Archive for the ‘stuff I like’ Category
Diapers: Cloth, disposable or…
Hybrid?!
Clever, clever. Aside from the cute little diaper covers, the inner liner is disposable. And not just disposable, my friends, but flushable.
Aside from the big environmental benefit here, how much would I LOVE to not have stinky bins of diapers around my house??
The materials in ‘little g’ pants, liners and flushables are designed with comfort and dryness in mind. Flushables are made of a water resistant, breathable outer material that keep bottoms dry and wetness away. It is made of all natural fiber and is 100% biodegradable. The interior uses elemental chlorine-free tree farmed fluff pulp and Super Absorbing Poly-acrylate to absorb wetness. These super absorbing lock away cells hold up to 100 times their weight in liquid.
Snap-in liners are made of breathable polyurethane coated nylon, not pvc like many diaper covers. They are easy to change and rinse out. Our liners are also breathable which helps prevent diaper rash.
Our ‘little g’ pants are made of a soft, breathable outer cotton/elastene fabric giving them a slight stretch.
I'm completely intrigued by this innovation. They do not represent any kind of cost savings over conventional disposable diapers – let alone cloth. In fact, of course, they are pricier. But if they are all that they are marketed to be, they certainly marry the best of both worlds – and even trump both!
So, I do believe we're going to try them out once the babe is here. I'll let y'all know how they work out. 
Mom My Ride
Hilarious:
Duct tape is the perfect way to say, "Sorry, fellas, this lady's already gotta man."
Although, for the record, I love having me a man who does a REAL repair on my van's rearview mirror [when he breaks it]. Heh.
I got my van (2003 Odyssey) detailed the other day and it looks practically like new! I attribute that, in part, to the rule that kids can't have food and non-H20 beverages in my car. And, ideally, no writing utensils either. The Windstar van I traded in a few years ago was defaced with crayon graffiti all over the back seats and ceiling. ARGHHHH
Pregnancy: 27 weeks
27 weeks today! And it's just all baby, all the time on this blog now, isn't it? Definitely this is a very consuming stage of pregnancy. I'm getting very excited to meet my little guy.
This was one of our weekends sans kids, so Scott and I spent some time shopping and putting the finishing touches on Jake's room. Got the bedding into the crib, hung some cute wall hangings, folded little baby clothes and put them away (still have to pull them all out again in a couple months or so and wash them and fold them and put away again, but I don't mind – nesting is no chore.
Entirely unexpected that it would play out this way, but it turns out that Jakey has a fully furnished nursery. There's even a glider rocker! The ONE item from my girls' babyhoods that survived for Jake (mainly because I was a smart mama and picked a non-nursery upholstery, so the glider has long been a fixture in the living room these past 11 years). Still in perfect shape!
Enough of my babbling! Pictures!
QotD: Many Happy Returns
What are you going to do with your tax return?
Submitted by KB.
We just spent some of it today! From the Wendy Bellissimo Honey Collection.
They are on order and should arrive within 1-2 weeks.
We also got a lamp and a couple cute baskets – also Wendy Bellissimo collection. I just LOVE her baby line!
More babywearing gear
They make just the CUTEST baby carriers these days.
I've had my eye on a mei tei ever since I saw a mama toting her baby in one locally. But seeing as how I already have THREE slings, I thought I'd wait to get one after Jake's arrival.
Well, then I heard about a sale on BabyHawk mei teis ($12 off!), plus I had an opportunity to leverage Scott's guilt over being obsessed with a video game most of the day today, so I took advantage of them both. 
BabyHawk has a gorgeous fabric selection, by the way. It was so hard to choose!
So this little beauty is on order. Yay!!
Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen
In 1999, the "speech" was set to music by Baz Lehrmann (Moulin Rouge – one of my favorite movies!) and now that song is the basis of the video above.
Enjoy! I thought it was very moving.
How to do pregnancy belly mapping
Baby position can make a HUGE difference in how labor progresses. In fact, a lot of “false” or prodromal labor is the result of contractions working to move baby into the proper position for birth. A baby that won’t budge into the proper position is like a key misaligned with a lock’s mechanism – the baby is unlikely to emerge efficiently. Just like that key is unlikely to unlock the door.
I discovered this site today, Spinning Babies, that helps moms identify their own baby’s position and label it appropriately.
The site also has lots of posture tips for getting/keeping baby into a good position, as well as tips for adjusting baby into a more optimal position when it is less than ideal (the ideal fetal position is one of the OA positions – head down, baby’s back against mom’s tummy or on mom’s right or left side). When baby’s back is facing inward towards mom’s spine, labor can be very difficult and painful.
The technique for figuring out baby’s position is called Belly Mapping:
Too often, the posterior (sunny-side up) baby isn’t identified until labor is troubled. Mothers ask, sometimes after the cesarean for a long, OP labor, “Why didn’t anybody know? Can’t the nurse or doctor tell when doing an exam?” Medical studies compare ultrasound imagining with vaginal exams by nurses and doctors. Trying to feel with the fingers which way a baby’s head was directed was not possible 60% of the time in the first stage of labor and 30% of the time in the second stage. Fortunately, other clues exist.
Belly Mapping is a three-step process for identifying baby’s position in the final months of pregnancy. Parents can use Belly Mapping for their own enjoyment. Medical care givers can enhance their skills by using the visual clues of Belly Mapping. Doulas will be able to suggest strategies for fetal repositioning when a posterior lie is suspected.
Not that it matters too much for me at this particular stage of pregnancy – Baby Jake is small enough that he has plenty of room still to flip about to his heart’s content (and he does!). But soon he will get too big for that. I think positioning has been an issue in my past labors, so I’m keen to do whatever I can to help this babe sit [on his head] properly.
Now, for the past few days I’m pretty certain he’s been breech. Lots of hard, uncomfortable kicks to my bladder/cervix. Sometimes he does it with such authority that I nearly jump out of my own skin! Just when that gets frustrating, though, he flips around. Scott and the kids are far more likely to feel his movements when his head is down and the kicks are landing on the top part of my belly.
Anyway, the pure physics of birth is really quite fascinating. Midwives get it. Unfortunately, it’s taking much longer to filter into the medical mainstream (where most women still labor and birth in positions that work AGAINST gravity and their body’s anatomy). In any case, Spinning Babies does a really good job diagramming and explaining how baby’s position is so critical.
Whatever happened to Winnie Cooper?
Remember Winnie Cooper? Even though I adored The Wonder Years, I never wondered whatever happened to Danica McKellar, but was fascinated to find out just now.
Huh:
But then Danica McKellar decided to do something unusually ambitious: She dropped out of the public eye and went to college, and not only turned out to be some kind of math genius but actually helped prove a new theorem that now is named after her.
Blessed gene pool indeed! Intelligent, ambitious, hardworking and beautiful. What a refreshing, rare example of Young Hollywood.
Baby gear as fashion statement
Since my youngest kiddo currently is a big girl of 7 and I thought she was my last, I am starting all over again with baby gear! Not that we need a lot – relatively – but still I know what I want and need based on past experience. I started getting a little anxious over the past week about making some decisions. So I made my list and commenced with some purchases. Here's the booty so far. 
I just got the CUTEST diaper bag today. I saw it online first at Babies R Us and put it in my registry. Then I discovered it at a locally owned mama and baby shop and picked it up today. I can't wait to use it!
I also found – after tons of Internet research, talking with other mamas for user feedback, etc. – two perfect slings for babywearing. The first one is a pouch style sling – which is a very streamlined style – that is adjustable. I like my babies snug and high up against me, so adjustable was key (in the past I've used a padded ring sling – fully adjustable, but that style is just too hot for Phoenix – especially a summer baby, BUT they are comfortable because the shoulder is so padded and I do happen to have a one on hand that my sister-in-law has loaned me).
My main around-the-house sling will be this Mamma's Milk beauty in Inclination (100% cotton). She has some gorgeous silk fabrics also, but word on the street is that this fabric is considerably hotter than the cotton.
I also ordered a ring sling in blue Solarveil from Wallypop – the most comfortable solution for babywearing in hot weather climates, I hear!
Solarveil is a 70 SPF, breathable mesh fabric. This sling will be great for whatever time we spend outside this summer (an occasion I intend to assiduously avoid!), but it also dries very quickly so it's also perfect for slinging baby in the swimming pool or shower.
Oh, lookie what I just found: A picture of me slinging baby Mir. (I gave this sling away ages ago and it still looked like new. It was very hot, though, even for Ohio weather… all that shoulder padding.)
Vox Hunt: Symmetry
Show us symmetry.
What I got on Saturday:
What I'm eating on Sunday:
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 
