Janell's 26!

It's totally unbelievable, but my little sister Janell turned 26 yesterday! She and the rest of my family went to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate-- here are a couple photos. The one above is the Haigler clan, minus yours truly (apparently my aunt's dog, Doofus, is my place holder). (Do not think long about that comment, and do not make any snide remarks).

And down below is Janell with our brother, Jason. I'm guessing it was taken during one of the few moments he wasn't terrorizing her. He might seem all sweet and sensitive here, but for his true colors, please refer back to the picture above.

Anyway, we hate that we couldn't get up there for it, but we'll be seeing them all at the end of July. Can't wait!

Happy Birthday, Janell!

SKELEDOG

Despite grandmothers' opinions to the contrary, I have decided that by normal people's standards, this blog has become rather baby-weary and overly-Josephine-centric. So with this post, I am attempting to branch out, diversify my writings, and focus on something that I enjoy other than l'enfant. As a further literary challenge, I will even look beyond hedgehogs to something more universally appealing...

How about dogs?

Do you have a dog?

Do you like it?

Go here.

Although we haven't been dubbed this officially, Sean and I consider ourselves to be the Skeledog Regional Advert Authorities of the Western United States. (SRAAWUS for not-so-short). We have been entrusted with a sizable roll of Skeledog stickers to put up on community bulletin boards and perhaps a few slightly-less-legal places as well. I always have a few in my purse ready to stick. So far, we've done a decent job in Austin (and we hit Powell's in Portland last fall, and West Egg in Atlanta this summer), but we're keenly aware of the fact that we could be doing better. This is where YOU come in.

I want suggestions of local places where I can do further stickage or perhaps some volunteers to take a few stickers and do your own damage. Anywhere, anytime, anybody, anycar (if it's yours) west of the Mississippi is fair game.

*This commercial has not been approved by Skeledog itself. It HAS been approved by me, and that is why it's on my blog.

**A couple of our friends back in Atlanta are the masterminds behind this bit of t-shirt genius. The very same folks who made Josephine her Shiner Bock onesie. They refurbished an outdoor garage and literally print each shirt by hand out there. This only sounds like a small-time business until you hear that they go to craft fairs in Brooklyn, have retailers in Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and NYC, and were featured at Christmas on the Today Show.

***By the way, I would like to note that the fact that I know people who effortlessly ooze original artsiness should somehow make me cool. (I probably can't claim to be similarly original and artsy based on connections alone... Cool, though-- definitely.) Please try to remember how cool I am. What's better is YOU CAN BE COOL, TOO. You simply have to get in touch with your inner skeledog. And if we literally wrap ourselves in it, maybe, just maybe, some of their artsiness will eventually rub off on us! Gooooo, Palmers!

fit(ted) to be tied (snappied)

If Josephine could speak, her litany of complaints regarding my mothering might be topped by something like, "...and then sometimes, my mom simply can't fathom HOW HUNGRY I AM, and she decides to change my diaper even though I'm trying to tell her I don't care about the runny poo threatening to overflow my diaper, JUST FEED ME NOW-- but she just doesn't GET it-- she tries to change my diaper ANYWAY, despite the dire circumstances of my near starvation, and it takes her FOREVER, and I'm DYING, and she just doesn't seem to understand..."

Meanwhile, topping my litany of complaints regarding mothering would be a couple inconveniences caused by cloth diapering. Don't get me wrong-- I still, on whole, find it worthwhile. But apparently the part of my brain that shriveled with pregnancy (and has yet to reemerge) involves all engineering capabilities. Due to this shrinkage, I'm still not accustomed to exactly how to fold/roll that flat piece of cloth so that it fits around my baby's rather chunky thighs and then around her waist far enough to be snappied properly. I usually end up with no thickness where it needs to be and too much bulkiness out around the edges, and it still doesn't contain a whole lot of mess on those occasions when she presents a whole lot of mess all at once. And as Josephine would indicate, it takes me forever to get it on, especially considering the less-than-spectacular results.

What I lack in basic diapering skills, I might have made up for with VERY basic sewing skills. Just in case this dilemma is affecting any of my other friends, here is how you can turn an irritating prefold into a very simple fitted.

1) Cut into the sides at the top, and use a zig-zag stitch to prevent too much fraying (or serge), like so:

You could stop there, but if you have time, I suggest one more step. (If you don't have time for the elastic step, I would probably not cut the tabs in so deeply).

2) To help gather the material up around the thighs and prevent leakage, cut two strips of elastic about 2.5 inches long. 3) Sew them in as follows:
Here's a close up. I don't know how to sew elastic perfectly, but this seems to work: I start by tacking it down with a zig-zag stitch at 0 stitch length. Then I enlarge the stitch length to 4 and sew a straight line (still using the zig-zag setting) while pulling the elastic taut. I let go before I stitch my own fingers to the diaper, and then tack down the last little bit with a couple more stitches at 0 length. It ends up looking like this:

Here's how it looks with both pieces sewn on.

VOILA-- YOU'RE DONE!!!! It really only takes a few minutes!

To use, fold in the flaps (I put a hemp doubler in under the flaps, and a fleece liner on top so she stays feeling dry).

And then snappi and put on the cover and you're ready to go. So far, this fitted is as effective as any of my other fitteds. (Side note: I've yet to find a fitted that will fully contain one of her larger messes-- hence the importance of a good cover. I end up with about one soiled cover a day because of the mess leaking out from the fitted or prefold. I just don't want to raise expectations too high with these. They DO work better than whatever I managed to do with the prefold, though.) Plus, for me, it is superior to a normal prefold because it keeps the cloth where she needs absorbency and assembles far more quickly because there is no strange folding or tugging or tucking involved. As a result, Josephine only has to ponder her imminent death-by-starvation for half the time that she did previously. The stress and time saved are pretty worth the 5 minutes it takes to alter the prefold.

To give you an idea of what it looks like on, here's Josephine sporting one. This way you can see how it fits and know how to tweak the design according to your preferences.

By the way, I would LOVE to see pictures of improvements or alternative designs!!! Anything to make this little process easier is warmly welcomed.

Put me in, Coach!

NOT just her first day swimming-- her first Olympian-in-training game face! (Good luck with that, Josephine, considering your genetic make-up contains nothing aquatic-prone whatsoever. You are supposed to be a cowpoke, not a fish. Not that your genes contain much cowpoke-prone, either, but that is the title of the BLOG so you need to head that direction.)

So, Sean cashed in a vacation day, and we headed out to Spicewood, TX to A) try out our little 3 month old's 12-month-sized swimsuit at Krause Springs... it fits perfectly... and B) consume us a little Opie's Barbeque. Turns out I am a gazillion times more in love with Opie's brownies than her barbeque, so it's a good thing Opie lives an hour away and is not accessible on a daily basis.

On whole, we had quite a nice time. The trees were big, the spring-fed water cool, and there was enough shade that I only went slightly ballistic worrying about her skin burning. (In the end, I did slather sunscreen on a baby under 6 mos because I couldn't keep track of the splotching sunlight on all her appendages and which ones might be becoming overly exposed during a full day outing in 105 degree weather. It was Swedish sunscreen-- does that help?? I tried to find something somewhat unchemical!! Anyway, by the end of the day, I was the one sunburnt because I totally forgot to put sunscreen on myself.)

Sean brought out a nice picnic to tide us over before Opie's. Josephine actually napped, which was great. She sure ought to have been worn out with all the swimming-- she really seemed to like the water, and let us hold her in it as long as we could stand it. Even her swing doesn't keep her that calm for that length of time lately. We took all the initial footage on Sean's video camera, which actually records on a little tape. Since I haven't figured out how to turn that digital and put it up here, I only have a couple snippets that I took on my digital camera towards the end. Hence the disclaimer: it's bad footage and she looks pretty disgruntled in it, but that's because it's after about an hour of swimming, and she was tired and being re-emerged into the cold water after drying off in Sean's arms while I got the camera ready. But here's a glimpse...

And in case her future doesn't hold much in terms of Olympic swimming, she also perfected the art of toe-grabbing. Best not to put all your eggs in one basket.

STEP NINE POINT FIVE: Play More Peek-a-Boo

...this time with your baby!

Teething Remedies

How about I drink a fifth of whiskey and then breastfeed? That way we'd both be happily medicated!!!

I'm KIDDING.

Although that IS the most appealling idea I've had so far.

Then there's Orajel, the 20 minute miracle. Here's our baby on benzocaine:

I think it's funny how she holds her mouth. But it's a QUIET holding of the mouth. Oh, the blessed quietness.

Really, though. Any teething suggestions? She seems to despise all things cold and frozen-- I've tried pacifiers, washcloths, teething rings-- and she's too young for food options. But we are DEFINITELY teething. I just need options other than my fingers to chew on!

Okay, SERIOUSLY.

I'm fixing to start a Why-You-Should-Hire-A-Contractor blog.

When this is the crap you're squeezing out of a caulking tube, you know the DIY gods are against you. It sort of confirms that irking feeling you got when it was impossible to replace the shower head because the last one was installed with a glue typically reserved for space shuttle construction.

(And no, I don't normally trim my tubes down to a nib, but it took serious surgery to remove this obstruction. It wasn't the first to come out of this tube; let's hope it's the last.)

Lady[bug] Liberty

This year, the energy behind our patriotism ran out long before fireworks ever started going off. In fact, we barely mustered up the energy to figure out what those loud noises were late that night. (We both just stared at each other like, "What IS that?")
HOWEVER, for the morning, we got into it as much as possible.

I hung the flag.
We dressed Josephine in red.
And we even participated in our neighborhood's little 4th of July parade. I use the term "parade" loosely-- it's really an informal little walk around the elementary school block. Anyone can join in, (which means there's essentially no one watching :-). Dogs are dressed up, strollers and cycles are decked out-- everyone just shows up at 9:30, gathers, and strolls around the school chatting to each other. It's nice. If it were even a hair more formal I wouldn't like it as much. I find it endearing precisely because of how spontaneous, random, and uncontrolled it is. Just a bunch of people taking a walk together with glitter and streamers and balloons. And really, the turnout is very impressive. There are also games and competitions and sno-cones afterwards at the park, but Sean and I couldn't stick around for that this year.Here's Josephine all dressed up and ready to go join in the fun. (Don't worry, Dear Luthers, we refrained from spray painting your stroller red, white and blue. But I'm sure you're happy to know that even in your expatriatism, a little piece of you still celebrated the fact that we're not all currently residing in Great Britain!)
Of course, once we got there, she slept through the whole thing (it was incredibly hot already). Thankfully, what she lacked in enthusiasm was made up for by the sheer excitement exuding from her daddy.
Having had a lovely nap, once we got back home she was ready to play again...

...And that's all the cute pictures I have of her in her little ladybug liberty outfit, so this post must come to an end.

Happy Belated, Mom!!

My dearest mother, who seems to have discovered the fountain of youth, has denied yet another year's attempt to age her. I'm in awe of her in sooooo many ways. She turned one year more impressive on June 30th.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

(Yes, yes, this post is late. Considering I got Josephine in for her first vaccinations 3.5 weeks late, I think a 2 day delay here is a vast improvement on my postpartum capabilities. But it's pretty impossible to blame a blameless granddaughter, so apologies are definitely in order... Sorry, Mom!)

Another picture of...

... JOSEPHINE! Yes, I know you're shocked!

Anyway, I just thought this was a cute picture my mom took of Josephine flirting with my youngest sister. Darla came down last weekend to float the river with some friends, and brought along my mother. As far as Mom was concerned, this was a great way to spend her birthday weekend. As far as Sean and I were concerned, we couldn't agree more. It was wonderful to see her, fabulous to go out to Taverna and the Gingerman on a date, and so freeing to have the extra hands attending to Josephine so we could get more done around the house! Thank you, Mom!

Oh, and take note of the hair on Josephine's head. You likely won't see much of that from here on out. I'm finding TONS of it on her mattress and shirts. The child is balding very rapidly, just over the last couple days. For that matter, so am I. My pregnancy locks are bidding me adieu. Doesn't help that Josephine's clutching hands find my hair the instant I pick her up. I'm pretty sure it's an intentional effort to make sure she's not the only one going bald. She's a malicious child. If she were a little more capable she'd probably be replacing my shampoo with Nair.

(Yes, we've been having a rough week. So, yes, I become wholly convinced she's out to get me. I do not like being screamed at. Perhaps I'll Nair her head in revenge. That'll teach her.)

STEP NINE: Practice Playing Peek-a-Boo

... with your hedgehog.