Cloth is Back

So we cloth diapered Isaiah from the time he was two weeks until eight months old. It was surprisingly easy, and I really came to love cloth diapering. The benefits: 1) you don't have to continually buy diapers and wipes; 2) no pee leaks or poo explosions, ever; 3) no diaper rash, ever; 4) no harmful chemicals; 5) cloth diapered bums are so darn cute.

Caring for the diapers wasn't hard, especially once we got a diaper sprayer that attached to the toilet. I never dunked a diaper or anything sick like that, I found that cloth diapering really wasn't any more disgusting than regular diapering. After all, with either method your baby still craps in his pants and you have to clean it up. The difference was that I flushed gross stuff down the toilet rather than wrapping it up in a diaper burrito and putting it in a pail that I (ok Brett) had to later throw in the dumpster.

Well we were only able to make it for eight months. That is because all of a sudden, around eight months of use, the diapers would smell rank after just getting wet. It was positively, eye-watering-ly, disgusting. And Isaiah started to get the nastiest diaper rash I have ever seen. He had never had a rash prior, and this rash was much worse than Isla had ever had. The rash he was getting was actually more of a chemical burn. He had blisters that would peel. It almost looked like a sunburn, nothing like regular diaper rash. I tried stripping the diapers a variety of ways but I couldn't get anything to work. I researched and kept trying different things, but in the end I bought some Huggies and gave the cloth diapers a rest for a while. As it turns out we had an ammonia build-up problem. So after letting the diapers sit unused for months, I boiled them, soaked them overnight with the ammonia removal stuff you use for live pet fish, and then washed them again. And you know what? It worked. So cloth is back in our house.

Oh and in case you are wondering, I use primarily Bum Genius 4.0s. I also have Flip covers which I use with Flip inserts and Bumboo fitteds.

And on a different note, I finally gave Isla her birthday present from Brett and me. I bought it so long ago (can't even remember when) and I have been saving it in my closet, waiting to give it to her. I am so jealous.

Disney princess dress up set: five dresses, two pairs of gloves, capelet, light-up glass slippers, and Rapunzel hair. We have to invite her girlfriends over soon. Today she didn't want to wear regular clothes. She is currently dressed as Cinderella. I can see how this may save me a lot of laundry in the near future. But we may also die of glitter inhalation.

A.L.A.D.

This year, my grandma gave me money for Isla's birthday so we could go buy her something. She doesn't really need any clothes and definitely doesn't need any toys, so instead of buying something I thought that we would get her a piggy bank and just give her the money. And a plus is that we could teach her about tithing. Anyway, I was thinking a simple, pink piggy bank. I got on Amazon and let her look at pictures of coin banks the other day just to give her an idea and to see if she wanted any one in particular. Here is one that I like:

It's nothing fancy I know, but it is what I am going for. It's wearing a tutu (which you can't see), so that is a plus. Today, she is playing legos and says:

I: We forgot to get a something to put the money in.
(Sidenote, I love how a lot of her talk is just disjointed nonsense. This at least was a complete sentence, but most of the time she brings something up out of the blue, gets confuzzled and makes no sense, then gets frustrated and says "I don't know what I'm talking about.")
A: Oh, you mean a piggy bank.
I: Yes, a pinkgy bank.
A: Did you like the pink pig with the tiara and tutu?
I: Yes, but what if we get that one that's a bum? And what does it do when you put money in?
A: It toots?
I: Yes! It toots. So we get the bum that toots? Then we could put it on the bookshelf. Wouldn't that be a great idea?

And for those of you who don't know what we are talking about:

Yes, the blessed thing actually makes a farting noise with every deposit. I would probably be a better mother if I got her the pig, right? Because butt banks and farts are gross and inappropriate, right? Or, should I be awesome and just buy her the butt? Because she asked for it. 

What do you think?

Birthdays, Pumpkins, Hail, Oh My!

We had three birthdays in two days:

Grandpa and Lauren's birthday was the 16th.

And Isla's third birthday was on the 17th.

Her third year interview is forthcoming.

We were able to go to a pumpkin patch over the weekend with Isla's friend, Dara.

They had a stinky petting zoo where the kids fed the animals. Joy.

I don't have any good pictures of the stinky petting zoo because our hands were full trying to keep Isaiah from jumping into dirty duck water or eating the lone bunny in the pen. Also, did I mention it was stinky? Yeah, I couldn't concentrate on taking pictures. I did take a long, boring video of isla feeding a sheep, but I'll spare you.

We had a lot of fun. My favorite part was the frozen yogurt after. Yum. 

Again, no pictures. I was busy.

And lastly, did you know it hailed in our parts last week?

Those pictures are from when it was still pleasantly sprinkling. Pretty soon, the sprinkle turned into a downpour, which then turned to hail. Our parking lot was a little flash-flooded. 

Then two days after our glorious, cool rain, the temperatures were back up to 90s (100s one day). And the 80s are where we are headed today. Boo. But fall is coming soon, I can feel it.

Oh, and one more thing. For ALAD:

MUSTACHIOED

She is three!

Boo!

The kids were thinking spooky thoughts this morning.

Happy early Halloween.

Baby 3 is due in May.