A little more about cloth diapers

Back in  May I mentioned that we had made the switch from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. Since we've been using them for a few months now I thought it might be helpful to go a little more in depth about how it's going for us.

There is so much information on the web about cloth diapers and which ones are best and how they are impossible to wash and all of the crazy sub-things you need to go with them. Here is a break-down on what we are using and what is working for us.

Diapers: I have 16 BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. I tried a few different kinds of diapers and found these to be the best for our needs. They are very similar to disposable diapers in how they are worn and put on. They have a microfiber insert which is tucked inside a pocket that is fleece on the top (the side that faces the baby) and a soft water-resistant shell that is on the outside. The fleece pulls the liquid down and through it to the microfiber insert inside. That way there is no moisture just sitting against baby's skin and causing diaper rash. These particular BumGenius diapers are a one size variety so they have a series of snaps that accommodate the rise (how high it comes up on baby's tummy) and also the fit around the waist.

They come in a variety of cute colors. I have 9 white and 7 colors. I wish they had red :(

Waiting to Wash: I am going with the dry pail approach to storing my dirty diapers before washing them. I am able to go approximately a day and a half to two days before I have to do wash. I chose to do it that way because A) I want to be sure to have a few diapers left on hand when washing so there are some for her to wear while they dry, and B) I don't want to leave them sit in the pail too long between washing for fear of bacteria growing on them. The dry pail I'm using is from Ikea and I really like it. It contains the smell perfectly and is a nice size. It's bigger than I need but it's not too big and will be useful when our diapering days are over. Inside I have a waterproof pail liner from Kanga Care. I definitely recommend having two of these because they take at least 2 days to dry so while one is hanging to dry I can use the other one in the pail. I also have a small wet bag from Planet Wise that I keep in the diaper bag for when we are out.

This pail liner is the Root Beer color. I also have Platinum which is gray.

Washing: Washing cloth diapers is one of the more scary aspects when doing research online. There is the whole repelling issue that seems to be a problem for some people. Repelling is when the diaper won't absorb anymore and the liquid just beads up on top of the fleece lining. This can cause leaks and smell problems. From what I've read repelling is caused by detergent build-up on your diapers. You have to use special laundry "soap" to clean cloth diapers that doesn't contain any additives or brightners. After looking on a few websites that have Cloth Diaper Approved laundry soaps on them, I decided to use Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda. It seems to be the cheapest for the amount used and it comes in a pretty cute tin container that I can either recycle or use for something else when it's empty. The laundry routine I use is 1) cold pre-soak if there is a poopy diaper, 2) normal wash in hot water, 3) extra rinse in cold. (By the way, there are a ton of websites out there that have suggestions on how to wash your diapers to get rid of the repelling problem if you run into that. It seems to be a more frequent problem with people who have front loading machines. Thankfully we have a top loader.)

K calls it "The Dog Soap" because there is a picture of a dog on top.

Drying: The microfiber inserts can be dried in the washing machine (it usually takes me two cycles to get them all dry) and you can't use any fabric softer or dryer sheets so I use these dryer balls and they seem to keep the inserts nice and fluffy. Usually I'm an adamant "If I can't dry it in the dryer I won't buy it" kind of girl but with these diapers, since I view them as a long term investment, I do actually line dry the outer shells. Normally I hang them on our rack inside but when the weather is nice, I bought a folding rack from The Container Store and clothes pins to put them out in the sun. Speaking of drying them in the sun, that's another way to help insure your diapers won't smell. The sun will bleach out any odors and stains should there be any left. Pretty cool!

You can see the Platinum pail liner on the rack.

Leaks: We had a few leaks in the very beginning with overnight sleeping. I did some research and spoke to a sales person at our local cloth diaper shop and she recommended adding a hemp insert to our diaper for overnight. The hemp goes in underneath the microfiber insert and is slow absorbing. The plan is that the fleece wicks the moisture down into the microfiber (which is fast absorbing) and then if it gets super saturated the hemp is there as a back up. The system works great for us and we've never had a leak since. I bought the BabyKicks Joey Bunz Premium hemp inserts because they are two thin inserts attached in a small spot at the top that I cut apart and just use one in her diaper per night. This way I have 6 inserts for the price of 3 and so far we've only needed to use one per night. If she starts wetting more as she get older I can always double them up again.


Diaper Rash: You can only use Cloth Diaper Approved diaper rash creams. Thankfully we haven't had to use any so far so I haven't done too much research on these yet. I'm pretty prompt about changing E's diaper so any wetness doesn't sit against her skin for too long. The only time I notice she gets a little red is after a poop but when that happens I try and give her a few minutes of nudie-butt time with each diaper change and it seems to clear up in a day or so. It's never really red or painful looking (nothing like the chemical burns K got from Pampers Dry Max) so I haven't had to worry about it yet.

Speaking of poop (because I know you're all wondering how that works) it's not as bad as I thought it would be. If you really don't want to hear about poop, skip this section and just look at the picture of the cute baby below...

If you're still reading, I assume you're curious so here goes. It used to be that I couldn't handle poop. Let's just say I had an easy gag reflex. So much changes when you have your own kid(s) and then again when you decide to use cloth diapers. With a disposable all you have to do is wipe the area clean, fold the dirty diaper into a neat little ball and chuck it into a waste can, preferably outside because those buggers will start to stink after a few hours. With a cloth diaper, you have to take care of the mess yourself. At this point E is still breastfed so her poops are different than a formula fed baby and also a baby who is on solids. Her poop is definitely not solid but she only goes once a week so I only have to clean it once a week, which isn't too bad. I've heard solid poop is fairly easy because you can just shake it off into the toilet, give the diaper a little spray with clean water and you're good to go until wash day. With E's poop, I take the insert out (to be rinsed in a few minutes) and rinse the crap out of the shell in the toilet (ha ha, see that pun I made there?) This can be a bit tedious since I will normally clean the toilet first (I know, I'm just going to be putting poop in it so why clean it first? But really, do I want to put my hands in a dirty toilet? I don't think so!) My mom showed me how to rinse the diaper in the water and then scrub the fleece lining together to get any remaining stains off. I usually do this three times with flushes in between until the diaper is basically free of any stains. Then I do the same thing with the microfiber insert which usually only needs one flush. I'm sure this sounds totally gross to anyone who isn't used to doing it but after the first two times, I've decided it's really not that bad and now I just see it as another step to using cloth diapers.

The last piece to this cloth diaper puzzle is wipes. I want to eliminate store-bought paper wipes and use cloth. I had some extra hooded baby towels that we weren't using so I'm going to try using those. So far I've cut the binding off (the part around the edges so it has a clean line and doesn't fray.) I wanted to take that part off so they will all be uniform in size so I can (hopefully) cross-fold them and put them in a pop-up wipes container. I still need to cut the towels into wipe-size rectangles and then zig-zag stitch around the edges so they won't fray. Maybe I'll get that done tomorrow...

**UPDATE**
Here is a link discussing our switch to cloth diapers.
Here is a link about using cloth baby wipes.
Here is a link to a comparison between the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket diapers and the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite Pocket Diapers.

To leave you on a high note about cloth diapers, they sure look cute on a little ones booty:

Busy as bees!

We've been so busy over here that I can't believe it's been nearly a month since my last post. I have lots to say and definitely plenty of pictures so grab a cool glass of lemonade (preferably strawberry) and let's dive in!

Father's Day weekend was particularly busy for us, as it is every year since my Dad's birthday generally shares the weekend and quite often, the actual day. This year his birthday was on the Friday so K and Nana made him a cake and a pan of her famous lasagna. It was very tasty. K has become quite proficient at helping Nana make cakes. We'll have to start introducing her to some other foods in the kitchen or she'll turn into me and only enjoy baking ;)

On the Saturday of Father's Day weekend my brother, sis-in-law and the Princess came out to celebrate Dad's bday and Father's Day and then we all headed over to our aunt and uncle's house to celebrate our cousins 5th birthday. It was a pool party and all of the girls did REALLY well in the pool.

E had so much fun!

Already learning to splash Daddy

On Father's Day we went to church and enjoyed a waffle breakfast sponsored by the youth to make money for their summer trip. After all the craziness of the weekend, we ended up just going home afterwards and relaxing. The girls and I gave Daddy his gift: a gallery wrapped 16x20 canvas print of them I took in the backyard. It turned out cute but of course I couldn't get both girls to smile. This is the picture:

No smiles from the world's smiliest baby. Figures!

I finally got around to taking a picture of the girls in their Big Sis / Lil Sis matching shirts which is a good thing because that onesie on E was really stretching to fit.

There are those famous smiles =D

This past weekend (starting Friday the 22nd) was another busy but fun weekend for the JAKES + N&P. On Friday we (my parents, the girls and I) drove into the city to go to the aquarium because it was free admission for the whole week and we wanted to catch it before it was over. When we got there we had a picnic in the park area right near the aquarium. The weather was amazing!

The girls enjoying our picnic lunch under the shade of a tree.

K wanted to hug the tree and even gave it a kiss. That's my girl!
I even have a onesie for E that says "Future Tree Hugger".

When we walked over to the aquarium we noticed a REALLY long line near a side entrance. We asked a nice woman if this was the line to get in. She informed us it was the stroller line. I was feeling pretty good about myself right then because I had decided to carry E in a front carrier instead of bringing our stroller so YAY, we wouldn't have to wait in that line. We moved around to the front of the building and saw another line that was three times as long. Yeah, there was no way we were going to the aquarium. After the hour or more wait just to get in, I'd be a nervous wreck with the girls in that size crowd. Plan B! Thankfully the Natural History Museum is right next store so we were able to go there and see the dinosaurs. It wasn't free, which was a bummer, but it was still a lot of fun.

Papa, Nana & K in front of the Tyrannosaurus Rex

Comparing femur sizes.

On Sunday we headed up north to the Strawberry Festival. Being a strawberry lover I'd always wanted to go to this fest but always ended up missing by a day or a week or something. Not this year! We grabbed some doughnuts on our way and got there shortly after they opened. It was a cool 78 degrees and it wasn't too crowded - perfect!

The beautiful butterfly bench in the Artistic Garden.

However, as the day wore on, the heat and the crowds increased. By the time we left it was 90 degrees and we were all ready for a cold drink. However, K had a blast and enjoyed her third pony ride.

We didn't know this pony's name so she named it after herself, much like all of her toys at home.

This was an inflatable "money grab" machine but with balloons instead.
It could have used more balloons in my opinion but K still seemed to like it.

We had to improvise and use Daddy's baseball hat to keep the sun off of E. You can see the heat in my face.

With these busy weekends in addition to our normal busy weekday schedule (Mon: ballet, Tues: summer craft program at the local toy store, Wed: ballet, Thrs: library story time, Fri: bowling) we are definitely taking advantage of all the free activities and fests around our area. Tomorrow is K's little recital for ballet so I'll be posting a video of that. I can't wait! Then we'll rearrange our schedule so that bowling will be on Mondays, her next class, ArtRageous Fun will be on Wednesdays and we'll do Park Day on Fridays. We've been trying to hit a different one of the 22 parks around our area each week. So far we've done three and they've all been very nice. I really miss the splash pads we had out in OH though, especially when the forecast calls for 102 degrees on Thursday. Ugh!

As a last note, today is the day, two years ago we lost our little A. It's unbelievable to think it's been 2 years already. We still miss her and think of her regularly however the loss is lessened by the joy of our little E. We are so blessed and thank God daily for our families and our health.

I hope you all are having a great summer. If you want, leave me a comment and let me know what you're up to and if you think I'm crazy with all of these activities.

So much to say, so little time.

I think the title says it all. So much happens everyday and it just seems like I can never find the time to make a post. I am so in love with our precious kiddos but I had no idea how much more work it was going to be with two than it was with one. I'm sure at some point when they can actually play together it will get a bit easier but right now, when they both want 100% of my attention 100% of the day, it's REALLY tiring. I *still* have stuff in boxes in pretty much every room of the house and I don't think that's going to change unless I can get a weekend to finish the unpacking already. It's making me nuts. I really don't like not knowing where our stuff is located and just general disorganization is my number one enemy.

Let's see, since my last post several cool things have happened. One of the big ones is I've switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers and I totally love them! Some very good friends of ours gave us a ton of their old diaper boxes when we were moving (and thank goodness for them!!!) but as I surveyed this huge mountain of diaper boxes I thought to myself, "that's a TON of money" and they were only up to size 3 diapers. I started thinking about how much money we spend in diapers from birth to being potty trained and the numbers are staggering. Plus there's the environmental factor of all of those diapers going into the landfills. The plastic lining on those things never biodegrades. Anyway, I did a TON of research trying to figure out what kind will be the best for us and our situation and I tried a few different kinds. I ended up going with the Bum Genius 4.0 snaps and I really love them. They have a soft, waterproof outer fabric and are lined on the inside with fleece to wick the moisture away from baby's skin. A microfiber insert fits into the fleece pocket and holds all the liquid. This past weekend we went to visit with family and friends and stayed with my father-in-law. I decided not to bring our cloth diapers because I would have had to wash some of them while we were there and God bless him, he has his hot water heater set to "inferno hot". I was concerned the diapers would get ruined in those temperatures so I used up some of the size 3 Huggies we already owned. It seemed so strange to be back putting disposable diapers on my girl. For me, putting actual cloth on my baby is so much nicer than the paper-feeling disposables. There is definitely more of an up front cost (each diaper costs $17.95) and there is an increase in laundry (I have enough that I can go two days before I have to do wash) but it's so worth it to me. And seriously, they look super cute on her tushie ;)

**UPDATE**
Here is a link with information about our cloth diapering experience.
Here is a link about using cloth baby wipes.
Here is a link to a comparison between the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket diapers and the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite Pocket Diapers.


Next we celebrated Mother's Day - my first with Little E and my fourth with Kbear (that hardly seems possible).

Me and my girls :)  I'm wearing my new Mother's Day necklace. It has all of our names around the circle and a pearl
hangs in the middle to represent the June birthstone for our little Angel Baby.

The Mommies

The Daddies (except for the Hubs who had to stay home and study for his test)

We've also joined (for the second year) "Kids Bowl Free". It's a cool program that allows the children to bowl two free games every single day for the entire summer. Last year I think we only went twice because the bowling alley where we signed up never had the ramps available for us to use and even the lightest ball is still too heavy for Kbear to roll it all of the way down the alley, even with the bumpers up. This new alley is great and we have had a ramp every time we've gone so far, which is twice. We'll go again tomorrow. It's been really fun because after we bowl we go out to lunch together and it's very nice having a lunch date with my big girl. I'm so proud of her =D

Setting up on the ramp.

Giving the ball a good hard push.

Smiles for the camera :)

Little E is growing by leaps and bounds. She is very capable of grabbing her hanging toys, flipping over (especially from her back to her stomach when I'm trying to change her diaper), and scooching on her back, backwards, halfway across the great room (and believe me, it's a big room!) She is as smiley and beautiful as ever and her big sister loves her so very much. We are truly blessed!

She has learned she has feet and is very fascinated by them.

Smiley girl

She has always had very strong neck and core muscles so she has been able to hold her head up from
day one. She is the only baby I know who actually enjoys tummy time.

Thanks for stopping by!

A bit of catching up to do

I've been a bad blogger. I've been meaning to post night after night but I always end up choosing sleep over posting. I'm sure you understand. Anyway, I decided that tonight is the night to finally share some cute pictures of the girls that we've taken lately. I have a bunch more (big shocker, I know) but I'll save those for another post.

For Arbor Day this year we went to, very appropriately, an amazing Arboretum near our house that was having a very
cool kids program that day. Let's just say that before we went home, we ended up becoming members. It's a cool place!

K did her part in helping plant a tree that we can come visit every time we go to the Arboretum. Each kid got to shovel
on a scoop of dirt and sprinkle in a watering can of water. There were a lot of kids there but she waited patiently.

The guest of honor was none other than Curious George! He is obviously a fan of lambs because he scooped up Lilly
and gave her a hug. I wasn't sure what K would do about that since that is her VERY special lamb but she must have
been ok with it because she gave him a hug (once she had Lilly back safely) and by the time we went on the Nature Hike
K was by his side, holding his hand, the entire time.

The following day we went to another beautiful park to celebrate Earth Day (which was kind of funny since the actual
Earth Day was a week before this celebration, but whatever.) They had free pony rides there and K went twice!

The last time we encountered the chance for a free pony ride she was a bit too nervous to try it so I wasn't sure if she
would want to this time but she absolutely loved it! She rode Lucky once and before we left, hopped on Thunder for one
more go around. I'm so proud of how brave she is becoming as she gets older.

E's wonderful aunt sent us a very sweet package of adorable clothes and she was wondering if the smallest outfit would
still fit her. This is proof that it does (and that we love it!)  I never get over how expressive our sweet little girl is already.

And while things aren't always all sunshine and roses...

...it's very rare that we see her without a smile on her face.

Easter Beauties

This Easter we spent a nice relaxing day at home with Grandpa. With all of the craziness of packing and getting ready to move, the Easter Bunny almost forgot about hiding eggs and getting K's basket together. Thankfully the Bunny remembered in the wee hours of the morning before anyone else woke up and was able to get everything all set. After K found her eggs and ripped through her gifts, Grandpa came over for a relaxed dinner of Bistro Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, salad, bread and raspberry brownies. It was really nice to spend so much time with him and to have a day where we didn't have to worry about packing. Here are a few pictures of the girls in their Easter outfits:

Hunting for Easter Eggs

Smiling for the camera

Sweet sisters in their matching yellow outfits

Our smiley little girl

Grandpa and E checking each other out.

Grandpa and K modeling the latest in Easter eyewear.

Friday Family Fun Night 3

This past Friday we had our third Friday Family Fun Night. Our first FFFN consisted of eating pizza in our bed while watching a movie of K's choice: Toy Story 2 (I wish I had taken some pictures of it. Oh well.) Our second was camping in the living room (seen here.) For our third FFFN we let her pick the restaurant of her choice for dinner (Red Robin) and then set up the ball pit. It used to be set up in her playroom but as we've accumulated more and more toys I took it down since it takes up quite a bit of space and she wasn't playing in it much. She saw it folded up in her closet that afternoon and wanted me to set it up for her. I didn't have the chance to during the day but thought it would make for a fun FFFN for her and us.

All smiles while playing her MobiGo in the ball pit.

We were having ball wars with her throwing the balls out and us throwing them back in at her.

She also really liked standing on the ottoman and pitching balls into the top hole.

Trying to capture one of E's beautiful smiles in a photo. I have some better ones on my phone that I have to download.

Looking very serious. I would be serious too if I had to dodge balls being thrown by my big sister ;)

Mommy and E pooped out after an entertaining Friday Family Fun Night.

Our 2nd Friday Family Fun Night

As I type this, K and A are camping.. Never mind that they have indoor plumbing and there are no spiders in the showers, or that the stars are being projected by Edward the Turtle. That's right, the tent is set up downstairs in our living room and I haven't seen K that excited about something in a long time.

To start off our second FFFN (Friday Family Fun Night) we had hot dogs cooked on a Foreman grill instead of an open fire and S'mores made in the microwave instead of flaming on a stick. No matter, they still tasted great, especially since the only big marshmallows we had were the strawberry flavored ones and they were quite tasty with the chocolate. Then K and I went up to her room to pack her backpack full of all the things she would need for camping. Aside from her toothbrush, a pair of jammies and a Buzz Lightyear flashlight, the rest of the bag was packed with stuffed animals. Our kiddo has priorities, man! While we were doing that, A was setting up the tent. When I came up with this idea I had no idea how huge this thing is and that it would take up almost our entire living room. From the moment he got it standing, K has been in it jumping around like a crazy child hyped up on too many S'mores. Because of A's back issues I didn't want him sleeping on the ground so we carried our super comfy futon mattress down and a huge number of pillows. With our trusty Coleman lantern, sub-zero sleeping bag and Daddy's guitar, they were all set to start their camp out. I'm actually quite bummed not to be sleeping down there with them but I didn't want Little E or I to keep them awake with multiple nighttime feedings. At least we were able to pray together via Skype. Ahh, camping at its finest! Now if only I had bought some Tang...

They found the perfect site to pitch the tent.

Super excited to be jumping around in the tent.

Dancing to Daddy's campfire songs.

All snuggled up in the sleeping bag.