What my nightstand says about me

As I reached up last night to turn off the light next to my bed I caught a glimpse of my nightstand. The first thought that came to mind was "I really need to clear that off." But then I started thinking of which books I'd put away on a shelf… and I couldn't decide which needed to go! I am reading all of them. So I started thinking about some other options and before I knew it I was asleep.

This morning I took a second glance and instead of continuing my problem solving from the night before, it occurred to me that you could probably tell a lot about a person by the books on their nightstand. Well, maybe not always. But the case was definitely true for me this morning.

Here's what I'm reading:

• Songs in the key of Solomon - This is a couple's devotional book. I'm gonna be honest and tell you all that we are not reading this right now. But I keep hoping we will, so I won't take it off of my nightstand.
• Nathan Training Log - I got this training log recently as part of a running program I joined and it's still blank. Of course that's because there is no pen on my night stand with which to fill in the pages (NOT because I haven't been running). ;) I shall remedy this situation today.
• Unclutter Your Life in One Week!! - I am a big fan of the Unclutterer Blog and at the bottom of every. single. post. the writer encourages you to purchase her book. And every single time I read it I say "No, I don't need that." Well… obviously that didn't happen every single time. I could only fight temptation for so long. So now here is her book… cluttering up my nightstand. :) Honestly, I'm really enjoying it and I'm already being inspired to continue simplifying my own life.
• Montessori From The Start - I picked this up at a yard sale and have enjoyed reading through it. The biggest thing it has done for me is shown me that allowing my daughter self-play time and self-discovery is, indeed, seen as a good thing by people other than me. It has given me the pat on the back that each mom occasionally needs throughout her mothering experience. It has also given me a lot of fun ideas for directing Sunday into further self-discovery.
• Made to Crave - I had the pleasure of seeing Lisa speak live a few weekends ago and she is hilarious! I've had this book for a while and I went ahead and bought her new book as well (and she signed it!). But I vow to finish this one before I start the next.
• Practical Paleo - This book has floored me. Here I thought I was buying a book about making the Paleo diet a practical part of my life and when it showed up at my doorstep I quickly realized I was reading a biology book. 400+ pages of full color information. Straight up education about our bodies, what we are putting into them, and how it is affecting us. It is inspiring, you guys. I'm seriously considering starting a Paleo Challenge for myself in the next few months… we shall see. (Speaking of, would anyone be interested in joining me??)

So those are the books on my night stand. What you cannot see are the other 10 books on the floor next to my bed. Eeek! I have this little empty black bookshelf in my home that I really want to use… but I know as soon as I pull it out to put books on it, it will quickly become cluttered with other items and start driving me crazy. So what's better? A bookshelf of clutter or another pile of books next to my night stand? Oh gosh… this simplifying things is such a work in progress!

What are you reading right now? Not that I need more books to add to my collection... well, you never know. Maybe I do. :) Please, share your current favorites in the comments!!

Big Brother anyone?!

Alright -- Let's talk game.

I know there are some Big Brother fans out there reading this. What are you guys thinking of this season?! This is the only show we watch in the summer and since we don't have TV this year, we are watching the episodes a few days late. It's a little risky bringing up conversation when we aren't really completely caught up, so I waited until we were. :)

And holy moly! I am LOVING the twists this season! Props to Big Brother for finding an original way to spice things up!

So far, Dan and Ian are my absolute favs. I know Dan is a mastermind, but he seems to come across as a super genuine guy at the same time (score!). And the fact that he has only one other person playing this game with him makes this season challenging for him. So if he ends up winning, I'd be thrilled.

Ian? Come on - how can you not love him? He is so adorable! I would love for him to win this and somehow still stay humble. His personality is so precious and I adore watching him try to flirt with Ashley. So cute.

Speaking of masterminds… wow Boogie is amazing. I am also a Britney fan, but mostly because she's funny. I could do without her winning this year. :) And I have to bring up the Shane/Danielle situation. Could he be any more obvious about using her? And could she be anymore gullible? It's embarrassing… :( It is hard to watch. Yuck.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments! And be sure to join the conversation on Twitter by using hashtag #BB14!

Baby S | Lynchburg Birth Photographer

Earlier this week I had the honor of witnessing new life enter this world. This never, ever gets old. Birth photography is definitely my favorite type of photography and I'm not afraid to say it. These moments are irreplaceable... they are truly moments you can never get back. To be able to capture them is something I don't take lightly. I know - all moments are irreplaceable. But there's just something about new life… that first breath... the first mama/baby touch. All of it. (sigh)

Emily is a rockstar. She endured a 46hour labor and delivered her sweet girl completely naturally. I am awed by her strength and endurance.

Look at these precious moments...!

Soon after she was born, their sweet girl started showing signs of respiratory problems. She was checked into the NICU later that night and Emily has not been able to hold her or breastfeed her since then. I am asking for your prayers for baby S. If you would so kindly, these are her mama's own words:

1. That S would continue to progress and get better! This is huge and so important to us. We hate seeing our little girl hurting and it's incredibly hard to not be able to hold her (while on oxygen she cannot be moved) and for me to not breastfeed her.

2. That S would improve to the point that she can be discharged on Sunday (or Monday morning -- not sure exactly of the timeline) and will not have to stay for a week of antibiotics treatment (this is a situation the staff has already presented to us as necessary if her tests still show signs of infection after the 48 hour treatment).

3. Finally, that no additional issues would arise.

Thank you SO much! I will keep you all posted on her progress!

The basics of cloth diapering and the choices we made

Many of you have written to me asking about cloth diapering: how to get started, what I do, where you should buy them, etc. I am excited to share our method of cloth diapering but it is important for you to know that there are so many different ways to approach it. I have written out the decisions we made below and added some of my favorite resources that helped me while I was learning about the process.

NEWBORN STASH

A lot of people skip cloth diapering during the newborn stage. And rightly so. Newborn cloth diapers require unique diapers and covers - both in size and style. Newborn diapers have a snap that holds the cloth diaper away from the umbilical cord area. In addition, they are the cutest little teeny tiny diapers you have ever seen (meaning they are SMALL). And if you decide to cloth diaper those first few weeks - you will have to buy these unique diapers and a lot of them (at least 24 diapers + 6 covers). Newborns need their cloth diapers changed about every hour or so! For these reasons, a lot of people make the decision to use disposable diapers until their babies grow into the next size up.

Our choices: I just couldn't keep myself away from these itty bitty adorable diapers! Plus, I knew I was going to have more than one baby so I chalked it up to an investment. In retrospect, I am glad we made this decision because Sunday fit into her newborn diapers for five months (about 12lbs)!

To be honest, during those first few weeks I really doubted that we were saving any money. What with the cost of the diapers themselves and then having to wash them SO frequently in the newborn stage (almost every day)... but after watching her fit into them for five months, I am grateful for the decision we made.

If you are hesitant to build a newborn stash yourself, perhaps you could add newborn disposable diapers to your gift registry. Then you will save a ton of money! :)

Here is what our newborn stash consisted of:

• 6 Real Nappies Newborn Diaper Covers
• 2 kissa’s wool lover diaper cover (never used)

AFTER NEWBORN-STASH

This is where things get a little confusing for the new-to-cloth-diapering-folks. There are SO many styles of diapers (prefolds, fitteds, all-in-ones, all-in-twos) and covers (velcro, snaps, one-size) out there. As much as I tried to make all the right choices - it really did become a trial and error situation for us. The good thing was that cloth diapers hold their value very well, so I knew if something wasn't working for us that I could easily sell the diapers and buy replacements.

Our choices: I decided to go the fitted, one-size route with velcro covers. What this meant was that I was going to buy fitted diapers (they look like a cloth version of disposable diapers) that grew with the baby. If I was going to cloth diaper to save money, I wanted to do my best to save money. Buying diapers that grew with the baby only made sense.

We DID have some trial and error (read: diaper rash!) with Sunday when she was around 4-6 months old (as we transitioned from newborn to one sized diapers). In the end I discovered that one type of diaper we were using was not nearly as absorbent as the other and it was leaving her skin irritated. I ended up selling that brand and replacing it with more of the brand that was working for us.

I also chose velcro covers mostly because I wanted a quick way to put a cover on as snug as possible. Over time I have picked up a few snap covers from yard sales and friends to have on hand when Sunday learns how to use velcro herself. :) Tommy really likes the snaps, too, so I am glad to have them for him.

Here is what our current stash looks like:

• 6 Kissaluvs One Size Contour Diapers (used only when all of the pooters are dirty!)
• 6 Bummis Super Brite Diaper Covers (Small)
• 4 Bummis Super Brite Diaper Covers (Medium)
• 2 One-Size snap covers

Here are other essentials for cloth diapering:

• Cloth diaper safe detergent (we started with Country Save now use Rockin' Green)
• Cloth diaper safe rash cream (after trial and error with a number of products, we now use Coconut Oil)

My favorite resources I discovered during my cloth diapering escapade:

• Why Cloth Diaper? You can easily google this question and come up with a ton of resources. This is just one of my favorites - an easy little read from a KG mama.
• An easy explanation for the different types of cloth diapers
• Know the language (acronyms and definitions)
• Learn a diaper washing routine
• Choose a detergent
• Buy used diapers (I bought all of our newborn kissaluvs used!)
• And finally, a fantastic (but slightly biased since it's from a diaper company) How-To Guide for all things cloth diapering (tutorial videos and lists galore!)

Stay tuned, I will be writing more about how our cloth diapering journey has evolved since Sunday was born.

In the meantime, I really want to know from those of you who made the decision either TO cloth diaper or NOT to, and why? I love to hear other points of views!

Mama and Me | Liz and Sunday

I spent last week in Fredericksburg passing time visiting with family and lots of friends while Tommy fulfilled his state required military duty. A few days in a row I had dates for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. I am pretty sure I gained ten pounds because of it, but it was totally worth it! I had a great time catching up with everyone. Of course one of those dates was reserved especially for Samantha! Check out the fun shots she grabbed of Sunday and I in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel Thursday morning. I love that we made time to snap a few pictures of each other! Also... can I just share a huge confession with you? These are the first pictures of myself that I haven't completely wanted to photoshop in YEARS! Like... I actually like them just the way they are. I can SO see the progress I'm making with Crossfit! And that feeling? SO awesome. (Although I'm going to have to quit eating after this week to make up for all the damage I've done the past few days... ;))

Anyway... to the pics! So fun! And stay tuned - I'll be blogging the few that I grabbed of her and her little man in the next few days!

And since I'm not ready to share my real (aka wearing just a sports bra & shorts) before and current ("after" isn't here yet ;)) Crossfit pics, I thought I'd throw up this comparison. This is just two months of hard work! So worth it!