Geek Moment of the Day: Fabric

I love fabric.

I want to buy it all up.

Stack it up by color.

Lined up on shelves.

So I can look at it sitting there all pretty like.

I don't particularly want to *sew* with it since I hate sewing.

I just want to look at it.

My fave etsy fabric seller has started their own independent website.


It's awesome.

They carry all the best designers.

Great prices.

And my favorite part???

You can search fabric by color.

Too perfect.

So, for those of you who also like fabric...check out Hawthorne Threads.

Try to not spend your entire life savings.

It's tempting. I know.

(and no, I'm not getting any kind of kick-back for this post!)

Cloth Diapers: Final Verdict

Now that I've been using cloth diapers for a while, and since a couple of my pregnant friends have asked my official opinion, I thought I would give you an update on what I think of this whole cloth thing.

• I see a substantial cost savings. However, keep in mind that I have TWO babies in diapers...I'm not sure that the cost savings are quite so significant if you only have one babe. Also, keep in mind that I bought the bulk of my diaper stash used via Craigslist. The retail price on cloth diapers is quite high...which would still be worth it for multiples, but definately less of a savings for a singleton.
• No diaper rashes. Neither of the girls has ever had a diaper rash and I have had no issues with them reacting to the diapers. While Henry never seemed sensitive to any of the disposable brands, there are many children who react to certain brands (apparently I had a perpetual diaper rash as a baby until my mom switched me from Pampers to Huggies!).
• They're cute. I know this is lame, but I like them better than the Sesame Street characters. :)
• If you are concerned about the environment, they save landfills. Apparently no one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to biodegrade...but estimates range from 250-500 years. I don't think you have to be a hippie to find that worrisome.

BUT:

• They are bulky...both underneath clothes and in your diaper bag. In fact, I've taken to just packing disposable diapers when we go out. I have a wet bag so I'm not concerned about having to carry around a dirty cloth diaper...but when you have to pack a minimum of 4 diapers...and they don't fold down as compactly as the disposables...they take up a HUGE amount of space in my bag. Again, if you have a singleton this may not be a big deal since you don't have to pack as many diapers to begin with...
  
• They leak at nighttime. I was supposed to buy hemp inserts a while back to see if that solved the problem of the regular inserts not holding 12 hours of pee...but I was lazy and we just put the girls in a disposable for nighttime. Remember, my major motivation is financial...so using 2 disposables per day is fine by us...and I just didn't want to fiddle with it to be honest.
• They leak if you keep them on baby longer than 2 hours. Here's my biggest issue with cloth: if you don't stay ahead of it, you'll find yourself changing baby clothes and crib sheets a lot. The cloth diapers hold just fine...but you know how in disposables they get all mushy when they are overfull and you go "oops! you need a new diaper!"...yeah, well, there's no grace period with cloth. You really have to stay on top of things and be sure to give the baby a fresh diaper about every two hours. If you lose track of time, you'll have a leak on your hands. As long as you can keep track of time and not end up totally side tracked...you are fine. I have a harder time with this...not sure if it's because I have three kids 2 and under or what, but I find myself swapping clothes a lot. Maybe if I only had one baby at a time this would be less of an issue. But for now, losing track of time is the story of my life. Which is a bit of a bummer. Incidentally, the fact that they can't stay on too long is probably why you end up with no diaper rashes...

A few weeks ago, I stayed at my grandma's for 4 days. I used disposables while I was down there so that I wouldn't have to lug laundry soap and deal with it at someone else's house. At one point I thought: "Gee, this whole throw it away and never have to see this diaper again thing is kinda nice..." And then I realized that I went through about 65 diapers in 4 days. Not counting Henry.

Eh, it's not THAT nice.

Notice how none of my cons have anything to do with laundry? HONESTLY, truly...the laundry thing is NO BIG DEAL. I end up doing about 2 extra loads of laundry per week. And really, my washing machine does 90% of the work. I just have to push a few buttons and then stuff inserts in about 10 minutes' time. The laundry thing is a complete non-issue...so if that's your worry...don't let it be. I *hate* laundry and this doesn't phase me so you should be fine.

Oh, and it's not gross...not much of an icky factor either. But I'm a mom...it takes a lot to gross me out by now.

Summary: I highly recommend cloth for moms of multiples. Just be sure to change frequently. If you do that and use disposables at night, you are golden. If you are only baking one baby??? Well, I'm not sure it's entirely worth it. The cost savings is definately less...especially if you have to buy the diapers at full retail price. And if you are a first time mom...you might not need another "project", you know?

IF we have a fourth baby (and it comes without a mate) would I use cloth? Um...probably not. It is more work...not a TON of work...but it is more work than just tossing things away. I guess it all ends up being just one. more. thing. Not a big thing or a difficult thing, but another THNG. So, you either have to really need to save that money or you have to really want to be "green".

It's not awful, it's not terrible, it's not difficult. The laundry is a non-issue. It's not gross. It's just an extra thing to keep track of...which can be a pain.

Missmas Tree 2009

As is Gibson Family tradition, we headed to Holloway's Christmas Tree Farm to pick out *the* tree.

Our super rad wagon came too.

Henry was beyond jazzed.


Tractors, you know.


After spending 6 days in L.A. visiting family...being back on the Central Coast...a beautiful, crisp fall day...gorgeous blue skies...a phenomenal backdrop of rolling hills...dirt on my shoes...



good for my soul.



Really.


Even if Lucy thought it was fun to pull Jill's paci out over and over again...


I was back home.

While I love and miss family...I am home here.

Away from the traffic. The smog. The graffiti. The concrete.

A 9 foot tall tree now adorns my living room.

With lots of white lights.

And I love it.

90 Years!

Andy's grandma turned NINETY last Friday.

Obviously, a party was to be had.

I handled decorations.

Henry was in charge of the entertainment.

I think it's safe to say from these photos that the cousins had a blast together.

I printed old photos onto vellum, cut out "frames" using black cardstock, taped 3 together, a candle...voila!...a centerpiece!

Lots of family photos lined up along the mantle...

A family tree showing Grandma holding each of her grandkids and great-grandkids.

Cousins. Goofing off. With my camera. Always fun to find photos on your memory card!

Hey look! He still likes me after all!

Dancing. In the driveway. With a basketball. Because, you know, that's what you do, right?

Me and my beautiful "little" sister.

Henry also found my camera at some point in the evening.

The boys.

The girls.

More dancing. Henry schooling them in the moves.

We girls had gone to see New Moon the night before. The boys mercilessly teased us. So, posing like vampires was the logical thing to do.

Me and my boy. :)

LuLu

So, I think Lucy is really cute.

I know, I'm her mom. I'm supposed to.

YET...every time I take a photo, it comes out...well...kinda ugly.

I'm always frustrated by her pictures...like, they don't really look like HER, you know?

So yesterday, Auntie Marcia and Tessy babysat the three kids for me while I ran some errands.

As I walked out the door I tasked them with taking some CUTE pictures of Lu.

Mission Accomplished.

One of my favorite things about having little girls: Super cute dress too small? Pair with some jeans and it's now a cute top! :)

There's that pout!

Apparently Tessy thinks it's hysterical. I do too.

Wow...you two related???

Thank you ladies!

Found

Do you ever go through your digital camera card and find photos you forgot you took...?

This is Lucy's signature pout. I believe this will come in handy when asking Daddy for a new car someday...

(pretend you don't see the mess that is my room...)

...or in my case, photos you didn't realize your TWO YEAR OLD took???

Apparently Henry knows how to turn my camera on and how to snap a few pics. I had no idea until I came upon a handful of these...


My budding photog showed me just how he knows what to do when he hijacked my camera this morning...

As he looked at the LCD screen: "Where's mommy?....oh, there she is!..." SNAP!


So I hijacked the camera BACK and took these...

Happy Day!

Maybe she isn't so crazy after all...

I know it sounds weird, but honestly...Lucy WILL NOT nurse if I've had Dr. Pepper...and now, apparently, if I've had decaf Hazelnut coffee.

It's not the caffeine...I have a cup of coffee every morning (besides, the Hazelnut was decaf anyway). None of my kids have ever reacted to caffeine thankfully...I would die if I had to cut that AND dairy.

I've experimented with regular Coke, Root Beer...she's fine.

But if I have Dr. Pepper...she FUH-REAKS OUT. She gets one mouthful of milk and screams bloody murder and wants nothing to do with eating. It's not a tummy ache...it is so clearly that she doesn't like the TASTE.

I even gave her some milk I had pumped a few days earlier and she took it just fine. Tried nursing again...got one taste...HYSTERICAL.

I swear the kid is a freak.

Luckily, it seems to leave my system pretty quickly. Maybe one or two nursing sessions (as opposed to dairy which can stay in my system for up to 18 hours).

But then I find this article. Maybe she's just got a super sensitive palate. Easy enough to stay away from that stuff...just really annoying when you come across yet another thing she doesn't like.

And it starts. Oh boy...

Heading down to Grandma's today with the kidlets. Andy will join us in a few days. Blogging will be spotty.

Craigslist Ad

So, this is the ad I'm dying to post on Craigslist.

Feedback is welcome.

"Free to good home. Three children. Two girls, one boy. Must be taken as a group. They are adorably cute. They will make you laugh. Insomniacs preferrable. The girls will wake up 3-4 times a night. EACH. That means that you get to enjoy their adorable cuteness 6-8 times per night. The boy will wake up at 5:20 a.m. so you get a maximum amount of his cuteness too. It is probably best if you are lactose intolerant, because the girls have a dairy sensitivity, so you won't be able to eat any. In addition to that, you will also have to cut out Dr. Pepper and flavored coffee. Little Lu thinks it makes your milk taste like mud and will refuse to eat as a result. But, she will be starving so you'll also get to enjoy her innate ability to scream at a unfathomable volume. Jill loves being held and protests if you *ever* set her down. Often, these two things happen in unison. So, if you are also deaf, that would be great too. Please contact Jeannett for more information."

Basically, I've decided that the best person for my kids is a deaf, lactose intolerant insomniac.

Any takers?

I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids....breathe....

(oh, and in case you were wondering, no it's not the caffeine in the Dr. Pepper or the coffee...it's the flavoring...really...the kid is a freak...)

4 month check up

Lucy: 50% for both height and weight.

Jill: 10% for weight, 25% for height.

I can't remember how much they actually weigh. And I can't find the little paper where they wrote it down...but it was like 10.5 pounds and 12.5 pounds...

Poop.

Can you tell I'm still sleep deprived????

Jill's tremors and shakes are long gone. She hasn't done it in a while. That, or I've gotten used to it and don't notice anymore...

But, she's really wobbly. She can't hold her head up for very long, and when she does, it's not steady. She doesn't reach up for toys and she's just....kinda floppy...

Doc said that because she could smile, track with her eyes, and roll from her belly to her back she was on track and in the normal range for her age. He admitted that she was on the low end of normal, but that she passed the three big tests. If she doesn't gain more strength in the coming months, we'll have something to worry about, but for now, there are no major red flags...but we have to start keeping a close eye on it...

Lucy on the other hand falls in the very high end of normal in terms of her strength. The kid is ready to take off crawling any day now (a bit of an exaggeration, but she does scoot and push off with her legs if on her belly). So, the doctor pointed out that because I have two babies...and they are both on opposite ends of the spectrum, it makes Jill's progress look worse than it is.

Anyway, that was pretty boring, but that's what I got for today.

Later sk8er.

Jilly & A Scarf Along

Jill's sleeping has gotten better. But certainly not before it got worse.

She continued to wake up every 1.5 hours through the night...for oh, let's say...about TWO WEEKS.

Brutal.

Remember those first days you brought your baby home?

Remember how you were just a walking zombie?

Remember how you were so tired, it HURT?

Yeah, like that.

Add in a second infant and a two year who's ready for the day at 6:30 a.m.

Like I said...brutal.

BUT, I think I figured it out!

Tummy.

If I put her on her tummy to sleep, she can manage to get her Paci back in...or at the very least can get her hands in her mouth.

Apparently she was like a turtle on it's back before.

And apparently she didn't like it.

She's still waking up often, but if I give her a couple of minutes, she figures herself out and passes back out.

HALLELUJAH!!!!



In other news, I'm doing Julie's Scarf Along.

A pretty simple project that I probably don't need the detailed instructions for, but maybe I can pick up a tip here or there.

After all, I learned how to sew by literally buying a machine, opening up the instruction manual and reading.

So to be honest, I think I do a lot of things the hard way.

Which is probably why I pretty much hate sewing.

Anyway, by the time I'm done, I should have 8 scarves.

If you are female and related to me, don't be surprised if one of these finds its way into your Christmas gift.

All of my fabrics are from Amy Butler's newest line: Love.



Be excited.

And I just had to include these pictures because these girls are just so fun I can't stand it.

first christmas gift of the season

These are the first few lines of Julie's blog this morning:

As I sit and write this, in front of my beautiful computer,
a cup of coffee next to me, in my safe, big new home,
mothers are burying their babies.






This is not okay.

***

I read those lines and looked around me. That was EXACTLY what I was doing. Sitting in my heated home...oversized and spacious...hot cup of coffee...my three kids in cozy footed pajamas.

I was just talking to someone about the unfathomable grief that must come with burying your child.

I had 6 minutes before I lost Jill. God graced us with sparing at least a few of those precious minutes.

I think we forget that mothers around the world bury their babies.

I think we sometimes justify it by thinking that "well, they're used to it. they see babies dying everyday."

blech.

ugly, ugly hearts of ours sometimes.

I don't believe for a SECOND that any mother, in any country, no matter how destitute, does not feel the burning anguish for a dying or sick child.

$10 will provide one person in Africa with clean water for TEN YEARS.

TEN YEARS.

I spent more than that on some fabric last night.

EVERY. SINGLE. PENNY. will buy clean water.

So *please* take the two minutes and donate.

Super easy. Super quick. Super important.

Go.

Now.

Donate.

Really.

Don't say you'll do it later.

Just go.

Leave a comment if you donated. Let's see if we can reach $100 today.

Upgrade! And my adventure this morning...

Andy's Aunt Shelley decided to hand deliver our "family christmas present" yesterday. She hinted that there was no way we could fit it in our car with three kids and all the gear we need...hmmmm....what could it be???

A new, super duper, fancy schmancy wagon.


The wagon that all other wagons secretly wish they could be.

She obviously reads our blog and had seen that our current wagon was just NOT going to cut it.

Henry was...JAZZED.

She made a comment about how she would find herself walking to Starbucks every morning if she lived in my neighborhood. (It's maybe 2 blocks away).

So I thought: Yeah! Great idea! I'll load the kids up in the new wagon and walk over for a coffee in the morning!

So, I got everyone dressed and headed out.



About 3/4 of the way there...

Tell me that WASN'T a drop of water I just felt...

Crap. It was sprinkling.

I had two 4-month old babies and a 2 year old in an uncovered wagon!!!

What to do???? Turn around, go back home? Keep going and wait it out????

I decided to continue on since it was closer.

It started sprinkling harder.

The kids were getting wet.

Henry kept yelling: "It's RAINING Mommy!!!"

I had images of the Oregon Trail...hoping that I would make it to my destination with no one in my group dying of malaria or dysentery.

Dramatic, yes. But hey, it's California. We're not used to this sort of thing.

I made it to the shopping center and an old man rolled down his window to inform me that a huge storm front was on its way.

Thanks.

I had no idea. Sure it was a bit overcast, but it was only 9:00 a.m. I figured the sun was just sleeping in. Oops.

I decided to stop at Panera instead...my super rad wagon was A LOT bigger than I realized.

I had to prop open both doors and the aisles sure seemed much narrower than I had remembered...


I didn't realize just how big this thing was. Kinda like when you bring your christmas tree home and it's suddenly about five times bigger in your living room than you thought it would be?

Totally like that.

I couldn't turn around in the aisle, so I had to back up and try to steer this thing in reverse. About 7 people had to move out of my way. Let's just say it was embarrassing.

Luckily everyone was pretty gracious. I've found that you get a lot of grace when people see twins. In fact, complete strangers will completely fall over themselves to help you out when they see that double stroller. It's kinda nice. I'm not gonna lie.

Well, everyone but one man who rolled his eyes, sighed and otherwise acted as if me, my three kids and my (giant) wagon were causing him great bodily harm.

Whatever dude. I think you suck too.

The "rain" subsided, Henry scored a balloon, the girls fell asleep, and I headed home with my hazelnut brew.



Needless to say, I don't think we'll be going to stores with our wagon again. It's kind of an outdoor thing. :)

THANKS AUNT SHELLEY!!!!

As a side note, if you want a good laugh this morning, check out my friend Joy's blog.

My 2 New Favorite Colors

Aqua.

Red.

I'm not usually a "blue" kind of girl.

But it's Lindsey's fault.

She's painted a few things in her house this aqua color.
(Behr's Mermaid Net in case you were wondering).


And I felt so drawn to it.

Which is weird because I normally am not into blue or bright colors.

I'm more of a red, orange, browns and black. Dark, rich, deep...

But this ocean-y blue called my name.

And I needed an excuse to use it somewhere.

But I wasn't sure how it would work with my existing decor.

And then...my A-HA moment.

My Le Creuset collection is RED.

And, good old Lindsey (are you seeing a theme here?), had once done a baby shower with aqua and red.


An odd combination, I know. I kinda wrinkled my nose at her when she first told me about it.

But, when I saw it in practice...I. LOVED. IT.

Loved. It.

So, I decided that my kitchen needed a re-vamp. To include aqua. :)

BEFORE:



AFTER:


Not only do I love the color combo, but the blue makes the Le Creuset stand out more! (It's just scrapbook paper lining the back).

My Family Rules were very strategically designed to go with my new aqua/red color scheme:


A couple of aqua placemat things that I put up like "art":



My chalkboard embellishments:



The remaining pieces: my dad is building me a new kitchen table...that I'll be painting the top white with aqua legs...and I NEED this print (hint, hint...Andy ::cough, christmas, cough::)...


Likey?

Lucy is my favorite

I'm not gonna lie.

It's totally true.

You're shocked, huh?

Maybe even gasped aloud at my title.

HOW COULD SHE?

Yeah, well, I'll tell you EXACTLY how:

LuLu goes to bed at 5:30 p.m.

Yes, 5:30.

Sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.

Wakes up at 7:30 a.m.

Yes, 7:30.

That's 14 hours people.

Straight.

And when she does finally wake up...she doesn't cry.

She just lays in her crib making little noises until I come get her.

And when I peer over her crib, she lights up, grins the biggest toothless grin and starts flailing in excitement.

Precious.

***

Jilly.

Oh Jilly.

Last few nights she's been waking up EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR from about 11:00 p.m. until...well, until I finally roll my tired body out of bed at 6.

All. night. long.

Every. Hour.

She wants to use me as a giant human pacifier.

Last night I broke down and let her cry it out for a while.

A long while.

I wanted to tear my hair out listening to her cry.

Awful.

And it didn't work.

I finally had to go in and rescue her.

And you know what?

An hour later...

...she woke up screaming again.

I have no idea what her deal is.

But I'm tired.

Grumpy.

It's a good thing God makes babies cute.

It's a good thing that Jilly has the most darling smile.

She flashes it when I pick her up.

Even at 3 a.m.

So, I can't stay too mad.

But for now at least, Lucy's my favorite.

Today anyway.

I'm pretty petty.

It'll change often.

My game of favorites is easily won.

Sleep is a good start.

(Henry has yet to get the memo about daylight savings time...he still thinks 5:30 is a perfectly acceptable time to get up...so he's not in the running for favorite either...)

Surf N Turf 2009

Andy is in a little cult...er, I mean club...for Toyota LandCruiser owners.

He's really into it.

In fact, we own 2 LandCruisers.

His is red. A 1987 60 series.

Mine is green. A 1999 100 series.

As much as I like to make fun of him about it...I love my car. Really. It's fancy. And it's big and heavy and it makes me feel safe. It's a tank. Okay, so it only gets like 14 miles to the gallon, but it has butt warmers and that makes me happy.

Every year, one of the local LandCruiser guys organizes a huge event call Surf N Turf and it's held at the Oceano Dunes. Which, happens to be about 15 miles from the house. Nice considering there are guys who drive from Canada, Pennsylvania, Wyoming...

This is the sixth year we've gone. It's a tradition now.

In support of Andy's LandCruiser love, the whole family geeks out for the event.

(Jill's shirt says Cruiser Baby)

Nelle and Andrew came too.

It was pretty windy and cold so we camped out with the babes in the back of my truck and had a picnic lunch. It was...cozy.

It was a long day. It was fun. We were all very tired.