Crying..

After weeks, nay months, of fractured sleep and non restful evenings I decided to start sleep training the baby yesterday. See, she will nurse to sleep in the evenings, but the second I put her down she will cry so I was spending hours every evening with her in bed instead of spending a few precious hours with my husband. I was getting cranky and running out of books to read. And she was sleeping very poorly, waking up 5 times in a night sometimes.

She cried for an hour last night, and then fell asleep. Woke up a few times to nurse and slept 12 hours.

Tonight I laid her down and she protested for maybe 5 minutes and fell asleep. Ah, peace.  I hope she enjoys the rest as much as I do.

Sentimental

A friend posted this little ditty as her Facebook status, and it made me tear up a little.

It needs to be hung on a wall, with a picture of a new baby bring cradled by their parents

I hope that my children looking back on today

will remember a mother who had time to play.

Because children grow up while you're not looking.

There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.

So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep. 


I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.


<3

25 Things I am thankful for -- part 4

9.Computers. Wow, the world would be a totally different place without them.

8. Gardens-- this morning I took the toddler out and let her pick tomatos
 and chew on mint leaves, and it was a lovely time. My neighbor's garden is especially nice... we
can check it out, and they kindly share and maintain it... with the two kids I think my own garden would have been long dead this year.

7. Baby bouncer thingamajigs. Lifesavers, they are!







































6. Trees. I like them, and they are good. They provide shade, make oxygen, and even look pretty.

5. My best friend "Uncle Matt"... we don't see each other much recently, but that's ok. Now if Lorelei would just stop asking me incessantly to see him (he's out of town for a few weeks)

4. My mom's group. They are pretty awesome, even though my current kid situation (they nap on opposite schedules right now) means I don't get to see anyone as often as I would like. But when my kid raisin' calms down, I know they will still be there!

3. My mother

2. My husband






































1. My beautiful girls

25 Things I am thankful for -- part 3

14. Coffee!

13. Soft snuggly blankets

12. Sewing machines

11. Cameras

See... there's my camera!

10. Ultra Fine point sharpies-- my drawing and writing pen of choice

Nope.. that's not a sharpie. But it should be!

25 Things I am thankful for -- part 2

19. A nice back yard -- the toddler can get her fill of nature in a secure, friendly place
 where I don't even have to get out of jammies to take her. If she wants to frolic naked, it's not a big deal.

18. Cat litter boxes. To have cats without these would be unpleasant indeed

17. Thrift stores. I may not always find what I'm looking for, but a few trips and I will for sure be able to add to my basic wardrobe
As a plus, the clothes are preshrunk, AND I'm being "green" by not buying new.

16. Tissues. It's cold and allergy season in Toddlerville.

15. My car. It's little, it's old, it's got a ton of miles on it, but it's still running
 fine and gets me out on the days I can't stand another moment in the house with the girls.
Sometimes it even takes me out all by my lonesome! Score!

Toddlers say the darndest things-- fish edition

My toddler loves when we get Drs Foster and Smith catalogues. We get the cat and fish editions, both of which she loves to carry around and look at until they fall apart. Lorelei is flipping through the fish catalogue and says she wants to buy some fish.

I tell her that maybe next year, when she is three, we can get some fish.

She thinks about it for a while and then says "Yes. Cats will like them"

"You want to get them for the cats?" I inquire. "Cats eat fish, Lorelei."

She thinks about it for a minute and says, "Yes. Cats will like them. Yes. A lot."

I guess that's sweet of her, wanting to keep "her" cats well fed.

25 Things I am thankful for -- part 1

Ye olde obligatory Thankfulness post,

Part one of 5!

25. Washers and driers (I cloth diaper and have 2 kids under age three. Enough said here....)

24. Vacuume Cleaners (see number 23)

23. Snuggly cats

22. The internet. It's pretty darn great, itsn't it?

21. Doors- They keep the out, out and the in, in. They also keep toddlers playing in their rooms until mommy
is really good and ready to get them in the morning. *bliss*

20. Modern kitchens- I'm so glad I don't have to maintain a cookfire in a room detached from the main house
because it is so likely to burn down. And the cold food is right there next to the stove in such a convenient
little box. No root cellars for me, baby.

Yes, mine is outdated.

The appliances aren't the best. The counters are a
weird orange (it's not even longhorn burnt orange... just, dark dirty looking orange)


 But my toddler can take baths in the kitchen sink

while the baby hangs out in her high chair


and I cook meals, and it's overall a pretty good arrangement.

Closet cleaning time! Cloth Diapers for sale!

I've been decluttering while I'm  not feeling well (because that's what I do when seasonal allergy type sicks hit... I clear out STUFF)

Here are some diapers that need homes (I will edit as I find homes for the items):

I will add pictures if anyone is interested-- or as time permits.

(ALL DIAPERS ARE GONE!)

Pocket Diapers:

Large Fuzzi Bunz, old style

5 in great condition, one with minor staining on the fleece

stained one is black, others are black, light yellow, orange, light green, and white

$10 each for the unstained, $8 for the one with the light stain

Large Swaddlebees with inserts

8 swaddlebees "boys colors" though I got them for my girl

2light blue

2 dark blue

1 dark green

1 light green

1 bright yellow

1 primary red

$8 each, all for $60

All in one:

Bum genius One Size in butternut. I think it is a 3.0, organiccotton. This is not a pocket but instead has several layers of organic cotton sewn inside of it, the ends are sewn down and the middle is left free so that it washes and dries better. $5 

Prefolds:

2 dozen yellow edge prefolds from green mountain, I didn't see any stains on them, but I could have missed one.  $24

http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/prefolds.htm

Wool Covers:::

Make me an offer!

Little Beetle covers sell for $29.95 and up new! 

http://www.betterforbabies.com/product-p/lbowc.htm

Little Beetle size 1 (felted)Snaps

Tiny cover, fits newborns better than most wool covers will

Little Beetle size 2 Snaps

Unused by me but bought used at Austin Baby. 

I was sunning it to get out an old stain and left it a bit long in the pollen last spring  so it is a bit brown.

I tihnk this will come out, but I havne't really tried 

since washing wool is more complicated than a toss in the washing machine 

Little Beetle size 2-1/2 Snaps

Unused by me (because of how tiny my daughter is), but I did buy it used from Austin Baby

It looks in perfect condition.

Stacinator Size Small, Natural color, Snaps

Some minor pilling on the outside of the cover

Sells for $26.95 New

http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/happyheinys.htm

Stacinator seems to have been bought by Happy Heineys recently.

Imse Vimse Small cover- MAchine Washable!Velcro

This one is awesome, but it is pretty high rise, which is sort of a strange fit.

It got the most use since it is machine washable, looks the prettiest still because it could be better scrubbed 

(no worry about felting with this one!)

Sells for $25.95 New (on amazon)

LlamaJama size Small, wool knit soaker

Natural brown with natural white contrast

Super cute!

Sells for $34 New

http://www.llamajama.com/item_3/Tan-Alpaca-Wool-Soaker.htm

If you get all of the wool items, I'll throw in a bottle of liquid lanolin

Other Covers:

2 Diaperaps for Hempers Size small. Natural color hemp and cotton. They look like the natural cotton on on the webpage. $5 each

http://www.sagediaper.com/home/dp1/page_2/diaperaps174_covers.html

Bummis super whisper wrap size small, cream colored. $5

This colorway may be discontinued.

http://www.bummis.com/ca/en/super-whisper-wrap.php

Bummis Super Brite size small, white $5

http://www.bummis.com/ca/en/super-brite.php

Blue Penguin POSO size small, minky yellow $10

I don't think they make the minky ones anymore for some reason.

I also have blue and lavender and an extra small blue if you are really interested. I almost don't want to part with them but what am I gonna do, cuddle with them??

http://www.bluepenguin.biz/POSO_s/32.htm

Blue Penguin Wrap-n-snap, size small $5

This runs very small

http://www.bluepenguin.biz/product_p/dci.htm

Mother Ease Air Flow Small, cream colored, $5

http://www.mother-ease.com/default.aspx/123

Mommy's touch One Size, white $7

One of the best one size diaper covers I found! It fit my young baby well, and would probably still fit my toddler if we hadn't switched to pocket diapers.

http://www.mommystouch.com/en/features.html

Fitted Diaper::

Super soft fitted diaper with snap in doubler from "Drool Bucket Baby" $5

This is a fitted diaper, not an all in one-- it must be worn with a cover!

Sunday Sick Again

I've been sick since, oh, Halloween. A lot of things have been slipping including this blog...

I have a ton to share, just... not... right... now.

One tiny tidbit--- My seven month old finally cut her first tooth! Hopefully she will start sleeping better than she has the past week, now!

Time to get another nap and try to sleep off the sick.