Tag: baby

A Quilt for Malcolm

Marie HaighLeave a comment

This is the quilt I had hoped to finish before Malcolm was born in September 2014. Then, I was certain it would be finished in time to be wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. 2 months later, I finally quilted the last stitch.

Thankfully, Malcom neither understands nor cares that the quilt was 5 months late. He is mighty impressed about his toes though.

This quilt was made not just by me. Two other talented women helped.

The quilt was started by my neighbor’s mother, Janet Hunter. It was the last quilt she has cross-stitched. She passed away before she could finish it. My neighbor was unable to throw it out. Knowing how much I loved to sew, she gave it to me.

It took me some time before I decided how I wanted to complete it. After a few minutes of trying to cross-stitch, I knew I wouldn’t be doing that! Yet, I wanted to keep the original design of a moon. One day when I was digging through unfinished projects, I spotted the quilt next to a torn shirt of Dan’s. It looked like the perfect moon.

After appliqueing the moon and hat, I added another layer of batting and a back fabric.

Then, my favorite part began: hand quilting. It took me several months to quilt all the layers together.

I couldn’t be happier with the final result.

To always remember how and why I made the quilt, I had Judi of JDK Wallets make a quilt label by hand. She outdid herself by adding the cute touches of the moon, boy and stars.

Though I already picked out the fabric for my next quilt, I am going to take a small knitting design break. After I submit my latest design to a magazine, I will pull the ironing board off the wall and set to work.

Nesting Craze

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Baby Mal is due in 3 days. So naturally, I have energy to spare and have put it to good use in finally completing our dining room.

Now:

I just adore the pictures I had printed from Snapfish. There are no pictures of Baby Mal, but he isn’t likely to care for at least a year or two and that will give me enough time to accumulate some pictures of the kids together.

Before:

It’s such a huge transformation. It is amazing what a new can of paint can do (and what a new camera can produce). Though Dan was worried about the bright orange, even he admits how much better the dining room looks.

Because I had such fun making the Haigh letters, I bought more letters to do Baby Mal’s name. 

Poor 3rd child. He has to share his room with the occasional guest until we buy a bigger house. Though truthfully, it is Dan and I that will have to share our room for the first few years with Baby Mal. It is only his clothes dresser and changing table that is in the guest bedroom.

Pregnant with Mal

Marie Haigh2 Comments

It’s a ….

(Can you see the writing on my shirt? I bought it a half hour after the ultrasound!)

Dan and I are so excited!

His name has been set for months. (Oddly enough, we had no girl names picked out).

Malcolm Joseph

We are naming him after our maternal grandparents.

His nickname will be Mal as in Captain Mal from Firefly.

Despite measuring a little large, the due date of September 18th remains steadfast.

Elly is slightly disappointed that she will not have a baby sister. She was so hoping to name her Ariel. Yet, I think she will get over it.

Outgrowing Diapers and Pull-Ups

Marie Haigh2 Comments

Our little girl, whom I affectionately call Elly Belly, is not very little at all. She flew off the growth charts in weight at 3 months old when I was exclusively breastfeeding her. She remains an inch off the charts to this day. Her height isn’t far behind in the 95 percentile.

Having spent time searching the internet for answers on what to do when your child outgrows size 6 diapers and what to do when your child is gearing up to outgrow size 4t-5t in pull-ups, I thought it might be of some help to parents with chubby children if I compiled my findings here.

First and foremost, ignore the critics. The only person you need to listen to is your pediatrician. Odds are there is nothing wrong with your child.

A word about the diaper sizes:
Being a first time mom, I thought the weight range listed on the diapers were time-tested and accurate. Perhaps they are if you have a normal size child. If you have an Elly-sized child, take the weight recommendations with a grain of salt. Elly outgrew all the diaper sizes long before she reached the upper weight limit listed on the boxes.

So what does come after size 6 in diapers?
You have a few options:
1. Pampers does carry a size 7. We opted not to use them due to the overwhelming smell of baby powder.
2. You can switch over to pull-ups. I would recommend the Huggies training pants because they can tear open at the sides, which is a nice feature when your child is still having her bowel movements in diapers.
3. You can switch over to cloth diapers. I found Green Mountain Diapers to be a great resource when deciding which supplies to buy. Keep in mind that you need that same grain of salt for weight recommendations. Elly outgrew the cloth diaper covers listed up to 35 lbs when she tipped the scales at 30 lbs.

Now at 17 months, Elly is wearing pull-ups sized 4t-5t when out on the town with Daddy or when gardening with Mommy.

It’s the largest size carried by Pampers and Huggies. So what comes after pull-ups?
Again there are a few options.
1. In disposables, the next tier contains youth diapers, such as Attends Briefs.
2. Disposables offer another option: nighttime diapers. Pampers offers Underjams, diapers designed for children who haven’t mastered potty training at night. These go up to 65 lbs compared to 50 lbs with the pull-ups. But, who says they can only be used at night? Go ahead and use them during the day.
3. You can switch to cloth diapers. You’ll have a limited selection, since most AIO and pocket diapers will be too small or won’t allow room for growth. Elly is currently wearing toddler-sized pre-fold diapers with Bummis XL diaper covers. Both should continue to fit her in the coming months. However, we’ll have to switch to a different design when it’s time for potty training. I have my sights set on Happy Heinys Training Pants. They have a wide selection of sizes.
4. Switch to cloth, but use underwear. Mumtaz Soakers on Etsy offers both lined underwear, which is really for the child who is currently potty training, and nighttime waterproof underwear, which can be used during the day for the child who isn’t ready for potty training.

Of course, you could always hope that your child becomes potty trained before she outgrows the pull-ups. Unfortunately, our Elly has shown no signs of being ready for this step.