Sewing Mama

I recently decided that I wanted to use my sewing machine more.  There was a sale at JoAnn’s a few weeks ago, where I was able to buy several yards (ok, a few more than I actually needed…!) of adorable flannel.  I made cloth wipes out of it, and love them!  I can use them as baby wipes, tissues, washcloths, napkins, and more!  My favorite print is the alien print:

They’re so fun and cute! 

Then, I was struck with inspiration to make Ella a dress for Valentine’s day.  Now, I’ve never made a dress, or any other article of clothing for that matter.  But I want to learn!  So on February 13th (yes, the day before V-day!) I found some fabric that would work.  I didn’t have a pattern, so I made one up.  I took a few measurements, drew it out on tissue paper, and went to work.  I don’t have any photos of just the dress, but I did take some of Ella wearing it! 

She totally has some crazy baby hair going on after a day of playing, sleeping, and just being a toddler.  :)  I was proud of my first attempt at a dress and hope to try something more complicated (and maybe even use a pattern?!) next time. 

Today has been a fun day of sewing too!  A friend of mine asked if someone could make her some baby doll diapers, and I volunteered.  After one completely failed attempt, I was able to make these:

 

Three baby-doll sized diapers, with a little pouch that holds three flannel baby wipes!  They’re not perfect, but I’m happy with how they turned out!  :)  If only I knew how to sew as a child—I would have made my dolls all kinds of cool things!  I look forward to making more doll diapers and clothes in the future! 

My new obsession

CLOTH DIAPERS!!

Before Ella was born, we had planned to go the cloth route—but then she was here, and we hadn’t bought them yet. We were able to go almost 2 months without buying diapers since we had received so many as gifts. At that point, we kind of shrugged the idea of using cloth. The start-up costs can be 2-3 hundred dollars, and the disposables were working fine.

Fast forward to a little over a month ago. I’ve been reconsidering using cloth diapers off and on for many months, and then decided one day that I should just do it. So I went to Sprout Soup and bought my first cloth diapers.

I ended up leaving the store with enough Gro Baby diapers to get me through a day and a half to two days of diapering. These are really great diapers, because they’re really user-friendly! The days of pinning diapers is OVER (well, I guess some people still do it, but they don’t have to!). These diapers have velcro-like tabs and essentially work like a disposable diaper. But, they’re much cuter!

Since then, I have tried a few different kinds of diapers, and I LOVE them!

These adorable beauties just arrived today:

These are Goodmama diapers. They are called “fitted” diapers. They have elastic around the waist and legs, and snaps to close them. Again, very user friendly. These diapers are not waterproof though—they require a diaper cover if you don’t want to get wet. :) I like these kinds of diapers because they’re so soft, and still really easy to use.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about either making my own diapers or starting a business and selling diapers. They’ve very quickly become an obsession. I’ve been forbidden from buying any more though, so I have to use what I have and be happy. I am. But, it is fun to try new things. And, I was just telling Wes tonight that as much as I would like to start a diaper business, I’m not sure that I have the skills to do so. Maybe one day, he’ll help me (because he has the organizational skills that I completely lack). :)

Anyway, the experience has been different than I imagined. Better. Easier. Cloth diapers don’t have to be gross, or scary, or difficult. Those are all myths. So join the club! Get hooked on cloth!! We have almost no trash anymore as a result of switching to cloth! We already recycle, so without the disposable diapers filling our bins, we’re left with minimal waste. Plus, they’re just so darn cute!

So what's new?

I haven't been a very good blogger in 2009! I even switched blogging sites and still didn't update often! So how do I summarize the last 7 months? Bullets, I guess!

• I started watching 2 little girls on a regular basis. One came over once a week for a few hours, so that her mom could have some time to do some things at home without any "help" from her daughter. This arrangement worked out well for all involved--but they ended up moving across the country. I'm happy for them, since they are close to family and are where they want to be. But, I do miss this little girl and her mom! (I feel weird about writing their names, since this is a public blog and I didn't ask for permission). The other little girl started coming in April, and has been here for 1-3 days a week since! The little girl ("A") is 2 months older than Ella, so they get along wonderfully. This summer, the girls and I have gone to the library for "babytime," gone swimming in our little baby pool, gone to a playgroup, and lots and lots of walks! It's a great arrangement--she's part-time, so I still have days with just Ella, but Ella still gets some peer interaction, so that's great too. And, the money I earn goes straight toward my student loan!


• It's been a busy year of weddings! Ella has now been to 4 weddings and 3 funerals. WOW. 2 of the weddings were ones that I was in, so that has made it especially busy! Ella did so well at all of them--and fell asleep on Wes a couple of times, too. Congratulations to Lisa & Josh, Heidi & Ryan, Megan & Perry, and Janna & Eric!


• Ella loooooves water! Splashing in our baby pool, taking a bath, even washing her hands--she loves it! Recently, she's started saying "weeee!" when playing in water. And sliding down slides, and with anything else that she's having fun with!
  
• Speaking of saying "weeeee!"... she speaks! She says mama, dada, ball, baby, shoe, kitty, hi, bye, hello, that, wow, yay!, wee!, no (I don't like this one!), and others. :)



• We celebrated Ella's first birthday in June! (above). We had a party with some friends and family, ate cake (she smashed hers and played in it, but didn't eat it!), and opened presents. It was a wonderful, fun, exciting day! I thought that I would be teary or cry that day--but I did really well! The only time I was teary at all was when everyone sang her Happy Birthday! My birthday girl was all smiles and the center of attention, and I couldn't help but think back to that day a year earlier when she was born. She was so tiny and precious--and here she is now, my "big" girl!
• We've made the switch to cloth diapers! I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago, and so far, we're loving it! Our trash has almost completely disappeared! We already recycle, so we were mostly just throwing away diapers. Using cloth diapers is completely different than it used to be. No more pins, leaks, or messes! They're not complicated--and actually, the ones we use are pretty much just like disposables with a velcro-type closure. And the laundry isn't bad either. So far so good! And I must say, she's pretty cute in cloth!

I'm sure that a lot more has happened that I'm forgetting, but I guess those are the main things! We're loving Ella's newfound independence with crawling, and are waiting for her to start walking. We know that she'll do it when she's ready! But, she's still my mama's girl. :) She's adjusting better to being away from me occasionally, especially if she's with Wes!! We're going to start weekly "Ella and Daddy" nights soon, where they can have their special time without me, and I can spend time with a few friends in a bible study/fellowship.