Monthly Archives: July 2010

Jul 15 2010

chick-fil-a stalker

So recently a few weird things have been happening.

The other day, I saw a plastic bag by the step at our carport door. Thinking it was a bag that I had used to clean out a bit of trash from the car, I ignored it. The next day, we were leaving and the bag was on top of the step. Paul said it wasn’t his, and I knew I hadn’t moved it, so I picked it up. Inside was a cute Chick-Fil-A “Eat Mor Chikin” cow. There wasn’t anything else in the bag. We were both a little baffled.

Then yesterday, Paul went to work and found a VeggieTales DVD in between the storm door and our front door. These DVDs are currently being handed out in the kids meals at Chick-Fil-A. It was still in the plastic wrap.

So it seems we have a little stalker! Or… a Saint Nicholas? Either way it makes me happy. :-)

Jul 14 2010

cloth diapering on a budget

I sat down to write out this information for a friend, and thought I’d turn it into a post! I have a few other posts in mind about cloth diapering, so I apologize for those of you who aren’t interested. :-) There is sooo much information out there, and it can get overwhelming when you start to research it!

So what do you do when you’d like to switch to cloth, but you don’t have much (or any) money to spend upfront? The good news is that it’s completely possible to switch to cloth diapers for less than $200. With the help of some fellow cloth-diapering moms, here is my advice for building your stash as inexpensively as possible!

First off, I highly recommend PinStripes and PolkaDots for all types of information. I am always using it to check out diaper creams and detergents.

Prefolds
Basically, the cheapest you can go is prefolds and covers. (Aside from, perhaps, making diapers yourself from material you already have.) Prefolds are just simple rectangles that you fold around the baby (here are directions of how to fold them), and then you use a cover over that. You can secure the prefold if you want by using diaper pins or what is called a Snappi diaper fastener. You can use one cover for several diaper changes before having to wash it. If the cover isn’t soiled, you just wipe it out and put a fresh prefold. I think in general, aim for a 3:1 ratio (prefolds:covers).

Diaper Covers
Covers are used to go over the prefold to contain all the wetness. You can get covers that are a specific size, and your baby will need different sizes as he/she grows. Or you can get what they call “one-size” covers. These covers have snaps that allow you to adjust the size of the covers, so that you can use the same one from birth until potty-training. One-size covers can be more expensive, but will ultimately save you money because you’ll have to buy fewer.

Also when it comes to covers you can choose between velcro (hook-and-loop) and snap fastening. I prefer the snap, because it doesn’t attach to everything in the washing machine. I know a lot of people prefer the more precise fit of the velcro closures.

Cloth Wipes
I think cloth wipes are optional when cloth diapering. I personally only use them for wet diapers; I use commercial wipes for all poopy diapers. For wet diapers, I just spray a little wipes solution on her bottom and wipe with a piece of cloth. You can buy wipes solution or make your own. I’ve also heard a wipes warmer is useful, but I’ve never had one.

Other stuff
You’ll need a few other things when you start to cloth diaper. I already mentioned the Snappi or diaper pins, which is optional – I know people who love ‘em and people who hate ‘em. You’ll also want a pail liner to keep your dirty diapers. You can get by with one, but I do recommend having two (one for while the other is in the wash). A wet bag for the diaper bag is also useful, and I also highly recommend a diaper sprayer for the poopy diapers after the baby starts solids. Another optional thing is disposable liners – again, I know some who love them, but I’ve never used them. Lastly, cloth diapers require a bit more attention to the detergent and diaper rash cream you use. You’ll want to make sure that they are compatible with cloth. A great detailed list of which brands are safe and which ones aren’t is on PinStripes and PolkaDots. It’s not expensive to get these products, but you might have to order them online depending on what is available at stores locally. (Whole Foods, for example, carries Charlie’s Soap, which is a popular detergent.)

Where to Buy
Cloth diapers are hard to find in retail stores, so going online is probably your best bet. Here are the three retailers I’ve used and recommend:
Diaper Junction
Kelly’s Closet
Cotton Babies
If you are okay with secondhand diapers, then diaperswappers.com is a good resource. You can also look at sites like Craigslist – some parts of the country have a better selection than others, I’m sure.

The Cost
So how much exactly does cost to buy cloth diapers? If your baby is a bit older, you could probably get away with 12 diapers. If you have a newborn who is eating/pooping a ton still, then they say 18 is a good number (I never had more than 16). I polled several friends to see what diaper cover brands were good, and here is what they said. You’ll have to decide for yourself how much you want to spend and weigh against the reviews. Check Diaper Pin for reviews, as well as the diaper retailers above.

  • Econobum (one-size, very inexpensive, but also not as good quality)
  • Thirsties Cover and Thirsties Duo (Duo comes in 2 sizes that each snap smaller & larger)
  • Bummis Super Whisper Wrap (small-medium-large, adorable prints)
  • Flip Diaper (one-size, hybrid diaper, which means you can use a disposable insert if you want)

Prefolds come in different sizes, because the size for a newborn baby is going to be smaller than a toddler. The best deal I found was at Cotton Babies, where prefolds ran from $1/each (preemie size) to $2/each (large size). I personally like the Indian prefolds, which are softer, but from what I’ve read Chinese prefolds last longer.

For the covers, I priced them from the three sites I mentioned above. The Flip Diapers have inserts that come with them, but can also be used with prefolds. You can get an Econobum for $9.95, which includes the cover and the insert. The best prices for the Thirsties Cover and Thirsties Duo Cover are at Diaper Junction, for $11.00 and $12.25 (respectively). You can pick up a pretty print of a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap for $12.50 at Diaper Junction or Kelly’s Closet. The Flip diaper can be found at all three retailers for $13.95 (cover only).

Snappis are $3.95 each, though if you are buying more than one I think they have packages that are cheaper. A wet bag will be about $8, and a pail liner about $16. The diaper sprayer is about $45. You can get a breakdown of cloth-diaper-safe detergents and their cost per load here, which should help you figure out the total detergent costs.

Package Deals
The numbers I gave earlier are for getting each diaper individually. You can also save money by getting a package, usually offered by the individual retailer. It doesn’t hurt to check them out. Some of the packages also include other accessories, like the pail liner. I know I got both wetbags that I have free by buying the packages.

Some deals to note… Cotton Babies has a “Try It” kit for people interested in prefolds but not sure if they want to commit. For $35, you get 2 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, 6 prefolds, and one Snappi. Diaper Junction has a Cotton Prefold Package starting at $77.50 that includes 4 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps and 24 prefolds.

You can get an Econobum One Size Diaper Kit, which includes 3 covers and 12 prefolds, for $49.95. You can also get a Flip Day Pack for $49.95, which includes 2 Flip covers and 6 inserts.

Conclusion
Hopefully this all makes sense! You could easily switch completely to cloth for under $200, in my opinion. There is a lot more to cloth than just prefolds, but that definitely is the cheapest. In the near future I’ll write a post about other types of diapers, including my favorites, the all-in-ones!

Jul 11 2010

playing catch-up

Wow, it’s been over a week since I blogged last. A lot has happened and I just haven’t felt like blogging. So, a bullet list to catch you up.

* Savannah went into the hospital again, this time for a MRSA abscess on her bottom. Poor thing! This is unrelated to the intussusception, but it is related to the breast abscess I had two months ago. They had to sedate her and cut it open to let it drain, then they put a drainage tube. I had that taken out three days later, and now we’re just making sure that she is taking her antibiotics and keeping the area clean. Savannah is now terrified of strangers, which makes me sad. She will cry at anyone approaching her wearing scrubs. Hopefully, she’s on the mend now and that is the last hospital visit for a while!

* One of Paul’s coworkers is leaving soon to go to graduate school, and Paul is going to be taking over a lot of this guy’s responsibilities. They also want him to switch to a Monday through Friday work schedule, and more “normal” hours (like 8-5). Paul is excited about his new tasks and about being able to go into work later, but we are both sad about the day changes. We’ve gotten used to him having Mondays off, and it’s really nice! He likes working Saturdays because no one’s around and he can get a lot done. Also, it’s helpful to have a weekday off; it makes it easier to take care of things like doctor’s appointments. I appreciate having him around to watch Savannah for any appointments I might have. No word yet on when this schedule change is supposed to take place – I hope they take a LONG time!

* We let the cats outside for the first time ever. We’re hoping this solves some of the problems we’ve been having. So far, they love it. We need to figure out a place to put a cat door so they can go in and out as they please. Since we have steel doors, I’m not sure it will be possible. Perhaps we can get something for our sliding glass door.

* My mother-in-law was visiting this past weekend; she left today. We had a nice visit. We went to the park where I want to hold Savannah’s birthday party in August, and we brainstormed together. I’m really excited!

* I’ve been feeling a bit introspective these past few days. It’s a weird feeling, not having the desire to share my thoughts with anyone. Usually I can’t stand not to blog my thoughts in some form or another (which is why I have a private blog…), but this time I have wanted a bit of privacy. I need to change some of my internet habits – I spend too much time on here, and I need to be focusing more on Savannah and my home. We’ll see what all this turns into.

* Part of the introspective thinking has also been my desires for this blog. I started as a college student, and now I’m a mom. Why am I blogging? Who are my readers? What do I want my focus to be? I feel that my blog needs a bit of an overhaul – I want it to reflect me better, and the direction where I’m headed. For example, I used to say “I’m a cat-loving graphic designer”. Well, I no longer identify myself as my occupation, and to be honest I’m even questioning my own love of cats. I still love cats, but my relationship with them has definitely changed and for now, I feel weird about identifying myself as a cat-lover. So where do I stand in the blogging world? Who am I, and how do I want people to know me? These are things I’m still thinking over, and you might notice changes around here while I try to figure it out.

* And an annoyance this week: some hackers got into our hosting space and left malicious code in any file they could. So we have had to go through and delete that from everything. It’s been quite a pain, but we took the opportunity to clean up our files online, deleting those that we don’t need anymore. We have domain names that we don’t even use anymore, and we need to stop paying for them. I think that everything is just about cleaned up, and hopefully we don’t have any issues anymore.

Jul 3 2010

our old house

I’ve started a new blog, on a subdomain of this twentysixcats site. I’m still tweaking it a bit, so pardon the dust, but feel free to go check it out!

http://twentysixcats.com/thisoldhouse/

Yeah I totally ripped the name off the show on PBS. :-) I just really liked it, and couldn’t think of anything better! Maybe I’ll adjust it so it’s not exactly the same… like twentysixcats: this old house, or something like that.

Anyways! This blog is going to be dedicated to our journey fixing up our house, from the boring stuff to the decor. I want to explore more in depth how you take a house built in the 60′s and update it to today’s family and tastes, when you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to plop down in remodeling. I have high hopes that our house is going to be a nice place to live someday, and I’m hoping that this blog will reflect that journey.

Right now, most of the posts that are over there are ones that I originally wrote on this blog. However, from now on, home-improvement-related posts will be written over there. I might link to it from here – what do y’all think? Would that be helpful, or should I just keep them separate?

I hope you enjoy my new blog, and don’t worry – I’m not stopping writing here! Just spreading the love. :-)

Jul 3 2010

changes with twentysixcats

Yesterday I asked Paul to help me set up a second blog in a subfolder at twentysixcats.com. In doing so, we completely broke WordPress! So the past day and today things have been really messed up, and I apologize! All my old posts, comments, and my layout should be back to normal. However, in the meantime, Google came by and decided that my blog was an attack site! Apparently there was a line of code in my template that had a bad source, or SOMETHING like that. I don’t understand all of this stuff, but Paul removed the offending code and made sure there wasn’t anything else. Now we have to wait for Google to make its way to my blog again before the “attack site” ban is lifted. I don’t think there will be any issues with IE or Safari, but you won’t be able to get to my blog in Firefox unless you uncheck “Block reported attack sites” in the options tab. (Trust me, this is annoying!)

Anyways, I did all this so I could start a new (additional) blog. I will be unveiling it later as I’m still messing with settings and working on the template.

One other thing that has changed is my permalinks. This is unfortunate, as now any links to specific posts on my blog don’t work. So if you find a dead link on my blog, please let me know. I know it will be slow going to fix them all. I’m hoping maybe Paul can write a script or something that will translate the links so the user will be directed to the correct page.

I added something new to my sidebar – a list of sites that offer daily deals, like woot.com. A few are baby-related stuff. I thought it might be useful for others as well, so that’s why I included them here. Let me know if there are other similar sites that you really like!

In other news, I am getting ready right now for some out-of-town guests who are coming tomorrow. Frankie and Anna are stopping by on their way back to Indiana from Florida, and I’m so excited to see them! We’re headed to the Coke museum on Monday, which will be fun. :-) It’s always nice to have a fellow Coke addict visit. I have been cleaning all day. The guest room is just about done – I just need to sweep it and finish washing the sheets. The rest of our house is still in disarray but it’s not too bad. I just need motivation to finish.