Cloth Diapers: Reviewed

~Baby girl's cute cloth diaper bum~

I know I promised pictures of the kid's bedrooms, but let's talk about poop instead.  I think it is a fair switcheroo; don't you?  I keep meaning to get around to this post; I have no idea how much interest there is in cloth diapers, but I did say I would give some feedback. 

First of all, I LOVE them!  They are easy, cute, money-saving, versatile, and I think they just might help with potty-training.  We went with the bumGenius Elemental One-Size Cloth Diaper 12-pack.  I am not going to go into all the details of why they are so wonderful because you can read an amazing review right here.  I'm just going to share a little of our experience.

I can't speak for any other cloth diapers.  I did try a different brand when our oldest was a baby and quickly gave them up as they leaked and were really bulky. 

The bumGenius diapers were expensive, but we have not had to purchase diapers since we converted to cloth 5 months ago.  We still have the same package of disposable diapers that we use for emergencies, etc.  I love that they are all in one, so you just throw the whole thing in the wash and don't have to worry about purchasing liners.  It is worth it to spend a little more money so you can have success and stick with them!

I will say, I would not enjoy cloth diapers without our awesome diaper sprayer.  I had to plunge a dirty diaper in a public restroom one time and that was my one and only unpleasant experience with them- yuck!  I will usually keep baby girl in her cloth diaper if we aren't going to be gone for too long, and if I know she's already had a bowel movement, otherwise I put a disposable one on. :-)  She also wears disposable diapers at Nana and Grampy's house because my Mom keeps them on hand for grand babies, so we don't have to pack them.  Pretty sweet, huh?

I also, love this wet bag from Amazon.

Planet Wise Diaper Wet Bag

I have a pullout hamper drawer in our bathroom that I keep the dirty diapers in and I love it because when it gets full, I can throw the whole thing {bag and diapers} in the wash and it keeps the bathroom from smelling stinky.

Diapers bleach out beautifully in the sun!  Simply put them in the sunlight when they are still wet.

They still look great!

An issue I had in the beginning was a stinky odor with the diapers even after I washed them.  It was driving us crazy.  I started putting a cap full of bleach in the wash with them and the smell has not come back, but be warned, you will still be able to smell dirty diapers when you're washing.  It is a high concentration of pee and poo in one place, so I just pull the laundry room door shut until they're done washing.

There is a lot more information out there on cloth diapers, like what kind of detergent to use, so check out the article above, and let me know if you have any questions. 

Yay for cloth diapers that work! 

The timing of this post is interesting as my Mom just purchased some disposable diapers for me to help me while I am recovering from this... :-) 

I would say it is a really good sign that I miss cloth diapers this week!

6 years celebrated!

Our oldest, sweet girl turned six-years-old!  How I love this little nut!  She is an absolute horse fanatic and is growing so confident and mature.  Last year she wanted to wear dresses everyday, this year she begs to wear her wranglers, belt, tucked in snap shirt, boots, and cowboy hat everyday.  I keep telling her it is a little overkill for 80 degree weather.  Love her!

She requested strawberry waffles for her birthday breakfast again this year.  Picture via instagrid

I'm not gonna lie, celebrating her birthday ended up a little interesting.  I will spare you the details, but I ended up going to the urgent care the morning of her party for two issues, the biggest of which was for major eye pain/irritation due to a piece of silicon in my eye.  I didn't know what the problem was at the time and the doctor's prescription of antibiotic cream for my eye provided no relief.  It wasn't until seven days of the problem persisting, that I got smart and went to the opthamologist.  He diagnosed and fixed my eye in a matter of minutes.  Eek!  Don't mess around with your eyes! 

So, before seeing the sweet pictures of her party, that were mostly captured by mom {thanks, Mama!}, I thought the party must have been mostly a failure. I felt miserable, could hardly open my eye, wasn't very organized, and barely pulled it together, but the best news is she had a blast and enjoyed her favorite things {playing horses with her friends and riding horses}.  Success.

Oh, and we have the best family and friends!

party favors

I made these ice cream sandwiches for dessert and they were good!

Happy Birthday, Olivia Marie!

P.S. The next update I hope to post is the kid's bedrooms.  Here is a peek at the girls' room via.

Practical, Excellent Advice via Proverbs 31 Ministries

Article via Proverbs 31 Ministries

P.S. Be back soon with a few little updates! :-)


July 20, 2012
Your Spouse ... Your Best Friend?
By Melanie Chitwood

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NAS)

Although I can say my husband Scott is my best friend today, that hasn't always been the case. When we first got married, I was so close to my twin sister Scott felt excluded when the three of us were together. Gradually, however, we both learned to develop our friendship with one another.
We reached a big turning point when we left Atlanta, where I had been single and then newly married. We packed up and moved to Florida for Scott's new flying career. Living in a new city where we knew very few other people, we learned to depend on each other for friendship in a way we hadn't learned before.
Now Scott is the one I turn to first just to be my friend, not in the way a girlfriend is a friend, but in a way that only a husband can be. The support that this kind of friendship brings is reflected in Ecclesiastes 4:9: "Two are better than one."

Over the years I've discovered some specific ways we can develop a close friendship with our spouse. First, we can take an interest in what's going on where we each spend a great deal of time, our workplaces.

Has he talked about a stressful project? Has he said how energized he is by a new assignment? Follow up by asking for more details and remember to pray for these situations. This shows our thoughtfulness and support. Acknowledging you know his job can be difficult shows that you appreciate him!

Secondly, a great way to forge bonds of friendship is to share an interest. What do you both like to do? You may need to think about what you did while you were dating.

My friends Tracey and Ron take short trips to the mountains. It's more Tracey's passion than Ron's, but he's learned to enjoy it too. My mom and dad are great cooks and have created some incredible meals together. Scott and I have watched countless basketball games together. If you don't already have a shared hobby or pastime, start trying out some activities. It's easy to let the day-in and day-out responsibilities of life to crowd out time for relaxation and laughter, so you'll have to make the choice to have fun together.

Finally, we need to ask ourselves if we're making friendship with our spouse a priority. Do we save our best energy for developing friendship with our spouse or are we too busy or tired? Sometimes we have to say no to other pursuits so we can have time to protect and nurture the gift of friendship in marriage.

The seeds of friendship we plant today will continue to bloom later in our marriages. We've all seen older couples sitting at restaurant tables, eating their entire meal in complete silence. I don't want to look like those silent couples, and I'm sure you don't either. I want to grow old relishing my friendship with my husband, a friendship forged over years of sharing interests and making each other a priority.
Dear Lord, show me ways to nurture friendship with my spouse, so we can continue to enjoy each other through the passing years. Lord, today, I commit to making friendship with my spouse one of my top priorities. Where I need to give up some activities so I'll have time for friendship with my husband, give me eyes to see that. Thank you for the lifetime friendship you've given us in marriage. In Jesus' Name, Amen.


Reflect and Respond:

Plan to do something fun with your spouse. Do this within one week's time, and don't let anything interfere with these plans.

What do you want your marriage to look like ten years from now? What can you do today to reach your desired outcome?

Is there room in your life for friendship with your spouse? Is there anything you can take out of your life to allow space for your friendship with your spouse to grow?

Power Verses:

Genesis 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; will make him a helper suitable for him.'" (NAS)

Ephesians 5:28, "So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself." (NAS)

Yes!

via

Little Helpers

Thank you for the cleaning tip on Pinterest, K'lyn! :)  I thought it might be a job the little nuts would enjoy helping with!

Vinegar plus Q-tips=clean window sills

I see dirt I don't even normally see when I'm not pregnant... he, he!

Work on Sunday

"If your ox falls into a well on the Sabbath" {Luke 14:5} or "if your sheep falls into a pit"... {Matthew 12:11} or if your berry picker almost falls into the pond.  Pull it out and fix the bridge!

It has been quite the week with the berry picker breaking down and the bridge breaking while the berry picker was trying to cross it- eventful ways to start harvest, if you ask me!

Faithful men working faithfully to rebuild the bridge this hot Sunday afternoon...

David, my Dad, Amos and Austin:

 The black-caps are so close, just on the other side, waiting to be harvested.

 

The bridge is complete, all in a Sunday afternoon!  Faithful God!

I love this!

Eeks... "a lotta" Pictures

I keep uploading pictures to this post in hopes of coming back to post them and have ended up with a whole lotta pictures.  I just can't seem to pull myself away from nesting projects and cleaning long enough to blog, but here goes. 

Today is the official start of harvest on the farm and the unofficial start of summer in the Pacific Northwest {the weather usually warms up after the fourth}.  My husband and a crew fired up the picking machine in the wee hours of the morning to commence blackcap harvest.  The combines rolled out of the yard a few hours ago to take on the first crimson field, and blueberries are right around the corner.  They are delicious as usual and I've actually had to start cutting SweetP and Jules off to avoid catastrophic results .:-)

Today we celebrate my sister's birthday and the birth of our nephew, Josiah!  Congratulations, Bryan and Amy!!!  

It is a mystery to me why the pregnancy hormones cause me to think everything needs to be turned upside down, cleaned, organized, perfected in some way, and beautified, and that it should have been done yesterday, but I am just going with it.  I find myself working like a dog {funny phrase as Buck spends a great deal of time sleeping}, so much so, that I hardly want to stop to take a shower or go for a walk, but make myself do both.      

I got a smart phone.  My cell phone bit the dust.  I have issues with technology and not wanting to be too immersed in it, but found myself walking out of the store with a very smart phone.  I don't know.  It takes amazing pictures, and video, you can talk to it, check your e-mail.  Lord help me.  If you see me wagging my thumb/ "scrolling" on my phone in public, please just hit me.  A perk of this smart phone is that I can take pictures and share them really easy.  I put a link for Instagram on the right side of the blog.  I think I took all of the pictures in this post with my phone. 

To go with the whole cleaning theme, I wanted to share two products.  First is a product I've wanted to try for a while and finally picked up at Target: Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It doesn't take the place of ironing {you still have to have a crease down the sleeve, right?}, but it works great in a pinch.  Also, it didn't change Olivia's dress color, I believe I just snapped the 'before' picture in the afternoon and didn't take the 'after' picture until the next morning.  Second, is a wonderful carpet cleaning recipe that my Mom has used for a few years and the stuff works fabulously. 

I recommend both. 

Downy Wrinkle Releaser

Now, for lots of pictures...

We love and need our walks! 

The little nuts got new kicks for all the miles we are going to put in this summer.

Looking for frogs

Inspecting the dirt

Buttercups... put them under your chin to see if you like butter.

 

We play lots of silly games to keep them amused and motivated! 
They were either flexing or pretending to be a gate here.

David and Olivia playing with my "smart phone".

Intrigued.

Not sure what to think.

She likes it.

Ballet camp

Shopping at Target

6 months preggers.  Two pregnancy shots already; I don't know what has gotten into me.  Note, the smart phone. :)

Auntie Liza put on the 2nd annual tea and this year we went to the Helvetia Lavender Farm.  It was beautiful, relaxing, entertaining, and all the proceeds go to the Good Samaritan Ministries.  Thank you, Liza! 

They even provided hats for the girls to wear.

Horsing around

The 4th of July Parade was especially good this year and the weather especially nice.  We enjoyed the parade and then had friends and family over for a barbecue, followed by Uncle Zach's impressive fireworks last night.

 

 

OK, I'm pooped; you?  Still, I must go organize a drawer or wash the kid's car seats or...