Favorite Cloth Diapers

(Don't forget to read WHY I chose cloth, if you haven't already, for a little background info on why I'm posting on this)

Let me tell you-the BEST thing we did when we started out with cloth diapering was the 30 day trial with The Changing Table. I know not everyone lives close enough to do that, but it's worth checking out at your local cloth diaper stores. If they offer it, take advantage! There were some diapers that I just knew I was going to love that ended up on my "Do not buy" list.

Most of our diapers have a snap closure, but we tried to buy several that were velcro (also called "hook and loop" or "aplix") for baby-sitter days. They're just easier.

Keep in mind every baby is built differently, so not every diaper is going to fit the same. That's why it's so good to do a trial before you buy. You can also buy used and save some cash. (Sounds gross I know, but it's really not).

Now for the goods....

Our favorite diapers so far have been Best Bottom Diapers that have a snap-in insert. It's an outer shell with the absorbent part of the diaper snapping in place. (If you click the link you can get a good visual). We have 2 different inserts so we'll put the diaper on little man with one insert, then at the next change just remove that wet insert & put the new insert in, keeping the same outer shell! Simple.
Bonus: the inserts cut down on the bulk that you can have with some diapers.

Another favorite that might tie for our most favorite is Bottom Bumpers! They are sized. We have a Size One and even though he's over the weight limit of the diaper, he has some skinny-ish legs so it still fits him perfectly. Plus it has a velcro closure. It's an All-in-One diaper, meaning it has no extra parts and doesn't have to be stuffed. It's ready to go every time, all the time!

We also like Tail Feathers Diapers because they are Made in Oklahoma. They're super cute too! The two that we have are All-in-Ones (no inserts or pockets, etc) with a velcro closure. Her velcro is super strong! She also makes custom diapers. This is our Tail Feathers OKC Thunder diaper:

Gro-Via makes a diaper that's one size and not bulky at all. This is the particular one we have. We also have a Gro-Via that has a snap-in insert similar to the Best Bottom diaper described above. Love it too!

So those are my favorites: Best Bottom, Bottom Bumpers, Tail Feathers & Gro-Via.
Honorable mentions: RumpaRooz (check out the cute print on this link!) and Sloomb (for night time)

If you couldn't tell, the most important things to us were bulkiness of the diaper and the type of closure. To each their own though, your favorites may be different because velcro closure may not be important to you or you might not care about bulkiness. I will say, before the trial (broken record I know) the most important thing to me was for all my diapers to be All-in-Ones. Everything else just seemed too complicated. I found that it's really not complicated at all.

All I'm saying is-don't go out & buy several of the same diaper thinking it's going to be your favorite. You may be surprised.

I also wanted to make sure I shared this link: 

Cloth Diaper Info from Happy Baby Co

A good little website with general information on it; like how much money you'll be saving, how many diapers you'll need, how to prep & wash them, etc.

More to come...

like our Night Time diaper routine with wool covers, prepping/washing,

Difference between All in Ones, Pockets, One Size, Sized, Fitted, etc

What else???

Why I chose cloth

I recently posted this picture on Instagram about starting a 30 day cloth diaper trial with my 3 month old son, Bowen. A few of my friends wanted my opinion when it was all said & done and since I'm not on FB anymore I'm dusting off the old blog to air my opinions.

Probably just 2 of you will read this. That's ok.

If anybody feels like they've been helped, my purpose was served.

Really... I just need to jot down my own notes.

In an effort to be fully honest, I'll spend this blog post telling you how I came to the decision to use cloth instead of disposables.

When I found out I was pregnant, my sweet friend JBass almost immediately started trying to talk me into using cloth diapers. She told me about all the benefits and how much she loved them. She told me about how bad disposables are for the environment and on and on and on. Every time I saw her she would half jokingly find a way to bring them up. I was frank with her & I think these were my exact words:

"As awful as this may sound I'm not the least bit interested 

in cloth diapering. 

It does not appeal to me at all. 

And I could care less about the environment."

It was true. Sad, maybe? But true! And I'm pretty sure she took it as a challenge. One day she invited me to The Changing Table (home of the 30 day trial) for a product reveal night. I walked in, still thinking cloth diapering is NOT for me & thinking I just needed to do my nice friend duty so she didn't have to go alone.

And then I saw them.

Allll of them.

They were soo cute! So many different colors & fun patterns.

I was overwhelmed with the options.

That's when I decided maaayyyybe I would give it a small, only-half-serious thought.

I did think long & hard about it and then discussed it with Chad. I fully expected to hit resistance & that would be the end of it (it is totally weird, right?! We're not that granola) but he was actually all for it, being the penny pincher that he is!

 So it was like a switch went off in my brain and I couldn't even sleep at night (really) because I was so excited about it (and I had to pee). I tried to do my research and read up on everything I could about them. And every time I came up overwhelmed. I asked JBass about a million questions-which she so kindly answered every single one & usually in great detail. She's the best!

That's how I made my decision-it wasn't for the best of the environment, it wasn't to avoid putting my baby in a diaper loaded with 50+ chemicals, it wasn't for any other reason than that I thought they were cute...and Chad was excited about saving money. That's honestly it! And then, of course, I eventually got excited about all of the other many benefits too.

I'm compiling a list of every diaper that was in my trial and what I liked & hated about all of them, as well as my final decision & what I purchased. Hopefully this helps somebody else trying to decide. And if you don't have a JBass in your life, allow me! I need to "pay it forward" anyways and I would love to help!

Stay tuned...

Timeline randomness

 What have I been up to? Here it is in random order, and in pictures.

Today I ran 3.18 miles. Here was my beautiful view:

 Hard to believe it's been two years since this:

 Spent Valentine's day snuggled up to Scout, before going into work

& delivering lil Valentine's babies:

Mom had foot surgery so I took care of the cows [by myself] for a while.

Here's our feed room:

We've also been [anxiously] awaiting the arrival of my first nephew

Beckett Owen Bayer

Sure to be the cutest thing ever...

Grandpa helped me feed & milk in the rain, love that man:

Somewhere Mrs. Gateley is smiling (& probably laughing) at me.

Hey, sometimes you need to sew but it's way too nice to be inside!

Took a relaxing trip to Green Acres (our family farm near Meeker)

& had a fishing competition with my mom... I won (never happens)!

 A few more pics of Green Acres....  a lil slice of heaven

 Making sure mom follows Dr's orders.... keep that foot elevated!

 Don't look at me, look at the fish! ;)

I caught this catfish...by the tail! (And no, not with my hands)

Love my momma!

See? Heaven!

Grandma's the one that takes care of the fish when

they "swallow it".

 We've also been doing our best

at eating healthy. I thought my salad looked so good I needed

a picture.

Oh & I was hit by a rock on I-40, causing a huge split up my

passenger side of the front window, instantly.

It's been replaced. But it was.not.cheap.

Trevor & Jenni came to visit and we

got to meet and snuggle sweet lil Ace!

I changed my iPhone screen to this. That way when

I'm tempted to 'play' on my phone, it reminds me to

"Be present" where I am. So many times we miss out on little

things of life because we are consumed with being

constantly entertained.

I cut some roses from my rose tree in my front yard.

I've had fresh roses on my table for the past 3 weeks & it

smells so amazing! I want to start a cutting garden.

Who doesn't love fresh flowers?!

Think of all the smiles you could create by handing out fresh flowers all the time!

 (Oh, this is also a pic of the burlap table runner I made, thanks to Pinterest)

I had a dream that someone smiled at me & nodded their head, saying

"Yep, you are living the Psalm 21:6 kinda life"

I looked it up when I woke up & it's true. I am:

My sweet hubby built me a vegetable garden.

He doesn't half-way do anything. I would have been happy

with a 3x5 set of boards. But he had to make it look

all pretty with the rocks. And I love it.

I rode in the Redbud, 33 miles, with some of my

friends from the Mercy Cycling club. It was beautiful riding

through Jones, past some really big & beautiful homes and then

out into the country with trees arching over the road & 

farm dogs looking on as you pass by.

That's all I've been up to!

2011 Recap

Hard to believe 2012 is HERE! Just 10 years ago it was 2002 and I
 was graduating from high school. Surely that wasn't 10 years ago,
 right?!

Quick recap of 2011:

I did these things: got braces, finished remodeling the [entire] house,
worked in Palliative care, landed my dream job in L&D,
started working night shift, bought a road bike, joined a cycling club,
 bought my dream car, closed the door on the accident case [PTL],
made new friends, became closer with old ones, learned to fly fish

Celebrated our anniversary: In Park City, Utah. Beautiful.

I got to see: friends become parents. strangers become friends.

Here's to 2012! Prayers for a successful, healthy, happy,
 thriving new year! 

Mrs. Gateley

It's days like today that I really miss her. Mrs. Gateley. Rainy days when we could spend our entire day in the sewing room.

I was busy rummaging around my kitchen gathering all the recipes I needed to spend a day baking when I stumbled across her very first letter to me. It was what kept us connected after she was discharged from the hospital. She wanted to send me a recipe and on the back she wrote a little note asking me to stop by sometime. The last paragraph read:

"I thank God for meeting you. You are a blessing to me for sharing-which I love to do. Give me a call or drop in for a visit. You would be surely welcome."

You would be surely welcome.

I imagine she received the same welcome when she got to heaven. You are surely welcome! Well done! I aspire to be like her in the way she allowed God to use her, even into her eighties! She knew that sewing was her God-given purpose and she used that to to draw people into a relationship with her and then she would show them Jesus by the way she lived & loved.

We often try to think of talents God gave us and ways we can use them to glorify Him. If you're like me, sometimes I struggle to come up with how the two coincide. Know this-God is about RELATIONSHIPS. And whatever it is he put in you to do well, or just to love doing, He desires you to build relationships with others so that you can show them Jesus.

Hope you find that as encouraging as I do. You don't have to try to be anyone else, but yourself. And when you get to heaven, I hope you hear "Well done! You are surely welcome here."

The in-between

Going from a Med/Surg nurse to a Labor & Delivery nurse is like changing high schools in the middle of your Senior year.

Maybe I'm a bit dramatic, but it's how I feel.

In Med/Surg I had my friends who became family & had been by my side for the past 5 years. I knew them, trusted them & loved them. I had my system down & was pretty confident in my assessment skills. Now I feel like I'm fresh out of school again. I know no one, but everyone has known each other for years. I barely know that Braxton Hicks is not the name of a baby boy just born down the hall. I can carry on a conversation with an 80 year old man much easier than I can a girl my own age. I have a long ways to go, but I'm getting there. It can be a frustrating and overwhelming process.

The night shift starts next week. This is what I'm dreading most. Not so much because of the hours, but because I'm gonna miss my husband! It's so hard to get on in Labor & Delivery because no one leaves. There is a list in the break room of nurses anxiously awaiting their call to go to day shift... I'm number 14. 14!! I'm praying it doesn't last long and that I can move to the day shift quickly. God can do anything-He is fully capable. This might sound silly to say, but Chad & I really enjoy our time together! You're supposed to as husband & wife but we really have fun. We laugh a lot. It makes me sad to think that there will be days I won't even see him. For example, my first week on nights I will see him Thursday, then not again until Sunday night because of the time he leaves and I get home. We won't get to talk on the phone & tell each other about our days while he's on his way home. I won't get to beg him to go to bed at the same time as me. We won't get to watch any of our evening shows together (Bachelor Pad... Don't tell him I told you!). I know a lot of people have it worse than me. I can't imagine being in a different country than my husband for months & years at a time-props to you military wives!

"For our light & momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. What is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." 

 -2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Your daily troubles are an investment in eternity. Fix your eyes on the unseen, the eternal.

My heart feels a little weighted down. Had to to type it out. I continue to be thankful for the way the Lord has lead my life. I may plan my course but He determines my steps. And His ideas are always way better than mine. I'll be patient & will get through it (the night shift, the new friends, new processes, new assessment skills, etc). I just pray that it's quickly.

(Can I just be a farmer?!)

Project: Remodel {Kitchen!}

It's what you've been waiting for!!!

BEFORE:

{ALMOST} AFTER:

AFTER:

What's the difference?

• Completely removed old cabinets
• Dad & Chad built new cabinets and rearranged them to make more room (pantry on side of fridge, cabinets go all the way to ceiling, lazy susan, new drawers, etc)
• New tile floor (not pictured)
• New backsplash
• Granite countertops
• New appliances (dishwasher, microwave & oven)
• New sink
• Bar added
• Can lights instead of light fixture
• Under counter lights added
• Crown molding and door casing added

If you've been following my blog I hope you can

make it to the Open House tomorrow (Sunday, July 10th) from 2-4, come & go.

Free food and free 'stuff' just for showing up!

Would love it if you came!

Also thanks to everyone for their wonderful compliments throughout

this reveal! Really means a lot to know our hard work has been noticed!