Back In The Saddle With A New Post : You Know What Really Grinds My Gears

So I thought my first post in a while should be fun, but also truthful.  I have slowly over time compiled a lot of things that annoy me to no end.  Therefore this new series of posts was inspired by Family Guy and Peter Griffin's "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears"

What really grinds my gears is

- Ugg Boots!  
Unless you live in Alaska or similar climate, you have know reason to wear them. Not only are they a bit Ugg(ly) but when I see girls wearing them in the summer with shorts I absolute think it is the stupidest thing to be wearing...Class it up a bit ladies!

- Bands on Conan O'Brien
   They are almost always terrible! I can not for the life of me figure out how these people get to play on that show.  I'm not even talking about just recently but for the last 5+ years.. OMG It makes farting on a snare drum sound like great music! Truly the music industry is in shambles when they sign and book such junk.

And the last one for today is probably at the top of my all time list of annoying things.

- PAJAMA BOTTOMS IN PUBLIC
   I hate this more than words can express.  How much extra effort does it take to put on a pair of track pants, yoga pants or regular pants for that matter. Seriously this is an epidemic I am seeing more and more...This can not be the new fashion trend. It always seems like these people are also wearing the most juvenile pajama bottoms too! I'm sorry if you are old enough to drive then you should not be wearing Sponge Bob Pants. It started out being almost always younger "Women" wearing these but now the virus has spread to Men as well! How lazy can you be people? Put on you pants before you leave the house. Or are you all just trying to give some authenticity to the phrase literally rolling out of bed!

Ok Folks tell me what really grinds your gears!

Music Thursday - What I'm Listening to, Workout Playlist

I was able to squeeze in a quick kickboxing workout while the kiddo took his morning nap. Here is my quick playlist. Today was the first day I listened to some of my own music (with FromtheFallen), surprisingly I found myself very motivating. LOL!

1. Stone Sour - "Made of Scars"
2. We As Human - "Strike Back"
3. Foo Fighters - "My Hero"
4. Pop Evil  - "Trenches"
5. FromtheFallen - "Run"
6. FromtheFallen -"Sympathy For A Stalker"
7. Ozzy Osbourne - "No More Tears"

What was your motivational playlist today?

Plus here is a little #tbt pic of me ;p that was taken December of 2010 playing with Alien Ant Farm. It's blurry because I was having so much fun standing on the monitor head banging and trying not to fall into the crowd! 

Music Thursday - How Does That Song Go? - Twinkle Twinkle Little ....

For a quick and fun music Thursday I thought I would post something really neat I discovered about a year ago. Many people know the standard verse of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". But one night while up with my son, who was a newborn at the time, I decided to look up the meaning and different versions of this song. I always sang to him the the first verse and didn't know the rest.  I found the lyrics below. They are so sweet, beautiful and special I thought I would share. Hope you enjoy.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
****
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
****
Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
****
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
****
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,—
Though I know not what you are,
 Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Taking Moments For Yourself - Keeping Sane!

I think as a wife and mother we often think of everyone first and ourselves last. A while ago I heard another mom say she try's to do something nice for herself everyday. I thought about it and realized that was so important, happy mom means everyone else is happy. I along with many women know what it feels like to loose yourself. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, diapers so on and so on that take up almost your entire day! So I follow this moms example with some modifications.

I try to do one thing just for myself everyday, it usually happens during the nap times or after everyone has gone to bed. I will either paint my nails, actually do my hair not just the mom bun, or put on some nicer make-up than the quick 5 minutes in a hurry to leave the house treatment. I might instead make a fancy hot chocolate or cappuccino. Even writing a blog post is something I do just for me that happens to be fun for my friends and family. These help decompress yourself and relax for that little battery recharge we need.

They aren't much but these little things do make me feel good and for those few more minutes I am just me! Most of these are just 10-15 minute things, yet make me feel more like my younger self. I encourage all moms to just try everyday to think about doing a little something for yourself it might not even happen everyday, some days are way to chaotic I know.

Plus keeping your sanity is good for the whole family!

Music Thursday - Battle of the Singers 1: Killswitch Engage's Howard vs. Jesse!

So a little something different today, this will be the first in a series of battles.  A good old-fashioned battle of the frontmen/singers. I want to point out that this is meant to be more of a compare and contrast article.  Yet does include my opinion. It is based on vocal ability and how they added flavor musically to songs. I know there are die hard fans on either side so keep in mind that you can weight in on the vote, keep it respectful though.

Ahhh the always entertaining band Killswitch Engage.  Most of you who listen to Rock/Metal know who they are therefore I don't need to go into details on that.  Ok so my fellow music lovers and musicians who do you think is better and why??  Tricky one isn't it.

For me it is like dealing with an entirely different band with each singer.  I think the band has really tried to create music differently for each vocalist.  They have such completely different vocal approaches, ranges, and strengths that the entire body of work from each is different.

I will admit I was a Howard person all the way and was sad to hear of his leaving the band.  I was so not impressed with the choice to go back to the guy they had before, sorry just was not a fan of his voice before. I understand that it was the logical choice however.

I now have been listening to their newer single "Always" and have to say it really grew on me as well as a few other songs from the newest album.  So much so that  I find it actually compliments Jesse's more melodic vocals. I think that with Howard being so strong and powerful the band had more freedom musically by not having to tone themselves down to not overshadow Jesse. Yet for the newer album and additional production on Jesse's voice and the build up of vocal layers they were able to create some freedom they hadn't had with him previously. I do appreciate his melodic flow and the way he has the ability to give songs an ethereal quality that gives you a mellow feeling why still listening to a heavy song.

Because it sounds like a completely different band to me with each singer I had to put the "This doesn't sound like the Killswitch I like and want to hear" out of my brain and just listen to the new music for what it is regardless of who created it. I love the lyrics and understated sounds I'm hearing. Better musically than the old Jesse days I think. Hey but becoming hugely famous with many more years of experience and more money and better gear will have the effect. But I do want to point out that to get that vocal sounds on the new album there are a tone of layers going on to pump up his voice more than previously. He just isn't as powerful as Howard nor does he have that presence. By no means am I saying Jesse is a bad vocalist, but honestly he is not as diverse or as strong as other singers especially live. But Jesse I think you have now earned my high five on the album....

Still going to miss Howard singing for this band though. :( Wow what a voice!

Check out Killswitch Engage's video for Always - Warning: might make you cry!


And for the good ole days..check out their cover of Holy Diver..Still one of the best covers and video's ever!! Still cracks me up every time.


I encourage you to search and listen to live performances of each singer to make a well rounded judgment. Hence why I also feel Howard is stronger on that aspect.

So guys and gals what are your thoughts?
Who is the winner of this battle in your eyes?

Future battles to follow:
Van Halen    - David Lee Roth vs. Sammy Hager
Nightwish     - TarjaTurunen vs. Anette Olszon vs. Floor Jansen
Journey        - Steve Perry vs. Arnel Pineda

Cloth Diaper Follow-up... Things that help.

Here is a little follow-up and helpful tips to go along with my previous CD post.

I had mentioned in my previous cloth diaper blog about making my own wet bags.
This is the video I used to Make my wet bags... I made a small travel bag and then translated the idea into a huge version and added a handle to hang on the bathroom door!


I had mentioned my husband installed a diaper sprayer that was cheap! It is actually a bidet sprayer. Here are some from Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/s/bidet+sprayer?NCNI-5. you can find them at Lowe's and other hardware stores too.  If you have a very handy husband you can even look up the make your own tutorials on YouTube and just buy the individual parts for cheap. We have moved and our sprayer was still easy to dismantle and put back in!

Note: I don't think they have the same one we use that was only $20 but these are still great alternatives. Especially since I just looked and BumGenius is selling theirs for about $60! You don't really need a sprayer if you want to cut that cost, if you don't mind really getting your hands "dirty" but they are nice. In fact now that I'm diapering a toddler I don't use it as much since he eats solid foods. It came in handy during the time he was exclusively breastfed and poo was... well you know....

I have no idea how it would work or staining issue with formula babies since I've never used formula.  But maybe others have some insight. Probably guessing extra cold rinses and maybe sun bleaching would help.

And Thanks to my friend Lindsay she is sending me a her homemade Velcro AIO to try out... Who knows maybe I'll be impressed! We shall see! She also mention wool dryer balls.  Going to check those out.  I only used them for washing and drying pillows and blankets before never thought about tossing them in my dryer.  Also since I mentioned I do dry my diapers in the dryer, I should have mentioned on low heat. They dry in one cycle still and fairly quickly.

To add a little life hack for you... I don't even always use my travel wet bag.  I keep a couple of heavy duty plastic bags with a zipper on them in my diaper bag, it's the kind curtains come in when you by them.  They work really great! Plus with two I have an extra one for dirty clothes if need be.

I  wanted to explain why I chose one size pocket diapers with snaps. Again this was after a tone of research and thinking about common sense on what would work. 

1) I only wanted to purchase diapers once, not every time he went up a size. Made more financial sense. 

2) The pocket diapers have a moisture wicking lining with micro fiber inserts to best keep baby dry and hence prevent rashes and such. Plus they can be doubled up for longer wear or heavy wetters. I also figured being able to disassemble them would insure they got really clean!

3) Snaps for us meant as baby grows it's much harder for him to remove snaps rather than velcro. Toddlers can easily undo velcro on disposables so I'm sure they can do it on cloth too. I would prefer not to have finger paintings of poop on the walls. Plus I don't have any velco sticking to each other wearing out or drying them on a line only problem. We live where it is in the negatives during the winter so outdoor drying would mean frozen popsicle diapers. 

I have heard that doing pre-folds and covers is a very cheap way to go as well.  But, now this is just my opinion, you still have to re-purchase them as they grow in size. Plus there isn't a moisture wicking fabric between the soaked insert/diaper as with pockets therefore increasing diaper rash chances. This was the method most of our mothers and grandmothers used. But hey a little technical improvement isn't bad in our cloth world. Even my mom said she wished they had these kind back in the day. Especially when they used safety pins ;( 

If you are interested in viewing my previous post on cloth diapers to get our whole picture... check it out

http://amberfromthefallen.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-we-have-cloth-diapered-on-cheap-why.html

As always feel free to ask questions or comments. I would love to help others on this adventure! 

How We Have Cloth Diapered On The Cheap & Why?

Hey everyone, this blog might not be applicable to all but I think some might be interested in how we have cloth diapered our son on the cheap and why.

Our Son is just about 15 months old now and we have been cloth diapering him almost from the beginning. I think I have some tips and ideas for those who might be considering it but feel that spending around $25 per diaper is a hard pill to swallow. First let me say I have never spent anywhere close to that on a diaper, and here is how I did it.

Before anyone gets up in arms about name brand diapers being so great here me out.  I purchased all of our diapers on eBay mostly one at a time at auction. They were all brand new and I have in my stash Spiderman prints, circus prints and even Mickey Mouse.  So, Yes I was still able to get cute ones too!  We decided we were going to cloth diaper very early on in my pregnancy. I had found out that on top of saving on average $2000 per year it had a lot of other benefits. Kids who are cloth diapered potty train sooner. They get less diaper rash or other infections and a lot more. I spent hours and hours doing research online on types of brands, types of design, the lingo of what AIO meant and so on. I began buying diapers one at a time like I said when I was about 6 months pregnant. It was easy and I had time to build up my staff before baby arrived.

Here is the controversial part....Yes I bought no brand name diapers, even from China...Here is why... Besides being so much cheaper, I had read an interesting article that pointed out almost everything we wear and purchase for ourselves and for our children are already made in China and you put it on or around your kids anyway. I couldn't really argue with that after looking at all of our stuff and seeing it was true. Even the US or Canadian diapers still bought and purchased their supplies from China, so there really wasn't a difference there either if that was your concern. Plus if you make sure to wash and prep the diapers before you put them on baby you have washed away all possible worries or chemicals they might have. I also was reminded that these are poop and pee catchers and will almost always be covered by clothing.  So Why do you NEED the fancy ones? NEED verses WANT is very different.

Now 15 months later you might wonder how the diapers have held up.  The answer is great! I will admit I have had to replace a few but now I know what not to buy.  I have a continued stash of 25 diapers that on average I washed every 2-3 days when he was very little, now about 2 times a week.  I use pocket diapers and love them! No velcro because I could foresee that being a nightmare to wash and separate. We use double inserts because he is a heavy wetter which are micro fiber.

I made my own wet bags. A yard of PUL costs about $10 and I found a very easy YouTube tutorial on how to sew them.  I made a huge one that I still use and was able to pick my own cute fabric and zipper.  It washes great no problem.  You might ask why didn't I sew all of the diapers myself... Well I worked full time while pregnant and was still performing and such in the little free time I had. Honestly I still felt eBay was ultimately cheaper than getting all the supplies and worth not being frustrated over a sewing machine on my rare free time.

All in all I estimate I spent on average $3.40 per diaper INCLUDING SHIPPING on each diaper. My Husband even made me a diaper sprayer out of a kit from Home Depot. Therefore I spent no more than $150 on my entire operation. We use one size (meaning size is adjustable as he grows), pocket diapers with snaps. So easy even your husband can put them on baby.

I can also say our son has had only 1 diaper rash and that was due to having diarrhea. He even tells me he is going poop already and points out when his diaper is wet!  When learning to walk having what we call "cloud butt" helped cushion him when he fell. For those that are too fancy to deal with the poop. It's really no different then the poop you clean off their clothes from explosions or wiping. It really isn't that much effort to wash diapers either. I just wash them while doing other chores no biggie. I have never had staining issues and guess what I don't even use fancy detergent on them either! Just the All Sensitive Skin detergent and sometimes Oxy Clean to soak.  I do the normal cold water rinse cycle, warm wash, cold rinse routine. I also put them in the dryer lol, shocking I know!

So all in all it was a great choice and we will cloth diaper our future children too. I could go on and on about other benefits and such but this is good for now.

Until next time.