Cloth Diapers

Well, in a whirlwind we decided to change to cloth diapers. We had been thinking about how wonderful it would be to not always be throwing away oddles of diapers in plastic bags, littering the landfills of Montana (we switched our kitchen trash to paper bags). I was leery of prefolds and pins though. Well, during my research for my budget post, I talked to a friend that uses cloth diapers. She pointed me to a couple of websites, and I saw the light. Cloth diapers are nothing like I thought!

We bought some pocket diapers from Montana's Diaper Store. We actually went to the physical store, which ended up being a great trip. After looking at cloth diapers online all weekend I still wasn't sure what to get! So we went to the store and they helped us pick the right diapers for us. We're using the Pocket Change cloth diapers. They are working great so far!

Wrong again

I thought it was spring, but it's not. It is still definitely winter. It snowed about 6 inches on Friday, and it is forecast to snow every day this week. I guess I just have to wait longer for the nice warm weather.

The baby budget

One of my friends is considering getting pregnant. She wanted to know about how much we spend per month on Z's stuff, like diapers, etc. I went a little overboard and tried to estimate everything for her. Here is the email I wrote:

Remember, if you get pregnant I'm sure people are going to help you out a little. I'm sure the grandparents will buy some clothes and especially other little things too, and of course you'll have a shower and get gifts there. And we have some stuff you can have like our newborn tub. So, you won't have to buy absolutely everything yourselves.

The initial costs are the biggest. Getting set up with a nice crib will be between $300 and $500. A good carseat will cost you at least $150 (and don't buy a used one of these! You want something new). Other baby furniture such as a dresser or changing table may be unnecessary but if you want it you may pay a lot, maybe over $500. We bought ourselves a dresser and gave Z my old one, at a cost of about $200. You probably also want to get a baby carrier or two, and those range from about $30 to over $100. The baby backpack comes later, and I saved up for that one and I bought the cadillac for $240. You will also need some layette items like swaddling blankets, onesies, clothes, burp cloths, etc. I don't think we bought any of these for ourselves. But if you do, I would expect to pay in excess of $100 depending on what you get.

Of course there are also the doctor's costs. These vary depending on your insurance, but I can tell you we paid $750 for my doctor, and the overall total (including the $750) was about $3000.

Now the monthly expenses... These change as your baby gets older. I have been breastfeeding and it is cheaper than formula feeding. Yes you do eat more food, but adult food can be less expensive than lots of formula. Now that I breastfeed and give Z formula, we're paying about $20 a month for formula. But this can be way more expensive if you are exclusively formula feeding. Think maybe $120 a month... And once your baby starts solids, you can expect to pay about $30 a month for babyfood jars (between 6 and 8 months).

For diapering, we use disposable diapers. I have seen websites that say to estimate your diaper use at 70 per week. I don't know if we ever used that many! Realistically now we use about 40 diapers per week. We're not changing freaks, and we use diaper cream and Z has never had a rash. We pay about $50 a month for diapers. This gets a bit more expensive as the baby gets older too, but slowly. Wipes are cheap, they cost us less than $20 a month, and other diapering supplies like cream cost us maybe $4 a month.

Now for my speech on how to save money. :)
I have bought many things on ebay. Z's bouncy chair, kick-gym, and lots of clothes. Buying baby clothes on ebay is awesome. I always look for lots with several pieces. The last lot I bought was 6-12 month stuff, and I got name-brand clothes like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Children's Place. I got ~20 pieces for ~$20. WAY cheaper than buying anything at any store. Especially the nice name-brand stuff which costs ~$15 for a onesie. So don't be afraid to look for stuff on ebay! Everything I've gotten was in great condition. People selling baby clothes do seem to be truthful about the condition, and seem to not sell really crummy stuff. A couple of things I got had some spots, but you expect those in used baby clothes. Sometimes you just can't keep them clean. We also bought our baby monitor at the thrift store here, so it cost us $2.50. It is old and kind of crummy, but it works! And we could have paid upwards of $40 for a new one. I know you guys go to the thrift stores so look there for baby stuff. Some things I personally wouldn't buy used, mostly for safety's sake. Like you want a new carseat. Unless you get one from a friend and you're sure it's never been in an accident. We're probably going to get our front-facing seat from my friend S. But I wouldn't just buy one. I also saved up for the backpack, because I want something that can take a lot of wear and tear from me. I know it'll be well used so I didn't want one that was already well used.

In my initial email I forgot to mention nursing bras ($15 to $40 a piece - I have 6), maternity clothes (I think I spent about $150 but you can spend way more), the boppy (an essential for us! - ~$20), the Bumbo chair (super cool - $30), and crib bedding (we got ours handed down, but I think it can be up to $200).

If there are any ammendments or additions to my list, please leave a comment!

In the wink of an eye

My baby is growing up before my eyes. It is so amazing, and a little sad. I remember when she was the teeny baby we brought home from the hospital. She couldn't do a thing then, except cry, poop, nurse and sleep. She stared around once in a while when she was awake long enough.

Now she is starting to pull herself up from a sitting position. She really wants to walk. She loves it when we help her take small steps. She can't quite crawl yet, but she is almost there too. One of the nurses that sees her often thinks she might walk without even crawling. I didn't think so until today when I really payed attention to her walking attempts. Now I think she may just be right. Amazing.

Z is also starting to want to relax more in her crib, instead of in my arms. She has a stuffed frog that I started giving her as a sort of "transitional" object. I brought him with to my parent's house to have something in her "crib" that reminded her of home. While we were there she seemed to get attached to him (we call him Ringo), and so when we got home I decided to keep putting him in the crib with her. She likes to grab him and cuddle with him during the night and during naps. In fact, having him has made her naps significantly longer. Where she was sleeping about 40 to 50 minutes before she is now sleeping 1.5 to 2 hours! So now I can put her in her crib with Ringo when she is still fairly awake, and in minutes she is sound asleep with him in one arm or within close reach. It is sooooo sweet. It is also a little sad, because now there is something else comforting besides me or my breast. But, ah, she is growing. She definitely won't be my little baby forever.

New picture

Some snow from our window.

Real good friends

Over President's Day weekend we had one of our college friends stay with us for a couple of days. He works in California now and we hadn't seen him since the summer of 2004. We all had such a great time! Before he came I was planning a trip to Yellowstone one day, but then we decided that was too much hassle and we'd all just rather hang out. So that's what we did. He and my husband rented Metroid Prime Echoes and we all played that and Super Smash Brothers Melee. We went out to eat and we went and played a bit in the snow (since there's no snow where he lives in CA).

Most importantly, though, we laughed. We spent a few hours giggling. I don't even know what all we were laughing at, but whatever it was, it was funny. All three of us realized that we hadn't laughed like that in a long time. Years maybe. It felt good. And it made my husband and I think about how great it is to have friends like that. We haven't made any here at grad school.

Time off

Since I turned in my thesis I haven't been blogging! I've been getting some r&r. I am still working part-time, and that has been nice because it provides me with a change of scenery, and keeps me busy for a little bit every day. But not too much. I'm really enjoying not having deadlines or big things hanging over my head!

I am going to submit my work to be published, either in Northwest Science or the Western North American Naturalist. My advisor and I are meeting tomorrow to talk about that. And as usual I have to submit two annual reports for my funding agencies. Both are not a big deal. The only other thesis related thing I have to get done soon is get some printed and bound copies for my committee, etc. I've been putting that off until I get back from visiting my parents.

Tomorrow...

All I have to do is submit my signature forms to the grad college office and I have my master's degree. Woohoo!

This was the PhD comic on the day that my advisor gave me the OK to submit to the grad college. I have felt that way more than once during the whole thesis-writing process. I'm just glad it is over now.

Picture of the week!

Happy new year! I got back from vacation a few days ago and I've spent most of the time feverishly getting my thesis ready for submission. It's ready now! I made it a pdf and everything! Tomorrow I'm going to email it to the lady at the grad school, and Tuesday I'm going over there to turn in the proper forms. HOW EXCITING!


This week's picture is from last January at Yerkes observatory in Wisconsin.

Picture of the new year

This picture is of Langmuir Lab in New Mexico. We went to school in Socorro, so we used to hike in the Magdalena's all the time.

Six month update, part 2

October, 2006
Our little three-month-old was getting more and more exciting. She could move around a lot by now, and she was starting to get the hang of her body a bit. This month we went to the pumpkin patch to get Halloween pumpkins. We also took an overnight trip to Helena to be houseguests at our friends' new house! Our second overnight trip, and much shorter than the trip to the Tetons. But it was a lot of fun. Z saw her first cats in Helena.

November, 2006
We went to a late Halloween party the first weekend in Nov, and Z dressed as a pumpkin. Aren't most little babies pumpkins? It is so cute though. We went back to Helena for a friend's birthday party the weekend before Thanksgiving. Another successful trip.

For Thanksgiving we had a couple of friends over. Z got some babyfood sweet potatoes. She seemed to enjoy them. We also began sitting her up with support during November. And she experienced her first really cold temperatures. The other exciting thing was her first trip to the hot-springs! We put her in a neato swim diaper and took her in a warm pool. She seemed to enjoy that too, but she doesn't react very strongly in any situation - she's a pretty passive kid.

December, 2006
This month we of course celebrated christmas. But we also celebrated mommy defending her thesis! Z was there for my talk and about half of the questions. Then she got a bit bored and dad took her home.

Z continues to get better and better at sitting up. We both think she'll be mobile soon, which means we'd better get off our own butts and childproof our house! She's becoming more vocal as well, and her laugh is the funniest thing. She kind of coughs out a belly laugh once in a while. Trust me, it is hilarious.

We had a wonderful christmas with lots of toys and new clothes for Z, and a few for us too! We had a lot of snow a few days after christmas, which I took Z out in. It was her first real snowstorm experience. No sledding yet though.

Looking back over the past 6 months, I realize that I don't remember all the gruesome details of the first couple of months, yet I seem to remember more specifics from early-on. I didn't really know what to write for the last three months! Z is growing as quickly as all babies do, and we see new stuff often, but I think my husband and I are getting used to seeing such new things, so they don't seem so awesome. In a way, we are beginning to expect new and interesting developments. I love watching her grow, and it is amazing to think of how small and blob-like she used to be! She is so interactive and interested now! I love my baby. I wouldn't change this experience for anything.

Picture of the week - Dec 25

Sorry this is a bit late!

Christmas morning with all the presents! We all had a fabulous time.

Six month update, part 1

My daughter is nearly 6 months old. I can't believe the last 6 months have gone by so fast! In the interest of a bit of record-keeping, I am going to summarize those months here.

July, 2006
Enter Z! At 6:15am on July 1st! She wasted no time. We have joked that she really wanted her doctor to deliver her, because she was born ~2 hours before he was leaving town for 4th of July vacation. I was glad of this, because I didn't want a doctor that I wasn't familiar with delivering my baby. It all worked out.

We spent the customary time in the hospital. That was heaven compared with coming home. It was the first time either my husband or I had put a baby in a carseat. We had no idea what was going on. We came home in a daze. I was already sleep-deprived. That first night home from the hospital was the worst. I was in such a state I couldn't sleep for more than about 30 minutes at a time. I would put Z down next to me after feeding her, and then lie awake just knowing that she would wake up any minute hungry again. It drove me nearly insane. My husband isn't too good at waking up in the middle of the night, and at one point that night he was shushing me like a newborn. I had had it at that point and I cried even harder. I spent a lot of those first few days at home crying. I called my mom and cried, and I even cried to my dad on the phone, which I never do. There was so much crying.

Then my mom came and saved us. She cooked and cleaned and held the baby while I slept. Moms really know their stuff. By the time she left we had things much more under control. Sleep was a very precious commodity that first month. But we made it through the first visitors and all was ok. Looking back now I can hardly believe she was so tiny! And, I've got the amnesia setting in, because I can't exactly remember the hardships. I remember that it was very tough and while I was there I swore I'd never have another child. But it is fading... and I'm starting to think more kids would be absolutely wonderful...

August, 2006
The rest of the family came during this month. I also had to get ready for a conference! I made a poster, with copious amounts of my husband's help. I basically put all the things that needed to be on the poster there, and he arranged them and made it look pretty. He's my "art director". The poster was a success! I celebrated my birthday as well, and my father-in-law made me a delicious cake.

August was the least eventful month. Nothing much else happened. Our baby just kept growing and growing. I think this was the month that we figured out breastfeeding (yes it took us that long!). Z began sleeping longer and we started getting more sleep.

September, 2006
In September we took our first overnight trip! We went to Grand Teton National Park and stayed at the research station there for me to present my master's work at a park colloquium. We were there two nights. We were nervous before leaving, but Z slept like an angel. At that point she was waking up twice a night for food, and I thought that sleeping somewhere different would lead to more frequent wakings, but it was not so! She slept wonderfully, and hence mommy and daddy did too. It was such a fun trip!

Otherwise during September we focused on getting Z on a good sleep schedule - including naps. It took a bit of work, but I think by the end of the month she was taking fairly good naps with no crying involved. That way I could finish my thesis and dad could work on his schoolwork.

Picture of the week - Dec 17

This picture is from the Archie Bray Foundation grounds in Helena, MT. It is the inside of one of the old beehive kilns. One of our friends works at the Bray part-time, and we went there and poked around the grounds last February. It was super cool! There are some really weird sculptures and such. It is a really neat artsy place.

Dicked around

I have a couple of things I want to post about, but I'll focus on the most recent first.

Yesterday we went out to buy a new DVD player, since our ~3-yr-old one is crapping out. We went to one of the only media stores in town - a local business (not a big-box store). All three of us went, and we looked at the DVD players and we found the one we wanted, but it had no price sticker on it. This place is basically a showroom, so there aren't boxes there that you can just take to a cash register. So, we stood around waiting for a salesperson to help us. Many other people were being helped. We waited. New people came in, stood right next to us, and got helped. None of the salespeople stopped to help the young couple with a baby.

We stood around for 10 to 15 minutes while others around us got helped. Neither of us was in the mood to push ourselves on the salespeople - feeling as if it is their job to sell to us. However, none of them wanted to deal with us. After about 15 minutes we got annoyed and walked out. I was royally pissed off! We must have talked for the next 20 minutes about how the salespeople were perfectly willing to help the customers who looked like they were ready to spend hundreds of dollars as opposed to a maximum of 100 dollars, and who didn't have any babies in tow. I was even saying, "So much for supporting local businesses!" Usually I attempt to support the smaller locals instead of the big-box stores. I do go to Target quite often, but we try to go to the locally-owned grocery stores, and we go to the local butcher shop, etc. But the electronics store is one local business that I am NEVER patronizing. Seldom have I felt so discriminated against.

Arrgh!

Blogger beta is having some problems with loading pictures into the sidebar, so no picture of the week on my blog this week. RRRRR

Mistress K

I had my thesis defense on Friday, and I passed. So now I guess I have a master's degree. Actually I won't technically have it until May. Because I defended late, I have to wait and graduate in the spring semester. I have some things to edit in my document, and then I have to turn it in to the grad college by January 18. I'm on the home stretch!

I've thought a little bit about what I'm going to do with my blog now that I'm not going to be in graduate school anymore. I'm not going directly into a PhD program - I am taking some much-needed time off. So, the title of my blog won't apply anymore! My husband suggested I should keep writing in this blog, and write about issues other grad students have. A possibility. Or I could switch blogs and write about something else. I'm not sure!

Picture of the Week Dec 10

Happy Holidays! Here is our tree. This picture is hot off the press... I just took it 10 minutes ago. We got our tree yesterday and it has lights and a few ornaments, not many yet. Ahhh, christmas.

I made this!

I made this skirt - my first without following a pattern. It didn't take me too long, but it is kind of thrown together. Making all the panels the same length was difficult. Next time I'm going to try a patchwork skirt with squares instead of lengthwise panels. That might be a bit easier. I still think it looks cool! I'm wearing it for my defense tomorrow.

"We The Living"

This morning I finished it. I have to say that it was one of the most depressing books I've read thus far. I have a funny love-hate relationship with Ayn Rand. I don't think I'll be reading any more of her fiction.

I think Rand is a fabulous writer. At least, I found 'We The Living' to be well written and engrossing. There were times I couldn't put it down. I have also read 'Atlas Shrugged', and parts of that novel were also engrossing, although I found it got quite boring at times. With both books I found I was compelled not by what Rand would probably want her readers to be compelled by, but by the somewhat secondary plots. I found myself absolutely hating 'Atlas Shrugged' but being driven to keep reading in order to find out what happened between Dagny, Rearden and Galt. A similar thing happened in 'We The Living' between Kira, Leo and Andrei. I'd find myself hungry to find out what happened next in their love-lives, and when I found out I would often scream and throw the book onto the floor. I was engulfed in the love in those two books, which always seemed secondary to Rand's main points, and her philosophy, which is the reason so many people like her work. And the love never failed to let me down. I remember being so upset when Dagny left Rearden for Galt. I was terribly upset when Kira kept choosing Leo even when he obviously no longer cared for her or about her, while Andrei had given her his heart so freely. Kira was drawn to Leo with an overpowering love that could not be stopped, and it was her downfall. She should have seen it!!!!! That is what my mind kept screaming through almost the entire novel. She should have seen Leo for what he was and Andrei for what he was. She should have chosen more wisely! Yet, love is blind. But oh, so depressing.

I didn't particularly enjoy 'We The Living', as I didn't enjoy 'Atlas Shrugged'. I don't like reading Ayn Rand and I won't do it any more. Yet I can see where she is a great writer. Her books do stress me though! I don't want to scream at any more books.