Cloth Diapering with Flip Diapers

I knew long before I got pregnant that I wanted to use cloth diapers.  Other than the cost of purchasing disposable diapers every month, I was also concerned about the environmental impact of billions of disposable diapers filling landfills. Since babies typically use 6-8 diapers a day, that puts the number of diapers used before potty training in the thousands. Add in the disposable wipes and that's a luot of trash. Disposable diapers are the 3rd largest consumer item in landfills.  7.6 billion pounds of trash per year. I felt gross throwing away my money on disposable diapers, but more gross about how much trash we'd be producing. We had to use disposable diapers for a couple weeks when Jack was first born because he was too small for the cloth diapers, and I was amazed how quickly our trash can filled up with diapers. 

After doing a little bit of internet research I settled on Flip cloth diapers. Basically, you get the diaper covers (the colorful exterior shells), and then put the absorbent insert inside and snap the cover on, similar to a disposable diaper. After using disposable diapers for a couple weeks I was afraid I might get too used to the ease of disposable, but found that that was largely just a mindset. Cloth diapers aren't any harder to change, the only part that is a bit more labor intensive is laundry. More on that in a bit. 

I also went for cloth wipes as well. Again, same reasons, cost and waste. I also make my own spray to spritz on his bum to clean him up. Not only does it save money but I don't have to worry about weird chemicals being in the wipes. 

Here's my little diaper station. Inserts up top, diaper covers on the left, then my wipe stuff in the white bin- cloth wipes, spray, and diaper rash cream. I also have a little trash can to the right that is my diaper "hamper."  It had a lid and a step opener so it keeps at smell in and I can open it with my foot to toss the dirty diaper in.  I bought a couple wet bags to use for storing dirty diapers in my diaper bag when I'm out and about (one of them is the polka dot bag hanging from my diaper station above, which I put dirty wipes in).

When Jack has a bit of rash starting we use Angel Baby Bottom Balm to soothe it. Also au naturale, which makes me happy.  

In terms of laundry, I do a small load every 1-2 days, which is a lot more often than I used to do laundry, but it hasn't felt overwhelming. I know some people shy away from cloth diapering because they don't have a washer/dryer in their home, or are worried about water/electricity usage. There are some awesome options for small, portable washers that use only a couple gallons of water per load and are the perfect size for washing diapers. There are also centrifugal spin dryers that are small, and both are pretty affordable! The diaper covers must be hung dry anyway. 

I really love cloth diapering.  The only limitation I can see so far is travel.  We'll be traveling next month and I'll do disposable diapers while we're out of town.  Since we won't have a washer/dryer and will be gone for a week, there's not really any way to clean the diapers.  Other than that, I'm super happy with our decision to go with cloth diapers.  We have 17 Flip diaper covers, 18 newborn cloth diaper inserts, and 6 one-size cloth diaper inserts.  We're only using the newborn inserts for now, so I'll probably end up getting more of the one-size inserts once he's grown into those.  But our set up right now works great!  I'd definitely recommend cloth diapering.  It was a few hundred dollars initially to get everything (I found some of my covers on craigslist, so if you're trying to find cloth diapers for less than they cost brand new, consider second hand stores or craigslist), but compared to the thousands I'd spend on disposable diapers and disposable wipes over the next couple years, it made sense to me to make the investment.  Plus, I can use these diapers for any future kids we may have!

Jack's Eclectic Nursery

Jack is 5 weeks old now, so it's about time I shared his nursery!  He actually spends very little time in here right now.  We've got a bassinet set up next to our bed, so he's sleeping in our room for the time being.

I didn't really have a theme in mind when I started working on his room.  I wanted it to be something I would like, since he's not going to remember the room decor anyway, and I'm really not into super gendered decor, so it ended up being a room that, if you take out the crib, could be an office or studio, just another room in the house.

I really love statement walls, and after using WallsNeedLove to do the wood statement wall in our old bedroom, I browsed their selection of wallpaper to see if anything struck my fancy for this room, and I fell in love with this graphic black and white print.  It may be a little crazy and non-traditional for a nursery, but I love it.

I DIY'd quite a few pieces in the room.  The hanging wall shelf is a DIY from my old office.  The succulent print and color spectrum prints I made by just stapling the prints to two pieces of lath and then attaching a string to hang each one from.  The succulent one is actually a photo which I printed as an engineering print at Staples.  The changing table/dresser is a cheap Target dresser with midcentury modern legs added from Pretty Pegs.  The "Be Kind And Brave" banner was made by cutting out letters from black fabric and iron-on backing, then attaching the letters to the white fabric by ironing them on.  Then, I cut a dowel a little longer than the width of the banner, made a channel for the dowel to go through at the top of the banner, and tied a string to the dowel to hang the banner from.  The bunting/prayer flags were DIY too.  Square fabric pieces attached to bias tape using iron on hem tape.  Easy peasy. A fun little artsy DIY was the embroidered b+w photo (the one above the sailor print, next to the succulents).  I want to do more embroidering on photo prints!  This one was an easy starburst design in yellow embroidery thread.

I've had the 5-point paper star lamp since before our wedding. I got it as a possible wedding decoration but never ended up using it.  I've had it sitting around since then and never found a space to hang it until now!  My mom had the other star lamp and also didn't have anywhere to hang it.  We hung them both in the corner before Jack was born.  We hadn't decided on Jack's middle name until mere moments before checking out of the hospital and turning in his birth certificate form, when we finalized his middle name as Polaris.  Polaris is the north star, and is actually a multiple star with the  main star in orbit with a smaller star.  When we brought him home I realized I'd decorated his room with stars before his middle name was even thought of! 

Rug + Curtains + Diaper Cart: Ikea | Chair: Thrifted | Star Lamps: Ikea + Fireworks | Changing Table: Target + Pretty Pegs | Crib: Babyletto | White Shelf: Target via Craigslist | Metal Baskets + B+W basket: Target

Succulent Photo + Winnebago Print + Joshua Tree Photo + Chalkboard Word Bubble + Be Kind and Brave Banner: by me | Tacoma flag + Color Spectrum Print: Stocklist Goods | Pike Place Photo: Charcoal and Ash | Paint by Number: Thrifted | Gospel According to Tacoma Print: Beautiful Angle | I Love My Family print: Beauchamping

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My reading resolution

Before Jack was born I received a gift from one of my mom's friends: a bunch of wonderful children's books along with The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.  I started reading the handbook right away, mostly because the woman who gifted it to me spoke so highly of the book and the concepts in it, so I was intrigued.  I found the book fascinating and I was inspired to start reading more fiction.  I read relatively frequently, but the books I read are mostly non fiction or sort of self-help type books.  

I really want to read aloud to Jack, but in order to do that, I want to have books I've read and am familiar with to read to him.  I have plenty that I remember reading in grade school, but there were also lots that I remember not reading.  Classics and such.  Books that I was *supposed* to read for class but ended up procrastinating to the last minute and relying on spark notes to do my essays/assignments.  I read for pleasure, I guess, when I read self-help books (I mean, I like the content) but having the goal of self improvement doesn't really mean I'm reading for pure enjoyment.  

So, since it's the beginning of a new year, I decided to make a resolution to read more fiction for pure enjoyment.  We have a local used bookstore that is being sold soon and my mom has a ton of credit there from selling books to them, so I've been putting together a list of great books to buy there to use up her credit!  It's perfectly serendipitous that right when I decide to get a bunch of books to read, she's got this crazy huge credit she needs to use up in the next couple months!  

So far on my list I've got:

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Hatchet by Gary Paulson
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Dogsong by Gary Paulson
The Raven's Gift by Don J. Rearden
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Dream of Night by Heather Hensen
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
Scorpions by Walter Dean Meyers
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques

I plowed through Wonder in about 2.5 days, so my next one to read is Where the Red Fern Grows.  A lot of these are young adult and children's books so they're pretty quick reads, but I want to read them so I can at least be familiar with the stories when Jack is old enough for me to read them to him.  

If you're curious about the effects of reading aloud on children's reading ability and education, I definitely suggest checking out The Read Aloud Handbook. The research is fascinating and I'm really inspired by the anecdotal evidence and Jim's passion as well.  Super super interesting stuff.

If you guys have great book suggestions (fiction only!), share your favorites with me in the comments!  I'm trying to read a lot of books that are more kid friendly just because I want to find some really awesome books to read to Jack when he's older, but I'll probably also want some books with more adult themes/complexity sprinkled in there too.  Let me know what your all time favorite fiction books are, or what you're reading now and loving!

Meet Jack!

It's been almost a month since our little dude joined us, and since the holidays happened right after he arrived and tons of family and friends were in town visiting (not to mention postpartum healing and getting used to newborn life), I haven't had the energy to post an announcement here until now!

I haven't written out his birth story yet, and I'll probably share that eventually, though nothing crazy happened so it's not the most thrilling of birth stories.  For the best birth stories, I will direct you to Indiana Adams who has the best and funniest birth stories of all time and makes us all look bad in the birth stories realm.  Thanks a lot, Indiana.  I jest.  Indiana is hilarious and her birth stories really are the best.  Enough about Indiana, though, this post is about Jack!

Jack Polaris Morrow made his entrance on the morning of December 18th after a pretty quick and relatively easy labor.  He was about a week past his due date, which I thought was going to be the case.  He was always so chill and cozy in the womb, I figured he would want to hang out in there as long as possible.  I tried many a thing to get him to shimmy out.  We went to a hockey game.  We sang karaoke.  We did zumba.  We had a full moon (a supermoon, no less!).  Eventually after a couple membrane sweeps and some castor oil (holy shit, that stuff is no joke.  Talk. About. Cleansed.) I went into labor.  It took some convincing for him to make his way out and I don't blame him, it's cold out here!

Dusty and him are already best buds and if he ever complains that his birthday is too close to Christmas I will take him to a Zumba class and show him how hard I tried to get him to come out sooner.  And if he's still not convinced, I'll feed him some castor oil and see how long it takes before he has to run to the bathroom.