tuesday so far

first thing this morning i decided to give up fear for lent.  i am not a practicing christian (or anything else) but i seem to be inspired by a lot of christian women and all this talk about abstaining for lent has spoken to me on some level.  i just didn’t want to just think of something for the heck of it.  a nice long talk with flash last night led me to see with some clarity that now is a good time for me to give up fear.  not the healthy kind that keeps you from doing stupid things but the unconscious kind that gets in the way of love, trust, and joy in day to day life.  i am letting go of fear and taking hold of leaps of faith.  i can’t tell you how good it feels.  so good.

also today, sunshine and diapers on the line.  (hello march):

seeded oat bread rising:

two pots of tea (tea for a cold and chai):

super snack plate for mama:

a few minutes sitting in the sun watching sand play and working on my latest knitting project:

still to come my new favorite dinner, braised cabbage mixed with angel hair pasta.  shockingly delicious.

brave tuesday to you all.

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the other day

sick baby (or should i say toddler?) + winter day = water play

sustainable babyish organic bamboo velour flat + peanut butter and ellie front pocket longies (old and well worn by her older brother!) = awesome cloth diaper fluff

foot = cuteness alert + mama love

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i confess

i have been using disposable diapers. i got sick. then i got sick again. and then again. and the laundry got totally out of my control. so i bought a bunch of disposable diapers and decided i’d go on a “sposie vacation” and catch up on laundry and all the other things i needed to do.

sometimes i have loved it. less laundry. more time to get other things done. not caring how muddy, dirty, insanely filthy the pea gets as she plays outside.

other times i have hated it. the smell of sposies makes me cringe, the way they feel all fat and goopy when they get full, the way her poop explodes out of them sometimes, the way i have to put them in the trash.

i’ve still be using cloth wipes. a girl can’t go completely over to the other side. and i think, as i watch the sposie pile dwindle, we will have our baby girl back in her cloth within the next day or so.

but it seemed like i should tell the world. cloth diaper addict, purist, worshipper, me — in sposieville.

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using wool in my cloth diapering

before i started using cloth diapers i researched all over the internet and i read about what to buy, how to wash, how to wash, how to wash, how to fold, how to wash, over and over again worrying that i had to somehow get it before i started doing it. then suddenly, i took a leap of faith and just bought a few pocket diapers and used them and tried washing them a few different ways and eventually i did get it. through doing it i got it.

then the same thing happened all over again when i wanted to try using wool. i read all over the internet, i asked the cloth diapering wool using mama i knew a million questions, i fretted and hemmed and hawed and thought it would not be for me. and then, i just decided to buy some wool and try it and see how it went for me. it was not love at first try. it truly was not. but within a month i was hooked and i have not looked back. when i fell in love with wool i had two in cloth diapers so i amassed quite the stash. today, i took pictures of most of it for any of you who think it might be fun to ogle.

before i roll out the pics i will tell you a few things:

• most of my wool is interlock, so with my super snazzy washer i do often wash it in the machine and then lanolinize
• at the bottom of this post i will put some links to information about how to use and care for wool
• i am trying to find the balance between not detailed enough pictures and too many pictures, if i messed up please forgive me.
• if you want a close up of anything let me know
• i will also include links to where i got my wool from at the bottom of the post instead of linking each piece as i list it.
• if you want me to talk about how i personally care for my wool i’d be happy to do that too.

and without further ado…some stash shots:

a clothesline weighed down with wool

in the above pic (r – l)

black sustainable babyish (sbish) shorts

dark gray peanut butter & ellie (pb&e) front pocket longies

light grey sbish soaker

sprout sbish longies

light green pb&e ruffle butt shorts

teal sbish soaker

in the above pic (r – l)

teal sbish shorts

sky sbish longies

purple/blue/white hand knit skirty

purple pb&e ruffle butt longies

lilac sapo verde hopscotch capri’s

above picture (r – l)

lila sbish soaker

deep yellow pb&e ruffle butt longies

deep yellow pb&e front pocket longies

yellow, orange, dark pink – sapo verde rhumba skirty

orange, light pink, dark pink – sapo verde rhumba skirty

dark pink with flower embroidered bum ah may designs longies

picture above (r – l)

black, grey, white, dark pink, light pink hand knit longies w matching hat

light pink rainbow waters soaker

two tone pink embellished rainbow waters soaker

luxe pink bloomers

raspberry pink pb&e ruffle butt longies

pink pb&e front pocket shorts

a close up of the embellished soaker because it is cute and the luxe bloomers because they are my current favorite thing ever!

ok, take a deep breath — there is one more:

pictured above (r – l)

lotus sbish longies

pink, brown, white, hand knit ruffle butt and hem longies

brown rainbow waters skirty

brown rainbow waters longies

from sloomb/sustainable babyish wool care
from peanutbutter & ellie wool care tutorial
from rainbow waters wool facts

the only wool i have listed above and have not already linked you to through their care page is luxe baby whose bloomers i am currently loving.

a few links on how/why wool:
the diaper hyena
natural family online
zany zebra

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the cloth starting line

as i was walking out of the supermarket this morning i passed a man who was about sixty walking in. stuffed under his arm was an old, ragged, canvas bag that gave me pause. it was going to be the bag he used for his groceries. the pause it gave me was one of wonder and joy – because in other ways i would never have pegged this man as being someone who would be bringing his own well worn bag to put his groceries in.  it got me thinking about why i started using cloth diapers. the reason is that i like to reuse things. it is good for the planet, it makes me feel good, i just like it.  i am a dedicated cloth grocery bagger, most of my furniture is hand me downs, i am known to eat the food my kids reject, i have a cabinet full of glass salsa and tomato sauce jars, you get the idea.

i want to take a moment to say that i hold no grudge against parents who do not chose to cloth diaper. just like most of life’s choices i think we should all make our own educated decisions and assuming that the information was reviewed and a choice was made we shouldn’t judge others. that is just my way.

when the bean was about six months old i took the time to review the information i could find and make a decision that i felt best fit our family, and we crossed our cloth starting line. i never guessed i would have the stash i have now, i certainly didn’t need it (and don’t need it) in order to effectively cloth diaper and be happy that i am doing it. once i decided i wanted to cloth diaper, and that i was going to do it without a service, i simply had no idea which system to try so i took a leap of faith and bought some pocket diapers. specifically, some bumgenius one sized pocket diapers. at the time that i purchased mine they were making the 2.0, they now make the 3.0. these are what you see pictured in this post.

my bg’s (as i learned to call them on the diapering boards) were fantastic and they held up through most of beans diapering and have been used on the pea at times as well (with some elastic needing replacing). one thing i liked about them was how easy they were, how they fit him through several sizes, how they were very easy for other non-cloth diaper fans to use, and they were nice colors. i also had it in my mind that i would use the same diapers for our second child and so i thought it was fairly economical.

in truth, i probably could have used these on chickpea for the most part. but, by the time she came along i was well hooked into cloth diapering and i had discovered that for a variety of reasons i preferred another type of system – using prefolds or fitted diapers under wool.

i sold some of my bg’s and a fair amount of my babywearing stash to help me get started in the world of fitteds and wool and by the time pea was born and i had two in cloth it was what i was using. i still used my bg’s for overnight diapers, and occasional baby sitter care, but other than that i had switched camps.

some of the reasons i switched, in no particular order:

• the microfiber inserts that are generally used with pockets irritate my hands (when i use pockets now i stuff with prefolds)
• i really liked the idea of using all natural fibers on my kids bums – cotton or bamboo and wool achieved that for me
• once i started using wool i was totally obsessed with how cute it can be
• there are some fiercely cute fitted diapers out there too
• i like not stuffing pockets anymore
• i love wool!
• i am a sucker for fluff…

if you are a cloth diaperer, how did you chose your system and what is it that you love about it?

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cloth diapering – let the fun begin?

i mentioned a little while ago that i was thinking of doing a few posts about cloth diapering.  today i was hanging a load up to dry in the sun (my line is down due to fence repairs so i have the collapsable stand working for me) and i was suddenly inspired to take a few pics and start sharing my love of cloth here on my blog.  my nikon failed me (need to deal with that) so i grabbed my iphone and took a few pictures.

perhaps they don’t look like much to you but for me seeing them there laid out in the sun fills me with happiness.  because i love my cloth diapers.  i have, i confess, treated myself to a nice little stash, and i intend to get organized to share some pics of it this week.  some real stash shots.  or, as barely knit commented on another post my cloth diaper porn.

truth be told, i even love my wipes. aren’t they pretty?

so, dear readers and curious minds alike.  i will alert you that barring me feeling the need to let something more important or woowoo grace these pages, the next few days will be filled with cloth diapers.  how i started, what i use now, stash shots, favorite diapers, and, as i warned steph, some serious love for some very adorable wool. so here is your chance to pick my brain on a topic i have researched well and some stuff i have been using for years. do you have any questions about cloth diapers or cloth diapering that i can answer? i’ll answer anything, anything at all. just leave a comment or send a note.

see you tomorrow. let the fun begin!

woowoo mama cloth diaper addict keeping it in check most days but still with a pretty decent stash.

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dichoto-me

on the one hand i want to be:
pretty
skinny
fit
well groomed
likable at a glance

on the other hand i want to:
love myself as i am
care more about inner beauty than outer
not worry so much about what other people think

on the one hand i want:
to simplify
to donate
to serve my community
to be unattached to things
to live life in tune with my higher self

on the other hand i like:
woven wraps
cloth diapers
wool to go over said diapers
shopping
a nice new dress
things that sparkle

sometimes i am such a seesaw and i wonder if the goal might just be to figure out how to balance and stop bopping up and down. it is a bit exhausting.

sbish wool is so worth loving

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searching for vocational development

i am a mama who loves cloth dipes (tickety bu obv pf)

identity.

in my class this weekend we talked a lot about how ones work becomes a part of their identity.  i thought some about what it meant that i had left the traditional work force and taken on the role of mother and homemaker as my vocation.  rarely does the descriptive “career counseling” bring to mind talking to someone about being a stay at home mom but there i was connecting the dots.  in typical woowoo mama style, there were ideas simmering but nothing yet formed.

recently i was talking to a friend, (who needs a name) about how many children we planned to have.  we both were in similar situations of being personally open to the idea of having more than two children but married to someone who was not.  we both also felt we could easily make peace with having no more children but had a small part of us that mourned the idea of not having any more babies.  this got me thinking again about why, why would i want more babies?  given the framework of ideas in my head due to my weekend of class i suddenly saw something i had not seen before.

it is not that i just identify myself by the job of mother but as a certain kind of mother.  i am a mother who is defined by the way she has chosen to care for her babies, by the things i believe in and stand for and have even fought for.  i am not just a “mama” but an attached mama, believer in the importance of nursing (extended nursing, nursing through subsequent pregnancies), i let my child self wean, i cosleep, i believe in gentle disciple, i do not practice time outs, i believe in the joy and practicality and positive effects of babywearing.  i have researched and thought about and talked about and analyzed all my parenting choices and for the most part they revolve around how i parent babies and toddlers.  so it makes even more sense to me that i have trouble imagining not parenting a baby.  it is who i am, it reaches to my identity, i am a mama to babies.

this realization was freeing because it suddenly gave me something to do to move forward in the whole making peace with having two children process.  i want to find the kind of parenting to preschoolers and young children that drives me in the same way that some of my baby rearing practices have.  my core remains, i seek to make and maintain a strong attachment relationship with my children.  i will still be nursing for awhile, the bed is open to whomever needs it, i will be parenting to sleep, and so on.  but suddenly there is more for me to seek out, more for me to learn, more for me to study.  i like to study.  i like to seek out.  i like to learn.  i like to be driven by serious beliefs.

as of now my exploration begins with learning more about waldorf because i have been introduced to some pieces that i like through reading over at the parenting passageway. i will see where that takes me. i am suddenly though a little perked up about this whole raising two kids thing. maybe, maybe i can work on our rhythm?  maybe i can think more about how i model life, what we focus on, how to involve them even more than i already do in cooking, gardening, and cleaning. i don’t know what i am talking about, i will be the first to admit it, but suddenly i sense change as a beginning and not just an ending. and that realization brings with it an opening and sense of space that i dearly need.

i am so much my vocation, and it is time to reflect on what i want that work to consist of.

did you hear that professor byers?

three cheers for learning of all kinds.
and i’d cheer like three million more times if it would stop raining already. come on people. show me a little peek of sun here.

so readers, if you exist, and are up to commenting, would you share the ideas, theories, books, people, thoughts that drive you in raising your young children? i am ready to sponge it up.

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i simply remember my favorite things…

 

in the name of brevity i bring you a simple post containing a few of my favorite things.  all inspired by this one picture i took of chickpea chillin’ in cassis waves (the didymos woven wrap).  i used the downstairs bathroom mirror to capture this shot and i thank the stars it was cleanish.

 

now without further ado (with ado usually being words around these parts) a few of my favorite things:

1.  the sweat shirt i am wearing in this picture.  if you have been around here awhile you might notice i am wearing it in almost every pic i snap of myself.  that is because i basically have not taken it off since my mom gave it to me for christmas.  in fact, one day she came over to watch the kids while flash and i snuck out on a date and she told me i had to take off the sweat shirt and put on something else to go on my date because i wore it too much and it reeked of stay at home mom!  the sweatshirt is from the banana republic outlet, it has buttons so it is easy to nurse in and pockets which all mom’s need and a little stretch to the fabric which makes me feel downright stylin’.  

 

2.  cassis waves (also here and probably many other places).  i love the waves weave which is loose and soft and airy but still kind of cushy on the shoulders and plenty of support.  oh yeah, waves.  and cassis is blue and purple and those are my favorite colors so it is kind of a no brainer.

 

3.  chick pea, obviously.

 

4.  but perhaps less obvious to some, the way she has only one little spot of long hair left and it is right above her ear and it is always sticking out a bit in a funny way.  there it is in the pic, right above her ear kind of out and bendy.  hello adorable strand of long hair.

 

4. biokleen bac out.  something all cloth diaper users should have.  a quick spray after i dump the poop in the toilet and the world is a much nicer place.  thank you bio kleen.  

 

5.  my self.  it is a work in progress this whole act of making my self be one of my favorite things.  but maybe, just by writing it out here, i will be that much closer.

 

a note: i have no association with any of the vendors or makers of anything i linked to.  i just like the stuff.  and it was in the picture.  and it is monday.  and it seemed like a fun idea.  at least for me.  thanks for stopping by.

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is this so wrong?

about two or three weeks ago the bean suddenly started showing an interest in the potty again so we started doing more naked butt time around the house.  i didn’t think too much of it because he has done this a few other times and then quickly changed his mind and refused to even admit that something referred to as the potty might exist.  as the naked butt time continued day after day with significantly fewer accidents than i might have anticipated i started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he might potty learn at some point this summer.  flash even said something about it – out loud – and i quickly told him to can it because i knew as soon as the possibility was mentioned outside of my own head it was sure to disappear.  

 

about a week into his interest in naked butt time i was placing an order online taking advantage of sale prices on some cotton pj’s (it is bad when you notice you are still cramming your three year old into pj’s marked 24 months and the reason you notice is because you can’t figure out why they are so short on him) when i noticed some boys undies on sale too and so on a whim i threw some in my cart.  thinking, “maybe for next fall.”  and don’t you like how i can say “threw them in my cart” about internet shopping without batting an eyelash?  quality.

 

so then the undies came, three pairs, and i tried them on him.  during the time they were in transit he went from interested in naked butt to being naked butt and using the potty any time we were home and all the time we were home.  and then, one day, he was wearing a diaper and we were out and he asked me “can i tinkle?  do i have a diaper on?”  and i knew we were getting there.  we were way closer to having this whole potty thing going on then i had anticipated.  so, the undies arrived and i showed them to him and he decided he wanted to try the ones with stars and so the wearing of undies began.  

 

little by little he is changing from a boy who wears diapers to a boy who wears undies.  the times i have put him in a diaper he has not even peed or pooped in it in the last week or so!  (including for three hours at school, is that normal?)  this is all a little bit exciting and a little bit more than a little bit exciting and did i mention he only has three pairs of undies?  three pairs.  this is a boy who had something like 30 cloth diapers.  maybe more.  if i counted i might scare myself.  to be brutally honest i do not do laundry fast enough for 3 pairs of undies to be enough.  even without him having a single real accident there are those little drops of pee that get on the undies when he pulls them back up after peeing.  (speaking of, i keep trying to get him to wiggle his butt post pee to try to shake the drips off but we still have drips.  anyone got a tip on that?  or is that just part of the boy no wipe thing?)  so three pairs of undies will last us at most three days.  once they have been on for one day they do not pass the sniff test.  not even after being aired out for a day or two.  believe me, i keep trying.

 

so, i am very short undies.  

 

but it occurred to me the other day that i have a ton of those little cover things that come with girls dresses and are supposed to be the cute thing that goes over a disposable diaper.  because i have cute diapers and no reason for those things, i keep just shoving them in drawers and closets and wondering what to do with them.  yesterday i found one such pair (in the downstairs coat closet of course) and i had an ah ha moment.  they are basically the exact right size to be bean’s undies!  the only thing that has given me pause is the fact that they are all pretty girly.  you know, pink, with flowers and such.  i could care less and i doubt flash would be overly concerned (especially when i point out they are free) but am i doing him a major disservice by putting his little sister’s bloomers on him as big boy undies?  

 

it does give me pause.  but pause all i might, i simply had no clean undies today and we had places to go so i grabbed a pair that seemed not too too terribly fem and i threw them on him as “special new undies!”

 

please, be brutally honest, is this so wrong?

 

 

a peek at the undies

bloomers came with this ginko leaf dress from tea collection which i bought for a fantastically low price in a size for the pea to wear next summer back when they had a coupon for extra off the sale prices. (just in case you want to rush out and get a pair of these undies for your big boy.)

 

tomorrow maybe the hot pink eyelet?  can he rock it?  or have i crossed a line here?

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