The Captain

If I had the time and the energy I could write about 10 different post pretty easily. Instead, I am going to cheat and just post a few pics of the boy. He will be 20 months in a week!!!! I can hardly believe it in some ways. It just seems so close to 2 years old! Wow! He has grown verbally tons in the last month. I have lots of things I want to post about soon, but like I said, this will have to do today. I really think he looks like me and my brother Bryce in these pics. Mostly the bottom one for some reason. What a cutie.

Enjoy

Yellow Fall

I still remember my first fall. 2005 in Yosemite National Park. It was amazing. I would walk to work early just so I could take my time and take all the colors in. There were leaves everywhere! I couldn't figure out if my hometown had "fall" and the colors that can come with it, and may be I just was blind to it all those years?? But that particular Fall changed that season for me forever.

Then I moved eventually to North Carolina. Wow!!! Nothing compares to the eastern trees during this time of year. Every color imaginable is painted over the forest. The colors change daily. You don't have time to even blink because you WILL miss something incredible. 

Now here we are in Colorado. It is definitely different. There is a fall. But you have to be looking. Your eyes have to be open. It won't be something that just hits you in the face, but it is there. Sometimes early in the morning when the sun is coming up, and you get those first rays on the trees, it can make them look almost on fire. It is just something else. You also can get a great alpine glow on the mountain range. The entire thing can look hot pink soaking in the sunshine. 

My reason for moving to Yosemite was to work with Pastor Steve Hughes and his ministry in the park. One of the best moves of my life. The way I grew, what I learned, who I met, it has just molded me into the person I am now. God fixed many hurt places inside of me while living there, running and hiking in the Sierras, climbing up the perfect granite walls. I could say SO much about my time there. BUT, Steve actually lives in Denver now with his wife Karen, so for the first time in several years we have been able to spend some real time together. 

Steve took me hiking up about 45 minutes from our house about a month ago. It was just great. It was a beautiful day, with great weather, but just being able to spend some quality time with Steve made my insides happy. I am so blessed to have so many great friends and mentors in my life. They have come and gone as God has had me all over the states and world, but I do carry so much in my heart so many lessons from each of them. 

So here are some pics of the day. Bryce couldn't come because he was on a rock climbing trip with a local school here. And notice the boy isn't with me either!!! Thanks to Grammi and Papa!

Enjoy!

A Month

Some days feel longer than others, then sometimes you realize you are 10 days into October and you don't really remember entering the month to begin with. It has been a LONG but GOOD 4 weeks. 

We made it through various obstacles and sicknesses. Cap had his first real throw up, which I almost feel should be a whole post on its own! He is talking like crazy! Putting 2 words together at a time. But we pretty much spent the last 4 weeks getting over one sickness...then another...then another....yuck! Cap's mood has been so fowl, lots of crying, but that tends to happen when you don't feel good. I was starting to think this was his new attitude, but Thank the Lord my boy came back Monday!!!!

He is back to laughing, playing, occasionally taking 15 steps away from me:) and acting like his smiley self again. I am so thankful he is better! So sense I don't take pictures anymore with our good camera, here are some pics from a cheap phone camera! These are all from the last month or so'ish.

On the way home from zoo passed out before even leaving parking lot

straw in hand of course

picking apples from our two trees out back

a day where i needed some smiles

this always makes you feel better!

trail running at Garden of Gods

turned my back on this guy and he was eating flour and cocoa with a fork!

getting ready to go to MOPS one morning

shaves with his dad now

one of those kind of lunches...and me needing to learn he just 

won't eat if he's sick...he lost 3 pounds!

fun new park i thought would lift his spirits...

not so much

this is what happens when your nap is too short

we were sitting on a rock watching the big trucks work

close to our house, he was just holding my hand

he found this bag clip one day and starting scraping the windows

it was making an awful sound, but then i realized he was trying to 

be like his dad and wash the windows!!! he was so proud once 

i recognized what he was doing.

climbing rocks on our first good healthy day in a month!

learning about scat that morning

being silly before bed with dad

my two guys whom i adore

Little Cabinet and Sign

Here is another home project I did in August. I forgot to post about this one when I finished it! This is a little sewing cabinet that was given to me. I just LOVED it the moment I saw it! 

The top part opens up and has a place to store all your thread and bobbins, 

depending on how big your stash is:) Not sure why I didn't take a pic of the inside.

Then two small drawers. Sanded it down, wiped it clean, applied undercoat some sort of green yellowish flavor, applied top coat some sort of family of turquoise, then a stain and finish in 1. 

I like how it turned out especially with the red knobs. I would have like the top color to be more teal, but that's what I had on hand. Still looks great! 

I also made a sign using some extra pallet boards we had.

This is 5 of the many things we hold important in our marriage and family.

We really like how it turned out. 

Hope you enjoy and next time I will throw some pictures in of Capitan!

"Mostly" Reclaimed Wood Bookshelf

I have several home project that we have done in the past month in a half. First up is our bookshelf which holds currently 1 book! Mostly just made it for displaying photos!! We spent about a $1 each on the 4 shelves from Habitat ReStore. The small pieces that hold up the shelves came from the backyard. Old wood that just wasn't being used. The 2x4's came from Lowes which was great because they cut them to the size we needed for no extra charge. I think we spent about $6-7 total for them. I already had the paint and stain. Oh and we did spend about $5 on some screws. So we made this whole thing for under $20. We think it's awesome. Looks different in the photos than in person because the flash was on, but you get the idea. Enjoy!

Cloth on Your Babies Bum

There are a million cloth diaper systems out there. After finding out we were pregnant with Cap my search began for the right cloth system out there for our family. As I read and read and read online, I eventually came across some info about Infant Potty Training. I am so thankful I did, because it helped me decide on which diapers to go with. 

We stuck to 100% cotton. They make a lot of cloth systems that will pull away the moisture just like a pamper would. We didn't want that. When Cap wet or soiled himself, we wanted him to know it from the beginning. We didn't want him to loose the feeling of relieving himself. We wanted to go with his natural instincts, so we chose cotton. 

It also was a very simple and cost effective decision. Other diapers can cost you $20 per diaper. In the long run, even $20 a diaper is still better than a 2-3 year pamper system. Our diapers estimated to be $30/dozen so $2.50 each. Then we bought 9 covers total (2 different sizes) for about $13 each. It was a great way to do it, and all the way below I break down what we spent total on our diapering system.

We ordered everything we needed from Green Mountain Diapers which you can find online. I will tell you right now, it is an overwhelming site, but very thorough. She has experience and has tried just about it all out there. It is a great resource but don't get overloaded. After reading her suggestions and comments under the things she sales, I was able to make some decisions on what we would use. Every thing I list below can be found on her site. If you have trouble locating it, let me know and I will send a direct link. 

Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers:
We used unbleached and started with 2 dozen and went to 3 dozen shortly after. We mostly did wash every other day with the diapers. There was a time when we had 2 dozen where we did it one morning on day 1 and at night on day 2. So every day in a half kind of. That much wash is only for a season. I had a friend who waited longer sometimes 4-5 days and she just soaked them in water. Soaking is NOT necessary otherwise. We did that WAY later on because we weren't dirtying as much so we just didn't need to wash them, but they smelt so bad so soaking them in plain water helped. 

I would suggest ordering at least 2 dozen in the next size up so you have some ready when they grow out of them. You will be surprised how sometimes they just wake up and something doesn't fit!   

Thirsties Duo Snap Covers:

This in my opinion would be reason enough to use cloth diapers! The covers are so cute. Cap never wore shorts his first summer, and rarely wore pants in the winter. I made him some fleece leg warmers instead. It is WAY easier to EC when you don't have to take off pants, shorts, unbutton outfits, etc. Even on some of his onsies, we would cut the bottoms off and make into shirts. 

Anyways, getting back on track we used the Thristies Duo Snap Covers. I am not a fan of velcro. It sticks to things in the wash and your baby will easily undo velcro one day with possibly dirty diaper! 

They come in 2 sizes. Cap didn't need size 2 until he was 4 months, but he was a big baby. He moved to the medium prefolds then and we used them till the end. Never needed a size bigger since we did early potty training.  

We had 5 covers of size 1. May be 4 on the size 2. Occasionally they will get a little dirty on the elastic edge, but we would just rinse it in the sink and reuse. We only washed covers once a week. These are also nice to have a couple of the next size up on. We needed them when we hit the medium prefolds.  

Wipes:

We used the 2 sided wipes. LOVED LOVED LOVED THESE!!! We never even used a wipe until Kenya when Cap was 14 months old and holy cow what a difference. With these you don't feel like you are touching poop or like your finger is going to pop through at any moment! If you are going to wash some diapers, you might as well wash the wipes too. This will also help keep all the yucky stuff off your sweet babies bum that the wet wipes are covered in. Babies skin can be very sensitive. 

Kissaluvs Diaper Lotion Potion Spray: 

We just sprayed the bum rather than any of the other suggestions and it worked great with us. We used the spray bottles she suggest as well. You mix this stuff with witch hazel, and she said to use less potion than what the bottle calls for. We did what she says and it worked perfect. Not to mention, we only bought one bottle, and still have tons left. Of course, it helped we did most of our poo's in the potty by 7 months old.

Fasteners:

We used the snappis fasteners. Those do eventually break so good to have backups. We didn't know this:) We had some big safety pins made for cloth diapers, but we never once used them. The snappis were just so quick and easy.

The Pail Diaper Sprayer: 

A MUST have in my opinion. We used a gift card. It was our splurge but we LOVED it. They make these whole pail systems, but I don't think they are necessary. The sprayer is awesome though.  

Wet Bags:

You need several of these unless you plan on going through a lot of plastic bags, which in my opinion would kind of go against one of the main reasons of cloth diapering:) You will want a couple of big ones and several diaper bag size ones. In NC, it takes a FULL day to dry out after washing which is why you need multiple bags. Here in CO, things dry must faster, but I would still recommend 2 big ones, and 2-3 small ones. 

We used a Fuzzibunz Large bag that my sweet sister in law gave us when Cap was born. I really could have used 2 of these. Then we had a medium size and a small size of the Thirsties zip bags that we loved!! I would suggest the medium sized ones for your diaper bags. The small was too small but I had ordered it first.

Total Cost Estimate of what we spent:
1 dozen newborn prefolds              $24
3 dozen small prefolds                 $84
2 dozen medium prefolds               $64
5 dozen wipes                            $55
Lotion Potion                             $8
Spray Bottles                            $3
Diaper Sprayer                          $50 (have seen now for $35)
Large Wet Bag                          $20
Medium Wet Bag                        $15
Small Wet Bag                          $12

Total                                $335

We used gift/baby shower money for most of this. We have very sweet family and friends!!! No matter how you pay for your cloth system, you will be saving TONS of money in the long run!!!

Okay, I know this was probably overwhelming but don't let it be! We didn't do pampers until Kenya and we were so glad we didn't! We enjoyed our cloth ones MUCH MORE!!!

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Some EC Start Up Tips

I stood in line with 100s of other people (mostly women) this afternoon for the Just Between Friends Sale. We were in line for over an hour and all we bought were 3 small items. Crazy I know, but sometimes you have time not so much money:) However, I stood in the line with some great ladies. We talked away the wait. During the wait I asked Cap if he needed to go potty..."no"....it had been 2 hours, but I trust him now with letting me know when he needs to go. One of the ladies next to me heard me ask him if he needed to go. She couldn't believe he was only 18 months old and potty trained. This has been the typical reaction of people since the beginning of our EC journey. Than there are a million questions that follow.

I was hoping just to write a short EC Start Up post. Just wanting to list the basics of how this works and how to get started. There are some sites out there, but they can be hard to find. And also hard to find good ones. But in the course of 2 years, which is when I first started looking online, it has changed and grown in popularity. More people are choosing cloth for their babies bums, which tends to lead to earlier potty training, and while shopping for cloth items it is easy to stumble across Infant Potty Training info.

EC stands for Elimination Communication. Also called EC or infant potty training. EC is the natural alternative to diaper dependence. Half of the babies in the world are potty trained by 12 months of age, yet the average age of an American baby is 3 years old. With EC, you are simply helping your baby follow his natural instincts not to soil or wet himself, loved ones, or his space (crib, car seat, carrier, etc.).

Misconceptions:
There are many misconceptions for this lifestyle, and I say lifestyle because it does become part of your every day routine. Changing diapers are a lifestyle  so can EC'ing.

It does not consume all your time. You don't have to sit around staring at your baby waiting for that miraculous cue or sign letting you know it's time. I guess if you wanted to do that and you had the time then go for it??? But I would guess that you and your little one/ones need some time away and some space to explore.

You will not have a house covered in pee or poop. I will admit, we have had a couple of misses on the floor, pees and poops (somehow we had just as many while in Kenya:) but you aren't living in waste. Hard to say much more on that without knowing how this works.

You don't have to EC full time. We chose to never EC at night. Our sleep was important to us, and Cap started sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months old. There were some times he wasn't sleeping through the night and for us, EC'ing was more of an interruption than what we wanted it to be. You can do this full, part, or the occasional time. No matter what your family choses to do, the communication you gain from EC'ing, saving a diaper, wiping a bum, etc will be worth it!

It is not impossible! You need to remember that half of the world is doing it. We laughed so hard when we first heard about this. The name alone is hilarious. The more we read about it, the more it made sense.

How to get started:
I found 3 basic ways that lead to your baby going potty. Some say 4.
1) Babies signals. Just like your he lets you know when he is hungry, wants to be held, sleepy, he is also letting you know when he needs to relieve himself. This can vary from child to child. Some get squirmy, some will stop playing and start getting upset out of no where, some will even latch off while nursing to let you know he needs to potty. The best way to find out, is to spend a couple of hours one day, learning what your baby tends to do right before he wets himself. This was easy for us since we used 100% cotton pre-folds ( which is what I highly recommend, another post).

2) Natural Timing. There are times you can pretty much count on your baby going potty. It is not natural to go to the bathroom where your 'space' is. Babies won't naturally pee or poop while in the following: crib, car seat, baby carrier, while sleeping, while being held. So when your baby just wakes up, put him over a potty. When he just gets out of a car seat, let him potty, etc. Babies also need to go before/ during/ after eating. Cap would rarely need to go during nursing, but shortly after he would need to go. If your baby is wet, still give the opportunity to go more in a potty. To this day, if Cap happens to have a miss in his undies, he still will go more in the potty if I let him. Natural timing is what worked best for us.

3) Your own instincts. Sometimes I would be holding Cap and all of a sudden I would feel a wetness on me. I would check, I was dry, and then I would put Cap on the potty and he would go. Sometimes you just feel like it is time or that he needs to go. Don't ignore your intuition. Trust it. If he doesn't go, don't take it the wrong way. Trust yourself and your gut!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone out there. Would love for you to comment if it was! Please feel free to ask questions as there is a ton to this thing!!! We had Cap in full time undies minus naps and night time at 12 months. I could have done it sooner if I would have trusted myself a little more. I have definitely had some rough moments in the process where I had to take a step back and refocus the purpose of us doing EC with our son. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Here is another good site for some great info. I would have read her book if this would have been out earlier. Since I haven't read it, I can't say much about it, but it looks extremely helpful! It could have helped us through some hard potty pauses since I didn't have any great resources at the time.
http://ecsimplified.com/

Enjoy!