And also very excited. I just ordered our first set of cloth diapers today! I won't bore non-mothers-to-be with the details of cloth diapering, but suffice to say it's a bit more exciting to buy a dozen prefolds and cute little print covers than a pack of Huggies. Pictures later.
This has brought it all home to me, though... both the baby, and our status as "green" people.
So in the past few years, we've bought a hybrid, started composting, cut our disposable products usage by half - ie., using cloth instead of paper towels, generated less waste through buying recycled products and refilling non-biodegradable containers, etc - started using more "natural" cleansers (baking soda, vinegar, etc), and have plans for a garden this year. I also make my own yogurt and have been known to make my own bread, rolls, and hamburger and hot dog buns - which disappear from this house entirely too quickly for me to consistently keep up with demand. I use my own shopping bags.
It's been pretty easy, really.
And now, I'll be using cloth diapers, using a clothesline to dry said diapers, making my own detergent, making my own baby food, and of course, nursing. To add to this, my latest kick is figuring out how to crochet or knit my own wool diaper covers, since wool has some pretty amazing properties that make it a natural for this sort of gig.
I feel very "crunchy."
That's not why I'm doing these things (I hope it goes without saying); I see real value in the steps we're taking to reduce our carbon footprint. We get almost 50 mpg in the Prius, thus saving money on gas, while contributing zero emissions to the air. Obviously, the fewer paper towels I buy, the fewer I have to rebuy; always running our washing machine on "full" and using cold water washes offset the energy increase. Making my own yogurt is cheaper as well as contributing fewer plastic containers to landfills. Making my own detergent is also cheaper, and hopefully will help Ivan and Savannah with eczema issues while keeping our cloth diapers absorbent and clean. It's also better for the environment, as fewer dyes, brighteners, and other chemicals make their way into our water supply. Cloth diapers - really, this is a no-brainer. Two extra loads of laundry a week, or who knows how many years in a landfill?
And I have no excuse not to do these things. I stay at home. I have enough room in my household budget to experiment. And I know how to use the Internet to do my research before I hare off on a wild and crazy pie-in-the-sky project. So that makes me responsible for being responsible.
In other news, Ivan Jr. has decided that the hours between 3 AM and 6:30 AM are playtime. Right now his kicks are serious business; I've been known to press up against Ivan Sr. in the sincere belief that these kicks are so powerful, he'll be awakened by baby and will share my pain.
Only on weekends, I promise.
And it doesn't work anyway; Ivan Sr. can sleep through anything unless I call his name. And even my cruelty has limits. So here I am, the victim of my child's erratic schedule. I can only hope this timetable won't still be set when he makes his appearance.
However... in another two weeks or so, I'll have my revenge. Our little guy will find his current living quarters too cramped for his current shenanigans, and will not be able to get up his normal momentum, and punch or kick with so much vigor. I might even be able to once again get some sleep.
In another two weeks, we'll be in the single digit countdown for weeks with 8ish to go - if this kiddo decides to make his appearance at 40 weeks. Ivan Sr. would like him to postpone his birthday by a couple days, so he can complete a work project and be able to take time off. He has finals the following week, and thinks that baby leave will be a good time to study. Hahaha. Silly daddy.
We're getting so close, and still have so much to do. Occasionally, this causes me anxiety. Will we be ready? I know that logically, all we need are diapers, a car seat, some sort of clothes, and a place for kiddo to sleep. We do have (as soon as the diapers arrive) most of those basics - granted, we don't have a complete wardrobe or enough diapers to avoid washing them daily, but we'll get there. The mini-crib is still in storage, but we know where it is, and we already have a couple of cute blankets to pad it.
The rest will fall into place.
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