Showing

Weeks ago, I had to tell two of my department chairs that I was pregnant because they asked me about working winter term. Today, I told the last one. I was unexpectedly offered another class for winter term (after being told there were none) because someone suddenly couldn't teach it.

We sat down to discuss the matter and I told her that the only consideration was that I was pregnant. She said "I know, you've started showing." This pleased me quite a bit. I hadn't thought it was that noticeable because no one has said anything... but apparently it's not the sort of thing you mention to someone unless they've told you that they're pregnant. This makes sense and I know it to be true: I wouldn't want to accidentally ask someone about their pregnancy and find out that they just had gained 10 pounds.

As I was teaching lab, I kept thinking about her saying that I was showing and getting happy feelings.

She is, like my other department chairs, totally supportive and willing to find a sub if I have to leave early. She also suggested that I look at the labs for the class and see if there's anything I'm uncomfortable with (chemical-wise) and that we could find a sub for those particular labs as well.

Baby presents!

We got fabulous gifts in the mail today!

First, we got the second version of our wedding photo album, designed by Mike's mom. The first version had a somewhat less than flattering picture of him on the front. This version looks fabulous. This doesn't count as a baby present, but rather a present for us.

Second, we got a Moses Basket from the elementary school that Mike's mom works at. It's really lovely. My brother registered for one of these and didn't ever get one because it was too expensive... so I'm feelin' the love right now.

It's currently taking up all of the empty space on our kitchen table, but I don't want to move it anywhere that it will get dirty. However, dinner is on the stove and we'll be eating fairly shortly, so I'm going to have to package it back up in its box before anything happens to it.

Spicy

This week, the baby is the size of an onion. However, we weighed the onion and it's roughly twice the weight of the baby. We decided that the baby must be full of styrofoam.

Stroller #2

Today, we got up at 6am (well, that was when the alarm went off anyhow) and headed out to the REI used gear sale. When we were at REI a few weeks ago checking out the BOB strollers, the guy we were talking to reminded us about this sale and said that there are usually a few strollers there... but that we would have to get there early if we wanted a shot at them. We got in line around 7am. The sale opened at 8 and the line was already around 3 sides of the building. There were people who had set up tents the night before to get a good spot. That's hardcore. I can't think what I would want at REI that would lead me to camp on the sidewalk outside their building for a night.

We got inside the sale at probably around 9am. They only let a few people in at a time because it's a pretty tight space. I had scouted it out earlier (shortly after 8) and there were 5 or 6 strollers at that point, but several of them had already been sold. I guess you need to get there really early in the morning if you want the good selection. By the time we got in, there were two strollers left. One very used blue one where the tread was practically worn off the wheels ($144), and one orange one ($199). We decided to go for the orange one. I think it's last year's model, but it's never been used. The pokey rubber things are still sticking out all over the tires. I talked to the person who was working inside the REI in the stroller section and she said there were some updates between last year's model and this year's, but I don't think they're worth $150. I didn't really want the orange one, but I'll get used to it.

We also ended up getting a ginormous (6 person) tent so that we'll be able to take the kid and the dog camping next summer (originally $450 including a footprint tarp thingy that goes underneath; we paid $90). We got a smallish backpack that I thought would make an excellent diaper bag and Mike got two new pairs of toe shoes. All-in-all, a successful shopping trip.

However, I was exhausted by the end. I was hungry and tired and getting cranky. I ate an apple and a protein bar in the car and we made it home. I got in bed and napped for an hour. I have not managed to accomplish any of the other things that I needed to do today, but I did grocery shop. I'm going to cook white bean and fennel soup and there's a loaf of bread in the bread maker.

Diapers, cataloged

Ok, it's totally an obsession. Hopefully if I catalog them all, I will realize that I have enough and stop buying them. Here we go.

On the left top is a medium fitted diaper and a medium cover (of two different brands. On the bottom edge is a medium pocket diaper from some brand that starts with Bum. I think these may have come with the Fuzzibunz (all medium), which are the next set over from the left. Looks like there are 10 of these, although there may be another one or two floating around. I think I paid about $6/diaper for all of these, which would put it at maybe $60? That seems like a number I remember.

In the center are a bunch of misc inserts that go inside of pocket diapers. A couple of them are from diapers in the picture that just don't have inserts, but a bunch of them are extras. I spent $5 on 3 microfiber ones, several of them are my homemade ones, and the rest came as part of other bundles of diapers I bought.

On the right are 9 BumGenius one-size 3.0 pocket diapers (from Craigslist, bought probably a year ago). I know I paid less than $10/diaper and I think there may be another one lurking around because I thought there were 10 of them originally. I think I may have paid $80 for these.

On the very right edge are a few prefolds that I got from Jess. There's 2 or 3 small and 2 large ones.

These are the diapers that I've made. The 5 at the top are pocket diapers. The two on the left are adjustable (supposed to be one-size). Then there's two medium ones and one little one. Below those are 5 covers. They also are various sizes. The top two on the right edge are "butterfly" diapers which sort of fold apart and the bottom one is a weird fitted one made out of flannel.

These are the diapers I bought with a bunch of other stuff from a lady on Craigslist the other day. I also bought 12 small organic cotton prefolds and 12 mediums, which I didn't bother to take a picture of. I paid $86 total for this stuff.

 These are organic cotton fitted diapers. On the right is one of the diapers I bought, on the left is what I've restored it to look like. I replaced the elastic and serged around the edges with a multicolor rainbow thread. The fabric is quite worn, but I think they'll work ok. I have 13 of these and they cost me $20. They're a medium size.

These are my newest purchase. These are the little diapers. Total, these were $200.
For newborns: Top left: 3 kissaluvs size 0 (fits 5-15 lbs). Bottom right: 5 Kushies newborn (4-10 lbs). There's a tiny little cover at the very top right, then several XS bummis wraps (newborn size). The gDIapers (bright orange one in middle) fits 8-14 lbs.
For slightly older: At the bottom left are Kissaluvs contours in small (fits 5-20 lbs) and medium (fits 15-30 lbs). Small bummis wraps fit 8-15 lbs.
Not pictured: 12 organic prefold newborn diapers and 12 size small. These are from Green Mountain Diapers and I bought them new ($62).

All about cloth diapers recommends that you have 24 newborn-sized diapers, along with wipes, doublers, etc. I've got 12 prefolds, 12 contours, a couple fitteds, with 3 or so covers. I could probably use a few more covers but I think I can make those.

The small size should last for several months. I've got about the same number of that size as I do newborn, which is probably close to enough.

Hopefully there isn't a gap between the small diapers and the medium fuzzibunz all-in-ones, which are supposed to fit 15-30 lbs. The medium thirsties covers supposedly fit 18-30 lbs, so they may be a bit big. I might be able to cover the gap with the BumGenius, since their size is adjustable, but I was hoping to not have to use those until baby is a bit bigger.

So the bottom line: I've definitely got WAY enough bigger diapers; I'll be able to cycle through those slowly enough that they won't get a ton of usage. I could probably use a few more newborn and small diapers. Luckily, I just got an email back from two other Craigslist ads I responded to for newborn and little gDiapers ($50) and 8 medium bumkins covers which fit 12-22 lbs (a steal at $25). Then I really have to stop watching Craigslist for diaper ads!!

More (the last!) diapers.

One glaring hole in my (somewhat oversized) collection of cloth diapers was diapers for the first few months. I've already decided that I don't want to use the all-in-one diapers when the baby is really tiny. I think they're just way too huge and my mom felt like they restricted my niece's movement when she was little (she learned to turn herself over right after they switched to disposables). I have both BumGenius 3.0 and Fuzzibunz one-size diapers, but I don't want to use them until the baby is big enough to move inside them.

My latest Craigslist purchase is a bunch of little cloth diapers, all of which I got for $200:
5 newborn Kushies (all in one) - these are really cute. (new: $10)
3 newborn Bummis wraps (new: about $12)
5 small Bummis wraps (new: about $12)
1 small Litewrap wrap (new: about $6)
6 Thirstys wraps (new: about $11)
12 small Kissaluvs contour cloth diapers (possibly $7)
8 medium Kissaluvs contour cloth diapers (also about $7)
3 size 0 Kissaluvs fitted diapers (about $12)
2 size 2 Kissaluvs fitted diapers (about $12)
2 Snappis for the Kissaluvs (about $5)
2 G Diapers (about $15)
TOTAL if bought new: about $458 - I got the prices off of amazon. They're approximate because for some items, I'm not sure if I got the exact right item.

The lady who was selling the diapers also let me go through her maternity clothes. I got a bag of new tops (probably 8 or so) and a swimsuit for $20. Then, I stopped by Other Mother's consignment shop (I'd seen ads for it on Craigslist) and picked up three pairs of pants I can wear to work, a red Christmasy sweater, and a cute baby outfit with a raccoon on it all for $30. I had needed more work pants since I really only have one pair and it's hard to make it through a whole week with only one pair of pants. I'm pleased and will run several loads of laundry tomorrow.

I'll have to go through and catalog what diapers I have and how much I (think) I spent on them. I'm trying to keep a total now so that I'll be able to see how much this whole diapering endeavor costs. I'm curious to compare it to disposable diapers.

Cooking frenzy

Today, I went through a cooking frenzy.

My work schedule is very busy this term. Monday and Wednesday, I teach an 8:30-10am class, then a 6 or 7-10pm class. For most of the term, I've come home between classes and taken an nap in the afternoon. It gives me the energy to make it through the night class, but it takes up a good portion of my day. Today, I decided I would stay awake the whole day.

My first project was swiss chard pancakes. We've had the chard for probably 2 weeks now. It was well past its prime, but I figured that it gets blended into batter so it probably didn't matter too much. They were bright green and fairly tasty. We had them with a little butter and salt, but decided that they would have been better with melted cheese on top. This was my second breakfast, the first having been oatmeal that I ate before I went to class.

Next, I took the chicken carcasses that had been partially made into stock and sitting in the large pot in fridge for several days and finished boiling them. I strained out the liquid and picked the rest of the meat off the bones. I froze some of the stock and used the rest as the liquid in my next project:

Lentil and spinach soup. The recipe called for water, but since I had the chicken stock I thought I'd use it instead. I also cut up the rest of the chicken meat and added that as well. It turned out extremely tasty. I'd forgotten how much I like lentils; they're just so easy. I had a small bowl of soup around noon for lunch.

The actual cooking plan for today was sausage and cabbage pitas. We got a cabbage from the CSA and Mike had picked up italian sausage and not-meat sausage to use in it. I used half the not-meat sausage and all the meat kind as well as the entire cabbage. There was a slight issue with the pitas, as they turned out to be flatbreads and refused to open up to hold sausage-cabbage. It was tasty, though. We always enjoy this meal. I ate a pita and some sausage-cabbage around 5, before I headed to my second class.

I had thought that would hold me until I got home, but it didn't. I ended up eating two single-serve halloween candy bars that I had in my jacket pocket, then had another small bowl of lentil soup when I got home from class (just now).

I guess I should also add in the banana I ate during the first class and the apple I had in the car driving home from it. This tiny squee does like to eat.