Thursday Thirteen #18

Thirteen things I love about cloth diapering! My kids call me "sick addicted" to buying cloth, lol. The new cloth diapers are as easy as disposables to put on and take off.

1. This is a small part of my "stash" of diapers. The rest is packed for the next baby, or for Sam to grow into, or is hanging dry. Its just so fluffy and pretty!
2. It makes great headwear! And it makes for easier potty training later.

3. You can express yourself with them! Sam wears his motto on his bum.

4. You can show off your favorite super heroes! Save money on buying shorts in the summer, too!

5. They are just way too cute, you have to admit it!

6. And even with complete cuteness, total coolness, and absolutely fabulous embroidery, its very comfortable, too. And just as easy for Dad to change as a regular diaper. On and off with velcro tabs, no pins or covers.

7. It saves you money. I've spent soooo much money on diapers with 7 kids, I can't even begin to imagine! At least $1200 a kid, we use pull-ups for years and years, too, so I'm guessing more like $2200 per kid. I've spent less than $500 on Sam, and I can use all the diapers for more children and sell them when I'm done! HIGH resale value!

8. It is better for the environment. I am NOT an environmentalist at all. But the amount of resources torn down and destroyed to make a diaper, the bleach and chemicals used that makes the water no longer usable, the centuries in landfills, its just no match for the small amount of water used to wash cloth, which goes to a wastewater treatment plant.

9. The amount of water used to wash cloth diapers is about the same as a person flushing the toilette for their own personal use for the week. So if he was potty trained, it would be the same amount of water.

10. The toxins in disposables are linked to many problems, including asthma. It is deadly for animals to ingest the stuff in diapers, yet we let those chemicals sit next to our children's genitals, scary.

11. Sam is allergic to disposables, so we have no problems with cloth, its much better on his skin!
12. You are not allowed to put human waste in the garbage, you are supposed to dump the poop out of disposables before throwing them away. Its really easy with cloth, the new cloth just lets the p00 fall right off, no sticking, no swishing! Its easy!

13. Its cheap, its cute, its soft, its environmentally friendly, its actually easy and not much more work. But the best reason is that it brings out the most incredible nurturing feeling in my heart each time I change Sam, wash, hang, stuff and fold his diapers. How many people do you know LOVE to change diapers? I do!!!!




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My first activity as Women's ministry leader

It was a very busy weekend, but I made it through! Sam started screaming fits on Wednesday after meeting Mac, who is a screamer. I thought it was weird, but whatever. Then on Thursday he broke out in a head to toe rash! It only got worse on Friday, but I couldn't get him to the doctor, so I could not be sure of what was wrong. I suspected an allergy but couldn't be sure.

I went to the retreat anyways because I was the leader, and Drew brought Sam to me a few times to nurse. But Saturday I had to have him with me because I didn't have a driver at home to bring him to eat. So Hope-Anne babysat him away from the ladies and other babies. I took him in and it was an allergy! I had switched laundry soap recently, and then found out Kaytlin broke out from it, too, but hadn't mentioned it.

The retreat went well! It was small, which is hard to keep a good head about, because I wanted it to be a "success" by numbers, but that is not what it is about. One of my written goals as women's ministry is to create smaller groups of women for more intimate sharing and support. I met women on a level I had not known before, and even found out another family in the church had gone through a reversal and had reversal babes! The speaker, who is my cousin, check out her blog Touching Heaven, was great! She has been called to Africa, her and her family, not just her, and it was great to hear about it.

Oh, the drama in my life recently! I am ready to pitch the whole used cloth diaper trading and buy new to avoid people who are unbelievably mean-spirited. But the good that has come from my review of someone's business is that my blog readership is going through the roof. Check out how my stat counter has risen since the owner posting in two different forums about me on Saturday. I hope that I gain some new readers and some new friends from it all. I know that I have gained many new friends through it already, as I was invited to two different forums over it. The drama got so crazy that the posting had to be stopped and people got infractions for the things they were saying, which may mean being banned for a few months in some cases.

I will also be removing a pic because someone who gave me permission to use her pic decided she didn't like me because I would not "obey" her every wish on my personal blog. It wasn't enough for me to give the maker of the diaper a link to her site, I was supposed to name her business and give her credit for it on the say-so of the person whose babe was in the pic, the maker of the dipe did not have a problem with the credit she received. I later acquired a dipe from her and love it so much I dedicated a post to her dipes, but I wasn't about to endorse her before I had tried the dipe. Unfortunately, I have ill feelings about using that diaper maker because of her "friend." If the dipes are so wonderful, and all the bad reviews are not true, why does she need to be so vehemenantly defended when there was nothing to defend? Its kind of scarey. Maybe I only got good service because when I got a dipe from her she already knew about my blog and talking about the dipes?? I realize it is her friend that is acting crazy, and telling lies about what happened, which were corrected by me, but because I pointed out she was lying and proved it, she suddenly wants her pic down. If I don't have her pic up, there is no reason to link to the maker of the dipe. She is hurting her friend. I don't have to remove the pic, once you are given written permission to publish something, its published, and they can't revoke it. But I will still do it because I don't want to deal with her and her public lies and bashing. (against forum rules, so she was reported.) All 10,000 members of that community have access to her tirade, and have access to my blog showing exactly what I did, and that she was lying.

I have someone else who is giving me a pic of their Superman diaper by the same maker to post, though, so I don't have to change anything else in the post. But still, I wonder if I want to promote that business now?

Ok, this is a book now, so I'll move on. I should have made it a Sunday Festivus post, lol.

Oh, I could post 13 of the meanest, or most ignorant comments made on my TT this week!

What Makes America Great?

I don't understand something. What makes America great is that we have freedom. Freedom to do much of what we want and believe in, and freedom to disagree with things and freedom to speak about it. But people want freedom to do what they want and for me to not have freedom to disagree with it.
Isn't that amazing?
I have a diaper review post. I reviewed diapers I have tried and talked about the owners business sites and products. I gave a so-so review of the diaper, parts of it were impressive, but they don't work on Sam, however, her website had a picture that I felt was unprofessional, and I said so. Nothing against her beliefs, which pretty closely coincide with mine.
I now have a couple of "anonymous" people commenting that it is hurtful and I shouldn't say that about people, and that it is discriminating to not buy something from someone because they are so proud of nursing their toddler that they post pictures of their br*ast on their business website.
Discrimination. That's a buzzword to get people to shut up. Sorry, I won't be intimidated.
I have stopped buying products I love because companies support causes I am against. That's not discrimination, that's freedom.
Its just a bonus that they are screaming discrimination against breast feeding when I am currently a breast feeding mom, breastfeeding my 7Th child.
Isn't it nice that they have the right to be offended by my saying something is unprofessional? Some countries they don't have the right to be offended, the government says whats what and you get to deal with it.
Oh, and they even said I am what is wrong with America because I think bo0bs are "private" parts, lol. They want the right to show off your private parts, and other people should not have the right to have pure thoughts and not be invaded by others lack of modesty. If you are hurt, too bad, because if you don't like it you are hurting them. They are the only ones allowed to hurt others.
Sorry, a review is my opinion on something, and my opinion is going to be said on my blog. Turn the channel. Which is what I did with that diaper site. I don't like it, so I won't look at it or buy it.
Oh, and thank you, Anonymous who also says it is unprofessional without slamming the person's viewpoints!

The Super dipe! A review of diapers.

Don't forget, I'm having a contest! Share your birthstory with me! Here's a link to the Birth Story Contest!

I received the Superman diaper that I was crazy obsessed trying to find! This is a MudpieBabies diaper! It is wonderful! Soft, super absorbant and cute as can be! Tiffani does wonderful work on her diapers. This diaper will work overnight, as it comes with a good amount of soakers you can snap in and out for different needs, more for night time, less for day time. I absolutely love the softness of the inside, and the outside is really nice compared to vinyl or pul fabrics I've had on other diapers. I just love it! My 17yo wishes he could get one for himself, but thats a whole other post, lol.

I tried some Bear Bottom Britches that I got used. They have pass through pockets, which I was really wanting to try out. The diapers have really cute fabric. When I saw them I thought they MUST be for newborns or premies, they are SO small and narrow, but I even got one on my 30lb 3yo without a liner in it. They are very deceiving in their fit, which is amazing. However, I would not buy them again. They do not have leg gussetts that keep the poo in, and some of the inner fabric seems to repel rather than absorb the pee, but not all of them. I have 5 with 4 different linings. I love how they fit, and I love the cute looks, but I haven't gotten any of them to work right, even with different soakers. Then I went to her website, and I was just flabergasted at what she posts as pictures of herself on her business website. Unprofessional. I'm not against breastfeeding, because I exclusively nurse my children, and I'm all natural, don't circumsize, nurse in public (covered), etc. A bare br*east doesn't offend me, especially while nursing, but to post a picture of yourself nursing a 2-3yo showing your whole br*east on your business website does not tell me you are a serious business woman. Totally turned me away.

BumGenius! diapers are by far my favorites, though! I love that they fit so many sizes. (I use the one size diaper) I love their cottonbabies inserts, I use them in almost all of my diapers. I love the mudpies and Fuzzi Fannies for fun and function, but they are more expensive diapers. BumGenius are slightly expensive per diaper, but you get so much use out of them! They are my number one diaper, my "workhorse" diapers. Anything else I buy I use for good or fun. Like this summer when Sam will normally just be in a diaper and t-shirt, it will be fun to have really cute diapers on him!

Happy Heineys, which can be bought at my friend's store, Snooty Booty Diapers, are really nice diapers. I love the fabric and the comfort of the inner fabric. The soaker is nice, too. Its a very roomy pocket, and can be stuffed for night time or daytime. Cute patterns. I like them a lot, but they are not my favorites. I do recommend them, though.

*Update

In light of the huge amount of traffic being driven here through the forums at Hyena Cart, I want to say a great big "Thank You" for making my stat counter go crazy!

Really, I want to thank you guys for your support, and the relative few complaints about my feeling that that picture was unprofessional. Feel free to keep emailing. I personally do not have a problem with Angie, the owner of Bear Bottom Britches. I even stated that I liked things about her diapers. Which I do! I use the 5 I do have, however, if Sam poos in them, its all over the place, which is gross, I have NO poo leaks ever with BumGenius! I am a current breast feeding mom, on my 7 child that I have breast fed all of them. I co-sleep, I do not circumsize, I do NOT immunize, and I even vote Republican! I also put my kids in public school and would love to homebirth unassisted, just as Angie does.

This post clearly states that this is a REVIEW of diapers. I reviewed her company and product, stated my views. I did go check out her site again and loved to see that she is proudly standing by her views, and giving fair warning of the picture now. I still feel it is unprofessional on her diaper site, and probably would be more appropriate on a blog, but that is her choice in this free country. If you put it on your business site, that makes it public knowledge what you stand for and up for public scrutiny. I think Angie is probably strong enough to deal with someone not wanting to see it.

Sam's Motto

This is my super fantastic new diaper from Fuzzi Fannies! She is the maker of the Superman dipe I was drooling over. I couldn't snag a spot to get a Superman made, but I snagged this wonderful dipe that she calls a "second" but I think is perfect! It is the softest, most wonderful thing to touch! I would love underwear made of whatever incredible fabric is inside this!

I do have a Superman coming, though! I'll be posting about that as soon as I get it, some time next week. And I bought a bunch of superhero dipes off another site today, 2 Spidermans, a superman, and a batman, maybe dh will get excited about cloth diapering now. Well, I can hope, can't I?

Cloth Diapering Obsession

Update on 4/4/07: Pic has been removed at the request of the mom whose baby it was on, she revoked the request because I would obey her and not only give a link to the mom who made the dipe but name her and endorse her before I had tried a dipe. She made accusations and lied about me and the pic, I proved her wrong in the public forum she posted it in, and now she wants her pic down. So, at the ranting tirade of a 2yo mom, the pic has been changed to my Mudpie Babies dipe, until someone else with a FF Superman dipe comes forward with a pic of their babe in it! Or maybe the owner would like to volunteer one.

I'm a tight-wad. I hate spending money. I hate throwing things out. Somethings are worth the money when saving time, but generally, I hate wasting money. So, I begged Donnie to let me cloth diaper Trinity. He would not go for it. (knowing I am lazy, he thought they wouldn't get washed and would be ruined) Plus, he didn't want to deal with cloth and dunking and rinsing and stuff.
So, when pregnant with Sam, I showed him some info on the poisons in disposables and the things it causes, like asthma. Then I showed him how much it costs to use disposables, and what it costs to use cloth, even with washing expenses. And then I showed him the resale value of cloth diapers! Its insane! I can almost diaper for free! Upfront costs, but back end sales... I'm all for the money! So, we use cloth for Sam.
I love BumGenius! diapers from Cotton Babies. They are one-size diapers, and fit my newborn and my 3yo! Easy for everyone to use, they go on just like a disposable! I just wash every other day, and I do it, too! I LOVE cloth diapering! Ever hear anyone say that about disposables?
So, since I'm a tight-wad, I surf diaperswappers.com for deals on my diapers. The other day I came across this Superman diaper similar to this pic. I. WILL. HAVE. ONE. My baby WILL be SuperSam! I found the post after the diaper had been sold. Shoot! So I emailed the seller and tracked down the maker of the dipe, and she doesn't make diapers anymore!!!!!! She did tell me she got the logo off ebay, though. (hers isn't this actual pic, its a smaller version) So, then I do the search for more Superman diapers and I found the one that is in this pic. And I advertised that I am in DESPERATE search for this diaper! I got the maker to email me, hehe. But she is almost impossible to hire! She posts two diapers for sale every other week, and you have to sit at the computer when she posts them and be the first to hit buy now!!! This diaper is not a one-size. It will only fit for a little while, and its not gender nuetral. Why am I doing this?? I MUST HAVE ONE!!!

So, I send an email to a group I belong to about it. And the owner of SnootyBootyDiapers emailed me and found a maker for me. The only problem here is that her dipes are more expensive (not Lynda's, but the makers) and side snaps, which I don't like the looks of. BUT it would be a Superman diaper. And then a friend on the list who makes MudpieBabie diapers said she had the materials to make it, but has to find the pattern to embroider it. Her diapers are reasonable, but I'd probably need to go a little higher since she is having to go special buy a pattern for me.

And THEN the lady who bought the diaper that started this whole obsession emailed me and offered to sell me the diaper when she gets it, because while she likes the diaper, it isn't a "MUST HAVE" like it is to me. LOL Wasn't that the sweetest thing ever!?! I won't take a Superman diaper off another cute hiney, though.

So, I am still on the hunt, but I know I will be getting a SuperSam hiney in the near future! I don't know what it will cost me, but I know it won't be as much as this diaper! THATS INSANE! I promise I will never get so obsessed over a diaper that I would pay $205 for it! I will pay over $30 for Superman, though, hehe. I must have one!

And I will be sitting on ff's website waiting for her to post her openings and try to get one of the slots faster than the other 200+ people trying!