Cloth Diaper Flats and Handwashing Challenge

I don't know if anyone knows, but I am thinking of cloth diapering Baby Bingham #2, and I have been doing a lot of research about costs, different diapers, etc. I have found that cloth diapering can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be, with flats (a large piece of cotton) the cheapest option.

In the news lately, there have been stories of people who, unable to purchase new diapers, have been reusing disposable diapers by blow-drying them if they are wet, or having their children sit in their poop for hours at a time to make the diapers last longer. A lot of little kids have been getting sick, even a few dying because of the infection this is causing.

By perusing through some cloth diaper blogs, I have found someone over at Dirty Diaper Laundry who is sponsoring the Flats and Handwashing Challenge to help people understand that there are options for your child, that are quite inexpensive, to diaper your child--even if you don't have access to a washing machine.

I don't have anyone to participate in the challenge with (Miss Alice is going to be with Jackie on the dates of the challenge, and I would never expect someone else to do this for me), but I still think it's important for people to find other ways to take good care of their kids, even if they don't have a lot of money.

I will donate 12 flat diapers to anyone who would like to participate in this challenge. If you know anyone that can't afford the diapers and would benefit from 12 flat diapers, let them know. They can email me at cutiebing {at} gmail {dot} com with their address. I will order the diapers and have them sent to their address.

For more information on the parameters and rules of this challenge, you can find the information here:

Flats Challenge

Update: Without Pictures

Sorry about the no pictures thing. The only time I find that I want to write is a work, ironically (especially since it's Core Testing this week and I'm almost completely caught up with grades), and have no access to the pictures that I PROMISE we have been taking. Maybe I'll come back later and update with pictures.

Anyway, here's what the Bingham clan has been up to:

Joe: Still works and Chris' Body and Paint on the corner of State Street and 7200 South (sound familiar? The shop is right next to the Shane Company. Not right on the corner, I guess, but how can you NOT quote the Shane Company?) It is 100 million% better than where he was last year. At least I'm not trying to constantly cheer up a depressed husband, but it's still not where he wants to be. Ultimately, Joe would love to get a job with a salary instead of commission and health insurance instead of...nothing. But at least he's happy when he comes home.

Joe has been working very hard to get our spare room ready for Alice. The goal is to move her into her "Big Girl" room and her "Big Girl" bed by her birthday (next week...can you believe it?) so it's a "Yay! You're a big girl!" kind of thing rather than a "By the way, we're kicking you out of your crib for the new baby" type of thing. Joe has done the room all by himself, and has done a stellar job, if I do say so myself. He painted, installed the bead board, the chair rail, and battled with the stupid bull-nose all on his own. He even picked out the ceiling fan, which is Alice's favorite part. She likes to take people in the room, point to the ceiling, and say "Yookit! Bootiful!" Pictures are definitely forthcoming.

Alice is officially 23 months and 3 weeks old, which means it is birthday time around our house, and I have been pretty lazy lately. I've been sewing like a crazy lady for the baby, but in all the nesting I have kind of forgotten that Easter was here, and just a week later, it would be Alice's birthday. I haven't even done anything for it yet, unless you count getting her bedroom ready. But I am currently trying to come up with a fun cake that I can do this weekend, and I have just been waiting for my paycheck to go and get her big present that we've been thinking about.

Alice's vocabulary is expanding at an astonishing rate. I didn't realize this until I got to spend a week home during Spring Break. The girl never shut up! "What you doing?" "Yet's Dance!" "How 'bout...Micky Mouse?" "Where Daddy go?" and "No! Stop It" were on a constant cycle for five days straight. I was so glad when Joe took Thursday and Friday off so I could say, "Alice, go see if you can help Daddy fix your big girl room." And then she would bug him with the question, "What you doing?" Over and over again.

This event, however, has kindled Alice's new love affair with tools. She loves to "fix" things with a hammer (which means we have a couple dents in walls) mark the walls with a pencil (like Joe was marking his measurements on the chair rail) and carry around her favorite flashlight. Her new favorite show is Bob the Builder, and recently she has taken to sleeping with her own (plastic) hammer. Remember how I said I had a girl? Sometimes I wonder. Although Alice does have her girl moments.

She frequently will point to our house and say, "Oh, no! Mommy, it messy!" Which, okay, it is, but really. Our house has always been messy. When did she start to mind? And second of all, it's messy because of ALICE. So lately I've been saying, "Yep, it is messy, Miss Alice. I guess you better clean it up." And the conversation ends there. I think she is my daughter. I learned really young to never complain about being bored because my mom would "find me something to do." Alice is a branch from the same tree.

Alice has taken to recognizing letters, but doesn't know the ABCs. We were driving down the road and passed a Weinershnitzel and Alice started yelling, "Yippee! Yippee! A W Mommy! Yippee! W! Yookit! A W! Yippee!" I don't know why a W brings such joy to her, but I am very glad she can recognize letters out of order. I think that will really help her when she starts to read, although I worry about her future alphabetizing organizational skills.

And me? Well, I'm counting down the days until summer break (27) and counting down the days until New Baby makes an appearance (99). There's a lot I have to do between now and end of school, though, and planning and grading are last on that list. I have to start packing up my room. I am going part time next year, and I might have to move classrooms. I haven't heard anything like that, but I have a sneaking suspicion (based on good historical evidence) that there is a serious communication problem and they will notify me that I have to move my classroom in August, a week after the baby is born. So I'm packing up now.

I also have to start getting ready for a substitute for next year. I am doing what I swore I never would: starting the school year with a sub. Arggg. But. I can't change that now. I'm crossing my fingers, though, that an intern friend of mine won't get a job so she can be my sub. That way, I won't have to do 6 weeks of lesson plans, and might consider taking the full 12 weeks off, knowing my classes are in good hands. I feel mean hoping she is unemployed, but what can I do?

I have reached that point in my pregnancy where people are starting to ask my due date, and then give me a pitying look when I tell them August 4th. I know. I am that big. I'm huge. I can't bend over to tie my shoes anymore, and my LARGE clothes I wore for the last month of Alice's gestation are now fitting perfectly at week 26. It's sad. But, I keep telling myself, it's all baby, right? I've only gained 13 pounds this time around, and at this point with Alice, I was up a whopping 30 and counting. So. Whatever.

As mentioned above, I have been sewing and crocheting like a crazy lady. Most people clean when they're nesting. I make bigger messes. So far I have made: two wet bags, 30 cloth wipes (because they clean up messy faces better than regular wipes), covered 7 cardboard boxes with fabric to act as stylish drawers in baby's closet, a blanket (for someone else), crocheted a diaper cover (with ruffles!) and am crocheting a large white blanket for a girl, and have plans for a cute blue one if we're having a boy. I have bought material to make a diaper holder, and curtains for the new baby room, and am considering buying more fabric to make a bed skirt and new bumper pads. I bought a food processor (for 8.99 on ebay) so I can make my own baby food, and I have started shopping around for breast feeding supplies (since I'm gonna give it a go this time around). I have also started stocking up on a diaper stash. I've gone a bit crazy, I know. It's all pretty new to me, since I don't remember going through this last time, but I attribute it to the knowledge that I'm going part time, which means 50% less income than I'm used to. So I'm trying to get everything in order before I don't have any more money. Whew. I wish I weren't working.

So that's us for now. There's pictures coming of Alice's Big Girl Room, her new potty (which she loves to sit on but hates to use), Easter, Two Year Pics (as soon as she's not sick anymore to get her to cooperate), my many projects (cute diaper covers, blankets, etc), many, many more.

So Remember When

I was doing those cute posts about how I met my husband, fell in love, and here we are 6 years later? No? Well, that's what I was leading up to. I was going to chronicle March 12, March 18, and March 19, our first three dates, and end with a stirring, yet upbeat, post on March 19 about how I knew then, on our third date, that I was going to marry this guy, and that guy's birthday was March 19th, and then talk about how I did marry him, how much I love him, and then tease him about being 35. Because, of course, I am still in my 20s (barely), so how old is he to be only 5 years away from 40?

That was the intention. And then some evil cold/allergies I don't know what descended upon our family. First, I had a little head cold, then Alice caught it, followed by a horrible, vomit-inducing cough (which, thankfully only induced twice--both times when I was holding her, by the way), which she suffered from for about two weeks. I was feeling fine, and this week she finally started to pull out of it when Joe came down with the cold/allergies. And it is easier taking care of Alice when she is sick than Joe. At least Alice will be happy between bouts. Joe is miserable. Constantly.

And dear, I love you, but we all feel crummy. I know you are achy, your head is stuffed, your ears are stuffed, and it's settling in your chest and you can't sleep. I can't sleep either, because I have a stiff neck (from trying to sleep on my stomach, but since the baby has taken that region over, I end up sleeping on my side, but twisted--it's weird) and I a miserable, too. But I do not think you are going to die, and I do not think you are going to catch pneumonia, and I do not think you are going to permanently lose your hearing in your left ear. I am sorry. I am not a very patient nurse.

So, the cold that I had for a week went away (except for a stuffy nose--is that allergies?) for a week while Alice was sick, and since Alice has gotten better, has reappeared with a vengeance. My eyes are leaky and swollen, my nose is constantly stuffed, and this morning I woke to a cough that induced vomit-like reactions (though I have yet to vomit). It's back. And Joe is still sick. And I am tired, since I didn't sleep last night, and at work, since I have to be, and Joe went to work (even though he has a tendency to break parts when he's sick and tired), and I have to make up a root word quiz and go buy a cake at Costco during my lunch break (which, by the way, is only 30 minutes) for my student teacher, who is leaving at exactly the WRONG time. And on top of that, I look like crap because I don't care.

And that is why I didn't get a chance to finish my wonderful, upbeat series to my husband. I am so sorry. Here's the nutshell version: I married him. I love him. He's a super guy. He's a neat dad. And we are both miserable when we are sick.