Our Current Deck Decor

When we lived in our previous home I had a fantastic clothesline! I loved it. There is nothing better than sun dried laundry fragranced with the fresh mountain air (not to mention the money you save)! :) So when we moved into our current home, I knew we were going to have to install a clothesline somewhere. Who knew that somewhere would be so difficult to find! Let me put it this way, our grassy areas are very limited and those we do have are on an incline. Not exactly the ideal location for a clothesline. I can just imagine myself tumbling head over heals while trying to hang my laundry. Not pretty.

Anyway, my husband has instead, built a makeshift clothesline on our deck that stretches the entire length. It attaches to our swing on one end, and the rail on the other. It's not exactly what we had in mind, but it works. It's amazing what you will be ok with when you are desperate enough.

Alright, the cloth diapers aren't really going to be staying as our permanent deck decor but we will be updating our deck these next few weeks! I'm absolutely thrilled about it! Our deck is (in my opinion) the worse part of our home. It just makes our house look horrible! Picture this: peeling paint on the door, very faded stained wood, unfinished skirting, mismatched flower pots randomly placed throughout, and a lovely unpainted plywood wood box to finish up the look. UGLY!

I'm excited for this project to be finished so I can show you the before and after pictures. You will be amazed! :)

Until then, I'll just show you our makeshift clothesline!

Thirsties Thursday! :)

Not THAT kind of "Thirsty Thursday"! This post is going to be all about our Thirsties Duo Wraps and prefolds! :)
Surprisingly, I LOVE using prefolds. I originally bought them because I wanted to be able to cloth diaper Addison as a newborn but I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for newborn diapers. I figured I'd use them as long as I had to and then I would be done. Well, it turns out that it's one of my preferred methods of cloth diapering now! Even my husband agrees! He actually told me to make sure I get some bigger sizes for when she gets older! WHAT??? :) So, with that said, I am going to do a review on how the Thirsties Duo Wraps work.

First of all, here is what you will need in order to use this cloth diapering system.

1. A Thirsties Duo Wrap cover: We bought our covers from Kelly's Closet but there are many other retailers who carry them. The covers come in a two size system. Size one is for babies 6-18 lbs and size two is for babies 18-40 lbs. The covers have a snap down rise that will adjust to fit the size of your baby. You also have the choice of a velcro or snap closure. These covers also come in a variety of cute colors and prints.
2. Some sort of prefold diaper. We actually found a really good deal on our prefold diapers on ebay but of course there are online stores who carry them as well. Folding the prefold is actually much easeir than I thought it would be. I watched a couple of different tutorials on YuTube and I figured it out! Nick figured it out right away too!
3. A Snappi or diaper pins: We purchased our Snappis from Kelly's Closet but again, you can find them on other sites as well. The Snappis are a cinch to use so we chose them over diaper pins.
   

So why do we love this system so much??? Let me tell you!

First of all, this system is by far the cheapest! You don't have to use the Thirsties covers but they are one of the cheapest out there and we love the fact that they have the inner leg gussets.

My husband's number one reason for choosing this system over the others is that he finds it to be the easiest because he doesn't have to worry about what liner goes with what diaper. He knows that the prefolds go with the covers and he doesn't have to spend time making sure he has the correct diaper matched with the correct liner.



We both love the fact that the prefolds hold A LOT of you-know-what! :) When compared to our pocket diapers, we have had far less leaks and those we have had were because of user error!

I think my biggest reason for liking this system is the fact that the diaper is really trim. I haven't had any issues fitting it under her clothes! Plus, isn't it cute? In my opinion, Thirsties has cuter colors and prints when compared to other cloth diaper companies.


Well there you have it! If we haven't convinced you yet, we probably never will until you try it for yourself. I had heard about it from others and was doubtful until experiencing it myself. Now, if my husband is a fan of it, shouldn't everyone be? Haha! If you have any questions, be sure to let me know!

Cloth Diapering: What We've Decided

As I've mentioned a couple of times before, Nick and I have decided to cloth diaper our little one. It was an easy decision for us because of the amount of money it will save us in the long run! However, the initial cost of cloth diapers is a HUGE investment so we decided to start stocking up on them early! Today's post is going to discuss what we've decided to go with and why. I hope to make a video about this that goes into more detail later on in my pregnancy but this will give you a quick overview!First of all, we decided to go with two different types of systems. The pocket system and the all in two system. The pocket system is one of the easiest systems because it is very similar to a disposable diaper. All you have to do is put a liner in the pocket and put the diaper on the baby! The all in two system is just a tad bit more complicated. Instead of having a pocket to put the liner in, you have to place the liner on top of the diaper. The nice thing about the all in two system is that the liners can be replaced so that you can reuse the shell over and over! I really hope this makes sense. If not, I'll make sure to clarify it in my video.Here are the pocket diapers we chose:We went with the FuzziBunz one size pocket diaper. The one size diapers are nice because they can adjust to the size of your baby as it grows. They don't usually fit newborns well but once the baby weighs about 12 pounds, they work great!
I love the colors that these diapers come in! They range from brights, to pastels, to primary!
The FuzziBunz have an adjustable leg elastic that is great for babies with skinny and chunky legs!


The second pocket diaper we decided to go with were the one size BumGenius! diapers! Again, these won't fit newborns but should work once the baby hits 12 pounds.
I was a little disappointed with the color selections for this diaper but with all of the fantastic reviews I've read on it, we couldn't NOT try them out! :)This diaper is adjustable in rise. There are a series of snaps that you use to adjust the fit.

Here are the all in two diapers we chose:
The first brand we chose were the SoftBums diapers! I have heard nothing but fabulous things about this diaper and I have been super impressed with the quality of them! These diapers are also one size but they will fit newborn babies! They have a very soft shell as well as a nice soft lining.
If you look at the diagram, you can see that the lining for these diapers is removable so that you can reuse the shell over and over. The lining is a nice cloth that just snaps in and folds over. The size of this diaper is adjusted through an ingenious elastic drawstring that tightens or losens the leg gussets as the child grows!
The second all in two diapers that we chose were the gDiapers. This is a very different type of diaper because it fits into the hybrid category. With this diaper you can choose to use cloth liners or disposable/flush-able liners! These diapers are sized which means they will not grow with the baby. However, because they are sized, they have a much trimmer fit than most one size diapers.The inside of this diaper has a plastic snap in "hammock" which holds the two different types of liners. Once the liner is wet or dirty, all you need to do is pull it out, wash off the plastic, and replace with a new liner! How easy!

As you can see, we have a variety of options! I did not go with one type of diaper because of the fact that I do not know what will work best for my baby. There are certain circumstances when these two different types of diapers will be handier. For example, when we are traveling, we plan on bringing the all in two diapers so that we do not need to carry as many shells with us. When we are hanging around the house, the pocket diapers will be handy so that Nick won't have any troubles changing the baby himself!

I am so excited about cloth diapering and will continue to post about our experiences. I hope to share some of the cloth diapering accessories that we plan on using as well as how to care for them. I really hope that you enjoy learning about cloth diapering with me!

Fabulous Deals on gDiapers!

As I have already mentioned mutliple times, Nick and I plan on cloth diapering our future children and we feel that it is never too early to start preparing for them! We have looked at many different cloth diapering companies and felt that what would work best for us is cloth diapering with an occasional hybrid twist. What I mean is, we are leaning towards always using straight cloth unless we are traveling (which we do occasionally). Since our family is in Iowa, we tend to be stuck in the car for long road trips about 3 times a year. Originally we had planned on just doing disposables during these 13 hour trips but then I stumbled upon the gDiapers. The gDiapers not only have the full cloth option but they also have disposable liners that you can actually flush down the toilet! WOAH! We decided that this option was one we were definitely going to check into. Now, the problem with the disposable liners is that the can be quite expensive but, in reality, not much more than a case of disposable diapers. We would mainly use gDiapers as a cloth diapering system anyway so there is no need to buy tons of disposables if we are only going to use them when we are on the road.

Anyway, I never planned on buying diapers this early but then I stumbled upon a deal that I literally could not pass up!
Yes, you read that right. Diapers.com has an amazing sale happening right now! 6 gDiapers with cloth liners AND a case of disposable liners for only $89.99! WHAT? I know. Get this though, if you are a first time buyer through diapers.com you will get $10.00 off if you use the code DEJX9488 and they also provide a $10.00 mail in rebate if you spend over $75.00. Just print and mail this rebate sheet. Now how is that for savings?

There is one other deal they have if you are not interested in the disposable liners and you just want to only use regular cloth inserts.


There is also a package of 6 cloth diapers with the cloth inserts for only $59.99 right now too! The $10.00 off applies to this package too!

Well, are you curious as to what I purchased? I ended up buying the first set in both smalls and mediums and they are due to arrive at my door on Monday! Now that's some crazy fast shipping! :) I will try to share some pictures of them as soon as they get here!

Until later, have a great night!

Thirsties Diapers

Well I have decided that when it comes to discussing cloth diapers on my blog, I will try to focus only on the diapers that I have found to be worthwhile. There are multitudes of companies out there who sell cloth diapers but only a few of them really stick out to me. Now I am always on the look out for new companies but of course I will have to wait until I can give them a "test run" before I officially decide who and what kind of diaper I will go with. One reason for Nick and I choosing cloth diapers is so that we can save some money. Obviously an expensive cloth diaper is not going to help us in that area so prices is something I look at as well!

The Thirsties duo diaper is one of those cloth diapers that we are seriously considering. It is an adjustable diaper that only comes in 2 sizes and from what I have heard, it hardly EVER leaks, even with a newborn. The price on this diaper isn't too bad considering you only have to ever buy two sizes and something I have found is that when you buy a package deal, the prices drop considerably! As for my favorite part of cloth diapers, the colors, Thirsties has TONS of fun colors to choose from! Sounds like a pretty cool diaper huh? If you have ever tried Thirsties, let me know what you think!

If you are interested, Hip little one has done a great review and is doing a little give-away on their blog. Check them out!

Here is a review on them that Kim from Dirty Diaper Laundry did on them a couple of weeks ago too! She is also having a little give-away on her blog!

Cheeky Diapers

So I know I’m not pregnant yet but my husband and I are already starting to make some hard parenting decisions. We have begun to think about how our choices can benefit not only our pocketbook but the environment too! For example, we already know that breastfeeding is something we will do (if we don’t have complications) and once our child can eat solids, we will be making our own baby food too! Something else that is very important to us is cloth diapering. Nick and I have ALWAYS wanted to cloth diaper. It just made more sense to us environmentally (watch this video to see what I mean) and financially. Now we don’t have a problem with disposable diapers, this was just the choice that we made. Since we have been trying to get pregnant I have begun to do my research on cloth diapering. Let me tell you, it’s nothing like it used to be and there are SO MANY CHOICES!

Anyway, I wanted to share this post with you. After checking out Cheeky Diapers, I can tell that they are one fantastic company! They have some of the cutest diaper covers EVER! If you stop over there you can even design your very own diaper! Haha! It was so much fun!

Isn’t it so cute? There are TONS of designs to pick from too! Anyway, I will continue to share my cloth diapering finds as well as other baby ideas that we have throughout this experience. I hope that I can someday inspire others to try out cloth diapering too!

For more information on cloth diapering and to see some fantastic reviews on the different cloth diapers, stop by Dirty Diaper Laundry!

Here is the fantastic review that Kim R. did on the Cheeky Diapers One Size Cover.