"A" Cubed

Tuesday, October 7

Augusta

In addition to going to the Sip and See, we stayed with Addie's Grandpa on Friday and her Grandma on Saturday.

playing with her new toy and Grandpa

Addie's Grandpa sure does love spending time with her!

We had fun taking pictures before the Sip and See.
(i'm learning more about lighting...slowly)

Addie with her Grandma's husband Al

Although quite a different tradition in Montgomery, a "Sip and See" in Augusta is to introduce a someone's grandchild to her closest friends. Paul, Addie, and I traveled to Augusta this past weekend for this. Some of Addie's Grandma's sweet friends hosted this party.

hostesses: Ann, Helen, Suzanne, Phyllis, and Marsha
with Addie and her Grandma

Addie and one of our favorite friends, Rosie

another favorite friend, Fran, with Addie and Grandma

meeting the Wallaces with another sweet friend, Linda

Addie's 1st sip...of water (because that's what Mommy was drinking)!

Addie had just about had enough, and Jayne took her and gave her a baby massage! She was so relaxed!

talking to all of the ladies

enough is enough...sweet sleep

Addie got several sweet gifts from the ladies...but her favorite part was the tissue paper! She had so much fun playing in it!

Monday, October 6

A Picnic in the Park

I'm so far behind on blogging! Last Wednesday (Oct 1st), Addie and I met Paul at a picnic he had for work. Addie was great around all the people, and she loved meeting a new friend (a dog, of course!). We're working on being "gentle" with animals.

Addie loves Colleen, Paul's Lockheed boss.

I just love how she's looking up at Daddy here!

swinging is definitely one of Addie's new favorite things!

"Not Me! Monday"

Well, I wasn't planning to post a "Not me! Monday" until I discovered that there were numerous things that I did NOT do today!!!

i did not wash my"dry clean only" pants in the washing machine. I certainly know my clothes better than that and always check tags before washing.

i did not make crystal lite and go to shake it up only to have the cap not be clicked down and sling it all over the kitchen.

after really thinking that i could keep the dogs from eating Addie's teething biscuit when she "dropped" it on the floor by "watching" them/her, i did not lock the dogs out of the kitchen using a chair and a stool at each door. i certainly didnt wait to do this until Mollie had eaten the 1st teething biscuit...

I know my child didn't intentionally drop her teething biscuit on the floor (after the dogs were locked out) in order to make me stop vacuuming the kitchen because she didn't like the noise. She's only 6 months old, and I would never allow her to manipulate me like that. No way, not me!

I did not resort to sitting my child on the sink instead of just giving her a bath to clean the teething biscuit off because the washcloth did no good!

and...I did not sleep for 2 hours when Paul got home because I was so exhausted!

Make sure to check out MckMama's blog! Only 3 weeks and 2 days until baby Stellan is born!

Happy Monday!

Sunday, October 5

Who's Baby is That...?

After posting some pictures of me when I was a baby (eating a teething biscuit), Paul's mom forwarded me some pictures of him as a baby eating cereal for the 1st time. Do you see any resemblance?

hairline? check
shape of face? check
mouth? check
lips? debatable
nose? debatable
eyes? my mommy's claiming those!

She's definitely a Daddy's girl!

Thursday, October 2

Cloth Diapers

Alrighty...so I promised I'd do a post on cloth diapers. I must first say that cloth diapers are not for everyone! I think a large part of it depends on your family and what works best for you and your child. Many nurseries and daycares/homecares won't accept children in cloth diapers. I'm not condemning people who use disposables. In fact, we currently still use them at night.

So...you're 1st question is probably: what would possess you to switch to cloth diapers?!?!? I can assure you that I am not trying to convince anyone to switch; nor am I telling you that you are harming your child by using them. But...here are my reasons (in no specific order):

disposables are expensive, even with coupons and buying in bulk: we've spent an estimated $300 over the past 6 months on disposables. If (big if), Addie's potty trained by 2, that is $1200 on just her diapers! (and I think my numbers are actually low because they are based on size 1 & 2 diapers...they increase in price as they get bigger. I've read on several sites the average is closer to $1600 in 2 years!);
traditional disposable diapers contain several chemicals: among others...chlorine (20lbs of it each year for one baby alone)...sit on that for a minute;
disposable diapers do not decompose...for a long, long, long time (disposables account for nearly half the trash discarded in a household with a baby);
cloth diapers are not the same as when we were growing up;
supposedly many children potty train sooner with cloth diapers;
we don't have to use cloth diapers 24/7; we can use them when it works for us!

You can read more about why some families choose cloth diapers here or here.

After reading more reviews on diapers than I care to admit, we have we tried:

Kissaluvs fitted
Bummis Bamboozle fitted
Bummis Whisper Wrap
Imse Vimse Organic Wrap
"Prefolds" (the bane of my existence...i dont know how my mother did it!)
BumGenius pocket diaper
Thirsties Fab Fitted diaper
Thirsties Diaper Cover
Another Imse Vimse diaper cover and several more kissaluvs

A few answers to questions you might have...

Have they leaked? Once...when I was running errands for too long...so it was my fault! :) Otherwise...no!
How often do you have to change her? I typically try not to go more than 2 hours. Since there's really no "wicking" away with cloth diapers, it's best to change them more often.
Which one is your favorite? I like the fitted diaper + wrap/cover concept. However, I did use the BumGenius pocket diaper for the first time...and loved it!
Aren't you grossed out if you have to wash one out? Nope...not anymore, that is. Kitchen gloves work GREAT!
Do I have a pail of water with dirty diapers in it sitting around? Nope...we "dry store" them. Letting them sit in water actually wears down the fabric and elastic faster.
Aren't you harming the environment just as much by doing more loads of laundry? Nope...I read somewhere that it's the equivalent of flushing a toilet 5-6 more times a day (which is exactly what will happen when our child is potty trained!). And...we use 1/4 of the amount of detergent on diapers as we use on a regular load of laundry.
Does Addie like them? I'm not sure...but she certainly doesn't seem to dislike them!
Do you think you're going to "save the earth" by using cloth diapers? Nope, but no matter how small, it will make a difference.
Would I recommend it to others? I would recommend at least trying it. That's how we got started!