cloth diapering: the plan

I have been convinced for a while now that cloth diapering is something I'd like to give the ol' college try when we have kiddos. Joel was easy-going about the idea & has been completely supportive of whatever research I do and decisions I make regarding type, brand, cost, etc.

Our choice to use cloth is based on a variety of factors. It will save money in the long run, yes, but it's also an environmental decision, and selfishly, I've read that cloth diapered babies are often potty trained more easily & I would love for that to be the case in our house. I have baby-sat enough to know that newborns are insanely challenging, so I've already given myself permission to wait a month or so to start using cloth with our little one. Hopefully in the long run we'll figure out a cloth diaper system that works for us and fits smoothly into our family's routine and lifestyle.

So far we've purchased or been given:
10 Bum Genius 4.0 pocket diapers with snaps (We have mostly gender-neutral colors, but I did get some pink because they're darn adorable. This kind is supposed to fit babies starting at 8 pounds, but I've read that skinny legs take a while to fit well, so we'll see how quickly they work for this babe.)
12 flannel wipes
1 large planet wise pail liner (I plan to get a regular old trash can that will fit the pail liner and can open easily with a foot pedal or one hand)
2 Thirsties diaper covers with snaps (My friend Ashley uses diaper covers with "prefolds" and can often re-use the covers multiple times between washes. Hope that's true for us, too!)
2 Thirsties hemp inserts (to help with absorbancy)
We also have some pre-fold diapers that were given to us by my cousin.

Eventually we'll need to buy:
More pre-folds
A zipper-sealed wet bag
A diaper sprayer
WAY more cloth wipes!

Future issues to consider:
Prepping all these diapers before we use them the first time
Wash routine (which detergent, drying location, etc.)

image here

Future blog posts will reference some great resources I have found. Also, my Pinterest boards have links to a few good sites, so feel free, as always, to follow me there :)

all this free time

Okay, baby, in case you are a genius and can already read (not to mention see through layers of skin & organs!), here's a little note from me to you:

COME ON OUT! WE ARE DYING TO MEET YOU!

Today marks 40 weeks of pregnancy, aka: the official due date. I had no idea how annoying and frustrating it would be to wait beyond the day we've been holding onto in our minds. I even said multiple times, "I don't really expect her to come by then," whenever Joel announced our due date.

But apparently I did expect her to come by now.

Because I'm getting increasingly tired of being pregnant and increasingly antsy for labor to just.start.already. Yesterday was a bit of a tease because my contractions increased in frequency and strength and both of us got excited that maybe she was on her way.

Anyway, I leave work each day with nothing undone, just in case I go into labor and the sub has to start the next morning. I don't even bring home papers to grade, just in case. So, I have all this free time on my hands. And just in case you're all dying of curiosity, here's a quick list of things I'm doing with all this free time:

1. wrapping my parents' birthday presents. for their birthday which is at the end of February. ha.
2. making two birth playlists- one upbeat and one quiet
3. looking at newborn & labor/delivery photos on Pinterest
4. looking at recipes I have no intention of making on Pinterest
5. walking the mall. walking Target. walking the freezing cold streets. walking up the stairs in my house.
6. looking through the baby clothes. for the millionth time.
7. eating most of the Lindt dark chocolate truffles I bought two weeks ago and put into our "birth center bag"
8. re-organizing my Pinterest boards
9. making a meal for the freezer, to eat once we come home from the birth center
10. looking through my birth center bag to make sure I have everything
11. using the bathroom. like constantly.
12. finishing reading "Mockingjay" for the second time, even though it'll be a million years before the movie(s) come out!
13. snuggling with Joel
14. watching shows on Netflix
15. bouncing on my labor ball
16. hanging out in the nursery
17. daydreaming about meeting this little one. hopefully it's SOON!

pregnancy: week 39

week 39
2 snow days
1 treacherous drive home from work that took 2 hours instead of 50 minutes!
2 babies shown off on Facebook who were supposed to be born AFTER our baby, not before! :)
11 hours of sleep one night!
1 darling baby hat arriving in the mail
15 minutes walking around town on perhaps the coldest night this month

Some pre-natal appointment stats:
0 pounds gained this week (as opposed to 3.5 pounds last week!)
0 centimeters dilated but 50% effaced (as of Wednesday morning)

5 nights of rocking on all fours, sitting on my birth ball, and leaning forward in hopes of turning our girl anterior. It worked! At Wednesday's appointment, the baby's head was way down and her back was along my left side! Hooray!

Joel and I are both so ready to meet this little one! We talk regularly about how she'll look, what she'll be like, how it will be to have a new person in our home... I'm getting more and more uncomfortable and we're both just trying to keep our minds occupied while we wait.

the waiting game

Yes, I'm still going to church. Yes, I'm still teaching. No, the baby hasn't arrived. No, I don't know whether I'm dilated or effaced yet. Yes, everything in the nursery is ready. Yes, my classroom is completely set for a sub to take over at any time. Yes, I'm scared stiff. No, I'm not prepared for the pain of childbirth. No, I don't have any idea how big this child will be. Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I put together the new (awesome!) travel crib my co-workers surprised me with last Friday. Yes, I took it down shortly afterward so our basement wasn't overrun with baby stuff.

These answers and more have crossed my lips or my mind in the last few days. We're one week from our "due date" and baby could arrive any time. I fully anticipate she could be "late" and I could still be waiting almost three weeks from today. I'm antsy and nervous and excited and uncertain and utterly breathless with joy & anticipation.

So the real question becomes this: how do I play the waiting game well?

How do I love Joel tenderly when my mind is so focused on the unknowns of life to come?
How do I communicate with my friends and family about things other than this little child?
How do I focus my mind enough to pray for the needs of others?
How do I sleep when nothing is comfortable?
How do I honor the Lord with my time, my energy, my heart?

These questions and more are ever-present as I meander through this waiting game. 

pregnancy: week 38

Week 38
35 minutes with the midwife who gave us lots of information about being in labor and encouraged us to soak up these moments together, just the two of us

2 hours on a field trip so my kids could learn to ice skate (NO, I didn't join them!)
3 loads of laundry folded in the nursery, just because I like hanging out in there
1 little worm who is hanging out posterior (aka: face up, along my back, NOT the ideal position for labor!)
2 parents-to-be who are praying for this girl to flip herself around and be anterior before she makes her grand entrance, thank you very much.
10 minutes at a time, three nights in a row, spent rocking on all fours in a small attempt to help baby wiggle around (Joel came in and said, "Are you okay?!" Ha!)
1 care package from a sweet, sweet friend for little 'Berts, including a sushi onesie that says, "This is how I roll" :)

sushi image here

Baby' first shoes

I have resisted buying baby shoes for the last nine months. Babies don't need shoes for a while and you never know when they'll fit certain sizes. Plus, feet grow fast and shoes are expensive.

But baby shoes are darn cute and it's been nearly impossible to resist them so long.

Two weeks from this little one's due date and I finally caved. I bought these tiny Toms at a used clothing store yesterday. 10 bucks, y'all!

They're in perfect condition (just need a run through the washer!) and are gender-neutral in case any future kid comes along to wear 'em. I'm thrilled to have held out for this long and I'm extra thrilled that my daughter's first pair of shoes are navy blue velcro-strap Toms.

Here are a few other darling shoes I've been eying but haven't let myself buy.
Just a little eye candy for your Thursday...


1. Mini fringed moccasins

2. Gray moccasins

3. Toms Botas (more gray!)

4. Red baby converse

Now that I'm looking through these pictures, I'm realizing none of these shoes are especially feminine. Okay, maybe the fringed booties.... But I really like the idea of my kiddos passing down shoes from one to the next as they grow out of them. Also, neutral shoes balance out the insane amount of girly clothes we've been given. I imagine wanting a little gray, red, and brown (and navy!) to go along with all the pink...

overwhelmed

Last spring when I found out I'd been offered a full-time teaching position for this school year I drove home after work to tell Joel. He was thrilled and I cried my eyes out.

I was thrilled, too, but at 7 weeks pregnant I was completely overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed at the idea of getting what I'd wanted all year. At the thought of delivering a baby midway through a school year. At the possibility of being in my own classroom with a bunch of little tykes learning from me every day. At the perfect provision of a good God who was allowing me to be a teacher again AND had given me the gift of a little life growing quietly inside.

Today on my way home I cried my eyes out again.

Because I'm overwhelmed again.

By my fears of inadequacy. By my worries about maintaining a nursing relationship with my daughter after just 6 weeks at home. By the uncertainty of finances and what we'll do next year. By this powerful, consuming love for a child I've never seen. By the way her tiny heels kicking my right side can completely blow me away. By my husband who graciously rubs my back when it's sore and tells me I'm beautiful time after time. By my colleagues who cover dismissal duty for me when I leave early for pre-natal appointments. By the same good God who has equipped me to teach, and to grow a healthy baby, and to know him intimately, all at the same time, despite my failures.

I guess what I've learned since that exciting day last June is that feeling overwhelmed can be a good thing. If it breaks me down and puts me in a place of dependence on my good God, overwhelmed is exactly what I should be.