Cloth Diapering: 1 Month In

As I’ve traveled down the motherhood road, I’ve found myself doing many things I’ve never thought I’d do. One of those things in the past month was cloth diapering my daughter.

When I was pregnant, I thought about cloth diapering. I even sent some messages back and forth with a friend from high school who I knew used cloth on her son. But I have to admit I was a bit intimidated by all the terminology/abbreviations (prefold, AIO, stash, stripping, etc) and I honestly didn’t know where to start. Add into that uncertainty was the fact that my husband didn’t see any use in doing cloth. So it would all fall on me.

Looking back, as a new mom, I’m glad I didn’t get it into my head to do cloth early on. Instead, I waited until we had a rhythm down and I settled back into work full time. Then, this past Christmas break, E was asleep for the night and I started researching sites on my iPad. I found a few blogs with helpful tips and I even scoured Amazon for the best reviews. What attracted me most to cloth diapering was that I could use these diapers again on baby number 2 (no, I’m not pregnant!) and the cost savings is great! I’m also big into doing what I can to save the environment so when I read the stats on disposable diapers and our environment, I was disgusted. Also, modern cloth diapers are just too cute!

That same night I bought the first 3 diapers of my “stash”. I picked up a GroVia AIO, a bumGenius 4.0, and a Thirsties Duo AIO. All in neutral colors and prints in case I loved cloth and wanted to use them on our future second child.

I mostly stuck with All-in-Ones (AIO) or All-in-Twos based on our lifestyle and because I figured my husband would find them easy to use. Pretty much the cover is attached to the diaper (or you add an insert) and you throw it all in the wash together and there’s no “stuffing” the diaper after its clean to prep for use. Except for the 4.0′s which you have to stuff the insert in under the liner.

Also, I picked up a medium wet bag to keep the dirty diapers between use. For us, a pail wouldn’t be useful because 5 days a week E is at my inlaws’ while we’re at work and during those days she’d, at most, would be in 2 diapers at home and I planned to wash them every other day. On the weekends, the medium bag does get pretty full but I think it’s the perfect size for us.

Here’s our cloth diaper storage with some disposables for overnights.

On a side note, my MiL has E in cloth part of the time when she has her and she uses cloth on my twin nephews too! It’s nice to trade tips back and forth. But we definitely have different favorite types of diapers at this point.

After trying cloth for a month, I thought I’d write about my experiences and maybe it would help you go for it!

I immediately hated the Grovia diaper. I feel it’s small and I don’t know that I trust it with getting too wet/dirty so I rarely put E in it. Of course it was the most expensive diaper! I love the bumGenius 4.0 diapers even though they must be stuffed. I find that since I now have only 3 of them, it’s not a big deal to stuff them. I also really like the Thirsties diaper we have as its the easiest to use and you don’t need to stuff it. I’d like to get at least 1-2 more since I know Scott likes them and they are great if my mom watches E at our house.

Since I had a few extra inserts, I decided to pick up some bG 4.0 seconds from Cottonbabies. I’m so glad I did! One of my seconds, I still cannot figure out WHY it’s considered a second. My other one, I can tell the dye was too light and the diaper looks white with a hint of green instead of all green, but otherwise they are both perfectly fine.

And I know what you really want to know about. Cleaning poop. I’ll admit, it’s not the easiest part of CDing (Cloth Diapering). Since E was 19 months when I started, her poops are easy to get off the inserts. And I’m going to use a spray bottle with water in the future to be sure everything is off. Otherwise, the diapers get very clean in the wash using this tutorial.

The downside to CDing so far is that because we have an HE front load washer, it takes a bit of tricks and about 3 hours for my diapers to go through the wash. However, at least I can throw them in the wash and do other things – yay for modern technology! Another downside is the up front cost to building up your stash and supplies but after a few months of use (and especially when you use them on a second baby!) they start to pretty much pay for themselves.

Also, I decided for now at least to keep E in disposables at night. We use the Target brand disposables and we’ve never had any leak problems with them overnight so I didn’t want to mess with that. I do put her in the bG diapers at naps with no issues. But overnight scares me. We’re also doing disposables for when we’re out and about on the weekends as well. Even so, we’ve reduced the amount of disposable diapers we use each week which will add up over time.

Any questions about cloth diapering? Let me know in the comments. I’ll definitely post more about my experiences and anything else I learn. Also, I’m planning on attending the Great Cloth Diaper Change this year so stay tuned for that!

Pinterest Inspiration: DIY Jewelry Storage

With the new year I, like many, decided to start being a more organized person. I’m generally organized at work but when it comes to home, things kinda fall to the wayside until I get all “URGMAGAHD THIS SUCKS – I CAN’T FIND ANYTHING!” Becoming more organized is such a large task so I figured if I try to focus on one room a month, it wouldn’t be so bad.

January is for the bedroom. Starting with the bedroom, for me, made sense because it’s usually the last room I take care of. This means it’s the most neglected room unfortunately. So, just about every weekend in January, I worked in this room in spurts so it wasn’t overwhelming. After seeing this idea on Pinterest and also on a blog I follow, and after getting frustrated with my current jewelry storage so much that I only rotate the same two earrings and the same two bracelets EVERY DAY because I can never find what I’m looking for, I tackled jewelry storage.

A few years ago I had picked up three large Bygel rails from Ikea to organize my craft/office and I happened to also buy one lonely small rail as well. It didn’t end up being useful in my office so it stayed in my closet until yesterday. In fact, I tried to give it to a friend after I bought it and had no use for it, but luckily for me she turned it down! When I picked up the rails way back when, I also picked up 2 extra bags of the S hooks which sat unopened in my office until yesterday. Good thing for me since our closest Ikea is over an hour away!

My loving husband hung the rail (and a few picture frames I’ve been meaning to hang for months) and I got to work to organizing my jewelry.

 

For now I have my costume/less expensive pieces hanging as these are the pieces I’m more likely to wear day-to-day. That blue bowl is a recent Target clearance find and it’s actually a small cake plate which was marked down to $6.98. It’s a pretty almost turquoise color that I’m in love with right now and it goes well with our pear-green colored walls. I just love hanging my earrings from the cake plate and storing my bracelets inside. The two small bowls in black and white are from Michael’s wedding section on clearance for about $1.50 a piece a few years ago. They hold post earrings and some rings.

Previously, my jewelry was outgrowing my jewelry boxes and they would constantly be tangled and difficult to find matching earrings, etc. This saves lots of money on expensive jewelry armoires that I had been looking to get and it’s also nice that my necklaces and earrings are all easily seen so I can pick what I need and go. Also, I still have room for plenty more as my collection grows.

What organizing tips have you found helpful? Have you done any recent Pinterest projects?

 

2013: Looking Ahead

Nothing like a brand, spakin’ new year to get you to think forward and make new goals and habits, huh? I’m jumping on the bandwagon and listing out some of my goals for the year. I reserve the right to edit/delete/etc as I see fit as the year goes by :) However; I created a small, manageable list so that I’m not setting myself up for failure.

In no particular order:

1. Get my passport finally. This will come in handy if a special work trip presents itself this summer.
2. Find a new OBGYN and make an appointment.
3. Redo the floors in the dining room
4. Find curtains for the living room to finish it off.
5. Walk/get some sort of moving exercise 4x a week
6. Host a friends dinner
7. Read at least 25 books
8. Drink champagne at other times of the year – not just major holidays
9. Cloth diaper Emily at least 50% of the time
10. Start or join a book club
11. Have a girls night once per season (at minimum!)
12. Go away somewhere with Scott – get off the grid
13. Complete Emily’s Year 2 photobook
14. Set aside time each Sunday to meal plan and plan for the week in general
15. Assemble the last basement shelf and devote it to kids things
16. More hikes along the trail near our home
17. Sign up for a class through the Rec dept.
18. Have more photo sessions than I did last year (ideas for holiday photos…)
19. Have a small – family only 2nd birthday party for Emily
20. Unplug more, smile more, enjoy more.

Bold=completed
Italics=in progress

 

Inspiration (also wherein I tell you how it really is)

Working full time and having a family is all about balance. Some days I hold my head up high and say to myself, “I’ve got this!” and other days (ok, most days) I feel like I’m sinking to the bottom of the pool and I can’t swim to the surface fast enough. Every weekday feels, to be cliche because I can’t think of anything that describes this more perfectly, like a rat race. Get up before the sun rises, feed the toddler, take a shower, get dressed, grab everything I need for the day (including my lunch, which if I was lucky and actually cooked the day before, I have leftovers), dash out the door, drop off E, get to work, remember to eat my lunch and go to the bathroom (sometimes I actually forget), go pick up E, head home and play and make dinner and do the bedtime routine and collapse in bed. If it’s a good night, I’ll fall asleep with no problem. These days I have to read a book until I fall asleep 5 pages in and have a fitful sleep.

To be honest, this isn’t exactly how I want my life to be, but it’s the sacrifice I make for my family. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table, clothes on our back, darn good health care and money leftover to go on vacations. I just keep reminding myself of this every night I collapse into bed after particularly difficult days. Which last week consisted of many. Especially Thursday. I was feeling a little anxiety over learning that one of my two upcoming work trips was extended by a day and a half and the reality of all the things that I have to do to prepare for our upcoming study.

However; that evening I scheduled a last minute photo shoot with an adorable family and it was truly what I needed to remind me of what inspires me. It’s been a while since I took photos that were not of my kid or my close friends’ kids and it was so wonderful to be back behind the camera. The daily grind got in my way – I simply never made time for photography –  and after that shoot, I  realized I need to start making my hobbies and passions take priority. It’s all about balance.

I’m hoping to write more about this shoot, but I really wanted to share one of the photos from that day. Fall is my favorite time of year to do photos and now you can see why!

Right now

…I’m a big fan of sock buns. I’ve seen them all over Pinterest but never got around to trying them out myself. Then, one of my favorite beauty gurus on YouTube tweeted a photo of her sock bun and then a tutorial (wow, that’s a mouthful). For the next 5 days or so I kept telling myself that I should try it, but I’d forget until right after I washed my hair which is not the most optimal time to do it. Finally, on Saturday, I cut the toe out of one of my husband’s rogue (and clean!) socks and just did it and it worked! It literally took 2 minutes to do. My hair is just past my shoulders so it’s not super long and it still worked.  I wore my hair like this all weekend long (and I may or may not have washed my hair all weekend. That’s the awesome thing about sock buns. They are perfect for second or third day hair).

Here’s my sock bun, followed by my favorite tutorial:

…I’m enjoying my hair in its natural state. I haven’t colored it in almost 2 years and while I admit that sometimes I get the itch to get some highlights, I find that I like that my hair is clean, healthy and uncolored. Sure, I have a few greys that I get a little self conscious of, but I always think that people look the best in their natural hair color. Plus, I’m a little lazy and cheap when it comes to the upkeep of my hair. I mean, my last haircut was 4 months ago.

…I’m rocking the at home pedicure. Finding the time to sit in a pedicure chair is not top priority in my life right now so I found this amazing tutorial on using striping polish to do at home french pedicures. Changed my life:

…I’m loving taking showers in the evenings. I don’t know why I didn’t figure this out sooner, but taking showers at night saves me so much time and energy in the morning! I just put my hair in two small buns and sleep on it. When I wake, my hair is still a little damp but it’s got a lot of curl to it so I just spray it with some wave spray and I’m good to go! I thought I’d feel gross, but since I don’t sweat when I sleep, I’m fresh as a daisy! The bonus is that I don’t need to dry my hair or damage it more with any heat styling so I think that really helps keep my hair healthy.

…my skin  is the clearest/acne free it’s been in a looong time. It’s a combination of drinking less sodas and more water and taking care of my skin. I picked up a Clarisonic Mia 2 on a crazy sale a few months ago and use that every other day in the morning with my Philosophy’s Purity cleanser. The days I don’t use my Clarisonic, I straight up wash with Purity. In the shower, I wash my face with good ol’ Cetaphil or the Microdelivery Scrub.  Every Friday I use the Microdelivery Peel which is ah-mazing! My skin feels so different when I use the peel. And trust me, I always scope out sales/ebates when I buy this stuff. A few times a week I use Lush’s Love Lettuce fresh face mask. Typing it out – I realize it sounds like a lot, but it’s a combo that works for my skin!

Do you have any time/money saving beauty tips or tricks?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated or sponsored or asked to post any of this. These are just a few beauty related things that I wanted to talk about :)

101 in 1001 Final Update

The deadline for my 101 in 1001 challenge came and went at the end of July. This list was always in the back of my mind – something that I always thought about. When summer hit, I realized there were many items on my list that I hadn’t completed and I was running out of time. I soon became ok with myself not completing this list.

Completing everything on my list is not what this was about. It was about getting down on paper…err the internet, a list of things I wanted to try to accomplish in 1001 days. Making a list makes things more real and you are apt to complete things if you have them written down somewhere. Although I only completed 50 items on my list, that’s 50 more than when I started, right?

Looking back at my list, I realized that there were some lofty goals. I’m in the process of creating a new list and while some of the items will stay, most will not. Over time my goals have changed and so will my list. Once my list is finalized, I will again share it here so I can be held accountable for it!

So my questions for you are have you done a 101 in 1001 challenge? Did you learn anything from it? Where’s your list? Can I see?

(101 in 1001 posts)

Oh My Gosh It’s Been a Month

…in more ways than one!

Getting a new job is one of those major life events and this has certainly kicked my butt! We have a new routine now, since I work closer to home and am able to drop off/pick up Emily at Nana’s & Grandpa’s each day (my office is about 10 minutes away from their house) and along with all that comes adjustment. I’m particularly loving not having to battle morning or afternoon traffic on 91 or 95 any more! My new commute is all scenic backroads and I spend it chatting with my daughter until she falls asleep and then I listen to audio books or call my mom.

My new job requires tons of work on a computer so when I come home, the last place I want to be is on my laptop. With that said, I’m still figuring out a routine with blogging. I enjoy the friendships I’ve made in this little online world and I love keeping family and friends updated on fun things in our lives, But to be honest, I haven’t made this a priority. After work, I scoop up my little girl and spend as much time as possible with my little family. Plus it’s the summer and we like to be outside playing with the playhouse or water table or going for walks. It’s nice to be a little disconnected from time to time.

However; I do miss blogging and I love to document E’s life. It’s especially handy when I create her year books – which I will hopefully get around to talking about here!

For now, I leave you with a quote about summer (of which I’m having one of the best summers ever! Seriously, my kid makes this summer so much fun):

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”  - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby