Life before baby

I seem to be posting a lot of political rants lately. Maybe it's because in a matter of weeks, if not days, I'll be back in the all-night nursing, a dozen diaper changes a day and fuzzy-brained exhaustion stage. Pontification will likely take a long break and in it's place will be cute stories about how well our toddler is adjusting to his baby sister and how much he just loves her and never hits her or screams at mommy for attention. Please tell me you're catching the sarcasm here ...

My due date (January 22) is fast approaching and I thought that I'd just update you guys on what I'm up to when I'm not pontificating or hanging out with Danny. (The photo: Danny likes to pull up my shirt and listen to the baby. I didn't think he could really hear her, but a few times, he has made heartbeat sounds when he's listening.)

I've been sewing diapers for Fiona. We've decided to give cloth diapers a shot from the get go with Fiona. It would have cost us about $100 a month for at least the first three or four months to keep two in diapers. I really hate spending $100 a month on one item, especially if it's disposable. (Ask me sometime how I feel about the cable company to which we pay a hefty sum each month.) And I really like that we take our trash out to the curb twice a month instead of every week. Anyhow, Dan is still in disposable diapers. We switched to Luvs, a cheaper brand that fits him well and costs us only about $30 a month instead of the $40 for Pampers. So far, I've spent very little probably less than $300 (and not all at once so it doesn't feel like it's left a dent in our bank account). I've bought some brand new prefold diapers and some used diaper covers and even gotten some for free diaper covers, but to make things easier on Jim when I go back to work and for outings, I've also sewn some fitted diapers out of old t-shirts, old socks (for the soaker pad), old prefold diapers, an old wool sweater in one case, and fleece fabric from my extensive stash. Here's a link to some photos.