Of diapers and wipes...

At my house, diapers can be a hot topic. Sounds exciting doesn't it? The talk usually boils down to two sides, 1) preference for one brand and 2) preference for something decent, but mainly preference for the price. I'm sure you can figure out who comes down on what side of this debate... What has recently entered into the discussion is also trying to be more conscious of the products we're using, and their effects on everything else. Add to this Karen and Annie being gone for the weekend a few weeks ago, and with way too much time on my hands... I set about trying to find some good deals that would not only satisfy me from a price consideration, Karen from a brand perspective and everyone from a 'are we doing what we can' perspective. Enter Amazon.

Oh Amazon... how I've loved you for finding me books to read, and introducing me to so many things that I didn't know existed until you suggested it. But Amazon also sells diapers and wipes, and anything else you can imagine. A friend of mine before had told me about buying diapers there, and so I figured I should give it a try. Most of the 'grocery' items Amazon sells you have to buy in bulk, which is fine because if there's something you don't want to run out of, it's diapers and wipes.

Normally we buy a value box of diapers from Costco for about $44. At Amazon, you can get the same box for about the same price, and they throw in free two-day shipping. But where you really save some cash, is if you 'subscribe' to the item, and have it delivered on a regular basis. If you do that, they will shave 15% off the price. Not too bad. With these cost savings, we were able to spring for the 7th Generation diapers and wipes. What's great about the 7th Gen diapers, is that they do not use chlorine to dye the wood pulp white during the making of their diapers. This is good because using chlorine releases chlorinated toxins during the pulp production process.

Costco doesn't sell 7th Generation diapers, so if we were to buy them somewhere else, they would cost about $52 for the same amount. With the 15% discount, we only paid $37, not too bad. And onto the wipes, we were even happier, because it's pretty hard to find wipes that do not contain alcohol. And when Annie has diaper rash, the alcohol in the wipes is brutal. But guess what wipes don't contain alcohol? That's right, 7th Generation. Picked those up from Amazon too, and same deal. Subscribe to the item and in addition to the free shipping you get 15% off, not too bad.

Now the wipes were pretty expensive relative to what we had been buying. Costco sells wipes under their brand name, and I'd say you get between 8 - 10 packages of 80 wipes/package, for about $20. That's cheap. Even with the discounts the 7th Generation wipes were still about $34 for 12 packs of 70 wipes. So, we saved some money and spent some more somewhere else... Sometimes a wash is the best you can do...

Karen and Annie take D.C.

Last weekend I was in class, so Karen and Annie set out to DC to visit her friend Stephanie. So since I wasn't there, and I'm writing this and not my "co-blogger," you'll just have to take my word for the way things went down.

Karen and Annie got there Friday night. Annie had somewhat of a meltdown in the terminal waiting for the flight, causing Karen to quickly pick her up off the floor and find the most remote part of the airport... Then after a banana Annie was all better and they had a nice flight to DC. Saturday they went out to breakfast, the first place they went was packed so they ended up at this French-organic place. Where everyone was super-snobby (and probably wearing berets, but I wasn't there). Then the three of them headed out to see the sights! Annie had a great walk along the reflecting pool. I've heard that Annie walked the whole way, but I don't know if I believe that. It is 2,029 feet long... Then they saw the Lincoln Memorial, and lots of other memorials.



Annie has two questions, 1) Can Sasha, Malia or Bo come out and play? And 2) Keep up the good work on health care! Ok, so really 1 question and 1 statement.

This is Annie out at (insert meal here). Actually looking very calm. I'm guessing either they just got there or the camera took about 50 pictures in a row and this was the one second where she wasn't doing anything. Annie has become quite the little handful when dining out. Two weekends ago we were out for breakfast, and there was this guy sitting at the table next to us, about two feet away. The entire meal Annie kept throwing things at this guy, who luckily had a great sense of humor and didn't mind the non-stop interruptions. Towards the end of the meal Karen and I are both getting embarrased, because everytime we look away she's tossing her toy, book, food, sippy cup... literally anything not bolted down was tossed at this guy and landed at his feet. And everytime he would nicely pick it up, say something funny to her, and then return to his meal.

Karen and Annie had a great trip, and I sure was glad when they came home!

Halloween photos

As promised, here are our Halloween photos! We had so much fun at the Korns... and as I mentioed earlier, Annie loved seeing all the other kids and their costumes. Annie is supposed to be a monkey, but I'm thinking in these photos she actually looks more like a bear. I'm not feeling very creative and don't really have too much else to share... so sorry for the lame post.

Quick weekend recap

We had a great weekend, and Annie had lots of fun on Halloween! We
were originally supposed to go to BF for Halloween, but our plans
changed, so instead we went to Hingham. Our friends Scott and Jen
live there and it was a lot of fun to see them and help hand out
candy. Especially since we don't get any trick or treaters at our
house. Surprisingly enough we also forgot our camera, but Scott took
some good shots I'll post when I get them.

This video should help tide you over in the mean time... And Annie
isn't wearing a shirt because right now it's very warm in our apt
because Karen is in the process of cooking a turkey with all the
fixings!

Annie likes hanging out on the floor... and the 'spite poop'

A few weeks ago we noticed Annie would all of a sudden just lay down on a rug, or the floor. We thought this was kind of weird. Then we learned that at daycare Annie had graduated from sleeping in a crib to sleeping on a mat (I'm not 100% on how going from a nice mattress to a mat on the floor is an upgrade, but I digress). Also, a few times at bed time when we go into Annie's room, she will walk right in, go to her crib, and then lay down on this shag rug that is in front of her crib with Elmo and get ready for bed! We then tell her that she doesn't have to sleep on the floor at home!

Now, you're probably wondering, what's the spite poop? The spite poop is a phrase that Karen and I have coined to describe what Annie frequently does when we put her down for a nap. We get everything ready, change her diaper, give her her pacifier, Elmo, the works - then put her down. Then about 10 - 15 minutes later we'll hear her either: a) playing in her crib, laughing and running around, or b) crying. And sure enough, 9 times out of 10, she has pooped. And when her diaper's dirty, she can't sleep, natch. So we call it the spite poop, because she has a real habit of doing this in the morning and afternoon before her naps. And this is regardless of whether she has already had a BM recently, I swear she can poop on demand. This morning she did the trifecta. She threw her pacifier and Elmo out of the crib, and she had a spite poop.

This is Annie's new trick. She can now pull herself up on the coffee table, and then stands! Karen sent me these pics while I was in class. That Annie, she sure is always into something! And she is also very fast at getting herself on top of the table... we're going to have to make sure everything is tied down now that we've got a climber on our hands! D'oh!

Annie's first photo shoot

This past weekend was Annie's fist photo shoot! I didn't want to look like I was trying to cannibalize on the photographer's action, so I only took one photo with my phone. Although, after I saw the pricing sheet I wished I would have taken many more... Anyways, Annie was great throughout the whole thing. She was very playful and didn't cry the entire time. Although most of the time she didn't smile either, but it's the small victories you have to take comfort in! The photographer was great with her, and I think out of all the photos she took we're going to have some really good ones. Annie had her picture taken on Sunday, and it was pouring the whole time, and we got snow! Unbelievable.

Saturday was beautiful. Karen was at a friend's baby shower, so Annie and I took our show on the road. We went downtown to meet our cousin for lunch, and had a great time! Annie was a champ the whole time. She got a little squirrely before we sat down, and right before we left, but other than that no major issues. And it was great to catch up with Holly!

Annie goes to the park and then terrorizes Whole Foods

Last weekend, which will probably be remembered as the last nice weekend, we took a nice long walk along the Charles, then went to Whole Foods. Although after looking at the photos, I'm thinking they were from different days since Annie is in different clothes... This is what happens when you wait too long to post!

Anyways, the weather was cool, but sunny. And since Annie loves going to the park, the slides and swings, we thought we'd venture out farther and go to a new park along the river. She loved it! Especially the covered slide, where a certain someone may have almost knocked Annie onto the ground when she came down the slide... But I won't name names...

At the grocery store (whenever that was...), Annie took her spiked hair on the road and terrorized the place! It's amazing the things you know, but forget to apply under new circumstances. For instance, I know Annie loves to grab things off from tables, and pull anything down that she can get her hands on. But when we're at the store and she's in the cart, I completely forget about the fact that if she is too close to the aisles... Those little hands just start compulsively grabbing whatever is closest! So that always makes things very interesting...

I'm not condoning this, but it's hilarious...

Magga and Poppa visit (weeks ago... and Jordan)

A few weeks ago Magga and Poppa came to visit. The boys (me, Poppa, and Jordan) went to the BC / Wake Forest game, where the photo above is from. The ladies went downtown, out to lunch (I think?) and did some shopping. Annie has needed some new shoes for a while, so Karen and Magga found some and she got two new pairs! And if you hear this story from Karen, she'll tell you that I made her buy 'boy' shoes.

They are not 'boy' shoes. All I said, was if we were going to buy two pairs, let's make one neutral-ish, so in case our next child is a boy, we can re-use some of this stuff. And not everything, but more expensive items (shoes, jackets, etc.) once in-a-while could be neutral and not always pink. Besides, why should we continue to pass on society's gender stereotypes? And then Karen says, well in that case if our next kid is a boy then you shouldn't mind if he's wearing pink shoes! Snap.