Posts Tagged ‘NaBloPoMo’

I’m not ordinarily very good at keeping this blog updated. It’s been up for a while and my average is about 11 posts a month, but sometimes I take a very long break and try to catch up later. That’s kind of what I’m doing now. You might possibly have noticed that I have a lot of posts this month. I don’t always get them up right on the day, but I’m at least working on them and things are looking pretty good.

In the spirit of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), November is also NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). I have no desire to attempt a 50,000+ novel written over one month, but a post a day? That I can do! Don’t misunderstand, writing a novel would be awesome! I don’t have a great idea for one though, and it seems a little impossible for right now. Maybe when the boys are a little older we can work on that one together!

Jen is coming to visit in a couple days and I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the computer while she’s visiting. Of course, there will be some. So I’m trying to compose future blog posts rather than fall short at the end of the month. Maybe this will inspire me to keep this updated more regularly anyway, and possibly with something more interesting than just what’s going on in our life!

We have a new family at our church: Jessica, Josh and baby Caden on the way. They’ve been here almost two months and are really great! We had them over for dinner and Balderdash a few weeks ago and had such a good time. I hadn’t heard if anyone was throwing a shower for her and Caden, due in the beginning of December, so I decided to throw her a party.

I’d never thrown a baby shower before and haven’t even been to that many of them. So I called up my friend Katy to see if she would co-host with me. She always makes wonderful cakes for these sort of occasions, so I thought it would be fun to work on one together. For a while I’ve been thinking what fun it would be to decorate cakes, but haven’t really had many occasions to do so. Katy and her boys came over on Thursday and Friday to put together an awesome cake! We made the buttercream frosting and marshmallow fondant from scratch. Caden’s nursery is jungle themed, so I wanted to do a cake to match. We molded all the decorations out of fondant and piped frosting for the grass, name, and vines. I think it turned out beautifully and it tasted really good, too!

I also wanted to try my hand at a diaper cake. I’ve seen these for sale on base and online and I think it’s kind of a cute way to gift diapers to someone. I didn’t want to spend hours rolling and tying each diaper individually, so I laid diapers flat and spiraled them inside different size cake pans, then secured with ribbon. I didn’t have a lot of little goodies to decorate the cake with, but I threw a couple on there to make it pretty. I think looked great and only took me less than 30 minutes to whip up!

I had a great time at the party! We played some games: a blind cotton ball scooping game, a baby items memory game, and a baby name race game. Katy and I had goodies for all the game winners. We also had a great baby-themed devotion by Mrs. Popwell, our pastor’s wife. Everyone brought some finger food, so we ate lots of yummy treats and then had our cake. Then Jessica opened all her gifts. This is their first baby, and shopping for #1 is the most fun. She received lots of cute clothes and gifts!

It was a fun time and I always like hanging out with the church ladies. We had a whole lot of babies due over the summer (I was one of six pregnant ladies at one point) and Jessica is the last of the church pregnant ladies that I know of. I hope there are more soon so we can enjoy more fun showers and sweet little newborns! I just had a turn though, so don’t look at me!

My little Rhino,

I’m so sorry I’ve let three months go by without writing to you. Plenty has happened worth writing about, but we’ve been keeping very busy!

Since my last letter to you, you received your first haircut (and it’s probably time for another one now!) You were sporting quite the mullet before, so it was definitely time to chop it off. You immediately looked so much older, our little big boy.

You still aren’t talking a whole lot, but your vocabulary has expanded in the last few months. You say: mama/mommy, dada/daddy, baby, no, uh oh, wow, oww/owwie, kite, bee, apple, Blues Clues (“boo boos”), ball, two, and bye/bye-bye. All your animal sounds are still growls, but we’re working on oinks and woofs! About a month ago we introduced a little bit of sign language to you and you picked up on it very quickly. You tell us: drink, food, eat, more, thank you, and ball. You use it all the time and always appropriately (“Please, food! More, more, more, more, more! Thank you.”) Sometimes you just go into the fridge, get the juice and grab your cup, and bring them both to me signing “please” over and over.

You were able to visit with your Grammy last month. She and Uncle Ron came out to visit for a little over a week. We met them in Tokyo and did all sorts of fun things down there. You went to Tokyo when you were 12 months old, but you seemed to enjoy it a little more this time around. You rode the trains and subways, walked through town, saw temples and shrines, played with toys and read books in the hotel, ate lots of rice, and slept in bed with Daddy. Then we brought Grammy and Uncle Ron up to our house in Misawa where they played with you a lot. We went to playgrounds, ate out at all your favorite places where you eat a lot of rice and fruit, saw more temples, they went with you to playgroup, and showed Grammy all your toys. It was a wonderful time and you really liked being around your Grammy and Uncle Ron.

When we first moved to Japan and you were just a few months old, we started going to playgroups on base with other little babies. You didn’t seem to care much about them and I got busy, so we stopped going. Then when I was pregnant with your brother, I didn’t feel like going. We recently started going again to two different groups, one on Wednesday that does a variety of different activities, and one on Thursday that meets in a play room. You really like it when the Wednesday group goes to playgrounds around our area. Sometimes they do craft projects that are a little too advanced for you and you don’t really have the attention span for right now, so we haven’t been going as much lately. There are a few little boys that are right around your age in the group that you like to run around with. The Thursday group has a bunch of boys your age and we all meet in a big room with lots of toys, mats, tunnels, swings, toy tools, and a ball pit. You love throwing all the balls out of the pit, screwing and hammering various things around the room, and snuggling up inside the net swing and flying back and forth. We also occasionally go to the Weasel’s Den, where you go wild with all the space, slides, toy houses, big soft blocks, and ride-on cars. Now that it is getting colder, we will probably do more things like this for now. We used to spend more time inside, but over the last few months you seem to get cooped up at home and definitely need to get out and run around a lot. You have so much energy!

Speaking of your wild side, you do get a little crazy sometimes! I’m having a harder time keeping up with you, especially while tending to your baby brother. You seem to know the perfect times to act up, when I have my hands full with a cranky or feeding baby! You’re a smart boy and understand and dislike the consequences of your misbehaving, but sometimes it seems that you weigh your options and chose to be naughty in spite of a spanking. Some people have described you as strong-willed. I think it’s been hardest lately because you might be a little bit jealous of your brother. You still love on him, like to hold him and give him toys and kisses, but sometimes you are a little mean to him. When you are angry at me, you will hit Heron or while he’s sleeping you’ll spit on him (where did you learn that?!) I know right now he doesn’t do much with you, but soon he will be a friend for you to play with all the time! I know you’ll enjoy him more then. You seem to still be adjusting to the idea that you can’t have all of my attention all the time, that sometimes I need to hold Heron or want to play with him. He’s still new and I know you will get used to it soon. Most of the time you are such a good big brother!

You haven’t been to the doctor in a while, so I’m not sure what they’d have to say about your weight or height, but you appear to be a very healthy little boy! You love to eat all the time! I made a chicken spinach curry casserole a little while ago that Daddy and I really thought was gross, but you had three bowls full! You also eat the same amount of lasagna as I do. You don’t care a lot for chunks of meat, so we’ve been eating more beans lately. You like the Mexican casserole I make with beans, rice, tomatoes, cheese, and tortillas and eat a huge portion! You still love bananas and mandarin oranges (actually, you love every fruit we’ve had.) You do eat sweets more often than I’d like, but not really too much. Whenever you hear a wrapper, you know that we’re opening up the yummiest food, though! You beg and beg for chips, candy, and ice cream. We usually give you a little bit, depending on what it is. You know that when I’m in the kitchen cooking, that there will be food soon. Whenever the oven timer beeps, you run into the kitchen squealing and grab the oven mitts! You are such a piggy little guy! You are getting awesome at feeding yourself now, too. You use a fork and spoon and usually get most of your meal in your mouth. You use sippy cups throughout the day, but during meals you often use a real cup without a lid, usually with great success! For some meals, you sit in your own tiny chair at your own short little table. You always “pray” before you eat (by holding your hands together over your head), even a little snack, which I think is so adorable.

We haven’t had you watch much TV in the past, but we’ve had a few shows on for you lately. I don’t like to have the TV babysit you, but sometimes it is just easiest (like now) to have you entertained. You don’t get a lot, but you do love Sesame Street (especially Elmo) and go crazy over Blues Clues. Blues Clues is definitely your favorite show. You dance to all the songs and do all the hand motions. You even start dancing with anticipation whenever Daddy or I says “Blues Clues.” You point and laugh and wave bye-bye to Steve at the end. We love watching you enjoy Blues Clues! You do read a lot more now, too. The bottom two shelves on our bookshelf are all books for you, and throughout the day you pick a few out and bring them to me to read. Sometimes you just sit on the floor and flip through them on your own. You’re finally sitting all the way through the book now rather than getting to the second page and running off. Many of our Usborne books have a little duck hiding somewhere in each picture, and as soon as I turn the page you seek out that duck and keep your finger on him. You also have favorites that you always find on the shelf and bring to me. Daddy reads two books to you before bed every night now too and he might have to increase that because you don’t seem to get enough! I love that you are starting to enjoy books (more than just eating the corners or drawing on the pages) and am so excited for the day when you will be enjoying the stories and reading books on your own!

I have been having so much fun getting to know you more and more each month. You are such a sweet, fun toddler and I feel so blessed that you are in my life! Thank you for making me laugh, teaching me patience, keeping me running around, snuggling with me, and always offering kisses and hugs. I love you so much, Rhino!

Love,
Mommy

How are moms supposed do this? I’ve spent the last three days on the brink of death (not really, but you know, I felt like it) and absolutely no opportunity to recuperate. I had a low fever, lots of aches, sore throat, constant headache, upset stomach … and a teething baby and insanely wild toddler. They didn’t seem to get the message that Mom wasn’t feeling up for dealing with their moods. Matt works all night and sleeps all day and we have very few hours together where he can lend a hand. One night Heron sat up pretty much all night screaming for an hour, drifting off to sleep for 10-20 minutes, screaming for another hours, etc. I’m doing everything I know to do to soothe his achy gums (I’m assuming that’s the problem even though I don’t see any budding teeth yet.) He’s doing a little better now, but the peak of his discomfort seemed to be at my peak as well. And Rhino … Rhino! He knows just when to act out the most. Right when Heron finally calms down enough to nurse or fall asleep in my arms, that’s when Rhino causes the most damage. Do I drop the baby, upsetting him all over again, to give Rhino a swat? Or do I whisper-yell at him from across the room and give him lots of Mean Mommy looks. Yeah, he knows when he can get away with tearing all the DVDs out of the stand or pulling all our condiments out of the fridge. It’s been a long, long week and I am ready to go to sleep for a month.

I love Kit Kat bars. Delish! Until I went to college, I just thought that there exists one kid — normal Kit Kats. Then I learned about awesome orange Kit Kats and white chocolate Kit Kats. Those were exciting, but didn’t prepare me for what I was about to find in Japan!

The Japanese have some wild Kit Kats! They aren’t always all available, but go through seasons or are limited editions, it seems. I don’t remember every one I’ve tried so far, but I do remember Ramune (a type of Japanese soda), Vegetable (carrot & apple chocolate with juujitsu yasai cream) and Mango Pudding. I’m always looking out for some of the crazier flavors, though. Read through this wonderful snack blog’s (Japanese Snack Reviews) Kit Kat articles!

Here are just some of the amazing Japanese Kit Kat flavors (no joke!)

• Apple Vinegar
• Black Sugar
• Blood Orange
• Candied Sweet Potato
• Espresso
• Ginger Ale
• Green Tea
• Kinako (Toasted Soy Flour)
• Maccha Tea
• Milk and Red Bean Filling with Green Tea Coating
• Miso
• Muscat of Alexandria Grapes
• Pineapple
• Plum Soda
• Potato
• Pumpkin
• Red Bean Soup
• Red Wine
• Sakura (Cherry Blossom)
• Salt and Caramel
• Soy Sauce
• Sweet Corn
• Watermelon and Salt
• Yubari Melon

Yum!

I have a lot of books on parenting, but since I’ve become a parent, I don’t seem to have enough time to read them! I have a lot of good ones: books on breastfeeding, a good portion of the Dr. Sears library, books on bringing up boys / future men, Waldorf and Montessori books, and parenting with scripture books. I’m slowly working my way through them now. That is what my pleasure reading has become. I am loving parenting books, books on natural families, and Christian child rearing.

There’s another book that I found out about online that I am interested in. I heard of Disciple Like Jesus through their Twitter page and starting reading the blog on their site. It sounded like a good one and would fit right in to our library!

I always see giveaways on mommy blogs or on Twitter and I sometimes enter them. I tweeted about Disciple Like Jesus and how I’d love to win a copy, and then I commented on their Facebook fan page. Apparently, I won the book in both places (I’m not sure if they noticed.) So I’m expecting at least one signed, hardback book in the mail soon! Hooray! I can’t wait to try to find the time to get reading!

We have been planning for weeks to go hiking. Matt gets home from work at 7:30 in the morning and the boys and I were all ready to go. We had the baby carrier packed, the mei tai, hiking boots, jackets, diapers, and snacks! The first place we hiked when we moved here was Oirase Gorge up to Lake Towada, so we decided to go back there since it has been a year since our last visit. I’ve either been pregnant or carrying one or more small children since we arrived and it has squashed my motivation to hike much.

The weather wasn’t so bad here in Misawa at 8am, but by the time we arrived at our destination, the rain was really coming down. I’m not entirely opposed to hiking in the rain, but we don’t really have a good way to keep the boys dry. Rhino’s carrier has a flimsy little rain roof, but it doesn’t help much. I carry Heron on my chest and wasn’t equipped to keep him dry either. So, we took a nice drive around the lake and admired the changing leaves before they fall off and give way to snow. We had lost the mood to hike and Matt usually goes to bed around noon or 1, so we just decided to drive home.

Matt and I plan to hike Mt. Fuji before we leave Japan. We are in no condition to tackle this feat right now, so we really want to get some hikes in before then. I think the Spring ’10 will mark the beginning of our hiking training. Heron won’t be so little and we’ll just make time to get out more. I hope to leave the boys in Misawa for two days and summit Mt. Fuji the summer of ’11. We’ll see! In the meantime, it’s getting cold and damp, so I’m thinking we’ll stay inside a lot until spring. At least we got a nice drive in, though.

It was nice to have Mama and Ron in our home. They stayed in the Misawa Inn on base at night and we had a good time at home or out and about during the day.

We were able to take them to church with us on Sunday morning, which was wonderful! It happened to be a special visitor’s week too, so yay – we brought visitors!

We did the temple and shrine thing down in Tokyo, but we went to the temple here in Misawa, too. It was closed for renovations when we arrived, so we just toured around the cemetery.

We went to the Towada horse park. It was a nice drive out and we all went down the giant roller slide and pet the horses. Every time we visit with Mama and Ron, we play boardgames, whether at their home or in the hotel room in Santa Barbara. We picked up Pictionary this time and it seems like we must have played 100 games in the few days that they were with us. It was too much fun!

We took them to our favorite restaurants around town. We went to Global Kitchen, the new 100 yen sushi place, udon at Matt’s favorite noodle house, and Viking for yakiniku. I did cook some, too, but not nearly as much as I had planned on cooking.

We went up to Aomori to visit a Buddhist temple and Japan’s largest statue of Buddha, Showa Daibutsu (or as we call it, “the big Buddha.”) (Want to know how to get to Big Buddha in Aomori? Here are some directions!) It was beautiful up there and I loved temple grounds. Stunning! We also relaxed at the beach and had some ramen in a very small, cramped ramen house with absolutely no trace of English anywhere. It was delicious!

Their trip was, of course, too short. They had ten days from leaving Colorado to returning home. I wish they could have spent a month, but it’s just not possible. I know this will be the only time they will be able to visit us in Japan and it is unlikely that we will be back to the states before we move again. We’re hoping to meet up in Hawaii at some point, though I’m not sure if I should count on it. I love being in Japan, but definitely do miss being able to see family even a little regularly. When this tour ends in 2012, we’ll at least be back for a visit! Spending time with Mama and Ron all week was wonderful and I can’t wait to see them again!

Mama and Ron came to visit at the beginning of October and I just haven’t gotten around to blogging about it. We did so much, it’s a little overwhelming knowing it will be such a long post! I’m actually going to try to keep it a little short though and just highlight the great memories.

It was a Tuesday when we all got on the train to go down to Tokyo and meet Mama and Ron. The trains here are wonderful and it was a great trip. We take a 10-minute train to Hachinohe, where we then get on the Shinkansen. It’s about a 3 hour ride to get to Tokyo Station and is very comfortable. It stops a few times in the major cities along the way and we get to see a lot of buildings and rice paddies. When we got to Tokyo Station, we took the Narita Express train to the airport (about an hour.) I was a little worried that something would go wrong — someone would get lost, someone would be late — and we wouldn’t meet up. But everything turned out fine and we met them just as they were exiting from customs. It’s so exciting seeing loved ones at the airport, when they’re exhausted after a 12 hour flight and have been awake much, much longer! We exchanged their dollars for yen and got on the train to go back to Tokyo Station. From there, we got on the subway to Minato, where our hotel is. It was a lot of walking, stairs, dragging luggage, and hauling babies, but we finally made it. That was the end of that day!

We spent two full days in Tokyo, seeing what we could, before taking the Shinkansen back to Misawa on Friday morning. On Wednesday we slept in, had a fantastic breakfast at the hotel, took the subway to Asakusa Kannon Temple, explored that in the rain, and then walked through Kappabashi, the kitchen district. This was really interesting, it’s a street where pretty much all the restaurants go to buy furniture, stoves, pots, dishes, fake display food, etc. I didn’t get anything, but there were plenty of wonderful cooking supplies that I’d love to go back for! We had tea and toast in a sweet little shop along the way. This is where Mama and Ron learned about the fancy toilet seats we have out here. We made our way back to the hotel and everyone was all ready pretty exhausted. We went out for a great dinner at a nearby yakiniku restaurant, which was fantastic! Matt and I love yakiniku, but we have a fairly cheap, buffet-style restaurant that we frequent. This one was much nicer and SO delicious! Then we said goodnight to Mama and Ron and Heron and I nursed down in the super-comfy hotel bed and Matt and Rhino snuggled up on the also-comfy sofa bed.

Mama, Ron and I woke up very early on Thursday to make our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market. This is the largest seafood market and also the largest wholesale market of any kind in the whole world. We arrived around 5am and were there to see the vendors setting out their catch. We made our way to the far end of the market where the large tuna auction takes place. Every day there are 1,000 tuna auctioned off. We watched while the fish were inspected and labeled, before the bidding took place. It was crowded and we wanted to see the rest of the market, so we didn’t stay around for the auction. A lot of the stalls hadn’t yet opened. I guess there is a time line to the whole market that we just didn’t get right away. We had been told that this was the best place in the world to get the freshest sushi, so of course Mama was interested in some breakfast! Ron and I are not sushi fanatics, so we found a nice beef bowl restaurant while Mama had her sushi breakfast. The three of us headed back to the hotel where we met up with Matt and the boys. Then we took the subway to Meiji Shrine, which was absolutely beautiful! We walked around the grounds, fed the fish, saw some spiders, examined beautiful flowers, and got a little lost. Then we found the shrine, which was fantastic as well.

Mama and I got a chance to go out alone to Akihabara on Thursday night. It’s really nice to just hang out with her and catch up. It’s been almost a year since we were last together and even though we talk on the phone every week, I still miss her all the time. We walked a lot and had some coffee. We weren’t really up for shopping, we just went to see sights. We didn’t want to be out too late though, because we had a train to catch in the morning!

Now it’s up to Misawa!

Our boys wear cloth diapers. When I was pregnant with Rhino, I did a research paper investigating the financial and environmental differences between cloth and disposable and, in the process, convinced myself to go cloth. I like them, Matt likes them, the boys seem all right with it all. We bought a whole bunch of different kinds of diapers when I was first pregnant and developed our stash. It's great now because with Heron we haven't had to buy any new ones. The ones Rhino out grew are still in great shape. So the more kids we have that wear the ones we have, the further our dollar stretches. Hooray! Also, I can't stand how cute some cloth diapers are! Our boys' bottoms are so adorable in cloth diaper "fluff". I'm writing this today because people ask me all the time what kinds we use, what are the differences, what do we like, what don't we like, how does it work, where do we shop, etc. I thought I'd just put up a post about our routine, our stash, and my diapering thoughts in general. Forget Pins Diapers of yesteryear were white, flat rectangles that you'd pin up and cover with rubber pants. While these are still around (flats and the more absorbent prefolds) and we do use them from time to time, there is quite the wide variety of diapers now. We've used flats and prefolds, as well as contours, fitteds, pockets, and all-in-ones (AIOs) as well as different types of covers: wraps with hook-and-loop, waterproof pants, and wool soakers.

Our Favorites

Two years ago we decided to try as many different styles as possible rather than committing to one type of system. This is what we have tried:

• Flat/Prefold Diapers

For Rhino's second baby shower, I received many, many packages of . When all the old ladies at church heard I was cloth diapering, I think this is the only thing that came to mind because this is the only kind that was available when they were diapering little ones. I was very intimidated by these diapers and didn't have much luck at first. Recently I've been reading about and I actually want to give it another try. This is by far the cheapest diapering option. You can secure these diapers with pins or with a (this is the route we go), or can just be placed inside a cover. We also picked up some Indian cotton and Chinese prefold diapers. I didn't much care for the Indian cotton, but liked the Chinese cotton a lot. I was still intimidated by these and had a short, unsuccessful bout with them and gave up. I inherited a couple dozen of the Chinese prefolds from my friend, Liz, when we moved to Japan so I decided to give them another try. I was previously using the , which I had trouble with. She showed me the and I liked that so much more! These are also awesome burp cloths and inserts to pocket diapers. They are also quite cheap, usually at about $1.50 a diaper. They can be secured in all the ways a flat diaper is.

• Contour Diapers

Contours are flat, hourglass-shaped diapers, usually with a doubler sewn-in. They reduce bulkiness and are secured in the same way that flat and prefold diapers are. We use a Snappi or just put one in a cover, fold over baby, and secure the cover. They are a little bit more expensive, but still a cheap and easy diapering option. We bought some small and used them a lot with Rhino until he outgrew them, now we are using them with Heron.

• Fitted Diapers

We probably use these more any any diaper we have (although pocket diapers might tie or are a very close second.) I bought a couple different kinds to form our starter stash, then we bought more when we saw that we'd use them often. These diapers don't need pins or a Snappi, they are secured with snaps or hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro.) They do need a cover, but around the house we often go without one and just do a change as soon as we see that it starts to get a little damp (so baby's bottom breathes better.) These have stretchy leg-holes and waist to ensure a good fit. They come in different sizes. So far we have only used Smalls and Mediums. Both Rhino and Heron were larger newborns, so the smalls fit right away. Rhino is almost two and still in mediums for most of his diapers. That was the size that has certainly lasted us the longest. We have tried a couple different brands of fitteds: , , , , and . We purchased more Thirsties Fab Fitted and Kissaluvs Fitteds because those were our favorite. If I could do it over again, I wouldn't have gone for the Thirsties, but just made them all Kissaluvs. Thirsties have hook-and-loop and Kissaluvs have snaps and I've found that I prefer snaps on all my diapers. You don't have to worry about laundry tabs coming undone and having the velcro stick to everything. Plus, the velcro wears down, curls up, and doesn't stick as well over time. This is a big deal for me because we are reusing diapers with Heron (and any other future baby we have) and want them to last. I feel the same way about diaper covers and AIOs with hook-and-loop – I'd rather just have everything with snaps. Thirsties are trimmer and come in cute colors. We usually use those during the day. Kissaluvs are great nighttime diapers, but we do use them during the day as well. Fitteds are more expensive than flats, prefolds, and contours. I aspire to sew our own diapers someday and if I do this, I will be making our own fitteds.

• Pocket Diapers

I love pocket diapers! They don't require a cover because the outside layer is waterproof. They aren't as expensive or take as long to dry as AIOs. You can adjust the absorbency by adding more inserts to the pocket. We usually use microfiber inserts (don't let them touch baby skin directly), but have a few hemp and sometimes use tri-folded prefolds. The brands we have tried are , (s), , and .The Fuzzi Bunz are my absolute favorite diaper we own (they have snaps!) but we also have a handful of bumGenius. We've used small and medium Fuzzi Bunz and so far that's all we've needed (7-30 lb coverage.) Oh wait, then there's ! I just bought a pack of these for a good friend who is trying out cloth diapering on her third baby (only 2 weeks old!) I had to pick up a pack for the boys, too. These are awesome! They are the only pocket diapers we have where the sleeve is open at both ends rather than just the backside. This means you can leave the dirty insert inside before throwing in the wash and it just wiggles out. If you try this with a Fuzzi Bunz or a bumGenius, the insert just gets all bunched up inside the diaper. Plus, Smartipants have snaps to adjust the size so both Heron and Rhino can wear the same diapers (plenty of other brands do this too.) We just got these so they haven't been used a lot, but I predict they will soon be my favorite!

• All-In-One Diapers (AIOs)

AIOs are great, easy diapers. Using this diapering system is really no harder than disposables. All the layers are sewn together, including absorbent middle and waterproof outside – no need for a cover. These are the most expensive diapers out there (it seems the average is around $16-$17 each. Some get crazy expensive, though!) We do have about a dozen of these for babysitters, nursery, or simple changes for when we go out. We pretty much have only used the s (different sizes – again, smalls and mediums.) We used some at first, but I really didn't like those at all. I think it was an older style, because all the pictures I see online when I search now look a lot better than what we have. We like them, but part of our plan to cloth diaper was to save money, so we definitely didn't want these to make up most of our stash.

• Diaper Covers

If you don't want the floor, your lap, the carseat, and baby clothes to get wet from the diaper, baby needs a diaper cover! I've talked a little bit about them throughout the post. The majority of our diaper cover stash is . These do the trick, but I'm sick of the velcro. They're getting ratty, not sticking well, and in some parts it's coming completely off. There are snap diaper covers, but we don't have many of them. This waterproof material is called and is the same stuff that makes up the outer layer of our pocket and AIO diapers. We also use and covers. I prefer the covers because of their fancy little leg gussets that prevent any normal leak from getting through. We also use at night, which work great. We have a cover, but I've never really liked it much (velcro, but no laundry tabs; eats in to our boys' thighs.) My unexpected favorite in the diaper cover department is wool. ! Liz gave me a cover (an old Stacinator, not the soft, stretchy new ones) and we love it! Who wouldn't love infrequent washing, no bacteria, and no odors?! I learned to knit when Rhino was a few months old just so I could : , , and .

Where to Get Diapers

As you may have noticed, there are many places online to get cloth diapers. There are also many brick-and-mortar stores now that are carrying them. They are pretty common here in Japan and we see them often in normal baby stores. I have always done our shopping online, though. The vendors that I have used and been very pleased with are:

1. Cotton Babies
2. Soft Cloth Bunz (now Diaper Junction)
3. CD4Baby (now Mama Oh Baby)
4. DiaperCo

And I'd love to try out Green Mountain Diapers sometime.

Washing

We have quite a few diapers and could probably get by only doing laundry every 5 or 6 days. The fewer you have, the more often you have to wash. I do every other day or every three days because 5 or 6 days of having diapers sitting around would be pretty gross. I keep a dry pail with a diaper pail liner (we've used a Bummis diaper pail liner since Rhino was born, which is so-so, but recently found the Swaddlebees Blueberry pail liner and love it!) We've used a lot of different products to combat smell and stains including Bac-Out, Citrus Deodorizing disks, Diaper Buddies, and baking soda. It's really not a big deal after just a day or two. Most of the time I have a citrus circle in the pail, though. When I do laundry, I use Charlie's Soap. It is awesome and I have switched to using it for all our laundry! I put all the diapers, including the pail, into the wash for a cold rinse. Then I do a hot wash with 1/3 – 1/2 a scoop of Charlies with a cold rinse, then another cold rinse just to make sure all the soap is out. I remove the liner and any diaper covers to hang on my indoor hangar (Japanese style.) If it's a nice day out, I'll hang all the diaper (or just the stained ones) out in the sun. The sun works wonders on diapers! Anything I dry, I put in the dryer on low for about 90 minutes. AIOs take a while to dry (and some of the fitteds) but the pockets and prefolds are usually finished before that. When everything's dry, I stuff any inserts, fold any prefolds (wha?), and snap or velcro everything up.

What About Wipes?

We've tried cloth wipes. I have a whole bunch of soft wash cotton wash cloths, bamboo squares, and flannel scraps that we have wet and used, sometimes with "Bottom Cleaner" I don't know why I'm so lazy about wipes, but it just never stuck. We now pretty much always use Pampers Unscented wipes. I don't feel so bad about creating waste because on the whole I'm pretty good about not having tons of trash (no disposable diapers filling up the garbage can!) At one point I would wet cloth with a little of the bottom cleaners and keep them in a wipes warmer, but they got a little funky. Then I used a crock pot, but it was way too hot, haha! I think if our bathrooms were big enough to fit a changing table, then I would use cloth wipes and just dampen them there at the sink. As it is right now, that would be a big pain. If you are interested in trying out cloth diapers and have any question, please don't hesitate to email me!

Update: We've been using cloth wipes for about a year now and are loving them! I took some old flannel receiving blankets and sewed square scraps together and we just wet them with water when we use them. I think the biggest pain before was keeping a container of moist wipes. That's not a problem now; we just prepare them as we use them and then throw them in the wash with the diapers. Not a big pain after all!