Top 10 Things We Can't Live Without

Babies come with a lot of STUFF. And unless you have done it, making a registry for the STUFF you will need is really intimidating for a first time mom. Giant box stores that make a killing off of this STUFF make you feel like you have to have EVERYTHING or you are a bad parent. You should see the enormity of their "suggested registry." Below I've put together my own little Top 10 list of things we love, things we need and things we can't live without around here. Now keep in mind, our son is only (almost) 6 weeks old. I'm sure there are other products we will need/fall in love with as he grows. But for now, here is our Top 10.

10. koala baby hooded towel - I had to give a shout out to Koala Baby. This is by far the best hooded towel set we have. It is so thick and plush, I know we will be able to use it into the toddler years. We also love these wash cloths by BRU, definitely invest in the nice wash cloths with binding around the edges! If they just have serged edges, they will curl after being washed and are so flimsy. The ones we received I ended up using to make our cloth wipes.

9. the boppy - Everyone loves the Boppy for its many uses, propping up, supported sitting, etc. This is definitely a necessity for every parent.

8. the diaper caddy - This is one of my favorite things I received from our registry. I love it! It has a place for everything I need to change Levi's diaper and groom him. It makes everything so convenient, especially since he is in a bassinet in our room right now. I was also able to easily convert it from disposables after the first few weeks, to cloth now. It goes from room to room, wherever you need it. I think if I had a 2 story house I would want one on each floor!

7. the snap-n-go - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stroller! It is by far the best piece of "gear" we purchased. I had an unplanned C-Section and had lifting restrictions for several weeks. I had to make a few trips to the hospital for tests and things and this stroller saved me from carting his heavy carrier all over our enormous hospital (I only made one trip without it before it went in my trunk). It's great because it's lightweight, easy and you don't have to wake baby to move him from car seat to stroller, the seat snaps right on! We have a jogging stroller for when he's older, but you can't beat the convenience of a snap-n-go when they are small.

6. organic cotton breast pads - These are a necessity for any breastfeeding mama. They are luxurious, soft and the only thing my lactation consultant recommends wearing (as opposed to disposable pads or plastic anything). I have 6 pairs of them so that I'm not constantly doing laundry and I can have fresh ones each day. They are heavenly.

5. the LaLa - Levi, like his daddy once did, loves his LaLa. We couldn't live without it, judge me if you will.

4. sleep sheep - It plays a heartbeat sound to comfort baby and remind them of being in the womb. I swaddle Levi, put his LaLa in his mouth, turn on the sheep and he's out in no time. Since he is sleeping in a bassinet in our room, I get to fall asleep to the sheep too. I think I'll miss it when he's in his crib!

3. bouncy seat - Call me a bad parent if you will, but this is the only way I get to take a shower or eat a meal. Levi is still too small to enjoy the toy bar, plus it seems to overstimulate him, so I use the seat without it now. The kicker, it vibrates. He loves it, sue me.

2. cloth diapers - Even with many things not going well or as planned, this is one thing that makes me really feel good as a parent. The link is to a post describing our extensive cloth diaper stash, and all the other necessities to get started for interested parties. I've loved knowing that I'm not putting chemical laden diapers on my baby's bum on a regular basis. The fact that it's good for the environment is just the cherry on top of the sundae!

1. aden and anais swaddle blankets - Not every baby likes to be swaddled, but Levi loves it. When he gets really worked up it's the only thing that will calm him down instantly. It helps him sleep longer stretches too! These are by far the best blankets for swaddling out there. The muslin material makes them stretchy and not too hot for warm weather months. And unlike other "receiving blankets" they are big enough to grow with baby for months. We have 4 of these, and when we are down to 1 clean one I know it's time to do laundry.

**Honorable Mentions:

• Born Free glass bottles (BPA and all other nasty plastic free) - Even if you plan to breastfeed, you may want a feeding or two off.
• bottle drying rack - I didn't know if this was one of those "need" things or not, but I've used it so much more than I thought I would. It's great for drying all those little parts of the breast pump too!
• Burts Bees Baby Bee buttermilk lotion - It just smells heavenly. Period. And you know it's made from good, natural stuff because it's Burts Bees. Available at your local Target store.
• video monitor - This was on the recommendation of one of our friends who is a parent. Get a video monitor because you will want to know whether or not to go in at nap time when they are older (if they could sleep longer or are ready to get up).
• bassinet pads - They keep the sheets clean from accidents... LESS laundry!

So there you have it! These are my recommendations for all those Moms-to-be out there of the things we love and can't live without!

The Waiting Game

Everything is ready. We are all packed. I even had time for an extra craft project that will hopefully serve us well in the coming weeks, though I'm keeping the details to myself for now. So now we wait.

I've had several bouts of false labor, and am experiencing some intense Braxton Hicks at times. I get frustrated because I never know whether it's the real thing or not, always hoping it is. So I tell myself to ignore it until I can't ignore it anymore and then I'll know. It always goes away. Oh well, I pray that my water breaks soon and ends the guessing and waiting games!

Sweet Pea hurry up! Mommy and Daddy want to meet you, and Mommy is driving Daddy just a bit crazy. :)

Seriously, GET OUT!

I'm one week from my due date and this baby needs to GET OUT. My beloved checklist is almost finished (only cooking and thank you notes left, and I doubt those will get done). Sweet Pea dropped 3 weeks ago, my feet are swelling so that I've tossed my shoes for Chacos, and I survived the biggest full moon in 20 years without going in to labor. This kid is truly stubborn, which is not a surprise considering his/her parents and extended family. The "mule" is strong in this one. But seriously, GET OUT.

In the mean time, I want you to know that I love all of my well-meaning friends and family, I do. But texting me every day asking if I've had a baby yet only reminds me that I'm still pregnant, and rather pissed off about it. Trust me folks, NO ONE wants me to have this baby already more than ME. Take your desires to meet, hold, see pictures of and know the sex of the baby and multiply them by 1 billion, that's where I am. CHILL OUT. I will let you know when Sweet Pea gets here. Until then, messages of "I'm thinking about you" and "I hope you are having a good day" are well appreciated. That is all.

UPDATE on Sweet Pea

WOW, I've been really busy. I've been meaning to blog for a long while and it just hasn't happened, but I have been checking things off of my To-Do list! Since I last blogged we've had 3 baby showers, I've almost finished the nursery and we've passed the "full-term" mark where our little Sweet Pea can come any time and be just FINE!!

I made a To-Do list about a month ago of all the things that needed to be done before Sweet Pea arrives. I am proud to say that I'm almost finished, and hope to be completely finished by the end of this coming weekend (when I hit 38 weeks!). The list is at home, but it looked something like this:

1. Return and exchange gifts, finish purchasing necessities CHECK
2. Make cloth wipes (3 dozen!) CHECK
3. Finish nursery sewing - still left are the twin bed skirt, pillow sham, and a pillow for the rocker
4. Tour hospital and pre-register CHECK
5. Clean out cars CHECK
6. Install car seat bases and have them inspected - Matt's is in, mine is still en route, appointments made for inspections
7. Make room in kitchen for bottles CHECK
8. Cook and freeze meals - really don't think this one will get done!
9. Prep cloth diapers - prefolds are almost finished, pockets and AIOs left to go
10. Pack hospital bag CHECK (it's not my problem Matt's stuff isn't packed!)
11. Finish buying stuff for and packing labor bag CHECK
12. Wash and put away all baby stuff, take things out of packaging and put away, assemble and wash all baby gear CHECK
13. Baby-proof house CHECK
14. Finish birth plan, get approved by Meg, pack all paperwork in hospital bag CHECK
15. Print and pack signs for hospital room in labor bag (such as "Natural Childbirth in Progress, Please Enter Quietly) CHECK
16. Write Thank You notes - working on it... I need to set a nightly goal or something!

So, as you can see, I've been a little busy! Matt's list is much more involved with projects around the house, and he's done a great job helping me nest. We sat down last night after dinner and he looked at me and said, "What's on our nesting list tonight?" like he was eager and willing! I appreciate him so much. We took Fat Tuesday off from nesting for the most part ;)

Our sweet friends Debbie & Griffin and Melanie & Brian gave us a fabulous couples' shower at the beginning of February. It was a Storybook themed party where folks brought their favorite children's book for Sweet Pea's library! It was wonderful because we got to include "the guys" in the celebration, since we are all such great friends. It was also a way to invite folks to more than one shower (so that we could include the guys) without people having to spend a ton of money on two gifts. Sweet Pea got LOTS of great books, and Daddy is slated to build us a bookshelf... eventually. Unfortunately, we got ZERO pictures of this shower. Everything was so cute, there were books up everywhere. Our friends were able to sign a picture matte for Sweet Pea, which is in the nursery waiting for a picture. I'm so disappointed it isn't documented!

My aunts and cousins gave us a couples' shower in Knoxville for family and friends. It was Rubber Ducky themed and all the decorations were just precious!! Unfortunately, my sweet Aunt Donna (whose house was the location for the party) came down with an awful stomach thing on Saturday afternoon before the shower on Sunday. So while we were partying away, she was locked upstairs in her bedroom. :( We got some lovely and sentimental gifts from our family. Matt's Aunt Meredith, or Dedo as we call her, special ordered the most ADORABLE newborn photo prop I've ever seen! It's a cap and "pod" that looks like a pea! So we can dress our little Sweet Pea as a sweet pea! Matt's mother, Lisa, gave us a blanket made by her aunt that Grandy and GP brought her home from the hospital in. She, in turn, brought Matt home from the hospital in it. And of course, it will escort our Sweet Pea home as well. My mother made 2 going home outfits for Sweet Pea, 1 for a girl and 1 for a boy. We also got tons of practical and useful things as well, which was wonderful. Fun was had by all... except Donna :(

Our little sweet pea pod for Sweet Pea!! You can't see it, but the hat has a little "stem" on it!

Opening the blanket from Lisa, even Matt got a little teary

I'm holding the boy outfit from G-Mom and Matt is holding the girl dress, because I think Sweet Pea is a boy and he thinks s/he is a girl! Mom used some left-over fabric from my wedding dress (which is ecru silk) to make the collars of the outfits (which are white silk)

Matt and I with all the Trousdale ladies (minus Donna of course) and Lisa

Alana and I got the kids together to play at the shower... she's due in May with little Luke!

Sweet Hilary came ALL the way from Indianapolis!!

I had my baby shower at work the Monday after our Knoxville shower. It was a lovely small gathering, and again I got ZERO pictures. My work colleagues were SO SWEET in their thoughtfulness. They all pitched in to order lots of goodies from our cloth diaper registry (which were on my list to purchase if we didn't receive them). We are so appreciative of their support of our endeavor in cloth diapering! I work with some amazing people.

I never know whether full-term is 36 or 37 weeks, but we've been taking my picture every 4 weeks. Below is my 36 week picture. 2 days after this picture was taken, the baby dropped... LOW. Meg, our midwife, said that the baby being low and the cervix thinning is much more important for the progress of labor than dilation. As of this week, the baby is still very low and I'm 75% effaced. This tells us nothing about WHEN I might go into labor. But when it does happen, things should progress nicely. This is wonderful to hear since up until this week I've been terrified of the 40hr first-time mom labor!

BIG OLE BELLY at 36 weeks

Here are the most recent pics of the nursery. I got the curtains and the twin duvet done in the middle of my frantic sewing of 3 dozen cloth wipes. There are still a few things left that I hope to finish this weekend... IF I'm not otherwise occupied!!! ;)

Full nursery view. The bed was my mother's when she was little, the toy box (under the tree) was mine when I was little, the quilt on the bed is from Auntie Meghan, and the blanket on the crib was lovingly crocheted by my mother (Sweet Pea's G-Mom)

Curtains from my favorite fabric in the room, it's burnt orange if you can't tell

Matt's dresser from when he was little, my silver bank from when I was little, our little sweet peas, the frame from our friends, and a rubber ducky (a few souvenirs from our showers)

Well, we are ready just ANYTIME that Sweet Pea would like to make an appearance!! We will post pics of Sweet Pea and the winner of the $20 wager between Mommy and Daddy when s/he arrives!

Baby Shower Weekend

Well, I just thoroughly enjoyed having Lamm and Cecily here for the weekend. And we had a blast at my baby shower on Sunday! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends!

While Lamm and Cecily visited, Matt got in lots of good practice.

We didn't get a picture of the funniest part, Matt practicing swaddling and shushing with 6 month old Cecily! It was hilarious. First of all, he was shushing her when she wasn't even upset. She looked at Lamm and me like, "why is he doing that?" But apparently, Cecily loves to be HOT when she sleeps and she loves being swaddled. Matt got her down for a nap in no time flat. I just wish we had taken pictures.

We also got to see how the animals might react to the baby. Isis could care less, Einstein is cautiously curious and a little scared as we expected (he's scared of everything), and Hurley is VERY protective (she kept using her body to block Einie from getting to the baby)!

Look at this sweet face! I had so much fun having them here.

My sweet friend Lara did the table decorations (little Sweet Peas in their pods!) which were a huge hit. All the Sweet Pea themed stuff was so precious.

We got lots of great stuff! As you can see, we are truly blessed with wonderful friends.

Autie Meghan made Sweet Pea a gorgeous quilt that coordinates so well with the nursery. Meghan and I are both only children, so we get to be "Aunties" to our friends kids. I'm Auntie Jill to lots of babies and I love it. Meghan is really excited to be an Auntie to Sweet Pea!

I love this one of me, my moms and Grandy (now G-G for great-grandmother).

Here is one of most of the party-goers. Lamm had to leave early because of snow and Lara was in the bathroom the whole time we were taking pictures and no one knew it!

Then after our wonderful shower, we got snowed in for a week! My mom wasn't able to leave until Wednesday, nor was she able to use her time here to look for apartments because we were snowed in! I boycotted taking pics of the snow. I'm not a fan. I like to look at it through a window from inside a warm house and that is about it. I'm kind of a Scrooge that way.

Nursery under construction

Hi everyone!! DH and I spent our "week off" between Christmas and New Years getting lots done around the house. DH made great strides towards finishing the bathroom remodel that we got mostly complete in my FIRST trimester (I just entered my THIRD). We took down the Christmas decorations and cleaned up the house from the chaos. But most importantly, we started the NURSERY!!!

I have been SO EXCITED about this nursery since before we even conceived. Mainly because I got the idea for it such a long time ago, and since we knew we didn't want to find out if the baby is a girl or boy (my money is STILL on boy), I knew that one day I'd be able to see my vision come to life. I originally wanted to do a playground scene mural, but I couldn't find any good art of a complete scene to use. SO, I found this and just fell in LOVE!!

I knew I wanted multi-ethnic children playing. It's important to us for our kids to have friends of all races and cultures, and what better way to start than placing their faces on the baby's wall?? I've still got some cleaning up to do (the blue tape pieces are drips that need covering), and my mom still has to round out the bottoms of the letters where the painter's tape to keep it level was. But I think it's just precious. We even painted in our kitty cat, Isis (on the railing of the treehouse), and our troublemaker, Einstein (at the bottom of the tree) into the mural. Really, what kid doesn't want their dog and cat on their wall?!

Matt and I really liked the idea of the song words around the room too, which was not part of the original picture. My mom and my papaw used to sing this song to me when I was little. And Matt's mom sang it to him as well. It's only fitting that my mom was the one who painted the letters around the room. I think it turned out beautifully. She even got a little emotional thinking about how true this is...

Even though I have no idea now, I will soon.

I will post more pics of the complete nursery once the crib is set up and everything is in place, whenever that is. I've still got lots of sewing to do! I just had to share the mural because I am so excited at how well it turned out!!

Next weekend is our first BABY SHOWER and my sweet friend Lamm and her baby girl Cecily will be staying with us. I just CAN'T WAIT!

Rumble Tumble KICK!

I've been feeling Sweet Pea's little movements consistently every day since about week 16. At first it was just a little tap tap tapping, very subtle. As Sweet Pea grew, the movements became more noticeable. Recently, I've been able to feel the flip flops of full turns. It's been so exciting for me, and I want so much for Matt to be able to feel the baby too. The last week or so I've noticed more distinct movements that feel like kicks and punches! I think we've got a strong little baby in there!

This morning was RARE. Matt has the day off and I am working from home, so we were here together in the morning time. This has not happened in a really long time. Matt leaves really early for work during the week. I've been working every Saturday since the beginning of October, so I get up while he sleeps in on those days. And Matt and Daniel have been going to the gym together super early in the morning on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday for a while now. Matt and I haven't been home together in the morning in forever it seems.

Anywho, Matt and I were enjoying our lazy morning together this morning all snuggled up, tummy to tummy. I was getting REALLY hungry, so I knew Sweet Pea was hungry too. I had just said something about the baby getting hungry when all of a sudden, POW POW!! And then again, POW POW POW!! They were the strongest kicks I've felt so far. I asked Matt if he felt it and he said yes! Then he was frustrated because the baby stopped kicking after that. I'm just glad he got to feel the baby kick him in the stomach like s/he does me! It was thrilling for both of us, and such a nice way to spend the morning.

We're having a....

BABY!! NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH!!! We are still not finding out the sex of the baby. We made it through our mid-pregnancy ultrasound without any spoiler incidents. Sweet Pea looks perfect, other than his/her HEAD is measuring 1.5 weeks ahead!! Thanks for that, Daddy. DH's head was so big he got stuck and my MIL ended up having a C-section, which I REALLY REALLY would like to avoid. But truly, it's in God's hands.

Here is our little Sweet Pea. Yes, we are having an alien. (I like the Olan Mills/Napoleon Dynamite pose Sweet Pea is striking with the little hand up to the chin, head tilt!!)

Sweet Pea's sweet little smile, see it?

Here is a nice forearm block and a couple of knees. Daddy says Sweet Pea will be a black belt!

Sweet Pea was over the portrait session, so s/he put both hands and arms in front of his/her face. :)

For Sweet Pea

Today I started to think about the things I hope for you, our little Sweet Pea.

I hope that you are healthy and happy.

I hope you grow to be a loving, caring and concerned adult (and if it's not too much to ask, a Democrat).

I hope you like to sleep as much as your dad and I do! We are not morning people, and our fear is that you will wake up at 5am every day of the week for your entire childhood.

I hope you enjoy baths as a baby and as you grow. I love and am so relaxed by showers, I hope you are calmed and comforted by it as well.

I hope the breastfeeding and cloth diapering goes well. I want to give you the very best of everything, starting with what you eat and wear.

I hope you grow up loving books and school. Your dad already reads to you in my belly before bed at night.

I hope that you love food of all kinds, like your dad and I do. We try to eat healthy whenever we can. It may cause lots of bumps in life if all you eat is chicken fingers and mac-n-cheese, but we will love you and work through it no matter what!

But most of all, I hope you learn to love God and rely on Him for every good thing in life. No matter what happens in life, HE is the one that will be with you through it all.

Solid Ground

Most of you probably take for granted that you are on solid ground. You aren't physically sinking in quicksand (or at least I hope not). You may feel like you are financially or emotionally sinking, but at least physically you aren't. We sang a great version of Amazing Grace with the chorus (and to the tune) of Peaceful Easy Feeling by the Eagles at church yesterday.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now I'm found,

Was blind, but now I see.

I've got a peaceful, easy feeling,

And I know you won't let me down.

'Cause I'm already standing

on solid ground.

After church, Matt and I were talking and I about lost it. I don't feel like we are on solid ground at all. Our relationship is wonderful, the pregnancy is going great, our jobs are stressful, but not a big deal. Really what is getting me is our house, the new one we moved into last year, not the old one we can't sell. We have renters now, so that one is out of our minds for now.

A few months ago, we started noticing that our doors weren't shutting properly. And as I came up the street about a month ago, I looked at our house and about had a heart attack. From the road in my car I could see a huge crack in our foundation. When I say huge, it's about 2" wide. You can stand in our basement and see daylight between the floor of the sunroom and the foundation wall. That one corner of our house is literally sliding out from under us, and the only thing holding the sunroom on the house right now are the floor boards. Luckily, as I write this, my dear husband and our pastor/friend are in the basement putting a support beam and jacks in place.

We have gotten OBSCENE estimates on fixing our home. We are slashing and burning our budget like never before, including drastic measures we thought we'd never take. We are also looking at some creative budgeting and finance options so that we can get our house repaired and build a fence* before Sweet Pea arrives.

*Some of you may wonder with a foundation that is sliding out from under us, why a fence is still a priority as well. This is why:

His name is Einstein and his howl is painful to the human ear and at a volume that is unimaginable. But look at that face. That face may not live through a colicky infant, just put to sleep, me with no sleep and a mail man driving by... let your imagination finish the rest.

So unfortunately, although it was a lovely song, I am far from feeling as if I'm on solid ground. Actually, I feel like our house is sliding out from under us, because it IS. It is hard to feel at rest about anything or even enjoy this blessing of a pregnancy, when your house is falling down around you. It may sound over-dramatic, but have you ever had to worry about your house falling down? OK then, don't judge me. Just pray for us if you are so inclined.

Blue Screen of Death

That was the diagnosis when I took my computer to the IT department at UTC. It booted fine on Tuesday, I closed it to put it to sleep, and the next time I opened it I got some error message on a black screen. The guys in IT are great. They assured me that they will most likely be able to recover the documents on my hard drive. They helped me finally get my work email coming in on my phone, which I've needed. I felt ok, until today.

I got an email from our administrative assistant that, "The hard drive crashed and there is no way to recover any of [my] files. But the good news is it's under warranty and [they've] ordered [me] a new one." Are you kidding me? I don't give a crap if it's under warranty, MY FILES ARE GONE!!! It doesn't come out of my pocket if they have to buy a new hard drive!

I feel like such an idiot. There is an external hard drive sitting on my desk that I haven't backed up to in 2 months or more. We are never in the office, and when we are, I'm not thinking about backing up my computer. I usually have other things to do. Yes, I did lose work files, but hopefully that won't affect me too much.

There is one thing that I've lost that I absolutely cannot replace. I started keeping a pregnancy journal when I found out I was pregnant. I was recording my journey, with dates and weeks of pregnancy, and writing letters to our baby. I was planning to make a bound book with pictures of my belly growing inserted into the journal, something that the baby could keep forever and read exactly what I was feeling while pregnant with him (or her). It's gone, all of it. I haven't backed up my files since before I got pregnant. I can try and recreate the "bones" of it, writing about milestones and such, but the sentiment can never be recreated. I will never get those words back and I'm so sad. I've looked forward to being pregnant my whole adult life and my diary to remember it by is gone. I don't even know if I want to try and start over now. If I do, from now on may be wonderful, but I'm afraid the beginning will sound textbook and cold.

Well, lesson learned. I will probably obsessively back up my hard drive for the rest of my life. But for now, it's too late and I choose to wallow in self-pity.

Cloth Diapering Sweet Pea

Hello all!! As promised, I wanted to share how I came to choose the cloth diapering system I've chosen, and impart as much wisdom from my research as I can. As I said many moons ago, there are lots of great reasons to choose cloth diapers and many options out there for anyone interested in using cloth as an alternative to sposies. My previous blog post is packed full of resources, videos and statistics for anyone interested in reading up on cloth. So I won't repeat myself here, I'll just share with you what we've decided to do.

I've been sold on cloth for a while, and I was REALLY nervous about getting Matt on board with it. I was sure this would be some sort of toe to toe face off. So I pumped myself up for a "hard sell," armed with all my statistics and cost savings, and went into the trenches. Matt's response was, "OK. I've never changed a diaper before, so I don't have anything to compare it to. You're going to have to show me how either way. I don't care." WHEW! That was easy! We've made a deal, I do diaper laundry, he'll do baby clothes laundry. Yes folks, he's all that AND a load of laundry! :D

I have a dear friend who took the CD plunge first, so she's a great resource! What I've learned is that most babies don't fit well into the one-size, lasts most of the way through diapering, adjustable diapers until they are 12-15lbs. So I was nervous about what to do for the beginning. I joined The Pin and got to work gathering advice from experienced CDing mamas. I posted a thread on their forum asking for newborn cloth diapering advice, and got tons!! What I came to understand is, in the beginning, they go through so many diapers, you want something cheap and easy that launders quickly. It shouldn't cost too much because they outgrow the newborn system so quickly. I have a feeling ours will get plenty of use between the 2 we plan to have and the friends in line to use our stash!!

There are lots of options of CDs to begin with. You have the traditional Prefolds

Above are Orange edge organic prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers, and 6 preemie prefolds for stuffing pocket diapers

Prefitteds (prefolds made into fitteds, with or without closures)

Pictured are 6 Workhorse dipes from Green Mountain Diapers w/o closures, hence the Snappis and pins

Fitteds

L-R Small Sandies fitted diaper, 2 Swaddlebees pocket velour diapers (discontinued, hard to find)

All of these types of diapers must be used in conjunction with a waterproof cover.

L-R are a NB Bummis Super Bright, a Thirsties Duo Wrap Size 1, and a Small Polar Bummis (discontinued, hard to find)

Pockets (waterproof outer, wicking inner layer w/ stuff-able pocket to adjust for heavy wetters, inserts are used for absorbency)

Pictured is a Happy Heinys MINI on the left open w/ micro terry inserts for absorbency, on the right are 2 One Size pockets - a Happy Heinys and a FuzziBunz

AIOs - all in ones (waterproof outer and absorbent inner all in one, no stuffing, just like a sposie that is washable)

These are Lil-Joeys NB size AIOs, see the snap-down for umbilical chord healing?

There are many brands and options of each of these types, but these are the basics.

The resounding feedback I got regarding the newborn system was prefolds or prefitteds with covers, because they are more affordable and wash and dry quickly (pockets and AIOs, anything with the waterproof outer must line dry, the prefolds/prefitteds go in the dryer because they are cotton). I bought 6 Workhorse Diapers from Green Mountain Diapers (GMD), which are their version of prefitteds, without closures (can use a snappi) in infant size. They were the "Beta release" so I got them for pretty cheap. I started thinking, "I sew, I can make my own prefitteds for way cheaper." So I asked for a serger for my birthday and found a great deal on Overstock.com. I bought 18 orange edge organic prefolds, and 12 yellow edge organic prefolds, that's enough to make 18 of each size prefitteds from GMD (I already have 6 yellow edge workhorse diapers). These are the favorite prefolds among most CDing moms, from what I can tell.

I've been buying used (and some new) newborn and infant covers from The Pin FSOT (for sale or trade) forums. We also plan to register for CDs, and will get more covers there. I've collected a few additions to my newborn stash as well. I got a set of Lil-Joeys from Rumparooz (NB AIOs pictured above), a Happy Heinys MINI (Xsmall one size pocket diaper), and a couple of Monkey Doodlez micro (small size AIOs) all for going out or church or convenience diapers for sitters. I also bought a couple of fitteds and velour pocket diapers to go under covers as well. I'm completely bummed that these Swaddlebees velour pocket dipes are discontinued, because I heard they were great for nighttime/naptime because you can stuff them with as much absorbency as you need. So other than covers, we are set on our small size diapering system.

As for CDs after 12-15lbs, we are registering for a couple of diapers of about 4-5 different styles and brands (a combination of pockets and AIOs, all one-size that will grow with baby). We will use what we get for a while and decide what we want the bulk of our stash to be after use, although I have a feeling we will use FuzziBunz. FuzziBunz seem to be a favorite among mamas, they dry quicker than AIOs, they are the most adjustable b/c they use an elastic system instead of snaps, and people love the convenience of pocket diapers. They say it's nice to have options for different situations, and our registry variety will give us that. I've done quite a bit of research, and Kelly's Closet seems to have the most extensive stock of choices for a registry, so that's probably the way we will go. If you want to watch video reviews of ALL DIFFERENT TYPES and brands of cloth diapers, go to Dirty Diaper Laundry. I've found her videos to be really helpful in deciding what to register for!

If you go with pocket diapers for your main diapering solution, you have lots of options for stuffing. Most diapers come with their own inserts, but you can also purchase extra inserts for nighttime or heavy wetters. Hemp is the most absorbent type of insert out there, although they take a bit more prep before use than other diapers (properly prepping your CDs is SO important and every shipment I've received so far has come with prepping and washing instructions). My CDing friend's favorite insert are the Babykicks Hemp that come in several sizes as your child grows.

We will also be doing cloth wipes along with cloth diapers. It would be a pain to have to separate throw away wipes from washable diapers! I will likely be making my own out of flannel and old towels. Most CDing moms say you need a stash of about 36 or so cloth wipes to get you through 2 days of changes before laundry time (obviously more if you have twins ;)).

Other necessities are: wet bags for the diaper bag to store dirties in, special detergent for cloth diapers (it's important to use detergents that don't leave residues that can affect the diaper's absorbency), a diaper sprayer to clean the yuckies off in the toilet, and a diaper pail liner (or 2) that is waterproof and washable with the dipes. The links above are all to the products that I've read the best reviews about for each item, and the ones that we will have on our CD registry.

So there you have it! That is all the knowledge I have to impart as a future-CDing mama. I'm sure I will have more advice once we actually have our Sweet Pea here and in cloth! I will definitely be sure to post pics of the sweet fluffy bum!

Our Sweet Pea

Well folks, I'm preggers. Yep, that's right, the "waiting" is over and now we just wait on Sweet Pea to arrive! Matt and I are beyond excited to be entering this stage of our lives and feel very blessed that it went as smoothly as it did.

For the most part, I have not been sick (barring one incidence of sensitive gag reflexes and a toothbrush). I have been EXTREMELY tired. I just finished traveling back and forth to Nashville 3 times in 4 weeks on top of teaching a Tuesday/Thursday class in Central time that was 1.5hrs away. On top of that our bathroom has been under construction for over 3 weeks now. We've been showering at the "other" house while we ripped out the fiberglass drop-in tub and shower and installed a gorgeous new tub and tiled shower surround. All of this would have made anyone tired, but it's been especially difficult during my first trimester.

We had our first ultrasound very early on, about 7 weeks and 4 days, and were able to HEAR and SEE the baby's heartbeat! It was so precious. The baby even waggled its head back and forth for us like it knew we were watching! We've had tons of fun telling all our friends and family. Now we get to keep planning for our little bundle to arrive next spring!

Sweet Pea

A few of the things we've chosen to do that are getting us some flack from friends and family: cloth diapers, natural childbirth, and not finding out the sex before the birth. That last one has incited some angry mobs, letmetellyou! People REALLY have an opinion about this! Folks are ANGRY because they can't know the sex of our baby. It's hilarious.

Well, that's the update from our corner!! I'll blog more extensively about the cloth diapers I've chosen to use and why later. Plus I just have to show off all the cute fluff I've gotten so far! :)