Mr. Screechy

My youngest child is 10 months old. Because he is 10 months old, his powers of conversation have not quite developed yet. Oh he can say Dada and bah bah bah bah and every once in a blue moon he'll spout off with a Mama! His favourite noise though seems to be the screech. And not like a normal baby squeal. No, this boy lets loose an ear drum rattling, glass shattering honest to goodness shrill screech. He does it most often when he's in his exersaucer. I'm starting to think he doesn't like it in there. But then I look back at him and he's as happy as can be...screeching away like a Ring Wraith.

Goals

It's good to have goals. I find sometimes though that putting out a list of things I need to do can do one of two things. Either motivate me, or overwhelm me. Here's today's list...let's see what happens with it.

1. FOM diaper for a diva
2. Apply eyelets to the costume
3. Hoodies for Emily and Tristan
4. flannel jammies for Tristan
5. Charlie Tee Hoodie (4T) for the neighbor

• need to trace out 4T pattern
• cut out fabric

Anything missing from the list? Oh yeah...packing. See...we're moving next week. A week from today in fact. And not a single thing has been packed away. Baby clothes need to be sorted. There's this mountain of laundry in the basement that has been there for almost a year waiting for someone to sort it into what fits and what doesn't. Why haven't I done it? Because it's a huge job. No one else around here seems to be interested in doing it, and on top of everything else I do around here, add that would just be too much.

This weekend I think, everyone is going to pitch in, roll up their sleeves and get to sorting and packing.

Before I go, here's a few pictures of the hoodie I made yesterday and the costume's progress up till now.

Cloth diapers

I love my cloth diapers. I really do. I love the fact that cloth diapers cost less than Pampers. I love that my babies rarely ever have a diaper rash. I love making my own diapers and placing something that I sewed myself on my baby's bottom. I don't mind washing the diapers, it's a part of life.

Let's stop for a moment. People have asked me about this part of the cloth diapering process. They say "but what about the poo, isn't it gross to wash it?" Um...well kind of, but I do it. I mean, when you're teaching a child how to use the big person toilet, and they have accidents in their clothing, do you throw out the clothes they were wearing that got poo on them? Do you throw out clothes that got messy when a disposable diaper leaked? I don't. I don't have enough money to be replacing clothes just because they got a little poo on them.

And don't tell me you've never been poo'd on by a baby that belongs to you. Like spit up...it happens.

Back to the cloth. I have this obsession. It's called Ooga. My Ooga obsession started innocently enough...I bought a yard of fabric with these cute little red and green monsters all over it (pictured all the way to the left). Over the next year, I got more as new colours were introduced. Last night, 2 more colours arrived in the mail and are in the wash as we speak...blue / brown, and a Halloween orange, black, and yellow.

Andrew gave me this "look" as I was lovingly petting calmly going through my packages. It was then that he told me I wasn't allowed to buy any more of this fabric until I sewed up what I already had. And that right there is my problem. I love this fabric too much to cut into it. But won't I love it just as much on my babies as I love it sitting neatly folded in my fabric stash? Because really...if I sew it, then I can see it every time one of my babies are wearing something I made them from it. But...then it'll be gone! I'll have used it up and I won't have anymore to lovingly pet have sitting in my fabric pile.

Oh but wait...if I sew with it, I can buy more colours! Oh yeah, and I still have one more colour coming (pink / brown) and some that have been laminated....for making diapers of course.

And I DID sew with it btw...

Two years

It's been two years since I've posted to this blog. I didn't even think it was still here.

So very much has happened in what seems to be such a short time. Lets see...2 years ago, I was stuck in Texas while my husband was stuck in Canada. The kids and I made it back up here in time to welcome someone new to the family. Oh wait, let's back track a bit.

February 2009 - Moved from south Texas to the middle of Oklahoma. Got a job, got settled in a house that should have been condemned, and got busy working towards getting back to Canada.
April 2009 - Took Emily up to Canada to celebrate her first birthday with her daddy and grandparents...came home with a surprise.
September 2009 - Found out on my wedding anniversary that our request for permanent residence into Canada had been completed, but no, they couldn't tell us what the answer was, only that there was an answer.
October 2009 - The application was approved and we could finalize our moving plans...the only hitch, I was 8 months pregnant. Time was an issue, money was an issue, everything seemed to be an issue.
November 2009 - We drove for 3 days and landed into Canada on Black Friday, we had much to be thankful for on that Thanksgiving.
December 16, 2009 - That little "surprise" I brought home from Canada back in April decided to make his appearance almost 3 weeks early at 11:47pm. Tristan Alexander arrived weighing in at 8 pounds 4.9 oz.

That was the peanut right after he was born. So small and pink and angry at the world. This is the peanut now...

Fast forward almost a full year. We're moving again, but this time not so far. We bought a house just down the street. We move in a week and a half. I'm in a flurry of sewing for Halloween, sewing for babies, deciding if I want to pack, knowing that if I pack something, I'm going to need it within the next 24 hours. And not just a "oh it can wait a few days need", I'll need it like NOW.

So, that's where we stand. I feel a little guilty going 2 years without  a blog entry, but I mean, it's not like anyone really reads these things...right?