This has been up for a couple of weeks, but for anyone who doesn't know Stu's Youtube account might be interested in this. It's a compilation video of Maddie's first year. We celebrated our little munchkin's first birthday on the 6th. I can't believe she's a year old!

There's not even a nip in the air yet, but I'm all ready for the upcoming cold now that we're no longer in Houston. I went to the most amazing consignment sale the other day to pick up a bunch of basics for the baby in preparation of the upcoming chill. Here's Maddie all geared up and ready to go:

I'm a huge cloth diaper fanatic. They're adorable, hold leaks better than disposables, and are a much cheaper option in the long term. When Maddie was born, I eagerly checked out all my options, purchased the cute little diapers, and happily went on my merry cloth-diapering way. We did switch to disposables when she was in day care, out of courtesy to the workers there.

Once we moved and I stayed at home with Maddie, I used them full time. We've saved so much on our grocery and toiletries budget by not having to buy diapers.

I originally purchased 18 Baby Kangas, a pocket cloth diaper, which I figured suited me the best. It is a style of diaper with a soft absorbent layer next to baby's skin, and an outer waterproof layer to prevent leaks. In the middle of these two layers goes an insert, which holds all the wetness. As well as the diapers, I purchased 18 inserts, wipes, 1 wetbag for the diaperbag, and 2 big wetbags for holding the diapers while they were waiting for the wash. I must say, that I love them. I had planned on ordering 12 more of the ever so cute Baby Kangas once we had another child. I was going to get some in Robin's Egg and Daisy, 2 colors I have not added to my collection.

I received a coupon this morning from Kelly's Closet, the website in which I purchased my lovely diapers. They were running an end-of-summer clearance, so I thought I'd check it out, just for fun.

They are discontinuing the Baby Kangas at their store.

I know I can probably find them elsewhere, but I never found any comparable price in any other online retailer. Baby Kangas are a bit pricey, and they don't even come with inserts when purchased alone. Once we're expecting the next baby, I'll have to decide whether to try to find a decent price on them, or (banish the thought) switch to something else.

I did see another pocket diaper that closely resembled the Baby Kanga, but it had no zipper. It's called the Smartipants, and it's really pretty cute as well--and they're cheaper than the Baby Kangas are. They even come with an insert! So yeah, major deciding to do someday.

For those of you who haven't seen our Flickr account, here are some more recent pictures of Maddie. These were snapped at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, a great, free place in which to take pictures. Maddie is definitely small for her ages, but she's developmentally right on target.

She crawls like an old pro now. She pulls up on furniture all the time, but is not yet brave enough to try standing on her own.


She loves to point. She's starting to wave bye-bye more frequently, and she's good at giving high fives. We're working on "Touchdown" for football season. :-)


She has even started saying Da! when Stu gets home from work. It's the most adorable thing ever. Her first tooth came in a few days ago, and I can't wait to see what it looks like once it's done sprouting!

One last shot, just because I love the lighting:

I love days like today. The baby and skinny cat are asleep in the living room, and the fat cat is curled up on my bedroom pillow. Stu is also napping--he's resting after a 24 hour call.

It's pouring down rain outside, and I've got nothing more pressing than a cup of coffee and an old issue of Southern Living, just waiting to be read. It's a November issue from a few years back--I've been excited about fall for a few weeks now, and I can't wait for the chilly air and seasonal food.

We've been doing well here; I feel like I've got a very established routine going now. It's hard having Stu be gone so much during the day, but I was expecting it. I'm so glad that I'm introverted enough to thrive with alone time, so I don't really feel alone. Plus, we've made some great friends already here in Birmingham, so I get out and see them when I am feeling lonely. Tonight we're going to a tapas party hosted by some of our friends.

I'm hoping that just maybe I'll start blogging more. I have a lot of recipes, gardening stuff, and cute Maddie pictures that I'm hoping to share. During the next few months, we're hoping to do a lot to upgrade our existing landscape, and I'm hoping to catch it all on film. My cooking has significantly improved since moving (so says Stu), and I'm enjoying my time in the kitchen with fresh seasonal produce from the farmers market. I've missed blogging, so I'm hoping to pick it up again.

I normally reserve my computer time to blog reading or shopping, but it's been a particularly slow Saturday today. There is still nothing in my Google reader. Argh. Stu is at work right now for his first call as a medical resident. Maddie and I are just relaxing at home after spending the morning grocery shopping.

We first went to the Valleydale Farmers Market, which is only slightly farther than the main Pepper Place Market. It was fun to try a different one this time. The market up at Pepper Place is close to downtown, so it's big and crowded and parking is hard to come by. Valleydale is smaller, with only 10 vendors or so, but it was worth the drive if only to satisfy my curiosity.

Our next stop was a flea market run by one of the big churches here in town. I was originally going for baby stuff, but that sort of thing is always the first to go, and I was pretty late in getting there. I did find these really pretty framed botanical prints for only $10; I think they will look good in our master bath. I've been looking for something like this for awhile--there was a really cute shop in Michigan that sold nothing but botanical prints (many of them hand-painted originals from the 1850s), but they were well out of my price range (and unframed). I had to buy them on a whim, so Stu hasn't seen them yet. I hope he likes them!

Oh! Garden update! I've got an impressive patch of weeds growing in my new raised bed. Stu and I put it in about a week and a half ago, and I promptly planted some lettuce. They have yet to spring up. Weeds, however, are quickly taking over. Once this string of thundershowers finishes up, I'm going to try again. I did order some seeds for the coming year, and I hope to get them soon so I can begin my broccoli, Chinese cabbage, and rutabagas.

Maddie and I just returned from a week and a half in Indiana and Northern Michigan. It was a beautiful trip, and it was so much fun to get away. The weather was in the mid-60s to lower-70s most of the week, so we actually needed to get Maddie and sweatshirt and pants for the time. One day during the week we went to a strawberry patch to pick some sweet berries for pie. I just carried Maddie with me, since she wasn't to enthused about the stroller. I set her down in the middle of the row of berries, and she snatched a huge one from the box I was filling. It was at least the size of her little fist. She began sucking on the thing (she can't yet chew) and dribbling strawberry juice down her new light pink onesie and white pants. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen, so I just let her continue even though she was a mess. I really wish now that we got a picture, but at least both my parents got to see the cuteness.

Maddie is having one of those days where she is getting into everything, and I'm having one of those days where I need her not to be. Her favorite place is the cat food, which we keep on the floor by the back door. At first she would simply tip over the water and food and let them spill all over the floor, but now she finds it fascinating to pick out individual pieces and try to put them in her mouth. At least it's less messy that way. She makes a bee-line for the bowls whenever I set her down. If she's not by the cat food, she's in the fireplace or in the cat box. Her real toys are just not that enthralling, I guess.

I never realized how messy she can be as well. She loves to crawl with her toys in her hand, so her toy animals from the living room will end up in the kitchen, spoons will end up in the living room, and my shoes somehow end up on a low bedroom table. Today she decided to knock over my full glass and watch it shatter all over the floor. At least we were outside on the back patio, so I didn't have to worry about cleaning all the liquid. Right now she's eating the springy door stop that she pulled off of the wall.

I've been working on my garden plan for next season the past few days. Although it feels weird to be thinking of starting now instead of next spring, when one usually begins. I figured I would ease into the process by planning one raised bed of fall veggies. I'm thinking of starting some lettuce, swiss chard, and maybe some rutabagas. This summer and fall I plan on doing a lot of work in the back to get the beds all ready to plant in the spring. I have a whole host of things I'm hoping to try then--hopefully I don't get to overwhelmed!

I'm also hoping to go peach and blueberry picking sometime in the next few weeks. I really miss my picking buddy (Hi Leslie!), so I'll either go by myself or ask one of my new friends here. I'm hoping to freeze a lot of the peaches and make freezer jam, and with the blueberries I'm not really sure yet what I'd like to do. Maybe I'll just freeze them all for smoothies and such. We had a blast picking strawberries over vacation, and I really wanted to bring some back with me. The only way I could think to do that was to get some dry ice to keep them frozen, but that wasn't going to happen. Next spring I'll have to find a place here in Alabama that grows them. There are U-pick cherry farms in Michigan, and I think next year we'll pick a whole bunch and I can take them home in a cooler, then make some jam or something at home. Hmmm, sounds like that might be a plan.

I've also been experimenting with pizza crust lately. I've never been able to find a recipe that I really love. The ones I've tried have been to think and doughy with not enough crisp to the bottom. I'm trying another recipe I found and have already prepped the dough, so I'm hoping to make the pizzas later this week. We'll see how that goes.

And that is all for now.