Spring. Or Winter. Sprinter.

I can confidently say that the Conner household is right back on crazy mode. Aaaaaand no, I'm not enjoying it. Things have been insane to say the least. Matt's still in search of the perfect job. I'm working much more than I ever care to. And Mr. Pirate himself is getting over pneumonia. Also if it snows just one more time my marbles will be totally lost. Gone. Done. Finished. That's all she wrote.

The other week it starting raining. Then turned into rain/snow. Which then proceeded to just straight up snow and ice all over like an abominable snow man puked continuously until the end of time. What was expected to be 1-4 inches turned into over a foot of snow in my area. Taking me over an hour to get home. Only seeing my Noah for 30 minutes before he went to bed. And yes, I was cranky. Alright mother nature no more! We are moving on to spring and I advise you to do the same. For the sake of my sanity please. For the love of all that's holy please!

All dramatics aside I really am looking forward to warmer weather. And the first person to complain about the heat who isn't largely pregnant or without air conditioning shall receive a swift kick in the shin.

Any who, we are short staffed at work and I am working too many hours for my personal preference. My house is a mess. There isn't enough family time. Not enough alone time/blog time/cleaning time/ meal planning time/sanity time. Bla the list goes on and on. I give mad mad props to all those full time working moms out there. I do not know how you accomplish anything at home or keep your mental state of mind working 40+ hours a week. Especially when all you want is to spend time with your little peanut. Hard stuff. Extremely hard stuff.

Yet Noah and I managed to do a few projects on my limited time off.

So two weeks ago I was working when Matt messaged me saying that Noah had a fever. I wasn't too surprised since he had been sick with a cold and cough and was also getting a ton of teeth at one time. Sometimes he spikes a low grade fever while teething. That evening we were supposed to go out for my Birthday. All it took was one look at him when I walked in the door and I knew we weren't going anywhere. My poor miserable baby boy. It was most definitely a snuggle day.

That night I woke up to him crying at 2 a.m. and I immediately knew something was wrong. It was one of those mom moments when you hear your child's voice in a strange I'm not ok kind of a cry and race to their room. He was burning up he was so hot. I stripped him of his clothes and diaper and took his temp. 104. Gave him Tylenol, walked around the house, put a cool cloth on his neck, read stories. Finally got the temp down to 102, low enough for him to go back to bed but I knew we would be going to the urgent care in the morning.

Having worked on the nursing staff at urgent care for 2 years I knew what they were going to do before they did it. On my end it was nice to know what to expect and help hold the little muscle man in place for his x-ray. Sure enough he got his very first pneumonia. Poor bubba. He still had a very high fever the whole day and was just a miserable mess. Nothings worse than watching your very own little human struggle with being sick and miserable.

whelp, that pretty much brings things up to speed on the exciting life of the Conner family. Noah's doing better still a lot of coughing at night but no more pneumonia.

- Over and Out

Nuggets First Travel To Arizona! Part 2 : The Trip

It was so great to be able to visit my parents in Sedona I want to go back already! The morning we flew out Minnesota ended up getting a huge snow storm. Good thing our flight was early! dodged that bullet.

The hubs couldn't make it but I was lucky enough to force my bestie to come along. (As if she needed any convincing to take a vacation away from winter aaaand a rambunctious toddler - every mamma needs a break every now and then!) We basically ate, hiked, soaked up sunshine, drank, then woke up and did it all over again. Probably the most perfect vacation agenda I could ever conjure up. And guess who loves to hike? Mr. Noah that is. Indeed he is my son.

Coconino and bell rock hikes

It is absolutely gorgeous in Sedona. It's a funky hippy like town with fantastic food and trails. I'm serious If I lived there I would be hiking every single second I could. My parents backyard butts up against the coconino forest with trails super close by. Then for more challenging hikes my mom stayed back and watched the pirate while we drove 10 minutes down the road some amazing trails.

Devils bridge hike and coffe pot hike

He loved being half naked most of the day!

Grand Canyon 

I would be lying if I said I didn't seriously contemplate coming back home. Soooo sick of winter. but alas, I returned to the frozen tundra of the North. Just in time for yet another polar vortex. Worst welcome home ever. Good thing that is done with now and spring is on its way! Hooray! Once nugget poo wakes up from his nap I am going outside and going running. Like the Forest Gump kind of running. I will start and never stop until I see ocean, grass, warmth, a palm tree. Or until I get plantar fasciitis - which ever comes first.

-Over and Out

Nugget's first travel to Arizona! Part 1: The flight

Visiting my parents in Sedona was amazing! A much needed break from the longest, coldest winter of my lifetime. Not going to lie I was expecting the worst for the plane ride and all the car time with Noah but the pirate definitely threw me for a loop. Just when you think you know your child, BAM. They completely surprise you. Something tells me he will be doing that to me for the rest of our lives!

The Plane

I really was prepared for the worst. The thought of flying with one very active 1 year old is a tad terrifying. 

Mom brain:

• No way he's going to want to sit still
• What if he cries and screams
• I hope he can clear his ears
• What if people are rude and complain and give the hairy eyeball?
• How am I going to keep him on my lap
• Are there changing tables on planes?
• What if he has a poop explosion? Poopagedon 2014?
• Can I bring food and milk on? 
• What kind of toys should I bring?
• No toys that talk, squeak, or rattle or are obnoxious in any way
• How do I entertain him for 3.5 hours sitting in a tight space?
• WOOF. 
• OVERWHELMED.

When all is said and done he really did fantastic. Above and beyond all the expectations that I had. The hum of the plane was a good soother so he took a short nap the ride there and an even longer nap the ride home. Snacks! Snacks! and snacks! and more snacks. And lots of variety in snacks. That is my advice for a 1 year old! They didn't have milk on the plane so I suggest stopping at a coffee shop in the airport to get some warm milk for take off. It really helped calm him down. And as a special treat he had apple juice in his sippy cup. I usually diluate any juice I give him so the straight up apple juice was a good surprise for him. That sucking motion really helped his ears to clear I think. Having him drink take off and landing worked well. I tried giving him a nuk for his ears too but he wasn't too interested in it. We tried looking at books and singing his favorite songs and looking out the window. And when he wanted to stand I just let him stand in between my legs in front of the seat so he could stretch and move.

 

On the day of travel home we had a layover instead of a direct flight. That worked well to have time split up. I just let him walk and walk and walk around the gate so he could get some energy out. He was a little hyper and goofy the last flight home. He was laughing and screeching kind of loud but I honestly didn't even care at that point. He was still a good happy boy and the plane had 50 open seats so people could have moved if they wanted. I was concerned that he was going to turn into one giant ritz cracker by the end of the flight though. SO MANY CRACKERS CONSUMED.

That's all I have!

• Snacks
• Juice
• Leg stretching
• Window
• Snacks
• Warm milk
• Games
• Books 
• Songs
• Aaaaaaand snacks

-Over and Out

Busy busy bees

Man it's been crazy busy lately! And I'm so happy it has.  This season has been horrid. HORRID. I can not remember any winters being as awful and cold as this one has. We are very thankful to have been so busy to keep our minds off of it! First it was my husbands birthday, then the polar plunge, then the pirates birthday, then our anniversary, and Arizona next week. I just need a few more activities crammed in here then boom, spring will be here!

Polar Plunge! Team happy dunkers

My sweet Birthday Boy on his special day! ( There will be an entire blog written just about his pirate birthday I'm sure!) 

3rd year wedding anniversary sure has gone fast 

One cold and particularly miserable day, Noah and I took a field trip to Menards. Nothing we deperately needed so we woundered in and out of the aisles trying to find random cheap objects to make a sensory board. This small human loves door stops, the springy, boingy, totally fun and awesome kind. So that was all I knew we had to include. Then we meandered about and actually found quite a few sweet items to attach. I used my ultra handy craftsmen skills (acquired from Pappa Sontowski) and walaaaa... Sensory board of fantastic proportions! (the door stop is still his favorite)

That literally lasted one day. ONE DAY. I really need some kind of a hobby. Not baking because I already love to bake and if I baked all winter long I would need to work out constantly. Sick, that sounds horrible. Knitting? Meh, I don't think knitting is my thing. I might have to give it a whirl though. Snow shoeing? Lame, maybe if I didn't live in a suburban neighborhood and I actually had some sweet wildlife to admire, or even one tree. Oh man I just need to win the lottery so I can travel all winter long. Done. That is my hobby. Buying lotto tickets. Marvelous.
 

All Poxed Up

My poor baby has the chicken pox! One month before getting the vaccine at his one year checkup he conveniently contracted the pox. Started with a few random blister like bumps and from there literally exploded.

I was at work when the hubs called me and said very mater of factly "Noah has the chicken pox" I'm thinking NO WAY! Matt's totally overreacting its probably just a little rash or something. So I had my mother in law text me pictures when she got to the house to watch him for the day. Ohhhh yes chicken pox indeed, no question about it! Matt you are correct, gold star for you!  Luckily this was on Wednesday and since I don't work Thursday or Fridays I would be able to care for him and love on him in the following days.

So I went to the store to get some basic care items for my poor little pirate. Before going home.

• Tylenol for fever - NO IBUPROFEN WITH POX!!!
• Anti-itch lotion like calamine 
• Aveeno oatmeal bath treatment - helps sooth the itch
• Soft foods - in case of sore throat and mouth
• Frozen yogurt - because who doesn't need frozen yogurt!?
• And wine for mom - this is not optional - total necessity

And the next days went as followed:

Dear diary,

The boy has contracted a nasty virus called the chicken pox. I had it as a child but do not remember it. Apparantly there is a lot of itching. How bad can this be? He's tough, I'm sure we will be just fine.

Dear diary,

His physical case has worsened. The disease has spread. Small blisters are forming in varies areas of his tiny body. He has a fever off and on. He wants to snuggle and have his blankey and nuk.

Dear diary,

All hell has been released on the Conner household. I fear the worst for our lives and our sanity. My pirate is literally doing nothing but crying all day long. Bloodshot eyes. He needs to be held. And snuggled. And loved every minute of this day. His fever is 102.6. Naps throughout the day. Every inch of his body is violated with these nasty pox. We cry in tag team shifts now. Him first. Then me. Then him. I do not believe we will make it out alive. Wine, bring me the wine.

Dear diary,

I would like to assume the worst is behind us. One cant be sure though. The blister like lesions are finally scabbing over. Although he can't say, I imagine they itch like a mo fo. He will play by himself only for a matter of minutes, then need more cuddles and love. We have never snuggled this much. EVER. Secretly loving it.

Dear diary,

I curse this disgusting disease. I wish it upon no human being. Just when you think he feels better. He does not. I long for the day of good health for my little man. It seems so far away. I can't stand the crying anymore. Breaking my heart and soul. Slowly losing our minds.

DRAMATIZATION OVER.

But this is seriously the way this has all gone down. Today is day 5 and I won't lie I'm sort of looking forward to going to work tomorrow to get out of the house for a full day. My body hurts from holding a 22 pound sick pirate for days! But I would do it all over again in a minute. I'm serious this child has never, I mean NEVER sat still and cuddled this much voluntarily. Therefore I will take it, gladly. As a parent your heart physically hurts when your own little one is miserable. I wish I could take the pain away. I'm praying he is on the mend. Poor baby. I will say oatmeal baths and the anti-itch lotion are our friends. I pray this upon no one!

-Over and Out

Not yo mamma's cloth diapers: the scoop on poop

The number one thing I was nervous about when starting to cloth diaper was the whole poop situation. I mean how do you REALLY clean that? What do you do after they poop? Do you soak it? Leave it in the pail? Will it stain? What detergent do you use? Which setting is the best? Does that seriously come clean? Bla bla bla bla bla.

 Prepping New Diapers

First things first, prepping your new diapers! When I got my first diapers I was under the impression that you had to wash and dry them about 5 times in order to fully strip the natural oils to make them completely absorbent. It actually depends on the material of cloth diapers and inserts your using. For micro fiber, bamboo, or water proof diaper covers you only need to wash them once (I did mine probably 2 times just because I didn't want any leaking).  Its the organic hemp and unbleached cotton products that need to be washed and dried close to 5 times before they are ready for use.

Detergent

You will also need to get detergent that is cloth diaper friendly. I bought Charlies soap my first time around. Works well, reasonable in price, but I won't lie I'm a scent kind of a gal. I love smelly soaps and lavender and such so I have bought a few packets of Rockin' Green to try. Aaaaaand I like it! Also make sure to note if you have hard or soft water, there are recommended types of detergent if you have hard water!

Diaper Cream

Well apparently you can't use regular desitin or what not. My first thought was "What, this is just an elaborate scheme to get me to buy more cloth diaper product!" But it really does cause funny discolored spots on the outside of your diaper. And the inside makes the cloth less absorbent so leaking can happen more often. I have the brand CJ's butter.

The Wash Routine

Very simple! Wash your diapers every 2-3 days to avoid any ammonia build up and extra stinkyness. 

• First cycle: short wash with cold water - no detergent
• Second cycle:  Longer cycle with hot water and detergent 
• Extra rinse cycle
• I hang dry my covers and machine dry my inserts

-I found an old crib mattress box spring at an antique store. Thought it was a pretty fitting way to hang dry some diapers from! I was going to go to ikea to find something similar to this for hang drying but this was perfect and under $20! I recommend avoiding ikea at all times possible. It's like a lybrinth of doom in there, very terrifying.

Dirty Diapers and Poo!

I have two large wet bags I store my dirty diapers in. No solutions and no soaking, once the diaper is dirty stick it right in. For me it works better that a large pail because I feel like I wash the diapers more promptly. If I had a giant pail I would feel tempted to stuff as many diapers in there as I could and wait longer between washing. Which is obviously not good for the diapers. 

Pee is easy its the poo that's tricky. Newborns and babies strickly on breast milk or formula have easy to clean poo diapers. Those I would just rinse before washing and will come perfectly clean. When your baby starts eating solids you will need to plop the turd in the toilet! I will recommend to any one the flushable liners! Such a huge time saver you literally pick up the liner with the poop inside and just flush it! Easy to clean and hardly any mess on the actual diaper as well.

-Tada! Barely even anything to clean up! No diaper swishing! And if baby just peed in the liner you can wash them one or two times with your diaper laundry and reuse them. That way they are not wasted. 

I also made my own stay dry liners out of fleece. I bought a yard of fleece for $10 and cut them in the shape of a liner, it made about 22. It wicks moisture away from the baby's skin and into the absorbent layer. Poop is easier to clean with these too because instead of having to rinse the actual diaper most of the poo is collected onto the fleece liner. You can also use desitin and other regular diaper rash creams with the fleece liners! Just make sure NOT to wash them with your diapers! Wash them in a seperate load with towels or something if they have desitin on them.

I can proudly say that I do not have any stains on any one of my diapers! (I might be slightly anal about rinsing before washing) I have a sink right next to my washer and I rinse any remaining stain before I toss them in the wash. It has worked well for me!

There you have it! The poopy details of cleaning cloth diapers! 

Over and Out 

Not yo mamma's cloth diapers! Chapter one: getting started

For a while now I've been wanting to write a blog about cloth diapering. There are a few people who have been asking me for advice on what I've learned, liked, disliked or found helpful. So here it goes! First of all I will say this... if I would have known just how easy it is, I would have done it from day one! Cloth diapering isn't as time consuming, complicated, messy, or straight up intimidating as one might think. But if you despise doing laundry maybe cloth diapering is not for you. Keep in mind you will be washing your diapers every 2-3 days!

The initial research of brands and styles of diapers I will say it is very overwhelming at first; Prefolds, AIO's, pockets, hyprid/AI2, fitted. Then there's the secret lingo and abbreviations; Hook & loop, PUL, Snappi, fluffy, inserts, liners, TPU, Stash. What? This is getting ridiculous. I felt like I needed a text book and some serious study time to understand all this craziness.

When my husband got laid off for the second time in less then 5 months I was bound and determined to do any and everything I could to cut corners and save money. My mind was made up about cloth diapers before I even tried them or brought it up to him. He response was fantastic...classic Matt.

Me: "So I'm going to do a 14 day cloth diaper trial to see if I like them, which I know I probably will"
Matt: "What!? Why? No. That's weird, that's like what hippies do, we are not doing that."
Me: "Well it will save us a lot of money. We can't really be picky right now. We're doing it"

Ha ha! Fast forward to now and he is 100% on board. If my husband the hunting, fishing, dudes dude type of guy is totally fine with cloth diapering I think any male can handle it! Easy peasy.

I suggest doing a diaper trial If you are totally overwhelmed and have no idea what type you want to go with and what brand. There is numerous websites that offer this option. I did mine through a store in Blaine MN called All Things Diapers. They are super nice and informative there, and shipping is free in MN, other states free shipping after $20! (this is huge since most of your diapers you will order online. I have no cloth diaper stores anywhere near me!)

The Money Saving Facts:

• Does going cloth really save you any money? Short story, yes. Even if you go with the high end pricey Cadillac brand of cloth diapers you will still be saving a worthwhile amount of money
• Isn't the start up cost of doing cloth an investment? Yes. To get a decent stock so your not having to do diaper laundry every single day will be a few hundred dollars to invest in 15-20 diapers (depending on the style and brand you chose)
• But doesn't your water bill go up from doing more laundry? Yes. A whooping $4-6 on average per month for us. $80 ish per month on disposable diapers or $5 higher water bill? Kind of a no brainer.
• I don't machine dry my diapers because I want them to last as long as possible without damaging so I hang dry them.
• In the long run is it really worth while? Absolutely. On average you spend around $3,000 on disposable diapers per child before they are ready to potty train and are out of diapers around the age of 2 1/2 to 3. So to me the start up cost of a few hundred for cloth diapers really doesn't seem so bad.

Other Worthwhile Reasons to cloth diaper:

• So I'm not a super crunchy earth mamma but maybe I'm slightly crunchy. The amount of waste that goes into the landfills from disposable diapers is kind of outrageous. I like to think that in a small minuscule way I am doing my part to help.
• The chemicals that go into disposables to make them turn into gel to absorb 300 times its weight in water can not be healthy for your baby's skin. Google chemical burns from diapers.  Enough said.
• Earlier potty training- It's said that potty training becomes easier when the child can be more aware they are wet. Sitting in the wetness of a cotton cloth diaper verses the gel of the disposable diaper will feel different.

My Favorite Styles:

For me, I knew I wanted something that was simple, easy to clean, husband and grandparent proof. That is why I choose the pocket style and the hybrid/AI2. The pocket diaper has an opening in the back that you stuff an absorbent liner in between the water proof shell and soft liner that touches the babies skin. I LOVE THEM. I have never had a leak with a pocket diaper, they clean very well, and dry fast. I recommend a one-size style which has snaps down the middle that can make the diaper a small, medium and large size. How great is that!? One diaper can last from newborn to toddler amazing!

The hyprid/AI2 style has a waterproof shell and snap in inserts. They are not as bulky as the pocket style and you can reuse the shell if its not dirty and just snap in a new insert. Not great for sleeping or long naps I have had leaks but I do like them during the day. I will warn you poops in these diapers are a lot more work to clean up!

I also have some prefolds with water proof diaper covers and a snappi! They are a bit putzie and old school but are the cheapest in price!

Snap versus velcro closing: I have both. I prefer the snap because I feel like they last longer then the velcro. Although velcro makes for a nice and fast diaper change for a squirmy baby. The velcro does stick to things and snag occasionally in the wash.

My favorite brands:

There are a lot of good brands out there which makes things nice and difficult! I loved all the ones I tried during my diaper trial! Grovia, Best Bottoms, Rumparooz, Bum genius, Kawaii, Fuzzibunz all fantastic but for me the whole reason for doing cloth was to save money.

For pocket diapers I chose kawaii simply because it worked well and looks similar to fuzzibunz but way way way waaaaaaaaay cheaper. They weren't my favorite but I was able to buy 10 kawaii diapers for $85 were 10 fuzzibunz would cost $199.50! Ummmm huge price difference there. My other pocket diaper I choose was bum genius. I love them! Great diaper and good quality more expensive then kawaii but definetly cheaper then fuzzibunz and rumparooz.

For hybrid/AI2 I preferred best bottoms. Less expensive then grovia and the inserts dry much faster. Grovia inserts are made of bamboo, although extremely absorbent it takes FOREVER for them to dry.

For prefolds I have some flip covers and I fasten the cloth using a snappi. Not my favorite but it works!

So there you have it! The basics of getting started! Have a lovely lovely day! Over and Out Erin.

 

Websites I have found helpful:

http://www.allthingsdiapers.com/Allthingsdiapers/WELCOME.html  Free shipping in MN! all other states free shipping after $20 spent

http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diaper-Information_ep_34-1.html - Lots of great info and sales!

http://www.theluvyourbaby.com/  - Kawaii diapers

http://www.cottonbabies.com/?cPath=98 - Bum Genius diapers free shipping