Wednesday 30 July 2008 at 2:36 pm
1. I recently had my first photography gig in San Antonio. Check out the results.
2. I have two weddings coming up this fall. One in October in MA, and one in November in Tallahassee. Not San Antonio, but hey it helps pay for some upgraded camera equipment.
3. Our garden is somehow still alive. I don't have any updated pictures, but we have a watermelon growing (although I think it is starting to rot), some broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, and carrots.
Wednesday 30 July 2008 at 11:31 am
This week Matt had to go back to Houston, so Greta and I went along. We all stayed with my aunt and uncle who live in a suburb of Houston. It made for a longer commute for Matt, but he got to see his baby at the end of the day.
The drive over to Houston took us about 3 hours and 45 minutes, which isn't too much longer than normal. We left earlier on Monday morning, I think around 6 am. Greta slept for about the first two hours and then we stopped to feed her and ourselves. She slept the rest of the drive. Overall we had a few minutes of screaming while looking for a place to stop, but other than that she was a great traveler. Here she is trying to stretch, but finding it difficult while restrained by the car seat.
Once we got there, my cousins Patrick and Matthew met her (yes my husband's name is Matthew Patrick, strange I know). They were a little afraid of holding her, but they both did fine.
Greta loves my Aunt Donna, especially when she talks in a funny baby voice.
Greta had her first swim while we were at their house. We actually when in the hot tub (which wasn't heated, don't worry, they actually chill their pool and hot tub, so they turned on the heater to warm it up a little, so it wouldn't be too cold for Greta). She seemed content while in the water. I figured she would like it since she loves bathtime.
While in Houston, Greta also had her first trip to a restaurant. She slept the whole time.
Greta loves doing stretches and kicking. There will be some video coming soon of both of these activities, but for now here is a picture.
And three more cute pictures. This week Greta really started talking more. The smiles and talking just melt us. We can't get enough of them.
Wednesday 30 July 2008 at 11:07 am
Yep, this is almost 2 weeks late, but better late than never.
Greta went on her first walk around the neighborhood. She seemed to like it. When the wind blows she tries to catch the air like a dog. Kind of strange, but what do you expect from our child :)
Greta finally found the love for the swing. I thought it would never happen, but one day I put her in it and she screamed for about 30 seconds and then fell asleep. Now she sits in it regularly.
This week we took our first trip to Target. I carried Greta in her wrap and she was very good. I carry her facing me when in public, but at home she likes to look out and see stuff, and it helps me to be able to get a few things done around the house, although it is still quite difficult to bend down when I am holding in her any old way.
We took a trip to the Japanese Tea Garden. Greta started out in the stroller, but it became apparent rather quickly that the stroller was way too hard to maneuver, so instead Matt carried her while she slept. We will have to go back when she is bigger and can look at all the pretty flowers.
This week Matt went to Houston for one night. We both missed him terribly.
I put her in her Bumbo seat, but I think she still needs a little more head control to use it. She holds her head up very well, but I think she needs to be able to hold it for a longer period of time before she can sit in it for a while.
Here are a few other miscellaneous pictures from the week.
In other news...we finally figured out how to make videos, so now we just need to make them and post them! So get excited to see video footage of little Greta, and to hear me talk in a strange voice to her (because isn't that what all mothers do).
Thursday 24 July 2008 at 4:09 pm
Yep, it has been almost two weeks since I posted, but more on that later. We are all healthy and fine though, just busy.
Most people agree that Greta looks more like Baby A. I have to agree. Most people who see us out in public also seem to agree that Greta looks like this person. And so, without further ado...Baby A is Matt and Baby B is me. Matt is not wearing a bonnet, he is wrapped up in a blanket as it was February in Pennsylvania when the picture was taken. He was probably around 3 weeks old. I think in my picture I am closer to 3 months old. I couldn't find a younger picture, I guess they are all at my parents' house.
We think that Greta definitely has Matt's eyes and face structure, which are the two most noticeable things. Her nose is still a little hard to tell because as babies we both seemed to have a similar nose. We think Greta has my mouth possibly, but that is still up for debate. Her eye color is closer to mine, but who knows if that will stay that way. And it appears that her hair is not falling out, so her hair will most likely be much darker than Matt's as a child (his was almost white blond). Mine was light brown. Currently Greta's hair appears to be closer to my current medium brown hair (although hers might be a tad darker than that even).
It will be interesting to see who she resembles as she gets older as two people have mentioned this whole "most babies look like their dad at first" thing. The strange thing is that Matt's mom always thinks babies (especially her grandkids) look like the other family, but she actually won't say that about Greta. She tried to say it about Greta until we showed her the baby picture and made her look at Greta at the same time. She couldn't deny that she looked a lot like Matt as a baby.
More posts in the next day or two...still have week 7 to talk about and tomorrow is week 8! Can you believe Greta is already almost 8 weeks old? Wowee.
Ok, so now we know all about the kinds of cloth diapers that are out there these days, now we need to know where to buy them and how to take care of them. In most major cities there is at least one store that carries some cloth diapers. Here in San Antonio it is Eden's Baby. There is also a lady who makes house calls with the stuff she sells at Go, Baby, Go. I have bought stuff from both of them are they are both very nice. Most places are very limited in the brands they offer and do not offer the entire range of diapers available, mainly because there are so many brands and styles out there. There are numerous online stores that sell every kind of cloth diaper. Some popular stores that offer a good range of products are Nicki's Diapers and Jillians's Drawers.
If you are looking for homemade diapers made by work at home moms, Hyena Cart is a great place to start. Hyena Cart offers work at home folks a place to sell their products. It is quite similar to Etsy. Etsy is another place you can find custom cloth diapers. Hyena Cart offers sellers the option to start selling their items at a certain time. This means that some of the more popular diaper places are stalked as people try and get the diaper they want when it is listed for sale.
A great resource for learning more about diapers and also for buying used diapers is Diaper Swappers. It is set up as a forum where users can ask questions, post things for sale, etc. If you have any question either someone has already asked it or someone will know the answer. It is very, very useful and where I learned pretty much all that I know about cloth diapers. It can take a little getting used to with all the fancy lingo and abbreviations, but I know you will get the hang of it.
How many diapers should you buy? Well that all depends on if you want to cloth diaper full-time or part-time and how often you want to wash them. Cloth diapering full-time for a newborn usually requires 12-18 diapers a day. As baby gets older you will need few per day. If you want to wash your diapers every other day (which is what I do) then you need 24-36. I would recommend somewhere around 30 so you don't run out when they are in the washer. Of course you can always have more. If you plan on washing your diapers every day then you probably need at least 15 in the beginning. If you want to cloth diaper part-time then buy as many as you want and use them as long as they last and then wash them. Really quite simple.
How do I wash my diapers? After baby dirities the diaper place it in a diaper pail. There is no need to rinse the diaper if the baby is exclusively breastfed. If the baby is formula fed or eating baby food then you need to rinse the solids out in the toilet (more on this later). Breastfed baby poop is water soluble and will disappear in the washer. When it is time to wash the diapers, pull out any inserts that are in your pocket diapers and throw everything in the washer. Most diaper manufacturers recommend rinsing them and then washing them. I run an express wash with cold water with no detergent on my washer. If you have a top loading washer you can probably just turn it to rinse with cold water. I can't do that, so I do the express wash. Then run a hot wash/cold rinse wash cycle with detergent. It is very important not to use any fabric softener or bleach on your diapers. Bleach with break down the fibers and cause the diaper to not last very long and fabric softener will cause the diaper to repel, which is not what you want, you want your diapers to absorb! Only use detergent. Typically you want to use a very small amount of detergent compared to what you use for normal clothes. Otherwise you will get build up on your diapers and they won't be as absorbent. Pinstripes and Polkadots has a great directory of detergents and how well they work for cloth diapers (top loading and high efficiency). They also have a lot of great information. Most diapers can go in the dryer on low heat (or maybe medium, but I never dry anything on anything other than low). However, I recommend hanging them in the sun to dry. It allows the stains to get bleached by the sun and also saves energy! After lots and lots of drying time the elastic in the diapers can also start to dry out and not work as well, so I am trying to preserve my diapers so they will last through more than one child.
Ok, back to the rinsing of poop. There are two basic things you can do. One is to buy a diaper sprayer. The diaper sprayer attaches to the water supply of the toilet and then you just spray the diaper off into the toilet and flush the toilet. Easy enough. We have one of these but haven't installed it yet as we don't need it until Greta starts on solids. Another option is to get these flushable liners. Basically it is like a piece of tissue paper that you lay in the diaper. The poop then sits on top of it. You just remove the liner and flush it down the toilet. Again pretty easy.
So is everyone ready to jump head first into cloth diapering now? If you aren't ready to totally commit but want to try it out there are several places that offer trial packages. This one at Jillian's Drawers is for 21 days and it costs only $10 if you decide you don't want to keep the diapers. If you know you want to cloth diaper but aren't sure which diapers to buy, Cotton Babies offers a sampler package where you can try a variety of diapers.
Friday 11 July 2008 at 10:00 am
This past week has been pretty filled with adventures. Last Friday, my dad arrived. He was the last grandparent to meet Greta. He was so excited to be here and see her.
Saturday was her baptism. She was excellent and only cried at the very end of mass. On Sunday we went on our first real outing other than the doctor's office, hospital and baptism. We went to get ice cream at the ice cream place up the street. I forgot to bring the camera, but I think Matt's mom took a picture, but I don't have it yet. I'll add it if she did take one.
Greta continues to smile like crazy, especially at Matt. She absolutely loves her daddy.
On Wednesday, Greta had her first date with one of Matt's co-workers kids. He is adorable and huge. He is six months old. He loved Greta but she didn't really know what to do other than stare at him. He wanted to touch her. Hopefully there will be more dates in the future.
This week Greta started pushing up with her arms during tummy time. She has been able to hold her head up for a while, but now she is starting to push her chest up. I can't believe how big she is getting!
Yesterday Greta and I went on our first errand. We went to Costco. I put her in a sling and she seemed content. She didn't really enjoy the outing, but she didn't cry. She mostly just sat there staring. Lastly two cute pictures.
Sunday 06 July 2008 at 1:56 pm
Yesterday was Greta's baptism. At our church here they do things a little different from most Catholic churches. The baptism occurs during Sunday (or Saturday evening) mass. The baby does not wear his or her baptismal gown or outfit until after the baptism. The baby gets stripped down and placed in the water. The priest pours water over the baby and then holds the slippery baby up in the air for the congregation to see. Luckily he hasn't dropped any babies. Everything went wonderful yesterday. Two other babies were baptized at the same mass. Greta was very well behaved during mass even though she was hungry when we arrived at church. I attempted to feed her but she was too distracted by all the new stuff going on around here. Here are a few pictures from the day. Greta wore the baptismal gown that my grandfather, father, and I all wore.
There are a few more pictures over at flickr if you want to see them.
Sunday 06 July 2008 at 1:48 pm
I am a little hesitate to write about this as I am afraid our good fortune may disappear, but I just can't resist.
The month of June was hot. The average high was 98. That was the average, not a one time high. It was the second hottest June on record since 1885. We also had the driest September - June since records began being kept in 1901. We had a total of 6.5 inches of rain during that time period.
On Monday or Tuesday of this week, the weather miraculously changed. It has rained every day, not for long but scattered showers, and the high has only been in the upper 80s. There is hardly any humidity, the grass is greener, and it isn't miserable to be outside, in fact it is rather nice. Our families keep saying that the weather in Texas isn't that bad. If only they had been here last week or anytime last month.
I'm hoping this weather stays for a while. Our yards desperately need the rain and we need the break from the upper 90s. Maybe we can have an average high of 90 in July. That would be nice.
Friday 04 July 2008 at 5:40 pm
This has been a pretty busy and exciting week for Greta.
On Monday we went to the doctor for her one month checkup. She weighed 11 lbs 2 oz (92nd percentile) and was 22 inches (85th percentile). The doctor was very impressed with her growth and amazed at how strong she is. We asked about the whole throwing up a whole meal thing and she said she wouldn't be concerned unless she wasn't gaining weight and thriving every other way. It turns out we had four nights of entire meal throwing up and that has been it. I think it is all related to burping. Sometimes Greta fights a lot at the breast and then it seems she gets a lot of air, but also gets upset that you are taking away the boob. I was just giving in and giving her the boob, but it turns out she really needs to get that burp out before she continues eating. So I burp until it comes up and many times she doesn't like that, but I'm saving us all from the whole throw up thing.
On Tuesday, Matt's parents arrived around 5 pm. We picked them up at the airport and came back here so they could hang out with Greta. My mom arrived later in the evening. Everyone stayed here that night. Greta seems to be very overstimulated from all the visitors and noise they bring. She hasn't been sleeping very well this week at all.
On Wednesday my sisters arrived. Thursday brought my aunt and uncle from Houston, and today my dad arrived. Greta seems to enjoy everyone holding her, mainly because she loves being held, but she does get overstimulated. We just finally got her to sleep after being awake for most of the day. Hopefully she will sleep for a while and then sleep well tonight.
This week Greta has really started smiling at us, which we just absolutely love. She is also starting to coo a lot more. I just love those cute little sounds. We don't many great smile pictures downloaded just yet, but this one is pretty cute.
Tomorrow is the big day, the baptism. Who knows how that will go. We have to be there at least 30 minutes early and then baptism is during 5 pm mass. It will be long and probably very stimulating for little Greta. Hopefully she won't cry too much. She has to get totally naked and be placed in the baptismal font. She should enjoy that since she loves bath time.
Tuesday 01 July 2008 at 08:16 am
For those who are interested in trying cloth diapers, there is a great contest going on over here. You can win a whole supply of diapers (well 18 anyways)! So go enter and maybe someone we know will win!! The diapers they are giving away, the BumGenius 3.0 are the one-size pocket diapers that I mentioned previously. So far they are my favorite diaper, so I would love to win so I don't have to wash diapers as often :)
FireMom (practical parenti…): I don’t honestly get a sh… Christina E (practical parenti…): Up until Charlotte was 5 … Nicole (7 weeks - finally…): Love the ruffly baby bott… citystreams (8 weeks): Greta is so cute! I love … lauren (in other news): I know this isn’t really … MG (who does greta lo…): Hrm. The bonnet is throw… tara (who does greta lo…): A. Definitely. :) (I’m g… Chris (who does greta lo…): Heather and I both think … weisburgers (who does greta lo…): We completely disagree…th… Emily (who does greta lo…): She is a good combination…
