My little momma

I went to check on the kids earlier today and this is what I found. Sorry it's a little fuzzy, I was trying to be sneaky and caught the sun's glare on the door.

She'll definitely be a better mom than I am.

I have been playing with my blog layout so I can actually fit things on the page (and I want to try my hand at making my own backgrounds). So, sorry everything is in a jumble now, hopefully in a few weeks it will look normal (and hopefully cute) again.

So other than playing with creating a background, messing up the html code and having a funny looking blog, this is what I have been up to lately. The pictures should be self explanatory. Basically, we inherited some chairs from a meetinghouse a couple years ago. I think every building had them, you should recognize them. We use them a lot. They have been getting pretty dirty and couldn't be cleaned any more. I went to my local fabric store on Saturday, found some material on clearance and bought some fabric adhesive and borrowed a stapler. I spent that night, a few minutes Sunday morning and a little while today and I have 5 new chairs! I ended up keeping the same padding on it, since it was in relatively good condition. So, overall, I spent only $20 for these "new" chairs. How cute, huh? It wasn't my favorite pick of fabric, but it definitely beats the 70's green/orange/brown that was the other fabric on clearance!

My other project is a little more personal (for Kate, not me). It has to do with what she'll be wearing under all those cute clothes she got for Christmas.

Yep, I am finally trying to be brave enough to try cloth diapers (I'm still a little scared though). I figure it's better for our environment, will save us tons of money, and they're kinda cute (aren't they?) I am still playing with the pattern, but I am getting really close to a perfect fit for her. I didn't have any Velcro for the first few, but I finally bought some on Saturday, so all the rest will have Velcro (so it's a little more like the ease of disposables).

The first time I tried a pair on her, she told me, "nice. diaper." I guess she liked how soft it was on her bootie.

I am hoping to be used to them by the time May comes around so diapering the new baby won't be such a huge transition. Yep, she'll be cloth diapered, too.

*******(Warning: Ranting starts here. If you don't want to hear/read it, skip to the very last line.)*******

What makes me so upset is that all these huge manufacturers have consumers wrapped around their little finger. People now don't even try (and are even afraid to try) things that are healthy for our environment. I'm not just talking about diapering or anything else specifically, but everything about our society in general. How many people do things just b/c it's convenient and not b/c it's healthy? Disposable napkins, paper towels, diapers, premade/prepackaged foods, driving everywhere....the list goes on and on. Really, what is going to happen to all these people when they no longer have access to all these wonderful amenities? When they can't just go drive to the store at the last minute and pick up something they need(want)? People don't even know what manufacturers are putting in these products! Seriously, have you ever tried asking a manufacturer if their product has a specific ingredient in it? They barely even tell you about a specific ingredient when you ask them for health reasons (like an allergy). There is no way they are going to actually disclose everything they put in those products!

I always swore that I would never become a health freak, b/c of course they're freaks, you know. But now that I actually am a little more educated about things, I wonder how much of a freak I used to be; actually letting the media/society brainwash me into thinking that healthy people were freaks. No, I won't start colon cleansing or stop going to the doctor and start taking a ton of herbs in hopes that they will cure ALL of life's woes, but I am at least trying to be LESS dependent upon things that I cannot control (like what goes in to certain manufactured products).

Oh, I think I have ranted enough for the week, huh? Hey, at least you know where I stand. If you can't make it yourself, you don't need it. Boy, I have a lot to work on!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!