The Power of Sunshine

Sunshine just seems to be a reoccurring theme around me lately. So I'd like to talk about some of the uses for the sun.

1. Vitamin D:  Isn't it just better when you don't have to take a pill to get this?! That you can just step out your door into the light and warmth of the sun and feel refreshed? I just LOVE this feeling! Personally, I'm not a fan of winter, especially a Saskatchewan winter, but spring and summer, count me in! I can't think of a better way to brighten my mood!

2. Musical lyrics: Ever heard of You Are My Sunshine? How about Pocket Full of Sunshine?  These two songs are magic to both of my children's ears. If either of them are crying or fussy I know that I can start singing You Are My Sunshine to them and they almost instantly calm down. And on more than one occasion Dillan has been freaking out in the backseat of the car and you throw on Pocket Full of Sunshine and he stops and goes right to sleep. (Thanks to the hubby for figuring that one out!)

3. Photos: Sunshine just makes photos look great! If you're not sure what I am talking about have a look at photos by the amazing Tracey Tomtene. Now there is an artist of a photographer if I ever saw one! (And I'm not just saying that because she's family!)

4. Cloth Diapers: If you haven't cloth diapered long, or maybe never have, the sun is a cloth diaper's best friend. Wash and hang out in the sun and out come the stains. Because I had been diapering Dillan all winter I wasn't really able to do this yet and WOW am I ever impressed! I put out the yellowest of yellow diaper inserts and diapers and voila! Back to white... I mean white like I had just taken them out of the package!

5. Mother Nature: That's right if you didn't know it the big yellow thing in the sky is what keeps this whole world moving around. If you're having one of those days just stop and remind yourself that the world revolves around that and not what's bothering you and all of those little things that seem like such a big deal right now. (Not to minimize anyone's problems but sometimes the reminder is nice and humbling!)


What uses can you think of for the sun? Leave a comment and let us know!

Mother's Day with Baby Gourmet Winner...

is #18 Tirrie Dobos Mcdonal!!!! :)

Please contact Baby Gourmet  and let them know that you won the giveaway at Definition of a Wife within 48 hours or another winner will be drawn.




Happy Mother's Day everyone!! Stay tuned for future giveaways! :)

Mother's Day Moment Part II

While looking back at my previous post I'd like to share my favourite moment of Dillan's first year as well. Now his first year is not yet over, we aren't even half way through it yet.

My relationship with Dillan started out much different than my relationship with Ella. I was able to hold him and nurse him right away. That bonding moment was something that I really longed for. My and Ella's nursing relationship was very rocky which only made me more determined when it came to nursing the next baby. Thankfully that determination worked my favour and Dillan and I have had a very good nursing relationship. I have never seen a happier baby, he is always smiling and even while nursing that doesn't stop. I love when he is in my arms and smiling away up at me, its really one of the best feelings in the world!

Mother's Day with Baby Gourmet {Giveaway!}

Any time someone asks me what my greatest achievement in life is I just respond that I have two of them and that they are the most wonderful little people that I know. Don't get me wrong, they sure know how to get to me some days, and I am sure that is something that will not change as they grow but I wouldn't change my life with them for anything else in this world. Before you become a parent you know that is is a blessing to have children but you really don't grasp what that means until they are in your arms.

My first year of motherhood was sure interesting. I had this tiny little girl that needed me for absolutely everything. I would look at her and had no idea that I could love someone so much. I would protect her with my life from anyone and anything (and still would!) but ultimately I was most afraid that I would be the one to mess up and do something wrong.

Recalling her first year there are many moments that stick out in my mind, and even many that don't, (I'm so glad we have a video camera!) the years just seem to slip away from us before we know it. But if I have to pick a single moment in that first year that is my favourite I would have to say that it was not the first time that I held her but the second. This may sound strange but the second time I  got to hold her was the first time that I really got to hold her. It wasn't until she was over a day old. They took her out of the isolate in the NICU and gave her to me, and she looked at me like she had known me for years. After starting my first hours of motherhood terrified that something was wrong she made me feel like everything would be alright.

In honour of Mother's Day Baby Gourmet would like to know what your favourite moment during your first year of mother hood is. If you haven't heard of Baby Gourmet  before read my review or check out their site.

To enter the giveaway: Comment below about your favourite memory from your first year of motherhood. Please leave your email in the comment so that I can contact you!

How would you like more chances to win?

Follow Defintion of a Wife  on Facebook



Follow Baby Gourmet  on Facebook

Winner will be selected via random.org on Friday May 6th at 4pm CST. Giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the United States only.

I can't wait to read all of your favourite moments! Have a Happy Mother's Day!

Holy Facebook Giveaways!

When I first joined Facebook (later than most I might add) it was mostly to share with my friends and find old friends that I hadn't seen or heard from in a really long time. I remember being so excited to find people that I knew from grade school and see what they were up to. Most of which was really exciting, and a couple of more upsetting things (that an old friend had passed away at much too young of an age.)

Then I got married and had kids and you would think that that would be cause for less time on Facebook but I find myself sitting there nursing at the key board (nak as us online moms like to call it) engrossed in this world of Facebook pages. I am still paying attention to what friends of mine are up to and how cute their kids look in the posted photos and videos but mostly I am wrapped up in all of these online companies and blogs and all of their online giveaways!

For the longest time I would have called myself "unlucky" when it came to entering something and actually winning. And then came CPO and it seems that my luck of winning had taken a turn for the better. CPO was the first place that I really won anything. This site has won me numerous books, a kitchen scale, a Crayola prize pack, clothing, and I am sure there are even other things that I am missing right now, but it seems that that would not be where my luck would end.

Before I knew it I was entering giveaway after giveaway on Facebook. Am I winning things? I sure am! Diapers, hair clips, leggings but as in most things there is a catch. Entering most of these giveaways is really quite simple, like the person's fan page, enter a comment on the photo and check back to see if you've won.

In the last week I have entered so many giveaways and "liked" so many different fan pages that now my whole news feed is loaded up of their status updates that I can hardly see what my friends are doing! I feel like the people on <em>Extreme Couponing </em> only its extreme giveaways. I'm not the only one on my friends list to see positive results from entering giveaways either. So if you have posted something on Facebook and I don't happen to comment on it, please, do not think that I am ignoring you, its more likely that my news feed has now been over run by all of these companies with oh-so-cute baby and children's items!

Did you know you can fan this blog on Facebook?Check it out HERE to keep up with my own updates, reviews and giveaways :)




Post written April 19 2011 moved from previous blog

Monkey Doodlez Swim Diaper Review

It is getting to that time of year where everyone is starting to think about warm weather activities. While it is still too cold to go and swim outside people are beginning to get prepared for their summer vacations and often that means making sure that their children have all of the appropriate swimming gear.

When Ella was small we took her swimming for the first time around 6 months. Remembering back to that time I honestly had no idea that a cloth swim diaper even existed, keeping in mind that she was completely diapered in disposables. We went out and bought her a bathing suit and some Huggies Little Swimmers, and never thought a thing of it.

This time around, wanting to remain green, I began to do some research on cloth swim diapers, and then my opportunity came around to try Monkey Doodlez. First off my favourite part about the cloth swim diapers is all of the different patterns you can get. Here we were killing two birds with one stone. I don’t have to buy swim diapers and a swim suit because the diapers are really fashionable. Monkey Doodlez has a wide variety of patterns for boys and girls and they come in a variety of sizes.

The first time we used this swim diaper was also the first time we took Dillan swimming so it was quite the memorable experience.  I got him dressed in his swim wear and then handed him to my husband so that I could get dressed. The next thing I know Matt is hollering at me that Dillan is peeing all over him. Lesson learned; keep a towel on him because cloth swim wear doesn’t keep the pee in the diaper. At first I was a bit put off by this but it seems that it’s not just Monkey Doodlez swim diapers that are like this but all cloth swim wear.  What is important is that if your baby does happen to have a bowel movement that will be staying in the diaper.
I found that the diaper fit Dillan nice and snug around the waist and legs, while remaining comfortable for him. That being said, I have a chubby baby. At only four months old he is 17lbs. This may be an issue for a slimmer baby.
Personally I wish there was a way to open the swim diaper. Because the diaper slides on and off like underpants I would think that it would be difficult to take off the baby if they did happen to have a bowel movement while wearing the diaper. If the swim diaper was made with an aplix or snap closure that would prevent this from being an issue and also help with sizing on a slimmer baby. This might not be an issue for a lot of people; my little guy is a poop machine. I think that this swim diaper is great if your little one is in the potty training stage because it is not going to seem like they are wearing a diaper but you are still going to get the benefits of using a swim diaper.

Overall I do like the swim diaper, and out of the few times we have taken him swimming it hasn’t caused us any issues.  I think Monkey Doodlez has done a great job with this product yet again!

Want to get your own Monkey Doodlez swim diaper? Check them out HERE and use the code Canadian15 for 15% off! Valid for the next 14 days :)

***I just wanted to add that Monkey Doodlez does have new snap swim diapers coming soon!!


Post written April 18 2011 moved from previous blog

Common Courtesy No Longer Common

Over the past month or so I have been faced with countless times where someone has said that they would be here at a certain time and to have them show up late or just not show up at all. This isn't just people who said that they were coming by at said time to pick up whatever item I have for sale on kijiji, its also interviews and people that I know personally. Saying "okay, I will call you back." Means just that, call back.

 I understand that people have lives and families that they are busy with, I am too. I also understand that sometimes people just plain old forget, I am guilty of that too. You just really have to wonder, are people SO busy that they can't pick up a phone and make a phone call to let you know that they will be late or wont make it?

As a friend recently put it when we were discussing this topic "Why are people so sketchy?" I really have to wonder this. In today's world where there are SO many ways to communicate with someone (Facebook, email, web chat, phone and cell phone) why is it so difficult to let someone know that you wont make it? You can't tell me that its because you weren't near a phone, not when everyone and their dog has a cell phone. ( Except for my husband and I, we actually don't have them, but that's a whole other rant.)

It doesn't just end with not calling either. How about holding the door open for someone? Letting people off the elevator before you rush into it? Letting the people who actually need to use services like an elevator use them. I am sure I could go on and on. Are people today just really that involved with how busy their own lives are that they can't stop and take the time to show someone else a nice gesture? I really hope not.



post written April 7 2011 moved from previous blog

The Great Soother Debate

No matter how many times someone tells you that every baby is different it seems you always forget. When Ella was a baby she was attached to her soother almost 24/7 Matt and I were thinking that we would have a heck of a time when it came time for her to no longer have it.  As it turned out it was much easier to take it away than we had expected.
Before Dillan was born I wanted to make sure that I was prepared for every possible scenario.  Because Ella was such a good baby and because all we had heard was how different babies are from each other we were expecting to have a much more difficult baby. I didn’t want to have to run out to the store for anything. I made sure to have soothers, bottles, gripe water, ovol drops, Tylenol and all of those other little baby care items that you might not think about with your first baby.
When Dillan arrived we were surprised to find that we have another really easy baby. (I know, I know, we’ll pay for it later!) Things with Dillan were a much smoother start than they had been with Ella. Other than a bit of latch issues in the first week, things with Dillan were easy peasy.  Eat play and sleep, but every now and then a feeding doesn’t come quite fast enough for him.  Maybe we are driving or out and about. With Ella she just would have had her soother to calm her and she would wait or fall asleep. At night time feedings I would nurse her and pop the soother in her mouth to keep her sleeping and then I could put her down.  Dillan will have none of that.  Put the soother in and he just spits it out.  He will take it for a few minutes every now and then but very rarely will he take it from me. He knows I have the good stuff!
Most of the time this doesn’t bother me, but every now and then I just wish he would take it! While Ella was attached to her soother, I needed it just as much as she did. Not only did is soothe her it calmed my own nerves when I couldn’t get to her fast enough.  I’ve lost that with Dillan not taking one and to be honest I think I needed him to take a pacifier more than I needed Ella to take one. When you have two kids sometimes they both have to take turns waiting. Before I feed Dillan I have to make sure Ella has gone to the bathroom, has a snack and a drink all before I can even start feeding  him or I know that sure enough I will have to stop mid-feed to help her with something.
Yes there is a flip side to this; He doesn’t attach himself to a soother, I don’t have to take it away.  Sometimes I have to wonder which would be worse, toughing through it for now or trying to take one away later.  I just have to remind myself that it is a short while that they have these things and the fussing and needing soothing in that sense wont last very long. And maybe that is another reason I wish he would take one, babies grow up too fast!




Post written April 3 2011 moved from previous blog 

Last Baby

Well as of a couple of weeks ago it is "official" that Dillan is our last baby. There are plenty of reasons why we decided that two children was a good number to have. They have their own bedrooms, we have a boy and a girl, and the world just seems to be made for multiples.

I had always planned that I had wanted four kids. Matt had a differing opinion on that though! He had only ever seen himself with two kids, and would often tell me "When you have more kids than parents you just end up with trouble." I'm sure that there are parents out there who agree with that and many parents who would suggest otherwise. My grandmother had eight kids, I really couldn't imagine living in today's world with that many kids and I have a lot of respect for those who had/ have that many. It would take a lot of patience and a lot of work to make a family like that run.

I am still coming around to the idea of two kids. Mostly because I am so aware that he is my last little baby. Everyday I see how quickly he is growing up. The pile of clothes that he no longer fits just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Today I was holding a friend’s baby who is only six days younger and she still seemed like a baby. Even though Dillan is only three months old he seems much older. Already has around 15 pounds and fits anywhere from size three months to size 9 months clothing. Most of his shirts are 6 to 12 months on the tag. It makes me sad to see how quickly he is growing.

Yesterday I told a friend that I thought she was lucky that when her little one was a baby that she had no idea that he was her last. She begged to differ with me on that, and now I can understand her point of view. In a way I AM lucky that I know because I can pay extra attention to the moments that I want to remember and the keepsakes I want to make sure not to let go of. I'll just have to make sure to hug both of my kids extra tight, before I know it they will both be all grown up!

A friend had this posted on their Facebook page and I had to share:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow; for babies grow up, I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep; I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep. 



post written March 9 2011 moved from previous blog 

Baby Gourmet Review

Alchemy Communications asked me to review Baby Gourmet Organic Baby Food. Now I know what you're thinking, my little ones are either not at the baby food stage yet or are beyond that stage, however, I decided to accept their request and Ella and I, and a few babies of a test panel decided to give it a go!

Baby Gourmet sent me a case of baby food to try. The nine flavours that they happened to send me are the most interesting flavours I have ever seen in baby food;

Harvest Pear, Pumpkin &amp; Banana    

Orchard Apple, Carrot &amp; Prune

Juicy Pear and Garden Greens (greens were broccoli and spinach)

Apple Sweet Potato Berry Swirl

Baby Sweet Potato Pie

Vanilla Banana Berry Risotto

Tropical Banana Bliss

Apple Crisp

Roasted Squash &amp; Fruit Medley

The Taste

First off, yes I tried a few myself. I have always thought "Why would I feed my baby something I think is gross?" I can recall opening a jar of nameless baby food in a meat flavour and thinking that the smell was just putrid... Ella did NOT like it and I certainly did not blame her! By far my favourite of the ones that I tried was the Apple Crisp. It tasted just like homemade! Ella hasn't eaten baby food in quite some time and she loved them. Now that they are gone she is asking me for more!

Lets Talk Packaging

This is the part of the product that I think my little lady loved the most. She liked that she could squeeze the product out right into her mouth; which makes for a great nutritious on-the-go snack. What I liked about the packaging was that it is easy to toss into the diaper bag and you don't have to worry about a heavy glass jar breaking in your bag. I found that the size, 128mL was a good size; enough for a small baby to have two meals and an older baby/toddler to have as a meal or snack. What I don't like about the packaging was that I'm pretty sure that it’s not something you can recycle, and definitely something that cannot be reused. In today's world where going "Green" is a big thing I found that to be a bit of a turn off. At least a glass jar you can take to a recycling facility, make a craft or use it for storage of small items. Please correct me if I am wrong on that though! I just couldn't find anywhere on the package or the company website that said you could recycle it. That being said, the packaging is BPA free.

What's in it for Me? (Or rather, your little one)

I think when it comes to baby foods the better question is not always "What is in it?" but more or less "What isn't in it?" No thickeners, fillers, nuts, added salt or added sugar. Sounds good so far doesn't it? So what is it made of? One hundred percent organic ingredients. Even better is that it’s made right here in Canada.

Cost and Where to Buy

One thing I had to do a little bit of research on was the cost. I checked their site and went to Wal-Mart to find the price. Ordering from the site is by far the best solution... who ever would have thought to order their baby food online?! Sure nice in the winter when you don't want to leave your house! The reason I say it’s a better price is because the more you buy the cheaper it becomes. Baby Gourmet also offers a points system that in the future will help lower the costs of your baby's food. Similar to Huggies points. The buyer receives 50 points per package at the time of online purchase and after receiving the product can go online, enter the product code and receive another 50 points. At $1.47 a package it seems to be in line with other organic brands of the same size.

What did the babies think?

The two test babies’ mothers have told me that their little ones love this product, with the Juicy Pear and Garden Greens mentioned as a top favourite. Both mommies loved that you could squeeze the product right onto the spoon and recap, and refrigerate it when baby is done.

Overall?

Once Dillan moves on to baby foods I will for sure buy this product. It is very easy to tell that the folks at Baby Gourmet put a lot of thought and care into their product! Way to go Baby Gourmet!



post written February 18th 2011 moved from previous blog

Keeping Up With the Joneses

I'm sure we have all heard the term "keeping up with the Joneses" and lately I am finding that this is falling into my life more and more and I have to remind myself that it is okay to NOT keep up as well.

Recent topic among my circle of friends has been about house prices, since a friend has listed their house and is planning to move. Mostly I sit back and listen to the others and their stories of what they paid for their first house, and even how a few of them still own that house and have renters now. I'm just baffled at how much gain there is in their homes now. Next thing I know a friend pipes up, “you know, you really have to feel bad for anyone just starting out now; how on earth does anyone have the money to buy a house. They keep talking about it on the news about how young couples are buying these houses they can hardly afford."

I just sat there for a minute, and suddenly it becomes very apparent to them that I myself am likely in that situation. The majority of the friends I spend my time with are ten years older than I am. And while that usually goes unnoticed, sometimes it becomes as visible as white on black. Everyone is talking about their Kitchen Aid mixers and their Kreiug (Tassimo) coffee makers and I'm sitting there going "I WANT ONE TOO!!!" I feel like a little kid at the birthday party allergic to the cake having to sit and watch everyone else enjoy theirs. And then I stop and say to myself, "I'm twenty three.... they didn't have those things at twenty three either, they are thirty three getting them now." Does that mean that I have to wait ten years before I can finally get a Kitchen Aid mixer? Probably not, but I do know that it’s not in the cards right now. I have to remember to be frugal where I need to be. Had I gone out and bought a mixer last week when they were on sale, I would not have been able to go out this week and buy much need clothing for my kids. I constantly have to remind myself of priorities.

What I do have to remind myself is that those friends of mine don't care if I have a Kitchen Aid or a Tassimo. In fact they tell me that they are baffled by the fact that I am twenty three and how "together" I am for my age, that when they were twenty three they were working just to pay for going out to the bar on the weekend. Hearing that does make me feel better. It seems so silly that all I can think about it is how I wish I were ten years older so that I maybe would have been able to buy a house for a lot less than they go for now, so that I could get those little luxuries. Most people complain about getting older and here I am thinking I'm not old enough!


post written February 14 2011 moved from previous blog

Transitions

I have been meaning to write about this for a while and finally am able to!

Transitioning from life as a family of three to a family of four has been quite the journey so far. The first four weeks were the most difficult and things seem to be getting better each day. Now it wasn't difficult because Dillan is a fussy baby, but difficult based on where attention was being given. The only difficult thing about Dillan was that when he was sleeping he wanted to be held. Not really a problem until your two and a half year old wants some attention or until you want to flip the laundry or load the dishwasher. The biggest challenge for me was (and still is) getting and keeping things around my house clean!

Christmas certainly through a wrench in our day to day life too. Just as I had been getting used to having the two of them on my own Matt was now at home for more than 10 days. Not that I didn't love having him at home though :) The last few weeks have been going a lot smoother though with things back into some form of a routine. Mondays Ella has dance in the afternoon, Tuesdays usually leave us with a play date at someone's house, Wednesdays and Thursdays we go to play group. Every day other than Friday seems to have some kind of schedule to it and I have to say I just love that! I find the less time I have to clean things up, the more effort I put into getting it done. I also really like to get out of the house and talk to other adults and to see Ella playing with other kids. She really needs something to do to burn off energy! I'm very thankful for our routine and that I have some pretty easy going kids, the two go hand in hand for making this life transition that much easier!


Post written January 25 2011 moved from previous blog

More of the Cloth Diaper World

I am really enjoying cloth diapering!! It just seems like I should have always been doing this and how was there any other way to diaper?! Part of what makes cloth diapering so wonderful are some of the accessories to diapering that I have been using; Monkey Doodlez cloth wipe cubes, Mother Ease diaper pail and sprayer, and Bummis diaper liners.

The Mother Ease diaper pail wins hands down against any other diaper pail. When I was using disposable diapers with my daughter I had a Diaper Genie. Despite what the box may say her room always smelt like dirty diapers. The Mother Ease diaper pail doesn't have any smell until you open it, and even then it doesn't seem to be as bad, mostly it just smells wet, though I use this as a dry pail system over a wet pail system. Both sides lock over the top of the lid so no little ones can get into it and it has a filter on the top. The filters are really inexpensive to replace. While this pail is more costly (I paid $36CND, which is not bad when comparing it to a Diaper Genie) I find it is definitely worth the money!

For the first week of cloth diapering I was rinsing the diapers in the bathroom sink (I would only suggest that with newborn diapers, otherwise make sure to do the dunk and flush method!) because the sprayer was not connected yet. My husband found this really easy to install. It didn't take him very long at all. I find the pressure of the sprayer is great for getting the mess off the diapers. My only complaint about it is the knob to turn it on and off; the little plastic cover comes off when turning it on, it would have been better to have made it with a plastic coating over the metal. A pretty minor complaint! I had seen online tutorials for making your own diaper sprayer, which was initially the route we were going to take. Many of the tutorials had claimed that you could make your own for around $25.00 but when we went to the hardware store just the spray head alone would have been around that price for a decent one. The Mother Ease sprayer had everything altogether already and was under $50.00. It seemed worth the money to go with something that was already put together than to potentially leave our bathroom underwater.

Cloth diapering = cloth wipes. Makes sense doesn't it?! I had come across an add on kijiji for some home made cloth wipes. Now anyone who has a sewing machine and knows how to cut a square could have made these wipes. They were made from receiving blankets. While I know how to cut a straight line, I don't own, nor really know how to use a sewing machine so I bought 50 from the lady who had posted the add. For something so simple they sure made my day! She sold them for $0.50 a wipe. Much cheaper than continuing to purchase disposable wipes (not to mention filling landfills with them.) I use them all the time, and not just for cleaning bums but for wiping up spit up and even in the bath tub. I have a multitude of wipe containers and read up on how to get the "pop-up" effect with cloth wipes using a wipe container.

Now I have never been great at making anything of my own. I had heard of the Monkey Doodlez wipe cubes and decided that I wanted to give them a try versus making my own wipe solution. A local online baby shop Sweet Lil Dimples carries them and had a sale. Again this is an area where I really wonder why I wasn't doing it this way before. I find the cloth wipes with the solution works so much better than the store bought disposable wipes that I had been using. I'm using less wipes than I would have normally, which is great because I'm the one washing them! They leave my son's bottom soft and clean. The wipe solution is very easy to make. Take one wipe cube and put it into 2 cups of warm water and let it dissolve. Then you can pour it on top of your wipes or put it into a spray bottle and use. The directions say warm water but I found that warm water wasn't dissolving the cube very well. I just boil some water in my kettle and pour over the wipe cube and that seems to work.

I have been using a biodegradable and flushable diaper liner by Bummis. At the moment I'm 50/50 on them.  For a while I thought they were the perfect thing for inside of the diaper to help with clean up. It would stop a decent amount of poop from getting directly on the diaper. Just pull it out of the diaper and flush. Though now I am finding that it is just as easy to use the sprayer and rinse the diaper. This liner doesn't stop the diaper from becoming yellowed, just helps with clean up when changing. I think the liners might be something I start using just when I am out. I've also found biodegradable diaper wipes since I still use disposable wipes when we take the kids out. Far better for the environment!

Well that’s all for reviews right now.  I will be reviewing more products in the future for different companies thanks to Alchemy Communications based out of Calgary.



post written January 21 2011 moved from previous blog 

New Years Resolutions

As cliche as this is.... lose weight. I have about thirty pounds to lose after having Dillan (already lost 21!) I have signed up for a Zumba class for January and Matt  just bought a new exercise bike so I really want to work with those things and shed the weight. Eating better is a huge part of it. Making better meals for my family on a consistent basis. Eating out should be a treat and not an alternate. Don't get me wrong, we do try to eat well and I make sure to feed Ella lots of fruit and veggies but there is still room for improvement.

Building better relationships with those in my community. This is something that I started doing in 2010 and would like to see progress in 2011.

Saving money and paying down debt is a goal for our family this year. I'm really hoping that we can open school funds for both kids.

This will be in the later half of the year, but I am finally going to open my dayhome! I am really hoping that will be successful for us and finally be doing something that I know I enjoy and am good at. I have been waiting years for this. I knew that I wanted to be done having kids before opening. I really didn't want to open up and and then close on parents because I was having another baby.

Getting into a routine with the kids. I know that this is going to happen once things start up again. I have Ella registered in Dance class again starting this January and play group will start again. Having those as part of our routine was really good for us before, now we just get to add Dillan to it :)

I also want more of a cleaning routine. Not so much cleaning certain rooms on certain days, but more so maintaining a clean house. I think I need to go back to the Clutter Control Club emails and re-do those and then work hard at maintaining the house and laundry from there. It doesn't seem easy right now as both kids are wanting/demanding so much attention so I'm trying to focus on them first. Hopefully this is something that will get easier!

Continue blogging I have really been enjoying it! I have always liked writing and really haven't done much of that since highschool/university and it feels good to write again. I just love when people leave me comments. I feel like what I have to say is valid.


Post written December 31 2010  moved from previous blog

Cloth Diapering: KaWaii Diaper Review

I was so excited to find affordable cloth diapers. When  you are only going to be cloth diapering one child it seems ridiculous to spend $20+ for ONE diaper. I purchased my cloth diapers on Ebay, through the folks at www.theluvyourbaby.com. I have since found other retailers for KaWaii diapers and while I have 36 already, I find myself addicted and wanting more! There are so many different kinds of diapers!

I have to say I am very happy with the KaWaii cloth diapers and I really wish I'd have known about them sooner. For the first two weeks of Dillan's life we were using disposable diapers, soon enough those started to leak and I was left with over 30 diapers that I couldn't even use. Previously this would have caused me to go out to the store to buy the next size up, instead I pulled out the cloth diaper that just looked so huge next to him and put it on him. Putting the diaper on him vs. putting the diaper next to him was a huge difference.  Dillan has been in diapers a week and we have not had a single leak. I was originally worried that there would be some leaking out the legs since his legs aren't too chubby yet but we have had no issues.

The ones I purchased are with a aplix closure. So far this has not caused any issues, but I do worry a bit about how the velcro will wear over time. It would be interesting to compare this to a snap closure so I might get a couple of them.

Before using the cloth diapers I had done a lot of reading and asking questions to find out which laundry detergent to use. I have been so worried about staining and keeping the diapers looking new and maintaining their absorbancy. So I went out and bought Country Save. I have to say I was not a fan. Now maybe it was the cycle I used, because I have since tried a different cycle, but the diapers came out yellow still and even the diaper cream was not off of them. I had done my reading as far as diaper creams go too. I decided to try the Method Baby soap that I use on their clothes and I was very impressed.  Method soaps are all plant based so I wasn't worried about it containing anything that should cause issues for the diapers. Nearly out of it though so I went to London Drugs to get more, and Method has changed their baby soap from a Rice Milk and Mallow scent to a Sweat Pea scent. I decided to get the method Free and Clear and see how that goes. My laundry room is full of so many different detergents right now, it would be nice to get it down to just one or two kinds!

Today I found out that I won a Charlie Banana diaper in a contest :) I should hopefully get it in the next couple of weeks. It is also a one-size pocket diaper but it has cute construction print! Currently all of the diapers we have are solid colours. I'd love to get him a few that are cute little prints. After all, that's part of the fun of using cloth! I'll be sure to post a review of what I think of those too!


post written December 28 2010 moved from previous blog