5.27.2009

Afternoon Nap




Burl sat here all afternoon rolling around and babbling away while Alex tried to nap. There wasn't much napping going on, but it was still a beautiful afternoon.

5.22.2009

Built By Wendy



Here's my new shirt. I've had the pattern and the fabric for a while now but just got around to putting it all together. The pattern is pretty simple and also pretty popular in blogger land. I used an old thrifted cotton bedsheet. I'm pretty pleased with the results. I'll probably be making more of these, since it's such an easy sew.

5.14.2009

Our Diapering System


I know, my life is so exciting these days that I blog about cloth diapering. But really, diapering consumes so much of my life right now, and I enjoy doing it, so here's a post about our prefered diapering system.

I feel like I've become quite the cloth-diapering expert over the last year. With some trial and error, some messes and leaks, some rashes and diaper-free time, our family has come up with a diapering system that works well for us.

If you're lucky enough to have a child anything like my sweet boy, don't bother using prefolds once they become mobile. Prefolds worked great until he started crawling. Expecting an active little boy to sit still for the folding, wrapping and securing of a diaper is totally unrealistic and just asking for frustration. But if you'd like to give it a go, I have a whole supply of brand new toddler size organic prefolds anyone is welcome to.

Fitteds were the way to go for us. Our favorite and most used fitteds are these. The absorbency and fit are far better than any others I've tried. And they're really inexpensive. The only draw back with these is how rough they can be when they're wet, which causes diaper rash on Burl's skin. Hemp velour diapers are much softer against his skin, but not quite as absorbent. I've bought some from here, here, here, and some other shops on Etsy and Hyena Cart.

It only took me a year, but I finally switched over to solely using cloth wipes. And really, I'm ashamed to admit it took that long. There really is no need for disposable wipes. I've purchased most of our wipes on Etsy or here. To moisten the wipes, I use a spray bottle of diaper spray that I make, or diaper spray from California Baby. Plain water works just fine too.

I sew or knit all of his diaper covers from wool. I use recycled thrift store sweaters and my own pattern to sew pants or shorts. My favorite knitted pattern is the Picky Pants pattern from Little Turtle Knits. Using wool works well for us, as it serves two purposes; a diaper cover and an outer layer for pants.

I machine wash the diapers and wipes using Trader Joes unscented, chlorine-free powdered detergent. Now that the weather is warmer, I'm happy to be sun-drying our laundry again. I run the diapers through the dryer for a few minutes to soften them up before hanging them in the sun.

There ya have it. It's really pretty simple. I had some sceptics when I was pregnant and planning on cloth diapering, so I feel good about sticking with it. I didn't really know anyone who was cloth diapering at the time, so I learned most of this by my own research and experimentation. I highly recommend and encourage anyone else considering cloth diapering to give it a try. I think you'll be glad you did.

5.11.2009

Mother's Day

I heard some wise words yesterday from a wise woman, "Mother's Day isn't about me, it's about my mom". And despite being a mother myself now, I couldn't agree more. Mother's Day will always be about my mom. She is who I want to be more like and she instinctively is one of the most Christ-like persons I know.

This is one of my favorite pictures, I have it framed on my wall. My mom in this picture is the epitome of the person I want to be. I love how beautiful, tired, and happy she looks all at once. I love how her children and animals are gravitated towards her and how none of us could get close enough to her. I love the happy, peaceful looks on all of our faces, even our dog Buffy's face.

And as I type this, with my sleeping babe and three dogs in my lap, there's hope yet that I may someday be more like her.