Thursday, July 23, 2009

Going greener

I've decided to finally ditch the disposable diapers and start cloth diapering. I've been wanting to for a long time, but my mother (who watches my daughter while I work) is completely unwilling to use them. So I finally made the plunge and ordered a set of Grobaby from Kellys Closet. I had tried this brand along with my friend Danielle at the beginning of the summer - she has an amazing and varied stash of cloth, and since she gave these a good review, I figured I'd buy a whole big package. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the switch, though I have to say dealing with Alessia's nasty poopy diapers is making me hope she catches on to potty training quickly! I just purchased some Smarti Pants as well to vary my own stash a little. I'm a little weary about the snaps because Alessia is a major wiggler when I try to put on a diaper, but I don't think the velcro can really last on the shells when they're getting washed every other day. I only have 11 shells and 25 inserts, so I'm doing a lot of laundry.

Speaking of laundry...since switching to cloth diapers, I've found that my laundry machine is a little stinky. I have an HE front loader. Anyone ever heard of this problem? I've tried washing the machine with vinegar, bleach, baking soda to get rid of the smell. As soon as I do another load, it's back. The only thing I can think of is that maybe since we have hard water, the drain is clogged or something and it's not draining properly. I've heard you should use Calgon if you have hard water, but where do you get that?

Any cloth diapering advise would be greatly appreciated! Including any ideas on how to get my mom on board for the fall (I've already told her I'm not paying for disposables, but that doesn't seem to phase her:o( )

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Still here

Can you believe it's already the end of July?? I can't. Although I finished work over a month ago, my summer didn't really get started until this past weekend. It was a really tough end of June and first half of July for me and my family. We lost two family members - one on my side and one on my husband's all in the span of a week.
My grandfather hadn't been doing well since his surgery in January, and pretty much right after school was out, I was back and forth seeing him in the hospital, then we he was sent home under hospice care, we went there. He passed away with family close by on July 5th after 6 months of suffering. It was a really difficult time for us, but we are comforted in knowing that he's no longer in pain. I was fortunate to be one of the last ones to see him sitting upright and conscious. He smiled at Alessia, played with her hand and spoke with us. Not even 2 days later, he was gone. I miss him dearly, and am filled with regret that I didn't go see him as often as I should. Too late now.
Exactly one week later, Mark's grandmother passed away, also due to an inability to recover from surgery. It was two very long weeks after all this time of uncertainty.
So I haven't really gotten a chance to enjoy my time off from work with Alessia and the summer is quickly passing us by. But you can be sure I going to try as hard as I can to make sure I don't waste a minute of the next month and a half with her.
Didn't mean to be a downer...that's just life lately.