Parenthood in the Workplace

You could call this a rant, but I like to think of it as simply an observation of what actually takes place in what I'm sure are more work environments than you thought or hoped.

I work at a construction supply company. I'm in the office. There are about fifteen of us altogether. That's including warehouse, drivers, and us inside the office. I am the only chick at this location.

Several employees around here have had babies recently and I have witnessed for myself just how fucking sexist these people are around here. If we want to be specific, the problem is management. And it's not just sexism aimed at females, it goes the other way too.

When one of our drivers adopted a newborn baby and came in late one morning when the baby was literally days old, saying he hadn't gotten much sleep, one of our managers asked why he was even up in the middle of the night because his wife is a stay at home mom, that's her job to care for the baby. Legit. 

They get so upset that they could possibly be left short-handed because another person is bring born into this world.

Our branch manager actually had a baby earlier this year and he took a week off, no problem. But when one of the drivers or laborers has a baby and wants to take a day or two off, our two managers inside bitch and whine like it's the most selfish thing he could have done. Seriously. A day or two! I don't think anyone has taken more than that. 

If a guy who just had a baby can't even take off a couple of fucking days to assist their wife with caring for a whole new-born person, what the fuck?

Yet, as I mentioned, when the boss had a baby and took a week off, no one batted an eye. 

And I don't think these things are said to anyone's face, they're just spoken behind their backs, for the most part. 

This American culture of sexism sees parenthood as a topic to be kept behind closed doors. Pretty much everyone here is a parent, yet nobody is allowed to acknowledge this.

Of course, I'm hearing this as a fly on the wall, so to speak. I wouldn't know what they had to say about me when I was out of the office for three months when I had Calvin. They probably just thought I was over-reacting when I had premature rupture of membranes and was on bed rest in the hospital for five weeks. Then I took another eight weeks once the baby was born?! They were genuinely shocked by that one. I guess they thought those five weeks before my son was even born was just as good as having five weeks with him after he was born. 

Love,

Alaina

Best Bottom vs. Buttons Inserts Review & Comparison

Here is my honest review of four AI2 inserts.

The Buttons microfiber inserts were sent with a couple Buttons seasonal prints I was privileged enough to receive in exchange for posting pics on Instagram. All other were purchased by myself with my own money.

We use Buttons covers day in and day out in our household. We love them!

However, we don't just use Buttons brand inserts, we also have Best Bottom inserts, so here I have a little breakdown for you comparing two of each brand. 

The contenders are:

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)

Best Bottom Hemp (Medium)

Buttons Bamboo (Large)

Buttons Microfiber (Large)

Let's hop in!

Absorption 

I'd call Calvin an average wetter at this point in his toddler life. Usually when I change him right at the 2 hour mark, the Best Bottom inserts are only half soaked. The Buttons brand usually only seem like 1/3 soaked. So just judging by that fact, I'd say Buttons will hold more pee.

Buttons Bamboo wins.

Buttons Bamboo is significantly shorter than the others

Perceived Comfort Level

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)
super soft and flexible and seem really comfortable
Best Bottoms Hemp (Medium)
very stiff if line-dried, pretty stiff if you line dry and then toss in the drier for 15 minutes, but much more comfortable if you completely tumble dry them (totally would not recommend if you like to line dry)
Buttons Bamboo (Large)
like a pillow, fluffy and thick
Buttons Microfiber (Large)
soft and fluffy

Best Bottom Bamboo wins.

top to bottom: Best Bottom Hemp, Best Bottom Bamboo, Buttons Microfiber, Buttons Bamboo

Size

Best Bottom Bamboo (Medium)
trimmest in the crotch
Best Bottoms Hemp (Medium)
ever so slightly shorter than BB Bamboo
Buttons Bamboo (Large)
thicker, bulkier, and wider, but definitely shorter than the others
Buttons Microfiber (Large)
longest of the bunch, I don't think they shrink at all

The thing that gets me about sizing on the Buttons inserts is that they are both the same size Large, but the microfiber is significantly bigger than the Bamboo after prepping. Perhaps they were the same before prepping, but in all reality, what matters is after.

Best Bottom Bamboo wins.

left to right: Buttons Bamboo, Buttons Microfiber, Best Bottom Bamboo, Best Bottom Hemp

In the end if I could do it all over again I'd buy all Best Bottom Bamboo inserts. They are so soft whether dried on the line or in the dryer. They are flexible and trim in the crotch, so I think they are the most comfortable for baby, especially one who's on the move!

A couple little extras to note:
Although Buttons Bamboo are more absorbent, we simply don't need more absorbency. I am always changing Calvin at the two hour mark.
We keep our Buttons Microfiber in the diaper bag, so they are not in frequent rotation. Just from the research I've done, I prefer natural fibers in the daily rotation. On the other hand, we haven't had any negative experiences with microfiber either.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know your favorites and why. :)

Love,
Alaina

Slowly Introducing Cloth Diapers to the Grandmas

Tomorrow my mom will be beginning her journey in using cloth diapers on my son Calvin, who is 14 months old. We've been using cloth at home since he was 9 months old, but we had so many disposables that it has taken this long to go through them at grandmas!

Some background: My mom watches Calvin on Thursdays and Fridays, my mother in law watches him Monday-Wednesday. My mom has run out of disposables, my mother in law still has some.

So let's hop into this transition.

First Impressions

Neither grandma was very enthusiastic about this new adventure.
Neither had cloth diapered us when we were little, but they still had this negative first impression of what cloth diapers used to be, not knowing all the changes that have taken place in recent years.
Let's just say they did not seem enthused to be going at this, but they were willing to try it out to make us happy.

However, once they saw the super adorable diapers and how easy they were to use, they were both much more accepting.

Here's where we are currently...

Calvin started wearing cloth to the grandmas' houses about a month ago I would say. They change that one cloth diaper in the morning and put disposables on him all day. When he gets home with us, he wears cloth. It's a really nice balance and I think it's an awesome way to start getting the grandmas used to cloth slowly, instead of just throwing it at them all of a sudden out of nowhere.

So it's worked out awesome that one grandma ran out of disposables before the other. This gives us the opportunity to get used to doing laundry more frequently, without jumping right into a full-time thing. As well as simply getting used to packing cloth in the diaper bag, we'll also be able to keep track of how many diapers are being used and if our stash is sufficient for full-time use.

The Steps We Took
1: We used cloth at home for several months before introducing it to the grandmas. (We actually took is very gradually as well. Only using cloth in the home, then out and about, using disposables at night, eventually working our way up to full time in about 2-3 months.)
2: We would send Calvin in a cloth diaper to the grandmas but they were able to change him into disposables with that first diaper change of the day. This allowed them to get used to tossing the cloth into a wet bag. They were able to see him in cloth and get a little dose of cloth once per day.
3: My mom was the first to run out of the disposables so we switched her over to cloth completely.
4: (yet to be accomplished) Both grandmas use cloth full time, and so do we. Cal is an all cloth all the time baby.

I'm super excited to get the grandmas on board with this! :) I hope they enjoy it as much as they can.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Thoughts on Becoming a Mother of Two : TTC Second Pregnancy

As Justin and I have been trying to conceive baby #2 the last few months, I thought it might be nice to just take down my thoughts on the whole matter of becoming a mother of two.

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I always hear new mothers of their second child saying things along the lines of, "I didn't think I could love another baby as much as I love my first!" I might regret these words in the future months to come, but as of right now, I don't think I'm going to feel that way at all.

The thing I am afraid of is Calvin feeling left out. I'm a middle child. I understand the feeling of losing that spot as the baby. And I don't want him to feel like that. I pray I'll be able to find a balance of meeting his needs and the new baby's. I don't worry about not being able to love them both, I worry about Calvin not feeling all the love I have for him as much.

I can't wait to do things differently.
I can't wait to correct all the things I didn't do right with Calvin.
I have breastfeeding experience now. I'm not going to be afraid to feed baby #2 whenever they want. I better understand nursing on demand. I better understand hunger cues and the fact that babies literally eat all the time. I feel more confident in the breastfeeding department.

I can't wait to take advantage of that magical first hour laying skin to skin. I can't wait to try to nurse baby #2 right off the bat. And I can't wait to have the guts to keep my baby all to myself instead of inviting family to come in immediately. I didn't do those three things with Calvin and I have regretted that.

While there are so many things I look forward to, the idea of having two little people to take care of also scares me!
I'm afraid of going to the grocery store with two little ones.
I'm afraid of sitting down to nurse the baby while also making sure Calvin doesn't get himself into trouble.
I'm afraid of the exhaustion. I have experienced two different kinds already in my short time as a mother. There's an exhaustion that comes from utter lack of sleep. In the newborn days when you're up every 2-3 hours at night, that's one kind of exhaustion. There's also the toddlerhood exhaustion from watching over a tiny person who literally cannot sit still for one whole minute. And to imagine living through both of those at the same time just sounds too difficult to handle to me now.

And it's not just about once the baby is here! Being pregnant and taking care of a toddler at the same time is equally terrifying. Pregnancy is hard. The fatigue of it all on top of the daily exhaustion of the life of a full time working mother of a toddler? Ahh!

But I can't wait! I can't wait for the journey to come.

Love,
Alaina

Geffen Baby Hemp Flats Comparison : Hemp Jersey Flat & Hemp Fleece Fladdle

I know, I know! I have enough diapers. I have an overnight solution that works. Why would I need more?

Well because hemp is the best! And so are flats! So I thought these would be awesome. I really really wanted to try out some more hemp for overnights. Everyone makes fun of Calvin's giant fluffy bedtime butt, so I wanted to see if there was a more trim solution out there.

I prepped these in about 6 washes with other diapers and regular clothes, line-drying about every other wash, and I think the absorbency was perfect.

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Both available here.

Both can be a little stiff after line-drying, but they don't feel rough or uncomfortable.
They definitely dry overnight in 12 hours (I haven't tried drying them during the day, so I'm not sure exactly how long it takes to line dry). As far as absorbency is concerned, hemp is just the best! And I was pleasantly surprised with how soft they were! They are both super soft for any sort of material when tumbled dried, much less hemp! I guess I was just expecting the hemp to be rough, but it totally isn't!

Jersey flat pad folded

Hemp Jersey Flat
$8.50
26.5"x26.5"
This is a small flat. I think it would suit a newborn really well, but it's too small for my one year old, almost 25 pound boy. I can get it to work in a kite/airplane kind of fold, but it's cutting it close. So pad-folding it is! However, you can get a two pack of Thirsties hemp inserts for pretty much the same price as one of these. So in my eyes, the money is better spent on the inserts, unless super fast dry time is a big deal for you.

Fladdle in Jo fold

Hemp Fleece Fladdle
$12.48
30"x30"
This is a good size, maybe a little smaller than other flats we have. It's hard to snappi on the fuzzy side though, I like to fold it so the other side is showing and it's a little easier to snappi.
In an Origami or Jo fold, this will last 12 hours overnight for our one year old average wetter but it is soaked come morning. So we add a Thirsties hemp insert to boost it up a little just in case. That combination still makes for a much trimmer option than our usual overnight combination.
It may seem stupid to pay this much for one single flat when you could get a half dozen of GMD birdseye flats for the same price, but I honestly think it's worth it to have one or two of these on hand.

Fladdle on bottom, Jersey flat on top

Overall, I'm glad we have both but if I had to narrow it down for you, I'd recommend trying out the bigger Fladdle over the smaller Jersey flat! Get one or two for overnights or long car rides and I bet you'll be super happy with your purchase!

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Alaina

Our Fourth of July "Weekend"

Here's how we spent our 4th of July weekend.

We didn't really do anything overly patriotic, but spent time with our families. 

Out at my dad's property on the other side of town we found a turtle crossing the road and had to check it out. Calvin kept calling it a kitty, he thinks all animals are kitties, even some inanimate objects too. :)

Apparently the woods were too interesting to take a family photo. 

We finally got our patio finished! I'll show pics once the grass hopefully starts coming in. So we had a little fire out on our new patio with Justin's side of the family. We shot off a few fireworks.

And for the Fourth, Cal's cousins came over and they all attempted to play in the little kiddie pool. The girls thought Cal would look cute with these nice bows in his hair. :)

It was supposed to be a nice relaxing "four day weekend" but we ended up doing a lot of yard work. Justin had Monday off and I had to work. 

We graded, seeded, and strawed the backyard after finally getting our patio finished. I can't wait to have grass! It's been dirt for what feels like forever. 

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram, where I post way too often! :)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alaina