Stuff I have been meaning to blog about.....

Since becoming a Mommy, I have really dropped the ball on keeping up with my blog. I used to have time to write about the comings and goings of our everyday life in a smart witty way. Well.... I tried to make it clever at least to the extent of my writing abilities. There are always situations where I think, "I need to blog about this" and then never get to it. I should work some regular time into my schedule for blogging...it is something I enjoy and I love having to look back on.

So in an effort to catch up, I have compiled a list of stuff I have been meaning to share on this here blog.

1. We cloth diaper

Before Julianne was born we did a lot of research and found that cloth diapering may not be as gross, annoying, or inconvenient as we thought. Really the things have come a long way since the safety pin days, and we like it a lot for several reasons.
First, they are economical. Going down to one income and trying to account for the diaper expense was a bit overwhelming. I think we figured we'd be spending around $40 each month diapering our baby...yikes! The Flip Diapers by Cotton Babies cost us less than $200 for 24 diapers and 8 diaper covers and they can be worn up to 35 lbs. (Julianne will be potty trained before she ever reaches that weight Lord willing). There are costs to washing them with water etc...and we do buy disposable for babysitters and sometimes nighttime. We still feel like we are coming out way ahead though especially when you think about using them on subsequent children.
People always ask me, "isn't it gross to wash them?" I personally don't think so. There is no soaking or scraping. I basically get off what I can then send them through a rise, hot wash, and extra hot rinse. We keep them in a pail and wash every other day. Really it is not that hard to run this load amongst the other laundry.
Then there are other benefits such as avoiding chemicals in diapers on Julianne's bottom. There are some out there that think those chemicals could be harmful down the line. I am not sure about that but if that does turn out to be true I will be glad we used cloth! Also, I feel a little "green" that we are saving a small part of a landfill somewhere that doesn't have to decompose our diapers (each one takes 7 years I think to decompose).

2. I have really enjoyed making baby food



My new hobby is cooking for our baby girl. My hope is to expose her to as many different foods as possible and make them for her if I can. I have also found making your own is very thrifty as each jar costs about  $.75 in the store. I can buy organic fruits and vegetables, bake or steam them, puree in our food processor, and freeze in ice cube trays for much less. Plus I know there are no added preservatives just the veggie and sometimes breast milk to make it smooth. I even make my own cereal with oats and rice. The best resource I've found is wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com they tell you how to prepare everything and include nutritional information as well as best times to introduce any given fruit, vegetable, or grain.

3. I miss running

I used to be a runner. Not that I was good at it but enjoyed it and completed 2 marathons and countless half marathons. Running has been at the bottom of the priority list but I would really like to change that. I miss it. I miss the feeling of air in my lungs as I try to push through one more mile. I miss the high I got afterwards, I miss the way my muscles looked. Now that Julianne is older I am making an attempt to get back into it. It isn't easy. With 100 degree weather every day the only time we can go out is first thing in the morning and sometimes that is not logistically possible. Also, I can't just grab my shoes and go. I have to pack up the baby in the jogging stroller, put the leash on the dog, make sure I have my mace, cell phone, and sunglasses. Then I have to leash up the dog, grab the garage door opener out of my car, and make sure J has her hat on. If I can accomplish all of this I then have to bring myself to run with the dog and stroller when I am out of shape to begin with. So it is slow going. I am able to jog a few blocks but walk mostly still. Hopefully I can work back up to it.

I think that is enough for now...sorry for the novel...