Archive for the ‘housewifery & honey-do’ Category
I love when these things come together
WOW, I feel SO good about my accomplishment today!!!! Two problems have been driving me absolutely batshit.
1. Jake’s toys. We have a large bin in the family room that contains pretty much ALL of his toys. (What isn’t scattered randomly all throughout the house, that is.) And my SIL has donated a bunch of toys and puzzles that my niece has outgrown. Which is awesome, but they have too many pieces parts to be stored higgledy-piggledy in a bin. Consequently, we have a bunch of toys cluttering the house and Jake isn’t even really getting anything out of them.
2. Bailey’s homeschooling supplies. Out of control. I had stuff stacked on the dining room table in the living room area, stuff stacked high on my upstairs office desk, plus misc on kitchen counters and in various other places. Aside from the stressfulness of the clutter, Jake is also getting to the point where he can reach it and therefore destroy it.
Two other problems that are unrelated, but tied into the issue at hand:
3. Desktop computer (Windows) downstairs in corner of dining room SO junked up with malware that it wasn’t even useable. But last weekend, Scott reformatted the drive, installed linux and set up user accounts for all of the kids. Also added memory so it’s zippier than it used to be.
4. Bookshelf on the landing that was mostly empty and made me nervous. Even though it’s pretty much gated off from Jake right now, eventually he could figure out how to use it as a ladder to perch on the balcony wall, potentially falling to the hard tile below and killing himself. Yep, not comfortable with that location.
So today, it all just jelled. Since Scott fixed the downstairs computer, Bailey has been using it as much as possible for her school work. As a result, more of her materials were getting stacked up on the dining room table. I started thinking, man, I really need a book shelf there…. <light bulb>.
So Scott got the bookscase downstairs and anchored to the wall. I consolidated ALL of Bailey’s learning materials (and some of her sisters’, too) – as well as all the piano music that Jake can get into when it’s on the music rack – onto the bookcase. I also now have a place high up out of toddler reach to store the puzzles and sorting toys and all the other stuff with multiple, small pieces, so we can bring them down one at a time, play with them and then put them away. Huzzah! He still has a toy bin full of toys, but that’s mostly his trucks and cars and plush toys and various noisemakers, etc.
That just all worked out very nicely.
Note the toddler-proofing chairs barricading the computer. LOL Love this age.
Funny how that stuff that was taking up SO much surface space on tables and counters, hardly looks like *anything* when organized neatly on the bookcase. I even have extra space to expand into. 
Baby gate land
Early last week, I was shut up with Jake in my MBR/office. The stupid door was shut, but it doesn’t completely latch. He managed to get it open, sneak out and crawl into HM/Mira’s room before I even noticed he was gone. (The door is around the corner from my office and I never thought for a second he’d get on the other side of the door!!!)
Thank goodness he didn’t head for the stairs instead. 
There’s still more.
HM was having a snack and she came upstairs, went into her room to read on her bed. Suddenly, she shrieked! She heard baby sounds emerging from under her bed. She peeked below and sure enough, Jake had crawled under there and was playing with various choking objects.
He’s on the tail end of a cold, plus the dogs spend the night in the girls room. So when HM brought him to me, he was wiggling and gurgling with delight. And his face looked like it had been tarred and feathered, except with snot and dog hair. He was totally pleased with himself, though.
Isn’t he too young for these shenanigans??????
So if awards are being handed out today, I think I win for most neglectful, yet luckiest mommy. Wahhhhhh and PHEW that he was safe.
Ironically, I was researching baby gates when this went down.
And this weekend, my amazing husband solved some of these problems! We now have a master bedroom door that latches again AND we have gates. He also spent a significant amount of time in the attic yesterday dropping cable so he can rewire the network (the cables for which are currently snaking around Jake’s room, where he is never left to play unattended, but someday he will be).
This gate is on the landing hallway, blocking Jake from the balcony and stairs:
Gate #2 – this one traps Jake in the master bedroom/office when that’s where I am. By far the most childproofed and child friendly space in the house.
The bear represents Jake, who is taking a nap right now.
We’re putting this same gate (Kidco Configure) at the bottom of the staircase. Will post that photo when it’s installed!
IKEA flatpack fun!
Here's what we did this weekend (and by we, I mean mostly Scott). New office!! We braved IKEA last weekend – exhausting. And yesterday Scott deconstructed the old office and put together the bright and shiny new office. Hurrah!! I LOVE it. I had next to no desktop surface workspace before, and now I have a vast expanse. <deep sigh of pleasure>. So today I spent some time getting my pace neatly ordered ready for work tomorrow. 
There's still some work to do… we need to brave another trip to IKEA to get drawer and filing cabinet units… and whoopee another weekend of furniture building. And all the cords need zip-tied, etc., but as you can see from the BEFORE picture, this is tremendous progress.
THANK YOU to my sweetie pie hubby for all his hard work on this. XOXOXO
(also an IKEA set, but originally purchased to fit a smaller space – Scott's desk before, which you can't see in this photo, was an old dining room table. Functional, but it had its problems)
Cloth diapering resources
- Washing cloth diapers: Detergents and stripping tips
- Washing cloth diapers: Routine
- Might want to consider these dipes later… Baby Beehinds
- More detergent recommendations
Cloth diapers: Taking the plunge
Oh, I was resistant to do the cloth diapering thing. In large part because just researching the topic is so overwhelming and presented a timesuck challenge. I've slowly been coming round to the idea, especially after I kind of accidentally discovered the bumGenius 2.0 option recently.
What sealed it for me, though, was when I got my LANA nursing pads and tried them on earlier this week. OMG, they are SO soft and comfortable. I'm really sold on the concept – especially in how they compare to the disposable nursing pads I was using when I breastfed my other babies. It got me to thinking that I want Jakey to be that much more comfy, too.
My girls never had any problems with disposable diapers, but I am anticipating a more sensitive baby this time, based on Scott's skin sensitivities, particularly with contact allergic reactions. Also, there is some speculation about disposable diapers and the longterm fertility consequences for boys.
Anyway, there are a ton of good reasons for me to consider cloth diapering, especially since I work from home and we can afford the more convenient alternatives like fitteds, pockets and all-in-ones.
So I dug in, did my homework and have decided: We're going to do it. (And for the record, Scott is all for it, too. In fact, he's actually wanted me to CD all along because he thinks it's best for baby, environment, etc., BUT he didn't want to be pushy since I'm the one who will be doing the majority of the work (have I mentioned I ADORE this man). So he was pretty happy to see me researching and getting serious about this alternative.
The initial cloth diaper stash will look something like this:
For newborn stage (0-4 months):
- Three dozen Kissaluvs fitteds – size 0 – These seem to be universally hailed for newborns and explosive BF poop containment. I think I will feel very comfortable investing in a stash of these to get us through the first few months. (They are not so popular for older babies that have a greater bladder capacity and don't need to be changed with every feeding – absorbency apparently becomes an issue…)
For older baby (5+ months) – just considering for now; won't buy at first:
- Dream-eze fitteds (organic cotton and organic velour) – These are wildly popular, but also significantly more expensive than the Kissaluvs. Because they are so expensive, I'm wary about stashing a large supply of them for the newborn stage (which is relatively short compared to the length of time babies can wear the larger sizes). Also, I have a feeling we'll be using the bumGenius 2.0 once Jakey has chubbed out a bit.
- One dozen bumGenius one size – This seems like a low risk investment… over the course of 2-3 years I imagine we'll get enough use out of a dozen of these to warrant the risk of buying that many up front. And if it turns out to be a love affair at any point of the diaper stage, I will just buy more! Most of the complaints I've read about these have been in regard to their fit on a newborn.
Assorted covers to try before making decisions about next size up:
- Bummi's Super Whisper Wrap – Wildflower Diapers is offering a free one of these per dozen Kissaluvs, so will have three of these on hand.
- Imse Vimse organic cotton – I'd like to try one of these
- Stacinator fleece – I want one in the leopard – so cute!
- Wonder Wraps – one size | reviews
- And I'm thinking a couple wool covers, too: Like maybe this one? I also may try an Aristocrats. I'm really sold, in theory, on wool covers. I'm curious to see how they play out in practice.
- gDiaper starter kit – For $25, I think these are worth trying out. Even if we don't cotton to the flushable inserts (harrr), cloth diapering moms rave about the quality and effectiveness of the covers (plus they are really cute)!
Desert living: Baby landscaping
We moved into our current home late July 2006 (hottest day of the summer in Phoenix – 118F!).
From August through late September 2006, we had our pool built. (Those are the famous Superstitions you see off in the background…)
Then in early October, our landscaping went in. Most desert homeowners these days opt for a style of drought-resistant landscaping known as xeriscaping. Irrigation is usually done via drip system and the goal is to limit water usage as much as possible by using desert-hardy plants. Even with the limited irrigation, a lot of tropical species also do well here.
[In the picture below, you can see way off on the hazy horizon the San Tan mountain range. Also, the desert area behind our house (now excavated for a subdivision) where there goatbirds and other desert wildlife used to live).]
For an Ohio native like me, this means two years ago I couldn't identify a single one of the plants I currently have in my yard! Moving west has expanded my holticultural horizons tremendously. Aside from the petunias I potted (they do well, but require daily watering, of course), most of the plants in my neighborhood (and throughout the city/desert/state) are completely new to me.
Sadly, in January 2007, we had several nights in a row of freezing temperatures, and our young plants suffered. Some of them died, including two trees ($250 a pop!) that just weren't established enough to take such a hit.
I didn't photograph the damage – it was just too depressing. In all we dropped over $600 to replace the lost plants. We still have a couple of palms we've been giving a chance to come back, but I don't think they're going to make it. Most of the damaged plants that were going to come back, seem to have done so by now.
Here are some pictures of our baby landscaping. The combination of irrigation, heat and relentless summer sunshine should make these little plants grow like crazy. I'm looking forward to taking some photos in the fall and seeing how much the landscaping has matured.
All the little, bitty plants you see in the pictures above (and below) are spaced so widely because they just explode in size as they mature. The planned look of our yard ultimately is one of barely groomed, colorful (many of these varieties bloom most of the year round) natural-looking proliferation of plants filling out the landscape, much like they do in nature.
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Mom to 4 kids and 2 stepkids, I am a writer writing in the heart of chaos. I am the co-founder and former editor of 
