It's a....

GIRL

we are so excited!!

24 weeks

I actually had no idea I was already this far along. I have been telling everyone 21 weeks for several weeks now, ha. I guess after quitting my job all the days/weeks ran together.

How far along: 24 weeks (due August 18)

Size of Baby: "Your little Wiener schnitzel is about the length of a foot-long Chicago hot dog and weighs about 1 1/3 pounds."

Total Weight Gain/Loss: gained about 5-10 lbs probably

Maternity Clothes: I have one regular pair of jeans I still wear, and one pair of maternity capri jeans. It's too hot to wear my maternity jeans I had last time while pregnant with Sean. I don't know how I survived through the summer! Most shirts are regular. Although, I'm starting to put more and more shirts in the "can't wear this anymore" section of the closet.

Gender: We'll know tomorrow!

Movement: yes, lots.

What I miss: moving easily, high energy

Cravings: sweets

Easter 2011

 

Bear

Bear was there at the beginning.

He hung on my hospital door boasting Sean's arrival.

Then Bear moved to the NICU to watch over Sean.

Once Sean came home Bear found his place on the book shelf. (First time nervous nelly momma didn't want anything in baby's crib.)

Eventually Bear was promoted to the crib. Which meant Bear was now constantly covered in baby saliva and/or milk.

So in order to stay in the crib Bear had to face the machine.

 Here he is for his first bath. It was quite a rough ride.

 He came out clean and fresh and ready to get back to his job.

I love the way Sean has attached himself to his little Bear. He's not over attached and only sees Bear at bedtime, yet he excitedly grabs for him just before sleep and also as soon as he wakes up. Although, sometimes I find Bear on the floor, chucked out of the crib.  Sean is probably testing the waters, seeing how far a fall it is to the floor.

 I too had a bear, named Stinky Bear, who was there on day one of my life. I sucked on the tag on Stinky Bear's bottom, just like Sean does to his Bear.  The tag came off, but I still tired to suck where the tag was and wore his fur off. Stinky Bear got his name because he was just that, stinky. Sean's bear might earn the same name.

Cloth Diapering: The Stash

The other week I bought 12 more cloth diapers from our local kids boutique. I decided on the FuzziBunz brand, one size diapers. Each diaper comes with two inserts. The inserts are the white fleece pads.

 I couldn't bring myself to buy 12 white diapers, but I did stay away from gender specific colors like purple and pink. I figure a girl can always wear blue and brown, but a boy...not so much. I already had one brown diaper and also bought a butter cream yellow and another light blue, which are not pictured. I really like the bright colors. I bet they could sell more if there were a larger range of colors or patterns.

Sean's bum is too cute in his cloth diapers.

 This is the soap I bought, Rock in Green, for $17.99.  You can see its good for 45/90 loads. Obviously, that's a big difference in how long the soap will last. Depending on how many diapers you are washing and how often, oh and if you use the soap for your regular clothes can change that number.

 And this is the wet bag to throw the dirty diapers in. It's quite large and washable.

 The inside is softer and the outside is a water resistant plastic.

The remaining items I need are a travel wet bag and some washable wipes. The travel wet bags are around 15 dollars. It is basically the same material as the large bag. As far as wipes, why have washable diapers but not washable wipes. Cloth wipes are sold in my local store but the store owner even said they were too pricey for what they are. She recommended using baby wash cloths. They can be stored in the white wipes case along with a little water and soap (Johnson and Johnson Head to Toe baby wash). And can be washed along with the diapers. A cloth diapering friend bough a yard of fleece, cut into small pieces, surged the edges and uses those as wipes. I have many baby wash clothes so I'll try that first and if that fails go for the fleece. 

I'm excited to be starting the cloth diapering gig. It is really not as intimidating as it once seemed. It's just like anything you're unfamiliar with, scary to dive into. But once you learn about it, it's easy peasy!

Cloth Diapering: The Beginning

  I was interested in cloth diapering before Sean was born. But I assumed because he was in day care that was out of the question. So we went with disposable diapers. And turns out many day care places are willing to work with cloth diapers.

  Since I'm staying at home with Sean we decided to make the switch. I attended a Cloth Diapering 101 class (for free) at a local store and learned a lot. I had previously done a ton of internet research and talked to a cloth diapering friend. Seeing all the types of diapers in person was so helpful. It's amazing how many options are out there. It's nice to be able to get something that fits your needs. 

  I ruled out the prefold kind of diapers. The prefolds are like traditional diapering. What your mom/grandma may have used...uhh assuming you're about my age or older, haha. The prefold diaper is basically like what we used for burp cloths now a days. There are different options for securing the diaper, and there are covers to put over the diaper. This kind would be hard to get on my wiggling 20 months old. So, I ultimately decided to get something very similar to disposable diapers.

  It is recommended to buy 2-3 different styles at first to see what works best for you. And that's just what I did. 

This orange diaper is BumGenius brand. It is an organic cloth (cotton) and is a one size fits all and an all in one (meaning the diaper consists of just one piece). I wasn't particularly looking for organic, but this design only offers organic.

 You can see that there are several layers of cloth which are sewn to the diaper on the ends. With this one you have the thickness to absorb but it's separated so it can dry quicker than if it were just a super thick piece all together. (Don't mind the sleeping doggie, we are watching her for a friend.)

Because it is "one size fits all" there are snaps to adjust to baby's size. I like the one size so that the diapers can be shared between Sean and new baby. There are three snaps that can be snapped up to make it shorter length wise. In the picture just two are snapped up.

 The other diaper I bought is FuzziBunz brand. This one is also a one size fits all. But instead of being all in one (one piece), there is a liner to insert in a pocket on the diaper. This diaper dries faster than the orange one. For some that might not want to fuss with stuffing the liner in the pocket I can see where the all in one is better. But I don't think it's a hassle and I like how fast the FuzziBunz dries. It is micro fiber fleece, I believe. Which is a great absorbent and also great for air flow.

In the picture above you can see the two liner inserts. I think one is infant size, but it's not that much smaller. It's also nice to have two liners so you can double up if you have a heavy wetter, or double up at night.

 Again, this one has snaps to adjust around baby's waist.

 The opening to stuff in the liner is at the back.

 In stead of having adjustable snaps on the front to change the length, the FuzziBunz have elastic adjustment on the legs holes. There are numbers written by the button holes so you know the size. I think this feature is great.  This way if you have a skinny leg baby you can cinch the legs hole to prevent leakage. You can see in the picture that there is a little slit to put the tail end of the elastic into. FuzziBunz even sends you an extra pair of elastic incase yours wears out.

Also, you can distribute the material, scrunch it to one end or the other,  so that there is more material in a certain area. For instance, you can have more material in the front for boys.

  Other products I purchased along with the diapers is a special soap and disposable/flushable liners. The diaper soap is a soap, not a detergent.It's important to use specially designed soap because detergents break down the absorbency of the cloth diapers. It's like a sponge that has soap build up, the sponge can't absorb as much liquid because there is so much soap in the sponge.  The disposable liners are convenient for older babies with... welll...solid poop. It comes on a roll like toilet paper and you just tear off a piece and lay it on the diaper. That way when baby poops you can just lift off liner and flush. The liner is a thin material that's also breathable, so that means some poo residue might get on the diaper, but it'll rinse out. The liner isn't necessary but it makes life a little easier.

 So those are the two I decided to try. There are many more types and it can be quite overwhelming. If you're interested in cloth diapering I suggest you get a basic knowledge via the internet and then talk to a cloth diapering mama or visit a store that sells cloth diapers.

  I have decided to go with the FuzziBunz brand. I'll need to buy a wet bag to put dirty diapers in until its time to wash a load. I'm sure there are other little gadgets and doodads that can make cloth diapering easier, but I'll just start with the basic necessities.

  It'll be interesting to start the world of cloth diapering with an older baby and then a newborn. So far I'm thrilled with the results and look forward to saving money in the long run. Oh, and saving the environment..... also, Sean's little bum will experience less diaper rash.

Last Day of Work for Mom

Today is my last day at work! Thomas stopped by my work this morning to help remove my personal effects. The walls are bare and I'm doing all the last minute things before 5pm! (including blogging?haha)
    It feels so good to tell people what I'm doing next. Since turning in my two weeks notice co-workers have been asking what I have lined up. "I'm going home to be with my son and eventually new baby (pointing to my belly)" Usually what follows from them is a "good luck" or "that's great." I tell them I'm excited about the opportunity to spend more time with my kids.

I thought I'd post a few pictures of me and another girl on the job.
Nothing exciting...just documenting.

pipe gallery

 sometimes the view is nice

 checking pressure and chlorine at a house

 I was on top of a ground storage tank and took a pic

 putting on a harness before climbing the big tank

 on top of a tank...look Walmart!

So we mostly only took pictures of the exciting things. There was more to my job than climbing tanks. We inspected other aspects of drinking water systems.

 seee...not exciting

inside a pump house

a well head

Part of the job was responding to emergency situations that adversely affect the environment. In this case the saddle tank, that holds the diesel, on the truck ruptured and spilled out. It made it's way to water, no good.

So, I had a pretty good job. Some excitement, but not too much. I never had to take work home with me, unless I had the after hours emergency phone, which was only occasionally. There wasn't a lot of stress. And I enjoyed the company of most my co-workers. I however, will not miss this job. Glad I had the opportunity but I'm moving on to bigger and better things! My babies!