Teatopia

Another fluffy fanny....

Well, it seems that early next June, we're going to have another fanny to fluff in cloth! :-)

Yep, Olivia is going to be a BIG SISTER!!!!!!

I'm not quite a month along, but I couldn't wait to share our news! I see the doctor next week to get an official due date, but 5 tests confirmed our news (as if the first wasn't enough). :-)

Crazy for Cloth

You might think I'm nuts, but I have good reasons:

I seriously LOVE our cloth diapers. I used to be one of those moms who gave kudos to anyone who cloth diapered, but thought they were kind of nuts for making more work for themselves. I also didn't know too much then about all the advances in cloth diapering since our mothers used them. Today, cloth diapering can be fun. They're a fashion accessory! And I don't spend much time taking care of them, really. It also feels good to be helping the environment. If you live in the city like me, the water you use to clean them is going to be re-used and I love than I'm not contributing to landfill waste. Did you know that disposable diapers are the number 3 pollutant in landfills? Also, the chemicals that disposables give off when wet is most likely one of the factors contributing to the growing numbers of kids with asthma. These are all factors that contributed to my decision to switch to cloth. I never really blogged about it at the time because I didn't want to seem preachy. We all have to do what's best for our family. I have no judgment, honestly, but if you think you might be interested in cloth (I've gotten e-mails from a few of you), I'd be happy to help you out in any way I can. I couldn't be happier about the making the switch!

The various types:

So... there are several types of cloth diapers to choose from. I'm going to show you my favorite. There are other types I don't use: contours, prefolds, and flats, which are basically the types that require a pin (or snappi, which is a fastener) and then a cover. Some people love these, they just don't appeal to me.

One of the more popular choices, and my favorite, is pockets because you can stuff them according to amount of absorbency you need. Pockets have a soft inside, a waterproof outside, and room between the two layers for stuffing.

From left to right, there's a Bum Genius, a Wonderworks Wonderoo, and a Baby Kanga pocket. These are all one-size diapers, which means they adjust to fit babies between 8 and 35/40 pounds. I'll get to the adjustments later. I love pockets because I can stuff them however much I want. At night, I use a super soaker insert, which looks like this:

It tri-folds and it's made from hemp, which is super absorbent. Most pockets come with an insert that slides right in the pocket, but you can order extras (like my super soaker) or doublers, which allow for extra absorbency. I've barely had any leaks at all. If we're going out, I use a doubler or add a second insert, but at home, usually whatever the diaper came with is enough.

You can buy pockets in specific sizes (newborn, small, medium, large, XL) but I love the OS (one-size) so I don't have to replace my diapers every time Olivia grows. Here you can see the size variation in the Bum Genius:

Then, there are AIO's (all-in-one's) where the insert is attached. These are waterproof on the outside. These are great for convenience, like if someone who wasn't familiar with cloth needed to change your baby, but I can't adjust the amount of absorbancy when the liner is already sewn in. Again though, they're a bit easier since you don't have to take time to stuff them.

Here you can see the different between a diaper with a sewn in liner (on the left), and one with a pocket that must be stuffed (on the right):

Here are two pockets and one AIO:

From left to right: a large WAHM made pocket diaper (many work-at-home-moms make a living making these-- don't I wish?), an AIO (the liner snaps in) one-size Little Lambs diaper, and a petite Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper. Fuzzi Bunz are a popular brand. I use these at night with a wool cover, but I only have a few of them because they only come in specific sizes.

The last type I use are fitteds with a cover. Fitteds are diapers that look similar to the others above, but they don't have a waterproof outer, so you'd need a cover. I guess the appeal of these is mixing and matching, and some people like to just put fitteds on their child without a cover when they're home to let the skin breathe a little. But obviously, you'd need a cover if you were going somewhere.

From left to right: a Wonderworks Wonderwrap (one-size fits all), a large Bummis whisper-wrap, and a large Bella Bottoms cover.

I have a few fitteds with covers. Even though I prefer pockets, one of my favorite diapers I own is this adorable pink sushi print. Doesn't this make you want to cloth diaper? :-)

I also love this one-size Organic velour Swaddlebees. It's soooo soft and one of the inserts can be used as a newborn diaper.

Here's is the Swaddlebees with a Bummis Whisper-wrap cover:

Washing them (and no, it's not as gross as you'd think):

Most of the questions I got were about caring for the diapers. Really, it's not that bad! I know there are those who swish them around in the toilet (yuck!) and take time to meticulously peel poop off of the diapers (double yuck), but you can cloth diaper and avoid all that yuckiness. First of all, you can avoid the poop mess altogether by using a cheap, disposable, biodegradable liner. You simply lay it inside the diaper before you put it on, and the whole thing can be flushed, poop and all! No mess! There are times I don't use a liner because I don't think she'll poop, and most of the time, since she eats solids, the poop can just be dumped in the toilet. With exclusively breastfed babies, you don't have to worry about anything. The poop washes right out! If for some reason your toddler's poop gets smeared and there's no liner (it has happened) then I use an old spatula to scrape the mess into the toilet, I wipe the spatula off with a wipe and the rest comes out in the wash. No biggie!

The diapers then go into a diaper pail. I have a big tupperware trashcan that I got for $5 at Wal-mart with a trash bag for a liner. They can stay in here for a few days and there are all kinds of deodorizing methods. I throw a load of diapers in before I go to bed. I don't like mine to sit.

Washing them is easy. If I didn't use liners to catch poop, I run a rinse cycle. Then I do a hot wash with a little bit of Dawn soap (yes, Dawn! As in the detergent for dishes-- works great! But there are others you can use). When that wash is done, I run a rinse cycle. Then, I hang them to dry and throw the inserts in the dryer. You can dry everything in the dryer, but they say the diapers last longer if you don't. I have a drying rack I use for jeans and stuff, and I hang the diapers on there too.

I use cloth wipes when changing my diapers. I SWORE I never would, but in the end, I've found them much easier to use. I kept leaving disposable wipes in my cloth diapers and washing them by accident and they'd dissolve on everything. It got annoying. So, I got some cloth wipes (you can order them on most diaper sites or you can have a WAHM make them like I did). I keep warm water in my wipes warmer and I dip the cloth wipes in to get them wet, use them, and throw them in the pail with the dipes to be washed. Easy! They actually clean better than the thin disposables and Olivia like the warm wipe. She tells me "hot" and smiles. :-)

Here's the little caddy I keep for changing diapers:

You can see my package of liners and my cloth wipes. Also, some castile soap which I will sometimes add to my warm water to really clean her butt. She's so prone to rashes that it's a more gently alternative to the harsher disposable wipes. Also, my handy dandy poop scraping spatulas for emergency situations when I forgot to use a liner (it's been washed with antibacterial soap!). Also, I've got some diaper rash cream from Northern Essence. I had to buy "special" cream safe for cloth (the other stuff stains) and I have found that this more natural cream works a million times better than any other cream I've used.

On the go:

Yes, I use cloth when we're out. I have what's called a wet bag for throwing dirty diapers in. It has a little piece of cloth for you to put a few drops of peppermint or tea tree oil to hide smells. Cool, huh?

I do not use cloth wipes when we're out. I have friends who do (they wet the cloths in advance and keep them in a bag) but I just worry I won't remember to wet some and I just use disposable wipes which I throw away after changing Olivia.

The cost:

All this may sound like I spent a ton of money, but I really didn't. $300 tops. That's a heck of a lot less that you'd spend on disposables in the first year, and I can use all these again. Then, I can sell them on Diaper Swappers and get back probably half what I paid in the first place.

At first, I thought it would all be so much work, but it isn't. I've fallen into a routine and I love the cuteness factor of cloth diapers, so it all works out. I wish I'd started sooner. Newborn fluff is so cute!

Well, I think that's everything. Feel free to ask any questions if I didn't address something you're curious about. :-)

Here's a bonus pic to show you more varieties:

top row: yellow large Dream-Eze AIO (left) and large Happy Heiny's cow print pocket diaper

bottom row from left to right: glass colored Haute Pocket one-size, red/green Little Lambs one-size AIO, grass Haute Pocket one-size, periwinkle Wonderworks pocket one-size

The Procedure...

was awful. It's up there with one of the most painful experiences of my life. And you're talking to the girl who's been through labor (mostly without medication, although there were those 2 hours). The girl who had the rest of her toenail ripped off without meds after that injury last summer. I like to watch when they draw my blood, or when I get stitches. I've had countless procedures done over the years and this may be #1 for the most agonizing. I seriously laid there are cried like a stupid baby. All I could do was to bite my lip to keep from screaming and I tried to picture Olivia's face and hear her voice telling me she wanted to give me a kiss. That's my favorite thing she does.

I thought I was going to be under sedation. Not so. They gave me a shot of 75 mg of Demerol in my leg. I assumed I'd have something introvenus drug to relax me. Nope. The Demerol is supposed to take the edge off. If it did, I can't fathom what it would've been like without it. They gave me a shot to numb the area (those shots always sting like crazy), but that was nothing. When he stuck the intrument in to go into my spine, the numbing medication didn't go that far down, so I could feel him poking around in my spine. When he'd touch various places in my spine, parts of my body would jerk by themselves and they felt like they were on fire.

I am so sore. My back feels like someone kicked it 25 times with steel boots. I can't pick up Olivia, which is killing me. Nursing has been an adventure. I'm trying to nurse her as much as I can though. I've had a cold for the last several days (which is why I've been MIA) and I want her to have lots of antibodies to keep her from catching it. I guess the only good thing about being awake during the torture procedure was that I was scared I'd be so congested and I wouldn't breathe through my mouth is I was asleep. I used some nasal spray before I went in, and that helped.

In thinking about it, this is a whiny post, but I wanted to be honest about the whole procedure. I can tell you this, back surgery is the farthest thing from my mind. An absolute last resort! I will exhaust all options before even considering it. I am too young for such a procedure. We're settling soon, so all I can hope is that when the time comes to have the surgery (it's pretty much inevitable), the money will be there to cover it, as out insurance may not since it's related to a car accident.

Must go. Need to lay down again.

ETA: next entry will most likely be about cloth diapers. I'll be answering your questions and showing off my stash! :-)

Big Update! Lots of pics!

I know it's long, but I hope you'll read everything. :-)

Hope I remember everything I wanted to blog about. It's been a busy weekend and I'm a little brain dead.

I called James this afternoon while I was at Wal-m@rt to ask him if he needed anything, and he said he couldn't check because he was waiting on the police.

THE POLICE?!?

Crap! I figured it was something with a neighbor because I've already had to call the police twice in the last few months to come to our once nice, peaceful neighborhood. We had a bunch of teens down the street who were partying and driving drunk. I was outside playing with Olivia in the front yard and they swerved into my yard and tossed beer cans in it. In the day time!!! Then the next night same thing, so I called again.

Anyway, I was right. The drunk redneck rebel flag loving neighbbor down the street was shooting his gun off in his yard. James was out trimming the hedges and said it was so loud! That's all I need with Olivia playing in the yard. A drunk man shooting a gun across the street. Makes me so mad. We live in a nice house and now the neighborhood is going down hill because of several houses that rent to total trash. They arrested him and took him to jail where belongs!!!

On a happier note, I made a yummy dinner Saturday night: ham and broccoli quiche and an apple oatmeal crumble. Very fall-ish I'd say. Yum!

On Friday, I got some unpleasant news. I left a doctor's appt in tears. You know, we're still in the middle of this whole lawsuit mess from the accident when I was pregnant. An MRI last year showed damage in several places and lately, things like leaning over to bathe Olivia cause me a lot of pain. This coming Friday, I have to have a procedure in the hospital. They're going to sedate me and inject dye in each vertabre and then do x-rays to see each disc more closely. Wish me luck. I'm nervous and scared I'll feel all those big needles since I won't be totally under. I'm sure I'll be quite sore the rest of the day. :-( Then we'll go from there. Surgery is a possibility, although a last resort in my opinion. I'm scared of the pain getting worse over the years, and since some of what's wrong is arthritis, it probably will, but I don't want back surgery. I've heard horror stories.

Get this: Apparently, I am not allowed to listen to "my music" anymore when Olivia is in the car, which is always. If I turn on the radio or put in a CD, she screams, "NO!!! Pooh!" and yells until I put her CD in. If I have to listen to the Winnie the Pooh song one more time, I might just drive off a bridge. So if you see a woman with her hands over her ears and a toddler jammin' in the back seat, it's probably us. :-) Although I have to admit, hearing her sing along is precious!!!

This afternoon, Olivia went into the kitchen and yelled, "seep! seep!" We couldn't figure out what she wanted until James got the idea to give her the broom. She happily exclaimed "YES!!" and swept the whole kitchen. She kept telling us, "seep" as she swept. Too cute!!

On Saturday, I made the best discovery. As you know, I'm into natural, healthy living. I'd give my right leg for a Whole Foods like we had up north, but I've had to make do with our tiny locally owned health food store and buy the rest on occasional trips to Atlanta. Well, on Saturday, I discovered a grocery store downtown that is packed with gourmet everything and a crap load of natural products. I found cleaning stuff, chlorine free diapers (for when we use disposables), new brands of Organic baby food (because yes, she still eats some), recycled paper products, cheaper Organic milk. I could go on and on. They even had a whole aisle for Indian food and another section for Paula Deen stuff. I think I'm going to look forward to grocery shopping each week now!

Today was a special day too. After church and Mexican food, James came home to take a nap (he's been working so hard on projects around the house) and to work outside and Olivia and I hit the new Babies 'R Us (this town is sooo growing on me!) We browsed an outdoor mall and stopped in various stores. I found a Halloween onesie for Olivia at Old Navy that says "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" and then we went to Barnes and Noble where we shared a sugar cookie and played in the kids section, which is one of her favorite things to do now. She loves the stage. My little ham! :-)

Check out her shoes. They're hard to see, so here's a bigger picture. Love these! I get so many compliments on them.

I'll leave you with some seriously big bedtime bootie! This is cloth for night time-- a Fuzzi Bunz diaper with a mighty nighty hemp liner inside and then this incredible awesome pink wool cover to keep any leaks contained. Seriously, if anyone is interested in cloth or just curious about it because you think I'm totally nuts, ask away! I'm planning on devoting a blog entry to cloth soon because I love it so much.

Nighty night!

Totally Loving...

Here's list #863 of things I'm currently crazy about. :-)

This candle from Yankee Candles. Oh my gosh!!!! Could my house smell any better???

In my efforts to have less toxic chemicals around Olivia, I picked up this book. It's packed with ways to clean in a more environmentally friendly way, but most importantly to me, ways that are safer for Olivia. I don't want her bathing in harsh chemicals or eating off of surfaces with chemical residue, so I've been buying safer ones (Citra-Solv, Seventh Generation, Ecover) and when there isn't a reasonably priced available alternative, I've made some of my own using the recipes in the book. Why buy Cleanser (which burns my nose when I use it) when I can scrub by bathtub with Borax or Baking Soda? (ok, the slightly crunchy part of me is totally coming out right now!!!) :--D

I can't believe I haven't mentioned my bible study. I've been meeting with a group of amazing, spiritually uplifting moms for the last couple months. We meet on Thursday mornings in a chuch nursery where our babies can play and we can study and vent! The book we're currently reading-- "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World"-- is amazing. I'd highly recommend!

I am so enjoying watching Olivia become a true toddler. I love all her new words and opinions and how much she makes me laugh! We brought my mom some lunch today and my mom said to Olivia, "Do you know how pretty you are?" and she replied, "I know!" HA! She says crazy things all the time. And she speaks short sentences now every day. This child is amazing. :-) She really knows her own mind. Last Saturday we went to a party, and she was upset when she found a bow in her hair (and also she was really sleepy). She's so funny!

This cereal, Banana Nut Crunch. It's been around for ages, but I have a new found love of it and have started buying it again. Problem is, James eats it too fast and I barely get any. :-(

I have been using Bare Escentuals make-up FOREVER, but I don't know that I ever blogged about it. Sadly, I suffer from adult acne and this is the best coverage I've ever gotten! It doesn't feel heavy and gross like other foundations I've tried, and it's better for your skin.

And you know what else I'm loving? All the fall shows coming up!!! Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Nip/Tuck. *fingers crossed that Olivia will actaully GO TO SLEEP at bedtime!*

Crunchy Enough?

I was thrilled when Chas posted about the crunchy mom because it totally opened the door for the dilemna I'm having.

As you know (I mentioned it last week), I am interested in becoming a LLL leader, but I'm having some concerns about fitting in with some of the more ardent AP mamas. I am all for breastfeeding and its benefits, and based just on that aspect, I think I'd love to be a leader. However, although LLL only takes a stance on BFing, many of the moms who attend meetings are just as passionate about other aspects of parenting-- aspects that I'm not so big on.

You may be thinking, so what? But get a group of AP (Attachemnt Parenting) moms in a room who are going on and on about vaccines, natural births, co-sleeping, baby wearing, etc and suddenly, it matters a lot when you become the odd mom out. And the thing is, I do tend to lean towards the crunchy side, but maybe not enough to
"fit in". I co-sleep (although not for the reasons some of them do since I didn't set out to do it). I do cloth diaper and feed Olivia organic and all that, but the difference is, I pick and choose what works for me and I have nothing against someone who makes another choice. I wouldn't make someone feel inferior for a different choice and I think some of the extreme AP moms are judgemental when they don't mean to be, like the mom in Chas's entry. I really related to that.

As a leader for LLL, I'd be looked at as a role model, and if I choose to have an epidural with my next baby, I think they would judge me harshly, and then I would feel uncomfortable. I wish I was one of those people who could simply choose to disregard their opinions, but I'm not. And how can I be a leader when in the back of their minds they're thinking I should be more like them? I like the idea of natural birth, but I'm not sure I'll do it next time. I don't know if I have the strength or determination, although in a perfect world, I'd like to be able to go natural. Some of the moms believe in homebirths. While I have no problem with their choice, it's not one I'd make.

If I'm taking a position as a leader in a group of women who are very AP oriented, will they respect me if I do not subscribe to their beliefs? I mean, come on! I have a stroller in my trunk. The horror! I do "wear" Olivia sometimes, but I use my stroller more often than I use my sling.

I am a little crunchy, but am I crunchy enough to be a LLL leader? And just to clarify, LLL is ONLY about BFing. It's the moms I'm worried about because we talk about everything. I don't think I could be a leader and admit to the group that I'd had yet another evil epidural when we have another baby. I don't think I could stand the silence that would inevitably follow my admission.

I talked to James about it, but he gave a one dimensional male repsonse and quite plainly said, "then don't apply to be a leader." But we all know that as a woman, that's not enough! I want to obsess about all the possibilities and look at it from all angles. Is it a black/white issue? How would I handle feelng like I was maybe being judged?

I can

a) apply to be a leader because I care about what LLL stands for (although there are books on more aspects of AP than just BFing on their website)

b) not apply to keep from being judged and feeling akward.

c) I'm sure there's another option!

It seems to me that there are so many debates between women. Work or be a SAHM. Practice AP or let your kid cry it out. Buy Organic or save money. Isn't true feminism about choices and making the ones best for you? That doesn't mean that we don't all think what we choose is best, because obviously, we have reasons why we choose what we choose.

I just want to hear your thoughts. You all are awesome and wonderful and I hope you having something wise and enlightening to say! :-)

Real men wear pink???

Everywhere I go, I see men wearing pink shirts. Pink polos with shorts, light pink dress shirts and slacks, even pink shirts paired with pink ties. I've always thought of pink being more of a girls' color, but now I'm not so sure. I think some men can pull it off.

James, on the other hand, disagrees with me. He doesn't think ANY man can pull it off. The other day we were stopped at a traffic light and a very straight looking man crossed the street right in front of us, walking proudly in his light pink polo. James immediately points and says, "I don't know WHY men have started wearing pink!" So I asked him if he thought it was a gay color and he said, "No. Not at all, I just think it looks girly."

So last night we were shopping for James and our two good friends B and J (I've mentioned them before-- they're both guys and also a couple) were helping James pick shirts. I knew we were in for an interesting shopping trip because B and J are VERY comfortable wearing many colors and they immediately started pushing James to go for colors he wouldn't usually wear. James is a navy blue, black, tan, gray, and the ocasional marroon type of guy. I have to twist his arm just to buy something green. Everything James picked up looked like 5 other things in his closet, so I was thrilled they wanted to "brighten" James's wardrobe.

We talked him into a coral color and a green, but then they saw the pink. Uh oh, I thought. Here we go!

J: "James, you've GOT to get the pink. Pink is such a great color!"

James: "I don't really like pink."

At this point I'm thinking James is going to kill me for allowing my two gay friends to "help" him shop. I am really enjoying this whole exchange of words between the three of them; the brightly dressed gay couple and my ultra-conservative (in terms of clothing) husband who wants to buy yet another gray shirt.

I felt bad because I didn't want them to think that James thought these shirts they picked were "gay". Finally, J reassured James that these weren't gay colors at all, that they look good on all kinds of people. James reassured him that he didn't think colors were gay, he just didn't think he'd look good in colors. We all agreed he would. Of course, I think James is sexy in anything. :-)

Finally, they talked James into a nice, pale lavender shirt to wear with gray slacks and I was impressed! Yay for B and J for getting him to branch out because he doesn't listen to me, and yay for James being so awesome to shop with my gay male friends AND take their advice. He really likes them too though. They're both really good people.

This whole shopping trip got me thinking about pink. I'll admit, I was kind of glad James didn't go for pink because there's a part of me that still sees it as a girly color, even though some men can pull it off.

What do you think? Is pink just for girls? Would you want your man to wear pink??

Olivia-isms

No matter what happens during the day, one thing's for sure. Olivia is going to make me laugh a hundred times. She says the funnies things. Just in the last few days:

When I pulled down her diaper to check it: "Wow! Poop! Poop! Wow!"

Today while I'm asking a store clerk a question: "Mama? Toots! (pointing to her diaper) Maaaaaama!!!??? Toots!!!"

I asked her what a duck says. She always says "cack, cack". Today she told me "Aflac" which is where James works now.

I may have mentioned before that Olivia asks for "boof" when she wants to nurse. Cracks us up. My friend was nursing her baby and Olivia went right up to her and touched her and excitedly exclaimed "boof!"

She is soooooo much fun! Seriously, I've NEVER had this much fun. I love to travel, read, experience ethnic food, wine, teas, etc and NOTHING comes close to getting to know this little girl more and more each day.

Lean Mommy

No, not me. Certainly not me. Not fat, but not lean either. :-)

Actually, this book, Lean Mommy, was sent to me by a publishing company and it's awesome!!!

As you know, I used to host a stroller exercise group, but with it being 100 degrees every day, I've stopped until we get some cooler weather. Can't wait!

As a mom, I really think a jogging stroller is the way to go. I love being outside and getting some fresh air, and this book is full of different exercises you can do with your stroller.

The book also is very motivating and realistic. It has reminded me that I'm not alone in seeing unwanted changes in my body. Other things I've tried just were not realistic. How can I be regular with an exercise video at home when my daughter is getting into everything? With stroller exercise, we get to go outside and she's happy (usually) seeing the sights while I do my thing.

The author also advocates a healthier life style through good eating habits, which is something I was Olivia to learn early on.

A must read for moms wanted to get fit!

What a morning!

We seem to be having a series of crazy mornings around here lately, many of which seem to revolve around some sort of poop incident.

Just this morning, I was making the bed when I heard Olivia scream and start to cry from inside our bathroom. I stuck my head in the door, and saw that the poodle (always the naughty one of our two dogs) had pooped on the floor and poor Olivia stepped in it. She was crying, "mama! mama! tee-tee! tee-tee!" and pointing to her foot. Obviously, we haven't quite distinguised between tee-tee, poo-poo, and toots. She says toots and has tee-teed, and sometimes she says poo-poo and it was only a toot. Anyway, the fact that she tells us almost every time makes me think it might be time to potty train, but that's another entry.

I picked up Olivia and saw that the dog poop was squished between all her toes. EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW! She was yelling and squirming and she wiped the poop from her foot all over my shirt.

The stupid poodle caused me a lot of work. I had to scrub Olivia's feet with anti-bacterial soap, then wash out the sink, wash my shirt, then do another load with the bathroom rug, and then I had to sanitize the bathroom floor.

James better not ask me what I did today (I swear he "checks up" on me) cuz he's going to get a mouthfull today. :-)

Fall and Olivia's Halloween Costume!

I love fall. It used to be my least favoite season as a kid. Fall meant the end of summer, which wasn't so hot back in Maryland so it was more enjoyable. Fall also meant going back to school, having to buy new clothes (I HATED trying on clothes as a kid). Fall was the bridge between my two favorite seasons and I couldn't wait for it to be over so we could have winter and play in the snow.

Well, now I live in unbearably hot Georgia where I'm eager to kiss summer goodbye! Winter doesn't really feel like winter so there isn't anything much special about it except for Chirstmas. I feel like since I reached adulthood, I've really started to love the fall. I love the relief it brings from the summer heat, but also, I love the smell of leaves, apples, ginger, and all things pumpkin.

I'm also excited because I just bought Olivia's Halloween costume! She's going to be a fairy. I initially had decided she'd be a lamb, but I think realistically she needs to be something that will still be apparent even without the hat which she undoubtedly will refuse to wear. So, a fairy it is.

Last year she was a pea in a pod, but that didn't go so well. She didn't like being so constricted in her little pod!

Any thoughts what your children will be for Halloween this year?