Urban Artifact

I'm over here now:

http://9flights.typepad.com/9flights/

Halloween was fun!

Brobee & Foofa

<Hormonal Rant>
Why is it that on the weekends I am under the misconception that I might get a little break from taking care of the kids?  Like, maybe they will miraculously get fed - from putting them in their highchairs at the right time to making the food, to cleaning up the trays and floor.  Or maybe I won't have to help with bathtime at all, because lord knows I do it myself 3 nights a week when NO ONE IS HERE TO HELP ME.

Granted, I know, we're a team.  But is it to much to ask that I don't have to tell you they get a vegetable, a starch, a protein, a fruit at dinner??   That I don't have to tell you which veg or fruit to give.  That you would know how to cut up a kiwi?  That you would know the proper size to cut up the food so they don't choke?  That I wouldn't have to oversee every little detail FOR ONCE???

I know, I know, I know the lawn needs to be mown and I'm not going to do it.  I know there's a million little things to fix and straighten and pay and blah blah blah.  But bedtime is 7:30.  FOR A REASON.  STICK TO IT!
</Hormonal Rant>

Because I no longer have a job, I am looking at ways to save money.  One of the obvious large categories of spending around here is disposable diapers, and that expense will only get bigger adding yet another poopy (albeit cute) butt to the household next spring.  So I've been researching cloth diapers. 

I'm not sure I can jump into cloth diapering completely and wholeheartedly.  I remember cleaning the poopy diapers of my 3 year old foster brother when I was 9.  The flushing into the toilet, the squeagying, dipping, wringing.  Ick!  I also attempted to cloth diaper Isaac when he was a baby.  That lasted all of 2 changes as we could never figure out how to pin them.  Now they have Bummies, velcro diaper wraps that you just lay a prefolded diaper in, which look delightful.  But still you must squeagy, dip, wring...and wash in no less than 3 separate cycles if you have a front loading, water saving washing machine.

So I'm thinking about buying 1 dozen, plus 4 Bummies (an investment of around $75) to give it a try for at least 2 to 3 diaper changes per day.  Since my kids mostly poop in the mornings, I'll start with afternoon diaperings.  Even if I can deal with the extra work, potential blowouts, and being on a more intimate basis with the poop, I still plan to use disposables when we go out of the house, and for night-time. 

Does anyone have any experience with this?  I know all the environmental pros and cons, I'm really just looking at expense right now, and is it really worth it? 

Along with turning 40, finding out I'm pregnant again, and being beset by hormones and all day morning sickness, my cat (a stray I'd been feeding for about a month) got killed by a car on Monday, and today I've learned my freelance, work-from-home, part-time cash cow of a job doesn't need me anymore so I have to take the kids out of 2 day a week daycare.  I'm a bit of a puddle of weepiness.

But as much of an ego blow I took the brush off from work to be, I am attempting to rationalize my way back from the edge.  Yes, the money was helping us meet some financial milestones, but the job itself was torturous and I really wasn't enjoying it. 

I kept thinking to myself, "you know this isn't what you WANT to be doing, so why do you keep going back, suckling the teet of the corporate cow?" 

Fear, that's what it was.  Fear of flying, crashing, burning.  What I REALLY want to do is knit hats and make paintings and sew little girl dresses, and maybe attempt to sell some of it on Etsy - cash returns be damned.  I want to call myself a working artist and know it's true.

Why is this so hard?

(Please Note:  If you are one of the few people who know my in real life, and read this blog, please keep this under your hat!!!)

Holy crap.

3timesyes

Reaction to the first test (top, taken Wednesday, July 30th):
Me:  "What?  Hahahahahahahahahaha....."
and then several hours later, out loud, while strolling with the babies on my road, "HOLY CRAP!!!"
M:  "What??  Are you sure?  Can it be wrong?" (all of this while smiling)

Reaction to the second test (middle, taken Thursday, July 31st):
Me:  "How did this happen?  And, um, yay!"
M:  "Yay!!!"
Me:  "Holy Crap."

Reaction to the third test (bottom, taken today, Monday, August 4th):
Me: "I guess I really am."
M:  "We're going to have to get a minivan."

I took the third test today because I spent the weekend feeling really good, even had a beer at my birthday dinner.  That's right, my birthday was yesterday.  I TURNED 40.  FORTY.  F-O-R-T-Y.  Way too old to accidentally get pregnant, people.  Where's my sense of responsibility?  How am I going to take care of this baby?  I'm 40!!!!

Ok...I'm calm again.

So I took the first test because I have been feeling like crap.  Nausea, extreme exhaustion, light-headedness.  Oh, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd had my period.  Maybe the week before Father's Day?  Granted, I have been doing, on average, one all-nighter per week for the past several weeks with work and cleaning the house for an in-law visit.  I also thought maybe it was just allergies - I do get those really bad, and they cause nausea and exhaustion, too. 

So why did I buy the tests?  Because I thought it would be really ironic that it took us 2 years and some pretty extreme medical intervention to get pregnant with the twins, and then I just, oops, got pregnant again when the twins are only 15 months old!  And I really haven't been taking care of myself, so if there is a baby in there, I'd better get my act together and start taking my folic acid again.

Yesterday I finally finished weaning the babies off the final nursing session of the day.  They were pretty hooked on that morning snuggle, and it's been really rough, but I did it.  I'm looking forward to 7 1/2 months of blissfully being alone with my own boobs before I spend another 12 - 15 months nursing again.  And then I have long years to look forward to of them flapping in the breeze.

So who am I to be a little upset about being pregnant?  The me of two years ago at this time would have kicked the me of today in the teeth to hear I'm swinging between the three pillars of "What the Hell?", "It's not happening", and "Yay, another cute, tiny little baby to love and watch grow!".

But I'll survive, right?  I'll survive the ups and downs of the first trimester, the weight gain of the second and third, the BIG GIANT NEEDLE SHOVED INTO MY SPINE before they cut open my belly for the third time. 

A new baby, YAY!!!

I am a Planet Green junkie.  "Living with Ed" is so hilarious and interesting that I'll watch the reruns over and over.  After watching an episode of "Wasted", where the girl that used to do "Dinner and a Movie" goes to people's houses and measures their Eco Footprint and then tries to get them to shrink it, I decided to figure out our Eco Footprint. 

Our Carbon Footprint, based on the Nature Conservancy's carbon footprint calculator, is 47.  The average American household's footprint is 110, so we're doing good there.  But the world average is 22, and I'd love to get ours down to that. 

We already do quite a bit, but here's the plan to go greener:
1.  Put up the clothing line in the backyard so I can hang dry the clothes!
2.  Turn off our PC when not in use during the day.
3.  Get a new, energystar printer.
4.  Get a digital electric meter and find other ways to decrease our usage.
5.  Compost our organic kitchen waste.
6.  Get a child-proof rain barrel for watering plants.
7.  Install Solatubes for natural light in the kitchen and bathrooms during the day.
8.  Install central air and recycle our window units on craig's list.
9.  Plant a vegetable and herb garden.
10.  Find a green solution to getting rid of the poison ivy that's overrunning our woods and stone walls.

I'd also love to one day put in a few solar panels, but that's a wishlist item that goes under "addition to house" and buying a few 10ths of an acre from the owners of the property behind us so we have a more logical backyard - our property line is completely wacky.

But of course, most of this stuff costs money and right now we need water.  Although we conserve like crazy, our well is going dry and we need a complete new system and a much deeper well within the next 2 months.  And wells are expensive to drill!! (The main reason I'm working!)

Anyone doing anything interesting on the green front out there?

Inevitability.  The dishes are washed, the toys all put away, floors cleaned, all the blogs in my bookmark list visited, but my work is not done.  Why do I do this?

At least this time I have the idea.  It's all sketched out on index cards, along with my design rationale.  But the blank InDesign screen stares back at me.  I'm not used to using InDesign, so I think I've built it up as a big roadblock in my head. 

I'm half expecting to see Snow White sitting back there next...

Momma and Baby

Groundhog and Bambi

TWO BABY DEER!!

and the piece de resistance:

Closeup of Momma Deer Nursing

3 comments

Makes me want to buy this poster by Shinzi Katoh from Penelope's: