Today is not my day.  I'm not sure why but I just feel blah.  Miss Babes completed an entire roll today, although she took a short break on her belly before rolling back to her back, and of course, she loved her sweet potatoes.  That was a good part of my day.

Well, tonight she has been really grumpy.  She has been crying on and off for an hour and a half.  Mike can stop her from crying - I can't.  But I guess he's not going to try to stop her again for a while.  I wish she'd stop but she seriously will not stop crying for me.  If anything, I just make her more upset.  What a sad end to my blah day.

Warning:  this is not a humble post.  :)

Unfortunately we had a nice big leak from Cutie's diaper today - I'm sure it's all about how I put her diapers on, oops.  Despite the leak, I'm advocating for cloth diapers ... still.

There is one brand, SunBaby, which I have heard is a pretty decent diaper and they are so cheap!  Unless my Kawaii's end up being awful (they come this week!), I probably won't try them since they're sold in multiples (and we now have so many different diapers it's getting ridiculous) but here's one amazing fact - you could buy all of the diapers you would need from birth to potty training and only spend a maximum of $161.00 + shipping.  That gives you 30 diapers and 60 inserts ... more than enough.  Or an option that sounds good to me is 24 diapers and 24 inserts for only $108.00.  Or, you can get Kawaiis for $80.50 (free shipping) which is 12 diapers and 24 inserts.  For the first 6 months of K's life, we were buying 258 diapers for about $30 every 3-4 weeks.  That means, had I bought the SunBaby diapers in the beginning, I would've actually saved money the first 6 months.  But then again, I don't think one size diapers fit her very well right now so I probably wouldn't have put them on her from birth ...

Enough about my addiction to researching CDs.

Today, the bug was yet again a hit at church ... and boy did she look cute!  She had on a cute little black skirt (it was $5 from Little 77!), a white onsie with her little pink cardigan ($7 from Little 77!).  Plus she had wild hair since she took a bath right before church and then sat in her car seat.  I tried to get her to wear her little black shoes but ever since I let her hold them at the store and she chewed on them, I think she thinks they're a toy so she won't allow them on her feet.  Oops.  But I intentionally dressed us the same today except for our pink and black clothings were switched.  One person noticed and told me and that made me really happy.

Everyone always tells me that Katers is a little mini-me.  I would say 50% of everyone who says we look the same uses that exact term, mini-me.  And I've finally decided to take it as a compliment because she is super cute (I just can't be humble about it) and I would be happy to hear that I look even just a little bit like her.  However, I don't think I look like her.  She's just so cute!

But for the second day in a row, she fell asleep in my arms for a nap!  This probably isn't amazing to anyone else out there but little Katers does not fall asleep easily anywhere but in her crib and a moving car seat.  I walked home from church with her all wrapped up in my arms in a blanket and she fell asleep just before we got home - and as you might know, it's not even a long walk from church to home!  I absolutely love holding a sleeping babe.

We've officially been doing cloth diapers for over a week now.  Every now and then we still have to use disposables because she will occasionally go through lots of diapers in one day or I just can't stay on top of laundry since we don't have all of the diapers we've ordered yet but I don't enjoy using disposables anymore.  It's crazy how fast it's happened.  Sometimes when I am deciding between CD (cloth diapers) and disposables to use on Cutie, I think, "...but disposables are just too easy," I guess meaning they're easy to use but they come with a bunch of other consequences.  Plus I love knowing that something really soft is on her little bum.

Another fabulous thing about CDs are that her would-be blowouts are a lot more contained.  I love that.  All the cloth just soaks everything up and the awesome stretchy bands that line the diapers keep everything inside.

Unfortunately, I've had two leaks in the past 24 hours but it was because I was just too careless about them.  Plus it's tough when she's screaming because she doesn't want to be lying down.  It's really hard to put a diaper on her when she's trying to roll away.

She has an ear infection (did I mention that?) and hates when I lie her down for anything.  I'm sure the upstairs neighbors just think I'm an awful parent for letting her cry all the time - I'm just not sure what else to do other than let her cry since nothing comforts her.  But she seems to be doing much better and is becoming much more her normal self.

When she weighed in at the doctor's a couple days ago, she weighed 14 lbs 1 oz, although, I think her CD had a little something to do with her weight.  I would say she was a couple ounces less.  But she's growing well and I'm so glad!

Also, a funny story about the doctor's - usually when she goes to the doctor's, she gets poked and gets shots. Obviously not fun.  I'm not sure if it was just because K was so tired and hungry or if it was really because she knows what happens when the nurses get near her, but every time she saw the nurse, she would cry.  I thought it was pretty funny.  I had never seen her do something like that before.  The nurse ended up leaving the room while Mike distracted her and then the nurse tried to sneak back in.  But our little bug notices everything and immediately started crying when the nurse was trying to sneak around her.  Ha ha.  She's so silly.

Milestones are a tough thing for me.  They always made me feel really good about where K was in her development until they said that she should be getting lots of tummy time and extending her arms.  K has always hated being on her tummy unless she's looking in a mirror - actually, everything seems to get better when she's looking in a mirror.  When she suddenly wasn't following the milestones for being on her tummy, I stopped looking at them.  I decided when she was ready, she would lay on her tummy without immediately flipping out.

Apparently she was finally ready last week.  I seriously went a month without hardly ever putting her on her belly.  I helped her practice sitting and going from sitting to standing since that's what she seemed to be interested in - and she has mastered the whole sitting thing.  She does so well.  But I felt bad continually putting her on her tummy if it just made her go from being fine to screaming in 3 seconds flat.

Last week Mike said he wanted to do tummy time with her so I gave him my best wishes and let him have at it.  Turns out, she loved tummy time.  She squirmed all over the place and had fun reaching for all her toys.  Now I lay her on her back and she'll roll onto her tummy within the first few minutes.  She just loves it. 

Unfortunately, she still hasn't mastered getting from her back to her tummy but I'm sure she'll get it soon.  I've been helping her roll across the bed and she loves it so she'll probably pick up on the fact that she can do it without me around soon.  So fun!

It is almost midnight and is 3 hours past my bedtime.  But the reason I'm not tired, I think, is due to the fact that I slept for over 10 hours last night - that's just what happens when you go to bed a couple hours after the kiddo goes to bed, I guess, well, and going back to bed after the babe's first morning meal.

But today was the first day of cloth diapers.  It was a stressful morning.  She was on her 3rd cloth after just an hour of starting - it was making me wonder if all this hassle of trying to save money was even worth it if she just keeps soiling the few precious cloth diapers I currently have.  But the rest of the day went much more smoothly.

I just wrote a whole entire novel to Kristin about cloth diapering so I don't feel like writing about it right now but let me just say, it seems pretty worth it.  Disposable diapers are costing us about $0.22 each which gets pretty pricey, especially when you've got a kiddo who goes 3 times in one hour.  Last night Mike and I went over the cost we could spend starting now until she's potentially potty trained.  Our total was $1800 and on most websites I am seeing quotes of over $2000 for the entire span of one child's diapering which seems about right since Mike and I were guessing we were spending about $50/month on diapers on average.  Unfortunately, the cost only increases for diapers as they get bigger.

Since I don't know much about diapers and these cloth diapers are different for everyone, I've purchased many brands and so we'll be trying out a lot of them.  With all this "trying out," our total thus far is about $270.  But keep in mind, once we have all of our things, we are going to have 31 diapers (plus a few extras) that are going to last us and will probably be able to be used on our next child.  This is a one-time cost, people!  And I love it!  No more going to Costco every 3 weeks to get more diapers.  No more filling up the landfills with these things that hate to decompose.  No more uncomfortable, scratchy diapers for the Babers.

I never thought I'd be one of these moms - one who makes all of her own baby food and uses cloth diapers - but with each passing day, I am loving this whole new me more and more.  And I love saving money!

Brittany, a friend, reminded me yesterday that we've been working on getting K to sleep without a pacifier.  I've been so focused on cloth diapers, trying to get K over her sickness, volunteer applications, and work that I completely forgot about it for a few days.

Things are going great without her pacifier!  I still go back and forth though.  I feel bad I've taken it from her because it was her comfort for bedtime.  But my choice was either now and her not knowing why it's taken away from her or later and her knowing very well what's going on and possibly throwing a fit.  It's a tough call.  Plus I figured if it failed right now, I could always try again later.

But the fact is that she really doesn't need it right now.  She has been going to sleep just fine without it.  We had a few rough days in there because she wasn't feeling well at all so she was crying randomly throughout the day and before naps but she's feeling much better now.  She still has a slight cough every now and then but is doing better.

I love not having to clean the pacifiers every day, not having to wake up in the middle of the night to go put it back in her mouth, not having to remember to take one with us wherever we go, and I love that her pacifier doesn't fall out of her mouth and land on the floor so I have to either find another one or go wash it.  I know that  these things don't take much work but I sure don't miss them!  Plus I really love being able to sleep through the entire night and not wake up to complaining because the pacifier fell out of her mouth!

So for anyone out there who is wondering if taking a pacifier away around 6 months is a good idea, I would vote yes!

And I have a confession.  I caved!  I tried giving her pacifier back to her while she was sick.  She would suck on it a couple of times and then spit it out.  I really wanted her to take it back and tried multiple times, but she refused.  That made me pretty happy because I knew she didn't want it but pretty sad because she continued to cry afterwards.

Wow.  I feel so much better to get that off my chest. :)

Today, K found her Desitin container absolutely fascinating.  I wish that I found joy in little things like that.

After our Costco trip and buying size 3 diapers (you're right, they're too big for her since she's not even 14 pounds ... she just seems to be growing out of her 1-2 sized diapers so we thought we'd try them out) and spending $40 on 212 diapers, we decided that $40 a month (and sometimes more) just isn't worth it anymore.

So I stayed up last night (2 hours past my bedtime!) to research cloth diapers and all that goes with it.  I never thought I'd be a cloth diaper mom but over $100 later, it looks like I'm going to be.  All the items arrive on Thursday so I'm guessing by this weekend, we'll be figuring this all out.

I like the all-in-one diapers but boy!  They're expensive!  So I think I'll just start adding to our collection one diaper at a time.  I just couldn't talk myself into buying twenty-five $35 diapers (and like I have the money for that anyway).

I really hope this works.  I only know a few ladies in my ward who don't use disposable so I'm really not sure what this is all about.  If you have any advice for me, please give it to me.  I will accept anything and everything on this topic!

For a few of K's naps these last two days, I've laid my head on the side of her crib and closed my eyes to see if it would help her fall asleep because I've been a little late putting her down for naps.  When I put her down too late, it makes her really upset and nothing will calm her down.  So I've been trying this to see if she'll relax since actually laying in her crib did so well the other day but I don't want her to get used to me always being there when she's trying to go to sleep.

Well, she just thinks this is the funniest thing she's ever seen.  She'll laugh and laugh and make her spitting noises (which only makes her laugh more) and it is so funny.  I don't know why she thinks me laying my head down on the side of her crib is so funny but apparently it is.

Oh to be little and find humor in the simplest things ...

So the babe woke up really sick this morning - lots of coughing, runny nose - all the goodies.  We went out to lunch today and I'm not sure what it was about the restaurant, but her nose and mouth started running like a leaky faucet.  She had all sorts of drool and mucus coming out but oddly enough, once we left the restaurant, it mostly stopped.

But tonight she is very sad.  We've tried everything, yes, everything to comfort her but she just keeps crying.  So we just put her down for bed and hopefully she'll fall asleep after all of her crying.  I just feel so bad for the Cutie.  It's tough watching her cough and sneeze and feel miserable and not be able to do anything about it.

So I now know what you're all thinking: "It was a really bad idea for them to take away K's pacifier from her at only 6 months old.  She's too young.  She doesn't know why she's being punished yet.  You're so mean.  It's not going to work at this young of an age.  She still needs it."  Okay, maybe not everyone but I posted my issue a couple days ago in a couple of forums that I follow and these were all the answers I got in a more condensed form.  Out of all of the comments, I only got two positive statements back and they made me feel good.  I really just needed to know I wasn't the only parent who doesn't want her to be dependent on that pacifier.  It's become too tiring to rush into her bedroom to plop it back in her mouth before she wakes up screaming or to have to ask someone if I can use their kid's pacifier for K because I forgot to bring hers or to have it fall out of her mouth while we're away and then not be able to wash it ...

But you're right.  I definitely have felt like the meanest parent these last few days.  It would be like someone suddenly taking cheese out of my life.  I mean first of all, what would I even eat if I couldn't eat cheese?  I would probably starve.  But the point is that she was addicted to going to sleep with it and I don't want her to be addicted to that.

And in case you were wondering, we have been crying-free for over 24 hours.  There has been some complaining but not for more than a minute or so.  I'm talking, full on, red in the face crying.  None of that!  Except for today when she pooped.  I would've cried if I were her too though on that one.

Today, before the crying incident, we got to lay on the bed (mine today, not hers) and we would take turns spitting.  Then after a few times, it would end in laughing.  See, these are the moments I live for during the day when Mike's out working hard and I'm stuck with the Cutie at home.  It is just way too much fun.

Then after I laid her down in her crib for a nap, I walked away as I usually do so I don't make her more upset by staying and not giving her the pacifier, and I went back in a couple minutes later to check on her.  She was turned towards a little black bear that sits in her crib and was talking to him.  I only wish I knew what she was saying to him.  So cute.

I'm exhausted today.  I'm not really sure why but it hit me around noon and I was ready to go back to bed.  Two pm came quickly after feeding K, doing laundry, reading books, and making some baby food but she was less than ready for her nap.  We still swaddle her and she completely undid her swaddling and was throwing a fit.  As soon as I went in and picked her up, the crying magically stopped - so funny how that happens.

I fixed her blankets and laid her back down and swaddled her.  She started crying again and being really tired myself, I climbed in her crib and laid down.  I remembered that Christa had said that co-sleeping has really helped her little babe sleep so I thought I'd try it - maybe she wouldn't cry because she was missing her pacifier if I was there.  It was worth a shot at least.  After about 30 seconds of her crying, she noticed I was laying next to her.  She would look at me, look away, look back at me really quickly, and repeat a few times.  Then she just stared at me.  I had my eyes mostly closed in hopes that she would see that it's okay to sleep in her crib.  After all the staring at me, she closed her eyes and within a minute, she was breathing deep and drifting off to sleep.

I was almost asleep when suddenly a kid above us started jumping up and down and it sounded like he was right above the crib.  The floor/ceiling was really squeaky and I was real worried it was going to cave in.  After the scare, I decided I should get up and finish up some work but I'll tell you what, that is one comfy crib!

And the fact that she fell asleep next to me without her pacifier is just further proof that she really doesn't need her pacifier - it's just a really bad habit.  I feel bad taking it away from her, but after waking up several times a night to put that thing back in her mouth for the past few weeks, I for sure am not missing it right now.  She is sleeping completely through the night (or at least I don't hear her) and sleeps 30-60 minutes longer than she used to.  Other than the crying, I'm loving it.  Plus it's just one less thing to wash and keep track of. :)

This morning I was getting some rice cereal ready for K.  She was in her little seat at the table and I was at the counter getting it ready.  I took a small bite to see if it tasted as not soft as it looked and as I was taking the spoon out of my mouth, I looked over at K.  Her eyes were huge, her mouth was dropped open, and I can just imagine that she would have liked to have said, "Mom!  You're eating my food?!"  It was pretty funny.  She's a pretty funny girl.

On the sadder side, she is still crying.  She is not happy with me at all that I put her down for naps and bedtime without her pacifier these days.  Trust me, I'm not happy about it either.  She just doesn't really need it - she just thinks she does.  Ugh.  It's times like these I wish we had never started her on a pacifier.  Some say that it takes upwards of two weeks for them to stop crying once the pacifier's been taken away.  I really hope it's sooner than later.  It's only been four days and it's killing me!

Baby girl loves her carrots.  Yesterday as I was feeding her, each time I would give her a bite, I would take a deep breath, put the food in her mouth, and then say "mmmmmmmmmmm." 

She must have liked it because about half way through, she started doing it too.  She would breathe out really loudly and once the food was in her mouth, she would say "mmmmmmmmmmmmm."  Too cute.

We're currently trying to wean her from her pacifier.  And by "wean" I mean go basically cold turkey.  The last two days have been filled with lots of tears on her end, ignoring on Mike's end, and holding me back from running in to save her on my end, but I really don't want her to be too old and still sucking on a pacifier.  She really doesn't need it.  And I'm tired of the occasional middle-of-the-night awakening because she wants her pacifier.  After six months, she can deal without it.

In case you don't read our main blog, we went to the pediatrician's today for her 6-month appointment!

She is 25 1/2 inches long and has only gained 13 ounces since her last visit 2 months ago.  The doctor, however, is not worried since she's probably going to be really short.  He says that when babies have inherited shorter genes, you can see at about this age that they have since they will start lagging behind the others in weight and height.  And she's definitely lagging.  I just saw that a 10-week old that I know has already passed her up in weight!

K has also decided that during the middle of the night is the best time to wake up and need attention.  I disagree, however.  So this weekend, it's sleep intervention for Cutie ... unless she starts sleeping better from the solids we've been giving her.  Some nights she does okay (like 7 pm - 6:30 am) and some nights we're (and by "we're," I mean Mike or I) up with her at 9, 1, 3, and/or 5.  We might as well have a newborn again.

But I do like newborns.  Tonight, Christa's little one was squeaking and snoring throughout staff meeting.  I miss all the little sounds a newborn makes ... but I do love Cutie's giggles and talking.

K is sitting on the living room floor right now playing with her bucket of toys.  She has this one toy that plays a song when a button is pushed.  Like usual, she usually accidentally makes it play, so it was playing.  But then, she swung it really fast and it hit the toy box and stopped playing in the middle of the song (it doesn't usually do that).  I looked over at her, she gave me a huge smile, looked back down at it, and started shaking it up and down and hitting it against the floor.

I guess she showed that toy how she really feels about it playing music.

And I'll be honest.  It kinda gets on my nerves too.

We put K's hair in pigtails today for church.  Everyone absolutely loved them but not as much as me.

We also gave her a little taste of rice cereal yesterday.  She ended up with it all over her face and hands.  It was pretty cute.