get hooked up cloth diaper contest

Cloth Diaper Contests & Giveaways: Cow Patties Cloth Review & Giveaway

It's now a tradition every Saturday I'm

ingenious article by some innovators in the cloth dipe industry

Cloth Diapers... by Cotton Babies: Jenn's Thoughts: Almost Free Diapers - How to diaper your baby when you can't afford disposable diapers or cloth diapers

f#cking rad!

http://contest.stellamccartneykids.com/littleproject/home.php

Giving Thanks

Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing
They don't care what goes on around
In their eyes there's something lacking
What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

*"one more time"


written by
George Harrison

Ava and I have been listening to this tune in the car. It always reminds me of my not too long ago former life. The life of a little piggy sitting at a desk. Thank you Ava for inspiring me to jump out of the rat race. Thank you daddy for making it possible.

Stash Hash Installment 3

And then there was sloomb... 


Wool covers are actually quite old school. They came before plastic pants. I imagine someone's mummy on the Mayflower wrapping there bum in rags and then a bit of wool.

Why? Wool is extremely absorbent.  It will suck up pretty much all the pee wetness you can feed it. It is also highly breathable providing a temperature controlled bum, and has some anti bacterial properties.

When it comes to wool covers (better called a soaker) sloomb is the creme de la creme.  Aesthetically they are  the most attractive. Functionally they are amazing. However, they will set you back a pretty penny. I hesitated because of the price. I stalked their website until they had a "seconds" sale. I then purchased the super lovely carbon colored wool soaker.

I immediately loved the look. I had some trouble getting used to the functionality of wool. You must treat your wool soaker. You have to make them moisture repellent. You do this by putting back the natural lanolin. You give the soaker a little hand wash bath and then soak it in lanolin overnight. After it air dries it is ready for action.

To be successful with wool you have to understand how it works. I was expecting a waterproof quality like with my pocket diapers. Pockets have a layer of polyurethane laminate. Wool is a natural fiber. I know sounds elementary but, I wasn't expecting "damp" covers. I almost gave up on wool. My expectations were set incorrectly. I also did not use enough lanolin when I treated the soaker.

I wrote in the last stash hash about almost selling off the hemp fitteds. The sloomb was also on the chopping block. It was so gorgeous and so soft, I loved it so much. I gave it another chance. On my third time hand washing and treating the soaker I got it right. I also realized it's a SOAKER not a COVER. Wool will absorb the moisture. It traps it. It will feel damp to the touch but it will not allow your furniture or lap to become wet.

Que the Aha moment music here...


Now it is the go to "cover" for nights.  I could buy a thousand of these in all the beautiful colors! Sloomb also makes "longies" which are a pants version of the wool soaker. They are to die for. I'm holding out for next winter and another "seconds" sale for a  pair of those!

You can also upcycle old wool sweaters into covers and longies. I got the pair pictured here on ebay for basically pennies! They work awesome for daytime in cold weather. They are just one seam. If I figure out the method (wink wink) I'm sure you will see it as a post on my Craft page one day...


Once you know how to work with it and what to expect wool rocks!

*all products were purchased by the author. these opinions are the author's. no company participated by sending any samples.

Wordless Wednesday

Stash Hash Installment 2

 After the Kawaii pocket diapers I purchased three Pooter's hemp fitteds.  These diapers require a cover. They are a workhorse diaper. This means they are super durable, insanely absorbent and  great for overnight. I was not quite ready to invest in wool covers. I bought instead an inexpensive Happy Heinys Stacinator fleece cover.

here is the hemp fitted pre cover

The combination of the two was utilitarian. No frills or cute patterns here. They did however ensure a dry bed upon waking. 

here is a tired baby in a hemp fitted

The Stacinator hemp cover is nothing to write home about. Don't get me wrong it does a great leak proof job. It's just really bulky. It is only good for nights. I would never try to get it under clothing. It does have a kind of comic appeal. Ava looks like she is wearing an animal skin, we call her cave baby.

Even though this combo did such a great job I almost sold off this part of my stash. I liked the products. I just didn't think they were necessary. At the time Ava was 4 months old and pockets were doing an excellent job overnight as well. I wound up offering the stash to a few friends that were either expecting or had babies. No one accepted my offer. I'm really glad now that they didn't. At 7 months pockets aren't handling the overnight pee onslaught.

It's all about fitteds and covers at night now. She thrashes and rolls and pee's like 50 gallons...

Next stash hash I'll wax poetic about the beauty of wool covers.



*all products were purchased by the author. these opinions are the author's. no company participated by sending any samples.

Naked Anxiety

Since the blog launch I've had a couple of rough days.  I suppose you could call it a "relapse".  As healing as the blog is, as much as I want people to know they are not alone in their imperfections, it is difficult. To put myself out there is scary. To take of my electronic clothes and show my naked binary self is terrifying. Even if it is just a simple blurb about a simple thing, the world of snarks are waiting to pounce. So, I had a couple of rough days.

Much like a drug addict in recovery, so I suppose is the recovery of my mental health. There will be days when I slip. One night, out of the blue my baby did not look like my baby. I did not recognize her. Just like with the troubling thoughts , I knew she was Ava. She did not look like Ava. In retrospect, it had been a high stress day. I was not feeling well, my wrists were in pain, and she had been fussy and needy. I held on. I knew it was just my mind, fucking with me. I knew it was her. I took ten deep breaths and a Valium. I held her and fed her until it passed. It wasn't long, thank the gods.

When my husband came home I told him what happened and he took care of me. He told me it will all be OK. He is right. It will all be OK. I "went fishing". I gave myself a break from blogs, and dishes, and combing my hair. I put humpty dumpty back together again.

I want to say I am sorry. I am so sorry to all of the women whose mental illness landed them in the scorching public eye. I have seen just a splinter of the looking glass they fell through and it was excruciating. I am sorry for my judgmental words. I am sorry that the most beautiful thing in the world (being a mother) was turned into the most horrifying thing in the world (being a murderer). Forgive me I had no idea. I'm sorry no one was there for you. I am sorry you could not ask for help.

No need to call the authorities. I assure you I love that baby more than life itself. I'm back now. I want others to know imperfection is a perfectly fine state of being. Here I am, bare.