Fall 2012 thus far

Let me start by saying this year has been flying by much too quickly. I used to find myself kind of wishing time away before I had Emilie. Counting down till the summer, or the next big vacation. Now that I'm a mom, I find myself trying to savour every single moment. Even on the most frustrating of days I try not to wish away one second with my little girl. Life has other plans and I find that I blink and a week has passed. Okay, not really, but you get the picture.

So now we're into November, the mad dash to Christmas. The summer is over and we're trying to relish every day that it is above freezing so Emilie can spend just one more afternoon outside in the fresh air.

Here are some pictures from our Fall so far:

Emilie and her cousin Joshua helping my dad celebrate his birthday.

Pictures with her Grandpa and her Papa.

Hamming it up with her Uncle at her Great Baba's birthday party.

Emilie and Joshua in their matching Halloween PJ's. We called it "The Skeletwins".

Enjoying some reading.

I think she's seen Mama hang a bag on the back of the stroller a couple times!

Doing some fun at the Pumpkin Patch.

Off to find the perfect Pumpkin.

Our very sick little girl having a little treat after trick or treating at a few houses.

First experience with Play Doh

Having some fun in the leaves.

Some fun with her Grandpa at the park on a warmer day.

Swinging around with her Nana and Grandpa.

Cloth Diapering: How to deal with yeast

This is probably the number one asked question on cloth diapering forums. For some reason this one issue, or the rash issue in general intimidates to many that cloth diaper. The good news is that it doesn't need to. Aside from a couple extra things that you need to add to your load of diaper laundry, it's no different than if you were using disposables.

We've had to deal with cloth over the almost two years that we've been using cloth. I've tried many different wash routines, done a ton of research, and come out with a routine that I have found has killed the yeast once and for all (for us).

 First of all you are going to need this:

Yes I know what you're thinking "OMG the warranty on my diapers!". First of all if you have a stash consisting of more than one type of diaper, and have used any diaper rash cream on your diapers you've probably already voided the warranty. Secondly isn't your little ones tush more important? People are also incredibly worried about the bleach breaking down their diapers. A tiny amount of bleach a couple times a year is not going to break down your diapers.

So...yes, good old chlorine bleach. It doesn't necessarily have to be Clorox bleach, I usually use No Name stuff, it's cheaper.

Second on the must have list is:

and/or:

The bleach kills the yeast, but you need tea tree oil and/or grapefruit seed extract to kill the yeast spores.

You can find the tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract at your local health food store, or the organic section of your grocery store.

Now this is where people have different suggestions about the order in which to use these products, I am going to share what has worked the best for me when I have had to treat Emilie's diapers.

First off you're going to add 20-30 drops of the tea tree oil and/or the grapefruit seed extract to either your rinse, or your pre wash. We do a pre wash, so that is when I add the oils.

Then after your rinse or pre wash is over you are going to do a hot wash with your detergent, and 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach. I follow this with my usual extra rinse. Some people find that they need to do a crazy amount of extra rinses to get the smell of bleach out of their diapers. I have a super sensitive nose, and find I only need one extra rinse, but do whatever you feel comfortable with.

**I will add that this wash routine should be followed for all of your cloth wipes, inserts, liners, doublers, wet bags, wash cloths and towels as well. Basically everything that has come into contact with your diapers and your little one's tush. I also clean out the plastic container that I hold my cloth wipes in with some bleach as well, followed by a good rinse.**

After all this is done I like to throw all of my inserts (ie. everything that does not contain elastics and PUL) in the dryer on HOT. Then if God willing it is a sunny day, everything with PUL and elastics goes outside in the sunshine for some extra yeast killing treatment.

If it's the dead of winter or super cloudy where you live, no need to worry, just line dry your items like you usually would.

Now comes your big decision, do you keep your little one in cloth while you treat their bottom with anti fungal cream, or do you switch to sposies? If you stay in cloth you need to follow that wash routine the entire time to make sure there is no risk of reinfection. If you switch into sposies then you do the wash once, put the diapers away, and then put your little one back into cloth once the rash has been clear for 3-4 days. On average this means about a week.

A yeast rash while in cloth is a pain, but it doesn't have to be a disaster.

The question I hate

It's a question that most mothers/parents get asked when their first child reaches a certain age. Usually sometime after their first birthday.

"So when are you thinking of having #2?"

My heart usually sinks a little bit every single time I hear this question. I keep the smile on my face though, trying not to betray my true feelings to the other person. For most people I give a glib sort of answer and then change the subject.

You see, when you have suffered with infertility in the past, and don't have the resources to go through the whole battle of treatments again, it's a complicated question. One of finances, and logistics, and emotions. You see for us it's not as easy as just throwing caution to the wind and having unprotected sex.

I often wonder what it's like to be able to take your fertility for granted like that and just know that it will happen. Maybe sooner, or later, but it will happen. I think because so many do take their fertility for granted that most just assume that once people have one baby that they will just do it all over again. Then there are others that just think that because you went through treatments once, that it's a given that you will do it again.

I wish for us it was that easy, that simple a decision. But it's not. Right now we just don't have the resources to do it all again. Fertility treatments can be expensive. Not to mention time consuming, and physically and emotionally draining. I have thought lately about what if we did have the resources. Would we be in a place where we would be willing to go through it all again? I couldn't even answer the question.

So for now I guess I continue to slap on the too stiff smile and laugh it off.

A sobering morning.

It all started last week. Emilie was feeling under the weather and running a little bit of a fever. Our daycare provider would have taken her if we absolutely needed her too, but since Andre is home for the summer I called her and told her she was sick and asked Shirley if she wanted me to keep Emilie home. Since Emilie was really not herself that day Shirley asked if it was okay if we kept her home. Not a problem.

Later on that day a neighbour came outside and asked us if we had heard about a cab going through the front of a house on Cranbrook Dr. The same street as Emilie's home daycare. The news didn't mention the house number. We thought about it, but though, no, it couldn't possibly be the same house.

It was.

Sometime that afternoon a cab driver drove through the front downstairs window of the same home that houses our Emilie's daycare. It's the same room that is across the hallway from the same room that all the children play in. The room is totaled. Across the room from where the window and brick wall once was there are big holes in the drywall from flying bricks.

That same room is the tv room where the children will watch movies or hang out if one of the kids is under the weather. Emilie and the other children could have very well been in that room had she have gone to daycare that morning. The only thing that is left to remind anyone that was a tv room is the big screen tv mounted to the wall. It's the only thing left after the accident.

Thankfully all the children were outside playing in the backyard when everything happened. Seeing that room this morning confirmed my belief in God. Confirmed that miracles happen, and that there was something keeping everyone in that house safe that day.

Today I am thankful.

If you are interested there is a small article here about the accident that has a picture.

Why we chose Cloth Diapers

I am asked this a lot. I have been asked by friends, colleagues, family. If you're in the midst of cloth diapering you realize how popular it is, but if you've never been exposed to someone who does cloth diapering the idea sounds so messy, so time consuming...so hard!

I will start by saying I didn't always think that cloth was the way to go. In fact when a close friend of mine was pregnant with her daughter 4 years ago and wanted to cloth diaper I kind of thought she was nuts. I mean why cloth diaper when there are disposable diapers? Part of my thinking was that because I would never get the option of staying home for a year with my future children, would it be too much work to work and cloth diaper an infant? Even my mother who cloth diapered three babies told me that disposables would just be easier when my time came.

It was always a little thought in the back of my mind though, so I started bookmarking websites and articles, saving them into a folder for safe keeping when my time came to have a baby. When I first got pregnant that's when the real fascination with cloth started. I started lurking on a forum devoted just to cloth diapering. Fast forward to today and I don't regret using cloth at all. In fact the only regret that I have is that I didn't use cloth from day one (or at least day three when we got home from the hospital). Maybe one day if God blesses us with another baby I will be able to buy these for my baby.

There are a lot of reasons why we chose cloth. I say we because Andre has been on board 110% with cloth diapering, and if you ask him will tell you that he prefers cloth over disposables! It started with me really wanting to make this parenting choice, but I always asked him if it was okay, and if he was on board too.

If you ask a lot of people why they chose cloth they will say for the financial savings. It's one of my reasons, but not the number one reason. It's like a bonus.


My number one reason for choosing cloth diapers: It makes me physically ill to think of my child creating literally 1 TON of toxic garbage in her diapering years. To top it off this garbage will sit in a landfill for approximately 500 years! I just can't do it. Now I do use disposables sometimes, but I do make the effort to plop the poop out first, so I'm at least reducing the toxic affect of those few disposable diapers we do use.


My number two reason for choosing cloth diapers: I hate the idea of my daughter sitting in a plastic, chemical laden diaper 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for years! Disposable diapers contain dioxin, which is a known carcinogen. Cloth diapers do not contain (as many) chemicals. I'm fully aware that there are some chemicals used in the bleaching process of some of the fabrics used in cloth diapers, but they are not nearly as bad as the ones used in disposable diapers.

My number three reason for choosing cloth diapers: The potential to save money. Will I save thousands of dollars cloth diapering? Maybe, maybe not. The point is that all the money that I spend on cloth diapers, are being spent on a reusable product. I get to use that one cloth diaper countless times. Then when I'm done with it I can sell it to someone else, recoup some of that money, and it can be used on another child. To me that is money well spent.

I will add that cloth diapering is a choice that my husband and my family because we felt it was the best parenting choice for our daughter. I know that there are many people out there that use disposable diapers. They are making the best parenting choice for their child.

Here are some resources that I used for this blog entry:

http://www.cheerfulcheeks.com/Earth
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php

Cloth Diaper Myths...Explained

I posted a little while ago that I wanted to do a series on cloth diapering. Since I find myself with a few spare minutes (and more importantly a quiet house) I decided to get started.

We have been cloth diapering Emilie since she was about 5 weeks old now. It started out slowly in the beginning as I only had enough diapers to last us about a day and a half before washing, and was unsure about  cloth diapering at night. Then I discovered what types of diapers I liked, and my stash grew, then as we were more and more comfortable with cloth diapering during the day then began the overnight cloth diapering journey. Now unless she's suffering a duperdutyhorrible diaper rash (AKA the Yeast Monster) or in daycare, you will find her in a cloth diaper, or well in her bare bum.

I've found myself thinking about cloth a little more than usual lately as I have a friend that has been cloth diapering her 2 month old now for about a month and a half since she was so encouraged by my own cloth journey, and another friend that is expecting TWINS and is planning on cloth diapering her two little girls. I think it's absolutely great that I have been able to help out my amazing friends get started on something that I hope they will find as rewarding as I have. This is part of the reason that I have decided to do a little series on cloth diapering. It's so overwhelming when you're thinking about cloth diapering (CDing) and starting your research, so this series is aimed more towards those moms (or dads) out there who are kind of on the fence and looking for some more information. For those of you that are hard core disposable users, please don't get your panties in a twist if you read something that rubs you the wrong way, this really isn't a series of articles for you, and it's certainly not meant to make you feel like a bad parent, so please don't go shooting me a cranky comment.

So here we go with the Cloth Diaper Myths. These are all things that I have been told by my own dear family and friends.

Myth #1: "You really don't save that much money cloth diapering!"
I had to start with this one simply because anyone who has done ANY research into cloth diapering, will know that this is just not true. I mean if you ask seasoned cloth diaperers why they started I 100% guarantee that one of their reasons will be to save money. There are a million and one resources out there that will explain how much money you will save by cloth diapering. Most of these resources are even adding in the cost of washing the diapers in to the calculations.

The average disposable diapering parent will spend between $2800-$3500  buying disposable diapers for their baby. This is not including the cost of disposable wipes.

Cloth diaperers will spend somewhere between $400-$800 to cloth diaper their child. This varies according to type of diaper. Whether or not they are using prefolds and covers, or premium organic fitteds, or one-size pockets. This cost is from Birth to Potty Training!!! This is also not including the cost of wipes. But those can be free by cutting up some of the bajillion receiving blankets you receive and using them as cloth wipes.

The cost of cloth diapers also doesn't factor in the resale value of your diapers. You use your diapers for your kids, and then sell them to someone to use for their children. I don't see boxes of used Pampers on Kijiji...just sayin'.

Myth #2: "I just don't have time to cloth diaper!"
I really wish people would rephrase this to "I just don't want to make the time to cloth diaper" because that would be more accurate. At the end of the week I spend about a half hour to forty-five minutes of time spent just on cloth diaper laundry. That's two to three extra loads of laundry and the stuffing of my pocket diapers.

I would like a disposable diaper user to time how long they spend out shopping for diapers.

The bonus is I can spend that half hour a week at home in my jammies!

Myth #3: "Cloth Diapers are just gross! You have to touch POOP!"
Dirty diapers, cloth disposable, whatever, are gross. It's poop people, get over it!

I hate to break it all the disposable diaper users out there. I dare you to check the package of your diapers. There you should find in tiny writing the company telling you to plop and flush your poop! I know you don't, but you should.

 Myth #4: "Cloth diapers smell and they leak!"
This one had to come from someone who clearly has never used any type of diaper to diaper an actual baby.

Yes, on wash day when I'm throwing my diapers into the washer they smell. But if I went over to my sisters house on garbage day as she's getting ready to throw out her little sausage of used disposable diapers if you opened that plastic liner, I bet the smell would knock you over. Clean cloth diapers do not smell. Ask me, or any CDer out there, we routinely sniff our clean diapers, they smell like nothing.

As for leaks my sister who uses the premium brand name disposable diapers, has experienced more leaks and blow outs than I have ever had using cloth.

These are just a few of the myths out there regarding cloth diapers, there are more. Here are some links to some references I used for this blog entry:

http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_howtosave.asp

http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm

Our Winter!

Christmas!
Our first Christmas as a family of three! It was an adventure. We usually combine our two families (much easier on us, and on Andre's parents since they don't have to cook), but this year Andre's parents decided they didn't want to travel. So I suggested that we go up and visit them for dinner on Christmas Eve. It ended up being a huge ordeal for us having to lug a bunch of crap for a half day there, but I felt is was important that Emilie get to experience her first Christmas with both of her grandparents.

Emilie and her Nana

Opening her new jammies!

Giving her Grandpa his present.

Santa visited our house!!

 The next morning we spent the first part of the morning together just as our little family. Listening to Christmas carols and opening presents. Emilie was a little overwhelmed by all the gifts though, so it ended up taking us the entire day to get everything opened.

Opening her stocking.

She loved her new activity table.

Opening more presents!

 After a nap in the morning we went over to my parents house to open even more presents!

Emilie and I going through our stockings.

Our day ended (after nap #2) with a turkey dinner at my parents house. I was a little nervous about how this was going to go down with a house full of people, and two active babies in my parents tiny house, but it all went really well, and Emilie did very well.

Swimming Lessons 
One thing that Andre and I felt was really important was to have Emilie get comfortable with the water, and one day be able to swim, so we started by enrolling her in a water babies swim program at the local recreation centre. The best part was that Emilie was in the same class as her cousin Joshua!

Yay, swimming lessons!

Learning the back float with Mama.

Playing with Papa.

Fun in the snow
You'd think that living in Canada that this would be an everyday occurrence, but this year, not so much at least where we live. We did however manage to get a few snapshots of Emilie having some fun in the snow with her cousin.

How can we forget...

More on the BIG ONE later!

A New Year

And hopefully a start to more regular blogging. To tell you the truth I have found having two blogs (this blog and the baby blog) to be a bit much to keep up along with work and home, and Emilie....you get the picture. But then I keep thinking about different blog post ideas, and then I think of how the people that read our baby blog may not be terribly interested in reviews of greener products, or recipe ideas, or my general rants about life in general. Sometimes it's nice to have a place that not everyone knows existed right?

I'm going to try to get back into doing little things for myself though. I really do want to get back to blogging, and back into scrapbooking as well. Two things that really do make me happy, but have fallen by the wayside first when Emilie was born, and then again when I went back to work in July. Just not enough hours in the day, and energy to get through those hours! But enough for the grumbling.

I really do want to catch you up on Christmas, what has been going on around here, the status of our marriage since I last posted about our transition into parenthood last year, and what we have been up to this winter. I also want to try out some new recipes (I found an awesome new Crock Pot recipe website!!), share with you some blogs that I love (maybe my readers will do the same?) and do a series on cloth diapering. My goal is to do a new blog entry every week, but I think a more realistic goal would be biweekly. We'll see how it goes!