Central Valley moms?

[3 Little Monkeys]

I'm relatively new to the boards, just wanted to know if there are many people from my area here. I live in Madera, I did see the post about the BabyFest in Fresno, can't wait for it. Hopefully I'll be able to meet some people there.

I've lived here for almost 2 years, the only people I know are my husband's family. It's hard to meet new people when you are a sahm, at least IMO.

Is there anywhere close where you can buy dipes, covers, etc? Other than the gerber stuff at WalMart and Babies R Us I mean. I've only been cding for about a month, dd is 23 months old. I have alot of catching up to do. BB3 will be cded from the start, once we conceive I'm going to start stocking up.

Well, just wanted to say hi and see if there was anyone near me who could offer up some words of advice.

[Andrea0408]

Hi Sherri!

I am relatively new to the boards too...and I live in Sanger. (Not too far from Madera!!) I have yet to find any cloth diapers/covers anywhere around here. The only ones I have been able to find are online.

I, too, am a sahm to two children (Gavin who will be 3 in April, and Trinity who is 19 months old)...I didnt cloth diaper them, but dh and I are also ttc #3, and baby 3 will surely be cd'd...I only wish I had done the same for Gav and Trin. :(

I can see I am not much help in the cloth diaper dept...LOL...but I wanted you to know that I am a like minded Mommy in your area!!

[3 Little Monkeys]

Hi Andrea!

I was beginning to wonder if anyone around here was on these boards.

I've given up trying to find dipes/covers here. I'm either going to make them or buy online. I've found a few real neat places that I want to buy from. Just got my first "fluffy mail" delivery today so I'm doing laundry so I can get them on dd. Never thought I'd be excited about getting diapers :LOL

Sanger is just south of Fresno, right? I've been here just under 2 years, and haven't quite figured out where all these towns are. Maybe I'm thinking of Selma, I'll have to go look it up now. DH was born and raised in Fresno, actually I was born in Fresno too, that's how we met, but my family moved when I was 2.

Not that you asked for mylife story, but that's part of it :) I can be quite a talker, sorry. Glad to know there's someone near me who is on my wavelength. You can't imagine (well you probably can) the negativity I've gotten from family about my decision to cd. My sil went so far as to say I was "stupid for wanting to wash diapers when it's so much easier to just throw them away" I asked her if she thought they just disappeared when she threw them away..... no response of course. Oh well, her baby can be uncomfortable and rashy, mine is happy as a clam and loving her "sof bipers" There I go rambling again. Nice to "meet" you Andrea!

[Andrea0408]

Happy to meet you too!!

So do you have a diaper service, or did you mail order them? (May be a stupid question, sorry)...I was looking for a diaper service, but dont think they exist around here...anxious to hear your respose.

Sanger is south of Fresno (I think) LOL...I was born in Fresno, moved to sanger when I was around 5, was raised in Sanger, got married, moved to San Luis Obispo in 1999, had both kids in SLO county (lived in Arroyo Grande also...about 4 miles south of Pismo beach)...and moved back here so that I could be a SAHM...wasnt gonna happen there! We are on the "three year plan" as we refer to it. We are selling the house we live in (in MIL's and Dh's names) in three years (when she can retire early), and taking our profit and running!!! I dont want to stay here. (In case you couldnt tell)...I look forward to being in a "green community" again. That I can tell you for sure!!!

I know what you mean about family! My MIL thinks I am nuts until she sees a benefit in what I am doing...LOL...I have been a vegetarian for about 6 months now, and after months of being my #1 critic, she wants to go meatless..:p Dont get me wrong..I am really happy about it, it just cracks me up how she's eating her words now. :D I noticed you read about the natural baby festival...did you check out the Fresnofamily website? I just discovered it like a week or two ago. There is a Park Playtime tomorrow in Fresno at Oso de Oro park from 10:30 to 12:30. I havent met anyone yet from the group, but thought you might be interested too!...I just gotta get my behind down there before 12:30!:D Might be kinda fun...and probably worth the drive for both of us...

talk to you soon!

[tinawoman]

who posted about the babyfest...which, by the way, has been postponed...not happening in may this year...still working on when that will be for sure...but its still happening!!

anyway, i met andrea today at our haircutting party! way cool!

about cloth diapering...guess the subject didn't come up before...but we have several wahms locally, including my mom, who make/sell cloth diapers. one is bizzy bhive dipes...she's way popular! doesn't do much local business...but does some. look at her site here: http://bizzybhive.com/ and my mom's site is here: www.nanasrealm.com and both businesses are in fresno. there are also several moms in our LARGE local AP group that make dipes, but i don't know if they sell them...mostly make for themselves, trade or do as favors i think.

now do y'all know about our local AP group? well, andrea does, she met a bunch of us today! here's a link to my site: www.fresnofamily.com that has an attachment parenting section where you can find out about the group. we have probably over 70 families now and are in the process of planning our second annual springfest for the last sat of this month, mar. 29, starting at 11am, if y'all are interested. its going to be at the discovery center, on winery between mckinley and clinton. here's their site: www.thediscoverycenter.net we have lots of things planned for that! including a maypole, egg hunt, and lots of other fun things for the kiddos!

anyway, must go now, feel free to email me epponine@fresnofamily.com about anything. i'm the one who started the local AP group 2 years ago and am the contact person still for the group...plus i organize most all of the activities (though i try to delegate...)

see ya!!

tina
mommy to maeven, 2yrs 4mos

[tinawoman]

that cloth diapering is WAY popular in our large local AP group....almost seems sometimes that more of us CD than not. and so that's really handy because there's lots of trading and selling going on with used dipes.


tina

[Ms.Doula]

HI there. I havent done an Intro yet, and actually this is my first post but I am also in Central CA. Visalia to be exact. And I just wanted to say hello to moms in the area. :wave
Any more info on the baby fest thing yet? What exactly is it? I am assuming like an expo or soething? Who puts it on? is there a fee for a booth??? full of Questions huhh? Lol. I will have to check out the families site. I am about 45 min. from Fresno, I believe. Not too far. Nice to "Meet" ya! :thumb

[tinawoman]

the babyfest has been postponed a year to give us enough time to fully prepare.

its now scheduled for 5/1/04

more info is in the post called "natural babyfest in fresno in may"


tina

[CMTorie]

Hey...I wanted to chime in too! I am also from Madera, I have my first baby due in September!!! I would love to meet other local moms! I see noone has been here in a while...I hope you all come back!

[3 Little Monkeys]

I'm sure Tina will get back to you about the play groups and such. I'm the other Madera mom. We're still relatively new to the area, only been here a little over a year now. I found out a few weeks ago that we are expecting our third baby around Nov. 21 Took us by surprise but I'm pretty excited, just wish I could get rid of the nausea and fatigue. It's so hard taking care of a toddler when you feel like crud! Hope your pregnancy is going well and congratulations!!

[CMTorie]

Sherri ~ Yes, pg is going quite well although I did have a 'heck-of-a-time' with the nausea the first trimester. I am SO glad that is over. We want a few kids, but I was thinking....Gosh, being so sick is one thing when I get to come home and plop myself on the couch and be miserable...what am I going to do when I am sick like this but still have another child to take care of?

I think it is funny that your family thinks it's odd to CD. I will be CDing also...but no body will know until 'they' go to change a diaper. I am so NOT INTERESTED in fighting battles at this point! I figure I'm going to have to fight them once the baby is here...so why fight them now too. YKWIM? Anyhow...I'm also slightly tired of people that have 2 kids (30 years ago) telling me how I should raise my child. Just cause you have 2 kids does NOT make you the authority of child care. For crying out loud my DH was chased around the house with a wooden spoon when he was a child...not exactly AP. :LOL

Anyhow...that has been my soap box for this week...sorry to vent. :rolleyes:

[Ms.Doula]

So, no one is in or near Visalia, CA????? :confused:

[CMTorie]

So, no one is in or near Visalia, CA????? I used to date someone in Porterville. :love hehehe...sorry...that's me being a pain in the butt again! :o

[Gale Force]

Originally posted by Ms.Doula
So, no one is in or near Visalia, CA????? :confused:

ME!

email me: wildgale#hotmail.com
(just change the #)

Amanda

(edited to remove the @ in the email)

[Ms.Doula]

okay, I am E'ing ya!!! :eek

[ChloesMummy]

Hello Central Valley MOMS! I see alot of these posts are older, but I thought I would give it a try. I am a SAHM too. My dd is 2 yrs 4 months and we live in Tulare (about 1 hr south of fresno) not too many of us here I guess. I would love to meet some like minded moms cd AP etc. A lot of my friends do not have children yet or do not practice AP and do not understand me or how we parent our dh. It is so hard to be friends w/ people who do not parent the same way. Hope to hear from u soon.

Amber- Mommy to Chloe 5-17-01 and married to DH for 4 great yrs.

[Gale Force]

Hey Amber. Do you go to the Visalia LLL meetings? You are familiar to me.

I'm from Visalia though about to move into the Sierras. I'll be local for another six months or so and will then keep going to the LLL meetings.

Amanda

[Mommy&Will]

Someone please read this! LOL! I hope someone out there can help me....

My grandma has some land in Tollhouse, California near Fresno that she wants to sell. DH and I are telling NO, that we may buy it from her. I just don't want land that close to the Sierras to leave our family. :love

So, can anyone tell me more about that area? How far is Tollhouse from Fresno? If we built there, where in the world could dh work? He is a graphic designer by trade. There is the possibility that he could freelance, but it all is scary to think about right now. We are living a "safe" boring life right now... but the mountains are calling us. :D

[Durannie]

Hey y'all,

Just wanted to say hi to my fellow Central CA peeps, 'cept looks like I'm north of all of you (I'm just north of Modesto). I wish I was closer so I could join what sounds like a thriving AP group in/near Fresno. I did find a group in Modesto thru meetup.com, but there were only 6 members so far, no one was RSVPing for the meetings, and the meetings were actually in Turlock, which is a bit too far for me to go. And I'm not into the local MOMs club. Most of them seem snooty, and there's not many AP'ers. For now I'll stick with LLL for most of my social interaction -- good peeps there!

Oh, and I've just started CDing, too, after 2 yrs. It's never too late! I've been getting my stuff online, although I did buy the Gerber diaper covers from BRU as a decent inexpensive cover for my fitted Kissaluvs.

Anybody else closer to Modesto?

[Vito's Mommy]

Hello! I'm in Vacaville. Just moved here and am not all that geographically correct. My guess is you're about 1.5 hrs from me? I haven't made too mant friends yet, (anxiety!) but I enrolled my son in a interactive playschool thru the community center. Hard to find like minded moms 'eh? Nice to meet you!

[Vito's Mommy]

Mommy and Will....Fresno is about 4 hours from the Sierras. If the mountains are calling you, but you don't want to land too close to the Sierras, what do you want? I'm not gettin it. If you have a chance to buy some CA land, go for it!

[Andrea0408]

So, can anyone tell me more about that area? How far is Tollhouse from Fresno? If we built there, where in the world could dh work? He is a graphic designer by trade. There is the possibility that he could freelance, but it all is scary to think about right now. We are living a "safe" boring life right now... but the mountains are calling us.

Tollhouse is less than an hour from Fresno. We have some friends that live up there! Its nice...Fresno is where our friends both work...so the drive is do-able.
I live just outside fresno, and have commuted for everything all my life, so this is easy for me to say, lol...

I always just remind myself that some people spend that much time in traffic in the city, kwim? Good luck with your decision ! :)

[Malin77x]

I'm also "just north of Modesto." Or at least I will be soon. I'm from Escalon (for the locals who know) and will be moving to the Oakdale area (most likely) in July. I just went to meetup.com and didn't find a Modesto group, so I just started on. Just trying to meet people in the area....

[Mommyoffour4]

:D Hello, I am new to this forum and I just wanted to say hi to all the moms from Central California. I am from Modesto.

[mlmkmm]

Hello! I'm in Vacaville. Just moved here and am not all that geographically correct. My guess is you're about 1.5 hrs from me? I haven't made too mant friends yet, (anxiety!) but I enrolled my son in a interactive playschool thru the community center. Hard to find like minded moms 'eh? Nice to meet you!

Me too.... Vacaville:thumb

[2M's Mom]

Hello! I live in Modesto, and grew up in Madera. I also lived in SLO for 4 years and the Bay Area for 3. Anyone else in the Modesto area I would love to meet!

[ccasanova]

I'm so glad I found this post! I could've sworn that I posted something here looking for other central valley moms and didn't get any replys. Now that I was searching for my old post, I can't even find it, so maybe it didnt' go through or something :scratch I am probably going to be moving to Visalia! I think I saw 2 posters here that say they are living there right? I'm in Santa Clarita Valley right now but dh is probably going to be getting relocated there. Can anyone give me some info on what areas are good to look at? Safety is number 1 on our list. Also how is the city in general? It looks to be a lot smaller then any place I've ever lived. Iv'e only seen the name when dh and I are going up to visit his mom in Sacramento. I think small can be nice though for a slower pace of life. Are there a lot of retail stores? Malls? Can someone give me the scoop? Once we hear that dh has the job position there we will drive out to look around. I do want to go and see it now, but I don't want to get my hopes up to high and get all exited about moving and then find out he didn't get the job. Is there plenty of AP going on? Homeschooling? Cding? Is it very family oriented? Thanks mamas!

[Gale Force]

Cynthia,

I live in the southern Sierras now but have lived in Visalia and still do a lot of work there. It is not a small town at all. It has about 100,000 people in it and is the regional shopping hub for the area. It's got a couple of larger malls (not huge, but not just little strip malls). It has a new shopping area with Lowes, big Target, and a number of other places. The shopping is generally fine and if you can't find what you need, Fresno is just 45 minutes north.

As for where to live, my preference would be either west or east of the College of Sequoias. East is very nice but unaffordable for most of us. West is a better value, but stick to the first five or so blocks west. The best elementary school is Royal Oak, so you might look in that area (which includes the area west of COS). And there really are quite a number of other very nice neighborhoods in town, with a whole range of prices.

Got to go now. Good luck with the job.

[veganmomma]

I'm so glad I found this post! I could've sworn that I posted something here looking for other central valley moms and didn't get any replys. Now that I was searching for my old post, I can't even find it, so maybe it didnt' go through or something :scratch I am probably going to be moving to Visalia! I think I saw 2 posters here that say they are living there right? I'm in Santa Clarita Valley right now but dh is probably going to be getting relocated there. Can anyone give me some info on what areas are good to look at? Safety is number 1 on our list. Also how is the city in general? It looks to be a lot smaller then any place I've ever lived. Iv'e only seen the name when dh and I are going up to visit his mom in Sacramento. I think small can be nice though for a slower pace of life. Are there a lot of retail stores? Malls? Can someone give me the scoop? Once we hear that dh has the job position there we will drive out to look around. I do want to go and see it now, but I don't want to get my hopes up to high and get all exited about moving and then find out he didn't get the job. Is there plenty of AP going on? Homeschooling? Cding? Is it very family oriented? Thanks mamas! Hi Cynthia,
I live in Exeter which is about 20 mins from Visalia. I am a memeber of the Visalia AP mommies group and also a visalia homeschooling group. I like Visalia, but like to live in my small little town. So, we live just far enough away that it feels small, but not too far away that we can't go in town for the malls, etc. I know it's been a couple of weeks since your post, but hope that this can help in some way. You can email me if you like or if you need more info about the area.

[ccasanova]

thanks, for the moment Visalia has been put off. :( My husbands boss was working on firing someone whom he wasn't very happy with, and then when that was done, my dh wouldv'e moved into that position. For the moment, the position is still not available for us so we are stuck where we are. I'm :1praying: though. God knows what he has planned for us so when the timing is right, we will go where we need to be. I was really liking the idea of a smaller town though. I'll keep you posted as to what happens. Does Exeter have newer communities too? How far driving distance is Visalia from there. And I'm so happy to know that there is a homeschooling community! Do the homeschooling group get together for outings?

[ccasanova]

Central Valley moms are going to have a new neighbor!!! Me!!! Dh got the job and we are moving at the end of October/First of November. Our first home! We are so exited! So I'm goint to have to find out about the homeschooling groups, playgroups etc. We don't know anyone in the town, but I feel lucky to at least know mamas online that live in the area. Hopefully we can meet in person soon! So who can tell me about the homeschooling group, how I can sign up etc.? Is there a yahoo group or something? I'm so exited!!!!!:bouncy