itti bitti, oh so pretty {cloth diaper giveaway}

***this giveaway is closed. congrats to hyacynth!***

i'd ask what is cuter than a cloth-diaper bottomed babe, but, is it just me, or is something a little off about this photo?

i considered not posting or even blacking out the eyes of my little tarzan, but his blue eyes are beautiful even if the zebra print diaper is a tiiiiiny bit creepy.

all right, so itti bitti sent me a bitti tuttu diaper to review, and there's one up for grabs in a giveaway for you!  they have 18 vibrant colors as well as fun limited edition prints.  we have another in green that is cute all the way, so you need not be dissuaded by the baby in the chippendale bikini.

too much? it's all a bit much, let's be honest.

the rise is small.  they are supposed to fit 8-40 lbs and can be folded smaller for a wee babe.  at twenty-four months and 28 lbs, it already feels small on James, especially for overnight.  we had multiple leaks up the front with him lying down in it, but it performs fine if he's awake.  i suppose a cotton prefold tucked inside could keep leaks at bay at night better. 

it comes with three soaker pads to snap and stack the best way for your little one.  the liners are made of bamboo with stay-dry microfiber layer.  if the bitti tutto had a higher rise, i don't think we'd have the leak problems:  it seems like plenty of absorbency. everything about the diaper is super-soft, including the leg gussets, which are specially designed to prevent leaks.  the minky outside is fuzzy as well as waterproof.

it wears more nicely than a pocket diaper.  the one we've had for months isn't showing any sign of wear.  i think if bought early, the bitti tuttu could be a great diaper to use over the course of many months or even years.  as a toddler diaper, it lacks oomph, but the all-in-one nature [no separate cover] is certainly convenient.  i'd call it a good diaper for babysitters or to tuck into the diaper bag.

want to win an itti butto for your cloth-bottomed babe?  just leave a comment saying why you love cloth or would be interested in giving it a go, or why the bitti tuttu would be perfect for your friend/neighbor/daughter/what-have-you. {cloth does not have to be an all-or nothing thing.}    just make sure you i have a way to get in touch if you win.  entries close wednesday 11/23 at 11:59 PM, and random.org will pick a winner from among qualifying comments.

it won't net you extra entries, but you are always more than welcome to subscribe or follow along on facebook, twitter, instagram or pinterest.

likewise, check out all the cute itti bitti diapers online or find them on facebook or twitter, too.

i received an itti bitti diaper but was not otherwise compensated for this review.  find more info about sponsorship or disclosure at my partner with me page.

linking with Your Green Resource & SortaCrunchy, The Greenbacks Gal, A Delightful Home, Live Renewed.


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here's a hymn to welcome in the day

it's been a whirlwind of a week, but one packed with grace.  these blessings are from the last four days only.

an ongoing record of God's goodness, #228-257

a maundy thursday meditation on the disciples' (and my) fleeing Christ's nonviolent path

a moms' retreat coming together

the spare tire in the back of the car and a husband able to change a flat

entertaining babes on a bridge to nowhere, thankful for warmth as we waited

a trip into pittsburgh

a real live date

dinner without cutting meat into tiny portions

cocktail sipped and pita dipped

adult conversation without cajoling anyone to "one more bite!"

birthday tickets to an amazing decemberists' show

a night without tears (except the ones i may have cried at the crane wife 3)

the lovely benedum theater

them closing with june hymn on a perfect spring day

a generous friend who took good care of the babes

a great team to stage the journey to the cross good friday at church

the earned tiredness of hard work

creating a space for worship and reflection

meditating on Christ's sacrifice

jim's parents in for easter weekend

james saying "grammy! ball!"

being the "expert witness" at saturday's great cloth diaper change.  (when i track down photos of this, i will post more)

gelato with james in a favorite outdoor care

tulips in bloom in time to celebrate resurrection

a playful red fox scampering through the fields 

dinner with family and good friends

egg hunting merriment and dylan's pure joy

easter ham

chocolate eggs

a rousing game of scattergories

an empty tomb and the return of the alleluia

everything beautiful in its time

cloth diapering one babe was a breeze.  i didn't mind the washing and found hanging them on the line to be a downright zen endeavor.

having two in cloth is not the same.

double rinsing.  double duty.  double mess.  less time and energy for zen-like laundry habits.  green guilt as i toss them into the dryer and disdain as their beautiful white luster wanes.

also, diapering a baby is completely different than diapering a child who can communicate articulately and just seems old enough to know better. 

i know, i'm not being fair here, just honest.  dylan's not even three, you can't rush these things, they'll learn when they're ready, etc etc etc.  none of those truisms makes the drudgery of diapers any more pleasant to bear.

and the line that cloth diapered kids potty train earlier?  that has not been my experience.  dylan has been flirting with potty learning for over a year.  OVER ONE YEAR, PEOPLE!

since two summers ago, we've had daily conversations about using the toilet.  we've read the books and made up songs.  she'd humor us, occasionally.  some weeks more than others.  we've had good days and bad days.  we picked out treats for putting #2 when it belongs:  pink piggies and then gummy bears.  (how horrible is the phrase "potty snacks"?  eek.)

i ate them all.  every single one.

several weeks ago, after cleaning up two puddles that dylan informed me plainly were NOT accidents, i gave it up.  i could not control this.  trying was making me crazy and resentful toward a little girl i love so much.

we put the tiny underwear away, and i tried to handle it all with a bit more grace.

*****

james woke up with croup our last night at the shore.  we came home and canceled a play date and dinner with two families.  the social week i'd been looking forward to suddenly became another week at home--and a rainy one at that.

my kids are both pretty healthy (which i never want to take for granted), but it seems whenever we make plans, one of them gets sick.  or the other party does.  we say we'll reschedule, but weeks can turn to months, and i'll realize an entire season has changed without much community. 

why is making friends such a painfully slow process?

having joined MOPS and le leche league, i know far more women than i did a year or two ago, but sometimes i just want to fast forward to that moment of really connecting and feeling known.  and i want my kids to grow up with buddies, too, and not have to wait until they're in school.

*****

this week i witnessed a miracle:  dylan asked to do her thing on the potty.  and then she did.  she stayed dry in underwear and used the toilet without fail two days in a row.  we had one minor setback today, but she's staying dry here on day three as well.

a lot of potty training "experts" (is there really such a thing?) advise clearing your schedule and staying home to completely focus on the task at hand.  that seemed like a pretty lame way to spend the better part of a week, and i scoffed at the idea, yet here we are, housebound, and dylan finally decided she's ready to do it.

i'm not so naive as to think i've seen the end of two in diapers, but i am encouraged.   

my surrendering control yielded fruit.  a bright spot in a rainy week.

and during one housebound naptime, a new friend called.   

we talked a bit like old friends and the day didn't seem so gray.

*****

last night i fumbled dinner.  the clock was creeping towards bedtime when i finally put it in the oven, so i set out a bowl of apple wedges and carrots sticks, and sat down with jim while it baked.  james and dylan chased each other gleefully around the coffee table, the baby double-fisting crudites.  we crunched and laughed and enjoyed ourselves as a family.

a unforeseen moment of beauty, carved out of frustrating circumstances.

out the window, the sun was setting.  the sun that hadn't shone all day--or much at all since the beach last saturday--glimmered through the clouds, warm with orange and pink.

light persisting through the darkness, casting out shadows in unexpected, beautiful ways.  

grace.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  
-Ecclesiastes 3:11

   
linking up with melissa at peanut butter in my hair and emily at in the hush of the moon.

tune my heart to sing thy grace

an ongoing record of God's goodness, #114-127

late summer fields of golden rod and queen anne's lace

wild grapes

 

a laughing, clapping boy

soft and chubby baby cheeks to kiss and kiss and kiss

big sister kindness and love of all things outside

impromptu time with friends

line dried napkins and "paper-less" towels

my babywearing babe

cute cloth-diapered bottom

God's bounty abounding

daddy love

wide-open spaces and blue sky days 

 the peace of wild things

the grace of letting go

little victories

after a brief interest in potty learning last summer, dylan has been exceedingly content to continue wearing diapers.  i bought her colorful underwear to entice her, but she didn't really care.  once, i put her in them and she peed right on my lap.  just 'cuz.

another morning, i set the timer and put dylan on the potty every 15 minutes.  she managed to leave three puddles all around the house in the course of just over an hour.

i stopped trying.

instead i pleaded even more heartily to at the very least TELL US when she needs a new diaper.  dylan usually lies about it.

"no poopy mommy."

"does that mean you have poopy?"

'"nooooooo."

"dylan, do you need a new diaper?"

"no.  i don't have poopy."

"are you lying?"

smell.

"DYLAN!"

her sitting in filth and refusing to tell me drives me up a wall.  it makes a mess, causes rashes, and is completely avoidable.  the child can speak in complete sentences. 

every single day we go over that she is supposed to say, "i pooped.  new diaper please."  every.  single.  day.  every single day dylan parrots those phrases back to me as i change her dirty messes and then continues to be silent or flat out lie the very next time.  it may just make me crazy.

this week, FINALLY, it seems we are making progress.  twice, of her own initiative, dylan asked to use the potty and actually did.  (#2!)

in the potty!

(ok, and once on the floor.)

then, last night at dinner, dylan announced that she had a dirty diaper.  i think this might actually have been the first time she didn't lie about it.  (notice, this post is titled "little victories.")

jim jumped up, and took her upstairs to change.  "dylan," he told her, "thank you so much for telling us you needed a new diaper."

and, i kid you not, this is how she responded: 

"my pleasure."

the eco-nomical baby guide (and giveaway)

the bloggers behind the green baby guide (joy hatch and rebecca kelley) just published their first book, the eco-nomical baby guide, and i was pleased to receive a copy for review.

this is not your average baby book.  its main purpose is to provide "down to earth ways for parents to save money and the planet."

as any new parent can attest, babies seem to require a lot of stuff.  expensive stuff.  stuff that's only used for a short time.

those perfect tiny baby feet can leave a staggering carbon footprint.

in the excitement of pregnancy, it can be easy to get carried along the consumerist current.  we all want our kids to have nice, safe things.

but must they always have new things?

this book is not a compilation of spendy, "green" must-haves.  after all, buying lots of stuff--even eco-friendly stuff--is not very green.  they challenge many of those items babies r us will tell you are necessities, and they provide plenty of ideas for finding deals on quality used baby gear.

they do offer listings of environmentally responsible companies offering things like organic mattresses, well-made toys, and cloth diapers in various price ranges, but the book leans more toward reuse, recycle, and DIY than "buy green."  they argue that saving money along the way may open up funds for a select few well-considered earth-friendly items for baby.

the authors compiled a wealth of great information on cloth diapers and disposables, including eco-friendlier brands, and it's a great place for moms to learn what kinds of options are out there and to unscramble the jargon.  after reading their suggestions, i've started using less water (and energy) to wash our diapers, and so far so good.

the chapter on baby food shows how the author saved hundreds making her own baby food--even using organic ingredients--and i know i'll be taking some of their advice with james before too long.

the eco-nomical baby guide is a great resource for any mom-to-be who is interested in simplicity and natural living--even just a little interested.  the authors aren't out scare you with toxins lurking around every corner or make a mama feel guilty.  it's helpful without being preachy, suggesting easy things anyone can do to protect the earth, provide for baby, and save money in the process.  what's not to love about that?

i'm giving away my copy to a lucky reader.  (US addresses only.)  just leave a comment telling me one change your family has made to take better care of the earth, with a way to get in touch.  want another entry?  follow my blog or subscribe, and leave another comment telling me you do.

you can also win copy of the book (and a bunch of other green baby goodies) over at the green baby guide.

good luck!  i'll choose a winner on monday march 8.

-----
i received a book from the publishers but was not otherwise compensated for this review.

how to make powdered laundry soap {natural recipe}

when i became pregnant with my first child, i began eliminating conventional cleaning products and synthetic chemicals from our home, and discovering this homemade alternative to pricey green detergents was music to the ears of this stay-at-home mama.

it's inexpensive, gentle on sensitive skin and the planet, and once you gather the ingredients, putting it together is easy.  there are only three ingredients:  borax, washing soda, and a grated bar of soap. 

borax is found on the bottom shelf in the laundry aisle of supermarkets.  there is some disagreement in the natural community about the safety of borax, but after doing research, i feel comfortable using this traditional, naturally occurring mineral salt in my home.  like many things, borax should not be inhaled and must be kept out of reach of pets and children.

washing soda is sometimes sold in the laundry aisle.  if you can't find it there, it is also called "soda ash" and stocked with pool care products or sold at hardware stores.  it can also be purchased online.  although washing soda is chemically similar to baking soda, baking soda cannot be substituted in this recipe.

you can use any bar of soap you like, as long as it isn't a "beauty bar."  fels naptha is often recommended, and using regular soap would make this recipe extraordinarily inexpensive, although you may want to be wary of using your food processor or grater on anything not completely natural.  i use dr. bronner's castile soap, in lavender and mostly followed the instructions given at healthy vegan blog.

1 bar soap, finely grated (makes ~ 1 c soap dust)
1 1/2 c borax
1 1/2 c washing soda

that's it.

store it in a lidded contained, and use 1-2 Tbsp per load.  one recipe will clean up to 64 loads.

if you're accustomed to using traditional laundry detergent, doing a load of wash with 1 Tbsp of soap sounds preposterous, but the truth is, most conventional detergents have a lot of fillers in them (as well as questionable ingredients like brighteners, enzymes, and a host of synthetic chemicals).  when we use too much soap, residues linger in clothes, which can trap odor and cause skin sensitivities.  we use 2 Tbsp on heavily soiled loads, but 1 Tbsp is sufficient for most.
 
using 1 Tbsp of laundry detergent wasn't that foreign to us, since that is the measurement charlie's soap calls for, too.  charlie's soap is the most recommended detergent for use with cloth diapers, which brings me to my biggest question:  could this homemade soap get diapers smelling sweet?

we've been using it for several month, and i've been really pleased:  our diapers look and smell clean.  (we also use a scoop of off-brand oxygen powder--natural and cheap!-- in every load and sometimes a little baking soda, vinegar, or biokleen bac-out.)  i appreciate the mild fragrance of essential oil instead of synthetic perfume on our clothes--especially for my kids' sensitive skin.

DIY laundry soap is a completely do-able step in "greening" your home.  the planet--and your wallet--will thank you.

UPDATE:  i'm back to using charlies soap on my cloth diapers.  after a few months, they seemed to retain odor (that even vinegar didn't eliminate), but it's still great on our clothes.

do you have a favorite green cleaning recipe?

shared with Your Green Resource, hosted by A Delightful Home, SortaCrunchy, Live Renewed, and The Greenback Gal.

my wee two

we got our computer cleaned up and a new hard drive installed, so hopefully we'll be able upload pictures more easily than the slower-than-molasses pace of the past few months.  i haven't actually taken any pictures in a while, except this silly one.

(yes, dylan's tee shirt is pulled over her head.  how funny are tiny babe bathrobes?)

i'd wanted to enroll dylan in a four week class called "just wee two" at the Y for toddlers and parents that started today.  i thought it would be a nice thing to do just the two of us and a way to meet other families with kids her age.  yesterday i was disheartened to find out that not only was it forty bucks (!), only one child was registered, so we decided to skip it.

i was still bummed when i headed to a la leche league meeting with the kids.  the last time i went, i was the only mom there (besides the leader), and i was pleased to find a full crowd yesterday, including three moms i hadn't meet before.  LLL attracts mamas who tend towards cloth diapering, babywearing, natural childbirth, etc, and this particular group also has a number of Christians, which is another great connection. i'm definitely looking forward to getting to know people better.  i'm thinking about training to be a leader...

3 is the magic number

james slept through the night, in his crib, for the past three nights.

as dylan has been known to mutter to herself around the house, "thanks be to God!"


she really is a little sponge--even the liturgy soaks in.  we have to be careful of other things!

they say those first three months for newborns are almost like a fourth trimester (quarter?), and i think that's so true.  it seems to take a full three months for babes to start to acclimate to life on planet earth.

at three months, no only is our sweet boy smiling, laughing, and cooing, he's beginning to settle into some natural rhythms.  i can put him down to nap (by himself, finally!) for longer stretches of time, and when he's awake he really engages with people and his surroundings.

james love face time, whether in our laps or on the changing table, and he flashes the widest grins whenever he catches our eyes.

james finally seemed like he was ready for a bedtime, so we started putting him down by himself, and he didn't fight it.  when he woke later, we'd bring him back into bed with us, not wanting to provoke the kind of battles we fought when dylan was a wee thing.

ok, she's still a wee thing.  in fact, they're in the same size diapers!

if it ain't broke...

but, co-sleeping is not our parenting philosophy or anything, and it was time to give sleeping in the crib a try.

james woke up, i nursed him, and put him back in his bed.

and he slept!

and then the next three nights, he didn't even wake up until morning.

that's my boy:)

i'm not deluding myself that he'll sleep like a little cherub forever and ever, amen, or anything, but he did last night, and for that i am thankful.

thanks be to God.

sweet baby james

i realize that i have an infant son and like two pictures of him, but the thing is, i'm ALWAYS holding him, and if he's not nursing or sleeping, he's pretty much crying. not exactly a formula for great baby pics. yesterday, i did get a good crying shot, complete with down-turned lip and quivering chin (oh, the quivering chin!), but even if i wanted to post it i couldn't. our internet and computer situation is less-than-optimal. we have two hand-me-down computers--a PC that refuses to go online but stores our photos, and a Mac that barely goes online. it's letting me type this, but it's only partially reading the page and deleted my post the last time i wrote it. so, no picture posting in the immediate future...

shall i just tell you about the baby?

he is getting BIG. at three weeks james weighs almost 11 lbs, a milestone itty bitty dylan didn't reach for months. of course, he's still a wee little newborn, but he's so much bigger than he was at birth. he's a good nurser, evidenced by his chubby cheeks and double chin;)

james is STRONG. he was actually born with the thick, muscular thighs i never thought existed on babies. his strong legs make diapering a little bit of a challenge!

and speaking of diapering, we tried out the cloth diapers i got on ebay, and it turns out, they weren't such a great find after all. they were listed to fit an 8-20 lbs babe, but they are already too small. they must have sent me size newborn instead, and as james doesn't have scrawny newborn legs, they're unusable. boooo. we have usable covers and prefolds, but i was really looking forward to having little fitted diapers for him.

james is a good sleeper. he only wakes twice a night, so we're actually feeling pretty well rested, which is a huge praise. the downside is that he's sleeping with us now, and we'd really like to get him into his own bed. i hope that once he has more wakeful time and begins to establish more regular sleep patterns, we'll be able to get him to sleep on his own in his cradle or pack 'n play for longer stretches. but in the meantime, it IS nice to snuggle with my sweet baby:)

well, james is actually contently awake in my arms, which hasn't happened much, so i should go enjoy. of course, dylan is having a tantrum. you can't win 'em all!

anticipating two under two in diapers

i got a fantastic deal on ten little cloth diapers and eleven covers in all sizes on ebay, which more than doubles our collection of covers. we are set for two babes in cloth.

(dylan's interest in potty training has definitely waned. she asks to use the toilet maybe twice a day, but i don't foresee her being diaper-free for a while, and that's fine. she's still a munchkin!)

these new diapers seem tiny but supposedly fit 8-20 lbs. they're a brand that we already use but a different style. we already have two dozen little prefolds, two dozen bigger prefolds that fit dylan, and about a dozen "one-size-fits-all" diapers that will definitely fit dylan better than james for a good long while. we didn't start dylan in cloth until she was three months, but we ought to be able to put james in cloth much sooner.

after being away from home and having dylan in disposables for a week, i'm glad to have her back in cloth, and i'm thankful to have enough little diapers and covers to get james into them when he's big enough. we created a staggering amount of household waste when dylan was an infant, and i'm looking forward to less of that this time around.

plus, super-padded cloth-diapered baby bottoms are just adorable;)

great green product review

this summer, ecostore USA contacted me about sending some of their products for review. since we are in the process of replacing our chemical cleaners with natural alternatives, i was definitely interested. their website revealed their motto, which i appreciated:

NO NASTY* CHEMICALS

*NO toxic petrochemicals, NO phosphates, NO nitrates, NO ammonia, NO enzymes, NO chlorine, NO EDTA, NO optical whiteners, NO synthetic dyes or perfumes.

i realize a lot of people think, "who cares? if those ingredients (and others) really weren't safe, we'd know, right?"

not necessarily. companies can put almost anything they want into cleaners, personal care products, toys, fabrics, electronics and anything else. new chemicals are created every day and go right into products. there's virtually no regulation, and it's hardly in the fiscal interest of any company to run the research to prove that their ingredients are safe for long term use and exposure.

essentially the onus is on the consumer to prove that something is harmful and has no place in our homes or on our skin, to get absorbed into our bodies. supposedly, the average woman slathers herself in about 200 different chemicals before she even leave the bathroom in the morning. that's astounding, and the fact that i can be passing chemicals to my baby makes me even more wary. as incidents of cancer, allergies, and other health problem rise exponentially, i'd rather err on the side of nature and caution when it comes to chemical exposure for my family.

while it's generally been my experience that "green" cleaners (whether store-bought or simply using baking soda for household chores) perform just as well or even better than their chemical counterparts, i've not had much luck in the dishwasher. seventh generation's liquid and powder detergents both left me unimpressed, and i was back using traditional detergents.

i'd heard that opening your dishwasher while it's running exposes you to more harmful toxins than anything else around the house. i also don't like the idea of what kind of residues might be lingering on our dishes that we may be ingesting, so i picked to try ecostore's plant-derived auto dishwash powder, even though i was a little skeptical of its potential.

as it turns out, it worked great. it left no powdery residue or funky lingering smell--just shiny, clean dishes. the bottle said i could use vinegar as a rinse aid, but it performed equally well without it. i consider it a great find. at $12 for 35.5 ounces, it's pricey, but a little goes a long way: it only requires 1 Tbsp per load. i've been using it for much of the summer, and i still have half a bottle. i still want to try making homemade detergent, but it is nice to know a good, green commercial alternative is out there.

i also tried ecostore's laundry powder, which also is super-concentrated and requires a tiny scoop per load. (detergents that utilize a large scoop or cup are typically loaded with additives.) it worked really well--even on dylan's diapers, but at $11 a box, it costs a whopping $.44 per load, which is significantly more than the charlie's soap we currently use, at under $.14 a load. so although it performed well, i wouldn't buy ecostore's powder myself. we will probably continue to use charlie's for diapers, and i'm still planning to try making laundry soap.

(i just had a funny/horrifying recollection of brad pitt and ed norton "rendering the fat" in their soap making ventures in fight club. that is not what i have in mind! making laundry soap basically requires grating a bar of soap and adding washing soda and borax--no stolen fat required;)

ecostore USA carries a number of safe, quality products. in addition to a variety of household cleaners, they also sell natural bath and body items. shipping for orders of at least $25 is always free, and they are currently running this promotion: if you spend $50 and type in "2for1" discount code at checkout, they will send you double of everything you ordered--for free. it's a great time to try out their line of natural products.

-----
(the company sent me these items for review. the opinions are mine, and i was not otherwise compensated for writing this post.)

(mis)adventures in potty training

when dylan started using the potty, it was an unexpected novelty. she seemed so little, especially her little 21 pound frame, so we ordered her one of those kiddie seats that perch atop the real toilet so wee ones don't fall in. it was all sort of cute.

she's just twenty months, so i wasn't envisioning her diaper-free future any time soon. this could take many months, and that was ok. we'd just go at her pace and see how it goes.

as it turns out, her pace is possibly more than this pregnant mama can handle.

dylan is actually doing a great job. she's staying drier, she tells us that she needs to use the potty, and she goes--even when we're away from home.

what's killing me are all the false alarms. dylan will cry potty wolf, so to speak, maybe six times a day (and often one time after the other). those are six extra times of me getting my giant pregnant self onto the bathroom floor with her, taking off her shoes, shorts, diaper cover, and diaper, sitting her up on the potty, only to have her immediately tell me "all done" or "I did it"--a bitter lie if i've ever heard one.

i put her all back together (again, kneeling on the floor), and when she pleads, "potty? pee pee?" five minutes later, i'm not exactly dying for a repeat performance. but if she's sincere, i don't want to not give her the opportunity. it just doesn't seem very wise in the grand scheme of potty training (or um, parenting) to say, "baby, mama's achey and exhausted, and since you're probably not telling the truth anyway, how 'bout you just go in your diaper and we'll change you later, k?"

i shouldn't say that, right?

goodie bag

i am a sucker for a deal, and if what you're pitching comes with something free, it's not a tough sell.

it's good i don't get out much to go shopping.

just look at all the free goodies that arrived in the mail today!

drugstore.com is running two promotions that can overlap: spend $30 in their green/natural store and get the grocery tote full of samples, and spend $30 on burt's bees products and get their hand repair kit free.

ok, so i realize that having earth-friendly items shipped to me from wherever they are warehoused is not exactly, um, green. but, i don't even live in a town with its own drugstore, and i'd need to drive all the way to pittsburgh to get the stuff i can order online (like biokleen's bac-out that we use on dylan's diapers), so i figure it isn't the worst thing when there aren't local options.

plus, check out all that swag! natural and organic samples of snacks, lotions, lip balm, and cleaners. it was like christmas...

for nerds.

the paper trail: eliminating paper towel waste

back in september our family took on a two month challenge proposed by amy over at crunchy domestic goddess to "ditch the disposables." we picked to eliminate paper towels, and four-plus months later, we haven't looked back.

it's much easier than i would have thought. we use kitchen towels, washcloths, and a few chamois for drying hands, wiping spills, and washing baby faces and high chairs. we already had a rag bag in the bathroom where stained shirts and old towels went to experience new life, and we keep those separate for "icky" tasks like cleaning the bathroom.

i toss used cloths in a hamper by the washer, and if a rag was used in the bathroom, i'll often wash it with dylan's diapers. we still have one roll of paper towels leftover from the summer, and i do pull that out occasionally for pet-related cleaning.

we haven't switched completely over to cloth napkins, since we still have a bunch of paper, but that is a goal this new year. honestly, i don't see myself giving up tissues, but i do try to use cloth wipes or burp cloths when wiping dylan's nose.

eliminating paper towels is saving us money and curbing our household waste, and it's not even that difficult a change to make.

for more thrifty green thursday offerings, head over to the green baby guide.

i heart baking soda: green cleaning and household uses

i buy baking soda in bulk for washing dylan's diapers and deodorizing the diaper pail, and i'd been meaning to try it for other cleaning tasks. this week i used it to successfully tackle two nasty household jobs--scrubbing our stove top and deodorizing a funky-smelling couch pillow.

let me first say, that jim and i have had terrible luck with our oven/stove. when we first moved in, we inadvertently lit some kid of chemical fire, thanks to previous tenants who left a lil something special on a burner. we found black ash on both floors of the house for quite some time after that so we took out the burner and made do with three. other than that, it was a great stove.

we live at a camp, and our housing is graciously provided. when someone donated their old stove, camp exchanged it for ours, thinking that it would be an upgrade since it had four burners. as it turned out, not so much, because its four burners had just two settings--off, and burn-your-food high. bah!

we made do, and after a while another donation came in. third time's the charm, right?

well, sort of. the "new" stove was filthy. really, really icky. (what is with people donating nasty and/or broken stuff to non-profits and then presumably claiming a tax write-off? booo!)

i set to disinfecting like mad. it wasn't sparkling, but at least the outside wasn't sticky anymore. (i know, ew.)

the stove was usable, but i still hadn't done an intense, remove-all-the-burners and scrub-everything clean. baking soda completely did the trick, without a lot of elbow grease. i thought i'd have to replace the metal dish parts since they were so bad, but after soaking them in baking soda and water, they are also much improved.

baking soda even made our tea kettle sparkle. it always sits on the burner, and then cooking oils render it gross-looking after a bit. scrubbing it clean can be a nightmare, but baking soda cleaned it in under two minutes. perfect!

my other baking soda success story is my couch pillow. it was smelling less-than-fresh, and my first attempt at scrubbing only seemed to push the stink around. i sprinkled it liberally with baking soda, rubbed it in good, and left it overnight. the next day, i vacuumed it thoroughly, and it was remarkably improved. i repeated the process again, and it now smells clean, fresh, and much better if i'd used one of those chemical-filled perfume sprays that only mask odor.


cleaning with baking soda is cheap, green, and easy. it also works wonders on clogged drains. if you have more baking soda tips, please leave me a comment. i'd love to expand my repertoire.

file under "things i wish i didn't need to know"

you know what else cloth diapers are good for? not the thin burp cloth variety but thick and quilty prefold diapers?

catching baby vomit and waterproofing a crib.

i'm just saying. it's been that kind of season around here.

keepin' it rural

though i love and miss living in the city, i'm not a city girl. i grew up in the suburbs, in places with sidewalks and bike paths, great schools, and neighborhoods built by anglophile developers who christen streets "yorkshire drive" and developments "woods of saxony." in our yard, we had flowers, trees and bushes, a wooden swing set, a deck, and a gazebo.

in the current small-town installment of my life, our yard is decorated a little differently:

note not just the sun-drying diapers, but the bird perched atop the clothesline. do i smell a pie cooling on a nearby window sill?

we don't own this canoe, but it is put to good use nonetheless.

yes, we're one of those houses:) jim is an excellent archer, and he stocks our freezer full of meat, so who am i to complain?

our beefy composter

 camp leases horses for the summer, so for three months, this is our view

dylan loved the horses. (i say loved because, sadly, they left on monday.) on sunday, i got to go on a ride, and it was so much fun! camp has 550 acres, and on the ride i saw beautiful parts of property i'd never seen.

our little beauty is now nine months-old. i took this last week and tried to get her to play on the blanket while i hung her diapers on the line, but all she wanted to do was crawl, crawl, crawl and put everything in her mouth! i think dylan likes the rural living:)

All About Cloth Diapering: Eco-friendly, Economical (& So Dang Cute)

cloth diapering is not nearly as messy or complicated as it sounds, even with two in diapers.  we love that we're radically reduce our household waste, protecting our kids' skin from harmful chemicals, and saving money, too.  let's be honest:  having a baby means dealing with poop. since throwing away diapers won't get you out of that, why not consider cloth diapering, even part of the time?

gentle, green, and safe
you do change a cloth-diapered baby more often than one in disposables--around every two hours or sooner, during the day--but that's a good thing.  infrequent changes can lead to rashes and skin irritation, and we don't know the long-term impact that exposure to synthetic chemicals in chlorine-bleached disposable diapers has on children's bodies--especially sensitive reproductive organs.  more frequent changes don't bother me when i stack the gentleness of cloth against disposables. 

saving money on cloth
all told, we spent over $400 on diapers, covers, and cloth wipes, which sounds like a ton of money and certainly is a lot to spend up front, but try this math on for size:

8 diapers/day x $.20/diaper x 365 days/year x 2.5 years =
$1460 to diaper one kid in disposables
[doesn't include the added expense of wipes or pull-ups]

if you use prefolds exclusively or buy used diapers, you could pay half of what we did.  now that we're diapering our son with the same diapers, our $400 investment is just $200 per kid.  The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet is a helpful resource for diapering on budget and offers a natural parenting perspective on ethical consumerism.

creating an online gift registry or registering with a local boutique or home business that carries cloth (web-search "diaper party") are great ways to let friends and family help you get set-up, since big box stores fall short of the kind of items you'll need for your cloth-bottomed babe. 

prefolds, fitted diapers, and covers
we use a combination of cloth diapers, including prefolds, fitted diapers, and a few all-in-ones and pockets. [green mountain is a fantastic mom-owned business and a wealth of information on the many options available in cloth diapering.] prefolds are flat diapers that are pre-folded and sewn thicker in the middle for added absorbency, and they are the least expensive diapering option.

old-school diaper pins are no longer required:  something called a snappi secures prefolds similarly to how you'd fit an ace bandage. (some people fold their diapers in thirds, cover, and go, but i find that "snappi-ing" ensures a better fit and allows me to use more generous fitting covers over both prefolds and fitted diapers.)  when you get the hang of it, prefolds are very reliable.  their cotton fibers are great on baby's skin, and they will never retain odors.  

fitted diapers resemble disposables and have less of a learning curve.  (we use one-size-fits-all mother-ease brand.) they're great for overnight, away from home, babysitters, and diapering multiple kids, but you pay significantly more for the convenience.

you'll still need a cover to leak-proof both these kinds of diapers.  we use mother-ease covers: they're adjustable, don't leave marks, and their generous size range is wider than many other covers. we air them out between uses and probably use them 4-5 times before washing, unless one happens to get soiled.  we also inherited a few decades-old wool covers which are still in great shape. wool covers are expensive, but their natural fibers are breathable and won't ever wear out. 

all-in-ones and pocket diapers 
all-in-one (AIOs) and pocket diapers are water-proof without needing a separate cover and are nice for diapering overnight, on-the-go, and babysitters.  AIOs take longer to dry because of their absorbent layers, but pocket diapers are similarly easy to use and dry well since the absorbent middle gets removed for the wash and stuffed back in for later use.  both are a nice diapering system if you can afford it, but i prefer the diaper/cover combo for affordability and ease of rinsing.  the two pockets we purchased last and are wearing faster than every other kind, so definitely do you research before making any big investment.

washing instructions 
we rinse soiled diapers in the toilet using a diaper sprayer and put all diapers in lidded pail lined with a water proof liner.  wash diapers every 2-3 days, soaking them overnight on cold with charlie's soap and oxygen cleaner.  close the lid and run that load in the morning, and follow it with a second hot load with another scoop of charlie's and oxygen cleaner.  at times, we've used biokleen bac-out, baking soda, or vinegar to keep odor at bay or even a little tea tree oil in the final rinse for disinfecting, but diapers get clean and stay bright with charlie's and oxygen powder.

you don't have to use charlies soap, but it's good for diapers (and sensitive skin) because it rinses so clean.  never use anything with enzymes or brighteners.  inexpensive powdered detergents are usually a better choice than liquids, which contain more ingredients that can irritate your baby's skin and may not rinse out of your diapers.  detergent residue can cause diapers to leak or retain odor and can cause rashes.

sunning diapers on the clothesline fade stains like magic and protects your diapers from the damaging heat of the dryer.  do no use bleach--it's not good for skin, diapers, or the earth. you can safely keep diapers clean  without it. 

items that make cloth diapering a breeze

1. a spray bottle (or hospital peri-bottle) for water and a bar of olive oil soap to use with cloth wipes.  truthfully, we still use disposable wipes for most "yucky" changes, but cloth wipes are also great for making sure baby is dry and wiping hands, noses, and faces.

2. kissaluvs diaper lotion potion is a concentrate of natural essential oils that you mix with witch hazel in a spray bottle. i spray, wipe, and dry them at changes to keep bottoms clean.  (it's a definite non-necessity, but i love it, and one bottle has lasted years.)

3. a diaper sprayer (like a bidet) attaches to our toilet and makes rinsing dirties so simple.  i love my sprayer and have a hard time imagining rinsing soiled diapers without one (even those most do just that.)

4. a washable water-proof diaper pail liner keeps the pail clean and helps transport diapers to the washer.

5.  a small, zippered water-proof wet bag makes it easy to stow a dirty diaper while away from home.  (they're so good, too, for wet swim suits.)

6.  charlie's soap washes diapers clean and doesn't leave residue for odors to cling to, like most detergents will over time.  it's safe for sensitive baby skin and the environment.  although we've begun making our own laundry soap, i prefer charlie's for diapers.

the idea of cloth diapering can be overwhelming, but the learning curve is not so steep--and it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing.  some people use cloth at home and disposables at day care or cloth during the day and disposables at night or on the go.  there are no rules, and it's definitely possible to ease into it gradually as you build up a "stash" of diapers you like and become more comfortable and confident with the system that works best for your family.

give cloth a try. you might just love it.  i dare ya;)