Hello, Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye

"A name, What's in a Name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..."

From the first moments of our relationship Jones and I tossed around baby names. We knew from the beginning that we were not just starting a relationship but a Family. Before I had met him I had names I liked but the more we grew as a couple the more certain names started to stick. One name in particular, October. I knew she would be coming to our family. When the ultrasound for our first child revealed to us it was a boy, I still knew a girl would come one day, and when she did We would name her October. C was also a name that came to us, and we knew it was meant for him. I don't know if it is because I like to control my future or just because I am a dreamer but I have the names picked for all our potential children. I have dreamt about them for 4 years. Two down, three more to go, and as Tober gets older my excitement for our next child already grows each day. Their names are J.Lee, D.C, and Atticus Scott. {the first two are abbreviations}

Today Colt y Pip brought home their gorgeous new little baby boy, he is soft, sweet and smells soooo good. With joy they announced that his name is Atticus L.

My heart dropped a little. It quickly picked back up in my excitement for them. The inspiration for the name came from the same place as mine. To Kill a Mocking bird, he is named after the father in the story. They plan on calling him L. and the name fits him well. {hey that rhymes}I didn't think much about it again until I laid my head down on my pillow to fall asleep and I couldn't. The image kept flashing through my head of the little boy named Atticus who for 4 yrs. I thought would some day join our family. I began to cry. I felt stupid. There was never a guarantee we would even have another boy, and even if we did his name would be D.C. We would have to have 3 boys before the name would be used, still I couldn't shake it.

I got up out of bed to jot down this post. Stupid or not it is what I am feeling.

So I just wanted to say Goodbye to the Atticus who will never be mine, Hello to the Atticus, who snuck in to my family another way and to that little boy possibly waiting up there in heaven, YOU can still be mine even if your name is yet to be determined.

With love,
TheSpanishlady

Hopefully now I can go to sleep :)

The Rasterbator

This is one of the artsy solutions Mama R came up with. Check it out, the name is weird but it is a cheaper, unique alternative to painting.

The Rasterbator

I am considering doing something simple like this,

Or collaborating with hAha to make a pic involving a tree branch and my yellow rose ring.

we shall see.

Any ideas?

The difference between the 2

The Green one is a Flip Diaper and the Red is a Whammie pocket diaper

I bought primarily Flip diapers because I wanted to be able to reuse the covers and only change out the inserts, because I am a very visual person I wanted to show the difference between them and pocket diapers. With the above diaper I just take out the insert and wipe the diaper cover clean, with the diaper below you have to change out the entire diaper but it is supposed to be more absorbant and there are less steps to your process with that.

Whammie Pocket Diaper

I can't help but love them, and I love that my kids little hands and feet are in every picture I take. :)

BeAutiful Girl

I couldn't help myself, I had to get one pink diaper, the rest are gender neutral.

See, she loves them!

My personal guide to cloth diapers

I have lots of Sisters :), all of them amazing Women. 2 of my Sisters in law, Pip and Haha, are prego and about to pop {in fact I think one is right now...} and I can't wait for their little boys to join our growing family. I have been amazed at how they handle their pregnancies and motherhood. I love how couragous and strong they are.

Our family is slowly but surely taking steps towards being more self sufficient. Both of these fine ladies are cloth diapering and I have now officially hopped on the BandWagon. It wasn't a hard choice for me. I dislike disposables, they stink, they're ugly and they keep me dependent on a local store to provide them for me. Tober looks so adorable crawling around in her little green diapers. I know I might have some ups and downs with this but I also know I will have some fine Ladies helping me on my way. They paved the road for me, doing all the research and then advice from personal experience. I am just so thankful to have the support that I have.

If you are interested in Changing to cloth diapers, you can check out this blog post. Or if you are just curious what I bought to get started here is a list:

-4 flip diaper covers $13.95 each.

Pro's these covers can be reused by changing the insert instead of being a one time only like other diapers. Also they are one size fits all 8-35lbs

-12 flip diaper inserts $3.60 each. {normally 4.95 ea but I bought them in a package with covers}

Pro's easy to use and they keep the baby from getting a diaper rash, however you may have to change your baby more often than with prefolds(i guess I will find out)

-12 prefold diaper inserts $28.95.

Pro's super absorbent and cheapest insert. Con's you have to use microfleece to keep the baby from getting a diaper rash. {easy solution buy micro fleece baby blanket from Goodwill for .99 and cut it up you'll get about 20 sheets!}

-1 whammie all in one $17.95

Pro's super easy to use, comes with an insert that goes into a closed pocket all you have to do is put the diaper on and off just like adisposable. great for babysitters, grandma and dad, plus it came in Red!

Con's you can only use it once, and then you have to wash it. $$$

-Wet bag Medium size-$16.50

Pro's This is a bag with a sealed lining to keep your dirty diaper's in your diaper bag. Besides being super cute it also takes the place of carrying around a million trash bags. *this pic in not the exact bag I got. This is a wet/dry bag which means it has a pouch for your clean diapers too. I kind of wish I had gotten this one but it cost a little mo money.

Planet wise bags are the prettiest wet bags have ever seen! even if you dont use cloth diapers these bags work for wet gym clothes and swimsuits!

-bum genius Diaper sprayer $44.50

Pro's sprayer gets the poop off your diaper so that you dont have to.

Con's the sprayer can spray poo {so I hear} my plan is to get a deep bucket for next to the toilet.

Here is my "to get list"

-Diaper pail bag. 12.50 - 22.50 depending on the brand. I just want something that will hang in my laundry room.

-essential oils $15 {altogether}needed to make my own wipes { I took recieving blankets and cut them up into wipes!}

-2 more flip covers and 6 more inserts $50

after all that I will be completely set! hopefully :)

P.s. I just successfully cleaned my first disasterous poo diaper and a word of advice for those of you who cant afford a bum genius sprayer, buy flushable toddler wipes instead of the regular baby wipes this way you can wipe and flush a majority of the poo. I am planning on making my own wipes but I still think these would come in handy.

TGFR

Thank Goodness for mi Madre in law. She is coming to rescue me from my design dilema. Landlord said no painting so I have to come up with a new way to add that splash of color and this woman is a Genius when it comes to design. Although I feel we tend to be unable to communicate what I want without her getting stressed by my "intensity" {poor gal} I really appreciate her advice in this area {and many others}

A very very unMother's day to me

LAst night all the boys {excuse me, Men} in our family made dinner for the Ladies. My Husbands contribution was a Tres Leches Cake {which I ended up making because he got home from work late} This was the recipe I used, not the best I ever had but pretty darn Tasty! I added the Strawberries cause thats How I likes it, and yes this is what I ate for breakfast this morning. :)

TRes Leches (3 milks)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups whole milk
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.
Cream butter or margarine and the 1 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; beat well.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture 2 tablespoons at a time; mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Pierce cake several times with a fork.
Combine the whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
Whip whipping cream, the remaining 1 cup of the sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!