I love fluffy mail!!!

How is it possible to get so excited over cloth diapers? I sold a few diapers and wanted to buy some more with the money.  I've been liking Kawaii lately, I think they work well with Tanner's cute thighs.  So I bought some.  12 to be exact.

(I didn't set my camera right with these pictures, so I know they are a little washed out.)

My Type of Parenting Part 2

Cloth Diapers

Part 2 of my type of parenting is about cloth diapers.  I know some people think reusing diapers (washing poop in your washing machine, touching dirty inserts, the laundry, so many types…)is just too much to deal with.  I use to be one of those people.  I was in a way interested because I know it’s cheaper in the long run than buying disposable diapers until baby potty trains.  But I was simply so overwhelmed.

I seriously have to thank my friend, Stephanie, for spending the time to message me info on them.  I took what she told me and researched on youtube until my eyes hurt. 

We are, however, still using disposables at night time because I haven’t found an overnight diaper that I like yet. But I can NOT wait to get rid of them completely.

There are so many reasons why I cloth diaper now.  Everything is written out beautifully on this website.  You should definitely check it out.

·         Good for the environment

* Billions of diapers are used every year, and they just hang out in landfills.  And these diapers may take up to 500 years to decompose. 

* I love not having so much trash to take out too. 

·         Cheaper in the long run

* It is a little pricy to start your diaper stash. But they end up paying for themselves when you don’t have to pay for disposables every week.

* You can re-use them for future kids!  So essentially your next kid(s) will be diapered for free.

* You can buy them used.  Which means you can sell them as well.  So you can make some of the money you spent on them back!

* One problem though, they are so cute and there are so many different kinds that buying them can be incredibly addicting!

·         Healthier

* There are so many chemicals in disposable diapers.  Dioxin, Tributyl-tin, and sodium polyacrylate.  You know those little gel things that puff up when wet.  Yeah, I’ve been finding them on my little mans bum in the morning when we switch to cloth for the day. 

* Nick and I took a disposable and held it under the faucet, just for fun.  That thing held so.much.water!  That just can’t be safe.

* There is also a new study out that shows prolonged use of disposable diapers in little boys is linking to infertility because disposables hold in heat so much more than cloth. 

·         Comfort and less mess

*Tanner has yet to have diaper rash. I doubt using cloth is the main reason for this, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt. 

* I have more blow outs in disposable than I ever have had in a cloth diaper.  And now that Tanner is a little bigger I haven’t had ANY messes!

* They are bulkier than disposables, which is a nice little padding for Tanner’s bottom when he starts walking/falling. Haha

·         Just plain adorable

*I mean, really.  I’ve never seen a baby not look cute in cloth.

·         Also:

* Babies who wear cloth usually potty train earlier/easier than those who wear disposables.

* The laundry really isn’t that bad. :)

So Proud

I am so proud of my husband!  He has wanted to be a pilot since he was 4 years old.  He worked his way through high school to get the very best grades so he could go to the very best college to have that chance of becoming a pilot.  The 4 years at the Air Force Academy were very hard, but he made it though with flying colors.  He started pilot training one year ago and has since had 12 hour days at work and even more to do once he got home, all week long, including weekends.  It was a very difficult year but he made it.  I had no doubts.  

On Friday, Nick had his Assignment Night.  This is the night where everyone in his class find out what plane they are going to fly after Graduation from pilot training.  Nick's number one choice was to stay here, in Oklahoma, for at least 3 more years as an instructor pilot.  He would teach future Air Force pilots.  Thankfully, Nick was given his number one choice!  Of course, Oklahoma really has to grow on you.  We are out in the middle of nowhere and 2 hours away from anything.  But the pros to this choice greatly outweigh the cons.  

• Nick will have a ton of flying hours.  And this will look great on his resume once he retires from the military.
• He enjoys flying the T-1.
• He is an amazing teacher. He is very patient and understanding.
• He will be home for Holidays and Birthdays for at least 3 years.  Which means he can watch Tanner grow up.
• Best of all, he will be able to have a chance on getting the plane he really wants to fly when this assignment is over, whatever he decides that will be when the time comes.  

The rose Nick gave me, along with the bottle of champagne, my card, and  Nick's class beer mug.

After Nick got his assignment he was given a bottle of champagne and his new patches. (The champagne will probably be a decoration for our kitchen, as Nick and I both don't like it).  I was able to meet some very nice wives from the 32nd Squadron (Nick's new squadron).  They gave me a card.  It was very welcoming.  

"FAIP" stands for First Assignment Instructor Pilot.

This is Nick standing in front of the plane he will be teaching others how to fly.  It's the T-1A Jayhawk.   Too bad the weather was nasty that day.

So now we are waiting for Nick's dates for training.  We will be going down to San Antonio for 5 months or so so he can learn how to be an instructor.  We are hoping we can figure out a way to get our cats down there so Tanner and I can go with him.  

Nick will graduate on the 17th of this month.  He will finally have his pilot's wings!  I hope to have a few pictures from the cermony and dinner that night to post here.

In other news...

Tanner is wearing his pocket diapers!  He can pretty much fit in the Smartipants (with a lot of adjusting around his skinny thighs).  He doesn't fit in his Kawaii yet, though.  I love them!  I'm so glad I bought them and picked the colors I did!

This is the first pocket we put on him.  It looks huge in the picture, but it really looks better in person.

My favorite color diaper...black!

Tanner has his 2 month appointment tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how much he weighs and how long he is!  But he's getting his shots too. :( I'll update again tomorrow.

Lil Joeys Fluffy mail!

Just because I didn't receive all my lil' Joey diapers until today, here's a picture of them all.  They are just SO cute!

Thursday Photo Dump

Today was a good day...

Prepped Tanner's cloth diapers, here they are drying.  (I didn't want to put the drying rack outside today, it was chilly and windy)

Harry was helping, like usual.

My very first diaper stuffing session!

Putting everything away.

I was in the nursery for maybe 20 minutes organizing things and when I was getting ready to walk out of the room I saw this...

Could it be possible he's learning not to go in the nursery?!?

I also decided to turn one of our receiving blankets into a car seat cover.  It's not much, but maybe it will be enough to keep strangers from touching my baby when I'm out places. 

I'd say it was a pretty productive day.  :)

35/35!

35 weeks left and 35 days left!


I was going to wait to blog tomorrow (because my diapers FINALLY came today and I want to take pictures) but it just wouldn't be right to post 35/34.


I have five weeks left.  Only five.  35 measly days!


It seems so close, but still just far enough away.  Honestly, I think I'm ready for him to come. But I'm not going to rush it.  I'm going to cherish these last little moments of it just being Nick and me.  Don't get me wrong, I am so excited for Tanner to come, and I will love it!  But once he is here we will be parents.  We will forever be someone's mom or dad.  That's huge.


I'm still feeling great compared to when I was working.  I am uncomfortable, I have heartburn every night, my back and feet ache all day and night, but I feel great.  It's hard to explain.


I love getting everything ready for Tanner!  We almost have everything we need.  In 5 days we will get the 10% discount to our amazon and target registry and we will get everything else we need.  And once again I will look forward to UPS coming so I can wash everything and organize it all.  I love doing that!


My SmartiPants finally came today.  They shipped them on Friday but never sent me the email with the tracking info that they said they would send.  But other than having to wait for the colors I wanted to be made, and the missed email, it wasn't too bad buying from them.  I just adore the diapers!  I started doing a lot of Tanner laundry today so I didn't get to washing them yet.  I want to dry them outside instead of in the dryer so I'm waiting until tomorrow.  I think I will post a few pictures of them tomorrow. But for now, here's a sneak peek.

Here is right after sorting them by lights and darks...and Harry.

I spread out the lights a little better in this picture.

More pictures to come tomorrow!

And here is my 35 week BUMP.

35 week Doctor visit

My appointment went very well today!  My BP was great, no UTIs, and I've only gained 1 lb.  I was tested for Group B Strep (which is very common).  I could call tomorrow to find out the results, but it isn't really important to know at this point in time, so I'll just wait until my next appointment in 2 weeks.


I was able to talk to my doctor a little bit today, usually he's in a little bit of a rush with patients in labor.  I was really worried about them moving my due date since I'm pretty sure my "real" due date is the first one I was given, December 10th.  So I let him know that.  He got his measuring thing out and measured my belly.  And surprising, to me, I'm measuring right at 35 weeks.  So I guess November 30th it is!


I was happy to find out my doctor has a very low c-section rate.  But then he asked me how tall I am.  If you ask me, I'm 5'1"; but if you ask my husband, I'm 5'0". My doctor then said I look like I'm 5'0" to him.  He says there is a big difference in c-section chances for a woman who is 5'0" compared to 5'1".  Like a 5% better chance on having a c-section if you're only 5 feet tall.  A lot of it has to do with the way the woman is shaped.  But so far, he hasn't mentioned me needing anything special to give birth.


He did tell me not to go into labor on the weekends of the 11th or the 18th, because he will be out of town for a concert and a comedian show.  He said Thanksgiving would be great because he is on call. Hahaha! Thanksgiving would be great! Well, preferably the weekend after Thanksgiving.  My mom is coming into town on the 20th, and I want to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  lol


Tanner is still doing great! Heart rate was 138, and he is still very much head down.  He feels super low to me.  I'll have my first internal check at my next appointment in 2 weeks, so we'll see if there is any progress after that.


I think I'm going to go make some flannel washcloths now.  Nick is flying late so I don't have to worry about dinner or anything.  By the way, I have yet to receive an email saying my cloth diapers have shipped...It's been over a week........But who's counting.

34 Weeks!

6 weeks until due date.  3 weeks until term.


That's nuts.


I'm writing this blog sitting in the glider in the nursery.  I absolutely love this spot!  I actually really love this moment.  Sitting here in this room that has changed so much in the past 3 months.  I've got music playing, the window is open with the breeze filling the room, and the weather is absolutely perfect! I'm looking at the walls and seeing all the planes, and I hear all the planes flying around outside.  I can't wait to talk to Tanner about them!  Who knows, maybe one day he will be a pilot like his Daddy.


I'm actually feeling really good.  I still have the occasional cramps when I over do it walking or working in the house, but it's nothing compared to when I was working.  I'm sure catching up on sleep helps there as well. I even had a moment today where I forgot I was pregnant for a split second.  Somehow Harry was able to push the bedroom door open and he ran in.  I ran down the hallway to chase him out and he immediately ran under the bed.  So I jumped down on my knees and then on my stomach to look under the bed.  Right as I felt my big ol' belly I rolled over.  Yeah, that hurt a little.  How did I forget about that thing? Finally after fighting Harry a little he ran back out of the room..sneaky little devil.  I do have some lower back pain everyday after standing too long, but I know that's completely normal.  It's the pain I'm all too familiar with (from being top-heavy...).  Oh, and heartburn/indigestion.  Every night.  But there has only been two nights where it's woken me up and I had to take Pepcid or drink some milk before I could fall back to sleep.  Tanner is going to have lots of hair!


I've been nesting.  Pretty much every other day.  I'll get these spurts of energy and I'll want to clean and organize like crazy.  But usually I wear myself out and the next day I'm lazy and tired.  I'm trying to make a to-do list and just do little things here and there so I don't get too tired.  We'll see how long that lasts.


I still have pretty much one craving still.  Pizza.  I just love it!  It has to be thick crust though, even though I love the thin crust too. But there is just something about thick crust and cheese, yummmm!


I gathered up all my maternity/pregnancy books.  I realized I have yet to finish one of them.  I've stopped at the labor part in each book.  I think I'm a little nervous to read on, but I probably should.  I've seen women give birth in nursing school, and I learned about it...but I honestly think I will completely forget everything when it's my turn.


Now, to talk about my new obsession.  I am so stinkin' excited to get my cloth diapers!  I've been a nuisance to the SmartiPants company.  I emailed then last Saturday when I tried to order them.  They didn't offer two of the colors I wanted and on the main page it said they were all available.  They emailed me back within 30 minutes (keep in mind this was Saturday night around 11:30pm) saying all the colors would be available on Monday.


 Monday came around and they still weren't available.  I must have jumped the gun and was too impatient because after the second email to them Monday morning they emailed right back saying it should be ready to order, but two of the colors wouldn't ship until Wednesday.  Well, today (Thursday), I still hadn't gotten my email saying they had shipped.  So, I emailed them again.  (This is not like me, usually I will just wait it out a little bit until it gets to be ridiculous).  I felt bad, but when I tried to call them, their number was a non-working number, that sent up a red flag.  But Josh, the same guy who has emailed me back all three times, all within 30 minutes of emailing them, responded.  He said the white color I had ordered came off the production line today and everything would be sent to me first thing tomorrow morning.


So, it's either been a little bit of a wait, or I've been extremely impatient.  Probably the latter.  I have to admit though, SmartiPants has great customer service...if you email them.  I can NOT wait until I get my hands on those little poop holders!


I may just be spoiled by Amazon Mom and their free two-day shipping.  I got all my other cloth diapering supplies yesterday!

Here is my drying rack.  It's so easy to fold up! I can just imagine all my little diapers and inserts sitting on this in the sun! :)

I also got a pack of 3 Snappis.  And yes, I have been practicing using prefolds and the snappi on a teddy bear.

My wet bags! I think they are so cute! But I'm going to need to get some more.  The small one is a little too small for the diaper bag.  It looks like it might hold one dirty diaper.  They sell mediums, so I'll probably get one of those.  I also need to get another larger one with a drawstring so I can get a cheap trash can to use with it in Tanner's room.

Washcloths that will be used as wipes.  All washed up and super soft!

I can't wait to post pictures of the diapers!


Here's the bump.  I'm really starting to hate taking these pictures.  I don't like the way I look...

I've got to add a picture of the little boogers.  They're so cute!

Time to start making dinner...Guess what we're having.


PIZZA!

Nesting and cloth diapering?

I know I'm behind on my weekly update...again.  I waited a little too long.  I will be 34 weeks tomorrow so I will do an update for that tomorrow or Thursday.


This last week has been a great week!  I feel really good!  I'm able to take better care of myself.  I'm caught up on sleep, I'm able to get cleaning and cooking done, and rest in between when I need to. I've also been keeping myself busy.  I think I'm starting to get the hang of crocheting.  I'm actually pretty surprised I was able to teach myself by watching youtube videos.  I've made a cute little hat, and a matching pair of booties.  And I am now almost finished with another little hat.


Here's a picture to show how little the hat and booties are.

I just love them!


I also have to admit I have a new obsession...cloth diapers.


Several months ago I tried to do some research on cloth diapers and I was completely overwhelmed.  I didn't understand where to begin!  There were so many pieces and different types.  So I gave up and settled on the idea of just using disposable diapers.  But last week, a I asked a random question to a friend on facebook and she asked me if I was still considering cloth diapering.  I told her I was overwhelmed.  She wrote back telling me what she does.  I litterally wrote down what she had typed to me and looked up each and every thing.  I not only googled it, but I youtube'd it too.  I had to actually see it done to really understand the concept.  After hours and hours of researching and video watching, it clicked.


It just so happens I started talking to my friend on the day I bought my first little bag of pamper's swaddlers.  I realized there are 36 little diapers in that bag and the bag was $8+.  36 diapers could last 3 days, maybe.  I started putting numbers through my head (mostly I let Nick do it...his brain works that way much better than mine does).  We will be saving SO much money from birth to potty training!  And not only that, we're planning on having more than one kid too, so these cloth diapers will be reusable and available for the next one.


Also, after doing reading more on cloth diapering, I realized it probably wouldn't work using disposable wipes.  We can throw the dirty diaper in the wet bag and wash them every other day, but what happens to the dirty wipes? Would they just go into a bag and be taken out to the trash all the time?  I imagine that causing quite a bit of smell.  So.....I'm going to use cloth wipes too.


It cost quite a bit of money at first, but it's all a one time cost.  We just knocked off two reoccurring costs that we would have originally had to deal with for 2+ years.  This really makes me more happy than I think it should.  I literally have had dreams about this the past two nights. :)


I've ordered everything but the prefolds online.  Most of it should be arriving tomorrow (thanks Amazon Mom!)  My diapers will be shipping tomorrow.  We were going to get the prefolds online from target's website (remember, all the good shopping is 1.5 hours away) but a trip to walmart to get baby hangers brought me to some prefolds that were 3 dollars cheaper.  So I bought 4 packs of 10.  And last night I prepped them.  I know they're supposed to go through several hot washes and dries before they reach their maximum absorbancy, but I only washed them a few times.  I'm sure I will be doing it a lot more, and they will be ready for Tanner when he comes!

I have been nesting.  At first my nesting only consisted of baking.  But now, it's everything!  I'm organizing Tanner's room, again. And I'm washing all of his things.  I figured I needed to try to get the cats use to the idea of a baby, and start setting up the living room with the things we were planning on keeping in that room (So far everything has been in his room and the door has been shut to keep the cats out).  I'm starting with the swing/bouncer.  And the cats are so curious!  Now that they are a little more use to it, they have been hiding under it, thinking they can't be seen.


Here's Harry checking out the swing/bouncer.  Hank and Axel both ran off when I got the camera out, but they were doing the same thing too.

(Don't mind the weird blue jean scratching post-it's the only thing Hank will use)

Now I am going to go play in Tanner's nursery some more! :)