but it will be bittersweet when Marissa is weaned.  My plan right now is to make it to at least 1 year.  Before I had Marissa my plan was to make it to at least 6 months.  Here we are at 7 months, I've reached my initial goal and each month that I can continue to BF is worth the internal struggles I go through.  :)

In other news, we are headed to the Valley to see my parents this weekend!  It's been a long over due visit, so I'm excited.  I may also stop in to see a friend and her baby who was born on Valentine's Day.  Hopefully I don't get baby fever again. :o)

Crafting It Up!

Over the weekend I took a trip to Hobby Lobby to get supplies for Marissa’s 1st Birthday. I got all of the paper I need to make the invitations and decorations for her party. We are doing a pink lady bug theme! I was originally going to keep the details hush, hush…but since I’m making most of the decorations, no one can really copy me since they are unique and handmade!

I’ve started on the invitations and I like how they have turned out. The wings open up and the party details are inside. We are keeping her party small, just close family and friends. I’m going to do food, cake and ice cream. Hopefully the weather will be nice so we can be outside on the back deck, but if not, we can mingle inside, too.

The invite:

Inside of invite:

Sign that we will hang on the back door:

I am also planning on making a high chair banner, food labels, a Birthday Banner and some other decorations for around the house. 

I know it seems a bit premature to be planning already, but I know with Spring and Summer coming we will be busy and I won’t have time to devote to sitting down and getting everything done. I might as well do it while I have time so I’m not stressing at the last minute. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m OCD and like to party plan and do things early!



This weekend we are heading to my parents. My dad is on a “dig” and I don’t know if he will be back while we are there or not. He found a Confederate States Belt Buckle this week, which is pretty big! I can’t wait to see it and get all the details on his big find. He has been going on these digs for a few years now and this is his first time finding a buckle like this. For those of you who don’t know, my dad is an avid civil war relic hunter!



We are going to take Eli and Sadie to my parents for a few weeks. My parents have a huge yard where they can run and play, so we’re going to let them stay there to get some exercise and live the farm life. We will be picking them up on Easter weekend when we come back up to my parents. Since we will be going to Williamsburg in a few weekends, this will help us from having to find a dog sitter while we are gone.

Marissa will be 7 months old tomorrow! Where has the time gone?