Cloth Diapering

Jake and I have decided to try cloth diapering. I didn't come to this decision lightly. I did a ton of research before deciding to try this. The research included the cost of cloth diapering versus disposables, the benefits to the environment, and then the benefits to the baby. All favored cloth diapering. Based on my research a family could save anywhere from $1000-$3000 dollars a year when cloth diapering. I found websites that took into account all the cost that go into cloth diapering. This includes the extra laundry detergent needed and the extra water used in additional loads of laundry. Some websites added in the cost of a diapering service but since we aren't going to use that route I dismissed this information. Now some of you may be wondering how are we going to wash these diapers. Well in the washing machine of course! So first, breast milk poop is water soluble...which means it washes a whole lot easier then when babies are fed formula. Now some people have suggested getting an attachment for the toilet to help rinse the diapers off before washing. I am going to hold off on this until we see how the cloth diapering goes. But something we will consider. To wash them in the washing machine you just have to run a cold cycle and then a warm cycle...now you maybe thinking that is more water usage. But the websites I looked at took all this into account. We have a diaper pail for the cloth inserts that is plastic material and easier to wash. As well my parents got us a pail similar to a diaper genie for the wipes and disposable inserts for the diapers so we are covered there. Next is the benefits to the baby. Disposable diapers use a lot of chemicals in them which tends to lead to more diaper rashes. Where as the cloth diapers don't have the added chemicals and are better for the babies skin. This just seems like a win win to me. Since I have seen some wicked diaper rashes on babies in the hospital. Finally the benefits to the environment. Disposable diapers take forever to biodegrade. Where as cloth diapers you wash and reuse. Now the brand we went with has disposable inserts, which can either be flushed or thrown away. If you throw them away they don't take nearly as long to biodegrade based on the materials used to make them. Now I went with a brand called Charlie Banana. I did a lot of research on a lot of brands and types of cloth diapers. These cloth diapers have cloth inserts that go inside the cloth cover and absorb great! According to reviews. This brand also uses disposable inserts for when Jake and I are out or at grandma's house. The Charlie Banana brand has a one size fits all (8-35 pounds). The snaps on the front of the diaper can adjust based on waist size and thigh size so it will fit babies of various sizes. These are not your typical folded diapers with pins. Here is the diaper website.... www.charliebanana.com Other useful websites were www.diaperpin.com and www.theecofriendlyfamily.com. Her blog does a great job with tips for cloth diapering and brands. So we initially bought 12 of the one size cloth diapers. We purchased them from Target and in 2 different transactions. The first shipment we got and then the second transaction we didn't. We were given a UPS tracking number and then tracking number said it was delivered to our doorstep on a Wednesday, well by Friday we still didn't have the package. So I called both Target and UPS and they both showed it was delivered. And since it wasn't Target refunded our money and I just repurchased another set on their website. Well three days after the refund the first packaged showed up. So now I have an additional package which I wasn't charged for. Because I am a good and honest person, I called Target to tell them what happened. First, the guy on the phone was shocked I was being honest and then went to do some research on what could be done and ultimately, they can't recharge me for them and if I wanted to send them back I could, but since I wanted to keep them he told me that was cool and to enjoy them! So we basically got a pack of 6 diapers for free. Awesome!!! Which means we have a total of 18 diapers and that is perfect! So as far as diapering goes Jake and I have some disposable diapers to use, 18 cloth diapers, lots of wipes, a diaper pail and diaper trash can and Munckin air fresheners! We have everything covered for all our diapering needs and it should be an interesting journey. Stay posted for after he arrives and see if we stick with the cloth diapers!

Parker's Nursery

The initial theme was monsters. But I quickly found out that was going to be a lot harder then I thought. I tried looking for the perfect monster fabric everywhere, with no luck. So I asked my sister in law for help since she is great at finding fabric and while we found some really cute fabric the cost of the fabric alone was not worth it. So I moved on to plan B, which was dinosaurs! And I am really glad I did, because the nursery is perfect and I love everything about it. Now that we had a theme, next came the bedding. The bedding turned out to be a fiasco. So, I looked on the typical baby websites for various dinosaur beddings and was not pleased with any of the choices. I turned to Etsy next and found exactly what I was looking for. I looked at a number of sellers on Etsy and found the lady I was going to go with. After chatting with her through a number of messages we got all the details worked out and the order was placed. Well I soon discovered there were issues with the seller, she initially stated her turn around time for the bedding was 4-6 weeks, well 6 weeks pasted and still didn't have any bedding. Then 8 weeks and no bedding. And finally 12 weeks and no bedding. During these times I had been in contact with the seller and she kept reassuring me that the bedding was on the way and I had lost all faith in her. So I contacted Paypal to get my money back and to find another seller. Paypal could not get me my money back because it had past their 45 day limit for a refund. So then I tried getting a refund from the seller and once I had asked this she stopped responding. So I reported her to Etsy...when you do this it is a like month long process in order for things to take place. Finally, I contacted my bank and was able to get my money back. The seller was kicked off Etsy after a month and should not be aloud to open up shop on their website again. Now, I have no bedding and had to find another seller, which I had success doing, we just had to pay a little more because it was a rush job. Ultimately I got the bedding and love it. Here is a photo of the bedding. I also got curtains, a crib skirt, a blanket, and another sheet.

Then came the furniture. We had looked at Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby for furniture. We were not pleased with the Babies R Us furniture. It seemed poorly made, where as Buy Buy Baby had pretty good furniture. Then one weekend while Jake was out of town, I explored other options and this included Pottery Barn Kids and found a set that I had fallen in love with. So when Jake came home I took him to Lenox Mall and showed him the furniture that I fell in love with. He liked it too, maybe not as much as I did but we ended up ordering it. We were initially told that it was on backorder until March which was perfectly fine, because we weren't in a huge hurry. March came and we had no furniture. So I called PB kids and found out that the furniture was on backorder until the end of April. I wasn't happy about this but there was really nothing I could do. So eventually the furniture started arriving bit by bit. Here are some photos of the furniture.

Finally was the chair from PB kids. This chair is amazing and probably the most comfortable thing to sit in. So the chair arrives and we just have to wait on the slip cover. The slip cover arrives and I open the box, and the slip cover is grey. Well...we ordered a navy slip cover. So I call PB and the sales lady tells me that whatever was shipped to me was their color navy and that there was really nothing they could do unless I wanted to exchange it. Jake was out of town and told me to wait till he got back because he didn't want me to do anything rash. So he gets home and confirms what I told him...the slip cover was grey! We head to Lenox the next day to chat with the PB people and they look at us like we are crazy because they knew that was not their navy and that it was grey. Upon further investigation the slip cover was actually a cover for a couch and not a nursery chair. So they exchanged the cover and sent us the navy cover and the chair is AWESOME! Here is a photo of this amazing chair!

And finally all the little pieces that pull the whole dinosaur theme together. The border was an idea I got off Pinterest. They are 8.5 by 11 inch frames with dinosaur cut outs done on my cricut and glued to scrapbook paper. Then to complete the look we put up two chair rails. We also found this great hamper at PB kids and I love it! We also found these cute bookends to put all of Parker's books between. And finally, the growth chart was a gift from Chelsea that she had made herself. Overall the room is PERFECT and we love the finally results. Hope you enjoyed as well!

Maternity Photos

So one day back in March I tell Jake that I wanted to get maternity photos done. His response was they are creepy and then sent me this link. http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/2012/02/family_fetus-e1327434952914/1010303628.jpg I told him that was creepy and nothing like what I wanted. So I did research on classy and tasteful pictures and found a lot that I liked. Then I contacted Heidi from Our Labor of Love who did out wedding photos and she was available for the day I wanted...PERFECT. Then I message Jake and I was trying to be sneaky by saying we have somewhere to be March 24th at 1 pm. His response was ok, I will be ready in my wife beater and sweatpants. I knew I was busted! Jake was a good sport and ended up taking the photos and they turned out great. Heidi did an amazing job and I couldn't be more pleased. She is going to come back and do Parker's newborn photos which I can't wait for! After seeing them Jake no longer thought the idea was creepy, but he loved how the photos turned out as well. Here are a few of the ones I like the most!

A Seussical Shower

The next family shower we had was hosted by my aunts and it was Dr. Seuss themed. Jake decided to stay at home for this one. It wasn't a couples shower so he would have been the only guy there. The shower was at my Aunt Terry's house. All of the decorations were brightly colored and had Seuss characters on them. There were a couple of games played. The first was naming baby television stars, which was a lot harder then it sounds. The second was Parker BINGO. And it was a BINGO card with facts about Jake and I. It was very clever and put together in a Cat in the Hat game card. Then came the gifts...we got a lot of good stuff for Parker. Including a much needed bath tub. As well my mother thought ahead and got us plenty of diapers, diaper wipes, and a diaper pail. It was awesome. Publix provided the cake and it fit perfectly with the Dr. Seuss theme. Overall, the shower was great between the food, games, gifts, and cake! Once again, we felt very loved!

Parker's Monster Bash

The first baby shower we had for Parker was hosted by my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law. It was a couples shower...so Jake had to attend. The theme of the shower was monsters. And there were monsters everywhere! It was awesome. Jake and I were so thankful for the shower and all the love we felt from friends and family. Jake and I had to participate in a relay race that involved a number of tasks about baby care. The first station was changing a diaper...which sounds easy. But because we are having a boy, people stood around squirting the participant with water guns. Then the second station was drinking 2 ounces of beer out of a bottle. Jake's brother was to do this and apparently drinking out of a baby bottle is a lot harder then one would think...cause he was slow!!! Third, was dressing the baby blindfolded. I had to do this and since I am a pro a dressing babies at work...I handled the task like a pro!! Finally, Jake had to put together a stroller and diaper bag, buckle the baby in properly and then make a lap around the pool. Overall, it took us a while and we weren't really all that good. I think we will blame this on Dan and his beer drinking abilities! After the relay race we had lunch and it was all monsteriffic! Between the cake and the watermelon monster everything was great. And finally, gift time...which Jake and I don't like being the center of attention but we loved the warmth and support our families and friends have given us. This was very apparent at the shower and we are so grateful. Chelsea gave us this amazing growth chart which will be hanging in Parker's new room! Here are a few pictures from the shower...ENJOY!!! Next post will be on the Seussical Shower for Parker hosted by my aunts.

Gender Reveal Party

So the new fade on the internet is a gender reveal party. Basically you have all your friends and family come over and guess the sex of the baby and then find some clever way to reveal the sex of the baby. So we did a mini version of this. Because this would be my mother's first grandchild and Jake's mom's first grandson, we thought the party would be a fun idea. The theme of the party was "What's it going to Bee?". Everything was bee themed. Which was cute....except Publix didn't quite understand the concept. Because when I went to pick up the cake for the party the cake said "What's it going the Bee with a bee coming off". What the cake was suppose to say was "What's it going to Bee" and then there was suppose to be a bee flying off the word bee. Not sure what the cake decorator was thinking, but when I picked up the cake needless to say I was a little disappointed and had them fix it and they took money off the cake. After the cake problem, we set up the house for a nice cook out and had pink and blue balloons throughout. My sister-in-law, Chelsea made these cute little bees for people to wear the boy bees had a bow tie and the girl bees had hair ties, to show there guess. We had everyone pick a bee and then our mother's opened a "gift" which had a little onesie in it that said "It's a boy". Everyone was excited and we were happy to no longer have to keep the sex a secret. Because, Lord knows, they tried to figure it out beforehand. As a fun little gift, my family had gotten the little one a Matthew Stafford jersey so we know he will be a Detroit Lions fan and a Syracuse Orange hat. Football season he will be dressed in style. Here are some pictures from the event!

Here are some photos that correspond to the first post. First...the positive pregnancy test. I know exciting. Second, is the echo report which reads a structurally normal heart. And third, is a picture of the little guy himself!