Getting into my groove and product reviews

So-as with everything there is an adjustment period.  My new though process on routines has really been helping me out.  I was clueless that once you have a child organization is crucial and vital to the flow of your family life.  I have done countless searches for tools to help me make sure I am on top of everything and all I have found are countless schedules and task lists.  By the time it is all said and done-I would need a binder!  So I am still trying to work everything out.  My newest creation is a daily schedule sheet that is posted on the refrigerator.  It has work out time/events for Mike, Isabella and Myself; Isabella's eating schedule; dinner; tv shows for me and Mike and a notes section for last minute things that come up.

Solid feedings were something that I had been excited about starting since Isabella was born.  Don't ask me why-but it was something that I was looking forward too.  Now that we have started solid foods-man was I in for a shock.  I didn't realize that they had to LEARN to eat.  So my already huge laundry duties for the family have now doubled, and cleaning time has increased.  So you figure Isabella has about 3 changes of clothes a day.  Her morning clothes after bath time-then she spits up on them and is drenched, so on to outfit number 2-which the same thing happens later and now pj's.  Since her food is solid now with her bottles, the spit-up now comes in an array of colors-and although we never used bibs before with bottle feedings very much-they are REALLY necessary now.  So once you add in burp cloths, a couple of changes of clothes, blankets she plays/spits up on, high chair cover that gets food all over it, her bounce a bout chair cover, bibs, changing table cover she now has her own load of laundry!  Plus our washer is small, so in one day I am doing 3-4 loads of laundry!  Plus I wasn't prepared for the screaming that would come when trying to feed her rice or oatmeal..she hates them!  I have even tried to put fruit in the cereals, and still no go.  We have given her sqash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, bananas, peaches, green beans and peas.  I am scared to go toward the meats...I can't even imagine what those are going to smell like.  EWWW!  Also, nobody prepared me for our new diaper blow outs.  Now poop is starting to look like poop in color.  It has been green because of the iron in the formula for a really long time now, which almost made it not so bad...like it wasn't really poop.  However now she is transitioning to brown and the diapers are heavier..it is just gross and it is blowing out onto her clothes.  I swear when we change diapers now, it is like trying to perform surgery so that it doesn't get all over everything.

Some wonderful laundry items that I use are - color catcher sheets-(now no more separating of colors), the cheapest free and clear detergent we can find, and for stains - the magic wand which you can purchase at drycleanersupply.com.  This magic wand stick is awesome-we used it at the shop and works on everything including blood!  I will say, that if you want your whites to stay white-the color catcher sheet doesn't really do the job that well, but at least they won't turn pink.  These days that is all that matters.

So now that we are moved in, starting to get used to the area and falling into a groove with Mike working-I am finding that I am more productive with my days.  So now I am looking into activities to do with Baby Bella.  I signed up for a free class with Gymboree on the 28th of this month and am trying to get into a free class at My Gym.  Once I go and get the final cost for everything, hopefully it will be something that we can add into our day, good for Baby Bella and will allow me to meet other mommies.  I will report my findings/costs of both places on one of my blogs.

It is amazing to watch Baby Bella try new things.  She is now sitting up higher (getting out of tripod mode) but can only do it for a couple of seconds now.  When she is on her tummy she will reach with her arms for balls/toys and try to grab them and pull them to her.  She loves watching herself in her Lamaze Toy Mirror now, which she never really payed attention to before.  One of the things that is difficult is doing the same things over and over-she loves it, but Mommy gets REALLY bored.  lol. 

We have a really busy week this week, and it feels great!  I am hoping that the weather stays nice for when Baby Bella wakes up so that we can go for a walk.

Oh and before I forget - product reviews:
DIAPERS:
So we had tried a bunch of diapers when she was a newborn and settled on the Huggies Little Snugglers.  They are awesome and do a great job, but they are super expensive (I have searched everywhere for better prices and used coupons)  Since we are on a tighter budget, we switched to Targets brand up and up for her.  They work really well, the only thing I miss is the little snugglers had a pouch on the back side top of the diaper that helped with blow outs up her back that the up and up diapers didn't have.  But other than that, they do the job.  The huggies averaged about $0.26 a diaper and the up and up diapers average $0.15 a diaper, that is without them being on sale or having a target coupon-which you can use a code or print online.  FYI the diapers at the dollar store were HORRIBLE that we had bought.

WIPES:

We always use sensitive/non fragrance wipes.  We tried the target brand, but our best cost one that we found that we liked are from wal-mart.  They are the sensitive Parents Choice.  You can get a 704 count box for $10.97 which comes out to around $0.15 each.  To give you an idea the up and up brand comes out to about $0.19 each.  Why I like the parents choice are for two reasons-One the wipes are super thick so you need less of them to get the job done, and two each of the packages in the box come with a plastic snap lid where you pull the wipes from.  Let's face it the ones with the adhesive tape that comes with the up and up brand is a pain, and can cause the top wipe to dry out.

FORMULA:
We used Enfamil when Baby Bella was off breast feeding for fussiness and gas.  What we didn't realize was that she didn't have any of this, so the formula was bad for her.    We tried Similac-which Baby Bella didn't like at all, and finally settled on Gerber Smart Start.  The only thing is that it is so expensive.  A 20 ounce can cost you about $20.00.  The grocery store has the 20% more container for the same price.  However, the up and up brand from target is a 40 oz for $20.00 and is a huge savings.  At the age Isabella is now she goes through 1 can of 20 ounce formula in less than a week.  It all starts to add up.  The up and up brand is also cheaper than the walmart Parent's Choice formula-not by much but about a penny an ounce.