Thursday, January 26, 2012

Women.

I went into the grocery store a few days ago and I heard some women, adult women, older than me women, talking badly about a person who I have never met, or heard of in my life. I felt disgusted with these women. They were talking quite loudly and in front of a lot of people. They were saying this woman who they were talking badly abouts name, and while I was listening to them I couldn't help but to watch the people around them, most ignored them, some looked at them disgusted, and others walked by and heard what they were saying then started a gossip chain of there own. I kept thinking why would anybody talk like this? It is mean, cruel, and don't they have better things to do?

So this has been in my mind for a few days. I've always watched people do this, it seems like in a small town you see it a lot and I've caught myself doing it a few times, and now I wonder why I ever did. I started to really notice this in high school. After listening to a lot of people talk badly about others I found myself 'pulling away' from the crowd. I didn't want to be friends with people who couldn't say a nice thing about anybody else. I mean, If they can't say nice things about any other person then they're probably not saying anything nice about you.

I've had people ask me how I do it. A lot of girls would talk bad about me and I found it easy to ignore. And now, that question is easy for me to answer after years of questioning that myself. I always thought it was because I just didn't care what others thought of me. They can think what they want but they don't know me. They don't know my life and what I go through. Now that I'm older I realized the real reason why though.

 It's because when you feel good about you, and your life, you don't attack others.
You find it easy to ignore somebody who is calling you fat when you think you look great. You find it easy to be happy when you are happy, but when you start to feel insecure about yourself that's when you start verbally abusing other people so you can make yourself look better, but it doesn't make you better.

When you really feel good about yourself you start to find you have better things to do then to judge everyone else. You find the beauty in everything else. You see how life can be great and you make better choices for yourself.

To me when you start to talk about how people are getting fat, or too skinny,  or a slut, or a **tch, you are making yourself look insecure, because those people might not be what you want them to be or act the way you want them to act and it might not be healthy for them, but that doesn't mean you should verbally abuse them to make yourself feel better.  Everybody is beautiful in there own way, and by making smart choices and loving yourself and your life you can start to find yourself beautiful too.

Also you really should watch what you say and who you say it in front of, because verbally abusing people who make you feel insecure isn't sending a good message. Not to you, not to others, and definately not to the kids standing around you listening.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

My decision for Cloth Diapering

Cloth Diapering...WHY!?

I have been asked this question a lot, and most of the people say, "I will never change your kids diapers." Well that's fine, It's my kid, I can change his diaper and you just wont babysit :D

When I first thought of Cloth Diapers I thought of the rag with the clothes pins in them...not exactly what i'd call fun, but hearing a lot about it and wondering why everyone was raving about it I started to do research and guess what!? Cloth diapers aren't like that anymore...nope, they have evolved into something GREAT! Now, i'm not going to tell you why you should cloth diaper, when I don't even know how it will work out for me. I'm not going to quote other people and tell you why they think you should cloth diaper, I'm going to tell you why I DECIDED that cloth diapering would work for us.

First, I'm a stay at home mom. I have a lot of time on my hands and why should I buy a $40 box of diapers/week just to end up throwing them in the trash. Isn't that like throwing away your cash? So money was a factor in this process. All the research said I would save $1000's with cloth diapering. Then I looked at prices for a cloth diaper... prices range from $5/diaper to $30/diaper and there were so many different kinds of cloth diapers I had no idea what I was really looking for. So figuring a baby needs about 12 diaper changes a day and with the cheapest diaper at $5 and needing at least 12 just for 1 day, that's $60/day in cloth. WOAH! How is that cheaper then disposables? So I decided to ignore the money situation for now and figure out other reasons I would want to cloth diaper.

Well, they are cute, but that's not exactly a good reason for diapers. So I looked at skin problems with cloth diapers. When I was born I had horrible skin problems, and to this day my skin still has it's oh-so-horrible dry cracked moments. So it may be a factor my kids will have that problem. I also don't like the idea of diaper rash. It seems like such a common factor with babies and it scares me, literally. How would you like to walk around with a cracked and bleeding bum all day? Exactly. So that was the research I did next and came to the conclusion, if you keep your cloth diapers clean, make sure there is no detergent build-up when putting them on baby, and change them when they need to be changed, most moms have no problems with diaper rash AT ALL! Cloth diapers are made from very absorbant cotton, hemp ect so the cloth absorbs all the wet ickyness and keeps babies bum dry and diaper-rash-free! Plus sitting in a puddle doesn't sound exactly exciting, I would much rather be sitting dry. :)  So Cloth 1- disposables 0.

Environment factor, now this really wasn't a main issue with me until I started reading about it. A disposable diaper takes over 500 years to decompose. Yes that means all of your grandparents, parents, siblings, and your diapers are still in a landfield. Plus all of your friends, my friends, and ever other single persons. yuck! But while doing my diaper research I noticed some cloth diapers have disposable inserts...? isn't that the same thing? Nope. The disposable inserts from gdiapers is flushable and compostable! phew! So my inner hippie won that one! Cloth 2 - Disposables 0.

Conveinent, how? Don't worry, there are no complicated pins and folds like in the olden days. They are all snaps and velcro now, so it's just like a disposable. The cloth diapers fit to baby, they have a waterproof band that fits around babies legs and and removable liner that holds everything until the diaper change. Making a quick and easy change! You do have to change the liners more often then a disposable, depending on the brand you buy and how much your baby pees or poos, but a baby needs a diaper change wether more often or not, and more diaper changes equals less wet and less diaper rash! Which means no applying creams and taking more time! So as for conveinent goes, Cloth 3 - Disposables 0

What about the smell? Cloth diapers come off the babies bottom and into a bin, so It's going to start to smell. Unless you have a "wet bag." You take the wet diapers and throw them straight into that bag, zip it up and there is no smell! When It is time to wash the diapers you unzip the bag and throw the wet bag all of the soiled diapers straight into the wash! The diapers and the bag is clean all in one wash! easy peasy. But what about poopy diapers? You don't throw the poop straight into the wash too do you? Yes...on new borns that you breast feed you can throw them straight into the wash because there poo is still the runny water-based poo. When they start getting solids thats when the fun begins, and you invest in a Diaper Sprayer! You take the poopy diaper into the bathroom where the diaper sprayer is attatched to the toilet, spray off the poop into the toilet and throw the diaper in wet bag and that's it! So easy! Cloth 4 - Disposables 0!

What about the wash? Don't you have to do a lot more washing, and doesn't that run up water bills and electric bills plus the cost of detergent? This is the overall fall of cloth diapers. I have an HE Front Loading Washer and Dryer. My washer and dryer are AWESOME, seriously. Go down to my laundry room, put your hand in the washer and spin the inside and my washer will turn on and run. Yep, my Washer uses a lot less power than any other washer I've seen. I can wash clothes every day or once a week and I have never seen my bill go up, ever! It stays at the minimum payment. So washing my cloth diapers doesn't worry me. But I will let you know later down the road about washing and wether I see my water bill and what not go up. Now as far as detergent goes this is where I get worried. Cloth diapers and detergent have a lot of downside reviews. You have to find out what works for your diapers, and look at what is preferred and use it. As far as drying goes, most cloth diapers dry super fast with just air drying. I have a clothes line outside for summer because sun is amazing to whiten clothes! Or I can throw them in the dryer which is just as easy and faster! But with disposables, they just go in the garbage. So they win this. Disposables 1 - Cloth 4!

So Cloth Diapers have won, but what about the money? I really didn't want this to be a big factor if Cloth diapering is something I really felt strongly about but it is a factor. If everybody raves about cloth diapers and how much money they save then why are they so much money for just one diaper and how does that save money? Well it doesnt up front, but it does down-the-road. So buying a package of cloth diapers is a lot more expensive then disposables but after a few months of using cloth over Disposables guess who starts to pay for themselves? Yep CLOTH! Cloth diapers are also made-to-last. Many moms say that they have used there Cloth diapers on multiple kids. So If you start doing the math you can see where Disposable diapers add up where unless you go overboard with cloth diapers they pay for themselves (:

So my advice, before Cloth diapering. DO YOUR RESEARCH. See what you think you think you'll like and make a budget on how much you want to spend and don't go over it. Don't buy too much of one item because you might not like it after you get it, even though you can resell for the same price, or more money. Look for discounts, coupons, and sales on line! It could save your wallet and make you feel better about cloth diapering. :)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

The 5 year plan that turned into a 1 year plan!

I'm excited and scared with how fast things are moving. Our "wait 5 years to have kids" didn't work out exactly how we expected but now I can't deny how happy I am that it is going the way it is.

I am 26 or 28 weeks pregnant... My due date has changed according to the ultrasound so we may be having him a little earlier than we expected! But I am in my last stretch of pregnancy. The Third trimester has hit with vengeance that is for sure!

My second Trimester was AMAZING! But it went by sooo fast. I felt great through all of it, I could eat. I had no aches. I started to feel my son kick and wiggle a lot more. I exercised and even did some snowboarding! My weight gain is back on track, still not where it should be but healthy enough we don't have to worry about it any more! As my second trimester pulled to an end I started feeling a little bit crummy. I had a cough and I was exhausted, but I just figured it was a simple cold. I put off going to the doctor until my monthly appointment, even though Ryan had begged me to go see him a few days early. The day of the appointment we got to the doctors office and It was full! My doctor was on-call at the ER so we had to wait for him to return, I thought about rescheduling but knew that Ry wouldn't allow it because of me feeling a little under the weather. Three hours later the doctor was back! He came in and talked to me for a few minutes, checked out our little man and everything was good, he then checked my ears, throat, breathing which I thought was weird because he hasn't done that kind of a check-up on me since I was just a kid! Then he wrote down something on a prescription pad and said, "I want you to take this for your Bronchitis." and I tuned out after that. BRONCHITIS?! How could that be possible, I wasn't feeling THAT sick. Well The next day I realized that I really was feeling that sick and had just put it off before. I had a horrible sounding cough and my chest, throat, and ears had been killing me but I thought it was just a perk of third trimester. guess not.

As of the third trimester perks;

Cravings. They have got the best of me! I give into them too because I believe they are somewhat healthy :-) but I haven't had any "weird" cravings yet, like that famous pickles and ice cream. Instead I've been craving Chinese food(specifically Wok On Wheels' Sweet and Sour Chicken), acidic fruits like Oranges and Strawberries, carrots, salads, salsa, Tigers Blood icee, smoothies, and cheese. So the icee has a lot of sugar but it's not summer so I havent had one! Good thing it's not too or I would probably be having three a day! ;-)

Back aches. Just started a week ago! And oh my back does hurt! I can usually ignore it but I know in the last few weeks that will probably be my biggest complaint!

Breast growth. Okay this might be TMI but it's a part of pregnancy. And it is definitely happening! Seriously none of my shirts fit because of my breasts. My bras are all tight now. I've gone up 2cup sizes! Ya you can let your chin drop because I'm just as shocked at how much they change and I haven't even began to produce milk yet! 8-O

Weight gain. At the end of pregnancy I should be at a healthy weight of 175lbs... Wow that's a big number writing it out ;-) . Reaching that limit may be pushing it a little since now I'm back to just over my PRE-pregnancy weight.

Braxton Hicks Contractions. Hmm my favorite. They sure do come A LOT but they don't hurt, just make my stomach feel awkward :-)

Shortness of breath. Okay I might be having this more because of my bronchitis but it still SUCKS! Walking up the stairs and breathing like i just ran a marathon gets people looking at me a little funny. So I'm hoping he drops down off my lungs soon because not being able to breath is a real pain. Although Getting kicked in the ribs is so much worse!

Heart burn. Haven't had horrible heart burn yet! Keeping my fingers crossed!

Swelling. None! My shoes still fit. My ring is still loose! Luckily my legs aren't swollen and My PRE-pregnancy pants still fit. It's Just my shirts that are running a little too tight lately but my belly swelling isn't really something I can do anything about :-)

Spider veins, varicose veins, hemorrhoids. My veins are appearing brighter but not causing any problems and only in my stomach and chest area. No hemorrhoids and PRAYING I don't get any ever!!

So there are some fun and not so fun symptoms. Xander is weighing in at about(estimated from the ultrasound) just over 2lbs(that was last week) I can definitely feel him wiggling around tons and tons though! My favorite thing is watching Ryan's face light up every time he gets to feel his son wiggle around but I can tell things are starting to get a little cramped for the little one because he hasn't been moving as much as he was two weeks ago! Our nursery is on the drawing board... Literally! We will start painting This weekend and I am wayy excited to put my art skills to the test! We are doing Horton Hears A Who bedroom. I have already drawn Horton on one of the walls so we just need to paint him on. Finish the "Whoville town" on one of the walls. I need to draw out Katie, and Morton. The clouds. The hills and we need to put up the trees! So excited to see the finished result! And pictures will be posted as soon as it is finished! :-) only a few more months!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Something you crave!

This one is fun because I'm soooo pregnant! Actually I'm 28 weeks so only 12 more weeks to go!!! Ahh scary! They keep telling me I'm going to deliver early too so now I'm extra nervous! But back to the topic...

I have been craving three things this pregnancy really bad(actually four but its not the season for snow cones so a tigers blood snow cone is out of the question because I can't find a good tigers blood mix to go with my snow cone maker I have here :-( )

First, Wok On Wheels! Chinese food in general actually but I am so so in love with WOKs sweet and sour chicken! Mmmhmmm it is Heaven!

Second, chips and salsa! Seriously it is my go-to food which is weird because I've never been much of a salsa eater! I'll stomach it if I'm desperate but now I want it all the time!

Third, FRUIT! Mostly strawberries and oranges though! I LOVE fruit! I always have but a middle of the night craving hits and I will head straight for the strawberries :-)

Monday, January 16, 2012

The challenge.

So do you know those 30 day blog challenges? 90 day blog challenges? 365 day blog challenges? The challenges that I totally suck at? Well I'm starting one again... BECAUSE, I now have an iPhone with the blogger app! I can upload pictures, write, and everything you would do on a normal computer but I'm doing it on my cell phone, because I don't have Internet! Yep that's right! I would like to thank all of the trees in preston for that, I don't have a "clear view" of a tower so the only Internet I would be allowed to get is dial-up. Which is never going to happen because my phone is watt faster! So to start off my blog challenge I would like to tell you 10 facts about me, but, not only am I going to tell you about me I'm going to tell you 10 facts about my husband! Yayy! So here we goooo!

Ryan

1) He was a very small premie baby (:
2) He loves Dodge vehicles
3) He has really cool eye color!
4) He asked me on our first date 6years ago!
5) He loves his dogs
6) He served a mission in Brasil and loved every minute of it!
7) Because of his mission he speaks Portuguese fluently. & he will switch from English to Portuguese in the middle of a sentence without realizing it.
8) He is more excited to be a dad than anyone I have ever met!
9) He has a huge heart!
10) He loves to be outdoors!

Me, myself, and I!

1) I am pregnant with our first child!
2) I have NEVER been so happy!
3) I love all animals except for birds!
4) I am a snowboarding junkie
5) I have loved Ryan since I was 15 years old and I'm so glad he is my best friend!
6) I'm scared to be a mom
7) I love Dodge trucks more than anyone I know (:
8) I don't like to hate. I only Hate maybe a handful of people and it took A LOT of work for those people to get put onto that list.
9) I care wayyy too much about people who care nothing about me!
10) I could eat fruit for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy!