cloth diapers, life, parenting

Your bra is showing.

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Guess what?! It was raining this morning while I did the cloth diaper laundry, and then this afternoon the sun and wind came out and it turned into a gorgeous day! Of course. Sooo instead of using the dryer, I could’ve just waited until afternoon. Or checked the weather report. That also would’ve worked.

But Mr. Stinky Pants and I took advantage of the lovely weather and took a walk to the grocery store. He did really well! He does love his carrier. I wanted a Beco, but hubby insisted on getting a Baby Bjorn. Anyway, Mr. Stinky Pants loves looking out. Even when he was a newborn, he wanted to look out, not snuggle against momma. Today he was wearing this cute little wide-brimmed hat with an elastic that goes underneath his chin to hold it on. Well, at the grocery store, I noticed that people kept looking at him. I figured it was because he’s just so darn cute. “Look at that cute baby!” After a while, I used the reflection of glass in the refrigerator section to check on him and make sure he was doing okay. The poor kid’s hat had twisted halfway around, and the elastic ran right across his face, in between his eyes, and over his nose. Ohhhhhh, THAT’s why people were staring at us. “Look at that jacked up baby!”

So then we stopped to get a smoothie on the way home. Because they’re delicious.

Smoothie = Delicious

Mr. Stinky Pants did really well. The grocery store and Tropical Smoothie were really busy, and the roads had a lot of traffic. I was concerned that he would either get scared or overstimulated, and either way start crying. But he didn’t! My good big boy! 🙂

We were almost all the way home when I realized that the weight of Mr. Stinky Pants against my shirt had actually yanked my tank top forward and down, so the entire sides of my bra cups were showing on both sides. Oops. At least it was my “cute” nursing bra instead of my ugly, large, my-breastus-are-bigger-than-I’m-used-to nursing bras.

Ok, returning to this post hours later. Mr. Stinky Pants is being so fussy!!!!!!! Remind me again how I’m going to miss this stage?? Anyway, I probably won’t have time to finish my BumGenius review tonight.

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cloth diapers, life, parenting

Psych!!!

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My son’s had trouble sleeping the last few nights. Or at least, going to sleep. He’s about 16 weeks right now, so I think maybe he’s starting to teethe? This trouble came on the heels of a few really good nights. I thought we were starting to turn a good corner, when Mr. Stinky Pants said, “Psych!!!” He finally fell asleep between Hubby and I last night, but he always wants to squirm up against me. It’s amazing that a baby can take up as much (or more) room as an adult. He squirmed diagonally until his head was up against me, and his feet up against hubby, essentially, pushing both of us up to the edges of the bed. My arm was hanging off.

Go figure! Today’s diaper laundry day, and it’s pouring rain outside. Now, I really do love, love, love the rain. It makes everything green and smell fresh. BUT, I like to dry almost all of my son’s cloth diapers out in the sun. It saves us money while it saves energy. It extends the life of the diaper, since the heat of the dryer can wear down the fabric’s fibers. Did you know that the sun has natural bleaching properties and natural disinfecting properties!?

I don’t have an exact date yet, but I’ll be moving this blog to my own .com address soon. I’m very excited! WordPress is great, but there are some limitations. I hope you’ll follow me to my new address!? Pretty please???

I also made a Facebook page for this blog. I’d like to run some giveaways (and I will have one next month), but it’s easier to run apps like Rafflecopter on Facebook than on WordPress. The page isn’t quite up and running yet. I basically created it, and then did nothing! I need to add photos and make it look attractive, because right now… uhm, yeah. It looks terrible.

I’m debating whether or not I should change the photo at the top of my blog. Yes, me on my butt in my wedding dress is very typical of my life. But it’s just one snapshot. Do you think a photo collage would look nice? I think collages can look really tacky, but I’ve also seen some really neat ones. I could gather photos from throughout my life, including photos with my family, and put them all together as a reflection of my life. Any opinions?

Don’t forget about the free blogging opportunity over at Jenn’s Blah Blah Blog. She has blogging opportunities often, so even if you don’t want to participate in this one, it’s something to keep in mind for the future.

Of course, I completely understand that some of you may not want more traffic on your blog. Blogging might be a way for you to clear your mind, to vent…get your thoughts out there. You may not care if someone reads your material or not. I completely get that. I had another blog that no one knew about. I’ve since gone in and deleted it. I didn’t want anyone to ever track me down or figure out that I’d written it. That was a dark time in my life. I’m someone else now. Praise God for that!

Later today, I’ll post a review on the BumGenius pocket diaper. BumGenuis is a very popular brand in the cloth diapering world.

Last night I started researching infant potty chairs on the Web. This may sound crazy to some of you, but I’m planning on sitting Mr. Stinky Pants on a potty chair beginning at 6 months. I wouldn’t say that I’m starting potty training (or learning), but I want him to get used to sitting on it as part of his daily routine. At his age, I guess it’s more EC (elimination communication)? I’m going to sit him on it for 5 minutes after every nap and feeding. I don’t expect him to be potty trained at some exceptionally young age. I just want to make sitting on it a routine for him. Thoughts? Am I crazy? 🙂

I have another article to write for my Army Reserve unit. The last one was more than 1,400 words and 6 pages long (double spaced). This one, thankfully, only has to be about a page!

TTFN

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cloth diapers, life, parenting

Use the sun to whiten your whites

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I always have a few stained cloth diapers after Poop Day, and even though Mr. Stinky Pants is just going to poop in them again, I still like to clean the diapers and have them looking nice in the meantime. This is especially important if I ever plan to sell them.

I usually pre-treat my cloth diaper stains by spraying them with Bac-Out w/Foaming Action Sprayer 32 Ouncesbefore placing in the wash. This usually lifts at least half the stains off my diapers. But for the stains that are left, sunning easily takes care of them.

I’d never heard of “sunning” an item of clothing to remove stains until I started researching cloth diapers. It’s a simple process: place the stained item in the sun. It works best when the clothing or diaper is damp. Sunning even works on an overcast day, since it’s the ultraviolet rays that do the whitening. So far, I’ve used it successfully on the white insides of cloth diapers, microfiber inserts, and my husband’s white “cover” (hat) for his Navy dress uniform. I’ve heard it also works to remove deodorant stains from white shirts!

Some people apply lemon juice to the stain first before placing in the sun. I haven’t needed to try this yet, since sunning is working fine for me on its own. But, if you have a stubborn stain that won’t come out after sunning your clothes a few times, you might want to try the lemon juice. If you use it on cloth diaper stains, make sure you wash the diaper before placing it on your baby.

Keep in mind that it may take multiple days of sunning to completely remove a stain. Since heat can set a fresh stain and make it permanent, avoid drying it in the dryer until you’ve sunned the stain out.

Insert 1: Click on the images to enlarge.

Before and After (2 hours later, rainy day)

Insert 2: Click on the images to enlarge.

Before

After (2 hours later, overcast day)

As you can see, the stains aren’t gone. BUT, it’s pretty darn close. if I lay this insert out again on a different day (and especially if the sun is out), the stains will fade all the way.

Have you tried sunning before? Did it work? How long did it take? Questions?

Note: Post contains affiliate link.

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