Its December!

wow, where has the time gone? its hard to believe that christmas isnt far away at all. we finished decorating our tree today and oliver loves it. its so cute  :)  we have pretty much all of our christmas shopping done, and boy is oliver going to be spoiled. it is so fun buying for him.
ill update more later...right now im on my phone which isnt working too well.

Cloth Diaper Dream Package Raffle!

Ive been blessed to meet another SAHM recently who also cloth diapers!  Her name is Crystal and she has the cutest little 10 month old named Collin.  Even though there's a little over a year in age between our boys, its still cute to see them together.  I think they will be friends someday!  anyway, Crystal is doing a cloth diaper raffle to benefit her brother and sister-in-law as they are adopting a baby from Africa.  To check out this awesome raffle, follow this link to the Dream Package Raffle!

Halloween

Our Little Pooh Bear :)

Oliver and Daddy carving a pumpkin...a first for both of them!

He was determined to pick it up!

Hair Cut

I finally took the time to get my hair cut today.  I love it! She pulled it back in a low ponytail and cut the whole thing off.  LOL I have little qualms about chopping my hair like that.  I get a little nervous but I love doing it.  I usually chop my hair off once a year or so and then let it grow back out. Maybe I'll keep it long this time.  I really do love it!

Back in Fluff :)

I wish I had a picture to go along with today's post but I never got around to it.  Oliver's rash is cleared up and so we are back in fluff.  I dont think it was ever yeast because it responded well to regular diaper rash cream and didnt really do anything when I tried the Lotrimin. I had already stripped my diapers once so oh well, at least they are really clean now! ha!  It seemed really weird to have all my diapers clean at once.  Since we are usually in cloth all the time he always has one on.  I should have taken a picture of them all, but didnt have the energy/motivation to do that before putting one on him today. I'm really glad we still had some disposables though.  I would have been mad if we had had to spend any diaper money on sposies!  Yuck!  The good news is that they are almost all gone now, so as long as Oliver doesnt get a yeast rash again (not likely since he rarely ever ever ever gets diaper rash) we wont have to buy any more for him ever again! yay! The last time I bought disposables was in June and right after that we started cloth part time.  My goal was to make it through the summer and not buy more until September, but thankfully I was able to build my c.d. stash and we have never had to buy more sposies.  I do want to buy a few extra velcro diapers so that its easier for anyone who watches Oliver to use the cloth. I mean, the snaps arent hard, but for someone who isnt used to how to get them on and tight, they would probably prefer the velcro.  I mean, the velcro are *just* like disposables.  The only difference is that whoever is watching Oliver will put them in the wetbag and send them home with me.  Easy peasy :)

My dad is coming to visit tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it.  He is always a big help with Oliver and anything I need help with around here. Its been awhile since he has gotten to come visit and he is going to get to take Oliver on a wagon ride which I know they both will love a lot. 

So for now, good night blogging world.  I'll post pics tomorrow ;)

Hmmm?

Well, I dont know if this rash is a yeast rash or not.  it seems to be doing better just with the regular diaper rash cream I was using, and if it was rash it wouldnt react to this stuff.  I still began the process of stripping all of Olivers diapers just to make sure.  I'll keep him in nasty 'sposies until the rash is gone.  Even if its not yeast, I dont want to risk it.  I feel so bad for him.  His little bum has these little red bumps and now wearing the rough diapers.  Ugh.  I cant wait til he's back in his fluffy diapers!

And now you know the secret life of a stay-at-home-mom: spending my day analyzing diaper rashes. @@

Oh great.

Oliver has a diaper rash. :(  He has rarely ever had any diaper rashes, in fact I can only think of one ever. I feel so bad for him.  He doesnt even really seem bothered by it but it looks bad.  Plus he has to wear disposables diapers until its gone because it appears to be a yeast rash.  If I keep putting him in cloth it'll keep re-infecting the diapers.  So now I get to strip his diapers, no fun, and get some cream for him.  I'll spend the next few days washing and re-washing his cloth dipes and hopefully by the end of the weekend his little bum will be all better, and we'll be back to wearing fluff. :)

Sleep baby sleep!!

Heres praying that tonight Oliver sleeps MUCH BETTER than he did last night!

I went to bed about midnight and he was awake.  It took a cup of milk, a dose of Tylenol, and both mine and Jay's best efforts to get him to sleep...3 hours later.  We were at the end of our ropes.  Jay had to take him in the other room and stand and rock with him to get him to go back to sleep.  its so hard because Oliver always sleeps so much better for Jay than for me.  Obviously last night it took way too long even with Jay's help, but its frustrating because I know that I'm fighting a losing battle.  he simply fights me to sleep all.the.time.

::sigh::

So I laid in bed and prayed that Oliver would fall back asleep and sleep late for us.  LOL  Well, he eventually did fall back asleep...sometime after 3 a.m....but woke up just after 8!  COME ON!!!!  I got him to lay with me until about 8:30.  Pshew.

Thankfully, he was asleep by 1:45 for his afternoon nap, usually its 2:00 before we even head upstairs.  he slept for an hour and a half, which isnt a great nap but its not bad.

One more thing about today - I know he is teething badly.  he's drooling like crazy and is cranky as all get out.  So I put my amber necklace on him today.  First of all, it looked super cute.  Jay noticed it as soon as he got home and was like "what is that? he needs one!" Second, we didnt have to give him any tylenol tonight.  So add it to my list of things to get from Fluff Envy.

and another giveaway

I love reading about others' cloth diaper experiences.  I recently started following this mama's blog (her little boy is too cute) and she is doing a giveaway.  Her giveaway is for 2 GroVia AIOs and wipes.  I havent tried GroVia yet and would love to!  I have tried GroBaby, which is what GroVia used to be until they changed names, and improved their diapers.  I would love to try GroVia since Oliver is too big now for the GroBaby's. 

TCDW Giveaway

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer has their weekly Fluff Friday up for grabs! I love the giveaways this blog has.  I'd love to win this one.  Its for 2 velour diapers in a beautiful red color.  So fun! and easy to enter!

Oliver's new "bike"

So today we went shopping for Oliver for some fall clothes.  He is quickly outgrowing his 24 month/2T clothes.  First we went to the Children's Place and of course found stuff there. (He's practically a walking advertisement for that store, LOL.)  Then we went to babies R us because I had a coupon for $10 off a $50 clothing purchase.  Well, I wasnt finding much, it was going to be a stretch to even get $50 worth of clothes that I liked.  I'm browsing through clothes and I turn around and Oliver is riding on a tricycle! He was just pushing himself along, he couldnt get the pedals going, but at that point I knew...

Oliver was going to be the proud owner of a new "bike". 

Thank you Grandma for helping make this possible! I was on the phone with my mom when we attempted to get him off of the bike and she heard his meltdown and told me to just get it.  Oliver isnt spoiled though, really ;-)  (ha!)

Let's Talk...FuzziBunz!

Alright, its time for more cloth diaper talk!  I know some people follow this to see pics of Oliver, and there will be one of those in here too, I promise. :-)

Here are 2 of our "newer" cloth diapers.  I've had them a couple of weeks and like them a lot.  They are FuzziBunz Perfect Size Large.  We also have some OS (one-size) FB that I'll show pics of another day.  These large size are plenty big on Oliver, I have to snap them in on almost the tightest snap.  Which is great, because he is about out of some of his cloth dipes.

I love the colors of these.  The red and orange are bright and vibrant.They are considered "old" colors, so I was able to get them on sale, which is even better.  Who can pass up a good sale on CD's?!  :)

Like the rest of my favorite diapers, these are pocket diapers. Quite literally, there is a "pocket" in the back of the diaper that you stuff with an insert.  There are many varieties of CD's and so far pockets have worked out best for us.  For one thing, they dry quickly since you "unstuff" the pocket when you wash them. I always hang dry my covers, except for when I'll occasionally put them in for a very short "low heat" cycle if I'm in a hurry.  If I'm doing my diaper laundry at night, I'll also hang up my inserts to dry as well.  If I'm doing laundry during the day I just put them in the dryer on high heat so they get dry.  If I put them in the dryer, I wait a bit before I stuff them so that they aren't so hot.  Putting hot inserts into a cover will wear out the PUL (the waterproof fabric that is part of the diaper cover) and elastic.  Some people dont stuff their diapers beforehand, they just grab what they need and stuff as they go through diaper changes. I like to have mine all done and organized so I can just grab when I need them and they are all ready. 

Another great part about pocket diapers is that you can choose your absorbancy level.  For example, during the day I just put one insert into the diapers, unless we are going to be gone for awhile then occasionally I'll double-stuff.  At night, I'll use a hemp doubler.  Hemp and bamboo are natural fibers that absorb a great deal so they work great for heavy wetters. (Which Oliver definitely is at night.)

You can see that there are two rows of snaps.  Its easiest to snap the bottom one first to get a good fit around the leg, and then snap the one around the waist.  This takes a little bit of patience to get the right fit, but its not hard. At all :)

Next time I'll try to get a better picture to show the "pocket" better.  This diaper came with just one insert, while others I have bought come with 2.  These diapers are very trim, which I like.  Because of how these fit, I think Oliver may have actually fit into a size medium.  But I didnt want to buy those just to have him quickly outgrow them.  Because, come on, its going to be awhile before Oliver's potty-trained.

And with how cute all these diapers are, I'm actually ok with that ;-)

What a cute little booty ;-)

Giveaway

The Not-So-Secret Confessions of a First Time Mom blog is having a giveaway!  For a chance to win a Thirsties cloth dipe, check out her giveaway here!

(Like I've mentioned before, blogging about givewaways gives me an extra entry, so you'll randomly see these posts! :) )

Much Better

Today was much better than the day of my last post. Maybe its because Jay helped with Oliver so much this weekend, and I got a break from naptimes.  (THANK YOU HONEY!!!!!!!)  Maybe its because Oliver actually went down well for his nap today. In any case, today was much better.

I had to post this picture of Oliver.  I took this the other night after we made a quick trip to Wal-mart.  Apparently he was starving after playing at church because he chowed down on these goldfish the entire ride home!

Some Days

...I feel like I am losing my mind.

Nap time is usually about 2:00, and there are days when it goes really well, and then there are days like today.  I text Jay around 3:00 and asked him to come up and help me when he got home from work because I could not get Oliver to sleep.  I had tried reading to him.  I'd tried laying down with him.  He had already given me a bloody lip from thrashing around.  He'd had a cup of milk, he wasn't hungry.  He was tired, but not exhausted to where he should've been unmanagable.

When Jay came up I was crying, Oliver was crying, and there have been very few times where I've felt like I've needed a break so badly.  Oliver is impossible to take to a store.  I was able to be in church last night and all the good feelings I had leaving there where gone after a 30 minute trip in Wal-Mart right afterwards.  He doesnt want to sit in the cart; he clings to me and screams and cries the entire time.  I'm the mom who people give pity looks to.  He'll cry so hard he starts dry heaving.  and NOTHING is wrong, he just doesnt want to freaking sit down!  Its ridiculous.  I feel trapped during the day because I cant go anywhere without him having a meltdown.  I dont think people who have a job and get away from their home everyday really understand how this feels.  I know I never had a clue what it was like before I was a stay-at-home-mom.  Not a clue.

We are finally out of the apt (more on that later) and I am so thankful for all the time and effort Jay put into getting the apt packed up and moved.  He was there almost every day and I know how tired he was after work to have to go and do that.  I'm so happy he is home now to help.  There were days I wanted to go and do that instead of stay at home but I havent felt that great and have been very tired.  So he did all that work.  Unfortunately, for all the time he was away, that was more time I felt stuck here at home.  It was a no-win situation. Today was the first day in weeks that I got a break during his naptime which is the worst time of my day EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  It will totally make or break my day and it usually breaks it.  I havent had a good naptime from him in awhile.  It leaves me exhausted, worn down and feeling like a terrible mother for not beig able to get my child to sleep easily.  Which makes the rest of my day/evening difficult.  I would give anything to have my mother live closer. Just someone that I could take him to and say "HERE! PLEASE TAKE HIM!" and know that she would in a heartbeat, without me feeling guilty. 

Some days are just bad days.  Today was one of them.

Same Diaper, Different Day

For those of you who arent into cloth diapering, you might find a picture of Oliver's "fluffy stash" a bit corny. LOL It probably is, but those of you who love fluff like I do love pictures like this!

This is what is currently in Oliver's fluff rotation.  He also has 2 GroBabys, but they are getting small on him and so they are only there for back-ups.  And he has 6 prefolds to go with the covers that are on the far left, but they are very bulky (I messed up and got the premium size prefolds) so we were only using them at night.  Then I noticed his skin seems to be sensitive to wearing prefolds all night long (they dont pull the moisture away from him as well as pockets do) so we're taking a break from those.

On top of the Serenity Baby Covers is a thirsties fab fitted diaper in Aqua.  so pretty and soft! I use that under the covers, but he is a pretty heavy wetter, so fitteds dont last long on him.  I usually use them in the morning after he's been in a diaper all night to kind of let him "air out" LOL 

The middle stack, top to bottom: red and orange Large size fuzzibunz pockets, a clementine bumGenius 3.0, a blue bumEssentials hybrid diaper, and a red and black AIO dreamboat diaper. 

and in the far right stack, top to bottom: yellow, green, and polka dotted Rumparooz pockets, polka dotted Blueberry pocket diaper, and 3 FuzziBunz perfect size pocket diapers in periwinkle, baby blue, and yellow.

I'm not the "find the perfect diaper and stick to it" type.  I'm the "I love all these diapers but I want to try more" type.  thats just me :-)

I'm in the process of getting pictures of Oliver in all his various fluffs.  I'll do different posts and talk about all of them.  some of you will probably find this boring, but hey, its *my* blog ;-D

Just a few pics...

Oliver on his 2nd helping of banana yogurt after licking out the first container! :)

getting ready to take Nemo on a wagon ride in Oliver's new red wagon! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful new birthday present!!

trying to snap himself in

setting out to do some lawn mowing :)  Thanks for the new toy, Grandma!

He's such a big boy!

putting the wagon away.

We love our Oliver!!!

Oliver's 2 year stats

Oliver had his 2 year dr appt last Friday.  He is 30.5 lbs and 35.75" tall.  He's 85% for both.  Such a big boy! :)  The dr asked if we were having any progress with potty training...lol...not so much! He will go sometimes, but I'm not really working on it.  Plus, I love my cloth diapers so I'm not too worried about pushing it! HA!

he also got the flu nasal mist vaccine...gosh I still am so not sold on flu vaccines or vaccines in general but for now we get them.  I know that I will NOT have future babies get the HepB vaccine in the hospital when they are born though.  I just think that is totally ridiculous.  There is no reason for that at all.  If someone can explain to me why in the world a newborn baby needs a HepB vaccination, please do because I am just lost on that one.  He also had a finger prick to test for anemia (he's ok there) and 2 other shots.  Poor baby was a mess!  But he got better pretty quickly.  It was also fun to show off his fluff as he wore his new clementine color bumgenius diaper!  I love that diaper, but it seems a bit small, so i look forward to getting the newer version of it.  (I got the 3.0 because I was able to get it for $14.  Next time I'll be trying the 4.0) :)

We are still very happy here at the new place. My parents got Oliver some outdoor toys for his birthday including a red wagon!! yay!! and this little toy lawnmower, so cute.  We love being outside!

So much STUFF

Ugh, I hate the packing/unpacking process!! I feel like I just need a weekend to myself to get everything completed.  We still have some stuff in our bedroom and Olivers bedroom at the apt to bring over.  our garage here is slowly filling with boxes.  Ugh.  How do we have so much stuff?!  Thank goodness for storage space here, cos otherwise I'd be going nuts.  i've loved it here the last week and a half with just the essentials and plenty of room.  Now we are getting all the stuff that we dont have to have to live everyday, but that we dont really want to get rid of.  You know, all the little stuff that you acquire, or the big stuff that isnt essential but you dont really want to get rid of.   It doesnt help that I'm ridiculous when it comes to keeping things of Oliver's.  I just cant bring myself to get rid of stuff.  It will be ironic if our future children can never fit into the stuff of Oliver's that I've kept.  But since we hope to be blessed with many more, i just cant get rid of things.  its ridiculous, really, but oh well.  Thats just me :)

Oliver has his 2 year dr appt in the morning.  We have to be here at 9:30 which is kind of early for us, lol.  But I'm looking forward to seeing how big he is and everything. 

I'm going to read for a little bit and then head to bed.  Not much cleaning going on around here tonight...I'm so tired!

Oliver in his sandbox

We've had this sandbox for awhile, but just now got sand and got it set up. Which I'm happy about, since it would've been a pain to move and i didnt trust that the apt ragamuffin kids wouldnt have stolen his toys or destroyed it...anyway, oliver loves it!  he wouldnt smile at me, but he really was having fun :)

(and yes, he is wearing a disposable dipe, boo...lol..i have one box left and then never buying them again!)

"No, Mama, i will NOT smile!" :-p