Cheating the Budget

Dear Life,

We have been pinching pennies in the Wobbema household as of late. Literally.

We just really wanted pizza for lunch today. It was not in the budget. So after digging in couch cushions, our cars, the coin jar, our wallets, and the baskets we keep by the doors... this is how we paid for our $11.90 pizza.

Win.

Yours Truly,

Molly

Little Dumpling

I never thought I'd be the mama that tucks her little dumpling into bed and then frantically runs around the house to get as much done as possible before absolutely crashing and forcing herself to stop to go to bed because she knows that she still has a baby that does not sleep through the night and that morning will come before she knows it... (phew!)

But I am.

Speaking of little dumpling... she is 3 months old today!

Now it is bedtime. (After I hang the diapers to dry... finish the dishes... clean the bathroom sink...)

Bits and Pieces

Dear Life,

I can't wait for Emberly to know to smile when we take pictures... but this is pretty cute anyway. My sweet friend Rachelle crocheted that adorable flower headband. Don't you love it?? It is my absolute favorite.

We got a new camera lens today! Maybe my pictures will start to look slightly nicer from here on out. This, however, was still snapped with my phone. It's just so handy!

My dear friend Jaimie cut and colored my hair today. I feel so pampered and blessed. She is a true gem.

Baby girl is tucked in for the night. I'm off to do dishes and fold laundry and crawl into bed. Praying sweet girl will sleep well tonight - we've had several long nights. So thankful they are few and far between!

Yours Truly,

Molly

 

Christmas Picture

Jordan and I were trying to be on the ball and capture a Christmas picture.

This is how Emberly felt about that...

Black Saturday?

Dear Life,

I’ve never been one for Black Friday shopping before, and trust me, this year was not any different. I, however, thought I’d struck gold with a ‘50% off one item’ coupon from Joann fabrics, because I have been determined to make a scarf from a tutorial that I found on Pinterest, so I set out today to purchase my single cut of fabric. (Today is Saturday mind you, I thought Black Friday was over.) I told Jordan I’d be back in an hour tops because I had to run to my mom’s house to pick up something I had left there earlier and to Joann’s. Two quick errands.

Please imagine my surprise when I walked in the door of the fabric store and saw ads and papers and merchandise strewn about the floor and women EVERYWHERE. I should have just turned around and left right then, but I was determined to get my fabric at that point, it was main reason I left the house. So I walked to the cutting counter to take my number and then went straight to the knit fabrics to pick out the one I needed, thinking I was so smart to pick up my number first so I didn’t have to wait in line as long. (I think I must have closed my eyes to not notice the million women in line paying for their items and the giant bags of fabric people were carrying out of the store… no, I did not notice these until I was walking out of the store…) So here I am standing in the aisle looking for a nice blue fabric when I hear one of the ladies at the fabric counter call out number 36. It is at this point that I look down at my number and discover that I am number 97. 97?! Yes… there were 61 people in line ahead of me. Oh. My. Goodness.

I went back to the fabric counter, laid down my number, and walked out of the store. I could not imagine wanting something enough to be in that store a minute more... especially when I have this waiting at home for me:

And now? I am enjoying the heat in my house and the taco soup I made for lunch while Jordan snuggles Emberly downstairs because she’s not interested in napping today. She must be growing because she has been sleeping through the night most nights lately, or at least only getting up once around 6 or 7am and then going back to sleep, and the last several nights she’s gotten up at 3am, 6am, 7:30am… (you get the picture). Oh well! We are still spoiled. We love her so much and we can deal with it.

Yours Truly,

Molly

Teeth & Scooting

E pushed her first top tooth through on Friday (4/6). Wonder what babies do who are teething? Well... they don't sleep very much. But they sure are tired. This right here... is not something we commonly see (or maybe have ever seen before)...

She is working on top tooth #2. It is sooo close. Please hurry little tooth!

And wonder what babies who are learning to scoot around do? They get stuck under every piece of furniture they can find. It's pretty adorable.

To my non-cloth-diapering mama friends... :)

Dear Non-cloth-diapering mamas,

I totally get that cloth diapering is not for everyone. Trust me, I do. When I first discovered the world of cloth diapers I couldn't even imagine why someone would choose to use them. I had about a million and five reasons why cloth diapering was archaic and disgusting, and now I have about a million and five reasons why I love cloth diaper fluff. But that is not the purpose of my blog post today and I will not try to convince you to use them, I promise. :) (Although I'm open to talking cloth diapers anytime if you're interested...) hehe

I am, however, going to jump up on my soapbox for just a moment to tell you about this wonderful thing called a wet bag, or a wet/dry bag because I believe all diapering mamas need to know about them, whether you use fluff (cloth diapers) or 'sposies' (as the cloth diapering world calls disposables). Had I not been introduced to cloth, I would not have known about this wonderful invention, and I think you need to know about wet bags just as much as I do.

A wet bag is a cute bag often made of PUL fabric or something similar that keeps wet inside the bag without leaking through. (That is why some are called wet/dry bags.) SO... If you go to the pool and come home with wet swimming suits, you throw the suits in this bag and transport the wet home without getting everything else wet. Neat, right?

I throw a wet bag in my diaper bag at all times in case Emberly soaks through her diaper and it gets her clothes wet and I need to transport her wet clothes home. I also have a wet bag with specifically for soiled diapers so that I can just dump the contents in with my diaper load, and then throw the wet bag in the wash and I don't have to touch them again when I get home. We have 3 different sizes, a small, medium, and large, so that I can grab the one that fits the outing best. I carry the small one with me if I'm just going to be gone a couple of hours, the medium if I'll be gone for the afternoon or evening, and the large if I'll be gone for a weekend.

Now, you may be wondering how this has anything to do with YOU, the non-cloth diapering mama (other than swimming pool trips). Well... I'll be honest. I don't really love to have poopy, smelly diapers in my trash. That is one of the reasons we use cloth. They never have time to get stinky and I'm not filling up my garbage can each week. Anywho - I am just guessing that churches and department stores and grandparents and friends also don't like your child's diapers in their trash, unless they too have diapers in their trash. So, wet bags are the perfect solution to not having to seek out a trash can that is appropriate to dump your child's dirty diaper in. Instead you just throw your child's dirty diaper in your wet bag and bring it home to your own trash! :) Problem solved!

Now... here is the best part. These little wet bags are CUTE. I mean, there are tons of colors and patterns and all sorts of fun. Ask for one for Christmas, or slip it in your next month's budget and splurge. (Or invite me to your baby shower... I will probably buy you one!) You will love it. I promise.

I have two Bummis wet bags and one Planet Wise wet bag and I like them both. The Planet Wise one is a little more heavy duty in my mind - but that is the only big difference. You can click on any of the links below to read more about them or order them. I believe the prices at Kelly's Closet and Cotton Babies are very similar, but sometimes one or the other has better shipping deals or whatever. AND... if you order when they happen to have a "Free Cloth Diaper with x amount of dollars purchase" - feel free to give it to me if you aren't going to use it! :) teeheehee

Ok. Totally done with my soapbox. Just wanted to share my learnings with you. Someone needs to write a book about all sorts of things to know when you become a new mom. Seriously. Now... if there are things I need to know, please share with me!

Yours Truly,
A Cloth Diapering Mama

Bummis:

https://www.kellyscloset.com/Bummis-Fabulous-Wet-Bags_p_3746.html

http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=2193

Planet Wise:

https://www.kellyscloset.com/Planet-Wise-Wet-Bags_p_3436.html

http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=1769

Busy Weekend

Dear Life,

What a whirlwind of a weekend! In short... (read this really fast without taking a breath and you will capture the feeling I am trying to portray with my really long run-on sentence) we left Friday at about 11:00 for Bismarck, stopped in Jamestown to visit my grandma, got to Bismarck about 3:00, celebrated Jordan's dad's career in the military and went to his retirement ceremony on Saturday, left Bismarck on Saturday about 5:00, got home and unpacked and cleaned and threw food in the crock pot for Emberly's dedication at church on Sunday, went to bed around midnight, got up the next morning to start the crock pots at 6:00, left for church at 10:30, got home about 1:00 and had friends and family (20 people, mind you) at our house until about 3:00 when Jordan had to leave for work! Whew! (Could you read it without taking a breath?)

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. I forgot my camera when we went to Bismarck, but here is a picture of the dedication. Do I look especially awkward holding Emberly like that? I thought so... but she just really likes to be held looking out these days, and I wasn't going to mess with her while we were standing up in front of everyone.

Today was sleep-in day to recover, but Emberly missed the memo so she got up slightly earlier than her usual (which was still 8:00, so I can't really complain). She is now taking an afternoon nap, which I should totally be cashing in on, but instead am making lunch and writing this blog because well... I'm hungry and I felt like I needed to document our weekend.

Ok time to go finish cooking my grilled cheese, tomato soup, and chicken stuffing. Yes, that is what I am eating for lunch. Please don't judge. Doesn't stuffing sound delicious? (I do realize that I will get stuffing for our Thanksgiving meal later in the week... but that box in my pantry has been staring at me for over a week and I just had to give in and make it today. If I'm feeling any sort of self control at all, I will not eat the whole box... I hope.)

Happy Monday!

Yours Truly,
Molly

Milestone

Dear Life,

You will never believe this. Well... this first part you'll believe... but give me a minute and we'll get to the good stuff. My parents (Grandma Go-Go and Grandpa Juice) oh-so-kindly took Emberly for a few hours tonight so Jordan and I could go out for dinner and shop for shoes. (Did you know that your feet grow when you are pregnant? At least mine did. None... I repeat none of my shoes fit anymore. At first I just thought my toenails were too long, but then I tried to trim them and my shoes were still too small. Guess this is a regualar pregnancy 'weirdy.') Anyway... we had a glorious time (even though we didn't find any shoes. I just had to love them, you know? We are on a budget these days, and if I didn't just love them, they had to stay at the store. Maybe we'll try again later in the week.) My goodness I have a lot of tangents tonight! Back on track: So... the best part (this is the part you won't believe) is that my oh-so-sweet daughter took 3 ounces of breastmilk out of a bottle while at Grandpa and Grandma's tonight! It was her very first bottle. I was a little worried that she would be terribly offended at the thought of a bottle, but as Grandma tells it, she took it like a champ. A champ! She said she put the bottle in her mouth and Emberly just started drinking like, "I do this all the time Grandma, don't even worry about it." She drank the whole thing down without even stopping. My husband is a little worried this means he'll have to get up in the middle of the night. I can just see it in his eyes. (Don't worry, Daddy-o, pumping is just not that much fun.)

I am just continually amazed at how flexible this girl is. (Way more flexible than her mama!) Good girl Emberly!


Yours Truly,
Molly

Happy Veteran's Day, Dad!

Dear Life,

Emberly was happy and smiling when I set her down on the changing table to put on her nighttime diaper and PJs tonight. I reached down to get the diaper and when I stood up a mere 7 seconds later, this is what I found. Passed out, deep sleeping baby. She continued to sleep all through taking this layer off, changing her diaper, and putting two layers on. Apparently we wore her out today!

These are my favorite moments of the day, when we can just rock and cuddle in the middle of the afternoon.

I will really miss these times when she doesn't sleep quite as much. :)

Isn't she cute?

I'm imagining her saying, "Happy Veteran's Day, Dad!"

We celebrated with a free meal at Texas Roadhouse today. I'm awfully proud of Mr. Wonderful, who has been in the Air Force for almost 6 years, and full-time active duty for most of that. Too bad schools and government employees and such get Veteran's Day off, but my military man has to work. Oh well - he didn't complain even once. So thankful he loves what he does.

Yours Truly,

Molly

Christmas in November

Dear Life,

So I recognize it is only November 10th, but I just had to put up the Christmas tree today. I have been thinking about it since... well... November 1st, and I just couldn't wait any longer! I've been asking for awhile, and I thought Mr. Wonderful would kindly object, but instead, when we got up this morning he fearlessly offered to put up the Christmas lights on our house, and before I even knew it he brought up the Christmas tree from the basement. :) Hip Hip Hooray! So, needless to say, we put on Christmas music, our Christmas PJs, and set up the tree!

I haven't quite figured out what we'll say to guests who come between now and Thanksgiving, but I'm hoping they won't mind. My thought is that at Thanksgiving it seems appropriate to be thankful for Jesus, because without Him we'd be lost in our sin and hopelessness, so why not have our Christmas tree up to remind us what is truly most important in life and what we are truly thankful for? That seems much better than looking at Black Friday ads and being discontent with what we have and in search of what we could purchase the day after, doesn't it?

Now, I just need to keep myself from spending millions of dollars on crafting supplies, because we've decided to do an all homemade Christmas this year. Spending millions of dollars would be exactly the opposite of what we're going for. I just have this serious problem, aided by pinterest, that makes me want to give lovin' away to everyone that walks in our door (and even those who don't...). Maybe that isn't a problem - but, you know what I mean. Our goal is to spread the Joy of Christmas through simple gifts that remind people of Jesus, not Santa or gifts or reindeer or snow.

Speaking of snow, it snowed for about 3 minutes yesterday - did you see it? I may be ready for Christmas, but I am not ready for snow.

In other news, Emberly giggled in her sleep today. While I was holding her. And it warmed my heart. :) Have I mentioned how in love with her we are around here? Still pretty drunk with baby love. She is sleeping so well at night, 6, 7, 8+ hours for the first stretch of the night, and several more after a little momma's milk. She started wearing 3-6 month clothes last week and is fitting into them all too well... I can't imagine she'll get to wear them much longer because her poor little toes will be too squished! She very consistently hits the toys on her play-mat and stares and studies the ones on her bouncy seat that are just out of reach. She makes eye contact at longer distances and talks even when someone isn't talking directly to her. When she wakes up in the morning I rarely hear crying, but instead a sweet little "calling" to let me know she's awake and then she just beams when I come in to greet her for the day. Love. It.

That's all for now!

Yours Truly,
Molly

A-Hunting-We-Will-Go

Dear Life,

We went to the doctor for Emberly's 2-month well baby checkup on Tuesday. She is growing like a weed! Our sweet baby girl is now 12 lbs. and 7 oz. and 23 inches long. Wowza! That puts her in the 50th percentile for weight-for-length, and 90th percentile for weight-for-age, and 75th percentile for length-for-age. (I just hope she's at least a 5th grader by the time she is taller than me...)

Emberly also got shots at her appointment. It was pretty traumatic (for me) and poor girl was all out of sorts the rest of the day. She had fully recovered by morning though, only waking one extra time during the night and still getting close to 11 hours of sleep.

Now... here is the *fab-u-lous* news of the day... are you ready??

Emberly slept 11 hours last night... without waking up even once! Shut the front door. That is ridiculous. Hilarious. Lovely. Beautiful. Glorious! :) This could be a new trend and I'd be totally ok with it.

The even better part is that she slept in her crib! We've maybe been *kinda bad* in that we've been letting her sleep in her vibrating bouncy chair at night because let me tell you, this girl is addicted to movement. That bouncy bouncy is just the icing on the cake for my baby girl. But as she starts to wiggle a little more, we decided that we'd better move her to the crib plenty early so we don't have any spills. (Do we sound like terrible parents for letting her sleep in the bouncy?? Please don't judge, unless you'd like a non-sleeping baby in your house overnight.) :)

Anyway. I went to bed just 30 minutes after I put her down at 9:30, thinking it could very well be a long night. When I woke up at 5:00am, I was all out shocked she had not gotten me out of bed. After laying in bed for about 15 minutes, I got up the courage to go and check and make sure she was well... alive. Ahhh, sigh, peacefully sleeping and breathing baby was enough peace of mind for me. I fell back asleep thinking she would be waking me very soon... but no, I woke up again at 8:00 and she was still sleeping! She started cooing and taking at about 8:30. Goofy girl.

Anyway... that's about all in baby-land.

Daddy-o left for deer hunting in Carington this afternoon. He's gone until TUESDAY. Did you do the math? Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. That would be 6 days. If I'm feeling generious I could maybe say 4 days since he left this afternoon and will be home before he goes to work at 3:00 on Tuesday... but I'm not feeling all that generious. :) We will miss him! However, it was pretty fun to see how excited he was to go hunting with friends and family. I truly hope he has a blast (and misses us a lot!). Emberly and Grandma and I are going "hunting" this weekend too. We are headed to the lake to spend a few days on a retreat of our own. Yippee!

That's all for now. Happy Thursday (almost Friday!)!

Yours Truly,
Molly

(I know this picture has nothing to do with anything I wrote about - but I thought it was hilarious. Jordan got new decoys and the first thing he does is plop Emberly on one as if she's riding it. Goofy Daddy-o.)