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

What to do, what to do!

The little human's first Christmas was a success. And by success I mean he got through the busy day without any major meltdowns or freak outs. The teething has been kind of ridiculous lately so he was a little fussy and tired. Naturally for a 1st Christmas he had no clue what was going on, didn't care about gifts, played with the tree and cat more than the wrapping paper and was overwhelmed by all the people and family togetherness. Mamma's little introvert....wonder where he gets that from!

The Conner household is still operating on uno vehicle. Kind of inconvenient but totally doable. At least it's not the middle of the week when we both are working. It's not like the pirate and I have any extra important play dates to attend to!

So what the heck do we do now? Whelp, I got Noah what every baby needs for Christmas. A bunch of new socks of course. Only one issue, slippery. You know what that means! ARTS AND FREAKING CRAFTS TIME BABY! Its a shame this didn't take me longer to do ha ha.

Step a one: Flatten sock
Step a two: Use your super awesome art skills to do designs with puffy paint
Step a three: Let dry over night (away from the silly cat who may or may not want to play/eat the puffy painted socks)
Step a four: Put them on your small human
Step a five: Boom your welcome

Well that took about 9 minutes and 26 seconds so I decided to make some healthy mini banana muffins for the nugget. I'm horrible at following a recipe I always change things up and then never write down what I ended up doing or changing. Which kind of makes things difficult when you want to make more! I should probably invest in a recipe book. The old fashion kind where you can write in it!

Warning this is what happens when I cook/bake and don't follow a specific recipe. Things are pretty much just thrown together! Sorry!

• Mash 2 ripe bananas together in a bowl
• Add 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of regular sugar
• Add a cup of applesauce?? (I didn't measure it out of course)
• In a separate bowl add about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and use your creativity! (I definitely didn't measure any of this out ha ha) I added cinnamon, handful of oats, sprinkle of flax seed, pinch of salt, a dash of coconut flakes and a partridge in a pear tree
• Mix both dry and wet ingredients together and add more flour if it seems too runny/ add more applesauce if too thick!
• Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes
• Baked goodness, husband and baby approved

These are really good because they are so moist! Very easy for a small human to gobble up.

And that's all I've got for today.

-Over and Out

Stranded

So the car broke down. Matt was driving home when all of the sudden the car slowly came to a halt. Turns on and off but just doesn't go any where. Pretty much the clutch is out and it's going to be around a grand to fix. Oh joy. You know I was thinking that it was probably about time for something else to break down. Last week the dryer reached the end of her existence. Good old gal she couldn't bare to do another load. She did well, she lived, she dried and then she died. Why is it that appliances don't last like they used to? It's a conspiracy I tell you!

At least the car broke down Wednesday night. I don't work Thursday or Fridays and this weekend I also had off. So I remained stuck, trapped, stranded at the house with the pirate.

I had nothing pressing I needed to do. No errands to run or places to go but not having the freedom to do so is awful! You think to yourself... What if? What if I needed to go to the grocery store to get delicious ingredients to make some sort of 5 tier cake master piece? Or what if I had an intense craving for a peppermint mocha and I needed to go to the coffee shop? Or what if I sliced open my finger yet again using my awesome chef skills and needed a stitch or two!? Good thing my in laws live 6 miles away! Dramatization over.

We went to the very last holidazzle parade Saturday! So sad it has ended, I've been going since I was little! What the heck is holidazzle you ask? Only the greatest winter parade there is! It's in downtown Minneapolis at night on the weekends. The floats and all the people in the parade are covered in lights.What a fun slightly dorky thing to do in the cold of winter. We need to get out and inhale some fresh air anyway, might as well watch a lighted winter parade! It wasn't too terribly cold and my little human did fabulous! He was going off only 1 nap and did great at a late dinner after the parade. He was such a delirious little ham! Goofy and giggly, better than a total hot mess I suppose!

What else is there to do when everyone starts to get stir crazy!? Get outside and lick some snow flakes! I guess we spent a decent amount of time outside in the last week. Shoveling, playing in the snow, sledding, crying in the snow, cursing the snow, day dreaming of warmth and tropical climates. You know, the typical winter thing.

My little shovel helper!

Sledding with dad! Note his horizontal position ha ha.

Happy December! T-minus 2 days till Christmas! Can you even believe it? Noah's 1st Christmas yay!

-Over and Out

Christmas Time Is Here!

"Its the most wonderful tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeaar!!!" Fa la la laaaaa! I mean, minus the freezing acrtic blast. Driving on a sheet of ice and my hands being so dry I do believe they will crack completely in half. Oh! and needing to start your vehicle 15 minutes before you leave, planning your day so you make the least amount of stops humanly possible and wearing so many layers you look like a gigantic marshmellow puff.

This winter has been cruel to us so far! It got so cold so fast this is like January/February weather not December! Oh well, what do you do? I'm currently working on my extra fat layer to keep warm. Hot chocolate made with whole milk and pasta at 3 pm? Perfection. 

So us Minnesotan's do what we do best. Keep talking about the weather, bake monsterous amounts of things, and dream of wonderful warmth and sunshine! The winter season is exactly why I do not complain about summer like the other 88% of us do. So many midwesterners hate hot humid weather but I say BRING IT ON! It's so short lived I say "shut your yap and soak it up or stay in your air conditioning" So there! Just saying I would not mind 90 degrees and sticky right now.

Last week we had a Christmas cookie exchange aaaand it was pretty much the best day of the month. All kinds of cookies. Cookies left and cookies right. I made molasses cookies dipped in white chocolate and peppermint. It was a joyful spectacle, and yes my husband and I have nearly eaten them all. Oops. Side note the pirate is also a fan of cookies, each and every single one he enjoyed. How could he not? He is my child afterall.

1. Make molasses cookies
2. Crush candy canes into itty bitty pieces
3. Melt white chocolate chips 
4. Dip cooled off cookie in white chocolate the sprinkle with peppermint
5. Boom 

And what do you do when your cooped up inside all day? Baby projects duh!!! My mother in law made the hand print Christmas tree and today Noah and I did the raindeer footprint. 12 more days until Christmas I better think of more projects!

-Over and Out!

Snowfall

Oh joy! First big snow fall of the season! Don't get me wrong I really do love snow. Its gorgeous, sparkly and festive, wouldn't feel like December without it. But I can't say that I enjoy driving in it. Or should I say commuting in it.  Took me 45 minutes to get to work this morning and an hour and 15 minutes to get home in the evening. AND IT SUCKED.

It isn't the snow that's the issue but the block of ice your driving on beneath the snow. That's when things start to get interesting. You slightly break and you slide all over. Go over 30 MPH on a turn aaaaaaand slide all over. Oh the wonders of midwestern driving.

Side note to all of this winter wonder land goodness...........I need to get the pirate snow pants!!! I can't wait to toss him into a snow bank and watch his face as he eats his first fist full of fluffy snow! I will literally snowshoe to the nearest target tomorrow to get them. Yes I'm being ridiculous. No I don't care. And the likely hood of me actually going to target in the negative death degree of weather is 99% probable. I mean its target, it sucks you in. You enter for deodorant and exit $80 poorer. I blame subliminal messaging. And one's ability to be severely side tracked. Target. Why must you be so cruel!? moving on.........

This is the tale of my drive home from work. I leave early per the Doctor's wife's request........I never leave early. EVER. But it was dead's ville, with so many patients canceling due to the weather I didn't mind not hesitating after she suggested it. I go out to my jeep which is pretty much buried in snow after sitting there for the last 9.5 hours and attempt to clear it off. A taxi cab gets stuck in the cul de sac I'm parked in and is waving people to go around. This is my hint the conditions are AWESOME! Then my windshield wiper snaps off. Like the whole damn thing just disintegrated in my hand. Marvelous! I fiddle around for 7 minutes trying to see if I can fix it when i finally proclaim "SCREW THIS! I NEED TO GET HOME BEFORE ITS COMPLETELY DARK OUT!" There may have been other choice words used.

It's almost comical, the fact that its still snowing, I can barely see, I'm minus my drivers side windshield wiper, It's getting dark and I have an hour or more drive home. People are in the ditch, and I'm 4 minutes into my endeavor when I see a car facing on coming traffic (clearly not a Minnesota native).....

Really people? Just take your time! I was half blind and I made it safely home. End of story. Its not the snow but the ice. Take your time. Don't be dumb. Stop slamming on your breaks. And do not over correct with your steering! BOOM. Gotta love winter driving! It's like an entire category of its own. And it's currently 10:38 and my husband just walked in the door from work. Rough day of driving out there people! YEESH.

-Over and Out