Lilly Pie Creations

 

Did you know that having Lilly made me creative?  Well it did, enough so that I decided to start “Lilly Pie Creations.”  I started a Facebook Page to show off some of my creations.  Facebook only allows so much customization so I decided to start a blog so I could offer a few more details behind my projects.  My blog has gotten off to a slow start, partially due to it’s namesake, Miss Lilly is keeping me pretty busy these days!  There is my plug, feel free to visit my facebook page or my blog and feel free to email me with any questions or orders lillypiecreations@hotmail.com.

Gulfport Vacation

After weeks of begging Mike to bring Lilly and I on a vacation, he finally agreed!  There were a lot of obstacles, the oil to the south and east of us and the hurricane to the west.  After one reservation in Galveston, TX failed due to the first hurricane of the season, we decided to brave the oil and go to Gulfport/Biloxi, MS.  We found an amazing plantation home that turned into a hotel, called the Magnolia Plantation.  It was beautiful, it had peacocks, a full breakfast buffet, a pool and even suites, so we were able to let Lilly nap in the bedroom while we watched t.v. in the living room.

We took our first drive to the beach right after we checked into the hotel only to find a lot of clean up crews cleaning up tar balls. So the beach was quickly erased from our to-do list.  Instead we decided to play at the local park and take a quick slide.  The slide was a little wet….I think that I why Mike offered to take the camera and catch the special moment with my Lilly for me. 

 

The next morning after a wonderfully yummy breakfast overlooking the lake at our hotel we took off with our swimming gear in tow for a fun day.  First we went to a splash pad, where Lilly really enjoyed herself playing with the water.

 

 

 

Then we headed to Kangarooz, an indoor bouncy house.  Lilly had a great time here too!

 

Lilly had a fun filled day, that ended with a nice swim in the hotel pool.  The next morning we indulged in the hotel’s buffet breakfast again and left 5 lbs heavier.  Then we took another drive to the beach and saw more clean up crews, it was really sad to see the beaches so empty on a Sunday in the middle of the summer.  We took a short trip to the new Planet Hollywood and walked around to see all the cool memorabilia then decided to get some souvenirs from our first trip to the “beach”. 

All in all we had a great vacation filled with lots of Lilly laughs, giggles and smiles.  We ended our 4th of July weekend sitting on our back porch watching a free fireworks show compliments of some of our neighbors.  

Zoo, Spoons and Aliens, oh my!

Lilly and I took a trip with Mimi to the zoo for her company picnic. It was so hot I’m surprised we didn’t all melt.  We tried everything to stay cool, we  let Lilly play with super cold water bottles.

 

  

 

Lilly also just entered the “I don’t need your help” stage.  If she is handed a spoon or fork with her meal, it is NECESSARY for her to feed herself.  Then after a while she gets tired of feeding herself empty spoon so she switches to her hands.

 

This alien is a favorite at our house, we got it from the Metairie St Patty’s Day parade this year.  She just started carrying him around by his antennae.

 

 

Father’s Day, better late than never

Sorry this post is a little late we had a busy week.  Last year I started a Father’s Day tradition. So I thought I should share pictures of this years Father’s Day picture. Her shirt say’s “Daddy’s Little Cupcake.”

 

  

 

I can’t believe she has changed so much in a year!

Goodbye “sposies”

Goodbye what?  We have recently said goodbye to disposable diapers and hello to a more earth and booty friendly variety of diaper…CLOTH!  Ok so most of my friends know that I thought cloth diapering was totally gross and ridiculous, but I guess some things change.  I was a loyal pampers customer until they changed their “formula” and added Dry Max technology (whatever that means)to their diapers.  Not only did they leak like crazy but we suspect that they had something to do with Lilly’s reoccurring bladder infections that started in March of this year.  After speaking with Lilly’s urologist he suggested we try cloth diapers, so with a lot of hesitation and lots of research we decided to take the plunge.   I started with 3 to try and am now up to 12 diapers. 

My favorite is a pocket diaper called Fuzzi Bunz, they work wonderfully, are super soft and come in tons of super cute colors. And we can use them for baby #2 (whenever that may be) because they are a one size fits most diaper!

When I started doing research for cloth diapering I was very overwhelmed with the amount of information and the different types of diapers there are.  So I’ll just give the low down of what I have and use to cloth diaper Lilly.

First I have 2 big “wet bags” that I use for dirty diapers, I made them myself with a zipper on the top to hold the smell (which really isn’t that bad at all) in.  Most people use a pail with a lid, I wanted to be able to travel with these bags so I just made them with a handle so they can hang from door knobs. I also put a little baking soda in the bag when after a diaper. There is also a small piece of fabric on the inside for tea tree oil, which I’ll explain more in a bit.

 

I also made two medium sized wet bags for dirty diapers while we are out and about.  These also have a zipper and piece of fabric for tea tree oil. They can hold between 3 and 6 diapers.

A lot of people are confused by the washing process of diapers, this is what I do….every other day I wash diapers, I dump the whole bag into the washer and run a cold rinse, then a hot wash/cold rinse with detergent and then another cold rinse.  Then dry them on medium heat and you are done.  I have only had one diaper with a stain and all I did was put it in the sun for a day and the stain bleached out totally.  You  do have to be careful with the type of detergent you use.  I used this website to find a cheap detergent that was on sale at big lots.

I was the most hesitant about using cloth wipes, until yesterday, I decided to give them a try.  All I use is baby wash clothes, I put them in a recycled disposable wipe container and pour wipe solution over it. Right now I have about 16 wipes and they should last me 2 days too.  For  the wipe solution I use water, baby oil, tea tree oil and lavender essential oils.  There are tons of options for wipe solutions but I chose this one because of the tea tree oil, it has antibacterial and antifungal properties so it keeps the water from smelling dingy, as well as my wet bags and I think it’s pretty good for Lilly’s behind too.  I love the lavender smell so that is just an added perk too.

For the poops: I was scared to death to have to dump my baby’s poop into the toilet, I don’t know why because we poop in the toilet and that is really where it belongs. Did you know that you are supposed to dump poop in the toilet even with disposable diapers?  It isn’t nearly as bad as I expected!!  I use these liners, you just peel off and throw in the toilet. They are biodegradable so they flush just fine.

Here is a link to the company I buy my fuzzi bunz from, they are local to Louisiana and super knowledgable and will help you any way they can.

All and all cloth diapering is easier that I expected! And best of all Lilly is happy with them, she has not had any kind of diaper rash since we started about month ago!!