Oh, Christmas Tree

Setting up the Christmas tree is something I always look forward to. It always gets me in the Christmas spirit and it makes the house so cozy. This year, Chris and I were going to buy a real tree (his idea), something I’ve never had before. That idea flew out the window when I realized a) you can’t just set your tree up in November without it making a mess of your house and not looking so great by Christmas, b) there’s the potential for rodents and bugs and other forest creatures to be hiding in your tree waiting to cozy up by the fireplace in your house and c) they are more of a fire hazard if not properly taken care of. So needless to say, we decided to buy a fake tree so I could enjoy it a little longer.

I have to say, our Christmas tree is beautiful. I love that it has ornaments on it from when I was a child and when Chris was a child and now it has our children’s ornaments on it as well. Our Christmas tree really is a family tree and I love snuggling up in front of it on cold snowy nights. I also love watching the boys with the Christmas tree. Joshua is still just as fascinated by the tree as he was when he was only a year and a half old and Grayson, well, he is Grayson. He makes it his mission to pull ornaments off the tree any chance he gets (which is why we replaced all of our glass balls with plastic ones). 

Fluffy Bum

The words cloth and diapers get thrown around a lot in our house and that’s because we cloth diaper Grayson. Grayson wasn’t always cloth diapered but a few months ago, we decided to start. I already had an entire stash of diapers purchased for Joshua (that I used on and off with him) so it was just a matter of washing them, prepping them, and using them. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that cloth diapering Grayson seemed so much easier than cloth diapering Joshua…and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I had previous experience, or maybe because they just fit Grayson better, but this is the longest consecutive stretch I have gone with cloth diapering…I normally need a break after a month.

It’s been 5 months now since we started and my only complaint has been finding a wash routine that works with the washing machine in our new house. I have a hate-on for our washing machine and I desperately want a new one…one that is bigger and works better. So finding a wash routine was tricky and it took me over a month…Chris was the lucky one who heard the blunt of my complaining (and I still occasionally complain and day dream of the day we get to go buy a new one).

Hopefully this wash routine continues to work for us. My only worry is that since I have to use quite a large amount of detergent for the machine to clean properly that I’ll have to end up stripping my diapers because of detergent build up. Only time will tell.  

As it sits right now, I am happy with cloth diapering and love having a fluffy bum in our house!