A "New" Discovery - PW Actions!

I know that I'm probably the last person on the face of the Earth to catch onto this...but The Pioneer Woman seriously knows what she's doing when it comes to her Photoshop Actions! I don't know whyti took me so long to clue in on this stuff...seeing as I use Photoshop a few times a week, but I don't know that I'll release another picture that hasn't had an action done to it from here on out...seriously. They're that good.

I can't imagine that anyone's asking this question, but since I only recently asked it myself, maybe there are a few more out there that don't know. That question that you might be asking is: "What's an action?" To put it as simply as I can (because I don't have a lot of technical knowledge backing this up), an action is a pre-determined group of settings that you can "wash" your photos with. Basically you install these actions in your version of Photoshop (or PS Elements), open up your photos in PS, and apply the action to your photo. Depending on the action that you select, you could get a variety of different outcomes. Check out my two new favorite pictures...

Aren't they precious? I mean, I know that Jax is cute (duh!) but aren't the settings cool too? The top one looks like it could have been taken with a vintage Poloroid camera and the bottom one is just the perfect blend of Sepia tones...and I'm completely in love with the PW Boost action...here - click over and see for yourself what I'm talking about. But be warned, you might get hooked too!

The Progression of a Tired Mother...

This is how I felt yesterday after one restless night of sleep (Friday) and one night of little to no sleep (Saturday)...

And maybe I looked a bit like this...

And that wasn't too terribly bad. But then last night hit. Another night of little to no sleep. Followed by a morning where I had to go to work. Which means that this is what I looked like getting up out of bed...

And here's what I looked like at work today...

Too bad that I don't actually drink coffee. I think that it might have helped me today. The good news I left work at lunch today, which is why there is a post during the middle of the afternoon. Hopefully I'm about to fall into a nice, deep sleep where I get lots and lots of rest...here's to hoping!

Oh, what's that? You want to know why I'm not sleeping. Hmmm...let me sum it up for you...I think that I can do it in 5 words or less. Jax has Thrush. Yep, I managed it in only 3 words - go me! I'll write more about it later...finding images was hard enough...wish me luck sleeping!!

source for images (1, 2, 3, and 4)

Look at that Bum!!

Oh my, get ready for cute bum overload...

I wrote this post last week asking for some advice from moms out there about how to help Jax stay dry all night long, thinking that part of his sleeping troubles could be related to how quickly he goes through diapers at night. 

Thanks to those moms who emailed me with some suggestions, and I want you to know that I acted on them.  On all of them.

Yep, you read that right...I hedged my bets, so to speak.

Some suggested trying the overnite style diapers from either Huggies and/or Pampers, while others suggested trying to cloth diaper overnite.  Although the overnite diapers were hard to find in an actual store in Jax's size anywhere close to me (I visited 4 stores!), and the cloth diaper world was slightly overwhelming...I managed to get some of each.

I got these overnite diapers...



And these are the cloth diapers that I decided to try...

source for both images

I mean, I figured that since BumGenius has a 30-day trial period where they accept returns (even once worn/used) what did I have to lose?

Since I was able to find the overnite diapers here in town, I used those for a few nights while I waited for the cloth diapers to arrive via mail, plus one additional night spent pre-washing and drying for maximum absorbency.  I mean, that's what we were going for, right?

I have to admit that I was skeptical about the overnite Huggies at first.  They felt no thicker than normal Huggies, so I was doubtful of the job that they would do.  Imagine my surprise when they made it to the feeding/changing time without a leak the first night.  Then double that surprise when I got really brave the next night and didn't change it at all...all night long...and his clothes were still dry in the morning.  At this point, I was pretty sure that I would be returning the cloth diapers right away.

And then the overnite diapers leaked the night before last.  Insert sad face here.  I know, I know...there isn't going to be a perfect solution, just something that's better than what I was using is an improvement.  Nothing is guaranteed to work all the time, after all.  So that's when I decided to give the cloth diapers a turn, and we tried our first cloth diaper last night.

Since I'm tryping this after he's gone to bed, and before he wakes up, I won't actually have an end to this tale for you...but I DO have some cute butt pictures to show you!  Man, those cloth diapering moms out there aren't kidding about how cute a butt in a cloth diaper is!! 

I just kept patting and patting it...couldn't stop myself!  I really hope that they work, because I could totally get used to seeing this right before bedtime each night...