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!