7 surprising things about cloth diapering

From the moment I learned about cloth diapers, I knew that I wanted to cloth diaper any and all future children. Thankfully my husband was on board when it came to that point and we have happy been cloth diapering ever since. One year in and I'm (oddly) excited about the prospect of having two babies in cloth ... I see it as a challenge ... can we get by with the stash we have? how often would we have to wash diapers? will we like the same kind for our second baby? There are a few unexpected things about the cloth diapering part of our lives:

1. Conversations with my husband like this:

 (while driving)

Hubby: Oh yeah, that is definitely her poop face. She's been making it for a while.

Me: I don't think there is a liner in the diaper ...

Hubby: Which diaper is it? 

Me: The simplex side snaps

Hubby: That's okay, it's not the "cadillac" 

2. Joy when I realize that the stray wet bag I just found is filled with an unused diaper. 

3.  Frustration looking for the stray wet bag that I know has a dirty diaper in it. 

4. When meeting another mom or family that cloth diapers, I'm like "We must be best friends!" 

5. There are people (mainly mamas) who are obsessed about cloth diapers. Obsessed, I tell ya! - the newest print, "bum placement" having a full rainbow stash. I actually left a facebook group because it was too much for me. Now, to each their own but since one of our reasons for doing cloth is financial that actually depends on my not buying any more.

6. It actually helps me keep on top of - at least a little bit - the laundry. Knowing that diaper laundry is time specific (it usually has to be done when it has to be done and we will soon be needing to use those diapers) and knowing that it takes up the washer/drying for a part of diaper laundry day, actually encourages me to get the rest of the laundry done on the off times. 

7. Watching my dad/aka Grandpa fold cloth diapers is SUPER entertaining.

Do you cloth diaper? What would you add to this list??

We don't have many cloth diaper pictures but I like this one the best!

"You are our gift. You are our child."

Dear Baby,

We talked briefly about having another baby but the words still hung in the air when the lines showed up positive on the (five)pregnancy test(s). I said "the odds couldn't have been great" but you are not a number or a statistic, you are our child. I worried about having our kids so close together, about having two babies under two and how it would all work. I worried how I would deal with the exhausting and take care of both you and Zoe. I worried that it would somehow shortchange your sister and you.

 

And then we went to church and I held your sister while she played with my hair and tried to compete with the priest. And I knew then that you are not a problem to solve. You are not a challenge to overcome. You are our child, our gift. I don't need to worry if the car is big enough ... if the house is big enough ... if our bank account is big enough ... or if my heart is big enough.

 

You are our gift.

 

You are not the sum of the number of pounds I haven't lost since Zoe's pregnancy or the number of books we will have to move to put a crib in your Daddy's office or the number of hypothetical hours that are not sitting in my PTO bank at work.  

 

You are so much more than all those things (and in a few years, none of those things will matter). 

 

You are our gift from God.

 

He requires nothing from me than an open hand and heart with a good dose of thanksgiving. It will be hard and we will be tired but it will also be good and beautiful and right. 

 

For now, and for every day with you, I will say Thank You to God who created you and who holds you closer than we ever will. He knows your name; he has it written on his heart, on his hand. You are not a surprise to him. You are His creation that He gives to us for safe keeping.

 

And I am thankful.

I wrote that first bit months ago, when I was scared and surprised to find out that I was pregnant again. Thankfully those feelings quickly changed to gratitude and I've managed not to "schedule" the next several months or make lists of what needs to be done. I have mostly just been thankful (and tired). 

As the tiredness and nausea has faded, I have heard so many people say how great it is to have babies close together and I am looking forward to having a newborn during which the experience isn't totally new. 

We are pretty sure that, as with Zoe, Christopher will find out the sex of this baby and share it with two creatures: Zoe and Loki. He thinks the baby is another girl and I think the baby is a boy. Either way, we will be excited and happy. They will be 18 months apart. We know that it will be exhausting (but that's a trademark feeling of having a newborn baby, whether there are other children involved) but we also know that this is God's plan for our family. 

The baby is due mid-April and I think it will be fun to have a Spring baby this time around.

Our sweet girl who has no idea what the commotion is all about.

Blog-tober Day 23: A guide to your city

A few seasons ago the Bachelor (or Bachelorette) did a hometown date in Milwaukee and, although we don't watch that show, hubby and I watched the bit of the show when they toured Milwaukee and we were pleased to know that we choose the right activities. It was something like a visit to Lake Michigan, a brewery tour and a visit to the Milwaukee Public Market.

Those things are all well and good but if you come to visit us, your visit will look a little different. We live in a part of Milwaukee called Bay View and we LOVE it here. Here are our favorite local gems:

We would go see Lake Michigan but it would be from South Shore Park (bonus points if the farmer's market is going on) or we would take a short hike down there via Seven Bridges Park.

We would eat at some local places like Stack'd (the BEST fried pickles ever!), the Broken Yolk, and Cafe Lulu's which is a short walk from our place. And we would get ice cream from Babes.

And Christopher would give you a tour of our basement where he brews and he would open what we have on hand for you.

=) 


 

Blog-tober Day 18: A tale of traveling

Well, I didn't do great on this challenge but I did blog more so perhaps I can call that a small success. Perhaps it wasn't the best time to do something like this -- more on that later. ;)

Ahhh ... traveling. I traveled quite a bit back when I was single and (ahem) had more money/time and less of a commitment holding me close to home.  That said, I am taking Zoe to Florida next week so I can't complain TOOO much although I wouldn't give up my current "commitments" for all the travel I used to have.

I began looking for pictures and instead found some old blog posts.

Our honeymoon from 2010. 

A girls trip to Mexico in 2011

And, although I have no pictures on my laptop (and am too lazy to go upstairs and get them off our desktop), sometime in the years before I got married, I traveled with a group of girls that I met in Ghana (West Africa) while working with Mercy Ships. We went to New York, Charleston and Seattle and I LOVED all of those trips.  Charleston was my favorite as I enjoyed the history and Southern charm.

Blog-tober Day 9: personality

Introverted or extroverted??

The best way to describe me is "an introvert who can masquerade as an extrovert." I am renewed by time alone or with just a few people but I also get a little bit of energy from being in large social situations. On a scale however, I don't fall really fall on the introverted side.

My Meyers Briggs letters are ISFJ. Introversion, Sensing, Feeling and Judging. My S and J fall pretty close to their counterparts though and it kind of depends on how I am feeling when I take the test since I've had both letters on both of those.

Truth be told, I think it is helpful to think about these things in order to know yourself and others better but I don't like being pigeon holed into a certain "personality type." When people ask me about my daughter's personality, I often respond "She is Zoe."

Interestingly, my husband and I are opposite in most personality tests and we talked about it often at the beginning of our relationship and now again with a little person who has unique needs (consistent bedtime, for example). How do we make sure that Christopher gets enough "people time" and how do we make sure that I get enough "alone time" when there is almost always a little body in the house. It is much easier now that Zoe is on a more predictable schedule and going to sleep early enough for us each to have what we need.