Wash, rinse, (dry), REPEAT

In all our efforts to conserve resources, I’m not so sure we’re doing the earth any favors when it comes to laundry.

Just the addition of one person – one tiny, adorable, little person – to our household has created oh, about 100 times the amount of laundry that we used to create.  In the beginning, diaper blowouts, spit up, countless nursing sessions, playing dress-up, and Molly’s uncanny ability to hold her pee until after we’d taken the diaper off made for a full laundry basket every day.  I thought, “Surely this laundry business will taper off sometime soon.”  And it did, but then I started venturing out into public and in order for that to happen, I had to wear something other than the yoga pants and t-shirt I had been wearing for days at a time.  So we started adding my clothes back into the laundry basket.  And then Jim got a job out of the house and he started wearing one thing to work and then changing when he got home.  Then, Molly started eating solid foods, and well, that certainly didn’t create less laundry.

So goes the story for mothers everywhere.  Just about any conversation with another mother involves a discussion about 1) the amount of laundry to be washed; 2) the amount of laundry to be folded; and/or 3) the disbelief that the laundry needs to be done again. My sister and I talk about it weekly, Julia and I just talked about it today, Leigh has entire blog about it, and The Football Wife knows a thing or two about grass stains.  (Check out The FW’s great laundry giveaway, by the way!  But if you win, you have to share the goodies with me!)

Although I’m not a fan of folding and putting away laundry, I am a fan of little house on laundry days because we HAVE to put the clothes away right away.  There is no where for it pile up.  Which makes for a tidy house.  And, I might be a just little more eager to do laundry for the next week or so since I will get to use my NEW front loading washer and dryer that I am waiting on RIGHT NOW.  We figured if we were going to do endless loads of laundry, we should at least be considerate to the earth and invest in high-efficiency machines.

If having a baby doesn’t make you feel like an adult, being excited about new appliances certainly does.

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Happy Earth Day!

During my adult life, I have tired to make purposeful decisions as a consumer and inhabitant of our Earth.  I did all the obvious things:  I learned to turn the water off while brushing my teeth, recycle soda bottles and magazines, avoid using paper plates on a daily basis, and keep (and use!) canvas bags in my car for shopping trips.  But last year, when I found out I was pregnant, I realized that not only did I want to raise Molly to respect the planet she lives on, I want her to have a place to live when she’s my age.  Jim and I discussed and implemented a lot of simple changes that fit our philosophy and lifestyle, and while I understand that convenience sometimes trumps earth-friendly (I have a dog and a baby, therefore paper towels still have their place in my home!), I am proud of the effort we are making to show our love for the earth.  A few steps we’ve taken in the right direction include finding green cleaning supplies that are available and affordable; participating in our city’s curb-side recycling program (bonus: our city is increasing the amount of materials they will pick up on recycling day!); living in a very walkable neighborhood and actually walking to places like restaurants, the grocery store, and the post office; cloth diapering; and switching to reusable dusting and cleaning cloths.

What do YOU do to be more earth friendly?

Leave a comment and share your ideas with me!

I mean, really, can you imagine how cute her babies are going to be?  Let’s make sure they have a great place to live!

Happy Earth Day!

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Random Thoughts

Molly and I have been awfully busy!  I treasure my days off with her and we have enjoyed some beautiful spring weather together the past few weeks.  We fill our days with playdates and walks with the dog and we look forward to the spending the evenings with Jim.

Some recent highlights:

• Molly loves swinging in her new swing that her dad hung up for her on the porch.
• We have a vampire baby:  Molly’s bicuspids (a.k.a. fangs) have come through!  She looks hilarious with her two bottom teeth and those two fangs teeth up top.
• Molly is making sure I get my ab workout in on a regular basis.  Her new favorite game is “throw every toy on the floor.”  My obliques should be rock solid in no time, as I twist and bend over time after time.
• I love, love, love what a roly-poly baby Molly is.  And apparently I’m not the only one.  When we were out on a run Monday night, we saw some our neighborhood friends walking their dog and the two-year old walked up to the stroller, grabbed Molly’s leg, and said, “Squishy, squishy.”  How cute is that?!
• There’s a reason Molly still has those yummy thighs and hands:  she’s not quite active yet.  (And I’m totally ok with that, for the record – once she starts motoring, she’ll lose all that chub and I’ll be even more busy than I already am!)  The other day, after Molly had exhausted all of her toy options within her reach, she looked around and seemed more than happy to just lay down.  Then, she noticed her feet.  You would have thought that it was Christmas Day.  Oh, if only she would always be so happy to play with her feet.

Isn't she SO sweet?

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