Diary of a Tech Mom

Mid-life Crisis

2011-06-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a long time. I recently got the idea of blogging again after reading the blogs of a friend of mine, a mom of two, like me who blogs often. I LOVE her blogs. Somehow, she weaves real-life stories into funny knee-slapping kind of stories that have real gritty humour that helps me deal with similar issues. How the heck can I compare to THAT? What is in my heart is a neverending bitch session, a river of verbal diarrea, a cascade of compliants. Oh well, nobody I know knows about this blog anyway so what the heck. This is this weeks therapy session.

Mid-Life Crisis
I'm 38 so I'm roughly "middle-aged". Besides that, I WANT this to be my mid-life crisis because I don't EVER want to go through this EVER again. This is painful, this is scary, this is life totally raw.

Right now I hate my life. I don't know why. I beat myself up about it. I stress over it. I analyze it. I have a home (for the time being anyway), I have 2 healthy and smart children, and I have a loving husband. What more could I ask for? Eihhhhh.. that is the rub!

I have been unemployed for 1 year and 2 months. I used to have a job, something I went to 5 days a week. I hated my coworkers but eh, at least I could hide in my cube and do my thing. My thing is multimedia design. I love it. I could do it all day, every day. It is part of who I am. I am somewhat of an artist, sculpture, photography, home improvement guru and graphic design was my way to take my interests and talents and mold them into a career. And a pretty lucrative career at that. I made good money. But then everything changed.

I thought I would get a job pretty easily. Boy was I wrong. I've interviewed over the past year and NEVER got a job offer. Now, I can't even get an interview. This NEVER happens to me. I always landed a job. I never failed. Now I'm a big-fat-fucking-failure.

I'm obsolete? NO WAY! Now the employers want a designer AND a PROGRAMMER!! All in one. And for 1/2 what I was getting paid!!!! Are these assholes serious? I am very good at what I do, but I cannot convince anyone to give me a chance if I'm being compared to 500 other applicants. This totally sucks.

I have no focus. I have always been a planner. Even when I was a kid. I would make lists of things I wanted to do when I grew up. Who I was going to be was all planned out by age 12. I was going to get an office job, where suits to work and look professional (yeah heals!!!), I was going to be responsible, funny, smart, and independent. There was never a question about college - of course I would go. Then I would get married and have children.

So, fastforward 26 years later. College degree, check. Professional career, check. Closet full of high heels and suits, check. Home ownership, check. Amazing husband, check. Kids, check and check. So why do I hate my life?

Career, gone! Professional suits - dusty and wrinkled. High heels, inappropriate to wear to pick up the kids or run errands at Lowe's or Raley's. Home, possible foreclosure - trying to do a loan modification. Debt - up to our necks! Kids, driving me completely nuts - 8 year old still wets the bed, 3 year old starts fights constantly, neither of them listen to a damn thing I say. Husband, we fight constantly because of the stress and because we don't agree on things. I resent the ones I love.

Haven't even mentioned the fact that I am no longer taking my antidepressant medication. Too many side affects. But now I'm angry. Every single day I am angry. Kids spill, I get mad. Kids fight, I get mad. Kids ignore me for the 100th time, I get mad. I gotta find a new med.

I can't wait to be excited about something again. I can't wait to have some sort of control over my life again. I can't wait to stop feeling resentful and frustrated and trapped. WHO THE HELL AM I? Whatever I am right now I HATE IT. I am not a good housewife and I cannot do this for the rest of my life. Someone PLEASE invent a laundry folding machine! There has got to be more. More than yelling at my kids, more than fighting with my husband, more than cleaning - cleaning - cleaning - cleaning!! More than this mess I'm in.

Swivel Sweeper

2009-10-28T13:15:00.000-07:00

Swivel Sweeper - $39.99 regular price

If you have kids, pets, or hardwood floors this is a must have product for you! I picked this up at RiteAid for $39.99 although I could have probably gotten it cheaper online. And just before I returned it (impulse buy) I decided to try it out first. Guess what! I kept it because it actually did the job! I sure could have used this gadget when I was pregnant with my boys!! I am a stickler when it comes to my floors (laminate and carpet). I hate walking on crumbs. I also have 2 messy birds to clean up after. With the Swivel Sweeper I can sweep my whole house in less than 5 minutes WITHOUT BENDING OVER! No more dust pan for me! This product has 4 rotating brushes so it picks up crumbs from the front, back and both sides. The swivel action feels great as it glides along the floor. You can reach under tables, chairs, around rugs and in all those trouble areas. It does NOT have suction, it's just a sweeper, however, it does work on carpet if you are careful and hold the sweeper up so that the brushes skim the top of the carpet. Works great for my bathroom rugs that normally get covered in hair clippings and become tangled in the regular vacuum cleaner when I try to vacuum. This sweeper can get around the toilet and in other places that are normally hard to reach. I would definitely recommend this product. Battery has a long last and recharges so you don't have to plug it in. It is light weight too so I've already started my 2 year old in training!

FlexTune iphone Portable Speaker System

2009-10-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Okay - I'm a shoppaholic! I've been thinking of blogging about my favorite products for a long time now. Here is my first product entry:

Macally - Flextune Portable Speaker system for iPod, iPhone.

I'm a techy - as my blogname refers to. I absolutely LOVE my iPhone 3GS! I found this great product, the Macally Flextune at Fry's Electronics on sale for $42.95 from $69.99. Although it is not meant for the iPhone so far my iPhone works just great! An error message comes up on the screen that asks you if you want to put the phone in airplane mode - when I click no - the speakers still work just fine.

This unit is compact and lightweight. The speakers slide together for easy travel or storage. When you slide them apart it opens to create a great docking port for your iPod or iPhone. Plug it in either horizontally and vertically! I have a cover on my iPhone so if I want to plug it in horizontally (to watch downloaded movies and such) I'd have to remove the case but this is a great feature! Like a mini portable movie player! I cannot wait to take this on our first family trip. My kids listen to music or white noise while they sleep and now they can watch movies too!

Another great feature I found is that it actually charges my iPhone when it is plugged in as many other portable speakers systems I've found do NOT charge it when it's plugged in.

The sound quality is quite good considering how small and inexpensive it is. Perfect for an office, a small bedroom or on a camping trip. It can use an AC power adapter or 4 "AA" batteries. Haven't tried it with batteries yet so I don't know how long they last.

This product also comes with a remote control. And it actually works with the iphone! Fastforward, reverse, pause, play and volume controls all work with this tiny remote control.

This is a great accessory for your iPod or iPhone!

Reform CPSIA HR4040

2009-01-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

Reform CPSIA HR4040

ReformCPSIA.org

2009-01-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe I'm a bit crazy but I cannot just sit around and wait to see what happens with this mess. So I'm setting up a website which should launch tonight www.ReformCPSIA.org. Please visit it often. I am hoping to compile everything I've read about HR4040 so that everyone will know what is going on. I am also working to find an attorney to help me draft a petition. If any of you out there is an attorney and is willing to do it pro-bono please contact me at dlapolla@gmail.com. My husband and I will hopefully post an online petition for people to sign so we can get this to congress ASAP! Until we launch the site tonight please read my additional posts here for more information. Including a letter that was drafted by some nice and very articulate women on Etsy for you to customize and send to your political officials. I URGE you to copy this letter and send it to everyone you know, family, friends, news stations, your governor and other officials that may fight for our businesses!

Don't let this flawed Act kill small business!!!

Sign our Petition NOW! Online petition - Reform CPSIA HR4040

CPSIA Change Letter

2009-01-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

Dear (Recipient Name Here):
I am writing to ask your immediate help to deal with an urgent problem relating to the recently enacted Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) (PL 110-787).

The CPSIA legislation was an important contribution in efforts to strengthen product safety laws to make sure only safe and compliant products are sold to our nation's children. While well-intentioned, this legislation contains several provisions that impose new and burdensome requirements that increase costs at a time of economic upheaval but do not offer any improvement in the safety of children's products, including toys, clothing, and footwear. If left unchanged, such requirements, especially considering this dire economic environment, will have a disastrous impact on many companies.

I am writing on behalf of my self & other small manufacturers of children’s apparel & textile products throughout the United States to express our concerns regarding the lead & lead in paint standards as mandated by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

We want to first emphasize that many of us are parents ourselves & care as much about the safety of our children as anyone. We welcome measures that will help to ensure greater child safety with regard to lead. I can assure you that these comments share the support of many others who, like me, want to continue providing necessary & safe products to American consumers. However, such measures are only effective if they target the real risks.

The August 14, 2008 legislation included a new ban on lead in children's products (no more than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight of any part of the product). According to the CPSIA, the new lead requirements take effect beginning February 10, 2009. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has determined that this new requirement will apply to goods in inventory, as well as goods made on or after that effective date. This ruling effectively makes this new lead requirement retroactive. This means that product that produced several months ago, & which is safe & legally compliant today, will not be able to be sold on February 10. This seems unfair, as it means we are being held responsible for a standard that didn't even exist when those goods were made. Moreover, it will be extremely difficult - & in some cases impossible - to retroactively certify that individual goods already in the warehouses & on the store shelves meet the new lead standard. In short, the ruling puts at risk millions of dollars of inventory.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has so far failed to provide significant guidance or issue regulations on how the new lead rules should apply to children’s products, even those that are inherently lead free. While the CPSC recently released four proposed rulemakings addressing testing exemptions for products & materials that are lead free, these rulemakings do not go nearly far enough. As February 10 quickly approaches, guidance has thus far been provided in a piecemeal approach while the CPSC wades through a backlog of information requests & juggles multiple new rule makings with limited resources. Because of the incomplete guidance, companies are being forced to undertake duplicative testing of components or to test elements of children’s products that are either inaccessible or that are inherently lead free. While testing forms an important validation, these conflicting & burdensome requirements - especially for products & components that are inherently lead free – do not advance children's safety. In fact, the current system, if left unfixed, undermines our public safety system by shifting focus away from risky products.

What happens to us will effect the U.S. Economy

Based on 2002 U.S. Census data, which is the most current available for the apparel manufacturing industry, the Cut & Sew Apparel Manufacturing industry, which includes most categories of small manufacturers of infant’s & children’s apparel, is comprised of more than 40,000 companies. Of these, almost 28,000, or 68%, are sole proprietors contributing a total of $900 million to our nation’s economy. Thus, while our businesses are small, they comprise well more than the majority of the apparel manufacturing businesses currently operating in this country.

By exempting this rulemaking from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act & the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which would require the CPSC to prepare & make available for public comment an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the impact of the lead content testing rule on small apparel manufacturing businesses, Congress has circumvented the public discourse necessary to truly ascertain the CPSIA’s impact on small business. As written, the CPSIA ignores the wide variety of small business models that comprise the children’s apparel manufacturing industry & the fact that the majority are indeed small businesses.

Lead in children’s apparel & other textile products pose little risk

There is very little research to support the notion that lead in textiles presents a significant risk to children. On the contrary, Mr. Hardy Poole’s presentation to the May 13, 2008 Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) roundtable, he makes the argument that the lead content in textiles is actually very low. Mr. Poole, president of the National Textile Association, is considered a leading expert in the textile industry with than 30 years of experience including working with the CPSC on fabric flammability standards. Mr. Poole cited dyes, dyestuffs & pigments used in coloring fabrics as the primary source of lead in textiles & pointed out that the dyes produced by the major suppliers to the U.S. textile industry are already required to comply with the standards for trace metal impurities.

Without prudent regulation & clear guidance from the CPSC, the CPSIA will result in unintended & devastating consequences to manufacturers of children’s products that pose little to no risk of lead exposure to children.

The costs of unnecessary testing & its impact on our businesses:

Requiring expensive tests on inherently lead-free products to verify that they, in fact, don’t contain lead will only add financial burdens to small manufacturers & ultimately consumers – most of whom are already suffering from the current economic climate – while providing no improvement in consumer or product safety.

We recognize that some types of children’s apparel contain components that may contain lead. However, metal, painted plastic, & vinyl components in children’s apparel (painted &/or metal buttons, snaps, zippers, decals, etc.) are adequately regulated under the requirements for third party testing for lead in paint.

The CPSC has the authority to exclude components & classes of products from the lead ban. Accordingly, we urge the CPSC to issue guidance that makes clear that textiles & apparel are only subject to the lead & lead in paint requirements to the extent that a component presents a risk that it contains lead.

We are also concerned about the apparent requirement to test the component – both as a stand alone component & also as an element of the entire garment. This redundancy greatly multiplies the cost associated with testing.

For example, the cost of digestive testing for lead is in the range of $130 to $180 per test. A garment with two metal component parts, such as a zipper & snaps, would have to test each component separately at a cost of $360. Previously, a small manufacturer might have been spread these costs out over several styles by incorporating the same zippers & snaps into several styles. If a manufacturer produces 10 styles the new regulations require testing of each component part after it is removed from a sample garment, one in each style, increasing the costs to $3,600.

These costs multiply exponentially if companies are now required to test fabrics & threads for lead, or if different dyes also trigger their own lead tests. Going back to the previous example, if each style contains six components – body fabric, lining, knit cuff, thread, snap, & zipper, as well as 5 possible dye options – the number of tests increases to more than 300, or $108,000 to for just 10 styles in addition to the actual costs of production. Any small manufacturer that survives these costs – & there aren’t many of us that can – will necessarily have to pass them on to our customers. So, consumers end up on the losing end, too.

Many of us operate on extremely small margins. We cannot sell the merchandise we currently have in stock that we made prior to the standards ever having been approved, nor can we afford the testing required for each & every component of a finished product on top of the cost for testing the finished product – the vast majority of which are inherently lead-free or only present trace levels of lead, well below unsafe or regulatory limits. Requiring us to dispose of all our inventory & imposing huge testing costs on producing new inventory to replace it will force many of us to shut down our operations for good.

We urge the CPSC to issue guidance that makes clear that textiles & apparel are only subject to the lead & lead in paint requirements to the extent that a component presents a risk that it contains lead.

I respectfully request your help ensuring that the CPSC institute rulemaking to clearly define the scope and applicability of the new lead regulations and testing requirements for apparel and footwear products. I also urge that CPSC announce and implement an orderly enforcement schedule that focuses initial phases on education of these new requirements. Finally, I believe the decision by the CPSC to apply the lead ban retroactively needs to be reconsidered as soon as possible since the practical impact of this decision, in today's economic environment, will have an adverse effect at a time the government is spending billions to stimulate the economy.

Sincerely,
(Your Name Here)

D day for my Wonderful Business!!

2009-01-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Could CPSIA mark the D day for Baby Sprout Naturals and my wonderful new Wuggli I so lovingly made to sell for babies? I sure hope not. I pray and pray and pray that this law will be changed before our lives are changed FOREVER!!!

The SHORT version:
Bush passed a law in August 2008 called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). It requires the testing of all products for children 12 years and younger for lead and phylates. All products must be certified - each batch separately tested and certified. Everything baby or child related, from toys to clothing to furniture has to be certified. And this law is retroactive meaning everything produced before the law must comply by (GET THIS) February 10th 2009!!!! It's ridiculous because much of the product - like fabric - already meets government standards for lead and dyes used. This law requires additional testing of manufactured products even if there is no chance that the product contains these chemicals. So I am currently trying to get certification letters from all of my vendors. Hopefully these certifications will cover my current inventory. If not - I'm bankrupt.

This is an outrage. This is as bad or worse than the Mortgage Nightmare or the Car Industry Nightmare. This will effect thousands of retailers nationwide and will put most small businesses out of business. All mom's making home made products will no longer be allowed to. My 100% Organic baby lovey (Wuggli) will never be sold if I have to send hundreds of dollars on testing when the fabric itself is alreay safe! It is so much an outrage because the law has circumvented prior laws that would help protect retailers or manufacturers like this. Prior law required that the CPSC prepare & make available for public comment an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the impact of the lead content testing rule on small apparel manufacturing businesses, Congress has circumvented the public discourse necessary to truly ascertain the CPSIA's impact on small business. As written, the CPSIA ignores the wide variety of small business models that comprise the children's apparel manufacturing industry & the fact that the majority are indeed small businesses.

I need your help. I found several blogs regarding this issue. (See attached Word Document)I have compiled a letter, from letters I found that were meticulously drafted with educated information regarding the impact of this law,and sent it to Dan Lungren, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, but I want to do more. I want to get this story to the Press, to all News Stations (locally at least), to the Governor if possible and even to Obama if at all possible. So many professional vendors are only just now realizing that this law affects them too. I think that's why there hasn't been much talk about it. It is an outrage and it is going to kill the already spiraling economy.

If you have any way to find out EXACTLY who to contact regarding this mess I would really appreciate it. If you know any politicians PLEASE send them this information or let me know who they are and I will. I want EVERYONE I can to find out about this. We must stop this before it puts thousands of hard working mom's and toy makers out of business!!!! See my next article for a very well written letter you may copy and send to whomever you think can stop this ridiculously flawed act! Send it to news stations, newspapers, politicians, friends, family. Get this in front of our new President, Obama. Maybe he will support us and help save our businesses!

My business started out of my passion for change, for improvement and for children. If my business dies, a part of me will die along with it.

Dawn LaPolla
Current and Hopefull Owner of Baby Sprout Naturals.
"Saving the baby product industry, one letter at a time!"

The biz is busy!

2008-08-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't written for quite a while since I have been working on my new business venture Baby Sprout Naturals (http://www.babysproutnaturals.com/category_s/42.htm). When Alex was about 3 months old I started learning about cloth diapering and I became HOOKED! We switched him to cloth diapers at 4 months of age and he is almost 13 month old now.

So I've started on my new mission, to sell natural baby product like cloth diapers, organic clothing and other items that are non-toxic and earth friendly. There are so many children with diseases these days that I personally feel are preventable, such as, allergies, asthma and even autism!! Our society and all the manufacturing companies have lost site of what their products can do to harm our environment and us!

We need to be much more critical in the selection of products we choose to buy on a day to day basis. Pesticides, unnatural and man made chemicals, even vaccinations should be looked at closely and with a critical eye. Should we be using these things? In the long run, will they cause us more harm?

I hope my business does well. It is my dream and I hope it comes true. Right now Nick and I are business trying to market the e-store and hopefully within a year it will really be rolling. Then someday I can open a storefront. That would be amazing!! But it may be too late by then if Wally mart and Targ et start carring better products. Whow to the small businessman who sits in the shadows of the large conglomerates!

Breast Milk Cures!!

2008-04-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

OK, you are probably totally skeptical to think that breastmilk cures anything but a baby's hunger pains. But this stuff is AMAZING!!

1. Pink eye - otherwise known as conjunctivitis. Just a few drops keeps the bacteria from attaching to the eye (I dunno exactly I'm not a chemist). Repeat until gone and then I'd do for about 24 hours afterwards just to make sure. I tried it for pink eye on my 9 month old and it worked like a charm!

2. Decongestant - again a few drops in the nose can help a lil baby breath clearer

3. Earache - I haven't tried this one but next time my son gets an ear infection this is the first thing I'm gonna try!

Don't take my word for it. Try it! It just might work!

Cost of Cloth - SAVINGS!

2008-03-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

OK - here is an update to my other post on cloth diapering. I guess the savings is even greater than I thought!!!

Here is the scoop!

Disposable Cost Breakdown

Average 30 cents per diaper x 8 diapers average per day = $875 year (not including tax and gas)

Average 3 years in diapers (my son is almost 5 and he still wears pull ups) = $2600.00

Cloth Diapers (bumGenius!) Breakdown

Average $20 per diaper (best kind out there, One size fits newborn to 35 lbs and this includes tax) x 24 diapers (a good set to have for one child) = $480.00

What About Washing?

Glad you asked - I found on another blog site for cloth diapers that it costs about $1.50 per wash and you'll do about 3 per week or less which calculates to $235 per year x 3 years = $705

Add Cloth Diapers + Washing = $1185

($2600 - $1185 = $1415 SAVINGS in 3 years!!!!)

That's about a $471 savings per YEAR!!

Now if you resell your used diapers (you can totally do this on ebay or craigs list) you can still get at least 50% of your money back - that's another $240 savings! Or use them for siblings. One size fits all so you don't have to buy different sizes.

Aren't Convinced?

Would you buy a cute outfit for your baby for $20? He/she might wear it for 2-4 months MAX! Your baby will wear these diapers for 3+ years!!! How can you beat that? They can be passed down to your other children for even MORE savings! Or sell them, like you would used clothing.

Cloth Diaper PROS:

• Less or no leakage. I have yet to have an "overflow" of #2, whereas I it happened all the time with disposables.

• Really Cute! You can let your baby run around in them and it's not like they are in yucky diapers, they are in undies!!

• Less diaper rashes - you change the baby when he/she is wet whereas the disposables disguise the wetness and you leave your child in them longer leading to rashes.

• No harsh chemicals on baby's skin!

• Convenient! No more of a hassle than disposables - I promise!

Environmental Factor

You will be saving the landfill and the environment 8700+ diapers!! It takes 500 years for a diaper to decompose, and that is in the most optimal conditions; when exposed to sunlight and air. And did you know that it is against the law to dispose of feces in the landfill? It can contaminate the ground or water with viruses and diseases. Who knew?

Cloth Diapers 101

Cloth Diaper Brands

Cloth Diapering Step by Step

I'm gonna sell!

The site is not live yet but I am working hard

and it should be live and ready for business very soon!

Check out my website here and watch the birth of Baby Sprout!

www.babysproutnaturals.com

Baby Wearing!

2008-02-26T22:12:00.000-08:00

This looks like my new hobby. Found this website with adorable baby slings and videos on how to actually wear your baby.

Click here for the videos.

And here are the slings.

Click here for a link to how to make your own.

More info to come....

Baby Crib Shoes

2008-01-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

I had to write this quick entry on making your own baby crib shoes. They are so expensive and they grow out of them so fast. This is a fun and relatively easy way to make your own shoes! Check out this link!

Baby Shoes

Cloth Diapering Step-by-Step

2008-01-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

You can have a great product and the best intentions but if you cannot make it work - well, it just won't work. This is how I tackled my pursuit of cloth diapering. I needed to create a "system" that would make it efficient and as easy as possible. Knowing me, if it's a huge headache, I'll stop and go back to what's easy or what I know. There is so much to learn about cloth diapering these days - NO THIS IS NOT YOUR MOM'S DIAPERS!!! There is terminology to learn and different options to weigh. You won't learn this by watching what your parents have done and you cannot just walk to the nearest Walmart or Target and buy a starter kit. Why? Well that's another subject. Personally it reeks of a conspiracy. Maybe the disposable diaper companies are paying off all the discount stores to NOT carry cloth. But I tell you NOW, cloth is the BEST!!!!

The System (My System)
What I mean by system is how you will streamline, diapering, rinsing, storing, cleaning and folding. At daycare, grandma/grandpa, vacations etc. Let me try to sum it up here. I use bunGenius diapers so this is specific to pocket diapers.

1. Purchasing: Check out my other blog on Cloth Diaper Brands. It includes information on terminology and links to how to fold to put on your baby as well as links to websites that sell Cloth Diapers.

2. Rinsing: There is a spray hose that Cotton babies sells that attaches to the toilet. You only need to rinse the poopy diapers.The breast fed baby poop rinses off pretty easily but you will still see a yellow stain until they are washed. No biggy. We installed one and it works good. I still end up using the shower more often though, with the nozel on hard because the hot water seems to rinse the poop off better. Not sure your bathroom setup but either the toilet or the shower will work.

3. Where does the diaper go then - Bucket or Diaper Pale? Get a diaper pale or a trash can with a lid and put it wherever you plan on rinsing the diapers. That way you don't have to carry them off to the laundry room until you are ready. Keep a diaper pale or a trash can with a lid by the changing table too and when you change a pee-pee diaper it just goes in the pale. I always remove the insert first so it's ready to wash. The pee-pee trash bucket doesn't smell as long as the lid is closed. You can get tablets that go in the diaper pale that help eliminate the odor and when you go to wash they go in with the diapers and actually help clean them too. There are also "wet bags" sold in different sizes that you can line the diaper pale with. It can go into the wash along with the diapers and saves money over plastic.

4. Washing: For one child in cloth we wash diapers about every other day. Now that we have twice as many diapers we will probably wash every 3rd day. I put it on "whitest whites" setting on our machine with an extra rinse cylce. It washes them in hot with a cold water rinse. I use one scoop of Oxyclean for babies (without perfumes or dyes) and I think it's Tide Free and Clear - also without perfumes/dyes or additives. DON'T USE FABRIC SOFTENER!! I also use Dreft stain remover spray on the poopy yellow ones. There is a product I still need to buy called Bac-out. It removes the bacteria on the diapers that may cause them to smell and is environmentally safe. You can use vinegar in the wash as well, to remove the smell - distilled white vinegar I've been told smells the least and it doesn't make your diapers smell. If you have a super good machine with the super hot temperature that kills the bacteria and sanitizes the diapers then that is great too. We could have gotten that model for a few $100 more but didn't think we'd need it.

5. Drying: Our machine takes forever to dry but that's because our dryer vent hose has a million angles and my husband is going to fix that this weekend. Normally the pocket diapers dry pretty quickly because you've removed the insert. That is why I don't like the all in ones - they are so thick they take forever to dry. I've also read that hanging the diapers to dry in the sun removes stains as well. So far there is no stain that I haven't been able to remove so these diapers clean up well!! And they stay looking new too.

6. Stuffing: I stuff the diapers and fold them up when I do the rest of the laundry so they are ready when I need them. Don't want to be stuffing when I have a squirmy baby on the changing table!

7. Daycare and Grandma/Grandpa: Bring a diaper bag with up to 5 diapers (per child) depending on how long they will have them. Tell them to just put the dirty ones in a plastic bag and you can rinse them if need be when you get them. Show them how they work if they haven't ever done them before - they are super easy. No more difficult than disposables if you've stuffed them already.

8. Liners: They make disposable/biodegradable liners on a role like toilet paper that you can line the diaper with if you want to. That way when they poop you just remove the liner with the poop and avoid having to rinse. I didn't see this working well with breastmilk-poop because it is so runny. But when he is on solids and has a more solid poop this will probably be nice and I may be able to avoid rinsing all together!!! It's $8 or less for a roll.

DO NOT:
Use diaper rash ointment! I guess it is difficult to get that out of the diapers. I found something somewhere for diaper rash that is ok with cloth and I don't remember what it is. I have used diaper rash ointment sparingly and with a liner a couple of times and that worked ok. Just as long as it doesn't get on the cloth.

I hope all this helps!

Sculpting Life (OOAK baby sculpting)

2008-01-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

So I started a new hobby in November. Ever since that email went around a few years ago about Camille Allen the marzipan baby sculptor, I've wanted to try my hand at sculpting a realistic baby doll. Not out of marzipan - Camille Allen did hers out of polymer clay.

Alex was born in July and every day I was dreading the fact he was growing up so fast. Those tiny fingers and adorable grabby toes!!! The little face with such cute little lips, I wanted to capture his adorable baby qualities by doing a sculpture of him. After researching the craft of One of a Kind (OOAK) baby sculpting and trying out one doll, I set forth making a full size baby sculpture from a kit I purchased online.

The kit came with 3 blocks of clay, cloth body, wig, glass eyes and a DVD by Pat Moulton - that's it.

And here is the finished result:

Here is the real deal - Alex. The model and inspiration for the doll.

To be perfectly honest, the doll ended up kinda creepy! It's just too realistic. When I told Pat about it she said that is common with open-eyed babies so the next one I do will probably be a sleepy baby and maybe 1/2 scale. This one took a TON of clay. And I had issues with cracking at the corners of the eyes and mouth. But you can barely tell, I filled the cracks with clay and used a heat gun to set, then sanded and painted. The doll could probably use a little more paint too. I guess the Genesis paints fade a little after they are dry and I didn't want to overdo it and put too much on. It's all a learning process. And thanks so much to Pat Moulton for giving me pointers and encouragement when I needed it!!!

How did I do?

Elisa's Newest Addition

2008-01-15T12:09:00.001-08:00

For anybody who knows Elisa she is having baby boy #2 sometime in May (I think). It almost seems like yesterday when she was preparing for Andrew to enter the world. She will soon have her hands full with 2 little munchkins. If you'd like to help her out there are still a few things that she needs for baby boy #2.

Since these items are not necessarily found in any local store like Target or Walmart it makes it difficult to create a registry. I've tried to find the least expensive items on the internet and include a link for your convenience. If there isn't a link yet, please check back again later or email me and I'll let you know where to get it. I'll update this list regularly.

Elisa's Baby List

BumGenius Cloth diapers (You can get the 2.0 model on sale at www.cottonbabies.com for $14.95 each - may sound expensive but these are really the best!! If everyone buys just one she could have a supply for Andrew as well (they are one size fits all) and save a ton of $$ on those awful disposables!
Natural pacifiers (2 of each size) - www.thesoftlanding.com/narunapacoso.html
Long sleeved onesies in various sizes - done
Zooper hook on chair for eating out - Amazon
Glass baby bottles - www.newbornfree.com, naturalbaby.stores.yahoo.net/realglasbabb.html
Bibs that have a snap not velcro!
Natural wooden baby toys/rattles
Toilet seat to put on our toilet - done
Sleep positioner (the one with rolls on either side so they stay on their back) - done
Bebe sounds Angel Care movement sensor with sound monitor
Graco quattro duo stroller in "ionic"
Graco Snugride infant seat in platinum
12X12 Baby Days album by aimeej (amazon)
PJ's without fire retardant (cotton only)

Let me know if/when you buy something from the list (send me an email or I think you can add a comment to this post) and I will mark it so we don't have too much of a good thing.

Thanks everybody!

Cloth Diaper Brands

2008-01-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Chinese Prefolds - Cost about $1.00 - 1.50 each
Most like the old style diapers but prefolded and stiched so there are 4 layers of fabric on both sides and 6 layers in the middle. These still need to be folded up to be put on the baby and held together with pins, a snappy, or a diaper cover. These end up being really bulky on the baby but they soak up a lot of pee! They come in bleached and unbleached.

How to fold: www.greenmountaindiapers.com/howto.htm#How

Diapers Covers - Cost about $10.00 each (Thirsties, Bummies, etc.)
Needed for any cloth diaper that does not have a waterproof outer liner. Use with Chinese prefolds.

I prefer the Thirsties as they have an additional gusset as well as elastic on the legs to keep everything contained. They come in cute prints too.

Fitted Diapers/All in Ones - Cost about $14.00 - $20.00. (Motherease, Kushies, Bummies, Imzi Vimzi, BumGenius, etc.)
All in Ones which means everything is sewn together and contoured to fit the baby. Usually you secure these with snaps or velcro. Some of these brands require a cover like Motherease, Bummies and the cotton or hemp products. BumGenius All in Ones (AIOs) have a waterproof exterior so they don't need a wrap. The AIOs usually take a lot longer to dry.

Pocket Diapers - Cost about $14.00 - $22.00. (BumGenius, FuzziBunz, Happy Heiny, Swaddlebees etc.)
These are similar to the Fitted except they have a pocket you stuff with a liner or 2 or 3, however many you think you need for your baby. These are great because you can "custom stuff". And since they are pockets and you can remove the liner, they was easy and dry much faster than the AIOs.

WHERE TO BUY?
Here is a good question for all you out there. Why can't you just walk down to the drugstore or department store and just buy these things off the shelf? I'm telling you - there is a conspiracy it seems. Don't be fooled! It may take more work in the beginning to get started on cloth but it is soooo worth it!!!

These are just some of the online sites that sell cloth diapers.
www.cottonbabies.com
www.softclothbunz.com
www.nickisdiapers.com

This is just a taste of the information you may need to start your cloth diapering journey. Here is a great resource for even more info: www.diaperpin.com included, howtos, product reviews, forums, dictionary and sales.

Cloth Diapering 101 - The best brand!

2008-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

So are you still interested in doing cloth diapers? We love it. Overwhelmed with all the different options and don't know where or what to buy? Here is the skinny!! Of course this is our opinion and others may find they do things differently or use a different diaper system.

THE COST BREAKDOWN $$$
One child uses approximately 8 diapers per day give or take - that's 20cents per disposable diaper = $1.60 per day. 3 years of disposables = $1747.20
3 years of cloth (22 cloth pocket diapers at $14.95 each) = $328.90
3 year cost savings: $1418.30 ($472.77 per year average)
So in 205 days you break even. Thats just short of seven months. If you use them on 2 kids you save $$ even quicker!!! Plus the added benefit of not putting those awful disposables on your baby and in the landfill for 500 years. I wish I had done this with our first child but I don't think they had these fancy cloth out then.

PLUS!! you can resell your diapers on ebay after you are done for 50 - 70% of what you paid. Let's say 50% so you sell them for $7.00 each. That's another $154 dollars you save.

OUR FAVORITE CLOTH DIAPER!!!
We tried Fuzzibunz, Motherease, Thirsties, Chinese prefold, and Bummies, and ended up buying the more expensive kind - BumGenius OS. These pockets are so far the absolute best because:

They are one size fits all so you can use them from birth to 35 lbs or on 2 children - you don't have to have multiple sizes.
They are pocket diapers so they wash easily/ dry pretty fast and you can stuff them as much as you need to, more for naps and nighttime and less for daytime
They use velcro so they are easy to put on with a squirmy baby (don't get the diapers with the snaps - it's almost impossible when they are around 4 months and won't stop squirming on the changing table!)
The velcro also helps with fitting them right on the baby - tighter for a thinner child, looser if they are chubby.
The inner liner is some kind of fabric that wicks away moisture so when the liner is soaked the baby stays dry. Haven't had any diaper rash so far and I did with disposables.
Rarely leak - never had a poop leak so far and I had poop leaks all the time with disposables.
They are REALLY cute.
They are so much better for the environment and for the baby. No harsh chemicals on the babies skin.

For more information about the different cloth diapers check out my blog - Cloth Diaper Brands.

Trends for 2008

2008-01-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

There seem to be a definite trend emerging for me this year. Forget resolutions. They never work. They just set me up for disappointment. If I accomplish something NOT on my "to do" list then I feel like I've accomplished more than expected - for some reason that feels good. Yeah, I'm a doer and it seems like this year I'm getting a few things done that I've wanted to do for a long time.

So far it's only the 2nd week of January and I've; posted old cell phones on ebay to sell, designed a prototype cloth diaper (didn't work great but it's sure cute), transitioned to cloth diapers (fun AND messy!), made some blankets and outfits for the boys as well as a pair of shoes for Alex, finished sculpting my first realistic baby doll, and made real progress in getting our house and our lives organized. Yeah, I'm obsessive about it. How to do things quicker, easier and more efficiently. Laundry is still a bear but at least I don't dread it like I use to.

My creativity has really peaked. I can't wait to go home and make stuff. We'll see what comes next. I'm hankering to make some outfits. Maybe I'll do a jacket, or purse.

Alex loves his baths!

2008-01-09T14:52:00.001-08:00

Haven't blogged in a long time so I thought I'd put in a quick link to recent Alex pics:

http://nicholaslapolla.smugmug.com/gallery/4135934#241316491

Can't believe he is almost 6 months already!

Back from Baby Land

2007-08-27T16:48:00.001-07:00

It's my first day back at work. I've been at Alex's beck and call for the past 6 weeks. I need the adult interaction and change of pace. It's nice to be back at work. So far. And knowing I still get another 6 weeks off makes work that much easier to take.

This is my first post so I'm not exactly sure what to expect.