·:[ The Healthy Mom ]:·
• • • • •

Tiffany and I stripped today!

Cloth Diaper Inserts, that is!

It took a while, but we got it done and it seems to have really worked! 

The inserts are completely odorless!

But I’m pleased with the results from the boiling. 

Here’s what we did:

Brought the water to a rolling boil

Put the inserts in, and left them to boil for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Some were put in wet, some were dry.  That didn’t seem to make a difference

The pot was full enough to stir the inserts, even when they were all puffy from the water.  but not overfull.  In the big pot. about 16-18.  In the small pot, about 10.

We did not change the water between loads.  We did two loads in each pot, and in the last pot, we topped it off with a gallon of fresh water and brought it to a boil.

No snaps melted during the process.

The smell of urine and ammonia was definitely there during boiling, but it was not very sudsy.  Also, the water was slightly discolored after boiling for a few minutes, but nothing too horrible.

I dried the pocket diapers separately, and it seems that they still smell.  So I’m going to track down the RLR and wash the diapers in it, since you can’t exactly boil PUL. 

 So Vikki fell in love and is moving to Denver with her new husband.    Good for her - not so good for me  

So, I am starting the search for someone to help watch my kids.

For those who don’t know me, here’s the scoop.  I have 2 boys (Zander, who turned 4 in Oct and Zevan, who turns 3 in April).  Zander attends preschool at Buena Vista Elementary 8:00-10:50 AM M-F.  Zevan will start preschool in the fall.

At the very minimum, looking for someone to cover Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:30-4:00, starting in April.  And possibly two full time days, 9:00-4:00, during Spring Break (last week of March).   The boys need to be fed lunch, and entertained without television.  It’s okay to bring an older child.  There are opportunities to earn extra money - Vikki has watched other West Side Kids at my house while she is here.

Starting in June, I would like 2 full days per week, 9:00-4:00 for the summer.  We hope to take 2 vacations, one in late June, the other in mid July.

I have another familiy that is open to nanny share with me if someone is looking for more full time hours.

I’d like someone to watch the kids, do some housecleaning and cook meals.

When school starts in the fall, they will both be in preschool, so I would go back to the 11:30 - 4:00 schedule.

I am going to check in with UCCS and the local high school.  Any leads would be greatly appreciated!

It’s a good thing I was under my calories most of the week because I nearly blew it last night.  A midnight snack of cheese, grapes and goldfish crackers.     I went over my calories by 452 yesterday, but I was under 850 for the week. 

I got on the scale today - I’m down .8 this week, down 3.2 overall.     That’s something after no change at all last week. 

Now I’m going to do a 5 minute pilates workout followed by some DDR. 

This year is the first year that the race will be run downtown.  Previously, it was run in Old Colorado City.  So, we’ll have a new course this year.  Should be just as flat and easy as previous years.

Today starts Week 1 of training!  Your goal:

Walk/run 2 times this week for 30 minutes.  Some guidelines depending on where you are starting from:

If you’ve got a running/jogging base already, here’s an example of my typical workout
1) 1 minute warm up
2) Run 4 minutes
3) Walk 1 minute
4) Repeat steps 2 & 3 for the duration of the workout
5) 1 minute cool down

That one minute walk break really helps me break up the workout and gives me a little rest.

Baby steps! 

Guess what I did today.  Jumped on a trampoline.  INSIDE May’s house.  That was super fun, except, I kept worrying a bit about my -ahem-  nearly 3 years post-partum incontinence issues, so I kept going to the bathroom just in case.  I didn’t pee in my pants (thank you kegels), I was just afraid I might, from all the jumping.   Is that TMI?

Anyhoo, that’s quite the workout!

I’m also going to get back on track (pun intended) with my running this week.  MUST run outside.  MUST run at least 4 miles at least twice.   

I dread getting on the scale tomorrow.  I have been under my calories most of the week, so it will be a big blow if I don’t lose any weight again.   

I’m going to do the long series of the Colorado Springs Grand Prix this year.  Here’s the schedule:

 The Grand Prix of Running consists of a Series of 4 races of various distances and held in different areas of our community. The first race is in March and the last scheduled race is in July.

I haven’t been training much this month due to weather and motivation problems, but am trying to get back into it for training.  Remember that last February I started running just 1 mile. - and somehow worked my way up to 13.1 miles by December.

So!  Pick a race for your goal and we can work on it together.  You don’t even have to run the entire distance.  We’ll start with a walk/run regimen to get you going.  If you need someone to walk/run with, I can fit running in most mornings between 8:30 - 10:00 AM.

Check out   Couch to 5k and Jeff Galloway 5/10k training

It’s 13 weeks until the St Patrick’s Day 5K if you start this week.  Just walk/run 15/20 minutes of walk/run 2-3 times this week.  You can do it!

Pregnant mamas can still walk at a comfortable pace, too.  15 minutes is good for you.

Helping others can help me get back on track.  I need help in the motivation dept.  I logged 82.81 miles in December, and so far this month, I’ve only run 17.41  miles.  I used to do that in a week!

Since Allison and Joy are doing it, I might try a few T-Tapp exercises for a week and see how it goes.  She has exercises for short torso body sculpting and a flat stomach that I might try for a few weeks and see if I want to further.

It’s nice to try before you buy. 

I would so totally use this with a newborn!

Itzbeen Timer When’s the last time your kid pooped, fed, or took medicine?  You may be too sleep-deprived to remember, but the Itzbeen does. Its a must have Dad Gadget and is perfect for Mom’s night off. There’s a button for last diaper, feeding, asleep/awake one custom timer. There’s even a switch for left/right breast for nursing! Now that’s handy! If you go to this link, you can see a 30 second commercial for it.

I’m doing weird things with food this week.  Skipping breakfast, eating one big meal and one smaller meal.  It’s mostly because I’m working a lot.  Today was my sister’s birthday and we went to Denver for the day.  I ate WAY too much food at her house.  She made this fantastic leche flan and I just keep eating it.  Sinfully rich.  I’m still full and we ate at 1 PM.  I had a tiny 200 calorie breakfast, so I’m still under my calories for the day.

I ran on Tues/Thurs this week - on my dad’s dreadmill  -  and did DDR yesterday and today.  The DDR game I have has this quest mode, which is what I’m using for my workout.  Man, I need a LOT more practice.  I was only able to get 2 streets done tonight.  I need to get something to put under the mat because it slides around on the carpet, and then my feet aren’t where I think they are.  And if it slides under the sofa, the buttons get held down.    But it’s fun and it goes by fast!  I was SWEATING after 20 minutes!  I can’t find the right shoes to wear.  My sneakers stick to the mat. 

I’ve been tired and yesterday it caught up with me.  I laid down with Zevan at 8 PM, and I fell asleep.  It’s not good for me to fall asleep so early because then I always wake up in the middle of the night WIDE AWAKE.  Zevan woke up at 2AM and he would not go back to sleep.  He was restless for a while, and when I tried to get him to go back to sleep, he started crying very loudly    He kept talking at the top of his lungs and crying.  It was awful.  We didn’t fall back asleep until 5 AM.  I slept in until 8:30 AM, and we left for Denver at 9:45 AM.

The reason I CD is the landfill factor.  They are not biodegradeable, there is nowhere for them to go. 

The fact that it is cheaper in the long run was just a bonus.  The grandparents like the pull ups, but on the mornings I forget and put them in cloth, they have dealt with it just fine.  They come home with a baggie and wearing pull ups.  Now that it’s just Zevan in diapers AND he’s older, I only do one extra load per week, but I do a double wash.

I still use disposable wipes, though.  We are slowly switching over to flushable wipes now that they are older.  I’m all about marrying convenience with environmental issues.     That’s why I chose pockets over all other types of diapers.

As for cost for me, each pack of 40 pull ups costs the same as a pocket diaper.  And with one size diapers like Wonderoos, they last a LONG time.

I would use a diaper service if only they would wash my diapers instead of the ones they provide. I know, shallow, right?

I never did CD with a newborn.  That’s A LOT of diapers to be changing and washing.  I will never know for sure if I would do cloth with a newborn since we aren’t having anymore.    I think so, just because I like the idea of cloth next to my baby rather than plastics and gels.

I’m not a converter, I’m an enabler.  If someone is already interested, I will help them follow through.  That’s what worked for me 

Well, I’m sorry to report that I did not lose this week   I stayed the same.  I had date night on Friday, the Women’s Wants party on Saturday and then dinner out again on Sunday night WITH dessert AND beer.  No exercise to really speak of, other than some snow shoveling.

I’m kind of in a funk, and I can’t seem to get motivated at all. 

My waist is at 33″ and my BMI is 25.  It’s not just vanity that makes me want to lose weight.  Sure, it’s mostly vanity,  but I do want to be healthy, too.

My DDR is supposed to arrive UPS on Thursday    Got any tips for a DDR newbie?  I’ve played it maybe 5 times.  But I always have fun with it.  Kind of like me and karaoke

We’ve put full blown potty training on the back burner for Zevan (April 2004).    He’s not ready.  He was going 3x a day for about a month, then started this defiance kick.   

He wears his Large FBs and wonderoos, and he’s able to pull them down fairly easily.  We also have few cloth trainers he likes to use as well.

I’m telling you, if some sewing mom could make cloth trainers EXACTLY like Pull ups,they would sell like hotcakes. 

I’ve mentioned it to WAHMs but no one ever seems to get it. :shrug:  I think the issue is the stretchy materials on the sides.   But, the shape is so simple - a long, absorbent rectangle in the middle of two stretchy sides that velcro, just like Pull ups.  Look at a pull-up and you’ll see what I mean.

The inner lining should be flannel or another fabric that would let them feel wetness.  The outer should be PUL.  Inside could be microfiber, hemp, whatever…

Zevan has been literally throwing himself on the floor, pouts/cries and declares, “I don’t want to…”  or “No, no, no…” or whatever he does/doesn’t want to do.  Sigh. 

This too shall pass.

Doug was on Fox news Sunday night!  We missed it, but his parents saw it

Bijou Bridge Closure Is Already Affecting Area Businesses
http://www.kxtu.com/Global/story.asp?s=5940092

Bijou Bridge Closure Is Already Affecting Area Businesses

Reported by Laura Forbes

lforbes@fox21news.com

(Aired 1-14-07)

The Bijou bridge detour is already taking a bite out of local business. One company said they have seen as much as a 25% drop.

Competing with the malls is hard enough for downtown businesses, but the Bijou bridge shutdown makes it even harder. At Everest Nepal Restaurant and Everest Tibet Imports, sales have dropped by about 25% in just two weeks. Owner Renu Shrestha said, “Before it was very easy how to get in, but now they have to all the way around. and a lot of people knew, so for them its ok, but for the tourist people, for them especially.”

Doug Scott, the owner of Bargain Comics agrees. He notified his regulars about the changes before the bridge shutdown and so far they are finding their way. He said the biggest concern among downtown shop owners is that the summer tourist season will take a hit. Scott said, “As tourists have a harder time getting downtown, they’re just gonna go right by us on the highway, so I think it will have a big impact on business.”

Scott is supportive of the construction, but said the recent increase in the price of parking and the cold, snowy weather are already hurting business. He feels the city could help out by lowering costs or creating a voucher system. Scott said, “Compounding it all together just feels like its just one blow after another to the downtown retailers and the restaurants.”

The Bijou bridge is scheduled to reopen sometime in October.

Updated by Kelly Brown

kbrown@fox21news.com

It’s time for my Monday weigh in…
Down 0.8 from last week, a total of 2.4 overall    Doing good so far. 

I get hungry.  I have to distract myself with work and housework to keep from eating.     The fast last week really helped me.  I think I might do another next Monday, or maybe a half fast another day (fast before dinner).

I have not been working out.  There is no way I can run in this cold weather, and I haven’t been disciplined enough to break out the Tae Bo video since early last week.  I did spend about 20 minutes a day for 3 days shoveling snow, so that’s something.   

For the moment,  I spend most of my time on my ass in front of the computer, which is okay, since I billed a bunch of hours already this year, and am reaping the benefits of that.My whiteboard of projects is full, and I’m trying to clear things off, one by one.

So, that’s why I’ve been MIA from the boards lately. 

No school today!  Just when I think we might be able to get back on track, a frakking holiday    At least we’re having lunch at Grandma’s today to break up the day.

If you visit this site with any frequency, you might notice that one day, it looks like I haven’t posted in weeks, and the next day, all these posts suddenly appear, filling in the gaps.

Nearly all of my blog posts start out in the West Side Moms forums. Or my posts in other forums/bulletin boards. Or even in emails between friends/family.

When I get behind, I don’t get them entered in this blog consistently, and then I end up posting them all in one day (with timestamps from the original post).

So, mystery solved - for the 3 people who read my blog

—–Original Message—–
From: TrueMajorityACTION
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 7:10 AM
To: ‘West Side Moms’
Subject: RE: Photo from West Side Moms - Colorado Springs, CO

Thank you so much for doing this, sharing your photo and if you come across any media coverage please send it our way. Also, make sure to visit our homepage to check out photos and stories from all the other events around the country. Thanks again…you were the 1st up on our results page!

www.americasaysno.org
www.truemajorityaction.org

All the Best,

Ben Hudson

americasaysno.org
truemajorityaction.org

Zander took this picture! Pretty good for a 4 year old.

From www.americasaysno.org

America Says NO more troops!
A Nationwide Surge of Protest Of The US Military Occupation of Iraq

President Bush is expected to reveal his “new strategy” for Iraq on or around Wednesday January 10th.

Defying the mandate of Americans who voted in November to end the madness and begin to bring our troops home, President Bush will call for an escalation in the number of US combat troops in Iraq.

Let’s deliver an immediate and direct response to the president’s call for escalation: NO!

Volunteers will host actions in cities and towns across the country within 24 hours of the president’s speech with a simple message: “America says NO more troops in Iraq!”