http://www.alittlekloep.com
You'll need to update your feeds and bookmarks (sorry!). Google Friends I believe you were able to come along for the ride - I hope!
I hope you enjoy our new home as much as we do!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
We've moved!!!...
So I've finally done it - moved the blog over to its own domain and off the blogger platform! Visit us over at:
http://www.alittlekloep.com
You'll need to update your feeds and bookmarks (sorry!). Google Friends I believe you were able to come along for the ride - I hope!
I hope you enjoy our new home as much as we do!
http://www.alittlekloep.com
You'll need to update your feeds and bookmarks (sorry!). Google Friends I believe you were able to come along for the ride - I hope!
I hope you enjoy our new home as much as we do!
The time has come...
...for a new layout, new URL, and new blogging platform! Oh the changes...
I've been wanting to try out Wordpress for some time now (ever since blogger stopped supporting FTP publishing) and just finally got around to setting things up. I started with my little kloep blog to see how it goes and if all works out, I'll move the photo blog later. For now though, you all will have to bookmark a new URL - http://www.alittlekloep.com.
I think my googleconnect friends should all just come along for the ride (at least I hope). Someone please please let me know if it doesn't update you to the new site.
Starting tomorrow I'm dropping a redirect on the domain so that you automatically get pushed to the new site. For now, consider this your warning:)
I've been wanting to try out Wordpress for some time now (ever since blogger stopped supporting FTP publishing) and just finally got around to setting things up. I started with my little kloep blog to see how it goes and if all works out, I'll move the photo blog later. For now though, you all will have to bookmark a new URL - http://www.alittlekloep.com.
I think my googleconnect friends should all just come along for the ride (at least I hope). Someone please please let me know if it doesn't update you to the new site.
Starting tomorrow I'm dropping a redirect on the domain so that you automatically get pushed to the new site. For now, consider this your warning:)
Shutter Love Tuesday!
I saw this weekly photo challenge while participating in the Trendy Treehouse Friday Follow and just knew I wanted to enter.
This week's theme is "Stuffed Animals". Growing up I had tons (tons and tons) of stuffed animals. So many that we put up shelving around the perimeter of my room near the ceiling and even that wasn't enough to contain the tide that was my stuffie collection. I'd take them all down weekly and rearrange so that no one would feel left out and so the other stuffies could meet each other (I had a vivid imagination??:) )
Even before Noah was born we started accumulating a collection of stuffies for him and the little hedgie above is one of his first. The little guy is about the size of a softball and worked perfectly in his "woodland creatures" nursery. Here he's using the plastic grass to hide from the stuffed fox!
Head on over to Trendy Treehouse to see other stuffed animals and hear their stories!!
This week's theme is "Stuffed Animals". Growing up I had tons (tons and tons) of stuffed animals. So many that we put up shelving around the perimeter of my room near the ceiling and even that wasn't enough to contain the tide that was my stuffie collection. I'd take them all down weekly and rearrange so that no one would feel left out and so the other stuffies could meet each other (I had a vivid imagination??:) )
Head on over to Trendy Treehouse to see other stuffed animals and hear their stories!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Big things coming....
It's been quite around here lately but for good reason. We're all on the mend now from the sickness that took over the house plus I've been working on something new for A Little Kloep! Hopefully I can get things situated, tested and ready for a big debut later this week. Until then things will probably remain quiet because these changes are taking up most of my evenings leaving little time to actually write blog posts.
Anywho...hold your horses, this is gonna be big...haha..
Anywho...hold your horses, this is gonna be big...haha..
Friday, June 4, 2010
Memorial Day Fun....
Or rather memorial weekend fun! My parents were in town for the extended weekend to enjoy their little grandson and enjoy they did! Look at all the fun we had...
All in all it was a fantastic weekend even if we (Noah and I) were getting sick (you can see how red his poor eyes were in the pics).
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| We snoozed on grandpa... |
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| We laughed at the baby in the mirror with gramma |
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| We manipulated grandpa with our pouty lip |
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| We kept trying to manipulate grandpa with our lips |
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| We made granpa feel better with a cute laugh |
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| We explored new toys |
Summer Shape Up and Friday Follow....
Okay, now that did come faster than the others - 4 day work weeks (turned 3 due to a nasty sinus infection) really skew your perception on the week! Anyways...two orders of business as usual - accountability and making new friends.
I like to be accountable first so here goes:
This week was a total loss. Noah's been fighting somethign which finally turned into a sinus infection and lucky me caught it so on Saturday evening a little tickle in my throat turned into a full blown upper respiratory infection. Knocked me on my can (and I'm still recovering). So, needless to say I didn't work out at all...heck, I barely made it off the couch for the first few days of this thing. The only bounus is that I wasn't really all that hungry so I was able to control my eating and account for the lack of activity in my caloric intake so all was not lost.
This was a hold steady week - no wins, no losses...
Stats for this week:
Week 1 - 142lbs
Week 2 - 138lbs - woohoo!
Week 4 - 140lbs - ouch...no excuses, I have a new workout regime and a new resolve for eating healthy...we should start seeing that number drop.
Week 6 - 139.5 - okay, .5 lbs! I attribute that to the fact that i'm putting on muscle and muscle weighs more than fat right??:)
Week 7 - 137.5 - woohooo! Now, we fluctuated a bit this week but as of this AM this is where I'm at!!
Week 8 - 135 - Hallelujah! Real progress now! I don't expect it will continue at this rate but we'll see.
Week 9 - 135 - With no exercise all week I'll take a steady number over what it could have been
Okay, on to making new friends!!!
Two Friday Follows....
I'm also participating in the same Follow Me Friday I did last week from from Trendy Tree House.
Hello to all you new folks! I hope you find something here that you'll want to come back over and over again for! This blog was started to keep the fam up to date on my first pregnancy and has continued after my little Noah was born. Topics range from smitten momma ramblings to hard hitting pieces about 529 plans and the like (haha...hard hitting..maybe not but it's fun to dream that I could actually write something that could be considered hard hitting) and has a smattering of photography (of my little man of course) thrown in for fun.
Me? I'man almost a 30 something (gah!) working mamma who would love to ditch her mortgage in order to stay home with little man but sadly bought when the housing market was at its peak and probably couldn't even break even in the sale. Some day I dream of leaving the corporate world to do something more creative - like photography or crocheting!:) But for now amuse myself with hobby photography and blogging.
Anywho...glad to e-meet you and I hope you leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!
I like to be accountable first so here goes:
This week was a total loss. Noah's been fighting somethign which finally turned into a sinus infection and lucky me caught it so on Saturday evening a little tickle in my throat turned into a full blown upper respiratory infection. Knocked me on my can (and I'm still recovering). So, needless to say I didn't work out at all...heck, I barely made it off the couch for the first few days of this thing. The only bounus is that I wasn't really all that hungry so I was able to control my eating and account for the lack of activity in my caloric intake so all was not lost.
This was a hold steady week - no wins, no losses...
Stats for this week:
Week 1 - 142lbs
Week 2 - 138lbs - woohoo!
Week 4 - 140lbs - ouch...no excuses, I have a new workout regime and a new resolve for eating healthy...we should start seeing that number drop.
Week 6 - 139.5 - okay, .5 lbs! I attribute that to the fact that i'm putting on muscle and muscle weighs more than fat right??:)
Week 7 - 137.5 - woohooo! Now, we fluctuated a bit this week but as of this AM this is where I'm at!!
Week 8 - 135 - Hallelujah! Real progress now! I don't expect it will continue at this rate but we'll see.
Week 9 - 135 - With no exercise all week I'll take a steady number over what it could have been
Okay, on to making new friends!!!
Two Friday Follows....
I'm also participating in the same Follow Me Friday I did last week from from Trendy Tree House.
Hello to all you new folks! I hope you find something here that you'll want to come back over and over again for! This blog was started to keep the fam up to date on my first pregnancy and has continued after my little Noah was born. Topics range from smitten momma ramblings to hard hitting pieces about 529 plans and the like (haha...hard hitting..maybe not but it's fun to dream that I could actually write something that could be considered hard hitting) and has a smattering of photography (of my little man of course) thrown in for fun.
Me? I'm
Anywho...glad to e-meet you and I hope you leave a comment to let me know you stopped by!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Sick..sick..sick...and some randomness...
So, what started out as a clogged tear duct last week has turned into a full blown sinus infection in poor little Noah. We were sent home yesterday from the docs with a script for amoxicillin and antibiotic eyedrops.
What's worse is that due to my carelessness in dealing with the gunk in his eyes and when he sneezed and my endless need to snuggle with him close, I've contracted a lovely upper respiratory infection to accompany his sinus infection. I was sent home today with a z-pack, a stronger cough suppressant, and an inhaler for the wheezing.
The trifecta will occur when DH comes down with what we both have - which has already started. I'm pumping him full of vitamin C and Airborne to see if we can fend it off! Crossing my fingers. At least the antibiotics are free right now at our pharmacies:)
On another random note...I really feel old today. I'm waiting in the grocery store for my script to be filled and I see these two young gentlemen wandering around the personal care aisles looking lost (or that they were looking for something specific). I saw them later as I waited in the magazine rack and I asked if I could help them find anything (I know the layout of the store pretty well). One boy says to the other "haha...you tell her what we're looking for.." to which he responds..."um...no you". At this point I knew exactly what they were looking for but I wanted to make him say it. The brave one said - "we're looking for condoms". Good boy...way to spit it out there...haha. So I told him that it was three aisles back on the far end - told him to look for the womens sanitary products and left them to their own. About 10 min later they were back in the magazine aisle just milling around. I got the sense that they were trying to work up the courage to buy them (or to ask me to buy them for them). I was getting ready with my speech about how if you're not brave enough to buy or even talk about condoms then you shouldn't be putting yourself in a situation to use them when the pharmacist called my name. They were spared but I can't help but feel old now....
What's worse is that due to my carelessness in dealing with the gunk in his eyes and when he sneezed and my endless need to snuggle with him close, I've contracted a lovely upper respiratory infection to accompany his sinus infection. I was sent home today with a z-pack, a stronger cough suppressant, and an inhaler for the wheezing.
The trifecta will occur when DH comes down with what we both have - which has already started. I'm pumping him full of vitamin C and Airborne to see if we can fend it off! Crossing my fingers. At least the antibiotics are free right now at our pharmacies:)
On another random note...I really feel old today. I'm waiting in the grocery store for my script to be filled and I see these two young gentlemen wandering around the personal care aisles looking lost (or that they were looking for something specific). I saw them later as I waited in the magazine rack and I asked if I could help them find anything (I know the layout of the store pretty well). One boy says to the other "haha...you tell her what we're looking for.." to which he responds..."um...no you". At this point I knew exactly what they were looking for but I wanted to make him say it. The brave one said - "we're looking for condoms". Good boy...way to spit it out there...haha. So I told him that it was three aisles back on the far end - told him to look for the womens sanitary products and left them to their own. About 10 min later they were back in the magazine aisle just milling around. I got the sense that they were trying to work up the courage to buy them (or to ask me to buy them for them). I was getting ready with my speech about how if you're not brave enough to buy or even talk about condoms then you shouldn't be putting yourself in a situation to use them when the pharmacist called my name. They were spared but I can't help but feel old now....
MIA
I've been a bit of an absentee blogger the last few days! I have some great updates from the weekend but right now we have a house full of the creeping crud! Noah brought home an infection that we all promptly caught. So the last few days have been full of dr's appts, antibiotics, saline spray, bulb suctioners, Kleenex and bad sleeping patterns! Hopefully we'll be back to normal in a few days and I can resume normal my normal posting habits:)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Cloth Diapers - 2 weeks in...
So, first off - cloth diapers are addicting! Once you make the switch and get into the groove, you want to add to your stash and try different things out (well, I do at least).
We're two weeks in and doing great! DH's even stuffed a diaper or two and voluntarily put it on Noah! What's even more surprising is that he changed a poopy diaper and actually rinsed it out instead of leaving it for me!! I'm floored!! And as if it couldn't get any better, I went to change him this AM and realized that he had cloth diaper on him when I didn't put one on him at the start of the night. DH did it all by himself! (Noah ended up in a disposable because all the cloth ones were in the wash). So, needless to say, things are going well! Daycare has even commented on how easy these diapers are!
Our stash is almost exclusively BumGenius 3.0 one sized diapers although I ordered two MonkeySnuggles one sized, three MonkeySnuggles fitteds, and a FuzziBunz one sized and am waiting for them to arrive. Plus we have a few gDiapers floating around here with reusable and disposable inserts. I still need to get a cover for the fitted diapers and I hope to one day know how to knit well enough to knit a wool soaker or two for little man (basically wool covers which breath better than the waterproof ones do - great for summer time here at home to let his little bum get some air)
So, in case you're still not convinced that cloth diapering is easy and worth a shot think about this. Aside from the obvious green benefits there's a cost benefit too to cloth. Figure it this way (i'm calculating based on Noah's average right now)
We use 7 diapers a day (give or take 1 or 2) x 365 days a year = 2555 diapers a year! (yea, i realized the heft of that when I was walking a 10lb bag of diaper trash to the can every week!)
If I get my disposable diapers on sale they're about $.20 a piece. So, 2555 x $.20 = $511 in diapers for the 1 year. Multiply that by the 3 years he'll probably be in diapers and we're $1533 in diaper costs - for one kid!
For the stash I have now here's the run down:
12 BumGenius 3.0 one sized diapers @ $18 each = $216
2 MonkeySnuggles one sized @ $18 each = $36
3 MonkeySnuggles fitteds (seconds) @ $18 each = $54
1 FuzzyBunz @ $18.00 = $18
5 Hemp inserts for my gDiapers (which were all gifts) = $25
Grand Total = $349 for his life time in diapers (plus maybe hundred or so for replacement soakers etc down the road)! You can even do it cheaper than that with exclusively prefolds and covered or getting more used. I went for the more expensive yet more convenient and more like a traditional diaper with the pocket diapers.
Not to mention the space in a landfill you save and the fact that I can use these for our second child and then sell the ones that are in good shape when we're done using them (yes, there's a market for used cloth diapers and it's not as gross as you think!).
I just wish I'd done this sooner! I can't believe how many disposables we've gone thru (at least 500 in his first 12 weeks) and how much that has cost us (over $150!).
We're two weeks in and doing great! DH's even stuffed a diaper or two and voluntarily put it on Noah! What's even more surprising is that he changed a poopy diaper and actually rinsed it out instead of leaving it for me!! I'm floored!! And as if it couldn't get any better, I went to change him this AM and realized that he had cloth diaper on him when I didn't put one on him at the start of the night. DH did it all by himself! (Noah ended up in a disposable because all the cloth ones were in the wash). So, needless to say, things are going well! Daycare has even commented on how easy these diapers are!
Our stash is almost exclusively BumGenius 3.0 one sized diapers although I ordered two MonkeySnuggles one sized, three MonkeySnuggles fitteds, and a FuzziBunz one sized and am waiting for them to arrive. Plus we have a few gDiapers floating around here with reusable and disposable inserts. I still need to get a cover for the fitted diapers and I hope to one day know how to knit well enough to knit a wool soaker or two for little man (basically wool covers which breath better than the waterproof ones do - great for summer time here at home to let his little bum get some air)
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| Half of the stash - the other half is in the wash or at daycare! |
We use 7 diapers a day (give or take 1 or 2) x 365 days a year = 2555 diapers a year! (yea, i realized the heft of that when I was walking a 10lb bag of diaper trash to the can every week!)
If I get my disposable diapers on sale they're about $.20 a piece. So, 2555 x $.20 = $511 in diapers for the 1 year. Multiply that by the 3 years he'll probably be in diapers and we're $1533 in diaper costs - for one kid!
For the stash I have now here's the run down:
12 BumGenius 3.0 one sized diapers @ $18 each = $216
2 MonkeySnuggles one sized @ $18 each = $36
3 MonkeySnuggles fitteds (seconds) @ $18 each = $54
1 FuzzyBunz @ $18.00 = $18
5 Hemp inserts for my gDiapers (which were all gifts) = $25
Grand Total = $349 for his life time in diapers (plus maybe hundred or so for replacement soakers etc down the road)! You can even do it cheaper than that with exclusively prefolds and covered or getting more used. I went for the more expensive yet more convenient and more like a traditional diaper with the pocket diapers.
Not to mention the space in a landfill you save and the fact that I can use these for our second child and then sell the ones that are in good shape when we're done using them (yes, there's a market for used cloth diapers and it's not as gross as you think!).
I just wish I'd done this sooner! I can't believe how many disposables we've gone thru (at least 500 in his first 12 weeks) and how much that has cost us (over $150!).
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Dryer balls...
So, in our journey to cloth diapering I've learned that you shouldn't use fabric softeners and/or dryer sheets because it can stop your diapers (and your dish towels for that matter) from absorbing. So I was on the hunt for another way to keep my diapers nice and soft while not affecting their absorption.
Enter the dryer ball. There were two options for dryer balls - the plastic PVC ones with nubbies all over them or all natural wool dryer balls. Since the plastic ones can give off chemicals when heated I opted for the all natural version. I searched around the web and found lots of options on etsy.com. However, they were expensive - about $20 for three balls and you'd need 4-6 for a normal sized load of laundry I read. Being the crafty (or wanna be crafty) gal that I am, I asked Mr. Google how to make my own wool dryer balls and voila - the Goodmama had a spectacular tutorial to guide me along!
I followed her instructions pretty closely and am very happy with the results. You can see in the pictures below the balls ready for their first felting. I actually ran them thru two hot washes and then dried them. That got them felted up nice and tight.
The image below is the after the final felting before I started using them. They're about the size of a softball, maybe a tad smaller.
I've been using them for a week now and have noticed a difference in my drying times. Plus, my clothes are as just as soft and static free as if I was using dryer sheets. With smaller loads you do notice the bumping of the balls as they tumble in the dryer but I just close the door to the laundry room and forget about it.
I used 100% wool yarn I found at Michaels (Lion brand) and one skein was $8. I made 2 balls from one skein and still have a bunch left over (so much that I think I might get another ball or two out of it). So, for $8 and a few hours of work I have 4 dryer balls (I of course wanted different colors so in reality I spent $24 on yarn - but I have enough to make many more balls or even a woolie soaker once I figure out how to knit!)
So there you have it! It's a definite worth while DIY project! Especially if you're a knitter already and have scraps avail! Then you really get to use everything up and get your money's worth!
(i must mention of course the best way to dry your cloth diapers is on the line outside but as a working mom that's just not practical for us except for the weekends)
Enter the dryer ball. There were two options for dryer balls - the plastic PVC ones with nubbies all over them or all natural wool dryer balls. Since the plastic ones can give off chemicals when heated I opted for the all natural version. I searched around the web and found lots of options on etsy.com. However, they were expensive - about $20 for three balls and you'd need 4-6 for a normal sized load of laundry I read. Being the crafty (or wanna be crafty) gal that I am, I asked Mr. Google how to make my own wool dryer balls and voila - the Goodmama had a spectacular tutorial to guide me along!
I followed her instructions pretty closely and am very happy with the results. You can see in the pictures below the balls ready for their first felting. I actually ran them thru two hot washes and then dried them. That got them felted up nice and tight.
The image below is the after the final felting before I started using them. They're about the size of a softball, maybe a tad smaller.
I've been using them for a week now and have noticed a difference in my drying times. Plus, my clothes are as just as soft and static free as if I was using dryer sheets. With smaller loads you do notice the bumping of the balls as they tumble in the dryer but I just close the door to the laundry room and forget about it.
I used 100% wool yarn I found at Michaels (Lion brand) and one skein was $8. I made 2 balls from one skein and still have a bunch left over (so much that I think I might get another ball or two out of it). So, for $8 and a few hours of work I have 4 dryer balls (I of course wanted different colors so in reality I spent $24 on yarn - but I have enough to make many more balls or even a woolie soaker once I figure out how to knit!)
So there you have it! It's a definite worth while DIY project! Especially if you're a knitter already and have scraps avail! Then you really get to use everything up and get your money's worth!
(i must mention of course the best way to dry your cloth diapers is on the line outside but as a working mom that's just not practical for us except for the weekends)
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