Cheese, Accomplishments and Christmas

Brendon loves my camera. Whenever he sees it, he says "cheese" although it doesn't sound like "cheese." I guess it's his version of it :) He hates it when I try to take pictures of something else, like a diaper that's on him. He fusses until I point it at his face and say "say cheese!" Then, of course, he wants to see the picture, then use the camera himself. He picked it up this evening and pointed it at his face and walked around saying "cheese, cheese"!

While he was napping today, I managed to get quite a bit done. 

 I made some microfiber soakers for my diapers. The animal print is microfleece, which is a stay dry material. Two of them have a flannel backing. I thought it'd be nice to have to touch the microfiber (I hate the way it feels) but it was so much work, so I skipped it on the last two.

 

I made a fleecie for a girl who won one at a giveaway. I really like the way it turned out. I was able to center a sheep on the front, but the back is a bit off center, but still cute!

Here's two other fleecies recently made. The blue flower one for Lilac City Momma's cloth diaper even going on soon. I just hope I can get it mailed to her before it's over! I'm planning on mailing it tomorrow. I hope she likes it. I hope it works well for her and brings me lots of business!

I made a smaller fleecie, with the circle print, but I forgot to take a picture of it when I was done. I also worked on a bag for Tonya, as part of the Pay It Forward status on FB a few weeks ago. I really like the way it's turning out, I might need to make me one, too! LOL

Brendon and I went emergency grocery shopping this morning, and did lots of laundry too! 

Oh! Yesterday, I took down the Christmas tree, and let Brendon hold each ornament and help me wrap it up before we put it away. I thought we had finished all of the, but Brendon kept signing "more" and pointing at the tree. I figured he just wanted some more, but come to find out (as I was taking the tree apart) he had seen several ornaments *coughfivecough* LOLI also forgot to include the tree stand, the stockings and the ornament hooks. So, they'll be kicking around downstairs until I remember to take them up stairs.

my "other" family, uh, blog

I started a new blog where I'm going to do reviews...did I already tell you this? I don't remember. But, it's for reviews around my house and the blog about giveaways going around. it's here. I was there today, blogging, which I have another review in the makings, but I noticed that the google friend connect is lacking...uh...friends. I'm not sure how it works, I've tried many times to find my friends, the blogs I've friended on it, but I'm incompetent at that. But, please, go friend my blog. It really needs some loving! And if any of you have any advise about how to find which blogs I've liked/friended/followed, please share!!!

FB, Etsy and Giveaways

I just realized that I didn't tell you about my FB fan page. and probably not about my etsy shop either. My etsy shop needs some work. it's here and missing some pictures of current prints and stuff I've already made. My FB fan page is here and it's got the current pics, plus some links to a giveaway going on at Fabulous Family Reviews. I've got a fleecie up for a giveaway, then one for sale and PUL cover for sale.

See the whirlwind of my life and DELURK!

so much has happened since Christmas. I can't believe it's only been two weeks! As my last post mentioned, we had a family vacation. In Mississippi. With cloth diapers. With the flu. With a tornado watch. Wow. Lots of excitement there, then we had some excitement when we got home. First, I messed up my paid leave and only got 1/2 of a paycheck. Then I had to make multiple trips to the doctor/hospital/lab. Hopefully we've got it all sorted out.

Our Christmas tree is still up and lit. Our stockings are still hung up. Our suitcase of dirty clothes JUST got emptied onto the floor of the laundry room. Our suitcase of clean clothes (there was a washer there, so I did some laundry) is sitting at the top of the stairs as opposed to the bottom where it was this morning.

Since the beginning of December I've taken 6 days off work for sicknesses, 3 days off for our vacation, and 1 day off (this is unpaid because my paid leave ran out) for doctor/hospital visits.

I've procured some testers for my diapers in different sizes. I can only test one size on Brendon, and I feel kinda weird asking non-cloth diaper users to borrow their baby. I did once, and it was really awkward. I'm waiting for a shipment of velcro before I can start sewing.

I've got a fleecie made and waiting shipment to a reviewer/tester. Not my design, but I'm allowed to sell them. It turned out really cute!

I just did a load of dishes (first one since being back from vacation on Monday night) and I already have another load of dirty JUST from dishes collected from the living room. I think they multiply in this one corner over here. *looks towards Mark* :D

So, see, it's been a very full month. But....!

Please, delurk and leave me some love! I need it!

Ah, internets!! We're on vacation in Mississippi visiting my husband's family and childhood friends. It's the deep south! I was worried that Brendon might start really talking and end up with a southern drawl, but I don't think that's very likely. But anyways, the town we're staying in doesn't have high speed internets, or 3G coverage to use my phone. I mamnage to skimp along for email and facebook and reading blogs, but that's it. We went to some other town for a get-together and this town gas 3G! I've got so much to say, so I'd better get started before the 3G goes away. I'll wrote tidbits now, so I remember what I want to say when we get back home.
First, I was brave and travelled with cloth diapers. I pondered over it for a long time: do I bring them all; do I bring my laundry soap or just stick to vinegar and baking soda; do I chicken out and use disposables; do I put BAM in cloth diapers to travel in; is there a washer and drier handy? That washer/drier was a deal buster. If there was not, then no go. But there is one here and the vinegar baking soda is working great (with arm & hammer detergent). We went half the way in cloth, but I didn't want to have to stop so often so my clothies don't leak. And I'm still using disposables at night, but that might change. I found affordable cloth diapers! Like less than $10 for an all in one!
So far it's going really well. I like the most recent cover I made. It's wider in the crotch, so the prefolds sit inside the PUL rather than on top. Does that make sense? I'd have made another one, but I'm out of Velcro :( I brought my fleecies, and even had a chance to use them on my niece. She had a poopy diaper and her mommy and daddy were gone. I looked for those diapers as much as I could without peeking through their suitcases. So I grabbed the newest one of Brendon's and a fleecie. At first she didn't care, but after a while, she stated checking to see what that thing was between her legs.
Man, I misses posting this while we still had 3G. Meh, might as well keep going, huh.

One more thing, I'm working on Tata's quilt during the kids naptime, and it's going well. The binding (hand stitched binding!!) is about 1/2 of the way done. Then I just need to machine quilt the squares. I might send it to mom to do that. She offered to help, just depends if she has her machine around.

That's it. Until 3G again!

Tom's of Maine: Natural Toothpaste and Mouthwash

This post brought to you by Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

I once overheard someone saying that if you don't want to eat it, why would you put it on your body. She was referring to deodorant and lotion and such. That makes sense, because even though you're not ingesting it, whatever you apply to your body does get absorbed. Tom's Of Maine has dedicated themselves to producing natural personal care products.

They carry deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste, soap and dental floss. I never thought about dental floss as something that needs to be natural, but they have it!

When I checked out their website, the first think i noticed was the pictures. They look very personal, but I kept going. I checked out their toothpaste. I'm super picky about my toothpaste. I've used toothpaste that seems to only make your mouth taste slightly minty, and I've used toothpaste that leaves you feeling like an atomic bomb went off in there. Tom's of Maine claims to fix that. Their Wicked Fresh!™ Long-lasting Fresh Breath Toothpaste gives you cavity protection and uses powerful natural flavor oils and a patent-pending botanical extract to provide long-lasting fresh breath. So, no worries for atomic burn or slightly minty. :D

Tom's of Maine also makes some great mouthwash, that helps stop bad breath without the burn. Tom's of Maine's great tasting Wicked Fresh!™ Mouthwash refreshing mint flavors leave your whole mouth feeling clean. Again, no atomic bomb going off in your mouth!

Perhaps you've heard of and tried Tom's of Maine? If so, you'll want to check this out. You can share your Wicked Fresh moments for a chance to win Wicked Fresh!™ Prizes at the That's Wicked Fresh contest page.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try it, I'm still waiting for Tom's of Maine to get back to me, but I'm really excited to be able to try it. I'll let you know if I do get some and if I like it as much as I think I will. :)

To keep yourself updated with what Tom's of Maine is doing, I advise you to follow Tom’s of Maine on Facebook and on Twitter @TomsofMaine.You never know what you might find!

Christmas tree, presents, diaper

I thought I'd share a picture of Brendon's Christmas diaper. I've had this one waiting so it'd be clean for tonight for ever!

Side note: I still don't like blogger's picture loader thingy. Ugh. 

Happier note: I love my baby's fluffy butt!