Cloth diapering made simple

Environmentally friendly, cheap, and now so easy that even your husband can do it (mine does!). The confusion comes when navigating the overwhelming number of brands and methods. I was lucky enough to have a sister to show me the ropes. Without her, I may have given up. So I'm passing along her wisdom along with my fine-tuning to show you what has worked for us. It's cheap, it's simple, and surprisingly not gross.

{The following links take you to places to buy the above items}

You'll need 18 prefolds of each size (5 sizes from newborn to toddler)
Flip cover is adjustable and fits from newborn to toddler (so just 4 of these total)
Snappi fasteners come in 2 sizes (infant and toddler)
A wet bag is just a dirty diaper laundry bag (it's nice to have a travel size for the diaper bag, too)
Free & Clear detergent just means no dyes or perfumes (you can use any brand - ours is from Costco)

Change the prefold with every diaper change, but re-use the cover unless there's poop on it.
Just stick your soiled diapers in the wet bag until wash day.

Rarely (or never) use bleach - drying in the sun will remove stains.
Prefolds won't always be white, but they shouldn't smell. They'll have stains. This is ok.
{Since I live in an apartment and can't line dry in the sun,  about once a month I'll cheat and soak in Oxy-clean.}

Final tips:

Do NOT use Desitin with cloth diapers. You can use Grandma El's or switch to disposable diapers until rash clears.

Do NOT use fabric softener liquid or sheets.

If you have a front-loading washer like me, soak a towel with water and throw it in with your diapers. It'll help add water to the load to clean the diapers better.

Hope you find this helpful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll be happy to answer them!

A Happy First Mother's Day

In this family we like vacation. Have you seen those new commercials urging people to take back their vacation days? No need to tell us twice. Seth can hardly earn up his PTO before we're using it. This year we turned Mother's Day weekend into a mini stay-cation. {That's a VAYcation close to home.} Seth's parents were headed to a wedding out of town, so we made the hour drive to their house to stay with his little brother, Eric, for a few nights. He's 18 but still afraid of the dark. We spent the days going on runs/hikes, swimming in the backyard pool (Quincy's first time!), meeting Eric's girlfriend, and catching one of his baseball games (he had a single and a triple - that's my brother-in-law!). His parents got back Saturday night, but we stayed again because Sunday was Mother's Day, and that meant a Skype call home from Trent who's on his mission in Brazil. Sunday was great. Quincy brought me breakfast in bed and the boys made a delicious dinner. In between I was given chocolate at church and we all enjoyed a good call home from Trent and a nice chat with all of the sisters in Utah. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend the day with my own mom, just a phone call to let her know I love her and appreciate her, but I don't think she minded. She was showered in lei's and getting kisses from the little Hawaiian boys at church in Maui. I don't think I could have topped that. And so that was my first Mother's Day. A whole weekend of relaxation and fun. Maybe we can make every Mother's Day a long weekend?

Oh's those toes!

{This week's accomplishments include getting the toes to the mouth with utmost proficiency and scooting forward, forward, forward. Unfortunately, the face is usually planted right on the ground whilst doing so. Our next lesson might need to be on avoiding rug-burn, but I'm afraid the answer to that would be crawling. Something Seth and I aren't quite prepared for yet.}

Athazagoraphobia

I love to take pictures. But an ever-growing motive to my picture-taking is this irrational fear that I am going to forget what Quincy looked like every second of every day. I know it's irrational because I already look back at her earlier pictures and think, "did I really need to take so many?" But despite my acknowledgement of the problem, I still feel the anxiety of a forgotten moment. And so now, reader, you have a choice. 1. Stop reading now or 2. Suffer through yet another day of pictures. (By the way, we love this new park that we've discovered {Vasona Lake Park}. It has plenty of trees to relax beneath and a full-blown lake where Max can live-out his olympic-swimming dreams.)

She loves looking at the grass. She'll spend as much time as you let her intently studying it.

P.S. Dear blogger, please develop an easier and prettier way for me to share my pictures or I just may be moving to another site.

5 Months

Sarah Costa Photography

The following are professional pictures from our trip to Oregon about a month ago. Our photographer was so fun and nice to work with. If you're looking for a photographer in the Northwest (she's out of Vancouver, WA) look her up. {www.sarahcostaphotography.com} We took some FULL family pictures that you'll see first, followed by each family getting a little mini-session of their own. Unfortunately, we had to wake Quincy up from a nap for our personal family ones, so she's not her usual smiley self. I'm just glad they're not all like the very last one. Take a looksy...

That's a big family. 7 of 8 children and their families represented.
(A bit of my own editing on this one)

Nani, Papa & Grandkids

Quincy and her cousins

Left to right top: Jarnigan, Jordan, Ron Jr.
Bottom: Shelby, Lila, Lori (Mom), Ron Sr. (Dad), Ellilea, Leia
 Not pictured: Shannon

Brothers & Sisters

Life's a Fairytale

Why Maxie, what a long tongue you have!

Why Maxie, what a large nose you have!

Why Maxie, what sharp teeth you have!

The better to eat you with, my dear!