Cloth Diapers

When I had Natalie, I never thought that I would EVER try cloth diapers. I just thought it was gross and to be honest, the first thing that came to mind were the flat squares, pins and nasty rubber pants. They have come so far in recent years and just as easy to put on as disposables even Shawn can do it! Now I'm a convert and I'm bringing others in with me. I really wish someone would have shown me how much they've improved sooner.

We've only used disposable diapers for the first week and a half (once Clay's belly button and circumcision had healed) and have been full time reusable diapers ever since.

Here is what we've been using,

At home it is

-gdiapers with cloth inserts (that I got from two work at home mom online stores, http://www.nappyshoppe.com/ and http://www.cottonwoodbaby.com/ ). My favorites are from Nappy Shoppe called the g-flapper made with Bamboo Velour, Bamboo Terry and Hemp. They also have adorable diaper bags and other cloth diapering accessories, it's my one stop cloth diaper shop except for the gdiaper "little g" pants and flushies. I just stocked up on the medium size so when Clay outgrows the smalls, we are ready.

-Fuzzi Bunz size small with the inserts they came with(or g-flapper inserts), I got these super cheap because they are second hand, I know it sounds gross, but they were very well taken care of. I doubt I'll buy size mediums but they are great for newborns and they are good small babies.

-Bum Genius 3.0 one size pocket diapers - these are my favorite night time diapers because now that he doesn't poo at night, this will hold all night so I don't have to change in the middle of the night - HUGE plus for me! I have used both inserts that come with them for nighttime SUPER absorbency. I am slowly increasing my stash of these because they are so versatile. We are now phasing out the horrendeous pull ups for Robbie and he can fit these as well so it will be great until Robbie is able to stay dry at night.

When we're out and about it's the gdiapers with the flushable inserts. I got a ton of the flushies for my shower and gdiapers will exchange for the next size up if I still have unopened packages.

Here is what I love...

-I have NOT had one single BLOWOUT since saying goodbye to disposables! You know, up the back and out the legs and everywhere. With Robbie, every time he fed, he blew out all over himself and me. It was horrible. I can't tell you how many times I had to give him a bath in the sink when we were out (nearly every week at church) because he would get it all the way in his hair. Hasn't happened at all with Clay once we switched, even when he's been strapped in the carseat!

-No rashes

-Saves money - I figured out that I have spent nearly $6000 on diapers and pullups in the last 5 years for Natalie and Robbie. So far I've spent a lot of money, about $700, but I won't have to buy anything else and when we have baby #4, I've already made the investment.

-Don't get caught running out unexpectedly with a need to run out to the store, just do a load of laundry!

Also, it's only increased my laundry by 2 loads a week, but it's evening out because I haven't lost outfits to poop stains all over the legs and back. I thought the laundry was going to be too much for me, but it isn't. Washing diapers is so easy. I just put the soiled ones in a dry pail (no messy water soaks required) and I wash every other day. I have a front loading washer and I'll do a cold wash with no detergent to get the poo off, followed by a hot wash with 1/4 of the amount of a "free & clear" detergent without additives (no bleach, fabric softener, fragrances, brighteners, etc.), sometimes I add BacOut or OxyClean if I feel they need it and finally a cold wash without detergent to make sure there are no more bubbles so I know all the detergent has been rinsed out. Then I dry on low or hang them. Did you know hanging in the sun works better than Clorox?

The thing I hate most about laundry is the folding and putting away, but I am not finding that to be a problem with a diaper load because everything goes to the same place.

I will say, that except for my night diaper, you can't leave these on for more than about 3 hours with out leaks (which it isn't good to even leave a sposie on for that long either), but I am finding that I really like these and I don't see myself going back to disposables ever again!

Photo Shoot

I need help deciding. I am getting ready to make Clay's birth announcements and I am having a hard time choosing the picture. I took over 30 pictures and here are my 6 favorites. Which one do you like most?

Natalie

Don't you just love some of the outfits 5 year olds pick out for themselves. It actually doesn't look that bad in the pictures as it did in real life.

My little spiderman

Robbie has been obsessed with dressing up lately. All last week while we were off of school, he had to dress up. Spiderman was his costume of choice and spent most of his time in this one, but we also saw him as Dr. Who, a Dalek and a pirate.

Also, I don't know if he has OCD (he's doomed because my dad has OCD characteristics and so do I so it's in his blood) or if it's just typical 3 year old behavior, but he would get really bent out of shape if the middle of the "web" on the mask didn't hit him right in the middle of his nose. The face he's making looks like a smile, but he is really gritting his teeth because he's frustrated.

Clayton at 1 month

Seriously, the last month has been a complete blur. I can't even believe it's been a month since he was born and he is changing so much every day. Things are calming down and we are trying to settle into a routine. He's been sleeping about 5-6 hours at night and last night was from 10:30 PM until 4:30 AM, so we are all feeling better. I'm not exactly sure how much he weighs now, but I'm guessing he'll be over the 10 pound mark when we go in for his 6 week check-up. He is already growing out of clothes and he seems to be getting really chunky!

Clay at 4 weeks

Happy Easter

Happy Easter. I hope all have had a very uplifting day remembering Christ and his atoning sacrifice.

I thought I'd share some pictures of our Easter. We don't do traditional Easter baskets as we don't like to have a lot of sweets around the house. Also, it is so difficult to get my kids to eat healthy in the first place, the last thing we need is for them to be filled with unhealthy food and not want to eat the good stuff. So each kid only got one sweet, a chocolate egg. These eggs came in a gift set that included a ceramic plate and mug, a plastic knife and a "toast stamp". You press the "stamp" into the bread and then toast it and you can see the design in the toast. Natalie got a Little Miss set, Robbie got a Thomas the Tank set and Clay got a Whinnie the Pooh set (even though he can't eat that yet, we asked the Easter Bunny to bring him one so each will have their special set). The big kids also got a paddle ball and an Easter character with Play Dough inside (thanks to my friend Rhonda from Canada!), 2 hard boiled eggs (which Robbie didn't like and Natalie tried to eat with the shells still on, lol), 2 story books and a DVD. Clay got 2 books and a stuffed chick.

Natalie's place

Robbie's place
Clay's spot, lol

The books and DVDs and Clay's chick

Natalie and her stuff

Robbie and his stuff

Here are the kids all dressed up for church.

Natalie in her new dress that Auntie Janie sent to her
Robbie looking smart in his tie (he just loves wearing a tie and won't go to church without one now)
Clay looking so grown up, he is changing so much everyday!

Roberoony's Dancin' Moves

A couple cards

It's been a while since I've posted anything crafty. So I thought I would take pictures of a couple of cards I've had to make over the last couple of weeks.

This card was for a 6 year olds birthday. I tend to be really good at making "girly" cards but I have a harder time coming up with boy cards.

Supplies:

Stamps - Prehistoric Pals & Family Phrases

Card Stock - Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla

Ink (all classic pads) - Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive

Technique - Direct to Paper... You rub the stamp pad directly to the paper like I did for the Baja Breeze "sky" and Kiwi Kiss "grass"

This card I did in "MASS PRODUCTION." I needed a bunch of them because people have been so generous in bringing gifts for the baby and making sure we are taken care of. I made some extras too, in all I made 20 of them in less than an hour (seriously!). This was an inexpensive card because it's not complicated and doesn't have accessories on it. It's just paper and ink.

Supplies:

Stamps - Manhattan Flowers & Thank You Kindly

Card Stock - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla

Ink (all classic pads) - Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Are you sick of pictures yet?

Well, tough if you are, no one's making you read my blog. I know my mom will be pleased.

I can't believe how quickly Clay is growing up. He is not looking so miserably unhappy anymore and is more awake and aware of what is going on around him. Now if we could just get him to sleep at night! I can't believe he's 3 weeks old already. The last 3 weeks have been a blur, by the way!

Random Pictures

We had the camera out the last couple of days and I thought we would post pictures.

The first two pictures are from when we were taking Clay's passport pictures, they weren't right for the passport because they didn't meet all the insane criteria for a passport for an infant (they have to have their eyes open, can't be crying, can't have anything in their mouth like a binky, you have to see both ears, can't have funny shadows, it has to be 2 inches x 2 inches with the head being between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches - so you can see, for a newborn of less than 2 weeks old, this allows for a very small window of opportunity), but they show how cute and chunky he is. Oh and he was weighed on Wednesday and is up to 9 pounds already!!!

Natalie took this picture of him in his swing. He's not really a fussy baby, but it is nice for him to be in the same room as us when we eat dinner.

Finally a better picture of the two of us, I wish I knew how to get the date stamp off of the picture so I can frame it, I usually just crop it out but that would take out half of Clay's head.

OK, I had to throw this one in because it shows how thin I have gotten (still not where I want to be, but compared to the size 22 I was when I was at my heaviest and the size 16 I was when I got pregnant this time around). I went out and bought new jeans the other day and I am so excited because the were a UK 14 which is a US 12. I haven't been this small since College and just 10 more pounds to lose and I will be at my smallest adult weight.

Finally a picture with Daddy

I was finally able to get a picture of Shawn and Clay together. Don't they look cute? Oh, and Shawn doesn't know I took this picture because he is still in there sleeping, hehehehe!