Have Mercy! is open for business!

My Etsy shop is open and stocked! I am so excited, I know it will probably take awhile to really get up and running with consistent orders, but I am still very excited to have finally opened it and stock it. Check it out and let me know what you think!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/HaveMercy213

Dear Blog....

I apologize for my neglect.  I have a good excuse.  Well, not really.  I've been running around with friends, and when I'm not doing that I've been, ya know, being a mom.

I do have good news though!  After much procrastinating and dilly dallying I think I am finally about ready to open my Etsy shop.  I have been turning this idea around in my head for MONTHS, and I think I'm just about ready to put it into action.  Well actually, I've already put it into action.

I'm going to sell wraps....

and slings....

and diaper cozies...

and Sans Pants...

and soakers/diaper covers.... 

 

and hopefully soon, as soon as I work up the guts to try and make them, fitted diapers.

Here is a peek at one of the possibilities for the banner. (Right click, View Image, to see it larger)


I'm so excited!

Happy Birthday!

My precious baby girl is now a whole year old.  Its crazy, it seems like just yesterday she was a newborn baby girl, but at the same time like that was FOREVER ago.

Best baby wipes ever!

Not only have I embraced the world of cloth diapering, which I never thought I'd do, I have also recently started making my own baby wipes.  At first I was just using paper towels, spraying some of the mixture on one and proceeding as usual.  For awhile though I've had the thought of using cloth wipes rollin around in my head.  The other day upon finding some cute flannel in the remnants bin, I thought Why Not and went for it.  I just cut the fabric into small rectangles, mine are about 3in by 6in and they fit just about perfectly in a standard Huggies wipes container. Once I'm reunited with my sewing machine I will probably get some cuter fabric and sew two pieces together so both sides are the "right" sides and the edges don't fray, until then though, simple 1 ply rectangles work great!  I find they work better than commercial wipes actually, even with dirty diapers I usually only need 1 wipe, and there is no grody chemical smell that a lot of wipes have!

Super Great Smelling Lavender Wipes Solution!
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baby soap (Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Bath) I feel like this is a little soapy, next time I make it I think I might try using a little more water or a little less soap.
1 tablespoon baby oil (Johnson and Johnson Lavender Baby Oil)

From this point there are several different ways you can go about this.

Paper Towels-Method One

1. Take a roll of paper towels (I hear Bounty works best) and cut it in half.  
2. Put one half in a container, pour mixture evenly over the top, let sit about a minute
3. Remove cardboard center.  Pull wipes from center of roll.

      If the towels mold before you use them up you can add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and switch to distilled water.  Storing in the fridge will also help.

Paper Towels/Cloth-Method Two

1. Pour mixture into spray bottle.  (I use one of the 8oz bottles from the travel toiletry section at WalMart, and also one of the little mini finger sprayers from the same area to keep in the diaper bag. Mine are purple, to match the Lavender!) I usually have some leftover which can be stored in the fridge to refill when the spray bottle gets low.
2. For paper towels I used Bounty select-a-size, I would pull off one of the sheets and fold in half, the spray a bit of the solution on it.  To save time and effort during the actual change, you can tear a bunch off and prefold them and store in a wipes container. Mercy LOVED to "help" with the unrolling and tearing apart part of this....she also really enjoyed dumping out the case after I had them all neatly folded....

• For cloth wipes, you can either purchase some made from cloth diaper stores, or of course make your own.  Store wipes however fits your style best, I keep mine in an old Huggies case, a bigger one at home and one of the travel ones for the diaper bag.  When needed spritz with the solution and commence with diaper change! I am without a wetbag at the moment so my used wipes are getting stored in another old Huggies case until they are laundered with the rest of my cloth diapers and fluffy paraphernalia.

 I am so in love with these wipes guys, they smell SO good.  I'm not gonna lie, I have to fight the urge to sniff her bum right after diaper changes and throughout the day.  They are so easy to use and great for your wallet and the environment, I definitely recommend giving them a try.

Have I mentioned how awesome they smell?

Hello Blog!

I've been terribly neglectful lately and I apologize.  I'm in the midst of a traveling adventure and have been so busy I haven't had much time to post.  I got to meet up with a couple wonderful friends in San Francisco the other day, cute pictures to come. 

For now though, I just wanted to post a quick entry telling you about a great cloth diaper giveaway, its over at http://couponmommyof2.blogspot.com/ for a Katydid cloth diaper, check it out!

Cake Smash!

Since we're going to be in Oregon for Miss Mercy's 1st birthday we decided to do a cake smash early so that way daddy could be here for it.  We got her a little Winnie the Pooh cake from Walmart to destroy all on her own.  It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, I wanted to do it during the day when there would be lots of natural light, but after a week of not having time to do it while it was light out we went ahead and did it tonight.  The lighting is off and the quality isn't as good I was hoping because of that, but oh well I still think the turned out pretty cute.  She got upset when we were sitting her down and didn't give her the cake right away, and she was interested in it for a little bit, but after playing with it a little bit she got upset, apparently my girl doesn't like being messy.

Thank you BLW

Dear Baby-Led Weaning,

You make my life very interesting.  I believe you are partially responsible for fostering an incredible bit of independence in Miss Mercy.  For example- she takes it upon herself to take food from my plate and try to take my fork and feed herself.  Her latest adventure was opening the cereal cabinet, grabbing a box of cheerios, opening that, and proceeding to sit on my kitchen floor happy as a clam eating said cheerios.  When she was done eating the cheerios, she then climbed INTO the cabinet to commune with the rest of the cereal.  Our other adventure of the day was having yogurt for the first time.  The probability of massive mess was high with this one, so daddy helped.  I know it wasn't technically baby-led, but I imagine if we had let her she would have just grabbed the container and chugged it.  Her new favorite food is yogurt.  Please find enclosed pictures of our food adventures, and some park ones just for fun.

Sincerely, appreciatively, lovingly, amusedly,

Mercy's Mom

 PS-
I love this kid ridiculous amounts.

Cloth Diaper giveaway!

I purchased my first "real" cloth diaper the other day, a GoodMama fitted with snaps.  I will be doing a review of it in the near future, in the meantime there is a great giveaway at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer, go check it out!

Here's a quick pic, to show you just how cute they are!  This is Miss Mercy, modeling her new super cute LazyDaisy diaper.

Do you talk to your baby?

I mean really talk. Not baby talk, not babble, but actual real TALK.  I have done this since Mercedes was born.  I have conversations with her, I ask her questions and for her opinions.  We will walk through the grocery store and she will be in the wrap or in the cart and I will ask her whats next on the list, what brand we should get, is this green pepper big enough, do we need carrots, does she want bananas, etc etc etc.  We will talk non stop through the store.

I was doing this today while I was looking for socks to turn into Sans Pants.  We were in a teenybopper store (they have good sock selection) and there were a couple different pairs I wanted and I was asking Mercedes which pair should we get.  "Do we want the plain ones or do we want the fun ones? It would be nice to have a pair that goes with everything, but they are kinda boring. What do you think?"  The socks were close to the registers and a woman was standing in line and she says to me, in a rather snotty tone, "Does she usually have a strong opinion on these things?" I was a little taken aback because with all the talking to Mercedes I do out in public nobody has ever said something but I responded telling her "Yes, actually she does.  We always ask her opinions on these kind of things, even picking out produce.  Its important to include baby in conversations and decision making."  She just laughed a little and walked away. 

I realize that at times I probably look a little silly, my baby strapped to me and talking away to her while to other people at least, it appears that she doesn't understand.  I however firmly believe that she does understand and enjoys sharing her opinion and knowing I am interested in it. 

There are SO many benefits to talking with your baby.  It makes them feel important, part of the grown up conversations and helps solidify their importance and validity in your life.  Aside from the emotional benefits, it will also help them learn to talk by emphasizing real words instead of baby talk, and helps them learn the patterns of conversation (first I talk, then you talk).  So go have a conversation with your little one.  Even if you feel a little silly, it will probably make both your days brighter. Totally worth it.

I'm a slacker, I know.

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, I have been lost in a tangle of fabric and thread.


Diaper cozies....


and wraps,

and felt alphabet "blocks", Oh My!

Please forgive me for my neglect, but I have a sewing addiction and am working on getting it under control.  I have several blog posts that are dying to be posted though, so don't be surprised if your Dashboard is flooded by  me.