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Sometimes I go on a blog hiatus, but if you are interested on keeping up with my cooking, gardening, crafting, or photos of children, add my Instagram!

You can find me at 'hoggledoggle'. Just comment here and let me know to add you since it is a private page. 

You can see things like this:

 

You can see things there before they make it on the blog, and it's always exciting to have the first dibs on info!

Sippy and straw cups

Little one is almost one, and he is almost done with his bottles. We have tried lots of different types of cups with him, but I don't love any of them. I was in search of a totally non-spill cup and would teach him to lift up to drink, like you would a regular cup. He is pretty much an expert in straws, so I didn't really want that.

Cups we have tried:

MoMma- I hate this cup/bottle. The milk gets trapped in the bottle part because of the weird shape. It transitions from nipple to sippy to straw. None of them work great, best was the sippy part, but it spilled a lot.

Piyo piyo- again, meh. Now that he can use a straw he can't even get his mouth on this one because the duck lid is in the way. It has a piece that makes it a regular cup, but he isn't ready for that. 

Sugarbooger - I like these. They aren't non spill, but the mouth part is hard and keeps water from flowing fast. Stays together well and very cute.

Munchkin- we only have the straw cup and it's pretty good. The straw only hits the far edge of the cup so you can drink all the water without turning the cup a weird way.

Target- target sells all sorts of cute cups around the holidays that have built in straws. They have this x cut straw that you cannot get liquid out of unless you have a Hoover attached to your face. I cut the top of the straw off and it works great.

Tommee tippee- the best of what we own.  We have the soft transitioner sippy, and today I bought a hard sippy and a cup like sippy for water. Heres the soft one.

The soft sippy claims to be non spill, but my son is the spawn of MacGyver, and it spills everywhere when he sticks his finger in the sippy part. The new ones are cute and totally non-spill. I love them!

 

What are your favorite sippys?

Wash day!

All my inserts laying out in the sun today. I actually used every single one I had available so hopefully I will have some for tomorrow that are dry. This is a pretty unconventional drying method, but since we don't have a clothesline, this will have to do. We will have one in our new house, so the inserts will be hung up to dry then.

I also decided to fancy up one of our new (used) diaper covers today. It came with some bleach stains, but this looks much better!

 My fabric marker ran out so I will have to go pick up some new ones tomorrow.

Burp rags galore

Here is a set of new burp rags that I was commissioned to make for a friend.

 Already all folded and boxed up ready to go. I make these using super premium unbleached 100% Indian cotton prefold diapers. 

I found that these burp rags are the thing I have used most with our son, and I love giving them as gifts and making them for people!

Types of diaper inserts

Since switching to cloth I thought I'd tell you all about the different types of inserts I have been using. 

Here they are

The top is a gRefill. They are disposable and biodegradable. You can tear them apart and flush them in any non septic toilet. We used these exclusively until this month. They are like any disposable diaper, but better for the environment. These are convenient for vacations where laundry is difficult, or when you aren't sure of the type of toilet systems other people have as they can be tossed in the trash. They are also great if you are going to be out a while and need the convenience of not changing diapers too often. Very absorbent and you can go 3-4 hours in these depending on your wetter.

Next, is gCloth. I only have 2 of these. They have hemp on the bottom and fleece on top with some layers in between. They do their job. They seem kind of hard compared to the others. I use them, but I'd say they are my least favorite. They seem to get really wet cold and hard quickly. Maybe 2 hours of use.

The third one is a Charcoal Bamboo Insert, or CBI to the cloth world. They are thin and absorbent and pretty soft. The charcoal is antimicrobial and stink resistant. The bamboo is super absorbent. They seem a little too short for the medium/large gDiapers, but they work. If these were a tad longer it would he better, but they are my favorite. They seem to be dry to the touch even when wet, which is good for baby. I can get 3 hours out of these!

Lastly, we have the bamboo cotton microfiber blend. Not as stay dry as the CBIs, but oh so soft. I feel good about putting these next to my baby's skin. They need to be changed pretty often, but it's not a big deal. We have the most of this kind.  I'd say they can go 2 hours.

Not pictured are the prefolds that I use as burp cloths. A lot of mamas that use other types of cloth diapers swear by prefolds, but they seem very bulky to me and the ones I have are way too huge to put in gDiapers. They are very absorbent though, and I will stick to using those as burp rags.

I have a tie dye problem

The upside is that people have asked me to make them some, so $ is always good!

Moving on up

So my lovely 25+ pound 11 month old has officially moved up to size large gdiapers. I waited as long as I could, but I was getting leaks every single time, and when I tried out a large that I had, the leaks stopped.

I waited as long as I could because, well, gdiapers aren't cheap! At over 15 a pop, it adds up! Luckily, I found some great Facebook swap and sell groups and I was able to get him more than enough for much less than I would have new.  One of the great things about gdiapers is that there can be quite a resale value! 

In the group of diapers that I bought there were two 'vanilla' diapers. Basically, white. Why anyone would make a white diaper is beyond me, but I fixed that! 

If you know me at all- tie dye!

The backs

The fronts.

They aren't AMAZING, but it will do! Once I get the whole lot of diapers in, I will share it with you along with his new awesome cloth stash!

Gdiaper stain removal

If you know anything about gdiapers, you know they are a 3 part system. A cover, a snap in liner to contain, and an insert to absorb.  

The snap in liner inevitably comes in contact with poop, and poop stains! After almost 8 months of use, my liners were looking sad. No longer white, but ranging from fully brown to yellow. 

As you read earlier, since pooping in diapers may be a thing of the past, I wanted my liners to be white again.  I read up on some methods to whiten them, all of which seemed involved and for me, not worth it. I sunned them, I used stain remover, you name it.  I wanted an easier method. 

I took a bucket and placed all my liners in the bucket with a tiny bit of Oxyclean. I boiled a pot of water and poured it in, stirred and let it soak for a few hours. I checked it, and they were white! Amazing! I rinsed, placed in the sun, and they look and feel new again. 

The power of Oxyclean!!! Here is griff showing off his diaper on vacation.

Cloth diapering and potty!

It has been so long since I posted but I wanted to get you all ready for my series of posts coming up about making your own cloth diaper inserts, potty training, and more.

We just got back from a 3 week vacation and have gotten back into potty using full swing.  Baby boy is almost 11 months old and I noticed his diapers needing to be changed less often. I put him on the potty a few times, and he goes almost every time, and is almost always pooping only on the potty.

Because of this, I have decided to switch to all cloth diapering. With only having to deal with pee, it seems doable, and that little twinge I was getting in my stomach about using those flushable inserts has been getting bigger. It was seeming more and more wasteful and more and more difficult on the pocketbook.  

I've gotten a couple cloth inserts, and I like them. I'm waiting for some more in the mail (charcoal bamboo), and will be making some of my own with some of the extra prefolds that I had laying around that we never got to using as burp cloths. We are still using the gdiaper covers, which I still love because they are well fitted compared to other one size covers.

I'm feeling great about it all and it looks like baby is too!

Tape resist painting with homemade fingerpaint

This was baby's first Valentine's Day, so it was really fun being able to sit with him and make a present for his Daddy. Since he is only 7 months we chose something simple.

I had seen the idea on Pinterest, to make a design on canvas with tape and then paint over, and remove the tape. Luckily, I had a mini canvas already!

I made homemade, safe to eat, finger paint with cornstarch, water, and a little sugar and salt that you cook on the stove for a bit. I added red and pink food coloring. It did stain a little, but it went away at bath time.

Overall, it was a good baby project. If I was to do it again, I wouldn't use finger paint because its quite transparent and doesn't look great. I would get some non toxic paint and just use that. Now that Griff is old enough to paint, I might have to get him some!

Happy love day everyone!

Our Valentine's Day was full of crafts and yummy food!  I didn't want to spoil any surprises, so Valentine's crafts will be featured after v-day.  Oh well!  Save them for next year!

Protecting your child from germs

I've always been the kind of person that didn't worry about germs. Don't wash my hands much, pacifier on the floor? No big deal. I don't wipe carts, baby can touch the dog, blah blah blah.

There ARE things I do to keep things clean. We sterilize bottles daily. Pacifiers once or twice a week. More often if necessary. And yes, if they are visibly dirty when the fall I will clean them.

And then...
Baby got sick. It was a cold, no big deal. That definitely not the kind of germs I worry about.

Then baby came down with a rash. One the doctor doesn't seem to know what it is, other than " it's not an allergy or reaction". Uh ok. So we are waiting it out for a week and going from there.

In the meantime I bought some products that should help protect him from some of the places he touches that never get washed.

Like shopping carts.
We went with the taggies brand cover and he seemed to like it. Played with the tags and he sat up very well in it.  It has a strap that secures him to the cover, and the cover is strapped onto the cart pretty well.

He wouldn't look at me during this photo because he was watching some seagulls.

I was using the NoJo Secure Me, but that only held him in. He could still touch the cart.

And like the table at restaurants.
At restaurants we mostly use the Inglesina Fast Table Chair, which I only have good things to say about. Those wooden high chairs seem dangerous to me for a baby just learning to sit.  Especially a baby that flings himself around as much as possible.  Maybe in a few months..

To cover the table I got the Summer Tiny Diner Mat.  This is neat because it suctions to the table, is heavy duty, and catches spills, all at the same time.

Hopefully these efforts will help to keep the weird rashes at bay...

Baby shower blanket

Lately when I've attended baby showers my go to gifts are a blanket and burp rags. I sell these blankets on my etsy shop, and I even made one for my little one ( his is slightly more custom).

For this upcoming shower the mommy is having a girl so I was excited to pick the delicate fabrics that lend themselves well to girls.

Here is a preview of the blanket and burp cloths!

6 month mash up

Rolling over

First tooth

Balancing in a crawl position

Standing with help

Loves tickles

and whistling

and favorite toys

and the remote...

Pets his dog whenever he walks by

<3

Home from the Holidays

The holidays were very busy this year,  and starting back in early December I began all my crocheting projects.  We traveled to the east coast for a week, and now we are finally back home.  It has really taken me a week to get back into the swing of things, and I'm still feeling over tired somehow...

Here are some photos from our trip.

Leaving from Babcia's

 Lucked out an an empty seat! (Only on one flight of four, and we actually laughed at when we asked once... doesn't hurt to try!)

Visiting a dear friend in NYC

 Driving hours and hours in the snow

Griffin was able to meet all his cousins and great aunts and great grandparents, but he did catch his first cold, which we are still getting over...

So finally, to you all...

Moby baby carrier

When I was pregnant with Griff, I received a huge bag of hand me downs from my neighbor. Included was her moby wrap. I had wanted one of these and they aren't cheap, so I was very grateful.

After G was born I used the moby all the time. Walking around the neighborhood, at parties, grocery shopping... It was so great that I went and bought a white one off of Craigslist. It was summer and the black was hot.

I also had an ergo carrier but G was too small and I didn't have the infant insert. Now he is big enough and I love my ergo even more than I loved my moby, but as I prepare for our first family cross country trip I debated packing my moby.

G likes to face forward and I knew that the moby was my only option. I had heard negative things about carrying heavy kids in the moby and baby is at least 18 lbs now. I figured I'd give it a try before packing it. I'm tough and pretty strong so I figured I could do it.

All those women were right. I couldn't do it. Baby was comfy, and it wrapped well. I decided to do some work in the kitchen while carrying him and after 5 minutes my back was hurting. That will not work for a day in NYC.

Looks like I have one less thing to pack, and the mobys will sit in the drawer until the next little baby comes along.

Making simple holiday trees

To make cute Xmas trees for your holiday table you only need a few things. It cost me about $2. Maybe less!

You will need-
4 sheets of felt for each tree. I did solid green trees but you can mix it up, or even make red or brown.

Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Scissors

Pom poms. I got mine in the dollar bin at Joann's.

Poster board or an old thin box. I used a box. Whatever you use just needs to be the thickness of poster board to support the felt, and thin enough to bend.

Tape

How to make the tree-

1. Cut your poster into two rectangles. Basically, in half hamburger style.

2. Make it into a cone, and tape the pointy end together so it doesn't unravel. After you do this you can manipulate the bottom opening to be as wide as you want. The bottom will not be flat.

3. Tape the seam once you are happy with the shape.

4. Cut the bottom so that it is flat. There should be some point that your cone starts to separate. That is a good place to cut.

5. Fold two of your felt sheets into thirds and cut half circles out of it. You should be able to get 9-12 half circles out of each sheet. Fold the other two into 5ths and cut smaller half circles.

6. Starting at the bottom, layer your circles from largest to smallest going up the tree. Use your hot glue just at the flat part of the half circle.

7. At the end you should have a couple scraps of felt leftover to cover the exposed parts at the very bottom of the tree.

8. Put your Pom poms on however you like!

I realize I have no step by step photos. I realized this after I finished making the trees so feel free to ask me questions of you need clarification.

Crochet candy cane baby hat

Fits most 6-9 month olds.

Materials
- 1 small ball of white
- 1 small ball of red

Instructions
1. In white - Magic loop. Double crochet 10 times in loop and tighten.
2. Chain 3. Double crochet 2 times in each dc. Join with top chain.
3. In red - chain 3. double crochet in first loop 2 times. Double crochet once in next loop. Repeat until end of row. Join with top chain.
4. In white - chain 3. dc twice in first loop and once in next two loops. Repeat until end and join to top chain.
5. Chain 3. dc in first loop twice, and once in the next 3 loops. Repeat until end and join to top chain.
6. In red - chain 3. dc in each loop once. Join to top chain.
7. In white - chain 3. dc around and join.
8-9. In red- chain 2. single crochet around and join. These two single crochet rows make a sightly smaller band then a dc would.
10. In white - chain 3. dc around and join.
11. In red - chain 2. single crochet around and join.
12. In white - chain 2. Single crochet around and join.
13. In red- chain 2. sc around and join.
14-18. In white - chain 3. Double crochet, then front post dc. Repeat around and join. Fpdc can be confusing, but watch youtube videos and feel free to ask me questions!

You can make 17 rows instead of 18 if you want a shorter cap depending on the child's head.

To add a bow
Chain 16 or so. Whatever length you want your bow to be. Sc until end, chain 1. Repeat in back loop only for 9 rows. Less for shorter bows. Join middle with yarn and secure.

There you have a candy cane baby hat, for a boy or girl!

The best socks for babies

If you've ever had kids you know that a huge challenge is finding socks that stay on. 

My baby's favorite pasttime is trying to kick his socks off as soon as I get them on.

There are only two brands of socks that I've found that will stay on through all the kicking.

1. Old navy. Specifically the socks that don't fold and look sort of long. I love these for cool weather because they are thick and they go up to my boys knees. They are tight and leave marks, but it doesn't seem to bother him. He is 5 months but wears 12-18 months in these socks so buy big. Way big.

2. Gymboree. I'm pretty sure that the ones he has are too small, but they stay on somehow and are true to size. They are thin, so good if its warmer, or with shoes. They don't go up far, and have characters on them or are very colorful. Kinda pricey for socks.

Here he is in his old navy socks today. The one under that is his gymboree socks.

Baby Santa hat

I realize I've posted about this once before, but this post has my corrections AND cute photos :)

Knowing Christmas is coming up, I wanted to make my own Santa hats for the little ones. I sent one off to my niece with some matching booties, and I made a hat for Griff as well. I gave the first one I made to Griff's friend, who was also adorable in his hat!
I followed this pattern.
As with many crochet patterns, it was ridiculously off and I had to adjust it. Here are my adjustments.
White brim-
1. Chain as many links as you want your brim to be wide.
2. Continue as the pattern says, but don't follow how many rows to says to make. Measure your child's head circumference and make the brim that long when slightly stretched. I ended up with 53 rows (which is way more than 37 or whatever it asks for). I followed the pattern for 6-12 months without measuring and it would be fit for a newborn.
3. When starting your red rows, just get 1 stitch into each row. I had 53 rows, so I made 53 red slip stitches into the white when starting the hat part.
4. You end up having to add some rows in at the end, but it doesn't make a big difference. Just follow the pattern until you are ready to stitch your hat together.
5. I stitch the entire white brim on the outside, instead of half. This is because I flipped the whole white brim up.
The hats turned out super cute! We got lots of compliments when going to see Santa.