More about my cloth diaper obsession

Baby daughter loves her cloth diapers! I love them too. I do spend money on them, but only when I've got it & find an irresistable deal. I discovered Kelly's Closet a while back when they had a great free shipping deal. I also discovered their blog & have been loyally following it ever since.

My current strategy when considering purchasing another diaper has been to get one size or adjustable, that is neutral colored or natural. Baby Daughter's diapers will still be in very usable condition when she is totally potty trained & it will be really nice to pass them down.....that will be a HUGE cost savings.

There are contests going on all the time all over the blogasphere & whenever they involve baby or kid stuff that interests me I try to enter. I have not won anything yet, but I'm very hopeful about the chance to win the latest Cloth Diaper Whisperer drawing. I have NEVER bought that many diapers at once & it would be such a thrill to win. Of course pretty much every person who has a child in cloth diapers is also trying to win, so I know my chances are rather slim.



If you have a baby or know somebody who is having a baby soon, I highly recommend checking out both the blog & the online store!

Have you heard about this?

My favorite online cloth diaper store is having a GREAT giveaway!!! I would LOVE to win all this stuff for Baby Daughter. She is now totally in cloth, it is amazing to me how much money we are saving. She will probably potty train by Summer, but she may not be our last.....maybe she will have a younger sibling eventually to pass these down.

I have more to say about this, but I'm going to spread it out over a couple days to get some extra entries to the contest.

Why is it so hard to find a simple baby doll with HAIR?

My 3 yr old LOVES baby dolls. She would like a baby doll that closes it's eyes when it is "sleeping", takes a bottle or pacifier & has HAIR. I would like a doll that costs less than $20. I have looked & looked & looked. Dolls that close their eyes when they "sleep" are few & far between now days & the ones I can find are all either totally bald or have painted on hair. She got a Dora doll that closes her eyes, for her birthday, but it is not a BABY.....she wants a baby. I'm seriously considering this fisher price doll

It makes noises, takes a bottle & pacifier & turns it's head, but unfortunately it doesn't close it's eyes & it has no hair.

Another that I'm considering is this Fisher Price doll.She has hair, she says her ABC's & plays games, but she doesn't take a bottle & doesn't sleep. She is also over the $20 budget.

Fortunately, the 8 yr old & the 1 yr olds were easy this year. I'm struggling a bit on this doll thing for the 3 yr old, but also procrastinating so that I don't have to even think about how difficult it is going to be to shop for the 10 yr old, the 18 yr old & the 21 yr old.....boys stop being easy when they outgrow trucks & move into the "everything must be electronic" phase. Plus they can all read & know way more than I do about computers, so I can't even ask for help when it comes to finding things for them.

Anyone have any good doll suggestions?

Well, I guess snow flurries are pretty....

The kids were very excited to see it snowing. I was very happy to see it melt as soon as it hit the ground. It has been very cold, but fortunately there doesn't seem to have been enough moisture for much snow. We drove past a sign on our way home from church that said the temperature was 38....it felt like 28 to me. I need to remember to take my wool coat to the cleaners tomorrow, I froze in my light jacket today.

Cold and Rainy Saturday

The temperature has suddenly turned much colder and it was drizzling as I arrived home from picking hubby up from work. We told the 10 yr old & the 8 yr old that we might get snow tonight.....they were thrilled!!! I wish I shared their enthusiasm, the thought of snow just makes me shiver and think about the mess that will follow.

Operation Christmas Child

This is the week when the boxes are due!!! We ended up making two boxes. Our church blessed the boxes last Sunday, but because of our hectic schedule we forgot to bring them then, so we took them & dropped them off at church yesterday before choir practice. The stack that our church has collected was pretty impressive. I hope they make a difference in the lives of some children this Christmas season.

10 yr old's box is for a boy age 5-9. It has a bar of soap, a cotton washcloth, a toothbrush & toothpaste, a comb, lots & lots of hard candy (mostly lollipops), two packets of hot chocolate powder, a packet of spiced apple cider powder, a Cars mini spiral notebook, colored pencils, regular pencils, stickers, lined index cards & 5 miniature Cars skateboards. It is all small stuff, but it is a nice variety. Hopefully the child who receives it will enjoy these things.

8 yr old's box is for a girl age 5-9. It has a bar of soap, a cotton washcloth, a toothbrush & toothpaste, a comb, hair ties, hair clips, lots & lots of hard candy (mostly lollipops), two packets of hot chocolate powder, a packet of spiced apple cider powder, a Princess mini spiral notebook, colored pencils, regular pencils, stickers, lined index cards & a jump rope. We ran out of ideas & space to put anything else inside, hopefully it will be enjoyed as well.

Busy, busy, busy

Things are hectic here right now. Baby Daughter's baptism was last Sunday. Amazingly she fit into the gown that three of her siblings wore for their baptisms when they were infants. She is very close to 18 months & definitely not on the small side. I didn't get any good pictures. She does love the gown, so I'm hoping to get her to pose for some pictures in the next few days.

My Mom is still here. Organizing is going slowly, but it is progressing. Yesterday we found a house for her to rent that is less than a mile away. It needs work, but it is the kind of work she really enjoys doing. She will have free rein to decorate any way she likes & there is a private yard with lots of trees. Best of all, she got a great deal on the rent in exchange for the work she will be putting in. It is bigger than the apartment she has now, costs less per month & is 2 minutes from my house!!!

Hubby saw the vein Dr today too....yesterday they did an ultrasound of his veins. They have decided he needs a laser procedure that he is a bit squeamish about, but hopefully it won't be too difficult for him & it may actually help a great deal with the problems he's been having. Now we wait to see if the insurance approves the recommended treatment & if the Dr's office can get him scheduled before the end of the year when our insurance carrier is due to change.

Second Son is hopefully registering to start college soon. I need to go with him & find out WHY they are saying he needs remedial English, he passed 4 yrs of high school English, got a decent score on the ACT & he passed the schools English placement test. He can't get a straight answer, so MOM needs to step in & figure out what the problem is. We will also need to finish all the financial aid stuff. He will turn 19 in January, so if he isn't in school full time by then or at least registered, our insurance may drop him.

All the paperwork came this week for the new insurance plan too, now I have to crunch the numbers & figure out which of 3 plans is REALLY the best one for us. Because of merger stuff going on inside the company Hubby works for, this insurance plan is only temporary & I will have to make all these choices again in the Spring for a new plan that will start June 1st. I guess the only consolation in that is that if I screw up the choices for the plan that begins January 1st we only have to live with it for 5 months.