Word Vomit and Gratitude Sunday

I'm loving watching these Littles of mine grow. This week has been hard for us. Almost all their toys and games have been boxed up, furniture is being moved, and we're out of catsup because I refuse to buy anymore food we won't use up before we leave. i'm mean like that i guess. but really, what am i supposed to do with a twice used bottle of catsup? And with all this unpleasant change has come outbursts and temper tantrums and disagreements... and about half of that is me. in my defense, i was also sick AND it was my Shark Week. But despite all this, I see my kids and their perfect moments... the ones that happen all day long but maybe I'm not paying enough attention and I miss it. Just now, I finished nursing the ManChild and gently got up to pee, "I'll be right back," I said, "I'm just going potty. Sissy will hold your hand." I wasn't gone but maybe a moment and when I came back, they were still holding hands, fast asleep. 


I know I've been neglecting this silly little blog. Which is super lame of me, I have brilliant ideas to share all day long. But to be honest, blogging and moving sucks. I feel like I complain about it all the time and no one likes a whiney blogger. but SHIT! moving totally blows. didn't i just pack this godam crap? I've been so caught up in not-organizing that there are no knitting pictures... heck, there's been literally and absolutely zero knitting. And I know at least some of you dear readers come for the yarn. don't pretend you don't. There also haven't been any kid pictures either really. Well, my camera hates me. It says asshole things like "no, i won't focus on that awesome texture," and "sorry, sweetheart, but we all know your kids/knitting/dog/those mountains are cuter blurry/dark/bright/not in the shot." ok, maybe the last one is my fault. And since getting hit with the world's hugest over use fee on my data plan fuck you att, I've been pretty anal about my phone usage too. So yay! blog with no pics whoohoo!!!! And I don't know why else anyone would read this silly totally awesome blog. Except maybe for the diapers. I promise I have an awesome cloth diapering a toddler/potty training post coming up... if I ever actually sit down to write it. Oh and we've been reading awesome things, so I have a post in my head for both Ginny's Yarn Along and Unschool Monday... But I have to actually write those too... shit.

But today, what I do have, is Gratitude Sunday with Taryn. Her posts are always so magikal, I wish everyone would go over and read some of them. Also, she and her husband, Jeff, make the most wondrous buttons and things out of reclaimed wood and wood the find on their property, as well as salves and ointments, that they sell at their Etsy shop. 

Oh well. I'm so grateful for everyone who reads this blog and all my ridiculous word vomit. It would be cool to hear from some readers, if any care to comment, what types of things you'd like to hear more of... give me some ideas. 

I'm so grateful that my family is letting the kids and I stay with them for a few months while Huz gets some more things finished.

I'm soooo grateful to Snoop Lion for hosting my man's first EP. I'm grateful that Snoop let Huz use his studio, I'm grateful to DaeOne for making the beats all original, right there during the sesh. 

And most of all, I'm so grateful to my man. I'm thankful that I get to see his face on and off thru out the months. I'm thankful for 6 years and 2 beautiful babies. he still thinks i'm hot, even when i don't. I'm thankful that his job is structured to give us time apart to miss each other, lol. 

thank you air, thank you blood, thank you fire and water and body. today was an awesome day.

Yarn and Children. Love.

G*R*A*T*I*T*U*D*E S*U*N*D*A*Y

I'm joining Taryn over at WoolyMossRoots for what might be my new favorite blog roll...

G*R*A*T*I*T*U*D*E  S*U*N*D*A*Y

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

This week I am grateful for....

* Honest communication in my relationship. 

* Adventurous and self motivated offspring... some of the time. Both kids right now are learning new skills without too much of leading from Huz or I. The ManChild has learned to tell when he feels pee coming and has started to approach us in advance saying, "peepee, poddy! peepee poddY!" He especially loves it when Huz is the one to help him. And of corse, KaBean and her letters... She doesn't really like to practice when I sit down with her, but when she feels like it, I see her writing real letters.

* Honestly, I think everything week boils down to this: No matter how things look in the moment, I would rather be here with my Man than anywhere else. The thing about relationships is that sometimes they are not easy. But fighting out loud, actively working thru whatever problems you have, even if it you shout and say angry things, even if the kids are there, is the only way to fix the problem. We fight, but then we work it out. We come to decision, we forgive each other and hug, and hug the kids. The best thing about fighting is showing the kids that love will find a way (every 'love will find a way' song is running thru my head right now. i feel really cheesy).  Huz is strong and supportive and slightly off his rocker, and I wouldn't change him for the world. Even the part of him that thinks water just grown on trees...

Anyway, enough sap

*Homemade Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes. With walnuts chopped very fine, so the small children can't tell they're there. teeheeheee...

* The box of cloth diapers we brought with us from home. We ran out of devil diapers destroyers of the earth Pampers a few days ago and it's been so hot, we haven't been to the store. But lo! I had all our cloth and some cloth diaper soap tucked in the closet in my fiber room. I feel so blessed that the ManChild is potty training because he hasn't really been wanting diapers and he hasn't really been peeing on the floor.

And last and most exciting....

*** It's working! My F#$king Shawl looks fucking incredible. The stitches are showing up, the count is right, I even love the colors and gauge still. It's gonna be amazing.***

Look carefully at this picture in case I anger the Knitting Goddess with my excitement. This might be the last picture of the F@#king Shawl we see...

Now head on ever to Taryn and read her beautiful list of gratitudes. They'll make you feel sort of happy...

Absence...

I am house sitting for my parents again. woot! It's wonderful to be here with my kids... we get to play in the forest all day, go in the hot tub when we feel overwhelmed, and watch movies on a real tv instead of my lap top. The three crazy dogs are always running around and barking at nothing. I have day dreams of filling the yard with goats and chickens and planting the best garden! But it is hard to get online out here, they only have satellite internet which is about as quick as dial-up. But I have been working out and taking pictures... just not posting about them.

Which brings me to the reason for this post:

Because we have not been at home (house sitting... and our gas was turned off and i'm waiting for huz to get up all the $$$ to get it back on) I have put aside my cloth diapers, temporarily... The man child has had one hell of a rash and Bean is still needing a night time diaper, so I bought 4 packs of the 7th generation paper diapers and some wipes. It was 10% day at harvest so i stocked up. This is actually a great thing for my cloth diaper adventure because it is giving me a chance to wash and strip all my diapers and look at them all in one place, sort out the ones that we can still use and demote to rags the ones that are torn or too small... Plus my beautiful land lady pays the water and since the Man Child started eating real food, the diaper routine has needed more and more water. I still do my best to dump the poop into the the toilet because a) the fecal matter that goes into the trash dump via disposable diapers ends up in our water systems... so essentially we drink each other's babies' shit and b) putting human fecal waste into the municipal trash system is illegal. But few people care or know. We successfully cloth diapered our son for a year and a half. I'm not done with my cloth, but it is time to reevaluate the system to make it work for a big kid instead of a baby. Cloth diapering the new born was the easy part...

Let's Write About Diapers... Cloth Diapers!

My toddler has stinky pee. yes she does. I don't know if other toddlers have stinky pee. People don't really talk about it I guess. It's ok for her to have stinky pee if I remember to put a diaper on her at night, right now she uses the Thirsties covers and either a flip instert or a BumGenius bamboo fitted and that works great. Unnnnnnnnfortunately, I often forget (I stay up too late knitting or spinning) and so she has a big night time accident. right next to me. at night. like last night. And maybe tonight... I forgot again. oh Duh- I will jump up and put one on her.

HA! Done.

Anyway, to the point. I have finally built up a stash that allows me to go every other day for laundry. Which is rad. The problem is that leaving KaBean's overnight diapers sit overnight builds up a great amount of stink. Like ammonia. gross i know. After scouring the internet for ideas on how to get rid of the stink I have found that ~a cold wash with Thirsties Pre-Wash ~a hot soak with 2 tbs of Rockin'Green for a few hours, the you know, just close the lid and let the wash cycle run ~one last hot wash every 3 or 4 wash days, but usually just a cold full wash or a hot rinse~ works the best! For about 2 weeks there has been no stink when I pull the dipes from the dryer or the kids wear them. score one for the mom team.

On these cloth diaper pages I see a lot of people asking how others travel with CDs. There is always a long list of suggestions about how to organize 78 different bags for different travel scenarios... but here is my cents: JUST DO IT. Take those bad boys out. Show off those awesome prints and that unnecessary collection of Baby Legs. Bring enough for the trip X 2 or call ahead and ask about laundry. Bring your wet bags and your butt spray. Make sure to bring plenty of wipes (I just bring all my wipes because you never know...). Check that you have your trustiest diapers, or the ones you don't mind losing, depending on how you roll I guess. Toss them all into your suitcase pack the diaper bag for just travel time and off you go! Easy. I've made 2 week long trips and many many day or overnight trips and every time it gets easier. I love my diapers, even if they start to smell. Every problem has a solution. love it!

now i will go cut up my spinning video to share with you...

Diaper Inventory... or I Will Never Have Too Much Fluff!

2 bumGenius! Elemental Organic All-in-One One Size Diaper

6 FuzziBunz(R) One Size Cloth Diaper, for some reason 3 of them have 6 snaps on the front and 3 of them have an extra snap to fit to very small babies...

3 Rumparooz G2 One Size Diapers with 6-r Soaker

7 bumGenius! Organic Bamboo Fitted's

12 Econobums Hemp Prefolds

1 Mother-ease One Size fitted Diaper
1 Kissaluvs Fitted Cloth Diaper
3 Econobums White Covers

2 Thirsties Duo Wrap Diaper Cover with snaps 

And laundry soaps we have tried-

Thirsties Pre-Wash

Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergent

 Thirsties Super Wash

The go-to night time diaper that I love LOVE is the BG bamboo fitted's and yay, way to go bum Genius! but they are no longer made. yay. The bamboo fitted's paired the Thirsties are the best. I still change the Man Child when he wakes up to eat but the Bean can go all night and she is a heavy wetter. I think it all comes down to the cover for her. I found that for K Bean, the Econobum covers don't hold diddley squat. I hope to try wool soakers for the Bean, those sound pretty good. 
If anyone who reads this has a line on the BG Bamboo Fitted's let me know. I love those things!

YAY! Another Fluff Friday from Kelly's Closet!

http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/

Friday, October 29, 2010

Fluff Friday 103

Fluff Friday
1-FuzziBunz One-Size Cloth Diaper in Choco Truffle
1-FuzziBunz One-Size Cloth Diaper in Kumquat

Question of the week:
Do you ever coordinate the cloth diaper baby is wearing to a specific outfit so it matches? (If yes please state an example of what you have done in the past or what you plan to do in the future.) Leave your comment before Thursday, Nov.4th at 7pm EST. (You can only answer the "Question of the Week" ONCE PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY.)

Go to http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/ for your chance to answer the question and win. There are so many other ways to enter too! Go check it out. And if you don't have kids or use cloth, you can always win and send them to me, lol!

Whats With Today, Today?

Hells yeah, I got a ton of shit done today. Yeah I did!
1. Got Kaya off to school with breakfast in her tummy before she left house, lunch made, teeth brushed, Zen dressed and changed and Isis fed. Score!
2. Went to Mom's to drop off her tomatoes from Lorrie's garden (delish!) and pick up the cookware I needed to make my day super productive.
3. Got home and finished the dishes. That alone is a major accomplishment. I was very proud of that because I just got a new 38 piece set of Snapware (like Tupperware only cooler) that all needed to be washed and put away.
4. I gave Zen a bath. Yay. My little water baby loves his bath days! He was all pissed off, like majorly pissed, and I got him naked and put him in the tub and presto, he was super chill. Got him all cleaned and put him down for his nap. I sooo wish I could have joined him. Early bed time tonight!
5. I made tamales. That's right bitches, TAMALES! AND they were vegan! hells yeah! score 5 for the home team! Vegan potato curry tamales. I soooo made the masa from scratch too. I didn't grind the corn or anything, but I did have to blend it with the Earth Balance for like 3 hours just to get it to the right consistency (no, not really 3 hours, but hella forever). AND guess what? They turned out pretty great. I mistook my cayenne pepper for chile powder and added a whole tablespoon of cayenne to the curry so they were suuuuuper spicy but after some tweaking they came out pretty good! yay.

Now all I have to do before bed is get the diapers into the dryer, fold the laundry and make the bed. Then I can sleep in it! YAY!!!!!

I Do What Is Best For Zen or The Vaccine Question

Breast feeding on demand for two years is absolutely best for my baby. It has everything his growing body needs, it comforts him, he knows I am here for him 100%.

Cloth diapers are absolutely best for my baby. They are clean, easy to use, soft on his bum, chemical free, and I know every single person who has touched them since the last time I washed them.

Co-Sleeping is absolutely best for my baby. He hears my heart beat and knows I am there for him. If he gets hungry we just get closer and he can root his way right to my breast. Co-sleeping absolutely prevents SIDS. If you are drunk or smoking or super tired you could roll over on your baby, good thing I don't drink or smoke and I take naps.

Baby wearing absolutely best for my baby. He doesn't cry when I wear him, which means I don't have to stay up and walk the floor with a sad baby. I know where he is all the time, either on my front or my back. I'm helping his neck and shoulder muscles develop. In fact, he will probably, sit, stand and walk sooner than his bucket baby peers. He might not, but that's up to him. I can nurse in public without nosey jerks noticing and still play with Kaya while holding him.

Keeping my son intact is absolutely best for my baby. I didn't mutilate his genitalia during his first week of life. Isn't that the best reason not to anything?

There are conclusive studies on how all these things are the best things you can do for any infant but there are studies on both sides of the vaccine debate that are right-ish. The thing is, if I read only anti-vac studies there is enough information there for me to say ABSOLUTELY FRIGGIN NOT! But if I read only pro-vac studies there is enough for me to say HELLS YES!!! This is something I just don't know how to solve. I can shave my head, knit a frog, and nurse my son all in the same day, but I just can't decided if I should vaccinate him or not...

Cloth Diapers and More Practice Frogs

I love my cloth diapers because it makes me know for certain that I am doing at least one thing everyday that is really truly good for my son. I'm one of those people who who really hates to do laundry but every morning the first thing I think about and maybe the 10th thing I get around to doing is washing last nights and yesterdays diapers. I love dumping them into the wash all nasty smelling and gross and pulling them out again all shiny and white. I love putting them out on my porch on my clothes rack all "white trash style" as my mom (sort of) jokingly calls it. The amazing side effect of all this washing is that I get other laundry done too! Because my almost 3 year old is night time potty training and refuses to wear the MotherEase fitted I got her, morning laundry often smells like toddler pee so it's good I have Zen's diapers to encourage me.

Also, here is Practice Frog and Mrs. Practice Frog. Not the best pic, I know, but it was late and I was going to bed. Practice Frog's construction did not stand up to the almost 3 year old so hopefully Mrs. PF works out better. I'm working on PF 3 now and if he works out really well then it'll be onto Real Frog so I can finish this darn binky strap.

Life Aspirations

First off, I want to start out by saying Facebook sucks today.

Now, I go and I buy these knitting books or vegan cook books really meaning to change my life and live a more slow food king of life style but I never really cook anything and my knitting always takes for ever. I want to teach my children to eat good food and not waste but my favorite snacks and dinners come out of boxes and I like new clothes. Don't get me wrong, I don't really shop for myself, I'm still wearing my only pair of prego pants. I really spend my money on yarn and cloth diapers and organic processed food. yum... but I should be cooking for my loves not feeding them out of a box. I try... ok, lie. I think about trying to feed them better, but then I get distracted and forget to start dinner by 6 and we end up having quesadillas or mac and cheese or cereal. Some day I will get it together enough to do these things but now, I have to hang the diapers in the sun and take a nap...

Fluffy Mail!!!

First off, the fun stuff, I got my fluffy mail today! The boring stuff- Thirsties Pre-Wash and Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergent (Soft Rock- Bare Naked Babies). The exciting stuff- FuzziBunz Double sided Wipes and my very first Rumparooz G2 One Size Diaper w/ 6-r  Soaker (Aplix fastener) in Platinum. That's right, we now have a platinum colored diaper. Ballin! I already love it, but it hasn't been washed yet and that seems to make a difference in the softness. In the next few posts I think I'm going to start reviewing some of the fluff and fluff related products I get. I'll start with our first diaper purchase and go from there.

But that is another post, and right now I'm going to talk about my day...

J Wizzle left this morning, sad, and the house is a mess, sadder. I should be picking things and cleaning since I got both kids to bed at the same time (score 1 me!) but instead I am going to watch Robin Hood and work on Melinda's cowl. Tomorrow I will be going to the MYS with Jamie to get some advice on the project while Bean is in day care, I'm kinda nerdily excited about it! My mom told me I was an old lady but I just laughed. This is fun! I got more done on this project while Wade-O was home than I had been able to get done in a while and that felt really great!
Our day went pretty well, J Dub left at noon and the kids and I sort of hung out together for a while. We played "You can't caaaaatch meeee!" with Bean. I hold the Man Child in the carrier and sort of fast walk while K Bean runs through our house squealing and having a really great time. Then we played "You can't fiiiinnnd meeee!" Bean will hide under the blanket and then squeal and have a really good time when I pull the blanket off her and find her. Then, get this other moms of 2 babies, We All Took A Nap At The Same Time!!! Yes we did. It was glorious! Man Child slept and Bean slept and I got to sleep too!!! (Hence being up blogging at 11pm) It was even Bean's idea. I think she thought she was playing a game until she started snoring!
Any way, I'm off to my knitting.

Day 10: Ugh... Now I Can't Remember...

I need to start writing these things down. Over the last few days I have come up with, what I think are, some great topics. But everytime I sit down and start writing, I sooooo forget what I was going for. I guess I'll just do another up-date.

Kaya's behavior has been pretty up and down. She goes from being really helpful to really stubborn in a whole 2 blinks of an eye. I've been working really hard at not shouting or using threats, trying to really hear what the problem is. Making the effort to really spend time with her has been rough but I think we're getting better at it.

Zen is amazing, he still has a cough and a snotty nose, I think I'm going to call the peds office to see if I need to bring him in. I really don't want to. I think he would sleep really well at night if he weren't always soooo stuffy. He can hold his head up really well and loves to look around towards the noises he hears. Cloth diapering is going really well, no rash yet, no build up in smell or stains. It even helps me keep on top of the rest of the laundry!

James is going to be home soon, but he'll be bringing his mother. I really can't wait for him to be home... but he's bringing his mom. oh well.
Time to get Kaya from school!

Baby Noises in the Dark

My boy dreams like a puppy and my girl snores like her dad. I don't think I could sleep without these two close to me. The soft little shuffles of Zen rooting for my breast so we can both stay asleep is so peaceful and amazing. I wish we had a bigger bed so Kaya could sleep on my other side. I close my eyes and find his soft little feet under the blankets... remember when Kaya was this small?

We've been without James for 1 week and things are getting better. We can do it.
Zen is a 4 weeks old but wont be a month old till Monday.
Our GrowVia hybrid diapers got her today. Zen is testing them before we put them to 'long car ride' use.

Day 6: A Much Better Day or Diapers in the Mail!

Kaya had daycare today and she was sooo good getting ready to go. Dropping her off was great, she was really good. Zen and I had a fine, calm day until he had projectile vomit all over our bed! It got in his eyes, his ears, his nose, his armpits... I even found some in his diaper! He got a bath and even though he has never liked baths in the first place, he was so good and relaxed. He let me clean him all over until I got to his hair, he didn't like that at all! We went to pick Kaya up and it was a disaster! She was so upset about something... I don't know what, but she had an accident during nap time and then a melt down. We had to get the other teacher from the baby room to hold Zen while I comforted Kaya.
I think she really just needs me. She needs my undivided attention, not me while I listen out for Zen or watch a movie with her while I nurse. I want to do something really special for her but what? My mom will take Zen for an hour or so and Kaya and I can go to the beach or maybe the toy store and get some paint and do a project. I want to give her everything I gave her before we had Zen. She needs lots of love and affection and attention and want, need to be the one to give it to her.
But by the time I got them both home she had cheered up a bit and we got on with our day. The best part of the day? Our new FuzziBunz came in the mail!!! These cloth diapers are so cute and soft and surprisingly easy to use! I love cloth diapers!!!!! I am pleased to report the rest of our day has gone smoothly, no major incidents to report!

Now on to Ice Cream, Knitting, and Torchwood.

Day 2 as a Semi-Single Mom

Sooo... day 2 started off kind of rough. Man-Child woke up at 6 am and wanted to nurse and chat and look at stuff, but I convinced him to at least chill and relax while I rested some more. Then K Bean woke up at 7 but she was easy, I put on UP and she stayed in her bed until it was over. We woke up and had a shower and got the kids in the car and went to my moms where the day got wayyyy better.

We had a rough night though. Poor Bean had a really stuffy nose and a cough all night. Then the poor, ill feeling girl had an accident in the middle of the night. she was sooo sad, I was heart broken. At some point the CD I had on Man leaked and we woke up in a horrible puddle. I think it was a Bum Genius AIO. I found a few disposables in the back of my closet so we'll be in those (at night) until my favorite baby shop in Mendo opens back up on Weds. I got my first FuzziBunz this weekend and I love it!

Well, night 2 has begun and so far Bean hasn't coughed Man is asleep and we're off to a good start.

Knitting and Cloth Diapers

Yay. So, I love to knit, it seams to be my new most favorite thing. I'm working on an awesome cowl for my beloved doula. It is 180 stitches around of cables and lace. I got all the way to row 25 (out of 50)before I realized I had messed up the last 5 rows. And because I'm awesome, I couldn't figure out how to take out only the rows I'd messed up. I mean how do you pick up an SSK or yo? or a double yo!? So sadly, I had to go all the way back to row 10, the last of my cable section... poo. So now I've started again and done about 5 rows. It looks sooo nice, but I still haven't gotten to the rows I'd messed up in the first place. Oh it will be so lovely!

For our first baby we used disposable diapers even though it made me feel a little guilty. For the Man-Child, we have been using cloth! We use tri-folds and little terry cloth diapers with plastic pants. But my new faves are the BumGenius all-in-ones. We use flushable liners so we don't have to rinse the diapers in the potty (yay) and we've been trying to keep up with using reusable wipes with some sort of spray stuff to clean off the poo. So far we really love cloth diapers, I just need to get more!!!

Home Birth Preparations

I had no idea how much I needed to do to get ready to have my baby at home. When we had K Bean at the hospital all we needed to do was get our bag packed and show up. But to have the baby at home there is a whole list of things I will either need to buy, borrow or find. Today, my midwives dropped off the birth pool and a long list of things that would be needed, like trash bags, clean sheets, a large Tupperware... bendy straws! Why am I going to need bendy straws? WTF? I mean this list is over 30 things long. But, I will have most of it ready, so the day when this little man comes to stay, all will be ready for him. We already sleep with his blanket and his first outfit so our smell is on it. We have the tub and the tub liner. We've cleaned and rearranged the house. I got house plants and flowers and candles... Tomorrow, J Dub and I will prioritize the list and start chiseling it down. Most of his clothes are still at my mom's house, unwashed. But we do have a good 2 day supply of cloth diapers -also unwashed- but at least they are close to being ready to go.

I am really starting to freak out about this whole not-at-the-hospital thing. I like to tell myself that it will all be fine, that the only thing about the hospital is I will be more tempted to want drugs, the only way I will be able to welcome this child the way I, and J Dub, want to is to do it at home. Besides, the Bragg hospital is only 3 minutes from our house and is so low tech that if anything went truly wrong they wouldn't be able to stop it and we'd still have to be air-lifted to Santa Rosa. J Wizzle shows no fear. He says he knows I can do it. I know I can do it too, but it is still hella scary! He is so excited to meet his son. He has a name picked out, which I like, but haven't quite latched onto.

J Dub works so hard so he can be home with his family, but still be off making money. I love him, he is really amazing!