Giveaways

Check out these current cloth diaper giveaways~

-- Our Growing Garden is giving away a diaper from 123 Cloth Me

-- The Cloth Diaper Geek is giving away a Thirsties Duo All-in-One

-- Thirsties is giving away a Thirsties Duo All-in-One, 6-pk Thirsties Fab cloth wipes, and Deluxe diaper duffle

-- The Cloth Diaper Geek is giving away a BumGenius Freetime OS AIO from Squishy Tushy

-- RSVP for the Sweet Pea Diapers & Friends Twitter party on February 7th.  They have a whole list of prizes they will draw for during the party.

-- Under the Apple Tree is giving away a Baby Legs grab bag

-- Life with Levi has a giveaway for a FuzziBunz OS cloth diaper

-- Sisters 'n Cloth is giving away a Glow Bug Cloth Diaper

Good luck!

Homemade Babylegs

Until a few months ago, I had no idea what BabyLegs were.  I'd never seen them, never heard of them.

When I started researching different types of cloth diapers, I kept running across BabyLegs.  They're essentially leg warmers for babies.  They protect little knees from rug burn once your wee one starts to crawl.  They also make diaper changes a breeze because you don't have to take them off each time as you do with pants.

Unfortunately, BabyLegs aren't cheap.  The average price I've seen for a single pair is $12.

For $12 I'll deal with the inconvenience of taking Gene's pants off at each diaper change.

One day a friend of mine directed my attention to a tutorial on how to make your own BabyLegs using a pair of knee-high socks.  So today while at Target I picked a pair up.

Using the tutorial as my guide, I chopped up the socks and reassembled them.  Here's what I came up with:

Probably not the best looking BabyLegs you've ever seen, but I like them.  I don't have any action shots of them on my little man yet (he's asleep, thankyouJesus!), but I will definitely try them on him tomorrow!

So there you have it, homemade BabyLegs.

Retail cost: $12

My cost: $2.50 + 10 minutes of my time

Savings: $9.50!!!

UPDATE: They're gigantic, but Gene will grow into them... eventually.

What is He Wearing?

If Gene and I aren't going to leave the house, we do not get dressed.  We snuggle up in our sweatpants and footed jammies.  It cuts down on dirty laundry and we stay cozy.

My husband doesn't seem to understand this.

Sunday morning he took Gene upstairs to change his diaper.  He brought him back downstairs fully dressed -- onesie, pants, socks, hat.  

Perhaps I should be more specific.

Christmas socks.

Mizzou stocking cap.

It kind of looked like he had been dressed in the dark.  I'm not sure he really liked his outfit, but I'll let you decide...

Reindeer socks!

Laundry Organization

I love to organize things.  I love to have a place for everything and everything in its place.  

When I started college, I had one laundry basket under my bed for dirty clothes.  Once I moved off-campus I had one of those cheap laundry organizers.

Cheap! Cheap!

Of course, I always put laundry off until the last possible moment, so the plastic pieces holding it together didn't last very long and broke under the weight of my dirty clothes.

When we moved to Illinois back in 2008, I decided to change the way we organize our laundry.  I settled on three round laundry baskets -- whites, lights, and darks.  They were in the corner of our room and we could easily toss our dirty laundry in them.

Once we bought our house in 2009, the laundry organization changed again.  I had a dedicated laundry area in the basement for my baskets.  The original three basket system became five -- whites, lights, colors, darks, and towels/bedding.  I also acquired a laundry basket specifically for carrying laundry to and from the laundry room.  Gene also has his own laundry basket.

Lost count yet?  That's seven laundry baskets.  Seven.  

We also have a large hamper in our bathroom that the hubs can't seem to find and an old one in the basement with nothing in it.

The laundry basket situation is betting a bit out of hand.

It's time to simplify.  In an attempt to stay organized, I got carried away.

I found this on Ana White's blog the other day.  I love it.  It's simple and it takes advantage of vertical space rather than horizontal. 

I have a birthday coming up very soon, so I'm hoping a certain someone takes it upon his handy self to build me one. (hint hint)

Sweet Baby Cheeks

Back in October I wondered who Gene was going to look like.  Now that he's here, some of that question has been answered.

He has gorgeous blue eyes like Mama and Daddy.

He was born with lots of dark hair like Mama, though who knows what it will be like later.  At least he wasn't bald! :)

Now for the million dollar bonus question...

What about dimples?

The hubs has dimples.  Ever since finding out we were expecting, everyone has been wondering if the baby would have them as well.  My own grandmother mentioned it more times than I can remember.

Well, the verdict is in...

He has one dimple!

I know I'm incredibly biased, but that dimple on that little face is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen.

A Sneak Peek...

It hasn't been much, but I have been sitting down to my sewing machine a little more this week.  It makes me very happy.  The quilt I'm working on is a gift, so I can't show you the entire thing, but you can enjoy a sneak peek!

I can't wait until it's finished!

11 Random Things

Mallorie of The Happy Home tagged me in a survey.  I'm breaking the rules, though.  I'll answer her questions and post random things about myself, but I'm not going to tag anyone else.  If you'd like to participate, feel free to do so.

11 Random Things About Me

1. The hubs and I go way back.  I mean waaaaaay back.  All the way back to the 80s.  Not only did we grow up in the same town and attend the same schools, but we were next-door neighbors for a couple of years!  I have a picture of us together.  It's Hallmark Movie cute.

2.  I had a huge crush on the hubs when I was in junior high.  He used to mow a yard across the street from the swimming pool and did so without his shirt on.  I thought he was so hot.  My best friend also liked him.  I didn't want to ruin our friendship by fighting over a guy, so I let her like him.  It worked out for me in the end, though.  I started dating him my senior year of high school.

3.  I can sing.  I sang the national anthem at my high school graduation.  Alone.  In front of 2,000 people.  A capella.

4.  I had mono in the 10th grade.  Best.  Diet.  Ever.  I was out of school for a week and all I did was sleep and watch movies.  I dropped 15 lbs in a week and none of my clothes fit when I went back to school.

5.  Breastfeeding is one of the most difficult things I have ever done.  Consequently, it's one of the things in my life that I am most proud of for not giving up.

6.  The hubs was the first to suggest we should have a baby.  I resisted.  One evening and half a bottle of wine convinced me he was right.

7.  Mizzou wasn't my top choice for college.  I had actually planned to go to the University of Missouri - Kansas City.  When I didn't get into the program I had applied for, I decided to go to Mizzou.  Hubs just happened to be transferring there.

8.  I played the bassoon in high school band.  

9.  If I'm not leaving the house I stay in my sweatpants.

10.  We've lived here for nearly four years and I don't feel as though I've made many friends.  Most of the people I talk to on a regular basis are people I've met within the last 3 months.

11.  I don't like spending money on things for myself.  I would rather save the money or use it on something we need.

Mallorie's Questions

1. If you could live anywhere where would that be?  We'd like to eventually move back to Missouri.  We wouldn't mind living in the Kansas City area.

2. What is your favorite board game?  Life, Scrabble, and Yahtzee... though the last one isn't a board game.

3. What is your favorite season?  Fall.  Hello?  College football!  Unfortunately, we haven't been able to watch too many games because we live in Big 10 country and Mizzou is in the Big 12.  They're going to the SEC soon, so we still won't get to watch.

4. If you had to choose would you rather have a perfectly cleaned house each day OR never have to cook again?  A perfectly clean house.  If the house is magically clean, then the dishes I dirty up when cooking would be clean, too.

5. If you found out that you had unlimited funds and money was no longer a problem what is the first thing you would buy? A big house in the country.

6. Do you get a bigger rush from a big splurge or finding a great deal? The great deal!  I always end up with buyer's remorse.  What if I had waited a few more days and it went on sale?  I'm a big fan of saving money.

7. How do you sleep at night? Side, back, tummy? What sleep?  I have an infant!  Haha... currently I sleep on my side.  I was a tummy sleeper before I got pregnant.  I spent 2011 sleeping on my sides and now it's kind of a habit.

8. What is your guilty pleasure TV show? 16 & Pregnant or Teen Mom.  I know, I'm such a grown-up.

9. When you were younger what did you want to be when you grew up?  I have no idea.  I still don't know for sure.  I love being a mom, though.  It's the best job I've ever had.

10. What is your favorite blog post that you've written so far?  I like the posts where I talk about our home improvement projects, such as our floors, bathroom, and nursery.  I'm so proud of us for doing it ourselves!

11. Which would you rather have painted, nails or toes?  My toes.  Fingernails seem to chip so fast.  Polish lasts much longer on my toes.