Playing catch up!

Man, I'm a slacker!

I've been so busy with Princess Girl Face and diaper coops I feel like I hardly ever have time to write here!

I promise, I promise... I'll write more soon!

3 good posts are brewing, when I can actually sit down and make it happen!

Hint:

New Wash Routine
Adventures in Wool
Diaper Review (I'm finally getting around to this!)

PGF will be 1, yes 1 whole year old, next Friday... and I am so excited, yet sad at the same time.  I feel like I'm watching her change on a daily basis.  She's losing some of her baby nuances and I'm seeing more kid in her.  It's scary, but it makes me so proud and happy at the same time.

She's walking about 75% of the time now.  I think she just finds crawling more efficient still!  It's so cute when she walks though, I wish she'd do it all the time.

The 2 of us went to a cloth diaper swap/meetup with Sarah and her son today.  It was about an hour away, so it was a "fun" little road trip.  ("fun"... imagine 2 cranky babies stuck in a car, feeding off each other's emotions.  It was a unique experience to say the least!)  I had hoped to sell some diapers I have, but no luck.  I'll have to keep trying to sell them online.  I did buy a few things though, oops!  2 of the things I got for $5, so that's pretty easy to justify.  Then I spent $30 on just ONE other thing.  If you know anything about cloth diapering and the typical prices of things, you probably have an idea of what I bought!  (You also may have guessed from my hints, haha!)

I have so many little projects planned and things to do, I can't keep up with it all!  And to top it off, PGF and I are going to take a 5 day trip this weekend to see my grandma who is ill.  The doctors haven't figured out the problem yet still I believe, but they're leaning towards cancer, which runs in the family apparently (my mom, aunt, and grandpa all had it.  Don't worry about me though, I was adopted!  Hehe :))  So this is going to be a sad trip, as we don't know if it will be the last time I see her.  And she still hasn't met her great grand-daughter yet!

I can't wait for things to calm down a bit so I can get back to writing and sewing again!

Walk the walk

Oh, what a day!

Princess Girl Face has been standing unassisted for quite some time now. A few days ago, she took her first step holding on to nothing. Then 2 days ago, 3 tiny steps.

But today, oh, today! She was inspired by a dog squeaky toy (of all things) and took way more than 3 steps! We enticed her with the toy, but once she had it, she took off! Well, sort of. But she did walk on her own initiative, taking 4 or 5 steps at a time while distracted by her amazing squeaky fun ball.

Ahh, it was so wonderful! And scary of course. But even though I know life will be more difficult and intense keeping up with her, I simply cannot contain my joy!

I'm not sure why, but I went out and bought her first pair of "real" shoes today (and by real I mean shoes that currently fit and aren't sandals). Mother's intuition or something? I'm not really sure I believe in all that, but I just had a feeling she'd be needing shoes soon.

On another note, a very close friend's son is going to be 1 tomorrow! It amazes me how this all just flies by. There are days where I honestly feel like we just got out of the hospital. I suppose having a rather traumatic birth experience can have that effect though.

Despite all the pain I went through for her, I wouldn't give it a 2nd thought to do it all over. She is so worth it. Though I'd definitely change some things. Ok ok, most things. :)

I know I'm going to cry like a little wimp on her birthday. Don't judge me!

Oops, I haven't posted in a while!

I have no idea if many people even read this, but I figured since I'd been gone for a while it was time for a new post!

Over the past 2 or so weeks, PGF & I have been rather busy.  We took a trip to see family in New Hampshire, and had a blast!  It was too short of a trip though, sadly.

I was hoping she'd learn to walk while we were there, she is just SO close.  I think she just lacks the confidence.  She'll walk without prompting if you simply let her hold onto you in some fashion, but the second you try to let go she gets upset and drops down to crawl.

Ok ok, I shouldn't really be excited for her walking, because who KNOWS how much trouble she'll get into then!  But I really just adore seeing her grow and progress.

She already gets into drawers, cabinets, open doors (not by the handle, she just pulls them open), the trash (oy!), and an assortment of other fun things.  I'll definitely have my work cut out for me when she's faster!

Princess Girl Face opening drawers at Grandpa's house

Fleece Longies

While PGF was napping yesterday, I decided to try my hand at making fleece longies.  They definitely didn't turn out great.  They're ok for first and second attempts, but I clearly need practice.

Sadly, with practice, comes botching some decent fabric.  Sigh.

The first pair I made were from pink camo fleece.  They're too small for Princess Girl Face.  I followed the directions on the pattern for the length of the waistband, yet it came out way too small for the size of the pants.  So there's some ugly bunching, and they barely fit over her fluffy butt.

Squeeeeze

You can see the screwed up waistband here.

Also, being my first time attempting to sew pants, I screwed up the crotch and hems.  I didn't realize how hard it would be to sew the crotch, so of course I left a hole.

I also can't seem to sew in a straight line for hems.

Well after the first pair, I made another, in hopes they'd fit Princess Girl Face better.  They do, but barely.  I extended the waist band on the pattern, but it still wasn't enough for the size of the pants and there was more bunching.  It was a larger band though, so the pants actually fit.  I screwed up again, though, this time I put the waistband backwards and again couldn't sew the hems straight.

Look at those wonky lines on the hem!  Oy!

So I obviously need practice.  But I also need more fleece.  I guess a trip to the store is in order soon.

On another, happier, note.  Princess Girl Face is 10 months old!  I'm so blown away by how fast these months have gone by.  I still feel like I just found I was pregnant.  

I love everyday with her, it's such a wonderful journey.

A romantic picnic with her boyfriend.

She speaks!

Oh I could just die of happiness right now.

Me: Princess Girl Face, say mama!
PGF: mama!

Yes that's right, she said mama on command today!

I am absolutely elated.

I know I know, she still may not know what it means, but she's been babbling away for months, and to hear her little voice form a real word in response to me just about melted my heart.

These are the things that make me love motherhood. It can be stressful and down right painful at times, but these moments bring me back to the time I first laid eyes on her.

Love unconditional. Such a beautiful thing I've experienced.

Sew Sew

I'm a stay at home mom (SAHM) now, and this sort of thing is very new and weird to me.  Up until Husband joined the Army in 2010, I'd always been the "bread winner," so to speak.  I was the one working long hours at a job I hated.  Now the tables are turned.  He is not a fan of his job, to say the least.  

However, I'm loving staying home with Princess Girl Face, and watching her grow from tiny, squealing newborn, into an "almost toddler" already.

She doesn't bore me, but being cooped up here is not something I'm used to.  There is truly only so much you can do with a 9 month old before your brain implodes.

Sure, let's watch it again!

After visiting some family a few months ago, I was introduced to sewing.  I decided it could be a fun hobby, and promptly got set up with some basic sewing essentials and high hopes.  

Well, it's harder than I thought.  Not impossible, but I'm such a perfectionist I've yet to finish a "real" project.

I've made a few random things here and there, none of which would be worthy of selling, or even gifting for that matter.  

My first project, the one I started while visiting family, was a bib.  It turned out surprisingly well, despite my lack of experience.

Not bad, right?

Well, I'm chocking up that success to the fact I had a really good teacher, and just a little beginner's luck.

Since then, I've mostly made cloth wipes.  They're simple little rectangles made of flannel.  I love using cloth wipes with my cloth diapers, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a few more.

I made these out of flannel receiving blankets that we don't use anymore.  Didn't exactly nail the straight lines though.  Bummer.

Today I wanted to be really crafty, and thought I could re-purpose a onesie and turn it into a t-shirt.  Since cloth diapers are rather bulky, Princess Girl Face tends to outgrow onesies a lot faster than the rest of her clothing.  I wanted to get a little more life out of them.  I failed.  My total lack of experience made for a horrendous hack job.  Sorry, no picture of the onesie homicide.

I tend to get discouraged quickly, so after the epic onesie failure, I decided to try and make another bib like I'd made as my first creation.  Success!  Well, mostly.  I haven't finished yet.  Maybe during PGF's nap tomorrow.  I only screwed up bad enough to have to fix stitching twice, which is certainly a new record for me.  It looks very similar to the first bib, obviously, since I used the same pattern.  But I picked different fabrics this time.

I like the fabrics on this one better.

Sewing is pretty fun once I realize I need to relax a little and tone down the need for things to be perfect.  I'm hoping to one day get good enough to sell stuff (and actually start contributing to the household again, heh).

I would LOVE to be able to make diapers.  I think about it all the time (did I mention I might be a little obsessed with cloth diapers?).

I think my next project will be fleece longies.  With any luck, and a bit of help, I don't think they will be too difficult.  And since fleece is relatively inexpensive when compared to other diaper fabrics, I can probably afford to screw up a few times.  

Um, duh.  So cute.

Stash Shot!

I was doing diaper laundry tonight, and decided to get all my diapers together for a fun stash shot!  (Don't mind the trash can)

There are a couple things not pictured, but that's because in my supreme laziness, I did not want to go downstairs to get them.

Let's start at the top.  The pink Alva diaper hanging there is damaged, so I use it as Princess Girl Face's swim diaper.

Then I have 17 Alva double gussets, 2 Coolababy, 3 BumGenius, 1 BabyWizard, 3 Sunbaby, 5 regular Alvas (neon and purple were downstairs), 1 Bumkins AIO, 12 GMD prefolds, 2 Flip covers, 1 fleece soaker, and 2 GMD Workhorse Fitteds.  Oh, and a zebra Alva double gusset was on her butt.

Phew, that was a mouthful!  So that's 32 pocket diapers and an AIO, 3 covers, 12 prefolds and 2 fitteds.  Yet, I still want more diapers.  It may be an addiction.  One I will happily feed!

And just for funsies.  I'm helping my friend Sarah run a diaper co-op, and our most recent Sunbaby order came to my house.

So many Sunbabies!  And Princess Girl Face stealing a picture of herself.

Oh, Milestones

Like any mother, I'm constantly being amazed at what my child can do.  To me, watching her change and grow on a daily basis is absolutely fascinating.

It can also be stressful.  I am quite possibly the world's biggest worry wart.  I'm constantly analyzing every little thing Princess Girl Face does.  I worry maybe there's something just not quite right.  Sometimes it gets to the point where I need to sort of slap my self out of the worry trance and realize I have a healthy, happy, developmentally normal child.

Trying not to compare her to other kids near her age is quite difficult.  I've definitely calmed down about it now that she's a little older, but much earlier in her life I would obsess over milestones.

Why hasn't she smiled yet?  Why does she only roll to the left?  Is she ever going to get teeth?

I've just now resolved myself to the fact she will develop at her own pace, and EVERY baby is different.

Funny thing about that though.  My friend Sarah, from Dogs, Dogtags, and Diapers, has her son, who was born 23 1/2 hours AFTER Princess Girl Face.  He was born 4 weeks early.  With him being born early, he's been hitting every milestone she is, but almost exactly 4 weeks later.  They're almost the same kid!  (Except he sleeps better, sigh.)

Princess Girl Face is perfect just the way she is.  Hitting every milestone at her own pace.  It even looks like she'll be walking any day now (eeeek!) and she really keeps me on my toes.

So mamas, don't fret!  You're baby will get there at their own pace.  No need to rush things.  Of course, if you DO suspect a real delay, speak with their doctor :)

Cloth Diaper Care- What you need to know!

I recently made a post on cloth diapers.  That was probably a little overwhelming, especially if you knew nothing about them to begin with.

What the hell are these?

Well, Princess Girl Face and I loooove us some cloth diapers, but you know the most interesting thing about cloth?  You have to WASH it!  You don't just throw it away like a disposable.  

Caring for your cloth can be daunting at first, but soon enough you'll get a routine down.

One thing you need to do is pick a laundry detergent.  This can be trial and error, depending on where you live and the quality of the water.  If you have super hard water, you may need to add a water softener.  If you have super soft water, prepare to rinse like a maniac.  There are a variety of detergents labeled "Cloth Diaper Safe."  In my opinion, any detergent that does NOT have any additives (like Febreze, strong scents, bleach, etc) will work just fine.  The reason for this is build up.  If you get build up, your diapers will not be as absorbent or will even repel liquid, obviously causing leaks.  No good!  

I just about gave up on using cloth before I started because I was scared out of my gourd about picking a detergent.  Looking online, I thought I'd have to buy some wacky, overpriced specialty detergent.  but don't fret, it's really not so bad!  I use original Tide powder.  I started with All Free & Clear, and it just didn't seem to get the job done, so I switched to Tide liquid, which worked fine, I just happen to like the way the Tide powder smells (Weird, I know).

Freak, they're the same thing!

Anyways, here's a short list of what's generally considered "safe" for cloth diapers.

Rockin' Green (this is a definite favorite I've noticed)

Country Save

Eco Nuts (they seriously look like little weird acorns, but they clean your diapers!)

Tide - The cloth diaper community is kind of split on this.  A lot of people say it works fine, others say to steer clear.  I've been using it for 9 months without a single issue.  And we have pretty hard water.  

All Free & Clear - I think any detergent that's "mainstream" is considered debatable in the cloth world.

Ruby Moon

Charlie's Soap

Diaper Jungle has a chart that compares detergents.  (Please note, they say to absolutely not use Tide.  As stated, I disagree wholeheartedly.  It's up to you though, as there are plenty of other great options out there!)

Another thing to steer clear of is fabric softener, of any kind.  The liquid or the dryer sheets.  They cause build up.  Which is bad. 

The first thing you need to do when getting Fluff Mail (what we cloth diaper fanatics call getting diapers in the mail) is to prep them.  You need to do this to make sure they're either absorbent (inserts) or thoroughly waterproofed (covers, shells, etc).  Different items and materials require different kinds of prepping.  

Prepping your diapers!

To prep covers, shells, and just about anything with PUL or TPU (the laminated layer that makes the fabric waterproof), you don't need to do anything extraordinary.  You can wash in cold with a little bit of detergent.  This will get the original chemicals off.  Some manufacturers recommend that after washing, you dry on high heat for 30 minutes to seal the PUL.  Other companies don't.  I always do.  Even if I plan to line dry them later, they always go in the hot dryer at least once.  I don't like to risk leaks.  An exception to this is anything with exposed PUL, such as a regular cover.  I think the high heat may be bad without an extra layer of fabric in between.  You can dry those on a lower setting, or opt out of the drying all together.

Inserts, flats, prefolds, fitteds and the like, should be washed and dried MULTIPLE times (probably 5 at least) to make sure they're super absorbent.  The more you wash and dry, the better they get.  HOWEVER.  You must be careful with natural fibers.  They have oils in them.  You don't want to wash a brand new hemp insert with your diapers, as the oils will come off and make your diapers repel.  The way to get around this is to boil them.  Yep, make insert soup.  Put them in a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes, then wash and dry like normal.  

Mmm tasty.  Don't forget to wash the pot!

In my other post, I touched on wool items.  They should be hand washed, and never put in the dryer.  You have to lanolize them.  Here's a great resource for wool, as I don't know much about it:  Lanolizing Wool Diaper Covers

In cloth diaper land, the dryer is a constant debate.  It's generally accepted that the BEST way to dry your diapers is in the air.  The heat is said to break down the waterproof layers faster, rendering your diaper useless and leaky.  I like to use the dryer because I live in Oklahoma.  It is SO windy here.  And I don't have a clothes line.  I will hang them to dry if I do diaper laundry late, as most are usually dry by morning.  This is only for the shells and covers though.  Inserts, prefolds, and fitteds always go in the dryer.  They're just fluffier that way.

If I didn't live in the windiest place ever I'd totally do this.

I'm getting one of these though.  It's ALMOST as cool.

To recap:  

• Wash natural fibers separately from your synthetic fibers to make sure the oils don't transfer.  A sure fire way to take care of this is to boil them first.

• Wash and dry until you can't handle it anymore.  Probably 5 or 6 times.

• Your diaper shells shouldn't need much prepping.  A quick wash and dry should do it.

After your diapers are prepped, you get to put them on the baby!  Then your baby uses them as intended.  Yep, despite their cuteness, they will get pooped and peed on.  

True Story.

So now what?  Well, let's start with where you store the dirty diapers.  Most people use a wet bag or a diaper pail liner.  These are waterproof bags, usually made out of the same PUL material that the diapers are lined with.  

Pail Liners.

A pail liner is usually big enough to fit into a kitchen sized trash can.  Some have handles, drawstrings, or elastic sewn on so you can hang them if you choose.

Ridiculously adorable wet bag.

Wet bags are typically smaller than pail liners, as these are what you'd take in your diaper bag for on the go dirties.  They come in a variety of sizes, and most have a zipper (not all though, so look out for that if a zipper is important to you).  Some people use one or more wet bags as storage instead of a pail liner.  That's up to you!

Washing your diapers! 

You won't want to wait too long in between washes.  This can lead to stinkies!  How often you wash will probably be dictated by the number of diapers you have in your stash.  I'm up to like 40 pocket diapers alone, so if I got super lazy, I could go like 4 days without washing.  I wash every other day though.  As far as the stuffing all the inserts into the pockets?  That could take me a while.

Seriously, no one's laundry room looks like this.  Wait, is that a man?  

Let's talk about poop.  How fun!  Now, poop is obviously the worst part of cloth diapering your kiddo.  But it's unavoidable.  

When your baby is very little, if you breast feed exclusively, you won't have to rinse the poopy out before the diapers get washed.  The poop from exclusively breast fed babies is water soluble, a little like yogurt (only a little), and will dissolve in the wash.  This is SUPER EASY.  I recommend it.  

Once they're older and you introduce solids, or you have a formula fed baby, the routine is a little different.  And more disgusting.  

This is how I feel when it's time to rinse a poopy diaper.

I suggest you get a diaper sprayer and hook it up to the toilet.  It's like a mini shower to spray the poop away.  If you don't use one, you'll need to find a different method.  You can "dunk and swish" (exactly what it sounds like) or rinse in the sink.  If you use the sink, don't forget to disinfect!  I prefer the sprayer so I'm not reaching down towards poop water.  Watch the pressure on the sprayer though, if it's too high, you'll get spackled.  And you don't want to get spackled, I promise.

Dunk away!

Ahhh.

After you've rinsed them, you'll throw them into the washer.  No detergent at first.  You'll use a cold rinse to get any remaining solids off, so that when you are washing on hot, you're not washing in poop water.

Next, add your detergent of choice.  Wash on warm or hot.  I always wash on hot to make sure the diapers are sanitized.  It's up to you what temperature you use, though.  If you're worried about the heat hurting your diapers, choose a cooler setting.  

After the hot wash, I suggest at least 1 extra rinse.  During this cycle, open up the washer and check for suds.  If it's still sudsy, rinse again.  Repeat until no more suds.  If you leave the suds, that means soap isn't completely washing out of the diapers.  That causes the nasty build up we talked about.  Eww.

Your drying method is up to you.  You can choose to utilize the dryer to get speedier results, or hang them up to dry.  I always dry anything that doesn't have a waterproof layer.  Like I already mentioned, it all stays fluffier that way!  (Don't forget though, DON'T DRY WOOL!!!!)

I shall call him, Mini Me!

If you do end up with stains, put your diapers out in the sun!  Always make sure they are clean and WET.  The sun is a great bleaching tool, and you don't have to use actual bleach!  Always a plus.  For very stubborn stains, try spritzing some lemon juice on before hanging the diapers outside.

Stripping!

If you do find yourself with build up issues, don't despair!  Your diapers can most likely be saved.

Start with clean diapers.  They can be fresh out of the wash, they don't have to be dry.  Run a hot wash cycle like normal, but instead of detergent, use original blue Dawn.

You'll add a small squirt of blue Dawn to your wash cycle.  This will help strip away any of the oils or other built up gunk you may having going for you.  Next you rinse.  Rinse your brains out.  Rinse until there's not a spec of soap anywhere.

I'd like to note, though, that I've heard that some washing machine companies will void your warranty if you use this stuff in them.  Not sure why, but if you're really worried, contact the manufacturer.  If that's the case, you can strip by hand.  NOT FUN, but doable.  Just fill up your bath tub with hot water and scrub each diaper.  Then rinse until the water runs clear.

And I will now leave you with Princess Girl Face being awesome again.

Cloth Diapers. The good, the bad, and the stinky (and the cute, oh my!)

I never knew what kind of mother I would be, I had never really envisioned myself as a mother growing up.  So when I got pregnant, I knew I had to do some major research.  What to do, what to buy, etc etc...

Well, I learned that people STILL used cloth diapers.  Wait, what?  Aren't those annoyingly large pieces of fabric you have to pin on your baby and cover with rubber pants?

Um, no thanks.

Turns out, nope (although there's nothing wrong with using flat diapers, the plastic pants though?  eww).  I found out some very interesting info and decided to use cloth diapers on my munchkin.  I did decide this before I had her, but we used disposables at first anyways.

For the first 2 months of Princess Girl Face's life, I was so overwhelmed at being a new mom that trying to add in cloth diapering just wasn't going to happen.  If I knew then what I know now, about how EASY it is, if I had only tried, I could have used cloth from the beginning.  I don't regret using disposables though, it's what we had to do to get by as new-parent-zombies.

The first cloth diapers we owned were prefolded cotton diapers with waterproof covers.  This sounds pretty close to the "folding the giant flat fabric and putting a pin on it and covering it all with rubber pants" thing, but there are some MAJOR differences.

First things first.  There are many, many fabric options for cloth diapers.  You'll hear a lot of:

Hemp
Organic or unbleached cotton
Bamboo
Microfiber
Fleece
Flannel
Minky
PUL
Wool

Among others.   Don't let this overwhelm you, I promise to explain!  There are many different variations of cloth diapers, so this will only be as complete as I've encountered.

Prefolds are called that for a reason.  They're prefolded!  Meaning you have fabric sewn together, with more absorbency in the middle, as if you'd folded a flat diaper over to the same size.  Less work though!  You can still fold it to contour around your baby, and use a pin (ha!) or this little thing called a Snappi, to attach it.  But there's an even easier way to use a prefold.  Fold it in thirds (hot dog style) and simply lay it in the waterproof cover.  But wait!  You thought covers were still stupid rubber pants, right?  Nope!  There are some crazy cute options out there.  They're made from something called PUL, which is waterproof.  The covers attach with either hook and loop tape or snaps.  Easy peasy!  Prefolds come in a few fabric options:  Cotton, organic cotton, unbleached cotton, and hemp.  Probably others but that's as far as I've gotten with them.

 Prefolds

Thirsties Duo Wrap- Covers

I haven't owned any flat diapers, but they are by far the most economical cloth diapering option.  Prefolds are a close second though.  They basically work the same way as prefolds, but there's a little more work to do to get the folding down.  You can still fold them and lay them into a cover, or fasten them onto the bebe.

Flat diapers

Next up are fitted diapers.  These come in many shapes and sizes.  They work a lot like a prefold or a flat, with the major difference being they are pre-cut into diaper form.  Some have snaps or hook and loop, and some have no closure.  You'd simply use a Snappi or a pin.  Fitted diapers still require a cover, as they are not waterproof on their own.  They are, however, VERY absorbent.  They are a great option for a night time diaper to help prevent leaks and keep your munchkin dry.  These typically come in the same options as prefolds, and some companies, such as Green Mountain Diapers, use the SAME prefolds to make their fitted diapers.  There are many other fabric options though.

Hemp fitted diaper with snap closure

Moving on to another style of diaper, the pocket diaper.  These are my favorites.  The outer part of the diaper is essentially just a water proof cover, like all the others.  However, there is a piece of fabric sewn in to create a pocket.  You then lay a fabric insert of your choice in the pocket.  These are great because you can totally customize the absorbency to your child.  Add as many or as few inserts as you need.  Typically, the layer of fabric that is touching your baby is considered "Stay Dry," and is usually fleece or suede cloth.  These wick moisture away from baby's skin and directly into the insert below.  There are many kinds of inserts available.  Some that are popular are Microfiber (which I hate), bamboo (which I love), hemp (also love it), and cotton (I actually use a prefold as an insert sometimes!).  Microfiber absorbs a lot, and quickly.  It is, however, prone to "compression leaking."  Essentially, any time there's pressure on it, it leaks.  Um, don't babies put a lot of pressure on their diapers most of the time?  Yeah, it's called sitting, or laying down.  You also can't put it next to baby's skin, it will wick away ALL moisture and make for a painful, irritated hiney.  Anyways, I could go on for days why I don't like this stuff.  Bamboo and hemp are super absorbent, but they do it more slowly.  The delay in absorbing has never really been an issue for me.  These are my favorites!  Once stuffed, it works just like a disposable diaper!  Easy for everyone!

Princess Girl Face and part of our pocket diaper stash!

Helpful example of how pocket diapers work

Another type is the All In 2 (or AI2).  These are also often referred to as Hybrid Diapers.  When it comes down to it, these are very similar to the prefold/flat and cover system.  The AI2 is a waterproof shell, and the absorbent soaker snaps in.  The soaker can be anything from MF covered with a stay dry material that goes next to the baby's bottom, to bamboo and hemp.

Grovia hybrid diaper

Moving on to the All In One (AIO).  The name itself pretty much explains this type of diaper.  It's waterproof cover, liner, and soaker, all in one!  It's as close to a disposable for ease of use as you can get.  Some AIO's have pockets as well to add more inserts.  There's a downside to so much absorbency all attached to the shell, though.  These diapers take FOREVER to dry!  Especially if you're line drying.  I cheat and use a dryer most of the time.  They're also usually the bulkiest option.  But hey, the fluffier the butt, the better, right?  I think so!

BumGenius Organic AIO

Another type of cover out there is made from wool.  Wool?  Isn't that hot?  Nope, it's surprisingly breathable!  It can keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  But wait, how does wool work as a cover?  It's something like this.  Wool is hydrophobic, like fleece and those other fabrics labeled stay dry.  Despite this, it's also very absorbent!  Wool has natural anti-fungal properties, and is very resistant to wear.  It does take extra care, though.  You must hand wash and lanolize (um, what?) wool.  It's just what it sounds like.  You wash your wool in a special wool care soap, then apply lanolin.  It can be sprayed or rubbed on, depending on the type of lanolin you get.  This coating helps keep the wool clean and prevents leaks.  Also, remember not to dry your wool.  Ever dried a sweater and took it out of the dryer, only to find a doll-sized sweater in its place?  Yeah, wool WILL shrink.  

Adorable rainbow wool longies.  Seriously, who wouldn't want these on their kid?!

Lastly I'll touch on fleece covers.  These work very similarly to wool covers, but they don't need so much special care.  Actually, you can wash and dry these with your regularly laundry!  One thing that helps make them even more water resistant is throwing them in with a dryer sheet.  A big no-no in the rest of the cloth diaper world!  Some fleece covers pull on over your fitted (or whatever you choose) diaper, others have snaps and even hook and loop closures.  Like wool covers, they can be made as shorts, pants, and, whoa!  even skirts!  

Um, duh!

Well, this isn't a comprehensive list of the types of cloth diapers out there, but it should give you a good idea what's available.

Look for a new post soon with cloth diaper care information.  Wash routines, prepping, stripping, etc!

I will leave you now with Princess Girl Face being awesome, as usual.

Why yes, that is a Skelanimals diaper!  With ruffles of course.

Sporting a BumGenius pocket diaper while destroying the paper at the doctor's office!

Now That I'm A Mother

I wanted to share this poem I ran across this past mother's day. I did not write it, although I feel it every day. It hits especially close to home with me, as I lost my own mother in 2010. I miss her so. I love this poem and I tear up every time I read it. It's such a wonderful way to express the love I feel for my daughter.

Now That I’m A Mother


Until I became a mother,
I did not understand,
The profound sense of love
In a mother’s heart and hands

As I whisper, “Mommy loves you”,
I rock my precious child to sleep.
Small perfection in my arms,
Sweet breaths, slow and deep.

I now see me as a baby,
You’re rocking me to sleep.
You whisper, “Mommy loves you”,
My heart is yours to keep.

At last I recognize your love,
As a mother now I see.
As I hold and love my child,
You feel that love for me.

I will always be your baby,
Despite the years that pass.
You have given me my life,
And a mother’s heart to last.

The greatest gift I can offer,
More than words could ever say,
Is to give my child the love,
You gave me every day.

Many people aspire to have decent blogs.  I am no exception!  I'm finally at a point in my life where I think I have enough interesting things to say to make it worthwhile.  Heh.

Once upon a time (aka, November 2, 2011) I became a mother.  It changed my WHOLE world.  Everything I thought I knew went straight out the window.  To start, here are a few things that I realized after Princess Girl Face was born:

1.)  Poopy diapers suck, but are seriously not so bad once you get the hang of it.

2.)  I thought I knew sleep deprivation before, but no.  No I did not.  Having a newborn takes you to a whole new zombie level.

3.)  I didn't think I could love anyone more than Husband.  I was wrong.  Although it is an entirely different feeling loving a child.

4.)  Apparently the sound of my voice is calming.  Who knew?!

5.)  Change.  I didn't realize how much my priorities would change once baby happened.  I was seriously very naive to this.

And many more.

Join me on this magical fairy tale of mothering the best child in the world, Princess Girl Face.  Of course of course, I will explain the nickname in due time.  I have many stories about all the new stuff I got into once I had a baby, you'll just have to wait for another post to hear about it ;)