Happy Valentine's Weekend!

When I thought about writing a post for this weekend, I figured the most appropriate thing would be to write about love and take a break from all the baby bottom posts. This is Jared's and my thirteenth Valentine's together, but our first with Luke, and we couldn't have been happier to share it with him. We did manage to make plans and go out to dinner and to a movie the night before V-day, thanks to my sister Ryan and brother-in-law Matt who were kind enough to watch Luke for us. It was the first time we'd been to a movie in a loooong time. Much to Jared's dismay, we went to see 50 Shades of Grey, and I do have to say, the movie was much tamer than I expected.

Bella just walked right into the picture!. Jared just kept saying "I do not want to be involved in this" :)

But I do truly value my alone time with Jared. It is absolutely necessary to maintain a happy and healthy marriage. I remember reading articles and hearing from others before having Luke, how important it is to take time together away from the baby. I specifically remember telling myself that I would never be one of those mothers who refuses to leave her baby and deprioritizes her husband. 

Boy, was I wrong! I should never have been talking about something of which I knew nothing. Sure, that kind of thing is easy to say when you don't have children. But the minute I had Luke, everything changed. Definitely for the better, but definitely different. The amount of love you have for that baby is so overwhelming, unconditional and different than anything you've ever felt before.  I'm not saying that I love Luke more than Jared, but they are two absolutely different kinds of love that can't really be compared. 

From the day Luke was born, and still now, I don't ever want to leave his side. I feel like a crazy, obsessed stalker sometimes, but I hate being away from him for even an hour, let alone a 12 hour shift at work. It is awful, and I'm still not used to it or okay with it. There are nights where Jared and I have the opportunity to go out alone and leave Luke with someone, but then I realize that I'm going to be away from him the next few days while I'm working, that the thought of voluntarily leaving him when I don't have to sounds like the worst kind of torture I could possible endure. I know...so dramatic right? I just never imagined how hard it would be to leave my baby. I asked my mom once, "When am I going to get over this, where I want to be around him all day, everyday?" And just as my mom would, she said, "When he's a teenager and starts talking back to you, then you'll want a break." 

So I finally asked Jared, about a month ago, if he felt that I'm not prioritizing him and our marriage. Lucky for me, I have a super understanding and laid-back husband, who said "No, I understand that things have changed, your priorities are a little different and Luke takes up a lot of your time, understandably so." Lucky for me, he's a pretty independent guy and doesn't take it personally, he knows I'm still just as in love with him as I was when we were 12, 17, 23 and 28 years old.

This is the best we could do for a family picture, oh well...real life right? And Happy 87th Birthday to my dear Grandpa!
P.S. Luke had on a cute little Valentines outfit until he dumped the dog's water bowl all over himself ;)

Fast forward to Friday evening (Feb 13). We don't always exchange gifts on every holiday, we talk about it before each holiday, feel each other out and decide if the upcoming holiday is going to be a gift giving one. This year, we did exchange gifts, but I realized a few hours before our date that I never got him a card. One of the things I love about us, is that all I had to do, was say "Hey babe, did you get me a Valentine's card yet?" He said "No, not yet", and I said "Oh great, let's not do cards this year", and I'm pretty sure he was relieved too. Like I wanna leave the house just to get a card? Come on.

So we had our Valentine's celebration alone Friday night, and then on the actual holiday, we had a cute little breakfast, I worked on school work while they both napped, and I made dinner. Luke sure did love his first chocolate chip pancake! And just as it should, the night ended with some chocolate covered strawberries :). P.S. I hate when people hate on Valentine's Day. It doesn't have to be about romantic love, it's a celebration of all love. And why would you complain about a holiday that gives you an excuse to eat chocolate, drink wine and love up on your husband and baby (or whoever) even more? Not that I needed an excuse to do those things ;).  So this Valentine's Day was reflective for me, especially since Luke is only a few weeks from turning ONE! Don't get me started on that (still can't believe I have an almost one year old). We ate at the same restaurant this weekend that we did last year on Valentine's Day, when I was 35 weeks pregnant, which was fun. It's just so crazy how fast time flies. I'm not sure who said it, but I recently read somewhere that "The days are long but the years are short", and I could not better describe the last year. Not that the long days were bad, they were amazing actually, but still seemed long. Though never long enough to get everything done. Funny how that works, especially with a baby.

I hope your Valentine's weekend was lovely, and you take a little time away from the precious babes to get the alone time you might not realize you need! 

With Lots of Love,

Claudia

Environmentally Friendly Diaper Pails!

I only really started being environmentally conscious about 11 months ago :). I never really considered it much before, but as soon as Luke was born, I suddenly wanted the world to be a better place for him, so now I care about things I never even considered caring about before. 

Did you know that it could take up to 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose? Did you know the average baby uses around 5,000 diapers before they are potty trained? Did you know that the EPA estimates that the US uses 18 billion disposable diapers every year?

That is a lot of crap. A lot of waste to decompose. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't use disposable diapers, because a lot of the time, that's just not practical. But when you use a diaper genie or similar product, with each diaper, it twists plastic around that diaper to lock in the smell. And when you remove the bag, you now have plastic surrounding a diaper that is already going to take almost 500 years to decompose, the inevitable diaper sausage, so now it's going to take even longer. 

Choosing a diaper that is non-toxic and eco-friendly is very important, as they will decompose faster and not allow chemicals to leach back into our water system. See my previous post on safe disposable diapers for options! 

Some might argue that you need the diaper genie to lock in the bad smell, but this is not true. There are a million other diaper pails out there that keep the nursery smelling great without hurting the environment. Some go as far as emptying the waste in the diaper directly into the toilet, which cuts down on landfill waste that enters our water system, but this is a little much. If you're going to do that, you might as well just cloth diaper. Others might use a reusable trash bag and dump the dirty diapers directly into their garbage can, and just wash the bag frequently. And some people, swear by the totally diaper-free approach, I'm not judging, but wow! Here is a link that explains this approach through elimination communication ;).

These options aren't for me, though we have started cloth diapering Luke (we currently use a combination of cloth and eco-friendly disposables), so I'll share with you what I do, which isn't 100% eco-friendly, but it's a hell of a lot better than a diaper genie. It also makes life easier! No more buying special trash bags for the diaper pail, you just use the trash bags you already have! 

ubbi

I did a bit of research before Luke was born, and obviously decided I didn't want a diaper genie, but I also didn't really want a plastic container either (mostly for aesthetics, but now I just hate plastic). I ended up putting an UBBI Diaper Pail on my registry, which my sisters so kindly got for me! What I love about this diaper pail, is that it uses regular, old trash bags. 

Our ubbi in ivory :)

So I don't have to buy separate diaper pail bags, which is so convenient, and saves a little bit of money in the long run. Now Jared takes care of the trash, so when he takes the trash out every week, he removes the trash bag and puts a new one in. It has an opening at the top, with a handle that you use to open and close it, and it definitely keeps the smell in. It is made of steel, and comes in a bunch of great colors! If a diaper pail could be pretty, this is it! Downside is that it runs about $79.99, but it's now available on Amazon, Target, Babies R US, Pottery Barn, Kohl's and other retailers. It truly is a one time investment. Almost a year later, mine is still in perfect condition and stays clean. 

Diaper Champ

If you are looking for a similar idea, without spending the same amount of money, the Diaper Champ works the same great way. It is a plastic diaper pail (two color options: blue or pink accents) and runs as low as $27.99. These are available everywhere (Amazon, Target, WalMart, etc...). I've never used it, but I know people that have and like it.

Really, any trash can with a lid or opening that completely closes will work, it just may not lock in the smell 100%. What is great though, is that after I'm done with diapers, I can take my UBBI pail and use it as a regular trash can because it looks nice enough. 

Since the Diaper Champ doesn't cost any more than the Diaper Genie, and locks in the smell just the same, it really is a great alternative. If you have found a diaper pail that you love and works well for you, please comment and share with me!!

With Eco-Friendly Love,

Claudia

All About That Bass! Let's Talk Disposable Diapers!

My sister, Ryan, always asks me why I didn't listen to her before I had Luke about her non-toxic recommendations, and I continually explain to her that I didn't feel the consequences for any of my choices until I had Luke. Mila Kunis, who recently had a baby girl, articulated extremely well exactly how I feel about using safe, non-toxic products and why I suddenly care about the environment.

Luke in the Honest Company diapers.
Photographer: Leslie Gilbert

"The amount of love that you have, the type of love that you have, changes, the way you look at the world changes...everything has changed, because of her, I want an eco-friendly car, I want to compost everything, because I want the world to be better for her." --Mila Kunis

My next few posts are going to be all about caring for those sensitive little baby bottoms, and I'll discuss products that I never in a million years thought I'd be using. 

Let's talk diapers. Disposable diapers that is. 

I originally thought I'd use Pampers, since that's what I was familiar with at work, but then I started hearing about how unsafe they actually might be. So I did a lot of research on diapers before Luke was born. I calculated costs down to the diaper. My estimates were just that, because you can only guess how many diapers you'll use of each size. I knew that I didn't really want to use the commercialized diaper brands based on what I'd heard, but I wasn't totally opposed to them if the safer, non-toxic diapers were too expensive, because I hadn't become as safety conscious yet as I am now. 

The first thing I want to do is share with you the importance of using a safe, non-toxic diaper. Most babies wear diapers for the first couple years of their life, and we know that baby skin is much more absorbent than adult skin. So don't we want this diaper that rests right against their skin for the first few years of their life, to be as free as freaking possible of toxins and chemicals? As usual, I will send you right to my favorite resource, Gimme the Good Stuff, for a thorough explanation of what I'm trying to briefly explain. 

Conventional diaper brands are thought to be a safe product for your baby, but I cannot stress to you enough how very untrue that is. Generic and store brands, among others are just the same, even the sensitive versions. First of all, these diapers score extremely low on the eco-friendly scale, but even more importantly, they score very low on the health scale, and contain harsh ingredients and chemicals. A lot of them contain chlorine/bleach, which can cause cancer and disrupt hormones. These diapers are also often filled with dyes and fragrances.  

So while these brands might provide you with an absorbent and well-functioning diaper, I promise you, there are others out there that work JUST as well, if not better, and are 100 times safer. YES, they are a little bit more expensive, I'm not going to lie to you, but it is not as bad as you might think. After I did a lot of my own research, I came across this article from the Baby Gear Lab that breaks this information down in much more detail if you're interested. 

The first diapers we used were the Honest Company diapers. We still use them, and love them. Now they are not the safest of the safest, but they are absolutely safer than the conventional brands. These are free of bleach and additives and just as absorbent as the conventional brands. Not only are they adorable with their many designs, but ordering them is easy and convenient. I choose my designs and ship date on their website, and receive my bundle of diapers and wipes at my front door a few days later. Bundles are shipped every 4-6 weeks, but your shipment can be delayed as long as you want, until you are ready for it! See below for a breakdown of the costs. They are also available at Target now, which is really convenient. These are going to typically run $0.32-0.63 per diaper depending on size.


Once I learned there were even safer diapers out there, I immediately tried Bambo Nature. They are manufactured in Denmark where the environmental and health regulations are much stricter than in the US. These diapers are absolutely the highest quality and safest diapers out there. They are the only diaper that is completely free of all chemicals and allergens, and they are also completely free of all additives, dyes, preservatives, etc. The diapers are probably the softest diapers I've felt, and although they felt extremely thin, they were just as absorbent as any other diaper I've come across, and I did not experience any leakage issues. These diapers are available on Amazon (and other online retailers) but also in a bundle format on their website. These are going to run approximately $0.37-0.54 per diaper, depending on the size and where you purchase them.


The other super safe diaper out there is called Broody Chick. These diapers are very environmentally friendly, 100% compostable and though not quite as safe as Bambo Nature, they are very safe. These are also just as absorbent, but they are not quite as soft and a bit bulkier. These are unfortunately a bit more expensive, but available on Amazon and their website, among other online retailers. These are going to run roughly $0.51-0.62 per diaper, so definitely not the most cost effective. 
I've also tried Seventh Generation natural diapers, which are in fact, not one of the safest out there, though their natural brown color is deceiving. They worked ok, but the brown color is actually a dye, and not so natural after all. These are probably safer than the conventional brands, but not as safe as Honest, Bambo Nature and Broody Chick. 

Now, if you feel that Bambo Nature or Honest diapers are still too expensive, Earth's Best offers an option that is also much, much safer than the conventional brands that is reasonably priced. These can be found on Amazon, Earth's Best website, or in many familiar retailers like Target. Depending on where you buy them, they range from $0.25-0.60 per diaper.

With Pampers and Huggies, you are going to pay around $0.23-0.30 per diaper, so yes, using safe diapers will cost a bit more, but your baby (and the environment) is worth it!! 

So based on my research, Bambo Nature is the safest disposable diaper, but I'm personally comfortable enough with using a combination of Bambo and the Honest diapers. When purchased in bulk or as a bundle, these two brands are much more reasonably priced. In fact, if you purchase the Honest Co diaper/wipes bundle (after taking out the cost of the wipes), I've calculated that you are actually only paying $0.18-0.45 per diaper. Not too bad, huh?

Safe wipes and environmentally friendly diaper pails are next! If disposables aren't your game, then stay tuned for a post coming soon on cloth diapers too!

Thanks for reading :)

One of my favorite shots from Luke's newborn session, in his Honest diaper of course.

Photographer: Leslie Gilbert

With Love,

Claudia

Shower Time! Celebrating Baby Ella :)

I was honored to have the opportunity to throw my dear friend and coworker, Jen, a baby shower. She isn't originally from the area, and her family was throwing her a shower back home, so I wanted to host one here, that way her Hershey friends could celebrate with her too. We chose a date (putting her right around 31 weeks) and we started planning. Unfortunately, bad timing and a bit of bad luck put Jen in the hospital, on bed rest, two days before the shower :(. We considered moving the shower to the her room at the hospital, but the food, decorations and number of people would have been difficult to squeeze in, so we decided to reschedule the shower for after the baby was born, and took a few of the decorations into the hospital and decorated her room. The rest of the decorations that we had already put up, stayed up in my house for the rest of the month (pretty sure Jared loved this)! 

After 2-3 weeks on bed rest, Jen had a beautiful, healthy baby girl named Ella Rose on January 24th!!! But because she was early (due March 6) and tiny, she's spending some time in the NICU growing. Jen's awesome photographer (Family Tales Photography) visited Ella in the hospital to take some photos, and here are some Jen took too! Isn't she adorable?!

Meanwhile, we rescheduled the shower and finally had the chance to celebrate Jen and perfect little Ella (though she was not in attendance as she still rockin' it in the NICU). Not everyone was able to make it, but we made the best of it! We did have to come up with some new games, as the planned ones didn't really work since the baby was already born, but it turned out great anyway! We played a pacifier spitting game (for distance) that was pretty funny, and my friend Lara has the pictures on her phone, so I'll have to add them later. She won too!

                      We had a lot of good food and good laughs! Here are a few photos of the decorations we made (and bought). We hand cut the paper garland and strung it ourselves!

This was the invitation we sent out that inspired the pink sparkle theme. I'm really, really not a fan of the super-cutesy themes, so this worked. Really girly but still kind of simple. We did throw a few elephants in there since Jen is using that as the theme of Ella's nursery.      

I just loved the sparkly paper garland, and can't wait to use it again. Julie hand painted this wooden 'e' with pink glitter paint, which honestly was a lot harder than it looks! 

All the guests wrote their name on a little balloon, 

which turned into this (thanks Julie..and Pinterest for the idea)! 

   
We also made rice krispie treat elephants for favors. My favorite favors are the kind you can eat! Came across an elephant shaped cookie cutter at Michaels, and dipped the ears in pink white chocolate. We added eyes with white icing, and probably shouldn't have, as it wouldn't harden, smeared everywhere, and not to mention it made them a little creepy. Oh well, next time :). 

Julie made this gorgeous E for Ella..how cute? 

I told her she should open up her own Etsy shop!!

My sister, Gina (who is a fantastic baker), made pink champagne cupcakes from scratch, and they turned out to be adorable and delicious! 

 

 As for other desserts, I made my newly famous (and super easy) Hot Chocolate Dip, and everyone's favorite, Crack Popcorn. 

 Menu:

Veggie Tray

Fruit Salad

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Mexicorn Dip

Cranberry Brie Bites

Hawaiian Ham & Swiss Sliders

Drinks (not pictured): 

Moscato Punch

Pink Lemonade

Hot Chocolate Bar

If you're interested in any of the recipes, I'll be posting them on my Party Time page. 

Last but not least, we quickly grabbed a group photo before a few people had to leave and head to work, as we all crammed into the corner.

This has been up for a month, now that's it's almost
Valentine's Day, might as well leave it up :)

Thanks Jen for allowing me to share the beautiful photos of Ella and to Sara, Jen N, Brittany and Julie for all your help with the shower!

With Love,

Claudia

On the Go: Shopping Cart and High Chair Covers to the Rescue!!

 One of the most challenging things to figure out as a first time mom is how to take your baby out and about with you while you carry on with your usual life (after hibernating in your house for the first few weeks after the baby is born of course). I didn’t leave the house much during the first two weeks, but after that, I was ready to resume my normal life, which meant shopping and going out to lunch a lot. I mean, I was off work for the next 2-3 months, I sure as hell was going to enjoy it. 

When Luke was small and I wanted to go shopping or run errands, I would just take his car seat out of the car and connect it right to the stroller, or put it in the shopping cart. I know you aren’t supposed to do that, but at Target, his car seat fit so perfectly into the top of the cart. So shoot me. However, his car seat did not fit so well into our local grocery store’s cart, so I tried putting him in the carrier or wrap. This sort of worked, but he would fall asleep, and when I would bend down to pick up items on the bottom of the shelf, it would wake him up. And I also hated that I had to wake him up, get him out of his car seat to go into the store. This is when Giant's Peapod saved my life. Thanks to the recommendation from my friend Sarah, I started ordering my groceries online a day or two before, selected a pick up time and date, showed up, they loaded my car for me (didn’t even have to get out), and never had to wake Luke up! GENIUS!! I don’t do it anymore, but for those first few months it was a life-saver. 

Some restaurants had what they called a sling, that the car seat sat on and was then strapped to. I was a little unsure of it, but it seemed to work ok. However, not all restaurants had these, so typically, I placed his car seat on a chair or in the booth next to me. Then, one night we were out to dinner and the server showed us that the car seat would fit nicely into the wooden high chairs they had, all you had to do was flip it upside down. So of course, we gave this a try. I think we only did it once or twice, but it really made me nervous. Those high chairs are not that sturdy, and I was paranoid something was going to knock it over. Since then, I’ve read horror stories where someone walking by has bumped it and the baby and the car seat fall out, so I will never be doing that again. So right next to you in the booth is really the safest bet, or on the floor, but I was never a fan of that. 

Sidebar: As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I was at my new favorite restaurant (The Mill in Hershey), and there was a Mom who left her baby in the car seat (I'm ok with this) on the floor (fine) with a canopy over the entire car seat (these are ok if used appropriately)....for over 2 HOURS! I get that the baby was probably fine, but she could have gotten really warm and stuffy in there! I almost said something, but she did peek in at her every 30 minutes or so (still not often enough for me though). But come on, just lift up the side of it so she can get some freaking fresh air please! 

In the beginning it was easy taking him everywhere because we could just keep him in his car seat and he'd just sleep. But that didn't last too long, and he wanted out of that damn thing. So now we schedule our grocery shopping around nap time, and we of course use high chairs at restaurants.

One of the things that has made these trips much easier, is the shopping cart and high chair cover. What is so great about this thing, is that it provides a bit of a cushion for them to sit on, it covers the handle (so he can’t his mouth on the metal cart), things can’t fall out as easily, and it has some connections for keeping toys secure. The one we got fits into the high chair and the shopping cart really well. We don’t go anywhere without ours now. It holds him in the high chair a bit better, keeps him protected from the chair germs (who knows what unvaccinated kid was in that high chair beforehand...don't get me started), and again I can attach toys to it so he has something to play with that won’t end up on the floor. 

This particular one sold me cause I liked the color and design, but mostly because of the dual use. We go out a lot and typically take Luke with us everywhere, so we have gotten so much use out of it. It doesn’t fit perfectly on all carts, but I haven’t found one yet that I can’t make work somehow.And when we’re not using it, it rolls up and has a handle. This is one of those things that my mom tells me is a totally unnecessary luxury, but I think she’s seen the convenience of it and now agrees. 

 
So this is definitely one of my “Can’t Live Without” items, but we really didn’t use it until around 6 months. The baby has to be just about sitting in order to sit in a shopping cart or a high chair, so it really isn’t necessary until that point. This Infantino one we have was $25 on Amazon, and runs $29.99 on the Infantino website, and we've definitely gotten our money’s worth since we use it every week. On Amazon, I've seen them as low as $15 (with prime shipping), but here is an Infantino one for $18. There are some slightly less expensive, and some a bit more, but really any should do. I do recommend the dual use, cause having two different ones would be a bitch. I’ve seen some of the shopping cart ones that have extra padding on each side, which looks great, especially for when they are smaller, but just make sure it works with a high chair. This one has worked for us, and we will continue using it as long as Luke fits in a shopping cart and high chair, but there are lots out there that work!

Treat yourself and your baby, the sheer convenience is worth it :)

With Love,

Claudia