A Woman of Many Hats

On this date number of years ago (exactly how many shall remain unspecified herein) a great lady was born.  After graduating college, she began her career in nursing.  A few years later she married a terrific guy who would give her three sweet, beautiful children.  Most recently, she added a Grandma hat to the many hats she wears on a regular basis:  wife, mother, daughter, nurse, mentor, Pastor's wife, MOPS leader, musician, chef, Bible study leader, and babysitter to name a few.  So here's to you, Mom!  I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

It's harder that I thought to get a 5-month-old to hold a piece of paper for a picture.   She didn't have much respect for the time I spent making the sign, either.

 

Laughter: the more you have, the better it gets!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  It's been a while since I've written. I was afraid this would happen. I would start a blog but never make time to update it. Ahh, so it is. My excuse: summer is busy! A week ago, I started a post but never completed it. So now I am recapping. We went through our first bout of sickness with little Kyla. This was taken about a week ago. Happy to report that she only looked this bad for a day!

Poor little girl! It's just heartbreaking to see my baby look at me with that "What is happening to me, Mommy?" expression.


Since then, I co-hosted a bridal shower in Winner, went to Sioux Falls to do some shopping with a friend and see my mom and grandparents, worked a couple days, made 14 quarts and 23 pints of pickles, canned 13 pints of beans, and had family pictures taken by my cousin Amy.  (If you're in the area and looking for a great photographer, check out her website:  http://www.eyeofastormphoto.com/ !)   Today was my first down-day in a couple weeks, and it was wonderful!


Bryan has been home the last couple of days and spent most of both days with Kyla and I.  I so appreciate him!  He helped me make pickles yesterday, spent lots of time playing with Kyla, watched a movie with me tonight, and generally made me laugh...a lot.  Ironically, though, what made me laugh the hardest was done with no intent on his part whatsoever.  I had leftover vinegar-and-salt brine in the fridge in a pitcher.  Thinking it was tea, Bryan poured himself a glass and took a big drink!  You can just imagine...  He didn't even complain about it!  What a guy!  ;)


Here's a snapshot of the fun we were having this morning before church.   It makes me laugh every time!  Hope it does the same for you!

Fuzzi Bunz

If cute was a requirement for diapers, these things would sell themselves.

Last summer at the State Fair, I happened upon a booth selling cloth diapers.  My idea of cloth diapers was the kind my mom used.  Fold, pin in place, and finish with a plastic pull-up cover.  Then there was the rinsing in the toilet and storing in a bucket of bleach water.  NOT FOR ME!  However, the new "high-tech" cloth diapers are nothing like what they used to be.  There are numerous types of cloth diapers:  all-in-ones, pocket diapers, fitteds, and pre-folds to name a few.  And for each type, each brand has its own variations.

The more I researched, the more interested I became.  The cost savings alone made cloth diapering a very appealing option.  The apparent ease of these new cloth diapers was also very encouraging.

After much research on the part of both me and my mom, I decided to go with Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers.  Pocket diapers do not require a cover.  They have an external water-proof shell lined with fleece.  Absorbant inserts are stuffed into a pocket between the fleece and external shell.  I use the Fuzzi Bunz one-size diaper, which means that with 8+ size settings around the legs and 4+ around the waist, these diapers will fit from birth through potty training.  There are also multiple snap settings.

Ok, but they're a lot of work, right?  Nope.  Granted, I nearly always have a laundry basket sitting around with diapers ready to be stuffed, but that is due more to my lack of motivation to stuff than to any difficulty in doing so.  Basically, after I take the wet or soiled diaper off Kyla, I separate the insert from the diaper and put both in my mess-free diaper bag.  It hangs on a door knob and has a zipper in the bottom.  When it gets time to wash diapers, I unzip the bag, shake the diapers into the wash machine and throw the bag in as well.  Then I wash the diapers as directed, using an incredibly tiny amount of soap.  "What about the poop?", you ask.  Since I am breastfeeding and there are no solids, everything just goes right into the wash.  It's not as gross as you might imagine.  :)  After they come out of the wash, I hang them out on the clothes line to dry, if at all possible.  The sun takes care of any lingering stains and makes them smell nice and fresh.  The inserts can be thrown in the dryer, but I've read that it is best not to dry the diapers themselves.  Once dry, simply stuff the inserts back into the diapers; and you're ready to go!

Benefits:  Obviously the cost savings is huge.  They are an investment at the beginning, but it's an investment that you will recover in no time, especially if you use them nearly exclusively.  Second, Kyla is nearly five months old, and she has never had a diaper rash.  Yep, never.  I can't say I even know what one looks like.  Lastly, the negative effect of disposable diapers on the environment is enormous!  For those interested in reading more, visit http://www.diaperjungle.com/why-use-cloth-diapers.html.

Now, I realize that cloth diapers aren't for everyone.  I still put disposables on Kyla when we are away from home, though I eventually may use them on the run some too.  It's just a matter of bringing them home to wash, which really isn't that inconvenient.  Also, since she is so small, they are a bit bulky on her at this age.

Overall, I rate my experience with Fuzzi Bunz so far at a 9.5.  I experienced some leaking overnight for a time; but now I double-stuff her night diaper and have had no more leaking, even when she is in it for up to 12 hours.

Now, you can't tell me those aren't the cutest diapers you've ever seen!

http://www.fuzzibunz.com/

What does it mean to be Mommy?

I have officially been a Mommy now for 142 days.  Not very long in the scheme of things but long enough to begin my definition of Mommy.  Here's what it means so far:

Mommy means having shift duty at least every three hours and being on call the rest of the time.  It means your day off no longer exists.

Mommy means that you get to furiously wipe up the urine running down public seating area at the doctor's office after you changed your daughter's diaper only to have her pee at the exact moment when one diaper is coming off and the other is going on.

Mommy means that you have an instant bond with every other Mommy that you meet.  You catch the sympathetic glances when your baby is the one screaming at the top of her lungs in Wal-Mart, and you smile knowingly when someone else's child launches a stream of spit-up onto her mother's Sunday outfit.

Mommy means crying when your baby gets her first shots.

Mommy means it no longer really matters what you look like when you go out. People are only going to notice your baby anyway.

Mommy means learning exactly what takes pumpkin-colored poop out of a pink-and-white dress.

Mommy means that lunch with a friend may consist of standing beside the booth half the meal bouncing a very tired baby while spending the other half trying to eat a very messy chicken caesar wrap with one hand while holding said baby in the other hand.  (It's probably good that my friend had to return to work before I got to the second half of my meal since watching me struggle with the first half was no doubt enough for one day.)

Mommy means that perfect strangers will rush to hold the door for you at the post office.

Mommy means having an infinite number of excuses to sit and cuddle with your baby even though laundry needs to be folded, dishes are sitting on the counter, and the trash is starting to stink.

Mommy means you get to watch your husband turn into Daddy and your parents become Grandpa and Grandma.

Mommy means being the presence that can turn your baby's wail into a make-your-day grin.

Tell me what being a Mommy means to you!

Why Write?

Here as I write my first blog post, I ponder the everlasting question: "Why?" Why write? And more importantly, why blog? Why not just keep a personal journal as generations of women did before me? Why let others in on my thoughts? And then again, why not?

Some guy named Don Delillo said, "Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us." That, and much more, in my opinion. Writing helps me make sense of the plethora of thoughts tumbling 'round in my head from the moment I awake until, sometimes, long after I should be asleep.

Perhaps someday my daughter will want to read her mother's thoughts and musings from years past, maybe as a way to help her along on her trek. And then again, she might not.

I hope you find this blog somewhat enjoyable or, at the very least, not boring. Please leave your comments. After all, aren't we all learning life?