JUST last week I was remarking to Dan that our children have never had the stomach bug. I spoke a bit too soon. Mary started to have some "issues" last night and despite having an uneventful night, woke up again with a fever and unable to keep her bowl of cheerios down.
But despite this, she’s been begging for something to eat and she’s managed to keep down two slices of toast. In the meantime, I’ve been doing quite a bit of handwashing trying my best to stave off the spreading of germs around here. 
So I’m spending my day at home trying to catch up on some library reading, laundry and finally taking the time to get my magazine subscriptions in order. I’m making some changes this spring: dumping Domino, Country Living, and Country Home and adding Real Simple, Wondertime and possibly Cookie, to my never-changing Martha Stewart subscription. I do have to say, I’m pleased that the lady over the phone with Domino mag didn’t give me twenty-questions when I told her I wanted to cancel my subscription (although I did have my answer prepared before I called in). That always drives me crazy. Have you ever tried cancelling a credit card? They are relentless!
Thanks again for ALL your responses to my carseat questions. It looks like Graco is a pretty popular choice. You gave lots of good advice. And thanks to the couple of you who answered my laptop cleaning question. I’ll let you all know on here what I try because it seems like many of us have the same problem.
Oh, so here’s today’s question of the day:
I have a crib bumber that I used for Mary which has since lost several of its ties that attach it to the sides of the crib. It doesn’t really "go" with my new plan for the baby’s room. What do you think of the idea of sewing a new cover for this baby bumper? Would it work? In my mind I think I want a bumper in navy swiss dots…if I could find it somewhere….And if I could find the time to actually do it. What do you think??!!
Alright back to nurse my babe back to health and make some noodle soup and toast (again) for lunch. Poor Emma is bored out of her mind because we’re having such a non-eventful day….
oh no! being sick is the worst! and having innocent little sick children is even Worser! we are dealing with a fairly major Bug of our own right now. we are headed to the Dr. today! This One won’t quit!
i hope she feels better soon …. and you don’t catch it!!!loves!
I’m making some magazine changes, too. Keeping Dwell and that’s it. The rest I can get at the library if I really want them. I’m addicted, and it’s time to change. 🙂
If the bumper needs new ties anyway, I don’t think it would be that hard to make a new cover. But I also don’t think it is crucial if you aren’t feeling up to it. The baby won’t care!
I hope Mary is feeling better soon. Stomach flu — ick!
I think it is very doable to make a cover for the bumper. I would probably make one long tube and close it with velcro on both end. This way it will be easier to pull the bumper through. I was thinking of buttons for a while instead of velcro, but they are not very safe with babies. Good luck and can’t wait to see what you will decide.For the car seat I swear by Britax. We were lucky as my son was 9 pounds 11 oz and he outgrew the infant carrier soon. I just used stroller with him everywhere.
That’s funny I finally gave in and subscribed to County Living and ever since I did the issues have been Ho-Hum! I received a subscription to Cookie as a Christmas gift and I really like it. I’d like to pass my latest issue on to you if you’d like to check it out. Let me know.
I used to work at a baby store and we sold custom bedding. One of the options was to get a cover for your bumper so that it was easier to wash. It’s totally legitimate. You just have to fit it around your existing bumper (or foam insert or whatever) like a giant pillow case — you know, the kind with the flaps on the back? Um… like they do for couch pillows. I can find an example if needed. That way, the fabric stays tight against the bumper, so there is not extra fabric for little one’s to get hurt on. Also, make sure your ties are really secure. I’m sure you know that though!
I hope the rest of the family manages to stay healthy!
sorry to hear you are dealing withsickness…i am sure that i have seenbumper pads somewherethat had been recovered…hmmmm…or was that made from scratch…
heh.guess that wasn’t much help,heehee
We got the bug too- last week- and it was a killer. There were bodily fluids everywhere! All better now (well, except the husband who is still nursing it a bit:) Be careful though, my ped. said the only risk for me in getting it was labor. I was like– no, I’m not ready! I absolutely think the bumper cover would work, just make sure you can’t see the other fabric through it. Take care…
Hope Mary is better soon and the handwashing helps! I covered Aidin’s old crib bumper for Eliot – it was a bit floppy so I added some interfacing on the outside edge and then “quilted” it in very simple rectangles to keep the new fabric in place. Good luck!
go for the new cover…it shouldn’t be too hard. and if you find the navy swiss dot, please tell me where. i wouldn’t mind having some for a little project!
hope mary is better soon.
one more thing about the carseat–I recommended the Graco SafeSeat, and it’s different (and better! bigger, more padding, has the EPS foam around the head) than the SnugRide, which is the typical choice. Two Graco infant carrier/seats–shop carefully!
Oh, also! We re-covered a bumper for our first child. I made a long strip of fabric, stitched it along the bottom edge (right sides together with the bumper going away from the wide part of the fabric) then wrapped it around, folded and ironed the seam allowance, then stitched it along the bottom. Way easier (I was thinking) than trying to evenly stuff that long thing into a tube.Sorry for the horrible description, but I was thinking of doing the binding on a quilt at the time….
hoping mary is on the mend and the rest of you stay well! 🙂
i’m afraid I don’t know from baby bumper thingies but I just happened to be looking for dotted swiss the other day and found a cool site:http://www.farmhousefabrics.com/
sounds lovely!!
We really like Cookie. I mean like all mags, some issues are better than others, but overall we enjoy it.
As for the bumpers, you know officially you aren’t supposed to use them once the baby can roll over. And seeing as the rolling over part is what would cause the potential bump, for which you need the pads, officially they serve only a decorative purpose. UN-officially however, I think a navy swiss dot would be very charming in the baby’s nursery.
I wish you better luck than I just had with stomach bugs. My oldest infected half our extended family. It’s been almost two weeks and I am still afraid to give my son milk.
I say never talk openly about good luck you’ve had with your kids sleeping or never being sick, it jinxes me every single time. I literally tell people “I’d rather not say” when I get asked questions about these two subjects!
I love the idea of navy/white swiss dots. I made bumpers for Ian’s bed, you’d definitely do a great job.
I hope they are feeling better soon. The stomach bug is always yucky. My sister-in-laws doctor told her to get a bottle of plain old coke. Poor some out in a cup and let it sit for a few hours so that the fizzy is gone and then give it to her girls for an upset stomach. I guess it has the same thing in it as some upset stomach medicines do. She said it worked.I have the same book from our library, Last minute fabric gifts. My favorites were the fabric envelope and the travel pouch. I loved it’s shape but I think it would take me longer than last minute to put it together.
Definitely cover the bumper pad and use bias trim for your ties, it works great I hear!
Good choices in subscription changes, I have those as well except Real Simple…I just can’t get myself to call in that order yet.
I ended up buying the last minute fabric gifts book because I sooo enjoyed all the projects I wanted to have them on hand all the time.
By the way, once the tummy settles give her some pear juice from the can works fine. Also the following day I give the kids yogurt to build back up those good bacterias that they just got rid of when they got sick.
Wow, I”ve never heard of wondertime, sounds like a good one. I’m sorry your little one is sick, hope it passes you up.
yeah i think i will probably drop domino. i’ll keep martha and maybe pick up fitness and beautiful/decay!!!
I made a bumper cover once. Worked like a dream!