Monthly Archives: June 2010

Now Would Be the Perfect Time

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…to start explaining the toilet. He is just about 15 months, but it’s not his age I’ve noticed, it’s this brand new skill he’s picked up lately. He likes to copy every thing I do. This morning I was picking up clothes off the floor and putting them in the hamper, which sits in Eric’s closet. I closed the doors to his closet and opened mine to look for something to wear. Little Micah found a pair of pajama pants in the basket of clean clothes, picked them up, walked to my closet, and threw them in! What a little helper!

So, I decided to get over my embarrassment and let him come in the bathroom with me whenever I “go.” I have been carefully explaining each step and he watches with interest. He usually runs off  before I get to the flushing part, but you know, one-year-old’s have short attention spans. He successfully took his pants off by himself the other day, and he recently learned how to turn around and sit on a chair (or lap), so I think the motor skills are coming together as well. The final key skill he’s picked up is obeying simple commands. I think I’ll have him start sitting on a potty chair around 18 months. My goal is to have him trained by two. Since he’s in cloth and can feel when he’s wet, I don’ t think this is unrealistic. I CAN’T WAIT!!

This kid does have a thing for laundry…

Caught red handed!

Carrot Soup Explosion

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I think sometimes bloggers, including myself, have a tendency to show only their shining moments. I don’t think that’s always a bad thing, because the blogs highlighting the best ideas and cutest photos do capture my interest. Sometimes I like to see the human side of an author, though. A while back I declared that I would share some of my more humbling moments in an effort to embrace the ordinary.  Because behind every bright and shiny blog, is a  person who spills ketchup on their new jeans and forgets people’s birthdays, just like the rest of us. Behind this blog, is a woman who did not hold the cover on the blender tightly enough while making  curried carrot soup this afternoon.

Micah was watching and said “uh-oh” when it happened. And this is just another example of why I need to put up a backsplash behind my counter. Scrubbing pureed carrot off the textured plaster walls was a little challenging, to say the least. It kind of smeared and got into all the grooves. It took several rounds with a soaking rag to get it all off, and if I could get my nose that close to the wall, I wouldn’t be surprised if it still smelled of curry and carrot. Yummy.

On a completely unrelated note, I made a paper airplane for the little guy this afternoon. I didn’t expect him to get as much enjoyment out of it as he did! He would point and say “go go” when he wanted me to throw it. Then he would chase the plane down, pick it up, wave it around proudly in the air, then bring it back to me to throw again. The fun lasted until the plane was torn and wrinkled beyond repair. Talk about a cheap toy!

Another Use for Baby Food Jars

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I never set out to become thrifty, I simply evolved over time, out of necessity, as a result of having no discretionary income.  Now that things appear to be coming together in such a way that we will have discretionary income, I am not sure I want to change. I have discovered the thrill of thrift. The fun of frugality. The… well you get the picture.

I recently thought of another use for my saved baby food jars: small food storage. (Many of these I am holding onto for a future baby shower. When my sister has her first, I plan on using these to make unique homemade candles for favors.) I had some sauce left over from making honey-dijon chicken for dinner tonight. Eric loved it so much, he requested that I save the leftover sauce to use in another dish. I couldn’t find a small enough piece of “tupperware,” and then I saw the empty, clean baby food jar sitting on the shelf. It was the perfect size, too. I crafted a label out of a post-it and stuck it in the fridge.

You’re probably wondering why a thrifty woman would buy her baby food to begin with. Well, I tried making my own and Micah wouldn’t eat it. It wasn’t until he would eat food with a little texture that he would eat my creations. I was never able to get the silky smooth texture of store-bought. Next time, I’ll probably just skip the baby food phase and BF the child until he or she is ready for finger food. After all, baby food is a modern invention – BF babies don’t need it.

Two Fun Stories

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Friends on Freecycle

Recently I joined my city’s Freecycle. Most cities have one: it’s a great place to trade things you don’t need anymore rather than throwing them away and filling landfills with perfectly good stuff. I filter all the e-mails to a folder in my inbox and glance through the subjects when I have time. Last night I spied an offer for a booster seat, something I have been talking about getting for weeks now. Recently Micah’s legs beefed up and I noticed they were looking a little squeezed when he sits in his high chair. I fired off an e-mail to the poster requesting to take the booster seat off their hands. The last name was familiar, but I figured there are plenty of people with that last name and didn’t give it a second thought … until this morning when I received a reply:

Fred will bring this in and give it to Eric this morning.

It was the wife of one of Eric’s longtime coworkers. They recognized my name and preferred to give the seat to someone they know. Eric’s bringing home the seat tonight.

The Empty Load

This afternoon, after washing a load of diapers, I decided to do another load of Micah’s clothes. I started the water, poured in the detergent, and then … Eric asked me a question about lunch and I went to the kitchen to show him what else we had to eat. I came back an hour later and realized the washer was full of suds, but the lid was still up. Closed the lid and the washer started. A while later I came back to check on Micah’s diapers to see if they were dry and saw a basket of Micah’s clothes on the floor. For a moment, I couldn’t remember what was in the running washer. Then I realized there was nothing in the washer. There was nothing in the running washer, except for water and soap. The cycle was almost over, it was draining, and it was about to go into the spin cycle. I laughed at myself, twisted the dial back, poured in more soap, added the clothes this time, and restarted the washer. Wow. Wow wow wow. I must need more sleep. Or we’ll just call it “mommy brain” and leave it at that.

Summer Evenings

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Taken at 9:40pm with a ten second exposure, no flash, ISO 100.

I sat on my porch last night for about ten minutes, playing with different shutter speeds and listening to the neighbor’s dog bark to the other neighbor’s dog, who was probably barking at me and the tiny white light on the front of my camera that lit up every time I focused. A huge toad sat next to me on the front walk the entire time. He was the size of a golf ball. Maybe he was interested in what I was doing as well. He even let me take a picture of him, which didn’t turn out. He left silently around the same time I got up to leave. It was one of those nights that had perfect air, the kind that wraps around you without making you too hot or too cold. It was peaceful, save for the dogs and the putter-boom of a passing junk heap on wheels. Once in a while, no matter where you are, it’s nice to just sit outside alone, enjoy the moonlight, and listen to your world, even if there is an annoying dog next door.

Father’s Day

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Sometimes you have to be a pain in the butt to get the pictures you want. You have to interrupt the party and say, “hey, let’s all stand over here and smile while I take a photo.” But, when you have four generations of males all in one place on one day…


Here is Micah with his dad, his grandpa and his great-grandpa (Eric’s maternal grandfather). Micah’s shirt says “Dad is my Hero.”

And this is the whole clan, my mother-in-law’s extended family. I set the timer and jumped in.

Father’s day was fun. We went to church this morning after a leisurely morning at home. It was a little less hectic since we decided to skip Sunday School. We had lunch with Eric’s family on their beautiful, relaxing farm. The food was classic summer fare: hot dogs, brats, hamburger, potato salad, pistachio fluff, pasta salad and brownies. It was delicious! We spent a lot of time out on the lawn because it was so nice outside. By three o’clock it was in the eighties and still sunny.

After we left Eric’s aunt and uncle’s house, we went to my parents’ house for dinner. My mom made a casserole we’ve enjoyed since I was little. It’s too bad Micah couldn’t have any because it is full of eggs and milk. I’m not sure he cared, though, since he got his fill of chicken, strawberries, applesauce and corn. After dinner we walked around outside – the weather was still amazing and it had cooled down enough.  Another family photo, of course. Would you believe this is the first one we have all taken together since Micah was born? I don’t know how we managed to go that long without taking a group shot, but I love this picture. I’m going to print it and frame it.

On a complete tangent -I love how Micah is more interested in his buddy Rocco than the camera. Looks like the affection is mutual. Those two followed each other around the house the whole evening. It’s funny: they used to drive each other nuts (lots of barking and crying), and now they are friends. Rocco doesn’t even care when Micah pokes him in the face. Micah is supposed to be allergic to dogs, but you’d never know it when he’s around Rocco, who is the cleanest bull dog on the planet, thanks to my dad. I didn’t see him sneeze once. I haven’t noticed him react to Eric’s parents’ dog either, though, so I don’t understand how his results came up positive for a dog allergy. Oh well!

A Detergent Dilemma

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Less than a month into cloth diapering, I have to say things are going pretty well. Several things impress me about using cloth:

  1. “We’re out of diapers, better throw a load in.” vs. “We’re out of diapers, crap, let’s dig through the couch for some change. Oh shoot, I need gas, too!” (Yep, that’s how it was before!)
  2. The cloth diapers really trap in the smell of a poopy diaper. So much so that I’m often surprised to find he did go #2 when I open up the diaper during a change.
  3. With a fleece liner, cloth wicks away moisture just as well as disposable.
  4. His bum looks so cute, most of the time I just put a t-shirt on him and call it a day (unless we’re going somewhere, anyway).

I use Thirsties Diaper Wash, which costs $19.99 from Nicki’s Diapers and does 64 loads. Now it has come to my attention that maybe this isn’t the most effective, or cheapest route when it comes to washing my diapers. I’m always looking for ways to save a buck, but if there’s one thing I don’t want is a loss of quality when it comes to clean diapers. I hate diaper rash. I fear build up (and leaks). I detest bad smells. So far, I have had none of these problems (at least due to my detergent). Still, I’m curious if other detergents can do as well or better for less money.

I decided to turn to a few dependable cloth diapering websites and see what they had to say about detergent.

The Experts’ Recommendations:

Nicki’s Diapers

  • Use a laundry detergent that is free of dyes, perfumes, enzymes, brighteners, bleach and softeners. Laundry additives may prematurely break down elastic, hook & loop and waterproof material. Follow diaper manufacturer recommendations when considering these. (Recommended detergents: Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent, Country Save, or Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin)
  • DO NOT use Dreft or Fabric Softeners – they will coat cloth diapers and decrease absorbency.

Diaper Pin

  • Run the wash with hot water, detergent and 1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda. Since my baby has sensitive skin, I use All HypoAllergen detergent. (I’m assuming she’s talking about All Free Clear.)

Green Mountain Diapers
(The author talks extensively about washing suggestions, but here are a few key points concerning detergent.)

  • My favorite detergent is Charlie’s Soap Laundry Powder or Liquid.
  • If the package says “brightens colors” or has whiteners or brighteners, or “optical or UV brighteners”, avoid it. That actually eliminates many of the mainstream laundry detergents, including both All and Purex “Free and Clear”. Avoid anything that says “keeps clothes fresh longer” or similar. That stuff, like Gain, is not rinsing out and causes buildup and possibly rashes.
  • For a store-bought detergent, usually the store brand least expensive one, powder if possible, has the least additives and is best. Sams Choice (Wal-mart’s store brand) or Sun powder (by Huish brands) are examples of good ones.
  • Tide, Ivory Snow and Dreft are considered harsh and are not recommended for regular use.

Cotton Babies

  • All Free and Clear – Military Version
  • Allen’s Naturally Powder/Liquid Standard & HE compatible
  • Country Save Powder Standard & HE
  • Mountain Green Free & Clear Standard & HE
  • Mountain Green Free & Clear Baby Standard & HE
  • Nellie’s All Natural Laundry Soda Standard & HE
  • Planet Ultra Liquid
  • Planet Ultra Powder Standard & HE compatible
  • Planet 2X Ultra Standard & HE

The Diaper Jungle
This site has a pretty nice chart with a rating system. I counted their highest rated detergents as a “vote.” Even then, I was still overwhelmed by the sheer number of recommended detergents. Geesh! I’m not going to add new detergents to the voting poll below, only count the ones here that are already listed, otherwise this is just going to get ridiculous. So if it’s on this list, and not on the one below, keep in mind it has one vote, okay?

  • Mountain Green Free and Clear
  • Allen’s Naturally Powder
  • Arm & Hammer Essentials Free
  • Bio-O-Kleen
  • Charlie’s Soap
  • Country Save
  • Drops
  • Ecos Free & Clear
  • EnviroRite
  • Lifekind
  • Maggie’s Soap Nuts
  • Nature Clean
  • Nellie’s Laundry Soda
  • Oxy-Prime
  • Penguin
  • Planet
  • SensiClean
  • Sport-Wash
  • Sun and Earth
  • Trader Joe’s

Overall “Votes” for Detergents:

  1. Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent (Classic)
    Votes: 1
    Cost per load: $0.31
  2. Country Save
    Votes: 3
    Cost per load: $0.24
  3. Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin
    Votes: 1
    Cost per load: $0.06 (if you use 1/4 of the normal amount as recommended)
  4. Thirsties Super Wash (I currently use)
    Votes: 0
    Cost per load: $0.31

  5. All Free Clear + Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
    Votes: 2 (+ 1 negative vote = so perhaps that makes 1 vote?)
    Cost per load: $0.06 + $0.27 = $0.33 (1/4 strength detergent plus 1/2 cup soda)
  6. Charlie’s Soap
    Votes: 2
    Cost per load:  $0.19
  7. Allen’s (5lb powder)
    Votes: 2
    Cost per load: $0.13
  8. Mountain Green Free & Clear (Baby)
    Votes: 2
    Cost per load: $0.33
  9. Nellie’s All Natural
    Votes: 2
    Cost per load: $0.19
  10. Planet (powder)
    Votes: 2
    Cost per load: $0.29

*Note: I did not include shipping costs on my prices, since many of these are available at cloth diaper stores or regular stores.

Conclusion:

Several detergents got more than one vote, but the only one that got 3 votes from the top sites I visited was Country Save. Interestingly enough, I did not find one recommendation for Thirsties Super Wash. My friend just ordered Classic Rock and we are going to compare it to Thirsties by trading some detergent. When my Thirsties runs out, I want to try Country Save, because it’s so popular, or Allen’s because it’s so inexpensive. I haven’t decided yet… Which one do you think I should experiment with next? Do you have a personal favorite? Where do you find the best deal?

Maternity Shoot: Josh and Char

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Tonight I finished going through all the photos I took of Josh and Char last weekend.  Here are some of my favorites, not including the ones I already showed you…

(You’ll also notice I updated my watermark. Last night I figured out how to create a nifty little automation in Photoshop that resizes and adds a watermark all at once. Saves me tons of time!)

This little boy is loved so much.

This one cracks me up because he's supposed to be giving her a foot rub, but... well, as you can see... Haha!

I love baby shoes...

Baby in the middle!

This was taken in front of a cute little antique shop in Rockton. They were closed at the time.

I don't think we need a telescope to see she's expecting! :)

Good Times With My Nikon

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Oh how I love taking pictures. I found plenty of opportunities to play with my camera this past week. It’s time for show and tell…

Thursday afternoon I took my son to my city’s flower gardens. I got so many great photos, two of which I’ll share here.

Tip: If you want to get great pictures of your kids, take them someplace interesting that is outdoors on a bright, overcast day. Set your shutter speed a little faster than usual (I used 1/200 sec. for these). Let them loose and allow them to explore and play to their heart’s content (within reason). They will forget all about the camera in your hand and that is when you’ll catch the magic shots – the ones that truly capture their personality. Don’t even try to catch a toddler with anything slower than 1/80.  All you’ll see is a blur!

Micah loves to run around and he is constantly on the go all day long.  He is always on a mission. He is very persistent, curious and a little bit devious. I love every second of chasing him around when he is exploring new territory. He shows me things I have stopped or failed to notice. Nothing gets past him. Of course, my favorite moments are when he runs in my direction for a big hug. He always comes back to mama to check in before he runs off again.

Saturday morning, we visited the strawberry patch with Grandma, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Mark.  I haven’t been strawberry picking since I was in high school, I think. It has been so long. I am still enjoying the strawberries we picked that morning. They are so sweet and juicy, you don’t even need sugar to sweeten them up. I ate a bowl of them, sliced in halves, this afternoon with my lunch. They are like nothing you can buy in a store. Micah picked a strawberry – just one – then quickly squeezed it in his little fist. He’s better at carrying the basket.

Saturday night, I had the awesome blessing of photographing Char and her husband Josh to commemorate their first pregnancy. They are due with their first child, a boy, next month. I am so excited for her because I know how much she has looked forward to having a child. She waited for a long time for the right time. Now they are going to be parents soon, and I know they are going to do such a good job.

These are just a couple of the shots, of course. There are so many good ones, it’s hard to pick. I haven’t even finished going through all of them yet.  I love photo editing – I end up staying up late every night until I am done because I become so immersed in the project.  Every shot is a work of art to me – fine tuning the color, adding special effects and filters. It is almost as fun as taking the pictures, in my opinion! I am always looking for new styles to add interest and diversity to an album. I have redone some of my wedding photos countless times. Every time I learn a new trick, I like to try it out on some of my favorite pics from my wedding. I think I’m obsessed. :)

Well, it’s ridiculously late and I’m going to pay for it tomorrow. I’ll probably have to take a nap with the kiddo to catch up. Oh, the perks of staying home with your kids!