Playing Outside

Today the weather was nice, so I pruned three bushes in my front yard. Maybe a little late, but they look much better now than they did before - all leggy and with dead branches. The most exciting part of this was that Sweet Pea was able to be out there with me. Last summer I did yard work while caring for her and she would just lay on a blanket or sit in her swing or bouncy chair and be happy. When she started crawling at about 7 months old, and was also still putting everything into her mouth, there was no way I could hang out outside with her without very vigilant constant monitoring. So, for the last six months or so, yard work only got done when both Average and I were home, it wasn't raining, and we felt like it. Which is to say that it pretty much never got done. Well, we're back at it as of today, now that she is walking and doesn't put quite EVERYTHING in her mouth any more.

I forgot to bring my camera out with me today so missed a few very photo-worthy moments of Sweet Pea touching a daffodil, pulling a piece of grass, or toddling around with her bucket in hand. Next time! And there will be many many more next-times throughout this spring (which officially starts in a little over a week) because we are getting a tax refund so can afford to build the garden that we want in the back yard. Six raised beds! A paver or turfstone path! A flower bed along the house! Permanent supports for our raspberries! A new compost bin! Can you tell I am excited?! I plan to do another post showing the garden plan and photos as we make progress. Please share any tips for success with any of these projects.

I am using the following books for inspiration:

 

Our Favorite Children's Music

Does the thought of children's music put a smile on your face or a look of disdain? Personally, I have always enjoyed children's music, but I know many adults who, if they don't hate it, at least are annoyed by it. When I was a kid, my favorite albums were anything by Raffi, and Wee Sing Silly Songs. I loved singing songs at summer camp, and would sing in the car to pass to the time on trips. However, if you don't like children's music so much, you might want to try a regular adult musical artist who has made a children's album. My current favorites are:
Ziggy Marley's Family Time
Dan Bern's Two Feet Tall













Of course, just because music is marketed to adults doesn't mean that children and babies won't love it too. Lately we have been using music to help Sweet Pea fall asleep at night, and Average made a great mix that helps her to relax and drift off. The majority of these are songs that we have always liked and won't easily tire of, with a few Raffi classics thrown in for good measure. Here is the list:

F-Stop Blues     Jack Johnson    Brushfire Fairytales
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot    Raffi    The Corner Grocery Store
Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby    Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch    O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Daughters    John Mayer    Heavier Things      
Blackbird    Sarah McLachlan    I Am Sam Soundtrack 
Rock-A-Bye Baby    Raffi    The Corner Grocery Store 
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues   Chris Thomas King    O Brother, Where Art Thou?  
I'm Yours    Jason Mraz    We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things    
Yellow    Coldplay    Parachutes 
Imagine   John Lennon    The John Lennon Collection
Slip Slidin' Away    Paul Simon    The Paul Simon Anthology
Home On the Range    Gene Autry    The Essential Gene Autry
Lullaby    Dixie Chicks    Taking the Long Way  
Goodnight, Irene    Raffi    The Corner Grocery Store

If you are not familiar with Raffi, and you like fun, acoustic kids music, I would recommend checking out:

















Another favorite of mine when I was a child was the Really Rosie album and matching book by Carole King.


What are your favorite kids songs or albums?

*I do get a commission on Amazon sales from readers clicking through my links to buy, and from my Amazon carousel in the sidebar.

She's a Toddler

Over the last weeks, my baby turned into a toddler. She is walking everywhere and can go from sitting to standing without pulling up on anything, and she turned one year old. I think that makes it official. We will have to start attending "toddler story time" instead of the baby story time at the public library. Even with the frequent bumps and falls, walking has been tremendously fun and exciting for all of us, and we can't wait for the next steps (running, jumping, riding bikes?)

I have mentioned this before, but I just can't quite believe sometimes that the baby that I birthed a year ago is really going to turn into a CHILD, and then a teenager, and then an adult! It blows my mind. That's how life works, so it shouldn't be a surprise, right? Am I the only one who is regularly shocked by the passage of time?

A few photos from the birthday party:

With the giraffe that Grandma made.

The carrot cake: I made it, Average decorated.

In her pretty new tutu.

Congratulations to us! We made it through one year of breastfeeding, cloth diapering, night-time waking, baby-proofing, laundry for 3 people, and learning to travel as a family, among other things. We are looking forward to more learning and adventure in the year ahead!

Top Three Reasons Cloth Is Best

The majority of new parents are not aware of the many benefits and the ease of use of modern cloth diapers. For this post, I've tried to condense my ideas down into three main points about the differences between cloth and disposables: cost, disposal of wastes, and the environment/health. Warning: this post is one-sided because I have never used disposables and they are not appealing to me to try out. But, I have done my research!

1. Cost: For $350-$450, you can get set up with a great stash of enough cloth diapers to last you from birth until potty training. Yes, you can spend more than that, but you can also spend less. I have read of some people who went as simple as possible and bought mostly used and diapered a baby for around $100. Compare that to disposables, where you'll be typically spending at least $1000 (based on buying store brand and only changing 6-8 diapers per day), some estimate as high as $3000, depending on how many you use in a day and what kind you buy. AND, you can re-use or re-sell the cloth diapers your baby is done with them, leading to more money savings. Yes, you do need to spend the money up-front, whereas with disposables it is a monthly shopping expense. There are a few ways to get around shelling out the entire cost for your diaper stash at one time, though: 1 - register for cloth diapers for your baby shower, 2 - buy them a few at a time throughout your pregnancy, 3 - buy them a few at a time after your baby's birth, while using up any disposables you were gifted.
2. Ease of use: Modern cloth diapers can be as simple to put on your baby as disposables. Pins are no longer necessary, and most diapers now go on with velcro or aplix, or snaps. Cloth diaper washing routine is generally the same as for regular clothes, plus one extra rinse cycle, which you can probably set automatically on your washer. Breastfed poo can go straight into the washer, as can the wet bags that you can use to hold the dirty diapers. The more absorbent microfleece and microfiber diapers might need an extra cycle with bleach or peroxide once every couple of months to avoid stinky build-up, but that's it. Once your baby starts eating solids, you can shake the poo into the toilet before putting the diaper in the dirty bag. With cloth diapers, there is an average increase of 3 loads of laundry per week. Some people only wash once a week, others wash every day. It depends on your preferences and how many diapers you have. Also, I have heard time and again that people experience fewer "blow-outs" with cloth (we only have had 2-3 ever) so that means fewer outfit changes and less clothing to wash. In addition, you never have to run to the store late at night because you ran out of diapers!
3. Health and the environment: Cloth diapers are better for the environment and for your baby. With cloth diapers, you are disposing of your baby's wastes by putting them into a water treatment system designed to handle such things. With disposables, you are typically putting the waste into landfills where it can seep into the ground. Disposable diapers are the number 3 single item in landfills, with each (disposable-diapered) baby creating about 1 ton of waste during the diapering years. Disposables are typically made of bleached paper and plastics that include traces of dioxins, and the sodium polyacrylate gel that creates the absorbency of disposables can get onto the baby's skin. Some babies are allergic to the materials in disposables, and if you feel the differences between a disposable and a cloth diaper you will easily see which one would be more comfortable for your baby. There has also been some research done on the increase in temperature around babies' genitals with disposable diapers, due to the plastic not allowing air flow, and some possible negative effects of that.

Lastly, cloth diapers are cute and soft and make diaper changes so much more enjoyable!

What are your reasons for using or not using cloth diapers?

Buying More to Spend Less

I just got back from a few days on vacation, and am about to start a couple of weeks of substitute teaching, so my blog has and probably will continue to suffer from my current non-Stay-at-Home-Mom status. It's not that I don't have ideas for things to write about, but I am having a hard time finding the time to write new posts, beyond a paragraph or so. One idea that I have had for a while I am going to actually crank out tonight! Blogging on a Friday night -- my life is so exciting.

Buying in bulk is a great way to save money and to be green. Greater quantities usually are cheaper by unit (although check the price tags to be sure), and use less packaging. Some items that we have bought in bulk recently include:

• Hand soap for the kitchen, where I really like to have a hand-pump style soap dispenser. We bought a large bag of it to re-fill the dispenser that had run out. We got five times the amount of soap for only twice the cost of a regular container of soap. 
• Trail mix fixings. These were really fun for me because they were much cheaper in the bulk section of my grocery store than these items normally cost, and definitely cheaper than a pre-mixed bag. Also, I was able to add the raisins and banana chips that I made (dehydrated) myself this fall. I blended almonds, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips with my dried fruit, and stored it in small jam jars, which are a great size for a travel snack.
• Yogurt. Sweet Pea has started to enjoy yogurt, and I love it too, for breakfast, lunch, or dessert. I typically buy Nancy's, which is a local natural brand, and available in sizes ranging from a single serving up to 32 or 64 ounce containers. I usually buy the Honey or Plain flavors, and then add my own fruit, either fresh, canned, or jammed. Not only am I saving money by buying a larger quantity, I am creating less waste from packaging, and I typically re-use the containers a few times before recycling them. We have used them for everything from storing leftovers, to bath toys for Sweet Pea, to transporting dog food. The makers of Nancy's even left a blank spot on the container for the user to write what's inside in these future uses.

In addition to re-using my yogurt containers, I have found it incredibly useful to keep most of the glass jars that I buy with pickles, peanut butter, or jam in them, and once they are empty, re-use them for storing smaller amounts of the bulk items I buy. Of course I also save all of the empty jars I used for canning last year. This helps with transport (like for a snack to keep in the diaper bag) and with portion control. I've been keeping them in the cupboard above my dryer, and look forward to filling even more this summer with more home-made jams and dried fruit from my garden.

What else do you like to buy in bulk? How do you store it? Share your tips!

Baby's First Birthday Is Coming Soon!

You may have noticed that my About Me section over on the side mentions my 11-month-old baby. Eleven months old is almost a year. So, we have a first birthday party to plan. I need ideas.

Should we do games?
Should I ask people to write a letter to Sweet Pea?
What kind of food should I have?

All that I have planned so far is for carrot cake cupcakes and only used, hand-made, or re-gifted presents. I want this to be a fun event for our family, low-pressure for me, and have some nice pictures for Sweet Pea to look back on. Which reminds me, I am also debating about doing professional 1-year-old photos, like from a real professional photographer, not a department store. I am talking art quality photos for us to blow up large and hang on the wall. This seems to be quite expensive. Ideas? Please?