The Dirty Business

A few months the kid was born, I had it in my head that we would do cloth diapers. They’re endlessly discussed – better for the environment, better for the baby, etc. Then I started reading up on diaper services versus buying diapers and it got confusing. If you buy directly, you have to wash ‘em (I am admittedly squeamish), but it looked like diaper services – with their professional grade chemical laundering and hot water usage – were closer to disposables on the environmental side of things. Then I learned that Toronto’s compost program allows composting of disposables. Then I remembered that I was a lovely combination of busy (I’m not doing classic mat leave, but working part time flex – mostly online, though here and there in the office – while hanging out at home with the babe), lazy (I did not want to do multiple loads of daily laundry), and grody-averse (I don’t even like yucky words).

So with that, we decided to figure out what was the best disposable we could find. And with that, we discovered Nature Babycare – they’re a Swedish company that makes what are apparently the most environmentally friendly disposables around. Chlorine-free and made of biodegradable materials, the diapers and wipes are compostable and friendly to the earth – so I started the hunt for where to get them in Toronto. No dice – not a single retailer here carries them at this pont.

So I hunted down the company on Twitter and they directed me to some online shops through which I could buy the product – the closest one was Clothworks based in Milton. They don’t carry the entire Naty line of products (which, on that note, look amazing) but they do carry all the key stuff – we invested in diapers, wipes, travel wipes, and disposal bags.

Et voila – the Nature Babycare stuff gets a thumbs up here. My very-waste-averse husband doesn’t feel guilty, and I don’t have to figure out how to store a tiny boy’s dirty business between washings. Success!

The Remaining Essentials

Went a little purchase-wild today – the store at which we registered gives you a 10% gift card for whatever people buy you, so I decided to get the remaining essentials in one fell swoop. On a related note: I am a disgusting consumer and a marketer’s dream – but at least I’m not in denial about it. Besides, it was mostly free thanks to gift cards! Guilt trip out…

This Plover Organic crib bedding set – it’s double-sided with the dots versus geometric pattern, and we’ll be making the dots the stars (i.e. the opposite of what’s happening here).

This really bizarro bucket-of-baby style thing called Tummy Tub.

These two little newborn-size onesie things by Tea Collection with coordinating sweatpant-looking things which I’m not a huge fan of, but it appears that babies don’t get a lot of bottom options at this teensy size. It turns out we don’t actually have a lot in the way of things to put on this kid quite yet – well, other than blankets!

These hilarious looking things by Beba Bean (I can’t bring myself to write their name as it’s sickeningly cutesy) that apparently reduce the likelihood of a small creature urinating on you – I am praying for success with this as the idea of that is very hard on my grossness-hating head.

And most important of all: the only book I will be obsessed with, as the good doc was my absolute fave when I was a wee one. Thirteen in one! How’s that for fun?

The other little goodies are far less interesting so I’ll quit while I’m ahead. Suffice it to say, we’re pretty much done!

Showered

The family baby shower was lovely! Aside from the heavenly cupcakes, to-die-for St. Andre cheese, and ACE Bakery cranberry cracker things, the following is a short list of some of my favourite goodies!

The Baby Bjorn Babysitter Balance Air bouncy seat:

The Baby Bjorn carrier cover:

The Maxi-Cosi Mico car seat:

The crazy cute Cariboo activity gym:

The Skip Hop Playspot interlocking foam tiles:

There were also lots of adorable little things that I can’t find online, not least of which is a particularly cute baby medical kit. (Who would have thought that even the basics could get all cutied up?)

In other news, while I was out, Dave finished the subfloor for that kid’s room as well as insulating about half of it. Baby steps ’til we have somewhere to put this stuff!

Sugar Coated

I’m obsessed with exfoliating. Honestly, I love no part of my body more than my delightful skin, and I love nothing more than making it ever-more dreamy and supersoft. I have tried a bazillion products over the years and each one has its own pros and cons – some redden up the skin with granules that aren’t fine enough, some coat my tub with a layer of sticky grime, some cost more than their weight by the gram, blah, blah, blah. Earlier this year, however, I tried Cake‘s Sugar Coated Brown Sugar Body Scrub from their Barbie by Cake line.

I was in love. After years of product switching, I was quite certain I’d found the best scrub of all time. I went through the entire jar quickly, then subsequently tried both their Citrus Squeeze and Sweet Cheeks scrubs to try out their entire line of stuff. Both were nice, but neither fragance compared to the heaven that was the Barbie product, so when Cake recently offered a 50% sale through Scarlett Lounge on Red Flag Deals (which, FYI, is a great site for fashion and beauty deals that I’d previously overlooked under the assumption that it wouldn’t feature anything my style – wrong!), I was quick to buy two more jars.

But just now, I went to go buy more for the ladies in my life as holiday gifts… it was no longer on their site.

Say it ain’t so, Cake!

This is truly the dreamiest scrub of life. I can’t live without it after searching for it for so many years! Cross your fingers with me that they’re simply low on stock due to wacky demand. I can’t restart the search!

Full disclosure: My husband shoots their product, but I swear this product-pimping is unrelated. Not that anyone who doesn’t know me well enough to know this fact already reads this blog, but still. Honesty first? Hah.

More Maternity Basics

Okay, so I know I raved about my beloved leggings and kind of thought that would be my sole maternity clothes rave, but I have two more pieces that I must heavily recommend.

Boob is a company from Sweden that makes things that are organic, good looking, and comfortable. I hadn’t bought anything at all from them through this pregnancy ’til a week or two ago when I found two things that struck my fancy at Belly from their Once on Never Off series.

Okay. So these are the first actual maternity pants (that I can actually wear in public) that I’ve bought. Well, unless you count the two pairs of designer jeans that I wore possibly three times each. (Holy discomfort, by the way – why do pants with half panels even exist? They will not stay up and start visibly cutting into the bump as it grows. Hideous, I tell you! I even tried to cut a bazillion slits in one pair to hide the line under my shirt. Let me tell you: disaster. Maternity jeans, in my opinion, stink. The general store stuff unflatter one’s backside as much as any mall pants, and the designer stuff doesn’t stay up. Ridic!)

In any case, these pants are heaven-sent. First of all, I’m getting to a point in pregnancy where it’s getting very uncomfortable to not sit… in a rather unladylike fashion. It’s like sitting with a ball on your lap – instinct makes you want to rest the ball on your legs, but you need a little spread space to make that happen. This creates an awkward situation in anything but stretchy skirts – and pants. These particular pants feel like I’m going to work in yoga gear, but miraculously still look decent. (And I swear I’m not kidding myself, I took pictures first to be safe!)

The skirt is equally dreamy. It’s an ever-so-slightly longer length in the non-belly-panel section than the bulk of skirts that I’ve been buying, which means I can position it more appropriately for a variety of seated positions. It’s stretchy and also feels like loungewear while still looking good.

In addition, the panel on these two pieces is slightly different than what I’ve been buying. Most of my previous skirts have had a full panel that end up practically touching my bra strap in the back, as I really only need that extra room in the front. These two lovelies, however, have a lower panel height in the back, meaning the fabric stops at a lower point, which means less bunching up strangely under cute fitted tops.

Finally, they’re both designed to have the panel able to flip down (without excess material) after the pregnancy is over, so can both be worn post-pregnancy as well. This makes me feel less wasteful in my short-term wardrobe excursions!

These are two basics I wish I’d found in the early stages of being knocked up, but don’t feel guilty about buying so late in the game due to the ongoing usefulness. Also, it’s good to know that the sizing is consistent to your pre-pregnancy size, which I haven’t found to be the case with all manufacturers (no matter what they claim) so they’re easy to buy online if you can’t find any in your neighbourhood.

Deals and Excess

I always have internal battles about shopping online. I like to buy local whenever I can, but the allure of the recent flash sale type sites is a tough one to resist. The online shopping thing drives Dave bananas, as he’d prefer we skip the deal and put the money into shops in the city, but I have a real thing for convenience as well, which gives online shopping a late-evening appeal that normal stores can’t offer.

Philosophical issues aside, in seeking clothes for myself, I have a tougher time with the online purchase – you never really know how things will fit and it becomes a bit of a challenge. But kid stuff? My assumption is kind of that everything fits. And everything is half off, thereby making the nice stuff all the more affordable? Oh my.

With that, I bring you BabySteals. I made my second purchase today – the first consisted of a few muslin swaddling blankets from aden + anais, which are quite pricey at the boutiques I frequent. I look daily but buy only when the deals are great and I particularly love the item. And I’ve had my eye on this Hatley stuff for a little while, but couldn’t bring myself to order any at the original price.

Now check out the sharks:

And then these little green lambie ones:

So cute. So cute! It’s funny, people always think of me as a big shopper, but I am really not. I’ve made seriously few non-essential purchases for this kid’s life entry, and he’s less than two months from hitting the streets.

And with that, I feel compelled to ask: how do you feel okay about buying a few nice things without letting the too-much-factor into your house? It seems harder when it comes to kid stuff, not simply because it’s terribly cute, but because everyone and their dog wants to give you the stuff they don’t use anymore!

Thoughts?

The Modern Dance Costume Essentials

So I have spent way more money on clothes than a sane person should while pregnant, but you know what? It’s hard to find nice things, and I have a business to run that requires me to look a certain way. (I swear to god, I’d better find someone good to give all of this stuff to when I’m done, because it agitates me endlessly that I’ve spent this much and it might not get into good hands. But that’s another story.) In any case, despite this ridiculous level of spending on boutique-y things, I have made only one purchase that I think was truly spectacular. And I am here today to harass you into buying them too.

The Ingrid & Isabel Belly Leggings.

You see, even pregnant, I remain me. Every day, I wear something pretty – pencil skirts are my personal pregnancy favourite, but I also have a number of dresses that combine knocked-up function with a modern form factor. I ensure this blonde bob is styled exactly as it has always been. I put on makeup, never skipping a step. I go for regular manicures, pedicures, and stay true to my waxing rituals so that my eyes are always as bright as they can be. I wear pointy four inch heels. I may be the size of a house, but I like to look… just so.

That said, the second I get home from a busy day at the office or in meetings, this same me that I’ve always been has immediately swapped out lovely day gear for still-sweet but cozy home gear, i.e. yoga pants, i.e. half of Lululemon‘s catalog. However! While many of my Lulu faves still fit, sometimes even stretchy yoga pants start to feel a little… constricting. I know! It’s tragic, both in the sad and embarrassing sense. But it’s a fact. Sometimes the belly feels a bit smooshed.

Early on in the pregnancy, I discovered the bottom half of what friends have now deemed to be my Modern Dance Costume. These stretchy Belly Leggings fit like a flipping dream, are so dreamy-soft you can hardly stand it, and – most importantly! – give the midsection more than a little breathing room, allowing the developing kid ample space for motion and allowing you ample space for a piece of vegan chocolate cake. Um. If that kind of thing strikes your fancy.

In any case, I have a few pairs now and literally wear these things daily. I sometimes also toss them under a skirt or dress for an alternative to stockings or tights, and – though I haven’t found a tunic that I love enough yet – I hear they’re also great with other wardrobe essentials. I couldn’t have made it through these last eight weeks in particular without these blessed things, and they’re the best maternity purchase I’ve made to date.

Our Answer to Babyjail

We got a call from Ella + Elliot on Friday that this little bug’s most important pieces of furniture have arrived – and in far less time than the 4-6 weeks we’d been anticipating, no less!

We (and by “we” I mean I, not like the renoland version of “we”, which means Dave) spent a fair amount of time investigating the bazillion options out there for baby furniture. Convertible versus non-convertible cribs! Cribs whose sides slide down versus ones that don’t! Round cribs versus square cribs! Dressers + change tables versus dresser change tables! Crib change tables! Classic woods and whites versus colourful pieces! There were a lot of options – and not the kind that make you excited, but the kind that make you feel like you’re going to have a mental breakdown if someone doesn’t just bloody tell you what to do. Anyway, after months of back-and-forthing (and harassing everyone from girlfriends to store clerks to our moms), we set our dial to the Classic series from Oeuf NYC.

Here’s the crib (only we didn’t do this change table) that Jen still swears looks like babyjail (perfect for imprisoning this little creature!). This crib changes into a toddler bed at some point – though don’t ask me when kids change from crib to bed as I have no flipping clue and refuse to research things so far in the future.

And here is the dresser/change table combo.

This is the corresponding hutch for the dresser that we plan to order later on!

This unit will last through his lifetime!

We can’t pick it up quite yet, as the future kid room is currently filled with contractor tools and equipment (there’s nowhere else to put that stuff!) but surely will in a few weeks.

After finding a picture of a baby room I liked on the Ella + Elliot site, I did some major hunting and found the exact wallpaper they had used that made me so into that room. For your reference, it’s called Frames by Taylor & Wood, and can’t be purchased in Canada – but I found it at Graham and Brown’s online store, where they were happy to ship up here when I put in the order request this week! As a point of reference, this is the general layout we’re going to pull together in this room.

Whew!

Pretty Little Things

Another day of stalking around, resulting in more pretty little things!

We got two of these wall sconces, and one will go on each side of the mirror.

In other lighting news, I took a quick shot of the pendant light we got to hang over the tub. (Apologies for the quality, but I can’t find any good pictures online!)

And we picked up our sink faucets.

Finally, we confirmed the tiles, as we didn’t find anything we liked better – just have to go in Monday morning to make the order. All that’s remaining to find are the mirror/medicine cabinet (depending on what we find), towel bars and hooks, toilet paper dispenser, and shelving. Miracle!

All Tiled Up

I almost forgot to showcase where we’re at with The Great Tile Hunt of 2009!

This is the winning palette thus far, and we found all of it at Olympia Tile. The brownish fabric looking tile is floor, the dark grey is the shower floor, and the glass is the shower accent. For the bulk of the shower, we’re looking at subway tile in some shade of white, though remain unsure on the matte versus glossy question at this point.