Shorty!

If you've met me before, you're well aware of the fact that I'm petite.  I guess you could say that "petite" is an understatement as I'm 4'11.5".  I've had many peers ask me throughout the years if I had to have restrictions on my drivers license or if I was legally considered a "midget."

Of course, being petite has always caused clothing shopping to be extremely difficult.  Petite clothing are made for someone under 5'4" and being over 4 inches shorter means that I even have to get petite clothing hemmed!  I have spent most of my life searching for a brand of clothing that offered pants or dresses that fit!  After all of my searching, I know that I can get jeans/pants at Old Navy in their petite sizes that fit in waist & length... as long as I can stay in the same size.  I was up one more size post-baby but needed clothes to go back to work and I needed those pants hemmed.  My long-term goal is to buy a sewing machine and learn how to do some basic alterations (a.k.a. hemming), but I'm holding off on buying clothes for myself these days so I will hold off on the purchase of a sewing machine as well.

I'm definitely not complaining, but just thought I'd share some observations on how just a few inches can affect your perspective.  Other things you may or may not know about being short are:

• Every car we purchase must have an adjustable drivers seat.
• In airplanes and many office chairs that do not have adjustable height, my feet don't touch the ground.  This often results in my legs/feet falling asleep in any meeting longer than an hour.
• When my son wiggles while I'm holding him, I can barely hold on to him.  He is well aware of this fact and uses it to his advantage.  (Note: he does not wiggle as much with Matt because he knows Matt can hold on to him.)

Big Day!

Jack had his 15 month check-up (and yes, he's practically 16 months) but here are his stats:

• 25 lbs. 10 oz. (50th percentile)
• 31 inches tall/long (50th percentile)
• 18 inches head circumference (I don't know if I got this right)

I don't know how accurate his height is because he was extremely wiggly when Matt and the nurse was holding him on the exam table to get his height (really measured by how long he against essentially a yardstick on the table).  I am looking to buy a cute growth chart and maybe he'd be more cooperative to just stand and be measured.  We had them growing up and I'd love to keep up with one for Jack now that he's walking/standing.  Let me know if you know of any stores that carry super cute ones!

Our pediatrician mentioned that this appointment & his 18 month appointment are two of the hardest because of how aware little ones are at this age.  Boy, was she right!  He fought being measured... and the shots!  I am just very glad that Matt goes to the doctor's appointment because he can help hold Jack MUCH better than I can.  The nurse & doctor both said he's got really strong legs... I guess they found out because of how hard my son was kicking them.  Ugh... I do hope that it gets better!

Along with the doctor's appointment, Jack got his 1st haircut today!!  I kept debating and was so scared he wouldn't look like my baby boy anymore, but I am glad we did it!  I'll let the rest of the story be in pictures:

Before: Crazy wispies!



Getting settled into the car seat with Thomas the train on the TV in front of him... Loved getting to drive!



Playing with the basket of cars & toys the hairdresser put in his lap to distract him!

Getting a little annoyed with the hairdresser holding his head.



"Okay, I'm not having fun anymore" (notice Matt's hand trying to play with the trucks with him)



Playing on the play set at Cookie Cutters after his haircut!

Happy boy going down the slide!

He also got a cute little certificate with a GREAT picture of him smiling after his haircut, but I can't get it to load today!  All in all, the 1st haircut went WAY better than expected even with the minor breakdown.  I really liked our experience at Cookie Cutter's and it worked out perfectly for Jack's personality!

Fabric Softening After Baby!

One of the things I've missed since having Jack, is fabric softener.  (I know, its a silly thing to miss!)  We never started using it after he was born and used "free & clear" detergent.  His skin is so sensitive that if you just rub him the wrong way (literally) he gets all red!  Also since we've started using cloth diapers, softener will negatively affect the absorbency of the diapers.  This is also true for bath towels, I never used fabric softener for these.

From the scientific side of things, fabric softeners are usually made up of surfactants, or "surface active agents," that get transferred to clothing/fabric in the washer or dryer (depending on the form).  These surfactants actually form a layer of hydrophobic particles that result in feeling soft against your skin.  There are a lot of different types of surfactants out there, but the ones used for softeners should have a low toxicology profile and cause no dermal sensitization.  This is usually hard to do for babies, young children or people with allergies/sensitive skin.  You can find a lot more information on the web just through a Google search.

I just saw this blog post on how to make wool dryer balls over at the Bummis blog.  The article includes how they help soften clothes.  I can't wait to make some to see if they actually work!

Prayer Request!

Prayers still needed for Matt's aunt... things are looking better but she's got a long road ahead of her!

Thanks,

Congrats for the Eagle!

I'm writing to congratulate my youngest brother, Alex, on being awarded his Eagle Scout rank advancement after his Eagle project was completed.  He did the two parts of his project at his high school (the same school from which Matt graduated).  The first was adding pennants/flags in school colors around the baseball field.  The second included beautification/landscaping, Jack & I went one day to hang out and help my mom supervise the volunteers.  Here are some pictures from that weekend:


Jack seems so little in this picture!

Some of the mulching & plant work.

Congrats again, Alex!  We're all very proud of all of your hard work and the management of this project!

Prayer Request

I'm asking for some prayers for Matt's aunt who is currently in the hospital battling pneumonia. She has other health battles so even the slightest infections can be extremely hard to recover from. Please say prayers for his family for the support they may need in the coming days.

Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Weekends are my Fav!

I seriously can't get enough of weekends! Again, work has been super busy and I am so thankful that the weekend is here.

We spent this evening at our good friends' house with another family. It is always so great to get together with them because our kids are very close in age (three are within 1 month of each other) and we've all known each other since college (or before). We discovered today that Jack does not like bubbles... at least not when blown in his face! Who knows, we'll try again at a later date. It is always so fun to see the different points of development the three of the 15/16 month olds are and all of the things in which they're interested. Here is how big our "babies" look these days:

In other news, I never gave an update on our experience with the newest cloth diaper, the Best Bottom diaper, so here it is:

• Best Bottom (one-size): We got it in Chunky Monkey and I love the colors! We got the large sized snap-in inserts (one for regular wear & an extra overnight snap-in insert) and they seem to work well as we haven't had any leaks! I will say I'm not crazy about it though; the insert/liner almost always bunches up on Jack and it bugs me for some reason, but like I said they don't leak. The overnight insert has worked for us too, but it makes the diaper HUGE! It easily makes the diaper the biggest we own when doubled. They make a hemp liner but not in overnight (so you can snap the fleece on top for quick absorbency), I think that would be very helpful. It is a really neat concept to be able to switch out liners for a diaper change but the liners don't have a waterproof backing so I am fairly positive you'd have to wipe them out between uses (we wash ours after 1 use), and poop doesn't stay on the liner so I bet it'd be even worse for newborn poop. Overall, for day time use I really like this diaper but there are some downsides to it for us as well; maybe on a smaller baby it would fit better!

In other news, Matt & I are talking about trying to take a family vacation... we have no idea where or when but we know it should be low cost and driving distance. Although driving distance is definitely longer for us than most people are willing to do, we love road trips! We've driven to TX more than once, so a two-day drive is not out of the question for us. Please leave tips or suggestions that we'd all enjoy in the comments!

We're going to have a relatively low key weekend because Matt works tomorrow & has a golf outing for work on Sunday. Not crazy about not getting a lot of family time, but he was home all day & got some quality time with Jack so that is what is really important!