Hello Cloth Diapers

Well... we've made the switch to cloth diapers. Before you start thinking that I've lost my mind, hold on a second and let me explain.

Cloth diapers are not what they used to be. In fact you can get cloth diapers that you simply put on, take off when wet/dirty and and throw them in the wash. They're about $15+ per diaper though so I chose the cheaper route and use prefolds which are basically layers of cotton that you fold into thirds and lay inside a water resistant cover. Saving money was the main motivation for making the switch. We were spending $40 per week on diapers for the girls. ouch.

In the beginning, we were having a tough time with the fit. Ana has very large thighs and well... overall she's just a big baby so the bulk of all of those cotton layers was just too much. I didn't feel like she was comfortable and I didn't like the idea of soa

king wet cloth up against her skin. So I looked online for a better option. Everything was really more than we wanted to spend and I already had bought the prefolds so I kind of wanted to find a way to use them in some form.

After a lot of thinking, this is what I came up with....

Problem 1: the prefolds were too long. I was having to fold over an extra layer and tuck it near her belly

Solution 1: I cut off about 3-4 inches from the top of the prefold.

Problem 2: There was a lot of bulk around Ana's chubby legs.

Solution 2: I measured her thighs and then made cuts in outer two thirds of the prefold to

accommodate that measurement. The middle sections that the cuts create can then be folded into the middle to create additional absorption. This makes the front and the back of the diaper only one layer instead of three.

Problem 3: I didn't like the feeling of wet cotton on her bottom.

Solution 2: I cut a piece of microfleece to fit the middle of the diaper. Fleece wicks the wetness away from the baby and helps her to feel dry I sewed velcro tabs to the bottom of the fleece and the top and bottom of the diaper. This makes the fleece stay in place. I may just sew it into the diaper as I can still unfold the flaps under the middle of the fleece for faster drying time.

Then all I have to do is wrap the flaps around Ana's sides and secure them with a "snappi." Snappis have replaced the dreaded diaper pins. The're kind of like what you'd secure an ace bandage with only a little more blunt. Top that with a cute diaper cover and she's ready to rock her little fluffy butt.

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It's Summer Again

I love summer. Love, love, love it!! We've been up to all kinds of fun things lately like...

Picking strawberries at a local organic farm...

Picking blackberries

Playing at the splash pad

Eating Sweet Corn

Swimming!

Picnicking and playing at the lake with friends...

Wishing mom didn't insist on serving carrots...

More strawberry picking

We've also hit a few farmer's markets and spent lots of time at the playground.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing that an ice cream shop is within walking distance to our temporary home or not, but we've been walking there too. They serve baby cones that have two candy eyeballs on them to the little ones . (not creepy ones - they're cute.)

Construction Day 0

Well... we haven't formally broken ground yet. We own the land. We closed on the construction loan after deciding that every person that our loan had to be approved by was on vacation the week we needed them. Now, we're waiting on the city officials to approve our soil erosion plan. C'mon already!!

Needless to say we're anxious to get started. Nobody wants to be moving in right before Christmas so, child labor laws aside, the girls decided to grab their shovels and get started.

Let's just hope the next update involves a large hole in the ground. :)

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We're going places

I put Ana down right here and now she's... over there!

Yes, dear sweet Ana is mobile. Not in the way that you might think. She's got all the mechanics down to crawl, but she's 20lbs of sweet love, and that's a lot to move for a 6 month old. Don't worry though. She uses her "roundness" to her advantage. She's a smart kid. She's found that if she throws all of her weight forward while sitting, she moves ahead toward what she wants. She can also crawl backward but that usually just lands her in a pickle.

Obviously she's sitting well these days. She started at about 5 mos just like her big sister. She really enjoys the new view, but she's a generally happy baby overall anyway. She's getting a few teeth on the bottom and it's been hard on us. Not a lot of sleeping going on in our house.

The girls are having a good summer so far. Both love baths so we have a little pool on our deck for them to play in. We've also made a few trips to the splash pad and tons of playground visits. Our next adventure is to get a library card in our new suburb. I guess they must have some super secret book stash or something because you MUST prove residency with a water bill and your drivers license to get a library card. Our first attempt wasn't pretty and they made Katen put her book back because I didn't just have a random water bill with me. (Meanies!)

Tomorrow we're heading to a local organic farm to pick strawberries. With all of the rain we've had it should be interesting. And muddy. According to the farmers, many of the berries are rotting so we'll see what we can find. We picked up a few pounds at the farmers market today just in case. :)

Katen has been keeping us laughing with her own words for things. Some of the latest are:

That's a bummer! ...and everything is "really." She'll say, "I really really have to go." or, "I'm really really hungry." Out of the blue one day, daddy came home and she said, "How was your day Daddyroo?" We're not sure where "Daddyroo" came from. She's also a big fan of her peanut butter, but she calls it "Peter Butter." When getting in the car, she can often be heard saying, "Let's rock this puppy!" from the back seat. She also likes to parrot the GPS in the car. "Turn left mommy! Turn left!"

Katen is really into pretend play. She'll tell me she's going to the store or will pour me a cup of pretend coffee. She can also be found singing to a variety of songs that she can sing from memory and dancing along. Some of her favorites are Take me out to the Ballgame, Little Teapot, The Iowa Fight song, Hot Dog (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and a handful of others. She's good at singing Little Teapot and ABC's to Ana when she's upset. Lots of times I hear these songs coming from Katen's room at the high volume during naptime too.

The girls are at such fun ages right now. We're enjoying summer to its fullest and look forward to our new home being complete later this fall. Finally.

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Here are some fun videos taken recently, starring the famous Katen and Ana. If you're reading this via email you'll probably need to go into the actual blog to view these.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Ana, rockin' it.

Crash!!

Seriously sweet - sisterly love