The main issue is I’d like Adalyn to be able to wear them without leaking overnight but the leg elastic is so loose that abundant wetness isn’t being kept in the diaper any longer. So I got my cloth diaper repair kits from the diaper manufacturer and have been meaning to gradually repair them but I’ve been super intimidated about how to thread the new elastic through the already-sewn-closed holes. The last thing I have time for is disassembling and reassembling 24 diapers. So I’ve been brainstorming…

Yesterday I finally figured out how to make this repair easily, after trying a few other bloggers trick for the repair. Here is how I did it:

The post Easy 5 Min Cloth Diaper Elastic Repair Trick appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Things like “douchebag-deluxe” and “breastfeeding like a hunchback” are the most recent ones…

N started it by telling me it was my own fault I had neck and back pain… “you breastfeed all hunchback like, it’s no wonder!” I looked at him all perplexed and mildly amused by the blunt remark.

He goes on to tell me that I used to be all about using pillows for support while I breastfed and now I’ve just resolved to feeding her uncomfortably.

I responded that he could offer to bring me my pillows and to help make me more comfortable when I am breastfeeding instead of being all douchebag-deluxe and leaving me to care for Everly all by my self all the time. We both snorted and went on our merry way.

It’s nice to have some humor back in the house!

In other news I’ve attempted to vlog with Everly, it’s less than eventful (unless you like my leaking boob!) but I know some family and friends will appreciate the shared video.

Oh, Everly took 1.5 oz of pumped milk from a bottle this morning while I slept. Woot, woot!

The post He said I breastfeed like a hunchback… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

When we arrived at the house she was waiting for us in the driveway. Needless to say she wasn’t in the best of moods. We came ready with another copy of the mutual release form for her to sign and we also video taped the entire thing… Here, wanna see?

She basically blitzed the walk though and didn’t seem to care much about the condition of the house, not that it was left in poor condition anyway. We always deep clean all the places we vacate.

She did sign our mutual release form which outlines the early termination of the lease, the agreement that all financial obligations have been met and that we are both legally released from the prior contract. Yay!

Her husbands signature isn’t on the forms as he wasn’t present… His is the only signature on the lease so that could be a potential issue but we are just pleased to have some sort of documentation that proves we didn’t make up the whole being let out of the lease thing.

Basically we are super happy to have this chapter of our lives now closed!

Lets, see… Over the weekend N worked on hooking up this free electric dryer we got off Freecycle. I guess we needed to get the vent hose for it and he had to change out the plug for it since it didn’t fit our outlet or something. We are resourceful and try to make due with what we are able to get… The free dryer was a good score and we got a working washer for $40 at a yard sale so we are making strides in the right direction I think.

Apparently the newer plug he put on the dryer still doesn’t fit our outlet so I am hanging clothes out to dry (which is fine by me) but he is still working on getting the proper plug installed on the dryer.

For his belated birthday/ mothers day we went to a local farm and bought some garden goodies. Things like potted herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, collard greens and other stuff we’ll grow and eat. We only spent $20.00! He is working on getting a vegetable garden going now, he made some good progress on it this morning too.

We are hoping to grow as much as we can ourselves to cut down on the grocery costs and save more money. Oh, and we stopped by the Hostess/ Wonder Bread outlet store over the weekend and got 7 loaves of bread and 2 packs of buns for $8.00. Those are in the freezer now and will also help to cut the grocery bill and save money.

On the baby front: In 33 short days I’ll be staying at The Farm, preparing for Tater’s birth. Time is still flying and there are only 45 days until my due date (but we are open to Tater coming either before or after said due date if she feels ready). Things are still going great with the pregnancy and I am feeling good. Totally beginning to slow down energy wise and am having trouble breathing thanks to the cramping of my lungs but it is all good!

We are getting more and more excited and still have so much to do before she comes! We have been showered with many helpful things thanks to many of you and this has left us feeling so much more calm and prepared for Taters arrival. We’ve just about got everything we’ll need for her first week of life now and are focusing our attentions on gathering the medical supplies for the birth kit, then we’ve got to get busy gathering stuff like the cloth diapers and clothes she’ll need in the weeks following her birth.

Slowly but surely we are pulling it all together and before we know it we’ll be parents and it will all just fall right in to place. Exciting! Hopefully everyone had a good mothers day. I am off to read all your blogs now and find out how your weekends went!

The post The Renters and the Slumlords: The drama comes to a close (and other updates). appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Yeah, so we’ve got some horny animals in the house these days. It could be that valentines day is next week and love is in the air… or perhaps it is just because they are both unfixed still and are feeling “urges”…

Either way it is bad news! Gabby walks around with her butt in the air and she is meowing and talking like crazy while rubbing herself against anything she can.

Boner is just humping anything that is warm so we keep him in a cage most of the time. Problem is bunnies can’t be confined to tiny cages all day, everyday. They need to run and hop so we let him out to exercise but we also need to keep him from Gabby’s lady parts.

I am inventive you know so I put a cloth diaper on Gabby just to make sure we didn’t have any strange crossbreeding action. Then we set Boner free to exercise for a bit. It was not a g rated morning!

Weird thing is they are both okay with the humping, it is disturbing to us but they both seems to be having a good time… Oddly. I wish we had the money to fix them both right now. Unfortunately, we don’t so we’ll just make due by keeping them separate most of the time.

Good news is the new rabbit hutch N is building should be finished this weekend thanks to the warmer temperatures, yay! Soon Boner and Maybelle will both have room to exercise inside enclosed cages as opposed to being crammed in to one cage together.

The post Whoa, that lovin' feeling!!! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

• My tap water gives me diarrhea.

Yep I know that is TMI huh? It is serious though. About every 2 weeks it happens and oddly enough it is coinciding with my water intake. Any time I drink more than my 2 jugs of water it just runs right through me. Someone remarked “wouldn’t you just pee the water out?” and I thought to myself, “why yes I should”. Problem is that is not what is happening. Then my mom reminded me that her water has some unusual levels of minerals that cause them stomach upset among other issues. Our bodies really can have problems with the levels of stuff in our water and if my body can’t process whatever is in it and sees it as harmful wouldn’t it just eliminate it as quickly as possible? We are putting this theory to the test, I am now only drinking water that had been distilled first. Hopefully that will do the trick, I can tell you after 2 days I am peeing way more!

• Our OBGYN never called about our appointment that never happen.

We were planning to have our ultrasound on the 29th of January but since the town was literally shut down as a result of the storm our doctors office wasn’t open. They didn’t call to inform us of this either, this makes us a bit annoyed. We’ve been expecting them to call us to reschedule the missed appointment but I guess they really don’t care. I called them today and got booked for an appointment next Thursday, 2/12/09. We should be finding out Tater Tot’s sex then. *fingers crossed*

• I am still researching genealogy, now for Tater Tot’s sake.

Remember those silly family tree projects you are assigned as a kid in school? I never had fun doing them and always kind of despised them because we had no info on our family history at that time. In my baby book in the family tree area my parents and grandparents are filled in but nothing else. Where it says great grandmother/ grandfather someone wrote “dead”… Nice huh? Anyway, I am still loving the myheritage.com site and would encourage each of you to sign up there (it is free) and record all the info you know about your family. It may help others later on down the road and you never know when you might want to reasearch your own genealogy further.

• Our residential roads are still iced over, the city doesn’t plough them- ever.

Flagstaff had 12 ploughs in operation, the same number of ploughs are working here in Evansville… Funny thing is we had better snow/ ice removal in Flagstaff, which is was smaller than Evansville and gets way more winter storms. Things are ass backwards here with regards to winter weather response/ management, big time!

• Scott MacIntyre did advance to the next round on American Idol.

I recorded it and fast forwarded thought all the commercials and annoying drama girl parts but did see him in many of the filler shots and the show did indicate that his group made it to the next round. Of course he wouldn’t be featured in the group night drama episode, he is nice, cooperative and does well with others. I am sad that they didn’t show his groups performance though.

• Tater is crazy active and we are in the planning for baby phase now.

Tater’s kicks and punches continue, I am used to them now. Shoot! We’ve only got about 5 months left to this pregnancy, almost half way through and we have tons to do! [cue anxiety]

Here is my “perfect world” scenario brainstorm: We’ve got to get out of this place and in to another rental preferably before May (even though our lease doesn’t officially expire until August 31st). Any ideas on how to nicely get us out of our lease?

This means we only have 3 months to pack, find a new place and move in to it. Didn’t we just do the moving thing? *sigh* Once we are moved we’ll have the month of May to unpack and nest before any chance of early labor. We don’t want early labor folks!

Then I’ll take it easy for 2 weeks before we drop me off at The Farm (around the 2nd week of June). Then I’ll wait at The Farm for labor to begin while N is back in Indiana working and caring for the pets (I could end up being there until the 2nd week of July if baby wants to come later).

I’ll call him when I feel like it is time for him to make the trip down to be with us for the delivery (but who will care for the pets?). We’ll hang at The Farm for a few days after labor to get breastfeeding support and to make sure baby is doing well, then we’ll head home and adjust to being new parents.

See? Told you this was a brain spew post! Oh and we sat down and got our baby registry lists semi updated too! We still haven’t added gender specific stuff like bedding and clothes but all the other junk is on the registries now! You can check out the registries by using these buttons:

So basically that is it in a nutshell, sort of… Stop diarrhea, find out Tater’s sex, genealogy research, clean, pack, find new home, move, buy baby stuff, unpack, nest, rest, go The Farm, squeeze baby out, rest more, learn to breasfeed, bond with baby, enjoy, adapt, head home. The end (for now).

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