I was excited when I was asked to review the Changing Diapers, The Hip Mom's Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering, written by Kelly Wels. First off I have to tell you that I am a SUPER SLOW reader and I hardly ever finish a book. This one I finished and loved every minute! I have had this book for about three months and it really kept my attention. I think it's because as you are reading it feels as if you are sitting with Kelly herself and talking about cloth diapers. As questions would pop into my head, she answered them as I read on. It truly was a fun book to read.
Kelly Wels is a leading cloth diaper expert and advocate who has a passion for helping parents make informed decisions when it comes to how they diaper their babies. She is a mother of three children. You can find out more about her and this book at http://www.kellywels.com/.
Kelly takes you from the why should I cloth diaper to when can I start! She begins with sharing some facts about cloth. Gives you the five main reasons you should try cloth. She even breaks down the different brands, including pictures~who doesn't love pictures?!
She covers washing your diapers, leaks, rashes and even nighttime use! There's even a chapter for Dad:) When some people begin to start the process of cloth diapering you don't realize that there are other products that you may need. She also goes over this for you!
One of my favorite chapters is learning about what you need to start off with in cloth. Baby Sweetums is due in November and I have decided to start from day one!:) My other favorite is the Resources section. I am a huge list maker so I am LOVING all the little pre-made lists that she has already made for you!!!
I simply LOVED this book! I've already been telling people all about it and can't rave enough. This is a must have if you're thinking about cloth diapering or you are a seasoned rookie because you will still learn something. Get your copy today!!!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Happy Birthday, Little Man!
Eleven years ago, on the 12th of June, I began to have contractions. You were my first baby and I was more than excited that you were coming!!! I sat there and painted my toes in between contractions and even shaved my legs:) lol! I then called the doctor and they said for me to come on to the hospital. YAY! I had a friend of ousr drive me and we called/paged your daddy to meet us because he was at work.
We arrived to the hospital about midnight and they told me I was going to be sent home because I wasn't "far enough along". I cried because it took almostt an hour to get there. Then my water broke! Bought my ticket to stay. I took whatever meds that they gave me and ended up going to sleep.
I woke up, on the 13th of June, to this amazing pressure and asked to be checked. You were on your way!!! They started to run around the room all crazy and get things set up. I pushed 3 times literally and you were out!!! My precious, little, baby boy:) You weighed 7lb 4oz and were absolutely perfect! Ten fingers, ten toes, a head full of hair, brown eyes, and you were mine! I loved you when I first found out I was pregnant, but that first moment when I laid my eyes on you I fell in love.
Today you are 11 years old! I can't believe it! You are getting so big. You are super talented too! You can draw like no one I've ever met. You can have an amazing talent when it comes to Legos. You are very imaginative and can build anything! You have a a uniqueness with paper and can make anything out of it. You amaze me. You are a really good big brother. You are so compassionate and curtious. Every one always tells me that you have awesome manners. You smile lights up the room and your laugh is contagious.
You have also taught me a lot. You have taught me that there is more that one way to do almost anything. You have taught me how strong I can be and how to use that strength effectively. You awakened the mother bear inside. You have taught me to see things through a child's eyes and learn to sit back and just have some fun.
I love you so very much! You are my first little baby and will always be my baby. I know that you are getting older and I pray that you will become the man that God wants you to be. He has HUGE plans for you and I am excited to see all He has for you. As your mother, I will continue to pray for you forever and I will love you just as much! Happy Birthday!!!
We arrived to the hospital about midnight and they told me I was going to be sent home because I wasn't "far enough along". I cried because it took almostt an hour to get there. Then my water broke! Bought my ticket to stay. I took whatever meds that they gave me and ended up going to sleep.
I woke up, on the 13th of June, to this amazing pressure and asked to be checked. You were on your way!!! They started to run around the room all crazy and get things set up. I pushed 3 times literally and you were out!!! My precious, little, baby boy:) You weighed 7lb 4oz and were absolutely perfect! Ten fingers, ten toes, a head full of hair, brown eyes, and you were mine! I loved you when I first found out I was pregnant, but that first moment when I laid my eyes on you I fell in love.
Today you are 11 years old! I can't believe it! You are getting so big. You are super talented too! You can draw like no one I've ever met. You can have an amazing talent when it comes to Legos. You are very imaginative and can build anything! You have a a uniqueness with paper and can make anything out of it. You amaze me. You are a really good big brother. You are so compassionate and curtious. Every one always tells me that you have awesome manners. You smile lights up the room and your laugh is contagious.
You have also taught me a lot. You have taught me that there is more that one way to do almost anything. You have taught me how strong I can be and how to use that strength effectively. You awakened the mother bear inside. You have taught me to see things through a child's eyes and learn to sit back and just have some fun.
I love you so very much! You are my first little baby and will always be my baby. I know that you are getting older and I pray that you will become the man that God wants you to be. He has HUGE plans for you and I am excited to see all He has for you. As your mother, I will continue to pray for you forever and I will love you just as much! Happy Birthday!!!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Unpluged?
With baby on the way we have decided to cut some expenses that were not needed. The first one was our tv package. We LOVE our movie channels and all the different kid channels and so on, but it does start to get expensive. We talked about what we could and could not live without and finally decided to cut our tv bill in half! It had to be done. Now the children play more during the day instead of "having" to watch certain shows:).
We run up our air condition during the day and run fans. We try not to use the lights unless we have to until it gets a little darker. This has cut our electric bill tremendously! If we could hang a line outside to dry our clothes then I so would do that as well, because I am constantly washing clothes.
The final thing we decided to cut was our phones and Internet. We have been spending almost $200 on the "smart phones" and all the gadgets that go with it. We have decided that not only is it EXTREMELY expensive but we don't really need them. Yes, I believe that I need the Internet and I hope to one day have it back. I will be able to sneak away to have some personal mommy time and be able to take my net book with me so I can continue to keep up my blog:)! As for the phones, we have downgraded. My phone does have access to the Internet if I HAVE to, but for the most part it is just to talk, text, and take pictures! I am fine with that too, maybe more will get done around my house...lol!
Have you had to downgrade somethings in your life? What was it and how did you handle it???
We run up our air condition during the day and run fans. We try not to use the lights unless we have to until it gets a little darker. This has cut our electric bill tremendously! If we could hang a line outside to dry our clothes then I so would do that as well, because I am constantly washing clothes.
The final thing we decided to cut was our phones and Internet. We have been spending almost $200 on the "smart phones" and all the gadgets that go with it. We have decided that not only is it EXTREMELY expensive but we don't really need them. Yes, I believe that I need the Internet and I hope to one day have it back. I will be able to sneak away to have some personal mommy time and be able to take my net book with me so I can continue to keep up my blog:)! As for the phones, we have downgraded. My phone does have access to the Internet if I HAVE to, but for the most part it is just to talk, text, and take pictures! I am fine with that too, maybe more will get done around my house...lol!
Have you had to downgrade somethings in your life? What was it and how did you handle it???
Monday, June 4, 2012
Letting go and trusting God...
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had quit my job. Let me explain what happened...
I was sitting at home one week and I have already had a couple of issues arise from that particular job and I was seeking God about it and wanted to know what He thought. All week I prayed and cried over this particular situation because as much as I didn't want to quit I needed to in order to not have the feelings that I had about my job. Don't get me wrong...loved my boss, she really was a great lady to work for and I hope that we remain friends.
But the reason I had taken the job in the first place was to have "play" money. It wasn't meant to be used for items for the home such as needful things that God would take of, i.e. food, gas, etc. It was meant for me to have pocket money. But the longer I worked there the more I depended on the money to come in. I became frustrated when I couldn't get paid because "I needed the money!". We had lost focus on what the purpose job.
As I prayed I heard God ask me, "Do you really trust me?".
WOW! What a statement to hear. I knew that I trusted Him in most things but did I trust Him enough to quit a job that I didn't need in the first place? Could I go that far to rely on Him to provide "play money" when I wanted to do something with the kids? Could I really let go of a job that was beginning to frustrate me, because of me?
Then to just put icing on the cake...My Mr. came home and said that he had been praying about this as well and felt that I needed to quit and be home more. He said that we had lost focus and that he felt as if God was asking if we trusted Him enough to let go of the job and depend on Him. I was floored! God had given us both the SAME message, yes...I cried again (can't help it, I'm very emotional when I'm pregnant:)).
YES! I told Him YES! I would depend fully on Him. He has provided for our family when it didn't make sense that we were making it and He would provide for us now. I will say that since then I feel so much better. My house is cleaner and the children are happier. Everything seems to be at peace. Praise God for leading my family in the way that He wants and has planned for us!
I was sitting at home one week and I have already had a couple of issues arise from that particular job and I was seeking God about it and wanted to know what He thought. All week I prayed and cried over this particular situation because as much as I didn't want to quit I needed to in order to not have the feelings that I had about my job. Don't get me wrong...loved my boss, she really was a great lady to work for and I hope that we remain friends.
But the reason I had taken the job in the first place was to have "play" money. It wasn't meant to be used for items for the home such as needful things that God would take of, i.e. food, gas, etc. It was meant for me to have pocket money. But the longer I worked there the more I depended on the money to come in. I became frustrated when I couldn't get paid because "I needed the money!". We had lost focus on what the purpose job.
As I prayed I heard God ask me, "Do you really trust me?".
WOW! What a statement to hear. I knew that I trusted Him in most things but did I trust Him enough to quit a job that I didn't need in the first place? Could I go that far to rely on Him to provide "play money" when I wanted to do something with the kids? Could I really let go of a job that was beginning to frustrate me, because of me?
Then to just put icing on the cake...My Mr. came home and said that he had been praying about this as well and felt that I needed to quit and be home more. He said that we had lost focus and that he felt as if God was asking if we trusted Him enough to let go of the job and depend on Him. I was floored! God had given us both the SAME message, yes...I cried again (can't help it, I'm very emotional when I'm pregnant:)).
YES! I told Him YES! I would depend fully on Him. He has provided for our family when it didn't make sense that we were making it and He would provide for us now. I will say that since then I feel so much better. My house is cleaner and the children are happier. Everything seems to be at peace. Praise God for leading my family in the way that He wants and has planned for us!
Friday, June 1, 2012
It's already June?
I got up this morning with full intention to clean, clean, clean. No, my house isn't that dirty but I am pregnant and for some reason I have this urgency to get it DONE! We moved into our home back in August, last year, and we kind of just threw things where they looked good. If you've moved with a baby then you know that there really isn't any way to plan your move...you just do the best you can.
As I sat here a couple of weeks ago I realized that I still haven't put up pictures, really decorated the kid's rooms the way I wanted, my kitchen isn't done (I want to paint and do some other things too), the hallway still needs a paint job to be completed. The list continues as I sit here and I think it just got longer...ugh!
Right after we moved in we were so exhausted from cleaning our apartment so we could get the deposit back that we just gave up here. Then I also went out and got a job and was gone a couple days during the week and almost every Saturday. Life got going and we were caught up in a whirlwind and we NEVER slowed back down. I didn't move to the "country" to continue this craziness of non-stop buziness! I moved here so I could enjoy my children, play and focus on my home. This is the first home I've had in years and I wanted to make it MINE:)
So I quit my job (a whole other post, soon to be written) and decided that being home right now was important. I need to get this "laundry list of to-do's" done before November and now I have to plan on another little one all at the same time.
That's why I can't believe that it is already June! I have 4 months to get this all done and I got a feeling that it's gonna fly by and Novemeber will be here before I know it. Then you know that time will seem to stand still because we are awaiting baby Sweetums arrival and that seems to take forever!
I hope my amazing husband can handle the list I have and I hope and pray that we get it all done!:)
As I sat here a couple of weeks ago I realized that I still haven't put up pictures, really decorated the kid's rooms the way I wanted, my kitchen isn't done (I want to paint and do some other things too), the hallway still needs a paint job to be completed. The list continues as I sit here and I think it just got longer...ugh!
Right after we moved in we were so exhausted from cleaning our apartment so we could get the deposit back that we just gave up here. Then I also went out and got a job and was gone a couple days during the week and almost every Saturday. Life got going and we were caught up in a whirlwind and we NEVER slowed back down. I didn't move to the "country" to continue this craziness of non-stop buziness! I moved here so I could enjoy my children, play and focus on my home. This is the first home I've had in years and I wanted to make it MINE:)
So I quit my job (a whole other post, soon to be written) and decided that being home right now was important. I need to get this "laundry list of to-do's" done before November and now I have to plan on another little one all at the same time.
That's why I can't believe that it is already June! I have 4 months to get this all done and I got a feeling that it's gonna fly by and Novemeber will be here before I know it. Then you know that time will seem to stand still because we are awaiting baby Sweetums arrival and that seems to take forever!
I hope my amazing husband can handle the list I have and I hope and pray that we get it all done!:)
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