Suzy Q Homemaker

Have I mentioned that I have fabulous friends?  If I haven’t, then I shall surely sing their praises now.  One of them noticed on my blog that I have been in the market for a new diaper bag.  Last night after choir rehearsal, they presented me with this glorious specimen of diaper bag gloriousness:

No more diaper bag giveaways for me!!  I’m now the proud owner of this beautiful Petunia Pickle Bottom Boxy Backpack and I could NOT be happier.  I wanted to bring it to bed with me last night and snuggle it, but I don’t think Jamie would’ve appreciated that.  Here is what I adore about this bag:

• Detachable dirty diaper pouch  (a must for cloth diapers!!)
• Built-in changing station with detachable changing pad (note: DETACHABLE=WASHABLE)
• Handy key clip (I am constantly losing my keys in the bottom of my purse & old diaper bag)
• Backpack and shoulder straps

The last feature is especially wonderful since I will need to have both of my hands completely free to wrangle all four of my kids when we are out shopping.  Not that it will keep the kids from running in and out of the clothing racks at Goodwill or tearing down the aisles after their favorite cereals at the grocery store, but it certainly might help in parking lots when I need both hands to grab the inevitable runaway shopping cart or toddler.

I want to cry whenever I look at my new bag because it is just SO PRETTY.

I love you Beth & Mary Ann!!

Please don’t roll your eyes.  I’m writing yet ANOTHER post about my goals for 2009.  This time, though, THIS time I’m writing about how I plan to improve my green living.  Here are things we have already done over the past couple years:

• Eliminated the use of paper towels and napkins
• Use cloth diapers
• Employed the use of a clothesline (though it had to be taken down for the garden last summer)
• Switched to an eco-friendly dish soap and other household cleaning supplies
• Started wearing burlap sacks and cardboard shoes…HAHA.  Just kidding.
• Use canvas shopping bags

And here are things we’d like to do in 2009:

• Have a homebirth! (does that count?)
• Put the clothesline back up
• Plant, harvest, and can some vegetables
• Jamie wants to get chickens and goats.  We’ll see how that goes.
• Continue to use more eco-friendly cleaning products
• Find a reasonably priced potted Christmas tree

I may add more to this list as I think of things, but for now I don’t want to put any more pressure on myself than I already have with all these goals and challenges.  See?  Told you I need an intervention.

What are your Green Goals for 2009?  Head on over to Crunch Domestic Goddess and let her know!

With only a few months left of this pregnancy, I’m starting to examine our cloth diaper stash and all of its accessories.  For the most part, we’re all set with prefolds and a few fitteds for the non-prefold-loving family members/church nursery/lazies.  I have to knit a few newborn and small woolens, but there’s still time for that.  One item in particular that we received when Simon was born is still going strong and I am anticipating will last well into this baby’s potty-learning days: The Hanging Diaper Pail.

The Mother of Eden Hanging Diaper Pail is a magical bag that contains the smells of the worst diapers and is leak-proof.  It can be hung from a door knob, or like we used to do, the corner of our changing table. And it holds a LOT of diapers.  When the bag is full, you just dump the dipes into the washer along with the bag and wash it all at once!  Oh, and there is also a nifty little sachet sewn into the bag so that you can add a few drops of essential oil for extra odor control.  BRILLIANT.

We still use our hanging diaper pail even though Simon wears only a nighttime diaper…and those are RANK.  For a while, we just tossed his nighttime dipes into the laundry room with the underpants, but the smell gets overwhelming after a day.  I suggested we just use the diaper pail for them and save the planet from excess toxins in the atmosphere.  Problem solved!  We hang it from the back door knob in the laundry room since Simon has significantly outgrown the changing table.

My only regret with the Mother of Eden Hanging Diaper Pail?  I wish we had an extra one to use while the other one is in the wash!  I do believe another one will be going on our new baby’s wishlist. 

It’s a good thing Simon is potty-learned.  Cause I’d be keeping this soaker if he wasn’t!  This would be the perfect soaker for some lucky boy…