Oh, so easy.

Want to support our adoption fund while shopping for something fun for yourself?  Check out these links! 

We earn a 15% commission through Chunky Bling.  Their necklaces, bracelets, rings, and watches are beautiful! 



At Kelly's Closet we earn 5% on all orders through our button.  Kelly's Closet does not just sell cloth diapering supplies.  They also sell baby carriers, bedding, swimming gear, laundry detergent, skin care products, nursing supplies, and Mama care items. 



Truly Pure & Natural also sends 15% our way.  I recently blogged about them here and here.  Awesome company.

Our body & hair butter is now sold through Curly Is Cuter.  Check out Rachel's beads and beaders, snaps & barrettes, hair & skin care products, etc.  She has a huge assortment for sale, and you can do all that shopping from the comfort of your own home. Watch out -- don't get addicted to the hair bling! :)

If you want to grab our button and spread the word about our fundraisers, the html code is on our blog home page.

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Thank you, thank you for supporting our adoption fund!  It is humbling to see how many of you are supporting our efforts to bring home our baby.  Family, friends, acquiantances, and people we have never even met.  It is such confirmation of God's call for us to be available for one more precious child.  Even now, He is paving the way for him/her to be joined to us. 

Work is picking up for Andy, and if all goes well he will be able to fully support our family again in the next few months.  As soon as we are off partial unemployment, we will be ready to be presented to expectant Mamas through our local Christian agency.  We are so excited! 
(If you need a licensed architect for your home addition or other project, please let us know. :)

What's in a Name?

 

I overheard the kids discussing names for the chickies.  Names like Clementine, Sweet, and Blossom.  Very cute.  And familiar!  Turns out the kiddos named their chicks after our favorite cloth diapers.  BumGenius diapers have great names.  Destany has been wanting to learn the names of all of the colors after hearing me discuss colors with other cloth diapering Mamas.  It was so cute to see her interest, and I guess it later came in handy when she and her brothers were deciding on names!

Moonbeam, Ribbit, Clementine, Zinnia, Grasshopper, Butternut, Twilight, Bubble, Blossom, Sweet, and Noodle.  Cute, huh?  (Good marketing, BumGenius!) 

Here they are with their chicks.  They are growing and changing so much.  (The chicks and the kids!) 

Lucas with Clementine, Cricket (instead of 'Grasshopper'), and Butternut

Destany with Sweet and Zinnia

Keandre with Noodle and Blossom

For Sale.....LOTS of cloth diapers!

We just listed TONS of cloth diapers on Craigslist.  After a lot of trial and error, we finally decided on our fav cloth diapers for Brooklyn.  And we're sure about it.  Really.  (I mean it this time.)

We were happy with the Mother-Ease cloth diapering system (small Sandy's, then One-Size diapers, w/ snap Air Flow covers) for our other children.  Unlike disposable diapers (admit it -- we all know it!) they were virtually leak proof.  Sooo helpful for breastfed babies, sick babies, and for those times when you forget that your child might need changed more than once in a blue moon.   

But this time around, I wanted to try out some other, cuter, varieties.  I went a little crazy while on bed rest.  I bought a little of everything, mostly on Diaperswappers.  And now that we've tried them out and picked our favorites, it's time to tell them goodbye.  Let me know if you want any!  If the post is from Oct. 14 or 15, is in Central Phoenix, and the pictures are taken on top of a blue sheet, they are ours. :)

Brooklyn wearing a Bum Genius 4.0 Pocket diaper and Bum Genius Organic AIO diaper.  We love that the outsides are the same -- same exact fit -- but the insides are different.  We use pockets overnight, so we can stuff them with as much absorbency as needed.  In the daytime, an All-In-One is perfect, or a Goodmama fitted diaper w/o a cover works well, too.  (Not pictured.) 

first swim

We were at an adoption playgroup this morning (16 kiddos, one little Chick-fil-A playground, and lots of fun and chaos!), and afterward we went to a friend's mom & dad's house to hang out.  That led to an impromptu swim in a salt water pool (my favorite!).  It was pretty hot out, so I decided to let Brooklyn enjoy the water.  She was missing a naptime, so she was quieter than usual, but she kicked her feet a bit and was very relaxed.  In a pinch, cloth diapers make a great swimsuit!

sweet, sweet baby

There is nothing quite like a new baby.  Brooklyn may be our fourth little one, but we will never get tired of this sweet baby stage.  We are smitten!  Andy and I often lay in bed gazing at her while she sleeps, kissing her little hands and face, and declaring her baby perfection.  We are living up every precious baby moment.  Children are such a blessing!

newborn cloth diapering

Yep, we're loving it. I have to resist buying more! They are just so cute on her....and so practical....and we're not throwing away 2 diapers per feeding. What's not to love about that? :)

Cloth Diapering options

Part of my former overwhelm at the Cloth Diapering world was all the different types of diapers available.  I didn't know how to approach all the options, and was afraid of choosing the wrong diapers for our family.  I didn't even understand what all the options were!  Here, I'll break it down a little....

Fitteds -- cloth diapers that require a separate cover; can also be worn without the cover if your little one has a diaper rash, or just to save a step when you're at home and changing baby often.

One-Size diapers -- diapers made to accomodate a baby through a toddler, usually 10 - 30+ lbs.; these come as fitteds or AIOs/AI2s (see below).

Prefolds -- the flat diapers most people picture in their minds when someone says they are using cloth diapers; these require a separate cover, but you no longer need to use pins (check out Snappis!).

Pocket diapers - a diaper and cover in one; stuff the cover's inner pocket with absorbant liners.

All-in-Ones - complete diaper and cover in one; one of the most convenient ways to CD.

All-in-Twos - complete diaper and cover with an inner absorbant liner that snaps in or is sewn in, which lets it separate in the dryer or when hung up.  AI2s usually dry more quickly than AIOs.

Hybrid - a reusable outer cover that can be used with cloth inners, or disposable inners that create less waste than regular disposables and are sometimes compostable.

For examples of each of these options, check out Kelly's Closet.   And to read lots of great info and stories about cloth diapering, check out The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. 

Happy cloth diapering!

(pictured above: Blueberry Pocket diaper with velcro/aplix closure)

Newborn Cloth Diapers

Are these not the cutest little diapers?!  My latest hobby has been purchasing a variety of newborn cloth diapers from Diaperswappers.  We didn't start CD-ing our other kiddos until they were a few months old and the one-size diapers would fit them better.  This time around we'd like to start from day one. 

These diapers are mostly All-in-One (AIO) diapers.  Until diapering my niece, Khiana, I had no experience with AIOs.  Now, I may be sold!  They are so easy and convenient, and the colors and patterns are really cute.  They are not as cheap as the prefolds and covers, but they still pay for themselves pretty quickly.  And like all cloth diapers, they are environmental and will keep chemicals off our baby's bum, so it's worth it to us to have diapers we will enjoy using.

The other fun side of buying your diapers through Diaperswappers.com is the 'fluffy mail'.  For a while there, we were receiving packages every day or two, and when the kids would see the mail truck coming down the street, they would scream out, "Fluffy mail, Mom!  Can I open the fluffy mail this time?"  I think our various mail persons are rather confused by the excitement over the packages.  One of these days we'll have to fill them in. ;) 

Mother-Ease Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers have changed a lot over the years.  Prefolds with safety pins and a plastic diaper cover are definitely not the standard option anymore!

I purchased my first stash of cloth diapers when I was expecting Lucas.  I was a bit overwhelmed by all the options, especially because I didn't know anyone using cloth diapers so I couldn't hear the pros and cons of the different options first-hand.  After reading a few reviews I settled on Mother-Ease (ME) One-Size cloth diapers with the Air Flow covers.  Later, I threw in a few of their small Sandy's diapers since the one-size dipes are a bit big for the first few months.  ME diapers were touted as virtually leak-proof, reasonably priced, and they hold up well for using with multiple children in a row.  They may not be the cutest or most stylish diapers on the market, but they served us very well for several years!  In fact, since Lucas and Destany were just 21 months apart, they were both in diapers at the same time for quite a while.  I loved that I could literally grab any diaper in the changing table and put it on either child.  Only the covers were different sizes, but I marked them well and they were easy to grab also. 

Keandre is using our old ME diapers for naptime and overnight now, and I have to admit that although they're getting a little worn out, I feel a bit sentimental about these dipes. My sister and both sisters-in-law here in AZ are cloth converts now also, so I'm looking into fun new options for this next baby, but I'm having a hard time thinking about getting rid of our tried-and-true ME diapers, at least for Keandre. Poofy bums are in, right?

If you're interested, here is one Mama's story about converting to cloth diapers.  There are lots of other fun stories on that site, too, so if you're a CD mama, or are interested in becoming one, check it out!