I get by with a lil help from my friends

This has been the tune of the evening.
We found out last week that my father was laid off. When he moved back from Canada, he stayed with us till he got back on his feet. It was a huge accomplishment at that point in time to say "Hey! Dad moved out!"
So after a couple of days of talking, Brandon and I decided to see if he would be interested in staying with us. Seems like a major step back in some ways.
I felt bad for him. He was kind of blind sided by the lay off. But . . . it's beneficial for all of us.
We get help with the bills, and super fast internet. He gets a cheaper place to live, and to be around the grand-kidlets more. Oh yeah, we also gain a built spur of the moment babysitter.
My father is a strong silent type. After a l-o-n-g awkward silence filled conversation, I believe he is going to move in.
We're going to have a busy couple of weeks. We have to move Brye out of his room into Freedom's. We have to put some of the stuff from Freedom's room into storage. Then the fun of moving all my dad's stuff in.
I seriously hopes he decides to put 98% of his belongings into storage.

And now for some random-ness and the fact that I love old family pictures. Here is a picture of my dad, probably from the 70's

Friday Fluff Talk: Fluffy Mail and Prepping Diapers

Nothing is as exciting as getting new diapers in the mail.
Well... Other than a check you weren't expecting. Sound crazy? It comes with the territory.
Its kind of one of those "You gotta be a cloth diapering mommy" things.
The down side?
New diapers generally have to be prepped. Its not hard to do. Just do a cycle with some detergent, then dry ... And repeat (minus the detergent) ... Like 5-10 times. Some materials like hemp may need more cycles.

Why the need to prep?
To remove the natural oils and chemicals. This also makes the diapers fluff up and become absorbent.
Prefolds will quilt up, and seem to shrink. I was surprised when I bought a dozen  regular prefolds. Brand new, those jokers were HUGE!

I have been known to skip the whole prepping thing because I was so eager to try out a diaper. I don't recommend that. You will usually end up with leaks. Or the phenomenon of a kid knowing that they're wearing a new diaper and pooping in it within 5 minutes.

Family Traditions

Tomorrow is one of the "major" holidays for my family.
Thanksgiving.
My husband says that it's his favorite because it's all about the eating.
When we started our own families we, like most other families, had to figure out how to blend two sets of traditions.
In my family, the Thanksgiving cooking was shared between my Aunts and my Grama. We also dressed up. My husband's family takes a more casual approach. My mother in law does all the cooking. I have offered to help in the past. I do buy a chocolate ice cream pie since I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie. Blasphemy, right? His family also dresses casually, watches football and passes out in the living room. It's been a long time, but to the best of my recollection, my family played board games. I remember the adults playing Trivial Pursuit. We probably all just went outside and played.
Christmas was the hardest to figure out. My immediate family always had our own Christmas morning routine.
Brandon has been adamant about spending Christmas Eve with his family and waking up with them.  I liked it better as a kid waking up, getting my stocking and finding my "Santa gifts". Then later that day all the cousins came to Grama and Grampa's house. Extended family exchanged gifts and we had a big Christmas dinner.
Our stockings were left out empty at night, along with cookies for Santa.
In Brandon's family, stockings were handed out like gifts with all the other gifts.
Speaking of Santa gifts, ours were unwrapped. Bran said all his were wrapped.
Once again, we always dressed up. 
I think the only thing our Christmases had in common is the fact that we both left cookies and milk for Santa, and we got special new jammies. We did leave sugar for the reindeer. As time went on, we switched over to oats sprinkled out on the snow. I guess the reindeer were either diabetic or on a diet.
We started our own little tradition.
Cookies are made on Christmas Eve and left for Santa. We stay up till after midnight on Christmas Eve. and put out the kid's gifts. Then we each open a gift. It's always something that we bought for each other.
I am sure as the kids get older all the kinks will get worked out and we will have our OWN set of family traditions (that our kids will argue with their significant others about in the future.)

Body After Baby! Before and After.

Eight weeks ago, at the beginning of the Body After Baby Challenge, I said I would post my before pictures providing there was a significant change.
This is a big step for me because I am super self conscious.
The scarier thought?
I had bought this bathing suit this past spring and FULLY intended to wear it to the pool.
SO glad we never went.

Oh and as far as inches, I lost 18 inches combined.
8 inches in my waist alone, and 4inches off my hips.

 

There is still a lot of ground to cover. I think I need to step up the exercise a bit. I am really hoping that by the end of next year I will have reached my overall goal of weighing 150 lbs.

Friday Fluff Talk: Washing and Detergents

What's the one thing is unavoidable with cloth diapers that has as many as answers as cloth diaper users?
Washing and wash routines.

I did a post back in March in which I compared detergents based on two popular sites. I selected detergents that were easily found in stores, or which I thought were carried the nearest Whole Foods.

Everyone has a routine that works best for them.
Some variables include water conditions, age, type and size of machines, detergents, additives used in other laundry. Some people use a dry pail, some a wet one. Some people rinse diapers meticulously, others are lax.
Some people use essential oils, baking soda and/or vinegar. There are people who only use hot water.
Some people wash every other day, others once a week.

I prefer the KISS method. If there are less variables, the easier things are to me.
At this point in time, I am using a laundromat. That is evil.
With cloth diapers, it is usually recommended that you use less detergent. I have come to realize that people tend to over use detergent. My mother in law is a good example of the "unless there's suds your clothes aren't clean" school of thought. She still doesn't like Charlie's. She also likes to tell me that cornmeal and flour come in sacks, not detergent.
Back to the laundromat, people over use detergent and fabric softeners. I am surprised by the amount of people who mess us the bleach dispensers. I avoid the problem by doing a few loads of towels in the machine I select (and sometimes clean out) before I do diapers. (Paranoid? Maybe) That way I know that I've used the correct amount of detergents and that at least a few loads went through without any additives. I have seen people who use fabric softener AND dryer sheets (overkill?) Thankfully our dryer still works. I bring them home and hang them up on the nice days. More often than not, they find their way into the dryer.

My routine? Glad you asked.
-Cold Rinse
-Hot Wash with a scoop of Charlie's. I have learned how to adjust based on the size of the load over the last 4 years.
-Cold Rinse
-Hot Wash/ Cold Rinse based on the amount of detergent bubbles. Sometimes I'm just good and the first cycle gets it all.

I have recently come across a cloth diaper detergent which is made by Bum Genius. It's supposedly measured into cloth diaper sized loads. I've been waiting to try it. I've also heard lots of buzz online about Rocking Green Soap and they have lots of yummy scents.

At this point in time, I really don't know which to try. It might come down to a matter of price and who has the cheapest shipping.

Wordless Wesnesday

Would love to know why this is so freaking grainy.

Body After Baby! Week 8

It's the last and final week of MamaNotes.com's Body After Baby Challenge.
I want to start off with a huge THANK YOU!!
I've always been the type to stick to a diet or exercise for a week or so then go back to my old ways. I really think that with this challenge and seeing the results I've got in the last seven weeks that I will be able to accomplish my ultimate goal of weighing 150 lbs again.
Thank you Samantha and all the other people who have motivated me.
I have finally picked on the weightloss!
I reached my pre-pregnancy weight, plus a few pounds lighter! (!!)
When I started this challenge, I thought I was going to be pushing it to lose 15 lbs. I've lost 26.3 lbs since I started the challenge. I will be putting before and after pictures on my blog this Sunday.
The mini challenge last week was water and exercising. Check and Check!

So points
Exercising: 7pts
Water: 56 pts (8 x 7)
Grand Total: 518

Weight
Started: 240.1 lbs
Current: 213.8 lbs
Total Loss: 26.3 lbs

Celeb Twins Seperated at Birth?

We're movie buffs around here. My husband actually had a mini cult-like following at one time. We were stopped at Wendy's one night by some random guy asking Brandon for his movie recommendations. There's a guy known as J Love (due to a tattoo on his forearm) who to this day asks Brandon about new movies and what is worth watching.
There's a few times when we argue over who a certain actor is.
Ever notice that younger Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke look alike?
Need a bit of a hand?





See? A bit of similarity there.

It's been the subject of many gatherings.
We have one friend who argues that Billy Crystal and Michael Keaton are one and the same.






That one is a bit harder for me to see.

A few celeb twins we've discussed:
-Reese Witherspoon and Claire Danes.
-Aaliyah and Alicia Keys
-Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron

The most recent?
Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Denny from Grey's) and Robert Downy Jr.

What about Eric Dane and Leonardo DiCaprio?

Pur Water Pitcher Giveaway Winner.

Congratulations to Tracy DeLuca!
I will be in touch with you to get your information so that your new Pur Flavor Options Pitcher will be on it's way.
Hope you enjoy your cleaner water.

 

Cloth Diapers... Making Waves!

I subscribe to Dirty Diaper Laundry and was slightly disturbed by Kim's post this morning.
In a nutshell, Pampers is saying that Cloth Diapers can cause colds. What?

Did you know that one of the causes of colds in babies is the wetness that cloth diapers cannot absorb?  With Pampers disposable diapers, your baby can stay dry all night and is less likely to get a cold than he would with cloth diapers.
That’s because Pampers diapers absorb and lock away 100 times more wetness than cloth diapers do.
Keeping skin in its perfect, natural state.

Oh, and they also claim that babies in cloth diapers develop slower, or even fail to thrive compared to their counterparts in disposables.

Seems like cloth diapering parents are on the rise!
Why else would pampers feel the need to slander cloth diapers?
Do they feel that threatened?
I am sure they do. They do have to keep their shareholders rolling in money. The more people buying cloth diapers mean less people buying disposables. Look at how much each company tries to tell parents why they should buy their brand instead of the competition.

Following in Kim's "footsteps" here is the contact information for Pampers if you would like to contact them concerning their new marketing "strategy"

By Phone:
(1-800-PAMPERS (726-7377)

By Written mail:
Attn: Pampers
The Procter & Gamble Company
PO Box 599
Cincinnati OH 45202

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Pampersvillage

Email:
Pampers Customer Service Form

Friday Fluff Talk: Gro Baby Bio Soakers Review

We've been using the Gro Baby Bio Soakers for a little over a week now.
You may remember reading my post about them where I was hoping to get a starter set to review.

My first impression upon opening the box:
They look like either a huge pack of disposable pads, or a pack of disposable diapers that were packaged half way during production. I've never used gDiapers, or anything like this before, so it was all new to me.

One thing I liked is that there was no need to prep the diaper. I always hate having to wash new diapers multiple times before we can effectively use them. I stuck a liner into the shell and we were ready to go!

It did feel a bit weird to have something disposable inside a cover, but knowing that it would decompose in 50-100 days (according to the box) made me feel better about it. You can alternatively flush the core of the soaker pad, or compost it. I have heard horror stories about gDiapers and we have a less than spectacular plumbing and septic system. I did throw one in the compost pile, but it may take a while since it's so cold outside.

The soakers can be used in other covers, just be weary of the adhesive.
I used one in an Imse Vimse terry contour diaper, with a Thirsties cover to see how it would look in the morning. It worked out really good. The diaper itself was just starting to get wet. Most mornings that particular diaper is soaked, and depending on what time she went to bed, has started to wick around the edges. Our night time diapers are either the Imse Vimse terry contours, or an infant prefold folded into a regular or premium prefold. The Gro Baby Bio Soaker gave the contour just enough of an "edge" to make it last all night.


Overall, they're a great alternative and have made diapering easier for my husband. He uses them while I work. He's been known to use a fleece wrap as a diaper with a PUL cover. But, I guess it's the thought that counts, right?

Now to get nit-picky.
The snaps stay kind of sticky if you place the adhesive spots over them. I had to try and remember to make sure I missed them.
They'll last through a nap, but not great for us over night without a diaper change or two. I should also mention that she is a heavy wetter.

They are biodegradable and they contain less of the SAP gel than regular disposables. That alone makes me feel better about using them.

Would I recommend them to others? Yes, just make sure you pick up another shell to make it easier.

I just doubled checked with Brandon to see what he thought.
His response: "I like them better than regular cloth diapers because you can just throw all mess away".

We received the Gro Baby Bio Soakers Intro Package for free to review.  I ended up buying a pre-production shell from the Natural Baby Company's Website to use along with the system we received.

I Have Awesome Jedi Mind Powers

I swear, I have the Jedi mind powers to change weather.
It has been raining for the last 3 or 4 days. My inlaws have water problems, so my mother in law does more laundry when it's wet. She was awesome and helped me with some laundry this week since we're washing machine-less. Today, after several days of NON STOP rain I tell Brandon to ask his mom if I can come up and wash diapers after work.
Guess what happens next?
The sun unexpectedly came out, and dried everything up.
This past summer all I wanted was to grow some sunflowers in front of the house. It was nice weather. I planted ten seeds ... WHAM! We might as well have been hit by a monsoon. One poor little sun flower made it through. After a few days of nice, bright, sun shining days I plated another round of sunflower seeds. Care to guess what happened next? Two weeks of solid rain.
After that monsoon, I tried a third time to plant some sunflowers. I watched the weather to make sure there was no chance of rain. The 10 day forecast didn't call for any rain. Want to guess what happened? Yup. More rain about 3 days after my poor seeds hit the ground.
That was it! I threw the rest of the seeds by the fence and DARED them to grow.
So now, I am trying to figure out how to turn this into a career. I can see it now.
"In a drought? Call Melinda to plan Sunflowers... Guaranteed Monsoon!"
"Tired of torrential rains? Ask Melinda if she would like to come wash diapers... Guaranteed to have you dry you within hours!"

In layman's terms, Murphy and I are on a first name basis.
If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any at all.

Wordless Wesnesday!

Okay, so mostly wordless.
This is my new "dish" lean hamburger with corn. Just like Pate Chinois, without the yummy goodness of potatoes on top.

Dear Potatoes,
I miss you. But I prefer being 30 pounds lighter. Let's set a date for Thanksgiving... ok?
-Melinda

Body After Baby! Week 7

Today brings us to the start of week 7 of Mama Note's Body After Baby Challenge.
I feel like I've not made much progress. Over the course of the last week, I did make it to 220 pounds. I binged this weekend, and then my husband made fried potatoes and pork chops last night. While they were delicious, I woke up 3 pounds heavier today. I'm also noticed that I am not getting enough fibre in my diet. I know that's got to be a problem. I started taking some Psyllium Seed Husk in hopes of getting things moving along... if you catch my drift.
I never thought it would happen. I found that I hate chicken breast tenderloins and the 97% fat free ham I was eating for breakfast. I am more of a red meat kind of girl. I can still tolerate regular chicken breasts so I'm trying to stick to that for protein.  I've read about Spirulina and how great Spiru-Tein is supposed to be, but I'm not much for protein shakes or bars. I made it half way through a Power Crunch Bar before I started to gag. Everyone says they're the best there is. They also have Mirco Peptides which, in my non scientific way of explaining things, doubles the amount of protein . . . or something.
So the mini challenge last week was to get 8 hours of sleep a night. I had to adjust a few nights since I had to wake up earlier to open the store. I did good though. I believe the max was 7 points.
That brings the grand total up to 455.
For the next week, we can get points for exercising 30 minutes a day, for a point a day.
Oh, and the water is back!! Eight glasses a day for eight points per day.
Now... to figure out how to get the TV from the husband so I can get back into EA Sports and the love/hate relationship with Jillian Michaels.

Recap:
Points - 455
Weight lost: Current : 17.1 (It was a like 19.9 before the weekend).

Just thought I would add, I noticed that I have lost 30 lbs since February of this year. When we went to the weight-loss clinic, I weighed 253, and now I am hovering around 223. Like I said, I was down to 220, but it only lasted a few days. 

Friday Fluff Talk: Jazzed up Prefold & Vote for Freedom!

I am so excited!
I entered Freedom's picture in a contest on DiaperLab.com.
The picture is of Freedom in a prefold, which I dyed and has a batik type of Peace Symbol on the rear.
I have dyed several of her diapers in this way. One of my favorites is a purple heart. It reminds me of The Power Puff Girls.
This is an example of what you can do to prefolds if they get a bit dingy, stained or if you just want to jazz them up a bit.

I would be extremely grateful if you would head on over and vote for her and spread the word.

Pur Water Pitcher... I wasn't kidding!

Remember the Pur Water Pitcher Review (and Giveaway)?

I've been trying to grab a picture of how bad our water is since most people, except for my in-laws, think I exaggerate. You have to forgive me, I didn't drag out the Rebel for this picture since the Blackberry seemed to capture it pretty well.

Say it with me: EWWW!
I think one of the first things we're going to have to do (when we win the lottery and we rebuild the laundry and bath room) is replace all the plumbing.  I had been buying water 5 gallons at the time for our water cooler, but the Pur Water Pitcher is easier and more convenient.  It also keeps the water colder than the water cooler.

Seeing is believing right?
Why not enter to win one?
Head on over to my review post and enter.
I hope your water isn't as bad as mine.

Body After Baby! Week 6

There are only 3 weeks left in MamaNote's Body After Baby Challenge.
I am think I am doing pretty good. FINALLY lost a bit more. Halloween weekend was torture. We didn't have much candy, but it was filled with lots of emotional stress and tension. Which resulted in Pizza, BBQ chips and an extra 5 pounds. (eeep)
This morning, I had lost those extra pounds, and an extra one. I was worried that it would take longer. I only worked out one day. I did my EA Sports Active Workout and one day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. Might I add that I HATE her. Not with a capital "H" but a capital H & A-T-E. I know if I can make time to make it past day two that it will help me out. I just dread the middle of the work out.
So this week's challenge is to get 8 hours of sleep a night. No problem here. I routinely sleep 9-10 hours.

Since there were no points for the last week, I won't bother updating that part this week.
As for weight loss: Total pounds lost . . . 18.8 pounds.
My goal was to lose 15  pounds, so I have succeeded there. Only 3.3 pounds to my pre-pregnancy weight. My next goal is weigh 200 pounds. I'm at 221.3 pounds so that leaves me 21.3 pounds to go. I would love to reach it before the end of the year, but I won't fret about it . . . much.

Silver Shed Studio Giveaway Winner

The winner has been chosen for the Silver Shed Studio Ear Coil Giveaway.
Congratulations to Joyful Girl Naturals, comment number 10.
Be on the lookout for an email. Please respond within 48 hours.
Thanks to all those who entered, and special thanks to Casey of Silver Shed Studio for offering the Ear Coils for the giveaway.

 

Pur Water Flavor Options Review and Giveaway

My family and I were given the chance to review the Pur Water Filtration Flavor Options water pitcher thanks to The Product Review Place. The house that we live in is plagued with Iron and Rust in the water. We have a well and ancient pipes, like early 60's. We have to get all our water from a water cooler. If you try to boil the tap water, you end up with a red ring around the pot. Unfortunately, it has stained a few cloth diapers as well. This is all with two in-line water filters in our basement.


The day the Pur Water Filtration system arrived, I had just used the last of the water from the cooler. A life saver! I followed the directions and soaked the filter, and 15 minutes I was enjoying CLEAN water! I attempted to take some pictures to compare the filtered water to regular tap water... no luck though.


The pitcher holds up to seven (8oz) glasses of water, and the space saving design allows it to fit easily into your fridge door. When you buy it, it comes with a filter and raspberry flavoring.


It couldn't be easier to use. You fill the top part of the pitcher with water, and it filters down into the pitcher. The filter can filter up to 40 gallons of water, which typically lasts one to two months. There is also a "filter life indicator" which flashes every time you pour a glass of water. If you choose to add flavor, just press the button and there you go! The water in the pitcher remains unflavored, which works for the multiple palates in our family.

We had the opportunity to review the Raspberry and Grape flavor. I liked that we could adjust the flavor to suit our own individual tastes.Not a fan of grape or raspberry? Other available options include lemon, strawberry, and peach. Best of all, it's calorie free. One major advantage of the Pur Water Filtration Flavor Options over out water cooler. . . Refreshing COLD water. Even with the water cooler set to cold, there's just something about the fridge that makes it cooler.


For about $15 you can get started using this system. How much money can you save by not buying bottled water? Not to mention the planet!

How would you like to win one?

Pur is giving away one Flavor Options water filtration pitcher to one of my readers.


How can you win?

To enter. visit Pur Flavor Options and tell me in a comment which of the ten reasons for using Pur is most important to you (Why Choose Pur?)

Be sure to leave your email address!
(This entry is required)

Want more chances to win?

Leave a seperate comment for each entry, don't forget your email address.

-Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect (Leave me a comment saying you do)
-Follow my blog via Networked Blogs(Leave a comment)
-Add my button to your blog or site (Leave the link to where I can find it)
-Subscribe via email (Leave a comment)
-Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway. "Pur Water Flavor Options #giveaway http://bit.ly/2Se6Q7 @mckomet"  (Leave link to you status)

-Blog about my giveaway (*2 entries, leave two comments)

Winners will be chosen with the help of Random.org November 15th 2009.

Good Luck!

The winner was Tracy DeLuca, comment number 6.
Congratulations!

A shooting in Mayberry?

Just heard there was a shooting in Mount Airy. We happened to be driving by Lincare. We saw WXII there the whole block was blocked off.

Thank you for using Picture and Video Messaging by U.S. Cellular. See www.uscellular.com for info.