B-boy's 4 Month Photos

He is getting big for sure! Over 16 lbs and 26.5 inches long makes for a big boy!

B-boy's 3 Month Photos

Two weeks late is better than never right? We have had some big changes going on in the Caldwell House but that is for another post. In the mean time feast your eyes on this 3 month chunk!

 

 

The Great Cloth Diaper Debate

Ahhh cloth diapers. How I love thee, let me count the ways! I think I originally wanted to use cloth because it seemed like the hippy thing to do and and I do drive a Subaru after all! So, it has been requested by some that I share my experience with using cloth diapers and since I want the entire world to use them, I am happy to oblige! Here is my disclaimer: Boyd is exclusively breastfed so the poop issue is not super scary, I'll have to update this post once we get to solid food and things get a little hairy!

So obviously, I am a HUGE advocate of going cloth and here are a few reasons why:

1. more economical. So far I have spend about $250 on all of my gear and most of it will last until he is potty trained
2. less waste
3. VERY few leaks or blowouts
4. zero diaper rash (not sure if diaper rash is common but we don't have it)
5. no scary chemicals touching his skin
6. super cute bum!

I'm sorry but that is so much cuter than an ugly white disposable diaper!

So I guess I'll start from the beginning. When I was preggo I put out a few feelers on Facebook to see if anyone had any experience with cloth. As I expected, I got a lot of "you are nuts" type comments and to be honest I LOVED THEM! I wanted to buck the system so badly that I was from then on out determined to give it a go! Now I was not a total lunatic, I did give myself the freedom to back out if it didn't work but I was sure as fire going to try. So, I did a LOT of reading and I reached out to some friends and total strangers to find out what they liked and didn't like. What we ended up going with was Cloth-eez prefold inserts with Flip covers (more on that in a sec).

Once Boyd was born I was locked and loaded with all my stuff but I knew better that putting those pretty clean diapers on a baby who was pooping nothing but black tar for a few days. For those of you who don't have babes, during the first few days babies poop out this stuff called meconium. It's dark and thick and does some serious staining. Plus, Boyd's little twig legs weren't quite big enough to fill them out. With all of that said, we waited until he was about 3 or 4 weeks go start using them. I must say, we loved them from the beginning and since we didn't really know any different, it was not a hard transition. We started by letting him wear them at home during the day, then we moved to day and night, and finally we went all out and started packing them in the diaper bag and taking him out in them.

THE LIST

• 24 Cloth-eez cotton inserts: I have never run out with 24, even when I wash every 3 days. These are size specific so you will have to buy more as they grow but they are cheap so don't worry. Cost: $15-$45/ dozen

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• 8 Flip Diaper covers: You can probably get a way with 6 but I like to have extras. You simply put a cotton insert inside the waterproof cover and when baby wets you just replace the cotton insert and reuse the cover. When baby has a big poop it might get on the cover so in that case you just toss them both in the hamper and grab another. I have found some good sales at cottonbabies.com so you can get them for anywhere from about $8-13 each.

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• 3 or 4 Wet bags: I have found some from Zulily that I love. The key is to find one with a loop that can hang on a hook. I keep one in my diaper bag and make sure I have plenty for school. I pop the wet bag in the washing machine when I wash the diapers.

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• Pail and 2 reusable pail liners: Any diaper pail or trashcan with a lid will work, just make sure you don't use the diaper pails that bag each diaper when you drop it in. I also like this liner. Like the wet bag, I flip the liner inside out and dump the diapers in the washer and wash the liner at the same time.

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Cloth Diapers and Daycare
When choosing a daycare, the ability to send cloth diapers with him was very important to us. We ended up finding one that agreed and it has been going smoothly since we started. On Mondays we pack 5 prefolds in his super cool backpack along with an extra cover and a wet bag. His wonderful, amazing, and totally open minded daycare just puts his dirty diapers in the wet bag instead of a trash can and I take them home with me every day. If they send 3 dirties home I just send 3 clean ones with him the next day. On Friday's I take the whole stash home and the cycle starts all over on Monday. Easy peasy!

Washing Cloth Diapers
This is what gets most people. How do you wash, with what, how often....this list goes on! First of all, a lot of people are totally grossed out by the idea of putting poop in the same space as clothes. Here is the scoop: I don't know about formula fed poops but breast fed poop is water soluble and really not that nasty. If you put it in the washer it washes out and leaves no trace. I wash my diapers ALONE with no other clothes EVERY OTHER DAY. I have found that going much longer than that can cause some staining and yucky smells. I will do 3 days every once and a while if there are not many poopy diapers involved. Anyway, I dump them in the washer after work and first do a small/medium cold rinse to get all the poop off. I then use Charlie's Soap and do a hot wash with an extra rinse. The inserts go in the dryer and the covers are line dried. It takes no time and has not been a hassle even considering Tyler and I both work full time. I try to line dry everything in the sun on the weekends because the sun does a great job of bleaching any stains that might have been left behind. Be careful of what kind of detergent you use as some can cause the cloth to not absorb as much and some babies are sensitive to some harsher soaps.

Am I nuts? Maybe a little, but it sure does bring me joy when I go to Target and see how much I don't have to pay for a pack of diapers! I really encourage you to give them a try and if you have any questions at all I would love to help. We "clothies" have to stick together!!

B-boy's 2 Month Photos

It has been too long, I know. My mom has been fussing at me for being such a horrible blogger. I guess I deserve it thought. I know it's cruel to keep you all waiting with bated breath!

So without further ado, I present to you....My chubby 2 month old!

 

 

 

 

 

His mustache is not the only thing that has grown since last month. He is a whopper! We went to the doc yesterday for an ear infection (boo!!) and he weighted in at 14 lbs 4 oz and 24 1/4 in long!

 

So what else is going on, you ask? Well I am on my 3rd week of work and B-boy is enjoying his school. He comes home telling me all about the cute girl in his French class and demands that he show me how he learned to poach an egg in home ec. Okay that is not true. But he does seem to love his teachers and they love him too so all is well in my book!

 

A few more quick and dirty facts:

- with him being sick, his sleeping his not is up to par (last night he did 6 and half hour stretch so I hope that is progress) 

- He is super duper happy in the morning and is getting way less fussy in the evenings

- Yes, we STILL love using cloth diapers

- Breastfeeding is still going well with me back at work

 

Now on to other topics. BEES!!! We don't have any bees at this moment but I am finishing up my Beginning Beekeepers class and I'm super pumped about starting again in the spring. Just as I suspected, this year was a learning year (i.e. I messed everything up and now know what NOT to do!) but I feel very prepared for next year!

 

I have also been doing a good amount of sewing. Check out Boyd's cool corduroy pants with the not so functional knee patches. Yes, this was my first pair with patches so they are NO WHERE near where his knees actually are. Minor detail.

 

 

I think that is about it for now but I'll try to be a better blogger from here on out. However, I make no promises!

 

B-boy's 1 Month Photos

I am so grateful to have a budding photographer in the family. Thank you to my patient husband for taking photos of Boyd for me!

Boyd is Ready for School!

 Sitting at home every day started taking it's toll on me so I decided it was time to do something productive. Yes, I know that keeping a baby alive is considered very productive but I needed more. So I figured it was a good time to whip out the ole sewing machine and make the little man a backpack! I mean, what 1 month old doesn't need a backpack, he will be walking himself to school in a few months right? Ok, ok maybe in a year ;). So until then I'm hoping we can use this as his school diaper bag; it could be too small but I guess I'll find out when he starts daycare in a few weeks.

Sorry for the poor picture quality but iPhone pictures sure are convenient!

1 Month Update

Today is Boyd's 1 month birthday and we marked the glorious occasion with a gruesome heel stick at the doc! I have such a lucky child! Big boy weighed in at 10 lbs 15 oz which is in the 80-85 percentile, he is 22.25 inches long (75th percentile) and is in the 85th percentile for head circumference! You know what they say about a huge head......huge brain! We are taking his 1 month pictures this weekend but in the meantime here are a few that Tyler took when he was a few days old.

The next 2 photos were taken on my great-grandfather Boyd's chair with a pillow made of Sutherland family tartan. Get it, Boyd Sutherland Caldwell?

A few fun facts about our boy:
- he eats like a champ and thanks to him our breast feeding experience has been flawless so far.
- his last feeding is at 10 pm and he let's us sleep until anywhere between 2 and 4 am.
- he loves baths!
- he loves laying on his activity mat with Strongbow while they watch The Today Show together.
- he finally fits into his cloth diapers so we are easing in slowly.
- he loves his BOB stroller. I started running again so this one makes me very happy!

That is about it for now but I'll be sure to post his 1 month pictures soon.

Our New Normal

It is so hard to believe that 3 and a half weeks have passed since we became a family of 4. Yes, Strongbow does count too! Here are a few pictures of our first few days at home.

 Headed home! Boyd made it very clear that he was not at all interested in dressing up in something fancy for the car ride home. He is a simple man who chooses comfort over style.

 Welcome to your new home kid...

 Strongbow's reaction to his little brother was priceless. He didn't notice him for about a solid hour and when he finally did, all he did was stare at him! Now he loves to give his brother kisses and sit with us when I feed him. I am probably a bit too lax on the licks to the face but I figure it is just building up his immune system.

The first bath went pretty well. I forced Tyler to watch some YouTube videos with me so we would know what to do! 

He has already grown so much and it is hard to believe that he will never be that small again! At our 2 week appointment we beat our birth weight by 10 oz. so I can't even guess how much he weighs now. All I know is that he can't fit into some of his newborn clothes anymore.

He is still eating and sleeping pretty well. His night time feedings are at 10:00 pm then again anytime between 2:00 and 4:00 am and he usually wakes up around 6:00 or 6:30 am. These last 2 days have been a little tricky because he refuses to go back to sleep after his 6:00 am feeding so he gets pretty fussy and I don't get my extra hour or two of sleep. I pray it's just a phase! My mom had to remind me that every day is different and now I totally believe her.

Keep us in your prayers, I fear that there is time for me to become an emotional train wreck but I'm hoping things continue to go as smoothly as they have been so far.

Boyd's Big Debut

Tyler has been asking me daily when I'm going to do my birth story post and since, the bambino is over 2 weeks old, I guess the time is here!

So here is the scoop! Early Monday morning (Aug 13) I got up for my nightly potty break at about 12:45 am and as I was walking back to bed I had a sneaking suspicion that my water had broken. If you have had a baby you know what that means! I wasn't positive so I walked around a bit and waited for it to "happen again" before I woke Tyler up. Lo and behold it did happen again so I poked at Tyler and told him that there was a good chance that that today was the big day. I wasn't 100% positive but we decided it's better to be safe than sorry so we both took showers and headed to the hospital at about 2:00 am. We got checked in and I suited up, in my home made hospital gown of course, to find that my water had indeed broken and I was 2 cm and about 75% effaced.

 Tyler really wanted a fall risk bracelet too...

 Yes, I am posing. Go ahead, make fun, I already have.

Since I am a neurotic freak I brought 3 copies of my birth plan and thank goodness I did! Thanks to working on my birth plan with my doctor before the big day, I was able to negotiate with the doctor on call and he allowed me to be monitored in the bed for 45 minutes and walk around for 20 min. This REALLY helped when the contractions got a bit tougher plus I got to avoid the dreaded bed pan!

After 10 hours of labor I decided it was epidural time, I was 5 cm along so I knew the toughest was ahead of me and having the epidural really helped me to relax and rest before pushing time.

By 4:30 pm I had only progressed to 7 cm so they decided that I needed a little pitocin, which I was pretty against at first. However, it was either that or risk not delivering in 24 hours and having to have a c-section. I figured the pitocin was the lesser of the two evils. By about 8:30 pm I was ready to push. The pushing was not as bad as I expected, and about 45 minutes later out came a much bigger than expected baby boy with some very large feet!

Boyd Sutherland Caldwell joined us at 9:15 pm on Monday, August 13 and measured in at 8 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long.

We are all doing great and Boyd has been a dream baby so far. At his 2 week check up he not only got back up to his birth weight but he gained 10 oz over and is now weighing in at 9 lbs 6 oz!! Yay for big babies who let their mommas sleep!!

More pictures to come!