Life, love, & Lily.

goodbye, cloth. goodbye, laundry.

Confession: I think we have made the decision to stop cloth diapering all together. And by we, I mean I. Lily didn't have much say in it. I don't think she gives a shit. Well, she gives lots of shit in the literal sense, but she doesn't care what that shit falls into.

Part of me feels like an asshole for making the switch to disposables. I think of all the money it has saved me and how much money I, in turn, spent on them over the past year or so. My diapers felt like my prized possessions at one point. Weird, I know. Only other cloth diaper obsessed moms will understand, so suck it.

We cloth diapered exclusively for fourteen months. We made it through what I'm sure is the hardest time to commit to cloth diapering - the newborn stage. I balanced laundry with nursing, sleeping, and learning how to be a mom. If I could do it then, when all of this was new and overwhelming and exhausting, why quit now?

I am hoping to have Lily out of diapers by the end of this year and, in the meantime, disposables are just so damn easy. I don't miss doing laundry every two or three days. I don't miss the borax and the bleach and the triple wash cycles. I don't miss stuffing my pocket diapers. I do miss being able to say that Lily had never been in disposables before. I do miss telling people all about how great cloth is when I'd be out and about and people would see her diaper.

I still think cloth is great, I do. It's just something that I don't think I want to deal with anymore. I've got plenty on my plate already, no one can deny that. It's nice to not have to worry about those few extra loads of laundry. I know it doesn't sound like a lot - what's a couple of extra washes anyways? But somehow, it felt like more than it actually was. And that's okay. It's okay to let myself take the easy route. That is something I am learning. There is no point in making things harder than they have to be. And for me, as a single parent that works full time, my free time would much rather be spent with my toddler than with my washing machine.

On that note, I still encourage anyone who is interested in cloth diapering to do it. Absolutely. And I will gladly offer advice, suggestions, tips, tricks, and enthusiasm. But tonight, when I go home, I'm going to sit back with my kid and enjoy another laundry-free weekday.

RIP, friends.

spring is a-springin'.

After many weeks of up and down weather, today is just absolutely beautiful. The sun is shining, the skies are clear, and it's a perfect temperature. It's a perfect day to play outside.

Okay, y'all. Mommy confession time: I have been using disposable diapers (on Lily, not on me. Assholes). For almost a month. And I kind of have been loving it. Don't get me wrong - I love cloth diapering. I promise. It has just been so, so nice to have a break from the constant laundry. With the transition to the new daycare and the changes in our routine, I figured a break would be good. Sorry, Mother Earth. My kid's shitty diapers are now going to sit in a landfill for 500+ years. I'll get her back in cloth once my disposables run out... but I will enjoy every last minute of laundry freedom until then. Mama can't do it all, all the time.

My pal, Hannah, over at The Homesteady, is super fucking crafty. What a bitch, right? Making the rest of us look bad. Eh, who am I kidding? I make myself look bad enough without anyone else's help. Anyways, the lovely Hannah has very talented hands. Before I had Lily, she made her a Christmas hat and an amazing little blanket. We still use both to this day. Hell, I might even use the blanket more than Lily. It's the perfect lap blanket for sofa lounging. And you bet your ass I'd wear the hat if it fit my giant head.

Okay, damnit, I keep getting distracted from the point of this story. Last week in the mail, Lily and I were surprised to see that we had a package. But wait... I didn't order anything from Amazon Prime this week!??! I am obsessed with Amazon Prime, by the way. We opened the package... and were delighted to find the cutest fucking sweater that was made with love and found its way here all the way from the Pioneer Valley.

Lily is the best model. Hah, I literally laughed out loud when I typed that (see, it's not that hard to spell it out instead of saying 'lol', y'all). She is actually a terrible model. She won't sit still for more than half a fucking second at a time. It's that age, I suppose. The blurry years, in many regards.

We are doing another day trip tomorrow that I am really excited about. I'll take lots of pictures and try to update in a timely manner. I've consistently only been posting once a month. Which is not cool. I am an asshole. Not really, though. Shit's busy.

Okay, time to go back outside in the fresh air and pretend like I don't need a post-lunch siesta.

dabbling in diapers - review of Alva pocket diapers.

I was hesitant when I first heard about Alva diapers. Made in China... only five bucks a pop... didn't really seem too promising. But the cute prints eventually enticed me to  give them a try. I joined forces with another mom in the area so we could take advantage of the free shipping, and I put in an order for fifteen of these diapers. 

So many prints, so many outfits.

Price: Hands down, the Alvas get a rating of 5. I mean, seriously. At $5 a piece they are a steal. That's 1/5 of the cost of some of my other diapers! It was nice to be able to order a ton of these without going bankrupt.

 

Absorbancy: This is a little iffy. When I ordered the diapers, I chose to have them come with 4 layer bamboo/microfiber inserts. Mostly they do a great job. But occasionally, some of the diapers will get dampness around the legs. I don't know if it's something that I'm doing or what, but it doesn't happen all the time and it doesn't happen with all the diapers. So just for the hell of it, let's give the Alvas a 3. Especially because the absorbancy can be fiddled with by adding more inserts if needed.

 

Poopability: I am surprised at how well these have kept poop in. There have been some massive shits that have not escaped the leg elastics of the Alvas. But, just like with the absorbancy, sometimes some of the diapers don't do as well. I do find that I have fewer issues with poop escaping than with the dampness from just pee, so let's go with a 3.5 here, just for good measure.

 

Versatility: In general, pocket diapers are pretty versatile in terms of how you want to use them. Want them for overnight or a nap? Just stuff more inserts in. The nice thing about it is that you can pick what you shove in the pockets. With my Alvas, I haven't used anything besides the 4 layer inserts, but I know I have the option if I want it. I don't use these for anything besides daytime awake time, so there's no need to amp up the absorbancy. What I find really versatile about these, though, is the ability to coordinate a whole fucking outfit around them. There are so many prints to choose from and they are so cute that I don't like covering them up with a onesie or pants. So what I can do is pick a diaper, pick a shirt that matches said diaper, maybe throw on some baby legs (leg warmers for babies) and voila  - Lily will be ready for a night out on the town! Or, more realistically, a night sitting on the couch with mommy. So I'll go ahead and rate Alvas with a 4.

I'm giving the Alvas an extra point, as well, because they have been perfect for me going back to work. They were cheap enough that I could order a lot of them so that Grandpa (or whoever happens to be watching Lily) can have plenty to use. This is important because Grandpa tried to put a prefold on Lily once... let's just say the snaps are a better choice for him (he used a burp cloth instead of a prefold, didn't fold it onto her, and put the cover on inside out. We all had a good laugh about it).

I was pleasantly surprised with these diapers. I never would have guessed that they would have worked so well for us. For anyone contemplating using Alvas but hesitant for the same reasons that I was, my advice is GO FOR IT! Even if they end up not working for you, they are so cheap you won't be out that much money & you can make most of it back by reselling them anyways.

nesting > resting.

I have been nesting like crazy lately. Wasn't I supposed to get most of this out of my system in the third trimester? Oh well, nothin' like some good projects to pass the time and make my house feel more like a home! Mostly it involves cleaning, and usually it's the kitchen, but I've done a few extra things here and there and have a few bigger projects looming on the horizon.

 

 

 

Some of my new cheap ass China diapers!

First off, I set up a new diaper unit in Lily's room. I didn't really realize how many diapers I have until they were blatantly staring me in the face! I'm really happy with the shelving unit, which was relatively inexpensive. The best thing about the reorganizing was that Lily actually hung out quietly in her crib while I put the whole damn thing together! It's a rare occurrence that I can actually do a project without a break midway through to feed/soothe/change a baby. I'm amazed that I am even able to write blog posts. As we speak, I'm using my foot to bounce her in her chair so she stays calm and relaxed! There are a few squeaks every now and then but nothing I need to jump to respond to. Wahoo!

 

 

 

 

 

 The other night I decided to set up a more organized bath area for Lily by the kitchen sink. Before, all of her stuff was just kind of scattered between her room, the bathroom, and the kitchen and I would just gather it all when bath time rolled around. So instead of doing that, I now have her wash cloths, baby wash, and whale water scoop (the orange thing) all together on the window sill above the kitchen sink. I made the baby wash dispenser out of one of my dozens of jars that I have sitting unused in my cabinets. I drilled a hole in the lid, stuck a pump from an old soap bottle in it, then filled the jar with some lovely smelling lavender baby wash! Voila! Another simple project completed! (Side note: I want to replace those crappy black curtains with some super cute lace ones!)

 

 

This one isn't much of a project but just another step I've taken towards organization and making the house more homey. I set up this area right where you enter the dining room by the front door. It's my mail/bills/appointment station. I bought a big desk calendar and hung it up on the wall. Calendars are essential for me. If you know me, you know I'm pretty anal about keeping my shit in order and calendars are one way that I do it. I especially like oversized calendars like this (bonus points for dry erase calendars!). They make it easy to write in any and all shit that I need to do. January was pretty empty because most of the things on my to-do list included watching Netflix or ordering diapers online. 

 

The mail bin was a metal desk organizer I bought at Office Depot and hung on the wall with two nails. I keep my mail, bills I need to pay, pens, and notepads in it. Really simple but I love it because it frees up the space that all the mail and notepads and other random shit would be taking up on my kitchen table or the counters. Which would be a lot, knowing me. That shit would be everywhere.

 

Lastly, I just added a hook to hang my purse/diaper bag. It makes it that much easier to get out the door when we need to go somewhere. It's hard enough to get everyone ready, but if I have to scramble around to find things it can seriously add an extra 20 minutes.

 

The next big thing I plan on tackling is a upgrade of my dining room set. I plan on painting the table white and painting the chairs yellow and red (some yellow, some red, not both colors on one chair). It'll be a big undertaking but I have a friend coming to visit next week so I'll take advantage of the extra hands and the extra eyes to watch Lily and bust it out in a day or two. I'll post photos when it's through.

 

 

 

On a completely unrelated note, Lily & I had our first successful story time today. Normally when I try to read to her she ends up crying, but today we got through all three of these books without any tears and, in fact, with lots of smiles. She especially liked the Dress Up Peekaboo book, but that's because mommy does fucking awesome voices.

Go Baby Go!

I'm visiting the folks in San Antonio this week & while in town I decided it was a must to go check out the local cloth diaper/natural parenting store, Go Baby Go. It's over in the Alamo Heights area of San Antonio and it has been opened for about two years. It was a really cute store filled to the brim with fucking cute diapers and diaper accessories + baby carriers and other miscellaneous items. The staff was all really nice and very helpful! I imagine that going in there knowing NOTHING about cloth diapering could be overwhelming but they were all very knowledgeable and ready and willing to share. Check out their Facebook page here and, more importantly, get over to the store and support local business AND cloth diapering! They offer classes on diapering and babywearing, as well! If only I could quit my job and open a store like that... I can dream, right?

 

My trip obviously ended in me buying more diapers. Here's what I walked out with:

 

Apologies for crappy quality - I fucked up my camera (already).

 

Up top is a Planet Wise pail liner with a cute fox print. The diapers are as follows: a used Blueberry fitted diaper with a guitar (!!!!) print, a SustainableBabyish bamboo fitted diaper, a Blueberry Simplex OS AIO, and a Tots Bots OS AIO in an awesome Three Little Pigs print. The guitar print and the SBish are going to hopefully become my go-to overnight diapers. I grabbed the Simplex because it was super cute and the newborn sized Simplexes are working out pretty well for us but Lily will be too big for them soon. I've never tried Tots Bots but it was a cute print so I figured I'd give it a whirl. If it doesn't work for us, I can always sell it! The two AIOs were fairly pricey ($25 and $23, respectively) but the nice thing about the one size diapers is that they'll last through potty training. Not a bad investment for a couple of years worth of use.

 

After hitting Go Baby Go, we headed to Target and I bought a new shelving unit so I can reorganize my diapers. Diapers are my excitement in life these days. I am seriously looking forward to organizing them so that all my cute ass prints are on display (be prepared for a photo bomb of it when completed). I am addicted to diaper shopping. I have a package of even more diapers awaiting me at home, too. It's a problem, really. A delightful, delightful problem... that I am taking no steps to remedy.

dabbling in diapers - review of the Swaddlebbes newborn Simplex AIO.

Okay, my first diaper review. For these reviews, I'll be touching on some key aspects of the diaper - price, absorbancy, ability to contain shit explosions (we'll use the term 'blowouts'), and versatility. 

 

Owl and Cow prints - super cute!

 

 

I received four of these diapers in the owl print at my baby shower. They were one of the first cloth diapers to see Lily's ass. I used them right off the bat because a) they are made specifically for newborns and b) these diapers in particular have a snap down rise for the umbilical cord. This was useful before her cord stump fell off.

 

See the snap down rise on the left for the cord & the unsnapped rise after falling off

Price: These diapers are not cheap. They retail for a little under $20 new. I was lucky to have been gifted these because I would not have spent that much money on them. That being said, I am glad I have them, though. But would I pay to have five of them? Nope. I purchased only one of these diapers, the cow print, and that's because it was on sale. So on a scale of 1-5 for price, let's rate this diaper a 2.

 

Absorbancy: I have been pretty happy with the way these diapers soak up Lily's pee. As I pictured in the previous post, they have the insert sewn in that can be worn either in or out.

I always tuck the insert into the diaper, I have yet to try it in the out position. On their own, I have had very few leaks during the day with these. However, when used overnight, they are not as solid. I've definitely woken up to a wet bed once or twice with these diapers. However, the diaper does get bonus point because the design allows you to double up the inserts. So now, if I choose to use these diapers at nighttime, I will just tuck an extra cotton insert in with the sewn in insert. This will buy me some time between changes. When she's got these on her booty at night, though, I am on high alert for leakage. So my rating for leakage protection is a 3.

 

Poopability: It's a word now, don't question me. So yes, the poopability of these diapers... I will admit right before I sat down to write this post I would have given it a 2 or a 3 rating because I have had a blowout or two in these diapers. But the diaper change that immediately preceded this was fucking impressive. I had put one of the owl prints on Lily this morning when we woke up. When I went to change her, holy god the amount of shit that was in that diaper was just... wow. And it ALL stayed in the diaper. That occurrence alone bumped up the rating for me. I'm still on a learning curve here so we'll just chalk up the few blowouts that I have had to user error in putting the diaper on. So for containing explosive shit, this diaper gets a  4.

 

Versatility: Let's be real, these diapers won't go very far. You can't really mix and match them with other things, with the exception of being able to add extra inserts for added absorbancy. That's a feature than many AIOs do not have and it definitely comes in handy. Yeah, they are great for the first week or two because of the umbilical snap down rise, but once that cord falls off, they are kind of just another diaper. Another expensive diaper. Another expensive diaper that will only fit a baby for a short period of time. It'd be different if this diaper was a OS (one size, meaning adjustable and can grown with your baby), but once your kid is out of the newborn stage, these diapers are useless. So because of that, the newborn Simplex AIO gets a 2.

 

 So overall, I do like these diapers. They are cute and they were great for when her cord was attached and I was seriously impressed with the poop containment that happened this morning. I'd recommend getting maybe two or three of these, but other than that, for the price, I don't love 'em but I don't hate 'em. I won't jump to put these on, especially not overnight, but they also won't sit unused in my diaper bins. I've just been more impressed with other diapers that, coincidentally, are cheaper, too. At least I can expect a pretty good resale value from these bad boys.

dabbling in diapers - the basics.

So as most of you know, I decided shortly after getting pregnant that I would be cloth diapering Lily. I bought quite a hodge dodge of diapers before her arrival so that I would have plenty to try out. I ended up amassing quite a nice stash. I was lucky to be gifted a lot of the diapers at my baby shower, that definitely cut down the costs of my collection significantly. 

 

Now, entering the world of cloth diapering is pretty overwhelming at first. Between the different styles of diapers and competing brands, it's hard to pick out what is the 'best' product. After joining a cloth diapering moms group and hearing their preferences before Lily was born, and now having tried my hand at this for the past two weeks, I have learned one thing: what is best for you and your baby is not what is best for everyone. Expensive diapers do not equal high quality diapers. Cheap diapers do not mean they won't work. I have met women who are perfectly happy using $5 diapers from China or flour sack towels that they got for a dollar each at Wal-Mart and that works for them. Other women prefer spending more money on AIO diapers and that works for them (AIO = all in one.. we will go over the lingo in a second). Each baby and each mom is different and the key is to find what works for you. Unfortunately, you may end up spending money on diapers only to find that they aren't a good fit (metaphorically and literally) for you and your child. The nice thing about doing cloth, though, is that if you find yourself in this situation you can sell the unwanted diapers! Resale amount is usually quite good for cloth diapers, assuming you take fairly good care of them. So if your baby is born and you find yourself with a whole mess of diapers that just aren't working for you - sell 'em and buy the diapers that DO work. Easy as pie. Doodoo pie.

 

So when I went about starting my stash, I did a lot of research. Like.. a LOT of research. And I decided that I wanted to try pocket diapers for when she was a little bit bigger and I would stick with mostly prefolds during the newborn stage. Here is a little breakdown of the types of diapers I am fiddling with.

PREFOLDS:

Cloth-eez prefold diaper - size small

A newborn sized prefold on Lily fastened with a Snappi

These diapers are quilty and absorbent (mine are made of cotton and were purchased from Green Mountain Diapers) and are folded onto the baby using pins or a Snappi. They require some sort of cover over them, whether it is a waterproof PUL cover or a wool cover. Whatever tickles your fancy. These are the most inexpensive option for diapering.

FITTEDS:

Cloth-eez Workhorse fitted diaper - newborn size

 

Fitteds are like prefolds but are shaped like a diaper and have leg elastics for containing messes. They take the trickiness of folding a diaper onto a wiggling baby away. These diapers also require a cover of some sort.

 

 

Examples of covers - Disana wool cover (left) and Thirsties Duo Wrap size one (right)

  
 AIOs:

Swaddlebees Newborn Simplex AIO

Inside the Swaddlebees

AIOs (all in ones for those of you that weren't paying attention earlier) are the most like a disposable diaper. One step and you are done. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. These diapers have the waterproof cover and absorbent inner all built in together. The insert that you see in the second picture is sewn into the diaper and can be placed either on top or inside the gap between the lining and the waterproof layer.

 

Many people love this style for the simplicity of them, but there are some downsides - a big one is cost. These will be the priciest diapers, generally. The newborn Simplex shown here runs about $18.95 per diaper. When you are going through 10+ diapers a day, that can easily add up. These also take longer to dry than the other diapers.

 

And lastly, we have...

POCKETS:

Fuzzibunz One Size pocket diaper

Inside the Fuzzibunz (separate bamboo insert)

 

These diapers also have the waterproof cover built in. The 'pocket' refers to an opening in the diapers where you stuff absorbent inserts. Inserts come in a variety of textiles (I mostly have been using bamboo and cotton). Pocket diapers will have either snaps or velcro to fasten them onto the baby. These are essentially identical to AIOs except that the insert is not sewn onto the diaper.

 

 

So there are the basics of what I am using for diapering Lily. In the coming weeks I'll be posting reviews of diapers that I try out. My goal is to get the first one written this weekend. It'll be reviewing the Swaddlebees newborn Simplex AIO that I pictured in this post. I also have quite a few more diapers heading my way in the mail that I will be trying out. Buying diapers is becoming an addiction... and I love it!

 

 

 

Note: I would just like to add that it took me two days to finish this damn post and it was partially written with a baby on my boob. Multi-tasker extraordinaire.