pinterest projects

Have you fallen into the Pinterest trap?? It is a great resource to find DIY projects and ideas for a slue of things. It's also a great way to kill time.. like when you're nursing, pumping, or don't know where to begin the day so you just aimlessly search this site ;-) 

It hasn't all been wasteful, however, since I have found some really neat ideas and projects. I wanted to share with you a few of the projects I have finished.

My favorite is this light... made from a kitchen colander! My mom found a colander for me, and I spray painted it a dark silver. Then Jordan went to Home Depot to get all of the pieces to make it work. We didn't even have to drill any holes. 

 This is how it looks. Mac and Paisley love looking at the reflections on the ceiling. It took us a couple of bulbs to find the right one... To get this look and not be blinded by the bulb, we ordered a mirror bulb. Pretty cool, huh??

The second project I got from Pinterest is this picture frame. Write I love you because... on a piece of scrapbook paper, and fit the paper in the frame. Then write notes back and forth with dry erase markers. It's been quite entertaining for us. 

I still need to add a few fun things to the frame, but here's the idea.

Lastly, I framed Mac and Paisley's outfits they wore home from the hospital. These laughing bee originals were made by a dear friend, I can't believe M and P were so small. Okay, I can, but this time is so fleeting. It's already been almost 6 months since we brought them home!!! 

And here we are today...

As always, this cup overflows :-)

-ashley

daily humor

I have to share some funny things from yesterday...

First off, Mac has started to melt around 11ish, which isn't like him. They sleep from 8:30-9:50, nurse at 10, and we do cereal at 11. Before starting cereal, we would play until they went to sleep at 11:30. Since adding cereal, I have played around with when to give it to them... Either way, I feed cereal one at a time.

Since P finishes nursing first, I give her the cereal first. I used to feed her at 11, then him at 11:15. Well they were both puddles in the floor by the time that meal was finished so I pushed feeding up 15 minutes: P eats at 10:45, and M eats at 11. She loves her cereal and eats it pretty well. She's up to 2.5 tablespoons. Then I watch her cues as to whether she still has energy to play or needs to lay down.

A meltdown in the making

Mac is next.. He very intent when he watches her eat. He follows the spoon with his eyes- bowl to mouth, bowl to mouth. Sometimes I sidetrack and give him a bite. ;o) Then when it's his turn, the poor boy melts... So I play musical chairs trying to figure which position makes him happiest. When all else fails, I hold him in my lap, and we all wear the cereal. Here he was trying to feed himself. Such a big boy.

I laid him down as soon as he was finished while P played. He fussed for a minute and had been quiet a while when I took P to her bed. As if on cue, P sneezed as soon as we got close to their side by side cribs, and Mac's head popped up like a jack in the box. I ducked, P cried, and then Mac whimpered as he anxiously looked for me. So here I am, squatting beside the cribs trying to figure out how to get P's diaper changed and her in bed without Mac seeing me. (If we make eye contact, it's all downhill from there so there's lots of feeling around without being visible.) I waddled- still in the squat position- to the dresser/changing table, and Mac had turned his body to facing my back. As I peeked over my shoulder, there was his sweet face. It was a gridlock .So much for my National Geographic movements around the room. I got caught.

Later I found some "dry skin" on my neck. I need to put lotion on this, I thought. As I went to cover this dry spot with lotion, I realized it was peeling.. hmmmmmm, that's weird. Yeah, pretty sure it was cereal!!! Gross! I am a baby cereal-wearing mom. Goodness. And yet, somehow, I love it. ;o)

-ashley

"cloth diaper" is a verb

**I want to share a disclaimer about my last cloth diaper post. I am fortunate that I am able to stay home with Mac and Paisley, and that makes cloth diapering a reasonable undertaking for us. When we travel or I go out for long periods of time, I put M and P in disposables for the convenience. Disposable diapers are certainly more convenient, but we are committed to using cloth. Please do not feel that I stand in judgement of anyone who chooses to use disposables. Thanks for hearing me out. :o)

Our CD necessities...

Fortunately, I have had friends enter into the CD world before me, and they have been great support both before I began and now that we are almost 5 months into this journey. I am able to ask questions, get feedback, and gain second hand experience. My CD support group has been such an important part of our CD success. Thank you, friends, especially Becca and Kristina. Also, I use a CD facebook page to post questions, and there are tons of moms out there willing to help.

To start, we installed diaper sprayers in two of our bathrooms. These are like kitchen sprayers that connect to the toilet water system. When a diaper has more than urine, we spray any solids into the toilet, and flush it away! You have to deal with poo regardless of what type of diaper you use... 

Next we put the diaper in a wet/dry bag. The bag has a zipper for dry diapers and a separate part for dirty diapers. This bag keeps odors down, and we can easily throw it in the washer to clean. 

 

To wash the diapers, we use Rockin' Green. There are several detergents that CD moms use, but we have always used the RnG and been happy. We also throw in the ammonia bouncer from time to time to keep away any odors. 

Biokleen is also good to get out any organic stains... and it is CD friendly. 

We have a drying rack for the diapers. I prefer for them to dry in the sun because the sun bleaches out stains. If you don't believe me, try wetting what needs bleached, and put it in the sun. The UV rays naturally bleach the product to bright white again! It's why our diapers still look brand new too. 

Any products (creams or lotions) we put on M and P also needs to be CD friendly. It's important to only use products recommended for CD because it prevents build up on the diapers, and build up can cause issues. 

Do you use any products you'd recommend with your CD??

Happy CDing!! Please ask if you have questions!

-ashley

chitter chatter

Paisley rolled over yesterday! She was on her back and rolled onto her belly this morning while I was playing with Mac. I've known she was strong enough, but this girl does things in her own time. :o) Of course she refused to let me see her do it again. Strong personality... already.

We walked again yesterday and  today! Here are a couple of pics I took:

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M and P are really entertaining each other these days. I listened to them talk to each other during nap time this morning. She would babble something, and he would "listen". Then he would chime in with his own thoughts. It was so sweet, and I tried to catch it on video. The video isn't much for viewing unless you're in a dark room because I didn't turn on the flash. It was nap time after all so I tried to be sneaky, but if you could see the video, you'd see that she totally caught me... And of course he stopped talking and just stared at my phone. :o\

P usually wakes up from the morning nap 30 minutes before it's time to eat (about 9:30). I get her, and we have some "girl time". Here's a pic I snapped of her sweetness:

And when it was almost time to eat, here's how I found Mac... face down! He sleeps so hard he wakes up with lines on his face. It is pretty cute. He's always cuddly, but he's especially affectionate when he first wakes up... I. LOVE. IT.

I got a random pic today of the two of them.. Paisley was reaching over and rubbing her big brother. He didn't pay her any attention this time, but she surely was into him.

Tomorrow is hump day!!! Halfway through the week! Woo hoo! 

-ashley

Why We Cloth Diaper

I'm doing it.... starting my post(s) on cloth diapering. It's been my intention to write about this since the beginning of the blog, but I haven't been disciplined enough to sit and actually get to it. I've asked what you want to know, and here's what I've been told...

- Why we chose to cloth diaper

- What it takes to get started

- Where do I get diapers

- Which diaper brands I use and prefer

- Anything else that I can think of :o)

Economics. We chose to cloth diaper because it is economical, and with twins, the amount of diapers we would use before they are potty trained is incredible. I change diapers at least 5 times a day per child equaling a minimum of 10 diapers per day, 70 per week. If M and P were in disposable, size one diapers, I would get a box of 192 for $47.99 from Babies R Us. That box would maybe last us 2 1/2 weeks. As the diaper size gets bigger, the amount of diapers in a box decreases, though the cost remains relatively the same. Let's say that M and P were in size 1 diapers for 6 months (which is highly unlikely since infants double their birth weight by 4 months)... We would spend roughly $465.96 in six months. For me, if I'm going to commit to spending that kind of money, I want to have something to show for it, which brings me to my next 'why'. Click here to read more.

Investment. Cloth diapers are an investment. There is an up front cost but then you're finished. Sure, I will add a new diaper here and there, but not because we need it (yet), but because I may want to try a new brand or get a new fabric. (Have you seen these diapers? They are SO cute) 

Health. Even in "sensitive" disposables, there are lists of chemicals that are unnatural. (Click here to read more about the chemicals.) Bottom line, if it isn't from nature, it's probably not good on your skin or in your body. Cloth diapers are free from chemicals and lead, and since M and P are prone to outbreaks, it's comforting to know I'm diapering them in something that isn't going to irritate their delicate skin. 

Green. We recycle, and I try to respect the environment in which M and P will grow and inherit. I don't drive an electric car, and I don't plan on going that route. However, it is an added bonus that the diapers we go through aren't ending up in landfills where they don't decompose. 

There's plenty more where this came from, but I will break it up so you'll keep reading. 

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, y'all!!!

-ashley

Spring, Is That You??

The weather today was.. well as we say in the south "Gawjus!" It was so pretty, and I couldn't wait to get outside with Mac and Paisley. So this afternoon we went for a walk around the neightborhood. I was quite motivated after my friend went for a 3 miler this morning. I used to love going out for a long run just to be outside... now there's days that pass when I don't even go outside. {This jogging stroller can't get here soon enough!}

I actually felt so motivated that as I heated up my lunch, I did squats. Once the microwave got to the one minute countdown, I began. One, two, three, four, and jump on five. Unfortunately Mac woke up shortly after, and my legs were kind of shaky. I have a long road ahead of me in the fitness world.

Actually, think about it... society wants us to look excellent weeks after giving birth. Plus we're supposed to be knowledgeable about fashion too. It's a lot to take on.... society, stop it!!

Enough of that rant. I wanted to share some sweet pictures of M and P today before and during our walk.

P loved our walk

Mac was talking to his zebra :o)

 Happy Thursday!!

-ashley

TWO Heartbeats?!!

That's what we said at the doctor last year (January 2011) during our first ultrasound. When your memories of ultrasounds aren't happy ones, going to any ultrasound is anxiety provoking. As hard as I tried to not allow anxiety and nerves to overtake my every thought, it was a daily (sometimes hourly) challenge. We had to wait 2 weeks from the positive pregnancy test before we could go to the ultrasound. It was one of the longest 2 weeks ever! 

Dr. Murray began the ultrasound... I think it took all of a few seconds, but it felt like hours.. we waited to hear what he saw... and he said "We have a heart beat!" Jordan lost it, and my jaw hit the floor in shock. What?! For real??? I had so many defenses up that it took a while for the good new to absorb... Dr. Murray continued the ultrasound... "There's a second heart beat." Jordan quickly collected himself and said, "Two??" Then we were searching for a third. The finding of heartbeats stopped after Paisley's was detected. We officially had TWO heartbeats, and we entered the world of Baby A and Baby B. 

6 weeks and 3 days

 How blessed we've been by Mac and Paisley even at such young stages in development. :o)

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; 

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."  Jeremiah 1:5

-ashley