How to Fix Bumgenius Diapers

A couple of weeks ago we purchased our first Bumgenius diapers using a gift card that I found while unpacking.  🙂  I love these diapers but they are a little more expensive than the prefold/bummis cover system that I usually use.  I like to save them for times when Brandon is watching Eli or for the church nursery.  Two weeks ago I purchased 7 used bumgenius diapers at a used cloth diaper sale at Mother Nurture in Lexington knowing that I would eventually need to replace the velcro.  This afternoon I finished fixing the rest of them and thought I would provide a tutorial on how to fix them.

I recommend purchasing the BumGenius Refresher Kits (1.00 each from Cotton Babies). They contain velcro hook/loop tabs, new laundry tabs, 3 elastic pieces and instructions.

After removing the old hook and loop tape make a sandwich with one loop piece on the top and one hook piece on the bottom. Before you sew this make sure that the way it is positioned would make it stick to the front of the diaper! 🙂

 

Stitch your sandwich together starting as the picture illustrates. Go around the tab 2x and make sure to backtrack.

 

Locate the laundry tabs. Simply place a new laundry tab over existing laundry tab. The new tab is slightly larger so this is easy. (I don't think it is worth ripping out the old one just sew one over top.)

 

Next the scary part. Make a small hole in the soft cloth fabric at both ends where the elastic has worn out. Remove elastic.

Take the new elastic and attach it to a safety pin and then thread it through the small hole. Then I like to use a zig zag stitch to attach the elastic and sew across the hole in the same step. Note a botkin tool will be too large you will need a tiny safety pin.

The finished product!

Notes: I did not replace the soft velcro located on the front of the diaper.  It looks a little worn on my diapers but still looks great. When I do need to replace it I will be using the Celtic Cloth velcro as it is far superior in quality to anything that a local fabric store sells.  I went ahead and replaced the elastic in all of my diapers but your tabs might wear out before your elastic needs replacing.  After the first diaper I would say they took 30 minutes each to fix.

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The Laura/Laura Weekend

my wedding date

This past weekend I traveled all the way to Liberty, TN to see my sweet friend Laura Griffith get married!  I am so excited about all that God is doing in her life and it was wonderful to be able to witness her marriage to Phil.  Her wedding took place at her parent’s house which I thought was just priceless.  It was gorgeous-both the wedding and reception were outside.  The weather was perfect.  No rain and not too hot.  Elijah was a wonderful date.  Brandon wasn’t able to go and was sorely missed.  Eli and I both missed him very much. 

my gift to Laura

I had a blast making part of Laura’s wedding gift.  One of my favorite gifts from the shower that Laura hosted for me when I got married was a beautiful apron that they gave me so I decided to do the same.  I used McCall’s 5720 view B.  This pattern was great!  So far it is my favorite apron pattern I’m sure I will be using again in the future.  I also included a Better Homes and Garden cookbook. 

Laura's Wedding Card

Old habits die-hard and I still enjoy stamping from time to time.  This card uses Stampin’ Up!’s Watercolor Minis-one of my favorite sets.  It’s an old one but a good one.  I also ended up making the envelope underneath the card b/c after I had made the card I realized that I had made it too large to fit into a card!  Oh well.

Here comes the bride

This picture definitely doesn’t do her justice.  She was gorgeous!  It was also great getting to visit with some friends from Immanuel (the church I attended in Louisville before I got married).  I was greatly blessed and encouraged by the minister (Jeff King)’s sermon on marriage.  After leaving the wedding I headed to my other friend Laura’s house.  On the way there look what I saw…

how random-Foutch was my maiden name 🙂

I had a great time visiting with Laura Sivado and her husband Pete.  They were so gracious and hospitable to Elijah and myself.  What a blessing to be able to visit with them.  Laura Sivado was the first person I met when I went to Cumberland so she will always be a special friend.  It was great to see all of the work they have been doing to their home makes me think hmmm I wonder if we will be laying laminate one day in the dining room? 🙂  It was also able to attend their church Mosaic before I headed home which was great.  The pastor preached on Rom. 1 and definitely blessed my soul.  (I’m about to finish up my study on Colossians this week where to go to next?  Romans maybe?)  Then we headed home and can you believe that Eli slept almost the entire way from Nashville to Versailles?  Yipee!

Elijah’s First Play

Elijah's First Play

Tonight Brandon and I took Elijah to see his first play If you give a mouse a cookie at the Thoroughbred center in Midway.  We were pleasantly surprised at how much fun Eli seemed to have.  He laughed and giggled as he watched the play from the balcony.  His face was absolutely priceless!  Wish I had taken my camera to capture his grin but cameras weren’t permitted.  Looks like we will have some more children’s plays in our future.  The play was pretty good but my favorite part was definitely watching Elijah watch the play.

Yummy Peach Pancakes

Yummy peach pancakes

 Friday my mom blessed me with a 1/2 gallon of cottage cheese!  I’m not quite sure why she gave us so much but I am determined that we are going to finish it before it expires.  I remember reading about cottage cheese pancakes before in a healthy mom cookbook but honestly they sounded disgusting!  I like cottage cheese and all but cottage cheese pancakes?  Well I adapted a recipe from all recipes this morning for Cottage Cheese Peach Pancakes and they were amazing!  (I would just call them Peach Pancakes for your family as I think the name might discourage them! )

• Ingredients:
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. cottage cheese
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 t vanilla extract (I was out so I substituted almond)
• 2 T melted butter (you could also use oil)
• 1 peach sliced thinly or shredded
• 1 c flour-I used whole wheat and they were great
• 2 T sugar-I used sucanat-a natural sweetener
• dash of salt
• 3/4 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon

Mix eggs, cottage cheese, milk, extract, butter, and peach together.  Then add in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  I think you are supposed to mix the flour, soda, salt and cinnamon together and then add it but I hate to dirty 2 bowls so I always just sprinkle each ingredient around in the bowl! 🙂  Then cook on a griddle and enjoy.  I added lots of peaches on top and just a splash of maple syrup.

Movie Review: The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

Great Family Film

As part of Spectacular September Sunday nights at church we watched the movie The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry at church tonight.  I thought the movie was wonderful-I laughed, just about cried and thoroughly enjoyed this wholesome movie.   Set in the late 1960s this movie emphasizes the importance of discipleship.  What I liked most about the movie was watching this elderly gentleman live out his faith.  As James tells us to be doers of the word and not just hearers-truly the character Jonathan Sperry lived out his faith in action not just in what he said.  Although he was an elderly man he invested in the lives of a number of young boys.  He invited them into his home, taught them the Bible, helped them to think about life, fed them (almost a necessity for a teenage boy) and in general lived a life that other believers should seek to emulate.  I hope that when I am nearing the end of my life that I never stop investing in the lives of other young girls and living out the Biblical mandate given in Titus 2.  The only downside of the movie I would say is that it is almost 2 hours long which might be a little long for some young viewers but it did not seem long at all.  If you are looking for a great clean movie for your family then check this one out!

Fun Bridal Shower Gift

This weekend I will be attending a bridal shower for a dear friend of mine.  I thought it would be really nice to purchase her a nice lingerie bag as a gift.  I searched around online and found one that I really liked but was shocked by the price $54!  Yikes!  That’s a little bit too much for a bag in my mind.  So instead I decided to design my own bag especially made for her.  Hope she likes it.  If you would like to sew a bridal lingerie bag too just follow the directions.  I think this makes a great gift!

You will need 1/2 yard of fabric, 1/2 yard of lining fabric, 1 button, thread to match, pins, measuring tape, and scissors.

Cut out 1 rectangle 14X21 of each the fabric and the lining fabric.  I used a nice high quality Satin fabric for the lining not a cheap lining fabric.  I wanted it to feel luxurious.  I plan on making a couple more of these in the future so I actually made a pattern rectangle that measured 14X21. 

The easiest method would be to place the rectangles wrong sides together and stitch around leaving a small opening. Then turn the bag inside out so that the pretty side of the fabric is showing and sew the opening shut.

 

Next fold one end of the fabric over 7.5" and sew the side seams in order to make a pocket.

Make a mark in the middle of the flap @ 6.5. This is where you will make a button-hole. Refer to your sewing machine manual for instructions on making a button-hole. I made the button-hole to fit a 3/4" button.

Mark your button placement and attach button either by hand or using your machine. Then I like to apply Fray Block to the button-hole and button to prevent it from fraying.

Now you are all finished!

Other Notes: I found that pressing as I sewed helped the bag to look much more professional.  I pressed as I sewed on my second bag (not pictured).  You will be able to get 2 bags out of 1/2 yard of fabric and 1/2 yard of lining fabric.  I wanted my finished bag to measure 12.5X7.5.  If you would like to make your bag larger or smaller you can adjust the cut measurements of 14X21 accordingly.  This idea could also be adapted for a variety of bags to hold other items.  I might make one to hold hair accessories for trips.  🙂

Really? Blessing God @ all times: What I learned last week

How appropriate that last Monday the verse I chose to meditate on (think about deeply without the legs folded posture and ums) on was Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”  No doubt I would say that most people would agree that it’s easy to praise God when life is going great but it’s a little harder to say God you are awesome when troubles come our way.  Well last Monday night after pondering this verse I had a pretty rough night being up every hour or two sick.  After the virus passed it turned into a bad cold with chills, headaches, cough, cold, congestion, plugged ears and yesterday it felt like I swallowed a brillo pad.  What a great opportunity God has provided me with to live out this verse-blessing God @ all times.  I feel like this week has been a great one in the sense that I have really been able to sit back and count my blessings while I think about my priorities. 

Things I’m Thankful for this week:

1. A great God who has blessed me beyond measure even though I deserve none of His grace.  He has sustained me in ways that only He can and blessed me with a relatively good spirit in the midst of not feeling well.
2. The most wonderful husband ever who has spent the majority of his free time tending sweetly to me in a number of ways from watching Elijah to driving late @ night to buy me earache medicine when my ear hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep. 
3. A great son Elijah who was miraculously good this past week and brought a smile to my face often throughout the day.
4. Our church family it was great knowing that they were praying and one sweet family even brought us dinner.
5. Friends and Family for those who called to check on me and for those whom I still haven’t called back-they are so patient and understanding.
6. For Exersaucers and Johnny Jump Ups-which allowed me a short rest from saying “Elijah no don’t touch that!” 
   This week has also made me think of ways I can encourage others when they are sick.  I think I am more excited than ever about helping others to bear their burdens.  What are some ways that God has used others to bless you during times of sickness?

The Baby Bib that went from bad to worse-I hate bias tape!

It’s hard to believe that in all my years of sewing I have never made a baby bib!  Well yesterday I decided to change that.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I actually bought a pattern McCalls 6108 for it-my logic was that I would like to try some appliques in the future and this pattern contained 6 or so that looked pretty simple and cute.  You could easily google a free bib pattern on the internet or simply trace around a bib that is a good size for the child who you are making the bib for.  I made the size medium for this pattern.

For this pattern you will need 1/2 yard of your fabric, 1/2 yard of batting (not pictured), thread, velcro, and bias tape to match.

You can either use the same fabric for the back of the bib or else you will need another 1/2 yard of fabric.  I used a cream scrap piece of muslin that I had but you could also easily make the bib reversible.  I’m pretty sure we will be making a cute reversible bib in the future! 

Next you want to lay your pattern out on your fabric. If a pattern piece does not need to be on the fold then I always place it as close to the selvage as possible saving the part of the fabric near the fold for another project. Measure the grain lines and cut out.

Next cut out your batting. I didn't measure the grain lines at all. (The little pink and purple things are pattern weights which actually do not work well for cutting out batting.) Unless you are going to do an applique I do not think the batting is really that necessary. It is much harder to sew with it so if you are relatively new to sewing definitely skip the batting!

If you are using batting sew the batting and back piece together. Just skip this step if you are skipping the batting.

Next sew the front part of the bib to the back of the bib with the wrong sides of the fabric together 1/4" from the edge. It is really important that you sew very close to the edge.

Next the hard part-where the bib started to go bad! Apply the bias tape to all of the edges sewing VERY slowly. It might help to trim the edges very close to the seam before adding the bias tape. Although the pattern called for 1/4" wide double fold bias tape I think that 1/2" would have made the project much easier. Next time I will be using the 1/2".

The last step is just to add the velcro to the top. Remember to place the soft side on the front of the bib and the rough side on the back of the other side so that the bib will close.

The little guy who made it worth the fight with the bias tape

Book Review: Real Food for Mother and Baby

This past week I have been enjoying reading Nina Planck’s book Real Food for mother and baby.  I found the book to be very thorough and enjoyable.  Planck wrote the book after she herself had a child.  She advocates eating real food-food that has been around for a long time and avoiding white sugar, refined flours, non-engineered foods etc. 

The first part of the book focused on a fertility diet-what to eat if you are planning on becoming pregnant in the future.  I especially enjoyed some of the charts in the book which talked about different nutrients for women, why that nutrient is important in growing a baby, the foods that are best to eat for that nutrient and a supplement that you can take if you are not eating foods high in a certain nutrient.  Planck does emphasize the importance of eating the foods and not just relying solely on supplements. 

The next section of the book deals with the pregnancy diet.  While I was pregnant with Elijah I followed the Brewer diet the last half of my pregnancy which Planck also recommends.  Basically it calls for 100g of protein.  Not only does this ensure that your baby is getting enough nutrients, but I also found that the best cure for morning sickness is PROTEIN!!!  It was after battling morning sickness for a good couple of months that a dear friend of mine Mrs. Shawna Howell explained the importance of protein in my diet.

The third section of the book (the real reason that I wanted to read the book) deals with feeding your baby.  I appreciated Planck’s support for breastfeeding and her advice on feeding your baby.  At almost 9 months old Elijah is just now starting to act like he enjoys eating food.  🙂  One thing that she mentioned that we haven’t tried yet is feeding your baby meat as a good first food.  So far Elijah has eaten a good number of fruits and vegetables and I think we will be adding some roast chicken next week.  Overall I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it.  I would not however call it a must have for the bookshelf.  Nice to read but probably not one that I would find myself re-reading for at least a couple of years.  I would recommend getting it from your local library as I did.