Sunday, March 27, 2011

Snow, Baby!

Last weekend, we took our long awaited snow trip.  Rogér and I are usually headed to Tahoe on a regular basis during the winter, but this year is a little different {bet you can't guess why}.  Still we wanted to take at least one snowboard trip this season.

We packed up our stuff and Rowan's stuff and hit the road with our friends Jen and Kris.  It was a pretty tight squeeze, with all our "must-haves"; bags, food & water, the stroller, the travel bed, the breast pump, blankets, plus all the usual junk I have in my car, and of course, the five of us, but we managed.

Getting  to our cabin easy-peasy; no storm, no traffic, baby sleeping. We snowboarded a half day at Sierra at Tahoe {and by "we", I mean Rogér, Jen, and Kris.  Rowan and I stayed in the lodge}.

Then the storm came in...

It wasn't much of a blizzard, but there was a LOT of snow! There were 10-12 inches for two days in a row.  We got {kinda} snowed in.  We wouldn't have been able to leave Tahoe, but we weren't ready to yet anyway. It was nice to relax in a cabin with the snow falling outside, and slowly piece together a puzzle with 30 or so missing pieces.

I mean, seriously, when was last time anyone had time to do a puzzle??

The  powder outside our cabin was enough of a snow-fix for us this year. Rowan even got to sled with his dad and build a babysitter {er, snowman}!


Don't worry. We didn't leave Rowan with the snowsitter
Rogér was standing right by Rowan
{hence the cropped left side of the photo}
 
He slept through most of it, but I think he liked it :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

First Family Portrait

We take TONS of pictures of Rowan, 

but we didn't even realize until recently that one of us is always acting as photographer so we don't have any pics of the three of us together!

We had to do something about that fast!

And here it is...

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Cloth Diapers - GroVia AI2

Okay, so I know I said we made the big decision when it came to which CD system to go with.  But we all know I have a hard time committing, and besides, this is an iterative process right?

I bought some more Thirsties, as diaper covers, a few days ago.  But then I found the GroVia AI2 Hybrid.  The GroVia AI2 (all in two) is what I was looking for all along!  Can this be true? How did I miss it?

And to make my decision to buy and try even easier, Costco.com has a super deal on a starter pack right now!  And I got to order online, so I can avoid those crazy Costco cart drivers!

The GroVia AI2 is a diaper cover, with a snap in insert.  BUT, you can also use the cover over prefolds or disposable inserts!  There are both hook/loop and snap closure options.  Also, the GroVia AI2 is a one size fits all, so unlike Thirsties, you {shouldn't} have to keep buying up.

I am so excited to get my GroVia diapers.  I can't wait to get them and tell y'all all how they work!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Horse Whoas - Injury Upon Injury

Our horse, Ronin, is an accident prone young fella.  He's been out of service many a time due to ONE THING, or ANOTHER. Now that I figured out {okay, I didn't actually figure it out. Rogér showed me} how to get pictures off my phone, I can share Ronin's latest and greatest injury! 

At least a month and a half ago, Ronin started to limp on his right leg.  We gave him a little break from riding for it to heal up, but he still seemed to be having problems, so finally we saw the vet.

On the day of the vet clinic, I went to catch Ronin, and to my surprise, I found his blanket torn and is left leg all cut up, plus the left shoe missing along with a good portion of the hoof!

He was limping so bad on the left leg, that the vet couldn't even evaluate the right leg....ugh. Anyway, he tranqued and clipped up.

Then I water-massaged his leg {that pretty much means I hosed him down for 10 mins or so}.  I wish I could tranq him EVERY time I wanted to give him a bath.  He was soooo mellow.  Look at him resting his head on the cleaning station wall!
After that, he got some liquid bandage
Two weeks later, we finally were able to get a shoe on the left hoof, but just barely.  The farrier suggested using duct tape to help hold it on!  So that's what we're doing.

So glamorous!

At our third vet visit, last Saturday, the vet finally cleared Ronin for riding.  YAY!  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way for a little while!

I'm really looking forward to getting on him next week, for the first time since I was about 3 months preggo!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Three Month Old Rowan

We've got some house updates coming soon...
As well as some animal news...
But right now, it's BABY TIME!!! 

OMG!  Tomorrow, Little Bear turns 12 weeks! He is just getting bigger and cuter all the time!  It's hard to believe he fits in those 3-6 month clothes that looked HUUUGE before.

I've been boxing up his smaller clothes little by little, to give away {or maybe keep for #2...no, we're not pregnant again...yet}.  There's a few pieces that we just can't give up, so those went into Ziplock bags.

In the last couple weeks, he's been growing like crazy...
 Giggling and smiling....
And busy just being the cutest thing ever!
We love our little bear cub <3


p.s.  Don't forget to help us choose a what colors to paint our house!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Cloth Diapers - We're Back on Board

We took a break for a few weeks because Rowan had grown out of his Thirsties diaper cover, and we weren't sure which diaper system we wanted to go with. {We originally registered for Fuzzibuns, but it became apparent very early that this wasn't the right choice for us, I'll explain why later}.

Yesterday we attended a cloth diapering workshop at Tiny Tots.  First of all, we were the ONLY parents there who already had our kid! {Guess we were a little late in the research department}. The workshop was mostly about they're diaper service, so since we're not doing that, I kind of yawned through that part.  The more worthwhile part for me was getting to see the various diapers/diaper systems they offered and what they were good for, and the helpful tips.  For instance, you shouldn't use their disposable inserts with polyurethane lined diaper covers, because the adhesive on the insert will ruin the cover liner, and things like that.

In the end, we opted to continue with Thirsties.  Here's why:

Thirsties Duo Wrap
Image Source: Amazon.com


1. It's a cloth diaper COVER.  Not a diaper system.  It's waterproof, so it keeps the "dirty" contained, but you do not have to wash the cover with every soil.  This is big for me, because I don't want to be glued to the washer and dryer.  Plus, I'm not sure where, but at some point, the water, electricity and gas usage from laundering all the time makes the economic and environmental reasons for CD-ing moot. AND, I like having the cloth diaper prefolds around.  They're useful for a lot of things.


2.  They're cheap.  {$12} They fit our modest budget.  Not the cheapest, but compared to Fuzzibuns or BumGenius, they're cheap.  Because you only have to buy a few {like 4}, as opposed to 15-25. A mom at the diaper class, recommended going with the cheapest option first, because not all diapers work with all babies.  So you could invest in the most expensive and come to find that you have to start all over...so start with the cheapest option and work up if you have to. 

3. The Gussets.  We already know that Thirsties work pretty well for Rowan.  I like the gussets in the leg hole that help keep seal up the diaper. 

4. Drying Time. Washing and drying Thirsties are a cinch.

The down-sides:

What I don't LOVE about Thirsties, are that they velcro {although snap ones are available, just not at Tiny Tots}, they don't grow with the baby {you have to keep buying bigger sizes}, and we do get leaks out the top/sides every now and then {but we got that with disposos and Fuzzibuns too. Also, you have to be diligent about changing because the baby definitely feels the wet diaper {which btw, is supposed to help with potty training in the future}.

I have to admit, it's hard to pass up those super-cool, super-soft, and super-cute diaper systems.  AND there are SO many options to choose from.  I had to talk myself down from the expensive all-in-ones, even though I knew from experience that I didn't like them at much! {Talk about social and media influence at work}  Ultimately, they just didn't seem that practical. 

We are glad that we have a few Fuzzibuns, because it was recommended to use them at night for a dryer sleep.  One thing though, you may want to wait until Baby isn't pooping during the night, because your Fuzzibuns will get stained.


We also didn't go hog wild, yet.  We got 4 covers in Rowan's size, and we'll continue to get a few more as he grows.  I decided to go with color coordination by size {xsmall = celery green, size one = ocean blue, size two = probably mango orange}.


Happy Cloth Diapering!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Embarrassing Mommy {and Daddy} Moments - We Ran Out of Diapers!

We mostly keep our diaper bag in the car
{because I'm always worried I'll forget it if I bring it back and forth}.  I'm usually pretty good at keeping it stocked, but I must have been preoccupied lately because a couple nights ago we ran out of diapers while at a friend's housewarming party. 

Uhh...what do you do?

Thank goodness we had a {not entirely clean}Fuzzibuns cover in there that I had forgotten to remove! We stuffed it with one of Rowan's spare outfits.  Then we promptly said our "goodbyes", so we could get his tiny little butt into something more appropriate. 


Not very glamorous, but it worked okay.

Can anyone relate?  What experiences have you had with lack of diaper supply and how did you deal?


Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Great {Paint} Debate - Vote Now!

The exterior of our house really needs a fresh look.  We're planning on tackling some curb appeal tasks this summer.  Not the least of those, is a new paint scheme.  But its so hard to decide on colors!  There's plenty of cute houses in the neighborhood to draw inspiration from, but we are running the risk of being copy cats.

We have a hard time committing to colors, so I like to test them out using Microsoft Paint {yea, I'm low-tech like that}.

We've narrowed it down to two options that we like.  I set  up a poll on the left of the blog screen. Let us know what you think through our poll! 


 A

B

  If you're itching to give us another color suggestion, don't hesitate.  We'd love to hear what you think would work!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Look What I Can Do!

I sat up by myself!


{with the help of the couch}

....And when he started to fall, he put that right arm down and propped himself back up. 

What a little man!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Every Three Minutes {which turns into a Costco vs Target rant, er...comparision}

In the last ten minutes, I changed Rowan's diaper 3 times!!  He's tearing through them like there's no tomorrow!  Not only is my guilty conscience setting in every time I toss another disposo in the trash bucket, but its also posing a serious threat to my wallet and my free/running errands time!

It definitely means I have to take another trip to Costco, or maybe Target - Costco in the San Jose/Santa Clara area is a veritable clusterf@#%.  A trip to Costco for dipes will turn into a full afternoon of dodging crazy cart drivers and their equally as unaware crazy cart drivers in training {aka their kids}. Seriously, it's like Costco shoppers have built in homing devices that target your cart, or maybe they think it's a game of bumper cars.  Costco should just turn it into the real deal and put rubber bumpers and flashing lights on the carts.  Then I could buy into the "fun".



Target is looking better and better as I type.  Besides, last time I bought the Target brand diapers {Up & Up}, they cost $0.15/diaper.  That's one cent cheaper, per dipe, than the Kirkland brand at Costco.  AND, at Target, I can print instant pics of my favorite little man, plus get Starbucks.

There you have it.  Target is better AND cheaper than Costco {except when it comes to tires}!

Anyway, back to the point; We really have to get back on the CD bandwagon.  After a CD workshop this weekend at Tiny Tots, I hope we'll be informed enough to make the big decision!
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