Seeing and Celebrating

I am a firm believer in the promise that God will replace or restore what has been lost. Time. Strength. Love. Relationships. Purpose. Family. Friends. Joy.
I love the Scripture, "I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten." (Joel 2:25)
A close second, "what the enemy intended for harm, God has meant for my good." (Genesis 50:20)

At the moment I'm sitting here drinking iced coffee, watching a little HGTV and skimming Martha Stewart Living mag on my lap (the June issue, because I'm that behind, haha), and listening to my girl chatter away to her dollies through the baby monitor. Rare Momma recharge moment, and I love all of it- including and especially the full day we've had leading up to this little respite. Because it's still new to me after months and months of being too weak or sick to do this? Probably! But mostly because, for weeks now, I'm overwhelmed with the fact that that it's such a gift to have work to do, and strength to do it.
You don't realize how sick you were until you finally catch up from nine months of survival mode and realize: "I'm not a terrible cleaner, or home owner, or pack rat- I was just conserving energy that I needed to fight and survive!" :)
Grace for the self: so important.

Victory turns two on Friday. TWO! Where does the time go? Well, I know where most of this year went. Since last October (ten months ago) I've been in some crazy health circumstances. Thankfully, miraculously, wonderfully, the ITP crisis has been quiet - in remission as the doctors would say- hopefully completely Healed, I say- for weeks!
Now (because if it's too quiet, we'd be bored?) I'm facing a different kind of health issue. Urgent, but not critical. My liver enzymes have been elevated for weeks, and there's talk of rejection, biopsy, ruling things out, confirming other things... a bit frustrating in how cryptic and unavailable the Drs have been, and I haven't been able to speak with my actual hepatologist in weeks. August = vacay month it seems :)
I should be hearing the plan by tomorrow though, and it will be good to know what it is.

Despite this new challenge, I am overwhelmed with satisfaction at how well our little family not only survived the past ten months, but we thrived. And we are determined to keep thriving, no matter what we face in the weeks and years ahead.

Victory is turning two on Friday and I don't feel like I've missed one thing. God is so good. And my little girl is such a blessing. Earlier today she climbed up on a kitchen stool, turned on the faucet, and started rinsing dishes. I asked, "do you want to hand me those, you rinse and I'll load the dishwasher?" An emphatic, "Yeah!" was her response, and together we loaded the dishwasher. Pretty soon the sink was empty. This is her norm. Watching us do things around the house, and wanting to join in or take over and help. The joy she brings to our family is immeasurable.
My 23 month old is speaking in short sentences already. She jumps and dances and laughs, and has an incredible sense of humor. She sings. She lifts her hands sometimes during worship when we livestream church.
She is brilliant, watching something once and imitating it immediately, or days later, with attention to detail, and determination.
By the way... This is not a mommy brag post. This is not meant to make you think I have it all together. Oh boy am I still a work in progress. This is a brag post I intend to be pointing up to my amazing God. Every good thing, every gift, I just smile and look up...

I just marvel at how so many blessings can be wrapped up in one tiny person.

However: do not be mistaken. My girl is of course about to turn two, and showing all those parent-character-testing qualities as well.
[In fact I had to remind my girl at least three times while working on this post, that this is indeed naptime... she finally fell asleep... and now a quick twenty minutes later she's up. Win some, lose some :) ]

I look for the teachable moments- for her and for me- and smile at the end of each day. What a gift it is to be a mom. Especially after losing a baby four years ago, and when this little one was just two months old, being told the liver disease that ruined my first liver has returned. And this year of absolute craziness where in June my Hubs - the always believing for healing, never expressing worry, rock of our home- said (after I was out of the CCU and home from the hospital) he thought he was going to lose me.

Recently, many of my friends and acquaintances have been either announcing first pregnancies, or a second or third little one on the way. It can be easy to get sucked into a poor me, no fair mindset. We could not even think about trying to get pregnant again this year, as the implications of a pregnancy combined with ITP could have been devastating for me and a baby. We have to do such a balancing act of faith vs practical. Especially because I'm a big faith, "but God!" person.

I may never be able to get pregnant again. Or possibly, I shouldn't ever get pregnant again. If my liver doesn't shape up, the doctors will start telling me things like it is unwise and dangerous to be pregnant.
Where some couples only need to decide how many children they would like to have and how to space apart the pregnancies, we have to talk about things like, "is my body even capable of carrying another pregnancy? What if the ITP returned? Will colitis flare again like last time? What's my liver going to do? How will these meds affect the baby?" And that horrible question I learned to stop asking some time ago, but I'm sure some of you wonder if we do, "What if a baby survived but not me?"

I'm not trying to be a downer. I am normally pretty positive here [she chooses joy isn't just a title, it's my life!], and truly that is how my thoughts are most of the time. I've done quite a bit of work on my thought life the past four years. Today I just wanted to shine a little light on my very real world, not all rainbows and cotton candy clouds, and show you (though I'm not sure I'm doing a good job sticking to the point Lol!) that even with seemingly unfair or frightening circumstances, you really can thrive! I hope I am sharing how it is possible to walk through life with serious circumstances, and at the same time have complete faith in a God that does the impossible every day.

Victory is a double blessing of a baby in one little girl, and not a day goes by that I don't see that and thank God for that.

Zechariah 9:12 in The Message says, "This very day I'm declaring a double bonus- everything you lost returned twice-over!"

My heart rests because, while I dream of having a bigger family one day and I believe God can and will heal me, and may make that dream happen, my heart is full being a mother to my one wonderful Victory.

What if God has already fulfilled a promise to you, and you just haven't noticed it yet? You looked, but didnt see?

We need to look for and see the good in what we have, before jumping on a train of thought comparing our life to another's, or whining at how unfair we think life is. If I spent all my time only wishing I could be pregnant again, or have more babies, or that we had the resources to adopt instead of paying medical bills, I would be robbing myself and my family of being fully aware and grateful for all I have in the present.
I missed a lot of days and nights with my girl this year, in the hospital, the infusion center, the clinic, my bed. I had to trust that she was going to be just fine, and so was I. I had no choice on my physical location, and the way I saw it, no choice in my thoughts either. I had to fight to trust!

And here we are.
Celebrating TWO, celebrating my platelets recovering, celebrating our faithful God!
Instead of looking at what I miss, I choose to see the restoration, the full replacement and overflowing beyond, of what was lost.
And celebrate, celebrate, celebrate,
rejoice, and thank God!  :)

Crazy Week, part two

I ended up being in the hospital for five days, I think. I got to go home finally on Saturday afternoon. The first 24 hours in the ER and CCU went by so fast, when I was trying to remember what happened there and how long it was, it was a blur. I'm sure that has to do with the whole "hemorrhagic shock" thing. Medscape says, "Hemorrhagic shock is a condition of reduced tissue perfusion, resulting in the inadequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients that are necessary for cellular function. Whenever cellular oxygen demand outweighs supply, both the cell and the organism are in a state of shock."

I really didn't take the CCU doctor very seriously, I thought she was overreacting calling it that, but once I was up walking around, and felt the complete muscle weakness in my quads and calves, I realized that my body really had to pull strength from somewhere to get through those intense hours. It was tough just walking down the hallway one time; my legs really lost their strength over night.
Once I was discharged and trying to get back to anything resembling normal life at home, that was a rude awakening! I realized, okay, my body really took a hit in those couple hours that my blood count got so low. How I got to that point, by the way, is the same thing that's been happening repeatedly in the past six months or so. An episode of bleeding that gets out of control, my body can't keep up with the blood loss, and things get ugly. (ITP / critically low platelets + Ulcerative Colitis / gut infection causing GI bleeding = no clotting happening = bad scenario)
So after all that, I realized the doctors weren't overreacting, they were really concerned, and took good care of me. This was the worst, most serious event we've had happen, and I am lucky to be here ... again ... always.

On Wednesday, I believe it was (my first full day out of the CCU), I had a great friend come to the hospital to visit me. A dose of friendly faces from the "outside world," bringing faith, smiles, genuine care and help to you when you're stuck in the hospital -especially when you have no clear timeline of getting out or solution to prevent this from happening again- that is such a gift! Thank you to my sweet friends and family for coming alongside Hubs and I through this, both this one event and throughout the past eight months. It's definitely been the hardest year of our life together since we've been married, and probably the hardest year for each of us individually in our lifetimes. The people who've stuck by us and trudged through this season with us - you are truly priceless!

Wednesday evening, just when I was starting to get concerned that I hadn't seen my hematologist and wondering if he would be coming by, because we had some things to discuss - he popped into my room like an instant answer to prayer! We had a great chat about putting some notes in my chart for any staff to be able to access, noting that we have a plan in place for when I have to come to the hospital, and basically saying to all the doctors just meeting me and seeing my lab numbers, "Do not freak out! This is normal for her and we have a plan!" It was funny to hear my doctor admit, "When I first met you and saw your numbers, I freaked out! But now I'm used to it." I have a great care team and I appreciate when we can laugh about things together :)

We also set up a plan to go by when I went home. It is basically, to go to the lab twice a week to monitor my CBC (red blood cells - hematocrit and hemoglobin, and platelets, being the most important numbers to watch), and call with any serious bleeding, and if a transfusion is needed, the nurse will triage me to either an outpatient infusion center, or an overnight direct admit to the hospital for fluids and blood if needed.
It felt really good to set up a plan, just because everything has been so unpredictable and crazy the past few months, at least we now have a set idea of what to do when symptoms come up. I realized I have to do a better job of facing the reality of a bad bleeding episode too, and go in for labs and let all of my doctors know, instead of hoping it will clear up on its own.

The rest of the week was mostly a LOT of blood draws, a few more units of blood transfused, magnesium IVs, IV steroids, and starting an antibiotic for aNOTHer infection I got from being in the hospital. Yuck! Thursday night (early morning) I got 90 minutes of sleep, the rest of the night I was awake and in serious pain and going back and forth to the bathroom far too many times than anyone should ever have to! Thankfully that improved slowly over the next few days, and though I could have gone home sooner if I had not had that infection come up, it was good to stay in the hospital until everything was calm and my counts were stable.

I sure miss my Victory when I'm in the hospital. Highlight of the week was definitely her visit!

While I was in the hospital, we also started talking more seriously about something that came up the last time I was there: surgery. Surgery to remove my colon. I'll blog about that next time.

For now I'll wrap this up. I have been to the clinic for three CBC tests since leaving the hospital, and each time my hematocrit and hemoglobin have been good, staying stable above 30! My platelets were 7,000, 8,000, and then most recently, 11,000, which is no where near normal (150,000-400,000) but it's great to see them stable and even increasing a bit.
My guts are staying mostly quiet, and no serious bleeding issues, Praise the Lord!
It has been a true gift to be able to be home with increasing energy and strength for more than one week. I have been able to do things I haven't done in months, maybe even all year! So many things go by the wayside when you're in survival mode, from regular cleaning chores around the house, to taking time to enjoy yourself with a hobby project or outing. And getting to be a hands-on mom again, after so many days and weeks of pain and weakness and needing help to even change diapers, has been the BEST!

So that's part two of my crazy week. Thankfully, since I've been home things have gone from crazy to calm, and are going well! Quiet and stable is much preferred to crazy and serious :)

The New JC Penney, and A New Dress

This post has nothing to do with Paleo, gluten-free, or food at all. Because I am a multi-dimensional person with a life outside of the kitchen ;)

Yesterday was a doozy of a day. My baby girl was almost injured very seriously. Thank You Jesus again, and again, and again that she is fine. It really shook me up. THEN, the toilet flooded, and the water just kept flowing, and flowing... It was horrible to just stand there and watch it flow out of the bathroom, down the hall, and I couldn't get it to stop! Thank you, my amazing husband for coming to the rescue. 

The water could've ruined our one-year-old hardwood flooring, but it didn't. Serendipitously, our linens are right next to the bathroom and I threw down every bath towel I could find to soak it up. I have the last batch of towels drying in the dryer now - four loads of laundry later!
Hubs removed the sink, toilet, and floor from the bathroom and laid down new subflooring and toilet. If you remember, last year when we started the baby bedroom remodel we found that our bathroom needs redoing too. It's been a year of putting it off and boxes of ceramic tile sitting in the house getting tripped on... Well sometimes you need a push to get moving on a project, and life gives you that push. Like a toilet clogging ;)

But, the day wasn't all bad. In between the two events, I drove my girl and myself to the mall and we did some stroller time browsing and checking out spring fashions. It was fun! We spent most of our time at one particular store... Have you guys been to the "new" J C Penney yet? I went for the first time yesterday, and it did NOT disappoint! I have been wanting to go since they announced their big changes a few months back, when Ellen (Love her!) became a spokeswoman and did those great Superbowl commercials set in the old West and Victorian times. Some of JCP's new promises include "Fair and Square Pricing" - no more confusing sales or x.99 prices. They have simple, easy to read red, white and blue colored tags, with great prices every day, plus monthly specials, and markdowns on the first and third Friday of each month. They promise "Happy Returns" on anything, anytime, with or without a receipt. I heard that they are working to bring jobs back to the USA. I guess someone had an "aha moment" and got passionate about returning to the company's roots. Pretty cool!
...Listen to me, I sound like another JCP spokeswoman. I'm not, but I am excited about their changes! So, go JC Penney! Thank you for supporting some of the good American traditions and reclaiming and improving upon your heritage!

I think the best part of the new JCP -you may have noticed this if you have cable and see the entertaining colorful TV commercials- is that every month they have a theme. Some of the red tagged "everyday prices" go lower for the month, the store decor changes, the doors and signs are decorated. For example, this month the color theme is pale purple and says, "it's Mother's May." It's fun :)

It was great fun looking around yesterday. There are some new designers, fantastic prices, and the quality of the clothing seems very good. I think with myself and my peers, since we were preteens we've classified JCP as our mothers' and grandmothers' store; not exciting or sophisticated stuff. But they have transformed! I noticed that they've got modern styles for every brand and age. I wanted to try something on at every turn, and was mentally picking things out for my mom and great aunt... So, you go JCP-loving Grandmas! :)

When I saw this dress I fell in love. Isn't it pretty? The perfect color and belted for this summer...



My first Mother's Day is coming up next Sunday, and I decided to treat myself and get this dress.
Ladies, we all need to reward ourselves sometimes, right? Wear something that make us feel beautiful is one of the best ways we can honor ourselves. And what better day to do that than Mother's Day??
I even got a surprise at the check out counter. The dress had a red $35 tag (Everyday Deal), but it rung up at $25. Yesterday was May 1, and it had just gone on monthly special! Score!

Every woman needs a pretty new dress for spring and summer. Have you picked one out yet? Do share! And if you check out the new JCP, let me know what you think. We can compare notes :)

Family Values

I wanted to share something I made last week. First, the back story: We got this big frame (approximately 24x36) from our neighbor. It is missing the glass, but it has this great matting. I was going through photos trying to narrow my stack down to just fifteen, when I realized I could use the frame to make something I've had on my craft to-do list. I've seen this idea around the blog scene lately: a compilation of core family values put to word art. They are usually stenciled with paint onto a hanging board or sometimes painted right onto the drywall in a home. With this big frame, I made my own version. It took about three hours to cut the 4x4 and 4x6 cardstock pieces and use my CriCut to make the words and glue them.

Voila! It feels great to accomplish a project, doesn't it?

For those who haven't seen those other art pieces, it reads like this:
In this home, we do LOVE
In this home, we do COMMITMENT
In this home, we do GRACE
In this home, we do SECOND CHANCES
In this home, we do GRATITUDE
In this home, we do REAL
In this home, we do HONOR
In this home, we do I'M SORRY
In this home, we do TEAMWORK
In this home, we do BIG DREAMS
In this home, we do FUN
In this home, we do BOLD PRAYERS
In this home, we do JESUS
In this home, we do HUGS

I challenge you to consider what values you want to uphold and teach in your home, and once you decide, go ahead and display them. As with any big goal, keeping the vision in mind every day determines your success!

I am a MOM! :)

Freedom of Cloth Blog Carnival

Just a quick post tonight to share something I found today. Over at Natural Parents Network they are hosting a "Freedom of Cloth Diaper Blog Carnival" for seven days, and featuring many articles regarding a specific cloth diapering topic each day this week. Yesterday, for example, was "Cloth Diapering Must Haves" and a bunch of blogging mamas gave their input on any and every accessory you might need for cloth diapering. Monday was all about recipes related to cloth diapering - homemade laundry detergent, baby wipe solution, etc. If you are interested in cloth diapering at all, you should join me in checking out the "carnival" this week. So much great information, and you can never know too much about something like cloth diapering :)

Healthy Choices for Baby

I am now 25 weeks pregnant, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. Baby V is moving all around in my tummy, and I can feel her every day now. I can feel her punching, kicking, and doing somersaults, but they are gentle and still somewhat muffled because of the anterior (front) position of the placenta. Our next OB check with my perinatologist is in a week, and we have another detailed growth ultrasound scheduled. I'm looking forward to seeing how much she has developed and grown since the last one at 18 weeks!

Judging by my growing baby bump belly and her activity in there, she is thriving. I pray for her every day, that she'll be healthy and not ever have any of the health problems I've had to deal with. God is in charge of her physical development, and we trust Him to take care of her. Meanwhile, Hubs and I have been discussing the healthy choices we want for our family, so we can give her every advantage from an environmental aspect. I thought I'd share them here with you all.

Before I share my big three, tell me: Do you do any of these things for your family? Do you have any other ideas to add?

Decision 1:

We are going to use cloth diapers and cloth baby wipes with our own cleaning solution, so we have control over the chemicals (or rather, so we can avoid the chemicals) that will be touching our baby's skin every day. Before we were even halfway through this pregnancy, Hubs and I read enough about the [toxic] chemicals in disposables (Dioxin, TBT, SAP) to commit to cloth without looking back.
Plus, the environmental bonus feels good. We won't be contributing to the huge mountains of little "poop bombs" sitting across our country in landfills. Did you know that disposable diapers take 500 years to break down? Yikes! Do you think that at some point our communities need to come together and address the fact that our landfills aren't bottomless pits? Human waste belongs in the sewer where it can go through the proper treatment, not the ground where it can get into our water supply.
Moving on though :) As a one-income household, the financial bonus of using cloth is huge! We'll save thousands of dollars not buying diapers and wipes monthly for those first few years. Plus, we'll be able to keep our small garbage can with the city disposal service. (We pay $25 a month now, and it would cost around $50 a month for the larger can to fit all the disposables in each week - that's a 100% cost increase!) And maybe the best bonus of all: no diaper-stinky garbage cans in the house ;)

Decision 2:

We've decided we'll make our own baby food. It really couldn't be easier to do, and very economical because we'll just be pureeing and cooking the veggies and fruits we buy for ourselves. It won't really be a chore, because I enjoy working with food and cooking. I expect it to be a fun activity, and it will feel GREAT to know what goes in Baby's food - no preservatives or pesticides, or packaging chemicals like BPA. And again, as a one-income family it's a smart and simple money-saving choice for us.

Decision 3:
Of these three decisions, this one is most important to me. My greatest goal as a new mom is to breastfeed my baby. The many benefits, from financial (it's free!) to convenience on the go (no bottles or formula mix or water needed!) are obvious, and then the health benefits for Baby. With all of the auto-immune and inflammatory conditions my body struggles with, I am always interested in research and information about them. Did you know breastmilk can prevent a multitude of diseases, including Ulcerative Colitis (I have that), asthma (and that), allergies (those too), arthritis (yep, got it). I'm committed to do whatever it takes to make breastfeeding work!
Part of why it is so important to me is because I was 100% formula fed as a baby, because I was adopted. From the age of ten onward, I've developed one auto-immune disease after another. I can't deny that there seems to be a connection between being formula fed, and my current state of health. So, I've made one single goal for the first month post-partum, and that is to start a successful routine of exclusively breastfeeding my baby. I am going to structure those first few weeks around this one goal.
I'm going to ignore housework, take every opportunity to rest and relax, ask for and welcome help - whatever I can do to succeed at this. It means a LOT to me to try to reach this goal, because I want to give our little one the best advantage I can in case the genes passed on from me are anything but good ones. I am even planning to have a lactation consultant come to our home to work with us if need be.
I know that there are sometimes medical reasons for having to use formula, and we will cross that bridge if we have to. But having this goal in mind and setting us up for success is the best way I can make it happen!




I've been doing a lot of reading, and thinking, and talking with tons of mothers throughout my pregnancy, and I've come to the conclusion that many women do not make informed choices about their labor, delivery, and motherhood. And that's a shame. It's largely a cultural failure I think, because we aren't told the whole story or given options. But I think that as parents we need to know the whole story and be able to make our own informed choices. We need to be empowered with information, and know we're not at the mercy of any (well-meaning but uninformed) doctor, nurse, neighbor or even baby-gadget salesperson. We're going to be parents, and now is the time to ask questions and make decisions for our families with sound reasons behind them.

So get out there, moms and dads, and ask questions, learn, get support, and be confident in your choices! All you can do is give your best, with what you have, where you are. If you're doing that, you should be proud - you are a great parent :)

Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder

I've been trying to figure something out for a while, and I think I've nailed it. There is a point most people reach in life where their childlike sense of wonder is lost.

Wonder as a noun is defined as "the emotion excited by what is strange and surprising; a feeling of surprised or puzzled interest, sometimes tinged with admiration."
As a verb it is, "to think or speculate curiously," or "to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel."

Talking about a sense of wonder reminds me of a song. It's from my junior high or high school days, and while some may call it cheesy, I think it reads like a beautiful letter from a mother to a daughter. I Hope You Dance by Leeann Womack. This line from the song keeps coming back to mind: "I hope you never lose your sense of wonder."
And that is it - the thing I believe many people lose, or let go of, or bury under a pile of other life "stuff." Wonder is something I want my daughter to have.

I want her to never lose her sense of wonder. I want her to keep a childlike faith always. I want her to marvel at the flight of a butterfly, and gasp at the beauty of a sunrise. I hope she'll smile at blooming spring flowers, and giggle at falling snow. I pray she marvels at the Rocky Mountains' majesty. Like the song says, I hope she feels small when she stands beside the ocean. I pray she'll lift her head up at church, look around, and feel joy seeing the family of diverse, beautiful people worshiping God. I hope her breath catches when she witnesses someone making a life-changing decision for Christ. I pray that Christmas and Easter mean so much more to her than the commercial holidays they are becoming. I want her to honor life as sacred at any age, to notice the quiet cooing of a newborn baby or the wrinkled hand of her great grandmother. I hope she tears up someday upon seeing an elderly couple tenderly holding hands just as they have for decades before she was even born. I pray she knows how much God has in mind for her. I pray that cynicism never touches her heart or weighs down her lips.
I want her to keep the wonder that God plants in every heart when it's conceived. It's just so special.

I may have lost my wonder as a teenager - I don't remember. But I absolutely got it back, and tenfold, through the long journey of liver disease, transplant and recovery, and all of the hard days of pain and discomfort since then because of everything else I deal with on top of my liver. I always count that as a blessing. If I've gone through what I have so that I have a rare sense of wonder about me, it is worth it. I know God has purpose for it. I believe living with wonder is a better way to live, and I want that for my girl. Truly, I want it for everyone. Guard your wonder, and keep it safe. It makes life sacred, and memories as treasures. If you still have it, I hope you never lose your sense of wonder. And if you've lost it, I pray you'll find it again.


Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance:"

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances but they're worth taking
Loving might be a mistake but it's worth making

Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance!

Cloth Diapering Pt. IV - All-Natural Baby Wipes

While I'm still undecided on what fabric to use for my homemade baby wipes, Hubs and I are both set on using cloth wipes as well as cloth diapering. We're both feeling great about the fact that we'll know exactly what is going to be next to Baby's skin, instead of being at the mercy of giant American companies that use all kinds of unpronounceable chemicals in their products (many of which aren't allowed even for adult products in Europe! ick!).

I think I've decided on the solution we'll use for our baby wipes. Here is the recipe:

1 cup water
1 tbsp. Baby Dr. Bronner's liquid castile
1 tbsp. apricot oil or almond oil
2 drops tea tree essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil

I got the recipe from this great little article at Natural Family Online. I really enjoyed the article. It lists a very basic to do/must have list for new parents. It's like they read my mind and then wrote the article!
Hubs and I have been trying our hardest to stay away from all the little doo-dads and fancy accessories that the baby industry tries to get you to think you need when you're shopping for your first baby. I've been to enough baby showers and hung around enough experienced moms to know that much of that stuff is just not needed. My goal is to stick with what is simple, healthy, and necessary for my baby. The most important thing she needs, after all, is love and good care. Those things do not cost any money and make the most difference in a baby's life :)

Cloth Diapering Pt. III - "Number 2," and Washing Diapers

This is a great (and very extensive!) chart of cloth diaper-friendly detergents and their ratings and qualities. I love finding resources like this that someone took the time to create and share. Laundry costs for cloth diapering are less than the constant expense of disposable diapers, and if you are a greenie like me, you'll feel much better not adding to the baby poop sitting in the landfills. Did you know a disposable takes 500 years to break down? And that throwing out your baby's poopy diapers is a violatoin of the World Health Organization mandate, that human waste not be allowed in landfills? Every parent and caretaker of babies is supposed to be scraping the poop into the toilet with TP and flushing it. Which is funny, because that's the number one reason I hear parents give for not cloth-diapering - "it's gross; I don't want to touch the poop." Hmm.

With all the cool things that have been invented in the past decade, including diaper sprayers that attach to your toilet, and flushable liners, cloth diapering can be so easy and minimal on the gross-out factor. I feel good that our choice to cloth diaper is going to benefit humankind. I find it sad that it's the norm in our country to send off little "diaper bombs" to the landfill every week, never thinking of how we'll deal with it in a few years. Hubs made an impact to me when he said, "Well, now we know that my baby poop is still out there somewhere, preserved within a disposable diaper from 30 years ago." That was gross enough for me to commit to cloth 100% :)

Cloth Diapering Pt. II - Wool Covers

My first order of business in my cloth diaper sewing adventure is to zip off to the thrift store and see what kinds of old wool sweaters I can snag for next to nothing. See, I ran across pre-made wool diaper covers in the past few months while researching cloth diapers, but saw the cost and said, "Not happening." I considered knitting my own, and that's still a possibility.
Then I found these websites, one with the scoop on making your own wool diaper covers out of old wool sweaters, another with a pattern and instructions to do it, and yet another with instructions on how to lanolize and relanolize occasionally, to keep the moisture resistance. I will definitely post pics once I get this figured out. I can't imagine NOT sewing up four wool diaper covers for $5-10. Here I go!

(Yep, it's the same old Lanolin you might having laying around if you're breastfeeding!)

I think these wool covers made from old sweaters are the coolest thing EVER, especially the ones with pants attached:

Can you believe someone snagged these as old kids sweaters at a thrift store and sewed them into these darling covers and pants? I hope to create some covers as cute as these. Stay tuned! :)

Cloth Diapering Pt. I - We're Sold!

I am super passionate about cloth diapering already. I am getting so excited about it! Hubs and I are completely in agreement - and he got convinced all on his own!
We have done tons of research over the past few months, and talked to a good friend that cloth diapers her little girl. We decided that we'd like to use:

cotton prefolds

with Snappis,

under Thirsties covers

and wool covers;

and
FuzziBunz One Size AIO's (All-in-One's)

I was not initially looking at "modern" cloth diapers like FuzziBunz because I was intimidated by the price. Then a friend gave me her experience with them, and I realized - they are an innovative, amazing product, made by an American company started by a mom, and an INVESTMENT that will last us through one or two more babies. Incredibly easy-to-use and CUTE, colorful cloth diapers for a one-time cost - Wow, can't beat that! (Disposables are SO not a one-time cost!) I checked out the FuzziBunz website at her suggestion. From their FAQ page to the benefits of cloth diapering, even tips to make it MORE green. Check it out.
We figured out that we can buy one or two FuzziBunz OS diaper each month ($20 each) and have a good stock ready by the time she's born. FuzziBunz, AIO's, any cloth diapers are really very affordable when you look at it in little steps like this.

Here are some websites with free patterns for cloth diapers and accessories:
www.diapersewing.com
www.cheekydiapers.com
www.zany-zebra.com

This site has supplies for sewing, like PUL fabric for covers, and snaps for covers and AIO's: www.wahmsupply.com

I am thrilled at the idea that we will be done buying diapers and accessories a few months into our baby's life - once we have our stock, we get to stop buying diapers! We will have a sense of control over our finances and baby's health -cloth will not likely create rashes like disposables do, and there will be no icky chemicals seeping into baby's skin. I feel empowered. Depending on how much help we receive at our baby shower, I will make up the difference by saving and buying them ourselves, and doing some creative fabric hunting and sewing.