A City Life For Me

Escape Artist “Fluff” (Cloth Diapers) Baby

I went to a ladies meeting on Saturday morning, and while Ben was babysitting Elaine decided to roll over for the first time.  Then she was sick yesterday, so I went to the evening service and Ben stayed home.  You guessed – she rolled over again…for Daddy.  I was starting to feel just a little jealous.  Then I came home from church to a sad, crying, unhappy baby who changed her attitude as soon as I held her.  {Sigh.}  She still needs me!  Ben said, “I can’t believe you put her to sleep that easily.  I tried everything.  She cried for an hour.”  I assured him he just needed a Mommy’s touch! Finally, this morning, Elaine rolled over for me.  And I just happened to have the video camera running!

We went to the bag sale at Kid to Kid, our local consignment/resale store.  At the end of the season they do a big clearance sale, and everything you can stuff in a bag is $10.  I went in August before Elaine was born, and I bought half boy and half girl items.  It was easier today because I only had to go to one section.  But it was more difficult because I had Elaine with me!  I was very thankful for my Moby Wrap today, and the fact that I didn’t have to try to maneuver a stroller and lose my kid like many other moms. Here’s what we got: Everything was winter clothing, so we bought 12-18 months and some 2T.  I got a Tommy Hilfiger outfit brand new with the tags on it, and a new Levi Strauss jean jacket.  Some shoes, lots of shirts, some overalls, and 8 little dresses.  It was worth the hour that we waited in line… I saved $169.22!!!  (And that is off the consignment prices, not the retail price). Yay for bargains and clearance sales!!!...

Laundry multiplies. Yes.  It all belongs to Elaine.  The whole basket.  She dirtied it all in just a day and a half.  (And her clothes are little, so they don’t take up much room, so there is A LOT in that basket!)

I blogged before about my guest post over at The Cloth Diaper Blog .  One of my “articles” is featured again today.  I have several others waiting in line to be published.  I have earned a free Rumparooz diaper, and I’m halfway to my second diaper…just for Guest Blogging!  You can view my newest article here .  Since this isn’t a cloth diapering blog, I won’t bother you any more about articles…y’all probably find it boring!

May I take a post just to rant a little bit?  Good.  It’s my blog anyway. I used to consider Wal-Mart a necessary evil.  Now I remove the “necessary” part of that statement.  Not that they are evil in and of themselves, but I despise going into their stores!!! Mom had sent a little spring outfit to Elaine.  We needed a bigger size.  So I drove to my super Wal-Mart.  I stopped going there a year ago, mostly because it is not conveniently located to our home.  But I rarely had good service, and the bathrooms were always disgusting.  Really bad disgusting, maybe worse than a gas station off the interstate that you use in desperation on a road trip.  Not much has changed at Wal-Mart. The customer service person was friendly enough, though she was trying to serve a line of five customers, cash payroll checks, and wire money at the same time, all by herself.  The manager walked by three times and did nothing.  The cashier finall...

Today Elaine’s Auntie Meredith is 17 years old!  Whooo hoooo! PS – Please don’t laugh.  I didn’t have anyone to sing with me!

We have been having gorgeous beautiful weather.  For once I am glad to be in Virginia and not Colorado, where my parents have 6-8 inches of snow!  Here’s what Elaine and I did today (while Daddy was working) Had breakfast Finished a sewing project Watched Beauty and the Beast (Elaine’s first Disney movie) Had lunch Organized the baby clothes Took a nap Practiced the piano Got a package from Grandma Godby – new clothes! Got a new diaper in the mail Took a walk Made supper Here are some pictures: Elaine had oatmeal for lunch.  She ate it all! Very independent – wants to hold the spoon herself. She resembles…Uncle Wesley!  First we’ll get solids down, then we need to work on manners!  I could have said she eats like Uncle Evan, but I didn’t see him eat at this age. This is only the second time Elaine has been awake and sitting up on one of our walks.  It has been nice and sunny, and very little wind so we have been able to put the hood down o...

Elaine has been giggling for a little while now, but I have been unable to get it on video.  As soon as I reach for the camera she clams up.  She makes me happy just with her smile, but when she giggles…I just melt.  So I finally got a little bit of giggle on video.  What does it do to you?

Elaine was helping me sort through the sale ads… Elaine is going to be a couponer, I can just tell!

This is the non-wordless version because I think I need to explain… For the last several mornings Elaine has been awake and singing to herself in her crib before I go in to get her.  This is how I have found her – sideways in the crib, unswaddled, fingers stuck in her afghan, and bunny soaked from being gnawed on to death.  Of course there is always a smile!  Yesterday it looked like she emerged from a little cocoon, because she didn’t kick off her blankets.  They were there still wrapped up, but Elaine was not inside!

 

Elaine LOVES to put things in her mouth.  Her desire to suck on objects makes her reach out for them – everything from my glasses to blankets to spoons and toys.  Do you need proof?   She usually doesn’t reach for objects when she is on her tummy.  But she wanted that ball!  And as soon as she got it, into the mouth it went! She has the right idea, but doesn’t know what to think about the food that accompanies the spoon.  We tried some oatmeal today, and Little Miss Independent wanted to hold that spoon every time it came near her mouth.  The oatmeal?  So glad for bibs!

My mom sent me this video tutorial to make a little “brag book” photo album.  I thought it was so cute!  So I decided to make a couple.  I was so pleased with the results, and happy to put my Cricut to use again (it’s been a little while!). One for me.  (Because I like it, not because I need it!  I have the original…Elaine is usually close by me wherever I go!).   I made this one to send to Kenny with some pics of Elaine in it.  We will see his girlfriend at the Ambassador Friends Banquet tonight.  I have a feeling he doesn’t get on this blog much to see new pics!  (He’s a guy…)   This is the inside…   This is the one my mom made.  Isn’t it pretty?

At Elaine’s four month checkup the doctor told us that Elaine can start slowly into solid foods.  Apparently there are new studies which show that babies who start on solids earlier have fewer problems with eczema and allergies.  We’re not in a rush to start on solid foods, and we’re not going to give it every day yet, but I thought I would experiment a little bit today.

(Another name for the modern cloth diaper is “fluff.”) There’s a monthly photo contest at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer called “Cute Baby of the Cloth.”  Every picture has to include a cloth diaper.  This month the theme is Best Friends .  I decided to enter a photo, and here are the results of my photo shoot.         This one is my favorite! Now I just have to decide which one to enter!

As I ponder this seemingly difficult task of moving from Virginia Beach to Brooklyn, when we have no job and no apartment lined up, and yet we have to give notice to vacate here, I am overwhelmed.  It is just… impossible (or so it seems).  How can it be done?  How do we know when   we are to go if we don’t have a job yet?  How in the world can we come up with three months rent for a security deposit when the rent is somewhere around $1500 per month?  That’s more than the down payment my parents made on their first house!  Don’t worry…I am still excited and overjoyed that we are going. It’s just that we are now down to the nitty gritty details. It was from this overwhelmed and questioning mindset that I came to my devotions yesterday.  I started reading in Numbers 11.  This is what verse 23 says, and this is what God whispered to my heart… “And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word sha...

Then…   Now… 1 Day Old… 4 Months Old… Newborn… Infant…   {HAPPY SIGH…GLAD TO BE A MOMMY!}

A few weeks ago I won a weekly cloth diaper giveaway called Feed Your Stash Friday over at Cloth Diaper Blog .  CDB is operated by my local diaper store, Diaper Junction.   When I picked up my prize I was told that they would like me to write a review of the product for their blog.  So I did.  Today my article is featured on Cloth Diaper Blog …I’m a guest blogger!  Whoo  hoo!  You can read my article here , if you’re interested in diapers and such, or if you’re just curious.

Last night a terrible thing happened to me.  I had the kitchen cleaned up.  Ben was on his way to Hebrew class.  Elaine was playing in the floor.  The laundry finished spinning out so I went and put it in the dryer.  I heard a klunk, klunk.  I just had problems with my washer a couple of weeks ago.  My initial thought was, “Oh no.  What’s wrong with my dryer.”  I opened the door.  I reached into the clothes.  My heart sank as my fingers curled around a familiar object buried deep among the socks and shirts.  It was my cell phone .  Right now you’re probably rolling in laughter.  That’s what Wesley did when I told him last night.  How could this happen? Simple.  I was cooking all day yesterday.  I actually wore one of my aprons.  Amazing!  It had this nice little pocket in the front.  I didn’t want to miss any phone calls, so I stuck my phone in the pocket.  Convenient.  But I ...

Here are the results of my Freezer Cooking Day: I finished up the Chicken Tetrazzini and kitchen cleanup just as Ben arrived home.  I think the whole chicken turned out well.  I don’t know if I will do it every time I need chicken.  I definitely prefer using boneless chicken breasts, but this wasn’t bad for a first try.  The worst part for me was removing the guts and getting it ready to cook.  Ever since my days at McDonalds I don’t do well with raw meat.  I didn’t mind the deboning process, and Ben likes dark meat so it will be a nice treat for him.  I don’t think I can beat it pricewise either. The fruits of my labor include: 2 Chicken Tetrazzini meals 4 1-cup portions of shredded chicken, for use in chicken pot pie, pizza, burritos, quesadillas, and chicken salad sandwiches 6 pizza dough portions – enough to last me into April 2 Sloppy Joe meals 2 Stuffed Shells meals, plus one that we ate tonight for supper 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies ...

Here is what I have accomplished so far.  It may not seem like very much, but it feels like a lot.  Especially when I consider my biggest challenge in this enterprise…Elaine!  At almost-four months she is a handful, and enjoys demanding undivided attention.  We have utilized the bumbo, the swing, and the Moby Wrap (which I had to wash last night because she had a blow-out in it during church)today.  Then we utilized naptime!   Whole chicken in the crockpot.  I used this post and this post to figure out how to do it.  I’ve never done a whole chicken before because I didn’t want to deal with the guts.  I couldn’t even get Ben to help me with it…he wanted the pleasure of making me do it!  I’m going to use the chicken for Chicken Tetrazzini (apparently I have been spelling it wrong…I can never remember if it is two z’s or two n’s), and then shred and freeze the rest for pizza and chicken salad sandwiches, etc.  We’ll see how it turns...