Day-32 2 Full days of work- ugh!

I'm pretty tired so it's another short one. Jackson was up at 4:50 and I didn't get back to bed after I got him back down and with school, basketball, and a very playful baby this evening- I'm beat. I do have to say today started much better than yesterday though. Jackson slept until 7:00 and woke up in a great mood. He's been pretty happy all day long and just full of himself. He's a riot to hang out with and it makes all the not so fun parts (like the bottle I spilled in the car this morning) much more bearable.

This is Jackson right after he got up. How can you not have a good day when you're greeted with this smile?

Jackson at dinner time- he went after the banana with a purpose. He ate almost the whole thing tonight.

Jackson successfully drank from his cup by himself without spilling (and set it back on the tray without spilling) twice tonight! Now there were probably more than 20 unsuccessful attempts, but he's learning so fast!

After dinner we're down to a diaper and sweatshirt b/c learning to eat and drink is a very messy venture! He's wearing the Thirsties Fab Fitted, which almost doesn't fit him anymore. I'm so sad because they don't make this diaper anymore and it's so trim and soft. It's one of my favorite around the house daytime fitteds.

This was Jackson at 9:15, almost 2 hours after his bedtime. He apparently didn't get the message that it was bedtime. Thankfully he gave in to those tired eyes about 20 minutes later!

Day 31- Red

I've got almost everything done and I'm ready for bed, so a super quick post. This week's challenge is "red." Jackson and I were running late getting home so he fell asleep. I had to wake him up to get him ready for bed so he'll sleep longer. Here he's chewing on his toothbrush, hanging out with elmo and rocking his perfect size fuzzibunz :) Probably one of the only times I could get a decent picture of him all day. These long days are rough!

Day 20- it's a long week, but it's SNOWING

Even though we had Monday off between watching basketball, doing laundry, and staying late at school- I'm beat! I won't be complaining if this storm has us enjoying another day at home tomorrow! I had extended day today and then Russell, Jackson and I went out for dinner. When all was said and done and we were settled it was already after seven. Russell insisted on hogging the camera today so he's the photographer of tonight's picture. Jackson is playing on his new foam play mat. I'm so excited it is here because now he has a safe place to practice sitting, crawling and trying new things without the punishment from the hardwood floor. I think he'll enjoy it for a long time! I'm really happy with the quality so far. Another mom from the August Mom group from the bump recommended it to me and it is fabulous! http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2786146

Tonight I'll do a quick review of a very popular pocket diaper, BumGenius 3.0. This diaper is great and very, very easy to use. I can't write a whole lot about it because I send it to Miss Brenda, our sitter's house. They velcro gets a little pilly, but there are easy solutions to help it last a little longer. These are one sized and will be the only diapers that my sitter will need for Jackson. They have great fit and don't leak unless I don't have enough in the pocket (which is my fault). They come in a lot of great colors and are reasonably priced. I have one dozen and got them with the buy 5 get 1 free special from cotton babies. Below is a picture of Jackson in his Grasshopper BumGenius when he was 2 weeks old! Bumgenius were my starter diapers and I recommend them to anyone who is just starting out with cloth or wants something very close to disposables that can be easily converted for any situation.

Publish Post

Day 19

Today begins my months of long days. I have to be at work at 7:30 (and I swear I'll try my hardest!) and I don't leave until after 5. This makes for some super long days! I'm forcing myself to stay up to watch this WVU game, but as the game gets worse and worse- I'm thinking bed sounds great!

I enjoy the extra money from extended day and I'd hate for Jennings not to have a basketball team, but it does stink that I get an hour less with Jackson 4 nights a week. It might not seem like a lot, but that time adds up! I do love teaching and I know I couldn't hack it as a stay at home mom, but I'd love to work part time. I really got spoiled with all these snow days and holidays. However, I think once I get used to this new routine and the 1/2 hour less of sleep I'll settle in and be OK again.

Tonight's pictures are from our playtime on the blankets. Jackson spit up all over his outfit from Miss Brenda so we went with the diaper and fleece shirt. The shirt is a 0-3- I can't believe it still fits him! I feel like he's getting so big but then I see pictures of other babies his age in the same equipment that we have and they fill it up so much more.

Now the diaper is another pocket diaper. It's one of his two Babykicks diapers of the chocoholic collection. Both diapers I got for free from Kelly's Closet. They are one size pocket diapers. These are definitely not my favorite. Some people really love this diaper and I think I might like it a lot more when Jackson is bigger, but I'm not a fan of how the insert fits on the smaller sizes. These have a pocket that is stuffed from the front with a special one size insert. Since the front is folded down, I always have extra insert sticking out on top that I have to fold down. That wouldn't bother me, but they don't fold down very well and then there is a tag that sticks out. They also have side snaps and I still haven't decided if I like those yet. I have to snap one snap tighter in the waist than I do at the thigh which provides a good fit. I hear that the side snaps are better for when they are older though because it makes it harder for them to undo the diaper.

All that said these aren't diapers diapers that I'm getting rid of just yet. They are extremely absorbent and I like that the inner leg gussets are a breathable material. I have never had a leak from these. They are really trim and great diapers for under jeans. Because the inner material takes a lot longer to dry, I run it through the dryer for 15 minutes after I hang it to dry with all the lighter diapers. This makes them dry and softens them up b/c hanging to dry makes them stiff and rough. So overall these are OK diapers for now, but I have a feeling I'll like them a lot right before we start potty training.

So here are a couple of pics of Jackson playing in his 0-3 shirt and Babykicks!

Day 16- Mounties pull the upset

Another full day to blog about, I love when I get to spend the whole day with my family! Today, as the title implies, the Mountaineers pulled a big upset over Purdue. It was an awesome game to watch. Jackson loves his WVU basketball and I got a hilarious picture of him with the ball so I'll share that today.

We also got our high chair up and ready for Jackson. We aren't going to get him really eating until 6 months, but we want him to get used to sitting in the high chair while we have dinner. It will be good for us to begin family dinnertime as well. That is something super important to me. Growing up, I remember that if I had some type of sports practice and couldn't be home for dinner with the family either my dad sat with me and we enjoyed that time or he took me to the Siebenbuerger Club where you get this HUGE dinner for like 1.50. I always got to play the gambling machines too- and sometimes I won. Some of my favorite memories growing up were from family meal time and I hope to pass that tradition on to Jackson.

Anyway, we started Jackson sitting in the highchair tonight. He had a little bit of a fussy day b/c he's having a hard time cutting those top two teeth. So we decided to let him teeth on a carrot. He was totally loving it. So I've included a picture of Jackson and his carrot. I'm really excited to start solid foods when he turns 6 months. Like everything else parenting, after reading way too much, I think we are going to start with using baby-led weaning. I'm looking forward to blogging about the ups and downs of this method, but the super condensed version is that Jackson will feed himself and he will eat "real" food from day 1. There won't be me spoon feeding him purees. Here is a link to the book if you are interested: http://www.babyledweaning.com/ This was a recent decision, so thanks to my sister, if I change my mind I am set to make my own baby food. If not my brother is getting the kit ;)

Finally tonight I'm going to talk about another pocket diaper, Fuzzibunz. In honor of the Jets victory (which let's be honest, every Steeler fan let out a huge sigh of relief- not that next week is an easy win, but a team that mirrors ours much more closely and will lead to another hard hitting game) I'm going to cover the Fuzzibunz One-Size. I've included a picture of Jackson in his macaroni and cheese OS fuzzibunz.

The Fuzzibunz OS was by far my favorite diaper when Jackson was smaller. It is very unique in that you aren't customizing the size by snapping, but rather by adjusting the elastic in the legs. Many of you know Jackson was a little baby (6lbs 11oz) and had some skinny legs. He leaked out of his bumgenius when he was tiny, but the Fuzzibunz never leaked. I could make the diaper perfect for his size. It took a little adjusting to get it right at first, but has been great ever since. While it does come with a microfiber insert, I had extra BumGenius OS inserts which snap down at one end, doubling the absorbency. Since the FBs OS have a skinnier pocket while I have them set for Jackson's skinny legs, this insert is perfect. I put the doubled up part in the front for my boy and we're all set to go. I love the snaps and know that these diapers will be the first I reach for for the next baby. I have these in 2 macaroni and cheese (yellow), 1 royal blue, and 1 white. Some would think the white is boring, but it's actually really cute. And since I do use cloth, white is such a novel color- it's nice to have.

I hope you all are enjoying this blog- I'm enjoying writing it and reviewing my stash. I hope it helps people. As always if you have any questions about anything we are trying, please send me a message or leave a comment. I'd be happy to share why we decided what we've decided and I'm always open to new ideas!

Day 15- Steelers pull it out :)

Today will cover a couple of things. First Way to go Steelers! It was a rough first half, but the Steelers got it together. Jackson slept on me the whole game so I had silent lamenting as well as silent celebration. However I did yell out in excitement with the pass to Brown b/c man did they need that! Looking forward to another good game next weekend. So I've included a picture of Jackson in his Steeler gear, he celebrated after the game.

Next, Jackson had some pictures taken today. I was so proud of him, he sat for the whole hour and only fell over once! He's getting so big, so fast! We ordered a foam play mat for him so that he can practice sitting on a sturdier surface than the blankets and not worry about hitting his head on our hardwood floors. I've included some pictures from the session today, so sorry ahead of time, this is a photo rich blog post today.

Finally, one of the pictures has Jackson modeling his Blueberry Minky Pocket Diaper in "Green Camo." It is by far one of my favorite diapers for him. He has another Blueberry as well and both of these are extremely absorbent. I love that the pocket is huge for quick and easy stuffing. They come with bamboo inserts, which are really absorbent and easy to fold or snap to different sizes. I have one velcro and one snap, I prefer the velcro and the Blueberry velcro has held up better than any of our other velcro diapers. These diapers are some of the ones that I save for "going out." Pocket diapers are some of the easiest to use and clean and they are great for customizing. I think for the fit, now that Jackson is getting bigger, I prefer these over our Fuzzibunz, but we'll see if this remains true. Looking at these pictures, how can you NOT want to use cloth diapers. Not only does this help the environment (over 244 trees are killed a day to make diapers!) but Jackson has never had a diaper rash, will potty train earlier (so they promise), they are super cute, and we are saving a ton of money!

If you have any questions about these diapers or how to get a good deal on them (I've never paid full price!) let me know, I'd be glad to help!