Snow Day!

Well, today is turning out to be frigid and SNOWY here in New York! I'm excited because this may be the only snow I see this year, with Oklahoma being so unpredictable. And I can finally take the time to blog because everyone's out hunting except for me and my pregnant sister-in-law. Thanks for saving me from freezing my butt off in the snow, Baby D!

I'm having a great time here in NY. Visiting Adam's family is always gives me a strange feeling, because his younger siblings are all the same age and gender as mine, so it's like walking into an alternate universe and seeing how my family could have turned out. My siblings are pretty wild and tend to go off and do their own thing when at home, but Adam's family is extremely cohesive and moral and take much pleasure in doing things together. It's really interesting to see the contrast between siblings, like my brother and Adam's brother, both the same age, but one is a hard-boiled, pack-a-day-smoking ex-Marine, and the other likes leading worship and acting in musicals. At one time, I'm sure they were very much alike, but at some point, their lives took very different turns. It's so interesting to see how the choices people make determine even their personalities later down the road!

So Thanksgiving was fun yesterday! There was a ton of food, and of course, everyone had to say something that they're thankful for. Adam took the obvious one and said that he was thankful for Oscar, so I said that I was thankful to be with family for Thanksgiving. It's a fact that not only do you marry your spouse, but you also marry his family; so I have always been thankful to have such good in-laws. Well, all the hunters should be back soon, so I should get off. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

On (or out of) the Town

This post is coming half a country away from where these posts usually come. We are visiting Adam's family for the rest of the month! Of course, Baby D is not getting any attention at all. :-D

 Visiting with great-grandma

So anyways, posting might be a little scarce for the next couple weeks. Don't think that this is a good opportunity to break into my house and take all my stuff. Well, you can take the dirty dishes and the laundry I didn't manage to do before we left, but Meatloaf and Mel would be so happy if you'd leave everything else for them to destroy while we're gone. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

In Praise of the Humble Flat

No, I am not talking about my apartment. The flat of which I speak is often the subject of scorn in its circle, frowned upon as a last-ditch effort of the destitute, and not well-publicized at that. Of course, I am referring to the flat diaper.

You won't hear much about the flat diaper. The overall vibe I get from the cloth diapering community is that the only people who use flats are either too poor to afford anything else or are embarking to a third-world country. No joke!  When I was first trying to make an informed decision about getting flats, there was little information to be found. Any list of the various diaper types I would come across would just barely mention flat diapers before elaborating on ALL the OTHER types of diapers-- as if flats aren't a real option.

Well, here is one person to tell you that not only are flats an option, but they are a great option! My current stash is a dozen prefolds and a dozen flats, but I much prefer the flats. Here are the reasons:

• Versatility. Flats are only as hard as you want to make them. If you want to feel like an origami master, you most certainly can find all sorts of elaborate diaper folds. Or, if you're feeling lazy, just fold it in halves or thirds until you can stick it in a diaper cover. You can make it fit however you want. These make wonderful gDiaper inserts!
• Drying time. Flats air dry beautifully! This is important to me, since I don't feel like paying $1.25 every time I want something dry around here. If I'm running low on diapers, I can count on having dry diapers about an hour after they're washed!
• Washability. Since they're so thin, they wash beautifully; I've heard that they almost never need to be stripped. They rinse out better, too. Oftentimes, between spraying the diaper and throwing it in the wash, I'll give it an extra rinse in the sink. Guess which ones don't release a whole lot of soap residue? You guessed it-- the flats!
• Size. Flats are the original one-size diaper. They can be folded to fit a baby from birth through potty training! My prefolds are already too small for Baby D, and if they didn't fit so well in the gDiaper, I'd have to buy more in a different size (or maybe more flats instead, ha!).
• Price. Okay, it's true that I'm fairly penniless, so I know all about diapering on a budget. If you are looking for a way to do cloth with the least damage to your wallet, look no further! I bought one dozen for $15. So theoretically, you could start a stash for about $70 (two dozen flats and three $13 diaper covers, which is what I used for the first two months)!

And what are the cons? Well, they are absolutely NOT dad- or babysitter-friendly. But, since I do 99% of the diaper changes anyways, it doesn't really matter. Getting the folds right takes some practice, but you are sure to wow the relatives when you whip one of those out and make some origami! :-D It takes a little more time to fold, which is not fun to do with a wriggly baby (I fold them to be diaper-ready as soon as they're done drying, so I don't have to wrestle Baby D come changing time). I also think they're slightly more difficult to spray than prefolds.

So. I love flats. If I think Baby D needs to go coverless to air out for a while, I reach for a flat first-- I know a fold that puts a gazillion layers between Baby D and the floor. You would think that a flat wouldn't be very absorbent because it's so thin, but once you get a few layers going, it's just as absorbent if not more than a prefold! So that's why I love my flat diapers. As does Baby D:

Many thanks to my cute little model!

Sewing Away

Hmmm, it's been a while since I've made a real post. The main reason is because I've been a busy bee, working on some projects. Ready for some show-and-tell?


First off is a ring sling that an acquaintance commissioned me to make. She showed me a picture of the colors in her nursery and left me to my own devices. :-D It took me a while to make, because I KNEW that I wanted brown and white polka-dot fabric, and evidently that stuff is the Atlantis of fabric. It just can't be found! Finally, after repeatedly combing through every fabric store in town, I found what I wanted online.

A week later, it came to me, and it was the wrong weight! I had overlooked the fact that it was a duck canvas instead of cotton apparel fabric. Grrr! So I ended up buying a much larger polka-dot print at Hobby Lobby, which, after the fact, actually looks better than the smaller print. Tell me what you think:

She wanted pleats in the shoulder. For extra extra security, I triple-stitched the shoulder seam.

And, of course, it needed a pocket!

 Let me tell you, a lot of blood and sweat and tears went into this sling!

So what did I do with all that duck canvas? Make a nursing cover, of course!

Here's a closer look at the heart applique and rick-rack trim. I bought that rick-rack on clearance several weeks ago, and I was just waiting for something to use it on!

And, of course, it has a stiff neckline so I can what the heck is going on.

I still have a bunch of that fabric left, so I may just sew a couple more nursing covers and try to sell it on Etsy. So that's what I've been up to! Anybody else working on anything fun?

It's Saturday Evening Post time at Elizabeth Esther! So I have to choose my favorite October post. Hmmm... I'd have to say, it's My FAILgarden, if only because of the great picture at the end! :-D Be sure to check out other great October posts by other folks here!

What we were for Halloween

I would have put this up sooner, but my online time has been devoted to The Great Cloth Diaper Hunt. If I were any kind of a good friend, I would not mention it, because it will suck.your.time. If you need proof, consider the fact that I'm putting up Halloween costume pictures up four days after the event. :-P Anyways, on to the pictures!

Some very good friends of ours got married in the summer in Pennsylvania. They wanted a reception for all the Oklahoma friends who couldn't make it, so they threw an event on Saturday and called it a Hallowedding party. All the guests showed up in costume, of course! So what did we wear?

Baby D's real-life name is Oscar. I don't know why I don't just call him by his real name here; it's not like it's a big secret or anything! I guess I just like calling him Baby D. Why does this even matter right now?


Because Adam and I dressed up as the award-winning Actor and Actress who won an Oscar for Best Performance this year. :-D

That is not the best picture of me. If I were a real celebrity, that would land on Star magazine for sure. Maybe if if I put up a goofy picture of Oscar, you won't notice so much...

I took Baby D's costume off because he was starting to get hot. Speaking of hot, this is the most metro you will ever see my husband:

Would you believe all three of our costumes cost about $10 total? Adam and I pulled most of our getup from stuff we already had, and Baby D's costume was cheap to sew because he only needed half a yard of fabric.

So what did we do on the real Halloween night? My husband went out and bought two giant bags of candy because he was certain that we would be inundated with trick-or-treaters. And then we just kind of chilled around the house.  Unfortunately, nobody showed up, so we're still eating candy around here! No guarantees that I'll fit into that costume next Halloween!