Discovering bamboo.. they make cloth diapers out of that?!

"Necessity is the mother of all invention."     -Plato

As some of you may know, I have dived into the world of cloth diapering with great enthusiasm! My journey thus far has consisted of using pocket diapers, mainly BumGenius and KaWaii Baby. But, here lately I've found myself asking what do I really know about the vast options out there?

So I challenged myself to try and find out what neat options are out there. My first endeavor was a new material concept! And I have to say, I am CRAZY about this new material. It is considered a greener option even to cotton diapers and has alot of advantages! What is this new material option I've discovered you may ask? Well if you haven't already guessed from the blog title; it's BAMBOO!

Now this isnt exactly a "new" option, as it's been out there in the cloth diaper stratosphere for a while. However it is brand new to inexperienced me! So I decided to take the plunge and try one out! This blog is my review of my experience with it!

I tried the KaWaii Little Green Baby Newborn Diaper! I got mine from Jack Be Natural's fabulous website: www.jackbenatural.com

Here's a link to the diaper itself on jackbenatural:

http://www.jackbenatural.com/kawaii-little-green-baby-newborn-bamboo-diaper/

When I first received my KaWaii Little Green Diaper in the mail I was immediately impressed. I chose the Iris Blue Stripes print I was thinking to myself, "OK. Can a boy wear blue zebra stripes?" Normally I try and keep the diapers I order gender neutral as I plan to reuse my diapers (of course) with my next child but I just couldn't justify putting him in the Red/Pink Stripe print!

SO, first impression. The feeling of the interior lining was my first WOW factor. Totally different from cotton, fantastic feeling and SO, SO, SO soft! The interior of KaWaii's Little Green diapers are made of Grade A Organic Bamboo and let me tell you, it's FABULOUS!

The outer material (the shell) of the Little Green is made of Minky TPU fabric. "Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) is a composition specifically adapted to produce non-porous membranes exhibiting waterproof and water vapor transmissible.  The result is a high performance, durable, excellent water-resistant, cut and tear resistant, ultra thin and more breathable." (cited from jackbenatural.com)

The diaper comes with two liners, also made of bamboo. It's actually made of 3 layers of Grade A Organic Bamboo! The difference in the Bamboo liners versus the traditional liners I already own is pretty big! While I love my reliable cotton liners and they have never failed me, the Bamboo liners are thinner and less bulky, but absolutely JUST as absorbent and reliable. 

I put my little guy in the KaWaii Little Green Diaper to test it out after prewashing it 5 times before using it (my standard washing procedure for any new diaper)! He was in it for approximately 6 hours and slept for 3 of those hours.

Final verdict on absorbency is:

NO LEAKS and Chase felt nice and dry after 6 hours and one majorly SOAKED bamboo liner insert. Here's a few pictures of my sweet little guy in the Little Green Bamboo diaper just to give you an idea of the fit and aesthetics! 

The fit is FABULOUS! I've been a fan of KaWaii thus far and I've been using the KaWaii Pure & Naturals for awhile in combination with my BumGenius 4.0's. The KaWaii Pure & Natural is also the same fit as the Little Green Bamboo. For my little guy who is just now 10 lbs at 14 weeks old, a good fit is really important! The Little Green and Pure & Natural fit smaller and are far less bulky than my BumGenius 4.0's and many of the other cloth diapers out there. The Little Green Bamboo is actually titled a "Newborn" diaper on jackbenatural's website because it fits from 6 lbs to 22 lbs. For my son who is smaller, I feel like the fit is great and will last him a little longer than a larger baby!

These diapers in general fit more compactly and with less of the infamous cloth diaper "bubble butt"! All in all, I am totally sold on Bamboo as a cloth diaper fabric alternative. And what's more, testing the KaWaii Little Green Baby diaper has opened my eyes to the world of Bamboo inserts and wipes. I've decided to purchase bamboo cloth inserts to use with my other KaWaii's and BumGenius', since they offer equal absorbency but will create a less bulky fit! I have to say I am VERY excited to start using Bamboo a little more aggressively. 

In closing, here are five INCREDIBLE benefits to Bamboo Cloth Diapers:

1. Hypoallergenic- Bamboo's organic and naturally smooth fibers are non-irritating to the skin, which make it ideal for people with skin sensitivities and other allergies.

2. Thermal regulating- Ensures that you are warm in the winter and cold in the summer. It's excellent wicking properties make it ideal for summer days. My son is a hot natured little boy and the bamboo seemed to keep him at a good happy medium!

3. Absorbency- Bamboo absorbs 60% more than cotton! Upon inspection of a cross-section of it's fibers revealed various micro-holes, allowing for superior absorbency!

4. Breathable- Bamboo fiber is porous in quality, giving it great breathability and is extremely comfortable against baby's skin!

5. Anti-bacterial- Bamboo fabric contains a natural occurring anti-microbial agent that prevents bacteria from cultivating, which means, ODER FREE. Seriously, this true. My son wore the Little Green Bamboo for 6 hours. Normally when I go to change a diaper that he's been in for that long, I can smell the urine faintly. It's enough to let me know that the insert is soaked and its time for a change! When I went to change the Little Green Bamboo, I couldn't smell anything. The insert was soaked, but there was no smell! I was thrilled! Bamboo fabric definitely lives up to it's odorless reputation! 

SO, now you know! Yes, they make cloth diapers out of bamboo! And it is AMAZING! So if you're just starting cloth diapering and trying to decide to what types of CD to build your stock with, I would HIGHLY recommend KaWaii's Little Green Baby Bamboo Diaper! The prints are all zebra, but in shades of Olive, Pink, Bright Blue and Baby Got Black. Very exotic and extremely cute! Give them a try! I give you 5 stars with this one KaWaii! :) :) 

The Pagemaster & I

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains.” 
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!


One thing i'll say about Seuss, he sure knows how to get your imagination going. I want my son's imagination to know no bounds and for me books were always the way to unlock this. Who  else can motivate you like Dr. Seuss? In beginning the journey of sparking the love of reading in my son, we have been devouring all things Seuss. And well, pretty much all things classic children's books. Yes, I know he's only two months old, but to me it is never to early to start! With getting his first imagination library book in the mail this week, we've had books on the brain big time. So we took our first trip to the library yesterday to introduce Chase properly to the world of books!

Now I have to briefly explain that one of my clearest early childhood memories was of going to the library on a field trip in 1st grade. Not the library in the school, but to the HUGE public library in Virginia Beach (where i'm from) where thousands of books and floors of possibilities first captured my heart. I remember walking in to the first floor lobby with all my other classmates and not being able to move. My seven year old body was trembling with awe and excitement and all I can remember thinking to myself was "I'll NEVER be able to read all these books." I knew right away that this was the place for me.

It didn't matter that my family wasn't like every one else's, that my Mom and Dad were divorced and I grieved daily for the memory of my parents as one household. It didn't matter anymore that I was new in school and didn't feel like I fit in. I knew in those thousands of pages lay my true identity, my true friends and my old familiar feeling of home that spread through me like a seeping warmth every time I opened the cover of a book. Books were my friends, always had been. When I felt like I couldn't handle what was going on in life I'd open the cover of a book and escape to a new place, meet new people and learn new things. I'd devour every scrap of knowledge that I could. I wanted to fly away on Aladdin's carpet, hide in the Secret Garden, play in Tarabitha, have super brain powers like Matilda or crawl inside a giant peach and rope seagulls into flying me to New York like James did. I wanted to meet Pip and Edmund and Hamlet and Macbeth. I just wanted to go everywhere and do everything that I couldn't at seven.

So that being said, you may see why reading is something i'm so passionate about. I will do everything in my power to make sure Chase has every ounce of stability that I lacked at times. I know in my heart that my husband is a fantastic father and provider. I know I will try my best to do alot of things differently to suit what I think a child needs. But I do want my son to share my love of reading. I want to instill in him the joy of a new book, of reading another persons story whether real or fictional and weeping with their troubles, rejoicing in their triumphs and loving them in the end as a friend.

I cannot wait to see Chase get older and how he will react to the books we read together. I cant wait until he's older and I can see how he reacts to the library's vastness and all the possibilities that it holds for a child with an unrestrained imagination. We will be there as often as I can take us there, we will be there for all the story times we can fit in, and we will take this magical journey together. I cannot wait!

It's Time for.. Oh wait.. What's It Time for Again?!

"I must govern the clock, and not be governed by it"
       -Golda Meir


Speaking of time, ALOT of it has gone by since I last blogged! Bear with me, I am pretty rusty at this blogging thing. It's been MONTHS since I did anything remotely involving this kind of creativity. In this time quite a lot of things have happened! My beautiful, amazing son was born on December 10th, 2012 at 1:08 PM after close to 40 hard hours of labor, 3 1/2 hours of pushing and an emergency C-Section!

Needless to say it was well worth it! I have never been so in love with anything in my entire life. (Don't tell my husband ;) Just kidding!) When I saw him, I couldn't hold back tears and I was overwhelmed by just how much I loved him. I couldn't believe he was all mine! I could go on and on ALL day! Either way it boils down to Chase Levi Pope is the most amazing thing I have EVER done in my life. What a blessing from God children are!

Also in this time I have started my cloth diapering adventure and I am proud to report that it is going GREAT! I absolutely love it. To me it feels like no extra work and I really love how the system I invested in works. Disposables leak on me on the rare occasions that I use some of the MANY diapers I was given (because people were SO sure that cloth diapering wouldnt work for me, or that i'd give up) where my cloth diapers have never done so. Washing them is a breeze, and I use my diaper sprayer to rinse out the heavier messes. It feels as natural as can be and I am proud to tell me that I am a cloth diapering Mommy. Granted I realize that me being at home full time makes this process easier, but I just love it! I get so many compliments on my diapers from strangers all the time, from the doctors office to Mommy groups to women in public changing areas in restrooms! They comment on how cute they are, how different they are from what they think of when they think of cloth diapers, and how quick they are to utilize even out on the go! Needless to say cloth diapering is a huge success in the Pope household!

I am also embracing SAHMotherhood. Adjusting to the role and trying to fight the battle of building a routine and schedule for not only my son but for myself as well. It's one thing to build a routine for Chase, that in itself is a big enough challenge, but quite another to challenge myself to set tasks that I want to accomplish etc, etc. I build weekly schedules only to find that they are dashed by Chase's whims! But I don't discourage easily, and so I build looser schedules with more leeway. I make tentative plans with other SAHM and working friends but always with the disclaimer of "IF Chase sleeps good and we dont have any odd sleeping behavior." Because my son is a GREAT sleeper who will pretty much sleep all through the night with maybe a wakeup once for a little snack and then go right back to sleep. Chase routinely sleeps all through the night without fail, save for the nights before we have a doctors appointment or Mommy date. Then he decides to wake up randomly, although I'm still very fortunate in that he goes back to sleep fairly quickly.

I try and challenge myself to keep the house in good order, to cook at least twice a week, and to make myself get out of the house with Chase at least once or twice a week. I also challenge myself to go somewhere by myself at least once every two weeks for at least an hour to get some refresh time and come back with renewed patience. Its amazing how much of a difference an hour once every two weeks makes. Not to mention that I need a minute here and there to gather my brain power since I seem to be certifiably Mommy-Brained, and cant remember ANYWHERE near as much as I used to be able to.

All in all, time has been good to me thus far. I adore being a mother, have gotten the hang of breastfeeding (LOVE it) and have mastered the task of cloth diapering in a matter of 8 weeks to what I think is a pretty satisfactory level.

Still, that little tick-tocking villain is lurking at my heels. Every day I notice Chase changing a little more. It's the little things like when he's nursing his feet touch the bed or couch now while laying across me. Or that he smiles at me and watches me carefully, even seems to be "talking" to me in conversation form of his own, which I adore. Its stealing minutes and seconds of my son being young and me enjoying this time with him. And so the reference to this quote. I MUST govern time, lest it govern me. I will drain every drop of enjoyment out of every second with my sweet, sweet, precious baby boy. I WILL be productive to a level that makes me feel accomplished and productive but doesnt detract from time with my child. I will try or do anything that helps making me being at home full time less of a stress for my husband and my family. I will enjoy every second with my family before time, like the thief that it is, comes in and changes everything.

Its with a sense of urgency that I write this blog. An urgency to embrace Chase's childhood, to accomplish my own dreams in order to make his life better one day, and to love my husband deeply enough to try and make sure to spend time with him as well. Time is a thing we cannot buy, its a thing untamable, unchangeable, unstoppable and without a rewind option. I plan to make the most of every second of it that I have! I hope you do the same!

A George Foreman, a little hamburger and sweet tea!

"Now you're cooking!!!"

This evening I conquered something new! Sure, it will probably seem asinine and unimportant to you! But I have to admit once I had it mastered I couldn't help but feel a little more like a bonafide SAHM!

This little story begins last week when I went to my Mom's for dinner and MAN was it good! She whipped up a grilled chicken salad and breadsticks faster than you could say "I'm hungry." I walked into her kitchen and as usual watched in awe as she tackled making a meal in a matter of 30 minutes flat. But this time was different from the hundreds of times I'd seen her do this same feat. I thought to myself, "I've got to learn this stuff now, for real. I'm going to be a Mom. And I want to be a good one, like my Mom." I did something I have pretty much never done before. I said "Mom, show me how you get things together so quickly. It takes me forever to pull together a meal, like a legit meal that has multiple sides."

This seemed like a good meal to start with for my first lesson. I mean salad and grilled chicken with bread sticks, it can't be too bad. I expected baking, chopping of course and other daunting meal prep tactics.

Don't get me wrong, I've been cooking for the past three years of my marriage and I cooked when I lived on my own in my apartment before that. But I've never really mastered my Mom's ability to have everything ready all at the same time, without anything getting cold. It's always amazed me. It's like she's a kitchen ringleader and the meal components are her various attractions. She gets the meat to jump through the hoop and it's done just as the mashed potatoes and green beans are taking their last steps across the tight rope. End result; one excellent show!

So, when I asked my mom to show me, I was a little nervous! She was going to reveal to me one of her mysterious motherly secrets. I stood waiting, anticipating what she'd say, what mysterious strategy she might show me to produce a meal in the manner of perfection I'd grown up knowing!

"Sure D (her pet nickname for me) I mostly just use this thing that Grandma Presley gave me a while back. It's a neat little grill. Let me show you how I do this."

My jaw dropped. I mean literally, it dropped. I felt like someone was going to pop into the room at any moment and say "DUH!!!!" How could I have missed this? She'd been using a small George Foreman! For years! It almost felt like cheating!

I didnt say much as she demonstrated cooking the chicken one piece at a time, slicing it mid way through being cooked and then putting it back onto the George Foreman to make the slices of chicken a little more seared. She lightly seasoned with a Mediterranean  seasoning and dictated to me quickly to "chop three tomatoes, peel this cucumber and then dice,  and chop this green onion into small pieces."

She took three plates out while the chicken was cooking and spread a leafy green salad mix onto each one. Then she had me distribute the chopped vegetables and shredded cheese evenly between the three plates, and as I finished sprinkling the cheese, she slid the last slice of chicken onto a plate. Quickly she distributed the chicken between the three salads, and then told me to grab the dressing as she carried two of the plates to the table. I carried the last plate, set it down and then poured drinks.

Helping her cook that meal stunned me. I'd cooked many times in the past by myself and failed to get the sides done anywhere NEAR in sync with the meat. By the time I'd finish the sides, my meat was cold and had to be reheated, or worse overcooked and disappointing. It wasnt long before I shied away from doing the traditional meat and two sides setup and got into combination/conglomerate meals where you prepared ingredients and mixed. Spaghetti, lasagna, tacos etc. I never thought to really ask my Mom just how she got everything ready at the same time. It seemed so simple and I was baffled with myself for always getting the timing wrong.

Now it turned out, she'd had a secret weapon I'd never known about. She'd use her George Foreman to cook the meat once she had the sides started and could open the lid of the grill to slow down the cooking of her meat to match the prep time of her sides, or vice versa, close the lid and press to speed up the cooking temp. It just seemed so simple that I felt like a fool. Once I got over this reaction I thought, I have GOT to get one of these things. And then came the real kicker.

I told my husband this same story (in a much abridged version) and waited for his stunned reaction.

But.... I didn't get one.

"Babe. We have a George Foreman. It's been in the pantry since before we got married. I've told you a couple times you should try it. My grandmother gave me it to me when I got my own apartment. It's brand new in the box. We've never even opened it before."

Double take! "What???" Clearly, I had no memory of him ever telling me that we had this miraculous mystery machine in the pantry right? I mean, well... not that I'll ever admit at least! :)

Now we've arrived full circle. Tonight after running errands this afternoon, hitting the grocery store for what felt like the millionth time and finishing up my Christmas shopping, I was exhausted. Justin had put in a special request for homemade hamburgers since the great Pope household George Foreman discovery! I'd moved hamburger over from the freezer the night before to defrost and once the groceries were all put into their respective places I stood facing the stainless steel contraption on my counter.

"Ok." I told myself, "Time to show this thing who is boss." Talking to a grill, awesome right?

But I was intimidated by the task of getting a meal together in the same manner of awesomeness as my Mom. After all, she'd always thrown down the gauntlet. And now that I had this secret weapon she'd always used, I knew it was sink or swim.

See, if I couldn't make a meal that measured up to her perfect timing with her secret weapon, how was I going to make it as a Mom, and a Stay At Home Mom at that??? This was a huge hurtle in my mind to becoming confident in my new role.

I plugged it up. My fingers itched to dial my Mom and put her on speaker phone. What would it hurt to have her coach me through this whole process. I knew how to cook, I just needed a timing coach! No one would ever know but me and her. But I resisted. This felt important to me. Conquering this gleaming machinery and delivering all the components at the same time felt like a huge test of whether or not I could make it in this new role of my life. I was determined not to fail.

So I pattied up a pound of hamburger into four hamburgers (making my husbands slighter larger than the two I knew I would eventually be eating between today and tomorrow) and I threw a little soy sauce, garlic salt and oregano onto the patties. I could smell the heated metal, the smell filled up my nose and I knew it had to be at max heat. I opened the lid and threw the four burgers onto the grill, shut the lid quickly and made sure the drip pan was in place.

I must have opened that lid forty times to nervously glance at my hamburgers! But I set to work, sliced tomatoes, pulled out the pickles and got the buns out. I had preheated the oven to 400 before plugging up the GF, so I pulled out the bag of frozen seasoned fries and spread them on a small pan.

Suddenly, I had a whim! I stuck a pot on the stove filled with water and checked my burgers again (for the 41st time). I popped the season fries into the oven and set the timer. The water had reached boiling by this point so I dropped two teabags into the pot and pulled it aside to let it steep. I checked the hamburgers again (for the 42nd time) and popped the hamburger buns into the toaster after seeing they were just about ready. I pulled down a glass pitcher and measured out the sugar into it. The timer went off for the fries and I set them to cool on the counter, poured the pot of tea minus the tea bags into the pitcher and stirred in cool water.

The buns POPPED up from the toaster and I pulled the burgers off the George Foreman and onto a plate.

I shut off the oven, unplugged the GF and turned off the burner. It was mesmerizing. Everything was done, everything was hot! I looked around to exclaim what a good job my Mom had done and found no one in the kitchen, or the whole house for that matter but me.

What?

I'd done it. Not the normal chaotic scramble to get things ready that I usually went through only to be disappointed by cold sides or overcooked meats. Not the conglomerate food menu item I stuck to so loyally.

I'd made a meat and one side, AND sweet tea all at the same time. Granted I told myself, hamburgers and frozen fries are not that big of a deal. But still. Everything was ready and hot. And I'd made tea at the same time.

Slowly, a small smile played across my cheeks as I put my hamburger together and then put the fries onto the plate. I put the leftovers away for later and I sat down and took a bite. A big fat tear trickled down my cheek. How absolutely embarrassing, right? I'm crying because I accomplished a hamburger and frozen fries? Lame!

But I knew it wasn't really about that at all. My life had changed. I'd done what I'd seen my Mom do. I hadn't just made a meal. I'd prepared a feeling, I'd grilled an emotion and baked a mood. I'd made my house feel like a HOME!

You'd think I would have encountered this before in my three years of being a wife. But there was a difference to this experience. I was warming the birds nest. I was bringing in worms to dangle for my young. Preparing this meal both pregnant and with the mindset of a woman whose sole domain was her home and kitchen was something different all together from what I'd ever done before.


Next time, I mused to myself, Next time I'll do it with an apron!!

"You're using cloth diapers? Eeewwww.."

Most frequent comment when telling people you plan to cloth diaper; "You're going to do cloth? Oh, no way I could do that. It's not worth the work."

Once the decision was made that I was going to stay at home and I found out I was expecting, I immediately started asking myself "What can I do to make things easier on us financially as a family?" After all, Justin and I both agreed that while we don't mind making certain sacrifices and working hard for the past few years to put us at no debt, we don't want to "just" make it! So I started looking at all the small ways you can effectively cut the cost of living by doing a little more work!

I happened to work with a fabulous girl named Kari who was planning on staying at home with her own child! Now I could never measure up to Kari as far as all the ways she strives to save money for her family. This woman is a lean, mean, money saving, do it your self machine! Coincidently another woman that I worked with, Jennah, ended up using cloth diapers as well. I started asking her questions, along with my friend Kari and from there decided to investigate this whole cloth diaper movement myself. I attended an event in Charlotte called "The Great Cloth Diaper Change" where there were vendors for different cloth brands, Moms who used cloth diapers full time and an event to have the most people together at the same time on the same day to change cloth diapers around the country. It was a pretty fun way to learn about the cloth diaper choice and all the brands out there.

After lots of good advice, many, many questions asked of my friends that i'm sure were annoying, and some discussion with my husband, I decided to make the plunge! I went ahead and ordered all the cloth diapers i'd need. I decided to go with two brands to keep my inventory varied and so I wouldn't have to commit to one brand in case I ended up liking assets from multiple kinds. 

Now I know when you think cloth, you think of the old fashioned diapers that our grandmothers used. The kinds that were a square of fabric that had to be folded and then pinned. The baby had to wear rubber "pants" to seal in the mess. And that's what I had always envisioned when I heard "cloth diaper". But after seeing what my friend was using, going to the diapering event and seeing the brands there, I was actually AMAZED at how much they had changed over the years. I researched on the internet the different brands and types of cloth diapers and found two that I liked that were well recommended to me by my friend! I went with the brands BumGenius and Kawaii Baby and chose the "Pocket Diaper" style. 

Pocket Diapers are diapers that look just like a disposable. They have an opening on the inside back of the diaper where you put in an insert or soaker that literally soaks up all the urine and liquid mess. The inside of a pocket diaper is lined with a special material that wicks away moisture and mess from the baby's bottom and stays dry with the exception of solid waste. I have literally seen a soiled urine diaper that my friend's baby wore that unless you checked the soaker insert it was impossible to tell the diaper was  dirty. 

When you change the baby's diaper you pull the insert out of the opening in the back of the diaper or the "pocket" and put both the outside diaper (called the diaper cover) and the liner into a wetbag (a special bag made of a material that conceals smell and won't sour) until you get home! If you are at home you'd put the dirty diaper cover (the outside diaper) and the soaker liner into a diaper pail that has a bag with the same material lining it. According to how many diapers you have, you'd then wash all the dirty covers and liners in the wash. 

So, that's just a brief over view of the way a cloth pocket diaper works. I have yet to use them myself on my own child, but I have watched other moms in action with their babies. There's an abundance of things out there to make it even easier on you as a mom! Once the baby gets older and the waste more solid you can use something called a diaper sprayer. The sprayer hooks into the plumbing outlet on the back of your toilet and mounts to the wall. You use it to spritz a dirty diaper and get the solid waste out of the diaper and into the toilet before putting it into the diaper pail or wash. I personally will use mine ASAP just because I like the idea of spritzing my diapers out before letting them set in the pail. 

As far as how many you need, thats another area where Moms have told me that it just depends on how easy you want to make things. Some Moms cloth diaper with only 10-12 diapers, and they wash every day. My friend who originally gave me all my information personally had a large amount of the diapers because in the beginning she planned to go back to work full time and had to have a lot in order for her day care to let her use them. I personally have about 45 diapers! I chose to buy this many because I wanted the freedom to wash every three days or so, even though i'm at home full time. 

Along with cloth diapering I am going to be using cloth wipes. I have about 150 wipes total to work with! After doing my own research along with the amazing advice of my good friend, I decided to go with making my own solution to "dip" or "presoak" my wipes in! It's a very simply process. You just take an empty disposable wipe container and add a few drops of an EO (Essential Oil, I personally went with lavender on my friend's advice) and a small amount of Doctor Bonner's Magic Soap Tea Tree scent. Then you just add water up to the line of the container and swish it around. Drop in your wipes lastly and let them soak and set in the solution! This way they stay moist and are ready to use. From what my friend has told me this supplies you for a week at a time, but keeps you from using stale solution!

I can't tell you how many times I've told someone about the choice to go cloth and heard about how gross they think it is, or how they cant believe im going to do all that work. But I personally felt like it was a small trade to:

A.) Save us around $1500 to $2000 a year per child

B.) Use a more natural eco friendly system that's easier on a babies skin and

C.) Do a little more work for a product that I believe makes life better in general for my children and myself.

Just two weeks away from my son's due date, I've got all my diapers "prewashed" (something you have to do with brand new diapers ONLY, you wash them 5-6 times in advance in order to let the material build up absorbency) and ready to go! I'm sure there are doubters out there thinking, "Ok, when this chick actually has to do it, she's going to change her tune really quick." But anyone who knows my husband knows that once the money is invested, we're committed. There's no turning back because there is NO way my husband would let me get away with investing the money into the diapers only to quit!

SO the big question is, "How much did you invest in cloth?"

Total with purchasing 45 diapers and 150 cloth wipes we spent approximately $545.00

The additional accessories we purchased to make diapering easier but are NOT necessary to cloth diapers are:

Diaper Sprayer- $50

Spray Pal- $21.50

(an item that shields the diaper and keeps water from splashing when you spray, also allows you to drop the messy diaper into the diaper pail without touching ANYTHING, there's a link on my facebook page)

Wetbags (3)- $42.00

Diaper Pail Liners (2)- $32.00

(as far as a pail, we just purchased a stainless steel trashcan SimpleHuman brand with a push pedal opener, but you can use anything for this, a metal bucket, old trash can etc.)

So total, if you decide to go with all the extra's like we did, the cost is approximately $690.50! There are cheaper brands and styles that you can chose to adjust the cost according to your budget.

That sounds like a lot of money right? But compare it to the average cost of disposable diapers and wipes which is $1500-$2000 PER CHILD each YEAR. 

Children are often not potty trained until the ages of 2 or 3. That's $4500 per child over three years at LEAST. 

The cost of cloth is one time; $690.50 spent once, and usable for more than one child. If you have two children and you go cloth, you save an average of $3809.50 PER CHILD! That's pretty significant and in our opinion TOTALLY worth the extra work! 

Now that I've shared the details of what I have learned about cloth diapering and the journey to my arrival at the decision to go cloth, you can wish me luck on my excursion into the world of cloth! 

Before you think it's gross and not worth the work consider the amount of money it saves, along with the eco friendly aspect and the natural benefits it gives your child! I'm not saying disposable is wrong or bad, just that cloth is not what people think it is! Going cloth does not mean you NEVER can use a disposable. Several of the people I know who use cloth will tell you that they still use disposable every once in a while for a long car trip, etc. I know personally, I have disposables that were bought for us at showers that I plan to use for a long car trip where it is a little more inconvenient to change your baby while being on the road. It is all up to you and how you want to do it. I have a variety of sizes that were bought for us and so should I find it necessary to use one I know I have them and wont be needing to spend the money buying any. 

I may also find I dont ever use disposables, even the free ones I have in stock! We'll just have to see!

That being said, just wanted to share the information I have gathered about this very big decision of how I want to diaper my child. It's always good to know every available choice thats out there, and thats why I wanted to blog about this particular subject this evening. For some reason the idea of doing things differently than others and the fact that by doing a little extra work I am contributing financially to our budget even though i'm not working any more makes me feel good about this decision i've made. 

Being a parent is most often described to me as an adventure! All I can do is try to make the best choices possible and embrace all the wild and crazy things I'll go through in this journey of becoming a mother! Goodnight all!

Change is coming!

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”  Mary Shelley


Don't take this quote in the wrong way! The changes that I face in the next few weeks are from the most beautiful and wonderful gift that any woman can be given, the gift of becoming a mother. But all the same, the changing of one's life is never an easy thing. The death of one role and the birth of another is something that makes us nervous, forces us to move forward, challenges us and shapes who we will become.

This year is the year of big changes for me. My husband and I decided in March that it was time to start a family, and a month later in April we found out that we were expecting! We were excited, scared, nervous, overjoyed and terrified all at the same time.

Now here at the end of my pregnancy, I'm facing the reality of all the HUGE changes that are about to happen for us as a family and more importantly for me as a woman. This blog is an attempt to put into words my journey of How I Became A Mother.

I am over 37 weeks pregnant and expecting a boy. His name is Chase Levi Pope and my husband and I are thrilled to welcome our first child into the world on the possible due date of December 17th. I was working as a teller at State Employees Credit Union, where i'd been employed for 6 years when we made the decision to start our family. After discussing the cost of day care, insurance and the costs that go along with having a child in daycare, Justin and I made the decision that I would stay at home with our son.

I come from a divorced family, while my husbands parents have been married over 35 years and I have to say when we made the decision for me to stay at home, I was pretty nervous. I felt vulnerable and nervous about being financially dependent on my husband after being in the work force since I was 16. But at the same time, I knew that I wanted to be home with my child more than anything. I am blessed with a very financially wise husband who has worked vigorously the entirety of our three year marriage to put us in a "zero debt" position. With my car being paid off in the month of November, no credit card debt, and a tremendous amount of equity in our home that allowed us to refinance and lower the payment by more than half, we were actually in a position to go down to one income without causing financial strain or stress on us as a family.

At 36 weeks I went in on a Tuesday to see my doctor for my weekly checkup. They'd been hinting that they wanted to slow down my progression and were considering pulling me out of work early, but I never really thought I'd be pulled out of work before my due date or delivery date. I had let my boss know that I would not be coming back after my allowed maternity leave time and everything was on schedule. When I went in on that Tuesday my doctors made the decision to pull me out at 36 weeks for the remainder of my pregnancy due to swelling, losing 3 pounds from the previous week, and being dilated 1 cm and effaced 40% for the second consecutive week.

That's when everything really hit me.... Before I could really absorb it, I was packing up my things, counting my cash drawer, calling HR to let them know i'd be going out early, and saying goodbye to the girls I'd worked with for the past six years. Now here I am, at 37 weeks, adjusting to being a full time at home wife and soon to be mother. Actually seeing my husband, talking to him and having the ability to be around him more than two short days a week. Our schedules have always been opposite and for the past three years i've struggled with loneliness, frustration and isolation because our time together was so limited. Now, being at home I have the freedom to FINALLY see my husband without a schedule getting in the way. It has been fantastic! Any fear of letting go of my job has been dissolved by the many wonderful parts of being at home full time.

My life has changed dramatically in the last week and a half and it's still yet to change any day now exponentially. I am on the precepice of becoming a mother and in that moment when I finally see my son for the first time, hold him and smell him, I know I will be breathless and madly in love. I go through moments of nerves and then others when I can barely comprehend the sheer awesomeness that i'm approaching giving birth to my child. As frightening to the human nature as change can be, the expectation of giving life to my own child is even more powerful and wonderful. I know that I am blessed beyond measure and that there are so many wonderful things ahead of me.

So, I'd like to invite you to follow me on this journey. To follow me through sleepless nights, tears, laughter and sheer joy. To join in on the passage of a girl letting go of the last threads of her own youth and picking up the needle to weave the tapestry of my son's. This is a journey that I know will change me, mold me, test me and in the end make the person i'm meant to become. I would truly love to share it with all of you!