Caroline Elizabeth

Caroline Elizabeth was born Nov. 29th at 8:36pm. She is 11lbs. 10 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. She was born naturally with no tears and no stitches needed, Praise GOD! We are doing wonderful.

Levi

I couldn't pick a favorite so I posted them all! He is becoming such a big boy in all sense of the word. It won't be long before he is crawling. He already is getting on all fours and "rocking". He is watching Annabelle next to me. He loves that little girl and gets much more excited to see her than either me or Shane.

The stars in my life

Annabelle is giving the "look". She is mad for me making her sit there.

Now giving a half smile. Levi as always is happy. Such a wonderful baby he is.

The new seat....for a BIG boy.

The boy is just getting too big too fast. Not even four months yet and he has "outgrown" his baby seat. I ordered him a new car seat from overstock.com about 2 weeks ago, and it finally arrived today! UPS had the wrong address so it took about a week longer to arrive than it should have. Never the less, here he is. Cute as a button!

His feet still stick over the edge.......AHHHHHHHHH I don't know what we are going to do about that....poor baby will just be kicking the seat I guess. Only 9 more months Levi and I promise Daddy will turn you around so you can have some leg room. ;)

New Baby and a Blogging Break!

I will be on a blogging break for several weeks. We welcomed our second baby into the world May 16th. He weighed 8lbs. and 5oz. We are both doing well. Praise be to God! I was able to give birth with no pain meds.

Annabelle and her little brother, Levi.



Levi, taking a nap.

Cloth Diapering 101 Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this series you can read it by clicking here.

After you have your diapers (at least 10 for a full day with a new born), you may think you are ready. But wait! You still need a few more items to get started.

Just as important as your diapers your diaper pail ranks up there too. Try to get a good diaper pail that seals. You can order them on-line or simply find one at Target or Walmart. We bought ours a Babies R Us but we've seen the same thing at Target. If you can't find a "diaper pail" a trash can with a good seal will work just as well.

I keep saying a "good seal" because this is important also. Ammonia is a by-product of urine....which there will be a lot of in your diapers. After a while the ammonia smell can get really strong. Even if you wash your diapers daily. You don't want your precious baby breathing in all that ammonia....let alone yourself. So a good seal is necessary.

After you have your diaper pail you will have to decide whether you want a 'wet' or 'dry' pail. Some put water or other liquid in the diaper pail to soak the diapers. We use the dry pail method. Meaning you just put the diapers in the pail, no water or liquid. This creates less of a smell, and is much easier to carry to the washer. Plus you don't have to worry about your pail getting knocked over or a little one 'playing' in or with the water.

Cloth wipes are also a good idea. I've seen people using the "throw away" kind with there cloth diapers. It just doesn't make since. I've done this when I 'ran out' and it was very difficult. Since you had to put the diaper in the diaper pail then head to the trash to throw away the wipe(s). It just creates extra work. You can easily make your own with some flannel fabric, or use baby washcloths, or simply buy them when you purchase your diapers. Some use a solution, I have found that plain water works for us. I store our wipes in a wipe tub saved from the throw away kind of wipes. You can store them in a bowl or other container. If you keep water in the container just make sure it is out of reach of your little ones. A small child can drown in only one inch of water.

You will also need a 'wet bag' for when you are out and about. This bag is water proof and closes tightly so you can put those dirty diapers back in your diaper bag without having to worry about them. This can also be purchased when you buy your diapers.

After you have these last few items you are ready to go.

You might want to consider what kind of detergent you are using though. Some folks use a "special" detergent just for cloth diapers. I find it expensive and unnecessary. We just use a 'free and clear' detergent. Purex is supposed to be the best, but it gives my daughter a rash so we use All. When you wash your diapers you only need a small amount of detergent about 2 tablespoons. If you have a front loading washer, even less, about 1 tablespoon. Always use an extra rinse cycle to make sure all of the detergent is out of your diapers.

Always check with the manufacture of your diapers to see just how they should be washed and dried.

Getting ready for #2...

We are expecting our second child, a boy, in May. Since we don't want to give up our office space we are having Annabelle and Levi share a room. We have cleared quite a few things out of her room to make room for him. Here are a few pictures of what we did to her dresser. It used to be all a cream color.


The first two drawers are Annabelle's, the next two are Levi's and the bottom yellow one holds sheets and blankets to both beds. If you look on top of the dresser you will see two baskets, they are filled with cloth diapers. Annabelle's to the left and Levi's to the right. ;)


Levi's



Annabelle's

Cloth Diapering 101 Part One

New to cloth diapers? Want to save money? Having a baby and can't afford disposables? Want to take care of the earth that God has given us for a temporary home?

There are lots of questions when you are new to cloth diapers. There are so many resources and sites to read that it is very overwhelming!

We started our "cloth diaper journey" a little over year ago when we were preparing for our first child. We went with cloth for several reasons.

• Cloth diapers are just cheaper than disposables! Its a proven fact.




• I don't wear paper underwear...and don't want to, so why would I put that on my baby?




• There are lots of chemicals in disposables....really! It will amaze you.

We are very cheap! I can't see the sense in spending $20 a week on something I will just throw away. I certainly wouldn't throw a $20 bill in the trash on a weekly basis so why would I buy diapers to just throw away????

If you haven't looked into what all is in the leading disposable diaper...please do! No wonder babies get diaper rash!

We, as Christian's are responsible for the way we live our lives. Disposable diapers create so much waste in our landfills. I don't know the exact numbers but it is in the millions or billions of oil, trees, and other natural resources we would save annually if everyone just used cloth diapers.

Now, stepping down from my soap box....what do you really need to cloth diaper.

Three months before our first child was born I order lots of pre-folds and diaper covers. I wanted to go the cheapest route. We received an organic fitted cloth diaper...and wow! It fit so much better than the prefolds. Prefolds do the job....don't get me wrong, but it does take a little longer and there is bulk if you have a small baby. About three months into cloth diapering I ordered (6) bumGenius One size pocket diapers. These are great, but we have a really small baby. She is now one year old and only 16.5lbs. She has really small thighs so these leaked some if we didn't fasten them really tight. Next I ordered (3) Happy Heiny One size diapers. We liked these a lot more, but still the same problem. Then, I found Green Acres Diapers. These are not one size but they work so wonderfully well! We had to order small, medium and will order large if the need arises. We have probably spent about $400 on cloth diapers so far....and we have a stash...a huge one!

Some sites tell you, you need this, this, and this. I won't do that because I know from our experience EVERY baby is DIFFERENT! Best advice I can give is to order a diaper sampler.

Here is a great site for any of your cloth diapering needs.
http://www.wildflowerdiapers.com/

Most of the diapers we have we ordered from them. Shannon is wonderful if you have any questions or problems and shipping is fast.

So far this is what we have:

2) Tiny Heiny diapers (these are for preemies up to 10lbs)

6) Happy Heiny size small diapers

4) Fuzzi Bunz size small diapers

3) Green Acres size small diapers

6) bumGenius One Size diapers

4) Happy Heiny One Size diapers

3) Green Acres size medium diapers

1) Knickernappies Disposanots size medium

3) Fuzzi Bunz size medium diapers

We also still have our prefolds and several fitted diapers. All the diapers listed above are pocket diapers. These are wonderful and make cloth diapering so much easier.

We have so many different kinds because our baby has really small thighs and it took a lot of searching before we found that perfect diaper. The preemie diapers still fit her and she is 1. If you have a "normal" size baby One size diapers are the way to go! One size diapers have adjustable snaps to make either a small, medium, or larger diaper. That way you use one diaper the whole time your baby is in diapers....well one type, you will need several diapers ;) If you have a small, thin baby...well then you must search to find what works best for your baby. Don't give up though! There are lots of different kinds of diapers and I promise one will work for you.

We are now expecting our second baby and we already have most of the diapers we will need. We will purchase a few more because it is so much fun and cloth diapering is soooo addictive.

If you don't have a lot of money to start out, look for used diapers. I have bought used diapers and have never had a problem.

Here is a site that should be able to help:

http://www.myuseddiapers.com/

You can also find diapers on ebay. There are lots of WAHM's (work at home mom) who sell there handmade diapers on ebay for a very good price.

Check back next week for Part Two of this post. Once you find your diapers you will need some basic info on how to clean and manage them.