AfrIndie Mum

just call me your one-stop cloth diapering info center

i think, after careful research, we're going to go with the following:

the diaper stash

kissaluvs fitted diapers - which we'll use for overnight and long outings. 

recycled t-shirt diapers - which i'll make and we'll use the majority of the time

wool soakers - which we'll use as diaper covers.  but i'm not quite clear on how/when to wash and lanolize them.  so i still need to continue my research on this.  i may also sew and/or knit some of my own when time allows. 

hemp and cotton doublers - which i'll make myself out of this fabric and will be used inside both the kissaluvs and the homemade t-shirt dipes.

for now, we're using some velcro nikky covers over chinese prefolds, in a reverse angel fold, secured with a snappi.  these were a few larger diapers included in a lot i purchased from ebay before i was a parent.  it's not the best cloth diapering option, but it'll work until i can beef up the diaper stash.   

the washing regimen

i'll use bi-o-kleen detergent - which seems like a good option.  from time to time i may add baking soda or vinegar.  no fabric softener.   

i haven't decided about the diaper pail yet.  should i have one in her room - dry - and one in the basement - wet?  or should i just have a small pail upstairs and keep the washing machine full of water where i can dump them nightly and let them soak for a couple days before i do the laundry? 

i doubt i'll hang them in the sun to dry.  we live in a city near lots of busy streets.  i feel like the smog and dirt to which they'd be exposed might not be so nice next to a baby butt. 

so that's the plan, at least.  i'll report back on our progress. 

the old cloth versus disposable dilemma rears it's ugly head again

with zade, we started strong with the cloth and after a few months (i can't even remember if it was that long) went to disposable.  this was hubby's decision, which i fully supported mainly because he was at home full-time.  if he couldn't deal with the cloth, i wasn't going to force it.  using cloth on zade was his idea in the first place, but i was fully on board and kindly sewed him a stash of cloth diapers that never got used because they were too big (and now way too small).  anyhow - we've been using disposable since z was just a few months old.  but i'm tired of them.  the diaper champ goes way too long between emptying and stinks up the basement landing.  just imagine - five bowel movements a day - on a diet of mainly fruits and vegetables.  yeah - it smells like that.  and i hate the idea of all that plastic and gel.  my girl's got super sensitive skin, to boot. 

so i've been catching up on blogs lately and caught a good sell for cloth diapering this evening.  it made me start thinking about switching back and being 'better' with the world again.  i can get into that crunchy shit.  and now while i'm at home - why the heck not?  i've got nothing better to do with my days (well, i do, like the daily a.m. swim classes we have the next two weeks straight, but what the hell - this could prove just as entertaining, no?). 

so i'm looking back on some archives i remember about cloth diapering that i skimmed way back when i so wasn't into it anymore.  and i'm looking for more suggestions.  i think part of the reason we failed in the first part is because we weren't properly equipped or educated about the ins and outs of cd-ing.  i definitely want to wash my own - i'm not into the diaper service idea.  and i'm thinking i'd like to buy what is best to buy and make what is best to make out of recycled fabrics, all punk rock style. 

so what do you think?

evening at the water park

good eats

ummy.  ummy.  ummy.  it's neverending these days.  it's like her mantra or something.  every ten minutes she comes up to me, hangs off my shirt and in a neverending sentence says to me, 'ummy, ummy, ummy, ummy, ummy', etc.  from the minute she wakes up in the morning to the last second before she goes to bed, she's eating in ten-minute intervals. 

sure, it's probably from the three gallons of organic, non-homogenized, cream-top whole milk she used to drink a week to the barley half gallon per week she consumes now that she's off the bottle.  finally it's gone.  but i wish she'd still drink some milk every now and then.  it used to give me hours of free time - that bottle.  she sucked down milk faster than any kid we knew.  but when she turned into crazy no-sleeping, five bottles a night child, we decided to ferberize her.  and take the bottle away, too, while we were at it, because frankly the child eats like a horse compared to most children her age and we didn't think she needed it.   it seemed more a comfort than anything else.   

it might seem harsh - but after months and months of sleep deprivation (i now have permanent dark circles under my eyes, thank you very much) it was our last resort.  so we nixed it.  and just a few nights of adjustment and she's now murmuring 'nigh, nigh, mama ee daddy' when her head hits the pillow.  she (and we!) clearly needed a little tough love to get back into a good routine.  so it worked for us.  at least for now. 

but that missing calories that three gallons of milk a week used to provide her were significant.  because now she's ravenous 24/7.  the first thing she says when she wakes up is 'eat'.  and that's what i hear every ten minutes for the rest of the day.  i've had to go grocery shopping three times this week because i couldn't keep enough fresh produce in the house. 

sunday afternoon she woke from her nap whining 'pizza, pizza, pizza' and wouldn't stop until she got it.  and truly i think that she's starving.  i can even hear her stomach growling sometimes.  the pizza incident happened after she ate the following for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: 

a large banana
an adult sized yogurt - greek style - extra fat
a bowl of granola (about 1/2 a cup)
a large banana
an adult sized yogurt - greek style - extra fat
two scrambled eggs
a veggie sausage patty
a tj's cheddar cheese stick
a slice of margarita pizza

this is not an exxageration in any sense.  we actually started writing it down after a few hours.  so i spend all of z's waking hours feeding her lately.  it's like she's a fourteen-year-old boy. 

and some people scoff when i feed her lollipops and soda.  pshaw. 

get your pride on, portland

we spent father's day at portland's annual glbtq pride parade.  what a great way to spend a day - we do it every year.

zade had a good time and attracted a lot of candy, toys and pride beads when she shook her booty to the music.  highlights for her were the humane society dogs, the local spanish newspaper with carnaval themed costumes (think four feet high bejeweled headresses above fabulous make-up and huge fake eyelashes) and anyone who shook their booty for her. 

storage box treasures

some items found in boxes during organization marathon: 

my gran's old purses - i used to carry these when i was in art school.

my irish dancing shoes from when i was four

the dress my mother put me in for my baptism.  i looked like my grandmother, who made the dress. 

the dress my mother made me for my fourth birthday party.  i was a cowgirl in nylon lace at 4. 

my high school gymnastics uniform. 

one of the first garmets i sewed all by myself for my 4-h project.  i was stylin'.

things i didn't include in photos because it's just too darn embarrassing:

• pom poms from high school cheerleading
• cheerleading jacket
• varsity letter jacket complete with leatherette arms

items i'll post later when i can get hubby to take a photo of me in them:

• cool red mandarin-collar silk jacket that was a present from my deceased uncle to my deceased gram from his trip to china
• awesome knitting machine knitted faux mexican blanket/native american blanket poncho that was my sister's in grade school.  but it fits! 

i read on a friend's refrigerator magnet the following quote:

"never apologize for your art"

so the other day, i received an email out of the blue from the agency we used to adopt zade asking me if they could link to my blog.  the woman emailing said that she found my blog and remembered z from the month she spent in the nursery at the agency.  she was happy to see updated photos and to be able to read about her life.  it was a nice email - it made me cry.  so of course, i agreed that they could link to my blog. 

a couple of days later when i asked where my blog would be linked on their site, the woman said her boss had asked her to wait a couple of weeks because the entry at the top of my site was an entry in my sailor voice about my family's visit to oregon.  now - i can totally understand this reaction.  i know i speak like a sailor and that it's sometimes too much for sensitive readers.  i respect that they wouldn't necessarily think that would be the best thing to link to on their site.  i get that. 

but it made me start to think about maybe taking down the entry so that they would feel more comfortable about my site.  i didn't really have an issue with doing that until i saw the magnet and realized that this is my art.  so it just made me wonder - should i leave it and not worry about the link?  or should i remove it because it's really not all that important an entry to me?   moral dilemma ensued for a few days. 

today i'm thinking i'll remove it.  it's not my prettiest side, anyhow.  but i've never removed something i've written (at least that i can recall right now) and it bothers me mostly in principle. 

i guess that what i feel is that - this is me.  in my raw form.  i show my pretty and i show my ugly here.  maybe some items aren't for public consumption - but the reader may pick and choose what they like.  and most of all - my blog is my family.  and my family is the face of adoption. just - the reality version.  not the airbrushed, pre-packaged american cheese that anyone who has looked into adoption has been shown. 

and that's the reason why they should link to me regardless of whether or not i remove some curse words.  because i know that when i looked into adoption - i would have appreciated the 'train wreck newlyweds' version rather than the 'seventh heaven version'. 

so what we've really been doing is...

the marathon home organization 2006 has taken a break.  for good reason, though.  the hubby has decided to begin framing the family and laundry rooms in the basement.  so all of the stuff i need to organize is mostly down there.  but i have to squeeze between boards nailed floor to ceiling next to the large tables hubby built for the countertops that are still not done where i once worked.  so i've given myself a much-needed break from the ordering of the house.  and surprisingly i feel divine about it.  i usually cringe at the thought of a mess - but right now i'm just not thinking about it.  i'm excited to have a sitting room down here - especially in the absence of air conditioning this summer.  we'll be spending a lot of time in the basement, i think. as of this weekend, he's almost finished framing it out.  soon he'll start on the electric (running new and installing lights on dimmers), cutting in the vents and drywall.  then all that will be left is installing some sort of flooring.  another month and we'll be all set. 

for now i've been focusing on the every day tasks.  and i've been getting things done.  today i cleaned out the chicken coop while hubby made repairs, signed z and i up for swimming classes (my god i have to get in a bathing suit), worked on our profile and did the laundry.  i've been reading - which i've missed a lot.  and zade's been getting a lot of one on one attention.  she's now back to sleeping in her own room and is putting herself to sleep once again (she went through a six month stint of sleeping with us).  there is still much to be done (write a nasty letter to h&r block, return the two bras that don't fit, bake cookies for the neighborhood boys who always beg for them, buy a shredder and clean out the files, etc.), but i daresay the balance seems to have been restored (or at least is on the way to being so) in our home. 

our homestudy will be declared officially done any day now and each day i'm feeling more and more like i could handle a new baby.  honestly, though, i think i'd like this summer with just z.  we'll have fun and she deserves a good dose of fun before her life gets disrupted by a new sibling. 

every day z is more and more a toddler.  she's gone through one bout of unbearable tantrums and whining and fit-throwing and has come out the other side a very sweet little girl.  she still has the typical pre-two tantrum here and there - mostly when tired or hungry - but with each day she learns more about her world and is able to communicate better with us.  this has helped in improving the tantrum situation in our house quite a bit.  her words seem to be coming quickly and she is more and more clear each day.  tonight when i layed her down for bed, she snuggled in and said, 'nigh nigh mama'.  times like those i want to lay down next to her and just remember this time.  i can't bear the thought of there being a time when i don't remember this sweetness.  but i already know there will be.  she is one strong-minded child and i know she will challenge me more than i'd like to think about now. 

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and in other news - i chopped off all my hair friday night.  or rather, mamaloo (renaissance woman, i tell you - unix admin, jewelry designer, licensed beautician, skilled musician and singer, sahm), chopped off all my hair.  i love it.  will post a photo soon.  then i'd like input on whether or not i should dye it pink.  like pink pink.  i've always wanted to and what better time than now that i don't have to worry about maintaining a professional appearance (not that i really did before). 

some sugar

going through my head right now

i need to blog - i have so much to do. 

i have to go to the post office
but i can't until i get these packages boxed up
which i can't do until i get that last card made and the correspondence between the company i'm returning a product to printed and shoved in the other box.  and before i go to the post office i should also print some more photos of zade for pea and purl and put them in the letter i just wrote on recycled paper from work - i hope they don't think that's strange.  like i'm sending them my garbage.  it was just the only paper available when the urge to write them a letter hit me.  and then i have to time my trip just right - in the morning, after breakfast, after taking hubby to work, before meltdown time.  and then i've got the thought of wrangling a toddler and boxes in line at the post office.  and i've got lunch plans tomorrow and shopping plans and i may have to push something and more likely than not it will be the post office.  because i'd rather hang out with my friends during the good zaidee time which is infrequent at best these days.  my god she's such a toddler. 

and i have to clean the house during zade's nap so getting the above things done gets pushed and then another thing gets added to the end of the list.  the one that includes organizing every last object in the house before i can finally rest.  and sometimes i collapse during cleaning - so that gets pushed a day.  or two, depending.  and i've got to call on my insurance card because it's taking forever to get here and i need to schedule an appointment for me and one for zade.  and i fear that taking zade to the doctor will end just like every visit to the doctor does for her - with some nice stomach bug or viral infection.  and by then we're knocked out for the rest of the week, the weekend and usually part of the week after. 

so you see - i don't blog because i don't have any time to get anything done with this constant spiraling of thoughts in my mind.  but i miss blogging now.  so i'm going to try to slowly come back.  i also just found the camera cord which allowed me to download the photos of the home organization! which i'll upload and use as blog fodder for a bit. 

also must take laptop to be repaired and find a way to make my child sleep again.  without the bottle, please.  and at a reasonable hour - for heaven's sake - not midnight like last night.