In the meantime...

If you want a chance to win a 3 pack of custom AIO diapers from Cara at Bubbles & Bows Boutique, head over here!

To: Zach, From: Benjamin

To Daddy:

I have been published!!

Haha! No, I haven't been writing a book in my "spare" time ;-) I submitted a post for The Cloth Diaper Whisperer (the blog for Kelly's Closet) all about our favorite and least favorite cloth diapers - I'm fully prepared to take any & all stone thrown my way for hating BumGenius diapers - bring em ;-)

You can find my post here along with some adorable pictures of our boys! ;-)

Don't forget, I am an affiliate for Kelly's Closet, so if you're in the market for some fluff, click on the link down on the right, below the traffic feed, or here, to make sure I get credit for your order!! My boys' bums appreciate it! The Cloth Diaper Whisperer also has fantastic giveaways every week!!! My friend Whitney was oh so lucky to win one week for her sweet girl, Sophia!!!

Speaking of babies - it was a boom this past week. My friend Heather had her sweet girl, Charlotte, last Sunday. On Monday, John & Becca welcomed Raelyn into the world. They have had a long hard week & would appreciate your prayers! And Jessica & Brandon welcomed Annie into the world yesterday evening! whew! Lots of new sweet babies!

Our Adventures in Cloth Diapering

I've been asked by a good number of friends to do a write up on cloth diapers - what we use, why we do it, how hard is it really, etc....

Honestly, a year ago, I didn't think I'd be discussing 'such a topic' as this! It was actually about a year ago that I told Zach, "If we ever have two in diapers, I will totally use cloth..." About 6 weeks later...I was eating my words as we found out our new surprise! :)

I will admit, I was nervous at first. I had researched cloth before Keaton was born and I knew it wasn't our parents and grandparents "pins & dishtowels" - this "new cloth diapering" was amazing. But, it just wasn't for "us."

WHY?
We started for financial reasons...the more addicted I got, I changed our reasoning to being "greener" - because if we had any money at all, I would be spending it ALL on cloth diapers!

DIFFERENCES:
As I talk about the brands below, I'll mention various kinds of diapers.
All-In-Ones (AIO) - These are closest to disposable diapers. You either snap or Velcro them on, and then unsnap/un-velcro and put a new diaper on. (Think disposables that you wash)
Pockets - These you stuff a liner in between the fleece inner part of the diaper and the waterproof outside of the diaper.
Fitted - These need a waterproof cover (don't think plastic pants!)
Prefolds - Basically the size of a dish towel (smaller or larger depending on the size of the baby) You can pin, fold or use a Snappi (a "gripper" that holds the diaper shut)
Covers - The waterproof cover for the fitteds or prefolds
One-Size - These diapers you can adjust the 'rise' (how big they are basically) as baby grows and use from newborn through potty training.

WHAT WE USE:
I had a friend mail me a couple to get started. Our first two diapers were Pocket Change (PC) - I was in love immediately! The fabulous thing about PC - you don't have to remove the inserts! They agitate out in the wash!! This got us spoiled from the start (well, me at least!) We placed an order for 6 more. But I was doing laundry everyday - not "green" :)

I had heard amazing things about BumGenuis 3.0 (version 3) One-size (BGOS). My mom offered to buy us a "handful" to get us through 2 days. I immediately knew I wasn't as big of a fan as everyone else was. The Velcro would rub Keaton's belly and make it all red...and then, after some time, if he was ever JUST in a diaper - he'd rip it right off - NOT good! As much as I wasn't a fan, we've kept these. Zach loves them as they are most like disposable diapers, except pulling the liner out (not a big deal to either of us anymore, we don't think twice about it!)

I really wanted to try out other types, but, that's hard on a limited budget. I found some used AIO diapers made by a WAHM (Work At Home Mom) and a company called Nana's Bottoms and I absolutely love them!

When we started buying for Benjamin, I thought I wanted to use the PC from the beginning, but the more I read, I realized these weren't the best for newborn poo :)

We ended up buying a wide assortment to try. I really haven't been disappointed with anything that we bought for him, except for one type of cover (I'll get to that in a minute!)

We bought some Thirsties AIOs. I've been pleased, but not overly thrilled.

We also purchased some fitteds - kissaluvs and Thirsties Fab Fitted. Of the two of these, the Fab Fitted are by FAR my favorite fitted!!

We purchased two brands of covers: Thirsties covers (LOVE THEM) and Proraps - These I am not a fan of at all.

We have also purchased prefolds for night time use with Keaton (and eventually Benjamin). No, we don't use pins :) We just tri-fold them and lay them inside a cover. We have used Bummis Super Snap for Keaton until he outgrew them (and most of his current stash!)

We just bought some more diapers for Keaton and I've tested out 2 of those diapers so far! The first is the "new style" PC (they just made them trimmer and different colors) and a Happy Heiny (HH). The HH stayed on him for about 4 hours this morning (on purpose!) and it with held all leaks! Woohoo! :)

We also purchased a Baby Kangas and thirsties covers in his size for night time use with the prefolds.

HOW WE WASH:
After the dirty diaper comes off B or K (B's poos stay in the diaper as breast milk poo is watery and ...well just washes away - K's poos we plop in the toilet & flush away) I put them in a wet bag (waterproof bag that keeps wetness & smell in). They stay there til wash day (every 2 days before we run out of diapers). When it's time to wash, I run them through a hot/cold/hot wash cycle with 1/4 of the detergent I would use for washing clothes (too much detergent can cause build up and cause the diapers to start leaking) - also, once a week, I let the diapers soak for 60-90 minutes before washing. I wash with All Free & Clear (some sites say this is the best, others say don't let Free & Clear detergents touch your diapers!) If you want to see if your specific detergent works well with cloth diapers, check here. I'm also about to make our own laundry detergent (I'll let you know how that turns out!) :)
*No, I've never found traces of poo in our washer.
*Does the thought of putting poo in our washer gross me out? Yes (remember how OC I am about some things?!) Every 2 weeks, I do a load of whites and wash with bleach to ease my mind :)

I try to air dry my diapers as much as possible (to save electricity/money, but to also save my diapers!) This involves timing washings precisely though and it doesn't always work out that way! If I do machine dry them, I dry them as I would my clothes - but no dryer sheets!

HOW HARD IS IT?
Honestly, not much harder than changing a disposable diaper.
Put diaper on baby.
Baby wears diaper and pees/poos in it.
Take baby to changing area.
Remove diaper.
Place new diaper on baby.
(If poo needs to be flushed do that here).
Place diaper in wet bag (or other "holding container" of choice).
Instead of dumping a trash bag full of diapers in the trash bin, dump the bag of diapers in the washer.
Start washer.
Wait....
Hang diapers to dry/place in dryer.
Remove diapers & stuff (maybe a 5 minute process).
Place at changing area and wait for next diaper change!

HOW MANY DIAPERS?
Keaton goes through about 5-7 diapers a day (some times less, some times more)
Benjamin goes through about 10 diapers a day. We do not have enough diapers to go a whole day with him, so I alternate between cloth and disposable on changes and for the time being, we only do disposables at night.

Extras:
We do use diaper cream on Keaton as he has very sensitive skin. This is not recommended for cloth diapers. I had to search high & low, but eventually found micro fleece. I made fleece pockets to insert his prefolds in for night time (the pockets aren't necessary, you can just cut a strip to lay between baby and diaper) This keeps the cream off the diapers (which could cause leaks with your diapers)

I was asked if I like snaps or velcro better - I love snaps! The velcro makes it easier to get an exact fit, but, Keaton has already showed his determination in trying to take off velcro diapers! We have to keep a close eye on him while in this style diaper!

We started Benjamin in cloth as soon as we came home (and the tarry meconium poo had passed!!) However, at 6.5 weeks, he has already outgrown his diapers (well, they are very, VERY snug on him!) I've mentioned in a previous post that I plan on selling these "tiny" diapers (the kind we have fit up to 12lbs.) because we obviously have bigger babies that don't fit in the tiny ones as long! With any other future children we happen to be blessed with, we'll just use disposables until they fit into the "bigger" size diapers we have.

**all terms & brands with reviews can be found here**
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Seriously, I could talk all day about this :) Please let me know of any questions you have & I'll try to answer them (If I can't, I'll find someone that can!)

A CALM Monday!!!!

I can't believe it's been a "normal" day! Well, it's only 150pm, so I guess there's still plenty of day left! But the fact that we've yet to go to the dr. today - for the first Monday in 7 weeks!!!!! I'm VERY excited!

Really, the only thing I've done, other than eating, feeding, reading and snuggling with B, is get more diapers for K ordered! He's pretty much outgrown all of his current stash! B is slowly getting that way! I think we're going to sell the newborn ones and order the next size. Then, for the next one (which IS NOT on the way!!!! haha!) we'll just use disposables until he/she can fit in the ones we have. They're so little for such a short time. And if I would have looked at how long K was "little" I would have realized this! But since they've really only been used for about 3 weeks, we should be able to get most of the money back and get a decent amount of bigger ones for B until he can fit in what we have for K.

Our scale isn't the best, but I'm curious to know how much B weighs. On the scale last night, it said 13.5 lbs...but, before his 1 month appt. it said he weighed 10.5lbs. (when he was really 9lbs. 12oz.) so...it could be right..or wrong! I'm just very curious because he was in a 0-6 months shirt last night...and his big ol belly was all hanging out! :)

My mom snuggling with Keaton when he was 7 weeks...

My mom snuggling with Benjamin at 6 weeks & 2 days

Bebe brought down the Keaton-sized chair and he LOVES it! He spent most of the morning in it reading!

Love those gummy grins!!!!

Me: "Keaton...stand next to your brother so I can take your picture"
Keaton: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

This could be titled:
1) Brotherly Love
2) Keaton, Be Gentle
3) Why we can't get germs out of this house!
It is so sweet though! He gets right in his face and makes a kiss sound :)

3/4 of the family!

And to end with a funny story. Last night, Benjamin woke up to nurse (I can't remember if this happened at 1 or 4...) but, he was screaming for a minute or two before Zach got him...(which I think I punched you to get up...sorry, honey!) Zach changed his diaper and brought him in the bedroom for me to nurse him. About a minute later, the house is all quiet...and you hear Keaton scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" (think "STELLLLLA" & A Streetcar Named Desire) I could NOT stop laughing!!!! It was absolutely hysterical!