New Fireplace Doors

When we bought our home last year, one of the items on the inspection that we didn't request for the previous home-owner to complete was screening the fireplace. The chimney also needed to be cleaned and a new topper put on the top. We are now one step closer to being able to use our fireplace, and we also have a barrier to keep Sweet Pea from climbing into it! I am so glad that it no longer looks like a big sooty hole in our living room. We also recently installed a wall mount for our TV so our living room is definitely looking more put-together these days.

We decided on a glass door system after browsing around and deciding that Sweet Pea would just pull down any screen that wasn't fully attached to the fireplace, and we have a smallish living room so we didn't want to totally baby-gate off the fireplace area. A door seemed the safest and most attractive way to go. However, doors can cost as much as $1400, which was not really in our budget for the month. We asked a sales-person for some ideas and she showed us a hidden upstairs area with returned and floor-model fireplaces and doors. The one she showed us that would fit our fireplace opening was not what I had in mind in terms of looks, but the price was right: reduced from $600 to $299. We went home to think about it, and a week later we were back to buy. While the door set we got is not exactly my style, I do think that it goes with the era of our home, and the style of the rest of the fireplace. It is a light gold/bronze color, and I prefer black or silver usually, but looking at it in our house I think it is really the best choice.

Average installed it himself with a borrowed hammer drill, a screwdriver, hammer, tape measure, 5/16 pin punch, and button-head concrete fasteners.

I was surprised that the fireplace store didn't send us home with any instructions at all, but am lucky to be married to a very handy man. He only broke one brick in the installation process, and it's hidden inside.

Before:

After:

Baby Messes

Here are a few of the messes that my sweet baby has made in the house this week.

Clearly, she has continued with the "emptying everything" phase. Although she has on occasion begun filling things, too. Today she put a big tape measure in the diaper bag. I found it when we were at a restaurant. The other day she put the mixer blades in the oven drawer and I felt slightly crazy when I was trying to clean up the kitchen and they seemed to have disappeared. We now have child safety devices on our kitchen cupboards so she can't do that anymore, which she finds very frustrating.

Sometimes I think I spend half my day cleaning up Sweet Pea's messes, but she has such fun making them, and I know this phase won't last forever. The one certainty in life is that time will pass and things will change. I was just looking through my photos and found what I looked like one year ago. Unbelievable.

Woollybottoms Giveaway

I am hosting my first giveaway! I have been wanting to do this for a while, and I'm so pleased to have it finally planned. The item I chose to give is a new pair of Woollybottoms - wool pants for babies. The retail value of these is $29.00. I have been really into the wool pants thing lately, as you may have noticed from my recent posts (about Nifty Knickers, and my baby blue longies) so this seems like a good fit. Wool pants can be used as a cloth diaper cover, or just as snuggly warm pants for the winter or for bedtime. These ones are "footies" so they should keep your baby toasty! The pair I am giving to one lucky winner is light blue with fish fabric for the footie part. Maybe a little more boyish than girlie, but Stella would definitely wear these if we got to keep them. They are size medium, and have the following measurements:
8" waist (elastic)
9" rise
18" length


Here they are:

To enter, simply comment below and let me know why you want to win, or what you like about wool. I will choose a winner by using Random.org to pick a comment number on Wednesday February 10, 2010.

Other ways to enter:

1. Follow me on twitter. Come back to the blog and comment that you are following.
2. Being a follower of the blog gives you TWO extra entries. Simply post two comments saying that you are a follower.
3. Commenting in other posts during the week will give you ONE extra entry per comment that you make. Simply post a comment on this one saying the title of the post where you wrote your comment.
4. Advertising the giveaway in a forum or other blog gives you one extra entry.
5. Using my button on your blog (or starting to) gives you one extra entry. Simply post a comment saying that you are using it and where.
6. Tweet about this giveaway. Then come back and leave your comment with a link to the tweet. 

 I am not receiving any compensation for this giveaway.

The Queen in Her Chariot

We finally bought a bicycle trailer to tow Sweet Pea. We chose the deluxe model, since we plan to use it a lot and for a long time. The one we got, the Chariot Cougar, has room and seat buckles for two children, a spot to stow gear that perfectly fits my new diaper bag, and can convert to a jogger or to be used with cross-country skis.


So far, we have taken Sweet Pea in it twice, and she has been happy both times! Average, who works in a bicycle shop, says that it's rare for a baby to take to riding in a trailer the first time so we really think we are lucky. She looks quite comfortable back there rolling along, playing with a toy or drinking a bottle of water. Of course, she got a helmet, too, and she likes it so much that she just wants to wear it around the house sometimes. Average usually commutes to work by bicycle, but I have only been on my bike a few times since I was pregnant. These first rides as a family felt so good I can't wait to do it again! The fresh air, the increased heart rate, and the feeling of having DONE something physical are so refreshing after spending so much time inside and in my car over the last few months.

Traveling by bicycle is healthy for you because you're getting exercise. You save money by not buying gas. Finally, you get to take routes that cars can't, saving time on some trips, depending on where you live. Read more about specifics of the benefits of traveling by bike at BicycleUniverse.

We are so pleased to now have the option to travel in a healthier manner with our baby, and have been inspired by some of our friends who do family bike commuting. Check out this awesome family, with four children and no car  -- by choice, of course!

Baby's First Steps

Video number two! This happened back on January 11. She is starting to take more and more steps on her own. She can get from one piece of furniture to another without holding anything, and can walk all over the house if she holds someone's hand. Walking is such an exciting development for us, but a little bit scary too. She can get into more trouble, it seems, and has a higher likelihood of bad bonks on the head. Wish us luck!

Rocking Snail Video

This is my first time sharing a video. If it is successful, you can look forward to more videos in the coming weeks, including a video of baby's first steps!

I bought this rocking snail the other day at a re-sale shop, and Sweet Pea loves it. It is so much fun to watch her go. She also enjoys standing next to it and rocking it with her arms.

Is My Baby a Picky Eater?

Or is she just being a baby?

She has been interested in food for months and months. We started giving her food, some whole chunks, some purees and mushes, when she was about 6 months old. Now, Sweet Pea is eleven months old (tomorrow!) and it is still REALLY hit or miss whether she will eat food at any given meal. I haven't done a post on baby food since October, because I really didn't know what to say. One week I'd think we were "over the hump" and that now she would be eating quite a bit, and then three days would pass with her eating next to nothing! Luckily my milk supply is holding up!

Right now we offer her food about three times a day, and I never can predict whether she will eat it or not. Sometimes she will eat quite a bit (which for her is like a half a piece of bread, or 3-4 tablespoons). Sometimes she will eat nothing. Some days she loves sweet potatoes, other days she spits it out as soon as it touches her mouth, and other days she won't even open up to allow it in! It is like this with every single thing she has eaten so far. One day she loves it, the next she won't even take a bite. Maybe it's a control issue, maybe she is a picky eater, and maybe she is just being a baby and this is a normal course of development for her. Today, for example, she only ate about 3 Cheerios (organic, no high fructose corn syrup) at breakfast, even though that is one of the things she has eaten the most consistently. She spit out the blueberries I tried to feed her. At lunch, she LOVED the plain yogurt with jam that I fed her, and was fine taking it from a spoon (she often grabs the spoon from our hands and won't let us feed her with it). Yet, she totally rejected the crackers and bread that I offered her alongside the yogurt.

I am trying to just go with the flow with this, because I know I don't want to turn food into a battle between us, but it becomes so frustrating when I prepare three different things for a meal for her three times a day, and she might eat one or two of the things, at one or two of the meals, in a totally unpredictable pattern. Sometimes she throws her food as soon as we set it in front of her, sometimes throwing food is a sign that she is done. Should I just buy some processed baby food so that it doesn't make me feel like I wasted my time when she refuses or throws the food that I prepared? Advice?

Dresser Painting Project Finished! Sort Of...

For the last few weeks, I have been debating what to do with my dresser project. This project has been "on the table" for way too long; I don't even want to think about how long ago I started this. I painted oh, about eight coats on with my sprayer, and the furniture polish was still coming through a little bit when I last updated you. It took quite a while to figure out that this was what was happening. My mom had bought the dresser used for me, and put some dark furniture polish on it before she brought it to me. Apparently that stuff is STRONG because after those eight coats of paint, including two initial coats of primer, there is still some pink tinge coming through. I was so frustrated because I painted several other things while working on the dresser, usually to use up the last of the paint in the sprayer while I waited for a coat of paint on the dresser to dry. (I was very careful about keeping my sprayer clean, not letting any paint dry inside it.) Everything else that I painted took three coats of paint or less to look completely white and smooth. So, it has to be the furniture polish, right? Live and learn, I guess. This weekend, I finally got fed up with having half of my garage taken up with this dresser and the plastic sheeting hanging around it and decided, "it's good enough." Maybe this summer I will take it up again and do some more sanding and painting when I don't have to use vast amounts of electricity to heat the garage warm enough to paint, and when I don't care so much about using the garage for parking my car. So, here is the dresser in Sweet Pea's room.

Now that I have it inside, I actually feel pretty good about how it looks. I like the metal drawer pulls I chose, and the pink isn't really all that odd-looking, I think. Also, I am just happy that this piece of furniture makes the room complete. Eleven months after her birth my baby finally has a finished bedroom without any odd piles of stuff in the corner. The baskets on the shelves had been what we were using to store her clothes, but they were becoming too small. Now, they hold her toys! Yes, that is a trash can on top of the dresser. Sweet Pea loves to empty things, and she also puts everything in her mouth. And we also have a puppy. So, we have items in odd places so we can keep them out of reach of those two.

And just for fun, one of the other things I painted while I had everything set up. This quilt stand has a cut-out that matches the pattern of our wedding quilt (the one in front). It was raw wood with some marks from stickers, and I really like how it looks white.

It sure feels good to have that space in my garage back! What do you think I should do with the dresser: strip it and re-paint it, strip it and stain it, or leave it how it is?

Nifty Nappy Woolies and Diaper - WAHM Series

I ordered two wool longies from Nifty Nappy over the holiday. My order got lost in the holiday rush, and when owner/sewing master Vilate Thacker eventually found it, she offered to throw in a fitted diaper as well to make up for the delay. A fair deal, I thought. I was thrilled when the package arrived. One of the benefits of online shopping is that you get the rush of buying several times - first when you do the payment online, next when you see that it has shipped, and again and again every time you see the mail truck, until finally when it actually arrives and you get to open the package. Fluffy mail!

The wool longies, or "Nifty Knickers" as she calls them, are custom made to fit your little one based on measurements you send in, and at $16 each they are a steal for custom wool baby attire. We got one in red and one in purple, and Sweet Pea has already worn each several times. I really like putting her to bed in them because they are so warm and cozy. The seams are very strong; each one is sewed and then serged. Sweet Pea is super active right now so I had a hard time taking a photo of the longies on her, but here she is in the purple ones:

 Yes, we are really close to walking!

I am also impressed with the fitted she sent. This is a great diaper, it fits well and isn't too bulky, especially for a fitted. I usually add a microfiber insert wrapped up in the lay-in insert (organic hemp fleece and bamboo velour) that comes with it for longer wear.

It looks like Nifty Nappy has a great offer right now of a combo purchase of the fitted with a woolie cover for only $38, with a money-back guarantee!

In sum, I would recommend this mom-of-six's diaper business to any cloth diapering parents looking to venture into fitteds and/or wool. A great price for a great product!

I Serged and Serged and Then Serged Some More

Since I got my serger, I have successfully made six sets of napkins, two sets of flannel baby wipes, and the longies I wrote about in my previous post. I have three sets of flannel wipes to go before I take my machine in to the sewing machine repair shop for a tune-up and some new needles. The only reason it's not going in earlier is that I need to finish the wipes before Saturday (for my cloth diaper party). I really love the finished product that sergers create, but using one can be oh so frustrating, especially when you have no manual.

This was going to be a much longer post, but Sweet Pea unplugged the computer without me noticing, and then my old laptop died because the battery has no life left in it, and the two additional paragraphs that I had written disappeared. I thought that wasn't supposed to happen with the automatic saving feature of blogger. Sad. I'll try again tomorrow. That's life with a baby, right? "I guess I'll try again tomorrow...." for a better bedtime routine, for better meals, for a cleaner house, for more items crossed off the to-do list, for returning more phone calls, replying to more emails, and sending more thank-you cards. But for now, it's time to get that baby ready for bed.

Baby Blue Recycled Wool Longies

The first time I made recycled wool diaper covers, I made "shorties" that fit like little shorts, or a more typical diaper cover. For that project, I bought several wool sweaters at Goodwill and followed a pattern I found online that basically consists of cutting a triangle out of the sweater, cutting off the sleeve cuffs and neck, and sewing it all together, using the sleeves for the leg holes and the neck for the waist. I can give more specific instructions if you'd like, just ask in comments, but unfortunately was unable to find the site that I originally got the pattern from. To size the sides of the triangle, measure your little one's waist and add a half inch. Katrina's Sew Quick blog has some great patterns for a variety of types of wool diaper covers.

Here is one of the first ones I made, clearly it is a little bit big at this point.

You can see another photo of my handiwork in the bottom photo of my "Diapering My Active Nine-Month-Old" post.

Sweet Pea has grown and the weather has gotten colder. So, this weekend I got my sewing supplies back out and made a pair of "longies" for Sweet Pea out of an old sweater of mine that shrank in the wash. It is high quality cashmere so this was the perfect way to re-purpose the fabric. It is free, soft, and I love the color! The only drawback is that it will probably get dirty because my little crawler likes to get into everything. They have an elastic waist, and I made them longer than needed for now, then whip-stitched the hem up to be the right length. As she grows I can let them out. I made the bottom hem of the sweater serve as the bottom hem of the longies, and cut them so that the pocket of the sweater is a left back pocket for her. I also added ribbons at the knees as just a fun detail.

Here is the uncut sweater. I know it's weird - a short sleeved cashmere shirt? But I used to wear this to work all the time.

And the completed longies! (before I stitched up the bottom hem)

 

I recently bought several more fitted diapers, which are the best companion (better than prefolds) for wool covers because they are so absorbent and they usually snap together. Wool is such a wonderful fabric because it is natural, breathable, and I think it is pretty! I am really excited to use my new fitteds with my new wool longies, keeping my little one warm and dry this winter. My mom is also knitting a pair for us, and I can't wait to see them! Wool covers can sometimes be quite expensive to buy new (as much as $75 for a hand-knitted pair, typically more like $30-$40), but they can last through multiple children, serve as pants so you don't need to worry about buying those, and only need to be washed once a month, unless they get poo on them. It is a naturally anti-microbial fiber and so breathable that it is the only thing that works for some babies who are extra sensitive to diaper rash. A more in-depth explanation of wool's great properties can be found at Llamajamas.

Some places to buy wool longies:
Cloth Diaper Superstore
Goodmamas
Llamajamas
Diaper Covers - Soakers for Night, Large  (Amazon)

Or how to make your own:
That's Kinda Cool
Bright Hub
Born to Love
the diaper hyena - this one has lots of link to patterns

And, instructions for caring for your woolies:
at Understanding Laura
at All About Cloth Diapers
at Green Mountain Diapers

If you have a site you'd like me to add, let me know in comments!

Emptying Everything

Sweet Pea's current favorite activity: emptying everything. She takes the books off the shelves, the garbage out of the basket, the napkins off the table, the containers out of the kitchen drawers, and on and on in every situation you can imagine.

Here is our typical experience sitting at the desk, notice the half-empty drawer and the pens on the floor:

I've heard that the next step will be putting things away, but not necessarily where you'd like them to be put. Check out New Urban Habitat's post about her toddler to see what I mean.

My Ideal Diaper Bag - WAHM Series

This is the first in a series of posts about products I've gotten from work-at-home-moms (WAHMs). 

Two days ago I was thrilled to receive my new diaper bag in the mail. It is the exact colors I wanted, the exact size, has the exact right number and size of pockets, and included a matching changing pad and wipes case. Similar bags that I have looked at cost around $150, but my bag cost me much less and was made precisely to my specifications. How is this possible? Well, the bag was made by WAHM who I connected with through diaperswappers. (You can check out her facebook page, Drea Designs, here.) I bought the fabric and sent it to her, and she sewed it together based on a pattern she had created when making a bag for herself. It has lots of great features, like a clip for my keys, and pocket toward the top on the inside for my cell phone. I am constantly misplacing (or losing, depending on your point of view) these items, so this is a biggie for me!

I got a couple of great diaper bags at my baby shower that have served me well over the last nine months, but the most-used one was getting pretty worn out, and they were all too small for the amount of stuff that I need to cart around sometimes. My ideal was to be able to pack everything I would need for a full day out with Sweet Pea into one bag, and this one can do it. A full diaper bag for me includes:

• three to four cloth diapers
• one wet bag
• one complete outfit change for Sweet Pea: shirt, pants, socks, shoes
  
• wipes
• changing pad
  
• bottle of water
• jacket or light blanket for Sweet Pea
• baby carrier (ERGO)
• cell phone
• keys
• wallet and checkbooks
• snack

General review: I love it! Love the size, pockets, strap, and design. The only thing I wish I would have done differently is maybe alternated the fabrics so the flap was the same as the inside fabric, just to break up the pattern a little. Or maybe a border edge around it - different colored stitches, or ribbon - or something. Totally my issue since I picked the fabric and Drea Designs suggested the fabrics be switched for the flap. But again, that is just a very minor thing. She was very easy to communicate with, always got back to me quickly and was great about asking me specific questions to make sure the bag was going to be precisely what I wanted. Overall I am very pleased with the look, functionality, and craftsmanship of this bag, and I expect it to last me at least until we no longer need diapers. But then you need to carry other things, right?

Here it is, with the top open, empty:

And here, full of all my important belongings:

The key clip detail. This can hang on the outside or be tucked in.

Finally, with the flap down:

Lovely, isn't it?

Planning My Cloth Diaper Party

A while back, my cloth diaper mentor sent me a link to information about hosting a cloth diaper party. It looked interesting, but I didn't think too much about it. Suddenly, in the last week, I've had three friends writing to me asking for advice about cloth diapers, and recalled the diaper party idea again. So, I've decided to do it! In about a month (date yet to be determined) I will be unpacking a big box of a wide assortment of modern cloth diapers, and talking about them to my friends and anyone else who shows up. If anyone buys anything at the party, or through my affiliate link, I get a commission! If no one buys anything, oh well, I get to spend an afternoon playing with diapers with other mamas. I can just send the whole box back, and I'm only out shipping costs. Seems like a win-win. There will be at least one prize for a lucky attendee, and I'm thinking about making cloth wipes to give away, and possibly playing a game too.
There are a couple of companies that do the cloth diaper party thing, but I like the diaper options best in the "booty in a box" from Cloth Diaper Superstore. I have never done anything like this before, so please share any advice or ideas you have for making this the most fun it can be. Thanks!