Seven Quick Takes Friday: The Little Stinker Edition

I have been slack in my blogging as of late. You will be happy to know that it's because I've actually been busy doing real domestic things in real life. However, I can only wash so many dishes before it gets boring, so it's time to sit a spell and do some internet housekeeping.

Hold onto your bassinettes, because this Seven Quick Takes, hosted by Conversion Diary, will be about all things BABY!

1.

This is called The Little Stinker Edition, because that is now my midwife's official name for the baby. From the heartbeat scare to the difficult Doppler day to the ultrasound in which s/he did a faceplant in my back and refused to let the sonographer see its face, this child is exactly that: one heck of little stinker!!! Today, at the midwife appointment, we had more Doppler fun. I had just gotten through discussing how Baby D has been pretty inactive lately, and I was a little concerned. The midwife felt around for the baby, turned on the Doppler... and chaos broke loose! I couldn't see anything, but Adam tells me that my whole belly was rolling and twisting. That baby was NOT going to let the midwife get a heartbeat! After all was said and done, the baby had completely rotated in the womb, and the midwife had to get the heart rate from the cord. What a contrary baby! And s/he's been moving like crazy all day ever since.

2.

My first Craigslist transaction happened today! So far, it's been pretty positive. Within twelve hours of initiating communication, I am now the proud owner of a barely-used Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper-- for a third of the price! I'm quite stoked about rearranging the bedroom and setting that puppy up!

3.

I also recently took the plunge and bought a small stash of diapers-- 12 infant chinese prefolds, 12 birdseye flats, and a few diaper covers. Now to wash them- and wash- and wash again! If any of you out there have experience with cloth diapering a newborn, I'm all ears!

4.

And, of course, there's the belly picture. Today is the twenty-five week mark:

5.

My midwife called me a few weeks ago to let me know that she and the other midwife in her practice are closing down the birth center that we had planned on giving birth in. GRRRRRR. So now we have to decide if we want to try an apartment home birth or go to the hospital. I'm all for trying the apartment birth, but Adam is not quite sure what the heck he wants. For the most part, I think he's upset that we chose these midwives mainly because they offered birth center services, and now he feels like they're cheating us somehow. I'm like, "Hey, they charge the same fee no matter where the birth happens, and I love the quality of care. I'm cool," and since I'm the one popping out the baby, I'm sure that Adam will give me the final decision... but I really want us to be in agreement about it.

6.

Now that an apartment birth is a definite possibility, I've been looking for a place to board my other babies (the cats) for a few days during and after the birth. Oh my word, have you seen some of these cat places?? They can get ridiculously posh! One site I looked at offered custom catnip blends, prime viewing windows to see the birds outside, TV's with cat videos, and a kitty mint on their pillows every night. This makes the treatment my kitties get at home look Spartan. They may never want to come back!

7.

Anyone seen the movie Babies yet? How did you like it? So far, I've heard that it has babies and cultural nudity. Nothing really about how good the movie itself is. So, tell me: is it worth my hard-earned $1.50 when it comes to the dollar theater?

My Life is Sew-Sew

So, I think I've lately discovered this little hormonal gem called "nesting". The house is the cleanest it's been in months, I'm undertaking all kids of housy projects, and I am suddenly obsessed about getting things together for baby. Last week, I finally took the plunge and placed my first order for a bunch of cloth diapers (SQUEE! I can't wait to see those cute little covers!).

Since we're very, um, not financially endowed, naturally I'm looking to see what I can get away with making from materials already in the house. Ladies and gentlemen, look at what I've been sewing lately!

This was a favorite pair of PJ pants that unfortunately got a large, unsalvageable tear.

Garbage fodder...

Or perfect burp cloth material?

I was able to get four of these out of the one pair of pants! The edges should fray nicely after a few washes, and scraps sewn into the inside add extra absorbent layers. I am hoping that this helps protect all shirts involved in the burping process.

The next project that I'm working on: cloth baby wipes!

These all come from a flannel sheet set that I've had since I was thirteen. I think that flannel is fabulous to sleep on, but unfortunately, a certain person who shares my bed does not also share this opinion. Since we already have like three other husband-approved sets, I knew that it was time to bid my flannel sheets adieu and put them to good use.

Here are the twenty that I've already sewn, and I'm gearing up to sew thirty-five more-- all cut from just the topsheet! The wipes are 8x8, so they should fit perfectly inside a conventional wipe dispenser.

It feels really good to be getting baby stuff together-- without spending a dime! And saving some stuff from the trash, as well! I'm sure all the pioneer women in heaven are looking down with approval.

So, have any of you all been working on any sort of project? I always love to see what other people are making!

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of my little apron giveaway was chosen by random at- where else?- www.random.org.

Congratulations to the author of comment #11-- Claudia! You just won a very cute apron!

A big thank you to everyone who participated and gave me some great ideas for home-sewn gift items. It was also a big relief to hear all your stories involving flames-- I guess I'm not the only one who's fire-prone!

In the spirit of sewing things, I am hoping to write a post tomorrow about the cool stuff I've been sewing this past week. Stay tuned!

Getting Ready for Baby: The House, Part 2

So, in a previous post, I told you that we're looking for the best housing options for us once the baby comes. Our conclusion?

We're better off financially staying in our one-bedroom apartment with no laundry hookups. How so? Here's how I came to that conclusion:

My main concern is getting the laundry done around here, with cloth diapers and all. Apartments with the same square footage as my apartment and washer/dryer hookups start at about $75 more than what we're currently paying. Then you factor in the cost of renting a washer/dryer, since we can't afford to buy one now: about $25 a month. Without even factoring in the extra cost of hot water, that's at least $100 extra a month.

The laundry facilities where I live right now are about fifty feet away from my doorstep, and everything is ground level, so it's pretty convenient. It costs $2.50 to wash and dry a load, but we usually bring the wet laundry in the apartment and dry it on a rack. Yay for savings! I figure that we do a maximum of 10 loads a month for Adam's and my stuff. If I wash diapers every other day, and allot 5 more extra loads for baby clothes, we have 30 loads total per month.

30 x $2.50 = $75

And that's if we pay to dry all the clothes, too! So we will be saving if we stay.


So that's the laundry. Then there are also other factors:

~The pet deposit. That's about $300 down the drain if we move to a new place!

~Proximity to school. Our apartment complex is the closest you can live to Adam's school. He usually bikes there. Yay for low mileage!

~A fantastic floor plan. There is no other way I'd even consider staying in a 700-foot apartment with any other floor plan. As I've said before, this one is laid out so that all the rooms are spacious.

~The cost of moving. Getting a truck, driving back and forth between living spots, hooking up the electric... it adds up, and we'd much rather put that money towards moving out of OKLAHOMA!


I just found out yesterday that two adults + one baby are allowed to live in a one-bedroom! Hoorah! So now that we've made our decision, I guess it's time to declutter and really get the house ready for Baby!

Works for Me Wednesday: Simplify Those Lunches!

This is geared more towards the working folk, but I’m sure it could apply to those who are also working very hard at home. :-)

One of the problems I encounter with lunch at work is not only shopping for food to bring for lunch, but also preparing and bringing something every. single. day. After doing that a few times, fast food starts looking mighty good!

So what I do is buy something in bulk that I can put together in the office break room. Lately, I’ve been having my own salad bar for lunch: a big bag of salad, cottage cheese, bacon bits, baby corn—you name it. It usually lasts me through an entire week, I don’t have to get up extra early to fix lunch, and I save a ton of money that would otherwise go to a fancy salad bar! Plus, after the salad is gone, I still have a whole bunch of toppings that only require another bag of salad in order to feed me for another week!

Next week, I plan on having Baked Potato Week. Simplifying work lunches Works for Me!



Looking for the GIVEAWAY? Click here to enter!



This WFMW post is part of the carnival graciously hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Apron Show and Tell

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win this lovely apron! Entries close on 05/02!

Today was a day off from work, so I took the opportunity to finish the apron. It turned out so cute! So I thought I would take some pictures to show it off. My husband, who has lots of experience with showing and selling things on Ebay, took one look at what I was doing and said, "No way, Jose!" So he took charge of the photography and took some great photos!

(You can click here to see the whole picture. This layout does something funny to large pictures)

Somehow, Adam managed to find the most wrinkled sheet in the house to use for a backdrop. Please just ignore it.

Here are some pictures of the pleats and the red detail stitching.

This is the third time I've used this pattern, albeit with some tweaking. It is truly a pleasure to make!

The Big 100 and a GIVEAWAY! {CLOSED}

Important things come in one hundreds.

One hundred pennies make a dollar.

One hundred years make a century.

One hundred centigrams make a gram, if you're into the metric thing. By the way, it's a good idea to know your metric system before taking a honeymoon in Canada, because otherwise, you will order way too much special Canadian tea and will still be drinking it two years later. This is the voice of experience, y'all.

Well, it only took a year and a half and tons of tooth-pulling, but I have finally hit an important milestone:

ONE HUNDRED POSTS make my blog!

That is really exciting to me! For one thing, it is proof that I have had one hundred coherent thoughts. This will be so very useful the next time Adam catches me doing something completely chicken-brained, like setting the house on fire. Not like that has ever happened here or anything, mind you.

So, in commemoration of having a very grown-up blog, I am doing a very grown-up blog thing: hosting my very first giveaway!

Remember that super-cute apron I made several months ago? One lucky winner is going to receive this hand-made apron with a delicious cherry-pattern fabric, in this pattern:

Special thanks to my husband for lending his sweet photography skillz!

Let me tell you, one look at that cherry fabric and the chocolate-brown trim to go with it, and you will be craving a sundae!

(As soon as I finish the apron [which will be within a few days], I will put up a picture of the finished prize.)

So, how can you win this great excuse to bake cookies?


Mandatory entry: Answer me this: what sort of home-sewn items (besides aprons, of course) do you think make great gifts? Leave a comment!


Additional entries: (please leave a separate comment each time you do one of these)
1. Follow this here growed-up blog! If you're already a follower, leave me a comment, telling me so.
2. Write about this giveaway on your blog.
3. Mention this giveaway (with the URL) in a facebook status.
4. Tell me what your favorite cookie is to bake.
5. Tell me if you have ever set your house on fire. But only if it's true. And for goodness' sake, don't set your house on fire just so you can have this apron.

Entries will close on Tuesday, 05/02, at 6 PM CST.

Thanks for celebrating with me!