Woah, baby!

Squeakin’ in in the 11th hour, here is May’s dress,...

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:00:19 -0400

Squeakin’ in in the 11th hour, here is May’s dress, which is actually a romper. Modified a bit from the pattern on Make it, Love it. If I was going to make it again I’d make a few more changes — the shorts I traced for the pattern are a bit wide in the leg and I think I made it a bit too poufy in the top. But I love the spaghetti straps and criss-cross back.

Note to self: don’t try to take pictures of an outfit on a baby 10 minutes before naptime.

Bathin’ beauty. How did you spend your Memorial Day...

Wed, 30 May 2012 22:20:36 -0400

Bathin’ beauty.

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Is it too late to ask?

I know I posted this picture on my other blog yesterday, but I...

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:41:04 -0400

I know I posted this picture on my other blog yesterday, but I had to share Clara’s first little curl here too. A curl! It’s growing!

I don’t always get over-emotional, but when I do,...

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:48:55 -0400

I don’t always get over-emotional, but when I do, it’s because I’m switching out the sizes. Goodbye, 6month clothes. Wah :(

Sleep Training Follow Up

Sat, 19 May 2012 10:46:00 -0400

I am able to write this post right now because my angelface babychild laid her precious head right down and went to sleep without so much as a peep all by herself. Operation: Sleepeasy — major success.

We dealt with only 2 nights of extended crying/fussing. The first night was just under half an hour and the second went for nearly 90 minutes. I attribute the 2nd night’s extra crankiness to my trying to also train her naps (as suggested) with 0 success. So she was completely overtired and looking like she was ready for bed at like 6. Which is way too early.

Honestly I was half-thinking to give it a break after night 2 because I just felt so bad and I was expecting the fuss-time to decrease as we went, not increase by like 100%. But we pushed through.

I chose to skip nap-training until we got nights situated because it seemed to be making it harder for her in general. Fuss-time (I call it this because she was almost never all out screaming. And if she was, it only lasted a few minutes at most) began decreasing drastically over the next few nights with the continued use of a bedtime wind-down routine. From 15 to 5 to 2 minutes, all the way down to tonight where she didn’t make a single peep.

She has also begun sleeping much more soundly and longer through the night. I’m afraid to say it out loud, so’s not to jinx it, but I think she is beginning to prefer her crib to our bed — which is HUGE.

Over the past few days I’ve begun with naps, but we have been busy and sick so many naps have been in the car or with momma. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

In short — I give The Sleepeasy Solution two giant thumbs up. It was a lifesaver for my back and my sanity. Now we’re all getting a more restful night’s sleep.

Notes from our experience:

Next time, I’m starting this process before baby can pull up on the bars of the crib. The first few nights I think she got herself so worked up while standing she had a hard time getting back to her bottom + laying down + falling asleep.

I’m still not 100% sure what to do when she gets up at night to nurse and I need to put her back in her crib. She doesn’t really get up at a regular time, and doesn’t get up every night, so setting my alarm probably won’t help me. I think I have to try just feeding her and laying her down awake as I normally would and just see what happens.

My baby doesn’t feel good.

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:56:47 -0400

My baby doesn’t feel good.

^ When I realized I didn’t make ask Nathan ever-so-sweetly to take my picture with my baby...

Sun, 13 May 2012 21:53:20 -0400

^ When I realized I didn’t ~~make~~ ask Nathan ever-so-sweetly to take my picture with my baby when we were all dressed up for Mother’s Day.

Instead, I’ll treat you to the first pictures we took together, ever:

She was so teenie and I was so swollen :(

I could get very cliché on you about the inexplicable joys of motherhood and how much your heart swells when you make your own little person because it’s all very true but I’m really not all that mushy and sentimental and also I’ve already read like 16 other blogs today that told us all about it.

All I’ll say is that I do like her very much and I think I’m pretty good at this Mom thing.

For 292 nights I rocked my sweet baby girl to sleep in my arms. It’s no wonder people are...

Wed, 09 May 2012 21:16:36 -0400

For 292 nights I rocked my sweet baby girl to sleep in my arms. It’s no wonder people are still amazed at my ever-shrinking figure — my arms are more toned than they were when I was on the high school swim team. But we’re coming up on 10 months and 17+ lbs and borderline severe exhaustion on my part so something had to give.

As much as I’d love to never listen to her cry in her crib, I can think of no other way that she can learn to put herself to sleep. I can’t imagine that there would be zero tears even with a “No Cry” sleep solution. But I cannot bear to just close her up in a dark room, alone, after 292 nights of me gently rocking her to dreamland.

I decided on the “Sleapeasy Solution” as a happy medium and placed my Amazon order on Sunday. Yesterday I became desperate and cancelled the order so I could buy the digital version and read it RIGHT NOW so I could just get this started.

Last night she did so well. We started a nighttime routine and in under 30 minutes she went from awake in her crib to asleep on her own. She slept for almost 9 hours without a peep.

Tonight: not so great. It’s been an hour and a half and though she has calmed down tremendously it was a rough first hour. But we will push though.

Part of our new bedtime routine includes a tubby — which she is not used to but totally loving:

I should also note that I cold turkey cut out caffeine today which is probably not helping my splitting head.

And my God, I never noticed how squeaky my damn floors were until it was absolutely imperative I be silent outside the bedroom door of a baby who has been quiet for 11 minutes.

A practical application. I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I use 3 brands of diapers: Bum...

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:30:00 -0400

A practical application.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I use 3 brands of diapers: Bum Genius, Rumparooz, and Fuzzibunz. I’ll go over how I feel about each brand:

FUZZIBUNZ
These were the first brand that I purchased and we’ve had a good experience with them. They seem to be one of the most popular brands when it comes to pocket diapers and I can see why.

PROS: The diapers end up being quite large when the elastics are completely expanded. I don’t think we’ll have any issues with these lasting for as long as we need them to. They’re absorbent and soft and not too bulky.

CONS: I have a hard time with the elastic adjustment system, especially the back elastic — I still haven’t been able to figure out how to make them fit right without leaving a mark on her skin. And, purely cosmetic, the colors are very bright and primary and I don’t particularly care for them (Maybe on a boy? I don’t know). The white is great but the others are nms. Also: there isn’t a specific overnight insert; they suggest you just use 2 inserts. I’m sure that would work just fine but we don’t bother. FBs are just for daytime at our house.

RUMPAROOZ
I actually came across this brand by accident — Kelly’s Closet sent one to me as my ‘free diaper’ for a promotion I had taken advantage of when purchasing my first round of Fuzzibunz. I was pleased to see that it was obviously of good quality and that it had some additional features that the FBs did not, most obviously the inner gussets and the snaps for adjusting rise.

When I heard about a deal on RRs I scooped up a few more and they are in regular rotation here at the Racansky’s.

PROS: I prefer the snaps for size adjustment and the inner gussets seem to be a good feature, though I haven’t had issues without. They are shipped with two inserts, one being larger and adjustable which we use for overnights.

CONS: Even as small as she is (currently 17½ lbs and 27½”), I really can’t see Clara fitting into these — at the largest setting — until potty training. I’ve already had to expand them to the largest rise and they seem much more snug than the other brands we use. Also, the gussets make the diaper bulkier than the others we use.

BUM GENIUS

PROS: Oh, the Bum Genius! The outer shell fabric is amazing quality, the inner shell microfiber is so soft and whitens up the best. The inserts are ultra thin but so absorbent, making these the sweetest on CBs little bum — nearly no bulk. The overnight inserts are nice and thick though, making them last until morning. They easily adjust size with the snaps and will certainly make it to potty training. Love Love Love them.

CONS: They are the most expensive of the three brands we own — but who cares really. Look for a deal and you’ll feel better about it.

AND THE WINNER IS:

Bum Genius. Love them.

But to be fair, all three of the brands we use are great. We have next to zero problems with them — and any issues we do have are probably error on my part.

Q&A

How do you prep your diapers?
If you mean what do I do before we use the diapers for the first time: I just run them thru a regular rinse-wash-rise diaper cycle and start diapering. If you mean how do I prep them after each wash, I generally stuff them before they go away, but sometimes I just separate and stack them by brand (if I want Nathan to change I diaper I have to be able to easily direct him).

What are your preferences for Day & Night diapering?
We initially started by using disposables overnight because I was intimidated. But eventually we just started using the Bum Genius or Rumparooz brands with their large, overnight insert and have had zero issues. No, I don’t do a change at anytime between 8pm-8am.

Are they better for Clara’s tush? What about diaper rash?
Never ever has she had diaper rash from her cloth diapers. Diaper rash has, so far, been my #1 sign that there is a tooth coming through but other than that, nothing. I do think they’re better for her hiney — when I bought a pack of disposable diapers for our vacation I was blown away by how much fragrance they use in the diapers. Ugh. That can’t be good for anything, especially delicate baby-privates.

What do you do when you’re out?
I have a zippered wetbag, much like this one, and just keep the diaper with me until I get home. If it’s dirty-dirty I do my best to drop the “goods” in a toilet before lugging it around for the rest of my afternoon. I keep 2 stuffed diapers in the diaper bag and usually that is more than enough.

And that’s that. So, have inspired you to go cloth? Yes?

I love your blog so much.

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:15:00 -0400

well, thank you so much :)

I have been meaning to write up this post for some time now, especially since the #1 response from...

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:32:34 -0400

I have been meaning to write up this post for some time now, especially since the #1 response from anyone who heard I’d be cloth diapering was, “Yea, we’ll see how long that lasts.” WELL, IT’S LASTING. K?

I had no real experience with cloth diapers, nor did I know anyone irl who used them. I had read about them online (mainly here & here) and thought the idea of not using traditional, disposable diapers was interesting. Nathan was not difficult to convince since #1 he is the most frugal person I know and #2 he had never changed a diaper in his life — so it made no real difference to him. The eco-friendly aspect was really just another perk.

BUILDING A STASH
The upfront cost of cloth diapering can be pricey. But, if you spread your purchases out it really isn’t all that bad. Also, the fact that I have purchased 3 packages of diapers since we started cloth (when she was 1 month) — and one of those packages was because we were in Oregon for a week with no access to a washer/dryer — it’s so totally worth it.

Based on what I had researched I decided we would use pocket-style one-size diapers. This means the diapers are constructed with an inner pocket for the cloth insert. Each diaper and insert is used once before washing — there are types of diapers where the outer shell is used multiple times and only the cloth insert is replaced. And there are, I’m sure, other kinds as well that I am not familiar with. One-size just means that the diaper can be adjusted in size and theoretically fit from newborn to potty training.

There are constantly deals online for cloth diapers, I ended up getting a handful of Fuzzibunz, Bum Genius, and Rumparooz brands. Each in different shipments, spread out over a few months. We spent ~$300 on our entire supply of 18 diapers. I bought most of ours at kellyscloset.com, but they’re available all over the internet, including Amazon. Don’t ever pay full price. Please.

Pro Tip: When I first started buying I was all “I MUST HAVE ALL THE COLORS” but really, there is nothing more precious than a baby tushie in a fresh white diap-y. I do have 4 or 5 white ones but I honestly wish I had more like.. 10.

DIAPER CARE
We work with 18 total diapers and do laundry on the 3rd day. (I don’t know who “we” is here.. Nathan has never done laundry, let alone diaper laundry). We have a sprayer installed on the toilet to take care of any “solid” mess and I store dirties in the bathroom in a lidded bin. I do a hot rinse-cold wash-cold rinse with our regular, dye- and fragrance-free laundry detergent (so yes, I run the washer 3 times).

I do have diaper-specific detergent that I use every few weeks if things start getting dingy. Now that the weather is nice I’ve been hanging the inserts and covers outside on the line to dry and it has made a very noticeable difference in the whiteness factor.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more on the actual diapers and other info. Until then, is there anything specific you’d like to know more about? Diaper-wise?

It’s been a long couple of days. A long week, really....

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:26:00 -0400

It’s been a long couple of days. A long week, really. Between visiting with family friends who are here from France and long work nights for Nathan and still finding time to see friends we have just been on the move. Constantly.

For some time now our bedtime routine has begun at 8pm — starting with a story read by daddy, nursing, lullabies, then sleep. It isn’t unusual to hear some fussing around 11, but nothing a back rub can’t fix. Then around 3am she wakes. And I pick her up and bring her in our bed.

And for a long time that worked for us.

But now she is quite literally too big. She tosses and turns and kicks me in the face and keeps Nathan awake which just isn’t fair because he has to wake up for work. So I told myself that was enough. When she wakes at 3 I must get her back to sleep in her crib.

I started by making sure she is full to the gills before going to bed. Starting at 6 we have dinner. At 7 a snack — cheerios or yogurts or half a leftover chicken nugget. At 7:30 a bowl of oatmeal or baby cereals mixed with fruit. 8:00 we nurse. Then she sleeps.

Night 1: She slept an hour longer than usual. Then fought me for an hour while I tried to soothe her back to sleep in her own bed. That puts us at 5am. At 5am I gave up. She came in bed with us.

Night 2: What a nightmare getting her to STAY asleep. Which is unusual. She was fussing every half hour until about 11. Sometimes I could just pat her back, sometimes she needed to be rocked. Eventually she passed completely out and slept UNTIL 5:45AM. It was glorious. I swear she only woke up because she heard Nathan and I whispering thru the wall excitedly “SHE’S STILL IN THERE! ASLEEP!”

Night 3: Which was last night. Nathan worked a really late night, not coming home until about 2am. Which means I couldn’t sleep until about 2am. But, oh! She did so good going to bed and she stayed asleep — until it started thundering. At 2:30am. Then she fought and fought and fought me until about 4 when I gave up and brought her in bed so I could at least try to close my eyes for an hour.

So this is how we’ve been spending today. In jammies with lots of caffeine (for me). And knitting. And naps (for her, and the cats).

baby lunchtime

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:50:52 -0400

baby lunchtime

Even on a very strict, not-allowed-to-buy-anything budget, somehow my husband has still yet to roll...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:46:53 -0400

Even on a very strict, not-allowed-to-buy-anything budget, somehow my husband has still yet to roll his eyes at me when I bring home a bag and say, “But it’s for the baby.”

Our friends from France are visiting and I’ll be hosting dinner here on Tuesday. I picked up a few options for CB’s entertaining wardrobe:

For some reason asking Nathan to participate in taking pictures of/for me equates to him receiving a root canal. So not only are all the pictures blurry but he either doesn’t pay attention to what he’s photographing or purposely takes pictures highlighting my cleavage.

Looking at these is making me realize I’ve been wearing the same clothes since Saturday. In my defense I’ve been cleaning like a mad-lady and these are my “cleaning clothes” but, boy, am I smelly.

So, what do we think? Clown-Romper or Green & Cherries Sundress?

There are a lot of milestones between 1 day to 1 week to 1 month...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:52:05 -0400

There are a lot of milestones between 1 day to 1 week to 1 month and on and on and on, but one that always seemed so very far away was 9 months.

When people would say to me, “Oh, she’s getting so big! Time flies!” I would reply — Well, she was still in longer than she’s been out.

But now she’s out longer than she was in.

1. Where are you taking me?2. I’m not so sure about...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:13:18 -0400

1. Where are you taking me?
2. I’m not so sure about this.
3. Okay, this is weird.
4. Wait, it’s over?
5. I LOVE THIS.

I knew it was going to downpour today (it’s been a pretty sad showing of rain so far, tbh) so yesterday we had a picnic in the back yard and drove to the lake and walked around the boardwalk until we got to the PRIVATE Members Only park, where we are not members, and we swung on the swing and slid on the slide and it was warm and wonderful. But we did not get icecream because I had $102 in cash on me in the form of a hundy and 2 singles. An icecream is $3. Wah.

presented with no further comment.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:45:04 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

presented with no further comment.

yes. this is the best of all three of us. in case you were...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:31:00 -0400

yes. this is the best of all three of us. in case you were wondering.

Baby lunch, momma lunch. I cannot wait to be rid of baby food...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:30:00 -0400

Baby lunch, momma lunch.

I cannot wait to be rid of baby food and moved on to she-eats-what-we-eat. I do make some of her smushed-up food, but she does eat a lot of jarred as well. We’ve been trying chunks of bananas and avocado and strawberries (she spits out the skins) and blueberries (which come out exactly as they go in, if you must know).

Related note: why don’t they make divided plates for grown ups?

I am way ahead of schedule but Easter is early this year and I...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:58:00 -0400

I am way ahead of schedule but Easter is early this year and I wanted to make sure I had time to make her dress(es).

I’m also getting adventurous and am going to try to make her a spring jacket to match the purple dress. ALSO I’m going to try to make myself a dress.

This is what happens. I get really excited and obsessed and I want to do all the things right now then the enthusiasm fizzles. But goodness is this more satisfying than knitting.

* Pink dress was made with the Coraline pattern by Craftiness is not Optional
* Purple dress was made with the Easter Sunday Dress by Shwin&Shwin