Flats Challenge - days 3,4 & 5 & 6/7

Bad blogger! Bad! Yeah, I'm falling behind it my updates. So here's a quick catch-up of the days I missed posting.

Day 3- My favorite way to use flats.
Kite fold. Hands down. I've tried the pad, Jo & origami folds but they just do not work for us.

Day 4- How am I doing?
Great. I've gotten lazy and have started washing when I have 4 (or more) flats to wash. I also added 2 more Thirsties covers to my rotation because I didn't want to go get one off the line the other night. Or this morning. Lazzzzziness. But I honestly don't mind the hand washing. Also I love the trimness of the flats and will keep using them on a regular basis & handwashing them fairly often.

Day 5- What have I learned?
It is so nice to be able to hand the boy off to daddy for diaper changes. But he only does pockets or AIOs. So I have been the exclusive butt wiper lately. Has anyone else's hubby/partner/baby daddy not even tried to learn to use the flats because it "looks too hard?" All in all I think that anyone could do this but many people will just be too lazy. It takes work and we live in a very lazy time. Drive-thrus, ready made food & disposable everything runs rampant now-a-days.

Days 6 & 7- I've got this down now. We've figured out what works for us & I'm still enjoying the challenge. Everyone I talk to probably hates me because I'm even more of a cloth advocate now and want to share my experience with everyone I meet. Our pediatrician thought it was kind of awesome. She is the sweetest woman ever. She said she wishes she had tried cloth on her kids. Anyways I'm getting off track. So I am officially a flat lover. Prefolds are great but I think I'll continue using flats and handwashing them during the days sometimes. But first thing tomorrow morning I'm slapping a Fuzzibunz pocket on my boy and dancing in front of my washing machine when I wash my first diaper load!

Flats Day 2 - My Stash & On-The-Go

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world!  


Today was a big day for us. My 4 year old "graduated" from preschool & Weston had his 2 month well baby check. I was not nervous about going out in flats, just curious how they would do. The answer is, fine. I noticed absolutely no difference from the prefolds we usually use while running errands.

So here's what my Flats stash consists of,
10 Gerber birdseye flats
5 Walmart Mainstays flour sack kitchen towels (purchased today, not yet used.)
1 wash cloth doubler
1 tshirt rag doubler
2 Snappis
2 Thirsties covers size 1
1 Econobum cover
1 woolie
10ish Circo brand baby wash cloths as wipes
1 small homemade wet bag
1 medium homemade wet bag
Washing in Planet Ultra liquid.

2nd Annual Flats & Handwashing Challenge - Day 1

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants from all over the world! 

Well day 1 is almost over & I think it went pretty well. I have a feeling today will be the hardest day of the challenge as I am new to flats & just figuring out what works best for me. I tried several different folds today including, kite, origami & pad. After several uses of each I've decided the kite fold folded around another flat  that is folded into a small rectangle works best for us. My little man is a bit of a heavy wetter and this gives us plenty of absorbency.
I also washed 2 different ways today. First, I let the dipes pile up and chucked them in the tub after rinsing the few that needed it. I washed them by stomping the crap out of them (literally). It worked fine but I felt like it wasn't the most time efficient way to do it. For the rest of the day I decided to wash the diapers right after changing when I washed my hands. Way easier.

Time comparison: It took me about 25 minutes to wash 6 flats (4 changes worth) & 1 cover in the tub vs. 2-3 minutes for a wet or 3-4 minutes for a dirty dipe. Plus I only have 10 Gerber flats at the moment, so washing them as I go is better for me.

I ♥ my laundry line. Especially when it looks all cute like this.

 I also busted out my woolie for the first time last night & let me just say, I'm in love. I've been too nervous to try it out before now since I'm clueless to the care of it but having this great support group has encouraged me to go for it. I know if I have any questions someone on the board will have an answer for me.

Really bad poetry(?) aka wishing kids didn't grow during my emotional time of the month

Lets go back many moons ago
To a night of sleepy sighs,
soft downy heads and milky breath
as we cuddled in my bed.


Tiny fingers tangle in my curls
As I snuggle you so tight
I dream that I could keep you small
I wish it on every star, every night.

 

Oh Craft.

I am having difficulty finding more than 5 minutes at a time to sit down and work on a project. So on Mother's Day I told the family I was going to finish a project so Daddy was on duty! I'd been wanting to start this cute little sunhat by Jessica from Running With Scissors that she guest posted on Living with Punks for over 2 weeks.

 The tutorial was super easy to follow and she provides a printable pattern in 3 sizes also. I choose to leave off the little ruffle and ribbon since I was making it for my boy. The Marvel comic book fabric begged me to buy it last time I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics & it has been sitting & waiting for me to figure out what to do with it.

 

 I'm really happy with the hat. It's perfect for keeping the sun out of my little man's eyes. & now my girl each want one too. But pink ones. With no superheros.

 

 

On a completely separate note, this is my new favorite pic of my boy. He always makes the cutest little noise & smiles a lot in his sleep. Daddy & I have a theory about what he's dreaming of.

 This little man is 2 months old.

It seems like last week I was pushing. Time is just going by too quickly. I'm wiping tears from my eyes as I type. This is most likely my last baby. I want him to grow up healthy & strong, just not yet. I want him to stay little for a long time. 

But since that's not going to happen, I'm focused on enjoying every second of his sweet babyhood. Which is why I've spent so little time in front of my sewing machine or with a crochet hook in hand. We spend most of our day nursing, cuddling & watching private ballet shows produced by & starring his big sisters.
We are really enjoying cloth diapering. It is so much easier than I thought it would be and less messy, believe it or not! Even daddy doesn't mind as long as there are pre-stuffed pockets or AIOs when it's his turn to change a diaper. I'm pretty sure Wes likes having fluffy buns since he always kicks and coos like crazy when I change him. He also likes to help with the chores. His job is to sleep in the Moby Wrap, he takes it very seriously.
I feel truly blessed because Wes is such a good baby. He doesn't cry much, nurses like a champ, enjoys showers and doesn't mind hanging out on a blanket on the floor for a while. But most of the time he just sleeps. And since he smiles in his sleep a lot, I assume he's having sweet dreams.

I love you sweet Little Man.

Wordless Wednesday- Things I want to do

Source: flickr.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: thisismeinspired.blogspot.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Source: storiesofahouse.com via Kristie on Pinterest

Truth Tuesday -don't pretend you've never done it

Blogging on my iTouch with the baby in the moby wrap from the toilet while trying to ignore the 4 year old who knows I'm a captive audience and insists on telling me the entire plot of Tinkerbell. Happens more often than I'd care to admit. Just keepin' it real.

 

 

The offender

 For more Truth Tuesday head over to Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

OpKMOA update

I've only lost 3 pounds but I feel like I've lost more. I should take measurements. I feel like that may be a better way to track my progress. My ultimate goal is to get down to a size 6. That's half(!) my current size. Some of my pre-pregnancy pants can be buttoned again but they are still way to tight to wear. I've been watching what I eat & pumping a lot more. My workout is pretty simple & varies from day to day. Usually pilates type stuff and jump roping. I have gotten in two short runs. Each a mile or less.

Wordless Wednesday 2

Truth Tuesday- I hate my serger

For reals. I'm finally getting my crafty mojo back and it is driving me nuts! Why am I going nuts you might ask, because even though I'm finally kicking my depression's butt, and breaking out of my I-want-to-just crawl-into-a-dark-hole-and-sleep-forever-beacause-I-totally-suck-at-everything-and-am-a-failure-at-life phase, I can't make most of the stuff that is floating around in my head. Caeti broke my serger, as in snapped the upper looper in half, in February. I ordered the replacement piece & swapped the broken one for the shiny new one. I start serging and BAM! major thread mess & the machine jams up. Upon closer inspection, the new upper loop is NOT the same shape as the old one. Enter the hammer & pliers, hey don't judge my ghetto-ness, when a girl needs to serge, a girl needs to serge. So I bend that puppy into the correct shape & angle. And figure out that my timing is also off. Not by a little either. And do you know how many tutorials their are one adjusting the timing on your Singer 14SH654 Finishing Touch Serger? That would be ZERO! Please if you know of one send it to me asap! So currently my serger is dismantled & sitting on the table waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I'm not going to take it to a repair shop because it will cost at least $90 to fix it and I only paid $89 for it. So hopefully I can fix it or I'll end up serger-less. At least until my birthday (December).

On a happier note here is my favorite shot of the week.

I'm pretty sure this is where the term "sleeping like a baby" came from.

It's love folks.

Drop Lisa of Crazy Adventures in Parenting, the brains behind Truth Tuesday, some love.