Meet My New Best Friend, Jillian Michaels

Hello. Have you met my friend Jillian? Oh you don't know her? She yells at me to work out through my TV screen. She's my new best friend forever! NOT! I recently got onto a scale and this has kicked my booty into gear about living healthier. It's not just about weight loss, it's about setting myself up for success. I know I could choose to make healthier choices.....I just choose not to. I've have Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred hanging around my house for a few months. I've done it once or twice, but I give up rather quickly. Not this time. The other teacher I work with and I were talking and I just feel this is something I need to do. I need to exercise. I need to eat healthy. I need to eat my veggies(YUCK). For me and only me. To make a healthy home for a future baby and to be healthier when my children grow up. I want them to be able to learn from my healthy choices and grow from them.

So, I've decided I'm going to take it week by week and not get down on myself if I lax. My one pledge for this week is I will not buy lunch all week and if we go out to eat for dinner, I will choose something healthier than my normal choice. So far so good. Today for lunch I brought a 100-calorie tortilla, some southwest grilled chicken, and some cheese and made my one quesadilla. I also had some broccoli with cheese and a organic strawberry milk. In fact, I only had one soda all day! GO ME! This is HUGE!

Yesterday I also set out on an adventure and made my first set of cloth wipes. I bought 1/2 yard of yellow terry cloth and 1/2 yard of yellow flannel. I already had orange thread and voila. I got myself eight pretty wipes! I used the scalloping stitch for the first time on my machine and I think I'm addicted. It's so pretty. I think next time I'm going to buy a nice towel to use as the terry cloth side that way I have more color options and I can choose some cute prints. By the time we have a baby, I should be stocked and ready!!

Now onto the blog hopping. Please go check out Staci at 7 On A Shoestring!! She is awesome over there so go check her out! She's got great deals and a few giveaways that are coming up. Thanks for loving me as much as I love you, Staci!

And go check out these lovely ladies, too. If you're a new follower, comment and let me know so I can follow you back!

Cloth Diaper Status Update

I'm home sick today. Boo. After my stomach sickness bout on Saturday, I thought I was fine. I even ate (a lot) yesterday! But last night and this morning my crazy sore throat and vomiting came back and I just couldn't bring myself to infect my cute little babies at work. They don't deserve this crazy sickness or whatever this may be! I'm feeling much better after some toast and although I want sushi so very bad right now, I'm going to resist the urge and stick with something better for my tummy. Did I mention I really want sushi though? 

I just completed a HUGE order of cloth diaper things. I'm so so so excited. I have also purchased a few patterns. I got one sized pattern that is XS/Newborn - Large AIO. It's from Very Baby and is the Very Basic All in One Pattern. It got a lot of good reviews and I was informed it was a good idea to have a few XS/S sized diapers because sometimes newborns can't fit in the OS. I'm also okay with having some AIO in my collection because even though they take a longer time to dry, it's nice to have something that resembles a disposable when people are watching the monster one day or if we're out and about. It's also very easily made into a cover, so that if I love the prefold route, I can whip up a bunch of those no problem.

The Very Baby AIO

I also got the NykiBaby One Size pattern. The reviews I read seemed fairly good and I figured I'd give it a shot by making a few. If I fell in love with them that would be fantastic. If I didn't, well the would be there for days I didn't feel like washing or I could donate them. No big deal. I really liked it because of the snaps that I have some weird obsession with. Oops! I'm not sure why but snaps seem fun. Don't worry. I'm making some velcro ones, too.

The Nyki Baby OS

The very last diaper pattern I purchased with recommendation from Goldie at Butzie Covers was the Kayla's Cloth Kit Ones. When I went into Butzie when she so kindly fixed my broken snap on my Kawaii, she said she loved this one! They were trim between the legs but held up good. I'm not so sure how I feel about a OS that does all velcro, but I'm going to try it. If I hate it, there's some tutorials for making them into snaps but a lot of the reviews say they love the OS velco. We will see!

Kayla Cloth Kit OS

 

Okay, here's what I ordered and if you have recommendations for the next order, please let me know. I decided to stick with black on black until I got the hang out things. =)

I ordered black PUL, black cotton veleour, some elastic and touchtape (velcro), some size tags and labels, and birdseye for the soakers. My first few diapers will be made out of cheap velcro, white PUL, and leftover flannels. I know that I will mess up my first few so I'm going cheap! I don't want to waste the good stuff.

I almost forgot! I also went to the local fabric store and bought a bunch of flannel and terrycloth to make some cloth wipes! YAY! I went gender neutral since whenever we are blessed with a little monster, we won't know what it is for a while. I admit, I did grab some pink stuff BUT a wipe is a wipe right?

Oh and here's a little breakdown of cloth diaper "lingo" for my friends who may not know what the hay I'm talking about up here, thanks to The Cloth Diaper Report.

AIO (All In One) - A diaper with a waterproof outer shell/cover, inner lining and soaker all sewn in one. The most similar to the convenience of a disposable diaper, but longer drying time.

Aplix /Touchtape - Hook and Look used for diaper and laundry tab closures (a.k.a. “velcro”, but not the Velcro brand)

Cloth Wipes - Cloth wipes can be made of many different fabrics such as terry, flannel, cotton, fleece, sherpa and velour. They are convenient to use with cloth diapers, because they can be washed together with your diapers.

Diaper Cover - Used with prefolds, contour and fitted diapers these provide a waterproof barrier and can be reused with multiple diaper changes. Made from PUL, fleece or wool.

Liner - Can be either reusable or disposable, a liner helps make clean up easier or should be used when using diaper creams or ointments. In the latter case, it helps keep build up from forming in the main diaper.

OS (One Size) Diaper - A diaper that can be adjusted in the rise (usually with front snaps or adjustable elastic) to grow with you baby. Some brands get small enough to fit a 4 lb. baby and other brands get large enough to fit a 40 lb. child. A typical size range is 7-35 lbs.

Pocket Diaper - A diaper with a waterproof outer and inner lining with a pocket opening at the back of the diaper where an insert may be stuffed. These are available as sized diapers, are the most popular style for one size diapers and are also a feature on some all-in-one diapers.

Prefold - a rectangular diaper available in many sizes and fabrics, cotton being the most popular. These diapers are the “old school” diapers that are the most affordable cloth diapering option.

PUL - Polyurethane laminated fabric or basically laminated fabric. 1mil and 2mil are the most common thicknesses of the lamination with cloth diapers and accessories and both cotton and polyester fabrics may be laminated. The polyurethane (plastic) layer serves as a waterproof barrier, but has some breathability.

Snappi - Plastic closures in a “T” shape that have tooth-like hooks to grab on to the fabric of a prefold or contour diaper. This is a safer alternative to the traditional pins.

Wet bag - A bag made of PUL used to store diapers. Drawstring, zippered and Velcro closures are the most common.