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.

A Day in the Park

I LOVE Spring! I know it's not technically spring yet, but Sunday made me think it was. It even smelled like spring outside. It was sunny and 64 degrees. So we just had to take a family outing to the park. This was the first time Keziah got to spend extended time outdoors. She seemed to love it. Who says an eight-week old can't enjoy a playground? Well, Daddy insisted she "play" on everything so we went on the swings:

and we went down the slide.

Yeah - she actually enjoyed this and even let out a few smiles. Michael Paul put her at the top of the slide and actually let go and then caught her at the bottom. I, being the overprotective one, protested at first, but when she didn't seem to mind, I let him have his fun. He is anxious for her to grow up because he just can't wait to play with her! I on the other hand am already missing the way she looked at 2 weeks. She is growing up way too fast! The last eight weeks have flown by!

Wave Bye-Bye Keziah!

This and That

Here are a few random thoughts and happenings of the last week:

-I went back to teaching one class and will add my other classes in March. Keziah sleeps peacefully in my moby wrap while I teach and I am really praying she continues to do so.

This week I got to teach 'completing the square' and 'the quadratic formula' both of which are lessons I love to teach because we get to sing a little song to help us remember them. My kids always think I am insane and I like this.

-We have gotten more snow this weekend and although it is not sticking, it is very beautiful coming down. I LOVE snow!

-Keziah weighed 10 pounds, 3 ounces at her 6-week checkup!

-I have a new favorite beer: Southern Pecan from the Lazy Magnolia brewery in Mississippi

-I started reading a new book this week: An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender. It is a somewhat dark story about a neurotic OCD woman who loves numbers and becomes a math teacher. I identify with her character in scary ways. But the most surprising thing here is that I am reading a fiction book. I hate fiction and exclusively read nonfiction. In fact, I thought about it and I can honestly say the last fiction novel I read was for American Lit in college the fall of 2000. Of course I am not counting children's books. If I count children's fiction then the last fiction book I read was an Angelina Balarina book that I read to my neice a few weeks ago.

-Two things that Keziah loves are bath time:

and riding in the car:

and I love that she loves these two things as it makes two of life's neccessities very easy on her.

-Michael Paul got a fabulous night's sleep on Wednesday night. He never sleeps well and admits he can count on two hands the number of good night's sleep he has gotten in his entire life. Why he slept so well that night, we have no idea. Unfortunately he came down with a cold on Friday. My theory is that his body thought he must be on vacation to get that kind of sleep and it was therefor safe to get sick. Michael Paul always gets sick on vacations. Of course he is not on vacation and has to work his clinicals and study for a test even though he feels horrible!

-My parents visited us this weekend for the first time in a month. They really missed Keziah. Here is Keziah with her CiCi:

Keziah was on exceptional behavior. She slept 4-5 hours straight, nursed and went right back to sleep, then slept another 5 hours straight ALL three nights that they were here! She never spit up, or fussed, or cried. Now they don't believe me when I talk about her reflux and how she doesn't sleep at night. She soooooo pulled one over on them. As soon as they left this afternoon, she spit up massive amounts all over me and proceeded to fuss. I'm anxious to see how she sleeps tonight. If she starts whailing at 2AM, I am calling my parents and holding the phone to her mouth in order to prove I am not a liar.

-Michael Paul affectionately calls Keziah "muppet" because she flails her arms around and looks just like Kermit the frog looked when he would introduce a music group performing on The Muppet Show and then shout Yaaaaaaayyyyyy as he waved his arms and head about. So it is fitting that for her first Valentine's Day, he got her a stuffed Kermit.

-I got the idea for this post from my friend Valerie who writes a weekly "This and That Thursday" post. I love this idea and might copy it. (Thanks Val)

-My latest obsession is blog-stalking. This is when you click 'next blog' at the top of the page and blogger sends you to a random blog. It's basically high-tech people-watching. I have learned a lot by doing this. And I am amazed at how many Christian women are out there sharing their struggles and testimonies on blogs. I almost always stumble on a blog that encourages me greatly.

-Keziah has been full of surprises this week. She is smiling now and starting to coo a bit. Her first big smile was Thursday morning when Daddy (in a good mood from actually sleeping well) came in to kiss us goodbye before work. We were both still in bed but awake. Keziah looked straight at him when he walked in and smiled real big. I am so glad we were both there to see it. As another surprise, yesterday during "bare booty time" (this is when we do tummy time with a bare booty to air out and keep the diaper rash at bay), she lifted not only her head but her whole chest off the ground.

-I love watching winter olympics and I was super excited that Sarah Mclaughlin performed at the opening ceremonies. But right now I am sick of the Biathalon and am ready to see some down hill skiing.

-I miss Colorado and skiing (I haven't been in 10 years).

-I have a new quote to add to my list of favorite math quotes. This is the quote that is on the page before the title page in my new book.

Numbers are friends for me, more or less.

It doesn't mean the same to you, does it-3,844?

For you it is just a three and an eight

and a four and a four.

But I say, "Hi! 62 squared."

-Wim Klein

Time and Baby Legs

Being the wanna-be-suzy-homemaker that I am, I had grand intentions of making all sorts of neat things for my baby ... crocheted hats and booties, clothes etc. Yeah I was naive. I didn't count on having a baby who insisted on being held 23 hours a day and therefore limiting anything else I do to one-handed tasks. On the upside, I've gotten more reading done, I follow a lot of blogs now, and I am getting good at typing one-handed. These are the things I do while nursing. But I was still on the search for a fun craft project that would only take 15 minutes start to finish.

Another issue I have been looking for a solution to is cold baby legs. I Love legless onesies for the ability to change a diaper without having to undo and refasten 10 leg snaps. It is not uncommon for baby K to need a diaper change every hour so the snaps were getting old. The problem with the onesies was cold baby legs, So you can imagine how thrilled I was to stumble on these directions for making baby leg warmers. I made 5 pairs in the last two days. I got a 5-pack of socks for $5. (so it is a cheap project as well) and whipped these out in about 10 minutes each.

Check out Keziah sporting the purple ones today.

You can check out the directions here if you want to try this project yourself.