is weight loss common during pregnancy | Cloth diapering budget

is weight loss common during pregnancy

This post is not about how to cloth diaper, but about the cost of cloth diapering. We have not cloth diapered before. I really wanted to cloth diaper with our third pregnancy, but when we found out we were having twins, I feel like I talked myself out of it. In some ways I wish we had (budget); in other ways, I think it all worked out (convenience of disposables). Regardless, this time, I am cloth diapering come hell or high water.

Realizing this morning that I am almost 36 weeks pregnant, I figured it was about time to get baby #4s things together. My sister and I set out this morning to get all the last minute supplies I need before we have a newborn in the house (nursing pads, breast milk storage bags, pacifiers, etc). We also went by my new favorite local baby store and picked up all the things we will need to start off cloth diapering.

Im pretty pleased when I look at the bottom line of cloth diapering compared to the bottom line of disposable diapering. As of right now, I have enough supplies to conservatively cloth diaper through the toddler years. I will most definitely be buying more cloth diapers (and possibly supplies) before our cloth diaper days are through, but this supply is a very good start. I know that some of these things (for instance, the hand-me-down prefolds) are not things that everyone has ready access to-- such as a first time mom-- but other things (like my used BumGenius Elementals) can be found if you keep an eye out.

So here are the numbers:

11 BumGenius Elemental All-in-One Diapers for $87.50

When I set out this time to cloth diaper, someone tipped me off to the BumGenius All-in-Ones. Since my husband is still somewhat skeptical about cloth diapering, I love that they work exactly like disposable diapers. The more I learned about them, the more I knew they would be the diapers for us. I firmly believe that chatting about these types of things with friends opens doors and in this case it definitely did. One of my mommy friends found a great deal on a local cloth diaper swap Facebook page and asked if I wanted to split the stash with her. Even better, they were the BumGenius Elemental All-in-Ones, the organic version of the All-in-One diapers I had decided upon. With that deal, I purchased 11 BumGenius Elemental All-in-One diapers for $87.50.

Estimated retail on (1) BumGenius Elemental All-in-One diaper: $24.99

Approximate price I paid per diaper: $8

 

6 Thirsties Duo Wraps for $81.00

I went to my local baby store to chat with the gal about cloth diapers. She tipped me off that the regular size BumGenius All-in-One diapers (as well as the Elementals) are not ideal for the newborn days. I asked her what she recommended and she said that she really liked using the prefold diapers with the Thirsties Duo Wraps. I was excited about this because we used Gerber prefold diapers with our first 3 boys as burp cloths. I have an entire bin of them. The gal at the baby store said that 6 Thirsties Duo Wraps would be enough to get started cloth diapering in the newborn days, which is what I went with. I did not buy any more prefold diapers because we have so many hand-me-downs.
Price I paid per diaper: $13.50

 

2 Planet Wise Pail Liners for $36.00

One of the most convenient aspects of cloth diapering is the wet bag. I love the idea of throwing it all in my washer instead of sorting through soaking buckets. Since Im setting up a diaper changing station for easier cloth diapering at home, I decided to go with 2 Planet Wise Pail Liners, one to use while the other is being washed.
Price I paid per pail liner: $18.00

 

1 medium Planet Wise Wet Bag for $17.00

The gal at the baby store told me that she uses just one wet bag for on the go. She said that when she gets home, shell often just dump the contents of her wet bag into her diaper pail instead of having to wash it every time. So, to start with, I only bought 1 medium Planet Wise Wet Bag to use on the go.

 

1 Planet Wise Wipe Pouch for $11.00

Well, I bought an adorable wet bag with a monster design on it... Then I saw the adorable matching wipe holder. And I knew I had to get that to. This was my only frivolous cloth diaper purchase. Yes, I could do without it. Yes, it is super cute.

 

1 6-pack of Thirsties Fab Reusable Baby Wipes for $13.00

For wipes, most of my friends make their own cloth wipes by cutting up old receiving blankets and the like. I also plan on doing this, but I did decide to buy a pack of Thirsties Fab Reusable Baby Wipes just to help get me started. That way, at least, I have "nice wipes" to try and I can always buy more if I just absolutely love them over the ones I make myself. I did remember the diaper budget and so I only bought 1 pack of wipes. ;)

 

4 bottles of BabyGanics Loads of Love detergent, unscented, for $33.98

One thing Ive been told about cloth diapers is that you need to be careful what you wash them in. I make my own detergent (read my blog post "Homemade Household Cleaners") and it has Borax in it. When I was talking to the gal at the baby store, she recommended using a detergent without Borax. Her store carries the Rockin Green Classic Rock Motley Clean detergent for around $20.00 a bag. I was planning on buying a bag to try out. However, when I was at BabiesRUs, they had the BabyGanics Loads of Love detergent at buy one get one free, $13.99 for 2. I couldnt pass up the deal and so I bought 4 bottles of it. Well see how I like it. Ive heard really good things about the Rockin Green detergent, so I can always fall back on that if the BabyGanics detergent doesnt work as well as I would like it to.

 

The total cost for all of this is $290.54.

According to the chart on Aware Beginnings Doula Services, you will need 8-10 diapers between the ages of 6-12 months, if you wash daily, with that number going down further after 12 months; I have 11 All-in-One diapers. For the newborn days, the Thirsties Duo Wraps are a diaper cover with the actual diaper being the prefold, which I have a surplus of. The gal at my baby store said the Thirsties do not need to be washed every time, but on an as needed basis. Going off of this chart, the diaper supply I have built up at just under $300 could last me until toddlerhood!

Talking to my friends who have started cloth diapering and who have been cloth diapering for a long time (second and third children in cloth diapers), I know that there will be additional expenses along the way. For instance, when we are moving, we will have to figure out the cloth diaper situation. We still have to install a diaper sprayer in the bathroom we plan on setting up our changing station; running between $40-$60 new, I plan on having my husband build one himself (check out this blog post: "DIY Tutorial: Make Your Own Diaper Sprayer"). We will probably end up buying more BumGenius All-in-Ones. But what Im most pleased about is that this is a great start. There is no rush to go buy anything else.

These are the diapers we bought for our children in the past:

Pampers Swaddlers Newborn Size: 88 count at $19.95 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.22 a diaper

Pampers Swaddlers Size 1: 148 count at $25.99 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.17 a diaper

Pampers Swaddlers Size 2: 132 count at $25.99 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.19 a diaper

Pampers Baby Dry Size 2: 160 count at $31.99 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.19 a diaper

Pampers Baby Dry Size 3: 180 count at $27.68 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.15 a diaper

Pampers Baby Dry Size 4: 180 count at $36.79 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.20 a diaper

Pampers Baby Dry Size 5: 160 count at $37.75 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.23 a diaper

Pampers Cruisers Size 3: 174 count at $36.70 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.21 a diaper

Pampers Cruisers Size 4: 136 count at $36.26 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.26 a diaper

Pampers Cruisers Size 5: 96 count at $28.46 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.29 a diaper

Target Brand Diapers (Up & Up) Size 5: 138 count at $28.99
$0.21 a diaper

With our oldest, we used Pampers Swaddlers from newborn size up to size 2, then we switched Pampers Cruisers (the Baby Dry diapers made him rash).

With our twins, we used Pampers Swaddlers from newborn to size 2, then we switched to Pampers Baby Dry before eventually switching to Target Brand. When we could, we bought biodegradable diapers, but, for the most part, we used Pampers.

For wipes:

Pampers Sensitive Wipes: 448 count at $8.78 with Amazon Subscribe and Save
$0.019 a wipe

The chart from Aware Beginnings Doula Services says you will change 10-12 diapers a day up to 6 months of age. Using their statistics and the prices of the diapers I bought for our kids in the past, here is the estimated cost of diapering one child for the first 4 months, about the time my girlfriends have been switching from Thirsties to All-in-Ones:

 

10 diapers a day x 28 days = 280 diapers / 88 diapers in Newborn Swaddlers = 3.18 boxes of diapers

 

4 boxes of Pampers Newborn Swaddlers = $79.80

 

+ 1 box of Pampers Sensitive Wipes = $88.58 for the first month of diapering

 

10 diapers a day x 28 days = 280 diapers / 148 diapers in Swaddlers Size 1 = 1.89 boxes of diapers

 

2 boxes of Pampers Size 1 Swaddlers = $51.98

 

+ 1 box of Pampers Sensitive Wipes = $60.78 for the second month

 

10 diapers a day x 28 days = 280 diapers / 132 diapers in Swaddlers Size 2 = 2.12 boxes of diapers

 

3 boxes of Pampers Size 2 Swaddlers = $77.97

 

+ 1 box of Pampers Sensitive Wipes = $86.75 for the third month

 

10 diapers a day x 28 days = 280 diapers / 160 Size 2 Baby Dry = 1.75 boxes of diapers

 

2 boxes of Pampers Baby Dry Size 2 diapers = $63.96

 

+ 1 box of Pampers Sensitive Wipes = $72.74 for the fourth month

 

For four months of conservative disposable diapering, the total cost of diapers and wipes is $300.07

Buying all of the supplies to cloth diaper cost me $290.54 and that number includes diapering from newborn to toddlerhood.

 

The $300.07 does not include Diaper Genie Refills, which we also use, and it also gave a conservative estimate on wipes. Some months we used a lot of wipes and some months not as much. We did use roughly a box a month.

 

I do also want to note that when you look at the price of the links I have for cloth diapering, most of the numbers on Amazon are slightly lower than the prices I listed from my local baby store, usually by about a $1 or $2. Shopping online is so convenient as a stay-at-home mom and I do it often. However, I love to support local businesses when I can (usually used book stores). Local baby stores are a great way to save money on items like these because most of them offer a customer loyalty program. When we bought our Baby Jogger City Select, that is how we saved money buying all of the accessories. That is why I made the choice to shop at a local store versus buying everything off of Amazon.
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2 year post pregnancy weight lose | Mommy courage

2 year post pregnancy weight lose

One of my good friends is doing MOPS this year and has been talking to  me about their theme: being brave as a mother. I can think of several times as a mother that I have had to be braver than I thought I could be, the first coming to mind when one of our sons was in the PICU for 4 days with RSV and there was nothing else the doctors could do for him. Since then there have been other things: asthma flare ups, injuries, sickness, late nights, solo parenting... Then there have been other times where the lines arent as clear and Im praying and praying that Im making the right choice: disciplining a 6-year old {very different than disciplining 2 and 3 year olds}, disciplining 3 children, speaking up for my parenting choices to others when Id prefer to stay silent... Last night was a new one for me: having the courage to enjoy the holiday.

It has been 4 years since my husband has been on a submarine-- 3 years of college and now going through the officer pipeline. When we first moved to North Carolina for him to start college, I was so jealous of his time. After coming from a fast attack submarine, I wasnt accustomed to him being around much. I tried to soak in every weekend, every weeknight, every time he could go to lunch with us... I wanted to do everything together and I felt panicked when our plans separated us or when we had too many plans in a weekend, even if we were doing them together. We are both homebodies and I felt like we should be home together, making the most of it.

My husband is the sweetest person I know and so loving. He eventually had a little chat with me about how much time we have together with the STA-21 program and that it is okay to enjoy life, doing things together or apart. I slowly relaxed {slowly}. I still sometimes would feel that panicked feeling in my chest if I was at a Bible Study and he was at home doing nothing {my husband is HOME and I am NOT THERE-- what am I doing here???}. By the time we left North Carolina, doing things separately wasnt a big deal. He started power school and golfed, did wood working; I hung out with girlfriends, worked on my writing. Of course I still have issues when we are too busy-- I know our children want to spend time with both of us together and, since quality time is my love language, I love when we do things as a family.

I suppose the foreshadowing for last nights feelings happened last week when I sat down to figure out our Thanksgiving plans. With shiftwork, I didnt want to be struggling to make Thanksgiving dinner with children underfoot only for him to eat and leave at odd hours. I kept thinking that I wanted to do something more than eating take out or a casserole because it might be our "last Thanksgiving together for awhile." That thought just kept bouncing around in my head. I found a recommended restaurant with traditional Thanksgiving fare that would give us the holiday feel without me stressing over a ginormous meal for just our family. I wanted him to enjoy this Thanksgiving because next year... where will he be next year? On a submarine. Home? Deployed? Underway? We dont know. We dont even know where we will be living next year.

Last night we were getting ready to go trick or treating. My husband was tired from shiftwork. Our children were over excited about a holiday-- dressing up, something new, general excitement. I was a little stressed because one of our boys-- the one who tends to randomly projectile vomit when over excited or after eating junk food-- wasnt eating his dinner and I didnt want him binging on candy later without "real food" in his stomach. The baby needed to be fed. All 3 older boys were covered in dirt and sand from head to foot after playing outside before dinner and I needed to give them baths before costumes. It was a busy start to the holiday, but one to be expected with 4 children. My poor husband-- who is genuinely tired from shiftwork-- pulls me aside and says he doesnt want to trick or treat long because he really wants to go to bed early. The panic hit my chest, "We have to trick or treat! We need to do this with the boys. They want to do it with you. We are going to do it as a family." He says he knows, but he doesnt want to be out all night. {Funny conversation in hindsight-- we set out with a 6-year old who falls asleep standing up at 8 pm, two 3-year olds who hadnt napped, an infant who wanted to eat, and my husband who is on rotating shiftwork.} We agreed to hit a few houses in our neighborhood, coming home in time for the kids bedtime.

I kept thinking as we were trick or treating, "Enjoy this night. Next year youll be doing this alone. Next year-- if hes home-- hell be on 3 section duty days, but hell probably be underway or deployed. If were lucky hell be home on shiftwork. Make the most of tonight." Thinking like that is so paralyzing. I knew I wanted us to stick together-- no breaking off and trick or treating with neighbors. We are doing this together, dammit. I felt that panic hitting my chest. Should I let our oldest go trick or treat with his friends? I mean, that is part of normal life, right? But hes only 6-years old, its fine if we tell him no and have him go with us. I know my husband wanted to do this with all his boys, so it is good we said no, right? Ugh. Yes? No? Panic rising again-- he wont be home next year! Enjoy this year!

For me, this became a courageous parenting moment. I realized that my fears that we wouldnt be together next year {the unknown future} were taking over my ability to enjoy and live in this moment {the present}. And while I wasnt walking around telling our children, "You must enjoy this time with your father. He will probably be underway next Halloween," I wasnt exactly letting them spread their wings and just be. I had expectations of the evening that I wanted met. How is that fun for a kid? Trying to fit into a box his mom has made for the day? While I was thinking all that, I also realized that I dont want to teach my children to think this way. I dont want to train them to have those panicked feelings of making the most, clinging on so tight that they cant see what is in front of them. I know they will have struggles as military children, but why should I compound that by teaching them new things to be afraid of? To dread? Teaching them to regret how they spent a holiday-- time they spent-- before theyve even had a chance to experience the day? My love language is quality time. Regret and anxiety are not quality time.

Remember Finding Nemo? Marlin tells Dory regarding his son Nemo, "I promised Id never let anything happen to him." Dory replies, "Hmm, thats a funny thing to promise... you cant never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little [Nemo]."

And as I write this blog post, we are watching The Croods. Eep says to her father, "You have to stop worrying about us." Her father replies, "Its my job to worry! We have to follow the rules." Eep goes on to say, "The rules dont work out here." Eeps father interjects, "The rules kept us alive!" to which Eep replies, "That wasnt living! That was just... not dying."

Last night when it looked like our night was going to go downhill before 7 pm-- fussy baby, cold family, tired husband-- I felt myself getting upset, "This isnt how I want tonight to go!" But when does life ever happen exactly how we want it to? I took a deep breath and let it go. I let go of my expectations for the evening, the panic that we have to make the most of tonight because of the unknowns of next Halloween, the desire for tonight to be perfect. When I did that, the evening was perfect. The boys sprinted from house to house (we were glad that we stuck together as a family in the end). We dropped the stroller off and held the baby, warming up my husband and actually putting the fussy baby to sleep. We ended up back home before 7:30 pm, letting the boys eat some of their Halloween candy while passing out candy to the last few trick or treaters. The kids were in bed on time; my husband was in bed before 8:30 pm. It all ended up working out and even I enjoyed myself once I let go, once I stopped clinging to everything so tight.

I curled up next to my hubby with my book last night as I fed our baby happy. Who knows where we will be living next Halloween or if my husband will be home. I do know that if hes underway, hell be thinking of this Halloween and how our boys kept taking off as fast as their legs could carry them from house to house. How we had a hard time keeping track of our Captain America and Buzz Lightyear, but our Big Al {Alabama Crimson Tides elephant mascot} was easy to spot. How baby #4 calmed as soon as he was picked up by his daddy and promptly fell asleep on his shoulder. How my husband spent the rest of the evening with one hand free, the other holding the baby, but how all the baby needed right then was his daddy. How the boys screamed with delight when we told them they could eat all the candy they wanted last night and how they compared and shared all their treats-- without us asking. How they fell asleep not 10 minutes after we put them to bed. Who could ask for a better Halloween?

Now, while it took a lot of courage to let go on Halloween, it was fairly easy to remember with all the Elsas wandering the neighborhood. I will have a much harder time when Thanksgiving and Christmas come around. Hopefully I can breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy those days for what they are as well.

Do you find it hard to live in the present as a military family?

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baby losing weight during teething | Cloth diapering a newborn logistics

baby losing weight during teething

Baby #4 is now 2 and a half months old. Weve been cloth diapering him since he was 1 or 2 weeks old and it has been going great! I posted when we had been cloth diapering him for 2 weeks and weve made a few changes to our regime. We are still using covers and prefolds, but we had to change our overnight solution and adjust our prefold fold. We also dealt with our first "diaper rash."

Overnights

 

The biggest change has been dealing with overnights. Baby #4 has been an excellent sleeper. I feed him around 9-10 pm and he routinely sleeps until 3-4 am. He has even done a few all nighters, eating at 9-10 pm and going all the way to 5:30-6:30 am. This has been great for me, but not the best for just a cover and prefold! We switched him to a Thirsties Fitted Diaper Size 1 and our same Thirsties Size 1 covers. Again, this worked well for a couple nights until every single morning he was leaking out of the same spot on the front of his diaper, no matter how carefully we adjusted the cover over the fitted diaper. I talked to the gal at our local baby store and she recommended that we switch to a larger size cover, like the one size Flip cover. The Flip cover is larger than our Thirsties Size 1. It has snaps on the front to adjust the size, just like all our other snap covers, and so it easily fit him. It did the trick! Now we have no leaking issues at night.

 

This is what a Thristies Fitted Size 1 diaper looks like. The entire diaper is absorbent, which is ideal for night. You must put a cover over a fitted diaper.?

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We use a Flip cover over our Thristies Fitted diaper. Just like with a prefold and cover, you need to make sure that the entire fitted diaper is covered by the cover or it will leak. We have really liked this solution for night. Baby #4 tends to wet more after his first feed in the morning, not during the night or at his night feed, so I usually change his diaper at the 9-10 pm feeding and after his first morning feed at 5:30-6:30 am, even if I feed him in the night at 3-4 am. When Ive changed him at the middle of the night feed, his diaper was dry. In the mornings, I put him in a cover and prefold after his first feed and then change him about an hour later because that is when he wets the most.

 

 

The one size Flip cover is much larger than the Thirsties size 1 cover. We only have one Flip cover right now. The Thirsties size 1 covers have still worked great for us during the day with the prefolds.

 

 

 Daytime {Covers and Prefolds}

 

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?We havent had issues with leakage at all during the day... until the poop blowouts. It started becoming a problem around 8 weeks that he would leak slightly in the leg holes after he pooped. So we adjusted the fold of our diaper and it has worked perfectly for us. I know that people use the Snappies for a traditional cloth diaper fold, but I didnt buy the Snappies and so we modified our fold. Now, with this fold he does not leak out of his cover when he poops. However, he does tend to get his cover dirty when he poops, meaning we change the cover. Everything is contained inside the Thirsties diaper cover, we just need to change the cover.

 

With prefolds and covers, you usually just change the prefold when you go to change the diaper. With this fold, we only change the prefold when the diaper is just wet; when he poops, we sometimes have to change the prefold and the cover. This fold has been working for us just great and this hasnt been a problem. We use 2-3 covers during the day and we have no leak issues.

 

We dont do anything crazy or fancy with this fold. All we do is fan the back and bring the prefold to a point in the front, like so.?

 

 

We then fold the front over so it is more absorbent where he needs it to be.

 

 

Bring the prefold up.

 

 

We cover the prefold with the Thirsties size 1 cover, which is still working great for us during the day.

 

Now that baby #4 is 2 and a half months old and 12 lbs 14 oz, we like to make sure we snap the wings down on the side of our cover. It helps keep everything in place.

 

 

And then we snap the cover on the front! Finished! :) It really isnt that different than how we started. The fanning in the back has helped with the blowouts though.

 

 

Diaper Rash

 

So baby #4 has not had diaper rash like how you think: open sores, welt looking areas, etc. Because we use organic cotton prefolds, the moisture is not wicked away from his skin. During the day, we change his diaper every 1-3 hours. The night diaper is microfiber and wicks the moisture away (plus he doesnt wet much at night), so we havent had issues then. It has just been during the day that weve noticed him having some issues. I talked to the gal at our local baby store and she recommended fleece inserts. I wondered how well this would work, but, Im telling you, it is fleece magic. Whenever we notice his diaper area getting red or rosey, we throw a fleece insert into his diaper to help wick that moisture away from his skin and the next diaper change he is back to normal!

 

This is what the fleece insert looks like. I fold it in half before putting it on him.

 

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We just lay the fleece insert over his diaper area.

 

 

Diaper as usual.

 

 

Good to go! For good measure, we usually stick a fleece insert in his overnight diaper just to make sure that the moisture is extra wicked away from his skin at night, though the microfiber really pulls it away.

 

 

 

Laundry

 

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The first response I hear when people ask me about cloth diapering is: "What about all the laundry?" I said it in my last blog post too, but I havent had issues with the laundry. Since that post, I have made some adjustments to our laundry routine.

 

I like to do our diaper laundry first thing in the morning. The fitted diapers are usually dry by the time we need to diaper baby #4 for overnights (if they arent dry by 7 pm, I do toss them in the dryer on low while we bathe his brothers just to be sure they will be completely dry by 9 pm). I was rinsing the diapers with our diaper sprayer before throwing them in the wet pail. Then I had a conversation with the gal at our local baby store. She said breastmilk poop is water soluble, so she does a rinse cycle in her washer before the wash cycle. Now I throw the soiled diaper in our wet pail after changing baby #4. I empty the wet pail in our washer every morning after the morning feed and put the washer on rinse/soak. After the diapers rinse, I wash them on hot with our cloth diaper detergent.

 

I cant seem to find a straight answer on cloth diaper detergents. It seems some people think that having to use a special cloth diaper detergent is baloney. Other people think the regular laundry detergent is best, like original Tide or original Gain. I dont know. I make our laundry detergent, but I have found mixed reviews on using Borax on cloth diapers. Im nervous about ruining all our cloth diapers, so I havent braved washing them in it yet. For now, I use Babyganics laundry detergent on our cloth diapers. After washing the diapers, I then hang everything to dry. Since it is usually a smaller load (especially for our house), Ill hang everything-- the wipes, diapers, covers, fitted diaper... hang it all. I put this outside in the sun to dry most days. On rainy days or when we are out of the house, I leave it in the laundry room (dont want my covers and wipes to blow away!). The sun has also been great for sun bleaching out the breastmilk poop stains on the covers, prefolds, and wipes.

 

 

 

Do you have any great cloth diapering tips?

 

Check out my other cloth diapering posts under Popular Posts. ?

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best weight loss during pregnancy | All we are saying

best weight loss during pregnancy

 

 

Motherhood is challenging to navigate. There is so much out there on, well, everything.

 

"You must buy this!"

 

"If you want your baby to grow up feeling loved, do this..."

"Remember to always speak this way."

"Its the little things that count."

Even on this blog I talk about how I do things and about the products that I have liked with our boys.

But thats what they are: things that I liked.

That doesnt mean that you will like them or that you should parent how I do. It doesnt even mean that you should do things how I do. Im talking about things that work for me and my family.

Why?

Because I like reading about how other people do things. I like talking to other people and finding out about how they solve some of the more difficult challenges of motherhood, how they fix the small and big stuff. I like hearing other peoples family schedules. I like knowing that I am not the only one trying to solve a certain problem-- why are shoes always missing when it is time to get in the car? Why do our toddlers throw a fit during mealtimes? Why are organic foods so dang expensive? How is potty training so hard this time around when it went so well the first time around? Am I the only one sick of hearing the same twin comments over and over again and does it really matter who is older?

There is so much mommy judging out there, real and perceived. Sometimes comments that arent meant to be judgmental at all are taken that way.

For instance, we are a Navy family that has decided to go career. I hear from other military families, "We are finishing this tour and then hes getting out. We dont want to go career and put our kids through all that. It is too hard on them." Those people are not talking about my family. When I hear those comments, they arent talking about how my husband is going career and looking forward to putting our kids through deployment. No, they are discussing with a fellow military wife their own choices for their own families.

I hear, "I would have waited to have another baby after having twins as well." But they dont know that I had a miscarriage and a molar pregnancy. Im always surprised at how much this comment hurts. No, they do not know my history and they dont need to, but it always makes me want to share with the world about this baby that did exist, not for them, but for me. It was real and it happened.

Other comments are puzzling and hard to figure out their intended meaning.

"Thats great you are breastfeeding. It is so good for the baby." What does this mean? Do I need to fill them in on my breastfeeding history with my three other children? Or the fact that while I believe in benefits of breastfeeding, I think it is ludicrous that you cannot discuss breastfeeding without saying, "Of course I believe in the benefits of breastfeeding!" or giving a reason why you are bottle feeding. Heres what I think, mommas, truly and really: feed your babies how you feel is best. It is no one elses business.

"Im glad you arent one of those homeschooling families. You are only homeschooling this year, right?" Hmm. By "those" homeschooling families, do you mean Weird and Unsocialized Homeschoolers? And weve loved homeschooling so far. Not sure how long we will homeschool, but it seems to fit in with my husbands Navy career well. The kids and I love doing it. Im not sure what the future holds for us, but Im open to wherever God leads us.

And another hot topic, working inside the home versus working outside the home: "I could never stay home all day. I need to engage my brain/stay busy/do something..." or "I stay home because I want to be there to watch my children grow up..." Sigh. Moms, dont tear each other down. Sometimes those comments are not made at all to be a dig towards anyone else or their choices, current or planned. Yes, I stay at home, and, yes, I have my reasons why I stay at home with my children, but the reasons why I stay at home may not be the reasons why you stay at home. And the reasons why you work outside the home may not be the reasons why other moms work outside the home.

We are all moms and we are all working hard, whether we are working in the home, working outside the home, homeschooling, or getting the kids ready for school outside the home each morning-- public or private. Breastfeeding is hard; pumping is hard; exclusively pumping blows my mind; and bottle feeding... bottle feeding is hard (and expensive and time consuming). Twins are hard. Singletons are hard. New babies are hard. Toddlers are hard. Kindergartners... easier and harder all at once. One child is hard. Ive heard going from one to two children is way harder than going from two to three. Three children, hard. Four children, hard. Being a military wife-- hard. I know talking to my civilian friends that its not easy on the other side of things either. You know, marriage is hard.

There are so many challenges in life. So many hard times that you are brought to your knees and crying out to God to hold you and carry you through. There are so many unexpected speed bumps.

We need to stop judging either. We need to be careful how we phrase things. Yes, it is wonderful Im breastfeeding this baby; glad it worked out. Yes, the space between our twin toddlers and our newborn has been nice. Sometimes Im glad they are over three; sometimes I think it would have been easier if they were under three, like the gap between our oldest and our twins. We need to make sure that we arent wording the choices that work for our family in a way that sounds like we are judging other families. We also  need to make sure that we dont easily take offense. The best thing about life-- our freedom in Christ-- is that we are free to make the choices that God leads us to. We are free to go career Navy, free to get out, free to look at our children and say, "Okay, we need to switch gears. The path we are on is not working for us." We are free to homeschool using a boxed curriculum or piecing it all together. We are free to stay at home or free to work outside the home.

Be friends with who you connect with. Multiple mommas need singleton momma friends. Big families need small family friends. Working mommas need stay at home momma friends. Homeschooling mommas need public school momma friends. Mommas need friends without kids. Make friends with people older and younger than you, who have kids older or younger than yours. Be friends with positive people that lift you up and support you. The best friends you will make are the ones that pray for you and encourage you.

We are all in this together. Give peace a chance.

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baby losing weight during cold | Baby Jogger City Select

baby losing weight during cold

Since weve brought our 4th child home, Ive been wanting to write a blog post about our stroller. Recently I wrote a blog post called "Stroller shopping checklist" that helps you find the right stroller for your family. In it, I also give the reasons as to how we ended up investing in the Baby Jogger City Select with the second seat. Ive already written several blog posts on our stroller, the first being "I love my stroller." This stroller has also made it on my must-have lists, the most in detail being "Cant buy me love" and "0-2 years old twin: must haves."
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In the post "Stroller shopping checklist," I explain why I am so passionate about having a good stroller that fits our familys lifestyle:

I was so nervous about how I would manage a toddler and twins and having a stroller that suited our lifestyle helped make that much easier for me to handle on my own. I know that sounds really corny, but as a Navy family, it is difficult to live so far away from friends and family. When our twins were born, I did not have a large support network and was trying to figure out how I would manage everything on my own. I truly feel that for us, picking the right stroller made those first couple years with twins-- a busy time by all accounts-- easier.

Birth to the toddler years?

When we found out I was pregnant with twins, our oldest had just turned 2 years old. I immediately started researching strollers knowing that I would be managing all 3 children by myself most of the time. One of the first things that I really liked about our stroller is that it works from birth to the toddler years. While there is an option for bassinets-- I have seen parents use the Baby Jogger City Select with two bassinets for their twins-- I decided to use the car seat adapters.

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Car seat adapters

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2 sets of 1 year old twins

2 years old

3 years old

Holds three children...

 

When our twins were born, our oldest was just over 2 and a half years old. I quickly taught him to sit on the glider board, making it a comfortable place for him to ride for longer distances. Now that we have four children, Ive taught one of our toddlers to sit there so I can take all four of our boys out without have to wrangle them.

 

 

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...or can hold one, two, or three children!

 

One of my favorite features about this stroller is that it can accommodate one to three children. I love that I have the option to make it a single stroller... or a double stroller... or add the glider board to hold three children! Part of what makes this stroller so versatile is that it really is easy to take off or put on accessories like the second seat or the car seat adapter. The glider board is also easy to attach to the stroller, but it also folds up nicely on the stroller if you want to leave it on and flip up or down when you decide to use it (or not). This stroller is full of options!

 

Grocery shopping with one of our twins
Dropped the shopping basket under my stroller for easy shopping!

Out on a walk with baby #4

Car seat adapter with baby #4

 

Versatile seats

 

I love all the different seat positions. It seems silly to have so many options, but there are times where the boys feel social and like facing each other to chat while I ran errands and times where it was better to have them facing different directions (so the one in back cant kick his brothers seat, for instance) and times when it was nice having them both face forward, such as to see an exhibit. I posted these photos on my blog post, "0-2 years old twin: must haves." I took these when our twins were 2 years old; these are the most common seat positions I used when our twins were toddlers, sometimes adding the glider board for our oldest. {Check out the cool video on Baby Joggers website!}

 

 

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When our twins were infants, I moved the seats around a lot more, mostly to make it easier to feed them or let them nap in the stroller. They also seemed to enjoy more interaction with each other while in the stroller as infants. Toddlers seem to enjoy much more conflict... :P

 

The glider board is attached to the stroller and folded up in this picture

 

 

 

The toddler in the lower seat is napping while the toddler in the upper seat is feeding

 

 

 

"The stroller that grows with your family"

 

We bought this stroller when we found out we were having twins. When our twins were born, our oldest was 2.5 years old. We have used this stroller with our twins from the time they were newborns to 3-years old. Now we have another baby and we are using it with our twins (3-years old) and a newborn! Our oldest (now 6 years old) walks next to us and holds on to the side of the stroller when I need him close (crossing the street, busy area, etc). Here are some pictures of us using the Baby Jogger City Select with baby #4:

 

Carrying our 3-year old twins and our newborn
In the basket: diaper bag, swim bag, cooler, leftovers wrapped up to-go from lunch, and shopping purchases

 

3-year old relaxing on our glider board

Pushing the stroller with just the car seat adapter for baby #4

Pushing the stroller with just a seat for baby #4
Since he is a newborn, I like to recline the seat for him. The seat is deep enough that it is almost like a bassinet.

 

Out on a walk with the toddlers holding on to the side of the stroller

 

We love our stroller!

 

Here are some pictures I took during our twins first year (our oldest 2.5 years old to 3.5 years old during that time). This stroller has fit into our life seamlessly and made our outings so much easier! We really do love this stroller.

 

Feeding our twins baby food pouches while using the glider board to do our Target shopping!

Checking out the fish at PetsMart

Adjusting the hood for his brother

One of the perks of twins: you are often pulling a shopping cart while pushing a stroller
Put our City Select to use while doing some pre-move shopping (perk of Navy life: frequently moving)

Out shopping!

Being silly while we wait at the pediatricians office

2 infants needing to eat at the same time means leaving the house with a Boppy pillow!
Loved how it fit under the stroller with everything else I brought with me

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Road tripping pit stop

At the park-- it handles well on all sorts of terrain!

At the pumpkin patch

 Link to Baby Joggers webpage: Baby Jogger City Select

 

Kimbers Navy Family blog posts on the Baby Jogger City Select stroller with second seat:

 

"Stroller shopping checklist"

 

"I love my stroller"

 

"Baby products"

 

"6-month old twins must-haves"

 

"0-2 years old: twin must-haves"

 

"Toddler twin must haves (2yo to 3yo)"

 

"Strollers in Disney"

 

"Cant buy me love"

 

"Resources" section

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