Fluffy Bum Reviews

Okay, so I now have pictures of sweet little Natalie in some of her cloth! The pictures aren't great quality because the camera we bought for Christmas decided it wanted to die. So until I figure that out, we still have the camera phones :) All of the pictures are of Natalie at 8 pounds except for the Thirsties where she was 7 lbs.

Charlie Banana

I really like the Charlie Banana because they fit really great even on my little tiny baby. I try to use them at night because they have the fleece that keeps moisture away from baby's bottom. They are super cute and really easy to use! They did look HUGE on her though when we started using them at just 6 lbs. But they worked so oh well :) 

GroVia

I really like the Velcro on the GroVia. It is super strong and durable. It is really the only Velcro I have that I like because the other ones, even with using the laundry tabs, get so worn out in the laundry. Obviously they are still in good condition since we haven't had them that long, but I can see them not lasting. These are GREAT though. The whole top part is a fabric that catches the Velcro so you can make it fit perfectly! You can change the insert and reuse the cover, but poop almost always goes off the  insert and so when that happens, we can't reuse it. But that is true for any cover, this one just seems to happen more often.

 Flips

I think I will like these better when Natalie gets a little bigger. They have some great inserts that you just lay in the diaper and tuck under a couple of tabs. But we are using them as a cover over fitted diapers instead of with the Flips inserts because the inserts are big for her. They can be folded down to different sizes, but they just didn't work. I think I will try again soon because she has gained a couple pounds since I last tried. But for a little tiny baby, they didn't work great. Now we really like them as covers though and hope to be able to use the inserts soon!

Thirsties

I LOVE the Thirsties covers. They fit great especially because of the inner gusset. This is the Thirsties Duo Wrap. There is a size one and a size two of these and each can be adjusted to two sizes. So we bought the size one and can adjust it to a small size with the snaps or we can unsnap it for the medium size. With these we use prefolds or fitteds. I had never planned on using fitteds only because I didn't want to pay the same amount for a fitted as for a regular all in one or all in two diaper. But I made some and LOVE them. My husband prefers the fitteds and the covers to any diaper. I guess he likes the all in one Bumgenius size small we have, but he would rather use the covers knowing they are cheaper. 

So that is my review of our cloth diapers. Hope this helps those who were curious about them!

Updates

Valentines
We have had a great weekend! We went to a Valentines dance with some friends last night and had a lot of fun. After we all came back to our apartment and made cake and just hung out. Then tonight we went to a family Valentines dinner. Everything was so delicious and also healthy. Well dessert wasn't healthy I guess but the rest was. And so yummy! We had a broccoli salad with a dressing on it. Sama really doesn't like broccoli but he liked this a lot. Then we had a delicious fruit salad with poppyseed dressing and pizza with asparagus. I never would have thought about asparagus on pizza but it was good! We don't have plans for tomorrow, but I think the weekend was enough as far as celebrating valentines day!

Baby Massage
I decided to start doing massage with Natalie. We did it tonight for the first time and she loved it! I don't know if it is technically a massage because I don't know the "right" way to do it. But it was something and I am going to read about massage to make it an even better experience for us. I was worried she might not like it but it was a good bonding experience and I highly recommend it!

Cloth Diapers
Erin, it is late right now and I only have one picture of Natalie in her diaper, so my goal tomorrow is to take some more pics and post a short blog answering your questions :)

First Outing and Updates

We took Natalie out for the first time today! In public that is and not for a doctors appointment. I decided that Sama and I needed some time for us and so we fed Natalie and got her almost to sleep and went out to dinner. She slept for most of it! It was great. She woke up towards the end and still did okay for the rest of the time. I was so happy to go out with her and Sama! Sama and I got to talk and have a really good time. It was so nice.

I think it will be easier to take her out now. The hardest part is that she still isn't on a consistent schedule. I think that is okay since we are mostly home, but it does make it hard when trying to plan things. Oh well. I would really like to have a schedule, but I am not sure that I want to force it. So we'll just see how it goes.

Friends
My friend Monique came over the other day with her son Ethan. It was really nice to have company. We had people over right after Natalie was born and that was kind of overwhelming at times because I mostly just wanted to rest! But I have been feeling pretty good the last couple weeks and it was great to see friends.

Cloth Diapers
Well we are doing cloth diapers (again)! Natalie was too small for the ones I had bought before she was born. So then I made some but I can't get the elastic right and they didn't fit right and leaked. Not good. So we kept using disposables but it was driving me crazy! I hated knowing that for a couple dollars more than a package of diapers I could just buy cloth. So I talked to Sama and he said to go ahead and buy some smaller diapers. They are Thirsties and two sizes in one so they aren't huge but will still last quite awhile. I took a picture but I am too lazy to hook up my camera and download it so that will come later. Anyway, my favorite cloth diapers are the GroVia and the Charlie Banana that we bought and they do work, they are just look HUGE on her. It is fine with me, but Sama doesn't like it because she seems uncomfortable. Though I haven't noticed that. But I was still impressed that they fit her! Those are my favorite diapers so far. But anyway, Monique gave me the idea of continuing to use the ones I made and just put the cover over them. So that is what I am doing and it works really well. I love it! Cloth diapers are so easy and are saving us money. I recommend it :) I am glad I found a way to keep using the ones I made. I am making more now since I can use the cover over them.

A Tree in Our Apartment
So there is a tree growing in our apartment. What?! I thought Sama was joking when he told me. This actually happened a few weeks ago. There is a teeny tiny branch breaking through the wall, so we called maintenance and they came out. They just plucked it out of the wall and then went outside and cleared some of the branches thinking that one just pushed through from the outside wall. And then they left. Yeah...that didn't work. The tree is back. I am so glad this is not my house and that we don't have to worry too much about this.

Vacation
Natalie will be taking her first trip next month! We are going to Oregon to visit family and look at apartments. We decided that we will probably get an apartment for 6 months. After that we plan to buy a house. We wanted to buy a house first, but it is too much hassle trying to do that long distance and I just don't want to make a big decision like that without having a better idea of the area. So we will hopefully find some good apartments to choose from while we are there and be all set to move in after Sama's graduation. It is coming up!! Time is going so fast.

Natalie Updates
Breastfeeding is still going well. It keeps getting better :) Natalie is starting to hold her head up for a few seconds at a time! She is doing well at everything except sleeping through the night. Can't wait for that day to come!

Updates

Pregnancy
So during my second trimester I often got nauseated after just a couple bites of food. Finally that went away....until now! It is back. Sad day. Not as bad as before at least! And I am not actually getting sick from it either. So that's good.

My hands get numb every time I sleep. Numb and tingly. I read that this is carpal tunnel and can happen during pregnancy. Weird! Anyway, it has been happening for awhile but now is worse. Sometimes I have to check to see that my fingers really are not the size of hammers. Because they feel like that! But nope, just weird numbness. Whatever! Hope it goes away after having the baby!

As always, I don't mind dealing with the discomforts because it is so worth it! I can't wait for baby Natalie to arrive. And it is getting closer and closer all the time!

Photos of me at 35 weeks. Please ignore the fact that I am as large as the Christmas tree :) Also a n ote to my sister that we have kept the stockings you gave us the first year we were married. Aren't they great?!

I had Sama take these pictures of me today because I am actually feeling pretty. Yesterday I (finally) bought another bra. Sorry if that is TMI. I really only had one that fit right and that was not enough. So while there I found this pretty dress on clearance and treated myself to it. It is so wonderfully comfortable too! Plus I walked around the mall for about an hour and counted that as my exercise for the day. Fun stuff! Besides that I also got some new make-up, well just a liquid to powder foundation, for just $5 from Melaleuca when they had their Black Friday sale. It is good stuff! I used it for the first time and it was great.

School
This is more a hooray for the fact that this semester is almost over! Sama has been so busy with school, work, and traveling for interviews. But now everything is coming to a close and he will have a much easier semester starting January! He only has 6 credits/2 classes left so that is great. We were worried that he might not get enough financial aid because of only going half time, but he is still getting a Pell Grant! I am really happy about that! I am doing Melaleuca and making a little money but not enough yet to make up the difference in paying for school. Hopefully soon that will change!

Cloth Diapers
I only went to one store on Black Friday (I bought the make-up online) and it was busy of course, but not crazy and no long lines either! Anyway, I went to Joann's and got fabric for cloth diapers. Yay! Okay, so maybe it is just exciting to me but that's okay. I am getting better at it for sure, but I have had to pace myself because I don't want to make too many and find out that the pattern/style I am doing won't work for Natalie. I think I have 10 all together now. Some are quite sad looking, but the more recent ones actually aren't too bad! I even made two all in ones. I read that blizzard fleece works for diaper covers and I got a bunch of it for very cheap. I also got a lot of flannel for the inside and to make more cloth wipes. But then I started to worry that fleece wouldn't be enough for the covers. I still am not sure (I will let you know!) but I decided to use a layer of PUL in the wet zone. I am thinking that will be plenty. I had a few scraps of PUL and was able to use those. Plus if it turns out that it works well enough then it isn't too expensive either.

Here is a picture of some of my better ones. I experimented with different patterns and sizes. We'll see if they work!

I think that is all for now. I am going to go stay with the neighbor kids for a few minutes while their mom has to pick up the other kids. Should be fun! Hope you all are having a great day!

Cloth Diapers

So I gathered up some old clothing that I got for free and I have been making my own fitted cloth diapers! They are really, really homemade looking, but they will be inside a cover and I think I am getting better! I am enjoying my little project though.

We also have received our orders of cloth diapers! I have 2 Charlie Banana, 2 Flips, 1 Rumparooz, and 2 GroVia. Plus an assortment of prefolds and inserts. I washed 5 of them and am setting 2 aside in case we don't like them as well and want to trade them in for a different brand. We will definitely be needing more covers, but I really think I just might make the rest because I am enjoying it so much! And of course it is cheaper and will save us even more money. It is weird, I feel like I am doing a lot to save money, but when I think of how we would get by doing things differently (disposable diapers/wipes instead of cloth, formula instead of breastfeeding, used/hand me down clothes instead of all new, etc.) it doesn't seem like it could work. I know we would be fine, but still. I guess it would be nice to see those savings all at once and be able to spend just a little of it for something fun. Oh well, Sama graduates soon and we will be a little better off then. Not a lot though because we are making paying off our student loans a priority! So we will do that before we get used to a higher standard of living. And really, I feel like we have a lot more than we need. We can't do everything we want, but we have everything we need and more.

Okay, so if you really want to know more about cloth diapers there is an overload of information online. But I came across this article when I was first researching it and, yes, getting kind of obsessed and excited about my decision to cloth diaper. The article is by Erin and I have since started following her blog. Love it!  Here is the link. You should read it because it is fun!

And now for some pictures. I made some fitted diapers, prefolds, cloth wipes, and I also made a baby blanket! I am pretty proud of it because it isn't even crooked! At least not much :)

We Have Concrete Out There? Yes, Yes We Do!

So it has been like 3 months since we moved into our little duplex. I am loving it here even though it is quite old, but I kind of like all the little quirks that go with old houses. We did a deep cleaning of the inside when we moved in, but the outside I only just got around to a couple days ago. I wish I had taken before pictures, but oh well. Anyway, there is not a lot to be done since I have limited tools and we are only renting. In the back we have a little patch of grass that had a ton of dead grass that needed to be raked up. So I did that. And there is also a little square of concrete, which was totally covered in dirt and leaves. Apparently Sama didn't even know we had concrete out there! That is how bad it was. So, I went out a couple days ago and cleared out as much as I could. The grass still looks wretched, but the concrete area is nice and clean! I also cleaned up our front porch. It was not as bad as the back, but definitely needed some TLC. I couldn't get a picture of that because it is just too bright out front and all I get with my camera phone is shadows. The more pictures I take, the more excited I get about buying our new camera! That will be on Black Friday though :) Anyway, here is the photo of our little concrete square that you wouldn't have known existed until a couple days ago!

English Classes
We have awesome neighbors here, which is another great thing about our duplex. We are friends with a couple on the other side of the duplex as well as a Mexican family next door. My neighbor used to teach the mother of that family English, but was no longer able to after getting a new job. She asked if I would be interested/willing to do it and I said yes! Today was our first lesson and I think considering I have never really taught English it went pretty well. Our biggest barrier is that we have ALWAYS spoken in Spanish together. The only time I ever used English was if I didn't know the word in Spanish and was asking if she understood what I was trying to say. So we kept switching from Spanish to English and since she is at an intermediate speaking level, it would really be better to stick to English only during these lessons. I am really glad I speak Spanish (though not completely fluently), but I am also kind of envious of my neighbor who was teaching her before I was because she only knows a tiny bit of Spanish and so they are forced to use just English. The good thing is that the neighbor I am teaching gets a lot of practice outside of these lessons. She helps her kids with their homework and she also still talks to our neighbor in English when they see each other. I am hoping I can do a good job teaching her. We'll see!

Orchestra
I started playing the violin in elementary school, but I gave it up after about 4 years. In that time, my only lessons were in school, and I didn't practice enough to really excel at it. Then after I graduated high school I went to an orchestra concert with a friend and shared my desire to play again. Hearing pretty orchestra music makes me want to play. So what did this awesome friend do? My Christmas gift that year was a violin! I was so happy and started lessons again with a lady in the ward. Then I went to Southern Virginia University and took lessons there. Then I took a couple semesters worth of lessons while at BYU. Unfortunately I never stick with it long enough to make much progress, but I still love it. I have since gotten a really nice violin (the one my friend gave me was such a great gift and completely wonderful, but also an inexpensive model). I owe the nice violin I have now to my parents and to my brother Adam for giving up the bass. My parents had bought him the bass from a violin maker who stands behind his products 100%. I was able to trade the bass in for a beautiful violin. Anyway...I have been wanting to play again lately. We can't afford lessons or anything right now and with a new baby on the way, I don't think I would be able to continue for long anyhow. But, our stake is having a Christmas fireside/concert and anyone can be in the orchestra no matter what level he or she is at! I was hesitant to sign up thinking I might regret it or not want to stick to it, but I shy away from so many things because of that fear. So I just went ahead and signed up! Go me! I need to replace one of the strings on my violin, but then I am all set. I am going to go do that today and start practicing. On my own that is since I don't know exactly what I will be doing for the concert. But I feel really good about participating and putting myself out there a little bit. I am glad they offered places for all levels of players. I think it will be a great experience! Now, on to the store to buy violin strings!

Cribs
Thanks to all those who commented and left advice for me about cribs. For now we have decided to go with a more inexpensive model from Walmart. I hope to order it soon and be done with the stress of choosing a crib. I don't know why it is so stressful, but it is to me. Thanks to my sister for her comment that any crib I go with will be fine. I am sure it will. Still, I am excited to have it over with once we order the crib, which should be in the next couple weeks. By the end of November we will have purchased nearly everything we will need for Natalie. The main things we still need are the cloth diapers and the crib. Actually the crib isn't a necessity yet since we are using a pack n play in our room at first, but I still want to get Natalie's room all set up! There are a few little things like crib sheets and such that we need, but besides the cloth diapers we are pretty much set.

Cloth Diapers
I am still totally excited about using cloth diapers. I haven't been researching them quite so obsessively as I was before, but I still am excited about finally buying some and using them for the baby. I think I need to narrow down my list of the ones I want to try so that I can spend just a little less. But really, I want to try almost all of them! Oh well. I can always try more later on. And then I will just sell the ones I don't like.

San Antonio
I don't know if I wrote about Sama going to San Antonio or not. But he did go there for a job interview at the beginning of the week. They paid for him to fly out and treated him to dinner and a nice hotel and all kinds of cool things. He said it was a really good experience and that the interview went really well. My mom (and my sister a little too) were not thrilled at all that he went. Texas? Why Texas? You don't want to live in Texas, do you? The answer is no. No I do not want to live in Texas. But I would consider it if it were temporary. It is a really good company with amazing benefits. They treat their employees really well and pay them really well. Plus they will pay for him to do his masters. But overall we are wanting to stay in Utah for him to do his masters and then move to Oregon or Washington. Being close to family is definitely a priority for us. Plus Oregon is awesome! I love Oregon. I am sure there are other wonderful states and places to live, but I am an Oregonian and would rather go back there than trying out other places that are far from my family. But whatever happens will work out for us. I am sure that Heavenly Father has a great plan for us and knows what is best for our little family. And all the better if Oregon is a part of those plans! I miss my family!


I think I am done writing for now. But there are so many exciting things going on! I love my life!

We'll See How It Goes...

I really like the idea of blogging, but I am also worried that I won't do very well keeping it up. I also worry that I will write something that I later feel silly about and thus destroy/delete several of my posts. I guess those are my main worries about blogging. As for why I want to do it, I really like the idea of logging what is happening in my life and having a record of it. I feel like doing this in a blog format would be easiest because I like the idea of sharing my life with friends and family. For now, I just want to clarify that this might not last. I hope it will, but we'll see!

And now here is a little info about me. I recently graduated with a degree in English Language and a minor in editing. While I might know more about editing than many, I don't feel I got as much out of my education as I could have. Actually, I know that I didn't. I still feel completely inadequate when it comes to editing, especially grammatical issues. I still pause over different issues and then feel like I need to go rushing back to school or to grab all of my text books and study for hours until I know "enough." It is silly, but oh well. Just being honest about this.

I haven't worked for the past few months. This started when my job just got to be too much at the beginning of my last semester. My wonderful husband encouraged me to quit since he made enough for us to live comfortably. Then right after graduation we found out I was pregnant!!! BEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!! But more of that in a little bit. After graduating I wanted to spend the summer doing and internship and decided to apply for several. I really wanted to work for a publishing company and I was hopeful about getting this opportunity, but it just didn't work out. I applied at Deseret and it went really well. They told me later that they were really impressed with me, but unfortunately I didn't do well enough on the editing test (proof that my previous comments are not just me being modest). But I didn't give up. I applied with Covenant Communications and was also turned down. I am sad about it, but it was probably good because I don't think I could have devoted my best work to an internship during the summer. The reason being that I was tired ALL the time. I was nauseated a lot too, but never actually sick. Anyway, Sama continues to work and provide for us, which I sometimes feel really guilty about. I had planned on being a stay at home mom for a long time, but since I am pregnant right now and don't yet have a baby, it is hard for me to reconcile not working when I see my husband having a stressful day with school and work. This wasn't so bad in the summer since he was just working and we were able to spend lots of time together, but now that he has school too it is harder. However, who is going to hire a pregnant woman who doesn't plan to work for more than 2-3 months?

Okay, as for my pregnancy, things are going (overall) great! Like I said, I was very exhausted at first and still am now at 26 weeks, but not as much. My family often wonders aloud how I am going to handle so little sleep once our baby arrives. I worry too, but what will be will be and I will have to adjust! The last few weeks I have been more sick than I ever was in my first trimester. It is definitely a little weird, but that's how it is for me. Usually I just get nauseated, vomit, and then feel fine until the next time. I almost always get nauseated when I am eating a meal, so I can't eat too much at a time. This last week Sama had the flu, which I then caught. It was awful! Definitely worse than my regular pregnancy sickness! I have been eating mostly crackers and drinking water and Gatorade, but now I can eat a little more solid things again. I expanded to toast and applesauce for breakfast this morning, but I am thinking that I need to add something more substantial at this point since I haven't felt that sick since yesterday.

I spend my days resting, looking online at anything baby related, reading books about pregnancy and newborns, and getting things ready for the baby. By the way, we are having a girl and plan on naming her Natalie. We already have TONS of clothes for her first few months that were given to us by my sister and Sama's sister and sister-in law. And of course my mom went crazy at Goodwill (her favorite store) and bought lots and lots of girl things. This was before she knew we were having a girl, but with my sister having all (4) boys, she was eager for a girl. So we hope the doctor is right!!! My grandma on my mother's side is also very happy we are expecting a girl as all (13) of her great-grandchildren are boys. The doctor isn't 100% sure, but we are going with it for now. I have already washed all of the clothes we have gotten for Natalie. I had them arranged by size and everything as well, but since washing them, I have gotten them a little mixed up. We are planning to have a monkey mural for her nursery too. It is going to be a tree with monkeys hanging from the branches. I know it is traditionally a boy's theme, but I don't care. I think monkeys are cute!! Most of her things will be pink anyway including her crib bedding, which is one of the things that will stand out the most anyway.

As for diapering, we are going to use cloth diapers. I am very excited about this! I like that 1.) it saves a TON of money 2.) Better for baby (no chemicals, less chance of diaper rash 3.) Not that hard to use. I was definitely not planning on doing cloth diapers at first, but before I got pregnant my sister was pregnant with her last baby and had decided to do cloth diapers. I thought it was weird and gross and messy, but I had been thinking of the prefolds and diaper pins and soaking poopy diapers and such. After finding out that it was much easier now, I started considering it. Then my sister told me that with newborn poop (with breastfed babies), it just dissolves in the water, so you don't need to clean it off in the toilet first. So then I thought I would do cloth for the first few months and then switch, but once I started researching it and looking into it even more online I found out that it was still really easy even after babies start on solid foods. It can be extremely cheap if you do just prefolds and covers, but if I am saving so much money, I don't have a big problem spending a few extra dollars per diaper and getting an easy to use kind. Here is my plan.

My Cloth Diaper Plan:

I am purchasing a few newborn (Rumparooz Lil'Joeys) all in ones since I have read that the one size are still often too big for newborns. I am also getting a few prefolds and covers (thirsties) for the newborn stage. I am also hoping that some of the one size I will be getting will fit her even as a newborn, but I am not counting on it. So as a newborn, she will have 4-6 one size, some prefolds and covers, and maybe some one size that will work.

I am ordering 1-2 each of several brands of diapers that I have researched and look like something I would be happy using. After that I will order more of what works best for us. I know a lot of times what works for one baby doesn't really work for another. Also, my husband is okay with doing cloth diapers, but if he could choose, it would be disposables. So I also want to have something that will be easy for him. I decided to do all in ones with inserts and a couple pocket diapers that my sister really likes and recommended. To me none of the ones I am getting, except maybe the prefolds in the beginning, are harder than disposables. Maybe a little harder for me, but only because I am the one who will be washing the diapers.

I already mentioned the Lil'Joeys that I am planning on getting. They don't have any inserts or anything so are really, really easy. They come in packs of two for about $28. I am considering getting a newborn size of BumGenius as well. Mostly because there are so many good reviews on it and even though it didn't look like one of the best to me, I am intrigued to see if it really is that good. I also already mentioned Thirsties. This is another one that my sister said she used in the beginning, and they have them sized so that they will fit a newborn. After the newborn stage, which is usually when the baby reaches around 12 pounds, I will start using the one size diapers. The one size just means the size can be adjusted to fit different sized babies. Anyway, I am going to try GroVia (one of the ones that looks the best to me). they are just a shell/cover and you snap in an insert. If the shell doesn't get dirty, then you can use it again for the next diaper change. I like this because it cuts down on laundry and the amount of diapers I will need to buy. If I had to choose a brand to buy several of right now, it would probably be this one. But I haven't tried them, so who knows? I am also going to try Softbums because a lot of moms have reviewed that they really do fit a newborn. Then I am trying   Flip diapers because they are recommended to me by my sister, are cheaper than other diapers and look easy. I am trying the BumGenius one size for the same reason I mentioned above. I am trying Wahmies because they have an inner hook and loop that seem to give the diaper a really good fit. I am trying Peachy Keen by Niffty Nappies because I have read good reviews about them and I really like the prints they have. I think those are all the ones I am going to start out with. Oh, I haven't decided, but I am also interested in trying Smartipants. They are a pocket diaper, but you don't have to pull the diaper out of the cover because it just comes out in the wash. I didn't believe this but from other moms reviewing the diaper, they say it really does come out in the washing machine.

I am also getting cloth wipes. I am a little skeptical of using cloth wipes, but it seems cheaper and easier than having a pail for diapers and then having to throw the wipes away separately. So I think it might be easy to just have the cloth. So I am buying lots of diapers, cloth wipes, diaper inserts, and diaper accessories like the wet bags, wipes solution, and laundry soap (I am getting the Rockin Green Hard Rock that I have read really great reviews about). All together I am planning to spend around $400 for the initial investment. I know it sounds like a lot, and I also know that I could do cloth diapers for cheaper, but I feel like I am still spending so much less than I would be for disposables! Plus, I would really rather go the easiest route with cloth diapers and I am willing to pay extra for that. I think it is interesting that I thought it was so weird and disgusting to do cloth diapers at first, and now I am really excited about it!