She Giggles!

My life is awesome!

A Wonderful Week!

Two weeks ago David traveled for work and I was BLESSED to fly to MN and see my family! I LOVED every minute of being with them and I think they enjoyed having Norah and me too :) A few really special things went on while we were in town and we're so glad to have been a part of it all.

AJ was the first one we got to surprise! He just walked in from work and he was THRILLED!! It was so fun.

This was so cute, Norah kept looking over Kim's arm at Nathan whenever he talked. I had to snap a pic of that cuteness.

Norah sporting the outfit Nathan got her... he's trying to pass on the cheese head thing to Norah. She looks good in yellow though.

Norah enjoying time with uncle Aaron!

Out to lunch with Nana and Kim! Another fun day in MN with amazing women.

So the BIG deal thing that happened was... Nathan and Kim got engaged!!!!! Yeah!!!!! I am so thrilled that I got to be home for the engagement announcement!!!!!! It just happened to be the same week I got my random standby ticket, God is good. We love Nathan already and are so excited to be blessed by watching Kim fall in love with him. It's so exciting and really rejuvenating to watch a couple fall in love, especially when you see them doing it in step with the Lord. I respect Nathan for the way he's "courted" Kim and how he's been cautious as they've been dating. Again, we are so blessed to get him in our family. The other side of it comes with a few tears... Kim is growing up, she's moving out (finally right mom?! :) just kidding... and she's going to be a wife!! Can't wait for the wedding this coming summer/fall! Congrats Kim & Nathan, we love you guys.

And... I love these two amazing parents.

My dad got back from a mission trip in Guatemala while Norah and I were in town! It was fun to surprise him when he arrived back to the states. Thanks for sharing about your experiences Dad and for serving those girls in Guatemala.

Thai Chicken Curry

We tried another new recipe that we loved! No pictures this time but it's soooo good, try it!

Season 1 1/4 pounds chicken cutlets with salt. Cook in batches with canola oil over medium heat until golden; remove and slice. Add 2 sliced bell peppers and 1/4 cup water to pan; cook until tender. Add 2 tablespoons red curry paste and 15 ounces of coconut milk; simmer for 4 minutes. Add the chicken; serve with rice, basil and lime.

Okay so I made a few adjustments... I added pineapple since we had it and it was awesome! Also, I skipped the basil since I didn't have it :) This was so good but it wasn't very spicey so you can always add more curry paste depending on how HOT you like it! Enjoy it, we sure did.

*Recipe from Real Simple

Catchin' Some Sun In Austin

I'm sorry it's been so long! We've had a crazy schedule the last few weeks, let me catch you up one event at a time.

A few weeks ago Norah and flew to Austin, TX to catch up with some of the Blomgren ladies. We were going to check out the town where David's aunt & uncle recently moved to and help Emily with a few wedding details.

Norah getting her assessment from aunt Colleen! She's developing just perfectly :)

Norah and Colleen after a yummy early dinner

All the ladies! (L to R) Suzie, Karen, Kristin, Emily, Sarah, Kris, Colleen, Norah & Kelly

Enjoying the beautiful sun with Emily!

Blomgren girlies relaxing together after early morning flights!

We certainly enjoyed seeing everyone and getting a tour of parts of Austin! Thank you Kris, Emily & Sarah for planning such a fun weekend! Norah and I are so glad we could make it down to see you.

Our Cloth Diaper Journey

So many thoughts on cloth diapers, where do I begin!? It's been a fun journey deciding to cloth diaper. So far we are glad we did and love our experience with cloth! I started cloth diapers in November and have been going strong ever since.

I was reminded of my desire to cloth from a friend here in town that uses Mother Ease. She loves these diapers and explained to me the benefits of cloth and why there were so great for her boy. She said he had sensitive skin and the cloth helped him no longer get diaper rash! I was pregnant at the time and decided I should start my research on cloth diapers. You see, back in 2007 I posted this blog about gdiapers which sounded great! Don't get me wrong, gdiapers are great but we decided to go all out! Gdiapers are covers you wash and reuse and then put an insert in and the insert is biodegradable so you can flush, toss or even recycle through the dirt in your own yard!

Once I started my online research I was immediately overwhelmed! I thought the task would be fun and I would soon know what I wanted. After reading some reviews and doing research online I decided to take a cloth diaper class that was offered at a store here in the Springs. Once at the class I became more overwhelmed! They were using many many terms that I read online but did not understand like: hook & loop, fitteds, AIO's, pockets, PUL, snappis and prefold! Whoa! When I went to the class I thought I knew what I wanted and then by the end, I felt unprepared. It's amazing (and overwhelming obviously) how many types of cloth diaper systems there are and how you can mix and match. Oh and then you have to decide which fabric you want to use, organic, bamboo, cotton, hemp, micro fleece, microfiber terry and I'm sure there are more but you get the my drift!

After the class I made the plunge and bought me some great diapers! I tried to do the prefold (prefold pictured below (not Norah) with a snappie (what is used to hold the diaper on, no more pins!)) with a Thirsties cover. I personally do not like the bulkiness of the prefold. Some of my friends use them and love them though.

After that, I went all out and got me some great diapers. Let me introduce you to Thirsties!

Here is a Fab Fitted and a Duo Wrap. The Fab Fitted goes on the baby first and then covered with the Duo Wrap. The Duo Wrap grows with the baby and the Fab Fitted above fits from 7lbs-12lbs.

Here is Norah modeling the Fab Fitted in November at about 7lbs

And, here is Norah last week in the same size Fab Fitted at around 12lbs.

Here's Norah the week she met her Dad :) in early December with the Duo Wrap at it's smallest size (you can see the snaps in the front).

And, here she is last week in the same cover with one of the snaps undone and one still to go. These covers are up to 18lbs.

I know this seems gross but I thought I should address the poo issue. One of my huge questions was ummm, "so you literally throw a poopy diaper in the washing machine?! Sick." The answer is yes and it's really not that gross :) I wanted to show you how the diaper on the left looked like after being used (fresh :)) and then how a clean one looked after being washed! I have had no stains and am proud of it! Norah's bum is against a stain free cloth diaper :)

My washing regime: I usually wash Norah's cloth diapers every three to four days. In between washes I have a leak proof bag (called a wet bag or pail liner) that they are stored in sitting a garbage bin. on the 3rd or 4th day I stick all the diapers in the washing machine with a tiny bit of baking soda and special chemical free soap and soak them for 1-5 hours then finish that wash cycle. After that a run a short cycle to make sure all the soap is out of the diapers so they don't stink from having soap left over. Then I hang dry them and they are ready to go in the morning! I honestly feel likes it's so easy!

I have had no leaks when I use my cloth diapers. On the otherhand, when I've had to use some disposables I have had some nasty blow outs and therefore stains on Norah's cute clothes! I highly recommend cloth diapering, it's fun and environmentally friendly!

Here are some of the reasons to cloth:

• No chemicals on your sweet little ones bum. A major disposable diaper company said the incident of diaper rash rose from 7%-61% between 1970 and 1995 coinciding with the increase of disposable diaper use.
• You won't be adding to the land fills! Disposables take 250-500 years to decompose, yuck!
• $$$!!! There are many charts out there on the web about the cost saving of cloth diapering. Here's some great info from THIS site where they even factor in the cost of laundry washes being done at home! Here's the breakdown based on a child using diapers for 2.5 yrs.:

1. Disposables (the least expensive brand) $2577.35 or $.36 per diaper change
2. Pockets (Knickernappies) $1677.66 or $.23 per diaper change
3. AIO or All in Ones (Bum Genius) $1413.48 or $.20 per diaper change
4. Fitteds (WallyPop fitted & Angel Dry covers) $1263.46 or $.18 per diaper change
5. Prefolds (The Stock Warehouse) $381 or $.06 per diaper change

Some of the other fun cloth diaper companies and there clever names:

Happy Heinys

Fuzzi Bunz

Bumgenius

GoGo Natural

Snooty Booty Diapers

Baby Beehinds

Scuttlebutts

Nanipoos

Monkeybuns

Hey! You could always go this route with the elimination communication and use NO DIAPERS!!!

Any questions? Comments? I would love your feedback!


*Update, we now use Organic Cottom Bum Genius since Norah grew out of the Thirsties and we didn't want to do a pocket diaper (no stuffing involved).  I have also tried and like Kawaii pockets (cheeper and work great) and Grovia!

Minnesotan at Heart?

Today Norah has her "Future Wild Player" shirt on and cute Nike shorts! Thanks Uncle Aaron and Nana!!

*Yes I did make her headband! Go me!