Would You Like a Cup of Baby?

A friend of ours in our small group is an artist (sculpture) and art professor at UTC and as a result has a lot of cool pieces in his house. One of my favorites is this oversized teacup and saucer. So we took these adorable baby pics last night at small group. I had to stay in the photo to support her because she can't sit up by herself yet. But they are adorable anyway. Definitely some of my favorites so far!

What's in the Guitar Case?

It's always the quiet ones

I love being surprised by my students. I love it when they crack me up - which they almost always do on a daily basis. Dallas is a student of mine who is incredibly shy and quiet. He has barely spoken a word all year and as a result I certainly did not think of him as one of my witty, hilarious students. He's been holding out on me. Here is Thursday's moment of hilarity that occurred while I was teaching my Algebra I class how to solve systems of equations by elimination.

Me: Ok class, in this system our two variables are u and v. Now let's look at the equations and figure out which variable would be easiest to eliminate. What do you think?

Class: u

Me: That's correct. Let's eliminate u.

Dallas: Not ME!

Class: Uproar of laughter

Hand-Me-Downs and Pictures

I love hand-me-downs! If it weren't for them, Keziah's wardrobe would be significantly smaller. In fact, I would say her wardrobe is about 75 % hand-me-downs, 24 % shower gifts, and only 1% things I have actually bought myself. Saturday, we celebrated my niece's first birthday and my SIL brought me yet another bag of hand-me-downs. This particular stash was extra exciting because it included a purple bumbo seat! It got me thinking about hand-me-downs and how you can never really return the favor to the person who gave them to you. Chances are, the person giving you large amounts of hand-me-downs is doing so because they are themselves done with having babies. I know my SIL got a lot of hand-me-downs from someone named Gretta whom I have never met. I'd like to thank Gretta, but chances are she did not start the chain - she probably received her own hand-me-downs from someone she knew. I guess the best way to show my appreciation and thankfulness is to continue the chain and one day give my own box of hand-me-downs to someone I know who could use them. This is definitely one of those things where you can't pay it back - so you have to pay it forward.

Since I haven't posted pictures in a while, I thought I'd post some of Keziah showing off her cute not-so-new-but-new-to-her clothes.

first time in jeans:

Yay Kermit!

First time in a dress (not too happy)

My favorite dress:

Morning coffee with Daddy:

Laughing at Mommy. (Hey, Summer, recognize this onesie?)

I love my Bumbo seat!

Happy Pi Day!

In honor of this, our most mathematical holiday, I thought I'd send everybody a Happy Pi Day. If you are online, you have probably seen the google homepage today.

If you were wondering what all that math stuff was, it is in honor of Pi day - celebrated every year on March 14 (for an obvious reason). So sit back and enjoy some pie and think about how cool that little irrational number is ... and if you know what I'm talking about, thank your high school geometry teacher!

Fluff Friday

Why does this picture make me so happy?

These are some of my cloth diapers hanging to dry in front of our bay window (which gets direct sunlight when I have the blinds open). That's right. In case you didn't know, we cloth diaper. So in honor of Fluff Friday, I am writing my first cloth diaper post.

When we told people we were planning to cloth diaper we got a host of different reactions. Our crunchy friends said 'good for you' and others asked, 'are you insane?' But we were committed to at least give it a try. We have now been at it for 10 weeks and the more I do it the more I love it. Here are some of my reasons for loving cloth:

Laundry! I love doing laundry. It is my favorite chore. In the words of my SIL, "I like it because there is the concrete 'done' factor. You start, you finish, clean clothes, magic. It smells nice, it is warm. It feels good and reminds me of being five." I really can't say it better than this. (Thanks Tiffany) I really do look forward to diaper wash day.

Color! Cloth diapers come in every color imaginable and even adorable prints. The diaper is no longer a baby necessity but a baby accessory. I love matching her diapers to her outfits. I love letting her diaper count as her pants and just putting a shirt on her. I can put a blue one on her if I'm feeling blue and a hot pink one on her if I'm feeling sassy.

Savings! This is the original reason for why we decided to do cloth. You really do save money. Even if you aren't blessed with a relative who gives you a lot of hand-me-down diapers (again - thanks Tiffany!), you will still save money in the long run. If you are willing to use some prefolds, buy used, swap with other moms, register for them when you have a shower, buy one-size diapers that fit infant to toddler, and use the more economical brands, then you can save even more.

The environment. I have to admit that 'going green' was not my motivation for wanting to use cloth. But when I read that the average baby goes through 4,000 diapers before they are potty trained, well I have to admit, I really do feel good about the fact that there won't be 4000 diapers sitting in a landfill for 1000 years on account of my one baby.

It's natural! No chemicals! When I was in the throws of infertility and doing lots of research, I became convinced that one of the main reasons for the rampant infertility in my generation (1 in 5 couples now) is that we were all exposed to so many chemicals growing up. Things are getting a little better now with the BPA-free movement and the availability of organic foods in the regular grocery stores. All the same, I am committed to exposing my daughter to as few chemicals as possible. I like that her precious little bum will not be sitting in chemicals for the first few years of her life.

No more diaper rash! Keziah has super sensitive skin. Michael Paul and I both have really sensitive skin, so genetically she was doomed to have it as well. She breaks out when people who use certain detergents hold her. She breaks out to several brands of baby wipes. We fought diaper rash for several weeks after she was born. But with a few adjustments to our cloth diapering (using fleece liners and covers, and adding a splash of vinegar to my rinse cycle) we have been rash free for a month now. I imagine I would still be fighting it if she were in disposables.

It's nostalgic. It reminds me of a simpler time - a time before fast food and microwaves and instant gratification - a time when convenience did not trump doing what was right. Yes it takes a little bit more time to put a prefold diaper on her. But this is time I cherish. It forces me to slow down, to focus on my precious baby, to smile and talk to her. Each diaper change is a reminder of what is really important.

And my #1 thing I love about cloth diapering:

FLUFF! I love her fluffy bottom! It is so cute it just makes me melt. I especially love her bedtime diapers because they are extra fluffy due to the doublers I put in that enable her to make it through the night without a change. Confession: I have been known to dance around the house with my extra fluffy baby singing sir mix-a-lot's "I like big butts...." I really do love the fluff!

Back to Work

Today was my first full day back teaching. It turned out to only be a half day - we let out at noon because of snow! But it was good to get back to teaching. I really do love my job and my students. Everyone was really supportive and my students were more than welcoming with their ooohing and aaaahing over Keziah and their "it's so nice to have you back" comments. Of course, teenagers being teenagers, my day wouldn't be complete without a few comments that cracked me up. Here are my two favorite student reactions:

Billy: "Your baby was born on our birthday"

Dave: "Yeah do we get extra credit for that?"

Billy: "So when she is our age we will be........"

Dave: "thirty......"

Billy: "thirty-two. Is that right?"

Dave: "yeah thirty-two"

Billy: "that is like really old."

Dave: "yeah that's weird to think about."

(Billy and Dave are identical twins whom I still can't tell apart! So the names in the above conversation might need to be reversed)

Julia: "your baby is really cute. She is going to be such a NERD.. wait I mean ....well, you know what I mean, like not in a bad way, like I just meant she is going to be really smart and stuff."

It was a good day.