Why Cloth?

It's Real Diaper Week!What does that mean? This is the week leading up to The Great Cloth Diaper Change, and in preparation, the Real Diaper Association is promoting cloth diaper advocacy and education. The Great Cloth Diaper Change is a yearly event in which people try to break a record for most cloth diapers changed at one time. At locations across the country (and around the world) at exactly 12 noon on Saturday, thousands of people will be changing cloth diapers, and I'll be one of them. I'll be at the Central Street Farmhouse changing my baby boy from one cute cloth diaper to another.

So why did I choose cloth diapers?  There were two main reasons I wanted to cloth diaper, but there are lots of bonus reasons that others might find helpful in making their decision. For me it was money and my baby's tush.

Having worked in child care, I knew just how many diapers a baby could go through in a day, let alone through their whole diapering lifetime and the cost for disposables is staggering if you look at it in those terms. I figure that with our initial investment of under $300, we saved close to $1500 in diaper costs, and that's only for one baby, now when I use those same diapers on the next baby (and next after that...?) they'll save us even more!

Have you ever seen a baby's cute little tush? My baby has an adorable bum, really, it's so stinkin' cute. I'm not going to show you pictures or anything, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but really, it's precious. And have you seen a baby's tush all covered in diaper rash from being stuck in a chemical laden piece of plasticized paper all day? Not so cute. We've been cloth diapering since Benji was almost 3 months old (would have started earlier, but he was too tiny for the one-size dipes I bought) and in that time, he has not had one single diaper rash. Now it could just be that he has very unsensitive  (yes, I like to make up words) skin, but I'm convinced that the cloth diapers have at least helped.

Some other reasons people might choose cloth include:
*Cloth is safer for the environment - less trash in the landfills and less trees being consumed in production.
*I kind of went over this before, but have you seen the list of chemicals in a disposable diaper? And the disposable wipes that go along with them? It's pretty gross.
*Cloth is cute! See below, you'll understand!

I'm sure if you asked a hundred cloth diapering moms why they chose cloth, you'd get at least a hundred different reasons, but those are some of the top ones. Do you use cloth? If so, why? If you don't, why not?

Here's my #1 reason to cloth diaper

Wordless Wednesday #5: Circles

The local photo shop hosts a photo contest each month with a theme and this month's theme is cirlces. I'm thinking of entering one of these photos. What  do you think?

New listings

Just a quick note to say I've updated all my Etsy listings and added some new ones. Feel free to check them out!

Here's a sneak Peak!

Happy Easter

Easter is definitely my favorite holiday.

Not because of the cuteness of the soft furry animals that have come to represent Easter (though they are cute).
Not because of the egg dying or egg hunts (though I do love hard boiled eggs).
Not because of the baskets full of toys and candy (though I do love all the candy!).
Not because of the special dinners with family and friends (though you know I love holiday dinners with family).

I love Easter because of the true reason for the holiday. I've also heard Easter referred to as Resurrection Day and I suppose that is a more appropriate name for the day. It still amazes me to think that Christ would lay down his life for the likes of me, but not only did he do just that, but he was raised again from the dead to go ahead and prepare a place for me with our Father in Heaven.

So this Easter when you're dying your eggs, opening your basket of goodies and partaking in your special dinner, I hope you'll take a moment to remember the truly amazing reason for this day and thank Him for His grace.

Wordless Wednesday #5: Mommy's Little Model

Had some fun doing a photo shoot to showcase the hats I've been making.

Aren't I just the cutest thing?

Okay, Mama, all done.

Can I take the sweater off, too?

I call this one "Blue Steel"

 "Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They're the same face!"

Whatever, Mom.

You just don't understand us male models.

Wordless Wednesday #4: Birthday boy!

I know it's late in the day, but I thought I'd throw up some pictures of my little birthday boy anyway.

Party #1 which took place in Oregon

Birthday dinner - Beans and Rice

Opening presents

First taste of birthday cake!

Playing cars with the boys

And Party #2 which took place back at home and was actually a combined party for my little man and his grandpa Charlie

Playing with his cousin and the cool present she got him

Opening presents from Meme and Grandpa

Grandpa's turn to open presents!

Say "cheese" birthday boys!

Mmm this cake is good, Mama!

I guess the answer is "nobody"

Since no one entered my giveaway, I guess I'll just make a hat for my own little monkey, he needs a new one anyway.

Yesterday was my baby boy's first birthday. I honestly cannot believe it has been one year since I first looked into those beautiful eyes. We've been so busy this week visiting family and going to all my favorite restaurants and getting ready for the party that I haven't had time to put together a proper first birthday post, but I'll get to it soon. I'll also be posting a whole mess of pictures from our week, so fasten your seat belts!