Tales From the Box

So I promised that I would provide honest feedback on the Peapods, whether it was positive or negative. Well, I have both to offer.

Bad news first.

In my previous post I bragged that, although the Peapods were a little bulkier than disposables, the Widg’s clothes still fit him. Unfortunately, this is only partly true. His onesie’s still fit, as they are stretchy anyway. But most of his shorts are made of a rigid-type of cotton and don’t have a lot of give in them, so I have found that they are a little tight in the rise. Any pants that are made of stretchy cotton fit fine.

Although this is a negative factor, I’m not really too bummed about it. Babies grow out of things so quickly that you are constantly buying bigger sizes anyway, and I haven’t spent massive amounts of money on his pants. I will simply need to buy one or 2 sizes bigger in pants for the little guy. So what.

Now for the positive. And boy, is it a good one!

His nappy rash has completely gone. I mean, absolutely, 100% disappeared. No, you don’t understand. This poor kid has had some mild form of nappy rash his whole life so far. I had tried every type of cream, lotion and concoction known to man to try and get rid of that darn rash, both medicated and natural products (I know what you’re thinking – “what about xyz?”. Yes. We tried that too). We have quite the little pharmacy going. Sometimes they would prevent the rash from flaring up again, but none of them really got rid of it. So when I say the rash is gone, it’s a big deal.

Since using the Peapods, I have not put any type of cream on him, not even once. And NO RASH! I am so deliriously happy about this. Can you tell?

So overall, I am very impressed with my Peapods. And I haven’t used a disposable nappy in over 3 weeks.

I have a dirty little secret. I wish I could quilt. Yes, you heard right. Quilt.

Anyone who knows me is probably laughing right now. For a few reasons. Firstly, I’m not crafty or even particularly creative. All of my creative ideas I pretty much steal from other sources and maybe tweak a little bit. Secondly, I tend to get obsessively enthusiastic about a new project or hobby, then get bored with it really quickly and drop it like a hot potato.

So when I set up the sewing machine several months ago, I was totally realistic with myself. I assumed I would have a bit of fun for a month or so, then never go back to it again. I made a few drawstring bags and some toys for the Widg, and I quite enjoyed it. Then we were having some visitors throughout December and January so I packed the sewing machine away to make the Box a bit more child-friendly. It was at this point that I thought to myself “I’ll probably never set it up again”.

But I actually found myself itching to get back into it. I’ve been trawling blogs looking for projects to sew and getting all excited about it.

I won’t give away my ideas just yet (I’d be terribly embarrassed if I shared the goss now, only to chicken out and not do it). But I will show you my first attempt for 2011: a mug rug!

A what? (I hear you ask). A mug rug. Essentially a coaster, but a bit bigger. For holding a cup of hot something and a couple of biscuits.

These things are all over the net – just google “mug rug” and you’ll see them everywhere.

(from a cuppa and a catch up)

(from pin. sew. press.)

They’re really just a mini quilt, which is why I love them. I get to make lots of little quilts, which satisfy my urge to make something, but they’re not a huge project (like a real, full-size quilt) that I would quickly get bored with and lose interest.

I’m pretty happy with my first attempts (I made 3 actually), although I recognise that there is a lot of room for improvement. I hope to make many more, and get better with each one.

You may remember from previous posts that a) I tend to be quite organised, and like things neat and tidy, and b) we have the Malm 6 drawer in the Widg’s room to store his various articles of clothes, blankets and other random accoutrements.

We had some friends over just before the Widg arrived, and they were having a sticky beak through his room. One of them noted how neatly I had organised his things in the drawers, and commented that his belongings wouldn’t remain in such a neat state for very long.

Well I can proudly state that the drawers have remained neat and tidy for the first 6 months of his life, so we are off to a good start.

He has 2 drawers of clothes that currently fit him, 1 drawer of clothes that he will grow into, and a box hidden behind the chair that contains clothes that he has grown out of. One drawer holds his cloth nappies and things, another is for bibs, burp cloths and towels, and the last one holds blankets and sheets.

I use these Skubb boxes from Ikea to keep the small bits and pieces organised.  And I go through his clothes every few weeks to rearrange things slightly as he grows into or out of them.

I also have a box under his cot for winter blankets and clothes that he will need to really really grow into (since I won’t need these for at least another 6 months). I must say that his friends and family are incredibly generous in giving him lots of gifts – the kid seriously has a lot of clothes! Takes after his mother obviously.

Before the Widg came into our lives, I did some research on cloth nappies. And I mean research. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say I read some stuff. Finally I decided on these ones:

Peapods. Several reasons for my choice: available in Australia (most other brands, at the time, wouldn’t ship to Oz); I could buy them in an actual real life store to try them out, then I could purchase them in bulk, online, from the manufacturer; great online reviews from many many MANY websites/blogs/etc; adjustable sizing; press stud buttons (I learned that velcro can wear out quicker and the bubs can learn to undo them easier); and I could go on.

Now, since I did my research and purchased my Peapods about a year ago (I have about 20) the market has increased and there are many more brands that are available, and more of them ship to Australia now. So if I had my time again, I may have gone with a different brand, such as Bumgenius (their website is down at the moment, otherwise I would link to it. If I remember later, I will do so). Mainly because they are more well known (at least in the US) and have been around for longer, so they have been truly tested by lots of mums. They also got the best reviews.

Having said that, I am, so far, very pleased with my Peapods.

They don’t leak, they are ridiculously easy to wash and use (just as easy as disposables) and they satisfy my main 2 reasons for wanting to use cloth: saving money in the long term and being eco-friendly. My only problem so far has been that the Widg is so little, and his bum even littler, that he is only just now, at 6 months old, fitting into them. It drove me bonkers for the last 6 months to be using disposables, knowing that I was throwing away both cash and non-biodegradable materials, and contributing a huge amount to landfill.

I know I am getting all serious and political here. And I know that there are people who say that the extra water, energy and detergent used washing cloth nappies negates any “good” done. But I disagree (my own humble opinion, not based on actual scientific calculations). I only wash in cold water, used the tiniest amount of detergent (the manufacturer recommends this anyway), only wash when I have a full load, and line dry them (and yes, this does actually clean them thoroughly. Yes, even the poo). And any parent would surely agree: you do so much extra washing with a child anyway, what’s a few extra loads a week? Plus we have a large water tank to collect rainwater, so in my head this balances out any extra water usage. Double plus: using extra water is surely better for the environment than contributing to landfill with a material that doesn’t really break down. At least water is replenishable.

Noah hasn’t noticed any difference in comfort (he told me) and I dare say his chronic nappy rash has not flared up since we have been using them (now that I have said that, Murphy’s Law dictates that the rash will reappear tomorrow. Watch this space). They are a little bulkier than disposables, but not so much that his clothes don’t fit- they still fit just fine. And since using them, I have discovered several other mama’s in my local community who use them too.

I do still have an emergency stash of disposables and I’m not afraid to use them. I just feel ethically better that I am able, in some way, to make a small difference to our footprint. I hope to be able to teach the Widg some lessons without being a total hypocrite.

On a side note, I’m not being paid to say any of these things, I genuinely believe them and they are my own experiences. And I will truthfully blog about any negative experiences I have also.

There used to be 2 Lack shelves above our TV, and these were a home for our extensive DVD collection. However, our DVD collection outgrew the Lack shelves, so we needed to find them a new home.

For a while, the DVD’s lived in the Billy’s, but this was very messy and drove me slightly bonkers. I was also, at this time, thinking of ideas for the landing strip. So my solution was this: find a chest of drawers or sideboard of some kind to house the DVD’s, move one of the Lack’s to the front entrance hall to become the landing strip, and leave the other Lack above the TV for decorative items and such. Genius, I know.

So I put the trusty husband to work, and a short time later, voila! I give you… Single Lack Above The TV:

And presenting her friend, Malm 6 Drawer Chest, otherwise known as Sideboard:

Within the mysterious depths of Sideboard live our DVD’s. If we are very quiet, we may be able to have a peek…

Don’t they look pretty? In all seriousness, I did actually do my research before deciding on the Malm 6 drawer for this space (have I ever made a decision without doing extensive research first? Probably not). You know we are already fans of the clean lines and unapologetic simplicity of the Malm, so it was already top of my list. I measured up the space to make sure it would fit, and I also worked out how many DVD’s it would comfortably house (picture me taking piles of DVD’s up to our Malm’s in the bedroom, sorting them in various configurations into a drawer, then doing the maths to calculate how many would fit into 6 drawers). I figured out we could fit all of our DVD’s, plus have 2 drawers spare to allow for more in the future. And I knew it would look great in the space. It was a no brainer.

Plus, it gives me another surface to “merchandise” my pretty things, like various vases, bowls, ornaments and stacks of magazines.

And yes, the DVD’s are alphabetised. I have a sickness, I know.

Not sure why, but I have a thing for armchairs.

(I can’t remember where I got this image from, so if it’s yours, or you know where it comes from, please let me know and I will happily credit the source).

(from Apartment Therapy)

(from Apartment Therapy)

I don’t quite understand this weird obsession myself, but there it is. I particularly like Mid-century/scandi armchairs. But then who doesn’t?

(from Apartment Therapy)

I don’t have a lot of random extra space at the Box to add more armchairs, but one day I hope to have a larger house with plenty of opportunity for gratuitous armchair placement.

(from Danbury Upholsterers)

(from St Leger & Viney)

(from Ikea)

I love this Ikea Stockholm one (above). It’s way too pricey for my budget (odd for Ikea, I know).

(from Orson & Blake)

I have this one (below) in the Widg’s room.

(from Ikea)

It’s been great for middle of the night feedings and story time.

Well, that’s all I have to blog about regarding armchairs. I just like ‘em.

Well I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Here at the Box, we had a few days of food, family and friends, with lots of fairy lights, fresh hydrangeas and some colourful lanterns.

We did a Christmas tapas on Christmas Day, then a Greek-inspired lamb, flat breads and dips on Boxing Day, and then left-overs for the 2 days after that.

Friends and family came from far and wide (Armidale, Goonellabah, Melbourne, Canberra, Blacktown and Blaxland). The dogs even payed a visit.

And of course, the Widg thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas.

Overall, a jolly yuletide fest!

I would like to introduce Noah’s new bird toy. I made it. Yup. It’s not bad for a first attempt, if I do say so myself.

In this picture, the eye kind of makes it look a bit evil. But in real life it’s not so bad. Trust me.

I got the inspiration from here, I just simplified it a little bit so that it was easier for me. I kind of think it looks like the Twitter bird.

So far Noah just tries to eat it. But I think I could turn it into a hanging/mobile something. It was actually just a trial run to see if I was any good at it. I might make some more in Christmas-y colours and turn them into hanging ornaments for the tree.

We have added to the landing strip. For a while now, I have wanted to add some hooks to the front entry area of the house, so that there would be less clutter and a more organised zone for keeping my handbag, shopping bags, and those random things that seem to accumulate at the front door. You know, coats and scarves in winter, a few pairs of thongs in summer, that sort of thing.

So we bought a nice set of hooks from Bunnings and the husband hung it on the wall opposite the lack shelf.

I am quite pleased with the result. It keeps things neat and tidy without actually having to put stuff away. Always a bonus.

Seven lovely years ago today my awesome husband and I said “I do”. I asked him this morning if he was feeling itchy. Lucky for me he said no.

Thank you, my love, for 7 wonderful, fun, happy, exciting, silly, shiny years of marriage (plus the 6 years before that). I can’t wait to grow old with you.

xx