It's about that time again!

***I wrote this post but didn't publish it right away and over Christmas break got a little distracted by a BABY, coming 2 WEEKS EARLY!  This is unheard of for Wickoren children so we were a little taken by surprise.  More on that to come, but since I had this nice blog post all typed up, I'm going to publish it anyhow because it may still be of use to some of you.***

Something about Christmas and babies just makes me want to blog, so here I am again, two years since my last blog post, and making preparations for celebrating the birth of Christ and the birth of our newest addition, Jasper.  We are planning for a bit of a crowd at Jasper's birth - Dad, Grandma, Auntie Sarah, Big Brother Mitch, and Big Sister Violet - so today I'm looking at birth videos to help prep the two members of our group who have never attended a birth before.  There are tons out there, but as I sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly, I thought I would post the best of the best here in case anyone else is also trying to prepare children or bachelorette sisters for the blessed event and could use some good resources.

This is the first video the kids and I watched.  It's not exactly especially informational, but it's a great gentle introduction to waterbirth - nothing graphic, no screaming or moaning really, no blood.  I used this one to show Ivy (who is the ripe old age of 4 these days) how a baby comes out.  You get to see the baby come out, but through the water and at a very modest angle.  Ivy was pretty impressed and so we watched the pushing stage several times (fast forward to 3:30 if you want to get to the "good stuff").





This video is a decent quick overview of what is happening on the inside during the different stages of labor - a little "behind the scenes" summary.  This one isn't embeddable, but you can see it on YouTube by clicking here.


Here's a nice example of some labor moaning, good for explaining some of the kinds of noises that mom might make in labor...





I think it's helpful for kids, if you want to show more graphic videos, to start with animal videos first, so it's a little less shocking.  It also gives a good you a good opportunity to talk about the amniotic sac.






What I like about this video is that it shows some graphic bits, and there is some screaming, but both of those parts happen underwater so it is a bit blurry and the sounds is muted by the water, so it's a little less intense.  Again, another chance to talk about labor sounds.  And as soon as baby is out, mom is laughing and clearly just so ecstatic to have baby there so you can see that while it was painful for her, as soon as the work is done she is feeling quite good again.




Aaaaand... this one's just for fun, not for kids  ;-)




Do you have any favorite videos or websites to prepare first time birth attendees for the event?

Flats Challenge Part Deux: Day 1

Well readers, it's been a long time! Nice to see you again after my blogging hiatus! As many of you know I spent the winter trying out the working mom bit at a local cloth diaper store and this spring I brought my talents over to Softbums. But as a mommy of four, my working days end when the school year ends. Unless a position opens up for brain surgeon with no experience required, I don't have any marketable skills that would pay for daycare for four kids and still have some paycheck left over for me. So home I go for the summer, and I'm happy to do it. I love the laid back rhythm of summertime.

So, for my grand re-entry into the blogosphere, I am participating once again in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For 7 days I will be using only flat cloth diapers and handwashing them in an effort to show that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all. You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the link. It was great fun last year so I was excited to see that it was happening again this year. You may recall that last year I made it into a Walmart challenge, getting all my supplies at my local Walmart. Over the last year I've really found the flats love so my personal diaper stash now includes quite a few high quality flats. Since I've already got everything I need pretty much, I'm just going to work with my own stash this year.

Besides my collection of flats, my stint at Softbums has also left me with quite a few lovely Softbums shells, one of the perks of working for a diaper maker. They pair perfectly with pad folded flats, so I'm all set.

Someday

Ivy is a lucky girl.  While the older kids bite, scratch, tease, hit, scream, and curse at each other, every last one of them adores Ivy.  They play with her, carry her around, keep her safe, teach her things, share their cookies with her, and generally love her.  They fight over who gets to lay next to her at night (usually no one because they can't stop arguing long enough to let her fall asleep) and who gets to pluck her happy self out of bed in the morning.  This morning Violet got the honors (well, actually Daddy got her out of bed but Violet helped).  As I changed Ivy's diaper Violet peeked over my shoulder and made faces at her.


"You love Ivy, huh?" I said.
"Yeah, she's the cutest little baby," Vi replied.
"When you grow up do you think you'll be a mommy someday and have your own baby?" I asked.

Violet pondered that for a moment.  You could see the wheels spinnning.


"I do want to," she said, "But I don't know how to drive."
I chuckled a little, "Don't worry, when you're older I'll teach you how to drive."
"Can you also teach me how to feed a baby with my boobies?" she inquired.
"Sure," I said, "I can help you figure it out."
"Okay," she said, satisfied.

Now that I think about it, as a mother I do spend an inordinate amount of time driving people places and breastfeeding (though never simultaneously).

 Definitely two of the more useful skills in my Mom Toolbelt.

That got me wondering about where the boys were sitting on the issue.  Mitchell used to want to have a wife and family and I wondered what his plans were now.  When we discussed the issue of marriage a few months ago, this is what the boys had to say...

(At this point the boys had already decided they were going to be lifelong roommates)

Mitch: I think I'd like a wife

Henry:  Not me, they kick you off the computer and make you to do chores.

Mitch:  But we need wives, we need someone to take care of the babies.

Henry:  We don't need babies, they're too much work.

Mitch:  Good point.  But we still need wives.  Otherwise who is going to guard the house while we're at work?

Henry:  Okay fine... (he pauses)  ...wait a minute, we can just get a lock!  Then nobody can get in!

Mitch:  Yeah, a lock!

When I asked Mitch today about possible future fatherhood he said no, babies are too much work.  When I asked Henry the same question he had a new sort of answer today.


"No way, having babies is gross!"
"Well, it would be the mama actually having the baby," I offered, "You don't HAVE to watch."
"NO," Henry said, "MAKING the baby is too gross.  I'm never doing that."

I forgot that a while back he had gotten a little persistent with the "Where do babies come from?  And how did they get in there?" questions.  He got more or less the full scoop so he's totally turned off on fatherhood now.  Ah well, best that they think sex is "gross" for as loooong as possible.  I wonder if Violet's answer will change once she has all the specifics on exactly how babies get in there and how they get out. Hmmmm...

What about your kids?  Do they think they want to be parents some day?

Is She A Good Baby? Part 1: Sleep

Having kids who LOVE to play in the pool all day long lately has given me a bit more time for reading.  Lately I've been working on finishing an intriguing book that I started quite some time ago - "Our Babies, Ourselves".

It is an anthropological and biological look at babies.  How are babies around the world parented and why?  Is there a biological foundation for these parenting techniques or are they primarily cultural?


I encourage everyone to read the book. It's fascinating. But I'll also share some of the info and insights with you here in my new series "Is She A Good Baby?".

Whenever you find moms trying to get to know each other and make small talk, at least around here, usually sooner than later someone asks, "Is she a good baby?"  I always answer "yes", but really, what am I supposed to say? 

"No, I'm pretty sure she's the Antichrist, but we love her anyways."

Epic Win

And the winner is...

Sunday Scribbles

*  Sometimes the minds of the men in this family are just fascinating to watch in action.  Henry has been working on patterns in kindergarten so he figures if we want another boy in the family, all we need to do is have another baby.  Boy, boy, girl, girl... naturally a brother will come next.  Or perhaps baby chicks instead?

*  I have never had my children hound me for another baby to this degree before.  Apparently Ivy has made quite a good impression.  Despite the fact that I was a less than stellar mother for about nine months because of nausea and various aches and pains that got pretty severe, they are all gung ho to do it again.  Almost from the minutes she was born they have been asking when we're having another and they are still going pretty strong.  Not a week goes by that some child or another doesn't make a comment about more babies.  Funny that this doesn't happen until mama decides that if she has ONE MORE BABY she is probably going to go right over the edge.

*  On a more positive note, I am just one child away from writing a post updating our school situation.  One is still up in the air for the fall, but once we get that one nailed down, a post will follow shortly.

*  The three goose families that have been living on our route to and from school have moved.  We enjoyed seeing the goslings grow and waving to them four times a day as we drove past, but one day tragedy struck.  The families were obviously distressed as they milled around on the shoulder of the road near the place where a very flat gosling lay in the road.  The next day, they were all gone, flat gosling included.  Perhaps it was just too painful to continue living near the scene of the tragedy, perhaps the geese and ganders just realized that the shoulder of the road is an inherently dangerous place for preteen goslings to be hanging out.  Bye guys, we'll miss you.

*Speaking of roadkill, why did the chicken cross the road?  To show the racoon that it COULD be done.  Thanks to Uncle Warren for that chuckler.

What thoughts are scribbling around in your head today?

The Happy Anteater

Okay, just ooooooone more post about the flats and handwashing challenge - I promise this one will be the last. Thank you so much for bearing with us to those of you who like my blog but have little to no interest in diapers. I know it's a niche interest, but it's MY niche.

I'm an outside-the-box thinker. I'm not bragging, it's just a fact. Sometimes it's annoying, to myself and to other people. I'm always coming up with harebrained ideas, good and bad.

My flats and handwashing ala Walmart challenge inspired me to come up with a couple of doozies this week.  If you've been following along with me then you've already seen my no-sew fleece cover design.  But I was also tinkering with the flat itself this week.  I cut some homemade flannel flats, which worked fairly well, but what worked even better was the new fold I invented. 

I call it:  The Happy Anteater

Reflections in a Yellow Puddle

Whew! What a week! I feel pretty spent right now. But in a good way. In an "I just climbed a mountain" sort of way. This week I posted the heck out of this blog, I ROCKED the flat cloth diapers (even invented a new cover and a new flat diaper fold), and I took four kids three hours away from home to a campground all by myself (though my husband did join us later, it was still an accomplishment).

The camping trip was quite a feat all on its own, but coming at the tail end of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge made it seem all the more momentous. 

Speaking of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge, (because perhaps we haven't spoken enough of it this week? lol), the final stats are in and this is how we did...

Flats Challenge Day 7: Your Grandma's Diapers

Our guest blogger today is none other than my own mother, making her blogosphere debut.  Take it away Mom...

Never a dull moment in the Maelstrom. Being the Gramma amidst the swirling, I seem to be repeatedly swept into the vortex of change, the newest being the Flats and Handwashing Challenge.

 Back when my daughter first made the change to cloth diapers, I must admit she needed a chain to drag me along, or should I say just a few guilt ridden lines of encouragement. Before we all became cohabitants, I figured I'd side-step the cloth diapers and get to use disposables when the baby of the moment came to visit, after all, the Other Grandma got disposables sent to Her house. Ah well, the joys of being the maternal grandmother---so much more compliance is expected of you.

Flats Challenge Day 6: Sharing the Love

Since I am on vay-cay right as we speak, enjoy the guest reviews (I know I did!)...

How Are Osocozy Flats?  ClothDiaper.com Review and Giveaway
May 25, 2011 by Julie Kieras

When I made the decision to cloth diaper, I thought I’d have to use prefolds. Then I learned about modern cloth diapers and was delighted. The idea of flats (flats? What are flats?) never crossed my mind. I honestly didn’t understand why prefolds were called “PRE-fold” because you still had to FOLD them. So how could they be PRE-folded, right? This is because I was unaware of flats, which really ARE un-folded!

Flats are great, because they are lint free, so in addition to diapering, you can use them for cleaning, burp cloths, dish towels, changing pads, and any numer of uses! Flats are what the rest of the world (that doesn’t have easy access to running water and electricity) is using to diaper their babies, because of the versatility, ease of use, and quick dry time.

Flats Challenge Day 5: TGIF!

Wow, what a journey this has been!  The week isn't over yet, but I feel like I have learned so much already.  Like how to dry flats ASAP and use a t-shirt for a diaper, how to make my own laundry detergent, and how to make a Noso diaper cover.  Also little tips and tricks.  For example, if you give the wings of your flat a twist towards the back before pinning, it tightens the whole thing up a bit.  And you need to get that diaper as tight as you can if you are using pins, because it will loosen a little as soon as the baby starts to move.

Flats Challenge Day 4.5: The Apoocalypse

Yesterday started out like any other normal day in a flats-challenge-mama's world.  All was well until both girls fell asleep at about 1pm in the livingroom.  They NEVER take a nap together.  So of course I got all distracted doing mama things in the peace and quiet and the next thing I know I have to leave RIGHT NOW in order to get to the school on time to pick up the boys.  So I whisk the girls up and into the van, and I don't change the baby.  Usually it's not a huge deal, and I will just change her when we get home (she often naps right up until time to do school pick up) but this time it was disastrous.

Flats Challenge Day 4: Noso Glory

This is a week of bloggy firsts. First time blogging daily for a whole week, first blog challenge, first guest bloggers, and now my first vlog!

Flats Challenge Day 3: Wordless Wednesday

Flats Challenge Day 2: Homemade Love

It's Day #2 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge and I'm definitely feeling the flat love. Only one leak yesterday, but I was really pushing the diapers to the limit so I think that was pretty awesome. I was even able to use one small, thin, Child of Mine flat all by itself with no leaks with a kite fold (though it was SOAKED under the cover). Very impressive.

Flats Challenge Day 1: So It Begins...

My sweet little angle woke up this morning, grinned at me, and then promptly filled her pants  :::sigh:::.  So for my first diaper change of the flats challenge I used a Walmart flour sack towel, origami folded (my favorite fold), pinned, with a Child of Mine cover over it.

My plan of attack for today is to try out all the diapers singly, without any soakers or doubling, and just see how far that gets me.  I expect today may be a little leakier than usual, but I thought for the sake of science, I should give each diaper a fair shake at holding its own. 

My arsenal for this week includes:

Bye Bye Love

Tomorrow starts the Flats and Handwashing Challenge!  So today I'm packing up all my lovelies...

It's So Campy!

Next on my to-do list is making a manual washer or "camp washer".  When I've taken flat diapers up to the Boundary Waters before, I did my washing by just soaking in a bin and scrubbing by hand.  Worked just dandy but it was a bit hard on my hands.

But the fabulous folks over at DirtyDiaperLaundry.com have posted a how-to video for a simple camp washer made out of a 5 gallon bucket and a plunger.  Seeing as how I've been so wicked crafty lately, I thought I'd also try being handy.

And since any task is more fun with a friend, a cloth-loving-flat-challenge-buddy came over to help me and also make her own manual washer.

Crafty Bitch

Bazinga!  I am ONE CRAFTY BITCH!  Yes, I mean that in a calculating, clever, and foxy way but ALSO like this...

I made those cute baby leggings/pants from an old sweater.

This morning.

Before breakfast.

Unfortunately it doesn't have enough wool in it to be a waterproof diaper cover, but it's still super cute.  I used this pattern and it couldn't have been simpler.  Next time i'll scrounge up a wool sweater so it can be cute AND functional.

Also yesterday I was working on these pennants for a birthday decoration banner for Ivy's party - not quite done, but almost.  Some of them also feature pieces of that same sweater.  You know, I'm not sure who that sweater belongs to.  It's not my sweater.  Hmmmm...  It was in a bag marked with big black marker "GARAGE SALE" though so that's my defense if my mom or sister comes looking for it.

Oh, and also I made that baby in the picture above.  Bazinga.

Getting Prepped

Flats and Handwashing Challenge stats so far:

Total $$ Spent: $90.43 with tax
Total Time Spent: 1 hour (shopping)
Total Diapers Changed: 0
Total Leaks: 0

I'm on my way with this challenge thing and it's time to start keeping track of things I think.  How time consuming will it really be to use flats and handwash them?  Will thin little flats be able to contain Ivy's business?  How much money am I spending (no one tell my hubby lol)?  These are things I want to know.