I went garage saling this morning and while it was cut short due to a baby that decided she would much rather be at home, I did find something that I am rather excited about, which resulted in an afternoon of this.
It even has a lid so if we use it in the morning, I can cover it and we can come back out in the afternoon without having to empty it.
And wearing Daddy’s work gloves after being done in the pool
Today is our five year anniversary. I can’t believe it has already been 5 years! Happy Anniversary honey. I love you!
(We look so young!)
I am officially 37 weeks, which means the baby can come anytime now. My induction, due to gestational diabetes is booked for June 14 at 7:20 am. Only 17 days left! I am getting excited and starting to wonder about what our little guy will look like and act like. I am also excited to put away the maternity clothes and wear my normal clothing again and to be able to give my husband a hug in which neither of us has to stick our butt out. Less than 3 weeks!
Last Tuesday night, I was taking my glasses off as I was preparing to go to bed. As I did this, out of nowhere I was holding an arm in one hand, and the rest of the glasses in the other.
So the next morning, I ventured out in the snow to go see if they could be repaired. Unfortunately, they could not, as it was something to do with a broken hinge, so I started the process of trying to choose new glasses. Chloe was really good for me while I did this and the lady at the store was quite helpful. About 15-20 minutes and over $300 later, I had ordered a new pair of glasses. (When did glasses become so expensive? I remember my childhood and teenage ones costing much less.) Here is the result.
(Yep, that’s a glasses closeup as I couldn’t manage to take a shot of my face that didn’t look ridiculous.)
We keep our bread in a bottom drawer. Chloe has discovered this. The first time I found her in it, she had opened it and the bags were just twirled and flipped closed so she was sitting on the floor eating the bottom half of a hamburger bun. (Now we always use ties). Over the last little while we have taught her to stay out of the drawers, but she still occasionally goes in them. The other day, I heard her open the drawer and come peek into the living room holding a bag of buns. Brian got up and started walking towards her. She turned around, ran to the drawer, threw the buns back in, closed the drawer and looked at Brian, with what I am sure was a look of innocence. It was too funny.
Chloe is growing like a weed. I have no idea when she got so tall. In the last month alone she has grown almost 3 inches, although she has only gained a pound. This morning we went swimming and as I was putting her bathing suit on (which fit fine a few weeks ago) I realized that there was no way that we could go out in public with her wearing that. (I know she is only a baby, but still). I also think the straps may have cut her circulation severely if I allowed her to wear that suit, so we trekked off to Wal-Mart where I bought a really cute tankini for her because I really wanted to go swimming. Being a two piece, I am hoping that she will be able to wear it longer. The bottoms were also a little big so I am hoping that it will fit her for a long time. (Through next summer would be great). I also put a pair of pants on her yesterday that I had to roll up almost two inches last time she wore them (a week or two ago). Yesterday I only had to roll up a teeny bit, and that wasn’t even 100% necessary. The problem with this is that she is not gaining a lot of weight, just inches, so pants that are long enough are much too big in the waist. The bulkier cloth diapers help a bit, but her pants are generally still a little loose. She is growing way too fast! Where did my baby go?? Also, if she keeps this rate up, she will be a 7 foot amazon princess by the time she is 8!
(Those capris used to be long enough for pants)
When I dress her like this, I think she looks like she should be at a clam bake.
One of the things I most enjoy doing is scrapbooking, so for mother’s day this year, I got this:
It is a shape cutting kit. I think of myself as creative, but quite lacking in artistic ability (one of those kids that always had trouble staying inside the lines). Therefore, any cutting of shapes of any kind usually resulted in non circular circles, attempting to trace stencils and cutting out as close to the lines as my scissors would let me. Now, I no longer have that problem. I have been playing over the last few days and am managing perfect shapes that are all the same no matter how many I do! It is very exciting for me. It came with four templates but you can buy many more and I have already looked at some of the other ones that I want and am looking forward to adding them to my collection. Here are a couple samples. (I am currently working on my sisters wedding so this is what these pages are from)
Yep, that is my belly at the bottom getting in the way of the picture taking. Also, the last name is blocked off so that they don’t get stalkers and such. Look at those perfect hearts which I never in a million years could have cut by myself. Also the second page is not using anything from the shape cutter. It was just in the picture.
And my belly is in the way again! I love how all the pics were exactly the same size and shape. It is great. I love my new toy!
Yesterday, I had an ob/gyn appointment at 11:45 and then a dietitian appointment at 3:00. Both of these were in the city and were not at all conducive to having a one year old with you. So, I got Brian to take the afternoon off and stay home with Chloe while I stayed in the city for the afternoon. While it was nice to not have to worry about diapers and crying and pulling DVD’s off the shelf or other things of that nature, it was still a tiring afternoon. I discovered that I don’t enjoy shopping as much as I used to. It could be because I am pregnant, but it could also be a plethora of other reasons. Who knows. I used to be able to wander a mall looking in all the shops for hours. Now, unless I am specifically looking for something I don’t enjoy myself. (This does result in spending less money, so I guess it is a good thing).
Anyway, I bought a few things that I needed, and my mother’s day present. (Because my child is 1 and Brian had no idea what I was talking about when I told him what I wanted (a scrapbooking tool, which I am very excited to try out one of these evenings), I have to buy it myself). I also looked at trying to find some room darkening curtains for Chloe’s new room. The ones I made will stay in the nursery. I looked at numerous places and the only place I could find them was Home Outfitters, where they were 50 dollars each and I needed two. I have decided that is a little ridiculous and will keep looking elsewhere. Anyway, it was a good afternoon, although I was tired when I got home, but I don’t think I will do it again. My next appointments are at 8:30 and 9:25 on the same day again. This time they are back to back and I can bring Chloe with me and then go home and relax on my couch.
Side note: The diapers are improving. After a suggestion from my cousin, I have started putting cornstarch on her bum with each change and am putting disposables on at night with oodles of zinc. Once the rash is completely gone, I will try putting her back in cloth at night with a product called Bum Bum Balm that can be used with cloth and see how that does. The new detergent and stripping seems to have taken care of the ammonia smell as well, so fortunately she is almost completely back in cloth and I am please to see her bum looking a little better every time I change it.
We have been using cloth diapers for Chloe for a little over a month now. At first they were great, but over the last week or two we have been having quite the issues. First she started getting some kind of weird rash. It did not look like anything I have ever seen (and working in childcare I have seen more than my fair share of diaper rashes) nor did it sound like anything I could find on the internet. They looked like weird pustule things, kind of a combo between a blister and a pimple. For a few days, I put her back in disposables and slathered on the zinc oxide. It got rid of them nicely. Our next problem was a very strong ammonia smell. The diapers came out of the dryer smelling fine, but as soon as she peed, they smelled like ammonia, especially her morning one. So I went on my computer and did a bunch of research. I also posted on a parents forum, asking advice. From everything I read, all my problems seemed to stem from detergent build up. So I stripped the diapers. (Washing in very hot water without detergent). With pocket diapers you are supposed to do this every six months or so as basic upkeep, but I couldn’t believe that I needed to do it after just over one. Anyway, after that I did some more research and it seems that the detergent build up is most likely being caused by me using the wrong detergent and the fact that we have hard water. I had bought a detergent that was supposed to be fine for cloth diapers, but apparently a lot of natural detergents have natural oils and things in them that can cause problems. The detergent I had bought was also a powder and they don’t rinse off as well as liquid ones do. So after spending 25 dollars on special detergent, I went and bought a 6 dollar bottle of a liquid detergent that was recommended by quite a few places. Hopefully this solves my problem. The ammonia smell seems to be gone, but she is getting a rash again. So we’ll see. I am hoping that as soon as she gets used to being in cloth again, her bum will clear up. I know she did have a rash for the first little bit while she got used to the cloth and that it is not uncommon. Here’s hoping!
