Gideon!

I don't know what else to title this post.  I know I haven't had much new hair inspiration to post about during the holidays, and todays post has NOTHING to do with hair.  In fact, kind of funny, my little friend Gideon doesn't really even have hair right now.  But he did once.  Adorable little three year old boy curls, in fact!  Sadly though, Gideon is undergoing chemo treatments to fight leukemia and he has now lost his precious curls.  The good news is, they will be back some day!  Because Gideon is a fighter, and his story is SO inspiring.

I have never given blood before.  Not for any particular reason, just haven't.  I am not afraid of needles, and I don't feel particularly attached to my blood that I have a reason to not share it with others.  Ever since hearing about how important Gideon's blood transfusions are, I have been wanting to go give blood.  But still, I haven't.  Life is busy, right?  I don't even know where to go?  Well, Gideon's AMAZING mom, and also, fantastic blogger, posted this video today to remind us all to go give blood.

PLEASE watch it!  You will surly be touched by his story.  And to read more about Gideon, check out his mom's blog.  You won't be sorry.



I have found in recent months that one of the key things to contentment in life is to be Thankful in ALL Circumstances.  It is part of my New Years Resolution, to not forget this.  I am well on my way.  Ever since Gideon's diagnosis last June I have been reading his mom's blog a few times a week.  The way they have tackled Leukemia head on has been truly inspiring, but it has also been a big reminder for me.  No matter what is going on in my life, there is someone out there going through something worse, harder, more painful. And Gideon's family is going through one of the most excruciating things I can imagine, but with so much Grace.  If they can do that in the face of cancer, than I can do it in the face of my trials and tribulations!  I know God is by my side and he will take all things in my life, the good, the bad and the ugly and turn them into beauty!

Thank you Amanda!  You and Gideon and Brody and Tom truly ARE a God sent inspiration for my life.  And I WILL be going to donate blood soon.  I mean it.  Ask me next week :)

Katie

Tidbit Tuesday

Here is the oft-requested instructional video on how to make the Fleece Comfort Dolls that we made for Social Service Sunday at our church, which we will be sending down to the Haiti Rescue Center, where they are helping the starving and the sick transform from this:

to this:

Many apologies for the crummy video. It was midnight and I had no one to help me hold the camera. So you get some nice shots of my sweatshirt and my lap as I try to hold the camera under my chin...not to mention my cluttered living room! Hey, now....some of that stuff you see there is waiting to be donated! LOL







Hope that was clear! If you are interested in sending these dolls to the Haiti Rescue Center as well, please let me know!

What I Am Is....

Sesame Street is really coming out with some awesome empowering songs!

This is totally worth singing with your kids. Go Will.i.am!!!

Dad Life

This is a viral video on youtube. It's just totally funny. And awesome! It's completely un-hair related, but I guarantee you'll watch it over and over.

Let's hear it for the Dads out there!

Cloth Diapering -The Info

In the most basic way possible I am going to give you some info on all of my favorite and most important diaper info.  This is kind of hard to do because there is actually quite a lot that goes along with cloth diapering and I could write an entire book.  If anyone has questions, I can answer those, but lets just go with a list of my favorites for now....

My favorite place to buy cloth diapers is Kelly's Closet!  Because they are out of state for me and they offer free shipping on orders over $49, I don't pay shipping OR tax when I purchase through them and I can do it from the comfort of my own couch!  You can also earn reward points for ordering through them to be used on future cloth purchases.  And since they have almost everything you can imagine on their site, you hardly need to think of buying anything from anywhere else!  

Kelly's Closet (which is a part of DiaperShops.com) also has an AWESOME blog called the Cloth Diaper Whisperer!  They talk about EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about cloth diapering.  Yes, ALL of the answers are there!  But they also do weekly giveaways of cloth diapers and other related products.

Dirty Diaper Laundry is my favorite mom run blog.  There are an unbelievable amount of different types, styles and brands of cloth diapers and this mom has made tons of youtube reviews of them.  She is adding new ones all the time, so if you are thinking of purchasing a new diaper, I would check out her thorough review of it first!  

My FAVORITE cloth diaper detergent - which is now the ONLY detergent I use, is Rockin' Green!  It comes in many yummy scents.  The soap is scented with essential oils that will not leave build up on your diapers but unfortunately for us, Little E seemed to have an allergic reaction to the oil.  Fortunately they also make an unscented version!  They also have different formulas depending on if you have hard or soft water.  (Can be purchased from Kelly's Closet and earn you points!)

It would take too long to go into explaining the different types of diapers in this post, but for those of you who are curious, I have several favorites diapers.  I prefer One Size diapers because they grow with the child and don't require you to buy new diapers when your child grows - plus you can use the same stash of diapers if you have two children in diapers at the same time (just need to adjust the snaps).  I also prefer pocket style diapers and diapers.  My favorite brands are Bum Genius, Knickernappies and GroVia (formerly known as GroBaby).  Out of the different diapers I have used, those are my favorites.  Although there are many more I would like to try!  

I believe every single one of these places and diaper brands can also be found on facebook.  Becoming fans of them will often alert you to special giveaways and coupon codes, so that is yet another way to save money!  

I more recently discovered that there was a cute little brick and mortar cloth diaper shop in my own town, and I believe in supporting local business so it is a good idea to google that and see if there is one near you too!  The owners are usually more than happy to answer any questions you have and then you can check out the different kinds of diapers live and in person!

There are also many WAHM (work at home mom's) that make and sell cloth diapers, and people also sell gently used cloth diapers.  I haven't fully explored those options, because when Little E started on cloth I thought I was just using her as a guinea pig for the next baby.  I had no idea that she would take so long to potty train and end up wearing them for the next year and a half!  Anyway, I kept my stash pretty small because as a toddler she didn't need as many changes in a day and I was trying to be as money conscious as possible.  So I only bought what we needed.

I also didn't buy a lot of the accessories that would make cloth easier - like a diaper sprayer!  If I would have known I would be scraping poop out of diapers for the next 18 months I would have bought one when we started, but since I didn't, it will be the FIRST purchase if another baby comes along!  Another thing that makes dealing with the poop easier are diaper liners.  They are a very thin piece of gauze like material that you lay inside the diaper and when the child poops you just pull it out and toss the whole thing in the toilet.  It is flushable and biodegradable!  They aren't very expensive, but I wouldn't use them with every diaper change.  I only put them in diapers when we were going to be away from home or I was fairly confident that E was about to poop!

Well, that is a pretty good start!  I hope I haven't bored you silly!  If so, don't worry, we are now totally diaper free in this house, so I have no need to talk about my diaper addiction.

For now.

Katie

The Many Reasons I LOVE Cloth Diapers!

When we started this blog I told you I would be talking about some of the other things I am passionate about.  I know you have been waiting ALL summer to hear about my love for cloth diapers.  So today is your lucky day!

This might actually be the only time you will read about cloth diapers on this blog (until we are, hopefully, some day blessed with another baby bottom to diaper).  As you know Little E just turned 3 last week and it looks like we are nearing the end of our diapering days with her.  So as I tenderly pack up our beloved stash of cloth I am going to reflect on the many reasons I have fallen in love with them!

1.  I LOVE cloth diapers because it makes me happy to know I am taking care of the planet by not filling more landfills with yucky diapers that won't decompose for a few hundred years!

2.  I LOVE cloth diapers because it gives me an opportunity to teach my children about the importance of taking good care of this beautiful earth.

3.  I LOVE cloth diapers because using and reusing the ones that I have saves me TONS of money that I would otherwise be spending on hundreds of disposable diapers that would get thrown away after one use.

4.  I LOVE cloth diapers because they are ADORABLE and come in more colors and patterns than you can even imagine.

5.  I LOVE cloth diapers because Little E looks so ADORABLE in them with her big fluffy booty and it is so fun to match the color of the diaper to the colors of her outfit.  (ya know, kind of like matching your hair bling to your outfit - accessorizing is oh so fun!)

6.  I LOVE cloth diapers because Little E is so tiny that her pants wouldn't stay up without the extra bulk!

7.  I LOVE cloth diapers because they look so pretty hanging on the clothes line.

8.  I LOVE cloth diapers because I can save even more money by line drying them instead of using the dryer.

9.  I LOVE cloth diapers AND cloth wipes because they keep all those yucky chemicals away from my daughters precious little bum.

10.  I LOVE cloth wipes because I didn't pay one penny for them!  I recycled some of my big pile of old receiving blankets, cut them up, and (with the help of a dear friend who has domestic skills that I lack and a sewing machine) we made them into a stash of wipes that can be used over and over again just like our diapers!

11.  I LOVE cloth diapers because they required me to buy a special kind of detergent that is free of chemicals and toxins to wash them, which led to me using this detergent on ALL of my families laundry which is healthier and safer for ALL of us (including the planet).

12.  I LOVE cloth diapers because making the switch to cloth inspired me to make other changes in our lifestyle that are healthier, safer and less expensive for my family.

13.  I LOVE cloth diapers because so many of them (and the detergents and other diapering accessories) are made by small business in the US that were likely started by and are still run by moms just like me!

14.  I LOVE cloth diapers because so many of the parents that use cloth diapers have formed a wonderful community of people who strongly support breast feeding, co-sleeping, baby wearing and other elements of parenting that are important to me, but aren't as popular in my local community.

15.  I LOVE cloth diapers because I NEVER have to send my husband on an emergency run to the store  for more diapers!

16.  I LOVE that if we are blessed with another baby I can reuse ALL of the diapers that I have used on Little E on a new baby bottom!

17.   I LOVE cloth diapers because on hot summer days your baby can run around in just a diaper and still look cute - cute - cute!  OR if they get there dinner all over their shorts, just take them off and turn em loose!

18.  I LOVE cloth diapers because they have such cute and funny names - Happy Heinys, FuzziBunz, AppleCheeks....

After that long list, would you believe me if I told you that 3 years ago I would have NEVER have imagined my self cloth diapering!  I don't particularly like doing laundry, and the idea of putting poopy diapers into my washing machine kind of grossed me out.  I can't really tell you what first sparked my interest in cloth.  Actually, now that I think about it, it was probably the moms on the hair group!  Years ago I remember some of them talking about their addiction to cloth diapers and I thought they were CRAZY but I also thought their wee ones did look awful precious in some of the pics they posted of them in their cloth.  But it wasn't until Little E was over a year old that I saw my friend using cloth on her newborn son and I was inspired to give it a try for myself.

Boy am I glad I did!  I honestly don't mind the extra laundry at all.  And I am a pretty busy mom.  But it was just a matter of getting into a routine and than it is simple!  And after four kids and four pets, I am no longer phased by poop, so, no problem there.

I know I said this would be the only post on cloth, but I can't really tell you all the reasons I love cloth and then not tell you about my favorite brands and styles of cloth or where to buy them or not share any of my other great cloth related resources.  So stay tuned next week for a follow up post.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I can try to address them in next weeks post!

Do/Did Any Of You Use Cloth Diapers?  

Katie