Still Rockin The Cloth!

My extreme exhaustion & all-day morning sickness have subsided a bit, making cloth diapering not seem like such a daunting task. I really honestly still think that cloth diapering is the best option for us.

Which leads me to believe that if I'm able to do it, so can you!!!! :-D I mean, what would it hurt to at least give it a try for a couple of weeks? A month? Just take it day-by-day.... That's how I find things to be easiest, when I'm not feeling cornered & pressured to do something.

If I know I have an "out", the option to quit, that makes me feel more open to giving things a chance.

We spent around $100 on our cloth diaper stash. That will last us for years, no problem, for one child. It could probably last me for years with two little ones, but I'd probably end up having to wash diapers every day that way. Right now I'm washing them every other day.

Each week I go to the store & just can't possibly justify spending money on disposable diapers anymore. It just feels like flushing precious money down the drain.

So what's stopping you from giving them a try?

I Hate New Moms

I don't know about you, but new parents annoy the heck out of me.

Oh, come on. You know what I'm talking about. Every sentence out of their mouth is "My baby this" & "My baby that" and on and on it goes.

When I had my kiddos, I did the public a favor....and hid! LOL I did not want to become a caricature of mommyhood.

Now don't get me wrong. I love babies. I love to hear about my friends' babies. But not 24/7.

Another aspect of "New Parents On The Block" that gets me are the newborn photos. Those "adorable" ones that they take with your baby swaddled in their hospital-issued receiving blanket and donning the gender-neutral pink & blue hat.

Yes, I'm sure that just aged me right there. But all parents from my generation know what pictures I'm talking about.

The thing is, every baby is beautiful. To its MOMMY & DADDY. But to the average Joe, most new under-a-week old babies look like teeny tiny aliens.

But these photos get shoved in our faces &....what? We have to say, "Oh! What a cutie!" Or something equally vague. What am I supposed to say? "Hey...maybe he'll grow into that nose!" or even "Oh geez. I guess what they say about 2 great looking parents having ugly kids is true, eh?"

Actually, recently a friend of mine had a baby. And I was blown away by how absolutely gorgeous her baby was. And I told her that her baby was so beautiful. But then I was afraid that SHE thought that I thought that her baby was just another alien-baby. But what could I say?! "Hey, for real! Your baby is just amazingly gorgeously beautiful! And I'm not just saying that like I did when so-and-so had her baby!"

So I had to just leave it at my original comment & send her my TRUE FEELINGS via telepathy.

Hope you got my telepathic messages, friend!

Well, yeah, so back to my point.

New parents & their incessant new baby talk annoy me.

But here's the truth: I am being an annoying new parent in a whole different way.

You see, cloth diapering, natural parenting, attachment parenting, trying to cut out a lot of chemicals from my & my family's lives....THAT'S my new baby.

And I know I have to be annoying the buttercream out of some of you. Most of you? ............. ALL of you?!!! Oh man, I hope its not all of you..... LOL

So, let me just say that I am sorry. I never meant to get this into it. But I have.

My trying to convince you all to *at the utmost very least* try cloth diapers & toxin-free baby wash isn't me trying to force my hippy ideals on you. I am HONESTLY concerned for your baby's health. I have been reading of the horrible things these chemicals are doing to our babies (things that we may not be able to see) & it just scares me.

So the next time you hear me start in on going chem-free, before you roll your eyes & think "Oh, that stupid hippy & her annoying ranting", just bear in mind that I'm a...."new mommy". ;-)

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Not Your Average Hippy

I am a well-educated woman. I am a voracious reader and (as dorky as it is to admit) I adore researching, for the most part. I am also a devoted mother.

What irritates me is when people just assume that I am making some parenting & lifestyle choices out of ignorance. That I am just following some trends or whatnot instead of actually making informed decisions about the wellness & safety of my children.

I wasn't always the way I am now. I wasn't always brave enough to step out and do something "different". But as more & more articles falls into my lap and research is more readily available via the internet, I would be remissed if I just ignored it & continued putting my children in harm's way.

I've heard MANY times over about how plenty of people from my generation were raised up on Gerber baby food, formula and spent their days tumbling around in disposable diapers while getting vaccinated & that despite all that, we turned out just fine.

First of all, define "fine" for me. Cancer rates are skyrocketing. Autism, ADD, ADHD, depression, obesity, mental & neurological disorders are affecting millions of people today.

Is that what you meant by "fine"? If so, awesome! You're right. We turned out perfectly fine! ;-)

Call me crazy, weird, a hippy (LOL), lazy, misinformed, ignorant, stupid, paranoid.....call me whatever the hell you'd like.

But the people that matter the most to me in this world call me "Mommy" & I will do everything that I can to protect them.

They are the reason that I am so passionate about the choices I make. They are the driving force behind my homeschooling, babywearing, co-sleeping, using natural remedies, questioning the safety of vaccinations, buying organic baby food and getting ready to start cloth diapering.

What's YOUR passion?

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I Did It!! (And You're Not Going To Believe What I Might Be Doing Next....)

Quick! Look out your window!! Do you see them? Look again because they must be there. Hurry! Do you see the flying pigs?! Hahahaha! Ok, yeah, that was lame. But what do you expect? It's late, I'm tired but my brain is running full speed ahead...with only half of the cylinders working... LOL

Anyway, do you know what I just did?? Come on, give it a guess! Okay, I guess I'll just tell you because you're probably thinking I'm the biggest dork imaginable right now. (oh why did I drink that 2nd glass of Pepsi before bed? Now I can't just shut the heck up...) Let's just cut to the point...err...make that *let's just get to the point*...damn you caffeine & adrenaline & sleep deprivation!!! I miss thinking clearly!!

Anyhooo....I ordered cloth diapers!!!! YES!! Well, sort-of. LOL I ordered the cloth diaper covers. Which is a ginormous step in the right direction! I ordered 4 Flip covers: Butternut (yellow), Moonbeam (blue), Ribbit (green) & Clementine (orange). I only had the funds to buy 4 covers....nothing to go inside them yet.

I was planning on using them with prefolds but then I got a great idea. One that will possibly, more-than-likely save me money! What if I make my own inserts?! Inserts are just like what they sound like: you *insert* them into the cover to absorb....stuff. ;-) On cloth diaper websites, these inserts cost a couple dollars each (minimum) but making my own, I imagine, would save me some major dough. I have been researching how to make inserts & it seems really easy. It would probably be even easier if my husband hadn't thrown out my sewing machine when we moved. ::sigh::

I can also make "socks", which are basically these mini pillow case looking things made out of suedecloth. You then put your microfleece or hemp (very absorbant stuff, hemp) inserts into the sock, place the whole little bundle into your diaper cover & voilá! You have a stay-dry diaper!! (baby's bum stays dry due to the suedecloth while liquids are absorbed into the insert! How awesome is that?!!) You can even put a prefold diaper in the sock for extra absorbancy!

I am so very excited about all of this, I gotta tell you.

But now I am getting tired at the prospect of Austin waking up to nurse multiple times tonight & still managing to wake up all chipper at 6 am. ::groan::

So what about you all? What kind of fluff do you use on your baby's bum? :-)

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Slowly but surely....

Okay, okay, so I am not exactly where I was hoping to be right now. Austin is still in disposable diapers & I haven't made any of my own baby food since that avocado fiasco.

But I have made *some* progress! We have made the transition to organic baby food! Our local Walmart where we do our regular shopping carries a super limited amount of organic baby food & the variety is paltry. So I went to Babies R Us this past weekend to check out their selection & was really impressed! We bought a week's worth of Earth's Best, which comes out to 4 jars a day. It was pricier than Walmart's offerings of Earth's Best, but we feel that the extra spending is more than worth it! The flavors sound awesome, too: Carrot Tomato, Sweet Potato & Apricot, Sweet Peas & Brown Rice, Green Bean Casserole....the list goes on & on! They use onion & garlic in their foods, too, to add enriched flavors. This stuff rocks!

I have also been stalking Craigslist to find great diaper deals, but haven't had much luck. There is a company called Just Simply Baby which sells really cute diapers at reasonable prices ($11-$12/each) & each diaper comes with 2 inserts. Compare that to Fuzzibunz's or Blueberry diapers which are closer to $20 & it looks like you've found yourself a great deal! Plus JSB has a 30 Day Return Policy where you can return the USED diapers if you don't absolutely love them!

I was also considering becoming a Diaper Party consultant, in which I help moms have a diaper party (similar to a Mary Kay party or Pampered Chef), where I either go to the party myself with a variety of different brands of cloth diapers & show other moms what options there are available & find the perfect one(s) for her little one!

Well, so that's what I've been up to lately. What've you been up to?

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Fear of Commitment

Okay, so confession time. I am afraid to commit to things. I don't know why, I mean, I'm a pretty responsible girl. But just the act of tying myself to something (excluding bed posts hehehe) just freaks me out. Not to digress, but I am not big on cuddling, either. I am one Y-chromosome away from being a guy! ;-)

Anyway, back to point. I have been researching the heck out of cloth diapers. I have investigated all of my CDing (ahem: cloth diapering) options & weighing the pros & cons. I have concluded that the best option for us right now will be to start with old-fashioned Indian prefolds with some adorable covers. I sat down last Friday evening & made a detailed itemized list of exactly what diapers & covers I am going to buy to start my diaper stash. I even went so far as to set up an account for myself with an online cloth diaper store & filled up my virtual shopping cart.

And then I froze. I couldn't do it. I could not *commit* myself to finalize my order. That's right. I could not check myself out. ;-) ...... Get it? 'Check myself out', virtual cart, online store.... Oh, nevermind. (at least I made myself giggle LOL)

So there you have it. As much as I want to start cloth diapering, despite my knowing full well just how horrible disposables are on my little guy's tush, even though I am so excited to start this journey, I cannot bring myself to commit. ::sigh:: Now I have to wait til our rent is paid before I will have the cash to give it a go...again.

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The Diaper Dilemma

Everyone has tried to talk me out of it. They've tried reasoning, teasing & outright telling me that I wouldn't be able to deal with it. But if there's one thing my friends & family have yet to understand, its that the more someone tells me that I can't do something, the more determined I'm going to be to do it.

That's why I tried to go "natural" for my first labor. For 12 hrs. My mom was begging me to just get the epidural...however, she's the one who said that I wasn't strong enough to do it to begin with. And then the nurse walked in & caught me on my hands & knees on the linoleum, trying to birth my young National Geographic-style. She immediately took up my mom's "Say Yes To Drugs" chorus. Yeah. I buckled like a belt & was singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" with my legs in stirrups less than an hour later.

Breastfeeding? Another little gem that I was told I wouldn't be able to do. I am happy to announce that I exclusively breastfed my daughter for 6 months & am breastfeeding my second son right now. Well, not "right now" right now, but you know what I mean. He will be 6 months old in a few days & I have no plans of stopping anytime soon! (What about my first son, you ask? Due to a breast abcess that I got during my 2nd pregnancy & had to have operated on, I am sad to say that I opted not to breastfeed my first son.)

Oh! But back to topic! I have decided to switch to cloth diapers! Due to finances (or lack thereof), I am not starting out using the new fancy "cloth" diapers that bear no resemblance to cloth diapers of old, but instead I will be using prefolds. AKA: almost the twin of aforementioned "cloth diapers of old". I was even going to go really old school & use diaper pins, but I'm not so sure about that anymore. I do not wish to use my beautiful baby boy as a pin cushion while learning how to use them. Maybe they're not too hard to get the hang of during daylight hours, but all it'll take is one middle-of-the-night diaper change to require a trip to the ER for a punctured organ....

Now the tricky part is finding quality prefolds. I could order them online, but I am very impatient & want instant gratification. I have located a store an hour from my house that sells them, so I may be heading that way tomorrow. I also found an awesome deal for a bunch on Craigslist, but I have yet to hear back from the seller. Hopefully I hear back from her soon because I am so excited to get started.
Remember this excitement. I am sure it will be short-lived once I have to shake a few poos in the potty.