What She Is To Me

...someone who's actually busier than I am. I mean, while I'm busy busy running from child to child and back to child again, at least I'm home in my pajamas fashionable sweats instead of going some place every day. (I couldn't survive that.) She's always got the energy for it, though!! Amazing.

...someone who thinks I'm funny, even when I'm not. (I prefer to think she's laughing with me, not at me.)

...someone who's always willing to help others. I can't TELL you how many times she's taken care of me: bringing a meal or just a treat, lending us clothes, tricycles, bikes, or movies, taking some (even ALL!!) of my children so I could have a "breather" or go to a function I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

...someone who thinks of me. I always appreciate a call from her (remember how busy she is?) just to check up on me. To see how I am doing.

...someone who prays for me. I covet prayers. I NEED them. And I know she cares enough about me to remember me in prayer. That's not something you can say about just anyone.

...someone who can hold her own when it comes to my husband and his constant teasing, pestering, and trash talking. (They are worthy ping pong adversaries, those two.)

...someone who understands me and my quirks. And still claims to like me!!

...someone who I genuinely miss when she (and her family) can't make it to one of my kids' birthday parties, when between all our eight children we can't seem to get everyone well enough at one time to get together (and this for months on end), and when she's right in the middle of volleyball season (which, it seems to me, must be the LOOOOONGest sports season of all!).

...someone I can safely say is the craziest person I've ever met. IF you consider the craziest people to be those who want to play GAMES 24/7! (She'll take any kind, y'all.)

...someone who keeps me smiling. Her charisma? Well, it's infectious is what it is. (And even if I don't have it in me sometimes to join her in all her shenanigans, I'm definitely always entertained!)

...someone who loves the Lord and wants to serve Him with her WHOLE life. She is truly an inspiration to me.

Happy Birthday, my sweet friend.

Happy Birthday, Krista. I love you!!

(It will be my goal this year to get a shot of you without something hiding your face. Ha!)

Kicking the Tree to the Curb

We broke down the tree last week. It's a several-day process around here. You know? A little bit at a time. No need to expect more than that when you KNOW you're going to be stopping...to clean up a mess, locate a missing baby, find him in Big Brother's room getting into a whole plethora of choking hazards, instruct the Big Brother to clean up the choking hazards, make sure he did it, help someone get on her tights, take someone else to the bathroom, track down a screaming child to determine the reason for the screams, and then make some sort of meal (because it always seems to be meal time) which you'll get maybe a morsel of, clean it up, and then get back to the tree three hours later. Yeah, no need to have high expectations. Seriously, it took ALL week.

I LOVE having a tree. I LOVE having all the CHRISTmas decorations out. I really don't get tired of them. But. This year I was in a bit more of a hurry to get rid of it all. 'Cause I think my allergies were suffering. Or, rather, I've been suffering from my allergies. I originally started coughing the week before Thanksgiving, y'all. It was this awful, physically-draining dry hacking cough. We all had it. Only I never got rid of it. It lingered and it lingered, and it slowly became painful. By CHRISTmas I was extremely sore. Mind you, I had already been to the doctor. I had had a chest x-ray and was told my lungs were clear. There were meds prescribed. I was obedient. But I didn't get better. As time went on, I started to think it was pleurisy, which I've had before. It's very painful. Sort of felt like that.

Then one night I coughed and nearly fell out on the floor from the INTENSE pain in my chest. I mean, it POPPED!!!!! And then I couldn't inhale anymore. At least not without DYING!! Only reason I didn't go to the ER that night is 'cause I could not possibly have driven myself. So I waited until the next day. I called my doctor's office, and they acted all like..."He's really booked today. We can get you in tomorrow." And I was all like, "I'm hurting!! And what if I develop pneumonia before then because I. can't. breathe?!" And they were like, "Can you be here in 20 minutes?" And I was like, "Yeah, right. I have four children in their pajamas. And I haven't even fed them much less showered myself!" And they were like, "Sorry." So I promptly asked my dear, sweet hubby to please come home around lunch time, at which time I promptly drove to my doctor's office and told them I needed an x-ray and that I did NOT have an appointment. Guess what? SOMEhow they found the time to see me. SOMEhow they found an examination room. (By the way, I only saw two other patients there.) So weird.

The x-ray basically left my doc with the conclusion that I had a bruised rib and had "popped" a muscle in my chest wall. It STILL hurts, in fact. The trick is to like...NOT...cough (which is indeed tricky). I was on "Tylenol 3" for weeks. Yes, you heard me right. THAT is the cough suppressant I was prescribed. It definitely took the edge off the killer rib pain I was dealing with, though. I'm much better now. Still just a little sore. I have to be careful not to roll over on that side too quickly, and I can't stretch out and reach with my arm on that side. And sneezing or coughing KILLS. ME! Which is why I was ANXIOUS to rid myself of any thing that might possibly be causing all this sinus FUN.

So, good riddance, Lovely Tree. Looks like I'll be spending the rest of this winter researching ALL the ways I can be allergy-free, drug-free. It's about to the point that one needs a medical degree in order to care for one's SELF. Have you noticed that? I am becoming more and more distrustful of medical professionals. It's not really THEIR fault. I just feel like I need to know stuff mySELF and not take anybody's word for it. Is that weird and/or control-freakish?

Drowning

I've been freaking out lately (and when I say lately, I mean for months now).

No, really. It's true. I've been sort of drowning in fear. Trying to tread water, but going UNDER a LOT!! And while flailing my arms about like someone who's never had a single swimming lesson, I've lost sight of the One I should have been looking to all along. I've forgotten all I've learned. I've forgotten where "my help comes from." (Psalm 121:1-2)

You see? When you have four children, and they're all so YOUNG, and they manage to get into all manner of trouble on a regular basis, and one of them won't talk (much) and is stubborn beyond words (so to speak), and one of them depends on YOU to be physically able to provide his most important meals of the day (i.e. babies need to nurse), and one of them challenges you at every turn and never wants to do anything you ask him to do, and one of them does NOT learn things easily and without help, and it is up to YOU to feed, clothe, nurture, teach, train, clean up after, and spend quality time with these kiddos...you sort of start s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. You start noticing how TIRED your arms are and how there's not much KICK left in your legs and GOLLEEEEE the water is deep and COLD and DARRRRKK! And then you realize it's time to pay bills (AGAIN), and there are some significant ones this month, and you are trying to buy healthier foods, but the blasted budget NEVER seems to allow for as much as you really want to be buying. And don't forget the two to three loads of laundry you've got to do (per day!) or there won't be any underwear...or diapers (and you definitely don't want that)! And, hello? Don't you think you'd better get the filing done, vacuum occasionally, dust (yeah, right), and AT LEAST wipe off the counters and kitchen table so you can EAT!?! And then you look to your left and see that your husband is even farther away than he was the last time you looked (thanks to all those hearings right in a row and his OWN physical exhaustion).

One in such a predicament can't help but think...

I'll never get through to my son.

I'm failing my daughter.

The toddler and baby won't be any better off, because who has time to train THEM when I'm spending all my time on the first two?

I don't spend enough quality time with any of them.

We'll never get all our debt paid off.

The food I've been giving my kids is poisoning them.

It's all a conspiracy!

We're ALL going to die of cancer (or Alzheimer's).

Unless, of course, America becomes a war zone FIRST.

How will I ever be as self-sufficient as I may need to be?

There are a million viruses on my computer, and I don't know how to get them off!

All the appliances keep breaking because nothing's made well anymore.

I've wasted so much of my time.

I'm afraid I'm becoming a monster in the eyes of my kids.

I barely recognize myself in the mirror anymore. (Sleep would probably help, but...when is that going to happen?)

My husband must think I'm hideous.

These thoughts (and the like) tend to drive the attitude of the heart this way: What's the point of eating well when it costs so MUCH? We're all going to die sometime anyway! It's probably too late to make a difference. Why should I bother with having the kids do chores anymore? They don't care what this house looks like. I don't understand why they keep disobeying. Nothing I do or say makes any difference anyway! Dinner schminner. Fend for yourself! We just won't ever have company again! So there! No, no, no. You can't do anything fun whatsoever! You don't deserve it!

Yuck, huh?

And while it doesn't help to worry and fret about how we're doing with raising our children, and while it's imperative that we remember it is God's work in them, not our own, that doesn't give us license to shirk our responsibility toward them. After all, God has given us authority over them. It is our calling. We have no choice.

Something I've been learning lately (and when I say lately, I mean for the past couple of years...but it's STILL not been fully driven into this thick skull of mine) is that we, as parents, are no different in the eyes of God from our own children! We like to THINK that because we are grown up, we are "closer" to God, "closer" to deserving His grace. But REALLY we are NOT any more deserving of His grace than our seven-year-olds who deliberately disobey our direct commands, or our five-year-olds who like to whine and argue, or our toddlers who say "No!" to us. We are all in the same boat. The very same sinking ship. And we would all drown if it weren't for His saving grace, His abiding love, His mercies which are new each and every morning. And we don't deserve ANY of His goodness!

So, then. When that seven-year old disobeys, how shall I respond? When the proverbial steam is shooting from my ears and my eyes are rolling around in my head uncontrollably, I mean. HOW shall I respond? Well, I wish I could say that I always respond in the way that my Father responds to my wickedness. I wish I could say that my children are amazed at the way I love them and forgive them for their foolish ways. I wish I could say that they think of me as gentle and kind and sweet. I wish I could say they are ready and willing to please me at every turn because I'm such an awesome mommy. I wish.

Learning to respond biblically to their sin is the single hardest thing I think I will EVER have to learn, because it is just so foreign to my personality. I just think they should WANT to please me, that they should take NOTICE of the fact that I've been washing the POO out of their diapers and wiping up the toilets where they've missed and creating delicious (...ahem..) meals for them to savor and singing each and every blooming night to them (even when my heart isn't in it) and picking up their books and blocks and crayons and trash and clothes and insert random object here for the one millionth time today and driving them to this activity and that activity and taking them to church and buckling them in safety seats and nursing them back to health and putting up with their cranky, selfish attitudes!!! They should totally take notice.

But they don't. The stinkers.

They don't. 'Cause they're 7 and 5 and 2 and...baby.

And those are the exact ages of people who don't. take. notice.

Begs the question...Wonder WHY I do all that stuff anyway?? Is it so they'll notice???? Is it?? Well, if it is, I might as well hang it up now because that's just stupid. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be doing those things because SERVING MY FAMILY is SERVING MY GOD, and I should be doing it with a cheerful heart. (After all, I preach that same sermon to my oldest two kiddos every time I ask them to do something to help out and they groan or complain. Such irony. Such irony.)

Sigh.

End tangent.

Back to the point. Which is.......We all like sheep have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6) Yes, we have.

Think of it like this. According to the Scriptures, your husband is to be "over" you as your protector, the one who takes responsibility for the decisions of the household, the one who will answer to God for the raising of his family. The husband and wife are spiritual equals in the eyes of God, but God has placed your husband over you in authority to provide for you a covering, a safe-haven. In the same way, both parents are placed as authorities over their children, to care for them, to protect them, to teach them. But spiritually, we are all equals. Now, obviously, your seven-year old probably doesn't have as much spiritual wisdom, insight, or experience as you, the parent, but that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about where we "land" on the map of lostness.

In the eyes of God, a rapist is no more or less sinful than you or I, though there will certainly be distinct differences with respect to the consequences of those sins. God loves him just the same. Now that's hard for us to fully comprehend, but aren't you glad it's so? Aren't you glad that your very worst sin doesn't somehow place you in some other "bracket" of spiritual sentencing? To know that God sees sin as just that--SIN--and does not rank us all according to our deeds...well, it tells us that He has an incomprehensible and unending love for His children. That's the kind of Father I want.

And, therefore, that's the kind of mother I want to be. I mean, if your child grew up to be an embezzler or a murderer does that mean your LOVE for him would END (or be any LESS than the love you have for your other children)??! Of course not! You'd HATE with every fiber of your being that he had chosen such a pathetic existence. You'd grieve that he would suffer consequences untold. You'd worry your head off. And you'd pray every moment of every day that God would save him from himself. But your love would remain. You'd still be the one who had prayed for him to grow inside of you, given birth to him, nursed him, diapered him, played with him, cuddled with him. You'd still be his Mommy. Praise God it is that way with our Heavenly Father.

I have been going through some rough stuff lately. Much of it is due to pure exhaustion. Much of it is due to poor choices in the use of my time. But most of it is due to the fact that I have fallen away from my God. I have TURNED away when I needed Him most. I have acted as if I could handle my life on my own. And I have failed miserably. I have been SO fearful. I have parented out of this fear. I have been so lazy and so detached. I could recognize my children as blessings, but since they didn't ACT very bless-ed, I got angry...a lot. At them! How dare they ruin my idea of what my daily life should look like?! Talk about losing sight! And the fact is...WHO DO I THINK I AM? Am I any better than they? Does God think I'm awesomely perfect or something? Have I suddenly leaped from the plain of "Sinner Saved from Grace" to the plain of "Perfection Attained" high above my children??

Well, ummm, no.

No, I haven't.

Nor will I.

Ever.

I need to get. over. myself. I need to recognize my depravity and then...instead of wallowing in THAT ('cause that's what I tend to do)...I need to thank and praise my God for loving me ANYWAY, for dying for all my JUNK, and for blessing me with four beautiful children to teach about a God who loves like that. A God who loves THEM like that. MY God. Their God. Our God. The One and Only God.

This portion of an old hymn...is so, so true.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

I think in all my wild, crazy struggling about in the water, I just haven't STOPPED long enough to realize that my feet can actually touch the bottom--they could all along. That there is a firm foundation (His Word) I can stand upon. I can rest now. I really don't have to keep fighting and gasping for air. He already took care of me...on the Cross. What else then do I really have to fear?

Attempting Project 365 Week 1 (or is it 2?)

Last year (all year long!) Sara hosted a group of gals for "Project 365." The idea is to take a photo a day to share on your blog. You post once a week and basically describe your week in pictures.

I sort of can't believe I've decided to try this. All things considered. But it seems like an exciting possibility for some consistency on this blog, so it's at least worth a try. I'll be posting on Sundays (hopefully). So now you know. I'm getting a late start (surprised?), because the actual first week was last Sunday, but since it wasn't officially a full week of 2010, I didn't think it was time to start. Or maybe you could just say I had lost track of what day it was, so...duh. Now I'm ready, though. Here we go:

Sunday

It was truly a day of rest. After church, I mainly sat right HERE all stretched out on Nana's chaise lounge (wrapped up in a Snuggie, no less), blogging and editing photos for the blog. Nice, nice day.

Monday

One last photo of the tree before beginning the disassembly process.

Quite possibly my favorite "extra touch" on our tree. Ting ting. Love the sparkle. Love the curly-q's. Love the dimension it adds to the tree. It's just happy stuff.

Tuesday

Stripped.

CHRISTmas Tree Synergy: The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

The Aftermath

Wednesday

Noah had his first guitar lesson today. He learned "D," "A," and "E." He was so excited!

Thursday

Still putting away CHRISTmas. See you next year, Little Drummer Boy.

Friday

This boy and his hair. Is it any wonder that I have to carry around dryer sheets (the only thing I use them for!) in my diaper bag??

Saturday

These two were up and at 'em bright and early. Ready for adventure and excitement...

...ready for the library??

That was our big outing Saturday. A whole two minutes away from the house! Big excitement! Actually, the kids are always excited about the library. I promise. Paul took these photos, so I don't know WHAT these faces are a reaction to. (Bad grammar acknowledgment: ...to what these faces are reacting. That better? I know, I know. Still passive. Whatevs.)

Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails: Gabriel

This boy of ours...

...is a thoughtful, ever-observant little boy. He takes it all in. And keeps it to himself.

He has grand ideas, which he quietly goes about bringing to fruition. (Let's just say...there's almost always a mess involved.)

And then he surprises us with excessive silliness, wild, wacky rough-housing, even singing!

It's enough to wear anybody out. Good thing he's a marathon napper.

He's a sweetheart who really doesn't see the big deal when it comes to the whole TALKING scene.

Talking. It's so yesterday.

And if it were up to him, he'd NEVER come inside, and there would be an endless supply of push toys and ride-on toys. As long as there were wheels involved, he'd be happy. (And don't forget the dirt.)


One thing is certain: God gave him those dimples so I'd give him cookies and forgive him for destroying things in redecorating my home.

Current Gabe facts: He's putting two words together a lot now. "Yeah, Momma." "No, Mommy." "Hi, Ash," "Bye, Daddy." A few new words are "dough" (as in play dough), "apple," "juice," and "Wendy." And he takes such good care of his baby brother. If Atticus gets hurt, Gabe is the first one to get to him and give him hugs or pats or kisses or all of the above. And besides the time he put a pecan shell on Atticus's lunch tray and Atticus decided to give it a try and scare me half to death by NOT BREATHING!! well, he's a pretty doggone good big brother.

Doing the Diaper Thing

Well, I've written about cloth wipes and diaper liners and I've written about gDiapers, so now I'm going to try to give an overview of my life as a cloth-diapering mama...because

1) one day I will most likely forget all the ins-and-outs of diapering this way.

2) several people recently have approached me for advice on the matter, so I'm going to do what I can to shed some light on this very ethereal way of life. Ha!

Let's see. The day begins with a diaper change, as well it should. THIS is the hardest one all day for me (and Daddy!!!). Because something about a baby sleeping 11-12 hours in the very same diaper (one withOUT perfumes!) just creates a very noxious odor (thank you, Ammonia Build-up)! I swear you'll think you might could pass out if you don't hold your breath as much as possible. And I don't know about yours, but my babies??? They wet. a. lot.

Once my fave all-night diaper (Bumgenius 3.0) has been properly dumped (inserts emptied out first, laundry tabs secured) into my WAHM-made wet bag, I will commence to wiping. This is the one and only time (with exception of any dirty diaper changes) I will wipe the babies all day (using my wipe solution and cloth wipes). I'm going to bring this up again because I've had people ask me, and even though I posted a link before, I can't expect that everyone actually clicked that link. So...did you know that the acid in a baby's urine and his/her skin are actually the same pH level? And that every time you wipe your baby, you are changing the skin's natural pH? And that doing that (constantly changing their skin's pH) is BAD for their skin?? It is ASKING for rashes, yeast infections, and/or soreness! Seriously, it is NOT necessary (or even acceptable) to break out the wipes each and every time you change a diaper!! And while I'm on the subject of preventative care, it is ALSO not acceptable to put diaper creams, etc. on as preventative measures against rashes. PLEASE! All you're doing when you do that is "teach" baby's skin that it doesn't have its own built-in protection. It becomes accustomed to--reliant on, even--all that "goop" full of man-made chemicals. And then it can't fight off problems on its own. Also, constantly coating their skin makes it so that the skin can't "breathe." Think natural. Think back off and let things alone. Okay, that's said.

At this point, I usually put Sweet Baby in a regular diaper cover

with a cotton prefold inside.

I do not FOLD my prefolds around my baby and do all the fancy tucks, etc. or use diaper pins (or Snappis). I simply fold my prefold diaper in thirds and LAY it in the diaper cover.



The whole thing then just goes on like a normal diaper would. Like this...

Now. SOMEtimes I'll use THIS fold...

and use diaper pins and actually not put a cover on them. I usually only do this if all the covers are dirty or just not dry yet or if I know I'm just doing a quick change and that I will be back to do another one within an hour. Like if baby is dirty right before dinner. I might just do a quick cloth diaper with pins, no cover; feed baby dinner; and then go get him ready for bed. He would have only wet one time most likely, and a good cotton diaper will absorb that just fine with no need for a cover. (Mind you, I wouldn't put any clothes on over it because they would definitely get damp.)

Anyway, speaking of pins and Snappis...I tried Snappis. I like them because they go on quickly and can be adjusted to tighten or loosen the diaper around the baby as you are diapering, BUT you MUST use them with a diaper cover...because they are removable by baby and they are SHARP!! (So that annoys me.) Another problem is that they don't last forever. You're supposed to discard and replace them after a few months, I think. AND you have to rinse them each time they get wet, which is EVERY time. For me, I just found they were unnecessary to my life. They are not needed at all if you just fold the prefold into thirds and place it inside the cover the way I usually do. As I stated above, I DON'T do all that traditional folding if I'm just going to put a cover on. "Why?" you ask.

Well. For one thing, here's what I noticed when I would do that: The diaper would be wrapped all the way around, so when it became very wet...it would soak to all areas. And then I'd have to touch! (bleh!!) that very soaked diaper because the Snappi would have to be removed. I just got to where I couldn't see ANY reason for doing it THAT way. Really. Can you see why just laying the prefold in the cover is more efficient and less yucky? When I take the diaper off, I just grab the OUTSIDE of the cover with the diaper inside, take it to the wet bag, and dump the inside stuff. The cover can usually be reused. And my hands stay clean. It's way easier, quicker, and cleaner. (But that's just me.)

I usually try to air out the cover I've just removed, so if you come to my house...you'll most likely see diaper covers hanging on the front of the changing table like so:

Okay now. Covers I use.

1) I have a few Proraps. They work well. They are just plain white, the inside of which eventually turns to a nasty chartreuse (nah...that's too nice...maybe more of a dingy brown-egg sort of color) after being in contact with bodily fluids and then being washed multiple times. But they are definitely economical at about $9.00 a cover. Downsides to these would be that they are sized, so you'll need to get different sizes as baby grows (of course, this is the case with most all diaper covers). Also, they are not cute and they have Velcro tabs, which will eventually give out, I'm sure.

2) I have two Bummis wraps. One is the Whisper Wrap (pictured at the very beginning of this post), one is the Super Bright (below). These are CUUUUTE covers!! Two probs, though. The way they fasten in front (with the Velcro) doesn't quite work after the baby has been wearing it a while. I haven't figured out the physics of what's going wrong, but things seem to slide around in such a way that the waistband where the Velcro lies starts rubbing on and scratching up the baby's belly. That's not good! I was always having to keep an eye on it so we wouldn't get uncomfortable. Prob #2 is that BOTH of my Bummis wraps have lost ALL their Velcro stickiness. It's really weird. I purchased these at the same time as the Pro-raps, the gDiapers, and the Bumgenius diapers I own, and everything else seems to be doing fine in the Velcro department, while THESE are no good to me anymore (at least until I get some more Velcro tabs and sew them on. Hmmm...when might I get around to that?!).

3) I have one Litewrap. I HATE it. First of all, it is OVER-SIZED!!!!!!!!!! Gabriel at two and a half years old still doesn't fill it out. (I'm thinking maybe when he's four.) I use it ONLY for Gabriel at his nap time. It hasn't leaked, but I think that probably has more to do with my very absorbent prefolds and less to do with a well-made, well-fitting diaper cover. I have to remember to remove it immediately after he wakes up...or else it will be sagging to his ankles. And I really wish that was an exaggeration. Also, the Velcro on it has NEVER been nice and sticky. They have a set of snaps for extra security, but there's no adjusting them so your kid would have to have a 30-inch waist for them to be of any help. Yeah...don't get this brand.

4) I have two Imse Vimse covers. These are plain white and actually seem to stay that way. They are soft and stretchy. They just feel nice. They don't have extra gusseting around the legs, so you can't stuff them overly full. That's the only negative I have for these. I use them mainly for play time (not nap time when I need to have a little extra padding for all the heavy wetters I've birthed). For play time, they do great.

5) I have one Bumkins Vented cover. This cover doesn't have much gusseting either, which might be a problem if there's a large BM in baby's future. And I'm not entirely certain that the "vent" placed in back actually makes any kind of difference. But I've not had any major problems or gripes with this cover so far. It's CUTE, too. They have a great selection of fabrics to choose from. Ours is "Green Eggs and Ham." Orange. My favorite baby boy color...it seems.

6) Another cover I have used in the past is the Polar Bummi. I had this one when Atticus was brand spanking new. It's soft, and I like that. But it really has nothing to stop the moisture. It's just a really thick fleece. They say it has a laminate sandwiched in between two layers of fleece, but if it does, it's a THIN layer of laminate because the outside ALWAYS felt damp to me. It also seemed to make Atticus sweat when he wore it. It's made by the same folks who make #2 above. So...guess what?? Velcro issues.

7) Several months ago I purchased two new diaper covers to try. The first is the Econobum. It's standard white and comes with it's own prefold diaper. Think of this as a bonus, because you would obviously need MANY more prefolds (and covers for that matter), and you can use any prefolds in this cover. (It is not a requirement to use the prefold it came with.) Anyway, these are priced at $10. For a diaper cover, that's good. (And this one even comes WITH a diaper! Remember? BONUS!) I haven't used it long, so I don't know anything about its longevity, except for the fact that this cover hasn't a scrap of Velcro on it! This is what is called a "One-Size" diaper, so there's no need to change sizes as your baby grows. It uses snaps to size up or size down and even has snaps along the waistband, set about every 3/4 inch. It is a mere single row of snaps, though, so I worry it won't hold up over time, as that puts a lot of stress on two snaps to keep things closed up at the waist. Hmm...we'll see....

8) The second one is the Flip diaper. It's the same idea as the one above, with several exceptions. It comes in three vibrant colors. VERY pretty colors. It is a "One Size" cover as well, but it also comes with a "One Size" insert. The insert just lays in the cover (like you would do a folded prefold diaper, only it's not a prefold that needs folding), but take note that it is a "stay dry" insert. This means that like its predecessor, the Bumgenius, it's made of microfiber and suede cloth, which helps to wick moisture away from baby's skin. It's super soft, too. This cover also has a snap waistband, but the difference is that the Flip has TWO rows of snaps for greater stability. Right now? This has to be my very favorite cover. I can use the insert it came with or my regular prefolds. It fits like a dream. And it looks great, too.

Now. Prefolds. I swear I can hear many of you muttering, "What in Sam Hill is a 'prefold'?!" Well, ladies, it's just several layers of flat cloth diapers (I mentioned them above...see the picture?) that have been sewn together in varying levels. For instance, you might see prefolds that are "4x8x4." This simply means there are 4 layers of fabric stacked and sewn together on the two sides of the diaper and 8 layers sewn together in the middle. The diaper is sewn in thirds. (And to explain my folding method, I would fold each "side" into the middle, which basically means there are now 16 layers of fabric running down the middle.) Or maybe you might find "2x6x2." So, 2 layers on the sides and 6 in the middle. Make sense?

Prefolds in a nutshell: Unbleached absorbs better than bleached. But bleached ones work fine, too. Just pointing it out... Twill absorbs better than Birdseye weave. Organic cotton absorbs better than conventional cotton. etc. etc.

Alright...back to the daily schedule. At nap time, I use my Premium (4x8x4) unbleached Indian cotton prefold. They are a little long, so in addition to folding it into thirds, I fold down the end so that there is more padding up front ('cause we need it). I usually use a Prorap cover because they so rarely (if ever) leak, and with all that extra gusseting they hold my bulky Premium prefolds in quite nicely. When nap time is over, I usually change him into something a little less bulky, like a Regular (4x6x4) prefold, which is not just fewer layers but is also shorter, so I don't need to fold down the end. I like to use his cuter covers when he's up playing. Because they make me happy. ('Cause it's all about me, you know?)

And then at bedtime, my diaper of choice is the Bumgenius 3.0, as I've said before. I love them for nighttime diapering for several reasons.

1. They are pocket diapers, so I can stuff them as full as I need to depending on the needs of my baby.

2. The lining inside is micro-fleece, which wicks away moisture. That's a good quality for a nighttime diaper...for obvious reasons.

3. They are comfortable. Nice, soft fabric stitching around the legs. No plastics or vinyls to mash on or scratch up little legs all night long!

4. Once stuffed, they go on as easy as a disposable, and that's good because Daddy often diapers at bedtime...'cause getting four children under 7 ready for bed is...to say the least...challenging. (It's definitely a team effort!)

Big breath..........and hold it.......

Now we've got to store these stinky things. Unfortunately. (But, hey, at least no more trips to the garbage for Daddy!) I've tried several things with regard to storage of diaper laundry.

First I tried just a plain, small plastic bin. I put the diapers directly in it with no additional lining. This meant that each time I emptied it, I'd need to wash out the bin with soap and HOT water. This method didn't last long because of how quickly it would fill up (with two in diapers) and how gross it was to wash that thing out each time.

After that I used a real and for real diaper pail. I believe it was a Graco pail. I was all excited about it because it had a "hands-free" feature which made it so I could just wave my hand over a sensor on top and it would open up for me to toss my diaper, and then it automatically closed back up again. Would have been awesome had it consistently worked the way it should. And also if it had a bigger capacity. I was using a diaper liner/wet bag at this time. I'd pull the bag out when the pail was full, but the bag would still have 3 times the room left for diapers.

This prompted me to purchase a standard flip-top trashcan at Wal-Mart. I hung my diaper liner in the trashcan. It worked alright, I guess. BUT the flip-top left openings in the lid, which caused seepage of "stank" into the room. It wasn't horrendous, I guess. After all, my diaper liner has this great square piece of flannel sewn into the seam to which I added a drop or two of essential oil to help with odor issues. It did help. I just never got used to it. I had no other alternative method, though, so I kept it up...until one of the kids broke the flip-top. Instead of replacing it, I've just been using the bag on its own. I keep it in the bottom portion of my changing table drawer. I sort of twist the top closed after putting something inside. It seems to be enough to keep odors to a minimum. I just have to make sure to wash every other day because the bag is not 100% waterPROOF and will eventually start getting damp on the outside. (That's certainly not ideal.) This method works fine for me right now.

Now. Laundry time!! One thing about it, be prepared for plenty of extra washing. It's doable, though. What I do to help me feel like I'm not "wasting" my washer's time is I put all white socks, rags, and towels in the washer first and then dump the bag of diapers in on top (along with the bag itself). Our socks and baby food rags can ALWAYS stand an extra wash. See, ideally you need to wash your load of diapers twice. Once on COLD with a standard amount of detergent (although I usually skimp on this one a little). And once on HOT with a standard amount of detergent. You'll also need to run an extra rinse cycle during that second washin'. It's important to not have soaps and stuff building up in your diapers because they'll stop being absorbent.

Be CAREFUL on your laundry detergent choice! You've got to go as natural as possible. No laundry additives, softeners, or optical brighteners. You'd be surprised what ALL that knocks out as potential detergents for diapering mamas. It's annoying really. I make my own detergent, which I'll have to blog about separately, but there are other alternatives. See this chart for a fairly comprehensive list of many common detergents and their ingredients.

Another thing I've learned over time was to QUIT FOLDING ALL THOSE DIAPERS!!!! Seriously. I'd do the laundry and then sit FOR.EV.ER. folding rectangles into smaller rectangles and then stacking them up higher and higher. When Atticus was first born, he lived in OUR bedroom, so his changing table was a seat thingie in my walk-in closet. I used this little wicker shelf doodad to stack his diapers on. It looked great. WHEN it was full of freshly laundered and folded diapers. Gabe had a crate on top of his changing table full of HIS diapers.

But.

I HATED every moment of that. I'd get SOOOOO frustrated when I'd go to grab a clean diaper, and it would come unfolded before I could get it in the cover. I kept thinking...WHY am I wasting my time folding it and stacking it, when I'm going to have to fold it AGAIN anyway??!!! Finally, (and I truly don't know why I never thought of this on my own) I was reading Becca's blog one day and she had a picture of a big laundry basket sitting on the changing table full of cloth diapers that she had taken straight from the dryer. That's where she KEPT the basket. I was like......"WHOA!! What a concept!!" I promptly went out to Target, purchased a large plastic tub (orange, of course) with handles and have been happily dumping clean diapers into it ever since. (You can see it to the left of my changing table in the picture above.) And that is their new home. No more folding. None. Whatsoever. Except if I've got time, I'll go ahead and stuff my pocket diapers so they'll be ready for Daddy (in case he's helping at bedtime). 'Cause he don't stuff. *grin*

This post brought to you as a part of Works for Me Wednesday. Cloth diapering works for me, but you should check out all the other stuff that works for folks. Go be enlightened.