Elimination Communication

We started using Elimination Communication recently. Elimination communication is all about learning to communicate with your infant by reading her cues when going to the bathroom. Many parents start EC at birth while others (like us) start a little later into infancy. We started when Lily was 6 months 3 weeks old.Elimination Communication is NOT potty training. It is mama and daddy training. It is learning to communicate with one another; potty learning.

How we do it: We are only EC part time. This means we put Lily on her potty after naps, when she wakes up, after she nurses and anytime in between when it appears she 'needs to go'. We watch for cues from her to tell us that she needs to pee or poo. Many times her belly will tighten and then blow up as if she is attempting to push. Lily also focus' ahead when she is going. Once we put her on the potty we watch, listen for her cues and say "Potty" with the sign for toilet. We also have a little bit of diaper free time each day to give us the opportunity to let it all 'air out' ;)

Lily gets excited when she gets to go potty!

Our results so far: We do not expect any quick fixes, we don't expect our 7 month old to be potty trained. EC is all about that, communication. By reading babies cues we can better understand one another and have a happier baby and parents. So far we only get wet diapers on long trips out, naps and night time. We have not had any accidents at diaper free time nor have we had any poos in her diaper! It has greatly cut down on diaper laundry. EC has been so rewarding and exciting for us. I feel like I better understand what my daughter is telling me through her body language. Pin It Now!

Thirsties Fab Fitted and Duo Wrap Review

Let me just say, our little chunk is a bit of a heavy wetter. She eats a lot therefore she pees, a lot. Weighing in at about 13 lbs at 3 months, 3 weeks Lily goes through diapers like a pregnant lady goes through Tums. We were using our Grovia's for night time diapering, but every morning she was waking up soaking wet. After changing her sleeper, onesie, swaddle AND the sheet every night for about a week I was determined to find something that worked. Enters Thirsties Fab Fitted.

Overlapping Aplix Tabs make it an amazing fit!

Very Trim Diapers, and they come in so many cute prints/colors.

Thirsties Fab Fitted are very trim. When it's time to fit into those almost too small pants this is the diaper to grab! They are very absorbent and last 12+ hours for us. The sizing snaps are strong enough that they don't pop open every time we change her, like other diapers have for us. They are very easy, even for sitters or clueless daddies. The system is very economical with only 2 sizes from birth to potty training. The aplix is strong, but the laundering tabs seem to be a little less sticky. Every now and then I will pull out a diaper chain, frustrated. Overall Thirsties Fab Fitteds have proven to be a keeper!

Very strong sizing snaps make for easy diaper changes!

This print is my favorie, Alice Brights.

Thirsties Duo Wraps are not my favorite. For diaper covers, they are good. They never leak, have amazing leg gussets and are very trim. I am not a big fan of the plastic-feeling though. Also, my 13 pound 3 month old is already in a size two!! At about 10 lbs the size one cover fully unsnapped started to dig into her belly. It would leave red marks that wouldn't go away for a few hours. These size 1 covers are supposed to fit until around 18 lbs. Overall, the Thirsties Duo Wrap did the job, but I would rather use a Grovia AI2 Shell or a Kawaii One Size Cover.

This combination for night time diapering has done wonders to my laundry routine. No more wet jammies! I would recommend for you to try Thirsties products yourself :)- Pin It Now!

Presents, presents and more presents!

This was a week of presents. We received fluff mail (all you cloth diapering mama's no how exciting that is), finished the nursery, received elephants to match and a cute little monkey named Lulu! Not to mention adorable little crochet hats and a free vacation with my parents. Yesterday we also got...


A CAR!! Say hello to the beautiful Honda Pilot :) We are officially a 1 car family.

Lily loves it too!

Plenty of room for extended rear facing and even more room for our cutie corgis!

Needless to say, this week has been amazing. Pin It Now!

A Car please.

 We sold our two cars in preparation of buying one that would work in all aspects of our life. This hasn't quite happened yet. So for about a month now we have been carless. It is nice not to have any car, gas or insurance payments however it is very inconvenient with a baby. We have been doing a lot of walking. [I think] we will be buying a Honda Pilot within the next week or so.We found a VERY good deal on an Acura MDX which we instantly fell in love with. The seller has been putting off selling it  however. So a month after we initially were interested in it, we are still empty handed. Today we went to see the car. It is beautiful and something I really like. However he said 'a couple more week' AGAIN. We are starting to look elsewhere. The Honda Pilot is very similar to the Acura MDX. It is slightly more spacious, a little cheaper and a little more in our price range. So hopefully, in a couple days we will finally be able to drive ourselves where ever we need to go. In the mean time I am very grateful to my lovely mother and father in law, who have been driving us everywhere. Pin It Now!

Natural Living on a Limited Income

About a year ago my husband lost his job. He started his own business. Soon after I found out I was pregnant and stopped working out of the home. With my husband working about 4 days a week and me not working, our budget was tight and our wallets were empty. We needed to simplify for sure! I started researching cloth diapers and fell in love. But that wasn't enough. I was determined to be a stay-at-home mama so we had to make some changes.

Cloth diapers was the first "budget-friendly decision". By not having to by diapers or wipes we save approximately $1000 a year. This may not seem like much, but in the grand scheme of things it really is. Modern cloth diapers are easy, budget-friendly and actually very fun! No chemicals on that sensitive little booty is also a big plus.

The next decision was to exclusively breastfeed. Breastfeeding is VERY healthy for mom and baby. Baby gets all the nutrition she needs, mom's risk for breast cancer drops drastically and it is an easy way to get some much needed sleep. Not to mention you will never need to run to the store at the last minute to get some formula, you will never need to make your baby wait while preparing a bottle and you will save tons of money! This decision was very easy for me. I also enjoy nursing my baby and those bonding moments.

Since I no-longer had to commute to work we decided to become a one car family. This is where things get tough. We are both used to having our freedom, driving wherever we please, when we please. We sold our two cars in preparation of buying one that would work in all aspects of our life. With on car and insurance payment and gas for just one car we have cut down on payments and saved a lot of money. (We have not yet bought a car replacing the other two.)

The one thing we have not and will not give up is healthy food. Yes, we buy generic when we can, but we buy organic often and don't skimp on what we need. Whole foods is easily my favorite grocery. I intend to start a small vegetable garden in our backyard but I am by no means a gardener. It will be interesting to say the least. I do however clip coupons, buy in bulk at our local Costco, and go crazy on sales.

Living on a limited budget isn't so bad. It takes a little sacrifice but isn't that what mother-hood is all about? Pin It Now!