the never ending laundry saga

[Emily]

Do you ever feel like your laundry just..never ends?? I've got laundry from a family of 5, diapers, and now extra laundry from a 2.5 year old who is regressing in potty training, after being fully trained before Christmas. *sigh* It just never ends, as I sit here typing I'm surrounded by 5 piles of laundry [I fold in piles of owners] and I still have half a basket full sitting beside me. I have to wash diapers at some point...I should essentially put them in tonight before I go to bed because they take a while, on hot setting and with 'smart meters' it costs more to wash them during the day- uurg. This is a venting post, if you hadn't noticed already ;-) Who created this smart meter anyway?! People who work out of the home aren't affected, because well...they aren't home to do laundry anyway. But before the smart meters came into play, daytime was my prime time to get laundry done- because the kids were up and I could put the laundry away just as fast as I folded it. With the new smart meters, you can't use the dryer [ or heat ...I don't know?] until 9pm!! That means I either can only do laundry on weekends [it's cheap all weekend , no matter the time of day] or I have to wait until 9pm to get it done which means I'm not folding until 11pm , but I'd rather wait and fold next day but because of the amount of kids running around and "helping" I can't fold until they're in bed anyway. *big sigh*

Anyway.... do you ever wish you could get a little laundry fairy come in and magically all your laundry was done and put away without you even getting off the couch? If you have one ...please send them my way, I will be forever in debted to you !

Eye catching

(Deanna) Well it has been a rough few months but I am back, back into the swing of things, back to creating out website.  Though things have moved slow we are well on our way to finishing the sight.  Once this portion is done we will be ready to promote,promote........
Let us know some of your ideas that would catch your eye or get you interested in our site and our products.

Slings!

[Emily] Do you love babywearing? What kind of carrier do you use? My favourite is my Hot Sling which I've had for a few years now, it's by far my absolute favourite. I've had the Baby Bjorn, the Snugli, Infantino, etc.

Well, my daughter constantly grabs my sling and puts her dolls in it, so I put an elastic at the shoulder so it fits her. I was 'comissioned' to make a ring sling for a friend's daughter, [for dolls] and thought , what a great idea!!
So- here are some creations!!

why cloth diaper?

Have you ever found yourself wondering what the benefits of cloth diapering, vs. disposable? Well- the big no brainer...is cost. Cloth diapering may seem to be expensive, when you start looking at the diapers, the styles, the laundering, etc- but you make that initial investment on your diapers [about $200-$300 depending on what you're getting] and the diapers last for YEARS. So, your little one potty trains typically around 2.5yrs-3yrs but some are in diapers longer than that. Cloth diapered babies potty train sooner than disposable diapered babies simply because you can adjust the amount of padding [absorption] in your cloth diapers, so that they start to feel wet- instead of wicking away all that wetness. My daughter was completely trained a month after her 2nd birthday. My son, who was in disposables wasn't trained until after his 3rd birthday!

Secondly- if you have a little one with sensitive skin, or is prone to rashes- cloth diapers are fantastic as they allow their skin to breath [they're not wrapped in plastic..] A lot of kids have allergies to whatever chemicals are in disposable diapers [those beads that absorb their urine...that's scientifically made- do you know what it is? Because I sure don't] Cloth diapers also encourage you to change your baby's bum a little more often than a disposable- which also helps with rash prevention and healing.

thirdly- before I switched to cloth diapers [pockets] my little ones were soaking through everything, every single night. I put them in cloth- and they never leaked through again!! it was incredible. So I started saving on sheets, that extra laundry from having to wash sheets from nap time, bed time, and anytime in between where they were lying down in their diapers.

4- they're SO CUTE

5- They are so environmentally friendly as nothing has to be put in a dump , or composted for years before it gets passed back through the earth. Help your baby start their life off early, with a super tiny carbon footprint, just as their little tiny footprints truly are.

6- You can pass them on and keep on giving back to the environment!

7- the big one for me, was that I had two babies in diapers, and both in completely different sizes. [nb and size 3 at the time] so I bought one size pockets and used the exact same diapers on both babies.


Tell us your reasons for going cloth!! And if you are wondering whether you should or not- post some questions!

Pixie Glitz tutus

(Emily) Have ya heard of them?? Well they are absolutely AMAZING. One of my best childhood friends decided back in the fall to make a tutu for her daughter...and now has a business because they're THAT perfect ! I am thinking, we have to get some more followers so Maple Bottoms can have a giveaway all our own, featuring the beautiful tutus of Pixie Glitz designs! Pixie Glitz is located in Windsor, Ontario and are all hand-crafted during nap time [she's got 2 little ones under the age of 3!] and Somer-Lee [the designer/creator/owner] will even make the most perfect custom designed tutu for whatever occasion it is you've got coming up. But really...why do you need a special occasion to wear a tutu? Madison [my 2yr old] finds an occasion, every single day to wear a tutu... and pearls. Because hey...why not?!

[this is one of Madison's ridiculously fat baby dolls.. I've never had a baby with that many rolls- but I know they exist ;-) ]

" Why aren't there presents under the tree???"

(Emily) This is what I hear.....every. single. morning. Amidst sobbing, rubbing eyes and groggy voice. My response? "Mason...Christmas isn't today. Santa is still making presents and hasn't loaded his sleigh yet, you have to be patient."
The countdown is on...ans has been on, basically since after Halloween. we are all very excited for Christmas over here, mummy went a bit loony with shopping- I can't wait to have a completely overflowing bottom of the tree this year! Last year I was off work on maternity leave so I scaled us back.....a bit. But this year- I made sure I had a giant budget :-)

It's the most, wonderful time....of the year!

baking...at 3am

(Emily) So here I am, baking delicious ginger cookies [like the  Giant ones from  Starbucks...yummm] for Manning's birthday party / Christmas Party we're having tomorrow. I fell asleep with the kids tonight for a good 3hr nap, so I figure I'll finish the baking I need to do tonight, so that tomorrow I can focus on more important things- like savory recipes and getting my tables organized for when guests arrive. I'm starting to wonder if I really am insane with all that I am doing. [oh...and it's 4am over here] My throat is a bit sore though- so I was thinking I should get this all done now, before I feel like total garbage {which I'm really praying I don't!!!}

I will have to take some photos of all that I've baked to post here soon. I haven't uploaded pics in a while!