Cottonbabies

I've had a few friends ask me about cloth diapering so I thought I'd share the info here. Also, I'm using this link to enter a contest. :)
Here's the email I just sent one friend.

I shop pretty much exclusively through cottonbabies.com which is the manufacturer for the type that I use- the FLIP diapers. I decided to purchase through them because they have a guarantee for like 30 days or so. I've also heard that if you have problems with the product, they'll back them up ONLY if they're purchased directly from them. They also offer free shipping. Bonus. :) So far, they've given me great customer service, but I just had a snap break on a diaper so I'll let you know how that works for me. I'm calling them tomorrow.

I do use the diaper sprayer and I think it's a must for older babies, but it's something you can put off buying for a while. You don't need to rinse out diapers until the baby is eating solid foods (around 6 months old), as far as I've heard. And so far with Stella, the liquid poo is all soaked into the diaper and washes out in the washing machine. You use the sprayer for when they have solid chunks of poo that are in the diaper. Those need to be put down the toilet and the sprayer helps immensely with that. If Scarlett has an accident, I use the sprayer and don't have to get my hands in the business. :)

I store the dirty diapers in a tall kitchen garbage can with a Planet Wise diaper pail liner in it. They come in a million colors and so far it's been great, I just wash it about every other time I wash diapers. Or if there's a particularly gross poopy diaper I'll wash the liner every time. Before I had that, I just used garbage bags as liners, but then you're throwing away a garbage bag each time. Also, I don't put a lid on my diaper pail and it's sitting in the middle of my dining/living room and it doesn't smell at all. I have noticed in the past that if I have a lid on it, when I open the lid it smells, but without the lid the odor seems to dissipate.

I will tell you that I've had to strip my diapers quite often (like once a month or so) to keep the smelliness at bay. That just means that I wash them on hot with a half of a cup of bleach and a tablespoon of dawn dish soap and then do 3 rinse cycles. That seems to keep the diapers smelling clean. Otherwise, the detergent builds up over time and then the baby's pee reacts to the build-up and makes a strong ammonia smell which also burns the baby's bum. Not fun. And you have to use a special detergent with the diapers- I use Country Save and I just use 1 tbsp per load so the box of detergent will last me forever.

To wash the diapers I do the following: cold wash with detergent, hot wash without detergent, extra rinse. Then I hang the diaper covers to dry and either hang or machine-dry the inserts- depending on how hot it is outside.

FYI, I have 7 covers and maybe 30 or so liners (which is way too many). I'm using them on both Scarlett and Stella and have to laundry every day or every other day. If I were just doing Stella, I would probably get by washing every other day or every 3. For one baby, I would suggest 4-6 covers and 12 or more liners. The more you have the less often you need to do laundry, but you don't want to do laundry too infrequently or you'll have stinky diapers. They shouldn't sit for more than 2 or 3 days. Ew. With a baby Stella's age you would probably use 6-10 liners per day and 2-3 covers. It seems like at least once during the day she poops enough to soil a cover and then I always want a clean one on her for night.

You'll also want a wet-bag to put in your diaper bag, and I try to always keep an extra cover in my diaper bag so I don't accidently forget. Or you can just keep a few disposable diapers in your diaper bag. But you need a wet-bag for the dirty ones. In a pinch I've used a ziplock, but again then you have to throw it away and make waste. It would probably be a cost effective solution though. You'd have to use a lot of ziplocks to make up the $15 wetbag!

I would consider buying 2 of the flip daypacks http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=139&products_id=2156

I have also tried the Bumgenius Pocket diapers and I didn't like them at all. They're much more expensive and you need way more diapers because you have to change the whole diaper each time, rather than with the flips I can just change the liner if the diaper is poo-free. Plus, Flips have snaps which are nice because Scarlett can undo velcro and the velcro snagged her clothes. Boo.

Trust me, I did TONS of research. Including borrowing a friends stash of diapers for 3 weeks.

Any more questions? Oh- and you can also make your own baby wipes by cutting flannel into "wipes" and soaking them in a water/baby soap solution. They work great and then you can just throw them into the wash with the diapers. Smart!

The End.

I think I'm going to have to stop blogging here (I've done such a good job lately, anyway) and start focusing my efforts more fully on my photography blog.

So, go here instead. . . .

www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog

Preview for Karina

I had a family shoot this weekend with the Calderwoods. Here is my absolute fave. If you want to see the rest of the preview, you'll have to go to my website blog www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog

What to do. . .

Well, I stink at blogging lately anyway. . . but I'm not sure how to handle the two blogs thing.

Anyway, I just posted a pic of Scarlett in my most recent craig's list find.

$5. Not too shabby. Well, it is technically shabby chic, but . . .

http://www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog/

We've moved! (like 2 weeks ago)

Okay, you all know how it is when you move. The world stops turning and you are without the internet and you do nothing but un-pack. So that's my excuse.

Funny/horrible story, though. We had our place in Spokane (not Seattle to those of you who are a bit confused) all picked out months ago. It was a manufactured home in a little village of mfh's off the highway that leads to Clarkston. (think Sonary Crest if you're from c-town) Everything was set up for us to move in on Sunday night the 7th. Our mail was being forwarded, our address had been changed on all the major credit cards, etc. When we got to the trailer court (let's be honest- that's what it was) however, we decided that there was no way in heck we could live there. No sidewalks, trailers crammed in so close that you could spit through your neighbor's window, no yard, the list goes on. Plus, the place was so tiny that we'd have to get a storage unit. So we broke down and got a hotel that night and started the hunt for a house in the morning at 9 am. By 5 or so that night we were desperate and deeply discouraged. Every place we had seen in our price range either smelled like cat pee or was located in the neighborhood lovingly reffered to as "Felony Flats". So we broke and got an apartment in a massive complex. We're one floor up, but our staircase is inside the house rather than a shared stairway outside. They're super clean and nice though, and no cat pee smell. :)

Other than that, things are starting to get a bit more normal. We camped all last week in BC and it was amazing. I'll post pics when we get a wireless card for our desktop.

Sorry for the boring post. :)

Who'da known.

Here's the explanation. Katie was my best friend from 6th-8th grade. Her father re-married and she moved away before freshman year. We were both heart-broken. There had never been two better girlfriends. As high school went on, we lost touch of each other and more than 10 years later, met up again on facebook. To our surprise, we were practically neighbors. Well, she lives in Portland. Anyway she is a photographer, a designer-fabric lover, and most importantly- she is still the sweet, fun, and mellow yin to my yang. After hanging out for the last few months, we feel as if we never lost touch. And I think we are each thanking our creator for that tender mercy.

This post is really about this though: Katie found an old yearbook from eighth grade and we could hardly believe what Brad had written in it. (pink pen, left margin, click to make it bigger)

If you still can't read it for yourself, this is what it says.

"Thanks for trying with Rendy but I guess when you're a loser like me you can't get the good one like Rendy."

So as I count my blessings tonight, I'll remember a friendship that will span across decades, and a spouse who has always considered me to be a catch. I love you both!

Help me, help!

I need to order business cards. . .

Here's the front. I thought I'd change the accent color to match the picture on the back, whatever dominant color I choose. The blue is to match the girl in the blue shirt.

Now help me pick a picture for the back. I went through and picked a few of my favorites.

I don't want it to be a picture of either of my kids. Also, I kind of like the idea of having a picture where the face isn't showing. It seems a bit more anonymous. But that's not a requirement.

Vote in the little poll box or leave a comment with your rationale.

BY THE WAY. . . CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE BLOG FOR NEW PICTURES!!!
www.rendytuckerphotography.com/blog

I'm obsessed

I just bought an at-home wax kit and I may just wax my entire body. (ew. not really)

I did my eyebrows and it is awesome. Call me crazy, but there is something really nice about ripping it off yourself rather than waiting in suspense as someone else does it. It honestly didn't hurt at all. I may just have to grow my leg hair out so I can do them next.

By the way, you just put the little wax jar in the microwave when you want to use it! Sweet!

A tribute to Layla

Last weekend we did one of the hardest things we've ever had to do. We gave our dog of 5 years, Layla, to a family who lives on Bainbridge Island. We knew that dental school would mean less money, less spare time, and smaller living spaces for the next 4 or 5 years. Plus, when we live in Seattle next year we could qualify for student housing which doesn't allow pets, but would save us about $9,000 per year in rent.

So, we went ahead and did what we really didn't want to do. The family is perfect. We couldn't have hand-picked a better family for our dog. They have 3 kids between the ages of 7 and 12. They live right behind a high school with huge fields for Layla to play in, and they go to the beach on a regular basis with their neighbor and his dog an 1 year-old female chocolate lab. We knew that this would be a much better life for Layla than we could offer for the next few years.

I don't think we could have ever know how hard it would be to come home without Layla that night. The house felt so empty that neither of us could stand to be in it. There was a tangible difference; something was missing. It was hard to think of her not being our dogger anymore, we've had her since just after we got married. We were both physically sick over it.

That has gotten better with time. I didn't feel quite as bad about it when I swept up the massive pile of dog hair off the kitchen floor, thinking that soon my house might actually be rid of dog hair. (That may never happen- it's everywhere.)

I still catch myself feeling like I need to let her in from the garage when we get home, or worrying that the door isn't shut and she might get away. The wierdest thing is that I still think that the dark lump I see out of the corner of my eye is her, for a second, and then I realize that she's gone and it's just a blanket, or a toy, or Brad's shoes. It's like suddenly losing your shadow. You don't pay it much attention, it's just always right there. Now that she's gone, I realize how much of a part of my life she was. She was company, she was a comforting presence in our home, and she was ours. She was familiar and safe and warm. She was a lot of other things too, but I'll focus on the good. ;)

I thought this was the right choice. It was certainly the most logical choice. Layla will be fine without us, I would say. Then when we were talking with the family on Saturday morning, the mom said something that made me reconsider. She said that her youngest, a boy, had asked her if they could change Layla's name. I gasped in shock. Change her name? No! You can't change our dog's name! Who do you people think you are? My mama-bear claws came out and I was furious. She went on to tell me that she had told her son that they would most definitely not be changing her name, and asked him how he would feel if they sent him to live with a new family that started calling him "Bob". Whew. She will still be Layla. And Layla will be fine without us.

Who would have known that our obnoxious 85 lb lab would leave such a big hole in our lives? She was the kind of dog that you really had to love to be able to appreciate, or even tolerate. She was by no means the perfect pet, but she was part of our family and she will be missed.

I'm in BUSINESS BABY!!!!!

Wooo hoooo! My website and brand-spankin' new blog are both up and running!!!

Check me out!

www.rendytuckerphotography.com

By the way, some of you might be famous now. :)

Brooke

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I had the privileged of photographing this cute and her big sister on Memorial Day. I haven't gotten through editing the whole group, but here are some of Brooke. That first picture is perhaps my new all-time favorite.

Matchy Match

I made Scarlett a dress to match one I made to wear to Brian and Marina's wedding. We wore them to church on Sunday and it was super cute (if I don't say so myself).

Here she is. I'll try to get a pic of me in my dress too. . . (okay, found one)

Also, she's been doing this funny thing lately where she just yells. It's like she's finally realized that she can be loud and she's practicing her new voice projection skills. She must have inherited those skills from me, if you know what I mean, because she's quite loud. She'll make a fine cheerleader someday, if she gets cut from the volleyball team like her mama did. :)

Posting like Crazy! The Teen Preview

Like I said, since we've been home from the wedding I've been editing like a mad-woman. I did 3 photo sessions right before we left, plus the wedding pics. But, I'm finally done. Well almost.

Anyway, I'm done with these two cuties. These are my friend's kids Fashonista and Firstborn. Aren't they fun? My friend, No Cool Story, also has a hilarious blog called More Cowbell. (Not sure what that means, but it's funny) {Okay, now I know what more cowbell means :) }

http://mascowbell.blogspot.com/

Check her out. She has an average of like 40 comments per post. Amazing.

Avery Grace- Long overdue

My friend Brittany recently adopted a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations to Brittany and Jimmy!
Also, thanks to Beth for letting me use her backdrop stand and backdrops. Fun. My photography wish-list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Anyway, I took these pics before we left for MI and then got busy and didn't post them.

More of Brian and Marina's Wedding

Here are a few more faves and a couple fun ones.

Brian and Marina's Wedding

This weekend we were in Michigan for Brian and Marina's wedding. It was such a fun trip. Well, other than getting out there and getting back with 2 small children. :)

We stayed with our best friends from MI, the Marchants and had a blast visiting with them.

I also had the super-intimidating task of taking pictures at their wedding. Here are a few of my faves so far. I think I'll be editing forever!