Life as it pertains to ME

Man, where have I been? Crazy town, I think, and I took the express!

My dear sweet husband was laid off, as were many others (12 just in his department). I know that our economy is doing poorly, and it's even harder when your only source of income is *POOF* gone. We had to move into my mother's house and I am so surprised I am still alive. This is probably the hardest thing I've done as a parent. I lived with my mom until Maggie was about 18 months, then Seth and I moved in together. Maggie is now 5.5 years old...and I'm here again.

It's weird being in the same room I was a teenager in. So many devious things happened here. Now it's a bedroom for 5. My closet is packed full of clothes and I'm so thankful I begged for a closet organizer as a teen, because it is SO useful now!

Aside from the usual burdens of living with your parents, things are going pretty well. I think I'm going to start midwifery school earlier than anticipated. Why not? We're here rent free. Seth is also pursuing his dreams of law enforcement and looking for part-time work to just "get us by" in the meantime.

Alexander and Iris caught some bizarre summer cold and they've been keeping me up the past few days, poor babes. I'm hoping we can qualify for medi-cal, since Seth lost insurance along with his job. Go figure they get sick right after we lose it.

Lately, I haven't been feeling well. It could be a number of things though the popular vote has gone to pregnancy. I won't know for a while, I have no money to test but some nice mommies have offered to send me one. I love the online community of girlfriend's that I've built. You guys rock. Hopefully soon I will know what is making me sick. I'm hoping it's just stress, and sore nipples are a bonus...

Maggie was accepted into Sacred Heart School. My heart is set on homeschooling, but with everything going on, this might be best for now. We will be purchasing her uniforms soon. I can't believe my baby girl is almost in kindergarten. I am developing heart palpitations. Holy freakin' cow.

Iris has blossomed into such a wonderful child. A hurricane still, but discovering so much for herself. Swim lessons have turned her from a aquaphobiac to an olympic diver! Ok, not really, but close! She now will go under water and blow bubbles! Yea!!

Alexander has had to sit on the sidelines during swim lessons with Dad, but he's enjoying the outdoors. He's been crawling for a couple of months now and is cruising along furniture. He's also standing unassisted for longer periods of time. I wonder if he'll be my "early walker". He's also still nursing on demand and eating few solids, his gag reflex is pretty sensitive. He weighs 24 lbs now and is just so big and healthy. Aside from this drag of a cold, he's a happy little boy.

I hope this summer is treating everybody else well. Tell me what you've done with it. Any vacations planned or taken? What's your favorite thing about summertime?

A day in the life...

Sometimes I imagine I'm something else instead of "mom". I will sit back, close my eyes and drift to a place where I can be anything, anywhere in the world. I quite enjoy these daydreams, but I think that the fantasy could never replace my reality. I'm just so darn happy, even though I find myself stressed or stretched thin many times. I can truly and honestly say I love these kids so darn much and cannot imagine myself any place better!!

Not long ago I started on a new mom adventure and entered the world of cloth diapers. I think we've been CDing for about 2 months now, not quite sure. So far, it's going really well. I need to purchase more covers, but I knew when I started I didn't have the recommended amount, so of course, that's made it a little harder on me. All in all though, it's very possible to do, even with 3 kids and off site laundry, and I feel more than ever there's no excuse to NOT cloth diaper. I wanted to make a list of the pros and cons that I personally have compiled. This is not everything, but this is most that I can think of.

PROS

• Cost. The savings are amazing. Even when you factor in detergent and water/heating energy, you save a load (no pun intended!).
• Ease. It is only slightly more difficult when using prefolds, and when using AIOs (all-in-ones, just like sposies but made of cloth) it is no harder. You can also find WAHM (work at home mom) businesses that make very affordable diapers and there are so many varying colors and brands to fit YOUR life.
• Better on babe. Alexander was suffering from chronic red butt, and ever since the cloth, we've had no problems!! I'm REALLY happy that his cute little bum is protected.
• Environmentally friendly. Anytime I feel like "Oh, it's so much easier to use disposables" I think about how great the CDs are for the environment and how they are reusable AND made of natural materials. I like that, unlike sposies, they don't take up to 500 years to decompose!
  

CONS:

• Require more planning. Now, I know you have to keep on top of your disposables and make sure you don't run out, but you can buy them 200 at a time. With the cloth, I have to make sure I plan to do laundry before I'm pushing it. I have only "run out" one time, and it was, of course, my fault (slacked on laundry that week) but nonetheless, I had to buy some sposies for the day because of it. I have, however, now learned to keep some on hand just in case.
• Time. They take time not in the sense that I don't have any, or even when it comes to actually changing him, but I do have to factor in the extra 2-3 loads per week. Now, if I had a washer and dryer here, that'd be no problem...but I don't. I have to go to my mom's house, and so it does tap into my time a little more. The plus is that I (aside from that one time) can't really slack on laundry. If I'm going to go do a load of diapers, I may as well bring a load of something else, also!
• Comments. Not that I let anyone else's opinion bother me, but I do sort of get sick of hearing "Oh, really? People still do that?" or "Why?!?!?! That's so GROSS!!" when they have absolutely NO clue what CDs are like.

That's probably it. All in all, I highly recommend trying them. Quite a few different sites offer starter packs. If someone wants to try cloth that's the most like sposies, they should try BumGenius or Gdiapers.

There really isn't much new in my life. My husband is taking vacation starting tomorrow, and we've been so excited for this!! We have quite a few things planned for the family and we just plan to enjoy every moment of it! He's been working so hard and really deserves this break. I am so anxious to just spend time with my lovely family.

A day in the life of "mom" may not be as exciting as my "dream" jobs and I don't always get to look forward to vacations, but no matter what, the good outweighs the bad. No matter what, there is just no place I'd rather be. No matter what, I am mom...and it's not that bad.