A New Mei Tai

I really LOVE babywearing! With my first two babies I used an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder sling and a Baby Bjorn Active. Anyone familiar with the Bjorn knows that there is a limited time frame a parent can use it with their child. Also, the Bjorn and similar carriers are not the best for babies and their growing bodies...


With DD#3, I wanted to babywear and was interested in other carriers. I bought a Slinglings fitted sling, which I loved for the first three months. I bought a WAHM Mei Tai, but it was not structured enough...the material used seemed too flimsy. I purchased a Sutemi and it's by far my favorite. It is so comfortable and easy to use.

Then I saw a new Mei Tai...the GloryBaby ( http://glorybabymei-tai.blogspot.com/ ). The two features that I really like and what lacked in my former carrier are the hood and the ability to be fully reversable! I have drooled over the beautiful fabrics online and I got a glimpse of some at the Coastal Kids Market today ( www.coastalkidsmarket.com )...how I wished I got my consignment check before the sale was over!

CD stash revisited

So, I pretty much have the same diapers as before (the whole selling the old ones to get new ones practice has not started!)


I now have:
14 OS BG 3.0 (4 white, 2 yellow, 4 pink, 3 zinnia, 1 blue)
9 medium HH (ballerinas, ballet shoes, mums)
1 Blueberry minky (pink on chocolate)
2 large Swaddlebees AIO snaps (pink martini and lavender)
2 OS Swaddlebees (pink martini and lime)
2 medium FB (purple and pink gingham)
1 Grobaby shell and 3 soakers (purple)
1 Softbums shell and 3 soakers (lt pink)
2 Mommy's Touch OS AIO (pink and hot pink)
1 medium GAD (Hot pink with black)
1 Smartipants (lt pink)
6 Swaddlebees prefolds w/1 onesize snap cover (pink)

Yes, there are some that I like more than others. Yes, I should probably sell some. But I like that I have a variety and I can use different diapers based on what our daily schedule is going to be. Now that DD is almost 9 months, I am really happy that I have been buying more diapers with snaps! When we go out, I almost always grab the grobaby and the softbums. The bumgenius are still one of my favorites and are the only ones we use at nighttime. Unfortuntely, since they are nine months old they are definately showing they are well loved. For whatever reason, I hardly use my FB. On a positive note, my small FB look practically new and I will be trying to sell those!

Update on Tiny Bubbles

Let's just say that after being in RI for 5 weeks one of the things I was missing the most was my washing machine. Yes, I said it. Even though I have a total love/hate relationship with it and the machine has broken numerous times, despite the fact its only a few years old. "Why did you miss your washing machine?" You might ask. The main reason is that my washing machine does a pretty good job of cleaning clothes (when her mind is made up to do so). I tried to cloth diaper full time while in RI but towards the end, DD was getting nasty rashes and I had to wash the diapers like 5 times to get them (somewhat) clean.

So, when I happened to be on FB and saw The Natural Baby Company was giving away samples of their new detergent, Tiny Bubbles, I knew I had to try some. I do love my Country Save but I was willing to try something else.

To be completely honest, my microfiber inserts stunk and I was thinking I was going to have to strip/bleach my diapers when I got home. I wanted to try Tiny Bubbles once before doing so, however. I was amazed that after one wash routine, my diapers almost smelled like new. Almost. I was relived knowing that bleach would not be needed! Another positive is that DD does not get the same rashes as before! Needless to say, I am extremely happy with Tiny Bubbles and will be sad when its all gone.

(NDOTB) The New Detergent on the Block

Soooo, even though I love Country Save for all of my laundry needs, I am curious about other detergents out there. Especially since a few cloth diaper companies are formulating their unique blend. The Natural Baby Company, masterminds of the Gro Baby phenomena (I love, love, love my 1 gro baby shell and 3 soakers) is introducing their proprietary detergent- Tiny Bubbles. You can check it out here http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenaturalbabyco.com%2Ftiny-bubbles-p-732.html&h=f9fdc691ea9d89f4f1ddf40e3ac42c3f . The packaging really draws me in, it has a retro feel and makes me happy, like laundry should be fun and not a daunting task. The fact that the detergent can be used for my cloth diapers is the icing on the cake! Welcome, Tiny Bubbles, you are the NDOTB!

It's Like I Was Living in the Olden Days

So, I was helping out in our church nursery last Sunday and talking to the other moms. One of the moms, who is very young was talking about her baby boy. Apparently, he has a milk allergy so she nursed him for a full month. She even cloth diapered (the old school way) because he was extremely sensitive to sposies. When her mother showed her how she had to dunk the diapers in the toilet, she refused. "What breastfeeding and cloth diapering?!?! We are not in the Old Times!" So now he is formula fed (like his brother was) and wearing the "natural" huggies, which she even says work horrible (and are super expensive). But she says it's work the extra money not to have to use cloth diapers...To each their own.

When she said that comment, I chuckled inside while the other mother (knowing I cloth diaper and breastfeed) said, "Sometimes that way is better actually". I just thought it was a really funny moment.

I won't even get started when I told them I never had an epidural...

No, its NOT diarrhea!

Ok, maybe I am the only nursing mama that finds this frustrating....I will be at the Y or at church and DD will have a BM and leak through her clothing (because she is EBF and she is wearing a disposable). So when I pick her up, the nursery worker will say, "I think you daughter is sick because she had diarrhea". To which I just shrug and say "OK". Its not worth trying to explain...Just another example to prove breastfeeding is NOT popular in the Savannah. In RI, I never had anyone tell me one of daughters had diarrhea, they would just say "she had a BM and leaked through her clothing". It still blows my mind though because seeing the EBF poo and thinking its diarrhea means that not only did the workers not nurse their children but that none of the children at church or the Y nurse! WOW.

I want to try gro baby diapers!

So, I realize that I am probably the last cloth diapering mama to try a gro baby. I am very intrigued by the shell and soakers concept. I like the idea of bringing just one extra shell while out and a few soakers. Which in turn means I don't have to lug a huge diaperbag around. Hey, I might be able to fit the set in the front pocket of my baby carrier! That would be awesome! One can check out the gro baby here http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2%84%A2-ic-11_16.html

Little Mommies

Alex and Sam love helping me out! One morning they gave Bri a bath. Granted, if Bri wasn't such a laid back type of gal, this would never happen!

After reading www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com all week, I wanted to take some pics of the girls holding their babies! Since I can't sew (yet) we just used some receiving blankets. The girls are super excited that I won "Fluff Friday" and are anxiously waiting for their doll cloth diapers!

An Almost 5 Year Old

I cant believe that my oldest DD is almost 5 years old!!! Where has the time gone? My girls are growing up so fast.

But I have really noticed it with Alexandra. She seems so mature. She helps tremendously with the baby. She will get her out of the bassinet and will hoist Bri over her shoulder and burp her. Last night she tried a little bit of everything for dinner (we had a middle-eastern braised beef stew). I told Matt how I am so thankful that she will at least try new food. Some kids will only eat chicken nuggets and that's it.

Tonight I asked her what she wants to do for her birthday. She is starting to get some ideas and seems really excited. One advantage to moving to Savannah is that Alexandra will never have school on her birthday (she is a St. Pattys day baby). She is thinking about having a green themed birthday...hmmm maybe we could have a "green" birthday. I will have to brainstorm some on that idea....

I'm Having a REALLY Good Day!

Today was a good day and I was constantly wondering when I was going to wake up.
Let's see:
-We got up, dressed and out of the house on time (if not early)
-I went to a GREAT spin class that was challenging and fun
-Bri slept at the Y
-Bri continued to sleep when we got home and I got to take a REAL shower, blowdry my hair, and put on make-up
-I lost two pounds this week
-I checked my usual websites and my SIL won a contest
-It was a beautiful, sunny day. A day so perfect that one couldn't help but smile. A day that made me happy that we moved to GA.
-I picked the girls up from school, we grabbed lunch and spent the afternoon at the park.

Then I "woke up"
-The girls crashed hard after the sugar high they were riding all afternoon (thanks to Valentine party the school said they weren't going to have)
-The diaper bag I had been eyeing for over a week was "sold out" as I was checking out

But all-in-all STILL a great day! Life with three little girls can be crazy and I am just so happy that I had a day that I can look back on and say "I do have good days!"

Sad

I dont push breastfeeding on moms but it is REALLY hard for me to understand why moms formula feed. I guess there is the rare medical condition why moms need to use formula. Since moving to the South, I feel like the majority of moms use formula and I DEFINITELY get more looks when I pull out my nursing cover. With my two older girls, I never really felt weird with breastfeeding in public. Here, in GA I almost feel embarrassed. I think that is really sad.

For instance today, I was at a softplay in a local mall. There was a mom there bottle feeding her newborn. When I started nursing Brianna, her 3 year old daughter could not understand what I was doing. That is sad.

I actually saw that mom in Target and overheard her telling someone her baby is 3 weeks old!!! That is really sad.

Do moms really start with a bottle at birth? I cannot even comprehend that. It is so unnatural. And yet I am the one that little kids ask what I am doing, wondering why the baby is not having a bottle. THAT IS SAD.

My CD stash as of 2/6/09

Here is what my CD stash consists of, at the moment:

6 unbleached indian prefolds-infant
2 small Bummis Super whisper Wraps
1 small Swaddlebees cover
2 medium swaddlebees covers
1 Bumkins bamboo fitted
3 small Happy Heiny's
9 medium Happy Heiny's
2 small FuzziBunz
2 medium FuzziBunz
2 Mommy's Touch OS AIO
14 Bumgenius 3.0 OS

1 Swaddlebees wetbag
1 WetHappened wetbag
1 walmart wetbag

12 bumGenius wipes
16 babycloths
Kissaluvs Diaper Potion Concentrate
Bumgenius Bottom cleaner

Numerous Bumgenius OS inserts
14 NB BG inserts
6 BG liners

My Goal

Well, I had a blog for my girls but I just cant keep it current. I usually use facebook just because its so easy. I was going to use theirs but then I thought "I can start another blog". So here I am! I hope this will be a place I can put down my thoughts about being the mom of three girls and my adventures with cloth diapers, and other new parenting experiences.