Sunday Surf - Here I go Again!

It's been awhile since I've posted my Sunday Surf selections, but here I am!

How To Raise a Moral, Responsible Child Without Punishment

Another positive discipline article.

Barbie Dolls with Big Bosoms Bring Up Big Questions

An interesting take on Barbie and body image for little girls.

Marshmallow Rainbows

A fun art activity for St. Patrick's Day fun. I think I may try this one this week!

How To Fold a Prefold

Who knew there were so many ways to fold a prefold cloth diaper? We have a variety of diapers, but I'm a huge fan of prefolds. They are the most economical. They are inexpensive and hold up really well. I'm going to try a new fold from this article - the Diva fold. Felix has taken to flipping onto his stomach and screams like a banshee when I try to flip him over and pin him down to get the prefold on. The Diva fold allows me to snappi the prefold with him on his tummy. So this mama is going to try it!

Mental Energy - Wahoo!

It goes without saying that mental energy is so important to functioning for anyone. In motherhood it can make the difference between Momzilla and functioning somewhere closer to that gentle mother ideal. Well, I have been blessed with some renewed mental energy this week and it feels wonderful. I think I know what made the difference. Yesterday we invited Boo's Grandma over to play with him. She is very playful and he always has a great time when he sees her. Sadly, we're not the greatest at making time for them to be together. Having Boo happy and occupied freed hubby and I up considerably to get some things done. As for hubby, he was stuck doing a paper for school. But I got quite a bit of stuff done upstairs. I still have a ways to go, but I was able to clear a lot of space out of our bedroom by getting laundry put away, packing away some of Boo's outgrown clothing (sniff sniff), clearing some things out of Boo's bedroom to be, and I even set up a small sewing area for me in our bedroom. It's not quite done. I have some sewing stuff thrown in random boxes that needs a spot, but it's getting there. Hurray! So hopefully that means that I'll actually do some sewing!

Seeing Boo's bedroom to be clearer of junk has made me feel so wonderful. It's interesting that I had to drain myself physically in order to feel better mentally. I admit that I wasn't sure about my decision when I got out of bed this morning. During my morning waddle to the bathroom, I wondered if I had overdone it. And let's just be honest. It wasn't even a waddle. I felt like a beginning toddler walker trying not to fall over the whole way there. My lower back was screaming at me, "What were you thinking??!!" BUT as I continued to shuffle around with my achy back, the shuffle became a waddle and the achiness subsided. It was well worth the temporary discomfort because I have just felt so mentally light today, if that makes any sense. I have a feeling that the more things we accomplish towards Boo's bedroom and preparing for baby the closer I will get to a mentally peaceful state.

On another note, I got some majorly cute diapers in the mail today that I ordered for our little one. I'm excited to try them out. Yes, I know it's weird, but once a person tries cloth diapering diapers become exciting for some reason! I mean, they have cute little giraffes on the outside. What's not to love?

A Return to Wool and a Possible Return to Nighttime Cloth Diapering

Well, you may or may not remember that we gave up nighttime diapering awhile back due to Boo waking up smelling like ammonia every morning. Ugh - gross! I tried stripping the dipes countless times to no avail.

However, today I was reading some information from Green Mountain Diapers that I got after ordering some prefolds from them for new baby. And I think I've now got some good ideas for tweaking the wash routine. So I'm going to give nighttime diapering a try over the weekend and see what happens. I can't really try it through the week as I don't have time to bathe Boo in the morning before daycare if he smells of ammonia.

Also, I had previously decided to give up wool because it's so high maintenance. However, I was looking on the bottle of my wool wash and saw that there were instructions for a washing machine. I have only ever handwashed my wool as that's pretty much what I've read/ been told. And I thought, what the hell...why not? So, I threw in some things that needed to be washed with wool wash. I put them on low in the dryer until they were damp and then I laid them out to dry. So much easier and they smelled great - no shrinkage either. I never felt like I got my wool very clean with handwashing and it took days to dry.

So, now that I've decided I like wool again I've found a pattern for shorties. I'm going to make Boo some for spring/summer. For those unaware, shorties are knit shorts. Basically you can put knit wool over a fitted or a prefold diaper and it acts as a diaper cover. Wool is known for being extremely absorbent. It can be reused several times before needing to be washed.

Nighttime diapering

It's been awhile since I've written about cloth diapering. We're still enjoying using cloth, but we've run into a problem. Boo's diaper reeks in the morning. I'm talking major ammonia smell. I've tried every combination known to man for nighttime - ok, maybe not, but I'm running out of money to try new things. I've tried stripping the diapers countless times. It doesn't seem to help. I don't have time to give him a bath in the morning as he often doesn't wake until after the dc kiddo is here. And I prefer not to just throw some lotion on him to cover the stench. I mean, come on, that's got "bad mommy" written all over it. Soooo...in the interest of not having the "stinky kid" I've decided to do disposables for nighttime diapering. I must say that T is absolutely elated. While he's been cooperative with cloth diapering he'd much prefer to use disposables. So he's thrilled. I will say that since we made the decision it's been nice to wake up to a non-stinky child. Although, I will say that disposables have a smell all their own that is not entirely pleasant. It's that overly powdery papery smell. I guess using cloth for so long I'm not really used to the smell of a disposable diaper. However, I'll take the powdery paper smell anyday over ammonia urine smell. I'm not saying I wouldn't try something else for nighttime. If anyone has any ideas I'd be open-minded. But for now I'm throwing in the towel. We still go through plenty of cloth during the day though!

I am thinking that he might be outgrowing some of his cloth. That makes me want to vomit...the thought of buying more cloth diapers. I keep trying to console myself with the fact that I won't be buying nearly so many cloth diapers with the next child. I think I'll feel more consoled when we actually have that child and don't have to buy diapers at all. Until then, it's financially painful to see so much money go to something that's on my child's butt!

Cloth Diapering and Flies

I just thought that I would post a tip for anyone who is cloth diapering. I've found that fresh lavendar at the bottom of a diaper pail helps with the pail and keeps bugs out (flies are repelled by lavendar). Also, I'll take a fresh cloth wipe and put some drops of tea trea essential oil (antifungal and antibacterial properties) and some peppermint oil (repells flies). We've had a horrible time with flies in the house this summer. So after an incident of flies trying to reproduce in the diaper pail (gross I know) I researched natural ways to keep the flies at bay. And...you know I love aromatherapy...so that's where I went first. Just thought I'd post.