Recovering a moses basket

Before I recovered it.......

 After I recovered it

I am trying to be more of a seamstress in my life.  I have done lots of baby blankets but beyond that I have not done much.  My husband got me a sewing machine for Christmas which I absolutely love.  I had a complicated older machine and he got me a simple machine that just goes without all the hassle.   I had gotten this moses basket from a consignment store and it worked good, I would just put a blanket in it because the fabric would never stay up on the sides.  I have to say that without a pattern or much direction it turned out ok.  Being a perfectionist in some ways I can see many flaws but it it is A LOT better then it was.  First I took apart the old cover to use as a template.  I knew that the sides had to be taller, since this one did not work, but I just guessed on the measurements.

Then I pinned the "template" to my new fabric.  I took some leftover fabric for a liner and cut out the liner and the soft fabric together so that it would match up. The bottom (under the mattress) I left as just the liner

After assembling the sides with the lining and the bottom I covered the mattress by just cutting it out with the template and creating a cover. I left one side open so that I could get the mattress out for cleaning.  I could put velcro or a small zipper but it works ok with it open too so that I can clean it in case of any accidents.

Then, I took some leftover batting and doubled it up to create a barrier between the basket and the baby.  I just stuck it in there and put the cover over it.

I was going to put elastic on the edge to hold it in place but that did not really work because my measurements must have been a little off so instead of redoing the entire thing I took some leftover ribbon from my mobile project and sewed it on to create some ties.  This worked great and I love how it turned out.  I know it is not the best but it works for us.

Baby Mobile

I wanted to create something for my baby girl to look at when she is in her crib.  I got this idea from my sister in law.  I got 4 colors of ribbon from the craft store for 50 cents each and a hoop for $1.29.  My daughter loves to look up at it and stare at the colors.  It was really fun to make too!!

3 months old!!

Three months old already!!

I cannot believe how big you are getting.  Some of your new tricks include holding your head up, cooing, and saying something that resembles "hi" although I think that is just wishful thinking on our part. You also have learned how to smile and follow us with your eyes around the room.  You have blue/gray eyes and your hair has a touch of red in it even though your daddy in in denial about that.  He says it is not red it is strawberry blond :) You are able to hold yourself up when you sit on our laps and your eyes absolutely sparkle when your daddy comes home from work.   Both of us love you more then words can say and we love seeing what a fun little princess you are turning into!~Love always Mommy and Daddy 

Below are some of our favorite pictures from the past month 

Adventures into Cloth Diapering!!

Before I was pregnant I was reading a blog called The Bee Hive on this blog she talks about cloth diapers for more information click here.  I remember clearly thinking I could never do cloth diapers and that it was something that was just too gross for me.  While I was pregnant my sister in law started to use cloth diapers also and I saw just how easy it was to do and the amount of saving that could really add up.  My husband and I are doing the Dave Ramsey program and are really on a budget so the thought of having to put $20 a week in the budget just for diapers was not an option.  I figured it up and it basically costs $20.00  a week for diapers and if you figure that she is going to be in diapers for at least 2 years that would be $2080!!!  That would be if she was potty trained at 2 years old which could not be true.   My husband and I decided to do the cloth diapers while I was still pregnant and I got a couple from the baby showers.  Now that my daughter is here I am so amazed how many diapers that she can go through in a day!!  I never really knew how many it could be and I am so thankful that now she is big enough to be in them. She is 2 months old and now she has finally gotten up to 10 pounds.  They seem a bit big on her but the good thing is that I can finally start putting her in the 0-3 month cloths as opposed to the newborn clothes because the diapers are a bit bulkier then regular diapers :)

  We are using the bumgenius diapers.  This one shown is the bum genius 4.0 for more information about this one click here.  These are good for night time since they have two liners so it absorbs better then the other kind I use.  This helps to prevent diaper rash (which FYI for diaper rash just put a little breast milk on the rash for a day or so and it goes away :) The other kind of diaper that I use is  the bumGenius elemental (it used to be called the all in one organic diaper) which is made with organic cotton.   For more info click here.  This is great for day use since the diaper is changed more often.  I figure that I need about 24 diapers and I have 5 already that were given to me.  On the site cottonbabies.com the organic diapers are $264.95 for 12 diapers and 6 of the 4.0 diapers for night time for $104.70.  That would be $369.54 for all the diapers that I would need for this baby and the next ones that I may have so........approximately $2000 per child for diapers or approximately $400 for all the diapers that I will need......It seems like a no brainier to me :) Plus the bonus is that she is so cute in her diapers.  I hope that if you are thinking about having a baby or know anyone that is having a baby that you would consider cloth diapering.  It really is easy and does not add that much more laundry.  About a load every other day is all that it would be.  Happy Cloth Diapering!!!

4.0 Cloth diaper

Elemental Organic Diaper

Elemental Organic Diaper