CD'ing ( I think I am so cool so I can call it this now)

Well I took a bit of time off so I could work on the CD'ing and I am pretty sure I collected everything I need now including two new diaper bags and a bunch of accessories to go with them :) They are ALL absolutely necessary, or at least that's what I tell my hubby ;o)
Anyways, as far as the Cding goes I have some new things to add in here that I bought and have tried, so here we go.

First up is what is called a gflapper cloth insert. I bought two different kinds, but I got them both from The Nappy Shoppe. The Nappy Shoppe is great because its run by SAHM who sew everything by hand that they sell. They have several different kinds of insert available, its up to you to choose which one is best for you. I am just going to show you the two kinds that I bought, simply because I have a grumpy baby and a terrorist 5 year old to deal with alone tonight :o) So here we go. First up is the Hemp, Microfiber and Micro chamois gflapper insert. It is made from 2 thick layers of hemp and organic cotton fleece, and 2 layers of thick microfiber terry and very soft micro chamois.

In the photo it is the top one. The first photo is of the flapper part open so you can get an idea of what they look like.

The second insert is the colored one in the photo (you can also get them plain but the colors were on sale) and it is the All Bamboo version. It is made and natural and organic Bamboo rayon fabrics. It has 3 flaps which are as follows-

Layer 1 is two layers of heavy Bamboo Rayon Fleece

Layer 2 is two layers of Double Bamboo Rayon Loop Terry.

Layer 3 is one layer of Bamboo Rayon Loop Terry and one layer of DYED Organic Bamboo Rayon Velour.

They are sewn flapper style so they wash and dry faster.
Both of these inserts are very trim fitting into the Gdiaper but they are really great for overnight use when you need a little extra absorbency. The gflappers will also work in pocket diapers as well as a few other diaper styles which is detailed on the web site.
I am also including a photo of the regular gCloth since I have some now. It is also nice but doesn't hold as much as the ones above since it is just 2 layers.

So there it is, if you have any questions please email me and I will be glad to help if I can.

Day 2 (gDiapers)

Well today went great! Dylan was in her g's all day long and we had NO leaks! She even took a 4 hour nap and was in the same dipe for about 5 hours total time and when I took it off the dipe was wet and her skin was completely dry! Not even that clammy skin feeling like with regular diapers! I was pretty impressed. I also got 3 more dipes in the mail today so it's beginning to look like a rainbow here :) I had to wash 2 of the dipes from yesterday because Bebuh is a very messy eater and they came out of the washer and dryer looking great. The liners are completely washable and you can put them in the dryer as well but I wouldn't on a regular basis (put them in the dryer that is) I would think it would take some life out of them. I have been wiping them out between pee dipes with a nice baby wipe, and the ones that she had a poopy in I hand washed and then stuck in my dish drainer. They were dry within minutes. Overall they are proving to be a super easy system and I will most definitely will be recommending them to new moms or moms who want to try CDing.

I am pretty busy the rest of the week, I will continue to update but I want to be able to sit down and write on the Pro's and Con's to this diapering system. I don't really see any Cons for my personal use, but I do see some things that might make greener parents pick something different. Anyways, this is all for now, but I promise there will be more :o)

CDing Day 1 (gDiapers)

So I obviously am posting consecutively but this is the first chance I have gotten to sit down at the computer long enough to write a blog. Even as we speak the 5 year old is awake and running around the house like a maniac, and yes, I know its after midnight, but what do you do? Anyways, here is what went on today-

First of all let me explain why I chose gDiapers brand cloth diaper. I was researching the many different types of diapers and finally settled on the gDiapers because of the versatility of them. First of they are what is called a 'hybrid" diaper. Meaning it has a snap in plastic liner than you can fill with either a flushable insert or "flushy" or the fabric insert called gCloth which of course is washable. I liked the idea that if I was out and about I could use the flushable insert in the diaper and either flush it, or bag it and toss it and it is 100% biodegradable. It is also compostable. The thought of putting a poopy diaper in my diaper bag, even enclosed in wet bag just had to much of an ick factor for me so this was one of the most deciding factors for me. I also listened to what others were saying. Of course every mom and every baby are not the same so gDiapers are not for everyone but they had a lot of excellent reviews on ease of use which was very important to me, but the also had rave reviews on the quality of the products and even better reviews on customer service. I also liked the fact that they are very trim fitting, I dont care for the big booty Judy look that many cloth diapers give babies.

That being said I was able to find (with help from other Cding momma's I know from my birth board) some pages on Facebook, and some pages on BabyCenter that are for Cding moms to buy, sell, and trade their used gDiapers (a few of them are also for any cloth dipes) so I was able to get quite a few new and gently used gdiapers and gCloth inserts for a very reasonable price. I ended up purchasing the "flushies" from Amazon. I had my 20% off coupon and Amazon had a special, so I was able to snag 4 pack of 32 "flushies" for $16 with free 2 day shipping. This was a steal considering regular price was $51. Right now I am just using the "flushies" but only because the gcloth is not here yet, I got it off one of the resale boards for a lot less than retail so I went that way. Once I get al my dipes I will break down where I got them and how much was spent, I cant do that yet because I dont even remember how much is coming! Its a terrible addiction :) I think so far I have spent around $100 but I have purchased 6 new gDiapers from Diapers.com . They have some great prices on gDiapers and they offer discounts on them as well as "sposies" where most places do not. So here are the dipes I got today-

The first one is called Grubby Knees Grey and it is a very dark grey color which obviously looks close to black, the second is a very pretty blue called Galactic Blue and it is much brighter in person. The last one she is wearing and its called Goddess Pink. The covers are made from a very soft cotton/spandex mix. The liners are made from what looks like poly vinyl (I cant find what it really is but I will) they are super soft and very easy to care for. The gCloth inserts are made from microfleece, hemp, and cotton. They are 4 layers for maximum absorbtion. I dont have them in hand yet so I know nothing about them yet (this is off their website) So here is a photo of the inside of the dipe-

The little orange dots are the snaps for the snap in liner. These is one package of the "flushies" and I forgot to take a photo of the actual "flushie" but I will tomorrow.

Last but not least here is Dylan in her first gDiaper!

Sooo cute! I love it!

Ok, so now to the good stuff. Dylan wore the gdiapers for about half of the day and we went through 5 "flushies" right now she is not a heavy wetter at all so they lasted awhile. The last 2 were "muddy" so they had to come off and of course we went through them faster. I could have left the inserts on longer as well since they had just a little pee in them but I wasnt sure what to do and I didnt want to leave her in pee. I did notice that her skin was dry, she didnt have any moisture next to her skin at all. The last diaper she has was quite poopy, and she had been in her bouncer so the insert had shifted a bit so the poo got on the plastic liner but it didnt get out of the dipe at all.

So far I think the half of day went well. I think these dipes are super easy to use, almost to easy..tomorrow may be bad, who knows. I hope it continues on like it is though :)

I am sure I am forgetting something right now but its after 1:00 in the morning and the baby is awake and screaming so I need to get off here. I will have more tomorrow on my CDing journey as well as some other product reviews that I have found usefull.

Cloth Diapering- The Beginning

When I was pregnant with Dylan I had the thought to try out cloth diapering. I didn't really look into it much besides for looking up a diaper service in the area which I quickly found was not really any cheaper than for me to just buy regular diapers or "sposies" as I now have learned to call them. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I still thought of the cloth diapers as the pieces of cloth with the safety pins holding them up. I now realize how wrong I was. I wish I had taken the time back then to really look into it, but I didn't, and still don't know anyone close who Cd's and from the little amount of research I had done (and our job situation at the time) I didn't think it was really in our budget. Soooo here it is quite a few months later and what am I doing? Trying out cloth diapering and so far I am really enjoying it. That being said it has been less than 24 hours, and I am sure we will face some challenges in the next few days, weeks, and even months, but I am ready for them and more than willing to work at this. I really hope that my experience will help someone else to do the research and and possibly choose to CD. There are so many benefits to it for you, your baby, and the environment. Anyways, I am getting down off my soap box for now, and on to the good stuff!

So my plan is to -

A. Document the next few weeks of my Cding to show what problems I encounter, my overall experience, and of course end result.

B. Document the costs of getting started, some money saving tips and websites for cloth diapering, and of course reviews on the products I have chosen to use through the process.

C. Show how Cding even late in the game has and will save me money.

So please bear with me while I fumble around, and I hope this will truly work as I want and serve as a tutorial of sorts for others who want to make the leap to Cding, and thanks so much for being a part of my daily journey!

Wow~

So I started off thinking that I was going to open my Etsy shop and get a couple orders and that would be it, but I am please to announce that I have been doing a pretty brisk business. The owl hat is a big hit. I just made an adorable bunny hat for easter which you can find on my facebook page or in my shop but here is a picture of one I made for Dylan, she is a perfect sleeping model~

My 50 fan give away went great and I ended up with almost 70 fans! Yay! I am so happy! I am working on some super cute new designs for spring and I will have them in my shop shortly. I am having a lot of fun making these hats and seeing everyones little cuties wearing them.

Anyways, a big thank you to all my friends and fans, hopefully I can get a few more people to start viewing this blog so I can do a BIG giveaway. There is one in the works, and it will be GREAT, so tell your friends to follow me here. I also have some great product reviews coming up, I just have to have time to sit down and write them out :o)

Well this will have to be all for now, I am trying to get dinner done, and the baby is screaming. Ahhh such a blissfull life ;o)

I am going for it!

Ok so for a long time now I have wanted to start blogging about deals and steals and all things baby related and have never done it. I have also wanted to open a shop to sell my hats and now that I have done that I am ready to move on to the blogging! I am going to see if I can get a few followers on here, my friends from Facebook, family, and my ladies from BBC Nov. board. I want to create a blog where I can share the good deals I find, and learn about good deals others have found. I want to get my business going, and I want to create my own enviroment of support so to speak. Anyways, I am all over this in the next few days, hopefully we will get a few followers on here and I can do a giveaway!

Holy Wow!

WOW! Is all I can say! I finally did it! I launched my own Etsy shop and started to sell some of my hats. I am actually doing pretty well! With a bit of help from my friends on BBC I have 10 hats to make in the next week! OMG how am I ever going to get them done?! Its nice though to have something to do! I also started a Facebook page for my stuff and I am really hoping to get a bunch of business from there, or at least get my name out there! I have a bunch of stuff I would love to do, like give aways, Hats of the Week, a collaberation with my great friend Christina of GiaCocco Designs of her gorgeous hand made flowers! Soo much, so lets hope this venture works out for me!

The other WOW factor of this week is an old friend contacted me out of the blue...TISH! I was actually totaly happy to hear from her and we had a nice chat! We have talked every day since then and she is actually coming over here tomorrow to stay for a few days while her mom is in Seattle. I am pretty excited! I have really missed her as a friend and I am glad she didnt hold it against me when I was not being such a great friend. I guess we all have our reasons and make mistakes, what else is forgiveness for?

Anyways, I cant stay long, I need to get hot on these hats while the girls are sleeping! Check out my stuff at www.etsy.com/shop/kristadenae and visit me on FB at La La Larue Yarn Designs!