Why You Should Use Cloth Diapers...For Your Baby

I know that I've written about cloth diapers before, but I really wanted to explain just how great I think they are and why you should consider using them for your diapering needs.

First of all, they are just so much cuter than those crinkly disposable ones.  They come in all different colors. I personally prefer the colors of the FuzziBunz brand, but the Bum Genius ones that I use have all kinds of cute pinks and greens.  Second, they are MUCH easier to take care of than it seems.  We have a cloth diaper laundry bag that I stick the dirty diaper into.  When I have a full bag, I take it downstairs to the washing machine, unzip the bottom and dump the whole thing in.  I wash it on a cold double rinse with no detergent and then a hot cycle with a little bit of detergent.  Then I throw them in the dryer on extra delicate, and voila!  Super easy.  My third reason is that they are definitely less stress than disposables.  We have used disposables in the past on vacation, and I'm always worried I don't have enough diapers, or we have to make a late night run to pick some up.  Also, cloth diapers might be a chunk of change up front (about $18 a diaper), but in the long run, they are much cheaper than disposables.  Finally, if you are into the environment, you may be using a lot of water to wash them, but you're making virtually no footprint in your local landfill (you can even get washable wipes...but we haven't done that).  These new fangled cloth diapers also use snaps instead of pins and are one size fits all.  

Have I convinced you yet?  I hope that our next baby is a boy so I can buy all the cute blue diapers and get these Albert Einstein ones.

Nap Time

They say there's no manual for parenting.  Actually there are quite a few, and the internet is full of recommendations for EXACTLY what I should be doing as I found when digging around last night concerning naps.

Lila has always been a sporadic napper.  When she was first born, she wanted to sleep for four hours right in the middle of the day.  Then there was a period when she wouldn't sleep in her crib at all but conked out the second she hit her stroller or her car seat.  And I'm not one of those moms who goes in to rescue her the second she starts crying during nap time.  I'll let her go for awhile, but she just doesn't want to be there.

So I went looking for some advice.  The internet says that babies Lila's age should be getting at least 15-16 hours of sleep every day.  Lila does a great job at night, always getting at least 11 or 12, but I felt convicted that I needed to work harder on a napping schedule.  Today I decided to try a 9, 12, and 3 schedule, putting her down the second I saw signs of sleepiness or crankiness.  This morning worked well.  She woke up at 6:45 and started getting cranky around 8:15.  I fed her and put her down and she slept for about 45 minutes.    She started getting cranky at 11:15.  I didn't feed her this time because it was too early, so I let her suck on a pacifier for a bit and then put her into bed crying.  (She doesn't normally use a pacifier because she prefers sticking her whole hand in her mouth, so the only paci we have is a Texas A&M one my cousin gave her for Christmas. How embarrassing.)

I told myself I would give her 15 minutes of crying before going back in, and she stopped crying right at 15. So far, it seems like this whole "give her a nap right when she starts to get fussy thing" seems to work.  I'm hoping it doesn't affect her sleeping tonight because frankly I like getting eight hours of sleep.

Confessions of a Housewife

I have two confessions to make.  One, Lila and I listened to Christmas music yesterday.  Two, the diet is over.  Yes, we made it all of eight days.  The main reason we decided to stop is that I was worried the lower amount of calories that I was eating was going to affect my milk supply.  But we also just flat out didn't like dieting (yeah yeah who does?) and felt that we could still lose weight by just changing our lifestyles a bit.  

So here are the things we learned from the diet:

• We were eating way too many sweets.
• Our dinners were too "starchy carb" focused.
• We weren't eating enough vegetables.
• We didn't have enough variety in the vegetables that we were eating.
• We weren't exercising enough.

Alright, lesson learned.  Who needs a diet?  I'm sure you're thinking, "Sure, Rachel.  We know that you just wanted to make cookies and needed an excuse."  No! I promise I haven't made any...yet.  We knew, however, if we were going to stop the strictness of a diet we still needed some boundaries for going forward.  So here they are:

1. Except for special occasions, desserts are reserved for the weekends.
2. Lunches and dinners need to have at least two vegetables make an appearance.
3. We need to exercise six days a week for at least 45 minutes.
4. Starchy carbs at dinner should be kept to a minimum (Did you know that corn, peas, and beans are starchy carbs?  No more taco salad with rice, beans, and corn.).

Hopefully with these guidelines, the weight will continue to come off.  Johnny's already down quite a few pounds...sigh...boys.

Week One Diet Report

Have you ever seen such a sorry looking refrigerator? Literally the only things in here are vegetables, fruit, grilled chicken, and various forms of egg.  I'm starting to have dreams that I'm eating french fries, and even in the dream I feel guilty about it.

Needless to say, we have survived Week One of the Diet.  I had no idea that the hardest part of this whole thing would be giving up sweets.  "I'm not a big sweets person," I told myself.  Except for the chocolate chips I put on my apples and peanut butter in the afternoon, or the brown sugar cookies I make weekly, or the coffee cake that we just HAVE to have on Saturday mornings, I really am not a sweets person.  Okay, so apparently I am.  I miss my cookies and treats much more than my dinnertime carbs.  But at least I get this little bald-spotted sweet:

Sorry, I couldn't resist.  Lila has been a real trooper with the change in diet.  She loves sleeping on our morning walk/jog, and she hasn't even complained that she now has ridiculous amounts of gas because of my heavy vegetable diet.  Sometimes at night I listen to her on the baby monitor just talking to herself and tooting away.

My favorite new thing that I tried this week was Zumba (thanks for the advice Alli!).  Katie and I went to the Matt Ross Community Center for some $5 Zumba on Saturday morning.  I really enjoyed myself except for the fact that I had to leave to go to the bathroom 20 minutes in.  Apparently after having a baby, you can't jump around anymore.

Johnny and I are both down a few pounds and eager to see the end of the next 23 days (but who's counting?).

Three Months Old

Lila was three months old on the 18th!  No doctor's appointment at three months, so I'm not sure of her weight and height.

Now that Lila is a big three month old, she's talking up a storm and trying to roll over.  She can almost turn over but her arm gets in the way.  It makes her really mad, and she starts crying because she's stuck in an awkward position.

It's hard to be a baby.

First Father's Day

I realized this morning that I never did a post for Johnny's first Father's Day.  That might be because our new diet has me in sugar withdrawal, and I seem to be a bit spacey and less nice without it.  But anyway, for Father's Day for Johnny and for my dad, Lila and I decided to do some pictures of us together for their offices.  My mom took some in our backyard, and they turned out really nicely.

This one below is my favorite.  Lila seems to have her sassy pants on...I wonder what her teenage years will be like.

Johnny is upset he didn't get a # 1 Dad mug also.  He said he might just buy one for himself so that he can walk around the office with it.  Classy.

Losing the Baby Weight

Apparently in France, women only put on 20-25 pounds during their pregnancies and lose it within the first few months.  Well here in America, we like to go big.  I certainly did with my pregnancy.  Overall, I believe that I put on 45 pounds.  Almost three months in, I have lost half of it (though 10 pounds was Lila herself), and I'm having trouble losing the rest.

So we have decided to take action.  Johnny, being the supportive husband that he is, and I have decided to do a month long shock to our systems starting Monday.  We got the idea from my mom who has done it before at her gym, Infinite Fitness on 133rd and Roe.  Here are the general rules:

• No carbs after 1:00pm (and only one serving before that)
• No sugar at all
• 3-5 servings of protein a day (meat, fish, eggs, etc.)
• 3-5 servings of veggies
• 45 minutes of vigorous exercise 6 days a week

I've already told Johnny that I get to cheat on my birthday as well as when we go to Silver Dollar City with our families (funnel cake? yes please).  We bought a scale; Johnny bought a bike...we're ready to go.  You might not want to talk to me for awhile.

We Put the "Bud" in Budgeting

Ever since we got married, Johnny and I have been big budgeters.  That doesn't necessarily mean that we always make great financial decisions, but we do try to stick to a pretty strict budget.  We've tried a few different budgeting websites and quickly found that none of them worked for us.  They were all too complicated or had too many categories or squirreled away different expenses without us knowing.  

So, Johnny, being the Excel spreadsheet loving guy that he is, made a really simple spreadsheet that we use for all of our budgets.  I thought I would share it with you all here.

A slight tutorial:

First of all, the numbers are not our actual budget; they are just numbers that I plugged in.  

• There are two sheets as shown at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  The first one shows you what you have budgeted for the month in each category and how much is left in that budget.  The second sheet is where you plug in all your spending.
• On the second sheet, you simply type in the date of your purchase, what/where you purchased, the category it fits under, how much it cost (negative for spending money, positive for making money), and (if you want) what you used to buy it with.
• If you want different numbers or categories, simply erase what we have and plug in your own information. 
• For a new month, just copy and paste columns A, B, and C from sheet one underneath all of your spending on sheet two.  This will add new money to your budgets and start you over fresh for the next month.

This type of budget takes a little bit of work since you have to keep up with everything that you're spending, but it really helps you realize how much is going out and how much is coming in.  Enjoy!

Road Trip!

Here's a good idea: take a three month old on a six hour road trip, by yourself!  I jest, actually Lila and my road trip to visit Johnny in Moline, IL went off very well.  We got in on Friday afternoon, and Lila was very happy to see her daddy.

The hotel where we were staying was just steps away from the Mississippi River and the boathouse where we used to go to a regatta every fall with Wheaton.  Notice their neon homage to rowing...with five rats in the boat?

Here's the boathouse that was always Grand Central Station for the regatta.  We didn't see much activity there this weekend, unfortunately.

I can't seem to find it, but we have a big team picture on this dock in 2006. I would love it if someone would send that to me.

Johnny was excited to show the river to his new favorite coxswain.  Henley 2030!

Besides being on the Mississippi River, the other (and I mean the only other) cool thing about Moline is that it's the John Deere capitol of the world.  We went to the John Deere museum.  Lila was clearly riveted.  

I got to ride on a a tractor.  Side note, Johnny and I were listening to the results of a study where people were asked how much money they would need to be paid to do various things like cut off a toe, eat an earthworm, kill a cat, and live on a farm in Kansas.  Do you know that the one that people demanded the most amount of money to do was live on a farm in Kansas?  More money than killing a cat!  

One of the main reasons that Lila and I drove to Moline was that it was only a few hours away from Michigan where our friend Becca was getting married!  I planned to get us into the wedding an hour ahead of time, only to realize when we were about an hour and a half away that there is a time change.  Oops.  We got in with about ten minutes to spare.  I changed in the car while Johnny sped down the highway; we're a good team.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and fit Becca perfectly.  It was also fabulous to see old Wheaton friends that we hadn't seen in three years. 

Lila and I drove home Tuesday, and what should have been a six hour trip turned into a nine hour trip because Lila decided she did not want to be in the car any longer.  I don't blame her.  I don't think we'll drive anywhere for a few days.

June Book Club

We had our biggest turn out at book club this month, ten people!  We packed it in and chatted about a book that we all enjoyed and almost all of us finished: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

fantaghiro23.blogspot.com

The Glass Castle is a memoir about growing up in an unconventional family.  Jeanette is one of four children who have extremely smart but unorthodox parents.  Her father is an alcoholic and her mother is (in my opinion) definitely bipolar.  The children work to raise themselves and take care of their parents, making for some surprising and interesting stories.  We all absolutely recommended this one for a quick, enjoyable summer read.  For next month, we are reading Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.

Proud to Be an American

Johnny is off to Illinois for two weeks of National Guard training.  Lila misses her Daddy a lot already.  When I put him on speaker phone, she looks around the room to see where he is.  Lila and I are going to go visit him this weekend, so look forward to documentation of our first 6.5 hour road trip.

You really realize how much you need a person when they are gone.  We love you, Daddy!