resolution update

back in January i resolved a few things to happen over this year.

here is the updated list:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
update: well, they aren't being bitten, it's been about 2 months i think, but i go back to work next week, so we'll see if they last til then!!

2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a 
tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
update: we went out a bit. proof: 

on this day Isla refused to let Megan sit on her lap

so she sat on Megan, then as we were coming home, the sled tipped, Isla barely fell out but cried like she was dying, and poor little Meggie basically did a starfish face plant into the snow, a poor little old man walking down the street jumped over about 3 snow banks and almost fell down to try and pick her up, small babies stuck face down in the snow i guess are a little alarming! anyway, when i picked Megan up she just blinked at me. This is a pretty accurate demonstration of first-born vs. second-born. 

just a little snow this winter

3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
update: after a few fits and starts, we've been back on full time with Megan when she's not at daycare and with Isla during naps.  Yay!

4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all. 
update: sewed some amazing bunting for a friend's little nursery, and started a quilt! oh, and made some little face or bum cloths, hurray!

5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.
update: just finished my 13th, i would probably be further on if it weren't for the longest most disappointing finally give up JK Rowling book. 

it's a new year!

wow.

2013.

it's funny to watch old tv sitcoms from the 80's where they think that by this time we will have hover-cars and robot butlers and all kinds of crazy "futuristic" things.

not so much!

i've been working out a small list of resolutions in my head, mostly i like to pick fairly achievable ones as i like to cross things off my lists :)

so in no particular order, here are some:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all.
5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.


so, those are a few of my resolutions... do able, but i also know that i have to be intentional about them all.

i like that.

cloth diapering part two: a disappointing start

i told you about my reasons for cloth diapering here.

here is the story of the start of cloth diapering for our family.

while Isla was in the hospital we used disposables, mostly just for easiness, 

but we had all the diapers prepped and ready to go.

so home we came, and i was so excited to put some cloth on that little booty.

i put on the prefold and i can' believe.....

how RIDICULOUS it looks!!!

poor Isla-who was not a tiny baby by the way, 8lbs 9oz thank you very much-seemed waaaay too small for these prefolds. 

i continue to describe it as what it would have been like if i wore a bath towel as underwear. 

not pleasant.

i was so so sad. my heart was a little broken indeed.

i felt silly that i had been talking this up for months, spent all this money, 
at that point, even my ideas of being able to do all my laundry in our building's washing machines seemed like a silly dream.


my lovely friend Maryann-worried for my heart and reputation-said:
"oh, don't tell anyone!"

i pretty much just packed up all the pre-folds and covers and just jumped on board the disposable diaper train.

i put all my reasons for cloth diapering to the back of my mind so i wouldn't feel so sad and defeated.

the first use of the diapers came a month or so later when i busted out the covers to put over disposables when i was flying with Isla to keep poop blowouts from ruining our flight.

but that was it.

until just after Isla turned 7 months. 
something changed. 
i actually can't even remember what it was, but i decided to give those cloth diapers another try.

and success!! they fit!

first small style in cloth :)

i was elated! my wet-dry bags kept the stink in, the diapers were working, and even washing them was working out!

so now we have been using cloth for 3 months and i have to say that I LOVE IT!!

i am completely in love with cloth diapering, if any one asks me anything about cloth, i can go on and on and on because i love to tell people my story, the things that worked for us (and the things that didn't!), how i deal with doing laundry when i don't have my own washer or dryer.

seriously, i am a little addicted.


living in an apartment definitely poses some laundry challenges, 
which i'll address in cloth diapering part three: these things stink!

this cloth diapering moment...

a home-made wool cover.

fabulous? oui.

cloth diapering part one: why i use cloth diapers.

before Isla was born, I read an article in Mothering magazine all about cloth diapers.

some of the things that stood out to me were:

-diaper companies won't disclose all the ingredients in their diapers ... um, what?

"the customer service representative...will tell you that, among other things, the base ingredients in Pampers' Easy Ups, Baby Dry, Swaddlers and Cruisers, as well as all the Luvs product, include: petroleum, poyethylene, processed wood pulp, "absorbent gelling material", polypropylene and perfume" 

-disposable diapers are not environmentally friendly: 

"no one alive today has lived long enough to see a single disposable diaper completely decompose, because it is estimated that each disposable will take hundreds of years to do so"

-plastic on your privates:

"plastic diapers-especially when they're not changed often enough-keep the genital area hotter than nature designed it to be" this is even more important for boys than girls.

"Would you wear plastic underwear all day long?"-Lori Taylor, Real Diaper Association

there was also a 2 page spread called "a cloth diaper compendium" and was a really great visual guide to the what's what of cloth diapers.

the article didn't even really go into long term cost savings, which is another bonus.

But I was still concerned about the short term cost. 

Cloth diapers seem like a initially daunting and expensive investment. 

So, from the advice of my friend Beth, I started to by one or two things with each paycheck when I was about 4 months pregnant, this way it didn't seem like a huge one time money loss, and it allowed me time to look around at different options.

I was very excited to cloth diaper! 

I settled on the least expensive investment and stocked up on Bummis prefolds, and Thirsties size one duo-wraps.

In the end, before Isla was born I had 36 pre-folds and 8 covers.

If you are planning on cloth diapering, you can expect some amount of shock, well-meaning advice against it, or full out laughter and/or disgust.

Most people I told thought that I just didn't really know how much work a newborn would be, so it was a bit of a pipe dream to be adding the extra work of cloth diapering.

Thankfully, I did have a few friends who were already doing it, or planning to as well. I also read lots of online reviews, tips and advice as well as many blogs of people who were cloth diapering.

The plan was in place. I was set and ready to go. 

Or was I?

part 2 coming soon!

* The article I read and the quotations come from Mothering magazine issue #160, May-June 2010, pg: 50-69

this cloth diapering moment...

matching shirts and diaper covers?

Yes please!