Cloth Diapering

If you would have asked me if I would ever use cloth diapers, I would have said NEVER!

And then I had to buy swim diapers.

Since we swim a lot around here, I bought some and was so sad at the price. Eleven bucks for 20 diapers! That's ridiculous! Thankfully, Target put washable swim diapers right next to the disposables. I thought, "That wouldn't be too bad. Ashton never even goes to the bathroom in the stupid swim diapers." So for ten dollars, I left with a washable swim diaper. We used it a couple of times and I didn't mind washing it. I felt a lot better because I wasn't throwing away a diaper that wasn't peed in.

Then, Ashton started getting a persistent diaper rash. No matter how often I changed her and how much diaper rash cream I put on her, it never completely went away. So I did some digging and started using coconut oil, which helped immensely. After three weeks, we finally figured out it was a yeast infection from taking antibiotics for her strep throat. But I just couldn't help but think that the paper-y diaper rubbing against her as she crawls and walks around must not be comfortable. She kept getting red marks on her inner thighs too. So I thought about cloth diapers. Then I remembered a family in town who uses them. I went over to see their collection and was amazed at what cloth diapers look like nowadays. They're much different then I thought.

So I found some new/slightly used ones on eBay to keep costs even lower and I won some auctions. We bought Gro-Via hybrid diapers and we are now the proud parents of a cloth diapered baby. I made a wet bag to use since I couldn't bring myself to spend 30 dollars for one from Amazon. Total, it cost about 10 dollars to make and a trip to Hobby Lobby. Looking back, I'm not sure it was worth the savings because the waterproof material is tricky to sew with. It only took an hour, which isn't much. Thank goodness I'm not a perfectionist. Also, the type of diapers we got sell a flushable liner that costs about two cents each. This allows us to literally flush away messes. No scraping or spraying poop off!

So far, the only two things I don't like about cloth diapering are laundry and trying to change the cloth diaper on an active baby. Changing Ashton with disposables was already a challenge and then you add in the extra steps/time with cloth. But, I guess it teaches both of us patience, which we could use a lot more of. Laundry gets old but then again, I was doing laundry once or twice a week anyways. I like the fact that our garbage output as a family has decreased since we're not filling it up with diapers. That makes me happy. I also like not feeling guilty when I change her often because I am not throwing away money in diapers. Overall, we're pretty happy. Here are some pictures of Ashton showing off her diapers.

She loves that rocking chair.

A little close to the TV. I'm sure she'll be blind in a few years.

And an added bonus of her sleeping in her stroller. A rarity around here!

Double Digits

Weight:  21 pounds

Height: 30 inches
At my nine month appointment, I continue to be very tall and am finally averaging out in weight.

Clothing Size: Mix of 12-18 month stuff. Still have the issue of pants being too long and onesies being too short.

Special Outings: The beach and swimming a lot

Firsts: First word, "MaMa," and first time being babysat while awake! I did great!

Likes: Swimming, walks with my cheerios, unstacking blocks and towers, taking EVERYTHING off surfaces around the house, playing with Mom's hair, playing "shot put" with my parents (Dad pretends I'm a shot put ball and launches me to Mom), playing on my mattress, playing with the Wii remote, and rolling the ball to Mom

Dislikes: Mom walking away from me, water in my eyes, rashes, mosquitoes, solids most of the time (still not hooked on eating solids), taking naps, sleeping through the night, and being sick

Any big changes: Nope, I'm a happy little girl who loves Mommy and Daddy

Biggest Lessons Learned: I can honestly say that I love this stage that Ashton is at. I didn't think I would with her mobility increasing every day. Once again, Ashton surprises me. She loves exploring and learning. Sometimes, she'll just being sitting still on the floor opening and closing her hands. She'll be looking at that so intently and I love imagining what she's thinking. She learns more things each day and I love being able to witness that first hand.

Monthly Pictures:

Pulling books off. We recently moved these bookcases to our spare bedroom for this reason.

 

 

Laying in bed one morning.

I love this trick of Ashton's but Joseph is not a huge fan. She has started pulling out silverware to help us.

 

Monthly Video: Sorry it's long. Just watch the first minute or so.

What the next month should bring: Switching to cloth diapering

Fourth of July- Baby Style

No fireworks for us this year. I could see the tops of some from our window but that's all. Ashton's bedtime is 8:00pm, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So we'll have to wait for a few more years before we celebrate this holiday with fireworks. However, we did have some fun. We mowed the lawn, went on a walk, and met up with some friends for dinner and swimming. I realized after the fact that I didn't buy Ashton her first 4th of July outfit. Luckily, a friend gave us a bunch of clothes and that included a festive skirt. Then Ashton wore her BYU shirt that sort of fits her. I'm not the best at buying Ashton festive, holiday outfits. Here are a few pictures of us celebrating the weekend.

Matching shirts

A little side part going on

First tasting of ice cream

Love at first taste