Cloth Diapers

So, Scott and I have decided (at least try) to use cloth diapers. Cloth diapers have come a long way. There are so many different styles and options. It's pretty overwhelming.

But, I really wanted to make the commitment for a couple of reasons.

• First: disposable diapers have some pretty creepy toxic chemicals that I wouldn't really want hanging around in my panties.


• Second: disposable diapers make up the third largest consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of house hold waste. We already recycle and compost, so it would probably be much more for us. (realdiaperassociation.org)


• Finally, it is much more cost effective.

I attended a Cloth Diapering Class at Belly Bliss here in Denver. Lisa from Living Earth Babies taught the class. It was so informative and great. I really left with the confidence that cloth diapering is achievable. Here is a link to her site - she has so much great information there. http://www.livingearthbabies.com/ You can see all the different options for cloth diapers, and my registry ;)

I have selected this Grobaby brand of cloth diapers. These diapers are one size fits most - from newborn to toddler. I plan on using a diaper service when baby first comes home. That way we can get up and running and hopefully get on some sort of schedule. The service should make it very easy to stick to cloth diapering. The diaper service will deliver the old fashioned prefold diapers that most people are familiar with. However, here is the innovation in diaper pins - the snappy. It has little teeth like ace bandage clippies:

Once we get going, then we will switch over to these GroBaby one size diapers. I anticipate that to happen about 2 - 3 months in. I think the one size diapers will fit a lot better at that point as well. They are a bit bulky on newborns. Another neat thing about these GroBaby diapers is that they have disposable (biodegradable), fragrance & dye free, plastic & chlorine free, flush-able inserts. We can use these on vacations, etc.

Another really cool innovation in cloth diapering is this little sprayer dilly-o. You hook this guy up to the toidy and use it to spray out the diapers. Looks like a great little gadget.

So, wish me luck. I know hardly anyone does cloth diapering anymore. I have friends who have tried and were unsuccessful. I am sharing with you all in hopes that you will support and encourage us in the decision. It also helps solidify the commitment I want to make to myself. We'll see how it goes, of course, I will keep you posted!

Belly Pictures!!!

So my belly is finally popping! I am so excited to share some belly pictures! Here are a few so you can see the change.

This first one is from September 27th. I was 20 weeks pregnant and in my second trimester. This was after Dana's baby shower. I was excited because the bump was starting to look like a pregnant bump instead of just a little thicker midline.

October 7th through the 14th we were on our babymoon in Maui. I am about 21 -22 weeks pregnant here.

I had to add this one for fun. I was Dara Torres for Halloween. Here is a picture of me with my cousin, Leah at the California Cafe. Feeling good - still in my second trimester.

Now, here I am 11/10 on a hot date with Scott, now I am 26 weeks pregnant - in my 6th month. Have to post a shout out to my friend Lisa for letting me borrow this hot little shirt. Nothing like feeling like a million bucks when you're sporting the belly. The girls never looked so good. More on the nursery renovation in the background in an upcoming post.

Check it out. 20 days later and I popped. Here is a photo from this past weekend. November 30th. I am officially in my 3rd trimester now - my 7th month. Crazy how fast the time goes. Scott was doing some sanding in the hallway going downstairs and I was painting upstairs. Hence the mask. More on the construction to follow.

It's a GIRL!!

Scott and I were sure we were having a boy. That seemed to be the general consensus. All the signs pointed that way. There was only a small handful of people that thought it would be a girl, and it included both Grandmas. Isn't that fun? Mothers really do know best :)

The ultrasound was really fun, I hadn't had one since the very first doctor's visit at 9 weeks. I invited my parents. As Dad said, we were definitely encroaching on the little one's space already. When the nurse told us she was 90% sure it was a girl we were shocked (except for my mom, of course, she knew all along).

Later in the appointment I caught Scott just staring off into space. He looked a little shocked and out of it. I asked him if he was ok. He said he was, it was just that he went "from baseball to ballet in 30 seconds." LOL. Poor guy. He really had to re-adjust to the idea of a daughter. That was a couple of weeks ago. He seems to be doing just fine with the idea now. In fact, while we were in Hawaii, I was going to buy a little hula outfit and he told me "no coconut bras." So, I guess the Daddy in him is showing already.

One of the first things I did when we found out we are having a girl was to buy the baby bedding. I just adore it. I am planning on a bird theme in the nursery. Here is the link to the bedding. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for what else I can do in the nursery!

More BABYMOON

Who doesn't want to see more pictures???

BABYMOON!

Scott officially *hates* the word babymoon. BABYMOON, BABYMOON, BABYMOON!!! He may hate the word, but I think he loves being on one... We're in Maui for our last little get away while we are just the two of us still. I found a great beach house in Paia, Maui. We rented the little Ohana (cottage house) adjoining a large villa. Good news, no one is renting the villa. We have the entire place to ourselves. Enjoy some photos below. I'll get some posted of my belly soon, too because I am showing now!! Yippee!

Also the picture with the bread on the window. That is mango bread. We had it on inside by the window. However, the window didn't have a screen and someone was coming in and nibbling at it, so we put it on the sill for the birdies to get to more easily.

Ahhh a tropical paradise... :) Much love and aloha to everyone!

Belly Dancer

September has been a big month for pregnancy milestones.

• 9-9-09 - I felt the baby move for the first time. I was laying in bed reading and all of a sudden I felt a sensation kind of like a muscle tick in my lower abdomen. Now I can feel these movements daily, especially after a meal or a fizzy drink. I wonder what he or she is doing in there? Just moving around or kicking and punching or what? Something tells me we are going to have an active night owl. :)

• 9-25-09 - Our anniversary. What a great day for another milestone! Scott and I had an amazing dinner at Barolo Grill. We had a multi-course meal prepared by Chef Brian Laird. I think the baby especially liked the foie gras. That evening as we were laying in bed watching a Dane Cook comedy the baby was jumping all around in my belly. There was so much movement I wondered if it could be felt from the outside. I put Scott's hand on my belly and sure enough, he felt it move!! It was such a perfect end to our anniversary day.

Got Cravings?

So people have been asking me if I have been craving anything. Well, as you can see by this picture, I had to switch from the 2 pound containers to the 4 pound tubs. We've recycled a few and kept a few and they're adding up. So, I guess that makes for a dairy craving. I eat the plain yogurt with fresh fruit on top almost everyday. I can't get enough of it.

1st Grandchild

Dad came over for dinner tonight and he heard the heartbeat for the first time. His immediate reaction was to kiss the monitor. Yippee for grandparents!!!

Skunk 2 - Dogs 0

So this past week I found out why the skunk smell was so bad. Turns out the little critter had moved in under our deck. Unlucky for us, Tenoch (pictured by the washing machine) flushed him out last Saturday evening. Of course the skunk was most displeased and showed it in the way that only a skunk can. Super fun Saturday night amd Sunday afternoon bathing the dogs. Here is the de-skunk recipe, I hope you never need it: hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. It removes most of the smell - my preggy nose can still smell it on them, but the every day sniffer cannot.

So, now it's onto skunk removal. Thanks to my friend Shannon for sending some recommendations. As you can see Scott took this very seriously. He did it at night so it was a kamakazi mission of sorts - hence the headband. He took a three pronged strategy: ammonia soaked socks, cayenne pepper spray, and male urine.

Picture of the first two below. The ammonia soaked socks are wrapped up like sausages in the pantyhose.

We'll keep you updated on the progress.

Have a funny skunk story or know another way to get rid of the little buggers? Leave me a comment.

Heartbeat at 13 Weeks

Thanks to my wonderful friend Ruth, we can listen to baby Valentine's heartbeat any time we want. Ruth let me borrow her Baby Beat heart monitor. It is a lot of fun to be able to share the heartbeat with people. Here is a recording, the quality of the recording isn't as great as I had hoped, but it's still something. Enjoy.

Pregnancy Crazies

The books I read warned me I might become a little crazy. Of course, no one really knows how that is going to manifest until it happens....

Scott and I were in the basement watching TV when all of a sudden a horrible odor filled the room. At first we thought it was one of the dogs, but then it got worse and worse. We went upstairs and it was very strong outside.

Burning tires is the best way to describe the smell. -- It was awful.

Of course, my olfactory sense is working overtime right now, so it was hitting me especially hard. We were stumped as to what it was. Scott was checking wires, moving ceiling tiles looking for something burning. I was freaking out and wanted to call the police. I was sure there was a meth lab nearby. The smell was so toxic I couldn't stand it. Scott was unable to find the source and pretty soon it started to dissipate. However, I could still smell it and wasn't going to stick around to breath it in and poison our little one. I still wanted to have the police come and check out the neighborhood but Scott thought it was crazy to call them over a smell that was already gone. "What are you gonna do? Call them and tell them it smelled really bad here a half hour ago?"

I got very upset and left.

I drove around the neighborhood, windows rolled down, smelling the air, looking for suspicious activity. If there was a meth lab nearby, I certainly wasn't going to wait around for it to explode noxious gases all over. I drove up and down the streets crying and smelling, trying to figure out what was going on. I was about 10 feet into the alley when I saw him.

A SKUNK! That little bastard.

I have never had a skunk go off so close to me. Wow. I returned home to report the news. Scott thought it was pretty funny, which it was, but not until much later...

So, maybe you can help me figure out just how crazy I was (am?). Take the poll on the left side of the page and tell me, what would you have done?

Have you been pregnant and had the crazies? Leave me a comment and tell me about it. It will make me feel better :)

Good Thing I've Got Time

Thanks to all my friends for already sharing their pregnancy stuff with me. Here is the stack of books I have so far from my friends. I have the best friends ever!!!

Baby Mine

I am getting all sappy already!

Adorable Already!!

We didn't get into see a doctor until July 14th. I had been feeling wonderful - no morning sickness at all! As soon as the midwife came in I broke into tears. I thought we were pregnant but I wasn't really sure. I thought I should be experiencing morning sickness. She took us in for an ultrasound right away and sure enough, we were pregnant! She told us we were 9 weeks and 2 days, putting the due date on Valentine's Day, 2010. Words can't express what a wonderful moment it was for Scott and I to share.

Oh Baby!

It was the week of June 22nd.

I was in Albany for work and I was incredibly tired. At first, I thought it was just fatigue from the time change and training all day.

Then I looked at the calendar and called Scott. I was pretty sure we were pregnant.

I got home on a Friday. The next morning, I took a pregnancy test.

Funny enough the first one was a dud!! The control line didn't show up! I went to the store and bought a box of three and did two more.

THEY WERE POSITIVE!!!