Bedtime Shenanigans

Right now I really want to start my new book, but for some reason I just can't pick it up. I am just too annoyed. I love my children, but when they are not sleeping when they are supposed to, it drives me insane! The girls are having a slumber party right now. Mind you, every night seems to be a slumber party. I have spanked, yelled, cajoled, threatened, talked sweetly. Everything in the book short of duck-taping their mouths shut or dosing them with Benedryl. Does that make me sound like a bad mom?

I need to keep it in perspective. There was a time when I had 3 kids ages 4 and under and the bedtime shenanigans when there are 3 toddlers is just crazy. I remember passing out at 11pm with them still running around laughing. Those were not good times. You'd think their little thighs would be sore from the spanking, but it didn't even phase them. I even heard them giggling one time after I left. WTH?

I wonder what is so exhausting about when the kids don't sleep. They are in their beds and not coming out of their rooms. I guess it's that we can't see them but still have to keep an eye on them. I know I feel like I can't "clock out" if they are still awake. And at the end of the day, I just want some peace and quiet to go with whatever snack I don't need to share with grabby hands.

I know you are supposed to cherish these times when the kids are small, but I can't wait until I no longer have to deal with these bedtime shenanigans. Please God make them sleep!

Joyful Reflections

My friend told me the other day that I was "joyful." It's been a long time since someone has told me that I was joyful. I guess I have finally pulled through a very difficult season of my life. A season where every moment was a struggle, every situation needed to be worked through, and every corner had an obstacle to overcome. The very air I breathed was thick and heavy. The future was uncertain and my confidence was at its lowest. This "winter" was survived by some basic things, though at the time I didn't view them as simple or easy. These were tools that Christians often advise other Christians to use, almost to the point that they're cliche. But they worked!

One was relying upon God and looking at the bigger picture of what He is doing: "God has a plan." It's not something you necessarily want to hear when going through trials, but realizing that everything has a place and every place has a purpose can give you hope in hopeless situations. When I had three kids under three years old, barely enough money to get by, and severe post-partum depression, remembering who was in charge of my life and relinquishing control to Him was all I could do to get up in the morning. And, as promised in His Word, He came through and is still unfolding the lives of my children before my very eyes! Not only that, but I have seen the fruit of seeking God and where He wants us to be and that has landed us in a beautiful house in a welcoming neighborhood able to minister to families we are meeting and working with. Because of Him I am joyful!

Another tool was remembering the character and expectations of God for my life. "God loves you the way you are." It's probably a phrase that every Christian says so often that we believers start forgetting the meaning. We forget that God is love. During those dark days of post-partum depression, and plain ol' depression, I forced those destructive voices telling me of my worthlessness out of my head and replaced them with the voice of truth: In Philippians it says:
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (www.biblegateway.com)

It is this Jesus that gave me hope, that brought me closer to God, who told me in His word that
He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11 NIV)

I traveled through a difficult journey with God by my side. Sometimes He carried me when all I wanted to do was quit. Just as two people bond when they share an experience, so I bonded with God during the past few years of stress and uncertainty. I can't help but to be joyful.

Cloth Diaper Review

Yesterday I got the privilege of going grocery shopping all alone with no time restraints. Costco was closed, so I ventured out to the local Nugget Market and started my slow perusal down the aisles. In the diaper aisle, I discovered that our local grocery store sold a brand of cloth diapers I've never seen before.

I use cloth diapers because not only are they environmentally sound, they are better in the long run for your budget. My all-time favorites are Fuzzi Bunz with one each of fuzzi bunz and joey hemp inserts. They are not as cheap as using Proraps and Chinese Pre-folds, but not as expensive as name-brand all-in-ones. But these diapers, "g diapers", caught my attention because they seem to be the best of both the cloth and disposable diaper worlds.

I bought the starter kit in size large, which is supposed to fit babies weighing 26-36 pounds. It comes with 2 cloth pants, 10 flushable refills, a plastic stick for swirling in the toilet and a hook to hang said stick. The cost was $24.99 plus some for sales tax. I couldn't wait to try it out since I was thinking to spend $30 on one Fuzzi Bunz diaper.

The appeal for me was the flushable liners, and the reusable cloth pants. They feel like undies and the inside plastic part snaps in and fits around the liner like a fitted sheet on a bed. And when I opened the diaper, I found they put an extra plastic part with each diaper. So at each change you can have a clean liner ready to go.

I put the ensemble onto wiggly Henry, and it seemed a bit big since he's not quite 26 pounds. But the velcro adjusts (and in reading the box for this review I discovered you can put it on backwards so baby can't take the thing off. any experienced mom knows that when they discover they can take the diaper off they usually manage to do it only when they are alone and only when poopy. so SCORE!) and it truly did fit nice and cozy like undies. I loved the design of the inside plastic part, which when stretched fit around the baby booty quite nicely.

After one naptime, the disposable part was pretty wet but not leaky. In order to flush the thing, you are supposed to rip it apart and swirl with the stick and then flush. Well, after having my 5th baby my post-partum depression is manifesting itself in the form of germ-phobia, so after one look at the toilet I decided to just toss it. It's plastic-free and biodegradable so though it's not as green as flushing, tossing it can be earth-friendly. You can even garden compost the wet ones. Now came the next test: nighttime wearing.

I was happy this morning when I checked his clothing after breast feeding. Dry on the outside, a good sign. In changing, the liner was beyond soaked and the pants slightly wet. Henry's onesie was slightly damp around the bottom edges, but not enough for this mother of 5 with mounds of laundry to care. So overall not bad for a nearly 12 hour stint. Putting in an extra liner for the night-time isn't a problem at all.

The next thing I tried is putting a Fuzzi Bunz liner and Joey Hemp Insert into the plastic thing. As we say in the Rosendale household, "Winner winner chicken dinner!" Now I can save the life span of my Fuzzi Bunz pants since they get a little stretchy from being washed and dried. The g diaper pants are cloth, so they are much more durable than the plastic on the Fuzzi Bunz. And, since we are on a corset tight budget, I don't have to buy the flushable refills, which are more expensive than regular disposable diapers.

So overall I am pleased with these diapers and plan to buy more. To read more about g diapers and check out their entire line, go to www.gdiapers.com. Here are my final grades for this product:

Comfort and fit: A (Large fits fine on my 18 pound 5 month old)
Convenience: A
Color and style: A
Accessibility: A (can order online)
Durability: Let you know in a couple months.