A Tale of Two Diaper Bags

Is it crazy for me to think that a diaper bag could change my life?  Because I seriously think I've found the one to do it.  I honestly have visions of this diaper bag preventing poopy diaper explosions, toddler tantrums, and mommy meltdowns.  Even if it only prevents one of the three, it will be worth it's weight in gold!

I have never owned a diaper bag before.  Well, strike that, I actually have, but I'll get to that in a minute.  I have always just used larger purses and put our necessary accoutrements in there.  And that worked alright.  My favorite was my LeSportSac bag.  {I love me some LeSportSac!}  But, it really didn't have enough pockets to hold all of our stuff and my stuff would get mixed in with Olivia's stuff and it just became sort of disorganized.

It's super cute though, right?

So, I knew that when Baby #2 came along I was going to need something that would work for me.  Well, remember when I ordered all of the new crib bedding from Pottery Barn Kids with our rewards money?  Well, the nice gentleman on the phone sort of upselled {upsold?} me into buying a diaper bag from them.  So, I ended up with this:

The minute I opened it up out of the box, I knew I had made a mistake.  Pink and green is cute for Olivia's room, but it's not so cute for me to carry on my shoulder.  I am not that preppy.  Fortunately, I was going to be visiting my parents soon after it arrived and figured I would return it to the PBK store near them.  Unfortunately, when I tried to do that they informed me that the bag had been purchased on sale and couldn't be returned.  Grrr.  I listed it on craigslist and had no luck selling it there either.  I tried to fall in love with it, but it just wasn't happening.  The pockets weren't very functional and it just didn't work for me.

Enter the  Skip Hop Madison Diaper Bag {in steel}.  Mom and I went to Babies R Us after dropping Michele off at the airport on Tuesday to pick up some diapers.  {They were doing a reward where you buy two boxes of diapers and get a $20 gift card.}  We wandered around the store for a few minutes and I set my eyes on this beauty.

And, I'm pretty sure I heard angels singing in the background.

The price tag was a little more than I wanted to spend on a diaper bag, but knowing that I had about $75 in gift cards gave me that extra push that I needed.  Plus, this thing is a total life changer, right?

I went home and immediately started organizing the bag!  I seriously love everything about it.  First off, it doesn't look like a full-on diaper bag.  {Or does it?}  I love the color combination and the fact that it will go with anything {because, you know, I'm totally in to dressing like a fashion model these days}.  The inside is roomy enough to hold all of our essentials - I have a separate pocket for Sydney's diapers/wipes and one for Olivia's diapers/wipes.  There are also two inside, side pockets that I have dedicated to a change of clothes for each of the girls.  I can keep my camera, blankets, burp cloths, snacks and my hooter hider in the middle section of the purse for easy access.  I love the front three pockets because it holds all of MY stuff.  The front two hold my wallet and iPhone and my sunglasses. The long pocket holds my Vera Bradley wallet {thanks Irma} where I keep all of my coupons and gift cards, a notebook and pen.

The two side pockets are still pretty empty, but I put my keys in one of them when we are out.  And, there is a pocket on the back side that holds the cleanable diaper pad.  Also, there are straps for hanging the bag on the stroller and hooked onto that I have a pacifier pod that my mom scored for $1.99 at Target.  Ya'll, I'm gettin' organized!

And, now that you know all about my diaper bag, you are free to have a wonderful weekend.  You're welcome.

Happy Friday from the Valley of the Sun

Strolling Through the Park One Day

As I mentioned in my post earlier this morning, I really have been wanting to kick the exercising up a notch during this pregnancy.  When I was pregnant with Olivia, I went to the gym at least a few times a week and did cardio and weights.  I also did a prenatal yoga class once a week.  Times have obviously changed quite a bit and heading out to the gym or a yoga class one evening a week just isn't happening.  I'm guessing that's what happens when you have a toddler at home!

I have been lucky enough to have a few friends who enjoy getting out and walking with their kiddos and so we've scheduled in a few walk/playdates, but nothing on a regular basis.  I am really going to work hard this last trimester to walk 3-4 times a week.  Losing this baby weight is NOT going to be easy with a toddler AND a newborn at home, so maybe a bit more exercise on the front end of this pregnancy AND establishing a walking routine with Olivia will help in the long run.  Better late than never, right?

If you remember, Olivia has never really done very well in strollers.  She does a great job in the Chariot, especially when it is moving quickly while being pulled by a bicycle.  But, the girl does not like being confined.  That is, until she met her match with the Baby Jogger City Select.  As a present to her for her birthday and as a gift to the new baby, my brother got us this awesome new stroller.

The coolest thing about this stroller is that it can be a single or a double stroller based on your needs.  So, for now, we obviously just use it with Olivia.  But, when the new baby comes along, we can add the car seat adapter and push both of them around in the same stroller.  Yes, it will be more weight to push, but it won't be some big, wide load coming through.  {We'll save that for my rear-end.}

Look at all the ways the stroller can be configured! 

I love that the girls will be able to face each other if they want.  And, now sometimes Olivia will choose to face me on our walks instead of facing out.

I'm not saying that Olivia never fusses or wants to get out of the stroller - she still does sometimes.  But, she definitely stays in this one for much longer stretches and really seems to love riding in it.  Oh, and it is super easy to fold up and doesn't take up nearly as much room as the Chariot.  We still use that one for biking, but it wasn't very practical for lugging around to different trails/walking dates as we had to almost completely disassemble it to make it fit in the back of the car.  I still need to get the parent console which holds your drink, keys, etc -- the thing with this stroller is that just about everything comes separately -- but we seriously have been so happy with it.

She's demonstrating how to use the shade!  Love that girl.

So, a big, huge, GINORMOUS thank you to my brother for gifting us this amazing stroller!  {And, sorry it has taken me so long to blog about it!}  We love, love, LOVE it!  And, we look forward to more fun walks/playground adventures like we had this morning.

Olivia saw these golfers on the golf course and thought one of them was Poppy...until he shanked his ball into the water.  Then she knew better!

Happy Tuesday from the Central Coast!

Here we are about to go down the double slide together!

My Friend Craig + Other Random Musings

Let me preface this blog by saying that I am not a huge fan of children's toys.  I'm not sure if it is because most of the time they are pretty obnoxious looking {and sometimes sounding} or because of the inevitable mess they will make all over our house.  Or, it could be because their life span in terms of excitement to Olivia can be all of five minutes or the fact that she has just as much fun with a sack of pinto beans as she does a $40 toy.  At any rate, I haven't bought Olivia any toys in ages.  I won't bat an eye when it comes to spending $15-20 on a new outfit, but that much on a toy?  Not doin' it.  Olivia's bookshelves are full of books and I'll still get her new ones because I know that books last a lifetime, and while the toys will probably also last a lifetime, it just won't be in our home.  Get to the point, Amanda.  Well, after watching Olivia have a ball playing with the little Fisher-Price house and figurines at Cafe Andreini, I decided she needed one of her very own.  Until, that is, I discovered how much those little suckers go for!  They are not cheap - even the used ones at the local consignment shop were going for $25.  So, I scoured craigslist and found a F-P Busy Day House along with some random figurines and animals for $15.  Now, that's my kind of bargain.

I went up this morning to pick it up and couldn't wait for Olivia's nap to get it all cleaned up.  I was amazed at what all was included in the goods.  I hadn't really done any research on the Busy Day House - I basically thought I was getting a regular plastic doll house, but this one is amazing!  The doorbell rings, the toilet flushes, the phone rings, the animals in the yard make noises and when you slide the window of the bedroom it either plays a lullaby or a rooster crows.  And, it all works!  I immediately looked it up on Amazon and found out it was priced at $75!  So crazy.  I also got a ton of other stuff as well - 16 animals, 4 vehicles, 11 figurines {including Noah (from the Ark), a baby and 3 old school Little People}, beds, chairs and baby furniture.  It's in perfect condition and only needed a little bit of cleaning up and sanitizing.  And, I'm pretty sure I just scored the Fisher-Price Circus for $3.  I love Craigslist.  {But, I am going to hate this mess!}

The best part about it is that Olivia LOVES it!  She spent most of the evening playing with it and giggled like a school girl at the doorbell ringing. {She loves doorbells!}  She saw the little baby, called him Baby Jesus and cradled him in her arms.  It was beyond adorable.

Such concentration.

Just what every house needs - a rhinoceros!

Olivia kept asking for the hat and then put the baby's bassinet on Maggie's head.

{Yes, I've learned their names.}

Look at Baby Jesus in the high chair!

I can't let this entire post be about the toys I scored off of Craigslist, so let me fill you in on a few other random things.

-- David made us a ham on Sunday night, so I'm back to figuring out what to do with 6 pounds of leftover ham.  I've already made one egg casserole and will be making a quiche or two tomorrow.  I'm guessing David will be filling every spare tupperware container with his dad's bean soup.

-- Olivia got to Skype with her Grandma and Grandpa Michelson for the first time tonight.  It's so wonderful that Olivia is able to spend time with her grandparents since they are so far away.

-- Last night was one of the best night's sleep I have had in a while -- despite being woken up at 3am by yipping coyotes who were apparently on the hillside behind our neighbors' house {across the street}.  I needed that sleep since I was up with Olivia on Sunday night until almost 4:30 in the morning.  And, you remember how my Saturday night was.  

-- It seems I am not the only one who LOVES Olive Garden salad dressing.  Olivia can't seem to get enough salad these days {and she never ate it before}.

-- Olivia got dressed up in her tutu dress this morning and we sent a gazillion picture messages to my friend Michele who is currently braving the Snowpocalypse in Chicago.  I feel bad for my midwest friends, many of whom have lost power, and vow not to complain when it takes until 10 or so for it to warm up here.  To be honest though, I am a little jealous of them right now.  I miss snuggling up in front of the fireplace, watching it snow and making soups and grilled cheese sandwiches to warm up.  

-- I went through a box of my school supplies tonight and found several apology notes from some of my kids for their bad behavior.  My favorite was from a 6th grade student who had stolen my cellphone out of my desk and blamed it on a girl saying she had him "in check" and was getting her "3rd grade revenge."  Ahhh, the things I put up with as a teacher.

-- Olivia "bonked" her head this morning and came over for me to kiss it.  She must have hurt it pretty bad because she was really crying.  She reached into my robe and put her mouth right on my you know what.  She looked up at me after about ONE second and said, "Empty!"  Yup, pretty sure they are bone.dry.

--  This is my 301st blog posting.  It's only taken me about 2 hours to put this one together.  Imagine how many hours of my life I can't get back?  Ahhh, it's worth it though!

Happy February 1 from the Central Coast!

Little Miss Chatty McChatterson

Olivia has been extra talkative these days and today I was able to catch her on video playing in her exersaucer just chatting away. Funny how her favorite toy is the $4 rattle that I lay in the tray for her to grab onto!

And, of all the songs that her toys play, this chameleon one is by far our favorite.

Move Over, Martha! There's a New Crafter in Town!

Alright, so I am not quite Martha Stewart, as much as I strive to be her. Well, not be her so much, because her dogs are annoying and let's not forget that she's been to JAIL. But, man, can that woman do some crafts!

When I first found out I was pregnant, before anyone else knew, I stifled my morning bouts of queasiness with copious amounts of buttered toast and would lay in front of the tv just waiting for projectile vomit to come out of my mouth. Thank goodness it never did, and as a result, I was able to check out some Martha episodes in the process. My favorite project that she did was making adorable dog appliqued onesies. Let me just tell you, I became inspired! And, so I set off to make some of my own. Fortunately, her website usually has the instructions online for most of the projects and I was able to get right to work. Oh wait, except for the fact that I didn't have fabric, onesies, any other materials, and most importantly...a sewing machine OR the skills to sew! Dave and I found a cute fabric store in Berkeley and got some really cool fabrics and almost all the necessary things to make the onesies. I spent the next few days getting dog patterns and working on the onesies for various friends who had small babies or were expecting as well. I did all the work myself and outsourced the sewing to a lady here in town. (Since then, I've gotten my very own sewing machine and am on my way to learning how to do the stitches myself!)

Here are a couple shots of my work:

My muse...Caroline, sporting her Airdale Terrier, Ruby.

I've also made a Golden Retriever, a Labrador Retriever, a Cairn Terrier, and yes, Jill, a Pomeranian. Unfortunately, the Pomeranian looks a little bit like a pufferfish, but you'll probably still get it! Ha, the one thing I haven't made is an Italian Greyhound onesie!

In addition to sewing and crafting baby clothes, I tried my hand at painting last month. And, I'm not talking about painting walls...I've done that for years. I wanted some cute little animals to go on the nursery wall that would match Peanut's bedding. But, I couldn't find anything. Not to worry, I would just make them myself. Even though both my husband AND best friend laughed when they saw them, I think they are okay enough to put up. And, don't even get me started on how frustrating they were to do. Note to self: I am NOT an accomplished arteest!

Her bedding

Notice how these pictures are much smaller than the onesie pictures? HAHA.

It's No Wonder He's Been So Antsy Lately

Could it be because he's been in our baby's new car seat and stroller, her crib, and now her new papasan? Sorry Magnum, we need to make sure they work!

Pickles and Ice Cream? No, I want Lulu the Lamb Stuffed Chair

I know that I have blogged about a few of my food cravings (yet, somehow, there are more egg posts than Cheeseburger in Paradise ones), but I really have not had those weird, pregnancy cravings that you hear women (and their ever-supportive husbands) talking about. I have pregnant friends - I won't name names - who get a craving for something and just HAVE TO HAVE IT. Right then. Right there. And, their husband better just go and get it for them. There was one time where I was kind of craving an Oreo Frosty from Wendy's, but I think I played it up to be more of a craving than it really was so I could convince David to find the nearest Wendy's and let me have it. I wanted it, I just wasn't going to flip out if I didn't get it.

So, instead of food cravings, I'm having baby product cravings. And by cravings, I mean I am becoming slightly OBSESSIVE about these baby products.

It all started when Dave and I decided to have our wedding photographer, Daniel, take belly shots of me....that kind of rolled into, "Oh, and we'll want newborn photographs too." Thus, began my search for examples of the two on the world wide web! For those of you brave enough, take a gander at an example of how we WON'T be posing. If you are over 18 and don't mind seeing some bare skin, click here. But, don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyway, after I found some other examples of pregnancy photos, I moved on to the really precious newborn shots from various photographers. And, that's where I found the props! As if the babies weren't adorable enough, they had to be photographed with some of the cutest things imaginable.

First, I got on a kick with these little baby cocoons. (I even tried to make one, but let me tell you, knitting scarves is about as much as I can do with yarn.)

Something is seriously wrong with you if you don't think that Peanut would be the cutest thing wrapped up in this cocoon.

Well, that search led me to this picture:

No, it wasn't the cocoon I wanted in that picture, it was the vintage scale! I have searched and scoured the internet trying to find this scale. Oh, I've seen hundreds of scales, just none of them as cute as the one in this picture. But, don't worry, I'm still searching!

So, after I spent hours searching for scales and cocoons, I focused my attention onto knit caps and am pretty sure this is the one I'm going to get. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Etsy?

Internet, can I get a collective, "Ahhhhhhh!!!"


At this point, I'm sure you are all wondering about the post title, scratching your head and saying, "Who or what is this Lulu the Lamb?" Well, folks, it's just the latest in my "cravings." I saw this stuffed chair used as a prop in a newborn photography session and really wanted it. I found it a few weeks ago and tried to hint to Grandma Cooper about how Baby Girl wanted it, and upon realizing that I wasn't going to get it from her, I went today to order it myself. Well, Babystyle is going out of business, so their internet sales have stopped. I found a store in Sherman Oaks that has one (30% off!), but they won't ship it, and Sherman Oaks is just a little too far, especially since David thinks that Lulu is ugly. Judge for yourselves:





I know...he's cold-hearted! So, I am totally stretching it here and am begging Michele to ask her District Manager (who lives in LA and oversees an Aveda store at the mall where this Babystyle store is) to pick it up for me and transport it up to Santa Barbara the next time he comes....which just happens to be tomorrow! Even if I have to wait until he comes again next month, I think we'll be okay....as long as I know we have it.

And, besides, with these cravings, as opposed to those of the Ding Dong and Frosty variety, not only am I stimulating the economy, but I'm also doing my part in keeping the scale I have to step on every two weeks from making huge jumps to the right!

Because Practice Makes Perfect

Thursday night, David and I put together our car seat and stroller travel system. (Thankfully, it only took all of 10 minutes!) Saturday morning, David decided to take it outside for a little practice run. Check out who played the role of Baby Girl!

Don't you love how David's outfit matches the travel system? We had a tough time deciding on a color. We wanted it to match the interior of the car, be usable again in the future if we have a boy, and match Peanut's pink outfits, and I guess Daddy's outfits too!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Don't Ask Me How I Got it All Back on the Plane!

I just got back last night from an AWESOME trip to Arizona where I got to spend some time with my parents and my brother. We had a great time shopping, shopping and shopping for baby stuff. (And, by "we" I mean my mom and me!) Alright, we also did some other stuff, like eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, see the new 007 movie, attend a Hee Haw show (the equivalent of waterboarding torture), make a baby blanket (to be blogged about later) and have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner together!

Mom and I (and we even convinced my brother to go with us a couple times) got a TON of baby clothes for our little Nutter Butter last weekend! Mom and I started off at a craft show at their church and then headed to the mall and checked out a couple baby stores and Pottery Barn Kids where I found a cute baby quilt on sale, but didn't end up getting. We ended up randomly going into a store that was going out of business and all of the Carter's clothes were 40% off! We just couldn't resist a sale like that. We got so many cute outfits and blankets. (For all you ultrasound doubters, many of them are pretty gender neutral and would be just as cute if she turns out to be a he!)

On Saturday, Mom and I begged Ryan to take us to Mesa with his iphone GPS to a couple baby boutiques to look at bedding. I was pretty set in my mind that I wanted to go with pink and chocolate brown (or as Dave would say "our wedding colors" even though our wedding colors did NOT have pink in them at all!). I also didn't plan on buying anything...just looking. The first place we went was just pink overload. They had every shade of pink with frills and ruffles and it was all SO NOT ME! Not to mention, the cute 4-piece bedding sets were all around $500! I couldn't believe it. We went to another store and found some stuff that was kind of cute. The sales lady was extremely helpful and told me about how they could custom design bedding if we didn't find anything that we liked. A custom designed set for TWO pieces started out at $550. Sorry folks, but there is just too much stuff to buy for a baby and spending that much money on bedding was just something I couldn't justify...no matter how cute it was!

Mom and I went to a back wall in the store that was selling Carter's brand bumpers and crib sheets and bed skirts. They were all around $30 each. I told Mom that my plan was to get a pink bumper, a pink and white striped bed skirt, and a cute pink or chocolate brown sheet and be done with it. That night, I had dreams of baby clothes and baby bedding and woke up at 5:45 thinking how the cute polka dot baby quilt from PB Kids would tie in the bedding perfectly. When Mom finally woke up, I told her my plan and begged her to go back to the mall when it opened.

We headed in to PB Kids and I grabbed the quilt. Well, then we started grabbing more quilts and looking at how cute they were. We found the cutest one ever that was pale green and yellow and had cute little fuzzy bunnies and sheep and ducks on it. When we opened it up and looked at the whole quilt, Mom said, "Amanda, it reminds me of your baby quilt." (The baby quilt I slept with all the way through college that is now literally held together by threads.) Well, that sold me...and it turned out that the bumper and bed skirt were also there and they were all on sale! I found 3 different crib sheets that would match and decided that we were going to go with it! If David didn't like it, we could always take it back.

So, Mom and I checked out and when the girl rang it up, we found out that it was on sale even more. I ended up getting $300 worth of adorable bedding for about $120! Mom and I were on such a high from our shopping, it was ridiculous. I came home and added up all of our purchases and what we should have spent and I realized that I saved 56% overall. So, my explanation to David was that I saved MORE than I spent! You can't beat it.

I had to borrow a small carry-on bag to put all the clothes in and then somehow managed to fit all of the bedding and other things I had purchased in my big bag. There was no way I could leave any of the stuff behind!

I showed David all of the goodies I got and he was such a trooper about it. I know guys don't get as excited about all of that (proven by my dad and brother this weekend when my brother secretly un-paused and muted the football game behind me and watched it the entire time I was showing them all of our purchases), but he was really great about showing some excitement! And, he LOVED the bedding.

I'll post some pictures sometime in the future when we get the nursery all put together, but that will be a few months down the road! We meet with the contractor tomorrow night to see his plans for putting up french doors and enclosing the living room/den and converting it to a nursery! We definitely have some work to do in the next five months!

All of the clothes, blankets and bedding laid out on Mom's king-sized bed! (Some of them are gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Cooper and Uncle Ryan.)

Sorry Grandpa Michelson, looks like Peanut is going to be a CNN fan!

The CNN shirts were gifts from my brother. When I broke the news to him that we were pregnant, I told him that he would have to see if the CNN store sold onesies. He said, "Oh yeah, for sure......what's a onesie??" A big thank you to Hala for helping him pick the shirts and bib out! He also got Peanut a little stuffed lamb that can be attached to the crib and plays calming sounds like the ocean or the mother's heartbeat. After we got the bedding, we realized how perfect the little lamb would be with it!

So, a big thanks to my family for putting up with the baby frenzy this weekend! I had such a great time getting to hang out with you all. Thanks again, Ryan, for driving us around on Saturday. I'm glad you had your iphone to entertain you! We can't wait to see you guys at Christmas!

Do you want paper or plastic?

That question has always been so hard for me. Paper is bulky and if it's not recycled, then it fills up landfills. Plastic bags can't be recycled, but are a little less bulky and can be reused for other things like bathroom trash can liners, pooper scoopers, etc. That problem has been solved since I found these cute Envirosax bags that hold what two plastic bags would normally hold and can be reused over and over again.

So, now that that dilemma has been solved...on to my new one. Cloth or disposables? A couple of months ago, Dave approached me with the, "So, you're going to use cloth diapers, right?" To which I promptly laughed in his face. Yeah, Mr. I Don't Plan on Changing a Diaper, I'm going to swirl poopy diapers in the toilet and try to fold and pin some archaic piece of cloth onto a squirming baby. No thanks.

About two weeks ago, my friend (and other birthing partner) Michele attended an Aveda conference in Los Angeles. She called me on her break and said, "I only have a minute, but I really want to urge you to use cloth diapers." WHAT?? Was this some sort of conspiracy against the new mother? Have they forgotten that I'll still have to wait on my husband hand and foot? She called back later that evening and tried to plead her case.

I'm sure some of you have thought about the difference, at least environmentally, on cloth and disposable diapers. The debate is ongoing. Disposables can take up to 500 years to biodegrade in a landfill and the fecal matter in the diapers can leak into groundwater. The manufacturing of the diapers also causes pollution and uses natural resources. Cloth diapers, however, have to be washed and sometimes have to be run twice through the rinse cycles. Also, some of the detergents that are used may not be good for the environment. And, if you use a diaper service, the trucks on the road use fuel.

So, that's just the environmental aspect of the diapers. The cost for cloth diapers, especially the ones that aid in convenience, are very pricey. Trying to find information online as to which is cheaper, however, cloth usually comes up the winner.

Another factor I learned about during my research was about all of the chemicals that are put into the diapers. I scare easily. Really easily. And, the thought of scary chemicals being so close to our baby's skin scares me. But, hello...how many people out there wore disposable diapers as babies and turned out just fine? Probably A LOT. I know I did! (Well, part of my research was asking my mom what she used and it was both, in case you were wondering.)

Ugh, but what about the poop? Seriously folks. I will be the one changing all of these diapers and my big question was what to do with the poop. Turns out, there are some creative ways of disposing of that nasty stuff. There are biodegradable inserts that can catch it and can then be flushed down the toilet. There are also little hoses that you can attach to your toilet that allows you to hose off the diaper before washing. Now, I know, neither of those sounds like picking daisies, but it's definitely better than swirling a dirty diaper around in toilet water.

Hearing Dave and Michele (two people who had never had kids) push the cloth diapers, I had to go to a couple of experienced moms.* Dave's sister Marissa pretty much said no...and with TWO kids, I can completely understand. My friend Amy's response when I asked her if she considered using cloth diapers? "#^#& no!" So, there we had it. The vote was two to two!

So, after A LOT of thought, and a lot of research, I have decided that I will use a combination of both cloth and disposables. As long as we are around the house, we'll use cloth.** When we travel or are out and about for the day, we'll use disposables. (Sorry, no amount of scare or love for the environment will get me to carry poopy diapers around town with me.) And, if the Grandmas and Grandpas will allow it, when we stay in Arizona and Oregon for visits, we'll use cloth there too.

So, if there are any moms (new or old) out there reading this who can give me some advice on diapers (cloth or disposable) I am willing to take it! As far as disposables go, what's the best? And, the cloth diaper industry can be extremely confusing. There are all types out there -- ones that are all encompassing and have the covers built in so there is no need for both the diaper and the protector. Most are even made with velcro so there is no need to fuss with the old pins. Did I mention that some of them are REALLY cute?!

An example of an all-in-one cloth diaper.

An example of a super cute cloth diaper cover.



*I am in no way, shape or form judging the moms out there who only used disposables.

**If Peanut doesn't like cloth, we may have a whole new dilemma!

This Just In...

The FedEx man stopped by today and brought something that I should have blogged about yesterday!

Dave's cousin, Brianna, is a designer for Nike. She is always hooking us up with passes to the Nike store in Portland where we always leave with loads of goodies. Well, naturally, she wanted to deck our baby out with Nike gear too and sent us these adorable Nike shoes.

Thanks Brianna (and Michael too)!

My Favorite Things

Since finding out we are pregnant, we've received several little gifts from friends and family. The coolest thing about getting the gifts isn't just getting the gifts themselves (I'm not going to lie...I like presents!), but it's also seeing people get so excited about our having a baby.

Today I thought I would share some pictures of the adorable little things we've gotten.

These baby socks were given to us from Dave's sister and her fiance, and his mom and Bill.

My parents got our little peanut an IU onesie and little IU socks. We may be living in California, but this baby is going to be a Hoosier for sure!

Dave's mom got us a whole bag full of duck-themed baby clothes, including the little stuffed duck, the baby blanket and the yellow sleep sack.





Our good friends Terri and Bob surprised us with a Serenity Star maternity pillow. Terri owns Moonlight Slumber which makes state of the art baby and toddler mattresses and maternity pillows. Her mattresses have been purchased by all sorts of famous people, like Minnie Driver, Maggie Gyllenhal, and Gwen Stefani. On a less famous note, she has also allowed me to give them as shower gifts to my friends Cole Healy and Tara Moter. Cole's little baby, Olin, loves his mattress.



I've already had a few sleepless nights and I'll attribute those to nerves and anxiety, and maybe even an extra-snuggly husband. I know when I start getting bigger, this pillow is going to be a lifesaver! Also, there are so many uses for the pillow post-pregnancy. The large pillow can be unzipped and inside are 3 separate pillows. The curved pillow can be used for nursing and can also be used to prop the baby up on its tummy or its back. The other two bolsters are the length of king-sized pillows and can be used as a body pillow or bolsters on our bed. Oh, and did I mention that Dave wants to use it too!





This is the Serenity Star maternity pillow. Sorry, no chance of me modeling this yet!


Dave and I are so thankful for all of these gifts, and also for all the people who are showing their support for us through their kind words and enthusiasm. We are so glad that you are as excited as we are!


**Also, a special thanks to Jill who taught me how to do the hyperlinks and how to make the pictures look nice and professional!