We Use Cloth

Yes. We use cloth diapers.  I know that to a lot of people out there, hearing that brings up images of giant cotton rags, huge safety pins, and plastic pants.  In other words, the way our parents used to diaper us.  But, the days of the pins and the plastic are no longer!  Cloth diapering has come a long way and the Fluff Fever is catching!

There are multiple reasons why I chose to cloth diaper.  One being money.

Since we had our little bean, I have chosen to become a PAHM (Play At Home Mom).  While we couldn't be happier with this decision, it also meant we went from 2 incomes down to 1.  We are extremely fortunate to be able to make this change, and in the mean time I wanted to do my part to try to save us a little moolah.  Enter, cloth diapers.  Now starting out your "stash" as its known in the CD (cloth diaper) community can be a bit pricey especially compared to buying a couple packs of newborn diapers.  However...that stash, can/will last you throughout all of your diapering days, even with multiple beans!  So instead of buying another pack of diapers every week at the store, you simply do a load of laundry :)  There are lots of websites out there that will tell you how much the average family spends on diapers a year compared to the cost of cloth.  You can google it :)
Side note...you must have some will power not to buy every cute diaper you see, because that would sort of defeat the purpose of the whole money saving thing.  It's hard, but I'm learning!

Now, the second reason that we use cloth should be the environment...but let's be honest, my number two reason is that they are so stinkin' cute!  Cloth diapers these days come in a huge variety of colors and patterns and prints, the possibilities are endless!  I am definitely an accessories kind of gal, and now that I no longer have a need for high heels and purses, fluff has become my new accessory.

And third, yes, I do care about the environment.  So, cloth diapers mean less disposables in landfills and that's a great thing!

And as with any new endeavor, there are lots of things to learn.  Some of it is trial and error, some of it is personal preference, and some of it requires some research.  I will do some follow up posts that go into these more when it comes to quantity of diapers, styles of diapers, and washing diapers.  

3 Months Old!

Our little man turned 3 months old on June 28th.  There are so many developmental changes that he is going through and it is so fun to watch!  He is our little chunk man and his rolls just keep getting bigger and cuter!  His hair is definitely coming in more now, and those big baby blues are still blue! 

This month the eye contact and facial recognition has become much more noticeable.  He definitely knows his mommy and daddy and has infinite smiles for everyone!  He is such a smiley baby and knows when people are talking to him. 

He has found his hands and loves to chew on his fingers.  He can see his toys and grabs at them.  He attempts to stuff everything in his mouth, although the hand eye coordination is still a little lacking. 

The sleeping stuff is also a little lacking.  But, we'll get there. 

This month we took our first airplane trip with the bean.  We went out to Indiana to visit the hubby's fam.  This was the first time meeting his 3 cousins, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Nathan, as well as a whole bunch of other family.  He also got to meet some of his pen pal buddies (kiddos of some of our close friends).

We also hit a milestone of rolling over!  The bean rolled from his tummy to his back while we were out there.  Just once, and then he was done.  Guess he just wanted to get us off his case!  He performed this little trick twice more when we got home, and has not shown any interest since.  

Meeting his cousins Tucker and Tessa, and Aunt Sarah!

Hanging with his buddy Grant

Cousin Trey

Cuddles with Grandma

Strong boy with Papa

4th of July Fun

This past weekend was a nice long 4 day weekend for the 4th of July.  We had record temps here...the most days over 105 in a row.  Gross.  But we took that opportunity to let Luke have his first pool experiences!

I went to Target and found a fun little 4th of July swim shirt on clearance, and a little swim hat.  And I ordered an Applecheeks swim diaper from Amazon.  Yes, we use cloth/reusable diapers and I plan to do a post on that in the near future.

It was a fun and very busy weekend.  Thursday we went to a friends house for a bbq/pool party.  It was about 110 degrees that day, so the pool water was about 87.

And then on Saturday, we were invited to another bbq/pool party of a former co-worker of mine.   

The hat is a little big...even for that 88th percentile head!  All in all, a very fun weekend.  

Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th!

2 Months Old

Time sure does fly!  Our precious little bean turned 2 months old on May 28.  Unfortunately this also means that he got his 2 month shots this day.  At his appointment he weighed 13 pounds 4 oz.  He was about 23 inches long and had a 16 cm head circumference.  We are so thankful to the nurse who gave him his shots because she was a real pro.  She had all of the syringes and bandaids ready to go.  Our boy took it like a champ and was nursing within 90 seconds of getting the shots.  Barely any time to cry!

So far he is right on track developmentally.  He is holding his head up on his own, but it's still kind of wobbly.  His eyes are still bright blue (yay!) and he is losing almost all of his newborn hair.  Although new hair is starting to grow in a lighter shade.

On June 20th, our sweet boy laughed for the first time!  It was music to my ears.  Unfortunately we were watching Daddy play ultimate so he didn't get to hear it.  But wouldn't you know, in true BOY form, what made him laugh.......? He pooped.  He pooped and then he laughed.  Little boy humor starting already.

He does really well with sleeping at night normally.  I believe he had a growth spurt right around the 2 month mark, and that was causing him to wake up more often at night (every 2 hours or so).  But that passed after a week and he was back to sleep from 8:30-4 and 4:30-6ish.  We have a good bedtime routine going of taking a bath, putting on pjs and then getting a bottle from Daddy.  I think this helps him realize that its not just another nap, that he's going down for the long stretch.

Napping is a bit more of a challenge.  There are days when I don't get more than a 30 min nap out of him at a time.  This makes for a super cranky baby by bedtime.  But I suppose it's just another phase that will pass.

He is growing and changing so much so quickly!  And we are absolutely loving being parents.

Newborn Photos

We had newborn photos taken of Luke and I just wanted to share a few of my favorites

Thank you to Megan Squires for the amazing pictures!!

1 Month Old

I know this post is long overdue considering out little man will be 3 months old this month (where does the time go?!), but better late than never right?

Our little bean turned 1 month old on April 28th, 2013.  And he had a weekend of firsts!  According to the pediatrician, 4 weeks old was a good time to start trying some different things, so try them we did.

During this 1 month milestone weekend, Luke had his first (of many) pacifiers:

Took his first bottle from Daddy:

And slept in his crib over night which I don't have a picture of unfortunately.  I think that night was harder on me than it was on him!  I spent most of the night awake watching our video monitor.

At 1 month old Luke weighs around 11 pounds.  He is losing his newborn hair and new hair is coming in lighter.  His eyes are still bright blue (crossing our fingers they stay this way!) and he is able to lift his head and hold it on his own for a little while.  He is starting to enjoy wiggle time more and he is definitely a man on the move.  Luke enjoys walks with mommy and sleeping while being held for naps.  He is also starting to enjoy bath time more :)

2 Weeks Old

Luke's First Bath

Yesterday we took Luke in for his 2 week check up.  He was a champ.  The doctor was very impressed with him (which a parent always loves to hear).  He is already up to 9 lb 6 oz, which is an entire pound heavier than his birth weight.  Normally they like for babies to be back up to their birth weight by 2 weeks, since all babies initially lose weight in the first few days after birth.  But our little guy is a champion eater!  He's on his way to those adorable chubby cheeks, and rubber band thighs.

His neck is already very strong and he is able to lift and turn his head on his own while on his tummy.  He also has very strong legs and arms which makes feeding and changing time difficult sometimes!  But we love our little cloth diaper wearing Q T Pi to pieces and are so happy that he is healthy and growing.

Cubs Opening Day with Daddy!

Favorite Sleeping Position

Bib courtesy of Aunt Heather

Bib courtesy of Great Aunt Jeri

Chillin with mommy

Buddies