Snow Days

The snow is now almost completely melted, but I am lazy posting so here are some snow day pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Cooper loves to eat snow...

...so much that he decided to just stick his face in it.

A neighbor had these intertubes and we used them to sled. Cooper mostly just laid on them.

I will not be postion pictures of myself in the snow because I don't look nearly as cute all bundled up. We had a fun few days, and daddy even got to stay home with us one night because they shut down his work. It was fun but I am not sorry its gone. Trudging through a foot of snow is just not my thing.

I've Been Published! (Again)

Remember back in August (on my 2 year wedding anniversary) when I posted that The Cloth Diaper Whisperer had published a post I wrote for them? Well yesterday (on Cooper's 2nd birthday) they posted another post I wrote! Check it out here and let me know what you think!

Two years ago today..

at the very time this will post, my whole world changed. I became a mommy. Not only was I responsible for myself, but a whole other tiny life.

He isn't tiny anymore, but he's still my whole world! Happy birthday Cooper!

Life After One-Size Diapers: Part 2

So how do my prefitteds work? I'm glad you asked! (And if you didn't I'll tell you anyway!) We love them so far! The wings overlap so I just pin them with one pin like so >>

Around the house I don't make him wear a cover. When we go out a cover is required because these aren't waterproof. We have a wool wrap that I love using with the prefitteds that I bought from Ecomom. We also have 2 pairs of wool longies from Kangadu. I will be buying ALL of my wool from her from now on. She is a work-at-home-mom and her stuff is so cute and very affordable. I used to have a Kissaluvs wool cover but it got washed accidentally and is now a size newborn so I'm saving it :/

Here are one pair of our longies. The other pair has a tractor on the leg. Aren't they adorable?? Amber is soo talented!

I really thought I preferred pocket diapers but I am in love with using fitteds. After I figured out that the pin doesn't have to go all the way through the layers of the front of the diaper, using pins is pretty simple too. Although, when I use the wrap, instead of the longies, pins aren't necessary. These fit really trim too. Prefolds are bulky and so are our other fitteds, absorbent but bulky. These fit more like a disposable without the chemicals & $$$ :)

My little model

I have decided this will have part 3: my wash routine. This what most people find the most challenging when cloth diapering, getting them to not stink! So I think I'll share what works for us! Look for it soon!

Life After One-Size Diapers: Part 1

In my last post I mentioned that Cooper was outgrowing his One-Size diapers. They are advertised to fit from birth to potty training but really they fit from about 10 lbs to about 30 lbs. Cooper weighs 28 lbs and most of the diapers, depending on the diaper, are getting a little too tight around his legs. Tight enough that he is starting to complain about some of them. Mommy had to do something soon. After he turns 2 we are going to get serious about potty training. He already uses it at home occasionally and he acts like he's ready; we'll see how that goes. But potty-training soon or not, he needs diapers now. I did not relish the idea of paying $20 a diaper again for larges, and I refuse to buy disposables until he is wearing underwear so I decided to find a cheaper option.

When we first started cloth diapering, I bought a dozen prefolds from Cotton Babies to extend my stash a little. I like them for days at home, but not so much for out-and-about, plus the husband has trouble with folding & Snappi-ing. (Really I think he just doesn't want to do it & uses that as an excuse) He can trifold and put one in a cover, but that can get messy. So prefolds would not be our ideal solution for toddler diapers.
I had heard of turning prefolds into fitted diapers but most tutorials use a serger and I don't have one. Then I found this one. No serger required and I've had so much fun searching for fabric and making them over the weekend!

*Warning: From this point on this post gets a little picture heavy*

I started out using flannel but flannel pills up pretty bad after its washed a couple times so I wanted to try a cotton knit for the outer. I like that a lot better. It holds up better and its so soft.

This is what I have so far, all flannel. (By the time this posted there was another one not pictured, made from the cotton knit.)

This is one of my favorites.

Here is the inside, with the extra soaker and extended wings.

An owl print, another favorite. Its a bit girly but these will be passed on, hopefully to a girl *wink* and I change them & I wash them so only I see them. I don't think it matters.

A *REAL* denim diaper. I think it turned out great. This one has no extra soaker because denim can rub.

I used Gerber prefolds on these to practice, but I plan to buy some GMD prefolds soon, which are a little better quality. In case you are curious, this is how much it costs to make these. I can get 4 diapers out of one yard of fabric.

Prefolds: $36/ dozen

Flannel: $4/ yard

Cotton knit: $9.99/ yard

Elastic: $1.95/ 5 yards (it takes very little to make a diaper)

Thread: $3/ more than enough for a bazillion diapers

Diaper Pins: $1.00/ 4 pins

So how do they work? I'll let you know in Part 2!

Look...

... what my son did while I made him breakfast this morning.

Yes, he found the crayons and drew on his fish tank. He asked for fish for Christmas and Santa came through. He loves them, but Mommy keeps having to remind him fish can't eat marshmallows or gummy bears or anything else he gets to eat. Thankfully, the crayon came off pretty easy with some vinegar. The fish's names are Google, Freckle, Peyton, and Bob. He named them. Oh, and by the way, Freckle is pregnant....

Want an Update??

Good! Because I finally have time to write one! TONS has happened since I last really updated you guys. My first semester of Nursing finally ended a couple weeks ago. I made a B which I'm pretty happy with considering lots of people failed and I got sick right in the middle and got really behind. I got dehydrated in spite of drinking an appropriate amount of water and was passing out so my doctor admitted me to the hospital. This was at the end of October and I still don't have any answers about a cause. As long as I keep Powerade handy, I'm usually ok now though.

Now for the update you really want! Cooper! My baby will be 2 this month. I really can't believe its been almost 2 years since he was born. It went entirely too fast! He can count to 3 all by himself now! I hope to get this on video to post soon. We'll see how that goes.. He knows blue and green and doesn't seem to care about any other colors. He has been speaking in complete sentences for quite a while now. I swear his vocabulary is larger than my husbands *snicker* He amazes me everyday with how smart he is and how fast he learns. It seems like just yesterday all he could say was mama and dada.

He is outgrowing most of his one-size cloth diapers, which means I get to buy more!! I'm kinda excited about that, but I found a much cheaper way to do it. And its going to get its own post :)

It wouldn't be an update post without a recent picture so here are a couple!

This was our Christmas card picture. If you look close his horse is pretending to be a reindeer, but his antlers blended into the tree :)

Here is Cooper playing in the snow on Christmas day! We had our very first white Christmas here in East Tennessee!