One of the things I couldn't wait to do while I was pregnant was get Audra's nursery set up. I had that major nesting bug, and nearly went crazy not being able to fulfill those desires. Due to the fact that we'd be moving across the country while she was less than a month old, all I was really able to do was order what I wanted and then leave it in the boxes for moving. Now that we're finally somewhat settled, I've got her room looking a bit like what I pictured in my head. There are still a few projects to do, though. (It would have been SO nice to be able to do these projects while she was still in my belly. Doing projects while looking after an infant isn't so easy!)
The projects I still have planned:
-make some wall art that matches her bedding/bright color theme
-sew blackout fabric on the back of her curtains (which wouldn't be necessary if the blackout curtains that are hanging were actually blacking out her room)
-sew a crib skirt
-hang paper lanterns in the corner
-update the mobile to make it more colorful
Notice two of those projects involve sewing. When I first planned these projects, did I even own a sewing machine? No. Did I even know how to sew? No. But I figured there's no time better than the present to start learning. And thus begins the drama. :::sigh:::
Since I didn't know how to sew and the projects I'd be doing basically involve sewing in a straight line lots of times, I didn't want to buy an expensive sewing machine. So I found one on Craigslist that seemed like a good price, and it even did a few of the fancier functions like hemming, zipper stitch, etc. I emailed the seller the night I found it and told her I was interested. She asked me to call the next day, which I did. We played a bit of phone tag to figure out what time I should pick up the machine. One of the times I called her, she answered without realizing it. I did the whole "Hello? ...Hello??..." thing for a bit and then I heard her talk. What I heard her say was, "....yea, but I don't think they'll notice..." I hung up and thought to myself that something smelled fishy... but there was no way to know what she was talking about. I chose to believe she wasn't talking about us & the sewing machine.
Nic and I went to get the sewing machine later that day. We had her plug it in and show us that it worked before paying. The needle definitely went when we pushed the pedal; all looked good. We paid and were on our way.
Jump ahead a week and a half later, and I'm at a local business having my first sewing lesson. The sweet old lady is teaching me how to wind the bobbin, etc. and all is going great. Until she tries to dip the needle down to pull up the bobbin thread. She tries this maneuver multiple times, but the needle never grabs the bobbin thread. She has the man who works on the machines take a look at it, and he says the timing is off. (Note: I had no idea a needle was even supposed to pick up bobbin thread or that timing could go "out" on a sewing machine at the time that I bought it. I should have maybe done some homework; if I had, I would have known to look for those things.) The cost to fix the timing would have been more than I paid for the machine in the first place, so I left the shop feeling a bit defeated. I got scammed into buying a bad sewing machine, and had paid for a sewing lesson, only to learn that the machine doesn't work. I wasted 2 hours of my day.
So I go home hoping and praying that the seller would give me my money back. We were near the seller's house later that day, so we tried to speak with her in person. We tried her house twice, but she wasn't home either time. Later that night I emailed her and VERY nicely explained the situation. She replied with the machine worked when I sold it to you...yada yada yada... sorry for your misfortune...yada yada yada... items bought on Craigslist are AS IS yada yada yada... I will not be giving you your money back. Well, crap. Now we have a problem.
The seller and I exchanged emails multiple times to the point that I felt like I was in middle school all over again. I thought I had left that place. :( We're talking a bit of bickering was happening, and I couldn't believe I was having drama with a stranger. I don't even have drama in my life with non-strangers. Detailing everything that was said would take way too long, so I'll spare you. But in a nutshell: her stories kept changing, she got super rude about it and the more we talked, the more fraudulent she sounded. I basically had to call her out on all the holes in her stories and threaten small claims on her. Would the small amount have been worth going to court? Probably not. Would I have actually gone to court? Probably not. But did I make myself sound like enough of a hardA for her to cave? Ya, I did. :D She called me one night (I was surprised she had my # still) and asked to meet me so she could give me my money. She was clearly gritting her teeth; it must have been really hard for her to admit defeat. There was no way I was going to go by myself. Besides that, Audra was already in bed. So, I stayed home and Nic met her and they made the exchange. He said she was wearing a black leather biker jacket probably trying to look tough. haha. She made him sign a napkin that stated he received the money. (People with law degrees, would something like that hold up in court? [Not that she'll need it to, just curious.])
I have to admit, I'm a bit proud of myself for the persistence I gave her. And also for how nice I was. Even in the email when I quit playing Mrs. Nicegirl, I wasn't MEAN. I always tried to sound pleasant, like I wasn't doing all this just to cause trouble or drama. She sold me a product that didn't work correctly, and I wanted my money back, those were the facts of the matter. I even gave her a few outs to make it seem like maybe she didn't know and it was an accident, but even so I'd still need my money.
So now that all is said and done, we've got our money back, and I have bought a different sewing machine (one that works!) and I'll have another sewing lesson next week to learn how to use it. The woman giving the lesson was even nice enough to not charge me again. :) So it all worked out.
Anybody out there ever have drama like this? I've gotta say, Craigslist has usually worked out really well in the past. We got our kitchen table from there, an area rug, our TV stand, a large bookshelf... so the moral of the story: don't buy something you don't know much about. :( I suppose being trusting in this case just equaled being naive. Lesson learned.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Cloth Diapering: We try, tried again (Part 2 of 2)
In part 1, I talked about how we decided on gDiapers, and how they were a fail for us. THIS POST, I'm going to talk about how I decided on FuzziBunz. :) To be honest, there is a blog I follow which highly influenced my decision to go with FuzziBunz. Reading Shawna's descriptions of the diaper, and describing her system really gave me confidence that this diaper could work for us. This diaper has a couple of advantages to it that the gDiapers didn't have. 1- it's a one-size diaper. This means that Audra can wear it now, and it's supposed to last her until she's potty trained. This is possible through their internal sizing system (more about that in a minute). So not having to buy another whole set of diapers when she's a 'medium' then again when she's 'large' or 'extra large' is saving us a ton of money! To put a cherry on top, the FuzziBunz one-size diaper is actually cheaper than 1 of the gDiaper shells (with Nic's military discount), and they include the cloth inserts! Score! 2- it's an advantage to just stuff the insert in the pocket beforehand and then have one solid piece ready to put on her. Stuffing the g's with the inserts was time that I was consuming at the changing table, and you had to be really careful to do it *just right* or the diaper wouldn't hold waste correctly. The FuzziBunz pocket diaper system consumes time immediately after washing (I usually stuff them while I'm pumping or while Audra's napping) and I don't have to worry about putting them on just right. Just snap them together and that's it! (Similar to just securing a disposable.)
We knew the FuzziBunz worked for others, and we saw things we really liked about them. All that was left was to try them out! This time I was a bit more cautious. I ordered 1 diaper from the FuzziBunz website and tried it out on Audra. We wore it, and LOVED IT! We washed it, we wore it and loved it AGAIN! And washed it again, and loved it again! We loved it so many times, we decided this would be our new diaper. So on one of Nic's days off, we stocked up on the FuzziBunz One Size Elites.
Here's a quick overview of how these work:
You flip the diaper inside out...
to get to the buttons that adjust the elastic around the legs (the other side is identical).
I forgot to take a picture of the numbers on the elastic, so I found this one from here. The diapers have a sizing guide to help you know which numbers should work best for your babe, but of course you can play around with it and find what works just perfectly for you.
And there you have it!
When you buy these diapers, they come with replacement elastic (since elastic tends to stretch out over time) a small minky insert and a medium minky insert. They also come with a lifetime warranty (which should cover any damage to snaps or buttons). Just make sure you keep your receipt!
The only time I have experienced wetness with this diaper is when she had gone more than once in the diaper (should have changed it sooner!). Even then, the wetness was not leakage around the sides, it was more like moisture seeping through the bottom of the diaper because the insert was just too saturated. I wasn't bothered by this since I should have changed her sooner.
We've been using the FuzziBunz consistently for about 3 weeks now, and have had zero issues. In fact, the only problem we have now is that we don't have enough! I wash my diapers every other day, and we have 14. We have gotten by on that many a few times, but usually by the time I need to wash them, she ends up going in a disposable for bed.
Speaking of bed, we have even had success using this diaper at night time. I add a little extra something, though, in case she goes multiple times. This little tip was taken from the blog above. So here's what we do: when I'm almost finished nursing her for the last time, we put the nighttime diaper on her. The nighttime diaper consists of a FuzziBunz shell, a normal FuzziBunz insert, and also a GroVia insert. GroVia inserts have a water proof backing, so the moisture can't seep out the back. Also, the GroVia inserts have TWO VERY absorbent layers. So stuffed in the pocket of the FuzziBunz, we've got the minky insert and behind that, we've got a GroVia insert. Yes, that makes for one bulky diaper! But Audra doesn't seem to mind, and it gets the job done. So the bottom line here, is that I'm so IN LOVE with this FuzziBunz One Size Elite diaper! So happy to have this figured out. :) Hopefully this will help one of you find a solution to your cloth diaper needs. :)
***I should add that I know there are MANY MANY great cloth diapers out there that work and you can be happy with. These are just the diapers I chose.*** :D
We knew the FuzziBunz worked for others, and we saw things we really liked about them. All that was left was to try them out! This time I was a bit more cautious. I ordered 1 diaper from the FuzziBunz website and tried it out on Audra. We wore it, and LOVED IT! We washed it, we wore it and loved it AGAIN! And washed it again, and loved it again! We loved it so many times, we decided this would be our new diaper. So on one of Nic's days off, we stocked up on the FuzziBunz One Size Elites.
Here's a quick overview of how these work:
The outside has heavy-duty snaps to allow you to adjust for your baby's growth.
Excuse the bad lighting, these were taken at night.
The layer that touches Audra's booty is made of ultra soft fleece. (There is a bit of pilling on this fleece, but it doesn't effect absorbancy.)
There's a pocket opening on her back where I stuff the (super ridiculously incredibly soft) minky insert. The minky insert is what holds the bulk of her waste.
And THIS is the coolest part...
The internal sizing system.
This is what we adjust as she grows and allows us to use this diaper for so long. Everywhere there is elastic (so on the back and around the legs), we can tighten or loosen it to fit our needs. There are two button on either end of the elastic that we can adjust.
Here are the buttons along the back. You can see them on either side of the elastic.
You flip the diaper inside out...
to get to the buttons that adjust the elastic around the legs (the other side is identical).
I forgot to take a picture of the numbers on the elastic, so I found this one from here. The diapers have a sizing guide to help you know which numbers should work best for your babe, but of course you can play around with it and find what works just perfectly for you.
And there you have it!
When you buy these diapers, they come with replacement elastic (since elastic tends to stretch out over time) a small minky insert and a medium minky insert. They also come with a lifetime warranty (which should cover any damage to snaps or buttons). Just make sure you keep your receipt!
The only time I have experienced wetness with this diaper is when she had gone more than once in the diaper (should have changed it sooner!). Even then, the wetness was not leakage around the sides, it was more like moisture seeping through the bottom of the diaper because the insert was just too saturated. I wasn't bothered by this since I should have changed her sooner.
We've been using the FuzziBunz consistently for about 3 weeks now, and have had zero issues. In fact, the only problem we have now is that we don't have enough! I wash my diapers every other day, and we have 14. We have gotten by on that many a few times, but usually by the time I need to wash them, she ends up going in a disposable for bed.
Speaking of bed, we have even had success using this diaper at night time. I add a little extra something, though, in case she goes multiple times. This little tip was taken from the blog above. So here's what we do: when I'm almost finished nursing her for the last time, we put the nighttime diaper on her. The nighttime diaper consists of a FuzziBunz shell, a normal FuzziBunz insert, and also a GroVia insert. GroVia inserts have a water proof backing, so the moisture can't seep out the back. Also, the GroVia inserts have TWO VERY absorbent layers. So stuffed in the pocket of the FuzziBunz, we've got the minky insert and behind that, we've got a GroVia insert. Yes, that makes for one bulky diaper! But Audra doesn't seem to mind, and it gets the job done. So the bottom line here, is that I'm so IN LOVE with this FuzziBunz One Size Elite diaper! So happy to have this figured out. :) Hopefully this will help one of you find a solution to your cloth diaper needs. :)
***I should add that I know there are MANY MANY great cloth diapers out there that work and you can be happy with. These are just the diapers I chose.*** :D
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Sleepy September Afternoon
-->
You
lay on my lap
as
sleepy as can be
yet
you stare up at me
with
those BIG oceany eyes
that
remind me of
a
Precious Moments baby.
I
slowly rock you
back
and forth
back
and forth
back
and forth
and
your head gently turns
left
to right
left
to right
left
to right.
You
gaze up at me
studying
my face
and
I smile down at you
my
whole face filled with
LOVE
for
you.
It
is September and the weather
has
started to change;
the
window to my left allows the autumnal breeze
to
blow your wispy hair.
You
are babbling to me
and
smiling
and
each time you blink it takes
looonnnger
and
loooooonnnnnnger
for
you to open your
sleepy
eyes.
Someone
is BBQing
and
the charcoal smell
drifts
through the open window.
I
kiss your face
and
thank God
for
the blessing that you are.
I’ve
had many great moments
in my life,
in my life,
but
not many are quite as perfect
as
this.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Cloth Diapering: If at first you don't succeed... (Part 1 of 2)
When you start planning on having kids (or when you're surprised with a pregnancy; either way), you undoubtedly think of how much your child is going to cost you (monetarily, amongst other things). When your little one's a baby, you know that you're going to be shelling out some bucks in diapers. It's something you need SO MUCH of that people shower you with them in addition to other gifts before the arrival of your bundle. So when Nic and I started planning for a family, we started thinking of ways we could save money. We know that cloth diapering has come a long way, so we decided they'd be a great way to save some cash. And also, they're better for the environment. And later, we found out that they can actually better for your baby as well. Win-win-win. We knew that cloth diapering would take some initial cost up front, but in the long run, cloth diapering would save us money. So the question became, which cloth diaper do we use?
Cloth diapers today aren't the same cloth diapers my mom wore. I have one of her HUGE safety pins that someone lovingly pinned her diapers together with back when she was ity bity. Cloth diapering in 2012 is a little different. Overwhelmingly different. No safety pins, no single layers of fabric; we've got options. LOTS of options. (Options that still include those that were used on my mom.) When I started researching, I saw hybrid diapers, all in 1 diapers, single layers, double layers, and to be honest... I had no idea what most of the stuff was that I was reading about. So I researched.
We decided on diapers called gDiapers. They seemed easy enough. You buy the outer shell in the size you need (they come in S, M, L, XL). The greatest part was, they come in such cute colors!!!
Easy enough, right? So when she goes "potty," you change out the cloth and put in another. If you need to, snap in another pouch. After explaining it over and over (I admit, it sounds like a lot of steps), I finally got Nic and our families on board with the g's. I was SO excited when she finally got big enough to fit in her g's!
But all the cuteness in the world couldn't make up for what happened with the g's: ...LEAKAGE. :( At first, I told myself it would take some time to properly put them on her; we needed to figure out how tight everything should be. Maybe we needed to smooth something or make sure the seal was properly placed, or adjust the aplix (velcro). So we smoothed and adjusted and kept trying. When they didn't leak I'd think, Yay, I figured it out!!! only to experience a leak the next time I put them on her. I had such perseverance, but all to no avail. In all, I'd say they leaked about 25% of the time. Most of the time, it was just a little bit around her legs... but still, they leaked. The breaking point was when the shell didn't even catch the leak. I was nursing her and her pee literally ran down my stomach. Enough was enough. Wasn't the whole reason she was wearing a diaper to stop things like that from happening?
Finding out that the cloth diapers I chose [after ALL THAT research] didn't work was disappointing. Make that SUPER disappointing. It made me feel as though I didn't properly do my research. I started second-guessing myself. Didn't I research? I did, didn't I? Didn't I stay up until wee hours of the night [er, morning?] looking at different diapers and reading about them and looking at prices and benefits and reading reviews? Yes, I sure did. So why was I coming across more diapers that I felt like I'd never seen or heard of before? Where were those the first time I was researching? That was the feeling I kept getting. And the answer is-- I don't know. I don't know why I didn't come across those new options that I recently found, but I'm glad I did. I have to admit, it took some convincing to get Nic on board with another cloth diaper. After all, we'd been using disposable since the g's were leaking, and the disposables were easy. You just throw them away! But shelling out $30 twice a month just wasn't appealing. I knew there had to be a better way. I knew there had to be a cloth diaper that worked.
So I did more research and decided on a new diaper, which I'll talk about in my next post. I wanted to take the time to show you the g's and walk you through my thought process because the g's played a big part in learning about cloth diapering. I can't even diss the g's; they work wonderfully for other babies. Babies with chunkier legs, I think. The thing about cloth diapering is, it's a process. You can research until all the names run together and everything sounds confusing and you're dreaming about cloth diapering, but it won't matter until you actually get to try them on your baby. That is really the only way you can test whether they'll work. Not every cloth diaper works for every baby; you have to find what works for you. And unfortunately, my first try didn't work for us. I didn't talk much to my family about how disappointed I was in the fact that they didn't work, but I really was. Both Nic's and my family had spent generous amounts of money buying us our first g stash, and I felt a bit like I was wasting their money. Also, I have numerous friends and acquaintances with brand new babies who are cloth diapering, and seem to have found the perfect diaper the first time and have it all figured out so quickly. Why couldn't I be the put-together mom with the definite answers who had it all figured out so fast? After being a teensy bit jealous, I had to put my ego aside and just be happy that it's working for them and then hope and pray that this next diaper I chose wouldn't result in defeating me too. ::this process is a bit exhausting::
Since they didn't work, I am selling these g's. If you have a chunky monkey baby and would like to give them a try (after all, look how CUTE they are!), I will sell them to you for cheaper than you can find them at stores or online. Look here and contact me! :)
Cloth diapers today aren't the same cloth diapers my mom wore. I have one of her HUGE safety pins that someone lovingly pinned her diapers together with back when she was ity bity. Cloth diapering in 2012 is a little different. Overwhelmingly different. No safety pins, no single layers of fabric; we've got options. LOTS of options. (Options that still include those that were used on my mom.) When I started researching, I saw hybrid diapers, all in 1 diapers, single layers, double layers, and to be honest... I had no idea what most of the stuff was that I was reading about. So I researched.
We decided on diapers called gDiapers. They seemed easy enough. You buy the outer shell in the size you need (they come in S, M, L, XL). The greatest part was, they come in such cute colors!!!
The shells have little snap-in pouches that hold the cloth.
Then you buy the cloth in the same size as the diaper and stuff it in the pouch.
Finding out that the cloth diapers I chose [after ALL THAT research] didn't work was disappointing. Make that SUPER disappointing. It made me feel as though I didn't properly do my research. I started second-guessing myself. Didn't I research? I did, didn't I? Didn't I stay up until wee hours of the night [er, morning?] looking at different diapers and reading about them and looking at prices and benefits and reading reviews? Yes, I sure did. So why was I coming across more diapers that I felt like I'd never seen or heard of before? Where were those the first time I was researching? That was the feeling I kept getting. And the answer is-- I don't know. I don't know why I didn't come across those new options that I recently found, but I'm glad I did. I have to admit, it took some convincing to get Nic on board with another cloth diaper. After all, we'd been using disposable since the g's were leaking, and the disposables were easy. You just throw them away! But shelling out $30 twice a month just wasn't appealing. I knew there had to be a better way. I knew there had to be a cloth diaper that worked.
So I did more research and decided on a new diaper, which I'll talk about in my next post. I wanted to take the time to show you the g's and walk you through my thought process because the g's played a big part in learning about cloth diapering. I can't even diss the g's; they work wonderfully for other babies. Babies with chunkier legs, I think. The thing about cloth diapering is, it's a process. You can research until all the names run together and everything sounds confusing and you're dreaming about cloth diapering, but it won't matter until you actually get to try them on your baby. That is really the only way you can test whether they'll work. Not every cloth diaper works for every baby; you have to find what works for you. And unfortunately, my first try didn't work for us. I didn't talk much to my family about how disappointed I was in the fact that they didn't work, but I really was. Both Nic's and my family had spent generous amounts of money buying us our first g stash, and I felt a bit like I was wasting their money. Also, I have numerous friends and acquaintances with brand new babies who are cloth diapering, and seem to have found the perfect diaper the first time and have it all figured out so quickly. Why couldn't I be the put-together mom with the definite answers who had it all figured out so fast? After being a teensy bit jealous, I had to put my ego aside and just be happy that it's working for them and then hope and pray that this next diaper I chose wouldn't result in defeating me too. ::this process is a bit exhausting::
Since they didn't work, I am selling these g's. If you have a chunky monkey baby and would like to give them a try (after all, look how CUTE they are!), I will sell them to you for cheaper than you can find them at stores or online. Look here and contact me! :)
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