Save the World, or Save Our Sanity?

I love shopping. I could spend hours wandering aimlessly through stores, browsing, touching, wanting. I don’t necessarily need to buy anything, I just love seeing what’s out there. Being pregnant hasn’t changed this (except when it comes to buying clothes for me), and it’s so fun to have a completely new set of things to shop for. Brian and I went this weekend and spend a few hours shopping for our stroller and car seat, and now those two big decisions have been made. Whew. Now on to my next obsession: Cloth or disposable diapers? What? Are we crazy? Just maybe…

Brian came home a few weeks ago with the idea that using cloth diapers would be a lot cheaper than using disposables. The repressed hippie in me loves the idea of not piling 3,000 diapers into our landfills. Disposable diapers have come a long way. There are no pins, no soak buckets, and really, they’re kind of cute. But there are so many of them out there, and NONE are available at your neighborhood store. So I’m obsessively shopping online. Then my pal Lisa and I are attending a Diaper Meet-n-Greet at Infusion Tea this week to actually be able to see them in person. Yup. That’s right, we’re going to a seminar about diapers.

My question: Do you know anyone who has used cloth diapers (in this century)? Are they still your friends, or was this a life-altering decision? Which brand of diapers did they use? Fuzzy Bunz. gDiapers. Bummies. Kushies. Seriously, the names are all equally ridiculous, so I can’t just choose by the “that’s the least embarrassing one to say” principle.

The more I research, the more I like the idea of trying cloth diapers. I realize that it will be more work than using disposables, but really, we have no idea what we’re in for with a newborn anyway, so why not just make this part of our enjoyably overwhelming parenting experience?

The Bump

Kelly has been asking for a photo of the bump. This is me at 22-weeks pregnant. Brian had to take a few shots before I realized that I am still constantly holding my stomach in. So these two are the actual, no sucking it in, honest to goodness photos of my belly (in all its glory).

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend, Baby Fleming had his/her first visit from Grandma and Grandpa Knepper (does that sound as odd as it feels to write it?), followed by his/her first Cardinals game and his/her first Blizzard from DQ. It was a great weekend, to say the least!

My mom and I also got the baby registry started. We had so much fun, and there was a startling amount of ooohing and aaahhing. I guess that's something I'll have to get used to. Brian was nice enough to let the two of us go off by ourselves, but there are still plenty of things that he and I will go out to look for soon. I know he'll get into it, too.

And for one last first, I bought Baby Fleming's first outfit. We're so blessed to have received an adorable sleeper from Kelly and Gary and a professionally puff-painted set of onesies from Matt, Mike, and Nicki, but I hadn't bought anything for the baby until this past weekend. I was really excited to see that there is some adorable "neutral" stuff out there. And I've realized that I'm a sucker for the hats. I settled on this outfit because there was a coordinating cap (the cutest thing ever) and because there is only one time in your life that you can pull off a print that big. Either way, the baby now has a pretty styling pair of duck pants (with matching sweater and cap, of course). The baby buying seal has officially been broken. Heaven help us.

20 Weeks = Halfway there

I can’t believe we’re here. Most of you know how long I've been waiting for this, and I sometimes still can’t believe that it’s real. But then I get a roundhouse kick from the little one, and I’m snapped back into reality.

Because this is undoubtedly the most exciting time of my life, I wanted to find a way to share the experience with those who live far away (and near). I’m taking a page from my sister-in-law Kelly, who is so good at keeping us all updated on the growth and daily wonders of their little family, and I’m launching my blog today. And I couldn’t think of a better way to start than with a photo of our little baby.

The 20-week checkup went great, and I just love hearing good news about the progress of Baby Fleming. The baby weighs 12 oz, has a heart with four chambers, and is sporting a fully-formed spine. What more could a mom ask for?

If you hadn’t heard, we are not going to find out the sex of the baby, and I fully expect to hear that many of you are staring at the screen (magnifying lens in hand) to determine the sex for yourself. Here’s to 4 more months of speculation!

I’ll try my best to keep you updated on what’s happening in our lives from changes to the house to changes to my waistline to any news about the little one. Thanks for sharing the journey with us! Happy Reading!